Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution. Marvel owns the rights to it.

~*~ Unstoppable~*~

Chapter One

Remy looked to the man in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. Unless he was out cold from an alcohol induced sleep.

It surely wouldn't be the first time.

The man, 'Remy', walked around him slowly. He seemed to be sizing him up. Remy suddenly felt defensive, watching the man's every movement from cautious and wary eyes. He was keen to the man's every movement. His long legs, clad in dark, loose fitting jeans, were maneuvering precariously around him. The colors surrounding them were reflecting themselves in the man's metallic knee-high boots. Remy let his eyes travel further up to see if there were any other significant similarities between the two of them. Apparently, their clothing style stopped at the coat and boots, for under the tan trench coat was a skin-tight black and pink top.

Dere's no way anyone would eve' catch moi dead in dat t'ing…

"Can I help you any, monsieur? You seem ta be wonderin' bout moi."

'Remy' stopped in front of him, looking him in the eye. A few locks of his hair fell in to his face. He brushed them away without even thinking.

"How old are you, Remy?"

Remy quirked an eyebrow.

"Why you wantin' ta know? It don't change da problem at hand, mon ami."

"Just answer da question, garçon."

Remy glowered at the man. When 'Remy' didn't seem to be affected, he gave up.

" Nineteen. You?"

The man grinned. Remy instantly recognized it as one of his own. The lips twisted up just-so and the eyes narrowing just a fraction as though he understood some joke that you didn't hear. Remy suddenly hated it. It wasn't much of anything until you were on the receiving end of it. Now it was just plain annoying.

" Thirty-two."

Remy about choked and his eyes widened considerably. He began to mentally flounder for words.

"Monsieur, I gotta ask you sometin'. An' I expect an honest answer. Who are you?"

'Remy' smiled at him and shook his head.

"Have you ever heard of 'parallel universes'?"

Remy's eyebrows drew close as he pondered.

"Not'in' dat wasn't some part of a sci-fi story."

'Remy' nodded as he took the information in. He began pacing in front of the young man again, his hands placing themselves just inside his coat to rest on his hips.

"Well, garçon. I'm you. Just…not."

Remy watched him turn to walk a couple steps away. His eyes followed the man's ponytail as it swayed across his back. The auburn locks trailed to the middle of his back, the tip of his ponytail ending with a slight swoop. Overall, though, it was well-groomed and clean-looking.

"I'm thinkin' somebody's in need of haircut." He remarked, grinning. The grin widened when the man looked over his shoulder with a grin of his own.

"'ey! Don't knock it 'til ya try it."

"I'll take ya word for it, stranger. But if you're from another universe, den why am I here?"

'Remy' turned, and the smile that stretched across his masculine face almost made Remy cringe. He felt as though he were about to hear something he didn't want to hear.

"Remy t'ought you'd never ask, mon ami."

He made his way back to Remy, who was still suspended in the air. One hand reached in to a pocket of his coat, and pulled out a deck of playing cards. He watched his hands move as he began to shuffle them, not paying any attention to Remy.

"I t'ink I've been sent ta teach ya some'tin, garcon. And teach some'tin I will."

Remy was suddenly cautious.

Teach me some'tin, huh? Heh. I'd like ta see 'im try.

'Remy' lifted a hand, palm open, after shifting the deck of cards to the other hand, and moved it slowly towards Remy's face. The heel of his palm rested on the young man's forehead for just a moment before something invisible shifted all over Remy.

He fell to the ground with a 'thud'. When he looked up, the larger man had his hand extended out to Remy. Without a second thought, Remy reached up and wrapped a hand around the man's wrist to get a better grip. 'Remy' pulled him to his feet and gave him a moment to set himself straight before talking again.

" Dis Gambit be t'inkin' we better get goin'."

Remy looked at the man, the question clear in his dual-toned eyes.

Goin' where?

"And by da way, Remy: Just call me Gambit. Makes t'ings a little less confusin'."

Remy nodded and followed the man as he made his way through the swirling space. Gambit put the cards back in his pocket.

"Mon ami, where are we anyway?"

Gambit shrugged.

"Don't know. Gambit just knows dat you need to be somewhere else. And I'm supposed ta take ya there."

"D'accord. Den where are we goin'?"

Gambit shrugged again.

"Dat you'll have to wait ta see for ya self. Don't wanna ruin no surprises or nothin'."

Remy sighed. He began to warily follow the man, looking for any possible ways out of the Hell he was in. Maybe if he pinched himself really hard, he'd wake up. At that moment, he heard Gambit clear his throat, shooting a glance over his shoulder to the youth behind him. With a jerk of his head, he continued onward through the colorful haze.

I guess I'll just have ta follow da man.

"Do you know a way out, monsieur?"

Gambit nodded.

"Course I do. But ya gonna have ta stick wit' me ta get there."

When he heard a growl come from somewhere behind him, Gambit smiled to himself.

A black door appeared a short ways off in to the distance. There was nothing special about it except that it had manifested itself out of seemingly thin air. It had no special markings or scratches on the surface. It was just a plain black door with a gold toned handle.

"Hmm. Seems we get to start earlier den I t'ought."

Remy peered around Gambit's shoulder to see the door in front of them.

"Where's it go?"

Gambit shrugged again. Without even pausing, he reached out and opened the door.

The sight behind it blew Remy away.

