Chellerbelle: Thanks so much! This chapter just about drove me (more) insane. ;) I have to say that the hardest part was the Romy scene, believe it or not. Yeesh! Anyway, I'm glad you liked it.
Shiro-Kitsune8: Rogue has control in this story. I like doing that so she can touch Remy. ;)
Madame Star: Yeah, I'd like to know whose bright idea it was to leave him out. I'm glad you liked it.
scott has a pole up his ass: Thanks. I'm still working through that one.
xdreamernumbuhfour: Hehehe....I love that.
Grace-Peace-and-Cat-Fights: Thanks muchly!
Sonar: Oh yes, he caused quite a bit of trouble. They need to release Season 4. It irks me to no end that my collection isn't complete. :-D And thank you.
Chica De Los Ojos Cafe: Yep, 'Poccy's in trouble, now! Happy you thought it was awesome.
Fostersb: My original idea wasn't to include the events of 'Ascension', but then I changed my mind, as I am wont to do often. She may be, but we all know Remy will be there for her. I'm glad you liked it and happier still, that you reviewed! :) Thanks!
roguelover321: Okay, here ya are. :D
Team-JEdward2010: Aww, thanks so much! I agree, he should have been there all along.
Disclaimer: As stated before, the events and quotes from 'Ascension' are not mine.
Rogue has never been more scared in her life, but underneath that fear lies a steely determination to set things right. As the black Cadillac pulls up in front of the apartment building, Nick Fury gets out of the car and opens the door for her. Together, they make their way up to the apartment belonging to Ms. Leech and her son, Dorian. A moment after their knock, Ms. Leech opens the door a crack. Peering out, she asks distrustfully: "What do you want?"
"Could we come in an' talk ta ya for a minute?" Rogue queries kindly.
The woman gazes warily at them for several seconds, then reluctantly gestures for them to enter.
"You wear the same uniform that I saw some others wearing when that fight occurred right outside. You're an X-Man, aren't you?" She questions suspiciously.
"Yes, ma'am, I am. I'm Rogue an' this is Col. Nick Fury." Rogue acknowledges his presence. He inclines his head slightly, allowing Rogue to talk. "We're here 'cause we need ya help. I'm sure ya've seen tha reports on TV with all tha dome activity goin' on." Ms. Leech nods.
"I have." Dorian pipes up. Rogue smiles kindly at him.
"Well, it's all bein' done by an incredibly powaful mutant named Apocalypse. His plan involves turnin' humans inta mutants. Tha problem with that, otha than it bein' completely unethical, is that there are many people who will not survive this process, if it is allowed ta happen. My teammates an' a few friends are doin' what they can right now ta stop this, but Col. Fury, here, has anotha plan in min' in case that doesn' work."
"What does this 'plan' have to do with me?" Ms. Leech's voice is guarded, but Rogue can see the terror filling her eyes.
"Actually, we need Dorian's help with this." Rogue states hesitantly.
"No! Absolutely not! You are not using my son in this whole twisted affair."
"Ms. Leech, please! We don' have any otha options open ta us. I promise ya that he will not be involved in tha actual fightin', so chances are, he won' be hurt. We haveta stop him an' if fightin' doesn' work, Dorian's our las' chance." Rogue declares.
"Mom, I want to help. They need me." Dorian speaks up.
"No! They will just have to come up with something else."
"But, you heard them. There is nothing else. I have to do this. Please." Dorian gazes at her, willing her to understand.
"He will stay in the heli-jet the entire time. You have my word on that." Fury joins the conversation.
"Then just how do you expect him to help?" Ms. Leech asks with minor confusion.
They explain the plan to both her and Dorian and finally acquire her reluctant permission. As they depart to go to Fury's chopper, Rogue's thoughts turn, as they normally do these days, to Remy. She hopes he is still unharmed, knowing that it has been at least half an hour since their arrival at the Sphinx.
~Egypt~
"...This goes against everything you taught us, everything you believe." Jean tries in vain to reach Professor, but it is futile. He knocks her back with a psychic blast and she answers with one of her own.
The rest of the team jumps in to fight, Jubes throwing fireworks at him. She is quickly knocked out. Then Tabby gets an idea. She has Angel fly a giant energy ball above Professor and Angel drops it. It is enough to stun him for a few seconds, long enough for Jean to regain her footing. The two telepaths face each other once again, this time their psyches battling it out.
