***Author's note: I know it's been a while since my last installment, but I wanted to be sure that I (hopefully) left you hanging and wanting more. Also this way I can write more with the more time I have. This is certainly not the last installment, because I still have to think of how it may end. To think, all this was parts of dreams I've had!? So without further adieu, a little more of "Assets" to curb your anxious appetites. Enjoy... :) ~RogueChere
PS. If you have comments or suggestions e-mail me at [email protected]****
**Well! It is about blamin' time, Chere. I ha'e been a' waitin' fer o'er a mon'h now t' read more on dis here story. ***********Wipes tear************ I am sooooooo proud..***** :::Sniff.. Sniff:::::::::::
{Please f'give me}, Gambit pleaded silently. He wasn't quite sure form whom he was begging forgiveness. Was it Rogue-- the woman he'd sworn he'd never harm? Was it Serina--who was most likely watching from the shadows as a guarantee that he'd do as Sinister had commanded? Was it himself? Or all of them? All Remy LeBeau knew was that he needed some sort of pennance. Everything in him screamed out that what he was doing was wrong, but his emotions were soon pushed aside to let the survival instincts of a cunning theif take over.
{What dif'rence it gonna make? You done it b'fore-- what's it matter if you do it again?}
{I was drugged b'fore an' didn' remember it... I can't intention'ly hurt Rogue--}
{Quit de whinin', you sound like a chile. De point is you still done it. So what it gonna matter?}
{If I gotta do it, I don' have t'hurt her. If she willin' den it make it easier for her, for de both of us--}
{It won' work, you tried dat already...you gotta do it or Rena dies...}
{I'll jus' be as gentle as I can...I'm sorry Rogue.}
Gambit looked down at the woman at his feet, and sucked in a deep breath. He bent to his knees and pulled her face out of her hands-- tears streamed from her emerald eyes, but she didn't move away from him. She only closed her eyes and lay rigid in his arms as he forced her to the gound, "I'm sorry, ma chere amant, dis is gonna hurt."
"I cannae breath with this thing," Serina growled, pulling at the Genoshian collar that restrained her mutant powers. She sat in a suspended cell about one of Sinister's many computer consoles and glared at her captor. If looks could kill...
"Dear Serenity, with a mind as bright as yours, you know that if you cease you struggling, breathing isn't as much of a chore. As a matter of fact I strongly suggest that you calm yourself. We wouldn't want you to up and die on your lover now, would we?" Sinister answered over his shoulder.
The word "lover" enraged Serina. Remy LeBeau meant more to her than some vain lover. They shared a special bond that exceeded far beyond any physical aspect. She cared so deeply for him that she'd sacrifice her own life for him without a second thought. Though she usually refused to admit it freely-- especially when Rogue was present-- Serina loved him heart and soul. Emeryld lunged at the bars of her cell, sending it to swing violently, capturing Sinister's attention.
"Have I hit a nerve?" he inquired raising a brow. She seemed to have made him curious.
"He is NOT my lover!"
"Isn't he? Oh, forgive my mistake, I meant to say Lord and Master..."
Emeryld let out a ravaged war cry and threw her hands through the spaces between the bars in a vain attempt to strangle her captor, Even without her powers she still had her adamantium nails and she succeeded in scratching the back of Sinister's neck. Unfortunately his wounds healed immediately.
Had Emeryld had her powers--the earthquake her scream would have produced may have sent the whole complex crashing down over them. Sinister only glanced up at her, still swinging in the cage above him, "Speaking of LeBeau, shall we see what he's up to? Hmmm?"
Above Sinister one of the monitors flickered to life, showing a small darkened cell with two familiar occupants. Rogue stood in a circle of Gambit's arms, seemingly pleading with him, trying to make him listen to her. Suddenly she broke away from him and crossed the room, no longer looking at him.
"I wonder what they seem so animated about? Should we see?" Sinister asked.
