Gambit #2

Two days had passed since Gambit’s departure from Alabama. Traffic through Mississippi was worse than he thought it would be; that had set him back a half a day, at least. Still, it didn’t bother him too badly; after all, what was waiting for him back home was something he wasn’t too eager to face.

He decided he’d make one last stop tonight before crossing into Louisiana. He was sure he’d need his rest for what was coming.

Despite the apparent risk, especially after his previous incident, he decided to stop by a cheap Motel, wash his clothes, shower and try to get a good night’s sleep in. Although, for Gambit, the latter felt impossible at this point.

After checking in and taking his shower, he headed outside to the laundry room near the end of the building. After his clothes were done, he shoved them in his backpack, not bothering to fold them; wrinkled clothes couldn’t have mattered less to him.

He tried hard to fight back the memories boiling to the surface. He thought he’d buried them a long time ago, but after hearing of his brother’s apparent resurrection, the memories clawed their way back to the surface.

Later, Remy made his way back to his room. It wasn’t much, even smaller than his last room, but you couldn’t expect too much for fifty bucks; at least not anymore. He tossed his backpack down on the floor, locked the door behind him and laid back on the bed. For once, his dreams didn’t gravitate to his usual memories; instead, they went back a bit further.




Remy Lebeau was born to a loving family in New Orleans, Louisiana; His father Albert, his mother Rain, and his older brother Bobby. Remy lived an average, normal life for fifteen years; it was around that time that his powers manifested.

His parents decided it was best to keep his powers a secret, fearing that it might lead to trouble if word got out. For awhile, it was tough; it took time for Remy to gain full control of his powers which led to a great deal of “accidents” around the house. His mother had even come up with the excuse that his glowing red eyes were just a medical condition. She even forged a doctor’s note, naming the fake disease for Remy’s teachers at school.

However, it was only a matter of time before Remy’s powers were discovered…

One day while Remy was near the swamp alone, he practiced his powers, charging leaves and twigs watching them explode. Unknown to him, a member of the Assassins Guild watched his display eagerly. Upon witnessing Remy’s strange “gift” he spread word to his guild, and it was decided the, by their Chosen One, that Remy must be the Savior mentioned in the oldest prophecy. A prophecy that was held by both the Thieves and Assassins Guilds; the prophecy foretold of a man who would rise up and lead one of the Guilds to triumph over the other. The Assassins decided to act quickly before the Thieves discovered the boy’s existence.

Remy and his brother came home one night to find their home on fire. They arrived just in time to hear the last of their parent’s scream as they were burned alive by the flames.

“No!” Remy screamed, dropping to his knees. “Bobby! What happened?”

“I dunno, Remy.” Bobby replied, kneeling beside his brother, tears streaming from his eyes. “But it’s too late to do anything… They’re gone, Remy.” He choked back a sob. “They’re gone…”

Remy caught a glimpse of something sparkling on one of the trees nearby. As he got closer, he discovered it was a piece of paper, pinned to the tree by a bowie knife. He tore the note from the tree; as he read it, his heart sank to his stomach. Bobby rushed over to see what Remy had found. He took the note from Remy’s hand and looked for himself.

The note read:
“We know about your powers boy, and we won’t stand for some filthy demon-spawn ruining our lives. Get out now, unless you and your brother want the same…”

The note was left unsigned, but it didn’t matter. Whoever had done it had made their point; this was about Remy.

“It’s my fault, Bobby.” Remy said in a hushed tone. Tears now streamed freely down his cheeks. “Mom and Dad…. They’re dead cuz a’ me…”

Bobby embraced his little brother. “Don’t say dat, Remy. Dis ain’t your fault…”

“He’s right, Remy.” A mysterious voice called from behind Bobby.

The brothers broke away from each other to face the stranger. He was a member of the Assassins Guild, they could tell by the symbol on his mask. The Guilds were very secretive, and it was only through hushed whispers that Remy and Bobby had heard of them, but they knew all the same.

“Dis ain’t your fault.” The man continued. “Just an act of bigotry, dat’s all dis was.”

“Who’re you?” Bobby asked curiously. “And if you knew about dis, why didn’t you do anything?”

