Thanks for everyone for sticking around. Special shoutout to Canuckle and Cheshire as always and to everyone else that reviewed these last couple of slow ... slow ... slow ... months. I'll try to explain that and what I'm doing next to avoid it happening again after this. Now to our ending ...


"Deep breaths Jean…" the red head chanted to herself as Amara eyed her nervously from a few yards meters away.

"Trust me, you're not her target." Jean telepathically assured her. If she knew Greer well enough, the tigress was not going to fall for the bait trap and was going to pick them off one by one. Also, judging how she had trouble sensing her friend in the first place, she didn't quite trust what her telepathy told her at the moment… and she was certain for a fact that Greer and or Kraven had been listening in on her plan. So she and Scott had made another one before psychically relaying it to the others.

If anything, she'd be the first one Greer would attack… and Jean stole a peek to Colossus who stood the closest to her. If that were to happen, hopefully he'd be fast enough to restrain her so Jean could help clear her friend's mind.

Minutes ticked away in tense silence.

The whole group was getting uncharacteristically nervous, most of them even unwilling to look up at the trees above them. They'd all been briefed on how a feline like Greer (or Apex for that matter) was likely to attack and it was either from the bush or from above. Greer had always had a tendancy to attack from the unguarded flank side ... likely a bit of tigress hunting instinct she never intentionally chose to ignore.

But problems immediatley as Jean was forced to throw up a force field around herself as a log was tossed her wya and Tigra rushed to reengage with Cyclops first. The x men didn't waste any time trying to get to their leader, a lucky shot from Amara even managing to drive the tigress away but she quickly disappeared back into the safety of the trees. Jean's eyes went wide. Shit ... they were all standing on the same spot, they needed to-

"Agggghhh" and the red head tried to kick at the tigress who now grabbed her legs, dragging her so quickly into the bush it left the others confused. Working through the pain, she tried to reach for Greer's head only to shout in pain as Greer's claws tore through one of her knees and just like that, the tigress dropped her like a rag doll before running back into the fray. Jean quickly tried to pull herself up but like Amara before her, the psychic was rendered immobilized and when she tried her telepathy, she ended up beating the floor in frustration. Greer had dragged her out of range.

But Jean was tough and some torn ligaments we'rnt the worst she'd worked though. The redhead bit her lip as she worked through the pain, somehow managing to shakily levitate herself back to where the others were and collapsing just a few feet away from them. She couldn't believe her eyes. The X-Men were actually losing.

If it weren't for the fact that Greer was trying to KILL them ... Jean would almost have to admit that it was almost breathtaking to see the tigress in action. She had never seen Greer fight like this ... hell just move like this before. She was just so fast. Fast precise and deadly, nothing like how she was out in missions. Good god what kind of training did Colton and K put her through to make her like this?

Jean could only watch helplessly as Tigra wrestled Colossus, using her surprising strength and superior flexibility to leverage her larger opponent to the ground in a move that was a perfect mixture of K and Logan, a mix of snarls and swearing as Piotr tried to pin her down long enough for the psychics to get to her. But it wasn't working. Greer had seen enough of Logan's training sessions with Colossus. She wasn't going to allow herself to be caught by him, and she didn't. Her feline flexibility providing her the edge Logan didn't have. Easily getting out of the the russians's grip and drop kicking him into a ravine no one had noticed Greer had led them to.

It wasn't long before Scott was diving out of the way as Greer used Amara's panicked attacks to make her even more dangerous than the tigress. But the moment Amara dropped her molten appearance, Greer was on her and Amara was lucky she was just tossed into a nearby tree with an audible huff as the wind was knocked from her body.

"Jean if you're going to do something ... do it now!" Scott called out as he fought to keep Greer at distance while trying not to hit any of his downed teammates.

Tigra snarled triumphantly as she cornered her last attacker, pinning him to the ground. This was it, she was going to win. She was going to - and the tigress snarled confused as she was suddenly pulled roughly off of Scott. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Colussus had managed to work his way back to the fight and had a firm grip on her tail.

No. No. NO! NO she had been inches from winning and the tigress snarled and hissed while she desperately struggled against her captor but the metal man did not even flinching as her teeth dug into her arm as a desperate attempt to get him to let go.

