The Dark Side of the Moon

by Berserker88

Spin-off/Semi-sequel to Born to Be Wilde. In a new and dangerous Zootopia stuck in the midst of the Crime Wars, one brave police fox takes on an undercover assignment to save the city from an unknown threat. And it's not the brave police fox you'd expect.

3. A Zootopian Werewolf in Lang Land

Finally back with part three! Badge & O'Possum: Ace Attorneys took a lot of our creative juices for a while but was hopefully a welcome diversion. If you haven't seen it, the first case is up on both of our profiles on A03 and Mind Jack's profile on FFN.

But speaking of diversions, let's get back to our newly-recruited wolf boy who could probably use some right now.

---

Chapter 3: A Zootopian Werewolf in Lang Land

Foxy Lang's Stellar Stadium

Moon's Landing Hotel - Room 401

8:16 AM

It was hard to deny that the accommodations at the Stellar Stadium were anything but. Even though Moon's Landing was a relatively small hotel just meant to accommodate wolves and park guests, they had certainly gone all out to make them feel welcome. And this extended to the rooms: cozy little space-themed abodes with soft carpeting, warm beds, functional bathrooms, and even a mini-fridge.

Aside from the space part, it was actually pretty standard, but not for orphans! The illusion of seeing the night sky on the ceiling was actually a bit nostalgic to some.

It was here that the wolf formerly known as Jimmy Frost lay curled up beneath black, star-speckled blankets, tail wagging and leg kicking. Despite how overwhelming the previous day had been, he looked the perfect picture of contentment.

Of course, that was probably because he was still asleep.

"Hey there, girls…welcome back…"

"Uh…Frost?"

"Oh, you're all wolf girls too now? That's neat. You're still very pretty…"

"Jimmy?"

"Kinda got some bad morning breath though."

A gray-furred paw lightly smacked him in the head.

"Ooooh yeah…right there…scritch those ears…"

"WAKE THE HELL UP, YA IDJIT!"

Jimmy awoke with a start. "Grandma, what a strange accent you have!"

"The better to yell at you with," Junior said. "What are ya doin' down there?"

"Down…where?" Jimmy blinked a few times, fully coming back into consciousness. Once he did, it was pretty hard to miss the confused wolf crouching over him.

Looking around, he soon spotted the wolf's bed and then his own…which Jimmy was not currently occupying. Its haphazard sheets were strewn across the floor from a very ungraceful exit, leading from the bed to where he now lay in a crumpled heap several feet away. "Oh. I guess I sleepwalk now."

"More like sleepstumble, but close enough. You alright there, pup?"

"I-I think so?" Jimmy said, disentangling himself from the web of sheets and getting back to his feet. He couldn't even bring his usual pajamas, but this new set, dark gray and covered in images of crisscrossing wires, seemed to fit him unusually well. "That's never happened to me before."

"Eh, I get it." Junior yawned, standing up with a stretch and scratching at the off-white tank top and boxers he wore to sleep. "Everything's new and yer all stressed out. I was like that too when I first joined. Even had my own embarrassing habits, like chewin' the pillows."

Jimmy slowly glanced over at the pillows Junior had been sleeping on, slightly torn and covered in bite marks. "Um…"

"Oh, I got a taste for it. But that's what I'm gettin' at, pup. Just give it time and you'll get used to all this. And if ya don't, I'm here to talk."

"Thanks. That's, uh, good to know."

Jimmy caught sight of himself in a tall mirror atop a dresser, crossing the room to take a closer look. He could still barely recognize the wolf staring back at him, and kept prodding and poking at his light gray fur just to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. "I guess you're right. This is all so new to me. I'm not even used to having a shared bathroom, let alone all this."

"Dibs, by the way."

That was the only warning Jimmy got before the closing of a door signaled that Junior had left the bed and claimed the bathroom as his territory for the time being. Nick was right. Wolves really ARE ambush predators.

And that's what he was now, right? What he had to be. Different, sure, but not necessarily bad. It might even be kinda fun.

Jimmy wandered over to the window now, looking out at the scenery of Lang Land's space zone. All the stars and comets were admittedly a bit out of place during the daytime, but it still made for quite the view.

