Prologue

New Orleans was a city of mystery and magic, where superstitions were not entirely false notions and practically anything out of the ordinary was possible. It was a playground for the wicked and the mischievous; one of the few places where the ghosts of the past walked amongst the rebellious youth and joined in with the sinful fun.

That's why it was Remy Lebeau's city; he was young, handsome, and loved to explore all the excitement life had to offer no matter to consequence.

Mardi Gras was just another night for him to kick back, take down as many drinks as he could handle, run around seeking thrills to satisfy his intense lust for women, and see where he ended up in the morning. However, it was the one time a year the entire city cut loose and joined him in with his fun; the vibe of the night was so deliciously bad and as Remy walked the streets with a very attractive girl on his arm he knew he'd never be able to leave his city for anything.

"Awah Remy," the girl beside him exclaimed as she ran her hand up his muscular arm, "I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun."

"Bon," Remy replied looking down into her brown eyes before he took another gulp of his bourbon, "but don't forget de night is still young."

"Oh Remy, you're so dirty, tell me about all the dirty little things your gonna do to me," she continued, her voice slurring from all the drinks she'd previously had.

Have my way with you on the wall of an alleyway and then leave you there, Remy thought to himself growing tired of his companion, it was Mardi Gras, he wanted to start some action that no one else could compare with, he also wanted to see if he could break his record for the number of beautiful ladies he'd slept with in one night, thus far it was four.

Remy was about to suggest they go somewhere a bit more private but before he got the chance he saw her eyes widen and a huge grin cross her face as they passed a palm reader.

"Common Remy, let's do it! I wanna see if we are gonna be together forever!" she cried taking his hand and trying to pull him back to the booth.

"S'il vous plait," Remy pleaded trying to distract her, "Remy not into that sort of thing cherie, he don't like to mess with magic."

"But it'll be fun!" she pouted letting him go and putting both hands on her hips, "Common scaredy-cat if it's the price you're so afraid of it's on me."

Remy was about to protest but she took a hold of him once again and he decided to just give in, the odds that the woman could really read palms were low and maybe her fortune for them would allow for him to get his companion into bed right away. He could already feel the tingling of his lower half when he thought about getting to a bed and the things he was going to do there.

"Hello," his date slurred as she threw down a twenty on the palm readers table, "I'm Renee and this is Remy, we'd like our palms read please," she continued extending her hand out eagerly, "I wanna know if we are gonna be married some day."

As Renee spoke he could almost feel his engagement ring in his pocket burning. Not that he cared, his fiancée knew he was a man who couldn't stick to one woman, but he was afraid the woman had seen many hands and would notice the marks around his ring finger, ending his chance with Renee after he'd worked for so long for a shag.

The woman took his date's hand, he just now noticed how terribly old she was, and her dark brown eyes seemed to hold the wisdom of someone who had lived for a hundred years. She made him feel uneasy and he was suddenly afraid she might actually be able to read who he was by his hand. He no longer cared about her exposing his engagement to Renee; he was horrified she'd expose him as being a mutant in the middle of the street.

"You will find the man you are going to be forever with, just not tonight," the old lady commented as she stared down at the younger girls hand, "he will satisfy you and make you very happy, you'll want for nothing material because of your financial security, money will never be an issue, and as for your life line I see you living for a good long time, no diseases fortunately. Your line for children indicates you shall have three."

Renee's eyes widened, "Oh really! Wow that sounds so amazing! Oh why can't the future be today?"

The old lady lost interest very quickly in the girl and turned her eyes to Remy. She reached out her hand to his and he could feel his heart race as he gave his palm over to her. It seemed like an eternity before she began to speak and as she spoke her voice was very serious.

"You are wild young man, not at all looking to the future. Your life revolves around satisfying your groan and pleasing your family. You are enjoying this lifestyle for now but things will change, oh yes, they will completely alter. The day your world will change is just ahead on the horizon, you will have a new family that loves you and requires no token of your affection, they will love you simply for who you are and you will feel peace after a long time in a storm. But first you will meet the girl, the girl who will tame you; I warn you she'll push your weakness to its limit, she'll be fiery and beautiful, everything you've dreamed of and more, yet she will not completely be yours…."

