The time had come. Rogue had enjoyed travelling around England with the circus - who had even extended their tour there. But the circus was on their way to Genovia now, and Rogue wanted to go other places. Cornelius understood and thanked her for joining them.
Before long she was on a ship travelling to Ireland. Rogue stood at the rail and breathed in the beautiful air as it rushed pass.
"Fantastic, isn't it?" said a fellow traveller, joining her.
"Oh yes," Rogue agreed. "And Ah love the smell of the salty sea air. It's so refreshin'."
"Aye, it is," he agreed. "Listen, Rogue -"
"How did you know muh name?"
"No time to explain," he said, then pointed at another traveller, "you see him, over there? With the black hair? He's been following you since you left the circus."
"And you know this because?"
"I've been following him. He's part of an anti-mutant gang."
"Naturahlly."
"The Royal Family's efforts to initiate mutant rights have not been unfruitful, and for the most part resistance has died down, but you can't get rid of sheer hate with a mere law."
"True. So, Ah assume he's out to kill me?"
"Of course. How I'm not entirely certain, but probably over the side when no one's looking."
Rogue sighed. Then frowned.
"Wait, how do Ah know you're tellin' the truth?"
Silence.
"You don't," he replied. "Of course, you could always use your power on me. Pick it right out of my head whether I'm telling the truth or not."
Rogue hesitated.
"Go on," he encouraged. "What have you got to lose?"
"Ah have nothin' to lose. But tell me, are you human or mutant?"
"Human."
"Uh huh. Are you aware that by touchin' you, Ah would put you into a coma? Are you prepared to lose three weeks of your life, give or take? Are you aware that Ah will have you, your memories and thoughts inside muh head forever?" as she said these things, she watched his face carefully.
The man hesitated, and Rogue was not sure that she liked the look on his face.
"I am prepared to take that risk," he said finally.
"It's not mere risk," Rogue responded, seeing the black-haired man approach them out of the corner of her eye, "it's a definite. It will happen."
The man scrowled, also seeing the other traveller approach.
"Touch me!" he demanded.
He reached for Rogue's hand, determindly making their skins meet. Nothing happened.
"Ah have bettah control over muh power than that," Rogue frowned, pulling away from him.
She didn't like this, not at all. It was at that point that the black-haired traveller closed the distance between them.
"I would suggest not using your powers on him," he said, "the moment you do, you're dead."
"You sound awfully sure about that," Rogue said, having no intension of using her powers on anyone just now.
"That's because he has a little device that causes a backfire on any mutant that uses his power directly on him," he said calmly. "Name's Mick, by the way."
The first man spat at Mick.
"Come, now, that's not very nice. I suppose he told you I was part of an anti-mutant gang?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, if I was, I'd have to hate myself."
"Ahh, Ah see."
"You're both disgusting, unnatural creatures!" the man declared. "You're already bringing down the country!"
"And Ah don't even live here," Rogue mused.
Mick reached out to him, and the man recoiled.
"Don't touch me!" he freaked.
"Frank Bassanate," Mick said patiently, "You have nowhere else to go. Attempted murder is only one charge I have you on tonight. Now, you and me, are going to go on a nice little walk - "
But before Mick could do anything more, Frank clutched at his throat and collapsed. Mick knelt down and inspected Frank.
"Blast it," he said. "Fast working poison - probably a suicide tooth."
He stood up again, and looked at Rogue, who was rather unnerved by the whole situation.
"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to get you mixed up in all of this."
"What is going on, exactly?"
Mick was silent for a moment.
"I'm a member of an international, under the radar, mutant rights protection organisation. Note 'mutant rights' and not just 'mutant'. If a mutant breaks the law, they should be subject to it just like any other human."
"Agreed..." Rogue said slowly.
"We keep our eyes on anti-mutant gangs, and likely targets. The circus for one, but you actually came to my attention in Genovia."
Rogue's eyebrows raised.
"So, you have been following me then?"
"I'm not quite the stalker you might imagine me to be," Mick smiled. "I was interested in a young lady who tried to help a friend of mine, and endevoured to learn more about her in my spare time."
"What friend?"
"Green chap. Died outside a Diner - was bashed to death."
Rogue's eyes widened.
"You... you..."
"At first I wasn't sure if you were mutant or alien," Mick went on. "You displayed one alien power, and you used their teleportation facilities, and you have fuzzles. But then there were other, little things that seemed to point away from your being alien. Plus there was the added fact I couldn't identify your specialty power."
Rogue smiled.
"I imagine identifying some people's powers would be difficult."
"Well, the aliens are a bit more formulac than mutants. They seem to have a pool of standard powers with few variations. Mutant powers are a lot more variable with few standards. In any case, when you joined up with the circus, while your power wasn't evident, it was evident from your friendship with young John that you were a mutant. It worked well for me, I could keep an eye on you and the circus at the same time. During which I caught up with our friend Frank here. Hmm, speaking of which, I should really dispose of this body," Mick pulled out a card. "My card."
He handed her a business card, which she took and looked down at to inspect. Her eyes widened as she read the name of the business:
The Caretakers
Shocked, Rogue looked back up, but Mick had gone.