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Chapter 7: Ok, now what the heck do I do? A wolf advanced on its prey. A female form
shrank back, avoiding the snapping jaws. The female seemed to be
muttering something to herself, and the hands were thrust out in a
defensive posture. The wolf lunged, nicking one of the
outstretched hands. There was a slight curse, followed by a sigh of
disappointment, and the wolf suddenly blinked out of existence. ************* Jo hadn't stopped advancing on Lydia. Lydia had backed up to the wall, and was trapped, unwilling to attack her friend. As Jo reached out to swipe at Lydia's form, Lydia prepared to either die or kill her best friend. Neither of the choices were particularly appealing, so when Aaron burst into the room, startling Jo and causing her to turn, Lydia took the opportunity to move to safety.Aaron was in wolf form, his shoulder still hurting him, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment. Namely, Jo's wolf form being in such a defensive mood. She snarled and snapped at this intruder, and Aaron did his level best to stay out of the way. The two circled each other until Aaron saw his chance. Jo had stood up straight for a split second, exposing her legs. Aaron dove into them, bringing Jo to the ground. As Jo struggled underneath Aaron's furred bulk, he moved to pin her to the ground, then looked up at Lydia. "Don't just stand there, get a tranquilizer dart or something!" Lydia dashed out of the room and found a dart. Returning to the room, she found Aaron still struggling with Jo's frenzied form. Jo was putting up quite a fight, but Aaron was definitely the stronger and heavier of the two. Lydia took the dart and jabbed it into Jo's shoulder. Jo snarled at the pain of the dart, and continued struggling, seemingly unaffected. Lydia began to wonder if the dart was working or not when she noticed that Jo's struggling was becoming more feeble. Aaron was relieved when Jo finally went limp. Rolling off of Jo's now prone form, the kilted lycanthrope stood, painfully flexing his shoulder and dusting off his clothes. "Hmm... I'm going to need a new kilt. I've had this one on for too long." He muttered to himself. Lydia was still a bit shocked at the Manifestation of her best friend, so she was admittedly a bit incredulous at Aaron's seeming nonchalance. "Hey! What are we supposed to do about her? She's a werewolf!" Aaron slumped, hands on knees, panting slightly. "Yeah, I thought she told you about that." Lydia was verging on hysteria. "Yeah, a minute before she tried to kill me! Now what do we do?" Aaron stood upright and cracked his back. "Now? Now we move her to somewhere comfortable and wait for her to wake up. Then we worry about containment of her when she's in wolf form for a while." Lydia nodded, a bit taken aback by Aaron's businesslike manner. "Um, okay then. Where do you suggest we put her?" Aaron sighed. People never seemed to think clearly after witnessing a Manifestation. "Well, I was thinking that perhaps in her room on her bed would be a good idea." Lydia felt a bit stupid. "Oh yeah, I guess that would be a handy place to put her, wouldn't it?" Aaron nodded, and stooped to pick up Jo's prone form. Carrying her around the hole in the floor, he entered her room and set her gently on her bed. Then, he exited, intending to go to bed. Of course, this seemed that there wouldn't be an opportunity to do so. Lydia was sitting on his bed, anger and confusion in her eyes. Lydia had used the time spent moving Jo trying to make sense of it all. Of course, she couldn't really do that. It's not every day that one's best friend turned into a werewolf and tried to kill you, after all. Instinctively, she blamed Aaron for the whole mess, and was therefore going to not only give him a piece of her mind, but also try to find out just what the heck was going on. Aaron sighed. "What is it?" Lydia stared at the werewolf incredulously. "What is it? What do you mean, what is it? My best friend is a werewolf all of a sudden, and you ask me 'What is it?'" Aaron nodded. "Yeah, I do, so what is it?" Lydia gestured wildly toward Jo's room. "That! Why didn't you tell me about that when I asked you?" "I told you all ready. That sort of thing isn't for me to tell! She was supposed to tell you before the week was up, and she didn't. Now, I'm sorry that happened, but now it's just something you'll have to live with." Aaron was tired all ready . He didn't want to deal with this tonight. He wanted to go to bed and deal with Jo and Lydia in the morning. Lydia didn't seem to be willing to let the matter rest. "I don't care if you were supposed to tell or not. You should have told me so I at least would have known it was coming!" "Oh really? Well let me tell you something. I didn't know when it was coming, because that's just the way the virus works. Sometimes it takes two weeks, sometimes a week. Jo and I were assuming it would take around two weeks, but it seems that it wasn't to be. Now I'm sorry that your friend looked like she was going to kill you, but she didn't. Now, I've agreed to help her through the first stages here. There's a place I could have taken her, but she didn't want to abandon you so we decided to stay. It's not going to be easy for you to accept this, I'm sure, but Jo's not doing too well on that score either." Lydia nodded, surprised at the forcefulness with which Aaron had started to speak. Aaron continued. "What she needs right now is someone to support her. That's not something I can do, I don't know her well enough. You, on the other hand, have been her friend for a while, so it looks like it's your job." Lydia