Chapter 25:
Rogue and the others spent the whole day out on the road. With the benefits of Joe's thoughtfulness, they hadn't needed to stock up on supplies or anything like that. The only pit stop they had taken was so that Jubilee could take over the driving from Remy who was almosy falling asleep at the wheel.
Granted she didn't actually have her license yet but considering the number of laws they had already broken, one more wasn't going to hurt. Now it was completely dark outside and the three girls sat at the front of the motorhome together, talking about things that they hadn't had a chance to yet discuss.
"I don't understand why you lied to us though." Jubilee sighed, making sure to keep her eyes on the road. "The teachers and Logan, yeah. Me and Kitty, no."
"Ah'm sahrry. Ah guess Ah just thahght things'd be simpler if no one knew. Ah know that ain't much of a reason..." Rogue said, trailing off at the end.
"Sounds fair to me." Kitty assured. "The more people who knew, the more chance of something slipping and Logan finding out and that wouldn't have been a good thing."
"Yeah." Rogue agreed through a sigh. A tense silence took over for a short while.
"I wonder how the others are doing." Jubilee said quietly all of a sudden.
"Personally, Ah'm trahin' not to think abaht it." Rogue murmured sadly.
"Do you think the Professor knows what happened?" Kitty wondered.
"Probably. Ah should think the police would wanna question him abaht me at least." Rogue replied.
"This whole thing is totally weird." Jubilee noted. "Those two on the security tape looked like you and Remy way too much to just be coincidence, but why would someone go to so much trouble to frame you guys? And how were the cops able to identify the two of you so quickly?"
Rogue remained silent and lost herself in thought as Kitty and Jubilee continued their discussion. Who would want to frame them? The words she'd heard from Destiny suddenly seemed to echo through her head: "...the attack of those who want revenge." Well...Who would want revenge on her? A lot of people. Who would want revenge on Remy? Again, a lot of people...But, to her great annoyance, no one person or group of people occured to her in particular. She gave a silent sigh and rubbed her eyes. She was too tired to try and solve crime mysteries right now.
Morning, and it was Rogue's turn to drive. Each of them were all rested and were in better spirits which was more than clear from the particularly stupid game they were playing.
"I'm going to the picnic and I'm bringing asbestos insulation, brine shrimp and...The cryogenically frozen head of Walt Disney." Kitty recited with a grin.
"Ah'm goin' to the picnic and Ah'm bringing asbestos insulation, brahne shrimp, the crahogenically fozen head of Walt Disney and...A drachm of a pickle." Rogue added as they turned a corner.
"What the Hell is a drachm?" Jubilee asked skeptically.
"One eighth of an ounce." Rogue answered.
"No way, you made that up!" Jubilee protested.
"No Ah didn't! It's in the dictionary, look it up!" Rogue insisted defensively.
"We haven't got one so I can't and so that means it doesn't count." Jubilee told her.
"What? That is so unfair!" Rogue yelled.
"We're runnin' low on gas." Remy suddenly noted from the passanger seat beside Rogue.
"Great." Rogue grunted sarcastically.
"Hey look!" Jubilee exclaimed suddenly, pointing at a billboard they were coming up to advertising The Biggest Pit-Stop in the World.
"That is the lamest name for a store I think I've ever heard." Kitty commented as they passed it
"The name isn't exactly important. I bet they'd have gas there though." Jubilee said.
"We are not stopping to shop Jubilee." Rogue told her seriously.
"Who said anything about shopping? I was merely pointing out the possibility that they might have gas pumps there." Jubilee explained. She noticed Kitty looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
"You don't seriously expect us to believe that do you?" Kitty asked. "Especially with the huge list of clothes stores they had on the billboard."
"Well...I don't see the harm in wandering around when we get there, just to stretch out legs." Jubilee admitted coyly.
"You may not see the harm in it, but Ah do." Rogue told her. "We're on the run remember? We can't afford to be recognised. We need to keep hidden."
"Dhe petite go' a point chere." Remy suddenly spoke up. "We all need a bit of a break. We lost dhe army ages ago, we'll be safe long enough to just stretch our legs."
