Jamie vs Logan (Audience, Jamie wins) – Requested by Neemers
Rogue
pulled up a chair next to Kitty, watching the action
intently.
"What'd I miss?" she whispered.
Kitty inclined
her head toward the Goth without looking away from the sight before
them. "Sam got beaten while you were in the bathroom; now it's
Ray's turn."
Rahne shot a black look over at them. "Do ye
really have to sit there and make fun of us?" she growled, nursing
her various injuries.
"Yep," Scott answered. "You wanna make
the cut, you've got to impress us as well."
"But I wouldn't
worry," commented Jean. "If anyone can actually beat him, then
we'll be pretty damn impressed anyway."
Bobby groaned. "How
about being impressed by a brave sacrifice?" he tried. Kurt only
snorted at that.
"Brave? Bobby, it took all our persuading to
get you out here, and even then you nearly cut and run."
"I
don't see you volunteering," Bobby shot back.
"Because I
don't have to. How many kinds of idiot do you think I am? I'm
sitting here, laughing, for the simple reason that I'm not
you."
"Just what I was thinking about you the other day,
Kurt," quipped Jubilee. Rogue raised an eyebrow.
"You're
pretty cheerful, lookin' at what's comin' your way," she
commented.
"Bravery in the face of death, girl. If I'm gonna
die, I'm gonna die smiling."
----
The residents of
the Institute were assembled outdoors, behind the building itself,
for an uncommon event; an open-air training session. While only the
New Mutants were taking part in it, the rest had come out to watch,
due to the importance of the session. For it was after this that a
new 'active' member of the team would be chosen from the ranks of
the New Mutants.
It had been three months since Evan's
unexpected departure from the Institute. The others were still
feeling his absence, in particular Kurt and Ororo, having been
deprived of their best friend and nephew respectively. However, it
was also keenly felt at the loss of a teammate, giving them somewhat
of a disadvantage in most scenarios where a show of strength was
called for. Therefore, after a fortnight of intensive training by the
'inactive' students, the gap would now be filled by one of
them.
The catch, however, was that they had to fight Logan to do
it.
It had, ironically enough, been the Professor's
suggestion. While he was usually the first to reprimand Logan for his
harsh techniques, he'd made an exception, reasoning that it was the
best possible preparation. A new team member who could hold their own
against the Wolverine would, presumably, be able to deal with almost
any other threat that came their way. So, the instructions had been
simple: fight Logan, one at a time. Whoever put up the best effort
against him would be chosen as the next team member.
They'd
drawn straws to see what order they would fight in. Roberto had gone
first; twenty-three seconds later, as Hank carried the unconscious
boy to the hospital wing, Charles had suggested that Logan tone his
actions down a bit. Since then he'd been slightly less aggressive,
but even so he'd beaten Amara, Bobby, Rahne and now Sam, one after
the other. Ray, Jubilee and Jamie remained to test their
capabilities. A minor betting ring had broken out amongst the elder
students, with various amounts being placed on each prospective
teammate; so far, the most popular bet was on Amara. She hadn't
lasted long - none of them had - but she'd gained some support
after managing to set Logan on fire a few times in their short
encounter.
----
THUMP
Ray crumpled in a sad
heap as he landed, and Charles blew a whistle, signaling the end of
the fight. The spectators broke out into polite applause, and Kurt
and Kitty held up score placards they'd decided to use. Amara read
the score and scowled indignantly.
"Seventeen points?" she
demanded. "You gave that filthy peasant Seventeen points? I demand
to know why he received such a high score when mine was only
fourteen."
Kitty shrugged. "He lasted seven and a half
minutes. You only went for four and a half."
"And Ray got more
hits in," added Kurt. "Not quite as funny as seeing Logan on
fire, but still... it was worth more points, is all."
"Don't
worry," consoled Kitty. "You're still coming second."
Amara
made a 'hrmph' sound and turned her attention to Jubilee, who had
risen to her feet and was striding defiantly out to meet their
tormentor. The audience cheered.
