This is a make believe story about make believe characters. This story takes place after X-Men 3 and with the idea that the scene at the end of the credits never occurred. X-Men - The Last Stand: The Last Days Of Peace Part 6 (no sex) by Big Red Dope (bigreddope@hotmail.com) Rogue woke up in Bobby's arms to the sound of loud footsteps and clamoring voices. "Bobby, wake up," She said shaking him. "What is it?" Bobby mumbled with his eyes still closed. "There's something going on," Marie replied getting out of bed and dressing. "What is it?" "Listen." Both were quiet and soon Bobby could hear the same loud footsteps and voices that Rogue had just heard. "I wonder what's with the all the noise," Bobby said getting up and dressing. When both were dressed Bobby and Marie headed into the hall. "Hey what's going on?" Marie asked a passing student. "You haven't heard?" "No, I just woke up." "Magneto and the Brotherhood are here! They're outside!" "What?? Are you serious?" Bobby asked. "Yeah I am. The got here like ten twenty minutes ago and all they've been doing is talking among themselves." "Oh man," Marie muttered as she and Bobby made their way outside. Once outdoors they found Logan, Ororo, Mystique and the other active team members talking to each other with a large group of the students standing around behind them. One hundred yards away stood Magneto with his Brotherhood. "What's going on?" Bobby asked as the two of them met up with the others. "Why are they just standing there?" "We don't know." Logan replied. "Everytime I've walk towards them Magneto uses his powers to push me back." No sooner had Logan finished that statement Magneto began approaching the X-Men by himself. When he was within fifteen yards he stopped and briefly flashed an evil smile. "What is it you want Erik?" "Just for the X-Men to surrender and your school to be dismantled." "That's not happening." "I didn't think it would. Admittedly I would have been disappointed had you surrendered peacefully. Before I state my piece and leave your fates to you I've come to offer Mystique one chance to rejoin me. You can even bring your young friends with you." "Go to hell," Mystique replied calmly. "So be it then," Magneto replied just as calmly. "My fellow mutants," He began in a bellowing voice, "as students of the Xavier Institute you have come to know me as a terrorist, an evil person. Do not let the teachings of Charles Xavier fool you. Right and wrong is a matter of perception. I can not change your opinion of me today nor may I ever be able to if I cared enough to try, but do not think of me as ungiving of opportunities. In two days the number of the Brotherhood that will be here will be tenfold of what it is now. At that time the X-Men will cease to exist and your school will be nothing, but a pile of rubble. Those of you who wish can join the Brotherhood now and rightfully rule over man. Everyone else can leave now and have your life spared. Anyone remaining here in two days will be killed. Make up your minds for yourselves. Do not let your so-called leaders do it for you." As Magneto started to turn to rejoin his group a voice rang out. "I will join you!" A murmuring began as everyone turned every which way to see who spoke out. "Kitty!" Rogue screamed as her rival stepped forward and took her place at Magneto's side. "Something wrong Rogue?" "What the hell are you doing???" "Making a decision for myself. Ever since you arrived at the institute it's always been about you. Oh poor Marie she can't touch anyone without hurting them. Boo fucking hoo. You always got what you wanted, you were always treated better than everyone else. Up until you killed Pyro and took his abilities you had no useful skills for battle, yet you were on the active team. Jesus Christ your boyfriend cheated on you twice and I get made into the bad guy. How fucking fair is that? You have done nothing but bring me problems and ruin my life. You better take Bobby and leave because I will kill you two myself." "Welcome to the good guys," Magneto said as he and Kitty turned and walked away. "Why would she turn on us?" Rogue asked a bit surprised by Kitty's departure despite the fact that a feud had been building between them. "For the same reason Mystique switched sides," Bobby replied. "Perhaps she thinks she's better off with the Brotherhood." "No," Mystique said. "She left out of hatred and jealousy towards Marie. That's what got John killed and that's what will get her killed." "Katherine's made her choice," Logan added. "Why she left doesn't matter. We have a battle to