Wolverine: Animals and Monsters
The name's Logan. Most people know me as Wolverine. I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice.
Logan wakes up to find himself on the forest floor. He feels blood dripping down his chin and wipes it off. Logan tries to get up, but he feels a horrible pain in his right arm. He looks down and sees that it's dislocated. Using his other arm, Logan pops it back into place. He then is able to stand up. What the hell happened? On que, the sounds of growling and snarling is heard and two huge creatures come tumbling down a cliff face, both locked in combat with the other, and land right in front of Logan. Oh yeah.
4 hours earlier
A S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter flies over the Canadian Rockies. Logan is sitting in the back with his legs up. Wearing his leather jacket and jeans, Logan is just waiting for this bird to land and it eventually does. Logan gets out and looks to see the town of Elkford. Or what's left of it anyway. Looks like someone had a bad day. There are wounded being loaded into ambulances and fires being put out. "Logan." Logan looks to his left and sees Director Nick Fury holding an evidence bag coming towards him. "The hell happened here, Fury? Looks like something out of a Japanese monster movie." "I guess that's one way of putting it.", Fury responds. "What makes you see that?", Logan asks. "The townspeople that escaped the destruction unscathed swear it was caused by two creatures fighting each other." "Any idea what they might be?", Logan asks. "Well; based on the eyewitness accounts of one of the creatures having shaggy white fur, antlers on its head, and the glowing red eyes, my team manage to identify it as the Wendigo. Ring any bells, Logan?" "Yeah, a whole damn bunch of 'em. First time we met, I had to break up a brawl between him and the not-so Jolly Green Giant." "Yeah, it's hard for anyone to forget the first time meeting the Hulk." "Tell me about it. And the other creature?" "That one we couldn't identify. It isn't in our database.", replies Fury. "Well, do you at least have an idea on what it could be?", asks Logan. "Here is where things get interesting.", Fury says as he holds up the evidence bag to Logan. "One of my agents found a clump of fur and sent it to the lab for genetic analysis. The lab found a genetic match to a species of wolf called Canis Dirus, the dire wolf. According to mainstream science, this species went extinct 10,000 years ago during the last ice age. Unless it evolved into something bigger, stronger, smarter. Possibly deadlier." "Possibly?", replies Logan as he points out the wreckage. "We also interviewed a Blackfoot medicine man. He told us that his people had a legend of this huge wolf-like creature that stalked the woods. They called it the Hunter in Darkness." "Well, the funny thing about legends is that there's always some truth to 'em.", replies Logan. "Let's cut to the chase, Logan. Here's the fur sample." Fury opens up the evidence bag and Logan sticks his nose in it to smell the clump of fur. He gets a scent. It smells familiar but Logan can't remember where or when he smelled it. "I need you to track down the Wendigo and the Hunter, and you have to stop them before their brawl turns another town into this.", Fury says as he points towards the destruction. "One way or the other." "Sounds like fun.", Logan says with a smirk.
1 hour later
Now in a V-22 Osprey, Logan is now wearing his classic yellow and blue uniform. The pilot notes something on the ground. Logan looks down to see a bunch of broken trees laying on the ground. "Do you want me to try for a landing?", the pilot asks Logan. "Don't bother.", Logan replies. He then jumps out of the cockpit of the aircraft without a parachute. Thanks to his healing factor and adamantium skeleton, he lands on the snowy slope of a mountain unharmed. Logan runs down to where the broken trees are. He picks up the scent of the Hunter in Darkness and begins tracking his quarry.
2.5 hours later
Logan is now face-to-face with an actual wolverine. The animal is standing in a defensive posture growling at Logan. Logan sees why. The wolverine is protecting its meal: a freshly killed woodchuck. "Just passin' through, bub.", Logan says to the wolverine. The wolverine stops growling, as if understanding what Logan had said. A pack of wolves is heard howling in the distance. "They, on the other hand, might have other ideas." The wolverine snarls in response, not at all intimidated at the idea of squaring off with a pack of wolves. All of a sudden, what sounds like the combination of a wolf's howl and a lion's roar is heard. Birds in the trees take off. The wolverine grabs the woodchuck carcass and runs off. Logan, on the other hand, takes off toward where the noise came from. Eventually, he comes upon the tracks of the wolf pack. One set of wolf tracks is much larger than the other ones, about the same size as a grizzly's. Logan smells them. It's the Hunter's tracks. He's runnin' with the wolves. Logan then starts following the scent trail that the Hunter and the pack left behind.
