Ding, ring, ding-dong
The final bell at Bayville High rang loudly, and almost immediately hundreds of teenagers rused out their classes into the corridors. Classroom doors flew open, lockers slammed, and kids were running out.
Rogue moved through the thick crowd with her head down, pulling her dark, oversized leather jacket tight around her frame. Her gloved hands were buried deep in her pockets, and she kept her eyes on the floor, deliberately bumping past anyone who got in her way. She hated this school, she hated these kids, and lately, she hated the world. Ever since she packed her bags and moved into the Brotherhood boarding house, she felt completely cold. The X-Men had just given up on him. They had stopped looking for him. They were a family, right? Family didn't do that. The only person in that entire stupid mansion who ever actually understood her—the only one who hurt himself so she'd never forget the warmth of another person was gone.
"Rogue! Hey, like, wait up!"
Rogue stiffened. She didn't stop walking. She just quickened her pace, her southern accent thick with venom. "Back off, Kitty. I ain't in the mood for any of your high-school pep squad nonsense today."
Kitty Pryde didn't listen. She aggressively moved through the crowded hallway, careful not to use her phasing powers around the normal students. She aggressively shoved past a group of cheerleaders, grabbed Rogue's dark leather sleeve, and pulled her into a quiet space by the vending machines.
Rogue violently yanked her arm back, her eyes flashing with a dangerous anger. "I told you, don't touch me! Are you deaf? I got nothin' to say to any of Xavier's little dropouts. You left him behind. You abandoned him. We ain't friends."
"He's alive, Rogue," Kitty blurted out, her voice cracking.
Rogue stopped dead in her tracks. The noise of the high school hallway completely faded out into total background noise. She slowly, fearfully turned her head to look at Kitty, her breath catching tight in her throat.
"What... what did you say?" Rogue whispered.
"He's back," Kitty said, a massive, tearful smile breaking across her face. "Logan is back. We found him yesterday and brought him back. He's alive Rogue."
Meanwhile outside, the afternoon sun lift up the school casting shadows across the grounds. Most of the buses had already pulled away, leaving the lot mostly empty. With only a few teens still around.
Logan leaned against his motorcycle, which was parked near the front entrance. He was dressed in a classic leather jacket over a white tank top, jeans, and his favorite flannel shirt. He had a completely unlit cigar between his teeth. He looked completely calm, but his sharp eyes were locked onto the school's front doors.
The heavy double doors swung open.
Rogue ran out. She hurriedly walked down the concrete steps, her backpack slung low over her shoulder, her eyes scanning the lot. Then, she saw the motorcycle. She saw him. She dropped her heavy backpack right there on the concrete stairs and broke into a full sprint.
"Logan!" she screamed, her voice completely breaking, her southern accent thick with absolute, raw relief and happiness
Logan took two heavy steps forward, and opened his arms wide.Rogue jumped into his arms and Logan caught her effortlessly, wrapping his arms completely around her small frame, lifting her entirely off her feet. Rogue buried her face deep into the collar of his leather jacket, her gloved hands desperately gripping the fabric on his back as if she was terrified he was going to disapear into thin air.
She broke down. The tough, untouchable, standoffish goth facade entirely shattered. She sobbed violently against his chest, her shoulders shaking with weeks of repressed anxiety, fear, and loneliness.
"I thought you were dead," she wept, her voice muffled against his jacket. "I was so afraid i'd never see you again."
"I'm here, darlin'," Logan's raspy voice rumbled, thick with an emotion. He rested a heavy, comforting hand on the top of her head. "I'm right here. I promised you didn't I."
He slowly set her down on her feet, keeping one large hand firmly on her shoulder to steady her. Rogue wiped furiously at her eyes with the back of her gloved hand, sniffing hard. She looked up at him, her green eyes red and puffy.
"You look like hell," she managed to say, a weak, watery laugh escaping her lips.
Logan smirked, a genuine, warm expression. "Yeah haven't gotten much sleep lately. Now, listen up, kid. We need to go. Get your gear. You're coming back to the mansion with me. Today. Right now. You don't belong with those punks in the Brotherhood."
The warmth in Rogue's eyes instantly vanished.
She stiffened, pulling out from under his hand, taking a deliberate, cold step backward. The defensive walls violently slammed back into place around her heart.
"No," Rogue said, her southern accent sharpening with defiance. "I ain't goin' back to that big house, Logan. They gave up on you. Scott, the Professor... they just sat in their big fancy living room and called it a day while you were out there dyin'. The Brotherhood wouldn't do that. They fight for our kinds survival. They don't leave people behind."
