Xavier: The Beginning
Author's Note: This is a rough draft, so I'm sure there's some spelling errors in there somewhere. This is the first chapter in the backstory for my character Xavier Akafur. I'll be posting more as I write it. Sorry, no sex in this chapter. For those of you still reading after that last statement, hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment.
Xavier Kraven
Age: 27
Species: Timber Wolf
Height: 6'4"
Occupation: Weapons Smuggler
Skills: High endurance and strength, cunning, trained in basic hand-to-hand combat, charismatic.
Description: The wolf is built for fighting. He has a solid musculature and is naturally tall. He often wears a black, leather vest that holds a variety of ammunition and a pair of black jeans. Fur is a mix of charcoal black and grey, fluffy but short. Eyes are yellow, often only looking shrewd but they can become cruel at a moment's notice. Paws are large and heavy, his body laced with scars from all the fights he's been through. He sports a faint scar from near the inside of his right eye down the length of his muzzle from a knife wound. He has large, black claws.
Personality: Typical crime boss personality, smooth talking and clever, always a step ahead of anyone he's with. He has a terrible temper that he rarely tries to control... taking his anger out no anyone who happens to be nearby. He's cruel and heartless, but clever enough not to let that side of himself show.
Osmodeus Logarson
Age: 44
species: North American River Otter
Height: 5'10"
Occupation: Biological Engineer, Chemist
Skills: Abnormal thought patterns lead to a strange ability to think his way out of any problem, dextrous and flexible, great swimmer, water-proof.
Description: The otter's fur is a dark-chocolate color, slightly oily in appearance. He has hints of grey around his whiskers, and streaking his large tail. He is often wearing a simple grey labcoat and typically ahs a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose. His eyes are a brilliant green, often smiling at everyone nearby.
Personality: Curious in many ways, the old otter is one of the fatherly types. He's terribly protective, kind, and posseses a plethora of worldly knowledge. He is very clever and inventive.
"Oz" The receiver buzzed into the otter's ear, making his whiskers twitch as he monitored the screens. The elderly male just smiled to himself. He must've zoned out. "Yes dear?" He spoke up, cradling the phone between his cheek and shoulder, head bent at an awkwardly sideways angle. His fingers idly tapped commands into a keyboard, issuing orders to the automated lab machinery that worked tirelessly around him.
"Oz, you really need to get some sleep. I haven't seen you at home for days." Sherry sounded worried, and the chemist could almost see his neice standing in the kitchen, giving him one of her scolding looks. The image brought forth a chuckle.
"I'm close to a breakthrough, I can feel it." He replied after a moment of readjusting the phone. The silence that followed spoke volumes. He smiled to himself. "I'll be home in time for dinner. " He answered the silence. A faint sigh was heard on the other end of the line.
"Good, I'll have dinner ready by six. Make sure you're not late."The soft click of the receiver followed.
"I love you too." He told the dial tone, letting the phone fall into his waiting paw. He clicked the off button and stashed the cell-phone into his pocket, where it was lost in the mess of all the other forgotten trinkets stashed in his labcoat. His attention shifted back to the computer screen, data automatically inputting itself into a myriad of charts and graphs as the machines around him completed their designated tasks amidst a symphony of whirs, beeps and clicks.
So close... he was so close.
Fritz kept his head lowered as he shuffled past the door guards, the little raccoon dwarfed by the large canines standing to either side of the simple double-doors. The doors opened before him, revealing a small chamber to trap the dust from outside. A second set of doors opened and the raccoon shuffled into the large office, the air inside refreshingly chill compared to the dessert heat.
A large wolf sat behind an olive-colored desk, boots propped upon it. Two guards stood to either side of him, nearly identical to the two outside, staring stone-faced at the far wall. Nobody seemed to even notice Fritz enter. The male behind the desk was toying with a large army knife, running clawed fingers along the sides of the blade.
The raccoon was about to speak up and announce his presense when suddenly the army knife came down on the desk, gouging deep into the wood with a loud thump. The raccoon nearly jumped out of his skin, his small hands gripping the armrests of the chair tightly and his tail-fur frizzed out so that is was nearly twice as big as usual.
