Arc 1: Road Back to New York
Chapter 2: The Wolves & Bears of Idaho

The sun rises in the east. It dispels all the darkness it touches with its ancient light with rays of the morning heat killing the creatures of the night. Abel wakes up in the Blackwell Hotel in the town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He only got a few hours of sleep after traveling from Seattle. Despite that, he does not feel exhausted or tired. Either that is because of the new powers he has acquired or the light of the sun is somehow rejuvenating him in a similar matter to a Kryptonian. Despite that, Abel gets his ass out of bed and prepares for the rest of the journey. He showers, brush his teeth, does his business and then gets dressed for the journey. He look at the clock and see that it is 7:19 a.m. in the morning. He headed to his car and heads on over to whatever restaurant is serving breakfast at this time...after paying for the night, of course. Luckily, he checked and found one restaurant that serves breakfast just down the street known as, Jimmy's Down the Street.

However, unbeknownst to him, he is being followed. Two bikers in leather jackets, motorcycle helmets and pants all in black. Both are wearing tribal necklaces made of sharp teeth.

"He's on the move." says one with a rough and gruff male voice.

"Yeah." says the other with a more sinister tone in his voice. "I can smell that foul stench."

The two take-off and try to tail him without making it look obvious. Yet Abel look at his rear view mirror and sees the auras of the bikers. Auras in the shape of a wolf. Yet he does see something else. A strange symbol on the chests of these aura beasts. Abel doesn't know that symbol but the symbol is that of the Bone Gnawers. Werewolves that sift through the waste of mankind that are seen more as mongrels yet waiting for the chance to fight against an overconfident foe just to prove they aren't just pushovers. But, Abel lets it slide for now. His hunger is greater than his logic.


After breakfast, Abel drives off again and enter onto I-90. Despite being on the highway, those two bikers are still following as he look back at his rear view mirror to the point he can slightly see the bikers. He also check the backseat and doesn't see the two arguing ghosts anymore. That's one relief. However, the bikers are just as terrible since they do have physical form and able to do actual harm. As of now, he is passing by Bennett Bay though he can barely see it through the tall trees as he drives down. While doing so, he notice a down car. It look like an old 1960's-70's lovebug that is kept in pristine condition. However, the hood is up and someone is working on the engine.

Abel pulls over behind the car and is gonna help out. He gets out and heads on over to see what he can do. Upon approach, he sees an elderly Native American man that is wearing an old blue collared shirt, dark jeans, and even old cowboy boots while also having his hair done in a traditional manner. Long hair tied behind to look like a ponytail. But upon seeing him, he can see an aura of a grizzly bear.

"Car trouble, good sir?" Abel politely asked.

The elderly Native American look at Abel and notice the strange smell all supernatural creatures can smell.

"Yeah." the man straightens himself, "Been keeping this old gal going for years and this is the first time it has broken down." He didn't say anything about Abel's scent but can see that Abel can see beyond normal human sight.

"Let me take a look."

"Be my guest."

Abel takes a good look at the engine to see what is wrong. He checks every nook and cranny until he sees the problem. Actually, three.

"Well, you got some fried wires there. One of your spark plugs is dead. And the belt of your rotor arm is completely worn out."

"Dammit!" the man is angry. "That motherfucker fucked-up my car! I want a refund for this!"

"You got a phone?"

"Yeah." the man calmed down, "I called for a tow truck but that was an hour ago. Should've been here by now. I'm gonna miss the party."

"Party?"

"One of my kin gave birth to a daughter and it is suppose to be a special celebration. Looks like I'm gonna miss it."

"Perhaps I can help."

"Really?" the man is a bit dumbfounded, "You would help an old man like me? A complete stranger?"

"Yeah. My mother said to always help those in need and I used to be in the police force."

"Well I'll be. Hold on, let me get the gifts from the back."

Abel helps the old man get some of the gifts out of the lovebug and into his car.

"You know, you're a credit to your generation."

"Thanks. My name is Abel. Private Detective Abel Wormwood." he gives a handshake.

"People call me, Feathered Bear. Nice to meet you, detective."

"Nice to meet you."

Abel starts the car and drives off.

"Where's this place?"

"Get off of Exit 17 and turn left on East Mullan Trail Road. I'll give you the details on the way."

"Just so you know, I think I'm being followed by those two bikers."

