Primal Urges

Well, here is another long-awaited chapter. Sorry for the delay, but I have so many other projects, as well as have to wait for my editors...:)
I will say that without them, this would be A HUGE MESS!!!!
I love you...so much!
Anyway, here is the next installment....PLEASE reviews are welcome!

Remember...words in '' are thoughts

Part Sixteen

The Blackbird swoops in on the opposite side of the lake, concealing itself with its cloaking shield in the near dawn light. The X-Men all exit down the ramp, with Wolverine leading the way. Gambit comes up next to him, making sure that he heads in the right direction. Wolverine takes a deep sniff of the air and changes his direction, leading them to a secret entrance underneath the waterfalls. “They didn’t take her through here, but I can smell Creed…he uses this way in, which would make it the least guarded since it’s hidden.”

Cyclops goes in front of him, leading them down the steep slope on the right side of the falls. Sure enough, there is a narrow path that leads to a small door in the middle of the falls. “Jean, check around the entrance for hostiles…”

The redhead closes her eyes and concentrates on the immediate interior of the door… “No one’s posted there, but they have roving patrols not too far from here.”

Cyke nods as he makes his way to the door. Focusing his visor on the handle, he melts it away and the door slowly opens outward. Quietly, he motions the rest of them to come forward…they all enter and line up against the wall. When Wolverine comes up, Cyke grabs him by the shoulder, “Whatever happens…we have your back.”

Wolverine nods as he heads in with Cyke following. They head down the long hallway to a huge tunnel opening that is blocked by a huge steel door. Logan comes forward and *snikt*

“They’re through that door…” he hisses and they all come around him. “Wolverine, we have to find a way in silently…we don’t know where she is or what they may be doing to her…” Jean starts and quickly realizes her folly. Logan’s sharp gaze comes straight at her and it’s almost as if he hit her in the gut.

Suddenly, a loud creaking is heard and the large door starts to swing open. They scatter to different places so they can’t be seen, but Rogue has to pull Wolverine out of the way. A group of four soldiers come through the door and they pounce…Jean lifts two and slam them against the wall while Cyke blasts the other two down the tunnel. The door stays open for a minute, “Hurry…before they decide to close it!” calls Cyclops and they all run through just before the door swings closed. The hall they are in now is pitch black, so they have to depend on Logan and his sense of smell. He leads them down that hall into an ammunitions dump. Silently, they make their way into the room and spot two different doors.

“This is where we have to split up…me, Jean and Rogue will go this way while Beast, Wolverine, and Gambit go the other way. We’re going to see if we can find the lab and destroy the samples and machinery…Wolverine, you guys go find Storm.” Cyclops says. It would have been a given that Wolverine goes to find Ororo, but he will need those two in case he runs into opposition…which he is more than certain that they will.

“Good luck, X-Men…” the visored leader says finally and everyone disburses.

Wolverine heads down a smaller corridor, following Creed’s scent. The tunnels and rooms are vaguely familiar to him…flashes of memory coming to him in spurts. As they come up another dank tunnel, Gambit says, “’Dis place is like a maze…how we find ‘da way out?”

“All these tunnels lead to a central room then open up into the docking bays located at the back of the compound. It’s just knowing where certain places are that can be confusing…” supplies Beast. They still head silently down the hall…leading to the Lion’s Den…

The two guards see the shadows of someone coming, but they can’t make out who it is. “Who’s there?” one of them calls, but the three figures don’t answer…still coming towards them. The other one grabs his communicator to call for assistance, but a glowing projectile knocks it to the ground…making it explode on contact. His companion tries for his, but a big blue hand knocks it to the ground before it makes a fist and knocks him out. Two more projectiles come at the first guard and he, too, is knocked unconscious.

Wolverine takes off down the hall and runs right into that huge cage…stopping him effectively. Beast and Gambit come up behind him as they watch Wolverine walk into the cage and stare at the walls. “This is where they held me…poked and prodded ‘til I couldn’t take it no more. They called it the Lion’s Den…because I paced around in it like one.”

