Warning: I may swear. I don't know yet, but I may, so be forewarned! Actually I do. I GUARANTEE that I will put in Merde. I always do.

What the Future Holds
Part One
By Crimson

A dark figure sat in the shadows overlooking a lake, on the grounds of the home of the Uncanny X-Men, in Westchester, New York. Melding with the darkness, he waited for an opportune moment to enter the Mansion. He preferred to wait until most of the X-Men were gone, so he wouldn't have to look into their eyes, and see the hatred that was there for him. The X-Men were his family. Not biologically, but deep in his heart he had a place for them just as large as the one that was there for the New Orleans Thieves Guild, his other family. He winced at the thought of the guild and decided to put it out of his mind.

Watching as Ororo used her power to control the elements, and opened up a rain cloud on Bobby's head, Gambit chuckled to himself. Good for you Stormy. 'Bout time somebody did that t' him.

Then something caught his eye a little bit passed the others. There was something lurking in the shadows, just as he was, and it too, was watching them, but it had a different manner about it then he did. It was almost as if it were stalking . . . no that wasn't right . . . hunting . . . them.

At first it appeared to have the essence of a wounded animal, afraid and a deep desire to be left alone, but there was something else that drew his attention to it. There was a certain hungering, lingering in the air around it, and that feeling made Gambit uneasy. His desire here was to get into his room, unnoticed, and gather some of his gear, his picks, his uniform, some cash, the keys to his Harley, and most important of all, the small chest that sat on his night stand, filled with his most valued treasures, that he had gathered in his time with the X-Men. The last thing he wanted was to have to reveal himself to the others, especially not with HER here. Rogue. Of all the people there, Gambit feared having to see the look of hatred in her eyes. He had seen it before, and it chilled him to the bone, worse then the cold of the air that had been around him at the time.

The unusual sound of Bobby sliding into his ice form, started him from his reverie and drew his attention back to the lake. ma'be I won't haf' t' show m'self t' the others after all, he thought as he saw Wolverine head in the direction of the intruder, with a look of pure determination written on his face. But then he noticed that Bobby wasn't too interested in following Wolverine, he was more interested in whatever was in the lake. Gambit pondered at their attention. Thought de ot'ers 'ready knew that Ol' Blackbird was down dere. He had already 'found' the X-Men's unused airplane during his and Bishop's encounter with the Juggernaut last summer. He rubbed his shoulder where it hit a piece of metal as he was skidding across the water.

Noticing that nobody was going with Wolverine, he started to get up to help him, but thought better of it. Wolverine woulda tol' de ot'ers if he t'ought he couldn' handle it. He reassured himself. He c'n handle it. At least that's what Gambit had thought, until he heard a blood curtailing scream, and saw Rogue taking to the sky. Merde! he thought as he got up and started running to where the others were.

He came around the corner to see Wolverine laying in a heap on the ground. Sam and Ororo had taken to the sky and using their Powers on each other and the others were duking it out on the ground." What de Hell?"He muttered to himself, standing just outside the battle lines. Jubilee was there, and she and a big guy, whom Gambit recognized as Maggot from his trial, were currently squared off against Bobby and a girl Gambit knew to be named Sarah, the young Morlock known to most as Marrow. Gambit, however, knew her more . . . intimately. Now she was a member of the X-Men. . . . Mind control, ma'be . . . ?

Then out of the sky, dropped the creature Gambit had noticed before. It was at a top speed dive, and it was headed directly for Jubilee. She didn't even notice. No one would help her unless he moved now. Leaving his cowardice behind him in the gutter, the Hero in Gambit sparked, and he started in a dead run for where Jubilee was standing.

She turned to look at him, with a confused look on her face. Gambit was immensely grateful that this creature hadn't noticed him earlier, else it would have planned ahead for his intervention. As it was, he had cut off the rational part of Lee's mind, and she wasn't going to counter attack, because she couldn't be sure if he was friend or foe. At the last moment, she ducked down to avoid his 'attack' and he connected directly with the giant lizard, who hadn't even noticed his arrival, until now that is.

The two of them skidded together across the ground, with Gambit on top of the rather large lizard. It let out a large growl, as they slowed to a stop, and threw Gambit off it with both speed and strength, that Gambit had not been expecting, forcing him to reevaluate the creature, from his original assumptions.

They both climbed to their feet and faced each other. The creature stood with his hands on hips, showing no signs of being afraid of the Cajun, and glared at him." Where did YOU come from?"It -- he? -- snarled.

Gambit was slightly amused to hear the creature talk; He, again, had not been expecting it. Then again, after living in the same house with Beast for so long, it shouldn't suprise him." Was 'bout t' ask you de same t'ing 'Homme',"he baited, taking out a deck of cards he had pinched from a small time hustler, who was playing games on the side of the 32nd Street in Downtown New York.

The creature's eyes started to glisten, and he stared straight into Gambit's." The name is Sauron, boy. You would do well to remember it."

Suddenly Gambit had the deep desire to do anything that this Sauron told him. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs Not dis Cajun Homme! He thought as hard as he could towards his attacker, who seemed shocked by Gambit's perseverance.

"Hmp," he muttered thoughtfully, taking out a gun and a knife from around his waist." Hard way it is then." With that he charged on Gambit at top throttle. He fired three shots that Gambit barely dodged, in his disorientated state jumped at Gambit, who went down with him easily and rolled out of his grasp, they both stood and faced each other, only about two or three meters apart.

Gambit then spun and kicked the gun from his right hand and lifted three cards, charged by his mutant ability to convert potential energy into kinetic energy, and threw them at his assailant.

Sauron, not knowing what his opponent's ability was, and not wanting to find out, rolled away." Impressive" he muttered as the cards exploded and as he was coming into Gambit, lodging the knife into his abdomen." But not impressive enough to defeat ME boy! "

Gambit fell back onto the ground. Merde! Didn' even SEE the Damn knife. Sloppy! Merde, Sloppy! He blinked and noticed Sauron kneeling down over him, reaching down for his forehead. Something inside his mind snapped. His instincts took over and he lashed out at Sauron over the mind link that he was stupid enough not to drop. In a wordless scream, his mind cried out as loud as he could bare.

The assault took Sauron down easily. He pitched forward landing fully on Gambit. At his touch Gambit could feel the strength drain even farther from his frame. He tried to get enough to push the larger mutant off him, but found he wasn't strong enough.

Out of no where, he felt the weight being lifted from his form. Looking up, he saw Jubilee and Sam standing over him. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. As he started to black out, Jubilee threw her arms around him and started crying.