ginormous snowstorm in d.c. + apartment sitting + snowed in for 3 days =
new chapter! yay!
the end is in sight, my friends.
* * *
It was stupid. Completely insane. But Ah coulda sworn...just for a moment.... My vision went all blurry an' Ah reached up an roughly wiped th' moisture from my eyes, blinkin' fiercely ta clear 'em. Ah was tired an' stressed. But still, Ah'd felt somethin' there. For an instant Ah thought Ah'd smelled th' cologne he usually wore -- dark an' spicy with clove, nutmeg, orange, an' cinnamon like th' scent from some exotic bazaar. An' th' delicate brush against my skin had been unmistakable.
"Remy?" Ah'd called out, feelin' foolish even as th' word passed my lips. No one was there. No one could be there. But th' feelin' was hard ta shake.
Ah'd strained my ears, not knowin' whether Ah wanted a reply or not. My eyes flicked down ta the specks on the GPS screen. They were all meetin' up, but Kurt an' the others were at least 5 miles from where Ah was by my quick calculations. An' Remy was with them, safe. He had ta be. But then what had it been? My memories playin' tricks. Ah sternly refused ta believe it coulda been any part o' Remy there with me.
Any part like his ghost. An' that would mean...
It couldn't be that. Oh god. Please let it not be that.
Ah pressed down harder on th' gas. It wasn't much farther now. Th' scenery whipped by. On another day, Ah woulda slowed ta take it all in: neat rows o' pines featherin' ta the sky, the way they stretched out over the hilly distance, deepenin' into a green that was almost black.
Suddenly, there was a pain in my neck so sharp an' terrible Ah lost control o' the car. "Remy!" Ah gasped, not knowin' why Ah did it. My hands left th' steerin' wheel an' covered th' lump where the necklace was. My fingers scratched frantically against my skin, as if they could tear th' thing outta me. Ah squeezed my eyes shut, then remembered where Ah was an' snapped 'em open again.
Th' highway'd curved but the van hadn't curved with it an' Ah was headin' straight for the soft shoulder. Ah forced my hands back onto th' wheel an', usin' all my strength, Ah turned it ta the left. My feet pushed in the brake an' clutch. Ah shifted into first gear, hopin' th' engine could help ta slow me down. It roared an' complained but the van did start ta stop. Ah hit the shoulder at a strange, sideways angle, tires skiddin'. Gravel pinged against the underside o' the van an' Ah heard a definite crunch right before Ah stopped movin' completely.
Ah opened the driver's side door an' hopped down. My legs were wobbly so Ah had ta lean into the side o' the van for a minute before roundin' the other side ta inspect th' damage. The van was snuggled up tight against the guardrail an' there were a few nasty scrapes. One o' the taillights in back was broken.
Touched my neck an' let out a shaky breath. Now that the worst o' th' shakes had passed outta my system Ah could tell that somethin' was different. Ah felt lighter somehow, like somethin' inside had loosened. Shruggin' it off as the last traces o' adrenaline in my blood, Ah made my way back ta the driver's side door. This time, when Ah flung it open, th' hinges squealed loudly as th' door bent back almost ta the body o' the van.
My breath caught in my throat. What if....
Experimentally, Ah lifted my arms and was rewarded when Ah rose a few inches into th' air. Covered my mouth with my fingertips. "My god," Ah whispered.
What the hell just happened here?
In th' world o' morals, in th' land o' right an' wrong, people were always punished appropriately for their mistakes. Ah'd fucked up. Big time. Ah'd taken somethin' that hadn't belonged ta me, somethin' Ah didn't know anythin' about, an' Ah'd used it for my own reasons. No matter how good those reasons seemed at th' time, it was Wrong with a capital "W."
Ah regretted a lot o' what'd happened. Ah regretted Magneto an' th' fact that Remy felt like he had ta go an' try ta fix my mistake. But, in some infinitely tiny way, Ah knew Ah didn't exactly regret th' time Ah'd spent as a normal teenager. It stung ta admit that ta myself, doubly so 'cause Ah knew that one day Ah'd have ta admit it ta someone else: th' Professor, Kitty or Remy most of all. An' then everyone'd know how awful an' selfish Ah was inside. But even th' fear o' their disgust an' disapproval wasn't enough ta make me give up th' small kernel of pride that, for once, Ah'd been able ta be like anyone else.