Emeryld knew that whatever her answer she would hear their words anyway. Sinister turned a dial and Rogue's voice filtered into the room, "...Remy LeBeau, that is the coldest thing ah have evah heard cross your lips! An' t'think they call Bobby the Iceman-- You know, Serina loves y---"
"Dat don' mean a damn t'ing t'me..." then the sound was gone again, their actions only remaining. Sinister sat watching for Serina's reaction.
She stared at the screen still watching them. Serina refused to let the words sink in, refused to acknowledge their meaning. She wouldn't show any emotion, not for Sinister's amusement. Emeryld only kept her eyes locked on the screen,
Remy grabbed Rogue roughly, and the in an instant, an all-too-familiar and frightening glint flickered in Gambit's eyes. They glazed over as Rogue dropped to her knees before him. It was the only thing that ever stuck utter fear in Serina...she would never forget that look as long as she lived.
"Oh no...no Remy..." Serina whispered, completely terrified for Rogue now, "You wouldn't...you wouldn't dare..." She grasped tightly onto the bars watching with utter terror in her gold-green eyes.
Gambit pulled Rogue's head up, her face stained with tears...abruptly the sound came flooding back into the room just in time to hear Gambit's voice speak to Rogue with what sounded like tourtured sympathy, "I'm sorry, ma chere amant, dis is gonna hurt."
"Don't you touch her you bastard!" Serina cried out as loud as she could, lunging to pull Remy's image off of Rogue's. Serina only resulted in smacking herslelf on the metal, her nails sending sparks flying around her. She slid to the botttom of the cell still crying and reaching out to her helpless friend, her sister, "No...Rogue!!!"
Sinsiter turned around in his chair to face his "masterpeice" and grinned a ferocious smirk. Then he glanced back at the screen, his eyes focusing directly on the wrything Rogue who was being pinned down by Gambit. Sinister jovially quoted, "I will scar you, inflict myself upon your memory, burn you...I am the storm. A fury of flesh, biting, grasping, pounding--"
"STOP IT!" Emeryld screamed from a small heep in her suspended cell. She lifted her tearstained face, glaring at the monster who was adding to the profane treatment of her friend, "Please stop tourturing her!"
Sinister only paused and turned his inane grin onto her, "Now why would I want to stop? I told you I had plans for your Rogue didn't I? Besides, I'd say LeBeau is the one who will decided when to stop."
"You made him do it," Serina said, shutting her eyes. She couldn't watch Rogue relieve the horror that she'd experienced at Remy's hands.
"Did I?"
Emeryld took a deep breath and opened her eyes, "Why? Why are you doing this to her?"
"Why not? Genetics, my dear Serenity, that is why."
"You took her to get at us. Well, you've got us, so why dinnae you let her go? You have what you want!" Serina was almost pleading with Sinister. She would have done almost anything at that point to stop the defiling tourture that Rogue was engaged in.
Sinister sat back in his chair, lounging. He stroked at his chin, "You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?" Serina spat in fury.
"I will confess that, at first, I had planned on letting the tart go, but that was before I had much of a chance to look at her. She is quite a specimen, you know, with brilliant bone structure, powers of extaordinary proportions, beauty, grace..."
"So what? Ye never took much of an intrest in her before. Why now?
"True. All too true. Yet there was a reason for my neglect from before. I had not yet made my discovery because I was so caught up with Scott Summers and his darling wife, Jean Grey. You've known of my genetic plans for sometime now, haven't you Serenity?"
"If you mean using mutants as livestock for your 'perfect' creations, and using Scott, Jean, Remy, and mae to do it...then, yes, I know your plans Unfortunately they never seem to turn out do they?" Serina purred, trying to strike at Sinister with intellect.
"Not until now," Sinister laughed, "not until now..."