prepare for." *** "Tell me child why are you really here?" Magneto asked Kitty back at the camp they had set up. "Do not patronize me and call me a child!" Kitty snapped. "You will not talk to Magneto like that again or it'll be the last mistake you make," Emma threatened. "It's okay, it's good to see someone with such fire." "Do not think this is something I decided on a whim," Kitty replied. "I have been giving this a lot of thought for a while now and despite what we were told about you the X-Men are no better." "There are easier ways to kill Rogue, than to quit the X-Men and join us," Magneto said. "I do not want to kill her in a cowardly fashion. I want to see the look of terror in her eyes when her last breath leaves her. Then I want to witness the end of those self-righteous hypocrites." "It sounds like you have made up your mind." "I have." "Good. Prepare yourself for the battle to come. Two days from now will be the last time you see any of your former friends alive." Emma waited until Kitty was gone before speaking. "She's going to be one of the first ones to die. Her emotions are entirely out of control and her actions today are due to petty jealousy." "Perhaps we'll get lucky and she'll take out one or two of them before she meets her end. Regardless every army has it's soldiers who die first and she'll be one of ours." *** The last day of peace... With less than twenty-four hours until the X-Men and the Brotherhood battled once again, most likely for the last time, a meeting was called with everyone still at the institute. "I wish I could tell you everything was going to work out," Logan began. "I wish I could give you all the peace of mind Professor Xavier could, but I can't. Tomorrow we will be embroiled in battle with the Brotherhood that could quite possibly be our last. As we explained to you last night we have a developed a plan that we believe will result in the survival of the X-Men as a whole." "However," Ororo began, "Out of the two-hundred mutants that escaped from the prison in Arizona we have no idea how many are coming here. That's why our plan needs many of you who aren't on the active team and who haven't trained in the Danger Room to participate in order for it to work." "That being said," Logan began again. "Those of you who wish to stay and help can do so. I just want to be perfectly clear in that not everyone will survive tomorrow. If you choose to leave then you are free to do so. There will be no hard feelings on anyone's part. Spend today visiting your friends and saying your good-byes, because this could be the last time you see them alive." *** As Marie said her last good-byes to her friends and semi-friends that were leaving she found Mystique sitting on the side of the fountain where her problems with Kitty started not too long ago. "How many have left?" Mystique asked. "About seventy percent." "More hung around than we thought would." "Death has a funny effect on people." "You haven't lived long enough to talk like that Marie. You haven't killed quite as many people as I have either." "I know... It's just that..." "You don't need to explain yourself. Just be careful or you'll end up like me." "I'm sorry things didn't work out like you wanted." "Why are you bringing this up again? What's happened over the last few weeks to me and you and Bobby for that matter is all my doing." "But I'm the one that killed John. I'm the reason we're here." "Marie please just drop it. Look, there are a few things in life that are unavoidable. You and Bobby dying tomorrow isn't one of them. I want you two to leave tonight and tomorrow I'll come up with something and take the blame for your disappearance." "Unless you come with us I'm staying with you until either Magneto or I is dead." "Listen to me Marie. I appreciate your wanting to pay me back and stick around, but you don't owe me anything. There's no reason you and Bobby need to die tomorrow." "John cared about you and I'm not going to leave you to die while me and Bobby go hide." "God damn it! John is dead and there's nothing anyone can do about it!" "Sorry..." Rogue apologized sensing intense anger building within Mystique. "I won't bring this up anymore." "Good," Mystique said getting up from the fountain and leaving. *** It was another sleepless night for Logan much like most nights had been for the last few weeks. With a cigar in his mouth he headed to the kitchen to get himself a drink. There to his annoyance, because she was drinking one of his beers, was Mystique. "What are you doing?" "Drinking a beer." "It's mine." "Does it really