Note: Holy crap, I've given myself a busy schedule! Not only do I have so many stories open, but I've opened up a new one! I can only hope that I'm able to find time to get chapters done. Anyway, before we move on, I want to say something to two reviewers.
The White Wolf Named Alex: I kind of like old movies, so I often mention them in my stuff. As you can see, I have a few of them as my favorites. I hope that you like this chapter as well.
Ron: Slam was actually more like Taz in terms of speaking during the first season, but his speech included more English words in the second season. I decided to have him speak gibberish and the occasional word in my stories.
Now that I've done that, it's time for chapter sixteen.
Chapter 16: Mark of the Beast
An anthropomorphic wolf was running down the street in fear. Behind him were four human thugs, all of whom were brandishing weapons. The lupine's day had already started badly, with him being late for work. He was even written up by his boss, who threatened to fire him if it happened again. It had rained earlier on in the day, preventing him from eating lunch. He couldn't even drive home, as his car was taken for repairs.
Just as he thought his day couldn't get worse, the wolf had the misfortune of encountering the humans who were chasing him. He saw them attempting to mug a woman, so he decided to intervene. Unfortunately, the thugs caught onto what he was doing, so they decided to chase after him. Now that he was on the run, the lupine was eager to lose the gang before they could harm him. Knowing that he was a mile away from his house, he knew that he couldn't run for longer. He was losing breath and time was running out.
Soon enough, the wolf found himself cornered. He was in the wall of an alley, with no means of escape available. The thugs surrounded him, their weapons out for blood.
"L-look, guys, it doesn't h-have to be this way!" The wolf spoke.
"Buddy," the leader said, "you should've minded your own business in the first place. Now, we're just teaching you a lesson."
"Stand back, I'm warning you!" The lupine cried.
In response, the thugs laughed at him.
"Yeah, right, what are you going to do?" Another one of the thugs jokingly asked.
All of a sudden, there was a loud roar in the alleyway. It echoed, getting the attention of those who were nearby. Then, there were sounds of chomping, flesh tearing and screams. This startled those who heard it, to the point where they called the police and ambulances. Once they arrived, the officers and the doctors ordered everyone around them to leave. Despite that, this would be something that would be on their minds.
The next day, Jack woke up and got out of bed. Everyone else was still asleep, so he was as quiet as he could be. It was to the point where he wouldn't had startled even a creature with sensitive hearing. Walking to the living room, the human-Jarlon decided to turn on the TV. After flipping through channels, he came across the news. Not wanting to wake anyone up, Jack left the volume down, albeit loud enough for him to hear.
"There has been a killing on the streets recently, one that's gruesome enough for the police to only guess as to what led to it." The anchorman said.
Intrigued, Jack kept on watching the news, wanting to hear more of the story that was being brought up.
"It was just last night that three young men were brutally slaughtered by an unknown attacker." The anchorman continued. "Two of the survivors, a wolf and a human who was a friend of the three victims, were brought in for questioning, and they have given different descriptions of the suspect."
"I don't know where it came from!" The human witness said. "All I know is that something attacked my friends! It looked like a werewolf, but it had silver claws! From what I could tell, it looked larger than a man!"
"From what I remember, I blacked out when those ruffians tried to attack me!" The wolf witness said. "When I woke up, I saw that all of them were dead, except for one! However, I saw what it did to them! God, they were practically chewed up!"
"Aside from the two survivors, there have been no other witnesses to this violent crime." The anchorman said. "If you have any reports on the suspect, call the number on the screen!"
A phone number was displayed on the screen. Jack got out a piece of paper and a pen, deciding to write the number down. When the number had vanished from the screen, the young man copied it to the paper he had with him. By the time he put it away, the human-Jarlon heard someone entering the room. Looking behind him, he saw John walking in. The stag had a tired expression, looking like he was going to fall asleep at any moment.
"Good morning, sunshine." Jack greeted.
"What the hell are you doing up so early?" John asked.
"It's nine in the morning." The young man said. "Anyway, I was watching the news when a report came up, listing three brutal deaths."
"What happened?" The stag yawned.
"Well, there weren't any witnesses to what happened, but there were two survivors of the attack." The human-Jarlon said. "One of them said that whatever killed the three victims looked like a werewolf that was larger than a man, but with silver claws, while the other didn't see the suspect. He only saw the corpses after the suspect left."
"So, there's a werewolf-like creature prowling the streets?" The deer asked.
"That's what the first survivor said."
