driftfleet | Blameless Mingle

[Well, that was something. Logan watched her for a moment, then simply shook his head and went back to eating his sandwich. After some thoughtful chewing he decided to answer flatly with:]

You can call yerself whatever you like, sweetheart. But if you wanna threaten me, ya better plan on followin' up on it.

[Azula makes a show of inspecting her nails.]

So it's to be like that, then. Shame.

Tell me. How do you feel about fire?

[Logan briefly recalled how Nitro had scorched him to the point that all that was left of him was his adamantium coated bones. Somehow he'd recovered from even that. It was not something he really savored experiencing again. Burns were always somehow the worst to recover from. But they didn't scare him.]

I feel like ya better hope yer hotter'n the sun. [Another bite of his sandwich.]

I've never done a strict comparison. [It's true. Azula has no idea how hot the sun is. That sort of knowledge and technology is a little beyond her world.

Still, a man who isn't afraid of fire presents a problem.]

If you like, perhaps you can let me know. [She makes a quick gesture with one hand, and a ball of blue flame appears to rest there.]

Three seconds.

[Logan props his elbow onto the arm of his chair and raises his forearm vertically. His skin breaks as three metal claws emerge from his flesh, each one thin but razor sharp. That was the only threat he made, however. Indeed, he was still using his other hand to keep his sandwich close to his mouth as he was finishing the last of it.]

That's how long it'd take me to take off that hand. Wanna make a wager of it?

[Azula stares him down for a moment, impassive and perfectly still. Then in the next moment, she's vaulted herself off the captain's chair and backflipped up and over it. In case Logan is thinking of using the opportunity while she's mid-air to strike, a significant trail of her trademark blue fire follows from her feet as they flip outwards-- creating a sort of barrier of flame between herself and Logan until she lands on the ground in a ready fighting crouch.

She isn't super-human fast. That's for sure. But she's still fast for a regular human. And one hundred percent confident.]

[Well shit. He'd really hoped that he'd called her bluff and she would just back out. But this demented little brat really was spoiling for a fight. He watched the blue flames coat the room and hew knew that this was going to be painful. Her precision and form was perfect and she was certainly light on her feet. Logan was no slouch himself, but a man with metal bones weighing him down was never going to be as quick as that. He didn't need to be. Tight quarters gave him the advantage here.

He rose from his chair and set the rest of sandwich to the side. Until she actually singed him, this was all theatrics. Slowly be plodded himself up to the very barrier she had created until he could feel the heat hot on his face. He remained waiting there.]

An' here I thought you'd be tryin' to court my vote. Is this really worth it to you?

[He'd give her a fight if he absolutely had to. But this was just a kid. Some screwed up in the head kid, sure. But she was too damned young to have to see the worst of him if it could be avoided.]

A waste of time and effort. You clearly aren't the sort of person who can be won over by talk and empty platitudes.

[That much is obvious.]

Besides. When I have a crew, I like to know what I'm dealing with.

[This is the problem with being hailed as a prodigy and excelling in everything you do all your life: you don't develop any healthy sense of fear. Logan does not intimidate her one bit. She's confident she can take him, regardless of whether or not she actually can.]

[Well. That sure as hell is a supervillain speech. And he's left with two options here. He can be cowed and let her have her way - or he can show that he's not just some push over. Good sense would have him swallow his pride and let her have her way.

... but Logan hasn't always been known for his good sense. A second set of claws emerges far more quickly from his other hand. Then he steps through the wall of fire. His skin and clothes begin to burn and it feels like hell. There was a misconception that many had that just because he could heal from most anything, that meant he didn't feel pain. He still felt it. The only difference was time and experience had made him able to cope with it.

Even on the other side, his skin looked none too healthy. But that was fine. Slowly but surely, the damage was being repaired. Superficial surface damage like this always healed the fastest. It did a fine job of pissing him off, though. On the other side of the fire, he was like a feral animal now. He was panting heavily, half growling and with his eyes locked on her like a wounded beast with nothing left to lose. Only this wounded beast was getting healthier again by the second. His last warning to her took some effort.]

Last. Chance.

[Azula's eyes widen for a fraction of a second as Logan's injuries begin healing. Now that's something she hasn't seen before.]

[But then, that only makes this an even better challenge. Good.]

... Impressive. But it won't be enough.

[Challenge or no, this person clearly isn't to be taken lightly, either. Better to end it quickly. There's only a split second notice as Azula's stance changes before she lashes out with one forearm, lightning arcing out with it.]

[Well, she'd mentioned fire - but lightning he wasn't expecting. It's also not something easily dodged. The lightning takes him straight to the middle and he doesn't even have time to think about it before he's sent flying back. His back collides with the captain's chair and he slumps down there, temporarily immobile.

Electricity might not conduct adamantium, but the rest of the human body does. But it doesn't kill him. His claws begin to grind against the metal ground as he begins to stir again. The lightning may have done some internal damage, but that's slowly beginning to knit itself back together. The burned skin has already returned to its natural pink.]

[That much lightning and still not dead? Azula isn't sure whether to be irritated or impressed. Against her? It's a problem. But with her...]

You know, it would be a shame to lose a man of such strength and bravery to the airlock.

The way I see it, this can play out one of two ways. We can continue this childish display of power from dawn until dusk until one of us is taken out. You're a person of great pride, I can see that. Unfortunately for you, so am I. So the only way that ends is with one or both of us dead.

