" GRRRRRRRR"
They moved through the heavy snow with horrifying, grace. Six nine-foot-tall monstrosities stalked the outskirts of the log home, their hardened claws clicking silently against the freezing air. They were fully healed. The severed limbs had stitched back together, the shattered skulls had re-fused, and their starving bellies rumbled with a violent, agonizing hunger. They crept like a pack of starved wolves circling a trapped deer, their dead, milky eyes locked onto the wooden walls.
But they weren't alone.
Standing at the edge of the tree line, towering over the subordinate beasts, was the King.
He was an absolute nightmare of muscle and bone. While the others still had muscle they were slimmer and spindly, the Wendigo King possessed muscle mass that rivaled the Hulk himself. He was twelve feet of pure, muscle covered in thick, matted white fur. His antlers were thick weapons tipped with dried blood and looked carved out of oak. But the most terrifying thing about him wasn't his size nor was it the massive fangs potruding out its mouth. It was the massive, glowing ruby quartz necklace hanging heavily against his colossal chest. The gemstone pulsed with a sickening, rhythmic red light, radiating pure, ancient dark magic.
The King let out a low, vibrating guttural rumble, a command to its subordinates.
Two of the smaller Wendigos broke off, slinking toward the back of the cabin. A third stepped onto the front porch, its weight causing the wooden planks to groan loudly. It tilted its head, peering through the glass of the front window, baring its chisel-sharp teeth. It raised its massive, clawed hand, readying itself to bust the glass inward and slaughter everything inside.
Before it could swing, the entire window exploded outward in a shower of wood and shattered glass.
CRASH!!!!!!!
Logan erupted like a cannonball of rage and adamantium straight through the wood and glass.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
My roar tore through the dead silence of the night. I smashed headfirst into the Wendigo's chest, my momentum carrying us both off the porch and sending us crashing into the snow-covered yard.
SNIKT! SHLUCK!
I buried all six claws deep into the center of its chest, feeling the adamantium scrape against its ribs before piercing its cursed heart. The beast shrieked, black blood erupting onto my face. I didn't stop. I ripped my hands outward, tearing its ribcage open like a wet cardboard box, then vaulted off its chest before it could even hit the ground. It wouldn't die, it was already healing but slowly.
" GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The element of surprise lasted exactly one second.
The King roared—a deafening, bone-shaking bellow that commanded the pack to attack.
" GROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARR!!!!!!"
The three remaining Wendigos in the front yard charged me together.
BRING IT ON! the animal inside me screamed.
I hit the ground running. The closest beast lunged, its jaws snapping open to bite my head off. I slid under its arms, driving an uppercut straight into its chin. The force shattered its lower jaw. CRACK! As its head snapped back, I buried my left claws into its thigh, severing the artery causing black blood to gush out, and used it as a stepping stone to launch myself at the next one.
SLASH! SHING!
I became a whirlwind of razor silver. I took a massive backhand to the ribs—CRUNCH—the impact sending me flying through the air, but I twisted, landing on my feet, my boots digging deep trenches into the snow. The pain flared, then vanished as the healing factor stitched the hairline fractures in seconds.
"Is that it?!" I spat, wiping black blood from my chin. "Come on!"
Inside the cabin, terror filled the corners of the halls.
Tom had practically thrown Sarah and the two girls down the narrow wooden stairs into the root cellar the moment the window shattered upstairs. He slammed the heavy trapdoor shut above them, plunging them into darkness, save for the thin beam of his heavy flashlight.
Maya and Lily were shaking violently, crying silently into their mother's chest. Sarah was trembling so hard her teeth chattered, wrapping her arms around her daughters like a human shield.
"Shhhhh," Tom whispered, his voice trembling. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, gripping a heavy iron fireplace poker like a baseball bat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Footsteps. Heavy, unnatural footsteps were walking across the floorboards directly above their heads. The two Wendigos that had snuck around the back had found their way inside.
Tom held his breath. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden trapdoor was violently ripped off its hinges. The wood splintered with a deafening.
CRASH!!!!!!
The flashlight beam caught the nightmare looking down at them. A Wendigo, its jaws dripping with drool, its milky eyes wide with starvation. It shrieked, the sound echoing in the confined cellar, and lunged downward to tear them apart.
Before it even reached the second step, a massive, brilliant green arm shot out from the dark kitchen above.
