Chapter 3: The Danger Room
In the Danger Room the next morning - though it was still dark out - Logan waited with his arms folded. If one looked closely enough they might have detected the faintest of smirks... The bastard probably enjoyed it. Iceman and Multiple, along with Kitty, wandered in half dead, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Kitty grumbled.
"You're like, so dead for this, Bobby."
"It was Jamie's idea!"
"RIGHT! Quit yer yappin' 'fore I quit it for ya. Where are Stripes and the Cajun?"
On her cue, Rogue wandered in, fastening the clasp on the back of her body suit. She didn't have time to put on makeup, and she was just as tired as the rest.
"Ah'm sorry.."
Remy entered last, and he didn't look tired at all. In fact it was hard to say if he'd ever gone to sleep. He had his trenchcoat back on and was carrying what looked like a foot-long pipe of sorts. He turns his horizontal and bam, each end telescopes out until the pole is about six feet long and he rests the butt on the ground, leaning against it.
"All righ', mistah teachah, le's get dis pahty stahted. Da ragin' Cajun is ready ta kick some simulated be-hind."
Logan smiled grimly. That couldn't be a good sign.
"Well since yer friend the Cajun seems so confident, kids, I think we can try out level five this morning.. Mind the robotic arms." The faces of the students deadpanned... not like they could argue, though. Logan gave a pointed look at Remy. "I'll be waitin' fer ya at the end, bub." Logan stalked away, and the program started to boot up, the students suddenly isolated in the steel walls that placed them like mice in a maze.
Rogue, meanwhile, was fuming. She couldn't even beat level three, and now look.. Not like she had any powers to help her, either!
"Ah hate you, swamp rat..."
Remy just grinned and blew a kiss at Rogue.
"Don' yo' worry none, ma petite pĂȘche, Remy ain' afraid o' no little maze." With that he dashes off down the only viable path at the moment, jumping and doing a midair somersault as one of the robotic arms came swinging for him. As he hits the T intersection he slams his pole into the ground and vaults up, landing with ease atop the wall... only to be hit by a laser and knocked off, though he was able to take out the cannon with a charged card before he landed with a heavy thump and a grunt on his back.
Rogue couldn't help but smirk.
"Too bad, swamp rat."
With that she and the others sped past him. The first obstacle seemed simple enough.. a series of walls that sprung up before them. Kitty phased through them at a run. Iceman did his ice slide bullshit and went over them, using an ice shield to block and lasers. Multiple multiplied and like.. helped himselves over. Rogue approached it confidently enough, despite her lack of useful powers, and ran at the wall full speed. She pushed up with one leg and grabbed the top, pulling herself up with more agility than strength. The quicker, the easier. A laser fired only to hit air as she rolled off to the other side.
Remy shakes his head and repeats the vaulting process, not pausing at the top this time, and continues over the walls... only to be stopped dead after the last, in what looked for all the world like a hall of mirrors. There was a roof this time, though, and Kitty couldn't phase through them. What was Danger Room training without making them think on their feet? Remy pulled out a card and charged
it before throwing it at one of the mirrors, the explosion having no effect. With a sigh he just continued forward at a jog, feeling his way through and trying to figure out the strange winding path.
Rogue kept running forward, nearly running into a clear glass plate. The mirrors now mixed in with clear panels. She felt her way along with one palm on the wall, looking behind her. She felt the need to keep ahead of Gambit - damned if she was going to let that swamp rat beat her. With that thought in mind, she increased her pace.
Despite her efforts the ragin' Cajun comes darting around the corner behind her... soon followed by Bobby and Jamie, Kitty all ready in the lead thanks to her ease with the first part. All three looked slightly panicked, and it was obvious why as a huge robot slammed shoulder first into the wall then started barreling down the corridor they were in.
"Go, girl, go! Run like de wind!" Remy shouted after Rogue as Bobby created an ice wall that slowed the robot down about five seconds, after which it busted through the ice and came right back after them.