Serina's anguished screams echoed in Wolverine's receptive ears. He turned to Storm, who had teamed up with him when the four of them (Bease, Psylocke, Wolverine, and Storm) had split up. He'd persisted to go alone, but then reluctantly allowed her to come alone so he wouldn't waist time arguing.
"This way..." he growled, moving silently toward Serina's cries.
"Logan?" Storm's voice came almost as quietly as the breeze in his ear.
"I hear he up ahead. Dopn't know where the Cajun or Rogue ar, but Serina's up there," he answered not bothering to look back at the woman who flated a few feet behind him on a current of air. He knew that Ororo was just as conserned about Serina as he was. She'd treated Serina like a daughter. Always comforting her when she'd needed it. Of course Storm was like that to any of the younger X-men; but Wolverine had the instincts of and animal, and those instincts told hims that Storm was mother to Serina and she'd protecter her as one. Yes, a mother to Serina. A dear friend to Rogue. A companion and confidant for Gambit. And what was Ororo Munroe to him? something special he'd admit that much, but Logan rarely let anything more occupy his time. Getting attached to people only brought pain... a pain that had sent him after his daughter Serina.
"Then she is alive," Ororo almost sighed with relief. "I will use the mini-cerybro to locate Gambit and Rogue."
Two small lights flashed near the bottom of the tiny screen, one red, one gree, as Storm scanned for their thought patterns. She whispered into her communicator, knowing Wolverine could hear her as wee, "Beast, this is Storm. Gambit and Rogue are being held in the catacombes below. When you find one you should find the other..."
{We are on our way} Beast's voice answered. {Re-enforcements have been called. Cyclops, Archangel, Iceman, and Pheonix are on their way...}
{Thank you Beast...}
"You make mae sick!" came Emeryld's tear-filled voice.
They were finally close enough for Storm to hear the sounds Wolverine had been listening to for the last few minutes. They made her hesitate. Wolverine crept closer to the lighted room, peering in. Serina lie, hanging in a suspended cage, directly above Sinister who was tormenting her with images on a flickering screen. Wolverine's senses were acute enough to make out the images on the screen from the distance from which he stood. He made a disgusted sound and turned away. He wanted to roar and tear apart the whole lab...but he had to wait. Bide his time. Now was not the time for a bizerker rage.
"Wolverine, what is it?" Storm asked alarmed at what Wolverine might find so distateful.
"Nothin', 'Ro..." he grumbled, looking in again, teeth clenched.
"Logan, is Sinister...?" she couldn't bring herself to say poking, prodding, or even "examining". The words that were running through her mind of what Sinister might be doing to Serina, but that didn't matter now. Wolverine knew what she'd meant.
"No, doesn't look like he's touched her physically."
"Then what? Logan, what has made you turn away like that?" Storm persisted.
Wolverine sighed. He didn't want to tell her...it would break her heart if she knew. He was one of her closest friends. He'd saved her life once. He was the one who'd cared for her and helped her to survive when she was trapped in a child's body. But then again, he'd never been straight with any of them, always seemed to have some secret agenda. Ororo always stood by him, gave him the benefit of the doubt, but not this time. The woman needed to know, whether it broke her heart or not. Better to hear it from Wolverine than finding it on her own right?
Wolverine cleared his throat, "On the screen...um, look darlin', Serina's ok. But Rogue..."
"What has happened to her?" She demanded, the wind seemed to pick up around them.
"It's more like what's happenin'..."Wolverine looked directly into Ororo's eyes, "She's bein' raped."
"Goddess help her!" Storm whispered in almost shocked silence, "Who would ever--?"
"Gambit," Wolverine answered looking away, "It's Gambit."
"No, he would never!" she whispered almost venimously shaking her head.
Wolverine grabber her by the shoulders and pulled her close to him, "Hush darlin' or we're gonna get caught. You know yerself the Cajun's no saint, he never was."
