Caldecott, Mississippi.

The woman known as Rogue stands in front of another grave. She's been like this ever since she's snapped out of her Famine persona. A man with silver hair named Pietro Maximoff stands behind her as she places three long stem white roses at the foot of the headstone.

"I guess I shouldn't be such a sucker," Rogue says, talking to the grave as if its occupant could hear her. "I kissed you and you were in a coma for much o' your teenage years. You eventually died from complications. But I guess I got what I deserved," she laughs. "You gave me a really strong Southern accent that stayed with me for years."

She sheds a tear. Pietro approaches her from behind and rubs her cheek. "Cody's death wasn't your fault, neither was Storm's. You've got to stop blaming yourself and living in the past. And besides, you still have a Southern accent, just not as thick and hillbillyish."

"Am I supposed to just forget about it?" Rogue asks.

"No," Pietro shakes his head. "You'll never forget the time you spent with them. But where ever they are now, they don't want to see you like a broken wreck."

"I'm guilt-ridden, Pietro," Rogue sniffles. "If I wasn't such a stubborn person, rushin' off to get Alastaire on my own, I'd never become a Horseman. And, I don't know...maybe all those people didn't have to die."

"Warren seemed to do okay. You've just got to give it time. Cable and the Twelve made sure Apocalypse didn't do anymore damage than he already did. Storm gave her life putting a stop to that so others could live," Pietro says. "And besides, you're still healing from your wounds. You shouldn't be teleporting everywhere like this."

"You followed me, didn't you?" Rogue asks. "And don't worry about me. I've absorbed my share of healing factors."

Pietro rubs his hair back, "Sorry, guess I'm still getting used to your catalogued powers. And I guess since Blink is still hurt, I expected you two to be at the same pace."

"I'm actually more concerned for her mental scars," Rogue says. "I mean, I'm not sure what she saw in Creed, but I guess I know what it's like to be betrayed by someone who's like family to you."

"You and me both," Quicksilver says. "Not a day goes by when I wish my father was more like Xavier."

Rogue manages a smile, "Well, even Xavier couldn't raise his son David like a normal child. I don't think any father is perfect. I didn't even know mine. He died...or something." She looks up into the sky, "I lied to people, actually. Sayin' my father was abusive...it was really my momma. Didn't want anybody to know who I was, not even Raven or Irene. I don't know if I was ashamed of my powers or just scared that I had a little piece of Cody in my mind. I was afraid they'd lock me up or something. Now...I...I'm not scared anymore."

Rogue laughs as she wipes away a tear, "Sorry...I'm just a bag of emotions. Literally." Pietro leans in and kisses her on the forehead. Rogue closes her eyes, "You know...it's silly of me to hide behind a name."

"It's for your protection, like how Quicksilver is to me."

"No...I chose the name Rogue to hide who I really was. I wasn't a rogue in real life...before I found out I was a mutant. What I'm tryin' to say is..."

"What, Rogue?" Pietro asks, still hugging her.

"My name's Marie Charleston," Rogue says finally. She chuckles, "Sounds like I'm just saying the name like it was someone else. It's been 'Rogue' for so long, I almost forgot my birth name. But it does feel good to finally get that off my chest."

"So, you want me to call you that from now on, when all these years, I've known you as Rogue?" Pietro asks.

Rogue shakes her head, "I don't know. Just in case we ever get married an' we need my real name for the marriage certificate or whatever." Rogue feels Pietro's awkwardness at the mention of marriage. He's still dealing with his divorce from Crystal.

"But I don't want you to call me that name...I stopped bein' Marie when I found out my DNA had a little something extra. It's kinda like with Joe, he knows his name's Charles Lehnsherr, but he hardly knows the name. It's like me suddenly calling you Pedro."

Quicksilver smirks as he arcs his eyebrow. He nods, "No, I know what you mean, really." A rain droplet runs down his leather jacket. Quicksilver looks up at the gray sky. "Looks like we better go. Are you okay now?"

Rogue nods as she traces the air with her finger, creating a golden portal. She and Pietro jump through it as they are taken back to the Outback.

Blink limps into the cafeteria, wearing nothing but a pair of bleach-bottom jeans, some slippers, and a green shirt. She has casts over her wrists and a bandage over her healing nose, not to mention cuts over her chest and her temple...and a few cracked ribs that were still healing. Fighting Sabretooth and surviving is the greatest feat Clarice Ferguson has ever faced.

