The Family Creed.
Volume 1: Sins of the Father.
Chapter 1: Happy Birthday.
Screaming, claws digging into the deer with the warm blood spraying all over. The wracking scream of the animal rips through my ears as it spasms. It ain't cooked but I won't take any chances, eating the flesh, burying myself back into the animal instincts.
"Fuck…" I growl, "That hit the right spots…" I strip more flesh off the deer to dry for later, the woods smelling still of blood and gore, knowing he might show up. I just handle as much as I can for now. Some kinda different scent wafts in from above.
Jet fuel.
More birds flee from the trees and I stand to my feet, my claws still streaked with gore and blood. Viscera running down my chest. There's a huge black jet flying low overhead, crashing and skittering before banging down on the turf, smoking and the fuselage gushing like the blood of some great beast. He's gonna definitely smell that now. I bound down from where I was. Knowing that these people might need my help. Going towards them I hear.
"Seriously, LeBeau?! You could've gotten us killed!"
"Oh cry me a river, Summers! If youda stopped in Reykjavik like Mr. Logan said we'da been home free by now! I gotta wash Kurt's mess from the crash outta my hair!" two male voices, one smells like throwup and the other sounds self righteous.
"So sorry, Gambit! I didn't mean to!" a chipper, kinda cheery voice cuts through the quiet, "But Piotr and I are fine!" I creep closer to the crash site, seeing a big metal guy with solid black hair and three other guys. One's got a big long brown coat and red eyes, lookin' around like he's gonna blast everything. His hair's brown.
His buddy, Summers, is in blue spandex from head to toe. A red and black X on the shoulder. Lookin' mighty official with a special visor whirring something. All I do is listen closer.
Someone comes outta the plane, holding someone close to her body, brown and white hair billowing, "If you two are finished arguin', Jean's hurt." she supports the girl, Jean, long red hair taperin' down her back with the ends fading to pale orange, blue eyes hazy. Looks like she got a deep gash in her leg and the blood…
Shit! The blood! I waste no time crashing through the underbrush, "Cover it now!" I howl, "Cover it, dammit!" Comin' in like a bat outta hell is the man I've been runnin' from. Six foot Six and two hundred and seventy five pounds, my father Victor Creed slams into me, claws ripping into my arms. He's inches from my face, eyes wide and long golden hair a mane of wild hair. Meat and viscera smell cakes his breath and he's shirtless too. We're both animals.
"Found you, Junior!" he snarls into my ear, slamming his head into my nose and squeezing me in a bearhug, "C'mon! Is this all ya got?!" he smiles, amber eyes burning into my blue, until there's a pinkish purple blast into his back that loosens his hold.
"Grgh! What the-?"
In a burst of brimstone smoke there's a blue-skinned demon kid with yellow eyes and a pointed tail, his three fingered hands grab my arm and in another burst I'm with the others, my bones slowly knitting together and blood drying up.
"I've got you!" he exclaims, grinning a fanged smile, I don't return it and get back to my feet.
"All 'a you! Outta my way!" I roar, "My fight's with him!"
"Fat chance, mon ami!" the boy with the long coat snaps, flicking a card towards my father,in another burst of pinkish purple energy my target goes flyin'. He grinds to a stop on all fours, the solid steel guy from earlier ramming into him and layin' him out.
I bound towards my father, "It's over, old man!" but his hand grabs my arm, claws digging in.
"You were saying, Junior?" he smiles, slamming me back down to the earth but while he did I kicked him right between the ribs, despite the slam it just digs my toe claws in further. He roars and bucks me off, sending me careening down to the ground. The other guys all try to hold him off but he pounces, digging his claws and teeth into me and the agony flares like a crashing wave. Just the sheer pain forces out my instincts, throwing him off and rising, claws tearing through him, over and over and over.
Blood.
Laughter.
Muscle.
Meat meat meat meat meat. The scent of it. The taste of it… saliva drips down from my mouth. If I could just tear him to shreds I could finally be left alone!
Alone.
Alone.
Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE! My hands grind and cut into my father's upper half, my talons ripping off in his face. My fists hammering away at it too, but when I'm thrown off everything goes dark. In the void, there's a girl my age. She's sitting next to me, her blue eyes watching me with the soft, calming smile I could only dream of. Her hair starts as dark, deep red and lightens to light orange at the waist, she watches me with her hands on her knees.
"Hello, Victor." she says.
Flinching, I back up, "Whoa, how the fuck did you-"
"Victor, please listen. You're scared and you're enraged."
"Get outta my head, you-" she cuts me off with a soft hand on my cheek, "You… rrrgh."
