Chapter 1: Memories Revealed and Rage Recovered

How long? How long had he been a slave to Millennium? How long had his freedom been only a memory?

Ever since his childhood. He remembered that now. He had been a prisoner in his own body for so long, he thought that he had forgotten what it was like to be free, to make choices.

He though that had been lost to him. But ever since that one live wire had dropped from the ceiling and hit the back of his neck, right where his FREAK chip was located, nothing had been the same.

It had begun subtly, with emotions and instincts he though long since dead and gone. The instinct of hunger, the urge to hunt. He also felt a rather hormonal reaction when he saw girls, and the raw burning guilt that had begun to grow in his heart of hearts. All this and an urge to strangle the Major and the Doc whenever he saw them tipped him off to the knowledge that something was rotten in Denmark.

Then came the memories. Memories he didn't even remember having. Himself and his family around the Menorah and spinning the draedel at Hanukah time, laughing and surrounded by love. Playing with his friends on their street in Berlin, he and his big sister fighting over whose turn it was to wash the dishes, all these were coming back to him, and the raw emotions that came with them. The emotions were heavy, strong like freshly cooked beef. They hit him like a tsunami every time he thought of them.

But then the one memory had hit, the one that had broken him inside and filled his heart with a burning hate so unique it was almost beautiful.

That cursed, unspeakably unhappy day that the Nazi's had taken him and his family to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

It was raining. Ten year old Hans looked up at his mother, Lissel Gunsche, who tried to look brave for her son whom she kept close to her, but she could tell by the look in his scarlet eyes that it was a poor imitation of courage. They were walking down a long narrow path surrounded by barbed wire and soldiers with guns on all sides. Lissel's husband was gone along with her daughter Maria. They had been take to another concentration camp.

Again Lissel cursed herself. She should have left with her family for Britan, or America earlier, right at the moment she had heard that the Nazi Party and the monster Adolf Hitler were gaining popularity. She should have seen the way the winds were blowing, but she had chosen to ignore it and hope for the best.

Now her family would pay the price.

She felt Hans stiffen against her as two soldiers came up to them. "You! Woman! Come with me! The little rat goes with Klaus."

Hans screamed as he was wrenched from his mothers' grasp, struggling against the soldier who held him. "Mama!" he wailed in anguish. "Mama help me! Don't let them take me!" he had screamed in Yiddish. Lissel had struggled against her own captor, her fingers struggling to reach out, to touch her son and pull him close.

Hans strained against Klaus, his rage growing. The white haired boy felt blood roaring in his ears, and felt something ancient, deep burning in him. An urge, a power as old as the Earth blazing in his heart. This was ancient, dark, wild.

He began to move forward, his muscles straining as he pulled against Klaus, pulling him along ever so slowly. "Otto! Willhelm! Schnell! SCHNELL!" the soldier had roared at two of his comrades by the barbed wire barrier.. They rushed over and attempted to pull Hans away from the direction his mother was being taken. But Hans only pulled harder and continued to inch forward, if anything speeding up. More soldiers ran to aid in the capture of the boy, but they proved inefficient, only succeeding in bringing the child to a standstill.

"Hans!" cried his mother in anguish as she was dragged into a building. The heavy metal door closed with the finality of an executioner's ax, or the falling of the guillotine.

Something broke inside of Hans. The primal fury blasted through him with the fury of an untamed river. With a roar of "NEEEEIIIIIN!" he felt himself explode out of his own body throwing the Nazi soldiers off and onto the ground, his skin ripping and tearing at the seams. With fur covered his body, his head turning into that of a wolf's. Muscles bulged and writhed beneath his skin like snakes.

Words could not describe the pain of that first transformation. It felt like every bone in his body had been crushed to powder and rebuilt a thousand times over. He felt his organs shifting in their places, better suiting his new predator body. He opened his eyes, his blood red eyes. He turned to the soldiers before him, staring in terror at the beast before them.

"Werewolf." one breathed out , terror filling his heart.

Hans growled at them, his mind now twisted into something dark, primal, evil. Feelings? They were gone. Predators needed no such things. The only thing that burned inside of him now was the hunger. The hunger for the flesh of man.

With a savage roar Hans fell upon the soldiers. He tore them to pieces in a matter of seconds. Blood flew everywhere and gore smeared the ground as he devoured the men. More soldiers started shooting at him, screaming wordless cries of terror, but the bullets only affected him like bee stings, infuriating him even more. Some just broke and ran. Any who attacked died, becoming food for the insatiable werewolf. He moved like a shadow, forming into a cloud of mist and reforming to kill the soldiers.

When he was done and his belly filled, he felt some of the human return to the beast. He turned around, and saw the others who had been taken to the camp with him. They were huddled in a great mass muttering prayers and shielding their children's eyes from the slaughter. "Velvel" he heard one of them say, the Yiddish word for wolf.

Without a word Hans walked over to the barbed wire that separated them from the outside. With a primal howl he tore open the fence as though it were made of wet paper. He silently stepped away from the hole. The captives got the message. They ran forward towards the hole, some grabbing machine guns from what was left of the soldiers. In a massive stampede they raced out of the camp. Hans turned from them to the building where they had taken his mother. Even beasts respected and loved their mothers.

