The Phantom Hunter, Part II
Back in the Yukon…
"Are you here to take me back?!" The hunter then angrily asked as he pulled out his rifle, aiming it directly at Phantom, who quickly took out his pistol and aimed it at the hunter's face. "You're not taking me back to that place!"
"I'm not taking you anywhere!" Phantom argued. "As I've said, I'm here for your help! We were both subjects of experiments that turned us into… what we are now!"
"You still haven't answered me!" The hunter's growl returned in his voice. "How is it that you know my real name?"
At this point, we should've both killed each other by now.
"I found records on the project that created you, Project Orion. Do you remember?" Phantom sternly asked.
"Orion?" The hunter seemed shocked as he lowered his rifle; Phantom lowered his weapon as well. "That was decades ago."
Thank god he seems to remember.
"I know, and you possess a very particular set of abilities that I need." Phantom told him amicably, putting away his pistol. "I can tell you more if we can get somewhere outside of this blizzard."
"Grr, I don't even know your name." The hunter slung his rifle away on his back.
"My name is Phantom, a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., if you've heard of them." Phantom extended his hand for a handshake, but the hunter just stared at it, not offering his in return.
"No, I haven't." He coldly replied.
"All right then… so, what now?" Phantom asked the hunter, seeing that they were at an impasse and retracted his hand.
The hunter looked around the sheet of ice that they stood on over the frozen river, and looked at the snowy bank from where they gave chase moments ago. "Come, we can speak in my den."
Well, he's either going to attempt killing me and skin me alive or we can actually speak about what I need, either way, we're making progress. But why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?
Spider-Man and White Tiger!
"Wait!" Phantom looked at his communicator and tried to establish a link to Tiger's communicator. "White Tiger! This is Phantom, can you hear me?"
The communicator only displayed static on the small screen.
No, no, no… Damn it! I need to find them! I can't let these kids die out here in the cold!
"You're not going to talk to anyone out here, the mountain and the weather blocks any sort of signal coming out." The hunter told him as he walked past Phantom and towards the bank of the river.
"I can't leave my teammates out here!" Phantom pleaded. "You kicked one of them into the river! I sent the other to retrieve him!"
"They're not dead if that's what you're wondering." The hunter briefly mentioned as he kept walking. Phantom ran to catch up to him.
"How do you know that?" Phantom skeptically asked. The hunter stopped and smelled the air.
I'm starting to wonder whether or not the project made him into this animal-like persona or if he just chose to live that way.
"I can smell them, they're still alive." The hunter kept walking. "The whelp handled his wound well, but maybe his friend can keep him from getting hypothermia."
"The whelp?"
"The boy." The hunter clarified.
"I see. All right, but I'll try to reach them again once we get to your den." Phantom informed him.
"Whatever."
He's definitely not a people person… I'm just surprised that a few words actually got him to be civilized for once instead of trying to shoot me.
"Why did you try to shoot me and my teammates when you saw us out in the forest?" Phantom asked in a brash tone. They finally got off the ice and onto the snowy ground on the banks of the river, heading into the forest.
"You got too close to my hunting grounds." The hunter plainly responded. "The other huntsmen know to stay off my lands."
Gee, thanks for the warning, Yukon Jack.
"Huh, I guess they left that detail out when one of them told me where to find you."
"They never listen." The hunter grunted.
"So, what do I call you? Bruce?"
The hunter stopped to glance over to the Phantom. "I don't go by that name anymore, so stop calling me that. You can call me Wolfe."
Wolfe? Huh, sounds fitting for a man like him.
Inside the cave near the river in the Yukon…
Ava warmed Peter as much as she could to keep him from freezing, but without anything to keep him warm, it wasn't going to help the both of them any longer, even if they were sheltered inside the small cave. Ava searched through her pockets as well as Peter's to find a lighter from the original survival kit that Coulson sent them with.
