Chapter 2: Wolf Instincts
As she headed further into the heart of the city, Danielle couldn't help but continuously look over her shoulder, checking to be sure that she wasn't being followed. Though she was sure that the call had been sent out to retreat, that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down. That's how she ended up in this mess to begin with.
Her attention was drawn back to the repeated flashes of light that were beginning to get on her nerves as she got closer to them. With a shake of her head, she quickly landed on a nearby roof. Bringing the palms of her hands to her sockets, Danielle began to rub away the remaining disorientation, grumbling under her breath.
"Stupid enhanced site," she said, slowly opening her eyes. "I can already see in the dark like it's the middle of the day. Now it's just overkill." Satisfied that she could see properly, Danielle turned her attention to the road below where she could hear the sounds of a motorcycle screeching on the concrete. Looking over the edge of the building, Danielle felt her breath stop.
A very bulky man with dark skin and hair rode on a motorcycle, zigzagging hazardously past anyone still on the street. Wearing a sleeveless cut off black shirt allowed for his spiral tattoos to be seen before ending where his biker gloves started. An obnoxious laugh resounded from his mouth as he narrowly avoided hitting a couple on the sidewalk.
"Out of the way if you know what's good for ya!" he called out. "Johnny Rancid is king of the road, and ain't no one gonna stop me!"
Danielle grimaced. This guy was a regular blow heart, and personally, she couldn't stand them. There also seemed to be a direct connection between jerky bikers named Johnny. The irony. But it wasn't her problem to deal with. Sure, she'd love to go and make him put a sock in that oversized mouth of his and deflate his ego enough to bring it back into orbit, but she was in no real hurry to expose herself. Nor was she trying to do anything that could attract the attention of a certain wolf. No, she was definitely going to sit this one out. Just as she was about to leave and look for a safe place to sleep for the night, something caught her eye, causing her to gasp.
Johnny Rancid continued to speed down the street, cackling the entire time, never once noticing the green wolf sitting in a nearby alley. Without warning, the wolf pounced, knocking Johnny off his bike, causing it to swerve and lose control before it flipped over, sliding to a stop. The wolf bore down on the stunned biker, teeth gleaming as he let out a low growl, inching his fangs closer to Johnny as he continued to press his paws into his chest. Johnny's blurred vision began to clear, though he wasn't particularly happy with what he saw. Lifting his arms, he began to struggle with the creature as he tried to pry him off without getting hurt anymore then he already was.
Danielle slowly inched away from ledge as her pulse raced and her ectoplasm ran cold in her veins. She didn't know what to do or think of what she had seen. Never, in her entire existence, had she seen a green werewolf. Though, of course, that didn't mean that they didn't exist. For all she knew, he was special like her and had abilities of his own. That wolf could have been sent here to find her too. If that were the case, then she needed to get as far away from here as possible.
Danielle placed a hand on her forehead, trying to calm herself down. Freaking out was not what she needed to do right now because freaking out only lead to stupid mistakes, and stupid mistakes are what got you killed.
"Ok. I doubt that he's with the others," she whispered to herself hysterically. "If he were looking for me, he wouldn't have just attacked that guy, right? I mean, why have him do it? It's not like I'm feeling compelled to go down there and save him, exposing myself and putting me right where they want, right!? RIGHT!?"
By this point, the young girl was ready to pull out her pure white hair. This was not good. Normally, she could tell what they were planning or what they were thinking, and it was unknown variables like this that put her on edge. However, there were very few things that put her on edge this badly: Plasmius finding her, getting punished by her cousin, doing something bad and NOT getting punished for it by her cousin, and fighting while vastly outnumbered which happened often in wolf packs. Especially when they had an overly confident Alpha.
That thought made Danielle's other ones halt in their tracks. Could it be possible that he was an Alpha, and was trying to bite the loud mouth biker to change him? The thought was plausible. With his natural build, Johnny could be a very strong wolf once he was changed…that is, if he didn't die from the bite itself. But the way he was struggling, it didn't seem like the wolf was going to overpower him anytime soon, and she knew for a fact that any wolf in a pack, even the lowest ranking members, could overpower any normal human. And if Johnny Rancid had any type of super powers, she'd lick the tires on his bike.