He found his attention being grabbed by one attraction in particular: a giant fake moon covered in magnetic rails. What looked like bikes with dome coverings were attached to the rails and ridden around the surface, though the only ones actually riding them at the moment were the wolves who actually lived here. The early birds, or as Nick liked to call them, the nocturnally-challenged. Etched into the moon's side was the name "Lunar Cycles".

This wasn't exactly a natural occurrence or the right time of day, but it was the closest thing around to a full moon and Jimmy felt compelled to practice his wolfness a little. He took a deep breath and…

"Awooooo…"

Okay, a little weak. Again.

"Awoooo-ooooooo…"

Maybe a bit more oomph.

"AWOOOOOOO-Ack!"

Jimmy broke into coughing fits. Too much oomph. Way too much.

"Awooooooo!"

There, that was better. Now a bit longer.

"Awooooooooooooooo!"

And shorter.

"Owo."

No, that definitely didn't sound right.

"What are ya doin' now?"

Junior had been quicker than expected and was now standing behind him, arms crossed and eyebrow firmly raised.

"I'm…not sure I have a good answer to that question."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, it's probably good that you do get some practice in, pup. If some dickhead tries to start a howl with us again, you'll have to play along. It takes years of training to fully suppress that instinct. And believe me, you ain't the worst I've heard." He shuddered. "Foxy Lang doesn't get to lead group howls anymore. Anyway, let's get dressed and head out into the park. Got a big day planned."

"Yes, sir!"

"You don't hafta call me-" But Jimmy was already in their shared closet, rummaging around for his clothes.

Junior decided to just roll with it. "Toss me a pair of jeans and my jacket while you're in there! You know the one!" The requested items were soon thrown directly at him.

As he started getting dressed himself, Junior couldn't help but think back on Marian's words regarding the new recruit.

"Keep an eye on him, alright? Make sure he acclimates well into the pack."

Yeah, easier said than done. He already caught the guy sleepwalking and howling to himself and they hadn't even left the hotel yet. But maybe that was just what he needed. A little time outside to just enjoy the scenery and the fun and the everything that didn't involve werewolves. Not to mention what else was to come…

"Hey, so how much do ya know about wolf culture anyway?" Junior asked. "Not a big deal if it ain't much. Most of us didn't exactly have a formal education anyhow."

"Um…well, there's the howling thing. And I know you guys like the moon a lot in general. Some stuff about pack structure…oh, I did used to be big into the Omegaverse when I was younger!"

Junior didn't think it was possible to choke on nothing, but he suddenly found himself leaning on the window and struggling to breathe. "E-Excuse me?!"

"I know, I know, it's a little embarrassing, but I wrote a bunch of fanfiction and everything! To be honest, it really helped me learn a lot about myself."

Junior was just staring out the window now in open-mouthed shock. That explained so much in hindsight. Did the Vixens know about this? Did they…play along? It's always the ones you least expect…

"I think it was the main character. I really sympathized with Humphrey's situation."

Junior blinked a few times, pulling himself away. "Wait. You're talkin' about those 'Alpha and Omega' movies."

"Right. And the expanded universe connecting them. The Omegaverse."

"Jimmy?"

"Yes?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"Just…no."

---

8:42 AM

"So you guys don't like the Alpha and Omega movies?"

Jimmy looked up curiously at the wolf as they left the hotel.

"There's a certain cult following," Junior explained. "But they are guilty of spreading a lot of outdated notions about wolves. Like that whole 'Alpha' theory about pack leaders fightin' for dominance and treating other members of the pack like second-class citizens. That all got penned a long time ago by this porpoise guy, Rudolph Schnorkel, who reportedly was never allowed anywhere near a wolf pack ever again."

"But you have Alphas. And honor duels."

"What should we call our Momma? The 'breeding female'? And ya can't challenge her for dominance anyway. Honor duels are mostly just between rowdy pups with too much testosterone. Present company included."

"I guess that makes sense," Jimmy said. "I see why those movies would be as taboo to you as all those modern Disney remakes are to everyone else."

"Ugh, don't even get me started on those!" Junior actually spat on the ground in disgust, at least having the courtesy to aim away from Jimmy's feet. "I still can't believe what they've done to all those classics! The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp…"

"I kinda like them…" Jimmy said meekly, realizing too late that this particular topic was taboo everywhere.

