It was another day as Rogue was going through the Danger Room program that was specially assigned to her. With a confident smile on her face, she flew through the corridor, dodging the laser fire coming her way, before landing back on the floor. Next, several walls popped out of the ground in her path as she ran through them before finally firing ecto-blasts at all the buzzsaws, turrets, and anything else that was thrown at her.
At the finish line, she looked at Danny, who had a stopwatch in his hand.
"New record." He said proudly. "You're really getting good at this."
Rogue smirked in pride at her abilities. Under her boyfriend's teaching, she had learned quickly to master her supernatural powers. And now that they were done, Rogue had a request.
"So, since I finished much earlier than expected, I was wondering if you could teach me that duplication power?"
"You want to duplicate yourself?" Danny asked.
"Yeah." Rogue replied. She had seen Danny do it back at the carnival, and she thought that was such a cool power. To be in two places at once. Not to mention, having a duplicate would also give her some free time as well. She could send a duplicate to take her place every time Logan had an earlier morning Danger Room session so she could sleep in. A duplicate could also go to school while she stayed at home. It honestly seemed like a dream come true.
"I guess so." Danny said, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk Rogue out of this. Once she had her mind set on something, you couldn't convince her otherwise. "Now you just have to concentrate on your energy." He instructed. "Feel all the power flowing through you. And imagine it splitting in half." He then sneezed.
"Are you okay?" Rogue noticed that Danny seemed to be a bit under the weather.
Danny waved it off. "I'm fine. Just focus on your energy."
The southern hybrid did just that as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her power. She tried to focus on getting it to split off and form itself. As she kept on focusing, she could feel her body start to divide. Pouring more power into it, she tried to help the duplicate as it slowly began to emerge.
Finally, she felt the duplicate take form, and she opened her eyes and turned her head to the right, hoping to see the fruits of her labor.
Only to scream as she saw that she had grown a second head.
"What the hell happened?" The head on the right screamed.
"Danny, what's going on?" The head on the left questioned.
Danny shook his head, remembering when that happened. "Yeah, it's happened to me before. When I first tried to use this power, I only managed to grow a second head."
"You could've told me that!" The left head glared at him for leaving that part out.
"Hey, lay off him!" The right head argued. "He's doing the best that he can."
"Don't tell me how to talk to my man." The left head slapped her counterpart with the left arm.
"You bitch!" The right head used the right hand to strike back as Rogue started to beat herself up while Danny just watched, not knowing what to do.
"Danny, don't just stand there!" The right head demanded. "Help me get rid of her!"
"No, help me get rid of her!" The left head ordered.
Sighing, Danny grabbed both of their heads and pushed them back together, returning Rogue to her normal self.
The goth put her hands on her face as she realized she only had one head before relaxing. "Talk about being a headcase." She joked. "That used to happen to you?" She asked, getting a nod from Danny.
"Yeah. Duplication takes a lot of practice to get right." He patted her on the shoulder. "But knowing you, I'm sure you'll get it soon enough." He sneezed again.
"Okay, you've been sneezing all day." Rogue observed. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." Danny assured her. "Positive."
"Achoo!" Danny sniffled as he used another tissue to wipe his nose. He had woken up the next day only to find that he felt like absolute shit, so he was staying home.
"Aw, you poor baby." Rogue rubbed his back as she stood over his bed. "After school, I'll make you some chicken soup." She kissed him on the cheek. "I got to go. Get better, sugar."
The sick hybrid merely groaned as he went back to sleep.
"Love ya." Rogue told him as she left the room.
Using his moped, Rogue spent the rest of her day bored out of her mind as she listened to all the teachers lectures while she tried with all her might not to fall asleep in class.
Currently, she was silently drumming her fingers on her desk as the history teacher droned on when something strange happened.
"This class blows."
Alarmed, Rogue looked around to see if someone had whispered into her ear, but that wasn't the case. Shrugging, she relaxed before the same voice whispered again.
"God, this is so boring."
'Who was that?' Rogue thought to herself before getting an answer.
"Me."
"Ahh!" Rogue yelled out as she ended up knocking her textbook to the ground, and everyone stared at her.
