X-Men Page #14

HE SINKS INTO THE STRANGE LIQUID - LIKE WATER BUT THICK

AND VISCOUS.

And the sound of a DROWNING SCREAM.

AND THE METAL IS POURED IN AFTER HIM.

THE SOUND OF MOLTEN METAL HITTING LIQUID IS UNNERVING.

Mixed with screams, it is unbearable.

INT. LOGANíS ROOM - NIGHT

SCREAMING:

Loganís screaming as he comes to.

Loganís eyes FLASH OPEN. He looks up and sees a figure

looming over him. In a flash he reacts.

THUD. Nothing more. Then silence.

The door bursts open and Cyclops stands in the doorway

shocked. Frozen. Jean is next and finally Storm. They

can only stare.

Logan sits upright in bed, CLAWS EXTENDED, INTO ROGUEíS

CHEST. She is literally frozen at the end of his arm.

Finally, Cyclops breaks the silence and moves to grab

her.

STORM:

DONíT TOUCH HER.

Cyclops freezes.

Logan finally pulls his claws free and retracts them.

Rogue staggers, she pitches forward and touches his face

gently with her hands, as though she would like him to be

the last thing she sees on this Earth.

Logan and Rogue, locked in a fatal moment of tenderness

snaring a look of loneliness that only they can

understand.

But suddenly, Logan seems to change.

And before he can say another word, he begins to tremble,

then he starts to howl in pain.

Rogue SNAPS BACK, mouth open in a gaping, silent scream.

What sound comes out does not match the expression at

all. Merely a gasp, like steam escaping. Through the

huge slash in her clothes, we see the wound on her chest

slowly vanish.

Before long, she transforms back into a healthy young

girl with no sign of injury.

Then, her escaping breath begins to accelerate, much in

the way Loganís did - too much like Loganís did. It is

as if she has taken in his trait of berserker rage. Soon

she is smashing things all around her. One hand rakes

the wallpaper like claws.

Finally, she gets a hold of herself, becoming the

introverted Rogue we all know so well.

Then she stands slowly, looks at the others.

And she runs from the room. Storm runs after her.

The rest turn to Logan, who lays on the floor,

convulsing.

Jean goes to help him. She looks back at Cyclops. His

expression makes it clear that his worst fears about

Logan have come to pass.

EXT. PUBLIC BEACH - DAY

A familiar scene of suburban escapism. Crowded enough

that most people can move about unnoticed.

In fact, most people do not notice the very large

jellyfish shooting through the water at remarkable speed.

And only a few notice the COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT MAN

emerging from the water.

It is Senator Kelly, and he resembles in many ways a

jellyfish. His skin and innards are clear and gooey. It

is only when he comes completely and naked out of the

water that he returns to somewhat normal.

He walks up to the beach and people recoil from the very

sight of him. Pointing, whispering. Then just laughing

at the naked man.

Kelly grabs a towel off an empty chair, a Hawaiian shirt

off another.

Suddenly, he buckles, grabbing his stomach and lurching

away in terrible pain.

He barely pauses when he hears a childís voice in semi-

whisper:

CHILDíS VOICE

Mom, is that a mutant?

INT. HALLWAY - DUSK

Storm and Logan walk down the hall. Logan is wearing

sweats. He has obviously just woken up. The sun is low

in the horizon and the hall is suffused with an orange

glow.

Students pass by them. By now, the students have heard

rumors about what happened the night before. They watch

Logan fearfully as they pass by him.

LOGAN:

Why is everybody up at sunrise?

STORM:

The sun is setting, Logan. Youíve

been asleep for nineteen hours.

LOGAN:

What did she do to me?

STORM:

She borrowed your power to save her

life. When she touches someone, she

absorbs their strengths -- their

gifts. In your case -- your ability

to heal. Thatís why she keeps her

body covered.

LOGAN:

I felt like she almost killed me.

STORM:

If she held on any longer she could

have.

LOGAN:

And you think it helps calling her

Rogue?

Storm shakes her head, but remains patient.

STORM:

Weíve learned to embrace what we are

rather than hide it like an

affliction. For some, it has become

their identity. You mock the names

these people choose but they wear them

as badges of pride.

They arrive at the door to the gym.

LOGAN:

Inspiring -- Now what am I doing here?

CYCLOPS (O.S.)

I wanted to talk to you.

Logan turns and sees Cyclops.

CYCLOPS (contíd)

Storm, would you excuse us please?

STORM:

Of course.

She exits.

CYCLOPS:

Letís take a walk.

Cyclops begins to walk away in the other direction.

Logan just watches him go. After a moment, he decides it

might be more interesting to see where this is going. He

follows. They walk across the hall to:

INT. GYMNASIUM - NIGHT

On first glance, the gym looks really average. A fairly

standard boxing ring in the middle. A fairly standard

weight set nearby.

Then you notice the weights themselves are abnormally

large.

100. 200. 300. 400 pounds. All the way up to 2000.

And that is just one stack.

Cyclops enters first with Logan coming in behind him.

CYCLOPS:

How long have you been in Alaska?

LOGAN:

I donít remember. Is that what you

wanted to ask me?

Logan is barely through the door when Cyclops whips

around on Logan and thumps his finger into his chest.

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