Logan's tale pt. VI
"Payback"
The sun goes down good and early so the stores are still open. Jean and me go shopping with her money.
We pull into a little mom and pop hardware store and I get to work. The place is like a candy shop to me. I see the shovels and axes and power tools and hundreds of devilish ideas swim through my head. I pace around the aisles for a moment before stopping in front of the handsaws. I pick up a hacksaw and run my finger over the various blades and smile. Jean shudders. I pick up the biggest one and graze it across my arm. It snaps against the leather sleeve. I shake my head in disgust at the cheap blade and toss the remains over my shoulder. I take the handle and walk up towards the counter.
"You got any stronger blades for this?" I ask the old man behind the counter. He disappears beneath the counter and reemerges with a bigger, thicker blade. I snap it into place and run the tool over my sleeve again. The new blade shreds the leather and bites into my flesh with ease.
"Yeah, this'll do," I say pleased. "I'm also gonna be needing a dozen two-foot lengths of rubber tubing and a spool of razor wire and those special gloves that'll let me handle the wire."
"Beefing up the old home security, huh?" the old man questions as he gets the items I wanted. I glared at him through the sides of my eyes. His face paled and I could hear his pacemaker skip a beat.
"You shouldn't poke your nose into other people's business," I growled at him. He nodded frantically and finished gathering my things.
-X-
"Stop at the next gas station," I told Jean as we drove away.
"But the tank's full…" she argued. I gave her one of my famous grins, the one that always scared the shit out of the bums and bastards that messed with me over the years. It didn't scare Jean that much, but she got the drift.
"Oh, never mind." And she pulled into the first gas station she saw.
I walked into the gas station and bought one of those big red plastic cans for storing gas. As if filled it up, the attendant inside was staring at me. He followed my every move and every time I looked at him he would turn away.
When I stepped towards him to pay, he took my money without looking up at all. He just hung his head and passed me my change across the counter. I took it and left quickly. I checked over my shoulder as I opened the door. The attendant was whispering into the phone and kept sneaking looks back at me. When he saw me looking, he quickly spun around. I left the station and hurried over to Jean's convertible.
"We better get moving. I think that guy back there recognized me," I told her.
"You do kind of stand out," she teased. I ignored her and climbed into the passenger seat. She followed suit and we drove off.
"Take Las Virgenes to Lennox and cut through the woods."
"Whatever you say, Logan."
She doesn't ask any questions. Classy dame. I take my mind off her and crawl back inside myself. It's almost killing time and I better get sharp. Toad was better than me last time, but now I'll see him coming. It's going to be on my terms this time and I got plenty of dirty tricks up my sleeves.
I check the list:
Rubber tubing.
Gas.
Saw.
Gloves.
Cuffs.
Razor wire.
Jean's gun.
Snikt! And my claws.
"We're close enough. Pull over," I tell Jean.
"Yes, Logan."
I try to light up a smoke, but my hands are too shaky. I don't think she notices.
-X-
She pulls over in the woods just outside the farm. I can still smell Jubilee's blood in the air and it makes my own blood boil. I pop the truck and pull out the gas can and face Jean. Her eyes, the once green orbs were now glowing fiery red-orange, are burning holes through me but still she doesn't ask. She knows I'm the only chance she has.
"Stay here. Keep the engine running," I tell her. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, get the hell out of here and don't look back."
Jean looks at me with those raging, burning eyes. Her thirst for vengeance radiated off her in waves, like heat simmering off the street on a summer's day. "Kill him for me, Logan. Kill him good," she tells me.
" I won't let you down, Red. I promised."
-X-
It isn't long before I break into a run. I can't help myself.
No shaking, now. No cold sweat. No doubts. The fear got out for a little while there, but now it's crawled back in, far away, a small cold thing lost in a belly that's full of fire.
The woods go silent around me, all the critters scared off. They know I'm just one more predator and I'm bigger and meaner that the rest.
All I've ever been good at is killing so I might as well enjoy it this time.
-X-
I sneak up to the edge of the farm and look across its empty fields. Somebody already got rid of the bodies, but the grass is still stained and slick with their blood. I'm takin' a big risk comin' back here.
I'm gambling that none of them think I'm dumb enough to come after them, that they told Toad to sit tight and figured I bugged out of town.
Toad's got to still be here. He's got to.
He's got to.