"They're just soulless cash grabs!" Junior ranted. "Talented mammal actors are gonna be out of a job if they keep doin' those damn animated remakes!"

And that was how Jimmy learned the hard way that Felix Dire Junior was something of a movie buff.

It took a few minutes to get all of that out of his system. "Anyway, let's focus on our plan for today."

"Right!" Jimmy said eagerly, ready to get into the thick of things.

Junior pulled out what looked like an important document, but was actually just a folded map. "The park opens to the public in just a few minutes, but it'll take 'em a while to get all the way back here. So we'll go around in a counter-clockwise pattern and hit all the biggest rides, then maybe stop for breakfast before movin' on. Trust me, you do not want breakfast first, or else shooting stars ain't gonna be the only thing fallin' from the sky."

"Oh." Jimmy's ears and tail started to drop. "When you said to focus on our plan, I kinda thought you meant the whole…you know…investigative plan."

"We'll get to that," the wolf assured, trying to fold the map back up. "But first, I really thought you could stand to have a little fun. You know, to help ya relax."

Because right now, he looked all kinds of tense. Suspicious too. "You thought that or Marian did?"

"Both, I guess?" He gave up on folding the map and just crumpled the thing into his pocket. "Look, you wanna blend in, right? Don't ya think it'd look kinda weird to be livin' in a theme park and not enjoying all it has to offer? Frankly, I can't believe I hafta talk ya into it!"

Jimmy looked around. Even though it was early, there were still a decent amount of wolves milling about, eating poor food choices, screaming on the rides above, and generally doing anything except just standing there looking at it all. In all honesty, it did seem like fun. "You may have a point…"

"Great! And don't worry, I've got ya covered for today." Junior now pulled out his wallet, depositing a few bills into Jimmy's palm.

The former fox might've questioned that until he looked down at exactly what he was holding. It was paper money, yes, but not of a sort he'd ever seen before. It was all yellow in color and decorated with the full moon Lang Land symbol. "What's this?"

"We don't accept normal currency here," Junior answered. "Instead, we have our own patented 'bark bucks' system, used to buy tickets and other services within the park!"

"That seems needlessly complicated." Jimmy idly flipped through the stack, not seeing much variation other than the value amounts. "What's the exchange rate on these things?"

"One Zootopian buck equals five bark bucks!"

"And how much do the rides cost?"

"Anywhere between thirty to a hundred bark bucks!"

"Are you sure you're not still criminals?"

Junior scowled. "You wanna have your fun park montage or not?

"Do I?!"

Jimmy eagerly followed after Junior as they passed by a quartet of wolves wearing white and yellow striped vests, long pants, bowties, and straw hats. A sign next to them identified the group as The Night Howlers.

"Lang Laaaaaand!"

"Our trademarked braaaaand!"

"Listen to our merry baaaaaand!"

"Come take a toooooour!"

"Don't be a booooooore!"

"See what we've got in stooooooore!"

Jimmy and Junior started their day on the Cosmic Coaster, which gave them a scenic view of the area while also getting about as close to the stars as they'd likely ever manage. As the coaster passed by another full moon, the third Jimmy had seen today without even being night, all the other wolves on the ride erupted into howls. Jimmy winced from the auditory onslaught until Junior gave him a firm nudge. Realizing he had the chance to finally put his skills into practice, Jimmy took a deep breath, but his howl turned into a scream as RRJ roared at them.

"An aerial view makes for quite a sight!"

"But watch out, you might get a fright!"

They rode the Lunar Cycles next, Junior getting onto the front of one bike while Jimmy took the back. A dome closed over top of them as the bike took off, zooming all around the face of the fake moon by a magnetic rail. It looked so fun from the hotel window, but now that Jimmy was actually experiencing it, it occurred to him that this one might be a bit too intense for him. His stomach agreed, and Junior gasped in horror as his passenger hurled, only for the contents to be flung into the back of the dome. They breathed a mutual sigh of relief, up until the ride kicked into reverse.

"Riding around at a hundred g's!"

"Brings consequences and apologies!"