“We need to get out of here, Wolverine…she’s obviously not here.” Beast says.

“No, but they put him in ‘ere… why?” Logan asks. He runs his hands over the new claw marks in the wall…wishing Creed were still in here.

“Let’s go, Logan…we gotta move!” Gambit says and they run back down the hall towards the control center of the compound…



Cyclops, Jean, and Rogue are hiding behind a stack of boxes as some troops pass them by. “How can we find the lab?” Rogue asks. Jean concentrates again on their surroundings; the mass of unskilled and primitive minds are driving her mad, but then she detects a refined intelligence…

“That way,” she replies as she points down a corridor on the opposite side to where they are. Cyclops looks around at the men still standing around, “How the hell are we gonna get over there?”

“Leave it to me…” Jean says as she stares at the alarm system. Soon, the light starts to flash and the men run down the hall towards the control room. “Let’s move…the alarm will be switched off and they’ll be back.”

The three of them head down the corridor until they enter a large room. The lights in here are not that bright, but the consoles and monitors add a brighter glow. As they move past the desk, Cyclops heads over to the large window to see what it overlooks. Jean looks over the monitors, “They must use this room to watch the troops.”

“More than that…this is Stryker’s office.” Rogue states as she lifts the name plaque off the desk. Jean comes over quickly to read some of the papers on the desk until…

“They watch more than that…come here.” Cyclops says. The two of them come over and they look down into the laboratory. They find Creed strapped down to table and Dr. Schmidt bustling around towards the back of the lab. “What the hell are they doing to him?” Cyke asks.

“Who cares? Whatever it is, Ah hope it’s bad!” Rogue exclaims. Jean turns back to the screens and punches up the last material looked at. “Look at this…they did scans on Ororo. He must have been told of what happened to her…”

Cyke looks back down on the mutant, “The doc was told…so they had to run tests on her…” he points to Creed, “And they must have had to do tests on him, too. If they wanted a pure subject, they had to make sure that he was clean.”

“No…’dat bastard!” Rogue hisses.

Jean scans through all the reports, “They’re going to perform a series of tests on Creed to make sure that he’s clean, but they’re not going to have her carry any children…they’re going to harvest her eggs and create offspring in the lab.” She flips through some more screens until she comes up with the manifest for DNA specimens. “Stryker trashed some samples…all Creed’s.”

“Wow…he really pissed the old goat off!” Rogue says. She walks over to the desk and rifles through some of the papers. Under all of them is a red folder that Rogue picks up and looks into. Her eyes widen at the contents, “Jean, you have ta’ see this…it has ta’ do with Logan.”

The other X-Men come over and examine the papers Rogue has and both are horrified with what they read. “Oh my God, Scott…what is this?” Jean asks.

“It looks like an order…a specific order for subjects from this experiment. Stryker has started to take orders for these “children”…a million dollars for each one regardless of the results because they are guaranteed. The stock is of…jeez…”

“What? We know that Ororo will be the ‘mother’, who’s supposed ta’ be the father?” asks Rogue.

“Weapon X…Logan,” Jean whispers.

“No…we have ta’ stop this...and now!” Rogue says as she starts ripping papers in half. Cyclops stops her, “I have a better way…both of you stand back.” He turns a switch on the dial of his visor and sends a concentrated beam to the desk and consoles. A small fire starts then it grows…so much so that they have to get out of the room before the fire alarm sounds.

“We have to get to that lab…” Cyclops says as they hurry down the nearby steps that lead into the lab area.



Wolverine, Gambit, and Beast round a corner and wind up in the laboratory. Wolverine sees Creed strapped to a gurney while there are some nurses around him. In the corner of the lab, looking through a telescope; is Dr. Schmidt. Before Beast can get him to calm down, Logan growls…bringing attention to him and his companions at the doorway. The doctor glances in his direction with a stunned expression on his face…the nurses stare in fear, except one who looks on with some interest.

