It was just another relaxing day, and Logan was using this opportunity to ride his motorcycle. Drifting down the empty road, the man was enjoying the peace and quiet, save for the loud engine of his bike, not knowing that he was being watched.
A militarized helicopter was staying out of sight of Logan as one of the pilots was observing him.
"Bogey sighted." He reported to his superior. "Could be the target. Switching to stealth mode."
"Roger that." His superior replied. "Get me a long-range MRI on-screen." The pilot did just that as the MRI scan was looked over by his boss.
Looking over the screen, the man in charge saw that the sensors were correct. He had an adamantium skeleton. This was indeed their target.
"That's our boy." He smiled. "Alpha team, stand by."
As they were preparing to move closer to Logan, the X-Man sniffed the air. He could smell something approaching him in the air. Unsheathing his claws, he looked down at them to see the reflection of the helicopter gaining on him.
Sheathing his claws, he quickly turned to his right onto a dirt road in the middle of the forest.
"He spotted us." The pilot reported as he turned around to cut him off on his path.
"Alpha team, move!" The boss ordered as two armored vehicles started to chase after him. As they caught up to him, Logan swerved through some trees, hoping that he could use his bike's maneuverability to lose them. However, the two cars simply shot at the trees in their paths with the mounted guns that were on top of them.
Seeing that it wasn't going to be that easy, Logan spotted two rocks coming out of the ground and meeting each other at their tips, leaving a small hole in between them. Thinking fast, he drove through them easily while one of the vehicles got stuck while the other drove around to head him off.
Using the environment to his advantage, Logan used his claws to cut down a nearby tree, causing it to fall in the middle of the road, preventing the other car from chasing him.
Continuing on his way, the X-Man saw that the path was leading to a cliff and decided it was time to fight back. He stopped his bike, jumped off, and popped out his claws, ready to fight, when the helicopter from before appeared behind him, aiming its guns at him.
"Hold it right there, Logan." The commander said over the intercom as the door on the right, which sported a logo that said S.H.I.E.L.D., opened up and out popped an imposing man with a trenchcoat and white hair. But it was the eyepatch on him that was his most distinguishable feature.
The man then smirked. "Or should I say Weapon X?"
Logan sneered at both that reminder of his past and the man speaking to him. This was Nick Fury, director of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, also known as S.H.I.E.L.D., a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency. One that he once worked for back in the day.
Fury jumped down from the helicopter, landing in front of Logan. "Actually, you're going by Wolverine now, aren't you?"
Logan growled, not in the mood to put up with S.H.I.E.L.D. and all their usual nonsense. "Fury, I just got one word for you: goodbye." He went to pick up his bike as Fury sighed.
"Have it your way." He said before speaking to his subordinates. "Gunner, target that bike."
The helicopter moved over and aimed its gun at Logan's baby, making him grunt in frustration. He should've known that it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Okay, Patch, what's this about?" He demanded. "I don't work with S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore."
"Rebirth's been stolen." Fury informed him bluntly.
The X-Man grabbed him by his jacket. "Impossible. Rebirth was destroyed. Rogers and I made sure of it."
Fury looked down at Logan's hands and back at him. Silently telling him to let go. When Logan did, Fury continued.
"There was a backup. S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered it seventeen years ago. Since it was kind of a touchy subject, we mothballed it under Level 5 security." He pulled out a photo from his jacket.
Logan snorted. "And still, it got stolen. Who did it?"
"Unknown." Fury answered before showing him the photo, which showed a steel door ripped to shreds. "Whoever it was managed to do this to a titanium steel door as well as knock out S.H.I.E.L.D. security with a magnetic pulse. We're talking mutant here."
Narrowing his eyes, the X-Man quickly put together who was responsible for this.
"Magneto."
"Oh, man. I totally tanked that history quiz." Rogue looked over her grade, which was a D+, as she and her boyfriend were walking out in the school yard.
"Well, that's what happens when you spend most of your time making out with your study partner instead of getting your work done." Vampira joked as Rogue blushed. It was true that sometimes she would ask Danny to help her study, only for them to just end up kissing each other for several hours.
Looking at all the incorrect answers, she could only imagine the punishment the professor was going to give her for this. "Why do we have to study World War II anyway?" She complained to Danny. It wasn't like anything that happened several decades ago was ever gonna affect her life in any way.
"Whoa, whoa." Danny held up his hands and looked around, as if he were making sure no one heard her. "Don't jinx it, Rogue." He told her. "Saying stuff like that is just challenging fate to mess with you."
In all of his years of fighting ghosts, Danny learned one important thing, and that was Murphy's law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. So it was best to not challenge the world or fate to make things difficult for you. Especially when fate itself wasn't an abstract concept but a ghost watching over all.