A hand the size of a cinderblock clamped onto the back of the Wendigo's skull.
The beast's shriek was cut short.
Bruce Banner wasn't there anymore.
"HULK..." a voice rumbled, so deep and powerful it shook the jars of preserves off the cellar shelves.
The green hand yanked the nine-foot monster backward effortlessly.
Through the opening, Tom watched in absolute shock as a colossal green giant lifted the struggling Wendigo entirely off the floor.
The Hulk wound up his free fist, his muscles bulging with incredible power.
BAM!
The Hulk punched the Wendigo squarely in the chest. The impact sounded like a bomb going off. The beast was launched backward like a ragdoll, blasting completely through the interior kitchen wall, tearing through the living room, and erupting through the exterior wall of the cabin into the freezing night. CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The second Wendigo shrieked in fury, leaping onto the Hulk's immense back, wrapping its spindly arms around his thick neck, and biting down hard on his green shoulder.
The Hulk didn't bleed. He didn't even flinch. He just got angrier.
"HULK SMASH MONSTER!!!!!!" the Green Goliath roared.
He reached over his shoulders, his massive hands grabbing the Wendigo tightly by its brittle antlers. With a violent heave, the Hulk ripped the beast off his back, hoisted it high above his head, and slammed it spine-first directly into the wooden floorboards. SMASH! The floor caved in.
But Hulk wasn't done. He grabbed the dazed monster by the leg, spun on his heel, and hurled it straight through the front door, taking the entire doorframe with it.
Outside, I was knee-deep in gore. I had just cut off the arms of one Wendigo and was busy disemboweling another when the front of the cabin practically exploded.
A Wendigo flew through the air at Mach speed, crashing into a massive pine tree with enough force to snap the trunk in half. A second later, the Hulk marched out of the giant hole in the cabin wall, his chest heaving, his eyes glowing with radioactive fury.
"Took you long enough, green!" I yelled, driving my claws through a subordinate's kneecap and kicking it away.
"Hulk no like puny bone-men!" Hulk roared, pounding his massive fists together. The shockwave blew the snow off the roof of the cabin.
We stood side by side in the yard.
The Wolverine and the Hulk.
The remaining four subordinate Wendigos picked themselves up. They were healing, but they were intimidated. They hissed, backing away slightly.
"Let's clear the trash," I grunted.
Hulk didn't need to be told twice. He leaped into the air, traveling thirty feet in a single bound, and came down directly on top of two Wendigos. BOOM! The ground cratered. Hulk grabbed one beast by the ankle and swung it like a nine-foot baseball bat, smashing it directly into the second one. The sound of shattering bones echoed through the valley.
I sprinted toward the third. It swiped at me, but I dropped into a slide, ducking beneath the claws. I popped up behind it, jumped onto its back, and crossed my arms in an X around its throat. SNIKT! The adamantium blades sliced through its neck, dropping the monster instantly. We moved to take them down, unstoppable, bulldozing through the enemy like a unit.
Then, the air pressure dropped.
A heavy, suffocating wave of dark magic washed over the yard.
THUMP.
The Wendigo King stepped out of the shadows.
He looked at the broken bodies of his pack. He didn't look angry. He looked indifferent. He locked his glowing red eyes on me, and then on the Hulk. The ruby quartz on his chest pulsed faster, glowing with a blinding, bloody light.
"Big guy," I warned, popping my claws and dropping into a crouch. "Watch out for the—"
POP!
The King vanished.
He didn't move fast. He teleported.
Instantly, he reappeared directly behind the Hulk. Before the green giant could react, the King swung a massive, fur-covered fist. The blow landed flush on the back of Hulk's head.
CRACK!
The impact was staggering. It actually lifted the Hulk off his feet, sending him crashing face-first into the dirt.
"Doc!" I yelled, charging forward.
The King turned to me. His eyes flashed.
Suddenly, my brain felt like it was set on fire. The King was using the ruby's power—subjugation. A psychic weight slammed into my mind, trying to force me to my knees. Voices, mad, insane, darker than my own had flooded my mind.
Kill
Rage
Submit
KneelKillFightRageMonsterAnimeKillKIllKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKillKIllKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKillKIllKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKillKIllKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL. LET IT OUT!!!!
