Worlds on Fire: Raiders
Aug. 18th, 2006 12:12 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsA raid on a temple, some ass-kicking, and shiny, pretty things.
It had been close to twenty minutes since the girls had been anointed and then led from the temple. Remy checked his phone again and scowled. Five billion dollar stealth plan and they still couldn't get here on time, he groused. Around him lay Amanda, Wanda, Strange and Sofia, watching the open mouth of the temple with binoculars. He could feel them itching to go, and cursed again. If they went too soon, the ones in the cave might break off the ritual and scatter, or worse, send their duped followers after them. If that happened, things were going to get very fatal very quickly.
The soft hum and vibration of the phone against his palm came as a rapid focus back to the plan, and he stowed it neatly away in his coat. "We go on my count. 'manda, you to de left wit' Wanda, Strange is on de right behind Sofia. Remy go up de middle. No killing if you can avoid it." There were a series of tight nods. "Bein. Let's go kick someone in de heart den."
"About bloody time," Amanda muttered under her breath. Between having to watch a group of teenage girls be herded out of the temple and up the mountain to be sacrificed and wondering if that was one of the ten-inch long centipedes crawling up the leg of her pants, she'd been twitching for the last twenty minutes. Still, she held herself back enough to quietly rise from their hiding place and follow Wanda down toward the temple like a shorter shadow.
Wanda could do many things very well but sneaking around was something that took a great deal more concentration. "Careful and quiet," she said softly, "makes me feel like a bull in a china shop." Not exactly the truth considering all the time she spent growing up in the forests.
She could walk quietly and softly but it took her thinking about it. Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded as Amanda crept up with her. Perfect.
For his part, Strange could have waited longer. All night, preferably. Combat wasn't something he was comfortable with and Remy's casual references to violence and killing made him wonder just what kind of people Wanda was working with. Still, he trusted her. "After you?" he asked Sofia with a small gesture, indicating the trail. "I can shield the both of us if necessary."
Giving Strange a small, rare smile, Sofia stepped ahead of him, a tiny concentration of swirling winds erasing what little traces of a trail the group left behind. "I'd like that," she admitted quietly. "They shouldn't be getting too close to us anyway, but it's a little more difficult to do both defense and offense if they manage."
"Then, my dear, it would be my pleasure."
***
There were pluses and minuses to crumbling, half-ruined buildings. There was always plenty to hide behind and enough cover to go around; sadly, there would also be massive holes that had to be accounted for. And the whole about-to-fall-over thing that seemed to be included with every abandoned building. Luckily, they were able to skirt around the worst of it.
Wanda and Amanda reached a corner of the building and the older woman gestured for Amanda to keep close to the wall as she peeked out. Ahh, there were a few of the ones that looked a bit nastier than the locals they had spotted throughout the ruins.
Amanda obediently flattened herself, having flashbacks to Nepal and the caves there with Betsy. She found herself wishing she'd grabbed a stick or something - or stayed up at the camp. But Remy had said she would be needed for her magical expertise and she had to admit, it had made her a little proud. Even if it was possibly a sop. She waited until Wanda had pulled back, mouthing the words: "All clear?"
Wanda shook her head and held up her left hand, indicting five. Another gesture meant they were fairly spread around as well. Kneeling, she peeked around to get a better look. They were decently armed, she supposed, but nothing that indicated they were armed for war. Probably armed to make sure that the wild animals wouldn't eat them.
Turning back, she grinned at Amanda. "On the count of three?" she mouthed, pointing at a certain piece of building that looked like it was going to go at any minute. With the proper influence, that minute would be sooner than expected.
Amanda grinned, her teeth flashing white in the shadows - her hair was hidden under a bandana since the blond picked up light too well. She moved back slightly to give Wanda space and held up her hand, counting on her fingers. One, two, three...
The red circles appeared briefly around Wanda's outstretched hands, her mental fingers already playing along the strings attached to the piece in question. It appeared that some of the guards had, in an earlier drunken state, been throwing things at it for practice and as a small bird landed on it, the remaining mortar cracked and gave, sending pieces of the stone tumbling down on one of the unlucky guards.
'And then there were four,' Wanda thought as she shot out of the dark corner.
Four against one, not good odds, even if Wanda could kick arse with the best of them. Well, she could at least provide a distraction. Focusing, Amanda concentrated and George popped into existence above the head of the nearest cultist, zooming around like a deranged firefly. The guard flailed at the werelight, obviously thinking it was one of the local insect life.
Amanda flattened herself against the wall for a moment, catching her breath. That had been hard, which was odd since it had always been the easiest spell to do. Hopefully George would buy Wanda some time whilst she caught her breath.
Having caught the distraction Amanda had set up, and mentally thanking her for it, Wanda dropped her shoulder and slammed into the back of one of the other confused sentries, sending them both tumbling towards the ground. Luckily, she managed to stay on top, despite the man's wiggling about. Ignoring the shouts of his friends, she simply reached forward, tangling her fingers in his hair, and firmly bounced his head off the ground twice.
The wiggling certainly stopped after that and she left him, unconscious, where he was.