She carries a tray of some chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes. Also in her grasp is a copy of USA Today. She sits down at a circular table and begins to read one of the front page stories. She extends her arm into a small portal and pulls out a can of Sierra Mist. She looks at the headline and can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction as well as loss.

SABRETOOTH KILLED BY FELLOW X-MEN

A mixed blessing for Omega. On the one hand, they had a known killer in their ranks. And on the other, they, or rather, Joseph killed him. The world thinks of them to be utter morons. Ironic how the sons of Magneto and Wolverine repeated a fateful fight by their fathers. Joseph took the adamantium from Sabretooth's skeleton and caused it to ooze out of his pores, just as Magneto did to Wolverine. Only Sabretooth didn't survive.

Blink always knew Joseph had a darkness to him. He came from a reality where Apocalypse reigned with an iron fist. Living in a world where only the strong survive would scar any child. Granted, Joseph has no memory of his childhood and the majority of his life, but Clarice thinks there could be a subconscious influence burried in Charles Lehnsherr's mind.

But that's not the only thing Blink is thinking about. It was something Sabretooth said to her as they were fighting that suggested that there was more to Psylocke than what everyone saw.

"But as long as yer huntin' down traitors, why don'tcha go after the Asian?"

John Allerdyce and Joseph both enter the cafeteria and sit down next to Blink at the circular table.

"Shouldn't you be in the infirmary resting?" Joseph asks. He takes a bite out of his ham and cheese sandwich.

Pyro pops the top off of his beer and takes a bite of his pizza. He takes out a notebook and begins scribbling notes down. "Sorry, mind if I work on my next book? An' let Clarice do what she wants. It's not like she's terminally ill. She's got some cuts and two broken wrists. Christ. If Deus or whoever shows up, the rest o' us will pick up the slack."

"Didn't Deus die during the Sentinel attack?" Joe asks.

"Oh...well, feck. I've got so many plots runnin' around in my head, I'm havin' a hard time discerning the real world from the characters in this here sequel," John says as he takes a swig of beer.

"Is it another gothic romance novel?" Joseph asks with a smirk.

Pyro looks at Joseph furiously for a few seconds, then quietly scribbles a few notes.

"Did you quit smoking yet?" Blink asks as she stuffs some mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Heh. No. Well, I'm down to four packs a day. I'm making progress," Pyro smirks as he continues to write some more stuff down.

"You're not supposed to smoke and use the patch, Johnny," Warren says as he walks in with a tray with salsbury steak. "You wanna get cancer so soon after the Legacy Virus?"

"Well look who the cat dragged in!" John shouts, applauding. "Feck, finally pull yourself from that cell phone o' yers?"

"We can't all make a living writing shit," Warren smirks.

"Feck you, Wings," Pyro says playfully. Both Joseph and Blink hold in their snickers. Archangel glares at Pyro. 'Wings' was the name Wolverine called him. Warren and Logan were never exactly close, so the fact Pyro is using it calls for trouble.

Warren sets his tray at the rectangular table sitting adjacent from the circular one. "No," he begins, walking over to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee, "I had to talk to some stock holders. Angel Inc is taking a slow but steady nosedive. Even the subsidary companies are thinking about selling themselves to someone else." He sighs, "I'm afraid if people just aren't liking the fact a mutant is running a multi-million dollar business."

"Don't worry, you'll pull through somehow. Didn't you original quintets get a big inheritance from Xavier?" Pyro asks.

"Yeah," Warren says as he sips his coffee. "But I gave my check to charity."

"Ah, well, that altruism always gets ya," Pyro nods. "You gotta be more aggressive, you know? Kick your rivals in the nuts."

"Yeah, well, I'm not using Omega's tactics in the business world," Warren smiles as he takes a bite of the steak.

"Why not?" Psylocke asks as she walks in with a banana peeled open. She, too, was recovering from wounds inflicted by Sabretooth, only a few cuts on her back. Blink suddenly becomes nervous. Pyro, on the other hand, suddenly becomes fixated on Betsy's mouth as she bites into the banana. He finds himself blushing. He looks over at Warren to see if he notices it.

Betsy wraps her arm around Warren as he smiles up at her, "Well, Angel Inc...how can I say this? There's psychological factors with the name. I have to maintain a good stance to win over with the public."

"What exactly does Angel Inc do?" Pyro asks with an arched eyebrow. Psylocke winks at him. Joseph and Blink notice this and suddenly feel awkward.

