The Wild Pack
Issue #6 – Family Matters – Part Three
"What do you mean he isn't here?" Predator asked the doctor.
"Just what I said, he is no longer here. A legal guardian of Black Crow came in and pulled the plug. He then took him to the privacy of his own home for his recovery or last moments, depending on what happens," the doctor said.
"How could you allow that?" Black Cat asked.
"We had no say in the matter, he was within his legal rights," the doctor answered.
"Can you tell us where he took him too?" Predator asked.
"Sorry I can't. The man paid in cash for hospital expenses and then left with no forwarding address. He did ask me to give this note to Black Cat if she were to return," the doctor said handing the letter to Black Cat.
"Thank you doctor," Black Cat said as she left the hospital with Predator right behind her.
Black Cat opened the letter and began to read:
"Dear Black Cat and members of Wild Pack,
I regret to tell you that as to the request of Black Crow's grandfather's spirit, I have pulled the plugs. In order to heal and survive, Black Crow must now go on a spiritual journey. It is a journey he must do on his own, so I have removed him from the public and taken him home. I wish I could tell you were that is, but for now I must keep that a secret. In the event of his passing or survival, I will be in touch either way. Thank you for your concern, the House of Crow."
"I feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn't run off Dragoness would still be here and Black Crow would not be hanging on his deathbed," Predator swore.
"Too late to cry about it now hon. You had to go after your brother, we can't blame you for that. Next time, trust in us enough to let us help or key us in okay?" Black Cat said.
"I know, sometimes I forget I'm part of a team again. We'll just have to pray and hope Black Crow will come back to us," Predator said.
"Yes, and now we have to figure out how we're going to find out what happened to Dragoness," Black Cat said.
"Well, lucky for us, we have these alert devices I made for all of us. Since she sent you a signal, give me yours and I can run a scan and see if I can get a location on her," Predator said as Black Cat handed it to him.
"Now what?" Black Cat asked.
"Follow me, I still have the jet I borrowed from a friend. I imagine she won't mind if I return it a little later than planned," Predator said as he dashed off leading Black Cat to the airport.
After a few minutes they arrived at the airport and boarded the jet. Predator hooked up Black Cat's device to the computer's system and started doing a scan.
"I don't believe this," Predator exclaimed.
"What is it?" Black Cat asked.
"Well if this is correct, Dragoness is in Madripoor," Predator said.
----
John Giles had securely gotten Black Crow back to the mansion and into his bed. He sat there watching Black Crow barely breathing. He hated this but he knew that this fight was something he would have to do on his own. He didn't know what he would do without him, without Jesse Crow.
Just as John was getting up to recheck all the IVs he saw Black Crow move. He ran to the bedside but he wasn't stirring. Did he just imagine it? As he watched Black Crow began to glow. John watched in awe as he saw Black Crow shift and transform back into the form of Jesse Crow. John stared at the still, but slightly breathing body of Jesse and wondered if this was a good sign or a bad sign. What was going on?
"What happened?" Jesse asked his grandfather's spirit.
"You have agreed to take the journey. That means the journey must be completed by you Jesse not the Black Crow," Crow of Black told him.
"Well, how will I defend myself without my powers?" Jesse asked.
"You must look within yourself and find the power there," Jesse's grandfather said as he disappeared.
Jesse looked all around him and he was alone. There was nothing in sight besides swirling smoke and a doorway leading into his destination. Jesse wasn't so sure now about all this. Before he thought he was going to have the power of the Black Crow, but now he had to do this as plain old Jesse. Jesse took in a deep breath and walked through the doorway.
Suddenly he found himself on flat grassland with a thick set of woods off to the side. He wasn't sure where he was supposed to go now. He began to walk slowly when he heard a loud rumble. He turned around and saw a pack of wolves and a tribe of warriors riding towards him. He wasn't sure if they were friend or foe until an arrow came flying past him. He knew deep down that he should stand and fight, but instead he ran.
Deep into the woods Jesse had found himself. He knew the wolves would be upon him soon. He looked around with no where to go, but up. Jesse quickly climbed a tree just as the pack of wolves surrounded the base. Jesse had no idea what he was going to do now, especially now that the tribe of warriors had just approached raising their bows and axes.
