"Did we at the very least get anything good from the disks we...took?" Rogue asked the staff, not wanting to use the word steal, which she knew was probably the more accurate word.
"Yep, we got some designs for the new sentinels, a side project called 'Prowler'." Wolverine answered her as he hit a series of buttons bringing up a hologram of what looked to be a a giant spider/scorpion, with an arsenal attached to it's tail.
"That doesn't look friendly." Rogue commented dryly.
"No, it doesn't, we won't know more for a while, prototypes for the 'Prowler Program' haven't even started yet, but this is something that concerns me."
Magneto spoke as he hit a series of buttons, another hologram appeared. This smaller sentinel with a red triangle chest appeared. "The sentinel we encountered in the facility, his name is Nimrod." Magneto spoke as more information appeared.
"He's a leader of sorts for the sentinels, you may recall in the facility when I said there was an odd amount of metal coming toward us, Nimrod's major joints are lined with metal, though not enough to stop him, and he is designed to repair himself."
"Sounds like someone to watch out for." Rogue commented.
"Agreed." Magneto said as the holograms faded out.
"We have a simulation in ten minutes with the kids, and because of that I'm going to need a beer." Wolverine said as he left the War Room. Beast gave a disapproving sigh as he continued to work on the computers.
Rogue shook her head and put her green utility belt lined with a black 'X' in the center.
"Nightcrawler intercept!" Rogue pointed to an a simulation citizen about to be crushed by a car. "On it." Nightcrawler replied before he teleported away. Rogue nodded in satisfaction as he saved the citizen before the car fell.
Rogue observed the rest of the team from the top of a fallen bus. Their mission was to protect the citizens from falling debris and/or machines, Rogue's job for this simulation was to give the orders and not get physically involved, no matter what.
Shadowcat was dragging a hologram citizen to safety when a spinning flamethrower came her way, from behind. "Shadowcat phase!"
Shadowcat dropped the citizen and safely phased through the flamethrower, that probably wasn't a hologram. Rogue sighed when she saw the citizen burnt to a crisp. "And take the person with you next time!" Shadowcat winced when she heard that before looked down at what was left of the blackened citizen.
"Sorry!" She called. Rogue rubbed her temples before waving her hand. "Just help the others...and where is that flamethrower?" Rogue looked around confused when she saw it still spinning high up in the sky.
'It should have crashed by now.' Rogue thought as it launched itself at Amara. "Magma, burn it!" Rogue hollered. Magma threw fire from her hands, only to have the flamethrower dodge it...and Magma's flames went straight at Berserker.
"And watch your aim!" She called. Rogue took a closer look at the flamethrower. Metal outlined the sides. 'Of course!' She thought to herself. She pushed down on her black earpiece.
"Iceman, I need you freeze the flamethrower, Nightcrawler try to chase it his way."
"Got it, one iced-thrower coming up." Iceman dropped the women he'd been crying and took a fighting stance. The hologram women coughed before picking up a a bar off the ground and raising it above her head.
"Iceman behind you!" Rogue yelled into her earpiece. But he didn't turn fast enough and instead suffered a heavy blow to the back.
Rogue looked to the rest of her team Kitty had dodged the flamethrower, but had crashed into a wall as a result and was crouched over in pain. Kurt was running for his life from the flamethrower, Spyke was hanging upside down from a half broken dangling bridge and what was left of the new mutants were getting their butts kicked. All from a little flamethrower.
Rogue sighed angrily before looking at her watch. 7:45. "Computer end simulation!" The broken and burning half of New York City vanished and the turned into the walls of the danger room, and all the holograms of citizens vanished too, except for the flamethrower which twirled up to the observation room.
'Damn Erik kicked their asses with nothing but a piece of metal attached to a lighter.'
"That was without a doubt, one of the most pathetic and failed training sessions we've had in a long time!" Rogue spoke to the others. "Frankly, I think we've all gotten a little too lazy after that brush with Apocalypse. We partied a lot over the summer and ignored our training until a month ago, we are, without a doubt in my mind out of practice. And that is why you're going to kiss your evenings goodbye, from now on we have training sessions twice a day, everyday, except for the weekend. On the weekend we are having one training session at six o'clock in the morning."
The reaction of her team members were...pissed to say the least.
"You can't do that!" Magma yelled.
"What?" Nightcrawler asked in disbelief.
"No way!" Shadocat joined in.