Tabby then has Jamie multiply and form an assembly-line, of sorts. She creates energy balls and has the Jamies toss them up, machine-gun style as Angel carries Jubes to safety.
~Mexico~
"Father! Father, why are you doing this?" Wanda questions as he attempts to strike out at her. She manages to hold him at bay, but barely. Kitty phases up from the ground, grabbing her ankles. "Wanda, that's not your father. At least, not any more." Kitty inform her as Wanda gazes at Magneto, who resurrects a couple of Sentinels.
Roberto, Alex, Pyro and Colossus begin to attack them, Piotr staying in his natural form. He is well aware of what Magneto would do to him if he changed into his biometallic one. Piotr looks over and sees Magneto coming after Kitty. He charges toward him, knocking him to the ground, but Magneto is right back up.
Kitty quickly assesses the situation and shouts: "You have to forget he's your father or we're going to lose this...and we can't lose!" Wanda looks at him a few seconds and tries to hit him with her bolt. He dodges it and directs a Sentinel toward her. Pyro jumps to her defense, sending a wall of flames toward the robot.
~Sphinx~
The four men arrive and descend the stone staircase. "Okay, Mystique's in here somewhere. With her powers amplified, she will be virtually untraceable. She could be right beside me, without my even knowing it." Logan warns.
"Well dat's a comf'rt, mon ami." Gambit sarcastically tells him as he charges a card to light their way. Logan growls and glares at him for a second before continuing, not noticing Mystique taking form behind them. She shoves Kurt into Logan, the two of them flying back into a pillar.
Scott and Gambit try to hit her with blasts and highly-charged cards, with no effect on her at all. She then shifts into a horde of bats, taking chase after all of them. They try to fend her off as best as they can, but she is relentless.
Meanwhile in the inner chamber, Apocalypse looks at the control panel before him. He pays little mind to the commotion going on outside and prepares for the next step in his evolution process.
~China~
The team piles out of the heli-jet and immediately takes action. Amara takes her Magma form and attempts to take on Storm, but the woman is too powerful. She throws the girl back with a lightning bolt. Ray runs over and sends a jolt of electricity at Storm. The two of them battle it out, with Storm causing it to hail down. Bobby shields the others in an ice fort as Beast carries Amara inside.
"Don't hurt her! She's a victim in all of this." Spyke bellows to Ray above the sound of ice falling.
Everyone looks over to see the top half of the pyramid eerily glow blue. They watch in horrified amazement as the glowing half separates and shoots skyward. The same is happening in Mexico and Egypt.
"Oy! I've got a bad feelin' about this, mates." John states as he views the pyramid leaving the atmosphere.
Beast is typing away on a hand-held computer.
"What's happening now?" Angel queries Hank. He has the comm-link, since Jean is wearing the Cerebro interface to try to match her abilities to Xavier's.
Hank contacts everyone. "My guess is that he needs the pyramids in the higher atmosphere to affect the entire planet. People, it's not over yet. Those are orbital relays. All we have to do is destroy the base that powers them." Hank informs them.
In Mexico, they are valiantly fighting to find an opening to the base. Metal is flying everywhere, and a piece catches Kitty. She falls to the ground, unconscious. Piotr's eyes catch sight of this, which angers him. He starts catching pieces of flying metal and hurling them aside as if they weighed nothing.
Meanwhile, the final three Sentinels are released skyward, to attempt to destroy the relays. Just as progress is being made, Apocalypse checks his monitor and sees what is happening. He dispatches Magneto to resolve that issue.
Wanda suddenly notices Magneto's absence. She runs over to Kitty, trying to rouse her.
"Kitty, the base is unguarded. We can destroy it. Kitty....Kitty!" Wanda glances desperately around her and notices the other guys are occupied, avoiding falling metal raining down around them. Piotr runs over to Kitty to check on her. She decides to attempt destroying it on her own, delivering her strongest energy blast to the base. It is at that moment, that Magneto returns.
Wanda flies backward after he sends a magnetic disturbance her way. She is unexpectedly caught by Pietro.
"Hey sis, thought you could use a hand." Pietro says kindly as the rest of the Brotherhood step in to assist. As Pietro sets her down, Toad hops up beside her and grabs her.
"C'mon, I'll hold you for awhile." He says as he attempts to cuddle her close.
She shoves him away from her as Pyro strides up.