It was the Institute. Bright and sunny; cheerful and loud; the air was filled with the laughter and chattering of the institutes denizens. And in front of the crowd were many faces that he recognized; the short, hairy man who went by Wolverine; the tall, dark skinned, white haired woman named Storm; the little blue creature who could phase through spaces. He couldn't quite recall his name, though. But those weren't the ones that mattered. No. His eyes were stuck to a beautiful red head with white bangs that hung in her eyes. Her emerald eyes laughed and her lips were turned upwards. It was a sight he had never seen.

C'est… magnifique…

Rogue was out right laughing. And shining so brightly in the sunlight that fell around her. So…naturally beautiful.

But something else seemed different about her. She still had her shoulder length hair and it was still straightened. Her skin was still pale. She was still pretty short. Well, compared to him she was. Her makeup was…gone. That was it. Her face wasn't covered by the daily mask she painted on herself. And it was beautiful. Her full lips were naturally a pleasant shade of pink and her cheeks were lightly covered in a red hue from her blood. Her lashes were dark and seemed heavy as she closed her eyes to laugh harder in her mirth. He was awestruck. This was nothing like the Rogue back at home. This one didn't even dress the same. Instead of her usual dark, long sleeved shirt and dark pants she opted to go with a light blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans that hugged her hips and thighs but flared around her ankles. Instead of black combat boots, she wore a pair of sneakers. Her gloves were still in place, though.

"Who is dis?"

Gambit looked back to the stunned youth and let his lips turn up to a grin.

"Dis is da Rogue of a whole 'nother world. Dere's so many of'em, it's impossible ta imagine countin' 'em."

Gambit watched in amusement as the youth made his way to the girl. As he moved his hand to touch a lock of the girl's hair, his hand shifted and moved through it instead of on it. Remy pulled his hand back quickly, looking from his palms to her hair. He tested his physicality again by moving his hands through her head and arms. No effect. She didn't even know he was there. He took a deep breath.

I got ta be dreamin'. T'ings like dis just don' happen. I can't really be lookin' at anothah Rogue. Can I?

Remy looked from the girl to Gambit.

"Talk, mon ami. Tell me what be goin' on here."

Gambit sighed, shaking his head.

"Da Professor of my world said he had a bad dream. Sometin' about a kid making the wrong choices in life. He showed me what his dream was and it all just seemed ta click. He explained his theories on tha matter and our Beast devised a plan ta help you out a bit. Normally we wouldn't intervene, but dis one…Mmm. If you don't make tha right choice, you'll pretty much be miserable for tha rest of ya life. And not just you."

Gambit made a motion for Remy to follow him, and Remy complied, if only to hear more of this explanation.

"Dere are some t'ings every parallel universe has in common. You'd think it was nothing major until you realize just what kinda balance dat world has. Even having one person on tha wrong side can tip tha scale too far. But everyone in every planet exists in every other universe. Where there's a Scott Summers and Jean-Grey in one world, there will be in every other universe after it. But somethin' else always sticks in every world. We found it through much research and many test runs on tha device Beast made.

"Now, I'm not much of a 'soul mate' believer an' all dat junk, but dis…It made me see t'ings a little more clearly." Gambit turned his head to look at Remy pointedly.

"In every planet, every person exists, non? Den, what would happen if d'ose same people met in every world, and had tha same interaction? Everyt'ing goes fine until someone makes a wrong decision and blows tha whole place ta shit. I can't tell you how many times I had nightmares after I learned dat. And I learned it de hard way, mon ami." He shook his head, looking darkly thoughtful. Remy was afraid to find out what 'the hard way was' if it made Gambit look like this.

"Usually, if two people are meant ta be together in one world, dey will find a way in tha others. But every now and den, one makes a wrong decision and tears all dat apart. Take me and my woman, for example. I found that in another world, I had decided to not to be with her. To take her up on her offer to be wit' someone else. Ya wanna know what happened?"

Remy nodded slowly, but not certain if he really did. He blamed his affirmation on morbid curiosity. Gambit took a deep breath before continuing.

"My lady died alone and crying. She was blindsided by a group of thugs while on her way ta see a movie dat she already had tickets for, but I wasn't wit' her. After I left her in dat world, I began a decline; first petty thefts, den on to bigger fish. 'ventually, I wound up in tha wrong house at tha wrong time and was killed by a man wit' a shotgun collection like you wouldn't believe. I died two months after she died. I was shot, and she was beaten ta death. We figure it's tha balance. You have ta balance each other out. Now, it won't be perfect, but don't give up on her. Don't leave her. If you do, you'll have not'in but misery comin' at ya. So, boy, you better do right."

Gambit looked to the current world one last time, as did Remy. He memorized the look of this world's Rogue. The happy Rogue.

"So dis world, Gambit. Tell me: Was dat Rogue already wit her man?"

Gambit shook his head.

"Not every Rogue is just alike, mon frère. Every one is different somehow."

With that, Gambit chuckled, making his way through the door.

Remy shrugged. He didn't care how things turned up. Once he woke up, he'd know it was all a dream, anyway.

He saw Gambit turn his head to throw a look over his shoulder that was the equivalent of saying, "Hurry the hell up." He did so without question.

OoOoOoO

Translations:

Moi - Me
Mon Ami - My Friend
D'Accord - Alright
C'est Magnifique - It's/That's Magnificent
Mon Frere - My Brother

How was this one, folks? Drop me a review. Again: Inflate thy Ego. Yes, yes. You know you want to. ;) I'll be back later, people. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this latest installment! ^_^