Time for Gambit to teach! It's a self defense class, but the details of the actual "self defense" are not gonna be too specific because I know nothing about it ;)! Also, with Remy being such a handsome, charming guy, I don't understand why we haven't seen much flirtin' with the X-Ladies. So, we'll get to see some of that here! Also, X-Kid crushes!
Prexistence – Thanx a lot for the review! I hate the fact that Mystique's there too! And I hear the new team is her and… Sabretooth! Let's see how many mass murderers and psychos we can get on one X-Team. Icky. Also, Remy's looking like he's gonna be a Horseman of Apocalypse, though I hold out hope that it's not him on the cover of #185.
Gambit's Belle Rogue – Thanks, I don't really think my writing is that great. When I reread it, the story sounds kinda mechanical. O well, hope ya like this chapter too!
Other reviewers, muchas gracias for the feedback!
Disclaimer - I don't own the X-Men in any way, shape, or form and I'm not making any money from this!
As Remy walked through the halls of the X-Mansion, he couldn't help his thoughts straying back to Storm. He hoped whatever made that loud boom wasn't too serious. He had read in the papers that anti-mutant riots were not just occurring in the U.S., but all over, including Africa. Some of the rioters were saying that M-Day was a sign from God, that mutants were an abomination that would eventually die out, and others were trying to "finish" the job by taking out the few mutants that were left. What Gambit could not understand was why this decimation of the mutant population made extremists so angry. One would think that they would rejoice in the lessened numbers.
Sunlight beamed into the hallway through the large windows. Once, Remy had enjoyed looking out those windows as he passed, being able to see the entire school ground in all it's beauty, with the landscaped gardens, glittering blue lake, white gravel paths and the Phoenix statue honoring the late Jean Grey. However, the beautiful veiw was marred by the sight of the giant Sentinels standing around. His skin prickled with goosebumps whenever he saw them, for they were always watching, day and night, and the windows offered them clear views of the activity going on inside, making Remy feel incredibly vulnerable. For so long, Sentinels inspired fear into all mutants, because of the death they handed out, and the symbol of hate and distrust that they represented to all mutantkind. Every X-Man had been affected by them, but especially Rachel Grey and Bishop. Both came from different futures where Sentinels ruled or had killed, not just mutants, but humans too. Even though the current Sentinels were "reformed and reformatted," not one person at the mansion viewed them without distrust. Old habits die hard.
Gambit got past the windows with a mental sigh of relief and opened the cold admantium door to the Danger Room. A small group of students stood in circles, talking to one another quietly, most hiding yawns behind their hands, or rubbing their eyes. 7:30 was rather early, but Gambit felt that kids learned best in the morning. He grabbed a cheap clipboard off a hook on the wall and glanced at the names listed for the class. The students had quieted, waiting for him to speak.
"Pixie, Wolf Cub, Anole, Rockslide, Mercury, Hellion, Dust, Wither, Surge, Elixir, Icarus, Bling and Three-In-One? Is dat everybody?" Remy asked, looking at the assembled students.
"Um, Mr. Lebeau, Wither won't come out of his room and Jay says that there is no point in learning self defense when he can't die anyways," Elixir said hesitantly, the artificial lights making his golden skin shine.
Gambit shook his head, "Dat ain't a real smart decision, but if dey want t' skip class, fine by me. Ok, now have y'all stretched out?" He received a chorus of no's. "Well, get to it then. Y'all got ten minutes."
Although Gambit had already stretched before coming to the class, he began a series of stretches again. As he slid into a split, he heard the admiring noises most of the girls in the class made while they watched him. He grinned to himself. So what if he was a show off? Might as well show the kids (and anyone else who happens to stop by) what he's made of. Suddenly, the cold metal door to the Danger Room slid open with a hiss, and Magma and Karma walked in, blinking in the harsh light. They walked over to Gambit, who was currently in the middle of a kind of split against the wall, his right leg high above his head, pressed against the cool steel.
"Bonjour, les belles dames. Come t' supervise me, makin' sure I don' corrupt de children o' anything? O' maybe y' here t' just watch me, period?" Remy said with a grin.
