Post by thejellyfish on Aug 18, 2015 0:57:11 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men #7
Origins: Sometimes Two People Are Bad For Each Other
by thejellyfish
Kenya, AfricaMany Years Ago
“Interestin’ power ya got dere,” said Remy LeBeau as he shambled his way up the rain slicked rooftop. He held a large, heavy bag out towards his pursuer as she floated down from the skies above him, the weather calming as she descended.
“Give that back, thief,” said the white haired young woman. She had hair as white as snow and eyes that clouded as she used her powers, but if Remy had to guess, she was no older than him.
“Me, a thief? Non chere, if I’m de thief, den what are you?” asked Remy as he opened the bag and looked inside. ‘Fruits and veggies,’ he thought before looking closer in the bag. ‘A lot of fruits and veggies.’
He tossed the bag back to her. “Ya good at dis. Real good.” Remy offered the girl his hand. “My name’s Remy LeBeau. Ya can jus’ call me Remy.”
She took his hand and shook it. “Ororo Monroe,” she replied curtly.
“My pa needs somethin’ stolen. De pay be nice, real nice. ‘Ain’t-gotta-steal-food-for-awhile’ nice. Think ya can do dat?”
“Lead the way.”
England
A Few Years Later
‘I can tell you’re here, thief,’ said the voice in Remy’s head. The voice sounded slightly seductive, not fearful of the danger that a strange man in her house posed at all.
‘I didn’t know anyone would be home,’ replied Remy. He’d come across his fair share of telepaths in his life. ‘I ain’t here to hurt you, if that’s what you’re aiming to ask,’ he continued onwards, for some reason drawn towards the room. He could somehow sense the source, as if the location were being broadcast to him.
‘I can tell from your thoughts, luv. But, maybe I want you to hurt me. I’ve gone digging in that noggin of your’s and I like what I see. You already know that I’m Betsy Braddock, supermodel. I assume that’s why you’re here.’ Remy entered the room. “I think we’ve both earned a bit of play time,” she said as she dropped her robe to the floor and approached Remy as naked as the day she was born.
London
2008
“Remy, since I’ve known you, you’ve saved me from so much. “You saved me from myself, you saved me from that… that monster that put me in this body-“ started Betsy.
“Dat wasn’ jus’ me though. Stormy and your brother helped,” interrupted Remy, earning a cough from Forge. “Ugh, I guess Forge helped too,” he added with fake annoyance, earning a small thank you from the Native American.
“As I was saying, you are my, as cliché as it sounds, my hero. The thought of never seeing you again broke my heart. The thought of you saving me kept me going,” she said as she got down on one knee and produced a ring from her pocket. “Remy Etienne LeBeau, will you marry me?”
Ororo and Forge gasped and looped their arms together in a tight embrace, while Remy placed his hands over his mouth and nodded rapidly. He placed the ring on his finger and pulled Betsy up to kiss her. Suddenly, the doors exploded open and a blonde woman with two grunts surrounding her entered the room.
“You,” she said, pointing at Betsy. “Come with me. You owe me a debt.”
“What? Non, ya ain’t takin’ her away,” said Remy, stepping up to the woman. “Whatever happened ‘tween you ‘n’ me has been dealt wit’.”
“No, no, no. My dear Remy, you misunderstand. This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her body. Kwannon was going to join the Assassin’s Guild, but nope. This little mix up had to happen,” she replied as she stepped back at Remy. She then grabbed his arm and twisted him around, poising a blade to his throat. The air began to cackle with electricity as Ororo summoned her powers and Forge raised his weapon. Two more grunts appeared behind them, knocking them out.
“Now, Betsy. I can help you make sure that you’re never taken advantage of like this ever again. I can give you the means to defend yourself – I also won’t kill my good-for-nothing ex-husband – but, you have to change. You have become someone else to do so.”
“Do you promise to let Remy go?”
“I’m not a LeBeau, I keep my promises.”
“Then deal,” said Betsy as she walked towards the grunts. “I’ll see you soon, Gumbo.” And with that, the woman knocked Remy out cold.
The Stolen Isle
2009
“You sonuvabitch!” yelled Remy as he punched his father’s nose crooked. “Everythin’ dat happened. From my exile, to Betsy bein’ taken, all de way down to de Kenyan army capturing me ‘n’ Stormy. Dat was all you, wasn’t it?”
“Remy, my boy. We can talk about dis, jus’ let me explain,” replied Jean Luc LeBeau as he wiped the blood from his nose and scrambled away from his adopted, youngest son.
“Explain?! You wanna ‘explain’ dis ta me now?!” Remy lifted his leg up high and kicked him square in the chest and onto a sofa.
“YES! I did what I thought was bes’ fer ya, because I love you son.” Remy laughed as his father pushed himself off the sofa.
“You love me? Cuz, it seems like ya hate me. Although, dat ain’t really why I’m mad, ya know,” said Remy as he grabbed his father by the shirt collar and threw him into the pool downstairs. Remy jumped down after him, his enhanced agility smoothing his landing.
