Title: The House of the Rising Sun, Prologue 3
Author: Goddess Evie
Date: October 15, 2002
Genre: Romance (Remy/Rogue, Scott/Jean, Lance/Kitty), Action, Drama, Angst, AU, heck, it's got it all…just not all in this chapter-prologue thingie. ^_^
Rating: For this Prologue, it's only a G, and I really don't think this'll get above PG.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own X-men of any incarnation. I am but a poor, fanatical, poor, college student who much enjoys a show so that she writes extensive (and hopefully intriguing, enjoyable, and highly popular) fanfiction to feed her insatiable hunger for anything X-men. Also, the song lyric I use as the optional title doesn't belong to me either. I'm quoting the song "One Day I'll Fly Away" from the wonderfully awesome move "Moulin Rouge". Mmmm, Ewan McGregor, d*mn can that man SING!!! ^_^ But, sadly, I own nothing but the plot so don't sue me cause I can't even pay for college! WAAAAH!
Summary: An excerpt from Xavier's journal detailing what's been going on in the lives of the X-men.
Author's Note: Finally, prologue three. Next chapter is an ACTUAL chapter! If this scene looks familiar, perhaps from the original X-Man cartoon, well, don't say I didn't warn you, unless you didn't read the author's note from the LAST prologue and well that' your own fault but you can still GO READ IT NOW!! Once again, I did my best with accents and stuff, so I hope you can understand what the heck Rogue is saying, otherwise, you're on your own. *smirk* Enjoy!
Prologue 3: Rogue or "One day I'll fly away…"
Rogue stood in the shade of the lone tree facing the supposedly secret airstrip somewhere in Louisiana, she wasn't sure where exactly. She wore a black cat suit that covered her from neck to toe, despite the lingering August heat. Black gloves covered her hands where the cat suit couldn't reach. In fact, the only skin not protected was her head. Around her neck was a type of collar, an extremely fancy collar. Rogue could just imagine the invisible leash that led from the electronic thing around her neck to Mystique's hand. Absently she fingered it, wishing there were some way she could get rid if it, but she knew that if she tried to touch the small keypad to put in any kind of code to unlock the thing she'd receive an electric shock from it strong enough to knock her unconscious. And unfortunately the mutant power she'd been "gifted" with hadn't been super human strength, so she couldn't just rip the thing off her neck.
The mutant power she actually had been gifted with was the reason she was so completely covered. None of Mystique's lackeys', the Brotherhood, wanted to be touched by her, intentionally or accidentally. Even the slightest rubbing of bare skin against bare skin would activate Rogue's power, causing her to steal life force, memories, even physical traits and yes, if the other person were a child of the atom, mutant abilities too.
But the collar kept her from doing that. Somehow the thing knew when she even considered doing such a thing and would stun her to dispel such thoughts. And if she ever actually tried to touch someone unprotected without express orders, the thing would knock her unconscious with a powerful electrical shock. Mystique certainly had her trapped.
Underneath the leafy cover of the tree's branches, Rogue spotted a glint in the Louisiana sky followed by a smoke trail. That was the cue, and she knew that if she failed the collar around her neck would give her a nasty zap. She'd had enough of those as it was to keep her from doing anything more than wishing that she could disobey Mystique's orders.
"No, mess ups," Avalanche warned her.
Rogue ignored him. He knew as well as she did the effectiveness of the electronic collar around her neck. She sensed his presence as he came up to stand just behind her on her left side.
"You make one wrong move and…well, it would be unlucky if you were to be injured, or even worse killed in a tragic accident," Avalanche inferred, though he kept his tone of voice light.
"And what kahnd'a accident maht you be talkin' 'bout?" Rogue inquired challengingly.
"Well, if one of my earthquakes accidentally hit you…" Avalanche let his sentence trail off.
Rogue just laughed. Although Avalanche was the unofficial leader of the Brotherhood, second to Mystique of course, and Quicksilver supposedly, they both knew that he didn't have the guts to actually do what he was threatening. Still, he was threatening, and that was bad enough.
