Part 6: Sinister Dealings
Like ah said, I hated high school. Foah most people, high school is a time to confront some harsh realities about the world, other people, and yoahself. Unfortunately foah me, my world was just chock full of harsh realities. Somewhere deep down ah think ah always knew what Mystique was, but ah wanted so badly to believe the lie that I just didn't pay attention. Maybe ah thought if ah tried hard enough ah could make it real. Kids can be so dumb sometimes.
So yeah, I threw mahself a little pity party foah a while, but I eventually get tired of feelin' sorry foah mahself. Ah ain't one to pretend like ah don't feel anything, but the world don't stop just cause yoah havin' a bad day, and ah always bounce back. Afta a few days ah got right back to mah same routine, now more determined than ever ta prove that ah was an X-man.
To be honest very little of interest happened over the next few weeks, but ah'll catch ya up anyhow. We got back to the mansion, took in the kids, and even though Nightcrawler wanted to go home so bad he was fixin ta burst, we asked him to stay with us a while, just to make shoah he was safe and no one was gonna come afta him. The time he spent with us was primarily shared by the Professor, mahself, and surprisingly Logan. Somethin' about Kurt just calmed him ah guess. But afta his little episode at the compound, Xavier was quick to begin probing his mind again. Ah guess they got a clue cause one mornin' Logan had ta go "check some things out". Ah hate it when he does that. Worries me ta death.
But since this story is about me and the Cajun, let's talk about that foah a while. Basically, we hardly spoke afta that. Gambit started havin' plenty to do and someplace else ta be. Ah took the hint and did the same. One, cause it's beneath my dignity to be chasin around some man who won't give me the time of day, and two ah wanted some space from him.
Let me reiterate: it's hard not bein able ta touch people. Ya cain't snuggle a baby, ya cain't hug a friend, ya cain't kiss the one ya love, ya cain't wipe a tear away, not really. All those unspoken elements of caring that other people take foah granted, ah cain't enjoy. That's something ah gotta live with every day. But when its hypothetical, faceless, nameless imaginary people, it's much easier to handle. Still not easy, but easier. It's so much worse ta have somebody in particular in mind when yoah feelin' lonely.
Still, it's true that sometimes emotions can make a girl irrational. But Gambit, bein the gentleman that he is, gave me some reinforcement.
Wednesday ah got up early to go to my usual danger room session. My path went right by the cajun's door, but it normally didn't make no difference ta me cause he's almost never in there anyway. However, just as ah was nearin' the place, who should walk out half past four in the mornin' but Betsy Braddock, disheveled and sleepy eyed. She caught sight of me and burst into a rascally grin.
"Hey kid." She tossed as she sauntered past.
Now keep in mind Betsy didn't know anything about how ah felt. Ah wish ah coulda kept that in mind. Ah was so mad ah coulda decked a horse. While ah really didn't have any justification foah mah anger, it turned out ta be a great motivator foah stayin away from Remy….scumbag..
But life just ain't boring around the x-mansion, and it had a few more licks ta deal me befoah ah left adolescence.
Hank was helpin' me in the danger room when it happened. Logan was still galavanting off somewheres, Jean and Cyclops were off bein a couple downtown, and Storm was attendin' a press conference. Ah was doin all right, but startin' ta get a little tired. Ah was fixin' ta ask Hank for ten more minutes, when suddenly, ah got real tired. Guess ah was exertin' mahself a little harder than ah thought.
"Hank can ya turn this thing off?"
But there was no answer from Hank. Ah looked up into the observation window and saw him sleepin' on the controls. Red flag. Ah had just noticed a sort of metallic taste in mah mouth before ah hit the ground.
"Rogue! ROGUE! Wake up!" It was Scott. Ah wanted to respond, but ah was so sleepy.
Then Jean's voice came barreling inta mah mind like a train.
"ROGUE!" Ah shot up.
"Rogue, what's going on? Where's the professor? What happened?"
"What?" Ah was still groggy. But Scott wasn't feelin' too patient with me. He started shakin' me up.
"What happened here?!"