"He swore to me that he'd never hurt her. I know him better than any of you save, Serina, and he would never... No, no I will not believe it!" Ororo's voice cried. A crack of thunder rumbled loudly, her voice rising as she backed away and directly into Sinister's view.
"Who'd have thought we'd be back in Scottland so soon?" Psylocke commented as she and Beast
travelled down a flight of stairs.
"Indeed. Who'd have thought we'd be facing Sinister again so soon, either?" Hank answered.
"Remy," Psylocke stated quietly, her voice sounding cold.
"Elizabeth please. That was a rhetorical question."
"Well it's the truth, isn't it, Hank?" Neither Rogue or Serina would be here if it weren't for Gambit. If he'd warned us...told us..."
"Told us what? That he'd heared a riddle? He only realized the answer this morning, when he bounded out of the mansion. You know as well as any of us that Remy LeBeau is a man full of riddles. An enigma unto himself. If any of us could have solved it may have well been he."
"No, Hank, it would have been you."
"A keen scientific mind perhaps," he almost wanted to smile at her faith in his knowledge. He was flattered in a way, but the riddle had been designed only for Gambit to figure out, he was sure. A moral question, a question of his heart: and as brilliant as Dr. Henry McCoy might be, he had no knowledge of what lurked in the hearts of other men. Especially when one of those men happened to be Remy LeBeau.
"What exactly did Gambit say?"
"If I remember correctly, he mumbled something to the likeness of 'dear to his heart'. There was something else but I didn't quite catch it."
"Who'd have thought anything would be dear to his heart, except maybe stealing of saving himself..." Betsy mumbled.
"Serina is dear to him, though, is she not?" Hank inquired with a side glance.
Psylocke looked down at the floor for a moment and whispered, "I"m sorry."
"No need to appologize to me, Elizabeth. He loves Rogue as well, we all say how guilty he felt when she left."
"Guilt and love aren't the same thing. He was worried she'd found something when she kissed him. He was only watching out for himself--"
"Was he? I think I remember Warren saying something similar about you and your mysterious ways once..." Beast commented trailing off.
"Point taken. She really does love him, you know."
"Who?"
"Rogue does. She feels selfish for it, because she wants Em to be happy..." Psylocke suddenly became silent sensing another presence behind them. Two to be exact.
With a glance at Beast, Psylocke melded with the shadows while Beast vaulted toward the ceiling. A woman with aqua colored hair came bustling down the stairs with Vertigo close at her heels. The unknown woman carried a black bag and a blood extraction kit.
"I don't know why he just doesn't get rid of her. I mean she doesn't seem so special to me..." Vertigo complained to the other woman.
The other woman laughed mirthlessly and shook her head, "The girl has the ability to steal powers and memories... just think of the possibilities of that! With a genetic find like that we can crack codes, acquire unmentionable power, the possibilities are virtually endless!"
"Sure, that is only if the little dear were on our side--"
She doesn't have to cooperate with us, only him."
Psylocke glanced at Beast, {Looks like we follow them.}
{Indeed}
{Wait for my signal. They might give us more...}
Hank nodded. Vertigo was speaking again.
"Sure, Curran, and what makes you think Little Miss X-man is going to cooperate with Sinis-"
Not Sinister, you genetic mistake, LeBeau!" Curran hissed. "It seems that she has a thing for him, at least according to Sinister's files."
"Who wouldn't?" Vertigo sighed, "Not only did Sinister make him absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, but that man's got a charm and a skill that'd drive any girl wild...."
{Oh my stars and garters! Did she say MADE?} Hank's thought came crashing into Psylocke's mind. She almost gasped aloud with the same realization.
{I knew he was hiding something big but I never would have thought...}
"Oh shut up. What I mean is... never mind, Vertigo. I don't know why I bother to tell you anything.
Come on you, Sinister said that LeBeau should be finished with her soon, He'll meet us down there with the other one--"
"Serina?"
"Sure, if that's her name. Anyway we've got to get down there to finish up with our prize jewel."