I ground my teeth, blood dripping from my nose as the mental pressure pushed against my adamantium skull.
"Get... out... of my head!" I snarled, fighting for every inch of ground as I stalked toward him.
The King raised a clawed hand, preparing to crush me while I was suppressed.
But Hulk was already back up.
"LEAVE HULK FRIEND ALONE!" Hulk bellowed. He charged, wrapping his massive arms around the King's waist, and drove him backward, smashing him straight through a boulder.
The psychic pressure vanished. I gasped for air, shaking my head to clear the ringing.
I looked at the King as he wrestled with the Hulk. The monster was matching Hulk's strength blow for blow. The King punched Hulk in the jaw, then teleported with a POP to appear above him, slamming both fists down on Hulk's back.
It was the necklace. The magic was feeding him.
"Hulk!" I screamed over the roar of the battle. "The ruby! Smash the rock on his chest! It breaks the curse!"
Hulk roared in acknowledgment. He swung a massive haymaker at the King's chest, aiming for the gem.
But the King was too smart. He teleported again—POP—appearing twenty feet away. He pointed his clawed finger at Hulk, and the ruby flared. The subjugation magic washed over the Hulk. Hulk stopped in his tracks, gripping his head, roaring in pain as the dark magic tried to dominate his rage.
The King laughed—a deep, booming, terrifying sound. He teleported again, appearing right in front of me.
He backhanded me before I could even raise my claws. The blow shattered my ribs and sent me flying across the yard, crashing into the frozen trunk of an oak tree.
I slumped into the snow, coughing up a pint of blood. My healing factor was working overdrive, but I was exhausted. The magic was too heavy. I couldn't get close enough to cut the gem if he kept teleporting, and Hulk was pinned down by the mind control.
I need more, I thought, the primal rage boiling over. I need to be faster. I need to be completely untethered.
[BERSERK RAGE: ACTIVATED.]
[TIME LIMIT: 10 MINUTES.]
"Oh yeah," I growled, spitting blood onto the snow. The clouds above me moved slowly revealing the full moon above, bright and strong its light covering the snow and trees.
The change was instantaneous.
My bones snapped and lengthened, the adamantium lacing shifting and expanding with my biology in a symphony of horrific crunches. Thick, dark fur erupted from my arms, my chest, and my face. My jaw extended, my teeth growing into razor-sharp, interlocking fangs. My muscles swelled, ripping the remains of my thermal shirt to shreds.
The adamantium claws on my hands grew longer, curling slightly at the tips like deadly sickles.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The Wendigo King snapped his head toward me. For the first time, the indifference on his face was replaced by genuine shock.
I didn't run. I blasted forward, launching myself off all fours. I moved so fast the snow didn't even have time to settle behind me.
The King tried to teleport. POP!
He appeared thirty feet to my left.
But my senses were dialed to eleven. I smelled the ozone of the teleportation before he even materialized. I was already in the air, shifting my trajectory mid-leap.
As he appeared, I crashed into him.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Grrrrraaa, Rawr, Rrraawwr!!!!!!!
My claws tore through his thick hide. He shrieked, swinging a massive fist at my head. I caught his wrist. Even with his Hulk-like strength, my werewolf strength held him dead in his tracks. My jaws snapped forward, burying my fangs deep into his thick forearm, tasting the rotten magic in his blood, the cells, muscle tissue, everything turned black as it died from my bite.
He bellowed in pain, trying to shake me off. He pointed the ruby at me, trying to use the subjugation.
My berserk rage kept it out, the anger flooding my senses and over riding rational thought. I was pure, feral instinct. The magic washed over me uselessly.
"HULK SMASH!"
With the King's focus broken, Hulk shook off the mind control. He leaped across the yard, landing heavily behind the King. Hulk wrapped his colossal arms around the King's arms and torso, locking him in a full-nelson grip that not even the King could break.
The Wendigo King thrashed, roaring, trying to teleport, but the Hulk's grip grounded him.
"DO IT, CLAW FRIEND!" Hulk bellowed.
I dropped to the ground, coiled my legs, and launched myself directly at the King's chest.
I brought both of my hands back, extending the full, terrifying length of my adamantium claws, and thrust them forward with everything I had.
CRASH!
My claws shattered it completely.
The resulting explosion of magical energy was blinding. A shockwave of pure red light erupted from the King's chest, throwing me backward into the snow and knocking the Hulk off his feet. The sound was like a thousand glass windows shattering at once.