Okay, breath recovered... Amanda pushed herself off the wall and charged at the cultist who was about to fling himself on Wanda from behind. A Doc Marten boot to the back of the knee sent him to his knees with a shout of pain. Another boot in the small of the back
knocked him onto his face. With only a slight pause, Amanda followed up with a kick to the man's head and he went limp. She was about to turn and see where the other man had got to when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind.
"Oi, gerrof!" Amanda struggled, kicking as hard as she could at the man's shins, but couldn't seem to connect anywhere useful. And he had a hell of a grip. Oh fuck, hope this bloke's not a mutant...
At Amanda's shout, Wanda's head whipped around and she snarled, red light flashing around her hands in agitation. The way he had her, the strings to him would affect Amanda as well, something she wasn't willing to try, not with all the thrashing around those two were currently doing. She circled and the man wisely yanked Amanda with
him, keeping her as a human shield.
When she spotted a glint of metal in his hand, her back when straight. Oh no, he would not. "~Amanda, tuck your legs!~" she shouted, confident in the fact that no one here probably spoke Romany and fired off a hex bolt at the man's legs.
Reacting instantly, Amanda curled her legs up, letting the man take her weight - not a problem, since he was big and she... wasn't. The hex bolt hit the man at the knees, and the cartilage, weakened by years of kneeling and praying on cold stone, suddenly cracked and popped. The cultist dropped Amanda and collapsed, clutching at his knees as the girl scrambled away.
"Serves you right," Wanda spat. She hadn't liked it but there hadn't been much alternative. She turned right as the last guard not being bothered by George popped back up. "Ah, there you are, I was wondering where you'd gone off to." She glanced at the knife he was holding and then down at his friend. "Now then, let's do this slightly more
civilized, shall we?"
It was encouraging when he dropped the knife but not so much when he lunged at her. This one was fast and had the look of a fighter. Good. The damp had made her cranky and it was satisfying to land a solid round kick in the man's gut. It'd been far too long since a good brawl and this way, she could distract him away from Amanda.
Wanda had a nasty streak, it seemed. Amanda realised now why the older woman was with them. Picking herself up, she moved back to the wall, keeping her back against it so she wouldn't be surprised again and watching for any more trouble. They still had to get inside, yet...
This one really was fast, Wanda realized as her head rocked back from a punch to the jaw she hadn't quite been able to duck. Fun time is over, she thought, side stepping another punch as she trapped his arm. Wrenching it tightly got his attention and made sure he didn't see the palm heel to the chin that dropped him like a rock.
Amanda had to restrain herself from applauding. "Nice one," she said. The initial element of surprise had been lost with the screaming, time to get inside and end this. At least no more cultists were piling out.
Grinning a bit, Wanda trotted over to join her. "Glass jaws, what can you do," she quipped, rubbing her own. That was going to leave a bruise but it was well worth it. "Next stop on this lovely tour of the jungle, yes?"
"You gunna be okay?" Amanda asked, noticing the gesture and the slight wince.
"He hit like a ten year old girl," she joked but then reached over to squeeze Amanda on the shoulder. "A bruise, nothing more, but thank you."
"Think I should be thanking you for the save." Amanda jerked her chin at the man writhing on the ground clutching at his knees and moaning. "Sorry, dropped my guard."
"And I did not see the one that you dropped before Mr. Grabby Hands got you. It's this whole working as a team thing." Wanda winked at her and then nodded towards the door. "Shall we?"
"Can't let Remy have all the fun," Amanda agreed. She snapped her fingers, and George came to her like an obedient puppy. "After you, Boss Lady."
"So many perks to being the Boss Lady," she joked, "coffee in the morning, reports done up, first crack at going into old abandoned buildings..."
"First shot at smacking the cultists..." Amanda continued as they ducked through the crumbling archway and into the temple proper. Inside was a flailing confusion of men in robes, battling against the dervish that was Remy now, with Sofia and Strange adding their own contributions. One of the cultists sprang at them as they entered.
"I think he just called us infidels, Amanda," Wanda gasped, looking as horrified as she could muster up. "Shameful, really. And now we...both step to the side..."
The best thing about fanatical cultists was that they were fanatical, not smart. So as the cultist ran at them, screaming insults, the two simply side stepped the rush. With a sigh, Wanda reached out and snagged the man by the back of the loose flowing robes. "Fashion tip number fifty-five: no robes, no capes, nothing that would make this doable." Wrenching her arm downward, the man had no choice but to follow and all thrashing ceased with a simple kick to the head.
"That was a thing of beauty, it really was." Amanda beamed, this time actually applauding, all the while keeping her eyes roving the room. Wouldn't do to be ambushed again, although things were seeming in hand. "I'm gunna have to get you to teach me more, aren't I?"
"Oh but of course and trust me, you will have plenty of chances to use it. The number of bad guys who believe that more is, well, more is simply astounding, even in our line of work." Wanda glanced around sharply and spotted Remy. "Hrmph. Is it me, or does he remind you of a very bitter spider monkey?"
