Dragons Among Heroes - Volume 1 Chapter 53 Battle Distraction Actions

Across a clearing from Devin stood one of the most prolific killers mutant kind had ever seen and one of the few people who could fight Wolverine to a stand still, Victor Creed, A.K.A Sabretooth. A homicidal mutant with razor sharp claws on each finger and a healing factor on par with Wolverine’s. This man must have been one of the loans that Stryker had sent to aid Klaue in his mission.

“Do I know you kid?” Sabretooth asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk plastered to his mug.

“No, but I know about you. I also happen to know a mutual acquaintance of yours.” Devin said as he started to look over the dozen men that were standing behind the mutant killer. They each were wearing various different equipment. though they all carried the same type of assault rifle. The men were a mix of both black and white and all of them looked like they were tempered in the various conflicts that popped up across the continent.

“Yeah? And who’s that?” Sabretooth said with sarcasm and his arms folded across his chest.

“Wolverine.” Devin said as he motioned with his left hand behind his back for his team to get ready.

“So, you know the runt. I guess I’ll have another fun little tale to tell him later about how I ripped your arms off and beat you to death with them huh?” Sabretooth said with a feral and fanged smile before crouching and spreading his hands to show off the wicked claws that tipped each finger. Devin and the rest readied themselves for what was about to happen.

With an almost beastial roar, Sabretooth charged forward with the rest of his men following and firing off rounds. Devin and the others charged forward as well with bullets flying around them and a few bouncing off of the clothes and armor the Wakandans wore. Devin met Sabretooth in the center of the clearing where claws met blade in a shower of sparks. The two’s strength seemed equal before Devin was sent flying through the air thanks to a mighty shove from Sabretooth. Devin managed to flip and land on his feet thanks to his Wingly Bloodline.

Ever since Devin had received the bloodline, he had noticed that his speed, reflexes and hand-eye coordination had all been boosted along with the magical abilities and the shiny new wings. Devin charged forward once more, but this time instead of a contest of strength he baseball slid between Sabretooth’s legs while raising his sword high enough for it to meet Sabretooth’s flesh. As Devin stood up and turned he saw that he had managed to lay open Sabretooth from mid-abdomen to groin, but the depth of the cut was only maybe an inch or so deep. As Devin watched the ends of the gash began to seal together while Creed gave a growl at the sensation of his skin knitting back together.

‘This is gonna take awhile.’ Devin thought as he adjusted his stance for round two. Creed having now healed, charged on two legs before switching to both hands and legs. This gave him a boost of speed that caught Devin off guard allowing Creed to drive his shoulder into Devin’s midsection. The force drove the air from Devin’s lungs while sending Devin rocketing across the clearing and ploughing through two of the hired guns that were about to tag team one of the dora milaje.

Devin wheezed a breath out as he cradled his ribs. A few seconds later Devin managed to get back to his feet though he was still wheezing a bit. Sabretooth had been engaged by a pair of dora milaje and was currently throwing them around like a pair of rag dolls with only their armor keeping them from being torn to shreds by his claws. T’Challa appeared next to Devin as a lull in the battle allowed him to take a minute to breath.

“Who is that man?” T’Challa asked as he looked around at all the other warriors and their situations.

“His name is Victor Creed, AKA Sabretooth. He’s a mutant and a notorious serial killer. He has a regenerative abilities as well as retractable claws on his fingers and higher than average strength, senses, and reflexes. He’s also proficient in hand to hand and is older than your great grandfather.” Devin said with a cough before he collected his sword from the ground next to him and turned to see Sabretooth knock out the last of the two dora milaje.

“I’ll take him while you and the women dispatch the last of his men then if I haven’t finished we’ll swarm him together.” Devin said as he began to channel light magic into his free left hand.

“Alright but we need to hurry. Klaue definitely knows that we are here now and he might run.” T’Challa said as he sprinted off. Devin focused a small orb of light magic into existence above his palm before taking off in the direction of Creed. Creed turned around just as Devin reached him. Devin placed the orb right in front of Creed’s eyes before closing his own and the orb exploded in a bright flash of light that instantly blinded everyone looking. Devin knew that it wouldn’t be permanent, but might give him enough time to subdue him somehow.

Spots still danced in Devin’s vision even though he had closed his eyes but he could see enough to swing his sword and remove Sabretooth’s right hand. As the limb went flying a random haymaker landed on Devin’s jaw causing him to stagger back. Sabretooth had blood dripping from his eyes but Devin could see him sniffing similar to how he knew Wolverine would when he was sniffing for someone.

“You think this is the first time someone has done this kid?” Sabretooth growled as he turned his head this way and that seeming to be trying to find Devin. Any second his eyes should regrow and his hand is still lying on the ground. T’Challa arrived by Devin’s side as Sabretooth’s eyes finally regenerated. He reached down and grabbed his severed hand as a massive siren began to sound. Sabretooth’s head darted up to look up into the sky as he listened to the siren for a fraction of a second before grinning at Devin and T’Challa which was slightly unsettling due to the blood that stained his cheeks.

“Guess time is up unfortunately. We’ll meet again soon and then I’ll make good on my promise.” Sabretooth said before turning and dashing off into the jungle. T’Challa tried to pursue but Devin held him back.

“Why are you stopping me?!” T’Challa demanded to know as the concious dora milaje gathered around.

“T’Challa we have two unconcious warriors and this whole situation is suspicious as hell. We need to regroup and figure out what is going on.” Devin reasoned as the warriors around him nodded in agreement as T’Challa sighed in defeat as he realized the truth of what he was told.

“You’re right. We should check in while we wait for Zeshe and Adea to wake up.” T’Challa said just before the coms that he had built into his helmet sounded.

“That’s weird.” T’Challa muttered as he answered his com. A few seconds later T’Challa went stiff as his hand fell from his ear.

“What happened?” Devin asked as he saw the prince’s frozen stature. Slowly T’Challa’s head turned slowly to look at Devin.

“The palace has been attacked. My father and sister have both gone missing and are presumed to have been taken by the instigators.” T’Challa said with a clipped tone. Devin knew that this coinciding with what happened with Sabretooth was way too much of a coincidence.

‘What is it with these old guys and kidnapping people!’ Devin thought as he gestured for the warriors to wake the unconcious women.

“This whole thing was a distraction somehow and we fell for it.” Devin muttered as he thought of how things went wrong. No one was left alive on Stryker’s end to report anything so it wasn’t that, but maybe the fact that Klaue couldn’t contact Stryker or anyone was what tipped him off.

“Did you know about this?!” T’Challa demanded as he got into Devin’s face. Devin looked into the white lenses of the helmet for a full second before speaking.

“No. If I had known about this I wouldn’t have been out here with you. I’d be back in the capital kicking Klaue’s men’s asses.” Devin said as he walked over and began to sort through the dead henchmen’s pockets and gathering what he could while the groans of the waking dora milaje sounded from nearby.

“Radio back and tell them that we’re gonna head back and help to track down where the king and your sister went.” Devin said as he pocketed everything of use such as lighters and spare ammo, one guy had a grenade which he hadn’t used thankfully. After he had finished looting everything and he stored all the guns and ammo in his inventory the others were ready to head back.

“Let’s get back and figure out what happened.” Devin said as he began to walk towards the direction that the vehicles were and the others followed.

‘This isn’t gonna be pleasant.’