Disclaimer : I do not own Gambit or the X-Men. I write merely for enjoyment. Not profit.
Captured by Erik The Red, Gambit was put on trial for his crimes against mutant kind. It was revealed that Gambit was the one who assembled the Marauders, ultimately costing Archangel his wings and the Morlocks their lives. After escaping Erik’s arctic base,Gambit was abandoned by Rogue and his fellow X-Men. Now, Gambit is searching within himself for answers to his past -- and his future.
Erik The Red : “Lights! Behind me are Effigies of souls swept away in unforgivable holocaust. Many had names lost in their bloody currents of their massacre. But the two behind me were known. Prizm and Scaleface were their names before their brutal deaths. Deaths all enacted by Remy LeBeau! Gambit! You stand accused of the crime of mass murder of the Morlocks. I know the names of some of those you assembled. Arclight, Scrambler, Scalphunter, Vertigo, Harpoon, Riptide, and Sabretooth.”
Rogue : Home? You ain’t got no home, sugah. Not with me, not with the X-Men. Fend for yourself. You seem to have done a good job of that in the past.
What is it that pulls a man in many directions at once? But which at the same time also holds a man together?
Once an X-Man.
A man standing behind a locked gate looks out into the snow. His hands are apon the top of the gate and his expression grim.
“You stand at a gate, already realizing on some basic level, that this is only a dream. Yet, still you shiver in the icy wind. Still you feel your body turning numb, becoming deadened -- as your already shattered heart! And so, once again, you play outcast. The Pariah who can only watch as his former friends and allies frolic in the snow -- until they notice you!
Joseph : “You don’t belong here, Gambit!
Rogue : “That’s right, Remy! You’ve already caused enough damage!”
Storm : “We trusted you! We welcomed you into our teams…our hearts!”
Iceman : “Traitor! Liar! Murderer!”
Rogue : “I…I thought you really cared about me, sugah. Th-thought we had a real shot together…”
She walks up to the fence with a saddened yet angry face. With one gloved hand she grabs the fence and extends the other hand inside the fence. Gambit reaches for her hand.
Rogue : “But you were playing me all along! Using me! Laughing behind my back!”
“Her words rip through you like jagged spikes. You desperately want to deny them. But you can’t! You can’t!”
A big dark looking figure walks up behind Gambit. He looks at the figure.
??? : “The truth hurts, LeBeau.”
The evil looking figure has a sadistic smile on his face with his teeth showing.
“Mr.Sinister – You want to blame him for your current troubles! He commissioned you to hire the band of mercenaries know as the Marauders! You led them into the Morlock tunnels on his orders!”
Sinister : “If the X-Men don’t want you, Gambit…come back to work for me!”
“The resulting Mutant Massacre was all his fault! His fault! At least that’s what you try to tell yourself – as you instinctively charge a handful of cards with kinetic energy. But, before they even leave your hand , you know that’s another lie. Even before they strike, you realize that it was your own weakness…your own greed and corruption…which led you to him. And, even as their energy is explosively released – you desperately wish that you, too, could burn within this purifying flames – but all you can feel is the numbing cold – of your own guilt!”
Gambit lies in bed with a painful expression on his face. His hands are trying to form a fist, but he don’t allow them to.
“You wake up screaming…as you usually do these days. At least…you think you wake up. How can you really be sure? All you know is that you’re still cold.”
He rises slowly from his bed holding his head.
“An angry chill has been rattling in your bones ever since the X-Men abandoned you in the Antarctic. Ever since they left you to die…you’re not sure how you survived that long trek to civilization…but you did. Didn’t you?”
He gets up from the bed and walks over to a table and pours a Jack Daniels drink.
“Try as you might, you still can’t shake the cold…or the loneliness. Even as you prepare for the evening’s work, you can’t help but wonder…is there any chance they’ll take you back?”
He picks up the cup and walks outside onto his balcony. He sips his drink while illusions of Rogue and Archangel are near him.
Archangel : “You’ve got to be kidding! You led the Marauders! You’re responsible for the senseless slaughter of the Morlocks! And you allowed them to crucify me!”