protested. "But I don't know anything about what's happening to her. How can I be supportive?" "You don't have to understand one bit of what's happening. You just have to be there to let her know you're not going to cast her out because of what she is." Aaron was passionate about this sort of thing, mainly because he didn't want Jo to go through the hell that he had gone through. His parents didn't even acknowledge his existence anymore. He had stopped her from killing, now he had to stop her from being reviled by those close to her. Lydia nodded, understanding what must be done. It would be hard, but she would not allow her best friend to go it alone. Not now. ************* A caravan of vehicles wound its way through the ruins of Minneapolis. The search team had assembled early that morning, deciding to check out the ruins south of the marketplace. Sadly, Aaron was to the east, but the search team didn't know that yet. All they knew was that west and north had all ready been checked over the past weeks. Another thing the team didn't know was that Overseer had dispatched his minions to search for David in Minneapolis as well. The minions were also searching to the south, mainly because a source inside the lycanthrope's organization had tipped them to it.David sat in the back of a mini-van, rifle slung over his shoulder. They would be going in armed. After David's encounter, they were taking no chances. The search team was divided into squads of four. Each squad had a medic, a gunman, and two trackers. The trackers also carried weapons, but they were more concerned with tracking. David was a gunman. The trackers were all ready in their wolf forms, and David followed suit as soon as they arrived. ************* A man in a black coat watched from the wreckage of an old department store. Lifting a small phone to his ear, he spoke. "The lycanthropes are here. No sign of the subject yet. We'll keep an eye out for him. If we don't see him, we'll follow them back to their headquarters and find him there." Listening to the response, the man nodded. "Very well. We'll contact you when it's found." ************* Overseer hung up the phone with an expression of delight. Finally, someone who knew what they were doing. Most of all, he'd get to get rid of that pesky boy and finally be able to relax. The boy had just been one more unfinished project to take care of, and now he would be able to do so quite quickly.All he had to do was wait for his minions to report back. Then he would destroy the boy and return home for some coffee and cake. He did so love coffee and cake. ************* Ruth sat in her room and worried. It seemed like a silly thing to do, because she knew that David could take care of himself. She was just frightened that something else would happen to him, and she wouldn't be able to try and help. It was odd, that she wanted to be able to help him so much, but she thought of David as one of her closest friends. The thought of something happening to him was a horrible one, and one that she was unwilling to entertain any longer.Ruth was also bored out of her skull. After all, she couldn't do much else other than watch TV and use a computer. Not being a big fan of either of the activities, Ruth was left with very little to do other than sleep. The only problem was, she wasn't tired at all. Ruth found herself wishing that her leg would mysteriously heal like David's shoulder had. But, her leg was healing slightly faster than expected, so it would only be a matter of time before she was back on her feet again. Being the patient type, Ruth could wait. As long as she could find something to do, that is. Finally, she elected to doodle on her leg cast. A bit of an artist, Ruth always enjoyed drawing, and now she had plenty of space on which to draw. Her favorite subject matter being the fantasy worlds, she set about drawing dwarves and elves running about her cast. For good measure, she threw in a few sorcerers, although they weren't exactly fantasy. That particular thought still gave her trouble. After all, if there were sorcerers in the world, why couldn't other creatures of fantasy exist? Dismissing the thought as silly, Ruth simply continued doodling on her cast; awaiting the search party's return. ************* David stood guard outside one of the many bombed out office buildings that littered the landscape. This one seemed to have been an accounting firm, judging by the multiple shredders that they could see the remnants of. No sign of Aaron though. Not even a whiff of his scent, or so the trackers reported. It seemed that they were at another dead end. Sighing, the trackers motioned that they should leave and try the next building. David moved out in front, then suddenly waved the others to stop.Something had caught his eye. On a rooftop, David thought he saw a man standing and watching the teams. When he looked again, the man was nowhere to be found. Assuming that it had probably just been a trick of the light, David nonetheless decided that the building was worth checking out. Entering through the main doorway, he peered inside. The interior of the building was full of debris and bits of the ceiling were missing. David summoned the trackers to check it out, and one of them sniffed curiously. "Hmm... someone's either been here or still is. They seem to have gone up the stairs there next to the elevator shaft. There may be more than one of them too. I can't quite tell yet." The tracker reported. "Any chance that the scent is Aaron's?" David anxiously asked. "Maybe. If it is him though, he hasn't been showering. This scent is much more foul than his was. Still, there's