The Family Creed.
Chapter 4: The Child and the Beast.
"Grrragh... grrr..." I snarl, bristling at the window, "Fuck off... FUCK OFF!" I paw at my ears and whine, "Loud!"
The wind screams like a jet taking off, the thunder strikes like nukes, the lightning blinds me an' I curl into a little ball. I don't like storms. It's so loud an' all I wanna do is fight whoever thought it'd be a great fucking idea to have them.
I growl and whine, pacing, "Loud loud loud..." I stop when I notice Anna an' Remy sitting on one of the couches.
"Ey, Anna. Look at Vic. You ain't the only one." he soothes, smiling, "She's scared a' storms jus' like ya."
"Tornadas..." she mumbles, "An' winds. I don't like 'em."
That's when my mind buzzes, Jean coming out half asleep with her red and orange hair a mess. She opens her eyes slightly. Guess I woke her up.
"Your thoughts woke me up." she sighs and I'm right about that, sitting down on the other one and holding her arms out, "Come here."
"You sure?" I ask.
That's when the thunder answers for me and I practically jump five feet in the air, scrambling for her and hiding my face in her chest. I completely ignore the fact that she's datin' Scott. Mostly 'cause I'm scared.
"Jeanieeeee! Make it go away!" I howl and she wraps her arms around me, I whimper and Anna also curls into Remy's side.
'Shhh... It's okay. We're inside and you're safe with me and Remy and Anna. Nothing's going to hurt you.' she smiles down at me, 'Just think of it like a fun little sleepover.'
"Speakin' of sleepovas... Howzabout we make a pilla fort?" Remy asks, "See, my mama an' I useta sleep out in the livin' room when the Hurricaines started blowin'. An' voila!" he lights a scented candle and produces some tiny marshmallows and toothpicks from the mess hall.
"What? Ain't eva tried toastin' marshmallows with a candle?" he looks between Jean's concerned face and Anna's 'are you kidding me?' face.
Me and Remy go brave our rooms for the blankets and pillows, using the couches to build it with Jean floatin' some from her room t'build it up too.
We all work on it, with Anna and Remy settling in and Jean and I settle in too. The TV sends a static-y white-blue glow through the room warding off the loud din of the storm outside.
"So, which movie?" he asks, "We got ah... Hunchback o' Notre Dame, Snow White n' the Seven Dwarves, Star Trek, Transformers where-"
"Shhh!" Jean shushes, "Victor and Kurt haven't seen that one yet!"
"We also got Jurassic Park an' the Indy Jones movies." he smiles, "Mr. Logan's got the slashers, but I don' think we need anythin' scary tonight, sports fans with how Rougarou is actin'."
He looks at me an' Anna, "Y'all pick."
"Well..." I scratch the back of my head, "Maybe Hunchback?"
"I wanna watch Snow White." Anna says.
"Well we got both of 'em so... Snow White first."
He pops it in and the Disney FastPlay starts going. Even if I barely knew what the fuck a Disney Fastplay was, my brain immediately buzzed it into my memory like everyone else's.
Remy and I squeeze in with the girls and Jean lays against my chest with Anna gently wiggling into Remy's arms, both of them wearing gloves 'cause of her power. I pop in a few toasted marshmallows, but right as Snow White started I slowly drifted off. Jean softly giggles.
"Good night, Victor." she whispers.
The next morning dawns with Logan standing over the four of us. He smiles and kneels.
"Bad night?" he asks.
"OH JESUS MARY N' JOSEPHAT!" Remy yells, scrambling out from the fort and bringing half of it down, "MISTER LOGAN!"
"Cool it, cool it. I knew you all were out here. As long as you guys weren't foolin' with each other I wouldn'ta stepped in." he winks at us and waves us towards the mess hall.
"Breakfast is ready, ya got a Danger Room Session today." he looks at us with an almost mocking smile, "Let's see what you two Casanovas got."
"So what's with this, 'Danger Room'?" I ask, the other guys changing into their weird costumes I saw on them. Piotr pipes up.