"I know that the Black Plague can be horrifying, but can you please keep it down?" The teacher requested before continuing on with the lesson.
As the class went back to normal, Rogue continued to speak with the voice inside her head.
'Who are you?' She demanded mentally.
"I'm you." The voice replied, and Rogue noticed that it sounded exactly like hers.
'What?' Rogue must have hit her head or something. Sure, she's gotten some memories from the people she's touched, but never had she experienced something quite like this.
"Let me be more specific. I'm your ghost half."
'How is that possible?' Her ghost half could communicate with her? It had a mind of its own?
"Who knows? But I'm happy to be alive." The voice said cheerfully. "Or rather dead. Since I'm technically a ghost."
Rogue rubbed her head in exasperation. Why did this have to happen to her? 'This is so weird. I got to get help.'
"Hey, at least you can move." Her ghost half shot back. "I'm just stuck in the recesses of your mind."
'Shut up!' The southern gal ordered as she tried to think of a way to fix this problem. 'Just keep quiet until I get home and have the professor sort this out. Or maybe Danny. He's the expert on this stuff.'
"Whatever." Her ghost half replied as she left Rogue alone for the rest of the class, which was the last one she had for today.
When school got out, Rogue was riding her boyfriend's bike home as she stopped behind a car at a stop sign. As she was waiting for the car to go, a pair of teens hijacked the car, with one in particular blowing her a kiss. They soon sped off, leaving the helpless driver behind.
Narrowing her eyes, she began to give chase. "I can't let them get away with it."
"Yes." Her ghost half encouraged as she saw her take action. "That little punk needs to pay for blowing us a kiss. As if we would be attracted to a low-life like him."
"I was talking about the car." The half-ghost mutant pointed out.
"That too."
Rogue was gaining on the two thieves, who noticed her pursuing them in the rearview mirror, prompting them to hit the accelerator.
"Perhaps we may be able to gain on them easier in ghost form?" Her new companion suggested.
"Good idea." Rogue turned into an abandoned alleyway and transformed into ghost form before flying after the stolen car.
The stolen car continued to drive in the streets at a high speed, believing that they had lost Rogue, who was actually flying above them. As she was watching the car gain more speed, she looked up ahead to see a mother and daughter cross the street.
Acting quickly, she landed in front of the car and used her strength to hold it back. The mother and daughter looked at her in awe before running off.
"Rogue, the carjackers are making a run for it." Her ghost half warned her as Rogue saw that the two teenagers were doing just that.
"Not for long." Rogue replied as she flew after them and lifted them off the ground.
"Now, now, boys." She chided them. "Didn't your mother tell you not to take things that don't belong to you?"
"Nice job, sugar." Her inner voice praised. "We stopped the bad guys. So what do we do now?"
Hearing the sound of sirens, Rogue hung the two on a nearby flagpole before flying off. "We'll let the police handle them." She answered before realizing something. "By the way, I never asked you your name."
"Well, you call your ghost half Vampira, so I guess that's what my name is." The newly dubbed Vampira figured.
"Makes sense." Rogue said in agreement. "Well, Vampira, I think I need to talk to the professor about you." Shen then flew back to the moped before riding home.
"The capture of the notorious carjackers was attributed to a mysterious good Samaritan, who disappeared as police arrived." A reporter announced.
It cut to footage of the mother clutching her daughter as she was being interviewed.
"She just flew in from the sky and stopped the car from hitting us." The mother explained. "She looked no older than a regular teenager before she flew off after the two."
"The suspects are part of a larger car-theft ring operating in Bayville." The reporter revealed as it cut back to them. "In other news, heinous serial killer Cletus Kasady, also known as Carnage, is still at large after last being seen in an altercation with Spider-Man and the anti-hero known as Venom."
Professor Xavier turned off the TV as he looked at Rogue, who was smiling sheepishly.
"So, I forgot to turn invisible." She said. "It was one mistake. And only four people saw me. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Let the car run over that mom and her kid."
Xavier sighed. "No, Rogue. I can't blame you for saving lives, but please be more careful." He knew that Rogue didn't mean to cause this, but still he didn't need the world to know about mutants right now. "Now, you said you had some interesting news for me?"
