This is my offering for Rogue & Gambit Fanworks Week 2024.
As usual, I have opted to try to combine all the prompts into one story. Not gonna lie, the idea of writing a story where Rogue and Gambit were merfolk living in a steampunk era and being space pirates sounded like a lot of fun. It also sounded like jumping the shark, haha. So instead, I decided to revisit The Soul Matter. Part of me feels like that's cheating. The rest of me is glad for the excuse to finally get this sister story off the ground. I've been thinking about it pretty much since I finished the original.
It is not necessary to read The Soul Matter before reading this story. All relevant lore is reestablished in this story.
Because almost the entire cast are Rogues and Gambits, I've added things to their names so we can keep all the important characters straight. For example, we have Steampunk Rogue, Noir Gambit, 80s Rogue, and AIB Gambit - with the preceding word indicating what universe they've come from. For other characters their universe type is irrelevant or unhelpful information, so I've added "Prime" or "Junior" afterwards: New Sun Prime, New Sun Junior. A few Rogues have unique names: Legacy, Sugah.
Additionally, the final chapter of this story will be / is a glossary of all the characters. This will also include more specific info about what universe they're from, as I realise that one word (or acronym) descriptions might not be completely clear.
Thanks for the wonderful support of the Romy discord. It's been really nice to be able to talk to people about what I'm writing, who can understand my excitement, and occasionally get that spark of inspiration or "third idea". Thanks you guys. I really appreciate you.
Prompts are:
Alternate first meeting
Reunion
Space Adventure
Mojoworld
Roof Top
Legacy as a Concept or Character
Rogue and Gambit are physically separated
Fantasy
Pirates
Steampunk
Merfolk
Robin Hood
Power/Role Swap or No Powers
Noir
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Beads of sweat formed on Mystique's brow as she sawed at the golden cord with the soul-knife.
This whole matter was ridiculous. All she wanted to do was cut the bond between her protege, Rainbow, and her soulmate, whoever that was. It really shouldn't be that difficult! Why couldn't the soulmate bond be silver like all the others? Why did it have to be gold? And whoever heard of a gold soulmate bond anyway? Well, aside from Scarlet Witch, who'd been blathering on about true soulmates and how cutting a gold soulmate bond could destroy the multiverse. Utter nonsense! A theory at best. Clearly the multiverse still existed, and she refused to believe that no one in all the history in all the multiverse had ever tried to cut a golden soulmate bond before.
Fueled by the rage inspired by her own thoughts, Mystique sawed at the golden cord with renewed vigour.
Then, a breakthrough.
Screams reverberated through the soul-knife up Mystique's arm as the blade finally made it through the outer layer of the golden cord and sliced through the middle. Mystique revelled in those screams, delighting in her success even as she drove the soul-knife through the other half.
The soul-knife broke the final strand.
Mystique didn't even have a fraction of a second to regret.
Pain beyond imagining wracked across their bodies. They didn't even realise they were screaming.
Then, nothing.
Blackness.
Blackness all around them. Shadows in the dark. And yet, far beyond the black void were lights. Lights like stars, but they filled the sky so much more thickly than any night sky seen before.
The shadows were all vaguely humanoid, and for a time they just sat there, drifting in the void. Voices began calling out, but only the closest could hear them. Then a few telepathic queries began, and a relay of telepathic information began bouncing around the shadowed figures in the void.
The curious thing about the telepathic relay, aside from the fact that it was happening at all, was that the telepathic voices were all the same female voice, of the same timbre and warmth, and predominately in a southern drawl, although there were the odd exception.
Queries about if anyone knew what was going on, and did everyone else feel that pain, began to be answered:
"I think we're in the multiverse. We're literally drifting between universes."
"How do we return to our universes?"
"I think our universes are gone."
"Yes, they're gone. Someone cut our Soulmate bond."
"Soulmate bond?"
Imagery of a golden cord connecting two people was shared. Two very specific people that the adults recognised, though most of the children only recognised themselves, if anyone at all.