“I’m a representative of de Assassins Guild, dats all I can say on that. As for your other question… well, we only found out about de attack when it was too late. Dere was nothin’ we could do.”

“Why’re you here, then?” Remy asked.

“To extend an invitation to the two of you. Remy your powers can be a great asset to us, and Bobby, you seem t’be a pretty athletic boy, we could always use dat. Oh, and we could help you boys find your parent’s killers.”

That was all the convincing they needed; they each nodded their agreement and followed the Assassin back to his Guild.



Gambit awoke to a beam of sunlight, piercing a small crack in the curtain next to his bed. He checked the clock; it was seven in the morning, time to leave.

He checked out of the Motel, gassed up his bike one more time, and got back on the road for the final stretch to Louisiana.

He was glad he had woken up when he did. The next part of the dream would have been a lot more painful and he didn’t want to relive it. Just the same, he couldn’t get his mind off of it. He tried everything; counting the lines on the road, talking to himself, but nothing worked. Eventually, he stopped fighting it and let his memories carry him back.



For about a year, Remy and Bobby studied with the Assassins Guild. The origin of the Guilds dated back to over three-hundred years. Each Guild had its own teachings, which lead to an inevitable rivalry, but for the most part, they were civil with each other. The Assassin’s Chosen One had decided it was best to keep Remy’s destiny a secret, even to him, to ensure the Thieves wouldn’t hear of it.

Remy came back to the Guild one day after an assignment, looking for Ray, the Guild’s Chosen One. He made his way to Ray’s quarters, and heard Ray talking to someone. Remy was about to turn and leave when he heard his name mentioned. His curiosity got the better of him and he pressed his ear against the door.

“And remember, keep quiet about Remy’s destiny.” Ray was saying. “If he finds out, he may get suspicious, no?”

“I agree.” The other voice replied. It sounded like Rita’s voice; Ray’s lover and second-in-command. “But he’ll have to find out sometime.”

“Yes, but not now. His wounds are still too fresh. If he finds out dat we were de ones who killed his parents to lure him here, he’ll rebel.”

Gambit’s eyes widened. The people he thought he could trust, the ones who had promised to help him avenge his parent’s murder… were the very ones who had taken them away from him.

He quietly made his way back to the main foyer where Bobby was standing with his back against the wall, talking to Georgie.

“Bobby, we gotta talk.” Remy said, interrupting their conversation.

“Hold on, Remy.” Bobby replied. “Georgie was in de middle of a…”

“Now, Bobby!” Gambit said more sternly.

“Okay, Remy… Excuse us, Georgie.”

Remy lead his brother outside.

“Bobby, we can’t stay here.” Remy whispered.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“De Assassins are da ones dat killed mom and dad… I heard Ray talkin’ a minute ago… dat’s what he said…”

Bobby’s eyes widened.

“You sure about dis?”

“If I wasn’t sure, you tink I’d even bring dis up?!”

“If dis is true, Remy, let’s take Ray down, now! He’d nevah suspect it!”

“No, Bobby, it’s too dangeruous! I say we go join da Tieves… piss him off. We get our revenge latah!”

Bobby reluctantly agreed with his brother.

They didn’t bother going back inside for their things; it would raise too much suspicion if they were caught packing their bags. Better to just leave with what they had on them and get to safety.

The Thieves were a bit picky about their recruits, so a test was in order. After successfully picking the pockets of a few people in town, Remy and Bobby were allowed to join.

After Remy showed them his abilities, the Thieves came to the same conclusion as the Assassins: that Remy was the prophesied savior, and told him as much.

Ten years passed.

Ray had died of the flu in that time, Rita taking his place, leaving Remy and Bobby’s score unsettled. They tried their best to let their grudge against the man go, but they were never successful.

In those ten years, unknown to Remy, Bobby had been studying magic, looking for a way to bring his parent’s back.

After years, he found a spell that he thought would work. He set up the ritual in an old, abandoned house in the heart of the bayou, painting a pentagram on the floor and chanting the spell. To his surprise, nothing happened. It was then that he realized what had gone wrong; it was a basic law of magic: for every gift, there must be a sacrifice.

