A/N Hey guys, welcome to my second BNA story called The Rogue where it has aspects of Jason Bourne and John Wick in it, which will be interesting indeed since my OC will be getting into plenty of action after he wakes up with amnesia and uncovers a conspiracy connected to him after the events of the anime.
But, I've decided to have the OC be transported throughout different dimensions filled with horror and survival since I had planned that concept in my first BNA crossover story called Haunted, though I don't exactly have the motivation to continue it anymore because of many reasons so I'm thinking of canceling it since I hate leaving stories unfinished for who knows how long.
Well, without further ado, let's begin.
"A good soldier follows orders."
"A good soldier follows orders."
"A good soldier follows orders."
I groaned as I stirred from the constant words echoing in my head, hearing the sounds of birds chirping and feeling the warmth of the sun shining down on me as I grimaced, slowly opening my eyes and squinting from the bright light hitting my vision as my left shoulder hurt like hell and I raised my arm to shield my eyes from the sun.
I was confused, disoriented, and in pain as I noticed that there were trees all around me and that I was resting my back against one before I went to check my shoulder to figure out what was wrong, then I saw my shoulder had a hole in it and it had stopped bleeding as I watched the muscle tissue and flesh knit back together with widened eyes until my shoulder was fully healed like nothing had happened to it in the first place with blood on my shirt being the only sign that something might've happened.
"What the...fuck?" I muttered in disbelief as I wondered how that was possible, just before I realized something that alarmed me slightly.
I couldn't remember what happened last night...scratch that, I couldn't remember how I got here or who I was and that seriously worried me but all I can recall was the name Douglas Jackson, so I assumed that was my name before I spotted what appeared to be a gun in my hand.
My breath hitched as I saw the weapon in my right hand and raised it carefully to get a better look at it, but what was strange was that it felt familiar in my hand like I had used a gun before and I identified it as a Glock 17 without even realizing it until I noticed how I was keeping my finger off the trigger and holding it safely.
I didn't know what was going on and that scared me, but I went to stand up and started tipping over as a dizzy spell just hit me and I let out a groan while leaning against the tree to make sure I didn't collapse.
I instinctively closed my eyes as I waited for the dizzy spell to pass while my head felt like it was spinning and nausea hit me, making me lean over with my hand holding onto the tree trunk as I dry heaved and could barely think from how disoriented I suddenly felt so I concluded that this sucked and that I must be suffering from losing a lot of blood after being unconscious for who knows how long.
"Oh god...feel like shit," I groaned weakly as I waited for the nausea and disorientation to pass while I was still dry heaving and feeling weak, then I soon felt better and breathed heavily just before my stomach rumbled loudly.
I was definitely hungry, that was for damn sure so it made me wonder just how long I had been unconscious as I let out a sigh and decided to see if I could find a road or something to flag down a car for help, though I should search for a lake or a river first to wash the blood off me since it wouldn't exactly give off a good impression if I was seen covered in blood.
With that in mind, I stuffed the gun in the back of my jeans and proceeded to pick a random direction since I had no idea where I was going or if I'd be able to find help or not, though I managed to find a river and was relieved that I could get all the blood off me so that I wouldn't look like I had just killed someone.
I made it to the river and knelt down before removing my shirt and the gun, placing the firearm on the ground next to me as I saw a caucasian man in his mid-twenties with blue eyes and short blond hair staring back at me in the reflection of the water, then I went and held the shirt under the water to wash off the blood as I wondered how I got shot and why I had a gun in the first place.
Either way, I was finished washing the shirt and took it out of the river to see that it was clean, then I wrung it out and shook the shirt to dry it as the whole process to clean and dry my shirt took the better part of an hour until I put my shirt back on and noticed the sun was starting to set.
I noticed that the shirt was a little damp, but the sun should dry it off completely as I picked up the gun and found myself removing the magazine and checked it, seeing that it was full while I pulled back the slide to see a round in the chamber and loaded the mag back in the gun.
"Okay, first things first, locate a road to flag down a car for help and see if I can figure things out from there," I muttered as I stuffed the gun into the back of my pants again and left my shirt untucked to cover it since I'd rather not get arrested for carrying a loaded weapon.
Once I started walking to see if I could find a road, I thought about how I seemed to know what I was doing when I was checking the gun and it got me thinking about how I might be experienced in using one as the trees passed by all around me during my trip through the forest.
Pretty soon, I perked up when I heard the sounds of a car and a motorcycle nearby and started moving quicker when I reached a hill with a guardrail and felt relieved that I had a way out of here, then I was taken off guard by a figure moving on the guard rail on all fours when the person jumped off the guard rail and I heard a female scream coming from the person.
The stranger went tumbling down the hill as I saw a motorcycle and black panel van pull up next to the guardrail, though that wasn't important as the girl collided right into me and we crashed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, then I got a good look at her and was shocked to see that the girl who was on top of me had animal traits as she scrambled to get off of me and we quickly stood up.
"What the hell?" I gasped as I looked at her, seeing that she might be in her late teens while she had a red ratty cloak covering the rest of her, but I could see that she looked like a humanoid tanuki of some kind as she looked terrified and quickly gazed back until I saw three people coming down the hill after her.
"(Run!)" the girl shouted at me in Japanese, and strangely enough, I understood what she was saying but even I understood that those people didn't look friendly at all with the weapons they had in their hands and it's almost like I could just sense the hatred coming off of them.
