(Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel.)
Golden Slumbers
Chapter 5
Gambit and Wolverine were still covered with dust when they entered the mansion. Once inside they went their seperate ways, both of them hoping to avoid being confronted or questioned. The others would surely be wondering where they got off to and why they were both covered head to toe in dust.
Gambit started for his room. He planned on visiting Storm after he got cleaned up a little. Just as he reached the stairs his attention was caught by Cyclops. He sighed to himself as Scott angrily marched towards him, looking like he had something on his mind.
"Where have you been?!" He almost shouted when he spoke.
"I don' see how dat's any business a yours." Gambit replied, ignoring his angry glare and starting up the stairs.
"Don't walk away from me!" Now he was shouting. It was enough to make Gambit stop and feel a swell of anger himself, but he simply turned to face him and continued to act casual. "I want to know where you and Logan have been!"
"We been out." Gambit answered before turning away and taking another step up the stairs.
This time Cyclops grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face him.
"Tell me right--" He was interrupted when Gambit's fist connected with his jaw, knocking him off his feet.
"Gambit!" Jean came into the room just in time to witness the assault. She ran over to them and knelt down next to Scott. "What's going on here?"
"Ask your hubby, Chere." Gambit replied. "He got a problem wit' stickin' his nose where it don' belong. Maybe he mind his own business next time..."
Then he turned and made his way upstairs, leaving Jean and Scott by themselves.
"Did anyone see Cyke?" Jubilee didn't ask anyone in particular.
It was early in the morning and she sat at the kitchen counter with Alice while they finished their bowls of cereal. Rogue was rumaging through the cabinets to find something to eat and Beast had finally surfaced from the infirmary to have a full meal for the first time in days.
"Not since last night." Rogue answered, finally settling for a muffin after not finding anything else that looked good.
"Why do you ask?" Beast asked as he watched over the bacon he was cooking on the stove. The smell made him realize how hungry he really was.
Before Jubilee could answer Logan walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air.
"You makin' enough for two?" He asked, walking over to take a look over Beast's shoulder.
"I'm afraid not, but I can put more on." Beast replied.
"Nah, forget about it." Logan dismissed the idea. "I was just on my way out anyway."
"Where are you off to?" Rogue asked.
"I believe the Professor would like a word with you first." Beast cut in before Logan could answer.
"For what?" He asked, even though he already had a good idea of what it was about.
"I am not sure." Beast answered. "He didn't say."
"Well, tell 'em I'll be back later." Logan knew he would have to talk with Xavier sooner or later, but decided it would be later. He wasn't in the mood right now.
"When I saw Cyke his lip was busted." Jubilee spoke quietly so that Alice was the only one that could hear her. "I bet he did it."
They watched Logan as he left the room.
"Do you know anything about this?" Cyclops asked as he pointed to the screen of the television sitting nearby.
Gambit ignored the accusation in his voice and casually glanced over at the news report that was currently on. There was a reporter speaking while she stood in front of the remains of a destroyed building surrounded by firemen. They were distinguishing the last of the flames and it was only smoldering now, a dark cloud of smoke still rising from the rubble.
"Should I?" Gambit asked, resting his feet on the table in front of him.
He had been called into Professor Xavier's office to discuss the night before and decided to get his interrogation over with.
"Both of you..." Xavier held his hand up to stop them before an argument started. He already had to settle Scott down once. "First thing's first. Let us start with Scott's lip."
Xavier looked at Gambit and waited for him to explain. Grambit cracked a smile when he glanced over at Cyclops and saw the fresh cut on his bottom lip. Then he turned his attention back to the Professor.
"Jus' a small misunderstanding." He answered.
"Misunderstanding?!" Cyclops exclaimed.
He was about to say something else when Xavier held his hand up again, not saying anything but gesturing for him to stay quiet. Cyclops stopped and crossed his arms, a clear expression of anger still plastered on his face.
"Now, as for the matter of the building..." Xavier continued. "Where exactly did you and Logan go last night?"
"Went ta visit some friends is all." Gambit replied after a short pause.
"As in the Friends Of Humanity?" Cyclops' temper was surfacing again. "I know the two of you had something to do with this!"