"Victor Creed Jr, I'm Jean Grey. You need to calm down."
"What am I…"
Outside, I see myself swiping at Colossus's arms, Jean's hands trying to keep a grip on me as I roar and struggle with my eyes pure amber with black slits in them, "I'll kill 'im! I'll fuckin' kill 'im!" scraping and clawing at his metal arms, I still fight.
Jean guides my gaze back to her, "Please, Victor. Calm down."
"Just get outta my head! There's nothin' here y'need to see!" I yell, but she centers my gaze and touches foreheads with mine, memories flash between us. Little Me running away from my father, her normal and happy childhood.
She had a sister.
I had nobody.
She had a good dad.
I had a beast.
Birthday after birthday spent running away, day after day plantin' roots only t'have them torn outta the ground. She groans at all the pain and shit I had to slough through. Everything was better for her while I got the shaft and she's here tellin' me to calm down?! Blood, screams, slashing through so many people I could fill a morgue. Just so I could get away for another year.
"Victor…" she groans, "Stop…"
"You wanna see it? You wanna see what I gotta do?" I snarl, "This is Victor Creed, this is what he does. What I'll do."
But then… there's little me. Sitting alone at a table, rosy tint over everything. She shows it all around me. The innocent blonde curls and the little sharp teeth as my tiny claws rip into the little cake in front of me. A little boy no bigger than five. A little boy who liked trains and cars. A little boy who loved Boxing Day. A little boy whose birthday was the New Year. My eyes fill with tears as Jean wraps her arms around me. She curls against my chest, rubbing my back. Coming to I blink and see that my dad got away. My fingernails are bloody and my fists achin'.
Colossus groans, "I thought you would never stop pounding…" he sighs, dropping me like a sack of potatoes. The devil kid from earlier catches me.
"Oof! You're a big one! Don't worry, I've got you." he smiles down at me with a happy tail wag. Jean falls back but Summers catches her, glaring at me from behind his visor. He's a real piece of work. I can smell it on him. The desperation that he needs to show this Logan guy he's a good leader.
"You okay, Loupgarou?" the brown coated guy with the red eyes asks, grinning, "Our Jean's a real wiz with that kinda stuff." he holds out his hand.
"Remy LeBeau."
"Vic."
He drags me up and I look around at the others, Colossus smiles down at me.
"I am Piotr Rasputin, you've already met Kurt." he shakes my hand and Kurt gives me a friendly little wave. I just dust myself off, my healing factor already fixing me up. New Year's Day is here and I'm now older. Happy birthday to me I guess. Over near an already gathering attempt at a campfire, that Rogue girl and Jean sit, her leg bound up with some fabric. She might've cut herself open in the crash. They cleaned it an' it should be healing but there's also Summers trying to work the radio. Hissing static and the tuning whine of the waves sounds as he works the dials. Everything going to shit but I don't care. Just try it and get outta here.
"X-1 this is X-2, over."
"X1, do you read me?" he repeats as I watch Remy stoke a fire. Rogue watches me warily. Summers stays at the radio.
"What? You think I'mma eat you?" I snarl, grinning, "Nah, I won't."
"Why'd you help us?" she asks.
"Maybe 'cause my Dad's a homicidal maniac way above the Kiddie Squad's paygrade. Or you guys really fucked up my tactic an' I had to clean up your stupid mess." crossing my arms, I sit down near the fire, "Sorry but you guys really were about to be cut into hamburger."
"Hhhkhk…" Kurt shivers and sits near me, "How can you stay that warm? It's freezing!"
"My mutations gimme body hair dense enough to kinda act like a shield against the cold. A'course I gotta shave it in the summer but it grows back just in time for winter." Kurt huddles near me, dude's probably fourteen, the youngest one of the group.
"Normally I'd be happy to be out here, I like the snow…" he admits, "Mama always liked it too, so did my brother."
"You guys got families, huh?" I look at the fire and everyone nods.
"I actually came from a circus." Kurt says, smiling and his tail wagging, "It was fun! Well… until the ringmaster kicked me out, then I… well…" he shivers again but this time it's not from cold.
Remy takes off his coat and puts it around Kurt's shoulders, "Ey, don't worry 'bout it." he assures him, "I got a family too, at least as much as the next guy."
"Da. I do as well. They're very proud of me." Piotr says, "And we have met your father, but what about…"
My claws dig gently into my arms, "We don't talk about my Mama, got it?" I growl, "Not now." Jean looks up at me with her deep ocean eyes. She knows. She saw my Mama.