----
Tamara opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the floor of a giant office. Her head was cloudy. She realized she was in full costume, minus her facemask. She was trying to remember what had happened to her. One minute she was off flying and then she was attacked. She was able to get out a distress to Black Cat before she blacked out. She sat up and saw a desk with a huge chair behind it. The chair was turned so she couldn't see who was sitting in it. Slowly the chair turned around.
"Father!" Tamara screamed.
"Ah, Tamara, you finally awaken," the man said as he stood up from his chair and approached her.
Tamara gasped in fear as her father approached her. The man made the Kingpin look small. His eyes alone invoked fear into the soul. Her father was very powerful and greatly feared. That was part of the reason she had faked her death and disappeared so long ago. Even her time with the Mutant Liberation Front helped hide her even further. Somehow he had found her, and it could mean nothing good. She quickly called forth her powers.
"What?" Tamara stuttered when nothing happened.
"Oh, come on now, my dear Tamara. You dare try and strike against your father?" Jackson Steel laughed.
"I don't understand. Why can't I summon my powers?" Tamara asked herself.
"You forget your own brother too?" Another man, her age, said.
"Tyler?" She asked looking his way.
Tamara had almost forgotten about her brother Tyler. He had the ability to dampen energy power. Then it hit her like a sludge hammer. She quickly looked around and saw that all five of them were standing there in the office. All five of her other sextuplet siblings. Her gaze went from Tyler to Tonia, then Timoth, then Tucker and lastly Tallon. Her mother had given birth to six of them, three boys and three girls.
"What a nice family reunion we have here," Jackson said.
"All these years I had thought you dead, and I mourned the loss of you and the plans that I had for you and your siblings. We still made due, but without you we were never able to take total control of this city and surrounding land. But now, it can all change," Jackson finished.
"How did you find me?" Tamara asked.
"That doesn't really matter. I got a phone call tipping me off to your location. The new last name through me off but I was able to confirm that you were indeed alive, so I sent your siblings to bring you home," Jackson answered.
"What do you want from me?" Tamara shouted.
"I want you to join your siblings. With the power of the Steel Six, we can take over this whole city," Jackson bellowed.
"I will not be a part of this," Tamara said jumping up and making a dash for the door.
"Tonia, stop her," Jackson shouted at his daughter.
The girl named Tonia looked over at the lamp. She pointed her finger at it and called forth her powers. The light bulb exploded as she took control over the electricity and sent it flying out of the lamp base and directly at Tamara, electrocuting her. With Tamara on the ground in pain, Tyler snapped his fingers at the stream of electricity and it vanished. Tamara moaned in pain.
"Alert! Alert!" Came a sound over the speakers.
"Take her to the holding cell. Looks like we got some company," Jackson Steel shouted as he quickly walked to a computer screen on his desk.
----
The jet had landed and Predator and Black Cat had made their way to the mansion. Predator had followed the trace to this mansion. Dragoness was somewhere inside this place. They stood on the side of the building trying to decide their best course of action. Suddenly they heard the alarms going off all over the mansion.
"Well, mister stud. Looks like you got us here undetected," Black Cat chuckled.
"No time to dwell on that now. I want you to slide into the hole I will blow here in the wall. While you are doing that I will make a lot of commotion on the roof to try and divert attention to me. This way you can fallow the signal and find Dragoness," Predator said as he blew a hole in the wall and then quickly scales the mansion to the roof causing another random explosion.
"Will do boss man," Black Cat said as she dived into the hole and found herself falling down into some kind of trash shoot.
Predator made it to the roof. He looked around and didn't see a soul. He quickly found a latch that led from the roof and into the mansion. As he was about to open it he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around to see three figures in blue body suits, two men and a woman. Predator shot off a dozen blasts at the three figures.
One of the guys, Timoth, called forth his powers and didn't move. A series of the energy blasts hit him directly in the chest and vanished. Timoth glowed for a second and then the blasts reemerged from his chest and were on their way back towards Predator. The girl, Tonia, waved her hands and almost all of the energy blasts slowed down and did a U-turn right back at Predator. The last guy, Tucker, transformed into a living energy being allowing the blasts to pass through him harmlessly, and then shifted back to human form.