a faint hint of his scent in it. It's worth a look, at the very least." David nodded. "Right. We'll head up the stairs and check it out then." The trackers nodded agreement. "Okay, we'll be right behind you." David moved across the debris-strewn floor and opened the stairway door. Rifle at the ready, the young lycanthrope worked his way up the stairwell. The trackers were close behind, still catching the distinctive scent of whoever was in the building. As the team passed by the fifth floor, one of the trackers whispered ahead to David. "Hey, the scent goes in here. I think this is the living quarters of whoever we're tracking." David turned and headed back down the stairs, failing to notice the shadow of a man just above. The man in question drew back, then pulled out a gun. After all, the searchers could not know they were being watched. This squad would just have to go missing. David slowly opened the door to the fifth floor offices and peered inside. What he saw were the ruins of cubicles and more than a few holes in the floor and walls. The steel frame of the building lay exposed in many areas, and aside from the surveillance equipment laying next to a window, there were no signs of anyone having been there recently. David walked over to inspect the equipment laying on the floor. Aside from the normal binoculars and camera, there was also a video recorder and a laptop for what David assumed to be analysis of the data recovered. Curious, he booted the computer up, idly wondering just who had been spying on whom. He was shocked to discover that all the photos and reports dealt with him. It seemed that this laptop belonged to someone who had been on David's trail for at least the past month. He even saw a report about a sighting of him at the electronics market on the day of the attack. There was also a message sent out by someone named Overseer dealing with the failure of an attack by an android assassin. The most recent photos were of the search teams arriving in the area. David turned to the rest of the team. "We're being watched." He stated simply. "I think that whoever sent that android is behind this set up too. Chances are, he might have something to do with Aaron as well. If there's still someone here, I think we need to find him and have a chat." The trackers nodded. Turning to exit the room, they were suddenly confronted with a man holding a gun. The man froze at the sight of four werewolves, then brought up his gun and started shooting. Unfortunately for the spy, he wasn't fast enough or good enough with a pistol. His shots only succeeded in grazing a tracker's arm before David's rifle took the spy through the midsection. A look of disgust on his face as well as a slight queasiness at having killed a human being, David quickly shook off the feeling. The rest of the team stared in shock at the spy's body for a moment before realizing that their leader seemed preoccupied with other matters at the moment. Composing themselves, they stood in an almost respectful silence for the fallen man. "Guess we won't be talking to him, will we?" One of the trackers remarked offhandedly. David gave a snort of amusement, and the team hurried down the stairs to get in contact with the others. They needed to leave, before something else happened. It was no longer safe to be out in the open. Aaron would have to wait. Right now, there were twelve other people to worry about counting himself. "All teams, the area is being watched. Get out now before something happens. Repeat, we're under surveillance. Get out now before they send in another android or something equally unpleasant." The message crackled over every squad leader's radio. The reaction was swift. The three teams dashed to their vehicles and took off, not knowing that homing beacons had been attached to them while they were out searching. Overseer's minions were going to pay a visit to the lycanthrope's HQ. ************* Jo awoke confused. What was she doing in a bed? More importantly, what the heck had happened last night? She remembered telling Lydia about the virus, Lydia had been angry with Aaron, blaming him for the whole mess. After that, Jo didn't remember anything else. Spotting her glasses sitting on a table next to her, she grabbed them and put them on. As the world jumped into focus, she noticed Lydia and Aaron sitting in chairs and patiently waiting for her to awaken."What happened?" Jo inquired, the standard question for anyone who wakes up with no memory of the previous night's events. Aaron was the first to speak. "You Manifested. We sedated you and moved you back to your room." Lydia nodded. "You tried to kill me, but that's not important really. Aaron managed to keep you down for long enough that I could grab a tranquilizer. How do you feel?" Jo sat up in shock at Lydia's comment, then realized that this was not the best of plans. Her head was pounding, most likely a side effect of the high amount of tranquilizer that had been in her system. "A little dizzy. And very, very confused. Why would I try to kill you?" Aaron answered the question. "Because, you were in a closed room, and Lydia had a gun next to her. Pure defensive instinct." Jo nodded slowly, not exactly feeling reassured by the statement. She was more unsettled that she could have killed her best friend. Once again, it seemed that Aaron had saved the day for the both of them. More troubling to Jo was the fact that now it was confirmed. She was indeed a werewolf now, there was no longer the comforting thought that she could have been mistaken. Now that was an unsettling thought. Almost more so than the fact that if not for Aaron her friend