Creed smiles, “So, ya’ finally made it here…not too shabby. Messed up that ya’ have ta’ catch me like this…”

Wolverine growls again as he rushes the blond mutant, leaping on his chest…claws flashing, “Too bad ya’ locked down here…I still got unfinished business with ya’!” One of the nurses runs over to the alarm, triggering it throughout the whole compound before anyone can stop her.

“Logan, we gotta go! We still gotta find Storm…” Gambit says as he charges some cards. Beast looks around, “Yes, we’re going to have company soon…”

Wolverine sniffs around, picking up her faint scent and ignoring the scared lab techs around him. He glances at the doctor, moving quickly towards him. Dr. Schmidt barely has the chance to breathe before he’s lifted off the ground by his neck.

“Logan!” Beast calls, but the feral doesn’t listen. His fangs gleam brightly as he snarls, “Where is Storm, you twisted piece of shit?!”

“I’m…not…telling…” he gasps. Three lethal claws come out within inches of the doctor’s face as Logan asks again, “Where…is…Storm?”

Dr. Schmidt realizes that he cannot get through to this furious beast, “She’s…in…that…room…over…there,” he gasps again. Logan drops him to the floor as he runs over to where he directs…smelling the stronger aroma of her scent.

Orchids…

“Keep ‘em away from the doors…and watch that asshole!” he calls back to Beast and Gambit. The doctor sees where he’s going and calls out, “You can’t go in there…she’s not to be moved…”

“The hell ya’ say!” Wolverine snarls as he slashes open the door. In the middle of the dimly lit room, Ororo lays on a bed, still sleep and hooked up to at least ten monitors. He walks over to her, caressing her cheek as he speaks softly in her ear, “Darlin’, it’s Logan…can ya’ hear me? C’mon baby, wake up…”

She groans as she turns her head… “Logan?” she whispers.

“Yeah, darlin’…come back…”

Her eyes open and start to glisten with tears, “Mpenzi…you came for me.”

He kisses her, “Ya’ knew I would. We gotta get ya’ outta here…they sounded the alarms.” Logan slashes through her tubes and wires, quickly getting her to her feet. The feral holds her close as she tries to get her legs back, “Can ya’ walk?”

“Yes…take me home, Logan.” Ororo says as she grabs his hand. He leads her out the room and into the building chaos in the lab. Beast grabs a lab coat to place around her, “Good to have you back, Ororo.”

“Good to be back…Beast, Remy…” she says and watches the young man shake his head, “Gambit, chère…and we need’ta get outta here!” She nods as they start to take off for the door. She notices Creed strapped to the gurney and stops. Turning back to face him, Ororo pulls away from Wolverine. They all have to stop as she stares at him for a moment, then she approaches him slowly…her hands clenched in tight fists. Wolverine comes up behind her, knowing that she has something she needs to do…and he’ll make sure she can get it done.

Creed smiles, “My frail has returned…” and she feels a horrible wave of nausea hit her.

Clearing her throat, she says slowly and deliberately, “I didn’t know how I would act if I saw you again…if I would run and hide or try to kill you. You destroyed a part of me that I will never get back and for that alone you deserve to die…but living with the fact that you will never, ever measure up with the likes of someone like Logan will eat at you for the rest of your unnatural life. Everyone in here thinks you’re pathetic…even you think the same way. You try to make yourself feel better by attacking Logan, but does it work? You keep at it, knowing you can never keep him down long…bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Storm, we have to go…” Beast says urgently, but she isn’t finished. The enraged wind-rider walks even closer to Creed; to make sure he sees and hears what she has to say next. The air in the room begins to freeze and wind starts to blow. Her blue eyes have glazed over to white as she stalks him. “I’m no longer afraid of you…I never really was. You made me feel unwanted, but only for a short time…Logan gave that back to me. He never turned away from me, even when I was rank with your scent. You can’t destroy what we have; no matter what you did to me…he loves me…” she growls in a cold voice.

