In no way do I own the rights to any part of the Bloody Roar series, characters, or general theme involving zoanthropes or other Bloody Roar paraphernalia. All of the stated above are owned by Activision, but mainly Hudson. Thanks to Tiger5913 for starting the Bloody Roar fanfic section. Without it, I wouldn't have known about Fanfiction.net to begin with. With that said, so starts the story…

1: Ensuing Chaos

Rain pelted the ground in an endless dance that relentlessly assaulted his mind. Gradually, the light forced an eye open, only to blind him until his pupils grew accustomed to this change from darkness. As he lie there, with the warmth coming in through the slits in the blinds, he began to ponder. What could I have changed so that my life would have had more meaning than the style that I have chosen? Could this curse really be consuming me, or just having insanity pursue me in a vain attempt at the humanity left inside? These thoughts seemed to surface when he least expected them. For Jack Rouche, life was different since that fateful day when he chose to partake in a test issued by the US government. He thought it was just another one of those new experiments they were dishing out in order to deal with the constant zoanthrope threat. There were far too many zoanthropes either born or created that were abusing their power. He knew that after he underwent the experiment that his life would be changed forever. He also knew that when five men in lab jackets walk up to you as your dressing that the first thought to come to mind would be fear. So, as he finished buckling his belt on his blue jeans, he heard the one thing that made him shiver: some patients experience overpowering of the animal DNA, causing them to not only lose all humanity left inside, but forcing the patients who managed to exert all their energy and revert to human form (said to be around 4%) to be transferred to a Tylon controlled mental institution for further studying.

As he rustled through the heavy blanket that seemed to not release him from the indent he had made in the mattress, he found his way to the bathroom. His frayed dirty blonde hair jetted out in several directions at once, as though trying to escape from the bonding scalp that held it in place. He had to admit though, it was the only really distinguishing feature on his face. He was clean-shaven, had nothing like moles or birthmarks dotting his face. His build was that of a 6' 2", 240 lbs., medium build man of his late twenties. His dark brown eyes voided existence like a black hole. Broad shoulders defined his figure more than anything, though he didn't body build, and it couldn't have come from either side of his family. So this is what it's all come to ehh? Abandoning all hope, delving into the depths of insanity, only to lose myself to the beast within instead of my own humanity. Why did I think that this might be a better life. I know that when I was young I always wondered what it would be like to be an animal, and now its all true, but I just don't feel human anymore. The dim light shadowed his eyes under his brow, and he cringed at the sight he saw in the mirror. What happened to the man I once was? Must I constantly fear myself? With that, he lifted himself from the hunched over stance that he found himself in when he ran these thoughts through his head.

He felt the urge to fill his stomach when he felt the acid begin the churn through his gut. The one problem with being a zoanthrope was the constant urge to feed, feasting more than mere humans. He found himself eating more meat than usual though, and one of the side effects flashed through his mind's eye. They said that meat is what consumes most zoanthropes, as they are mostly mammals. The rare cases as like Xion and Stun, as Stephen Goldberg preferred to be known, craved foods of equivalent value. The only problem with Stun's condition was that he needed blood to sustain his form, as he no longer wished to be dependent upon Hajime Busuzima. After filling his gut with the nourishing food, Jack set off on another one of his meaningless journeys through the city.

The darkness seemed a welcome comfort for him, as it enveloped his form from sight. The rain had slowed to slight drizzle, and this too he welcomed. Again he flashed back to the experiments that had changed his life. Massive amounts of medication were necessary as well as restraints. The white coats all said that this would surmount all previous experiments if it succeeded. They were so sure of themselves that Jack didn't even raise the question of failure. Tranquilizers, as well as massive stimulants, were injected into multiple veins throughout his body until they had to search to find fresh ones. He felt full of energy and exhausted at the same time. He also felt his life flash before his eyes and at the same time rebirth. The drugs just seemed to be wearing off when his vision faded to black and he passed out. When he awoke, the scientists said that he showed excellent signs of success. Next was the electrotherapy, designed to enhance the muscle groups to their new natural level. This enhanced his current strength and speed three fold. Though at times his body seemed to show signs of rejection, the scientists took care of the matter with sedatives and stimulants, all administered in his dreams. This he enjoyed, because he always felt so refreshed as he awoke. Test after test constantly showed signs that his zoanthrope transformation was successful. Finally, after his patience had run too thin to measure, they announced the final tests.

His body was in top conditioning and his brain waves responded nicely to this foreign agent. He was to attempt to transform into his alternate beast form, and sustain it for as long as possible. After shown videos and told countless steps as to the best way in which to control it, he was told to step into the next room. This room seemed to be different from all the others. They all seemed to be crammed with scientific equipment and littered with lights that singed his pupils. But this room, it was darker yes, and smelt of blood and rancid fumes, but the feeling was unmistakable. What he felt sank deep into his bones and had his nerves impulse the sense of fear and urgency to his ever evolving brain. Through an unseen speaker, a countdown was commissioned. At the sound of three, he obeyed all they had taught him and began to bring forth his other form. Though he still retained his human thoughts, his human senses and instincts, another entity forced its way to the surface. He felt great power building up inside of him as muscles and tendons shifted under stress to accommodate this new form. At first the scientists were ecstatic, as his transformation showed signs of their first true success. Yes, they had succeeded before this subject, but never before had a man exerted his full capability to one source, to one goal. Their jubilation soon turned to fear and horror as it seemed that Rouche had used all his energy only half way through the process. This half-beast, half-human repulsed them. Bone, sinew, muscle, veins and arteries pulsing, all this they were not prepared for. It seemed that Rouche had overexerted himself, as his beast vied for control of his physical self, his human form. Disgusted and vexed at the same time, they allowed time for him to recuperate. With doors silently closing and humanity seeming to float away, Rouche's mind's eye began its work, reeling to him images that would soon haunt his life forever. . .