An' it seemed that Ah wasn't punished. Not like Ah'd expected. Ah rummaged in the back o' the van until Ah came up with a handheld GPS locator.
There were more ways for a person ta be hurt though. A cold feelin' settled in the pit o' my stomach. Remy had been there, with me. Somehow. An' somehow Ah figured he'd had somethin' ta do with my powers comin' back.
Th' rush o' emotion that sent me into th' air was a combination of a lot o' things. Shame an' amazement were two big parts. So was love, though Ah'm not sure if Ah was quite ready ta say it out loud. Regardless, it was there. Th' air was cold, but my face burned with it.
* * *
Amazing what y' can hear when people don't t'ink y' can listen. Seemed t' come back into myself right when de x-men arrived in a burst of noisy activity.
"Where's Mystique?" Logan demanded. "I smelled her when we came in."
"Gone," Kurt said sadly. "Out ze way she came, I guess. I didn't see."
"Well, we still got one," Logan grunted reluctantly. "Nice shiner on 'im too. You do that, kid?"
"He vas going to hurt my mother," Kurt replied testily. Dere was an uncomfortable silence before Kurt spoke again. "Remy...came back."
"It's best if we don't disturb him now," I heard Dr. Moreau say.
"Vhat...vhat happened to him? Vhere did he go."
One day I'll tell y', Kurt and y' won't believe me at all.
"I don't know." De doctor sounded confused. Felt his hand on my face. "He's a little warm."
"Would someone care to tell me exactly what went on here?" Hadn't heard de Professor speak too much, but de take-charge tone was a dead giveaway.
"Ze doctor had an idea for removing ze collar from Rogue, but he vanted to test it," Kurt explained. "Remy volunteered. Ze doctor vas going to increase his powers to short out ze metal. It was bright. Zen Remy seemed to fall apart and disappear. Only now he's back."
"And you just let him volunteer for this?" Scott broke in. Somet'ing 'bout de boy rubbed me de wrong way. He was bossy and I could see in dat mebbe he wanted more control dan he was ready for. "How could you be so irresponsible?"
"Scott." Dere was a quiet note of warning in Ororo's voice, but I wondered if he could even hear dat.
"'Ro's right. We need ta keep calm here, not go flyin' off in all directions," Logan added, for emphasis I guessed.
"I didn't let him do anything!" Kurt protested. Could practically hear his scowl. "Remy always does whatever ze hell he wants. I vas just trying to make sure he didn't get hurt. Maybe you'd rather I just let him get killed?" De second part was quieter.
"Kurt! There is no need for such language!" Ororo protested.
"Sorry," he said sullenly.
"No one is questioning your motives, Kurt. Your concern for your teammate is admirable," de Professor said. "However, next time, I wish you would come to us. Let us handle it."
"There isn't going to be a next time," Scott snapped. "He's worse than Lance, Professor!"
"You complete jerk!" I was surprised dat Kitty was dere. Somet'ing must be wrong wit' her, I figured. Wasn't like Kitty t' be dat quiet.
"Kitty, Scott..." Xavier sounded tired.
"But, Professor..." she protested.
"Look, Kitty, Shades, why don't ya make yourselves useful an' help me tote Mr. Sweetness-and-Light here out to the x-jet. You too, elf."
"What are we doing with Sabretooth?" Scott seemed genuinely curious. Anyt'ing t' keep him from badmouthing me. Eavesdropping or no, de boy was seconds away from a good punch t' de jaw.
"Dunno," Logan replied, "but he can't stay here." Heard scuffling as dey hoisted Sabretooth's body between dem and den Logan's breathless grumble. "Sonofabitch's heavier than I remember. Maybe he better lay off the sweet potato pie." Remembering Kurt and his pie, wondered if he was blushing right den.