“You’re my frail bitch…I claimed you…” he grits out and she smiles.

“Now, you of all people should know what it means to claim a mate…but then again, you would never know what it means to be committed to another. I was never and will never be yours…” Ororo says as she pulls back her hair to show her mark…her mate’s mark. Creed’s eyes darken and his teeth grind in anger as she smiles sarcastically, “I know the ways of nature…I know what it all means. I bear the mark of the Wolverine…I am his...”

She turns away just in time to hear a furious roar erupt from the motionless Creed, her anger calming along with the chilled air in the room. She walks over to Logan, shaking…so he takes her in his arms, holding her for a moment, “There is no one like you, koibito…”

“Take me home…” Ororo whispers as she kisses him lightly. Creed sees the tender moment between them…a murderous rage fills him, if I can’t have her…you damn sure won’t!

He growls savagely as he tries to move…only to find he is unable to do so.

The four X-Men start to run out the lab when they run into Cyclops, Jean and Rogue. The young girl runs to Ororo and hugs her while Cyke tells them, “We have to destroy this lab. I’ll fill you in later what was being planned here, but the main thing is to get rid of the DNA samples and blow this place straight to hell!”

Dr. Schmidt had been standing off to the side watching the interaction between the mutants with interest. He had been right when he said that Logan was the perfect subject; cunning, fast, strong, and intelligent….he’s almost sorry that all of this must end.

“You won’t get out of here...by now the tunnels have been sealed up and the troops are headed this way. You are amazing…I must say…” Dr. Schmidt faces Logan and Ororo, “I was right when I predicted that you two would make superior offspring…”

“What you have planned is an abomination…creating mutants for the purpose of warfare, and they’re children no less!” Jean yells, her anger making her eyes flash. The doctor doesn’t flinch at the accusation, “What I want to do will help us prevent so many tragedies for us; soldiers dying needlessly, intelligence agents losing their lives to keep us safe. With these creations, we can replenish whenever necessary, but with the healing factor it won’t have to happen often. Men and women can be spared…”

“But what about us? We’re people too!” Rogue exclaims and Dr. Schmidt chuckles, “Dear child, you are expandable…humans can’t be recreated, you can… and can be recreated almost exactly alike. Can’t you see what good you would be doing for us?”

Wolverine bristles as he says in a low voice, “Ya’ll always say that…humans are better, but you still need us ta’ do yer dirty work. Let’s see wha’cha gonna do without these?” The feral mutant runs over to the cooler and runs his claws through the doors.

“NO!!!!!” Dr. Schmidt screams as he tries to run over to stop him. Vial after vial of DNA samples fall to the floor or are shattered by those lethal claws. He tries to pull on Wolverine, but gets knocked to the floor as the mutant grabs the cooler to tip it to the floor. The eight foot high cabinet falls to the ground with a sickening crash; vials scattering everywhere. The expression on the doctor’s face falls as he watches his work being destroyed by an enraged Wolverine. He watches in horror as the mutant comes over to him and lifts him up by the collar, “I would suggest that ya’ try another line of work…this one’d get’cha killed!” and he punches the man dead in the face…the doctor crumbling to the floor. As he runs over to the rest of the group, he still hears Creed yelling in the background, “Damn you, ya’ fuckin’ runt! She’ll never be yours! I had her…I had her!”

Ororo has to grab his hand, “Leave him be, we need to destroy this place!” she says as he nods. They all head to the door…listening to the immobile Creed yell in frustration.



The group runs down the hall and smack into a group of mercs. “Take ‘Ro and go the other way…I’ll handle this…” says Wolverine as his claws sharpen against each other.

“Not by ya’self, mon ami!” calls Gambit as his deck lights up and he stands ready. Beast takes Ororo’s hand and says, “Hurry…we’re gonna be overrun soon!”

“No, I’m not leaving him!” the agitated wind-rider screams as she fights against Beast to go with Wolverine.

Her mate pulls back enough to try to calm her down…wanting to keep her safe.

