Disclaimer: I own a black hole in my brain that is currently draining all my inspiration.
Star-of-Chaos Eh...no actually, I didn't notice...he, eh...oops.
DarkElf3 Thank you, thank you! He is a great thief, isn't he *sigh* anyway, here's to confrontation...
Ima Super Mute Ant Just so long as you eat the doughnut and not Remy, I need him for this story...
Emma It is impossible for me to get sick of hearing compliments. They're like drugs without nasty side effects...
Ishandahalf Remy, Remy he's our man, if he can't do it, shame on him!
Caliente I totally suck at Romyness, I am just not a romantic soul. The mad scientist line was a silly reference to the comics (much like the abandoned train wagon in my other story) I just like doing that...
Leann In that case you're in luck, cos here's more!
Rachel I am immune to puppy dog eyes...no i'm not...i'm sad, here's more.
Streetwise Girl Oh no! Anything but that! You mustn't not like me! Please! Here's more, but please, do not not like me! :)
Epona I always thought of Gambit as a very funny character, that's why I pick him to star in fics...to make everyone's sides hurt. :)
A/N This is an awful excuse for a chapter, but I'm beginning to write more of another story and less of this one. Inspiration running low, you see, just like my sanity. Anyway, if it sucks too bad, say so and I'll repost...
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Why me?
Fissie
Remy was tempted to bang his head on the file cabinet. Very tempted, had it not been for the headache he already had. Many times before he banged his head on various surfaces, when he knew no one was looking. He always kept that poker face in perfect order, but sometimes, underneath that surface, he'd get desperate. Banging one's head on a certain surface always proved very useful and much less audible compared to screaming one's ears off.
Remy put the files back where they were. He had to get out of there, but his orientation was completely missing. He spotted a ventilation hole. He pondered his options. Ventilation systems had more possibilities than spaces between floors, but were less spacious. They could get him nearly anywhere throughout the building, but were very narrow. He knew it would be the only way to get out, but he wished it wasn't. So, groggy as he was, he lifted the lid crawled in and started to sneak through the system.
It was an agonizingly slow process, because his feet didn't coordinate with his hands, so instead of 'crouching' like a tiger he was actually 'worming' like a worm. And in this situation, Remy began wondering the meaning of life. His life. Which raised a couple of questions. When exactly did his life become this complicated? Dizzy, disoriented, imprisoned, collared. This was not going much according to plan. It was only a few weeks ago that everything had been fine. No wait. Scratch that. It was only a few weeks ago that everything had been good enough, considering the circumstances. A thief's life was a good life. A life without too many worries and sorrows. So what on earth possessed him to stay with a bunch of kids and try to save mutant kind? What cruel inner brain-system had told him to hang around and be a hero? Why?
His body scraped passed loose plate, leaving a long bloody gash on his back. ~ Merde.~ He never did enjoy vent systems. To cold in the summer, too hot in the winter and too damn small at any time of the year. Remy LeBeau was more of a hallway kind of thief. Avoiding cameras and infrared systems was more pleasant than crouching in stupid vent systems. Especially those designed not to let thieves pass through them. People have no consideration.
Luckily this thief was flexible. He could fold himself in many ways to fit through these damned vents. Everyone suspected it was part of his mutancy, but he liked to say it was the years of hard training and discipline. People laughed at him when he said that.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The X-men reached the warehouse for the second time, with their image inducers on. Not bothering themselves with manners, they blasted down the doors and burst in.
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Not knowing in which direction he was crawling, Remy suddenly shook up when he heard voices and instantly regretted doing so. This headache was not going to go away in a long time. He lay absolutely still, hardly even moving to breath as he listened.
It were the small voices of children, a few crawls further away. He crawled a bit nearer to the source, until he could clearly distinguish different sounds. Some were talking, some were crying. They were there; Remy had found the captured children. Maybe he could take a peek, and see how their conditions were. Most of his brain did not find that a good idea, he needed to get out of there, now, not be distracted by kiddies. He sighed. ~Y'r a big sap, LeBeau. A big ole sap.~
He got out of the vents, cracked every bone in his body and started scanning the area. He was standing on a floor that had once been used for keeping stocks. Some of the stock rooms had been transformed into holding cells. They must have been out of room and put him in a hole in the ground instead. He could hear the children on the other side. ~Spacious.~ Remy had been in worse places. Of course, he was a twenty year old, skilled thief and these were eight to twelve year old kids, so for them it must be hell. Which explained the crying.