"It is basically what Americans call gym class but it is far more dangerous than that. I heard that years ago it had become a sentient robot." he chuckles, "But it is fine now!" He's in a red and yellow leotard lookin' thing.
Kurt pops up in his red, black, and white number with his tail winding through the air, "Ooh! Ooh! I heard it was made by aliens! Isn't that neat?" he hops off the dividing wall and bounces on his toes.
"Well, whatever y'all heard, it's gonna be Vic's first time. So I don't think Logan'll be gentle." Remy sighs, "My turn won't be either. But I hope Anna'll forgive me." He slides on his coat and has a weird compression headgear with the neck connecting to his shirt. He's got his ears free too.
"Wait what? I thought he was gonna let that slide!" I snarl, "Fuckin' liar." I dig through the bag he'd tossed at me after breakfast. All I see is a heavy fur collar and it's more in gray than the weird orange tones. My gloves are fingerless.
I can't stop the growl, "Real funny…" I slide it on and it fits me perfectly. There's no headpiece but I tie my hair back with a vibranium tie. It makes my skin crawl wearin' this thing, hair length and all that couldn't stop me from thinking when I look in the mirror…
"I'm him." I give the mirror my best 'bring it!' smile but all it does is remind me of him, "Fuckin' A."
I step out of the locker room and Scott meets us out in the hall. He's wearing that blue suit but with a skullcap, so he looks even dumber with a gold bandolier lookin' thing with the X in the middle.
"Well then, you look peachy.": I snicker and he glowers at me like I offended him but I'm not the hardass, "What?"
"Just follow my lead out there, Creed." he states, "You have no idea what's in store."
"It'll be fake, I'll break it, and we'll all pass." I reason with a smile, "Of course that is if you follow my lead instead." I point at myself with my thumb, "Trust me, I saved ya out in the wilderness."
"I think we should follow Scott in this case, Rougarou." Remy sighs, "Not t'be a downer but you ain't the best at leadin' if you fly offa the handle."
I bite back a hard snap. Mostly because they're right.
Mr. Logan walks up to us, "Well, you're not workin' in a big group this time. Everyone's gonna split up into groups."
"Really?" Scott asks, "How is it going to be useful?"
"Well, breaking into smaller squads will increase effectiveness." Remy shrugs, "Er somethin' like that."
"Right, if we're ever split up, we can all work together without being lost on what we got!" Jubilee exclaims happily.
"Right, so… Creed! You're with Cyclops and Jean!" Logan barks and Scott fixes me with a glare. We got a long way to go. About time this starts really hitting the gas. Jean flashes me a smile, and of course that weird warm feeling comes back in force.
The Danger Room is like some kind of big box, a weird barren place, smooth and shifting like liquid. There's a soft hum in the air and then… The area around us shifts and bends into the Canadian Wilderness. The sharp and chilling wind, the scent of the pines, the bright sun making the snow blindingly bright and making me squint. For some reason I felt like I was home. I knew it like the back of my hand and all. Cyclops and Jean stand beside me.
"So uh… what do you think we're up against?" Cyclops asks.
"I dunno, but I don't like it…" I snarl.
Jean closes her eyes, trying to scope it out for anyone ahead but that's when a familiar scent of metal and blood enters my nose, bursting out of nowhere is my father?! How is he here?! Is this some kinda-
Weaving backward, I kick some snow into his eyes, Cyclops's beam slams into him from the side and Jean slams him into the snow. Dirt and water mix into slush and mud. Trying to overwhelm him even if he's a robot.
My claws strain, my chest heaves, my eyes widen and my mouth opens in a loud and chest ripping scream. Jean flinches and I tear through the snow towards Sabretooth. Whoever was runnin' the simulator...
"RAAAGHH!" I roar, my claws ripping through him but he rips me aside, cracking filling my ears, "Grrugh..." I skid and bound back, pouncing on his back.
"CYCLOPS! NOW!" I yell, tearing into his back as Cyclops aims with his laser blasting us into the air, kicking him off me and Jean slams a huge boulder into him. In a cloud of snow and dirt the first bot is...
