Disclaimer: I do not have time to spend searching for my certificate right now as I have finals this week… damn do finals suck!

A/N: For future reference since Rogue is from the South originally she will be speaking French since she speaks it rather well… not to mention I know how to speak it fairly well so it'll give me a chance to keep up with it. Enjoy!

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

(…)- extra facts/actions (some)

((…))- author's/my own thoughts

'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally

Chapter 41: The Southern Belle and the Spicy Cajun; Part 1- Flashback and Struggle

Hallway #23, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy- May 16, 6:45 PM

At the opposite end of the complex Rogue opened her emerald eyes and found that she was lying on something soft. She slowly sat up and immediately put a hand to her forehead.

"Damn do Ah have a headache. Je déteste quand je suis mal à la tête," (I hate it when I have a headache) Rogue muttered as she massaged her temples in a vain attempt to stop the headache. After a few moments, sure she wasn't dizzy, Rogue tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed.

"Wha' in tha hell?" sputtered Rogue as she found herself unable to move her legs. She tried summoning her super-strength but found she was unable to. Rogue glanced around near the bed, hoping to find something within arm's reach that would let her pick the locks on the shackles she saw on and around her ankles. Rogue was too concerned with trying to unlock the shackles on her ankles to really ask herself why her hands and arms weren't shackled down at the same time.

Rogue finally gave up on the shackles and looked around the room. 'Tha's strange,' she thought as she got a good look at where she was being held. 'Ah feel like Ah've been here sometim' before, but Ah can't quite place it…' Rogue looked around once more at the room and suddenly realized where she was.

"But this is… this is my room from when Ah lived with Irene!" exclaimed Rogue as she stared at the room, which consisted of a fairly big, iron-wrought bed (which was where she was currently shackled to), two black dressers with white moons on them, a closet, a small black bookcase near her bed that held all of Rogue's CDs, a boombox, a personal CD player, and about 25 books, mostly dark romance. Against the wall underneath a window that overlooked a weeping willow stood a dark mahogany desk with a computer on it, along with some room on it for Rogue to do her homework. On the wall above her bed hung a blown-up map of the United States (like the one in the first X-Men movie). Rogue glanced up above the bed and her eyes widened as she saw pins and pictures on the projected path she had wanted to take… a "continental tour", if you will, after she had graduated from college. That is, before she developed her mutant powers. Rogue's eyes looked over the photos, and she saw where she had placed pictures of places she dreamed… had dreamed… of going, and took special notice of the picture of the French Quarter from New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

'Wait… why do Ah have a picture from New Orleans on my wall? Ah was only there once, but that was when Ah was "kidnapped" and Remy used me… but at the same time Ah don' think tha' Ah want to go back there, do Ah? But wait… Remy lives there!' thought Rogue as she stared at the map, and then on thinking about Remy dug into her torn bomber jacket's left pocket and pulled out a beaten up poker playing card. Rogue stared at it for a few minutes and remembered when Remy had given it to her.

FLASHBACK

Rogue and Irene Adler's home, Meridian, Mississippi, planet Earth- June 17, 2009, 10:19 AM

It was 2009 and Rogue had just graduated college; one of the last mutants to be allowed to graduate from Bayville College, which would stop letting mutants graduate in the year 2011. She'd made plans to leave the Institute for a few weeks so she could go visit her foster mother Irene Adler in Meridian, Mississippi.

"Rogue, I am glad that you have come home for a visit," greeted Irene as she sensed her foster daughter come in the door. Irene slowly got out of her favorite armchair and opened her arms to greet her foster daughter. Irene was in her most comfortable outfit, which consisted of light brown khakis, a light gray sweater, black loafers, and a delicate gold chain that hung around her neck with a matching gold bracelet on her right wrist, both gifts from Rogue for her last birthday.

