Almighty Therianthropy

Chapter 7

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"My Brother…" A dark figure said in a German accent, sitting in a grand chair made for a Deacon. "How is everything going?"

"We have sent hundreds of thousands of people to hell, my Lord." Said the other figure, kneeling in front of his Leader. "However, the Guardians are thwarting our plans, and their little spirit friends are helping. They have destroyed many of our men."

"That's fine." The Leader acknowledged. "As long as we have their attention, both the Guardians and the non-believers. We need not kill everyone, at least not yet." He smiled. "And we are making new therianthropes by the minute, yes?"

"Of course, sir." The kneeling figure said. "We mostly send them to do the brutish fighting."

"Good, good." The Leader nodded. "What of the Guardians, anyway? Have they found our little abode yet?"

"Actually…" The other said. "It looks like they are on their way."

"About time." The Leader stood from his chair. "Tell our Brothers to get ready for them, just like we planned."

"Yes sir. Would you like them all dead?"

"Hm… do what you can with most of them. However…" He grinned. "I want the rabbit captured alive and brought back here."

"Really, my Lord?" The kneeling figure questioned. "I thought you wanted him dead."

"I did, but after being impressed by what he can do, I want him to be my soldier." He turned to the other figure. "Go, remember my instructions!"

"Yes, Lord Betzalel." The figure stood and left the room, leaving Betzalel to his wicked thoughts.

:::

"Shit, their stench is really strong here." Bunnymund coughed. They were in a forest in Romania, on guard for any were-beasts. "They definitely live here."

"Will you be able to pinpoint their location?" July asked.

"I think so, but it might be harder than I thought." Bunny was pretty grossed out by the smell of musk, blood and carrion these monsters possessed.

"Sure is quiet." North whispered. "I don't even hear birds."

"Those things scared them all away." Tooth's feathers flared. Sandy had his whips ready.

"What if they were expecting us?" Jack mused.

"Then that would suck." July was starting to think the same thing.

"Stop!" The Pooka held his arms out to halt everyone. His ears were standing straight up and his eyes were wide. "Crikey…"

"What?" Jack asked.

"They're surrounding us." Bunny sounded defeated. The Guardians, July and Revere formed a tight circle, each of them ready to attack in all directions. Were-creatures came out from behind every tree and bush, licking their lips and growling. There were so many different kinds: wolves, jaguars, leopards, foxes, bears, crocodiles, jackals, and even hawks and falcons. Bunny cursed to himself, ashamed that he didn't notice till it was too late.

"There are hundreds of them." Tooth looked around quickly.

"Fuck, I should have known they would be expecting us." July hissed. "I'm fucking better than this!"

"No time for pity parties." North cocked his shotgun. Everybody else got their weapons ready.

"Don't waste bullets." July advised. She turned to Revere and nodded to him. When they did that, a bright light came from their bodies and they melded together. The American spirit became half-eagle, her body slightly larger and taller than it was before. She had white feathers on the sides of her face, neck and shoulders and brown feathers down her arms and legs. Her feet were now sharp eagle talons and had large and powerful eagle wings. She still had long blonde hair and a human-like torso with big muscles, her clothes still on. Her eyes glowed orange. Jack reminded himself that this was no time to be impressed. The monsters waited long enough and began to attack, charging for the Guardians. "Get 'em!"

They charged and met the were-beings in a fierce clash. Attacks came from every-which way; it was harder not to get a scratch or two. The ones that seemed smarter were hard to find in the large crowd until they were right in your face. Jack and Tooth tried attacking from the air like they had been doing, but it was a little more difficult now with the winged were-creatures dive-bombing them. Sandy decided it would be best to use his Dreamsand on them instead of his silver shurikens; he was able to make dozens of them fall asleep before someone else dealt the finishing blow.

Apparently, when July becomes half-eagle, she becomes twice as strong as she was before. The stupid creatures could not tackle her to the ground, and if any latched onto her she'd snap their necks with one hand. Occasionally, she would take to the air and swoop down feet first, digging her talons into their eyes. Jack realized that beneath her happy-go-lucky and joking exterior lied the brutality and fierceness of a two-hundred-some-year-old warrior.