Though he was on good terms with Clockwork, that didn't mean things couldn't still go wrong for him.
Rogue, however, was dubious of Danny's claims. "Danny, that's preposterous. Fate doesn't work like that."
Danny wished he had Rogue's naivety. If she only knew.
"Clear the road, losers." A burly student brushed between them, pushing them aside instead of politely moving around them.
The two hybrids glared furiously at the boy as Rogue said, "I think the phrase you're looking for is pardon me."
"What was that skunk-head?" He turned around and was about to try and intimidate Rogue when Danny grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, making the punk cry out in pain.
"Let me go!"
Danny gestured to Rogue. "You're gonna apologize to my girlfriend right now."
As the boy tried to break out of Danny's grip, Rogue couldn't help but blush at Danny, defending her honor like a white knight. His always being there for the people he cares about was one of the many things she loved about him.
Vampira agreed with Rogue's assessment. "Don't you love a man who's willing to break someone's arm for you? Maybe we'll get lucky, and he'll kill him."
Before Rogue could react to the last thing Vampira said, she heard the punk start to scream.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He finally relented as Rogue decided the guy had enough.
"Alright, Danny, that's enough." She ordered before smirking. "He's learned his lesson. Let him go."
"As you command, my lady." He said in a joking manner before letting the guy go, who glared at Rogue.
"I don't know why you would date some ugly goth like her." He said to Danny, making the hybrid's eyes flash. No one insults his girlfriend.
"That's it." He phased into the guy's body and made him walk into the school, while Rogue merely raised an eyebrow at what her boyfriend was planning.
A few seconds later, Danny came back and put his arm around her shoulder. "Let's leave this dump."
Rogue nodded, that boy's comment getting to her. "Fine by me."
The two then left, passing by a window where, on the other side, Principal Kelly was walking the punk from earlier to his office.
"What did I do?" The punk couldn't remember what happened. One second ago, he was insulting that goth chick, and now he was being led to the principal's office.
"You're coming with me, young man!" Principal Kelly raged. "You might think mooning the teacher is funny, but I won't have that in my school."
"What?" The punk asked, wondering how he got into this situation.
Back at the institute, Jamie was sitting by a tree in the yard as he worked on his homework with Rahne, in wolf form, by his side. "You're so cool to help me with my homework, Wolfsbane." He thanked his friend as he looked at his notebook. "The ancient Greeks invented the sport of the javelin throw and the..." He tried to think of the answer when Wolfsbane picked up a frisbee in her mouth.
"The discus!" Jamie exclaimed. "Right. Thanks."
As the two were working on homework, Logan was by the pool, telling Xavier of the events that transpired.
"Perhaps you'd better tell me exactly what Operation Rebirth was." Xavier said.
"Early attempt at genetic engineering." Logan explained. "Crude, but powerful. The idea was to create super-soldiers for World War II."
"A master race?" Xavier asked warily.
"No. These were the good guys." Logan assured him. "They didn't mean it like that."
"Yes, they never do." Xavier replied. "At first." He muttered knowingly. "So tell me, was it ever used on anyone?"
"Yeah." Logan breathed as he remembered an old friend. "Steve Rogers."
Steve Rogers was a scrawny man on the outside, but on the inside, he was a man with a big heart. That experiment made him the poster boy for America. A symbol of hope and freedom. The scientists were proud of what Rebirth created. Though if you asked Logan, Rebirth didn't make Steve into Captain America. He always existed in Steve; Rebirth simply brought it out.
"Sounds almost as though you knew Rogers personally." Xavier observed.
"I did." Logan answered simply as he flashed back to a memory where he was loading up an injured soldier that Cap managed to save. He held out his hand in respect to the hero, who accepted it.
"Really?" Xavier asked curiously, surprised that Logan fought in World War II. "I knew you were older than you look, but World War II? Your regenerative powers are impressive. So is your memory. I thought parts of your past were lost to you."
"Yeah, well, I, uh, it's pretty much right after that that things get fuzzy." Logan replied.
"Still, your story puzzles me." Xavier said. "If Rogers was indeed the famed Captain America, that would seem to indicate the Rebirth project was successful."
"No. It destroyed him." Logan revealed. "And now it's in the hands of Magneto."
Xavier narrowed his eyes as he thought of what possible damage Magneto could do with that at his disposal.
Danny and Rogue were walking the halls when the lights started flickering. Rogue looked at them suspiciously. She'd seen enough horror films to know that flickering lights were usually the result of something supernatural.
She turned to her boyfriend. "Power surge or..."
Danny didn't believe ghosts were the case here. "Our ghost senses didn't go off. My guess is that it's Cerebro at full power." He grinned at Rogue. "Want to check it out?"