"Rogue, you don't know what you're talking about," Logan said, his voice hardening, stepping toward her. "I don't know what they told you but Magneto doesn't care about you. He cares about what your mutation can do for his war. I know you're angry but Charles did what he had to, to protect the other kids. To protect you and the others"
"I don't care about his reasons!" Rogue shouted, her hands curling into tight fists at her sides. "To me, it felt like a betrayal. Come with me, Logan. Leave them."
Logan blinked, stunned. "What?"
"Come to the Brotherhood," Rogue begged, stepping forward again, her eyes desperate. "We don't have to follow Xavier's rules. We don't have to hide who we are. You and me, Logan. We belong with people who get what it means to be different. Come to the Brotherhood."
Logan felt his heart sink. He was too late. Rogue, Rogue had chosen the path she always did. In comics, in shows. A path beside Raven, a path before Magneto...A path far from him.
"Rogue, please. You have to come with me" Logan said, his voice heavy with desperation. "My place is at the Institute. And so is yours. I-I'm not gonna leave this time Rogue. I'll be here, for you. Just like before. So please...come home."
Rogue froze. Her lower lip trembled violently, her eyes filling with a deeply hurt, bitter anger.
"Then I guess we ain't got nothing else to talk about," Rogue whispered, her voice cracking.
She turned her back on him, wrapping her arms around her own stomach, a protective barrier against the pain and ran away from him towards the other members of the brotherhood. The blob, toad, quicksilver, and that little shit Lance. All of them smirked at him.
"Rogue, wait—" Logan started, stepping forward.
"The girl made her choice, Wolverine."
A smooth, mocking voice cut through the air.
Logan's instincts flared. He spun around, his jaw locking tight.
Stepping out from behind the shadow of a parked school bus was Principal Raven Darkholme. She was disguised in her human form—sharp business suit, strict bun—but her eyes carried the cold, calculating intelligence of Mystique. She walked forward with a supremely smug, mocking smile plastered across her face.
"Raven!"
"I must admit, I am genuinely shocked to see you breathing," Principal Darkholme purred, her eyes locking onto Logan, sizing him up with total disdain. "I was positive the Weapon X clean-up crew would have scraped you off the bottom of a test tube by now. But cockroaches are notoriously hard to kill."
"How did you...It was you. You were the one who tipped them about my and Bruce's location. But how could you have known!!"
" It wasn't hard Wolvie. All we had to do was get Sabertooth to track you down. After all we don't leave our own behind." Her words hit him like a blow to the face, all of it. Since the day he came back from Asgard, it was a ploy by Mystique. By the brotherhood, it wasn't a coincidence that Raven went on that trip and replaced Jeans spot with Rogue. He had thought the story would play out the way it did in the show, but he had changed the story line when he stopped her from taking Rogue back when she first discovered her mutation. She needed a way to get him out of the picture, so she could take Rogue. And he handed it to her on a silver platter.
Logan's hands tightened into fists. His claws only a second from coming out.
"What do you want with her Raven?" Logan growled, his voice dropping into a terrifying, low rumble that practically shook the asphalt.
Mystique's smirk only widened. "She's mine. Logan, my daughter. Does a mother need a reason to want to be with her daughter? Come along Rogue!" She smirked cruelly at him before turning to Rogue and walking towards her daughter, before guiding her and the brotherhood away.
Rogue didn't look back at Logan. She kept her head down, her eyes glued to the ground, and walked away, falling perfectly into step beside her mother.
Logan stood frozen in the empty parking lot, his teeth grinding together as he watched Rogue disappear around the corner with the enemy.
Logan's jaw was locked in a furious, tight grimace as the parking lot emptied out. The intense grief of watching Rogue walk away with Mystique had left him on a absolute hair-trigger.
He climbed back onto his motorcycle, the engine roaring to life with a powerful rumble. He kicked the kickstand back and looked up the parking lot.
At the bottom of the school steps, Kitty Pryde stood completely alone. She was watching the corner where Rogue had vanished, her expression entirely miserable, tears silently streaming down her face.
Logan violently revved the engine. He unhooked the spare helmet from the side of the bike and hurled it through the air. Kitty looked up just in time, catching the heavy black helmet with both hands.
"Move it, half-pint!" Logan bellowed over the roar of the engine. "You're with me!"
Kitty didn't hesitate. She threw the helmet on, snapped the chinstrap, and sprinted across the parking lot. She vaulted onto the back of the motorcycle, wrapping her arms around Logan's chest. Logan didn't wait for her to get fully situated. He popped the clutch and spun the back tire, driving out of the parking lot.
"She's not...She's not coming back is she?"
Logan grit his teeth, gripping the handle bar tighter. "No..." he swallowed. " She ain't coming back kid." He felt Kitty rub her head against his back but said nothing as he drove back to the mansion.
Scott, Jean, Evan, and Kurt were gathered on the loading ramp, looking incredibly grim as they listened to Professor Xavier, who was speaking in their minds.
