Chapter 32:
In Rouge's Mind:
"Identify yourself."
"I am Marie."
"What is your purpose?"
"That information is unclear at the present time."
"What are you?"
"I am myself."
"What makes you yourself?"
"Everything. My past, my memories, the interactions between myself and others moulds and shapes who I am."
"But what of the others? What of the pasts, memories and relationships that aren't your own? Do they change you?"
"I am not sure."
"If you are not who you used to be, who are you?"
"Who am I?"
"Are you simply another version of yourself?"
"I am not sure."
"Have you become an entirely different person?"
"I..."
"Or are you a mixture? Not quite yourself but neither are you someone else."
"I do not..."
"Identify yourself."
"I am..."
"Which are your true memories? Which are your relationships? What name do you truely go by?"
"I am not..."
"Who are you?"
"...Who am I? I...I no longer know who I am..."
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Back At The School:
Jean let out a sigh of relief as she led Rogue through the entrance of the school, out of the cold and rain and into the blissfully warm building. Rogue was dangerously pale and soaked to the bone but she really didn't seem aware of it; she wasn't even shivering. Jean on the other hand was shaking like a leaf even though she was trying her hardest to control the involuntary muscle spasms. But she couldn't help but worry about rouge.
As the two women moved further into the front hallway, they were soon found by Kitty and Jubilee. While Kitty instantly sank through the floor, no doubt off to find the Professor, Jubilee gave a small gasp and rushed over to them.
"Oh my God Rogue, what happened? Why did you take off like that?" She paused then to wait for a reply. When she didn't get one, she frowned lightly and spoke again. "Rogue?"
"Jubilee, I think Rogue's a little confused at the moment." Jean revealed softly. Jubilee just looked at her with uncomprehending eyes.
"Where is everyone?" She asked, thinking it would probably be best to change the subject.
"Erm, let me see the Professor and Doctor McCoy are down in Cerebro still. Scott, Kurt and Remy are on their way back and Storm's still out picking up Logan." The teenager recalled, closing her eyes to help her remember. Just then, the sound of rushing air and a landing aircraft reached their ears through the barrior of the shut front door.
"Sounds like Storm's back. I hope she managed to find Logan." Jean murmured, looking over at the doors where she knew Logan and Ororo would enter through in a minute.
"Lo-gan..." Rogue echoed slowly, pausing uncertainly between the two syllables.
"Rogue?" Jean said quickly, pouncing at the first sign so far that Rogue at least had some comprehension of what was going on. The wet teenager was staring down at the floor fearfully as if something terrible had just happened. Then, before Jean or Jubilee could even try to get something out of her, the front doors burst open causing the two sane females to look in that direction.
Logan stood in the doorway, soaked and looking extremely angry. "Can I not leave her in this place with you lot for five fucking minutes without something happening to..." He didn't get to finish that sentence before he was hit square in the chest by a violent red beam much the same as Cyclops'. He was sent flying back out the doorway and the thump of his body hitting the ground followed several seconds after he'd disappeared from sight.
"Rogue!" Jubilee gasped, stepping away from the suddenly angry girl who curiously had her eyes clenched shut tightly. "Why the Hell did you do that?"
Rogue turned her head in Jubilee's direction so that, if her eyes had been open she would've been looking at her. "Because I've always wanted to." She answered and although the voice which spoke was hers, the accent definately wasn't.
"Guys! I've brought the Professor." Kitty's voice interrupted suddenly. Jean and Jubilee looked over at the approaching Kitty, Professor and Hank and subsequently missed Rogue's eyes flying open and widening in fear again and the small gasp which broke past her lips.
"Thank goodness you're here Professor." Jean gushed, intending to continue.
"Indeed." Rogue suddenly agreed, her tone taking on a definate English quality. "Welcome Charles."
And with that, she raised her right hand and the Professor's wheelchair stopped moving abruptly. Slowly, along with Rogue's gesturing, the wheelchair rose into the air with the Professor still in it while Rogue strolled casually over to him. As all this happened, the other mutants in the room could only stare at her in mute horror.
When Rogue and the Professor were face to face and only a few centimetres of air seperated them, the girl sighed in a condescending fashion and shook her head slowly. "I'm disappointed in you Charles; if I have known that it was so easy to get in here I would have attacked you years ago."
"Rogue?" The Professor tried, confusion and disbelief evident in his tone.
"Don't worry my old friend, the girl's quite all right. She's in here, somewhere. And you'll get her back, just as soon as I've used her body to get back to me; the real me." Rogue explained, a smirk marring her face towards the end of the sentence.
"What have you done to her?" The Professor demanded, aghast.
