"I have no real use for your grief, Rogue. Except to study it... Experiment with it, this feeling so alien from any I am able to experience... My grand plans have hurt you, especially. Haven't they?" Kree DNA has kept her alive so far, bitterly and grudgingly living despite so many who had died. All because of a manifestation of evil, weeping a green ooze from his armor after she tried to tear him limb from limb. She had nowhere for the grief and pain to go; the only men who'd ever made her feel anything were gone. The children and the innocent, while a complicit world watches... No more. The retribution would start, and Sinister would pay first as she stalked forward. Her eyes blank.

Gloveless, in his smoking lab. Her uniform dark green and black, today. No sunshine-colored yellow, like the sunflowers that used to be in her yard. All green with envy for those that knew the peace and escape from death. Those that weren't left behind. All black, like a heart crushed in front of her.

"Shut up."

"I know what you want, girl." She doesn't flinch when he lobbed a small device covered in a shimmering, blue light. Blue, like Jean's telekinesis. Like the gadets Cable and Bishop had. "You want another shiny Gambit. A world with another professor." Her expression doesn't change when she slowly started to disappear, leaving the mutate behind in his own desecrated laboratory. "And, you will lead me right to them."


It was an uncharacteristically peaceful day in Bayville that drove everyone at the institute onto the lawn. Balmy, with a light breeze. Even the most antisocial of students and instructors were enjoying the fleeting feeling in a world that knew of mutants (and struggled to peacefully coexist with them). There was always a new dawn and a new enemy to face, but today was decidedly about being together. About being united in a common goal to make the world a better place. It was as Charles had said when the threat of Apocalypse was finally thwarted.

Though future obstacles loomed over them all, he had seen enemies become the dearest of friends. Even the radical Erik Lensherr has time to observe his friend's longest dream, today. He floated in silence alongside the bald man's wheelchair in a maroon uniform; no words between them just the shivering of the trees. Observing with mild contentment as children acted and felt like children, racing around Xavier's lawn like they hadn't just argued for their legitimacy. For their right to not only live on this earth with humans, but thrive. Through different approaches, this is what they both wanted more than anything.

'Do you see my motivations now, my friend? What is worth fighting so carefully for?'

'Of course I do, Charles. My own history and my own biases make it hard to trust peaceful times.'

Scott watched carefully as Logan grilled, spilling a wealth of knowledge on how to cook meat as he rambled on. Jean laughed at them both, remembering simpler times when even she felt like a child and not a co-headmaster. Flaming hair tossed into a lazy, messy bun. Bobby raced across the sky on a thread of ice and a kite trailing behind him as Kurt, Rahne, Tabitha, Amara, and Roberto all gleefully chased after him. Kitty and new Russian member Piotr sketched together in companionable silence under the shade of a tall oak; her hair is down for a change. And fellow southerners sat on a green tartan blanket by the gazebo, enjoying some of the only true peace they had ever experienced.

"You love it here." The thief has to break easy-going silence. The only thing he loved more than just being around Rogue was teasing her, a grin hanging off his face. He feels odd hanging around in normal clothes that he calls 'civvies' to the amusement of the girls on campus. But, ever since the fair girl at his side complimented him, he'd been wearing jeans and sweatshirts more often. It was bizarre, but nice to not always wear armor. To always be ready to thieve or defend his life. It had certainly lowered her guard a bit as she flashed him a defiant look. "For all your complainin', I mean..."

"So do you. Ya been here for quite a little while. Might as well make it official." The cajun roamed liked their resident feral, but he found himself spending longer and longer bouts as her side. And much to the chagrin of the X-Men's leader, most already considered him a part of the team. She doesn't flinch when his gloved hand danced close to hers. He was marveling at perfect skin, like white chocolate. The goth's shoulders were bare in a dark green, off-the-shoulder dress that fell to her knees. And her makeup was decidedly a little softer, purple lips and soft lilac eyeshadow. Hair not curly, but soft and wavy and tickling bare shoulders. The cajun could study her for hours, but she's only just gotten more comfortable with his lingering gaze.

"Kinda nice, bein' around this zoo. And a few other things..." Red and black eyes are on the light purple scarf her old roommate had given her as a gift. Always dangling around her neck to tempt him. The man wanted to bat at it like a feline, to pull her close for an embrace she could not escape. She refused to kiss and tell, but the pair had been experimenting with closeness through fabric. There is a devil inside him that doesn't care how many people are on the lawn or can see him. Her blush is obvious as he leered at her, his mind turning with other things they can try to have intimacy like others. There were state of the art training rooms, hologram watches, and omega level psychics at their disposal...

