80: The Fight for Bub

The Fight for Bub

[[Marcellus Hanley]]

Sometimes you just need to kick back and relax. Let go of all your worries, put on your headphones, turn on some orchestral and close your eyes.

Trust me… This is the most I have been relaxed in a very long time.

Everything is moving accordingly so I can have the luxury to relax. 

"Do you want to go and meet Shifu next week, Mavros?" I picked up the big panther and placed him over my chest. 

A normal human wouldn't have been able to do such a thing— but I am no ordinary human.

He purred and rolled around before sleeping comfortably over my chest.

There are a lot of things that I need to do for the future… well more than I am doing now. But I have a little time for that.

"Here you go." 

I turned my head and found Peggy— standing behind me with a plate of fruit salad.

"Your mother prepared them." She said before passing me the plate.

"Have you eaten?" I asked her but she shook her head.

"No, I am on a diet." 

That made me look at her weirdly. 

She had the perfect body and I don't see any major difference in her weight… Women are weird. 

I could have read her mind but using mind reading for every little thing makes life unenjoyable. 

Unless the person is suspicious or I find the need to use mind reading, I keep it off.

"And… why exactly are you torturing yourself with that?" I asked, curious about her reason.

She smiled. 

"Dieting is good sometimes. There are quite a lot of benefits." She declared.

Are there? I have only heard bad things about dieting… and especially when it is done by a healthy person.

"I… see." I said, not convinced in the least.

She frowned a little. "Trust me, there are."

I chuckled at her antiques. "I do."

She looked at me sternly for a little while but ended up sighing. She then looked at the sleeping panther.

"He seems to be enjoying himself." She said.

Quite a few close people knew about Mavros' identity and Peggy was one of them.

"He is." I said as I gave his head a soft rub. "And I believe you can do something about the legal rights?" 

I grinned but she frowned.

"That will be… difficult." 

She hates any and every unethical thing but she also has a weakness…

"If his identity is revealed to be a panther… he will be locked in a cage." I looked straight into her eyes. "Do you want that?"

Her lips twitched. "You are good at manipulation."

"Am I?"

She didn't seem too happy but it was always fun teasing her.

"Mind turning on the television? The remote is right next to you." I said, making her turn around.

"Yeah." She picked it up and turned on the television.

"Tell me that you are not into those soap operas…" She said half sarcastically.

"Nope… Just sports and news." 

She raised an eyebrow at my answer.

"You don't like movies?" She asked. 

"I do." I said. "We went to a cinema hall on our first date."

She blushed at my words.

"It was not a date…" She mumbled nigh inaudibly. 

"So… Peggy." 

She looked at me, surprised. "Yeah?"

"Want to go somewhere to relax in a month or two?" I asked, drawing her curiosity.

"Go where?" She asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know… Maldives, Greece or maybe Paris?" 

She looked at me with wide eyes as she realised I was being serious.

"I would love to!" 

Perfect…

…

…

[[James "Logan" Howlett, The Wolverine]]

The trail of blood led me to a cave. Bones and blood surrounded the area and the stench of death was nauseating.

Walking towards the cave, I realised what was happening.

It was a trap. More precisely… He was waiting for me, prepared.

And that assumption was led true as I noticed the same smell that I felt in Japan.

The smell of blood and death… the smell of a beast.

As I walked inside the cave, the smell got stronger. Once I was deep inside it… I heard an echoing voice.1

"Welcome, little one." The voice was deep and resounding. "I have been waiting."

I subconsciously let out my claws, as a growl escaped my lips.

"Romulus…"

A burly man with long white hair walked out of the shadows. He had a massive grin plastered across his face. 

"James…" He laughed. "How good to see you."

"Romulus." I growled. "Where is Akihiro."

He tilted his head sideways. "Akihiro? Ah, the young cub."

He grinned. "He is better than I expected. And with proper training, he might even surpass you." 

I don't feel very happy hearing that. Because I don't want my son to follow my path and the fact that he was trained by Romulus didn't make it any better.

"Where. Is. He!"

"Easy there young'un. The kid is safe, but if you want to take him away… you will have to face me first." He extended his claws and lunged at me with a blinding speed. 

Blinding… If I was the same as I was in Japan.

But I am not.

Sparks flew as our claws clashed. Surprised by my reaction speed— he grew a feral grin.

"Not too bad…" He said and immediately plunged his other arm towards me— which I barely dodged. 

I have improved but he had centuries of experience over me.

But that is no excuse.

I had strength!

I launched a kick straight to his head but he blocked it with his hands.

He flinched a little at the impact and looked at me with surprised eyes.

"You have improved. You have improved a lot." His feral grin grew larger. "Show me how much you have improved James! Show me!"

He threw a punch using his full strength— Which to my surprise, I was unable to dodge.

"*Arrgh*" 

I coughed blood but I didn't have the time to relax. 

He cracked his fingers and got ready to launch a barrage of attacks. 

"Where is my bub!"

I sprinted towards him with the new claws. His blows didn't feel as painful as it did in Japan. But I was risking nothing. 

He tried to stop it with his claws but to his surprise, my claws grazed him. 

I cannot drag this for too long. 

"Your cub is sleeping… somewhere safe." He said. "But to get to him, you must defea—"

Not allowing him to finish, I threw a jab at him, drawing blood from him.

"You talk too much." I said, making him scowl.

"This is fun…" He said as his eyebrows furrowed. "But you will pay."

He stopped and looked at me. "Maybe I should use your son as a punching bag later?"

My anger was increasing. 

You are making a nice expression." He laughed.

"You… will not lay a finger on him."

Both of us clashed, each carving each other's bodies with our claws.

He laughed maniacally each time a slash landed on his body.

He was enjoying the fight, he was enjoying the pain.

But my mind and body were reacting the same way. I was craving blood!

"I remember the first day I trained your cub… The cries of pain and mercy, the redness of the blood and the breaking of the bones… Oh, it was so enjoyable."

That… was the last straw. 

His ramblings on beating and torturing awakened something in me… It turned a flip, and before I knew it.

I had lost control.

__________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Another one coming.

Marvel Facts: (1) Stan Lee once sued Marvel.

(2) Marvel once tried to trademark the word "Zombie." Kinda succeeded for like 2 decades? Then they trademarked the word "Marvel Zombies."

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