Chapter 12:

            Nightcrawler disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Sabertooth's fist swung toward him.  He reappeared at the other end of the hall and called out to the others.

            "There's someone here!" he said, and heard Cyclops and Wolverine running toward him.  The hall was fairly wide, and the X-Men arrived at the entrance just as Sabertooth stepped in from the other end.

            There was a moment of silence, until the large mutant began to growl.  Wolverine bared his teeth viciously and a metallic snick was heard as he unsheathed his claws.  The two enemies regarded each other patiently, before pacing down the hall.

            "Logan..." Cyclops said, but he was ignored.  The predators had their targets now, all else faded away into the shadows.  Their pace quickened, and broke into a run.

            Sabertooth roared and Wolverine challenged with his own.

            Cyclops charged after Logan, until a wall of flame tore across his path.  He and Nightcrawler jumped backward as the fire flowed in a practiced line and then was drawn back.  The two raging fighters were occupied with each other, and another figure walked down the hall.

            Pyro was grinning broadly, his eye shining from the light of the fire.  Cyclops looked at the boy warily.  No trace of the student he had known was evident now, and he heard John Allerdyce chuckle wickedly.

            "Hey, Teach," Pyro called, "How are things at nursery school?"

            Cyclops leveled his ruby gaze at him and spoke firmly.

            "John..." he said, commandingly, "Stop this..."

            "Pyro," his former student hissed back angrily.  He was pointing his index finger at Cyclops as he spoke, his burning lighter held firmly in the palm with his other digits.

            "Don't talk to me like I've ever been anything but Pyro," he continued viciously.

            "John," Cyclops repeated firmly, watching the anger rise in the boy's face, "I know you have a friend lost in here somewhere...so do we.  This is not the place for..."

            "A Brother!" Pyro shouted, "A part of the Brotherhood is in here...but I doubt he's lost.  My other Brother over there...he's gonna tear the Wolverine apart.  What did you ever teach us about brotherhood?  Huh?  What did you ever teach us that was truth?"

            Months of anger poured out of Pyro's throat, he was finally able to express all the injustice he felt toward Xavier and his school.

            "Well...guess what I've learned now..." Pyro said, his face molding again into a wicked grin, and a fireball formed in his palm, "I've learned...I have the power...and now you'll learn that, too."

            The ball of fire flew towards Cyclops and Nightcrawler, who dodged separate ways as it flew down the hall.  As the smoke cleared, they could hear Pyro chuckling again.

            Cyclops looked over to Nightcrawler, who was on his feet quickly.

            "I'll distract him," Cyclops said in a low voice, "See if you can teleport over there and get that lighter away from him."

            Nightcrawler nodded and disappeared.  Cyclops stood quickly and walked toward Pyro.  He could have easily disarmed the boy with a shot from his visor, but he would be damned if he would open fire on one of his students...even if the student was trying to harm him.

            Wolverine swung his clawed fist toward his raging enemy, but the large mutant evaded the blades.  Sabertooth growled and lashed out with his own clawed fingers and the blow met Wolverine's arm.

            The X-Man staggered a step, but felt the injuries healing almost immediately.

            Wolverine slammed one adamantium-lined arm into Sabertooth chest and the large mutant flew backward against the wall.  With feline reflexes he recouped and lunged at Wolverine again. 

            The battle was loud, and the sounds of their struggle echoed down the dark corridors.

***

            The three ex-prisoners marched in a line down one corridor.  Toad walked in front, turning them left and right through the underground tunnels, deciding their route based on the piping and mechanical devices he saw.  He had worked on and helped build a much larger underground fortress for over a decade, and he had a sense for the right direction to the outside.

            Rebecca followed second, walking with her arms folded against the chill, which was still enough to make her shiver even through her power to heat the air around her.  She kept her eyes focused on Toad, because he would dart around corners without warning, and could hear the X-Man close on her heels.

            Gambit followed last, listening behind them as they moved, and occasionally glancing over his shoulder.  There were many corners and corridors for enemies to hide and surprise them as they passed.  It reminded him of walking along the streets of New Orleans at night, staying cautious by allies and old abandoned manor houses, which could be hiding any sort of mugger or pickpocket.

