“Put down your name and who brought you at the top and sign the bottom,” Wolverine said roughly, shoving a piece of paper at the teen as he tried to enter. It was 2am the following Saturday morning and the abandoned warehouse 2 miles from Xavier’s on the shitty side of town was about to start hopping.
“What?” muttered the suspicious tanned boy with bleached hair and natural body armor plates covering his torso, shoulders, and upper arms.
“The contract,” Wolverine growled, again pushing it in the guy’s face.
The teen looked over at Zerker, who’d brought him, “What is this shit, Ray? He serious?” the kid laughed.
Zerker’s face morphed from his usually genial smile to a hard look that meant no dicking around. “You want in you agree to the contract and you fucking sign, Evan.” He poked his finger into the kid’s chest hard enough to make him back up a couple of steps, despite the natural armor covering most of his torso.
“Sign or get lost,” Wolverine snarled. He was getting better at this with each person who balked. So far only 1 guy had decided to walk away, but he had a feeling that toady looking bastard would be back soon. The rest had signed on the dotted line, too curious or pig-headed to back down.
“Seriously Spyke, sign it,” Zerker said firmly.
The boy lifted the page and read.
1. I will not talk about Mutant Underground to anyone. Not my mom, my sponsor, my priest, or God Almighty, no-fucking-one. If I do I can expect excruciatingly painful retribution from The House.
2. I will pay a $20 entrance fee to watch fights and an additional $30 fee to participate in a match, not including any bets I place. I will not piss and moan about the price.
3. I will not walk away after one win but must continue in the night’s tournament until I lose a match or win the night.
4. I am not a pussy, pussies sit on the sidelines, so I agree to fight at least one match a month.
5. I will not bitch, cry, or whine about injuries I sustain or money I lose.
6. I will not go to the police or the emergency room after a match. I agree to let The House render any necessary medical treatment.
7. I agree to full disclosure of any and all mutant abilities I have. (List your abilities on the back of this contract.)
8. I agree if a fight is designated as “no powers” I will compete without any mutant abilities whatsoever.
9. I agree if I am caught using any mutant ability in a “no powers” match I forfeit all previous winnings for the evening to The House and will be banned from Mutant Underground permanently, as will my sponsor.
10. I agree that if I lose a fight I am out of competition for the rest of the night. I will probably be too fucked up to continue anyway.
11. I agree that The House will run the betting pool, and I will not engage in side betting on my or other’s matches. If caught placing side bets I will be banned from Mutant Underground, as will my sponsor.
12. I agree that if I lose a match my opponent receives 50% of my previous winnings for the night, which is tracked by The House.
13. I will not bitch when I lose…and I will lose.
14. I understand that if I break any of the above rules, in addition to any financial penalties instituted, The House will administer a serious beat down on my stupid ass and the ass of the fuckhead who sponsored me for Mutant Underground.
“You’re shitting me,” Spyke said slowly as he raised his head from the paper and looked skeptically at his friend. Judging by the looks on their faces his Mohawked buddy and the new kid were clearly not joking.
Zerker handed Evan a pen. “Spyke, you want in on this, believe me.”
“What the fuck is a sponsor?” Spyke said as he scribbled on the bottom line.
“I’m yours, you idiot.” Zerker cuffed his friend in the arm. “I gotta vouch for your ass, and if you fuck up you and me both get held accountable.” The friendly look once again vanished from Zerker's face. Wolverine was impressed, the guy could look downright mean when he put half a mind to it. “So don’t fuck up.” Spyke nodded at his friend and shouldered past him to the interior of the warehouse.
“Not bad, not bad,” Rogue remarked as she passed by, pausing only to swat Wolverine on the ass. “You’ll make a decent bouncer yet.” He reached for her, but she dodged away from his grip laughing.
“We got a good number of people here now, we can start in a bit,” he pointed out.
He looked over the gaggle of kids who’d showed up, all sorts, most of the guys here to fight and most of the girls to gawk. All mutants. The ones from Xavier’s he was pretty damn sure wouldn’t blab or they’d all be in major trouble: Polaris, Colossus, Shadowcat, Gambit, Spyke and Jubilee. The Brotherhood House crew just looked like they were up for trouble in general and would have no interest in screwing this up if it turned out to be some up-to-no-good fun. Mimic, Sunfire, Psylocke, Bishop, Wolfsbane and Deadpool in addition to Silver and Pyro.