It was all Amanda could do not to dissolve into giggles then and there. Not exactly professional in the middle of a fight. "Just a little bit?" A gust of wind dislodged a particularly imposing statue of Selene, sending it crashing to the ground and Amanda skipped away from the pieces. "Tell you what, I'll go and find this magic rock of theirs, and you go have fun with the nice men in the robes, yeah?"
Taking stock of the situation once more, Wanda beamed, lacing her fingers together and stretched her hands together, making her knuckles crack. "Fun for one of us, that is, but yes, once this bunch is all taken care of, we'll meet back up again." With a jaunty wave, she braced herself as she tossed herself into the middle of the fray, red light flaring here and there.
***
Making their way inside took twice as Sofia would have liked, but even with the majority of their footsteps washed away in both trail and sound by the currents that she kept, stealth was of the utmost importance; she wouldn't risk Strange. He was one of the few people who'd been nice to her after all.
"Just let me know if someone's coming up to hit me on the head from behind," she said quietly, and with a little concentration directed the words just to Strange's ears. A young man in robes turned the corner and opened his mouth, only to have the breath stolen from his lungs. Approaching him calmly she wrapped one arm around his waist firmly, holding him still until he passed out and she could lay him on the ground. "And I'll take care of the rest."
"Oh my," was all Strange could say at the ruthlessly efficient way Sofia took down their first opponent. And yet there'd been an elegance to it... Pulling himself together, he followed her into the temple proper. Typical temple - there were statues of Selene lit by candles and with small bowls of dark liquid set at their base, the usual dais where the rituals occurred. The sense of wrongness hit him as he looked in that direction, so hard it made him nauseous. "The artifact is up there," he said, pointing in the direction of the dais and swallowing hard to avoid losing his last meal.
Pulling back the web she had made into herself, Sofia took a deep breath, using the glint off of one of Amanda's earrings and where she hoped Remy would be – stupid fucking spies and their inability to stay in her eyesight – as a destination for Strange's announcement. She only had a moment to center herself again, before another two guards, priests, men in robes who were in her way, were mercilessly thrown into each other and set aside, out of the way.
"We'll race them there."
"Race?" Strange gulped, but nodded, doing his best to keep up. He caught sight of Amanda, wisely taking cover behind the dais, and Wanda, doing her best to beat up several cultists at once... Strange's brain locked down and he dimly supposed it was a good thing she wasn't in the leather. "I am quite possibly the luckiest man in
the world," he murmured to himself before a shout alerted him to the fact that a cultist had taken exception to his presence and was rushing at him, some kind of weapon brandished overhead. Reflexively Strange shielded, the air sizzling with a greenish-blue glow.
It was her own shadow cast against the stone wall that caught Sofia's attention, her eyes flickering over to the side, already narrowed. The weapon ripped from Strange's attacker's grip, flying into the temple of one of his accomplices who crumbled gracefully, as he himself flew forward into the air, hitting Sofia's shadow at the same time her
hand around his throat did.
"No," she said coldly, waiting just long enough for his eyes to roll back before she let him drop like a stone. She quickly looked over to determine if Strange was alright, and finding he was, felt herself relax, moving forward.
"Thank you," he managed, a little breathless from the running and the shielding and the watching various acts of violence being committed around him. He wasn't going to look in Remy's direction - who knew what he would be up to? Despite the nauseating influence of the stone on the dais - no, stones, plural, he could see that now, locked into
some sort of pattern - he was relieved when they reached it and he could take cover. "I'll watch from here, give you shielding if you or anyone else needs it," he said, glancing over at Amanda who had her PDA out and was busily searching for their artifact and avoiding trouble. She pulled a face at him, but shuffled over slightly anyway to give him room in her shelter.
"Hey, I'm only making everyone fall down. You're being scholarly and making sure I don't die; I should be thanking you," Sofia said briskly, hiding any emotion that may have seeped into her tone in front of the busy witch. With a odd, almost shy smile, she tightened her ponytail and headed back out into the growing mob. "Good luck!"
***
Unlike the other members of the team, Remy had the ability to take the high road. Inside the jungle, his spatial sense had flared liked in the midst of a city like Hong Kong. Thousands of individual surfaces and fractal points arranged themselves in his mind's eye, opening up the dense foliage into a highway of options. His enhanced agility turned it into a fast route between places, looking like a modern Tarzan remake in the process.
He hauled himself up near the canopy and along, throwing himself between branches and using his momentum to carry himself along to the next handhold. He could see the others creeping closer to the temple, and intersect with the guards further out. They had the training to handle it, he considered, as he didn't pause. Getting into the temple fast was the important part. They had caught signs of mutant abilities in some of the cult members, and while he hoped they'd be at the ritual and thus in the crosshairs of the X-Men, there was no way to be sure.
Gambit ran out of canopy, pausing to gather his legs under him before pushing of. He hit the edge of the temple, but the stone had been undermined by the vines growing up from the verdant jungle soil. He slipped in a shower of rubble, only the barest of handholds keeping him from dropping down with the stone. The clatter roused the cultists inside, and shouts of alarm began from both the temple and the jungle around them.
