Unfavored Cards
Whumptover 15: Childhood Trauma
Post Void!Gambit x Villian!reader
Tw: Gambit being a bit violent, blood, broken bones, sudden attack, being held down, Plot Twist Ending
Moment of Clarity
He hunted you down in the void like a rabid wolf looking for a squared meal. You were the reason why he got here in the first place, and it was your fault that he wasn’t home. He wasn’t sure if his cats were alright or know if Rogue was waiting for him. He longed for him more than he wanted to admit, but it was clear to everyone whenever he would wake up screaming out her name into the cold night air, flinging a card into the darkness to explode at nothing.
It was your fault.
All. Your. Fault.
So, hunting you down was like a little reward for him, and getting the satisfaction of watching the light leave your eyes was the most rewarding thing he’ll ever settle for in this wasteland. The moment he got a lead on you, he took it; no one was going to stop him no matter how hard they tried. Hell, even Johnny tried to stop him but ended on the ground with the business end of a charged bow staff. The glow in his red eyes screamed danger as they burned in bright embers and coal, making Johnny shuffling away from the ground to his feet. The anger that raised from Gambit’s blood to his stare was enough to warn off any creature, mutant and human alike. He was going to hunt you down without mercy, without thinking. He hated the way that you’re still breathing and not six-feet-under yet. For you, he’ll make it twelve feet.
You’re about to become a body that’ll never be found. Even in the land of the forgotten, no one will ever remember you. Show him a good time while he ends your life, though. It would be the cherry on top of his sundae.
So, when he found you at your makeshift campsite at the bottom of a haler, living your life as if you weren’t in danger, only brought more heat on his breath. How dare you hum a familiar tune. How dare you act as if you did nothing wrong! You were the main reason why he felt empty, felt hollow without his love! Whenever he closed his eyes, he would envision her in all her beauty, all her grace. Rogue was the true Mississippian Bell of the south, and he a fool of Louisiana with a heart of coal and swamp water. The more he thought of her laughter and her smile flashing in his memory, the more possessed he felt on putting you down. If he were a puppet right now for someone’s game, he only hops he was pulling the strings and breaking free from your grasp.
He gripped staff tightly and felt a few cards beginning to hover by his face, up by his eyes, and alongside of his free hand. Gambit wanted nothing more than to hurt you, break you until you were begging him to stop. This ends now; today! It may not bring back his love or free him, but it would bring him temporary comfort knowing you’re gone. With a flick of his wrist, his cards flew past him and hit you in the back. He earns a surprised yelp from you, but it wasn’t good enough. He towered over you from his spot, his shadow casting over your campfire with only his bright red eyes glowing in his darkness.
“You,” he snarled, his eyes narrowing down. “You took her from me!”
He saw you were about to open your mouth, but he silenced you with an ace card. It hit you in the chest and knocked you back, slamming you into a log. He didn’t give you time to get up as he slide down the little hill and slung another card at you, the charge stronger than the last. It knocked you to the ground within a snap, and he didn’t give you time to get back up on your feet; he pinned you to the forest floor, his legs on each side of you and a strong hand holding your hands above your head. He brought back his fist and landed it on your face, breaking your nose in the process.
With each hit from his gloved hand, each blow and broken bone under his touch, his thoughts flooded of Rogue in the sundress, the one with lime slices and honeysuckle. He heard his voice, singing sweetly and bright, as she stirred the pot for dinner. Everything he did, every he landed blow on your face and skin, felt like justice for himself. No matter how loud you screamed at him to stop, how many pleas and begs, he didn’t hear them Gambit knows what he wanted, and it burned his skin like wire over a flame. He wanted to free; he wanted to get out faster and sooner! Even if you can’t bring him back to his world and back to the swamplands, this will be the closest thing.
If anything, he was happy to see the blinking collar around your neck, showing that your mind powers were off and not tricking him. Where did you get it and who put it on you? He didn’t care. He won’t care.
