"Ungh…" I grunted while clutching my throbbing head. I kept my eyes squeezed shut but sat up, resting my face between my thighs as the pounding in my ears ebbed away. "Ugh. What happened to me?"

"I was hoping you could answer that question." My head snapped up as I tried to find the source of the voice, it was a mistake. I opened my eyes only to clench them shut once again against the blinding light. "Peace, child, I will not harm you."

"Sure you won't." I opened my eyes to slits, not trusting this person a bit. When my eyes had finally adjusted, I scanned my immediate surroundings only to find I wasn't exactly in Kansas anymore. I remember driving and then… My gorge rose as my last memories washed over me.

"The crash…"

"Aye, lad. The crash." I turned around to voice, only to find a bird (a titanic bird at that) perched on a boulder in the desert we were in. "Quite nasty, that."

"You… You're a talking bird?"

"You're surprised?"

"Not particularly. I take it you're not an angel in a weird form then?"

"What gave it away?"

"Well, the amount of wings is right," I said looking at the six wings the bird had folded over its body, "but you don't have the whole creepy, terror-inducing thing going for you. You're just a six-winged bird from what I can tell. I only know one six-winged bird and I'm really hoping I'm wrong."

"You believe I am a Thunderbird?" I nodded and the bird chuckled. "You'd be right. I apologize, Mr. Potter, but it appears we are to be stuck together for sometime."

"Potter?" I asked rather stupidly, ignoring the whole Thunderbird thing for a second. "That's not my name."

"As of now it is." The Thunderbird said. "You are now Harry James, son of James the Lord of Potter."

"Oh shit." I grunted as I managed to get to my feet. "How?"

"I am not sure."

"Neither am I." Another voice came from behind me. I turned around only to find myself face to face with quite possibly the largest cat I had ever seen. I gulped as the garbage truck-sized lion stared down at me. "So you are the boy destined to replace Potter?"

"I, uh, I guess? I'm twenty-two."

"Still a boy, boy." The enormous Lion growled, his coat moving like fire as he padded toward us.

"Radin. Finally decided to show your face, old friend?"

"Sol. I feel things stirring in the world, things beyond my understanding."

"Damn, so soon? High ones be merciful." The Thunderbird hung its head as it looked at me. "The first thing you need to know, Potter, is that this is not the world nor the Harry Potter you know."

"Oh?"

"Aye." The Lion grunted, lying down with his chin on his paws. "This world is a world of power, of magic and of mutants."

"Mutants? Like the X-men?"

"Precisely."

"Shit… I'm one?"

"See for yourself." The Lion growled and the landscape changed from a rocky desert to a-

I blinked as I glanced around the building. Why the hell did this look familiar and why the hell was Danny Huston standing there? And why was he so old? Anyway… I was in a lab standing on an observation deck as scientists scurried about. Medical equipment was lined up in front of one woman who had given a thumbs up to Huston.

"We're ready?"

"Yes, Mr. Stryker." The doctor sitting in front of the medical instruments said but I was already gone.

Stryker? William Stryker? The X-Men Origins version of him? All ran through my head as I finally looked down at the floor at the body strapped to the table.

A kid's body. He was tall for a kid, and lean, but he wasn't any older than twelve. He was staring up at the ceiling as he breathed evenly, his bright green eyes glancing around were the only indications that he may have been nervous at all. It was Harry Potter. Everything about the kid said that he was, the supernaturally green eyes, the untamable black hair, and most damningly was the livid lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

And he was about to be put through the worst pain anyone could ever imagine.

"Weapon L, displays all of the same mutations and abilities of Weapon X with a healing factor almost to the point of Weapon XI. We have discovered a new alloy, one of Vibranium and Adamantium bonded by a metal unknown to us. The adamantium increases the durability of the vibranium without significant drawbacks. Begin the bonding." Stryker monologued, then nodded. Harry's body was lowered into the water and the machinery began to whir to life. The (terrifyingly large) needles glowed red and steamed as they were inserted into the water as the liquid metal was held back.

God almighty, it was like watching Origins all over again…

The kid looked around at the needles and his eyes widened but he managed to keep himself calm as the machines were just millimeters away from him, poised in position.

For a beat, everything was still. Then the doctor pressed a button and the needles dropped.

Harry screamed and thrashed in the tank as the liquid metal was shoved into his body. I wanted to turn around, to throw up, to do something but I was stuck watching these monsters turn a boy into a weapon.

I had to listen to another one of the doctors call out the kid's vitals, watch as they drilled into him, and just bear witness to this monstrosity they dared call a medical experiment on a kid. I grit my teeth but the experiment went on. It lasted less than a minute but for Harry, it was likely an eternity. The doctor proclaimed that the alloy had bonded to the skeleton but those were the last words any of them would say as Harry's body detonated in a hellish wash of fire.