After getting cleaned up, their next stop was the Star Wolf, an interstellar ride of ships that moved up, down, and occasionally barrel-rolled around a central pillar. While seated inside the cockpit, Jimmy made an attempt to ignore the warning to keep his paws and feet inside the ride at all times. The attempt was thwarted by Junior smacking his paws away, making it clear to the fox that he couldn't let him do that. Shortly thereafter, a sudden jostling of the ship made Junior elbow himself in the eye.

"References galore we've got in store!"

"How shameless can we get? Please, have some more!"

Wanting a break from all the high-speed thrills, they went as down to Earth as they could get here with Where-Wolf, a sci-fi house of horrors based on cheesy alien movies. The name was almost enough to get Jimmy thinking about the actual job again, but he was quickly distracted by a variety of colorful alien monsters jumping out at them. It was more disorienting than scary for a while until a trapdoor suddenly opened under Jimmy, Junior managing to catch him before he fell into a multicolored ball pit made to resemble alien eggs. Just as he pulled him back up, a reverse trapdoor opened above Junior and he was yanked away by a claw surrounded by a tractor-beam effect. Jimmy leapt onto his legs to grab him, which only resulted in them both being taken.

"Alien abductions are better with friends!"

"Building up trust when your life depends!"

They weren't quite sure how, but they soon found themselves fighting through a vicious alien mothership in the Full Metal Moon attraction, gunning down the hordes left and right with laser guns. As they worked together to bring down the bulbous alien queen, Junior tossed a paint grenade into the reactor core and they both leapt out of the side, the whole ship exploding into confetti and fireworks.

"Doing lots of things that should probably be banned!"

"It's just another day here at Lang Laaaaaaand!"

Jimmy and Junior staggered off of a trampoline, practically collapsing onto a bench likely placed there for that exact purpose. "Whew…what a rush," Junior panted, picking stray confetti out of his fur. "That was more fun than…than…I dunno, the world's spinnin' too much. I'll get back to ya on that."

"Good news is…my stomach's definitely empty now," Jimmy said, head titled straight up just in case.

"I warned ya not to eat anything! Where did you even get food?"

"Marian packed me some granola bars."

"I didn't see you eatin' those."

"I had midnight snackies."

"Which might explain the sleepwalking…" Junior shook his head clear enough to pull the crumpled map back out again. "But at least we've gotten a lot done already."

"Except on the investigation front."

"Hey, we just saved the dang galaxy back there! That's gotta count for somethin'!"

Jimmy stared. "You don't actually have any leads, do you?"

Junior let out a few indignant sputtering sounds, struggling to respond before his head just drooped. "Not in the…traditional sense of the word, no. That's kinda what we brought you on for." He took a moment to look around before leaning in to whisper. "There is one place we could check out though. Not quite a lead, but definitely a point of interest. Someone spotted the Beast."

That certainly caught Jimmy's interest. "You mean it was spotted here? Inside Lang Land?"

"Yep. Don't get too excited though. It ain't much."

"Anything is fine!" Jimmy said, looking way too pleased about this news. "Let's get going!"

"Alright, alright. Just keep yer voice down. You never know who could be listenin' in."

They both looked up, suddenly noticing the smiling barbershop quartet hovering over them.

"But if you're sick of all the rides!"

"Have some secretive adventures on the side!"

Junior yelped, instinctively shoving the nearest one. The first member fell into the next until they all tumbled like dominoes.

"Oh no!"

"Oh no!"

"Oh no!"

"Oooooooh nooooooooo!"

"Go harmonize in Hell!" Junior grabbed Jimmy's arm and dragged him off, grumbling about wolf packs and their inherent lack of respect for personal space.

---

Lady Lang's Bumper Bike Circuit

10:18 AM

As Jimmy was brought back through the garage shutter that led into Lady Lang's area of the park, he again had to take notice of how little had changed here.

They took a downward slope into an underground parking garage filled with freshly-polished bikes to be used in the driving tracks up above. They were all available for rent, though they varied wildly in size and structure to accommodate the many mammals riding them who were neither wolves nor bikers. It was the first time Jimmy had ever seen a motorcycle with training wheels.