He spotted a few scanning cameras that would be easily dodged. With a few maneuvers he closed in on one of the doors, removed the bar, picked the lock and entered the cell.
Five children looked at him with horror in their little eyes. Remy noticed they all wore the same collars as he wore. ~Dey're mutants.~ It was pretty obvious, but in his current state, it was quite a revelation. He looked at their eyes, their mouths firmly shut and the way they curled up in the corner. He realized these children were experimental subjects. Remy did not like that idea. He knew what it was like all too well.
A small sigh of relief parted his lips at the realization that at least these kids were well fed, fairly clean and most importantly alive, not...like that man on the steel table... he shuddered to think. Which brought him back to his original plan: to get out of there.
A cough woke him from his thoughts. A great part of his brain told him to leave right now that he had the chance, before anyone noticed him having escaped or being here and got ready to leave those little kiddies again.
But the hero inside of him awoke and made him realize he was going to have to Do Something About It. He didn't like that thought, he just wanted to get out of there. Responsibility and conscience, he'd rather do without. He heard the quiet sobs of a little girl. ~Much rader.~ He sobered up fast and spoke up.
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They fight was going marvelously. The image inducers worked like a charm.
*Insert magnificent battle scene from comic of choice. Preferably one with loads of guns and superb fighting maneuvers.*
They never saw the giant net coming down on them from above. They never noticed the giant net being charged with electricity, knocking them all out. They never saw the grin that spread on Kramer's face as he saw his team had beaten the x-men once more.
He pondered for a while to just kill them and be done with it, but a nagging scientist begged for them to be held until he could find use for them. Oh well, one has to keep one's employees happy. And so the x-men were carried away for safekeeping.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
''Hi.'' Remy whispered. ''Don' worry, I won' hurt y'.''
Five pairs of eyes looked at him with unbelief. One pair of eyes looked up hopefully. ''Mommy?'' A girl wishfully whispered at the figure that stood there with his back towards her. It's the long hair, you see.
''Non, petit. M' name's Remy.'' He saw the other kids were not yet convinced he was not going to hurt them. ''I'm a mutant too.''
Five pairs of eyes saw the red on black eyes as Remy stepped from the shadows that always seemed to naturally fall on to him.
''They got you too?'' One of the girls asked.
''Yeah, but I got out. An' I'm gonna get you out too.'' He checked the room. How on earth was he going to get the kids out of there? He looked out of the barred window. Five stories high. That was not an option. And all those kids couldn't crawl out of there unnoticed.
Five pairs of eyes glistered with hope as they followed the Cajun around the room and five mouths started talking excitedly.
''Shh. Don' wanna wake de guards, non?''
''When can we leave?'' The oldest boy asked.
''Soon. Can' take y' wid m' now, but I be back, promise.'' Why didn't the word 'promise' ever come out of his mouth credulously? Somehow, in Remy's ears, the word didn't even pretend to be true in his mouth. Was it because he used the word so much it lost all meaning? Remy started to walk to the door again.
One of the youngest boys took his hand and walked with him. Remy carefully released the kid's hand. ''Stay here.''
''I wanna go home.'' He cried softly.
''Me too petit, an' trust me, your chances are higher den mine.'' He smiled a reassuring smile. ''Soon as I find a way out o' here, I'm comin' back f'r y'.'' He turned to one of the older boys. ''You, make sure everyone is ready t' leave when I get back.''
''Yes, sir.'' He said, with a slight smile at the great responsibility given to him.
''Bon. See y' den.'' He left in silence. But to where? He still had no idea where he was. He decided to go down as much as he could and preferably leave through the same door he came in. He memorized the place he found the kids as much as he could.
He wondered if maybe the x-men had escaped after all, since he hadn't found them. He looked up to the hole where he came from, the vent system. With a small jump he was able to crawl back through. He would try to contact the x-men when he got out of there and they would come back to fight everyone again and save the kids then. ~No use tryin' t' be a hero all by y'rself, non? Better t' have back up. An' as I always used t' say: 'f y' can' beat dem, tell y'r mommy an' bring y'r poppa t' teach de li'l bastards a lesson.~
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On next: Will the X-men survive? Oh, don't be too sure, this whole story started because the x-men died, remember? I might give it an evil twist...
Review, reviews are my inspiration, my motivation, my muse and whatever other nouns my thesaurus-list provides me with to continue...