Author's note: Thank you for reading, I've been pleased with the reception I've been getting so far. Just remember, feedback is always appreciated, and the only real way I have of knowing what people are enjoying about the story and would like to see more of. Votes are also lovely, and I hope you enjoy this and many chapters to come.
Karl Lykos lived a solitary life.
He had always been different. For as long as he could remember, he had never known thirst or hunger. All he knew was a kind of emptiness, and the sweet fulfillment that came from draining life-energy.
At first, it had not been so bad. He could buy live bait from any fishing store, and that would sate his appetite. He actually saved money on groceries. Although he knew he was like those
people
that were always on TV—the superheroes, the supervillains, the
mutants
—he was able to keep it under control. He didn't want to be special. He didn't want to be anything. He was happy being Karl Lykos.
Then he met Tanya and he had a wife. The beginnings of a family. Only then, when he was at his happiest, did he have the misfortune of meeting a mutant. Of being unable to resist draining that X-gene life-energy, so much greater than even an elephant! And then, what the power had unlocked—the dark side of his mind—the reptilian center—
the monster
—
He fled, both as Karl Lykos trying to flee from the mutants who were seemingly everywhere, free drugs to a junkie, and as the monster, running from the cops, the Avengers, the Defenders, SHIELD. Until finally, he wound up in the Savage Land. No mutants. Barely any people. Here, he could be Karl Lykos again, surviving on the flora and fauna of this ancient place. It was lonely, it was dangerous—it was home.
And then came the morning of the airship, when he felt a queasily familiar stirring—the pull of mutant power, far in the distance, but still so close he felt like he could reach out and...
Karl jerked out of bed, his flailing body knocking aside the few possessions he had populated his cave home with. It had been so long... and he'd had such power...
Karl looked around, trying to center him. He was Karl Lykos, Karl Lykos...
and he was living in a hole in the ground, not the house he'd once owned, not even the dorm room he'd shared... a fucking hole! Why did he have to suffer this way, while every other mutant got to frolic around in skintight spandex, playing baseball or hanging around with naked blue women? Why should he live as a hermit to spare them?
Because it was his burden, of course, his alone to bear, everyone else had their own, this was his, they would leave, everyone always left, he just had to wait them out...
No! NO! No more waiting! Don't let them slip away! Don't keep on subsisting on bait worms like a fucking fish! Either put yourself out of your misery or damn well claim your birthright! You're a mutant! This is what you were meant for! Embrace it! Take what's yours!
Karl Lykos found himself pulled to his feet like he was held by invisible rope. The smallest iota of mutant radiation was in the air, and he could already feel the irresistible transformation beginning. He wanted more. So much more. And as he stalked in the direction of that invisible pull, he knew he would get it.
He was Karl Lykos.
But he was also something else.
***
"No!
Nein!
Bad dino!" Taking hold of the ankylosaurus's neck, Dr. Elsa rubbed the dinosaur's nose in the mess it had made on the carpet, painstakingly salvaged from the old science lab so she wouldn't have to worry about splinters from the wooden floor. "We do not go number one in the house!"
Shanna had found the ankylosaurus as a pup after it was orphaned by a Rex attack. Although everyone had been enthusiastic about the idea of bringing up a dinosaur pet, Elsa was sure she was the only one who bothered to discipline him. It wasn't much for a renowned scientist, the toast of Project Vengeance, but studying whether a dinosaur had enough brains to be domesticated was better than wallowing in hunting and fighting like the others did. It wasn't even her discipline, though--what she wouldn't give for a few beakers and a proper microscope!
"Are you busy, Mother?" Shanna asked, entering silently as always--this time through a ventilation hole high up to the roof. She crept along the rafters as Elsa shooed Earl Sinclair the ankylosaurus (she would never understand American pop culture references).
"No, Shanna. I am not busy at all."
She probably should've been somewhat perturbed to hear Shanna once again refer to her as Mother, a habit she'd started after reading some books that informed her of the concept of parents. But then, part of her genetic stock was Dr. Elsa's DNA. So Elsa figured it was more or less accurate.
Shanna nodded and leapt down, executing a flawless landing in a crouch that she rose from immediately. If it had happened at any gymnastics competition in the world, Elsa would've applauded. But because it was Shanna, she only offered a tight smile in greeting.
"Mother," Shanna said, her flat voice displaying a touch of nervousness, "do men like it when you touch their phalluses?"
It was good to know, even after so many years learning about this place, that it could still surprise Elsa. But not at the moment. "Muh-muh-manual stimulation of the genitalia is often found pleasant by adult males. Why do you ask?" She surprised herself by how calmly she spoke her question.
"I touched Zar's phallus. After I asked him first. He seemed to enjoy--" Shanna gave Elsa a confidential look, "--reaching ejaculation, but then he excused himself and left. Did I do something wrong?"
"No, Shanna, I'm sure you excelled at it, as per usual." Elsa really wished the child development specialists had showed up.
"But in Doc's magazines, the manual stimulation leads to vaginal or anal intercourse, finishing in oral or mammary stimulation and
then