The building we were in was reduced to nothing but a crater as everything around the lab was vaporized in an instant… But Harry's body remained still.

Around me, the world seemed to melt as it transformed back into the desert I first found myself in.

"Holy shit…" I muttered as the Lion and the Thunderbird nodded sagely.

"Aye."

"You turned a cave into a crater." I said looking at the smug lion.

"That was my power, yes. But Mr. Potter never knew how to wield my abilities in life."

"He was trained to use the abilities his handlers believed were important."

"His mutant powers?"

"Precisely. They valued his enhanced senses and claws over his abilities with fire, lighting, and magic."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all great and everything but why am I here?"

"Finally, we agree." The Lion chuffed, looking at me from his place lying on his paws.

"Hush, Radin." The Thunderbird sighed. "You died, Mr. Potter. Horribly."

"No need to tell me about it." I shuddered, dry heaving slightly just thinking about the impact.

I was just minding my business, driving the interstate in the rain, when some bitch in her Honda Civic decided she just had to be in my lane. Her car hit my front right quarter panel and usually that wouldn't be too terrible. She shoved me into the emergency lane on the shoulder and normally that'd be no big deal, but when there was a semi truck sitting there? Well, obviously it didn't end well. My car was just short enough for the engine block to ram the reflectors, I was moving fast enough that they bent, and my car was tall enough so that my window crashed into the lip of the trailer itself.

Dying on impact was almost a mercy. I knew that if I had lived through that I would have been a vegetable for the rest of my life.

"Aye, you lived through it."

"I died from it." I said bluntly as the Lion snorted. The Thunderbird seemed to just cringe. "So did Harry die too?"

"Aye."

"And I'm taking his place?"

"Aye."

"Fucking wonderful." I grunted, collapsing to my rear in the sand as I put my face in my hands. "At least I have one or two things going for me then."

"You do." The Thunderbird said. "You have magic, you have your name, you have foreknowledge. You also have our abilities at your command."

"At the boy's request. We do not have to grant him our powers, Sol."

"No, we do not. But I'd rather allow him to use my form of transportation than force him to rely on that mockery of teleportation the wizards use."

"You can teleport?"

"Aye. When you awaken, simply think of where you wish to go and I will take you there."

"Anywhere in the world?"

"Aye."

"Any limit on how many times I can teleport?"

"No." I felt my lips pull into a wicked grin.

"Alright, when do we start?"

"You have no more questions?"

"Of course I have questions, but I don't think you guys would know those answers."

"Oh?" The Lion chuffed. "Like what?"

"What year is it?"

"I know not… Radin?"

"I do not care for such things."

"My point exactly." I sighed before a thought crossed my mind. "The Horcrux, is it going to be a problem?"

"It was purged upon Mr. Potter's death, it is how his body lives on while his spirit has passed."

"Ah, alright then." I nodded. "So Voldemort's alive?"

"Aye." Radin said. "A horcrux can be purged with my fire."

"Or my lightning."

"Then I just need to go round them all up." I nodded. "There's the Ring in the Shack in Little Hangleton, the Diary… That's going to be an issue, isn't it?"

"I know not. The memories we have pertaining to it are yours."

"Wonderful." I sighed. "Okay… What's next? The scar was taken care of… Nagini isn't one… yet. There's the locket, the cup, and… Uh…" I frowned as I thumped my forehead.

"Riddle's main soul and the Diadem of Ravenclaw."

"Hogwarts?"

"Aye. It appears you will have to attend, boy."

"Ugh. I'm only going for first year." I warned. "And even then I might not stay."

"But you will pillage the castle for all her secrets, will you not?"

"Is that even a question?" I asked the Lion with a smirk. He snorted.

"No, it's not." The Lion said. "But you would need to attend the school anyway."

"Why?"

"The other elementals are most certainly to attend as well."

"Giant fire lion say what now?"

"Blaze Lion, boy." Radin huffed. "There are seven guardians: Fire, Lightning, Wind, Ice, Earth, Water, and Wood. We are not needed often but when we are, our champions must be chosen before their birth. Sol and I chose the same boy, though we have not met face to face until now."

"Did you choose the same kid on purpose?"

"No." Raadin sighed as he looked at his companion balefully.

"So how'd it happen?"

"Harry Potter was a child of prophecy. Mayhaps that played a part."

"Or it was plain bad luck."

"Aye, perhaps it was. There are no laws or limitations set when we choose our champions, Mr. Potter."

"Other than it's expected that we don't choose the same champion."

"Expected by who?"

"Ourselves." The Thunderbird sighed. "We are powers unto ourselves with laws of our own."

