NOTE: This issue takes place after Bishop #6, so go read that first. It is VERY essential to the story.

"Bullseye..." stated Gambit.

"Yeah, that's what I said," replied Courier. "Bull's eye."

"Not what I mean, Jacob," stated Gambit. "Bullseye is a master assassin who's been around th' block plenty o' times. Basically, anythin' becomes a weapon in his hands."

"Including playing cards," noted Bishop.

"He used ta use 'em all th' time," said Gambit. "Looks like he's gone back ta usin' em."

"So, you're saying Bullseye's the one who set you up?" asked Zoe.

"Non," replied Gambit. "Bullseye's good, but he's still just a hired gun. Dere's someone else behind dis whole mess."

"What now?" asked Courier.

"Why you all lookin' t'me for the decisions?" asked Gambit.

"Scene of the crime," stated Bishop.

"What?" asked Zoe.

"Scene of the crime," replied Bishop. "That's where we should start. We return to the scene of the crime and see if there's anything there that would be useful."

"Bullseye's an expert, mon ami," said Gambit. "How do we know he left anythin' behind? First rule in th' cleanin' business is t' never leave a loaded gun."

"Do you have a better idea?" asked Bishop as he folded his arms across his chest. Gambit stopped for a minute and thought. He looked up and turned to Courier.

"Where's de crime scene?"

"I'll go take you there..." replied Courier.

"We ready, then?" asked Zoe.

"You ain't comin', chere," replied Gambit.

"Pardon?" asked Zoe. "And why not?"

"'Cause I got another job for ya," replied Gambit. "I want y' t' report back t' de Guild, let 'em know what's goin' on. An' see if you can try an' find Tante Mattie. She was gone before Bullseye got t' Jean Luc."

"How do you know that?" asked Zoe.

"Because if she wasn't, den dere would be another corpse."

Ten Minutes Later...

"Looks like de cops already swept th' place clean," stated Gambit.

"We don't need them," said Bishop. "We have the crime scene photos, that's enough."

"Crime scene photos...?" asked Gambit.

"Yes," replied Bishop. "I told you to bring them."

"Remy had them last," said Courier.

Bishop looked up at Gambit. Remy simply shrugged and chuckled a little.

Twenty Minutes Later...

"Let's try this again..." stated Bishop. He looked at a photo of the body and examined the tape around the area. "We need to try and re-enact the scene. For that, we need a victim."

"Jake," said Gambit.

"What?!" exclaimed Courier. "Why me?!"

"Just lie down in the outline," ordered Bishop.

"But why me?!"

"I said lie down."

Courier backed off a bit from Bishop's presence and did as he was told. Bishop looked at the photo again and considered it for a few moments.

"LeBeau, give me one of your playing cards."

"NO FREAKING WAY!!" shouted Courier.

"Get a grip, Jake," said Gambit as he handed Bishop a card. "He ain't Bullseye. An' de card's not charged."

"Christ... I need a new job..." muttered Courier. Bishop examined the photo and moved up to Courier. He held the card above Courier's neck.

"This is where the card struck," stated Bishop. "Stand up."

Courier did as he was told and stood upright. Bishop positioned him in a specific spot, then walked a few feet back.

"This is approximately where Bullseye would have been standing when he threw the card," continued Bishop. "Or actually, it'd be a few feet higher, based on the angle."

"So he would've thrown it from de fire escape," said Gambit. "What's dat prove?"

"Nothing, I'm just trying to piece it all together," replied Bishop. "But why would Bullseye want this person dead?"

"Did you recognize the guy in the photo?" asked Courier.

"Non," replied Gambit. "Don't ring a bell at all. But what's his name?"

"He's a John Doe," stated Courier. "No clue who he is."

"Examining the body would be the next step," said Bishop.

"But there's no body here anymore," said Courier. "It's probably been taken to the..."

He looked at both Gambit and Bishop and then spoke up once more.

"OH HELL NO!!"

"C'mon Jake, what's de problem?"

"I AM NOT BREAKING INTO THE DAMN MORGUE!!"

"It's the only way," said Bishop. "We'd have to--"

Bishop's voice stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly, he collapsed on the ground.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Courier.

A figure dropped from above dressed in a black and white jumpsuit. He grinned once he saw Remy and Jacob.

"I see you got my message, LeBeau," the man stated.

"Hey... who's that?" whispered Courier.

Gambit looked at him for a few moments, then smacked Jacob on the back of the head.

"Who do you 'tink it is, genius?!" replied Remy.

"Oh..." said Courier. "OH!! Y'know, I just realize that I've gotta run... I got other stuff to do and... BYE!"

Courier started to run past Remy, but before he could get past Bullseye, the assassin threw his fist out, nailing Jacob in the side of the face and slamming him into the wall.

"No, stay," he said. "I insist."

"What's de deal, Bullseye?" asked Gambit. "Why you after me?"

"Let's just say someone's paid me a lot of money to frame your ass," replied Bullseye. "And I have to admit, it was kind of fun."

"Y'know yer not gon' get away with dis."