"Ah, I see." Feathered Bear looked at the rear view mirror. "Don't worry. Where we're going, we'll be protected." He continues to make small talk, "So, we're are you from?"

"New York City. Born and raised." Abel takes pride in that.

"New York City? What's a city boy like you doing out here out west?"

"Long story. I was suppose to find my friend that went missing in Seattle."

"Ain't that right?"

The two continue their conversation as the two bikers continue to follow.

"You saw that?" asks the sinister sounding biker, "That was a Gurahl!"

"Finally." says the rough sounding biker with a hint of satisfaction, "A good challenge. I'll keep track while you get the pack."

"Got it!" the biker does an illegal turn and drives towards the direction of the lake off-road.


Abel and Feathered Bear are deep in the forest and made their way towards a large lodge hidden from civilization. Surrounding the lodge is a large number of cars with a variety of different license plates from all the states, Canada and places outside of the North American continent. Not only that, there are also some buses in the mix as well.

"Quite the shindig happening here." Abel is surprised to see so many cars in the woods.

"Like I said, a special celebration." Feathered Bear smile, "There's a miracle that's going on."

Abel parks to whatever parking spot he can find. He helps Feathered Bear get the gifts out from the car and head on over to the three story lodge. While there, they can see a huge gathering of people that are too much for even the lodge to hold. As they approach, many take a whiff in the air and notice Abel and Feathered Bear yet many have their eyes on Abel. The majority of them seem to be Native American or Native American descent with a small number of whites that speak Russian and various kinds of Asian people. They all give him suspicious looks as they glare at him.

From Abel's eyes, he can see many auras with all of them taking on the form of bears. Polar bears, brown bears, black bears, grizzly bears, panda bears, moon bears and sun bears. However, the vast majority of them have some sort of special symbol on them. Abel doesn't know it, but it is the symbol of Kinfolk. Kinfolk may have the blood of the shapeshifters, but they cannot shapeshift themselves. Only to pass on their genes in hopes of creating a true creature of Gaia.

"He's with me." Feathered Bear speaks for Abel.

"You sure?" asked a Japanese man. "Because he..."

Despite being kinfolk, they can smell the same scent all supernatural creatures can smell from Abel.

"I'm sure. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have made it."

The people look at each other and are unsure about this mysterious outsider. But they just shrug and let them through. Abel keeps on getting an unwelcoming feeling from everyone around him. He enters deeper into the bear den until he sees a woman in a traditional Native American garb holding an infant girl in her arms. Abel can see both mother and daughter are members of the grizzly bears yet only see the Kinfolk symbol on the mother, not the daughter. In other words, a new Gurahl has been born into the world that isn't a Kinfolk. A true Gurahl.

"Who is this?" the mother asks with a suspicious tone. "What is he?"

"M-my name is Abel Wormwood." Abel answered nervously, "I helped Feathered Bear to get here."

All eyes are on him. Not just at him, but possibly staring right into his soul. All the more reason why Abel should leave because of the unwelcoming feeling.

"Guess I'll leave."

As soon as Abel takes a few steps, a child grabbed onto his right hand. He looked and see a young boy with an aura of a polar bear yet has the symbol of the Kinfolk.

"Are you like us?" the boy asks, "A shapeshifter?"

A young Asian girl says, "You smell weird."

Some of the other kids started to ask questions.

"What exactly are you?"

"Are you part fairy or something?"

"You started to smell nice but started to stink."

"Are you some new breed?"

Abel can only give one answer, "The truth is; I don't know what I am. I was a human before getting thrown into your guys' world. And yes, I can see what you guys are. Werebears, right?"

Many in the crowded lodge murmur and are shocked that Abel can see what they truly are.

"I thought so." Feathered Bear spoke up, "The moment I saw it in your eyes, I knew you can pierce directly into my soul."

"Guess I should tell you the whole truth about what happened to me back in Seattle."