The boulder slashes in five lined chunks before Sabretooth comes at me, "Alright, Bot-Tooth!" I yell, kicking him in the chest and pouncing on him. I aim right for the face and rip into him before Jean lifts me out of the way and Scott keeps him busy with bursts of energy.
"How'd you beat him?!" he yells.
"I didn't! I ran! Bone can't cut through Adamantium!" I look at Jean, "Any ideas, Jean?"
'Maybe, but I haven't done it before! It'd take some time!' she thinks, 'Just give me a moment to recharge, you two!'
"You hear that, Cyke?!" I yell back.
"Yeah! You just hit close, I'll hit far!" he snaps, bursting out more blasts as I wade in and slash at him, muscles and veins feel real and everything else does too. But whoever picked this as our round had to be playin' a sick joke.
He grabs a boulder and crashes it into me, bringing his claws down onto the back of my head and everything fades out, all that fills my mind is the burning, clogging sensation of rage, sticking in me and burning me out of body and mind. Instinct takes over and my body swells with adrenaline, my senses sharpen and my muscles kick into the respiration. I can't control this. I can't bring myself out of it. Jean and Cyclops try to hold him back but I vault over them.
"GRAAAAHHHHGGGG!" I roar, slamming him into the earth and slamming him over and over, "RAH! RAH! RAGH! RAAAAAHHGH!" slamming it over and over into the ground before I'm digging into the metal. Blood and the metallic scent of it fills my nose an' all I do is RAGE. The scream and grind of metal, the environment around us flickerin' and dying. Cyclops tries to blast me but Jean stops him.
"Don't scare him!"
"RRrgh!" I whirl and spring at her with the wind rushing through my ears, "RAAAAAAGH!" My muscles seize and I can't close the distance. I don't notice it but Jean's got her hold on me, 'Victor! Victor, stop! It's over! I got it! Don't fight anymore!'
"RAAAH! RAGH! AHHHGH!" I thrash and strain against her hold, her eyebrows knit in concentration. I growl and grit my teeth, images of the calm river Mama and I used to live near, images of the birds singing.
'It's alright, Victor...' Jean soothes, 'It's alright…'
"Jean, what are you doing?"
"I'm calming him down, he's going to sleep in a moment…"
More images. Bein' tucked in, kissed goodnight, an' the light goin' off. Not my memory but her's adjusted to fit mine like a deep whatever that replaces faces. I sway, trying to stay awake. Trying not to fall asleep 'cause that's dangerous. That's not good.
He's still out there. He's gonna kill my friends, Logan, everyone! I can't… I won't… a yawn sounds out and I fall to the smooth floor.
"Alright! Who's idea was it to make Sabretooth part of my class's regiment?!" Logan snaps me out of my sleep, "You all know he's got things against Sabretooth!"
"We know, Logan." a big blue hairy guy says, "Which is why I added it to the Danger Room's copy ability. To test the Junior's true power."
"That ain't right, McCoy!" he snarls, "He just got-"
"You're far too soft on your children, Logan." Miss Frost scoffs, "Must be because you've found most of them."
"No, that ain't it at all..." he softens a little, I guess he's more polite to ladies, "I lost one, Emma."
"We know, but preparing your children for every eventuality is better instead of holding their hands." McCoy continues, "And this new one troubles me..."
"Hey, it's rude to talk about someone who's listenin'!" I snap, sitting straighter, "And you're being a dick." I lean forward.
"Not you, Miss Frost. You got a point." I wave her off, "But you, Mr. Blue. You gotta be shitting me."
McCoy rises, "Just as surly as you if not more, Logan." he leans down to look me in the eyes, "Tell me, Mr. Creed. What do you think of Coexistence?"
"I think it's a load'a bullshit." I sigh, "Humans are shitty to themselves, what we need is to get our own place to live where it's just us! No coexistence, 'cause we can't change their minds!"
