lucetilogs | DRAFT LOG #2: The Battle Game!

[Patty-cake, huh. Gambit knows the guy's got a weird sense of humor, but if that doesn't sound like a dig at their capabilities (or what either of them has been through), he isn't sure what would.

And then Rogue is motioning him back. If she isn't pulling the gloves off over this, then he'll follow her lead. But his annoyance is fully visible -- his eyes are glowing a much brighter red, a faint violet glow emanating from the palms of his gloves for a second or two before he gets the energy overflow under control.

He'll keep his mouth shut for now, but Rogue's motion might not hold him back if there's another perceived jab.]

Exactly what I set out to do. What a coincidence.

[He knows Rogue is fully capable of taking care of herself in a fight, and he assumes by association that Gambit can, too. But right now? He doesn't even want to deal with working with somebody else. Nobody. So he should just...]

Right, then. I'll leave you to whatever fun little games you like to play together. Okay?

[Yeah, that's another perceived jab. The red glow just grows brighter. He brushes past Rogue this time, fists clenching.]

"Fun little games", homme?

["Fun little games?" There wasn't anything fun about this. Everything in her being cried out against being used this way, against being forced to kill. And what it is that she'd been doing the past few days, what she'd had to do the last time she was out here...

And that's the shot on one level. This is the second time what he's said has alluded to more than a working relationship between her and the member of her team who she just so happened to be walking with at the time. Considering her powers and Gambit's general nature, the insinuations he keeps making are getting a bit hurtful. But Rogue isn't exactly the type to bare her soul and cry about it. Besides, showing any sort of fluster in front of Gambit is definitely not on her to-do list.

Tony's being even more abrasive than usual, and with the flare of her temper dying down in the wake of her hurt, she remembers that he just came back from a set of missions, and how tired he was when he checked her guns in the hallway.

...and what's worse is that he set off Gambit. Him brushing past her is not a good sign, though she's hoping that he'll be more aware of his surroundings and get things under control--

--My Gawd, Scott, if I ever see you again, you're gettin' a hug an' an apology.

She grabs on to Gambit's bicep for a second, a quick, warning touch. Remember where we are.]

We need to catch up with our team.

[She steps away from both of them. Come on, Remy. You said you'd have her back. That means you'll follow, right?] If you're gonna space out in hallways, Iron Man, you should go back to the camp an' get some rest.

[She starts to walk down the tunnel, one hand going up to her ear to activate her radio, hoping Gambit is following.] Nightcrawler, come in--

[The shadow moving strangely on the wall is her only warning. Suddenly darting around the very curve she was walking towards comes a fully armed Elite wielding a battle axe and a half-a-dozen soldiers.

Oh, hell. She draws the sidearm, planting her feet, but the way the Elite is flying in she's not going to have enough time - Rogue flips backwards instead of firing, hoping to clear the gun as she does so.]

Heads up, boys!

[He doesn't have time for this. He doesn't have time to put up with Rogue or Gambit being in his way and throwing him off from doing his job, he doesn't need them around to slow him down and--

...Shit. Too late. The fight's come to them. He won't be just walking away now.]

Do me a favor and stay out of the way.

[Merde. Much as he doesn't want to drop it, he doesn't have much choice here. He barely has enough time to weigh the option of following Rogue or picking a fight before the third party is upon them. He pulls his bo from his coat and steps forward.]

Same to you, Rusty.

[At least he's got an outlet for all this energy. If he's going to channel it into anything, it may as well be the Elite soldier.]

[Except that he charges the bo far more than intended. It was meant to charge enough so that the hit packed an extra whallop. Instead, it charged enough for a small explosion. This was. Definitely not his aim. The force of it knocks both Gambit and the Elite backwards.]

Merde!

[And congratulations to Rogue, she does manage to pull her gun clean and land in a crouch to the side. At least when Gambit and the Elite collide, Gambit is knocked clean of the other soldiers. She takes the shot at the Elite, but unfortunately he deflects it with his axe. Freaking Elites. This makes the forth one in two days, and she's getting annoyed.

In the meantime, the soldiers are rushing past them, towards her, Gambit, and that man in the red and gold armor.]

[...Never send the kiddos in to do a Iron Man's job. He knows he can take that thing down like cakewalk, just a simple well aimed blast from his right-hand repulsor--

When he realizes he's stopped being conscious of the fact that they're in a cave and that blast was one much stronger than he should have used.

The Elite does go flying backwards. Careening and crashing into a wall and making merciless fissures as he does so. He doesn't stop to watch what happens, though; there are more soldiers piling in, and he takes to picking them off with his shoulder guns.]

