It had finally happened. Ilyana died at midnight on a Wednesday. The senior X-Men (myself, Piotr, Wolverine, Jean, Scott, Ororo, Hank, Erik, and sometimes Kurt and Rogue) had gone on a mission. Piotr never even got a chance to say good-bye. Myself? I was sitting in Piotr's room with the him, Kitty, and Rogue.
"Do you think that there's a God?" Rogue asked, almost childlike. The death was taking a strange toll on her.
"Fer shure."
"Not really."
"Yes."
Mine and the other two's response came simultaneously. They looked at me, curious (AN: In the comix, it seems as if Remy is either Atheist or non-religious, so, these are not my views. The only time he ever uses religious sayings is when he quotes things).
"Why not, Rem?" Kitty asked me.
"Look, the way I see it is.... You see, I've been living this rough life from the beginning. From what I can understand, there might be someone up there watching us, but he's never done anything for me. Life is random. It can deal you a full house or a busted flush. Especially with this god-damned Legacy Virus. Religion just has never had anything to offer me."
The others were stunned. There was a awkward silence for a few minutes.
Hank's voice came over the intercom in the hall, "Senior X-Men, report to the War Room immediately. That is all."
When we arrived, Jean and Scott were waiting.
"What is this all about?" Ororo asked.
"The Professor and I probed your minds to see about new costumes. All of you except for Gambit, because of his own psi-blocking abilities. We knew that you didn't like the old ones, so we had Moira create the costumes you wanted with the specs of the Blue and Gold. I hope these are to your liking."
(check out these costumes at the Beyond Evolution site)
Wolverine got his second costume, the one without the mask, returned to him.
Jean's was a sleeveless version of the New Recruits costume, but with her old headdress, yellow gloves, yellow "X" belt, and gold boots.
Piotr had on an immense black sleeveless shirt, black military pants, huge black combat boots, gloves with steel belts in the shape of a capital "H" or capital "I", depending on how you looked at it. Along with that was a shoulder "X" belt connecting to a waist belt with the "X" insignia upon the center.
Scott's was basically the same concept, save the huge boots and gloves. He had on smaller combats, a black tee, a "y" shaped belt that connected to a belt on the waist, and yellow fingerless gloves, and the whole thing was set off by the ubiquitous visor.
Storm's seemed like her old, except with a headdress like mine. I'm blushing, chere, I really am.
We were going to Scotland. Half into the Blackbird (Me piloting, Erik, Piotr, Charlie, and Scott), the other half into the Velocity. The flight was very long. And very boring. Only because I probably have Adult ADD. Cant's sit still for more than twenty minutes. I had to put the plane on autopilot and wander around.
When the plane finally touched down, the island was torn apart. There were flames burning everywhere. The research facility was burned to the ground. A blue, fleeting figure was seen running from the compound, toting what seemed to be a large gun. It dawned on me.
"Mystique!" I shouted.
I used Hank's invention and drew six cards, charged them all, and threw them at the carrot-topped seductress.
"No! Stop!" Kurt shouted.
Luckily for him, she flipped out of the way and booked. Beast began to leap after her, but Xavier stopped him.
"No, Hank. Forget it."
All of a sudden, his hands flew to his temples, and he looked pained.
"Moira was shot and mortally wounded by Mystique, looking for things concerning the Virus. I'm guessing she was trying to release it onto the human population. Before she died, she sent me a mind-message telling me where the formula for the Cure was located."
We all nodded. Magneto hovered into the rubble with Beast, Colossus, and myself. We all began to move the destruction around, looking for anything that was salvageable. As I charged a large piece of concrete, I heard a muffled cry of help. Moira. Beast and Colossus picked up the huge slab, and I grabbed her and passed her over to Storm.
"Somebody....Somebody....has to d- has to d-" she began. Her voice began to fade.
I grabbed her shoulders.
"Somebody has to what?! Has to what?! Decide? Drive? Destroy? Drink? What the hell?!" I badgered.
Beast put a restraining hand on my shoulder.
"Gambit! Enough!"
Magneto took off his helmet and floated towards us.
"Somebody has to die." he said.
