The Rogues' Tale

[Isolde]

OOC: This is a thread for just Neale and I. I hope you enjoy reading it but we would like to keep it private at this time.

IC: Her head hurt and she couldnt seem to get her body to respond when she ordered her eyes to open. So she just lay there for a few more moments trying to piece together what had happened.

They had been called into the Professor's office early that morning and found him looking at a computer print out. There had been an unknown energy flare in the Caribbean and it had been pinpointed to a private island there. The island was, as yet, uninhabited and construction was underway to make it a getaway for the rich. At some point in the last few days, the unusual energy patterns had appeared...source unknown.

All activity on the island, being on the borderline between more than one government and private property to boot, had now ceased until the red tape could be sorted through and an investigation begun. In the meantime, the Professor was wanting some answers of his own. Unknowns were not welcome and downright dangerous to their existance and he wanted to make sure nothing could fall into government hands that could or would be used against them.

And so it was that they were given instructions to get their while they could, thoughly investigate and get out before anyone else arrived. If the energy source proved dangerous they were to take it. If not, they were to leave it and get out of their. Either way it seemed an easy mission. In and out. Right? Wrong!

They got to the island safe and sound and after an extensive search found a cave that the construction crews had unwittingly unearthed. Contacting the Professor, they proceeded into the cave. All went well until they were a few feet into the cave and they saw it.

It looked like a crystal. Blue with many facets, it winked in the thin stream of sunlight that shown through a hole in the roof of the cave. The sun seemed to reflect the light of the crystal and the area around the gem was bathed in a blue glow.

It was then that their communication devices failed. No matter what they tried, they couldnt get ahold of the Professor or the rest of the team that had then shown up to listen in on the conversation with him. All that they heard was static.

A quick conference and they decided to proceed. After all, many things could make communication devices fail and interference by an energy source, especially one whose properties were unknown. As long as they did not feel a threat from the gem it was alright. Right? Wrong!

The moment they stepped into the blue light they were both frozen. Their muscles were paralyzed and they found they could not move, even their eye movements were arrested. As was their breathing. Slowly the air was cut off from their lungs until they blacked out.

And now she was...where? Wouldnt know that until she opened her eyes. Slowly she forced them open, her body protesting the whole time and took a look around.

Two moons shone down upon her and a desolate landscape. Their were hills and valleys and a few sparse plants and nothing else.

Well, this wasnt heaven, that was for sure and and she hoped it wasnt hell. From the aches and pains that coursed through her body, she would have to say she was alive. And alone.

Where was he? Oh, god...she couldnt see him. Was he dead? Was he somewhere else?

Summoning all her strength, she moved onto her hands and knees and then staggered to her feet. Putting her hands to her mouth, she gave a shout.

"Remy! Remy! Are you here?" God, please let him be here and okay. And, if not here then at least okay.

 

[Neale]

Remy "Gambit" LeBeau

Remy woke up with a pounding headache. "I sho' don' feel like I'm in Kansas no more!" The Cajun mutant stood up, wincing, and looked around. Something didn't feel quite right, but he wasn't sure what.

He heard Rogue calling for him, and he ran all out to where he heard her voice coming from through the trees. He ran to her, calling out her name only when neared her.

"Rogue, honey! You okay, chere?" The first thing Rogue noticed was that he was safe. The second thing was that the glow in his eyes, a sign of his power, had vanished.

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue's head spun around and a sigh of relief escaped her as she saw her fellow mutant and good friend approaching her.

Running that way, she embraced him when she got there, not sure whether to be happy that he was with her and safe or worried that he was in this mess with her.

Pulling back to smile up at him, she said,"Well, I have been better, Sugar, but I'm alive if that counts for much. Nothin' a few asprin and some answers to where we are wouldnt cure."

A puzzled look came over her face as she studied him closer. "Remy, darlin', there is somethin' different about you. I cant place what but there is a definate change. Are you alright?"

 

[Neale]

Gambit

"I'm just fine, chere!" Remy flipped out a cigarette and... nothing. "Huh?" was his most articulate response. Quickly, he flipped out a playing card, and threw it. It landed on the ground ahead of them.

His no-longer glowing eyes widened as he looked at Rogue, "Chere! I can't charge t'ings up no more!"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue looked from Remy to the card on the ground and back again. The concept that he had lost his mutant powers was beyond her thinking at the moment.

"No..Remy, that cant be," She said as she went to pick up the card and held it in her hand. Removing a glove, she held the card and wondered at the fact that there was no heat to it at all.

Looking up at the double moons she wondered just exactly where they were and what forces were at work to negate her partner's powers.

"Ah don't like this, darlin'," She said as she gazed into the heavens,"We arent where we're supposed to be and you arent who your supposed to be."

She let her gaze fall to where he was standing, wondering what he was thinking at this moment. Whether he was glad or upset that his mutant powers seemed to have left him.