            None of them spoke, much to Toad's relief, but each silent step put him more on guard.  They were bound to meet with resistance eventually; question was...where is everyone?

            Toad exhaled slowly, and realized he could see his breath.  The hall was definitely getting colder, and he hoped that was a good sign they were reaching a way out.  He hated the cold, whether that was a genetic throwback due to his amphibious mutation...he really did not care.  He just hated the bloody cold.  He was tempted to take a step back into Rebecca's little bubble of slightly warmer air, but refused to allow his discomfort to become a weakness.

            "Mon Deux," he heard the X-Man mutter, "Do they have the fucking A.C. on or what?  How you holding up, chere?"

            "Not too bad..." Rebecca said, giving him a barely believable grin, "Is it always this cold underground?"

            No, Toad thought but did not speak.  There was something odd about the sudden temperature drop.

            "I don't know," Gambit replied, "Xavier's secret underground halls are actually quite pleasant..."

            "Will you two shut up?" Toad hissed, feeling growing unease as they moved.  There was some thing wrong here, he suddenly felt like his sense of direction was off.  Like they were heading deeper into the mountain instead of out...

            They reached a fork in the tunnel and Toad paused.  Gambit and Rebecca walked up beside him and each examined the halls.  One was wider, better lit, and seemed to get brighter as it went on.  The other was darker, and seemed to slope downward from where they were.

            "That looks like it leads out," Rebecca said, glancing up the lighted passage and Gambit nodded and looked relieved. 

But Toad was glaring into the light suspiciously.  The hall looked more promising, but also seemed to be much colder than the other passage.  Something about the light unnerved him, though he did not know why.

"What do you think?" Rebecca asked, and it took Toad a moment before he realized she was speaking to him.  He shifted uncertainly.

"I'm not sure," he said softly, frowning deeply.

Gambit shrugged, "None of us are sure.  But that way seems to go up...and hopefully out.  Besides, what did that movie say?  'Go into the light,' no?"

"Actually," Rebecca said doubtfully, "They said 'DON'T go into the light'..."

Toad rolled his eyes and then shook off his unwanted fear. 

"Come on..." he said, and began to head up the brighter hallway.  Before he took more than a few steps, he heard a very familiar roar echoing from the darker passage.

The three of them turned in surprise, but Toad suddenly grinned wickedly.

Before the other two could react, Toad bolted down the dark hall, grabbing Rebecca by the arm and dragging her along.

"Hey!" she cried as the stronger mutant pulled her roughly into the darkness, "What...ow!  What are you doing?"

"Pussy's meowin'," Toad said, "Magneto'll be this way."

Gambit did not stop moving after them, but frowned and shouted, "Wait a minute, ami!  I don't think that's the best idea for the femme.  Magneto's the big bad, no..."

"Fuck you," Toad hissed back and yanked Rebecca to move faster.

Toad clamped his fist down on her arm painfully and Rebecca flared with anger.

The heat was immediate and Toad hissed again, this time in surprised pain.  He spun at her, but Rebecca did not flinch.  He stood more than a few inches taller than her since she was barefoot, and glared down into her face viciously.

Gambit had a card in his hand quickly, instinctively expecting the enraged Brotherhood member to attack the young woman physically.  However, Toad had witnessed Rebecca's power first hand and he knew better. 

"Fine..." Toad said after a minute, seething, "Stay here with the X-Man.  We'll be back for you..."

He turned his head, and sneered at Gambit.  The Cajun blinked in surprise at the hate he saw there.

"For you both."

Toad met Rebecca's fiery gaze again and held it for a moment, before leaping away with a sudden burst of speed.  Rebecca watched him disappear and then turned to Gambit.

"Let's follow him..." she said, "If that was that big cat guy from the Brotherhood...he sounded like he was fighting.  Maybe your friends are around, too."

Gambit ran in front of her and looked into the darkness grimly, "I hope you're right."