"Thank you very much," Remy said as he pulled his hand roughly from hers, "but I've heard enough, Renee let's go."

Grabbing Renee's arm he stood and began to walk off, he heard the woman calling behind him and he didn't want to hear what else she had to say but her voice seemed to pierce through the crowd.

"You only seek to gain advantage Gambit but a rogue will stop you right in your tracks!"

Unaware of what she was speaking of Remy continued through the crowds leaving the strange lady behind him.

The rest if his night was wilder than he could've ever imagined and when he woke up the next morning he had completely forgotten his conversation with the palm reader.

(BREAK 6 years later)

Gambit, formally known as Remy Lebeau, who wanted nothing to do with his past including his name, landed on the Bayville dock on a bright sunny day, his mood quite the opposite of the weather.

Damn, Gambit need a smoke bad, he thought to himself as his burning red eyes took in the competition standing across from the rest of his teammates and himself.

Currently Gambit was running with a group known as the Acolytes, a name he despised due to the fact that it meant follower but the paycheck his boss, Magneto, cut him every two weeks was too hefty for him to refuse. He wasn't opposed to the job either, while he thought some of the old man's ideas about destroying the human race were a bit extreme, he loved causing trouble and chaos, and he certainly got to do so by being an Acolyte.

His team members consisted of two other young men who had incredible powers and the same drive for destruction. The oldest of the youth was Piotr, a Ruxssian who had the ability to turn himself into a tin man of demolition and had some intense fighting skills. There was also John, an Australian who was a pyro manic to say lightly and had the power to control fire, making it do his bidding. Finally the oldest in the group by far was Sabertooth, though Gambit didn't know his exact age it was obvious he had lived through a lot, the only two things the boys could conclude from the few stories they heard of him were that you didn't want to get on the guy's bad side and most importantly you didn't get between him and his rival Wolverine.

They were a powerful team and had already caused quite a few events that headlined the evening news; however, the X-men were the one group in town that Magneto said had any chance of interfering with their plans and they were all currently standing on the other end of the dock. If Gambit had judged by just one glance he would've boasted that he could take out eighty five percent of the team simply with combat skills, the ones he was referring to were the younger ones, but there were about three of the older mutants he could see being a threat.

The tall beautiful red head, though fragile looking, was actually one of his main concerns, though his other team members may not have known it yet he knew she was a telepath. Gambit had no strong telepathic powers of his own, but his empathy levels were high enough that he could sense when someone was trying to read his thoughts. Her mind was pressing up against his trying to get in and it barely took him a second to put up a thick mental wall that he could tell surprised her.

Her beautiful eyes caught his briefly and she gave him a callous glare; when he winked she turned her head away as if she was disgusted.

Not my type anyway petite, Gambit snapped in his mind, making sure if she was still listening she could hear it.

Later that day Gambit wouldn't be able to recall who started the fight or how because it all happened so fast but next thing he knew everyone was in a fight. First, he found himself up against one of the younger mutants, the blue boy barely looked like he had hit puberty, but Gambit gave him credit for his remarkable ability to control his vanishing powers. In Gambit's bad mood he had looked forward to using his fists literally rather than for his powers, but as the boy flashed back and forth all around him he had no other choice.

Pulling out his cards he flipped them through his hands knowing exactly where his joker was, taking the card in his hand he instantly let the warm glow of his kinetic energy flow through his hand to the object, all the while carefully watching his blue opponent flash before and away from his eyes. It only took one card his aim was so good, but just as the hairball appeared again the glowing card was beneath his feet. The boy jumped up attempting to flash away again but the card exploded sending him flying, there was no real damage done other than the bottom of his shoes getting scorched, but he was in a condition for one of his less skilled team mates to handle.