"So much for sneaky," Remy muttered, grabbing one of the steadier vines and scrambling down it. Two men cleared the door of the temple, and Remy kicked himself off the wall and plummeted straight down. He piked over and landed squarely on the shoulders of the first man, hearing the scapula crumbled under the blow. He flipped himself right, rolling and coming up to block the sword the other man had in his hand. Remy rotated the wrist, grinding the bones together painfully until the sword dropped from the cultist's nerveless fingers. A blade hand smashed his nose and cheekbone like glass, sending him to the
ground screaming and clutching at his face.
Behind him, there were rasping metallic sounds; metal sliding on metal and the harsh click of oiled steel. Looks like they weren't all dumb enough to arm themselves like Indiana Jones extras, he thought. Remy sprang backwards instead of turning, landing for a moment on one hand as his other lashed out. Even with his powers, he hadn't taken in
enough information to be accurate, and the spread of cards failed to hit a target. However, they did force the cultists to duck under cover, giving him enough time to get clear of the temple entrance and towards the protection of the stone.
"Kill him!" Remy almost grinned. It was the most disturbing thing about his life that shouts like those were familiar and almost comforting to him. Bullets whined off the carvings around him, but these were religious fanatics, and not trained soldiers. Remy spun low out of his cover, cards deadly accurate this time. His charged cards exploded, tearing the small arsenal of the cultists to shreds. He had targeted the guns first, and the resulting explosions had brought down two of the robed men, grasping at their ruined and bloody hands.
Remy snapped his staff open, only to almost lose his head to a focused plasma beam that lanced out at him. Merde, he thought. Obviously a couple of the mutants decided on guard duty. Remy feinted left, drawing another blast to identify the mutant, before he moved in. A sweep of the staff brought down one cultist, and he pivoted behind the man, allowing him to take the plasma blast full in the chest. Remy flipped over the falling body, throwing the staff out to his right and dropping another cultist. He hit and let his body collapse, rolling forward under the next blast and coming up with a blow to the man's sternum. As the cultist doubled up, he caught Remy's elbow on the way up. His occipital orbit shattered, and he spiraled to the ground unconscious.
There was noise behind him, and he could hear the rest of the team coming up behind him. In front, the rest of the cultists formed up,preparing a final rush.
"~Tell you something, hommes,~" Remy said in perfect Spanish. "Surrender hurts less." They charged. Remy shrugged. There was no helping some people, he considered, before he leapt into the fray.
***
As the dust settled, Amanda hoisted herself up onto the dais, earning herself a pained look from Strange as she surveyed the wreckage. Unconscious cultists sprawled everywhere, amidst extinguished candles and toppled likenesses of Selene.
"Well," she said with a grin. "That was bracing."
"You might say dat." Remy gingerly dabbed at the side of his head, trying to stop the blood. He walked past Amanda to the stones and pointed to them. "Are dey still supposed to be glowing like dat?"
"Don't touch them!" Strange exclaimed from where he'd been making sure Wanda was all right, gingerly touching her bruised jaw. He bustled over, visibly wincing at the aura they were emanating. "The spell configuring them is very powerful, and shouldn't be disturbed
light..."
Sofia leaned over curiously and nudged one of the stones with her finger, knocking it out of alignment. The glow stopped.
"...ly," Strange finished lamely. He frowned. "Was I the only one who could feel that?"
"Seems so, Doc," Amanda told him with a shrug. She hadn't felt a thing.
"Sofia is officially promoted to our new weirdo occultist." Remy picked up one of the stones, and over Strange's protest, heaved it into the corner. It caroomed off of the stone walls and clattered into the rubble. Amanda moved forward to retrieve it, but was stopped by Remy.
"Leave it. Wanda, de rest of dese bastards stitched up properly?"
In sheer spite, Wanda placed one foot on one and shoved him over. He wiggled about for a moment and then stopped, glaring up at her. "As properly as I can get without cutting off circulation," she responded, striding over. "Well, a few of them might lose some feeling in their extremities."
"Aw, we're leaving?" Sofia asked, tearing her gaze from the formerly glowing stones. "But I like this place. There's beating up of people other than me and I get promotions."
"Yeah, what's with the leaving things half-arsed?" Amanda asked. "Or are we leaving clean-up to the leather brigade?"
"I vote we leave the clean up to our friends in the leather," Wanda said cheerfully, coming up to peer over Stephen's shoulder at the stones. Teasing, she continued, "I want a set like that for my birthday, on a necklace."
He grimaced. "Something with less evil menace, perhaps? I might be new at this relationship thing, but I'm fairly sure giving your loved one cursed jewelry is frowned upon."
Amanda shrugged. "Fair enough then," she said. "Can't say I'm wanting to hang around here." She jerked her head towards the doorway. "Time to slink off into the night, then. Last one back's a rotten egg."
It had been close to twenty minutes since the girls had been anointed and then led from the temple. Remy checked his phone again and scowled. Five billion dollar stealth plan and they still couldn't get here on time, he groused. Around him lay Amanda, Wanda, Strange and Sofia, watching the open mouth of the temple with binoculars. He could feel them itching to go, and cursed again. If they went too soon, the ones in the cave might break off the ritual and scatter, or worse, send their duped followers after them. If that happened, things were going to get very fatal very quickly.
