"You're back!" Marie's voice was the first thing I heard as my eyes opened.
"That was a short nap," Kitty teased, leaning forward from the copilot's chair.
"He wasn't nappin', Kitty," Marie said with a glare. "He was workin'."
"Yeah, yeah," Kitty said, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't mean he didn't look comfy doin' it."
Katrin stepped closer, her yellow eyes wide with worry. "Did you find zem? My friends?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"No," I said, standing up, "but I did find Jubilee. She's alive—for now. We need to move fast. Let's get the others here first."
That got everyone's attention immediately.
There was one little feature about the Focus devices I hadn't told the X-Men yet: I could directly access their visual feeds and comm links whenever I needed to. So, I synced with Jean's Focus, got a live view from the Blackbird's cockpit, and opened a portal linking the two aircraft.
"Come on over," I said through the comm line.
A moment later, the portal shimmered open and the rest of the team stepped through—Scottie, Logan, Ororo, Jean, and the Professor. Scottie had kept the empty Blackbird hovering on standby.
Logan was the first to speak, arms crossed and tone dry. "You know, we could've all just taken one jet if your luxury ride had this much space," she said, glancing around the sleek interior. "Oh, wait—sorry. Forgot. You're a billionaire. Fuel doesn't mean a damn thing to you." She smirked.
"Well, we'll have extra passengers on the way back," I replied with a grin. "And it's always smart to have a backup exit strategy."
Logan grunted. "Hmph. Convenient excuse."
The Professor ignored the banter, his voice calm and steady. "What did you find through your astral form, Lucas?"
I straightened and gave the report. "The facility's huge—multiple wings and labs. I located a control room; it's live and hooked into most systems. The guards and lab techs down there are… wrong. Like they're being controlled. Jubilee's alive—restrained, collared, but still breathing." I added a quick summary of the Garden talk I had overheard between Dr. Cecilia and Jubilee.
Scottie folded her arms. "Then we go with the plan we discussed. Aeon, you'll go first—get into the control room, neutralize the guards, and take control of their systems. Once the room's secure, bring us in and we split into teams to sweep the facility and find the mutants."
She glanced at the Professor. "You'll stay with the Blackbird, sir. Land as soon as Luke clears a zone—some of us still care about fuel efficiency," she added with a dry little jab at me.
"Ha—ha," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
"If Aeon manages to take down that interference field," Scottie continued, "the Professor should be able to reach everyone's minds at once. He can shut down the guards without bloodshed, and we can finish the mission quickly."
She looked around the team. "Any questions?"
"Yeah," Logan said, cracking her knuckles with a feral grin. "So when do I get to start slicing?"
Scottie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "No killing, Logan. We're not here to rack up body counts."
Logan scowled. "They're experimenting on kids, Summers. You really expect me to just punch 'em and walk away?"
"Logan," the Professor's voice cut in, calm but resolute. "We don't take lives. We save them. Even the ones that have lost their way."
I stepped between them before it could escalate. "He's right. There's something seriously wrong with the people down there—they're being controlled. If we're lucky, they're victims too."
Logan grumbled under her breath but finally crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll just rough 'em up a little."
Scottie exhaled, satisfied enough. "Good. Then we're settled. Let's move out."
"Wait—hold up, I've gotta do some prep with Marie," I said, tugging her gloved hand. "Why don't you all put on your anti-cognitive masks and get ready until then." I waved casually as I walked out with her.
Kitty stared after us, eyebrows high. "Seriously? Now?" she whispered, blush creeping up her cheeks.
The rest exchanged confused looks as we stepped out.
Jean just sighed when she saw us leave together, then pulled out the yellow vial. She took a slow breath… and downed it in one go.
Inside a side room, I shut the door behind us and turned to Marie.
"Are you ready?"
Marie's expression turned serious. "Ah'm ready," she murmured, her voice low and steady.
I closed my eyes—then opened them again as my heartbeat fell completely silent.
"Alright… just like we practiced," I said with a toothy grin.
"Right," Marie said, taking a steady breath as she slipped off her glove. Then she lightly pressed her bare fingertips against my cheek.
The effect was instant.
A dizzying pull hit me — like something being siphoned straight out of my core. Deep in my mental realm, where my abilities manifest as swirling clouds of color, I focus just enough to see it: among countless drifting mists, the only bright red cloud is being devoured at a terrifying rate.
Within seconds, the Red Fog is completely consumed.
My vision dimmed. My knees buckled.
But I managed to jerk back from her touch before I blacked out.
I immediately shut down the Red Fog and switched on my other abilities — especially my regenerative ones. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as breath rushed back into my lungs, exhaustion flooding me for a moment… then fading as my body rapidly recovered.
"Luke—!" Marie rushes forward, hurriedly pulling her gloves back on as she grips my shoulders. "Are ya alright?" She practically lifts me off the ground and helps steady me, eyes wide with worry.
"Yeah… just gimme a second," I say, regulating my breathing. "So… that was a success again, right? Should I start callin' you Vampire Rogue? Or maybe—Bloody Marie?" I add with a weak chuckle.
Marie shoots me a look. "Don't you dare say that name in front'a Kitty. She'll never let it go." She pokes her gloved fingers into her mouth, feeling the sharp fangs with a mix of awe and embarrassment.
"Sure, sure," I grin — though I was very sure Kitty will invent the nickname on her own eventually. "Anyway, come on. Dinner time."
I slid a Wall panel and pop open a small portable fridge packed full of blood bags.
"S–so… much blood…" Marie murmurs, eyes glazing over as she steps toward it in a trance. She picks up one of the bags with trembling hands. "Where… did you get all this?"
