A/N Hey guys, looks like I have finally got my motivation back to finish this story and I am really glad about that since it was a real pain experiencing writer's block or a lack of motivation, which is why I hope it doesn't happen again but without further ado, enjoy.
After Meteor had been brought to the police station and taken into custody by the police, I had spent the past few days observing the Church of the Silver Wolf moving into the building across from Beast Co-op and heard that the mayor had no choice but to make them residents since still refusing to let them in even after Alan was saved would create bad publicity and hurt the mayor politically so the cult is here to stay, much to my displeasure.
What also made me uneasy was the sight of people gathering in front of the cult's HQ for three days and cheering them on, which made me feel pity for them since they have no idea that they are being manipulated by Boris and Nazuna so that was something that caused me to dislike them even more for giving people false hope.
Still, I was mostly lost in thought about what I'd remembered about the first 22 years of my life and I still felt sick to my stomach about what kind of person I used to be before I lost my memories, wondering if there was any hope for me as I was currently on the balcony of Beast Co-op with Michiru and simply watching the crowd that was out in the streets and cheering as they looked up at the building across from us that had an unfinished statue of a silver wolf with wings.
"Jesus Christ, look at that...all those people have flocked to that place for the past three days like a bear drawn to honey, talk about crazy," I commented but Michiru didn't say anything, just staring at the building across from us.
Suddenly, her arms became wings and she took off into the air before flying away, making me sigh since she's been quiet for the past three days after the night she saw Nazuna saving Alan and I was concerned for her because of how much she's been through.
Even so, I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed as I looked up at the nice blue sky and started thinking about Alan and why he seemed so familiar, but it was the intense rage and hatred I had felt after seeing him walk into the mayor's office that had me wary.
I don't know why I felt that way the second I saw Alan but it told me that I must've had a pretty bad encounter with him and it made me wonder what happened for me to have that much rage and hatred in me, so that was something I filed away for later and I heard someone approaching from behind me when I looked and saw that it was Shirou as Kuro was perched on his shoulder and he stared at the silver wolf statue on the building opposite of us with an unreadable expression.
"I know what you're thinking and I agree, don't think I'll ever be able to get used to that eyesore after they finish constructing it," I said and Shirou hummed in response.
"Inspector Tachiki has informed me that the assassin is being escorted to one of the interrogation rooms and that he's going to be questioned so we'll need to head there to get some answers from him," Shirou told me and I nodded.
"Good, I have a few questions I would like to ask him, such as who hired him to kill Alan Sylvasta and have a war break out between humanity and beastmen because of that," I said and we simply watched the sights after that for a short time until I saw Michiru coming back and she flew down onto the balcony and changed back to her tanuki form.
"Where were you just now?" Shirou asked as he went to look at her while she was busy brushing off any feathers that were still on her arms.
"Talking to Nazuna, though that's not her name anymore," Michiru answered and I started groaning as I rubbed my eyes.
"Michiru, why the hell would you do that? You know she's not the same person or the close friend you once knew, yet you decided to go see her anyway," I said in exasperation and Michiru frowned as she put her jacket on.
"No, I just happen to run into her so what's the problem?" Michiru questioned while looking irritated.
"Nothing, just forget about it," I said tiredly, not wanting to get into an argument with her as it was quiet between all of us.
"So, uh, something wrong?" Michiru inquired.
"The police are interrogating the falcon beastman the three of us captured so you want to come along?" Shirou offered, taking Michiru by surprise if her expression told me anything and even I wasn't expecting him to ask her that either.
"What?!" Michiru exclaimed while her eyes widened in shock.
"I'm assuming you want to know who sent him too, don't you?" Shirou questioned.
"That's why you came to get me?" Michiru inquired.
"It is," Shirou confirmed.
"Really?" Michiru asked while she was looking like she was still processing what Shirou told her, then the wolf beastman started looking a little annoyed and he started walking away.
"Shirou, she's just trying to process what you told her since this is the first time you offered her to join in on an interrogation," I reasoned as I gestured Michiru to hurry and we went after Shirou to make sure he didn't leave us behind.
Pretty soon, we arrived at the police station and spoke to the receptionist at the front desk as I looked around to see a bunch of police officers carrying out their duties and was wondering when Tachiki would show up soon when Michiru let out a sound of confusion and I noticed that she had her attention on something.
I looked at what got her attention and I narrowed my eyes when I saw someone with long platinum blond hair walking out of the building, raising my suspicions since that person looked like Boris but why he would be here is something that had me on edge.
"Is that..." Michiru trailed off and Shirou looked at Boris.
"The Church of the Silver Wolf's leader," Shirou muttered and that confirmed my suspicions.
"I know, though why he would be here is the question...I have a bad feeling about this," I admitted uneasily as I watched Boris leave through the front door and I felt tense.
After that, the receptionist told us that Tachiki would be waiting for us at the cell block so we started to make our way there, only Michiru followed me and Shirou since she had never been in the police station before and had no idea where to go.