"Regular soulmates have a silver cord. They can change from universe to universe. True soulmates are the same in all universes." Was the explanation that came with the imagery. "Someone found a way to cut the cord. It was theorised in my world that this would destroy the multiverse." An image of a tapestry unravelling came with those words. "But apparently, it only destroyed a small part of it." Now only a small section of the tapestry was ruined.
"We're all the same people? Just from different universes?"
"What happens now?"
While they spoke, they began to notice they were moving. Those who were working on moving on their own power didn't notice so much. Those who couldn't move on their own power, or didn't see the point, realised that they were gradually moving away from the lights of the multiverse, and towards the centre of the void.
At first there appeared to be nothing at the centre of the void, but anyone watching started to see a sphere of faint, cracking light.
"Greetings," said a new telepathic voice, one that seemed more mature and authoritative. It was so strong there was no need for it to be relayed. "My name is Legacy, and I'm here with my husband, New Sun. Your speculation is entirely correct; the soulmate bond has been cut, and your universes destroyed. How we all survived, we have no idea. This is unprecedented in our experience: and we've been travelling the multiverse for a very long time.
The sphere stretched out up and down into a spiral.
"You're all being drawn to a multiverse node. Here we are in a semi-stasis. Obviously we can still talk and interact, and use our powers, up to a point. But there's no need to eat or drink or sleep, or even breathe. We won't age or die. So, the good news is that we have all the time in the world to figure things out. The bad news is that it's not going to be much of a life.
Things started spouting from the spiral like leaves. They expanded rapidly, forming huge decks that were wider and longer than the spiral was tall.
"You will find when you get here, and are better able to mingle with each other, that some of you will be from entirely different universes. Others will be from very similar ones. This is because any time a creature reaches a crossroads decision, the universe splits itself, and each split plays out each of the possibilities. Crossroads decisions happen all the damn time, so honestly, its not all that surprising the multiverse survived the cutting. Besides, we're not the only true soulmate couples out there.
As they drew closer to the node, they began to see things spawning on the decks. One of the upper desks grew a small, snow-covered mountain, complete with ski lift. Another upper deck also grew a small mountain, but this one was green, and the rest of deck was home to a small lake and a campground. There was a deck that was the biggest children's play area any of them had ever seen, and another that was an arcade.
"You may also find that those who are from similar universes will be at different points on the timeline. This is because time travel also splits universes, not only at the place where the time traveller left, but also at the place where they arrive. Mutliverse travellers can also time travel when we enter universes; we split them all the time. I'd be more concerned if universes weren't already splitting themselves a countless number of times every second.
The Rogues and Gambits of all ages were pulled in the rest of the way, and gently landed across the different decks. Walkways, elevators, bridges, and the spiral itself clearly enabled travel between them.
"So for now, relax, enjoy yourselves. If anyone is capable of healing others, I'd appreciate your help: as I said, no one will die here, but I don't think anyone wants to be in pain for eternity either, and this place is going to fight attempts at healing. Thank you. Oh, and New Sun says if your armband is white, your soulmate is here, and black if they're not."
Those who weren't preoccupied with taking in their surroundings looked down to see a black or white armband on their left arm. The armband appeared to be fabric, but didn't really move the way fabric would. In fact it seemed more like an illusion of an armband rather than something real. Written on the armband was their preferred name and what appeared to be the designation for their original universe.
Many Rogues and many more wounded were brought to the Hospital Deck. There were rows of hospital beds, but no actual hospital equipment beyond those. It was also very nicely decorated with gentle colours and beautiful plants. There were no walls. Beyond the edges of the deck was only the black beyond, although there did seem to be an invisible fence that would at least keep people from falling off.
There was quite a mixture of different Rogues that immediately took to the wounded. Some were considerably older than their physical bodies suggested. Some wore hazmat suits that were part cloth, part forcefield. There were a few that had gold skin like Elixir. There was a handful of Rogue who looked like they'd stepped out of magical universes.
Several Rogues were blue-skinned. They had blue-black hair with a faint streak of light blue. They were almost identically dressed in a dark green jacket and pants with light green trim. Their preferred names were the same: Amalgam.
