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Remy LeBeau, codenamed Gambit, had been having rough nights lately. Every dream, or rather nightmare, started the same way. He would find himself walking through an endless hallway with identical doors. And behind every door, in every room, he was waiting.
The man who had a burning skull for a face.
He never spoke. He never moved. He just sat there in the dark shadows and stared at Remy with his burning eyes as if he was looking at a dead man. As if he had decided Remy's fate and just waited for the right moment to collect his due. Remy had faced thieves, assassins, magicians, mutants, monsters, and even the anti-mutant machines that could annihilate any mutant. But none of them shook him the way Skullfire did.
Every time, Remy woke up drenched in cold sweat, his heart hammering against his chest like crazy. He knew Dante wouldn't harm him unless he did something crazy. The man wasn't the type to hurt innocents as everyone had witnessed time and time again. Yet Remy couldn't get rid of these nightmares.
The only bright spot had been the callback from SHIELD. He didn't have to be Fury's lapdog—blood hound anymore. For now, at least, he was a free man. Free to drink, gamble, fuck, and enjoy life until Essex snapped his fingers again.
Today was shaping up to be one of the good ones.
Remy was sprawled on his couch in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, legs kicked up on the coffee table. The apartment was heated to be perfectly warm, a sharp contrast to the biting New York winter outside. A redhead he had picked from the club slept on a bed in the corner, her big ass catching his attention every now and then. On the TV, The Mask of Zorro was playing for what had to be the tenth time.
He raised his glass of bourbon, and the single ice cube clinked softly against the glass.
Life was good.
Well… except for the nightmares.
He tossed a handful of Cajun-seasoned roasted pecans into his mouth, chewed slowly, and washed them down with a sip of bourbon.
"I hope that cher Rebecca calls me soon."
He was raised among thieves, sure, but he was a man of his word.
Just as he was nearing the finale of the movie, his phone began buzzing. He groaned and flipped it over. The caller's name nearly made him drop his glass. He put down the glass on the table, sat up straight, and accepted the call.
"Oui, Mr. Essex."
"Base number four. I've arranged a meeting in twenty minutes. Report to the squad leader Spider."
"Got it, mon ami."
Remy threw on his clothes in record time, which consisted of black jeans, a dark red shirt, his signature long brown coat, and his favorite boots. He grabbed his bo staff and deck of cards on the way out and sprinted in the freezing evening.
Even after running like hell, he was three minutes late when he arrived at the hidden entrance to base number four. He prayed the squad leader wouldn't kill him while moving through the intertwined hallways.
Finally, he arrived at the meeting room, the door to which was halfway open. Inside, a long white table dominated the center, surrounded by nine people. The five colorful, nasty, loud-mouthed freaks on one side were easy to recognize. Slab, Ramrod, Hairbag, Ruckus, and Gorgeous George; when together, they formed the Nasty Boys. A mutant group who personally answered to Essex just like he did except they didn't have the same talent and potential as him.
In other words, they were nowhere near powerful enough to accomplish anything in SHIELD's oppressive age. In even simpler terms, these five were nothing but cannon fodders.
Seated near the head of the table was a sharp-jawed man in a sleek, futuristic black suit. The glowing circles on his suit only meant bad news. Just his confident aura was enough to convey his imposing strength.
Remy then found his eyes being drawn to the two women standing near the screen.
One wore a skin-tight black suit with a flowing purple cloak. Her face was pale and her lips painted black. The sword-like makeup under her informed anyone of her love for goth aesthetics. The cold, murderous air around her forced Remy to look toward the other woman. She had short dark hair and bright eyes. Her outfit was straight out of the Assassins Guild catalog except she lacked the grittiness assassins carried. He had interacted with enough of those fools to know this woman wasn't one of them.
The short-haired chick noticed him and gave him a cheerful wink.
The last stranger sat at the far end of the table. A woman in a baggy green hoodie pulled over her face. Only a glimpse of her features was visible beneath the hood, but what Remy could see was enough to make him pause. She was stunning. The white-streaked dark brown hair peeking out from under the hood made her look even more mysterious.
Remy was still wondering if he should ask her out for a drink when he noticed the goth woman glaring at him. It seemed as though she was looking at a pest.
"The audacity to be late to one of Mr. Essex's meetings."
Remy threw his hands up in surrender. "Ran like hell. Twenty minutes just ain't enough."
"Sit. Down."
Remy nodded at Havok and the Nasty Boys before taking the empty seat the goth lady had pointed out. He glanced once more at the hooded woman. Something about her felt… off. But he couldn't quite place it.
