/N: Okay. This chapter is a revision, nothing new or special. I just got rid of stupid stuff and put it in a different format. It might look shorter, but I swear this is 10 PAGES on word! I'll have a new chapter out shortly, too! WOOT!
And about not posting for oh, say 2 years… hehehe, I'm sorry? (ducks). I'm getting back to work on this story, though I'm going to admit right now I'll be pressed for time. I've got a full schedule for this summer with work and classes, so I mostly only get time off to write on the weekends. And truthfully, the fall looks even worse (I'm planning on taking mucho hard classes, and doing an internship…). So, we'll see how this thing pans out. But I do have one promise: I'm not going to abandon this! I'm aiming for a new post at least once a month, so hope you keep with me!
With that final note, on to the story!
"blah blah blah" Talking
'blah blah blah' Thinking
"blah blah blah" French/emphasized words. I think yo can figure out which is which.
"Wow!" Sakura said gleefully. "New York City's so busy and big- there's so much to see!"
Tomoyo, who was hanging on Sakura's shoulder, smiled and nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. Sakura, first we have to go clothes shopping!" She squealed excitedly.
Sakura looked at Tomoyo, surprised. "Hey, but I thought you liked making me my clothes?" She asked, wondering.
"Of course I do, silly!" She said light-heartedly, tapping the green- eyed girl on the head. "But looking at clothes in stores gives me good ideas, and besides, I can't make your whole wardrobe for you!"
"and besides," said Eriol, listening in on their conversation, "then I get to see you two young ladies dressed up and looking simply ravishing," Tomoyo blushed lightly, and Sakura giggled.
"Yeah, don't worry Eriol, I'll make sure to pick something out for her that'll make her look stunning!" She nudged her now even redder-cheeked friend, laughing. She now understood why Tomoyo had followed her around with a camera for most of her teen years- she was just too kawaii with Eriol, and if her and if she and Syao-…. Well, she undertood why Tomoyo was like that, now.
The three of them were thinking about entering a nice looking clothing store, when Sakura felt a tingling in the back of her mind. She looked around and saw, crumpled in a corner, an auburn haired man wearing a set of broken glasses. He was well dressed, in the exception that all his clothes looked worse for the wear. Sakura quickly walked over to the man. Eriol and Tomoyo noticed her wandering off, and followed her.
She walked up to the man and looked at him worriedly. "Sir? Are you all right?" He was passed out. She gave him a little shake, trying o wake him up.
"Mr., are you okay?" She saw the man stir blearily, put a hand to his head in pain.
She squatted down so she could see his face better. He was a handsome man in his early twenties, from her guess, with dark brown eyes. "Excuse me, but are you alright? You look pretty beat up."
The man looked down at himself, and then took his surroundings. He then held his head in his hands. "Merde..." he said quietly to himself; she now noticed he was bleeding somewhere from underneath his trench coat. "uh, I be fine..."
Tomoyo, being her compassionate self, looked on at the man with sympathy. "Sir, what happened to you? Are you really sure you're fine?" She then wiped up some of the blood on his hand with a Kleenex. "I see you're bleeding; do you want us to take you to the hospital?"
"No, no I be jus' fine," he said precariously getting onto his feet. He failed, and nearly fell down, but was steadied by Eriol. Eriol looked at the man with worry written all over his face.
"Sir, I think we aught to know what happened to you so we can help," Eriol could not help it but for some reason he didn't trust this man any farther than he could throw him...without magic, that is. This whole scenario just felt too much like a setup.
"t'anks for worrying about me, homme, ladies, but it s'alright. If one o' you could spare this body a quarter or two for a call, I'll be out of you're hair."
"Oh, really," Sakura cried," I don't think your in any state to make it anywhere, even a phone booth." She looked at him pleadingly. "Please let us help you." The man seemed to ponder it for a second before answering.
"Can't say no to a beautiful femme," he answered, extending his hand. "De name's Remy," he said, introducing himself, "Remy LeBleau."
