Yay! 4 more reviews! Thanks everyone! Ok . . . let's see how Ling and Bobby
get themselves out of this mess . . . not to mention John and Rogue . . .
* * *
"Bobby? You heard that?" Ling hissed.
"Yeah." Bobby glanced nervously over his shoulder for a moment. His head snapped back.
"What is it?" Ling asked, not daring to turn around and check for herself.
"Guns. Aiming right at us!" Bobby whispered. Ling could feel the fear radiating from him. Ling, however, was only slightly nervous. She's been in this kind of situation before many times, but always with Lady Deathstrike. She didn't know if Bobby could pull himself together to help her take the guns out.
"How many men?" Ling asked.
"There are no men," Bobby responded, "It's only guns hanging from the ceiling!"
"Good. Then you won't have to feel guilty killing someone, then." Ling said calmly. "I'll take the ones on the right, and you take the left. Be ready to back each other up if we get into a tight spot, okay?"
"Right."
"NOW!"
Ling did a backwards hand stance, and as she suspected, the guns reacted to movement. She went under one and blasted it with water, sparks flying off it. The adrenaline pumping through her, she moved from spot to spot, finally able to make one full blast to the entire row of guns. She twisted her head to the left to see how Bobby was doing and was pleased to see that he was doing just fine. He had managed to freeze all the cameras without getting shot!
"Good job!" Ling said with a smile.
"Why are you smiling? How can you smile?" Bobby demanded.
Ling shrugged. "I like action, I practically was force fed it. C'mon, let's go. We have to find John and Rouge, I'm sure they fell down some other hole too."
Bobby nodded and the two took off running through an open hole.
Ling had not voiced her fears openly. This was all too well organized. If they knew they were mutants and wanted to capture them, why not just do so? Why bother hitting them with cameras and then leaving a big open space for them to go? This felt too much like a test. Someone, whoever the puppet master is, is testing them for some bizarre reason.
They ran and ran until they reached a dead end.
"Did we miss a turn or what?" Bobby fumed, kicking the wall with his foot. "We have to find Rogue!"
Ling could feel the frustration rising up inside her as well. Where's John when you need him?
* * *
"John! Wake up!"
"Ah!" Pyro sat up suddenly, knocking heads with Rouge.
"Watch it!" Rogue complained, rubbing her head and glaring at Pyro.
"Hey! You're the one that's yelling into my ear." John retorted. "Where's my Zippo?" He stuck his hand in his pocket, searching for his lighter. Ah. It's still in there. He took it out and started his "annoying" habit of clicking his lighter.
Click. "Did you see if Bobby and Ling fell down a hole too?" Rogue asked. Click. Click.
Click. "I saw them both fall down one hole. They're probably together. I have a feeling we're in pairs for a reason." Click.
"What makes you think that?" Rogue asked. Click.
"Well, they could have sent in cops and taken us instead of making us fall down holes. Who knows?" Click.
"Well, then we'd better find them and get out of here fast!" Rogue urged.
Click. "Let's go."
They walked into an open corridor. It looked like a long way to walk. So they continued to go until they finally reached the end of the corridor. There was a big wooden door at the end. Rouge tried to open it, but it was locked. John tried kicking it open.
"It always works in the movies," John complained in dismay. "Guess it's time to do it the Pyro way."
John took out his beloved Zippo lighter again and clicked it open. The flame danced around in the air a bit before enlarging and attacking the door. Soon the door was nothing but a mound of ash on the ground.
"That works too," Rogue said, impressed.
"C'mon." John told Rogue and walked on the ash that had been the door.
They walked through the door into . . . a swimming pool?
"Okay, secret underground facilities I can handle, but secret underground swimming pools?" Rogue said.
John, however, just fidgeted nervously and stared at the water.
Rogue followed his gaze. "Oh yeah, you're afraid of water, aren't you?"
"No." John denied.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "It's okay."
"No." John repeated, his macho side prevailing.
"Suit yourself."
The swimming pool covered the entire length of the room to a door on the other side. There was no land for John to walk on.
"C'mon, Pyro," Rogue said, stepping into the water, "It's easy."
