Chapter Fourteen:
Gambit was more than a few steps in front of Rebecca, when Nightcrawler and Toad suddenly crashed down the hall. He skidded to a halt as each scaled the walls in different directions.
"Kurt!" he called with surprise. Nightcrawler spotted him and disappeared. A moment later, he was at Gambit's side.
"Guten tach, Remy," Nightcrawler said with a grin, looking exhausted from the battle, "I am very glad to have found you here."
"Likewise, ami," Gambit agreed. Toad leapt down from the ceiling toward them, pausing as he noticed the other X-Man. Gambit spotted him and frowned.
"Toad?" he asked, "What's going on?"
The green mutant did not reply. With a few quick steps, Pyro was at his side.
"That's the one who attacked me…" Nightcrawler said darkly.
Pyro snapped his lighter and grinned. Gambit took a card from his pocket with one hand and held up the other defensively.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, "Fighting? That's fucking stupid, ami, we're trying to get out of here…"
"I told you," Toad said, "I'm not your ally. You know this guy, Pyro?"
Pyro shook his head and grinned, "Never seen him before. None of them are friends of mine anymore."
Toad smirked at the boy and then his expression turned vicious as he looked at his enemies again. Pyro held a ball of fire in one hand and leveled it at Gambit. The Cajun sighed and began charging the card in his hand. The stand off endured for a few more moments, and then the flames flew from Pyro's hand.
Gambit tossed a playing card in the direction of the Brotherhood. At the same time, Toad lunged at Nightcrawler again, scaling the ceiling above the flames. Before he could reach his target, the path of the fire changed and Toad was forced to leap back.
Pyro blinked in shock as the flames were torn from his control. The playing card from Gambit exploded, but the blast hung suspended over the group. The fire separated and squared off the four fighters from reaching each other.
Rebecca stood with her hands clenched at her sides. She had listened to their conversation as she ran up and felt the fire released from Pyro's lighter. Luckily, she had more experience and more control over the element than the younger mutant.
Toad was still above them and turned to glare at the figure beyond the flames.
The fire folded and moved toward her obediently, the heat dissipating as it flowed away. It seemed to absorb into her skin, an orange light glowing around her body and a blue flame burning in her eyes, flashes of anger.
Gambit looked relieved, but a little unnerved. Pyro was gaping at her as the orange light faded and Nightcrawler took a step back. Rebecca was inhaling deeply as she looked at them, and the quiet fury faded. As she watched them stare at her, she sighed and looked apologetic. It was a normal reaction, that touch of fear.
"Your timing is perfect, chere," Gambit said with a nervous laugh.
Rebecca smiled reassuringly, and then jumped in surprise as Toad landed next to her. He glared down at her again. She folded her arms and looked smug. He was angry at her interference, and exhaled with frustration.
Toad looked back at Pyro, "Where's Magneto?"
Pyro shrugged, "We separated. We were gonna meet him at the entrance in a little while…"
"Right," Toad said.
He made to grab Rebecca's arm again, but paused. Rebecca raised a cynical eyebrow and Toad sighed with disgust.
"Let's go…" he growled, but Gambit stepped in front of him.
"Suddenly we're supposed to follow you again…" he said angrily, "I don't think so…"
"You gonna try to stop me?" Toad challenged and Rebecca sighed audibly.
"Alright…done. Shut up, both of you," she said, "I really lost interest in this whole…X-Men…Brotherhood…thing hours ago."
She looked at Toad, calmly without anger. Toad shifted but continued to glare.
"Look…you got us this far," she said, and then glanced at Gambit, "Right? We found your friends."
Gambit nodded reluctantly. Nightcrawler was regarding them curiously.
"Ok," she said looking back at Toad, "Get us out. I'll follow you. Just cut the shit."
Toad ground his teeth, and did not respond. He walked forward and moved next to Pyro.
"Where's the entrance?" he asked.
"Back that way," Pyro replied, pointing in the direction of the battle. Toad directed him to start walking. From behind, he could hear Rebecca and the two X-Men following them.
Rebecca sighed again, and Gambit chuckled.
"Bet you didn't think you'd be doing this when you got up this morning."
Rebecca grinned, "Well, people break into my house, start a battle in my living room, I'm kidnapped by a giant killer robot and now I'm walking through some secret, scary underground base in my pajamas…"
"Typical Tuesday night, eh?" Gambit asked with a grin.
"You have no idea…" she replied and shook her head as they walked on.
***
Author's Note: Thanks, WolfKyr, for pointing out that little temporary loss of tense control on my part. (Yay, someone's still reading this! :-) I've reworded that sentence. Hope it sounds better.
Little note on Toad: I heard Korn's new song today called "Right Now." That's pretty much what I think is going on in Toad's head. *Begin psych analysis* He's not a stable guy. The only thing he has ever learned to enjoy is attacking those who he views as enemies, which is basically anyone who is human or Magneto's enemy. In X1, the look he is giving Sen. Kelly (before he gleefully eats that bird) reflects that hate. I think he's got a lot of past issues to deal with (that haunt him in quiet moments), which he represses with anger and hate.
When he is faced with something other than hostility, he doesn't know how to react, and becomes frustrated and angry. He can be civil with most members of the Brotherhood because he sees them as allies to Magneto's cause, to which he is fiercely loyal. So, I put him in a situation with two laid back and cooperative people, and he doesn't know how to interact with them beyond anger. *End psych analysis, thank you for your attention* Leaves a lot of room for character growth though!