"I'm Sakura Kinimoto" she anwered brightly, then looking at her friends. "This is my best friend Tomoyo," she pointed to her raven haired friend, "And her boyfriend and my good friend Eriol." Eriol nodded, his eyes distant despite the warm smile on his face. Something definitely didn't feel right about this situation.
Meanwhile, Tomoyo and Sakura were helping him get out of the alleyway, and were bringing him to a nearby bench. 'Stop being so paranoid', Eriol scolded himself.
This man clearly was in need of assistance- he had done nothing but turn down all of their requests to help him. He was acting perfectly normal for someone who had clearly been through a rough ordeal. There was nothing suspicious about this at all...Was there?
He sighed, and went to help the girls.
Meanwhile at the mansion, Xavier was scanning with Cerebro for any signs of mutant activity. He was busy looking into a woman who was having a vision thanks to her precognitive powers, when he felt a sudden ripple of powers somewhere else. He stoppedinspecting the precog mutant and tried to find or identify anything about this other
mutant- but the power usage had been so slight and done so fast that he had no time to inspect it. He sighed, wondering, but his thoughts were interrupted by another mutant; this one with the ability to hover a few feet in the air. He soon forgot about the rogue
mutant- it was probably just another person who failed at concealing their powers, he thought, though still uneasy about his conclusions. He got back to searching.
"Shades, any sign of our the Acolytes or the Brotherhood?" Wolverine spoke into his com. receiver.
"No, we haven't seen anyone yet." He sighed into the mic, frustrated. "It's likefinding a needle in a haystack." Just then, across the street, he saw a whirlwind of papers-the trademark of a certain speed demon in the brotherhood. "Wait one second, I think we got a lead. Pietro just ran by. Once he stops running, then the professor can give us
coordinates to where he is."
"sounds like a plan," Logan's voice crackled through he mics. "Okay, we're going to get Li's group out and moving once we know the speed boy's position. We'll fly them in. I want you guys to meet us there."
"Got it," Scott responded. "Over and Out".
After a quick check, the three sorcerers found the source of Mr. LeBleau's bleeding: A nasty cut on his upper arm.
After it had been cleaned and bandaged up (thanks to Eriol who ran over to a CVS and bought disinfectant and gauze), the four of them had gone for coffee at Sakura's insistence, and the mysterious Remy told his tale.
He had been jumped the night before as he was walking towards a subway stop to get out of the city. Next thing he knew, he awoke bleeding, cold, wallet- less and face to face with Sakura. He had also gained a bump on the head, but there was nothing much that he could do about it.
The group sympathized with Remy, and asked if they could help him in any way, but yet again all he asked for was a chance to call a friend, and maybe later make a police report. Then on they were just having a friendly conversation with the man, though he flirted shamelessly with Sakura once he found out she didn't have a boyfriend.
By the end of the whole escapade, the day was finished and they were all eager to get back to their homes before dark, especially because of Remy's story. Remy called a friend to pick him up, since he didn't want to burden them with paying for a train ride home or dropping him off, so the three of them insisted to wait until Remy's ride came before they'd leave.
"So, Remy where are you from?" Sakura asked inquisitively. She had heard many different accents throughout the day, but could not place her finger on exactly what his was.
"Remy be from down south, N'awlins," he said in his deep, exotic drawl. "French quarter, anyways. M'Acadian." Sakura had heard about New Orleans before from Eriol-she thought it sounded great.
"Oh, really? Is it nice there?" She was bubbling with questions.
"S'my favorite place in de world," he said, relaxing on the bench. "dere always be music, dancin', an' fun. An we's know how to celebrate Mardi Gras right." He smiled at the mere thought of his hometown and how much he loved it, but his thoughts quickly
darkened knowing that he'd never be able to step foot inside it again without the threat of death. He quickly hid the frown that was threatening to appear on his face.
"how 'bout you, sweetheart?" Remy asked, pretending that he had no clue about her. "Where'd you call home?"
"Tomoyo and I are from Japan- Eriol's from England," she answered thinking about her family. It had only been two days and she missed them. He whistled.