Jack and John's conversation caught the attention of the others. The first to enter was Klara, who was scratching her head.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Apparently, there's some strange creature on the loose." John said.
"A creature on the loose?" Klara tilted her head.
"Yeah, it killed three people last night!" Jack said.
Diane, Simon and Teagan walked in, having overheard the conversation. The three were still wearing their pajamas, having not changed into their outfits like John and Klara had.
"What's all the noise about?" Simon yawned.
"There was a news report about a monster who killed three people last night." Jack said. "Only one of the survivors saw it, while the other didn't."
"That's rather suspicious." Diane said. "If the other survivor didn't see the monster, then he could be the monster."
"Given how he blacked out and woke up to see the victims later, that might not be a stretch." Klara said.
"Let's not forget that he's a wolf," Jack said, "and the first survivor said that the monster looked like a werewolf."
"It could've been him," Teagan said, "but the monster could've also been a human who transformed."
"Wait, was last night a full moon night?" Simon asked.
"Let me check." John said.
Pulling a tablet out of his pocket, John turned it on. Once it was on, the stag began to search up a calendar for the month. When it came up, he read the moon formations for the night. However, there were no results for a full moon night. The night the killings happened seemed to be a new moon night.
"So, what does it say?" Jack asked.
"The killings didn't take place on a full moon." John said.
Curious, Jack took the tablet out of John's hands. Reading the calendar, the young man was surprised to see that there were no nights with a unique moon.
"What the hell?" He spoke. "There aren't any moon formations throughout this month!"
"Don't you remember what happened when that ship from Mars came to Acmetropolis?" Simon asked.
That was when it hit Jack: the moon was destroyed during the week where Martians came to Acmetropolis. Reportedly, the leader of the invaders was dared to blow it up. He obliged, leaving nothing left but dust. And that was only before the ships came in and shrunk certain parts of Acmetropolis. Luckily, the Loonatics were able to defeat him. According to the team, it was due to Lexi's video gaming skills.
"That happened months ago." Jack said. "You'd think that the scientists on this planet would try to help terraform a new moon to replace the old one."
"With no moon, how would someone transform into a werewolf?" Klara ventured. "I mean, they don't turn into werewolves by any other means."
"We'll have to investigate in the afternoon, especially when Slam and Lori are up." Diane stated.
"Yeah, but isn't there enough of us to take it on?" Jack asked.
"It's better for the group to be full instead of being down by a few members." Teagan said.
Slam walked into the room, carrying Lori in his arms. He grumbled, essentially asking what was going on.
"And we should be asking why you're holding Lori." Simon stated.
Through grumbling, Slam explained that he was simply carrying Lori into the room, wanting to have her awake in time for breakfast. However, the Tasmanian Devil still awaited his answer to his question. The Mighty Loonatics looked at each other for a moment, then spoke with him.
"There's a monster on the loose, buddy." Jack said.
"And it looks like a giant werewolf with silver claws!" Simon said.
Slam look confused for a moment, but he understood the gravity of the conversation. He lie Lori down on the couch, letting her wake up. The fennec opened her eyes, seeing everyone standing around her. She was startled by this, being scared that she wasn't in her room.
"Am I having one of those dreams where I'm being sacrificed to some god by my closest friends?!" Lori asked.
"No." Klara said.
"Who even has dreams like that?" Jack asked.
Lori shrugged, being unsure of how to answer the question. After that, the Mighty Loonatics went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, discussing the news. With help from Diane and John, Jack made it, making sure that there was enough for everybody. Once everyone had eaten, Diane, Simon, Lori and Teagan went to get dressed. When they got back, they had changed into their uniforms. They joined the rest of the team in the lab, where everyone was ready to go on the mission.
"Alright, what street did the killing happen on?" Lori asked.
"They didn't say, but it looked like Avery Street." Jack stated.
"But aren't the witnesses in the hospital or in custody?" Simon asked.
"They are, but it would be a good idea to investigate the crime scene before we ask them." The young man said.
"With that in mind, let's get down there!" Diane said.
Once the team was ready, Slam joined the Mighty Loonatics on the ship. After that, Jack set a course for Avery Street. The directions for it came up, even showing a map of the city for extra help. Seeing that, the team steered the ship towards their destination. Upon reaching it, the Mighty Loonatics found themselves at Avery Street. In order to not be too close to the crime scene, the new recruits parked the ship on top of a building that was nearby.
With the ship parked, the Mighty Loonatics let Slam out of it. They followed him out, one by one. Seeing as they didn't bring anything to help them fly down, the team wound up having to go into the building to get down to the ground. Taking the elevator, they went down to the first floor. Luckily, the door wasn't far, which made getting out easier. Upon seeing it, they practically ran out of the building.