Looking around Gambit was searching for a new opponent; it didn't take him too long to find a few possible candidates. Over by the shipping cargo there were two young mutants trying to fight off John, both female, and both seemed to have some decent level of skill. He originally wanted the petite brown haired girl for himself but he noticed instantly her power was to walk through things, which made John's attempts to start an even bigger fire pointless since she was just skimming through it towards him for an attack, and Gambit felt he'd had enough of transporters for the day. His other choice was his least favorite because off first glance the other girl's looks were completely not what he went for in a woman, dark makeup, pale, and an awkward body because of her wide hips with no shape to back them up.

Still, Gambit decided it was her or he go against another male, which he was suddenly feeling far too playful to deal with.

His prey was climbing up one of the trailers, a far too obvious attempt to attack John from above, so with a smirk Gambit pulled out another card and sent one flying towards the trailer.

Once again his mark was right on the target and the girl was suddenly stopped in her tracks by the explosion. It was obvious by the look on her face that he had spooked her but it didn't take long for her small eyes to glance his way, the glare she gave him was so angry and fiery that he couldn't hide his smirk of amusement.

"My apologizes mademoiselle," Gambit hollered just loud enough so only she could hear him as he took a small but dramatic bow, "de Gambit don't mean to make such a messy introduction, he just wanted to ask you for a dance."

If the explosion hadn't thrown the girl off his comment had, he wasn't close enough to tell for sure but he could've sworn he saw her lip quiver, from anger or shock he wasn't sure, but he wouldn't blame her if it was because she was astonished of his charming looks.

"Ah don't dance with nasty Swamp Rats that crawled out a New Orleans gutter," was her harsh reply and it was Gambit's turn to be shocked by the southern accent. He couldn't tell what area for sure with just a few words, but his first guess was Mississippi.

"Oh," Gambit continued hiding his shock, "well then what is it you do wit Swamp Rats?"

"Catch them an then claw their eyes out," she hollered as she suddenly burst into a run towards him.

The chase began and Gambit found himself winding through a maze of crates, he ran just fast enough so she couldn't catch up to him but not so fast she'd lose track of him.

She had a sharp tongue and he had to admit a girl with wit like that in the bedroom would make for some very hot dirty talk, he just wished the better looking girls had that saucy wittiness.

He could feel her getting very close, she was a fast runner, and normally he would've been able to keep her pace but with each step she took closer the more his senses felt her strong feelings of sadness, something he had too much of himself to add on another's. Anger was the feeling that coated all the rest of her emotions due to being in battle, but the deeper his empathy went the more obvious it became she was a very lonely and miserable girl.

We all got issues petite, don't need to be feelin like you're the ONLY one with problems, Gambit thought the himself frustrated as he came to a halt so he could pull his senses away from her feelings, he took a huge sigh of relief when he did so, never had he met another individual who was that miserable. He tried not to think about it because his initial feeling was that no one should feel that miserable when the world offered so many fun distractions, however, when he settled to think about it he considered that maybe she was going through something terrible that no one else could understand. But as always his first thought won out because he didn't want to consider the feelings of sympathy and guilt that came with the second.

She was very close to him now he could feel it, just behind the particular crate he chose as his hiding spot and her pace had slowed down as well.

Really think you be sneaky there? Gambit sarcastically thought to himself as he tried to think of a strategy to get himself out of this mess, he hadn't expected a depressed teenage Speedy Gonzales. He had one more power up his sleeve, like his empathy it wasn't strong but he could use hypnotic charm every now and then with his eyes to slow down his opponent, only trick to that was he would have to be close and very close, which he suddenly realized wouldn't be a problem at all when she came turning around the corner.

It took Gambit less than half a second to put on his poker face smirk and about another second to catch her eyes with his. She paused dead in her tracks and for a moment he caught the quickest glimpse of fear in her eyes, his own red on blacks were blazing brightly and the sudden softness of her features indicated she was at his mercy, but only to a certain point.