"Hello Fritz." The big wolf on the other side of the desk was grinning at him. A paw big enough to crush the raccoons neck lifted from the knife, leaving it protruding from the wooden desk.
"H-hello, sir." The raccon replied, prying his fingers from the armrest. "I brought what y-you asked for." He reached into his coat and produced a folder. The big wolf reached across the desk and gently took the offered documents. He opened it up on the desk, his eyes reading over the files while his paw reached into the leather vest he was wearing.
The raccon shifted nervously, his eyes locked onto the wolf's paw. He visibly relaxed when the giant paws returned to sight with nothing more than a cigar and a matchbook in their grasp. A few seconds and a rasp of strike-paper later and the wolf had the cigar held in his teeth, paws lifting the folder up off the desk.
"It says here that both Doctor Vandermort and Doctor Umber are dead..." The wolf spoke up after a moment, his eyes glancing questioningly at the raccoon. Fritz just squirmed in his seat. "K-keep reading, sir." The little man managed to squeek out. "We managed to dig up a little bit of e-extra information." The wolf scanned the rest of the page quickly, turning through the next few pages quickly.
He paused on a personel file, a picture paper-clipped to the document of some young otter in a labcoat. He glanced at the raccon once more, turning the folder slightly to let him see where he had paused. "Who's this?" He inquired.
"His name is Osmodeus Logarson. Also known as Doctor Oz." The smaller male spoke up. "We found evidence that he may have been a third party in the Umber/Vandermort experiments."
The wolf paused for a moment, his eyes locked on the raccoon before he looked back at the paper. "Good work, very good work." He mumbled, reading the rest of the file before closing the folder. "You're free to go Fritz. Tell the investigations team to keep up the good work."
The raccoon nodded hastily, eager to be out of the room. He stood up from his chair. "Thank you, sir."
The canine smiled back at him, leaning back in his seat once more. "Please, call me Xavier."
Fritz nodded once. "Xavier." he ammended before scurrying out the door. The wolf sat there a moment longer, cigar forgotten in his mouth, trailing smoke into the air. With a soft grunt he sat up and pulled the knife from the desk. He tucked it into the sheath on his belt as he stood up, motioning for the two bodyguards to follow him.
The door guards gave him nods as he exited the small office building, climbing into his personal jeep. One of the gaurds climbed into the driver seat, the other stepping up onto the rear bumper. The wolf wrinkled his nose as the dust from the dessert kicked up around him. It had originally seemed like a good idea to set up his research facility in the dessert. A remote location with plenty of space and very little chance of discovery. However, he had grown to hate it. The weather made even the short trip form his office to the underground facility a miserable ordeal. As the jeep slowly began moving, it kicked up a small cloud of dust behind it.
The jeep pulled up at a small, stone structure. It was about the size of a tool shed, and had only one heavy, steel door. The two gaurds standing to either side of the door each pressed a small button, the gateway opening slowly to allow the wolf access. His bodygaurds remained outside with the jeep. Xavier stepped inside into a sparsely lit room. A panel on the wall had buttons running down it, each labeled with a number. He punched in three of them at the same time and a soft tone sounded. The elevator slowly began to descend into the earth.
While the elevator hummed softly, the wolf took a moment to recall how this had all started. He had been a weapons smuggler, just a small-time businessman who worked with the local thugs. One day his clients had asked to meet someplace discrete, so he had found an abandonned building just outside of the ratty little town where he had lived. When the job was over one of his men had stumbled on some trash and fell on his face, but the old floor caved under him. He fell into the basement that they didn't even know was there. Xavier was just going to leave the buffoon down there, but the man called out that he'd found something. Curious as to what could possibly be in the basement of an ancient old house, they found the stairs and joined the man who fell through the floor.
