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#1
MAY 12 |
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“Old Places and New Horizons” Part One
Agua Buena, Panama
The past year had been a rough one for Remy LeBeau as he’d found himself the leader of a Unified Guild, dealing with his ex-wife’s suicide and having to battle an alternate version of himself from some despotic reality. His dealings with New Son and his Shadowtechs had left Gambit with a sour taste in his mouth in regards to alternate worlds. Fate seemed to have no intention of alleviating that taste because he was now staring down a version of a woman he had only recently buried.
In face and body she encompassed all the rough, natural beauty of Belladonna. Her hair was a bit shorter and a long, pink scar ran down her left eye, stopping at her cheek. The most unique feature, indicating her other-worldly origins, was her light yellow eyes. They seemed almost cat-like and struck Remy as distinctively wrong. As many things as were similar, this wasn’t his Belladonna.
Cautiously the two circled around each other. Gambit swung his bo staff in front of him and Belladonna did the same with her own version of the weapon. Remy could tell by the way she worked it that her skill with it was equal to his own. She didn’t stare at him with any particularly strong emotion so Gambit was forced to wonder if this Belladonna even knew who he was at all.
He couldn’t explain it to himself but the need for that knowledge was strong in hm. Why did it matter if this Belladonna knew her world’s Gambit? What difference did it make for him? He knew, in the end, the answer was that it didn’t make a lick of difference at all, but that was his head talking as his heart moved in an entirely different direction. Having to satisfy the question, he said, “Bella, ya sure nuff have a funny way of tryin’ to seduce me.”
At this, Belladonna smiled, like he had just made a fatal error. “Sugar Man said you try that. Funny how he knows how all of your minds’ work…you all might as well be lambs to the slaughter,” she said as if the idea of slaughter was absolutely exhilarating to her. For all of his Belladonna’s cruelty, she would never have been able to make him feel as awful as this one did. Something about her was rotten to the core.
But now he had his answer, though, and he was going to show Sugar Man exactly why he should have done his homework a little more. Past emotional connections weren’t going to stop him from doing what he had to do. He wasn’t the same Remy that he had been a year ago. He had made hard choices and been confronted by difficult truths, and now that he had a team under his command, just like the Guild, he was determined not to let them down.
A card flicked between Gambit’s fingers and stared to glow with his signature kinetic energy as he winked at Belladonna. “Slaughter might be a bit of a strong word, Bella. Come to ol’ Gambit and let him show ya how hard a task dat might be…”
The Xavier Mansion (A Month Ago)
Gambit hadn’t been in the Mansion for a long time but it felt like coming home. He had his fair share of memories here, some good and some bad, but all of them made him a better person than he was before meeting the X-Men, that he could say that with all honesty. So when Charles Xavier asked him to come visit on a matter of opportunity he didn’t think to hesitate.
The two of them were outside in one of the gardens attended to by Ororo. Outside of Rogue, Storm was the X-Men that he was the closest to, though she was nowhere in sight though and it was just him and Xavier this time. As much as he admired the man, being alone with him was unsettling. The responsibility that Charles carried on his shoulders reminded Gambit of the burdens he possessed as King of the Unified Guild.
“I heard ‘bout what happened to ‘Ro. How de lady holdin’ up?” Part of Remy wanted to track her down for himself but he wasn’t so sure how everyone would react to him being back on the grounds. He didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea about him retuning to the X-Men. He had a number of responsibilities to the Guild that he had to attend to, and trying to deal with the life of an X-Man on top of that would be difficult.
Charles dashed one of his hands against the many bushes that Ororo attended to, a poetic stroke of motion that showed just how much Xavier managed to savor every little moment. Gambit seemed to only really ever enjoy the moments that had him holding onto death’s rim or the hand of a beautiful woman. Of course, from what he had heard, Charles wasn’t exactly lacking in the woman department.
Emma Frost was quite the catch for any man, let alone one with Charles’ difficulties. He knew some of the X-Men had reservations about him being with the woman but Remy trusted Xavier’s judgment to a fault; looking at all the X-Men had done was proof enough of that. Besides, they were all so easy to forget their own sins, as if there wasn’t a single X-Man who didn’t have them in spades, himself most of all.
Rogue had once worked happily alongside a group of terrorists. Storm was a thief, much like himself. Logan had done more morally ambiguous things than he could count. Beast had once been so ashamed of being a mutant that he had been willing to experiment on himself to get rid his body of his mutation. Cyclops abandoned his wife and child to rush back into the arms of Jean. Remy himself had plenty of things to answer for, so he was the last person to stare down in judgment upon Emma.
