Here's the News

[Gambit]

"I don' need no superpowers t' shut an idiot up," Gambit replied. He had said he wanted to find some trouble... what fitted that definition better than a bar full of people angry against mutantkind and personally against him? His only thought was that having Shade involved in all of this was not the best idea.

By that second, something had clicked together in the guy's head and he stared at Shade. "Hey, she's a mutie, too, right?" he pointed at her.

Gambit slapped his hand, making it swing to the side, then he grabbed the guy by the arm and turned him around, twisting his arm back and holding the guy in a painfully fixed position. "Ya could learn some manners, mon ami."

[Shade]

The guy gave a muffled groan, half anger, half pain, too slow to react to Gambit´s movements. Feeling her hands ball into fists, Shade got to her feet, glaring at the stranger.
"See?" the man hissed between his teeth. "dangerous, all of them. Let go of me, freak."

The other two men were closing in now, untrained, uncoordinated bullies, but one of them heading into Gambit´s direction, the other one having his eyes fixed on Shade as he walked.

[Gambit]

"So what, ya gonna try beatin' me up 'cause I ain't like you?" Gambit smirked. His attention gave him the small details about his surroundings, the position of people around, the probability of attacking, and he saw no reason to get nervous about anything - as long as Shade was safe, and he was still mostly protecting her with his body where he stood.

"What is going on here?" the bar's manager made an appearance finally after his employees alerted him of possible trouble in the bar.

The guy held by Gambit tried to wriggle out of the hold as his buddies jumped towards him, hoping they could outnumber Gambit like this.

[Shade]

Shade turned her head into the direction of the manager who had just arrived, still standing where she was, knowing this was probably safest for her and still wishing she could do something - not because Gambit needed help, but because the images on the news and the hostile mood in the bar were winding her up, making her want to react in some way.

"The bloody mutant attacked me." the guy still held by Gambit bellowed, still trying to get free. It made Shade´s anger rise hearing him twist things like that and she did a step forward, opening her mouth to say something but finding herself at a loss for words. What was she to say? Some stupid ´He started it!´? Also an ´He insulted us´ would be of little help since that would make things more dangerous probably, since it would indirectly mean admitting she was a mutant as well. Probably many already guessed that, but admitting it out loud sorrounded by a mob that was getting larger by the moment and where noone seemed to be willing to take their sides was not really a smart path of action.

[Gambit]

"Mais sho," Gambit replied. "So now ya callin' momma?" He dragged the guy towards the exit, on his way out grabbing his other friend as well. "Let's take dis outside, mes braves."

[Shade]

People had gathered around their tables and even more had gotten up from their seats or were curiously craning their heads, desperate not to miss the action that was going on. When Gambit stepped towards the exit, the crowd gave way as if he were something toxic that had to be avoided by all costs. Some of them, however, pushed and shoved each other to follow the three, curious if the mutant would beat up the two bullies or vice versa. The third one of the group seemed torn between following his friends and taking the oportunity that Shade was no longer protected by Gambit standing in front of her.

He gave her a look that was a mix of disgust and amusement when he stepped closer. "Don´t wanna go help your mutant boyfriend, freak girl?" he sneered. "you better run and hide behind his back again. Cause people in this bar don´t like freaks sitting on seats for humans." He had obviously come to the conclusion that just a mutant would be with someone who obviously was one.

Shade did a step towards him, thinking that this guy was most obviously not worth her attention, but having to admit that his insults and more so the insults against Gambit were getting to her. The stranger gave her a slight push. "Exit´s over there." he shouted, seemingly enjoying the little attention he got for acting up against the mutant girl. Shade had meant to say something, but the push wiped it from her thoughts. It was an old movement, a relict of her childhood, triggered again. Her hand that was already balled to a fist swung around in a curve, hitting the man square across the nose. He gave a muffled yell as it broke and clutched a hand to his nose. "You can tell your buddies you got beaten up a freak." she said, before she used her powers and vanished. She stepped aside immidiately, looking around. The bar had become less crowded, many having followed Gambit outside. Shade was thinking about what to do.

[Gambit]

It was rather hard to drag them, not only were they heavy and unwilling to move, but were also struggling to kick back. As Gambit went outside, he shoved both against the nearest wall. He knew they would be happy with any outcome - with him just walking away and proving they won this argument, or with him beating them up to prove their anti-mutant statement. He seemed to be in a stalemate, which oddly contrasted his codename. The easiest way to gain the upper hand here was to give them the right of the first move.

Gambit stepped away from the guys, much to the disappointment of the gathering onlookers who had obviously been hoping for a show to later gossip about. "Ya seriously need t' gain some weight," he remarked, "or ya riskin' bein' dragged around all d' time, boys."

One of them, really pissed off now, pushed himself off the wall, jumping at Gambit with balled fists; Gambit merely stepped aside, even though he wished nothing but to just knock the guy out with a single well-aimed punch. "Mon dieu," he commented as the guy flew past him, "ya gett'n attacked by a mutant..."

