Date: Saturday, May 22, 2011, 00:23 am
Location: Cactus City, Texas
The moment Julius and Quicksilver vanished in a flash, X-23 and Toad exchanged a silent, knowing glance, the unspoken challenge passing between them. This was their fight now. With a surprisingly spry leap, Toad vaulted onto the mountainous, doughy back of Blob, gaining a vantage point. From his perch, he shot three globs of glistening, virulent green slime from his mouth in quick succession, each one sailing through the air with a faint, wet hiss.
Laura charged, a whirlwind of motion on the ground, her Adamantium claws fully extended and gleaming like silver daggers under the pale sky. She didn't move in a straight line; she wove and strafed, her body a blur of precision as she dodged the disgusting projectiles. She had faced Toad before, and she knew the risk was too great to let even one graze her skin. The slimes could have any number of debilitating effects, from paralyzing her muscles to gluing her to the ground, leaving her utterly helpless.
Once she got close enough, Blob's massive left foot descended with the force of a falling car, a desperate attempt to crush her. But Laura was a blur of motion, leaping onto his right side and plunging her claws deep into a thick fold of skin on his arm. The huge mutant tried to swat her away like a fly, but she used every ounce of her strength to propel herself upward, clawing her way up his eight-foot mountain of flesh.
"Blob, you big fucking dummy, do somethin'! She's comin' for me!" Toad shrieked, his voice desperate and shrill as he frantically spat out a barrage of green slime. He knew she was still furious about their last encounter and was climbing the colossal mutant's body to get to him.
"I'm trying, but she keeps moving!" Blob yelled back. Frantically, he began to shake and swat at his arm like a person trying to dislodge a rodent from under their shirt. However, X-23 was too agile, her body weaving and twisting to dodge every blow. Unshakable, she used her claws to embed themselves deeply into Blob's dense tissue, holding firm against his panicked movements.
Laura then leaped up one more time, propelling herself upward about three feet above Blob. The moment she did so, Toad grinned triumphantly.
"Finally got a clear shot! See if you can wiggle out of this, ya little bug!" he screeched, a grotesque glob of slime swelling rapidly within his mouth.
He was almost done building up his large attack, but Laura was already in motion. She began to front flip forward in the air, a series of quick rotations that not only sped her up but turned her body into a compact, spinning projectile aimed directly at him.
The increased speed and spinning motion caught Toad by complete surprise, and his arrogant grin immediately vanished into a mask of panic. He was still building up pressure to launch the enormous glob of slime in his mouth, but she was so close he had no choice but to try anyway, even if the toxic contents would splash all over Blob.
Before he could, X-23 extended her third bone claw—a wicked, cold, and razor-sharp blade on her foot—with a sharp SNIKT! Seeing the blade aimed directly at his head, Toad's nerve broke completely. He tried to both yank his head back and fire the contents he had built up in his mouth, but it was too late. His panicked body could only manage a simultaneous, involuntary retch, spewing a torrent of green, caustic slime from his mouth. The toxic mess splattered all over the back of Blob's head and back, but the blade was already there. It sliced down cleanly, opening a deep gash down the middle of Toad's face.
"FUCK!" Toad screamed, a high-pitched cry of agony as he fell from Blob's back and crashed to the ground. His hands flew to his face, covering the deep gash, as his goggles clattered to the dirt below. His body convulsed with agony, but in a last-second dodge, he had survived the blow. The slash was still severe, but the quick movement had prevented it from being fatal.
Seeing his friend deeply injured and bleeding, Blob let out a berserk roar, "You're dead now. Blob's gonna crush you for that, you human lover!"
X-23 landed gracefully, her body coiled in a low, ready stance as she spun to face the enraged Blob. The massive mutant lumbered toward her, each step causing the ground to shudder and crack beneath his weight. She waited, watching for his first move so she could counter-attack.
Seeing that X-23 was not moving, Blob roared and charged, a mountain of flesh hurtling forward with devastating momentum. But she was too agile. Laura waited for the last possible second, then with a powerful surge of her legs, she ran and leaped over his lowered body in a single, fluid motion. Blob roared past her, his immense mass skidding to a halt far beyond his mark. As he struggled to turn his entire body around, he saw her charging at him again. He responded with a primal yell and ran to meet her. But instead of a head-on collision, Laura slid underneath his running body, sprang to her feet, and leapt onto his lower back, landing like a predator on her prey.
"I'm gonna reach back there and get ya, you bitch!" Blob roared, his arms flailing as he desperately tried to reach behind himself. However, his own immense size and bulk prevented him from getting a solid grip on X-23.
X-23 quickly drove her claws upward into Blob's back. She knew from experience that her attacks on his dense body were almost useless. The sheer mass of his adipose tissue acted as an impenetrable shield. There was only one way to hurt him truly: she had to get to his head, the single spot on his body that wasn't protected by his fat.
As she clung to his back, Blob, out of sheer frustration and desperation, let out a guttural roar and arched his massive body. He jumped backward, his colossal weight slamming into the ground in a clumsy attempt to crush her. But X-23 was too fast. With a casual flick of her body, she leaped off his back just as he hit, the impact causing a jarring shudder that rippled through the earth. He landed with a bone-rattling thud, but he was far from done. He tried to get up, but his own immense bulk had pinned him to the ground like a beached whale. He flailed and twisted his limbs, his grunts of exertion filling the air, but his gargantuan body was simply too big to move.
X-23 began to walk toward him, each step a slow, deliberate finality against Blob's mounting terror. He thrashed his massive limbs, his immense weight a pathetic and useless struggle against the ground that held him. The sight of her impassive face, the gleam of her claws in the sun, was too much. He started to cry, his body shaking uncontrollably.
"Please! Oh God, please get away!" he screamed.
X-23 said nothing. She reached the whimpering mutant, planted her boot on his face, and pressed down. As Blob continued to cry and flail beneath her, Laura simply stared off into the distance, her mind focused on one thing: Julius. Then, with a cold finality, she stomped on his head once, knocking him out cold, her only thought being that she hoped he was okay.
She looked down at Toad, who was still on the ground with his hands on his face, whimpering. Under her foot, Blob was unconscious. Her mind was on Julius, but she knew she wouldn't be much help against Quicksilver and might actually just get in the way. The rate at which Julius was getting stronger was astounding, and it made Professor X's warning that he not end up in the wrong hands all the more urgent.
She had a better use for her skills. X-23 took her foot off Blob's face and ran, following the distinct scent of two other mutants fighting. She was leaving Toad and Blob behind because X-23 had beaten the both of them.