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Shell Game
New Orleans is under attack by Ego, who is out to absorb the city into him like he has done with much of the rest of the world. In the streets, Gambit finds himself wrapped up in tentacles. Jokingly, he tells Ego that he does not kiss on the first date as he charges up some cards with kinetic energy. Bella Donna kicks back another tentacle and tells her companions that Gambit now knows what girls feel like on a date with him. Mercy LeBeau jumps over another tentacle towards a bystander caught by Ego and tells Bella that this is ridiculous. Emil Lapin evades another tentacle and jokes that the city looks worse than during Mardi Gras.
As the Unified Guild of Thieves and Assassins continues to fight on, Gambit charges up the tentacles wrapping themselves around him and escapes. He agrees with Mercy and tells the others that he cannot charge up enough Ego matter to stop its growth. Bella uses her swords to cut a man free and tells Remy that they should be worrying more about New Orleans anyway. Besides, continues Bella, she hasn’t had a good workout like this in months.
Emil comments that they should leave it to the assassins to enjoy fighting alien squids. Gambit tells Emil to be thankful that he kept him on his team because, if he put Emil on the team on the other side of the city, they would probably be hacking him up along with Ego. Bella runs through the crowd in the street to Gambit and tells him that they are not like the X-Men. They should be staying in the shadows. Usually in a riot like this they would be looting the finest galleries in town.
Sarcastically, Gambit says that his big brother, Henri, would be disappointed. He tells the other three to move the civilians out of the way. If he cannot stop Ego from taking the city, he can at least clear the block. With that said, Gambit charges up the area around him with kinetic energy and unleashes it on Ego, destroying all signs of the alien on the block. An explosion occurs, which sends a cloud high up over the city.
Tired, Gambit kneels on the ground to catch his breath. The remains of Ego lay splattered all over the block and on the people. Emil tells Remy that that was gross and Bella, who is on the ground and covered in green slime, complains that he could warn a person next time. Mercy smiles and helps Bella up, telling the other woman that she does not have a drop on her. Bella tells her that is because she hid behind her. Bella gets up and asks Remy what they are going to do next.
Remy tells them that he cannot do this block by block, because it will kill him. Also, he only came down here to help out between helping the X-Men. This is a mess a whole lot bigger than they can expect to handle. Taking out Ronan the Accuser, the Kree warden in charge of prison Earth, is going to take the big guns like the Avengers or Fantastic Four, not a bunch of assassins and thieves from New Orleans. Gambit continues and tells Bella that she is right; this isn’t something the guild would normally do. However, the ancient prophecies concerning the guilds will mean nothing if Ego eats the whole planet.
Bella pulls some gook out of her hair and asks him to get to the point. What are they doing here, she asks. Bella continues and says that Mercy had a point about his work being a compromise to the guild’s ability to work secretly in the city, as they have been doing for hundreds of years. Gambit picks a tentacle off Bella’s shoulder and tells her that life is change. The fact that the guilds are united and Gambit leads them should attest to that. Bella reminds Gambit that he barely survived the vote to make him their patriarch. He should not press his luck. Gambit smiles and tells her that pushing luck is what he has been doing his whole life.
Bella tells him that maybe they made the wrong decision. She then asks Gambit if he is going to go block-by-block and blow up Ego until his head explodes. Gambit tells her that he would prefer not to but, looking around him, he tells her that they may not have a choice. Emil tells Remy that they could pretend Ego isn’t attacking and then they could steal some jewelry.
Suddenly, from behind them, a voice offers them some help. Mercy is shocked that someone snuck up behind them and spins around. A large, pink man, wearing a yellow shirt, green pants and tan boots, stands behind them and introduces himself as Heth’sa from the planet Culth. However, they may be more comfortable with the Earthen name given to him when he received his uniform: X-Cutioner.
Interlude:
The New Sun writes in his diary about what he has learned so far about Gambit. A baby boy with red eyes was abandoned in a New Orleans hospital and taken by the Thieves Guild a day later. The prophecy was the same in this world as in his, though his upbringing was different than Gambits. “Heredity v. Environment. An eternal conundrum…”
Interlude 2:
In Washington D.C., Jacob Gavin Jr. and Gloria Dayne sit in an apartment. Jacob is called the Courier, a shape shifter who currently is stuck in the form of a female. Gloria is called Fontanelle, a mutant dream therapist. Both individuals are working to help Gambit uncover the secrets of his past and the existence of the New Sun.
Jacob analyzes the information that he and Gloria have so far. The Black Womb is a government sponsored covert genetic research lab run by Amanda Mueller, who was Gloria’s mother. Gloria points out that she has not seen her mother in decades. Jacob tells Gloria that they met Amanda when he and Remy traveled back to 1891. That would mean she is older than dirt before she gave birth to Gloria.
Jacob continues and says that they have the New Sun, who is an exact duplicate of Remy but more powerful. When Gloria was working for him, he ordered her to dreamscape people who had experience with Black Womb years ago. Gloria asks why and wonders if New Sun is Gambit’s twin brother or a clone. Jacob asks Gloria what her best guess is. Gloria guesses that if New Sun is a clone or twin he was most likely born as a result of Black Womb and raised separately from Remy. If he is an alternate-earth variation of Remy, then he may be here to understand the difference in their upbringings. There are only two ways to find out. Find Black Womb or find New Sun.
End Interlude.
The Guild returns to their safe house in the Garden District with the X-Cutioner and takes him into a room to interrogate. Gambit’s houseguests, Quiet Bill, who can open windows between dimensions, and Huey, Bill’s homeless friend, look on from the hallway. Gambit tells the X-Cutioner to talk. The X-Cutioner tells Gambit that he understands why he does not trust him, because all the aliens are prisoners forced upon Earth. However, before he became a prisoner he presided over them.
Heth’sa explains that he was a security officer on an orbital penitentiary above his planet, Culth. The officers all wore armor from which the mutant bounty hunter, X-Cutioner, culled his weaponry. Years ago, there was a riot on the station and the officers were overwhelmed. He panicked and fled for his life. All his coworkers died, standing their ground. He was tried and convicted of cowardice and thrown into a Shi’ar penal system instead of a Culth prison, as a sign of mercy. He served his sentence there until, one day, his entire outpost was relocated to Earth. He became one of Ronan’s wardens and used equipment he found to learn of Gambit’s recent battle with the X-Cutioner in New York.
Gambit stops Heth’sa and tells him that he cannot help. X-Cutioner fell into the East River and he was not in any shape to fish him out. Heth’sa tells Gambit that he was able to track the armor’s teleport sequencing. He knows where it is, but not how to acquire it. Gambit realizes that Heth’sa wants their help to steal it back and asks why.
Heth’sa tells him that the suit has components that can teleport him home so he can make amends for what he did wrong. Emil sips his coffee and asks what the guild gets out of it. Heth’sa tells them that the armor has a database that has information that may help slow down Ego. The information was collected by the High Evolutionary. Mercy says that they can sell the information to the highest bidder. Gambit just looks at her and Mercy realizes that her brother-in-law really did turn into a boy scout.
Some time later, Heth’sa pulls out a device which projects map of a missile silo in the region of the Oklahoma plains. He was successful in following the armor’s teleport signal from New York City to there. However, he was unable to obtain the information he needed to get into the silo without triggering the alarms and alerting the authorities. “Or triggering a couple of nukes?” asks Emil.
Gambit reminisces about the time he was conned into stealing a jet plane. Mercy tells him to remember how that turned out. Shocked, Gambit reminds her that they crashed the plane. “Exactly! Like Emil said,” exclaims Mercy, “Fun time!”
Interlude:
In his diary, the New Sun continues to write about the history of Remy. In his late teens, Remy lost control of his biokinetic energies. Remy lacked the formal preparation that New Sun had. In desperation, Remy turned to Sinister, who lobotomized the boy and returned his power levels to a more manageable level.
End Interlude.
Gambit, Mercy, Bella, Emil and Heth’sa climb down the silo with ropes. Gambit tells the two women below him that he does not know what is more delirious; the blood rushing to his head as he is upside down or the view he has. Bella asks him if the silo is impressive. Mercy tells Bella that Gambit was talking about their bodies. Bella says that it is funny for Remy to flirt, considering he flinches every time she gets near him.
Emil says that he knows it is weird coming from him, but asks the others if they could act professional. The group nears the bottom of the silo, which Emil was able to hack into. Heth’sa’s scout ship flew them from New Orleans to Oklahoma in fifteen minutes. Heth’sa looks at him handheld and tells the others that the X-Cutioner armor is ahead, but he also picks up some additional energy signatures.
Bella and Mercy reach the ground floor and check to see if the landing corridor is clear, which it is. The others reach the bottom and all head to a locked door with a console next to it. Heth’sa begins to hack into the console to unlock the door and tells the others that he may trigger a military alert code. Gambit tells him that they have to take the chance. The doors open without any alarm going off, which Heth’sa takes to mean is a silent alarm.
Gambit turns on the lights. In front of them is a staircase that leads up to the X-Cutioner armor, which floats in stasis. On the adjacent walls are his weapons. Emil realizes where his tax money goes, but Mercy reminds him that he does not pay taxes. Heth’sa tells the group that the armor is in a gravimetric stasis shell and asks Gambit if his country was safeguarding it. Gambit says that he does not know, because he never knew who was wearing it in New York City.
Interlude:
In his lair, the New Sun realizes that one of the storage vaults used by Federal Agent Carl Denti has been accessed. The use of the X-Cutioner armor during the Assassination Game was designed to keep Remy off-balance. The New Sun prefers that Remy not know the scope of his country’s military secrets…
End Interlude.
Heth’sa deactivates the stasis shell and takes out the memory archive. He gives the c.d. to Gambit and tells him that no normal computer on Earth will be able to read it. Gambit tells him that he has a few friends who can look at it. Heth’sa begins to mess around with the machinery of the armor and wishes Gambit the best of luck. Gambit asks the alien what he is doing to the armor when, suddenly, there is a loud screeching sound and a flash of light. When the light fades, Heth’sa is gone.