Predator couldn't believe his eyes; it looked like this wasn't going to be easy. Then it donned on him that all of his blasts were now heading back towards him. Predator ignited his boot jets to give him a boost up and flipped over the blasts. He came back down on his feet and stared at the three figures. He took a mental note that energy based weapons would be out of the question with these three.
Predator shot a dozen pellets at their feet causing a few mini explosions. Smoke erupted and engulfed the three beings. He hopped the gas would distract them enough to let him slip into the mansion. He made it to the hatch and went down and into the mansion. He found himself in a hallway leading two directions. He quickly blasted the latch to weld it shut so the three couldn't come down too easily. He then saw that a group of guards were coming down both ends.
"Finally, non-powered opponents," Predator said as he flew into battle.
In a matter of moments he had taken out his attackers and made his way down the hallway. As he was nearing a stairway he smelled a cigar and heard a small noise coming from behind two large doors. Predator ran up to the door and cracked it open to peer inside. Suddenly a large hand grabbed him by the face and yanked him inside.
----
"Who are you?" The chief of the warriors shouted at Jesse.
Jesse was on the ground, clothes torn and blood running from his nose. He hadn't put up too much of a fight. It had seemed like hours that this chief had been beating him and asking who he was.
"I told you, I am Jesse," Jesse spat.
"No, you are a coward. You ran from your warriors and now you deny who you are," the chief said.
"I don't know what more you want from me," Jesse said.
"Nothing more than you want from yourself, Jesse Crow," the chief laughed.
"He is useless, let the wolves have him. The rest of us must go and finish off the rest of the Navajo village over there. The rest of his people," the chief laughed as the warriors ran off chanting.
Jesse sat there barely able to move. He watched as they went to burn down his village and kill his people. He could hear the wolves approaching. The chief's words echoed in his mind. Who am I? What do I want from me? As his village burned and the wolves were ready to pounce on him it all came clear. He suddenly drew on a power from deep within himself. He began to surge when the wolves were all on top of him.
"I am Jesse Crow! Descendent of Crow of Black! I am a Navajo Warrior! I am the Black Crow! I am a HERO!" Jesse screamed as he threw all the wolves off of him and stood up.
Jesse felt the power flowing within him. He felt an aura around him that he had never felt before. He wasn't in costume, but he was taller and muscular. He faced the growling wolves and held out his hand.
"Stop!" Jesse "Black" Crow commanded.
The wolves sniffed and then ran off in opposite directions. Jesse then waved his hand and a spear appeared and he ran after the chief and his warriors. In a matter of moments he had used his strength, courage and spear to take out all of the warriors. He then turned to face the last, the chief.
"I see you have found yourself," the chief said.
"Find this!" Jesse "Black" Crow shouted as he hurled the spear at the chief.
The chief caught it in mid-air and broke it in two. The chief ran at him with a piece of the spear in each hand. Jesse "Black" Crow closed his eyes and became one with his ancestors. The wind began to blow, and with eyes still closed, punched out with his fist. He then opened his eyes to see the chief lying on the ground completely still.
Suddenly the wind began to blow and caused the air to swirl all about him. Jesse "Black" Crow finally found himself standing on a plane of clouds and smoke. His grandfather was standing in front of him. Crow of Black approached him. Jesse "Black" Crow bowed his head.
"You have done well my son. You have earned to go where you are now needed," Crow of Black said.
"I can go back home to Bergsville?" Jesse 'Black" Crow asked.
"No," Crow of Black said as he pointed a spear at Jesse and fired a blast of light at him.
"What?" Jesse exclaimed as he was engulfed in the light and disappeared from sight.
"What was that?" John Giles shouted aloud as he heard a noise.
John ran into the room where Jesse laid still. Suddenly Jesse's body jerked and then faded from sight. John stared at the empty bed.
"NO!" John screamed as he dropped to his knees and cried.
