Rogue

Anna Marie was used to waking up alone. Because of her Mutant ability to absorb the powers and minds of others with a single touch, she had learned to keep her distance. Her life had been a guarded one with few deep and meaningful connections… until she met Remy…

Remy LeBeau turned heads wherever he went. He exuded charm and confidence in a way that Anna Marie had always wished she could. She may have seemed strong on the surface, but Remy’s strength went all the way to his core in a way that truly fascinated her. And as it turned out, she fascinated him just as much.

During their time together on the X-Men as Rogue and Gambit, the pair became inseparable. As their bond grew deeper, they realized that they weren’t just saving the world. They were saving each other. Anna Marie’s powers were under control now, so she was no longer at risk of accidentally absorbing Remy’s thoughts. Thankfully, she didn’t need to know what was going on in his mind. She already knew what was in his heart. So, when Remy finally asked Anna Marie to be his wife, she took the leap without hesitation. But now, she found herself falling out of control…

Anna Marie LeBeau awoke in the middle of the night only to realize she was alone yet again. Not exactly how she hoped to find herself while on her honeymoon. She heard a faint rustling in the room and instantly recognized the sound of her new groom getting dressed. Remy may have been one of the best thieves in the world, but he wasn’t good enough to sneak out on his wife without her noticing. She almost called out to Remy to implore him to crawl back into bed with her, but when she opened her bleary eyes, she caught the faintest glimpse of her husband donning an elaborate costume that resembled his old Thieves Guild uniform. She decided to remain silent, watching the scene play out, hoping her vision was nothing more than a dream. However, when she thought that Remy had decided to go pull a heist in the middle of their post-nuptial voyage through the cosmos had fully solidified in her mind, Anna Marie shot awake. Her instincts were confirmed… but her husband was already long gone…

Anna Marie sat up in bed, panic setting in as she began to question everything she had come to believe. Remy had been so eager to bring her across the galaxy to the Elders’ Grand Garden for their honeymoon. She thought it was because he wanted to take her on the most romantic trip that either of them could ever imagine. But could it have all just been a cover for one of his schemes? Of course it was… and she fell for it!

She began to fume as she realized that her husband had deceived her. Their dream honeymoon was merely a front for another elaborate theft. And to make matters worse, Remy apparently didn’t trust his own wife enough to let her in on the secret!

As she began to get out of bed to track Remy down, Anna Marie noticed something glimmering on the nightstand. It was the strange crystal die that Remy had been playing with since their trip began. Until now, she had assumed it was just another of his many lucky charms, but maybe there was something more to it. Anna Marie reached out and grabbed it, feeling the urge to crush it to dust as a way of teaching her lying husband a lesson. But as she clutched the small crystal game piece in her bare hand, she suddenly felt a wave of powerful energy flow through her. The feeling subsided so fast that Anna Marie failed to notice how the crystal die had lost its sparkle…

Anna Marie rushed out of her bed chamber and into the Grand Garden. The sprawling alien botanical preserve was perfectly still in the dead of night, with not a trace of Remy to be seen. It would have been pitch black if not for the small bursts of yellow and green energy that occasionally rippled across Anna Marie’s skin. She began a desperate search for any clues that would lead her toward her errant husband. But she stopped in her tracks when she heard a familiar voice.

“Rogue,” Magneto said. “A little late to be taking a stroll through the garden, is it not? I can escort you back to your quarters if you wish.”

“Don’t you worry ‘bout me, Erik,” Anna Marie replied. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“Are you sure about that?” Magneto asked as he noticed the surges of power crackling across the surface of Anna Marie’s body.

“My powers have always been on the fritz,” Anna Marie said, “an’ apparently, nothin’s changed...”

“While it should be your Husband’s place to offer you comfort,” Magneto said, choosing his words carefully, as if he knew something that he was not yet ready to reveal, “I can assure you that your fellow X-Men will always stand with you. No matter what.”

“Stand with me?” Anna Marie asked. “Or stand in my way?”

