SIN CITY
"The Big Fat Kill"
"Rogue"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A girl stirs underneath the arm of her lover, woken up by the sound of someone pounding on her apartment door. She ignores the pounding and rolled over, returning to the warm embrace of her still sleeping boyfriend. Sleep returns quickly in his strong arms.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The pounding comes again, harder this time. The girl's green eyes snap open in annoyance. Cursing, she sits up on the edge of the bed, her boyfriend's arm flopping back to the bed, and lets the bed sheet slide off her naked form as she stands. Streetlight pokes through the blinds of her bedroom, illuminating her athletic and curvy body, still glistening with sweat from hours of lovemaking. She runs a hand through her long, bushy hair, fingering her white skunk stripe.
She walks away from the bed, her walking slightly bowlegged after the night's activities. Her body ached (in some places more than others), but it was a good ache, a happy ache. A soft light blinked from a tiny anklet dangling from her left ankle. This tiny anklet kept her safe. She bought it a long time ago, back when her abilities became too much for her to handle. It was illegal to own one: she was looking at some serious fines and maybe some jail time if a cop ever caught her with it. She didn't care; it was still better than sucking the life out of everyone she touched. She tried the whole no-touching thing for a while. She wore gloves everywhere and clothes that covered her whole body. It really sucked, especially when you have to wear long sleeves and gloves in the middle of the desert. And nobody likes to flirt with a waitress bundled up like there's a blizzard outside and shrinks away from even the most innocent touch.
So when a girlfriend at Kadie's told her about a friend who had come across a crate of Genosha mutant collars, she jumped at the chance to get one or two. The collars negated mutant abilities, making their wearers just like everybody else. She took it to a friend, a local named Forge, to tinker with. He made it smaller, took it from being the thick obvious collar into a slim, unnoticeable anklet. She wore it almost all the time now: to work, around town, when she went out with her boyfriend.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The knocking came again, much louder and more frantic. The girl was quickly losing patience with whoever was pounding on her front door. Slipping into a pair of black panties she carelessly threw on the floor earlier and sliding her boyfriend's dress shirt over her bare breasts, she stormed towards the door. Flicking the kitchen light on, she locked the door chain so she could partially open the door, threw back the deadbolt, and cracked the door. Her eyes widened as she saw who was at the door and she slammed the door back into its frame.
"Come on Rogue. Open the door baby," a gravelly voice sputtered from the other side.
THUMP! THUMP!
"Forget it man!" Rogue shouted back. "Ya can bang on that door all night if ya want to. There's no way in Hell Ah'm lettin' ya in!" Her Southern Belle accent became even more apparent when she was angry.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me, Rogue. Everything we've shared—it has to mean something to you," the voice said.
"Oh yeah. It meant plenty," Rogue snapped back sarcastically. "Plenty of nights holding an ice pack ta my face where ya punched it. Plenty of lost pay on account of how nobody wants ta flirt with a waitress when her face is all swelled up and purple from bruises."
"And if they don't wanna flirt, they don't order their drinks off ya," Rogue continued ranting. "And if they don't order drinks, they don't give tips. And a waitress can't make her rent without tips. Not when all she's getting is minimum wage, she can't. Ah almost lost this here apartment, on account of what we 'shared'. And anyways, getting punched out ain't close to being what Ah'd call my idea of a good time. If you can't understand that, maybe ya'll oughtta take that as a plain-as-your-face hint that ya got a few screws loose."
"I know you're angry, baby, and I forgive that, without you even asking me to," the voice said slowly through the cracked door. "I know you think all those things you're saying are true. That's why we have to sit down and talk things through. For your sake, baby. No matter what you've imagined about me. Please, baby—isn't there just a little room in your mind for doubt? A little room in your heart… for love?"
