4 February
Melancholy. –n. 1. a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression 2. sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness 3. a. the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression b. black bile –adj. 4. affected with, characterized by, or showing melancholy; mournful; depressed 5. causing melancholy or sadness; saddening; 6. soberly thoughtful; pensive
Rogue sat at the edge of her bed, her arms propped up on her thighs, staring at nothing in particular. She didn't feel like doing anything productive. She hadn't tried getting any of her homework done between school and the double date, nor did she try afterwards. While she knew she should have enjoyed herself, and Hank appeared ecstatic about being asked to go out, Rogue struggled to engage herself. Now, she was overthinking everything.
Someone knocked softly at her door. Rogue looked up, focusing her attention to the door, but said nothing. "Rogue?" the mystery person called. Sean. "We're havin' a big ol' trainin' session in the Danger Room, lass. Blue and red teams against gold team. Startin' in ten. Ye in there?"
As much as Rogue wanted to stay silent, pretend she knew nothing about this session, she couldn't handle the prospective disappointment. "Yeah, Ah'll be there," Rogue assured him. "Thanks, Sean."
He didn't reply. Presumably, he went off to alert more people or get ready himself.
Red and blue teams against gold team. Rogue wondered who would lead the combined red and blue team, and what they were going to do with the unequal numbers. Gold team had five members: Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren, and Piotr. Between red and blue teams, they had seven: Ororo, Kurt, Sean, Alison, Betsy, Bobby, and Rogue. Normally, Remy would lend another number to their combined team, but he was still off in New Orleans.
Rogue had to muster more strength than she thought should be necessary to get up off of bed and get dressed. Before long, she awaited orders in the Danger Room, alongside nearly everyone else in the school. Scott scanned the group through his ruby visor, waiting for the stragglers. Bobby and Hank were late.
"Okay, teams," Scott announced as the two latecomers walked in side-by-side. "Today, we're playing a little game of capture the flag. Mutant powers are encouraged. Pulled punches are also encouraged, however. We don't need to send anyone to the infirmary." Rogue wasn't entirely sure who this instruction could be directed to. Could any of her X-Men teammates be powerful enough to singlehandedly send a body into critical care? "You'll have five minutes once the holograms are up to hide your flag and come up with a plan of action with your team. Once you are tagged on off sides, either through body contact or through mutant energy contact, you are sent back to your base. One touch to base and you may reengage. The Danger Room is set to shut down once one team wins. Those are my only rules of engagement. Kurt, Ororo, do you have anything to add?"
Both team leaders declined. Scott handed an orange flag over to Ororo. "Begin simulation," Scott shouted. A forest instantly sprouted around the gathered teenagers, complete with gigantic boulders and steep inclines. Many of the trees stood with two to three foot diameter trunks, others even larger. A small stream formed around the feet of the X-Men, winding its way in what could be assumed was the line between teams. "Jean, Elisabeth, please begin the five minute countdowns for your teams."
"Storm, if you would like to call the shots," Kurt offered.
Ororo nodded. "This seems more like your terrain than our terrain." She held out the flag to Kurt. "Lead the way to a good base. Not one only you can get to, but all of us."
Kurt grinned. "Would you like me to wait for you, or find a place and come back?"
"Find a base and come back. You have two minutes." Ororo turned to the rest of the team, while simultaneously calculating gold team's move. Scott led his four teammates through the thick forest. Piotr had armored up into a hulking metal form. He trailed his team until they disappeared in the foliage. "The rest of us will climb the incline in Kurt's general direction. We want to put distance between us and this border." Kurt scrambled up a bolder, and then a steep cliff to the higher ground. It was easy for him to find the roots and rocks to grip on to, but a much more difficult task for the remainder of the team. Ororo used her elemental control to lift herself up, and used the extra time to scan for the opposing team.
"You know what I think would work really well?" Bobby asked. His body was completely encased in ice, and his expression seemed unperturbed about the climb. Betsy and Ally were struggling to find handholds, and Bobby stood still. "I could make a whole ice fortress around our flag. One door. We'd know where it was, and we could easily tag base and go, but it'd slow down the other team a lot."
"Wouldn't Cyclops jus' blast through it?" Sean asked casually. He didn't seem to be exerting much effort in the climb and almost looked as nimble as Kurt in his ascent. "Or Colossus jus' punch through it? That'd make a lot o' debris only t' slow down Angel an' maybe Beast."
"Not to mention obvious," Betsy added in a strained voice.
"We will have two people stay behind to protect the flag," Ororo said. "I think Psylocke and Dazzler would make a perfect defensive team. Psylocke could sense the oncoming team, and Dazzler has the long range advantage to target them."
