Chapter 8

Tigers in New York

New York

Dean entered his old house. Well house was an understatement, it more resembled a mansion. He came from a wealthy family, the Nobili's. His grandfather, Gordon Nobili, was one of the heads of the five mafia families.

Eli never told Dean anything beyond that. Probably for good reason.

"Good to be home right?" Agalia said as she hurried to clean the house. She had a cleaning obsession.

"Yeah" Dean said not meaning it. It was nice seeing his parents again but now he would face the same problems as before. He just didn't feel like he belonged here.

Eli could tell his adopted son wasn't very cheerful, "What's the matter?"

"You know me coming home doesn't change anything. There's still a gap in my life" Dean said.

"I know. Give it time, you'll find your way" Eli said before walking slowly with his cane.

Dean went upstairs. His room looked the same, like nothing had changed. He put down his bag. He spotted a little bed big enough for a pet to sleep in with the name Max on it.

Max was his childhood pet. His parents got him when he was born so in a way they grew up together. Last year before Dean left Max died, that was probably another factor to his mood at the time.

Dean grabbed the ball on his bed, it had chew marks on it. His favorite toy. He put the ball down and tried to be rid of those thoughts, his mind was unstable as it is he didn't need any more turmoil.

Dean cleaned himself up and put on some of his clothes he'd left behind. Blue jeans, white T-shirt, and his favorite black leather jacket.

"Now let's see how much this gold is worth" Dean said taking the bag with him.

Elsewhere in New York a man sat in a bar drinking to his heart's desire. Victor Creed otherwise known as Sabretooth, a bloodthirsty mutant.

His hair was long and light brown, his face had a sadistic grin and the fact that he had long sharp fangs sticking out of his mouth made it worse.

He wore black boots, green camouflage pants with a belt that had a metal skull as a belt buckle. On his belt there were multiple sets of various bones.

He wore a worn out white wife beater that had multiple slashes on it. Around his neck was a thick chain with dozens of dog tags attached to it, probably his past victims.

Not too long ago he was abandoned in Alaska by his longtime rival and hated enemy, Wolverine. Charles Xavier temporarily wiped his memories, which is why it took him this long to remember where Logan was hiding.

As time passed his memories slowly returned. He remembered he found Logan's hiding place before but still didn't know the exact location. He recalled it being close to New York but that was all he had for now.

The bartender noticed Sabretooth's cup was empty, that was the 10th drink he had and still didn't pay, "Hey buddy I'm gonna need to see some green if you want anymore"

Sabretooth looked at the bartender and laughed, "Gimme another beer or get lost meat bag, I ain't givin you a dime"

"I'm callin the cops!" The bartender picked up his phone.

Sabretooth grabbed his hand and squeezed until he heard bones crushing, "Go on, do it. If you can"

"I already did" someone else said.

Sabretooth looked at the random human, "Time for a snack"

Dean returned to his home, minus the gold. He exchanged it for cash and deposited it into his personal account. He had amassed quite a sizable amount of money from his trip.

He noticed the house was back to its old clean and shiny self.

"Mom needs a hobby" Dean said looking for his parents, "Mom!"

"I'm in the kitchen" Agalia said.

Dean found her preparing dinner, "Where's dad?"

"I think he's in the garage" Agalia said.

Dean went to the garage and found Eli fixing a chopper, "Your old bike"

Eli spotted Dean, "Yeah it's seen better days"

It was a classic black Harley, but old and dusty.

"What made you bring it out of retirement?" Dean asked curiously.

"It seemed like a waste to just let it rot in the garage for the rest of its life" Eli said.

Dean nodded, "I'll go see if mom needs anything and then I'll come help" he left.

Eli smiled, the boy was holding up well after what he went through.

Dean came back to the kitchen, "Hey ma do you need—"he paused as he spotted her attention was taken by the TV.

It was showing a live feed. A group of SHIELD soldiers firing automatic weapons at Sabretooth.

Sabretooth jumped around and maneuvered, avoiding the bullets in way that no ordinary human could. He grabbed two of the SHIELD soldiers by their necks and snapped them like twigs in an instant.

