"You need to learn a move other than 'lunge', Pup," Logan called out. "Try taking the sentinel out another way."
Zack huffed in frustration. This was not a fun Danger Room lesson at all. This metal… Thing was impossible for him to sink his teeth into. He had tried to tear out it's throat and now his mouth hurt. He was told that the real thing was even bigger than this one was, but he wasn't sure how much he believed that. Logan said that for the sake of this lesson, the size didn't matter, finding the weakness did. None of the normal weak spots were working for him, though.
He began to circle it, thinking of other ways he could attack, but before he had a chance to formulate anything the metal creature lifted a hand and shot some kind of energy beam at him, sending him tumbling backwards into a wall.
Zack shook his head and then turned to glare at Logan. He changed form so he could yell. "You did that on purpose!" he accused.
"Of course I did," Logan responded matter-of-factly. "The whole point of the Danger Room is to challenge you, not hand you an easy kill."
"This would be easy if you didn't cheat!" Zack protested.
"It's not cheating, it's adapting. Now calm down and use your head instead of your instinct. You need to stay in control. Also, you probably want to duck."
"Huh? Ah!" Zack scrambled to get out of the way as another beam swept towards his head. "We were in time out, ass!"
"Watch that mouth or the next shot's aimed at your tail," Logan warned. "There is no time out, just pay attention."
Zack snorted and quickly changed back, turning his attention towards his prey again. He could do this…
He raced towards the sentinel and skidded around behind it, biting at where the hamstrings should be. Instead he found more hard metal and he felt one of his fangs snap, his mouth quickly filling with the taste of blood.
That did it. He slumped over and snorted angrily, refusing to move.
"You give up?" Logan called out, surprised. Usually when the brat got that frustrated it just made him more determined to fight. Maybe not fight any better… But he rarely gave up.
Zack glared over at him and flicked his tail in response.
Logan reached over and hit a few buttons, shutting the program down. "Suit yourself. If you have to sulk, though, do it in the control room so another student can have a go."
Zack changed back to his human form. "I am not sulking!" he growled. "You weren't being fair!"
"I- Are you bleeding?" Logan stood. "Come over here and let me see your mouth."
"No!" Zack pushed himself up into a crouch, never taking his eyes off Logan. "My mouth isn't the problem here!"
"Pup, your mouth is at least 90% of your problems," Logan sighed, recognizing the stance. It had been a while since the boy had challenged him. Honestly, it was probably overdue. No wonder he had given up so easily. He hadn't seen the sentinel as the threat; he had wanted to face the one behind the controls. "Zack, do you want to fight me?" he asked, his voice calm.
"I…" Zack paused, thinking it over. The wolf part of him really wanted to tear his alpha apart, but the human side of him didn't want to face the consequences if he lost. Was he good enough to beat him yet?
"…No," he answered, looking away and slumping his shoulders. "But I do want to go outside. "
Surprised for the second time that period, Logan didn't know what to say at first. They were still in class and Zack had been acting up. However, this was a sign that he was thinking things through instead of letting his animal side get the best of him. That deserved a reward.
"Alright," he agreed after a few moments of silence. "Don't go too far, and don't think you're getting out of training either… We'll finish the program later. Be back in time for your next class or you know what to expect. Oh, and get Hank to look your mouth over on the way out."
Zack nodded and stood, walking towards the exit as Logan faced the rest of the class to choose his next victim. Yeah right, like he was going to see Hank about a tooth. It'd grow back soon enough.
He wandered out into the yard, then decided that wasn't good enough. It was too tame. He wanted real outside. Why did people keep their yards so neat and clean anyway? People. He shook his head and changed his form, then slipped through the fence so he could get out in the surrounding woods. He padded silently through them for a while, weaving between trees and sniffing occasionally for prey, but he really wasn't all that hungry. Finally he just slumped over by a tree trunk and rested his head on his paws.
Before coming to the school he had always thought he was a pretty good fighter. Logan kept proving that he really wasn't, though. How was he supposed to be alpha someday if he couldn't even kill the metal thing? It was impossible! Logan must have been lying- it didn't have any weak spots! He had tried all places that worked on other prey… Unless this thing had different weaknesses than rabbits…
His nose twitched as he caught a scent. Had Logan followed him out here?
Then he jumped to his paws, hair standing on end, lips curling into a silent snarl. No, not Logan. Like Logan.
Author's note: Yeah, I know it has been FOREVER since an update. I have had pretty bad writers block, but I think a break from the story helped me get some new ideas. I can't promise updates as regular as before, though.
I went back and reread the whole story, and there are some pretty cringeworthy moments in it that I think I need to fix. I know I will be rewriting it for my sake at the least, but would anyone else want to see the revisions? I don't know whether I should post the whole thing as a new story or just replace the old chapters.
Also, I am toying with the idea of making Wolf's adult life into a comic. If so, I will post a link to where you can read it.
I know this one was short, but hopefully it makes up for the wait a little.