Rogue shrugged. "Eh, I have nothing better to do, so sure."
The two went down below as Xavier and Logan were at Cerebro observing the number of mutants that were currently popping up.
"Man, they're all over the place." Logan noticed.
"The percentage of the population possessing the X-gene is increasing." Xavier said. "It's becoming difficult to keep track of them, even with Cerebro's recent enhancements."
Logan thought about this. "Hmm. No way mutants are gonna be under wraps for much longer."
"Yes." Xavier agreed. "I suspect that's what Magneto feels as well, hence his recent activity."
"So you found him yet?" Xavier asked as Danny and Rogue popped their heads out from behind the open door.
"No." Xavier took off his helmet. "Magneto's cloaking technology has been keeping pace with Cerebro's enhancements. I have no idea where he is."
Logan then turned around to look at the two eavesdroppers. "You two have any idea on how to find Magneto?"
"Fuck." Danny cursed at being caught. "I forgot he could smell us."
"You know, you could wait for a girl to volunteer." Rogue said to Logan's question.
"No time." Logan said. "So any ideas?"
Danny raised a hand. "I might, but it depends. Do you have a place where we can get a trace of his scent?"
Logan gave Danny a weird look. No one would be able to trace Magento's scent that far. Not even him, but he still answered Danny's question. "Yeah."
The hybrid smiled. "Great, cause I know a ghost who can find him." He then whistled, making the three mutants in the room give him funny looks. "Wait for it." Danny told them as they waited a couple of seconds before they heard barking.
Just then, a small green puppy ran into the room and stopped at their feet. The little dog started wagging his tail in excitement at seeing Rogue, Xavier, and Logan.
Logan was the first to speak. "Is that a dog?"
"Yep." Danny started to pet the canine. "Guys, meet Cujo."
"Oh, like in Stephen King." Rogue said with a smile as she leaned down to pet Cujo.
"He is so cute." Vampira stated. "I want him."
Rogue giggled as the dog licked her face.
"A ghost dog. How very interesting." Xavier said as he also petted the ghostly hound.
Logan, however, had doubts that this little runt had what it takes to find Magento. "You sure this pup can find Magneto?" He asked Danny skeptically.
Danny nodded. "All he needs is his scent, and he'll be able to find him."
In the facility that once held Rebirth, Fury met with Wolverine, Danny, and Rogue, who were both in ghost form. The southern ghost was holding Cujo in her arms. She was staring to take a liking to him.
"I know your sense of smell is impressive, Logan, but do you truly think that you can locate Magneto with it?" Fury questioned as they headed toward the scene of the crime.
"Just take us to where Rebirth was being held." Wolverine demanded in an annoyed voice.
Fury shrugged. "If you say so." He took a look at Danny and Rogue. "I see you brought your students." He then scrutinized Danny, recognizing his symbol. "Aren't you the ghost from Amity Park?"
A look of sadness appeared on Danny's face at the mention of his old home. "I left that life behind a long time ago."
Fury then turned to the animal in Rogue's arms. "Is that a green dog?"
"Do you want to ask a million questions, or do you want us to find Magneto?" Wolverine was getting exasperated with the constant questions.
Fury relented as he finally showed them the doors from the photo that Magneto wrecked. Rogue placed Cujo down as the animal started to sniff around, getting Magneto's scent.
"You got it, boy?" Danny asked, getting a nod from the dog, who started to run out. "He's got his scent. Let's move!"
The three X-Men then jumped into the XM-Velocity and started to follow Cujo, who was running at super speed.
"Listen, you two, I know you're both tough with your powers." Wolverine said. "But I need you to follow my orders. I've seen Rebirth and what it does, and Magneto having it is something we don't want."
"Don't worry, Logan." Danny assured. "Rogue and I got this." He smiled at his girlfriend. "We're a team."
Rogue smiled back. "Yeah, a team of two."
"Actually, a team of three, if you count me." Vampira reminded.
Wolverine was concentrating on following the mutt when Rogue's words kept echoing in his head.
"A team of two." The words kept repeating before he found himself back on a plane during World War II, listening to a superior office give them the run of the situation.
"A team of two." The commanding officer said. "Specifically, you two." He looked over at the man sitting across from Logan. "Cap, I think you met Logan. He's with Canadian special forces. From what I hear, he's almost as tough as you are. Which is a good thing."
Logan never thought he would be working with a bigshot like Captain America. "Mission parameters?"
"You're going to liberate a POW camp in Poland, but for the safety of the prisoners, it has to be fast." The officer said. "Real fast."
"How fast is real fast?" Logan inquired.
"Put it this way; you don't get parachutes." The officer answered as the two superhumans shook hands.