The moment they were all out of the building, the Mighty Loonatics began to walk down the street. In order to make sure they were right, everyone looked around. Jack got out a holo-map, which indicated where each street was. As for Diane, she was using her telepathy to detect for anyone near the crime scene. While she did that, John tossed a ball of gathered energy in the air, with it serving as a spy camera for him. The rest of the team used their eyes to look around, with Slam looking at the map over Jack's shoulder.
After a few minutes of walking, Jack heard a beeping noise. Looking at the holo-map the young man saw that it was indicating that the Mighty Loonatics were at their destination. Seeing that, he put his arm up, causing the others to stop in their tracks. Now that they were at Avery Street, the Mighty Loonatics were able to see if they were in the right location for the murders. They were doubtful, until they saw what was laid out before them.
The alleyway that was on Avery Street had some police tape around it. Despite that, the Mighty Loonatics approached it. Past the police tape, the new recruits saw three chalk drawings on the ground, indicating where the victims were before their corpses were removed. On the walls of the buildings around them, there were blotches of what appeared to be dried blood. However, there were no claw marks or paw prints. It seemed as if whatever killed the victims was clever enough to cover its tracks.
"Are we sure that the witnesses weren't lying when they said they saw some werewolf-like creature here?" Klara asked.
"Maybe the creature was careful enough to only leave behind dead bodies and nothing else." Simon suggested.
"We can't give up the search here, guys!" Jack said. "No matter what happens, we need to find this creature and stop it before it can take another life!"
"If we don't get eaten first, that is." John said.
All of a sudden, Diane held her hand on her forehead. She let out a groan, which concerned the others. Slam put his hand on the Arctic fox's shoulder, essentially asking her what was wrong. The white vixen's telepathy was picking up something strange. She couldn't get a good read on it, but it was big enough to trigger her telepathy almost instantly. A headache was being caused by the mysterious being, and it was bringing Diane to her knees.
Seeing that Diane was groaning in pain and holding her head, John went over to her. Jack and Lori followed suit, walking near Slam. The Tasmanian devil kept his hand on Diane's shoulder, trying to comfort her. However, the Arctic fox's telepathy was still picking up the entity she was sensing. This didn't go unnoticed by Jack, as he could feel something strange approaching where the Mighty Loonatics were at. Something bad was coming, and it wouldn't have been long until it arrived at Avery Street.
"Diane, what's wrong?" Lori asked.
"My telepathy," Diane spoke, "it's picking up something!"
"Is it a person?" John asked.
"No," the Arctic vixen said, "it's some kind of beast! I can't get a read on what it looks like, but it seems to be larger than a man!"
"I can sense it too!" Jack stated.
"Will we have time to run?" Lori asked.
"No, we won't!" Diane cried. "We won't make it, the beast is already here!"
Sure enough, there was a powerful howl in the distance. When they heard it, the Mighty Loonatics (sans Diane and John) were frightened. The new recruits froze in their tracks, being unsure of where the noise was coming from. They couldn't even speak, as the creature was loud enough to disorient them. John and Slam tried to get Diane on her feet, attempting to get her up so that they could get out of Avery Street. The rest of the team tried to brace for impact, but it was proving to be difficult.
"What is that horrible noise?!" Simon cried.
"It's a wolf, obviously!" Klara shouted. "But where is it coming from?!"
"It's nearby, I can feel it!" Jack screamed.
"I don't think that it's an ordinary wolf, Jack!" Lori shouted. "I think it's something more than that!"
The Mighty Loonatics then heard something landing on the ground, sounding like someone who jumped off of something and landed on their feet. Now that they were better composed, the new recruits saw something running towards them. It was encased in shadows, so they couldn't make out what it was. From what they could tell from the silhouette was that it resembled a wolf, but larger. There were even strange noises coming from it, sounding almost like groans and barking. Everyone stood their ground, with Slam keeping Diane by his side.
Once the creature was out in the open, the Mighty Loonatics were able to see what it was. The creature itself was a wolf-like creature that was able to stand on its hind legs. It was larger than any of them, looking roughly nine-feet-tall. From what the team could tell, the monster had claws that looked like they were made of silver. None of them could tell if the lupine was male or female, given how they were ready to fight it. The beast let them know that the feeling was mutual, licking its lips and holding its hand-like front paws out.
"Guys, let's bring this creep down!" Jack said.