"Irene, it feels so good to be back here," said Rogue a bit thickly as her eyes filled with tears, knowing that she was home, if only for a little while. Rogue quickly took to the air and flew up to her room, depositing her duffel bag on her bed. She then flew back downstairs and went into the living room, where she took a seat in the armchair next to Irene and they talked of what had been going on since Rogue had last visited on Irene's birthday a couple of months ago.

Rogue and Irene Adler's home, Meridian, Mississippi, planet Earth- June 21, 2009, 9:50 PM

"Irene, any new predictions lately?" asked Rogue a few days after her return. Irene's face tightened a bit, as if she was thinking of something terrible. "Irene, are yah okay?" asked Rogue worriedly as she watched her foster mother's face tighten even more.

"Rogue," said Irene softly and urgently a few minutes later, "there is a group of thieves near us and they are planning to capture you. I believe you know them, am I correct?"

"Thieves?" asked Rogue confusedly as she screwed her face into one of concentration. "Ah don't know any thieves… wait, yes Ah do! The Thieves' Guild and the Assassins of N'aw Orleans. Ah was down there five years ago with Remy to help rescue his father. But why in tha hell are they here?"

As Rogue finished saying this the living room window suddenly exploded, glass flying everywhere. Rogue pulled Irene to the floor just in time, and after making sure her foster mother wasn't injured, flew out of the window and into the midst of a battle.

As she floated in the air, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she surveyed the scene before her. She saw two groups of people before her; one group in bright colored uniforms in shades of pink, blue, and black, and the other group in dark brown or green trenchcoats, with the men having the same hair color as Remy LeBeau. She floated up there for a few minutes, but one of the people in the pink, blue, and black uniforms spotted her and cried, "There! Get her!"

Both groups' heads swiveled up to look at the Southern belle in the air above them and then, as if they communicated through a prearranged silent signal, began firing at Rogue. Rogue cursed as she dodged all of the lasers and bullets heading her way, but was unable to dodge all of them, as one of them hit her in the stomach. Rogue screamed out in pain and collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach as she did so, her fingers starting to become red from the wound, her invincibility not quite having kicked in quite yet.

Rogue lay on the ground, and accessed the healing factor she had absorbed from Logan a couple months ago in trying to gain control of her powers. Rogue felt the wound begin to heal, and as she was trying to catch her second wind took no notice of the two groups advancing upon her. She barely heard them speak to each other, saying, "Grab her an' be careful ta not touch her skin."

Just as Rogue's wound was almost healed she was kicked hard in the ribs and felt, or rather heard, one or two of them crack. Rogue gasped as pain overwhelmed her, and she tried to heal her ribs but then was kicked once more in the ribs, along with being punched in the face. She felt herself being picked up, a gloved hand around her exposed neck. Rogue could feel herself begin to suffocate but just when she was about to pass out she heard her captor scream in pain. Rogue was dropped to the ground and landed on her bruised ribs, which Logan's healing factor was slowly taking care of. Rogue's eyes fluttered open when she heard more screams and lifted her head, wincing as she felt pain radiating from her neck. Rogue's eyes adjusted once more to the darkness and she saw flashes of bright orange light streaming down around her, yet somehow missing her. She could hear shots going off all around her and saw blue and red lights shooting up into the air.

Rogue slowly got to her feet, wincing as she placed a hand around her chest where the ribs were still slowly healing. As Rogue watched the battle of lights she could hear curses and screams of pain from the ground and she suddenly realized that the orange lights were the calling cards of the Cajun mutant Gambit. Rogue watched as the light show intensified, the orange lights from Gambit's playing cards growing brighter and descending quicker and quicker.

The two groups cursed at their bad luck and continued to curse as the cards hit their guns, causing the metal to turn piping hot and their owners to drop them to the ground, the guns now smoking piles of metal. Rogue heard movement behind her but before she could whirl around she felt a piece of cold metal pressing against her neck. Rogue couldn't breathe as she heard someone whisper, "It's my turn to deal wit' yah, sugah. No one, but no one ruins mah weddin' day to de man of mah dreams, yah River Rat!" Rogue felt a surge of fear run through her as she recognized the voice of Belladonna Boudreaux— Remy's fiancé. Rogue and Belladonna had met during Mardi Gras last year and both had taken an instant dislike to the other. Rogue tried to not breathe, afraid that her invulnerable skin wasn't working, as lasers had shot her so why not be cut in the throat as well?