"And so what if we did, eh?" Gambit quickly rose to his feet, his own temper showing. "It jus' one less mutant murderer on de streets."
"Your actions didn't hurt just one person!" Cyclops exclaimed. "You're just as bad as they are!"
He raised his hand to his visor and Gambit quickly slid a card into his hand from the sleeve of his duster, charging it as soon as it reached his fingers.
"Both of you, stop this!" Xavier shouted. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior on the team!"
Only after Cyclops lowered his hand did Gambit let the charge in his card die out. They kept their eyes on eachother as Xavier continued.
"Scott, could you leave us alone for a moment?" He calmly asked. Cyclops hesitated, but after giving Gambit one last look of disapproval he left. "Please, Gambit, have a seat."
Gambit pocketed the card he had drawn and sat back down, once again propping his feet up on the table in front of him. Xavier could see the frustration in his eyes, but decided to move on anyway.
"Gambit, this behavior is not acceptable." He continued. "I cannot allow the members of this team to fight amongst themselves. I know Scott is as much to blame as you are, but I hope the two of you can resolve your differences before it interferes with your teamwork."
"Don' worry 'bout it." Gambit replied. "We square t'ings off soon enough."
Xavier raised an eyebrow at his remark, not completely sure what he meant by it.
"There is a question I must ask you." He finally said, hesitating before he continued. "Did you and Logan have any involvement with last nights destruction of the Friends Of Humanity establishment?"
Gambit waited a moment before answering. "I do it on my own. Wolverine got not'in ta do wit' it."
Xavier sighed to himself and began to rub his temple, losing himself in thought. He looked as if he was having to come to a hard decision. Then he spoke again, sounding disappointed and angry at the same time. "How could you be so wreckless? You know we only use force if it's absolutely necessary! You can't just take lives in cold blood!"
"Gambit not sorry he done it if dat what you wanna hear." Gambit said as he slid his feet off of the table in front of him and stood back up. "Dey got what was comin' to 'em."
"That, I am afraid, is exactly the attitude that must lead me to suspend your place on the team." Xavier replied. "I regret to inform you that you have lost your position with the X-Men."
"You kickin' me out?" Gambit was stunned by the Professor's words.
"You are still welcome to remain here at the mansion." Xavier looked troubled by the decision he was being forced to make and was trying to think of something else to add, but Gambit spoke up before he got the chance.
"T'anks for de offer, mon ami." Xavier could detect the bitter tone in Gambit's voice as he made his way out of the room. "Look at de bright side. Now you don' gotta worry 'bout me interferin' wit' de teamwork, non?"
Just as he stepped through the door he saw that Scott was still waiting outside.
"Look, you--" Cyclops started to say something as Gambit walked by, but was just pushed out of the way.
"I ain't on de team no more." Gambit said as he passed him. "Dat mean I don' gotta listen ta your babblin'."
Cyclops might have pursued him, but was caught off guard by his comment. He wasn't on the team anymore...
Logan puffed on a cigar as he walked through the trees, taking in the scenery around him. He was enjoying his alone time outside the grounds of the mansion and was hoping nothing would disturb his stroll. Just then his hopes came to an end when he caught a familiar scent coming from close behind. He took another puff from his cigar and then turned to face Jean.
"It's a beautiful day." She commented, trying to make small talk.
Logan answered with a low grunt and kept his attention focused on the cigar he was now holding between his teeth.
"Need somethin'?" He sounded grumpier than usual, guessing that she had come out to tell him he needed to go see the Professor. "Or are ya just out ta do some bird watchin'?"
"Actually, I was hoping you might tell me what happened last night..." She said with a puzzled expression. "There's quite a few rumors going around."
"You don't say?" Logan's reply was thick with sarcasm. "I should be flattered I'm the center of attention. Can't ya just read my mind?"
"I'm not that careless with my powers, Logan, you know that." She answered. "Besides, I was hoping you would just tell me."
"Sure, Red." He said, finishing off the last of his cigar. "Went ta have a chat with the FOH. Seems they needed a little remodeling done."
