A Romy story

Chapter 15

At least at the moment, she wasn't thinking of possible, horrible scenarios that could've happened to Remy. She was too busy trying to keep her balance. It was training time for the X-Men and it was Rogue's turn to practice swift, but accurate, movements. In reality, all it really was, was walking across a suspended plank of wood, without falling off while Storm blasted her with gale force winds. Rogue actually quite enjoyed training sessions. It was an ideal time to let off some steam and basically just play around.

They were all instructed before hand to be aware of the strengths of their powers and things usually went along smoothly. Of course though, this is a group of arrogant teenagers we're talking about and things can't always be expected to run smoothly.
Finally losing her balance, Rogue fell off of the plank with a small grunt as she fell on her backside. She sighed in annoyance and went back to the end of the plank so she could start again. Not too far off from her, she was being watched by Kitty, Jubilee, Bobby and Tabitha, aka Bam Bam. Where as Kitty, Bobby and Jubilee were only half paying attention to Rogue's antics, Tabitha was playing very close attention, just waiting for Rogue to slip up badly.

It was no secret that Rogue and Tabitha didn't care for each other in the least. Rogue thought Tabitha was a common, ill-mannered show-off and Tabitha thought Rogue was a sappy, attention seeking mama's girl. Their rivalry had in truth only started when Tabitha began dating Bobby. Rogue had been convinced at the time that it was a ploy to get at her, Tabitha had been, and still was, obsessed with the notion that Rogue was going to try and steal Bobby back. Over time, Rogue had come to realise that her theories were simple paranoia and let them go. Tabitha however, remained convinced that she knew Rogue's alteria motives and so doubled her efforts to mark her "territory". She began to shamelessly flaunt her relationship with Bobby at any available moment and often tried to goad Rogue into arguements and fights. Thusly, the rivalry began.

From Rogue's point of view, the bitter feelings between them were fading. She had other elements of her life to focus on now and could no longer be bothered with the immaturity of it all. For Tabitha, they were intensifying. She saw Rogue's lack of interest in herself and Bobby as a ploy to lead her into a false sense of security. Tabitha "knew" that Rogue was waiting for the moment she dropped her guard and then she'd sweep in and steal Bobby. It was because of this extreme paranoia that her "brilliant plan" came about. Though in truth, she had only been planning it for the past half hour. Not quite long enough to call it a plan but not short enough to call it a moment of madness. It was when she saw Rogue start her walk again that she decided to go ahead with the idea.

"Anyone else totally bored?" Tabitha groaned from her position laying on the grass next to Bobby. Several grunts of agreement were her reply. "How 'bout doin' something then?"
"Like what?" Kitty muttered, liking Tabitha only a little more than Rogue.
"We could play a game." Tabitha suggested.
"Like what?" Kitty repeated herself, knowing full well she was annoying the other girl.
"I dunno. Something simple like tag'd do." Tabitha replied, choosing her words carefully so it sounded like a random idea plucked out of the air.
"That is so boring and childish." Kitty criticised.
"We could make it more interesting." The blonde mutant told her.
"How?" Jubilee asked, deciding it had been too long since she had last spoken.
"Erm..." Tabitha hummed, pretending to think. "Oh, I know! Instead of just touching someone to tag them, you have to hit them with your powers."
"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Bobby pointed out.
"Not if we control ourselves. We all know how to control our powers so they're felt but don't hurt." Tabitha answered.

The other three looked at each other wearily. Tabitha realised they weren't going to take the bait and so, in panic,acted quickly. "Oh c'mon guys! It'll be fun!" She encouraged, jumping to her feet. "I'll even start." She offereed, already beginning to form a glowing cherry bomb between her cupped hands. She knew exactly what size it had to be to get the desired effect. She formed another two to give her three. Then struck. "Hey Kitty, think fast!" She laughed as the three small balls flew out of Tabitha's hands and intentionally soared over Kitty's head and kept going. Kitty and Jubilee snickered at her and even Bobby had to turn his head away to hide the smile that had surfaced.

"Nice aiming." Kitty smirked while Jubilee continued to laugh. Tabitha just smirked back at them causing Kitty's to fade as an odd sensation of suspicious dread passed over her. Then, as if on cue, Bobby gave a frightened shout:
"Rogue!"

Upon falling off a second time, Rogue all but gave up. Although she did try again, she no longer concentrated on the task and instead began to talk with Head Remy.
"What d'ya reckon the chances of Remy gettin' himself into trouble are?" She asked silently.
"All depends. Yo' sure dhe Wolverine didn' find him?" Head Remy checked.
"Yeah. He lost the scent 'cause Ah teleported arahnd too much and mixed it up with other stuff accordin' to him. Havin' said that though, Logan went out all day yesterday and he's been gone most of today...Ya don't think...He couldn't have tracked him dahn could he? What if that's the reason he hasn't called!"
"Do yo' honestly t'ink he'd be able to pick up dhe scent good enough after two weeks if he couldn' pick it up after two minutes?"
"Ah guess not...Still, whah haven't Ah heard anything from him?"

The conversation stopped abruptly when Rogue could've sworn she heard Bobby calling her though it was hard to be sure, because of the wind which howled around her. She turned to face the direction Bobby was in and let out a gasp when she saw the three glowing balls speeding towards her. Her arms instinctively came up to cover her face but her legs refused to move when she tried to dive away.

The small bombs hit her square in the stomach and exploded violently on contact. Rogue heard nothing but ringing in her ears and feltonly the air rush around her as she was sent rocketing back, her feet totally leaving the ground. Before she could shut her eyes in anticipation of her landing, she crashed into something hard and sturdy. Pain shot through her spine and the impact caused her head to lash backwards and smash into whatever had stopped her. When that happened, nothing more was felt.