"Maybe I've been burned by humans too much, just ask Miss Frost or Professor Xaiver!"
"Ah, but isolating ourselves would just cause hatred to fester amongst our brethren." he rises, "Why are you here?"
"I got nowhere else to go, plus my Dad won't attack here 'cause of all the strong mutants. You might have him pegged as a dumbass but my Dad's a cunning sonofabitch. If he wanted me back there'd be blood everywhere already."
I look down at my hands, "And I owe someone. She calmed me down. I gotta get better."
"Ah."
"What were you expectin'? A fuckin' college essay?" I snarl, "I don't have some bigger calling, or some bigger motive."
"That's precisely what troubles us."
"Have Miss Frost scan my brain." I answer, "Anything you gotta say about me not wanting to sing Kumbaya milord with humans is in there. Or hell, just lemme do my thing without botherin' me every few seconds about it."
I stand up, "Now if y'all will excuse me, I'm gonna go out for a walk." Logan tries to stop me but I glare at him and he reluctantly backs off. I just need to think without someone in my head or people lookin' at me like I'm some kinda monster.
I fucked up, sure, but I didn't know that'd happen. Losin' control like that just by looking at my Dad makes me lose my shit. Emma's cold sensation fills my head, and she concentrates just a little.
As she delves in, the other older mutants watch her expression twist into pain. Shot, stabbed, burned, chased off. She's experiencing everything I did over the years, but I calm down and force it to fuckin' focus.
Everything starts forming into the old Cabin my mama and I used to live in. Forming in a massive, muscled shadow is someone I knew well. Wearing nothing but torn jeans and looming over us is the Beast.
Long, wild golden mane, amber eyes burning holes into her. His claws are cruel and hooked on his hands and feet. Blood smeared on his body almost like warpaint or camouflage. In reality it was just a way to psych out my scared shitless foes. The Beast barrels her down, spit and blood flying as he roars in her face. We're in the old cabin, Child Me sits in his booster chair and looks at her. Emma holds the Beast back as best as she can, his teeth and claws scratching against her diamond skin before throwing him back hard against the wall.
"Who's the pretty lady?" Child Me asks. He's got short golden hair and blue eyes, his claws tiny and he's wearing overalls and a black and white striped shirt. Lookin' like I did in my happiest birthday memory.
"She's here to see why I hate humans." I sigh, "Beastie! She's a guest! Like Jean!" The Beast snaps his mouth shut and lumbers to his chair, it creaks as he glares at her.
"What are these?" she asks, panting a little at holding the Beast back. He chuffs happily, looming on high with crossed arms.
"Aspects of my personality. You wanted to see what it was like for me and why I don't like humans, so I opened this shit back up when Jean stormed the gate." I huff.
"Jean?" Child Me perks up, "The pretty girl that calms you down?" he smiles and wiggles out of his chair, "Is she coming too?"
"Not this time, kiddo…" I sigh, picking him up, "We're stuck with Miss Frost right now." his little face droops in a sad whimper.
"Aww, but I wanted to play with Jean…" he sighs, "Okay…" Emma looks at me almost tenderly carrying the younger me.
"So now what?" she asks.
The Beast growls and clears his throat, "Watch." he grumbles.
Child Me looks up at me, "Again?" he whimpers, "Why?"
I smile back, "It's okay, kiddo. Just show Miss Frost why I hate humans."
He squeezes me, "No." he denies.
I step towards the old door, drafty and ripped up, splinters littering the floor. Child Me wiggles and heads out, gasping and holding his bloody shoulder. The cabin forming flames and a huge shadow bearing down on him.
"Help me! Someone, please!" he yells, dashing through the wilderness just trying to find someone, anyone to help him. But of course, they see a little boy with claws and fangs, crying his eyes out covered in blood.
The buckshot goes off, spatters my chest and then the Beast rages by us, tearing through those men like nothing. Blood and gore on his hands. Years go by with the Child and the Beast running, slashing, biting and bleeding their way through the woods. The little three year old becomes a five year old. Years go by, running from people, being shot by people, being hurt and betrayed over and over. Shaking and crying in the wilderness. The Macintires found me, with their religious ways scaring me a bit because I thought they'd rip out my fangs and cut my claws.