Thankfully, I've been here more than a few times to interrogate suspects and Shirou had visited here many times since the city was first founded ten years ago so he knows this place like the back of his hand as we continued walking and reached the entrance to the cell block, where Tachiki was waiting.
"Ogami, Jackson, good to see you made it," Tachiki greeted as I shook his hand and he held out a clipboard with a form on it that would allow us to question Meteor.
"Glad to be here," I replied when Tachiki looked at Michiru and he appeared slightly surprised.
"You're here too? It's nice to see you, Michiru. You've been here a while so are you used to the city yet?" Tachiki asked as we signed our names on the form.
"I am...uh, well..." Michiru said hesitantly and I knew that she was avoiding the topic of the number of times she had been kidnapped, taken hostage, or nearly killed and Tachiki sighed.
"I see, not too sure either," Tachiki commented until there was a loud crash that came from the cell block and the building shook as if something big smashed right through it.
"What the hell was that?!" I exclaimed in alarm just as a police officer slammed open the door that led into the cell block.
"Inspector, Yaba just escaped his cell!" the officer yelled when something plowed into him while smashing its way through the cell block and the wall on the left like an out-of-control freight train, heading into another section of the building while we all shielded ourselves from the glass and debris.
"Holy christ, what the fuck was that?!" I shouted in disbelief while pulling out my gun.
We all peered into the cell block and from what I could see, it was like a tank smashed its way through here as most of the cells were completely destroyed and I spotted Meteor and Mimura, the two of them on the floor and not moving so I didn't know if they were unconscious or dead when I heard something smash its way out of the building and into the inner parking lot as we all quickly looked outside the windows behind us.
My eyes bugged out when I saw that it was Yaba while he was in his beast form, only he was looking much more different and larger as his hide was darker and appeared to be made of stone and his eyes were glowing red while some veins have popped out and were glowing green, but it was the expression of pure animalistic rage and a lack of human intelligence in his eyes that greatly alarmed me.
"Is that Yaba?! He looks totally different from before!" Michiru yelled while Yaba roared.
"No shit, what in god's name happened to him?!" I shouted while I looked at Tachiki.
"Inspector, I'm gonna need a rifle right now!" I added urgently and Tachiki nodded before looking at the officer who originally guarded the door to the cell block.
"You, get this man a rifle!" Tachiki ordered and the officer nodded quickly, running down the hall and turning a corner as other officers and a few police tactical units were running out of the building or taking up positions at the windows when the officer returned and handed me a loaded rifle and three extra mags.
I took the rifle and checked it as I noted that it was a BCM Recce-14 SX4 that was outfitted with a Vortex AMG UH-1 holographic sight, Accufire Incendis thermal scope, Magpul MS4 sling, PMAG, MBUS, BCM13 M-LOK Modular Rail, BCM Stock MOD 0, BCM MOD 3 pistol grip, QD end plate, QD Sling Mount, Cloud Defense OWL-HI weapon light, and Rugged 3-Port Suppressor Muzzle Brake until I pocketed the extra mags and flicked off the safety while we all ran out of the building as Yaba was roaring at us and we all shifted into our beast forms.
"You have permission to shoot! Fire, fire!" a tac-team captain shouted and I, as well as every single officer and tac-team, opened fire as all hell broke loose but I noticed that our shots were ricocheting off of Yaba's very tough hide.
"His hide is too tough, aim for the eyes or the mouth!" I yelled as I started focusing my aim on Yaba's face, hoping to hit his eyes or his mouth to cause internal damage.
We kept shooting at him as more officers started surrounding Yaba, some getting up on prison buses to get the high ground on him as my instructions had a few officers adjusting their aim to Yaba's eyes or mouth while the berserk rhino beastman went to grab a police car, glass shattering and metal crumpling before he threw it at the side of the police station and my eyes widened.
"Incoming!" I shouted at the other officers and tac-teams as the car came flying at us, making most of the officers and tac-teams scramble out of the way while officers shooting out the windows were forced to duck back inside and hopefully get away as the car smashed into the side of the building, then another car smashed into that one and it caused an explosion to erupt.
"Dammit, how the hell did he get so strong?!" Tachiki exclaimed as he, Shirou, and Michiru were shielding their faces and I was instinctively ducking from the explosion.
"I don't know, but we need to put him down fast before he kills somebody!" I shouted while I noticed a scowl on Shirou's face.
"I'll deal with it," Shirou told us and zipped away as Yaba was starting to make his way to the fence that led into the city, then a few officers fired canisters full of CS gas at Yaba in the hopes of disorientating him but he didn't appear to be bothered by it.
"Don't let him destroy anything else so do whatever it takes to stop him!" Tachiki shouted to the other officers while Yaba smashed through the fence.
"He broke through the fence, looks like he's going into the city!" an officer shouted in alarm and I clenched my teeth in frustration since we were throwing everything at this bastard and nothing was working.