Rogue : “I’d have to agree with the Angel. There’s no place for traitors in the X-Men!
“You try to ignore the taunts, knowing that these are only figments of your imagination, but they still draw blood.”
He gets dressed and sets out for his heist. He swings from the building to commense his heist. He opens the window and slowly sneaks inside.
“San Francisco is a beautiful city, one you wish you could share and explore with – NO! Concentrate on the work at hand! You came here hoping to get a line on Sinister…and you only support yourself by plying the only trade you know.”
He slowly sneaks toward a painting and grabs it.
“You’re a thief, Gambit! A rat scurrying among the shadows, feeding off the innocent…and not so innocent! As a nod to your recent brush with morality, only steal from other criminals…suddenly…you sense it! Of all the luck --! Is someone sleeping on the couch?”
He walks over and notices three people. A black man lying on a sofa, a man through a glass table, and a man lying behind him. There’s no trace of blood or anything, just they’re wet.
“No…not sleeping!”
A figure wearing a white shirt lites a cigar.
Wolverine : “Looks like you stepped in a real pile, bub. These are professionals who didn’t go down this easy.
He takes the cigar away from his mouth and looks down.
Wolverine : “That water covering ‘em? Curious! It’s almost as if someone drowned ‘em like a bunch of old alley cats, but…in a penthouse?!
Gambit turns away from the bodies and is about to walk out until he’s stopped by an illusion of Rogue sitting on a counter with her legs crossed.
Rogue : “Where ya goin’, Remy? Don’t tell me you’re running away…like you usually do! I hear tell these men are well known drug dealers. I thought you came to rob them. Why should you care if they’re dead?”
“Why, indeed?”
He leaves the building and rests at his apartment then hits the streets with sun shining bright. He enters a bar and sits at a table with a long haired blond man with a blond goatee and glasses.
“It’s a question which haunts you all the way across town…as you hasten toward the rat hole where Oscar conducts business. Every city has it’s share of Oscars – parasites who lack the particular mental defect to become thieves themselves – but who are still lured by the promise of easy pickings. They are usually called Fixers or Arrangers. They sniff out likely targets, make the necessary preparations and sell the job to real thieves…in exchange for an advance fee of a percentage of the actual haul.”
Oscar : “Yeah…yeah…I’ve heard rumblings about a war brewing among the locals…but you could’a still scored the place.”
Gambit : “Hard to give that safe my full concentration…with all the unwanted company.
Oscar puts sugar in Gambit’s coffee.
Oscar : “I can see how three stiffs could throw you, but I was counting on my cut.”
Gambit : “Yeah…me, too. How you doin’ on that other matter that I asked you to look into?”
Oscar : “You mean Essex? Gettin’ a handle on that guy is like tryin’ to grab a fist full’a mercury. He’s all over the place, and I hear that ain’t his only name.”
“But you already know about the man called Mr.Sinister…”
A angry Bishop illusion appears over Gambit.
Bishop : “Why do waste time with this scum, LeBeau? You should be using your powers for the good of all mutantkind!”
An illusion of Beast and Psylocke appear at the pool table. Beast takes a shot.
Psylocke : “Don’t waste your breath, Bishop. If it were left up to me. I’d slice that traitor’s throat for the suffering he caused Angel!”
Beast : “Ain’t love grand? You’re willing to kill the man who hurt your sweetie. Too bad Gambit hasn’t the guts to punish the one who shattered his lover’s heart. Whoops! Silly me! That was him, wasn’t it? Your shot, Psylocke!”
Gambit snaps out of his day dreaming by Oscar’s voice.
Oscar : “Yo, LeBeau! You zonin’ on me pal? I asked if you wanted another mark…”
Gambit lowers his head where some of his hair covers his face and his face isn’t visible because of the room being poorly lighted.
Gambit : “Sure…why not?”
He leaves the bar and takes a walk out in the public with a sunset over the San Francisco bridge.
“You begin to shiver as soon as you step outside…what’s wrong with you? Why are you so cold?”