Taking her advice, I ran with her as we bolted into the forest to try and escape the hostile strangers that were after the animal girl for some reason, the two of us running like our lives depended on it while the girl looked back at our pursuers and I saw that we were cut off by who I assume to be the hostile strangers' friends as one of them was about to swing a wooden sword into the girl's head.
"Watch out!" I alerted as I grabbed the girl and yanked her out of the way so that she wouldn't get hit, then I moved her behind me to protect her as the guy with the wooden sword scowled.
"(Unbelievable, looks like we have a fucking beastman lover,)" the man growled as he glared at me with hate in his eyes and I noticed that the girl and I were surrounded by the hostile strangers.
"(Whoa, whoa, take it easy so let's just calm down and talk this over, okay?)" I placated while sounding scared as I held up my hands to show that I wasn't a threat, then I realized that I was fluently speaking Japanese and that took me completely by surprise as one of the hostile strangers scoffed.
"(Don't make us laugh, this is the road that beastmen use to escape to Anima city and you must be one of those beastman lovers who is helping her, so we knew we'd catch you if we waited here,)" the guy with the motorcycle helmet said as he took out a collapsible baton and flicked it open.
"(Listen, we're nobody so just let us go because none of you have to do this,)" I pleaded while my heart's racing and nothing but terror ran through my system, then I remembered the gun I had with me and got ready to use it while my face held an expression of fear and panic.
"(Shut your fucking mouth, you are a traitor to your kind by helping those ugly freaks so we're going to teach you a lesson by breaking every damn bone in your body!)" the guy with the sword snarled as he raised his weapon and swung it at me.
At that moment, my eyes turned cold and focused while my body language became calm as I suddenly grabbed the wooden blade when a strange tingling sensation shot throughout my body, then I quickly disarmed the man before he could react and brutally struck him a few times with fast and vicious attacks that knocked him senseless with a broken nose as everyone was startled by my reaction and something else.
"(Shit, he's one of those freaks! Kill him!)" the man with the motorcycle helmet shouted, prompting the hostile people to attack me while ignoring the tanuki girl.
A few of the attackers came at me at once with different melee weapons and I dodged with unnatural speed and agility as I pulled my gun out, shooting two attackers before throwing another one to the ground and grabbing the fourth one to use as a human shield.
I killed the third attacker with one shot to the head and shot the woman with the crossbow, as well as another guy until I kicked away the man I was using as a shield and shot him in the back before he hit the ground and didn't show any signs of movement when I came out of whatever happened to me and my eyes widened in horror as I realized that I killed six people easily without even flinching while the girl looked horrified of what I did.
"Holy shit," I said dumbly as the gun shook in my trembling hands, then I dropped it and stumbled back from the dead bodies as I felt sick and overwhelmed by what happened.
"(Y-You killed them...)" the girl trailed off in shock as I raised my hands to look at them, then my eyes bugged out when I saw silver fur covering me while my hands were almost like humanoid paws with sharp claws.
'Jesus Christ, what the hell am I?' I thought, feeling seriously scared of myself as I looked at the tanuki girl and she flinched when my attention was on her until someone let out an impressed whistle.
"Damn, I was not expecting to see that so you're good, really good," an unfamiliar female voice announced in English, causing me to quickly look in the direction of who said that and I saw a dark-skinned woman with dreadlocks approaching us.
"W-Who the hell are you?" I questioned in a shaky tone of voice, not trusting her and I wasn't even sure if I trusted myself at the moment because killing those people felt too easy, like I had done that before and it scared me.
"Oh, you can settle down since I'm not here to hurt you or the tanuki girl and simply want to help you both get to Anima city," the woman said with a laid-back expression, calming me slightly but I was still on edge as the tanuki girl avoided eye contact with the bodies and kept her distance from me.
"And why would you help us? We don't know you, so give us a reason to convince us that you're not with those assholes," I demanded suspiciously, then the woman rolled her eyes while sighing until she suddenly changed into a humanoid mink and that caused me to gasp.
"There, happy now?" the woman asked sarcastically while I was gawking at her.
"Fucking christ, how the hell did you do that?" I questioned in disbelief, making the woman look at me weirdly while the tanuki girl stared at me in surprise.
"Did you live under a rock or something? I'm a beastman and so are you and miss tanuki over there, now quit acting dumb because it's annoying as hell," the woman said irritably before I blinked at that.
"What the hell is a beastman?" I asked in confusion, causing the woman's eye to twitch as she looked at me like I was an idiot while the tanuki girl looked like she didn't know how to react to my question.
"For the love of- are you fucking serious right now? What, did you hit your head or something and have memory loss because of it?" the woman questioned in annoyance.
"Maybe, I can't remember anything before waking up in this forest other than my name so I guess I'm pretty clueless on most things," I admitted, catching the others by surprise before the woman sighed.
"Great...well, I'm not really interested in explaining to you what our kind is since I need to clean up your mess before a bunch of humans stumble onto it and get the police involved, which would be a pain in the ass since human law enforcement is just as bad as the beastmen hunters because they gladly help those assholes out in killing members of our kind," the woman stated, then she let out a whistle before two people came out from a pair of bushes and each turned into a humanoid boar and hyena before they went to get rid of the bodies.
"Um, I'm sorry but you haven't told us your name yet, so who are you?" the tanuki asked in English, causing the woman to look at her before she smirked.
"So, you can speak? Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm just a volunteer who loves to lend a helping hand to beastmen in trouble, Marie Itami," Marie introduced in a rather smug way, making me sweatdrop as the tanuki girl sent her an unamused expression.
