A/N: Quicksilver fans rejoice!! But there's a bit of torture here… -.- … Anywayz..
I can't be bothered saying this in every single chpt, so just keep in mind the disclaimer's on the theme page… altho it's kinda obv I don't own X-men evo… ^__^
-- sylver_rain
The Clydesdales
Chapter 4: The Speed Clydesdale
Remy walked up to the giant steel gates. The land that belonged to Sir Deht was huge, and surrounding the entire estate was a high wall, and all he could see was the upper levels of the grand stone-mansion.
Sir Deht's mansion was far out in a very country-like part of the capital, and Remy had to hitchhike to get here. He had to jump off and on different rides, in order to get to his destination where not many people went, unless it was Sir Deht himself or some friend of his.
Seeing no way to get in at the moment, Remy climbed up to one of the highest branches of a tall tree outside the walls. He hauled himself up onto the topmost branch, and took a peek in. The mansion was, as expected, huge and magnificent, and by the looks of it, it was definitely of a Knight's taste. As medieval as it seemed, the mansion looked like the futuristic version of a Knight's court, having all the electronic devices and automated machinery in it. He saw sheds, charging lanes where Knights did their daily charging, a few servants and maids strolling around and doing their jobs, and other Knightly stuff. But no Clydesdale.
Then he heard a faint hum. It was soft, and he could barely hear it, but the next second, the humming was louder and he could finally hear its source. Nearby where he was, he saw a blur of silvery white, and to his surprise, a silver steed materialized right in front of the giant gates. There was a bulky man on it, no doubt Sir Morris Deht himself, and he was sweating, but laughing hysterically at the same time.
"Never in my life!" Remy heard the man say loudly, "Never in my entire life, have I rode a horse with such speed." Sir Deht pressed his finger against a glass pad at the side of the gates, and after the device had scanned his thumbprint, the gates whirred softly and slowly opened itself.
As the gates took its time opening, Remy got a closer look at the first Clydesdale to have been created. It was a male and he looked sick and extremely weak, as if he had been starved. He was very thin that Remy could see the lines of his rib cage, and his legs were shaking from exhaustion, and he also had a strange metal collar around his neck. Sir Deht was laughing and talking in mockery at the steed, either completely blind to the creature's suffering or not really caring. After Remy heard what the Knight was saying, he was pretty sure it was the latter.
"Boy, you were worth every penny." Sir Deht said. "I admire you of your strong spirit, boy. But the running away had to stop. Just a few less meals and some… persuasion, and you have broken…" Remy frowned at the whip scars he saw on the Clydesdale's back and heard Sir Deht continue his verbal torment on his mount. "And a lot of thanks to this baby…" The man patted a control device that hung at his belt. The panting Clydesdale grunted, trying to stay standing on his frail slim legs.
The gates were fully opened by now and Sir Deht squeezed his ankles together to signal to the Clydesdale to move forward. Quicksilver walked forward obediently, trying his hardest not to fall, and Remy watched in dismay as the gates closed behind them.
Remy felt disgusted that any human would treat an animal like that. The worse part was that a Clydesdale had human emotions, and could feel every pain inflicted on it, and would probably be terrified. Remy just hoped that the used-to-be-mutant's spirit hadn't really broken.
It turned out that his hopes were granted, as he heard a yell from inside. He quickly stretched as high as he could on the tree branch, trying to see what was going on behind the gates.
Sir Deht was on the ground, crying out in rage. It was obvious the Clydesdale was getting very annoyed and had thrown him off, but as a punishment, several servants were whipping him harshly. Quicksilver let out a shrill neigh, and proceeded to make a run for it. To Remy's utter amazement, he had reached the end of the court in less than a second, but suddenly he saw sparks of electricity fly from the collar the Clydesdale had around his neck, and Quicksilver emit a ear-splitting neigh before dropping to the ground unconscious.
Sir Deht was cursing rudely and he placed the control device that activated the collar on the steed back at his belt. Remy knew the collar was going to be a big problem if he was going to get Quicksilver out of the torture house.
Remy had, with great help from pass break-ins, managed to get over the walls without tripping any alarms. All he had to do was explode some wires and devices, and he could get in with not many problems.
It was night and the entire mansion was dark. No servants or maids were to be seen, and Gambit stealthily made his way to the back of the mansion, where the stables were.
He saw many horses resting in the sheds, but no Clydesdale. All he could hear was the occasional grunt and snorts from the steeds, and he finally came upon a stable unlike the others.
This one was metal, and looked more like a cage. He looked through the bars and saw a flash of the moonlight reflecting off the silver skin of the Clydesdale locked inside. Quicksilver, with his back facing Remy, seemed defeated, and was continuously knocking the collar against a metal bar, in a dull and weary attempt to break it. Remy couldn't help but chuckle softly at the comical sight, as the Silver Clydesdale wasn't really putting any effort in it. The horse heard his soft laugh, and warily turned around to see who it was. His movements were slow, and very uncharacteristic of the fastest animal in the world.
Remy choked back a gasp at the sight of him. The Clydesdale would have looked beautiful and magnificent if it weren't for his sickly shape and the scars on his back. Remy smirked at the Speed Clydesdale, and wrapped his fingers around the lock of the cage, and started charging it up with kinetic energy.
Quicksilver watched in amusement as Gambit's eyes turned a dark, blood red. Remy knew full well that blowing up the lock would probably set off an alarm, but there weren't many options he had.
He stepped back from the glowing lock and with an explosion, the lock detonated and a siren immediately went off. He pulled open the gate and grabbed the reigns hanging from Quicksilver's mouth. The creature let himself get guided out the cage, and the sound of approaching footsteps was getting louder, and he could hear Sir Deht's voice echoing throughout the mansion, "What in blazes?!"
Remy whispered to the Clydesdale, hoping desperately that the spell that had been cast upon it did not take away the understanding of the human language, "Remy know you're tired, but try to make a dash for it." Thankfully, Quicksilver seemed to have understood, as he sped off toward the nearest wall, with Remy clinging on to his neck.
All Remy could remember was one second he was inside, and the next, he was over the wall and far away. Then suddenly Quicksilver fell to the ground, as sparks flew from the collar around his neck.
"Shit…" Remy muttered. He looked back, and they were quite a distance away from the mansion. He would have marveled at how far they have gotten in a single second, but now was not the time.
He pulled out a laser blade from the insides of his boot and started melting the collar in half. It took a while, as the collar seemed to be made of some kind of hard metal. Finally, in about ten minutes, he was done. However, the sound of approaching horses told him that it as time to bail. He threw the collar into a stream, which sent it floating downstream.
He shook the exhausted Clydesdale, "C'mon… a little bit more, just run up, through the stream…" Quicksilver managed to pull himself up onto his knees, and finally stood up on shaking legs.
"Good boy…" Remy whispered. The Clydesdale had obviously ran out of his mutant speed, and now was struggling to even stand as he slowly crawled his way upstream. Sir Deht and his men were probably following the tracker downstream, which gave them more time to get away safely.
Remy helped the heavily panting Quicksilver up the stream, and when he finally decided that they were a safe enough distance away, he guided the worn out creature under a tree, and allowed him to fall into a peaceful slumber.
He started up a fire after exploding some pieces of wood, and set himself down near the Clydesdale for a rest.
Before he fell asleep, he glanced at the silver steed as the golden glow from the flames glimmered over the creature's silver mane, and he fell asleep, glad that he had at last found a Clydesdale and wondering what the next day would bring.
End of chapter 4