Another thought that bugged her was if that guy was an Alpha, why would he be attacking him in the middle of the street like that? If there was one thing Danielle knew, it was that when it came to wolves, things like that were not normal. The biting ritual was something generally done either in the privacy of your own pack or somewhere secluded, away from the public eye so as not raise suspicion. So if he was an Alpha, he'd have to be the stupidest one she'd ever seen, especially because it would then cause more wolves to come here to track him down and confront him, meaning he'd be in for a lot of fights.
Thinking back on it, his eyes weren't red, the tell tale sign of an Alpha wolf. No, his eyes were green, making him an Omega. An Omega with a dark past, which didn't make Danielle feel any better about him, especially since it was only a matter of time before he caught her scent and came after her. He could try to recruit her into his pack, but the only plausible way for that to happen is if she wagered herself in a battle against him and he won, securing himself as an Alpha as Alpha's were the only ones with the ability that could change people into their kind. And she'd be damned if she let that happen. He could also try to kill her, but she was already half-dead, giving her an advantage.
She could use her ghost powers, take him by surprise and defeat him. But did she really want to take that risk? Danielle bit her lip as her fingers tapped against the tiles of the roof. Was she really willing to risk that at this moment? She knew for a fact that she couldn't control her wolf form completely. Not yet, anyway. Her inner wolf seemed to be stronger than others because of her halfa status. It was no secret that animals, wolves especially, were more in tune with spirits, and her inner wolf seemed to feed on that part of her, making it virtually impossible for her to control her fully transformed body or for her to remember anything that happened during the time. Of course, the visible damage that she often found was more than enough without the random flashbacks she would have from various nights, but she was thankful she hadn't mortally wounded anyone. Or worse. And with the full moon approaching, she knew she'd be extremely more dangerous and powerful.
No, she couldn't fully change….
But she could partially.
She knew she wouldn't be as strong as a fully shifted wolf, nor could she use more than one of her ghost powers at a time. But by only changing partly, she'd be able keep her inner wolf at bay, at least for enough to use part of her wolfy abilities. So long as she could keep a grasp on her humanity, even without all her ghost powers, she could hold her own for at least a little while. With a nod of her head, she quickly jumped to her feet as her eyes slowly began to shift for to their deep purple color.
Taking a deep breath, Danielle began to let her muscles relax as she tapped into her inner self, loosening the tight lease that she kept the wolf on. The creature growled at her before letting out a bark and snapping her jaws at her.
Easy, girl, Danielle thought to herself as she felt the power begin to surge inside of her. I'm not any happier to see you then you are me. Let's just get this over with as soon as possible.
A low rumble began to build in the bottom of her chest, her anger fueling the change. Falling onto all fours, Danielle could feel as her not so perfectly kept nails grew longer under her gloves, pointing like sharp knives. Her long white hair became wild and more obscure on her head as it extended on the sides of her face, creating sideburns as well as a widow's peak on her forehead. Surprisingly, her ponytail seemed to stay together, something she was always glad for, unlike when she fully transformed and often found her long mane spread out around her the next morning. Her face began to contort, raising her nose higher to allow scents easier access. The final step was when she began to feel her canines grow, elongating and sharpening.
As her partial transformation finished, Danielle gave into a small primal urge she had, and gave a mighty roar, worthy of even the mightiest wolf. As her battle cry came to a close, she pushed forward, swiftly hopping onto the ledge before jumping off the building, preparing to take her fellow shape shifter by surprise.
Garfield Logan, known to many as Beast Boy, had not been having a good day at all. It started off with him not getting much sleep. For some reason for the last few days, he couldn't shake the feeling that something big was coming, and his animal instincts had been going haywire. The others often told him he was crazy or over thinking (or, in Raven's opinion, having some type of delusion from too much television), and that he just needed to relax. But as he walked around the Tower like a zombie for a good majority of the day, it became clear that he was not going to be doing that any time soon.