"He is in the deep woods," Charles explained. "The transformation is completely overwhelming his mind. You must approach with the utmost caution. I've informed Logan about the situation. He'll be down shortly."
The heavy elevator doors at the far end of the hangar slid open, and Logan stormed out, followed closely by Kitty. Logan was marching with a purpose, his heavy boots echoing on the concrete. He didn't wait to be read into the situation.
"Get your butts in gear kids" Logan growled as he approached the team, his eyes flashing. "Your teacher Hank McCoy is loose."
The X-Men all stared at him in genuine shock.
"Our science teacher?" Scott asked, his brow furrowing as he adjusted his red visor.
"Teacher? Yeah seems the guys been supressing his mutation" Logan replied. "Chuck found him when the supressents couldn't hold back his mutation anymore instead it backfired. He's transformed, completely. He's massive, blue, and he is out in those woods right now, entirely blind with pain and animal instinct."
Charles rolled his wheelchair over to Logan, a profound sadness in his eyes. "Hank was never comfortable with his true self, Logan. He always tried to hide what he was. From his memories i've only found a deep pain. If he is not subdued gently, his mind may be lost to the Beast forever."
Charles looked up at the team. "This is not a combat scenario. This is a rescue operation for one of our own. Find him, X-Men. So we may help him. I'd send Storm with you but she's on an errand for me."
Logan didn't need any more orders. He stormed past the team, leading them up the ramp of the X-Jet.
By midnight, the Bayville woods were completely dark.
The cloaking field of the X-Jet dissolved, and the massive black aircraft dropped low over the forest canopy. The rear ramp hissed open, and Logan, walked out first followed quickly by the others.
"We need a formation!" Scott yelled over the howling wind, his hand pressing his visor. "The scanners are reading multiple impact points! The target is moving randomly!"
"It's not random, Cyke" Logan barked back over his shoulder. He inhaled a deep breath through his nose, analyzing the air. "The scent is heavy. Sweaty. Wild. It smells like wet dog and old books...". Logan sniffed the air twice, the scent was strong. Hell it was too strong. "ABOVE US!!!"
SNIKT!
Logan popped his claws just as the trees directly ahead of them completely exploded outward.
A massive, eight-foot-tall monster, entirely covered in thick, coarse blue fur, bounded into the clearing. It landed heavily on the roof of an old, abandoned forest service truck, the metal completely crushing beneath its massive paws. The Beast roared again, a sound of pure, rage , its massive fangs bared and its yellow eyes wide and completely feral.
The X-Men all stumbled back, gasping in horror.
"Holy caps!" Evan gasped, his bone spikes instinctively popping from his wrists. "What is that thing?!"
"X-Men, defensive formation! Scott, take the right! Kurt, distract from above!" Logan commanded, his voice dropping into a rough, battlefield baritone that instantly cut through the panic. "Jean, hold the backline, Kitty cover her back!!"
"Logan, that thing is going to kill us!" Scott yelled, his hand on his visor. "It's an animal!"
"It's not an animal!" Logan snarled, locking eyes with the blue giant. "It's Hank."
On pure instinct and overwhelming anger, the blue monster lunged. It leaped off the crushed log, soaring forty feet through the air, its claws extended, aiming directly for Logan.
CLANG!
Logan blocked the downward slash with the flat, heavy sides of his adamantium blades. The sheer, raw physical strength of the Beast was great but it wasn't close to Hulks or the Wendingos.
"Evan, now!" Logan ordered.
Spyke stepped out from behind a tree, launching a dozen sharp bone spikes with rapid-fire speed directly at the Beast's massive chest.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
The bone spikes struck home, burying themselves in the blue fur. The Beast didn't flinch, but the unexpected pain made it roar in annoyance, momentarily turning its attention away from Logan.
Kurt vanished from the ground with a sudden BAMF and a cloud of purple sulfur smoke. He materialized ten feet above the Beast, instantly dropping to use his three-lobed feet to violently hammer-kick the monster directly in the back of its furry neck.
BAMF-THUD!
The Beast grunted, stumbling forward, but before it could retaliate, Kurt BAMFed away, reappearing thirty feet away in a tree branch.
"Get away from me!" Beast groaned, his voice deep and distorted.
Scott saw the opening. He stepped into the clearing, adjusting his visor. And fired a powerful beam of kinetic energy straight into Beasts back.
KA-WOOOOM!
The blast caused the Beast to be sent flying through three trees and stumbling forward, its wild eyes widening in sudden panic and confusion.
The Beast roared in agony and charged Scott. Scott prepared to fire again, but Logan stepped squarely into the Beast's path.
