Gambit padded down the stairs and in to Xavier's study. He had suspected
something was wrong for a long time now. Xavier was almost never at the
main house anymore. But he was tonight.
Gambit approached him out of the shadows.
"Professor?" He ventured. But the icy glaze that was returned was not that of Charles Xavier. It was that of Onslaught.
Remy reached out and touched the metal handle in an effort to walk around it. "What?" He felt the handle tingle when his skin touched it.
"What are you doing there? What's in your hand?" Onslaught/Xavier demanded.
And memories began to emerge. Memories of a future, a future that would breed Bishop and send him back to accuse Gambit of betraying the X-Men. He saw himself, the way it had really happened, with Onslaught trying to take posession of his body and powers. He saw onslaught's power merging with his and Onslaught's personality withering and dying under the irrepressible Cajun's dedication to Xavier's dream.
Then he saw it again. That Onslaught was now forewarned of Gambit's survival, and Onslaught would not make the same mistake.
Gambit saw the price. All of Earth's human hero's wiped clean off the map of creation.
And Gambit knew what he had to do. He pulled the switch toward him and the scene shifted ever so slightly, and it was reborn.
"I will have you!" The Onslaught roared as it projected itself in to Remy. "You shall be the furnace that nourishes me LeBeau."
And Remy let it come. "I take you power." He told Onslaught. "And I take you soul." He whispered.
And too late Onslaught saw what was coming. His very essence was flowing in to Gambit. The great mental energies that had assumed power over the mind of Charles Xavier were being channeled in to a living battery. Onslaughts pattern of energy, his self, could not exist in this kind of storage. It would become only energy devoid of conciousness.
It tried to pull away, tried to fight, and in the end it even tried to appeal to Remy LeBeau.
But Remy was already aware of the risks. How would the world be for his son, or his new baby daughter, if this didn't end right here and right now?
Remy felt the power flowing in to him long after he could not stand. Long after he had fallen from his knees, and long after his heart had failed to beat.
He felt the power ebb and trickle and die, and he was left with just one moment's peace. With the knowledge that he had won, and with that, in his last nanoseconds of life, he found himself wrapped and warm in memories of Rogue.
"Gambit?" The professor came to his senses. "Oh, dear God, no." He whispered. But no alarm given and no shout called would bring Gambit back.
A dark mist hung over the mansion the next day. And the sun refused to shine.
"You see? You see what I mean?" Jubilee was pointing at the script and waving it for dramatic effect.
"About what?" Scott asked, throwing away the eight copy of his review.
"He's just killed Gambit!" She slid the script across the table so everyone could see. "I knew this guy was no good. I knew it since I got shot on the step." She gestured out toward where the front door used to be.
"You were shot?" Cyclops looked her up and down in an effort to locate bullet holes.
"When did this happen dear?" Storm ushered her to a seat and looked intently for wounds.
Jubilee sighed. "Now he's toying with me." She realized out loud.
Suddenly the computer beeped twice.
"What's that mean?" Scott asked her.
"It means he's got a new chapter up." She looked hesitant. "But he did just kill Gambit." She looked towards the script again. "Of course, I'm still here, even though I got shot."
"You were shot?" Storm looked horrified and overprotective.
"You were?" Scott asked, looking for blood "When?"
Jubilee sighed again. "In this story that Remedy=Chill wrote called Yesterday. Before everyone but me and the professor got our memories erased." She was tired of saying it.
And you could almost hear crickets in the icy silence that followed.
"New Chapter?" She prompted them out of their daze.
"Right!" Scott jumped up and selected the next chapter from the drop down menu.
Gambit approached him out of the shadows.
"Professor?" He ventured. But the icy glaze that was returned was not that of Charles Xavier. It was that of Onslaught.
Remy reached out and touched the metal handle in an effort to walk around it. "What?" He felt the handle tingle when his skin touched it.
"What are you doing there? What's in your hand?" Onslaught/Xavier demanded.
And memories began to emerge. Memories of a future, a future that would breed Bishop and send him back to accuse Gambit of betraying the X-Men. He saw himself, the way it had really happened, with Onslaught trying to take posession of his body and powers. He saw onslaught's power merging with his and Onslaught's personality withering and dying under the irrepressible Cajun's dedication to Xavier's dream.
Then he saw it again. That Onslaught was now forewarned of Gambit's survival, and Onslaught would not make the same mistake.
Gambit saw the price. All of Earth's human hero's wiped clean off the map of creation.
And Gambit knew what he had to do. He pulled the switch toward him and the scene shifted ever so slightly, and it was reborn.
"I will have you!" The Onslaught roared as it projected itself in to Remy. "You shall be the furnace that nourishes me LeBeau."
And Remy let it come. "I take you power." He told Onslaught. "And I take you soul." He whispered.
And too late Onslaught saw what was coming. His very essence was flowing in to Gambit. The great mental energies that had assumed power over the mind of Charles Xavier were being channeled in to a living battery. Onslaughts pattern of energy, his self, could not exist in this kind of storage. It would become only energy devoid of conciousness.
It tried to pull away, tried to fight, and in the end it even tried to appeal to Remy LeBeau.
But Remy was already aware of the risks. How would the world be for his son, or his new baby daughter, if this didn't end right here and right now?
Remy felt the power flowing in to him long after he could not stand. Long after he had fallen from his knees, and long after his heart had failed to beat.
He felt the power ebb and trickle and die, and he was left with just one moment's peace. With the knowledge that he had won, and with that, in his last nanoseconds of life, he found himself wrapped and warm in memories of Rogue.
"Gambit?" The professor came to his senses. "Oh, dear God, no." He whispered. But no alarm given and no shout called would bring Gambit back.
A dark mist hung over the mansion the next day. And the sun refused to shine.
"You see? You see what I mean?" Jubilee was pointing at the script and waving it for dramatic effect.
"About what?" Scott asked, throwing away the eight copy of his review.
"He's just killed Gambit!" She slid the script across the table so everyone could see. "I knew this guy was no good. I knew it since I got shot on the step." She gestured out toward where the front door used to be.
"You were shot?" Cyclops looked her up and down in an effort to locate bullet holes.
"When did this happen dear?" Storm ushered her to a seat and looked intently for wounds.
Jubilee sighed. "Now he's toying with me." She realized out loud.
Suddenly the computer beeped twice.
"What's that mean?" Scott asked her.
"It means he's got a new chapter up." She looked hesitant. "But he did just kill Gambit." She looked towards the script again. "Of course, I'm still here, even though I got shot."
"You were shot?" Storm looked horrified and overprotective.
"You were?" Scott asked, looking for blood "When?"
Jubilee sighed again. "In this story that Remedy=Chill wrote called Yesterday. Before everyone but me and the professor got our memories erased." She was tired of saying it.
And you could almost hear crickets in the icy silence that followed.
"New Chapter?" She prompted them out of their daze.
"Right!" Scott jumped up and selected the next chapter from the drop down menu.