Chapter 244 — The Beast That Answers Back
The tunnel air was thick — metallic, sour, heavy with death. The kind of smell that settled into your skin and stayed for days.
Sabretooth stood under a flickering light, his grin slicing through the dark like a wolf showing its teeth. His coat hung open, chest bare, muscles coiled like a spring.
Logan's eyes flicked to the side — Storm, Rogue, and the others were readying to jump in, Colossus bracing like a wall about to charge. He could smell their anger, the adrenaline flooding the air like ozone before a thunderstorm.
"STOP!" he barked — voice sharp enough to slice through the chaos.
They froze. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Logan's chest heaved, blood soaking through the torn yellow of his suit. His eyes burned gold under the tunnel light. "Don't interfere," he growled, low and cold. "There can't be two hunters in my territory. Go. Save the Morlocks. Leave him to me."
Storm wanted to argue — he could see it in her clenched jaw, the flash in her eyes. But something in his tone, something primal, made her step back. One by one, they turned away — the team scattering into the dark to rescue the living while the two beasts prepared to tear each other apart.
And when their footsteps faded, Logan rolled his neck, claws glinting in the dim light. "Now," he muttered, eyes locking onto the shadows ahead, "let's see if you're all bark, Creed."
Sabretooth chuckled, deep and taunting. "Oh, I'm bark and bite, runt. You just don't know which one hurts more."
Logan stepped forward — and then it hit him.
That shiver.
It crawled up his spine like liquid fire, every nerve humming as the Equalizer inside him reacted. His genes flared, resonating with Sabretooth's — a mirror recognizing itself.
For a blink, his heart stuttered. His senses sharpened, the world expanding, stretching, slowing — every drip, every breath, every flick of muscle from Sabretooth now existed in slow motion clarity.
But Logan ignored it.
Not now. Not after what he'd just seen in the tunnels.
The smell of the Morlocks' blood was still fresh in his nose. The screams of the children still echoed. Rage drowned reason, and instinct took the wheel.
He rolled his neck until it cracked. "Enough talk."
Sabretooth's smile widened. "That's my boy."
And then they collided.
The sound was thunder trapped underground — claws meeting flesh, bone meeting steel. Sparks sprayed as adamantium met natural talons.
Sabretooth's laughter echoed through the tunnel. "Still slow, Logan! All that shiny metal holdin' you back!"
Logan gritted his teeth, parried a slash, then a kick, then another. Sabretooth was faster, but sloppier — his movements wild, animalistic, overflowing with sadistic joy.
Logan ducked a swipe and rammed his shoulder into Creed's ribs, driving him into the wall hard enough to crack concrete.
"We'll see who's slow, bub."
Then the world slowed again — bullet time.
Logan's hearing sphere bloomed outward like sonar, every micro-echo mapping Sabretooth's stance, breath, and shifting weight. He could hear muscle fibers flex, feel vibrations in the air like a predator reading a storm.
Sabretooth lunged low — left claw incoming.
Logan's brain started to calculate a dodge, but before he could even decide, his body moved on its own.
His new beastial instincts roared to life.
He pivoted a fraction, ducked perfectly under the swing, and countered with an uppercut slash so fast it carved sparks through the air.
The smell of Creed's blood hit his nose — hot, sweet, savage.
Logan blinked, realizing his own hands had acted before his thoughts caught up.
"Huh," he muttered between breaths, eyes narrowing. "Guess I picked up somethin' from that furball after all."
Sabretooth licked the blood from his claws. "Feelin' good, ain't it? That's real you, runt. The animal you keep chained behind that human mask."
Logan's eyes burned amber in the dim light. "You call that livin'? You're just a mutt with a god complex."
"Heh. You say that now…" Sabretooth lunged again, claws flashing like lightning. "…but you're startin' to sound like me!"
They clashed again, no finesse — just violence.
Their roars filled the tunnels. The walls wept dust. Every hit was a confession, every wound a wordless scream.
