Dragons Among Heroes

The discussion with the kids about touring the X-Mansion went over better than Devin had thought it would. Yana was surprisingly calm saying that she would like to talk to others like her and Henric was very excited stating he wanted to see what other cool stuff the X-men had. Devin could have sworn he heard Henric mutter the possibility of them having a tank.

Devin had found the contact information that was on the Institute's website and decided to give them a heads up. The phone rang for all of a minute before a familiar woman's voice answered.

"This is the Xavier Institute. Can I help you?" the cold voice of Emma Frost answered.

"Hello Ms. Frost. This is Mr. Price. Remember me?" Devin asked as he looked over the computer monitor he was currently sitting in front of while he called the mansion. He was about five percent away from completing the decryption of the files.

"Oh hello Mr. Price. To what do we owe this call?" Frost said as she seemed surprised at the fact that Devin would reach out to contact them.

"Ms. Storm said that Rogue was having some issues with the energy that she might have absorbed from me and asked if I would come over and take a look at her. I am also bringing the kids for a tour while I work. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time." Devin said as another percentage added to the completion count.

"Ah okay. I know that Rogue has been rather irritable as of recently. She seemed to be having outbursts more often." Frost said.

"Anything else you have noticed?" Devin said as he thought about what Rogue could be exhibiting with his energy inside her.

"She has been rather aggressive during our recent training sessions, which is why Storm might have contacted you." Frost said as a hint of reflection seemed to color her tone.

"Alright, just try to keep her calm and don't escalate anything till I get there." Devin said as he bid farewell and hung up. He could see that the decryption was finished and that there was only two files that showed up once the encryption was cracked. The first was a a file labeled "Weapon V" and the other was a set of correspondences between Stryker and one Ulysses Klaw.

"Interesting. What are you two doing talking to one another?" Devin muttered to himself as he clicked on the correspondences to see what they were talking about. After a couple minutes Devin sat back with a low whistle escaping him. The messages were stating that Stryker wanted to purchase a huge amount of vibranium, but Klaw was low on stock and was planning to steal some more from Wakanda. Klaw said that he would cut Stryker a deal if Stryker would send him some support troops. The troops had already been sent, but the operation wasn't supposed to take place for another week. This might be a chance!

"I need to take care of Rogue first then I can try and help King T'Chaka so that maybe I can get some vibranium. Worst case scenario I pocket anything that Klaw has." Devin said as he walked upstairs. The other file could wait as Stryker was no longer alive to fulfill it.

***

The four people had gotten up early the next day and had eaten a good breakfast before they piled up into the truck and headed for Salem Center where the X-Mansion is. Pulling up, the building was impressive to say the least. Walking up the steps the double doors opened to show Frost, Summers, Xavier, and Monroe waiting for them. All of them had pleasant smiles on except for Summers as he had his usual constipated look plastered to his mug.

'It isn't a stick in his a.s.s, it's a whole tree I think.' Devin thought before he reached out and shook Xavier's hand.

"Xavier." Devin said as he shook firmly.

"Mr. Price, it is good to see you again and thank you once again for helping us." Charles said as he looked at Devin with some sincerity.

"Of course. Everyone, you remember the X-men?" Devin said as he looked at the three siblings who nodded.

"Good and this is Izabela. Henric and Yana's older sister." Devin introduced as various members greeted the elder sibling who greeted back.

"Okay so Charles, I'm taking you up on that tour for Henric and Yana while I go speak with Rogue." Devin said to which Xavier nodded.

"Of course! Kitty and Kurt can show them around." Xavier volunteered the two who stepped forward with smiles.

"Come on! There's so much to see!" Kurt said before the two teens and the siblings raced off.

"Wait for me! Are you sure this is okay?" Izabela asked Devin one more time.

"Yes, now go and have some fun." Devin said with a soft smile. Izabela then raced off after the group. As soon as she rounded a corner and was out of sight the smile fell from Devin's face only to be replaced with a serious continence.

"Alright, let's get down to business. I've been told that Rogue has been exhibiting strange and aggressive behavior most likely in correlation to the energy that she absorbed from me." Devin said as he started moving alongside Xavier through the halls.

"Yes. I've tried peaking into her mind and there is some kind of force that is fueling her anger." Xavier said as an elevator opened in the wall paneling.

"Let me see if I can get anything from talking with her and then we'll go from there." Devin said as they opened a door to show Rogue breathing hard and sweating in the middle of the danger room.