"Logan, how could you do that?!" She exclaimed. "You know we don't--"
"Don't what?" Logan cut her off. "Seek revenge? We let a lot of people get away with what they shouldn't and this time they put the wrong person in a hospital bed. Storm's up there in a coma and you're tellin' me we should'a just sat here and done nothin'?"
"Professor Xavier's going to be furious!" Jean answered.
"He'll get over it." He said as he turned away to continue his walk. "Chuck's got better things ta worry about. A few less Friends Of Humanity stinkin' up the planet ain't worth losin' sleep over."
Half an hour had passed since Logan's encounter with Jean and he decided it was time to head back to the mansion. When he set out for his walk it was originally for some peace and quiet, but after their argument he spent the rest of it mumbling to himself and thinking about how he was always being bothered when he just wanted some privacy.
As he got closer to the front door of the mansion he could hear voices arguing inside. The average person wouldn't be able to hear anything from such a distance, but his ears easily picked up the disturbance. By the time he was reaching for the doorknob he could make out who the voices belonged to. The Professor and Rogue were having some kind of a disagreement. When he stepped through the door he could see that they weren't alone. Cyclops, Jean and Jubilee were also crowded around them. He spotted Alice sitting in the back, trying to stay neutral and avoid getting in the middle of it. All eyes turned in his direction when he came in.
"What's with all the racket?" He asked as he walked over to join in on the discussion.
"He kicked Remy off the team!" Rogue was almost shouting when she pointed at Professor Xavier.
"Gambit didn't leave him any other choice!" Cyclops spoke up. "He knew the rules and he chose to break them! His attitude and wreckless actions put the whole team at risk!"
"Scott..." Jean put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
"You canned the Cajun?" Logan asked, looking over at the Professor.
"I didn't get rid of anyone, Wolverine." Xavier answered. "Gambit was welcome to stay if he wished, but not as a member of the team."
"Has everyone around here lost their heads?" Logan obviously didn't agree with Xavier's decision.
"He took lives in cold blood!" Cyclops replied. "How can you defend that?"
Once again Jean tried to quiet her fuming husband.
"So you gonna kick me off too?" Logan angrily snapped.
"What do you mean?" Xavier asked with a curious look on his face. "He told me you had nothing to do with it."
"I don't need the Cajun coverin' for me, Chuck." Logan answered. "I had as much ta do with it as him and I ain't sorry. We've let scum like that go after innocent mutants for long enough without doin' anything about it! This time they made the mistake of tryin' ta kill someone that happens ta be a good friend of mine. Storm's lyin' in the infirmary and you're worried about a few bigots gettin' their dues!"
"That doesn't justify anything!" Cyclops started in again. "It was murder and you know it!"
"Sometimes a little direct action is the only way to get through ta people." Logan growled, getting fed up with Scott's judgmental remarks. He looked as if he was ready to bring out his adamantium claws.
"Ah hate ta be demandin', but would one a y'all mind tellin' me where Remy got off to?" Rogue asked, putting her hands on her hips and waiting for an answer.
"I don't know, he left a little while ago." Jubilee finally chimed in. "He said he'd be back for his stuff later." Then she paused for a second. "He looked pretty mad."
"Well, that's just great!" Rogue threw her hands in the air, talking more to herself than anybody else around her. Then without another word she stomped out of the room.
"Listen, Chuck." Logan sounded calmer now. "You made a bad call on this one. If I were you I'd think it over again before I went around bootin' members off the team."
Then Logan turned to leave, but stopped when he heard Cyclops' voice once again.
"The choice is his." Cyclops replied, also sounding calmer. "He doesn't need you telling him--"
"That's enough, Scott." Xavier quickly silenced the bickering. "I suggest everybody go and get some rest, we'll discuss this later."
Xavier hovered out of the room and Jean followed close behind. Then Logan gave Cyclops one last menacing glare before leaving himself. Jubilee walked over to Alice while Cyclops muttered something to himself and headed in the same direction as the Professor and Jean.
The sky was a solid sheet of black. The moon and stars were completely covered with thick clouds and a mist lingered in the air in the late hours of the night. It was more like the early hours of the morning. It was around two-o'clock and most of the mansion had gone to sleep a long time ago. Beast was the only resident still awake and continued to watch over Storm. Everybody had discussed taking shifts, but he said he already planned on being up and there was no reason for anybody else to sacrifice their sleep.