"Well hang on a dang minute and let me think! Ah was trainin'…Hank was at the controls. Ah don't know ah just got so tired."
"Did you see anyone? Did you see anything?"
"No. I just saw Hank asleep at the computer befoah ah passed out."
"Scott what are we going to do?" Jean was clearly concerned.
"What's happened?" ah asked.
"There are traces of gas toxin all over the mansion. Someone drugged the place. Hank's gone, the Professor's gone, Jubilee, Gambit, Psylocke, all missing! We have no idea who did this or where they went. Jean can't find any trace of them with Cerebro."
"Well there's gotta be somethin! Five people just don't go missin' without leavin' some trace somewhere!"
"You're right. Split up and look for clues. I'm going to try to access the security files and see if it caught anything. Jean, keep scanning with Cerebro. Maybe they're unconscious."
"I'll try Scott."
I tore through that mansion like a woman possessed. Ah looked everywhere ah could think ta look. Ah was rootin' through Psylocke's quarters when ah heard Scott behind me.
"Rogue I'd like to see your room."
"Mah room?"
"Look, try not to take this personally."
It has been mah experience that when someone tells ya not to take somethin' personally, its usually very personal.
"Well why don'tcha explain and ah'll decide whether ah want to or not."
"We don't have time for this. The Professor is missing!"
"You think he's in mah room? Planning a big surprise party with the others? Fat chance."
"Someone planned this out. Someone had access to our ventilation systems, our security systems, don't you realize they could have come in here and cleaned this place out? Wasted everyone?! But they didn't use lethal force. They just took everyone, with no signs of struggle. Every single X-man except you. I don't know if you're in on it. Right now I don't care. All I know is that your presence is the only clue we've got, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to find my team."
"Sure Scott. Come on up to mah room. Ah'd love another round of Blame Rogue."
"Which do you care more about? Your own pride or the lives of the others?!"
"Ah wish you could just answer that question foah yoahself, instead of me havin ta prove it all the time, but foah now come on up ta mah room. Yoah not gonna find anything there."
Lo and behold, ah was wrong. The room was undisturbed, but there was a small silver tube lying on mah bed. Scott picked it and and found a button on one end. He called Jean in to hit it foah us with her telekinesis so we could stand at a safe distance, in case it exploded. Ah woulda just pushed the darn thing. Ah guess that's why he's the leader. Much to our joy, it didn't explode. Rather, it projected an image; an evil image, one that no one was happy to see.
"Greetings Rogue." Mah name crept out of Mr. Sinister's mouth like it was a disease.
"I'm sure by now you've realized that your friends are missing. I left this message to allay your fears: they are unharmed. Moreover, I am more than willing to return them relatively unscathed to their rightful place, with one provision: I want YOU Rogue." Oh heck. Much as a love a sweet talker this wasn't exactly what ah had in mind foah mah afternoon.
"I don't want a struggle; I want you in peak condition. To insure your cooperation in this matter, I have placed some custom accessories on your friends: collars designed by the good people at the Weapon X programs to suppress the use of mutant powers. I have added my own original flare to the piece, by placing explosive devices in each. Even a hint of aggression on the part of the X-men and they will be obliterated. Enclosed are the coordinates where you can meet me. The facility is equipped with a psychic scrambling device, so don't bother trying to glean more information than I'm willing to grant. You have 24 hours to respond, at the end of which time your friends become of no further use to me. I look forward to meeting you in person. This message will not be repeated"
The image disappeared. Ah was speechless. Scott and Jean weren't big talkers at the moment either. My mind reeled with possibilities and the implications of what Sinister had said. Any aggression, and half the team was signed, sealed, and delivered. No psychic interference. That settles it.
"Well ah'm going to need the blackbird to get there by nightfall."
"We've got to think. We have to come up with a plan."
"Scott, look, we've been up against this Sinister guy befoah, you and Jean especially. He's tough, he's dead serious, and he's got his bases covered. Not in a few hours are we going to be able to come up with a reasonable plan on the information we've got. There's too much to risk."
