Issue #6

With Emma's mental urging, the wolf immediately pounced toward Jack. The boy quickly activated his shell armor which just barely caused the blow to not injure him.

Using the back of his arm, Jack smacked the wolf and sent it flying into the wall. Unknown to him, he had subconsciously used his ant's strength which caused the wolf to go 'splat' instead of 'crack' when it hit the wall.

As soon as the wolf died, Jack found himself in a black space that had several orbs floating around.

This was the secret to Jack's power that he had not told even Emma. He was sure that she was only giving him half-truths so he only told her half of the truth about his power. He did not automatically get the best ability, skill, or power that other creatures had but he was able to choose which one he wanted after he killed it.

Having been in this space before, Jack did not act like a stranger and proceeded to walk in front of the orbs. Behind him was a ghostly blue version of himself that was in the same pose Jack was when he entered the space.

There were 4 before him and he read the descriptions of each one.

[Smell and Hearing of Wolf: Will have the same sense of smell and hearing as this wolf which will allow you to track targets for miles or detect threats that are approaching you

Wolf's Predator Instinct (Passive): You will possess the predatory instincts of a wolf that will allow you to become a master of hunting and tracking.

Night Vision: You will possess the ability to see in the dark as clear as you can during the day

Retractable Fangs: You will gain the ability to grow and shrink your canines as well as sharpen them to a much higher degree]

'A passive? That's the first time I've seen one with that title behind it.'

Without thinking about it too much, Jack chose the Predator Instinct. He was lacking in combat ability and could only beat the wolf due to his superior strength. By taking this ability in, he would subconsciously unlike his other abilities that he had to actively use.

The orb entered his body and Jack felt a change in his mind when it did. He no longer looked at the world or his surroundings the same as he had done before. It was as if his body was in a semi-fight-or-flight mentality.

'This change is so weird. But I like it!'

The other orbs disappeared in front of Jack's eyes as they had always done before. Jack turned around and walked toward the illusory figure of himself. He then walked into the figure before mimicking its pose. Once he was in the same pose, Jack was able to leave this world of darkness.

Jack returned back to the real world where not even a moment had passed. The wolf was still on the wall and was slowly falling down leaving a large, bloody stain on the wall.

Emma saw this from the side before she frowned. Being a telepath and empath, Emma could subconsciously sense shifts in another person. She could tell that something in Jack had changed.

'What ability from the wolf did he get?' Emma wondered as she looked at the young boy in front of her.

"What did you get child?" Emma asked

Jack turned around and faced her. For a moment, Emma was frozen when she looked into his eyes. Although they looked the same as before, his gaze felt much sharper and more predatory

"I got the wolf's Predatory Instincts. It also seems that this power is passive unlike my other powers and I can't really turn it off," Jack explained

Emma studied his posture and eyes for a moment longer before she nodded. This explained the change that she felt from his body and mind.

'But it kicks in so fast? Extraordinary. This boy will make me die from shock with all the surprises he keeps giving me.'

Jack then faced off with each of the larger animals one by one as he hunted them and made them his prey. No longer afraid like he was with the first wolf, he truly felt comfortable shedding blood and killing these large beasts. He killed the other wolves first and gained their senses and retractable fangs. The lynxes provided him with Night Vision, Retractable Claws, and Feline Flexibility.

He then went through all of the other animals that Emma had caught for him and killed them each. The bats could only provide him with powers he already possessed and Echolocation so after killing 3, he spared the rest.

Jack killed a salamander and got Regeneration from it, a beetle which gave him Herculean Strength, a taipan snake that had some incredibly deadly venom, and an electric eel to fire off a blast of electricity occasionally.

All the other animals he got could only give him weaker versions of the same ability as what he already had gotten from something else. But this day was not a waste. In less than 12 hours since he had met Emma Frost, Jack had gained 11 new abilities.

After fighting several wild animals for over an hour, Jack was tired and fell asleep on the floor surrounded by the corpses of all the animals he had recently killed.

Emma saw this scene and frowned. She reached for her phone and was going to call Lilith to come and grab him but before she turned the screen on, she put it away.

"Be grateful for this, boy. Not everyone can get the privilege of sleeping in my home."

Emma proceeded to pick up Jack and take him upstairs into one of the guest rooms. She stripped him down to his underwear since his outer clothes were covered in blood before leaving him and the bed to sleep.

As she walked out the door, Jack's eyes opened slightly and watch the light from the crack in the door slowly fade to black. Once the door was fully closed, Jack closed his eyes once again to fall back to sleep.