Rogue nodded to Pyro, who pushed shut the heavy rolling steel door, sealing them in the old warehouse Silver had found during the week. The kid had checked out half of town in a day and found this little gem near the river, all the nearby business closed and no one around for a half mile.
Sneaking the Institute kids out hadn’t been difficult once Lanche managed to bribe Shadowcat to phase them out of the mansion at 1am. She’d been surprisingly susceptible to his offer of a fifth of bourbon and a carton of smokes. Who knew the kitty cat had a naughty streak? Her willingness had thrilled Lanche to no end until he’d tried to hold her hand on the way over and she’d pushed away from him to walk with Polaris. Now she was back to ignoring him and the boy’s mood darkened swiftly.
Avalanche was itching for a fight and had volunteered to go first as soon as he met up with the others, i.e. The House: Rogue, Wolverine, Bezerker, Quicksilver, and Pyro. They would run the Mutant Underground and take in all door fees and a cut off the top of all bets placed. The fighters got to keep their winnings which were entry fee payouts and bets they chose to place, unless they lost and had to fork over half of their take to that point to whoever kicked their ass. Fair was fair.
“Alright, you signed your asses on the dotted line,” Rogue said, stepping to the loose circle of teenagers, “Now it’s time for the rules.”
“What the hell is up with all the rules? I’m here to fight!” a husky black kid with dreadlocks shouted.
“You’ll get your chance, Bishop,” Rogue said sharply. “You listen or you get out.” She stripped off her gloves and stood a little to close to the big kid for comfort. “Clear?” Wolverine knew the smile she gave the guy was not friendly at all, more like the way a shark looks right before it rips off your leg.
Bishops apparently wasn’t as stupid as he looked because he backed down a bit and nodded for her to continue.
“Only three rules,” Rogue said again, raising her voice and turning in a circle to look at everyone. “One, your opponent taps out it’s over. Two, no biting, everything else goes. Three, you get knocked on your ass three times you lose. Knockouts are fine, but we don’t require them because it’ll be hard to explain too many black eyes and busted teeth. We need to keep this shit under the radar. Got it?”
Nods all around, but Wolverine noticed a few people still looked nervous. Might as well get the ball rolling.
“Avalanche, put your money down,” he said, looking at his friend. Lanche grinned and threw a wad of bills on the floor at his feet. “Any takers?” he asked, looking over at the rest of the kids. Interestingly enough Jubilee looked itching for some action and started forward but was pushed aside by the kid with dreads who tossed down his money as well.
“Powers,” he stated firmly, getting up in Avalanche’s face.
“Fine with me.” The other boy grinned back darkly and cracked his knuckles.
Rogue scooped up the money and gave the combatants a minute to warm up.
“What’s this guy’s power?” Wolverine said to himself, flipping through the signed contracts to find Bishops stats on the back: absorb all forms of radiant or conductive energy that are directed towards him and to release that energy from his hands.
WTF?
Zerker leaned over, “Means if me, Sunfire, Jubilee or someone else like us blasts him it doesn’t effect him. He just absorbs it and can fire back.” Zerker eyed Bishop speculatively, weighing the idea of fighting against a guy like that versus taking on someone with a power radically different from his own. He’d figure it out later when it was his turn to rumble.
“How’s that gonna help him against a guy like Avalanche?” Wolverine asked, eyeing the big black kid up and down.
“Dunno, maybe he just wants to break some bones and doesn’t care how,” Zerker speculated.
“I bet,” the surly teen muttered. He’d see what this Bishop was all about, maybe take him on later if he was still standing. Lanche was smaller than the other guy, but his bud had a mean streak he downplayed most of the time, except for now. Everything on Lanche’s face clearly said he was ready to dish out an ass whipping and it didn’t matter who he served it up to.
The fight started quick and dirty with Bishop trying to overpower his slighter opponent by rushing him and hitting Lanche low in the midsection as he wrapped his arms around his waist in a bear hug. Lanche struggled for a moment before his eyes rolled up in his head and Wolverine worried for second about an early tap out and quick end to the first match. Bad for business.