"You don't think I know that? But we don't have many advantages to play with. The only bargaining chip we have is you. We give you up and what's to say he doesn't waste the other five anyway? Whatever his plan is, it needs you to be completed, obviously. Knowing that guy we can't allow him to succeed."
"Scott, we don't even know what his plan is, we can't foil it before we know that. Rogue right, he has his bases covered. We don't know what we're up against, what we're going to find at the coordinates, and there's too much at stake. We don't have anything to bargain with and he knows it." Jean chimed in.
"I don't like it. There has to be another way."
"Listen Scott, we still got X-men on the outside. Let me go in there. We can't do anything without more information. Ah'll try to find out what he wants with me, and maybe just maybe he'll let the others out. If nothing else, it buys you a little more time to figure out what we're gonna do."
Scott gave me a long, searchin' look. Sometimes ah wonder how a girl like Jean could love such a stern face.
"Scott yoah gonna have ta trust me. Please. Ah want them back just as much as you do."
"Do you?"
"All right, if you cain't believe that ah really care because ah'm part of this dang team, then let's play something more logical: what do you suppose will happen ta me with the Professor gone? You think ah want a ticket back to crazy town?"
"Scott please, there is no time. We're already missing half the team." Jean was clearly getting exasperated.
"All right. Take Storm with you, Rogue. I want her to give us some aerial surveillance, at least we can get the lay of the land. Rogue, when you get in there, you're going to be on your own. But before you agree to anything, I want you to demand the release of one of the hostage X-men. I don't care which one, but this serves two purposes: it gets us one more team member on our side, and gives us some inside intelligence. I'm going to give you a communication plant. I don't know if you'll be able to get it inside, but don't use it, don't turn it on. Try to give it to one of the other x-men. Since you seem to be the star of the show, maybe they'll be able to use it a little less conspicuously. I'm giving you one hour, and if there's no contact then I'm going to have to go after the scrambling device. I don't want to, its too risky, but the odds aren't with us on this one and we've got to try something."
And that's how ah found mahself walking up to the gates of one of Sinister's many lairs. It wasn't really much to see from the outside. Just some sort of commercial buildin', looked like there was still construction goin on. But it was the inside that made me apprehensive.
Even though ah knew Storm was circlin' overhead somewhere above the clouds, it still felt like ah was alone. Ah had gotten used to bein' part of a team, workin' together, havin' too much to think about to even consider what ah was feelin'. But ah had ta keep focused. Mah friends were in there. And this time it was all up ta me. Ah kept their faces in the forefront of mah mind. Hank's gentle smile, Jubilee's exuberance, Psylocke's fire, the Professor's calm hopefulness, and Gambit's velvety voice wrapped around me like a suit of armor. This time they were in there, scared and confused, and ah was gonna save them. Game time.
"Who goes?" a guard trained his rifle towards me as ah approached.
"Rogue. Ah've come just like Sinister asked. So let a lady in."
"Very well. Come on in, real easy."
As soon as ah got within arms reach he jerked me towards him and slapped a gold collar around my neck.
"Whoa there fella, no need to play rough."
"Sorry lady. We gotta take precautions."
"Ah'm here to get my friends back. That's it."
The guard just snickered, dug the barrel of his rifle inta mah back, and ordered me ta move. Jerks like that really get mah hackles up. But today there was no place foah that, so ah just moved along. The place was really quite small, one long corridor lined with officies, which eventually led to large open, warehouse like space.
"So glad you could make our little appointment. Welcome, Rogue." Mr. Sinister stepped out of the shadows.
"Ya coulda cleaned the place up if you were expectin company."
"Efficiency before aesthetic. Between the psionic scrambler and the hologram device, we needed no further extravagant security precautions. Hard to infiltrate something that can't be found."
He began to walk toward me. "Do you know why you are here Rogue?"
"How would ah? You weren't inclined to explain in yoah message. But befoah ya get to the nitty gritty details, ah got some news foah you." He clearly looked annoyed. Good.
"Ah can only assume that you've got some great evil type scheme in mind, but befoah these negotiations go any further you need ta know that ah don't trust ya. Ah want some insurance that my friends will really go free."
He smiled. Not good. "What did you have in mind?"