"Lecher." His hand had moved from hers to the soft fabric of her dress. And was creeping slowly up her thigh. The wide feral's back was to them, but they both know even over all the sounds outside, he sensed their closeness and rising emotions. And for her, especially, he was always watching. Even when he wasn't. "Always gotta find a way to start trouble..." She doesn't remove his hand, though. Their eyes held the other in a taut battle of chicken.

"Non. Pas de problème, chére. Only..." He is at attention when a bright blue light covered the sky and halted all of the playing and relaxing. Mutant numbers grew, but so did human kind's innovation and penchant for destruction. Charles found little sleep wondering what manner of weapons and transgressions would come for them, next. Magneto is covered in a magnetic sheen as his eyes glowed, ready to dismantle a sentinel himself.

"Peace is beautiful, Charles. But we both know... It does not last." Logan's claws are out, food abandoned as something glowing rocketed into the ground. It left a sizzling trench in the lawn, just inside the school's grounds. Ororo is in the air fast, Jean not far behind as they prepare to defend literal children from anything. This was only another day at the Xavier Institute.

"New recruits, back in the school with the professor unless we say otherwise!" Scott screams, older students corralling them quickly as they all wonder what has just infiltrated them. The teleporter blinks beside him, tail swishing in apprehension. "First string!" Remy is in front of Rogue despite her usual objections, staff extended and cards gripped in his hands. What he knew about foes that were the X-Men's enemies means this could be anything. And, he silently prays it has nothing to do with the depravity he'd already encountered in a short life.

"Stay behind me, hear? Whatever that is could be comin' to take people." If this was such a case, the leech would probably be of high priority along with the professor and Storm's high level weather control. The hairy Canadian dashed past them quickly despite screams and yells behind him. His senses were driving him, confused and afraid of what his own mind was telling him.

'It...It don't make sense!'

"Everyone else, stay where you are!" He screams, heart pounding in his chest as a figure stood and dusted themselves off. Totally fine, despite hurling at the ground at mach speeds. 'What in the hell...'

"Wolverine!" Scott screamed through cupped hands, frustrated at how fast he could move despite a dense frame.

"Ugh... Bastard. Ah guess Ah'm not in Kansas, anymore..." She grabbed a heavy frame in mid-air, unphased by shining claws as she threw him behind her and examined her surroundings. He was compact and heavy, like his skeleton was framed in metal. 'Felt like... Throwin' a Fastball Special?' The short figure isn't moving when she turned to face him, dark eyes stuck on thick, silvery hairs. Her hair was a curly mane, only held from her face by a thick headband. Her uniform is green and black, different yet X-Men grade material as she cocked a hip and examined the short man. He is just as stunned as he marveled at tanned skin and a strong, muscular physique. Almost the antithesis of a girl he knew.

"..."

She smelled like Rogue. Not his Rogue, and yet he knew that what he sensed was bizarre and authentic. They had fearsome enemies, but even he doubted that Apocalypse could create another version of them or a clone this realistic. His eyes were linked with green ones, the girl just as confused that he was Wolverine, but not her Wolverine.

"...Logan?"

"What's goin' on. Why... How did you get here, kid?"

"Ah ain't a kid, no more. And... Ah..." Adrenaline and fear rush her when others approach on the horizon. She should've known the kind of games Sinister would play, but she wasn't ready for this. "Ah don't know! Ah don't really know about anythin', anymore. Ah went after Mr. Sinister on my own, and... Now Ah'm here." A few pointed sniffs revealed gunpowder and soot. Smoke and smog, this gal had been in a fight somewhere. And the wrong scent of twisted DNA. Something manipulated and experimented on. Something not right.

"Somethin'... Someone sent you here?" He edged closer, claws gone when it looks like she's ready to bolt (and probably had the means to). "I know this is probably overwhelmin', trust me. But... If somethin' happened, you can help us. Warn us," His nose wrinkles when her face falls. Whatever he's said, she didn't much like it.

"Ah can't help us from what's comin', Logan. Deep down..." The laser was so green. So bright, it made her eyes water. It just erased so many she knew. She remembered the heat and the panic. The last look in mutants' eyes before they died. Disappeared... They were all too young to know what awaited them. "You know that."

"Rogue,"

Jean and Ororo descend unsurely from the sky, both of their mouths open in shock. As mutants, they knew better than to waste time being skeptical. Their encounters with Apocalypse and the Astral Plane all but confirmed the existence of other worlds and universes. And they existed within them. "My goddess..."