"Gawd, Ah'm getting a headache just listening to you! It's not me who's havin' the trouble with reality—and this sure as hell ain't no lovers' spat we're having, here," growled Rogue. "There's a big difference between getting honked off at a guy who's generally not so bad—between that, and finding out ya been sweet-talked into bed by a total jerk loser who skips out on a wife he doesn't even tell ya about every time he gets drunk, which is way too often. Especially when he's the kind of total jerk loser who's gotta beat a girl to make himself feel like a man."
"That hurt, Rogue. That was cruel. It's one thing for you to play hard to get. I can forgive that. But don't go trying to cut my nuts off. I mean it, baby," sneered the voice behind the door.
"Ah ain't playin' hard to get. Ah'm impossible to get—for you!" yelled Rogue through the door. "Do yourself a favor, Jackie-Boy, and get help. Like a shrink or a dog or something. Get help and get lost."
-X-
It wasn't the knocking that woke me up, but the sound of Rogue's raised voice. She was upset, a little frightened. I quickly threw the covers off and slipped on my leather pants and sneakers, not bothering to tie the laces or buckle the pants. I stood behind Rogue for a minute, trying not to think about how sexy she looked in just one of my shirts and a pair of panties, and listened to her spit insults back and forth with some joker named Jackie-Boy on the other side of the door.
"Go ahead 'nd open de door, Chere," I said. "Remy will take care of dis."
Rogue spun around, surprised to see me standing in the hallway behind her. I stood there calmly, naked from the waist up. My red eyes glowed in the low light as I buckled up my leather pants.
Outside, Jackie-Boy wouldn't shut up.
"There's only so much abuse a man can take, baby. Just open the door," he said. "We'll talk. You'll see how wrong you've been about me…"
"Oblige him, Chere. Remy's ready for him." I pull on my fingerless gloves, the leather so worn they fit like a second skin. Rogue turns away from the door and places her hand on my bare chest.
"No, Remy. Jesus, no. You stay out of it!" she whispered. Her hushed voice still somehow managed to sound frightened. "If he knew you were here with me—you don't know how bad this could get. Now don't argue with me! This is my apartment and Ah'm telling you to stay out of this. Ah mean it, Remy!"
"It's your apartment," I conceded. " But be careful, Chere. Dis clown's got a big, mean drunk on—'nd he's got four friends out there in da hall, breathin' hard 'nd just as drunk as he is."
"HEY—I could swear I heard somebody in there with you, just now," called Jackie-Boy from the hall. "You got somebody with you, baby? You be honest with me. You owe me that much."
Rogue laughed, a sweet steel-magnolia sound. "Somebody? Jackie-Boy, it's a regular mutant love fest in here. I got all five starters and half the bench of the Basin City Blues keepin' me company. Ya feel like takin' them on?" she taunted.
She never saw me slip silently into the shadows.
-X-
"You're teasing me, baby," growled Jackie-Boy. "I'm no racist—I mean, some of my best friends…but you're really pushing my buttons, talking like that. Here I've been taking it while you been breaking every rule of civility there is."
"And the whole time you been doing me like this, I been too polite to point out that any time I up and decide I want to I can blast this damn door to splinters—and there's nothing anybody's gonna do to stop me," he threatened. Rogue could hear Jackie-Boy's four buddies snickering and laughing at Jackie Boy's threats.
"You know what I am, baby. You know what I can do," snarled Jackie-Boy drunkenly as he pushed his weight against the door. The door shuddered in its frame and the wood groaned in protest.
"All right. All right," Rogue said frightened. "Ah'll let you in. Just a second." She hurried to open the door. She closed the door and pulled back the chain. Rogue opened the door and Jackie-Boy stumbled in, followed closely by his four "friends."
"Troops, make yourself at home," Jackie-Boy muttered to his cronies. They immediately dove into Rogue's refrigerator, hunting for beers.
Jackie-Boy. His real name was Jackson something, but everybody just called him Jackie-Boy. His long, stringy black hair hung down in his face, almost covering the "M" tattoo over his right eye. Rogue never asked where he got it or what it meant. Jackie-Boy reeked of liquor and he had a bottle of rum in his hand, booze dripping off his shabby goatee.
