The last thing I remember was the cold. It wasn't the cold of winter; it was the cold of life leaving my body. I remember the living room—the peeling wallpaper, the sound of the TV in the background, and the panicked, shaking hands of the man holding the gun. There was a loud bang, a flash of fire, and then… nothing.
I died. It's a strange thing to realize. My thoughts about my mom's cooking, my sister's upcoming graduation, and the books I never finished—they all just stopped. I was gone.
Now, I was floating in a place where "up" and "down" didn't exist. It was an endless sea of black ink. My heart—or whatever I had now—ached. Not from the bullet, but from the loss. My family was back there, crying over a body that used to be me. I felt a sob catch in my throat, but I had no lungs to cry with.
"You're early," a voice boomed. It didn't come from a mouth. It came from the space itself, vibrating through my very soul.
A being appeared. He wasn't a man in a white robe or a glowing angel. He looked like a mistake in the universe. His body was a jagged, shifting mess of light and static, like a broken TV screen. Colors that didn't have names bled from his edges, and his shape changed every time I blinked. One second he was a giant, the next he was a tiny speck of light.
"I am Zero," the glitchy entity said. His voice was a chorus of a thousand different people speaking at once. "The beginning, the end, and the space between. I have watched your world for a long time, Finn. I've decided to give you a choice. You can drift here forever, or you can go to a world that needs someone like you. A world of heroes and villains. A world you know well."
I knew what he meant. Miraculous Ladybug. I'd watched the show, read the fics, and imagined being there. But the grief still held me tight. "My family… will they be okay?"
Zero's static form softened into a deep violet. "They will mourn, but they will live. They will find peace. Now, choose. If you go, I will grant you three gifts to survive. What do you want?"
I pushed my grief into a corner of my mind. I had to focus. If I was going to live again, I wasn't going to be a victim. Not ever again.
"For my first wish," I said, my voice gaining strength, "I want The Apex Instinct. Give me a Sixth Sense that warns me of immediate danger before it happens, and pair it with absolute sensory perfection. I want to see in the dark, hear a whisper across the city, and track a scent through rain and fire."
Zero's form rippled like a disturbed pond. "A predator's mind. Granted. And the second?"
"I want my own Wolf Kwami named Axel. I want a Miraculous that gives me the power of the wolf—the speed, the strength, and the loyalty of the pack."
"A companion for your journey. Granted," Zero hummed. "And the third?"
"I want a strong healing factor. I want to recover from any injury almost instantly. I want to be able to keep fighting, no matter what."
Zero's body flashed a blinding, pure white that burned away the darkness of the void. "The Hunter, the Wolf, and the Immortal. A powerful combination, Finn. But remember, gifts often come with a price you haven't considered. Go now. Entertain me."
The void cracked open like glass, and I fell.
Chapter 2: The Weight of the World
I slammed into consciousness. My eyes flew open, and for a second, I thought the gun had gone off again.
"AGH!" I screamed, clutching my head.
The world was too much. It wasn't just "better" senses—it was an assault. I could hear the ants crawling in the floorboards of the dusty attic. I could smell the rotting wood, the stale sweat on my own skin, the car exhaust from three streets over, and the metallic tang of a copper coin under the bed. My tongue felt like it was being electrocuted by the taste of the dust in the air.
My brain felt like it was going to explode. Every sound was a hammer. Every smell was a physical blow.
"Finn! Hey, Finn! Breathe! You gotta dial it back, pup!"
A small, grey blur zipped around my head. I tried to focus my eyes, but the light coming through the cracked window felt like needles stabbing my retinas.
"Shut up! Too loud!" I gasped, curling into a ball on the tattered mattress.
"I'm whispering, kid!" the voice squeaked, much softer now. "It's the Apex Instinct. Zero gave you the hardware, but your brain hasn't learned the software yet. You're trying to hear everything at once. You have to filter it. Imagine a radio dial. Turn it down!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking out. I pictured a dial in my head. I focused on the sound of my own heartbeat—thump-thump, thump-thump. I tried to make everything else go away. Slowly, the sound of the ants faded. The smell of the city became a background hum rather than a scream.
I sat up, panting, my skin drenched in sweat. My healing factor was already working, cooling my feverish skin and repairing the strain on my nerves.
I looked at the creature. It was a tiny wolf, no bigger than a tennis ball, with soft grey fur and intelligent silver eyes. He had a bushy tail and tiny ears that flicked as he watched me.
"You'm Axel?" I whispered.
"In the flesh… well, in the spirit," he chirped, landing softly on my knee. "And you're Finn. Now, you're the holder of the Wolf Miraculous. Look."
He pointed to my right hand. A silver ring sat on my middle finger. It had a simple paw print engraved on it. It felt heavy, like it carried the weight of the history Axel came from.
"It's real," I whispered. I looked around the room. It was a tiny attic in Paris. I could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance. "I really died. I'm really here."
"Yeah, you did," Axel said, his voice unusually soft for a Kwami. "And I know it hurts. But you've got a job to do. That Sixth Sense of yours? It didn't just come from Zero. It's tied to me. We are a pack now, Finn. When you hurt, I feel it. When you're in danger, I'll tell you."
Suddenly, a cold, electric shiver raced down my spine. It started at the base of my skull and vibrated through my teeth.
"Someone's in trouble," I muttered. My eyes locked onto the window.
"That's the tingle!" Axel said, flying up. "An Akuma. A big one. The city is screaming, Finn. Can you hear it?"
I stood up. My body felt lean and coiled like a spring. I wasn't the scared kid in the living room anymore. I was something new.
"How do we do this, Axel?"
"Just say the words, pup. Axel, Let's Hunt!"
"Axel," I said, feeling a surge of adrenaline. "Let's Hunt!"
A whirlwind of silver light erupted from the ring. It felt like liquid metal flowing over my skin. It wasn't hot; it was cool and comforting, like a shield. When the light faded, I looked at my hands. I wore charcoal-grey gloves with white tips. I felt the weight of a hood on my head and a mask over my eyes.
I didn't use the door. I jumped straight out the window.
In my old life, I would have fallen to my death. Now, I soared. I landed on a chimney across the street, my boots making no sound. I felt fast. I felt powerful. I was White Fang, and the hunt had begun.