Figuring she should test her own powers, she allowed herself to fly just a short distance above the ground and, satisfied that that was working, she picked up the nearest rock and crushed it in her bare hand.

"Ah seem to be doin' alright, she said as she let the dust fall from her hand to the ground, watching it trickle and fall.

"We have to find out where we are and why we are here though," She said with determination in her voice,"Other questions can wait."

 

[Neale]

Remy

The XMen had encountered various situations in the past when their mutant powers had been cancelled, but they were normally coupled with times at which they were under immediate attack, or in some sort of danger. Here, wherever here was, seemed safe enough at the moment...

"Chere... you know we have to find out." Rogue looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. "You see anyt'ing comin' after us?" She shook her head. "No big ol' Sentinels tryin' t' squish us?" Again, she shook her head, slowly, looking at him, and trying to see where he was going with this.

"Den, chere, we got time t' find out." Rogue looked at him uneasily, "Find out what, you crazy Cajun?" Remy smiled at her, and stepped close. "Find out this..." And before she had a chance to react, he kissed her.

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue was taken aback and she could not move for a moment. For just a brief moment she let herself melt into the kiss as Remy's lips captured her own.

Then instinct took over. Instinct that had been bred into Rogue from a very early age when her first kiss had almost killed a boy and she pushed away from Gambit, using only a part of the strength she had long ago gotten from contact with Ms Marvel.

"Noooo!," She cried as she pushed away from him, her eyes searching him for the tell tell signs that he had been in contact with her, flesh to flesh.

"Remy, no! You cant...you'll...you'll..." She stopped in mid sentence and looked with wide eyes at the Cajun. Not only was he fine but he was looking at her with a self satisfied smirk on his face.

"You're alright," She said, her voice low as she moved back to run her gloveless hand across his face,"You...you didnt...didnt..." She couldnt finish the sentence, simply slipped back into his arms and held herself close to him, reveling in the feeling of someone being able to hold her without the fear that it would cause their death.

Tears were in her eyes as she lifted her face and captured his own with her hands. Bringing his head down to her's she whispered,"Crazy Cajun," before she kissed him long and deep, letting all the years of non contact be felt in that one kiss.

 

[Neale]

Remy

Remy stood grinning at Rogue, up until the moment she ran and embraced him, kissing him until his head swam. Finally, an eternity later, their lips parted. "Damn, chere! If'n I'd known you could kiss like dat, sure'n ol' Remy'd found a way to kiss you 'fore now!" His warm smile let her know how truly happy he was to finally kiss this woman he'd loved for so long, yet been unable to even touch safely. He touched her face with his hand, then kissed her cheek. Rogue's eyes closed with the pleasure of simply being touched, but Remy didn't stop there...

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue moaned at the contact of his hand and then lips upon her face. She felt like a woman who had just come from the desert and been offered an endless supply of water. But it wasnt just that that made her crave his touch.

Moving her arms around him, she pressed her face to his, kissing along his neck and gently murmuring his name over and over again.

In the back of her mind she knew they shouldnt be wasting time with this. A nagging part of her mind told her they should be looking for food, water and especially a way out of whereever they were. She ignored it.

Moving her arms around his neck, she stripped her other glove off and let it fall to the ground. Letting her hands run through Remy's hair, she was soon moving to push his jacket from his shoulders so that she could press herself even closer to him.

She was lost in the feeling of him against her. She couldnt stop if she wanted to. And she didnt want to.

 

[Neale]

Remy

Remy knew full well where this was headed, and didn't give a damn about the reasons why they were here, or the things they 'ought' to be doing. This chance was something they'd both wanted for years, and he was well known for siezing chances straightaway. He moved his hands underneath Rogue's jacket, and slowly slid it off her body, then slid his hands beneath her shirt, caressing the bare skin he found there. Their kisses became heated, each of them moaning with pleasure at finally being able to express physically what they had felt for so very long.

"Chere, I don' know how we got here, or why... but, damn me if I ain't glad of it!"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue chuckled softly at Remy's statement and shivered at the touch of his hands against her bare flesh. Burying her head in his neck, she planted soft kisses all along it.

"God, Remy," She said, her voice barely above a whisper and cracking as she tried to speak coherantly,"Ah know we should be doing so many things and Ah know the others are probably worried sick about us...but I cant bring myself to care."

For once Rogue found herself in a position where she was not and did not want to be the aggerssor. For once she felt feminine and vunerable. And she found herself liking it.

For now though she decided to stop thinking and just go with her feelings. For now there was only Remy and her feelings for him. The strong feelings she had had to supress for so long.

Mimicing his movements, she ran her hands down and under his shirt, simply letting her fingers run lightly over his skin, her fingernails tracing patterns along it.

