A tidbit from the last chapter: I bet you didn't know Gambit wore those horrible blue and yellow uniforms, did ya?
__________________
"Pyro's dead and it's all my fault."
I had repeated that to myself for days on end. I'd locked myself in my room, and set up mental blocks so none of the telepaths could probe my mind. I fell into a slump. Big Pete did, too, seeing as how his Little Snowflake had come down with the fatal disease of the scourge of the Earth. Dramatic, aren't I?
Hell, I deserve to be this cynical. My best friend, my brother, and another very close friend have all died on me within a two-year period. Watched them all die. Live. In person.
My former girlfriend. Sabretooth dangled her and Henri from above the Eiffel Tower. Could only save one. Blood is thicker than water.
My brother, Henri, was killed by Julien himself. One reason for my mass grudge. I watched that cold-blooded bastard shoot that bullet into Henri's forehead. I just about killed him that day. Took most of the active Thieves Guild to hold me back.
Pyro...Well, you all know his story.
By all rights, I should be nothing more than a quivering mass of tears. But tears don't bring back the dead. I should know. I've seen a lot of death in my 20 years. Especially living with Fagan's Mob.
Rogue finally convinced me to go out and have some kind of fun. I ended up taking Red and Scooter with me to a club. A grunge club. Very fun. Chaos ensued. Very funny to see that preppy couple dressed grungy. Also managed to loosen Scott up to the point that he'd drink. At eighteen.
I gave Scooter a pair of old ripped and faded jeans and a black tee. As for Jean, I made her raid Rogue's closet.
Scott actually got into a fight with some crazy kid with dingy, dirty blonde hair. He was wearing the Nirvana smiley shirt, a denim vest, a flannel shirt around the waist, and jeans so ripped up that they could have been shorts. Surprisingly, Scott can hold his own in a bar fight. Go figure.
I laughed at that club for the first time in weeks. It all ended when the roof caved in and a magenta-coloured hand reached in. The music cut out almost immediately.
"Sentinels!" Scott said in surprise.
"Fuck," I said under my breath.
I reached into my trench coat pocket and pulled out my handy little deck of cards. I thought back to when I kidnapped Rogue and we were on that train
(flashback to Cajun Spice)
The beautiful girl with the white-streaked hair stares and the handsome Cajun man before her, playing a game of solitaire. The girl can do nothing, as she is bound hand and foot.
"What is it with you and cards, anyway?" she asks him, from beneath a warm blanket.
"Hm? Oh. It's like fifty-two explosives tucked away in one little box. I always save this one for last," he said, holding up the purple-backed playing card.
"The queen of hearts?" the girl inquires
He then kisses the card.
"My lucky lady...She's gotten me out of a lot of jams."
"Then I need a deck of those..." the girl says apathetically.
(end)
I lit up about six of them, and let the cards fly, hitting the Sentinel in the arm. Didn't quite work out. Cyclops threw off his grunge apparel, revealing the blue and yellow X-uniform. I figured I might as well, too.
"Gambit, look out!"
A coiling metal tentacle slammed hard into the ground beside me. I grabbed on as it recoiled into the Sentinel's chest. Once inside, I took off my boots. Then I spread out my limbs, touching the cold circuitry. My eyes began to glow dark red with the increasing power that I was using, charging things with my hands and feet. I began to sweat from the exhaustion, only to be cooled down by Moira's suit. Soon, the Sentinel began to glow a bright electrical orange, and I got out of there.
We evacuated the entire club, and then ran away ourselves. That thing blew to pieces. Magenta shrapnel flying about and such. We leaned against Scott's car, panting.
"Who....who reinstated the Sentinel program?!" Scott said aloud.
"Hell if I know, mon ami," I said.
I could hear my heart thud in my chest. I was pretty sure Jean and Scott could, too. They loaded into Scott's car, and I took off on my motorcycle. Jean drove, even though Scott took one sip of Bud. As fate would have it, he doesn't like the taste.
"Why do you kids smell like alcohol?" Logan asked us.
"Excusez-moi. Je suis désolé, mon ami, but that is a question for another time," I answered him.
"Professor, a Sentinel attacked us at the club. We destroyed it, but we have no idea who reinstated the program," Scott said.
It was then that I ducked out and headed away. I ran into Rogue and hugged her, glad to see a familiar face after such a shock.
"Rogue, Mon Cheri' Amour, Est-ce que tout va bien?" I asked her.
She just sort of shrugged. I knew she didn't understand.
"What's wrong with you? You look shaken up," she told me.
"Nothing, cher', nothing. I'm just gonna go back to my room and hit the hay, mmkay?"
She looked a little weird about it, but agreed.
I sat there on my bed, deep in thought. Thinking back to when Xavier first approached me living on the streets of New Orleans, only fourteen (made up), and trying to pass off my powers as magic tricks, collecting money. Yeah, by then, I had left Jean-Luc. At the time, I was looking for a little girl who had wandered herself into my custody. We'd been through a lot, and eventually she made it away from me. Xavier confronted me in an alley.
