A/N: Here's the next installment! :) Hope you enjoy it! And thank you for all those who follow, favorite and review, I'm so grateful for it! :D
Chapter 10
Merry watched in fascination as the team fought the robotic machines. It did not look easy, and several times Merry thought that they might actually get hurt. Her gasps of shock or worry made the mechanic at the control board roll his eyes at what he considered to be overreactions. Unknowingly to those down below, he decided to truly give Merry something to worry about. Pushing an obscure button, he upped the program a level.
Down in the room, Piotr smushed a robotic gun to a crumpled piece of metal and wires. Around him the others were similarly having victories over the electronic enemies. Suddenly there was silence as the machines paused in their efforts to slay the team. Whirring and clicking echoed through the room as Logan caught Piotr's eye. They both recognized what was happening at the same time. Logan strode angrily towards the control booth.
"Foorrge!" He growled. Forge gave a mock salute and sat back in his swivel chair with a grin on his face. Logan whirled around as the machines began to show themselves and shouted to Piotr, "Stay near Kitty and Bobby!" He ran over to be near Storm, as Jean, Scott and Beast grouped together.
Bobby threw a slew of ice towards a few weaponized mechanical arms lowering themselves towards the young trio. Kitty turned to Piotr.
"Give me a boost?" She beckoned towards a smaller robotic arm dangling menacingly. Piotr nodded and held out his hands in a interlocked step. Kitty stepped on and pushed off of the boost given, grabbing the arm and pushing off the wall, breaking the wires and dislocating the arm then using her momentum to phase the arm through another robot, leaving the arm behind, shorting out the robot. She landed on her feet but fell forward and caught herself with her hands. She glanced back at Bobby, who was still shooting out ice towards the robotic arms and such.
"See? I'm like a cat!" She gleefully announced. "I landed on all fours!" Bobby grinned but it quickly turned to a worried look.
"Look out!" He shot ice towards the weapon aimed at Kitty. The ice enclosed the weapon and prevented any more movement. Kitty blew a quick kiss towards Bobby and moved on to her next target. Across the way, Cyclops was steadily slicing through wires and metal with his laser vision, and in another corner, Storm was causing small rain storms to short out other machines.
Up in the control room, Merry was almost pressed up against the glass with anxiety. Those down in the room had seemed to be in the deep end at first, but now were steadily taking down their enemies. Forge seemed to be bored now, swiveling around in his chair, only occasionally glancing at the control board. The team quickly took out the remaining electronics. Forge pushed the intercom button and leaned forward towards the microphone.
"Nice job, very nice." He drawled in a bored tone. "Now I suppose I get to clean up all this mess. Hey, guys, if a student gets sent to detention, send 'em to me. I've got a few chores I could put them on." He sat back and smiled to himself as Logan cussed him out below.
Logan looked around him at the rest of the team. Most of them looked tired but other than that no one was actually hurt. Glancing back up at the control room he spied Merry looking down. Realization flashed through his mind.
"Stupid show-off." He muttered under his breath. "Alright, nice job, let's get outta here." He announced. "Hey, Piotr," he said, catching the Russian by his arm as he walked by. "Looks like you have a friend waiting." He nodded up towards the control booth. Piotr followed his glance and made eye contact with Merry, who gave a little wave. Piotr's face broke out into a smile as he waved back. He motioned for her to stay there, left the room and quickly made his way up to where she was.
"He-ey…" He uttered, suddenly feeling silly for thinking she was there just to see him. Many thoughts went through his mind, but he mentally shook them away. "Hey there. Shall we go back upstairs? Maybe, if you wanted to, you could come to the class that I teach this afternoon? I mean, if you don't have something. And if you wanted to. If you didn't want to, I'm sure we could find someone to hang out with, or uh, something to do." The normally stoic Russian found himself close to babbling, sounding more like Kitty than his normal self. Merry smiled gently, putting him at ease.
"That sounds nice. I'd love to come. Would the kids mind? Or the Professor?" Merry asked tentatively.
"No, they won't mind. As long as you're not disruptive. You're not planning on being disruptive, are you?" His smile was crooked, one side spreading up higher than the other.
Under the control booth yet again, Forge rolled his eyes at the exchange of Merry and Piotr. "Would you two just leave so I can get my job done? I can't think over the sound of you two yappin'." Piotr opened the door of the room and, after Merry walked through, closed the door behind him. As they walked back towards the hallway, they saw the Professor pressing the code into a door up ahead. As they got closer, they saw a glimpse of Hacke behind a force field with the Professor and Beast in front of him. The door closed, and Merry's smile immediately left her face. Piotr put his arm around her, giving her a quick squeeze before leading her to the elevator. The doors dinged opened right away, and he hurriedly pushed the correct level. As the doors closed, Merry just stared into space.
Poor Merry, she can't seem to get away from her past.
See you next time! XOXO