Neb: After being knocked out by Ghost, Ricky awakes in the Sewers where he was found by Cyclops, Jean, and Nightcrawler. I do not own X Men Evolution.
"Come on Ricky, help us find Evan," Nightcrawler asked and he nodded.
"Evan," Jean yelled.
"Evan," Ricky yelled.
"Evan," Nightcrawler yelled. Soon the sounds of other X Men could be heard around the sewers. Iceman, Rogue, Storm, and many others. Until Spyke stepped forward towards Storm.
"I'm here," Evan explained.
"Evan," Storm responded before running to him.
"Wait," Evan grunted. "Stay back. I'm... I'm going through some changes."
"That doesn't matter," Storm insisted. "Let me take you home."
"No, not right now. I just got to take a break, everything so crazy right now."
"But we can help you through this," Storm responded and he shook his head.
"Please don't worry about me, or look for me. I'm with friends, goodbye Auntie O.
"Wait, Evan don't go! Evan!" Storm tried to run after him as he walked off, but Spyke disappeared.
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A couple of weeks later Ricky was invited to a concert by an anonymous person. Ricky remembered Seer explaining the X-23 was in his future and she would be his downfall. As much of a personality swap that is, maybe it could be her. After all, why would Seer predict something about her if she's not close by?
"Can't say I'm worried," Vibrant grinned to himself as he sat in his room. Even if X 23 was predicted to be his downfall, maybe she might even kill him. Something felt comforting about it. As if all the crap in life would finally go away. She'd technically be doing him a favor.
He then shook his head remembering Jessica. She'd have a great loss if he went away as her only blood relative who wasn't in prison. At least she has her adoptive parents, who asked her to stay with them for the week as they do a sort of family outing. He wasn't keyed in on the details, given they couldn't trust him with anything relating to their daughter. Fine throw all the blame at him for why life is so messed up. He's not going to cry about it, he'll just smile.
Ricky got out of his room and headed down the hall where he saw Rogue sitting in the hall grabbing her head. "A migraine," Ricky asked and she nodded her head. "Well their's some medicine in the bathroom cabinet, I hope you feel better." She nodded again and looked up before he smiled at her. "We both been through a lot since we were on the same team in the Brotherhood. Now we are on the same team again and I want to apologize for how I used you the other day to figure out my sister's powers. That wasn't cool, and I'm sorry."
"It's ok Ricky," she responded as she got up and went to her room. "I forgive you." He smiled once more and headed downstairs passing Wolverine who was holding a broken racket.
"Break something?"
"No," Wolverine responded. "This is Rogue's, I'm about to question her about it."
"Well go easy on her," Ricky replied. "She's got kind of a headache." Wolverine nodded at him and he went out the door. "I suppose before I hit up the concert after school." He waved to Tabatha before getting in his cheep and she ran over and jumped in the passenger's seat. Magma followed behind her and got in the back. "Driving both of you kids huh," Ricky grinned. "Alright buckle up."
"Whatever geezer," Tabatha laughed.
"Yea geezer," Magma chimed in and he took off. He turned his head to see Rogue was now getting in Jean's new SUV.
"Weird," Ricky wondered. "I thought she wasn't feeling well."
"Did you guys hear," Tabatha grinned. "Scott's going out with Jean to the concert." Ricky raised an eyebrow. Now he knew why Rogue wasn't feeling well, in the end, the popular girl Jean won the fight over Summer's heart.
"Poor Rogue," Ricky mumbled.
"What was that," Tabatha asked and he shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just wondering if I'll actually graduate school. Given I was held back two years do to foster home issues and being in jail. Not to mention missing semester cause I was lost in the woods after working for Magneto... Yea I'm probably not going to make it." Ricky wasn't actually wondering if he'd make it, but that did seem legitimately take over his mind.
"You'll be fine," Magma responded. "After all the Professor had a talk with the school board about granting you leniency."
"Well, I'll still have to take a few makeup tests and other junk to make sure they aren't being too lenient."
"Why are we talking about all this dumb junk," Tabatha laughed. "We are going to party at the concert tonight."
"Actually," Ricky responded. "I received an anonymous letter from an admirer... unless it was you who sent it to me."
"Ricky," Tabatha began. "You are fun but not my type. While we have a lot in common because of our dads using us and we use to be Brotherhood mutants, you are too strict and hard to push around with that smile of yours, you always hide behind it."
"Right, that would suck the fun out of being in a relationship."
"Exactly." They both looked at Magma and she shrugged.
"I didn't send it," she spoke up. "You are my type Ricky, but the age difference kind of throws things off a bit."
"Well shoot," Tabatha laughed. "Maybe when you turn eighteen I'll teach you how to steal him from the mystery girl." The three of them laughed and then Magma blushed a little.
