Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

Audrey was taken aback by the sudden edge in Professor Logan’s voice, and he realized he had been harsher than he meant to, so he sighed and added, ”I’ll tell you about real hatred. There are two men I hate. One was from my old life, and he was time-slipped like everyone else. The other was recent. Do you want to know what he did? He killed my wife before my very eyes.”

Audrey felt her breath catch, and although she wanted to ask what he did, she found herself unable to. But Logan understood, so he continued, ”I tried to kill him. And I failed. I was looking for him when I found the X-Men instead. And what choice did I make? I decided to return to my family, instead of seeking blind revenge. Because in the end, hate will only eat you from the inside. So don’t hate Blaire, get to know her instead.”

Audrey bit her lip and asked a question she knew was over the line, but she could not help herself. ”That man… do you know who he is?”

Logan shook his head, replying with surprising honesty, ”No. I know what he looks like, and that’s it. My memory… it’s not the best.”

”But you’re so strong, Professor Logan. That couldn’t have been too many people, maybe that if we searched-”

Logan cut her off dryly, ”I told you, kid, I chose to leave this behind. Because I know that if I start chasing him down, I will lose myself in it, and possibly hurt innocent people. I… I’m not a good person, kid.”

Logan showed a rare moment of vulnerability, but Audrey was having none of it. Hands on her hips, she refuted, ”No, that won’t do. That’s no proper resolution.” She realized what it sounded like, and hurriedly added, ”And I’m not saying you should be hellbent on revenge! I don’t think that killing is the right thing to do. But simply giving up without trying won’t do either. Besides, someone who just killed your wife can’t be a good person, they must be stopped before they harm other people! So I could help you find him and take him down! And if he is too strong, my brother could come help. He’s super powerful.”

The last thing Logan wanted to do was involve a child in his personal revenge, especially one he was so desperately trying to put behind him, so he changed the subject, asking, ”It’s today that your brother is visiting, right? Is he supposed to be some hero too? The one who freed mutants from the Time-slip?”

To be perfectly honest, Logan had not done such a good job at keeping up with the current situation. Although he had somehow escaped the Time-slip, he did not remember much from those decades, so he felt just as time-displaced as the others. Except that he was more stubborn than them, and still had not learned to properly use the internet of today.

So his information nowadays mainly came from what he heard from colleagues and students, and occasionally the newspaper. He did not remember reading about her brother, though, hence the doubt.

Audrey nodded rapidly, ”Yeah! He’s kind of disappeared from the radar recently because he was on some secret mission with magicians, I think, but he’s just returned to New York. My sister told me he has been healing children with deadly diseases since he came back.”

Audrey’s voice dripped with pride towards her brother, so Logan mused, ”He sounds like a good person. It’s good that he is strong, good people need to be strong.”

Audrey nodded, unaware of the deeper meaning behind Logan’s words. ”He is, although he can be bad too. He…” She looked around, making sure no one was there, which made Logan smile. ”he killed people. Bad people, but we had an argument before he left, the last time I saw him. I… I didn’t mean it, but I ended up telling him I hated him, and that’s when I awakened my power for the first time.”

Stolen from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Logan chuckled, ruffling her hair as he asked, ”So you’re nervous he will be mad at you? I wouldn’t worry about that. I may not know your brother, but I’m sure he never cared about it.”

Audrey nervously pursed her lips, now wondering how Mason would be when he arrived. Her brother had never been angry with her, but she could not help wondering.

Logan said, ”Alright, it’s time to return to the mansion, you still have another class. And the next time, try not to use your powers. Or better yet, stop the next time from happening by getting to know her and becoming her friend.”

Audrey nodded, although she knew it would probably not be that simple, and the two returned to the mansion together.

As they approached the mansion, Logan suddenly jerked his head up, staring into the sky. Audrey curiously followed his gaze, and at first, saw nothing, but then she noticed the point arcing through the sky.

”Is that… a person?”

Audrey was more curious than scared, because she had seen plenty of people capable of flying at the mansion.

Logan confirmed, ”It is.”

The figure rapidly descended from the sky, with some bursts of fire erupting around them, and finally, as they landed, Audrey recognized the figure as her brother.

Audrey was about to call to him when Professor Logan suddenly shouted, ”YOU!”

Had it been before she started training, Audrey would have jumped, but she found herself going into combat mode instinctively as she looked at her Professor. His eyes were bulging, his jaw was clenched tightly, and his Adamantium claws were slowly coming out. She remembered hearing that taking the claws out hurt him every time, like getting stabbed in the hands, so she knew it was not something he would do as a joke.

But that only served to confuse her more as she noticed the hatred on Professor Logan’s face. She was confused because she unconsciously refused to believe the logical explanation for Professor Logan’s reaction, but as she looked at her brother and saw recognition on his face, she understood.

Her brother was the man Professor Logan sought for revenge, the man who had killed his wife.

Even that did not compute, though. She knew her brother. She had been cross with him for killing those ninjas before, but she also understood there was a world of difference between killing demon-possessed ninjas and the innocent wife of a man. She simply could not believe her brother could have done that. There had to be an explanation, a misunderstanding.

But Mason was not interested in clearing things up, staring at Professor Logan with a grin as he taunted, ”Well, well, well, don’t you look just fantastic out of that red and black costume.”

Professor Logan growled when Professor Xavier called out, ”Logan! What are you doing?”

Audrey could see that Professor Logan was on the verge of being overwhelmed by his rage, but thankfully, his respect for the Professor overpowered even that, as he spoke through gritted teeth, ”He is the one. The one who killed Kwannon.”

Mason tilted his head, asking, ”Kwannon? Is that Psylocke’s name?”

The faces of all the Professors instantly turned upside down, frowning as they stared at her brother, and suddenly, Audrey did not know what to do. And seeing how casual Mason still looked, she felt like kicking him.

So she decided to do just that.

Momentarily empowering herself with her golden aura, she leapt across the lawn, sending a flying kick at Mason’s face.

But her brother only gave her a fond smile and, moving faster than she could follow, grabbed her ankle, neutralized the power of her kick, and guided her back to the ground before placing both hands on her shoulders, immobilizing her.

”Stop trying to kick me so damn much, will you? That’s a really bad habit.”

Her brother’s casual tone helped Audrey relax, despite the utter effectiveness of her kick. This was her brother. Annoyingly arrogant, quite selfish in his own way, but undoubtedly her brother. So she knew it had to be a misunderstanding, so she looked up at him and scowled, ”Stop making problems and explain yourself. Professor Logan is about to slice you up.”

Mason rolled his eyes, staring at the barely contained Logan. ”I’d like to see him try. Although, I would rather avoid a mind-wipe if I can help it.”