A/N: Thanks for the kind comments, kids. To insert a shameless self-plug; if you like fight scenes, check out Them's Fightin' Words over at AFFN. Rated for violence, not smut, if you were concerned. It's under the same name as here, Tergon.
Okay, end self-plug. On with the ficcery!
Once they had reached the Kayle household, Vicki opened the front door and reached out, taking Simon from Kurt's shoulder and getting him to lean on her. She smiled at Kurt.
"Thanks, Kurt," she said. "You've been really helpful."
Kurt grinned and bowed. "Any time at all, frau," he acknowledged. As Simon waved a weary farewell, Kurt turned and walked down the path out the front gate. His thoughts turned to his friends in general and Amara in particular – he still didn't understand why she'd been so angry at his offer to help Simon. He'd have to ask her about that one when he got back to school...
Kurt was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never saw the silver blur streaking toward him. The wind was knocked out of him so badly that he barely registered being carried across town at an incredible speed; his fur, hidden under his hologram, was the only reason he didn't get blisters from the wind pushing against him. After less than a minute of this rapid motion, he was at his apparent destination; a decrepit old shack on the edge of town, abandoned for years and a half-mile from any neighbour's home. Kurt was carried in the front door and released; his momentum sent him flying into a nearby wall and rebounding onto the floor. Shaking his head, he got to his feet to see the one who had brought him here. Pietro Maximoff grinned nastily at him.
"You'reheavierthanyoulook, pal," he shot. Kurt, not quite as fluent in English as he'd like to be, had not the slightest idea what the speed demon had said.
"Vas?"
"He said you're in deep shit," called a familiar voice from across the room. One by one, Lance, Todd and Fred stepped up next to Pietro. "We got orders, pal, to find out who the fuck you are," continued Lance. "So we're here to do just that." He gave a mirthless laugh. "I told you we'd finish that fight later. Well, guess what? It's later..."
Kurt looked at the four mutants, who glared back at him. His fighting instincts began to count up the odds against him.
Four on to one... all adept in use of abilities, all with fighting experience, opposing sides unaware of the other's capabilities... ambushed by opponents on territory they have chosen at a time of their choosing...
He gave a hungry little smile.
This was going to be interesting...
Kurt straightened to his full height and eyed off his adversaries. "So, I suppose we cannot simply come to a gentlemen's agreement?" he asked.
Todd grinned. "You're out of your frikkin' mind, yo. We ain't goin' nowhere 'fore we get the answers we want, yo?"
"Ja? And what are the questions?"
"Who are ya, where'd ya come from, and what can ya do?" grunted Fred. "Those'll do for starters."
Kurt grinned and bowed mockingly. "Kurt Wagner, Germany..." his eyes narrowed. "Anything I want..."
"Ooooooh..." teased Pietro. "Toughtalkpal, butareyouastoughasyouact?"
Kurt looked at him blankly, then shifted his gaze to Lance. "What was that? Mein English is not so good that I can understand gibberish..."
Lance stepped forwards and smacked a fist into his other hand. "He said, are you as tough as you act?"
Kurt's hands were still behind his back from the little bow he'd given Fred. Now, unseen by the others, his hand reached for the buttons of his holowatch. "Oh, ja," he informed the others. "In fact, I would think that I am far more dangerous than you seem to give me credit for."
Todd sneered. "That a fact, yo?"
Abruptly, the mockingly smiling face of Kurt Wagner vanished, leaving a blue-furred demon in his place. As the Brotherhood members gasped in shock, Kurt grinned, displaying sharp-pointed fangs.
"Ja, Todd. It is a fact." Bringing his hands out in front of him, he cracked his knuckles loudly in the stunned silence as his tail whipped the air behind him. Lowering his hands to his sides, he waited for a response. Lance was first. Swallowing, he managed to croak out a single question.
"Wha... what the fuck are you?"
Kurt's grin grew wider. "Dangerous, Herr Alvers. Want to play?"
And suddenly, as the mutants began to move, the small, decrepit building had become a battleground.
Todd made the opening attack; whipping out his tongue, he captured Kurt's arm and pulled him off balance. While Kurt's guard was down, Pietro zipped in and rabbit-punched Kurt in the side. Snarling, Kurt flipped sideways in mid-air and smashed a foot into Pietro's chest, knocking him into a pile of broken wooden beams. Twisting, Kurt landed catlike on his feet and flicked his wrist, causing Todd's tongue to whiplash into the smaller boy's face. With a grunt of pain, Todd let go of Kurt's arm and stumbled backwards holding one hand over his left eye. As he backed out, Fred and Lance took their turns.
