Dedication: This is dedicated to Autumn. This is for you and I hope that nasty flu stops giving you a hard time soon. Preferably now.
The crowd was cheering, and very enthusiastically too. Logan was in a sort of haze though so he was in no position to tell if they cheered for or against Creed. He didn't care either way either. He only cursed his own stupidity in going along with LeBaue. He knew his strengths and weaknesses like the back of his hand but he was not at all sure if he could beat this savage beast. Any normal human, sure no sweat. A mutant like that? Who could? And they had the nerve to call the blue guy a beast!
Who could indeed? Doesn't matter. It was way too late to withdraw from the competition, and his pride and honor wouldn't let him anyway. He held his head up high and walked straight towards the cage. The doors slammed shut behind the fighters and Logan and Creed occupied a corner of the cage each, with LeBaue in the middle. It was like a big travesty of a boxing match and LeBaue was acting the part of a referee perfectly.
"Ladies and Gentlemen,"
Logan snarled at that. The people in this unruly crowd were hardly gentlemen, or ladies for that matter. Fight groupies or adrenalin junkies were much more fitting in his mind.
"We have Creed versus Logan! Or, if you will, David versus Goliath!"
Ain't that the truth, Logan thought gloomily. The question is, will David prevail this time around?
"Or Sabertooth versus Wolverine! Let the match begin!"
Logan didn't have time to think where the "stagename" of Wolverine came from since LeBaue immediately used that staff of his as a leverage and had jumped over the walls of the cage. Creed didn't waste any time at all and jumped towards Logan within a split-second and planted his fist square on Logan's jaw, sending him flying backwards crashing into the cage.
He felt dizzy but forced himself up onto his feet, retaliating. He took Creed more by surprise than anything else but the beast fell down with a thud that shook the cage. The audience gasped and LeBaue could be heard yelling "This is unheard of!" before Creed was up and about again. Logan didn't like the look Creed got in his eyes, it reminded him too much of the look cats get in their eyes when they see a mouse they want to play with. Creed roared before saying "You're mine, runt! Run back to your mommy while you can!". Logan wasn't a quitter, and never had been, though so he didn't even consider it.
He had no clue to how he managed to stay alive in this, the most brutal of fights, but he did. It was like every cut and bruise he got healed almost instantly, which didn't make sense at all and made him more than a little confused. His opponent got more and more frustrated as the fight dragged on, as if he thought "How dare this insignificant dwarf of a man hold his own against me! The cage is mine!". His temper got the better of him and soon he used his claws more viciously than ever before, tearing large holes in Logan's throat.
An ordinary man would have died of injuries like that but to his astonishment, Logan found out that the only thing it did for him was to rise the level of adrenaline in his body. The holes themselves disappeared without a trace.. The only other thing he noticed was that his body was on overdrive and that a strange feeling could be sensed around his knuckles.
The fight went on for a couple of more minutes when, all of a sudden, claws burst out of Logan's arms. Three large boneclaws on each. Logan himself was taken by surprise but Creed even more so, which gave Logan the advantage he needed. The adrenaline and the claws that extended his reach like you wouldn't believe made it possible for him to take Creed down, permanently this time.
LeBaue was beside himself and kept on shouting "We've got a new 'King of the cage'" on and on and on. Logan noticed something hanging around Creed's neck and he used a claw to take it off. It was a pair of army dogtags bearing the inscription of "Rogue".
Who the hell was Rogue?
* * * * * * * *
The chaos subsided eventually and Logan got his money from LeBaue, more money than he had seen in a very long time. He stuck it inside his backpocket, lit a cigar and hung the dogtags around his neck before walking of with a "Later, LeBaue".
"Logan! Wait!"
"Why?"
"I saw that you took the dogtags from Creed. Just a warning, he'll come after you! He's gonna want those back, homme!"
"So? His loss, his problem."
"NO! They mark an ownership. Whoever owns the tag owns the person whose name's on it. It's kinda like a receipt. He may not care for the tag itself but he wants to keep Rogue, you can bet your life on that!"
Logan felt disgusted. He had heard rumours whispered of the modern slavery but never come across it before. The world really could be a shithole when stuff like that could happen.
"Where is she?"
"How do you?" LeBaue started before Logan cut him off.
"Know it's a she? If that monster owns someone, it's not for cleaning his dishes. Where is she LeBaue? I know you know so spill it!"
"You got it" and he gave Logan the address. "Look Logan, I know you're a noble man. If you want to save her, get her out of the country! Far away! Creed's not gonna give up on her easily, you know that don't you? He'll hound you day and night if that's what it takes."
"We'll see about that" Logan said and left, in pursuit of the captive Rogue.
When he arrived at what he assumed was Creed's flat he could hear muffled cries from inside. Wasting no time, he used one of the claws to get the door open with as little noise as possible. He felt he could get himself away easily if he drew attention to himself but that would leave the poor girl no better off. He had no intention of leaving her hanging out to dry with all kinds of lowlife and scum around. He remembered only too well what had happened the last time he had only thought of number one, a memory he would do anything to get rid of so the guilt wouldn't devour him completely.
In one corner of the room, a room that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the 100-years war, a girl of no more than 16 was sitting. She was practically naked, wearing only panties. Her entire body was bruised and she sported quite a lot of nasty cut and scars to boot as well. She was chained to the wall, her hands tied behind her back and she had a dirty rag stuffed in her mouth. Logan's blood was almost literally starting to boil and he swore to himself that if he ever came across the pervert called Creed he would make him suffer! No one deserves to be treated like that! As a toy.
The girl recoiled when he entered the room, apparently thinking she would either be beaten or raped again. He approached her very slowly to make her less afraid of him. He removed the gag and hugged her, against better knowledge since it could startle her but he couldn't help himself, saying "Ssh. It's okay now. You're safe." He had no real reason to think it would work so he was delightfully surprised to see her looking up at him with trust in her eyes and she asked very timidly
"You promise?"
"Yeah, I promise".