Chapter 8
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Marie had always known it was only a matter of time before she was caught. Xavier had gotten her some good lawyers, Matt Murdoch, Jennifer Walters, but there was only so much they could do. Marie's own mother testified against her, and her sister wasn't even here. Marie had to assume that her little sister blamed her for their father's death, and hated her as much as their mother did. It became harder to think of herself as Marie, and easier to think of herself as Rogue. She ended up getting the same judge as Magneto, somehow she doubted that this was either fate or coincidence. She was grateful that Wolverine, Xavier, Kitty, they came to court to support her, they were her true family. Rogue was convicted of murder in the first degree against her own father. She was given a chance to make a final statement.
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Rogue: I murdered my father. He tried to molest me, and would have molested my sister. I have no regrets about this. He deserved to die and I'd do it again. But I think that if I weren't a mutant, I would have been given probation and counseling. I know that my life is over, so just let me die and be done with it.
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Despite the fact that Rogue seemed to want to die, Judge Snyder sentenced her to life imprisonment. Specifically Rogue was sentenced to the Raft. The Raft was a prison specifically designed for "Supervillains." It was essentially Guantanamo Bay for mutants. Some, were powerful mutants like Magneto, and no other prison could hold them. Maybe the judge thought that if Rogue were sent to a normal prison, she would be a danger to the prison staff and to other incarcerated women. Rogue actually cried when she heard that she would have to live in this prison for several decades. Wolverine told her he'd continue to fight this, but there seemed little hope that she would ever be free again. During the trial Wolverine saw Peter Parker in the visitor's gallery. Peter Parker was a freelance photographer, and he was also the hero known as Spiderman. Wolverine went to speak to him after Rogue's sentencing.
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Wolverine: What do you know about the Raft?
Peter: It's a prison for powerful mutants.
Wolverine: The same judge from Marie's trial sentenced Magneto to the raft, but not the death penalty.
Peter: You're wondering why a judge who's anti-mutant and pro-death penalty would suddenly send mutants to this particular prison.
Wolverine: Yeah, I'm hoping your journalist friends might have some idea.
Peter: Have you ever heard of the prison industrial complex?
Wolverine: For-profit prisons that have more prisoners get more money from the state.
Peter: And the raft is a for-profit prison. Three years ago judge Snyder was a judge in juvenile court, and he got involved in a scandal. Essentially he was bribed to send juvenile offendors to juvenile prisons for even minor charges. Like a nine year old girl with autism who acted up in class, sent to the same prison as murderers, and got killed.
Wolverine: How the hell is he still a judge?
Peter: Because they couldn't prove he was involved, not after certain evidence "Dissapeared." Snyder was then transferred, and seemed to have an unusually high number of mutants before his court.
Wolverine: So it's not random, which cases he's assigned to?
Peter: It's suppossed to be, but you give little gifts to the clerks, and if the clerks don't like mutants to begin with...
Wolverine: I get the point. So now he's up to his old tricks to send mutants to this place.
Peter: The people who designed the Raft, they bragged about how they could dampen super villains powers, but it's untested.
Wolverine: And for their greed they're going to send all these mutants here, and make them suffer.
Peter: I know Magneto's a terrorist, and your friend is a murderer, no offense.
Wolverine: None taken.
Peter: But a lot of these mutants are guilty of minor charges.
Wolverine: Like Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen.
Peter: Yeah, she was a small time thief, and he was probably innocent of everything. They may have save New Orleans, but because they're mutants...
Wolverine: There are times, when I wonder if Magneto is right.