Fred let out a deafening bellow as he charged at Kurt with all the cunning and finesse of a herd of stampeding cows. Kurt waited until the last moment, then jumped high above Fred's head, grabbing one of the wooden roof beams with both hands, kicking the enormous mutant in the head as he passed. Fred barely stumbled; instead, he skidded to a halt and turned, reaching for Kurt's legs as he hung from the roof. Kurt scrambled onto the beam and balanced there, grinning, just out of Fred's grasp. The grin, however, did not last; suddenly there was a rumbling sound, courtesy of Lance, and the roof began to collapse. Kurt lost his balance and fell right into Fred's hands. Fred slapped one meaty hand across Kurt's skull and hurled the smaller mutant at a nearby wall. With a cloud of plaster dust and a loud crash, Kurt smashed right through the wall and into the room beyond. Pietro, having regained his feet, zipped over to the hole in the plaster and peered through, trying to see Kurt. The others crowded behind him, waiting for Kurt's next move.
Suddenly, Pietro was pulled from view, disappearing with a scream of fear, straight up toward the roof in the next room. Exchanging glances, the other three ran through the gap to see what had happened. As they entered, Pietro, now sporting several new bruises and cuts, sailed through the air and collided with Todd and Lance, knocking them to the floor. Fred, managing to keep his feet, looked around frantically for Kurt.
"Have at thee!" Kurt suddenly dropped from the roof, holding a wooden beam in each hand and swinging them like clubs. Delivering three blows to Fred's skull, he goaded the huge boy into a charge toward the opposite side of the room. Fred shouted with fury as he attacked once more, waiting for Kurt to leap over his head again. Instead, Kurt teleported, leaving Fred with a mouthful of brimstone, wondering what the hell had happened. With a minor implosion of air, he reappeared behind Fred and slammed his clubs into the back of Fred's knees and jumped high, kicking him in the back of the head. Fred stumbled, tripped, and fell to the floor with a resounding BOOM.
Before then, nobody had known that the house had a basement.
Fred smashed through the half-rotted floorboards and landed heavily, knocking his head on the cement floor. He was out cold instantly.
Across the room, the others were stunned at the sight of Fred's defeat, combined with the shock of seeing Kurt use his powers. Lance summed it up in five words:
"We are so seriously fucked."
Kurt spun at his words and advanced, his eyes glowing wildly in the dim light, clubs at the ready. Todd leaped to his feet and snapped out his tongue, catching one of Kurt's weapons and pulling it out of the blue mutant's grasp. Wielding it like a sword, he launched himself at Kurt. This was arguably the most idiotic thing Todd had ever done; of course, he had no way of knowing that Kurt was an expert swordfighter.
He found out the hard way.
Kurt swung his weapon almost faster than even Pietro could see it, far too fast for Todd to parry. In two blows, the length of wood was torn out of his hand; a split second later, Kurt's plank shattered into splinters over Todd's skull. His eyes rolled up in his head and he dropped into an ungraceful heap to the floor.
Kurt, now unarmed but dangerous nonetheless, bared his fangs at his two remaining opponents. "Then there were two..." he growled.
Pietro suddenly appeared next to him and threw a series of punches into Kurt's chest, knocking him back against a wall. Kurt growled again and suddenly crawled backwards up the wall as Pietro stared in shock. A moment later, Kurt's feet were level with Pietro's face; a devastating kick knocked the third member of the Brotherhood unconscious. Lance, the only one remaining, turned to run.
BAMF
Kurt's first punch landed in Lance's solar plexus; when he doubled over in pain, the second punch was an uppercut that snapped him upright once more. A roundhouse kick dropped him like a bag of potatoes.
Lance groaned, barely conscious, and watched Kurt approaching him again. The demonic-looking blue mutant dropped into a crouch next to Lance and spoke quietly.
"Did you get the answers you were looking for, Herr Alvers?" Kurt asked.
Lance spat out a mouthful of blood and managed to speak. "Who... who are... you?"
Kurt paused for a moment, searching for inspiration. Then he grinned. "I am Nightcrawler, du Scheißkopf. Don't forget it." With that, he slammed a palm into the back of Lance's head, knocking him unconscious with his companions. Then he rose, looked around the room one last time, and vanished in a plume of smoke.