"Gambit, I don't think that I've ever seen anyone as flexible as you. That looks pretty amazing, and more then a little painful. But we're not really here to watch you, just how you run class. Oh, and this is Magma. I didn't know if you guys had met before. She will be teaching with me, now that Dani's…" Xi'an said slowly, pain showing on her face, "…powerless." Wolfsbane, Moonstar, Karma, Magma, Cannonball and Sunspot, along with a few others, started off their X-Men careers as the New Mutants. They were all close, and had shared more than one adventure with one another. However, time had forced the friends apart, pushed them to different places in life. Wolfsbane was now a member of X-Factor, the private investigation business headed by Multiple Man. Cannonball was currently at the X-Mansion, serving on the team with Psylocke, Marvel Girl, Bishop, and Nightcrawler. Sunspot was the new head of the Hellfire Club. Recently, Moonstar had been a teacher at the Institute, but as a result of M-Day, she lost her powers and was forced to resign.
"O' course I know Amara! When Storm and t' rest of us were searchin' for dose diaries, we had some help from le belle petite. Still lookin' as beautiful as de last time I saw ya," Remy exclaimed with a look of happiness. Over Christmas, he and Magma had discovered that they shared a mutual love of cooking, among other things. Both were adventurous, had no fear of danger, and had very "fiery" personalities.
"Remy, you don't know how much I missed seeing your cute little face," Amara said, appraisingly glancing over his face and body.
"Chere, trying' t' make me blush?" Remy said, mock-shy. "Nah, but really, I'm glad you're here. It ain't exactly de greatest time for reunions, but we make de best of it, non?"
"You two can catch up later, Gambit. I think your students are getting restless." Karma inclined her head towards the students, who were in fact beginning to increase their voices.
"I will try t' do my job, but it's gonna be hard wit' two lovely women here distractin' me. We'll talk more later, oui?" Gambit winked, striding away from the teachers.
"If only that trench coat wasn't there…wonder what his ass looks like?" Amara gave a wistful sigh, cut off by an elbow to her gut, courtesy of Karma. She gave Amara a look that said, "Look but don't touch, he's taken."
"Ok, ok, I got it. Jeez, it never hurt anyone to look. Besides, it's like a crime to NOT look at someone that cute!" Magma said, rolling her eyes.
"No, but Rogue is a rather jealous type, and she might hurt you. I wouldn't risk it." Xi'an commented with a teasing lilt to her voice. Both women knew that Rogue was not a cruel person, nor vindictive, but was somewhat…protective of Remy and their relationship.
The mutants turned their attention towards the center of the Danger Room, where they had retreated from earlier. Gambit was giving a quick speech about the basics of self defense before he began the lesson.
"…the best thing t' do is run. Some of y'all might roll yer eyes, but it's true. Less danger dat way. But, sometimes runnin' ain't an option and dat's when it's important to know…"
Magma tuned out of the litany. She'd heard it before, from different teachers at different times and was no stranger to fighting. When Gambit began to pair up the students, she listened in again.
"Anole an' Elixir together, Mercury an' Rockslide, Pixie an' Surge, Three an' One y'all all t'gether, Wolf Cub an' Bling, last Hellion an' Dust." Remy pointed to separate spaces in the circular room.
"Aww, come on Mr. Lebeau, I can't fight a girl," Rockslide groaned, throwing his hands in the air.
"What, you think I can't take you, Santo? 'Cause you'd be sadly mistaken if you think I can't." Mercury seemed to grow taller, one silver hand shaping into a sharp blade, the other a huge, round mallet.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up kids! I tried t' pair all y'all up as equally as possible. De point of dis class is not t' kill eachother, but t' learn how t' protect yourselves! Now, I realize that dese are rough times, with a lot of your friends leavin' de school for a while, and us bein' on de news all de time, but we can't let this beat us. So no killin' fellow students for no reason. We got t' be strong, an' go on as normal as we can. Or at least as normal as life wit' de X-Men can be." Gambit said sternly, softening the last bit with an easy grin. It wasn't just the adults that were tense, and he could feel the tension with the students just as much as with the teachers.