would be dead... or she would be dead. Lydia had been holding a gun after all. Aaron merely sat and waited for it all to sink in. In one hand, he held a tranquilizer dart, ready to use it if Jo happened to suddenly revert to wolf form. This way, he figured that he could at least avoid the beating he took the last time. Aaron had forgotten how fierce a restrained werewolf could be. Bandages covered the scratches that Jo had inflicted, which had fortunately been minor. Frankly, it seemed to Aaron that his new function in life seemed to be saving his captor's lives. To an extent, it annoyed him. On the other hand, it was nice to be appreciated. Lydia spoke again. "Well, you should get something to eat. You've been out cold since last night." Jo didn't quite understand why this was a big deal until she looked at a clock and realized that it was two o'clock in the afternoon. That must have been a heck of a tranquilizer. And now that she thought of it, she was pretty hungry. "Good plan. I'll go take care of that." This of course, involved attempting to stand up again. Jo managed to stand, though her head seemed to complain that this was not really that fantastic of an idea. Aaron and Lydia realized that Jo would probably be a bit unsteady on her feet and moved to help support her. Couldn't have her falling into the hole in the floor. The three made their way to the kitchen (also known as Lydia's room) and Jo then proceeded to rummage through the supplies for something to eat. ************* > The caravan entered the garage, and the teams exited looking a little shaky. Apparently, the other two teams had encountered spies as well, and those had met with the same fate. Oddly, the only one who didn't seem that affected by all the shooting and killing was David. This seemed out of place, as the other personnel had all seen death before--yet they still found it unsettling. David, on the other hand, seemed to show very little interest in the whole affair, sitting in his van deep in his own thoughts.Truthfully, David had been shaken by the whole affair rather deeply. He was just better at hiding his emotions than everyone else. It seemed so odd to him that all he had done was point and pull a trigger, and in a split second someone's life had ended. What really disturbed David was the fact that he knew that he should have been remorseful for his deed, but he really wasn't. His mind had all ready rationalized the deed. After all, it had been the spy or his team, and possibly himself. It had been the instinct to survive that had driven him to it. Ruth was one of the first out to greet the caravan as it came to a halt. Anxious, she first checked for Aaron, not expecting to see him, but still a little disappointed when it became obvious that she was correct. She then turned her attention to looking for David. She spotted him exiting the nearest van, a faraway look in his eyes. Wheeling over to meet him, she waved to get his attention. "Hey! Over here David!" David seemed to snap back to the present, and as soon as his eyes lighted on Ruth, he gave a grin. "Nice to see you! How's life in the compound?" Ruth chuckled. "Boring. I drew all over my cast, and then I took a nap and waited for you guys to get back." "Wow! How did you manage to keep so busy?" David asked, mirth evident in his voice. There was something else too, a hidden emotion that Ruth couldn't place. Was it sadness? It made her pause, wondering just what happened to him. "David? Is there something wrong?" David seemed caught off guard by the question. Was it that obvious? He was doing his level best to keep his emotions under control, the feelings of guilt finally starting to come. For now, he would keep quiet. It was not the place to speak of such things. "Not now Ruth. I'll tell you later." Ruth nodded, understanding. "All right then." She changed topics. "So, are you any closer to finding Aaron?" David shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. We thought we might have had a lead, but it--turned out to be something different." It was obvious that the something different had been what was so unpleasant. Ruth wisely decided not to pursue the question at that time. "Well, I'm sure we'll find him eventually, right?" David nodded. "Yeah, he'll turn up." ************* The homing beacon's signal was beamed directly to a satellite orbiting the earth. This satellite beamed the exact coordinates of the beacon in real time, so that it was simple to deduce when the caravan had reached its destination. Once this happened, a computer tech picked up a phone and spoke the coordinates. Another satellite was aimed at the location to snap a few photos of the area, and these photos along with the coordinates were carried to Overseer's inner offices.Overseer took a look at the coordinates and then took a look at the photos. Satisfied that he could easily teleport in, he strode out of the room. His informant would be angry, but that was his problem, not Overseer's. The informant should have known that Overseer wouldn't keep the "don't look for our lair" part of the deal anyhow. Now he would pay the lycanthropes a visit, and take care of that pesky unfinished business. ************* David and Ruth were headed out of the garage to their rooms when it happened. A sudden chill entered the area. Darkness seemed to grow in the center of the garage, focusing into one point until it suddenly shot outward, dissipating and revealing a dark form. David stared at it in shock, the memory of the man who had threatened his father springing unbidden to his mind. That was who this figure was, he was sure of it. Fear gripped David's heart as the