The full moon seemed ghostly behind the clouds. It was enough to make Bigfoot on edge. Thankfully, the two cryptids were defended by the Midnight Society's Lunar Pack of werewolves and the Twilight Brood of vampires. Not to mention they had wizards and sorcerers.
"Birds scared…" Bigfoot whined. "Bears too."
Wolf only turned back to Bigfoot and quietly barked something at him.
"Yes…you fight wolves. But you no fight Wendigo…"
"What Big means is that the Wendigo is among the most terrifying of us Cryptids. Single-handedly it managed to wipe out most of our race." Sasquatch warned. "Only very few of us are left, such as myself, Big, and Everest."
"So…what can it do, exactly?" Grady asked.
"Master Van Helsing gave a brief description. It can drive beings to such hunger that they resort to cannibalism. It can even speak through the very winds themselves. Legends even say you can die if you gaze into those glowing yellow eyes of its. Sometimes those who feast even become Wendigos themselves…"
"Like werewolves, then." Conrad stated.
"Oh, werewolves seem like cute little puppies in comparison." Sas said. "Sometimes the Wendigo can drag you away at great speeds until your feet are burned away, and more of you than that. Then it carries you into the sky and drops you."
"So it's fast." Emily said.
"Not just fast. It can even use the very mist to teleport. It can appear behind you when you least expect it. And that bony spiked flail of its can break the toughest of skulls."
"Scary…" Bigfoot whined. "Scary thing…"
"Yes Big, very scary. But if that THING has the Beast Stone, there's no telling what it can do! That thing amplifies feral instincts and superhuman abilities!"
And then…the air got cold.
"Oh no…" Sasquatch stammered. "It must be nearby…"
In the distance, there was howling. Werewolf howling. And something in the wind howled back.
"Werewolves. More of them." Hannah Stoneman sniffed. "A few packs, even!"
"We can't risk being seen." Sasquatch said. "Big, camouflage us."
"Hrmph. Cannot see us…"
And soon, the entire hunting party found themselves invisible in the night autumn yet snowy grounds. Jaclyn only found herself thinking That explains a lot.
They soon peeked into a clearing. Sure enough, werewolves were in a giant ritual circle. A burial ground. Nearby were torn and shredded robes that must've become in such a state after the transformation.
"Dragon Scales…" Sas whispered, his voice unheard by those they watched. "A werewolf cult!"
What seemed to be the pack leader, with glowing red eyes (Grady realized this HAD to be Will Blake), stepped forward and faced a massive cloud of mist fearlessly. And finally…yellow glowing lights opened within it.
Bigfoot ended up cowering as Sasquatch's eyes went wide with terror. Freddy gulped.
This was it. The Cryptid of Death and Famine.
A tall skeletal figure, twice as tall as the werewolves before it, lumbered forward. It had a skull that seemed like a mixture of a horse's and a jackal's, with bony deer antlers. No skin whatsoever. It had wolf-like claws, a humanoid rib-cage, and sharp creature-like talons for feet. And in its grip was a bony spine, holding a skull with sharp deformed spikes coming from the eyes, mouth, sides, and top. A flail, stained with fresh blood.
The Wendigo stood tall and ominous, staring down at the werewolves. Will only presented it with something: A glowing orange stone with a wolf howling on it. The Beast Stone!
They COULD be able to take the werewolves. But the Wendigo? It was probably even stronger. If you died just by looking it in the eyes…
A long bony arm reached out. And when it grabbed the stone, purple lightning and energy surged forth, making the Wendigo roar out with a claws-on-a-chalkboard scream and howl! Out of all the hunters there, the two Okash cryptids seemed the most terrified.
Savagely, the Wendigo shoved the stone inside its rib cage, and the eyes turned a pale glowing orange as the power surged throughout it. The werewolves, controlled by Dracula's immense control, only howled along with it.
The wind itself roared as the Wendigo began raising a bony hand upwards, the skeletal palm glowing orange under the full moon.
"Laaaaaaryyyyyy!" The wind seemed to call out. "LAAAAAARYYYYYY!"
Larry? Grady thought. As in…
Suddenly, the burial ground circle began glowing orange. And then, a hand burst from the ground!
The Wendigo howled as it resurrected the beast. The corpse began to heal fully, as if it was never dead to begin with. And the skin erupted, ripping to reveal fur and claws on the hand as it gripped the ground.
A skull screamed as it pulled itself up, forming into a living being that instantly underwent a painful transformation. All with orange glowing eyes. Lost limbs also regenerated, bone and all, and finally, once the transformation was complete, everyone discovered who they were looking at.
Larry Talbot. Or better yet…The Wolf Man.
Growling, the Wolf Man lifted his head and howled at the full moon, looking at it causing it to seemingly mutate even further, making bony claws explode forth from the enclosed fists and knuckles, which began glowing in the darkness.
Yet there was something about that howl that…began doing something to the werewolves!