bother you that much that I'm drinking one of your beers? We're all going to be dead tomorrow so there's going to be no one to drink it." "We've got a plan," Logan said getting a beer from the fridge. "Everyone has a plan. You have a plan, Magneto has a plan, I had a plan. The X-Men have been extremely lucky in the past and tomorrow your luck is going to run out." "Entertain me for a bit. Let's pretend we survive tomorrow somehow. What'll you do?" "Probably take some crappy job like being a waitress and live in anonymously for the rest of my life." "I somehow doubt that." "Believe what you want. I'm tired of the constant battles with the X-Men and the police and everyone else. That's how I lost John and I'm tired of that kind of life." "I thought Bobby was delusional when he said you had changed. Maybe I was wrong. Thank you for bringing him and Rogue back." "I wish I hadn't. They shouldn't be dealing with crap like this at this point in their life." *** Dawn broke the next day over the fields surrounding the Xavier Institute with two groups of mutants staring each other down. With the seventy-three convicts that made the trip from Arizona and the four hundred mutant illusion created by Jason Wyngarde the battlefield looked as overwhelming to the X-Men as the Alamo did to the Texans. "Logan, Ororo," Magneto bellowed. "There is no reason for all of you to die today. Surrender now and your lives will be spared." Logan and Ororo looked at each other and everyone behind them waited to hear what they said. "Not a chance in hell!" Logan shouted. "So be it." Battle erupted as the two masses of mutants intermingled with each other. With vengeance on her mind Kitty quickly sought out Rogue and the two of them began fighting. Their fight started out honorable enough with kicks and punches. Kitty would quickly resort to cheap tactics phasing herself in and out taking cheap shots at Marie. Just as in their first encounter Rogue quickly figured out Kitty's pattern and hurled a fireball at her just as she was phasing in. Kitty was able to barely disappear in time, but not before her face and hair were singed by the fire. Then just as she had done to Juggernaut at Alcatraz Kitty grabbed Rogue and phased downward sticking her in the ground. With Marie trapped Kitty spit in her face before quickly going to work on her. She began to mercilessly kick Rogue in the head bruising her face and braking her nose. Marie soon began to develop a headache and bleed. Then suddenly the kicking stopped. Rogue wiped the blood from her eyes and saw Mystique sitting on top of Kitty pounding on her face with her fists. When Kitty was nearly unconscious Mystique got up and dragged her limp body towards Rogue. "You just wouldn't listen would you?" Marie snarled spitting blood into Kitty's face before placing her hand on it. A few minutes later Kitty lay dead on the ground and Rogue used her newfound powers to get herself out of the ground. "Thanks," She said. "This is not over yet." As Rogue began to turn around and assess the situation to best figure out how to get to Magneto the unthinkable happened. Lighting called down by Ororo struck a large tree shattering it. Not fifty feet away was Bobby who was embroiled in combat with a Brotherhood mutant. A large branch from the tree completely passed through the chest of the mutant he was fighting and impaled Bobby in the stomach. Marie screamed hysterically and ran towards her dying boyfriend. "I... I love you Marie..." Bobby whispered as he spit up blood. "I'm sorry... I couldn't protect... you." Rogue screamed again and began crying as she held Bobby in her arms absorbing his memories and powers as he died. When he was dead she laid him down on the ground. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you this time," She whispered. Marie stood up oblivious to the battle around her and set her sights on Ororo. An intense and deep rage began to build and boil inside her. She had just taken the lives of two people in the last fifteen minutes and there was one more she wanted. She began storming towards Ororo with death pumping in her body. Rogue wasn't going to let anything get in her way and she incinerated or froze anyone who came at her. "Can you give me at hand real quick," Ororo asked when Rogue got nearby as she took on two Brotherhood mutants at once. "You took Bobby's life, now I'm going to take yours." Unflinching Rogue impaled Ororo with a large icicle then set the two other mutants on fire. Ororo's death only intensified the bloodlust within Rogue and the memories of Bobby and John's