"Wait, is she serious," Ricky wondered. "What could you see in a guy like me? I use to do terrible things to the X-Men."
"That's in the past," Magma insisted. "Besides, it's because of your smile... It's great." Ricky smiled once more and she blushed again.
"Never mind," Tabatha spoke up. "I won't have to teach you anything."
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Ricky walked down the hallways of the school looking around for Rogue. She seemed pretty out of it, and he worried about her. He walked over and saw a couple of guys trying to break into his locker. "Need help," Ricky responded and they fell back in fear and ran off. "I should have kept the mask. Now everyone knows I'm a mutant." He opened up his locker and found another note.
"Ricky my dear, your smile makes my heart melt with vibrant colors." Definitely not X-23, or Rogue. Not Magma or Tabatha, and definitely not Jean or Kitty due to their relationships with Scott and Lance. He tried hard to think about other girls he knows, but don't talk to as much. Was it Lady Vampress, definitely not. It could be... A water fountain blew up and Rogue ran off away from it. "What the heck?" He saw her friend Wristy was back and went to her.
"Hey, long time no see."
"Oh right, I remember you from math... Ricky?"
"Bingo," Ricky grinned. "What happened with Rogue?"
"Her powers are acting up," she explained. "It was crazy, anyway. I have to go after her, see ya later cutie." She blew a kiss and then ran off. Ricky grinned and walked off. Maybe it was her.
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Ricky walked into the concert and grinned when he saw Kitty dragging James through the crowd "Watch out for the power couple," he joked and Kitty glared daggers at him as he smiled. He saw Wristy was hanging out with Rogue and decided it probably wasn't her who sent the letter. He saw Tabatha jumping up and down alone and smiled. Even if she didn't send him the letter, no sense in letting one of his best friends party alone. That was before a hand grabbed him and he turned his head only to lose his smile.
"Lilly," he grunted.
"Hey Vibrant," she cued and he tried to step away, but her robot arm got a hold of him.
"Let go," he demanded before trying to phase his hand out of hers. Unfortunately, his whole body shook when he tried to use his power. "Vibranium!"
"That's right Ricky," she smiled. "Broke into a Shield base and found out your weakness. They have you labeled as a priority target if need be."
"Lilly, last time I saw you, you were working with Nazis!"
"Don't be so dramatic," she laughed. "Hydra was a business opportunity. I'm shooting for bigger things now and I want you to be a part of it."
"Forget it," Ricky grunted. He looked around to see if he could signal Kurt, but Nightcrawler was busy with his own girlfriend. He turned his head to Summers who was with Jean and then Looked back to Rogue who was grabbing her head like she did earlier this morning. "Lilli, I am not interested." She squeezed his arm and he fell to his knees.
"Are you proposing Ricky? Sure I would love to be Mrs. Vibrant." She was insane, clearly losing her arm in their last fight didn't teach her anything, she was still the cheerleader who was full of herself. Ricky tried to make a fireball in his hand with no luck. "What's wrong Ricky? You can't vibrate particles if your powers are literally shooting back straight through your body?"
"One last chance," Ricky grunted. He grabbed a rubber knife in his pocket and swung a punch at her causing her to fall back, though her metal arm still had a hold of him. "Let go!" He tried vibrating the knife like he does with a fencing foil, but unfortunately, while she had a hold of him with Vibranium his powers were useless. That was before Rogue fell into them and her sleeve too. She wound up touching Lilly causing the cheerleader to scream before hitting the ground.
"Thanks, Rogue," he smiled... "Rogue." The mutant was grabbing her head as she bounced into other people until she hit Wristy. Wristy screamed as they both collided and then she transformed into Mystique. Ricky watched as Rogue transformed into Wristy and grunted before trying to run to her. Unfortunately, Lilly was still holding on to him and wasn't letting go.
"Ricky," she grunted and he tried to pull away with no luck. He then turned his head to see Rogue, now a Sabertooth standing on stage in front of the crowd roaring at people. James jumped at him and multiplied into several of himself and then they grabbed hold of him.
"I'm going to need you to let go," Ricky smiled at her. She slightly grinned back but ignored him. Luckily she was blasted back by Cyclops freeing him. "The love note came from a sociopath, great. That being said I have to save Rogue." He ran over towards her but got knocked back when Rogue threw James at him. Cyclops blasted the sabertooth Rogue causing her to fall back into the ruble, that was before she transformed again creating Jagurnaught. "I can't fight that!"
"None of us can," Kitty yelled and Ricky grunted. Jagurnaught ran away fast blasting himself through a wall as people screamed and ran from him. Mystique followed behind him and then Ricky followed.