black figure spotted him and began to methodically make its way toward him.Gunfire suddenly sounded. Someone was trying to shoot this fiend in the back. Overseer turned, and a fireball suddenly blasted into a nearby van. The van's gas tank caught, and the whole vehicle exploded, effectively tossing the gunman into a wall. Overseer turned back to David, the flame from the burning van illuminating him like some sort of creature of hell. The sorcerer's hand raised. David tensed to dive out of the way, but that was unnecessary. Overseer tripped and stumbled, giving David the chance to grab Ruth's wheelchair and run. Overseer stood, grumbling. It had been such an impressive looking beginning too. Now he had to chase this boy down. Not that there was much of a challenge in that. After all, he could just teleport in front of them. David was barreling down a residential hallway when Overseer appeared in front of him. Raising his hand once more, he let loose another fireball. David would have taken the blast, but Ruth rolled in front of him, shielding David from the fiery destruction heading his way. Ruth's broken body slammed into David, who could only sit and stare at his fallen friend in grief. Overseer chuckled. A change suddenly came over David. No longer was he sad about Ruth's death, he was enraged. Fire burned in his eyes, his body transformed to that of a wolf--though not his normal werewolf form. This form seemed slimmer, almost more human-like. Most peculiar were the eyes, which were no longer green but seemed to be twin pools of dancing fire. A glow surrounded his body, a sort of red tint spreading throughout the hallway. It suddenly occurred to Overseer that this was perhaps a bad thing. It also occurred to Overseer that this boy seemed to be capable of tearing reality like tissue paper. That was as far as Overseer's thoughts went at that point, because David suddenly unleashed a burst of energy that blew the sorcerer backward. David for his part had no clue what he had just done, but he was still enraged so he didn't really think about it too much. Another blast rocked Overseer's body, and for the first time in a long time, Overseer knew that he was no match for the boy--yet. Firing off one last fireball to distract David, Overseer quickly dematerialized and so escaped. David saw the fireball coming and simply raised a hand, firing off a fireball of his own. The two met in a massive explosion that rocked the complex. As the dust cleared, David saw that his foe was gone. Standing enraged at this loss for a moment, he was called back to reality by a soft coughing behind him. He suddenly remembered Ruth and rushed to her side. Ruth lay where she had fallen, burns covering her body. It felt like every bone in her body had been broken by the force of the explosion, and she could feel herself slowly slipping away. David knelt at her side, grabbing her hand, holding onto it tightly. Ruth looked up at David and coughed again. "Is he gone?" She asked, another shudder of pain wracking her body. David nodded, fear and concern evident on his face. "Yeah, he's gone. Come on, I've got to get you to the hospital wing." Ruth nodded, but a sudden fit of coughing prevented her from speaking. Blood flecks appeared around her mouth. Finally, she was able to speak again. "I don't know if there's anything they can do." "Don't say that!" David was becoming a bit frantic. "You're going to be fine, you'll see! Don't you dare give up on me!" Ruth's body convulsed as another wave of pain hit it. She seemed to tense for a moment, and then with a sigh, went limp, passing into deep shock. David stared helplessly at his friend's body, the tears beginning to come. He scooped Ruth up off of the floor, holding her like a small child and weeping. Not her. Not Ruth. He couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the fact. No, she was going to wake up and everything was going to be okay. Sorrow washed over him. He hadn't been able to help her, hadn't saved her. There had to be something he could do, just had to be. But there was nothing, nothing that he would be able to do that could help her. Some new instinct awoke in David. A new idea, a new thought that he couldn't place his finger on. Frustrated, he closed his eyes and concentrated on this new thought. Unknown to him, his body began to glow a different color. White light began to fill the hallway, illuminating the corridor. Ruth suddenly began to breathe more regularly, her skin healing. She woke, feeling her bones mend and her damaged lungs repair. Her vision cleared, and she realized that David was still holding her, unaware of what he had just done. Ruth couldn't believe what had just happened, and simply hugged back. David felt the hug, and jerked back in surprise, his eyes snapping open. For some reason, he felt terribly exhausted. Yet as he stared in amazement at Ruth's healed body, the relief and the utter happiness that surged through him, was more than enough to make him forget about being tired altogether. "Ruth? You- you're awake!" He exclaimed. "How did this happen?" Ruth asked. "Not that I'm complaining about being brought back from the brink of death and healed, but I can't help wondering how." It all seemed too surreal. This sort of thing did not happen. By all rights, she should have been dead. Ruth had felt her body shutting down, she had known that she was doomed to die. Yet somehow, David had pulled her back. Not only pulled her back, but totally healed her as well. Ruth felt so elated, so joyful at being alive that all she could do was gaze at the hallway around her in elation at being able to actually see the walls