I don't own it, I'm just playing with it. Want more? Please review.

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"Rogue!"

She came awake suddenly. Sitting up, Rogue rubbed her forehead, wanting to get rid of the ache there.

"What happened to me?" she demanded, whirling around to face Essex, who stood next to the table.

"You passed out during the procedure, your body's way of defending itself against the electrical onslaught. Consider yourself lucky. Mr. LeBeau was conscious throughout the entire process," Essex said, his tongue flicking out. Rogue shuddered, repulsed.

"Is it over?" she asked. She hopped off the table and proceeded to pull her uniform back on.

"This part is, yes. But before we return to retrieve Mr. Rasputin, I'd like you to demonstrate your powers for me."

Rogue leveled a look of disbelief at him.

"Demonstrate how? What's there to demonstrate? You want me to zap you?"

Essex rolled his eyes…she wasn't sure how she knew that he did, because of their uniformly red hue, but he did.

"I want you to take a deep breath and find potential within yourself. The procedure should have stimulated latent energies within you. Find them!"

He's out of his goddamn mind! Rogue thought, but nonetheless she did what she was told.

Nothing.

"What am I supposed to be feeling?" she asked.

"Think of a power that you've stolen from a fellow mutant. Any power will do."

Rogue thought of Kurt's teleportation. The distinct sound, the smoke, the scent of brimstone…

Bamf!

"Aaah!" Rogue yelped, finding herself transported a few feet across the room. Essex, however, looked unsurprised.

"As I'd expected. All you need do is merely think of another mutant's power that you've obtained, no matter how long ago, and you can summon it to the forefront of your mind and use it."

"Oh my God," Rogue breathed when she realized what that meant.

"Yes…you could potentially now be the strongest mutant on the planet, because you could be every mutant on the planet!"

"And…the other?" Rogue demanded. She couldn't bring herself to say the word, because if she did, the power might vanish.

"You mean the power of touch?" Essex leered.

"Yes."

"Your collar remains off. Try to touch me."

Rogue swallowed hard and stepped forward. Surely he wouldn't let her touch him if he thought she'd absorb him involuntarily, right?

She laid a pale, delicate finger on the hand Essex proffered. Nothing. No pull, no rush of powers or memories. Just her skin against his.

"Now, consciously try to drain me," Essex murmured, his eyes locked on their connected flesh.

As soon as she thought of it, the pull started and Rogue yanked her hand away as if she'd put it to a hot stove. She'd only gotten a flash of his thoughts, but it was enough to terrify her.

His eyes glowed, as if he knew what she'd gotten out of the experiment.

"Well done, Rogue. You must now consciously use your powers. No longer will they keep you from human contact. Are you not pleased?"

It was a loaded question. On the one hand, he'd given her a previously unreachable level of control of her powers, as well as the awesome ability to access a veritable filing cabinet of various mutations. On the other hand, she recalled the flashes of his intentions that she gleaned, and felt nothing but dread.

"I'm pleased," she said finally, knowing her pause had tipped Essex off that she was uneasy.

"Good. Now lead us out to the hallway."

She nodded and walked in front of him toward the blown-open doorway. He grasped her shoulder and stopped her.

"Another way."

Realizing that he wanted her to demonstrate her ability to access others' powers, she grasped his arm firmly and concentrated.

Bamf!

"Aaah!" Kitty shrieked as Rogue and Essex teleported practically on top of her in the holding cell.

"Sorry Kit, didn't really see where I was going," Rogue mumbled, releasing Essex's arm. For his part, he looked delighted.

"Rogue, my dear, you have been delightful, absolutely delightful. I certainly hope that Mr. Rasputin is as well-behaved," Essex said. "Before we depart, however…"

Rogue gasped as her inhibitor collar buzzed back to life.

"…Excellent. Now, my titan, if you would follow me."

Essex left the cell. Piotr sent Kitty a sympathetic glance, which she returned. She quickly ran up to him and stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek.

"Be careful," she whispered to him.