She covered Peter up with his costume and put on her own damp winterized costume and braved the blizzard as she tried to find some wood to bring back to the cave. She used her claws to slice down whole branches at a time from the forest trees and once she got a pile of them, she returned to the cave, finding Peter still shaking uncontrollably.
Tiger quickly ignited the pile of branches using the lighter and it sparked into a flame that grew into a small fire. She pulled Peter's unconscious body closer to it and kept him as close to it as possible so that the warmth from the fire can keep him alive as it burned. She removed the top of her costume again and lied down to embrace Peter's body once more to keep his body heat level with hers.
After about an hour, Peter woke back up and turned to face Ava with a rather bewildered look.
Man… What the heck happened? I feel like I just bashed my head through glass or something and decided to take a dip in icy water!
"Jeez, web-head, you owe me big time for this." Ava told him as she held him close near the fire.
"Where's Phantom?" Peter managed to ask. "And where is my costume?"
I see Ava spared no time in undressing me… Heheh. I would be enjoying this a bit more if the circumstances were different.
"It's drying off over there along with the top part of mine next to the fire. I can't believe your stubborn ass decided not to wear the winterized one!" Ava shook her head. "And I don't know where Phantom is. I tried to contact him a little while earlier but I can't get a signal out."
Damn it! And the hunter might've killed off Phantom!
"Oh no! We're going to freeze to death, Ava!"
"No, we're not, calm down! We're in the cave with the fire, until the blizzard dies out, we'll be fine in here." Ava assured him. "Hopefully you don't die, either."
"It's just… cold… and awkward." Peter pointed out the fact both their upper bodies were bare, but Ava had kept her bra on. "This your way of saying we're ready for the next step?"
"Ha, in your dreams, Parker!" Ava smiled. "We both dived into the water; I had to pull your butt out of the icy water. You were already cold as it was, so I'm using my body heat to keep your body temperature from getting too cold."
That makes sense. I'm enjoying it for what it is even though this is a near-death experience!
There was a brief silence between the two as they looked into each other's eyes. Peter caressed Ava's cheek, feeling the cold sensation upon touching.
"Well, you seem like you're doing fine now." Ava let go of her embrace and stood up to see if their costumes had dried up, which they did for the most part. She looked at Peter and tossed him her winterized top. "See if this fits you."
She wants me to put part of her costume on?!
"You sure? You sure that you don't need it?" Peter wanted to make sure.
"I'm warmer than you are right now, Parker." Ava assured him as she looked at his normal Spidey costume that was one whole piece. She used her claws to rip it in half between the upper and lower half and handed Pete the lower half. "Here, to cover your legs."
"So we're pretty much mix-matching our costumes?" Peter asked as he slid the lower part of his costume on like pants, and then zipping up the upper half to her White Tiger costume over his torso, rushing a warm relief back into his upper body.
"Pretty much." Ava slid on his upper half over her body and sat down near the fire, covering her arms.
Peter looked at her, and saw that she was looking down at the cold stone ground, she looked really cold as he could see her breath in the low temperature of the cave. It was apparent that she was worried for him, and was sacrificing a lot of her own warmth to cover for his own mistake. She caught his gaze and stared back at him with her brown eyes, both lost in each other's stare for a brief moment.
Damn it… For once, I was actually the damsel in distress… all because I was too stubborn to wear Coulson's winterized Spidey suit. I should've known… I could've gotten us both killed, and now we're here, lost in the woods, stuck in this cave, with no knowledge of where Phantom and the hunter went, and with a blizzard outside… great move, web-head.
"What is it?" She asked, breaking the silence.
"I didn't get the chance to thank you, Ava…" Peter shook his head. "I'm sorry that I was too stubborn to wear that damn suit that Coulson got for this place. I should've, and I'm sorry. We could've both died just now. Thank you."
Ava just shook her head with a faint smile. "Don't worry about it, Parker. You know I wouldn't let you die out here in a blizzard, even if it was your own damn fault that you probably have hypothermia by now."