The other 3 opened fire upon him.

Sabretooth grinned and let the bullets tear apart his body.

He still stood, hunched over slightly but still standing. He stood up straight again and all the wounds he had healed within seconds, "Bad move" his voice was dark and low.

"He's an enhanced" Dean said.

Sabretooth covered the distance between them before they could react. He punched one of the soldiers in the face breaking right though his helmet and shattering his skull.

One of the other soldiers went to shoot him but Sabretooth grabbed the weapon and moved it to shoot the other soldier. He then emptied the rest of his clip into the last soldier while laughing maniacally.

The news reporter ran without saying a word.

The camera man made a run for it but was caught.

The camera dropped to the floor allowing the audience to see Sabretooth holding the camera man by the neck.

"You're not going anywhere" Sabretooth put his hands on both sides of his head and squeezed.

The man screamed out in pain, "No please NO!"

Sabretooth crushed his skull and let the body drop to the floor, lifeless, and oozing puddles of blood.

A headlight shone on Sabretooth and there was a sound like a jet, "Victor Creed! You are under arrest! If you try to escape we will be forced to use lethal force!" someone spoke over a speaker.

Sabretooth snarled in frustration and ran.

High caliber bullets trailed behind him and then a missile exploded cutting off the feed.

Dean clenched his fists with anger and started walking away.

Agalia grabbed him, "Hey where are you going?"

Dean didn't answer, he simply gave her a look.

"You're going after him aren't you?" Agalia asked.

"Someone has to" Dean mumbled under his breath.

"Are you insane?! He just squished his head like a balloon!" Agalia tried to reason with him.

"Those soldiers, they were SHIELD. And if they couldn't stop him, I don't know who can" Dean said.

"But he's an enhanced" Agalia pleaded.

"It'll take one to beat one" Dean left anyways.

At the Institute

Someone else was watching that same report, Evan Daniels, also known as Spyke. Named that way due to his ability to produce bone spikes from his body.

He was flipping through channels when he stumbled upon the news report.

"Not good" Evan ran to find Logan.

He happened to find Jean on his way, "Great, Jean I need you to find Logan"

"Why what's wrong?" Jean asked.

"Don't have time, now!" Evan said.

"Fine, fine" Jean scanned the mansion with her mind, "He's in the subbasement. In Cerebro with the Professor, but I can't get through to them. The Professor must be using it"

"Don't worry I'll go get em" Evan said running to get to the elevator.

Kurt teleported in front of Evan, "Yo Evan"

Evan was startled from his sudden appearance, "Whoa, will you stop doing that already?"

"Sorry, hey you wanna go shred the pavement?" Kurt asked holding up his skateboard.

"Not right—Hey can you teleport me downstairs?" Evan asked.

"You know I don't get the landings right when I'm going through floors" Kurt said.

"Don't care let's go" Evan grabbed his shoulder and Kurt teleported them downstairs.

They appeared downstairs but upside down in the middle of the air.

They yelled as they fell down.

"You're right, your landings need work" Evan said getting up.

"Whatever spike boy" Kurt got up as well.

The door to Cerebro slid open and Logan and the Professor came out.

"Professor I—"

"Calm yourself Evan, you're thinking way too loudly" Charles said.

"Oh, my bad" Evan said.

"What is it now?" Logan asked.

"Sabretooth has been spotted in New York causing trouble" Charles said.

"Then that's my queue to leave" Logan started walking.

"Right we'll come too" Kurt said.

"Uh-uh, no way" Logan refused.

"C'mon we both did fine last time he was here" Evan pleaded.

"No, both of you got in my way and could have gotten yourselves killed. Let me handle my business" Logan left.

"What a joy kill, let's go Kurt" Evan said.

Kurt teleported them back upstairs.

Charles heard their mental voices, 'Ow!' they both said.

'Logan I do not recommend this course of action' Charles spoke telepathically with him.

'Chuck if you ever have a standoff with your rival I want you to come back to this moment and see how you feel' Logan said.

