1 Chapter 1: New World, Different Faces

Amidst the forest beyond the Empire among the various pine trees, Gunnar came to his senses. His mind was in a groggy state as he came to, trying to make sense about what just happened. The last thing he remembered was pushing Laura (X-2 for those of you who are familiar with Marvel) out of the way of the incoming vortex of a dimensional portal prototype that Kang the Conqueror set off after Gunnar knocked his ass into the control panel, making the portal go haywire. The next thing he knew, the mutant clone found himself falling out of the sky, tucking himself up in a fetal position and aimed for the trees below in order to cushion the impact. A moment of crashing into the trees and a few broken bones later, Gunnar allowed his regenerative healing take over as he felt his bones snap together and his scratches disappear. He wore his "father's" brown and yellow costume as he shortened up the ears (sort of like the cover for this story).

Now that that was taken care of, he had another question come his mind: "Now where the hell am I?" he asked to himself. "Certainly doesn't look like Canada. Fuck, I hope it isn't anywhere like Oregon, boring as hell over there. Guess I better get tracking." He allowed a sigh to escape his lips. "No use standing here like a goddamn idiot."

Following the river upstream, he hoped to find a city somewhere along the way to get some answers. "Thank God for all those years of training," he thought. "Those fuckshits at Weapon K deserve some credit for that."

As far back as Gunnar could remember, Weapon K pushed him to his absolute limit in being the best weapon in their arsenal as to where they failed over at Weapon X; at least until the X-Men showed up. He went under their wing for some time, often butting heads with his "father" Logan, the Wolverine before him. He got lost in thought when all of a sudden, he heard a rumbling of earth just a few ways from his left.

Gunnar made his way towards the noise until he came across a dirt road. What he saw before him looked like a dark gray, dragon-like monster with a bulky body, two stubby legs and blood red eyes. It was about to attack a horse drawn wagon driven by two guys who looked like they were dressed for the arctic. Gunnar was about to attack the creature when suddenly a flash of a sword sliced the creature's arm.

From out the dust, stood a brown-haired kid in his teens wearing a yellow sweatshirt and black pants wielding a short sword. "Lucky little shit." Gunnar muttered to himself. "Time to show how a real professional does it."

With a 'snikt' of his four claws of adamantium, Gunnar charged in from the creatures' side going up its right leg and repeatedly stabbing it in its eye. Roaring in pain, the monster reared its head trying to shake Gunnar off. With the momentum of the creature throwing its head up, the mutant released himself high up into the air. After gaining a high enough altitude, he twirled for a moment or two before shooting down like an arrow delivering a solid stab into the creatures' brain with both claws. With one last roar, the beast fell backwards with a crashing thud as he leapt off him. "Man, that felt great!" he said, grinning as he retracted his claws. He took out a toothpick from one of the pouches and placed it in the corner of his mouth, looking over the body.

"That was incredible, sir!" said one of the drivers and his friend walking up to him.

"Yeah, you took down a Class 1 danger beast by yourself?" said the other driver. "And with only two blows no less."

"Pfft, that fucker was nothing. You ought'a see the shit I have to put with at home. It's more deadly compared to this thing." Gunnar replied nonchalantly, gesturing to the dead danger beast. "But thanks nonetheless."

"The hell man?!" said the kid with his sword in his hand. "That was my kill, dude! You can't just step in like that! I could have taken it down by myself if you hadn't butted in!"

"Yeah kid, I'm sure someone your age could have done better with no problem at all," the mutant clone said sarcastically. Immediately after that, he turned his attention to the men in front of him. "Can any you guys tell me where the next town is from here? I need to know exactly where I'm at."

"Well, the only city near here is actually the Capital." The man who spoke to him first, pointing in the direction behind their wagon. "It's a few miles that way down the road, but not so far off if you're walking by foot from here. You're not planning to seek your fortune there are you?"

"If I have to earn some money for food and shit then yeah. Why?" Gunnar asked looking down the road where the guy was pointing at.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend it," said the other wagon driver. "It's the big city sure, but it's overrun by monsters even more vicious than this earth dragon here."

"I don't get it." said the green eyed teenager as he sheathed his sword back into his scabbard behind his back. "How can the city be full of danger beasts?"

"Not those monsters," the same man said as he turned to look at the kid. "They're humans but with the hearts of monsters. Damn place is crawling with them."

"Heh. One of those cities, eh?" said Gunnar as he headed down the road for the city. "Well, that doesn't intimidate me in the slightest. I've got questions that need to be answered and if the capital is the place I need to go then so be it." He waved farewell to the wagon drivers without looking behind him. "See ya around, fellas. Thanks for the warning."

"Same here," said the teen as he put on his backpack. "There's no way I'm turning around and going back now. You see, my friends and I have a mission: to make a fortune and save our village. And that's exactly what we're going to do right now once we get to the capital."

"Well best of luck to the both of you, boys. You're very much gonna need it," said the driver as he waved goodbye to him and Gunnar as they both headed down the road.

A little later down the road, the boys were still making their way down to the city with Gunnar leading in front. Neither one of them made conversation with the other, that is until the boy with the sword finally spoke up, trying to make small talk. "So uh...where are you from exactly?" he asked.

"Just somewhere that isn't this place, dude. Whatever this place is." Gunnar said in reply looking out from the corner of his eye.

"So you're saying you're, like, from another world is that right?"

"If the outfits' not a dead giveaway, kid,then yeah. I am from another world."

"The name's not 'kid', pal! The name's Tatsumi and don't you forget it!"

"The name's Howlett. Gunnar Logan Howlett. Mutant and a member of the X-Men."

"The 'X-Men'? Is that like your village or something?"

"More like a team really. A team of mutants united against the worst of humanity, whether they accept us or not."

"And what kind of mutant are you exactly?"

"The kind you don't wanna mess with, bub. The kind of mutant you don't want to fuck with. 'Nuff said."

"Uh, right." Tatsumi said nervously. "What I meant to say was...uh...what powers do you have as a mutant?"

"Well, in case you forgot earlier, Tatsumi, there's these for one thing." Gunnar clenched his fist and four 12 inch long even blades of adamantium shot up from one of his hands as he held it up for Tatsumi to see. Upon seeing this, the kids' eyes widened. "Coated with the most strongest metal there is, as well as my entire skeletal system."

"Is that all?"

"No. I also heal real fast, no matter what the injury may be. Plus animal senses as well as super human strength and speed. At least, that's what I know for certain."

"Is there really any way of killing you?"

"If there was, I wouldn't be telling you now would I?" Gunnar smiled as he said this, then turned to look at Tatsumi. "You'd be dead even if you tried, unless that sword is tough enough to cut through it. Though I very much doubt it would."

"Hey just say when, pal, and you can see for yourself!" Tatsumi frowned.

"Tch! Yeah right!" Gunnar grinned. "If I was you, I'd be careful about who I pick my fights with. Unless you want to try right now." His grin then turned into menacing devilish grin as he unsheathed both claws, intimidating the kid. After a moment of the kid not saying anything, Gunnar retracted his claws. "I didn't think so. Besides, we're almost there, kid."

"And then I'll be getting some answers," he thought to himself as he and Tatsumi were approaching the city gate.