"You are, like, such an utter asshole, Scott," I heard Kitty hiss at him.
Dere footsteps had receded far down de tunnel before de Professor spoke again. "Magneto will come for you soon, Doctor."
"I know." Moreau's voice was tight.
"This equipment is unlike any I've ever seen before," Ororo mused.
"I...salvaged it from the same site where I found the metal."
"Salvaged?"
"Yes. It looked as if some sort of space ship had crashed there."
"A UFO?" Ororo sounded unconvinced.
Moreau ignored de skepticism. "It took me years to restore it to working order, even longer to figure out how to operate it, to tune it to the frequency of the mutant brain."
"And you say this machine increases a mutant's naturally-occurring powers?" Xavier was as close t' frightened as I'd ever heard him. "Have you told Magneto about this?"
"No. He only knows about the collars. Although neither of us suspected that they'd work in quite such a...dramatic fashion."
"But why would Magneto, of all people, want to strip mutants of their powers?" Ororo asked.
"The collars are for prisoners," Moreau said darkly. "He's preparing for war. And if I were you, I would too."
* * *
Panther Nesmith: I'm glad you liked Rogue's scene with Jean. I try not to hate her TOO much. Scott on the other hand...eh. I guess I can see where a lot of characters are coming from, but there are just some motivations I sympathize with more than others. Scott's like my little whipping boy of the day. Woo. I was thinking that "Comic Book Villains" sounded kind of interesting as I do love my comic book store. Even if I'm not in there a whole heckuva lot, but when I do go it's funny because a) there are never any other girls there and b) the guys there will either look at me like it's the most amazing they've ever seen or scowl like I've invaded their fanboy turf. Hee.
Sujakata: I've yet to see a really strong candidate put forth for LiveAction!Remy. A lot of people seem to be little concerned for said candidate's actual ACTING ability as opposed to his fighting skills, level of buffness, Cajun-ness etc. Um, pro wrestler = Remy? Eugh. Just being Cajun does NOT mean a darn thing. Um...no R&R action in this chapter, but I totally, totally promise that next chapter there will be some. I wanted to stick it in here, but it didn't quite work out.
Amazonestar: Yeah, if I hadn't written it in first person it probably wouldn't have gone on this long either. I LIKE first person, even if it does make explaining certain things more difficult.
Christy S: And the radio show continues! But eavesdropping is totally fun, just as long as you don't get all busted and whatnot. I don't begrudge Remy his fun. He's had a hard day.
Niteflite: Okay, so this is kind of what I'm talking about with the whole problematic first person thing. I, as the humble author, do actually know all of what's going on, but I can't reveal more than what Remy/Rogue/any given character would know. Unfortunately for me, Dr. Moreau isn't too ethical/into the scientific method and doesn't truly understand the workings behind these things he's created. So what I'm going to do, just for you and anyone who's wondering is give away
WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYTHING (ahem):
I'm reading a book now called "Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain." (don't ask me if it's good because I've only read about 25 pages, but with a title like that how could it be BAD?) Anyhow, in this book, the author says the following about Einstein's famous theory: "...in Bern, Switzerland, he conceived the special theory of relativity and the equation E=mc2, a supposition that ALL MATTER, FROM A FEATHER TO A ROCK, CONTAINS ENERGY." (the emphasis is mine) This sounds good and cool to me (remembering that I am not a physicist) and it got me thinking about how, if Remy's powers were increased to the point where he became pure energy he would, essentially, be able to be anywhere since all things contain energy. It's all very godlike and exciting, no? This is how Remy was able to do all those nifty things he did. As for Rogue's part, I tried to explain that a bit in this part. I think she kind of sensed him, but couldn't be sure. Oooh...ghostly. And angsty!