I could see the CS gas clearing up and saw that Shirou was standing in Yaba's way but I was unsure if Shirou would be able to stop Yaba because of how strong and very durable he had become, then Shirou got ready as Yaba went to crush him with a fist and Shirou swung his fist up to meet Yaba's, then I could see Shirou seriously struggling as his eyes widened in shock and the ground started caving below him when Yaba smashed him into the ground.
"Holy shit!" I shouted in disbelief.
"Oh crap, Shirou!" Michiru screamed in horror as I resumed fire, targeting Yaba's eyes to at least help Shirou before he got crushed to death and I dumped the mag before loading the rifle with a fresh one as I noticed Shirou trying to lift Yaba's fist with his other arm while I could see his right arm looking quite broken.
"It's fine, I'm alright," Shirou snarled as he slowly lifted Yaba's fist and managed to stand up.
"You're not fine, your arm is broken!" I shouted while I kept shooting.
I was feeling nothing but panic because if even Shirou was having serious trouble with Yaba, then we had to figure out a way to put this guy down or god knows how many people in this city will die during his rampage, just as I saw Shirou zipping out under Yaba's fist and was like a blur as he went and kicked him in the face before knocking him down to the ground with a knee to the head until I saw Shirou's arm snapping back into place and my eyes bugged out at that.
"His arm just healed up!" Michiru exclaimed in disbelief while I lowered my rifle with an expression of bewilderment, though Yaba had grabbed Shirou with both hands and got up before trying to smash him into the ground again but Shirou broke out of his grip and was grappling Yaba's hands with a look of exertion.
"Even Ogami is having a hard time taking this thing down so if that monster makes it into the city, we're in serious trouble," Tachiki stated uneasily and I started running over to where Shirou and Yaba were, letting my rifle hang by my side on its sling as I climbed up Yaba's body to reach his back and wrapped my arms around his thick neck, trying to choke him out but he thrashed his head around and I was flung off before I crashed to the ground.
'Fuck, that was a bad idea,' I thought as I coughed harshly after getting the breath knocked out of me, then I got up just in time to see Michiru using Shirou as a stepping stone to get up to Yaba's back before she shifted into her harpy form and latched her talons onto his thick hide.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Shirou exclaimed.
"I'm gonna help you bring him...to some place...where there's...no people!" Michiru grunted loudly as she flapped her wings and struggled to lift Yaba in the air.
"You idiot, just run away!" Shirou shouted as I ran over and tried to help him by wrapping my arms around Yaba's legs to restrain them.
"Shut up, you need to stop thinking you need to do everything alone because I can do this, too! Would you just trust me for once?!" Michiru growled, just as Yaba started thrashing around and Michiru was thrown off his shoulders as veins started to pop out in my head and my arms while I was trying to keep him from moving.
Michiru changed back to normal as her tail swelled up to cushion her landing, then she started running back to where Shirou and I were restraining Yaba with great difficulty and I snarled as I tried to keep him from moving when an idea came to me.
I let go of Yaba and sent a swift kick into his knee to knock him off balance until Shirou took advantage of that by doing a suplex to throw Yaba behind him, just before he turned around and grabbed onto Yaba's wrists again to keep restraining him while I ran up the rampaging rhino beastman's back and restrained his legs again.
"He's pinned, do it!" I shouted, prompting Michiru to change into her harpy form and she flew up before grabbing Yaba's feet with her talons and trying to lift all of us in the air with her wings.
"You have to flap harder than that!" Shirou yelled and Michiru paused at that until she closed her eyes and her expression took up a look of concentration until her wings grew bigger, then she started flapping her wings and was becoming successful as we started lifting into the air when Michiru took us away from the police station.
"Ugh, would you stop struggling?!" Michiru yelled as we were currently flying over a neighborhood and Yaba was thrashing around.
"Shirou, make him stop wiggling around before Michiru loses her grip on him!" I exclaimed as I held onto Yaba's legs for dear life, then Shirou slammed his foot into Yaba's chin and that caused the rhino beastman to hit his head against the edge of a roof and he was rendered dazed after that.
"The wharf, there's no one over there!" Shirou notified Michiru.
"Good idea!" Michiru agreed and she started taking us to the city wharf, then we soon arrived at our intended destination and Yaba started thrashing around again.
"He's struggling again!" Michiru shouted as I tried to hold on or I would definitely be thrown off and plummet to the ground.
"Drop us!" Shirou instructed loudly and I would've called him crazy for even suggesting that this high up, but we didn't have a choice at the moment.
"This high up?!" Michiru yelled in pure disbelief.
"Michiru, don't worry about me and Shirou because we'll be fine, now hurry!" I added and Michiru nodded hesitantly.
"O-Okay!" Michiru said until she dropped us over one of the warehouses.
Yaba roared as we plummeted like a sack of bricks, then Shirou and I let go of the rhino beastman when all three of us came crashing through the skylight of one of the warehouses and Shirou and I grabbed onto a couple of chains to stop our fall while Yaba crashed into the concrete floor and left a crater.