Pushind his shirt up, she begin to kiss along his chest...small butterfly kisses that teased him with her lips as her fingers were teasing him.

 

[Neale]

Gambit

The snap of a twig alerted Gambit. His powers may have been turned off, but he was still a very highly skilled thief, and remained alert at all times, even when... distracted. In a smooth motion, he rolled off of Rogue, and pulled his battlestaff, standing to face the direction from where he'd heard the snap.

From behind a small rise, all attempts at stealth gone, charged an alien figure. It was dressed in brown, green and black furs, and was wielding a crude spear. Its own skin was a mottled gray, and it had reddish brown fur. The creature's face was broad, and its mouth was full of vicious-looking fangs. Gambit judged it to be roughly the same size as his old friend, Colossus, about 7 feet tall, and just as muscular.

"Chere, looks like th' natives are real restless 'round dese parts!"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue groaned with the loss of contact between herself and Remy as he rolled to his feet, she herself moving to stand beside him, but she knew that his instincts were among the best and she trusted he knew what he was doing even before the apparition of the alien.

Of course, she was none to happy to have been disturbed at that moment and an unhappy Rogue was not something very pleasant to have around.

"We cant seem to get a break no matter how far away we go," She said as she sized up the new arrival.

"Do you think it can understand us?," She asked in a disbeliving tone,"And do you think it means us harm?"

Being with the Xmen, she had long ago learned not to judge by apperances. The worst looking creature could be your friend and the most beautiful person could stab you in the back. Besides, she was fuming inside at the alien's interruption and wasnt in the right mind to think things over as it was.

 

[Neale]

Gambit

The creature roared loudly and charged, thrusting his spear towards Gambit, who lithely avoided it, tripping the behemoth as he ran past. Its bellows were answered by similar bellows, as though from the throats of many of its comrades, from further back in the nearby woods.

"Somehow, chere, I don' t'ink dis fella's invitin' us t' share a mess o' gumbo!"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rouge looked to where the answering bellows were heard and stooped down to gather up their discarded items. There was no way they could take on that many aliens, especially without knowing their strengths and weaknesses. And, since she was the only one with any kind of powers at this point, she deemed survival a better option than soothing their pride with a losing fight.

Shoving the items into Gambit's arms, she leaned over to scoop him up and took off into the night sky, the creature rising and making a swipe for her leg as she did so....and just barely missing her.

"Time to ride Rouge Air, Louisiana Boy," She said as she sped out of the area of the aliens,"Ah somehow dont think we would be on the winning end of this one, Lover."

Looking down at the number of approaching aliens only confirmed her suspicions(sp).

"One day," she said out loud but to herself,"We are going to find two minutes that doesnt involve someone tryin' ta kill us and we wont know what ta do with 'em."

"Look for a good place to land, Darlin'," She said, now speaking to Remy,"We have got ta sit a spell and work this one out."

 

[Neale]

Gambit

Remy laughed out loud at the expression on the first alien's face, and the futile throw it had made as Rogue carried them to safety. "Rogue, honey, I keep tellin' you t' c'mon down t' de Big Easy... ain't no kinda monsters down t'dere!" She laughed, knowing full well just how much danger Remy'd managed to find in New Orleans.

They flew on for a few miles. "Why don' you just set us down over by dat big rock on de hill. Give us a real good view, just in case, no?"

 

[Guest]

Rogue

Rogue nodded and headed to where Remy pointed. Landing, she set Gambit on his feet and took her clothing from his hands.

Replacing her gloves on her hands and putting her jacket back on after tucking in her shirt, she sighed deeply. Just when she was starting to feel at least a bit normal, something happened. The gods were trying to tell her something. Maybe she should listen to their obvious vetoe.

Looking around them, she tries to calm down enough to put things in perspective.

"Okay, we know we arent on earth anymore. That is shown by tha double moons and the natives. And we know that the planet or somethin' on it negates mutant powers. It didnt do anything to my powers I got from Ms Marvel so I am assumin' that it is only Mutant Powers it cancels since hers were not in that category."

"We need food, shelter and maybe some friendly natives to get information from. Or one unfriendly native that Ah can get some info from."

"Anything else to add? What did Ah leave out?," She asked Gambit as she squinted her eyes to try and look through the dim light to locate a cave or some type of shelter.

 

[Isolde]

Yup, Me ^

 

[Neale]

Gambit

"Well, chere, ol' Remy's thinkin' dem uglies back dere came up on us real quick-like. Maybe who an' whatever sent us here, wherever de Hell here is, might know a little somet'in' 'bout dat. Let's us just relax tonight, and den go huntin in de mornin'.'"

Remy noticed a depression in the nearby hillside, and motioned to Rogue to point it out. "Looks like we found de local Hilton, no?" The pair of mutants checked it out, and saw it was a shallow cave, just big enough to shelter them. Evidently some of Gambit's endurance was due to his being a mutant, because, much to Rogue's chagrin, he fell right asleep as soon as they lay down together.