"Now Jean!" Scott called out as he saw Tigra finally managed to achieve what she had set out to do, dislocating her arm and pulling it out of Colossus's grip, but it was too late, uncoordinated and desperate she took a wild swing at her attackers as Jean placed a firm hand on the tigress's forehead and the most blood curdling snarl echoed through the forest causing a few of the x men to back away before Jean hurriedly caught her best friend who dropped to the ground out cold.


Apex had survived Weapon X because he had eliminated every other weapon in his program. Then he'd killed the weapons that came after that. It wasn't his strength ... or his speed ... or his size ... or his claws ... or eventually adamantium that earned him his advantage. Other weapons and targets had been stronger, faster, more powerful. It was how he saw things. Every person a thing and every thing a target and when he saw a target he instinctively knew it's weaknesses ... and how to kill it.

But that didn't always mean getting to that kill was easy.

The roar Apex let out as Kraven's jaws locked onto his shoulder was evidence of that.

This new lion mutated Kraven had the feline feral healing ability but somehow Kraven had managed to accelerate it to be on par with Logan's. Kraven was stronger, faster, and larger than Apex. And he was winning.

An elbow to the right cluster on in the neck forced Kraven's jaws to open as breath was forced from his body but the uppercut to his jaw and slash to his chest barely moved him. Kraven had thus far been able to utilize his extensive hand to hand combat training to his new powers effectively and with lethal efficieny. In fact, the blood running down his pelt it only seemed to have the impact of increasing his bloodlust.

"Finally Pathera," Kraven practically purred as he licked his blood soaked muzzle and Apex rolled backwards with a grimace as he flexed and struggled to regain the feeling in his arm, "I understand what it is to be a true predator. It will be an honor to make you my first kill."

"You killed Vanyss." Apex rumbled in response as he caught his breath.

"Vanyss, Kraven said the name slowly and actually seemed distracted for a moment as his brow furrowed, the look of someone trying to remember something through a fog, "the gargoyle ... yes ... she was an unique creature," Kraven paused as he looked back at where Apex had just been but all he saw was a pool of blood. The lion mutate couldn't help but smirk, "she must not have been much of a challenge!" Kraven roared out as he turned to watch the forest around him, "Not to worry Apex ... I'll remember killing you." and Kraven looked up just in time to catch Apex as he pounced and the two massive felines went back to their war.


Red…

Red, that was the first thing she saw when her eyes had opened… and Greer had snapped awake snarling and growling, claws unsheathed, thinking she had passed out again after what must have been the thousand "poison test" Kraven had subjected her to… The last thing she remembered was something about Kraven ... and then red ... wait - she'd been hun - fighting ... but who ... Kraven? ... no ... that wasn't right ... she'd been trying to kill ...

"Jean! Oh my god Jean..." Greer shot up so quickly the psychic in question actually fell back but Greer caught her as she pulled her friend into a hug as tightly as she could. Not caring if she smelled or that the thing once called her uniform was barely staying together, the tigress was too busy taking the other red head's scent, simply happy to see her again after so long. She opened her eyes, eager to greet the rest of her friends only to freeze when she met their eyes.

Jean had admittedly panicked just the slightest when the tigress had sprung up, probably more when Greer had ran at her but was overwhelmed with relief when all her friend did was hug her… She was confused however when she felt that rudder of a tail stop its swinging instead coming to a stand still. In fact, if Jean hadn't felt Greer's heartbeat she'd have sworn her entire body had gone still.

"Did I ..." Greer didn't need to finish her question as Jean shot them a look to keep their mouths shut. How Greer's voice had cracked when she asked that … The look of horror she knew must be on her best friend's face. Jean just held her tighter. It wasn't her fault. It was never Greer's fault.

But the tigress was already one step ahead of her, their hug giving away what she had done before any of the X-Men did. Gently the tigress broke apart from her friend, her eyes drifting to the telepath's injured knee, noting how the blood stained through the bandages, making them wet. Her eyes then traveled to Amara, Scott and Piotor before she grabbed her head, her ears lowering. Jean bit her lip. The last thing they needed right now was for her friend to break down. Not when they just rescued her and Logan, K, Kurt, and Colton still missing.