"Well, because of you, I'm not an icicle at the bottom of that river." Peter humored her as he let up a small smile.
"Yeah, that would've been no fun." Ava giggled, coughing up a bit.
Great, now she might be sick with something too!
"You okay, Ava?" Peter walked over to her and sat next to her.
"I'm fine. Just a small cough, don't worry about it."
"We can't both get sick now." Peter calmly told her. She glanced over to him, the reflection of the fire brought out the brown in her eyes, her eyes of needing for him.
"I'm fine, really! Just… tired." The sleepiness in her voice was apparent. Peter slid over and opened up his legs so that she sat right in between them, with her back on his chest as he leaned his back against the wall of the cave.
He wrapped his arms around her body, placing his hands on her stomach as she touched his arms with her hands, leaning back as she closed her eyes.
"Go to sleep, Ava." Peter whispered in her ear. "I'll stay up to make sure we're safe."
"Don't let the fire die out." Ava whispered back, with her eyes still closed.
"I won't."
Ava smiled a faint smile as she snuggled up in his arms, covered by the warmth of her own costume as well as his, falling asleep in his arms.
Now this is heaven.
Back in Magneto's fortress…
The hooded man ordered for Sabretooth to bring in Taskmaster to an interrogation chamber somewhere else within the fortress. He had set up some sort of contraption to tie Taskmaster onto to extract the necessary formation he needed from the white hooded mercenary.
Mystique, Toad, and others amongst the Brotherhood of Mutants weren't so quick to listen to this mysterious hooded mutant, but Magneto put him in charge of them while he was away, and they wouldn't dare go back on Magneto's direct order.
The doors to the interrogation chamber flung open as Sabretooth shoved Taskmaster inside. The white hooded mercenary's wrists were chained together, and he glanced over menacingly at the hooded man, who sat at a chair at one side of the chamber.
The contraption in question, seemed to be some sort of metal frame that stood vertical, attached were cuffs for wrists, waist, and ankles of the victim being strapped in. On the sides of the metal frame was wiring which seemed to be connected to car batteries. This was a parrilla-style torture method.
"No! You're not going to put me in that thing!" Taskmaster tried to resist, but Sabretooth punched the mercenary across the face, dazing him enough as he unlocked his wrist locks and pushed him onto the metal frame.
As Sabretooth held the mercenary down, Toad came around to lock the mercenary's wrists and ankles into the cuffs of the frame, chuckling to himself as they finally had him where they wanted him.
"No, no! You can't do this!" Taskmaster angrily pleaded.
The hooded man stood up from his chair and approached Taskmaster with his glowering bright red eyes that seemed to stare straight through into Taskmaster's eyes.
"Not so fun when you're the one being questioned, isn't it?" The hooded man spoke, in a rather calm tone.
"Go to hell, you freak." Taskmaster defiantly replied.
"You know why you are here, Taskmaster. The question is simple. I need the locations of the other three mutants involved in the Athena-Class Projects: Project Orion, Project Vulcan, and Project Chronos. I need the locations to the escaped subjects, which I know you had before Stark erased the data from the Bastion."
"Where is Magneto? Why isn't he here to talk?" Taskmaster looked around the chamber, but only the hooded man, Mystique, Toad, and Sabretooth were in the chamber.
"He didn't have time to speak to you. Unfortunately for you, he left me to extract the answers from you. I had hoped that Magneto would do it himself, he's a tad more merciful than I am when it comes to this." The hooded man approached Taskmaster, glancing at the wiring that connected to the car batteries.
"I already told you. I'm not helping you find them!" Taskmaster aggressively told him. The hooded man began to slowly walk back towards his chair.
"I did what I was tasked to do!" Taskmaster continued. "I did what I was told to do! I'm no longer serving Magneto!"
"You failed what you were assigned to do!" The hooded man yelled back at Taskmaster as he rushed at the hooded mercenary with one of his swords, holding the blade to his neck. "You failed. And thus, you have forfeited your life to me. S.H.I.E.L.D. still stands because of you! Spider-Man and his team of friends are still alive because of you! You have nothing to bargain with!"
