5 January
Luck. n. 1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities 2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance 3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person 4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend
"Are you ready, child?" Ororo's voice permeated through Rogue's partially opened door.
"Ah ... Ah dunno. Ah almost feel like Ah'm naked," Rogue answered. As a finishing touch, she pulled on the pair of gloves Remy bought for her. Feeling nervous with her appearance, she hesitantly opened her door to show Ororo her brand new uniform.
A broad smile pulled across Ororo's face and her blue eyes sparkled. "Don't worry yourself; you look wonderful."
"Speak for yaself," Rogue muttered under her breath. Ororo's costume was black with gold accents. An unobtrusive cape draped off her shoulders, which connected to her wrists-very classy. Her top was cut right above her breasts, her midsection was hardly covered and a large portion of her toned thighs were showing. It was fashionable as far as costumes went, but Rogue doubted it'd be acceptable at any place but here.
Rogue's costume, on the other hand, covered most of her body. It was still skin tight, but hers was green with white accents. A hood hung from around her neck and a white stripe ran down her front, splitting off into two around her waist.
As the two young women walked through the mansion to get to the Danger Room, Rogue asked a sudden question that came to mind: "Aren't the X-Men a team?"
"Yes." Ororo appeared confused.
"Ah thought teams were dressed the same."
"We've tried that before," Ororo replied with humor; "it wasn't very popular among the students."
She opened the door to the Danger Room. Suddenly feeling jittery, Rogue stepped inside the strange room for the first time. Half of the residents of the mansion were already inside. "We are the junior team," Ororo announced. "I'm Storm, this is Iceman, Psylocke, Dazzler, Gambit, and Nightcrawler." She motioned to Bobby, Elisabeth, Alison, Remy and Kurt respectively.
"Ah have ta remember more names now?"
Kurt grinned. "It won't be hard to remember. We are code named the way we are for a reason. Even him." Kurt pointed to Remy with a laugh. Remy's expression remained flat, suggesting Kurt's joke wasn't that funny.
"So what's the scenario today?" Bobby asked Ororo. Nearly everyone looked up to her for leadership, and for obvious reasons in Rogue's opinion.
"I have put the choice in Banshee's hands today," she replied. "I told him to keep it calm for Rogue's sake."
Rogue's face grew hot. "Ah dunno how ta fight none," she announced self-consciously.
"Stick by me an' you'll be fine," Remy suggested, stepping in closer. Ororo cast him a coded look, but Remy's inaction did nothing to help Rogue solve it.
"Actually," a voice crackled over the intercom, "Ye won't be workin' with Rogue." Rogue thought she recognized the faceless speaker as Sean. "I've split this session up int' a race. Storm leads one team and Nightcrawler another. Psylocke, Dazzler an' Rogue are with Storm. Gambit and Iceman are with 'Crawler."
Kurt struck a distraught face. I"m at a disadvantage," he muttered.
"If I wasn't working the booth, lad, I'd join ye," Banshee consoled. "I'll be settin' up for a maze for ye. In the center will be the prize t' end the simulation. First team to reach it wins."
"Sounds simple," Rogue commented.
"Banshee with throw in some obstacles," Elizabeth warned. "And just because we have more people doesn't mean we'll win. Banshee split us up according to how we challenge each other. Nightcrawler and Gambit are quick and Gambit is impervious to my powers without difficulty."
"What do ya do?"
"I'm a telepath."
"Are the teams ready?" Banshee's voice cut in.
"Ja," Kurt replied immediately.
"Lass?"
Ororo studied Rogue for a moment before replying. "Yes."
"Luck t' the lot o' ye," Banshee called cheerfully.
"Auf wiedersehen-at the end of the course!" Kurt taunted before a wall was erected between the two miniature teams.
"We need to move," Ororo pointed out. Mossy walls surrounded them on all sides, but the ceiling above was crumbling. "Nice of him to trap us." Ororo's voice was tight and Rogue could tell that she was holding back panic.
"Sure wish I had Nightcrawler's powers right now," Alison muttered.
"No need," Ororo brushed off. "I can fly us up."
Rogue felt extremely out of place. All around her, her teammates had powers that would help them. Rogue simply had to touch someone to make them comatose.
A whorl of air started around the condensed team. Gasping out loud, Rogue clutched onto the nearby Psylocke. Eventually their feet lifted off the ground to be carried through the ceiling's hold. Touching down softly, Storm's effects disappeared.
