21 The Third Opponent

It had been Charles' plan to let Sabretooth win.

To purposefully lose and put a speedy end to their fight in order to quickly come to his aid. He hadn't liked it, the hatred between him and Sabretooth was deep on both ends, but Wolverine knew that now was not the time to settle a grudge between them both. Nor did he ever think it would come to an end at any point soon.

It had lasted for centuries and would no doubt last until one of them was dead, something both had tried to accomplish since their grudge started. All of their attempts had ended in failure, but they kept trying anyway and now was no different. A fight between the two of them would never end quickly or definitively, there was always going to be some unforeseen factor that would give one the advantage over the other, but they would always manage to survive and come back for more at a later date.

So, he had allowed himself to be beaten, never making it too obvious, Sabretooth would see right through it if he did.

Then, after he was sure that Sabretooth was gone, something that didn't take long, he then made his way back to the X-Mansion. It would take some time, a few hours, but thankfully, Storm arrived in plenty of time upon the Blackbird, picking him up where they both made their way up into the floating space station where Charles guided them.

When they arrived, it was chaos.

Magneto was attacking Charles, Jean and Scott fighting back against them as Quicksilver, Blob, Toad and Avalanche fought against the rest of the X-Men. "Where's Sabretooth?" Wolverine quickly asked, conscious of how dangerous his old foe was as Storm burst into action, battling against Magneto alongside Scott and Jean.

Charles meanwhile pointed towards the scuffle taking place, largely unnoticed in the background of the major fight between both sides. One that saw Esau tackling Sabretooth to the ground, pinning him there as he unloaded a series of blows with one hand into his lower back and side. It took him a moment to realise what was happening and when he did, the sight made his lips twitch upwards, amused at the sight of his old foe being beaten by a boy.

Though he knew that was only temporary.

"Go, Logan," Charles told him, watching the series of fights unfolding before him. "You will be of no use to the others against Magneto and I have yet to see Mystique. But she will be nearby and watching over the Brotherhood students."

Nodding his head, Wolverine turned, rushing through the chaotic fights and making his way towards the fight between Sabretooth and Esau, just as they broke apart. Esau had broken Victor's arm, snapping it cleanly in half, but that proved to be the very opportunity Sabretooth needed to slip free, his other arm swinging around, claws cutting into his face.

Esau backed away, clutching his cheek, blood dribbling between his fingers as Victor got to his feet, arm healing rapidly, ready to pounce. But at that moment, Wolverine burst in with a roar, claws piercing into Sabretooth's sides as he picked him up and carried him for a few feet before slamming him down to the ground. He then pulled them out, swiping and cutting into his body and arms like a slab of meat, mauling him like a wild animal.

However, Sabretooth was saved when Esau came in, a roundhouse kick smashing into the side of Wolverine's face, knocking him away. Wolverine went with the momentum, rolling to his feet, arms raised to block the front kick that slammed into them with a force that was superhuman. Enough so, that he stumbled back, catching his footing just in time to grab the roundhouse kick coming for his head.

'Kicks?' Logan wondered, a switch kick then striking him on the underside of his chin. But while he had not been able to dodge it, Logan had received his fair share of powerful blows through his life to react accordingly.

Any other fighter, good or bad, would have reflexively let go of the leg as he fell back. Not Logan though, as he the foot struck, Logan went back and keeping a tight grip on Esau's leg, used his strength to bring him up in the air and slam him into the ground.

Not expecting this, Esau let out a grunt and was left exposed to the kick to his ribs that actually hurt him.

Yet Logan did not press the advantage, or perhaps the better way to describe it would be that he couldn't. As Esau and Logan had been engaged in a short conflict, Sabretooth's healing factor kicked in and recovering rapidly, he got to his feet and charged, claws digging into Logan's back. He then spun the X-Man round, a punch striking him in the jaw, another few to the body before jumping up and kneeing Logan in the face.

Wolverine fell back, he and Sabretooth grappling, but neither got anywhere, constantly shifting positions of dominance before they broke apart. "You faked it, didn't you?" Victor asked, rising to his feet, claws flexing dangerously.

Logan also rose to his feet, wounds healing quickly, but blood stains were still present, much like always, their conflicts left the two a bloody mess. Their claws had torn into one another flesh, rending it asunder and sending litres of blood pooling onto the ground. Yet the two still stood tall, looking unaffected by their injures as they circled one another carefully.

"Obviously." Logan scoffed, Victor smiling humourlessly.

"I should have seen it sooner."

"You should have." Logan's retort made the smile on Victor's face slip away, he looked towards Esau who had been watching from a kneeling position.

His intention had been to wait for an opening, but the fierce grappling between the two that had been his opening ended before he had the chance to move. "Hey kid, I'll overlook your little behaviour problem from earlier. So how about we team up against old Jimmy boy here?"

"Sounds good." Esau's response was instant, getting to his feet and moving forwards. "I've been looking for an opportunity to kick his ass for a long time. I just hope he doesn't croak too soon. I'll let you take point and deal with those claws, seeing as though you can heal and I can't."

"I can hear you," Logan replied, tensing up as his gaze flickered between Esau and Victor.

But the look in his eyes changed suddenly when he noticed movement on Esau's part. It was a look that Victor noticed too late, knees buckling as they were struck from behind. Two hands then gripped the back fo his jacket and threw him on a collision course with Logan who looked just as shocked as he was.

Both recovered quickly, Logan ducking round and under Victor's figure, ignoring the claws that tore into his back as Victor sailed over him. He landed with a grunt, rolling with the momentum, spinning around and dashing towards Logan and Esau.

The latter, despite having caught both Logan and Victor off-guard, didn't find himself able to capitalise fully upon it, Logan ready for him. Wolverine met his charge head-on, Esau was quickly forced to backpedal, as he ducked and weaved under the swipes of his claws, the whistling sound made a dangerous symphony that matched the pounding of his heart.

Esau though, stopped suddenly, body twisting unnaturally as he ducked under a strike, fist firing upwards in a perfect and devastating uppercut. Logan had seen his fair share of odd strikes, people putting their own unique spins on basic techniques that either made them better or worse. But a strike like that and from that angle, it was unlike anything he had seen before and it struck true and with force.

He could feel the blood pooling in his mouth as he bit into his tongue violently, his feet leaving the ground as he looked down urgently at the smirking face of Esau. Though he had little time to think upon it as a two-footed strike hit him from behind, throwing him forwards, Victor thrust his claws down at Esau who with a slight shift of his feet, managed to somehow avoid the strike.

It shouldn't have been possible really.

A blow from that angle was meant to be a finished blow, one that left the attacker completely exposed, sacrificing any form of defence or manoeuvrability in return for devastating knockout power. Yet, Esau avoided it, all the same, Victor landing and meeting Esau's charge head-on.

He parried the basic one-two combo with ease, coming in close and grabbing Esau by his collar bone, literally. Using that as momentum, flipped Esau onto the ground, taking the top position and cutting into his raised guard, hands in a basic guard that covered his face but left his forearms exposed.

Forearms that were torn to shred exposing bone that had its own fair share of claws marks upon it before Victor vacated the position as Logan came charging towards them. The two foes swiped at one another, Logan trying to keep Victor at some distance with his claws where they would be more effective, whereas Victor tried to get close where his own claws would hold the advantage.

All the while Esau rolled up onto his knees, ignoring the throbbing and stinging of his arms, blood dripping down onto the ground. 'This is so much fun.' An eager, bloody smile came onto his face as he rushed forwards, not letting Sabretooth or Wolverine forget that he was here as well.