The soft hum and vibration of the phone against his palm came as a rapid focus back to the plan, and he stowed it neatly away in his coat. "We go on my count. 'manda, you to de left wit' Wanda, Strange is on de right behind Sofia. Remy go up de middle. No killing if you can avoid it." There were a series of tight nods. "Bein. Let's go kick someone in de heart den."
"About bloody time," Amanda muttered under her breath. Between having to watch a group of teenage girls be herded out of the temple and up the mountain to be sacrificed and wondering if that was one of the ten-inch long centipedes crawling up the leg of her pants, she'd been twitching for the last twenty minutes. Still, she held herself back enough to quietly rise from their hiding place and follow Wanda down toward the temple like a shorter shadow.
Wanda could do many things very well but sneaking around was something that took a great deal more concentration. "Careful and quiet," she said softly, "makes me feel like a bull in a china shop." Not exactly the truth considering all the time she spent growing up in the forests.
She could walk quietly and softly but it took her thinking about it. Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded as Amanda crept up with her. Perfect.
For his part, Strange could have waited longer. All night, preferably. Combat wasn't something he was comfortable with and Remy's casual references to violence and killing made him wonder just what kind of people Wanda was working with. Still, he trusted her. "After you?" he asked Sofia with a small gesture, indicating the trail. "I can shield the both of us if necessary."
Giving Strange a small, rare smile, Sofia stepped ahead of him, a tiny concentration of swirling winds erasing what little traces of a trail the group left behind. "I'd like that," she admitted quietly. "They shouldn't be getting too close to us anyway, but it's a little more difficult to do both defense and offense if they manage."
"Then, my dear, it would be my pleasure."
***
There were pluses and minuses to crumbling, half-ruined buildings. There was always plenty to hide behind and enough cover to go around; sadly, there would also be massive holes that had to be accounted for. And the whole about-to-fall-over thing that seemed to be included with every abandoned building. Luckily, they were able to skirt around the worst of it.
Wanda and Amanda reached a corner of the building and the older woman gestured for Amanda to keep close to the wall as she peeked out. Ahh, there were a few of the ones that looked a bit nastier than the locals they had spotted throughout the ruins.
Amanda obediently flattened herself, having flashbacks to Nepal and the caves there with Betsy. She found herself wishing she'd grabbed a stick or something - or stayed up at the camp. But Remy had said she would be needed for her magical expertise and she had to admit, it had made her a little proud. Even if it was possibly a sop. She waited until Wanda had pulled back, mouthing the words: "All clear?"
Wanda shook her head and held up her left hand, indicting five. Another gesture meant they were fairly spread around as well. Kneeling, she peeked around to get a better look. They were decently armed, she supposed, but nothing that indicated they were armed for war. Probably armed to make sure that the wild animals wouldn't eat them.
Turning back, she grinned at Amanda. "On the count of three?" she mouthed, pointing at a certain piece of building that looked like it was going to go at any minute. With the proper influence, that minute would be sooner than expected.
Amanda grinned, her teeth flashing white in the shadows - her hair was hidden under a bandana since the blond picked up light too well. She moved back slightly to give Wanda space and held up her hand, counting on her fingers. One, two, three...
The red circles appeared briefly around Wanda's outstretched hands, her mental fingers already playing along the strings attached to the piece in question. It appeared that some of the guards had, in an earlier drunken state, been throwing things at it for practice and as a small bird landed on it, the remaining mortar cracked and gave, sending pieces of the stone tumbling down on one of the unlucky guards.
'And then there were four,' Wanda thought as she shot out of the dark corner.
Four against one, not good odds, even if Wanda could kick arse with the best of them. Well, she could at least provide a distraction. Focusing, Amanda concentrated and George popped into existence above the head of the nearest cultist, zooming around like a deranged firefly. The guard flailed at the werelight, obviously thinking it was one of the local insect life.
Amanda flattened herself against the wall for a moment, catching her breath. That had been hard, which was odd since it had always been the easiest spell to do. Hopefully George would buy Wanda some time whilst she caught her breath.
Having caught the distraction Amanda had set up, and mentally thanking her for it, Wanda dropped her shoulder and slammed into the back of one of the other confused sentries, sending them both tumbling towards the ground. Luckily, she managed to stay on top, despite the man's wiggling about. Ignoring the shouts of his friends, she simply reached forward, tangling her fingers in his hair, and firmly bounced his head off the ground twice.
The wiggling certainly stopped after that and she left him, unconscious, where he was.
Okay, breath recovered... Amanda pushed herself off the wall and charged at the cultist who was about to fling himself on Wanda from behind. A Doc Marten boot to the back of the knee sent him to his knees with a shout of pain. Another boot in the small of the back
knocked him onto his face. With only a slight pause, Amanda followed up with a kick to the man's head and he went limp. She was about to turn and see where the other man had got to when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind.
"Oi, gerrof!" Amanda struggled, kicking as hard as she could at the man's shins, but couldn't seem to connect anywhere useful. And he had a hell of a grip. Oh fuck, hope this bloke's not a mutant...
