Dark Horizons
This is my fifth fan fic using the Elder Brothers, but its set in an alternate universe and I don't own any of the Marvel X-Men, Fantastic Four, or Avenger characters. This version of them is purely fictional. No profit is being made on this fan fiction and I don't own anything anyway. In my movie verse, Victor and James never worked for Stryker. Scott, Jean, Deathstrike, John Wraith, and the Professor are all alive and well. This is the sequel to A Blast from the Past. This is part of the Packs and Clans Universe.
I would also like to give a special thanks to GypsyWitchBaby for letting me borrow her Lupa character. She is a bit different here, but it's the same Lupa you'll all know and love from The Feral and The Dreaming Animal.
The Marvel and OC role call for this story. All of the OC characters, Packs, and Clans are creations of my crazy little mind.
The Elders: Sabertooth (AKA: Victor) – Mated to Wolf Girl (AKA: Lupa), Wolverine (AKA: James) – Mated to Deathstrike (AKA: Yuriko) , Black Bear (AKA: Old Man)– Mated to White Bear (AKA: Pinky) , Dragon Fly (AKA: Helena) – Mated to TBD, T-Rex (AKA: Rex) – Mated to Portal (AKA – Odessa), Medusa (AKA: Snakes – a Split Beast) – Mated to Fang, Tigress (AKA: Aria) – Mated to TBD, Witch Doctor (AKA: Haggar – a Split Beast) – Mated to TBD, Seer (AKA: Mahvep) – Mated to TBD, Wild Thing (AKA: Hannock) – Mated to TBD, Hammer Head (AKA: Hanse) – Mated to TBD, Grizzly (AKA: Gary) – Mated to TBD, and Mad Dog (AKA: Banger) – Mated to Shimmer (AKA: Luna)
The Hunters in this story: Switchblade, Snake Eyes, Taz and Jaz (identical twins and jokesters), Ghost, Scanner, Fire Fox, and Gateway
The Humans' in Project Wideawake: Dr. Deborah Hines, Oliver Trasker, and Dr. Watts.
Other Ferals at the School: Crawler (AKA: Charlotte) - Mated to Beast (AKA: Hank), Thunder Cat (AKA: Ditu) – Mated to Storm (AKA: Ororo), Oracle (AKA: Narcissi – Charlotte's older Sister and the only tri-animal Split Beast around), Merlin – former Elder now deceased (Witch Doctor leads this Pack now) – Mated to Mirror – also deceased, Falcona – former Elder, Traitor, and deceased (Seer now leads this Pack) – Mated to Hawk, Tabitha or Tabby (11 year feral rescued from Stryker's facility now a member of Black Bear's Pack), Battering Ram: (AKA: Murdock – 14 year old male feral from Hammer Head's), Lion-o: (AKA: Cedric – 13 year old male feral from Hammer Head's Pack). Three more Feral children are at the school. They are all TBD at the moment.
For a complete list of my ever growing Feral community please check out my profile page. I will be updating it as new additions pop into the story.
I'm in the process of finding a beta reader. This is does not have a beta reader. There will be spelling, grammatical, and context errors. I'm writing these stories for pure pleasure and my own brand of therapy from the real world. I am Dyslexic and truly can't "see" some of the glaring errors that offend some readers. If you can't stand spelling mistakes, grammatical error, and words used in the wrong context – my stories might not be for you. If you are interested in being a beta reader, please let me know.
Summary: Trouble has arrived. Will the Clans, Packs, and the X-Men survive? Or will project Wideawake destroy them all? This is the sequel to Blast from the Past. This is part of The Clans and Packs Series.
Chapter 1: That Ain't Gonna Happen
Jimmy and Yuri had been traveling for six months. They were currently in Australia. The first dream / flash that Yuri felt first hand left Jimmy vomiting, just barely making it to the bathroom in time. Yuri hadn't seen all of the vision but she knew whatever he had seen made him sick literally. He also couldn't remember all of it. The second one had happened the next day, Jimmy had planned to take her to some of his favorite underwater caves off the coast. This time she saw more of the flash and almost lost her lunch along with Jimmy. The Clans Council was in terrible danger. She had seen Lupa wailing over Victor's dead body with her hands covered in his blood. That image was burned into her mind when she had touched Jimmy's arm as she knelt at his side on the pier.
The Hunters currently following them included Gateway and Snake Eyes. When Jimmy had stiffened and lost his footing that had gotten both the Hunters attention. When his face lost all of his color and he fell in awkwardly seated position on the pier they began to move. He appeared to be having trouble breathing, and then he puked over the side of the pier they were at the couple's side in a flash via Gateway's power. Something was either attacking the Elder or this was a 'flash' that Sabertooth had told all of the Hunters to watch for in the Elder. Sabertooth's instructions were clear, protect the Elder and his Mate until the vision passed if he was incapacitated in any way bring them both back to the Packs if it happened. The pier had fortunately been free of people, since it was the off season and summer had just ended.