Gambit realizes that Heth’sa has activated the teleportation system. He takes the mask of the X-Cutioner and puts it on to search the logs for where Heth’sa has gone. Mercy asks him why he cares and tells him that they should go. Gambit tells her that they are responsible for whatever Heth’sa is doing. Gambit has the mask project the data for the last teleportation destination.
Mercy and Bella Donna are confused and shocked when they learn that Heth’sa has gone back in time. Gambit tells them that he is going to change the decisions he has made. Emil does not understand what the big deal is. Gambit shows Emil the disk and the man realizes that if Heth’sa makes sure he does not run away in the prison riot, then he would never be sentenced the Earth. If he was never sentenced to Earth, then he would not be able to give Gambit and the others the information they needed to fight Ego. Gambit puts the mask back on and activates the transport system.
Remy travels to the past. He has seen prison riots before and even led one when he was seventeen. He sprung himself and two drunks from a closet jail cell. However, none of those prepare him for the carnage and brutality before him. Gambit appears high on a ledge and looks down at the scene of the X-Cutioners being killed by the rioting Culthan prisoners.
Gambit jumps to the floor and uses his powers to charge up some of the prisoners’ weapons, which detonates them. He leaps over another group and drop kicks the ones he lands by. He jumps back onto a ledge and sees a lone soldier, who eyes the crowd, looking for someone, but not attacking anyone. This is Heth’sa. Gambit takes off his mask.
Gambit watches to see how Heth’sa plays things out. Heth’sa tackles himself as his past-self runs away from the battle. The present Heth’sa tells the other confused Heth’sa to get back into battle. The past Heth’sa tells him that if he does he will die. The present Heth’sa tells the other alien that his life may as well be over and explains to him what will happen next. The past Heth’sa is in disbelief. Present Heth’sa tells the other that if he runs he will shoot him, for at least he will die with honor.
Gambit does not understand what the two aliens are speaking exactly, but he understands the meaning of it. With his powers, he charges up Heth’sa gun and causes it to explode. The past Heth’sa takes advantage of the situation and runs away to meet his future. Heth’sa is furious with Gambit, but the mutant tells him that he could not allow Heth’sa to change the timeline any more than he already has. He tells the alien that killing himself won’t redeem him. Heth’sa asks what will and Gambit gives him the X-Cutioner mask that the past Heth’sa dropped. Heth’sa puts it on and goes into battle to die like he was supposed to.
In the present, Gambit returns. Bell is surprised as, to her, he was only gone for five seconds. Gambit tells her that time travel is a funny thing, but it made a difference in the end. Emil asks Gambit what they are going to do with the c.d. Gambit tells him that he is going to take it to the X-Men or someone like Reed Richards who can decipher it. Mercy tells Gambit that she met Reed Richards before he became Mr. Fantastic and assures Remy that the name fit even then. Gambit returns the X-Cutioner mask to the armor and the group leaves.
Once the group is gone, the X-Cutioner armor begins to move and shake. A voice comes from it as the arms reach up to pull off the mask. A bright radiance of blue energy engulfs the room as the armor thinks about how Gambit still wonders who was inside the X-Cutioner armor during the Assassination Game. The New Sun stands revealed and tells the absent Remy that it was he! In his diary, New Sun writes that the key to Earth’s salvation will be brought on by Gambit’s death.


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[Assistant]
Sunrise Sunset
The New Sun used Quiet Bill to bring Remy to his earth, which is ruined. Remy realizes he's supposed to see this and fear, so he doesn't lose control of his powers, too. He uses his kinetic abilities to keep Bill frozen in time, so the portal stays open. New Sun wants to talk but expects they'll fight after Remy has heard his story.
He was born in Alpha-1, a lab like Black Womb, and trained as a weapon. As a teenager he incinerated the lab and wandered. He joined the X-Men, but had to leave when he killed Phoenix. Jean Luc took him in and showed him the prophecies of the Diable Blanc, who was to be a vessel of the King of the Old Kingdom, which preceded Atlantis and Lemuria. No one thought that “bringing the burning light of heaven to earth“ was literal, but when he channeled those energies, a chain reaction of cascading energy waves engulfed the world, making it a new sun and killing everyone except the New Sun. He tried to remake time, the ultimate use of his kinetic power, but failed, instead breaking through to other universes (including the Age of Apocalypse), finding many in ruins, till he got to ours. To save it, he plans to kill Remy, and he starts blasting.
Fontanelle has been monitoring Quiet Bill's dreams and wakes him, while Courier reaches him physically.
Remy fights kinetic energy wave with kinetic energy wave; something clicks in his head, and his power goes full-force, blasting New Sun all the way to Iraq. They rush each other, colliding a mile above earth, then land in Turkey at the site of the Old Kingdom. Remy knew how powerful he could be and had Sinister lobotomize him (#16, 23). Less powerful but more cunning, he pumps power into the New Sun, overloading him and knocking himself unconscious. He sees Fontanelle in a dream, then wakes to see a statue of the King fall and impale New Sun with a spear.
Everything evaporates, and Courier and Bill pull Remy through the portal to safety in the nick of time.
Huey is dead, and Bill is distraught. Remy's extra powers have burnt out, so he's back to where he started. Courier asks if Remy will miss being so powerful, but he declines. She asks what he wants, and suddendly he kisses him/her, saying he wants to keep everyone on their toes.


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Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
(In the past)
As a child, Remy stole an amulet from Mastif's neck, waking him, but during his escape a branch broke, and he fell into a yard full of alligators. Hercule rescued and captured him, but the biggest gator got the amulet. Mastif is the Thieves Guild's fence, and when Remy can't return the jewelry, he nearly has him thrown back to his pets, but his little daughter Minnie is upset, so instead he says Remy owes him a favor.
(present)
Remy hangs from the ceiling as waiters rob a charity ball in New Orleans. He tosses cards and knocks them all out, to general applause; naturally he doesn't mention he happened to be there to steal a painting.
Hercule calls in the favor, then breaks down sobbing. He takes him to Mastif, who has seen better times. He hugs Remy and also sobs, then shows him his beautiful, comatose daughter. She had become a reporter and argued with her father till she left him and married Abrian DuCreste. He stole her heart, literally, and there's a little door in her empty chest. It's voodoo, and Mastif wants Remy to steal her heart back.
DuCreste is at Mardi Gras with his arm around another girl. Remy trails him, but then a huge man attacks him. Remy charges his orthodontia, exploding till he gets an address, where he breaks in and finds stacks of hearts in jars, wired to a huge one in a central tank.
DuCreste holds his latest girl hostage, then throws her to Remy and smacks him around. He says those hearts were willingly given to him, and he is strong and fast. He breaks off some timber and is about to smash Remy with it; Remy throws a card at the tank. DuCreste disintegrates, and all the hearts disappear, returned to their original owners.
Remy stays with Minnie a few days, refusing to answer the phone, as the series ends.


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House of Cards - part 1: The Prodigal Sinner
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Remy LeBeau, wearing a long, red overcoat and industrial-looking boots, stands before a wrecked Sentinel, which lies smoking on the ground. Flames flicker from its joints and much of its bodywork is missing completely. Its once fearsome head sports the painted words ‘AJ’s Auto Shop’ on it, and Gambit feels the two muppets standing before him have some explaining to do.
He asks which of them thought that it was a good idea to take a multi-million dollar piece of hardware, designed exclusively for genocide, and rebuild it with spare parts from their monster truck. They explain that their decision was prompted by the guys over at Cooter’s Quickie Lube, who had been insufferable since they were featured on ‘Monster Garage Shop.’ They just wanted something cool to show off at the fairground. “T’weren’t no malicious intent, mister…” “LeBeau, Remy LeBeau,” replies the X-Man, “My super hero codename’s Gambit, but I don’t stand much on formality. Just call me Remy.”
Remy explains that, malicious intent or not, Sentinels aren’t toys; they’re murder machines and they could’ve gotten themselves killed. The monstrosity was designed to exterminate mutants, he continues, but it wouldn’t be the first time some regular Joe bystander got wasted in the crossfire. The two guys look at him in horror. “Uh, Mister Remy…” they begin. Gambit replies that Remy is just fine. They point behind him and Gambit turns to see why they appear so concerned.
The Sentinel has righted itself and isn’t entirely a spent force. It tries to stamp on him, but Gambit’s swiftness saves him from a nasty headache. An injured Sentinel is still a Sentinel, so Gambit doesn’t hang around. He produces five playing cards from his pocket and charges them instantly. Before he has chance to throw them, the Sentinel’s massive fist comes for him but, again, Remy is too quick for it. He leaps onto the arm and clambers up towards its shoulder. There, he chucks the cards into the vulnerable joint between the arm and the shoulder, before leaping to safety. The Sentinel explodes, leaving Remy with no doubt that the job is finally done.
Now that it’s finished, Gambit tells the guys he wishes he didn’t have to file that report. “Report?” queries one of the culprits. Remy off-handedly remarks that it’s part of his job with the X-Men. They’re gonna be pretty interested why a couple of fellas like them rebuilt a mutant-hunting robot killer. He adds that they seem fine to him, but the X-Men are gonna raise some questions; maybe wonder if they’re working in cahoots with Magneto. The guys appear shocked, and don’t know that Gambit’s only toying with them.
Remy continues to point out that the X-Men will want to investigate too. The town will be overrun with mutant X-Men, poking and prodding around with their telepathic superbrains and heightened animal senses. The guys clearly don’t want this, and ask Remy if there’s some kind of understanding they can arrive at. Remy asks if the red sports bike in the garage is theirs. Seconds later, he roars off towards New Orleans.
(New Orleans)
Before long, Remy is in the city. It is night time and it seems the whole city is out to celebrate the Geco Festival. Crowds jostle through the streets, while the balconies of the old houses lining the street are filled with people bent on having a good time. A kid remarks on Remy’s wheels and he replies that he can keep ‘em. Another child remarks on Remy’s ‘freaky’ eyes, but his mother simply holds him a little tighter. Remy continues down the street and says hello to a tarot reader named Ida, and a beggar he knows as Ronnie, who asks him for some lunch money. “Soon Ronnie. Real soon,” Remy replies.