After that, Shirou and I went and used a bunch of large chains to restrain Yaba as I let out a sigh of relief since this big bastard was finally stopped but now was the problem of how to transport him to a secure location, much less find a secure location that'll prevent him from breaking out since the police station was a big no, though I'll figure it out later as Michiru came flying through the skylight and landed on the ground.
"We did it," Michiru gasped as Shirou and I finished restraining Yaba with chains.
"Yeah, barely," Shirou agreed and I sighed tiredly.
"Thank god for that, now we just need to find a secure location to put him in, one where he won't be able to break out of," I pointed out as Shirou and I turned away from the crater, then I was about to take out my phone to call Tachiki when my sharp hearing picked up a deep growl behind us.
Suddenly, Shirou pushed me and Michiru aside when a large horn entered his back and exited his torso, Shirou gagging in extreme agony and being lifted in the air while the blood drained from my face and I was completely horrified by what I was seeing as Yaba broke through the chains and was getting bigger and stronger.
"S-Shirou," Michiru whimpered and I was unable to say anything as my mind was unable to comprehend that Shirou had been fatally injured and I started breathing heavily and shakily while trembling.
"I'm alright, just run," Shirou wheezed and Michiru covered her mouth in pure horror while I felt like hyperventilating and my eyes teared up in complete distress.
Yaba grabbed Shirou and pulled him off his new horn before throwing him to the ground, causing blood to splatter around him and I just kneel down next to him as I couldn't take my eyes off of the huge hole in his torso.
"O-Oh god...o-oh f-f-fuck...what do I do? What the fuck do I do?" I babbled as my mind was slipping into shock and I couldn't focus while I shuddered.
"S-Shirou, no," Michiru said as she sounded like she was going to cry.
"I'm fine..." Shirou gurgled as he spat up blood and could barely breathe.
"You're not fine after what he did to you! You need to get to a hospital!" Michiru screamed incredulously as I saw Yaba mutating further while his torso sprouted new arms and I was horrified by his new appearance, then Shirou struggled to stand up and blood gushed out while he was hunched over.
"It's my job, so I have to finish it," Shirou groaned and was suddenly slammed into the air by Yaba.
Shirou was grabbed in mid-air and then he was being brutally smashed into the floor and through crates as blood sprayed everywhere, droplets landing on me and Michiru as I was hyperventilating and I couldn't stop recalling the dead beastmen families I had killed during my time in War Dogs when Michiru started shouting distressfully as her fists enlarged.
"Stop it!" Michiru screamed and that made me immediately reach for my rifle and I started firing at Yaba in blind terror, my training being thrown out the window as my flight or flight instincts were kicking in and Michiru grabbed Yaba's arm to stop him from killing Shirou.
Michiru was struggling to lift Yaba's fist as my rifle ran empty and I dumped the mag, swapping it for a fresh one as I saw what was left of Shirou and I couldn't look at him anymore because of how unrecognizable he looked, then Yaba tried to swing his other fist to smash me and Michiru into red paste but I managed to grab the tanuki and jump out of the way in time.
I landed a safe distance away and reached for my rifle as I prayed for anyone to help us as I realized that I wasn't trained for this kind of horrific shit when I saw Yaba charging at us and I fired my rifle, targeting his eyes in the hope of blinding him so that it would make it more difficult for him to come after us when Michiru elongated her arms and enlarged her hands to throw to crates at Yaba to hopefully slow him down, then the crates smashed into Yaba's head but that didn't deter him in the slightest as his head was lowered and his horn was aimed right at Michiru.
"No!" I screamed and managed to shove Michiru out of the way in time, only to make myself a target instead and that cost me as the horn went right through my abdomen before exiting my back, some of my internal organs getting destroyed in the process until nothing but pure agony hit me while blood splattered onto the floor.
I screamed uncontrollably from the intense white hot pain that damn near drove me to unconsciousness until my throat went raw and then I started gagging and spurting up blood from my mouth, struggling to stay conscious while I dropped my rifle as I was grabbed by a massive hand and I let out a wheeze of agony as I was being pulled off the horn and then I found myself flying through the air until my back crashed into a couple of crates, which broke from the impact.
I couldn't breathe or move as I heard Michiru screaming for me in pure horror and I couldn't even say anything to let her know I was okay, then I started feeling terrified and all I could think about is that I didn't want to die or that Michiru needed help when my head throbbed and I remembered being part of a CIA black ops assassination program called Legion and that I had either killed beastmen or humans who supported beastmen while I was in Legion.
I remembered that when I was recruited by Legion, they put me through a test a see if I was worthy of being a part of Legion so I endured 72 hours of simulated torture to see if I could be broken but I endured it through sheer will alone until my final test was to kill a man and I just shot him without mercy until I was welcomed into the program, being taught so many things and then I went through a medical procedure to turn me into a superhuman assassin while I had a microchip implanted into the base of my neck that would be used to activate me once the time was right.
