Disclaimer: "Liking is probably the best form of ownership, and ownership the worst form of liking."
― José Saramago
Summary: The Acolytes have a new recruit: Anima. Only there's a problem: One teenage girl doesn't go with half a dozen male super villains. Can she adjust to the crazy life of the Acolytes? Chaos, fighting and more! Sorta parallel to my other story, "Time Bomb."
Random filler chapter. I may have stolen the title from Community. May have.
Chapter 11: A Fistful of Paintballs
Ariel collapsed on the couch.
"There's nothing to do!" she cried. John looked up from his lighter.
"'Course there is, love," he replied. "My mum always told me something."
"What'd she tell you?" Ariel asked.
"Oh, she told me that I was a worthless freak that'd never amount to anything," John said. "But she also told me, 'St. John, if you've got nothing to do, make something up!'"
"Like what?"
John pondered this. The his face lit up. "Paintball!"
"Let me get this straight," Remy said skeptically. "You want me to let you use my paintball guns to play?"
"You could join too, mate," John said excitedly.
"WWMS: What would Magneto say?"
"Oh, he'd probably think it's a good training exercise." John replied. Remy sighed. "Alright. Fine. Where would we play?"
"The rules are simple," Pyro said. He stood in front of the other Acolytes like an officer giving orders. He wore his typical 'Pyro' uniform along with a ridiculous motorcycle helmet. "If you get paint on you, you're out. No using powers to get paint on other people, but you can use them for evasion and defense. Last one standing wins. GO!" With a cry, Anima, Gambit, Pyro and Colossus drew their handguns and dashed in opposite directions. Pyro disappeared in the dining hall, Gambit sprinted to the garage, Colossus hid in his art studio and Ariel claimed the Rec Room. The battle was on.
Gambit and Pyro were the first to meet. Gambit had ventured into the hallway and Pyro was sneaking on attack on Anima. As he heard the almost silent footsteps, Pyro jumped into the Rec Room, sealing the exit with a barrage of flaming paintballs. There was silence, then a roaring explosion as the door was knocked in. Gambit stood in the flames, a demon that surely no man could stand against. Then, suddenly, two paintballs whizzed past his face. Crying out, he jumped out and dashed away.
"WOOHOO!" Pyro cheered, then froze as a third paintball hit him in the back of the neck and slid down his shirt.
"One down, three to go," Anima grinned and crawled out from the couch.
Colossus was getting tired of hiding in his art studio. There was little to do. Though there was enough paint, there were no enemies. Armoring up, he stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. Looking around cautiously, he moved towards the garage where he had seen Gambit run. As he stepped in, he heard the pounding of feet as Gambit sped back to his base. He stopped right before the door and Colossus cursed himself for leaving it open.
"Doesn't Goldilocks want to come out and play?" Gambit said slowly. Colossus readied his gun. And his armor creaked. The next moments happened in slow motion. Colossus and Gambit both jumped, firing rapidly in midair. As they neared the ground, a spray of paintballs sent them scurrying for cover. A cruel laugh filled the garage and Sabretooth and Mastermind stepped into view, each carrying huge guns.
"Crap!" Gambit hissed. He lightly charged a card and blew the nearest air vent, before crawling away, leaving Colossus alone. Not that he needed help. He was prepared for something like this. Which was why he had brought a small bucket of paint. He spilled it on the floor, as near to Sabretooth and Mastermind as possible. They jumped back, swearing as Colossus slipped into the van and zoomed out.
Anima knew they were in the game before they came after her. She had heard the exchange of paintballs and the van driving off. It was relatively simple to barricade herself in the bathroom. The medicine cabinets were shoved against the door as Anima hid in the higher cabinet and waited. She didn't have to wait long. With a roar, Sabretooth smashed against the door. Then again, and again. Soon, the door splintered inward and the drawers were flung against the far wall. The duo stepped in sinisterly. Sabretooth carried a paintball SMG with a bazooka strapped to his back. Mastermind was a bit more conservative with two handguns in his…well, hands, and a third on his hip. Sabretooth inhaled deeply.