"Thank you, ladies," said Legacy, now standing amongst them.
They quickly got to work.
One of the Amalgams immediately turned their attention to the Gambit laying on the bed before them. He was early forties and had two stab wounds in his back. Amalgam Prime placed their hands near the wound, causing Hatred Gambit to hiss with pain.
"Sorry," They said softly, and focused their imprinted healing powers on the injuries. It was slow, but bit by bit the wounds closed up. "Okay, you should be good now."
Amalgam Prime moved onto the next patient. The Rogue in the bed had melted steel skin, and Amalgam Prime caught their breath at the sight that they well remembered from multiple perspectives; that of the Morlok Healer, and of their original self. She knew that the Rogue inside was scared and mentally sobbing. Colossus had gotten into a fight with Pyro. Pyro hit him with a super heated flame that melted his steel skin, and deformed it upon cooling. The X-Men had requested the aid of the Morlock Healer, but they had to shut off his powers first for Healer to be able to do his work. Rogue, newly minted and untrusted member of the X-Men had agreed to take his powers.
No healing was required here, only power nullification. Amalgam Prime, who held Leech amongst them, shut down 80s Rogue's powers. The node seemed to object, but even the flicker of effectiveness was enough to bring 80s Rogue out of her statue state. The older teen shook and screwed up her face as if to cry, but no tears came.
"You are okay now," Amalgam Prime said softly. "And, it was worth it. The X-Men did accept us after this."
80s Rogue looked up at Amalgam Prime, still shaking. "You're me?" There was no hiding her disconcertion.
"We, I, was once you," Amalgam Prime replied. "But your possible fates are many, and may not lead to us."
They gave 80s Rogue a gentle pat, and then headed over to the next bed.
This Gambit was on death's door, and Amalgam Prime had little doubt he would've died if his universe hadn't been destroyed in that moment. A bullet was deeply embedded in his chest, and he had been bleeding profusely, although no blood was leaking out now. The truly curious thing, however, was less the severity of the wound, and more his appearance. This Gambit was completely greyscale, like he'd stepped out of a black and white film.
Amalgam Prime put their hands near the wound and focused. With a wound this severe, they may not have tried to heal him in normal circumstances. The cost of healing was quite high for Healer. Rather, instead they would have offered to absorb him, to make him part of the Amalgam, to continue the fight.
As before, the node objected, and slowed the process down. Amalgam Prime struggled, and then suddenly it became easier. Legacy's hands were now also on the Gambit.
"Thank you," Amalgam Prime said to Legacy, as Noir Gambit instinctively gasped for breath.
Legacy inclined her head. "You're welcome."
Noir Gambit was somewhat befuddled about what was going on, so Amalgam Prime took a few moments to explain while Legacy moved on to the next patient. Noir Gambit didn't quite seem to believe their story.
"You sure this isn't a dream?" He asked and touched his chest, his shirt had a hole and was sticky with blood. "Or Heaven? Hell? It's Hell, isn't it?"
"We have been called the Angel of Death," Amalgam Prime replied, then frowned. "We suppose, since all our universes are gone, we might be dead." Their frown deepened. "We do not think this is the time for an existential crisis. Please, excuse us—"
"Why'd you refer to yourself as 'us'?" Noir Gambit asked as he sat up on the bed.
"We are Amalgam. A merging of many people. Our Host was best known as Rogue," Amalgam Prime replied. "We should move on. There are others who need help."
Noir Gambit caught her hand. "Well, thank you, chere. This here Cajun appreciates the save."
He gave her hand a kiss and released it. For the briefest moment, Amalgam Prime's heart went aflutter, and then she was back to business.
The nearest patients were several old men, with long grey hair, and most of them were naked or near naked. Their black armbands all read "Witness". Legacy and a few others were busy at work taking care of what appeared to be largely superficial wounds, yet the Witnesses all seemed to be deeply unconscious, almost as if they'd been absorbed by the Rogue from their worlds.