and feel David still holding her. David's face looked curious. "Well, it was something I did. Not sure how I did it. It was like an instinctive move on my part." Ruth shrugged, still giddy at the fact that she was still alive. "Well, you certainly look a little different." "Huh?" David still hadn't noticed his new form, there not being many mirrored surfaces in the hallway. Now that the moment of crises had passed, he took a good look at himself. Indeed, he did look a bit different now. Well, this was a new development. "Hmm... I wonder if Doc has any explanation for this." "Doubtful." Ruth offered. "What you just did isn't standard lycanthropic behavior. I've never heard of a sorcerous werewolf. It was supposed to be impossible. A safeguard that the creator of the virus put in for some reason. There's records of sorcerers being infected and losing their ability to use majik, and yet you obviously just used it." David looked at his new form again. Just what was happening to him? ************* Jo woke with another headache, and surmised that she had probably shifted again. Once more, Aaron and Lydia sat watching her closely. This time, Aaron was holding some ice over a black eye. Jo figured that was her fault, so she decided to apologize."Hey, that black eye was me wasn't it? Sorry about that." Aaron looked up. "Actually, this was your friend's doing. She got a bit frantic this time. Thought I was you." Lydia held up a frying pan. "This makes a useful weapon, let me tell you." Jo couldn't suppress a giggle. Aaron glared at her for a moment. Lydia waved the frying pan threateningly. Aaron leaned back in his chair, grumbling something about ungratefulness. Lydia looked defensive. "Well, what would would you have done? Honestly, Jo was running about, and you walked up behind me! How else was I going to react?" Aaron shook his head. "Well I would have thought the kilt would give it away. If not that, then the fact that I said 'Lydia, it's me' should have." Jo started to sense that perhaps Lydia had known full well who it was, but said nothing. She was still adjusting to the fact that she would lose control of herself at least one more time. It was something that Jo did not enjoy in the least, preferring to control her own actions. She was startled from her thoughts by Aaron speaking again. "Well, at least that should be the last time we have to do it." Jo was confused. "Huh? How could it be the last time? I've only Manifested twice!" Aaron shook his head. "Nope, you switched forms while you were sleeping a few nights ago. I wouldn't have noticed myself, but your wolf form is a bit of a loud snorer." Lydia snorted. "Yeah, just her wolf form." Jo sounded defensive. "Hey, I had a cold!" Aaron ignored the exchange and continued. "The point is, next time you Manifest, you'll be in control after about five or ten minutes. Earlier than that if we're lucky. We can't just knock you out this time, or you'll wake up in your wolf form, and that would be a bit disconcerting I'm sure." Jo nodded. "So you're going to just have to slug it out with me until I come to my senses then?" Aaron nodded. "That's pretty much the idea. I think I can handle it, and Lydia will help if she needs to." Lydia nodded. "Yeah, I've got the frying pan and everything ready if we need it." "But what if you can't control me? What happens then?" Jo asked, a little worried about the whole affair. This seemed like it could be the most dangerous part of the whole process. After all, if they didn't want to just tranquilize her, then she could really hurt the two. Aaron seemed unconcerned. "If that happens, you'll just have to deal with the shock of waking up a werewolf. We're not about to let ourselves get hurt." Lydia nodded. "Exactly. We just thought we'd try to make things easier on you is all." Jo nodded. "Well, thanks. I appreciate it, really." Once again, Jo counted herself lucky to have Aaron and Lydia there to help. Lydia seemed to be taking the whole situation well so far, and Aaron certainly seemed to know what he was doing. Her fears assuaged, Jo got out of her bed to tidy up a little. All of her running about as a crazed werewolf was really starting to muss the apartment up. ************* By now, the whole compound was alive with activity. The garage was still smoky from the burning van, there were wounded to take care of, and nobody had a clue as to where David and Ruth had gotten to. Doc strode across the garage floor, to speak with one of the personnel supervising the clean up."Any sign of those two?" Doc inquired. The supervisor shook his head. "Not one. We think they may have gone down that hallway over there, but it's so blocked with rubble we can't get in there to look for them. All communications with that wing got knocked out too, so there's no way to tell if there's even anybody alive in there. We're working on it, but it will take some time." Doc nodded, worry etched on his face. "I see. Well, keep trying. We have to get everyone assembled. It's been decided that we're going to evacuate. If whoever that was knows where we're located, it's only a matter of time before someone else finds out. We can't take that chance." Meanwhile, Ruth and David were moving down the hall, searching the rooms for any signs of life. So far, they had located five or six very shocked and confused residents. Everyone else seemed to have been in other parts of the compound at the time. A few of those in the group were amazed to see Ruth up and about, looking totally healthy. Others were more interested in David's odd new form. David hadn't bothered to change out of it, sensing that he might need it later on. The glow