"I shall try, Katya," he said before he disappeared into the hallway. The door shut behind him, locking Rogue, Kitty and Remy in the cell.

The scent of brimstone still hung in the air, and the mood was tense as the three young mutants glanced at each other in an unspoken dare to break the silence. Remy broke first.

"Are you all right, cherie?" he asked Rogue. She, like him, looked slightly ill, pale (paler than usual, anyway) and weary.

"I'm fine. Just…I saw his thoughts," she muttered, rubbing her temples as if trying to purge Essex from her mind.

"Was it bad?" Kitty asked gently, trying to elicit more information from her friend.

"You could say that. The guy's a complete nut," Rogue said.

Remy snorted.

"Well obviously. Anything else?"

"He is going to let us go, but it's not as simple as that," Rogue said, trying to put into words the broken images and ideas she'd gotten from Essex. "He doesn't really want us, he wants our abilities and potential. He's keeping genetic material from each of us to use later on, on other mutants and…himself."

"Himself?" Kitty asked, incredulous.

Rogue nodded.

"He thinks that if he combines our material and does that procedure on himself, he'll be even more powerful. The only reason he's doing this to us at all is to amplify and advance our abilities so our material will be stronger. He's not in it to help us."

"I'm shocked," Remy said, eyes blazing. "I knew that guy was out of his mind."

"I can't believe we let him do this to us!" Kitty cried, on the verge of tears.

Remy rounded on her.

"Hey now! I dunno about you, chaton, but I remember him saying that if we didn't cooperate, he'd kill us. Four of us, with no powers? We're all reasonably well trained, but against a fully powered telepath? No chance!"

"Some things are worth dying for," Rogue said quietly, putting an arm around Kitty's shaking shoulders.

"Not this, Rogue, and you know it. Besides, he has no guarantee of success. Who's to say that he doesn't turn that thing on himself and it backfires?" Remy reasoned.

"Well…with our powers developed, we'd stand a better chance against him," Kitty said, tears drying on her face.

"We'll figure something out. He can't control us forever," Remy said, looking at the door as if he expected an army to burst through it.

"Wait, Rogue. How'd you see his thoughts?" Kitty asked.

Rogue sighed. In the confusion, she hadn't gotten the chance to explain what had happened.

"He made me touch him," she mumbled.

"He what?!" Remy roared, lunging forward.

"I didn't want to!" Rogue cried. "He had me touch him at first to prove that I could without draining him. Nothin' happened, I didn't absorb him. Then…then he told me to consciously think about draining him, and I did. I drained him the second time, and got his thoughts."

"So you can, like, control your powers now?" Kitty asked, wide-eyed. "You can touch now?"

"I think so," Rogue said, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Remy. "In order to absorb people, I have to consciously think of doing it. It's not automatic anymore."

"Well, that's great!" Kitty said enthusiastically. "Even if we had to go through all of this sh…stuff…to do it."

Rogue smirked.

"You can say 'shit,' Kitty, I won't tell the professor or Scott."

"Anything else, Rogue?" Remy asked lightly. Somehow he didn't think Rogue would be this tense if all that had been affected was her control.

"Er, yeah. I can call up other absorbed powers at will. It's like looking up books in the library," Rogue said, trying to explain the process in terms they'd understand.

Kitty's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean? Like, you can use other mutants' powers? Can't you do that already?"

"Well, sort of. The powers never seem to last very long, and I have a hard time controlling them when I absorb them," Rogue said. "This way, all I have to do is think of another mutant's power that I've taken, and I can use it. Like, when we teleported into the cell, I was thinking of Kurt's power."

"Whoa," Kitty whispered. "Do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean, Kit?" Rogue asked dryly, humoring her friend.

"You're, like, the most powerful mutant now! You can do anything!"

"I don't want to do anything, Kitty. I just wanted to be able to control what I already had," Rogue said, sadness in her voice.

"And now you can, cherie," Remy said with a small smile, which she tried to return.

"I hope Piotr is okay," Kitty said, glancing at the door.