Gambit looks up to see an Angel illusion flying next to him.
Archangel : “Really want to know? It’s because you’re a man without a conscience…or a soul. The Morlocks were defenseless mutants who hid in the tunnels beneath New York City…”
Suddenly Archangel changes into a evil looking Gambit.
Evil Gambit : “And you led the raid which massacred them! You’re a monster, Gambit!
Death then appears in the form of a skeleton with a hood over it’s head.
Death : “A foul and loathsome creature that even Death will not welcome!”
Gambit falls to the ground holding his head.
“Your knees suddenly collapse beneath you…and an icy wind gnaws at your very soul! Or is it conscience which you are said to lack?!”
Nightfall hits and Gambit sets to do another job. He jumps over the large black fence and lands on his feet. He sneaks to a bush infront of a swimming pool.
“Eventually you stagger to your feet…and return to work. Oscar lined up a plump one for you. He supplied you with everything…detailed diagrams of the house and grounds…plus the best time to strike. You arrive early, an hour ahead of the suggested schedule.
“Are you early because you have nothing else to do…or do you instinctively know what to expect?”
He walks from the bush and turns the corner only to see another body.
“Another man who appears to have drowned. At least this one is within spitting distance of the pool. Suddenly, gunshots scream in the night…just as you usually do in the morning! Does that mean you’re about to wake up again?”
An illusion of Cyclops appears.
Cyclops : “Move it, Mister! Lives maybe at risk, and you have the duty to save them! You’re still an X-Men to heart!”
An illusion of Archangel appears over his head.
Archangel : “Don’t make me gag, Scott! Slime-O only cares about himself! He has no sense of honor or responsibility!”
Suddenly Gambit takes off running toward the house.
“Do you run forward to spite the angel…or in spite of him?! Either way, you soon reach the main house…and you behold a sight which brings new chills to your already frozen blood!”
He sees a figure made out of water, he’s drowning another man with his bare fists.
“They call him…Hydro Man! He’s not just a mutant…just a normal human legbreaker with the ability to transform himself into water. You vaguely recall reading some long-discarded feature article about him. Probably in the Sunday editon of The Daily Bugle. Not that it really matters…No…all you need to know – is how to stop him!”
He charges a lamp standing next to him on a table and throws it. Hydro man’s body takes a different shape.
Hydro Man : “Cute trick with the lamp! Wish I had time to learn it! Unfortunately, I’m running a little late here. The Don had a few more bodyguards than I was led to believe -- which is why I should always charge by the head instead of by the job!
Hydro Man puts his arms out and shoots a blast of water at Gambit, he jumps over it.
Gambit : “So…who hired you?”
Hydro Man : “Sorry! Revealing your client is a major no-no in my biz! Not that you’ll ever have the opportunity to rat me out! As you can see…I’m going to do you for free!”
His arm extends and he puts his hand on Gambit’s head.
Bishop : “Fight Gambit! Fight! Surrender isn’t an option!”
Storm : “Use your brain, LeBeau! There must be a way to weaken Hydro Man’s grasp on you…to dilute his strength…you just have to find it!”
He quickly begins to run and makes it out the door of the house.
Rogue : “That’s the spirit, sugah! GO! Don’t you dare die on me, Remy! I hate what you’ve done, but if you quit now I’ll never forgive you! I know your lungs are bursting and your vision’s gone, but you can’t give up on yourself…on us! You can make it, Gambit! You can – JUMP!”
He makes it to the swimming pool and jumps into the pool through the pool’s cover.
“You burst through the pool’s covering as if you were plunging into a pile of wet snow – and suddenly you question the wisdom of Storm’s plan. But Storm isn’t really here…so you can only blame yourself. Wondering if you’ve merely found a more appropriate place to drown, you kick toward the surface…a few years later, you finally manage to choke down a breath of cold air.”
Hydro Man shoots out of the pool covering.
Hydro Man : “Woah! You sure gave me a wild ride! Guess it’s time I returned the favor and --.”
The Don bodyguard pull out their guns and begin to fire on Hydro Man.