Rogue gave Remy a side-long glance before sighing in defeat. "Fahne, we'll stop off there for a whahle." She conceeded. Jubilee gave a small smile, while Kitty and Remy seemed rather pleased they won. Rogue however, couldn't deny the odd feeling of dread which made her heart feel like lead.
Rogue sat opposite Remy in a small, open coffee shop in the middle of The Biggest Pit-Stop in the World. The gas had been pumped and payed for and, as to everyone's insistence except hers, they had all wandered off to do their own thing. Kitty and Jubilee had gone to window-shop and only window-shop at the insistence of Rogue while she had been reluctantly dragged around by Remy. She'd insisted on wearing a hat to cover her white streaks and also that Remy wore sunglasses to cover his eyes. These were only small comforts though and Rogue still found herself perminantly worried and edgy.
"Marie, if yo' keep lookin' so shifty, yo' gon' start attractin' attention anyway." Remy murmured to her discreetly, reaching to rest his hand on top of hers.
"Ah don't know whah we're here. We've got coffee and muffins in the motorhome." Rogue muttured.
"Oui, but no' almond coffee." Remy tried to joke. Rogue just glared at him, clearly not amused. "What's wrong Marie?"
"What's wrong?" Rogue echoed in disbelief. "Ah seem to be the only one who's treating this lahke the situation it is. We are not on a road trip, we're on the run from a bunch of army guys that wanna lock us up for something we didn't do!"
"We all understand the situation chere. Dhis ain' exac'ly Remy's first time and it's because of dhat, dhat he can tell yo' dhat stressin' ain' gon' help at all. Remy know dhis is scary for yo', but yo're makin' it worse for yo'self by tryin' to deal wit' it on yo'r own...D'yo' remember what Remy told yo' dhe night we were toget'er?"
"Ya said Ah'd never have to be on mah own again, that ya'd always be there to back me up." Rogue recalled, blushing slightly at the circumstances in which that promise had been made.
"An dhat still stands. Yo' don' have to do dhis on yo'r own 'cause Remy gon' stay right by yo'r side." He assured her, squeezing her hand gently. "Anyway, dhis is all hypothetical: not'in' is gon' happen."
"Remy," Rogue sighed. "This is us ya talkin' abaht. Something always happens to us."
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Kitty's POV:
Kitty gave a frustrated sigh and looked around herself irritably. She'd been seperated from Jubilee for ten minutes now and had no idea where everyone was. As she continued her search, she couldn't help but compare her immature friend to a toddler, maybe a puppy, or something else. 'Turn your back for just one second and they've totally vanished into thin air.' She thought.
Letting out another huff, Kitty paused her walking and rubbed her eyes tiredly. When she looked up again, she caught sight of something on the other side of the plaza; a TV store with several sets on display and in use, each one on the same channel which was currently showing a close up of the Professor's face.
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Jubilee's POV:
Jubilee wandered around happily, looking around herself at the various shops. She hadn't intentionally lost Kitty. She'd seen a shop window full of gorgeous shoes and had been drawn to it like a moth to a flame. When she'd turned back to where she had last seen Kitty, she'd gone.
Granted it wasn't intentional but Jubilee wasn't exactly upset with the seperation which was the main reason why she hadn't made too much of an effort to locate and rejoin her friends. Besides, they were bound to run into each other again eventually after all this pit stop wasn't the biggest place in the world, like it had said on the sign.
Continuing on her way, Jubilee didn't stand out in the least. All she looked like was a normal teen window shopping. As she passed a book store, she paused and thought back to the game they had played that morning in the motorhome. That word Rogue had used...Dra-something. She refused to believe it was a real word. A bookstore would sell dictionaries. She could look it up and then rub it in Rogue's nose that she was wrong.
Jubilee walked into the book store and quickly saw the educational books near the back. She made a beeline over to the back of the store and began to search for the dictionaries. Fortunately, she soon found them. Unfortunately, they were on the very top shelf. She couldn't reach them herself and she did promise Rogue not to draw attention to herself and asking for assistence would do that. Still, she knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd proven Rogue wrong.
Looking around herself, just to check no one was watching, Jubilee forced out a fake yawn and stretched her arms and back. As she did so, she released a few sparks which shot at the dictionaries and, luckily, dislodged only one. She skillfully caught the large book in both her hands and quickly flipped it open to a random page.