"I wish the bastard would hurry up," Remy complained, sliding to the floor against the wall. "I'm sick of being cooped up in this metal cube, I'm going stir crazy!"

"You're not the only one, Swamp Rat," Rogue said, but there was no bite to her voice as she sat on the floor next to Remy, her head unconsciously leaning against his arm.

"We'd better brace ourselves here in a few minutes," Remy said. "Because if the head case does to the Russian what I think he will, we're gonna be feeling it. Oh, we're gonna be feeling it."

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Piotr did not speak one word during the entire walk to the procedure room, and Essex in turn did not speak to him. It was only when they reached the door and Piotr saw the destroyed door did he comment.

"Ah, this has Remy written all over it," he murmured, examining the burnt remains of the gnarled door.

"Indeed it does, Mr. Rasputin. Now if you'd come inside, we can get this over with."

A few minutes later, Piotr found himself down to his boxers, lying stark still on the table and Essex hooked him up to the machine. He briefly considered attempting to overpower Essex on his own; even without his power, he was still exceptionally strong and fit.

"Don't even think about it," Essex snarled. "I'd have you writhing on the floor in agony before you could land a punch."

It was pointless to deny what he'd been thinking, so Piotr remained silent.

"For that little stunt, I won't disable your collar," Essex snapped, eyes flashing. "You'll just have to trust that I've improved you, I won't give you the opportunity to prove it by smashing me through a wall!"

Again, Piotr said nothing. He figured it was better to at least attempt to be stoic around Essex. Any overt show of anger or emotion was likely to be punished.

He remained cool and unemotional right up until Essex threw the machine's switch.

Then he screamed, the agony escaping his lips in a way that it hadn't with Remy. Unlike Rogue, his body refused to defend itself by falling unconscious.

"What is happening to me?!" he cried out, bucking on the table.

Knives…hot, sharp knives…everywhere…

"I am improving you, Mr. Rasputin. Deep within you lies the potential to be a god, a titan! You call yourself Colossus, and I shall make you a true one."

Fingers, in his brain, poking around, what were they looking for…?

"Pay no mind to that odd sensation in your head. It's merely the machine looking through your mind, looking for latent triggers. It will all be over soon, if you don't lose your mind first," Essex said gently, rubbing a hand over Piotr's forehead.

Somehow, the machine began to wind down. The minutes felt like an eternity, an eternity of pain, discomfort and terror. Because of his mutation and imposing figure even under normal circumstances, Piotr was quite unfamiliar with all-out fear, having so rarely anything to be afraid of. This, though, this fear of losing his mind, trumped all else.

It ended, and Piotr sat up as Essex disconnected the electrodes. The collar still pulsed, having never been turned off, but even with it on, Piotr could still feel a dormant beast purring within him. The collar might keep his powers at bay, but regardless, he felt them clearly. They were there.

"At this time I'd normally give you the opportunity to discover your abilities by disabling the collar," Essex said, holding up his remote control. "Unfortunately, given the nature of your abilities, that won't be possible. You'll have to let me know how it goes once I release you."

Piotr snorted in disbelief as he pulled his uniform back on.

"You doubt my word all you want, but haven't I kept my word thus far? I promised to improve you all, and I have!"

"You have kept us prisoners against our will!" Piotr barked, his repressed anger coming out. "You threatened us with death if we did not go along with you, yet this experiment could easily have killed us all!"

"Indeed, it could have. But if it had, I would have found other candidates. They wouldn't have been who I'd have wanted, but we all must make sacrifices," Essex replied.

"You are insane," Piotr said emphatically.

"Perhaps. But for now, we must head back to the cell and retrieve the Shadowcat."

"You should not do this to Katya!" Piotr said angrily as he followed Essex out of the room.

"Your emotions blind you, Mr. Rasputin," Essex snapped as they walked through the hallway. "You do not see Kitty Pryde as a weapon, as a mutant, no. You see her as a friend and a potential companion. As you increase your wisdom, you will discover that such emotional attachments are wasteful and problematic."

