A/N: I'm baaaack! Finally! Sorry to keep you all waiting like this. Ok… onward…
Nicky007 – You called be homie! I feel so cool, yo!
Lady Lilrin – Oh, ye of dirty thoughts! I hope this chappie is fun enough for you! (PS – Cabwiwin!)
Steffi-333 – The "happy update dance" eh? Fun! Please don't set your chipmunks on me! ::cowers:: AAH!
Demonic Psycho - ::blushes:: Aw… Thanks. Also, Jaclyn has built your villain, but your e-mail isn't working. You might want to contact her!
Cecily Marla Smith – "Oh, by the way, we think that the werewolf is harmless enough so you needn't go out and try to kill it. Thanks all the same." Hehehehe! That's great!
morph – Yeah, a very rough night!
Hiril Moon – Lots and lots of werewolf activities! Sorry, won't mention him again… though I still would like some nachos…
schizomaniax – You named your killer trashcan Steve? Hehehe! Brilliant. Ooh, a virtual Pyro! ::huggles virtual Pyro::
cheatachu82 – Thankee muchly!
Shiek927 – Aw, thanks. I'm continuing as fast as… well, I'm continuing as fast as I am!
Even within his steel prison, Otto knew the sun was setting – he could feel the werewolf in him rousing, anxious for the moon to rise. All he could do now was pray that the bonds would hold and he could pass through the night unnoticed. Jekyll and Mina had positioned themselves on either side of the door to act as sort of lookouts – just in case. The moon peeked her silvery face over the horizon, and with a deep breath, Otto succumbed to the werewolf venom coursing through his veins.
Otto dropped to his knees, pain surged through every fiber of his body – shaking loose the foundations of his mind. In a matter of moments, he would neither know nor remember the two people by the door and would kill them as soon as look at them. With a cry of anguish, he buried his face in his hands, feeling the fur as it sprouted from his face and the claws as they grew from his hands.
Mina and Jekyll watched in a mixture of awe and fear as Otto's skin washed away in a wave of dark black-brown fur. The youth's cries soon morphed into howls as the transformation neared completion. Soon, the Otto they knew was no longer with them, having been forced to the darkest, furthest corner of the werewolf's mind and before them stood a massive, fierce, hungry, full-grown werewolf. His piercing green eyes darted between Mina and Jekyll. He crouched, his powerful nose taking in the scents of the room and the two League members. His gaze stopped on Mina. Vampire… He lunged, only to be violently stopped by the restraints. With a roar of frustration, the werewolf pulled against the chains, extending them to their limit. He had only one thought on his mind – Feed…
Cabrilyn sat in her room – bored out of her mind. There wasn't a whole lot she could do on her own – she couldn't read a book, and she certainly couldn't sketch. She hated the feeling of uselessness that accompanied her blindness – not to mention the loneliness. Especially now since Tom was off hunting werewolves, Davis was hiding somewhere, Mina and Jekyll had just disappeared, and she wasn't sure of what had become of the others… A knock on the door jolted her out of her stupor. 'At last,' she thought, 'Some company.' "Come in," she said, not really caring who it was, just so long as she would have someone to talk to.
The door swung open and in came Skinner, Mortie's piece of paper in hand. He bore no greasepaint on his face, but it mattered not to Cabrilyn – who could not see him regardless. He still had mixed emotions about the previous night's events, and wished to conceal that from everyone else. "What are you doing cooped up in here?" He asked. "It's a beautiful night." She merely smiled, but inwardly she had to fight back her urge to ask Skinner if he'd heard from this Mortie of his. Skinner caught the look of anxiousness on her face – it reminded him of why he had come. "I've got something for you," he said, sliding the paper into her hand.
Running her hands over the paper, Cabrilyn cocked her head. "And what is this?" She asked. The paper felt worn, and wrinkled, and it had been torn in half. It seemed a very strange thing for Skinner to give her.
With a smile, the gentleman thief replied, "That is the address to your parents' home." Cabrilyn looked as though she might burst into tears of joy. She stood, meaning to locate Skinner and give him a hug. The moment was stopped before it had even started by a monstrous, guttural roar piercing the otherwise quiet night.
Skinner rushed to the window – the sound had come from the Nautilus. He glanced back at the wall just to his right – on it hung Cabrilyn's twin swords, dormant since the battle at Reed's fortress. Pausing for a moment, he then snatched one of the blades from its hanging place. He would need it…
No sound had been more frightening to Mina and Jekyll than that of the chains splitting in two. The newly freed werewolf practically laughed at having finally beaten the chains. The beast, its brief celebration over, sprung at its former guards. Luckily, Mina's vampire reflexes kicked in, and she seized Jekyll by the arm and leapt free of the oncoming onslaught of teeth and claws. At this point, Nemo came bursting into the room, followed closely by a dozen fully armed crewmen. The werewolf stared at them. The captain merely drew his sword.
"Captain!" Jekyll shouted. Nemo shot him a fleeting glance, but nothing more. There was a monster loose on his Lady, and that he would not allow. As far as he was concerned, the beast would not leave this room alive.
The werewolf snorted, seemingly intrigued by the fearless Indian – this would be a fun hunt indeed. It crouched, making ready to start this hunt. The thick, stalwart muscles in its legs tensed… Suddenly, a bunch of bats flew into the creatures face, catching him off guard and taking his attention from Nemo.
As Mina's bats bought them time, Jekyll ran to the captain fervently repeating, "Don't kill him!"
"Doctor! Have you gone mad?" Nemo said sternly. "Protecting a monster such as this?"
"It's Otto!"
Those two words threw the werewolf into a different perspective for Nemo… Still, there was a risk to his Lady, and his crew – this beast would not harm either, and if it came down to it, killing was not out of the question for the captain.
Unleashing another roar of frustration, the werewolf swatted his way free of the bats and came barreling strait for the door. Nemo hauled Jekyll out of the way, and the crewman jumped to avoid the livid beast. Before any of them could gain their bearings again, the monster that had once been Otto had disappeared.
Milo McRiley prided himself on being an ingenious inventor… It seemed nearly everything he touched just worked, and brilliantly so. He once had friends, but he chose not to dwell on his memories of them – they were not good ones. He much preferred the company of machined than that of humans. He loved his work, his inventions – in fact, he had become so fixated with them that his sanity was teetering on the edge of a knife, but, like many on the brink of insanity, he remained blissfully unaware of the fact.
Now, as the full moon dipped low – seemingly peering into McRiley's window to watch the mad Irishman, Milo McRiley's world was shaken apart. The door was flung off its hinges, smashing various inventions as it crashed into the wall, splintering on impact. The hulking form of the werewolf loomed at the door for a moment, but only a moment. It knew there was a man in this desolate, one-room apartment – he was food, and nothing more.
Giving practically no thought to McRiley's prized inventions as he knocked them from tables, or crushed them under his massive clawed feet. Hunger was driving him now… The frightened man had seized what inventions he could carry and cowered in a corner of the ill-lit room.
The sudden crack of gunfire shook the cowering inventor further, especially as the werewolf roared and wheeled around, blood seeping from its left shoulder. Sawyer lowered his rifle and squarely met the monster's eyes. He was rather shocked to find something familiar in them… something almost human… The werewolf let out a low, menacing growl, snapping the young American back to the task at hand. Human or not, innocent people would die if he didn't put an end to this beast here and now…
Sawyer cocked the Winchester and took his aim…
A/N: Another cliffie! I know, I'm mean like that! ::cackles in evil-type way::