Lady MR: See above for long-winded explanation. Gah. I think cannon Remy is v. underdeveloped. pouts ;-D Everything I needed to know about the pervasiveness of stolen, extraterrestrial technology and how it is at the bottom of EVERYTHING I learned from watching "The X-Files."
ishandahalf: There are not as many pretty, pretty boys in the real world, that's for sure. But hey, who wants pretty when you can have insecure poseurs, their black-framed glasses slightly askew beneath their over- gelled hair...um, sorry. makes quick note to self to stop hanging out in coffee shops and indie music stores Moving on quickly from my personal gripes. And, hey, I was always taught to end the chapter with a cliffhanger, since, if you end the chapter with, say, a tea party, no one will want to read anything after that...
bunny angel: It did kinda hurt Rogue when the necklace was digging into her skin, only it happened much more slowly. With Remy it was all at once. Kind of like that thing with...um...fish? crabs? lobsters? If you stick 'em in a pot of boiling water they'll try to get out, but if you put them in normal water and heat it they'll get used to it gradually and never try to escape. Okay. Eew. Reason #14 why I'm a vegetarian.
Flyby Stardancer: It makes me sad to think that, eventually, there'll be no more updates to look for sobs. And no more wacky hijinks to report on. About that angst...I swear to holy god that I am not such a damn downer IRL.
Neurotic Temptress: I try for the Rogue/Remy time, I really do. Because I'm not so fond of how they always seem to be going off, doing their own things. Not that people should be together all the time, just that they're pretty interesting when they ARE together. Aw...hell...I don't really know what I'm saying.
The highlight of that Kahn storyline was...um...the Lone Gunmen cameo? How sad is that? Like, separately, there were some pretty cool bits (Sage being badass springs to mind), but on the whole? Eeeh. I did kind of like that filler ish afterwards though, with them all at Rogue's house? Just the part when they were teasing Storm about how many people have wanted her for their queen over the years. Heh. I feel like maybe the problem with Claremont is that he's SUCH a big name now that no one can really come to him and say, "Wait a sec, this could be MUCH tighter." I think his writing's not necessarily BAD, but he could use an editor. A GOOD editor.
AJ: Thank you so much. I'm always especially glad to hear when people think I'm getting the characterizations right because I think that's trickiest to do -- with good characterization, I feel like everything else falls into place because you can take things in new directions plotwise that are natural and logical.
the end is in sight, my friends.
* * *
It was stupid. Completely insane. But Ah coulda sworn...just for a moment.... My vision went all blurry an' Ah reached up an roughly wiped th' moisture from my eyes, blinkin' fiercely ta clear 'em. Ah was tired an' stressed. But still, Ah'd felt somethin' there. For an instant Ah thought Ah'd smelled th' cologne he usually wore -- dark an' spicy with clove, nutmeg, orange, an' cinnamon like th' scent from some exotic bazaar. An' th' delicate brush against my skin had been unmistakable.
"Remy?" Ah'd called out, feelin' foolish even as th' word passed my lips. No one was there. No one could be there. But th' feelin' was hard ta shake.
Ah'd strained my ears, not knowin' whether Ah wanted a reply or not. My eyes flicked down ta the specks on the GPS screen. They were all meetin' up, but Kurt an' the others were at least 5 miles from where Ah was by my quick calculations. An' Remy was with them, safe. He had ta be. But then what had it been? My memories playin' tricks. Ah sternly refused ta believe it coulda been any part o' Remy there with me.
Any part like his ghost. An' that would mean...
It couldn't be that. Oh god. Please let it not be that.
Ah pressed down harder on th' gas. It wasn't much farther now. Th' scenery whipped by. On another day, Ah woulda slowed ta take it all in: neat rows o' pines featherin' ta the sky, the way they stretched out over the hilly distance, deepenin' into a green that was almost black.
Suddenly, there was a pain in my neck so sharp an' terrible Ah lost control o' the car. "Remy!" Ah gasped, not knowin' why Ah did it. My hands left th' steerin' wheel an' covered th' lump where the necklace was. My fingers scratched frantically against my skin, as if they could tear th' thing outta me. Ah squeezed my eyes shut, then remembered where Ah was an' snapped 'em open again.