Alternatively, you ally yourself with me, and we can end this whole fiasco right here.

[Logan was a ball of rage now. He could play calm at times, but there was a point where he couldn't easily turn it off. Just now was bordering on one of those moments. He was soon back on his feet and he was advancing on the girl again. He heard her words, but he simply didn't care. He was not some mook to take orders. After nearly a century of being toyed with by one individual or organization to another, he was beyond falling for some Cloud City Vadering.]

I told ya when yer last chance was, kid. Ya done missed it already.

[There was a distinct problem that many encountered when it came to the Wolverine. It didn't matter how many times he was hit - he always got back up.]

[Azula settles back into her ready stance and tsks.]

That's really too bad. Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Getting in close would be hard, unless he wanted to walk through flames. He needed momentum and distraction. Fortunately he was not without options. Two of his claws slid back inside his forearm a split second before using the remaining blade to slice clean through the top half of the captain's chair. It would've made for a good shield as he charged her. Instead he hurled it with surprising speed and strength.

And then he charged. His blades glistened from reflected flames, but for how wild and savage his attack might have seemed, there was restraint still behind it. If he could help it, he wasn't going to cut off anything she might miss.]

[It's those claws that are the problem, she thinks. She just has to avoid those-- unless he has any other tricks up his sleeve she doesn't know about. As it is, Logan does indeed have the advantage in close quarters. Letting him get within arm's reach would be a mistake.

Azula dodges to one side, avoiding the chair, then makes a hasty couple of cartwheels backwards-- out of the bridge and into the connecting hallway. It's not anywhere near as graceful as something Ty Lee might have executed, but it serves it's purpose. Flames follow her arcing feet as she goes, and once she's on her feet again after creating some distance, she punches out the biggest fireball she can manage in an otherwise-small corridor.

This ship is going to have some scorch-marks.]

[She's on the move. That's fine - it's easier that way. Now that she's in the corridor, it's entirely his territory to corner her. He moves quicker and more agile than a man of his build would suggest. When the blast of flames comes towards him, he has to twist to flatten his back to the wall. He feels the heat of the flames boil against his skin, but it's all surface damage again. The pain is internalized and used to funnel his anger.

He comes out of the flames with fury in his eyes and quickly closing the space she had earned herself. From the way his fists were swinging, it would look as though he had every intention of cutting right through her. He hadn't decided yet if that's what he would do or not.]

[She fires off another jet of flame from her other fist as Logan closes in. Unfortunately, Logan's claws make his reach longer than Azula is used to, and the second time she tries to dodge them to one side, they come much too close for comfort. The world seems to go in slow motion for a second as the very edges of Logan's claws barely scrape three long scratches across the front of her armor, before she turns and runs further back down the corridor once more. If she can only give him the run around long enough to get down to the cargo hold!

Azula's strategy continues as such for a while-- retreating several metres, stopping just long enough to fire off more streams of flame and draw him in again, then dodging like hell and retreating again. It's not ideal-- but she can't go on the offensive like this until they're out of the hallways. Until then she just needs to bide her time and not slip up. She treats it a bit like the fight against the Avatar and his cronies during the Day of Black Sun-- giving Logan the old run around. She's like a monkey, never staying still for a moment.

Against all odds, she actually seems to be enjoying herself, if the grin on her face is anything to go by.]

[Logan twists to avoid the flames, but more like a dancer in motion than a deliberate attempt to dodge and take shelter. His skin suffers for it, but his momentum doesn't. If she stops to attack him, it's only to her own disadvantage - the flames don't slow him down as nearly as much as they do her. With the shuttle bay not too far away now, Logan takes his chances by leaping into a sudden tackle, arms outstretched and claws providing extra reach. Much as he might enjoy tearing her eyes out, he intends only to tackle her.

All of it is painful as hell, but this was the kind of thing Logan was made for. It might not be accurate to say he was enjoying this, but the man was in his element. He was the apex predator, after all.]

[Well, shit. There isn't enough maneuvering room to dodge a full body tackle, so she falls back on the old standard-- if you can't dodge them, electrocute them into infinity.]

[An electric charge straight to his head isn't ideal. He sees only the flash before everything seems to go black - but though he falters for half a moment, it doesn't stop his momentum. At point blank, it should have fried his brain, but his adamantium skull protects him from that much at least. The rest of him devoid of sense continues to barrel towards her before his legs begin to fail him.]

[Ha! She's triumphant for a split second when Logan seems to slow, but--]

[--Sadly, still underestimates Logan's ability to keep barreling on long after most mortals would have been fried to a crisp. In the seconds she takes to gloat, she fails to move out of the way in time, and goes down. Hard.

It happens so quickly, she doesn't even seem to realise what's going on until it's too late.]

[Logan is a charred and badly burned mess of a human being just then. From the blast of lightning directed into his skull, his entire face is blacked and grotesque such that even his eyes have been burned, even if not entirely away. A man his size might have been heavy enough, but the adamantium skeleton added another fifty kilograms to his weight. All of it landed on her, though he was senseless during it.

She would have precious moments to try and get out from under him. His body was slowly knitting together the internal damage first before it would begin to start repairing that on the surface. But he was alive. His hard and labored breaths were proof of that.]

Blameless Mingle

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