"Funny, that's the same thing your old man said," said Bullseye with a sadistic grin. "Before I gutted him like a trout, that is."

Gambit gritted his teeth with anger. He reached into his coat and his fingers wrapped around several playing cards. He hurled them at Bullseye with amazing accuracy, charging them with kinetic energy as he did so. Bullseye simply grinned and stood his ground. As the cards came towards them, his hands moved quickly, and he caught them. He held them in his hands for less than a second before they were flying back towards Remy.

"Dat's never happened before..."

Gambit quickly reached beneath his coat and pulled out the two metal bars and used them to stop the cards. They exploded harmlessly against them. He put the two bars together to form his bo-staff.

"C'mon LeBeau, playing cards?" asked Bullseye. "I invented that trick."

Gambit rammed his staff into the ground, using it to propel himself into Bullseye. Bullseye anticipated this and sidestepped. He grabbed Gambit's foot and swung the thief into the wall. Gambit got right back up again and proceeded to charge Bullseye, who fell to the ground, causing Gambit's kick to narrowly miss. He then shot his elbow up into Gambit's groin.

Remy fell back slightly and grabbed the wall.

"Felt that through th' cup..."

He looked up just in time to see Bullseye's foot coming towards him, yet he wasn't fast enough to move out of the way, and the foot slammed his face into the wall. Gambit staggered a bit, and used his staff for leverage. He looked up at Bullseye with anger. Bullseye still had the grin on his face however, and calmly walked towards Gambit.

"You having fun yet, LeBeau?" he asked.

Gambit gritted his teeth and swung the staff out towards Bullseye. Bullseye grabbed it and wrenched it away from Remy's grasp. He then slammed it on Remy's back.

"C'mon LeBeau, you're making this too easy! It'd be funny if it wasn't so pathetic," said Bullseye. Gambit looked up at him and started to chuckle. "Looks like you think it's funny anyway, though."

"Not dat..." said Gambit. "Time delay charge."

"Huh?" Bullseye asked. He suddenly realized what Gambit was referring to once he saw the staff begin to glow. "SHIT!!"

Bullseye tossed it away and it exploded in midair. The staff still remained however, and fell harmlessly to the ground. The staff was made of a resilient substance that allowed it to be charged without becoming permanently destroyed after the explosions.

"An' dat, ladies an' gents, is how we play possum," said Gambit as he delivered a quick uppercut to Bullseye. "Now, f'r de next lesson, we gon' learn how t' shut up smart-mouthed mercs."

"More like smart-mouthed thieves," said Bullseye. He grabbed Gambit's fist as it came towards him and kneed Remy in the stomach. Then, he elbowed him in the face. Bullseye followed it up with a roundhouse kick which sent Remy flying back into the wall. Bullseye rushed forward and placed his arm against Remy's throat, pinning him to the wall. He drew a dagger and held it above Remy's face.

"See this?" he asked. "This is the same knife that I used to kill your pappy. And I used it to cut off Cheryl's pretty head. Kind of fitting that it's gonna be used on you."

*CHK*

"Drop it."

Bullseye looked over his shoulder and saw Bishop aiming a gun at him.

"You know I have more than enough time to kill him," said Bullseye.

"The second that knife moves anywhere, I pull the trigger and paint the wall with your brains."

"Sounds like a wager to me," said Bullseye. He quickly threw the knife towards Bishop, and it struck the gun. The impact sent the weapon flying out of Bishop's hand. That was all the time Bullseye needed to rush forward and deliver a quick punch to Bishop's face.

"Did you really think that would work?" asked Bullseye. "C'mon, I've tangled with Daredevil! You punks are nothing compared to him! You think you can take me out? I got information for you - you can't. I'm Bullseye! I never miss! You can't win against me! Hey, here's a thought, how about you try breaking my spine? Oh that's right, you can't! It's adaman--"

Bishop grabbed Bullseye's arm and drove his fist into Bullseye's mouth.

"Adamantium spine..." he stated,

He then slammed Bullseye into the wall with all his strength.

"Glass jaw..."

Bishop followed that up by throwing Bullseye into the wall one more time, then drove his elbow into the assassin's nose, shattering it.

"Figures."

Gambit staggered over towards Bishop and looked down at the unconscious Bullseye, then at Bishop.

"Dunno what scares me more..." he began. "De fact dat you were able t' take out Bullseye wit'out breakin' a sweat... or dat you made a joke."

"We faced worse than him in the XSE," said Bishop. "Bullseye is a lightweight by those standards."

"Looks like I'm pretty happy dat ya came down here after all," said Gambit.

"Did you find out who his employer was?" asked Bishop. Gambit shook his head. He then walked over to Courier and lightly slapped the man's face.

"Hey Jake... wake up."

"Uhh..." murmured Courier. "What... what the hell happened?"

"Y' were knocked unconscious," replied Gambit. "Dat's what happened."

"Just great..." muttered Courier. "Have I told you how much I hate you?"

"Not today," replied Gambit.

"Because I do."

"Good, I almost thought y'were sick for a minute dere."