"She's near," he said.
"She's here!" Anima shot back, bursting out of the cabinet. They both let out surprised shouts, letting loose a few rounds. Anima fired a few times before jumping down a laundry chute.
Gambit crawled the vents carefully, making as little noise as possible. He heard the exchange in the bathroom, before continuing to his bedroom. He had a couple more guns there. Leaping out into his room, he went right to his drawer. There, he beheld his beauty: a sniper rifle. He grinned evilly. This game just got a lot more interesting.
Anima crept from the laundry room next door to Piotr's studio. Letting herself in, she gazed around at the buckets of paint. She selected two for her plan and disappeared.
Colossus, meanwhile, was returning from buying a paintball gun. It was a gun that he could mount on the van and fire from inside. Very fancy and stuff. He sped up the car. Best to return before they noticed he was gone.
Anima lifted the bucket of paint up to the vent, tipping it over so that the paint rushed out through the ventilation system. She repeated the process with the other bucket. Dropping it with a clang, she dashed out the door to execute the second part of her plan.
As Gambit made his way over the bathroom, he could hear a distant rushing sound. His eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder and saw a flood of paint coming at him. He army-crawled as fast as possible, before dropping a card behind him. The card blew through the vent, draining most of the paint, but not all of it. In desperation, he charged the vent beneath him as lightly as possible, before dropping through it. He landed in a crouch in the hallway. About ten feet away from Sabretooth and Mastermind. He slowly drew his gun, but they turned as well. Before anyone could react, the light fixture shattered and a water balloon filled with paint landed between Sabretooth and Mastermind, splattering them with paint.
"No fair!" Sabretooth shouted. He dropped his gun and stamped his foot. "I QUIT CHEATER!" Anima jumped from the hole in the ceiling, scooping up the bazooka that Sabretooth had. Gambit had started running before she could raise it. He barely jumped out the door before it was splattered with paint.
As Colossus began to near the house, he was unaware of the attack planned for him. he pulled to a stop. As his hand hovered near the latch on the door, a paint rocket exploded on the hood with a FOOOOOOOOOM! Colossus jerked back and began to fire his own gun, but it had been knocked loose by the explosion.
"Very well," Colossus said solemnly. He armored up, then began backing the car out of the driveway. With a rev, he flew through the garage door and was thrown from his car. He managed to fire a few rounds before crashing into the wall. Quickly and mercilessly, an SMG from behind covering him with paint.
"And then there were two," Anima said emotionlessly, jumping from her perch above the garage door.
Remy was in the training room. Normally he avoided it like the plague, but he was desperate. Hiding behind some exercise machines, he readied himself (and his gun) for the imminent showdown. Sure enough, the door was kicked in as Anima heralded her arrival with a burst of fire from the SMG. He returned with a shot that she dodged. Barely. In fact, she would have been hit right between the eyes. Dropping the heavy gun, she drew two handguns before jumping on a punching bag, scrambling to the top and pulling herself onto the rafters. Gambit fired a deadly salvo, but each time she dodged. Finally, he drew his handgun. She disappeared somewhere up high. Gambit whirled around as all the locker doors flew open. He turned again as the pedals of the exercise bikes spun crazily. He turned again…and came face to face with a gun.
"Not a word," Anima said.
"Now cher—" BANG! The other gun shot him in the chest.
"I said not a word," she growled. Suddenly, the doors flew open. A metal bucket of paint flew in and splattered the pair.
"I cannot believe," Magneto said. "That you imbeciles would play paintball IN THE BASE…without telling me! You are ALL cleaning the base this afternoon. And you have to fix ANYTHING that you broke. Excuse me, I have a paintball tournament to get to."
That was strange and random. But kinda fun to write.
-Janglin' Bacon