Rogue stood that way for a few minutes, a hand around her chest, the other held behind her back by Belladonna, a knife at her throat, with Belladonna chuckling darkly. Rogue suddenly felt the pressure on the pinned arm weaken and realized Belladonna was no longer chuckling. Rogue quickly backhanded whoever was behind her and heard a man curse in French. She lunged around and performed a roundhouse kick and heard the man curse loudly. Rogue was forced back when her kick landed, not quite having her balance returned to her. She was about to throw a punch when she heard a man whisper, "Stay still, chère." Rogue wasn't sure why but she listened to that voice and kept still, and she soon heard more curses breaking the silence around her, along with some gunshots.

After what seemed to be forever silence reined over the battlefield and Rogue felt she could move. She removed her arm from her chest, glad to feel that her ribs had healed. She looked around, and when her eyes had adjusted to the darkness she saw numerous bodies of both the groups spread all over the lawn. Rogue looked around, looking for the body of Belladonna but didn't see her. Rogue began to walk towards the house, wanting to make sure Irene was okay. She broke into a run when she heard a groan of pain coming from the house and tried to access Pietro's power but couldn't because she felt too weak.

When Rogue had almost reached the house she felt something grab her legs and bring her down to the ground. Rogue hit her nose and felt blood spurt into her mouth, the taste burning her tongue. Rogue tried to get up but felt someone sitting on her back, and once more felt the cold pressure of metal pressed against her neck. This time Rogue felt more than one chill racing through her as she recognized the shape of the metal pressed against the back of her neck— a pistol. Rogue could barely make out someone gloating over her evident demise and closed her eyes, knowing she was too weak to activate her invulnerable skin and that death was near.

Just when Rogue thought it was all over she felt the weight removed from her back and heard scuffling behind her. Rogue stayed on the ground, hoping for her strength to return to her when she felt someone grab her from behind by her waist. She heard a hint of grunting as she was pulled to her feet and felt arms encircle her waist, helping her stay balanced. Rogue felt pain shoot up her right ankle as she tried to put pressure on it and instantly knew it was broken.

"Let Remy help ya, chère," came a voice from behind Rogue, who froze, recognizing the voice. She swung around in the person's arms and slapped whoever was behind her, hearing the voice mutter, "Oui, et dis is de thanks Remy gets for savin' your life?"

"Gambit! Wha' tha hell are yah doin' here?" asked Rogue angrily, fire burning in her emerald eyes. Remy merely smiled and tightened the hold he had around the Southern mutant. He grinned when he saw that Rogue couldn't take her eyes off his.

"Parce que ma chère (Because my dear) was in danger, and Remy thought she needed help, and since Remy was in the neighborhood Remy helped," answered Remy as he looked into Rogue's eyes and found himself lost I them. 'Mon Dieu (My God), those eyes… they draw Remy in like moths ta a flame.'

Remy was surprised when Rogue's eyes flashed in anger once more and broke out of Remy's hold, floated off the ground about a foot and yelled, "Ah am not your chère, Swamp Rat!"

Remy grinned in amusement at the nickname she had given him. "Ah, but chère," he said, "That's simply not true, as you have given Remy a pet name, which is your way of showin' Remy that you care." Remy was pleased to see her blush a bit, but found himself forced back a couple of feet, his jaw hurting like hell and he realized Rogue had punched him; hard.

As Remy rubbed his jaw he watched Rogue storm away, or rather float slowly away and figured that it was time for him to leave. 'Mais (But) Remy has to do somethin' first…'

With this thought Remy ran up to Rogue, who was just about to go back inside her house and see how Irene was and find out the rest of the vision, knowing that there had to have been more than Irene had told her. Rogue was fuming in anger at how she had let her guard down and had been embarrassed once more by the smooth-talking Cajun.

