BIOGRAPHY - Page 7
Rogue and her companions began their search with a visit to Spain, where the late Destiny had owned a house. Inside, they found fake identities created for them and other documents that transferred all of Destiny’s possessions to Rogue. Not much later, they came to be investigating a murder in Australia, with Gambit as the prime suspect. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #4, 6]
Rogue and Remy were only reunited for a short time before he was kidnapped by Shaitan, emissary of a vast inter-dimensional army. Gambit was used as the focal point of a device that summoned the endless legions of the warlord, Khan, to Earth for an invasion. Thanks to a force field covering the island of Madripoor - the entry point of the invading force - the X-Treme X-Men were the only super-team present to deal with the threat from the inside. While some of the team infiltrated Khan's tower, Rogue stayed behind as a diversion, with her powers supercharged by Sage's "jumpstart" effect so that she could summon on command any power imprint she had absorbed in the past.
Still, she suffered many injuries in combat and none worse than having her enemy Vargas drive his sword through her body and Gambit's. Rogue survived, in no small part due to Wolverine's healing factor, and revenged herself on Vargas but her system was trashed. The jumpstart and resulting mass trauma to her system shorted out her powers: not only did she lose her numerous "extra" powers but also the Ms. Marvel's abilities and her own absorption talent. Gambit suffered a similar fate after being used as a gateway between dimensions, so the two of them retired from active duty with the X-Men. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #12-19]
After traveling the world a bit, Rogue and Gambit found a place to stay in Valle Soleada, California. They liked it because, there, mutants and humans were actually living together in peace: Xavier’s dream come true! Quickly, they made new friends, for example a mutant named Paint, 
who gave Rogue a free tattoo on her left arm that could easily be removed again if she wanted it undone. To better fit in, Rogue used the fake name of Anna Raven (the last name obviously being a nod to Mystique) when she got a job as a garage mechanic. Turned out she was quite good at it and she provided her income the honest way, whereas Gambit would stroll away for some thieving tours every now and then. Naturally, the pair couldn't stay away from the X-Men for too long. After a few months of happiness, they were visited by the X-Treme X-Men team, who were investigating some odd events going on in Valle Soleada. [X-Treme X-Men X-Posé #2, X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #31]
Apparently, someone was trying to turn the neighborhood into a “mutant-only” place, and baseline humans not willing to sell their houses were threatened and blackmailed to comply. Even Rogue was targeted and was attacked by the X-Men’s old adversary Revenant, 
who made Rogue experience her worst fears in a series of nightmares in which she turned into Mystique and killed all her teammates. Most surprisingly, the trail led to the local branch of the X-Corporation, which had been infiltrated by the mysterious villain called Elias Bogan. The X-Men helped the X-Corporation L.A. to expose the villain’s activities and, despite being powerless, Gambit and Rogue tagged along as well, relying only on their intellect and their hand-to-hand combat training. While attacking Bogan’s base, the heroes were confronted with illusionary scenarios modeled after their worst fears — in Rogue’s case it was once again turning into a terrorist like Mystique. However, she focused and managed to gather all her strength to overcome Bogan’s influence. Eventually, all the X-Men emerged victorious and, while Bogan escaped, his base was destroyed. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #32-35, 41-45]
Shortly thereafter, the X-Men learned that, in their absence, a fake Magneto destroyed major parts of New York and Xavier’s mansion in Westchester. Storm’s team didn’t hesitate to rush back home to help, for which Rogue asked Sage to jumpstart Gambit’s powers again. 
Sage did as asked and apparently she also offered to do the same to Rogue, who was not ready yet to give up the ability to touch her lover. However, it seems that during the long weeks that Xavier’s mansion was rebuilt, Rogue’s absorption powers returned by themselves, her body obviously having fully recovered. While she and Gambit would have preferred some downtime to come to terms with this, they were put on the active roster of the team led by Havok when Cyclops reorganized the entire X-Men in the wake of Xavier’s departure to Genosha. Just like the other X-Men, Rogue was given a squad of students to teach, which she happened to enjoy very much. [X-Treme X-Men (1st series) #46, Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #444, X-Men (2nd series) #157]
Tragedy struck already on the new team’s first mission. Investigating the sighting of a new mysterious mutant in China, the X-Men were battled by the Eight Immortals, super-powered protectors of the ancient Chinese Homeland. 