“Take ‘er, Beast…” he says as he caresses her cheek, “I’ll be fine, darlin’…”

“NO!” she screams again, struggling in Beast’s arms…but Wolverine kisses her gently as if to tell her goodbye. Turning back to the battalion of soldiers coming, he tells Beast, “Get her the hell outta here!” The blue furry mutant nods as he literally drags Storm down the hallway.

The Cajun and the feral stand at the ready as the soldiers rush them. Wolverine jumps in the air, landing on the back of one and slashing through the chest of another. With a sick smile on his face, he crouches with his claws dripping blood…

“Who’s next?”

Launching a spray of cards at the approaching soldiers, Gambit hits some in the face and others in the chest.

Quite a few fall back on impact, but the wave keeps coming. Wolverine growls happily as he takes down one after another…each one either holding their stomachs to keep their insides from spilling to the floor or screaming in agony at losing a limb. The feral presses forward through the onrush of soldiers…slashing and fighting his way through them to see the other side of the tunnel…hoping to find an end to this fighting so he can get back to the Blackbird, and Ororo.

Gambit engages one soldier, punching him in the neck before receiving a hit in the side from an unseen foe. He falls to the ground…sliding into the wall and knocking a pole to the floor. Smiling, he picks it up…gracefully leaping to his feet, swinging it into a position under his arm. Gambit looks at the next soldier advancing, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth…waving his hand to coax them to come forward…

“C’mon…come get Gambit…” he drawls as the first one comes with gun drawn. He swings the pole over his head then brings it down on the arm of the soldier, dislodging the gun. Then, he charges the pole before hitting him square in the chest…knocking him back into a few more men. He moves through them, pole swinging from side to side…distributing his kinetic charge from one to another…sending men flying in different directions.

“C’mon, kid…we gotta get movin’!” Wolverine yells as he runs another soldier through and tosses him onto the growing pile of dead men.

“Oui….but let me leave ‘dem ‘dis!” Gambit charges a lighter and throws it in the tunnel. A loud explosion erupts as men are thrown back farther into the tunnel as it begins to collapse. Smiling, Gambit runs in the other direction, with Wolverine on his heels.

As they run back down the hall in the direction Beast and the others went, Wolverine sees Wraith and stops. The Cajun looks back just to see him standing there staring at something. “What ‘da matter?” Gambit asks.

“I have something else ta’ do…get to the ‘bird, I’ll be right behind.”

“Wolverine…” the kid starts.

“Go!” and he disappears down another corridor. Gambit continues to run in the other direction.

Wolverine slowly makes his way up to the unsuspecting Wraith, staring knives into his back. He pounces and grabs the teleport around his neck. Snarling, he says in his ear, “Well, it’s been a while…how’ya doin’? Looks like ya’ been doin’ what ya’ always do…follow the leader.” Wraith coughs as his hand clenches tighter, “Did ya’ have anythin’ ta’ do with what happened to Storm? DID YA’?!”

Wraith knows this man well enough to know that this not a time to lie…he’s too pissed off. “I…was…there…to…bring…her…to…Stryker. Vic…had…other…ideas…” Wolverine drops him to the floor, growling at him as the guy tries to rub his neck. “She wasn’t the one I picked, I want you to know…Creed changed Stryker’s mind.” He can see that what he’s saying is sending Wolverine into that rage that he hates to see.

“Look, I just want to get out of here…do what you want to Victor…” but he’s cut off again. “I plan ta’, and I plan ta’ come back and get ya’…but first, Stryker.” He picks upt Wraith and throws himagainst the wall, “Catcha later…” He takes off through a door, heading to who knows where.



Beast leads the others up a flight of steps and they empty out into an unoccupied ammo locker. “Where are Gambit and Wolverine?” Ororo asks as Jean tries to locate them. The psychic looks at her when she gets the sense of their location, “Gambit is on his way here, but Wolverine…”

“What?!” she asks anxiously.