"I..." Jubilee murmured to herself before flicking the pages back, blissfully ignorant of the attention she had unwittingly attracted with her little stunt and the store clerk who had hurried out of the shop. "D...Dr...Dra...Ahh, here, let's see; drag, draft, draconian, drachma...Well wha'd'ya know? It is a real word!"
"Excuse me miss." A deep voice suddenly came from behind her. Jubilee turned to see two security guards. "Is your name Jubilation Li?"
...Crap.
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Kitty's POV:
Kitty had resumed her search for her friends with much more enthusiasm and desperation. Her head was swimming with everything she'd just found out. They had to leave, they had to get going again, they couldn't afford to waste anymore time. The Professor, the others!
Kitty was all but running as she scanned the area for her friends. Just as she happened to look out over to the other side of the hall, she spotted Jubilee running and being followed by several security guards. Fearing the worst, Kitty changed her course and went to meet up with her friend.
She no longer cared about not drawing attention to herself. If the security had figured out who Jubilee was, which was what had most likely happened, then it didn't matter anymore. So, to save time, instead of dodging and swirving around people, she simply ran tthrough them. Unsurprisingly, a panic soon spread through those around her but she ignored them; there were more important problems at hand.
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Back With Rouge and Remy:
Remy actually succeeded in easing Rogue's nerves after a while. That being the case, when they heard a commotion on the floor above them, neither assumed the worst immediately.
"What d'ya reckon that's all abaht?" Rogue pondered as they watched a few security guards run by, towards the stairs.
"Prob'ly jus' a shop lifter." Remy replied. "But Remy t'ink he should go check it ou' jus' in case it's somet'ing we need to know 'bout." He told her, getting to his feet.
"Ya don't think that maybe Kitty or Jubes..." Rogue began worridly.
"Remy sure dhey fine chere." He assured her quickly. "He jus' wan' be sure dhough. Yo' gon' be okay on yo'r own for a while?"
"Ah'll be fahne."
"Kay dhen. Won' be long." He told her, casually walking away, heading for an escalater which would lead him up to the above floor.
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With Kitty and Jubilee:
"What do you not understand about the phrase, "don't draw attention to yourself"?" Kitty yelled, having joined Jubilee a while back, as they both phased through anyone who happened to get in their way.
"I did check before I did anything." Jubilee pointed out.
"And a fat lot of good that did!"
"You know, I don't wanna hold your hand when you're being like this." Jubilee grumbled. The second that sentence was out of her mouth, Kitty's grip on her hand became painful.
"Ow! Kitty that hurts"
"You even try to let go and I swear I'll break it." Kitty hissed darkly, not in any mood to put up with childish behaviour. Just as Jubilee was about to answer back, she spotted something a small way ahead of them.
"Oh no!" She gasp, skidding to a halt.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing!" Kitty demanded angrily, trying to pull Jubilee forward again.
"Look!" Jubilee ordered, pointing ahead of them. Kitty did as instructed and turned to look. The soldiers from before! Loads of them, all armed, all heading towards them.
"Fuck!" Kitty swore loudly.
"Kitty!" Jubilee gasped, shocked at her friend's language.
"Oh give it a rest Jubes. If the f word isn't justifiable now, when is it?" Kitty grunted, pulling Jubilee along towards an escalator which went down to the ground floor; they had to get out now.
They soon reached the moving stairs, only to find another handful of soldiers waiting for them at the bottom. Both girls let out groans of frustration before they veered off to the right, no longer knowing where they were going and just wanting to get away from the immediate danger. And because of that, they ended up getting boxed into a dead end.
As the two girls slid to a stop in front of the wall which took away their hope of escape without confrontation, Kitty looked behind them to see a few of the soldiers who had pursued them had now stopped and were taking aim at them. For once, Kitty lost her cool and panicked. The smart thing to do would've been to have kept her hold on Jubilee and channel her power through her so the bullets or tranquillizers.
Which these people were armed with, so it would all phase through them. Unfortunately, her panic made her act on reflex only: she shoved Jubilee behind herself and used her own body to shield Jubilee.