I pick up the spool of razor wire and began to wrap it around various trees and fence posts. Even with the gloves on, I got to be careful with the razor wire. It's no fun to accidentally slice open your own hands, even if the wounds heal in next to no time. I wrap the wire in a weaving pattern, a net to catch a toad in. I finish off the reel and cast it aside. I take the bulky gloves off and stuff a rag down the mouth of the gas tank. Once the gas is ready, I wait and I watch the house.
Here we go. A light flashed inside the house. I could see Toad… heading downstairs. To the kitchen. Getting himself a midnight snack…and I can guess what kind.
Chikk! I flick the top of my lighter and spark a flame. I light the rag and watch it burn for a second. I ran forward and hurl the flaming gas can at the house. It crashes through a window and a heartbeat later, Toad crashed through another window.
BOOM! The farmhouse erupts in a pillar of flame. I laugh.
"Like that Toad?" I shout over the roar of the explosion and start firing Jean's gun at the slimy bastard. He dodged every shot I fired, the agility and nimbleness of this son of a bitch was starting to actually impress me. I fire the gun empty then slip into the darkness of the woods. "Come on, boy! Don't be scared!" I taunt as I melt into the woods.
I take my coat off and pull the handcuffs out of my pocket. I snap one end around my own wrist and let it dangle for now.
"Come on. Come on, come on you son of a bitch," I growl as I wait in the shadows. Toad was quickly running in my direction. He's almost at the wire. Don't look down, boy. Don't look down.
Just before the wire, Toad coiled his legs and frog leaped over my net of razor wire. He flew over it. He never looked down; it was like he just knew it was there all along. Damn, he's slick.
I waited as he spotted my scarecrow. I hung my coat off the branch of a tree, in the darkness it looked like it really could be me. Toad took the bait and leapt at it. He struck my coat with one of those leaping kicks he hit me with the last time. Realizing it was just a coat; Toad spun around and searched the area for me.
Snikt!
My claws slid out of their housings and I lunged from my hiding spot like a lion; claws first and teeth bared in a loud roar.
"RRROOAARRRRRRGH!"
Toad reacted quickly and rolled with my attack. I flipped over him, my claws only cutting the air. Before I could pounce again, Toad was already all over me. I wasn't even all the way on my feet when the first kick caught me in the side of my neck, snapping my head around. As I brought me face back around, another kick hit me right under the chin, jarring my face backwards. Before I could recover from that kick, Toad jumped and lashed out his slimy, disgusting tongue like a whip. It smacked me across the face, leaving a trail of slime on me and knocking me over. Toad's powerful legs had launched him high into the air when he tongue slapped me and now he came down hard, driving both his feet into my face. I could hear my nose breaking and could see the blood spray into the air. Toad ground his heels into my face for a moment before hopping off. He crouched and patiently waited for me, like when a cat plays with a mouse before moving in for the kill.
I coughed up a pint of blood as I struggled to my feet, the wounds on my face already healing. "Is that the best you can do, bub?" I growled. Toad's answer came in the form of another kick to the face. I think I made him mad.
Toad keeps on top of me, driving his knees into my gut. The wind gets knocked out of me and I gasp for air like a fish out of water. Then he starts to use those hands of his with the razor sharp manicure. I try to fight back, but he just ducks under my claws and uses his own across my chest. I smile as new pain blossoms with each breath. It's just what I wanted. I wanted him to use those hands, to get in close. I can take it.
SNAP!
I snap the loose end of the cuffs around Toad's wrist, shackling him to me. I hold my hand up and drag his with it. He stares at the cuffs with those emotionless eyes of his then looks into my savage eyes.
"I got you, you little bastard," I sneer. "Let's see you hop around now!" He jumps up and kicks me in the face again, but the chain holds and he lands right besides me. He slams both feet into my chest and springboard away, but the cuffs hold and I yank him back.
Snakt! I retract the claws on my free hand and let him have it. I punch him with all my strength and let the adamantium in my body do the rest. The punch hits him dead center of his face. It shatters his glasses and his jaw explodes in a bright red froth of spit and blood. He goes down, slimy bastard couldn't take more than one punch. He flopped down and lay still at my feet.
For a while I just try to slow my heart down and breath the fire out of my lungs, let my healing factor do its job. My muscles twitch with exhaustion and make me a thousand promises of pain to come.
