xp_logs | REMY'S ELEVEN: It's On (Reply)

It was rare that the library was closed off from the rest of the staff
and students. Equally rare to have Nathan Dayspring standing guard to
make sure only those who had recieved e-mails from him were admitted.
It was flat out unique to actually lay eyes on Remy LeBeau inside the
mansion at any time other than the dead hours of the night. All three
occurrences were enough to keep the conversation humming between the
staff and students who gathered there, as Nathan closed the doors
behind him and locked them.

"All right. Everyone's here," Nathan said, nodding to Remy and taking
a seat near the front of the room. Both Haroun and Wanda had taken up
stations further back, unconsciously 'monitoring' the surprising
number of students in there with them. Amanda and Jubilee had chosen
to sit as far apart as humanly possible while still remaining in the
same room, and the rest had scattered into chairs and couches between
them.

"Good to see everyone made it." Remy said casually, eyes' flickering
over the mostly puzzled looking assembly in front of him. "Guess Remy
cut right to de chase, since I doubt anyone here is really interested
in playing trust exercises or team building games--"

There was a loud snort of derision, and Remy bounced a plastic lighter
off of Jubilee's forehead.

"OW!"

"As I was saying, dis is not a social call. Dere is a situation dat
has arisen from one of de Professor's old enemies. Information about
de school dat puts everyone here in danger. And for different reasons,
de X-Men busting on, or de more bastardminded of us just killing
everything between us and dem does not exist as an option. So, where
does dat leave us?"

"With a rhetorical question," Nathan murmured.

"Merci. Now, before everyone gets all excited, it is important dat you
know de job we are looking at is both very dangerous, and very secret.
If you volunteer, you will be mostly cut off from de mansion for de
next week. You will be in harms way. If it goes bad, de X-Men will not
come in to save you." Remy crossed his arms and looked
uncharacteristically serious. "No one is on de hook for dis yet,
hommes. But if you agree, you have to understand a very real
possibility exists dat you might spend de next ten years in a mutant
resistant cell in prison, or end up in a body bag. We are going to be
going up against someone who is incredibly smart. Almost as smart as
he is ruthless. Anyone who is not comfortable wit' dat can leave now."

"The Professor will be talking to each of you after this," Nathan said
calmly. "Just to make absolutely sure that if you choose to help with
this, you're doing it fully aware of the potential risks."

Remy looked out over the assembled students and staff. There were some
muted whispers and shuffling, but no one had gotten up for the door
yet.

"We don't get to know what the situation is, LeBeau?" Haroun said, and
Remy shook his head.

"Non. De threat is very real, homme. If you're in, you're in all de
way. Oh, and one last thing. Dis is my show. Dat means everyone here
takes dere orders from me. No arguments, no committees and no appeals.
Considering dat some of you might have reasons not to trust me--" This
time the snort came from Amanda, but Remy ignored it. "-if you can't
work wit' dat, walk out dat door."

Silence greeted him and no one moved. Remy looked up at Nathan, who
tilted his head and closed his eyes, concentrating. Everyone was
startled or intrigued enough by this turn of events that they weren't
devoting much attention to guarding their thoughts. There was some
concern, some suspicion, but no real desire to turn around and walk
out that door. He had been concerned that some of the others might
feel cornered into this, that the situation meant they couldn't
refuse, but he wasn't picking up on that either. After another few
moments of scanning, just to make sure, he opened his eyes and nodded
at Remy.

#We're good for now,# he sent. #Charles will pick up on anything I
didn't.#

"Oui. Den we're all in." Remy smiled as he swung a briefcase up on the
table. "Pack light, and for de desert, hommes. We going to Las Vegas."
He flipped open the brief case and pulled out eight large manilla
envelopes. He passed them out to each person, his own information and
Nathan's already in their pockets. "Nathan will be collecting any
identification you normally carry at de door. Inside dose envelopes
are passports and plane tickets. Cars are leaving in half an hour.
Follow your itineraries. We will be arriving several different ways
over the next twenty-four hours. Once you do, get a cab to the Strip,
and den a different cab to de address on your sheet. Dere is a
cellphone and a hundred dollars in each package. Come directly to de
house. I'll know if you blow off to de casino or get dere late. When
you do, you'll receive your new identities, de details about de job,
and answers to all your questions. Don't tell anyone else anything
more den you are going away for de week. Not yet."

Despite the odd protest, everyone complied and filed slowly out of the
library. Nathan took the bag of identification and dropped it into the
briefcase, intending to drop both off at the Professor's office. Remy
joined him as they watched the last few disappear down the hallway.

"You ready to babysit?"Remy said lightly, after Charles had very clearly specified that an adult was to be on the job the entire time to pull out any of the students who got into a jam.

"Charles just wants them safe."

"I know. But is that even possible on dis thing?" Remy said.

"He did agree to the plan."

"Got to say dis. Never put a plan this desperate together. Still, with de mix of powers..." Remy shrugged. "Who knew dat students could do something dat de entire X-Men can't."

"This is going to be entertaining," Nathan murmured, closing the
briefcase. "And no, I don't mean that in the good way." He was still
wrapping his mind around the prospect of daily telepathic updates to
Charles on how the kids were handling it all. Telepathic updates from
Vegas. Charles had assured him that he would be doing most of the work
of making contact, but still, he'd never used his telepathy at such a
range before.

"I think so. Besides, think positive." Remy said, flashing a bright
smile at Nathan. "If we're wrong, neither of us will be alive long
enough to know it."