There was a vault door set into the basement's wall. The locks had rusted off, and with a little work his men were able to get it open. He had hoped to find something valuable inside, but instead all he found was an abandonned lab. He'd been disappointed at first, but after a quick look around it seemed as though the lab was for building weapons. There were a couple missile casings stacked in the back of the room, and various data sheets lay in piles along the desks. Most of them were damaged beyond recognition, scorched and burned by what the wold had assumed was a fire. Even more had been destroyed by the long years rotting in that room. What he did find, however, pointed at the discovery of a new substance. A weapon so powerful it made nuclear warheads look like firecrackers.
Needless to say he had taken the initiative and killed the men he had with him that day. He had spent hours carefully collecting every scrap of salvagable research. Then, he had used all of his considerable wealth to create this facility. Even now, a team of crack chemists and engineers were working on recreating whatever it was that had been in that room. Now a major piece of the puzzle was within his sights. One of the original creators, tracked down after so many years in hiding. The thought brought a smile to the wolf's face.
The elevator came to a slow stop, the doors sliding open with a soft hiss. Cool air rushed into the tiny lift, at the same time as the wolf walked out. The facility was nothing but a long hallway made of stone, metal doors lining either side all the way down. At the very end was a pair of glass doors, which was Xavier's personal office for the days when the building on the surface was no longer safe. He didn't go to the room this time, however. Instead, he marched down to the last room on thr left, opening the door. Two men turned to face him, a reptile of some sort and a lion. Xavier had never bothered to learn their names, and wouldn't waste the effort to read their nametags.
"Both of you, clear the room. I need an empty room for a guest I'm having over." The wolf spoke up.
Both of the men knew better than to question the order, each of them scurrying around and clearing the delicate equipment from the stone tables set into the walls. Xavier walked away without another word. He had an appointment with destiny, and he didn't want to be late.
Oz closed the door behind him as he entered the house, tossing his labcoat up on a hook set in the wall nearby. He traded it for a blue shirt that lay neatly folded on a small table to one side of the door. Having changed into the more comfortable clothing he whistled loudly, his usual way to let Sherry know he was home. He could smell food, so he wandered towards the kitchen of their small home, expecting his niece to be there waiting for him.
Instead he found a gun barrel shoved against his nose when he truned the corner, staring down the weapon at the large canine holding it. The otter was a clever man, and before he even saw the other two men in the room he knew what they wanted with him. He had always feared that his past might catch up with him, and now it appeared as if it had.
"Put the gun down, you fool." One of the two canines behind the one holding the gun spoke up. Osmodeus's eyes quickly locked onto the large wolf. He was apparently their leader, thus he was the one whom the otter would have to deal with.
"What do you want?" The chemist spoke up as the gun was moved away from his face. He was too old to even hope to fight these men, even if they hadn't brought high-power rifles with them. The wolf looked back at him, a smug grin on his face.
"You are Osmodeus Logarson correct?" He inquired, those yellow eyes boring into the otter. To his credit, the older man didn't even blink as he returned the stare.
"Yes, I am. Now what do you want?" The otter knew it would be useless to lie. They wouldn't be here if they weren't certain of who he was. He already knew what they wanted. It had been a long time since he had seen thugs like these, but he could never forget them. The only motivating force with men like this was money, nothing else. The otter only posessed one thing that could be worth enough for these men to be here.
"The weapon." The wolf spoke up, pulling a pistol from his belt. "Now, i have a feeling you'll be fairly reluctant to tell me where you've hidden it.... seeing how hard you are to find, it only makes sense." The pistol aimed at Oz. "So I took the liberty of getting myself some insurance." The gun turned to aim at the closet, the third canine opening the door and allowing Oz to see his neice tied to a chair.
"Tell me where it is or I'll kill her on the spot. I don't have time to play games with you." Xavier's thumb pulled back the hammer on the pistol, the weapon emitting a soft clicking noise. Oz held up a webbed paw to halt the Wolf.
"I will tell you, but first you must untie her and allow her to go free. I'm not a fool. If I tell you you'll just kill her anyways." The otter's nose wrinkled in anger. "And if you harm her in any way, I'll kill you myself."