{Now!}
Psylocke's leg shot out from the shadows, knocking Vertigo to the floor unconscious, Meanwhile Beast flipped to the ground in front of Curran-- who dropped the kit at the sight of Beast's hulking form.
Curran spun to face the other X-man who'd ambushed her and was quickly grabbed by Psylocke. The X-men forced her to look them in the eyes by yanking her hair.
"Where do you think you're, bloody, going?" Psylocke asked raising an elegantly arched eyebrow.
"And with all that medical equipment no less?" Beast inquired.
"I was only doing my job..."
"The usual excuse won't cut it, woman. Take us to Rogue," Psylocke whispered, then added in her mind, {And don't even think of using that syringe, Curran, I know where it is. You won't get to it fast enough...because I'm faster}
Startled, Curran gave Psylocke a frightened look. Damn her luck, a Psi. Curran's powers over water would do nothing for here. There was no water to command...she had no other choice but to obey, but she trusted that Sinister would soon be at Rogue's cell as well.
"Alright...just let me stand and I'll take you to her cell."
"Ororo Munroe, how nice of you to join us," Sinister commented conversationally, averting his attention from Emeryld for the time being.
Storm had regained her composure and turned to face the villain who had addressed her. She rose on a current of air only to gasp at the flickering screen above him, "No-- it is true..."
Forgetting the current, Storm dropped back to the floor and glared at Sinister. With a bolt of lightning, the Mistress of the Elements destroyed the monitor in a shower of electrical sparks. She called up an enormous gust of wind and yelled, "You despicable fiend! How dare you defile an innocent woman--"
"Storm STOP! It will nae do any good," Serina cried out from her cage above.
Serina was in a feral state. Her eyes glowed with a savage fire; her hair looked ravaged and wild. The woman's adamantium nails were fully extended and it seemed as if she were a mountain lion caught in a zoo cage. Storm wondered that she was still able to speak in full sentences, although there was an animalistic growl to her voice.
For a brief instant, the wind died down in its intensity and Ororo turned to her imprisoned friend. "But, Serina, he has forced Remy to--"
Emeryld's gold-green eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head, "Remy's done it himself. He agreed to help Sinister on his own, without threats."
"Bright Lady, why?" Storm asked, floating up to touch Emeryld's cheek. She wiped the other woman's tears away, "Why would he?"
"I dunnae know. I just dunnae know..." Serina answered with a tortured whimper.
"This is all very touching," Sinister spoke as he stood in the center of the room, his arms folded, "However, we haven't time for such things. Perhaps Wolverine would come in from the shadows outside and join us, as well. Then we can commence with what I was about to explain."
"We're tired o' listenin' to ya talk," Wolverine growled stalking into the room.
"Oh, but I am very sure you will be interested in what I have to say about your precious Rogue," Sinister said, walking over to the console and typed a series of numbers, "By-the-way, perhaps now would be a good time to tell you that your powers have now been 'turned off.' The power grid nulled them the moment Wolverine stepped into the room and I entered the correct code."
At that moment Hairbag and Slab entered the room, behind both Storm and Wolverine, clasping inhibitor collars onto them, as well as shackles.
"Just a precaution, you understand."
"I understand plenty, Bub."
"Really?" Sinister asked sounding intrigued, "Do you understand what value the copulation of your Rogue and LeBeau means genetically speaking?"
Sinister paused for an answer, then continued when no one said anything, "It means that with the exception of a few small DNA cells from Serenity here, which can later be injected into the womb, I have found a way to match the ultimate mutant!"
"That's ludicrous!" Emeryld spat from her cage.
"Is it?" Sinister glanced up at Emeryld, "Perhaps you'll change your mind when you pause a moment to think. The mixture of chromosomes from you, a LeBeau, and a Summers is the one thing I have been waiting for! Ridiculous, I think not."
"SUMMERS!?" Three voices beseeched.
