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"Fine, Gambit, I'll shuffle the deck."
"Don' let her, Beast-de chile cheats as bad as I do."
"That's saying quite a lot, Gambit."
"Gambit, what I have I told you about calling me 'chile'? I'm old enough to be your mother."
"Aw, but chere, you look younger ev'ry day."
"A physical impossibility, Gambit, considering that she doesn't age."
"Stop tiltin' your glasses at me, M'suier Beast. You done wid dem cards yet, petite?"
"Alright. Here you go." The voices were friendly and teasing, but unfamiliar.
Yuriko slit her eyes open to see an odd trio playing cards at a lab table across the room. She took a quick inventory of her surroundings: she was alive, healed, in a soft bed in something that looked like a medical laboratory. There was a metal table to one side that seemed familiar, with two buckets underneath it. The only other piece of furniture was the table that the trio were playing on, all the glassware and microscopes pushed haphazardly to one side. Two were in chairs, the woman with her back to Yuriko, and the young man in an old t-shirt and a trench coat draped over the back of the chair he was sitting in. The last person was a huge muscular creature with blue fur all over his body and sharp teeth that glinted when he talked. He was dressed, oddly enough, in a loose pair of sweat pants and tank top, with thin wire-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. Something was familiar…..
The young man looked up, caught her awake, and nodded, nudging the girl with an elbow. She turned, and gave a pleasant grin at seeing Yuriko awake. "Hello again," she said in a cheerful voice as the others eyed her warily. "Are you….ah…. yourself?"
That was when the shock hit Yuriko's mind: for the first time in months, years, she was able to think and move by herself. She remembered Stryker and his plans, and the things that he had her do. She remembered savoring the moments in her cell when Stryker had been too busy to "use" her, just moving her own fingers. For a long time whenever he had used her, she didn't pay attention to what her body was doing; she just floated instead, trying to block everything out. She remembered the other mutant, who had also once been Stryker's experiment. The pain from his set of adamantium claws had shocked her into watching what her body was doing. And when he had filled her with liquid adamantium, she remembered the moment of bliss that she was free when the adamantium stopped the serum's flow to her mind.
Then she remembered where this trio looked familiar. She had woken up, and the serum had finished its course into her mind, controlling and forcing her to fight. She frowned in perplexity as she looked at the young woman again. "Didn't-" she coughed, her voice gone who knows how long without use, "Didn't I…?" She didn't know how to finish the sentence.
"Kill me?" the woman said, raising an eyebrow in unmistakable good humor. "Yeah. Didn't last too long, did it?"
"Much to our disappointment," interjected the blue furry man. The woman narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him.
"What happened?" Yuriko asked. She was at a loss with these people, but they had taken her down once before, how?, so she didn't want to fight them again.
"You got to be more specific when it comes to dat, m'dame," said the young man with a thick Cajun accent. His thin agile fingers shuffled the cards expertly as they began to glow.
"Gambit's right," the young woman said. She paused. "Wow, I never thought I'd say that," she chuckled. At Yuriko's glance, she shook her head. "I'm sorry; I've been so forgetful lately. We should introduce ourselves. That's Gambit, with the cards, behind me is the Beast, and I'm occasionally known as Xerox or Mimic."
"Lady Deathstrike," Yuriko said with bitterness. She didn't like the code name that was given to her, but since everyone else was using one…. She glanced at the young woman again. That's another reason why she looked so familiar: bright auburn hair, almost fiery compared to the darker red of the young man, ice-blue eyes, a short, slim body….. "It's nice to meet you, Imposter," she said, her voice neutral.
