PART 36
"Gambit, I'm ordering you to return to the Blackbird.
Now, mister!"
Without a thought, Remy removes the headset and lets it fall,
silencing Scott's voice. It's the hardest thing he's ever
done, but now he answers to a deeper need. The others may
see it as revenge, but for this man, it is justice. The necessary
purification that must come before the tortured souls of this
place, living and dead, can find peace.
The order is given. Against a sky alive with aircraft, the
Blackbird ascends in a gleaming blur.
Remy Etienne LeBeau stands alone. A solitary figure illuminated
by the dying lights of a nation being brought to its knees.
The rumble of exploding shells stirs the ground beneath his
feet, even as it rekindles the fire in his blood. A fire that
roils against his nerves, seeking release.
With a snap of his thumb across his fingers, he charges a
card and lets it fall far below, landing onto one of the many
gas mains which cross the island. A wall of flames cuts through
the compound, consuming the barricks of the Genoshan guards
and continuing on until it meets its end in the sea. Another
card. Another roaring explosion erupts, this one taking out
the mine field. The western sky darkens with thick smoke and
shrapnel.
The third card creates a funeral bier from the pits, transforming
the foul stench and decay into a ring of fire that circles
New Genosha in a luminescent halo.
Au reviour, mes amis.
Remy turns to face the slaughterhouse, the last bastion of
Sinister's influence. He licks the sudden dryness from his
lips. Swallows against the tightness, the pain, in his throat.
A dozen images come to mind. Of Rogue. Of Nicola. Of himself.
A dozen unvoiced epithets as he lays glowing hands against
the splintered wood and concrete.
"...bastards..."
Without warning, a wave of energy cuts him off, knocking
him to his knees.
"ENOUGH!"
Eric's voice thunders through the dying sounds of war. He
alone commands Remy's attention, momentarily distracting the
Cajun from his obsessive destruction. Remy's eyes lift to
Eric's, full of confusion. The hard set of Eric's jaw softens,
and he offers his hand to help the younger man to his feet.
"Enough, Remy. There will be no more blood shed on my
threshold."
"Your threshold?!"
Eric sighs heavily.
"We are a race apart, my friend. Always there will be
those who would persecute us, those who would see us dead
rather than cede their destinies to our superior abilities.
Or there will be others, such as Sinister, who would dissect
our very beings under the guise of science."
"All de more reason for you t'be helpin' me take dis
place down."
"No. If necessary, I will defend this place until the
last breath leaves my body."
Quick as thought, Remy drops three cards into his palm, charges
them, and hurls them towards the slaughterhouse.
"'DIS AIN'T A SHRINE!"
With a flick of his fingers, Eric surrounds the cards in
a magnetic field, then hurls them into the sky where they
explode harmlessly. He turns back to Remy, an imposing figure
against the full light of morning.
"I do not seek a shrine, only safe refuge from the world,
a haven for myself and my people."
"You t'ink de Genoshans jus' gon' let you walk in an'
take over, eh?"
Sadness shadows Eric's eyes as he gazes into the distance.
"...'those who do not remember the past are doomed to
repeat it'...the Genoshans are not unlike the Germans of a
generation ago."
"Ain't dat de point?"
"Many of the Jews that were killed were German citizens.
Many of the mutants who have suffered here are Genoshan citizens.
This is their home, Remy. Would you add to their losses by
leaving them a wasteland?"
Remy turns away, finding no answer to Eric's logic.
"Sinister'll be back."
"I will be waiting."
"Y'wan' me to jus' walk away from dis? Jus' like dat?"
"Let it go, Gambit."
Remy turns around suddenly, astonished to hear Scott Summer's
voice answering.
"Thought you left wit' de others."
"You thought wrong."
Remy glances back to Eric, then looks out across New Genosha.
Finally, his eyes meet Scott's, and he's surprised by the
compassion revealed there.
"Let's go home."
"...oui..."
Continued in Chapter
37.
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