Meeting the pack.

The Present…

Held gently in Karen’s arms, Lois and Jimmy tried everything not to look down as they were led up into the air and high into the canopy of the world tree. At that moment, Lois managed to bring her eyes down she regretted it as she found herself soaring over the highest skyscraper New Gotham had before rising to the top of the trunk. “Are we THERE yet?!” Worried Lois, closing her eyes tight as they flew deep into the brush of the tree’s branches.

“Just about, here we go.”

Landing on a flattened hollow jutting out of one of the world tree’s branches, Karen let the two humans down onto the gnarled bark floor and fell to all sixes before lounging down to relax. Getting their bearings, Lois and Jimmy looked around to see the world tree from their altitude. Taking careful steps, the pair moved over to the edge of the hollow to look down to Gotham down below. In mid-day the city looked like a town swallowed up by nature; Stone grey blurred with forest green that intermingled with trees and forests that grew as tall as some of the largest apartment buildings and business.

“Wow, this is quite the view!” Giggled Jimmy Olsen, almost losing his footing when he tried to take a few pictures of the view and thankfully pulled back by Lois before he could slip.

“Yeah, sure beats renting a hotel, doesn’t it?” Smirked the Krypto-wolfess, resting her head in the palm of one of her hands while she lounged on her side, her tail tip flicking idly. “The view is fantastic, but I miss the hotel mini-bar myself.”

Turning to look back at her friend, Lois approached the Krypto-Wolf with curiosity. Karen smiled back at the woman who looked all around her and began to make a face of confusion. “So… Where are your kids?” She asked, only seeing the three of them where Karen had brought them. With a knowing smile, Karen stood up to her full 13 foot height and howled out loud. The moment she did, Lois and Jimmy heard a series of howls across the canopy of the world tree. Within seconds the two found themselves surrounded by all ten of Karen’s children. Slowly falling to her knees, Lois looked up at the ten massive Krypto-wolves circling her like fish in a pond, flying overhead and looking down at her and Jimmy until they each landed one by one. Like their namesakes, the wolves gathered and sniffed at the two humans, darting their heads and sniffing at their clothes and growled when Jimmy raised his camera to take a picture.

“That’s enough kids, these two are our guests, they’re here to have a talk with all of you.” Replied Karen, her many hands at her waist as she observed her children inspecting the two reporters. Begrudgingly the pack of massive wolf creatures followed their mother’s commands and decided to leave the two alone, keeping their eye on them as they decided to lay down and relax or stand to their full height like their mother was.

“Why… Why are they here?” Growled one of Power Girl’s daughters, the curious brown krypto-wolfess eyeing Jimmy as her ears perked in his direction. “They don’t smell like the humans down below.”

“That’s because they’re not FROM the city Sand-El, they’re from Metropolis, this is Lois Kent and Jimmy Olsen, they work at the news publisher my cousin works at.”

“Don’t like them!” Growled the black furred male, eyeing Lois and twitching his ears while the spines on his back rattled like a snake’s. “Human’s aren’t allowed up the world tree.” Growled Karn-El, sneering at the two before Karen playfully smacked her son’s shoulder to get his attention.

“I invited them here, AND they’re family, so they get to be up here. It’s that simple.”

Glaring back at his mother, it looked like the two would get into a fight, baring their teeth and brandishing their claws while growling at each other as the others watched. Lois and Jimmy suddenly felt like they might not have been as safe as Karen claimed they would be.

“I’M the alpha male here, I say who comes up here or not.”

“Good for you, but I’M the alpha to the pack, and I say what YOU do!” Growled Karen, her eyes glowing red. For a heavy few seconds the two stared at each other before Karn-El finally stood down and turned his attention to Lois and Jimmy, the pair looking up at the massive wolf with trepidation before he snorted and turned around, falling to all sizes to walk off and sit.

“Wow…”

Turning her attention to Lois and Jimmy, Karen smiled back at the two to ease their fears. “Don’t worry about him, he’s at the age where he’s starting to push his boundaries.”

“R-Really? How old is he?” Asked Lois, combing her hair to the side and still watching the massive wolf eye her dangerously.

“He’s five.”

“What?!” Gasped the two, with Jimmy taking pictures now that he was finally able to do so. “But he’s… He’s…”

“Such a pain? Yeah, pretty sure he gets his attitude from me.”

“So BIG!” gasped the woman, shaking her head and trying to wrap her mind around how the ten other Krypto-wolves were so large, and not just large but fully grown up. From what Clark had explained to her they were all five years old at the oldest. She was expecting kids flying around her head and not massive adult Kryptonian werewolves eyeing her like a tiny chew tow.

“Yeah, I can get the confusion, you’ve just got to remember we’re wereWOLVES, think dog years… He’s pretty much in his early twenties.”

Looking over to each massive wolf lounging or sitting around her, Lois slowly regained her wits and came back to get Jimmy’s attention while he took pictures of all the Krypto-wolves in the area. “Come on Jimmy, lets get ready to give the scoop of a lifetime!”