Both Jimmy and Yuri had figured out they had eyes on them since Japan. The silent agreement was if they wanted privacy, Jimmy would let which ever Hunters know via his animal friends. The Hunters quickly shared the word between them after Jimmy had a pair of woodpeckers spell out 'Get lost for the rest of the day or get bit!' in a tree for one pair of Hunters that just wouldn't take the hint and give them some private time at the foot of the waterfalls in Japan. Most of the Elders had all laughed at the Hunters report with the exception of Sabertooth, Black Bear, Mad Dog, T-Rex, and Medusa. If Jimmy was willing to be watched, things were going to be very bad very soon and he didn't want his Mate exposed.
When Jimmy's eyes, finally, focused back to the here and now, he turned to Gateway saying "Get us to the Clans Council meeting in Tigress' Pack now. They are about to be attacked and will require our help. Drop Yuri with Lupa in the main lodge. Alert the Hunters attending the Clans Council now. The three Unclaimed Ferals are Lab weapons sent to kill the Clans Council." His tone didn't broker any room for discussion and his claws were sliding out as he spoke to them and a yellow light was building in both of his hands. The clock on the wall had shown him the time of Victor's death and they only had minutes to save Victor's life.
Gateway did as was requested of him and three of them were in the meeting hall after dropping Yuri in on a surprised Lupa. Snake Eyes' gun took out a Feral weapon that could make clones of himself. Each Elder had a clone standing over him or her immobile form. The clone Feral had also been emitting some type of force field keeping all of the Elders rooted in place. Victor had been on his knees with a blade to his throat.
Jimmy had removed both the hand and head of the blade's owner which was also one of the clones with his claws. He then blasted the last of the three Feral weapons right through the roof. He turned to help Snake Eyes in dispatching the remaining clones. The problem was the Feral had an octopus type mutation and several arms/tentacles elongated and wrapped around the sides of the hole; Jimmy was also pulled into the air as well by a set of arms. Several other Hunters came running at the sound of the roof coming down, but none of them had been prepared for what greeted them.
Twelve of the Elders were frozen, four Hunters were dead, Snake Eyes was cutting down more of the clones, Gateway was fighting with another Feral that had a barbed tail. The barbed tailed Feral was trying to stab Sabertooth as he was still frozen on his knees. That Feral weapon prevented Gateway from teleporting. Lastly the Elder Wolverine was being run through with a wicked looking harpoon that emitted some type of electrical charge in mid air. The octopus Feral was now holding the sides of the hole in the roof and the Elder Wolverine high in the air. The charge from the harpoon was making the Elder Wolverine shift into his half man half wolf form and back to his Human form at a dizzying rate. It was clearly not a voluntary shift and the screaming howl that came from his mouth got folks attacking the weapons very fast. Birds of all shapes and sizes started to tear into the octopus Feral weapon blinding it. Wolves howled and came crashing through the windows with bared teeth looking for whatever had made Wolverine howl. They growled and waited while watching Wolverine in the air. Some of the wolves tore into the barbed tail Feral legs. The Hunter Mace bashed his fists on both sides of its head and the weapon dropped to the ground.
The Elders all dropped free as the barbed tailed Feral fell dead and the clone's weapon wore off. Sabertooth's orange Feral Fury light blasted through the harpoon that was slicing into Jimmy. Wolverine fell to the ground still howling in pain and still shifting forms faster than the eye could track. The wolves surrounded him on the floor.
Sabertooth's next blast missed the weapon. Hammer Head's slammed his hands together and his sonic wave blasted the octopus Feral's free of its grip in the rafters. It had been shooting additional harpoons at both the Elders and the Hunters below him. Most of which had been blocked by Witch Doctor's telekinetic green light. T-Rex and Dragon Fly's flames took care of the rest. It fell to the floor but was going to land on its feet. The Hunter Switchblade had a sword in his hands and sliced off the weapons head as it fell to the ground. Once its head was removed only then did Wolverine stop shifting between forms.
Witch Doctor moved to Wolverine's side and the wolves growled at her but let her touch their charge. That harpoon still needed to come out of James. She pulled it out with her telekinetics and James howled again. His eyes seemed to blaze Feral Black. You could see bits of Amber in his eyes as well. He was half man and half wolf at that moment and very much in pain. Sabertooth was also at his side and growled. "Jimmy - change back now!" Jimmy slowly and painfully shifted to his human form. His skin was smoking and his clothes were trashed. He was wearing the remains of his jeans. He was still shaking and sweating; Sabertooth rapped his trench coat around his Brother.
The Hunters secured the room. Black Bear issued orders and collected the story on the three Unclaimed Ferals. T-Rex, Dragon Flyer, Wild Thing, Mad Dog, and three Hunters removed the dead from the room. The three new Ferals weapons had been brought by two groups of Hunters from different locations. All four of those Hunters were among the dead in the room. The Labs were alive and well. They had just changed their approach if they couldn't locate the Packs; they would let the Packs locate their Special Feral weapons. The weapons clearly had one programmed purpose; kill the leadership of the Ferals. Changes would be made on how the Unclaimed were going to be handled in the future. This had been too close for everyone's comfort. If Wolverine hadn't come when he had, the Clans Council would have been slaughtered like cattle.