At Amanda's shout, Wanda's head whipped around and she snarled, red light flashing around her hands in agitation. The way he had her, the strings to him would affect Amanda as well, something she wasn't willing to try, not with all the thrashing around those two were currently doing. She circled and the man wisely yanked Amanda with
him, keeping her as a human shield.
When she spotted a glint of metal in his hand, her back when straight. Oh no, he would not. "~Amanda, tuck your legs!~" she shouted, confident in the fact that no one here probably spoke Romany and fired off a hex bolt at the man's legs.
Reacting instantly, Amanda curled her legs up, letting the man take her weight - not a problem, since he was big and she... wasn't. The hex bolt hit the man at the knees, and the cartilage, weakened by years of kneeling and praying on cold stone, suddenly cracked and popped. The cultist dropped Amanda and collapsed, clutching at his knees as the girl scrambled away.
"Serves you right," Wanda spat. She hadn't liked it but there hadn't been much alternative. She turned right as the last guard not being bothered by George popped back up. "Ah, there you are, I was wondering where you'd gone off to." She glanced at the knife he was holding and then down at his friend. "Now then, let's do this slightly more
civilized, shall we?"
It was encouraging when he dropped the knife but not so much when he lunged at her. This one was fast and had the look of a fighter. Good. The damp had made her cranky and it was satisfying to land a solid round kick in the man's gut. It'd been far too long since a good brawl and this way, she could distract him away from Amanda.
Wanda had a nasty streak, it seemed. Amanda realised now why the older woman was with them. Picking herself up, she moved back to the wall, keeping her back against it so she wouldn't be surprised again and watching for any more trouble. They still had to get inside, yet...
This one really was fast, Wanda realized as her head rocked back from a punch to the jaw she hadn't quite been able to duck. Fun time is over, she thought, side stepping another punch as she trapped his arm. Wrenching it tightly got his attention and made sure he didn't see the palm heel to the chin that dropped him like a rock.
Amanda had to restrain herself from applauding. "Nice one," she said. The initial element of surprise had been lost with the screaming, time to get inside and end this. At least no more cultists were piling out.
Grinning a bit, Wanda trotted over to join her. "Glass jaws, what can you do," she quipped, rubbing her own. That was going to leave a bruise but it was well worth it. "Next stop on this lovely tour of the jungle, yes?"
"You gunna be okay?" Amanda asked, noticing the gesture and the slight wince.
"He hit like a ten year old girl," she joked but then reached over to squeeze Amanda on the shoulder. "A bruise, nothing more, but thank you."
"Think I should be thanking you for the save." Amanda jerked her chin at the man writhing on the ground clutching at his knees and moaning. "Sorry, dropped my guard."
"And I did not see the one that you dropped before Mr. Grabby Hands got you. It's this whole working as a team thing." Wanda winked at her and then nodded towards the door. "Shall we?"
"Can't let Remy have all the fun," Amanda agreed. She snapped her fingers, and George came to her like an obedient puppy. "After you, Boss Lady."
"So many perks to being the Boss Lady," she joked, "coffee in the morning, reports done up, first crack at going into old abandoned buildings..."
"First shot at smacking the cultists..." Amanda continued as they ducked through the crumbling archway and into the temple proper. Inside was a flailing confusion of men in robes, battling against the dervish that was Remy now, with Sofia and Strange adding their own contributions. One of the cultists sprang at them as they entered.
"I think he just called us infidels, Amanda," Wanda gasped, looking as horrified as she could muster up. "Shameful, really. And now we...both step to the side..."
The best thing about fanatical cultists was that they were fanatical, not smart. So as the cultist ran at them, screaming insults, the two simply side stepped the rush. With a sigh, Wanda reached out and snagged the man by the back of the loose flowing robes. "Fashion tip number fifty-five: no robes, no capes, nothing that would make this doable." Wrenching her arm downward, the man had no choice but to follow and all thrashing ceased with a simple kick to the head.
"That was a thing of beauty, it really was." Amanda beamed, this time actually applauding, all the while keeping her eyes roving the room. Wouldn't do to be ambushed again, although things were seeming in hand. "I'm gunna have to get you to teach me more, aren't I?"
"Oh but of course and trust me, you will have plenty of chances to use it. The number of bad guys who believe that more is, well, more is simply astounding, even in our line of work." Wanda glanced around sharply and spotted Remy. "Hrmph. Is it me, or does he remind you of a very bitter spider monkey?"
It was all Amanda could do not to dissolve into giggles then and there. Not exactly professional in the middle of a fight. "Just a little bit?" A gust of wind dislodged a particularly imposing statue of Selene, sending it crashing to the ground and Amanda skipped away from the pieces. "Tell you what, I'll go and find this magic rock of theirs, and you go have fun with the nice men in the robes, yeah?"
Taking stock of the situation once more, Wanda beamed, lacing her fingers together and stretched her hands together, making her knuckles crack. "Fun for one of us, that is, but yes, once this bunch is all taken care of, we'll meet back up again." With a jaunty wave, she braced herself as she tossed herself into the middle of the fray, red light flaring here and there.