"Again!" Rogue shouted at the control room up above.

"Rogue, this is the fourth time today. Don't you think you've done enough?" the calm voice of Beast tried to reason from a speaker.

"I'll say when I've had enough. Now, AGAIN!" Rogue hollard up at Beast. Before the simulation would start Devin stepped in and waved at the control room to stop.

"What are you waiting for! I said again!" Rogue shouted as she balled her fists.

"Hello Rogue." Devin said as he stopped about a dozen feet away as the doors shut the two inside.

"You! What are you doing here?!" Rogue said with some heat to her voice and a glare in her eyes.

"I'm here because your friends are worried about you. You're not acting yourself." Devin said as he kept his arms folded behind him.

'Alice can you scan Rogue and see if it's possible for us to do anything to help her?'

'Scanning.'

'Warning: Dragoon Spirit energy detected. Unable to absorb due to mutant ability. Prolonged exposure may result in loss of sanity and possible other side effects. Suggest immediate removal of energy by colliding host's energy against foreign energy.'

'So let me get this straight. You want me to help her remove that energy by hitting it with more energy?'

'Correct.'

'I hope you're right about this Alice.'

"Leave Price. I'm not in the mood to deal with you." Rogue said as she waved him off while heading towards the other side of the room where a water bottle and a duffel bag were laying.

"I can't do that Rogue. This energy isn't something your body can handle." Devin said as he took a few steps forward.

"And I wonder who's fault is that?!" Rogue snapped as she popped the top on her bottle.

"I'm sorry that this happened, but I'm here to help you." Devin said as he move to the center of the room.

"I don't need your help! Now LEAVE!" Rogue shrieked. Devin could see her eyes becoming bloodshot and her breathing becoming erratic.

"No." Devin said as he braced himself.

"Then I'll make you!" Rogue shouted before launching herself across the room towards Devin. With no time to evade Devin crossed his arms and caught her punch on his arms. The force behind it launched Devin backwards into the air.

"Mr. Price! We're coming!" the voice of Xavier sounded from the speakers. Landing on his feet and skidding a bit Devin looked up with a determined look.

"No! Stay out! This is the only way to help her." Devin called out as Rogue charged once more. This time Devin was ready. Reaching out and grabbing her outstretched fist, Devin turned and redirected Rogue by throwing her over his shoulder. Losing control of her flight and the awkward angle of her body caused her to slam into one of the walls back first before crumpling into a heap upon hitting the floor.

Never one to stay down long, Rogue was up and ready for another round. Devin had to finish this quick because if he drew it out longer than necessary then the greater the chance that one or both of them would end up getting injured.

'Alice! I know that I need to collide my energy with the one in her, but how do I do that without hurting or killing her?!'

'Sir, your best option would be to use an energy arrow from the White-Silver Dragoon. Minimal damage if you hit her extremities and there should be enough mana to perform a healing spell after changing back.'

"Alright let's go!" Devin said as a white flash blinded everyone watching and when it cleared Devin was once more in the armor from back in the desert. The flash provided the perfect distraction as Devin flew forward and landed a high kick to Rogue's chin that launched her upwards. As she flew up Devin charged the energy bow and formed an arrow before pulling it back and launching it at Rogue. Soaring through the air the arrow stabbed into the meat of her t.h.i.g.h and soon both a scream and a miniature explosion emanated from her body as small orbs of yellow energy were released into the air to hover before zooming towards Devin and entering his body.

Devin managed to catch her as she fell without getting touched before he changed back to himself. It was also at that time that he realized that he didn't have a healing spell. Focusing his mana on the wound in her leg that was slowly oozing blood, Devin used the power to try and urge the wound to close. The hole slowly grew smaller the more mana that was pumped into it. Soon all that was left was new, pink skin were once there was an injury. The loss of the mana left Devin gasping and covered in sweat as he had to use over half in one go to heal Rogue.

Soon the doors to the room opened and the sound of pounding feet told Devin that the others had arrived. What Devin didn't expect a navy-blue clad fist to come sailing his way and land on his jaw. Looking at who had thrown the punch confirmed who the culprit was at the same time as a shout from another person rang out.

"Scott! What are you doing?!" Emma shouted at the visor-ed man. Devin sighed while rubbing the impacted spot on his jaw before sighing out a couple words.

"One problem down, one to go."