Almost Alone

"I like get to know the person I’m gonna kick the shit out of." Logan said arrogantly, shrugging his shoulders as if to say ‘duh!’

Cobra nodded, smiling as she continued to circle. She waited for the moment that this Wolverine would leave his flank turned toward her for just a second too long, or when he would drop his hands from in front of his eyes for just a moment, a moment long enough that she could spray him. She knew that he knew what she was, but she wasn’t particularly sure how he knew. He had to be a mutant himself to be able to tell by looking, but she wasn’t sure how he could know even then.

She was soon to get her opportunity. Just as she was leaning herself farther forward to move in for a good shot, he dropped his hands down about a half an inch, which was just enough for a clean shot. She opened her mouth and lifted her tongue, shooting a thick stream of blue venom into Wolverine’s face.

Wolverine roared in pain and quickly rubbed it away from his eyes. When he looked back at her, his eyes had teared just enough to get rid of the venom. She watched as the skin it had burned sealed back up before her eyes. As he raised his head, she charged forward, knocking him into the wall of the cage. He pushed back with brutal force, knocking her clear back into the opposite wall as he regained his sight. As soon as

she started to get back up, he rammed his left shoulder into her chest, knocking the wind out of her as soon as he made impact. He stood up triumphantly and looked down at her.

He smiled arrogantly as he turned and walked toward the door. As he reached for the gate, he heard her stand up behind him. As her footsteps began to approach him from behind, he shot his hand out behind him, aiming the three 12-inch long metal claws that now protruded out from it at her throat. "Stop right there, or I’ll turn your windpipe into mincemeat." He threatened, calmly and quickly, turning to face her.

Cobra stopped in her tracks with the three claws poking into the tender skin of her throat. She whimpered slightly as the crowd that had been roaring in anticipation a second before fell silent. She watched as Wolverine walked out of the ring a victor. After she turned away, she walked over to the pile of her clothes that was lying just outside the ring.

She dressed in them quickly and ran to try and catch up with the mysterious stranger that had just walked in and walked back out of the bar.

As she got outside the door, she saw him walking down the street toward the small inn a couple of blocks down. She broke out into a run and caught up with him before he opened the door. "Do you get the nightmares?" she asked. A look of utter shock washed over his face.

"What did you say?" he asked, walking into the small inn. She followed him in and watched as he turned around to catch her answer.

"I asked if you got the nightmares, too." She asked again, only to be greeted by the same blank stare she had gotten before. When she saw that he was utterly lost, she turned back toward the door and held up her hand, squeezing the muscles and pushing three long claws out from between her knuckles. "I wanna know if you have the dreams about where these come from. The doctors...the needles...the pain..." she asked,

looking into his eyes at the last point.

He couldn’t stop himself from staring at her claws. He even ventured to grab the tip of one and wiggle it, as if to test reality a little bit.

"They’re as real as yours." Cobra said, still not breaking her gaze.

"You have the dreams, too?" Wolverine asked. "I need to talk to you, then." He said, looking into her eyes and trying to find the answer there. He reserved a room and took her up there with him.

"Where are you from?" Cobra asked as they walked up the hallway to the room he had staked out.

"I don’t know. They must have wiped my memory, because I have no clue where I’m originally from." Wolverine admitted, shaking his head from side to side as if to emphasize his point.

The two of them walked into the room, Cobra following closely behind Wolverine. "Well, I really think the first thing we ought to do is at least learn each other’s real names and get away from this Wolverine-Cobra bullshit."