Leaning forward to get a better look at her eyes he noticed right away they were green, a very bright green.

Very pretty, he thought to himself as he leaned yet closer, meaning to give her a peck on the lips just because he could, but his hold on her somewhat broke as she backed away from him and he abandoned the idea. Later he would realize how lucky he had been not to touch her.

Slowly pulling a card out of his pocket he energized it and handed it out to her, anyone in their right mind wouldn't have taken it, but she was lost deeply in his eyes and extended her hand for the card.

Breaking eye contact he gave her a real quick up and down, she wasn't as bad looking as he had believed, but he still didn't see anything remarkable about her other than the fact that her eyes were very pretty and she had somewhat of a decent rack.

Bye bye chere, he thought to himself as he backed away from her, a card glowing brightly between them. Giving her a final bow he turned and took off as fast as he could, it wasn't much later that he heard the explosion and he was sure she'd quite literally be toast.

As Gambit searched for his next component he suddenly had a vague memory from a Mardi Gras celebration from many years ago, his date and himself had gotten their palms read, and while he had long forgotten what the old lady had said he could still recall the old woman's eyes. Just as he shook off the memory the mutant girls green eyes replaced those of the old woman's and despite himself he hoped she'd managed to get away before any serious damage was done.

Part 2: At The Mansion (one month later)

When young mutant Kitty Pyrde walked, or rather morphed herself, through her bathroom door into her bedroom she had to try her best to conceal a laugh as she observed her good friend and roommate, Rogue, on the floor.

"Like what are you doing Rogue?" Kitty asked raising her eyebrow at her roommate.

Rogue just growled as she sucked in her stomach as much as physically possible and once again attempted to zip up her pants.

"Mah ass Kitty!" Rogue practically screamed as she was once again unsuccessful, "It won't stop growing! It's got a life of its own!"

Though Kitty laughed she chose her words carefully because she knew her friend was quite famous for going days without eating, "Good it's about time you got some meat on your body."

Rogue grunted as she finally got her zipper to cooperate, "This coming from the skinniest girl in the mansion."

"Rogue you like have a knockout body, I'd trade you any day," Kitty said with a big smile as her friend continued to glare.

"Ugh," Rogue sighed as she finally stood, painfully aware her pants were way too tight, "want to go to the mall after school Kitty?" Stupid question Rogue concluded as she heard her friend shriek with joy.

Rolling her eyes Rogue moved over to her vanity table to continue getting ready, "But you gotta ask Wolverine if I can barrow the community credit card for the day when you go downstairs, ah don't have time."

"Sure thing Rogue," Kitty said joyfully, "I'll go ask like right now! See you in the car!"

Rogue vaguely smiled as her preppy joyful friend practically bounced out of the bedroom, she really wished she had the same amount of spunk, but her mind had switched to a very dark and serious matter, one she didn't like to think about but often found in her thoughts. As she was struggling in her jeans it occurred to her that when she lived with her mother, Mystique, she had been put on a very strict diet and she wouldn't have had the resources, such as a bottomless fridge of snacks, to gain the kind of weight she found herself suddenly gaining.

Looking at her what she considered dull features in the mirror Rogue reminded herself yet again that she couldn't let every little thing remind her of her past. It was so incredibly hard though, especially when there was such a grim day of public school on the horizon.

With a frustrated sigh Rogue grabbed her eyeliner and began applying it heavily, her delicate features disappearing below the layers and layers of makeup. She had just concluded when she heard Scott's car horn from outside warn her that she had less than five minutes to get downstairs.

Quickly Rogue took a brush and parted her hair from her face save a single white strand and took one last look in the mirror. It was far too obvious her jeans did not fit but she had no choice but to stick with them, she was already running late and Scott was such a stickler lately she doubted he'd wait for her a second later than seven thirty.

Damn all, Rogue cursed as she grabbed her book bag already having a strong feeling that that something was going to go way wrong today.