Meanwhile, a guard was shining a light over the camp, making sure no one was trying to escape. Another guard was patrolling when they saw an allied plane fly above them, crashing into the prison guard tower. The men stationed there began to flee, with some shooting their guns.
Logan and Captain America leaped out of the plane, crashing through the roof of the building that held all the men who were in charge. They began to flee as the two soldiers chased them, with one guard shooting from a tower at Cap. But the star-spangled hero blocked it with his shield.
Using the smoke to his advantage, Logan tackled one of the guards, took his bombs, and threw them at the tower, destroying it. Cap then charged through the door of one of the buildings that held the prisoners.
They all looked in awe at their rescuer, with one little boy walking up to Cap, who took him into his arms and gestured for the others to follow him. Cap then met up with Logan as the two shoved past more guards as they liberated the camp.
A trio of guards threw some bombs at the fleeing group, but the boy saw them in the air and raised a hand. In what could only be seen to believe, the bombs were thrown farther up in the air before exploding.
Logan, being the only one who saw this, looked at the boy, who passed out in exhaustion. But before he could ponder further on this, a tank tore through the gates as reinforcements arrived to help them in their rescue.
The two soldiers started to load up the people in their trucks to take them to safety.
"What's your name, son?" Logan asked the kid as he was helping some people climb up into the vehicle.
"Eric Lehnsherr." The boy murmured weakly. "Thank you for saving us."
Those words repeated in Wolverine's head as he thought back to the boy who would end up becoming Magneto.
"Logan?" Danny tried to get his attention. "Logan?"
"What?" Wolverine snapped out of his remembrance of the past.
"Why does Magneto want this Rebirth thing?" Danny questioned.
"Back in World War II-" Wolverine was cut off by Rogue, who groaned in dismay.
"I told you, Rogue." Danny said. "You shouldn't tempt fate."
Rogue ran her hand down her face, annoyed that Danny proved her right about challenging fate. "Alright, alright, I won't do it again. How was I supposed to know that something was listening?"
"More like someone." Danny muttered.
Meanwhile, deep in the Ghost Zone, Clockwork was overlooking the timestream when he felt the arrival of two Observants.
"Clockwork, did you tamper with the timestream just because a mortal challenged you?" One of them demanded.
"No." Clockwork sighed, annoyed that they had interrupted his peace and quiet for such an asinine reason. "Believe it or not, I don't actually take action when someone tempts fate." He then pointed to the door. "Now, care to observe the door?"
The two ghosts looked at each other before leaving, making Clockwork shake his head.
Back with the X-Men, Wolverine was explaining Magneto's reasoning for wanting Rebirth. "As I was saying, back in World War II, he saw it in action with Captain America. He must have researched it afterward."
Danny was now interested. "So if Rebirth made super-soldiers, how come Captain America was the only one?"
"The procedure had a flaw in it for humans: cellular breakdown." Wolverine explained. "Captain America was dying." He remembered how, after liberating that camp, Captain America started to groan in pain as the aftereffects of Rebirth were starting to take effect.
Before Wolverine could say any more, Rogue pointed to a metal dome that Cujo was heading to. "There it is!"
"Far as we go by air." Wolverine stated as he began to land the XM-Velocity. "I'll take her down."
The helicopter landed as Cujo stopped running and barked at them. Knowing that his friends would take care of it from here, he went off to do dog things. As they were getting ready, Rogue was strapping on the bomb that they were going to use to destroy Rebirth to her belt when she noticed Danny staring at her.
"What?" She said blankly, making Danny blush.
"Nothing." Danny then awkwardly left to meet up with Wolverine.
"He was staring at our ass." Vampira said in a pleased tone.
Rogue blushed a bit at that information before walking out to join her teammates.
"So can I ask what happened to the rebirth project?" Rogue asked Wolverine. "I mean, did they solve the problem?"
"They didn't get a chance." Wolverine told her solemnly. "Captain America was determined not to let them put anyone else through what he'd suffered. Cap and another guy-"
"It was you." Danny spoke up.
Wolverine rolled his eyes. You can't keep anything past that ghost. "Yes, it was me. Cap and I shut down the rebirth project. Permanently. But, apparently, there was a backup, and now Magneto has it."
"Not for long." Danny said, determined to stop Magneto.
"Good attitude." Wolverine praised. "Just don't drop that bomb." He said to Rogue.
"And with that inspiring speech, let's fly." Rogue said as she and Danny flew out to the dome, with Danny carrying Wolverine. "Wonder how long until we're spotted?" She pondered before a missile exploded near them.
"I'd say about now." Wolverine quipped as Danny turned the two of them invisible, with Rogue following their example. Remaining undetected, the three phased through the metal dome and found themselves in the heart of Magneto's hideout.