"Well, you look suspicious and I'm not sure about him either," the girl pointed out dryly, making me grimace as I looked away while I started wondering how I was able to kill those people in such a manner.
"Now, that really hurts my feelings, and as for him, he might be former military or something so you shouldn't judge people quite so easily," Marie stated while the girl started brushing herself off.
"You said that you'll help us get to Anima city, so how much is this going to cost?" the girl asked and Marie looked amused.
"I just told you I'm a volunteer, am I?" Marie asked before I frowned.
"Well, when you think about it, you probably aren't doing it for charity and seemed to be the kind of person that would charge us later or something like that," I pointed out skeptically before Marie rested her hands on her hips and smiled at me.
"Huh, you aren't as dumb as I thought and miss tanuki here isn't very nice if I have to be honest," Marie remarked as the girl fumed at that.
"Will you stop calling me that? I'm a raccoon and I wouldn't have survived this long if I were nice," the girl pointed out irritably.
"You look like a tanuki to me and you have a very good point, so in that case, I'll take all the money the both of you have," Marie said, causing me to widen my eyes and the girl looked just as stunned to hear that.
"Seriously?!" the girl exclaimed in disbelief.
"We're talking about putting a price on your life, and your friend there killed a group of six beastman hunters, which means more work for me so you can't set a value too well, don't you think?" Marie said with a smirk as she held out a hand in a gesture for us to give her money, then the girl sent her an unamused look before she reached into her cloak.
"Why don't we call this as it is?" the girl grumbled as she took out a bunch of money and handed it to Marie, who pocketed it and she gestured for me to give her money before I checked my pockets and discovered two ammo magazines but no wallet until I grimaced.
"Um, I don't have any money and even if I did, I just expertly killed six people so extorting me probably isn't a good idea," I pointed out, then Marie looked thoughtful until she nodded.
"Fine, you're off the hook for now but in return, you'll do work for me from time to time to pay off your debt so do we have a deal?" Marie offered as she held out her hand, then I sent her a suspicious look since I don't exactly trust her and I didn't like what she had to offer.
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly keen about doing whatever kind of shady shit you have planned so I'll have to decline," I refused firmly, causing Marie to raise her hands in surrender as she looked disappointed.
"Oh fine, the money miss tanuki over there gave me is enough for me to help you both out, though your combat skills under my employ would've been a bonus either way so you're just as stubborn and uptight as someone I know in Anima city.
Well, we should get going unless you two want to deal with whoever will come here to investigate the gunshots," Marie suggested as the boar and hyena were done dealing with the bodies and walked over to us until the hyena held the gun out to me with his hand holding the barrel.
"Here, I think this belongs to you," the hyena said, making me stare at him and the gun a few times until I took the weapon and stuffed it into the back of my pants again as I covered the gun with my shirt again when the girl and I followed Marie and her two associates to whatever would take us to Anima city.
After a short walk, we arrived at a boat that was parked next to the beach and got on it, then the hyena started driving us to an island in the distance and I could see a city on the island in plain view while the sun was going down until it was completely dark.
I spent most of the trip just lost in thought about what I did, how fast and deadly I was when fighting back while also being fluent in Japanese, then there was the fact that I suddenly turned into a humanoid wolf so everything felt confusing and terrifying all at once since I had no idea what I was and why I woke up in the forest with a bullet hole in my shoulder while also having amnesia.
I had noticed how sharp my senses were now with my nose being able to pick up scents for miles away while my hearing was so good that I'm able to detect the slightest of sounds, greatly fascinating me but one thing that confused me is that the word beastman felt familiar to me, and not in a good way either so I must've had a bad experience with a beastman or something as I quit looking at the ocean and turned my attention to Marie and the female tanuki.
Marie was busy counting the money she was given while the female tanuki is sitting next to the bow of the boat and staring at what I assume is Anima city, not speaking or even looking at us while I started feeling guilty for scaring her when I killed those people, so I stood up from my seat and tentatively walked over to her until her ears perked up and she looked at me.
"Hey...um, mind if I sit next to you?" I asked hesitantly, my hands in my pockets while I held an uncomfortable look on my face as the tanuki looked uncertain at first until she soon nodded.
I sat down next to her and the silence was awkward between us, the two of us not saying anything to each other while I fidgeted slightly with my ears lowered and I let out a cough as I grimaced before I decided to suck it up and get it over with since I didn't want her to be afraid of me.
"Look, about before...I'm sorry for scaring you because I was scared out of my mind and didn't know what was going on but when those people tried to kill us, I just...I don't know, reacted or something so I just wanted to let you know that I didn't mean to scare you," I spoke up weakly while rubbing the back of my head sheepishly, causing the tanuki to look at me.
"Are you still scared?" the tanuki inquired, making me chuckle.
"Terrified, but I guess I'm trying to keep it together because I have no idea who I am or how I was able to do those things so I'm sorry for scaring you," I said with a small reassuring smile, causing the tanuki to smile back slightly.
"It's okay, they were trying to kill us so you had no choice but I want to be the one to say sorry about you having amnesia...I couldn't imagine what it would be like not remembering who I am or other things like my parents and friends," the tanuki admitted until I nodded.
"In that case, how about we start over? My name is Douglas Jackson and you are?" I inquired as I held out my hand, then the tanuki smiled before she shook it.
"Michiru Kagemori so it's good to meet you, Doug," Michiru said.