Charles hopes something like that never happens between him and Eric.

'I'll guide you through Cerebro' Charles said.

Coney Island, the Boardwalk

Sabretooth had been doing his best to avoid these SHIELD agents that were on his tail. They chased him to the boardwalk where he was now.

The SHIELD Helijet that was following him shot at the mutant, putting holes in the wooden boards beneath him.

Sabretooth out of nowhere turned around and charged at the Helijet.

The Helijet stopped in its tracks but wasn't fast enough.

Sabretooth leaped and landed on top of the Helijet. He punched through the glass, grabbed the pilot and threw him out.

He entered the Helijet as it spiraled out of control and attacked the SHIELD agents inside.

The Helijet crash landed. The ramp opened revealing Sabretooth standing in a pile of shredded bodies.

He held a human arm in one hand biting the meat off of the bone and in the other was an assault rifle he picked up.

Sabretooth walked over to the SHIELD agent that he threw and aimed it the assault rifle at his temple.

"Please! No! Don't kill me! I was just following orders!" the agent pleaded.

The fear in his eyes made Sabretooth grin, "Do I look like I care meat bag?" he went to pull the trigger when all of a sudden, a kick to the face knocked him down.

That hit dazed Sabretooth obscuring his vision.

Sabretooth looked for the person who had the balls to interrupt him. He saw a dark figure but his vision was still a little blurry, 'Is that the runt?' he thought.

"Looks like your killing streak is over hairball" Dean said.

Sabretooth's vision began to clear up, "You're just a kid?" he said with a surprised expression. He thought about what he could do with this boy for fun. There was no SHIELD to currently annoy him which left him free to do as he pleased, "Let's see, I already snacked on someone today" he thought out loud.

'Judging by what I've seen, he definitely has military training, to what extent I don't know. I also don't know how I compare to him. There's only one way to find out' "Sounds to me like you're chicken" Dean said trying to get a reaction out of him.

"GRRRRRRRRR" Sabretooth growled, the boy was pushing his luck. He leapt for the youngster only for him to side step resulting in Sabretooth landing face first on the ground.

"I notice you have quite a temper" Dean said just as Sabretooth got right back up and started swinging wildly. The boy dodged each strike showing his above natural speed.

"Hey have you ever done this before?" Dean said mocking him, 'Keep him angry, when he's angry he's unbalanced'

"SHUT UP!" Sabretooth leaped towards him hoping to catch him by surprise but to no avail.

Dean grabbed him mid-air and slammed him down.

"C'mon you call that an attack?" Dean asked laughing.

Before he could say anything else Sabretooth closed the gap between them and kneed Dean in the stomach knocking the wind out of him.

Sabretooth then elbowed him in the face making him a little dizzy.

He then hit the boy with an uppercut sending Dean flying back.

The boy landed harshly on the wooden boards.

Dean got up rubbing his chin where he was hit, 'In my power range, and definitely has comparable dexterity' He took off his leather jacket and threw it aside.

Dean got back into his stance, ready for Sabretooth's full onslaught.

Sabretooth swiped with his sharp talons leaving red slash marks on his chest.

Sabretooth swiped with his right hand only for Dean to duck and come up with a strong uppercut sending him flying back from the force of the blow.

Sabretooth landed on his feet and jumped right back.

Dean ducked under another swipe but this time Sabretooth was prepared and he swept the boy's legs from under him.

Sabretooth tried to stomp the youngster in the chest but he rolled to his feet and sent a kick to Sabertooth's midsection.

Sabretooth grabbed the boy's leg and sent a downward elbow to his kneecap.

Dean kicked Sabretooth in the face freeing his leg and jumped upright.

Sabretooth threw a punch but the boy caught it, then he threw another one only for that one to be caught too.

The youngster pushed him back but Sabretooth jumped and hit him with a tornado kick.

'The kid's good but not good enough' Sabretooth thought.

Dean was seeing triple, 'That's not good'

Sabretooth punched him in the gut knocking the wind out of the boy then he elbowed him in the back knocking him down.