that emanated from his body seemed to change colors depending on his thought process, which to some was as amusing as it was mildly disturbing. Another apartment was inspected, this time yielding a very confused cat. It hissed at the sight of the werewolf, so David backed out of the room and one of the residents in human form went in and collected the cat. The cat purred happily, apparently recognizing the tenant. The party moved on, David still leading the way, his mind working to try and process all that seemed to have happened. So a sorcerer was after him. Most likely, that's where the android assassins had come from. That he could almost handle. The part that was really hard for him to grasp was this new form of his. It was so odd to have the power of a sorcerer, and the fact that he seemed to instinctively know how to use it was even more strange to him. Then again, it had come in handy so far. David supposed he should be grateful that he had this power, obviously it had saved his life and Ruth's. Ruth was a whole other source of questions and confusion to David. Her near death had certainly shaken him, and that was to be expected. The thing was, it still troubled him. The more David thought about not having his friend around anymore, the more he realized that he didn't want to allow that to happen. He hadn't even really liked being away from her most of the day, as he was slowly realizing that she was the best friend he had now. Silently, he resolved to keep an eye on her whenever he could. He didn't want to let anything else happen to her. Enough had happened because of him all ready, and her being nearly killed twice was quite enough. Ruth continued following David's lead, occasionally helping out a resident who had been a bit shaken up by the blasts that David and the other sorcerer's exchange had caused. Trying to occupy her mind with helping the others, Ruth kept finding herself going back to the feel of the fireball slamming into her body. She couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter how hard she tried. Ruth hadn't known that it was possible to feel that much pain. She couldn't stop thinking about how her skin had been charred, how she had felt her ribs crack with the force of the explosion. Couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of her life slipping away. But what she most remembered was the thought that had gone through her mind before she lost consciousness. I hope I can talk to David before I go. The thought seemed so odd to her. Why, of all things, would David be the last thing she thought of? It made absolutely no sense to her, but David just seemed to be able to help her of late, and she had to admit that he was becoming her closest friend. It occurred to her that they had talked almost every day since he had arrived. Just how close had they become of late? This was a question that Ruth could not answer at the moment, and so she pushed it from her thoughts. There were other things to worry about. Namely, there was the problem of how to get back to the garage. The passage was blocked, and there didn't seem to be any way out that would lead them to safety. "Who designed this place with only one exit?" David inquired, an annoyed tone to his voice. "Well, to be fair, I don't think the designers had sorcerers wreaking destruction on each other in mind. That, and if there's only one exit, then there's only one way for an enemy to enter." Ruth explained. "That, and the elevator would work if the electricity wasn't knocked out." Supplied one of the tenants. "And we could use the stairs if they weren't locked." Another voiced. David nodded. "Good point. Oh well, looks like we've got to dig ourselves out of this mess then doesn't it?" "Guess so." Ruth replied, and moved to organize the tenants in preparation for the dig. ************* Lord Wyndalf was troubled. There had been an enormous surge of sorcerous power, one that seemed almost greater than his own. That was not all that had been there. Wyndalf had sensed that Overseer had been involved as well. Perhaps in a fight of some sort? If so, it was only too obvious who had come out the victor. Overseer's power was nowhere near the power that Wyndalf had felt. There was something else to the feeling too, some other trait that Wyndalf could not place. The feeling that the power had been used by someone with ages of experience.It both disturbed him and at the same time aroused his curiosity. How could it be that a sorcerer who obviously had the experience he had felt remain undetected for so long? Surely someone of that power and experience had been felt before. Yet if that were so, then why could he not ascertain who had been wielding that power? Wyndalf stood and swept out of his chambers. This was something that would be worth looking into. After all, if this unknown sorcerer were a threat, it would have to be dealt with. Meanwhile, he would have to be sure to keep an eye on the young sorceress Kate. She seemed quite powerful herself, and Wyndalf wanted to be sure that her allegiance was with those who believed in order. Namely, him. Kate was alone in her room at the time, and so she decided to try using her powers in her wolf form. Nothing fancy, mind, just a simple experiment. She would simply change to a wolf and move the cabinet a few feet. That was easy enough. Making sure that her door was secured, Kate shifted forms. Concentrating, she began going through the motions to use her power. At first, it did not work. Confused at this sudden loss of sorcerous power, Kate looked about for any sign of Modok interfering. There was no sign of another sorcerer, and so Kate had