Immediately, Rogue's hand reached out and started to drag her back to where Mystique was.
"What the?" The goth girl tried to use her other arm to pull her disobedient appendage back before that arm was forced away like it was being pulled by some invisible string.
"What's going on? What are you doing to my body?" Rogue demanded as she fought against the invisible force controlling her. Both of her arms were then pulled to the side and stretched to their limits, torturing her as if she were the plaything of some sadistic puppet master.
"Doing what you won't." Vampira replied as Rogue was floated back to the altar.
"Let me go!" Rogue ordered, but her body still continued to move on its own.
"Can't do that right now. We have a job to do, and although you might feel hesitation in getting your hands dirty, when I set out to do something, I make sure it's completed."
"Please." Rogue begged as her anger was replaced by fear. "Please, let me go."
"I'm sorry, sugar. But I can't do that." Vampira apologized.
Dropped down on her feet, she felt her hand make its way to the candlestick and grasped hold of it.
"No!" She threw the weapon away before collapsing to the ground. Mystique could only watch as her daughter was twisting around on the floor.
"Rogue!" Mystique cried out in concern, but Rogue was too busy with her own problems to respond. The southern belle's limbs were being twisted around as her entire body glowed green. There was even a brief unsettling moment where Rogue's head turned all the way around.
As painful as it appeared to be, it was nothing compared to actually feeling it. The half-ghost let out a scream as her back was pulled down while her legs were still firmly planted on the ground bending her like a human pretzel.
"STOP THIS!" Rogue commanded only for her head to ache as if someone were taking a scalpel directly to her brain, cutting deep into it and not bothering to be subtle or gentle either.
"Sorry, girlfriend, but I'm calling the shots for this one. Don't worry, it'll be over quickly." Vampira replied as Rogue continued to struggle before her eyes rolled back into her head and she knew no more.
"Rogue!" Mystique's frightened shouts were ignored as the body of Rogue stayed perfectly still, with the exception of the slight twitching of her head and the drool coming out of her mouth, giving her the perfect brain-dead look.
"Who am I now? Don't let me touch you, 'cause I might just take you down! Who am I now? A tough decision that keeps on coming around."
The lyrics to the music were the first things Rogue noticed as her senses returned to her. Getting up, she found that she wasn't in the church anymore, given the fact that she was staring at a forest in front of her. Turning around, she found that she was standing on the deck right outside the party that started it all.
"Dance?"
The half-ghost let out a small scream as she noticed someone appeared out of nowhere next to her, making her take a couple steps back before gasping at who it was. Standing in front of Rogue with a smirk was Vampira.
"Not your type, am I?" Vampira chuckled as she fixed an unreadable look at her human half.
"Vampira, is... is that you?" Rogue could only look at her in astonishment. It was just so weird to be seeing her in person. To her, Vampira was always just a voice in her head; never did she ever really create a mental image of what she would look like (though it made sense she would look just like her ghost half), so to see that voice come out of a mouth and to actually stare into her eyes, it was so surreal.
The ghost shook her head fondly as if she had been asked a question from an innocent child. "Well, of course it's me, sugar. Who else would it be?"
Instantly recalling what Vampira tried to do to her a few minutes ago, Rogue threw a first in her direction only to trip and fall right through her, making Vampira shake her head.
"Is that really the best you got?" She asked before another fist went straight through her. "Sheesh, you're awfully cranky today. What's crawled up your butt?"
"Maybe I don't like having someone take control of my body!" Rogue reminded her. "Or making me try to kill someone."
"And tell me, how is killing Mystique a bad thing?" Vampira replied in an uncaring tone as she rolled her eyes and walked past Rogue to head into the building where the party was being held, only for Rogue to block her path.
"Cute." Vampira mocked as she walked right through the goth and started to make a beeline toward the counter where the refreshments were being sold.
"You're not going anywhere until you explain to me what the hell you did back there." Rogue demanded, wanting answers, but Vampira simply ignored her. Frustrated, Rogue grabbed her arm, pulling her back outside.
"Don't you turn your back on me."
With a sigh, Vampira motioned for Rogue to follow her. "Fine. Come with me. I'll give you your answers."
"You can tell it all to me right here." Rogue pushed Vampira up against a wall in an attempt to intimidate her, but her ghost half merely gave her a bored look as she grabbed Rogue and phased the two through the wall to join the party.
Much to Rogue's surprise, there was no one there. The music and light show were still going on, but not a single soul was there to enjoy it.
"Where are we?" Rogue asked, knowing that this really wasn't the place where her powers first manifested. "And where did everybody go?"