We all looked at him, dumbfounded.
"I found her journal. It has everything in it. But that big catch. Somebody has to die. A mutant living without the Legacy Virus. One injection will save every mutant on this planet," Magneto said with a sigh.
"Shit!" I said out loud.
Colossus was looking thoughtful. I knew what he was thinking, so I extended the psi-block over his own mind as well. We all went back to our respective vehicles, and I told Scott to pilot this time. I went over and sat next to Piotr when we all got buckled in. I leaned over and caught his attention.
"Hey Pete!"
"Da?"
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, 'cause I patched my own psi-block over your head as well so that the Prof doesn't try to stop you. I'm not condoning the idea, but I'm not saying you shouldn't either. As cowardly as I am, I'd still do it. I'm not behind you 100%, but I got your back. I won't tell anybody," I whispered.
"I know. You always did have my back when we were working with Magneto. Like the time you stopped me from killing him in Egypt (see Impact) I figured you to have my back now. I don't think that anybody else will understand. Thank you, Tovarisch."
I nodded. Then, I crawled out of my current seat and made it to another, and passed out. When we got back to the US, we had to make a pit stop in New Orleans. When we got there, I jumped up and down on the soil, kissed the ground, and scooped some up and put it into a bowl.
"Good ole N'y'awlins earth."
After we picked up some fuel and such, we headed back for New York. We were greeted with a warm reception up North, and I made the announcement.
"We got the cure!" I said over the PA system of the school.
I heard the school erupt into a frenzy of cheering and all manner of such things, and groggy groans of waking teens, woken in the wee hours of the night. Hank shook his head. He told me not to get their hopes up, but I didn't listen. Rogue rushed in, wrapped her arms around my waist, and kissed me on my headdress. I kissed her back on the top of her head. When she left, Hank needed to have a little "talk" with me.
"Remy, pardon my language, but what the *hell* were you doing?!"
"Look, Hank, it's best not to dampen their spirits with all of this suicidal bullshit!"
"Well, I've found in my experience that it's easier to tell the truth!"
"What experience, Hank?! A buncha little kids in a bullshit high-school science class?!"
"That is where you crossed the line, LeBeau! I'll have you know that I did not go through eight-"
"Enough! If you would please take your childish squabbling outside! We have enough children at the Institute as it is, and we don't need two men of your age fighting like little boys!" Erik scolded.
Hank's head drooped low, but I held my head high, not willing to be put down by any man. I motioned to Piotr and the two of us went outside. After buttoning my coat, I pulled out a cigarette and began puffing away.
"You're gonna have to take a risk tonight, Pete," I told him.
"How so?"
"I can't extend the psi-block when I'm asleep. Profex tested it."
"How?" Piotr asked.
"He made me extend it to Kurt once, and he couldn't get in. Then, when I was sleeping, I couldn't extend it."
"But Charles also once said that psychic links are stronger with friendship. We are friends, aren't we?"
"You got me there, homme."
"From what Beast was saying on the plane, he could have it done within the week. Good deal, no?"
"That's very true, mon ami."
We stood there, leaning against the brick wall in silence for a while. When I finished my cig, I went back inside.
"Hey Hank!" I yelled aloud in the quiet mansion.
Kurt teleported in front of me with a precautionary finger over the lips, and 'ported me to Hank.
"Why useth thine vocal cords so loudly, O ye man of kineticism what charmeth the female of our own species?" Hank asked in thespian form.
"A man quoting the classics is a man after my own heart," I said jokingly.
"Don't worry, I wasn't. You read the classics?" he asked me.
"Nope, just like to hear them quoted."
He shook his head and laughed.
"What is it that you need, Remy?" he asked.
"It's more of an idea than a need. I've been thinking-" I began.
"With your brain and not your 'lower regions'? That's a first," he interrupted.
"Ahem! Now, as I was saying, I have a suggestion about the cure victim."
"They wouldn't be a victim, but, anyway, what pray tell might your suggestion be?" Hank asked.
"First, we go to the Tunnel. Then, we find the most pitiful-looking Morlock down there. We stick him with the needle, and nobody would ever know."
