A moment passed, and the sky brightened as the sun began to poke through the trees. That was when the werewolf curse began to revert for the daytime cycle.

Starwell gasped and Matrix grunted. Somehow though, turning back into regular sprite-forms was less painful or nerve-wracking than transforming into wolves.

The girl had no idea how it felt for Matrix, but for her it felt a little like waking from a weird dream to find yourself in your normal body, instead of weighing fifty pounds extra or having an anatomy that she wasn't used to. Once again finding herself in her underwear, she fell to her hands and knees with a sharp gasp.

Matrix caught himself as well; he was also in his game default underclothes. Bob gave each of them a moment to regain their composure, then the Guardian held out a hand to Matrix. The Renegade took it and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Bob…" Matrix eyed the tooth marks on the Guardian's shoulder. "I bit you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it," Bob told him. "We're almost where we need to be."

"Gizmo told me," Starwell breathed, still not quite herself yet, "that so long as we get to the ghost and kill it quickly… you won't be affected permanently."

Bob nodded.

"Then we should get going," Matrix grunted. "Come on, Pup. On your feet." He extended a hand to Starwell.

The girl shot Gizmo an irritated glance as the Keytool somehow managed to mimic an "arf, arf" with beeps and chirps combined. She then grasped Matrix's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"Mike," Bob raised his voice to try and wake the TV. "Let's go."

There was no response, except for another deafening snore.

"MIKE!" Matrix bellowed.

The TV screamed and jumped to his feet, his bitmap nearly white. "Great Norton's Ghost, don't do that!" He clutched at whatever might be the approximate area of his heart-whatever the TV-sprite equivalent was.

Starwell sighed. "I want some armor," she complained. "Or at least some clothes. Shoes if nothing else."

"Maybe we'll find something on the way," Bob said. "Ready to go?"

It wasn't long before they continued their trek through the forest. Mike sang to himself as he followed Bob; the Guardian took a slight lead ahead of everyone else. Starwell grunted and whimpered softly as her bare feet protested at walking across the rough terrain; Matrix ended up letting her ride piggy-back temporarily on his back again.

"Matrix?" Starwell murmured softly to her friend as she hugged her arms around him for support.

"Yeah?" The Renegade didn't glance at her or pause his stride, but she had his attention.

"What's gonna happen?" Starwell swallowed. "I mean, uh… you know, when we beat the ghost."

"We'll deal with that then, kid."

"But there's only enough cure for one. That's what Bob said."

Matrix seemed thoughtful. "We'll talk about this later," he told her indicatively.

Anything Starwell might have said in response was cut off when Bob suddenly announced, "We're here!"

Indeed, they found themselves entering a large graveyard. It wasn't the nice kind of graveyards Starwell had seen back in her own world, where the headstones are in good condition and clearly visible. This place appeared ancient with worn headstones, some of them partially broken, with barely discernable markings carved in an ancient, foreign script.

A light fog rolled along the ground; it was only ankle-high and it chilled their feet as they stepped toward the first row of gravestones. Coffin-shaped openings were open here and there throughout the graveyard, possible traps for a misstep to fall into-or a way for things to come out of, perhaps.

Bob motioned for the others to wait and he checked with Glitch. "Watch out for the openings in the ground," he warned. "According to Glitch, those are spots where game sprites can spawn from once the battle starts."

"That means encountering the ghost is a scripted event," Matrix mused aloud.

The Guardian nodded. "But there's a problem."

"What?" Matrix turned to look at his friend. He felt Starwell's arms tighten nervously around him.

"Some scripted events can only be initiated through direct User interaction, or the presence of the User," Bob explained.

Starwell suddenly felt all eyes settle on her. She swallowed nervously.

"Well, looks like it's all up to you, little lady," Mike said in a cowboy accent.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do?" Starwell asked. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have remembered the basic things she used to do outside the Net when playing games. Right now, she felt out of her element and more confused than anything.