"Ah, have I gotten your attention?"
"Hey Worthington, watch this!" Bobby crowed from atop the diving board, before vaulting off in a cannonball.
Warren looked up from the business section of the New York Times to see Iceman catapult off the diving board toward his end of the pool. He was drenched by an enormous tidal wave as soon as Bobby hit the water.
He'd been relaxing lazily on a floating pool chair when Bobby had challenged him to a diving contest. Now, Archangel glanced up from his soggy afternoon paper and from behind a water spotted pair of sunglasses, with a half-hearted, half annoyed smile, "You defiantly know how to make a splash in the business world, Mr. Drake."
Warren hopped off the float and smacked Bobby in the back of the head with the soggy paper. Iceman froze a few compounds of water to drop the temperature of the pool a few degrees as he rubbed at the back of his head, "Hey it was your idea to go swimming!"
"Sure it was, but the jokes were yours," Warren answered feeling the cold. In revenge he jumped on top of Bobby and held the other man under the water's surface for a spell. This was the first time in a long time that Archangel was really enjoying himself. His old personality had almost totally returned with his newly grown set of feathered wings, while the sullenness had seemingly begun to disparate. And goofing off with Bobby now had reminded him of the older fond times he'd spent here at the Xavier Mansion.
As Iceman misled to the surface for a gasp of air, an alarm went off in the mansion. Iceman and Archangel were out of the pool in no time flat, leaving a dripping trail to the war room behind them.
"It's a message. Looks like the frequency's coming from...Scotland," Warren said, sliding to sit before one of the many computer consoles.
"Moira MacTaggert?" Bobby wondered, watching the flashing light as Archangel pushed the receive button.
"We're about to find out."
Henry McCoy's voice filtered through the speaker, {{Beast to Mansion. We are in dire need of assistance. Our situation is as follows: Rogue has been taken prisoner by Mr. Sinister... (static) Gambit and Emeryld have followed in immediate response... (static) Wolverine, Storm, Psylocke, and I have followed in hopes of being some assistance, you're help would be appreciated. Please locate us at the following coordinates... (static) Caution. Beast out.}}
"I should have known letting Gambit come back would give us trouble with Sinister. As if he hadn't caused enough trouble with his damn secrets," Warren said cold heartedly. He was still bitter toward the Cajun for being the one who had assembled the Marauders...the affect had cost Warren his wings and turned him from Angel into Archangel. His old personality was coming back, but the torture he endured would scar him forever.
"I don't like the jerk either, War, but Rogue's in trouble and we gotta help her. She's suffered enough sorrow at Gambit's hands and if I'm right, it's probably his fault she's in trouble," Iceman said.
Warren looked up with a half-hearted smile, "Emeryld and Psylocke are there. If it is Remy's fault they'll let him have it. But you're right, we have to get there. I'll Contact Scott and Jean and find out where they are. I'll tell them we'll meet them with the Black Bird in ten minutes. We'll fill them in with details on the way. You ready the Bird, got it?"
"Right...and Warren?"
Warren wondered if Bobby was about to voice some sort of sympathy and didn't particularly want to hear it, but he answered anyway, "Yeah?"
Iceman whipped the soggy Times in Archangel's face and was halfway down the hall before he cried out, "I want a re-match!"
With Iceman sprinting off to ready the Black Bird, Archangel went to contact Cyclops and Phoenix.
Scott Summers stood in the middle of the electronics store, vaguely listening to one of the sales associates ramble on about the television he and Jean were interested in buying.
"Not only does this particular model have picture in picture, but it is also equipped with surround sound--"
{{Scott, we have an emergency...}} Jean's telepathic voice sounded in his head, as she appeared next to him. He was relieved in a way, knowing he didn't have to listen to the salesman drone on about theater quality sound.
{{What's wrong Jean?}} he thought back in response.
