The Rider Rides In

[war]

The time was now, with Charles out of the picture, Apocalypse had sent War to infiltrate the institute. War would use the chaos caused by the power vacuum to enter the school, gain information, and recruit some soldiers. War was brewing and the Apocalypse would follow, The first Rider was afoot, and he was in motion.

War reached out with his mind, he couldn't sense any minds nearby, War headed down the path towards the school.

[beckii]

Rogue had been working hard trying to find Charles' telepathy inside her mind. So far she hadn't found it. Magneto's power was a lot easier to find and bring to the fore front. She assumed since Magneto had held on until he almost died. Upon hearing a beeping sound Rogue glanced at one of the screens in Xavier's office. She frowned as she saw someone heading down the path. After what happened to Xavier, Rogue was not going to take any chances. She took the security remote and darted outside. Everyone was inside for their dinner. Once outside she pressed the button to lock the mansion down. For some reason this guy gave her a very bad vibe. She walked towards him, keeping eye contact as she slipped off her gloves and put them in her jeans pocket. Her flame red and white hair flowed out around her on the breeze. That along with the fierceness in her eyes made her look intimidating. She stopped once she was close enough to the man to hear him.

"Hello, welcome to Xavier's. Ah am Rogue. Ah am in charge here. May ah ask who are you and what is your purpose here?"

Rogue would protect the students at all and any costs.

[war]

War smiled, first contact, and a quick scan of her mind befuddled War, there were other people's minds trapped in hers, but War soon sorted through it, the girl was able to absorb other's powers and memories, not to self don't touch.

War looked a little deeper, the girl was the head of students, and she was fiercely loyal to the X-Men, and would sacrifice herself for them. War would soon strip her of some of that Courage. War used his powers and lowered Rogue's courage a bit, "Hello Rogue, my name is Robert James, or Felix I'm one of Charles' old students, and I came to see if I could help out in this time of need."

Those words stung War's mouth, but War needed to say them, but Rogue was lovely, War would love to do things to her, but now he must work.

[beckii]

Rogue frowned as she felt her courage go down. She didn't understand what was happening. She shook her head a little, feeling off, before refocusing her attention on the man infront of her. She listened as he spoke. His words were innocent enough but she just didn't get a good feeling from him. For some reason she felt like she should run. This is ridiculous. I should not feel like this. I have to protect them. She inhaled deeply as she put her index finger to her right temple. She listened to the psyches in her mind. Logan was a fighter. Well, Logan, Pyro, Iceman, and Magneto were fighters. She touched each of their psyches, hoping to get their support. Logan's psyche didn't seem to like this guy either. She looked back at the man.

"Is your name Robert or Felix? Its strange to have two names."

Felix did not sound like a mutant name to her, so it made her wonder why he had offered two names. Sure, it could be a middle name, but she really wanted to keep him talking. Maybe he would slip up and she'd find something that could make her make a firm decision about whether to trust him or not. Another thing that bothered her, was how did he know Xavier was in need? Rogue tilted her head.

"Xavier is fine. He's just out on a weekend break. Needed to see some old friends."

She lied. She had a feeling she needed to know what he knew. Shame she hadn't found Xavier's telepathy and his psyche in her head yet. Then again Magneto was the strongest psyche she had, and she didn't doubt he was hiding Xavier's from her.

[war]

War sensed every thought in Rogue's head, her confusion, her distrust, and everything. War smiled, "Rogue, my name is Robert Felix is my mutant name, I'm a telepath, and there is no use lying to me, I know Charles was hurt, I know he is in a coma, and I know you are desperately seeking a telepath. I know of what happened to Charles, because I was able to sense it from my flat in the city, my telepathic range is much greater than Charles's, and his telepathic cry for help reached me."

War sensed the girl desperately seeking for the Charles personality in her head, so she could muster his powers, and War responded by putting up a telepathic barrier.

[havok]

Alex was still not in the best mood, Charles was out of commission right now and Scott was away he didn’t have a clue where storm was and Jean was with Scott which meant that the X men was weak right now, they where exposed if the brotherhood wanted to try and kick them out of their home and there wouldn’t be able to fight them off because of the fact that the brotherhood was more of a fighting force than the x men as the x men was a school first and then a fighting force something that was quite worrying for them.

