By Maikafuiniel
Chapter 8
The best leaders inspire by example. When that fails, brute intimidation works pretty well too.
Sabertooth charged at Toad, a feral grin on his face and one hand pulled taunt in a fist- but seconds before impact he stopped and laughed evilly. Todd had found himself backed into the corner, his back pressed flat against the cold metal wall; and both of his eyes were tightly shut against what he had thought to be a charging killer. When he heard the other man laughing however, he slowly peaked one eye open to watch him- and on seeing he wasn't about to kill him, ran to the door and tried to pull it open. He pulled, shook, and swore, but it wasn't opening. It was still, shock and surprise, locked.
Sabertooth saw the wide, obviously scared eyes, and laughed again. "You done bug?" he asked rhetorically, as Toad knew that the man cared nothing how he felt. "Hey," he said, "I told you that you weren't gonna' die," he growled, "You think I'm not good on my word?"
Toad shook his head quickly, and Sabertooth quelled the desire to laugh again. This kid was just so easy! "Anyway," he drawled slowly, backing off some so the boy would remember to breath, "I wouldn't lower myself to fightin' a bug like you at any rate."
For one thing this had to be the longest sentence Toad had ever heard from Sabertooth, leastwise one that didn't involve growling. But hearing that he didn't have to fight the hulking mutant, well that was a major plus. He shook his head slightly, berating himself on the inside. 'Magneto needs you now. He wouldn't have the Tooth take you down after all that brainy stuff.'
"Brill," he said slowly, "But… um… Pyro did say-"
"That I'm gonna' turn you into somebody actually worth noticing on the battlefield?" Sabertooth asked with a toothy grin, "'Cause if he said anything else-"
"No!" Toad butted in quickly, "No, that was it."
Sabertooth snorted in disbelief, then stepped to the side to reveal a tall black punching bag hanging from the ceiling. "Have at it kid. I want to see your punching before we start on anything else."
Aware, and nervous, about the following eyes Todd walked slowly to the punching bag- being careful to give Sabertooth a wide berth at all times. Drawing back a fist he went to punch the bag; when a sudden hand on his shoulder pulled him away.
"What the fuck was that?" Sabertooth asked in anger.
"A would-be punch?" Todd replied, knowing he was going to get reamed out and not knowing what for. "If you had actually let me do it-"
"Against another mutant," Sabertooth interrupted, "You would have gotten squashed, bug. Right there and then."
"But I'm not against another mutant," Toad replied, anger rising to the surface. He had a headache, he was tired, and he was legally dead. This was just a really fucked day from the beginning, and now he was just getting sick and tired of the other mutant. Magneto wouldn't let Sabertooth kill him- hell, he probably wouldn't let the big cat hurt him. "I'm against a bloody punching bag! It's not going to punch me back!"
Sabertooth stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to react. He had never been yelled at before, besides for his father. And his father… well, he was long since dead and he didn't have to worry about the ass anymore. Even Wolverine had never yelled, they had just gotten right into the fighting. And yet here was this bug, who he could kill without a thought ('who the hell cared what Magneto thought anyway'), yelling at him.
It was almost funny.
Almost. As in, not quite.
He considered killing the kid, quickly earning the nickname 'bug', but decided against it. This guy was nothing but a weak wuss, and it was his job to train him. A major challenge, to say the least. And it wasn't that often Sabertooth came across a challenge.
Carefully he stepped back behind the punching bag, and before Toad could give it a thought he shoved it forward into the boy throwing him backwards and onto his butt. "From now on shit face," he said, "You punch it right, or it does punch back. And it'll punch harder then that, I promise."
"Fine." Toad said shortly as he stood, finally beginning to feel where he was supposed to balance to stay upright, "Whatever." He stopped and got ready to punch again when he stopped, Sabertooth watching him with angry eyes.
"What is it?" Todd sighed.
"You don't even know what you did wrong last time, and you're going to try again?" Sabertooth asked with a growl, obviously angry, "You're gonna' get yourself killed like that."
"What do you care?" Todd asked, actually wondering. Why wasn't he dead after all of his backtalk? Was Sabertooth really all bark?
"I don't care." the big cat answered, "But I got me a job, and I'm gonna' do it even if you're dead by the time it's done. Punch again," he ordered suddenly, "this time from a stance."
