Wolf pack

Do I look like a Hero Now?

The three phase wolves slipped out of the hotel and started off into the city night.
Anu took the lead, following his nose more than anything. Sharp eyes picked out the shadowy figures that rushed quickly from place to place. Anyone who was wise traveled quickly.
Those who were out to cause trouble slunk around. Humans are fascinating.
Lokan pointed off towards a restaurant. "Do you think they sell cheesy potatoes there?"
Jynx couldn't help but grin to that.
Anu groaned slightly, looking off to the alleyways. Admittedly, he was looking for trouble. He supposed trouble could be found anywhere.

Holding just a little behind, they walked over and opened the doors to the 24-hour restaurant.
Fitting with the outdoors, the lights were dim but lit the tables enough no one would be uncomfortable. A cashier stood there looking tired as they were glancing down the long end of a night shift.
Lokan seemed entirely oblivious to this and ran up enthusiastically to the tired worker.
Immediately after going up to order he turned back to Anu with a confused expression. "I've never ordered at a restaurant before."
He just rolled his eyes and turned to Jynx. In an instant he felt a card appear in his hands. It was strange that he was able to press his fingers together and still feel it was there. The illusions would be hard to get used to.
"One table please." Anu looked at the cashier.
They gave him a look Anu was all too familiar with. 'Punk.' This time, however he was not alone. 'Punks.' Phase Wolves would always be different, no matter the crowd they chose to mingle in.
They were led to a table and Lokan quickly sat in the booth. He looked excitedly at the menu, then awkwardly put it down as he had to admit he did not know how to read either. Survival in the wild and survival in civilization proved to be very different.
Jynx flipped through the menu, having images from the menu appear on the table for Lokan to look through. Surprisingly, they did have cheesy potatoes, and Lokan ordered eagerly.
Anu was bored looking through the menu. He would rather be outside, wandering the streets. He even considered leaving the two to go out on their own when a smell he could not help but recognize reached his sharp nose.
Was that?
No.
It was not the smell of something, but someone. Someone from long ago.. from a memory he would rather forget.

Cuffs, clamps, magnets holding his hands there behind his back. Tight restraints. No getting out. He hated being restrained.
A pinch as the needle went into his arms, filling with chemicals and solutions.
A second needle on his other arm pumped out the blood that was his own.
Brown eyes looked into his unnatural green. "Hold still. It will hurt, but if this works, you'll be a hero."
The boy growled, glaring into the eyes of the scientist. Fast healing made him far too valuable for experiments. Superhuman, it seemed. Testing on him was more accurate than on mice- and he always survived.
The chemicals were felt in an instant, and his heart started pounding fast. It was as if they were attacking each of his cells, moving through his body and stirring up dangerous changes. That was exactly what it was doing.
Those eyes did not change or show any sympathy as the boy in front of him had started screaming, unable to rip himself free from that cursed chair. The clamps only tightened.
Voices sounded around him, loudly in his ears. They always thought he didn't hear. He could always hear.
"Is the equipment ready?"
"Almost. He still has about 20 minutes."
"What minute is he on now?"
"2."
It felt like an hour.
He wished the chatter could distract him from the pain. It didn't.
They were trying to find a cure for cancer, it seemed. There were many possible solutions just waiting to be tested. The only problem; no one was willing to test a solution that may not work. No cancer patient was willing to try.
The series of legal action was too complicated to find a cancer patient. So complicated the case was given to the Scientists.
Here, the ethical and legal hurdles were taken away.
One problem: they could not test a cure in a patient without the ailment.
They had a solution for that too.
Chemicals mixed with millions of cancerous cells filled the boy. If he didnt have it, they could create it if only for a moment.
Finally, 20 long minutes ended and the needles were retracted. The pain did not cease there.
Heart pumping agrily, his remaining blood started to heat. It swarmed violently, fighting back against the intruders.
"Quick!" There was that voice again.
The sound of a machine whirling behind him and keyboards rapidly typing ensued as cure prototype #249 was soon to face it's trial.
Men and women in their lab coats pressed switches, took notes rapidly and moved the loud machine forward.
Anu's eyes filled even stronger with that angry, pulsing blood. It boiled to a new heat and the chemicals inside finally backed down. Breathing heavily but feeling his blood cool, the boy looked back into the brown eyes of that man who had stood before him before.
He sighed and shook his head, writing down a few more notes on his clipboard. He waved to more lab coats behind the machine, the sounds slowing down as it powered off. "We were too slow. We need to be immediate."
Those cold eyes turned back to him. "Try again."

Anu shook the memory out, finding his blood had started to heat with the memory. He took a slow breath and it started to cool, but that smell did not leave.
That man.. that man was here.
How could it be? Anu had remembered destroying those awful people.
He cast his eyes about the restaurant, rapidly scanning for the source of the smell.
It took only an instant to find him.
As if he had never done any wrong, the brown eyed man casually ate his meal and flipped over another page of a book.
The lanyard and scrubs were all to familiar. It seemed the scientist had moved onto another profession. Ironically in his mind it seemed, the monster had become a doctor. Now repairing the wounds he used to create.
"Are you ready for your order?"
Jynx and Lokan chose from the menu, but Anu was transfixed on the man several booths down, who was now finishing up his meal.
"Sir?"
He blinked and looked to the waitress, who was looking at him carefully, perhaps judgemental of his style. He could care less.
His mind was on the man who was now standing from his booth and starting out the door.
"One moment please."
Not giving any explanation, Anu pushed past the waitress and followed the man.
Lokan and Jynx looked at each other a moment and agreed to let him be.
Jynx quietly ordered Edit to reroute under his breath. He felt a slight shift and knew his Shaddow was on his way to shadow someone else.
Lokan looked at the waiter, pointing to a random part of the page. "I'll have the cheesy potatoes."

Anu clenched his fists, silently following the scientist. He was walking to his car, which meant time would be short.
His sharp eyes looked about for every opportunity. The scientist would pass right by and alleyway on the way to his car. Perfect.
Keeping acutely aware of his surroundings, of the cars nearby and the timing Anu slipped right behind the man right as he stepped in front of the dark hallway.
Not hesitating a moment, he wrapped his arm quickly around the man, slipped a hand over his mouth and nose, and started off into the dark.
Thankfully he was smooth enough no one noticed. Yet.
The man squirmed, fighting off his arms but finding the thick muscle refused to budge.
"Scream and you'll regret it." He whispered sharply, keeping Rage at bay. "Do you understand? Nod if you understand."
Loosening only slightly, he felt a whimper and a nod.
Turning down the darkest corners and finally finding what seemed the most hidden spot, Anu shifted the man from his front and pushed him against the wall.
Back to the wall, the scientist stood right there in front of him, face to face. In a turn of events, this time Anu had him captive. This time the heavy clamps on the man's wrists were the hands once forced against a chair.
And just like then, they were forced to stare into each other's eyes.
Anu's adjusted quickly as he gazed into that face he recognized all too well.
The man blinked in his confusion, spoke some demanding words but then grew silent as his own eyes adjusted to note the faint glow of those bright, green eyes.
Brown eyes widened at the realization.
"You?"
"You." Anu's eyes only darkened.
That stare grew even worse. He had wished it was only a nightmare: for a while that was all he called it. But that nightmare was now standing there in front of him.
"Years ago, you told me I would be a hero." Anu let a light growl escape his throat.
"Do I look like a hero now?"