"Two things, first ah want ya ta show them to me. Ah need to know that they're not already dead."
"Astute of you. Follow me."
Sinister opened a door and ushered me inside. Out the back of the warehouse was another corridor, this one lined with cells. Most of them were empty, but there in the very back were the X-men. Little red lights from the explosive charges blinked at me from the darkness. I heard Jubilee's small shrill voice first.
"Rogue! It's a trap! You've got to get out of here.!"
Ah went over ta her. "You think ah don't know that sugah? Listen to me, ya got ta stay calm. It's under control. Everything's gonna be all right, ah promise."
Ah winked at her for effect, and she nodded at me nervously. Ah held my body as calm as ah could, hopin she couldn't see how scared ah was. Nothin' like seein yoah friends behind bars with explosives strapped to their necks to put the fear of God inta ya. But ah couldn't get scared this time. The line ah had ta walk was too thin. This time ah had to be the voice of reassurance. In the cell with her were Psylocke and Gambit. Psylocke was huggin her knees in the corner, beads of sweat on her forehead.
"Y'all all right?"
"Petit you shouldna come. Dat Sinister, he got plans fo' ya."
"What's wrong with Psylocke?"
"De scrambler, it givin' her a migraine sometin fierce. She real dizzy but she all right. Chere you got ta be careful."
"How are you? You hurt?"
"Mais non petit, take more dan dat to get Gambit down."
He was worried. Ya can always tell when somethin's on his mind cause he starts talkin third person. His hands were clutchin the bars, and ah wrapped mine around his.
"Don't worry Remy. And don't forget who ah am. Ah can handle just about anything they throw at me. Y'all will be home before you can say 'Dixieland.'"
The next cell held Beast and the Professor, only the Professor was strapped into a large machine mounted on the wall with a helmet on him that covered the top half of his face. Impossibly tangled tubes ran in and out.
"What have you done to the Professor??"
"I have only suspended his consciousness. I assure you he is quite fine. The force of his mind proved to be a threat to our devices, so we had to neutralize it."
"You better hope that thing hasn't done him any harm, or mark my words ah'll have you for Christmas dinner the next three years in a row!"
"You are threatening me? How quaint. But remember your circumstances. You wouldn't want me to get…irrational. There, you've seen that they are all here, unhurt."
"Yeah well I have one more condition."
"Don't try me."
"How do ah know that ya won't just kill them when yoah done with me? Ya promised they'd get ta go on back home. Ah want ya to make good on that promise right now. Ah want one turned loose. Ah'll even be a lady and let ya pick which one."
"You are ceasing to amuse me. I will not humor you further. That collar you wear has disabled any threat you might have posed, and keep in mind that I still hold power of life and death over your friends, and now you. I have won, and I shall do as I wish. Guards! Place her on the table!"
After that ah got rushed by three men, and by instinct, ah tried ta fly. Ah couldn't. Ah tried to sling them offa me. Three men shoulda been nothing. Ah couldn't do that either. These collars…they worked…ah couldn't do a thing with it on. As much as ah hated my powers most of the time, now that they were gone ah felt mighty helpless. They flung me down on that table hard and locked me in with some metal restraints.
"What are you DOIN??"
"Why Rogue I thought you might never ask. We, you and I, are making history!"
"What, ah'm officially the first person to be strapped to a table?"
"Silence! Do not mock me! You don't know the opportunity that has been granted you! You will be worshipped as a goddess, marked down in the annals of time as the mother of an age!"
"Sounds great an all that, but isn't this the same shtick you fed Jean and Scott?"
"Science, Rogue, is a quest for success. Mistakes and failures are merely companions along the road to perfection. I chose Scott and Jean because of the strength of their mutant code. This was a mistake. Mutation occurs in stages, and future generations will inevitably be stronger than the early ones. I have no wish to breed an entirely new army each decade. I don't want superior, I want perfect! You are the key to that ultimate success."
"Boy honey have you got your girls crossed."
"Don't you see? It is not strength that is necessary. Strength is only relative. But flexibility, that is adaptable. The lab you destroyed, the children you stole, they were the mistakes that came from my previous flawed theory."