The telepaths within Amalgam Prime checked over the nearest Witness and nearly recoiled from the psychic pain that pulsed from them. A kaleidescope of images made up their most recent memories. It was confusing almost to the point of being overwhelming.
"Are you okay?" Legacy asked, and it took Amalgam Prime a moment to realise they were the one being addressed. "Sorry, I meant to warn you. We all made the same mistake."
"It is not a mistake to want to know what is wrong," Amalgam Prime replied. "We cannot help otherwise."
"True enough. Any thoughts? Most of these injuries are nothing, but they haven't been absorbed like the rest," Legacy gestured to a wing of the hospital deck, full of comatose Gambits. "And all their minds have the same injury. All I can think of is if all their universes were in sync, and they just happened to be psychically attacked at the very moment the universes were destroyed."
"Their universes were not in sync," Amalgam Prime said with complete assurance, as their collective minds worked away at unravelling the imagery they'd picked up. "However, somehow their minds were in sync."
Legacy looked at the Witnesses and the different universe designations on their black armbands. "Their minds were in sync across universes? That doesn't seem… But then none of this seems possible, so what would I know?"
Amalgam Prime shifted their gaze to Legacy. "Did you not say that the soulmate bond links us all across the multiverse?"
Legacy gave a long, low whistle. "Damn. If you're right… No wonder their minds are in shambles. Living through that cutting was bad enough individually, I can't imagine how bad it would've been experiencing it across multiple universes." She sighed as she looked at all the Witnesses, all tucked up in bed near each other. "Their minds aren't going to heal on their own in this place."
"No," Amalgam Prime replied, as they reached out much more carefully with their telepathy. "It seems they are used to having a hive mind, and that has now been shut down. That will make things more difficult."
"Hmm."
Legacy looked around, and then touched a nearby statue. Its abstract form shifted into that of Witness sitting on a throne, naked with a cloth over his lap. Psionic energy pulsed from it. To those with psionic abilities, the energy seemed to whine at different pitches while Legacy tinkered with the frequencies, then finally it settled, inaudible.
"Intriguing," Amalgam Prime said as Legacy pulled away. "You have created a psionic emitter that works at a frequency that bypasses their natural mental static."
"Yeah, it's nice that the node is so malleable," Legacy said. "Now we just have to see if we can reconnect their minds, and maybe then we can heal some of that psychic damage."
Meanwhile, Steampunk Rogue finished her survey of the Workshop Deck, one of the four topmost decks of the node. There were multiple workshops with a variety of different technologies. Some looked similar to what she was used to, while others were completely alien.
She ultimately settled at the one workshop that had all familiar tech. It was open, as all the workshops were, with good workbenches and a open supply cache. With her were several other Rogues and Gambits from similar universes to her own. She took another look around at what was available, and spotted another Rogue pulling a piece of sheet metal out of the supply cache. There appeared to be no change in the supplies available.
"Hmm…"
Steampunk Rogue looked beyond the node to the sparkling multiverse that beckoned her. For the first time in a long time, she felt alive, which was an odd sensation in a place where breathing wasn't necessary. When her husband died, she'd thrown herself into her work. Now she wanted to throw herself into exploring the multiverse.
She reluctantly pulled her gaze away and looked back around the workshop. Other Rogues like her, almost all of them younger, were busy starting their own projects or chatting with their Gambits. There were a lot of white armbands. It looked like there were only white armbands. Steampunk Rogue couldn't help but feel a pang of not-quite envy as they chatted, compared notes, and were physically affectionate with each other.
She steeled herself and strode over to a nearby drawing board. She sat and looked at the large blank page for a short time, then picked up pencil and ruler. She became so engrossed in her work that she didn't even notice that someone had began looking over her shoulder until he spoke.
"What are—"
Steampunk Rogue nearly jumped out of her seat. She felt like her heart should be racing, she was startled that bad, but the heartbeat remained the same.
"Sorry," said Steampunk Gambit. He was in his early twenties, less than half her age. His armband was black. "Didn't meant to startle you."