During the fight, Rogue knocked over one of the Immortals, making him lose his aim. The bullet hit Gambit’s charged up card, making it explode right into the Cajun’s own face, blinding him. [X-Men (2nd series) #158-160] This put a further strain to the lovers‘ relationship, already unable to touch Rogue, Gambit now could not see her anymore either. Though Rogue was rarely away from his side, Gambit often blamed her for his condition, making both of them feel bad. During one of their arguments, Gambit became so angry over being dependent that he pushed Rogue away. [Rogue (3rd series) #1]
The X-Men’s next mission took the team to Rogue’s birthtown, Caldecott, Mississippi. Needing some time away from Gambit, she decided to stay there afterwards and sort out her past. Returning home, she learned that her father had not been there in several years and that her Aunt Carrie now owned the place. Carrie was unwilling to talk, so Rogue simply absorbed the things she wanted to know from her, and thus learned about some of the events that happened between her parents. She also managed to track down the shaman, Lorenzo Moontreader, who back then had performed the ritual in which Rogue’s mother, Priscilla, had disappeared. Rogue’s quest was interrupted several times — by some evil spirits attacked the town, by a young girl that looked exactly like Rogue and was hunted by these spirits, by the mysterious Campbell St. Ange, who claimed to have known Rogue’s mother and was somehow immune to Rogue’s absorption talent, and eventually by Gambit himself, who had tracked down Rogue in order to make up with her.
In order to solve the puzzle, all the players entered the Far Banks, the dream realm to which that Priscilla had been taken nearly twenty years ago. Turned out that she had created a Rogue’s twin from a spirit, so not to be alone in this strange place. However, as she got older and explored the physical world, Priscilla had sent the spirits after her. As the continued attacks endangered both worlds, Campbell had arranged for the X-Men to be lured to Caldecott, as he knew only the real Rogue would be able to end the problem. Face to face with her real daughter, Priscilla was about to destroy her creation, though Rogue intervened. She absorbed the construct into herself, thus gaining the experience and memories of having been raised by her own mother. Mother and daughter exchanged a few happy moments until discovered that Priscilla’s physical form had been destroyed when she came to the Far Banks, but driven by anger and rage, she had survived in this form. Now confronted with this knowledge, Priscilla discorporated, giving Rogue a final goodbye. Once back on Earth, Rogue visited her aunt again and made up with her, before returning to the X-Men. [Rogue (3rd series) #1-6]
At Christmas, Rogue asked Sage to use her powers on Gambit another time. In combination with some earlier attempts to cure his blindness by some of the X-Men’s healers, Sage’s “jumpstart“ effect worked and restored Gambit’s sight. Soon thereafter, when Rogue and Gambit went on a date, Rogue found a weird-looking disc in Gambit’s coat. The disk containing some footage of him making out with another woman, Gambit successfully managed to prevent Rogue watching it, though it was more than clear that there were some serious issues in their relationship. [X-Men (2nd series) #165, Gambit (4th series) #3, 10]
Later, the X-Men were sent out to Alaska to investigate the threat of Golgotha, an alien creature that could bring out its victims worst fears into reality. During the case, Rogue and Gambit believed that their love was over and were better of without each other. Gambit even suspected that Rogue and Wolverine had feelings for each other, and didn’t want to stand in their way. Indeed, while under Golgotha’s influence, Logan and Rogue shared a kiss. Naturally, Rogue’s power was draining the life out of Wolverine, but fortunately Rogue came back to her senses before there were any long-terms effects. When Golgotha was finally destroyed, Gambit and Rogue apologized to one another, and made up. [X-Men (2nd series) #169]