Then the ground rocked under everyone’s feet and kids stumbled against each other. The floor under Bishop shifted wildly, knocking him backward. He flailed his arms for balance and released Lanche, who dropped to a crouch and flashed an angry grimace, all teeth.
“Get ready for a ride on the concrete coaster!” Avalanche shouted then slammed one foot down. A crack appeared under his dirty sneaker and snaked across the floor to Bishop and split the ground under him, trapping one of his legs, and the bigger kid fell to the ground and knocked his head hard.
“One knock down!” Rogue yelled and the other teens erupted into cheers. As Bishop struggled to free his leg Silver shouted the odds and zipped around the room taking bets for the next knock down. Good to have a guy quick on his feet and fast enough to handle the action because Bishop was up quickly and circled Avalanche. He feinted to one side then lashed out one meaty hand to rock the Lanche’s head back. Colossus shouted encouragement at his boxing teammate to keep his guard up while Wolfsbane barked at Bishop to take his opponent down.
Bishop was kept off balance by the earth shaking and grew furious when he realized his powers were of little use to him against a kinetic attack like Avalanche’s. His powers were energy absorption and re-direction and there was nothing Lanche threw at him he could suck in and blast back. So Bishop reorganized his strategy and went for using his muscle to keep the slighter kid off balance, kicking at him as he threw a flurry of punches to back Lanche against the metal rails of the stairway to the upper level. They traded blows back and forth to the face and body. Lanche was getting the worse of it, although he managed to get away from the corner he’d been backed into and delivered a few punishing blows to Bishop’s kidneys and gut before the bigger kid grabbed his arm and shoved him back against the staircase rails.
Lanche head butted Bishop viciously, a bad move that made both of them shout in pain as they stumbled away from each other, shaking their heads to clear the stars. Lanche got in a nice kick to Bishop’s thigh, right in the muscle for a world class charley-horse and almost knocked him to the ground again, but the kid was well-conditioned. Bishop blew it off quickly and wrapped an arm around Avalanche’s waist and tried to ram him into one of the support beams holding up the stairs. Lanche managed to twist to the side just in time to avoid what would have been a crushing back injury and snaked out of Bishop’s grip, then grabbed the pole supporting the flight of stairs and swung around it lightning quick to slam both feet with Bishop’s back. The dreadlocked teen stumbled forward, but saved himself from another counted knock down when he grabbed the railing and rounded on Avalanche, cursing under his breath.
As Bishop threw a ferocious left cross at Lanche’s face the other boy leapt up and grabbed the rail above his head and launched himself in a swing to sail over it in a flip to come to rest on the landing above Bishop’s head. Appreciative whistles and shouts abounded as Avalanche waved to Bishop to come and get him. As the bigger kid raced up the stairs, Lanche clenched one fist and rolled his eyes back again, rocking the ground under the stairs. Metal shrieked and the stairs bucked as the ground under them rolled in a sinuous wave. Lanche jumped over the railing to land on his feet as the first flight of stairs tore free of its mooring and fell to the side, taking Bishop with them.
The dreadlocked kid pushed away from the collapsing metal frame and fell into a roll to avoid the debris showering down behind him. Alert to Bishop's distraction, Lanche leapt onto his back and wrapped one forearm around his opponent’s beefy throat. Bishop clawed at the grip around his neck and spun them around, trying to dislodge the teen on his back. The other kids, including Rogue and Wolverine, screamed encouragement. Avalanche’s eyes rolled back again, showing just the whites, as he bent and bowed the ground under the two of them and Bishop tripped over a rift in the ground that roiled under his feet and crashed face forward to the ground.
“Two knock downs!” Rogue screamed over the cacophony of rumbling earth and groaning metal as the warehouse shook around them. Bishop rolled over onto his back and squirmed to grind Avalanche into the floor beneath him, but it was too late. Lanche wrapped his legs around his adversary’s waist and repositioned his grip around Bishop’s throat until his adversary’s own eyes rolled back and the hand that had been scrabbling at his face fell tapped weakly at Lanche’s forearm as it ground into his windpipe.
“Winner!” Rogue shouted as Wolverine jumped in to pry Avalanche’s arms from around Bishop’s neck before he gave the guy brain damage. Lanche let go but shot his buddy a glare that screamed he was still raring to go.