Avalanche stood where he was as she laughed for a second before he strode forward past her. The glint in the sky had now become a full-fledged airplane. More importantly it was a secret military airplane prototype that was making a pit stop here to refuel and get some readings taken. It was an airplane that she and the Brotherhood had been assigned to steal. It was actually a fairly easy task. There would be three people to deal with: the pilot of the plane and the two men assigned to the small strip. Since the place was supposed to be a secret the U.S. government hadn't seen any need to arm it. That was just too bad for them.
Standing at the edge of the tree's shadow, Avalanche went down on one knee and placed his hand on the ground. Rogue continued to stand where she had been the whole time, and she knew that the rest of the Brotherhood was standing somewhere behind her. Quicksilver with his extreme speed and reflexes, the disgusting Toad who resembled the amphibian in more than just name, and the Blob, larger than life-literally. This rag tag band of teenagers had been sent by Mystique to complete this mission, and still Rogue wondered if they could actually pull it off.
Mystique herself was waiting somewhere in the distance and Rogue felt her incessant presence in the small comm.-device she wore on one ear, as did the rest of the Brotherhood. Their was even one big enough for Fred. With these devices Mystique could have instant communication with them as she watched with her binoculars from over a mile away. Their biggest function, however, was to give the signal to begin the mission and the retreat when the mission was completed satisfactorily.
The plane was now coming in for a landing. Rogue watched as first the back wheels, then the front wheels hit the runway with a high pitched skidding sound. The aircraft begin to slow, and finally came to a halt. The two technicians exited the small building as the hatch for the pilot's seat opened and the pilot himself climbed out.
"Now," Mystique's voice was tiny in Rogue's ear, but the authority in it carried through just the same.
The ground in front of Avalanche began to shiver and shake, the waves spreading out in front of him headed straight for the three men who were just reaching each other about a hundred feet in front of the plane. They didn't even know what had hit them when they suddenly found themselves sprawled on the ground.
Now it was Quicksilver's turn. Faster than the eye could see he raced from his spot toward the unsuspecting men. His job: to relieve them of the weapons they carried, three measly handguns. They'd be gone before the men even realized anything out of the ordinary was happening to them.
It seemed like only a split second to Rogue before Pietro returned, holding three guns in his hand and wearing a grin on his face, "Alright," he said, "Your turn."
Rogue looked over her shoulder at the Blob and Toad for a moment and then began to walk forward, taking long, confident strides. She ignored Avalanche and Quicksilver's glares at her as she passed them. Without having to look she knew that Blob and Toad were following her. She tried to focus on the mission, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking that all she wanted was to get this over with and go back to the dump Mystique had them holed up in so that she could fall into a fitful sleep and dream that she was back at the Mansion.
The three mutants had traversed about half the distance from the tree to the airstrip when the three men finally spotted them. Their first instinct, of course, was to reach for their guns, and weren't they surprised when they found the holsters empty. Giving each other unsure looks, the three turned to face their guests as one.
"Stop and identify yourself," one of the technicians began while the second was saying, "Who are you? You're not supposed to be here."
Neither Rogue, nor her companions said anything; they just continued to approach their opponents, focusing on the task at hand. Rogue let Toad and the Blob pass her so that they could take out the three men before she did her part of the plan, and the two advanced eagerly. As they got nearer, the three men took up fighting stances, ready to fight the intruders.
They really didn't have any idea what they were up against. The pilot took a swing at the Blob once he was in range, and ended up with his fist sucked into the Blob's mass. Blob's response was to laugh as if this was the single most hilarious thing he had ever seen, and then pick the pilot up in a massive, suffocating bear hug. The pilot struggled and fought to free himself, but there was no way he could ever hope to break Blob's embrace.
Toad decided the best way to deal with the two technicians was with a long distance attack opposed to a close range melee. He distracted and confused them by first hopping around them with the help of his powerful legs. Then, when they had no idea what was going on, he spat his special slime at them, hitting them square in the faces and causing them to suffocate. Rogue had a feeling that Mystique had given him explicit instructions to deal with his opponents in such a manner, because she certainly didn't trust in Toad's ability to come up with such a strategy on his own.