----
Black Cat finally came out of the shoot and landed in a basement area. She quickly looked around and saw no one. She began to walk carefully down the passage and stopped when she heard a noise to her left. She moved quickly and saw a cell with someone in it and a man guarding it. Black Cat got closer and saw the girl laying face down in the cell wore the costume of Dragoness.
"You know it's bad luck to cross a black cat," Black Cat said as she jumped out and grabbed the man's head and pounding it into her knee knocking him out.
"Dragoness, we are here to save you," Black cat said as she through Dragoness's facemask into the cell.
Dragoness looked up and stared in silence as she picked up the mask realizing her mistake.
"Tamara?" Black Cat asked.
Before Tamara could reply Black Cat screamed out as she dropped to the ground. A woman removed her hand from Black Cat's back and then picked her up off the ground by her hair. She then punched her, sending her flying feet backwards and into the wall. Black Cat looked up at the figure.
"Tallon, what did you do to her?" Screamed Tamara.
"Nothing really. I just touched her and drained some of her life energy, which increased my strength. I wonder what would happen if I touched her and drained her till there was nothing left?" Tallon laughed as she walked towards the weak Black Cat.
"Um, Tallon, you forgot one thing. She knocked out the only person keeping me at bay," Tamara said as she finally felt her power from within.
Dragoness placed her mask back on and called forth her powers. Bioelectricity shot out in the form of her dragon's fire. The blast hit Tallon and sent her shocking back into the wall unconscious. She then pointed her fingers at the lock and sent out a series of stinger blasts to blow open the cell. She ran over to Black Cat and helped her up.
"How did you know my name? My identity is exposed," Dragoness cried.
"Tamara don't worry. I'll keep your secret. In turn, I will show you who I am. You will see, this might make things easier for both of us," Black Cat said taking off her mask.
"Felicia? My roommate is the Black Cat?" Tamara laughed.
"Who would have thought huh?" Felicia laughed too.
"Well I promise to keep your secret too," Tamara promised.
"Good. So who are these people who have kidnapped you?" Black Cat asked as she put her mask back on.
"Well, since we are secret sisters, I will tell you everything. This is the first time I have ever trusted someone before. My father's name is Jackson Steel. He was a low-key crime boss here in this city. He met my mother and fell in love with her on first sight. My mother soon got pregnant and had to be protected. One night one of my father's rivals set a detonator in their house. She survived the blast but was severely electrocuted. By a miracle she lived but was very weak till she went into labor a few months later.
"The doctors told my father that due to a mutant gene and the electrocution, it caused the fetus to split into six. My mother gave birth to sextuplets, three boys and three girls. There was no way that the doctors were going to be able to successfully deliver all six babies alive and healthy. Suddenly, energy passed from our mother into all six of us and we all lived, but our mother died.
"Our father raised us and as we got older noticed we all had a form of bio-electric powers. My brother Tyler dampens power, my sister Tonia controls it, my brother Timoth absorbs and redirects it, my brother Tucker becomes it, my sister Tallon drains it into her and I generate it. My father started to call us the Steel Six and wanted us to grow up as his power army to take over the city. They couldn't do it without me. Since I generate it, I could fully power the other five. It is not what I wanted.
"During a test battle, I caused an explosion that made it look like I was killed. I ran off to escape my father and my evil siblings. I then met a man named Strifye, who changed my name from Steel to Kurtz and took me in. I joined his Mutant Liberation Front. I believed we were doing the good cause. Many years later I realized it was wrong, and he was no better than my father had been. After the group had disbanded, I headed off to start over, this time as a good guy. That's when I ended up in Bergsville," Dragoness concluded.
"Well you are now one of the good guys," Black Cat said as she gave Dragoness a big hug. "Now let's go find Predator."
Dragoness knowing the mansion well led the way. They heard a big commotion and headed that way. They finally came to Dragoness's father's giant office. When they opened the door, they saw Tucker, Timoth and Tonia standing off to the side watching a great battle. Both Black Cat and Dragoness gasped at what they saw. Jackson Steel was towering over Predator. Predator was slouched on the floor with his cape torn off; whole left arm armor torn off and right boot ripped off. There were also tears and dents all over his armor and blood everywhere.