He knew what he had to do; he found two young orphans, a boy and a girl, a lured them to the shack. Once there, he bounds and gagged them, laying them in the heart of the pentagram.

To Bobby’s surprise, the door opened before he could begin the spell; Remy stepped inside.

“Remy? How did you find me?” He was sure he’d covered his tracks. No one should have suspected anything.

“You been actin’ strange lately, Bobby. I got suspicious an’ followed you here. Good thing I did, too. What da hell are you plannin’ ta do with these kids?”

“I’m bringin’ mom and dad back, Remy. Even if it means sacrificin’ dese kids to do it.”

Remy could see a gleam in his brother’s eyes. This wasn’t his brother, it couldn’t be. He couldn’t make a move though, or Bobby might hurt the kids.

“Y’know, you’ve been more distant dese past few years, Bobby. I shoulda known back then you’d changed… guess I just didn’t tink you’d come dis far.”

“It’s your fault, ‘Brother’!” Bobby yelled. “If it wasn’t for your damn ‘gift’ mom and dad would still be alive! Dis falls on your head!”

“Don’t you think I woulda given dese powers up if I could!?” Remy snapped. “Bobby, how long have you felt dis way?”

“Since day one, Remy. I tried to hide it, to tell myself it wasn’t your fault cuz your blood, but I couldn’t keep lyin’ to myself.”

“Bobby, if you wanna take dis out on someone, take it out on me, not dese kids. How you tink mom and dad would feel if dey saw dis, eh?”

“Shut up!” Bobby screamed, pulling a dagger from his belt. “You don’t know how they woulda felt! You didn’t know dem as long as I did! You came into our lives and destroyed them! Even if dat note we found years ago was a fake, it was still true; you’re demon-spawn sent here ta make my life hell!”

He knelt down and held the dagger to the girl’s throat. The girl’s eyes were swollen; she clearly hadn’t stopped crying since Bobby had brought her here. The boy had clearly passed out from the terror; he didn’t know how lucky he was.

“Bobby, don’t!” Remy warned. “Don’t make me hurt you!”

“Shut up! I’m bringin’ dem back, Remy. Den, the three of us’re gonna kill you!”

Remy’s heart sank. With those last words, Gambit knew his brother was gone, and he was never coming back.

Remy had to act fast. He couldn’t mess up; a life was depending on him.

He pulled his staff from under his coat, extending it to its full length and hurling it at Bobby’s head. It connected at the temple, knocking Bobby backwards, forcing him to drop the dagger. He crashed into a stack of gas-cans, knocking them over, gas pouring all over him.

Remy rushed to the children’s sides, cutting their ropes with the dagger and removing their gags. The girl threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his chest, sobbing.

“He was gonna kill us! He said he was gonna…”

“Shhh… It’s alright now, Petite.” Remy said soothingly, putting an arm around the child. “He won’t hurt you now.”

He scooped the unconscious boy up into his arms and started for the door, the girl following close behind.

“No! You won’t take dem away!” Bobby screamed.

Remy jerked around just in time to see Bobby reaching inside his coat, more than likely going for a gun.

Remy’s eyes darted around the room, looking for something, anything, to stop Bobby. He caught sight of an old playing card, lying on a nearby table; it was the closest thing he could reach for. He grabbed it, sending a charge through it as soon as his fingers touched it.

Bobby had just pulled the gun from its holster as Remy threw the card at Bobby’s feet; just something to distract him as he got the kids to safety.

On impact, the card exploded, creating sparks. One of the sparks hit the spilt-gas on the floor, setting it on fire; the fire quickly spread to Bobby, completely engulfing him.

He cried out with gut-wrenching screams.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH……REMMY…… HELP MEEEEEEE!!!!”

No! Dammit, I forgot about de gas… he thought.

He wanted desperately to save his brother, to find some way to help him, but, looking down at the child he held in his arms, he came to a conclusion.

“Bobby died a long time ago… Nothin’ I can do to save ‘im now.”

Remy turned around, stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

The next day, he left Louisiana, intending never to return.



Gambit nearly jumped out of his skin as a horn sounded behind him. He’d slowed down, drastically under the speed limit, and the driver behind him clearly wasn’t too pleased. He punched the throttle, raising his speed.