"Well, it's mainly a charity organization, but we do have some tech departments, some accounting firms and insurance houses. And of course, our stock shares. Naturally, we own some private airlines, too," Warren explains. "Plus, I own many other small businesses."

"So...you make a lot of money?" Pyro asks.

"We've been kind of having a break-even problem lately. The defecit is kind of high, too," Warren says.

Pyro shakes his head, "Forget I asked, all this business jargin is making me feel stupid."

"You don't need jargin for that, John," Betsy smiles.

Blink and Joseph glance at Pyro for his reaction. Joseph sees the article Blink is reading in USA Today. He clears his throat.

"Oh, ha-ha, nympho woman," Pyro jokes. "Sorry. Us non-ninjas can't keep up with you, Madame Braddock. And with your shadow powers, it's even harder. Let's pretend for a moment you're a sensible person. Ready? Go."

"I have never seen such immature behavior, John--" Betsy sighs.

"Okay," Pyro shouts. "Everyone who's not a whiny bitch, step forward. Oop! Not so fast, Bets."

"Hey!" Warren shouts, standing up. "Just because Creed's dead doesn't mean you have to take on the role of the resident badass!" Warren suddenly meets eyes with Blink. "Aw...damn, I didn't mean--"

She shakes her head and gives him a look as if it was nothing, "Don't worry about it, you can say his name around me. I'm not going to start crying or anything." She takes a bite of her pot pie. "Not like Rogue, anyway."

"She's always been that way, luv," Pyro says. "Give her a break."

Joseph sighs, taking one last look at the article depicting his savage revenge against Sabretooth, standing up and taking his tray with him. "I'm going to um...work on the comp."

"Bye," Blink calls out. Joseph doesn't answer, leaving Clarice somewhat cold.

Warren's cell phone rings. He shakes his head as he immediately pulls it to his ear, "What? What do you mean? Damn it, Newbury! I said to have that left with my assistant so she could fax it to me here in Australia! Ugh, hold on." He turns back to everyone, "I gotta take this." He kisses Betsy and takes his tray out of the cafe, yelling some more.

Pyro finishes his beer and lets out a belch. "Well, I'm gonna sit outside fer a bit. Maybe some fresh air can clear up this bloody writer's block." He leaves his tray as he takes his notebook and glances at Betsy. "Later, bitch." He nods at Blink, "Clarice." He walks out the door marked exit.

As the door clicks shut, Blink snifs through her nose slightly as she folds up the newspaper back into its propper presentation. "Still wondering if there's something?"

"What?" Blink asks.

Psylocke smiles as she tosses the banana peel into a darkened shadow in the corner. Blink feels it through her accute teleportational powers as it lands at the bottom of the garbage container on the far side of the room. "You know, something the reporters might have missed?" Psylocke asks.

"Like what?" Blink smiles slightly as she hides the newspaper under the lunch tray. "Joe tore the adamantium right out of him and he couldn't heal it. He...Sabretooth deserved it."

Betsy shakes her head, "No, I mean the fact that the X-Men looked like idiots. We were harboring a known assassin for the Jigoku and had a blasted killer in our ranks for months. We let SHIELD take Creed's bodybag, but Vargas just slipped away without a trace. I think the world believes we're losing our innocence." She begins to laugh histerically. "Oh fuck me, what do I know?"

"We saved El Salvador," Blink says.

"Oh," Betsy laughs, "right. Forgot about that one. What? Only two million homeless? Good for us. Then we stood around like wankers with our thumbs up our bums while 100,000 mutants get killed by Sentinels."

"Well, we stopped them, didn't we? We still don't know what happened to Warlock, but...." Blink sighs, "What about the Crimson Pirates...? We saved the entire world by stopping them."

"Yes, but for some reason, the Fantastic Four got the fruit basket for that one," Psylocke observes. "By my calculations, X-Men Omega will be out of commission in a few weeks. What with all the investigations. I mean, SHIELD knows where we are now, remember. Our secret base isn't so secret anymore."

"You," Blink mutters. "Mr. Creed was right. You're a traitor. And you're in league with the Jigoku! We should have known."

Betsy begins applauding, "Took you long enough. I've been telepathically holding back the truth for quite some time. Don't take it too personally. I never wanted to hurt any of you."

"Yeah right. You must have done something to Victor that made him kill Tsung so you could get the top spot, didn't you?" Blink asks.