“He’s heading for Stryker…”

“No…he’ll try to take him…” Ororo stares at them for a moment before she turns to run back the way they came. “You can’t go back, Storm…let’s get you out of here!” Cyclops says.

“No, I will not leave him to die in here…get out; we’ll be right behind you!”

“Storm…”Jean calls, but it falls on deaf ears as the weather goddess runs back into the fray. “Cyclops, we can’t let her head back in there!”

“You’re going to stop her? Let’s get the systems stripped and get to the Blackbird,” he says. They head into the control room, encountering some really inexperienced soldiers. Cyke takes aim at the consoles and blasts each one…sparks and fire springing out from each hole. Beast leaps in, knocking out those that feel brave enough to try to take them on while Jean and Rogue try to locate the files in the main server.

“Cyclops, Beast…I think you need to get over here…” Jean says as she stares at the screen. Beast looks at her, “Give me…a moment…gotta take care of these,” he tells her as he brings the heads of two soldiers together with a sickening thud. The men fall to the floor as Cyke blasts another one into a console. All soldiers are out cold, so they come over to read what Jean has.

“What is this?” Cyclops asks…Rogue’s eyes widen at the information herself. Beast comes over and studies the screen, frowning, “We have to destroy the main servers…this can’t get out or be copied…we also have to check that he didn’t do it already, look for any backup drives. They spread out and carefully look around to see if they can find it…all of them worried about the results if he can actually…

“Looking for something?”

They all look to the door and see Stryker standing there with at least ten more soldiers surrounding him. He smiles, “I figured you would find your way in here…I know that what you have seen may be a little extreme…”

“Extreme?! You have planned to create armies with this new technology that you’ve created, and now we see that you want to also create cyborgs with mutant powers...fuse the DNA into mechanical bodies. You are insane!” Jean cries out.

Stryker stares at her, “You don’t understand what I am trying to do…having soldiers that can be expendable, that can take whatever you throw at them and still keep going to their objective would be the ultimate in warfare. Logan was designed for that…”

“But you couldn’t break him…couldn’t make him do what he didn’t want to, so creating clones of him will be the next best thing. But wait, even better…combine his DNA with another powerful mutant and give birth to mutants whose powers would be uncharted…how would you be able to control them?” Cyclops states angrily and
Jean places a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s the information we found out. He has discovered a way to implant mini control devices into the brains of the babies. They will be controlled from the minute of birth…mindless zombies that know nothing but war and death.” Beast says and Rogue gasps, “Ya’ can’t mean ‘dat?”

“Of course…I can’t have another weapon like Logan get a case of conscious and decide to leave. These will never know what it’s like…”

“But they would be children?!” Rogue screams and Stryker sneers, “MUTANT children…not much more than nothing. They won’t know a thing, wouldn’t know any different…but all of this is beside the point.” He waves his arms and the men around him aim their guns at the team as they move into more strategic positions. The X-Men take in what’s going on and calculates what they need to do.

“As soon as we grab Logan and Storm again, we can begin. I know the samples have been destroyed, but you being here so nicely will allow me to start to replenish my supplies.” Stryker says, pretty damn pleased with himself. Jean snorts, “Then you really don’t know dick, do you?!”

The redhead stares at the radar console and it leans a bit before falling to the floor, taking one of the soldiers with it. The Colonel calls out, “Spread out! Keep them contained…I can’t afford to lose one of them!”

“You’re gonna lose more than just us!” Beast says as he leaps up in the air, landing on three of the soldiers. Cyclops blasts the two nearest to Stryker with his vision, but Stryker takes aim with a weapon that he has never seen before. He discharges a blinding blast that hits the wall behind them…creating a hole the size of the machines on the other side. “Watch out!” cries Rogue as they scatter. Stryker continues to take aim at the mutants…trying to get them to make a mistake, but Jean decides to take control. She focuses in on the gun and it begins to tremble.

“What the hell…?” Stryker exclaims as sparks begin to fly from it as he keeps trying to press the trigger.