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Rogue had heard that the Raft was essentially Guantanamo Bay for mutants. Rogue had never been to Guantanamo, but it probably wasn't much worse than this. She was confined to a single cell. She wasn't allowed out for anything, meals were brought to her, as were other things. She had a bed, a toilet, a small shower. Some books were brought to her, she even had a television set. But there was nothing else to do but pace in her cell all day. Each inmate had their own cell. Through the bars she could see and even talk to others. The ones within her were Tyrone, Tandy, and Magneto. Tyrone used to have the power to transport himself anywhere he wanted, within a certain distance. But whatever they used here to block powers worked, and Ty couldn't transfer himself or Tandy anywhere, Rogue felt weaker as soon as she was brought here. Maybe this was a side effect of whatever device dampened their powers. Or maybe it was a natural reaction to being confined to a small room all day every day. Rogue saw that the other inmates were also growing progressively weaker, whatever caused this happened to every mutant here. And some mutants did die, Rogue was a little bit relieved, at least she wouldn't be stuck here for very long. It was one thing to not want to hurt innocent people in Magneto's plot. But if it were just herself who would die, it was a relief.
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During their incarceration Magneto spoke with Tyrone and Tandy. He had heard many stories about what they had done, was curious as to what the truth was.
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Ty: J heard some of your last speech, it was pretty good. Although you did steal a lot of it from John Brown.
Magneto; It was a good speech, he said these things better than I could. So, I am curious, they said you two were a "Divine pairing." What does that mean?
Tandy: According to certain legends in New Orleans, they are two people connected. Then some disaster happens, and one must die to prevent total disaster. In the 18th century, it was two sisters. Then a drought happened, and the sisters fought a duel with pistols. Some said the duel was over a man they both loved, some say it was over a woman that they both loved. In any event, once one shot and killed her sister, it started raining.
Ty: Then, during the influenza epidemic, the divine pairing were a doctor, and a jazz musician. The two men were in love, but the musician got sick, and the doctor gave him his blood, all of it in fact. The doctor died, but his boyfriend lived, and the epidemic got better, at least that part of the city.
Magneto: And what terrible disaster were you two supposed to stop?
Ty: Something went wrong, with a nuclear power plant. By that point, we had heard the legend, believed we were it, so I went to the power plant to stop the meltdown.
Magneto: You didn't expect to come out.
Ty: I was going through some things, dying to save New Orleans sounded pretty good.
Tandy: But I wasn't going to let some legend tell me to just let him die. I don't know how much is true. Maybe those sisters really killed each other over another woman, maybe a doctor who treated influenza patients got sick himself. I had no idea if they were connected, so I went there. It was, complicated, but we saved the city and got the hell out.
Magneto: Yet people blamed you for starting the disaster.
Ty: Because I'm a young black man, and she was a small time thief. Once they found out we were mutants, that's all people cared about.
Magneto: I understand, believe me. People in Poland hated me and my family without knowing we were mutants. If we'd been wealthy they would have hated us for having more than them. Because we were poor they hated us for being "Drains on society." They hated us for being rich, and for being poor. They hated us simply for being jews.
Ty: I got some idea what that's like, maybe not to your extant.
Magneto: The irony is that so many people, a number of jews, and African-Americans, go along with the mutant haters, to be more accepted. They forget the lessons of history. They think those who are against mutants today won't turn on them tomorrow.
Tandy: They're idiots.
Magneto: Yes, they are.
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Charles Xavier had money, connections, after Rogue had been in the Raft for a little over a month Xavier was given permission to come see her. He had to sign a waver, saying he wouldn't sue if he was weakened here. The devices that dampened mutant's powers were only suppossed to affect the mutant's in their cells, but there was no guarantee that mutant's outside of these cells wouldn't be affected. Xavier and his group did feel a bit weaker upon entering this prison. Wolverine was allowed to accompany him as a bodyguard. Peter Parker also accompanied Xavier on this. The warden claimed they had nothing to hide, but visits by the press were rare. The three of them were allowed to see Rogue. She looked different than they remembered her, she was weak, and it looked like she had given up.
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Xavier: Hello Marie.
Rogue: It's Rogue now.
Xavier: How are you?
Rogue: Well I've had the chance to binge watch a lot of shows, no homework. I just watched "Zombie at 17." Wish I had that zombie girl's mother.
Xavier: Are you eating much, keeping up your strength?
Rogue: The food's not great, but yeah I'm eating. Is this normal, feeling this way in prison?
Wolverine: Normally they let you out for meals and to do some sort of job for the prison.
Rogue: Yeah but that's normal prisons, not the kind for supervillains.