"Ya brought your whole pack with you? Don't any of these bozos have lives, they gotta out with you?" muttered Rogue.
Jackie-Boy gave her adrunk smile. "You're gonna love this, baby. It's a great idea. I got it on the way over here and the guys went nuts for it," muttered Jackie-Boy in his raspy voice. "You're gonna call up some of your friends who work the saloon with you and the bunch of us are going to hit every joint in town. It'll be great."
Rogue folded her arms across her chest and stuck her nose in the air. "Ah'm not callin' up nobody. Ah wouldn't wish ya'll and your jerk friends on my worst enemy."
Jackie-Boy narrowed his dark eyes at her; his brown eyes glowed faintly red in growing anger. "That's a man's shirt you're wearing—and it sure as hell isn't one of mine," he growled. "What the hell is going on here?" He lashed out and grabbed Rogue by the throat. She whimpered and her eyes grew wide in fear. Jackie-Boy tightened his grip on her throat and pulled her closer to him. Rogue gagged on the noxious stench of booze pouring of his skin and breath.
"Don't go lying to me about it, you slut!" he shouts. "You got somebody's love stink all over you! I can smell it! You've been with another man and you've been with him tonight!" He squeezed Rogue's throat tighter. "And you're flaunting it! Just to torture me! You invited me and my buddies in here just to rub my nose in it! Just to humiliate me! Well, I'm not sitting and taking this, slut! Who is he? Where is he?" Jackie-Boy demanded.
"He's Superman," choked Rogue. "He flew out the window just as soon as he heard you were coming, 'cause ya'll scare him so bad."
"You think this is funny? You think I've got no feelings at all? Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" Jackie-Boy pushed Rogue up against her kitchen counter roughly. "Where is he?"
Little did Jackie-Boy know that I was standing just outside in the hall, pulling on my worn, brown leather duster. I fingered one of the worn playing cards I keep always keep in my pockets, watching the scene before him.
""If you're gonna slug me, go ahead 'nd get it over with, you sick bastard," growled Rogue. Her green eyes glared up at Jackie-Boy, almost daring him.
"There you go, lying about me again! Right in front of my buddies. I have never hit a woman in my life. Never!"
KRAK!
His right fist came out of nowhere. It crashed into Rogue's jaw, knocking her over. She bounced off the kitchen counter, knocking a wood block full of kitchen knives onto the floor. She fell onto the floor, landing in a sprawl. The front of her shirt fluttered open for a brief moment, giving Jackie-Boy and his buddies a quick peek of her bare breasts.
"Ya God damn bastard! Ya God damn coward!" she growled from the floor, drawing her borrowed shirt back together and wiping a thin trail of blood from her lip.
I saw him hit her. My fists clenched so tightly my knuckles turned white. I wanted to rush into the kitchen and paint the walls red with Jackie-Boy and his buddies' blood. But Rogue told me to stay out of it. And she would be even worse to deal with later if I walked in and interfered now. So I turned away from the kitchen and walked into the bathroom, my worn sneakers not making any noise…
"There's no reason to be hostile, baby," sneered Jackie-boy, acting as if nothing had happened. "Get in the swing of things. You, me, the guys—we're all here to have a good time. Right?" He stepped over Rogue, unceremoniously grabbing his balls as he did. "I'll be right back. I gotta take a leak."
"Ah wish you'd dropped by earlier, Jackie-Boy. Then ya coulda met my new boyfriend. Ya coulda seen what a real man looks like," sneered Rogue, taunting Jackie-Boy.
"There you go, after my nuts again. I go to all the trouble of planning us a fun evening and go after my nuts." He smiles. "But I forgive you. I'm a generous guy." He turns and walks towards her bathroom. "Not that I expect you to appreciate it. Not for a second."