Abel told his story, the whole story, to all the Gurahls that is present there along with some of his discoveries, what he sees, who he came into contact with, and some of the things he has learned. Some find his story shocking to hear, especially the parts about the old Pentex building being used, meeting Cain, Technocratic Union Mages, and Hunters that were spying on him. Many find Abel...perplexing. A being infused with a strange liquid that is meant to stop whatever type of apocalypse that keeps on attracting the supernatural. Despite his ordeal, some of the Gurahls' respect him for surviving the horror he went through. When he finished, some of the various Gurahls told him about the Fera, a collective term for all were-creatures. Including the Garou, Bastets, Kitsune and many others along with various tribes and their totems and even going into detail about the War of Rage, the Wyrm, Gaia, the Weaver, Pentex, and what to look out for (but not everything). They even talked about why the celebration is important as natural born Gurahls are never born until now and this occasion has all the Gurahls' hopes up higher than ever before because the birth of the new baby. They continued until sunset with Abel at the porch along with a few true Gurahls and many Kinfolk.

"That is...a lot to take in." Abel tries to process the wealth of information he has gathered. "Glad that I don't get anything from Pentex or its subsidiaries."

"That's good news." says one of the Kinfolk, "Don't wanna be any of those Fomori."

"Christ." Abel rubs the back of his head.

"Just be careful." one of the Gurahls warns, "You may never know when servants of the Wyrm might come after you. Since, you know, being some messed up science experiment meant to stop apocalypses."

Another Kinfolk speaks, "And I thought that is suppose to be our job."

Another jokes, "Yeah, and this guy just stole it like foreigners taking all the American jobs."

The guy laughs but no one finds it funny. For the Gurahls, and all the Fera that aren't Black Spiral Dancers, any form of the apocalypse is no laughing matter.

"Not funny." says one of the Kinfolk.

As the night comes in, a large number of howls can be heard from the west. Everyone at the lodge can hear the numerous, wolf-like howls that is making them uneasy.

"The hell is that?" Abel asks as he look at the direction of the howls.

"Fuck." Feathered Bear has his rifle out, "Its the Garou. Those bikers you mentioned must've been members of the Bone Gnawer tribe. That tribe is always looking for a challenge and willing to wipe us out to extinction."

One of the other Gurahls orders, "Everyone, get inside and lock the doors! Anyone that can fight, get your guns and silver bullets at the ready!"

"I got silver bullets in my car." Abel volunteers.

"Get 'em!"


In the forest, dozens of Bone Gnawer Garou are in their warform and charging into battle against the Gurahls. As per their custom, they seek to triumph any form of overconfident foe. One particular Gurahl tribe, the Mountain Guardians (grizzly bears), are one of those that are overconfident and there are plenty more all gathered in one spot. Many of these Garou are armed with a few weapons such as guns armed with silver bullets as well. The Lunar Metal is the weakness of many Fera (except for some, gold). As they approach to the lodge's grounds, they ran into a barrier that is keeping them out. Many of them growl in frustration and anger at it.

One wearing bulky kevlar armor speaks, "Get our mage! Tear down this pathetic barrier!"

One Garou wearing wizardry robe rags appear and use a staff with the end looking like a dreamcatcher with some feathers and a few dangling quartz. It waves it around slowly as the staff slowly glow purple as the Garou whisper some sort of spell. Once it has started to produce a strong, bright light, he fires it at the barrier that destroy all the runes on the trees that were meant to protect the people inside. The trees with the runes explode from the inside out, causing them to fall and wither. Yet once the barrier is down, a round of sniper fire took down the mage and shot the supposed leader along with a few of the Garou.

"FUCK!" the leading Garou falls.

He look at his armor and realizes that it is now useless. The mage is dead along with five other of the werewolves. The rest take cover and open fire at the direction of the lodge. While at it, a Gurahl mage calls forth ice spikes rain down from the sky that only kill a small number of the Garou. Some of them charge from the southwest along with their Kinfolk on bikes. Abel surprise them by using ice spikes that pop the tires. Many are flung from their bikes and slam into either the ground or the vehicles. One or two landed on the spikes and die.

(I could get use to this.) Abel realize the potential of his new found powers after he figured out on how to use it. (I wonder what else I can use.)

One of the Gurahl Kinfolk saw what happened and realizes what just happened.

(That's...) his eyes widen, (That's fae magic! Is he a Milkling?!)

Abel swipe with his left hand and unleash a strong gust of wind and launch a multitude of metal beads at the Garou Kinfolk. Metal beads made of silver that struck down all the vital areas and kill them. Even though Kinfolk are immune to silver, there might be some actual Garou among them. So, Abel did it as a precaution. One of the Garou landed on the car next to Abel. Abel turns around and see the fierce beast staring down at him and growling.

"Oh shit." Abel realizes he's in trouble.