Wolverine: You're not a villain.
Rogue: Maybe I am.
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Wolverine had seen his share of prisons, including P.O.W. camps, this did seem different. Under escort he went to see Sabertooth. He half expected that Sabertooth would be prison alpha by now, but he didn't seem to have the strength for that. Normally when these two saw each other they growled, or worse, but today Sabertooth was too weak to even let out a growl. Whatever it was that dampened mutant's powers was effective.
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Xavier went to see Erik, who seemed weaker than normal. Xavier gave him a book on the Rosenstrasse protest. It was the only mass public demonstration in nazi Germany against the deportation of jews. It wasn't meant to be political, it was just ordinary women fighting to save their jewish husbands from the Gestapo, and it worked. Xavier didn't want to give up on his friend, he wanted to help him see the light. Erik took the book, and thanked Charles, but he didn't say much else. Xavier had expected Erik to debate him on this. At the very least to say that if Germany had won the war, the Gestapo would have come back for these men, and almost certainly their wives. But Erik didn't offer any debate. Was Erik's loss of strength really his powers being dampened, or just a natural part of being incarcerated? Xavier wasn't sure, but he did fear he wouldn't like the answer.
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Peter Parker was able to talk with the Warden of the Raft, with guards around.
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Warden: I have nothing to hide from a journalist.
Peter: Yet I'm the first journalist allowed into this place.
Warden: That is for security reasons. Magneto's followers would love to break him out. And off the record, your friend Xavier has money and connections.
Peter: Wolverine and Charles Xavier have been feeling weaker since they arrived.
Warden: I did warn them. The device we use to dampen the inmates' powers is concentrated on the cells, but there was never a guarantee it would be limited to them.
Peter: What about Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen?
Warden: They, like all of the people incarcerated here, were convicted by a court of law.
Peter: So you assume they're guilty? That they weren't just convicted by mutant haters?
Warden: This is not the first prison I worked at. The first thing one learns, everyone is innocent. As far as I am concerned yes, everyone of the inmates is guilty of murder and/or terrorism.
Peter: What about the fact that this is a for profit prison?
Warden: Sometimes the private sector is better at handling problems than the government.
Peter: So you believe in something that allows you to profit financially.
Warden: That is your, libelous, opinion.
Peter: How many have died in here?
Warden: Twelve, all suicides. It's sad, but some people just can't take prison. Others, like Magneto, are just made of stronger stock. But then Magneto survived a nazi death camp, my prison isn't nearly as bad.
Peter: All of the "suicides" had low level powers.
Warden: Perhaps their abilities make them stronger, mentally speaking as well as physical.
Peter: I have to use the men's room. Where is it exactly?
Warden: Down the hall.
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Peter's guard waited outside, assuming that there was no way Peter could get out except through this door. But he forgot about the air vents. Peter's spider powers had been weakened since he came to this prison, but they weren't completely gone. Peter moved through this quickly, it was only a matter of time before the guard checked on him. Peter soon found the weapon, the device that dampened their abilities. As a scientist Peter Parker would have loved to study this, but he didn't have the time. From what he could gather from the scientist's conversation, this device not only dampened the inmates' powers, it was actually stealing their powers. Who exactly were they working for, that part was unclear. But Peter heard a name, Nathaniel Essex, and these scientists seemed afraid of this man. Peter took as many pictures as he could, and quickly returned to the men's room. He then went to speak with his group in private.
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Peter: They're not just dampening these powers, they're stealing them. I heard a name, Essex.
Wolverine: Nathaniel Essex?
Peter: Yeah, you know him?
Wolverine: Unfortunately yes. He was a nazi, or at least he worked with the nazis. He was a doctor in the concentration camps, did cruel and unusual experiments on those inmates. When he realized that Germany was going to lose the war he made a deal. He gave the United States his research, in exchange for immunity and assylum.
Peter: If he's still alive, wouldn;t he be very old?
Wolverine: Just barely younger than me actually. But the rumor was he found a way to avoid aging, and now he's up to his old tricks.
