Disclaimer: Characters belong to Marvel, I'm just borrowing 'em to write some nifty fanfiction. I'm not making any cash so please don't sue. Would like to say thanks again to the wonderful Vicki who painstakingly erases crap from my fanfics, Lori and other fellow archivers who were kind enuff to take in my fanfiction and the fellow readers,if I even HAVE any :o)
comments to roxx@pacific.net.sg
Vicki: She sounds vaguely like me when I just started out! ;)

Hate Is An Understatement
by Diana Othman

Chapter 12

Rogue was never afraid of anything. Being almost invulnerable with super strength and warp speed flight to boot, she was unbeatable in combat. But the image before her that filled her vision was enough to make her shiver. Rogue stood her ground for everybody's sake, trying so hard not to betray her fear. Masks had never scared her, no ... But right now, they did, especially the bright, ghoulish ones that The Assassins had donned to intimidate their enemies She glanced at Gambit for a while, he did not flinch one bit. Surprisingly, he was cool to the core. His jaw was hard but he did not even clench his fists.

The young woman had heard of Candra and her involvement in Gambit's shadowy past. But the fact that blonde beauty was one of the world's most powerful mutant scared her the most. Unpredictable and cruel to no extent, Candra floated to the ground; a black man, a Caucasian male and female moved in around her in a loose triangle whilst the other masked Assassins remained behind. Gambit searched, looking for that familiar face that could explain to him the madness that was unfolding.

Sensing his thoughts with her psi-powers, Candra laughed cruelly, "You won't find her here LeBeau, Belle does not know about any of this. Besides even if she did know, she's too much in love with you still to get the job done ... Some things just have to be done personally," Candra's words slapped him like a wave on a stormy day.

Belle m'amour ... merde ... why didn't y'tell me? I wouldn't have left.

"No matter if she finds out or not..she'll still be powerless to stop me," Candra's malicious voice shook Gambit out of his reverie.

Candra pouted childishly as she looked up at the moon and sighed dramatically, "We're wasting time." She turned her icy gaze back to the X-Men and growled, "Destroy them all!"

"Not if Ah can help it, lady!" Before the Assassins could react to Candra's command, Rogue had rocketed towards her enemy, giving her a good punch in the socket.

"Good fer you darlin', someone oughtta have done that minutes ago!" Wolverine growled, his adamantium claws shining in the moonlight.

Candra fell back with a grunt but she did not slip into unconsciousness as another would have, instead she smiled bloodily at Rogue.

Aghast, Rogue demanded, "How?? That punch was enuff t'send an elephant halfway across Africa!"

"You forget yourself, Rogue,"Candra began, rubbing away blood that had trickled down her nose to her rouged lips. Bolts of live energy crackled from Candra, dancing off her alabaster skin. Her eyes glowed eerily, and her cackling resounded through the bayou. "I am an External ... feel my wrath!"

Excruciating pain clawed at Rogue's chest as Candra blasted Rogue high up into the sky. Her skin burnt and perversely, in the back of her mind, the pain felt quite good. It was like a reminder that she was still a living person, not just a mutant consumed by her accursed powers. She almost felt ... whole, normal again. But she wearily fought against the pain and chided herself for underestimating the bitch. Even worse...She had underestimated an External, a near fatal mistake. Candra canceled her power and Rogue felt herself falling, falling into pits of darkness.

"Rogue!"

Gambit ran, praying that he got to Rogue in time before she fell to the ground. He grunted when he felt an elbow slamming into him between the shoulder blades. He groaned as he tried to push himself up but in vain. He tilted his head slightly and saw the rest of the X-Men engaging in a battle with the rest of the Assassins, a woman Remy recognised as Singer and a man known as Fifolet. Which only meant that the assailant who attacked him was...

"Gris-Gris! Always attackin' from de back like de coward y'be," Gambit sneered, wincing as the pain shot through his back once more when he tried to bring himself to his knees.

"No more dan you are LeBeau ... runnin' away. Fool! Could've worked, too, if y'had not returned," Gris-Gris took his knives from his coat.

"What ya stinkin' assassins be wantin'?"

"De same t'ing you an' de other X-Men be wantin' -- the power o' dat alien technology. An' mebbe wit' dat kinda power, it be enuff to convince Candra dat we assassins be all powerful an' she don' need no worthless t'ieves any longer. Destroy your kind one by one. Dat sound delicious, non?" Gris-Gris's dark lips stretched back into a hideous smile.

Gambit's eyes glowed a deadly red. In a swift motion, Remy kicked him hard in the knees sending the voodoo man falling onto his stomach. Angered by Gris-Gris's less-than-clever threat, Remy pulled himself up, ignoring the pain completely. Gris-Gris shakily got to his feet too, staggering for a while until his head stopped spinning. The tips of his bo-staff bashed against Gris-Gris's jaw as Remy swung it continuosly, his teeth gritting in satisfaction whenever he felt something break. Gris-Gris wobbled on his feet and Remy was going to deliver the final blow when he heard Fifolet shout behind him.

"Stand back X-Men ... or dis one dies!"

Remy turned and hissed venomously, "Non!!"

Fifolet held Rogue by the waist who draped limply over his sturdy arm.

'Damn you, Fifolet ... musta drained the rest of her powers, you coward!'

Gambit glared at Candra who leaned casually against a tree watching the spectacle before her with a bemused gaze. What Remy wouldn't give just to reach into her chest and pull her heart out ... provided if she did have one. Gambit knew that Candra could have stripped them of all of their powers, but she didn't ... she wanted to watch the fun, it was her disgusting style.

Gambit turned his attention back to Fifolet and negotiated, his voice dangerously low. "Your business is wit' me, Assassin ... leave de girl outta dis."

Fifolet caught the pleading look in Remy's slightly bewildered eyes and smirked, "Why I do believe dat you care for dis here femme?"

Fifolet nudged Rogue's weakened body until her back pressed intimately against his crotch. He looked at her briefly before turning back to Remy who was seething with anger. "Cain't blame ya either, Remy, dis young one be a real looker," he jeered as he insolently ran his hand up her thigh.

Remy's control snapped and he charged for Fifolet. He rammed his bo-staff into Fifolet's glowing body and found it penetrating through his intangible form. Remy cursed under his breath, remembering his mutant abilities. Fifolet was about to take advantage of the situation when Cyclops blasted him off his feet and into the muddy swamp. Following the assault, he blasted the ground on which the Assassins stood, tumbling them onto the muddy earth. But assassins die hard and the X-Men found themselves fighting them off continuously, trying to get to Candra. Gambit reached out for Rogue who lay on the ground, conscious but helpless when he felt a force push him back painfully.

"Not so fast, LeBeau!" Candra towered over Rogue who was trying to support herself on her elbows. Rogue managed to pull herself slowly to her knees. "Watch, Remy."

Rogue screamed as Candra assaulted her mind. Gris-Gris emerged behind Candra and blew voodoo dust harshly into Rogue's tortured face, aggravating her pain. Gambit ran towards Candra but she pinned him to a trunk of a nearby tree. He looked at the other X-Men who were just as helpless with assassins coming at them in all directions. It was all up to Remy now. And in the first time in all of the eighteen years he had lived he felt life was no longer a game.

Continued in Chapter 13.

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