Xavier paused a moment before shrugging. "Untie the girl." He was a businessman after all. "I'll let her go, but then you must tell me immediately. Otherwise I'll hunt her down and kill her anyways."
The otter simply nodded in reply. "Once she's out the door." He could see his neice out of the corner of his eye, and he knew she would be crying. Not for herself, she was too tough for that, but for him. He was as good as dead no matter what he did now.
Once the canines had cut the bonds keeping her tied to the chair she jumped up and ran over to her uncle, hugging him quickly, tears in her eyes. Oz blinked, but soon hugged her back. She had never been one to show him affection. She whispered softly in his ear, then rushed out of the house.
Osmodeus suddenly found the pistol pointed at him. "Now talk, old man." The wolf spoke up, flicking the pistol up for emphasis.
"I will lead you there. Even if I told you wehre it was you would have a hard time finding it." The otter replied, sighing and moving towards the door to grab his jacket. The wolf wouldn't shoot him, then he would've wasted all the effort of coming here.
After a moment's hesitation Xavier motioned to the guards to follow along, holstering his gun and walking after the otter.
The small car pulled up at the edge of the gravel road, set deep in the mountains. Oz stepped out of the passenger seat, and Xavier stepped out of the back, gun pointed at the older man to prevent any thoughts of escaping from running through the chemist's head. The otter had been compliant the entire journey, giving accurate direction to the location of his lab. He had hidden it well away from his home in the off-chance that something went wrong and the place was blown up... or incase anyone ever had the bright idea to murder him in hopes of finding the weapon.
The two other canines emrged from the vehicle, rifles held at their waist. Xavier gave a nod to the otter, who then set off away from the road. It was only a short hike until they came upon a doorway placed in the hillside, obviously used on a regular basis. The doors were metal, and were free of rust or grime. A key from the otter's pocket opened the door and all four men stepped inside at once.
While perhaps not as impressive as Xavier's facility, the small lab was functional. The automated machines were motionless at the moment, a blinking green message on the computer screen showing that a match had been found. Oz looked at it ruefully. Perfect timing for him to finally finish his work for the past twenty years.
Xavier didn't miss the message, and he motioned for his men to search the room. He saw nothing of the missiles and warheads he'd hoped to find, only a bunch of caged rats and birds and a large display of test tubes.
"Are you trying to play me for a fool old man? Where's the weapon?" The wolf shouted, startling some of the birds in the process, who squawked loudly. The otter simply opened his arms to the lab. "This is the weapon."
Xavier shook his head, his golden eyes narrowing dangerously. "I'm not stupid, Doctor. You cannot make a bomb out of some animals and a couple test tubes."
Oz simply grinned. "Oh, you certainly can't. I haven't been making a bomb for the past twenty years. That research was destroyed for a reason, it would never work." The wolf growled, but the otter continued to talk. "An explosion of that magnitude would destroy every living thing on the planet, and there's no way to scale the explosion to a usable level. It only varies from miniscule to monsterous. It would be foolish to even create such a weapon."
The wolf snarled. "Then what is all this!?" His fingers itched to simply kill the old man where he stood, but he held off in case there was something to be gained, just as Oz knew he would. "This is the miniscule version of the bomb, my version of the research we did in the old lab." He motioned at the animals. "The bomb worked off of destablizing the molecular structure of the material around it, something like a nuke only much more precise. Instead of randomly scattering the destroyed particles in hopes of hitting something, we found a way to aim them directly at the next molecule in line. In this way it creates a nearly never-ending chain of destruction with minimal radiation."
The wolf was simply staring at him angrily, waiting to hear why he should care about all of this nonsense. He just wanted something that destroyed more than the competition's bombs. He didn't care how. Oz didn't even notice him, caught up in his own story.
"-So I took that same technology and applied it to my expansive knowledge of chemestry. It took me twenty years but I finally found a way to slow the aging process by selectively destroying the damaged and unstable cells in a person's body. In short, potential immortality." He checked the screen and moved around the wall to the chosen beaker. "This fluid right here. Just one sip-" BANG!