"Greer… hey it's ok… Kraven… He…"

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch," and the tigress had shot up and strutted past Jean so fast the redhead had to stumble after the tigress as she looked just about to dive back into the forest on all fours .

"Where are you going?!" and Jean immediately released Greer's shoulder when she saw that the tigress's eyes had gone red.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm going to kill that monster." and Jean was unnerved by how calm Greer's growl sounded.

"No… NO! This isn't you talking… You don't kill. C'mon, we still have to go save Vanyss." and the low growl Greer emitted really unnerved Jean for a second, along with a few of the other x men who immediately took a defensive position but the tigress remained stock still her eyes slowly reverting back to green ... but the hard look remained.

"No this IS me talking and I want him dead." There was a slight tremble from the tigress before she continued, "she's dead ... Vanyss is dead."

"We were too late." Scott's sorrowful tone spoke for the entire group. But Greer didn't want to be sad. Not yet.

"Kraven made me hurt you - hunt you! - my friends. We can't save Vanyss anymore ... she's put on display for Kraven to admire like a fucking trophy. He deserves to die…" There was a stunned silence from the group. All of them just trying to absorb that they had lost a student and that this was Greer speaking to them.

It was only when Greer's ears shifted that she suddenly looked up and broke the moment of silence.

"Colton…" she whispered "Colton I can hear him! He's fighting Kraven… He's…" and the tigress frowned, "He's losing?"

"Nevozmozhno… Impossible." Piotor bellowed checking his arm, if Greer could put up such a fight against the four of them, he doubted the panther would have any trouble against one measly hunter but Tigra's expression seemed to be proving him wrong.

"He is… I don't know how, but he's in serious trouble...You guys have to take me to him!"and Greer gave her friends desperate looks when they refused to budge.

"Please!" she begged but they only shook their heads.

"We have no idea where he is…" Scott mumbled

"And this forest is to big for me to pick up on them…" Jean grimaced as she concentrated hard. "But I know someone who might…"

Kurt had never felt more relief as he finally saw the jet come to view. It felt like he had been stumbling around the forests with Logan for too long… He groaned as he felt the wound on his side but was thankful for his friend's medical expertise. People didn't seem to give enough credit to Logan for how much he knew about weaponry or the human body. The elf was ready to pass out at the back of the jet when another pleasant thing came into view… Greer. She was alive! And she looked happy to see him?

"Greer!" and he tried to straighten up as the tigress came bounding over as Logan did a quick survey of the group around them and taking one look at Greer knew what had happened. Kid just never could catch a break.

"You OK Kurt?" She said softly as she saw what must have been a gunshot wound on his shoulder even though Kurt tried to shrug it off, but the look from Logan was enough for Greer to know that the wound was serious enough for her mentor to take it personally.

"You doin' alright Tigger?" Logan somehow managed to seem capable of supporting Kurt and Greer in that moment, his eyes searching hers, but Greer had to look away and quickly changed the topic. Now wasn't the time for this ... she had to stay focused.

"And you two know? About… about vanyss?" There was a growl from Logan and a hardened look from Kurt as he managed to stand on his own, something Greer immediately noticed.

"But you're OK right? You can still move?" and the elf nodded.

"Don't worry fraulein, give me a few moments and I'll be right as rain."

Greer bit her lip… she hated herself for having to do this to him… especially like this…

"C'mon Kurt, your moment is up we have to go." and the elf was surprised by how quickly the tigress' tone and body had shifted and was looking at him expectantly.

"Go? Go where?"

"You're going to take me to Kraven. Right now."

There was the expected outbursts from the rest of the team but it was Logan that Greer heard.

"No way Tigg. He's hurt, you want to get to Colton, I'll take you there. Don't go dragging the elf into this." but Greer didn't even turn to look at her mentor, her arms akimbo as she gestured for Kurt to get going.

"I don't have time to argue with you Logan. Kraven is hurting Apex and in case you didn't put this together, your wife might in danger too."

"Don't think that's really an option." Wolverine stayed relaxed but he could just make out what certainly sounded like Apex getting his ass handed to him. And if that was the case ... why couldn't he hear K?