The creature growled as the Mighty Loonatics (sans Slam and Diane) ran towards it, watching as they got ready for an attack. Simon was the first to attack, ready to kick it in the face. However, the beast caught his foot and struck him in the back of the head, knocking him out. Alarmed, the rest of the team decided to try different tactics to bring it down. John teleported the unconscious Simon to where the ship was, so that he wouldn't be harmed further. With that out of the way, the new recruits were ready to fight on their teammate's behalf.
Jack summoned a ball of aura in his hand and threw it at the beast, hoping that it would bring it down. While it hit the lupine in the face, it didn't stop it. Before it could move, the monster found itself being restrained by invisible forces. Looking down, it saw Lori using her force fields to hold it in place. This didn't stop the creature from punching the ground. Jack and Lori moved out of the way, but they wound up getting knocked down.
Seeing as their teammates were struggling against the unknown enemy, John, Klara and Teagan sprung into action. Klara was the first to attack the beast, using her powers to throw rocks at it. John was behind her, throwing a dark energy blast at the monster. While their attacks did knock the creature back, they ultimately failed to take it down. With that in mind, the preteen and the stag stepped out of the way. The two gestured for Teagan to come over, allowing her to try something.
Now that it was her turn, Teagan focused her powers, causing her hands to glow. They soon began to crackle with electricity, looking like they were surrounded by lightning. Before the beast could pounce her, the mallard unleashed an electric shock from her hands. Unable to withstand it, the monster found itself being electrocuted. It let out a strange noise, then it fell unconscious. When it was down, the Mighty Loonatics (including Slam, who was still holding Diane) approached the creature.
"Well," Lori spoke, "how are we going to restrain it?"
"There might be a gadget or two back in the ship." Jack said. "All we need to do is check and see which one can keep the monster calm before we take it to jail."
"Can you go get it, big guy?" Simon asked, looking at Slam.
Slam only let out a grumble, saying that he was going to go look. However, before anyone could leave Avery Street, they heard Diane moan. Alarmed, the Mighty Loonatics could tell that the Arctic vixen was sensing something. Sure enough, they saw the monster start to pick itself up. The team braced themselves for an attack, getting their powers ready in case they needed to defend themselves. Slam held Diane closer to him, as means of keeping her safe.
Without warning, the beast let out a powerful howl. It was loud enough to shatter glass, even causing several windows to crack. The Mighty Loonatics tried to shut out the noise, but covering their ears had no effect. One by one, the new recruits were brought to their knees. Slam tried to help them, but he too was brought down by the monster's howl. Everyone slipped into unconsciousness, as if they were just taken down with a tranquilizer. The last thing they saw before blacking out was the mysterious creature approaching them.
A few minutes later, Simon woke up with a headache. He sat up, holding his hand to his forehead. The greyhound's vision was blurry, having yet to straighten up. Around him were the others, who were unconscious.
"Hey, wake up!" Simon spoke.
The Mighty Loonatics all woke up, as if a miracle had happened. Once they got up, Simon was able to do a headcount. He went over to each of his teammates, seeing that they were each unscathed. Despite that, something felt wrong. The greyhound knew that Slam and Diane were next, so he went over to them. Still, he felt as if something was out of place.
Upon going up to Slam, Simon could tell that he was still unconscious. While the Tasmanian Devil was unscathed, the greyhound didn't see Diane with him. In fact, by looking around, the canine saw that she was not with the others. This worried him, to the point where he wanted to call out for the Arctic vixen. However, by looking down, he saw a piece of paper that was on Slam's chest. Pulling it off, Simon called the others over to him.
"Guys, you better come see this!" He spoke.
The Mighty Loonatics came over to their teammate, desperate to see what he was talking about. Slam even woke up, wondering why there was yelling.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"And where's Diane?" Teagan asked.
"I think that the paper that got attached to Slam will explain what happened." Simon stated.
The Mighty Loonatics, Slam included, crowded around the piece of paper that Simon was holding. The paper itself was a letter, which was lacking in certain aspects. It said the following:
The White-Furred Beauty is with me, so fear not for her safety. She will not be harmed, but I do not intend on letting her go just yet.
"Looks like we're going on a monster hunt." Jack said.
"Not to mention a rescue mission, given how it has Diane!" John stated.
Note: I did NOT intend for this to become a two-parter, but I figured that it would take MONTHS for me to get everything I wanted to write in a single chapter. Sorry, guys. And now it looks like the Mighty Loonatics now have to go after the creature and save Diane. Will they save their teammate, or will the beast triumph over them. Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!