Rogue blushed. "Yeah, about that."
Xavier pulled off Cerebro after exiting Rogue's mind. After Rogue had explained about Vampira, she allowed Xavier to scan her mind to see what was going on.
"So, how did this happen?" She asked, hoping that this wasn't something bad.
"I can't really say." Xavier answered as he thought about this. "Though I did sense some kind of energy around her. I recall it being the same kind from Magneto's enhancement chamber. Perhaps the energy residue mixed with your ghost half and gave it sentience."
"Makes sense to me, I guess." Vampira accepted.
"Is there a way to get rid of her?" Rogue wondered, feeling Vampira glare at her even though she couldn't see her.
"Hey! Is that any way to treat your other half?"
Xavier frowned in thought. "Maybe, but I believe suppressing her might in fact suppress your ghost powers as well."
"And you can't get rid of your ghost powers." Vampira asserted. "Think about it, sugar. Think about all the good you can do with these powers. You saw what happened today. That mother and her kid would've died if it weren't for you. Come on, don't get rid of me. I can help. I can be your guy in the chair. Well, girl in the chair, actually, no, wait, it's not really a chair but more like the corners of your mind, but still. You can't leave me, Rogue. I'm you. You can't deny a part of yourself. Please."
Rogue took in Vampira's words. Hearing her beg made her reconsider her decision. And she did have a point. Her powers could be used to help others. Was it truly wise to give them up? Also, it didn't seem that Vampira had any ill intentions other than annoying her. So was getting rid of her truly the best thing to do?
Thinking about it, Rogue decided that Vampira could stay. She couldn't give up these powers, not after seeing how they helped her save two people.
"You can stay." She relented.
Vampira cheered. "Yes! You go, girl!"
"Are you sure, Rogue?" The professor asked.
"Look, if she gets too annoying, then we'll do something about it." Rogue told him. "But for now, I'll leave her be. I mean, I already put up with Kitty as a roommate, so this shouldn't be too bad."
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you compare me to Kitty."
Xavier nodded. "Very well. But if you have any problems, let me know. I'm here to help after all."
"Thanks, professor." Rogue then went to check up on her boyfriend.
Danny was going through his eighth tissue box when Rogue came in, holding a steaming bowl of chicken soup.
"How ya feeling?" The ghostly X-Woman greeted her boyfriend while Vampira was looking over Danny.
"Wowsers." Vampira made a wolf whistle. "That's our boyfriend? Wow, we're really lucky."
'Back off!' Rogue thought back. 'He's my boyfriend.'
"And I'm you, so that makes him my boyfriend as well." Vampira argued. "Can you touch him so I can feel it? Please?"
"Shut up!" Rogue then realized she had said it out loud.
Danny looked at her funny. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, about that." Rogue went on to explain how she met Vampira and the professor's explanation of her origins, along with stopping those car thieves.
Danny was proud to hear that Rogue saved two people, but he was still concerned over Vampira.
"And you're just gonna let her stay in your mind?" Danny thought that seemed like a bad idea.
"Hey, screw you, jerk." Vampira reacted indignantly.
"Well, it's either that or give up my ghost powers." Rogue told him. "And I don't want to lose them. I like these powers. I feel closer to you, and I can do a lot of good with them."
Danny knew he couldn't win this argument, and if Rogue says Vampira didn't mean any harm, he would trust her judgement. "If that's how you feel, then I'm not gonna stop you. But are you positive that she isn't going to hurt you?"
"It's sweet that you're worried for me, Danny, but don't worry, I can handle this." Rogue reassured him. "She's not some evil ghost or anything. More like a roommate that gets on your nerves from time to time."
"If you say so." Danny leaned back into bed. "What does she say to you anyway?"
"Tell him I want to feel his lips."
Rogue smirked. "She says she wants you to kiss me so she can feel it."
Danny chuckled. "Well, how can I refuse?" He leaned in for a kiss, only for Rogue to put a finger on his lips.
"I'll wait until you feel better." Rogue teased before pushing him back. "See ya later, Danny."
"Oh, come on!" Vampira whined. "Who knows how long it'll take before he gets better. What am I supposed to do until then?"
