Werewolf by Night?
Okay, honestly, it wasn't the brightest idea, but I did it anyway. The guardians were asleep, and I had a feeling danger was afoot. I didn't want anyone getting hurt. Especially when there's a possibility I can do something about it. From the backyard, I covered my eyes with my palms and said 'Rider up' as usual. The armor surrounded me. I leapt over the fence and into the night.
I can't smell anything inside the Bolt armor, but my hearing is tad bit better then it usually is. I've learned to tune out the sound of my bike. In the first place it always sounded more like music, ambience.
The howling continued. Periodically, once every 5 or so minutes, I would hear it. Wolves do not go around Morrison or, especially, you know, go inside it. The damn thing was excited, I thought, to howl that much. Whatever it was. I assumed it was the Order, they were due for another attack.
As I rode along the streets, trailing the howls, I was stopped by a figure in the middle of the nearly empty street. It was the hooded man. I sat there, the bike's engine running. We stared at each other for a few seconds until the man spoke up. "It's ac cloudy night," he said. "Not a good night to be out." It was a rather overcast night, a bright moon still hanging in the sky, nearly drowned by the clouds.
The man approached me speaking the whole way. "I know what you're going after," he continued. There was another howl, closer this time. He nodded, his shining eyes bobbing. "I'm afraid you might not be able to defeat this enemy so easily."
"I've never been one for an easy fight."
"Be that as it may, young Rider, this fight will still tax you to your limits." He was finally standing right in front of me. I could almost see through his hood. I was tempted to turn on the bike's lights, or readjust the lighting in my mask, but I decided against it. He may have just covered his face anyway.
"Are you offering to help?"
"No. It is not my place. These are your battles. That does not mean I cannot… guide you."
I nodded. "Do you have something… else to say?"
"Yes. You have not been fighting to your full potential, not just yet. Remember that, going into the battle. I will allow you to discover what comes next." In a flash of light, he was gone.
I rode onwards.
The howling became clearer and louder as I went on. I knew the creature was close. I had the distinct feeling that this thing might also be coming after me. There wasn't much noise otherwise in the city, besides stray sounds of other far off vehicles.
Looking up at the sky, I realized someone wasn't playing by the rules. The moon wasn't full. It was more then halfway there, but not quite full. I guessed he didn't read The Yes' and No's of Monsterhood. Cheating bastard. Finally, I started seeing something on the rooftops, jumping from one to the other. A large figure. My target.
It stopped at the roof of a rather tall building that connected to some apartments. I assumed he was waiting. He apparently liked a fight before a meal. I sent the bike back to wherever the hell it usually resides and made several leaps from one building to the next until I was finally on the some rooftop as loud Mr. Howl. And he looked just as one would expect.
Much taller then me, Bolt or not. Grey fur covering his entire body. Wolf legs and face. The body was much like an extremely muscular man with a tail to top it all off. I tried to think of something witty to say, and got to "So, have do you deal with-" before the werewolf lunged.
I quickly rolled out of the way and nearly fell of the roof. I regained my composure just in time to duck under a claw swipe and punch the creature in the stomach. To no real avail. I had just enough time to get in one more gut punch before he backhanded me nearly to the ground. I rolled again, this time to the center of the roof, to get some breathing room. This certainly wasn't going as I hoped. I heard a odd, slightly metallic sound…
The wolf bared its newfound claws. Another lunge but this time I ducked and caught the werewolf by its legs in midair. I used its own momentum to hammer toss it off the building. Of course it would land on a smaller building, but the impact hurt it.
I leapt to the wolf's new battleground, only to immediately get pounced upon. I held back the creature's claws but it then had the bad idea to threaten to chomp down on my head. I gave it an admittedly Brooklyn styled head butt and pushed it up and off of me with my legs. As we both got up, I caught a good glimpse of the wolf's claws. Something inside me stirred. A feeling in my gut that told me I was missing something.
I remembered what the hooded man said. "You have not been fighting to your full potential…"
Something switched on in my brain like I finally thought of some long forgotten idea. Then, a weird tingling in my arms and a shaking in my legs. I heard another slightly metallic noise. I looked down at my arms… from the top of my wrists, sharp blades slid outward.
I'd been fighting with the parking brake on for the last 2 or 3 months. The wolf made a snort and went back into a fighting stance. Just like the first time I became Bolt, images flashed into my head. This time it was basics of how to fight with the blades. I formed the defense stance as the images showed me.
He werewolf once again made the first attack. This time I stabbed it in the shoulder as it jumped. The wolf once more fell of the building, but landed on the one below us. I followed suit.
When I got to the ground I quickly blocked another claw swipe and managed to kick the beast in the chest. The surprise reeled it back. For a moment we both stood, staring at each other. I had to wonder if this was the first time the wolf actually had a challenge. We circled each other, taking careful sidesteps. Again the wolf made the first move. This time, however, it rolled at me. When it covered half the distance between us I braced for impact just as the werewolf unfurled and pounced right under me.
We fell down, down, down. We fought over who would be the cushion and neither of us won. I suddenly found myself on a shanty like roof, an old apartment building. The view was covered with similar roofs, most adorned with chimneys. I recovered near the same time the wolf did. I needed to put a bit of distance between us, to catch my breath. I hoped along the rooftops, until, I landed on a chimney…
And, well, here we are, back at the original thought.
Meanwhile Lou was up to something, as he told me. He'd been on the computer for several hours working on a flow chart of monsters, apparently. For the hell of it, he wanted to see if he could guess some other monsters and maybe locations of interest. What he got looked like a plot chart to Primer. As in, there where lines everywhere and it made no damn sense.
He did make one little discovery, as it happens. Most of the places that had been attacked had significance to, as Charley helped him with the thought, the psychological makeup of Morrison City. The power plant, the subway, the Mayor's office, the skeletal framework buildings… all of them are well embedded into the local psyche. The Order's motives were still vague, as Charley again helped Lou along, but we knew something now. And that was better then nothing. "Should we call J?" Lou asked our red headed friend.
"Might as well tell him. Maybe he knows something to help put the puzzle together."
About then, the wolf and I leapt into the air, our weapons aimed at each other. I braced for what was most likely going to be one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life.