Now that any opposition was out of the way, it was Rogue's turn. Walking up to the Blob, who still had the pilot in a bear hug, she carefully pulled the glove of her right hand off, finger by finger. The man was still partially conscious when she placed her fingertips on his neck, but state of consciousness didn't affect Rogue's ability. The only real requirement was that the person be alive.
There was the small shock of becoming one with her victim for a moment, and then Rogue released her contact and shook her head to clear her mind. At first, random memories flew through her head, stirring up other memories she's absorbed from other people she'd touched, and she couldn't be sure which belonged to the everyone else and which were actually hers, or even who she was for that matter. Once she began to get oriented inside her brain and substantiated her identity to herself, though, she could start sorting them all out. For a moment, as she began sorting through the pilot's memories and knowledge, she was afraid she hadn't gotten what she needed and so would have to make contact a second time, but then she hit the jackpot and all the information required to fly the plane was at her mental fingertips.
"Are you ready, Rogue?"
That was Mystique again. Rogue nodded, then realizing that Mystique wasn't around anywhere to see the gesture, answered verbally. "Yeah, I got it."
"Good, then everybody else retreat. Rogue can take it from here."
The Blob let the now completely unconscious pilot fall heavily to the ground and quickly, for his size and stature, exited the runway with Toad, both eager to obey Mystique's orders, and too afraid not to. Rogue took a deep breath, then turned and walked briskly toward the plane. She wasn't looking forward to flying it, but she knew that she had to or the consequences could be dire.
Rogue's hands were shaking; her whole being was shaking as she ascended the small ladder that led to the plane's cockpit. Tentatively she swung first one leg, then the other inside and lowered herself into the pilot's seat. Her gaze zooming around the control panel, she took a moment to let what was in her head apply itself to what was in front of her. As if she'd been doing this her whole life, Rogue's hands began to start flicking switches and pushing buttons, though they still shook uncertainly.
This was the startup sequence, her brain told her. She could feel the rumble of the engines as they fired up, sending the sense of immense power throughout the plane. Her hands closed around the steering levers, clamping tightly to stop their shaking, and she pushed them forward. The craft reacted accordingly, mimicking the action of the levers by moving it's whole self forward.
Rogue took a deep breath to settle herself, feeling more confident as her actions seemed to do what they were supposed to. She taxied to the end of the runway, turned the plane around, and began to ready the plane and herself for take off.
"Rogue, you have company," Mystique's voice sounded urgently in her ear.
Immediately Rogue looked around, not sure what Mystique had meant by "company". She obviously didn't look fast enough, however, because she was blind sided by a large mass that almost knocked her out of the plane, which Rogue swore could be nothing less than a semi-truck. Forcing herself to recover quickly, she looked up just in time to see a masked woman in all black flying towards her. Rogue tried to get out of her way, but the woman easily grabbed her, pulling her out of the aircraft and high up into the skies.
"Lemme go!" Rogue demanded, squirming around.
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" the woman asked her, sounding amused.
Rogue looked down at the ground, which was now at least a couple of hundred feet, if not more, below her and reconsidered her statement.
"Then put me down," she corrected herself.
"I don't think so. You're coming with me," the woman informed her.
"Rogue, touch her," Mystique's voice was a whisper in her air.
She looked up at the woman unsurely.
"Do it, Rogue," Mystique's voice sounded eager.
Feeling the weight of the collar around her neck, Rogue reached up her bare hand to her attacker and grabbed the woman's unprotected arm. The touch did its job and Rogue became one with the woman.
"Don't let go, Rogue," Mystique's distance voice came to her just as she was contemplating just that act.
As Ms. Marvel's/Carol Danvers memories, life force, knowledge and powers assaulted Rogue, she vaguely realized that they were falling towards the ground. But that thought was swept away as she continued to sap Ms. Marvel of everything she was, everything she ever had been, everything she wanted to be. Rogue got a glimpse of Carol Danvers' face, and it was a mask of horror.
The two hit the ground and tumbled a few feet. Such an impact was enough to jar their grips from each other. Rogue lay where she was as images ran through her head, all of them mixed up and incongruent. She didn't know how long she lay there before she finally felt sane enough to sit up. It was about that time that the Brotherhood decided to join her.