(AN: This is a flashback to a completely different comic series. Ultimate X-Men. Issue 14. Also, this flashback is not in 3rd person, and is written in colloquialism)
The handicapped bald man was accompanied by a young, curvaceous, white-haired African beauty. Damn, she was hot. That leather hugged her in all the right places.... He approached me.
"I've seen your gifts. You could come and live myself and young Ororo at the Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," he told me.
"Laissez le bon temp rouler," I told him, meaning "let the good times roll".
"You would be with others like you. You'd have hot food, a warm bed--"
"An' mebbe a late night visit or two when ev'rybody else be sleepin?" I asked rudely, insinuating rape.
The "Ororo" woman seemed furious.
"It is nothing like that! How dare you?!" she yelled at me.
From the inside of his suit jacket, he took out a business card and threw it to me. I grabbed as he spoke to me.
"Don't lose the card."
"I make no promises. Cards--dey have a way of disappearin' on me, mon frere."
(End)
I thought to myself, reminiscing at my foolish and impudent youth.
(Flash-forward six years from flashback, to some period of time in Evo when Gambit joins)
"I guess the card didn't disappear, eh, Gambit?"
"Guess not, homme."
"See you've gotten rid of that ratty old trench coat."
I looked down. He was right. My old one was worn and threadbare. This was a new one, issued to me by Magneto himself. He said that he had somehow tempered steel into a light-weight cloth. Perfect armour {not an actual fact, just something I made up}.
"Dressed in the fashion of your Thieves Guild, eh, Mr. LeBeau?"
I smiled at the old man's recognition. He pointed to my hair.
"Clean cut?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Yes. Well, what is this little skid mark you have growing out of your chin?" Xavier asked me.
I blushed and licked my dry lips, turning my head, biting my lower lip.
"De gals like it..."
He chuckled.
"So, Profex, I gotta axe ya. Could you perhaps give a bit of free room and board? Would inspire me to get a job and get my own room and board, heck, mebbe ev'n a house!"
"Yes, Mr. LeBeau, and while we are at it, why not give elephants hats? Mayhap it would make them desire to wear jackets and trousers?"
"Be-because dat's silly? Oh...."
Xavier nodded.
"Now, now my boy. you know that there is always room here."
I breathed a sigh of releif at his joking.
"T'anks, mon frere."
(end)
I laughed at th memories. It was nice to laugh in such times of sorrow.
__________________
"Pyro's dead and it's all my fault."
I had repeated that to myself for days on end. I'd locked myself in my room, and set up mental blocks so none of the telepaths could probe my mind. I fell into a slump. Big Pete did, too, seeing as how his Little Snowflake had come down with the fatal disease of the scourge of the Earth. Dramatic, aren't I?
Hell, I deserve to be this cynical. My best friend, my brother, and another very close friend have all died on me within a two-year period. Watched them all die. Live. In person.
My former girlfriend. Sabretooth dangled her and Henri from above the Eiffel Tower. Could only save one. Blood is thicker than water.
My brother, Henri, was killed by Julien himself. One reason for my mass grudge. I watched that cold-blooded bastard shoot that bullet into Henri's forehead. I just about killed him that day. Took most of the active Thieves Guild to hold me back.
Pyro...Well, you all know his story.
By all rights, I should be nothing more than a quivering mass of tears. But tears don't bring back the dead. I should know. I've seen a lot of death in my 20 years. Especially living with Fagan's Mob.
Rogue finally convinced me to go out and have some kind of fun. I ended up taking Red and Scooter with me to a club. A grunge club. Very fun. Chaos ensued. Very funny to see that preppy couple dressed grungy. Also managed to loosen Scott up to the point that he'd drink. At eighteen.
I gave Scooter a pair of old ripped and faded jeans and a black tee. As for Jean, I made her raid Rogue's closet.
Scott actually got into a fight with some crazy kid with dingy, dirty blonde hair. He was wearing the Nirvana smiley shirt, a denim vest, a flannel shirt around the waist, and jeans so ripped up that they could have been shorts. Surprisingly, Scott can hold his own in a bar fight. Go figure.
I laughed at that club for the first time in weeks. It all ended when the roof caved in and a magenta-coloured hand reached in. The music cut out almost immediately.
"Sentinels!" Scott said in surprise.
"Fuck," I said under my breath.
I reached into my trench coat pocket and pulled out my handy little deck of cards. I thought back to when I kidnapped Rogue and we were on that train
(flashback to Cajun Spice)
The beautiful girl with the white-streaked hair stares and the handsome Cajun man before her, playing a game of solitaire. The girl can do nothing, as she is bound hand and foot.
"What is it with you and cards, anyway?" she asks him, from beneath a warm blanket.