Watching Remy's entrance into the city is a guy with spiked, blond hair. He calls his employer, Mister Cooper, on his cell phone and informs him that Remy is back. Remy wanders into a tavern, where the barman knows him. He asks Remy what he’s been up to. Remy replies he’s been doing the usual: fighting monsters and maniacs, rescuing kittens, saving the universe. He asks if that gets him a free drink and the barman replies that he might get a free draft for the kitten.
Nearby, some guys are playing cards around a table. Dan’s friend says there’s a lot of moolah riding on this hand. Dan looks at his cards. He has four aces, but doesn’t like his hand one bit. He stands and tosses them to the table. He folds. His playing partners think he’s crazy, and that Dan thinks the cards talk to him, but Dan heads to the bar and opens his arms, as he sees his old friend, Gambit. Remy smiles as he sees Dan, and they embrace warmly.
Remy asks Dan if his apartment is still in one piece and if he watered the plants. Shipshape, replies Dan, a middle-aged black man with greying hair and beard. ‘Cept, he adds, he doesn’t remember that being part of the deal when Remy gave him that three-month advance. “It was six months rent, you old swindler,” Remy replies. Dan laughs. He’s just trying to keep Remy on his toes.
They relax against the bar and Dan asks what brings Remy back to these parts. Guild business? Personal business? Visiting family? or does he have another ex-wife stashed away that nobody knows about. Remy hints that he has a job. Dan wonders if he gets bored with super-heroing, suggesting that he came back for a different kind of excitement. When he gets bored there, he’ll go back to the X-Men. Gambit asks, “You’re not going to start on me, are you, old timer? Like you said, I’m just keepin’ myself sharp.”
Dan turns the conversation onto a little more serious note. He informs Remy that there’s an ill wind blowing; something bad’s gonna happen. Remy asks if his cards told him that. Those four aces he just threw away give him a message? Dan asks Remy not to poke fun at him, especially when he and his friends run around with underwear on the outside of their clothes, shooting each other with radioactive laser beams. This is serious business, he continues. The cards have been whispering to him all week. Today, they’re screaming at the top of their lungs; warning type things.
Dan takes a swig of his drink and adds that the cards don’t lie and Remy, of all people, oughta know. He holds cards every day and fights with them, but he hasn’t stopped to listen to what they have to say. Remy gives him a little hug, and tells Dan that they’ll pick up this conversation some other time. It’s been along day already and he’d like to head upstairs and get unpacked. He has somewhere to be tonight. As he departs, Dan tells him he’s just trying to caution him. Remy enters his comfortable room, which has a photo of himself on the wall. “Crazy old man,” he says, as he walks through the door.
That night, Gambit changes into casual clothes and wanders into town. The party atmosphere is strong and people throng the streets, with their carefree attitudes, causing Gambit to think that some things never change around here. He passes another familiar face, that of Madame Camille. She asks if he’s an appointment at Mister Cooper’s and Remy replies that he figures she already knows the answer to that; as well as the answer to everything else. She waves him on, joking that he’ll be back for her help soon enough. A girl sweeping up Madame Camille’s shop looks at Remy and gushes at his good looks. “Don’t even think it, girl,” Madame Camille warns.
Upon his approach to Club Orleans, Remy notices a disturbance in the car park. Three men are tussling with a young lady, who clearly doesn’t want to join them in their car. Remy, of course, intervenes and they warn him to move along if he knows what’s good for him. Remy tries being nice and tells them that they’re obviously drunk, and are gonna be hurting one way or another tomorrow. He tells them it’s up to them to decide if it’s from a hangover…or a concussion.
Watching the confrontation is Orlean Cooper, owner of the club. “I love this town,” he tells himself, “Such a friendly place, so much to celebrate, music always in the air, and you never can tell what the night will bring.” Cooper is a blue-skinned mutant with red hair and a stocky physique. He watches Remy make short work of the three thugs, but turns to his guest to listen to what he has to offer.
Sitting in his office is Jack Jessup. As a band plays in the club below them, he asks Cooper to skip the Chamber of Commerce pep talk and jump ahead to the part where he tells him the job and hands over the money. Cooper, having seen the fight outside, has a change of plan. He informs Jessup that circumstances have changed, and his expertise is no longer required.
Cooper thumps a large wad of cash on his desk and informs Jessup that they’d agreed on a considerable sum, and here’s a generous portion of that. Money for nothing! Isn’t that what being a thief is all about? asks Cooper, rhetorically. He warns Jessup to do him a favor and keep his nose out of this, or he can guarantee there’ll be trouble. Jessup stands, and says he’s the best man for the job and Cooper knows it. Cooper replies that he’s afraid that, at this particular juncture, he is not.
He takes him back out onto the landing, which overlooks the bar where diners are enjoying their food. He tells Jessup to enjoy the hospitality of the establishment’s diverse beverage selection but, if he can excuse him, he has an old friend to attend to. Jessup recognizes LeBeau, and doesn’t like it.
Downstairs, Remy is arguing with the mutant doorman, a man much larger than he is. He is chastising the doorman, Alphonse, on not lifting a finger to help the girl being attacked in the car park earlier. The man explains that what happens outside the business is none of his concern. Remy says that’s a nice attitude he has there; a real credit to X-gene carriers everywhere. Orlean Cooper interrupts their argument and asks them to play nice. He reminds Alphonse that Remy is welcome there, just as everyone is welcome. Club Orleans is a haven for civilized people, man and mutant, to conduct business, to pass an evening in leisure and fine music. Just as long as they follow the rules.
Remy asks how he could even think otherwise. He explains that he’s back in town after a long absence. Can Cooper blame him for stopping in at N’awlins’ swankiest jazz club? “Flatterer,” replies Cooper. He asks Remy what really brings him here tonight. “I’ve got a date!” he replies, smiling.
Across the room, a blonde woman in a long golden evening dress waves at him and calls his name. Remy puts his arms out and quietly asks her to kiss him. Before she can resist, he plants one on her lips; just long enough for Orlean Cooper to get the idea that she really is his date. He tells them to enjoy their evening, and leaves them to it.
The woman asks if he cares to explain that, or would he like to see just how far she can shove her fork? “Lili Penrose, I presume,” says Remy, as he seats himself opposite her at one of the club’s tables. That’s an introduction, she points out, not an explanation. Remy tells her that the imposing fella in the two thousand dollar suit is Orlean Cooper; self-proclaimed city godfather and the owner of this fine club, among others. He’s a nice enough guy as super powered gangsters go, but he’s got a firm rule that certain extra-curricular activities take place only if he consents, and gets a percentage. If he found out that they were breaking this rule, he wouldn’t hesitate to have them skinned alive, boiled and left in the swamps as gatorbait; and that’s if he’s feeling charitable.
So, Lili asks, what are they doing there? They could have met anywhere. Remy grins and replies that he knows, but it keeps things lively. Lili is beginning to understand him, and why he agreed to meet her. This is why a super hero moonlights, isn’t it - to keep things lively? Gambit says he prefers to see it the other way round, and adds that the reason he agreed to meet her had more to do with the staggering down-payment included with her job offer. As a waiter deposits a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket to their table, she slides her bag over to him using her foot; a bag containing several wads of cash, and a toy Geco.
Remy pours the drinks, and flatters her by saying that, with a pretty face like hers, along with that cash, naturally, he’d do pretty much anything she wants. Just for fun, though, he asks, what say she tells him what she wants. Lili explains that she wants him to steal a deck of cards. Gambit likes the idea; cards are his speciality. He clinks glasses and makes a toast to the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Over at the bar, Jack Jessup is taking his frustration out on the hapless barman. He wants a particular bottle, but the barman explains that it’s not for public consumption. Jessup tells him that Orlean Cooper told him he could have whatever he wanted, and that’s it. He wants the whole bottle. The barman explains that it’s a 60-year-old single malt, private preserve McCallam, and it goes for twelve thousand a bottle. This is part of Mister Cooper’s private stash, and he’s not gonna like it if he hands it over.
Jessup calls for a trade. He tosses Cooper’s wallet onto the bar and tells the barman he lifted it when they shook hands in the office. He then places a Hydra-designed twin-laser hand cannon down which Cooper keeps taped under his desk. Jessup explains that Cooper stopped to make a call during their meeting and he swiped it. He then produces a small Benin dagger; 15th century, and part of Cooper’s exotic art collection. He took that when Cooper turned to watch his mutie pal beat down some frat boys. He picked the lock to its case and nabbed it.
Finally, Jessup holds up a prayer blade, which was used for sacrifice. It gutted kids whose blood spilled into the Okpara River, and summoned ancient voodoo gods to bind ‘em in servitude. The barman asks how on Earth he would know that. Jessup says he knows all sorts of stuff. He quickly brings the dagger down straight through the man’s hand, pinning him to the bar. He grabs his collar and orders the barman to tell Cooper that he’s doing the job anyway. He’ll get those cards and then he’ll discuss his fee with the highest bidder. He removes the knife and adds that Cooper should know that, if anyone gets in his way, he’ll rip out their stinkin’ mutant guts and feed ‘em to him.


[User]
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[Assistant]
House of Cards - part 2: Player’s club
(Present - the banks of the Mississippi)
A ship is unloading its cargo late at night. Stark International security staff ensure the load is protected. A stocky guy in a white suit is overseeing proceedings, and thinks that Stark is overly cautious when it comes to his work. Stark seems to think that every new design of his will be targeted for industrial espionage. Suddenly, one of the crates being lifted by a crane explodes and out of it comes a swamp craft, surrounded by flames. Aboard it are two crates, along with Remy LeBeau carrying a suitcase.
As the swamp craft lands on the water with a huge splash, the boss orders his security staff to stop him; “He’s got the prototype.” They open fire on Remy, who smiles as he looks back at them. The smile is wiped from his face quickly, as he spots two more swamp crafts in hot pursuit, both with armed security aboard. They fire off round after round at Gambit’s boat, so he quickly charges a deck of cards and tosses it towards them. When it hits the water, the explosion tears the following crafts apart, leaving Remy to make his exit. Not a wise decision, he thinks, to steal from the tech company that bankrolls the Avengers!