"Urgh, I'm gonna be sore in the mornin'," I complain as I roll the kinks out of my neck.
The night's all quiet now that the fight is over. So quiet even the crickets seem loud. Then there's a gentle flap of fabric and light footsteps on the grass and I can feel a sudden breeze of heat on my back.
And there's that scent.
I turn around and see Jean standing there. Only it wasn't Jean. Something wasn't right and I felt that cold thing in my guts again.
Her eyes were the same fiery red-orange they were when I left her, but now her pupils were gone. Her eyes were just orbs of glowing power. And that wasn't all. Her body was covered in fire, but she didn't burn. It was like she was producing the flames. The fires swept all around her, scorching the trees and the earth.
"Let me do it, Logan," she ordered in a voice that wasn't her own. Jean's voice was just like Red's, sweeter than honey and pure pleasure to my ears. This voice was still sweet, but had dark, powerful undertones to it. "She was my sister. Get out of the way little man. Let me finish him." She raised her hands and the fires intensified. They exploded around her and flared outwards like the wings of some cosmic raptor. The fires swelled until the shape of a firebird spread into the sky. It was both terrible and magnificent all at the same time, a power too great to be bridled, and one that had finally been unleashed upon the world. A power of life incarnate, a phoenix to burn away what doesn't work.
All my instincts and that cold thing in my gut told me to take the cuffs off and let Jean, or whatever the hell she had become, turn Toad into French fried Frogs legs, but that would be too good for the bastard. I had other plans and I promised Red that I'd stick to 'em. I stepped forward and stood in between the fires and Toad.
"You wasn't supposed to come down here, Jean," I tell her. "You was supposed to stay with the car."
"You can't stop me, you funny little man."
"I ain't laughin' darlin'!" I snarled back.
She raised her hand again, this time at me and new fire sprang from it. Tendrils of power sizzled through the air and burned into my flesh, frying my shirt instantly. My skin began to bubble as she burned me.
"ARGHHH!" I roared in pain as she slowly killed me. She let the flames burn away my skin, exposing the muscles and even bones for another moment before letting me go.
I smoldered on the ground for a moment, my healing factor unable to keep up with the immense repair bill. New skin slowly began to replace what Jean had burned off and after a few minutes I was still in bad shape, but well enough to stand again.
"Oh, we can do this all night Logan," smiled Jean in frightening sweetness. "Why don't you just move…"
I didn't let her finish. As fast and as hard as my beat up and burnt body could manage, I backhanded Jean across the mouth, knocking her down. Instantly, the flames and the firebird and the cold feeling in my gut vanished and I knew she was just Jean again. But I hit her pretty hard, harder than I should have. She was out cold and from the growing bruise on her cheek, I knew she wasn't going to wake up for a good while.
"Sorry darlin'," I whisper to her. I hated doing that. I was honest when I told her back in Old Town that I don't hurt girls. But I haven't even started with Toad yet, and I couldn't let Jean break my promise, even if she was Red's sister. Besides, I couldn't let her watch the rest; it'll give her nightmares.
I pop the cuffs off my wrist and tie Toad around a tree. Then I pick up Jean's body and carried her all the way back to the car. I laid her down gently in the backseat and brushed a piece of errant hair out of her face. She was just as beautiful as her sister was, even if she just tried to flame broil me. I leaned and kissed her on the cheek. Rest easy Jean. Please don't wake up 'til I'm finished. I let her go and pull the hacksaw and rubber tubing out of the truck and head back towards Toad.
-X-
Maybe a half hour later…
"God, I'll tell you, I am good and bushed. And it wasn't that lil' fight of ours that did me in, either. Nah, it was all that sawing and tying. It's not as easy as it looks. But if I do say so for myself, I think I did a pretty neat job of it. And it's a good thing I brought all that extra tubing. A lot of them broke when I was fixin' the tourniquets," I say to Toad.
Toad didn't say anything, not that he ever does anyway. I was kinda hopin' he would say something though. I was kinda curious. What do you say to a man that just sawed off your arms and legs? Cuz that's what I did, that's what I had been planning ever since I saw that hacksaw back in the hardware store. I waited 'til he woke up from my punch to start. I got impatient so I went onto the farm and got a bucket of cold water to throw on him. That woke him up in a hurry. I started on his legs. They were powerful things, whole lot of muscle to cut through. It took me awhile to tie the tourniquets, damn tubing kept snapping, but I got the hang of it. Then I started sawing. It was hard work, a lot harder than I initially thought it would be, but I took my time and made sure I cut all the way through. When I was done, I tossed the feet and knee over my shoulder and moved on to his other leg and arms. The whole time he never screamed or made any kind of sound at all. He just sat there and smiled that stupid evil smile at me the whole time.