He was busy rummaging through papers scattered around on his desk when he heard the door open and looked up to see Gambit walk in. Apparently he had used his thieving skills to get into the mansion undetected, seeing as how their security systems were already up and running for the night and the only place to enter the access codes to shut them off were inside the mansion. He watched him make his way across the room and over to Storm's bed.
"You have unusual visiting hours, my friend." Beast commented, momentarily delaying his search for the document he was looking for.
"How she doin'?" Gambit asked, watching over her as she slept.
"You'll be happy to hear she awoke earlier tonight." Beast answered. "She was awake for several hours. To avoid the risk of any further complications I haven't given her any other medication since she lapsed into her recent comatose state."
"What happened to her?" Gambit looked relieved, but there was also the clear impression that he was dreading to hear the latest news on her condition.
"I am not one-hundred percent positive as of yet." Beast said as he walked over to her bed and picked up the charts sitting near it. "I believe it may have had something to do with a bad reaction to the medication she was on. It appears her head trauma needs a little more time to heal before she is put on anything else. We won't run into the same problem in the future."
"Dat's good news." Gambit replied. "How long it gonna be 'fore she get better?"
"I think it would be safe to say she will be out of bed in a day or two." Beast answered, stroking his chin as he thought to himself. "Perhaps three, depending on her own judgement."
"I'm glad she doin' better." Gambit said as he took one last look at her and then turned to leave. "Well, I best be movin' along. Been a long day."
Beast was opening his mouth to say something else, but when he looked up he found that Gambit had already slipped out of the room.
Alice made her way out of her room and was now heading for the kitchen. It was early in the morning and she could use a nice breakfast to start the day off. When she walked in she saw that the kitchen was occupied by Rogue and Storm, who were fixing something to eat for everybody. Jubilee was sitting at the counter and looked as if she had just climbed out of bed and Logan was leaning against the wall, drinking a cup of coffee while he watched Scott read the paper at the table. Scott just sat and continued to read, ignoring the aggravated glares Logan was sending his way.
"Good morning, Alice." Jean said with a smile when she saw her enter the room.
"Morning." Alice smiled back.
"How do you like your eggs prepared?" Jean asked, turning back to the food cooking in front of her.
"Oh, it doesn't matter." Alice replied, walking over to Jubilee and taking a seat at the counter beside her.
"So y'all are fine with scrambled then?" Rogue asked as she looked around at everybody.
"Scrambled will be fine, Rogue." Scott answered, not looking away from his paper.
"Ah wasn't askin' you." Rogue snapped, causing him to look up at her.
She was still mad about all the negative comments she had heard from him about Gambit since the FOH building incident. He didn't say anything and looked back at his paper.
"I think we all like scrambled." Jean said, trying to ease the tension in the air.
"Scrambled it is." Rogue casually replied as she turned her attention back to their breakfast.
Then Beast walked in, looking surprisingly well rested for the hours he had been sleeping. He greeted everyone and went straight for the coffee. Even if he looked well rested he could still use some coffee to get him going.
"How's Storm doing, Hank?" Jean asked.
"She is doing well." He replied after taking a drink from his mug. "She is a bit hungry though, as should be expected. How long will breakfast be?"
"Just another five or ten minutes." Jean answered. "Is she alone right now?"
"No, Charles is watching over her at the moment." Beast said as he took another drink.
"Maybe I should go check on them." Scott said, folding his paper in half and getting up from his seat. "I need to talk with the Professor about todays training exercise anyway."
He started out of the kitchen and bumped into somebody he wasn't expecting to see at the door.
"Look like you seen a ghost, mon ami." Gambit smiled as he passed Scott and walked into the kitchen. Everybody stared at him in shock.
"Remy, you're back..." Rogue was the first to say something through her astonishment.
"We all thought you flew the coup, Gumbo." Logan added.
"Our Cajun friend visited Ororo last night." Beast replied. "I was not sure if you had decided to stay or not, our conversation was cut short before I had the chance to ask."
