A/N: Special thanks to Star-of-Chaos, SperryDee, ishandahalf, 4Rogue, There Is No Spoon14, enchantedlight, and Moon Comix for all of your reviews of the last chapter.
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"Keep movin'!" Logan said, as he and six members of Mariko's security guard walked together behind Gambit, all heading towards a large sitting room inside of the Yashida estate.
As they walked inside of the room, Logan shoved Gambit from behind, forcing him towards the center of the room. Mariko's guards then took up positions at various spots around the room.
"Hey, easy wit' dat." Gambit said, as Logan's push caused him to temporarily lose his balance.
"What's the matter, am I little too physical for ya?" Logan asked with a smirk.
"No, I just didn't take you fo' de 'touchey-feeley' type is all." Gambit replied sarcastically.
"If you don't start talkin' quick, I'm gonna do more 'n just shove you around." Logan said to him.
"You sho' like ta make wit' de threats." Gambit replied.
"It ain't no threat, it's a prom--" Logan started, but was interrupted by the entry of another individual to the room.
"Logan, what in the world's goin' on in here? Ah could hear you clear across to the guest quarters." Rogue asked as she entered the room. She came in wearing a light blue kimono that Mariko had provided her, and Rogue had taken her hair out of the ponytail that she normally kept it in during the day.
When Gambit saw Rogue, the charmer inside of him instantly took over.
"Aren't you a lovely vision, Chere? Ta t'ink, I traveled all dese miles, only ta meet de prettiest girl in the South way over here." Gambit said as he complimented Rogue, "Dey call me Gambit. And your name would be?"
"Ah'm Rogue…" Rogue started, as she looked into Gambit's hypnotic and piercing red eyes.
"Her name is mud where you're concerned, bub." Logan said to Gambit as he interrupted.
Just then Mariko entered the room, followed by her head of estate security.
"Logan-san, I was returning the Honor Blade to it's vault, when Toru came to me and said that you were questioning the intruder." Mariko said, as she stood next to Rogue at the entrance of the room.
"Intruder? Will somebody please tell me what's goin' on?" Rogue inquired.
"I caught pretty boy here tryin' to rip Mariko off." Logan answered, "We got into a little scuffle on the roof, where I tried to show him the error of his ways."
"More like he clubbed me wit dose cement blocks he calls hands." Gambit said. As they stood there, Gambit pulled a deck of cards out of his coat pocket and started to quickly shuffle them back and forth in his hands.
"You should be glad that's all I did. I guess that means I must be gettin' soft in my old age." Logan told him, " To be honest, the only reason you're still in one piece is because I want to know who sent you, kid."
"Kid?" Gambit said in a perturbed voice, "I ain't nobody's kid."
"You look like you're barely older than her." Logan replied as he pointed to Rogue, "Hell, you ain't even old enough to buy a drink yet."
"I am too, I'll be 19 in a few months. That's plenty old enough here, and in Madripoor." Gambit said, as he revealed a bit of personal information about himself. This was something that he never did, especially around strangers, but his age was a subject that always touched a nerve with Gambit.
"Everybody's old enough in Madripoor." Logan laughed out loud.
"What's Madripoor?" Rogue asked.
"It's an island nation, not too far from here." Logan replied, "And from what I hear, it's a place where anything and everything goes."
"Sounds wild." Rogue responded.
"And NO, we ain't goin' there to do any sight-seein'." Logan quickly said to Rogue.
As the conversation drifted completely off of the original subject, Mariko interrupted and brought it back to Logan's original question.
"Tell me, who sent you to take that sacred heirloom?" Mariko asked Gambit, as she walked away from the entrance to the other side of the room near Logan and Gambit, and with her chief bodyguard at her side.
"I was sent by a man callin' himself De Silver Samurai. He tol' me dat de sword belongs to him, said dat it belongs to his family." Gambit answered.
"You have been misinformed thief. I am Shingen Yashida's true and rightful heir. The Honor Blade is where it should be; it is with the Head of all of the families allied together under the Clan Yashida. You can tell my half-brother Harada-san, since I am the Daimyo of the Clan that I, and I alone, shall decide who possesses it." Mariko told Gambit, as she revealed a small bit of information that Harada had neglected to tell him.
"Brother, huh? Well dis is very interestin', looks like Sammie and Me are gon' have to have ourselves a good, long talk." Gambit replied.
"I hope you two can get everything settled while you're sittin' a jail cell, cause that's where your next stop is." Logan stated.
"I don't have time for none of dat, Gambit's got other more pressin' engagements." Gambit responded, as he stopped shuffling the deck of cards and held it in his left hand.
"What makes you think you're gonna walk outta here to make those dates?" Logan asked.
"Funny you should ask dat. See, I still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Gambit said as he started smiling again.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan inquired.
"Remember what I said earlier, 'bout me bein' a bettin' man?" Gambit reminded Logan as he held two handfuls of cards, all evenly spaced within his grasp, "Well, here's where I up de ante."
Up to that moment Logan and Rogue had thought that they were prepared to handle any situation, considering everything that they had been through together. But, life has a way of surprising you when you least expect it.
"What in the hell?" Logan stated, as the cards in Gambit's hands started to glow eerily. Then, as Gambit turned his wrists slightly, Logan reacted a split second before him.
"Get down, duck!" Logan yelled, as he grabbed Mariko who was standing right next to him, and used his own body as a shield to protect her.