'Kid's psycho,' I thought. But what the hell, he eats people too. Should've expected that.
"Ya know, it would've been a real mess around here if I hadn't had those spare bits of tubing. Still and all, I got to admit there was a spurt or two." I grinned at that.
"Hell, I'm gonna come clean with ya, my slimly lil' friend. I wanted a spurt or two to get the scent in the air. To get that friend of yours to come runnin'."
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
I smelled the wolf before I heard the growl and that brought a big smile to my face. "And what do you know. Here he comes now. Let's see what happens if I loosen p one of these here tourniquets." I open one of the knots around Toad's legs and a pool of blood quickly seeps out of the gaping wound. The wolf bounds over to Toad and growls as he approaches. I step back and light a cigar as the wolf sniffs at him then takes a bite.
"That's a good dog," I mutter, taking a long drag off my cigar. "Good dog."
He doesn't scream…not even at the end. Not even when the mutt's had his fill and Toad's guts are lying all over the place. Somehow the bastard is still alive, still staring at me. Not even when I grab the saw and finish the job and take his head off. He never screams.
-X-
I jumped into a nearby stream and got the stench of blood and gore off my skin before putting my coat back on and climbin' into Jean's car.
On the way back into town, I pull over at the diner where I left the padre's Mercedes and use the pay phone to put a call into Kadie's and ask Emma to get her clothes on and meet me back at her place. She says 'Yes," like always. So when I pulled up to her place she met me outside with that gorgeous smile of hers.
"Hey, Emma, you got any beers? I ask her with a grin.
"Sure, Logan. Who's the babe?" she replies happily.
There isn't much of anything Emma wouldn't do for me. Not since a year back when a frat boy roughed her up and I straightened him out but good. I might have gone a bit far, but I was pretty steamed, seein' her cryin' like that. It really pisses me off when guys rough up dames. Hell, I was still beatin' myself up over smackin' Jean back at the farm, even if it did probably save my life.
I lay Jean down on Emma's sofa and plop down next to her. Emma returns for the kitchen with her arms full of beers. She pops open a bottle for me. I inhale it in one gulp. I pop open my second and start filling her in. I like Emma, so I leave some of the nastier details out. Don't want to give her nightmares. By the time I've finished my fifth beer, she's up to speed. While I'm tellin' her about everything, she takes my coat off and starts givin' me a full doctor's examination. She knows I heal quick, but she checks anyway. Some of the burns from Jean are still pretty raw, so she wraps me up in gauze like a mummy.
After she's done patchin' me up, Emma rests my hand on her thigh while I finish my tale. It's soft and warm, but that's none of my business and it wouldn't bug me like it does if I didn't feel so damned alive.
"So, what do you want me to do with her?" she asks me gently.
"She'll come around in a lil' bit," I tell her. You tell her everything's okay, that I took care of him. But tell her she has to haul on out of town. She could get killed if she doesn't."
"I'll take her to the airport myself," Emma says sweetly. Not sweetly in a good way though. I could tell she didn't like Jean very much. I think Emma was being protective of me. She didn't like it when I told her that Jean was the one who torched me.
"No, that's no good," I urp. They might have it watched. Your best bet is to drive her all the way to Sacred Oaks and put her on a plane there." I burp again. "She'll kick up a fuss, but tell her I said she owes me one. It's not true, but she'll believe it."
"What if she goes all firebird on me?" asks Emma, a small but devilish smile on her face.
"Well, you're a tough and intelligent chick, improvise," I tell her. "But she'll be okay." Emma pouted a little bit. Yep, she defiantly didn't like Jean too much. But she'd do it for me and that's all that mattered.
"You gonna be ok?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. So will she," I burped again. "There's no way they'll connect her to me. But anybody connected with Red's is bound to catch hell in a big way. So it'll be better for her if she's gone when they come callin'."
"What about you? Are you leaving town?" Emma asked with genuine concern in her voice. She didn't want to see me leave, but she didn't want me to stick around and get into trouble either.
"Hell no," I tell her and polish off another beer. " I like it here."