"This is your head, hon. Or more specifically, the part of your head that holds all the bits and pieces of the people you touch with that deadly skin of yours."
"But there's no one here." Rogue pointed out.
"You can thank me for that." Vampira answered. "Those bits and pieces of people you absorb make good snacks." She licked her teeth, remembering the screams of those people and how they were silenced once she got a hold of them.
Of all the people she had absorbed, her favorite meal would always be Mystique, remembering the sheer terror of her screams as she slowly consumed her. She always wondered if the real Mystique's screams were just as loud, if not even louder.
"Snacks?" Rogue had a look of disgust on her face. This must've explained why she hadn't been feeling all of those psychic imprints messing around in her head.
"It's better than the alternative." Vampira pointed out. "Unless you like the idea of having Mystique and Sabretooth running around in your head."
"And having you in it is so much better, isn't it?" Rogue said sarcastically. "Now tell me how you were able to take control so easily." That was the question Rogue wondered the most. The practical ease Vampira showed in trying to take over made it feel as if... as if...
"You've done this before, haven't you?" Rogue whispered. "Haven't you?" She cried, making Vampira smirk as she placed a finger on her forehead.
There was a bright flash before Rogue found herself looking through her own eyes. She could see through her own eyes the ceiling of her own room before feeling herself getting out of bed, floating down the halls of the institute before turning to the bathroom door. It opened, and Rogue could see Wanda on the other side before seeing herself start to choke the poor girl.
"You don't belong here." She whispered as Wanda tried to free herself. "Your time is up, Wanda. It's been up for ten years."
"NO!" Wanda used her powers to break free. Rogue then felt her own body turn invisible and quickly fly back to her room before the memory faded away.
Next she saw the institute's computer and looked down to see her own hands typing as the screen then said Defcon 4. She then impaled her finger into the console and could feel a bit of her energy leave her as it went into the machine.
Finally, she saw Wanda on her bed before looking down into her open drawer, slipping a note that read, "Now or Never" and a keychain into it before slamming the drawer shut, getting the witch's attention.
She couldn't believe it. No. This couldn't be real. She would never...
Her thoughts were cut off as she found herself back in front of Vampira.
"It was you." Rogue stated quietly. "You set the mansion to blow up."
"Guilty." Vampira said shamelessly.
"You..." Rogue couldn't form any more words as she was too disgusted with Vampira's actions to even speak. So she threw Vampira up against the counter and started to pummel her.
"You monster! You miserable little ghoul! You used me to try to kill my friends!" Rogue felt like she was looking at a stranger now. How could Vampira do this? After everything they've been through, how could she attempt to murder the people she loved?
"Get off me!" Vampira ordered as she pushed her human half to the floor. "I've had enough of this. Yes, my target was Wanda, and no, the other little new X-brats didn't matter. They were possible collateral damage for all I cared. It's not like they mattered to us anyway."
"How could you say that? And how could you do all that to Wanda? You tried to send her after her father. Even after knowing what he would do to her."
"What can I say? I saw an opportunity and I took it. I couldn't let her stay with us." Vampira retorted. "You saw how she was trying to cozy up with Danny. And unlike you, I wasn't gonna stand by and watch as some other woman tried to walk away with my man."
Rogue couldn't believe it. Sure, she knew Vampira didn't like Wanda, but never would she think she would resort to murder.
"Why?" Rogue asked, all her anger being replaced by genuine hurt. Vampira was like the sister she never had. Always having her back and saying something silly that either made her laugh or roll her eyes.
Vampira's features softened at seeing the betrayed look of her other half as she gently pushed Rogue off. "Look, Rogue, I like you; I really do. But, no offense, sugar, but you're kind of hopeless."
"What?"
"I mean, you have all this power." Vampira made her hands glow green to demonstrate. "Not just these, but the ability to take the powers of others as well. You have so much potential, and yet you waste it on people who don't deserve it."
"But I thought you wanted me to use them to help people. That's what you said when we first met." Rogue brought up, remembering how Vampira convinced her to use her abilities for good.
"I did, Rogue." Vampira confirmed. "I honestly did, but then I realized that these people, these mongrels, aren't worthy of being saved." She snarled as she thought of all the ungrateful citizens of Bayville who look at them like freaks.
"When the world first learned about us, we were hunted down before having to deal with a trial that decided whether we got to have rights or not. Remember how they carted Danny away and how we almost lost him? And after we got back to school, we've gotten nothing but snide remarks and hateful glances. All while you do nothing but try to bear with it instead of fighting back."
"We can't fight back. Not in the ways that you're thinking." Rogue said as she was reminded of those nightmares. "You know what happens to us if we go down that road."