"I was wondering, you look to still be in high school so what are you doing out here in the first place and how are you speaking English so well when you were talking in Japanese earlier?" I asked curiously, then I was taken aback to see Michiru looking solemn and I wondered if I had pried into something personal.
"Sorry, I'm not eager in answering your first question since it's personal, but as for your second one, my classmates and I were taught it just in case the town I lived in had American tourists like you arriving," Michiru replied quietly, then I felt like kicking myself for possibly bringing up bad memories and was about to apologize when Michiru went to talk to Marie.
"So, is it true that this city is really only for beastmen?" Michiru inquired.
"That's right, Anima city so what's your reason for going?" Marie asked as she put the money away and looked at the female tanuki, then Michiru started looking solemn again and I understood that something bad must've happened for her to be reluctant in talking about her reasons for leaving home and traveling all on her own to make it to Anima city.
"Don't worry, you two are going to be able to sleep soundly from now on," Marie assured, catching our attention before Michiru looked down with a small smile.
"Okay," Michiru muttered as I sighed.
"An actual bed would sound nice right about now and it would be much better than sleeping in the woods," I commented as the boat continued its journey to Anima city.
After that, the boat eventually arrived in the city and came to a stop at the docks before the boar and hyena went to secure the boat to the docks, just as Michiru and I stared at the city before turning our attention to Marie.
"Alright, we're here so once we're off this ship, we're complete strangers, got that?" Marie told us before Michiru and I went to hop down onto the docks.
"We understand, so thanks for all the help," Michiru replied when Marie looked at me.
"Hey, word of advice, make sure to keep that gun of yours hidden unless you want to get arrested since the gun laws here are a little strict," Marie warned, and I nodded in response before Michiru and I started walking away from the boat and began heading into the city.
"Hey, if it's not too much trouble, is it alright if I walk with you until we get registered as citizens here? I have no idea what to do next on account of the whole amnesia thing and you're the only friendly face I know of," I asked as I felt uneasy at the thought of being alone right now, then I was relieved when Michiru nodded.
"Sure, us outcasts have to stick together, am I right?" Michiru remarked, making me chuckle.
"Good point, now let's see if we can locate the place where immigrants can be registered as citizens," I replied as we continued walking.
A short time later, we found ourselves walking down an empty street as we looked around but there were no signs of life as far as the eye can see, making me feel a bit uneasy since a big city like this should be packed with people and the silence made things even more unsettling as Michiru and I looked at each other.
"Hey, shouldn't this place be bustling with beastmen?" Michiru wondered as she looked concerned and slightly unsettled.
"I know, where the hell is everyone?" I questioned as we kept walking until we arrived in a large hexagon-shaped courtyard that was surrounded by buildings and came to a stop in the middle.
"What is this place? It's too quiet here," Michiru muttered and I kept my eyes and ears open while I tensed up until I noticed something on one of the rooftops high above us.
"What the hell?" I mumbled quietly as I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the figure on the roof, managing to see that it was what appeared to be a quadruped wolf with its turquoise fur glowing and flowing around like it was underwater or something.
"Doug, what is that?" Michiru asked and I was about to answer her, only I didn't have the chance to as howling broke out nearby and it made us look in the direction of where it was coming from.
In the darkness ahead of us below what appeared to be a jumbotron, more than one glowing pair of eyes appeared and Michiru gasped as crowds of dark animalistic figures started walking into the courtyard from every direction, making Michiru inch closer to me while I scowled since we were surrounded and I wouldn't be able to fight off all of them if it turned out they were hostile as the figures stopped and had us trapped while we quickly looked around and I prepared to defend us.
Suddenly, the figures cheered and threw white masks into the air as the lights turned on, revealing them to be beastmen of many different species as fireworks went up into the sky and went off in a dazzling light show while everyone around us started celebrating with vendors everywhere and performers ranging from fire-breathing lizard beastmen, acrobats, and more as my mouth dropped open with my eyes taking in the amazing sight all around us.
"Doug, it's a festival!" Michiru exclaimed in astonishment, making me nod with a grin of excitement as the jumbotron ahead of us switched on and I could see a female naked mole-rat beastman on the screen as everyone gathered around with a few beastmen commenting about her being the mayor as she looked down at all of us with a warm smile.
"Anima city was established ten years ago, though the division between beastman and human still remains. Nevertheless, this land has continued to serve as a place where beastmen can exist in peace.
So, with that said, let's commemorate the last ten years, as well as the next ten years and our future by celebrating our anniversary," the mayor declared, and everyone cheered while I was tearing up slightly from the powerful speech as Michiru beamed at me.
"Doug, They're all beastmen, all of them which means...we don't have to hide who we are anymore!" Michiru exclaimed joyfully as she removed her cloak and threw it away, then I saw that she was wearing shorts, a tank top, and a red sports jacket while she grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me with her as she began exploring while I yelped in surprise.
"M-Michiru, I can still walk so take it easy or you'll yank my arm out of my socket!" I protested, only I had an amused smile on my face as we started checking the festival out.
We simply had fun as we enjoyed the festival with Michiru running around while I was forced to chase after her so that I wouldn't lose her in the crowd, the two of us marveling at the large silver wolf animatronic before moving on and I had chuckled when Michiru asked the flamingo dancers if she could join in and they let her.
I had refused to dance with them when Michiru tried to convince me to and was simply content with watching until Michiru was soon done, then she took off and I hurried after her when we soon arrived at a booth that was selling some kind of drink called FireBull and Michiru wanted to buy it for the two of us when I realized that we couldn't.