'Scott... Oh my god, I... I...' For once, words escape the telepath as her boyfriend raced through the lawn to get to her.

'Jean?! Talk to me!'

"You are our student. Our member..." The weather priestess fights the unusual feeling of being at a loss for words. "You are-"

"ROGUE?" Kurt's tail sticks straight up when he sees the cloudy bangs on the strange person on their lawn. Mystique had alluded to other worlds and different versions of themselves, but this was a lot to handle as Piotr and Kitty make it to his side. Tears fill the stranger's eyes as Remy tries (and fails) to keep the goth from rushing over. They were all so young, even the African gaping at her. She hardly knew any of her dear friends at this age. Alone, in a scary world. Listening to demands that she didn't understand.

"Storm... Your powers, you..." Everyone is shocked by the emotion in her eyes when Magneto lowered himself, mouth dropped in shock. He never thought they would encounter their own variants, but here he stood corrected. "Erik. Kurt... Jean... Scott... You're all just..." But, against better judgement she flew when she saw the bald man in a wheelchair. Maybe, he understood best of all what was happening. He sensed his student on his lawn, and she was in dire need of his help and guidance. He wasn't the strongest empath, but this stranger's pain was palpable and familiar. "Professor Xavier!"

"Oh, my child..." There is a silence as the strange figure nearly clasped hands with the psychic, tears flowing down her face. She'd left her gloves with Sinister, just like she had none on when the goliath sentinel attacked Genosha. Rogue fought her way through a dense crowd of mutants to see what had them gathered (and what had made the thief so uneasy).

"HEY. Watch it, get back from..." Even she is shocked to see this bizarre version of what can only be herself. She'd never in her life seen another person or mutant with hair like hers, natural silvery highlights almost denoting her powers. That was the only thing similar about them, that and the skeptical stare on them both. "Oh... You're sick." Soon, a pale hand was revealed before Remy carefully held her back, the goth bucking like a wild bull. "It's just my mama or a shapeshifter she employed! She'll stop at nothin'! You'll never get yourself in here-"

This version of her was pale and scrawny. Seemed to already know the truth about their devious mother. Had already found Charles and her brother, her whole family. Just the thought of that weighs heavily on the older woman's heart.

"Mystique has no scent, Rogue... She..." Silence halts the Canadian, his mind working quickly to figure out who had done this, or what she was running from. The two lock eyes for a long moment as they wonder who they would both be in a different life. And different circumstances.

"Her mind is not shielded like Raven's. And, though I would never venture there without permission..."

"Her memories are real. Organic. And we are all IN them!" Jean finished, overwhelmed by the toiling grief and rage this strange X-Man was engulfed in. 'My god... What happened to you, Rogue?' Words escape the leader too, looking between his teammate he recognized and the one who'd appeared on the campus. Could it be a trick? Was this an accident? A clandestine plan by one of their enemies? He can't force his mind to quiet as the stranger looked at them all, unsurely. Where would she begin? Their lives had only just begun.

"I..."

"No, both of you," Ororo's shoulder's slumped when she held herself, a lot like the young southerner who had come to them a few years ago. They were so different, but there was something so uncanny in how similar they were. She turned away and shut her eyes tight to hold in tears. "Stay outta there. What's in mah head ain't for no one to see!"

"That's not true!" The redhead blurts, tears in her own eyes when she feels how scared both of the Rogue's standing there were. This being a deranged shapeshifter would've been way easier to handle than the truth. "Her psyches stay when she touches someone, too! We can help you!" When the priestess moved forward the woman shrank away, keeping her hands far away from where they couldn't hurt someone else.

"Do they fight for control, try to take over your life?" Rogue asks, her voice trembling as her sibling stood close to her side. Surprisingly, Remy wasn't looking at the bombshell who'd smashed into their lives, with sun-kissed skin and bright red lips. He was looking at the short girl beside him in concern. She was dangerously close to crying, head spinning as she tried to reconcile with what this all meant. What her mother would do, once she found out. "They helped me. They can fix it. Whatever's goin' on..."

When the strange X-Man smiled sadly, the redhead placed a hand solemnly on her chest. Whatever she was feeling was unbearable to experience. 'W-What is happening... Are the rest of us out there, somewhere'?

"Ah wish that was my problem, kid. Ah won't do this... Ah won't doom you, too. Forgive me, professor!" She might be able to go somewhere with different versions of all the people she lost, but it wasn't the same. They would love each other and fight for justice. But, she knows what's waiting for them at the end of this journey. Obliteration. She won't suffer it a second time, learning to hope and love just to have her dreams incinerated.