"Hm? Oh. It's like fifty-two explosives tucked away in one little box. I always save this one for last," he said, holding up the purple-backed playing card.
"The queen of hearts?" the girl inquires
He then kisses the card.
"My lucky lady...She's gotten me out of a lot of jams."
"Then I need a deck of those..." the girl says apathetically.
(end)
I lit up about six of them, and let the cards fly, hitting the Sentinel in the arm. Didn't quite work out. Cyclops threw off his grunge apparel, revealing the blue and yellow X-uniform. I figured I might as well, too.
"Gambit, look out!"
A coiling metal tentacle slammed hard into the ground beside me. I grabbed on as it recoiled into the Sentinel's chest. Once inside, I took off my boots. Then I spread out my limbs, touching the cold circuitry. My eyes began to glow dark red with the increasing power that I was using, charging things with my hands and feet. I began to sweat from the exhaustion, only to be cooled down by Moira's suit. Soon, the Sentinel began to glow a bright electrical orange, and I got out of there.
We evacuated the entire club, and then ran away ourselves. That thing blew to pieces. Magenta shrapnel flying about and such. We leaned against Scott's car, panting.
"Who....who reinstated the Sentinel program?!" Scott said aloud.
"Hell if I know, mon ami," I said.
I could hear my heart thud in my chest. I was pretty sure Jean and Scott could, too. They loaded into Scott's car, and I took off on my motorcycle. Jean drove, even though Scott took one sip of Bud. As fate would have it, he doesn't like the taste.
"Why do you kids smell like alcohol?" Logan asked us.
"Excusez-moi. Je suis désolé, mon ami, but that is a question for another time," I answered him.
"Professor, a Sentinel attacked us at the club. We destroyed it, but we have no idea who reinstated the program," Scott said.
It was then that I ducked out and headed away. I ran into Rogue and hugged her, glad to see a familiar face after such a shock.
"Rogue, Mon Cheri' Amour, Est-ce que tout va bien?" I asked her.
She just sort of shrugged. I knew she didn't understand.
"What's wrong with you? You look shaken up," she told me.
"Nothing, cher', nothing. I'm just gonna go back to my room and hit the hay, mmkay?"
She looked a little weird about it, but agreed.
I sat there on my bed, deep in thought. Thinking back to when Xavier first approached me living on the streets of New Orleans, only fourteen (made up), and trying to pass off my powers as magic tricks, collecting money. Yeah, by then, I had left Jean-Luc. At the time, I was looking for a little girl who had wandered herself into my custody. We'd been through a lot, and eventually she made it away from me. Xavier confronted me in an alley.
(AN: This is a flashback to a completely different comic series. Ultimate X-Men. Issue 14. Also, this flashback is not in 3rd person, and is written in colloquialism)
The handicapped bald man was accompanied by a young, curvaceous, white-haired African beauty. Damn, she was hot. That leather hugged her in all the right places.... He approached me.
"I've seen your gifts. You could come and live myself and young Ororo at the Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," he told me.
"Laissez le bon temp rouler," I told him, meaning "let the good times roll".
"You would be with others like you. You'd have hot food, a warm bed--"
"An' mebbe a late night visit or two when ev'rybody else be sleepin?" I asked rudely, insinuating rape.
The "Ororo" woman seemed furious.
"It is nothing like that! How dare you?!" she yelled at me.
From the inside of his suit jacket, he took out a business card and threw it to me. I grabbed as he spoke to me.
"Don't lose the card."
"I make no promises. Cards--dey have a way of disappearin' on me, mon frere."
(End)
I thought to myself, reminiscing at my foolish and impudent youth.
(Flash-forward six years from flashback, to some period of time in Evo when Gambit joins)
"I guess the card didn't disappear, eh, Gambit?"
"Guess not, homme."
"See you've gotten rid of that ratty old trench coat."
I looked down. He was right. My old one was worn and threadbare. This was a new one, issued to me by Magneto himself. He said that he had somehow tempered steel into a light-weight cloth. Perfect armour {not an actual fact, just something I made up}.
"Dressed in the fashion of your Thieves Guild, eh, Mr. LeBeau?"
I smiled at the old man's recognition. He pointed to my hair.
"Clean cut?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Yes. Well, what is this little skid mark you have growing out of your chin?" Xavier asked me.
I blushed and licked my dry lips, turning my head, biting my lower lip.
"De gals like it..."
He chuckled.
"So, Profex, I gotta axe ya. Could you perhaps give a bit of free room and board? Would inspire me to get a job and get my own room and board, heck, mebbe ev'n a house!"
"Yes, Mr. LeBeau, and while we are at it, why not give elephants hats? Mayhap it would make them desire to wear jackets and trousers?"
"Be-because dat's silly? Oh...."
Xavier nodded.
"Now, now my boy. you know that there is always room here."
I breathed a sigh of releif at his joking.
"T'anks, mon frere."
(end)
I laughed at th memories. It was nice to laugh in such times of sorrow.