Earlier that day
The X-Men had easily landed the X-Jet on an empty street just a few blocks away from Times Square. It was eerie, walking up to the busiest spot in the city to see it completely deserted. It was 2:50, and they were looking for Mister Sinister while also keeping up their guard.
"You don't think he's going to punish us for being early, do you?" Kitty asked.
"I really friggin hope not," Rogue said.
"X-Men! I am so pleased to see you all here, and so promptly," Sinister proclaimed while he stepped out from the shadow of a building. "Now don't worry, this next part won't hurt a bit."
Immediately, gas came up from the ground, enveloping the mutants in its cloud. They all fell to the ground, Xavier slumping over in his chair. Sinister snapped his fingers and ten lackeys arrived and fixed a power-negating collar around each mutant's neck.
"Now the real fun begins," Sinister announced to his minions.
Wolverine and Beast were the first to wake up, taking note of the containment chambers immediately. The chambers were in a circle, with a gem of Cyttorak on a pedestal in the middle of the circle. Wolverine snarled when he saw his hands were in chains and forced into fists with his knuckles covered with adamantium, preventing him from releasing his claws. Beast attempted to smash and claw his way free but the glass didn't show a single crack. Everyone else slowly came to. Each had a moment of panic when they saw where they were trapped, then panicked further still to learn of the collar on their necks. The glass dampened their voices so that they could only hear each other when they shouted.
The commotion was such that it was several minutes before Kurt piped up. "Where is Rogue? Can anybody see her?"
The X-Men looked and saw there was one empty chamber.
Sinister walked into the room, dragging Rogue by her arm. "Tut tut," Sinister chastised. "I do hope you won't take this personally, will you, Rogue? It took your beloved team all that time to realize you weren't among them." He had removed her gloves so she kept her hands tightly by her sides, even though she, too, had a collar on.
"I have waited so long for this," Sinister continued. "You are all, of course, remarkable specimens and the advancements that will happen because of you will be immeasurable. But you, my dear," he turned to Rogue and ran his bare finger down her cheek. "You are a marvel among marvels. Do you have any idea what you are capable of?"
Rogue jerked her face away from him. "Do you have any idea how hard I'm gonna kick your ass when this is over?"
Sinister laughed. "Delightful, delightful, such a little spitfire. Mister LeBeau, I can see why you are so fond of this girl!"
Remy pounded the glass. "This's what this whole thing's been about?"
"Oh to be sure, I have never lost sight of you, Mister LeBeau. I knew we had reached your mutation's maximum potential before you ran away from me. But I monitored you, and that's when I discovered what Mystique had foolishly fumbled and Xavier had the good fortune to acquire.
"Haven't you wondered why you never mastered your powers, Rogue? Why your skin is still 'poisonous?'" Sinister asked her. Rogue kept her mouth shut. "Your pathetic mother and mentor have both limited you, afraid of what you could become. They should have encouraged your gifts from the start, and damn the consequences! You should have been revered like the god you will soon become!" Sinister's grip was so strong she could feel his nails digging into her skin.
Rogue felt herself go lightheaded. There was no doubt in her mind what Sinister was going to force her to do, but the way he talked about her disgusted her in ways no other megalomaniac had before. And she had seen her fair share of megalomaniacs.
"Of course, I am not a fool. I know how the fearless X-Men need persuading," Sinister continued. "Shall it be the brother?"
Kurt yelped, a strong electric shock coming from his collar.
"The best friend?"
Kitty's high pitched scream followed.
"The wannabe-father?"
Wolverine tried to stop his reaction but still growled through his bared teeth as the electricity coursed through his body, his adamantium skeleton acting as a conductor.
"The lover?"
Gambit couldn't stop the noise that came out of his mouth, either. He wanted to tell Rogue that he wasn't worth it, that she should choose herself over him, but the shocks were neverending and he couldn't breathe. Their four bodies were writhing in their respective containment chambers, each trying to fight through the pain and regain control of themselves.