Th' highway'd curved but the van hadn't curved with it an' Ah was headin' straight for the soft shoulder. Ah forced my hands back onto th' wheel an', usin' all my strength, Ah turned it ta the left. My feet pushed in the brake an' clutch. Ah shifted into first gear, hopin' th' engine could help ta slow me down. It roared an' complained but the van did start ta stop. Ah hit the shoulder at a strange, sideways angle, tires skiddin'. Gravel pinged against the underside o' the van an' Ah heard a definite crunch right before Ah stopped movin' completely.
Ah opened the driver's side door an' hopped down. My legs were wobbly so Ah had ta lean into the side o' the van for a minute before roundin' the other side ta inspect th' damage. The van was snuggled up tight against the guardrail an' there were a few nasty scrapes. One o' the taillights in back was broken.
Touched my neck an' let out a shaky breath. Now that the worst o' th' shakes had passed outta my system Ah could tell that somethin' was different. Ah felt lighter somehow, like somethin' inside had loosened. Shruggin' it off as the last traces o' adrenaline in my blood, Ah made my way back ta the driver's side door. This time, when Ah flung it open, th' hinges squealed loudly as th' door bent back almost ta the body o' the van.
My breath caught in my throat. What if....
Experimentally, Ah lifted my arms and was rewarded when Ah rose a few inches into th' air. Covered my mouth with my fingertips. "My god," Ah whispered.
What the hell just happened here?
In th' world o' morals, in th' land o' right an' wrong, people were always punished appropriately for their mistakes. Ah'd fucked up. Big time. Ah'd taken somethin' that hadn't belonged ta me, somethin' Ah didn't know anythin' about, an' Ah'd used it for my own reasons. No matter how good those reasons seemed at th' time, it was Wrong with a capital "W."
Ah regretted a lot o' what'd happened. Ah regretted Magneto an' th' fact that Remy felt like he had ta go an' try ta fix my mistake. But, in some infinitely tiny way, Ah knew Ah didn't exactly regret th' time Ah'd spent as a normal teenager. It stung ta admit that ta myself, doubly so 'cause Ah knew that one day Ah'd have ta admit it ta someone else: th' Professor, Kitty or Remy most of all. An' then everyone'd know how awful an' selfish Ah was inside. But even th' fear o' their disgust an' disapproval wasn't enough ta make me give up th' small kernel of pride that, for once, Ah'd been able ta be like anyone else.
An' it seemed that Ah wasn't punished. Not like Ah'd expected. Ah rummaged in the back o' the van until Ah came up with a handheld GPS locator.
There were more ways for a person ta be hurt though. A cold feelin' settled in the pit o' my stomach. Remy had been there, with me. Somehow. An' somehow Ah figured he'd had somethin' ta do with my powers comin' back.
Th' rush o' emotion that sent me into th' air was a combination of a lot o' things. Shame an' amazement were two big parts. So was love, though Ah'm not sure if Ah was quite ready ta say it out loud. Regardless, it was there. Th' air was cold, but my face burned with it.
* * *
Amazing what y' can hear when people don't t'ink y' can listen. Seemed t' come back into myself right when de x-men arrived in a burst of noisy activity.
"Where's Mystique?" Logan demanded. "I smelled her when we came in."
"Gone," Kurt said sadly. "Out ze way she came, I guess. I didn't see."
"Well, we still got one," Logan grunted reluctantly. "Nice shiner on 'im too. You do that, kid?"
"He vas going to hurt my mother," Kurt replied testily. Dere was an uncomfortable silence before Kurt spoke again. "Remy...came back."
"It's best if we don't disturb him now," I heard Dr. Moreau say.
"Vhat...vhat happened to him? Vhere did he go."
One day I'll tell y', Kurt and y' won't believe me at all.
"I don't know." De doctor sounded confused. Felt his hand on my face. "He's a little warm."
"Would someone care to tell me exactly what went on here?" Hadn't heard de Professor speak too much, but de take-charge tone was a dead giveaway.
"Ze doctor had an idea for removing ze collar from Rogue, but he vanted to test it," Kurt explained. "Remy volunteered. Ze doctor vas going to increase his powers to short out ze metal. It was bright. Zen Remy seemed to fall apart and disappear. Only now he's back."