I remembered so many missions that I went on for the past three years until my latest target had been a beastman family and I was about to take the shot with a scoped rifle when I saw that the little girl reminded me of Sarah since the girl looked similar to my cousin when she was at that age and I couldn't go through with the mission since I had realized that I became no better than the monster that murdered my parents.
The last thing I remember was trying to resist the microchip's activation phrase 'a good soldier follows orders' while my head felt like it was splitting when I collapsed and heard footsteps as I passed out from the pain.
So much death and suffering that I was responsible and now karma has caught up to me while I felt like I was dying, then I saw Michiru getting grabbed by Yaba and started crushing her in his hands as the memory of my parents getting murdered ran through my mind when something in me finally snapped and I struggled to stand up.
"No...never again!" I snarled weakly as I was hunched over and clutched at my lethal injury.
At that moment, a tingling started spreading throughout my body until it soon turned into a huge burst of energy that made my eyes bug out as I felt completely invigorated as if I drank several energy drinks until the huge energy boot turned into intense pain.
There was a silver glow all around me as I simply screamed from what I was feeling until I couldn't stand anymore and fell onto all fours, hearing my clothes burst apart and my belt snapping in half as it and my equipment and badge fell to the floor, everything shrinking all around me until I was the same size as the mutated Yaba, who was still about to crush Michiru into red paste.
I didn't think and just charged forward, taken completely off guard by how fast I was moving as crates were completely destroyed and windows shattered when I attacked Yaba, plowing right into him and having his arms dismembered from the rest of his body while Michiru started falling and I snatched her in mid-air with my mouth while I was moving so fast until I came to a stop.
Something was wrong, everything felt completely different and my injuries were fully healed up as if I was never hurt in the first place and then there was the fact that I was moving on all fours as if I wasn't fully humanoid anymore but I needed to put Michiru down so I lowered my head and placed Michiru on the ground before opening my mouth to let her go.
"I-Impossible..." Shirou gasped in pure disbelief and I looked at him to see that he was gaping up at me while appearing stunned.
"Shirou, what is it?" I asked, then I recoiled after hearing my voice being much deeper and having an echo tone to it as my eyes widened when I realized that everything didn't shrink, I just got much bigger.
"Doug, you're the silver wolf?!" Michiru exclaimed in shock and that made me freeze up after hearing that so I needed a mirror, just something to see my reflection when I saw a large piece of glass that was still attached to one of the windowsills and I took a look at my reflection.
I was rendered speechless as I saw that I wasn't human anymore, having a quadrupedal lupine body with silver fur that was swaying slightly as if I was underwater and I had a glowing silver aura with glowing white eyes, but then I noticed that there were protrusions on my forelimbs that almost looked like feathers in a way as my tail swayed gently.
"Wha...oh my god," I gasped in complete shock as I was seeing the impossible before me when I heard Yaba roaring and quickly looked to see the stumps on what was left of his arms forming blades and he charged at me in pure rage.
"Doug!" Shirou cried out as I was completely frozen when I noticed him reaching for the collar on his neck and pulling it off.
I could see what appeared to be a scar on his neck now that he wasn't wearing his collar and he roared as he exploded into a bright teal light, then a glowing blur moved at Yaba so fast that I almost missed it until there was a flash of teal light and then Yaba was standing as if he was forced to stop until he fell apart into many sliced pieces.
I was breathing heavily as I looked at where Shirou was and my eyes widened at the sight of a teal wolf with a glowing aura and at the same size I was right now, the glowing wolf having pointy protrusions on his shoulders that were shaped into blades and so was his tail as he looked back at me and I saw silver glowing eyes but what made me completely stunned was the fact that I knew this was Shirou based on the marking on his forehead.
"Holy shit..." I trailed off as Shirou's protrusions and tail shifted back to normal, the glowing wolf slowly heading over to me as he stared at me.
"Doug...how is this possible?" Shirou questioned quietly as his voice had the same deep and echo tone as mine when I started feeling weak all of a sudden.
I found myself shrinking as the silver glow died down and my body slowly changed back into a more humanoid form, then I was back in my beast form and completely naked with steam coming off me as I was on my hands and knees and I swayed from the huge amount of disorientation and exhaustion I felt, simply collapsing as Shirou changed back into his beast form and he collapsed as well.
"Shirou, Doug, no!" Michiru shouted in alarm as she ran over to us and I felt her touching my shoulder hesitantly as if she was afraid of causing me pain.
"Oh god...feel like shit," I groaned weakly and Michiru reached into her pocket.
"I'm calling an ambulance," Michiru said urgently, and that caused Shirou to look at her.
"No, don't," Shirou groaned, making Michiru pause while she held her phone.
"Michiru...I don't know how, but we're fine...exhausted and weak, but fine," I grunted as Shirou and I weakly got up onto our hands and knees when I heard a car pull up quickly outside, then I saw the mayor and Koichi enter the warehouse and I wasn't expecting that.