"Ok! Ok! Stop it, I'll do it, you friggin psycho!"
"I never doubted it, my dear," Sinister said, stopping the electrocutions with another snap. "Naturally, you will need your powers on in order for the gem to take effect. You will walk to the gem and only when I see your hand on it will I turn off your collar. The moment I see you try to turn away early, I kill your brother."
Rogue wanted to look at everyone at once, trying to reassure them, trying to see them one last time in case she didn't survive. Ultimately, her eyes came back to Remy's. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, that she'd long ago made peace with the fact that one day she might have to give her life for the greater good. Knowing everyone was watching her, she chose what might be her last words, "Trust me," then reached out her hand and touched the gem.
Rogue felt her powers come back. She gasped, realizing she couldn't pull her hand away from the gem. She couldn't see, the light was too bright, and now the wind was howling around her. She felt energy coming from under her skin and didn't know where it would go. She thought she was screaming but couldn't hear her own voice. She felt like she was about to come undone.
Then, she disappeared.
No one spoke until Sinister broke the silence.
"Ah, well, I thought she would last longer," Sinister said wistfully. "And she had shown such promise with Ms. Marvel, too."
"The fuck you know 'bout Ms. Marvel, Essex?" Remy demanded.
"My dear boy, don't be so naive as to think I don't know every single thing about each and every one of you. Especially a mutant like Rogue. I had to see what she was capable of, didn't I?
"But worry not!" Sinister said, ignoring Remy's outrage. "Even with this significant setback, I still have so much to accomplish with the nine of you. And how could I not start with the original modified marvel?"
Wolverine strained against his chains. "Think I can't take you out without my claws, asshole?"
"Yes yes, we all know you would kill me with just your bare hands like the base animal you are. Shall we trade Shadowcat's life for your own, then?" Sinister asked. Wolverine yelled in fury.
Kitty tried to shout to leave Wolverine alone but was electrocuted once again and couldn't speak.
From her chamber, Storm had been tracking the air currents in the lab since Rogue had touched the gem. While she couldn't control them because of the collar, she could still pick up the messages they sent her. The moment Sinister threatened Wolverine, she saw his pant cuffs flutter ever so slightly. When he taunted Wolverine with Kitty's safety, the lapel on his jacket started blowing up. She prayed she wasn't misreading the signs.
Just as Sinister started walking toward Wolverine, the wind picked up again.
Then the bright light returned.
Then they heard laughter.
"Now now, Mistuh Sinistuh," Rogue's voice drawled. "I don't think you gave a girl enough time to come to terms with being 'the most powerful mutant of all time.' Do you?"
Rogue had appeared, seemingly having teleported. Remarkably, she didn't look any different, save that her collar was gone.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Nathaniel. My biggest wish was only ever to be able to turn my skin on and off. I never thought about anything else. I couldn't imagine anything else. I never thought I'd be able to do something like this. Did you?"
Rogue reached out toward her teammates. "Did you know that even with their collars activated, I can access their powers? Did you know that I wouldn't even have to touch them to do this?"
Each X-Man felt a soft brush against their mind but didn't feel the pull they usually did when Rogue used her power on them.
"And you really did bring the best of the best together, didn't you, Sug?" Rogue asked Sinister sweetly. "Xavier's telepathy? Wolverine's healing factor? Jean's combined psychic abilities?"
Rogue was now hovering over the floor, her eyes glowing bright. Her teammates remembered the last time she had a power surge and hoped she would survive this one, too.
Sinister never took his eyes off of Rogue. "You truly are the marvel of all marvels, Rogue."
"And I am truly the beginning of all your endings, Nathaniel." Rogue stretched out her hand, slowly siphoning Sinister's life force from him. The enraptured look never left his face, as if losing his life was worth it to have seen his experiment succeed.
Hearing her teammates behind her, it was Rogue's turn to snap her other hand so that the glass disappeared from the chambers and the collars fell off the X-Men's necks and Wolverine's chains' from his hands.
