An Old Friend
The man that had came in had shoulder long brown hair and brown eyes. He had a long leather coat and a hat on. In one of his hands he held a bo-staff and in the other hand he was flipping cards around. His cajun accent was thick when he spoke. Tony’s eyes widened. Ross looked from one to another.
“You know each other?”
But the newcomer was staring at Tony. Suddenly his eyes flashed with purple. He threw the cards and when they hit the guards and the scientist they exploded, throwing the humans backwards. Then he pulled two more cards and charged them with the energy. He threw them at the man who had led Tony to the chair and the man flew backwards with a nasty burn on his chest. Then the mutant turned to Ross.
“Our agreement is over.”
Ross tried to pull a gun out but was hit with a card. It didn’t harm him but the hit he got when he crashed into the metal table knocked him out. The man went over to Tony.
“Never thought I would meet you again. Not in a place like this.”
Tony raised his eyebrows.
“Me? What are YOU doing here Remy? I thought you hated organizations.”
Remy smirked.
“I had an agreement. I stole some things for them and they promised to help me find Creed.”
Tony was surprised.
“You don’t have him yet? How good is that guy?”
“Bad as a rotten apple.”
Tony looked towards the door. More guards would be there soon.
“Get me out of this chair.”
Remy nodded and went over to the control table. He pushed some of the buttons and the straps let go. Tony stood up but sat down again when he felt the pain. Remy was at his side in an instant.
“Sit still. It will pass soon. It’s some kind of electrical shock thing. Tried to tap into it once but those stupid straps held me. Got another half an hour for that.”
His tone was light but Tony could hear the pain he felt when talking about it so he decided to change the topic.
“What did you steal for them?”
Remy shrugged.
“This and that. Some files. Weapons. The king of Wakanda.”
“WHAT?!”
Understanding dawned upon Remy.
“You’re here to get him out?”
Tony nodded. Remy was still for a few seconds and then he stood up.
“The cells are not far from here. Come on. We’re getting him and then I’m getting you home.”
Tony took a deep breath.
“Why? You don’t have any debt to me.”
Remy looked him straight in the eyes and hesitated. Almost as if he didn’t know himself. Then he turned around and went over to the staff that he had dropped when he rushed over to Tony. He picked it up and stopped with his back turned to the other man.
“I don’t need any debt when it comes to friends. Are we going? I know how to get there without getting noticed.”
Tony nodded and slowly stood up. He used the power to keep balance and ignored the worried look Remy threw him. They were on their way to the door when it opened and the first guards came in. Remy smirked and took out a few cards. But before he could do anything Tony had released his power towards the men. They all fell down.
“Are they…?”
“No. The pressure made them black out. You know how many people are here?”
Remy shook his head.
“Not really. Around 20 guards in the prison downstairs. The king is the only prisoner. I don’t know how many they are up here but I would say we took out quite many.”
Tony rolled his eyes.
“Why do I bother working with you Cajun?”
Remy shrugged.
“You are desperate.”
They started to make their way down the corridor. Occasionally Tony would knock a guard out. They had a silent agreement that Remy’s cards were too noisy to use in that moment. When they got downstairs they stopped.
“Any great plans?”
Tony raised an eyebrow and whispered back:
“I thought you said you had a plan.”
“I never said THAT. But fine. Let’s do it my way. Stay here.”
He then stood up and went out into the open. The guards looked over to him and one of them got an evil grin on his face.
“You down here again LeBeau?”
Remy tilted his head.
“I thought you were at least a bit smarter.”
Then he smashed his staff into the ground. The energy traveled through the floor and threw all the guards into the air. They were all unconscious when they landed. Remy looked around and said with a dangerous voice.
“The name is Gambit. Remember that.”
Then his face softened.
“Come on Tony. We don’t have so much time. Someone must’ve reported about this. And I don’t like that fact that Ross is up there. Let’s hurry.”
Tony came out from behind the wall and looked a bit impressed when he saw the guards on the ground. Before he could say anything they heard a voice from one of the cells on the furthest end of the basement.
“Tony?”
Tony quickly went over there. T’Challa was shocked when he saw the blue power but he didn’t comment on it. He looked good for someone who had been a prisoner. He had a cut on his cheek and a bruise on his forehead. Tony guessed that that was how Remy had managed to kidnap the king. By simply knocking him out. Tony looked at the padlock and then at Remy. The man understood. He lifted the staff up and hit it on the lock. At the same second his eyes flashed purple again. The lock exploded and the door opened. T’Challa quickly came out. He was looking with mistrust at the cajun so Tony stepped in.
“He is a friend of mine. He isn’t Hydra.”
T’Challa nodded and Tony was happy that the king had learned not to judge people he didn’t know after the first time he was wrong. Remy grabbed his staff harder and said:
“We should go.”
They made their way outside without meeting anyone else which put Tony at edge. It was a bit too quiet. Remy must’ve thought that too because he took out a whole deck of cards and started to flip them in one hand. Their instincts were right. As soon as they stepped outside they were shot at. Tony put up a shield to protect himself and T’Challa from the bullets. Remy had put the cards away and started to move his staff around with one fluid motion. The bullets were hitting the staff and then bouncing back to the men. But when they were on the way back they were purple. Tony moved so that his power was covering Remy too and Remy took the cards out again. He charged a few of them and threw them at the men. But instead of hitting them, they exploded before they got there. The men were thrown back by the blast.
“I have a car over there. I’ll cover you.”
Remy grabbed T’Challa’s arm and dragged him towards the car. Tony was going behind them, keeping an eye on the guards on the ground.
“Tony! Come on!”
He turned around and took the few steps towards the car. Remy pushed him onto the passenger seat and took the driver seat himself.
“You’re too weak now. Rest. I’ll find the way back.”
Tony nodded. The adrenaline had disappeared as soon as he sat down in the car and he was tired. His whole body was hurting. Especially around the reactor. Remy wasn’t speeding. His driving was calm and, for once, he wasn’t doing anything illegal. Except for the fact that he probably didn’t even have a driver’s licence. Not that Tony cared about the slow driving but he wasn’t sure how bad the reactor was. He forced himself to stay awake.
“Tell me about that chair.”
Remy threw him a worried glance but didn’t ask.
“They remade it when they figured out that they couldn’t brainwash mutants. It makes some kind of electrical shock. The machinery behind it all is beyond me. The bonds are somehow blocking the mutation. You can feel it inside you but you can’t use it.”
Electrical shock. That would explain some of the problems with his reactor. He looked over to the younger man.
“What’s the longest…?
“The longest they’ve kept me in that thing?”
Tony nodded.
“Around two hours. In the end I think I begged them to kill me. I’ve been through much Tony but that chair… It kept me in line.”
“They said you called Ross for Boss and made him furious.”
He had hoped to lighten up Remy’s mood. It was hard to see the usually carefree cajun so hurt. He had seen him with that look on his face only once. When they were going after Stryker. He knew he was successful when Remy burst out laughing. The car swerved a bit but he got control over it quickly.
“Yes. You should have seen his face.”
Tony shook his head a bit.
“You’re living a dangerous life Remy.”
The cajun smirked.
“Since the day I was born.”
Then he looked into the rearview mirror and catched T’Challa looking at him.
“Yeah. Bout that. I’m not really sorry but I guess I should apologize for knocking you out.”
Tony heard T’Challa say something but he didn’t register what it was because he suddenly felt sharp pain in his chest. He must’ve made some kind of sound because Remy quickly looked over to him.
“Tony?”