15 minutes later
Logan now smells fresh blood. The Hunter and the wolves made a kill in a clearing a couple hundred yards away. Got to stay downwind. Don't want them to know I'm here. Logan sees a tree and walks quietly toward it. Logan climbs up the tree silently and gets onto a high branch sturdy enough to hold his weight. He spies the wolf pack feeding on a moose carcass. Logan sees the Hunter. He looked to be around eight feet tall. His muscular body is covered with thick grey fur. He has the head, legs, the tail, and the amber-colored eyes of a wolf while having the torso and arms of a man. He is leaning over the carcass and eating the moose's liver with what looked like a combination of hands and paws with claws that look like those of a grizzly's. Can't tell if he's an animal or a monster. I've been called both. For many folks, the two terms are one in the same. He's definitely a predator, but there's a difference between an animal and a monster. An animal kills for survival. A monster kills just to hurt others. An animal can feel love. A monster doesn't even know the word. Just then, a wolf pup jumps onto the carcass and lays its head on the Hunter's arm. The Hunter looks down at the pup, tears off a piece of the liver with his claws, and gives it to the pup. As the pup eagerly eats, the Hunter licks the top of its head before it jumps off the carcass. Animal. Not monster. All of a sudden, the Hunter's ears perk up, looks to his left, and gives out a deep guttural growl. The wolf pack also starts growling. At the same time, Logan catches a whiff of an all-too familiar scent. Wendigo. On que, the Wendigo comes charging out of the thicket. The Hunter barks at the wolves and they run off into the forest. The Wendigo and the Hunter start circling each other, each growling and snarling at the other, each trying to find the opportunity to strike. That's when Logan jumps down from the tree and makes himself known. "Hey bub, don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're eating?", Logan snarls. The Wendigo gives a deep guttural growl at his approach, remembering Logan from their last encounter. The Hunter, on the other hand, just stares at Logan with a look of positive familiarity. Logan is stunned by this, but he snaps out of it and turns his attention back to the Wendigo. "Well, I think it's time that you learn a lesson in manners." Snikt. Logan pops out his claws and with a scream of fury, lunges at the Wendigo. The Wendigo anticipates this and with one swipe, sends Logan tumbling down a steep cliff face and landing hard on the ground.
Now
What the hell happened?
The Wendigo and the Hunter come tumbling down the cliff face, both locked in combat with the other, and land right in front of Logan. Oh yeah. The Wendigo has the Hunter pinned under his weight and is looking to finish him off. Can't get rid of me that easily. Snikt. Logan pops out his claws, pounces onto the Wendigo's back, and starts stabbing him repeatedly. The Wendigo roars in both pain and rage, his white fur now stained with his own blood. He then reaches behind and throws Logan off of him. Logan lands on his feet and turns to face the Wendigo. "OK, bub. Let's try that again. Rahhhhhh!" Logan comes at the Wendigo fast. He knocks the monster down and stabs him several times in the chest. The Wendigo manages to throw Logan off of him and manages to stand back up, but Logan rushes at him again. The Wendigo attempts to swipe at him several times, but Logan dodges all his attacks. With several quick attacks, Logan manages to back the Wendigo onto another cliff's edge. All of a sudden, they hear a furious roar. Logan turns around and sees the Hunter coming at them like a freight train on four legs. Logan leaps out of the way just as the Hunter crashes into the Wendigo, knocking him off the cliff's edge. It's a very long way down for the Wendigo. "I don't say this to a lot of people, but thanks.", Logan says and the Hunter barks in acknowledgment. "Mutt, I have a feeling that we met before but I can't remember when and where." The Hunter whines and motions his head down. Logan looks down and sees a scar on the Hunter's left leg. "Wish I knew where you got that." All of a sudden, the Hunter yelps and collapses. Surprised by this, Logan looks down and sees several tranquilizer darts lodged into the Hunter's back. Before Logan can do anything, he is overcome by the same darts. Logan sees the familiar shapes of four figures approaching him. Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, Cyber, and Maverick. "Thanks runt. We've been tracking him for weeks.", says Sabretooth. "Logan buddy. It's me Nord. I shot you.", says Maverick. Logan then blacks out.