"The sheila's mine. Stay away, or ya won't have to worry about Magneto killin' ya, slimeball." John threatens.
"Hey! I saw this crimson cutie first. We've been in love long before you ever got here, yo."
Wanda rolls her eyes and huffs. "John, you can roast Toad alive later. We need him right now, since we have more pressing matters to attend to." Wanda reminds them.
"Aw, I just knew you loved me, Babycakes." Toad tries to put an arm around her as she knocks him back with her energy.
"Keep it up and I will gladly let my boyfriend flambe you now." Wanda growls.
Lance makes a move to go to Kitty, when he notices Piotr already there. The gentle giant tenderly picks up Kitty and moves her out of harm's way, as Roberto and Alex are keeping Magneto busy. He gives Lance an icy glare as he lays her down in a soft, grassy area. He knows that now is not the time to confront Lance. Hopefully, there will be time later.
Pietro clears his throat, finally capturing Lance's attention. He indicates Magneto. "Lance, take him down." He commands softly.
Lance decides that now is the best time to release his anger at letting Kitty go. He crashes his fists down on the ground with a roar.
Apocalypse sees that things are going as planned. All of the relays are operational again. It is time. He reclines in a specialized base and gazes up.
"And the evolution begins." He intones as the chamber powers up. Grimacing in pain as the chamber uses his abilities to activate the relays, he notes with satisfaction that this is almost over. Humanity will never be the same again. In moments, dark clouds cover the sky and thunder sounds ominously over the earth.
The team in China is still attempting to destroy that particular base. Amara, Bobby and Spyke are giving it their all. Ray hits Storm with one powerful crack of electricity, but Storm makes it rain, shorting out his power.
In Egypt, Jubes wakes up to see Tabby still handing the Jamies her energy balls. This time, instead of the Professor being the target, they are throwing them at the base of the pyramid. She looks up to see the top half gone.
"Wha-what happened?" She groans as Angel lands by her.
"Our only chance is to destroy the base. As you can see, it's not going so well." He replies direly.
"I've gotta help." Jubes states as she gets up. She runs over to the others and begins shooting fireworks toward the base.
"Good to have you back, girl." Tabby smiles.
Jean and Xavier are still locked in psychic combat. Suddenly, she falls from the sky, Angel zooming over to catch her and lay her down gently.
Xavier also falls, since their psychic shields collided with each other. His psyche rises up quickly to do away with Jean, when hers rises up to defend her.
Back at the Sphinx, the guys are still fighting off Mystique's bats, when they encounter a door. Gambit wedges a couple of cards into the crack and the door explodes open. They run into an antechamber and the four of them manage to push the door back into place, shutting out the flying rodents.
"Elf, go scout out what's on the other side of that door." Logan commands as he indicates yet another door on the opposite side from where they came in.
Kurt salutes and 'ports to the other side, where he is immediately rendered unconscious.
"What's takin' so long?" Wolverine growls in concern as he watches the door.
Suddenly, the door they just came through is broken down as Mystique, disguised as an elephant, barges through. She morphs into a panther and leaps onto Scott, who blasts her off of him. She reaches out with a mighty paw and swipes at him, causing him to stumble back and hit his head on a pillar. As he sits in a daze, she turns her attention to Gambit. He smirks at her and beckons:
"'Ere, kitty, kitty, kitty. Y' wanna play wit' Gambit?" He asks slyly as he throws several cards in her direction. As they 'play' tag, Beast gets through to Logan.
"Logan, we're....not gonna... make it!" Beast exclaims hoarsely, the weariness and hopelessness evident in his voice.
"Don't give up. We got one play left." Logan informs him gruffly.
As he says this, one more heli-jet arrives at the Sphinx. The door opens and Rogue peers out. This is it. The fear rises up, but she presses it down and takes a steeling breath. She turns to two of the passengers as Fury and Sam look on.
"It's okay, Ms. Leech. This is as far as Dorian has ta go." Rogue reassures the woman, who gazes down at her son, cowering against her. He's never had to do anything like this, before. Rogue smiles gently at the boy.
"Please, don' be scared. Like I said, the ability ya have ta shut down energy around ya, it'll help save a lot a people. I'm jus' gonna borra it for awhile. Are ya ready?"