"Rogue!" John whined.
"What?"
"I can't swim all that well!" John informed her stubbornly.
"Well, I can." Rogue replied.
"What good does that do me?" Pyro demanded.
Before John knew what she was doing, Rogue had taken off her glove and touched him on the forehead for a second, concentrating hard on swimming.
Then, Rogue pushed John in. John's arms flailed and he yelled as he fell in. At first he didn't come up and Rouge began to worry. What if it didn't work?
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Rogue's ankle and tossed her into the water.
"Hey!" Rouge spluttered, now completely wet and glaring at a grinning John. "What'd you do that for?"
"Only doing what you did to me!" John said. "I'll race you!" And then he started off swimming to the other side.
Rogue stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't this the same Pyro who was afraid to even be ten feet NEAR water? Maybe her power worked a little TOO well!
Rogue sighed and swam after him. They reached the edge and John opened the door. But instead of land, a monsoon of water splashed onto them both, and the room started to fill up with water. Fear struck both of their hearts and they swam to the surface of it all. But the water was rising up on them, and who knows how long they could hold their breath?
* * *
After much more searching, Bobby and Ling finally found a door. Cautiously, Ling opened it, Bobby's hand at ready to freeze whatever came out. Nothing came out.
Ling stepped onto a platform, only to see a raft in front of her, and raging water currents.
"Oh . . . my god." Ling said.
Bobby had stepped from behind her and said, "Let's do it."
"What?!" Ling exclaimed. "This is clearly a trap!"
"Yeah, but where else can we go? We might as well go and see who it leads to."
"Or what." Ling muttered. "Fine."
They stepped onto the raft, and Bobby froze the rope tying it to the dock. Then he karate-chopped it and suddenly the raft lunged forward. Water sprayed into the boat so that neither of them could see.
"Ling!" Bobby gasped out, spitting water from his mouth. "Can you control the water?"
Ling concentrated, and suddenly all the water pushed itself onto the sides of the wall, so they were sliding down a slick road.
But as they neared the end, a giant stab of pain exploded in Ling's skull.
"Not now!" She groaned and held her head. But her concentration was distracted, and the water came crashing down onto them, threatening to bury them in its wake.
"Dammit!" Bobby swore and he shot ice out of both hands, freezing the water that would have crashed into them into solid ice. Then he froze everything in front of them so they slid down the ice lake. Bobby glanced in worry at Ling, who was still yelling in pain.
But then he looked ahead of them and swore again. He pushed Ling down and covered his own head. The raft shattered through the wall and floated into a room full of water. The water spilled onto the room Bobby and Ling had come from. Suddenly, two figures almost got sucked into the other room, but Bobby grabbed onto both of them and held them into the raft. They were able to withstand the current.
Soon all the water was leveled and calm. Ling was shaking, and Rogue and John were both coughing. Bobby was trying to move the raft over to the door where the water had fell onto Rogue and John.
John saw his girlfriend and shook her. "Ling!"
Ling glared at him and said, "What took you so long to find us?!" But then she smiled slightly.
"It was more like we found them," Bobby corrected.
"And saved our asses!" Rogue added. "Someone's really trying to kill us. But then again, people try to kill us practically every day, so this is nothing."
"What happened to you back there, Ling?" Bobby asked.
"It was like one of the serum mutations except . . . I didn't get controlled. I don't understand why." Ling was confused.
"Maybe you fought it off like last time," John suggested.
Ling shook her head. "No, it was more like it was meant to distract me, not to control me. I don't know . . . all the obstacles . . . I think it's more of a test than someone trying to kill us."
They all got off the raft and peeked through the door. A solitary iron door stood at the end of the hallway.
Wet and grumpy, the four strode to the door.
"Whoever put us through this is going to have hell to pay!" John growled. "I'm going to melt the door down."
"Wait!" Ling put an arm in her boyfriend's way.
She put her hand on the door handle and pulled it open.
"But it would have been more fun if I melted it," John muttered.
They began to file into it when a man in a white lab coat turned around. He stared at Ling for a moment, and then smiled slightly.
"Welcome back Aqua . . . Ling."