"And you just let him volunteer for this?" Scott broke in. Somet'ing 'bout de boy rubbed me de wrong way. He was bossy and I could see in dat mebbe he wanted more control dan he was ready for. "How could you be so irresponsible?"
"Scott." Dere was a quiet note of warning in Ororo's voice, but I wondered if he could even hear dat.
"'Ro's right. We need ta keep calm here, not go flyin' off in all directions," Logan added, for emphasis I guessed.
"I didn't let him do anything!" Kurt protested. Could practically hear his scowl. "Remy always does whatever ze hell he wants. I vas just trying to make sure he didn't get hurt. Maybe you'd rather I just let him get killed?" De second part was quieter.
"Kurt! There is no need for such language!" Ororo protested.
"Sorry," he said sullenly.
"No one is questioning your motives, Kurt. Your concern for your teammate is admirable," de Professor said. "However, next time, I wish you would come to us. Let us handle it."
"There isn't going to be a next time," Scott snapped. "He's worse than Lance, Professor!"
"You complete jerk!" I was surprised dat Kitty was dere. Somet'ing must be wrong wit' her, I figured. Wasn't like Kitty t' be dat quiet.
"Kitty, Scott..." Xavier sounded tired.
"But, Professor..." she protested.
"Look, Kitty, Shades, why don't ya make yourselves useful an' help me tote Mr. Sweetness-and-Light here out to the x-jet. You too, elf."
"What are we doing with Sabretooth?" Scott seemed genuinely curious. Anyt'ing t' keep him from badmouthing me. Eavesdropping or no, de boy was seconds away from a good punch t' de jaw.
"Dunno," Logan replied, "but he can't stay here." Heard scuffling as dey hoisted Sabretooth's body between dem and den Logan's breathless grumble. "Sonofabitch's heavier than I remember. Maybe he better lay off the sweet potato pie." Remembering Kurt and his pie, wondered if he was blushing right den.
"You are, like, such an utter asshole, Scott," I heard Kitty hiss at him.
Dere footsteps had receded far down de tunnel before de Professor spoke again. "Magneto will come for you soon, Doctor."
"I know." Moreau's voice was tight.
"This equipment is unlike any I've ever seen before," Ororo mused.
"I...salvaged it from the same site where I found the metal."
"Salvaged?"
"Yes. It looked as if some sort of space ship had crashed there."
"A UFO?" Ororo sounded unconvinced.
Moreau ignored de skepticism. "It took me years to restore it to working order, even longer to figure out how to operate it, to tune it to the frequency of the mutant brain."
"And you say this machine increases a mutant's naturally-occurring powers?" Xavier was as close t' frightened as I'd ever heard him. "Have you told Magneto about this?"
"No. He only knows about the collars. Although neither of us suspected that they'd work in quite such a...dramatic fashion."
"But why would Magneto, of all people, want to strip mutants of their powers?" Ororo asked.
"The collars are for prisoners," Moreau said darkly. "He's preparing for war. And if I were you, I would too."
* * *
Panther Nesmith: I'm glad you liked Rogue's scene with Jean. I try not to hate her TOO much. Scott on the other hand...eh. I guess I can see where a lot of characters are coming from, but there are just some motivations I sympathize with more than others. Scott's like my little whipping boy of the day. Woo. I was thinking that "Comic Book Villains" sounded kind of interesting as I do love my comic book store. Even if I'm not in there a whole heckuva lot, but when I do go it's funny because a) there are never any other girls there and b) the guys there will either look at me like it's the most amazing they've ever seen or scowl like I've invaded their fanboy turf. Hee.
Sujakata: I've yet to see a really strong candidate put forth for LiveAction!Remy. A lot of people seem to be little concerned for said candidate's actual ACTING ability as opposed to his fighting skills, level of buffness, Cajun-ness etc. Um, pro wrestler = Remy? Eugh. Just being Cajun does NOT mean a darn thing. Um...no R&R action in this chapter, but I totally, totally promise that next chapter there will be some. I wanted to stick it in here, but it didn't quite work out.