“Ororo is fine, but she is going to be presented with some difficulties in the days to come. Sekhmet greatly enhanced her powers, to what extent none of us are sure yet. Dr. Kinross has been examining her, but all he can tell us is that her X-Gene has been radically altered. The same applies for Blink as well,” Charles said, his hoverchair stopping in front of the memorial tombstone erected for Firestar. He sighed. “But that is not why I asked you to come here, Remy.”
Gambit never really knew Firstar but he still wished he would have been around for the Weapon X attacks. He would have liked to have had a crack at those guys, especially Creed. It had been too long since the two of them danced their last round, but the Unified Guild absorbed so much of his time; he was seriously considering delegating many of his duties. “So why am I here, Professor?
“We have to show the world that dangerous mutants can be rehabilitated and made into productive members of society. The X-Men themselves are a testament to that, but the public needs to actually see the evolution of such people for themselves. This goal is absolutely imperative after the events of Little Rock.” Frown lines quickly formed on his forehead at the mention of the tragedy.
“So how do I play into it?”
Xavier looked up at Gambit and locked eyes with him. “I want you to lead a team exemplifying this ideal.”
Agua Buena, Panama
Domino ducked and rolled out of the way of a plasma blast from Genesis. She fired her own shot in the process and struck the man in the shoulder, though the high density bullet bounced off of Genesis’ tin-colored armor. It was a frustrating misfire for Domino but it just meant she was going to have to use better weapons. If this Tyler Dayspring was anything like the one she had known then no mercy could be shown because she would not receive any.
Tyler had been the son of Cable, a man that she would always have feelings for. She remembered Cable’s heartbreak when he discovered the path his son had taken. Though the thought was dark, she wanted to kill this alternate version of him before Cable found out he was alive; he didn’t deserve to have to deal with that kind of heartbreak again. Better to let the dead stay dead and, once she was done rectifying this situation, she was going to pay a personal visit to Sugar Man to let him know just how much she didn’t appreciate his actions.
For now she had to find a way to take advantage of the environment she had been provided. The two of them were on the roof of a building that wouldn’t pass even the most lax of building inspections. With every movement, she felt like the entire building swayed under her, and there were holes in the roof and chipped paint littering it like fallen leaves. She was surprised that Genesis’ dense armor hadn’t caused him to go crashing through to the next floor.
It was amazing how much the man in front of her looked like the Tyler she’d known. He had the same long blonde hair, jutted chin and pointed nose. The armor was even similar, except it didn’t have as much bulk and fit closer over his body. She decided to gamble something that her better judgment screamed at her to avoid. She pointed two new automatic handguns at this new Genesis and said, “Do you know who I am?”
Genesis stopped his advance for a moment and frowned at her and she nearly choked up at how similar that expression was. Domino had never loved the man and, in fact, had been held prisoner for months by him but she knew how much Cable cared and that’s what hurt. Every similarity she was seeing was something she knew Cable would have loved to have seen, even given the circumstances. Genesis’ frown led to a statement: “You’re not her. You only wear her face.”
“So you do know me?”
Genesis shook his head. “Only in the vaguest sense.” He lifted up his hand and a plasma blast flew out of his palm aimed right at Domino’s chest. “You’re noting like her! You don’t even have half her fight.”
Domino flipped backward and split her legs wide to let the plasma blast pass through them. The attack struck the next building over and she heard screams inside, which snapped her back into reality. Whatever feelings she had about is situation, civilians were involved and protecting them came first. Lifting up her guns, Domino let loose a hail of bullets that struck Genesis’ armor. At first the bullets were simply dinging off the armor but, as the attack pressed on, sparks flew and pieces of metal fell to the ground.
Genesis had a hand protecting his face and he swung that hand down, sending out an arc of energy that cut through Domino’s bullets and lashed her in the chest like a whip. Pain ripped through her body and she dropped her guns and was flung clear off the roof. It was too blinding a pain to try and look down as she fell.
The Xavier Mansion (A Month Ago)
Domino waited in the War Room for Professor Xavier but she didn’t have to wait long. He was a punctual man and only under certain intense circumstances was he ever late. As he floated into the War Room on his hoverchair, she gave him a slight nod. It had only been a short while since her undercover mission in Weapon X had finished and she assisted the X-Men in battling Sekhmet. She wondered what assignment Xavier had for her next.
Fighting alongside the X-Men against Sekhmet had felt good, but she knew deep down that it wasn’t the kind of work she was cut out for. She knew her place was in the shadows and it was what her powers were better suited for. Her probability field just wasn’t much use in all out battle for survival and, outside of Wolverine, the rest of the team just seemed to have a morality about them she couldn’t quite handle. Morals had never come easy to Domino, her life as a mercenary often meant making choices that were in the gray zone of right and wrong.