The three turned visible and saw, in the middle of the room, Magneto standing in the capsule-like device that was Rebirth.
"Let's move." Wolverine ordered as he went to stop Magneto, only for Sabretooth to come out and kick him to the ground.
"Nice of you to pay us a visit, Wolverine." Sabretooth grinned.
"So this is your new litter box, huh, Sabretooth?" Wolverine snarled. He unsheathed his claws and turned to Danny and Rogue. "Slag that chamber!" He ordered them. "I'll handle this." He tackled the feline mutant into one of the metal support beams.
Danny and Rogue started heading toward Magneto, who used his powers to throw metal beams at them, but the hybrids merely phased through them.
"You're no match for me." Sabretooth said as he tried to bash Wolverine with a metal beam. "Never were."
"Maybe, but I've been working out!" Wolverine snarked as he avoided his foe's attacks and cut down another beam, which landed on Sabretooth. "Let me know if you can tell." He then kicked him into a generator, electrocuting him.
With Sabretooth down, Wolverine was about to join the other two when he felt Magneto use his powers to push him up against a wall.
Danny and Rogue were about to reach Rebirth when their ghost senses went off.
"Who is it this time?" Danny moaned as they saw a shadow rise from the floor. It took on a slim feminine form with red eyes that shone with glee as they looked at Danny.
Danny gritted his teeth, recognizing this particular ghost. "Spectra!"
"Hello, freak." Spectra greeted. "Did you miss me?"
"What are you doing here?" He demanded.
The ghostly shadow pointed her thumb over at Rebirth. "Plasmius sent me to get this for him. Said it would help him on an upcoming project."
"Never saw you as one of Cheesehead's lackeys." Danny observed.
Spectra's grin widened. "He promised me an opportunity to use it. Look at the man in there." She gazed at Magneto, who was looking rather older than usual. As the three ghosts watched as his age started to reverse. "That machine is restoring his youth!" The parasite cried in excitement. "With that, I wouldn't have to feed on any more misery from pathetic creatures like you."
Danny saw one flaw in her plan. "And what makes you think it'll work on ghosts?"
"Perhaps it can be modified to do the same effect on me." Spectra hoped. "I'm sure I can figure it out. Or maybe Bertrand can."
Remembering her creepy second in command, he started looking around. "Speaking of which, where is the little toady?"
"Right here!" A ghostly jaguar leaped onto him as the evil spirit grinned, showing off his sharp fangs.
"Oh no, you don't." Rogue was about to go help Danny when Spectra grabbed her and lifted her into the air.
"Get off me, you bitch!" The mutant hybrid tried to break out of her grip, but Spectra was too strong.
"Why?" The sadist taunted as she looked closely at her latest victim. "You know, Plasmius told me all about you." Her smile became a cruel smirk. "Another half-human, half-ghost abomination. And not only that, but you're a mutant too." She added gleefully. "Even more of a freak."
Rogue could feel the ghost feed on her misery and insecurities. Which was plentiful when it came to someone like Rogue, making her a buffet to Spectra.
"Look at you." Spectra mocked, using all the info she gained from Vlad who in turn learned it from Xavier's files. "A girl who can never touch anyone, except one boy. You must be afraid of the day that boy gets tired of you, don't you?"
Spectra took pleasure in feeling Rogue's doubts starting to grow. The feeling of inadequacy and the belief that she was never good enough for her partner were like nectar to Spectra. Sweet, sweet nectar.
"He may be a freak, but he's a good-looking freak." Spectra said, trying to get as much as she could from Rogue. She was even more of a walking spa treatment than her boyfriend was. "He could have any woman he wants. How long until he decides you aren't worth it anymore?"
She licked her lips as she felt Rogue start to struggle even harder. It looked like she had found her greatest insecurity. "I mean, what's so special about you anyway?"
Rogue was looking over to her friends for help, but Wolverine was stuck to a wall, and Danny was occupied with Bertrand, who was now a giant grizzly bear.
"Even if you could touch anyone, who would want to? How does it feel knowing that you are alone?" Spectra jeered. "Having to keep your distance from your own friends. Your own aunt manipulating you. Do you even know who your real parents are?" She couldn't help but take pleasure in the tears that were forming in Rogue's eyes.
"Aww, don't cry, sweetie." Spectra said in a fake comforting voice as she wiped away her tears. "Maybe they just saw you were a freak from birth and abandoned you." She then chuckled. "No one cares about you, Rogue. Even your own boyfriend is with you out of pity. The only way someone like you could get a date."
As Rogue was trying to fight against Spectra, Vampira was trying to encourage her other half.