Logan retracted his claws completely and tackled the massive blue monster around its waist, using his full physical strength to drive the Beast violently into the dirt. The two mutants thrashed on the ground, the Beast roaring in Logan's face, its massive, clawed hands trying to tear him apart. Logan absorbed the brutal blows to hold the monster down. He grabbed the Beast by its massive, furry shoulders, his fingers digging into the muscle, and shook him violently.
"Hank!" Logan roared, his voice powerful and filled with primal energy as his eyes burned yellow. "Snap out of it, bub! Look at me! You're Hank McCoy! You're a teacher! A Man! Remember who you are!"
The Beast paused. It shook its massive, furry head, its yellow eyes narrowing as the memory of his human life—his students, his logic, his mind—fought desperately against the wild, overwhelming pain of the transformation.
But the feral instinct was too strong. The Beast's jaw opened to bite down on Logan's throat.
"That is enough, Hank."
The voice didn't echo in the woods. It echoed directly inside everyone's minds, rich, powerful, and absolutely calm. Charles Xavier's telepathic wave washed over the battlefield like a cool, tranquil ocean, instantly drowning out the pain and the rage.
The Beast's yellow eyes went completely blank. The violent tension immediately left its bulging muscles. With a final, heavy, earth-shaking thud, the blue monster collapsed into the dirt, entirely unconscious.
Logan stood up, breathing heavily, his chest heaving, wiping sweat and dirt from his forehead as he looked down at the unconscious giant. Scott, Jean, Kitty, Kurt, and Evan slowly walked out from the trees, staring at the monster in total, silent shock.
"Is he... is he dead?" Evan asked quietly.
"No," Logan said quietly, looking down at the blue fur. "He's just getting some rest."
The projection of Charles Xavier looking down at Hank with profound compassion. "Bring him home, X-Men. He is one of us."
The pristine, high-tech sub-basement of the Xavier Institute was quiet, illuminated by soft blue medical lights. Hank McCoy sat on the edge of a reinforced medical bed. He was wearing an oversized pair of sweatpants, his massive blue frame completely hunched over. He stared down at his heavy, clawed hands in absolute, heartbreaking defeat. The transformation was permanent. He could never go back to his high school. He could never go back to his life as a human.
The sliding door slid open. Charles Xavier rolled his wheelchair into the room, with Logan leaning quietly against the doorframe behind him.
"How are you holding up, Dr Hank?" Charles asked softly.
Hank let out a heavy, beastly sigh. "Like a monster. Look at me. The world... they'll hunt me. I can never go back to Principal Darkholme's school. I have no future."
"You are no monster, Hank," Charles said, his voice filled with absolute, undeniable conviction. "You are a brilliant mind. An educator. A scientist. And you are a mutant. The world outside may fear you, but you have a place here. A home."
Hank looked up, his yellow eyes filled with a desperate, vulnerable hope.
"I have built this institute to be a sanctuary," Charles continued, gesturing to the massive, state-of-the-art laboratory visible through the observation glass. "I have a laboratory that requires a genius intellect to operate. I have students who require a teacher who truly understands the burden of being different. There is a place for you here, Hank. A home."
Hank looked at Charles, then at Logan. Logan gave him a simple, respectful nod.
"I... I think I'd like that, Professor," Hank said quietly, a small smile appearing on his furry face.
Miles away, the old Brotherhood boarding house sat in total pitch blackness. Inside the dark, dilapidated study, Raven Darkholme stood beside a crackling fireplace. She poured herself a glass of expensive red wine, her blue skin reflecting the dancing orange flames.
Sitting in the high-backed armchair across from her, entirely cloaked in deep shadow, was Magneto. Only the faint, cold reflection of his purple helmet was visible in the dark.
"The Wolverine's return changes things," Magneto's voice echoed through the room, cold and aristocratic. "Is the girl's loyalty secure?"
Mystique took a slow sip of her wine, a dark, wickedly calculating smirk playing on her blue lips. "She was emotionally compromised seeing him today. Her attachment to Logan is an undeniable vulnerability. The X-Men abandoned her, but Logan never did. As long as he remains in Bayville, he will continue to be an anchor tying her back to Xavier's ideology."
"Then remove the girl," Magneto ordered coldly. "Our ultimate weapon cannot be compromised by sentimentality. What is your proposal, Mystique?"
Mystique turned to face him, setting her glass down on the mantelpiece. Her yellow eyes gleamed with a terrifying, absolute certainty. "I am pulling Rogue out of Bayville High. I am removing her from this city entirely. We are going to take her somewhere where Logan cannot reach her. Somewhere where she will finally learn how to harness the true, devastating potential of her powers."
Magneto's shadow nodded slowly in the dark. "See to it that the preparations are made immediately. The Brotherhood's weapon must not be compromised."