Jean, Scott, and Anna weren't in any of the cars they normally used, but were instead in a Jeep that had lived in the corner of the garage for as long as Anna could remember. It didn't need much to get going again, and with the help of a single Danger Room droid, they managed to get the tires filled, the oil checked, and get it some gas. They were suited up and on the road in less than ten minutes.
"It's not far," Jean told Scott from the passenger seat as they trekked over a slushy country road. They hadn't turned on their headlights till they were well outside the view of the mansion, and Anna almost missed the brief time she couldn't see the many potholes that threatened to throw her into the roof of the Jeep in the backseat. "It's halfway down a long stretch of Mason Road."
Scott tapped the center console. "Mind putting it in the GPS?"
"We can't leave a trace of what we're doing here, Scott. Don't worry, I memorized the streets, I can get us there." She gave a strange pause. "Besides… We'd have a hard time missing it."
Anna held onto a built-in grip on the column of the door. "You haven't told us yet what the mission is, Jean."
"Some local hicks, I don't know if they're FOH or not, captured some mutants and are going to hurt them in the woods nearby."
"Was that on the news? How did you find that out?"
"Cerebro tells me more than the news. It extends my psychic reach. I saw through their eyes. I could… feel their fear."
Scott looked at her a moment and tightened his lips to a line. He patted the back of her hand. "Just tell me where to go."
Like Jean said, it didn't take long for them to get there-or at least close by.
"Kill the engine." Jean checked her watch. "Everyone got their face scramblers ready?" When they confirmed, Jean popped open her door. "We walk from here. Stick to trees, and keep it to code names from here on."
None of them were particularly outdoorsy types, which is something Anna was quickly reminded of by how each of their footsteps sounded like a herd of buffalo all stomping on a tree limb one after another. Still, what was even louder was the commotion they heard just beyond the tree line they were using for cover. In the air, Anna could smell smoke. A blast from a shotgun sent them all to the ground.
"Fuckin idiot!" A heavyset man dressed in flannel smacked a shirtless teen with shaggy hair at the top of the hill on the back of the head. He ripped the shotgun out of the hands of the teen, "You that much of a fuckin loser you can't hit a can with a scatter gun, boy?" He took aim and fired at something unseen. "There! Now that's how you do it!"
"God," Rogue rolled her eyes, "it's just like being home again." When she looked at her fellow X-Men, she found Phoenix staring somewhere beyond the two men with two fingers resting on her temple.
"Over the hill," She said and closed her eyes. "There's a group gathered around the fire, but I think we can get to the cages without them seeing."
Cyclops leaned in, "Did you say cages?"
"We need to get past these two." Jean looked at the pair with the shotgun and raised her hand. The fat man soon dropped the shotgun and stood slack-jawed. When Rogue looked at the boy with shaggy hair, he looked just as stupified.
"Rogue, I can't hold them for long. Go up on the hill and touch them just long enough to put them to sleep. Cyclops, follow her. I'll be right behind you."
Cyclops touched her arm. "What about you?"
"I said I'd be right behind you, now hurry!"
Rogue and Cyclops exchanged glances before ultimately following orders. Racing up the hill while keeping close to the ground, Rogue was now a breath away from the back of the large man. This close was she could smell the cheap beer on him, but he was just as dumbstruck this close as he was at the bottom of the hill. She checked with Cyclops one last time while removing her gloves. The line his lips drew wasn't a source of confidence, but it didn't feel like a condemnation either.
Adrenaline coursing through her chest and temple, she slowly stood between the pair and outstretched her fingers inches from either of their faces. "Night, night," she whispered. Upon contact, a surge of energy unlike before snapped from her fingertips and tickled the back of her brain. A twisted mix of ecstasy and the fire of grabbing a live wire, but a sensation that overrode her senses soon after killed the buzz.
Her skin felt like it was engulfed in hot coals, and the air was too hot to breathe. In a flash, she saw before her a pillar of fire with two beaming blue orbs like eyes staring back at her. She could feel it pulling her in closer, and the glee it felt from the panic swelling her heart.
Then, just as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.
"Rogue?" She heard her code name hoarsely whispered from Cyclops only a few feet away. "You alright?"
She looked at her feet and found the two men lying out cold in the grass. "Yeah, I think so."
"Hurry," Phoenix said in passing on her way to the other end of the hill. "We don't have much time!"
The others followed her wake and could hear it before they saw it. Hollering and shouting preceded a massive bonfire that lit a couple of dozen men just like the ones Rogue had just put down. Beer cans and liquor bottles littered the ground around them, and music blasted from the open doors of a muddy pickup truck.
Rogue didn't notice they'd stopped till she bumped into the back Cyclops. She didn't understand why they stopped either till she peered around him and found three people enclosed in three separate dog kennels.
"Oh my god -" Whispered one of the victims who only had just enough room to slip their fingers through the slim space between the bars. She, like the other two, didn't have jackets and was trembling. "Jesus - God, please - please…" Her lips trembled and were devoid of color. It was difficult to see the other two this far from the bonfire, and one of their cages was resting on its side. Either way, they were quiet.
"Don't worry," Phoenix whispered, "We're here to help." She looked back and Rogue. "Think you could rip these locks off?"