He didn't even get to finish the sentence before the wolf put a bullet in his arm. He wasn't about to let the otter touch such a valuable thing. Oz cried out and stumbled backwards, blood covering his arm in a matter of moments. Xavier stepped over him as if he didn't exist and scooped up the vial. "One sip you say? Don't mind if I do." He could always make more, the computer was sitting right there with the data on it.
The wolf took a sip of the fluid, which felt like fire burning down into his core. He clutched as his chest. It felt like his skin was going to melt off of his body. He glared down at the otter, who was laying on the floor grinning. "I told you it destroys all the aged cells in your body. You need something to replace them with, otherwise... boom."
With a terrible howl the wolf threw the vial to the floor, raising the gun and unloading the entire clip into the otter's chest. Oz's smile never faded for a moment. The two other canines just stared at their leader, dumbfounded, and Xavier slowly fell to his knees.
After only a few seconds, the wolf started glowing, the excess energy in his body starting to show as the chemical destroyed him from the inside. He could stay upright no longer and slowly crumpled to the floor, laying next to the grinning otter, who began to laugh, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. "I lied. You CAN make a bomb from animals and a test tube."
The two henchmen seemed to snap out of their daze, and ran for the exit. After all the talk of bombs, the glowing wolf seemed all the more threatening to their safety.
Sherry stood before the metal doors of the lab, having followed them to the facility from a long distance. A psitol from her glove-box was in her paw, her webbed fingers finding it hard to hold the gun comfortably. In truth she had never even fired the gun before, but she wasn't going to simply leave her uncle to die at the hands of that monster. He had saved her life, and now she was going to return the favor.
Determinedly she opened the door with the spare key she always carried with her in case Oz fell asleep down here, like he often did. Jsut as she walked in, the two thugs from earler came running out. They didn't even seem to notice her, both of them looking over their shoulder as they rushed out. Their attention quickly shifted, however, when the girl fired the gun at them. She didn't have time to think or hesitate, if these two were leaving then her uncle may already be in trouble. She hit the first canine in the chest, staggering him. Her pistol was a small caliber, so it couldn't penetrate the bullet-proof vests both of them were wearing. She fired off two more shots at the first canine, one taking him through the neck. The second canine was able to get his rifle off his back at least, but not much more. At this short of a range, Sherry didn't need to be accurate to make her shots count. He dropped the rifle when one of the bullets ripped through his shoulder, and then fell down altogether when he was hit in the leg. Sherry dropped the gun, the ammo spent anyways, and jumped over the fallen men. Even if they were alive she would worry about them later, right now Oz was in trouble.
She arrived on the scene, bursting into tears when she saw her uncle covered in his own blood. She knelt down beside him, the soft touch her her fingers causing his eyes to flutter open. Both of them were oblivious to the glowing wolf, who was writhing around in pain as his body began to burn from all the buildup of energy.
Osmodeus smiled at her face, happy to see her again... that is until he remembered where they were. "Sherry." He croaked out, his voice nothing more than a whisper. There was no time for her to escape the blast now. His mind raced as she leaned down to cry into his shoulder. "Oz, don't die... don't..." She held her dying uncle in her arms, his blood smearing her blouse.
The old otter used the last bit of his physical strength to push her away from him. There was no time to be gentle. "Sherry, grab the black vial on the counter." he raised his paw to point it out. His vision was nearly gone... but he knew the lab by heart. She looked at him with hurt-filled eyes, but she recognized the worry on his face and did as she was told. She brought him the vial, and he took it without a word. He fumbled with the stopper before the girl reached over and undid it for him.
The old otter looked up at her and smiled. "I love you." He whispered before downing the vial. The black liquid it contained was the other half of the formula. Within moments his body was breaking down into its basic components, leaving only healthy cells for the host to absorb. Sherry watched, tears still streaming down her cheeks, as her uncles body seemed to melt. The wolf was still rolling around, his body literally smoking from the heat built up inside of him. His thrashing had set fire to small parts of the wooden tables and stacks of paper. However, as the melting otter's body came in contact with him the glow abated somewhat. The glowing wolf soaked up the melting otter like a sponge.