Nothing comes out…the gun itself beginning to get hot, too hot to hold so he lets it fall out of his hands. Jean mentally throws it across the room…letting it explode against the wall. Large pieces of cement and metal fly around the room as the X-Men make their way out.

Stryker looks after them, “Damn, damn, damn… Find me that fucking Creed! Set him loose…I want Logan and that bitch back here, NOW!” As the soldiers scramble to do exactly that, Stryker looks around at the destruction of his control center. I will not lose this! I will not lose my project!



Wolverine stalks the halls in the compound, sniffing out Stryker. The feral wants this to end…make sure that any idea of taking Ororo again isn’t even that, a damn idea! He makes his way down a corridor and into a large room. In the middle of the room sits a large tank with all kinds of wires and machines attached. This is where they fused the metal to his bones….turned him into a monster. He walks over to the tank…remembering the last time he was here, fighting Lady Deathstrike, ending with her dying from an over-injection of adamantium. This should be gone, but even if I destroy it…that bastard is gonna create another one!

One hand is placed against the edge of the tank as his mind tries to reach back and remember what it is he can’t. Wolverine is so engrossed in his thoughts that the only thing that brings him out of it is a sweet scent…orchids.

'No…'

He turns around to see where the scent is coming from and sees her step out from a corridor to the right of him. “’Ro…why are ya’ here? Ya’ supposed ta’ be outta here…”

“I know what you want to do and I can’t let you do it by yourself. I can’t chance you getting captured by Stryker, I wouldn’t be able to handle it!” Storm tells him, her eyes shining with tears. The Wolverine smiles at her…'Damned if she isn’t as hard-headed as I am!'

“We have to take out Stryker…with him gone; we won’t have to worry about them coming after ya’ again. Darlin’, this is what I’ve been trained ta’ do…what I had spent my entire life doing…but now, yer a part of me and I can’t let them threaten that anymore. I know I’m gonna do some things stupid, but the one thing I can do is try my best ta’ keep ya’ safe.” Logan looks into her eyes, pleading for understanding, “And ta’ do that…I gotta get rid of him.”

She hugs him, “I know what you have to do, and I understand…I trust you.”

“How touching…now, ya’ mind taking yer hands off my frail?”

They break apart to see Creed standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. Wolverine pushes her behind him as he snarls, “Last time I looked, she’s mine…even when ya’ had a chance, ya’ missed.”

Those horrible claws lengthen as Wolverine’s claws emerge as well. “This is gonna be a fight ta’ the death…ya’ know that, don’cha?” Wolverine says as he steps forward.

“Winner takes all, I guess?” Creed returns. Storm stands there staring at the both of them…praying to the Goddess to keep Logan safe, her temper rising. The goddess Storm starts to growl…an imminent threat to her mate has come and she is ready for battle. Logan hears the low rumble, smiling. The feral turns to her and nods as she moves to the other side of the tank watching carefully…knowing this isn’t going to be as easy as that. Storm stands ready, waiting for the ambush that is sure to be coming…wanting to tell Wolverine to be careful, but it would be useless…this is for revenge and for what they lost…there would be no mercy.

Preparing for the worst, she crouches on a table…watching over her mate.

Wolverine can sense that she has accepted what is going to happen here…and she isn’t going to talk him out of it. He smiles wickedly, “You tried ta’ hurt me by hurtin’ her…bad move.”

“It worked…here ya’ are ready ta’ kill me. And after ya’ fail, she’ll be mine anyway…” the brawny mutant returns. They both start to circle each other…measuring each other out and trying to shake each other with words first. Wolverine smiles again, “She was never yers…even after what ya’ did, she was never yers. Ya’ thought I was gonna toss her aside, hate ya’ scent on her and refuse ta’ have anything to do with ‘er…ya’ wanted me ta’ rage and accept that ya’ took her from me?” He sees that he has Creed’s full attention…and he’s getting more and more pissed. “Ya’ never had a chance…I guess that’s what makes me better than ya’, and why she chose me ta’ be her mate…”

Creed’s face darkens, itching to take that smug look off Wolverine’s face, “She loved it, ya’ know? She couldn’t stop crying out my name…”

The feral laughs, “Why’re ya’ lying? I know she fought ya’ almost ta’ her last breath…ya’ sorry fuckin’ bastard. Accept it, Vic…yer pathetic when it comes ta’ women, which is why ya’ have to rape ‘em to get any!”

“Rrrrrraaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!” Creed screams as he barrels toward Wolverine…gripping him by the waist and driving him into the floor. The bigger mutant punches Wolverine in the face over and over again…maliciously watching the blood fly from his mouth. “Ya’ll never be better than me…she was so timid, she needed a rough time to get her engines running!”

Wolverine can’t take the malicious lies anymore and pushes Creed off him with his legs, crouching into a striking position and growls, “Is that what ya’ think? All ya’ ever knew was to be a damn animal…but never fuckin’ learned anythin’ else! She’s mine, Creed…and mine alone!”

Creed rushes him again, but this time the feral’s ready for the charge. Wolverine takes the hit and stops him…running his claws into Victor’s gut and twisting. Creed lets out a painful yowl as he slashes across Wolverine’s face, making him grunt. Licking the blood running from the scars on his face, he dives at Victor again, driving the claws into his shoulders. Creed throws him off, driving his claws into Wolverine’s side…and he yells, slashing Creed across the face. They back up for a second, then come crashing into each other again…fists leading the way. They connect, knocking each other back a few steps…but they come again. Wolverine plants a boot into Creed’s neck right before slashing twice across his chest.

“Aaaahhhhhh!” Creed calls out as he slashes at Wolverine, catching him across his back and neck. He happens to catch a major artery with the slash across the neck and a gasp can be heard from Storm. Creed smiles as Wolverine starts to stumble from the blood loss, “Looks like you lose, runt…” and he rushes him with claws drawn. Wolverine drops down just in time to catch him on his shoulder, lunching him into the air and in the tank. Once Creed lands in the water, he presses the buttons and switches that seals him in the water…preparing the subject for the injection of whatever chemical they have prepared. Creed starts to claw the tank…his nails making groves but not deep enough to rupture the glass. Wolverine watches as needles lower into the water and pierce Creed in various places…all the way to his bones. A hideous scream enters the room as it starts to pump an unknown mixture into his body. Soon all the thrashing and water splashing slow to a stop as he is reduced to random spasms between the injections.

Wolverine smiles as he drops to his knees, the slice at his jugular still pouring blood…the healing taking too long. Storm runs over to see the damage and gasps; he has slices across his chest and face…the one at his neck leaking profusely. There is as much blood that’s Creed’s on him as is his own…the uniform is in tatters and he’s trying desperately to breathe.

“Logan, please lean on me, we have to get you out of here. You’re in no condition to take anyone else on.”

“I’m fine, darlin’… gotta get Stryker…” he whispers as he leans his weight on her.

“You don’t have to do anything! You’re badly hurt and we have to get out of here, so you have to help me…”

Ororo tells him and feels him lift a bit to start walking. His blood slowly makes its way down her white gown…turning it a bright crimson.

“Yer too damn stubborn…” he moans.

“Be glad that I am…we’ll come back for Stryker. We have to get you to the Blackbird…” she murmurs as she moves as quickly as she can down the hall.

Neither one looks back at the catatonic body sunk to the bottom of the tank…claws imbedded into the glass.



Explosions rock the compound with men and women running around to find the right way out. One nurse from the lab…the pretty one with brown hair walks calmly down the hall and to the loading dock. As she climbs into a jeep, she looks into a pouch she has and makes sure that the six vials that she stole are still safe.

“It was a good idea…” she murmurs as her hair changes to auburn and her skin goes from white to blue. “That Creed didn’t tell me everything, I see…”

Mystique makes her way out of the compound…driving towards the Brotherhood…