"WHAT?!"
"The lab belonged to a private company called 'Weapon X'. Though their ideas about human control of mutants are inevitably impractical, their genetic research yielded some astounding results. Moreover, they simply have resources that I found unequaled. They've practically warehoused a cross section of the mutant population! Certainly they would have been unwilling to share such a wealth of potential information with a mutant like myself, so I developed some devices to help me control some of the key participants, thus gaining access and control to the location in South Dakota. There I conducted my research, splicing and fusing genetic code in the hopes of creating truly remarkable mutants, but my success was limited."
"Yoah a madman! Ya cain't do that! Ya ain't no better than those people you tortured! Ya got no right!"
"Perhaps no better, but certainly more ambitious. The truth is the criteria for viable genetic material is very limited. One can only push the boundaries so far. For each successful creation, hundreds of others never reached fruition. Even the successes were not completely satisfactory. I had reached the full breadth of my capabilities, but still my ultimate goal was beyond my grasp. Then there was you."
"Ah don't understand."
"You see your specific mutant gene is adaptable. Not at an evolutionary pace, but at lightening speed!"
"It doesn't work like that. It's not genetic. It only works for a little while, then it goes away. You got this all wrong."
"Have I? Then how do you explain your flight, your strength? In assessing the damages to my facilities, much was lost to me, but much was gained. Some of you were wounded during your endeavors, and I was able to recover your genetic material. Your DNA is the most remarkable I have ever seen. You are able to extend your mutant gene with each new entity you absorb. Each power remains in your arsenal, permanently. What is disappointing is how much discretion you've shown in absorbing power. The length of your touch magnifies or minimizes the strength of the transfer. Many of your hiding powers are quite weak, but we're going to change all that."
"What are you going to do to me?"
"I am going to make you the most powerful mutant in the world. You will absorb the powers of other mutants, expanding your arsenal to its seemingly endless capacity. Once this is done, I will use your upgraded gene to create a host of super mutants, not just most powerful to this age, but with your absorbing power, that they might adapt to any new strain of the mutant gene and never become obsolete. With this army I will establish mutants as the dominant form of life on the planet. I will remake the world in my own image! You have made all this possible. So, now you see why it was so important that you come to me unharmed. You will need your strength for the work we must to do."
"You cain't do this!"
"Can't I?"
"You don't understand. It's not just the power, it's the entire PERSON. You'll drive me mad! Your army will all be madmen unable to so much as touch another person."
"I don't need your mind. I only need your genes. And my army will not want for such base pleasures as human contact. Their minds will be directly under my control, and my direction. I can create them; I have no need for them to create themselves. And now that I have you, I have plenty of time to perfect my formula. I do not believe you will be going anywhere anytime soon, or ever again for that matter."
"You musn't! You don't understand what yoah doing!"
"Quiet! I have waited too long for this moment to put it off any longer. Slab! George! Bring out the others."
Mah mind was racin' at a million miles a minute. Ah couldn't panic. Ah needed a plan. There had to be somethin' that could be done. Ah tested my bonds, but they wouldn't give an inch. Mah eyes scanned for anything that could be used, but there was nothing. Come on, come on! Oh gawd Scott please come up with somethin'.
"Vertigo, go and carefully remove her collar. We need those powers of hers active."
The X-men marched into the room, bound, gagged, and collared, minus the Professor. Had ta stay calm.
"You have been brought to witness the dawn of an age! After this moment, all of you will be obsolete prototypes of a master race of mutant, at my control! You will tell your precious Professor of the day his pitiful dream died on the vine! Vertigo, you shall be first to give your gifts to the cause. Ruckus, you must hold her hands. Do not let go until I instruct, we need the gene to be strong!"
"Don't do this! Ya don't know what this will do to ya! Ah could kill ya! Vertigo don't throw yoah life away for this madman!"
"When this madman rules the world, what sort of life do you think I will lead? I will want for nothing! The humans must be obliterated, surely you can understand that."
I was goin ta try again but she grabbed mah face and ah felt that familiar pulsing of another person pushing their way into mah veins, mah body, mah mind.