'Why does this happen to meh every time Ah see that Swamp Rat, and why do Ah always seem to be drawn to him? Ah mean, come on, he's no catch, plus he's on Magneto's side, an' Ah don't think tha Professor would approve…'

Rogue was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt a hand grab her arm again, pulled down so she was forced to put pressure on her broken ankle, and was twirled around to meet Remy's face once more.

"Gambit, wha' in tha hell are yah doin'…" began Rogue angrily but was stopped when Remy placed a playing card to her lips and kissed her through it. Rogue closed her eyes and unknowingly leaned into the kiss, and after a few minutes, Remy broke the kiss and forced the same playing card into Rogue's gloved hands. Remy then winked at Rogue, smirking as he did so and ran off, using his Bo pole to leap into a nearby weeping willow and take off into the night. Remy did so not caring about the numerous men and women lying sprawled across Rogue's front lawn, some of them his own relatives—distant, yes, but relatives nonetheless.

It took Rogue a few minutes to realize that she was holding something. When she looked down, her eyes widened when she saw that it was none other than the Queen of Hearts, which she knew from past encounters was his favorite card to use in battle and which he also used to represent her. She glanced up from it only to find that the Cajun mutant was gone and the thieves were still sprawled across her lawn. She sighed and tucked the card in the pocket of her now smoldering bomber jacket and went into the house to call the police and have them pick up the "drunk" men and women and to also check on her foster mother.

She'd heard later that the two groups were in fact the two rival guilds from New Orleans and they had come to get her for a specific reason, which to the authorities was unknown. Rogue, however, knew why they had come for her: they had heard she was back in the area and had raced each other up from the city to kidnap her, brainwash her into doing their dirty work for them, eliminate the rival guild, and help take over the whole of New Orleans while Belladonna had been out for plain revenge.

Rogue & Irene Adler's home, Meridian, Mississippi, planet Earth- July 1, 2009, 11:50 AM

The rest of her vacation went by quickly with no more incidents, but all too soon Rogue had to return to the Institute. She hugged Irene tightly, looking around at the newly repaired house she had fixed. Rogue then said good-bye to Irene, picked up her luggage (she had acquired one more bag than she had arrived with) and made to leave when Irene called, "Rogue, come back for a minute."

"Wha' is it Irene?" asked Rogue as she knelt in front of her foster mother, who was sitting in her favorite armchair. "Are ya alright? Is somethin' wrong? Are ya sick or somethin?"

"No, nothing like that, Rogue. You forgot something, daughter," replied Irene softly as she held up the card Remy had left with her. Rogue started in surprise, her eyes growing wide. Rogue was about to tell Irene to throw the card out when Irene continued, "Take it Rogue. You will soon see that this card will mean more to you than you could have ever thought possible."

With these words Irene pressed the card into her foster-daughter's hand, hugged her once more, and gave her a shove towards the door.

"But Irene… Ah," began Rogue but was cut off when Irene shook her head no at Rogue's unspoken question of whether Irene would tell her what she meant. Rogue then sighed, put the card in her jacket, and left to return to the Institute.

Irene heard her daughter take to the air and sighed, thinking, 'I wish I could have told you what all my vision entailed that night, Rogue, but you will soon learn what that card will be useful for and what the future has in store.' Irene sucked in her breath when another vision flashed into her mind, showing eight young adults, four women and four men, floating in the air, dressed in flowing white and black robes, Rogue among them.

BACK TO PRESENT DAY

"Wha' am Ah doin', thinkin' about that Swamp Rat when Ah really need to find a way out o' here!" muttered Rogue as she focused on the present and not the past. She studied the card carefully and suddenly remembered something she had seen in a spy movie a couple weeks ago and slid the card's edges into an ankle shackle's lock. Rogue wiggled the card around inside, hoping to hit some mechanism that would open the locks and to her immense relief a click was heard and one ankle shackle was open. Rogue then did the same with the other ankle shackle and sighed with relief when it too came undone. Rogue swung her now free legs over the bed, letting them hang as the blood circulation returned to normal. Rogue looked at the card and then carefully put it back into her jacket.

