Prologue

Mutation. The key to our evolution. It has enabled humans to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. For the last few thousand years, humans thought they would stay the dominant species. I bet no one expected that the greatest change to the world of humans would be coming sooner than they thought. Yep, it would be hard to believe when you experience the first-ever uprising of other species to dominant control. It would've seemed like yesterday that animals presented themselves with only a few dangers to humans, ones either having aggressive behavior or something minor like cause allergies. And the next, most of the animals that were once harmless started becoming a great threat to humans. Thanks to the power of mutation, the very thing that caused human evolution, animals started rebelling against humans and even fought for control of the Earth. People, even now, have no idea what could've caused something like that, of what could make all those animals become such a great threat. Of course, out of all the people in the world now, only a small group of humans knew exactly how it happened. For those who don't know about it, you're in luck for I am one of the few people who know the truth about this. To better explain this, I would have to go back to the beginning. Back to the very place where the first mutants arose from: New York, New York.

On September 16th, 2020, an evil scientist named Baron Draxum along with the Dark Gang (the worst villains the world has ever known) had a bomb filled with a special gas that they were gonna use to mutate everyone in New York City. Though the Element Gang (the heroes of New York) tried their best to stop them, the bomb detonated and released the mutagen gas. Although, when the heroes and the villains got hit with the spray, nothing happened. I mean, nothing. No mutation of any kind occurred. In the confusion, Draxum and Kaze managed to escape to prepare another attempt in mutating all of New York. Though, in that coming week, something strange began. Without warning, animals from all over New York began to grow in size to where they were bigger than normal. With the growth in size, they are also gain new intelligence. Though they couldn't actually speak, they were still able to figure things out on their own. After some research, the Element Gang managed to discover the cause of it. It turned out the gas did do something. They found out that the gas actually contained a virus that acted the same as mutagen, only it targeted normal animals and avoid everything else, even mutant animals.

Though it seemed harmless at first, things turned for the worse for the people around those animals. As they kept on growing, they became more aggressive to humans. By the 23rd of September, the newly mutated animals began to overpower humans. But New York was only the beginning. Later on, it was discovered that the virus was airborne as more animals were reported to be experiencing the same mutation, ones that were beyond the boundaries of the city. In that week, cities and towns within Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania had these mutants running around. This was the start of what soon became known as the Great Mutant Outbreak of 2020. The virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, causing more animals to mutant and grow in both size and aggression. Humanity tried its best against the aggressive mutants, but nothing could stop them as the mutants began driving humans out of their homes, leaving the cities they made to become completely deserted.

The situation became so dire that all of the world's leaders decided to have everyone to reside within emergency underground shelters until the outbreak blew over. Seeing as to how wrong it was to do so, the Element Gang actually spoke out to the people. They told them that cannot live their lives in hiding. That they still could fight back as long as they worked together. Within that moment, they decided that would no longer keep secrets from the public, revealing their true selves to the world. With their inspiring words, some people from across America decided to stand with the heroes and continue to fight for their homes. And it wasn't just there. The Element Gang's words spread throughout the world, inspiring more people to remain on the surface. In so, while most of humanity chose to go underground, those brave enough to make the decision stayed above and continued the fight. The leader of the Element Gang, El Dragon, became the leader of a human resistance that was known as the Beast Hunters. While fighting against the mutant animals, the Beast Hunters also worked in trying to make a cure to return the aggressive beasts to their normal selves. The battles that occurred became known as the Beast Wars. It lasted for a while with the mutants growing more intelligent as the years went by.

But, after such a long, long struggle against each other, the Beast Hunters made a great discovery amongst those mutants. Thanks to the virus, the animals had gained their own conciseness. Seeing this, the Beast Hunters realized that these creatures were not really beasts to fear. The mutation they experience had caused them to evolve into beings that were capable of thinking like humans. Within that moment, both Beast Hunters and the mutants saw that they weren't so different from each other after all. It was with that the Beast Hunters and the mutants ended the war and decided to live together in peace. After they did, the Beast Hunters spread the word of this to all of the people underground, telling them that they could no longer live in hiding. While some had come to see this as such, the rest stay underground as they were too frightened by the great size of the mutant animals and the knowledge of what happened in the past. There even some that truly hated the mutants and wanted nothing to do with them. Seeing that, the Beast Hunters decided to leave them be and wait for the time until they become open to the idea of living amongst the mutants. As time passed, the now-disbanded Beast Hunters and the mutants worked together to build a new society.

Seeing as calling them "mutants" no longer suited for the evolved animals, the people that stayed on the surface decided to give the new species a name. From there on, they were called Wonderbeasts as they filled the world with miraculous wonder. After almost two centuries of war, the world began a new era of peace and harmony. The heroes of these moments were declared heroes and would have stories told of them for generations to come. Two of these people were the very leaders of the Element Gang. In case you didn't already know, the Element Gang is actually a family lineage of heroes, passing on the knowledge and training the next generation so the world would always be protected. All those of the society above ground would know the great elemental heroes that fought for the people and the world they called home. The ones who started these chains of events would always have their names remembered: Jay Richey, the quick master of water (Posidacus); Trustin Kelsch, the ice elemental scout and master of stealth (FrostFang); Basar Blood and his wife Tricha, the loyal earth elemental brawn of the team (Apolloid) and the graceful air elemental (Torna); Meri Mock, the electrified wild card of the team (ShockBlaster); and Axel Frank, the fire elemental leader of the team (El Dragon). Yes, the most known throughout history were Axel and his successor who ended the war. Those two were my ancestors. Even with what had transpired before the war, they were still remembered as heroes. With the war brought to an end, everyone thought the world would finally be at peace. But… after decades of peace, the great era of harmony came to an end.

One day, a Wonderbeast named Scarlemagne arose and managed to turn most of the Wonderbeasts against humans. Thanks to him, a new Beast War began. This time, it was not only human against Wonderbeast, it was Wonderbeast against Wonderbeast. That same war still rages on in the present day. Thanks to the war, the Wonderbeasts have now become divided. Most of who sided with Scarlemagne decided to stick their own species and formed their own groups which practically dominate the land we live in. Those of the Wonderbeasts who are against him became part of a resistance known as the Guardian Order, working alongside humans to end Scarlemagne's reign of tyranny. That's basically the world we live in and the one I grew up in for all 13 years of my life. I always dreamed of becoming a legend like my ancestors, but it wouldn't much matter with Scarlemagne pitting just about every Wonderbeast against my people. One of these days, I hope to stop Scarlemagne and end the wars once for all. And maybe, just maybe, I can be able to reunite the Wonderbeasts again. My name is Axel Frank, named after the original Axel, and this is my story.

Author's Note: Hey, guys! I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. And don't worry, you'll get to meet the rest of the Element Gang's descendants soon. As a matter of fact, they will soon be introduced to the other members of this Axel's little group in the first chapter. Don't forget to leave a comment to tell me what you think. I'll see you all in the first chapter of Element Gang: Axel and the Wonderbeasts!