Sabertooth and Witch Doctor were still by Wolverine's side when both Lupa and Yuri entered the room with two additional Hunters preceding them. No words were spoken they went to their Mates. The wolves hadn't moved, but the Birds had all flown away. Victor was still watching Jimmy. The shaking was slowing down, but he knew Jimmy was still hurting. Witch Doctor's voice broke Victor's observation of Jimmy. "He requires food. I suggest we move to the banquet hall. The food is already there and we can continue our meeting."
Victor agreed and hauled Jimmy up to his feet and Yuri stood by his other side. Six of his wolves followed as well. The rest remained outside the doors of the hall. Several of the Hunters entered the room first and then everyone else flowed into the banquet hall. All of the Elders had questions, but they would wait until Sabertooth restarted the meeting. They didn't know what was wrong with James just that something was wrong with him. He was still shaking, he was too pale, and Witch Doctor hadn't left his side even to tend to the other injured Hunters or Grizzly's injured arm. She had Tigress get her Pack Healers for them. She also hadn't examined any of the Feral weapons. Her attention was on James.
Yuri silently made Jimmy a plate, he inhaled it. She got more food without being told two more times before Jimmy growled out to Victor "Shit! I can't leave ya alone fur five Fucking minutes and ya had the nerve ta send Hunters ta keep eyes on me and Yuri?"
Victor snorted. "Well better safe than sorry. The fact ya didn't ditch 'em says Trouble is here. Ya flashed this real time? It was cut too close ta be dreamed." His sharp eyes were still assessing his Brother's condition. The shaking was ending and his color was returning with the help of the food.
The Amber bits were still in his eyes and they seemed to glow a bit, but as he ate and drank, they dulled until only the Feral Black remained. Jimmy said quietly. "A bit of both, but mostly real time."
Victor nodded but said. "Anything else I should know about?"
Jimmy didn't answer, but he really didn't have too, Victor could smell it and knew he had been sick. Yuri was also getting more concerned with this line of questioning. Clearly this had happened before with her Mate. She and James would be having a Word about this later.
Victor grabbed plates for himself and Lupa. The Hunters remained at the doors and around the room by any windows. Never had an enemy breached a Clans Council meeting. The Hunters were on high alert. The meeting was restarted while everyone ate after the Hunter Fire Fox had brought fresh meat for all of the wolves. They wouldn't go too far from Wolverine to eat it. No, they dragged the meat back to where Wolverine sat and continued to watch all Ferals in the room.
Sabertooth addressed the Clans and the Hunters. "Clearly our security requires some improvements. Are there any other Unclaimed Ferals in the village now?"
Tigress answered. "Yes, we have one teenage girl, her Mother who is a Mutant but not Feral, and her Human Father. The Hunters have confirmed they are enjoying some of the shops with the pair of Hunters that found the family."
Sabertooth nodded. "Any other folks we ain't seen in a while?"
Tigess shook her head no. Wolverine spoke. "Those three were the only drones that i saw in my flash. They are the only ones we've picked up so far from the Labs. The Bitch running the show is smart, so we're gonna have to be smarter. There are other Feral weapons just waiting for us ta find them and bring them home. The Bitch's name is Doctor Hines; she was Stryker's best associate and hates Mutants just as much. She can also give Hank a run for his money in the brains department. The Healers need ta confirm those three Ferals don't have any tracking devices built into them or planted on their persons or clothing. That harpoon rod ain't a natural mutation but it screwed up some of my powers and made me change forms." His color was getting better but his voice was still off a bit.
Sabertooth said. "Clearly ya came back ta save are Asses, so ya got anymore news ta share?"
Wolverine's next statement stopped everyone's meal in its tracks. "We're pulling all of the Packs out of the United States now. Any approved and remaining group in the US is ta have a teleporter that can get them out. The shelters will become our base of operations when we need ta attack the Humans. Black Bear and Mad Dog's will move ta alternate sites in Europe. T-Rex is going ta Africa; Witch Doctor will have ta make room until the backup sight is fully operational. We're pulling out of Xavier's as well. Chucky ain't gonna be pleased with what I have decided. Wild Thing and Tigress - both of yur Packs are on notice - we might be moving really quickly if Shit starts ta spread either North ta Canada or South ta Latin America. All other locations will need ta both expand the existing shelters and finish them in six months or less. We might have ta combine Packs or move with very little notice. I've been seeing more of the thing that will be hunting us. It ain't Human. It looks like a giant armed robot hunter that is roughly 25 feet tall. The Humans intend to build hundreds of these things ta eliminate the Mutant Menace and we're on the top of that things kill list."
Well Sabertooth thought to himself. Jimmy always did know how to drop a bomb on ya and just when ya thought he couldn't surprise ya anymore he would come up with a new way ta one up ya.
To be continued...
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