"You're gonna help me fight crime." Rogue said as she transformed into her ghost half.
For the next couple of days, Rogue used her powers to stop any crime. From punks graffitiing others' property to purse snatchers. She would go out late at night and continue on until at least three in the morning.
Her abilities gave her an advantage over everything. Ecto-blasts were used to blow out the tires of any cars that crooks tried to escape in. Intangibility allowed her to get the drops on baddies. And invisibility allowed her to remain hidden. Which she used a lot as she made sure no one was able to get a good look at her.
The only thing bad guys could say when describing her as they were arrested was that she was a young woman. Other than that, it was as if she didn't exist.
As she kept on helping others, she felt great. Better than she ever had before. She had a purpose now, and it was exhilarating. The satisfaction of stopping these troublemakers. It was all empowering and humbling to see that she had helped so many people.
It was amazing to see that she made a difference in lowering Bayville's crime rate.
'I wonder if this is how Danny felt when he used to be a superhero?' She thought to herself as she overlooked the city from a tall building before seeing another carjacker try to steal.
"Looks like the job never ends." Vampira commented as they flew into action.
"And so, in just a few short days, Bayville's crime rate has been literally cut in half. All due to a mysterious female crimefighter referred to as the Bayville Siren." An anchorman stated.
"Got to say." Danny said, now feeling better, as he watched the report in the kitchen with Rogue. "It's pretty cool dating a superhero."
"Danny, you used to be a superhero." Rogue pointed out.
"Yeah, but I never dated one." He added.
The TV then showed a reporter interviewing the chief of police in front of city hall.
"Chief Rothman, do you have any clues to the identity of the Bayville Siren?" She asked.
"Not yet, but whoever they may be, we have no choice but to put a stop to their vigilante activities." The chief answered, making the two hybrids roll their eyes.
"I believe that's a sign saying enough is enough." The two turned to see Xavier in the room. "I understand you want to help people with your powers, Rogue. Really, I do. But now that you're considered a vigilante, I think that it's time to hang up the cape."
"But we don't wear a cape." Vampira said in confusion.
"Alright, I'll stop." Rogue conceded. "After I bring down the car theft ring." She then left the room.
"Rogue!" Xavier called, but she ignored him.
"Professor!" Scott entered the room. "I saw the news. I think Rogue might be the Bayville Siren."
"A little late on that, Scott." Danny deadpanned.
In a mansion deep in Wisconsin, Vlad was watching the news of what was happening in Bayville. It was necessary to know what was going on in your rival's territory.
"So Daniel's little girlfriend is following in his footsteps." Vlad shook his head in disgust at the way she used her powers. Why spend your days using them for the benefit of those who are inferior when you can benefit yourself?
The Fright Knight stood at attention as he looked over the report. "So there is another halfling?" He asked curiously.
"Yes." Vlad answered him. "Rogue. One of Xavier's little pets. And she's gotten pretty strong thanks to her boyfriend's tutelage. I'm sure Daniel thinks he's a good teacher." He sneered enviously at the idea of Daniel having another hybrid to interact with while he was left all alone. Why couldn't he see that together they would be unstoppable?
Ever since he met Daniel, he tried to get the boy to join him, only to be spurned at every turn. He brushed it off, though. He knew Daniel would eventually accept that the two were the only ones of their kind and would be better off being united. Only for Rogue to throw a wrench in that.
"I am intrigued." The Fright Knight stated. "I wonder how strong she is." He pulled out the Soul Shredder as he could feel the familiar lust for battle flow through him. "I want to duel her."
"No, no." Vlad wagged his finger in a scolding manner toward his servant. "I have someone else in mind." He had an evil gleam in his eye. "If Rogue wants to play hero, then I think it's best that she learn that there's more to evil than carjackers or ATM robbers."
"Don't mess with my kind." Vampira sang as Rogue was on patrol. "Don't play with my mind. I'm only a girl. But I can move the world."
"Can you zip it?" Rogue was getting annoyed as Vampira was singing a song that she had heard earlier.
"Hey, you can't expect me to hear such great music and not sing it out loud."
Rogue then spotted another car being stolen, and she followed it as it drove to an abandoned warehouse.
