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I had been pacing back and forth for about fifteen minutes now, just like I had been doing back in my apartment. I wanted to be there before either Magneto or Ladrón were, which I had already accomplished. In my head I repeated my plan over and over. Knowing myself, it’d eventually turn out way different than I had planned, but I couldn’t care less. I checked the time – for the billionth time – and according to the numbers, both expected mutants should be here any minute, which made me smile. Even though I didn’t even have to wait that long, it was still too long to wait for revenge. When I noticed a dark appearance moving in the corner of my eye and my head snapped up in that direction. Quickly I crouched behind the bushes I was walking around, keeping an eye on Ladrón. After a brief moment, after she had checked her watched, the ferris wheel suddenly started moving. I knew that was Magneto’s way of saying hello. ‘Do you have the artefact?’ Magneto then asked. My hand disappeared into my pocket, grabbing one of my decks of cards. Still hiding in the bushed, I got the cards out of the package and took a couple of them in my hand. Since the both of them stood close to a wall, I could easily use my powers to throw the cards. They flew in between the two, probably startling them, after which the cards bored themselves into the wall beside them. Then I stepped out of the bushes, walking towards the mutants. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her respond. Everything went exactly as I had planned. I frowned a little when she treated the card like garbage, something I couldn’t appreciate. ‘Shh, ma chère, don’t get all worked up, have a little patience; I’ll get to your questions.’ I crouched and grabbed the card. A short silence fell, when I studied the now dirty card. Then I looked back to Ladrón, after which I turned my look to Magneto. ‘I apologize for interrupting the two of you this rudely, but there are a few things I need to sort out.’ This time I had brought my staff and I was just waiting on the perfect moment to show the two mutants – which was during the second short silence that fell. I moved the hand that held the staff forwards, showing it off clearly. I twisted it in my hands a bit, before turning back to Ladrón. ‘First, I’d like to know what the hell you did to me on top of that roof,’ I said slowly, though clearly showing my irritation. I realized I was pretty much ignoring Magneto, but I couldn’t really get myself to be bothered. The man always got an awful lot of attention, he’d survive this one time. ‘And I won’t take no for an answer.’

I immediately rolled my eyes at her, before widening them. The pushing my staff was already too much – no-one but me touched my staff – but shredding the card? That was way over line. My lips pursed into a tight line, though I stayed silent for a little while. ‘What are you going to do about it?’ she asked, challenging me. ‘Well...’ I started, ‘I’d like to ruin your entire life, but that would require me interfering with you even more than I am right now and I am not enjoying it.’ I took a deep breath and tried to gauge her reaction, though she was hard to read. Something inside of my wanted to add a lot more stuff, but a bigger part just wanted to smack her across the face. I took my staff back in front of me, now holding it with two hands. ‘Why don’t we... finish this, on a mature way?’ The way I was trying to indicate wasn’t really that mature, but what was, for two thieves?

She had already pissed me off before, on the roof, by shredding the card and by touching the staff, but this... this beat all of that. How dare she even think of it? My coat was far too big for her, but that wasn’t even the point, I mean... Damn, I can’t even explain it. Doesn’t matter, she annoyed the crap out of me, that’s what matters. And then, when I thought I was officially angry, she made it even worse. I wasn’t scared to hit a girl, no, far from that, but that didn’t mean I liked it. When I felt the hairpin cut my cheek, I gasped in surprise and took a step back. While staring at her with this kind of hatred mixed with astonishment, I reached up to my cheek with my hand and touched it. I felt a little bit of a fluid substance; blood. My lungs filled themselves filled air to take a deep breath, in order to calm down a little bit. But then I realised something: there was no need to calm down. Why, in heaven’s name, would I calm down? This girl thinks she can just mess with me like that, without getting anything in return? I was not planning to let her get away with this, no way! Letting my anger lead me, I took a quick step forward. Without a word and without a look, I lashed out with my staff, aiming for her side. It felt pretty great to put this much anger in the move, as well as it felt great to feel the adrenaline starting to pump around my body.