"Rogue, don't listen! Fight back!" Vampira commanded. "You can stop her! Rogue!" Seeing that Rogue wasn't listening to her, Vampira decided it was time for Plan B. While Spectra was feeding on Rogue, Vampira took this opportunity to use her telepathy to infiltrate Spectra's mind, taking in all the memories, and as she looked around, the ghostly half smirked as she found something that could be used against their enemy.
Danny had finished fighting Bertrand and saw what Spectra was doing to his girlfriend. "Rogue!" He fired an ecto-blast at Spectra, who moved out of the way as she moved over to Danny and pressed him up against a wall.
"Oh, what's wrong, Danny?" Spectra asked. "Scared that I hurt your little girlfriend? You don't want to lose another person you cared about, don't you?" She had heard about what happened to his friends and family back at Amity Park. How they died in an explosion. "Got to say, never expected you to get together with someone. But then you are the only person she can touch, aren't you?"
At this, she heard Danny growl, which made her smile. Looks like she found another insecurity she could use against him. "I wonder if that's the only reason she can stand your presence, since you're the only option she has."
"Shut up!" Danny roared as he pushed Spectra off of him. He fired more ecto-blasts, but his enemy dodged them all.
"What do you think will happen if she gets control of her powers?" Spectra asked him. "You think she'll stay with you?" The ghost shook her head. "She'll leave you and find someone better. To her, you're just a temporary lover. It's not like anyone would care for you."
As Danny was trying to nail a hit on Spectra, Rogue was pulling herself together, feeling violated by how Spectra fed on her.
"Come on, girl!" Vampira encouraged. "You can beat her. While she was busy monologuing, I managed to infiltrate her mind. Here's everything you need to know about her." She then showed Rogue all the memories she had gained from her enemy. Taking in all this information, Rogue was able to see that Spectra wasn't immune to doubting herself as well. The so-called therapist wasn't as invincible as she claimed to be.
Turning back to Danny, she saw that the ghost had managed to tackle him to the ground.
"Who would ever love a thing like you?" Spectra said to Danny as she started to absorb his misery.
This made Rogue angry. She hated what Spectra did to her, and she wasn't going to allow Danny to go through the same thing. Not on her watch.
"Get away from him!" With a punch, Spectra was launched into a wall.
"You okay, sugar?" Rogue looked him over in concern.
"I'm fine." Danny assured her before they saw Bertrand get up.
"You get that one." She said to Danny. "Leave the bitch to me." Rogue then fired an ecto-blast at Spectra, who managed to evade it.
"What makes you think you can stop me?" Spectra jeered. "You're just an insecure mess that only makes me stronger. You can't beat me. I know what makes you tick."
"So do I!" Rogue shouted.
"Oh, yeah?" Spectra challenged. "What could a freak like you possibly know about me?"
The southern ghost grinned. "I know that your parents never loved you."
Spectra's face dropped, caught off guard by that accurate information. "What? How did you-"
"Know?" Rogue finished. She laughed a bit. "I know a lot of things about you, Penelope. Like how you always envied the popular girls at your school for being better-looking than you? What was it that they used to call you?" She asked herself mockingly before snapping her fingers in realization. "Oh, yeah, Pitiful Penny."
Spectra's eye twitched at that memory. How she hated that nickname.
Rogue took advantage of his silence as she continued her attack. "What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve? I'm just telling the truth. You were always overlooked. The boys never glanced in your direction once."
Spectra growled at that reminder. She was an ugly duckling in high school, and it made her years there miserable. Feeling angry for being reminded of that, she tried to take a swipe at Rogue, but she jumped out of the way.
"I'm gonna destroy you!" Spectra vowed, but Rogue wasn't deterred as she continued her vocal assault.
"Maybe they didn't like you because you weren't pretty enough." Rogue continued. "Or maybe they knew about how you killed your pet hamster."
Spectra gasped. No one knew that. No one possibly could. "You know that?"
Rogue glared at the bully. That's really all she was, a person who couldn't deal with her pain, so she used it as an excuse to inflict pain on others. Her pet was just the first victim of her cruelty.
"You hated it because it was alone, but it still found a way to be happy. Unlike you." The ghostly X-woman revealed. "So you killed it, and you loved every moment of it. You discovered you liked hurting things. Not just physically, but mentally. You started rumors about the girls at school to bring them down a peg." She then pointed at the beaten Bertrand. Right next to him was Danny, who was too shocked to do anything as he witnessed Spectra start to lose her cool.
"You strung along that little creep into loving you." Rogue fired an ecto-blast, and this time it landed. She then grabbed Spectra by the tail and started to swing her around. "You manipulated him and broke him until he was nothing but your stooge, and you liked it."
She was right. Spectra remembered how Bertrand was even more of a loser than her. Just showing him some semblance of sympathy made him puddy in her hands, and she used that to forge him into her little assistant to carry out her dirty work. But how could Rogue know that?