The hooded man withdrew his sword and replaced it in its sheath next to his other sword. He then looked down at the wiring of the frame again, and kneeled down to remove the terminal clamps from the batteries and instead… clamped them on his electric bracers.
"What are you doing?" Taskmaster asked with concern as he saw the hooded man do this.
"I'm not going to ask again." The hooded man stepped back as far as the wiring could go away from the frame. "Where are the escaped subjects of the Athena-Class projects located?"
Taskmaster seemed to think about his choice closely. But ultimately he came to the defiant decision. "Go screw yourself."
"Wrong answer." The hooded man supercharged his bracers as they emitted a powerful electric shock with a pulsating red aura, rushing it through the wires, and electrocuting Taskmaster on the metal frame.
"Arghh!" Taskmaster cried in pain as the metal frame fried him. After a few seconds, the hooded man stopped, leaving Taskmaster leaning his head forward, gasping for air.
He approached the mercenary once more, picking up his head so that Taskmaster could look into his eyes. "I could peel the information from your brain right now if I wanted to, but that would kill you instantly, and I don't want that to happen… not yet. So tell me, where are they?!"
Taskmaster shook his head. "You can… tell Magneto… he can go screw himself too."
The hooded man slammed the mercenary's head onto the frame as he supercharged his bracers once more, sending another rush of the red illuminated electricity into the metal frame, frying Taskmaster once more until there was smoke coming from his costume. The other mutants watched in horror to what the hooded man was doing to Taskmaster. He quickly stopped then and re-approached him.
"(Sighs) I don't want to have to kill you, Taskmaster. I always liked you. You helped me see a different future from what my naïve mind couldn't comprehend so many years ago. And here I am, trying to fix the situation I put my future in. So let's stop pissing me off, and tell me where I can find the mutants?!" The hooded man grabbed Taskmaster by the collar this time, the mercenary's skin reddened with the shock of the strange electricity.
Taskmaster continued to gasp for air after the second shock, having lasted longer than the first one. He then found the strength to look up into the hooded man's glowing red eyes. "That's…all you got?"
This definitely pushed his luck far beyond what the hooded man allowed.
The hooded man quickly unclamped the wiring from his bracers as he stood back and supercharged them by themselves, and rapidly unleashing the full force of his red electricity into Taskmaster, and continuously blasting him with it.
"Arrrrggggh!" The mercenary cried in pain, more and more as each second passed.
"Where are they?!" The hooded man angrily asked. "I'm not playing games anymore!"
"Stop! Please! Make it stop!" Taskmaster finally cried out. The hooded man promptly stopped and approached him once more. The mercenary's face was fried as he gasped for air, the hooded man waited until Taskmaster finally found the courage to look him in the eyes again.
"The…hunter mutant…is in… the Yukon… in Canada… near the border to… British Columbia." Taskmaster croaked out as he gave in to the torture, leaning his head forward.
"Was that so hard?" The hooded man calmly asked. "I'll take that…for now. I'll get the other two from you later."
He turned to Sabretooth, who looked like he had seen a ghost with the display of force that the hooded man demonstrated in front of the other mutants. "Sabretooth, take him back to his cell, and let him recuperate. I fear his nervous system will soon collapse if we don't let him rest."
Sabretooth obeyed without a word. He unshackled the white hooded mercenary and dragged him out of the chamber, followed closely by the hopping Toad. The hooded man then looked at Mystique. "Get a considerable number of Wraiths ready, and have a transport ready to fly out to the Yukon in Canada."
"Shouldn't we let Magneto know first?" Mystique asked in a distrusting tone.
"You're following my orders, Mystique." He grabbed a hold of her arm. "Do as I say."
She shook her arm free of him and glared back at him with her yellow eyes. She shook her head as she walked away from him, reluctantly obeying his order.