deaths infuriated her even more. She began to realize that the constant battles between Magneto and the X-Men were the cause of their deaths and quickly came to view Brotherhood and X-men members as one in the same. With fire in one hand and ice in the other Rogue unleashed her wrath upon everyone in the battlefield. *** Eight years later... "Good morning sweetie," Marie said hugging her child as he walked into the kitchen dreary-eyed having just woke up. "What do you want for breakfast?" "Pancakes," the boy replied opening the refrigerator and taking out the milk. He then climbed onto the kitchen counter and opened a cabinet taking out a glass. "Get one for Raven too. Aunt Mysti just called and said they will be home in a few minutes." With the two glasses in hand the boy jumped from the counter and deftly landed on the floor. "Bobby, you know I don't want you doing that." "I'll be fine mom. I haven't hurt myself yet," Bobby said as he poured himself some milk. "There's a first time for everything and please no more jumping off the roof. Mrs. Jonason told me she saw you doing it for your friends yesterday." "She's a liar. She doesn't want me hanging around Jake because I'm a mutant." "That's not true. Who told you that? Me and Mrs. Jonason are friends." "Jake did. He told me that his mom told him she doesn't want him hanging around with me because I'm a mutant and that she lets him and she's only nice to you because she's afraid of you." "I think maybe Jake is exaggerating a bit. Not everyone is out to get us." "Don't be so hard on the boy," Mystique said as she and her daughter entered the kitchen. "He's right about her. Jake and Mr. Jonason don't seem to mind us too much." "Can we change the subject?" Marie asked as she finished the pancakes. "We finally found a good neighborhood and I don't really want to move us all again." "Well we got Raven signed up for basketball again," Mystique said. "They finally moved all the games to Saturday." "Are you going to be able to come to all of my games this year Aunt Marie?" Raven asked sitting down at the kitchen table as Rogue set down plates of pancakes in front of the two children. "Of course she is," Mystique answered for her. "She just got a big raise at work and she doesn't have to work on the weekends anymore." "Really?" Raven asked with beaming eyes. "Yes really," Marie smiled at the girl before shooting a look at Mystique and shaking her head slightly. "What time does the movie start?" Mystique asked. "Twelve thirty," Bobby replied. "When's Jake getting here?" "As soon as I call him." "It's almost eleven thirty now. Was he up playing video games all night again?" "Yup. He was still playing them when I got up to go to the bathroom this morning," Raven answered. "Bobby..." Marie said. "I know I know. It's just I was this close to beating it and now that I have I won't stay up late anymore." "Not until you get your next game," Raven teased. "Stop that Raven," Mystique said "Anybody want anymore before I start cleaning up?" Rogue asked. "No," both kids replied. "Okay finish up then get ready to go to the movie." As Bobby and Raven ate their breakfast Rogue took Mystique into the living room to talk. "I appreciate the thought behind it, but you can't keep holding up stores and stealing money shaped as a celebrity so we can live easier." "Somebody's got to stay home with Bobby and Raven during the day unless you want to entrust them to a childcare center. Besides nobody I've impersonated has spent any time in jail. They always blame it on a celebrity impersonator and it never goes beyond that. We all know how this country is." "I know, but I wish we could be just a bit more honest about how we live." "I don't want to have to do this either. I'm the one preaching to my daughter about always doing the right thing, but I only take what we need and now you can quit your weekend job." "Mom," Bobby said standing next to Raven in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. "They're back." "Raven go with Bobby to the basement and lock the door. Don't open it until one of us comes and gets you," Mystique said. "I know what to do," Raven groaned before leaving the room with Bobby. "These people just never learn do they?" "It doesn't seem so," Marie replied. "You want to let them break into the house or do you want to meet them outside?" "I'm getting very tired of this. I'm done holding back." Mystique and Rogue made their way to the backyard patio where they expected to find an old friend, but found nobody instead. "Where are you Graydon?" Mystique shouted. "This ends