"It looks like your format is gonna help us get to the ghost, Starwell." Matrix squatted near the ground. "You need to go on ahead. Don't worry, we'll be right behind you."

"Yeah… okay." Starwell tentatively climbed off of him, shivering as her bare feet touched the ground. How could Matrix stand being barefoot in this area? The cold fog seemed to penetrate her skin to the bone and the ground felt squishy and damp.

"Be careful, Starwell," Bob told her.

"Yeah…" Starwell sucked in a deep breath, and took point.

They proceeded slowly through the graveyard, walking carefully as they went. True to their word, Matrix and Bob followed close behind, with Mike bringing up the rear. Bob had to remind the TV at least twice to stay quiet and Matrix's keen reflexes prevented Starwell from falling into one of the open graves. The main problem was that the further the went, the thicker the fog became.

By the time they reached the heart of the graveyard the fog had risen and completely surrounded them. It was almost thick enough to cut with a butter knife.

"According to Glitch," Bob whispered, "increased fog is a sign that this event has been triggered. We just need to go a little further-"

Starwell had taken another step forward. That was when all hell broke loose.

An ear-splitting shriek rippled through the area, causing Starwell's energy pulse to skip a beat or two. A bright flash of light came from a random direction, and then a portion of the fog cleared in an approximate battle-field area. The thick mist remained in the surrounding area like an intangible barrier.

The spirit became visible, hovering above the ground in all its fury. It barely had a shape or form. Visually, it would have been indiscernible from the surrounding fog if it wasn't for the white aura that illuminated its form, or the bright white eyes.

"This is it!" Bob unsheathed his sword and stood ready.

Matrix tensed, readying his fists.

"I don't have any weapons!" Starwell exclaimed. "Or armor!" she gasped as an afterthought, attempting to cover her exposed bitmap with her long, skinny arms. It did little good.

The Spirit of Ages advanced angrily. A bolt of energy expanded from its long, outstretched arm and impacted Mike. The TV yowled as a small portion of his circuitry fried, and he was sent flying into the fog.

The ghost then redirected its attention on the three sprites.

"Not today, game sprite," Matrix growled, his gold eye already glowing red.

"Matrix, wait-!" Bob began.

That was when a silver energy wave erupted from the spirit, engulfing the trio. It was an effect that the ghost had on those infected by the curse; it could induce them to transform at will, as long as they were in close proximity.

Starwell screamed in pain and clutched at her head as the familiar agony threatened to overtake her. She was vaguely aware of her companions grunting in discomfort as well, though she didn't have time to notice. Her body pulsed and bulged as muscles grew and her form became larger, rippling with fur as a snout grew from her head and a tail sprouted stem-like from her rear.

The transformation had come so suddenly and unexpectedly that it took her a moment to recover. She felt mildly dazed, though a low growl behind her made her snap back to awareness.

Matrix's altered form was all-too-familiar now, a larger and more muscular wolf with dark fur and a greenish tinge. Beside him stood another wolf, one that was sort of a creamy blue in color with a silver tail, ears and underbelly.

Starwell blinked, staring at them. "Bob?" she managed. Damn it, she'd thought she wouldn't have to deal with this again until nightfall!

Unfortunately, the two other wolves seemed more feral than anything else. Their animalistic instincts had taken over, courtesy of the spirit; it had full control over them now, in this form.

Fortunately for Starwell… it could not take control of a User, regardless of the fact that she shared the curse. She still had her mind and her free will.

But she quickly realized that she had other problems.

The spirit cackled, sounding more like a beast on a quest for vengeance than a shrieking ghost. Bob crouched, and Matrix prepared to pounce.

Starwell's eyes went wide. "Oh boy," she squeaked, just as the larger Matrix-wolf leaped at her. "GIZMO, DO SOMETHING!" she yelled as she hit the dirt. Cold earth smacked against her cheek as she hit the ground face-first, just as Gizmo clicked and altered shape into a large pole.

Matrix slammed against the pole full-force, and slid to the ground, momentarily dazed.