The woman's head jerked back to her. "So you do know," she said quietly. "I've never gone by that name. Never. The dogtags were destroyed as soon as I escaped. I hacked into their system later and deleted all my files. I'm sorry that my escape made them find you. I would have killed them all if I could. Stryker," she said, spitting out the word like it was a rotting slug stuck in her mouth, "has always evaded my grasp." Yuriko watched the others' faces as Imposter spoke. Gambit's held surprise at the mention of escape and the hatred in the woman's voice. The Beast closed his eyes painfully for a second and gritted his jaw. He knew; the former one didn't. She watched the younger man's face carefully. He didn't even show recognition at Stryker's name. So that meant one of two things: either he's the best actor Yuriko had ever seen, or they weren't working for Stryker or his men. She didn't think it was the former.
Imposter finally sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I let my emotions run away with me too much, sometimes. I-go ahead and call me Laurel. Really, I don't like to use the code names other mutants do. What's your real name?"
"Yuriko. Yuriko Oyama." This time she felt herself returning Laurel's smile.
"Ok. And this is Remy and Hank, by the way." Laurel pulled her chair closer to the bed. "What would you like to know first?"
"Wait, before we get into the long dialogues, how are you feeling?" asked the Beast in a kindly but professional manner. "I'd like to make sure that there aren't any lingering harmful effects."
"Hank," Laurel said, rolling her eyes. "She's got a healing mutation, for goodness sake. She'll be fine." He frowned at the young woman, and returned his gaze to Yuriko.
She found herself smiling at the group's exchanges. "I am fine," she said calmly, with just a hint of a smile. "Just a little tired." Her stomach made a noise. "And hungry," she said.
"Dat's something I can fix," spoke up the Cajun. "Yuriko, you like spices?"
"No way," The Beast vetoed before she could open her mouth. "She hasn't had anything for weeks. What you cook, if you call it food, Gambit, is not healthy right now. If you make anything, make it at least slightly blander than the stuff you serve us."
"Gambit, you can make me some gumbo," compromised Laurel. The younger man nodded and left, grumbling about the Beast's delicate stomach.
She turned back to Yuriko. "Well?"
"Who are you?" she asked, bewildered.
"Didn't I already…?" Laurel asked, then smiled. "No, I'm kidding. I suppose you want the how with the who, right? I got here in time to stop Stryker's flunkies from killing Hank, because he was looking into Hank's research a bit too closely, if you know what I mean. When I heard that the dam blew in a… familiar territory, we went to check it out. I found you in the tank, and when we got back here, gave Gambit a call because he's one of the mutants I knew that could get it out of you. It's been at least," she tilted her head back, thinking. "At least three weeks since I pulled you out. And we went out the day that the news went on, so it was what, a day or so after it actually happened? You haven't been out that long."
"I see," Yuriko said. She noticed the fading circles under the girl's eyes. They had worked hard to repair her, but now what? What were their motives? "What's going to happen for the next three weeks?" she asked delicately.
Laurel blinked, as if the thought had never occurred to her. "What's going….? Oh. Well, um," she said, looking at the Beast, who shrugged slightly. "We didn't really have any plans. It was just sort of one thing at a time, you know? Get you healed up, and then whatever you wanted to do…" She nodded at Yuriko's hands. "If you want, we can get rid of the skeleton for you," she offered. "I didn't want to do it until after you woke up, because sometimes something like that can be useful."
"Useful?" Yuriko hadn't even thought of her adamantium skeleton. She wasn't consulted when it was put in, and she hadn't really been herself after it was finished.
"Yeah, like you'd never have to find a letter opener again. Or a can opener, for that matter. And you can flip someone a hell of a bird," the younger girl said, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"There's no reason to decide right now," interjected the Beast. "Why don't you stay here for a while and get used to being yourself again," he invited gently.
Get used to being yourself again; Yuriko mulled the thought over in her mind. It did sound nice. Finally she looked up at the pair and nodded. "I will," she said.
"Will what?" asked Gambit, coming in with a pot of something in his hands. The scent wafted to Yuriko's nose and made her stomach rumble loudly.
"I will try your gumbo," she said. "No matter what he says," she gestured at the Beast. "Pass it over."