"Ah, nothing too concrete then." I shook my head as the two of them looked at each other. "What? You two broke your own law by accident, can't find each other after you choose your hosts, and are apparently insanely strong."

"We are the embodiment of the elements."

"So you're living lightning and you're living fire?" They both nodded. "Wonderful. How the hell did I get the most violent natured guardians?"

"Bad luck." The Lion said.

"You're probably right. Again." I chuckled ruefully as the two mythical beasts looked down at me as I clambered to my feet. "So, I can't say I'm looking forward to being eleven again-"

"Ten."

"Fucking Hell." I grunted. "Being ten again and going through puberty a second time… But I can't stay here forever, can I?"

"No. No you can't."

"Great, let's get this show on the road then." The Thunderbird spread his wings and the Lion got to his feet.

"Awaken." The two of them said as fire exploded off the lion and thunder boomed in my ears.

"Oh son of a bitch…" I rasped as I opened my eyes and stared at open sky. "I feel like a brick. Ugh. Okay… So, Sol, how does this teleporting thing work?" I rolled to my knees on the soot coated rock and clambered to my feet.

'Simply think of where it is you wish to go, I will do the rest.'

"Well…" I frowned, thinking furiously as I glanced down at my naked form in consternation. "First I need clothes. Where the Hell are we?"

'The Northwest Territories, Canada, fledgling.'

"Fledgling?" I asked, incredulous. "Nevermind. Whatever." I grunted as I looked at the walls of the crater. "I really don't want to climb this."

'Then don't. Take my form.'

"I can do that?"

'You can.' The Thunderbird said and pain flashed behind my eyes. I winced as I clutched at my temple.

"And mine." This time I grunted as the same pain passed through me, taking me to my knees.

"Well…" I gasped, staring blankly at the crater wall. "Those are subtle."

"They aren't meant to be."

'But you can take the form of one of my kind's fledglings, if you so wish.'

"And my form can shrink." The Blaze Lion grunted as pain flashed through my head again, bringing me to my knees this time.

"Why does that hurt so badly?"

'We are shoving knowledge directly into your brain, fledgling.'

"Great." I huffed as I tapped into that said knowledge and watched as my body warped into a giant fucking bird… I reverted back to my human form and concentrated again. When I transformed the second time I was significantly smaller, more condor than prop plane. I flexed my wings experimentally and (if I had lips) grinned manically as I shot off into the air.

'You said we were in the Northwest Territories, right?' I thought as I climbed higher and higher into the night sky, the light of the full moon more than enough to light up the landscape below me with my newly improved vision.

'Aye, we are.'

'Any idea how far into them we are?'

"We are above the arctic circle, boy. Significantly. There are no towns, no cities, and no refuge to seek in this place."

'Well hot damn.' I swore as I flew south as fast as I could. 'If it's 1991 then we shouldn't have an issue breaking in somewhere and getting away with it… But I don't think it is.'

'Why?'

'Stryker. Those memories I saw? He was old. Way too old. At least eighty.'

"Why is this an issue, boy?"

'Because the movie he was in was set in the eighties, he wasn't even fifty there. He'd only be about ten years older if this was actually '91.'

"Hm… Interesting. For him to have aged so much…"

'Yeah, that's what I'm worried about.' I thought back as the lion growled in my head. 'If this isn't '91 then anywhere we go is in a surveillance state. Hell, the Canadians were probably watching when Harry went supernova back there.'

'Then we must hurry. Pick your destination and I shall take us there.'

'We need the wizarding world, much as I don't want to get involved with them yet.' I thought sourly. 'Especially if we're in a future timeline and things haven't really changed for the wizards.'

'The Goblins?'

'Naked? Oh Hell no.' I'd have shuddered if I wasn't currently flying. 'Those sadistic little bastards would probably run me out of the bank for being in the nude. No, the only thing we have going for us right now is that it's night.'

"And you have all of the Wolverine's abilities."

'Right, there's that too. But they didn't bind just adamantium to my skeleton like they did to him… I've got vibranium, right?'

'Aye.'

'Interesting… Very interesting. They basically bound the metal that made Captain America's shield in the comics to my skeleton. But it's this mystery metal that has me worried.'

"Rightfully."

'Radin speaks true, it is a cause for worry but it does not seem to be affecting your body. In fact, your magic seems to have helped with assimilating the metal.'

'So I don't have to worry about Adamantium poisoning?'

'No.'

'Thank God. Okay, so, what's our next step?'

"Destroy the horcruxes."

'Besides the obvious.' I deadpanned and I could practically feel Raadin smirking. 'I need clothes and some equipment before I do anything else.'

'Equipment? What do you need?'

'Find me a sporting goods store with shitty security and I'll show you.'