-X-
Rogue sat on the floor, spitting up flecks of blood onto her white kitchen tiles. She fought back tears as one of Jackie-Boy's friends knelt down besides her. He was tall and skinny, with a lame Flock of Seagulls haircut that went out of style (if it had ever actually been in style) decades ago.
"He is generous," Flock of Seagulls said gently. "Never a thought for himself. None of us guys have to pay for our drinks when Big Jack's around. Big Jack's always buying. The man's a saint. But that temper of his—you never shoulda picked on him like you did."
He laid a hand on her shoulder. "But that's Big Jack. You gotta love him. My temper you don't have to worry about. I'm a gentle kind of guy, a romantic. And you're the most beautiful creature I ever seen," he said lustfully.
Rogue's eyes flashed in rage as she quickly grabbed a butcher's knife off the floor. She brandished the blade in front of her, it's sharp tip pointing right between Flock of Seagull's legs.
"Shut up and keep your hands to yourself or Ah'll cut your little pecker off," she threatened. Flock of Seagulls backed away slowly. Rogue inched to her feet and took a step towards Flock of Seagulls, looking ready to stab him.
Cli-Click…The sound of a gun cocking freezes Rogue in her tracks. Another one of Jackie Boy's friends held a large pistol in his hand, aimed for the back of Rogue's head.
"Now you really don't want to do that," he sneered. "You should be getting dressed. You don't wanna hit the streets dressed like that, honey. It's a jungle out there. Besides, you got a couple phone calls you oughtta be making."
-X-
Jackie-Boy heard the commotion from the bathroom. He laughed when he heard the gun cock and laughed harder when his friend told Rogue to start making phone calls.
"Yeah! That's right!" Jackie-Boy shouted from the bathroom. "You were gonna call your friends from the saloon! Tell 'em to hurry! The night's not getting any younger!" he called. "And make sure you call that dancer—the one with the lasso—what's her name? Emma, right?"
Jackie-Boy was concentrating so much on getting Rogue to call the saloon girls (and making sure he didn't piss on his leg) to notice my tall shadow behind the shower curtain.
"Yeah, make sure you call Emma! And tell her to bring her lasso!" he laughed. When he heard silence from the other room, Jackie-Boy finished his business and turned his head back towards the kitchen.
Unbeknownst to Jackie-Boy, I pulled back the shower curtain. My glowing red eyes stared back at me in the mirror and I stepped silently out of the bathtub, a gleaming razor faintly glowing pink in my hand.
"Hey!" he shouted towards the kitchen. "I don't hear you making those calls, Rogue… don't do me like this, baby. This isn't funny anymore, Rogue…" Jackie-Boy shook and zipped himself up. "Answer me, damn it! I don't need this grief!"
I snuck up behind Jackie-Boy and grabbed the back of his hair. The razor cackled with pink energy a quarter of an inch away from Jackie-Boy's right eye. Jackie-Boy froze. He didn't move, he didn't breathe. His right eye focused solely on the tip of that glowing razor.
"Hi. I'm Rogue's new boyfriend and I'm out of my mind," I said coldly into Jackie-Boy's ear. "You ever so much as talk to Chere again—you even think her name—'nd Gambit'll cut you in ways dat'll make you useless to a woman."
"You're making a big mistake, pal," muttered Jackie-Boy, trying hard not to move. "A big mistake."
"Yeah? Well you made a big mistake yourself, mon ami. You didn't flush." I removed the razor and pushed Jackie-Boy's head down as hard as he could, shoving the man's head into the toilet bowl.
Jackie-Boy's eyes bulged in their sockets as he gargled toilet water and his own urine. He struggled to escape, but I held his head down with all my strength. I was still pissed that this chicken shit had struck my Rogue, my Chere. For all I could care, this guy was lower than scum; he deserved drowning in a pool of his own piss.