Grady found himself screaming as he clutched his head, the werewolves thrashing around and roaring!
"Grady?! GRADY!" Emily panicked. "What's happening to him?!"
"Oh dear me, my terror made me completely forget!" Sasquatch gasped. ""I'm afraid that Master Talbot has become the Alpha of all werewolves. And try as they might…no werewolf can resist the Alpha's call…"
And suddenly, there was a chill behind his back. And the Wendigo was gone…
"NO!"
Bigfoot yanked his brother aside as a flail smashed into the ground. The Wendigo roared in a berserk frenzy as it stomped towards the group, reaching out with a bony hand…
Only for a feral Wolf Man to tackle and maul it!
The Wendigo roared and bit the Wolf Man, grabbing and smashing it to the ground. The Wolf Man only used his newfound claws to slice off an arm, making the cryptid scream like a banshee.
"Of course…" Sasquatch realized. "That's no longer Larry this time. The werewolf alpha's been revived SOLELY as an untamable animal! And what is wild can NEVER be caged!"
The other werewolves roared and howled as well. All with orange glowing eyes! Even the Lunar Pack! Hannah, Brian, even Grady!
"FRIEND! FRIEND, STOP!"
Bigfoot's pleas fell on deaf ears, as he narrowly dodged a lunge from a feral Grady. Wolf began barking like mad as the Wendigo smashed the Wolf Man into the ground and whipped it violently with its mace before stomping forth, reattaching its arm. Only for it to be met with a blast of ancient magic from Sasquatch.
"BACK!" He demanded. "GET BACK, YOU UNHOLY FIEND! YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS WORLD!"
The Wendigo howled and whipped back more magical blasts from Sasquatch, Conrad, and Jacklyn, with the Wolf Man roaring as it got back up. The Twilight Brood moved to subdue it, with Freddy digging his fangs into its neck from behind and never letting go, making the werewolf trash about violently!
The werewolf cult and the Lunar Pack soon attacked the outnumbered Midnight Society, with Emily fighting back with her spear to survive. The Wendigo only managed to grab Hannah Stoneman (immune to the control) and violently ripped off her Werewolf Skin, forcing her back into a human form while the wind laughed.
The Wendigo then swatted aside Sasquatch hard, making him slam against a tree. Bigfoot looked on in horror at his injured brother as the werewolves surrounded him. However…this ended up triggering something within the gentle giant.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Bigfoot roared out in rage, the shockwave stunning the werewolves! And with incredible speed, Bigfoot delivered a powerful punch to the Wendigo's skull!
"BAD THING! LEAVE FRIENDS ALONE!"
It roared and lashed out with his flail, but Bigfoot managed to dodge it and delivered more and more powerful punches, even grabbing a nearby boulder and tossing it at the Wendigo! When the boulder knocked it back, Bigfoot rushed to Sasquatch and used his healing powers to fully restore him.
"Big…? What…what IS this? You're finally bringing out your full power?"
"Friends hurt. Must protect them."
"Protect? How?! No one can resist the Alpha's call!"
"Try. Save them."
The Wendigo let out a ferocious howl, and Bigfoot roared back before charging. The Wendigo met him with a charge antler-fist, with Bigfoot grabbing them and snapping them off before impaling the undead beast in the eyes before letting out another supersonic roar and punching it in the ribcage.
That left the Wolf Man to the Midnight Society, with Wolf facing off against his own friend alone. But no matter how hard Wolf tried to fight, he just couldn't bring himself to kill his own friend. That left him vulnerable to a claw swipe, scarring him over his left eye. The dog tumbled into a corner, panting heavily and whimpering.
Grady moved in to finish the animal, and when he readied a claw…he froze.
Seeing the fresh scar and the dog crying, both mourning and fear in his eyes…it made something snap in the werewolf.
That bond…could NEVER be severed so easily. Deep down…he was ALWAYS human. There was no replacing that.
Clutching his head, Grady Tucker let out a powerful howl as he mentally forced himself to resist the Wolf Man's alpha control, finally coming back to his senses. Now focusing his hunger and anger elsewhere, Grady managed to tackle the Wolf Man and deliver a savage bite to his predecessor before tossing him into a tree.
"You made me HURT HIM!" He roared, managing to resist the angry howls from his adversary.
"My beard, that's impossible!" Sasquatch gasped. "How…how did he DO it! I feared there was no way to get him back!"
"Grady has a bond with Wolf that's stronger than any other he's had." Emily said, forcing Will back. "IF we can get that stone out of the Wendigo, hopefully we can use it against the Wolf Man and snap the others out of it as well!"
"Oh…I'm sure Big already has that covered." Sasquatch said. "Always fear the wrath of a gentle man. Or giant."
Bigfoot managed to snap the Wendigo's neck, but what was dead could not die again. It whacked the Okash with its flail, but Bigfoot only used his healing powers to recover. With his incredible strength, speed, and hearing, he managed to overpower the Wendigo, even though it could see through his camouflage.