Betsy grunted as she pulled herself up to the cliff edge with her elbows. "That could work. Are you sure you don't want me on the field to help you evade gold team on their side?"
Ororo contemplated it a moment. "Yes. Banshee and I have less subtle approaches, and that could cover for Rogue, Iceman, and Nightcrawler to infiltrate."
Rogue blinked. She wasn't sure how Ororo could think she could infiltrate quietly when she could barely make it up the cliff. She struggled as much as Betsy and Ally, but she was further behind in getting back up to her feet.
"Rogue, would you like to pair up with Iceman or Nightcrawler in the first time across?" Ororo asked her. Her icy blue eyes turned to her, kind but calculating. "This is your first training mission against Cyclop's team. Your teammates could offer you insight and keep you on their side longer."
"Yeah, sure," Rogue said. She finally managed to roll onto the flatter cliff edge where her team waited. No one offered her any glib remarks about how much time she was taking in advancing forward into their territory.
"She'd be better off with Nightcrawler," Bobby said. "I could get her through the forest faster with my ice bridges, but Nightcrawler is a lot less obvious than me." While Rogue had been climbing the cliff, Bobby had done just that: made an ice bridge for himself up the cliff.
"Make it a three stage attack," Ally suggested. "Storm and Banshee go in first, overhead. They'd act like cannon fodder, but draw attention and make themselves hard to ignore. Next, Iceman goes in and strategically makes a path for Nightcrawler and Rogue to go in. But Iceman will also be the main first line of defense, before it gets to me and Psylocke. Rogue and Nightcrawler avoid confrontation until the last moment."
"That's usin' yuir head, lass!" Sean cried excitedly.
"I'm not sure how great I'll be against all five of them," Bobby commented.
"You won't have to be against all five of them," Betsy pointed out. "They'll undoubtedly have someone guarding the flag, and Storm and Banshee wouldn't be ignored. I'm sure Cyclops and Marvel Girl will see right through their attack, but they'll cause havoc if left alone."
The team moved slowly through the trees, steadily but gradually climbing upwards through the leaf litter. The air was eerily silent, absent of bird calls and insect songs. It was also incredibly still, without a trace of wind.
Nightcrawler appeared beside Rogue in a healthy burst of brimstone. He offered her a grin as she refrained from choking on the thick stench. "The flag is planted," he said. He took the lead to guide the enlarged team to base.
"The gold team does have some serious firepower, though," Ally said to Bobby's defense. "Cyclops, Beast, and Colossus all could take us down with one punch. So to speak, in Cyclop's case. Storm and Banshee couldn't keep all three distracted."
"I could keep one busy with ice," Bobby said. He'd powered down to a human visage to travel through the pseudo forest. Even Bobby knew better than to leave a trail leading straight to their base.
"Assumin' that's three on three, that leaves two fer Rogue an' Nightcrawler t' deal with," Sean mused.
"Hmm? That's Rogue and me, us against Marvel Girl and Angel?" Kurt asked.
"Most likely not Angel," Ororo said. "I believe Angel would battle against me for the sky."
"You an' Angel," Sean said with a nod. "Me an' one o' they're heavy hitters. That could be Marvel Girl, Cyclops, or Beast most likely."
"Who do you suppose they would have guarding the flag?" Betsy asked.
"What if they don't guard the flag?" Ally questioned in response. "What if they go full offense instead?"
"I don't feel like Cyclops would try something like that," Betsy argued her point calmly.
"How much longer to our base, Nightcrawler?" Ororo asked.
"Just over the hill," he said. The roots became more gnarled, twisting around and over each other to punch through the rocky ground. It was a chore to avoid tripping and falling. The atmosphere seemed darker after the line of trees near the top of the slope.
"Good, because time's about up," Betsy said. She turned around briefly to look behind them.
"Don't ye think high ground is a little obvious?" Sean asked.
"Vielleicht," Kurt said, his voice admissible. "But it's protected very well from above and behind. We'll only have three directions to watch out for."
"We can handle that," Ally said, looking at Betsy with a grin.
"Here is base," Kurt announced, gesturing toward the flag propped up on a stick. He turned to regard Ororo. "So what is the plan?"
Ororo's eyes clouded over and her hands rose up to extend from her sides. "Psylocke and Dazzler guard base. I am the frontal assault. Banshee follows as my backup in the sky. Iceman follows on the ground, stopping the gold team before they reach our side. You and Rogue get that flag." She rose off the ground. The wind picked up around the team, pulling at their hair and looser clothing. "Rogue can fill you in beyond that." She carefully manipulated the airstream around her to pick her up through the forest canopy and disappeared from sight.
Sean smiled excitedly, watching after her for a moment. "Good luck, team," he said. He offered them a small salute and took off at a run.