"Michiru, you gave all your money to Marie, remember? I don't have a wallet on me so I can't pay for it either," I reminded the female tanuki and she looked at me.
"Don't worry, I only gave her what she thought was all of it so I still have plenty of yen to buy a couple of drinks for us," Michiru reassured, and I was surprised that she had conned a criminal but it didn't bother me all that much as Michiru went and purchased two drinks before handing me one of them.
I started drinking and immediately recoiled from how strong the drink was, coughing soon after once I was done with it and sending Michiru an unamused look as she chuckled at my reaction when she finished her drink and soon bought two candy apples on sticks while they were shaped as bear heads, then I sweatdropped as I was forced to run with Michiru again so that I wouldn't lose her in the crowd.
"Michiru, slow down or I'm going to lose you in the crowd and make sure to also watch where you're going!" I exclaimed in exasperation as the female tanuki looked back to laugh happily, and before I could warn her, she bumped into someone and let out a grunt as I came to stop right next to her to see if she was okay.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Michiru told the person she collided into and I turned my attention to whoever it was.
I could see that the person she bumped into was a male wolf beastman around my size and build with teal and white fur with the latter color covering his muzzle and it went down to where his chest was as a diamond-shaped pattern of the same color was on his forehead.
The wolf had ice-blue eyes while he was wearing a light tan trench coat with the collar up, dark brown collar with a silver buckle, black sweater, black cropped gloves, slim dark gray chinos with a belt, and dark brown ankle boots but what caught my attention was that tears were running down his cheeks as he held an emotional look on his face.
"Sir, are you okay?" I asked in concern, but the stranger didn't even look at me or Michiru so I was wondering if he even noticed that the female tanuki bumped into him.
"What an incredible smell...it's the smell of beastmen filled with joy and happiness," the wolf told us while his voice was deep and gravelly.
"Huh?" Michiru questioned dumbly as she sent me a perplexed look, only I shrugged in response.
"Enjoy it, we've waited for this moment for a thousand years," the wolf added, causing Michiru to laugh nervously and look at me while I took my attention off the wolf to gaze at her.
"Doug, there are certainly strange people in this world and why's he crying?" Michiru wondered in a quiet tone of voice so that she wouldn't be seen as rude.
"Michiru, I don't think it's polite to judge people like that and as for why he's crying, he's probably happy or something," I replied just as quietly and we went to look back at the wolf, only he was gone and Michiru looked puzzled.
"Where did he go?" Michiru questioned in confusion.
"I don't think it's any of our business where he went and he's gone anyway so let's continue having fun," I suggested to change the subject, then Michiru nodded before we continued enjoying the festival soon after.
Later on, we kept having fun and sometimes interacted with other beastmen while several minutes had gone by and we finished our candy apples before Michiru went to buy more FireBull, only I refused to drink another one and Michiru bought one for herself until she drank it and let out a sharp exhale once she was done with it.
"Man, that stuff is strong," Michiru gasped and I shrugged.
"Well, have fun with it since one was enough for me," I remarked just before Marie showed up next to Michiru.
"Oh look, you and Doug got something to eat? You were hiding some money from me," Marie announced, startling Michiru as she spun around and jumped back with a yelp.
"Hey, you're that weasel!" Michiru exclaimed in shock, then Marie sent her an unamused glare.
"I am not a weasel, I'm a mink!" Marie retorted irritably.
"What's the difference?" Michiru asked in confusion before Marie huffed.
"Don't you dare mistake me for a weasel because they all have cheap fur," Marie scoffed and I sweatdropped before clearing my throat.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I could tell you were a mink the second you changed into your beast form," I spoke up, then Marie sent me a look of approval before she leaned right into Michiru's face and the female tanuki leaned back from the invasion of her personal space.
"You told me you gave me all the money you had...kids these days. You can't let your guard down even for a second," Marie stated before Michiru started fuming.
"Well, I'm not going to give you any more money and you said we're strangers once we got off that ship," Michiru pointed out with a look of annoyance.
"Do I look like I would be that mean? That hurts, more than I can tell you," Marie whined dramatically, just before I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and quickly looked to see a monkey beastman pickpocketing Michiru before pulling out what I assumed to be her wallet.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I demanded with a hard edge in my voice, causing the monkey to flinch while Michiru turned around and the thief quickly bolted.
"Hey, that's mine!" Michiru shouted in disbelief before I started chasing after the thief.
"You, stop!" I yelled as I chased the thief, then Michiru soon caught up with me and ran alongside me.
"Someone help us, that thief stole my wallet!" Michiru exclaimed to everyone around us, but nobody was either paying attention or they didn't care as we kept chasing after the thief as he darted under the jumbotron and into the darkness while we kept running after him.
"Buddy, you're just making it worse for yourself so stop running or I'm going to hurt you!" I threatened while Michiru and I ran under the supports until we stopped when we couldn't see the thief anymore.
I looked around with Michiru doing the same until I spotted someone kneeling down in front of one of the supports and doing something to it as the guy turned to look at me and Michiru, then I could see that the person was a male fox beastman in a uniform of some kind with a two-toned baseball cap as he glanced at us stoically, then he stood up with a toolbox and lowered the bill of his hat to hide his eyes while quickly walking away until I narrowed my eyes since he was acting suspiciously.
Michiru continued looking for the thief but I knew that we weren't going to find him since he was long gone at this point, though I stared at the pillar the fox beastman was at and had an uneasy feeling that we were in danger and needed to get away from here as fast as we could.