His father reached the surface of the water and jumped out of the pool. He kicked his foot out towards Remy and hit him in the thigh, Remy winced in pain then grabbed him by the shirt again and head butted him in recompense. “De stuff wit’ me don’ even really make me mad, though. What really makes me mad is de things ya sold just set ta yaself up better in life. Slaves, sensitive information, dangerous chemicals.” Each object mentioned was punctuated with a blow to the chest and stomach, before grabbing his father by the ponytail. “And de people ya sold ‘em to. Warlords, HYDRA, Al Qaeda.” Each of the buyers mentioned was punctuated by a punch to face, each hit harder than the last, with the final knocking a few teeth loose and some out completely.
His father fell to the ground weakly. Remy punted him in the head, knocking him out.
Other thieves gathered around him and he pulled out a card, ready to charge it should they attack. Instead, they all looked to him, as if looking for guidance.
“I want dis man gone from de Thieves’ Guild; King’s decree,” he said breathlessly as he walked away from the crowd.
Westchester
A Few Months Ago
“What’s all this?” asked Kitty Pryde as she walked into the teacher’s lounge to see Remy and Julian Keller sitting at the table over two birthday cakes and three beers.
“Well, remember when you turned eighteen and we found out that Keller here turned nineteen the same week?” asked Remy as he opened a bottle of beer and handed it to Julian.
“Yeah, Doug made me that really sweet digital birthday card and Miss Monroe gave us all the day off, why?”
“Well, before that all happened, Stormy and Xavier were gonna leave on a field trip to the UN. I managed to get in touch with some a’ y’all’s friends and family, to see if they wanted to fly out here and surprise y’all.”
“Let me guess, the field trip got canceled and Julian and I have no friends from back home,” replied Kitty with a smirk.
“Hey, I take offense to that comment, even if it is true,” replied Julian.
“Exactly. However, I figured that since you were turnin’ nineteen and Julian was turnin’ twenty, I coul’ try again.”
Julian lifted a piece of birthday to his mouth with his mind and bit into it. “That doesn’t explain the beers though, dude,” he said with a mouth full of cake.
“Well, down home in Louisiana, us Cajuns get started on drinkin’ a little earlier than most states. Depends on the parents, but it could be anywhere from sixteen to eighteen.”
“When did your dad give you your first beer?” asked Kitty.
“My pa didn’ give my first beer, but my Tante Mattie got me a daiquiri at one of the drive-thrus we have down there. I was seventeen,” replied Remy as he opened another beer and motioned for Kitty to join him and Julian. Kitty walked over and sat down.
“Now, I blocked the camera off, so no can see us. Now, you two can’t tell anyone about this, y’all understand? No telling Doug,” he said as he looked at Kitty. “No telling Meggan,” this time looking at Julian. “No telling anyone about this, especially the teachers.”
“Got it,” replied both Kitty and Julian in unison.
The three of them grabbed their beers and clinked them together, toasting the future.
Madripoor
A Week Ago
“I see they have sent you, I thought you retired,” said Borya Cich as he looked out from his apartment.
“You thought wrong, luv,” replied his killer.
“Saw you on the news, fighting in Australia. Thought you were trying the hero thing out.”
“That’s just a side job.”
“Of course, of course. I understand.” Cich got up and faced his assassin. “Now, I’ve got to know, Miss Braddock. Who sent you to kill me?” asked the small man.
“You know I can’t tell you that,” replied Psylocke. She then pulled her katana out of its sheath and pierced Borya Cich in the stomach. She placed a hand to her ear and pressed a button to communicate with the sorcerer that teleported her out to Madripoor. “Get me back home.”
Westchester
A Short While Later
Betsy slowly walked into the room she shared with Remy in Xavier’s school since Westchester was destroyed. She went to strip off her costume as she tip-toed to the shower only for the bedside lamp to turn on.
“So, this is where ya been goin’ every week,” said her fiancé. “What the hell did the Assassins’ Guild do to you, Betsy?”
“You heard your ex-wife, luv. They taught me to defend myself, but I had to change first,” replied Betsy, still dripping blood onto the floor.
“Jesus, woman. Are you even the same person?” asked Remy, his eyes pleading with her.
“I’m just as different as you. Tell me, how long was I gone before you went and took over the Thieves’ Guild?”
“That’s different an’ you know it,” replied Remy, standing up out of bed.
“Tell you what, you quit being the ‘King of Thieves’ and I’ll stop killing people to make a living.”
“You mean murdering? Assassinating? Fuckin’ Christ, Betsy. You know that’s fucked up.”
“What’s fucked up? My job or the fact that I’m not the same person you fell in love with? Because news flash Remy, your job is pretty terrible too and you’re not the person I fell in love with either. You got weak, you put down roots, you –“ started Betsy.
“Get out. NOW!” yelled Remy, he could hear his cats and the others in the hall awake from their slumber.
“Fine, but I want that damn ring back!” yelled Betsy in reply. Remy took off the engagement ring she had given him and tossed it to her. She then walked out the door and slammed it closed, leaving Remy alone once again.
Next Time: Origins: I’m On My Worst Behavior