She gave him a look, then a short laugh that could've been a cry. "It took me years to finally get my Remy to stop doing that. I finally got him trained, and then I had to deal with Oli sneaking into my workshop and doing the same thing."
Steampunk Gambit grinned ruefully, and cocked his head to the side. "Oli?"
"Our son. We also had a daughter, Rebecca." Steampunk Rogue sighed, thinking of her children who would've been pretty close to Steampunk Gambit's age.
"That's amazing. Did you ever make it to Chief Engineer?"
Steampunk Rogue was momentarily quiet while she took in his words, and the true meaning of them. "Not on board the Blackbird. It was destroyed in a fight with Hodge Corp's The Bulwark. I moved around a bit until I finally got to the Silent Mercy."
"Silent Mercy? Cool name."
"My Remy thought so too. She was a stealth ship; fast, light, and deadly."
"You two worked together on it, huh?"
"Yes. He didn't come back from his last mission." Steampunk Rogue looked away from him, and back to the drawing board. "What about your Rogue?"
"She was killed by Nanny in a huge battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, two years ago."
"Ah, I think I know the battle you're taking about. Over Nebraska? Between the Blackbird and the Fearless Champion?"
"That's the one."
"That was thirty-six years ago for me, or thereabouts."
Steampunk Gambit sighed and looked at the drawing board and her work so far. "I'm glad you two got so much time together. A little jealous, but glad. So, designing a new airship?"
"Yes," Steampunk Rogue replied, grateful for the change in subject. "I've no interest in sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, when there's a whole multiverse to explore."
Steampunk Gambit grinned. "Sounds like a good plan to me."
New Sun Prime flew across the Rooftop Deck. The Rooftop Deck was one of the four topmost decks, and was entirely populated with rooftops. There were a wide variety of rooftops, of all sorts of different styles. Some were obviously from different X-Mansion designs. Others were more fantastical, like wizard towers, or even military. They were all high enough and far apart enough to allow for delightful views and solitary brooding.
As he surveyed the rooftops, New Sun Prime couldn't help but notice that almost all the brooders that were already there wore black armbands.
One particular brooder caught his attention: a Gambit whose body glowed much like New Sun's did, only his glow was magenta instead of blue. New Sun Prime flew in closer, apprehensive about what this Gambit's history was. He knew a fair number of New Suns, and hoped he'd be able to address some issues before this new potential New Sun became just like them.
"Bonjour," New Sun Prime greeted him, as he landed on the rooftop not too close, but not too far away. This rooftop was a flat apartment building rooftop, in a state of disrepair.
LDC Gambit slowly opened his eyes and turned his head. He studied Prime New Sun for a moment, then faced forward and closed his eyes again.
"So, what happened?" asked New Sun Prime as he sat down beside him. "You fought Phoenix? Blew up the planet?"
LDC Gambit opened one eye. "Phoenix?"
"No? Not your flavour of universe?" New Sun Prime shrugged, and glanced at LDC Gambit's white armband. The universe designation wasn't related to his at all, and he also noted the different preferred name. "Ah, definitely not. But we do still have some essential core similarities in our personalities, so if not blowing up the planet, what happened?"
"There are versions of me that blow up Earth?"
"Oh sure. All the ones I've met so far have been from the same universe type as me. Long story short, we all ended up visiting a site in Turkey and do a ritual with Jean-Luc to release the power of the Last Kings. Only the mixing of kinetic and mystical energies ends up causing this shockwave that destroys the Earth."
"Riiight…"
New Sun Prime grinned at him. "Anyway, we all panic, try to go back in time to change things, but end up here instead. I say we, it might have only been two of us to begin with. The other guy likes to go universe jumping to kill Gambits so they don't end up destroying their planets too." New Sun rolled his eyes. "What he fails to appreciate is that every time they enter a new universe with the purpose of doing that, they cause that universe to split, creating a new universe that they never interfered with. And even if they do find and enter that universe later, it'll just split again. This is what universes do, they split with the slightest provocation. And now there's countless numbers of versions of both him and me, because the universes we're in will split while we're in them."
