Super Science

Ch 83: Ghosts of Old

One day at the NIP facility, Rouge was walking through the empty hallways doing her normal patrol when she felt a sharp pain hit her head! Stopping and dropping to her knees, she grabbed her head until the vertigo passed! Once it did, she grabbed the wall and helped herself slowly back to her feet. Back on her feet, she tried to find the nearest water cooler, only to get a chill running up her spine.

She stopped and shivered involuntarily, especially as a voice said to her, "You."

"Huh?!", she gargled out while looking around.

"You!", she heard the voice again as a mistake swirled around her feet and rose around her as if trying to grab her.

Easily breaking free of the mist. She backed away until it began to form the silhouette of a very familiar person as she asked, "Whos?...no! Not again!"

"YOU!", the mist took the full shape of a very angry woman yelling at her.

"No.", Rouge said back in a small weak voice.

"You stole my life!", the mist woman yelled as she tried to lunge for her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", Rouge screamed bloody murder as she flew away at top speed and flew through several walls before finally passing out on the floor.

"Rouge! Rouge! ANNA!" a voice yelled and shook her awake. Rouge got up fast and held up her fists, ready for a fight, only to see Izuku standing over her with hands out in self-defense. He exclaimed, "Geeze, get a hold of yourself."

Rouge calmed down. She put her hands down and sat up, rubbing her head. She apologetically said back, "S-Sorry, Suga."

"Sorry, don't fix the walls you break." Izuku offered her a hand as he looked at the walls that the woman had broken through and that robots were fixing. After helping the woman to her feet, he asked her, "Seriously, this is the seventh time this week, and it's not even Friday. What's going on with you?"

"I-It's nothing, honey.", Rouge told her as she grabbed her arm and looked off to the side.

"This is nothing?" Izuku incredulously asked back as he forced her head to look at the damage, making her look even more regressed. He sighed and asked again, "Seriously, Anna, what is going on with you? You're lucky that no one is around when you have these episodes. But what if you're not so lucky next time?"

Rouge thinks on this for a bit before finally saying, "Okay, I'll sing. You know how I can acquire nearly every aspect of someone when I touch them?" Izuku nods, and Rouge continues, "Well, if I hold on long enough, not only will they die, but I can acquire a part of their mind."

Izuku doesn't have to think about this for long. He quickly puts it together and asks her, "Is that what's been happening to you?"

Rouge nods and tells him with a fearful tone, "She's like a ghost. Constantly haunting me for what I've done. It drives me mad, but I know I deserve it. I took her life away and put her into a coma.", Rouge admits as she begins to cry.

Izuku comforts the crying woman, holding her in a hug, and he assures her, "Rouge, you're not the same person you used to be. In a way, it might've been just the thing you needed to break away from the Brotherhood and turn your life around."

Rouge says nothing as she continues to weep for a while longer. After she finishes, Izuku gives her a tissue and inquires, "But why didn't you say something before?"Rouge wipes away another stray tear and replies, "Like I said. I deserve it. I hurt her even if I didn't know the ramifications."

Izuku places a hand on her shoulder while standing in front of her and telling her, "But you can't keep torturing yourself like this. It's not right."

Rouge gives a sad sigh and says back, "Even so, I have no idea how to reverse this. I can't give back what I've stolen…unless." She says with a hopeful glint, only for Izuku to look unsure.

Unfortunately, he tells her, "I'm afraid we don't have a way to do that." The woman drops, only for Izuku to follow up, "Yet. We don't have a way yet. But until then, we can silence her. Cluck has a device to do that. It's not a permanent measure, but at least you'll have peace of mind from her. By the way, who is 'her'?"

Rouge stammered for a moment before speaking, but when she did, she told him, "An American SuperHero called Captain Marvel."

"Captain…Marvel," Izuku repeated back in a voice that tilted between shock, fear, and surprise.

Rouge immediately noticed this and asked, "Suga, why'd you say it like that?"

Izuku shook his head to get rid of his funk and then replied, "Um, Rouge. I'm not sure you want to hear what I really want to say."

This caught Rouge's attention, and grabbing his shoulders, she demanded, "Then say it! Come on, I can handle it. I'm a big girl."

Izuku pushed her off and explained, "Okay. If you insist, you might've actually done a service by permanently K. her."

"What?!", Rouge unsurprisingly exclaimed back in shock.

Izuku then went into nerd mode and told her in-depth, "Captain Marvel, formerly known as Ms Marvel, is actually a really bad person. Well, she wasn't at first, but then she got into identity politics and turned into a monster. She was on the 'shit list' for years, but the American Government couldn't get rid of her because of her connections, quirk, and supporters. She was a hop, skip, and a jump away from turning into a full-blown villain. You might've averted a disaster. I was wondering why she hadn't been seen in action for such a long time.", he said to himself with a hum.

Rouge was nearly at the precipice of a panic attack as she was half hunched over with hands on her head; her blank eyes stared off into nothing while she babbled, "Oh my god. Is what you're saying true, and are you not trying to make me feel less bad?"

"I wish I were.", Izuku confirmed as he sucked air between his teeth.

"Now I just feel even more conflicted," Rouge mopped as she slid to the floor and hugged her knees.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you.", Izuku pointed out as the woman receded further into herself. Only for him to sit beside her and say, "Look, Rouge, I know you're not feeling the best about this in any way. But your past is just your past. It only has as much power over you as you give it. It doesn't define you or anyone else in it. What matters is the now. So what do you want to do now?"

Rouge sat with her face in between her legs as she thought long and hard. After a while, she finally told him, "I want to change. I want to be better than my daddy and my momma and the person I was before. And what I want most of all is peace of mind. My mind."

Izuku smiles at this, stands up, holds out his hand, and offers with a chuckle, "Then let's go see the chicken." The thought of this also makes Rouge chuckle as she takes it and walks with him to Doctor Orphington's office and workspace.