Hearts and Diamonds
Prologue
Number of words: 476
Summary: In which dark and dastardly things happen at night, Mesmero plays the role of judge, jury and mind controls someone to be the executioner. Gambit x OC, AU. Mild violence and gore.
Author's comments: Because much as I love GambitxRogue, the Rogue in X-Men Evolution never did it for me. Don't ask me why; emo Rogue made sense, because she is younger, she wouldn't have the confidence the older Rogue did (See the 1992 cartoon). But there are some authors who have written Romy beautifully, set in the X-Men Evolution universe.(Check out Luciade'Medici's works.) Well, enjoy, and leave a review so I know what to work on and may be motivated to continue this... Thing. Thank you.
It happened at night, of course, as most terrible things did.
Mizuki woke with a start, and she could feel her stomach lurch with the sudden motion. Her whole body hurt; like there were a million insects crawling under her skin under her skin, biting her over and over from the inside.
By the gods, it hurt.
A shadow detached itself from the wall. She steeled herself, stepped out of the bed with her arms raised, ready to defend herself, only to sink to the floor with a soft cry of pain.
"What have you done?" she gasped.
She couldn't do a thing, even as the dark figure stepped towards the bed where her still-sleeping husband was, couldn't even muster the strength to get back up. When she saw the glint of metal in the darkness, she screamed.
The knife plunged down, and her husband was now dead. As the coppery reek of blood filled the air, her scream changed into a high keening wail.
Kana, she thought distantly, and then remembered. Her daughter was on a plane, headed far, far away. Thank the gods.
The silent figure stepped towards her.
"Wait," another voice demanded.
Yet another dark figure detached himself from the shadows. He pulled his hood down, and she recognised his face, the unmistakable lines tattooed on his face.
"Mesmero," she breathed. Each breath was a painful, laboured gasp now. "What have you done?"
"Simple, really," the man said. "Ground glass in your dinner. You are now dying of a million tiny haemorrhages."
She glanced towards the shadow, and sure enough, it was the neighbour she and her husband had shared dinner with earlier. His eyes were glazed, empty. The man was completely oblivious of the blood that dripped down his hands.
Information, she thought distantly. It was a struggle to think, a struggle to breathe; she could taste blood in her mouth, and there were red and black spots dancing in front of her eyes. She had to find out how much he knew. Had to find out if Kana was safe.
Somehow, she managed to force out a short hysterical laugh. "You didn't dare take us head-on," she said. From the frown on Mesmero's face, she knew she was right.
"Why are you doing this?" Mizuki asked.
"Punishment," he said. "Your family has been loyal to the Master for centuries, but you have betrayed their cause."
"It had to be done," she argued. "Mesmero, you mustn't - "
"I can, and I will," the mutant snapped. "While you and your traitorous family can rot."
"You don't understand." Each word was carefully, deliberately ground out of her bleeding mouth. "The world he intends to create must not happen."
"On the contrary," Mesmero sneered. "It will. And I will be richly rewarded. Be thankful that I am the one delivering your execution and not the Master. I can assure you, it would have been exceedingly painful."
He turned to the other man. "Do it!"
The blade slid down, a pinprick of light in her shadowed vision. Her last thought was for her daughter, and the knowledge that she was safe.
Author's note: I just found out that ground glass isn't really an effective poison/murder weapon. Let's just pretend the dinner they had was REALLY bad and impossible to chew, so they dumped sauce on it to disguise the taste and didn't realize there were glass splinters in it.