"You three are alright, thank goodness," the mayor said in relief but she looked slightly confused when she saw me naked until she put up a professional front.
"Mayor Rose, what are you doing here?" Michiru inquired with a look of surprise as the mayor approached us.
"Tachiki told me what was happening," the mayor replied and Michiru started looking at me and Shirou frantically.
"I don't think Shirou and Doug are-" Michiru tried to say but was interrupted.
"No, they're going to be okay," the mayor reassured and looked at Koichi before adding, "Help them up."
"Right," Koichi said as he shifted into his beast form and walked over to gently grab Shirou before helping him up and wrapping the wolf beastman's arm around his shoulders to hold him up, then he held out a hand and I weakly took it until he pulled me up and looked at Michiru until he motioned his head at me in a gesture for her to help me stay standing.
Michiru blushed, possibly at the thought of holding me upright since I was naked and she went over to wrap my arm around her shoulders before moving her arm around my back to keep me upright, then Koichi removed his coat and gave it to Shirou until the wolf beastman managed to put it on and shifted back to his human form while I looked away when Koichi started helping Shirou to the car and he sent a look to the mayor.
"She and Doug know about me and as for Doug, he's the same as I am," Shirou said quietly until he was guided away again and the mayor let out a slight gasp, though she didn't appear so surprised when Shirou informed her about me.
"I see..." the mayor muttered while I was still trying to comprehend what happened.
"Doug, what just happened?" Michiru wondered and I was quiet for a short while until I let out a shaky sigh.
"I don't know...I just don't know...Michiru, what the hell am I?" I questioned as I looked at her with a terrified expression since I wasn't trained for this and I was out of my element because of that.
"I believe I can answer that once we head back to Beast Co-op, Doug," the mayor said, catching me off guard.
"You knew what I was the whole time, didn't you?" I asked with narrowed eyes and the mayor nodded.
"I had my suspicions but now they have been confirmed by Ogami, though I believe this isn't the best place to explain everything so come with me," the mayor replied and I grimaced.
"What about my sidearm and equipment, as well as the rifle that is nearby?" I inquired.
"An officer will drop your equipment off at Beast Co-op and the rifle will be taken back to the police station, now come along since I doubt you would want to be seen in public without any clothes on," the mayor pointed out and I blushed at that as Michiru helped me outside to where the mayor's limo was parked.
We managed to get back to Beast Co-op without any trouble and hurried inside before anyone spotted us, then Shirou and I were bandaged up until I got dressed in a simple red t-shirt, blue cargo pants, and white sneakers, then I headed over to the library where Shirou mostly spends his time and I saw the mayor and Michiru waiting for me.
"How are you feeling, Doug?" the mayor asked.
"Pretty good, which is surprising since I shouldn't even be alive right now," I pointed out when I looked at Shirou, who was lying on the couch and fast asleep while his injuries didn't look severe anymore as he simply had on pants and boots now.
"I see that his injuries are healing up nicely, which brings us to my point that he and I shouldn't even be alive right now," I added and Michiru nodded.
"Doug's right, he and Shirou were so badly injured that they shouldn't have survived, much less regenerate from being impaled...so, they really are immortal then," Michiru muttered, sounding like she was still processing everything.
"I'm just glad that you weren't badly hurt as well," the mayor stated and I looked at her.
"I'm relieved as well and I don't want to sound rude, but I believe you owe us some answers after what happened," I said with an unreadable expression on my face and the mayor looked away.
"So, who is Shirou? I mean, what I saw back there...is he the silver wolf?" Michiru inquired.
"Your friend is the silver wolf, isn't she?" the mayor evaded and I frowned.
"Nazuna is nothing but an imposter giving people false hope just for popularity, so stop trying to play dumb because I've noticed that you and Shirou were hiding something from me after the bombing incident, not to mention that I heard Shirou mutter to you that we found out about him and that I was the same as him," I stated and the mayor sighed.
"I see that nothing gets past you...very well, I do believe I owe you both answers so you're right when you say that Michiru's friend is pretending to be the silver wolf," the mayor replied.
"So, then he's...Shirou's the real silver wolf, right?" Michiru questioned hesitantly but the mayor was completely stoic.
"And what if that were true?" the mayor asked and I sighed.
"Thinking about it now, it explains a lot if I have to be honest because no one could survive the amount of physical trauma he's gone through the entire time I've known him, much less healing up from them so rapidly or surviving things that would kill a regular person," I pointed out while Michiru looked uncertain.
"Doug has a point but as for me...the truth is that I don't know anything about Shirou or even tried to learn about him so I guess that I didn't think it even mattered because I always thought he was so different from me," Michiru admitted and the mayor looked at her.
"Because he's a beastman and you're a human?" the mayor asked and Michiru looked down.
"Deep down, I was never really okay with how he hated humans so much, so I thought he was just being prejudiced but...in reality, I'm the same way because I've been telling myself that we're different because he's a beastman.