"You're...immune to the Delirium?" the werewolf is surprised that the Delirium has no effect on Abel.

"Considered the shit I have seen..." Abel pulls out his shotgun and blast the beast's head off with silver buckshot, "Nothing really effects me anymore."

Abel looked at the direction of the lodge and see some of the of the Garou approaching. A pack of three. Abel heads on over before seeing the Gurahls in their warform taking the pack down with their claws and fangs. A fight between bears and wolves ensue with Abel doing what he can to help with his magic and silver rounds. However, Abel felt something explode in his chest and falls down to his knees while in pain.

(What the hell is going on?!) he tries to process, (Is this some sort of magic or something?! A hex?!)

One Garou sneaks up on Abel and slice his head off with a satisfying grin. However, Abel's decapitated body grab his head and smacks it the Garou in the snout with it before putting his head back on.

"The fuck?!" the Garou is surprised and confused, "HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?!"

"I'm just as lost as you are." Abel is just as confused.

However, another round of pain waves through his body. He falls back down again.

"Guess I did something." the Garou raise an eyebrow.

Abel screams as four extra arms and a pair of black, feathered wings sprout from his back.

The Garou backed away, "The fuck?! You're a Fera too!?"

Abel let loose a might, monstrous roar that cause the ground to quake, glass shatter and break, tree branches swayed by the vibrations of his roar, and all the fighting stopped as they look at Abel slowly transforming. Abel goes through a painful metamorphosis from a man to an unknown monster. His body gets taller and more bulky that rip through his clothes rather than having it being absorbed like all the Fera do. His body becomes covered in blacken scales under black fur. His feet turned into giant oxen-hooves. His hands turn into razor-sharp claws that are as big as daggers. Eight obsidian black eyes like a spider go around his head to five him a 360 degree view. His mouth turns into a wolf-like snout with three rows full of sharp teeth like a shark while his ears are turned into that of a black fox along with having bison-like horns protruding from his head. He grows a serpent tail with the end having a head of a cobra.

Abel now stand 12 feet tall with a body that absorb light rather than reflect as if he became darkness incarnate as he stares down at the Garou with his menacing, monstrous new form. Everyone just stand there and feeling something they haven't felt before. Anxiety? Fear? Horror? When a Fera transform into their warform, all experience the Delirium, an overwhelming instinctive fear that effect humans that see them with the exceptions being Kinfolk, Ghouls, Vampires, and in rare instances, an army of humans or those with a strong willpower. But when Abel transformed, all Fera and their Kinfolk experience the Delirium for the first time and feel an instinctive fear that is overwhelming.

The Garou is frozen in place with his heart pounding, his claws trembling, and his teeth chattering. Completely overwhelm with fear. The monstrous Abel just raise one of his thirty fingers by a small inch and the Garou ended-up with his head sliced off. No one know if he was moving at a speed that is impossible to detect or some form of magic or special ability. When the Garou (practically all Fera) dies, they are turned into their human form with no trace of the beast they once were. Abel then look at one of the Bone Gnawer Kinfolk and stare at her with his abyssal gaze. The Kinfolk screams and fires her uzis at him. But the silver bullets only get deflected off of his monstrous body as the gun keeps firing. However, only six bullets hit Abel yet the rest of the shots are being fired until all there is is the sound of a guns firing an empty clips. She look down and find that her arms have been sliced off with her hands still firing the trigger despite no longer being part of her body. She look back and find Abel has disappeared and only appeared behind her as she literally fall to pieces.

Abel uses his eyes to look around and see the remaining Garou and their Kinfolk. In a blink of an eye, he managed to grab a Garou and use all six of his demonic arms to rip off his head, tail, legs and arm.

"RUN FOR IIIIIITTT!" one Garou screamed before having one of Abel's arms run right through him.

All members of the Bone Gnawer Tribe retreat with many having their tail between their legs. The ferocious Garou are now running in a panic from the new terror that is defending the Gurahls. Many of the Kinfolk got on their bikes and speed on out of there.

Three of the biker Kinfolk managed to get on the road with panic and horror on their faces as they go above the speed limit. One of them look back and realize that all the others are gone. All three of them instantly got snatched by Abel in the road. He hold all three of them by the throats before roaring at them that caused their heads to explode. He throws them aside and start to track down the rest of the Bone Gnawers.

