Thanks for the reviews. I may only have gotten 7 reviews, but at least there were 59 page views, which is something I guess.
I hope that people continue to enjoy the story. It's definitely darker than most I write. I'm hoping to end up somewhere positive in the end though.
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"So," an all too familiar voice called from the darkness near the building. "Am I to presume that you are the reason my son is late for our appointment?"
"Magneto," Remy's voice was low and dark as his eyes flashed red. "Got no beef wit' you or your boy, frère (brother). Jus' gettin' home's all." Slowly and calmly, Remy strategically inched closer to the forest of trees lining the deserted parking lot.
"And you seem to have a date," Magneto sneered. "How quaint."
The few scattered lampposts began to tremble as Magneto, Avalanche and Blob moved closer to the pair. Remy carefully dropped Rogue's feet and helped her stand at his side, freeing up at least one of his hands for his playing cards.
"It's a shame your Homo Sapien friend will have to suffer the consequence of meddling in the affairs of mutants."
"Don't bet on that bucket head!" Rogue shouted as she tried to stand tall beside Remy.
She swallowed nervously, however, as she felt Magneto's entire demeanor change from haughty disdain to vengeful rage in an instant.
"Rogue," he muttered darkly. "Why is it that you always seem to be in my way?"
"Just lucky ah guess," she replied sarcastically.
The mutant tyrant apparently didn't find her very amusing because metal objects from all directions began hovering towards them.
"Then I believe it's time to change your luck – permanently!" He bellowed as a few lampposts tore out of the ground and pointed toward her.
Gambit subtly pushed Rogue a little farther behind him, as if to shield her from the forthcoming onslaught. "Now, now, Mags. Take it easy on de girl, heh? After all, ain't y'r fight wit' moi?"
"Step aside Lebeau," Magneto commanded furiously, "and I will overlook your … indiscretions ... with my daughter. Remain where you are, however, and suffer the same fate as your new friend."
Remy shifted to look over his shoulder at Rogue. With an arched eyebrow, he glanced to Magneto, then back at Rogue again.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He called, topping one hand with the other in a universal "time out." He twirled his bow staff then used it as a sort of support as he leaned against it to stare at Magneto. "You mean to tell me that if I just walk away, you're gonna up and forget ALL m' sins?"
Gambit kicked the staff up, caught it and twirled it again, inching away from where Rogue was standing on the grass to stand on the pavement. He was still just in front of her, however, effectively blocking her from any possible projectiles.
"Yes," Magneto affirmed begrudgingly. "You could even be a valuable asset to my Acolytes if you so desired."
The New Orleans native chuckled. "Huh. So you'd just let Gambit go?" He rested his right elbow atop his bow staff and placed his other hand on his hip. "Even t'ough I blew up half a Genosha," he ticked off the offense on his left hand, "seduced y'r daughter, AND stole y'r helmet?"
Magneto said nothing and Remy whistled as he turned to look back at Rogue.
"Merde, Cherie! What did YOU do?!"
If Rogue wasn't fighting just too keep herself standing, she might have laughed.
"SHE," Magneto bellowed, "Has gotten in the way of my plans one time too many."
Internally, Rogue cringed. Quicksilver wasn't kidding about his dear old dad being a little miffed at her. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to double cross Magneto and Pietro after all.
"Hey," she defended herself, "ain't MAH fault y'r son went and recruited an X-MAN! Fool never should'a …"
She was suddenly cut off, however, when she found herself slammed into the brick wall not ten feet away from Magneto. As her vision cleared slightly, she saw a blurred outline of Pietro holding her against the building by her throat.
"That's a mistake this FOOL will gladly correct!" Pietro hissed as he lifted her off the ground. Instantly, she reached up to grab his arm with both hands, fighting to breathe.
"Pietro!" Magneto yelled, "Release her before she absorbs …"
"Her powers are gone, father." Pietro grinned wickedly as he turned to meet his father's gaze. "See? Skin to skin and nothing is happening. She's completely defenseless."
"Not quite!" Rogue choked out as she kicked the younger man in the groin with her boot.
He released her and dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. Rogue's knees buckled as her feet hit the pavement again, and she landed hard on her already tender leg as excruciating pain shot through her shin bone and into her pelvis. Gambit was already rushing toward her when a rather pointy piece of railing stopped him.
With one arm grasping her lower extremities, Rogue tried to push herself up to a sitting position. As she did, though, another section of railing snaked around her chest and waist, trapping one arm at her side. She was suddenly face to face with Magneto, suspended in the air by the makeshift restraints as he marveled at her.
"Impossible," he whispered, checking her over for any small devices that would inhibit her powers. Removing a glove, he tentatively reached out and touched her cheek before she wrenched her head out of his grasp and swung at him with her free arm.
He caught it easily, however, and held her wrist tightly with his bare hand despite her attempts to pull away.
"How can this be?" Magneto wondered as he inspected her further. "How long have you been without your powers?"
Rogue weighed her options. She could A) tell him part of the story and try to stall for more time, or B) mouth off and incur further wrath. Considering her current condition, Option A sounded like a much better idea.
"Bout two weeks," she answered warily. "So far it's been permanent." If she could keep him interested and talking she might have a better chance of getting out of this alive.