Thinking he is okay, Remy is suddenly faced with a hovering attack helicopter, which fires at him from feet above the water. Remy steers the craft away but, when a couple of missles are launched in his direction, there is no escaping. Remy asks himself how he keeps on getting talked into doing this kinda stuff.
(Flashback - Bourbon Street, New Orleans, five hours earlier)
Madame Camille is holding a reading for a suited gentleman in her shop. She peers into her crystal ball, as the guy asks if he will ever find true love. Camille replies that it’s hard to see, but the path of the heart’s often the most clouded. She tells him that she sees he has come into some money recently. He admits that he has. She continues to say he sold a bundle of Revatech shares right before its stock took a tumble. This surprises the man. Camille continues to tell him that she sees an e-mail telling the guy to dump them from his cousin, who just happens to be an analyst at Revatech. Looks like insider information to her. That’s the sort of stuff that got Martha into trouble.
The guy stands and asks what kind of fortune telling this is, anyway. Camille nonchalantly replies that it’s her taking twenty pieces of silver. Twenty percent of his windfall sounds about right to her. “This is outrageous,” the guy says, reaching for his check book. Camille wants cash only, and tells him to return later, warning him not to skip without paying, as he better believe she knows where he lives.
As he storms out in a huff, Gambit enters the shop and tells her that wasn’t nice at all. Camille asks to what she owes the pleasure of his company. Remy pulls back the curtain behind her, revealing Genevieve D’Aubigne surrounded by walls of computer monitors. On each screen, there are people in situations that can be used against them for blackmail purposes. As Camille has just proven, Genevieve is a top hacker. Genevieve crushes on Remy as soon as she spots him.
Remy hands Camille a piece of paper, asking her for information. He wants everything she has on an address he has, including floor plans, security system, override codes, sewer layout, building history and modification records. The last things he needs on a job like this are surprises. Camille knows the address as being the Penrose Estate. Gambit thinks she might be wrong, but Camille continues to point out that the address belongs to Morgan Penrose, the uncle of Lili Penrose. Gambit thinks it’s funny that Lili didn’t mention she wanted him to steal from her uncle.
Camille informs Remy that Morgan Penrose is an art collector, antiquarian and an amateur occultist. Remy tells her that Lili didn’t mention that either. Camille thinks the sorcery stuff is just to draw in the suckers. Remy leans over Genevieve, and tries to use his charm on the young hacker. Madame Camille slides her body between them, and asks if it didn’t occur to Remy to just ask Lili Penrose when she was handing over the money for the job. She then stands back, and folds her arms. “Oh, that’s right. You were too busy flirting with the lil’ gal, weren’t you Remy? I swear, if that mutie chick of yours with the streak in her hair had even half an inkling of what a dog you were behind her back…”
Gambit asks Camille to knock it off. He’s not paying her for a lecture. Camille replies that he’s not paying her anything. She only trades in favors. Remy asks, “What kind of favors?”
(Present - the banks of the Mississippi)
The swamp craft is no more, smashed into tiny pieces by the torpedoes. Security staff scour the area for any sign of Remy, but no one finds a thing. One of the guys asks his boss what makes him think the prototype will still be intact. He replies that the case it was in is designed to withstand kilotons. A couple of hellfire missiles would hardly put a scratch on it.
Another guy pulls the case out of the water with a net. The boss informs his men that their adversary was brave, but not particularly clever. He had a G.P.S. installed into the case to track and lock onto. The bandit never stood a chance. They depart the scene, leaving the other boxes floating in the water. Once out of sight, a gloved hand opens one of the boxes from the inside and Remy pulls himself out. He’s getting tired of favors that involve him being shot at, chased after or blown up.
Behind him, a voice says, “Squishing into that box didn’t look none too comfortable either.” Instinctively, Gambit turns with a charged card at the ready, and he holds it to the stranger’s neck. The stranger puts his hands up and explains that he was simply craw fishing when Gambit’s friends came around and started ‘splodin’ things. They didn’t look like the type that liked witnesses, so he kept a low profile. He offers to give Gambit a lift to dry land, and Remy gratefully accepts.
He asks the stranger if fishing was good today. It was okay, he replies, and better for him than for Remy, he suspects. Remy pulls out the prototype disk from his pocket, having made a switch. He tells the stranger that it’s funny how things work out. This is turning out to be a pretty good day after all. The stranger jokes that Remy might think otherwise when he finds out how much he’s charging for the ride.
(Later, New Orleans)
Gambit approaches the Glam Slam bar to meet Dan Downs. Dan asks what happened to him and Remy replies Miss Camille and Genevieve D’Aubigne happened to him, along with a Stark-tech minidisk... something about a beta version of a universal firewall bypass. He places some documents on Dan’s table and Dan asks what they are. The papers show a photograph of Lili Penrose and the house belonging to her uncle Morgan. Remy explains that it’s Chez Penrose, pride of the garden district. It has an electrical fence, four outdoor video cameras, twelve inside, round-the-clock in-house trained security trained in martial arts and marksmanship, four-minute time response from the cops. Also, there are enough safeguards, trick-locks, secret passages and booby traps to fill a new Indiana Jones trilogy.
Dan reckons it’s a slam dunk for someone like him, but Remy mentions that small matter that’s bothering him. He explains that Morgan Penrose dabbles in the occult. With those sorts of folk, you never know what’s going to complicate things, what with voodoo hexes, mystic snares or supernatural whatchamacallit’s. Dan says, “You don’t believe in that sort of stuff anyway… do you?” Remy smiles, and asks what he knows about all this.
Dan explains that Remy isn’t the only one who’s been doing some investigating. He told him about the cards warning him about something bad that’s about to happen. He thinks it’s connected to this gig. Gambit is skeptical. He tells Dan that talking to poker cards isn’t investigation; it’s psychosis! Dan says maybe, maybe not, but is Remy prepared to bet his life on it? He asks Remy to join him, just this once, and he’ll see if he can make a believer out of him.
(Elsewhere)
‘Fast’ Jack Jessup is up a telegraph pole outside the Penrose residence. Using binoculars, he checks out the perimeter and calls Orlean Cooper on the phone. Cooper says he has a nerve calling him after what he pulled at his club. He ought to have his kneecaps for breakfast. Jessup replies that he just wanted to show Cooper he meant business. Now, maybe they can do business. He explains that he’s been scoping the Penrose place and he’s ready to move. The score goes down tonight. After that, he’ll be in touch.
Cooper puts the phone down. Opposite his desk, floating above a pentagram on the floor, a large, red, demonic figure hovers, menacingly. “Problems, Cooper?” it asks. Cooper replies, “No, not at all. In fact, everything is proceeding exactly as planned.”
(Soon)
Remy and Dan are at the Pharaoh’s Casino in town, seated around a poker table. Dan explains to his table mates that the cards are like women. You gotta spend money on ‘em to keep ‘em happy. You shower them with affection, and they’ll whisper all sorts of sweet nothings in your ear. One of the guys at the table has heard of Dan. He’s the old nut who hangs out at on Bourbon and talks to his playing cards. Dan replies that they talk, he just listens. He adds that cards are fickle. They’ll turn on you, so you gotta keep ‘em happy with bribes, gifts and favors. The guy, Mr. Brookins, asks if that’s why Dan keeps folding on all these good hands. Yup, replies Dan. It’s like a sacrifice to the poker gods; the masters of fate and chance.
A fourth man at the table reckons this is a good yarn, and Remy can’t believe he got talked into this. Mr. Brookins hopes Dan’s been told something juicy for all that money he’s been throwing away. Dan looks right at him and tells him that the inside straight told him that Brookins has been unfaithful to his wife on his last three business trips. Two pair king-high told him about a drunken hit-and-run on a visit to Atlanta. The last hand told him that Brookins has a thing for women’s underwear, and he doesn’t mean he likes the way it looks on the ladies. Brookins covers his face in shame and asks if they can just get back to the game. With Dan’s point proven, Remy can only smile.
Nearby, the casino staff members are becoming concerned with the goings on at the table. Remy bets all his money on the next hand, saying that it’s a mighty big pile ‘o chips. Dan replies that it’s like he said; the bigger the sacrifice, the bigger the secret. As two members of staff cut in on the game and inform them that they’re going to have to leave, Dan and Remy fold simultaneously, and the large demonic figure from Cooper’s office materializes above the table. Reacting swiftly, Remy lets fly with two charged cards, but they pass right through the creature.
Dan informs Remy that it isn’t real; it’s some sort of illusion. As swiftly as it appeared, the demon vanishes. Mr. Brookins tells Remy that he has to get out of there. Remy can’t see an argument. Remy and Dan walk away from the casino and into the night air. Remy asks him if he wants to try and explain what he just saw. Was that some kind of warning not to go after the cards? Dan replies that it wasn’t a warning. It was a vision… of things to come.
“All this fuss over a stupid deck of cards?” exclaims Remy. Dan reminds him that it’s not playing cards he was asked to steal, and he’s not the only one who’s been hired to steal them. It’s a deck of tarot cards, with supernatural powers of apocalyptic proportions, and, if the wrong people get hold of it, there’s literally going to be hell to pay. Over at Club Orleans, Cooper shakes hand with the fiery demon.


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[Assistant]
House of Cards - part 3: Sleight of hand
(24/7 Gas & Groceries)
It’s evening, and a ten-pin bowler proudly shows off his ball to a friend. It’s in a bag and he isn’t allowing his friend to get his greasy mitts on it. He’s named it Lucille, and he intends to use her to roll his way to a league championship. Gambit and his friend, Dan Down, are strolling towards them. Dan is carrying two full gas cans and Remy a grocery bag. Remy collides with the guy carrying the ball. He quickly apologizes before continuing his journey. Once they’re out of sight and nearing their destination, Remy asks Dan to leave the gas cans in the middle of the street, four blocks from the house he’s planning to break into. Dan thinks this is strange, but does as he is asked.