'You know the place. Let us go.' The Thunderbird said and then we disappeared with a clap of thunder only to reappear in midair with another one. I blinked as I glanced around, realizing where I was rather quickly.

'Really? This place?'

"It fits the criteria you asked for, boy." The Blaze Lion chuckled as I rolled my eyes.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah…' I growled as I landed in the parking lot, looking up at the padlock holding the door shut. Yeah, a padlock. It was that kind of place…

And apparently, I was going to rob it.

I transformed back into my human form and sighed as I looked down at my hands. 'So, do you guys know if I got all of Wolvy's powers?'

'I believe you did, fledgling.' I nodded as I focused, trying to find the difference in my arms. Then I felt it. I flexed my arms watching in horrified curiosity as claws shot out of my hands. Two claws on each hand. My eyebrow shot up in surprise.

'X-23?' I thought as I looked down at the jet-black claws stretching out from my hands. 'So do I…' I looked down at my feet and grinned as another pair of claws shot out from between my big toes and their neighbors. "Cool…" I whispered, grinning as I used my claw to shear through the padlock with frightening ease. The lock itself hit the floor with nothing there to support its weight while the bar hung in its latch innocently until I flicked it out and pulled open the door. They'd be able to get fingerprints from that… Not that it mattered too much since mine probably weren't on file on any accessible server in the US considering I was with a Canadian Blacklisted program…

Speaking of, how the hell did Harry Potter end up there?

'Save those thoughts for another time, fledgling. Get your supplies and flee.' The Thunderbird urged me on as I stepped inside and scanned the store.

"There's not much here, but it'll do. I guess." I huffed as I set to work. First things first? Underwear. I grabbed a backpack as I jogged to the clothing section, pulled on a pair of compression shorts, and tossed the rest of the three-pack in the bag. It took a little trial and error to get jeans that fit decently but I could get a sewing kit and hem up the best fitting later, right now I'd roll them up and pray for the best. Then I grabbed a plain black T-shirt that fit well enough, a black hat, and took a pair of gloves from the shelf, pulling all of them on as I made my way over to the hunting section.

There, I grabbed a Swiss army knife, some heavy woolen socks, and a heavy pair of leather work boots that would be serviceable for the time being. Then I spotted the KABAR. I grinned and snatched it up, strapping the sheathe to a belt that I slipped on as fast as I could. 'Medical supplies… Right. Where would they be? Do they even have any here?' All of those thoughts shot through my head as I searched the aisles. Then I found it. 'Well, it's not a jackpot but it's good enough.' I thought sourly as I took the field first aid kit from the wall and frowned, returning to the knives and taking one of those knives with a replaceable blade. If it was good enough to gut an animal, it would be good enough as a scalpel if I need one. Oh, and a small sleeping bag. Maybe I should get a tent too…

So I did.

'Alright, what am I missing?'

'Bread and water.'

'Right.' I shook my head as I moved to the front of the store, sighing at the junk food. I shoved a few packs of crackers into the bag with a few liter bottles of water. Then I noticed the newspaper sitting innocently on the rack beside the register. Almost as an afterthought, I took a copy and shoved it into my pack too. 'That should be enough. Get us out of here.' Sol chirped in my head as Thunder rang through the shop.

I reappeared in (surprise, surprise) a freaking desert.

"So which desert is this?" I asked, readjusting my belt and backpack uncomfortably.

'The Great Basin.' Sol said. 'We won't be disturbed here.'

"There's no one around for a hundred miles to disturb us, Thunderer."

'Aye, that was the point in selecting this place.'

"Alright, good." I sighed, flopping down into the sand as I looked up at the stars. "The stars are the same here, at least." I said, more to myself than to them.

'Indeed. Is it comforting?' I looked at Orion as I took a breath and held it. I worked my jaw for a second before I blew that breath out.

"No. No it's not. I died, Sol… This is a second chance for me but…"

"Yes?"

"Do I deserve it?" Neither of them answered. I sighed once more as I unslung my pack and took out the tent, getting to work pitching it.

"What are you doing, boy?"

"Getting ready to sleep, dammit. I've got a lifetime of memories to acclimate to, apparently."

'What do you mean?'

"I mean I might have Harry's memories but I can't just straight up remember them. It's like there's a… a film over them when I try to watch them. I can sort of see them but it's not really focused."

"You don't need his memories, your body remembers the training he did. He knew nothing of wizardry."

"Ah, so what do you want me to do?"

"Hunt those Higher damned horcruxes."

"Straight to business then." I sighed. "Sol?"

'Little Hangleton, yes?'

"Yeah." I tore down my tent and threw it back into my pack reluctantly. "Let's do this." Again, I was gone in a crack of thunder.