"It wasn't until you got to college that your looks finally changed." Rogue swung Spectra into a beam, making her cry out in pain as her face throbbed. "But most of the guys that approached you were pigs or horndogs." She let go as Spectra collided with a wall. "The real decent men avoided you like the plague. You thought it was because you weren't beautiful enough."
"Silence!" Spectra charged at her enemy, but Rogue merely slapped her, sending the sadist to the ground.
"But really, it was because they knew what you were on the inside." Rogue punched her in the face. She then did it again. And again. And again. And again. She kept punching before grabbing her hand and throwing her into Rebirth, making the tube shatter as Magneto fell out.
The master of magnetism looked up at Rogue, who merely threw him aside as she still had her sights set on Spectra. "A sadistic bitch that fed on the misery of others." Rogue said. "That's what they all saw in you, and that's why you majored in psychology. Not to understand the human mind, but so you can learn to twist it and bend it to our own whims."
Spectra tried to sideswipe her opponent with her tail, but Rogue just jumped over it.
"When you became a therapist, you lived off the misery and insecurities of your own patients." Rogue snarled as she thought of all the people whose lives were ruined by Spectra. All the poor individuals who just wanted help with their issues. Only to be caught in her little web of deceit and lies. "You enjoyed it so much that even after death, you've become nothing more than a disgusting parasite."
That set Spectra off. "Don't call me that!" She threw a punch at Rogue, but the girl caught it and started to squeeze her fist, making the malevolent spirit cry out in pain.
"It's what you are." Rogue told her. "It hurts, doesn't it? Having to live off other people's problems just to survive. Knowing that the beauty you have could fade away at any moment. It was the only good thing you had, and you didn't want to lose it."
Deciding that if Spectra wanted her misery, then she could have it all. She grabbed her head and let the ghost feed on all of it. All her anxieties, doubts, fears, and insecurities. All of it was going into Spectra, who was starting to whimper at the influx of emotional energy. This was too much. She couldn't do this all at once. She would feed sparingly, but Rogue wasn't giving her that option. If Spectra wanted to feed, she was going to take it all in one sitting.
The shadow started to cry out. "It's too much! Too much! I can't take it!"
Deciding that the monster had enough, Rogue pushed her away. The cruel sadist started to breathe heavily, even though her body didn't need any air. However, Rogue wasn't done, as she fired a massive ghost ray at her. Spectra was shouting in agony as her form started to crack, and it was soon ripped away, leaving her in her human disguise, but cracks formed as well as layers upon layers of skin started to be destroyed. As each one was destroyed, she began to look more and more old and wrinkly.
When Rogue was done, Spectra was nothing but an extremely elderly lady who looked like she was on the verge of death.
"No!" Spectra wailed. "My youth! I'm nothing without my youth!"
Rogue then kicked her in the head, making her fall to the ground. "That's where you're wrong." Rogue pointed out. "Even with your youth, you're still worthless." She then fired another ghost ray, taking off the last layer of skin.
As Spectra felt her face, she began to panic as she couldn't feel any skin or flesh on her face. She looked up to Rogue, who grinned at what she saw.
Spectra's face was nothing but a skull, with no features at all.
"Noooooooooooo!" The ghost cried in total, absolute misery. She began to weep and cry at her lost youth. In her own hysteria, she began to see her former patients. All the people she's bullied, manipulated, and destroyed were here. She could recognize some of them.
There was Todd Livingston. A man who cut himself occasionally. But when he met Spectra, who picked apart his self-esteem, he continued to do it even more until he ended up killing himself.
Amanda Johnson. She was constantly concerned about her figure. So much that she ended up developing an eating disorder. Any other doctor would've tried to help her, but Spectra only encouraged her as the poor girl starved herself to death.
And who could forget Alan Carson? The poor man was suicidal, and after just one therapy session with Spectra, he was found dead in his own car from carbon monoxide poisoning.
All the people she hurt were here. Laughing at her.
Enjoying her misery.
"Now you're faced with the miserable truth." Rogue said as Wolverine, who was free from Magneto's power, and Danny came up beside her. "That your beauty is nothing in the face of death."
With that said, she began to punch her repeatedly. Putting all her hatred and disgust for her into them. The screams of Spectra for mercy were ignored as she continued to inflict pain on her tormentor.
"Stop! Please! No more! I'm begging you!"
"Yes!" Vampira praised Rogue's violence. "Hurt her!" She urged. "Make her feel our pain! Destroy her! Wipe her from the face of existence!"
"Rogue!" Danny's commanding voice snapped her out of it as she felt Danny pull her back.
"Enough!" He ordered before his voice became softer. "It's over." He put a hand on her cheek. "You beat her."
