「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(188) King of the Cage

Lynn's POV

Cautiously stepping into the foreign parlour, the young mutant's paces were slow and heavy, obviously spelling out her uncertainty as she unsteadily lugged the huge duffle bag that could easily weigh half her own mass in her contrastingly tiny palms. Cloaked in a full length olive coat, the teenage brunette was still moderately shivering under her hooded woolen apparel as she stared aghast at the rowdy men and women at the cage fighting side.

Yet another battle had ended with a contestant being dragged out of the fenced arena unconscious, but weakly breathing. Undeniably, Logan was no longer the ruthless animal we encountered in Alkali Lake that understood nothing about mercy. Rather, he was increasingly growing to look like the good and mature leader we once knew as he casually stood at a corner of the meshed enclosure.

Flaunting his muscular and hairy top that was bare apart from the beads of sweat which accumulated throughout the sparring matches, Logan hung his head low while he faced the masses and simply awaited his new opponent as he readily flushed the glass of scotch in his hand down his throat like it was plain water.

"Gentlemen, in all my years, I've never seen anything like this!" The emcee fervently announced.

Although his energetic frame was bouncing enthusiastically in the fair distance, his booming voice echoed boisterously throughout the premises nonetheless with the help of the resonance provided by his handheld microphone. Despite having sat here nearly everyday since I agreed to become James' partner, I never really got accustomed to the blaring noise that relentlessly blistered my eardrums and decided to down the remaining of my hard liquor to keep myself warm, hoping it would simultaneously null out the obnoxious commotion.

"Are you going to let this man
walk away with your money?!" Our anchorman instigated in a perpetual provocative manner.

"No!" The crowd roared in cohesion, actively hurling countless vulgar gestures towards the battle area.

"I'll fight him!" A regular customer gallantly volunteered as he rose from the stands.

Swiftly tugging off his jacket to unveil his similarly beefed up body clothed in a printed black singlet, the man of sturdy built took wide strides into the confined ring, appearing highly confident as he stood tall and mighty against his muted and stunted competitor.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our saviour!" The stage entertainer declared powerfully and the excited audience rapturously applauded Stu's arrival.

The gamekeeper secretly whispered beside Stu's ear, something that was inaudible from my side as he made a deliberate effort to shroud the mysterious utterance by covering his mouthpiece, though it was probably obvious that he was just giving Stu due warning not to attack Logan anywhere private, evidenced by Stu's confounded expression since there were meant to be no rules in these matches.

Upon consideration, Stu accepted them nonetheless and began assaulting Logan, favorably dominating the duel for maybe ten seconds before Logan retaliated with a swift punch to his fist, taking Stu down in a matter of two moves, and the familiar triple ring of the terminated bell chimed again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's winner and still King of the Cage, the Wolverine," the officiate broadcasted in a dramatic tone and the dissatisfied heaps of people jeered as they leisurely dispersed from the final show of the night.

Eventually, the bar was reverted to a relatively peaceful state with most of the patrons departing given it was a late weekday night. Observing that James was slightly less occupied except for cleaning up the bar and serving the lone customer that sat just before him whilst his staff tallied the earnings from tonight's bets, I tipsily pulled myself into my chair. Carefully gathering the used utensils onto my lap, I slowly rolled towards the raised counter, aiming for my prudent movement to aid in the safe transportation of the breakables in my mildly intoxicated condition.

"You want something new, honey? Or are you sticking with water?" James sought kindly as he wiped some empty glasses.

The insecure youngster peered up at him apprehensively but gave no verbal response as she returned her blank gaze to the tip jar atop the wooden surface. Although she was not looking, James gave her a sad smile, clearly sensing her desires and was about to offer her a little funding for her trip when Logan approached the bar after being clothed again.

"I'll have a beer," Logan demanded politely.

Sitting down as he lit up yet another cigar he never seemed to be able to put down, Logan exchanged several judging glances with the peculiar girl a couple of seats away, both of them definitely finding each other strange while they quickly scrutinized each other.

James smiled nicely, uncapping a chilled bottle for Logan and handed it over when the symphonic tune of the news channel punctually jingled.

"Ellis Island, once the arrival point
for American immigrants,
is opening its doors again. Preparations are nearly completed for the United Nations World Summit. The event promises to be the largest single gathering of world leaders in history," the newscaster narrated as I made it approximately halfway across the floor.

"Leaders will discuss issues ranging from the world's economy and weapons treaties, to the mutant phenomenon and its impact on our world stage," he continued and I naturally froze in motion as I registered his words.

Doubtlessly, I was not the only one stunned as I spied Logan and the young lady briefly glancing up to the screen in the instant our kind was mentioned but we all attempted a nonchalant front, like we were not different from the others in the room. I persisted on my path and James grinned brightly, resisting his urge to ogle me as I made my way around the counter, partially choking on smoke.

"American legislators contend that debate over mutant issues should be the primary focus of what is, on the surface at least, a diplomatic affair," the newscaster recited as I stopped at my destination and witnessed Stu advancing towards Logan's back.

"You owe me some money," Stu muttered grudgingly as he rudely tapped on Logan's shoulder but Logan only faced over marginally while James courteously collected the items from me and put them away.

"Stu, let's not do this," Stu's friend persuaded.

"No man takes a beating like that
without a mark to show for it," Stu insisted.

"Come on, this isn't worth it," his mate reiterated, trying to remove Stu from the pub but to no avail especially when Logan blatantly ignored them.

"I know what you are," Stu hissed as he bent forward to Logan.

"You lost your money. You keep this up, you lose something else," Logan refuted calmly.

James timely returned to notice the brewing argument and subtly hurried over to my side, gently stroking my back as he tenderly held my hand in his other, standing close by as if to guard me.

Somewhat discouraged by Logan's indifference, Stu was reluctantly hauled away by his companion but almost directly, Stu speedily yanked out a short knife from his comrade's waist belt in attempt to stab.

"Look out!" The anxious teen screamed immediately as I sent an identical telepathic message into Logan's mind.

It was ambiguous whether our signals or his extremely perceptive senses gave him the advantage as he agilely dodged the attack. Logan rapidly pinned Stu to a nearby pillar and extending two of his knuckle fangs on the side to restrain Stu's head, inching out the middle one.

Logan, don't do this, I begged and he looked around, disoriented awhile, pausing as his last claw tipped Stu's neck.

Suddenly, the click of a loaded gun distracted me and it was only then did I realize James had already left my side.

XXXXX

Hi guys! Sorry for the slightly late update. I was delayed this morning at work 😣

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed Logan's official re-entrance to the story. Be sure to vote/comment! 😍