Going outside he noticed that Rogue was talking to someone that he didn’t know and he hadn’t met before however he was wary because of the fact that Charles had been injured, turning his powers on so that there was a blueish glow around him he walked down the grounds towards them. “Is there a problem here Rogue?” he asked the young woman.

[beckii]

A telepath. Damn it! They needed a telepath, and it sounded plausible that Xavier would reach out to another telepath if he was in trouble. Maybe his mind was still functionable in the coma, but his body wasn't? Xavier had always been immensely strong in his mutant power. As plausible as it sounded she didn't want to trust this man. Unfortunately, Rogue had no reason not to trust him or allow him to stay. They did need a telepath. She sighed deeply. She would just have to keep an eye on him. She just hoped if he was up to no good she would know before he hurt anyone. Just as she was about to speak she heard another voice. Rogue snapped her head around to see Alexander Summers. Scott's brother. She noticed he had already turned on his power. Protective. It was an admirable quality. She wanted to say yes and kick Robert out. She had no evidence though he was anything but genuine.

Reluctantly she turned back to Robert and put a polite smile on her face.

"No, there is no problem. Robert here was just saying he was a telepath."

She spoke softly. She turned back to Alexander.

"Its okay Alex. You may go if you like. Ahm fine."

She reassured him before looking back at Robert. She held an arm out towards the mansion as she moved so she was side on.

"Shall we go inside and talk Robert?"

Rogue asked gently before slipping her gloves on. She then put a hand in her pocket, where the remote sat, and took the mansion out of lock down. She hated this. She felt she was severely going to regret this but what else could she do? They needed a telepath to work Cerebro to make sure there was no trouble, and so far Robert hadn't said or done a wrong thing. She had no proof he was a bad person. Nothing. She wouldn't judge him because of her own feelings, or anyone else. She wanted to be fair.

"Ah'll show you to Xavier's office. Ah'll be using it for the foreseeable future until Xavier recovers."

She mentioned to Robert before walking beside him towards the front door of the mansion. Rogue wanted to keep an eye on him. She did not want him to stray. She would have to get him a room beside hers.

[war]

War sensed the other mind before, he even talked, before Alex even activated his powers. But War was already sure he'd get safely into the school, he had sensed that the school needed a telepath and he'd taken that lead.

"Hello Mr Summers, my name is Robert James, or Felix and I am one of Xavier's past students, and I am here to respond to his call for help." The young man was attractive, and brave, but War could tell that men were not his thing, but with enough time War could change that, but work first pleasure later. War knew now he'd be let in, though Rogue didn't quite trust him yet. War sent some trusting thoughts Rogue's way, it would take several doses with time between to force her to fully trust him, but this was a start. War also lowered Alex's bravery, War didn't want the young man attacking him.

Slipping into his Alabaman accent from childhood War replied, "That sounds quite lovely mah southern belle. Would you like to join us Mr Summers?"

[havok]

As the man spoke Alex believed that he could trust him as far as he could throw him, the fact that Alex had been in the school and he had nearly missed Charles’s call for help made him ebleive that there was something about this man that wasn’t legitimate but if Rogue wanted to trust him then it would be her problem, in the back of his mind he felt the nagging feeling of a telepath, something that he had gotten use to with Jean being in his mind when he had been part of the brotherhood, the red haired telepath had often conversed with him mentally and he had spoken to her mentally since she had returned to the mansion with Scott, needless to say it was something that Alex knew quite well, having a telepath within his mind.

Pushing the telepath out of his mind he glared at the man, his name didn’t ring a bell and he was sure that it would have been something that Scott had mentioned when they had talked about the school long ago, Alex had wanted to know everything and he had researched the school a lot but he couldn’t think of a Robert James being at the school following the man and Rogue he cut across them so that he was in front of them.

“So you might know my brother Scott then.” Alex said keeping the energy in his hands ready for a fight if he so needed it. “the funny thing is he never mentioned a Robert James or a Felix when I asked him about past members.”

OOC: we did have a past thread a while ago with said talk with Alex and Scott, I was Scott at the time.

[beckii]

Rogue watched Alex. Although she was proud of him for wanting to protect her and the others at the school she knew she had to stop this. She walked over to Alex and stood infront of him so she was between him and Robert. She cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes.