"Oh, I had the top spot way before Tsung even declared himself the unofficial leader of the Jigoku. The little penis didn't even know how deep we actually rooted ourselves in Japan," Psylocke smiles. The red tattoo over her eye begins to glow bright red as the shadows of the cafeteria seem to branch out, forming tiny fingers as they envelop her. "Go ahead and tell Pietro. See if I care. He and the other X-Men won't believe you. After all, Sabretooth made a wonderful patsy, huh?"

Soon, the shadows totally enveloped her and Blink felt as Psylocke was transported elsewhere. The shadows then returned to normal and she was alone.

Blink was in a difficult position now. She had to make her move. But she'll let Psylocke strike first. Right now, that's the only way the X-Men would believe Betsy was the real traitor. Betsy has been probably clouding the X-Men's minds of the true agenda of the Jigoku for months...

Tokyo.

As the shadows condense into the slender, sexy form of Psylocke, Vargas kneels on the floor as he leans on his sword. <"Welcome back, Madame Braddock,"> the Spanaird speaks in Japanese.

She sighs as she unzips her leather jacket with a large purple X over the front and back of it. <"Turn around, Vargas. Unless you want to lose your last testicle?">

Vargas gets up as he puts his katana back in its sheathe. He subtley turns around as Betsy gets out of her X-Men uniform and into a black business suit. She sits in the marble desk and folds her hands. "All right, you can look."

Vargas silently turns around. His eyes widen as he realizes Psylocke has her breasts exposed. "Madre!" he exclaims, immediately turning around. Psylocke buttons her shirt up as she laughs.

"Okay, I'm serious now," she responds. Vargas looks at her nervously. "It's not a big assignment."

"It doesn't involve the X-Men, does it?" Vargas asks.

Betsy smiles, shaking her head, "Making progress with the speech therapy class, I see? Yes. It involves the X-Men. You are to kill Blink. She knows."

Vargas simply nods. "My sword is implanted with a mutant nullifier. She'll be useless against it."

Psylocke folds her hands together, smiling, "Hm. You might just get to see a little more skin if you complete this assignment, luv."

Vargas rolls his eyes as he walks through a shadowportal.

In Blink's room, on the second floor of the hotel, the walls are covered with posters of various bands, ranging from Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Korn, Phish, and Sevendust. Rock music was blazing from a CD player boom box. Blink was on her bed with forest green comforter, reading the latest issue of US Weekly. There is a knock at the door.

"Come in," she calls, expecting Joseph. Instead, it was Quicksilver, dressed in uniform. Clarice is startled slightly. "Um, what's up?"

"Sorry to bother you," Pietro says. "Actually, just wanted to know if you've noticed anything strange with Betsy lately."

"Well, when isn't she acting strangely?" Clarice jokes. Pietro's serious look on his face causes Blink to shift her lighthearted tone. "Well, have you talked with Rogue? I'm sure she can access empathy from her catalogue. Maybe she can find out what's wrong."

Pietro appears antsy as he rushes to the window in a blur. The posters on the wall flap up and down. He rubs his chin, "We've tried that. She appears to be masking herself." He turns back to Clarice, "It might have to do with the nature of the Crimson Dawn...y'know, not being able to 'see' her mind."

"Where is she now?" Blink asks. Pietro and the others still didn't know of Betsy's treachery. After all, Psylocke could be manipulating everyone to gang up on Blink.

"Cerebro's got her signature in Tokyo," Pietro explains. Before he can react, Vargas appears out of a shadow in the corner of the room.

"What in God's name?! Vargas?!" Quicksilver tries to grab the sword out of his hands, but finds his powers don't work. Vargas backhands him and prepares to stab Blink.

She vanishes in a flash of pink light, luckily for her, the null-field hadn't gotten close enough to cancel out her powers. Vargas simply trusts his sword behind him and manages to determine Blink would teleport behind him. Her hip is stabbed.

"Vargas!" Pietro shouts. But it was too late, he grabs Blink and melds through the shadows. He sighs through his nose and suddenly, everything makes sense. "Psylocke..."

Elsewhere in the hotel, Joseph, Pyro, and Archangel are lounging around in the lobby of the hotel, playing a game of poker. Suddenly, Archangel's skin begins to change blue and his wings manifest themselves.

"Wot is it? Dangah?" Pyro asks in his exaggerated Steve Irwin impression.

"Intruder?" Joseph asks, his magnetic field flaring up as a blue aura forms around his body and he hovers out of his chair.

"No," Warren's voice echoes. "Something's wrong with Betsy. Really wrong..."