"Watch your steps," Storm warned. "Dazzler, lead the way please."
"I can't light up often because I don't have a lot of sound stored up," Alison explained. "If we run into the boys, I won't be able to fight well if it's gone."
"A lot of ifs," Psylocke commented. "But if we don't hurry up, we won't even see them until this is over."
Small sparks of light emitted from Dazzler's fingers, briefly illuminating the long cavern.
"Ovah there!" Rogue spoke up. "Ah see a way out." She began walking forward.
"Rogue! Wait!" Storm's voice rang out too late as the floor began to disintegrate under Rogue's moving feet. In a flash of speed, Ororo flew forward and cusioned Rogue's fall to the ground.
Slightly dazed, Rogue called out, "Ah found another way." Storm beckoned for Alison and Elizabeth to follow the fallen girl. The room was shiny, small and had only one locked door. "It won't open."
Storm wordlessly moved to the door and squatted down so that she was level with the handle. A pair of lock picks in her hands, she made quick work of the door, allowing it to swing open into another chamber.
"It looks like something out of a horror movie," Psylocke commented. Her nose wrinkled at the dead bodies strewn about down the hallway. Blood covered the wall, sometimes in smears, other times in thick, dripping patterns. "Did Banshee think of this?"
"No time to question it now," Storm said as she tiptoed down the hall through the maze of limbs. "There's another door at the end of this."
Rogue felt revulsion at the scene in front of her, but she followed suit with the rest of the team and made her way down the corridor. At one point she slipped in a pool of blood and nearly fell on top of a decaying body, but she was able to straighten herself before ending up in his lap. "Are the simulations always so real?" she croaked as Storm opened the new door.
"State of the art technology," Alison supplied unhelpfully.
"What's in there?" Psylocke asked, trying to make out the new challenge in the new room.
"It's dark, but I think it sounds like water," Storm replied.
Dazzler lit up again in order to aide the team's visual. The move was instantly regretted when the light reflected back at the four of them with a harsh furiousity. They let out cries of surprise and pain, each moving to cover their eyes from the obtrusive light.
"Did anyone see what was inside?"
"I think Storm was right."
"What?"
"That's water in there."
"That wouldn't cause the increased severity of Dazzler's light," Ororo pointed out.
"Anyone want to be the sacrificial lamb?" Dazzler asked. She was still wiping the pain of the light out of her eyes.
"Ah'll do it ..." Rogue offered quietly. No one spoke for a second.
"I don't think she meant it," Storm explained.
"Oh, no, I meant it," Dazzler contradicted.
"I don't approve of it." Storm sent a more or less smug look at the younger girl.
Rogue stepped forward and reached her toes out to where the floor would be in the opposite room. The resistance was minimal, suggesting that the theory of water wasn't far off. "We can't be stuck here. This is a race, right?"
Storm didn't appear completely convinced, but she didn't disagree. Lowering herself slowly into the water, Rogue floated around near the door. "Ah can't feel the bottom. Hope y'all can swim." Flipping onto her back, Rogue kicked slowly in the opposite direction from the door in which she entered. She would have to find a wall at some time or another. Judging by the intensity of the light that was rejected into the groups' face, the room wasn't that large, either.
"Can you find the door?" Alison asked after a few minutes.
"No," Rogue answered. "Ah found walls, but no door."
"The other team is getting close," Elizabeth suddenly commented.
"Rogue-" Storm began talking, but was interrupted when the second door in the water-filled room opened. More light spilled into the room, but it appeared to be eaten up by the darkness of the place.
"Hey! Hey! I'm falling!" A large splash resounded in the room, growing increasingly louder until it suddenly disappeared. "Oh, not cool, Bobby. It'll take hours for me to dry out." Chuckling quickly accompanied Kurt's accusation.
Rogue turned to swim back to her team, thinking another way would be better than this if the other team ended up in the same spot. Reaching the ledge, she pulled herself up, helped with her teammates. "Ah don't think this is the way," she said.
"Rogue?" Remy's voice this time. "Ain't dis a surprise."
"What if Sean set us up on a wild goose chase?" Psylocke mused. "There was no end in sight from the very beginning?"
"Would someone get me out of here?" Kurt complained.
"Get yerself out, homme," Remy replied.
"I wouldn't weed it out as an option right now," Storm answered Elizabeth. "But for right now, let's see if we can find another way out of here."