A high, piercing scream filled the air—the sound of the ancient curse breaking.
The Wendigo King dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. The thick white fur began to dissolve, melting away into the air like smoke. His massive antlers crumbled into dust. His bones shrank, his muscles rapidly deflating.
All around the yard, the subordinate Wendigos began to convulse. Their monstrous forms dissolved, leaving behind pale, freezing, and incredibly confused human beings lying naked in the snow.
The King, now just a large, heavily scarred man, collapsed face-first into the dirt, unconscious.
The dark magic was gone. The air felt instantly lighter. The suffocating silence of the forest broke, replaced by the natural, howling wind of the Canadian winter.
I stood in the snow, my chest heaving. Slowly, the werewolf mutation began to recede. The thick fur melted back into my skin. My jaw snapped back into place. My claws retracted with a loud SNIKT. The feral rage evaporated, leaving me utterly drained, naked from the waist up, and freezing.
[BERSERK RAGE: DEACTIVATED]
Hulk sat up, rubbing his head. He looked at the unconscious humans scattered across the yard.
Then, he looked at me, a low, rumbling chuckle vibrating in his chest. "You look like a dog."
I smirked, shaking my head. "Shut up, green."
I looked toward the cabin. Tom was standing in the doorway, his iron poker lowered, staring at us in absolute awe. Sarah and the girls were peering around his legs, their eyes wide.
"Get some blankets, Tom!" I yelled over the wind. "We got some people who need warming up!"
The sun was a brilliant, blinding white as it crested over the eastern ridge, casting long golden shadows across the valley.
The morning was surprisingly peaceful. Tom and Sarah had spent the remaining hours of the night dragging the cursed humans into the cabin, wrapping them in every blanket, rug, and coat they owned, and keeping the woodstove roaring. By dawn, the humans had regained consciousness. They had no memory of being monsters. They just remembered the cold, the hunger, and waking up on the floor of a stranger's cabin.
Bruce was back. He was sitting on the porch, wearing a thick winter coat Tom had loaned him, sipping a mug of hot coffee. He looked exhausted, but there was a quiet peace in his eyes.
I was standing by Tom's heavy-duty Ford pickup truck. I was wearing a clean flannel shirt, my leather jacket completely ruined and left behind.
Tom walked out onto the porch, carrying two large duffel bags filled with canned food, bread, jerky, and a thermos of hot coffee. He walked over to the truck and tossed them into the passenger seat.
"Tank is full," Tom said, pulling the keys from his pocket and handing them to me. "There's an extra gas can in the bed, just in case. Head south on the logging road for twenty miles, then cut east. You'll hit the border by noon. They won't be looking for this truck."
I took the keys, looking at the man. "You sure about this, Tom? If the feds trace this back to you..."
"I'll tell them it was stolen while I was chopping wood," Tom said with a firm nod. "You saved my family, Logan. Twice. You saved those people inside. A truck and some groceries is the least I can do."
Sarah walked out onto the porch, holding Maya and Lily by the hands. The little girls waved at me. I offered a small smile and a little wave back.
"Thank you," Sarah said softly, her voice carrying over the quiet morning air. "Both of you."
Bruce stood up, setting his mug down on the railing. "Take care of yourselves. And keep your heads down."
Bruce walked over and climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.
I looked at Tom one last time. "If you ever see a glowing red rock again... run the other way."
Tom cracked a faint smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
I climbed into the driver's seat, the leather cold against my back. I jammed the key into the ignition and turned it. The heavy engine roared to life, a steady, powerful hum.
I shifted into gear and hit the gas. The tires crunched against the snow as we pulled away from the cabin, heading down the long, winding service road toward the highway.
I looked in the rearview mirror. Tom, Sarah, and the girls stood on the porch, watching us go until the trees swallowed them up.
I rolled the window down an inch, letting the freezing morning air hit my face. The scent of pine and fresh snow filled the cab. No blood. No sulfur. Just the world.
"So," Bruce said, leaning his head against the glass. "What's the plan, we still heading to Westchester?"
I pulled a fresh cigar from my pocket, clamped it between my teeth, and struck a match off the dashboard. I took a long drag, blowing the smoke out the cracked window.
" We'll see how far we get first doc".