today." "Graydon Creed is not here," a voice said from behind Mystique and Rogue. "At least not yet." Rogue was shocked to see a very live and upright Charles Xavier when she and Mystique turned around. "Professor... You're dead," Marie said. "And in a wheelchair," Mystique added. "Not quite. The Charles Xavier you know is dead. I have traveled from a parallel universe to both ask for your help and to give you some." "We don't need your help," Mystique said. "Ah Mystique. You're just as strong-willed here as you are in my universe, but the one I know doesn't have a daughter like you do." "Why are you here? What do you want?" Marie asked. "In my world the X-Men and the Brotherhood have been forced to team up together to take on a being known as Apocalypse. He's strong enough that the two groups had no choice but to work together in order to have a chance at defeating him and saving our planet." "What do you need me for?" "Eight years ago you killed and absorbed the powers of quite a few powerful mutants. With your abilities alone you are a force to be dealt with should you choose to ever fully utilize them. Things are not going well for us. Our numbers are dwindling and it's only a matter of time before Apocalypse takes over our world. We need your help Marie. Come back with me and help save us." "I... I can't. After what I did that at the institute I can't fight anymore." "But the two of you were about to kill Graydon and his men." "That's different, we're protecting our family," Mystique said. "Even if you have no desire in saving my world, maybe you should think about saving your own." "What do you mean?" Rogue asked. "In forty-three minutes Creed and his men will arrive. However, in the skirmish that occurs you son will be killed. You will lose your mind and lead a mutant uprising that will result in world domination like the Magneto you killed often dreamt of. I can't say when or how, but sometime in the future your unborn child will be the cause for this planet's complete destruction." At the mention of an unborn child Rogue and Mystique looked at each other. "Yes Marie you are carrying her child." "How do you know all of this?" Mystique asked. "While our worlds share quite a few similarities we have an equal number of differences as well. Of all the parallel universes I searched you were the only one strong enough to help me. I have been watching you for quite a while and I know more than you would think." Charles said looking at Rogue. "Save your world by leaving it and coming to mine and save my world by helping us defeat Apocalypse." "I'm not leaving Mystique and Raven behind." "You don't have to. They can come too if they choose to. I can guarantee the safety of the five of you and you'll have your own house near my school." "How can you guarantee our safety if this Apocalypse character is about to destroy your world?" Mystique asked. "With Marie's help, we will defeat him and at this point she is strong enough to absorb his powers without dying. Our Marie wasn't." "If we do come how do you explain her resurrection and the fact that there's two of me?" "This is not a movie. The universe will not explode if you come. I will take care of everything that needs to be taken care of as far as things like that go." "What do you think Marie?" Mystique asked. "I don't know..." Rogue whispered before going into deep thought. "Twelve minutes before Creed gets here," Charles said interrupting Rogue's thoughts. "Do you believe his story?" Rogue asked Mystique. "I don't know. I really don't know what to make of any of it, but I'll go with you no matter what choice you make." "Oh man..." Marie muttered before getting thoughtful again. "You had pancakes for breakfast this morning. This afternoon the four of you and Bobby's friend Jake were going to go see Shrek Six. You two don't care for movies, but your kids do and have the merchandise all over their rooms. Last night Mystique made macaroni and cheese for Bobby and Raven, because Marie was stuck in a last minute meeting at work," Charles said interrupting Marie once again. "Do I need to go on or do you believe any of what I've said about our worlds. Creed and his men will be here in five minutes. What's your decision?" "You'll go with me no matter what I decide?" Rogue asked Mystique. "Of course. We have another child to raise now." "Two minutes. I really need your decision now Marie." "Well," Marie began. "What will happen to our baby in your world?" "Talia will grow up to be well adjusted and normal like Bobby and Raven will and she will one day lead the X-Men."