"That's enough!" Magneto yelled as he floated down beside Rogue. "That was a disaster! For the most part, I am in agreement with Rogue."
"Most part?" Rogue asked.
"In my opinion their should be three training sessions on Saturday and Sunday!" Everybody started in shock. "I can't believe this!" Bobby shouted as he picked himself up off the floor. "It's not fair! How was I supposed to know that hologram bitch, that I saved, would attack me?"
Rogue turned her attention to Bobby. "Iceman, you were warned at the beginning of the session that not all citizens would be friendly."
"The problem, you Iceman, isn't you or your teammates lack of attention or accomplishment." Magneto spoke icily. "Your main problem is getting beaten miserably by a lighter attached to a piece of metal."
The room went silent.
"Alright, hit the showers and be at school in thirty minutes, after school report to the danger room at five o'clock ." Rogue said dismissing the team.
"Where did all their training go?" Rogue asked to no one in particular. "And why did it have to be now?"
"We're going to need them, and soon." Magneto told her.
"Yeah, and getting them into shape ain't gonna be a cakewalk."
"Then we're in agreement. "
Rogue nodded and thought for a moment.
"Erik." She began hesitantly. "How well trained is the Brotherhood?"
Magneto was taken back by her question. What would the Brotherhood have to do with this?
"I'm not sure, somewhat satisfactory by Mystique's standers." Rogue felt a chill of anger and resentment at the mention of her mothers name. "Maybe we could set up a training session of some kind with the Brotherhood." Rogue suggested.
Rogue sighed as she thought of how her team would react to this, and she didn't blame them, god what was she thinking? The Brotherhood? Sure they were on somewhat friendly terms after Apocalypse, but the Brotherhood? The Brotherhood that they'd fought almost every week for three years, yeah that was gonna go over real nice.
"That's not the brightest idea you've ever come up with." He responded. Rogue studied his face carefully. Something was masked there. "Why not?"
She asked. "With the sentinels coming, we may have to work with them again, and if there's even a small chance we could learn something from them...
"No." He responded quickly and firmly. "Look, I don't like it either, but we're going to have to suck it up in case Apocalypse comes back or something, I know your not stupid enough to believe a mutant that powerful could just be locked away and remain hidden forever. "
A sudden rush of anger swelled inside of him at the mention of that name. Rogue saw it, and internally winced. 'Maybe bringing up Apocalypse and his embarrassing failure wasn't the best idea.' She thought.
"I will take care of him when the time comes!" His response was yelled angrily.
"Like you did last time?" Rogue asked without thinking. "Oh, yeah that worked out real well!" Her snide little comments weren't yelled, but they were sarcastic, and that was like throwing gasoline on the fire.
"You said it yourself, Apocalypse had two of the most powerful mutants under his control, and I saw the footage from Mexico." She said smugly. "You got your ass kicked."
He clenched his jaw. She could see he was trying very hard to control his anger. Had they been enemies like they were a few months ago, he would have thrown her across the room to start with.
"Really, and who do you suppose is going to save humanity next time, you again?" He growled back. "Apocalypse would have taken precautions with you, he would have gotten rid of you before he started this over again, and I doubt it would be in a kind way, seeing as he most likely harbors no kind feelings toward the brat who ruined his plan."
"BRAT?!" Rogue yelled, fists clenched at her sides. "I'm not a brat, and even if I were, a brat is better than a spectacular failure!"
"I'm curious Erik, why don't you want the X-men to work with the Brotherhood? Is it because your afraid of Wanda figuring out what you did?" She asked knowingly. Last night she had gone over everything she'd absorbed from the whole Mesmero/Mystique/Apocalypse Rising incident.
"Yeah I know all about that." She said.
He was angered beyond belief, Rogue saw that. But slowly his anger turned into something much more deadly.
"Your right." He admitted. "If that happens Wanda will have an outburst, and want to kill me again. But I suppose, should that happen, I may try a new tactic. Instead of erasing her memories I'll simply push her off a ledge in the mountains."
Rogue froze up. She remembered the field trip with Scott and the rest of the geology club, how Mystique had pushed Scott and her off the ledge, knowing she was her daughter.
"Of course she may try the same thing to me in a few years, but she may accurately kill me. Hmmm, I wonder where it would happen? The gazebo by the cliff seems like a probable place."
"Bastard." Rogue hissed. She didn't know how he knew half of what he did, but she was going to find out...with the touch of her finger.
'About time.' The voice commented.