LDC Gambit considered that for a moment.
"Pretty redundant, huh?" he said finally.
"Yeah," New Sun Prime replied agreeably, and gave him a side-long smirk. "You weren't considering..."
LDC Gambit shrugged. "Until we got pulled here, I didn't even know travelling between universes was possible. Let alone that I could do it."
"Well," New Sun Prime eyed LDC Gambit critically, "you might not be quite powerful enough for that yet."
LDC Gambit nodded slowly. "I'm not sure I want to think about that. I... I killed a lot of people."
New Sun Prime nodded. "I figured."
"How come the other guy started on a mission to kill all the Gambits and you didn't?"
"My best guess is because I had Legacy with me. We met, bonded, fell in love," New Sun Prime smiled sadly. "She was with me for the ritual. Honestly, I think her presence at the ritual might have made things worse than the other guy's experience because our universe doesn't exist anymore. But instead of going around trying to kill Gambits, we instead went around dealing with the ritual site. We made heaps of them unusable before we realised it was futile. Fortunately, the site doesn't exist in all universes. Doesn't even exist in most of them. We wasted a lot of time trying to find them," He gave a rueful chuckle. "She's still the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her more than anything or anyone, and I felt that way long before we became all we had left."
LDC Gambit silently digested that.
"Love makes all the difference, doesn't it?" LDC Gambit said finally. "My family is dead. Belle, she... We were married, kind of. The day of our wedding was the day the human population was wiped out, so, legally never married, but we lived as if we had. We had a baby, Abby. Belle had been happy during the pregnancy, but afterwards it was as if Abby had become this repulsive thing to her... I... I..."
New Sun Prime silently waited for LDC Gambit to compose himself and continue.
"She killed her," LDC Gambit said. "Belle killed Abby when my back was turned. And... and that's when I lost it. I'd already been struggling a bit with power control, but Belle killing Abby just... just... I blew everyone up. The entire camp, everyone in it, even Sarah, all gone. All gone."
LDC Gambit started weeping. New Sun Prime clamped his hand on LDC Gambit's shoulder in sympathy.
"It was bad enough that Abby died, but I made it so much worse. So much worse," LCD Gambit said, his voice cracking with every word. "And I've been out of control ever since. I live alone. It's the only way anyone can be safe from me." He shook his head. "I've never met Rogue. And even now, even here, I wouldn't dare."
New Sun Prime nodded, and leaned in. "You might have considered mass murdering yourself though..."
"If that means Abby and Sarah could live..." He shook his head. "But even if I had thought about it, I have to accept the task would be pointless." He lifted his head and looked at New Sun Prime, with a desperate desire for hope in his eyes. "Are there universes where they live?"
"Absolutely. Like Legacy explained coming in, every time there's a crossroads decision, the universe splits. There's not only a universe where Belle didn't kill Abby, there's entirely branches of universes that come from that."
"What exactly is a crossroads decision?"
"Oh, just something important. We make decisions all the time, but Legacy and I doubt that a universe will split over minutia, where the consequences are exactly the same no matter what you choose."
LDC Gambit nodded. "Makes sense."
"Why don't you try seeing if you can find your Rogue?" New Sun Prime suggested.
"I'm not sure I dare be around other people."
"You can't kill anyone here. It's impossible to kill people in this place. Believe me, I've gotten into enough fights with other New Suns to know."
LDC Gambit was silent for a thoughtful moment. "Maybe. Not sure if my Rogue and I would get along. We're kind of on different sides."
"Sides don't really matter anymore. Your universe is gone."
"That's true. Maybe I will go looking for her later."
New Sun Prime gave LDC Gambit's shoulder a squeeze. "Don't brood too long."
The shockwave from the darkened node rippled through the multiverse. Not the whole multiverse, it was much too vast for the ripples to get that far.
It was for the best the ripples couldn't cross the entirety of the multiverse. They garnered quite enough attention as it was.
Curious souls decided to investigate.