[Gambit, who had taken on one of the soldiers to break past, stops mid-taunt as the crack of the Elite hitting the wall sounds. He freezes for a shade of a second, dread dropping into his stomach as he sees the fissures spidering out from the point of impact.

Mon dieu.

Taking out the soldier he was fighting with a solid crack upside the head with a (properly) charged bo, he starts to back up. Those spreading fissures are not looking good...]

Rogue!

[Better start backing up too!]

[Those fissures are not looking good, but worse, they're blocking their exit. If the cave comes crashing down, they'll be cut off from Kurt and the others, and hopelessly compromising the day's mission.

Will they be fast enough?

Will they have enough time?

The cracks are spreading up in that half-second it takes for her to deliberate and the Elite isn't getting up but she's not sure he's dead and a soldier is screeching at her from the left -- she fires her gun into him and makes a split-second decision.]

We have to try an' run through!

[Especially since those cracks are - rapidly - extending to the side towards them. Still firing as she prepares to dodge through the incoming soldiers, Rogue takes off in a sprint. It's go forward or go back, and if there's a chance that she can reunite with the others instead of stay separated from them, Rogue is going to take it.]

[He sees what's happening, and whether it be from petrified by shock or his sluggish reflexes, he cannot react in time to try and stop the cave ceiling from collapsing. They'll just have to dig their--

Dammit, Rogue, what are you doing?!

He can't yell to get her to stop--she's too far into her sprint now. If he can just jet there in time to throw her back before one of those boulders comes down right on top of her--]

[Nonono. She's running through. It's too late to try to run through. And between him backing up and Rogue darting off so suddenly, Gambit seriously doubts he can clear the distance between them to pull her back. But he takes off anyway. Tony's moving too, and so long as one of them gets there in time...

But the ceiling is coming down and all he can seem to hear is rock cracking and -- merde, Lady Luck, don't fail him now--]

Edited 2011-12-29 06:01 (UTC)

[Okay, those cracks are spreading a lot faster than she thought, but she doesn't have time to look and gauge them since she's running and there isn't any going back. In her periphery vision she can see Tony flying up from her left and Gambit's starting towards her - idiots, they need to concentrate on running through or getting out, not heading towards her! - and she has enough time to see the crazy glint in one soldier's eye but not enough to stop her as she suddenly flies up and hits the ceiling with her spear with all her super-human strength and--

Damn it.

The ceiling begins to crumble over their heads and Rogue has just enough time to get off a shot at one further ahead doing the same bright idea - she won't let them completely cave the place in if she can help it, not when the boys are still behind her -

And then all she can do is try to dodge the ceiling falling down on her and she knows that's impossible but she'll try anyway because as much as she doesn't think she deserves to live she doesn't want to die--]

[His jets are fast. And he won't even stop to let himself consider the chance that they might not be fast enough. He will get there in time. He will--

Close, so close, he can get her out of the way--

The ceiling is crumbling. It's coming down fast. And he snags her arm as the rocks nearly catch her before throwing her back and hoping--

But the rocks are toppling down on him now, pinning him down. God dammit, did she make it out the way?]

[--there's nothing you can do when the ceiling is literally falling right on top of you except try to run or - you know, not fight it when a giant man in superpowered armor grabs your arm and throws you out of the way--

Tony, you idiot--

--she barely has time to think as she hears the rocks collide with his armor because she's not in control of her body as she hurdles through the air and the tunnel is still falling down around her and she collides with a half-dozen fist-sized rocks and larger and she hopes she doesn't cry out in pain and all she can do is--

--control how you land--

So she does, with a thud and she uses the motion to further propel her away, hopefully away, she can't really see, she could be rolling towards, from the crumbling ceiling to the wall where it appears to still be standing and--]

Ah!

[Because she didn't quite clear that one chunk of tunnel, and her lower body is suddenly on fire.]

[It seems to be slowing a bit now. At least he thinks it is. He isn't paying very much attention to whether or not the tunnel is still dropping quite so many rocks as he is to the two caught up in it. From this part of the tunnel, at least, it's easy enough to just dodge any falling rocks and try to get in closer.

But now they're both in it. Stark at least has the armor - Gambit isn't sure how durable it is, but he suspects a few rocks won't do too much damage - but Rogue? Dieu, Rogue... At least she's closer now, he's sure he can reach her--

The Cajun French swearing under his breath grows a little more colorful as the rock hits her and she cries out.

He's finally caught up to her and it's too damn late. She's already hurt. The ceiling isn't really falling much anymore over here. But he still kneels down next to her, throat dry, mind racing. Merde, and you're not supposed to move injured people like this, are you...?