"That, my bayou-surfing swamp rodent of Louisiana (AN: notice how I don't use the over-played "swamp rat"), is a good plan-"
"I knew it!"
"A-a-ah! Let me finish," he said, wagging a shaggy blue finger.
I nodded.
"Now, it is a good plan. In theory. But, in reality, where the people with sense live, that plan would go over like a lead balloon. In actuality, Storm would find out and kill us both before we could pin the blame upon each other," Beast said matter-of-factly.
"But if we used some ribbon and a box of dried tuna-"
"Remy! Enough! And stay out of my pain pills!"
"My chest still hurts!"
"No it doesn't."
"Goddamnit, LeBeau, give me those painkillers! Now get some sleep. It's almost dawn."
I reluctantly handed him my orange bottle. To tell the truth, I can't remember past my Morlock plan, but Beast filled me in. Him and security cameras. Goddamned painkillers. I stopped by Piotr's room on the way back. He was painting again. Beautiful but dark picture. Lots of blacks and reds. Gloomy indeed.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"Nyet, Remy, I wish to be alone."
I nodded and left, closing the door. I wandered around a bit, and then went to bed. I woke up the next day with a new idea and proposed it to Hank.
"Hank! I have an idea."
"On what, pray tell?"
"Virus cure. If we got a few more heads in studying-"
"Enough! I've heard more than enough of your asinine plans and ideas!"
"Goddamnit, Hank! If we could just call someone like Reed Richards or- Oh, shit!" I felt my mental link with Piotr tugging at my soul.
I put a communicator to my mouth and spoke.
"Now, Wolverine!" He was the only one I had told of Piotr's plan.
I bounded away, leaving Hank dumbfounded, and he tried to follow. We all got there in time to see Piotr pick up the huge needle containing the Legacy Virus Cure. We started banging on the window, and he smiled at us. I regretted keeping silent about his plan. He was wearing his Acolytes uniform; guess he wanted to go out in glory. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and looked to the sky.
"I can not stand by for even one more hour, knowing somewhere, someone else's little sister is dying from this disease! Snowflake, I am coming home..." he said in Russian. I know because of our link.
I watched him plunge the needle into his chest, and immediately, he turned into Colossus one final time.
"Do you think that there's a God?" Rogue asked, almost childlike. The death was taking a strange toll on her.
"Fer shure."
"Not really."
"Yes."
Mine and the other two's response came simultaneously. They looked at me, curious (AN: In the comix, it seems as if Remy is either Atheist or non-religious, so, these are not my views. The only time he ever uses religious sayings is when he quotes things).
"Why not, Rem?" Kitty asked me.
"Look, the way I see it is.... You see, I've been living this rough life from the beginning. From what I can understand, there might be someone up there watching us, but he's never done anything for me. Life is random. It can deal you a full house or a busted flush. Especially with this god-damned Legacy Virus. Religion just has never had anything to offer me."
The others were stunned. There was a awkward silence for a few minutes.
Hank's voice came over the intercom in the hall, "Senior X-Men, report to the War Room immediately. That is all."
When we arrived, Jean and Scott were waiting.
"What is this all about?" Ororo asked.
"The Professor and I probed your minds to see about new costumes. All of you except for Gambit, because of his own psi-blocking abilities. We knew that you didn't like the old ones, so we had Moira create the costumes you wanted with the specs of the Blue and Gold. I hope these are to your liking."
(check out these costumes at the Beyond Evolution site)
Wolverine got his second costume, the one without the mask, returned to him.
Jean's was a sleeveless version of the New Recruits costume, but with her old headdress, yellow gloves, yellow "X" belt, and gold boots.
Piotr had on an immense black sleeveless shirt, black military pants, huge black combat boots, gloves with steel belts in the shape of a capital "H" or capital "I", depending on how you looked at it. Along with that was a shoulder "X" belt connecting to a waist belt with the "X" insignia upon the center.
Scott's was basically the same concept, save the huge boots and gloves. He had on smaller combats, a black tee, a "y" shaped belt that connected to a belt on the waist, and yellow fingerless gloves, and the whole thing was set off by the ubiquitous visor.