The assassin-like woman flashed him a grin. "I'm Shadow."
"Gambit."
Since the other party used a codename, he also decided to use his own.
Shadow nodded and pointed at the goth woman, the man in a futuristic suit, then the hooded woman. "Spider, Havok. The last one is Miss Quiet Hoodie... She doesn't talk much. Or at all, really. I gave heral a fitting codename."
"Nice to meet you all," Remy said a bit more loudly than necessary, which got him another death glare from Spider. "Shadow, is Spider always like this?"
"Give her time, and she'll warm up," Shadow said cheerfully. "Oh, I love your Cajun accent. Had a few relatives down that way. Good people. Terrible at cards."
Shadow was a chatty one, a woman who found something funny out of even the most serious situations. A woman quite opposite of his ex-wife Bella Donna Boudreaux. Remy did love a chatty friend over the sinister Essex and stoic Nick Fury.
"Thanks, cher. I love your vibes too."
Shadow chuckled, turning to Spider Queen. "We good to start?"
Spider pressed a few buttons on a remote. Suddenly, the screen on the wall flickered to life.
Essex appeared, seated in a dark room. His red eyes looked as sinister as ever. "Welcome, my nasty little team of miscreants. I've gathered you here for a very specific mission."
He leaned forward slightly, his lips curling into a grin that was truly sinister.
"Project: Kill Skullfire."
Remy really wanted to leave right this instant, but Essex's gaze was right on him.
'Fuck. He is just sending us to die at this point.'
Life… wasn't good anymore.
***
Dante sat in the plush leather seat of Emma's private jet, absently stroking the fur of Sharon who was curled cozily on his lap. In his right hand, he rolled the egg-shaped ruby—the Heart of Eternal Darkness—between his fingers. His discussion with Null had him deep in thoughts still.
His current Resonances were Death, Doctor Strange, Susan Storm, Taskmaster, Shang-Chi, and Jean Grey. He couldn't pick blindly and hope it'd be one of the four Resonance Links that would lift the restriction. He had to discover which four Resonance Links Null had mentioned and what they had in common.
This was the hardest part.
Death, a cosmic being, had nothing in common with other links. Doctor Strange, likewise, was the master of mystical arts. Susan Storm specialized in force fields. Jean Grey excelled in telepathy and telekinesis. Beyond Shang-Chi and Taskmaster both being combat specialists, he couldn't see a single similarity in these.
'Susan and Jean being mind-focused. Is that it?'
He shut his eyes and sighed.
'This is frying my brain.'
Emma came back from the galley carrying three orange drinks on a tray—a task she could've easily left to the staff. But, of course, she wanted to appear more "helpful" in his eyes.
He brought two glasses to him with telekinesis and conjured a magic pattern around both drinks, allowing the glasses to float for himself and Sharon. His lavender-furred daughter took the straw in her mouth and quietly enjoyed the orange-flavored drink. He didn't hesitate either. The cold drink at the very least cooled his racing thoughts.
Emma settled beside him and began playing with Sharon, gently scratching behind her ears and kissing her. But Dante knew her real attention was on him, or rather, the gem in his hand. She was clearly annoyed that a rock was receiving more of his attention than she was.
"Sharon," she said in a cold voice, making Sharon's eyes flatten on her head. "Baby, can you please tell dad to stop losing his marbles over shiny rocks?"
She looked up at Dante with big, pleading eyes. "Uh… Daddy, let Sharon eat that red thing. Then Daddy and Mama can go back to being lovey-dovey."
He stroked her back. "This is important work, Sharon. Tell your mom to stop fussing over little things."
Emma crossed her arms, frowning at him. "More important than your family? Why are you even obsessed with it? I could have a billion of those delivered by tomorrow so just—"
"Just what?" He turned to her with a smile. "It belongs to Ororo, by the way. She took it from a private estate in Egypt."
Emma looked entirely unconvinced. "Does coming from Egypt make gems magical?"
"In this case, yes." He poured a thread of magical energy into the gem to activate it and put it in her palm. "Try using your telepathy now. See if you notice any difference."
She still looked skeptical, but she put two fingers on her temple and reached out with her mind. A moment later, her eyes flew wide open.
"My range… improved."
"It works as a power amplifier," he said, snatching the gem back and putting it back in its presentation box. "Say, can you get me a billion of it by tomorrow?"
She gave him a smile dripping with honey. "Dear… how much for the gem?"
"Heart for a heart. Reasonable, I think."
She let out a soft laugh. "You already have that. Unless we're talking about the physical one in my chest. Even that is yours… as long as you want it."