Thoughts came rushin inta mah head. He'll take care of me. He will give me the savage lands. No one will oppose us! No one will oppose me! Images of jungle trees, villages, dinosaurs flashed befoah mah eyes.
"Stop, let go! It's too much!"
Dizzy, so dizzy. No, I will make THEM dizzy. They raise their hands against me, but I am not defenseless!
My own will started fadin away. My own thought began swirlin, changing inta Vertigo's.
"Help. Help please. Yoah killin us." Ah knew it was the last thing ah would have the strength ta say.
Suddenly her hands broke away. Ah opened mah eyes and Vertigo had collapsed, motionless. Ruckus was holdin' her.
"Boss she don't look so good. You sure this is safe?"
"There are always costs for greatness. Do not question me. Leave her. She will recover in time."
Suddenly a wave of energy came bustin' outta mah mind, outta mah control. It was Vertigo's power, and it poured out stronger and stronger.
"Stop! Make her stop! Ruckus, put the collar back on!"
He writhed on the floor, soon followed by the x-men, the rest of the nasty boys, and Sinister himself.
"I…I can't!"
"Do it!"
"I CAN'T! I can't even move!"
Ah don't know how long it poured out of me, but eventually it began fallin away, till finally everyone got back to their feet.
"That was quite clever of you, Rogue, but to no avail."
"You don't listen! I cain't help it! Just cause ah have a power doesn't mean ah can control it! What if yoah whole dang army turns out to be full of out of control powers like this? Even if yoah idea wasn't stupid in the first place, yoah methods shoah are!"
"It will WORK! Ramrod, you are next. That should prove far less dramatic, given the scramblers."
"Stop this please!"
"Boss, I don't know about all this, you sure you – "
"Do NOT question me!" He struck Ramrod, pretty dang hard too. "Next to hesitate will not be permitted to survive. Do it!"
"Ramrod, you saw what happened to Vertigo. My first boyfriend was in a coma for three weeks, is that what you want?"
"Orders lady. Give it a rest."
"How about Miss Marvel? She never woke up Ramrod, never! Ah don't want you in mah dang head!"
Like most men, Ramrod didn't listen.
After all, ol' boy, who wouldn't want to touch this lady. Whatever the man says. We can't have him mad at us. Why did I get into this whole thing in the first place?
Spiraling down, down. Lost, confused. Once Ramrod let go, ah had a problem.
Ya see, Ramrod's powers were psionic, or psychic in nature. He controls plants with his mind. There's this little recurring problem ah have with Miss Marvel, aka Carol Danvers. I absorbed her whole consciousness. All of it. Her body lies in a hospital somewhere, living off machines, but no one's home. She stays with me, always. And she seems to want me gone. Professor X had managed to contain her with some psychic abilities. Since she and ah didn't have psychic abilities, the defense system was relatively impenetrable. But now ah had some, and ah couldn't control them even under normal circumstances, but the scramblers made it even more interesting. Ah felt Ramrod's borrowed powers shatter through mah mind, and the walls that kept Carol gone begin to crumble.
"What have you done ta me? Oh gawd what have you done?"
"Where's Gambit?? Where the hell did that pretty boy go?" cried Slab.
Sinister lost his cool lickety-split. "You lost him?! How did you??"
The powers and people and thoughts raging around in my newly psychic but horribly scrambled brain seemed to tear a hole right through mah brain. Ah could scarcely even make out an entire thought.
Suddenly, the alarms went off. "Security Breach. Intruder Alert."
"It's the X-men!"
"Detonate the collars!"
"I don't know where the control went!"
"What?! The INCOMPETENCE! Slab, George, grab her, give her your powers. We'll use her to defend us!"
"Don't do it, please! Ah cain't take any more!"
"GRAB HER!"
They did it. Between the incoming power of two different mutants and the ones still raging in mah head, ah was a lost cause. Ah think ah remember screamin' one time. Ah couldn't help it. There's simply no pain quite like psychic damage. Carol broke through her wall, everything went black, and ah ceased to exist.
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