Storm's seemed like her old, except with a headdress like mine. I'm blushing, chere, I really am.
We were going to Scotland. Half into the Blackbird (Me piloting, Erik, Piotr, Charlie, and Scott), the other half into the Velocity. The flight was very long. And very boring. Only because I probably have Adult ADD. Cant's sit still for more than twenty minutes. I had to put the plane on autopilot and wander around.
When the plane finally touched down, the island was torn apart. There were flames burning everywhere. The research facility was burned to the ground. A blue, fleeting figure was seen running from the compound, toting what seemed to be a large gun. It dawned on me.
"Mystique!" I shouted.
I used Hank's invention and drew six cards, charged them all, and threw them at the carrot-topped seductress.
"No! Stop!" Kurt shouted.
Luckily for him, she flipped out of the way and booked. Beast began to leap after her, but Xavier stopped him.
"No, Hank. Forget it."
All of a sudden, his hands flew to his temples, and he looked pained.
"Moira was shot and mortally wounded by Mystique, looking for things concerning the Virus. I'm guessing she was trying to release it onto the human population. Before she died, she sent me a mind-message telling me where the formula for the Cure was located."
We all nodded. Magneto hovered into the rubble with Beast, Colossus, and myself. We all began to move the destruction around, looking for anything that was salvageable. As I charged a large piece of concrete, I heard a muffled cry of help. Moira. Beast and Colossus picked up the huge slab, and I grabbed her and passed her over to Storm.
"Somebody....Somebody....has to d- has to d-" she began. Her voice began to fade.
I grabbed her shoulders.
"Somebody has to what?! Has to what?! Decide? Drive? Destroy? Drink? What the hell?!" I badgered.
Beast put a restraining hand on my shoulder.
"Gambit! Enough!"
Magneto took off his helmet and floated towards us.
"Somebody has to die." he said.
We all looked at him, dumbfounded.
"I found her journal. It has everything in it. But that big catch. Somebody has to die. A mutant living without the Legacy Virus. One injection will save every mutant on this planet," Magneto said with a sigh.
"Shit!" I said out loud.
Colossus was looking thoughtful. I knew what he was thinking, so I extended the psi-block over his own mind as well. We all went back to our respective vehicles, and I told Scott to pilot this time. I went over and sat next to Piotr when we all got buckled in. I leaned over and caught his attention.
"Hey Pete!"
"Da?"
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, 'cause I patched my own psi-block over your head as well so that the Prof doesn't try to stop you. I'm not condoning the idea, but I'm not saying you shouldn't either. As cowardly as I am, I'd still do it. I'm not behind you 100%, but I got your back. I won't tell anybody," I whispered.
"I know. You always did have my back when we were working with Magneto. Like the time you stopped me from killing him in Egypt (see Impact) I figured you to have my back now. I don't think that anybody else will understand. Thank you, Tovarisch."
I nodded. Then, I crawled out of my current seat and made it to another, and passed out. When we got back to the US, we had to make a pit stop in New Orleans. When we got there, I jumped up and down on the soil, kissed the ground, and scooped some up and put it into a bowl.
"Good ole N'y'awlins earth."
After we picked up some fuel and such, we headed back for New York. We were greeted with a warm reception up North, and I made the announcement.
"We got the cure!" I said over the PA system of the school.
I heard the school erupt into a frenzy of cheering and all manner of such things, and groggy groans of waking teens, woken in the wee hours of the night. Hank shook his head. He told me not to get their hopes up, but I didn't listen. Rogue rushed in, wrapped her arms around my waist, and kissed me on my headdress. I kissed her back on the top of her head. When she left, Hank needed to have a little "talk" with me.
"Remy, pardon my language, but what the *hell* were you doing?!"
"Look, Hank, it's best not to dampen their spirits with all of this suicidal bullshit!"
"Well, I've found in my experience that it's easier to tell the truth!"
"What experience, Hank?! A buncha little kids in a bullshit high-school science class?!"