Bigfoot felt like his titular feet were burning and on fire. But his dormant ancient magic surging forth prevented him from getting dragged away. He caught the flail in a big hand and crushed it before roaring and plowing a fist enchanted with his ancient magic right through the rib-cage!
In that brief moment, when the Beast Stone was destroyed, suddenly all of the werewolves entered a trance and fell to the ground. Even the Wolf Man was knocked out, his mutant bone claws retracting! Grady, having come close to being killed from it, only collapsed and panted.
"What…what happened?" Brian groaned as he came back to his senses.
Meanwhile, the Wendigo only let out a loud scream of pain as the power left it. Yet even so…it still powered through.
It began reaching out for Bigfoot…when a snowball hit it in the face.
The Wendigo suddenly turned to who threw it…and then felt its face begin to freeze up. It began screaming and wailing like a dying animal as it thrashed around violently, before trying to grab Bigfoot to freeze him with it.
The Okash was only stunned and leaped back as the bony hand of the Wendigo soon turned to ice. Sasquatch was silent as well. Only one Okash was known to have freezing snowballs.
From the snowy woods, a white yeti roared and leaped forward, shattering the Wendigo to pieces upon landing on it! It snorted with pale red glowing eyes, as Will and the Werewolf Cult awakened with similar eyes.
"Oh no…" Sas cried. "EVEREST!"
Everest roared, making a terrible blizzard surge forth! Together, Conrad and Jaclyn managed to create a barrier to protect their team and themselves from the yeti's snowballs.
"When the snows blow wild and the day grows old, beware the snowman, my child." Conrad recited. "Beware the snowman, he brings the cold."
"When the snow melts and the warm sun is with thee," Jaclyn finished. "Beware the snowman, for the snowman shall go free!"
The spell seemed to be working. Everest roared as he clutched his head, but only let out a loud roar of anger as he engaged his brothers, grappling against Bigfoot.
"Everest, please!" Sasquatch pleaded, restraining him with his magic. "You have to resist his call! He is NOT your MASTER!"
"BIG REMIND EVEREST WHO HE IS!"
Everest roared in Bigfoot's face to freeze it a bit before headbutting him back, then slamming Sasquatch down on him. When the Wolf Man recovered and howled, this time Will and the cult, as well as the Lunar Pack, proved immune to it. It tired lunging at Everest, only to get a snowball to the face.
As the Wolf Man roared and struggled against getting frozen, Everest only turned to the orange shards that began to reform themselves.
"No, Everest! Don't do it! Don't listen to him!" Sasquatch cried.
Picking up the Beast Stone, Everest only chuckled before turning to the elder.
"He is YOUR brother no longer…" A voice spoke through him, before vanishing in a cloud of darkness.
"DRACULAAAAAAAAAA!" Sasquatch cried in anger.
"No, the stone!" Grady cried. "How could this happen?!"
Suddenly, the sculpture that was the Wolf Man began to crack.
"We have to get out of here!" Conrad cried, a portal being opened back to the Cryptid Keep. "It's best to not be around when he breaks free!"
Everyone quickly rushed back through, the portal closing before Will could follow. But through him, the dark lord SAW their location. As he did with many others…
Once the Wolf Man broke free with a howl, a possessed Will only turned back to him.
"Hello, Lawrence." Dracula spoke through the werewolf of Fever Swamp. "Are you not pleased at how your curse has spread down the generations?"
The Wolf Man only roared and lashed out, but Dracula's magic froze him in place.
"Savage as always. We are BOTH the first of our kind, if not the most legendarily feared." Dracula said through Will. "Oh…that's right. Larry's gone, isn't he? No…all that's left is YOU. A mere pet too ferocious to tame. You're too feral to obey even ME. I remember. I tried to control you."
He made Will grab the Wolf Man by the neck, the claw swipes that followed only phasing through thanks to the vampire king's dark magic.
"I doubt you will listen, but let this be a warning. Interfere with my mission, and you will be put to rest permanently."
He dropped the Wolf Man and had the pack teleport away. Leaving the alpha Werewolf alone. The Wolf Man only sniffed the air. He growled as it was growing chilly.
The wind suddenly howled, and suddenly the Wolf Man found himself running on all fours against his will. He roared and trashed about like an animal, not being taken so easily. All while the wind called out a name he didn't recognize.
His feet felt as if they were on fire. Soon, the tracks became longer and something lifted the Wolf Man into the sky. He was carried into the sky at supernatural skies, trashing and clawing away at the ghost that carried him.
And finally, the ghost with the jackal-horse skull and glowing yellow eyes. The Wolf Man growled and roared like a beast in a frenzy as it fell miles to the ground. At the speed it was going when it splashed into the lake, it shouldn't have survived.
But that would only kill a mere man. This was NO mere man.
The Wolf Man crawled its way onto dry land and, sensing more prey nearby on this awfully familiar land, howled as it ran on all fours through the night…