Rogue whirled and stopped dead in her tracks to see the charging robot. Only Wolverine would think up something like that! Darting forward again, she called out to Shadowcat.
"Kitty!"
Kitty stopped to see the giant robot heading for Rogue, who had already slowed down a bit to be in some amount of danger.. but she knew the plan. Kitty rushed forward, phasing through any of the other mutants in her way and reached out to grab Rogue's hand. Together, they phased out and let the robot pass through them. Circuits fried and the robot shut down, though it still kept a constant pace down the corridor as it slid.
Remy just kept going even as he ran through the phased girls, taking the final turn out of the mirror maze, only to find himself, and the others who followed thanks to Bobby freezing the sliding robot and helping Jamie ride it with him, in an open arena area. Kitty and Rogue would soon follow, of course, which is when panels in the wall open and the black flying drones, armed with lasers and shock
missiles, were unleashed into the air. Remy blinked, but the Iceman was not so stunned and took out the first four from one of the openings, as well as the opening itself, with a blast of ice.
Rogue paused for half a moment as she surveyed the obstacle. A laser fired at her cut her thinking time short, however, and she darted forward. A shock missile launched itself at Kitty, who let it phase through her. Meanwhile Rogue ran.. and ran.. and ran. Crap powers and no weapons left her to rely on the other mutants for help, this round at least.
Gambit finally recovered and slipped out three cards, fanned them while holding them between his thumb and forefinger, charged them, then flung them in an arch, two hitting targets and taking down the robots while the third misses and explodes against a wall. He starts spinning his pole with his other hand, then holds it over his head as he runs for a small group of the robots. He slams the end of the pole into the ground and swung horizontal, nailing one bot with a kick that sent it whirling into a wall, only to fizzle and fall to the floor. Remy, meanwhile, charged his pole and swung it, taking out another two bots in an explosive mess. He got quite a surprise when one of the shock missiles hit in him the back, making him convulse for a few moments.
Rogue stopped, tired of running. She looked up. Only a handful remained. The Cajun was on the ground, she noted with a brief moment of amusement and satisfaction, till she saw a pair of drones circling in on him - just waiting til he got back up.
"Iceman!"
Gesturing to Bobby, Rogue ran at Gambit and up a fresh ice path. Then she jumped. Just, jumped. Weee. And landed on the 'back' of one of the drones. The other drone swerved from Remy to her and took aim, while the drone she was on started firing randomly. She grabbed the gun and forced it up, causing it to hit the other drone. It fell, just as the tazer on Rogue's drone kicked in. It sent a charge through her body, inevitably sending her to the steel floor.
Remy regained control and shook himself off a bit before grabbing Rogue and throwing her over his shoulder as he slams one of the drones with his staff, sending it into another drone, both crashing to the floor. Kitty finally grabs the last bot and phases her hand into it, frying the circuits just like the other bot. A door opens and Remy approaches, setting Rogue down before going through, unsure of what would come next.
"Lady's first, Cheri..."
By then Rogue still hadn't regained her composure from the shock, involuntarily grabbing onto Remy's arm for support after he set her on her feet - an odd gesture for her. Then she remembered what was going on, and exactly who she was with. She pulled her hand away, checked to make sure the others were ready, and set out into the next room, all without a word to Remy. The next room was pitch black and there was a steady thrumming noise. A sharp metallic sound reverberated through the chamber, then faded. Then another, then another, steadily getting closer.
Gambit blinked again, once more dumbfounded, before he pulled out a chard and charged it up. The card glowed brightly as he threw it at the ceiling, the explosion dimly illuminating a bit of the room, though not nearly all of it. Seeing the spikes didn't exactly help his situation so he just started to walk slowly forward...