Rogue sighs, "Man, you're ornery." she tuts with a shake of her head, "My mamas woulda straightened that out fast."
"Really?" chuffing, I add more wood to the fire, "Wow, real scary there, Belle."
Rogue scoffs at the nickname, "Careful sugar. You might get a nickname you won't like either."
Remy grins with his red eyes wide, "Hey, Vic. If you wanna mess with Anna Marie, just call her cher." he hisses into my ear, "Don't try it now but when you do she'll get real cute."
"I heard that, LeBeau! I already gotta deal with one of you, I don't need another from Mr. Bobcat here!" she huffs, Jean stays quiet and Summers marches back to us.
"I can't get through to Mr. Logan, so… we might need to set up some kind of shelter somewhere."
"I got a cave over there we could use." pointing and smelling my home cave, "It's warm an' outta the elements. It ain't long of a trek."
"Why should we follow you?" he glares at me from behind his visor, with it flashing a little, "You came out of nowhere and put us in danger!"
"Says the guy who crashlanded an entire high tech plane in the middle of fucking NOWHERE." I snarl, "If Jean's staying out here and if Kurt's staying out here, they're gonna freeze." Kneeling, Kurt clambers onto my back and winds his tail around my waist, shivering against my bare back. He curls into a little ball.
I walk over to Rogue and Jean, "May I?"
Jean gets passed to me and I hold her close to my chest, bridal style. Her hair brushes against my chest sending shudders through me but I soldier on, "Come on, X-Men!" I bark at the others, "Step it up if you don't wanna freeze!"
"Are you sure that this cave'll help?" Summers asks.
"It'll get us outta the cold, plus I got a neat setup in there." I look at him with a smile, "It ain't five star, but considering you can't get a signal and y'all came unprepared as shit for this it's better than nothin'." Kurt wiggles and his voice pipes up.
"How do you know it's here?"
"I came outta it this morning. I left somethin' really rank outside so I can follow it back home. All my pops would smell is something normal, but me? Nah. It's somethin' I can't stand." leading them through the woods I hear Remy singin' Bad Moon Rising.
"Can ya keep it down? I don't think my Dad's down anymore." I hiss at him, "Plus yer croonin' might scare off yer dinner."
Remy shrugs, "Oh please, Rougarou, you ain't scarin' me at all." he grins and watches me carry the two I'm lugging around, "You a wanderer?"
"None of your business." I look down at the cave entrance, "This used t'be a mine, now it's my home."
Leading them down, there's an old lift they'd send the miners down, canary in the cage, old sweat and breath heavy with Black Lung. Jean and Kurt both look at me, and I focus on the monster above. Mane of golden hair, amber eyes glarin' down at me.
"Happy birthday, son…" Sabretooth snarls.
I kneel and Kurt gets off, "Kurt, you port down there with Jean, got it?"
There's a flash of reddish purple and he slashes the card outta the air, "I'm helpin' ya, Rougarou!" he exclaims, flicking more as Sabretooth bears down on us. Everything goes red, everything fades into shapes and scents. The fear, the rage, the mourning. Every year I face him. Every year I show him some new trick. But my claws sink into him, tearing into him. Memories snarl into my mind like wolves, my family all the way back when this started, diggin' my way outta that pit.
The people of that little town that took me in a few years later after coaxin' me outta the mountains. Remy aims right for the face, Sabretooth flicking me off like nothin' but I clamber back on and rip into his back muscles, tearing tendons and ligaments. The miners last year. They gave me this place. He tore them to shreds. All of those I made nice with. All those I trusted an' let in. All of 'em gone. He bucks me off and Remy hammers him in the face with a bo staff, grounding him.
"Hrrr…" Sabretooth groans, rising, "Helluva shot."
Now… those guys in the plane are in danger. Remy's in danger but… in seconds Kurt shows up with brimstone trailing him, he grabs Remy and ports away. Summers musta told him to get Remy outta the way. Now it's just me and that beast.
"Son… come on…" he groans, rolling his neck and grinning with his fangs glinting, "You ain't gonna let some fire haired hussy take ya away from this, are ya?"
"Yer gonna hafta kill me t'get to them. I ain't runnin' anymore." snarling, my claws ain't healed enough yet, not that bone-keratin would do anythin' against his adamantium. I just had to buy enough time for the guy reekin' of whiskey an' adamantium to come to my rescue.
An' I try. My fists break against his adamantium bones, my legs and toes kicking at his own legs t'get him off. My vision swims as my teeth find skin and bite down as hard as I can. Sabretooth doesn't flinch, he grins. Breath is cut off, all I can do is try to struggle outta his grip.