Logan's claws tore across Creed's chest, splitting muscle, bone flashing white beneath. Creed howled, then answered with a rake across Logan's back, leaving deep furrows that sprayed crimson.
They circled, panting, animal eyes locked.
"Y'know," Creed sneered, "I almost respect ya when you're like this. Almost. Shame you wear that X symbol — doesn't suit a killer."
Logan spat blood. "Don't need your respect. Or your fashion advice."
Creed barked a laugh. "You sure? Yellow ain't your color, bub."
Then they were at it again — claws slicing the air, feet cracking stone, blood flying like rain.
Despite his exhaustion, despite the burns in his lungs and the pain clawing at every muscle, Logan was keeping up. The Equalizer combo was working like second nature now — the hearing sphere painting the world in invisible lines, bullet-time reflexes stretching each second thin, and those beastial instincts executing without hesitation.
It was the perfect storm — man and monster dancing on the knife's edge.
At one point, Sabretooth managed to grab him by the neck and slam him into the wall, pinning him. "Still think you're better'n me?"
Logan smirked through the blood on his teeth. "Nah. I know I am."
He headbutted Creed so hard the bigger man's nose exploded.
"Always were too slow on the draw, Creed."
"Yeah?" Creed grinned, spitting red. "How about now?"
He drove his claws straight toward Logan's chest — dead center.
Time snapped in half.
Logan saw the attack before it landed. Bullet-time froze it midair. His hearing tracked every creak in Creed's wrist, every drop of sweat sliding down his arm. His body moved — instinct, pure and primal — just enough to shift sideways.
The claws pierced flesh, but missed his heart by inches.
At the same time, Logan's right arm swung in a silver blur, claws cutting deep into Creed's throat.
Blood sprayed across the tunnel, hot and steaming.
Creed stumbled back, clutching his neck, half-slaughtered but grinning through it. "Heh… now that's my boy…"
Logan dropped to one knee, panting, every muscle screaming, body trying to heal faster than it could. He looked up at Creed, both of them drenched in blood, uniforms shredded, looking more like beasts than men.
"Wish I never gained your damn instincts," he rasped.
Sabretooth laughed — hoarse, choking, feral. "Don't lie. You love it. Feels good, don't it? Bein' honest for once?"
Logan growled but didn't answer. The rage had burned itself hollow, leaving nothing but the ache of too many dead faces behind his eyes.
They lunged one last time — not even for victory, just because neither of them knew how to stop.
Then both hit the ground. Hard.
Silence. Just the faint drip of blood on stone.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor — soft at first, then accompanied by a familiar bamf and puff of brimstone.
Nightcrawler appeared beside them, eyes wide at the sight. "Mein Gott… Logan."
Logan coughed, trying to stand, but his legs refused. Nightcrawler caught him by the arm, teleporting a few feet away to a clearer patch.
"The survivors," Kurt said quietly. "We've evacuated them. What… what do you plan to do with him?"
He nodded toward Sabretooth, sprawled in the dark, chest heaving weakly.
Logan wiped the blood from his mouth. "Nothin'. Not today."
Kurt frowned. "You could end this cycle. End him."
Logan looked at Creed — the monster who was somehow still grinning even half-dead — and exhaled smoke from the cigar he'd managed to light somewhere in the madness.
"I ain't takin' his head when he's down. That's not a hunt. That's mercy. And he don't deserve mercy."
He started walking — slow, limping, dragging his shadow behind him.
Sabretooth's voice rasped from the ground. "Go on then, chained dog. Run back to your leash. If I were you, I wouldn't waste this chance."
Logan didn't turn. "Don't need a chance, Creed. I can take your head anytime I damn want."
Sabretooth laughed — wild, echoing, blood bubbling in his throat — until it faded into the dripping dark.
Nightcrawler glanced back once, eyes heavy. "He will heal."
Logan nodded. "So will I."
They walked out together, leaving behind the wreckage — two predators, one broken, one refusing to be.
And as they vanished into the tunnels' fading light, Sabretooth's laughter echoed long after the footsteps were gone.