"The elf stays." he growled as he put a hand on Greer's shoulder, "And judging by what you've been through Tigger, You outta stay here too. Let us deal with this." and there was a snarl from the tigress who immediately swatted his hand off.

"No." and Logan held his ground as Greer stormed up to him. Fighting to level her with a glare despite the tigress being nearly two heads taller than him.

"I am not sitting by on this one," Greer turned to glare at Scott for a moment, "This is MY fight."

"Your fight?" Logan growled low, almost challenging Greer to prove it.

"Mine." Greer's growl matched Logan's but he wasn't buying it.

"You don't jump into missions you're not ready for kid. You ready to take that responsibility?" Logan growled back, expecting the angry girl to snap out of her rage and back down right there but to his surprise, she just clenched her fists.

"I'm going to watch Colton rip his heart out." she snarled calmly.

A tensed silence formed between the three before Logan made a move towards his adopted daughter.

"Tigger-" and then a roar loud enough for even the non-feral mutants to hear echoed through the forest and Greer was done listening.

"Kurt we're leaving! Now!" and the two men shared a look before Kurt nodded hesitantly and taking Greer hand ... they were gone.


Things had gone from bad to worse and Apex was wearing the evidence of it. Claw and teeth marks covered most of his arms and his chest was so matted down it was hard to tell where exactly he was actually bleeding from. The panther worked to maintain his distance and utilize his tactical fighting style but Kraven had seemed to abandoned his and was close to fighting pure feral.

It was close to this point that with a BAMF and cloud of brimstone, Nightcrawler and Greer appeared close to the massive hole Apex and Kraven had left in the wall they'd crashed through.

"He's all yours fraulien," Kurt managed out but Greer didn't even say anything aside from a snarl and leaped to the forest floor and raced on all fours to join the fight, her eyes shifting to red on the way.

Kurt braced himself against the wall to catch his breath and was about to jump into the fight himself when he felt something hit him on the shoulder. Looking down, he saw K resting on the ground with her back to the stone building, a couple stones dropped from her hand. "Hey Elf," K called out tiredly.

A second later Kurt was at her side and suddenly he felt guilty about wincing at his own wound when he saw the amount of blood covering K's uniform and the huge slash marks exposing the freshly healed skin. Almost every part of the little feral seemed raw.

"Don't lookit me like in that tone of voice," K said with a growl as she shifted to a better position, making room for him next to her. "I'll be fine."

"Then should I -" Kurt seemed torn between staying to watch out for K and joining the fight he had trouble keeping his eyes off of. Was that ... Kraven?

"You should sit your fuzzy, blue ass down right next to me," K said with a smirk as she took his hand and jerked Kurt down to sit next to her to rest, the elf as surprised as anyone at the strength K could muster. "This is their fight. And anyhow, Fuzz has the sheep in cat's pajamas where he wants 'em."

Apex was aware Greer had appeared the moment the scent of brimstone had hit him. What he wasn't ready for was the flash of orange and black that zipped past him and went straight for Kraven. The fact he was now a giant, man-lion hybrid barely slowing her down. She just wanted a piece of him and it didn't really matter to her if it was fur or skin. Kraven had to pay.

Apex only took a few breaths for himself before Greer let out a triumphant snarl, her claws red with fresh blood. Greer used her speed and agility to wrap herself around Kraven's torso as she locked herself onto his back. Kraven roared in frustration but when she went for Kraven's throat, all she got was the thick mane and a mouth full of nothing. Kraven used the moment of confusion to reach up and locking his own claws onto Greer's back, toss the tigress off him.

Greer managed to land on her feet next to Apex as Kraven dropped to all fours and snarled and roared at the pair of felines.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Greer had taken a defensive position in front of Apex who was just getting back to his feet.

"Feral." Apex rumbled out and Greer chanced a look behind her but saw the intense look Apex had on the pacing Kraven. She recognized that look ... and then it hit her. She looked from the bleeding mess that was her boyfriend, which until now had made no sense, back to the close to raving Kraven and smirked.

"Feral ... got it."

Apex was aware Greer had appeared the moment the scent of brimstone had hit him. What he wasn't ready for was the flash of orange and black that zipped past him and went straight for Kraven and tackled him tot he forest floor with an audible crunch.