She understood exactly what that meant. That I was in this 'til the very end. And that I would catch the hell…
-X-
I finished another couple of beers with Emma and left Jean with her. I walk about twenty blocks west of Emma's place and stepped into a dive of a bar. I made my presence well known there, caused a bit of a fuss. Nothing that would get me in trouble, but enough for people to remember I was there. They'd be following my trail backwards and I don't want it leading back to Emma.
I left the bar and hotwired a parked cab and stayed under the speed limit, so not to get any attention. This'd be a real dumb time to get pulled over. I drive with the windows down and the wind is warm on my face and everything's so simple and clear. I can't help smiling when I pulled into Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center. From the road I can see it.
"The X-Mansion" is what people call it. Looked more like a fortress to me. Surrounded by dozens of dozens of acres of land, all fenced in by a high steel fence. The house itself stood alone upon a hill and the word Mansion didn't do it justice. Heads of governments live in smaller, less grandiose dwellings. Not quite the place you'd find such a "holy man". Saint Charlie charmed the public into understanding that it was a family house, passed on since his great grandfather and it would be a family insult if he didn't live there. So he's been holed up in the lab of luxury for years, surrounded by a legion of armed guards, while Senators and Mayors and even the President come, hats in hand, begging favors from mighty Saint Charlie.
I'd like to blow the whole damned place sky high to wipe it out and leave a crater big enough and deep enough to suck in all the money and lies and evil of all the generations of the Royal Xavier Family.
But that's just the enthusiasm talking. I've got to play this sneaky. Sneaky and very, very nasty.
I parked the car about a mile away from the compound and steel myself.
This is it, Red. Win or lose, it's all over tonight.
Author's notes:
Well, we're coming towards the end of Logan's tale. I'll be starting "A Big Fat Kill" with Dwight and the girls next. I know alot of you are looking forward to that story and I hope to start getting it posted in the near future.
Calling all reviewers:
Emma Raven Moony Grimm: that's quite the long name you got there. Glad you like the fic, keep on reading.
Simba317: Ladies and Gentlemen, now this is a review! Thank you very much for your detailed review darlin'. If I had known you would write one like that, I would have guilted you into it a long tme ago. I hope you enjoyed this chapter will keep on reading and reviewing.
Kitty Rasputin: I'm glad you caught the "Serenity" reference. I love that movie and the "Firefly" series so I decided to slip alittle something into my fic. Concerning Kitty, I never saw her character to be badass enough to be Miho. Kitty was always too nice and well fluffy to me, despite her ninja training with Logan. I thought she was perfect for the role of Becky, since Becky seemed to be the most naive and innocent of the Old Town girls. I have a very specific girl cast for Miho, and when you see her, and what I do with Becky/Kitty, it'll all make sense.
CatLadyinTraining: That's alot of cats. Dozens of cats is quite the goal to shoot for. I couldn't do it, but I've always been a dog person. Casting Storm as Gail was automatic for me, the role was made for the Weather Goddess. I think it was seeing an old comic picture of Storm with a mohawk from the 80's that sealed the deal. Storm and Gail are two peas in a pod: they are both sexy, fierce, and have a lot of attitude when they want to.
Stefbug:I too am neck deep in finals work and all sorts of school junk. Writing these fics are all that keep me sane. I'm glad I'm keeping you from drowning as well. Repay me bycontinuing to read and review ok? In reference to your question about my sources, I've been using both the film and the graphic novels as references. The film is great for getting the visualsdown, the backgrounds,anddescribing the action. The novels are wonderful for the dialouge, they go into much more detail than the film. I have also been using old X-men comic books, including the new Astonishing X-Men series andPhoenix: Endsong. As far as my tenses go, I'm only human.It's hard to keep track sometimes when you're working at 3 am like I usually do. I'll try to work on that. Thanks.
The Frog Prince of Crime:Well there she is. How do you like my Phoenix? I tried to make her more Dark Phoenix than "good" Phoenix. Let me know how I did.
Coldqueen: Glad you keep enjoying my story. Banshee is planned to make an appereance a little later in "A Big Fat Kill", but I'm not too sure about Captain Britian and Meggan. If I see a spot for them, I'll consider them for a role.
There ya go. To all my readers, thanks and keep on reading and reviewing. The more I get the more I want to write so keep 'em comin'.
Nataku's Wrath