Ever had the urge ta just step out a’ your life… your responsibilities? Just ta go do something dumb, reckless and fun? Of course you have, ‘cause you might end up with a girl like her.
In a hotel room, as Remy’s mystery woman puts her clothes back on after a romantic dalliance, she asks him to keep his eyes on the gear. “You coulda changed in the bathroom,” he replies. She tells him that there’s a big spider in there and she hates big spiders. They pack up, grab a cab and head to the airport en route to Guatemala City. Once on board, Remy heads to the bathroom to check on the strange parasite that has burrowed itself into his torso. He asks the stewardess to ensure that his partner doesn’t poison his drink while he’s away.
Once in Guatemala, they head to a massive sink hole that has appeared in the ground. She informs Remy that rainstorms in the last few years have caused these throughout the city. The government hasn’t had the money or the inclination to do anything about them. A guy ended up in one and found some previously unknown ancient ruins. He traded the information and, in the end, their friend Borya Cich swooped in and acted like a relief effort. But, in reality he was just pillaging anything of value or ‘strange interest.’ The country shut him down, she adds, once they realized what they were losing to that vulture capitalist. Cich’s team smuggled out everything they could in a hurry, including the map, which, luckily for them she snagged from the museum before they realized.
She holds out the map which shows a feature on the map in the shape of a knot. She reckons it points the way to the real jackpot; the temple of their gods, which, like all good ancient pagans, they filled with offerings. Remy asks if she really thinks something out there can get this thing out of him. She says she does. The relic buried in his chest has a twin and the two were made for each other. He’s just a little morsel to keep the girl busy in the meantime. She asks if she’s still talking about the relics…
She tells Remy that if he helps track this place down she promises they will use the other half to set him free. But, that’s all he’s getting out of this. She reckons she let him come along and she certainly doesn’t need him. He reaches out and grabs a young boy who is playing with a paper airplane. He asks her if she’s sure about that. She almost let this kid hit her like a tourist. He asks him, in Spanish, to hand over her phone he’s stolen and tell them where they can get a car and supplies without too many questions.
(soon)
Remy and the woman are in the jungle and the Jeep they hired has conked out. Remy swears he’ll kill the thieving little brat. Maybe it’s an omen, he thinks. He’s been jumping in head first ever since he met the girl and that’s a dangerous place to be. Dressed a little like Lara Croft, she tells him to leave it. They should be close to their destination. Remy reaches out and charges up the map. He tells her that if she doesn’t want her map turning into flash paper, she can inform him what it is she expects to find that’s worth all this trouble.
She grabs her bags and replies that there is something she wishes she could change about her life and she’s tried everything she can and nothing has put things right. But… she has reason to believe that what’s inside the temple might be able to. That’s as much as she is comfortable telling him, so she hopes it’s good enough. If not… well, no one is forcing him to follow her. He asks what happens then when she runs into his little monster’s better half without him and his. She replies that he said himself that the thing is draining him. She could just wait and carve it off his corpse. Remy hopes that she’s kidding.
(later)
The pair of them soon come across an opening and the woman points to a large carved stone buried half in the ground. She thinks that’s it. Remy says he thought they were looking for some giant temple, but she checks the map and replies that their civilization was buried. It’s got to be the same one. Remy flicks a large spider off her shoulder but then turns around to see countless more approaching at speed. He suggests she doesn’t turn around, so of course, she does. “What the hell!” she exclaims. “I warned ya,” quips Remy.
They scamper for the stone and Remy stops when he reaches the top. His friend leaps as he turns and stops. She flips over and shoots some of the spiders but Remy simply charges the stone and leaps off it, warning her to duck. Moments later, the whole thing explodes, taking the spiders with it.
She tells him that was in equal parts horrible and embarrassing. He groans and asks her not to be embarrassed. After everything else, he’s just glad to see she’s not entirely cold-blooded. She goes over to him and is shocked at his appearance. “Oh God!” she gasps. “You look awful.” Remy struggles to get to his feet and reckons that little trick too more out of him than expected. The damn critter is drinking him dry. He hopes it’s simple from there on in. She looks around at a large hole that has appeared and doesn’t think simple is what they’re in for.