Every motion leads me closer and closer to passing out but the smell gets stronger.
"Finally yer gonna be dead…" he grins, "You miserable little fuckin' waste!" his claws dig in and everything breaks into pain, agony, fear and blood, my blood spurts out of me like a fountain. Every sensation dulls and he stands up, throwing…
My throat… my throat! That's my throat! God…
Choking on my blood, staring up at the stars, wondering if this is it. I'mma die with my father grinning down at me like a maniac. He IS a maniac. Until…
Three claws stab him directly through the chest, "Step away from the kid, Creed!"
"Gr…Grahg… Wolvie~! Good ta see ya, brother!" he coughs, the claws sliding out and with an almost quick motion he shreds his neck to nothing, his eyes rolling back in his head. Standing over him with bloody hands, shorter than him so he had to wait til the kill, dark eyes focused on me. His hair is black like Mama's hair was. Mama was always pretty. But he's stocky, strong built but smaller than me an' Sabretooth, who's takin' a break from havin' his neck shredded into hamburger chunks. He's wearing a bright yellow eyesore of a costume, but he don't seem to care.
He kneels, "You're gonna take a bit to heal, bub." he smiles just a little.
"T… they're… gublah… in the… in the mine…" I hiss, "Put… 'em down there."
The man looks towards the entrance, "Hm." he goes towards it and starts winching it up. My throat's still takin' its sweet time but I try to watch him. In a puff of brimstone Kurt is over me.
"Vic?! Vic?!" he squeaks, "Vic, stay with us!" his eyes're wide and his tail is coiled up, tears're runnin' down his blue face, "I wanted to help, Vic! I really did, but Scott wouldn't let me or Remy go back up and- and-"
I reach up and pat him on the head.
"Shuddup Kurt, I'm still fuckin' alive. Jus'... just tired…" my eyes haze, "Jus' lemme sleep, Kurt, okay?"
When I close my eyes, a sigh of relief sounds out.
Happy Birthday, Victor Jr. You won. You're sixteen and you survived.
There's a soft beepin' when I'm awake again. Soft sheets coverin' me an' sunlight streamin' in through a window. There's voices. I'm in bed. What the hell is goin' on? Why didn't they leave me behind? If I stay here- My ears pick up some voices.
"Logan, are you sure he's not a threat?"
"Hank, I swear the kid protected my class. Wagner and LeBeau were helpin' him from what they told me. He's… well, he's a kid I've had my eye on. I know his dad."
"Hnn…" the other voice grunts, "Then for your sake and your class's sake I hope he doesn't anger the professor."
There's more noise outside an' all I can think about are my friends Remy and Kurt. If they're worried about me, if… if Jean's worried about me. Jesus Christ I'm thinkin' of her like a five year old's first damn crush. She's got Mister Laserbeam as a boyfriend, so I shouldn't worry at all, y'know? But she knew more than I wanted her to know. I gave it to her. Why in the hell would I do that? Footsteps sound out and coming in is the guy from earlier, sitting down beside my bed.
"You feelin' good, Bub?" he asks.
"As good as I can be, sir." I answer.
"Logan."
"Muh?"
"It's Logan." he corrects, "Sit tight a bit, there's someone who'd like to talk with ya."
We fall silent and I wanna ask him something. Just anything. How'd he know my father? How'd he keep an eye on me? Why'd he wait so long if he was already there? Where are we? What is this place? Who wanted to talk to me? Then there's whirring, in a wheelchair with X-spokes there sits an older man, bald and looking at me with a calm smile, his eyes still with the all-knowing and all-seeing glint like Jean has. But he's far… more controlled. Not like the woman next to him with long blonde hair and cold blue eyes that tears into my soul.
'Have you slept easy, Mr. Creed?' his voice rings through my head. We aren't in a void like with Jean, and it doesn't feel cold at all like the lady's glare.
"Uhm, 's Vic."
'Ah, apologies.' he smiles and opens his mouth, "Would it be better for me to speak, Vic?" he sounds like he's from Britain somewhere. Well, yeah he is. Pretty sure if I was a betting man.
"Sure, knock yerself out." I smile and he grows serious.
"I promise you your questions shall be answered." he says, his eyes staring into mine, "As long as you let us help you."
There's a moment where I tense, shirking away from the call. I won't let it happen. I won't let them take a look again. They'll ask me like normal fuckin' people instead of probin' where they're not supposed to.
"My name is Charles Xavier." he says, "And your questions will be answered in due time."