He's frustrated out of his mind that there isn't much else he can do at this point, but dammit if he can't at least shield her from what little is still falling from overhead. And maybe move this damn rock. Dieu, this is bad.]

Hang on, girl. Almos' in the clear.

[When the dust settles, he's under a pile of rocks. The armor has gone unharmed--it would take more than falling rocks to dent the gold-titanium integrity. But that isn't what he's worried about.

Did she make it out of the way?

Dammit, Rogue, you better be alright.

He starts pushing his way out of the rubble when he picks up on Gambit's voice--that doesn't sound good.]

[She makes a small, low sound of pain but quickly bites her cheek to stop it when Gambit approaches. He's blocking the falling rocks with his body.

Which would be so... humiliating. And sweet. If she wasn't in so much pain. As it is she winces and closes her eyes, wanting to turn her face away... but that feels wrong somehow, so she opens them again, and meets his gaze through it all.

Why are you doing this?

I'm okay, don't worry.

Ow.]

Damnit.

[And then the rocks finally stop falling. She can hear Tony shifting out of the rubble which is good because she was afraid that the ground would just keep pouring in through the top like in those silly survival movies and--

Ow.

She tries moving her legs first, and is relieved when they respond.]

He out?

[Her breathing is somewhat - OK, it's hard to do. And forcing out words: painful. But she's not coughing up blood, so that's a good sign. Gawd, what is wrong with her?

She chances a glance down her body to see a large rock just over her hip and onto her stomach. Oh. She has to fight a rising surge of instinctive panic.]

[It's finally over. Or at least, the falling rocks part is finally over. As much as he knows they're hardly in the clear yet, he's relieved that she's still moving and speaking, at least. Good signs.

Gambit brushes the last few pebbles off his shoulder, sitting up straighter to get a clearer look in Tony's direction. Easier to answer her question than ignore it and have her get stubborn about it.]

Jus' about. Looks like that armor'a his done the trick.

[Now, you, on the other hand...

He rests one hand on the side of the rock still pinning her down, silently gauging the weight of it. He's sure he can lift it on his own. His gaze drops to meet hers again. It may be something of a surprise to see a flicker of concern.]

I'm gonna count to three 'fore I get this t'ing offa you. Ready?

[He's shakily pushing himself upright--the cave-in was one thing, but seeing her there, trapped by the rock, is another.

...He did this.

Gambit's already there, already prepared to help her and take care of her--there were magic-users and medics around. They could help her, she would be fine, there was nothing to worry about--

But still. He did this.

--Should he even try to help? Was there anything he could really do to make a difference at this point? He could help Gambit with the rock if he needs to, but--

He speaks words he's seldom ever spoken before.]

...Tell me what you need me to do.

[Unfortunately - or fortunately - for Tony, Rogue's a bit too in pain to be taking note of exactly what he's saying. She's not trying to ignore him. She just doesn't know what to say, and it's hard to talk to someone when you can't see them and when someone else is about to move off whatever's crushing you.

Are you supposed to move off the giant rocks?]

Ya sure that's a good idea?

[Stuff about - internal bleeding and jumbled first aid classes about not removing things when you're impaled and Gawd, every breath is like fire. She wants the heavy weight of the rock off her. Maybe that will make breathing easier.]

Hell, just get it off.

[He's inwardly doubting the soundness of this idea himself, but it doesn't seem like the rock has impaled her. Dieu, he hopes he isn't about to make this worse than it is already.

He glances up at Tony, the worry muting any earlier annoyance he had with the man. More important things at stake here. There's a slight frown as Gambit's eyes sweep over the pile of rocks before sliding back to Tony.]

What we gonna need is a healer... [He knows Rogue can use that healing spirit magic, but he doesn't want to make her drain herself even more on that. Think faster, LeBeau.] ...Or maybe one'a the Elites so Rogue can borrow that healin' factor of theirs. Somethin'. Jus' need it fast.

[Okay. Back to this rock. It's going to take both hands to pull it away from her, but he can manage.]

Ready? Un, deux, trois...

[Sorry, Rogue. This won't be easy on her, but at least it's getting the rock off.]

[He crouches in their small clearing, mind racing. He feels so helpless here, unprepared for something like this--of course he wasn't. He was Iron Man. Invincible in his suit that protected him from foe and falling rock and yet...

Couldn't even protect--no, it was worse than that, he--

Apple gel.]

Gambit. Professor Raine gave me a first aid kit before we left camp with some healing items in it. [And he'd nearly rejected it. God.] They might be able to help her.

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touchofrogue - 2012-01-03 02:19 (UTC) - Expand

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kineticcajun - 2012-01-03 19:31 (UTC) - Expand

DRAFT LOG #2: The Battle Game!

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