Great... Ah've been abducted by aliens now! Rogue thought as she sat back down on the bed. And what's more, one of them has asked me to have lunch or dinnah or whateveah the meal is with him... Fuck, if Logan hadn't shoved Gambit outta the X-jet then ah wouldn't have any reason ta be here right now... well... What's done is done... in fact ah might still be able ta see Gambit again soonah or latah.
Rogue fidgeted with her hair as these thoughts went through her head. It may have been these thoughts that led up to what happened to her... no one really knows... but this much is for sure... it changed her life... forever.
In the chow hall an hour and a half later...
Rogue was lead into the officer's area of the chow hall under armed guard, four in front and four in back each armed with a stun rifle. She was given a uniform to wear instead of her street clothes but they didn't fit quite right, far too tight in the chest and thighs, and the only thing they allowed her to keep was her gloves.
Looking around, she saw that the dining area was restaurant class in seating and serving. The gentile lighting and colors gave a feeling of calm there that almost scared Rogue. The room was mostly in hues of dark blue, green, and red. High backed chairs sat around tables with elaborate settings that looked like some of the high class restaurants that she had seen before.
"Please, sit..." Volt said from across the table as he signaled to the seat in front of Rogue.
One of the guards pulled out the chair for Rogue though he kept the stun rifle trained on her. Watching the guards and Volt she slowly moved beside the chair, sat down and pulled the chair up to the table.
"Alright Volt, ya got meh here... Now what is it that ya want?" Rogue asked bluntly as the guards took posts around the walls.
"You must be hungry," Volt said with a smile as he obviously avoided the question, "I hope that you don't mind but I took the liberty of ordering for you."
"Ya are avoidin' mah question..." Rogue said lowering her chin slightly, "ah would like ta know why ya felt that it was so important ta bring meh on board."
"All will be explained in due time my friend... But now we eat," he claimed, once again avoiding her question but as he had said, two plates fairly heavily laden with food was placed in front of both of them.
Rogue clenched her jaw, she wanted to punch this man's lights out but she glanced around the room. There were eight guards here and only one of her... She might be able to make it passed them... emphasis on might but then she would have to deal with who knows how many more of these mechanical brutes and she knew that she wouldn't be able to deal with all of them without possibly getting herself killed in the process.
"You see that there is absolutely no way for you to leave my dear," Volt said as he cut his meat, "You may as well eat, there is nothing else for you to do... I will tell you what you want to know after we are finished... So please, eat... There is no reason for you to starve yourself."
Rogue recoiled at Volt's sudden statement. How did he know what ah was thinkin'? Rogue thought as she stared at him. Is this man a mutant or somethin'?
"No I am not as you so put it a mutant but I do have some mild telepathic abilities that I have acquired through my... alterations," Volt said again, this time causing her to jump from her seat, "Now, Rogue, please settle down and eat... I am no reason to get yourself worked up so please don't do anything you will regret."
Rogue swallowed then turned to look at the upended chair, picking it up she up righted it and sat back down. Slowly she picked up the utensils and began to eat. Though the food looked strange to her it tasted like roast beef, green beans, and something that she thought could pass for corn bread.
Later on when they were finished, Volt sat back. He may have looked like a half human, half machine freak but he acted very human.
"So..." he began as he placed his fingertips together as his elbows rested on the armrests of the chair, "what would you like to know?"
Putting down her glass of water she answered, "What reason do ya have that ya brought meh on board?"
"When we picked you up on our scanners we knew right away that you were different from the other specimens we had gathered," he said with a shrug, "when my men encountered you we were surprised to find that you were far more different than we originally thought."
"How different did ya find out ah was?" Rogue asked as she shifted uneasily in her seat.
He turned his head slightly before answering, "Different enough that our Emperor wants to know what exactly you are capable of..."
"Why?" Rogue asked in a word... She thought that she had figured out why but she had to be sure.
Volt smiled, "Now that is the operative question isn't it? I don't know... but I have the feeling that I might be in for a promotion because of it and you may have found yourself a job with us..."