Then it breaks. My father, a limitless, massive mad god. The Beast and the Child both shake and back up from the blood soaked house, the corpses of our adopted family… I headed east, down near the American border. That's when I found the baby in the oven. A girl. Dad was a few days behind me, so I had to hurry. Holding the child close I try to pick up the scent of her parents. The baby burbles soft in my arms and I look down at her.
"Cute little thing, ain'tcha?" I carry her gently, the Beast leads the way, the baby strapped to my chest in her carrier from the cabin she was hidden in. The scent of her mother wasn't that old, but there's the tinge of the blood.
Someone got her. I don't know who the fuck had the balls to hurt a mama an' her baby but if I were a betting boy… it was him. Trackin' the scent, the sound, I'm trying to get to the mama before he tries anything. Covering so much ground, making sure the girl was okay. She smells like a normal human. That's all she was. So why did I decide to help? Maybe 'cause the kid wasn't bad yet. The rest of the time was me hitchin' rides with strangers, speeding down the way and covering me an' the girl's scents with other ones.
I lied to Kurt when I said I never saw Niagara Falls. The Mom's scent didn't stop, so I followed it to the strongest point. Some people watched as I walked by. Not looks of disgust but of curiosity. Why would a big mutant like me be carryin' around a pudgy little lady?
But when the trail ended, there was her mama. She was a pretty woman, what was left of her anyway. I cover the kid's eyes and turn away from her body. It was torn to shreds reeking like she was decaying for a week.
Then I hear a motor slowin' outside. The turning of tiny reflectors in the sirens uptop. They ain't patrol cars. I look down at the baby, then back up at the flashing lights. At that moment… there's no time to lose.
A hail of gunfire rips apart the room but I'm on the floor, squeezing my eyes shut and holding tight to the baby. I gotta get her outta here, she doesn't know what's happening, I gotta- I gotta- Then I see him, amber eyes burning into mine.
"Heya, son." he smiles and kneels, "That your kill?"
"No- I-" I still stay low, "You killed this girl's mama, didn't you?!" I snarl.
"Aww, why so upset about a little human brat? Just hand 'er over to the nice boys in blue and we'll get to fightin'." he looks over to the officers on the other side of him.
They back off, piss and shit coming from them like gross reminders that they're not the apex predator anymore. He lets me hand the girl over but she clings to my arms, crying. I guess she saw me like a dad?
Tired, alone, sick of death and carnage. I pass her off. I almost wanted to swing at my Dad but I knew he'd rip her apart with one blow. I… I hated seeing kids anywhere near
I sigh and my claws fully extend, "Alright old man, let's go."
And the Child and the Beast both charge alongside me, the memory and the cabin fading as Emma looks at me. She's got a mix of sadness, disgust, and blind rage on her pretty face, kinda making it look like she ate a lemon while being pissed off at someone.
I look at the cabin slowly fading when the room comes back into reality. The other older X-Men watch as Emma recomposes herself. I open the door.
"Hope you hung onto every word, Miss Emma." I close it behind me and walk down the hall, smelling all kinds of different scents all mixed together. But that's not what's got me so wound up.
It's the fact that there was almost nothing to be scared of here. No uncertainty and no need to run away. No need to be scared of my father coming out of nowhere and ripping me to shreds just to watch me regenerate and laugh the whole time.
No more sadistic hunts, no more taking bullets and knives and other things. It's not right. It's not normal. I don't… I don't know what to do or how to feel about it, but I feel a hand on my shoulder.
Looking, it's Scott. His eyes behind his red-lensed glasses, "So Dr. McCoy tore into you, huh?" he asks.
"What's it to you? He's a stuffy intellectual motherfucker that probably doesn't understand that maybe some people don't wanna be living with the people that hurt them." I reason and he walks beside me.