***
Making their way inside took twice as Sofia would have liked, but even with the majority of their footsteps washed away in both trail and sound by the currents that she kept, stealth was of the utmost importance; she wouldn't risk Strange. He was one of the few people who'd been nice to her after all.
"Just let me know if someone's coming up to hit me on the head from behind," she said quietly, and with a little concentration directed the words just to Strange's ears. A young man in robes turned the corner and opened his mouth, only to have the breath stolen from his lungs. Approaching him calmly she wrapped one arm around his waist firmly, holding him still until he passed out and she could lay him on the ground. "And I'll take care of the rest."
"Oh my," was all Strange could say at the ruthlessly efficient way Sofia took down their first opponent. And yet there'd been an elegance to it... Pulling himself together, he followed her into the temple proper. Typical temple - there were statues of Selene lit by candles and with small bowls of dark liquid set at their base, the usual dais where the rituals occurred. The sense of wrongness hit him as he looked in that direction, so hard it made him nauseous. "The artifact is up there," he said, pointing in the direction of the dais and swallowing hard to avoid losing his last meal.
Pulling back the web she had made into herself, Sofia took a deep breath, using the glint off of one of Amanda's earrings and where she hoped Remy would be – stupid fucking spies and their inability to stay in her eyesight – as a destination for Strange's announcement. She only had a moment to center herself again, before another two guards, priests, men in robes who were in her way, were mercilessly thrown into each other and set aside, out of the way.
"We'll race them there."
"Race?" Strange gulped, but nodded, doing his best to keep up. He caught sight of Amanda, wisely taking cover behind the dais, and Wanda, doing her best to beat up several cultists at once... Strange's brain locked down and he dimly supposed it was a good thing she wasn't in the leather. "I am quite possibly the luckiest man in
the world," he murmured to himself before a shout alerted him to the fact that a cultist had taken exception to his presence and was rushing at him, some kind of weapon brandished overhead. Reflexively Strange shielded, the air sizzling with a greenish-blue glow.
It was her own shadow cast against the stone wall that caught Sofia's attention, her eyes flickering over to the side, already narrowed. The weapon ripped from Strange's attacker's grip, flying into the temple of one of his accomplices who crumbled gracefully, as he himself flew forward into the air, hitting Sofia's shadow at the same time her
hand around his throat did.
"No," she said coldly, waiting just long enough for his eyes to roll back before she let him drop like a stone. She quickly looked over to determine if Strange was alright, and finding he was, felt herself relax, moving forward.
"Thank you," he managed, a little breathless from the running and the shielding and the watching various acts of violence being committed around him. He wasn't going to look in Remy's direction - who knew what he would be up to? Despite the nauseating influence of the stone on the dais - no, stones, plural, he could see that now, locked into
some sort of pattern - he was relieved when they reached it and he could take cover. "I'll watch from here, give you shielding if you or anyone else needs it," he said, glancing over at Amanda who had her PDA out and was busily searching for their artifact and avoiding trouble. She pulled a face at him, but shuffled over slightly anyway to give him room in her shelter.
"Hey, I'm only making everyone fall down. You're being scholarly and making sure I don't die; I should be thanking you," Sofia said briskly, hiding any emotion that may have seeped into her tone in front of the busy witch. With a odd, almost shy smile, she tightened her ponytail and headed back out into the growing mob. "Good luck!"
***
Unlike the other members of the team, Remy had the ability to take the high road. Inside the jungle, his spatial sense had flared liked in the midst of a city like Hong Kong. Thousands of individual surfaces and fractal points arranged themselves in his mind's eye, opening up the dense foliage into a highway of options. His enhanced agility turned it into a fast route between places, looking like a modern Tarzan remake in the process.
He hauled himself up near the canopy and along, throwing himself between branches and using his momentum to carry himself along to the next handhold. He could see the others creeping closer to the temple, and intersect with the guards further out. They had the training to handle it, he considered, as he didn't pause. Getting into the temple fast was the important part. They had caught signs of mutant abilities in some of the cult members, and while he hoped they'd be at the ritual and thus in the crosshairs of the X-Men, there was no way to be sure.
Gambit ran out of canopy, pausing to gather his legs under him before pushing of. He hit the edge of the temple, but the stone had been undermined by the vines growing up from the verdant jungle soil. He slipped in a shower of rubble, only the barest of handholds keeping him from dropping down with the stone. The clatter roused the cultists inside, and shouts of alarm began from both the temple and the jungle around them.
"So much for sneaky," Remy muttered, grabbing one of the steadier vines and scrambling down it. Two men cleared the door of the temple, and Remy kicked himself off the wall and plummeted straight down. He piked over and landed squarely on the shoulders of the first man, hearing the scapula crumbled under the blow. He flipped himself right, rolling and coming up to block the sword the other man had in his hand. Remy rotated the wrist, grinding the bones together painfully until the sword dropped from the cultist's nerveless fingers. A blade hand smashed his nose and cheekbone like glass, sending him to the
ground screaming and clutching at his face.