“I am glad that you decided to meet me here today,” Professor Xavier said, motioning a hand back to the War Room’s entrance. The door slid open with a slight hiss and a tall, debonair man with a brown trench coat stepped through. She knew the red on black eyes well, and she would have known who he was even if they had never met each other. Gambit’s reputation as a thief in the underworld was world class, and Domino felt a charge of excitement rush through her at Gambit’s presence. Perhaps Xavier was going to give her some work that went more along with what she was used to. Xavier saw the smile she gave Gambit. “So I assume no introductions are needed?”
“Not on this end, Professor,” Domino said, winking at Gambit. He returned the expressing with a smile and the two of them took a seat with Xavier between them. The more she looked at Gambit, the more she thought he had entered the wrong profession. His face had all the angles and beauty of a model, but something about Gambit’s smile told her he would never be happy with a life that didn’t have danger involved.
Xavier tapped a few buttons on his golden hoverchair and a compartment rose up in front of him. He reached into it, grabbed two manila folders and handed one to Domino and one to Gambit. “I’ve asked the two of you here for a very specific reason: I am forming a new team in an effort show the world that previously violent mutants can be successfully rehabilitated. I want the two of you to be the leadership of that team, with Gambit at the point.”
Domino flipped through the folder looking over the candidates that Xavier had chosen. “Not all of these people strike me as folks I would classify as violent offenders.”
“No, I wouldn’t have the two of you trying to manage a team of former terrorists by yourselves. It is better to have a mix; Emma and I agree that will increase our probability for success.”
Domino closed the folder. “Count me in, Professor. I have to get out of this place before sugar starts coming out of my ores.”
Gambit smirked. “I see we’ll get along just fine.”
Agua Buena, Panama
Having to stare down the person you might have become was an experience not many would ever have to worry about. Doctor Nemesis could not count himself among that number because he was staring down an alternate version of himself brought into this reality by a device that Nemesis himself had crated. Given the current circumstances, he really wished that his ‘dimension smasher’ had just stayed an idea on the drawing board.
Staring at the alternate version of himself was like looking in some twisted mirror. They wore the same pristinely pressed suit, but his counterpart’s was charcoal while Nemesis’ held true to white. His counterpart had sickly white skin, sunken cheeks and his eyes had been replaced with large, red cybernetic ones. Thin metallic wires ran along the side of his counterpart’s face giving the counterpart an eerie cybernetic element. In addition, the guns he carried looked far more effective than what Doctor Nemesis held.
Doctor Nemesis was a smart enough man to figure out what path this counterpart had chosen. During World War II he had allowed himself to be seduced by the Third Reich and changed his name. “So let me guess…you’re supposed to be me if I had stayed Doctor Death? If that’s the getup I would have ended up with, I have to say I’m pretty satisfied with my choices. Not to mention you’re in dire need of a dermatology appointment.”
“Sugar Man said you were as cocky as ever. You’d be surprised just how much he knows about this world, despite coming from a different one himself. And yes, I am Doctor Death.”
Doctor Nemesis aimed his smaller guns at his counterpart. They were each loaded with hypodermic needles full of various poisons. He imagined Doctor Death’s weapons were of a much more lethal variety. His enhanced eyesight allowed him to see down to someone’s very genetic structure and Doctor Death had done quite a number on himself. “I would ask all the hows’ and whys’, but I’m not terribly interested, to be honest. Just tell me where Sugar Man is and I’ll spare you any face shots.”
“Let’s make one thing clear.” Doctor Death stepped forward, never once lifting up his own weapons. Nemesis knew he was outmatched and Death probably had come to the same conclusion. The only unknown factor in this was intellect and Nemesis could only hope that he had the advantage in that. Death had a voice made gravelly by genetically splicing animals into his DNA. “I am not going to just roll over because you tell me to.”
“Fine.” Doctor Nemesis fired off two shots from his guns, putting four needles into his counterpart’s face. Doctor Death staggered back but he wasn’t going down like Nemesis had hoped. He ran forward and slammed the butt of his gun into Deaths’ face and used the other gun to plant another needle in Death’s stomach. Doctor Death staggered back from him and Nemesis said, “I tried to be nice.”
“Well, little bug, you should try harder.”
Doctor Nemesis turned around to see a fully grown Sugar Man charging at him, an axe in each hand.
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To Be Continued...
Next: In Dark X-Men #2: Why did Doctor Nemesis join the Dark X-Men? And what mission did he send them on?
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