"Sorry," both teenagers chorused, Rockslide still looking mildly affronted that his partner was still a girl, and Mercury still fuming. As their stomped to their appointed area of the floor, Gambit heard a bright chirpy voice to his left.
"Mr. Lebeau, I'm sooooo excited that you get to teach us! Quill said you were a thief, but I didn't believe him, cuz, I mean, why would the X-Men let a thief in? But yeah, anyways, it's really cool that you can teach us!" Pixie said in one breath, hovering several inches off the ground, rainbow colored wings a blur. "Well, I guess Surge is waiting for me!" And she flew off. The entire encounter had lasted less than a minute. Chuckling quietly to himself, Remy turned to the center of the room to observe the pairs. His chuckle became a concealed groan when he saw who had just entered the room
A white cloak flared behind the beautiful blonde woman striding towards Gambit. She was dressed in a white strapless top that ended just below her breasts, showing off a toned stomach, long white opera gloves, and skintight white pants and boots. Silvery white lipstick even glinted on her lips, along with pearly white eyeshadow. Cold blue eyes framed with black mascara were the only spots of real color on her. She was an image of expensive, but cultivated beauty.
"Remy, you can be so childish sometimes. You are worse than the children with their little dramas and petty fights," Emma Frost said coolly, but in a low voice. Musn't let the children see their teacher getting chewed out by the headmistress. Bad for discipline.
"Emma, darlin', anyone ever tell you dat y' just light up a room whenever y' open your mouth?" Gambit asked dryly.
As much as Emma would have liked to scowl at Remy, or flip him the bird, she refrained, and settled with cool indifference, acting like she hadn't even heard the comment. "The X-Men do not need fighting within the group when we have a big enough fight facing us on the outside."
"Den we shouldn't have let a certain blue-skinned, red-haired bitch on de team in de first place. Take her off, no more problem." Remy said in a calm, quiet voice. He had already expended his energy today on this particular rant.
"Gambit, you know it is not that easy. Plus, like Scott said, we need every available mutant there is, no matter how marred there past is."
"Sure it's dat easy, Ice Queen. But, I've already been over m' reason's why she don't need t' be here. I understand that y'all ain't changin' yer minds, so I'm not gonna waste m' breath on it anymore. Did ya just come in here t' interrupt my class or is dere a purpose for dis visit?"
"No more fighting with Mystique, Gambit. That's an order." Emma commanded.
"Aye aye captain! Now if you'll excuse moi, I got t' finish class." Remy gave a mock salute, and strode away. Emma ground her teeth, and turned on her heel, walking out of the room, leaving Gambit to finish class.
After about an hour, most of the teenagers were tired and sweaty, but overall, pleased with the morning's workout. Gambit was a good teacher. He didn't hover and intervened only when absolutely necessary. Plus, the kids liked him, some a little more than others. It was a well known fact that Pixie had a huge crush, and most of the other girl's thought he was God's gift to women.
"We'll take over from here." Karma said, walking back to Remy, Amara by her side.
"De kids look a little tired, might want t' give 'em a break. Let 'em shower and all dat. Oh, an' how was my lesson?"
"You're a good teacher. If this was a test, you would have passed with flying colors." Karma said with a smile.
"Cool. Well, I think I'll get changed and head t' de gym. See you ladies later. Amara, it's nice t' see y' again. Glad you're back. Au revoir." Remy said, heading to the exit.
Amara smiled, "Bye Remy!" As he exited, she couldn't help but look for a glimpse of his backside.
Another chapter down! Sorry it took me so long to update, but with school and all... I just got my SAT's back (with the new scale) and I got a 1870. Gross. Anyways, enough of my angst. I'll probably update once a week unless something really weird happens from now on. Next chapter will be Gambit and Cannonball and Mystique. Maybe more if I feel like it. Tell me what y'all thought of this chapter and who else you want to see! Until next time!