When I first transformed into a beastman, I was scared but that was only because I didn't know anything about them so...I want to learn more about Shirou," Michiru confessed and the mayor looked thoughtful until she looked at me.
"And what about you, Doug? Did you feel the same way Michiru did?" the mayor asked and I thought long and hard about my answer that would best describe how I felt about the whole thing.
"To be honest, I thought he was an asshole at first since he wasn't being very nice but that was because I didn't have a better understanding of him and I was scared and confused at the time since I had just woken up in the forest on the mainland without any memories of who I am or where I came from.
Now that I know who and what he really is, I realized that I've misjudged him and that I was being the asshole because he thought I was a terrorist at first and I don't blame him since Michiru and show up in the city and the second we show up at the festival, a group of beastmen mercenaries carried out an attack that could've killed people and not to mention the gun I had on me didn't help matters either.
So, knowing what I know now, I suppose I also want to learn more about Shirou so that I'll have a better understanding of him and not be so judgmental next time," I said and the mayor hummed thoughtfully at that until she nodded.
"I understand," the mayor responded and gestured for me and Michiru to follow her.
She left the library while we were right behind her until we made it to the roof and walked over to the railing before looking up at the giant unfinished silver wolf statue that was on the roof of the building across from us.
"A silver wolf with wings, huh? It's a little over the top, but people always try to make the imitation more flashy than the real thing," the mayor commented and I chuckled.
"No kidding, and if you ask me, that thing's a goddamn eyesore if I ever saw one," I agreed, causing the mayor to look at me amused before Michiru cleared her throat.
"Imitation?" Michiru questioned and the mayor frowned as she looked down and closed her eyes.
"Shirou Ogami is indeed the real silver wolf for a thousand years now," the mayor replied and she started walking to one of the tables while I was stunned to hear that and so was Michiru if her expression told me anything.
"Jesus, he's lived that long? Damn, he looks pretty good for his age," I remarked in disbelief as the mayor sat down.
"In appearance, he does look young but that's because he stopped aging after he became the silver wolf," the mayor answered and that confused me.
"What do you mean he became the silver wolf?" Michiru inquired curiously.
"The truth is Ogami hasn't always been the silver wolf," the mayor said.
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"It's a long and complicated story...a thousand years ago, at the eastern edge of Europe, there was a city called Nirvasyl and it was a place just like Anima city, a place where beastmen lived...Ogami used to live there as a normal wolf beastman.
Back then, beastmen and humans used to trade with each other and not only did they co-exist, but they were also friends...one day, without any warning, an army of humans attacked Nirvasyl and killed his entire clan, then they killed him too.
And just like all the others, his corpse was abandoned but then, something strange happened...I don't know exactly how it happened, but the blood of his 2000 fallen comrades gave him the power of immortality.
At least, that's what he believes," the mayor explained and I was just completely silent as I took in what I heard.
"No way..." Michiru trailed off in shock and I noticed that she was also sitting at the table.
"After obtaining the power of the silver wolf, he searched for the general who killed his clan and he tracked down the army of humans until he ended up killing many soldiers...however, he was never able to find the general.
After realizing how empty revenge felt, he decided to become a protector of the beastmen," the mayor continued and I frowned thoughtfully.
"And that's how the legend of the silver wolf began," I pointed out quietly and the mayor nodded.
"Exactly, not only did he protect them from oppression caused by the humans, he led them to new lands as well," the mayor said.
"As Doug said, that's where the legend of the silver wolf came from," Michiru responded.
"I met him for the first time in Europe and it was at the end of the second world war...some countries were trying to analyze the powers of beastmen and were trying to turn them into bioweapons. In those countries, beastmen were captured, thrown into prison, and used for their experiments.
That was when we were saved by the silver wolf...however, when he saw the horrible conditions that the beastmen were subjected to, the ones used in experiments, he killed all the humans in the lab.
After that, he never transformed into the silver wolf again because he became afraid of his own strength so he sealed away the power of the silver wolf, now listen to me carefully, neither of you can tell anyone what you've learned here today, understand?" the mayor told us and I was completely speechless from hearing the horrors that Shirou had experienced, the horrific loss he went through so it was no wonder he was closed off from others since anyone else would be the same way if they went through something that terrible.
"No, I don't understand," Michiru admitted and that took me off guard as I looked at her.
"What?" the mayor questioned.
"I really don't understand, so then I'll keep treating him the same way I always do. To me, he's still the same guy, Shirou Ogami, an unfriendly beastman who fights his hardest to protect Anima city," Michiru stated and the mayor laughed.
"Alright, that's fine...in fact, that's what you should do," the mayor said and Michiru looked surprised at first until she smiled and nodded.
"Okay," Michiru replied until she looked at me and her smile went away.
"Before I forget, Shirou was not the only one I saw becoming a silver wolf," Michiru pointed out and the mayor nodded until she turned her attention to me.