North and Bunny were doing well in their own respects. The bigger man couldn't dodge as quickly as the rabbit, but made up for it with the powerful gun made for him and his own strength. Bunny had picked up a rhythm now, destroying were-beasts with ease. It was like he'd gotten to fight all the easy ones. Suddenly, a werewolf let out a roar behind him, signaling all the creatures in the area to single out the Easter Bunny, tackling him to the ground. Bunny was stunned and tried yelling for help, but he was knocked out before he could. The werewolf then took the unconscious rabbit and started running away into the dark forest.

"BUNNY!" Jack was the first to notice (they'd all been so busy fighting their own battle). He flew in the werewolf's direction, the creature still in sight. However, he was now viciously attacked, being held up by creatures. The others tried to finish up what they were doing and help, but more of them kept coming, never letting them follow that wolf. Jack was the closest; he tried freezing them as he desperately looked for that wolf carrying the rabbit, but was now lost, unable to see them anymore, not knowing which direction they went. "BUNNY!" The teen shouted again, letting a were-leopard tackle him.

"Jack!" July shot the leopard and yanked it off of the boy. She pulled him up, a little less than gently. "Get yourself together."

"But…" Jack winced as the half-eagle shook his arm.

"We lost him! We must kill these fuckers first!" July couldn't hide that she was upset, too, but being in many wars means she knows that sacrifices need to be made. "We're almost done. Just a few left."

"…Okay." The young Guardian was convinced… for the moment. They flew back to the fight, finishing up with the remaining were-creatures. The Guardians won with only a few scratches to show, but it was still a bittersweet victory. "We have to go find him."

"Jack, please." July had transformed back to her normal form, Revere once again by her side. "We need…"

"They could have killed him already!" Jack's powers started losing control around him. "We can't wait!"

"They are NOT going to kill him!"

"Don't you remember them trying to, like four times before?!"

"If they were going to kill him they would have done so, right in our faces!" July stood in front of the boy. "Why would they waste time bringing him back to their base and doing that? They obviously want him as a captive!"

"But why?" North asked. "It is true that they were trying to kill us before. What do they want with Bunny?"

"Maybe as a hostage." July wondered. "Or… maybe they want to…"

"Turn him into a were-creature." Tooth finished in horror. They all looked frightened, especially Jack.

"Let's relocate; if we stay here they'll find us." July suggested. As she and the Guardians turned to leave, she noticed Jack staring in the direction that he saw that wolf take his friend. "We will find him. But we need a plan first, alright?" She put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and nodded, his powers settling down.

:::

"Alright, here's a map of the general area." July pressed a button on her phone to show a holographic image of the forest and the surrounding towns. The Guardians observed the floating image. "The wolf ran southwest, to this countryside, I assume."

"There are still a lot of buildings." Tooth said. "Which one are they hiding in?" Sandy's face lit up, getting an idea. An image formed over his head.

"A church! Of course!" July high-fived Sandy. She pressed another button to highlight the churches in the area. "Four churches?"

"This one's more isolated than others." North pointed to the one labeled St. George's.

"Yeah, and it's pretty big, too." The American spirit clicked on it, checking out its schematics. "And it just happens to be closed to the public."

"Looks like this is the one!" Tooth smiled. "What do you think, Jack?" Tooth had noticed that the kid was being awfully quiet. "Jack?"

"… Yeah." He finally said. "They're gonna be expecting us, you know."

"True." July nodded. "But apparently they've been expecting us since this war started. Betzalel wants us here, so there's no sneaking up on them." Her phone started playing African music. "Hello?" She answered. "Oh shit… yeah… okay… we found their base but… right… okay, see ya." She hung up. "That was my Kenyan cousin. He says the were-fuckers are attacking Russia and China on a grand scale."

"There's still so many." North shook his head.

"Are your cousins going to be alright?" Tooth asked.

"Yeah, I think so." She said. "They just can't help us right now, that's all. The safety of the people comes first." They could all agree to that. "Hopefully, if we destroy them at the source, this nightmare will stop, or at least slow down."