{{We have to go to Scotland. Sinister's captured Rogue, and Beast has called us for back-up. Archangel and Iceman are waiting on us. They'll explain the rest on the way.}}
Jean didn't have to 'say' another word. As soon as Scott heard the name Sinister, he was already headed for the door.
Sinister grinned, casting an amused look toward the three X-men before him. He wanted to laugh as they stared shocked and confused.
"But, how is the possible?" Storm muttered.
"It's quite simple, actually. You know of how I have a genetic file on each mutant that inhibits this earth...save for this Bishop, but he is of little concern at this time. I keep them up to date periodically, and paused on Rogue's file . I realized an error I had always seemed to overlook.
"Each mutant in my file has both their birth, legal, and code name, if they choose to don one. Rogue's, however, only contains a code name. I had no prior documentation of her existence from below the age of approximately thirteen-- thus I did not have either a legal name or a birth name. Such information was easy to acquire with other mutants, but hers was extraordinarily well hidden. I found this quite puzzling and went to work scanning DNA files-- searching for a clue. With the extensive information in my computers I found few mutants, from the scan, that had similar DNA traits to that of she."
Sinister turned to his computer console, then, and tapped at a few keys. A large screen flickered to life with a display of four different DNA helix strands. "If you would turn your attention to the screen the computer can better illustrate what I intend to explain."
With the stroke of a few more keys each helix appeared on a separate screen, complete with file and label. From left to right the labels read:
Mutant Designate Name: Unknown
Code Name: Rogue
Status: Vital
Mutant Designate Name: Carol Danvers
Code Name: Ms. Marvel
Current: Binary
Status: Vital
Mutant Designate Name: Raven Darkholme
Code Name: Mystique
Status: Vital
Mutant Designate Name: Kurt Wagner
Code Name: Nightcrawler
Status: Vital
Mutant Designate Name: Audra Brooks
Code Name: Nonexistent
Status: Deceased
Mutant Designate Name: Alexander Summers
Code Name: Havok
Status: Vital
Mutant Designate Name: Scott Summers
Code Name: Cyclops
Status: Vital
"As you can see, through the current illustrations, that each of the mutants displayed have some type of similar genetic traits to that of Rogue," Sinister began his spiel again.
"So?"
"So, savage Wolverine, it raised a hypothesis in my mind, and I intended to investigate further. The very idea of the her DNA likenesses with the Summers clan had peaked my interest significantly.
"Of course the genetic X-factor caused different mutations to occur in each--as happens in all mutants--related or not. With extensive research I arrived at an astounding conclusion to the immediate line of Rogue's family tree, as well as her true identity."
Sinister struck the enter key with resounding click. Two of the helixes combined forming an identical DNA helix matching Rogue's.
"You see, though the all of the strands hold similar traits by way of some relation, the alien Kree/human/mutant DNA in Carol Danvers and the human/mutant DNA in the deceased Audra Brooks had more evident matches to Rogue's helix. When combined the mystery of her identity was solved and Audra Brooks is indeed far from dead."
"Rogue is Audra Brooks," Emeryld said, seemingly still in deeper thought-savage as her state was. "She disappeared from your file when her DNA changed. Carol's personality and powers must have completely altered her own DNA, making her a new mutant to your computer data banks."
"Precisely why I had continued to miss the error before," Sinister nodded.
"Audra...it is such a beautiful name, why would she strive to hide it?" Storm asked, still standing tall and proud despite her obvious restraints.
Serina looked up from her thoughts, "I'll make a sure bet that keeping her name hidden was Mystique's idea."
"Mystique?"
Serina nodded and began to explain, "Mae guess is that Raven Darkholme is Rogue's mother, whether Rogue knows it herself or not. Mystique's a crafty one, and she was nervous. I think she didnae want anyone using Rogue's real name to trace her back to her aliases.