They descend into a massive cavern and Remy is relieved to see that she isn’t prepared for what they find. She thinks it’s impossible. The cultures there were still in the Stone Age! So, how are the lights embedded in the wall? Maybe someone beat them there. Maybe this is all new? Remy takes a look and doesn’t believe they look new. She doesn’t like this. The place spreads out into every direction but the parchment doesn’t show any of it. Remy begins to think they might be walking into a trap but, before he can verbalize that, he groans and bends over a little. She asks him what’s wrong. Remy says it’s nothing, and he actually thinks he’s just found the benefit of having this restless little parasite, ‘cause it’s clear to him it’s telling him which direction in which to go.
As they head off, she asks why, back at the party, he chose her. He replies that his usual habit would be to try and charm some good girl, but what brought him there was the powerful feeling that all his choices these days have gone bust so he figured he’d take a chance. He admits that he didn’t know if he could trust her but he sure wanted to find out.
As he speaks, a beam of light comes down from above and scans him. An image of the parasite in his chest appears above him. He tells his friend that he doesn’t know what the hell that was, just before a beam of light does the same to her. He asks her to get ready. “For… for what?” she asks. He asks if she ever fought for her life before. “Once,” she replies, “It didn’t go well.” As large nasty-looking tendrils descend towards them, Remy swings into action and says he doesn’t think this will go much better. He’s running on fumes. As he flips upside down he suddenly gets a little burst of energy and tells her that it seems his damned parasite is giving something back at last. The power he has feels changed but he’ll take it.
As she shoots and slashes at her assailant, she asks if he’s always this lucky. Remy charges up a staff and replies that he just makes it look easy. He hurls the staff hard at their foes and it explodes, providing her with a moment to throw a grappling hook across to the next platform. They grab hold and edge their way across. Remy asks her to be honest. This is the best date of her life, no? As she replies, the rope snaps and she begins to fall. Luckily, Gambit reaches out and grabs her with his right hand, keeping tight hold of the rope with his left. They then swing and Remy asks her to pull up for speed. Their swing gains pace and they manage to just reach the opposite ledge.
As soon as they are safe, he feels the power fade and feels like lunch for a paperweight again. At least they now know that it has self-preservation instincts. She replies that until a few minutes ago she could have said the same about him. She asks why he grabbed for her. She could have pulled him down too. He tells her she would have been killed. “You don’t know that,” she replies. Remy tells her he gets it. She expects something for saving her life. She tells him that he should really stop assuming he knows her. Remy sits up, angry, and says maybe he would if she’d stop playing the femme de mystère! “Listen,” he adds, “I understand havin’ trust issues as good as anyone, but...” Remy suddenly reels backwards and groans, unable to finish his sentence. He realizes that they have arrived at their destination.
They enter a large cave-like structure. It has what appears to be a massive central centerpiece with a smaller one at the base and a glowing structure in the middle. “It’s… it’s incredible,” she gasps. Remy seems equally impressed. He struggles to move as he gets closer to the glow. He wonders if maybe the two pieces have been kept apart for a reason. She bends down and strokes his chin, asking him to shush. She tells him that she understands his fears, but it’s like he said, sometimes you just have to take the chance to find out. As she looks at the glowing twin of what is inside Gambit’s chest, she feels drawn to it.
Y’ever had the urge to just step out a’ your life… your responsibilities, just ta go do something dumb, reckless and fun? Of course you have. But, I’d recommend you try and talk yourself out of it, ‘cause you might end up with a girl like her… a girl you can’t predict for the life a’ you.
The parasite in Remy’s chest leaves and heads towards its twin along a glowing trail of energy. She tells him he doesn’t know how long she’s been searching for this. It has the power to set things right - the power of the gods. Remy watches her walking slowly towards the two twins and reckons he sure knows how to pick ‘em. After all this, it turns out she’s just another screwy chick who’s out to take over the world! She replies that she’s done with the world. This is about taking control of her life. He just had the bad luck to step into the middle of it.
As the two twins merge together, she warns him that he should probably cut out while he can. She’s not really sure how this will go down. As the twins become increasingly brighter, Remy assures her that he isn’t about to leave her, ‘cause he doesn’t think this thing is fixing to deliver the ‘Power of the Gods.’ They look up and see dragon-like creatures circling above them with what appears to be a moon and two planets above them in the sky. “I think its bringin’ the gods themselves.”
