Movieverse! Toad vs Evo! Acolytes (No restrictions) – Requested by Mysterious Stranger

The wind was incredible. It was a physical thing; trying to fight it was like pushing a moving truck and expecting it to start going backwards. Then, with a sudden awesome blast, it got stronger.

Toad was nearly obliterated. He felt his skin pressing back against his face, his eyes sinking into their sockets from the unbelievable pressure. No living thing could have withstood that tidal wave of wind; Toad was no exception. He was picked up and hurled from the Statue like an errant leaf.
As he passed out over the waves, he saw a single fleeting chance; he took it. His tongue snapped out, faster than an eye could see, wrapping around the guard rail even as he crossed beyond it, anchoring him. For a moment he remained there, flapping in the breeze like some kind of bizarre pennant.
And then she came - the Storm. Her eyes shimmered with awesome power as she flew above the floor; her hair and clothing rippled around her, making her appear like some spectre from myth. When she spoke, her voice rang and echoed over the roar of the wind.
"Do you know what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning?"
Toad's eyes widened as a cold smile touched her lips.
"The same as everything else…"
And then he was on fire.

He let out one final scream of agony as his grip on the rail slipped. The roaring wind rocketed him out, far over the storm-whipped waters, as the lightning crashed into him again and again and again.
Thunder boomed as energy began to arc of his writhing, airborne form. When his own eyes began to shimmer, however, it became clear that something was amiss.
Storm, it seemed had been wrong. When struck by lightning, Toads apparently did something very unusual indeed.
And an instant before the struggling mutant hit the water, the lightning culminated in a final blinding flash of white.
When it cleared, Toad was nowhere to be seen.

----

"Where'd de signal come from?" Gambit asked, fiddling with his deck.
"A skyscraper in New York City," Magneto responded. "On top of one, actually. I've never quite seen anything like it before."
"I've been to New York," Pyro commented. "Heaps of stuff there that you don't see anywhere else. Which is good, mostly."
"You're going back there," Magneto informed him. "I want to know what produced that burst of energy. Something that powerful could be very useful indeed."
"Da, true," Colossus said uneasily. "It could also be very dangerous to people who approach it…"
"Which is why all of you will go," came the reply. "You are well trained. Mastermind has other engagements; nonetheless, I doubt there is much capable of fazing the four of you combined."
"Wanna bet?" Pyro snorted. "There's always the Mardi Gras in Sydney. Christ, it still gives me bad dreams?"
"Remy has seen de Mardi Gras, mon ami. It weren't that bad."
"Mate, I think the Sydney version might be just a little different to what you're used to…"

----

Toad groaned as his eyes slowly opened, blinking water out of his eyes.
"I," he muttered, "do not like that woman."
Sitting up, he looked around. It seemed to have stopped raining, although he himself was soaked. Apparently, he was still in New York; the various visible landmarks showed that.
Among said landmarks was, notably, the Statue of Liberty. Dark, seemingly empty and alone, it stood on its island facing toward the area where the UN council should have been.
The place that was now glaringly empty.
Right, he thought. I should be fish bait - that ought to 'ave killed me. Hurt enough. Instead, I'm on top of a bloody skyscraper nearly a bloody mile away, with no sign of the others. The Council's buggered off, nothing's different as far as the rest of the place looks, and I've got no bloody clue what's going on.
Shrugging his coat more comfortably onto his shoulders, he peered down at the dark city far below.
"What in blazes is going on?"