to assume that she just needed to try harder. Concentrating with all of her might, Kate once more attempted to move the cabinet. Again, she was thwarted. Shifting back into human form, she attempted to move the cabinet, thinking that perhaps her powers were being blocked. The cabinet moved obediently. Satisfied that she now had the problem figured out, Kate began to move the cabinet again, and as she used her power, attempted to shift forms. The result was a massive surge in power that caused the cabinet not only to move, but to change into a very confused hamster. Kate's former cabinet skittered across the room, hiding in her closet. Staring after it with a puzzled expression, Kate suddenly realized that she seemed to instinctively know precisely why her cabinet had been changed. She also seemed to know how to turn it back, how to make it a familiar, and how to make it fly. Far above the petty tricks and spells that Modok had taught her thus far, Kate felt that she could operate as her teacher's equal, if not his superior. Her form was now more human than wolf as David's was. Glowing with power, Kate felt that she could safely confront Overseer and destroy him with little effort. Not yet, however. Though she was powerful, Kate did not doubt that Overseer had a plan in place all ready to counter the threat. She would need help if she was going to accomplish her task. This sorcerer's guild would be the perfect distraction to occupy Overseer's attention while she tracked him down. Down the hallway, Wyndalf felt another surge of power and experience, though it was not the same as the first. The power seemed to be coming from the end of the hall, where the young sorceress was staying. The thought that perhaps she and the first surge were related was the first thing that sprang to the sorcerer's mind, and he sprinted down the hallway, ready to discover the source of this power. Kate suddenly realized that the sheer amount of power she had just unleashed had most likely been felt by just about every sorcerer in the area. Shifting back to her human form, Kate adopted an expression of innocence as Wyndalf knocked loudly on her door. "Who is it?" Kate inquired sweetly. "It's Wyndalf. Is everything all right in there?" Wyndalf was confused. The presence seemed to have suddenly vanished. Try as he might, the sorcerer couldn't pick up any trace that the presence had ever even existed. It was a disconcerting thought to Wyndalf, leading him to believe that he was either going crazy, or there was a powerful new force making itself known. Kate had to fight to not laugh. "Oh no, everything is just fine. I was about to take a nap, actually. Why, is something the matter?" She inquired with false concern. Her cabinet began to chew on one of her dresses in the closet. Kate chucked a shoe at it. The shoe glanced off the hamster's head, stunning it for the moment. For some reason, Kate found this humorous and started giggling quietly. The girl seemed to be hiding something, but Wyndalf had to take her word for it at the moment. After all, she'd been hiding something since she had been taken in, so it was no longer a big shock to him. He was a patient man, and he was sure that he'd discover what Kate was hiding soon enough. ************* Overseer sat deep in his inner sanctum. The boy was powerful, and appeared to have the same version of the virus as his project had. This troubled him, as now he couldn't be sure just how many others could have been infected with his creation. If there was one thing Overseer hated, it was competition. This particular little development promised to create much competition. That, and once the sorcerer's guild found out about the virus (as they no doubt would), the pressure on him would increase.There was no other solution, Overseer decided, but to somehow destroy the guild so that he could continue his work in peace, regroup and deal with this new threat. The only problem was that the sorcerer's guild was far too powerful for Overseer to take on alone. He was not so stupid as to think that his piddly little organization could take on a force like the guild. It was far too well organized, and commanded by the most powerful sorcerers on earth. This made it hard to oppose the will of the guild, including their foolish restrictions on majikal usage. If he could manage to create a federation of those opposed to the guild.... That was impossible, he told himself again. Too many rivalries. Unless... a common ground could be found. Or more accurately, a common threat. Something that would trouble any sorcerer. Most importantly, something that could be pinned on the guild as some sort of plot or trick. A conspiracy, even. That would bring the rouges together, wouldn't it? Overseer was now quite deep in thought. He had an idea. It only remained to spread the information he had (and any information he didn't have could easily be falsified) and wait for an alliance to be forged. Then he could sit back and watch as the sorcerer's guild was destroyed for him. An excellent plan. Overseer swept from his inner sanctum. There was work to be done. He'd start with the easiest task, and then perhaps take a break to run his organization a bit more before continuing. After all, being a crime lord as well as a megalomaniacal sorcerer produced quite the busy schedule. Perhaps he'd just take a vacation one of these days. He hadn't been on one in over 100 years, and it seemed to Overseer that he was getting a bit burned out. A vacation then, once his plans were in motion. The Organization could run itself for a while. ************* |
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