Unfortunately the transfusion was too late. The glow around the wolf's body brightened before it exploded, sending papers, vials, tables and computer parts flying all around the room. Sherry was blown back ino the hallway, dazed but alive. Fires leapt up everywhere from within the blaze, papers touching smouldering wood and flamable chemicals. Soon the lab was full of smoke, and it was impossible to see anything. The old otter was only able to dampen the damage, not halt the process entirely.
Sherry raised her head to see the lab engulfed in flames. She shrieked, recalling that Oz was still inside of there somewhere. She ran inside through the smoke, nearly blind. Her foot hit something soft, and she reached down. Her fingers found sleek fur, so she dragged the body down the short hallway and out into the open air. She collapsed, dropping her precious load in the dirt and fell to the ground coughing, her lungs scorched by the heat and irritated from the smoke. It took her a whole minute to recover and to look back at the creature she had pulled from the fire.
The man seemed to be unconcious, for the naked creature was certainly a male. It was neither her uncle nor that aweful wolf.... but from certain angles she caught similarities to both of them. She stood to one side, wondering what she should do when he opened his eyes. They were filled with that same yellow glow that had recently blown up the lab, and the female flinched away in fear. "Ozzy...?" She questioned as the man looked around at nothing in particular. Her voice caught his attention, pointed ears turning in her direction. A wicked grin spread across his features when he caught sight of her... or rather what he perceived as her. He was almost blind in his current state.
Sheery scurried backwards from the creature as it stood up, the evil grin turning into a snarl. His features contarted into something from a nightmare, those solid gold eyes filled with nothing but indiscriminate hatred. It took a step towards her, fingers tensing and hooking, bringing large claws to bear. She may have been a tough girl, but this thing looked like it could rip her apart without a thought. Suddenly the man stopped, rage-filled gaze burning into her. His claws reached for her, jaw clenching as he snarled again. He obviosuly wanted at her, but something was holding him back.
Suddenly the thing went berserk, arms waving around wildly and ripping at the air. Then it turned on itself in its rage, clawing at its face, then its shoulders... digging heavy slices into its own skin. Whatever it was... Sherry wanted nothing to do with it. She took her chances and stood up, making a break for the car.
"Sherry."
The things voice made her blood run cold. It was a horrible mix of love and hatred, as if it couldn't decide what to feel. Even in that single word, there was a great conflict. However, it knew her name. She turned around to look at the creature, which had stopped its thrashing and was simply standing there, claws dripping with its own blood.
There was a long pause and then the creature sat back down, a webbed paw idly picking at the grass as if he had forgotten what he was doing. He twitched violently, then looked around again. This time, the eyes that met the scared girl were a brilliant green... just like her uncle's, only they were flecked with gold.
"Oh, hello." He greeted her cheerily, with a wave of his paw. "Who are you, little girl?" he paused for a long moment, then frowned. "And for that matter, who am I?" The creature suddenly clutched at his head, his giant otter-like tail swinging around madly as he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. "Oww, oww ow....." He muttered.
Sherry just stared at the strange male. He was too young to be her uncle. He was maybe only slightly older than her own respectable sixteen. She didn't know what to do, but he was obviously in pain. She was afraid to get close to him.
He held his head for a long moment, then let out a sigh. "Oh, it quit." He sounded surprised. "Headache..." He explained to the girl's confused stare. He blinked when he was his paws, noticing the blood on them. His head canted to one side, is eyes traveling to his sliced up shoulder. "Man, that's gonna ruin my shirt." He then blinked and looked down, seemingly noticing that he was naked for the first time. "Oh, hey...." He frowned. "Someone took my clothes." He glared at the femme. "Clothing thief!" he accused in a hiss. The deep cuts on his face and shoulder didn't seem to cause him any discomfort.
Sherry didn't even know how to react. The man was obviously unstable, if not completely insane. However... there was something of her uncle in him. 'As well as a murderous psycho' She added silently. She hesitated, but after a long debate with herself she herded the rambling creature into her car and headed for home.