Jubilee was stunned at the gesture, too stunned to move or think properly. Any second now, the soldiers would shoot...But then there was a small explosion which knocked a few of the soldiers out and the rest had their sight blocked by smoke. From out of the smoke to their left, Remy emerged.
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Back With Rogues:
Rogue took a small sip of her coffee, letting out a small sigh once she'd swallowed the warm liquid. Her eyes fell onto Remy's muffin and she reached out quickly and broke a piece off, then popped it into her mouth. As she chewed it slowly, she studied her gloved hands.
She'd be completely lying if she denied that she didn't miss her ability to touch, but she had once again become used to the fact she couldn't again. A small smile spread across her face as she remembered the contact she'd shared with Remy. The sensations were scorched into her nerves like burns which would never heal and, for that, she was glad. She didn't want to forget.
Looking around herself, Rogue saw the dozens of people who were wandering around, all taking a pit-stop from their own journies. No one paying any attention to her. Remy was right; she was making everything more difficult then it needed to be. She needed to stop stressing, she needed to relax, she needed to take off the stupid hat which was cooking her head!
Rogue pulled the hat off irritably and shook her hair out. A quick glance around herself confirmed that absolutely no one was bothered with her. Smiling to herself, she took another sip of her coffee and stole another chunk of Remy's muffin.
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With Remy, Kitty, & Jubilee:
What dhe Hell happened?"
"I'm sorry, it was..."
"It was me. I didn't think and I phased through a shop door when Jubes let it close on me."
"Dhis is all we need! Yo' do realise dhis makes Rogue right now."
"Oh yeah, I found out that drachm is an actual word."
"You're the only one who thought it wasn't!"...
"Where did you say Rogue was?"
"Left her in dhe food court."
"Hey look, there she is. Hey...!"
"Don' call ou'! Yo'll call attention to her."
"Oh no! Guys look! Soldiers!"
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Back With Rouge:
Rogue let out a huff and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. Remy was taking much longer than she originally thought he was going to. She'd heard a sound a few minutes earlier. It was faint and sounded suspiciously like an explosion or something. Her first reaction had been to think the worst but then she remembered Remy's assurance. Nothing was going to happen, she was just being paranoid. She probably had only imagined the noise as well.
While idly stirring her coffee with a plastic spoon, she suddenly realised that there was someone standing just in front of the table. She looked up, un-sure of what to expect. Her body went cold when she did. Two soldiers. She silently ordered herself to stay calm. They hadn't instantly grabbed her. Maybe they didn't know who she was.
"Can Ah help ya with something officers?" She asked in a honey dipped voice.
"They know who we are!" Jubilee's voice suddenly yelled from above.
Okay, maybe they did know who she was as one of them made a grab for her arm. Rogue reacted before the soldier though and teleported a safe distance away.
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Back With Kitty, Jubilee, & Remy:
"Quick, teleport us down there!"
"Remy? C'mon, teleport us!"
"Can' do dhat petite."
"Why not.....isn't that your power?" Kitty asked
"Dhat ant't Remy's power..." Remy said as the three kept running, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and the soldiers.
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Back With Rouge:
Screams rose up as the people around Rogue realised she was a mutant. It didn't phase her though, the fact that she was on her own, running away from armed soldiers, that's what freaked her out! All common sense flew out the window and she just ran. She totally forgot the arsenal of mutant abilities she had at her disposal. She was in too much of a panic. She couldn't hear, she couldn't think, all she could do was run as fast as she could away from the Predators chasing her.
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Back With The Three Friends:
"Oh my God! They're taking aim at her!" Jubilee said turning the group's attention towards the food court, to see a running rouge.
"Remy! Do something!"
"Marie! Behind yo'!"
"We could have done that!" Kitty said rolling her eyes, as they kept on running.
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Back With Rouge:
Too many voices all crying out at once. She couldn't hear, her head throbbed, she felt dizzy. For a second, she thought she heard someone call her name, her real name. Then a sound, not a voice, a sound, a bang, kinda like a...
Pain, it filled her whole body. Hot, blinding pain in her shoulder. She tumbled. She didn't feel her body hit the floor. But she knew it came from the soldiers that were chasing her......that she was finally caught.