[Shade]

Tossing a look over her shoulder, Shade noticed with grim satisfaction that the guy she had just punched was still pressing a hand against his nose and was grabbing for some napkins from one of the table with the other, cursing under his breath. She looked away, not heeding him any longer and navigated her way through the lessening crowds as she usually did when she was using her powers: careful not to touch anyone. She was pretty sure that Gambit would have no trouble defending himself, but then again one never knew. It was quite a crowd... She made her way over to one of the windows and was finally able to see Gambit outside in the middle of a throng of people, just as one of the attackers made a clumsy attempt to leap at him. She looked over at the door but there were three or four people standing there, blocking it. No way to get through right now. She had to do with watching for the moment, her muscles tensed, her heart beating nervously.

Outside, the man who had been jumping at Gambit just in time managed to keep himself from stumbling. He whirled around, his eyes furious now, partly shocked, partly enraged that the mutant had dared to make a fool of him like this. He spit out on the ground and rolled up his sleeves, obviously still thinking that he and his buddy stood a chance. "I´ll knock that smirk from your face, freak." he growled and made a second attempt, running and swinging his fist into the direction of Gambit´s head. The other bully who had stood transfixed at the wall, launched an attack as well, more half heartedly however.

[Gambit]

Gambit stepped aside again. With some carefully planned choice of steps, both attackers eventually found themselves jumping at one another. Gambit glanced around to see if Shade was here; he didn't see her but that meant little of course - still, if she didn't show herself, he'd have to return inside and see whether she was still there.

"I know girls dat fight better," Gambit said as both guys gathered energy for another assault. He could already hear muffled laughs from the crowd; it meant the outcome of the conflict was more or less clear and the guys had only made fools out of themselves. It was amusing how none of the people who had previously thrown anti-mutant remarks in the bar had been brought back to the neutral side again.

Both guys jumped at Gambit simultaneously, and he swung his fists, delivering two firm punches at each jaw. The guys ended up on their backs, groaning something but showing considerably less vigor now. Gambit leaned over both of them. "Feelin' better?"

[Shade]

The two guys gave muffled groans and got back to their feet slowly, rubbing their backs and jaws. One of them seemed pretty shaken now, not motivated to give it another go, whereas the other only seemed more enraged, tossing a wild glance at his companion as if expecting him to fight on and run into another hopeless defeat.
The third of the group, the one Shade had dealt with, was by now making his way out of the bar and Shade used the shoving and pushing to make her way out as well, appearing in the crowd when noone was looking. The bloke was using his hands and shoulders to box himself out with little care for the spectators, one or two of whom gave slight protest. He made his way into the middle of the crowd where his two friends were fighting Gambit, one of them having retreated, the other facing him. The guy wiped the back of his hand across his face once more to wipe away some more blood which was already starting to dry. "You need help?" he asked the one Gambit had knocked down earlier, just as if to contradict his own injury.

Shade, in the meanwhile, had retreated to a place near the rim of the crowds, where Gambit would eventually spot her, but where she would not be in direct danger of getting stuck in the masses or attacked by the three main trouble makers. Her fists were still balled.

[Gambit]

Throwing another glance around, Gambit spotted Shade and walked towards her. People stepped away from his route as if he was going to attack them, and he took Shade by the hand. "Does TV cause violence?" he said in a mocking voice. "Let's get outta here."

He wasn't afraid that the guys would attempt to attack him again now that he had his back turned on them; he already knew how slow they were so he would intercept anything.

[Shade]

Shade took his hand, braving the looks of some bystanders who were tossing her clearly disgusted glances. "Yeah, let´s go." she said in a voice as calm as she could manage. Now that the fight seemed to be over and her heart was not hammering as much as it had, her worry was resurfacing again and the images that had flickered across the TV screen returned making her feel uneasy. What in the world had been happening those last 10 minutes?

"Hey, I´m not finished you, mutie chick." It was the voice of the third bully, the one who had just exited the building. The people around them were still watching with an abnormal greedy interest, some uttering boo-calls where it wasn´t sure whether these were directed against Gambit and Shade in general or against the fight not being continued. The third bully had not seen his companions knocked down and was getting braver by the second, backed up by reproachful, partly hateful glares directed at the mutant couple. "The b*tch broke my nose!" he yelled with a theatrical sneer.

[Gambit]

Gambit glanced at Shade with a grin. "'ey, you're good," he told her, immediately wishing he had been there to see her do it. "Wait here."

He walked back to the guy. The nose was already accounted for, so Gambit grabbed him by the shoulder and, bending him down abruptly, punched him in the gut. "Learn t' show some respect t'ards women, homme, 'fore dey break ya somethin' else." He let him drop to the ground and walked back to Shade.

[Shade]

Shade remained where she was, not sure whether she should gape or cheer. The last one reflected her feelings right now far better, but she guessed it wouldn´t be too good a reaction taking the crowd around them into account. Some of the people gave sounds of sympathy at the guy, others were now clearly getting enraged and two people from the other end of the crowd were actually attempting to fight their way to the front to join their fists. A girl held them back, but Shade could not understand what she told them. The rest did not do anything but watch, noone daring to get near Gambit or her.

When Gambit reached her, Shade held out her hand for him and took it, turning to leave the circle of people who were giving way. Some people in a distance got braver and shouted some insults after them, but she ignored it. "He asked for it." she told Gambit.

[Gambit]

"Even begged," Gambit said, keeping his attention alert to what was going on around them. "Let's go."