Sorry the last chapter was so horrible. This is my first fan fiction, so please, don't kill me. For those who reviewed, thank you! I really appreciate it. And, for those who are wondering, this will be a Remy/Rogue fic, since they're my favorite couple. *sighs* If you're wondering if Gambit will be recruited in some adventurous chase scene, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, because it's not. I know, I know, really boring and tame, but I'd like to establish the relationship between him and Storm and possibly, his past. Don't worry, he's still going to be the snake charmer he always was, and still is.
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Storm stepped out onto the street of New Orleans, taking in all the eclectic atmosphere she loved so much. She enjoyed smelling all the mouth watering scents of Cajun dishes, listening to the conversations of Creole, and just the sight of people talking and laughing, going on with their care free lives. It felt so much like…home. No, not home. This isn't home. Africa is home. Suddenly, painful images of rubble and destruction flashed through her mind, the heartbreaking images she worked so hard to repress, not forget, but repress. It was the day her parents died, the day she had to fend for herself by stealing. It was the beginning of a new life. She could never forget how her parents perished, how her claustrophobia surfaced. Being trapped under debris for three days when you're a toddler would make you claustrophobic, wouldn't it? As Storm regained her composure, she took a deep breath and headed towards the building she had visited many times before, the LeBeau mansion.
It was an extraordinary building, tall and grand, like a chateau in France or a palace in a far off mystical land. It didn't take her long to get there, having been there so many times. She was just retracing her steps she had took some time ago.
As she reached the gate, she saw the speakerphone, which she pressed. "Hello?" A voice came out of the speaker.
"This is Ororo Munroe. I have come to see Jean-Luc."
"Hold on one minute dear," the person replied. There were some muffled sounds and then silence before a warm and familiar voice was heard.
"Ororo, it is good t' hear from y' again." This voice belonged to Jean-Luc, an old companion she hadn't seen in years.
"Yes, and to you too."
"Please, come in." And as if on cue, the gates began to creak open.
"Thank you very much," replied Storm before walking through the gates. Taking swift strides, she reached the massive door in good time where she was greeted by a man who was a bit stout, had thick brown hair, and a beard. "Ororo, what a pleasure it is for y' t' visit. Come in, come in. What brings you here?" He led her into an area filled with armchairs and books. They sat down and Jean-Luc called over a maid to bring them some refreshments.
"It is nice to see you again too, however, I am here to discuss Remy with you."
"Ah, of course, I see dat school o' yours has picked up his power."
"Yes, and I am here to ask you, as well as him if he would like to come and learn how to control it." The maid was back with water, which Storm drank gratefully. Jean-Luc spoke in rapid French to the maid who nodded and left.
"Well, can't tell y' if he wants t' go, so I just called f'r him. He will be glad t' see y' Ororo."
"I hope so, I haven't seen him for quite a while now."
Soon footsteps could be heard as a tall, built boy, or man I should say, with messy auburn hair and sunglasses as well as an annoyed expression on his face walked in. "What d' y' wan' pere? Belle an' I were jus' 'bout t'—." He stopped short as he saw the face of the weather witch he had known as a child. "Stormy! What are y' doin' here?" he asked, a grin spread on his face as he walked over to hug her.
"Why, I've come to see you Remy," she replied after she had returned the hug that he had given her. Remy pretended to act shocked. "Moi? What gave me de honor o' being de purpose o' my own Stormy's visit?" Storm lightly punched him in the arm as he acted as if he was in intense pain. "Do not call me by that silly name. I've told you time and time again." Her voice was stern, but a smile was twitching between her lips. "The point is, I believe that you have gained a…gift." Remy's grin was still there, though it was not as wide as it had been a minute ago. "What are y' sayin'? Y' wan' me t' go back wit' y' t' dat school y' live at?"
"Yes Remy, I would like it if you came. It will give you the chance to work on controlling your powers and possibly increasing them in power."
"But dat means leavin' N'awlins. Leavin' ev'ryone here." Though you could not see it, his forbidden eyes, the ruby on black eyes, were burning. He did not like this idea, not one bit.