"Alex, that is not polite now is it? As an aquiantence of Xavier's, he should be treated as such."

Rogue hoped she was getting through to Alex. In her eyes she was begging him to trust her and play along for now. There wasn't anything they could do. He hadn't said or outwardly done anything wrong.

"We have no reason to treat him like the enemy when he has not done anything to warrant it."

She felt her hairs stand on end, and not in a good way, when Robert called her his southern bell. Rogue could feel herself having a few trusting feelings towards Robert although they did not make sense. With so many psyches in her mind due to her power, it did make it easier for Rogue to not be oblivious to odd thoughts and feelings. Rogue then turned back to Robert and gave him a polite smile as she held out an arm.

"Shall we?"

She offered, doing her best to keep a polite expression upon her face. Rogue thought of Remy to try and keep herself calm. Remy was so amazing. So handsome, sweet, impulsive, and spontaneous. It definately made her feel relaxed. Thinking of him did help, and so Rogue started walking back to the front door of the mansion. She would have to keep a strict eye on Robert. She just hoped he didn't want to stay here. Rogue didn't know what she would do if he asked to. It wasn't as if she could make him stay in her room. Biting her bottom lip, Rogue kept an eye on Robert as she went through the mansion. When she came to Xavier's office she opened the door and waited for Robert to go in.

Rogue hoped Alex would be okay. When Robert went in, she gestured for Alex to come close. She then whispered into his ear so no one else would hear.

"Find out who he really is. Use the computers. Find someone good with them. Ah don't trust him. For now, ah have to keep our enemies close. Ah have to keep an eye on him. Ah trust ya Alex."

With that she went into Xavier's office and closed the door. Smiling polite at Robert she sat down behind Xavier's desk.

"Now, how can ah help ya Robert? Ya said ya wanted to help out, but how could ya do that? We are running quite fine on our own, no offense."

Rogue spoke softly, doing her best not to say or do anything that would provoke any negative feelings in Robert. The last thing she wanted to do was provoke Robert into doing something bad a lot sooner then he planned if he was indeed a 'villian' of sorts.

[war]

The Summers boy was strong, if War wanted to effect the boy, he'd have to go full force, and that would not be very covert. War was pretty sure what would happen next, Alex would go check the records for him, but they wouldn't find anything, but if they did a face recognition search, they'd find him, they'd find records of a telepathic mutant, with wings, who left the school. War turned to Alex, "Scott may not have remember me, I wasn't at the school for too long, when I arrived I was already partially in control of my powers, Charles worked with me, and after I understood my powers better I left. Charles still checks in on me every once and a while, but I prefer to live the quite life, in fact I'm taking a few days off to check in here before I return to my wife and daughter." War hoped his words would calm the X-Men knowing they wouldn't have to deal with him for long.

War headed to Xavier's office and sat down in a chair. Rogue seemed like she wanted to get rid of him, but it wouldn't be so easy. "I know that Charles and Cerebro are quite integral to the workings and safety of this organization, I also know that with Jean out and Charles in a coma, you are mist likely short on high powered telepaths to run cerebro, and Charles once let me use it, so I could be quite helpful." War gave Rogue a smile, and sent Apocalypse a telepathic status report.

[havok]

Alex was surprised when Rogue spoke against him and lead the man towards the school, he didn’t know what Rogue was planning but he didn’t like it, he knew that they had been down a telepath but he doubted that they would be so desperate as to use this man as he knew that Scott and Jean would be making their way back with the fact that Charles was injured that was not something that either Summers had taken lightly and they would have been on their way back as soon as they could but Alex didn’t know how long that would be.

“I am sure that Scott would be glad to know that you came back to help though.” Alex said turning one of his hands off and reaching into his jeans and pulling out his cell phone. As Rogue pulled him aside he was glad to see that Rogue hadn’t lost her mind but at the same time he didn’t like the man and he got the feeling that things where going to be not good right now but he knew that there had to be more about the man than had been presented. “I will ring Scott,” he said “maybe see if I can get Kitty to take a look but I am not going far just outside of the door as I don’t trust this guy.” He said and then turned to go and ring Scott.