In the medical bay, on-board the Tri-Carrier…
Danny sat next to Sam's unconscious body inside his small room in the med bay. He watched the young man closely with much concern, fearing for his friend's safety, as well as the angered judgment from his teammate, Luke.
Sam's eyes were closed, but his fingers and arms were softly trembling, as though something was surging within his body. The areas underneath his eyes were lightly blackened, as though blood had rushed to his eyes from the effects of the electricity that Sam had gone through during their fight with the hooded man.
Danny continuously wondered what else he could do for Sam, if there was any possible way to release him from this state of unconsciousness and sickness.
"I hope you feel better, Sam. The team is not together, and we are not strong when we are not united. Without Ava or Peter, we need to stay strong." Danny told his friend whole-heartedly. "I will find a way to cure you of this disease or sickness that has taken you, my friend. Whatever I must do, I will find a way, I promise you!"
With that, Danny left the medical bay, and walked through the empty corridors of the Tri-Carrier back to the lounge where the team's living quarters were located. There, he found Luke sitting at the coffee table, holding his hands together in front of his mouth, staring off into the wall.
Luke glanced over to Danny when he walked in, but resumed staring at the wall. He had the face of absolute anger, perhaps pissed off over what happened. These elements were out of control for the almighty Powerman.
"Luke, how are you, my friend?" Danny politely greeted as he sat on the side next to Luke on the coffee table.
Luke didn't answer at first.
"Is everything okay?" Danny then asked.
"I'm fine."
"What is wrong?" Danny asked with concern. It took a moment for Luke to respond.
"I took a walk in the city today, just to cool off, have some time to think for myself for once." Luke plainly started. "I saw several missing persons posters on the walls, at the store displays, on the streetlamps, and even just floating around in the street… and it hit me. I can't believe we let so many people be taken by Taskmaster when he attacked the city."
"We will find them and get them back, Luke." Danny tried to assure him.
"Yeah? Well I'm not getting the same vibe, Danny." Luke sighed. "We've made so many mistakes as a team and the people of New York aren't looking like they want to trust us anymore."
"We must stay optimistic, brother." Danny placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Once Sam gets better, we will resume our duties as the heroic trio we are. And once Ava and Peter return from their trip with Phantom, we will be reunited again as a team!"
"Hmph, don't get me started on those two." Luke shook his head. "Sam was right. Those two are allowing their feelings to get in the way of what we gotta do. It's changing things up… and had they not been doing whatever they were doing back when the city was attacked, we probably would've saved more lives."
"You do not know that, Luke." Danny solemnly replied. "We can never save them all, we must always strive to save as many as we can. But that is the reality we face as superheroes."
"Pfft… and Phantom? He's been a problem in our side ever since he's shown up. I still don't trust him." Luke ignored what Danny was saying and kept speaking his mind.
"Even after he sacrificed himself to save the city?" Danny pleaded.
"How much you willing to bet he knew he was going to live through that? The dude's immortal, Danny. Everyone expected him to die as the hero of that little story but guess what? He just lived to become the villain in mine."
"Your judgment clouds you, Luke. He is trying to help us, to help S.H.I.E.L.D. find the missing New Yorkers, and perhaps even stop this madness with Magneto." Danny confidently stated.
"Whatever, man. All I know is that my heart is where it needs to be, saving people." Luke got up off his seat. "And I don't need you telling me that my judgment is out of place. Why don't you fix yourself with whatever mojo you use to calm yourself and set yourself on saving people again, instead of chasing phantoms and lost hope."
With that, Luke stormed out of the lounge, leaving Danny alone at the coffee table. Danny lowered his head, feeling defeated by his own friend, and the only teammate he had left.
"I do not blame you for how you feel, Luke." Danny softly said to himself. "I only wish I could help you see past your anger."