They continue past the Penrose house, and Remy tells Dan to keep walking, eyes straight ahead. He reckons it’s dark enough outside for them to pass as locals out for an evening stroll. He asks Dan to try and look inconspicuous. His goal tonight is to be in and out of the Penrose house, without attracting attention and without anyone even knowing he was there. All Dan has to do is stay there and look out for trouble.
Remy reaches into his grocery bag and pulls out the $350 bowling ball he switched with the guy outside the gas station. Dan wonders if it’s the right time for Remy to attempt this, what with Morgan Penrose having some kind of dinner party tonight. Remy replies that it’s perfect. He’s after a deck of cards. With all those guests, and all this commotion, there’s just more chance of them blaming each other after it’s all over. He charges the ball up with kinetic energy, and hurls it down the street, back towards the gas cans. He needs to throw them off the scent, he says, with a well-timed bit of misdirection. As the ball rumbles towards the gas cans, the guy with the bowling ball bag opens it to discover a cabbage in the ball’s place. He is rightly furious.
(The Penrose residence, flashback)
Morgan Penrose is explaining to his guests how the Inficio Aquilus came about. He explains that it was crafted more than seven hundred years ago, in Northern Italy. The monks from the order of Frater Inficio were charged with tending the mentally afflicted; people with ‘poisoned minds.’ These mad people who spoke in tongues and who were plagued with visions claimed to communicate with the divine… or the damned. For five decades, this brotherhood spent their time trying to understand some of the most powerful resonating imagery within the most primal recesses of human consciousness. Five more decades were spent trying to recreate those images; the intention being to harness their power.
Sometime toward the completion of it all, proximity to all that derangement and darkness had a profoundly corrupting effect. The monks fought with each other; violent thoughts stemming from the most gentle of minds. The end result was the Inficio Aquilus, one of the original decks of tarot decks; maybe the original tarot deck. It is certainly the most powerful.
It contains eighty-two cards; twenty-six in the major arcane, which is four more than contemporary decks. These four cards were excised from subsequent decks, and their histories largely erased. The cards were deemed too dangerous to be seen, and removing them was the only way to ensure human safety, and sanity.
(present)
Morgan’s guests listen intently to this story. He invites them to join him in an event which has not even been dared in a century; an exclusive viewing of select cards from the Inficio Aquilus. “Just a viewing, Penrose?” one woman asks, “Not a reading?” Morgan replies that it is quite likely that many among them could not survive a reading from the Inficio Aquilus. As it is, they’ll just be viewing the minor arcane. Anything more than this could result in blindness, arrhythmia or even worse repercussions.
Outside the house, the charged bowling ball connects with the two gas cans, which explode, creating a huge ball of flame and an enormous boom. Penrose’s security guards leap into action and head off in the direction of the blast. Remy takes out two security cameras with cards, and uses his bo-staff to leap over the fence and into the Penrose residence grounds. He is clearly enjoying the excitement.
As he runs towards the house, Dan Downs calls him on the radio. He thinks this is bad news. He’s concerned that the assembled group aren’t simple party guests. They’re a who’s who of the easy’s supernatural elite. As Morgan calms everyone down and assures them he has his staff investigating, Remy tells Dan that he has forty-nine seconds left to input an override code in the system, now that the cameras are out. Otherwise, an alarm will sound out to Brint’s Home Security, and then the New Orleans Police Department will descend on this place like fat guys on a comic convention.
As he somersaults up a tree adjacent to the house, he apologizes to Dan, but there’s not a lot of time for chit-chat. He extends his bo-staff and stretches it across from a sturdy branch to the house. Engaging in a little funambulism, he crosses to the house and uses a miniature blowtorch to burn a hole in the window. He enters, and squats at a computer, accessing it using codes provided by Madame Camille. He has succeeded with just two seconds remaining.
He calls Dan on his radio and informs him that the hard part’s done. The rest of the cameras are blind and the guards are occupied, ‘cept for a couple guarding the deck. There are just a couple more hoops to jump through before they’re in the free an’ clear. Not a single soul will be the wiser. Behind him, a voice says, “Guess again Gambit…”
Remy turns to see Lili Penrose standing in the doorway; and she’s looking good. Dan informs Remy that they have a problem. Stepping out of his limo is Orlean Cooper. Dan wonders what a mutant gangster could be doing hanging out with the séance crowd. Remy has no idea. He replies that Cooper has fingers in many pies around town, so it doesn’t strike him at being all that odd. He asks Dan to keep an eye on things outside. This gig’s just hit a … complication.
Lili explains that her uncle insists she attends all his monotonous functions. He thinks she’ll one day become smitten by one of his horrid mouth-breathing warlock friends. She leans over to Remy and tells him that, when she heard the explosion, she just knew he was behind it. She also figures that coming up here would be his next move. Nobody else would be so brash.
She inches closer to him, and tells him she like his style. He’s an adrenaline junkie; that’s why he does this. He thinks danger’s a turn on. Well, Lili adds, so does she. With their lips only inches away from each other, Remy extends his arms and pushes her gently away. He reminds her that she isn’t exactly sober, but Lili replies that she’s had a few, but only enough to tolerate all those mystical blowhards. Remy asks her to get back downstairs and to make sure she mingles. She’ll need an alibi, and he hasn’t the time for this.
Lili begins to undo her top, and lets the whole dress drop to the floor. Remy is shocked. “I said no, woman!” he says, “C’mon, Lili, if you want me to get these cards, I’ve got to go.” Lili grabs his jacket collar and replies that she wants the cards, but that’s not the only thing she wants. She drags him back inside the room. An undetermined length of time later and Remy emerges. He grins. Maybe he is Homo superior, but he’s still only human.
Gambit is soon back in serious mode. The two guards guarding the decks are taken out with ease, as Remy prepares for the last obstacle. He removes his long trench coat, and somersaults gracefully between laser beams in a field guarding the deck. Elsewhere, someone reactivates the cameras and Remy is shown picking the lock to the box holding the deck. Morgan Penrose, meanwhile, leads his party to the room, telling them they’ve waited long enough. Tonight, he assures them, is a night which none of them will ever forget. Unfortunately, he is correct.
He enters the room to find the two guards out cold on the floor. Morgan’s face drops, as he realizes his prized possession has been stolen. Behind him, Orlean Cooper is unable to suppress a wry smile.
Soon, Remy is outside and dashing across the road towards Dan’s location. He arrives to find Dan slouched against a tree, worse for wear. “Dan?” queries Remy. Out of nowhere, ‘Fast’ Jack Jessup swings from a branch and zaps Remy with a powerful taser gun, causing him to drop the deck as he passes out. Jack drops to the ground. He thanks his unconscious competition for doing his job for him This city is his turf. The best part about it, is that everybody’s gonna know Remy did it, and just as soon as he wakes up, they’ll be coming after him.


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[Assistant]
House of Cards - part 4: Bet your life
(Club Orleans)
Mutant club owner, Orlean Cooper, is watching CCTV footage with Morgan Penrose It shows Remy’s recent exploits in stealing the Inficio Aquilus tarot deck from the Penrose residence. Morgan isn’t impressed and wants Remy dead.
He asks Orlean if he understands, and Orlean replies that, if he recalls, he was there last night when the larceny occurred. He thinks it odd, because he’s familiar with Remy’s work and he isn’t usually this sloppy. Morgan reminds Cooper that the Inficio Aquilus deck is more that seven hundred years old and cost him plenty. The extent of its occult power could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.
Morgan slams the table with his fist. “I want LeBeau’s head on a platter!” he screams. “I want him to die; slowly, and I want it to be painful.” Cooper tries to calm his friend down, and emphasizes that he’s a legitimate businessman and cannot be seen to be any part of this. His right-hand man, Alphonse, then appears at the doorway. However, he continues, there are advantages in employing a personal assistant who’s also a member of the Assassins Guild. He offers Alphonse’s deadly services to Mr. Penrose. Cooper asks them to take their business outside. Alphonse’s can do whatever he wants during his coffee break.
As the two men disappear down the street, Cooper lets out a little chuckle. Alphonse informs Penrose that he knew what he would want the moment he walked into Club Orleans. He took the liberty of anticipating his request and put the word out to some associates. Right now, every cutthroat, killer, hired gun, hatchet man, goon, gangster, triggerman and torpedo in the state is on the trail of the smarmy little punk. He assures Penrose that if, they can’t take care of it, he’ll do it himself. However, he wouldn’t be surprised if Remy LeBeau, at that moment, is either already dead, or fighting for his life.
(elsewhere, at that very moment)
Remy stares intently at his opposition. The man opposite tells him to give it up. He’s finished. He says that Remy knows he has exactly what he wants, and he’s stalling. He orders Remy to make his move, or is he ready to give up? “Okay, already, okay,” replies Remy. Shuffling some playing cards through his fingers, he asks Dan Downs if he has any fours. They are playing a game of cards, Go Fish, on a park table. Behind him, several hired goons, triggermen, hatchet men etc, lie beaten and bruised, and are either sprawled out on the floor, or dangling from nearby trees.
Unfortunately, their game has been spoiled by Remy having to use several cards in the decks to take out his opponents. Remy suddenly wonders why he’s not making moves to track down the scum that’s behind all this. He asks Dan to play solitaire or something and see what he comes up with. He’s going to figure out who jumped him, and who sicced this assassin team on them. They’re gonna learn real quick that they crossed the wrong Cajun.
Dan looks worried. He grabs Remy and pulls him back by the coat sleeve. He informs his friend that he never talks to the cards on their own, not without back up. It’s bad luck. There are rules for these sort of things, and the cards don’t like it one bit. They’ll turn on you if you try. Try to go one-on-one with the cards and something bad will almost always happen.
Remy sits back down and Dan asks to play just one more hand. They are dealt their cards, and Remy asks if he has any jacks. Dan takes a look at his cards, and replies that he does have a jack… Jack Jessup! An image of Jack zapping Remy appears on his deck. He tells Remy that Jack Jessup is the man that ambushed him and stole the tarot deck. He’s got big plans to unload them to the highest bidder. “Jack?” replies Remy, “You gotta be kidding!”