 

[Guest]

Rogue

Rogue lay there unable to sleep. Everything kept playing over and over in her mind until she had to get up and go somewhere or go crazy.

Moving silently, so as hopefully not to wake Gambit, she went to the mouth of the cave and prepared to take off for the heavens that beckoned her. A midnight flying session was just what she needed to clear her mind.

Before she could move out of the shelter, though, she heard a voice with an unmistakable New Orleans accent. "Be careful out dere, chere..."

Turning, she saw Remy leaning on one elbow and looking at her, wide awake and alert. She sighed. She should have known she couldnt sneak out on him.

Moving back over to him, she knelt down beside him and gently brushed his lips with her own.

"Just goin' on a foragin' expedition, Sugar, I promise not to be long but this southern girl cant sleep and I dont know a better cure than a little fresh air and somethin' to keep my mind off of our problems."

Placing her lips on his forehead for a lingering kiss, she moved again to the exit and gave him a wink,"Dont be entertainin' no local women while Ahm gone, Darlin'. I dont think even you would survive that experience."

Taking off into the air, she instantly felt better as she let the night air flow around her flying figure. She flew for a long time, noting the passing terrain for future reference. Soon she found a tree bearing fruit but, noting the strange wildlife that lay deceased at the foot of it, she passed it by.

It was about a half an hour later that she came upon another tree with fruit and, looking closer, she saw various forms of nocturnal wildlife moving among the branches and feasting on the white looking fruit.

Flying to the top of the tree where most of the animals could not reach, she found branches laden with the ripe orbs and carefully picked one, examining it closely.

She hesitated in tasting it. Just because the local wildlife could handle it did not mean that it did not contain poison. They could have built up an immunity to it but, judging by the variety, it didnt seem likely.

Shrugging, Rogue decided that she could either die of poison or of starvation and took the chance.

Biting into the skin of the fruit, she was greeted with a pleasanltly sweet taste. Juices ran down her chin and she was fored to wipe it with the sleeve of her jacket before she took another bit. Her stomache rumbled and she realized just how hungry she was.

Quickly finishing off the piece of fruit, she grabbed another one and made it disappear just as fast. Finally the edge was taken off of her hunger and she took off her jacket and started to pile fruit into it. If she was hungry than Gambit must be starving by now, so she made sure to have plenty.

Finally she took to the air again, grabbing one last piece to eat on the way and headed back to the cave and Remy. Lifting from the tree, her eye caught sight of a stone structure off to the right and she flew just a bit closer to get a look at it.

It seemed to be a plain building with no activity. There were three floors and the whole thing was made of stone. It didnt look promising but it might be a start. Determined to come back with Gambit in tow, she turned and headed toward the cave once again. By the time she reached it the planet's sun was just peeking over the horizon.

Flying into the mouth of the cave, she placed her bundle down and called out,"It's me, Sugar. Breakfast is served."

 

[Isolde]

^

 

[Neale]

Gambit

Remy, who had been awake for a short while before Rogue returned, gratefully accepted the strange fruit, and began to eat as she told him of what she'd found. "I'm not thinkin' dat was built by our friends back dere... An' mebbe it was built by whatever brought us here, no?"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Rogue nodded at Remy's statement.

"Just what Ah was thinkin'," She said as she sat back to rest as he ate,"Something had to build it and our friends didnt look capable of that advanced of a building. Besides, it was the only one Ah saw. If they lived there than there would be more than one."

Her brow furrowed as she said,"But it looked deserted. Whoever was there might have left. Either way we can go check it out as soon as you have eaten."

 

[Neale]

Gambit

Remy finished up the fruit that Rogue had brought, then stood. "No time like de present, eh Chere?" He leaped up into her arms, surprising her, and planted a kiss right on her lips. "Ready for take-off, Cap'n Ma'am!" Rogue shook her head at the Cajun's antics, and took off.

Later, they arrived nearby the edifice she had found. Now, however, it was very active. Strange machines, their metallic bodies gleaming in the sun, could be seen darting in and out of openings. "I don't t'ink dey night-owls, chere." Remy's eyes were naturally sharp, and he noticed something odd about the machines. "You see dem panels on dose t'ings? I'm t'inking dey solar-powered!"

 

[Isolde]

Rogue

Heading into the trees surrounding the building, Rogue lands on a large, sturdy branch and sets Remy down on it. Here they can get a better look at the scene before them but not be seen in return.

"Well, Ah know those critters we ran into yesterday couldnt have built somethin' like that. Ah wonder what we are dealin' with here."

Looking over at her companion, she smiled,"Ah dont see us gettin' any answers just sittin' here, do you? We have questions and Ah do believe the answers are right there. Shall we go get them?"