Behind him, there were rasping metallic sounds; metal sliding on metal and the harsh click of oiled steel. Looks like they weren't all dumb enough to arm themselves like Indiana Jones extras, he thought. Remy sprang backwards instead of turning, landing for a moment on one hand as his other lashed out. Even with his powers, he hadn't taken in
enough information to be accurate, and the spread of cards failed to hit a target. However, they did force the cultists to duck under cover, giving him enough time to get clear of the temple entrance and towards the protection of the stone.
"Kill him!" Remy almost grinned. It was the most disturbing thing about his life that shouts like those were familiar and almost comforting to him. Bullets whined off the carvings around him, but these were religious fanatics, and not trained soldiers. Remy spun low out of his cover, cards deadly accurate this time. His charged cards exploded, tearing the small arsenal of the cultists to shreds. He had targeted the guns first, and the resulting explosions had brought down two of the robed men, grasping at their ruined and bloody hands.
Remy snapped his staff open, only to almost lose his head to a focused plasma beam that lanced out at him. Merde, he thought. Obviously a couple of the mutants decided on guard duty. Remy feinted left, drawing another blast to identify the mutant, before he moved in. A sweep of the staff brought down one cultist, and he pivoted behind the man, allowing him to take the plasma blast full in the chest. Remy flipped over the falling body, throwing the staff out to his right and dropping another cultist. He hit and let his body collapse, rolling forward under the next blast and coming up with a blow to the man's sternum. As the cultist doubled up, he caught Remy's elbow on the way up. His occipital orbit shattered, and he spiraled to the ground unconscious.
There was noise behind him, and he could hear the rest of the team coming up behind him. In front, the rest of the cultists formed up,preparing a final rush.
"~Tell you something, hommes,~" Remy said in perfect Spanish. "Surrender hurts less." They charged. Remy shrugged. There was no helping some people, he considered, before he leapt into the fray.
***
As the dust settled, Amanda hoisted herself up onto the dais, earning herself a pained look from Strange as she surveyed the wreckage. Unconscious cultists sprawled everywhere, amidst extinguished candles and toppled likenesses of Selene.
"Well," she said with a grin. "That was bracing."
"You might say dat." Remy gingerly dabbed at the side of his head, trying to stop the blood. He walked past Amanda to the stones and pointed to them. "Are dey still supposed to be glowing like dat?"
"Don't touch them!" Strange exclaimed from where he'd been making sure Wanda was all right, gingerly touching her bruised jaw. He bustled over, visibly wincing at the aura they were emanating. "The spell configuring them is very powerful, and shouldn't be disturbed
light..."
Sofia leaned over curiously and nudged one of the stones with her finger, knocking it out of alignment. The glow stopped.
"...ly," Strange finished lamely. He frowned. "Was I the only one who could feel that?"
"Seems so, Doc," Amanda told him with a shrug. She hadn't felt a thing.
"Sofia is officially promoted to our new weirdo occultist." Remy picked up one of the stones, and over Strange's protest, heaved it into the corner. It caroomed off of the stone walls and clattered into the rubble. Amanda moved forward to retrieve it, but was stopped by Remy.
"Leave it. Wanda, de rest of dese bastards stitched up properly?"
In sheer spite, Wanda placed one foot on one and shoved him over. He wiggled about for a moment and then stopped, glaring up at her. "As properly as I can get without cutting off circulation," she responded, striding over. "Well, a few of them might lose some feeling in their extremities."
"Aw, we're leaving?" Sofia asked, tearing her gaze from the formerly glowing stones. "But I like this place. There's beating up of people other than me and I get promotions."
"Yeah, what's with the leaving things half-arsed?" Amanda asked. "Or are we leaving clean-up to the leather brigade?"
"I vote we leave the clean up to our friends in the leather," Wanda said cheerfully, coming up to peer over Stephen's shoulder at the stones. Teasing, she continued, "I want a set like that for my birthday, on a necklace."
He grimaced. "Something with less evil menace, perhaps? I might be new at this relationship thing, but I'm fairly sure giving your loved one cursed jewelry is frowned upon."
Amanda shrugged. "Fair enough then," she said. "Can't say I'm wanting to hang around here." She jerked her head towards the doorway. "Time to slink off into the night, then. Last one back's a rotten egg."
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 08:29 pm (UTC)Well, of course they're not going to listen, what with Portugese being spoken in Brazil...
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Date: 2006-08-19 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 11:19 pm (UTC)Sure there are SOME similarities, but it's a completely different languge, FYI.
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Date: 2006-08-19 11:52 pm (UTC)They are indeed quite different languages, despite their tendency to appear in neighboring parts of the world. While they do come from the same language family, they have diverged significantly over the course of history, resulting in different phonology, grammar and vocabulary. Spanish is also easier for a Portuguese speaker to understand than the other way around.
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Date: 2006-08-20 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-20 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-20 12:47 am (UTC)But hey, rather than wanking more about this, I state I completely screwed up, provided the wrong language while working on the log, and obviously need editors prior to posting.
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Date: 2006-08-20 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-20 01:02 am (UTC)