"I t'ink it be a good idea Remy." Jean-Luc spoke for the first time since the two, Remy and Storm, had met. Remy turned around to look at his father. His face was full of shock. "What? Y' wan' me t' go?" he asked his father in surprise. "Remy," he said gently, "y' nearly killed Tante Mattie yest'day." Remy's face began to heat up, which was a very rare thing to happen. "It was 'n accident!" He was nearly shouting now. But it's true. The only reason why she isn't dead is because Henri accidentally knocked her over while he was trying to run away from something Mercy threw at him. He lowered his head. And that wasn't even the first time something like that has happened.
"But next time, someone will get hurt…or poss'bly die." Jean-Luc had a sort of warning look in his eyes. Remy thought it over, knowing full well that if he didn't get any control, someone would die.
As he began to breathe out a sigh of defeat, Storm placed her cocoa colored hand against his tanned one. "It really isn't all that bad. The people there understand what it's like to be different." When she said that, his face shot up and looked at her. Storm held her breath. I didn't intend to put it that way. I really didn't. Goddess forgive me.
When Storm had those few words that hurt him so much, Remy yanked his hand out of hers. The thoughts and memories had haunted him through his whole life. People on the street calling him the devil, not being accepted, and having to hide behind glasses and colored contacts his whole life just to be "normal". As the images began flashing in his mind, he began to reconsider. Maybe I should go with Stormy. I may just give me the chance to start over again, to get away from these bad experiences and mistakes…really bad experiences and mistakes.
"Fine. I'll go wit' y'. Give m' time t' say g'bye t' mon friends, 'k?"
Storm smiled, relieved he wasn't too taken back by what she had just said. "Of course."
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It was cold, dark, and damp. Everything was a blur. Rogue opened her eyes to see everything out of focus. Ow, my head hurts like hell. She slowly began to take in her surroundings. The floor was smooth and cool, some type of metal. She was in some sort of cage, which was in some kind of…lab? It was too dark to tell. She began to panic. Where am I? How did I get here? I need help…I need help! Her thoughts began to become a jumble as her fear intensified. She clawed her way to the bars that encaged her and widened her eyes as she saw something from her little corner. It was a body, a pretty beaten body at that. The blond hair of the person, which Rogue was able to distinguish as a girl, was matted. The figure was wilted, as if she didn't have any strength, like she was…dead. As Rogue thought about this, her horror, if not already on a high enough level, began to go over the top. Oh my God, are they going to kill me? Coming to this conclusion, she shouted, "HELP! SOMEBODY! Please, HELP ME!" However, her cries for aid were in vain. As soon as she finished yelling, a slinky shadow came up to her little cage. "Well hello Rogue, it's so nice to see you up," a dark, yet soothing voice said. Rogue's eyes narrowed into two green slits as she stared up at the conniving shape shifter. "You! What the hell do ya want with meh?"
"Why Rogue, we want to experiment with you and your very unique…power." As Mystique said the last word, her face cracked into the grin that was full of vile and unpleasantness. Rogue shrank back into the corner of the enclosure. "What?" she held her breath. It all came together now. They're not going to kill me…they're going to use me to kill someone. The panic rushed back into her body very quickly. The only thing she could think of doing was trying to contact the professor, she only hoped he would be able to trace her thoughts. She squinted her eyes and concentrated hard on projecting her thoughts, forgetting all too well what type of person Mystique was.
Mystique smirked. "Don't you think we've already thought of that? That machine," she pointed to a rather large and complicated looking apparatus, "can disrupt mind waves. There is no way Xavier will be able to track you down."
After hearing that, Rogue's eyes showed defeat. There was nothing she could do now. Absolutely nothing. She glanced at the body that she thought was already dead. But that wouldn't matter in a matter of time. She would be dead anyway, or at least close to dead if Mystique was going to do what she thought she was going to do. I'm so sorry. I can't stop what's going to happen me. If I ever get out of here, I'll never forgive myself. Never. Her head was hung low, tears began to well up in her usually bright, but now dull, green eyes. Why did I have to be given this gift? No, not gift, curse.