Rogue saw the spikes vaguely in the dim light. No use staying in one spot, it's harder to hit a moving target. Recklessly Rogue dashed forward, running at full speed. Faintly she could feel the ground near her vibrate before a spike sprung up, not before she darted away. In the other parts of the room she could hear the other kids avoiding the spikes, then the chilling scream of Shadowcat, which made Rogue stop in her tracks.
"Kitty?! Kitty! Are ya alright!"
No response. What if she had been hurt? They were in level 5 for god's sake, and if they died, it was the Cajun's fault! She heard the muffled cry of the Jamies then, and then silence. Rogue closed her eyes again and ran forward.
Gambit stopped as he saw a figure step from one of the spikes ahead of him. Then a gruff voice whispered to him through the darkness ahead.
"Hey there, bub, me and you need to have a little talk." The short, wide-shouldered silhouette moves toward Remy, who backs away instinctively, holding the staff in front of him. "Now, friend, you need to lay off pickin' on Rogue. If not, I'll be finding you outside the Danger Room."
Snikt, snikt. Remy knew what that sound meant, every student in the school did. Wolverine's claws. The Cajun dived out of the way as one of the living weapon's feet flies toward his head. Without really being able to see Remy catches his pole up under Wolverine's ankle and sends him sprawling back, only to dash into the darkness. Wolverine was about to chase after him when he picked up a very familiar scent even closer and sheathed his claws before he headed in Rogue's direction, down low, sniffing as he ran.
Rogue paused in her running to more easily hear the spikes. As she moved to dodge she bumped into someone, who wasn't too friendly about it as they pushed her away. Rogue bristled.
"Is that you, swamp rat?!" She then went at him with a running kick, easily knocked aside, by her opponent. The *snikt* sound gave him away. "Oh.. man."
She could almost feel the swipe he made at her head.. He wouldn't actually hit her if given the opportunity, but he sure liked cutting it close. Logan didn't go easy on her, either, as they fought. His conversation with the Cajun reinforced his desire for Rogue to be able to handle herself against anyone, no matter their powers. But there would never come a day where he'd decide to stop protecting her.
Remy had, meanwhile, reached the other side of the room and frantically searched the wall for a way out. Then he heard the sounds of a fight and migrated to it. He saw the same figure as it fought another, a smaller one. Rogue. Remy sneered and tried to sweep his pole to knock the other man over, only to see the figure of the trained killer jump and swing a foot back, nailing Gambit in the chest. He stumbled back and leaned against one of the spikes as an unclawed fist slams into his gut. Logan got quite the surprise, though, when a glowing object leapt up between them, and he grabbed it, only to feel the card tear apart with the biokinetic energy contained inside, the explosion blowing him back and leaving Remy with ringing ears.
Just in time, too. Rogue's muscles ached from the punishment, and her lungs were barely receiving enough oxygen to keep her fighting. She stumbled to one side when Wolverine left to fight another, and she didn't have to wait long to figure out who it was. A small explosion ripped between the two, and Rogue was left to look down at Logan - on his back. The Danger Room lit up as the session ended. For a moment, Rogue was concerned for Wolverine's health.
"Logan?"
Remy shielded his eyes as the lights came on. Black, bright, black, bright, it was giving him a headache. His ears still rung too, and he wiggled a finger into one of his ears and shook his head a bit, eyes squinted against the lights. He closes his pole back up and shakes his head again while Logan gets to his feet, gently pushing Rogue away.
"That was one hell of a trick, bub." Remy smiled at that, his eyes finally adjusting. "Well, ya don' survive bein' Remy long wit'out learnin' yo'self a ting or two."
Gradually, the other students wandered over in various states of dishevelment. Kitty groaned, pony tail down and body suit torn in a few places. "Can we please go now, Mr Logan?"
Bobby offered his two cents; "We're hurting, man. We finished the level."
Logan looked at the kids carefully and nodded.
"You earned it, now go clean yourselves up. Just don't let me catch you out at night anymore." Battered in body and ego, Logan too walked away, with a keen glare at Remy as he went. "Just don't forget what I said, bub."
