(Cut to int. of palace, Magneto emerging from his secret chambers. He
slides the door shut carefully, but the princess comes storming
in before he is finished. He slams it shut, pinning Pietro's leg inside
the door frame.)
Rogue: Erik?
Magneto: Oh, uh, princess.
Pietro: Awk! Father, I'm stuck!
Magneto: How may I be of service to you? (He spreads out his
cape, hiding the door.)
Rogue: The brown noser squad just took a boy from the city, on your
orders.
Magneto: Xavier's charged me with keeping peace in
the city. The boy was a criminal.
Rogue: What was the crime?
Pietro: I can't move, Father!
Magneto: Why, kidnapping the princess, of course.
Pietro: If you could just--(Magneto opens the door a little with powers, then kicks him back inside the door and it slams shut)--wow, that hurt!
Rogue: He didn't kidnap me! I ran away!
Magneto: (Walking away as if shocked) Oh, dear! Oh, why
frightfully upsetting. Had I but known.
Rogue: What do you mean?
Magneto: Sadly, the boy's sentence has already been carried
out.
Rogue: What sentence?
Magneto: (with a sinister tone) Death. ( Rogue gasps.)
By hypothermia in the Arctic.
Rogue: No! (She collapses to the floor.)
Magneto: I am exceedingly sorry, princess.
Rogue: How could you? (She runs from the room crying.)

(Pietro finally makes it out through the door. He runs up and puts a hand on
Magneto's shoulder, coughing.)
Pietro: So, how did it go?
Magneto: I think she took it rather well. (They both get a
sinister smile on their faces.)

(Diss. to Rogue at night, crying at the edge of the fountain. Jean

comes over to comfort her.)

Rogue: It's all my fault, Jean. I didn't even know his

name.

Jean: It's okay Rogue. You didn't mean to do it. (Hugs her)

(Cut to int. of dungeon. Rats scurry by, and we descend until we see

Gambit chained to the wall.)

Gambit: (to himself) She was Rogue. I don't believe

it. I must have sounded so stupid to her…(muttering)I didn't know she was Southern though…

Storm: (from a distance) Gambit? Hello!

(Storm appears at the window at the top of the dungeon.)

Gambit: Stormy! Down here! Hey, c'mon--help me outta these.

(Storm floats down, stops, then wraps a cloth around her head and makes his eyes big in an

imitation of Rogue.)

Storm: By the Goddess Gambit!

Gambit: Hey, she was in trouble. Ah, she was worth it.

(Storm pulls a small set of tools

out of her pocket, then frees Gambit.)

Storm: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Gambit: Don't worry, Storm. I'll never see her again. I'm a

swamp rat, remember, and there's a law. She's

gotta marry a prince, she deserves it.

(Storm finally frees Gambit's hands.)

Storm: Ta da! Now Gambit you've got to stop chasing every skirt you see! By the Goddess!

Gambit: (Rubbing his wrists) I'm a--I'm a fool

Old Man: You're only a fool if you give up, boy.

(We see an OLD MAN sitting in the corner that neither Gambit nor Storm

have seen before.)

Gambit: Who are you?

Old Man: A lowly prisoner, like yourself. But together,

perhaps we can be more.

Gambit: I'm listening.

Old Man: There is a cave, boy. A cave of wonders. Filled

with treasures beyond your wildest dreams.

Treasure enough to impress even Rogue, I'd

wager.

(The OLD MAN turns his back, and Pietro sticks

his head around the corner.)

Pietro: Magneto, can ya hurry it up? I'm getting older by the second!

Gambit: But the law says that only a prince can marry—wait, when have I paid attention to the law?

Old Man: You've heard of the golden rule, haven't you boy?

Whoever has the gold makes the rules.(He grins,

showing a hideously bad mouth.)

Gambit: So why would you share all of this wonderful

treasure with me?

Old Man: I need a young man with strong legs and a strong

back to go in after it.

Gambit: Ah, one problem. It's out there, we're in here?

(The OLD MAN walks to a wall and pushes open a hidden exit.)

Old Man: Mmm, mmm, mmm., Things aren't always what they

seem. So, do we have a deal?

(Gambit looks at Storm, who shrugs her shoulders.)

Storm: Oh, hmm. By the Goddess! We'll do it!