Near the Wolf's Den, in the Yukon…
Wolfe led Phantom through the thick of the forest, in a narrow pathway that seemed to follow up the mountain face, but instead it led them to a small landing near the base of the mountain. Phantom hadn't said a word to Wolfe since Wolfe introduced his name, fearing he would regret being civil with him. However he did notice that Wolfe cannot audibly hear Phantom's whispering effect, as though his hearing is tuned to hear only a certain range of sounds.
As he kept walking, Phantom examined several things about him. He walked in a stalker-like manner, as though he was looking for prey in every turn. The iris of his eyes was a bright yellow color, and with the lack of light, it could also mean he can see in the dark with his distinct vision. His face seemed as aged as Phantom's, with a gray scruffy beard and mustache. His hair was long and gray, almost white. He also had very large hands, almost paw-like, with long black nails that looked like claws.
His wardrobe was interesting. His camouflage suit was actually a variant of several furs mixed into one, making the perfect concealment in any environment out in the Yukon. He had an assortment of small knives that included his large serrated knife. Slung on his back was the distinguishable black Remington 700 rifle that he used to shoot them with. He also had a knife strapped to his left boot.
This mutant certainly looks like a true hunter, and definitely geared for it as well. He might've been previously military… but too soon to be certain.
As they grew closer to the den, Phantom could hear the howls of several wolves nearby. Their paws running through the snow as they followed up behind Phantom, causing him to withdraw his sword as he turned around to come face to face with a large pack of wolves behind him. It looked to be the same ones that attacked the team and him earlier.
Wolfe quickly turned around and growled at them, barking in his deep and raspy voice, silencing the wolves and essentially calming them. Once they withdrew, he resumed his walk towards his den.
So he has the ability to speak to wolves? That's what I gathered from that small interaction. He seems to be able to communicate with them quite effectively, and they seem to regard him as a leader amongst their pack.
As they approached the den, Phantom could make out the glowering eyes of several wolves that practically lingered around the den, as if they were protecting it. The den itself was a cave, with several carcasses of dead animals lying about on the outside with some of the wolves feeding on them.
The wolves growled at Phantom as he walked past, threatening the mutant with a display of their teeth. Wolfe growled back at them, causing most of them to withdraw. One wolf approached Wolfe and he petted it on the head as he walked past it.
He brought Phantom into the cave, where the cavern inside was large, and an ungodly amount of wolves sat around the edges of the cave walls. They were either biting on something, barking at each other, or simply laying down and watching their leader return with a complete stranger to them. Most of them growled at Phantom's direction anyway.
Wolfe growled an extremely loud and menacing growl at the wolves inside the den, causing them to silence and resume what they were normally doing. In the center was a medium-sized fire that burned as the smoke exited through the entrance of the den. It was their source of heat, and some of the younger wolf pups sat around it.
They're so obedient, it's as though he's found a way to tame them!
Phantom followed Wolfe into a smaller cavern, which seemed to be his private room where he slept. There were no wolves whatsoever in there.
The hunter took off his weaponry and laid it out on a small wooden table that he seemed to have carved out himself, and then calmly sat on the chair next to it, staring at Phantom with his arms crossed.
"Speak, then." Wolfe calmly stated.
"It's obvious we got off on the wrong foot back there, my team and I really didn't mean to cross into your hunting grounds. We were only interested in talking to you, of course." Phantom started.
"I've shot at most of the huntsmen that cross near. Those who dare try to cross into my grounds get shot." Wolfe simply replied as he grabbed one of his knives and started to pick at his teeth with it like a toothpick.
I wouldn't exactly call him a savage, but he's pretty darn close to it with how he's acting. It seems to me that he's protecting the wolves here as well, that could be one of the reasons he's adamant about protecting this part of the forest.
"Right. Well, I've been looking for you specifically, because of who you are. You were the subject of Project Orion, right?" Phantom politely asked.
"I thought I killed every single man who knew about that project…" Wolfe promptly stood up, looking down at the shorter Phantom. "I was wrong."
"I wasn't part of the scientists who conducted your experiment, Wolfe. As a matter of fact, as you might've noticed by now, I'm another mutant who was wronged by a similar experiment… and I wanted to know more about what happened with you, and what they tried to do with you."