"Everyone 'round here too dramatic, non?" Gambit said to nobody in particular as he strolled into the kitchen, acting as casual as ever. He began fixing a cup of coffee and looked over at the eggs that were cooking. Then he sniffed the air and smiled. "You might make a chef yet, Chere. Maybe one day you be up to Gambit's level."
"And where in tarnation do ya think you're goin'?" Rogue asked, watching him head back out the door with his steaming cup of coffee.
"Got me some matters I gotta 'tend to, Chere." He answered. "Gambit be back later."
They all watched him leave the room and looked around at eachother in disbelief.
"It appears Gambit has decided to stay." Beast commented. Scott frowned before he left for the infirmary.
Gambit was leaning back in a chair beside Storm's bed as he talked to Professor Xavier, both of them keeping their voices down so they wouldn't disturb her while she slept. She had gone back to sleep shortly after Beast left. Their attention was caught by Scott when he entered the infirmary.
"Professor, I had some ideas for todays training session and--" He started talking as soon as he walked into the room, but stopped when he saw Gambit.
"Scott, I'm glad you're here." Xavier greeted him with a smile.
"What's going on?" He asked as he approached them, lowering his own voice when he saw that Storm was asleep.
"Have a seat and I'll explain." Xavier answered as he gestured for him to sit in an empty chair near them.
"I'd rather stand." Scott said, looking over at Gambit with a look of disapproval on his face.
"I won' take dat personal." Gambit replied with a smirk.
"You should." He stated as he crossed his arms in front of him and turned back to the Professor.
"Scott, we're not here for petty arguments." Xavier interjected. "We're here to settle our current delimma. I believe I may have jumped to a decision too hastily. I have contacted Gambit in order to offer him the chance to reconsider returning to his place on the team. He has accepted and I expect you to welcome him back just as I have."
"How can you just dismiss what--" Scott was interrupted before he could finish.
"Gambit and Wolverine will both be taken off of active duty until further notice." Xavier cut in. "I haven't determined for how long, but they will be suspended from accompanying you on any missions for a time. However, they will continue to train with the rest of the team."
The conversation stopped when Storm began stirring in her bed. After a moment she settled and continued to sleep.
"I think it would be best to leave Storm to herself." Xavier commented.
"Course, Professor." Gambit replied as he got up from his chair and drifted towards the door with a smug smile. "See you at de session, Cyke."
Once Gambit stepped out of the room Scott turned back to the Professor and started to say something else, but Xavier spoke first.
"I know how you feel about this, but the decision has been made." He said. "We'll discuss your ideas for todays training exercise later."
Scott silently left the room, leaving Xavier alone to watch over a sleeping Storm.
Cyclops stood outside the Danger Room doors fully dressed in his uniform. As usual he was the first member of the team to show up for their training session. Jean was the second to arrive, followed by Beast and Jubilee. A minute later Rogue joined them and after a short wait Gambit finally appeared. As usual he was late, but didn't seem to mind his delaying the session.
""Alright, we have some new exercises to work through today." Cyclops announced. "Let's get started."
"I can't help but notice Logan's absence." Beast commented, looking around at the gathered members.
"He won't be joining us today." Cyclops answered as he turned to walk into the Danger Room. "We're going to--"
"Speak for yourself." They all turned when they heard the sound of Logan's voice.
He passed everybody and walked straight into the Danger Room without even looking at any of them. He was obviously still angry about the Professor's decision to take him off of active duty. Cyclops was surprised to see him at all. Last time he checked Wolverine had left the mansion in a fit of rage and wasn't expected to be coming back any time soon. Apparently he decided to return, but still wasn't in a very good mood.
"Okay, let's go." Cyclops followed Logan into the room, ignoring the sudden interruption.
Once they were all inside the doors closed behind them and they waited for further instructions.
"We're going to try a capture the flag scenario. It focuses on hand to hand combat so we won't be using our powers. That means no adamantium claws or staffs either."
He directed his last comment towards Wolverine and Gambit, but they didn't respond to his singling them out and waited for him to finish.
"Hank, you'll be with Jean and Logan." He continued. "Rogue will be with Gambit and Jubilee. Any questions?"