“You’ll get your chance! You gotta keep fighting until you lose!” Wolverine shouted as he pulled Avalanche to his feet and slapped him on the back. His friend spared him a grimace before he stalked over to his Institute friends and took a bottled water from Zerker as he ripped his sweaty shirt over his head and wiped his face with it. Then he flung himself on the top of a crate and lit a smoke, breathing hard and glaring around him like he was dying for someone to look at him wrong so he could jump them.
Wolverine noticed Kitty hovering behind Avalanche. She looked like she wanted to say something, but kept starting back just when she was about to open her mouth. First time for everything. Avalanches sensed the girl hovering behind him and looked over his shoulder.
“What?” he barked aggressively. She drew back once more, shaking her head, and stayed in the shadows. But Wolverine saw, even in the half light of the swinging light bulbs, her eyes were locked on his friend’s bare back as the teen huffed angrily through his cigarette and rolled his neck on his shoulders. Wolverine smirked to himself.
Nothing like a brutal display of testosterone to get the ladies jumping.
Rogue called for the next two combatants and this time Jubilee and another Asian looking kid called Sunfire from BH stepped forward, both agreeing to a powers match. On paper they seemed pretty evenly matched, both unleashing plasma based discharges from their hands. Jubilee’s crackled and shrieked like fireworks while Sunfire’s blasted out in a stream of blue-white flames and the occasional concussive blast that made the spectators retreat to the stand against the wall.
This was the kind of fight where a lot of space was needed and Wolverine wondered if next week they could chance doing some of the fights outside. Otherwise the warehouse might crash down around them at some point. He figured Avalanche’s wild ride might have loosened the foundations. The scorch marks both Jubliee and Sunfire were leaving on the walls and floor attested that the notion of finding an outdoor space would be a wise option.
Sunfire could fly and used that to his advantage, raining down fire and blasts like searing rain, but Jubilee was lithe and fast, cartwheeling out of his range, flipping and spinning like a gymnast as he darted down at her from his airborne perch. As the match wore on Sunfire’s solar energy stores began to run low and he had to return to the ground to continue the fight, which Jubilee turned in her favor by pressing forward with a series of spinning kicks that sent her opposition scurrying backwards and relying on fending her off with a series of concussive blasts from his hands.
Above the screams and cheers of the others, Rogue informed Wolverine that Jubilee was a red belt in Wushu Kung Fu and only weeks away from her black belt exam. He could tell. The slick Asian chick with the short hair definitely had the one up on her opponent in terms of pure fighting skill.
The match carried on with each fighter knocking each other down twice then it was sudden death, and they both seemed to take it literally. It came to an end when Sunfire’s solar reserves ran out and he could no longer use his mutation to fend off his quicker and more agile opponent. Jubilee ended it with with a heel kick that crashed into Sunfire's midsection and folded him double over her leg before he fell to the ground one last time.
Money moved fast and furious among the the teens with Quicksilver in the midst of a hailstorm of betting slips and shouts over odds. The BH kids were pissed at being down 0-2 after the first couple of matches. Wolfsbane bowed up to fight Gambit, but there was a heated disagreement over powers or no.
The Xavier kid had never seen the attractive BH girl before, but he planned to see a lot more of her later, once he put her in her place. When Gambit winked condescendingly at the red haired lass and said, “No powers. Don wanna hurt da petit,” she cursed him and tried to scratch his face, which only made the Cajun chuckle and further infuriate her.
The Scottish beauty’s temper flamed as bright as her hair at his arrogant appraisal as his red on black eyes roamed boldly over her frame. It was only when she screeched some snide gossip about Gambit’s overcompensation for a small penis that the grin slid off the Cajun’s face and he sneeringly agreed to a mutation match.
Wolverine and Pyro grinned at each other over the shoulders of the two fighters they were barely managing to keep apart. This was going to be good. Silver was practically a blur as he ran back and forth between kids, bets placed faster than one could see.
“Maybe Gambit will kiss it and make it better after, mon petit,” Gambit taunted as he flicked a few charged cards at Wolfsbane, who snarled as she did a neat back handspring out of the way. He whistled appreciatively at her smooth execution then leered at her ass. His smug demeanor morphed into horror when the gorgeous redhead unexpectedly burst out of her clothes as she shape-shifted into a huge, snarling, russet furred wolf.