"This must be where they set shop." Rogue murmured. "Let's go."
As she phased into the garage, she stopped as she looked in front of her.
All over the garage were the mutilated bodies of the members of the car theft ring. Their blood and entrails were spilled all over the floor.
Rogue's eyes widened. Who could've done this? And why?
Vampira was silent as she witnessed the bloody scene, and so was the driver of the stolen car, who stepped out and gawked at what was in front of him before a screech was heard. The two watched as, out of the darkness, a redhead man with a look of insanity on him stepped out and smirked at them.
Immediately, Rogue recognized the guy. She had seen him on the news.
"Cletus Kasady." She whispered. What was he doing here?
Kasady snarled at her. "Kasady is gone! There is only CARNAGE!" And with that, several red tendrils emerged from his body and wrapped around him as Kasady was transformed into a monster made out of what appeared to be some kind of red goo.
Carnage was here.
With a mad cackle, the villain made a scythe out of his hand and slit the throat of the thief, making Rogue gasp as she saw the light leave his eyes. She stood there, petrified, as the serial killer made a charge at Rogue, who got out of the way just in time as she flew above him.
"You can't escape!" Carange's arms extended up into the air as Rogue flew back.
'How do I deal with this thing?' The goth panicked.
"Well, first things first. Stop avoiding his tendrils; you can phase through stuff, remember?"
Rogue nodded, as she had completely forgotten due to the trauma of seeing the corpses. As Carnage made another grab for her, his arms simply passed through the half-ghost.
"Hey!" The psychopath once again tried to grab Rogue, but she was untouchable. "No fair!" The monster jumped an inhuman height to bring her down, only to fall through her.
'What do we do? What do we do? Oh, Jesus, what do we fucking do?' Rogue was begging frantically for Vampira to help her. Despite having more power than her opponent, she was frightened after seeing what he had done. She wanted to be out of here, away from all those bodies.
"Do what anyone would do in this situation." Vampira told her. "Shoot him!"
"Come on down, Sweetums." Carnage simpered in a sickly sweet voice. "Don't you want to play with Carnage?" He then screamed in pain as an ecto-blast was fired at his chest, burning a bit of the symbiote off before it regenerated and covered the exposed area.
"You bitch!" Carnage would've cried out more obscenities if Rogue hadn't decided to bombard him with more ecto-blasts as the ghostly energy slowly started to burn away the symbiote.
"NO!" He grabbed the stolen car and threw it at Rogue, who phased through it.
"That's cheating!" Carnage accused as he formed his hands into spikes to try and stab her, but he still could not lay a hand on her.
"Why can't I touch you?" He cried out in frustration before Rogue started to shoot ecto-blasts at him as the symbiote rapidly began to heal itself.
"How could you kill those people?" Rogue couldn't believe anyone would be so sick and twisted to do the things that Carnage does. She may have gone against supervillains like Magneto and Juggernaut. But she had never seen them do something this horrific.
"I only freed them." Carnage claimed. "For death is the only freedom." He then started to laugh as Rogue was continually traumatized by this demented fiend. Never would she have thought that she'd be up close to an abomination like this.
She kept firing at him in an attempt to finally put an end to this madness as Carnage was shrieking in pain. Finally having had enough, he decided to make his escape.
"I'll get you!" The monster roared before bursting through a wall to retreat.
Rogue continued to fire ecto-blasts even when the creature had vanished.
"Rogue, he's gone; snap out of it!" Vampira pleaded as Rogue stopped her attack and started to breathe heavily. Taking another look at the mangled bodies she threw up before backing against the wall.
The image was seared into her mind as she left the building.
"Rogue, what's wrong?" Vampira asked in concern.
"What's wrong?" Rogue said incredulously. "Did you see what that thing did? It killed them. It strung their bodies all over the goddamn place. Oh, God, I can't believe it. He was so sick. So fucking sick." She started to hyperventilate as Vampira tried to calm her down.
"It's going to be all right." Vampira comforted her, but the bloody remains of the criminals wouldn't leave the mutant's mind. She could still remember the blank eyes of a decapitated head as it stared at her.
"NO! IT'S NOT ALL RIGHT!" Rogue cried out. "I got to get out of here." She headed home as sirens sounded in the distance.