There was an exchange of snarls and Apex watched as Greer dealt hell, seeming to will herself to match Kraven's feral ferocity with her own. Using her smaller size and speed to claw, tear or bite any exposed areas of flesh Kraven had. Ducking away and attacking somewhere new whenever Kraven tried to get a hold of her. The fact he was now a giant, man-lion hybrid barely slowing her down. She just wanted a piece of him and it didn't really matter to her if it was fur or skin. Kraven had to pay.

Apex only took a few breaths for himself before Greer let out a triumphant roar, her claws red with fresh blood. He then watched as Greer and Kraven circled each other before each released a low hiss and charged at each other. It was only at the last minute that Greer vault ed over him, using her training with K to wrap herself around Kraven's torso as she locked herself onto his back. Kraven roared in frustration as healing wounds were quickly re-opened but when she went for Kraven's throat, all she got was the thick mane and a mouth full of nothing. Kraven used the tigress' moment of confusion to reach up and locking his own claws onto her back, toss the tigress off him.

Greer managed to land on her feet next to Apex as Kraven dropped to all fours and snarled and roared at the pair of felines.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Greer managed out between deep breaths as she took a defensive position in front of Apex who was just getting back to his feet.

"Feral." Apex rumbled out and Greer chanced a questioning look behind her but saw the intense look Apex had on the pacing Kraven. She recognized that look ... and then it hit her. She looked from the bleeding mess that was her boyfriend, which until now had made no sense, back to the close to raving Kraven and smirked.

"Feral ... got it."

Apex and Greer attacked in unison now, slowly at first, Kraven able to hold his ground against the two smaller felines, but as the fight dragged on, Kraven slipped further and further into a feral state until any semblance of strategy or fighting style disappeared. Leaving him a snarling, bleeding mess. The tigress grinned as her last kick sent him retreating backwards, a wildly thrown punch nowhere near touching her.

"Now?" Greer growled out as she circled around the snarling Kraven.

"Now." Apex growled back and Greer smirked with a predatory glee as she saw his eyes go white with an adamantium laced roar of his own.

Scott and the rest of the X-Men managed to catch the end of the fight ... though what they saw could hardly be deemed anything but a surgical breakdown of the almost human body. As Kraven lashed out Apex either sliced a tendon, broke a bone, or severed an artery. Greer would rush in and slash, claw, bite… anything to keep driving Kraven deeper into his feral state until Greer finally saw her opening and with a final roar the lion mutate collapsed to his knees ... one of Greer's clawed hands thrust into his chest just beneath the rib cage.

"I told you I'd get it ..." She growled softly, right into his pinned back ears as she slowly worked deeper.

There was a roar of defiance from the lion but Greer just pressed on harder, claws now way past fur and flesh and digging into muscle. Kraven could barely move but he could watch, his human intelligence finally emerging long enough to know what was happening, as he looked up to see Apex standing above him. There was a low growl, now laced with an insane chuckle.

"You think you can kill me? Never..." and there was a roar of pain as Greer found what she was looking for.

"Says you. I've got you just where I want you. On your knees." Kraven ripped his eyes away from Apex to settle on the tigress in front of him.

"I don't beg Tigrista ... not like the bat. You should have heard her begging ... before I dug my knife into her. You should have heard her scream." and there was a roar from Greer as she tightened her grip until she could feel it hammering wildly in her hand.

"Before I kill you… I want to know why. Why did you have to kill her? A child?" and the lion beneath her grinned.

"Because I could." and there were roars from all three felines, Greer as she pulled, Kraven as he tried to break free and Apex who strode forward, his eyes blazing white.

"I keep my promises." Apex rumbled quietly so that only the ferals could hear it and without any hesitation placed his hands inside Kraven's mouth and with one quick flex ... ripped Kraven's head almost clean in two.

"Hey!," Greer jumped backwards as she shook ... whatever the hell it was off her fur, "you could warn a girl next time."

But Apex wasn't listening as he was busy pouring some sort of liquid over the remains of Kraven that hissed as it started to melt away the fur and - well Greer didn't need to see the rest to know what it was doing.