"You three be pretty far from home," he said casually. "Why you come to de Big Apple?" Sakura froze, not knowing how to respond. Remy felt her casual demeanor drop to one of anxiety.
"Oh, nothing much, really," she answered, stalling for time. Remy mentally chuckled, enjoying her agitated state just a little. 'Merde, this girl can't lie for her life' he thought to himself as he looked at her with innocent eyes.
"We're just taking a vacation here in the states," Eriol answeredcalmly, once he noticed Sakura's alarm. He hadn't noticed her predicament until then because he had been distracted- very uncharacteristic of him. But then again, it was not every day his
girlfriend made his heart race wildly by a few simple, demure kisses on his neck that set him on fire- wait, who was he kidding, Tomoyo's presence alone could have that affect
on him. If he didn't watch himself, he'd turn into a lovesick fool. Well, he didn't mind being one so far; he had an inkling of a feeling that he'd like it.
"How about you, Mr. LeBleau?" He asked, changing the direction of the conversation for Sakura. "Why are you here?"
"M'job," he answered swiftly, without showing a trace of deception- a true poker
face. "De's be sending Remy all over de place, an' I jus' want to stop by an' see an ol' friend while I was here." The story wasn't entirely inaccurate- he had gone to meet one of his old friends- A man named Russ with a chip on his shoulder and a ridiculous
assortment of black market ware. He smiled benignly, not liking Eriol too well. The boy was suspicious of him, he could tell, though whether his suspicions rooted from his acting out of the norm or the fact that he hit on his girl, he wasn't sure.
"Oh really, Remy? What do you work as?" Tomoyo asked, looking at him with a calm respect.
"M'ah art appraiser," he answered politely, looking at the dignified girl with ease.
"But I'd prefer to appraise beautiful femmes such as yourselves," He winked at Tomoyo, just to get the annoying snoop pissed off. Tomoyo and Sakura blushed at this, causing the blue haired boy to darken nearly imperceptibly in anger. Remy nearly smiled at this.
"so, who do you prefer, Picasso or Monet?" Eriol asked, trying to find something wrong with this man. It didn't matter that he was harmless- it didn't matter that he wasn't acting suspicious, but hell, he was flirting with his girlfriend!
"Monet- I prefer impressionism to modern art- I like seeing landscapes, natural beauty, to the complexities of Picasso. An' besides, I like oil on canvas better." His suppressed smile became a suppressed grin as he saw Eriol's look of mild disbelief- who'd expect such a back water hick who spoke broken English would actually know his stuff about art?
Just then, a car drove up. "looks like my ride's here," Remy said, as a massive blond haired man stepped out of the driver's seat and walked up to Remy. Despite his gargantuan features and his obvious muscle, the cast of his face deemed him completely harmless.
"Remy, my friend," he said in a heavy Russian accent, "Are you alright?" Despite
his stony features he looked exceptionally worried. Remy couldn't handle it. Coupled with his pent up hilarity at the blue haired boy, he couldn't hide his amusement at his friends naive worry over him. He broke into laughter. The Russian looked perplexed.
"Don' worry, homme, Remy's jus' fine," he said between snickers. "You know this ol' Cajun can take care of himself." The Tall man looked slightly affronted, but
brushed it off sighing. The other three were just as confused at his laughter- he had definitely needed help when they met him.
Remy finally quit laughing, and got to introductions. "Oh, and Pete, I'd like you to meet some o Remy's friends- Sakura, Tomoyo, an'Eriol." They all bowed to the massive man in order, each greeting him with a 'hello'. Then Remy turned and faced his three new friends.
"And I would like to introduce to you my friend Piotr, or Pete forshort." Peter, a little confused at their formal greeting, bowed too.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," he responded.
"Well, I suppose it's best if we left," said Eriol, trying to find an excuse to getaway from that man as soon as possible. Sakura and Tomoyo may have liked him, but hejust got on the sorcerers' nerves enough to make him want to blast him into a fiery oblivion with his staff.