Damn! Gotta make sure I don’t get lost in my thoughts again… could be dangerous.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he focused his attention back on the road. Just ahead, he saw a sign: “Welcome to New Orleans”. A sickening feeling crept into his stomach; he hadn’t even noticed crossing into Louisiana, being lost in his thoughts. Being this close to home felt just like he thought it would: like salt in an open wound.

He steeled himself and punched the bike to max speed; the sooner he faced Bobby, the sooner he could get back out.

He had a good idea of where Bobby would be; he headed towards the site of his last encounter with Bobby: the old shack in the heart of the New Orleans swamps.



Gambit stepped slowly into the shack, wearing his old costume, a card already in his hand, charged and ready to go. He’d decided to change into his costume before heading into the swamp; he didn’t want to ruin either of his only two sets of clothes. The card was his only source of light, no candles illuminating the room this time like Bobby had set up before.

He searched the entire room carefully, never letting his guard down. After he’d searched, what felt like literally, every inch of the shack, he decided it was time to leave; he must’ve been wrong about Bobby.

As turned to leave, he noticed something on the inside of the door that he hadn’t seen when coming in: a note pinned down by a bowie-knife.

Gambit snatched up tore the note from the door, stepped outside. He ceased the charge, putting the card away; the moonlight would be enough to read the note.

“Remy,

Figured you might stop by the shack first, but, as you know by now, I ain’t there.
Come to the place of the tithe. You’ll find me there.”

What are you plannin’, Bobby? Gambit thought, crumpling the note and throwing it on the ground. De next tithe don’t take place for another year!

The “Tithe” was a ritual held every ten years in which both Thieves and Assassins were required to attend. Gambit had only attended a single tithe in his life, and he told himself he’d never go anywhere near the site of the tithing ever again; but it looked like that decision had been taken out of his hands.

He headed off on foot; he had left his bike hidden near the edge of the swamp, hidden in some bushes, since there was no way he’d be able to get it through the bog. He only hoped it would still be there when he got back.

It was another hour before he made it to his destination; ahead of him, he could see two lines of torches, with someone standing near their center, no doubt it was Bobby, waiting for him.

He marched up to the site cautiously. To his surprise, both Thieves and Assassins stood on either side of Bobby.

“I’m here, Bobby.” He said, stopping a good distance away from his brother. “What are all dese people doin’ here? De Tithe ain’t for another year.”

Bobby kept his back to Gambit.

“I’m well aware of dat, ‘brother’.” Contempt seemed to swell around that last word. “Who said we was here for de Tithe?”

“Den what we here for?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you… but first, ain’t you curious what happened to Georgie?” Bobby looked over his shoulder at Gambit, a wicked smile painting his lips.

“You don’t have’ta tell me, Bobby. I tried to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Yeah, he said as much.” Bobby chuckled, turning around to face Gambit. He snapped his fingers and two more Assassins appeared, stepping out of the thick woods, dragging a struggling Georgie along with them.

“Why don’t you let ‘im go, Bobby. He was just followin’ your orders, no?”

“Yeah, but he failed, just like I knew he would… still, gotta make an example.”

“No, please!” Georgie pleaded. “Gimme another chance, Bobby! I won’t…”

His words were cut short as Bobby wrapped a hand around his throat, almost instantly, Georgie’s head exploded, spraying blood and bits of flesh in the air. Bobby’s hand was completely covered in gore, and a few splatters had caught his face as well. He licked the blood from one of his fingers, sporting the same wicked smile.

Gambit’s eyes widened. Bobby…What are you?

“You were dead, Bobby.” Gambit continued, offering no comment on the gruesome display. “I watch you die myself, eh? What you doin’ back?”

“Oh, don’t worry, brother, I’ll tell you.” He replied “See, I been tru hell and back cuz’a you, and you’re gonna listen to what I have t’say.”

“I know for a fact you didn’t have no powers before. Where dose come from?”

“Dat’s what I’m about to tell ya, brother.”

Gambit listened intently; he had little choice.

“But I gotta warn ya, Remy; dis is gonna blow your mind.”

All was silent, save for the crackling of torches as Bobby began his tale.



To Be Continued…