The sound of his mutter didn't carry far; however, it went far enough for the hulking figure that stepped onto the roof an instant before he spoke. With astonishing stealth for someone of such bulk, the figure advanced toward Toad's back. A moment before contact, however, Toad turned. Jumped slightly in surprise.
And did the last thing Sabretooth had expected.
"Christ, Vic, you scared a year's life out of me? Toad snapped. "What the bloody hell is going on, and where are the others?"
Sabretooth stopped and blinked in surprise.
"Last thing I remember is the weather bitch trying to fry me, and then I'm waking up here. What the hell happened to you, anyway? If you'd been helping me and Raven out, we'd have had no trouble. Nearly had 'em all, but then…" Toad trailed off, seeing Sabertooth's expression. "Vic?"
The huge man stepped back, his face a mask of confusion.
"For Christ's sake, Vic, say something. I'm nervous enough without any games."
The answer, when it arrived, came from behind Sabretooth.
"Who are you?" came the deep voice of Colossus as he stepped up with the other Acolytes. Toad blinked.
"I'm the Toad," he said after a moment. "Who the hell are you?"
"De Alycotes," Gambit informed him. "An' Remy be wonderin' if you're an old friend o' Sabie's?"
"I never seen him before in my life," Sabretooth snarled. Toad gaped at him.
"Jesus, Vic! We weren't exactly mates, but cut the bullshit! I've worked with you and Raven for the last couple of years now, and the least you could do is be honest!"
Pyro blinked. "Huh? Boss got himself a new team? How come we weren't told?"
"He's lyin'!" Sabretooth snarled. "I don't know what the game is, but I ain't worked with him. Ever."
Colossus stepped up and examined Toad's face. "What did you say your name was?"
"Toad."
"You are not Toad," the Russian said flatly. "Toad is a child."
Toad sneered right back. "And the Tin Man lived in Oz," he retorted. "But you're here, aren't you? Now be nice or we'll see if metal bounces when it's thrown off a skyscraper."
Colossus glowered, but Gambit just yawned at him.
"Remy got no time for guessin' games. Just grab de man, whatever his name be, an' we work it out when we get back."
Sabretooth and Colossus nodded in agreement and stepped forward; Toad bounded away to the edge of the roof. "Sod off, I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on!"
Pyro shook his head and blew out a short spurt of fire, dazzlingly bright in the shadows. "All in good time, mate. Now come with us and don't do it the hard way."
As Gambit twirled his staff with a lazy grin, the two larger men advanced once more. Toad shook his head.
"This," he muttered, "has been a very bad day."
And then he hurled himself toward them.

----

As he moved, Toad silently resolved to leave Sabretooth standing to the last; in spite of what the bigger man had been saying, he wasn't quite willing to make a direct attack on the man who should have been an ally. There were, after all, several good reasons why he could be acting a little strangely.
Such as that bloody telepath we met the other night…
Nor, for that matter, did he particularly want to arouse the huge man's full anger.
The others, though, were a different story.

Toad shot through the air with startling speed, landing easily next to Colossus with a smirk. Before the astounded Russian could react, a booted foot shot up with deadly force and cracked directly into his metallic chest.
This had mixed results. Colossus was flung onto his back with an impact that cracked the roof beneath him; no other damage was done, save to his pride. Toad, on the other hand, fared less well. Besides feeling as though he'd broken a few toes, physics took a hand - since Colossus didn't move enough to compensate for the power of that single kick, Toad moved instead.
The Acolytes could only blink as Toad, with a short yell, hurtled backwards and dropped over the edge of the roof.

----

Rising, Colossus strode over to the brink of the roof and peered down over the two-foot-high barrier that ran around it. Moments later, he was joined by the other three. There was no sign of Toad.
"That was unexpected," Pyro commented.
"Merde..."
"Boss ain't gonna like this one bit."
Colossus didn't say anything. Instead, he squinted intently downwards. Not far below, there seemed to be a dark shape that was -
A surprised bellow was muffled by a pink, tentacle-like appendage that shot up out of the shadows and wrapped around Colossus' head. Before the others could do anything, it pulled taut; and the metal-skinned man was abruptly yanked head-first out into space.
The remaining Acolytes scrambled back from the edge as the Russian's roar of anger and astonishment faded only with distance. An instant later, the strange appendage came back into sight, snapping up and wrapping itself around a nearby satellite dish fixed to the roof.
This time, when it pulled taut, it served to lift Toad back onto the roof as the other three mutants gaped at him. He waggled his eyebrows as his tongue re-entered his mouth.
"Then there were three," he sneered.

The Acolytes, to their credit, reacted quickly to their shock. Swiftly circling around, they positioned themselves at three points, covering Toad from all sides. The tallow-skinned mutant, however, didn't seem to care overly much. Glancing around, he gave a devilish grin to Pyro and Sabretooth; then, spinning rapidly, he turned and hurtled toward the startled Gambit.
The Cajun brought one end of his staff up as Toad came on, whistling toward his head; Toad ducked under it and grabbed the staff, holding it in place.
"Not a toy for little boys," he informed Gambit. Gambit simply released the staff, to Toad's confusion.
"Den Gambit can play wit' his cards instead, oiu?"
The ace of spades glowed in his hands for an instant before, with a lazy flick, it was thrown. Toad blinked, then casually swatted the card out of the air with his newly-acquired staff.