In the forest, one of the Garou is whimpering after going through the ordeal. She stops under a tree and out of breath. But she start to hear the sound of a snake hissing and realize that Abel is near. A head of another Garou is dropped onto her lap that is shredded to the point that you can see the skull. She slowly look up and unable to see anything except for a dark, horned figure looking down at her. The cobra snake tail appeared from the female Garou's left side and bites her neck. Killing her instantly before she can scream.

Two male Garou stopped and are completely out of breath. Despite the incredible stamina, they are overwhelmed by the Delirium they just went through.

"THE FUCK WAS THAT THING?!" one Garou lash out.

"I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!" the other also lashes out. "WE NEED TO GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE-"

He looked back and see he is already dead. The Garou panic and screams until Abel appears to grab him by the jaw and ripped it out before stabbing him in the throat with it.


Back at the lodge, the Gurahls gathered everything they can and flee out of there. Feathered Bear left a note for Abel if he comes back. Assuming if he ever does snap out of it and does come back.

They can hear screams from the forest as they take off followed by powerful, demonic roars. Even though Abel is saving them, they fear him. Not just the Delirium they just went through. They fear him because of his power and strength. When humans see something, they fear it. Something capable of slaughtering monsters with ease is more terrifying than the monsters themselves. This was no different for the Gurahls' case.


The slaughter continued until dawn approach. Abel has killed all the Bone Gnawers that he can find before the rays of the light transform him back into a human. He screamed in his monstrous form before becoming human and falls onto his belly.

"OWWW!" he screams in pain, "THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!"

Abel has no memory of what happened to him last night. All he has is a headache and is completely naked out in the woods.

"Where are my clothes?" he just noticed. He tries to process, "The last thing I remember was... Oh no."

Abel tries to head to the direction of the lodge based on memory of the layout, direction of the sun, the position of the mountains and some of the ruined trees. He even had to follow the trail of mutilated bodies and blood. Upon looking at them, Abel is unsure if he had done it or did the werebears yet he couldn't find any werebear bodies. Just members of the Bone Gnawers and the Bone Gnawers only. This make him suspect that he did the killing.

After a while, he made it to the lodge and find that all the vehicles are gone and the lodge is empty. Abel gulps as he fear that he really did the slaughtering while unaware of what he did. He head inside and doesn't find a trace of the Gurahls or their Kinfolk. All he can find is the note on the kitchen counter that Feathered Bear left behind. He reads it.

Dear Abel,

Thank you for saving us, but we have to leave. I don't know what those bastards in Seattle have done to you yet the form you just took to save us scares us. Scare all of us. We Fera have caused fear in our warform, but it is the first time we have experience the fear because of you. You may find if hard to believe. You have turned into something that wasn't Fera, Fallen or any creature we have seen before. Don't take this the wrong way. You are a good man and a man like you should keep moving forward. The road you are now treading is a dangerous one. Hope you came back to your senses when you find it. Be careful. You must not let your new form and your rage get the better of you. Stay true to yourself no matter how difficult it may become.

-From, your friend,
Feathered Bear

Abel's heart feels heavy because not only did he save people, but cause them to be afraid of him. Now it is confirmed that Abel has killed, nay, slaughtered an entire tribe of Garou and their human kin yet have no memory of it. He doesn't know how he transformed. He wish he knew more. For now, he takes the note with him as he head back to his car. While looking around, he notice that the police are nowhere in the area. There should've been a great deal of police with news channels swarming the place, the dead being loaded into body bags, crime scene investigators looking for clues, canine units looking for him, and other things. So far, the morning is silent. Not a single chirp from a bird can be heard nor a siren of an emergency or law enforcement vehicle.

He get his clothes on to replace the ones that got ripped to shreds. A collared blue and white stripped shirt, tan slacks, and brown leather shoes for the day. Despite the note from Feathered Bear telling him to go forth, he is down in the dumps after discovering his new monstrous power. One that he has no control over and is afraid of what would happen if he start to target innocents in his monster state. He takes a big, depressive sigh as he get into the driver seat. He turns on the radio and hears Monster by Skillet but turns it off because it was too ironic and fits with what just happened. He just start the car and drives off.

As he drives back into the highway, he is suffering from internal turmoil. He has to learn to control what happened to him soon or it will consume him. In his mind, rather than just stopping an apocalypse, he will become one if he ever lose control.


NEXT STOP:
Montana

Chapter 3: Montana Hunters