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"Fine, Gambit, I'll shuffle the deck."
"Don' let her, Beast-de chile cheats as bad as I do."
"That's saying quite a lot, Gambit."
"Gambit, what I have I told you about calling me 'chile'? I'm old enough to be your mother."
"Aw, but chere, you look younger ev'ry day."
"A physical impossibility, Gambit, considering that she doesn't age."
"Stop tiltin' your glasses at me, M'suier Beast. You done wid dem cards yet, petite?"
"Alright. Here you go." The voices were friendly and teasing, but unfamiliar.
Yuriko slit her eyes open to see an odd trio playing cards at a lab table across the room. She took a quick inventory of her surroundings: she was alive, healed, in a soft bed in something that looked like a medical laboratory. There was a metal table to one side that seemed familiar, with two buckets underneath it. The only other piece of furniture was the table that the trio were playing on, all the glassware and microscopes pushed haphazardly to one side. Two were in chairs, the woman with her back to Yuriko, and the young man in an old t-shirt and a trench coat draped over the back of the chair he was sitting in. The last person was a huge muscular creature with blue fur all over his body and sharp teeth that glinted when he talked. He was dressed, oddly enough, in a loose pair of sweat pants and tank top, with thin wire-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. Something was familiar…..
The young man looked up, caught her awake, and nodded, nudging the girl with an elbow. She turned, and gave a pleasant grin at seeing Yuriko awake. "Hello again," she said in a cheerful voice as the others eyed her warily. "Are you….ah…. yourself?"
That was when the shock hit Yuriko's mind: for the first time in months, years, she was able to think and move by herself. She remembered Stryker and his plans, and the things that he had her do. She remembered savoring the moments in her cell when Stryker had been too busy to "use" her, just moving her own fingers. For a long time whenever he had used her, she didn't pay attention to what her body was doing; she just floated instead, trying to block everything out. She remembered the other mutant, who had also once been Stryker's experiment. The pain from his set of adamantium claws had shocked her into watching what her body was doing. And when he had filled her with liquid adamantium, she remembered the moment of bliss that she was free when the adamantium stopped the serum's flow to her mind.
Then she remembered where this trio looked familiar. She had woken up, and the serum had finished its course into her mind, controlling and forcing her to fight. She frowned in perplexity as she looked at the young woman again. "Didn't-" she coughed, her voice gone who knows how long without use, "Didn't I…?" She didn't know how to finish the sentence.
"Kill me?" the woman said, raising an eyebrow in unmistakable good humor. "Yeah. Didn't last too long, did it?"
"Much to our disappointment," interjected the blue furry man. The woman narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him.
"What happened?" Yuriko asked. She was at a loss with these people, but they had taken her down once before, how?, so she didn't want to fight them again.
"You got to be more specific when it comes to dat, m'dame," said the young man with a thick Cajun accent. His thin agile fingers shuffled the cards expertly as they began to glow.
"Gambit's right," the young woman said. She paused. "Wow, I never thought I'd say that," she chuckled. At Yuriko's glance, she shook her head. "I'm sorry; I've been so forgetful lately. We should introduce ourselves. That's Gambit, with the cards, behind me is the Beast, and I'm occasionally known as Xerox or Mimic."
"Lady Deathstrike," Yuriko said with bitterness. She didn't like the code name that was given to her, but since everyone else was using one…. She glanced at the young woman again. That's another reason why she looked so familiar: bright auburn hair, almost fiery compared to the darker red of the young man, ice-blue eyes, a short, slim body….. "It's nice to meet you, Imposter," she said, her voice neutral.