Peter: I'll publish my pictures, and I think I can convince Jameson to publish this story. Once the public finds out...
Wolverine: How many will care? As far as a lot of people are concerned these people are all terrorists, murderers, and mutants.
Xavier: We can use this to win people's hearts and minds, they will call for investigations.
Peter: I have to agree with professor Xavier, we can use public opinion to help shut this place down, or at least get some changes made.
Wolverine: But we'll never get back in here, no journalists will. Even if we do, it will be too late for Rogue, for Ty and Tandy. You two better leave now. Sorry professor, looks like it just won't work out between us.
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Wolverine went to see Avalanche, he was sleeping. He was maybe 19, the fact that he would want to sleep all day was hardly unusual, but right now Wolverine needed him to fight. He woke him up.
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Avalanche: What do you want?
Wolverine: Kitty's alive.
Avalanche: What?
Wolverine: Your old girlfriend Kitty. She's alive, at Xavier's school. You get out, maybe she'll want to see you sometime, but I can't promise anything.
Avalanche: Why are you telling me this, I'm never getting out of here?
Wolverine: We'll see.
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Wolverine then went back to see his brother Sabertooth.
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Wolverine: You're weak.
Sabertooth: What did you say runt?
Wolverine: If you give up now you're just weak.
Sabertooth: I get out of here, you and me are going to have at it.
Wolverine: Keep up that anger, you'll need it.
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Wolverine then went to see Rogue.
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Wolverine: Don't give up Vicki.
Rogue: That's not my name.
Wolverine: I know, but you watched "Vampire Diaries." You said you always empathized with Vicki. She went to Hell, like you. But remember how her story ended.
Rogue: Yeah, I remember.
Wolverine: What do you say we do that here.
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Rogue understood what Wolverine was saying, and she nodded.
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Xavier and Peter had already left, Wolverine didn't want them involved in this. Wolverine's main goal was to save Rogue, and he had no objections about maybe freeing Ty and Tandy. But he couldn't think of a way to save them without likely releasing the rest. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but it was all he could come up with. Whether Wolverine was a hero or a villain, would probably depend on who was telling the story later. Peter had told him where this device was, he just had to get there. Wolverine put his claws to his guard's throat. Without his healing ability this was incredibly painful, but it worked. He forced this guard to take him to the room, with his keycard. The other guards tried to shoot him, but he still had enough of his healing ability to survive, for a little while at least. After a fairly brief battle Wolverine made it to the room and destroyed the device. This was painful, but he could already feel his mutant healing powers coming back. The scientist and the guards in this room realized that the seven inmates would very soon regain their abilities, so one gaurd immediately accessed the PA system to warn his friends. "The device has been destroyed, we must evacuate while we still can." Most of the prison staff began to flee for their very lives while they still could. A few guards tried to murder Magneto and the others while they still could, but it was already too late. Those who tried to shoot Magneto discovered, too late, that he was already regaining some of his ability. He turned their very bullets against them and killed them. Those who tried to kill Avalanche and Sabertooth met the same fate. Those who fled were spared, the inmates didn't yet have the strength to fight all of the guards, they needed to escape before reinforcements arrived.
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The eight of them were able to escape. Wolverine had thought he and Rogue would escape one way, along with Ty and Tandy, and that Magneto and his three followers would go another way. He hoped that he and Sabertooth would temporarily put aside their differences, and that they did. But to Wolverine's mild surprise Ty and Tandy decided to go with Magneto. But maybe that wasn't too surprising, these two had saved an entire city, and for their efforts they were thrown into prison and tortured. That was the kind of thing that could turn them towards Magneto's side. And Avalanche, having heard that his beloved Kitty was still alive, was willing to go with Wolverine. He made no promises about being able to get him in contact with her, but he was willing to take his chances. For better or worse Magneto had gained not only his freedom but two new soldiers for his army. Maybe Avalanche would come back, maybe not, but things were looking up for his side. And Wolverine was now a wanted fugitive. He still didn't believe in any cause enough to follow anyone, even Charles Xavier. But he believed in protecting his friends, like Rogue. And for now at least, that was enough for him.