"Parfait… (Perfect)," muttered Rogue angrily as she tried to wrench the device on her neck off but gave up after a few minutes of not getting even the smallest leverage. "Is there anythin' in this room o' mine that'll let meh get this damn device off?"

Rogue looked around the room and her eyes landed on one of her dressers where she spotted some bobby pins left over from a high school project that she had never gotten around to getting rid off. Rogue smirked and thought to herself, 'Perfect. Ah'll free myself then go and find everyone else and get tha hell out o' here.'

Rogue began walking over to the dresser when she heard the door to the room open. Rogue spun around and stood with her mouth gaping as she saw Remy enter the room, and felt her hopes being dashed to pieces.

"Gambit, wha' in tha hell are yah doin' here? Yah are tha one who put meh here in this hellhole, and Ah demand tha' yah let meh go so Ah can help tha others!" growled Rogue, having closed her mouth quickly. Rogue stared at the Cajun mutant in front of her, hoping he would take pity on her and remove the device from her neck.

"Now, I know that you are trying with all of your might to come up with a plan to escape this room, but luckily, or should I say, unluckily, for you, escape is not possible," said Gambit as he moved closer to Rogue. Rogue watched as he came closer and for a moment thought she saw his eyes flash yellow. "Although you have escaped your shackles using your powers, I feel it to be the better option to turn your mutation inhibition device on now."

Rogue heard a beeping sound as the device turned off (it had been on the whole time) and Rogue rejoiced in the feeling of her powers returning to her. Rogue then turned her attention to the mutant in front of her, her mouth in a thin line, watching the Cajun move closer and closer to her.

When Gambit was a few feet away from her he began to squirm and writhe as if he was in pain. Rogue watched in horror and disbelief as Gambit began to change, his form becoming sleeker, scalier, and blue. His hair began to change from the dark auburn-brown she loved… wait, 'loved?!' to a vibrant red, and his red-on-black eyes began to turn into yellow, almost cat-like eyes. Rogue's eyes widened in realization of what she was seeing.

"Mystique! You bitch! How dare yah imprison meh like Ah'm…Ah'm some kind of caged animal! Also, wha' in tha' hell gives yah the right to impersonate Remy like that?" yelled Rogue as she ripped the inhibition device off, startling the shapeshifter, and flew towards her, a fist raised and ready to punch her Raven.

Raven smiled a savage, cat-like smile that sent chills up Rogue's spine but the flying mutant continued to head towards her target. Raven sidestepped Rogue at the last moment and hit Rogue on the back of her neck, knocking her to the ground. After a moment Mystique stopped smiling and moved closer to Rogue, flipped her onto her back, and stared down into Rogue's eyes.

"Welcome my daughter," said Raven slowly, "to your last night as Rogue of the X-Men and your first day as Rogue the Horseman of Famine and loyal servant of Apocalypse!"

Raven began to laugh evilly, holding a struggling Rogue down and slowly reached a hand into a small pocket in her uniform and brought out syringe filled with some kind of black liquid. Rogue struggled once more and heard Raven grunt a little as she held Rogue to the ground and knew instinctively that she was winning the battle. Rogue summoned all her strength, including the strength she had inherited from Carol Danvers and what she had stored in her memory from Piotr, Logan, Sabretooth, and Hank. Rogue pushed Raven off her and lunged at the blue-skinned mutant, catching her off-guard. This caused the syringe to fly out of Raven's hand and land on the floor a couple of feet away. Raven summoned her own strength and threw Rogue off, lunging for the syringe. Raven yelled in pain when she felt what seemed to be a lead foot press down on her back and screamed as the pain radiated from her back into her chest and gasped in pain as she felt her ribs being crushed. After a few minutes of torture Raven faded into unconsciousness.