“What are you implying?” Magneto responded, taken aback by Anna Marie’s unexpected accusation.

“You ain’t exactly been supportive of me an’ Remy tyin’ the knot,” Anna Marie said. “An’ then you just show up here on the other side of the galaxy in the middle of our honeymoon? Why you gotta be all up in our business?”

“Because I care about you…Both of you,” Magneto replied sincerely.

“I think you’re playin’ favorites,” Anna Marie responded. “Whatever we had way back when? That ain’t a thing no more. You’re a leader, a damn good one, but quit actin' like I’m the one that needs you when the whole of Mutantkind is on the brink of collapse!”

“Quite the accusation, but your conclusion is valid.” Magneto exhaled deeply, then spoke with conviction. “Regardless of what we had, you are still family, as is your husband, and every other Mutant living under my iron curtain. As such, I have sworn to protect my people… even if it means protecting them from each other…”

“So ya’ll came here ‘cause you knew Remy was up to no good?” Anna Marie asked. “Guess I was the only one who expected better of him…”

“Not at all,” Magneto replied. “I knew nothing of Gambit’s intentions. We came here through the Krakoan flower you planted in the Grand Garden, as it opened a gateway back to our island. It was proof that you had reached your final destination, and we wished to make sure that all was well. After all, many of our messages to you throughout your journey were left unanswered.”

“About that…” Anna Marie said awkwardly, “Not long after we blasted off in that fancy Wakandan starship, we found ourselves caught in a — what’d Rocket call it? A Spatio… temperamental…”

“A Spatiotemporal Anomaly,” Magneto chimed in. “T’Challa warned us about them. They are regions of space where the barrier between timelines is unusually thin, allowing travelers to unexpectedly cross between parallel realities.”

“Well, whatever it was,” Anna Marie continued, “it did a number on our comm systems. We didn’t even get your distress signal about the whole Hellfire Gala kerfuffle ‘til after we’d made it to Knowhere. By then, we were on the other side of the universe… an’, like you said, maybe even in another timeline. Since your follow-up report sounded like ya’ll had everythin’ under control again, we just kept on course ‘til we got here. It was a long trip… with some even longer stories…”

“Which we can explore more in-depth when the time is right,” Magneto said. “For now, we have other matters to which we must attend.”

“Meanin’ Remy,” Anna Marie agreed. “You didn’t happen to see which way he went, did ya?”

“When Gambit does not wish to be seen, Gambit is not seen,” Magneto replied.

“That’s what he thinks…” Anna Marie muttered under her breath.

“But it is hard for anyone to hide their actions from the Master of Magnetism,” Magneto admitted, “especially on a world as silent and still as this one. Every stir — from the branches of the Lifestone Tree to the leaves of the Wundagore Everbloom — each living movement draws the attention of my senses.”

“If ya know where he is, just spit it out already,” Anna Marie demanded, eager to learn where Remy had snuck off to.

“I believe Gambit has entered that large structure on the other side of the Grand Garden,” Magneto said, gesturing to a massive complex off in the distance.

“The Collector’s Gallery?” Anna Marie snarled. “I knew it! That place is home to some of the rarest and most valuable artifacts in the known universe! Exactly the kinda things a dirty thief like Remy LeBeau would be itchin’ to get his lousy, no-good hands on!”

“Calm down, my dear,” Magneto cautioned.

“Don’t ‘dear’ me! An’ don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” Anna Marie snapped back. “Remy told me the only reason he wanted to check out that museum was to help find Rocket’s lost girlfriend, Lylla. So if he doesn’t walk outta there with a talkin’ otter by his side in the next ten seconds, he’s a dead man!”

As Anna Marie’s fury continued to rise, her body ignited with the same energy that she had absorbed when she grabbed ahold of Gambit’s crystal die earlier. The power coursed through her and emanated from her body in waves, sapping the life from the abundant alien flora around her.