"It's my blood," I said with a grin. "Brought it from Watson Tower, figured you'd need it."
Before I can finish, Marie's fangs pierce the plastic with a crunch, and she starts drinking greedily.
"There's a straw on the top, y'know," I said with a chuckle.
She had finished that one and was already tearing into the second bag.
Well… better the blood bags than me. If she drank straight from me, she wouldn't just drain my blood — she would also drain my life itself.
I take a moment, closing my eyes and checking the state of my mental landscape. The red cloud has dimmed considerably, but I can feel it slowly beginning to regenerate.
The clouds drifting through my mental realm were how I visualized all the powers I could access—each one a different color, shape, and texture. And the bright crimson cloud… that one belonged to the Vampire ability.
When Marie had first come to me after her encounter with her twin sister, Anna, she had been desperate to get stronger.
"If she can get that strong with her powers, then so can Ah," she had said—determined, stubborn, and hurting.
I, on the other hand, was one hundred percent sure Anna had absorbed someone extremely powerful to gain that much strength. Whether she had done it permanently like some comic versions or temporarily like the Evolution show—I wasn't sure. But I did know that permanently absorbing someone's powers could become dangerous for both Marie and the person she drained.
So for now, Marie had to settle for temporary boosts, and I offered myself as her primary test subject. Honestly? I was curious. If my mutation was a mimicry-based power, then could she absorb those powers too or just my original one?
After weeks of testing, we reached a few conclusions:
First: Marie could definitely drain my mimicked powers by touch—but only the ones I actively kept "switched on."
Second: She could only drain one power fully at a time before her ability moved to the next one, and which power she absorbed first was completely random.
Third: There were some powers she simply could not drain at all—especially the Divine ones. For some reason, her mutation couldn't touch anything in the divine category, which I found… fascinating.
Eventually, she had to pick one power to train with seriously.
Whenever I was able to visit the Xavier Mansion, Marie and I would train in the Danger Room. She would absorb different abilities from me one after the other, I would recover in between thanks to my regenerative powers, and we would start over. Again and again.
Logan was the only other good candidate for practice—her healing factor could help her recover afterward just like mine—but I had explained to Marie that she would only get bone claws, not adamantium. And the pain of sprouting those claws was constant.
The moment she heard that, she noped out so fast she never brought up absorbing Logan's powers again.
After testing dozens of combinations, one of the strongest ones she had access to was this Vampire Power set—where she gained all my vampiric abilities.
It came with only two real drawbacks:
Bloodlust and sunlight.
Bloodlust was manageable as long as she fed beforehand—she would stay in that form for roughly one to two hours, which was plenty for this rescue operation.
And sunlight? Well, it was nighttime already. So that wasn't a problem either.
The blood?
I had a full cold-storage unit in Watson Tower—and another private location—where I kept various samples of my own body fluids for research.
Until recently, I had been the only mutant test subject available, so… I had stocked up.
"I… finished it all…" Marie muttered as she closed the mini-fridge, her cheeks a little red.
I activated my Anti-Power ability, stepped closer, and gently wiped the blood from her lips before giving her a quick peck. She always got a little self-conscious after drinking blood, so this kind of reassurance helped.
"Thanks… Ah don't feel that craving anymore," she said softly. "Honestly? It tasted real good. Just like last time."
"Well, if you loved my red drink… how about sampling my white drink later?" I said with a wicked smirk.
Marie's tongue slid slowly across her lip, eyes shining with hunger. "Ah'm ready for that anytime, love."
I chuckled. "We should head out before Kitty barges in again." I said as I pulled on my Anti-Cognition Mask.
"Yeah… better," Marie muttered, pulling her own mask into place — even though, thanks to the vampire upgrade, she was already invisible to all electronic detection anyway.
When we stepped back out, everyone looked up—already impatient. Marie simply tapped her fangs with a finger.
Everyone understood instantly.
Kitty leaned toward her with a smirk. "Ahh, nice excuse, Bloody Marie."
Marie's eye twitched. She looked five seconds away from draining the annoying kitty dry.
"Alright, I'm heading in," I said, pulling out my Golden Phone.
It unfolded in a ripple of liquid metal, crawling over my body until it solidified into a sleek golden-white suit — complete with a flowing gold cape.
Then I turned invisible, tore open a portal in midair, and stepped through without another word.
---
My first foot hit the floor of the control room, and in the same heartbeat I activated Temporal Looping.
The three guards never even saw me. One blink, and they were trapped—sitting frozen in time, repeating the same breath over and over.
"Let's get to work, D.A.I.S.Y.," I murmured.
With her guiding me through every interface, I took control of the entire panel in seconds.
"So there are three control stations…" I muttered, stunned. "One for each floor... So there are three floors? That's surprising."
Still — this floor was mine now.
Cameras — controlled.
Alarms — silenced.
Security — hijacked.
With visual access, I opened portals where I could see, deploying the X-Men in four teams:
Ororo and Katrin first — dropped into a far corner of this floor so they could sweep every unmonitored room and search for captives.
Then Kitty and Marie — positioned near the stairwell leading down to the second level, which looked like the residential floor where the other normal staff were living.
Jean and Scottie landed just beside them — but their mission was different: bypass the second floor entirely and head for the third, where the psychic dampening machine should be located.
And Logan?
I sent her alone — straight to Jubilee.
She was the only one whose exact location I knew.
As for me—
I turned back to the screens.
Time to bleed this system for everything it knows.
Once I have squeezed out every secret?
I will jump back in and join the rescue myself.
***
[Siegfreed has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]