"I..." Rogue looked down at Spectra, who was leaking massive amounts of ectoplasm. "I'm sorry." She apologized to Danny.
"It's okay." He said as he brought her into a hug.
"Penelope." Bertrand said hesitantly as he approached her. "Are you all right?"
Spectra only whimpered as she sniveled on the ground.
"Come on, let's go." He picked her up and phased through the ceiling, leaving the three X-Men, Magneto, and the unconscious Sabretooth.
Wolverine looked at Rogue. "You okay, kid?"
Rogue nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I..." She didn't know what came over her. "I just..."
"It's okay." Danny soothed. "Spectra is a real bitch. But you did something no one else did." He smiled proudly at her. "You got in her head."
Rogue smiled back as she pulled out the bomb. "Come on, let's go blow this thing up."
"No!" The X-Men all turned to see Magneto, who had been watching the whole thing. Even he knew it was best not to get in between the fight of Spectra and Rogue, but he wasn't going to let them destroy Rebirth. He used his powers to snatch the bomb and crush it.
Rolling her eyes, Rogue threw an ecto-blast at Rebirth. "You think we need a bomb to destroy it?" She said as the thing blew up.
Magneto was in disbelief. "What?" He said dumbly before he was filled with instant rage at Rogue. "You!"
Before he could do anything, Danny whistled, and Cujo came in, standing in front of the heroes.
Sneering at the animal, Magneto said, "You think a puppy can stop me?"
Danny smirked. "I don't think. I know."
Before their very eyes, Cujo grew in size as he towered over the magnetic mutant.
"What the-" Magneto's reaction was cut off as Cujo grabbed him with his mouth and charged out of the lair, bursting through the metal walls. The X-Men followed him as they saw the dog shaking Magneto around like a chew toy.
Finally, he spat him out onto the ground before burying him like a bone.
"Good boy." Danny said as they all snickered at what happened to Magneto. Danny then noticed Sabretooth stumbling out.
"Hey, Cujo!" He got the pup's attention and pointed at the cat-like mutant. "Look! Kitty!"
Cujo growled and began to give chase to Sabretooth, who started running away.
Wolverine laughed at his foe's predicament before patting Danny on the back. "You got a nice dog, bub."
"Yeah." Danny agreed. "So I guess the mission's over then?"
"Not yet." Wolverine replied. "I gotta pay a visit to an old friend."
The three X-Men got back in the XM-Velocity to head home.
Logan stood over his old friend. To keep him from dying, the mighty Captain America was placed in cryogenic hibernation until a cure could be found. Although he knew that Cap couldn't hear him, he still spoke to him regardless.
"It's been a long time, Cap, but I'm still fighting the good fight. Today, we had a victory for you. You gotta know, we'll find that cure." He vowed. "I promise you that. Because you and me..." He wished he could see Cap smile kindly at him again as he offered his hand like many times before. "You and me, we made a great team. Yeah. I'll be here when you get out."
"It's time to go, Logan." Fury said from the corner of the room. "And do remember, you were never here." He said as Logan headed out.
"Yeah." Logan said tiredly. "Yeah, I know the routine."
The two exited the room, leaving Captain America alone.
At one point in time, he was a hero to America. Now, he was nothing but a relic from a different time.
Danny found Rogue sitting on her bed with her arms around her knees.
"You alright?" He asked her in concern, knowing that Spectra really messed with Rogue, which gave him another reason to hate the ghost. He had to admit that he took a bit of pleasure in seeing Rogue take her down. It was satisfying to see that hag go through the same thing she put him through.
He snapped himself out of his thoughts. This wasn't about him. This was about Rogue.
"I'm fine." Rogue said numbly. "It's just..."
He sat beside her and put an arm around her. "I know. Spectra really does a number on someone." He then got in front of her and looked her in the eye. "Just remember this, Rogue. You have something she'll never have. Friends. A boyfriend. People who care for you. Don't ever forget that."
A small smile appeared on her face. He always knew how to make her feel better. "I won't." She then leaned into Danny as the two shared a kiss. Unfortunately, the sweet moment was interrupted by Danny's cell phone ringing.
Irritated, he answered it. "Hello?"
"Daniel!" Came the hated sound of Vlad's voice. "Congratulations on thwarting another one of my schemes."
"What do you want, Plasmius?" Danny demanded.
Vlad chuckled. "To simply reward you. Ever since I stole Cerebro's files, I've been combing through them. Looking for anything that I could use to my advantage when I stumbled across some information that I thought you would be interested in. Something you might want to ask your professor about."
"Oh, yeah?" Danny scoffed. "What information are you talking about?"
"Just a name." Vlad replied.
Danny's curiosity was piqued. "What's the name?"
"Wanda Maximoff."