"Predator, no!" Screamed Dragoness.
"Oh how lovely for you to join us. I have a battle to finish here, could you three please take care of these two?" Jackson said.
Dragoness quickly called forth her dragon's breath and blasted it at her three siblings. Timoth stepped in front and Tonia directed all the energy right at him. Timoth absorbed it all and began to glow. Tucker turned into energy and flew at Black Cat and Dragoness and passed through them causing Black Cat's grappling hook to blow up and Dragoness's flying wings to blow up too. Tonia then nodded and Timoth released all the energy. As it flew back at the two girls, Tonia took control of it. The energy split in two, one half hit the back wall causing it to explode revealing the outside, while the other half hit Black Cat and Dragoness and lifted them up and out of the hole and into the outside air.
The two girls started falling to the ground at a rapid speed. Both screamed knowing that there was no way to stop their falls. Suddenly, bioelectricity emerged from Dragoness's back creating dragon-like wings. Dragoness was in shock, but quickly took hold of Black Cat and found herself flying back to the mansion.
Dragoness made it back inside the room but collapsed from the power drain. Black Cat helped her up as she saw the three siblings coming at them and Jackson about to crush the life out of Predator. Suddenly, a giant bolt of lightening struck between Predator and Jackson, sending them apart. When the smoke cleared the full costumed form of Black Crow was there.
"Black Crow? Your alive!" Black Cat screamed.
"Well grandfather, I guess this is what you meant by where I was needed," Black Crow said.
The three siblings came at Black Crow. Black Crow quickly waved his arms and feather knives flew from his fingers and hit all three directly in the chest. They dropped to the ground, unable to move. He then turned and faced Jackson. He threw his feather knives at him. They bounced off his chest, with no effect at all.
"Silly bird, it takes a lot to penetrate my skin," Jackson said as he punched Black Crow sending him backwards.
Black Crow jumped up and closed his eyes. Fog began to appear, and then the wind began to blow. Suddenly Jackson was on his knees gasping for air. The wind had moved the fog into his mouth and nose causing him to chock. Black Crow then summoned all his strength and kicked Jackson in the face sending him out the hole in the wall.
Black Crow then closed his eyes and called out his grandfather's name. Crow of Black appeared and granted him his one reward for winning his journey. The spirit clapped his hands and a thick fog surrounded them all. When it cleared, the Wild Pack found themselves on a rooftop in Bergsville.
"What the?" Black Cat said.
"In order to come to the world of the living I had to pass a test, I passed and was allowed one reward. My grandfather brought us home and made that man and his group forget that any of us were there, or who we were," Black Crow said.
"It's good to have you back," Predator whispered as Black Crow helped the beaten man up. "So who were those people?" Predator got out.
"A part of my past, also best forgotten," Dragoness coughed.
Soon the team talked and headed their own separate ways, agreeing to meet in a few days after they had time to recuperate. Black Crow returned to his home and to a very happy John Giles. They sat and he told him everything. Black Cat and Dragoness changed clothes and walked into their apartment. Felicia talked a little with her mom but Lydia said she had to go. She waved her hand, with a giant ring on it, at the girls and promised she wanted to spend more time as her daughter. Felicia walked her out and then came back an hour later after taking her mom to the airport.
Tamara gave Felicia a hug and said they could talk more later, but she had to get to bed. As she headed into her room, she thought she saw something glimmer on Felicia's hand. Tamara shook her head and decided she just needed to sleep and put her family behind her.
Predator walked through the front door. He threw off what was left of his costume. He was so tired and so sore. All he wanted now was to be with his wife and soon to be born child. He called out to Mindy over and over but got now response. He soon walked into the kitchen and found a note addressed to him from Mindy.
"Dearest Love,
I can no longer take the lies and you running off to be a hero again. I understand about your brother so I waited last night. You never came home, and then I noticed you took off somewhere again without notice. I am done. I am leaving you. I have gone to my parents, do not call me.
Love always,
Mindy"
Predator dropped the note, and with tears in his eyes he grabbed what was left of his costume and limped into his office.
Next: Issue #7 – Finding the Holiday Spirits – Part One