"And who exactly are ya?" Rogue asked looking at him out of the corner of her left eye.
"The Corgalani Empire," he stated flatly which made Rogue shudder just a little bit.
Elsewhere in the ship...
"She is a curious one... if she proves to be useful to me I may give her a position of importance..." a figure said in a voice of an older man, "If she is able to help me get my daughter back than I will be most pleased with her... this Rogue... However... I need to know what she is capable of doing."
"Of course my Lord," another man much like Volt said as he kneeled in front of the man.
"Go and test her, I must know her true capabilities."
With that the man who looked the same as Volt left the room allowing the door to slide shut behind him, thrusting the room into darkness.
In a training room several hours later...
"So what are ya wantin' meh ta do?" Rogue asked as she entered the room.
"Just do your best... You'll figure each area out don't worry," Volt said with a smile that she didn't quite trust but she was forced to.
"Riiiiiight..." Rogue said as she turned around and entered the room.
Wait a second... This room looks a lot like da dangah room back at the mansion... if mah guess is correct then this room is probably identical to da dangah room. She thought as she looked around.
"We'll start it out easy..." Volt's voice said over the intercom into the room as the room shifted to something more natural, "Don't worry, nothing in here will kill you."
"Ah'm sure," Rogue said as she looked around the room which now looked like an arena of sorts and several warriors came out of the walls.
Rogue now wore a black combat suit. It had sensors threaded throughout to monitor her vital signs but the form fitting suit didn't impede her movement what-so-ever.
"Alright shugahs... Ya wanna see what ah can do? THEN BRING IT!" Rogue yelled as she fell into a combat stance.
The first warrior, who sported what looked like a claymore only with a laser blade, came charging at her. Rogue rolled her eyes and easily dodged the warrior's swing. Stepping beside the warrior she grabbed his forearm with her right hand and brought the palm of her hand up against the backside of his strait elbow. With a loud crack, the sound of metal breaking and twisting, wires snapping, and the crackling of electricity she broke the warrior's arm off in her hand. Then with a spin kick she sent the thing flying into a pair that had been standing behind it. Alright... three down two more ta go... she thought as she turned to the other two who where charging at her at the same second.
"Ya have ta be kiddin' meh... This is too easeh..." she muttered under her breath as she dodged a punch by one while mule kicking the other, sending sparks flying from its chest and back.
As Rogue came up from the mule kick she grabbed the arm of the last warrior with both hands and swung him around. Straining could be heard from the gears in its arms as she did. Continuing around, she finally heard the satisfying groan and following pop and snap as the arm came off spraying sparks in every direction, then she used the liberated arm as a club. She smashed the arm into the body of the warrior so many times that she only had last inch of arm and the hand in her hands and the head of the warrior was gone... The remains having fallen into a twisted and smoking heap.
"Ah sure hope that was your easy mode there Volt... Cause that was a bit sad." Rogue said as she dropped the last bit of the warrior on top of the heap.
"Alright... Perhaps this will prove to be a bit more of a challenge for you..." Volt said as he tried to hide how impressed he was and his surprise.
Inside the observation room...
"Volt... Let me fight her... I doubt that she can take out an officer..." another officer whispered ensuring that his voice was not picked up on the microphone.
"Now Vile... We don't know what she is capable of... What if she CAN take an officer out?" Volt asked also in a whisper.
"She can't, trust me... The one thing we have above all of our lackeys is that we have free will," Vile said placing his human hand on Volt's shoulder, "besides my orders come from
the emperor himself..."
"Fine, Vile... just be careful... remember... you are my partner after all," Volt said as he sighed in defeat, "Rogue... your opponent will be my partner... The only other officer that belongs to this ship... his name is Vile."
"Alright then... is he comin' in then?" Rogue said, her voice distorted from the room.
Volt looked to Vile as he opened the door to the training room then answered, "He will be in momentarily."
In the training room...