"What if Bunny does become a were-thing?" Jack said monotonously. "What will we do?" They all had sad, defeated looks. No one wanted to think about such a situation.

:::

"Ngh…" Bunnymund felt dizzy as he woke up, blinking to adjust his vision. He tried rubbing his head to ease the pain, but he couldn't move his arms. It didn't take him long to realize that he was imprisoned in a dungeon, his arms and legs chained to the wall. His weapons had been taken from him. He growled angrily and tried yanking at the chains, but it was only making him tired. He heard a door open and close on the other side of the room, but he couldn't see the person very well in the darkness.

"I'm so glad you're awake, E. Aster Bunnymund." The figure said with a German dialect. "Welcome to our home."

"What do you want from me?" Bunny asked, trying to keep as calm as possible. "Where's your leader?"

"You're talking to him." He steps into the light. "I'm Betzalel." He wasn't what Bunny expected him to look like in his human form. He was about 5'8" and thin, and quite androgynous. His hair was brown and his eyes were blue. He wore a priestly getup, obviously fancying himself as one, or something greater.

"Oh, good. Then I can tell you this right to your face." Bunny leaned forward. "You're gonna lose, mate."

"Cute." Betzalel snorts. "You Guardians may be strong, but you're no match against the power of God."

"Spare me the villain speech." The Pooka rolled his eyes. "Why am I here? Wanna kill me yourself?"

"I did want you dead, but I think you'll be of more use to me alive."

"What, to lure the Guardians here?" Bunnymund said. "I don't know if you noticed, but my mates have been defeating yours easily."

"So, I'll just make more." Betzalel grinned. "Therianthropes are so easy to make, and so easy to control, especially when they're newborns."

"Control?"

"Mind control, Mr. Bunnymund." He said, pointing to his head. "I'm not the typical, brutish werewolf, you see. And neither are my strongest men. When your friends get here, they won't stand a chance."

"You must be from the Dark Ages, then." Bunny knew that the older a creature gets, the more powerful he becomes.

"Yes, only a select few of us are from those glorious times." Betzalel explained. "We had recruited many more therianthropes to join our cause over the years, but it was never enough to spread our message. So, I simply manufactured pawns to help destroy non-believers and you good-for-nothing spirits. Ah, but you told me to save you the speech, so let me cut to the chase." He pulled out a vial from his robe. "Do you know how therianthropes are made, Mr. Bunnymund?"

"'Fraid not." The Pooka didn't like where this was going. "Too many different theories."

"Allow me to educate you." The creepy man stepped forward. "All one must do is drink rainwater from the footprint of any animal. It's almost too simple." He snickered. "I wonder what would happen if someone like you, who is part-animal to begin with, would react to this drink." He showed Bunny the vial. It was labeled 'Wolf'. The rabbit started freaking out, trying in vain to escape the chains. "Ah, ah, calm down. You already tried that, remember?" Betzalel pressed Bunny to the wall with one hand easily, but couldn't quite keep him still. "Must you make this difficult?" He sighed, moving his hand up to his jaw, forcing his mouth to stay open. He moved closer to Bunny, holding the vial precariously over his mouth. The Pooka kept struggling, kept groaning, but it didn't matter. The filthy rainwater poured down his throat as he was forced to swallow every last drop. When it was over and Betzalel let go, Bunny tried forcing himself to throw it up. "Even if you do that, the transformation will still happen." He grabbed one of Bunnymund's ears and whispered: "Enjoy your last few moments of sanity, Mr. Bunnymund."

"Lord Betzalel!" Someone shouted from outside the room. "They have arrived."

"Right on time." Betzalel said, watching the rabbit struggle to stay sane. "Isn't that nice? Your friends came to save you. But they're not going to want you anymore, now that your mine."

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A/N: Here it is. It was hard. Had to rewrite a few things. There are so many ways to become a therianthrope; it's ridiculous. I chose the rainwater way because… just because. And, for some reason, there's not a lot of information about what werewolves can do other than be a brainless bloodthirsty beast, so I kind of gave Betzalel some maturity in his powers with the mind-control and having great strength even when not in werewolf form. If anyone has any questions, please ask, or please review!