"That is where you crossed the line, LeBeau! I'll have you know that I did not go through eight-"
"Enough! If you would please take your childish squabbling outside! We have enough children at the Institute as it is, and we don't need two men of your age fighting like little boys!" Erik scolded.
Hank's head drooped low, but I held my head high, not willing to be put down by any man. I motioned to Piotr and the two of us went outside. After buttoning my coat, I pulled out a cigarette and began puffing away.
"You're gonna have to take a risk tonight, Pete," I told him.
"How so?"
"I can't extend the psi-block when I'm asleep. Profex tested it."
"How?" Piotr asked.
"He made me extend it to Kurt once, and he couldn't get in. Then, when I was sleeping, I couldn't extend it."
"But Charles also once said that psychic links are stronger with friendship. We are friends, aren't we?"
"You got me there, homme."
"From what Beast was saying on the plane, he could have it done within the week. Good deal, no?"
"That's very true, mon ami."
We stood there, leaning against the brick wall in silence for a while. When I finished my cig, I went back inside.
"Hey Hank!" I yelled aloud in the quiet mansion.
Kurt teleported in front of me with a precautionary finger over the lips, and 'ported me to Hank.
"Why useth thine vocal cords so loudly, O ye man of kineticism what charmeth the female of our own species?" Hank asked in thespian form.
"A man quoting the classics is a man after my own heart," I said jokingly.
"Don't worry, I wasn't. You read the classics?" he asked me.
"Nope, just like to hear them quoted."
He shook his head and laughed.
"What is it that you need, Remy?" he asked.
"It's more of an idea than a need. I've been thinking-" I began.
"With your brain and not your 'lower regions'? That's a first," he interrupted.
"Ahem! Now, as I was saying, I have a suggestion about the cure victim."
"They wouldn't be a victim, but, anyway, what pray tell might your suggestion be?" Hank asked.
"First, we go to the Tunnel. Then, we find the most pitiful-looking Morlock down there. We stick him with the needle, and nobody would ever know."
"That, my bayou-surfing swamp rodent of Louisiana (AN: notice how I don't use the over-played "swamp rat"), is a good plan-"
"I knew it!"
"A-a-ah! Let me finish," he said, wagging a shaggy blue finger.
I nodded.
"Now, it is a good plan. In theory. But, in reality, where the people with sense live, that plan would go over like a lead balloon. In actuality, Storm would find out and kill us both before we could pin the blame upon each other," Beast said matter-of-factly.
"But if we used some ribbon and a box of dried tuna-"
"Remy! Enough! And stay out of my pain pills!"
"My chest still hurts!"
"No it doesn't."
"Goddamnit, LeBeau, give me those painkillers! Now get some sleep. It's almost dawn."
I reluctantly handed him my orange bottle. To tell the truth, I can't remember past my Morlock plan, but Beast filled me in. Him and security cameras. Goddamned painkillers. I stopped by Piotr's room on the way back. He was painting again. Beautiful but dark picture. Lots of blacks and reds. Gloomy indeed.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"Nyet, Remy, I wish to be alone."
I nodded and left, closing the door. I wandered around a bit, and then went to bed. I woke up the next day with a new idea and proposed it to Hank.
"Hank! I have an idea."
"On what, pray tell?"
"Virus cure. If we got a few more heads in studying-"
"Enough! I've heard more than enough of your asinine plans and ideas!"
"Goddamnit, Hank! If we could just call someone like Reed Richards or- Oh, shit!" I felt my mental link with Piotr tugging at my soul.
I put a communicator to my mouth and spoke.
"Now, Wolverine!" He was the only one I had told of Piotr's plan.
I bounded away, leaving Hank dumbfounded, and he tried to follow. We all got there in time to see Piotr pick up the huge needle containing the Legacy Virus Cure. We started banging on the window, and he smiled at us. I regretted keeping silent about his plan. He was wearing his Acolytes uniform; guess he wanted to go out in glory. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and looked to the sky.
"I can not stand by for even one more hour, knowing somewhere, someone else's little sister is dying from this disease! Snowflake, I am coming home..." he said in Russian. I know because of our link.
I watched him plunge the needle into his chest, and immediately, he turned into Colossus one final time.