Toad shrugged lightly, and turned back to the punching bag. Without giving a thought to what he was doing he automatically went into the fighting position he had always used- and promptly fell back again. "Or this is bloody brilliant," he said sarcastically from his place on the floor, "I can't balance right this way, I can't balance right the way I used to, this is just great."
Sabertooth watched the boy mutter, and finally broke in, "Where did you learn that stance from?" he asked, genuinely curious, "It looked a lot like wart-breath's, but he wouldn't have fallen over."
"Never mind." Toad said, angry at the comment and unable to retort, "Just tell me how you want me to do this."
And on that note Sabertooth finally smiled. Sure it was even more scary then the growl, but it was a smile none the less. "One fist in front of your face," he explained, "To block any incoming punching. One at about your chest. Don't put them too far out, and keep your body angled so that the hand in front of your face can have a longer reach. Bend both your legs, and place one about two steps in front of you, the other two steps behind."
Toad tried to stand the way that Sabertooth showed him, more relying on the stance that he had seen fighters using in Kung-Fu movies then anything, until finally getting it right enough that Sabertooth would nod. "Alright then, what next?"
"Punch it." was the simple reply.
Toad smiled grimly as he stared hard into the punching bag, finally letting the fist that was in front of his face sink into the bag. It barely moved at all, but the plus side was that he didn't fall over.
"What was that?" Sabertooth asked, obviously not looking for an answer, because he continued on, "That was bull. That was the weakest punch I have ever seen."
"So sorry," Todd replied sarcastically, "Next time I'll put all the imaginary power I have into it as well. Not all of us are freaky muscle men you know."
Sabertooth sighed and nearly placed his head in his hands. This was going to have to be a miracle. "Fine," He growled, "We'll go back to your sissy punch later. Now let's hope you have a kick worth mentioning, or I'm just gonna' kill you now."
Toad gulped, noticing how Sabertooth had not even said it in a threatening way. To him in was all simple facts. Morty piss off Sabertooth. Morty not worth his time. Morty annoying. Long time since lunch. Conclusion? Eat Morty.
"This time," the big cat replied, "Put all your weight on your front foot, then bring your back one up until your knee is almost touching your chin- then shoot your lower leg out. It's a simple front kick- even you should be able to accomplish that much."
Todd turned back to the bag and this time concentrated even harder. He had to do this. He had to prove, not to Sabertooth but to himself, that it hadn't been all his powers. That he could fight plenty well on his own. When he had gotten into fights before he had always been first into the battle, last to leave. Pietro had used his powers to confuse people and make them hit their own team-mates. The blob just ran into people. Lance just hoped one of his rocks or earthquakes would hit somebody important. But he, he had done the fighting. He had been the one who would get down and dirty, punching and kicking with everything he had.
He could do this.
He had to do this.
With all the power he could muster, he pulled his leg up quickly and brought it forward. He fell backwards afterwards, but watched as the bag swung backwards, hitting Sabertooth in the face. It swung wildly after that, back and forth, and he watched on in shock.
"Alright," Sabertooth said when it finally stopped, "Good. Not great, but good. You don't have any coordination. You don't have any balance. You can't aim to save your life. But," he replied with an almost-smile, "you have one hell of a kick."
Todd found himself smiling zanily at the compliment. Sabertooth, the arch nemesis of the infamous Wolverine and one of the worlds most hunted criminals, thought he had a good kick.
"We're gonna work on it," Sabertooth said, "You're a wimp, but you're a wimp with natural potential now. Congrats, you just surpassed Pyro and Gambit."
With that he turned away, calling over his shoulder, "You practice that," he said, "I want my dinner, and it's gonna' take a while to catch something big enough." He ignored Todd's shudder.
Before walking out the door he turned, "Hey bug, what did you say your name was?"
"Mortimer." he replied shortly, wondering why Sabertooth would care, "I know, it's stupid-"
"Better then Victor." was the short reply.
He knocked three times, the door opened, and he was gone. Todd watched the door for a moment, then stood to face the bag again. He didn't know why it was important… he hated Sabertooth with a passion… but still.
Just… still.
And he stood in his stance and tried the kick again.
Well, today is a very special day people! Okay, this is technically only chapter 8, but with the interlude and prologue, I've hit 10 chapters. I figured that this point was as good as any to say to Guin, this chapter is all yours! You reviewed once and said that this story would be infinate as long as new people kept coming: well, there hasn't been new people, but you made me realize that I have to hit at LEAST 14 more actual chapters before I can let myself stop! So to you Guin, goes the first training chapter! Enjoy!