"What she says is true, and Ogami confirmed my suspicions earlier so could you explain how you are able to become a silver wolf, Doug?" the mayor asked and I sighed.
"I don't know, I just don't know...I have recovered most of my memories but there is one small chunk that's still missing and I'm thinking that whatever went on during that missing period, it must've happened during that time," I theorized and the mayor looked thoughtful.
"I see...that's disappointing but I'm sure you'll remember eventually since you've been recovering your memories through certain triggers, so it's only a matter of time now," the mayor told me and I nodded in agreement just as Kuro flew past Michiru and landing on the mayor's shoulder.
"Anyway, after surviving imprisonment, I decided to become a scientist...since the humans were doing it, I thought it would be smart for beastmen to learn more about ourselves," the mayor explained and stroked Kuro's head with her finger as the crow looked to be enjoying that.
"This little guy was there in the lab too, you know. He's a crow who was genetically modified and that's why he has such a long lifespan so he was saved just like me," the mayor added as Kuro took off into the air and flew away.
"I see..." I trailed off as I thought about what she said and it made me reflect on the kind of man I have become now.
"Um, I won't tell anyone...I won't tell anyone that Shirou is the silver wolf, but...there is somebody who I think needs to know that the silver wolf actually does exist, that's all I ask," Michiru requested and the mayor looked down while appearing uncertain.
"I wonder what he would say to that," the mayor muttered.
"I don't mind," a familiar voice spoke up and I looked to see that it was Shirou, who was holding out his arm so that Kuro could perch on it.
"Shirou," Michiru said with a look of surprise and Shirou looked at her with a rare soft smile.
"Go on then," Shirou encouraged, and I was wondering what changed since something about Shirou seemed different now.
"Okay," Michiru replied with a smile as she got up, then she removed her jacket so that she could tie it around her waist and her arms turned into wings until she took off into the air and was flying over to the building across from Beast Co-op.
"Are you sure that was the right call? She going to be telling Nazuna something very personal about you," I pointed out.
"She'd do it even if we told her not to," Shirou replied and I smirked at that.
"True, she is rather stubborn that way, though now that she's gone, it's time for you two to know what I remembered," I stated and the others nodded.
"Indeed, so what have you remembered this time?" the mayor asked and I sighed.
"Not long before I lost my memories, I used to be part of a CIA black ops assassination program called Legion and the program's purpose is to eliminate beastmen and humans who are in support of beastmen so I've killed politicians, activists, and more," I replied and the others looked confused.
"Why are War Dogs and Legion carrying out genocide against beastmen? They must have a reason for doing all of this," Shirou pointed out and I sent him a bitter look.
"It's quite simple, fear...think about this for one second, what do you think would happen if a beastman who's a Hitler-like figure rallies beastmen together to overthrow humanity's place on the food chain and they become nothing but cattle?
That's what War Dogs and Legion are afraid of so they believe they are saving humanity from such a possible future, even if it damns them in the process," I explained and the mayor looked disturbed by such a revelation while Shirou was tense.
"I see...that's quite troubling so I'm assuming those assassins that attacked this building a while back are a part of either War Dogs or Legion," the mayor said and I nodded.
"Yes, and they weren't alone because Tachiki had called me a while back to inform me that all the bodies and the evidence had gone missing while there was a power outage that happened in the building.
He also mentioned that there was a maintenance team that had arrived in the building and was supposedly fixing the problem but I'm assuming it was a clean-up crew in disguise that caused the power outage so that they could infiltrate the building and cover up the incident by removing all traces of what happened," I said and Shirou frowned.
"In that case, there's still a major threat out there that we need to keep an eye out for since we don't know when they will strike again," Shirou pointed out and I nodded.
"Agreed," I replied and Shirou sighed.
"Doug...I wanted to apologize," Shirou said and I looked at him in confusion.
"For what?" I asked and was shocked that Shirou started looking regretful.
"For treating you like a monster when you are clearly no longer that person, so it was wrong of me to treat you like you were an enemy while you felt so much guilt and regret for what happened," Shirou told me and I was completely stunned by that.
"Shirou, you really don't have to apologize to me about that because really don't blame you...anyone would condemn and vilify me after hearing that I've committed war crimes," I said and Shirou grimaced.
"Still, I've been down the same road you've been so I can understand why you did all those things but let me give you a piece of advice, try not to remain stuck in the past since it can have negative effects on you in the near future," Shirou stated until he and the mayor walked away.
I didn't know what to think after hearing wise words from someone who's lived far longer than I have, but I knew he had a point since I needed to let go of the past to move forward but is it possible for me to move forward and atoning after doing so many terrible things? With that simple question on my mind, I simply rested my arms on the railing and became lost in thought after that.
A/N Hey guys, bet you weren't expecting Doug to be a silver wolf just like Shirou but the reason how he became that way will be revealed and it will shock you so get ready for that, but either way, let me know what you think and stay tuned.