Amazonestar: Yeah, if I hadn't written it in first person it probably wouldn't have gone on this long either. I LIKE first person, even if it does make explaining certain things more difficult.
Christy S: And the radio show continues! But eavesdropping is totally fun, just as long as you don't get all busted and whatnot. I don't begrudge Remy his fun. He's had a hard day.
Niteflite: Okay, so this is kind of what I'm talking about with the whole problematic first person thing. I, as the humble author, do actually know all of what's going on, but I can't reveal more than what Remy/Rogue/any given character would know. Unfortunately for me, Dr. Moreau isn't too ethical/into the scientific method and doesn't truly understand the workings behind these things he's created. So what I'm going to do, just for you and anyone who's wondering is give away
WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYTHING (ahem):
I'm reading a book now called "Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain." (don't ask me if it's good because I've only read about 25 pages, but with a title like that how could it be BAD?) Anyhow, in this book, the author says the following about Einstein's famous theory: "...in Bern, Switzerland, he conceived the special theory of relativity and the equation E=mc2, a supposition that ALL MATTER, FROM A FEATHER TO A ROCK, CONTAINS ENERGY." (the emphasis is mine) This sounds good and cool to me (remembering that I am not a physicist) and it got me thinking about how, if Remy's powers were increased to the point where he became pure energy he would, essentially, be able to be anywhere since all things contain energy. It's all very godlike and exciting, no? This is how Remy was able to do all those nifty things he did. As for Rogue's part, I tried to explain that a bit in this part. I think she kind of sensed him, but couldn't be sure. Oooh...ghostly. And angsty!
Lady MR: See above for long-winded explanation. Gah. I think cannon Remy is v. underdeveloped. pouts ;-D Everything I needed to know about the pervasiveness of stolen, extraterrestrial technology and how it is at the bottom of EVERYTHING I learned from watching "The X-Files."
ishandahalf: There are not as many pretty, pretty boys in the real world, that's for sure. But hey, who wants pretty when you can have insecure poseurs, their black-framed glasses slightly askew beneath their over- gelled hair...um, sorry. makes quick note to self to stop hanging out in coffee shops and indie music stores Moving on quickly from my personal gripes. And, hey, I was always taught to end the chapter with a cliffhanger, since, if you end the chapter with, say, a tea party, no one will want to read anything after that...
bunny angel: It did kinda hurt Rogue when the necklace was digging into her skin, only it happened much more slowly. With Remy it was all at once. Kind of like that thing with...um...fish? crabs? lobsters? If you stick 'em in a pot of boiling water they'll try to get out, but if you put them in normal water and heat it they'll get used to it gradually and never try to escape. Okay. Eew. Reason #14 why I'm a vegetarian.
Flyby Stardancer: It makes me sad to think that, eventually, there'll be no more updates to look for sobs. And no more wacky hijinks to report on. About that angst...I swear to holy god that I am not such a damn downer IRL.
Neurotic Temptress: I try for the Rogue/Remy time, I really do. Because I'm not so fond of how they always seem to be going off, doing their own things. Not that people should be together all the time, just that they're pretty interesting when they ARE together. Aw...hell...I don't really know what I'm saying.
The highlight of that Kahn storyline was...um...the Lone Gunmen cameo? How sad is that? Like, separately, there were some pretty cool bits (Sage being badass springs to mind), but on the whole? Eeeh. I did kind of like that filler ish afterwards though, with them all at Rogue's house? Just the part when they were teasing Storm about how many people have wanted her for their queen over the years. Heh. I feel like maybe the problem with Claremont is that he's SUCH a big name now that no one can really come to him and say, "Wait a sec, this could be MUCH tighter." I think his writing's not necessarily BAD, but he could use an editor. A GOOD editor.
AJ: Thank you so much. I'm always especially glad to hear when people think I'm getting the characterizations right because I think that's trickiest to do -- with good characterization, I feel like everything else falls into place because you can take things in new directions plotwise that are natural and logical.