Watch and Learn By Yma

Well that bit was Scribbler's start, the following is where I took off.

Again: Rating PG-13+

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine, they're just borrowed.

Please review if you liked this. The more I get, the faster I post! And I'll cherish them too…

Chapter 2: The Escape

            "Well, Kid," he grunted, "if you gotta way out of here, use it, unless you wanna stick around for tea 'n cakes?"

            "You still have a sense of humor? Das ist gutt, the animal hasn't taken over yet then."

            "Wouldn't bet on it, kid."

            The Mutant thought he caught a shadow of a smile on Kurt's face, and saw his glowing eyes close, a look of concentration twisting his features, before the entire world dissolved into nausea.

            Being kicked in the gut whilst falling from a great height. That was the only metaphor that went even half way to describing the sensations that ran through the mutant's body as the 'popping' sound filled his ears and the strange stink of brimstone filled his nose.

            When he finally recovered enough to open his eyes he found that they were no longer in the arena, but outside.

            Outside, under cold, bright stars, in a dark back alley, the light breeze tickling his raw skin, the scent of smoke, vomit, old food and piss permeated even his desensitized nose. It was the most wonderful feeling he had experienced for a long time. He took a breath of fresh of outside air, enjoying its cool tang, relishing the scent of freedom. Then he coughed and winced in pain. Damn, he must have cracked a few ribs in the fight, fantastic.

            He became aware that his was not the only heavy breathing. Ah yes, Kurt.

            Now he was in a position to, Logan took the time to study his would-be rescuer further. The kid was indeed blue, a dark, rich blue that seemed to melt into the shadows around him. His legs were odd, like a cat's, and his eyes were liquid gold, seeming to glow with an inner light. His ears were pointed, as were two of his front teeth, giving them a fanglike appearance. The entire effect made him seem almost demonic, if it wasn't for his voice, a soft, gentle thing, the usually harsh German accent actually softening the syllables, no evil monster could have a voice like that. No, Logan decided, he was reminded more of carvings of goblins or elves from old folk lore, slender, mischievous, tricky. This elf, however, was hardly dressed red and green, he wore a simple black turtleneck and trousers, both of which had seen better days, but which were still serviceable. Around his middle was a belt upon which various strange tools hung, and on his back was a small rucksack, containing God knew what.

            The boy had curled up around Logan, his grip tightened to a desperate grasp, he looked more than a little nauseous himself, his breath somewhat ragged. In the gleam of moonlight he saw the glint of blood trickling down from his nose.

            'Ach,' gasped the boy, seemingly oblivious to Logan's scrutiny 'you're heavier than you look. That rule's out Jaunting, we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way.'

            'Huh?'

            'Jaunting, teleportation, it's what I do, but it takes energy, more than I have at the moment.'

            Logan nodded, but as he moved his head the world sudden became even darker, fuzzy confusion assailed his senses, his knees started to give way.

            'No you don't!' scolded Kurt, shaking him, 'verdammt, you big lug, I'm not strong enough carry you either! Not and remain inconspicuous. Come on, talk to me, ask me questions, but stay conscious.'

            'Ughh,' grunted the mutant, trying to take Kurt's advice, slowly the litter filled street and star lit sky came back into focus.

            'Sur gutt,' congratulated Kurt as he began to stand up straight again, 'now, we're going to need to do some walking, I'll hold you up, but we're going to need to stick to the shadows, Ja? I'll talk to you to keep you lucid, concentrate on my voice and stay awake.'

            'Whatever,' rasped Logan, still hardly believing this was happening.

            This was bizarre, one moment he was an animal in a cage, the next… To be truthful, it was not so much the physical pain that was causing him to black out, but the sheer shock of the situation. He was free. After god knows how many years of hell… he was free.

            For now at least, anyway. Freedom was a subtle and fleeting concept, hard to capture, even harder to hold onto, he had tasted its sweet draft many a time, only to have it snatched away from him later. Currently he was trusting his life to a kid, one with a highly visible mutation, too. Poor bastard.

            Logan tried desperately to concentrate both listening to Kurt and on putting one foot in front of the other. It was more difficult than he had expected.

            At several times darkness almost overcame him again, and Kurt's merry prattle, mostly about the weather and favorite foods, seemed to fade away. But Logan was always a survivor, always a fighter, he didn't give in easily.

            The night streets seemed to pass by like ghosts, Logan's concentration being taken up by walking and staying conscious, he had no opportunity to admire the scenery. But he gathered that they stayed to the back streets, keeping to the deepest shadows, his companion's soft fur seeming to melt within the velvet darkness.

            'You're doing well,' congratulated Kurt, keeping his voice to a breathy whisper.

            'Would be easier if this goddamn collar was off,' rasped Logan, keeping his unfocused eyes firmly ahead of him.

            'Don't worry about that,' Kurt assured, 'I know a few men who have a way with machinery. We'll get that thing off you, though I've never seen it's like before.'

            'What can I say? I'm special. Nice footwork back there, by the way, looked like you've been trained.'

            'Danke, I learnt some acrobatics at the circus.'

            'God,' gasped Logan, pity filling his heart, 'I… I'm sorry. That ain't no place for a kid to grow up.'