After being rudely awakened by Cyborg's built in air horn, he became even more bummed out to find that he had run out of tofu eggs for breakfast. The day only got worse as he not only got his butt handed to him during combat practice (courtesy of Robin), he got beaten in video games by Starfire. Starfire! The alien princess who couldn't understand half the things on Earth, had handed him his butt over and over again in what seemed like an endless stream of near flawless victories.
Just when Beast Boy didn't think it could get any worse, the alarm blared, indicating some sort of danger. Turns out that danger was a combination of three of their enemies, trying to get the jump on the Titans. Whose idea it was to have Johnny Rancid, Dr. Light and Adonis join forces was beyond him, but he knew for sure that it was just a headache waiting to happen.
Boy, was he right.
The Titans had intercepted the three villains just as they finished robbing a bank and were making their way out. Apparently, they were fully prepared for them because with a little light show from Dr. Light, the three split up. This left the Titans with only one option: Divide and Conquer. Starfire and Cyborg, being the heavy hitters on the team, headed after Adonis and his mechanical suit. Their combined strength would hopefully be enough to apprehend him. Next were Raven and Robin who decided to go after Dr. Light. Based on her previous encounters with the man, it was obvious that Raven was their best defense against him. With Robin serving as a distraction, it wouldn't take long to bring him down. However, with the majority of the group going after those two, that left the overly enthusiastic biker to the green changeling.
And so, after chasing him for who knows how long at this point, Beast Boy was not only tired, but he was beyond angry. His day had been an unbelievably bad one, and now, as Johnny continued to endanger people and shoot at him, the only thing he wanted was to bring him down. That was a sure fire way to bring his spirits up, even if only by a little. But seeing Johnny getting carted away in the back of a police truck would definitely be worth it.
As Beast Boy started to catch up with him, his cat like ears suddenly perked up at the sound of a howl. Beast Boy began to slow in his tracks as he looked toward the direction of Titans Tower. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that there was a wolf nearby. He could definitely smell the faint aroma of a wolf's musk in the air. In fact, there seemed to be more than one, which only confused him more. He knew for a fact that wolves were common in the valley just outside the city limits, but since the day he first arrived in Jump City, he never once caught their scent in the city. He was actually surprised that he could smell them, considering all the different and pungent odors that wafted through the city. If they were in the city, that could mean trouble.
With a shake of his head, the green cheetah picked up the pace as he began to focus on his target once more. He'd have to worry about that later once this mission was over.
Johnny was within his sites, but he knew he'd have to get the jump on him, take him by surprise.
"You're never gonna stop Johnny Rancid, ya stupid kid!" the biker cheered, annoying Beast Boy. Just as he was about to run directly up to him, he spotted a nearby alley way. With Johnny's attention focused on the road, Beast Boy quickly dashed down the wet, dark path, following it to another entrance, just ahead of where Johnny was about to pass by. With a quick shift, Beast Boy stood back on his back paws, waiting for the right moment, which didn't take long. With a single powerful lunge, the green wolf knocked the man off the bike, pushing his back into the ground in an attempt to hold him in place.
Beast Boy gazed at the dazed biker for a moment, and the sight was enough to get his blood boiling. He had been having the worst day to date, and this guy wasn't making it any easier. Beast Boy wanted him to feel fear, to feel the danger he was pushing down onto him. He wanted to intimidate Johnny which is probably why he didn't change into something stronger as his foe began to struggle against his hold. Sure, he knew it was stupid of him to do considering one slip up would allow Johnny to get away, but what were the chances of that happening?
Apparently it really wasn't his day.
A loud roar caused both males to halt in their actions. Neither knew where the noise had come from as it startled both, though they didn't have to wait for long. Both looked up as a silhouetted figure flew across the sky and landed with an almost graceful demeanor a few feet away from them. Beast Boy could feel the hairs of his fur stand as he gazed at the figure who raised up to stand on two legs, though their front appendages where held out at the sides like claws. As his eyes ran over the figure, he was able to determine that it was a girl, a young one who was probably no older then he was, maybe even a little younger. However, there was something about her that just made him cautious of her.