Gambit remembers Jessup well. He’s a real loser who used to boost pocket change from beggars in Jackson Square. Remy makes his way into town on Jessup’s trail. A beggar points him in the direction of Orlean Cooper’s place. He adds that Jessup’s changed whilst Remy’s been away. Kid’s got ambition. Remy calls in at the Mardi Gras party supply’s shop and then at a hot dog vendor’s. Remy offers him five hundred bucks to take the day off and go fishing. Remy knows Jessup may now have ambition; but he’s got no imagination or vision.
Jessup, meanwhile, is on the phone to Orlean Cooper. He wants to know where the blue man is at, and needs to see him. Jack explains that he’s outside Cooper’s club now, and it’s still closed. He’s been calling Cooper all day and has tried every means of communication possible. He’s become very impatient. He explains to Cooper’s answering machine that he has the cards, and gloats that he told Cooper that he was twice the thief that the mutie wash-up Le Beau ever could be. If Cooper wants the cards, he’d better be prepared to meet his price.
Orlean listens to Jessup’s rant, smoking away on a fat cigar. Also with him is Morgan Penrose’s daughter, Lili. She wonders if Cooper is ever going to pick up the phone. Jessup is practically screaming at him. She plants herself on his lap. Orlean replies that, as much as he wants the cards, it pays to be patient. He informs her that thieves are nothing if not predictable. He’ll give the two of them an hour or so, and one problem is almost sure to take care of the other.
As Jessup speaks, his concentration is broken by a hot dog vending machine knocking into him. He turns on the vendor and warns him to watch where he’s going. The vendor (actually Remy disguised with glasses and a false mustache bought from the supply shop) apologizes, and offers him a hot dog on the house. Jessup knocks them from his hand, and orders him to just leave. As he continues his phone call, Remy returns to see Dan Downs. He’s now carrying the tarot cards. He swiped them in the melee and gloats that he told Dan about Jessup; he’s strictly small time. He’s mostly harmless, thoroughly clueless and definitely not ready for the big leagues. He just wishes he could have seen his ugly pickle face when he figured out what just went down.
Suddenly, in the early evening light, Remy turns to see two other ugly faces staring back at him. One of the guys is Alphonse, and he’s with another mutant bruiser. Alphonse immediately uses a whip and attacks Remy. It splits the box holding the tarot deck in two, and the cards fly out. Dan quickly covers Remy’s eyes, warning him that these suckers are deadly, and one look at the wrong card could blind him. Remy remarks that he hates when that happens.
Dan continues to explain that the cards are indestructible too. Nobody’s completely sure what they’re made of, but he’s heard some pretty crazy theories. Remy thanks him for the info, and reckons he can use this to his advantage. Remy stands, and as Dan tries to deliver another warning, he zaps charges into three cards and hurls them at the two bruisers as he leaps gracefully toward them. He’s stylish, but unfortunately, he’s ineffective. By the time the tarot cards reach their intended target, the charge has dissipated and they flap harmlessly against Alphonse’s chest. Remy realizes he’s now in trouble. Alphonse charges, and as he leaps at Remy, he explains that his kinetic energy only works on inorganic objects.
The big guy grabs Gambit around the neck and adds that, if Remy was hoping the cards would blind him, then he guesses his luck has finally run out. As he tosses Remy effortlessly into a garbage can, he tells him he shoulda done his homework. He picks Remy up again, and this time slams him to the ground. Dan is helpless, and Remy orders him away; there’s nothing he can do for him. He should go get help. Alphonse agrees, and tells Dan to skedaddle. Alphonse’s friend continues to pummel Remy into the dirt as Dan runs for his life.
(soon, at Remy’s apartment)
Dan arrives and wonders if, by getting help, Remy meant the police. He knows the cops won’t cry about a mutant thief getting what’s coming to him, and the Thieves Guild won’t want to be in the middle of this either. Realization dawns upon him, as he spots a deck of cards on the table. As he warned Gambit earlier, one shouldn’t go one-on-one with the cards or bad things will happen. However, he has little choice, and Dan sits down to shuffle the pack.
Slowly, he flips each card, and brings up what appear to be random numbered cards; an eight here, a four there. As each card is turned, Dan doesn’t really understand the significance of what he is looking at. However, when he lays the cards down, he realizes that what he’s looking at is a telephone number. He grabs the phone and dials the number. As he waits for an answer, Jack Jessup suddenly comes crashing through the door. He’s furious, and wants his lucrative tarot deck back.
As the voice on the other end of the line warns that he shouldn’t be interrupted during The O.C., Jack punches Dan, sending him sprawling to the carpet. Dan reaches for the phone, but is unable to speak, as Jack wraps the cord around his neck. Jack tells Dan that he should have killed him the first time he had the chance; him and LeBeau. He isn’t going to let this opportunity slip away from his grasp. Dan chokes as the person on the other end wonders what on Earth is going on. Soon, Dan drops to the ground, and the phone drops from his hand. Wolverine is on the other end of the line, enjoying a beer. “Hello?” Inquisitively, he repeats the question. “Hello?!”


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
House of Cards - part 5: Celebrity Poker
(Remy’s thoughts)
Gambit is reflecting on how saving the world alongside the X-Men can get old after a while. Every so often, he needs to take a break, and do his own thing. This usually leads him home, for a little R ‘n R… and R. Rest, relaxation and robbery. After this, he likes to hit town with his best girl. Lili Penrose comes to mind, but she quickly changes to his old flame, Rogue.
(reality)
A voice breaks his concentration. Alphonse’s mutant friend, Stone, looks down at him. “Mr. LeBeau. You’ve gone to your happy place again, haven’t you?” He slips on a glove over his four fingers, and they immediately crackle with electricity. The glove is wired to a small generator, and the glove has one purpose: torture. Gambit screams, as the glove pours electric shocks through his body. Blood seeps from his nose, as he manages to maintain the thoughts of spending time with his best girl.
Alphonse turns to his friend, who admits that Remy will be a tough nut to crack. He’s got a lot of mental resistance built up. Alphonse confesses that he’s an avid follower of the X-Men’s exploits. He tells Stone that the X-Men have, like, twenty telepaths. None of them know how to die and properly stay dead, either. It sets a bad example. Stone is unaware of the X-Men’s existence. Alphonse explains that they’re super-heroes; kinda like the Avengers or Fantastic Four. LeBeau works with them, and uses the codename, Gambit. They’re a formidable bunch, he continues and, how a pencil-neck twerp like LeBeau joined them, he’ll never know.
Remy lays strapped to a table, seemingly oblivious to their conversation. Alphonse wonders what his life would have been like if he’d gone to the Xavier Institute. Stone replies that he’s starting to sound like an after-school special. They’re assassins. He thought they were supposed to be torturing this guy to death. Alphonse reminds him that he’s not supposed to die. Their boss just wants him to suffer. Orlean Cooper is doing his thing at midnight, and he’s got to get the tarot cards they took off LeBeau back to him or he’s gonna have a fit. He asks his friend to ensure Gambit is still breathing when he gets back.
As the door slams shut, Stone whispers, whatever, before putting his goggles back on and continuing the torture. As he whistles to himself, the door creaks open, and he presumes it’s Alphonse again. “I told you not to worry,” he says. “I’m gonna keep him alive… just barely.” Standing behind him, Wolverine pops his claws, and replies that’s more’n he can say for him.
(not much later, and not far away)
Orlean Cooper finds Jack Jessup inside Club Orleans, smoking a cigarette and with his feet up. Cooper isn’t impressed, and asks how he got in. Jessup replies that it’ll take more than a couple of locks to keep him out. He needs to talk. Cooper isn’t willing to listen. Jessup failed him.
Alphonse interrupts them, and produces the tarot deck. Jack Jessup’s face drops a mile, and he informs Cooper that the deck is his. He stole the cards. Cooper corrects him, reminding him that Remy stole the cards, Jessup knocked him out and stole them from him, and Gambit stole them back. They had to take care of LeBeau. Alphonse hands over the cards, and Cooper opens the box, smiling broadly as the cards glow before him. The Inficio Aquilus possess seven hundred years of supernatural power and absolute, unadulterated evil, and it’s all his. He is happy. Alphonse informs him that all eighty-two cards are there. He counted the backs of them, so he wouldn’t be affected by the special cards.
Orlean’s phone rings, and the news he receives isn’t good. He seats himself behind a table in a large corner seat, and tells Alphonse that his henchman, Stone, was found sliced up like a Christmas ham…with his electro-shock glove lodged in his esophagus. A couple of folks spotted one of LeBeau’s pals dragging him away - some hairy runt with claws. Alphonse’s mouth drops open. “Metal claws? he asks, knowing full well it could be Wolverine.
Cooper orders Jack Jessup to leave, and keep his nose out of things. He’s pretty sure Jessup lifted a suitcase of cash from Remy’s place when he killed old man Dan Down. It seems to Cooper that Jessup made a pretty good profit from this venture, for a job he couldn’t even get right once. He adds that if he continues to push his luck, he’s guaranteed to lose his patience. Jessup leaves, looking most disgruntled.
Once Jessup has departed, Cooper asks who Wolverine is. Alphonse seems genuinely worried. He replies that it’s not a what - he’s a who. Wolverine’s a homicidal maniac, with heightened senses, a healing factor and razor-sharp adamantium claws. Cooper asks him to spare him the details. He’s not interested in which super-powered woodland mammal LeBeau is consorting with. He has the cards, and a midnight ceremony to worry about. He tells Alphonse to ensure LeBeau and company keep out of his hair.
(the French Quarter)
At Madame Camille’s, Gambit and Wolverine relax. Remy informs Logan that Camille and her daughter, Ginny, are the finest scammer-hacker-surveillance team in the city. He also says that he owes Logan big time, and Camille too. Camille says she’ll add it to the list. He asks Logan how he found him. Logan replies that you don’t exactly need animal senses to sniff out the cheap cologne he’s wearing.
