X-Men: Revolution

7.0 Turn of the Rogue - 3/3

One moment, one short moment, and it all made sense.

It was all her.

It was her mother.

It was that monster who played her-- who betrayed her. It was her standing behind her confusion, her nightmares, her constant feeling of having no one she could trust.

But she does have people she could trust.

And one of those people just fell to his death due to the person she nearly pledged allegiance to, because she was supposed to be family.

She could see the despair on Raven's face as she sure realized that all those dirty lies cannot be denied anymore. That despair was the last thing she saw before the woman collapsed unconscious.

"Oh Scott" she turned towards the ledge with overwhelming regret. "I'm sorry..." she leaned over, trying to see down. And then she saw lighter spots in the dark. She couldn't make much of it, but having Raven's memory she knew that her night vision will prove better-- and almost without a thought she shapeshifted into her. Now she could see the spots are fingers hooked on on the edge of a flat surface.

Suddenly full of hope and feeling agile in this body, she made the leap and landed safely on the flat stone. Shocked, Scott let go, but she was quick enough to grab his hands.

"Gotcha!"

The strain of holding his weight made her shift back into herself. But she was able to struggle him back to the ledge and help him enough so she could climb onto the flat with her.

"It's getting kind of hard to tell the players without a scorecard around here" he panted as she hooked him under the arm to help him stand up. "Thanks for the lift, Rogue."

At last that's when they noticed the odd sound above them and a couple pebbles that showered on them.

"Don't thank me yet, look!" Rogue's eyes widened as she saw a giant rock inching off the ledge just above them. Mystique's form merely appeared behind it for a moment before the rock completely dominated their view, quilting towards them so quickly that either of them barely had time to react. Both 19-year olds jumped off into the pit having no time to consider whether that would save them or barely postpone their inevitable doom by mere moments.

Their voices echoed off the underground canyon walls as they free-fell accompanied by smaller pieces of the stone scattered by the rock that nearly ended their lives all together.

Lucky for them the risky heat-of-the-moment decision to jump was rewarded as they splashed deep into the freezing water of a deep underground river flowing at the bottom of the pit. The impact sent them nearly to the bottom of it, but as soon as the bubbles of air cleared around them Scott seized Rogue's hand and pulled her up; She followed him onto the surface, but the current was so strong in nearly shoved them underwater again.

Still choking on water as they struggled to remain on surface despite heavy, damp outwear, they were carried along the stream, and Scott quickly realized they were nearing a waterfall. Thinking fast he removed his glasses for a moment, shooting blindly over the water and blowing into a pieces a part of stone wall ahead of them. It created a narrow space, sort of a shore of sorts, unfortunately one just at the edge of the fall.

"Hang onto me!" he shouted at the girl struggling right behind him. She didn't object, firmly wrapping her arms around his shoulders, both of them barely able to stay afloat.

They reached the dreadful fall and Rogue screamed as they angled over it, however Scott kicked his legs towards the cleared space and managed to get a hold of the edge of the stone. For a second they were suspended in the air, but he knew he won't be able to hold his and the girl's weight for more than a few seconds, so he swayed once and let go, jumping onto another flat surface of a stone about eight feet below. The landing was clean, but they both attempted to get up instantly and the stone gave in.