Sabretooth grabbed the boy's hair and smashed his face into the wooden boards several times.

He lifted his head again, this time looking the boy in the eyes.

Dean's nose was bleeding but besides that his face was intact.

"What the hell are you made of?" Sabretooth asked.

"I wish I knew pal" Dean grabbed Sabretooth's head and smashed it so hard his head broke through the wooden boards.

Dean got up and kicked Sabretooth's ass, literally, knocking him forward. He then grabbed one of the loose wooden boards and ripped it off its hinges.

"RAAHH!" Sabretooth roared as he charged at the boy.

"Batter up!" Dean swung the board like a baseball bat and broke it over Sabretooth's face making him see stars.

Dean then noticed four SHIELD Agents coming from behind Sabretooth, "Finally"

"Open fire!" One of the agents said and they did so putting a couple of dozen bullets in Sabretooth putting him down.

One of the bullets pierced Dean's arm, "Ah!"

Sabretooth fell to the floor, his lifeless body bleeding out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Dean yelled.

One of the soldiers noticed he was bleeding, "I'm sorry I wasn't aiming at you"

"Whatever, at least you took him down" Dean said wincing.

"Let me take a look at that" the SHIELD soldier said.

For Sabretooth this distraction was all he needed to heal all his wounds.

Before the boy could react Sabretooth stood up and hit him with a powerful uppercut sending the boy flying into the wooden floor.

Before the Agents could shoot him Sabretooth took them out swiftly, "They call these soldiers, ha! I knew better soldiers 30 years ago"

Sabretooth turned around just in time to see the boy getting up so he took advantage and attacked.

Before Dean could figure out what was going on a booted foot kicked him in the face knocking him into a metal pole.

"Ooooowww" Dean mumbled. This time when he got up Dean kept his eyes on Sabretooth but before he could regain his composure the hairy man was upon him again.

Sabretooth grabbed Dean with one hand and started to beat him senseless.

Dean grabbed his fist and headbutted Sabretooth knocking him back.

Dean hit Sabretooth with a heavy right hook making him take a few steps back. Then he jumped and hit Sabretooth with a flying kick breaking the man's nose.

Sabretooth grabbed the boy, lifted him over his head, and slammed him into the wooden floor breaking right through it.

There was a lot of space where Sabretooth threw Dean so it was difficult to see him through the dust that kicked up.

Sabretooth peaked in the hole for a second when two hands came out of the hole, grabbed him by the neck and smashed him hard into the concrete floor below the wood in the hole, 'I knew those cement fillings were here for a good reason'

Dean climbed out of the hole before the hairy man could snare him within the hole like he did.

Sabretooth leapt out with a big bruise on his forehead and a very angry expression.

"You'll pay for that kid!" Sabretooth said with hatred.

The youngster grinned, "You're the one who's going to pay. Now where were we?" he said bringing his fists up to his face.

They started to exchange punches again when all of a sudden a jet showed up and landed nearby.

Dean paid no attention but Sabretooth recognized the vehicle.

'I need to get out of here, fast!' Sabretooth thought.

Wolverine landed the X-jet nearby and rushed to help.

'He's just up ahead Logan' Charles said.

Wolverine found the duo fighting and what he saw up close was surprising. Let's just say he didn't expect Sabretooth to be fighting one on one with a teenager.

Dean panted, 'This guy won't back down' he spotted Wolverine approach and stop right in front of them.

Logan was probably my favorite teacher, he always had a way to push me further than I thought I could go.

"Please tell me you're with SHIELD" Dean hoped.

Wolverine popped his claws, "I'm afraid not. I work independently"

"I'll be with you in a minute runt, I need to finish this" Sabretooth and Dean traded punches trying to outmatch the other but Dean was too wounded to keep up.

Wolverine could tell this kid wouldn't last much longer. He stabbed Sabretooth with one hand, lifted him up, and threw him.

"Mind if I cut in?" Wolverine asked.

Dean nodded, "By all means, cut all you like"

Author's note: Sorry for the late update, I completely forgot to upload the next chapter haha. Also sorry for the cliffhanger :)