Guard : “Blast that freak! He tried to whack me!”
Bullets go through Hydro Man’s body and some stick.
Hydro Man : “Uh guys…you could save your ammunition for all the good it’s doin’! But I guess you just wanna distract me until reinforcements arrive! Ooookay, I can take a hint! Bye for now!”
They continue to fire at Hydro Man as he leaves. Gambit finds this to be perfect timing and lifts himself up from the pool and runs into the trees.
“You recongnize a good idea when you see one. While the Don may applaud you for your efforts in his behalf – you can safely assume he won’t apprecate your original reasons for coming here!”
Night falls and Gambit hits the streets.
“You wander the streets of San Francisco aimlessly…almost as you once wondered the Antarctic. Why can’t you recall how you escaped that frigid wasteland? What terrible secret is your subconscious hiding from you? Eventually, you find yourself at Lombard Street – a famous landmark known as the crookedest street in the world – and you instinctively realize you’ve arrived at some sort of crossroads.”
An illusion of Jean appears next to him.
Jean : “Funny how things work out…according to the guidebooks this street once had a shady past. It’s a major tourist attraction now. Anything can change and evolve over time…You are no longer the same man who hired the Marauders…or worked for Mr.Sinister! You can recreate yourself, Gambit…if only you dare!”
It begins to rain on the streets.
“You were once a thief who joined the X-Men…but your past caught up with you and forced them to discard you like moldy trash. And now, you’re back to being a theif…
Oscar walks along the cemented sidewalk. Gambit’s hand appears from behind him. He grabs Oscar and pulls him around a corner.
“Hydro Man’s killing spree don’t really concern you or…does it?”
Gambit : “Think you can play me, Oscar? Use me to rip off your enemies after dat walkin’ rinse-master does his dirty work? Dis so-called war among the locals is all your doin’, no?”
Oscar : “B-be cool, man! I’m just tryin’ to by, best I can. I’m the kid even the wimps and geeks used t’kick around…but I’ve changed! I am the man now!
Gambit : “You could easily be a dead man…”
Oscar : “Not possible…not when I can still offer Essex or Hydro Man in my place.”
He lets go of Oscar and walks off. He gets a boat and goes out to sea.
“Sinister or Hydro Man?! One of your reasons for personal vengeance…though you try to convice yourself that your motives are noble…that you’re only acting on behalf of the slaughtered morlocks! The other…well…what would ever possess you to choose Hydro Man?! Sure, the man’s murderer…but same can be said of his victims. He even isn’t a mutant…he’s not your problem. Not your responsibilty!”
Gambit pulls out his bo-staff and jumps onto the next boat with a bunch of bodyguards.
Guard #1 : “Well lookit what the tide brought in!”
Guard #2 : “We hear you got business with our boss.”
Guard #3 : “He’s on the ship to the shore and asked us to welcome you aboard.”
“You assume Oscar would sell you out – so you came prepared!”
The guns begin to shoot and the cards fly.
Gambit : “I thank you boys for waitin’ on me in dis pourin’ rain…but it really wasn’t necessary! When Remy LeBeau comes a’callin’ on de bossman…he don’t settle for no hired help! Try t’see it from my perspective, I’d look pretty foolish if I came all dis way – in such miserable weather – only to end up dead! Man’s gotta protect his reputation, no?”
Illusion of Angle appears over him.
Archangel : “Hope you’re proud of yourself, Cajun…you’re kicking some serious butt here. You’re overwhelming the hapless gunmen…with a brutal efficiency which almost reminds me of the night the marauders took on the morlocks!”
Cyclops : “You can’t allow the Angel to distract you, Gambit! This is no time to start doubting yourself on your mission! You’re here for a reason…accomplish it!”
Illusions of Iceman, Beast, Wolverine, and Cyclops are behind Gambit.
Wolverine : “Moment of truth bub -- !”
Beast : “We’re all behind you LeBeau!”
Iceman : “GO! GO! GO!”
Cyclops : “You musn’t fail now!”
Hydro Man appears.