Mystique stood there, as if waiting for a signal. When she looked at Rogue, her heart filled with remorse. How could she do this? This was her own daughter, and for a while there, her best friend. She began to think that this was a bad idea, but shook her head. No, you're doing the right thing. She will be one of the most powerful mutants on earth after you're done with her. You're doing her a favor. But the way she had treated her when she had taken her still struck her in her heart. It was cold, cruel, something you would not do to your own child. Before she could think other wise, a booming voice overhead said, "Let the absorption begin!"
For a huge person, Blob, Fred to his friends, appeared rather quickly, and out of what seemed like nowhere. Quicksilver zipped by, Toad hopped over and sat in his usual squatting position, and Avalanche walked over. They all glanced at their former Brotherhood member, knowing that her fate was going to be catastrophic. The metal bar door swung open and Pietro speeded by and held her arms together. Rogue strained to get out of his grasp, but it was of no avail. Fred walked over, each step feeling like an earthquake, gathered her securely in his arms, and carried her to an identical set of shackles to those of the mysterious woman, whose life would be at Rogue's hands, literally too. As soon as the members of the Brotherhood made sure Rogue was in place, Mystique removed Rogue's gloves. Magneto then spoke. "Ms. Danvers." The figure next to Rogue could barely lift her head up. Her tired and drooping blue eyes tried to look up, but couldn't. She didn't have the strength to pull away, and wouldn't be able to anyway. "Ms. Danvers, I would like you to meet someone who will lead to your destruction."
Carol Danvers sneered, but just barely. "I'm invulnerable Magneto," she croaked, her voice barely there, "or have you forgotten that? I may be beaten, but once I've regained my strength—." She stopped there. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" It was replaced by a scream, but if you listened carefully, it was two screams in unison, almost in perfect harmony.
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Back at the mansion, Kitty and Kurt were fighting over what they were going to watch on TV again.
"I, like, want to watch Pearl Harbor! It's on HBO right now!" Kitty said this rather angrily as she pushed the button on the remote control.
"Zat vas ze stupidest movie ever made! I vant to vatch ze World Cup. Germany's playing!" Kurt was sitting next to the TV, pushing the channel button on the TV. He tried to get the remote control, but Kitty kept on phasing her hand, as well the controller.
"You can watch your stupid soccer any time. Isn't it, like, a month long? That's a lot of soccer games."
"Can't you rent zhat movie at Blockbuster or somezing?"
"Pearl Harbor!"
"Soccer!"
"Pearl Harbor!"
"Soccer!"
Their arguing continued like this for a few minutes as each clicked and clicked, only to have their channel disappear and reappear again and again.
"I am sorry to interrupt your…disagreement," the professor said as he rolled into the room, stopping them, for a minute at least, "but have any of you seen Rogue? Did she come home with you today?"
"Well, yeah professor, but she's just hanging out with Risty today. She said she'd be back by, like, six."
"Thank you Kitty. That was all I wanted to know." The professor exited, and prayed that they would not have to buy yet another TV as Kitty and Kurt began their furious button-pressing contest. Little did anyone know that there was a lot more going on than just "hanging out".
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Thoughts and images flowed through Rogue's head like running water through a stream. Scenes of friends, laughter, a graduation, family, all things that Rogue had never experienced. They weren't her memories. No, they were hers, the person who Rogue was slowly draining the life away from. She tried to hold in the tears in her eyes, but couldn't. They began flowing out and started soaking her face, washing away all of the makeup that protected her. I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm killing someone and how? By just touching their face. She choked out more tears as she thought out the last thought. Glancing at Carol, she knew she was in agony. Who wouldn't be? Someone was slowly, quite slowly, murdering her.
But then Rogue got this feeling through her body. She shuddered as something seemed to attach itself to every bone, every muscle, just everything in her. Then Carol flopped to the ground. Her eyes rolled back so you could only see the whites of her eyes. Her mouth was wide open. She was alive, but just barely. However, something else was in Rogue. The mind, the psyche of someone else was there, and it planned full well to get revenge. The same deep voice now said, "The absorption is complete."
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Well? What'd you guys think? PLEASE! REVIEW! I'll try to get more chapters up as soon as I can.