"I wanted to check on you after the whole Danger Room fiasco. Rumors are flying that they're gonna expell you." He almost looks apologetic, "Look, I'm sorry about Jean, it's… it's kinda tough when you don't know how her powers work but then here's some random guy who does."
"Honestly, if you want the truth I just get shared feelings. Last night she heard me freaking out about the storm." I smile and Scott nods.
"Right, Miss Frost's new kid." he states, "I think she… well, she's not been adjusting." The other guys slowly pop up.
"Outta th' Gulag it's Victor Creed Jr!" Remy calls with a big smile, "Howzabeen, buddy?" he wraps his arm around my shoulders and steers me away from Scott. Kurt laughs at Piotr.
"Now see here, LeBeau! The gulag is not for jokes!" he snaps, "It was an arm of Stalinist Russia!" he then loses the serious expression and warms up a little, "Although it is accurate to call the teachers room thus."
"I don't think that's how you use it, Piotr." Kurt pipes up, "But it was fine, wasn't it?"
"Vic?" Remy shakes me a little, "You listenin'?" It's almost like a din starts growing in my mind, A kind of ringing that really gets my blood pumping. Something's wrong. It's gotta be-
It grows louder, "Gggh! What the hell?!" I yell, darting towards wherever the hell Jean is but I get slammed down onto the floor by the din. God, what's with this?! It's like a migraine and a jackhammer and a diamond ended drill had a damn baby!
That is until I feel something like a pop and all the sudden it's gone. Piotr gently grabs my arm.
"Are you well?" he asks.
"Yeah, yeah, just ahh… psychic blowback, I think? Weird 'cause I don't got those powers." I sigh, "I might need to talk to her about that." Shaking my head and growling to myself I catch back up with the others.
When I see Jean again, she's concentrating on something. My migraine went away slowly and I see her still drawing something.
"Hey." I greet.
"Oh, hello Victor." she says, smiling a little, "What's up?"
"You do something earlier with your powers? My head started hurtin' like crazy." I lean against the doorframe, seeing what she's drawing. Was she…? It looked like the standoff in Niagara Falls.
"Hey, you're drawing me and my Dad…" I take it and see everything down to the last detail, "Why's that?" I sit down beside her on the couch and watch, she continues doodling.
"I get your memories sometimes, you get mine." she answers, "And well, the blowback from earlier."
"So you can't just turn it off?" I sigh, "Not that I don't appreciate seein' your life, it's just the fact that my head almost exploded earlier." She looks at me almost shocked.
"Oh, I'm sorry." she starts, "I must've been having a nightmare…"
"Gotcha, gotcha… hey, I'mma go out for a walk. I might stop by a store, you need somethin'?" she smiles a little.
"No, thank you Victor."
"Don't mention it, don't mention it…" I stand up and walk out of the common room and into the hallway before the dorms. I just want somewhere quiet where I can think… maybe a nice park?
Central Park is nice. The water, the birds, the soft noise of the city. All of it's just calming. Like a little patch of the real world in a concrete jungle. I made sure my gloves were on, and I'm just watching the ducks paddle on like nothing's wrong.
What Dr. McCoy said earlier, "Oh fuck off…" I growl, "Stop thinkin' about that, brain." I close my eyes and it kinda fades away. So at least it won't be bad. I lean back on the back of the bench, staring into the blue sky.
This isn't normal. This isn't right. I should be gone. Outta here. So why am I staying? That's when Jean pops up, smiling at me. Thoughts of Remy and Kurt, Piotr and Scott. Did I really soften up that much? Or was I already that soft to begin with?
"God dammit…" I huff, closing my eyes, "Dammit…"
Why? Why out of all the times of my life was I deciding to soften up now? All these years, all this time, and I'm letting my guard down? That's when it hits me. Hearing something in the distance, somethin' exploding.
Gritting my teeth I bound off, my claws tearing through my gloves as I close in on the stronger scents of some warty guy who looked like a toad and a big guy who're really fucking things up for a bank.
I get tense, and then I charge right on in. Little did I know that this fight would change everything.