By now, Lang Land was open to the public, allowing him to see just how popular of an attraction this was. He couldn't even get a good look at most of the bikes between the crowds of mammals blocking his view, though he saw enough to tell what the most popular choices were. Marian may have forbid the inclusion of any explicitly Nick-based merchandise, but there sure were a lot of bikes bearing a suspicious resemblance to Dinosaur Killer. Jimmy concluded that they probably got away with it because the bike had actually been his to begin with. Not that he was feeling possessive or anything.

"Hey, Junior. Do you think I could get-?"

"Absolutely not. Choosing a ride based on familiarity is only gonna get ya caught. Same reason we didn't let ya bring the real deal." Seeing the wolfox looking down, Junior put a firm paw on his shoulder. "Hey now, you'll get yer own bike soon enough. It'll just be James Wolfe's bike. And it won't cost fifty bark bucks to rent out."

"That would be nice," Jimmy said. "But I notice we're not going towards any of them."

"We're not," the wolf confirmed. "This weren't exactly a public sighting, pup. Doubt there'd be this many happy mammals here otherwise. Or at least more of 'em would be holdin' cameras."

Right now, most of the mammals here were either trying out bikes or wheeling them over to gated elevators to bring up to the surface. Jimmy spotted one jaguar family helping their young son up onto a bike that was definitely too big for him and sticking on a helmet that covered his eyes. The parenting was questionable, but the wholesomeness was not. "Then where are we going?"

"I guess ya could call it 'backstage'." The elevator Junior brought him to was further in the back and nearly out of public view entirely. He punched in a code on a keypad before Jimmy had any chance of trying to memorize it, then pulled him inside as it brought them up.

It took nearly a minute for the rickety ride to reach the surface, and a minute longer for Jimmy to realize they'd made it with how dark it still was. The only light shined in on them from what he soon realized were the slits between a set of bleachers. The area they were in now was both behind and beneath the seats of an eager crowd. Between their cheers and the distinct revving of motorbikes, Jimmy's curiosity got the best of him and he stepped up to peer out through one of the slits.

"Whoooooa…" One-on-one honor duels were fun and all, but seeing a whole horde of bikes zooming across the track took it to a whole other level. They sped around corners, jumped over ramps, and wiped out comedically in more exciting ways than ever. All for the viewing pleasure of both the audience and a series of Lady Lang standees placed along the track, each wearing racing gear and looking nothing but supportive.

Meowrio Kart always was better with multiplayer anyway,

"Enjoyin' the show?" Junior asked, making him jump a bit. "I tell ya, there's somethin' about watching highly-dangerous stunts on TV that really makes mammals wanna do it themselves."

"But doesn't the TV always tell you not to try this stuff at home?"

"Not on Reynard's network. Besides, this ain't their home."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"They all signed their waivers, so they're havin' the best kind of fun out there. The kind we're not legally responsible for!" They watched as a bison biker crashed headlong through one of the standees, leaving only its arm giving a thumbs-up. "But that ain't what we're here to look at. Turn around, pup."

"Wha-AAAH!" Jimmy turned, and almost immediately jolted back at the sight of another standee, this one even more badly damaged to the point that it barely resembled Lady Lang at all anymore. Or rather, it resembled her current self to an uncomfortable degree.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Junior laughed, pulling the cutout terror away from his face and tossing it across the room. It landed against the wall, joining a whole pack's worth of its kind. Jimmy had to wonder how much they really honored Lady Lang's image to let it be run over on a regular basis, but from what little he knew of her, she probably would've been all for it.

And he now saw exactly what Junior meant when he called this place the backstage. From obstacles to equipment, this was where everything other than the bikes themselves were stored. There were entire shelves lined with tires, the kind used purely to line the edges of the track outside, and enough of them were inside that they practically formed a maze to maneuver through. Jimmy felt more grateful than ever to have a guide as Junior started to lead the way.

"There was a Beast sighting all the way back here?" he asked skeptically. "You're not secretly planning to kill me somewhere that no one will ever find my body, are you?"

"Of course not! We're wolves! It would be found in no time."

"You really do have good noses, huh? The only thing I can smell back here is oil and testosterone." He sniffed around. "Also…bananas?"