Jubilee snapped her gum as
she reached Logan. "Can we just save time by me forfeiting?" she
asked.
"Nope."
"Can I take a dive?"
"Nope."
"Can
I bribe you?"
"Nope."
"Am I allowed to pray?"
"Ya
got one minute."
Jubilee shrugged. "Hey, it's
something."
----
Jubilee got her one minute, as it
was. She spent most of the 'prayer time' making rude faces behind
Logan's back.
She then spent the next six getting a fresh
pattern of bruises over the larger part of her body. After which
time, when Logan relented, she limped off in search of some ice. Her
score was an 18, the highest yet; as far as they could see, however,
Jubilee didn't care a whole lot about her score, and was busily
making death threats against Logan under her breath.
There was
one other person, however, who wasn't even remotely interested in
Jubilee's score. This individual was concentrating on keeping his
right arm still, a nervous twitch having started minutes before,
causing it to tremble uncontrollably. It was one of the many features
that betrayed Jamie's rather extreme fear of the coming
encounter.
There had been some debate as to whether they should
actually make Jamie participate in the trial. Logan, however, had
prevailed, pointing out that regardless of whether Jamie was chosen
for the team, it was still better that he take part - training was
training, after all. And so, last in line after drawing the longest
straw, Jamie waited to be called up and fight Wolverine.
He wished
his arm would stop trembling.
"Last one. Squirt! Get out here and get it over with!"
----
Jamie's right arm
was still shaking as he stood in front of Logan; he was also
unusually pale, wide-eyed, and reeking of utter terror. In spite of
himself, Logan actually felt a pang of pity for the boy, but didn't
let it show - he just nodded at Hank, who started a stopwatch, and
begun the session. Then he looked back at his diminutive opponent,
took three steps forward and made a short, vicious swipe at Jamie's
temple, opting to get it over with quickly.
No such luck.
Jamie's
reflexes, in spite of what some people thought, were actually
exceptionally good. They weren't matched by any amount of
co-ordination, but nonetheless he was able to react quickly to
oncoming threats - more so now that he was looking for them, since he
perceived anything Logan did to be a life-threatening act. As such,
Jamie saw the blow coming a mile away. He blanched; ducked; jumped
back with a squeak; and, being Jamie, tripped over his own feet to
sprawl on his backside on the ground. He rolled to one side as Logan
came on, stopped on his knees, got to his feet and backed away
quickly.
It was only then that he noticed the three multiples,
spawned by his fall, that had done the exact same thing
For a
split second, Logan paused. Putting one terrified kid out of his
misery was one thing; dealing with four was another. Then, mentally
shrugging, he advanced, deciding that no matter what happened, he was
going to deal with the problem in the same way, and delaying wouldn't
do anything.
Three of the four Jamies scattered, running around
behind Logan as he came on. The fourth, blocked from escape by the
other three, could only stand there as Logan reached him and lifted
him off the ground with one hand.
----
Jamie - at least
he thought he was the original - had ducked around the oncoming Logan
with two of his multiples. Now, behind the Canadian, he saw the
fourth multiple being held up with one hand as the other bunched
itself into a metal-laced fist.
Looking back on what happened
next, Jamie would marvel at just how idiotic his next action seemed.
Then and there, however, no thought entered his mind; instead,
working on instinct alone, he charged at Logan's back, jumped at
the drawn-back fist, grabbed it, and hung off it like a
limpet.
Logan raised one side of his eyebrow as the second Jamie grabbed him, giving him one hanging from each hand. Then he simply brought them together, knocking both Jamies into each other and sending them tumbling to the ground ---- together with six others. The landing created another four. As they began to get up, Logan had just enough time to wonder how he was going to deal with an exponential opponent before a sudden weight struck him in the back.
Two weights, in fact; the other two Jamies from the
original four. They landed on his shoulders and, in perfect tandem,
hung on with one hand and began beating Logan with their free fist.
Logan growled, staggered slightly, then threw one off. The other hung
on and began kicking with both feet; a moment later, he too went
flying.