"That we become a goddess among mortals, destroying anyone or anything that gets in our way?" The ghost was smiling as she imagined it. "Hate to burst your bubble, hon, but that doesn't sound half-bad."
Horror was etched on Rogue's face as she was confronted with the extent of Vampira's true nature.
"We had the entire world at our mercy." Vampira continued as she remembered first seeing that memory Danny shared with them. While Rogue was understandably horrified by it, she, on the other hand, was excited. What she saw in their future self was power, unmeasurable power, and the will to do anything they desired.
"Think about it, Rogue. We could do whatever we wanted, and nothing could stop us. We can bend the world to our will. No more racist jerks trying to keep us down. Never again will we ever have to fear Mystique trying to hurt us. Together, you, me, and Danny can rule this world. We can be the start of a new species, one that would inherit the earth."
She held out her hand to Rogue. "And I want you to be there with me. The two of us working together, we'll make sure that no one can ever hurt us again. What do you say?"
Rogue looked down at the hand of Vampira; no, this wasn't her. This was something else. The Vampira she knew would never say something like this or do anything this horrible. But then again, did the Vampira Rogue know ever exist at all?
"I know I'm no saint, but you're me; how can you be this twisted?" Rogue asked as she knew she was capable of great evil, but how could Vampira fall down the pit of darkness this quickly?
"You hurt me, sugar." Vampira faked a rejected look. "Besides, I'm a part of you. Always have been since the very beginning. Even before the ghost powers. I was those feelings of anger you pushed down every time Aunt Irene forbade you from leaving the house. The anger you've always been feeling towards Mystique ever since you met her. The part of you that just wants to cut loose once in a while. To just take what you want. That is who and what I am."
Rogue could only look on as she listened, enraptured by Vampira's tale. She knew deep down that what her other half was saying was true. Vampira wasn't just some side effect from getting her ghost powers. She was the darkness in her very soul. The yin to her yang.
"But the problem was that I was just that, a part of you. I wasn't some other personality or alter ego. Just a bunch of repressed emotions. I wasn't alive, not yet. It wasn't until your exposure to that chamber on Magneto's little asteroid that I awoke, and even then I couldn't do much. I was just stuck in your head along with the other people you kept prisoner."
"Guess the professor was right." Rogue chimed in, remembering his theory that Vampira was a possible result of the energy of the chamber. "The chamber was what made you."
"Mm-hmm." Vampira agreed. "It was almost impossible to break my way out of your subconscious. I thought I'd never leave, but then one day a door was opened for me." She grinned at Rogue. "All thanks to you."
"What did I do?" Rogue inquired.
Vampira grinned. "You remember when you tried to duplicate the first time and you got that second head? That was me."
"That was you?" Rogue asked in disbelief.
"Uh huh. Who would've thought that little embarrassing moment would've started this all, eh?" Vampira offered her hand again. "Anyway, what do you say, sugar? The two of us against the world."
"Just the two of us, huh?" Rogue repeated as she looked at Vampira skeptically as she was thinking something over. "And how long will it be just us two?"
Vampira narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"That dream I had of our future self coming for me." Rogue explained as she thought back to that nightmare. "I thought you were the one protecting me, but now knowing what I know now. It's clear to me now that you were there, but you weren't the one protecting me. You were her."
"And with you out of the way, nothing can stop me." The words echoed in her head as she saw Vampira look away, confirming her suspicion.
"So how long will it just be the two of us?" Rogue questioned. "What happens when you decide that you're tired of sharing the spotlight and decide to snuff me out?"
"Rogue, I-"
"Don't lie to me! You've been spending all this time trying to take control. You don't care about me." She tried to keep the tears back, not wanting Vampira of all people to see her cry. "You were like a sister to me. I thought you were my friend." The sadness on her face quickly turned to anger. "But all along you were just like Mystique. You only cared for yourself."
"I-"
"You're a lunatic." Rogue insulted. "A monster, a parasite. Something that shouldn't exist. I should've listened to the professor and let him get rid of you right from the very beginning. I don't care if your part of me or whatever, because I will never become anything like you, EVER! So you can just skedaddle back to whatever part of my mind you crawled out of because I'm in charge here. Always have and always will."
Vampira peered deeply into Rogue's eyes for several uncomfortable moments as they had their stare down, neither willing to back down.
"It's a shame, really." Vampira spoke after a couple moments of silence. "You could've been great, but you just had to let your pesky morals get in the way. Ah, well, more for me then."
The lights shut off as the music screeched to a halt. A black, shadowy mass started to cover the walls of the place, covering every opening from doors to windows before they started to solidify, leaving the two in darkness, with the only light being Vampira's glowing aura.