"Terror has invaded Bayville. Just moments ago, authorities responded to a disturbance call only to discover a secret car theft ring with all the members found dead." A reporter stood in front of the building as police taped it off to the public. "Over twenty bodies were discovered at this chop shop, with police having no leads to the identity of the one responsible for this massacre."
"My god." Xavier whispered as he watched the report in his office as Danny sat down next to Rogue, rubbing circles on his shaken girlfriend's back.
"You were right, professor." Rogue uttered. "I should've stopped." She had seen true evil, and she wasn't sure she was ever going to be the same.
Xavier gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm just glad you're not hurt. Physically, that is, which is why I'm having you take therapy sessions with me to help you through this."
Rogue nodded, not willing to argue, as she agreed with the professor that she needed help as Danny held her tighter.
"Now, let us hope we've seen the last of this." Xavier said, not knowing that it had only just begun.
Carnage was currently licking his wounds as he was contemplating the girl he met. Oh, how he wished he could've peeled off her skin. Or gouged out her eyeballs. Rage filled him as he remembered how the girl looked at him in disgust. It brought back memories of another girl from when he was at St. Estes and how she laughed at him when he asked to date her.
Well, she certainly wasn't laughing after he pushed her in front of that moving bus. As the lunatic continued to ponder his past, he heard someone behind him clearing their throat.
The monster twisted its head around to see Vlad Plasmius.
"Looks like Halloween has come early this year." Carnage quipped before jumping at the ghost, only to fall through him, making him groan in frustration. "Oh, come on! What is with the freaks in this town?" The red slayer shouted before being trapped in a telekinetic hold.
"Is that anyway to thank the person who brought you here?" Plasmius droned.
"What?" Carnage questioned as he peered at the specter.
"Oh, come now. You may be mad, but you're far from stupid." Plasmius smirked. "Didn't you wonder how you woke up in this town out of nowhere?" He asked. Plasmius shook his head as he observed his temporary new minion. It had been easy tracking Carnage down and rendering him unconscious before bringing him to Bayville.
The maniac continued to growl and shout out threats of dismemberment, but Plasmius wasn't intimidated at all.
"I'm sure you're very angry after that girl sent you packing." At Carnage's growl, his smirk intensified. "Oh, struck a nerve, did I? What if I can tell you I have something that could hurt her and would allow you to have all the fun you wanted?"
"Fun?" Carnage was now intrigued.
"Yes." Plasmius stated. "I have a toy that you'll just love."
The next morning, all the X-Men were in the living room, having been alerted by the professor that they needed to see the news.
"Panic on the streets." An anchorman reported grimly. "Approximately ten minutes ago, the serial killer known as Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, started to attack Bayville in what appears to be an armed battle suit."
Xavier and the X-Men could only watch in shock as the footage showed Carnage in the Fenton ecto-skeleton firing beams of energy from the suit's hands at the innocent people who fled in terror.
Rogue could only stare at the monster as it laughed in joy at the absolute chaos it was causing.
"Police had begun blockading the general area, but attempts to bring the perpetrator to justice have failed." The anchorman continued. "May God help us all."
The X-Men all looked at each other in fear before Rogue noticed that some members were missing.
"Where's Danny and Logan?" She asked.
Xavier sighed. "Unfortunately, before I found out about this, I was told by Captain Stone that Juggernaut had broken out, and so I sent Danny and Logan to deal with him." He informed them regretfully, wishing that he had turned on the news before sending them off. This was an even greater threat than his half-brother.
"Can you call them back?" Scott asked worriedly, only for the professor to shake his head.
"The radio is jammed, sadly."
"Then what do we do?" Kitty inquired fearfully.
"You gave that monster your ecto-skeleton?" Fright Knight questioned in a disturbed tone. Even he knew that was simply insane.
Vlad, however, was not the least bit frightened by what he had done. "I merely gave him the advantage against Rogue in battle. And with me breaking out the professor's half-brother as a distraction, Daniel will not get in the way, leaving Rogue all alone."
"And what will happen when this individual turns the weapon on you?" Fright Knight brought up.