[beckii]

Rogue was relieved Alex was going to find out more about Robert. She was confused, although didn't show it, when Robert mentioned he was returning to his wife and daughter. It wasn't that he couldn't have one. Robert was definately very attractive. However she just couldn't picture him with them. Especially if the bad vibes she got from him were right on the money. All this was definately confusing, and she had no idea what to do. Magneto's psyche was laughing in amusement at the scenario. Pyro's psyche wasn't showing an opinion one way or the other although he was declaring he was far more attractive then this guy. Iceman's psyche didn't like the guy at all and wanted him far away from Rogue - not surprising. Wolverine's psyche didn't like the guy either. His hackles was up. Beneath them was Xavier's psyche which Rogue couldn't quite get to yet. It was annoying her she couldn't get to Xavier. If she could just get to his psyche maybe she could find out if she has his powers in her somewhere.

"As generous as that offer is we do have a back-up telepath at the facility. Ah really do appreciate the offer, but we are quite fine on that."

Okay, so it was a stretch of the truth, but if she did have Xavier's powers somewhere then she could operate Cerebro - hopefully. Besides, it was far better her risk it then have someone she didn't know and creeped her out inside Cerebro. Xavier didn't keep it guarded for no reason. Rogue hoped she was being polite enough. She really did not want to provoke a bad situation with this guy. She had no idea what he was capable of. Sure, he said he was a telepath, which meant he read minds, but most had secondary abilities. Besides, you could do anything if you had access to someone's mind. She couldn't find out anything from his expression or body language. If he was bad news he sure as hell knew how to look impassive. Rogue guessed she was lucky in a way to have so many psyches in her mind. She had five men in her mind who could voice their own opinion, and so she wasn't alone. Alone, without anyone as resident psyches in her head, she would have been far more suseptical to being influenced.

[war]

War had expected Rogue to say no, it was the strategically sound option, now it was time for War to find a place where he could wait, plan out his next move, and secure his identity. "Thats perfectly all right, I'd love to visit my old teacher, and help out in any way, maybe it is better you trust a person you know better with such delicate technology."

War put on his most kind and friendly face. "I was wondering if I could at least stay the night?" As War said this he let his wallet fall to the floor and open up, exposing a picture of himself and the mother and child he'd hired to be his family for the photo. War bent down to pick it up, and a thought occurred to him, the perfect disguise was himself.

"I wasn't completely honest with you, my name was Charles Knox when I was at the school, I changed my name when I got the cure, I wanted to live a normal life, I once had wings but I lost them, so I didn't want the constant reminder of how great I once was. So I got the cure, but my stubs remained, and my telepathy returned, and since then I have grown to accept myself as just a humble telepath." War made himself look ashamed of his story, he had to make this convincing.

[beckii]

Rogue bit her bottom lip as he spoke. She hated it but the more he talked the more she could relate to him. The more he spoke the more she did want to hope he wasn't the bad guy her vibes were giving off. Either he had done her research about her, or he had gotten lucky with this story, or it was the truth. She was edging on the second, but Rogue couldn't help but show genuineality as she sympathised.

"Ah know how ya feel. Ah took the cure too, but meh power came back. Ahm sorry ya lost your wings. Ahm sure they were beautiful when ya had them. Ah wanted a normal life too, and ah can't have that with meh ability. However, ah have come to accept meh power and that it is a part of meh. A part ah cannot remove even if ah took the cure repeatedly."

Rogue spoke softly, sadness on her voice, but Rogue made sure not to state what her power was. She knew if he was a bad guy she would have the advantage if he had no idea what her power was. She made sure not to think about it either. She of course thought about all the powers her psyches had. After all, if she didn't think about any power he would get suspicious. Besides, who would except someone who has animal-like senses, bone claws, can manipulate fire, create and control ice, and control metal, to have any other power? It was a good ploy.

Rogue was hesitant about letting Charles stay the night. Anything could happen in a night. She had experienced this when Stryker had infiltrated the place a year or so back.

"Unfortunately, we don't have room. Ah can recommend an excellent hotel though. We have had a lot of people join us here. What with the aftermath of Magneto's escapades. Unfortunately the humans' views on mutants have not recovered fully yet."

Rogue spoke softly, trying her best to sound sorry.