"That is where we differ, then," Piotr muttered.

The two men spent the rest of the return walk in silence.

When they opened the door to the holding cell, the other three mutants looked surprised. It was obvious that they'd been expecting Colossus to burst through one of the walls.

"For my own safety, and his, I have disallowed Mr. Rasputin to demonstrate his potential," Essex said by way of explanation. "Believe me though, it is there. Now, Miss Pryde, if you will?"

Piotr and Kitty gave each other a firm hug before the youngest of them held her chin up and followed Essex out the door.

Remy and Rogue went to embrace Piotr, who looked agonized as his eyes remained on the door, his thoughts on Kitty.

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Like Rogue, Kitty almost immediately passed out once the process began. The stress was simply too much for her to take, and her mind and body simply shut down in self-defense.

Essex had to use a slight electric jolt to wake her up. When she did, her movements were jerky and violent.

"God!" she cried, her eyes immediately watering with tears as she remembered the split second she spent in agony.

"Not quite, Miss Pryde, at least, not yet," Essex answered. "You may redress."

Kitty avoided eye contact with him as she pulled her uniform on over her shorts and camisole. The collar still vibrated slightly around her neck, still active.

"Would you like to explore your powers, Miss Pryde?" Essex asked. "Do not bother denying it; I know what you want. Your curiosity could one day be your downfall, you know."

Kitty huffed.

"Fine, I want to practice it."

"Yes, of course. And if I let you practice it, do you promise to be a good girl and not try to escape?"

"I promise," Kitty said, knowing in her gut that resistance was futile.

"It is futile, yes," Essex said as he switched her collar off.

"I don't feel different," Kitty said, exasperated. "Are you sure that everyone has these latent abilities?"

"Oh yes, Shadowcat, yes. Theoretically, there's really no such thing as exceeding your potential. It is simply a matter of will."

As the words left his mouth, Kitty gasped. It was like what happened when she phased, only now, it was just…how she was.

"Oh my God!" she cried as her body appeared to flicker in and out of visibility. She passed her hand through the table, finding that she could do it without thinking of it. She pictured her solid, normal form, and immediately she shifted back to it.

"Yes, fascinating!" Essex exclaimed, clapping lightly. "That is your true form now, Miss Pryde. Your weak, solid human form will become secondary. You must consciously attempt to assume it!"

Without warning, he gripped the nape of Kitty's neck and plowed her head down against the solid block that formed the table. Kitty yelped and phased herself, finding her head and shoulders lodged in the table as Essex released her. She began to panic, worried she might not be able to breathe, except that…she could. Normally she was limited in her phasing because of a need to breathe, but now, she could breathe within the molecules of the table as easily as she could anywhere else.

She released herself from the table, understanding what Essex had been trying to prove when he forced her into it.

"So, what? I can stay in phasing mode all the time and breathe when I'm phasing, no matter for how long?"

"That would be correct. You might practice this with Wolverine at some point, but I'd be willing to bet that you can now phase through extraordinarily dense materials, such as adamantium.

"How marvelous though. Normally you have to work hard during combat to concentrate on dodging dangerous objects. Now, though, you don't have to expend that energy! You're invincible!"

Kitty shrugged. Perhaps she was.

"I'm going to turn your collar back on before I take you back to your cell," Essex said, reaching for his remote.

"I thought you were going to release us!" Kitty cried.

"Oh, I am. In time."

As he turned away from her, his finger on the remote's switch, Kitty acted fast. She concentrated on her neck, activating her phasing power. Essex flipped the switch of the remote, unaware that while it was on, it wasn't technically in contact with Kitty's skin. Kitty was extremely careful not to otherwise activate her powers and clue him in on what she'd done. She also struggled to keep her mind as blank as possible, instead projecting a normal sense of fear and dread that wouldn't arouse his suspicions. His back was turned to her now; he wasn't paying any attention to the few inches of her neck where the collar pulsed against what amounted to nothing.

The two made the already well worn walk back to the cell, Kitty praying that her sudden boldness would not be for nothing.