Dorian look up at his mother, then turns to Rogue. He nods slightly, as Rogue removes her glove and lightly touches him. He falls back, both Rogue and his mother steadying him and laying him on the floor to sleep it off. Rogue then slips her glove back on and nods curtly to Sam. Fury watches as Sam 'cannonballs' Rogue inside.
Gambit is heartened when he sees his Rogue running into the chamber. He immediately sets to distracting Mystique as Logan begins slashing at the door leading to the inner chamber. Finally, he is able to get a decent-sized hole in the door, enough for Rogue and himself to enter, but it is not to be. As soon as Rogue clears the door, Logan moves to go through, but his ankle is grasped by Mystique. She throws him back and begins to fight him and Gambit at the same time.
Gambit glances quickly at Rogue, seeing her standing before the incredibly powerful mutant. He throws himself into the battle, buying more time for Rogue to do what needs to be done.
Rogue's stance stiffens as she raises her arms into the air, using Dorian's ability to shut off the power in the room. Everything goes dark as she steps up to his resting place. Her eyes narrow furiously as she looks at the aged mutant. He's the one who caused her to blame herself for releasing him. For the first time, the truth dawns on her. None of this was ever her fault. It was others using her to get what they wanted.
"Ya've used us for tha las' time!" She grounds out as he awakens and shouts: "No!" He grabs her wrist, as Gambit keeps glancing over fearfully. She closes the first piece of the base, breaking the contact. As he struggles, Rogue runs around, shutting the rest of the pieces.
Gambit rushes in and leaps on top of the Eye, closing the top.
"Turn de pow'r back on, cherie!" He yells as he jumps off, grabbing her hand as they run together out of the inner chamber, turning back to watch.
"S' do y' t'ink 'e's gone f'r good?" He asks Rogue.
"Somehow, I don' think so, Rems." Rogue answers honestly.
The Eye of Ages glows and after a moment, transports itself to an unknown dimension. Just as Mystique is about to strike Logan, she slumps over, falling into his arms. At each of the pyramids, the same thing is happening to the other 'horsemen'.
As the group emerges from the Sphinx, Scott being supported by Logan and Kurt, leaning on his sister, Gambit on her other side with his arm around her waist, Scott questions Logan.
"Do you think we won this one?"
"Almost too late, but yeah." Logan responds as he assists the younger man to the heli-jet.
Kurt turns to Rogue.
"You did it, Rogue. Ze girl who shut herself off from ze vorld, just saved it." Kurt says proudly as Gambit kisses her on top of her head.
"I wish I could say I did it for tha world." Rogue mutters.
Mystique catches up to her children.
"Rogue, Kurt, I want you to know that the things I did...all the things I did, were because I-"
"Save it, Mystique!" Kurt cuts in.
"Even ya don' believe ya excuses, so jus' leave us alone." Rogue says with finality as she leans closer to Remy.
Mystique glares at them as they leave.
As soon as they see Kurt safely onto one of the heli-jets, Remy takes her hand and informs Logan:
"We'll take de ot'er one 'ome, mon ami an' meet y' dere." Logan growls as Kurt frowns, but neither one says anything. They figure there will be plenty of time to deal with the Cajun after they get back. What they don't count on, is that Rogue sees their expressions.
"Oh, will ya two quit it? It's not like we're gonna be alone. Ms. Leach an' Dorian will be with us, as well as Col. Fury. Ya really think he's gonna let anythin' happen? Anyway, we will be talkin' about ya behavia toward Remy when we get home. That's a promise!" Rogue warns them fearsomely with her death glare added for good measure. Scott and Sam are trying not to laugh at the two men who were just put in their place by the temperamental southerner.
Remy chuckles at the astonished expressions on their faces and takes Rogue into his arms, passionately kissing her.
"'M glad we're goin' t' 'ave mo' time f'r dat." Remy states cheekily as he grins at Rogue.
"Me too. Seems ta me that I made ya a promise, several hours back." She recalls with a smirk to rival his as she plants her own fiery kiss on his lips, Logan growling in frustration.
As our duo enters the heli-jet, Dorian is waking up.
"Is it over?" He asks groggily.
"Yeah, it is. Thanks for lettin' me borra ya powers, Dorian." Rogue smiles at him sweetly.
"You mean I missed the whole thing?" He questions with typical childhood curiosity, coupled with consternation.
Rogue and Remy laugh as Ms. Leach shakes her head in futility.
Finally done! I kinda skipped over some of the parts, since I couldn't recall them. Hope I did it justice. :)