"Where did he go?" Michiru muttered before she sighed, then she growled in frustration and hit her fist against a pillar while exclaiming, "This sucks!"
At that moment, an explosion erupted at the pillar where the fox beastman used to be and it caused me to run over the tackle Michiru out of the way so that she wouldn't get seriously hurt as she let out a startled yell, then I heard the supports creaking before they began breaking apart and the jumbotron started collapsing.
"Holy shit, run!" I shouted in alarm as crowds of beastmen started screaming and frantically ran to escape the falling jumbotron.
Michiru and I also started to run when she noticed something with a gasp, making me look to see an elderly beastman struggling to flee but he was being too slow and would be crushed to death if we didn't do something quick.
"Doug, he's in danger!" Michiru shouted before we hurried over to the old man and made him go faster by pushing him.
We ran as fast as we could to try and escape the falling jumbotron, only it was getting closer and Michiru glanced back with a look of panic while I kept swearing under my breath and knew that we weren't going to make it in time.
Suddenly, before I knew what was happening, something approached us so fast that it was a blur before I was sent flying through the air and flipped in mid-air before I hit the ground feet-first, only Michiru wasn't as lucky and rolled across the pavement until she came to a stop on her stomach as the jumbotron hit the ground with a deafening crash as dust was kicked up and I coughed while running over to Michiru to check on her.
"Hey, you okay?!" I questioned loudly in concern while I held a worried look on my face.
"Oh, that really hurt," Michiru groaned in pain as I helped her up and saw that she didn't look badly injured.
"Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, you should be just fine," I assured and went to see if the old man was okay as well when I saw that he was being held in one arm by the wolf beastman Michiru and I encountered earlier and he was still crying, only his eyes now held a look of rage and fury in them as Michiru stared at the wolf in surprise.
"Doug, isn't that the guy who was crying? Is he still crying?" Michiru questioned until the wolf glared at us, then he put the old man down before snatching the back of the female tanuki's jacket to lift her up while he also grabbed my arm and held it in a firm grip.
"H-Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" I yelped as the stranger's grip was hurting me.
"Was it you two?! Were you the ones who ruined the beastman festival?!" the wolf interrogated harshly before Michiru sent him a look of indignation.
"No, it wasn't us because all I did was slightly bump the pillar with my fist!" Michiru retorted and the wolf was about to say something, then he started sniffing the air and he looked at me lividly before he dropped Michiru and yanked me forward until he reached behind me and pulled up the back of my shirt before removing the gun from the back of my jeans and held it up to my face.
"What the hell is this?! Were you going to kill more innocent beastmen after setting off that bomb?!" the wolf snarled and I started struggling to get free but he was strong as hell, scaring the hell out of me and I was afraid of getting the shit kicked out of me for something I didn't do so I had to try and convince him that I wasn't responsible for the explosion since he looked like he wanted to seriously hurt me or worse.
"Jesus, the gun is for protection from beastman hunters so let me go, asshole!" I shouted but the wolf didn't look convinced and he glared at me.
"Likely story, now I'm going to make you pay for ruining the festival," the wolf growled as he was about to start whacking me in the face with my gun when Michiru got in the way and frantically waved her arms to deter him.
"Wait, he's telling the truth because he saved me earlier with the gun, so please calm down because he didn't do this! Look, there was a guy we saw earlier who was sneaking around the pillar, so please don't hurt Doug because he's innocent!" Michiru pleaded, causing the wolf to look at her suspiciously for a few moments until he relaxed slightly.
"Who's that guy?" the wolf asked before he loosened his grip on my arm slightly but didn't let me go as he looked away and closed his eyes before sniffing deeply at the air around us.
'What the hell is he doing?' I thought while wanting him to let go of me, only I didn't tell him since I was still scared of the guy because of how aggressive he was just as the wolf opened his eyes and suddenly released my arm.
"I've misunderstood the situation, so I apologize," the wolf told me and Michiru as he was about to leave, then I cleared my throat to get his attention and pointed at the gun in his hand.
"Can I have my gun back, please? It's only for protection, I swear," I said to try and convince him, just before the wolf narrowed his eyes as he stared at me with a hard look until he gave me the gun.
"Understand this, if you use that for anything other than protection, I will kill you," the wolf said coldly, making me gulp as I quickly nodded since this guy was intimidating as hell and there was no doubt that he would carry out his threat as I stuffed the gun into the back of my pants again.
The wolf sent me one last look before he took off down a nearby alley in a shocking burst of speed that left clouds of dust in the air, taking me completely off guard since I wasn't expecting him to be so damn fast and I thought about how I wouldn't want to be the bomber once the wolf got his hands on him.
"What the heck was that all about?" Michiru muttered as she brushed herself off, only I didn't respond as I kept thinking about the bomber and how he nearly killed people as my eyes turned cold and focused.
"Michiru, I need to take care of something so I'll meet you back here," I said with no emotion in my voice as Michiru opened her mouth to argue, only I sent her a cold expression and she shivered from how lifeless my eyes were while she meekly nodded.
With that done, I looked back at the alley and took off into it with a similar burst of speed that the wolf had as I used my very sharp sense of smell to track his scent, moving as fast as I could until I heard him running up ahead and managed to catch up to the wolf while we ran through many different alleyways.
The wolf still had his eyes closed and I assumed that he was tracking the bomber's scent, though he didn't notice me running alongside him so he must be completely focused on the bomber's scent as I stayed with him while we ran, then he started gritting his teeth and his eyes shot open when the area in front of us erupted into an explosion.