Starwell picked herself up and spat out a bit of gravel. She yipped as Bob pounced on her, knocking her on her side; he bared his teeth and snared in her face. She hissed and reacted instinctively, chomping down on his leg with just enough force to distract him; then she maneuvered her body enough to kick him aside.

"Bob!" she barked. "Stop! Don't… want… to hurt you!"

Something in Bob's eyes flickered momentarily. A spark of recognition, perhaps? A momentary memory? However, whatever it was didn't last long; he lunged at her again, forcing her to duck and twist out of his way. Her ears pressed flat against her skull and she whimpered when she realized Matrix was recovering.

"You… bully!" She managed in the direction of the ghost. "Gizmo, elect-" Her voice caught in her throat, sounding more like a strangled growl than a command. She pointed a paw in the direction of the ghost, however; Gizmo got the idea.

A powerful electrical blast erupted from Gizmo, engulfing the spirit's upper body. In the meantime, Starwell kept moving to maintain her distance from Bob and Matrix, managing to make herself a difficult target.

Then the spirit made its next move, as only a Game Boss could. It released a shriek, and the two other werewolves stopped. The ghost then vanished into the ground as Bob and Matrix took their cue to disappear into the fog, leaving Starwell to glance about in puzzlement.

Growls filled the air, and game sprites began to emerge from the ground. Skeletal forms came up through the ground, small spirits floated up out of the open graves. The Boss had temporarily backed off. Its minions became the first wave of game sprites. No doubt the Spirit of Ages hoped they would finish her off.

Starwell's lips peeled away from her teeth as she snarled in frustration. A quick glance about told her there were about a dozen of them, and they were all coming at once.

A ferocious huff escaped her throat. "Bring it on," she growled, and allowed the animalistic side of her coding to take over.

Skeletal bitmaps crunched and shattered in a frenzy, bits and pieces flew about. The small ghosts flew about her menacing, striking a few tentative blows with their spiritual attacks; it ebbed away a portion of her health and willpower, but they were vulnerable to energy attacks. A few commands to Gizmo and they dissipated into nothingness like mist fading in a breeze.

A loud roar announced the return of the Boss, the Spirit of Legends; it was back and more furious than ever. Starwell's jaw cracked as she whirled and howled, getting ready for an attack.

Only this caused her to lose focus on her general surroundings. A heavy weight thumped against her out of nowhere and pinned her down; Matrix had returned as well and pounced. He snarled, and he bit down on her ear for good measure.

Starwell yelped, then cuffed him. He let go and snarled in her face. Well, she thought as she tried to squirm out from under him, I guess that was sorta fair… an ear for an ear. Gizmo was hissing on her arm; Bob was circling them like a stalking predator, droplets of salvia oozing from the corners of his mouth. If she managed to get away from Matrix, she'd have to deal with him next.

Or not.

"Gizmo!" she barked. "Contain Bob!" Then she kicked upward with all her might, her claws slashing across Matrix's underbelly. It did very little harm due to his thick, furry pelt and heavy muscles, but it did make him yip.

Bob suddenly found himself confined by the same electrical rope that had helped him defeat the Beast of Ages in the first place. He writhed and struggled on the ground as the glowing wire held him; it stretched just enough to allow some leeway. A light jolt from the altered Keytool then stunned the Guardian, discouraging any further resistance for the moment.

Meanwhile, Starwell had her hands-or mouth-full. Matrix was still on top of her, his heavy bulk weighing her down, but she'd managed to twist just enough to grip the scruff of his neck between her teeth. She couldn't maneuver very well, but at least it limited his head mobility; he couldn't exactly bite her.

The Boss hovered just overheard, its mere presence taunting. It hissed, and it seemed to command Matrix to redouble his efforts.

The User-girl snarled, then risked letting go of the bigger wolf. "Matrix!" she grunted. "Stop, please!" It took some effort to speak, not to mention concentration, but she managed. "Matrix! It me! Starwell!"

