Chapter 16: Gambit Dirties Up The Lair
Lady Kaori

A/N: Muwhahahaaa!!! Rogue has told Gambit off! I wonder what I can do to make their relationship even more full of drama…muwha! Did I mention that I am on chocolate and wisdom tooth medication? Muwha! Oh, by the by, the Professor doesn't know the extent of Magneto's plan…he just knows that Mags has taken Rogue away from the Institute for her safety. Now on with the (getting incredibly long for me) story!00

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Kitty rolled her eyes for the twentieth time since leaving the Institute. Kurt was not as helpful as she thought he was. Of course, the fact that his holo-watch was malfunctioning again wasn't helping either. He had scared the living daylights out of several people at the coffee shop. Luckily, his blue, furry form had only been visible for a second…but that didn't stop them from leaving as soon as possible. Apparently, Rouge was not in the coffee shop or at school. That left only one major landmark in Bayside that she could be at: Bayside Park. Kitty glanced at her watch; it was 5:15 a.m. If they didn't get back soon, the whole Institute would know that they were missing. "Kurt, I think that you're going to have to teleport to the park. There's no way that we'll be able to make it all the way there and back home before dawn," Kitty said. "Shhh!" Kurt lifted a finger to his lips. "What if we're being followed?" Kitty sighed and turned around to face the dark alley to their left. "Is anyone following us?" she yelled, her voice echoing off the brick walls of downtown Bayside. No sound answered her. She turned around and lifted her eyebrows in a questioning manner. Kurt slapped a now furry blue hand to his face. Kitty was obviously cranky from her lack of beauty sleep. "Alright then," Kurt said. "Hold onto my arm, and don't let go." "Yeah, yeah, get on with it already! How many times have I, like, teleported with you?" Kitty asked as she violently grabbed Kurt's arm. "Too many," Kurt muttered.00

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Mastermind quickly made his way to his master's chamber. He was in some serious trouble. Apocalypse had found out about the orders he had given the girl back in the park…and his master was not happy. Mastermind winced at the thought of what his punishment might be. Death was not an option at this point, because to Apocalypse, Mastermind was the only one who was currently following him. Perhaps it would just be a scary look or an electric shock. Mastermind reached the door to his master's chamber and slowly moved his fist up to knock on the door. There was no answer at first. Then the doors opened with a gust of wind, and Mastermind could feel himself being pulled inside. The master's chamber was not much to look at. Inside there were hundreds of Egyptian writings on the walls, but they were faded and barely legible. The only thing that set this room apart from all the others in the pyramid was the presence of a floating, glowing, diamond-shaped object that had imprisoned Apocalypse for over one thousand years.

"What have you done?"

Mastermind winced. "I am sorry, master. I thought that the death of that man would benefit you-"

"Do not do anything but what I tell you to do. I know what is best for my plan."

Mastermind lowered his head in shame. There was nothing that he could say to make his master forgive him. He was pretty much doomed.

"I have great need for that man. He is not to be killed yet. Take back the girl immediately, and give her the correct instructions. If you do not do as I say, I will kill you."

Mastermind nodded happily. "Yes, master…right away!" he said as he left Apocalypse's chamber and once again ventured out into the sunlight. He was still alive! Obviously Apocalypse was in a better mood than usual…or perhaps he was more desperate than usual. Either way, his master had not killed him, and he had a second chance to get into Apocalypse's good graces. Yes, things were shaping up quite nicely.00St. John flicked his lighter absentmindedly. He was still thinking about Amara. Amara was so…perfect. She could light herself on fire, throw fire, and manipulate fire…where else could he find a girl as perfect as that? Just as he was thinking this over, an angry Gambit entered the room and threw a charged card out the window, causing a pile of dirt to explode and hit the side of Magneto's metal fortress. "Bad day, mate?" John asked, watching Gambit's hands, which were busily shuffling cards. Gambit didn't answer. There was a long period of silence where John was afraid to say something before Gambit spoke up. "You know mon ami, Gambit thinks dat we've been working for the Buckethead too long."

John blinked. "Uh, Gambit? We're not just free to leave. If we were, I would have been gone a long time ago. We're under contract-"

"Who gives a damn anymore? We've had the power to leave Magneto for a long time, and we just haven't realized it. Besides, Piotr doesn't have a reason to stick to his contract anymore, and neither does Gambit. De only one who has a reason to stay here is you," Gambit said as he looked over at John.

John stared out the dirt-stained window. "I don't have a very good reason to stay here anymore…I never really did," he said quietly.

"Den Gambit thinks dat you know what we have to do."

John nodded. "I suppose we should tell Piotr first. We have to make sure he'll go along with this."

"He will. Gambit's known Piotr for a long time," Gambit said as he continued to shuffle his deck of cards.00Rogue looked out the window to see what the noise had been. She was finally out of her dingy metal prison, and she had just realized that it had been a while since she had last seen the sun. Once Rogue had been able to stand up, she had pounded down the metal door with her Juggernaut psyche. She had been worried that someone would have heard the giant door thud to the ground, but no one in the building seemed to care. Everyone there probably thought Piotr had dropped something, although Rogue knew very few people who were as graceful as the metal giant. Rogue saw though squinted eyes that a large pile of dirt that had been lying against the building had exploded, and that the entire wall was stained brown. It was probably that Swamp Rat and his temper tantrum, she thought as she continued her way down the hall, her hands steadying her weight against the wall. It was slow going, but at least she was moving. Rogue paused as she reached a split in the hallway. Should she go left or right? Where was Magneto? Where were the Acolytes? Where exactly was she? Left, she decided without looking the other way. The path to the right looked much more light than the left. Chances were that no one was down that way. She slowly made her feet move at a quicker pace than she had been going.

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00"Have you seen Kurt, Kitty, or Rogue?" Jean asked. "Nope," Scott answered, watching his reflection in the mirror as he combed his wet hair. "Well, what do you intend to do?" Jean asked, crossing her arms over her chest in an impatient manner. Scott glanced over at his irritated girlfriend. "What do you mean? They're probably just sleeping," he answered. Jean shook her head. "Nope. No one has seen Kurt or Kitty since they left dinner last night. No one's seen Rogue since we got back from school yesterday," she said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "So? You know how Rogue is…" he looked up from the mirror suddenly. "She's been hanging out with Gambit recently. Maybe she's been with him!" Scott frowned at his thought. "I told her to stop! He's such a womanizer, not to mention he's the enemy!"

"You seem to care more about her than me," Jean scowled. "Of course not! You're my girlfriend! I love you!" Scott cried. "Whatever," Jean said with another flick of her hair. "If you need me I'll be in my room," she said as she walked out the door, leaving a very confused Scott in her wake.

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A/N: Well, that's all for now! I know it's been awhile…and I can't really justify my lack of updates…but the story is definitely winding down, and the last story climax is about to occur, so yeah…I should have the next chapter up soon considering that I'm about to write it now. Thank you all SO much for the reviews! Please continue reading!