"Should I wait until I hear him?" Bobby asked.
"No, go," Kurt urged. "We don't want you making ice paths on our side."
"Good point." He took off after Sean.
Kurt turned to Rogue. "Ready to be sneaky?" he asked with a wide grin. He took her gloved hand and bounded down the slope they had just traversed, taking it at a breakneck speed.
"Kurt, what are you doing?" Rogue shouted in terror. Her feet wheeled, only miraculously holding her up by the balance lent to her by Kurt's grip.
"Shh!" Kurt hissed. "Shouting isn't sneaky!"
With that said, the worst screech Rogue had ever heard in her life started up ahead of them. Kurt twitched, slowing down slightly, his smile receding minutely. The sky, listless before, now teemed with angry life above them. The leaves whipped in the canopy, and the clouds that Rogue knew couldn't logically exist grew larger and darker. Storm and Banshee were not kidding when they said they weren't subtle.
"Ah, our cue!" Kurt shouted with excitement. Still, his grin was not as wide as before.
He slowed their suicidal pace at the stream and switched to a shiftier pace, bouncing from one tree to the next rather than shooting for the most open path. He released his grip on Rogue's hand, allowing her to either follow him at her own pace or go her own separate way. When she followed, he struck up strategic conversation. "What is your combat plan?" he asked.
"Mah what?"
"When you encounter a member of gold team, what is your plan?"
"Ah didn't really think that through."
"Ja? Why not? We're on their side and they have permission to take us down. What is your strategy?"
"Ah've never had t' strategize before, Sugah…."
"Now is your chance!" Kurt paused and looked around a tree trunk. "We have permission to use our powers, Liebchen. That includes you." Rogue balked. "Nah-ah! You can't be afraid of who you are. It's time you take off your own gloves and decide what you mean to this team, Rogue." He paused at another tree and stared off in the direction he'd studied before. "Someone's over there. Not Iceman. My guess is Colossus." His attention whipped around to her again. "What's your call? Me or you engage, or move on?"
"Weren't we supposed t' slide by without engagin'?" Rogue asked.
"You were there for the team strategy longer than me," Kurt commented.
Rogue frowned. "Do not engage. Keep pushing in."
Kurt nodded. "That works now, but what when we get closer to the flag? What if someone is there?"
"Ah dunno. Guess Ah'll figure it out once I get there."
"By the seat of your pants," Kurt mused quietly. He led onward, pausing from time to time in the shadows of the trees. Thanks to Storm and Banshee, they didn't have to be quiet. Nor did they have to try very hard to sneak around.
Soon, Kurt came to a stop and pressed his back against a tree. Rogue swore he almost became one with the tree. "Cyclops. Cyclops is their flag guard." Kurt quickly judged Rogue's blank expression. "Cyclops has concussive force blasts from his eyes. His visor controls his powers. He's also a master strategist with delicate control. One hit from a blast and you'll need to return to base before you can come back to try again. Distance is his friend, not yours."
Rogue frowned. What good was she against a mutant like that? "We can try distracting him, coming at him from many angles," Kurt suggested.
"There's only two of us," Rogue pointed out dryly.
"Ah, details." Rogue had no clue what that meant. He looked up at the sky. "Banshee's out. I wonder who took him down."
He returned his attention to Scott. The older teen scanned the trees, standing passively on guard. "Okay," Kurt said. "I think our best bet is for me to grab the flag. You – "
Kurt was abruptly cut off by a voice that came from beside the two of them: "Hello, Nightcrawler. Rogue."
Kurt whipped around with a true look of horror crossing his face. He instantly masked it. "Hello, Marvel Girl," he retorted. He took off in a cloud of brimstone. Scott's attention was now in their direction, but he didn't appear too concerned.
Jean floated inches above the ground, her hands out to her sides as if to steady herself. She dropped gently, but made no move to attack. "I've heard you've been learning subterfuge tactics through Kurt. Is this what you expected from us?"
Rogue didn't know how to respond. She didn't know what to expect. She knew that Jean could speak with her mind and hear others' thoughts, but she could fly, too? Kurt prompted Rogue to take off her gloves and utilize her powers, but a part of it felt wrong.
Unfortunately, in her debate, Jean took the initiative. She held her hands in front of her, as if pushing. And push she did. Rogue moved sideways, her feet sliding through the decaying leaves of the forest floor. She panicked over not having control of her movements. As soon as Jean had control, she released her. Rogue stood directly in front of Scott. Jean followed at a leisurely walk.
"Sorry, Rogue," Scott apologized. He reached up to his visor and released a red beam. It knocked Rogue clean off her feet, pushing the air from her lungs, but otherwise left her unhurt. "You'll have to return to base," he continued.