Desperate, Jackie-Boy searched for the silver latch to flush all the water away. I smacked his hand away and pushed Jackie-Boy's head down even harder. I held him down as Jackie-Boy's struggles became more and more frantic and desperate, until the attempts began to weaken and stop all together. My demon red eyes glowed mercilessly when Jackie-Boy stopped moving. Only then did I let go and slip silently out the window.
-X-
Jackie-Boy's head flew out of the toilet, his stringy hair soaked. He spun around, waving his gun in pure hatred.
"Son of a bitch—I'll blow you in half!" he roared as he searched for his attacker. The rising bile in his throat interrupted his rage. Gagging, he buried his face back in the toilet, throwing up yellow urine and bile.
He backed out of the bathroom cautiously. Rogue saw him enter the hallway. She stared at him in bewilderment, as did his troops.
Before any of them could say a word, Jackie-Boy was already heading for the door. "Troops! Get outta here. No questions, damn it. No questions!" The four guys just stood there with their mouths hanging open. Flock of Seagulls looked like he was about to say something when Jackie-Boy waved his gun at them and shouted: "NOW!"
The troops filed out of Rogue's apartment without a word. Jackie-Boy followed them out, glaring daggers at Rogue as he left. She wrinkled her nose as he past; the booze smell now mixed with something remarkably similar to the ammonia stench of urine assaulted her nostrils.
Rogue drops her knife and runs down the hallway to the bathroom window. She watches as Jackie-Boy and his goons file out of her building and into Jackie's blue Chevy, firing their pistols off into the air like a bunch of Mexican bandits from the old west. After a few shots, they pile into the car and speed away, leaving two trails of rubber on the street. Rogue watched them leave and saw a pair of red sneakers on the ledge beside her.
I was standing casually on her window ledge, watching Jackie-Boy drive away in a wet, stinky rage.
"Remy—what the devil did ya do ta him?" she asked.
"Oh, Remy just gave him a taste of his own medicine. He won't be botherin' you again. His kind, dey scare easy. It's wherever he's goin' next dat worries me." I looked down at her with a concerned smile on my face. "How's your jaw?"
"Ah been slapped around worst," Rogue smiled back. "Remy—Ah want ya to know he was from awhile back. Before ya showed up again, with that new face of yours. It was only 'cause Ah felt sorry for him. And it was only once," she confessed. "Ah've done some dumb things."
"Seein' as how Remy's one of those dumb things, can't give you too 'ard a time 'bout that, Chere," I grinned lopsidedly before turning serious again. "But dis guy—he's a menace. He might kill somebody if Remy don't stop him. Call you later," I sayand calmly step off the ledge.
"No! Don't go!" Rogue shouts as I fall the five stories back to the ground.
She shouts something I can't quite make out over the racket of a passing police copter. It sounds like "Stop!" but I can't be sure.
-X-
Rogue watches as Remy lands like a cat on the sidewalk in front of her building. He runs across the street, cutting in front of a passing taxi. He jumps into his bright red Cadillac and speeds off, never even looking back up at her.
"Damn it, Remy, damn it," she whispers as she comes back inside and closes her window. "You fool. You damn fool."
-X-
Well, here it is! The beginning of the story so many of you have been waiting for. "The Big Fat Kill". Remy and the Girls. I have to admit, I've been looking forward to writing this story too. But thisstory has been a pain in the ass and I can blame it all on one thing…
Jackie-Boy.
Jackie-Boy was by far the hardest character to cast. He is so unique. He's both good and bad, powerful yet vulnerable. He's got to be strong enough to frighten Rogue, but weak enough for Remy to give him a swirlie. This is why I asked all my readers and reviewers to submit any ideas they had for casting him. There were some good ones too: Magneto, Joseph, Sabretooth, Black Tom Cassidy, Sean Cassidy, Cody Robbins, Sunfire, Avalanche, Thunderbird, Forge, Chamber, Colossus, etc. All of them were great ideas, but they all had a tragic flaw to them. As far as Magneto, Sabretooth, Black Tom and Sean Cassidy, Avalanche, and Colossus…they already have or had parts picked out for them. Cody Robbins was human and as interesting as that might have been, just didn't feel right to me. You don't write an X-Man fic using a human as one of the main characters. Sunfire was too static and I didn't know enough about Thunderbird to use him well (I still don't know what his powers are/were. Isn't he dead?). Forge wasn't mean and scary enough to ever frighten Rogue and Chamber didn't have a mouth or chest and I didn't want to have to bother explaining that.