"What are you doing?" Rogue cried.
"I think it's time that I start pulling the strings in this relationship, don't you? After all, between the two of us, I'm the much better half." She started flying up. "So long, sugar, it was nice knowing ya." She phased through the ceiling, ignoring Rogue's cries as the poor girl was left in darkness.
Vampira practically leaped up from the ground as she found herself in full control. Now with no more interruptions.
"Nice to be in the driver's seat. This time forever." She said as she stretched her limbs and wiped the drool off her chin before turning to where Mystique was, only to curse up a storm as she found that the shapeshifter had used the distraction to escape yet again, leaving nothing but a pile of blood.
"Damn it!" She shouted, frustrated that her chance at revenge had been snatched away yet again. Once again, she would have to wait for Mystique to show her ugly mug. It'd be pointless to look now since the blue mutant was a master at disappearing. She was probably halfway across Bayville by now. "Goddamn woman is like a cockroach. Just keeps getting away."
Needing to let out this rage somehow, the newly freed Vampira was about to destroy her surroundings when she heard a groan. Turning around, she was confronted with Wanda climbing up to her feet.
In a second, the anger turned into glee as Vampira was now given a new target. If she couldn't take out her mother, then she shall do away with the little homewrecker instead.
"At least I'll be able to get rid of you." She muttered to herself as Wanda was trying to shake off the effects of being drained by Rogue.
"R-Rogue?" Wanda looked at the altar and saw that Mystique was missing. "Where'd Mystique go?"
Vampira's eyes glowed red, giving menace to her smile. "Oh, don't worry about her, hon. She'll get what's coming to her soon enough. You, on the other hand, should be more concerned about what's going to happen to you." She threw an ecto-blast in Wanda's direction, who quickly dove out of the way.
"What's your problem?" Wanda confronted.
"You." Vampira replied angrily. "You're my problem. Ever since you stepped foot into the institute, you have been trying to take Danny for yourself."
"What?" Wanda blushed at the implication. "No." She denied. "I-"
"Save it. No matter how many times I've tried to get you to leave, you couldn't take a hint that you weren't wanted."
"Get me to leave?" Wanda questioned. "What do you mean?"
"Who do you think visited you in the bathroom on your first night there?" Vampira said. "That was me, telling you so kindly to piss off on out of here and to stay away from my man. But you just couldn't listen, could you? So I had to up my game, such as setting the mansion's defenses to target you. And when that didn't work, I thought I could use your hate against your dear dad against you. How do you think that ski lift ticket ended up in your drawer, huh?"
"...That was you?" Wanda whispered, pained by this revealed treachery. She knew that Rogue wasn't totally happy by her arrival at first, but she thought that Rogue had gotten over it, and after that, the two had become friends. They would shop together at the mall, with Rogue sharing her interests in movies and video games.
Was that all just a lie? Did Rogue never truly care for her at all?
"But no, you just couldn't take the sign that you weren't wanted. You should've stayed in that asylum where you belong!" Vampira, with superhuman speed, raced over to Wanda, snatched her by the throat in one hand, with her other hand grabbing Wanda's hands so she couldn't do any magic, and lifted her off the ground as she started to choke the sorceress.
"Yes!" Vampira cheered. "You don't know how long I wanted to do this. First, you, then Mystique, and finally, I'll have the whole world at my fingertips."
Wanda was desperately trying to free herself but the ghost was too strong. She could feel her vision starting to blur from the lack of oxygen with the only thing still visible was the hate in Vampira's eyes.
Just as all hope seemed lost to Wanda, Nightcrawler woke up, and seeing Wanda in danger, he quickly jumped up and wrapped his arms around her before teleporting her out of Vampira's grip.
"Rogue, what are you doing?" Nightcrawler demanded as he got in front of Wanda to protect her as the poor girl was gasping for air.
"Out of my way, furball!" Vampira commanded. "I have something to settle with the Scarlet Bitch over there, so you either move out of the way or I'll pluck every bit of hair off of you, blue boy. Brother be damned."
Nightcrawler was caught off guard by his sister's cruel tone and before he could give a reply the doors to the church burst open as Wolverine, Shadowcat, Cyclops, and Jean arrived, and all of them widened their eyes in shock to see Vampira aiming an ecto-blast at Wanda and Nightcrawler.
Wolverine narrowed his eyes at the scene. "Rogue, what are you doing?"
"Taking out some trash." Vampira answered bluntly. "And it's Vampira, not Rogue. Now go make yourself useful somewhere else. I'm busy here."
The X-Men were all surprised by Rogue's attitude and were wondering what was going on when Cyclops stepped forward.
