By Moonlight (P.P + M.J)

18. Get Bucked

*Werewolf pov*

Jack was stuck in his wolf form that night, and he was recovering from his day of students wandering the lab. It had been a pleasant surprise seeing Michelle again. He had remembered her name the second he saw her. While he wasn't attracted to her romantically, he did find her extremely interesting. She constantly played hard to get, even when no one was chasing her.

Well, he didn't know that. There was that one kid who kept glaring at him after he talked to her. Was that her boyfriend or something? Jack swore he never saw someone look so irritated before.

Jack stayed in his room at Oscorp, where he usually holed himself up during a full moon. Full moons made him go feral and he would lose himself, his eyes taking on a reddened glow that made him look like a demon wolf. But he hadn't started to succumb yet, so he figured he had about a few minutes before he lost it completely, when the moon was at its zenith.

"Russell! Come here!" Jack heard Dr.Connors call. The scientist had been working late again, busy building some huge contraption Jack wasn't allowed to see, but apparently it was sent from Norman Osborne, the founder of Oscorp Incorporated.

Jack did as he was told and opened the door, unable to change back into a human due to the full moon. Once the sun set on the night of a full moon, Jack was stuck in his wolf form until sunrise. He stomped into the lab and saw a new chair in the glass incubator, a big bulky thing with arm locks and dark-colored metal parts coming off it with a huge machine on the back. It looked like something that was built to hold something down. 

Dr.Connors was using a screwdriver to lengthen the seat, and when he noticed Jack's approach, he stood up quickly. He smiled proudly at his work, since it had taken him hours to assemble.

"What do you think?" Dr.Connors asked, patting the chair as Jack entered the huge incubator.

"What is IKEA making nowadays?" Jack joked, making himself laugh as he inspected the chair and its many parts, "what does it do?"

"I'm not sure," Connors relied, looking at it and scratching his chin, "but I want you to try it while I give it a whirl."

"You want me on this thing when you activate it?" Jack demanded, flattening his ears, not liking the idea at all.

"I just want to know what it does," the scientist pointed out, "even if it goes wrong, you won't get hurt, right?"

"But you couldn't have picked a worse time," Jack countered, crossing his arms and thrashing his tail, "I'm going feral tonight."

"And I know this, but it won't take more than a few minutes," Connors said, gesturing to the chair, "just have a seat."

Jack didn't feel entirely comfortable with the idea. But he knew Connors would never put him in any direct danger, or himself for that matter. With a sigh, Jack grudgingly sat down, laying back against the chair, which was a little snug for him. Connors ran out of the incubator and the door slid closed. Jack instantly felt nervous as the chair started to whir, the machine working up to power. The locks came down and pinned his arms to the rests. A headset then appeared above him, and it fastened itself to each side of his face. Jack's heart rate escalated, and a voice inside him was telling him that something very wrong.

Then, the machine stilled, and the speaker inside the incubator came to life as Dr.Connors began to speak.

"I know you must be confused, so allow me to clear things up. Mr.Osborne thinks you're being far too noble with your actions, especially when it comes to befriending superheroes."

"What the hell, Connors," Jack swore, his blood beginning to boil as he felt his mind begin to slip into an animalistic state, his muscles beginning to twitch and his tail thrashing.

"You see, while he thinks that you're a powerful asset, you're also a liability. With that, he wishes to make you more... focused on the problem."

"Connors!" Jack roared, his arms beginning to shake with rage as his vision went red, and he felt the chair begin to whir again.

"No more dancing the line, Mr.Russell," Dr.Connors said over the speaker, "you're no hero, and it's time you remembered that."

Suddenly, electricity shot from the headset, pulsating into Jack's brain. Jack bellowed in pain, every muscle tensing madly as electricity coursed through his body. Combined with his full moon fury, Jack was completely losing his mind. He watched with open eyes as his vision went from red to white, his cries unable to stop the vacuum that was sucking his very thoughts away.

The torture seemed to go on forever, until the machine stopped. Everything was blank, and Jack was left as a seething mass, his rage evaporating. He was now still and compliant. The arm locks were released and the incubator door was opened. Dr.Connors came in as Jack stood up, his movements slow and deliberate. The scientist was carrying something in his hand, and when he ordered Jack to lower his head, the lycan did so with numb eyes, eyes that were still glowing red. But they carried no fire, no anger.

Dr.Connors fastened something around Jack's head, almost like a sheet of black sandpaper in between his ears with wires in it, metal receptors pressing firmly against his temple.

As Connors strapped it into place, everything began to come back. What was happening? Connors had betrayed him! He had attempted to brainwash him!

Jolt!

Everything went blank again, and the lycan was once again empty in the head. Connors laughed in amusement, stepping back to admire his good work. A wave of electricity had been plunged into Jack's brain, wiping his mind once again. As Jack stood there, tail waving and face placid, he listened obediently as Dr.Connors began to speak.

"That little machine is neat, isn't it? It's been used many times before for the same reason. Your memory will begin to heal after a few minutes or so, due to your fantastic regeneration, but that headgear will hit you before you can realize it. It's very convenient that you're feral tonight. Much easier to wipe a mind that's already lost," the scientist explained, and Jack pricked his ears forward as he stared ahead, "but in better news, I've finally done it, Mr. Russell. I've made a serum to accomplish my goal. But, there's been a hiccup."

I kind of like that name. Werewolf.

Jolt!

Just as his shattered mind was pulling itself together, Jack was wiped again, his entire body tensing from the energy coursing through him. Dr.Connors turned to him, giving him a hard, determined look.

"The chairman came by today and shut me down. You might remember Mr.Ratha. Then again, maybe not," the scientist explained, quietly chuckling to himself.

"Anyway, he took my prototype serum and is on his way to a veterans hospital to disperse it. I need you to make sure he never gets there. If you must kill him, do so, just get him out of the way and get the serum while you're at it," Dr.Connors ordered the blank-faced lycan, "are you ready to obey that?"

Jack didn't reply immediately, but when he did, his voice came out dull and monotone, the voice of a soulless being without a conscience.

"Ready to comply."

Get Bucked? Get it? Bucky? Brainwashed? Anyway, this broke my heart to write, because it made me think of how Bucky was forced to do things. But hoorah, here's 18! Leave a vote if you like and comment on how you think the story's going! It's far from over! Stay tuned! :)

Quick Add: I tend to accidentally publish chapters. So if you see something but it's not there, that was a mistake by me. The more you know, right?

~Fargone5