“Whoa! Non! Arręte!” the Cajun shouted as she leapt at him with a howl and latched her jaws into his shin. Rogue shouted “One knock down!” over the jeers of the crowd as Wolfsbane dragged Gambit across the floor by his leg, the thief scrabbling desperately at the concrete and screaming in French.
It took a few moments for Wolverine to decipher the boy’s hysterical shouts as Gambit’s cry of surrender. Pyro and Colossus pulled the Cajun away from the growling wolf, and Wolverine laughed as he patted Wolfsbane on the head in congratulation. Her tongue lolled out one side of her muzzle, and she gave a bark that sounded distinctly like derisive laughter. Gambit cursed fluently in embarrassment as he was razzed soundly by kids from both houses.
Pyro tossed a backpack behind a stack of crates and Wolfsbane followed it, reappearing a minute later dressed in a spare set of clothes. “Och, I hate ta ruin a good par o’ jeans, bah twas worth it ta see tha plonker on his arse,” she exclaimed to general hilarity.
By the end of the night most of the kids had fought with the exception of Rogue, Wolverine, Shadowcat, and the BH kid Deadpool. Avalanche had come out on top in the end, standing over Colossus's massive metal frame once the big man stumbled one last time on his slow, clumsy feet when his opponent split the ground under him.The big man just wasn't quick or agile enough to stay on his feet when terra firm was not longer firma.
Lanche practically screamed in triumph as he raised his arms over his head in victory. Kitty stayed in the shadows but Wolverine scented the uptick in her scent as Avalanche was named winner for the night. Heh heh, so predictable.
The big Russian gave his friend a huge grin as he clambered to his feet and almost, but not quiet, bowed Lanche's knees with a congratulatory slap on the shoulder after he's phased back from his metal form. The lanky earth shaker was riding so high on adrenalin he didn't feel a thing as he grinned in satisfaction and stalked back to his seat on the crate. Avalanche took a long pull of the red wine Gambit had brought to the event, dribbling the dark nectar down his chin and chest as he drank in the sweet taste of victory. Money had flown rapidly back and forth between BH and Xavier’s students, and The House scored a nice haul, about $90 for each of the six of them one the entry fees and bet skims alone.
Overall most people were happy, even the ones eliminated early or limping home hurriedly before the sun rose and they got busted for breaking curfew.
It had been an exciting night, invigorating in its violence and lawlessness and the giddiness at actually pulling it off.
Wolverine slung an arm around Rogue’s shoulder as they walked out of the warehouse, and he nuzzled her hair. “You’re hot when you run the matches. All bossy and in charge and shit,” he muttered into her hair. She smelled like sweat, smoke, and excitement. Primo stuff.
If it wasn’t so damn late Wolverine would have taken Rogue around the side of the warehouse and seen if he could work some more excitement out of her. As it was they were both bone tired and ready to hit the hay.
“Wait until you see me in a fight, sugar,” she murmured in that raspy Southern summer voice that melted in his ear as she leaned heavily against him, her eyes drooping.
“Can’t wait. Say, we should-“
“Hey Wolverine, old buddy, old pal!” Deadpool slapped a hard hand on the kid's shoulder. “I hear you’re a healer. That right, Sourpuss?”
Wolverine gave the bald teen with the scarred face a mean stare that typically generated piss down a pants leg. Either the kid was too dense to pick up the danger glaring at him or just to plain stupid as he grinned glibly at Wolverine.
“What of it, Wilson?”
“See you next week, Skunk Bear.” Deadpool skipped away from them humming a jaunty tune. As he turned the corner his voice floated back to them in song, “Yay yay fighty time fighty time blood blood bloooooooood.”
Rogu and Wolverine looked at each other, identical eyebrows disappearing into their respective hairlines.
“Think we should run psych tests next week?” Rogue asked.
Wolverine shrugged, the hand in his pocked fingering his and Rogue’s share of the profits for the night, enough for a trip to Adam and Eve’s.
“A few psychos might be good for business, darlin’.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry I didn't post last night like I promised, dang head cold ruining my week!
Anywho, hope this makes up for it.
All mistakes are mine, too tired to proofread one more time!
Anywho, hope this makes up for it.
All mistakes are mine, too tired to proofread one more time!