"I assure you, I haven't done anything Charles." Rogue told him, her voice filled with mock indignation and exaggerated innocence. "This is all her own doing. Hers along with that arrogant Cajun friend of hers."
Just as she said that, Logan, Scott, Ororo, Kurt and Remy all entered, one after the other. The situation in front of them stunned them all into inaction and an amused smirk found it's way onto Rogue's face. It stayed there even as she gasped and stepped back slightly as if she'd been struck. Her concentration faded as well and the Professor and his wheelchair dropped back to the ground with a thud.
"You're in for some trouble now my boy." Rogue sneered to Remy. "Not that I mind; I do so enjoy watching a good fight."
And with that, Rogue gasped again and doubled over, her hands flying up to clutch her bowed head. No one moved as they watched in stunned silence as her shoulders heaved with her heavy breathing. Then, suddenly, she'd lifted her head again and her eyes...They were black and red, exactly like Remy's were. She seemed to lock her gaze onto her boyfriend instantly and her face creased in a look of pure rage and loathing.
"Yo'!" She yelled in an exact replica of Remy's accent, jabbing an accusing finger at him before hurridly stalking over to him. Remy and everyone else could do nothing but watch the un-nerving display unfold in front of them. "Yo' filt'y modher fucking son of a God damned bitch!" As her sentence ended she reached Remy and upon reaching him, she punched in squarely in the jaw.
"Rogue!" Jubilee cried, running over quickly and holding her friend back as Remy staggered away from her, the back of his hand pressed against his now slightly cut lip.
"What the Hell Rogue?" Kitty yelled, helping Jubilee hold their friend back.
"Dhis is all yo'r fault!" Rogue spat ast Remy furiously, ignoring the questions from the two girls and trying to escape from their holds. "If yo' had never come alon', if yo' had never cheated yo'r way into her life, none of dhis would have happened. Yo' don' even really love her! I made yo' accept her, I influenced yo' so dhat yo' didn' turn her away as nut case like yo' would've done, yo' no good bastard!"
With that, Rogue managed to rip herself away from her two friends, ripping off a bangle Jubilee was wearing on her wrist as she did so. Now in possession of something which could be turned into an effective weapon, Rogue sneered maliciously and charged the piece of cheap plastic jewelry to such an extent that it began to glow bright white. However, before she could actually use said weapon, she froze and her eyes widened again, suddenly flickering back to their natural white and brown colour.
"No, don't hurt him!" Rogue screamed in her own southern accent, tossing the beads away from herself.
Jean caught them with her telekinisis and sent them soaring up to the high ceiling where they exploded safely, away from everyone and everything. Once that drama was over, everyone turned their attention back to Rogue again; she had fallen to her knees in the middle of all of them and was weakly yanking her hair while muttering to herself tearfully.
"Please go away, leave me alone, leave me alone..."
She sounded so miserable and alone that hearing her brought tears to the eyes of several of them, even Logan's eyes. Jean shot the Professor a pleading look to which he sighed sadly in agreement at what had been a silent request. He sent a very weak psychic blast to the girl, just enough to knock her out, putting her out of her misery for a few hours at least. Seconds later, Rogue simply went limp and slumped to the floor on her side. She had barely hit the floor before Remy had run over to her and gathered her into his arms, cradling her limp body as he gently rocked her, stroking her hair in calm, soothing strokes.
"What the Hell is wrong with her?" Logan demanded, his eyes fixed on Rogue's still form being held gently by Remy.
"That accent...She sounded so much like Remy..." Kitty murmured, sounding horrified.
"Professor, do you think it's possible that the people Rogue's absorbed in the past could be trying to break out or even take over her body as their own?" Jean suggested, her voice a little tearful. "I mean, we already know that part of them stays with her; maybe we've simply underestimated just how much remains."
"It's a very likely possibility but we'll only find out if it is the case by going into Rogue's mind ourselves." He told Jean though he addressed the whole room.
"You want me to go with you?" Jean checked, suprised and delighted.
"Yes, I will need your presence as a reminder of the real world so that I don't lose my way and start thinking that Rogue's mind is reality." Jean simply nodded at that.
Wordlessly, the two psychics headed over to where Remy was still holding Rogue. Although he didn't release her completely, he did shift his hold so they had easier access to her, lifting her up a little so the Professor could put his hands on either side of her head. Jean did the same with one hand in front of Rofue's face and one at the back of her head. Then, both psychics closed their eyes.
When Jean and the Professor opened their eyes again they were in a space of nothingness. There was pure white emptiness and that was it. They looked around themselves, trying to see if there was anything at all around them. On their fifth attempt of looking to their right, they saw a figure up ahead which hadn't been there before.
"Professah, Jean, Ah'm so glad ya fahnally decided to come visit."