Momentarily free from attackers, Logan stepped back a few
paces, considering the growing number of Jamies in front of him. A
few seconds later, however, the first few regained their feet and ran
at him, shouting wordlessly as they came.
The first one, Logan
swatted aside easily; the second he sidestepped and thumped in the
back as he passed. The third and fourth reached him, one slamming
into his stomach like a blunt arrow, the other diving low and
latching onto Logan's ankles, preventing him from moving. Logan's
breath left him as he was pummeled briefly in the stomach, before he
simply threw the Jamie away; next he kicked one foot fiercely,
breaking it from the other Jamie's grasp.
Then another four
threw themselves at him.
----
The spectators stared,
open mouthed at the sight before them; Logan stood, roaring and
snarling in fury, with Jamies hanging off his shoulders, his arms,
even one from his neck. Around him sprawled piles, many crawling over
and clutching at him, trying to drag him down to be overwhelmed.
Kurt
leaned over toward Jean. "Jean," he said carefully, "just to
check I'm right, here - it is impossible for Jamie to beat Logan,
ja?"
Jean nodded, still staring at the spectacle in front of
her. "Yeah, I'd have thought so," she murmured. Kurt nodded
with her.
"Ah. I thought so. In which case – what's going on
here?"
Scott answered him. "Jamie's breaking the fundamental
laws of the universe. And we get front-row seats."
Kurt nodded
again. "Ah. Alright, then."
They kept watching.
----
Logan
was struggling wildly in the grip of over twenty Jamies, and was
roaring profanities at a great pace - the majority of which, however,
were aimed not at Jamie but at the audience, who'd begun to cheer
his diminutive but numerically overwhelming opponents and direct
their laughter at him. Finally managing to shake the clinging Jamie
from around his neck, he looked around and decided that things needed
changing.
Bracing himself, he paused momentarily - then rolled
back in a cartwheel. This was a trick often used by Kurt when
fighting, to give himself more space, and the only method Logan could
see to get himself out of the quagmire of multiples that threatened
to swamp him.
It worked. The Jamies clinging to his upper body
were thrown off as their centre of gravity swung in a full vertical
arc; those grabbing at his legs and lower body lost their grip, save
one that managed to remove Logan's left boot. Logan himself,
however, managed to get a full three metres away, where he dropped
into a classic defensive pose, eyes narrowed at the pile of Jamies
he'd left behind.
Then he heard a dull roar behind him.
He
turned.
And for the first time in memory, felt fear.
Three
metres away from him stood a lone Jamie, hands clasped behind his
back, a cherubic smile on his face. All that was missing was a halo.
The original Jamie, safe from harm.
And behind him, around thirty
multiples, give or take a few.
Logan spun back - to see at least
forty more standing behind him, more appearing every second as they
pushed and shoved one another for that purpose. In a matter of
seconds, he was surrounded by almost a hundred of them.
He let out
a nervous breath. "Okay, Squirt, ya made yer point. Now join back,
and - eeeeiiiiiiiaaargchhhhhhh..."
The sentence was cut
off with a strangled squeaking sound as a shoe - HIS shoe - was
thrown forward with uncanny accuracy to connect solidly with his
groin. In an irresistibly instinctive move, he bent over at the
waist, gasping, suffering the most severe pain the human male has
developed the capacity to feel.
And a tidal wave of multiples
surged in.
----
Twenty seconds later, the original
Jamie turned away from the chaos to glance at the audience. He
received a standing ovation from the others (except for the
Professor, of course) as Logan, flat on the ground, tried feebly to
dislodge the enormous pile of multiples that completely hid him from
view.
"My God," Bobby muttered. "He's like a nasty little
Agent Smith, isn't he?"
Jean snorted. "If Agent Smith were a
hobbit."
Scott just shook his head. ?You two watch way too many
movies," was his only comment.
Jamie's combined score from
Kurt and Kitty was a 21. "Ten points from each of us," was the
explanation, "and an extra one for the shoe." No complaint was
heard from Amara about the score.
And it was a full month before
Logan was willing to speak to Jamie again.