Kurt reached Rogue first. "Schwester, stop! Please! This man might deserve to die, but you do not have to be the one who actually takes his life!"
Rogue looked down at her brother. "Oh, I'll let him live, but just barely." She finally put her hand down, satisfied she had taken enough of his life force so that he would never wake up but would remain comatose until he died a natural death. Sinister's body fell to the floor in an undignified heap.
Rogue turned and faced her teammates, hovering higher than before.
"Now, why does everybody look so upset?" Rogue asked the team. "Shouldn't this be a celebration? Isn't this what we've always wanted?" she asked Xavier specifically. "For me to reach my full potential? For me to attain my ultimate power?"
Rogue flew higher, shooting a hole in the roof using Cyclops' optic blasts. Her voice was now reverberating all around them. "I know you're here, Mystique. Aren't you happy for me, Mother? Am I not what you and Destiny have always dreamed of?
"Let them know. Let them all know. I'll destroy anyone else who comes for us. I'll make Sinister's end look merciful."
Rogue screamed and let her arms fly up, releasing the same white light from her body as before. "This ends now. This ends today."
She flew down through the hole she had created to rejoin the X-Men, landing easily on the floor. When she looked at her team, they saw her eyes were more red than green, showing Sinister's influence on her.
Remy stepped forward to hold her firmly by the shoulders."Chere, I know you're angry, but you need to let this man go. He's making you think that you want what he wanted. That's Sinister in your head, mon coeur. This ain't who you are."
"I just want it all to stop," Rogue pleaded, looking at Remy.
"And it will. It will. Ain't no one coming after you for a long time after that little display of yours up there, believe me" Remy assured her.
Rogue's breath shuddered while she rested her head on Remy's chest, trying to separate herself from Sinister's sick desires. Remy wrapped his arms around her and supported nearly all her weight while she closed her eyes and fought for herself. Just because she had attained this so-called genetic perfection didn't mean she wanted to be some "marvel of all marvels." She had more than enough on her plate just being an X-Man.
Rogue opened her eyes again and looked up at Remy again. "Let's go home."
As the X-Men walked back to the jet, Wolverine noticed Rogue lagging behind, even while holding Remy's hand. "You ok there, Stripes?"
"'m fine, 'm just tired. You'd think having your healing factor would take care o' that f'r me," she replied, yawning and slurring her words from exhaustion.
"Even I've gotta sleep sometimes. You gonna make it to the jet?" Wolverine asked.
"'Course I am, 'm not, oh-" Rogue's body suddenly gave out, as if taking Wolverine's question as a command. Remy quickly scooped her into his arms, carrying her bridal style.
"You turn into a psychic now, Wolvie?" Remy asked without heat.
Wolverine decided not to call Gambit out for not noticing Rogue was losing steam. Watching the girl you love disappear and come back to life was enough to make anyone walk in a daze.
"'m fine, you two," Rogue mumbled into Remy's chest. "'m just tired."
"I guess you've earned your little cat nap, Chere. You wanna lie down when we get to the jet?"
Rogue hummed her refusal. "I wanna sleep with you."
Wolverine's head whipped in their direction, scowling.
Remy snorted a laugh. "See, now I know you're gonna be ok, ragging on your poor 'wannabe-father' like that while I'm the one who's gallantly carrying you back to safety like Hercules," he said.
Rogue was able to stay awake long enough for Beast to take her vitals, then slumped into Remy as soon as the jet took off.
Remy wrapped his arm around Rogue and supported her while she slept. He wondered how long of a vacation he would need so he could look at Rogue without being afraid she would disappear again. Remy felt himself nodding off too, content to sit and bask in the feeling of knowing that Sinister was no longer a threat. They had saved the day, no one from the team had been seriously hurt, and his girl was now the most powerful force on the planet. Yeah, he thought to himself, this was definitely a win for the good guys.