"Rogue, please!" Charles becomes frantic when he feels she's going to run off. "We cannot leave you-"

"Let us be there for you. I know we were, wherever you came from." She won't meet Logan's gaze, already feeling like he knew this Rogue in another strange life.

"Take care of them, Wolvie." Ororo and Jean have to convince themselves not to fly after her when she shot through the sky like a rocket. And out of sight.

"Are... Are her powers taking over, again?" Kitty's voice is small, shocked into rare silence by what she just witnessed, Piotr placing a massive hand on her back. She had grown brave and courageous being an X-Man, but this had unnerved her in a way he had never seen. The last time her old roommate took to the sky, she'd been under psychic possession by Mesmero. Nearly died, nearly gave up. "H-How did she..."

"Kitty, I... I think she can fly. Mein gott..." The German mutant turned to his sibling in concern, silent and eyes transfixed on where her strange doppelgänger had been standing. "Vhat does this all really mean?"

'She said somethin'. I think she said Sinister,' Logan reports telepathically as the crowd grew. "I'm goin' after her."

"I was going to ask that you did." Charles steeped his head on his hands, deep in thought about what this all meant. "She is in far more danger alone than she thinks."

"Ororo and I can assist-" The redhead starts, prompting a chorus of murmurs and interruptions.

"If you crowd her, she may never come back." The magnetist cut in, perturbed by the look in her eyes when they met gazes. Like he'd known her, all her life. "Wolverine's tracking will take time. That'll give her a chance to cope with what's happened. Then hopefully, she'll be ready to share."

"Ain't comin' back here without her. Everyone," The feral turned a serious gaze on the cluster of mutants, lingering on the girl with cloudy bangs. "Inside. We have no idea who could be watchin' us... Not givin' anyone else a chance to disappear." Most energy exchanges created an equal reaction. Something followed this other Rogue to them, or was looking to poach someone from their home.

"But... But, she's... I am-" She seemed older than he was, but the leader still felt very obligated to care for her as he'd always felt for his teammate. Especially in their world that already knew about mutants.

"Come, Scott." The weather priestess gently began to lead the shaded-mutant back in the direction of the school. "Logan is right. We must be patient and cautious." Her eyes too drifted to her pale student, shaking slightly despite the cajun's close proximity to her. "Time will remedy this better than we can."

"Remy," The southern mutant had been expecting this, being called on to divulge his spotty past. Before joining forces with the X-Men. Before even being employed by Magneto as an Acolyte. Something had driven him in this direction. And he has a good idea who would be capable of such time fuckery, it sounded like his old boss and master. "I told you I'd hoped, when we were ready... When the time was right. That we might have a talk."

"Oui," The thief gripped Rogue's glove reassuringly and placed a gentle kiss on the silver of her hair. "D'accord. Of course, professor. Be back in a little while." She barely nods as she wonders what her other life was like. Did she remember her real parents? Did they miss her? Did she know who Mystique really was? What she'd done to them all? That Kurt was her brother? She barely notices when the Acolyte and professor retreat, leaving a small group still standing on the destroyed lawn.

"We're all gonna go to the Rec room," Jean says, fiddling with a black and cream, doily-like dress she'd been wearing. The silence was suffocating her as the goth stared in direction she and the wild man had taken off in. "We would like it if you came to the Rec room... We are worried about you." It's way too difficult to tune out her feelings, confusion and anxiety covering her like a heavy blanket. Scott's hand on her shoulder finally makes the younger mutant face them, her brow wrinkled.

"You shouldn't be alone, right now." He continues, face serious as he wondered what all of this would mean. What had this other version of her known? Why were her powers different? What could she tell them? Could she help them better protect his sensitive friend? She'd been the center of so many of the dangerous shapeshifter's plots. Rogue can see the questions in his mind through a clenched jaw. "C'mon. We'll figure this all out. Together." His girlfriend nods furiously and tries not to think about the crushing feelings her variant had been feeling. Such grief and hopelessness. Pain and regret.

"Okay."

Her voice is shaking though, lost at the thought of there being multiple versions of her. Cursed to be haunted. Untouched. Forced to fight for her freedom, for her life. If she's lucky enough to find her family.

"Ah'll go." She sounds more like her shrewd and sarcastic self as she stomped toward veranda doors. "But, Ah don't want to talk about it. Right now, Ah just want to barf."