Ling stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the man in disbelief. When she finally spoke, it was in a broken voice.
"D-Dad?"
* * *
"Bobby? You heard that?" Ling hissed.
"Yeah." Bobby glanced nervously over his shoulder for a moment. His head snapped back.
"What is it?" Ling asked, not daring to turn around and check for herself.
"Guns. Aiming right at us!" Bobby whispered. Ling could feel the fear radiating from him. Ling, however, was only slightly nervous. She's been in this kind of situation before many times, but always with Lady Deathstrike. She didn't know if Bobby could pull himself together to help her take the guns out.
"How many men?" Ling asked.
"There are no men," Bobby responded, "It's only guns hanging from the ceiling!"
"Good. Then you won't have to feel guilty killing someone, then." Ling said calmly. "I'll take the ones on the right, and you take the left. Be ready to back each other up if we get into a tight spot, okay?"
"Right."
"NOW!"
Ling did a backwards hand stance, and as she suspected, the guns reacted to movement. She went under one and blasted it with water, sparks flying off it. The adrenaline pumping through her, she moved from spot to spot, finally able to make one full blast to the entire row of guns. She twisted her head to the left to see how Bobby was doing and was pleased to see that he was doing just fine. He had managed to freeze all the cameras without getting shot!
"Good job!" Ling said with a smile.
"Why are you smiling? How can you smile?" Bobby demanded.
Ling shrugged. "I like action, I practically was force fed it. C'mon, let's go. We have to find John and Rouge, I'm sure they fell down some other hole too."
Bobby nodded and the two took off running through an open hole.
Ling had not voiced her fears openly. This was all too well organized. If they knew they were mutants and wanted to capture them, why not just do so? Why bother hitting them with cameras and then leaving a big open space for them to go? This felt too much like a test. Someone, whoever the puppet master is, is testing them for some bizarre reason.
They ran and ran until they reached a dead end.
"Did we miss a turn or what?" Bobby fumed, kicking the wall with his foot. "We have to find Rogue!"
Ling could feel the frustration rising up inside her as well. Where's John when you need him?
* * *
"John! Wake up!"
"Ah!" Pyro sat up suddenly, knocking heads with Rouge.
"Watch it!" Rogue complained, rubbing her head and glaring at Pyro.
"Hey! You're the one that's yelling into my ear." John retorted. "Where's my Zippo?" He stuck his hand in his pocket, searching for his lighter. Ah. It's still in there. He took it out and started his "annoying" habit of clicking his lighter.
Click. "Did you see if Bobby and Ling fell down a hole too?" Rogue asked. Click. Click.
Click. "I saw them both fall down one hole. They're probably together. I have a feeling we're in pairs for a reason." Click.
"What makes you think that?" Rogue asked. Click.
"Well, they could have sent in cops and taken us instead of making us fall down holes. Who knows?" Click.
"Well, then we'd better find them and get out of here fast!" Rogue urged.
Click. "Let's go."
They walked into an open corridor. It looked like a long way to walk. So they continued to go until they finally reached the end of the corridor. There was a big wooden door at the end. Rouge tried to open it, but it was locked. John tried kicking it open.
"It always works in the movies," John complained in dismay. "Guess it's time to do it the Pyro way."
John took out his beloved Zippo lighter again and clicked it open. The flame danced around in the air a bit before enlarging and attacking the door. Soon the door was nothing but a mound of ash on the ground.
"That works too," Rogue said, impressed.
"C'mon." John told Rogue and walked on the ash that had been the door.
They walked through the door into . . . a swimming pool?
"Okay, secret underground facilities I can handle, but secret underground swimming pools?" Rogue said.
John, however, just fidgeted nervously and stared at the water.
Rogue followed his gaze. "Oh yeah, you're afraid of water, aren't you?"
"No." John denied.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "It's okay."
"No." John repeated, his macho side prevailing.
"Suit yourself."
The swimming pool covered the entire length of the room to a door on the other side. There was no land for John to walk on.
"C'mon, Pyro," Rogue said, stepping into the water, "It's easy."
"Rogue!" John whined.
"What?"
"I can't swim all that well!" John informed her stubbornly.