"Let's just get this show on the road." Logan scowled as he walked away from the group.
"Get at opposite ends of the room and be ready." Cyclops gave him an annoyed look before he left for the control room to get the program started.
"Look like it's your lucky day, eh?" Gambit said with a smug smile, turning to face Rogue and Jubilee. "Playin' capture de flag wit' a master t'ief."
Rogue and Jubilee just looked at eachother and rolled their eyes. Gambit continued to smile while he followed them to their side of the room. Once they were there they heard Cyclops' voice over the speakers.
"The first team to steal the other teams flag and get it back to their side wins." He said as large metal blocks rose from the ground, creating obstacles between the two teams. Then flags appeared out of thin air on each side, one red and one blue. "Remember, no powers."
"Come on, let's go already." Jubilee whined, getting impatient and crossing her arms.
Just then Cyclops gave them the go ahead to start and the two teams took off towards eachothers flags. They all split up, racing through the various obstacles in their paths. Rogue looked around the corner of a large metal block to see if anybody was around her, but saw that the coast was clear and started around it. She was caught off guard by Beast when he jumped down behind her. He had been watching her from the top of the block she was hiding behind and landed with a smile.
"You must be more careful, my dear." He said, flipping out of the way as she tried to hit him.
He landed on top of another large block and jumped from one to another, quickly making his way towards Rogue's flag. She debated going after him, but decided to go for his teams flag instead. Gambit was also on top of the blocks, easily jumping from block to block and getting closer to the flag he had his eye on. Then his path was suddenly cut off when Wolverine jumped up onto a block in front of him.
"Not so fast, Cajun!" He growled, ready to strike.
Gambit just smiled and hopped off the block he was standing on, disappearing from Wolverine's view. Wolverine jumped down to where he had dropped to, but he was already gone so he sniffed the air and began tracking his scent.
Jubilee was running through the room when she met Jean on her way. Jean attempted to get around her, but she charged towards her and dove through the air, knocking them both to the ground. Jubilee had her pinned down until Jean flipped her over her head, throwing her a few feet away. She quickly jumped back up to her feet and took off to get Jubilee's flag before she had time to react. Beast was the first to reach a flag and swept passed it, quickly gripping it in one hand and heading back towards his own side to win the game. Just about the same time Gambit reached the other teams flag and grabbed it. Without warning he was tackled to the ground by Wolverine.
"Tag, Gumbo." He said, unleashing his adamantium claws from one hand and holding them up to his face. "You're it."
"You t'ink so, mon ami?" Gambit replied with a smug smile.
Wolverine looked down and saw that his belt was glowing. He quickly jumped up off of Gambit and started to pull it off before it exploded, but the charge faded within seconds. Then he looked up and saw that there was no sign of Gambit or his teams flag. He let out a low growl and once again started stalking his prey.
Beast dodged Rogue's attempt to dive on him as he bounced through the obstacles and got closer to his side of the room. He was caught off gaurd by Gambit, who popped up right in front of him and snatched the flag out of his hand. Gambit didn't waste any time and took off with both flags, smiling at Beast as he vanished in the metal blocks down below.
"Here you go, Chere." He continued to smile while he passed Rogue, handing her their teams flag and making his way through the room with the other teams clutched tighlty in his fist.
Rogue ran after him and followed so she could return their flag, the other team approaching from close behind. Gambit was the first to reach their side and Rogue got there a moment later, winning the game. They smiled at eachother as the others met up with them, the obstacles in the room vanishing.
"Looks like we won." Jubilee said with a confident smile. She walked over to Gambit and Rogue and crossed her arms in triumph.
"So you did." Jean replied with a smirk. "Congratulations."
"You sound surprised, p'tite." Gambit boasted, tossing Jubilee the flag he still had in his hand.
"You both deliberately broke the rules." Cyclops said as he entered the Danger Room. "I said no powers and no claws. What part of that did you not understand?"
"Lighten up, Cyke." Gambit replied. "Sometimes you gotta improvise, non?"
"If you want to remain on this team you have to follow orders just like everybody else!" Cyclops exclaimed.