The woman's head jerked back to her. "So you do know," she said quietly. "I've never gone by that name. Never. The dogtags were destroyed as soon as I escaped. I hacked into their system later and deleted all my files. I'm sorry that my escape made them find you. I would have killed them all if I could. Stryker," she said, spitting out the word like it was a rotting slug stuck in her mouth, "has always evaded my grasp." Yuriko watched the others' faces as Imposter spoke. Gambit's held surprise at the mention of escape and the hatred in the woman's voice. The Beast closed his eyes painfully for a second and gritted his jaw. He knew; the former one didn't. She watched the younger man's face carefully. He didn't even show recognition at Stryker's name. So that meant one of two things: either he's the best actor Yuriko had ever seen, or they weren't working for Stryker or his men. She didn't think it was the former.
Imposter finally sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I let my emotions run away with me too much, sometimes. I-go ahead and call me Laurel. Really, I don't like to use the code names other mutants do. What's your real name?"
"Yuriko. Yuriko Oyama." This time she felt herself returning Laurel's smile.
"Ok. And this is Remy and Hank, by the way." Laurel pulled her chair closer to the bed. "What would you like to know first?"
"Wait, before we get into the long dialogues, how are you feeling?" asked the Beast in a kindly but professional manner. "I'd like to make sure that there aren't any lingering harmful effects."
"Hank," Laurel said, rolling her eyes. "She's got a healing mutation, for goodness sake. She'll be fine." He frowned at the young woman, and returned his gaze to Yuriko.
She found herself smiling at the group's exchanges. "I am fine," she said calmly, with just a hint of a smile. "Just a little tired." Her stomach made a noise. "And hungry," she said.
"Dat's something I can fix," spoke up the Cajun. "Yuriko, you like spices?"
"No way," The Beast vetoed before she could open her mouth. "She hasn't had anything for weeks. What you cook, if you call it food, Gambit, is not healthy right now. If you make anything, make it at least slightly blander than the stuff you serve us."
"Gambit, you can make me some gumbo," compromised Laurel. The younger man nodded and left, grumbling about the Beast's delicate stomach.
She turned back to Yuriko. "Well?"
"Who are you?" she asked, bewildered.
"Didn't I already…?" Laurel asked, then smiled. "No, I'm kidding. I suppose you want the how with the who, right? I got here in time to stop Stryker's flunkies from killing Hank, because he was looking into Hank's research a bit too closely, if you know what I mean. When I heard that the dam blew in a… familiar territory, we went to check it out. I found you in the tank, and when we got back here, gave Gambit a call because he's one of the mutants I knew that could get it out of you. It's been at least," she tilted her head back, thinking. "At least three weeks since I pulled you out. And we went out the day that the news went on, so it was what, a day or so after it actually happened? You haven't been out that long."
"I see," Yuriko said. She noticed the fading circles under the girl's eyes. They had worked hard to repair her, but now what? What were their motives? "What's going to happen for the next three weeks?" she asked delicately.
Laurel blinked, as if the thought had never occurred to her. "What's going….? Oh. Well, um," she said, looking at the Beast, who shrugged slightly. "We didn't really have any plans. It was just sort of one thing at a time, you know? Get you healed up, and then whatever you wanted to do…" She nodded at Yuriko's hands. "If you want, we can get rid of the skeleton for you," she offered. "I didn't want to do it until after you woke up, because sometimes something like that can be useful."
"Useful?" Yuriko hadn't even thought of her adamantium skeleton. She wasn't consulted when it was put in, and she hadn't really been herself after it was finished.
"Yeah, like you'd never have to find a letter opener again. Or a can opener, for that matter. And you can flip someone a hell of a bird," the younger girl said, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"There's no reason to decide right now," interjected the Beast. "Why don't you stay here for a while and get used to being yourself again," he invited gently.
Get used to being yourself again; Yuriko mulled the thought over in her mind. It did sound nice. Finally she looked up at the pair and nodded. "I will," she said.
"Will what?" asked Gambit, coming in with a pot of something in his hands. The scent wafted to Yuriko's nose and made her stomach rumble loudly.
"I will try your gumbo," she said. "No matter what he says," she gestured at the Beast. "Pass it over."