"Got it." Rogue got close to the cage and saw the woman get as far back from the door as possible. In her gloved hands, Rogue cradled the heavy-duty lock. She saw that a poorly etched skull was marked in the steel surface. She gave the lock a quick tug, and it snapped easily off the door. Rogue opened the door and reached in, "I've got you."
Her hand and arms were cold to the touch. "T-Thank you."
Rogue repeated the process on the other two cages but found the two men inside both unconscious. Unconscious, but still alive. When she pulled out the body of the second man, she felt something prod the back of her head.
"Who the hell are you?" It was a voice she hadn't heard before, and yet at the same time was very familiar with. "That's right. Drop him and put your hands up." Rogue did as ordered and was stomped on her back as a reward. Her cheek caught the corner of the cage and stung. She heard the sound of a shotgun being racked behind her head. "I asked, who the hell are you?!"
It was impossible to see with the mud and snow in her face, and nearly as impossible to move with the man's knee at her back. He grabbed the back of her head and shoved it in the mud. "You tryin' to free these freaks? Look at you, you can't even free your damn self!" A second later, the weight was off her back, and she heard a loud thud.
Rogue didn't waste a second getting on her feet. After wiping the dirt from her eyes, she found Cyclops standing over her assailant with his visor glowing a bright red. Staring down at the man, Cyclops racked the gun until the shells stopped flying out, then tossed the weapon to the side.
"Son of a…" the man crawled back on his rear. "Help! He-" The man suddenly rose into the air and was pushed into a tree. He clawed at his throat and gasped for breath before the light drained from his eyes. After he fell to the ground in a heap.
Cyclops rushed to the man's side and felt his throat. "…he's alive"
"Does that really matter right now?" Pheonix appeared at Rogue's side, her hands balled up into fists. "We need to get these people out of here!"
The darkness around the group all of a sudden was washed white with light. Rogue saw long shadows stretch across them and into the woods ahead. She turned and saw a standing row of men with truck headlights behind them. Her mind burned trying to come up with any way to move her body, but instead, she stood there frozen.
"Done fucked up!" Said a man in a baseball cap. He aimed a revolver at Cyclops. "Shoulda stayed home, kids!"
There was a flash of light followed by a loud crack that vibrated the air all around them. Rogue felt a pain like no other in her chest and fell back on something. Her heart pounding in her ears and the stars dancing in her eyes starved her of understanding the next few seconds. She felt hands move her and heard shouting nearby, but the sharp ringing she heard drowned out any words.
She then closed her eyes, but instead of finding darkness, she saw sunlight and heard the sound of distant brassy music. A forest green dress she wore fell back just far enough for her bare legs to absorb some much-needed rays. In her hand, she felt the weight of a freshly brewed coffee in a white mug with a chip in its handle. To her left, she was a familiar-looking woman looking back at her with smiling red eyes.
The shape of Cyclops' face entered the frame of her vision and snapped her back to reality. She felt him prodding her chest with the tips of his fingers. Cold sweat pooled on her forehead and under her eyes. She was leaning against a tree, and Phoenix appeared at her other side. She took Rogue's hand in hers, and tears gathered in the corners of Phoenix's eyes.
Rogue had no voice to warn her fellows of the man walking up behind them with a shotgun. They only turned when a tendril made of snow crossed his midsection and yanked him out of view.
What followed were shouts and gunshots from beyond Rogue's range of senses. With trembling hands, she unfastened her chest plate and felt the shirt beneath. There was a hole in the fabric, and resting just beneath the surface… was a little piece of lead. She picked it up and suspended it in the air between her fingers.
The thing was nearly completely flat aside from the back end, and looked as if it had come in contact with a cement wall. She rubbed the spot on her chest and found it to be plenty sore, but there was no blood.
On shaky legs, she stood, her chest plate loosely hanging against her body armor. She walked down what had become a battlefield of flying rocks and ice, ruby red laser fire, and flashes of guns. She strode up to the enemy line of trucks and felt her shoulders and legs get peppered with whatever the mutant haters had to serve up. The firing stopped right when she stood over the man with the baseball cap.
Crouched behind the hood of his truck, he stared at her with his mouth agape. He pointed his pistol at her with a trembling hand. "But… I - I shot you."
Rogue stared down at him. "I know." She swatted the man's pistol to the side with one hand and picked him up by the collar with the other. She raised him high over her head and looked at his friends. "Ya'll want something bad to happen here?" She shouted. The others had stopped and stared. "Then keep it up. Or, you all can go home and be done. CHOOSE."
Half the men dropped their guns right there and sprinted for their vehicles. Several seemingly didn't even want to risk the trek to their car and jumped in the back of another as it was racing out of there. Only moments later, Rogue was left with the lone man in her grip. She gently brought him back to earth before shoving him into the driver's seat of the truck they were next to.
"Have a safe trip home, sir. Oh, you forgot this." She picked his pistol out of the mud. "Oops," She bent the barrel in half before handing it back to him. "Clumsy me."
The man, whose face was white as snow, stared back at her before ripping the pistol out of her hand and slamming the door. The pickup kicked up earth as it struggled for traction and ripped out of there.
"My god, Anna!" Cyclops raced up to her side and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," She reflexively touched her chest, "at least I think so."