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Post by Fate on May 18, 2010 19:47:02 GMT -4
His mind and his heart were heavy as the priest made his way to the surface. Remy Lebeau struggled with a crisis of faith.
The voice in his head was gone for good. It had led him so long. He felt foolish in retrospect for allowing himself to believe it was a spiritual being and not a terrestrial one.
He had believed that his mission was divine, and he had allowed that belief to lead him to take the life of another.
Remy wasn't sure what to believe in any longer.
The images the dying man had left within his mind...the memories of that man's last breath... They haunted him as he tried to make sense of them.
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Post by Fate on May 18, 2010 20:07:15 GMT -4
Remy squinted as he emerged from darkness into the light. He was still trying to adjust when he heard the familiar voice.
This one was terrestrial.
"You still owe me a jeep", Noriko Ashida demanded.
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Post by Fate on May 18, 2010 22:21:25 GMT -4
The weight seemed to spread across his body and through his limbs. Remy let out a long, slow sigh. They faced each other in the bright sunlight.
He squinted and allowed himself a chuckle. It reminded the priest of some kind of gunfight in the old West -- each gunfighter waiting for the other to slap leather and draw. Both sizing each other up and ready to move at the other's slightest blink.
He was in no shape to fight. He wasn't sure he really wanted to.
And she...she looked ready for revenge for her earlier defeat.
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Post by Fate on May 19, 2010 21:26:04 GMT -4
The only thing was....Noriko was pissed about being showed up to be sure. But when she really thought about it - about what she was doing there...
...she really didn't care any more.
She remembered being so proud of earning active SHIELD status. She remembered the thrill of earning the gleaming metallic emblem that covered her heart. She pulled it away from her uniform and considered it in the sunlight.
Somehow the engraved image felt hollow now.
She tossed it casually to the ground.
"Tell you what", she finally said, turning her attention back to the priest. "Forget about it."
Remy blinked at her in more than a little surprise.
"But can I catch a ride wherever you're going?", Nori asked.
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Post by Fate on May 20, 2010 10:37:56 GMT -4
He didn't have time to decide whether or not to trust her.
The painful truth was he wasn't really sure where he was going any more. But that didn't matter.
Simultaneously, they both caught the sound a vehicle approaching fast.
They both said the same thing.
"Uh oh."
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 8:52:36 GMT -4
Together, they moved quickly to get out of sight.
Just in time, as a large military truck rounded a corner and roared up the street. "Fan out", a voice said urgently as the doors were opened and feet hit the ground almost before the truck screeched to a stop. It stopped within inches of Noriko's metal emblem.
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 8:59:06 GMT -4
From where they hid, Noriko gulped.
Not only had she botched her assignment but good, she was going to have an even harder time explaining why she was found with the perpetrator.
She considered him. She might be able to get out of this yet by blasting him anyway.
Before she could, her companion stood up suddenly. "Hold on...", he said quietly and stepped out from cover into daylight.
"What bring you all out dis way?", he drawled with a growing smile. He sauntered toward the truck. "An' how you fin' me in de firs' place?"
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 9:06:04 GMT -4
Tentatively, Nori followed his lead.
There were several people who had started searching. None of them were SHIELD as she expected them to be.
Nearest to them and coming closer was a very, very big man. He looked like some kind of scruffy caveman and what was left of his shredded clothing was covered in blood.
"Yer lucky you don' smell so very damn good", said Victor Creed. He shook the priest's hand.
Behind him, the others gathered. A princess, a healer, and a human whose body was obscured by dark energy that danced and sparkled around him.
All were full of smiles.
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 10:19:57 GMT -4
Briefly, they exchanged stories.
Nobody asked how Creed survived the explosions, the villain who stole his healing powers, or the multi-story building collapsing on them both...he looked too awful for anyone to want to know.
He told them anyway. "All I hadda do was cut th' pieces small enough", he explained, "so he couldn' heal th' damage b'fore th' healin' power left 'im."
That explained all the blood. There were a lot of sour faces but Creed didn't notice. He was annoyingly chipper.
At least he felt better for having told the tale.
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 18:26:43 GMT -4
Remy's spirits were buoyed a little by their presence and by the concern and relief each of them had shown on his behalf. It felt good for some reason, the sense of belonging to this little haphazard group.
It didn't make up for the missing voice, the doubts in his mind...
...but it did help.
That was when Princess Katherine asked the question that made his heart sink once more.
"What do we do now?", she inquired a little nervously. "Where do we go?"
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Post by Fate on May 21, 2010 21:33:40 GMT -4
Admitting that he didn't know was almost more than he could bear. Remy had half expected that when he reached wherever the voice in his mind was sending him that everything would be different. Better. That at the very least there would be some kind of sign to carry them onward.
As far as he could tell, not very much was different at all...and now they would all be wanted fugitives.
"I d-...", he started to admit sullenly.
If he said anything else, it was drowned out by the roaring fighter jets that flashed overhead and quickly disappeared on the horizon. Following on their heels came a mass of flying warships and transports flanked by more fighter jets - so many they threatened to blot out the light from the sun as it started to sink to the west away from the city. They cast deep shadows on the ruins beneath them.
The noise and the spectacle held the entire group in open-mouthed silence.
Fortunately for them, none of the ships seemed to have the slightest interest in small band of outlaws.
The armada had almost passed overhead when the priest spoke again. He really couldn't ask for much more of a sign. He nodded in the direction the aircraft were going.
"...I say we be headin' dat way...", he answered the princess.
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Post by Fate on May 22, 2010 11:14:31 GMT -4
Without any questions, they all scrambled back into the truck.
All except Noriko.
And the priest.
She didn't seem any more anxious to stop them than before.
"We gon' take down Magneto", Remy explained. Saying it out loud made it sound even more ludicrous than he expected. He tossed the keys to his own vehicle to Nori and gave her an apologetic smile.
She blinked at them. At him. Tried to figure out if they were serious. For a moment she stood blankly, keys in hand.
A caveman. A princess. A yellow-eyed human covered in....stuff.
And a priest.
It sounded like the beginning of a really bad joke.
"Ohhhh no....", she said slowly.
Noriko loved really bad jokes.
"Count me in", she said with a growing grin.
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Post by Fate on May 22, 2010 11:24:01 GMT -4
Remy was surprised to find that he wondered just a little what was wrong with her.
She...all of them for that matter...they were certainly not going to live to regret their decision. And yet, here they all were. Ready to take on the impossible...change it or die trying.
None of them questioned.
And neither did he.
"In dat case...", he said as he stooped to pick up her discarded SHIELD emblem from the ground. Remy held it up and looked at it. With the tips of his fingers glowing violet, he traced first one line across its face, then another. It sizzled and he blew on it before studying his handiwork.
He wasn't sure why he'd done it, but it made him smile his crooked smile.
THe whole thing was spontaneous, but somehow....it felt right. Remy thought it would make the old man proud.
"...welcome to de X-men...", he said as he pinned it back on the girl's uniform.
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Post by Fate on May 22, 2010 11:34:47 GMT -4
But Remy was wrong.
There was one among their little group who had definite questions.
She bided her time before letting her feelings be known.
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