Rogue stood in the middle of the room. She was completely unscathed from the encounter. Then she saw her opponent enter the room. He was taller than her by at least a head and a half, both of his legs, upper arms, hands, whole torso, and left eye where mechanical. His right eye was dark blue, almost like the deep ocean, and his hair was pitch black.
"Well Rogue, my name is Vile, I will be your next opponent," the towering monstrosity of flesh and metal said sternly but what seemed almost programmed to Rogue.
"Alright then Vile... Ah sure hope that we can take this show on the road... but first... Ah sure hope that ya can keep up with meh..." Rogue said with a smirk and a shrug.
"Whenever you want to begin..." Vile said with a gesture that hinted that she was to make the first move.
"Alright shugah... let's dance," Rogue said with a smile and took off... Before Vile realized what was going on Rogue was on the opposite side of the room, "Well? Are ya comin' or not?"
Vile sneered a bit as he noticed Rogue's speed. He realized that she wasn't a normal human by any means but that wasn't going to stop him... he was going to fight her to see just how far her abilities went. Falling into a combat stance Vile locked on with his cybernetic eye and kept it trained on Rogue... it would follow her anywhere. With blinding speed Vile closed the distance between Rogue and himself, Volt probably had no clue as to how fast his partner had moved but that was beside the point... If he could catch Rogue off guard, than that would make this little competition sway in his favor.
Rogue watched as Vile sped towards her. She sighed at how obvious his movements were and simply sidestepped his attack. Vile skidded to a stop about three feet behind her as she turned on her heel to face him. Falling into an easy attack stance she stutter stepped and high kicked him with the knife edge of her right foot into what should be his Adam's apple.
Vile more sensed the attack than saw it and bent backwards... much further than any normal human could ever bend. With his left hand he reached up and grabbed her ankle and pulled it left, causing her to turn right as he pulled himself up. He executed a perfect palm strike directly on top of her sternum as he released her foot.
He had perfectly countered her attack, Rogue realized as she flew backwards through the air. Flipping over, she planted the balls of her toes into the ground and skidded to a stop. Looking up, she saw Vile had a cruel smile on his face.
"Not bad," Vile said as he turned slightly and fell back into position.
"Ah'm only gettin' warmed up," Rogue said coolly as she too fell back into position, "Well, are ya gonna make meh wait all day?"
Vile charged at Rogue with a ferocity that caused her to back up a step and drop her head slightly. She watched him closely paying close attention to how he moved.
Alright…. Now when he goes ta punch meh all ah gotta do is catch his arm…. She
thought as he drew closer.
Everything felt like it moved so slowly that she could tell what Vile was going to do next. She dodged his lead hand punch with mere inches to spare and caught his arm with her off hand. Rogue rotated on the heel of her left foot and pulled his arm strait. With a palm strike going straight up and what should have sounded like the sickening crunch of bones was the sound of metal twisting and wires snapping.
"What the?" Rogue muttered as she jumped back as Vile yelled in pain.
"YOU BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!" Vile screamed as electricity started to arch down his arm completely sheathing from the break down in an extremely dim pale blue.
Without another word of warning he charged at Rogue again, this time screaming….. It was obvious to Rogue that he was going to start attacking her blindly without thinking now. Vile's attack was vicious and relentless, he punched with his charged arm multiple times but Rogue managed to dodge almost all of them. His final punch nailed her square in the gut and she flew back and into a hunk of metal in the middle of the room.
Rogue was stunned there was no doubt about that, her head swam and her vision danced in front of her. She struggled to at least get to her knees as he slowly walked towards her. She knew that she had to get up but that felt impossible. Her muscles felt like jelly and she couldn't get her legs to cooperate, nothing felt right.
"I told you that you were going to pay for breaking my arm….. But I think that I like the shocking value of it….. I'll keep it….." he said bitterly, "Well, any last words bitch? Or do you want me to just end it now?"