I was sent flying from the blast for several feet until my back collided against a dumpster and I bounced off it before crashing to the ground unceremoniously and just laying there in a heap of broken bones and shredded flesh while there was nothing but pure agony with my ears ringing.
Suddenly, the intense pain started to fade away and my hearing came back as my bones cracked back into place with the torn bloody flesh healing until I was as good as new, though my shirt and pants were torn from the shrapnel as I got up and glared at the bomber coldly while he was standing next to the rubble where the wolf had been buried from the debris as the bomber laughed.
"It's really too bad, it was a scentless bomb so even a beastman wouldn't be able to notice," the bomber boasted with a dark grin until a hand burst from the rubble and grabbed his ankle, causing a startled yelp to leave the bomber's mouth until he was thrown up into the air.
The bomber let out a terrified scream as he went flying until the fox collided into an air conditioner and was rendered dazed from the impact as he fell back down to the ground, bouncing off another dumpster and crashing onto the pavement as the wolf rose out of the rubble with not a scratch on him and he looked pissed.
"Now, I'm pissed," the wolf growled as I walked over to him, just as the bomber saw that we were okay and looked greatly alarmed as he quickly got up.
"No fucking way, are these bastards immortal?!" the bomber exclaimed in disbelief as he spun around to flee from us.
"Tell me, why did you ruin the festival?" the wolf demanded darkly as he also sent me a look that told me he was going to have a word with me later about following him.
The bomber was running as fast as he could to a van and banged on the back doors twice before he turned around to grin at us, then he ducked as the doors were kicked open with two beastmen coming out as they consisted of a lion and a deer with an eye patch as they each held a pump-action shotgun and an MP5 while the bomber pulled out an M1911 handgun from a holster on his belt.
The lion and the deer opened fire at us, prompting me to quickly roll into cover behind the dumpster near me as the wolf jumped out of the way to prevent getting shot while I pulled out my gun and got ready to use it as the terrorists looked around for us.
"They're fast ones, aren't they?" the lion commented as he racked the pump on his shotgun while the deer dumped the empty mag in his MP5 and loaded a fresh one.
"What's wrong, Sato? Did they go and mess up your brilliant plan?" the deer remarked jokingly, only Sato didn't look amused and was completely tense.
"Be careful, those wolves were able to dodge my bomb so they're tough as hell," Sato warned just before I popped out and started firing back at the terrorists.
The three beastmen reacted by scrambling into cover and returned fire, making me duck to avoid the gunfire as I checked the Glock and saw that I only had a few rounds left before I needed to load a fresh mag and studied the environment before an idea came to me, then I went a fired one round at the wall near the lion before it ricocheted and struck the feline in the ear before he shouted in pain as he stumbled back.
I focused on the deer and another round from my gun hit him in his kevlar vest, knocking him down and making him let out harsh coughing and wheezing noises as Sato started looking like he was panicking while he fired at me with a look of terror on his face until I used the last round in my gun to hit him in the leg and he screamed in agony while collapsing onto his back.
I dumped the empty mag in my gun and took out a fresh one from my pocket before loading it into the gun, then the beastmen managed to regroup while looking like they were in different stages of pain and agony until the lion started showing an expression of rage.
"You bastard, you're fucking dead!" the lion roared as he and the other two beastmen were about to shoot at me again when the wolf came down from above and landed on the roof of the van.
"So, you three idiots were bought out by the humans!" the wolf snarled as he looked like he wanted to tear them apart, catching their attention.
"How would you know that, huh?!" the lion growled as he spun around to fire at the wolf while the deer and Sato were keeping me pinned, only the wolf jumped up to avoid the buckshot that ripped through the roof.
"It's impossible to erase the stench of humans from your bodies," the wolf said as he landed near where I was, then the terrorists spun around and fired at us.
"I gotta say, you've got a pretty good sense of smell!" the deer shouted with a pained grimace as he fired in short controlled bursts while the wolf was dodging the gunfire and I was shooting back at the three terrorists before they went into cover again.
"The anti-beastmen faction bought you, right?" the wolf questioned as he jumped all over the place while the lion's shotgun stopped firing and he began reloading it with shells from his ammo belt while Sato and the deer covered him.
"Nobody buys us, you understand me?! It doesn't make a fucking difference if you're a beastman or if you're a human because we get a job and we go do it, so it's who we are and nothing else matters!" the lion shouted as Sato and the deer reloaded their weapons until all three continued firing at us, then the wolf simply walked towards them while dodging the gunfire as my gun ran empty again and I dumped the mag to load the last one into the gun.
"The festival you ruined matters so was that your goal, to destroy it?!" the wolf shouted in outrage as he got close enough to the deer to disarm him before he grabbed him by the antlers to spin him in mid-air and slammed his head into the ground with his foot.
At that moment, the lion and Sato spun around to aim at him but I sprinted over and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun to redirect its aim as it blasted at Sato three times, making the fox beastman dive out of the way to avoid getting ripped apart by buckshot while he yelled in pain from what I assume to be his injury flaring up as I yanked the shotgun out of the lion's hands and tossed it when the wolf snatched him by the ammo belt and sent him a menacing look.
"You'll pay for this with your life," the wolf growled before he yanked the lion forward and punched him into the ground as Sato went to pull out a combat knife to stab me, then I expertly dodged his swipes with the blade before I disarmed him and sent him bouncing across the pavement with a swift kick to the face until he landed in front of Michiru, who had just shown up and she yelped in surprise at the dazed terrorist landing right in front of her.