“I have seen that energy signature before,” Magneto said, a look of shock and concern washing over his face. “It resembles the raw, unfocused temporal power unleashed by crystals of pure Chronovium! Rogue, what have you done?”

“I… I don’t know,” Anna Marie said, panic setting in as her powers continued to rage out of control, “but I can’t seem to stop it!”

“Then I will try to contain the damage,” Magneto said calmly, raising his hand aloft. Every ornate metal sculpture in the Grand Garden began to fly through the air toward him at once, twisting and reshaping to Magneto’s whim as they formed into a protective shell around his terrified teammate. But as Anna Marie involuntarily released another powerful wave of chronal energy, the strong metal rusted and withered away, almost as if a thousand years had passed in a single second.

Anna Marie fell to the ground, the strange power temporarily subsiding. Magneto rushed to her side and gently helped her to her feet.

“What’ve I done…?” Anna Marie whispered in horror as she glanced out at the damage she had caused to the Grand Garden. The lush green landscape that had been there moments before was now dead and barren, as if the plants had been reduced to ashes by eons within an instant, and along with them, the portal back to Krakoa.

“We will find a way to make things right,” Magneto promised. “For you… for Remy… for all of us…”

“I ain’t worried ‘bout anyone else… not anymore…” Anna Marie said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Just… get our ship and take us home.”

“I… I cannot allow that,” Magneto said reluctantly.

“What?” Anna Marie gasped, looking up at Magneto with pleading eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Magneto said sternly. “As you said, the whole of Mutantkind is under my protection. After the damage that was done by Ultron during his invasion, Krakoa is already on the brink of collapse. If you were to have another… outburst… I fear that our living island might not live for much longer.”

“So… you’re exilin’ me…?” Anna Marie asked indignantly.

“Only until you have gained full control over this new power you have inherited,” Magneto replied, a hint of shame in his voice. “My duty is to do what is best for our people. You must understand —”

“Oh, I understand,” Anna Marie replied. “I understand that I’m on my own again. Maybe more now than I’ve ever been before.”

“Not for much longer, I’m afraid,” Magneto warned. “Gambit has exited the Collector’s Gallery and he is heading this way… quite swiftly. I believe the discussion ahead is one that you two must resolve privately...”

“Then you’d better get outta here, Erik,” Anna Marie barked, gesturing for Magneto to leave the Grand Garden. “I’ve got a feelin’ this ain’t gonna be pretty.”

As Magneto opened his mouth to offer words of support, Rogue unexpectedly blasted him with a wave of energy. It seemed she was already getting the hang of her new power after all.

“Don’t you try gettin’ sweet on me now, sugah,” Anna Marie said confidently, wiping away her tears. “I’ve been alone my whole life. An’ if you ain’t gonna let me back home, then I’m just gonna have to start buildin’ a new one with my man. Even if he is a lousy, swindlin’ son of a —”

Rogue flew off into the air before Magneto heard the end of her sentence, but her point was more than clear.

As he walked away from where the portal once stood, Magneto realized that there was much truth to what Anna Marie had said. Over many years, he had seen his pursuits in the name of Mutantkind evolve from brotherhood to supremacy, before ebbing to protection. Yet just moments ago, he exiled two of his closest companions from the place he claimed was a sanctuary for all Mutants. He was learning that protection comes with a great cost — the cost of relationships, even those with his own children. Still, Magneto vowed to always put the needs of Mutantkind first. Heavy is the head that wears the helmet.

Magneto watched over the alien landscape as he heard the over-confident thief stumbling uncharacteristically over his words while being confronted by his furious wife. “Building a home is not easy,” he chuckled to himself. But before long, it was clear that the embers of Anna Marie and Remy’s relationship sparked with new fire. He knew in his heart that, when the time was right, they would return to Krakoa, ready to shatter every obstacle with their unbreakable love — for in them, his dream was alive. Mutants guarding each other without reservation, brimming with courage to stand together against any opposition. Theirs was a union that would have his unwavering blessing.