The dark-colored wolf actually seemed to hesitate. Starwell? That name rang familiar somewhere deep in his processor. But why?

The ghost shrieked again; Matrix's mind became more clouded and his eyes glazed over momentarily.

"MATRIX!" Starwell exploded. "Please, STOP!"

A feral snarl escaped the Renegade's mouth. Hot breath smelled rancid against her face as the front side of his fangs knocked against her forehead. Nevertheless, he seemed to battling internally; his muscles stiffened and the tendons in his throat stuck out like steel rods.

Gizmo began squeaking even as it maintained its current rope-form. [Glitch, you've got to help somehow. Move your lumbering Guardian, you've done it before!]

Glitch seemed to consider. Indeed, the situation seemed dire, so… [Disengage,] the standard Keytool ordered the unorthodox one.

After a moment's hesitation, the electrical rope gave one final, sharp jolt to make sure the altered Guardian's regenerative state didn't enable him to regain consciousness, then Gizmo untangled itself from the furry mass.

Glitch clicked and whirred, and suddenly the altered form of Bob rose off the ground, eyes still closed. The Keytool was in control.

In the meantime, Matrix had struggled briefly against the code that controlled him. His inner conflict had distracted him enough so that Starwell could slip out from underneath him unscathed, but by the time she was back on her feet the spirit had already taken control again.

The dark-furred werewolf howled, ready to lunge as Gizmo returned to Starwell's forearm. The Renegade was just about to pounce when a blur of blue and silver tackled him and pinned him to the ground. It was Bob, being piloted by Glitch.

Starwell backed off and wasted no time turning back to the spirit as the sprites battled. She had to beat this thing, fast.

"Gizmo, stats," she ordered in a gargling bark.

[Energy reserves; fully recharged,] Gizmo reported to her after scanning the Boss. [Health levels, approximately seventy-four percent.]

Starwell blew out a breath. She knew how this type of scenario worked, now that she remembered some of the games she had played. Some of the tough Boss Battles in games were such that you knocked the powerful being's health down a portion, then it would withdraw and you'd have to deal with a wave of lesser game sprites. Once that was done, the Boss returned for another round and the cycle would begin again until you reached the final and beat the thing.

She tried to ignore Matrix and Bob behind her as she focused her attention on the Boss; she could only hope they wouldn't delete each other.

"Gizmo," she snapped, "power attack, full force!"

The Keytool sent another powerful blast into the spirit's being, knocking its health levels down to fifty-nine percent. It shrieked, then it raised its arms and began to glow as it channeled its energy for a forceful attack of its own.

Starwell let out a strangled yelp as a lightening-like blast struck her in the side, sending her sprawling against the ground. Her muscles tensed and throbbed as the blackened area of her furred pelt smoldered; a portion of her bitmap had been scorched.

It hurt. A lot.

The Spirit of Ages cackled manically, a cruel, taunting sound that was worse than nails on a chalkboard. It set Starwell's teeth on edge, causing her to shudder in spite of herself. The ghost gave her a look, then once again withdrew into the fog.

Another wave of game sprites came up out of the ground. This time they were partially decomposed skeletal corpses, more zombie-like than anything. Small bits of flesh fell from their bones as they moved.

Starwell glanced about. Matrix had apparently disengaged and run into the fog again, at the command of the spirit; Bob's form moved nearer to her, his eyes still shut. Apparently Glitch was still running the show there.

The She-wolf glanced at the unconscious Guardian and his Keytool, then eyed Gizmo. Her Keytool chirped positively, and then she picked herself up and moved into a defensive stance. "Bring it on," she snarled in the direction of the game sprites. She allowed her instinctual hunger to take more of a forefront. By the time she was fully engaged in battle, she had willfully given herself over to the werewolf code, becoming feral.

Unlike Matrix and Bob, a full User simply had the option of ignoring that mode/code unless choosing to let it take over willingly. It simply took a little initiation from Starwell to kick in, perhaps even with a little aid from Gizmo. The User-Keytool had access to in-game User commands, after all.