Wolfe began pacing around the small cavern, but continuously keeping his eyes locked on Phantom. "You came an awful long way from wherever you came from just for that information. You came for something else other than that."
He's good at picking out words, that's for certain. If I do find a way to convince him to join me, he's going to be extremely hard to bluff, if not impossible.
"I was also hoping to see if I could enlist your help in a team I was putting together… of other mutants like us." Phantom was honest with him. "…to help fight a common enemy."
"A team?" Wolfe made a sound which might've resembled a small chuckle. "Look at me, fool. I am where I am because I want to be left alone; I don't care about anything else beyond that. You're lucky I allowed you to live to even speak to me."
Not that an extremely powerful regenerative factor would've played any part… Just saying.
"The man who made you into… this, is coming after you and the other mutants. I need your help so that we can band together against this enemy and stop him before he accomplishes whatever goal he has set out… which I assume involves hurting innocent civilians."
"You came to the wrong mutant, then." Wolfe coldly replied. "If he wants me, then let him come. I'll shoot him in the head too, just like the others."
Jeez, he's really dense. He has a "I don't care, I do things my way" kind of attitude. He doesn't even seem the least interested in the other projects.
"You don't get it, Wolfe. He's a mutant too, a very powerful mutant that goes by the name of Magneto."
"I've never heard of him." Wolfe grunted. "And the man who gave me these… abilities… is long dead. I made sure of that when I ripped him apart for what he did to me. Him, and every other fool pencil-pusher for Project Orion."
"Then you must've killed a project lead, or something, but not the true man behind it all. Trust me; I didn't even know who was truly involved in my project until only a few months ago." Phantom tried to reason with him.
"Well if he dares to come after me, or the pack of wolves I protect, then I might just join you, but until then, I don't see any reason to want to help you." Wolfe aggressively told him. "You wasted your time trying to find me. Go find whoever else you wanted to grab help from."
Great…I'm not taking that for an answer, but it seems I'm left with no other choice from this guy.
"I see." Phantom sighed to himself as he crossed his arms. Wolfe stopped pacing and stood in front of him, as though waiting for more words.
"Can I at least ask how they recruited you into Project Orion all those years ago? You are the first mutant of the four experiments they tested on live humans… and technically the first mutant they successfully created with our common set of abilities."
Wolfe looked down on the floor of the cavern when asked this. It didn't seem like he wanted to give that information up so easily. "I… was offered to help out with a job…" He growled as he tried to remember more. "I didn't have any money… and I needed it… to cover for my daughter's… surgery…"
His growling became more violent as he closed his eyes. "They showed up… at my home… and… forced me into their van… they… killed them… they killed my wife! Grragggh! They killed my daughter!"
Ah, an emotional side to this hunter at last… I have a feeling however, that this is all he will ever tell me. It seems that these are suppressed memories of his.
With this, Wolfe pounced on Phantom with the motion of that like a wolf, and held him down with his claws. "They treated me… like an animal… so I killed them… like animals…"
"Don't you want to avenge them by stopping the real man who did this to you?" Phantom appealed to Wolfe's emotions, but was struggling to say. He didn't resist because Wolfe wasn't actually attacking him, but it seemed like he was reacting to his instinct to kill.
"I already killed them." Wolfe got off Phantom, and stood back up. "I…already put them... to rest."
Wolfe growled to himself as he walked out of the smaller cavern back into the larger one with all the wolves, and howled a very sorrowful howl inside the cavern, where all the wolves joined in with howling with his sad tone.
I couldn't help but write another chapter, hopefully to make up for all the lost time in between, I hope everyone enjoys ^^, As always, feedback is appreciated and I hope everyone is doing great this holiday season :) Again, I will be gone for all of next month on business, but until then, I'll try to dish out more of these chapters if possible. If I don't post another one up soon, then I will by the end of January at the earliest. Thanks!