"Perhaps we should move on with the training exercise." Beast spoke up, hoping to put an end to their argument.
"Fine." Cyclops finally answered. "We'll try some one on one exercises. Any volunteers?"
"How 'bout you an' Gambit give it a go." Gambit suggested after nobody else spoke up. Cyclops looked at him with a puzzled expression while Gambit casually waited for a response.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Jean said with an uncertain look on her face.
"No, it's alright." Cyclops assured her. "Everyone else can head up to the control room."
"This should be good." Wolverine said with a slight smirk as he walked out, followed by Jubilee and Beast.
Jean and Rogue hesitated before following, but after a moment they walked out behind the others, leaving Gambit and Cyclops alone in the middle of the Danger Room. They silently stood and waited for the others to get to the control room. Gambit pulled out a deck of cards and casually shuffled them while he waited.
"Do you mind?" Cyclops asked, clearly annoyed by the noise he was making.
"Not at all." Gambit smiled and slid the cards back into his duster. "Looks like dey ready anyway."
They both looked up and saw the others looking down at them from the control room. Cement pillars appeared out of nowhere, stretching from the ground to the ceiling to provide cover for them if they needed it during the fight.
"All set." They heard Jean's voice through the speakers. There was still a hint of nervousness in it as she spoke.
"Shall we?" Gambit asked as he walked away.
"It would be my pleasure." Cyclops replied, turning around and walking in the other direction.
Once they were a good distance apart they turned around to face eachother. They stood and waited until they heard Jean's voice tell them to begin over the speakers. Cyclops started the battle by sending a large blast from his visor towards Gambit, who gracefully flipped out of the way and landed with several cards charged in his hand. He threw them in Cyclops' direction, but he dove away from them and the explosions blew a hole in the wall just behind him. He rolled and quickly got back to his feet, taking another shot at Gambit. Once again he easily dodged the blast and released another card, but this time Cyclops blew the card out of the air and sent another blast from his visor without wasting any time. Gambit dodged it and it blew a pillar behind him to pieces, the dust from the cement surrounding him. Cyclops waited for the cloud to clear before he took his next shot, but when it did Gambit was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Jubilee asked as she watched from above, but the others were focused on the duel and didn't even notice she had asked a question.
Cyclops looked around and searched the room, but still didn't see Gambit anywhere. He slowly started walking forward, prepared to take another shot if he needed to. Then he heard the sound of a card flying through the air, but it was too late for him to move and it hit the ground beside him. The explosion blew him into a nearby pillar and he slammed into it with a loud thud.
He looked up just in time to see another card coming at him and jumped out of the way as it blew the pillar in half. When he got back to his feet he saw Gambit charging another card and released another blast from his visor. Gambit dove out of the way and threw the card as he flew through the air. Cyclops dodged it and sent another blast in his direction without hesitating. Gambit managed to avoid getting hit directly, but the explosion knocked him off balance and he stumbled to the ground. He quickly jumped up and flipped out of the way as another blast blew a hole in the ground where he had been standing. He pulled a handful of cards out as he flipped through the air and threw them as soon as his feet landed on the ground. Cyclops ran for cover as the explosions from the cards errupted all around him.
"They're gonna kill eachother!" Rogue exclaimed.
"What's going on?" They all looked back when they heard Professor Xavier's voice. He joined them at the window and looked down at what was taking place in the Danger Room.
Cyclops shot a powerful blast at Gambit, who dodged it, but got a hole burnt in his duster as it whipped through the air behind him. He threw several cards at the ground in front of Cyclops and they exploded a few feet away from him, blowing dust up at his face. Gambit ran towards him while he was blinded and flipped over his head before it had time to settle. Cyclops turned around just as he landed behind him and had no time to react. Gambit's staff was already extended to its full length and he hit him across the face with it, knocking him to the ground.
"Stop this at once!" Xavier's voice filled the room and the pillars around them disappeared. They both looked up at the control room and saw the Professor watching them. "Both of you, this training session is over."
Gambit put his staff away and offered a hand to Cyclops to help him up, but he ignored his gesture and got up without any assistance. Gambit just smiled and watched him as he walked away.