He felt the strings around him break as his mind finally breaks into clarity. He wanted to see you bloodied and beaten under him. He held his fist over your head and watched as blood dripped from his knuckles; your blood never looked sweeter.
He quickly dug into his coat pocket and pulled out the Queen of Hearts. He felt all his energy, all the static around him, build into the card and charged it up with bright purple and red energy. He wanted you to fell the burn and the swiftness of his powers. He wanted you to see how fast and easy he could end you with this single card.
The cards always be in Gambit’s favor—
“Remy.”
As soon as the blood in his ears stopped roaring and his eyes were cleared from his anger, he looked down at the person beneath him. His heart nearly stopped as he looked at the woman looking back at him. His heart began to break, and his lungs filled with pained regret. Looking back at him with bright green eyes was Anna Maria, Rogue; his world. Her face swollen and bruised from his hits, eye swollen and too blue and purple for his stomach to handle, her throat with his mark, his handprint, that will forever be burned into her skin just under the blinking collar, shutting off her strength. The cut on her cheek bleed with the cut above her eye. The shattered look in her eyes only made his heart erupt in pieces. Her lips, beautiful and so soft, was plumped and bruised, cracked and bloody. The clothing he thought you were in turned into her green and yellow jumpsuit, and her hair a mess and matted from being held down for so long. He physically felt the string around his throat snap and break free from his skin, and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
She looked like an angel whose wings were torn off and left for the gators to finish off.
His charged card quickly stopped glowing, and he got off her. His touch made her flinch away as he scooped her into his arms. His emotions flooding his lungs as he cradled her in his arms, holding her tightly as if he was the duct tape trying to keep his world together. It all felt so real when he told Johnny to stay behind. It all felt real when he found your campsite. He was so sure that he was there beating you until your lungs stopped and he had your heart in his hands, but he wasn’t. The world he thought he was in wasn’t there at all; the void surrender him months ago and brought him back to Rogue, back to her arms.
He let her see the side of him he never wanted to show. How could he do this? How could he let himself—
You’re a good puppet, Gambit. Your voice began to echo in his head, causing him to look wildly around the forest clearing until he saw you standing in your shadows and cloak. Such a good tool for me to use.
“Get away from us,” he breathed, shielding Rogue with his bruised hands. His red on black eyes were sharp as he glared at you. “You get away from us!” As he raised his voice, Rogue flinched in his arms, curling into a ball. “Shh, mon chere. Gambit ne vous fera pas de mal. I won’t—”
He heard your cold, heartless laugh, which only made him growl. You’re a fun one, Remy LuBeau.
He growled as he felt his powers begin to build back into the cards in his coat. “Ya don’ getta say my name!” He snapped. When Rogue’s tears touched his skin, it felt like acid burning through his bones and his skin. Every cell in his body felt like it was dying. “Never say my name!”
Do you know how easy it is to shape your vision? How easy it was to make you believe you were attacking me? It’s almost as if you were mocking him as you swirled shadows around your finger. It was so careless and thoughtless; he hated it. You really thought that New Yorker was going to stop you? Gods, you’re so stupid.
“Get outta my head.” He took a card from the ground and charged it until it glowed bright and strong. “Laissez-nous!”
You smiled sweetly at him as you opened your lips, letting luna moths escape from your lips and flutter around him. “I’ll always find a way to hurt you, Cajun. Never forget me. Never.”
“I’ll make ya pay! Hear me clear—I swear!” Gambit held Rogue protectively as he readied his card. “Swear it t’ya. I’ll never stop until you’re dead!”
“Oh, Remy,” you said his name with empty emotion that it nearly made a vein pop in his neck. “I look forward to it.”
With a yell, he through his card and hurled it towards you with as much as he could muster, with all his energy and power.
The fireflies danced with the sound of your endless tango with Remy, and what a dance it’s become.