"Aww, an' make you walk all de way to your car in the dark?" Remy said sweetly. "I'm sure Petey here wouldn mind giving you fine filles a lift," he flashed a stunning smile at the two girls, making Eriol's repulsion of the man complete.
"An of course, homme," Remy added as an afterthought, "M'sure he wouldn' mind givin' you one too." No one else noted the jeering note on the Cajuns lips except Eriol- ohhh, if that boy gave him just give him one good reason... Despite this, Eriol managed a smile, even if it was a cold one.
The tall Russian nodded, verifying Remy's offer despite the slight blush he hadgained from the way his partner had phrased it.
"Sure, we'd love a ride," Tomoyo answered in her sweet melodic voice. They headed for the car. The tall man Poitr got in the drivers seat while Remy took shotgun, leaving the other three to pile into the back seat.
Tomoyo and Eriol were getting in the back (Even if Eriol was a little reluctant) when a gust of wind blew. Eriol, who was climbing into the middle seat, looked back to
see hat had made the wind when he noticed Sakura, who had been about to climb in the car a half second ago, was gone.
"SAKURA!" he cried, quickly stumbling out of the back seat, quickly accompanied by a very surprised Tomoyo.
"Sakura! Where are you?" Tomoyo called out, panic lacing her voice.Eriol now was immediately scanning for her aura- and he felt it- moving fast, at super-human speeds two blocks away before he could no longer see her aura.
"...Where did your friend go?" asked the very confused Russian.
"...u-uh...She went-she must've went to the bathroom!" Tomoyo cried out, quickly fibbing, before adding on, "You know, it's that time of the month... "
Eriol then spoke up. "well, thank you for asking us if we needed a ride, but I'm sorry to say that we decline. Thanks, anyways, but we have to go now..." He started speed walking towards an alley, Tomoyo in tow.
"Eriol, what happened?" Tomoyo asked once they were out of earshot, confused."did she go off to fight an evil sorcerer, or was she taken? What happened!" she sounded slightly hysterical.
"Truthfully, I'm not sure..." Eriol responded, walking a little farther before summoning his staff, careful that no one noticed them. "But I have an idea of which
direction Sakura was heading... Hold on to me." Tomoyo put her arms around Eriol before he ported out of sight.
Meanwhile at the car, a pissed off Cajun was swearing like a sailor.
He was cut off when his friend, Poitr, had been stoically listening to his rant for a few moments, asked, confused, "What just happened?"
"We just got screwed by that poppa's boy, Pietro!" Now the Russian looked even more confused.
"What? How-"He was not able to finish his question before the Cajun answered it.
"Know de people were s'posed to find, but have no idea who de hell they were?" Remy asked, still fuming.
"That was them..." Poitr said, comprehension dawning on his face.
"damn straight," the Acadian seethed. "An after two days of brunt work, 'n'cluding me beatin' de shit outta myself," Remy pointed to the bump on his head, "'dat mutant jus' took our pay day away!" Remy went back to cursing while Poitr contemplated this.
"Oh, I had it all planned out..." Gambit ranted. "We drive 'em over to our place
after a little persuasion, give em' some laced drinks to knock em' out, den hand em' over to ol' bucket head wit' a nice payoff."
"And when were you planning on telling me?" The Russian asked, rather talkatively for his demeanor.
"dunno..." he answered, carelessly, "Maybe after dey were knocked out. Need somebody to help me lug em' round." They were both quiet for a moment before Remy muttered a quiet "damn" under his breath, before he yet again sprang into action, jumping into the driver's seat of the car.
"Pete, homme," he called to the already advancing Russian, "Get in an' hand me the keys," Going against his conscience, the metal man did as Remy said. Being with Remy was a gamble in itself- You never knew if one of his escapades was going to strike you rich or leave you in a mess. But Poitr needed the money for his family- just as Remy needed the money, which was probably why Remy was willing to split his earnings with him in the first place. Remy liked doing things on his own. Even though Piotr knew the answer, he asked, "What are we doing?"
"Pete," he answered with his cocky, determined grin, "we're goin' to steal dat pay day back."