Gambit moved almost like a dancer through Mariko's guards; jumping, flipping, and somersaulting as he threw a flurry of kinetically-charged cards with the precision of a major-league pitcher at them. He was even able to grab his staff, which had been dropped by one of the guards who had sought cover from the kinetic firestorm. As Gambit made a path from the center of the room to the window, he stopped and stood on the windowsill. He then faced back towards the inside of the room.
"Till we meet again, Mon Ange (My Angel)." Gambit said, as he looked straight at Rogue. Rogue stood on the other side of the room, staring right back at Gambit. During Gambit's extraordinary card exhibition, she hadn't moved one single inch. Gambit turned to wave goodbye to Logan and then fell backwards out of the window, disappearing into the night.
Logan helped Mariko back up and made sure that she was okay, before he hurried over to Rogue to make sure that she was okay as well. He noticed that Rogue was still standing there, looking out of the window.
"Rogue, when I tell you to get down, that means for ya to move it on the double." Logan said as he raised his voice, which was more out of concern for her safety, than him actually being angry at her.
"I'm all right." Rogue replied simply.
"But you wouldn't be if one of those cards had hit ya." Logan pointed out.
"He wasn't going to hurt me." Rogue stated, in a voice that was unusually calm considering what had just happened.
"How're you so sure?" Logan wanted to know, as he started to grow concerned about how Rogue was acting.
"It was just a feelin'. He wasn't tryin' to hurt me…or anybody. Look around here, none of the guards were even hit. He just used those cards as a distraction to get away." Rogue pointed out. She and Logan surveyed the room and noticed that, despite the immense amount of damage that Gambit had caused, nobody was injured.
"Well, I'm sure gonna hurt him when I--"Logan said as he started towards the window, but was stopped by Mariko.
"No, Logan-san, let him go." Mariko told him.
"What, is everyone around here losing it? That guy just tried to rob you." Logan told Mariko.
"That is the least of my concerns right now. If my brother is the one that sent him, then that means Keniuchio has learned of my plans to restore my family's name." Mariko revealed, "I suggest that you and Rogue pack your things, I will have my driver to take you back to Tokyo immediately."
"I ain't goin' nowhere. If you got trouble, then I intend on helpin' ya." Logan responded.
"Same goes for me." Rogue replied.
"But, you do not know what it is that you are saying, and I do not wish any harm to come to either of you on my account. By attempting to take the Honor Blade, my brother has in essence issued a direct challenge to me, and to my leadership of the Clan. I am honor-bound to defend it, even unto death." Mariko told them, as she looked down with a very grave expression on her face.
"Well, M'iko darlin', I ain't gonna let it get to that point." Logan said as he put his arms around Mariko.
"I pray that it does not either. For if there is a power struggle within the Clan, it could result in far more blood being shed than just mine or my brother's." Mariko told Logan and Rogue, as her guards went back to their posts outside.
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As night became morning in the lively city of Tokyo, a meeting was about to take place that would change the destinies of two men forever.
"So Sammie, you miss me?" Gambit said, as he leapt through the same window that he had used a few nights before to exit Keniuchio Harada's residence. He had driven all night in the borrowed sports car, so that he could make it back to Tokyo by sunrise.
"I am surprised to see you so soon. Where is the Honor Blade?" Harada asked him, as he sat at his large wooden desk in his study.
"Oops, I musta forgot it. Just like you forgot to tell me dat you was sendin' me to take it from yo' sister?" Gambit said loudly.
"I hadn't realized that you had grown a conscience. I assumed that such a thing would be a liability in your line of work." Harada replied.
"It ain't got nuthin' to do wit' dat. Dis got to do wit' you not bein' up front wit' me." Gambit told him, "It also got to do wit' de fact dat I don't get involved in other folks family matters, it's a lesson dat I had to learn de hard way."
"You are involved, but now my family's problems are the least of your concerns." Harada said as he stood up from the desk, "I will see to it that you do not live long enough to regret failing me."
"Dat s'pposed to be some kinda threat?" Gambit asked, as he leaned against the wall near the window.
"No Gaijin, it will be your funeral." Harada stated coldly.
"Den you betta finish de job, else dey gon' end up buryin' you!" Gambit said, with a very serious look on his face.
Gambit and the Silver Samurai stood and stared at one another for a moment without saying a word. Then, Gambit left the room the same way that he had entered. A few minutes later, after seeing Gambit leave, Harada's most trusted advisor entered the room.
"I trust that all is well my lord?" The advisor asked.
"It will be very soon. The one known as Gambit has failed to bring me the Honor Blade, I want word sent to the Hand that whichever ninja brings me his head will receive a quite sizable reward." Harada told him.
"What of the information that we learned from Nabatone Yokuse?" The advisor inquired.
"It appears that my sister intends to undo what has taken me these many years to build. I will not sit idly by and watch that happen, I have had enough of her foisting her indignations upon me. She has 48 hours to make a decision: either turn complete control of the Clan over to me, or suffer the consequences." Harada replied.
"Shall I have the Hand to deliver your ultimatum?" The advisor asked.
"No, I believe this is a message that should be delivered in person. I will go and inform Mariko Yashida, myself." Harada answered, as he started to smile slightly.
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Next Chapter: Things get interesting between Mariko &Logan, while a messenger awaits them…