"Sabertooth and Jagurnaught," Jean yelled.
"And Mystique make's three," Scott responded.
"This is huge," Kitty grunted. "What do we do?"
"Let's regroup at the mansion," Scott decided. "I'll call Ricky and tell him to hold off his pursuit."
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Ricky was running around in the dark trying to find Rogue. "What the hell is going on," Ricky wondered. He saw Rogue crying in an ally and ran over to her, but was thrown against a wall by Mystique. He grunted as he saw Mystique get between him and Rogue.
"You work for me," she growled. "If you want to get near her."
"Like hell I do," Ricky responded and she sniffed before walking to Rogue.
"Rogue," Mystique spoke up, "are you alright?"
"Get away from me," she yelled. She transformed into Ricky and trapped Mystique in stasis.
"I know I hurt you," Mystique grunted.
"Liar," she yelled turning into Mystique. She started kicking and punching at Mystique. "I know the truth! You used me to spy on the X-Men!"
"Rogue," Ricky yelled and she turned her head to him. "Don't think about her, think about you. Your powers are acting against you."
"No," Mystique responded. "It's not that simple. Please don't do this." At this point, Mystique was pretending Ricky wasn't there. Which was effective in making sure Rogue focused on her. "If you have my memories, then you know what our relationship is."
"I don't know anything," Rogue yelled as she transformed back to herself.
"Admit the truth Rogue," Mystique responded. "I adopted you when you were four." Ricky began to glare daggers at Mystique. "You are my daughter." Rogue ran off and Ricky charged at Mystique.
"Monster," he yelled. He started punching and kicking at Mystique who kept up with him physically. "You are Kurt's mom and you abandon him. You are Rogue's mom and you use her!" She kicked him back and grunted as she transformed into a wolf. Ricky put her in stasis, but then remembered Rogue. "Next time, you die."
"I wouldn't be sure of that Vibrant," Mystique growled before he turned around and ran off. He could hear Wolverine's motorcycle in the distance and ran towards him. That was when Sabertooth came from the sky above Wolverine. Wolverine sniffed the air and then growled.
"Your not Sabertooth!"
"Fight me!"
"Now I know your not Sabertooth." Ricky was about to speak up, but Rogue got blasted into a wall by Cyclops.
"What did you do," Ricky yelled.
"That's not Sabertooth," Wolverine growled. "It's Rogue."
"What," Cyclops responded.
"How can that be," Nightcrawler wondered.
"I don't know," Wolverine grunted.
"It is though," Vibrant agreed. "We need a plan to subdue her without hurting her."
"You four hang back and wait for the others," Scott ordered as Wolverine and Vibrant approached the hole he made. "We don't want to spook her." Vibrant, Cyclops and Wolverine entered a dark warehouse and tried to look around for Rogue. Ricky could feel her movements and signaled the others."Rogue," Scott yelled. "Are you in here? Talk to me! Tell me what's happening?"
"We are your friends Rogue," Vibrant spoke up. The group split up in hopes of surrounding her, but Vibrant stopped being able to sense her.
"I don't have friends," Rogue responded as she landed in front of him disguised as Vibrant. She blasted Vibrant with a fireball causing him to fall back. Rouge Vibrant grinned as he moved in on Ricky.
"Ok," Vibrant grunted. "I was a little dark back in the day... geez is that what I looked like when I smiled before a fight? I look menacing." Rogue Vibrant pulled out his foil and vibrated it before striking at Ricky. Ricky blocked it with his rubber knife he also was vibrating.
"Don't need actual swords or knives," Rogue Vibrant laughed. "That's pretty cool."
"I know right," Vibrant replied also smiling before getting kicked back by Rogue. She transformed into Lilly causing him to fall back in fear.
"Ricky," Rogue Lilly grinned. "Time to play with Mrs. Vibrant!"
"I don't wanna," Ricky responded as he backed off in fear.
"She's shapeshifting," Wolverine stated. "She could be anybody." The area started shaking and the three X-Men grunted.
"Like Lance," Vibrant pointed out before a bunch of boxes fell on them. The three of them shoved the boxes off seeing Rogue was back to herself.
"Help me," she grunted.
"We will Rogue," Wolverine insisted. "Just stay calm."
"We are your friends," Cyclops added in.
"No," Ricky grunted. "That's her trigger word!"
"I have no friends," she yelled as she transformed into Storm and flew in the air. She blew the three of them out of the warehouse with a gust of wind.
"Dammit," Ricky growled.
"What's wrong with her," Jean asked as she floated over to them.
"It's like everyone she's ever absorbed is fighting to take control," Summers explained. The group froze in stasis as Rogue floated out of the warehouse.