"Well, I can." Rogue replied.
"What good does that do me?" Pyro demanded.
Before John knew what she was doing, Rogue had taken off her glove and touched him on the forehead for a second, concentrating hard on swimming.
Then, Rogue pushed John in. John's arms flailed and he yelled as he fell in. At first he didn't come up and Rouge began to worry. What if it didn't work?
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Rogue's ankle and tossed her into the water.
"Hey!" Rouge spluttered, now completely wet and glaring at a grinning John. "What'd you do that for?"
"Only doing what you did to me!" John said. "I'll race you!" And then he started off swimming to the other side.
Rogue stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't this the same Pyro who was afraid to even be ten feet NEAR water? Maybe her power worked a little TOO well!
Rogue sighed and swam after him. They reached the edge and John opened the door. But instead of land, a monsoon of water splashed onto them both, and the room started to fill up with water. Fear struck both of their hearts and they swam to the surface of it all. But the water was rising up on them, and who knows how long they could hold their breath?
* * *
After much more searching, Bobby and Ling finally found a door. Cautiously, Ling opened it, Bobby's hand at ready to freeze whatever came out. Nothing came out.
Ling stepped onto a platform, only to see a raft in front of her, and raging water currents.
"Oh . . . my god." Ling said.
Bobby had stepped from behind her and said, "Let's do it."
"What?!" Ling exclaimed. "This is clearly a trap!"
"Yeah, but where else can we go? We might as well go and see who it leads to."
"Or what." Ling muttered. "Fine."
They stepped onto the raft, and Bobby froze the rope tying it to the dock. Then he karate-chopped it and suddenly the raft lunged forward. Water sprayed into the boat so that neither of them could see.
"Ling!" Bobby gasped out, spitting water from his mouth. "Can you control the water?"
Ling concentrated, and suddenly all the water pushed itself onto the sides of the wall, so they were sliding down a slick road.
But as they neared the end, a giant stab of pain exploded in Ling's skull.
"Not now!" She groaned and held her head. But her concentration was distracted, and the water came crashing down onto them, threatening to bury them in its wake.
"Dammit!" Bobby swore and he shot ice out of both hands, freezing the water that would have crashed into them into solid ice. Then he froze everything in front of them so they slid down the ice lake. Bobby glanced in worry at Ling, who was still yelling in pain.
But then he looked ahead of them and swore again. He pushed Ling down and covered his own head. The raft shattered through the wall and floated into a room full of water. The water spilled onto the room Bobby and Ling had come from. Suddenly, two figures almost got sucked into the other room, but Bobby grabbed onto both of them and held them into the raft. They were able to withstand the current.
Soon all the water was leveled and calm. Ling was shaking, and Rogue and John were both coughing. Bobby was trying to move the raft over to the door where the water had fell onto Rogue and John.
John saw his girlfriend and shook her. "Ling!"
Ling glared at him and said, "What took you so long to find us?!" But then she smiled slightly.
"It was more like we found them," Bobby corrected.
"And saved our asses!" Rogue added. "Someone's really trying to kill us. But then again, people try to kill us practically every day, so this is nothing."
"What happened to you back there, Ling?" Bobby asked.
"It was like one of the serum mutations except . . . I didn't get controlled. I don't understand why." Ling was confused.
"Maybe you fought it off like last time," John suggested.
Ling shook her head. "No, it was more like it was meant to distract me, not to control me. I don't know . . . all the obstacles . . . I think it's more of a test than someone trying to kill us."
They all got off the raft and peeked through the door. A solitary iron door stood at the end of the hallway.
Wet and grumpy, the four strode to the door.
"Whoever put us through this is going to have hell to pay!" John growled. "I'm going to melt the door down."
"Wait!" Ling put an arm in her boyfriend's way.
She put her hand on the door handle and pulled it open.
"But it would have been more fun if I melted it," John muttered.
They began to file into it when a man in a white lab coat turned around. He stared at Ling for a moment, and then smiled slightly.
"Welcome back Aqua . . . Ling."
Ling stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at the man in disbelief. When she finally spoke, it was in a broken voice.
"D-Dad?"