"Did you really think I didn't consider that possibility?" Vlad asked, offended at the very idea, before pointing to a button. "Once his work is done, I'll press this, which will disable the suit."
"But won't the suit drain him?" Fright Knight was still doubtful about this plan; he remembered when the ghost boy had almost become a full ghost under the strain of that machine.
Vlad smirked. "I've enhanced it, negating its cons. Now let us watch the end of the Bayville Siren."
Rogue simply stared at the screen as she saw the madman continue to enact his atrocities on others.
"We got to stop him." Vampira encouraged.
'Are you kidding?' Rogue mentally communicated. 'Look at the energy that he's shooting out. That's ghostly energy. That thing is most likely designed to hurt ghosts, and from the looks of it, that suit's making him stronger as well.'
It was true, as Carnage used the suit to zip over to a police car at super speed before crushing it with his foot.
'What makes you think we can stop him?' The southern mutant challenged.
Vampira sighed. "I know you're scared, Rogue. And it's okay to be scared. But you are the only one who has a remote chance of stopping him. I know he's a psychotic monster, but monsters aren't invincible. Terrifying and cruel, yes, but not infallible. They can be beaten. And remember what you said about how these powers allowed you to help people? Well, people need our help."
Seeing all the helpless civilians cry out for help stirred something in Rogue. She knew that she couldn't let Carnage continue this. He needed to be stopped.
"We can beat him, Rogue. After all, we're the Bayville Siren."
Determination fueling her, she turned ghost and flew out of the institute, ignoring the cries of her friends. Narrowing her eyes, she zoomed over to downtown, where Carnage was having the time of his life as he forced the police and news reporters to retreat.
Charging up a large ecto-blast, she threw it at the center of the ecto-skeleton, but it did nothing but get his attention.
"Aww!" Carnage cooed. "You've come back for more fun." Using the thrusters in the boots, he took off into the air to give chase as Rogue tried to think of her next move.
'He's following us!' Rogue panicked a bit. 'What do we do?'
"Lure him away to a less populated area." Vampira commanded.
Before Rogue could do that, she felt Carnage grab her leg.
"Got your leg!" The symbiotic monstrosity teased before throwing Rogue down as she landed in the Bayville docks. Groaning, she looked up to see Carnage coming down and rolled out of the way to avoid being hurt.
"I'm gonna rip that pretty face off of you!" Carnage vowed as he raised his hands and shot out a blue beam of energy at Rogue, knocking the half-ghost into a pile of crates.
'Fuck! That really hurt!' Rogue grimaced before being grabbed by the suit's arms. She could feel Carnage try to rip her apart. Slowly, of course, as he wanted to be more painful that way.
"Let's pull this little rag doll apart!" Cackling, he could hear Rogue trying to hold back her screams, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. She tried to phase out of his grip, but the suit was designed to prevent that.
She tried to charge up a ghost ray, but the suit's energy dampened it. Thinking quickly, she turned invisible, catching her foe by surprise as she let go of her in astonishment.
"Where did you go?" Carnage started to destroy his nearby surroundings in an attempt to find Rogue, who was floating above him several feet, still invisible.
"It's no use." Vampira stated. "That suit's very purpose is to destroy ghosts. We don't have a chance."
'Destroy ghosts?' Rogue thought over Vampira's statement while watching Carnage rampage around the docks, destroying the property. 'Then we should stop fighting like a ghost. And start fighting as a mutant.'
"What use would your mutant powers have?" Vampira demanded skeptically. "That suit protects him from our touch. I hate to say it, but that machine he has is unbeatable."
'It's like you said, Vampira.' Rogue replied as she got an idea. 'Everything has a weakness, including machines.'
"If only we knew a mutant who could affect machines." Vampira said, making Rogue's eyes widen.
'That's it!' Rogue realized. 'You're a genius, Vampira.'
Leaving Carnage, who was tearing apart the docks, she flew over to the one mutant whose power would help her. On her way, she passed by the Brotherhood house, and deciding that it would be a big help, she phased through the door to find the Brotherhood watching the news.
Acting on instinct, she grabbed Pietro's face with her bare hand as he passed out.
She then sped off before the Brotherhood could get a word in. With Pietro's super speed at her disposal, she zipped off to Forge's house and quickly phased through the front door.
