Lycan and Hound

10 - Full Moon

Andy and his brother had rushed over to the scene with little idea of the carnage that was actually taking place.

Around them was a firestorm of police activity, overturned cars, and shooting. Lots of shooting.

A police officer got in their face. "What are you doing here? Go home!"

"And deprive the young ones of a front-row seat? Nonsense!"

They looked toward the source of the voice. A werewolf creature with viciously sharp claws grinned with a twisted sort of glee at them. Its eyes were a terrifyingly memorable shade of red. No pupils to speak of, just pure crimson malice.

"So you're the 'lads' I've been hearing so much about..."

What had caught Andy's eye was how similar this monster looked to the kindhearted wolf-man that they had taken a picture with just a couple of days ago. The now shredded clothes looked awfully familiar, too...

"H-Hound?" He barely even registered the sound of his own voice.

"He's not here at the moment. Please leave a message after the 'beep'," The creature glanced at the failing sirens of an overturned police cruiser. "That'll do."

"I don't understand!" Mitch screamed, trying to be heard over all the noise. "What's happened to you?"

The cop in front of them kept begging the two to go home all the while, but his cries were lost in the pandemonium.

The creature heard them, though. "Go home? But the boys just got here!"

He grabbed one of the cars and threw it behind the the brothers as they instinctively ducked. The car landed on its side, blocking their way back.

They stood and trembled at the reality of what just happened. The monster turned his gaze back to Andy and Mitch.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah. That timorous moron that calls himself 'Hound' is not with us right now. I own the full moon! You may call me... Bloodhound!"

It was apt. The vague resemblance to their friend, albeit more buff and crazy, clinched it. Hound had become this under the full moon.

All the while, gunshots kept ringing out, causing the boys to flinch and cover their ears. Something flew over them in a blur.

It was Lycan!

She tackled whatever had taken control of her partner's body to the ground, only to get kneed a few times and tossed away for her trouble.

She sluggishly got up, having fell on a nearby car, and rushed back, only to get thrown aside again.

Lycan looked at the boys. There was something different about her, too. For one thing, she was bigger and more beastly in appearance than ever. Her eyes were solid red. She seemed to be struggling to stay in control of herself, and constantly emitted feral growls and ferocious noises.

She did have the presence of mind, however, to yell at them. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Her voice was absolutely animalistic. It was a miracle that she didn't lunge for their throats, as she certainly could have...

"They're my guests, as you are!" Bloodhound announced. They then fought for quite a while, a terrifying display of athleticism and ferocity was portrayed as they fought all around the immediate area and even took the fight to the rooftops a couple of times.

Horror was etched on both boys' faces as they looked at each other.

"This is a nightmare, right?" Andy mumbled to himself. "I'm just gonna wake up in my room, get a drink of water, and watch some..."

Suddenly, a familiar voice.

"Andrew! Mitchell!"

They looked over at none other than Bella and Robert Klein, otherwise known as Mom and Dad. They were behind the car blocking their exit, fenced off by some officers.

The two were two much in shock to do anything but stand there with their mouths hanging open.

While this was happening, another group rolled into the scene in an unmarked vehicle. They were not police.

Military chatter mingled with the noise already about. The two boys could only pick up pieces of the orders given.

"Shoot to kill!"

"Berserker at large, I repeat, Berserker at..."

"Minimize civilian casualties..."

A pair of arms grabbed Andy and Mitchell. It was one of the military guys.

"Come on! You need to get out of here!" He looked at the scene. He mumbled something under his breath before carefully carrying them over the car in question and handing them over to their parents.

Nothing of this was felt by either of the boys themselves, as they had already passed out.

***

Lycan growled and grumbled as the fight continued. She was losing to the beast. She could feel herself slipping away. Worse, she was in a battle with an opponent that wasn't holding back.

"Is that all you've got?" the creature that took her friend taunted her. They were busy exchanging blows as their fight had now landed back on the ground. The gunshots fired in their direction didn't bother her. It was the battle right in front of her that took up her attention.

The monster was clawing at her mind. She felt every last scratch.

A desperate idea took shape.

She felt herself tiring. That was good. There was only one thing to do.

With a mournful howl that stalled all activity in the vicinity, she headbutted the skull of her best friend. It knocked him out cold instantly. She took the unconscious body in one arm.

With her companion in tow, she ran far away from the firefight around her and the burning cityscape straight into the night, as the full moon contrasted with the red smoke billowing far below it...