            'Vas?' asked Kurt, looking totally confused, and then light dawned on his face, 'nein! Nein! It wasn't like that. I was brought up in the circus, by Romani, they treated me as one of them, I was never a freak. In fact, I was one of their star acrobatic acts! The Incredable Nightcrawler! That's what they called me. The best days of my life, back then, just goes to show… Not all humans are out to get us, you know. Some of them aren't so bad… and here we are!'

            Logan blinked at the last of this, and found that they had stopped. This alley, with its unwholesome smells, dark, graffiti coated walls, and rubbish laden pavement was not much different to the thousands of other streets they had passed and traveled through, except this had a large manhole cover.

            Kurt propped Logan up against one dirty wall, whilst he struggled with the heavy and stained disk. Grunting in effort, using both arms and tail, he dragged the cover off, wincing at the loud scraping sound it made across the tarmac, revealing the dark tunnel that led, most probably, into the sewers.

            He stood back, admiring his handy-work and considering his next move.

            'You can't climb down with that broken arm,' he murmured, 'you're too heavy for me to carry, and simply throwing you down there is out of the question. That just leaves Jaunting, ach, I'm going to regret this later!'

            He knelt down onto his knees, and stuck his head down into the darkness, as if trying to peer into it. Then he straightened up and, brushing dirt from his clothes, moved back to Logan's side, and once again wrapped his arms around him.

            'Why didn't you just teleport us down there before?' asked Logan, 'you wouldn't have needed to move that sodding big hunk of metal then.'

            'I need to see or visualize where I'm going,' explained Kurt, 'I don't want to 'port us far, and I don't know that passage very well, so I needed a peek.'

            'Hold on now,' warned the teleported, 'this one's going to be rough, and I'll need you to stay awake, if only to keep me lucid too! Gott, this is going to wreck!'

            A few seconds and one 'pop' later, his point was proved.

            Stumbling into the wall, and using it to remain upright, Logan was, perhaps for the first time in his life, supremely glad of Martin's treatment of him. Had he not been wearing the collar he would have had his acute sense of smell at his disposal, not a good thing in a sewer, and if he had eaten recently… well, let's just say he would have been able to add his own special brand of mess to the already foul slime beneath him.

            The elf, however, seemed unconcerned with the mess or stench; he was crouched over in the slime, his entire body shivering like a leaf, blood falling from his nose in a veritable crimson waterfall, mixing in vivid swirls with the brown-green liquid beneath him.

            Summoning all his strength Logan pushed himself away from the slime coated wall, moving nearer to the recovering Kurt.

            'You OK kid?' he asked.

            'Ja… ja… I, uh… be alright… uh… in a… minute.'

            He swung his head back, pinching his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. There was a look of extreme concentration on his fuzzy features, though whether this was the battle to stay conscious, or something else, Logan could not say.

            After a few moments Kurt struggled to his feet, only just stopping himself from trying to brush sewer slime off his trousers.

            'Don't worry Herr Logan,' he assured, 'help is on the way, we won't have far to go, either. Just stick with me. Do you think you can walk without help for a bit? I need some time to recover myself.'

            'Yeah,' replied Logan, moving away from the wall a little way, getting used to putting his entire weight on his feet again, 'which way?'

            Kurt, using the wall for support much like Logan, staggered down the dark, slime covered floor, trying not to breathe in too deeply.

            For a while there was no noise except for the squelch of their footsteps, their ragged, shallow, breathing, and the sound of trickling water.

            Suddenly another sound reached Logan's ears. He acted as he always did, with instinct. One hand shot forward and pushing Kurt down.

            'Down elf!' he commanded, setting himself into a fighting stance, trying to ignore the pain and wariness that threatened to overcome him. He wished he had access to his claws, but the restraint collar kept them sheathed within his body, useless.

            The darkness of the sewers, lit only by the occasional yellow, dim and flickering service lights, was nearly impenetrable to Logan, but he could hear well enough.

            The sounds became louder, a regular squelching, like something was… was… jumping towards them. He had to admit it was quite puzzling, but he wasn't taking any chances.

            Out from the gloom it emerged, leaping towards them on long, gangly but powerful legs, and Logan let out a hiss of shock, disgust and pity.

            It… no, he, looked human enough, indeed in some lights he might have passed as a boy of about Kurt's age, his form being basically humanoid, if slightly hunched. But there the resemblance ended. Long, greasy brown hair fell from his large scalp; some of his skin was a yellowish, sallow color, but the rest…

            Half the skin on his face was a mass or postulating sores, red, raw, oozing. His left eye was all but swollen closed, the right was slightly too large, it's iris a dull yellow. Most his lip was missing, or was nothing more than a bloody, black line, and the raw skin that covered half his face seemed to stretch all the way down his neck. The rest of his body was mercifully covered in clothing; a similar costume to Kurt's, in fact, though much more ragged and spotted with innumerable stains.

            In his twisted hands, nails non-existent, fingers over-long, the skin black, blistered, covered in scars, pustules, or warts, was a large gun.

            At the sight of Logan he raised the weapon, his stance becoming defensive. Calculations ran as fast as lightening through his mind… could he avoid the shot? Would he be able to grapple the gun away from the boy? Should he run? Should he surrender? And What of Kurt?

TO BE CONTINUED…

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