"Look, Rogue, let's just calm down." He said in an attempt to reason with her, only to be hit by the ecto-blast and sent back a couple of feet.
"Scott!" Jean ran over to her boyfriend to check him over, while Wolverine pulled out his claws. He didn't want to do this, but it seemed like they had no other choice.
"Rogue, I'm giving you only one chance. Stand down." Wolverine told her only for Vampira to make the universal gesture of "bring it on."
With a growl, he charged at Vampira only to fall right through her.
Shaking her head, the ghost fired another energy attack at Wanda, but Shadowcat grabbed hold of the sorceress and made them intangible, causing the blast to go through them. Nightcrawler then teleported the two back a couple of feet as Cyclops, thankfully uninjured from the earlier attack, caught Vampira off guard with an optic blast.
"Rogue, please stop. I don't want to hurt you." Cyclops tried to placate, only to receive a punch in the face.
"It's Vampira, you simpleton!" She cried before blasting a bench that Jean threw at her with telekinesis. Wolverine tried to attack her from behind, but Vampira simply threw him over her shoulder, where he landed next to Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Wanda.
"Something tells me that's not Rogue." Wolverine muttered as they saw Vampira strangling both Cyclops and Jean.
"Stop!" Nightcrawler, acting on impulse to save his friends, brought out the Blood Blossom from his pocket, causing the vapor to force Vampira to her knees as the X-Men all surrounded her.
"AHH! You bastard!" She tried to make a move against Nightcrawler, but the flower repelled her. "Fucking cheap move. I swear, when I get out of this, I'm going to rip you a new one."
"Enough!" Wolverine interrupted her rant. "Game's over; now what's gotten into you?" The senior X-Man tried to coerce, but Vampira only let out a painful snarl.
"I'm Vampira!" She bellowed as all the X-Men were trying to think of what was going on with their friend. Wolverine confirmed with his scent that this was Rogue, so it wasn't Mystique or some other imposter in disguise.
"What could've possibly set her off like this?" Nightcrawler said as he looked at his sister with worry.
"I don't know, Kurt. You think she might be like under some kind of mind control like Mesmero did to Danny?" Shadowcat suggested thinking it to be the only reason Rogue was acting out of character. "I mean, it's like someone else is in there and not Rogue."
This comment made Wanda's eyes light up in realization. "Or she's possessed." She theorized, hoping that it was true and that Rogue wasn't truly behind those things that Vampira claimed she did.
"Can ghosts possess other ghosts?" Cyclops wondered skeptically.
"It can happen." Wanda confirmed having read about it. Some powerful ghosts were able to overshadow much weaker spirits and sometimes even consume them, adding their power to their own.
"So how do we get it out of her?" Wolverine questioned.
Wanda sprang into action. "Kurt, keep that flower on her at all times; it's our only safeguard." She then made her hands glow red. "I'm going to perform a spell that should flush whatever's inside Rogue out of her."
"NO!" Vampira shouted. "I won't let you!" She tried to get up, but the power of the Blood Blossom kept her down as Wolverine dragged her to the altar as Wanda started the chant.
"Get your filthy hands off me, you damn animal!" She insulted before turning to Wanda. "You can't do this to me, you stupid bitch!" The ghost continued to try and rebel as her body started to twitch, and she started to let out a bunch of screeching that made her sound truly inhuman.
"You can't get rid of me! I am Rogue!" Vampira taunted Wanda, who kept the chant going, ignoring all distractions. Refusing to let Vampira intimidate her. So she did not falter in her spell. Not even when the ghost had ectoplasm leaking from her mouth and turned her head a perfect 360 degrees.
"That's just freaky." Nightcrawler said at witnessing the grotesque scene as Vampira continued to growl and hiss out threats and curses. The X-Men watched on as they saw a blue light start to shine from Vampira's chest.
"What is that?" Cyclops asked Jean as they examined the glowing blue orb.
"I think it's her soul." She guessed as they saw another orb appear. They were connected, and as the ritual continued, they saw a crack start to form before it grew, and out of it came a blue light that blinded them all.
When their sight returned, the group saw Rogue back in her human form, laying on the ground unconscious. And next to her was her ghost half.
Slowly they all started to approach the ghost when her eyes snapped open. Enraged at the forced separation, she tried to pull herself up but was too weak and merely collapsed to the floor. Still, her anger was still burning hot as she gave the X-Men a hateful glare.
"This isn't over. Not by a longshot." She hissed at them before fading away, leaving the group all dumbfounded by what they had just seen.
"What just happened?" Shadowcat asked, but no one could give an answer.