"Told ya I'd get it." Greer growled as she dropped the now still heart on the remains while the rest of the X-Men slowly came to stand around the recovering felines.

"So your strategy was to let him thrash you till he lost it?" Scott asked what most of the other X-Men were thinking.

"It's worked for me." K responded easily as she leaned heavily into Logan. Apex gave her a brief look before his gaze went elsewhere, earning a furrowed brow from the little feral before Kurt cut in.

"So vhat do we do now?" There was a moment of silence before Greer answered with a low growl.

"We still got the extra fuel cartridges on the jet?"

"Yea ..." Scott answered hesitantly as he shared a look with Jean. Logan and K meanwhile were just grinning at this point.

"Then I got an idea." Greer slowly turned as she glanced back at Kraven's estate.

It had taken a while. The estate was huge and there was so much that needed to be erased but gradually, the X-Men had managed to cover all the rooms ... Well almost all.

Jean had entered the last room to find the tigress staring up at the display. Hand on the glass and her eyes closed, ears pinned back. Looking at the displayed gargoyle and other ferals, the telepath tried to gently pry the fuel cartridge from her friend's clenched grip.

"Greer maybe we should take her. Don't you think ..."

"No." and the tigress went on to douse her surroundings, her eyes never leaving Vanyss's.

"That's not what she would have wanted. Not like this." the tigress growled as Kurt came in and teleported them out of there.

The team watched afar as Kraven's estate burned slowly to the ground. And while it hurt... Greer had just shaken her head and reminded herself that the beautiful, snarky, and far too young gargoyle was gone and whatever was left in there wasn't her. She repeated that to herself as she watched the fire consume whatever was left of the structure, rendering it to ash. While it usually frightened her, watching the flames had a soothing effect on the tigress and she felt herself begin to relax as the nightmare that had been hanging over her head was finally gone.

With a soft sigh, Greer reached out for Colton and turned when his hand wasn't there.

"Colton?" Greer looked around the group bathed in the orange light of the fire but her panther wasn't there.

"Where did he - Colton?!" Greer called out, getting the X-Men's attention.

"What is it Tigger?" Logan's tone was calming but now the rest of the X-Men were tunring around themselves in confusion but K was the only one to stand still facing the flames, her head giving only a small shake.

"Colton ... Colton!" Greer yelled out to the forest.

But he was gone.


Wanna give thank yous to everyone that reviewed: N1elkyfan, Retrokill, Spanky1988, J.D. Fink, Griezz and Blackhawk24 (especially for pushing me to get back to this and more importantly finishing).

Special thanks of course go to Canuckle and Cheshire. I never would have gotten through this without you 2 and it would have been boring as hell to read without you 2 being there to help me out, provide edits, inspiration, and be all things my feral guides. Cheshire, thanks for lending me Greer. I know you say we share her but no one can write her like you can. Canuckle ... you let me involve K in my book. Not sure what thanks is big enough for letting her come play and be a general bad ass.

Now ... for why this took so long and what I'm doing about it:

It's all K's fault. And I mean that in the best possible way. I had this entire story planned out ... 20 chapters tops. Had the next book planned out too. But then I finally got the chance to let my felines interact with K and well ... my carefully planned out story got away from me. Suddenly every little story and scenario I'd been thinking about just HAD to get written RIGHT NOW! but suddenly I wasn't sure where I was or how to get back to where I wanted to be. To be clear ... in the end totally worth it. Damn if Greer didn't need K years ago. But my own internal storyboard suffered and it took me some serious time to find it again.

SO ... to avoid that in the future I got a new plan. I'll be creating two new "books" that I'll be posting one-shots ... maybe two or three mini-chapter arcs ... sometimes just a scene or two ... on two different topics: general feral fluff (if you're a fan of angela, will, abby, james, and rose from canuckle you'll be a big fan) and another one more focused on apex (his backstory, random x-force and interactions I want him to have) that won't be tied to one big storyarc. I'll be able to post what I want when I want. And when all that's out and good ... I'll get back to this. I promise I won't leave you all hanging. A 3rd book will come. But for now ... be patient and hopefully you'll enjoy what I post in the meantime.

Till next time ...