----

When the world stopped spinning, Toad shook his head and flipped to his feet, albeit somewhat groggily. His eyebrows were singed, there was a trace of smoke in his clothing, and any exposed skin was slightly burnt. He was also back in the centre of the roof area, sans staff. Glancing around, he saw Gambit retrieve the weapon with a smirk. Then all further observations were halted by a strange roaring sound behind him.
The roar of a flamethrower being activated.
Toad instinctively flung himself sideways; three balls of flame rocketed through the space where he'd stood a moment before. One crashed into the satellite dish, reducing it to so much twisted metal; the other two curved around and headed back toward Toad. Again, he dodged; this time, two fireballs and the five of hearts exploded on the space he'd been occupying.
As he gaped, a horrifyingly powerful grip seized his shoulders and he was lifted off the ground, twisting to face Sabretooth.
"You've fucked us around long enough," the huge man growled. Toad sighed.
"Sorry to have to do this, Vic…"
The impact of Toad's kick may have killed a lesser man; Sabretoth himself didn't fare too well. Seven ribs, stove in by the impact, cut into him; he was flung bodily across the roof, his grip on Toad slipping; and he broke two vertebrae and fractured his skull when he connected with the side of the service elevator. The wounds healed within moments, but Sabretooth was too unconscious to notice.

----

Toad, meanwhile, never stopped moving. Dropping gracefully to the rooftop again, he bounded sideways at the irritating Cajun. This time he grabbed the staff before Gambit could even swing.
"I said," he hissed, "you shouldn't be playing with this!"
This time, when the king of hearts flickered to life, Toad was ready. With little wind-up, he spat a gob of green slime out, connecting with the card an instant before it left Gambit's hand, sticking it in place.
A moment later, the explosion threw him backwards toward the edge of the roof, where he landed on his back. Groaning, he lifted himself into a sitting position ? just as Toad hurled the staff, javelin style. It whistled as it flew forwards, connecting with Gambit's head with a sound like a well-hit cricket ball. The Cajun dropped like a stone.

With a grin, Toad turned again.
Three down, one to go… where'd the bloody Australian get to?
The brilliant flash of light to one side answered that question. A menacing grin on his features, Toad spun to face Pyro. And froze, the grin wavering. His eyes widened, the grin slipped away, and he took a step back.
Trails and whips of fire orbited Pyro lazily, circling his body in streaks of red. Flames roared behind him, hanging in the air in a blazing storm, while small humanoid fireballs pranced around him and shapes that were reminiscent of birds whirled about the night sky above his head.
"My turn," he grinned.
Then he charged, sprinting forwards with a maniacal grin on his features, a blazing stream of fire in his wake. Toad, for his part, did something then that he hadn't done for a long time.
He ran.

Rather, he tried to run. Without success. Even as he turned, two jets of flame curled around him, cutting off escape, trapping him in a U-shaped funnel of fire with Pyro racing down toward him. Tensing himself, Toad prepared to leap to safety; the firebirds that Pyro had created swooped over him, forming a web of shimmering heat. To get out, he'd have to go through the fire - which was a fairly similar idea to committing suicide.
Gulping slightly, he turned back to take his only remaining option. To fight Pyro.
Unable to leap high, he used his powerful legs to propel himself forward at high speed, straight toward the advancing mutant. Gauging the angle, he pushed down with both feet, hurtling himself at Pyro. The final Acolyte, however, didn't even check his run. A jet of fire blasted over one shoulder, striking Toad soundly; though his coat prevented any serious harm, the trajectory of his leap was completely thrown out. With a cry, he fell to the roof.
Pyro was on him instantly. A savage kick found Toad's ribs, while one hand lifted him off the rooftop by his collar; his free arm swung in a savage backhand against Toad's head. With a metallic ring, the nozzle of his flamethrower bashed the pale man back down. Rolling sideways, Toad avoided another kick and pushed himself to his knees; Pyro stepped in and dealt out a savage uppercut that flung Toad onto his back once more. Desperately, Toad's tongue whipped out as Pyro came on again, wrapping around his wrist.
Then he screamed.

Licking a recently-used flamethrower is never a good idea.

Blinded by pain, covered in injuries from an extremely violent night, Toad's energy finally gave out. The savage kick to the temple knocked him unconscious, but he was already on the way there when it happened.
Everything went dark.

----

Pyro looked down at the fallen Toad with a thoughtful look on his face. Then, sighing, he waved his hands; the pyrotechnics all around him culminated in a brilliant flare of fire, and went out. Stooping, he hefted the unconscious man onto one shoulder and stood straight, looking around.
Then, swearing under his breath, he dropped Toad unceremoniously to the ground. He wouldn't be taking him anywhere for some time.
First, he had to wait for Gambit and Sabretooth to wake up.
And for Colossus to get back up to the roof…