It could have been anything about her. The way she stood showed she was confident and level headed. The way she growled at him showed that she held no fear, though he didn't have a clue what it was that she was supposed to fear. Her power radiated off of her through her fangs, claws and her eyes. But none of those were what made Beast Boy so on edge as he locked eyes with her. It was her scent. Her scent, though unique like everyone else, held something both animalistic and unnatural.
Beast Boy tried to separate the two to pinpoint what it was that he was looking at, to try to understand what the girl was. One scent was clear; the scent of any animal. It was the scent of a wolf. Whether or not it was the same scent he had smelled earlier in the day, he was unsure, but there was no mistaking the scent of a female wolf, especially when he himself was currently the same animal, making it much easier for him to identify them. The other scent nearly stopped him completely, his stomach filling with cold dread. Beast Boy had only smelled this type of scent a few times, but it was a scent he'd never forget. It was the scent of death. And she was carrying it heavily, almost as if she had bathed in it. That thought alone was enough to spark his animalistic anger enough for him to forget Johnny, and stare down the girl.
The two animal-human hybrids growled at each other, fangs drawn in a show of dominance. Danielle could feel the she-wolf inside of her, clawing at the hold she held as if she were scratching against a door, begging to be let out, but she would not lose control, even if there were no others around to get hurt. She vaguely noticed that Johnny, now back on his feet, quickly hopped onto his bike and took off, not wanting to let a chance like this slip away. That and he'd have to be a fool to stick around. But she never took her eyes away from her opponent, a move that could very well cost her in battle.
Beast Boy could hear the sounds of an engine as it began to fade into the distance, but paid little mind to it. Of course he knew, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, that he'd have to go after Rancid again and that Robin would probably chew him out for this, but he was going to get to the bottom of this and find out just what this girl was and what was going on. He continued to watch her as she once again took a stance on all fours, her eyes still glowing their eerie purple that shook him to his core.
On instinct, the two began to circle each, almost as if they were dancing. Their pace was slow as each sized the other up, looking for any weak points that could be used. Danielle could feel the urge to charge him and sink her teeth deep into his flesh beginning to grow stronger, but before she gave in and attacked, she needed to know just what the hell he was or even who.
"Just what kind of game are you playing!?" she growled, her voice having a slightly deep edge to it as her inner animal flowed through her. Beast Boy barked back at her, though it surprised even him as he almost never met anyone who could speak to animals with the exception of Aqualad.
I could ask you the same thing, he replied. I don't know what you're up to, but I know you reek of the stench of death, and enough for me to know whatever it is, it can't be good.
"Did the others send you to come after me? Or are you some kind of Omega, looking to start his own pack?"
So there is more than one. I should have known considering your stink. If it had been you I smelled earlier, I doubt I would have forgotten this rank smell.
Danielle's anger began to flare at his comment which she knew wasn't good. The angrier she got, the more control she lost. Meaning that she needed to attack sooner rather than later.
As she came to a stop, Beast Boy followed suit, the two locking eyes once more. The street was completely silent, void of any life form save for the two. A small gust of wind picked up, but only briefly as it blew a few loose strands of her white hair away from her face. The adrenaline pulsing in their veins permeated the air, creating a perfect environment for a fight. Both were silent, wondering who was going to make the first move, though they didn't have to wait long.
With a slight shift of her shoe, Danielle sprinted forward. Beast Boy soon followed her lead and charged head on. But as soon as the battle seemed to have started, it ended, for his opponent disappeared, vanishing into thin air. Beast Boy came to an instant halt, looking around him for any sign of the girl, but finding none. Pointing his nose to the air, the green animal began to sniff the air for any trace of her. The boy suddenly felt as if his shoulder was on fire as a sharp pain sprang forth, causing him to howl. Turning his head as best he could, the boy's eyes grew wide as he watched the girl reappear and discovered the pain he felt. For on his shoulder was his opponent.
He could only gaze deep into her eyes as her sharp fangs dug a deep groove into his muscle.