Remy says that he actually means, how did he know? Logan tells him that he used caller I.D. He got a call from a friend of his. Remy smiles. He knew Dan Down would come through for him. Logan’s doesn’t meet Remy’s gaze. He asks about Dan. “Old fella? Grey hair, shabby suit? Pack of playing cards in every pocket?” That’s him, replies Remy. Both Logan and Camille’s expression speaks volumes. Remy can’t believe it.
Logan places a friendly hand on Remy’s shoulder, and explains that Dan was holed up in Remy’s house. That’s where he called from. Somebody kicked in his door and strangled the poor guy. They tore up the place afterwards, too. He notices the image of Jack Jessup on one of Ginny’s surveillance monitors, and says he’s pretty sure that’s the lowdown swamp-sucker that did it; Jack Jessup.
Remy clenches his fists as he sees Jessup’s face. He’s walking out of Club Orleans as they speak - a joint owned by Orlean Cooper, who just happens to employ that fish-faced freak, Alphonse; the same Alphonse who just spent the last eight hours torturing him. Poor old Dan, he tells them, he never hurt a fly. He’s gonna make sure Jessup suffers for what he’s done, and that goes for the rest of them too.
Camille wonders where Ginny is with the ice pack for Remy. She appears from nowhere and slaps the ice pack onto Remy’s head with a thump. She storms off, and Remy wonders what all that was about. Camille tells him not to play Mr. Innocent. He’d have hurt the child less if he’d stuck a dagger through her heart. Remy asks what she’s talking about. Camille points at him, and reminds him of the fun he had with Lili Penrose at the dinner party - right after he though he’d disabled the videotape surveillance cameras. Remy can’t believe he’s been caught on camera with Lili. Camille tells him he’s a dog, plain and simple; just like all men, and considerably worse than most. “Paris Hilton ain’t got nuthin’ on you, baby.”
Camille leaves Gambit and Wolverine alone. Remy suggests they roust a few bars and turn the New Orleans underworld upside down. Logan’s up for that, though he isn’t sure how it’ll get them closer to Jessup - or Cooper. Remy replies that they’re gonna turn them against each other. There’s no better revenge than that.
He informs Logan that while he was lying on the table, during his torture session with Stone, he wasn’t as far gone as Alphonse thought. He explains that Alphonse isn’t just a mutant; he’s an X-chaser. He follows their team like some people follow the Yankees. They can use this to their advantage, and he has a plan. Logan was afraid he was gonna say that.
(2.33pm - Big Easy Trophy Lounge)
Wolverine, in costume, and Gambit, wearing a black sleeveless top, tear through the bar. The customers in the bar, a noted hangout for the Assassins Guild, don’t stand a chance against the two X-Men.
(3.27pm - Alphonse’s base)
One of the injured customers, Jimmy, meets with Alphonse. He explains that the two men busted up the whole bar, and he doesn’t think they even broke a sweat doing it. They told him to tell Alphonse that they were just getting warmed up - and once they are warm, they’re coming after him. Alphonse asks him who. He replies that it was LeBeau and a guy with claws; maybe a couple of others too. He didn’t get a good look as it happened so fast. He doesn’t think anybody got a good look. “How many others?” asks Alphonse, concerned.
(4.02pm - Tulane University Science Department)
Remy steals a tank of liquid nitrogen from the University labs.
(4.58pm - Shorty’s Bar-B-Q Pit)
As Wolverine smashes his way through his opponents, Remy uses the liquid nitrogen to freeze everything in sight. A guy concentrating on Wolverine’s claws is caught by Wolverine, who informs him that the only reason he’s not gonna carve him into an ice sculpture, is that he’s got a message for a pal of his.
(6.05pm - Alphonse’s)
The hapless guy tells Alphonse that he didn’t get a good look at them, but when he came to, the whole place was frozen solid. It looked like the North Pole. “Iceman,” thinks Alphonse.
(6.26pm - Madame Camille’s)
Wolverine has donned some blue make-up and is having his hair brushed by Camille. He complains that he looks like a flamin’ Smurf. He swears that if this reaches anyone at the mansion… Remy asks Logan to trust him. He produces an old costume of Scott’s from a drawer and tells Logan that he thought it might come in handy sometime. It’s not like he’s gonna miss it - not now he’s got those astonishing new duds. “Trust me,” he adds. Logan says there’s a reason why nobody trusts him.
(and so on)
Wolverine swings from a bar’s light fittings, as he pretends to be Beast. Remy uses charged cards to make it appear that he’s firing blasts from his facemask. In the confusion, no one really notices the difference. All afternoon, all evening, all across town, the two X-Men give people the same warning to give Alphonse. The X-Men are coming for him. He messes with one; he messes with them all. At some point during the evening, Remy even produces a clip on Nightcrawler tail to go with the blue Beast make-up. Logan isn’t impressed.
One after the other, beat-up customers make their way to Alphonse’s and give him the news. After a while, Alphonse is worried out of his mind. He believes the entire team of X-Men is on his case. Orlean Cooper appears, dressed in ridiculous garb for the night’s ceremony. He trusts Alphonse has taken care of their rabble-rousers. The time for the ceremony draws nigh, and he’d prefer not to have to worry about any complications. Alphonse clutches the Inficio Aquilus, and replies that he’s just one more thing to take care of.
(soon)
Alphonse is kneeling before Remy at Madame Camille’s, pleading with Remy not to kill him. Remy asks him to stand up; he’s embarrassing himself. He thought Alphonse was supposed to be some kind of ice-cold executioner who doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘mercy.’ Alphonse replies that he’s not stupid. What chance does he have against an entire team of mutant super-heroes? The X-Men routinely take down Magneto, and can probably even hold their own against Galactus. He doesn’t want them on his trail. Wolverine says the walking fish-stick makes a good point.
Alphonse hands over the ancient tarot deck, and says that Cooper will probably blame Jack Jessup when he figures they’re missing. He just wanted to be square with Remy, and make sure there are no hard feelings about that torture business. Like he said - it was business. “So..uh, we cool?” Remy strokes his chin. He tells Alphonse he needs him to return to Club Orleans and leave him a little surprise in his office. Then he should get out of town as quickly as possible, and don’t ever look back. Other than that… Remy turns and punches Alphonse in the face with a solid left cross. Alphonse is knocked out, and Remy says they’re cool.
Logan asks what’s next. Does he have a little more payback in store for the guy who killed his friend? Remy sternly replies, “Payback? That’s just the start of it. Dat scum ain’t even gonna know what hit ‘em.”


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Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
House of Cards conclusion: Backstabber’s Rhapsody
(New Orleans)
Lili Penrose has Gambit at her mercy. He is held in place, hovering above a pentagram on the floor, by rings of energy around his wrists and ankles. Gambit asks Lili if she really wants to do this, especially after the fun they had. Lili snarls back at Remy, that she  used him, and he didn’t mind it one bit. That’s the reason Orlean Cooper chose him; because they knew where his Achilles heel is actually located. She adds that they knew they could count on Jessup’s greed to trip him up, but they needed to keep Gambit stupid enough not to se the big picture. That way, they could play them against each other.
Gambit puts on a mournful face, and replies that she’s breaking his heart. Lili doubts that, and tells him she hopes not, as she needs his heart in one piece - since she plans on eating it soon.
Gambit ponders this fact, and tells Lili that Orlean needed a heart for his ritual too. What is it with black magic and heart? Remy asks. How come evil conjurer folk like Lili never take a sacrificial pancreas or pinkie-toe? Lili asks what he knows about Cooper. She says it would be his heart she was feasting on if Gambit hadn’t screwed everything up. Remy tells Lili that this is what he’s been trying to tell her. Cooper’s done for; Jessup too. She’s going to be next if she doesn’t have a change of heart. “Change of heart?” Lili replies, “Naw. Yours is gonna do just fine.” Besides, she adds; Remy’s hardly in a position to offer anybody advice.
Remy grins, and says that looks can be deceiving. He informs Lili that he took care of Cooper and Jessup without even raising a finger. He warns her that if she doesn’t let him go, she’ll meet the same ugly end. Holding a dagger in her right hand, she admits he has guts. In fact, she adds, he’s bought himself a few more minutes before she spills those guts all over the floor. She asks for details of Cooper and Jessup’s demise. Remy smiles again. “Lili, darlin’, I thought you’d never ask…”
(flashback)
Wolverine has his bags packed. He and Gambit have run a game of bait ‘n’ switch on Cooper’s criminal operations. Wolverine wasn’t exactly impressed with having to dress up in costume. That was just a run up to Remy’s real confrontation with Cooper and Jessup. Wolverine is about to leave when Remy has him do one last favor. Wolverine tells the Cajun to call someone else next time he needs it. Remy laughs.
He heads over to Madame Camille’s place. He thanks them for helping him out, but says he has to be someplace. Camille replies that if he’s planning on checking up on Cooper, he need go no further than the couch. Remy is surprised that she actually has Cooper’s place wired. Camille shows him a 92” hi-definition plasma screen with surround sound - on which is Orlean Cooper being confronted by three demons.
Interested, and intent on seeing more, Remy puts his feet up to watch proceedings at Club Orleans. Camille heads to the kitchen to microwave some popcorn, whilst Ginny snuggles up to Remy on the sofa. Remy is surprised, and even more so when she plants a kiss on his cheek. She tells him she’s not mad at him anymore. Slightly embarrassed by the situation, Remy continues to watch the screen, with Ginny on one side, and Madame Camille on the other - hogging the popcorn. Remy asks for the remote, so he can hear what is being said.
(flashback - Club Orleans)
Orlean Cooper is flanked by three demons. Their ‘spokesdemon’ is a large red guy with two horns protruding from his skull and grey tentacles in place of hair. To his side are two others, one blue one, and another with octopus-like tentacles. They inform Cooper that the master will be pleased. With this act, Cooper has secured his re-admittance into the Dark Lands. His long exile is finally at an end.
First, however, Cooper must offer up the cards to the evil one, invoking his true name, after soaking the Inficio Aquilus tarot in the blood of a freshly removed human heart. Cooper breaks him off, and replies, “Yeah yeah, that’s great - except I’m not offering these cards up to anyone. I’m keeping them for myself.”