"You beastmen who sold your souls to the humans disgust me, so you don't deserve it...to have me tear you apart with my claws so you'll die by my fists!" the wolf snarled while holding an enraged look on his face as the lion and deer got up from the ground to glare at me and him.
"Bring it on, then! I don't regret it at all!" the lion yelled as he unsheathed his claws to rip off his ammo belt and muscle shirt before he and the deer started roaring ferally.
The two beastmen charged at us as the lion smashed debris out of the way and the wolf grappled with his wrists before he was pushed back as the deer went to impale me with his antlers, only I ducked under them and grabbed him by the torso to throw him to the ground until I planted my foot on his chest and grabbed his antlers.
"D-Dammit, let go of me!" the deer protested but I didn't react as he wiggled around and tried to grab my wrists.
"You don't deserve the pride of a deer," I said coldly and the deer widened his eye when I started pulling his antlers.
"S-Stop, you crazy bastard, y-you're going to rip out-" the deer pleaded, just before I brutally snapped his antlers off and he screamed in agony while clutching at his head until I was grabbed from behind and lifted up into the air by a pair of large meaty hands.
"I am done with you and your friend, lousy bastard!" the lion yelled furiously, only I didn't respond and simply flipped the antlers so that I could hold the bottom of them when I thew them behind me and it struck the lion in the face before he let out a shout of pain as he let go of me and clutched at his face.
I cupped my hands in a gesture for the wolf to use me as a stepping stone, and he took advantage of that by running over before I launched him into the air when he raised a fist as he started falling, then the lion was slammed into the ground very roughly and caused it to crack as I leaped back to avoid getting crushed while one of the antlers spun through the air before landing in front of Michiru like a spear while she looked stunned to see what had happened until she was suddenly grabbed from behind by Sato and he held his knife against her throat as she gasped.
"Don't move, I'll fucking kill her if you take one step forward!" Sato threatened with the wolf quickly looking back as I snuck up behind the fox beastman and tapped him on the shoulder.
"You're mistaken, she's not the dead one and you forgot somebody," I spoke up with no emotion in my voice, causing Sato to flinch as he quickly looked back just in time for my fist to meet his face.
Sato released Michiru in the process before I sent my foot into his bad leg right where the bullet hole was at, making him scream in agony and I launched him into the air with a swift kick to the chest before he collided into the deer and lion, knocking them over like bowling pins until they were rendered dazed by the impact with Sato being almost unconscious from a combination of blood loss and pain while Michiru was staring at me in shock as I slowly snapped out of it and my eyes widened.
"Jesus Christ...what the hell did I just do?" I wondered in disbelief and I was also stunned that I had healed from lethal injuries that would've killed me, so I didn't know what was going on and that scared me.
"Doug...you saved me, thank you," Michiru said as I gazed at the pile of bodies that were quietly groaning and noticed the wolf heading to them, only his body language unnerved me since it told me that he was going to kill them.
"H-Hey, I think they had enough so we should turn them over to the police so that they can't hurt anyone anymore," I spoke up to try and reason with the wolf, only he didn't look back and stopped in front of the terrorists.
"Don't you see? The festival was ruined because of them," the wolf pointed out darkly while Michiru started looking uneasy.
"Yeah, but they're beastmen just like you so let's do what Doug said and turn them over to the police," Michiru reasoned as she was looking scared and overwhelmed by everything that happened today.
"These three were working for the humans, so they're not worthy of being called beastmen and deserve this punishment," the wolf said coldly before he stomped Sato in the face and was putting pressure on his skull as he started gagging and my eyes widened in horror.
"Holy shit, you're going to kill them so calm the fuck down before you become no better than them!" I pleaded but the wolf wasn't listening and it looked like Michiru had enough.
"We told you to stop!" Michiru shouted in frustration, and just when I thought today couldn't get any more bizarre and mindblowing, Michiru's tail started glowing before it suddenly expanded and pushed the wolf away from the terrorists while my mouth dropped open and I gawked at Michiru as I wondered if I was seeing things right now.
"What the...fuck?" I spoke dumbly as Michiru's tail shrank back to normal while the female tanuki was standing in front of the pile of bodies with her arms wide open to protect the injured beastmen.
"You don't have to do this and why are beastmen fighting each other, anyway?! I thought this city was supposed to be a paradise for our kind!" Michiru yelled as the wolf, who was on one knee, had stood up to send her a cold expression.
"That's exactly why I'm fighting because humans are the enemies of our city, and that means any beastman who works for the humans are as well," the wolf stated darkly.
"But not all humans are like that, you know?!" Michiru argued before the wolf narrowed his eyes at that.
"Every human is exactly the same," the wolf said coldly as he was looking more and more irritated before Michiru shook her head.
"No, they're not...I know because I'm a human too!" Michiru declared and I did a double-take at that.
"E-Excuse me?" I sputtered with a look of bewilderment and Michiru turned her attention to me
"That's right, I'm a human...at least I used to be," Michiru declared firmly and I didn't know what was happening right now since I was having so many things being thrown at me at once.
"Then why do you look like that?" the wolf questioned, only Michiru didn't answer and there was nothing but a tense silence after that.
A/N Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I know you have questions, but they'll be explained later on as the events of the anime happen so let me know what you think and stay tuned.
P.S I just wanted to give a shoutout to Nitro Zeus for helping me with coming up with many different ideas for this story that I think you'll find interesting so enjoy that chapter and I'll see you in the next one.