"No. It can't be possible," Magneto responded, almost horrified. "Who did this? Was it Xavier?! Tell me, who was it?!"
"Ah, ah don't know," she fibbed, casting her eyes down. "Shadowcat and ah were attacked at the mall. They injected me with somethin'." She closed her eyes and tried to keep most of the memories at bay. "All ah know is that it burned inside mah blood like hellfire, and ah haven't had any powers since."
Producing a large syringe from his coat pocked, he shoved the needle into the vein on Rogue's arm and silently withdrew some of her blood. As he did so, Magneto seemed to take an interest in Rogue's appearance and looked her over from head to toe. He noted the bruising on her face and wrists and the way she took short, shallow breaths, wincing as he tightened the metal railing ever so slightly. Eyebrow raised, he capped the needle, carefully wrapped it up, and put it back in his pocket.
"It seems they worked you over quite well, my dear." There was a hint of amusement in Magneto's voice as his eyes continued to roam. "I wonder," he whispered in her ear, "Did they take any… liberties… while you were without your powers?"
Without thought or hesitation, Rogue spat in Magneto's face and he simply laughed.
"Well," Magneto commented aloud, "at least they let me have the satisfaction of finishing you off." As he spoke, a large section of rebar ripped out of the concrete lot and shifted in her direction. She was still suspended in the air by the metal fencing, but as she noted the way the long bar of metal was aimed directly at her heart, Rogue squirmed and struggled tremendously against the bonds.
Magneto turned away from her and she gasped as the rod whizzed toward her. From the corner of her eye, however, she saw Gambit leap into action.
Knocking aside the railing aimed at him with his bow staff, Remy leapt over it and barreled towards Rogue, tossing all his playing cards at Magneto, the Acolytes, and the quickly approaching rebar that was ready to impale the Southern girl. The explosions were enough to throw off Magneto's concentration, and although the most of the metal objects in the parking lot dropped, Rogue continued to hang in the air and the flying rod still had plenty of momentum.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Rogue covered her heart with her free arm and prepared for the impact.
Instead of the sharp metal rod piercing her heart, however, she was knocked out of the air by a large, solid mass.
A large solid mass that yelled out in pain before they even hit the ground…
Seconds later Rogue managed to pry herself out of unconsciousness only to find a piece of a car door hovering in the air, threatening to decapitate her.
"I wouldn't have thought Mr. LeBeau to be the hero type," Magneto postulated as he stood to the side and surveyed the scene.
Rogue's head lolled to the side to see what he meant. She uttered a soft gasp as she finally made out the image of Gambit lying next to her with the longer section of the rebar protruding from his back and shoulder. The bar had penetrated so deeply, in fact, that it had pierced through his chest and was slightly propping him up off the ground.
"Gambit?" she whispered as her vision began to fade in and out.
"Oh well," Magneto called as the car door shifted from about three feet above her neck. "I suppose he'll get to die knowing he was ALMOST a hero."
Then the door dropped, intending to sever her head from her body. It was inches from impact when it was blown across the parking lot by a bright pink beam of light. She heard shouting, followed by the sounds of a short-lived battle as she woozily watched Gambit for any signs of consciousness. She was fairly certain he was still breathing, but with her vision dancing the tango, she couldn't be positive.
The reverberations of many feet running toward her roused her slightly.
"ROGUE!" Wolverine bellowed as he, Beast and Kitty dropped to their knees beside her. With a quick slash of his claws, the appointed leader of the X-Men detached the warped metal railing from Rogue's torso as Beast looked over her newest injuries.
"Ah'm faine," she mumbled as her friends fussed over her. "Please," she begged, looking over to her rescuer, "please help him."
"That's GAMBIT, Rogue," Wolverine snarled, "As far as I'm concerned, he can go out with the rest of the garbage."
"Logan," she pleaded again, meeting her friend's gaze with the most imploring look she could muster, "Please. He saved mah life. PLEASE help him."
"Rogue," Wolverine warned, but she gathered her strength and rolled over to feel for his pulse. As she touched his neck, he groaned and stirred slightly.
"Remy?" she muttered, falling into a coughing fit as she tried to raise herself up on her elbow.
Beast and Kitty quickly coaxed her onto her back again, however, and Wolverine stood looking at Gambit. Once she could speak again, she stared at Wolverine again, willing him to listen.
"Logan, he saved mah life. Magneto told him t' walk away, but he stayed. That accessory he's sportin' was meant for ME. He saved mah life. Please, Logan. HELP HIM!"
She could feel the tears stinging her eyes and running down her cheeks. Her leg, chest, stomach, and pelvis all throbbed with pain, and she was certain to pass out at any second, but she couldn't rest until she had Logan's word that they'd help Remy.
Wolverine took a deep breath as he stared at the unconscious Cajun. "Alright," he finally agreed and bent down to check him over as Jean, Cyclops and Storm arrived.
Rogue heaved a sigh of relief and managed a tired smile. "Good," she breathed as she finally blacked out.
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Okay, so my SECOND favorite part of the story so far. I just LOVE Gambit. He seriously writes himself sometimes.
Please review and let me know what you think of it. I'm DYING for some feedback and for others to agree that these chapters are just as awesome as I think they are!
P.S. It may take a week or two to get the next chapter out. Just so's ya know...