"Think about something for a moment. Being Mystique's daughter would explain the nature of Rogue's powers. Even though the X-factor is different she seems to have a fraction of Mystique's morphing abilities. It stands to reason why Rogue takes on the traits of the persona she absorbs--"
Storm and Sinister listened intently to Emeryld's words. Wolverine stood half listening to understand, yet at the same time he was searching for an out. There was no way he was about to let Sinister tell them all this mumbo jumbo and then finish out his plan, but then again he was sure that Serina was leading to something. She must already have a scheme figured or maybe she was just buying them all some time. Wolverine noticed that Serina's breath was becoming all the more ragged with each word.
"Let me ask this question: what happened to Rogue the last time she touched someone? I'll make ye certain she changed basically into that person for a period of time. She not only steals personality and powers but speech patters, eye color, sometimes skin pigment, and the such--"
"Serina's right," Wolverine growled, "When she laid one on the Cajun in Israel she changed. She had his annoyin' accent an' her eyes went all red- black too."
Storm still shook her head, "I can see now how she would be related to Mystique, but how does that make her a Summers?"
"That takes a bit more explanation, may I?" Sinister seemingly requested.
"Spill it already," Wolverine shot, obviously not in the mood for any attempt at suspense, at which Sinister had been toying.
"Years ago Mystique was under my employ, aiding me in gathering information on the subject of the Summers family. She had gotten close to Major Christopher Summers by mimicking his wife Kate. Unfortunately Mystique lost her professional attitude and fell in love with him.
"Though this situation was not in my original plan, I found the concept interesting none-the-less. It might have been in my favor to monitor the results of their affair. I would discover that the mutant X-factor was indeed passed to the child through Christopher Summers. Earlier he and the true Kate Summers had produced Scott and Alexander, but I was curious as to what would occur if he and Ms. Darkholme procreated.
"Yet, as cooperative as I had found Mystique prior to her affair, when she found that she was beget she refused to comply with our deal. I was to keep and care for the child, while she was free to do as she wished. She thought otherwise and fled under a new form and alias, hidden from my sight--"
"A modern Rumpelstiltskin if ye ask mae," Serina growled. "A monster just the same."
Sinister arched a brow, "More of a gesture of good will, considering the way she disposed of her other two children. Correct me if I am wrong, but hadn't she abandoned Kurt, leaving him to drown? And Graydon...he was abandoned as well. I was only saving the child from the same fate."
"Do not think that you will convince us that you are a savior. It will not happen," Ororo declared, "Mystique is not ignorant and completely heartless. She has some semblance of motherly instinct, of that I am sure. No mother--whomever she may be or has wronged before--would willingly give her child over to a fiend such as you for experimentation!"
A growl came from deep in Serina's throat, her tortured yellow-green gaze staring in Wolverine's direction. A tiny voice came from Serina's feral lips, the voice of a wounded child. It was so soft her comment was barely audible, "Mine did."
"But Mystique ain't Sabine," Wolverine said in a surprisingly gentle voice. He saw how Ororo's attack at Sinister had backfired toward Serina. All Logan could do at the moment, for his daughter's sake, was to try and change the tide of the subject. "Past is past--thought we all agreed on that b'fore. Point is, it don't matter if Mystique tried to off her other kids, she knew that she didn't want them turnin' under your control. That's sane 'nough fer us."
Sinister's laugh echoed through the room, "Bravo, Wolverine. That was quite a heartfelt speech!"
Serina stared toward Wolverine, looking at him but not seeing him. She knew he was trying to ease her pain, but it was of little use. The truth was her mother had left her to be tortured by the very mad-man that held them captive now--if Sinister could be called a man.
A deep depression enveloped her being and the urge to release the pain in some sort of physical act pounded in her heart, calling to her. She longed for the release of death, but she knew she could not let it come. Not until she knew Rogue was safe. She had to get out of this cell. There was no other option.
That was Serina's last thought before she collapsed and began to convulse.
To Be Continued in..............
Assets 3