"God I hate my powers," Ricky grunted. The X Jet flew at her causing her to break concentration letting them go. She waved her hand at it causing the jet to fly a different direction with Magneto's powers.
"She's using everyone's powers at once," Wolverine grunted.
"And it's not good," Ricky grunted after hearing that. "If she uses my powers too much, she'll go into shock and have seizures. We have to stop her." Wolverine looked at Ricky and nodded. The two of them begun dodging blasts coming their way from Rogue. She was using Scott's powers a lot. That was before the two of them froze in stasis. Her eyes heated up as she made them float towards her.
"Don't be a coward," Wolverine yelled. "Fire at me," Ricky remembered Wolverine once yelled that to protect Storm in a fight against him.
"No," Ricky yelled. "I'm not worth protecting!" Rogue grabbed her head and dropped Ricky causing him to hit the ground hard. Wolverine then followed after him.
"The hell do you mean your not worth protecting," Wolverine growled at him.
"I'm just not worth it," Ricky responded. "I'll be your friend if need be, but that doesn't change anything I've ever done. We were enemies once."
"The key word is once," Wolverine snarled. "Your an X Man now, act like it." Storm flew over to Rogue and the two of them battled each other until Storm got blasted by three lightning bolts. Jean used her Telepathy to catch Storm. "Everyone fall back," Wolverine ordered. "I can take the beating better then you can. Ice up now kid!" Bobby shot Ice under Wolverine and lifted him off the ground by making a pillar. When Wolverine got to Rogue's level he tackled into her dragging them both to the ground. The two of them rolled on the ground until Wolverine got tossed aside. He got up quickly as Rogue began to multiply. "Rogue, I know what it's like for nothing to make sense in your head. I've been there." Rogue started controlling the metal within Wolverine's body causing him to lift in the air. The multiples of Rogue shot lasers out of their eyes at him next causing him to fall back. "Listen to me kid, the others inside your head. You're letting them push you around! The Rogue I know won't take that off of anybody." She pulled her multiples back into herself and grunted. "That's right, stand up to them."
"Logan," Rogue grunted. 'There is too many of them." She shook her head in pain trying to fight off what was going on in her head.
"Fight it, Rogue," Wolverine pushed. "Stay tough!"
"No," Rogue grumbled. "No, No, Nooooo!"
"Stop resisting me Rogue," the Professor spoke up as he rolled over to her. "Help me, we can wipe out those personalities together. One by one." Rouge fell to her knees.
"Rogue, come on," Wolverine growled. "You can do this." Rogue started to scream as she turned into everyone she ever touched. She then turned back and fell to the ground. "She's going to be ok, right Charles? Charles?"
"I," the Professor began. "I don't know yet." Wolverine looked to Rogue with concern and the X Men approached. The grouped walked off and entered the X Van where they would get Rogue to safety. Ricky turned his head to Mystique on top of a building looking down at them and then shook his head before entering the van after Cyclops.
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"How long has he been in there," Cyclops wondered looking to Wolverine. Wolverine was sitting by Rogue's bedside at the medical lab.
"He never left her side," the Professor responded.
"But she recovering," Cyclops responded. "Right?"
"Yes," the Professor explained. "Slowly. However, having all those personalities driven out of her has left her very fragile, and her toughest challenge still awaits her. Comming to terms with who Wristy really was and who Mystique really is."
"I won't lie to you kid," Wolverine grunted at Rogue as she slept. "Getting over this isn't going to be easy. Something about betrayal always sticks with ya. But trust me, you learn to deal with it." He grabbed her hand and smiled. "You move on and... you let your real friends be there for you." He felt Rogue grab his hand. She was smiling as tears fell from her eyes.
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Ricky walked down the hall of the X Men. He wondered why he never put Rogue in stasis. Maybe he was afraid using his strongest power would bring the seizures back or maybe he figured she'd go Juggernaut and be immune anyways. Either way, he didn't like seeing himself in the mirror the way he did. When Rogue turned into his old Brotherhood self and smiled menacingly, it reminded him of everything he has that he doesn't deserve. Not after everything he'd done.
"Ricky," Storm spoke up. Ricky turned his head to her and smiled.
"How are you feeling," Ricky asked. "You took quite the beating."
"You are not alone," she responded ignoring Ricky. He turned around and grunted.
"I know that," he smiled.
"I mean it," she insisted. "Logan told me how you felt you didn't deserve his protection. Not after all the things you've done working for the Brotherhood."
"No offense Storm," Ricky shook his head. "I don't need a mother right now. Look how much that's not helped me so far." He turned around and walked into his room and closed the door. He looked at his hand that was now shaking again. "I'm not worth it."