Rogue tore her glove off and lunged for him. The fell to the ground as she successfully tackled him. In an instant her hand wrapped around his jaw.
Her eyes widened as she felt her powers active. The rush the flow of it. Tingles of blue energy came off of the two as they were both frozen. Rogue felt his powers enter her. The warm vibrating hum of cerebro, the danger room. It felt so good.
'No leave it. It'll be there for a while.' The voice said. 'Focus on your abilities, how it feels.'
And for once Rogue listened to the voice. The shock and the tingles of energy and power that flowed through her.
She was caught off guard when a magnetic force pushed her off of him. The contact broke, along with all the feelings that came with it. The disappointment faded as captivation with his abilities overtook her.
Rogue pulled herself to her feet and listened to the metal.
She took a piece of metal off of the walls and formed it into three balls that floated through the air. She faintly heard a grunt from behind her and turned to see Magneto recovering from her attack. Their eyes met for a moment before anger ripped through her. He'd reminded her of her mother, and now matter how shitty of a dad he was, her mother was worse! Worse than Magneto.
The three metal spheres stopped moving and turned into three metal spikes. They launched themselves at Magneto. He easily deflected them.
Rogue hissed. She could feel his personality overtaking her, his rage, his homicidal personality. His reaction to rage.
Magnetic energy emerged, Rogue could feel it coming out of her eyes. She lunged for him again.
Rogue hit him square in the jaw, but her victory was short lived as his hands seized her sides and sent her flying into the air with the help of his magnetism.
She used magnetism to stabilize her as she floated. "Been wanting to do that since New York!" Rogue called down to him. "You remember when you went running from me, right? The first time I kicked your ass?"
Blue energy was radiating off of him as he threw electric lightning at her. Rogue fraught to keep it from hitting her as she put up a magnetic shield. Quickly as she could she expanded the shield and pushed it towards him.
She laughed mockingly. 'He's going to get his ass kicked again.'
Rogue was shocked when he gave off a magnetic blast that pushed through hers and sent her flying for the ceiling. When she hit it two strips of metal came up to wrap around her wrists blue pieces of metal.
Rogue struggled to call out to them, to unwrap them. But they wouldn't respond to her. She stared at the strips confused.
Magneto chuckled as he floated up to her. "It's no use Rogue, I've put a magnetic shield on it to keep you from interfering." She glared at him.
He smirked at her. "Congratulations, Rogue I really didn't think you had it in you. You may very well be the only student here not completely under the thrall of Xavier's dreamlike influence."
"So your not here to be one of us!" Rogue exclaimed. "I knew it!"
"That isn't the point Rogue, the point, girl is that I saw the look on your face." He said still wearing his smirk. "I saw how much you enjoyed using your power, how much you enjoyed using mine."
He gave a dark chuckle. "Of course I would be excited too if I hadn't used my god given gift is such a long time. It really is an amazing and deadly gift, such a pity Charles squanders it."
"Bastard!" Rogue hissed angrily as she thrashed against the restraints. She could feel his power being channeled through her the sparks that were powering up. Rogue knew that when she absorbed a mutant she often used their ability better than they did, and Magneto sure as hell wasn't going to be the exception to that.
Rogue in-haled angrily. She knew how much her power fascinated him and she was going to show him what it could do.
As she released her energy she felt the strips of metal snap off her.
'Ohhh, it's on, time to kick Erik's ass and take his life force! YES! Feel the rush the power, don't deny how much you liked it.'
And for once the voice wasn't annoying, or like the little devil on your shoulder, it was that encouraging friend. She smiled at the look of shock on his face as she lunged for him again.
So tell me, who liked that little fight, and who's pissed about X-Men Legacy 275? Anyone miss Carey, the writer that got them together? Man I was expecting a big reunion and all, but hell at least Gage made them kiss, and who knows she's gonna be on a team with his daughter in Uncanny Avengers so Magneto's bound to pop up sometime.
Cross your fingers and hope for the best!
(And don't forget to review)
Marigrab-Yeah I've read some of the AoA series but they're hard to find, I really like the "Shattered Dreams" story when Rogue chooses Magneto over Gambit.
Saany-I admit I was a little worried about the clear start, so now I made a fight scene!
Batty QUEEN-Thanks so much!
1983Sarah-Glad you like it thanks for the review!
Angelpaint07-Thanks for your review!
.Kitty-Aww thanks I just love Erik and Rogue cuteness!