There was no way he was going to beat me here. This was my game. Without realizing I started smiling. Maybe I just did it to piss him off, or maybe I was just amused. I think a bit of both. I saw his movement going for my side, but he was faster then I though. He hit me roughly and I was thrown to the side. Surprise I looked up. I put my hand in my side and got back on my feet. "Wrong move," I whispered. I reached with my hand in front of me towards thin air. My breath my slowing down and I felt in total control. Slowly I closed my eyes. He was going to attack again, but this time I was prepared. I jumped high into the air and landed behind him. "I don’t get why you’re doing this," I said, before I disappeared and appeared again in front of him. "You can’t win this." I hit him on his cheek. The ground started to tremble and cracks appeared in the ground all around this. "This is my game, Gambit." I spit his name out like it was poison. What was wrong with him. So, I emberrised him. So what? My anger started to build, but I didn't want to hit him. Since he was already the weakest link. "Please stop," I said to him. "Just tell me, what you want and piss off"

Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it still was the anger, but there was a bigger chance it was that smile that made me lash out again. That smile... that annoying, snobby, amused little smile, like she actually felt like she was better than me, which she obviously wasn’t. If she was, she should’ve been able to dodge my first hit. The way she had fallen because of the first strike, gave me a kind of a shot of confidence. That confidence got slightly damaged though, when she jumped up and avoided my second hit. I was confused for a brief moment, until I heard her land and talk behind me, but when I wanted to turn around, she was in front of me again and confusion struck again. Because of that, she was able to hit me, thank god it wasn’t the same cheek as where her hairpin had cut me, I imagine it’d sting pretty badly. I suddenly felt like too much was happening at the same time. I wanted to respond to her comments, but whatever happened to the ground beneath us confused and frightened me this littlest bit. How did she do this and how could I make her stop? She just wasn’t playing fair! Okay, maybe I should’ve expected that, I mean, she was still a thief. “Right now, I would like you to explain yourself, missy!” I may have sounded a little frantic, but I couldn’t care less, I realised it probably was a mistake to come here without knowing the first thing about this kid, but it was too late to change something about that now.        

I loved how confused he looked and smiled again. The odds where in my favor, they always have been… Well, not always, but in battle, they were. I sighed and relaxed. I lay two fingers on his forehead and pushed him on his knees. Ofcourse, this was my reality, so I could do anything I desired. For a slight moment I concentrated and made sure he wasn’t able to stand up. After that I made my illusion fall apart, until only the floor was there, nothing more. The rest was darkness. "Well then," I said to him. Just because I wanted to annoy him, I flicked my hair and smiled. Then I also came to sit on the floor. "What do you want me do explain, chère." Yes, I said 'chère', just to annoy him. I actually didn’t care that much. It wasn’t like I was going to tell him everything he wanted to know. But I could tell him something. I wasn’t going to tell my whole backstory, if that was what he wanted. "Look," I said and touched his cut in his cheek. I made it heel. "I never wanted to fight you, really. You just.." I was searching for the right words. "… pissed me off." Okay, those weren’t exactly the right words, but he got the message. I never wanted to fight him, I just liked to annoy him.

I didn’t expect her to explain anything at all, to be honest, and I seemed to be right. I frowned when she touched my forehead, what was she doing? Even before I could finish that question in my head, I got the answer. I felt my knees go week and my body gave in to her touch. Not being able to get up again, I just sat there. The way she could not only control the world around her, but also my body, made me realise she was right; I couldn’t win this. In fact, I didn’t stand a chance against her. This sudden understanding made me feel hopelessly despondent. Since my mind was pretty much fully occupied with these depressed thoughts, I didn’t notice the change in the world around us. ‘Well then,’ she said, causing me to glare up at her. That smile... of all things she did, that goddamned smile annoyed me the worst. I wished I could get up and wipe it from her face, but my body still wasn’t cooperating. ‘What do you want me to explain, chère,’ she said. This girl was crossing so many boundaries, I lost count. Her saying this kind of things was one thing that annoyed me, but my inability to do something about it, to teach her a lesson, probably irritated me even more. No-one should be able to get away with saying those things this easily, but there seemed to be no possible way to make her pay for it; she was stronger than me, she controlled my body like it was nothing. She pulled me out of my thoughts again by touching my cheek. The slight sting I had felt, disappeared. I reached up as well, and felt nothing. Even though she annoyed the crap out of me, I had to admit she was good. ‘That feeling’s mutual,’ I snapped, meaning she pissed me off pretty badly as well. ‘I would like you to explain what you’re doing to me,’ I continued. A glint of hope sparked within me. Hope to be able to defeat her, once I knew her little trick. I realise I had asked her this before and she had told me it was magic, but that was a little too vague for me.