Hans felt something pierce his back, sending a jolt through his skin. Numbness began to spread from there like a virus across his back. The werewolf reached around and grabbed the object that had hit him and tore it out of his skin. It was a tranquilizer dart with a silver needle. Hans began to feel loopy and very tired as another hit him, this time in the back of the neck. Stumbling he turned to see two men standing behind him.

One was a tall man with dark tan skin and long blonde hair braided down his back. His yellow eyes were staring down the barrel of a rifle trained right at Hans. His SS Uniform was soaked by the downpour, but he wore a smirk on his face that let Hans know that no luck was involved in his shots.

"Excellent shot Herr Valentine. Your sons should be proud." said the man next to him. He was a short fat man wearing all white. His fair blonde hair was matted by the rain, and his steel rimmed glasses were flecked with water droplets.

"Thank you Major," smiled Valentine. Hans made a clumsy rush at the pair but received another dart in his chest. Hans fell to the ground, his vision blurry. He heard one thing as the darkness claimed him.

"I always wanted a pet dog." said the Major.

Hans stared into the mirror in his bathroom connected to his personal quarters in the Millennium Zeppelin, sweat covering his body, trembling in fury. Millennium had turned him into a monster, a slave. He sared down at the object in his hands, the FREAK Chip which had enslaved him for so long. In his rage following the return of the memory he had torn it out with his bare hands. Or claws more specifically. He clenched his fist, crushing the thing into powder. Millennium had taken everything from him, his childhood by using an experimental serum to speed up his growth, his freedom by implanting that damn chip, but worst of all, his family.

Hans, now fully grown thanks to the serum, stood in the arena wearing nothing but his pants in human form standing, waiting for the Major's orders. Inside he roared for rebellion, to fight back, to slaughter this bastard, but the FREAK chip reppresed that side of him, leaving only the animal. Above him, behind a glass window the major sat with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, the Doc on one side of him and Captain Roderick Valentine, father of Luke and Jan Valentine, on the other.

Roderick was the strongest warrior in the Major's army, hence the title of Captain. Today would prove to be the werewolf's final test. Trouble was, the Major had not disclosed what the test would be.

"A marvelous specimen no?" asked the Major. "incredibly strong and powerful. You have seen what our doggy can do. It is no wonder that his kind are one of the few creatures that vampires fear."

"He is indeed a powerful creature Herr Major." said Valentine. "I would not want to get on his bad side."

"A pity you tell me this now." smirked the Major. "For you shall be fighting the beast."

"W- what?!" cried Valentine in shock. "Me? I am his final test?! But why?!"

"Because Herr Vaentine," said the Major nibbling his biscuit, "there is room for only one Captain here at Millennium, and it seems that young Gunsche here may have surrpassed you as our most powerful operative." He reclined in his seat. "And I cannot have strife in my army. The only option is too decide who is stronger."

Valentine was speechless. He had served Millennium loyaly for years, he had even given his sons over to it, and now the Major had practically sighned his death warrant.

"If that is your will Major." ground out Valentine. With that he descended into the arena.

Valentine rushed Hans at full speed. Hans dissolved into mist, reforming behind the vampire. Roderick anticipated this move though, and twisted around slashing with his long silver dagger, creating a gash in the white furred werewolf's chest. The silver burned in his skin causing the wound to bubble. With a roar of fury Hans dashed around Valentine faster than the unfortunate Vampire could track. He grabbed hold of his right arm and with a mighty tug, Hans tore Valentine's arm clean off.

Valentine screamed in pain and stumbled away as best he could. Hans charged him though, shifting into his full wolf mode. With a snarl, the rhinocerous sized wolf lunged at Valentine, tackling him to the ground. He set one massive paw on Valentine's head as the man sobbed and begged for his life. Deep within Hans, his true self screamed at him to let the man up, to save him despite the evil he had done.

The chip's programmed personality won over, and he crushed Valentine's head under paw. The wolf jumped off as the body burst into blue flame, dissolving into ashes.

"Well done Herr Gunsche." said the Major over the intercom. "You must do one more thing to secure your place as Captain." A door opened behind him and Hans shifted into human form and turned toward it.

"H-Hans?" asked Lissel Gunsche as she was escorted by two Millennium soldiers. "Hans! My baby! Mein Gott! What have these bastards done to you!?"

"Kill her." said the Major.

"Hans, it's me, your mother. Don't you remember?" asked Lissel as the giant of a German approached her. But no, Hans couldn't. The Doc had now fully activated the FREAK chip. Hans Gunsche was dead, only The Captain remained.

Hans wrapped his hands around his mother's neck and began to squeeze.

Hans roared in fury and smashed the sink.

He had killed his own mother, he had strangled the life out of her like he would wring the neck of a chicken. He felt hot tears spring to his eyes. Tears of shame, tears of hate, he knew not the difference. And in that moment, that moment of pure misery, ne knew what he had to do. What he knew was his responsibility, his duty, his redemption.

He was going to tear Millennium apart from the inside out.