Forge was sitting with his parents and watching the news as well when Rogue quickly touched him and sped up to his room. Locating the device that was responsible for the Middleverse incident, she used Forge's skill with machines that she took along with Quicksilver's speed to modify the gizmo.
'Perfect.' Rogue smiled down at her work before grabbing it and heading off back to the docks.
"Where are you?" Carnage screamed out to the heavens as he tried to look for Rogue.
"Right over here!" Rogue appeared in front of him as she pressed a button on the machine as it let out an EMP. Carnage was about to dive at her when the suit's circuits were fried.
As it shut down, he found himself stuck in the motionless suit before breaking open the dome as he climbed out. Though his toy was toast, he was determined to put an end to this persistent enemy. He lunged at her as Rogue phased right through him, separating the man, if you could call him that, and the symbiote.
"No!" Cletus shouted in despair at being separated. "Come back!" He tried to reach over to his other half, but Rogue flew them up into the air, where Cletus couldn't bond with his other half.
"It's over, you freak!" Rogue glared at the sadist who caused all this before noticing the ecto-skeleton. It was glowing green in the center as the metal started to melt around it.
"Uh-oh." Seeing that the reactor inside the suit was becoming unstable, Rogue flew Kasady into the air as the explosion destroyed the docks. Thankfully, no one was harmed, except for the symbiote, which was obliterated by the blast.
Seeing police cars and firetrucks approaching the site, Rogue turned invisible before dropping Cletus down nearby, leaving him for the cops.
"I don't believe it." Vlad said in disbelief as he watched what had happened from one of his spybots. Rogue had defeated Carnage, and his ecto-skeleton was destroyed.
"Impressive." Fright Knight approved. "Most impressive."
Vlad snarled at losing one of his most precious weapons. Someone was going to pay for this.
"It can't be gone." Cletus was locked up in Ravencroft once again, as he was in a fetal position in his cell, shaking back and forth. Oh, what he would give to get back at that bitch who took the symbiote from him. He'd make her pay. He'd make them all pay.
"It can't be gone." He murmured to himself. "I'm Carnage. I'M CARNAGE!"
"But even the horrors of carnage fade within time."
Cletus looked up to see the Fright Knight standing over him.
"My master isn't pleased with how you conducted yourself." Fright Knight unsheathed his sword. "And he desires payment for his property."
"He isn't the only one who lost something." Cletus raged. "I lost it! Where is it?" He placed his hands on Fright Knight's shoulders. "Give it back!"
Fright Knight didn't bother to respond as he slashed the madman with his sword, trapping him in a dimension of his worst nightmares.
"I'm sorry the professor made you quit." Danny said as he and Rogue were sharing some cookies at the dinner table late at night. The X-Men were all relieved to find that Rogue was all right. Danny and Wolverine, once they got back after apprehending Juggernaut, were informed of what had happened.
Danny was disgusted that Vlad had allowed that monster to use his family's ecto-skeleton and was horrified at the idea that Rogue had to face off against it. But after hearing how Rogue had been able to best him, he was impressed.
The professor, while grateful that his student was alive and that the criminal had been apprehended, finally put his foot down and demanded that Rogue give up the vigilante act once and for all.
Rogue had given in without a fight. She was happy to have brought Cletus to justice, but she still remembered the bodies back at the warehouse and decided it was best to leave the superhero thing behind.
"I'm not. I'm just glad that monster is finally gone." Rogue shivered. "I honestly don't know if I actually want to go back ever again."
Danny nodded. "I understand completely." He said. Like her, he had seen death, and it changed him as well.
"Still, it was kind of nice." Rogue admitted. "Helping people. Maybe one day I'll return. And hey, maybe we'll all be able to do it. Out in the open and be appreciated."
"Maybe, one day." Danny said hopefully, before giving her a lovesick look. "I can't believe I'm dating a celebrity. And a gorgeous one at that."
Rogue blushed as she heard Vampira sigh lovingly in her head.
"He just knows what to say, doesn't he?"
'He does.' She agreed. 'And Vampira. Thanks for having my back.'
"I always will, girlfriend. I always will."