I was actually a bit surprised when he asked me again about how I was doing this. I sighed and looked him in the eyes. He was like a curious little boy. Even though he was probably older. "Open cards, Remy," I said. What meant I was going to tell him. I snapped my fingers (just for the effect) and he could move again. "Honestly, I'm not doing much. I'm just standing next to you. In the real world." I waited a moment, so he could think about it. "This -" My finger pointed at everything around us. "- is just in your head. This, my sweet Gambit, is an illusion." On that moment I really wanted to know what he was thinking. "A penny for your thoughts?" I asked him. Maybe It wasn't very smart to tell him what I was doing, but there was no way he could escape from the illusion. If he wanted to escape, he had to wait till I made it stop, or he had to hurt me so I couldn't continue making the illusion. "Everything that happends here, inside my illusions, happends in real life, you know. Like your cheek. When I cut it, it was cut for real, not just here. But when I healed it, it also healed there. Simple right?" Yes, I could have used my powers for good things, I had done that, but it worked out wrong.. 'Stop it,' I thoughed, 'this is not the moment for memories..' Then I looked at him and said: "Before you ask; no, I don't want to know anything from you. I already know everything there is to know about you. Because I, on the other hand, do my research, before getting into a fight with someone." I sighed. "Well, I'd better get going." Fastly I was standing on my feet again and started walking away from him, into the darkness. It wasn't neccesary to end an illusion like this, but I liked the dramatic effect. Then I turned my head sideways towards him. "Oh, and by the way. Thanks for being so quiet while I finish my deal with Magneto." I smiled again. "And thank you for your coat and bo-staff." After all, I was still a thief. Maybe it wasn't very honest to steal from him, when he was unable to do somehing about it, from inside the illusion, but I didn't really care. And there the illusion ended. Everything would be exactly like it was, when Gambit woke up. The only change was, that Magneto and I where gone.

Finally, she started saying things that I could work with, things that were worth saying. When she snapped her fingers, I felt a tingling in my legs for a little while and I suspected I could move them again, but I was too busy trying to follow what she was saying to try it out. At first, her explanation didn’t clear things up, it only made my confusion worse, and it wasn’t as simple as she apparently thought it was. I mean, I understood the illusion-thing, but why could she control my body with it? I had no idea an illusion could be that powerful. She asked me what I thought about it, but I completely ignored her. I wouldn’t even let her know how helpless I felt for a million, let alone for a penny. I would never let her enjoy herself even more than she was now by telling her, I wouldn’t grant her that pleasure. What she said next about how everything she did here, also happened in real life, did make sense, somehow. But... had Magneto actually seen me on my knees for this girl? Damn, that would ruin my reputation forever. Another thing I swore to make her pay for. I was still too busy trying to process al this new information, when she got up and walked away. “And thank you for your coat and bo-staff.” That single sentence made my heart stop for a moment. My eyes widened and I too got up, far too fast, though, causing a headache to pop up and my vision to go black for a second. Vertigo hit me and if I didn’t want to fall, I had to sit back down again. After about half a minute and a lot of deep breaths, I opened my eyes again and looked around. I was alone; that bitch just left me here by myself. To my displeasure, she hadn’t lied. The wind had already made me painfully aware my coat was gone, and now I that I could look around I could see my staff was nowhere to be seen either. There was one good thing about being alone, though, I didn’t have to face Magneto and let him embarrass me. That one positive thought got pushed away by anger and stress soon enough, though. As an impulse, I punched the pavement next to me, my anger taking over. I immediately regretted that move, though, as the knuckles that weren’t covered by my glove were bleeding furiously and just like the cut in my cheek, the wounds stung. While trying not to pay too much attention to my hand, I slowly got up, careful not to get dizzy again. I looked around to see if there was absolutely nobody and as far as I could see, there wasn’t. Of course, I wanted to go find her and get my staff and coat back, but I didn’t have a clue on where she could be. I decided it was best for me to go home to figure out my next move, and so I did, but if she thought I would let her get away with this, she couldn’t be more wrong. I would find her and I’d make her pay, all I had to do was figure how to stop those damned illusions of hers.