For once, she was completely honest. It wasn't just her infatuation speaking. She knew he wouldn't let her die even if she stabbed herself in the heart. Somehow, she had developed such a crazy level of trust in him.
"Feeling charmed, aren't you?" She grinned, pleased with his silence. "Although I can't read your mind, I'm very familiar with the psyche of both genders."
"And?"
"I know what people want to hear. I know what pleases their ego." She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. "This service can be yours for a small price of exclusivity."
"Nope. Unacceptable price."
Emma clicked her tongue and moved back. "I'm losing confidence in myself. It's all your fault."
"I said I'll take responsibility, but you won't let me."
She crossed her arms and turned her head.
He put the gem box in the pouch and pulled out his sketchbook. Activating the gem might have alerted Candra, but he honestly didn't care. If she came for it, he would deal with her. The gem wouldn't amplify his Hyperion or solar-based powers, but it strengthened everything else.
It was a valuable tool in a situation where he ran out of solar radiation.
'Venom is still sleeping.'
His symbiote partner still hadn't properly digested the magically-enhanced Sovereign. To be frank, he was starting to miss the little bugger.
'I should hatch the magical beast eggs later.'
Rather than sketching anything, he worked on solidifying his current knowledge. The best way to do so was just solving old exam papers related to genealogy—the most important aspect when working with mutants.
'The word mutant… is rather distasteful.'
He would officially change that once he fixed Essex and SHIELD, who were both most likely scheming to get rid of him. All the scores would be settled soon.
The next ten hours went away in the blink of an eye. He had the company of his sweet adoptive daughter and her intelligent adoptive mother. Death also joined them. The first thing she did was apologize to Emma since she had been sleeping while Emma tried to call out to her.
The private jet touched down in Luxor, Egypt just after 4 a.m.
Even in the dead of night, the city was breathtaking. The sky was a deep, velvety black, scattered with stars that seemed closer here than they ever did in New York.
"Still an insane view."
"I know," Emma whispered, slipping her arm through his like it was completely natural for her. "I wouldn't mind having my honeymoon here."
Sharon, who was rubbing her eyes sleepily in her human form, turned at Emma's sweet voice. "Daddy, what's a honeymoon? Is it warm?"
Neither of them had it in them to spoil Sharon's innocent heart. So they ducked the topic.
Emma had made all the preparations in advance. A sleek black limo was already waiting for them outside the airport. It drove them through the quiet streets of Luxor and dropped them in front of a luxurious hotel overlooking the Nile. Staff immediately came forward to handle their luggage, and within minutes they were being escorted to their private suite.
Emma went straight to the refrigerator and fetched a wine bottle. "Dear, will you join me?"
He shook his head, which made her sulk for a moment, but she didn't press him and moved to the living room. He didn't have to worry about her drinking too much. Emma wasn't the type to leave herself vulnerable, and drinking heavily would just do that.
He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the big, comfy bed. He wouldn't suffer from jet lag thanks to his physiology, but after eleven hours in the air, a couple hours of sleep seemed necessary.
Sharon turned into her cat form and curled up near his chest. "Goodnight, daddy…"
He kissed her on the head. "Good night, Sherry."
Even though Emma wanted Sharon to spend more time in her human form, Sharon just preferred being a cat. Honestly, he was fine with it. No man was going to try to take his daughter away if she stayed a cat.
***
Candra had been sleeping for the past few days in Hellmoon Club, waiting for Selene's return. None of Selene's cult members knew about her whereabouts. The Moon Witch had gone completely off the grid. Even the inherent communication network shared by the Externals couldn't reach her.
With nothing else to do, Candra had chosen to rest and recover her strength.
'Did she go to some other dimension? But what for?'
Today would be the last day for waiting. If Selene didn't return today, she would skip the formalities and head straight to her son to give him a big surprise. Or she could go hunt whoever had activated the Heart of Eternal Darkness while exploiting the Thieves Guild and Assassins Guild on the side.
As she was pondering about her choices, Guildmistress Bella Donna arrived at the balcony with a report in her hand.
Reading the report left her sad and miserable. "How cruel. He left without greeting me."
"He doesn't know—"
"HE DOES KNOW, BELLA." Candra took a deep breath to calm her emotions. "I know Old Hardy already told him everything. He is a family man. Why the fuck would he hide something so important from his daughter's boyfriend? Let's not forget how my son saved his miserable life."
Bella Donna was left speechless at her rant. "Benefactress, what will you do now?"
Candra gazed out at the night sky in the direction Emma's private jet had flown. "I'm leaving for Egypt. To my son."