Chapter 11
Gambit felt the magnetic pulse rush towards him, saw it too, somehow. The energy spoke to him, he heard the star in his chest respond to the call. Gather it, reverse it, send it back.
Equal and opposite reaction.
Every bit of metal in the office glowed white-hot bright, pink on the edges, then launched themselves away from where Gambit stood. Pens, lamps, electronics, door knobs and pulls, wires ripped from the walls, exploded outwards. The bust of Freud in Essex's hand launched himself into the doctor's chest. Then everything exploded, the windows blew outwards, the pink-white light flared into the darkened yard.
How did that…? Did he? Did we? Gambit wondered.
Did I do that? Steve Urkel said.
Given the choice between the devil he knew (well, they were acquainted anyway), and the devil in the plastic glitter horns, Gambit chose the latter. He launched himself through the office door, flew over Magneto's prone form. As he leapt, he snagged the Twix bar from the man's loosened grip.
"Yoink," Gambit said, as he landed on the foyer floor. He moved to the front door, which suddenly exploded inward in a shower of wooden fragments. Gambit threw up his arms to protect himself from the flying debris. In the now open doorway stood Rogue.
"Stop!...Thief!?" she said, and pointed at him.
Gambit tossed her the candy bar, which hit her chest. Instinctively, she caught it, looked down in momentary confusion.
"Trick or treat," he told her as the candy bar flashed bright in a shower of blinding pink sparks.
Rogue threw her arms before her eyes, blinded. Gambit turned and fled to the elevator. A charged playing card blew the doors open. He sailed through the empty space, seized the cable for the elevator car in the center, slid down in a controlled spiral. Releasing the cable, he made himself a straight line, feet crashing through the access panel. He landed forcefully in the car, it bounced him upward like a trampoline. Lifted from his feet he tossed another card, exploded open the doors and he came down through the newly opened egress. In the hall, he ran in the opposite direction from where he came. In his mind's eye, he could see himself moving through the corridors, visualizing the connections between halls. Moving himself through the maze like Pac-Man in an arcade game.
Waka-waka-waka-waka…
He rounded the corner at the end of the hall, spotted the purple dragon. It was facing him now, its mouth open, drawing a breath and fluttering its wings. Gambit leapt, twisted and inverted himself to fly over the dragon. For a split-second, his and the dragon's head were no more than a foot apart. He gave it a tiny pat on the head as he sailed by. Good Norbert.
Landing on his feet, he was off at a sprint. A gout of flame followed him, setting fire to the end of his cape. His hands smacked his own ass in an attempt to put it out.
"Oh, ah! Hot, hot, hot!" he hissed.
He ran towards the east wing where the entrance to the tunnel was. Rounding another corner and not slowing his momentum, he ran a few paces along the exterior angle of the corner, his feet tapping along the wall. As he rounded the corner however, he was stopped short. He slid in his soft boots for a foot or two. Before him in the corridor was a woman, chocolate brown skin (stop thinking about candy!), platinum white mohawk, body clad in black leather, shit-kicker boots (ooh, he'd like a pair of those!). She was poised to fight. Something about her made him think she would fight dirty. The woman didn't hesitate for a moment, but launched one of her boots in his direction with a battle cry. Gambit narrowly blocked the kick, she landed on her hands and feet, swung her opposite heel in an arc towards his jaw. Gambit threw himself backwards. The woman was forcing him back, back into the corner.
All at once, the space around them began to flash with red light, an alarm sounded, a cool voice spoke: Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. East Wing. Sub-Level Two. Then the walls began to shift and move, cutting off means for escape.
Block a punch, duck, pull back, block, block block, leg block. This woman was...fucking incredible, Gambit had to admit. He was not a match for her hand-to-hand skills, close, but not close enough. His forearms were getting absolutely pummeled. The wall behind him started to shift, to slide closed.
He moved right to avoid a thrown fist. I don't have time for this…!
Suddenly, time stretched, pulled like taffy. Except for Gambit, who was still moving at normal speed. The woman however, seemed to be moving through molasses. He saw her eyes widen as she realized something strange was going on.
Time is relative.
Now able to see her every move coming, Gambit seized her arm as her fist moved past his face. Using her momentum, he threw her down the hallway back towards the corner where she hit the far wall upside-down, then slid to hit the floor. The moving wall panel sealed Sid and Nancy's Collective Wet Dream from view. Gambit turned and fled, time once again flowing at normal course.
He was back in the hall near the holding cells. They went off to his left. To his right, the corridor towards the tunnels. He made to turn right when a figure emerged from the left. A soft and curvaceous form clad in pink, violet hair curled over her shoulders. It was "Bets." Implementing a defensive move he'd witnessed last Sunday, the only good defensive play he'd seen the whole game, he drove his body weight into her left shoulder, grasped her left upper arm while he himself pushed off against her with his left hand, spinning his whole body counter-clockwise. She spun too and was thrown face-first into a wall while Gambit made a dash for the backfield. Gambit felt a brush of her telepathic powers in the back of his mind.
De-Fense! Stomp! De-Fense! Stomp!
A whistle blew. Holding! Five yard penalty. First down.
Dammit all! Let's see the replay!
Oof, he did not have the build for defensive maneuvers.
The woman behind him let out a sort of frustrated cry. Her grip on him released.
Gambit veered down the hall towards the circular door. It was now in sight. All around him, the steel-plated walls began to vibrate, crumple. The Master of Magnetism couldn't be far behind. An extra burst of speed and he was launching himself at the circular door, riding it as it flew open into the tunnel. It rebounded off the back wall as Gambit spun, landing in the tunnel at a crouch. The door was closing itself, propelled by the momentum after having struck the wall. Gambit threw himself against it, spun the wheel to seal the door. Running backwards several paces, he threw two cards at the upper side walls. The explosions collapsed the walls, debris blocked the door. Gambit turned and ran back the way he came, back towards where he had gained access to the tunnels. A little more than two miles and he'd be out, free.
As he neared the tunnel fork, he came skidding to a halt. A figure was emerging from the New Jersey tunnel. It was a cat. A very, very big cat.
The cat paused, sniffing the air. His pointy-toothed smile was gleefully cruel. Gambit's insides turned to ice and he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Boo," said Sabretooth. "Did I scare ya?"
Remy's Random References:
Urkel - Family Matters sitcom
PAC Man
Sid & Nancy - Sid Vicious, punk rocker
Next: Remy Horror Picture Show
Also FYI, sometimes I post two chapters at once, so I hope you didn't miss one. :D