"Get up," Lance ordered with a sharp kick that sent the rest of her mind jarring back to reality.
"Owe!" Rogue objected, giving Lance a sharp glare.
"She's unconscious," Pietro informed from where he was leaning over Ms. Marvel. He glanced at Rogue as he stood up.
"Get up," Lance ordered again, ready to kick her a second time.
"Alright," Rogue snapped back, assaying the blow.
She tried to stand, she really did, but her body seemed to have other ideas. Her legs felt so shaky when she tried to support herself with them that she only fell down again. A massive hand-it had to be Fred's-grabbing her by the arm and hauling her to her feet caused the world to spin, but it also supported her until she could stand on her own.
"So, what kind of powers did you absorb?" Todd asked eagerly.
"Ah don't care," Rogue yelled back. "Ah don't care. Ah don't want t'be a paht of this anymore. Ah want…ah want to go home," Rogue felt the rage taking over her body. She flailed herself about, to keep the others away from her. Her hands reached up to the collar around her neck. She would get it off no matter what it took. Getting a good hold on the thing with each hand, she pulled with all her might and was just as surprised as everyone else when the thing broke apart in her hands.
Holding the pieces of what used to be the collar that had encircled her neck in her hands, Rogue looked around at the unbelievable faces of the Brotherhood.
"Ah…ah…ah…" she couldn't think of anything to say other than that. Then realization hit and a slow smile spread across her face. "Ah'm free," she whispered to herself.
With that knowledge secure in her mind, Rogue turned and ran. The one thought in her mind was that she could finally go back to the mansion in Bayville where they didn't make her do anything she didn't want to, besides go to school and learn control of her powers. And not everybody there hated or feared her. In fact, she could even say that she had a few friends there: Kurt and Evan and she might just count Kitty if she were in a good mood.
"Stop her. Don't let her go," Rogue realized that she was hearing Mystique's voice in her ear, and even more important than that, the "her" Mystique was referring to was none other than herself.
*No,* Rogue thought, as she rid herself of the communication device. *I can't let them take me again.*
But already she felt the passing wind of Quicksilver running circles around her.
"Just leave me alone!" Rogue screamed as Quicksilver slowed his pace to run right next to her. By the grin on his face she knew he was mocking her. She tried to push him away, but his reflexes were too fast and he sped off only to reappear on her other side a few moments later.
Rogue closed her eyes. She wished…she wished that they would all disappear. Or that she could fly away from it all, soar up above the clouds where they couldn't reach her.
"Hey-hey! Where are you going?" Quicksilver's voice sounded surprised and it startled Rogue into opening her eyes.
For a moment Rogue thought that maybe, somehow, she was dreaming when she found that she was floating above the ground and steadily getting higher. Already, Pietro was at least a hundred feet below her. But how?
Ms. Marvel's mutant abilities of course. She'd flown with Rogue in tow. Rogue should have known that from the get go. She didn't know why she didn't think of it before. Looking down on Pietro and the rest of the Brotherhood Rogue smiled to herself.
But the smile quickly faded when she realized that she couldn't just leave the defenseless Carol Danvers behind to this rabid pack of wolves. She'd been taught better than that at the Mansion. With her heart filled with guilt and even a little bit of fear, Rogue turned around and flew back toward the airstrip. She tried to think of some plan of attack as she approached, but she figured the best way to handle this would be to just swoop in, scoop up Ms. Danvers and get away as fast as she could.
Coming up on the four-man group, Rogue watched the Brotherhood's faces following her every move. Thank goodness none of them were telepath's like Jean or they'd surely have read her mind to find out what she was up to. Since none of them were, the element of surprise was with her. That and the fact that all four of the members of the Brotherhood seemed frozen with awe at what she was doing.
That was enough of an edge for her to fly down out of the sky, grab Ms. Marvel-thankfully it only took her that first try-and get out of there while the Brotherhood were still blinking their eyes at what she had done. Filled with pride, Rogue didn't even take the time to look back as, finally, she flew away to safety and to freedom.