"Anyone else hear sirens in the background?" asked Courier.

"Yah..." replied Gambit. "Guess dat means we should get outta here."

"No," said Bishop. "I dialed 911 when I woke up. That's probably why they're here."

"What for?" asked Courier.

"To ensure that Bullseye is apprehended."

A squad car pulled up in front of the alleyway, and two officers stepped out. They recognized Remy's picture from that morning's role call and drew their weapons.

"Looks like we got 'im," one of the officers stated. "Put your hands in the air!"

"Wait," said Bishop. "I'm a PI. Luther Bishop from Chicago."

"Check his ID," the officer ordered his partner while keeping the gun trained on the three of them. His partner went up to Bishop.

"Inside pocket of my coat," said Bishop. The officer fished it out and opened it up. He nodded to his partner.

"Checks out," he said. "New Orleans is a long ways away from Chicago."

"I was called in to investigate the murder of Jean Luc LeBeau," said Bishop. "Remy LeBeau is innocent. The real killer is this man over here."

He motioned behind him at Bullseye.

"It was a frame-up."

"Do you have proof?" asked the officer.

"Over there is the murder weapon. You'll find DNA from both Jean Luc and the female officer. Plus, LeBeau was with me and Mr. Gavin, Jr. here at the time of the third murder. I can verify his alibi."

"There's still a warrant out for his arrest."

"Doesn't matter," said Courier. "I'm Jacob Gavin, Jr. I work for International Infonet Inc. Mr. LeBeau is a respected client of ours, and if you place him under arrest based on this new information, our attorneys are going to have a field day with you."

The two officers looked at each other. Gambit grinned.

"Christ, this is the last thing I need..." said the officer. "Get the hell out of here."

"I can't believe that actually worked..." said Courier as they headed back towards the safehouse. "I mean... wow. How the hell did we manage that?"

"Maybe it just took a little bit o'... charm..." said Remy with a grin. Bishop looked at him wearily for a moment.

"I should head back to Chicago now," he stated. "But what are you going to do, LeBeau?"

"Jean Luc's dead an' Tante's missin'," Remy stated. "Dat only leaves one option."

The meeting place of the New Orleans chapter of the Thieves Guild. It was present prior to the Louisiana Purchase. Still, many people are oblivious to its existence. And to the dealings inside.

Remy LeBeau is not one of those people. He has known about this place for as long as he can remember. It was something of a home to him in his younger days. That was before his exile. Now, he is looked on with fear and anxiety. They don't trust him. Some of them never have.

Except for Zoe Ishihara. The two of them are perhaps kindred spirits. Like Remy, Zoe was excommunicated from the Tokyo Thieves Guild, and has been working with the New Orleans chapter for several years. Despite the fact that she is a part of them, she is looked on as an outsider. How can her word help him?

Nevertheless, Remy knows what he must do. Despite their misgivings towards him, and dispite his own personal misgivings, this is something which must be done. He slowly walked down the long stretch of red carpet laid out before him. The Thieves surrounding him remained silent.

"What a show-off..."

Well, almost all of them remained silent. Remy walked towards the one who spoke up. He was a young thief, couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen. Remy placed a hand on his shoulder and then turned and walked back towards the center of the room.

Without warning, a small button on the young thief's shirt exploded. It wasn't powerful enough to cause him harm, but it was enough to force him to jump.

"Show some respect, mon ami," said Remy. He walked down the rest of the carpet towards the end where there was a small step leading up to another level. There was a large chair seated here. Gambit took a seat in the chair.

"After all, I'm de new Patriarch."

Bishop looked at the headline on the newspaper and smiled. It read, "REMY LEBEAU CLEARED OF CHARGES - TRUE KILLER APPREHENDED."

He was glad that he was wrong about Gambit. At least on this occasion. However, he was still curious as to why those officers were so cooperative with him and the Courier. They should have required more proof.

"Maybe it just took a little bit o'... charm..."

Bishop suddenly realized what had happened. He remembered from Gambit's file that the nature of his biokinetic powers gave him some very low-level telepathic abilities. Abilities which he always used subtlely and unconsciously, which is why the man was considered to be so charming.

Bishop grinned at this little revelation and then began to laugh.

"Bullseye failed. Isn't he supposed t'be de best?"

"He didn't fail, my friend. He did exactly what he was supposed to."

"But LeBeau is still alive, an' he's been cleared o' all de charges. An' now Bullseye's rottin' in jail. Y'never said dat's what he was supposed t'do."

"Trust me, it was. Bullseye's actions forced Remy t'become de new Patriarch."

"Dat's why y'went t' alla dis trouble, Bel? Just so he could take over de Guild?"

Bella Donna Boudreaux reclined in her chair and looked at Gris Gris.

"Yup," she stated.

"Why?" Gris Gris asked.

"'Cause now t'ings get interestin'."

NEXT: First, check out the Annual 2002 as Gambit pays a visit to Australia and X-Men Omega! And then, be back here for issue #9 when Remy goes on the search for Tante Mattie in "SLAVE TRADE!"