APPEARANCES BY: Rogue, Cody, Candra the External, the Tithe Collector, Bella Donna Boudreaux, Gris-Gris, Fifolet, Questa and Singer of the New Orleans Assassins Guild, Gambit, Storm, and various unnamed members of the Assassins Guild.

SUMMARY: The story opens with Rogue flying through the air on her way to meet Gambit at Harry's Hideaway. She is preparing for her annual trip back to Mississippi to visit her childhood friend, Cody, who was left in a coma many years ago, after he and Rogue kissed and Rogue's powers came to the surface. Rogue visits Cody every year, but this year it will be a lot different than before.

While Rogue and Remy are talking about Cody and Rogue's upcoming trip, down in New Orleans, Bella Donna and the Assassins Guild are in a graveyard, paying their respects to their former patriarch, Marius Boudreaux, who died recently (see reviews for the first Gambit LS). They are surprised to see the former benefactress of their guild and their rivals, the Thieves Guild, Candra the External, and her sidekick, the Tithe Collector show up. Candra speaks to Bella Donna of possibly restoring the old pacts between herself and the Assassins and tells Bel to get in touch with her at a later time.

As nighttime falls, Rogue storms out on Remy and the nuns who take care of Cody make sure he is comfortable for the night. In New Orleans, Bella Donna is preparing for the final test that will prove her worthy enough to lead the Assassins. She must face dozens of hand assassins, who have been captured by the guild and led to believe that if they kill her, they will live. They don't stand a chance though, because Bel was raised in the Guild and can easily take them on. While she fights, she thinks about Candra's offer and continues to dwell on the fact that she believes Remy and Rogue are the reason why she is the way she is (see reviews for the Gambit LS). After Bel succeeds, she is joined by Gris-Gris, Fifolet and Questa, who tell her that they are ready to act on her order.

Meanwhile, back up in Westchester, Rogue packs for her trip and is given a dozen red roses from Gambit, who asks for forgiveness for the things he said earlier. Gambit asks for a kiss for the road, which Rogue resents, but she has to be flattered when he explains himself and kisses her gloved hand. When Rogue leaves, Storm joins Remy in Rogue's room and they briefly reminisce of the days when they first met. Then they discuss Rogue and Storm gives Remy some advice on dealing with her. Remy tells Storm he's going out for a breath of fresh air, but Storm knows better and tells him to be careful.

The next night, Rogue has arrived at the hospital where Cody is being taken care of and gets the surprise of her life. Cody isn't in his room, where he should be, even though Rogue called ahead and let the staff know she was coming. Before she has time to act, she is hit with a powerful blast of energy that sends her flying into a wall. For the first time, she sees her attacker, the Assassin known as Fifolet, who tells her that if she is good, Cody will remain safe. Rogue tries to attack Fifolet back, but he has been given the ability to become intangible at will and she flies right through him. She continues to fight him so he brings out some more assassins to help him. She decides to cooperate for Cody's sake and Fifolet motions for another of the guild's inner circle, Singer, to come forward. Singer takes the blindfold off her eyes, revealing that her own powers include being a communicator for Bella Donna. Singer's eyes serve as a projector and Bel's face appears. She gives Rogue the message she has and then suddenly they are gone and the room is silent and dark.

Rogue refuses help from the nuns and flies off, heading towards New Orleans and the threat that lies there in the form of Bella Donna and the Assassins Guild, who have made threats on Cody and Remy. Meanwhile, Remy leaves Westchester on his motorcycle, heading down to aid Rogue in whatever way possible. He is observed by Gris-Gris, who calls Bella Donna and informs her that Gambit is on his way, just like Bel predicted.

QUINN'S OPINION: Being a fan of the New Orleans Guilds, I naturally enjoyed this issue. I thought it was a great start to a wonderful series. It has enough conflict, peace, humor and evilness to keep a reader interested. I could tell when reading it that I was going to enjoy the rest of the series as well and I was not disappointed.