Gambit : “Hydro Man! I’ve come for you!
Hydro Man : “Nice entrance! A tad over the top fer my tastes, but I guess that’s understandable! Every man should go with a bang! Why’d ya even bother to come after me, theif? Ya got not business messin’ with me!
“You want to shout out in agreement. Sinister is really the man you want. Sinister, who scheduled to meet Oscar come dawn.”
Gambit throws card and they hit Hydro Man, his body goes out perportion.
“Still, someone has to stop the killing -- ! That’s what heroes do, no? And a hero is what you – Remy LeBeau – truly aspire to be!
He begins to run and jumps off the boat into his speedboat.
“You obviously need practice…heroes don’t turn tail! They don’t feel when confronted by a more powerful foe! Maybe you should stay a thief. At least stealing is something you’re good at. You’re also a pretty fair gambler…with an ability to bluff even the most jaded mark.”
Hydro Man : “Ya ain’t gettin’ away that easy! I can whip through the this water faster’n any stupid speedboat! Yer tapped, Gambit! Ya can’t avoid me on this cramped l’il craft.
“Instinctively – was it part of your master plan? – you begin charging the entire speedboat with kinetic energy!”
Hydro Man puts his hand over Gambit’s head and tries to drown him.
Hydro Man : “Hope ya took a big breath – ‘cause it’s your last!”
“Is it the strain of charging such a massive object which speeds your heart most…and brings you into a state of near-paralysis? Or is it simply your fear of drowning? Even as your lungs scream for oxygen and your vision starts to fog, an odd thought flitters past your consciousness…is drowning even worse than freezing to death?! No…for reasons you can’t begin to identify, freezing strikes you as infinitely more terrible. But you intend to survive this day!”
Gambit gets his arm out of Hydro Man’s liquid with a charged card in his hand.
Hydro Man : “HEY! What’s with the card -- ?”
The card explodes and Hydro Man’s body is out of portion and Gambit is free.
Gambit : “Take a wild guess, my friend!”
Hydro Man : So ya temporarily managed t’break my grip – big deal! What’s it gonna buy ya in the long run? Yer still gonna die!”
Gambit jumps from the boat.
Gambit : “That remains to be seen!”
Hydro Man : “Ya think jumpin’ into the bay will save ya? Yer out of your freakin’ mind!”
“Maybe…then again…maybe not!”
Gambit quickly rises from the water to catch his breath.
“You can see flames as the boat collides with the rocky shore. Oddly, you can’t feel any heat…any warmth. Probably because the water’s so cold. Yes, that must be the reason. Unfortunately, it takes you the rest of the night to swim ashore. You reach dry land shortly after dawn. Another hour is spent traveling across town.”
Gambit walks inside the local bar where Sinister was to meet Oscar. He turns the corner and the scene catches his eye.
“You assume Sinister is long gone, but…what do you really have to lose?!”
He sees Oscar’s hands with nails in them attached to the wall with blood running down.
“…Apparently, the meeting did not proceed as planned…not as far as Oscar was concerned! You had warned him Sinister couldn't be trusted.”
He leaves the bar and walks the street with this eyes closed and head lowered.
“He really should have really taken your advice!”
As he walks the street with his hands in his coat pocket. Rogue, Iceman, Beast, Storm, Angel, Cyclops, and Wolverine all appear behind him.
“It’s funny, you know you should feel frustrated and angry over the way things turned out, but – though there is an unnatural sluggishness in your steps – you’re also quite pleased with yourself. Your time with the X-Men was not wasted. They have become an intrinsic part of you. No matter what the future holds, they’ll never abandon you – it maybe a lie…but you cling to it nonetheless.
Gambit is walking through the snow with his eyes and eye brows almost frozen. He falls over and holds himself up with one arm keep his body above the icy cold ground.
“Some dreams die so much harder than others. But…eventually…they, too, are forced to succumb!”
Gambit continues to try to hold himself up. Till eventually he falls into the snow and a man with a team of sled dogs spots Gambit’s body lieing in the ground.
The end. |