This time there were sixteen game sprites in this wave, thankfully none of them were ghosts. Once again bones crunched and shattered, accompanied by chunks of flesh tearing and dropping all over the battle area. Starwell didn't even realize that she was swallowing some of the mouthfuls she bit off of game sprites until the sharp pain of a bone splinter caught in her throat. She ignored it and continued her feral frenzy in the battle.

Soon there were only three left. Glitch used a thrust of Bob's head to knock one of them into the fog; it could be seen breaking apart just before it vanished into the thick mist.

Unfortunately, that was when one of the other sprites grabbed Bob's tail from behind and yanked. If the Guardian hadn't been off-balance at that moment, or so close to an open grave, perhaps he would have simply stumbled slightly. Instead, he ended up falling into the open ground, landing inside an open stone coffin that slammed shut on top of him.

[GLITCH YOU KLUTZ!] Gizmo shrieked as Starwell ripped a game sprite in half with her claws. A firm kick of her hindquarters knocked the final sprite into a large gravestone, causing it to shatter as pieces of rotten flesh flew in every direction.

Starwell then slumped onto the ground, shivering a little against the chilly soil. Part of her wondered if Bob was okay, but she couldn't worry about that now. The Boss would be returning soon… with Matrix under its control.

She did permit herself to rub her throat and gag, though. The flesh on those game sprites had smelled rancid; how could she stand swallowing it, even in full feral mode? She made a face and gave a mental command to disable that mode, for now. It felt so strange being able to give out some commands to her own form, as if she was piloting a self-aware User avatar while physically in the game.

Unless maybe she was a self-aware User-avatar in a manner of speaking. Game coding, and perhaps Gizmo, probably assisted with that.

The Spirit of Ages reappeared almost too quickly above her head, zipping out of the fog so quickly it appeared to teleport over her. She snarled and readied her Keytool, only to be knocked flat against the ground again.

"Matrix!" she grunted, more surprised and indignant than anything. "ARGH!" she yowled as his sharp teeth sank into her collar bone area. She kicked upward with her hindquarters, making sure he felt her claws just enough to be distracted.

His teeth released her as his mouth opened in a howl of pain. On impulse, she then made a move based on something she had seen once on National Geographic; she chomped down on the end of his snout, particularly over his nose. She tasted werewolf game blood; it burned against her tongue like acid, but she held on. Obviously the game tried to discourage werewolves from attacking or feeding upon each other.

Matrix whined and growled, attempting to thrust free; Starwell held on. He cuffed her with clawed forepaws. Her thick pelt took the brunt of it, but light scratches formed that drew blood.

Starwell eased her fangs just enough to try and speak. "G-Giz-mo!" she croaked, but didn't get a chance to say any more. Matrix became free of her grip and he cuffed her across the face, then bit down on her throat.

At least, he started to.

Gizmo clicked and whirred, then apparently it decided to borrow a trick from Glitch, sort of. It continued to whir as it interfaced with Matrix's mechanical eye; it began to glow red. A small exchange of code commenced, just a bit, in silence as Gizmo accessed a portion of Matrix's processor and modified a little of the game coding that permitted the Boss to control him.

A moment passed. Matrix's jaw relaxed and he blinked, then he took a step back as if in a daze. On the ground, Starwell gasped sharply and rubbed at her abused throat.

The Spirit of Ages was not happy. It shrieked in displeasure as it realized it could no longer use either of its new minions.

Starwell coughed as she got to her feet, still rubbing her throat. Come on, she told herself. Get it together. In a way, she was almost grateful to be a werewolf at the moment. The odd new coding that the game had formatted into her form had given her instincts. It made her more impulsive, but the benefit was that she thought less about what was doing; she simply acted. Perhaps that was a plus.

Her entire body seemed to throb in pain due to the abuse she'd suffered during this entire battle, but her muscles primed as she steeled herself, knowing there was more to come. She looked the Spirit directly in the eye and snarled her challenge.