The spokesdemon is furious. He points at Cooper and asks if he’s double-crossing them. He replies, of course he’s double-crossing them. When he returns to the nether realms, it won’t be to serve; it will be to rule. The power that the cards hold assures him of that.
(flashback - Madame Camille’s)
Camille’s face turns to surprise. She thought Cooper was a mutant; not a demon! It’s news to Gambit, too.
(flashback - Club Orleans)
Cooper begins to transform into his true self, becoming demonic in a matter of seconds. He informs the other demons that by using the cards, they are bound to him. Their power is his power, and his every command is their most fervent desire. He holds out the box containing the cards, and tells them that not only will they worship him as the new dark god of the underworld - they will lead armies in his name to raze this miserable planet into a fiery hell. It will be populated only by nightmare and terror; endless horror and eternal pain.
(flashback - Madame Camille’s)
Camille is concerned, obviously, about this turn of events. She asks Remy that if he’s about to destroy the world, shouldn’t they be stopping him instead of watching him. Remy is relaxed, and tells her it’s all under control.
(present)
Remy explains to Lili that, if you want to put something over one someone, you’ve gotta remember three things if you expect to get away with it. The first thing is never to let the mark know who set him up, or that they’re being set up. That’s the reason he and Wolverine hit all of Cooper’s operations; a frontal assault to cover the fact that they were sneaking in the back door. The sucker will never know what’s hit him.
(flashback)
Remy hands Alphonse the Inficio Aquilus, and tells him to head to Cooper’s office and leave his boss a little surprise. Then, he adds, Alphonse should leave town as fast as possible, and never look back.
(flashback - Club Orleans)
The three demons look at Cooper as if he’s an idiot. They ask what he’s trying to pull. The cards are not the Inficio Aquilus; they aren’t even tarot. What Cooper has is a deck of UNO cards. “The SpongeBob SquareShorts edition,” adds the spokesdemon. Cooper’s arrogance quickly turns to fear. The spokesdemon grabs Cooper’s face, and lays some hellfire on him. His whole face steams, and Cooper drops to the floor.
(present)
Gambit informs Lili Penrose that this is how Cooper got his. Seeing as how Lili planned to double-cross him as well, he thinks it shouldn’t bother her too much. He adds that the demons didn’t kill him, though. Cooper’s an exiled demon. What were they going to do? Send him back to hell? Cooper is an outcast in the netherworld. Between what he and Wolverine did to his business, and what the demons did to him, he’s ruined in this world too. Pretty much all he had left was revenge. Of course, Cooper would make a bee-line to the person he thought had switched the cards on him; the thief who was last in the same room as the cards.
(flashback - Club Orleans)
Through gritted teeth, with his blue skin now turned fiery red, Cooper can only utter, “Jessup!”
(present)
Remy informs Lili that the second thing you need to know, is that if your enemies don’t know who set ‘em up, their first instincts are to turn on each other.
(flashback - Madame Camille’s)
After witnessing Cooper’s embarrassment, Remy leaps from Madame Camille’s couch, asking if she has Jack Jessup’s place wired too. He wants to see this. Camille tells Remy that Cooper’s a demon. He’s got ways to hurt people they can’t even comprehend, and he’s after Jessup because Remy set him up. It’s no better than Remy having murder Jessup himself! She adds that Cooper’s gonna kill him, and make him feel like he’s dying a thousand deaths while he’s doing it.
Remy appears unconcerned. After all, Jessup is the slime that murdered Dan Downs. Camille appreciates that, but she tells Remy that he needs to be the better man here. She uses the old tactic of asking if Remy has ever done anything wrong; if he ever needed a second chance to right the wrong he did. He needs to take the high road.
Gambit folds his arms. He doesn’t like it, but he knows Camille makes sense. Still, he replies that there’s no way. Jessup should get what’s coming to him. Camille’s expression says it all.
(Jessup’s apartment)
Gambit enters through the window, and finds Jessup is ready and waiting for him. He has two pistols hidden behind his back. He had a feeling Gambit would show up here. He unleashes both barrels at Remy, who leaps to the right as the floorboards are destroyed beneath him. He takes cover behind a wall, and charges the ace of spades. Suddenly, it fizzles out, and Jessup informs Gambit that he’s sporting a vest acquired from some ex-S.H.I.E.L.D laboratory egghead. It dampens mutant powers within a 50-foot radius.
Remy comes out, and puts his hands in the air. Jessup asks him how much fight Gambit has in a level playing field. Gambit tells Jessup that he’s not there to fight him. Jessup says he thought he’d change his tune. Without his super powers, Gambit doesn’t have the skills to beat him. Gambit tells him that he’s in danger. Jessup ignores the warning, and mentions that Gambit reminds him of the guy he lifted the prototype vest from. He was gonna pay him with money he stole from Remy’s apartment, but killing him was much easier. Gambit asks him to shut up for just a minute as Cooper’s on his way, but Jessup can’t help it. He’s got Gambit at his mercy, and wants to relish the moment.
Jessup asks about Cooper. “What’s one more piece of mutie trash?” He tells Remy to bring him on. With the mutant energy dampener he has, they’re about as dangerous as a pair of angry poodles. He’ll just kill him, like he did the scientist. He’ll make him beg for mercy and cry like a little girl. Then he’ll kill him anyway… just for laughs; just like he did with Dan Downs. Despite Remy’s inner voice telling him not to, he continues his warning. He tells Jessup that he submits to his superior intellect. It’s a good plan, he tells him. It’d be even better if Cooper was a mutant! Except he isn’t - he’s a demon.
The surprise causes Jessup to lose concentration for a split-second, providing Gambit with the opportunity to charge him. He kicks him forcefully in the chest, causing the prototype jacket to short-circuit. Jessup lies semi-conscious on the carpet. Gambit tells him that Cooper’s in a really bad mood, with not a lot left to lose. He’s blaming everything on him. “Good luck with that.” Gambit leaps from the window and into the night.
Jack Jessup rises, and wonders what he’s gonna do now. A voice behind him says hello. Jessup turns, and the last thing he sees is Orlean Cooper’s demonic form. Remy strolls away, hearing the scream. “So much for the high road.”
(present)
Lili thinks she can figure out the rest of it. She’s just curious how he knew she was aligned with Cooper. The still helpless Remy replies that he didn’t. That’s what he came there to find out. He didn’t know for sure until she walloped him upside his head with a bolt of magical energy, and he woke up mystically hog-tied. Looking at the box containing the Inficio Aquilus, he adds that he thought Uncle Morgan was supposed to be the magician of the family.
Lili informs him that Morgan tried to keep her away from his dealings with the occult; that’s why she needed him to steal the cards and take the fall for it. However, she managed to learn a trick or two from him, nonetheless, and in the end she taught him a lesson, by killing him. Gambit says that at least Morgan had enough brains to keep the tarot deck under lock and key, and not mess with them. The cards are powerful, evil and dangerous.
Lili plays with the dagger, and replies that’s why it was extremely stupid of Remy to bring the cards with him. The cards, and his sacrifice, will make her formidable beyond belief. Remy says she really doesn’t want to be doing this. Besides, he adds, he had three pieces of advice for her. Doesn’t she want to hear the last of it? Not particularly, she replies. She thinks he’s bluffing or stalling. Either way, she’s had enough. With all her might, she plunges the dagger into his chest. “Just shut up and die, already!”
To Lili’s amazement, the dagger bends and Remy remains in the land of the living. She asks what’s going on. Is he wearing some kind of Kevlar under his shirt, or does he have something else under there. She rips his shirt open, despite Remy telling her she’s making a big mistake. As the shirt falls open, she reels in horror and her eyes burn out immediately. She falls to the floor, screaming.
With her concentration gone, Remy’s mystical shackles disappear, and he casually steps down from the pentagram. Clutching her face, Lili asks what he’s done. She looks up. Her face is pink and blotchy, and her eyes are missing. “What have you done?!” Remy says that he tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen to his third piece of advice - always keep an ace in the hole. On his chest is one of the cards from the Inficio Aquilus. It is the ‘Incognizable,’ card, and Remy explains that just one of the cards is powerful and primal enough to blind anybody looking at them. Looks like it did a little more than that.
Lili asks how he found the right one and survived. Remy tells her that was his other ace in the hole. He asks if she remembers the friend who did him one last favor. For this friend, blindness just happens not to be an obstacle.
(flashback)
Wolverine hands Remy the card, telling him that it’s the one he’s looking for. His face looks like Lili’s, and his eyes are gone. He’s in pain, but he’ll heal.
(present)
As she can’t see anymore, Lili asks Remy what he’s doing. He has a small flask, containing a little mixture he’s concocted of holy water and hydrochloric acid. Lili calls him an idiot. He can’t destroy the cards like that. Remy knows that, but at least it’ll dull their power for a while. Then, he can get them to Westchester. He’s got a buddy who can freeze anything to a shade just above absolute zero. He’s another who can blast through more than two feet of solid steel, and a few that can bench press a Sherman tank without breaking sweat. If they can’t destroy these so-called indestructible cards, he’s got no doubts their combined efforts can mangle them into origami. He pours the mixture onto the cards, which fizzle and steam.
Lili screams, and makes a bee-line for him, but she is easily swept aside and knocked unconscious. He tells her she’s finished. Sirens are heard outside. Camille and Ginny called the cops just as soon as they saw he had the situation under control. He looks into a hidden camera and thanks them for the assist, blowing them a kiss. “Mwah.”
Remy answers a knock on the door, and he is greeted by two of N.O.P.D’s finest. Remy informs them that they’re in the right place. The girl in the far room is Lili Penrose. She’s killed her uncle. She did a bit of magical hoo-doo that literally blew up in her face and stirred up a whole heap of trouble. If they don’t mind, the world’s safe from bad guys, and he’s had a looong night. He trusts them to sort it out.
As he strolls off, the cop’s double-take and one of them suddenly calls for him to stop. They can’t just let a mutie just stroll away when they’ve got a dead body in one room and a mutilated woman in the other. Remy is surrounded by several officers, all of them armed. “You’re coming with us,” says one. Remy charges three cards, smiles, and says, “Oh, is that what you think?”