It came down to three choices for me: Sebastian Shaw, Juggernaut, or Lucas Bishop.
Shaw was both evil and strong enough, but seemed too uptight and "high society" to pull off Jackie-Boy's sleaze.
Juggernaut is too powerful. There's no way Remy could give him a swirlie without getting thrown a couple city blocks.
Bishop worked. He's strong enough to scare, weak enough to swirlie, and the older long haired version even looks like Jackie-Boy a little bit. There is another big reason I chose him, but can't say yet. Don't want to give away any spoilers to the next chapter.
I know I probably ruined a bunch of hopes out there, but tell me what you think about him and my choice.
-Nataku's Wrath-
Reviewer Shout-Outs!
A Pen and a Piece of Mind: I was looking forward to seeing X3 and I did go and see it. I was a little disappointed. The biggest thing that bugged me was when Jean went all Dark Phoenix, where was the Firebird? How in the ruddy-poo, blue blazes of Marvel hell, do you have the Phoenix looking like something out of Resident Evil without the badass Firebird? It just wasn't right to me. What do you think?
Stefbug: I'm glad you liked the ending of "Hard Goodbye". Logan has always been my favorite character and I just couldn't kill him off permently. I hope you like the next story. I tried to take it easy with Remy's accent, but it's hard to do. I spent a lot of time trying to figure it all out. Let me know how I did, darlin'.
Emma Raven Moony Grimm: Well ask and you shall receive. You want good chapters and I'm gonna keep on giving them to you. Enjoy and keep on reading and reviewing. And I'm starting to draw out spin-off ideas with Logan. Let me know if you, or anyone else out there in reviewer land, have any ideas.
Jonny Be Good: As a former New Orleans resident, I want you to take a good look at my Remy. Make sure I did him justice and all. As far as what stories I'm doing, right now I'm leaning towards all 7. Once I really got into writing "Hard Goodbye" I went out and bought a bunch of the books and have been using them alongside the film. For now I'm going to do the ones in the film first, then start the others. But that might change. I really liked "A Dame to Kill For." Might do that one next, or maybe separately from the others. Keep an eye out.
Coldqueen: Ah, the everlasting love of a queen…well, you know how to make a boy feel special darlin'. You just keep on reading and I'll keep on writing. And to answer your question, I've been using both. The books go into more dialogue and thought than the movie does, but the film is great for describing the action scenes. Thanks, your majesty.
The Frog Prince of Crime: Glad you liked my ending. Carol Hines was one of the top technicians in the Weapon X program. She was the one who basically (and if I'm getting this wrong somebody please correct me) brainwashed Logan and stripped away his memories.
PoisonRogue: I hope you like the first chapter of Remy's story and a bit of ROMYness. I'm glad you're enjoying my fic, keep on reading and reviewing for me.
Retrimesuroth: Thanks for your support. I'm curious about your pen name there. Still trying to pronounce it. Jackie-Boy was the hardest character for me to cast. Check out my little rant above for more about it. Keep on reading and reviewing; let me know how I'm doing.
CatLadyinTraining: Glad you liked my ending to "Hard Goodbye". Hope you like "The Big Fat Kill" even more. Banshee will make his grand (and rather loud) appearance in this story, but not for a couple chapters.
Tallia: I'm very happy you like my work so much. Hearing that is the most satisfying thing a writer can experience and it's the reason I do this. Thanks. As for Deadly Little Miho, Betsy was my first, original, and only choice for that role. She'll be making her entrance in the next chapter so stick around and check it out.