"Ah….. ain't…… done….. yet….." Rogue forced out as she pushed herself to stand up, "Yah ain't seen nothin' yet shugah……"
"I'd believe otherwise…." Vile spat raising his still sparking arm to swing at Rogue again.
Ah can't afford ta get hit again with that thing….Rogue thought as she watched him come at her again, there…. Where ah hit him before….. That's where ah need ta hit him ta get him ta stop attackin' meh.
He punched at Rogue yet again but she ducked below his swing, only coming up again when where she had hit him before was directly above her. Metal and wires snapped and twisted, this time it tore through the flesh on Vile's upper arm. He cried out in pain only to find that Rogue had grabbed the fleshy area below the break on the arm and was now twisting the arm loose. His eyes went wide as he watched her then tried to pull away, the sounds of grinding metal against metal and flesh rending filled the air, her grip was like iron and he soon discovered that he could not get away without leaving his arm behind.
"Ya know…… ah could easily kill ya right now but ah'll let ya tell meh if ya wanna die or not….." she said as she jerked firmly on the arm tearing it completely off.
Vile looked at his stump of an arm and now he realized that he had no chance at defeating her but he wanted to go out in style and after taking a slight step back executed a round house kick which she dodged with mere inches to spare.
"Ah'll take that as if ya don't wanna live….." Rogue said as she spun the still sparking arm in her hand.
Now she was fast, faster than Volt could follow. Before Volt and Vile knew what was going on Rogue had stabbed Vile in the gut with his own arm the electricity flowed between the arm and Vile. His gears and other mechanical parts seized up with the shock and he tried to scream. Rogue pulled the makeshift cattle prod away as Vile, still sparking, dropped to his knees breathing hard. He looked shocked that she didn't just electrocute him to death and tried to get to his feet but realized that the shock had completely shorted out his motor functions and he could barely move.
"Ah gave ya your chance ta walk away Vile….. but ya decided to throw it away….. Ah don't give second chances," Rogue said knowing that he was about ready to ask for mercy.
Vile finally saw that it was useless, but he managed to find his feet. He wasn't about to die on his ass because he did something stupid that would cause him to die. Now as he stood he stared at her, he wasn't going to run though he could hear Volt over the intercom saying that that was enough and he also knew that fighting was the only viable option though he knew that he would fail.
Reluctantly, he fell into a combat position as Rogue came at him again. Each time she hit him with his arm he blocked it away but each time an electric shock flowed through the other arm causing a sensation that could only be described as numbing. Rogue's attacks were fierce and unrelenting and with a quick mule kick she finally cracked the armor plating sending a spray of sparks in every direction. Vile jerked forward with the force of the blow and crumpled into a heap on the ground.
In the observation room…..
"VILE! DAMN IT YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE!" Volt yelled over the intercom, "DAMN IT YOU'RE MY PARTNER! DAMN IT YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
In the practice room…..
"Well, at least he put up a good fight," Rogue said as she dropped the arm on top of the now slightly smoking heap that was Vile, "Can ya let meh out now?"
A new voice could be heard over the intercom, "Well done Rogue…. Vile already knew that there was a chance that he could die…. You did well and I would like to speak to you in person Ms Rogue."
"And just who are ya?" Rogue yelled to towards the speakers finally noticing that there were also cameras all over the room and that she had obviously been watched.
"I am the Emperor of the Corgolani Empire my dear," the voice responded in a fatherly tone, "I swear that I will make it worth your while if you would hear me out."
"Alright…. What could it hurt…?" Rogue half muttered to herself.
A few moments later Volt stepped into the training room, what was left of his skin was pale as he passed by the remains of his partner. Nodding to Rogue he led her back to the cell that passed for her room at the moment.
"You have twenty minutes to get yourself cleaned up and presentable for the emperor….. He doesn't like to wait….. Nor do I so keep that in mind," Volt said beside the door as it slid open.
"Right…. Ah'll keep that in mind…. Thanks," Rogue said noting the hint of bitterness in his voice over Vile's death.