"Yeah, you'll wanna watch out for those." A resounding thud made Junior stop and look back, where Jimmy had once again faceplanted into the ground. The culprit was a long-past-ripened banana peel, fulfilling its traditional purpose. "Sorry about that. They're s'posed to be used only on the track, but some local troublemakers have a habit of just leaving 'em around for folks to trip on, thinkin' it's funny."

Jimmy groaned, slowly getting back up. The cold metal flooring hit him a bit harder than the soft carpets from Dani's bunker. "Might wanna crack down on that."

"Probably. But it is kinda funny."

"Fair point." Especially picturing their werewolf tripping over one. "So where exactly was…?"

"Back here," Junior said, grabbing the handle of a metal door at the back and shoving it open.

It led back outside, completely behind the boundaries of the racing arena, forming a big ring of dirt between those walls and the walls of the park itself. If Jimmy hadn't been led here, he definitely would've felt like he was trespassing because this area was very much not accessible to the public.

Not that there was much to see aside from the dirt, a few patches of grass, and the occasional litter thrown carelessly back here by spectators. But that only made the tracks left by their quarry all the more noticeable.

The most obvious were the footprints. With the lack of activity back here, there weren't a lot to begin with and they were all distinctly lupine, but one set stood out. They started from near the door and headed out towards the middle, growing increasingly haphazard in their movements and then just growing, ending in one massive pair of clodhoppers that would put even Felix's to shame.

Jimmy could see no more prints after that. "It just stops right here?"

"Pretty spooky, right?" Junior said, leaning back against the door. "A bit clichéd, but spooky. Some of our late-night riders heard some freaky noises and looked over the wall to see this big boy lurkin' around. Naturally, they ran off to report it immediately, tail firmly between their legs. 'Cause lemme tell ya, it takes somethin' pretty powerful to be heard over our rides."

"WHAT?!" Jimmy yelled back.

It was, of course, even louder now. "Just start investigatin' or whatever!"

"Hmmm…" Jimmy looked around. Aside from the footprints, there were also some notable claw marks on the nearby wall, as if their monster had decided to take some of its frustrations out on it.

But what would a monster be frustrated about?

Did it dislike all the killing and eating?

Was it tormented by the state of its own existence?

Yes, perhaps. And if that was the case, then maybe…

Just maybe…

He had no idea where he was going with this.

"Got anything?" Junior asked.

"Uh…hold on. Just gonna sniff around a bit more." And he did, by outright putting his nose to the ground and crawling around on all fours, ignoring the fact that this was very likely the first thing the actual wolves had tried. "Yes…yes…I'm definitely picking up something distinctly…wolfy."

"Ya don't say."

"I do say."

He could practically hear Junior shaking his head. "Mind if I save ya some trouble? We already nosed over the whole scene. Aside from confirming that the Beast is, in fact, 'wolfy', it didn't tell us much else. The scent's too muddled to pick out any one specific wolf. Unless maybe we rounded up the whole pack for comparison, but we're kinda tryin' to keep this low-profile and all."

"Muddled how?"

"Not sure honestly. Bit of mud, bit of blood, bit of…something we can't even identify."

"Then maybe we just need to go in a bit deeper…" Sensing that he was on the brink of something big, Jimmy stuck his nose in the biggest thing he could find, one of the giant footprints, and took a giant whiff.

Somewhere in the distance, a pane of glass broke.

"EUUUUUUUUUUUGH!" The wolfox scrambled away and fell on his back, clutching his nose. "Eww eww eww eww ewwwww!"

"Don't know what exactly you were expectin' a footprint to smell like other than feet," Junior said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you, uh, sure ya know what yer doin'?"

"More or less," he coughed. "Just…crime scene investigation is a bit harder than they made it seem at the academy."

Junior was deathly silent for a moment, managing to unnerve him even with the continuous background noise. "You've never investigated a crime scene before?"

"I tried to in a dream once, but then Wallace killed everyone."

The wolf slammed a fist into the door with a loud clang. "What the hell have you been doin' on the force for this long?!"

"Fending off gang wars mostly."

"Before that!"

"Uh…I think it could best be described as 'action-packed wacky crime adventures'."

Junior pressed both paws together, taking a deep breath as he slowly raised them to his snout, then lowered them again. "Boy, yer lucky to be so endearing."

"I've been told it's my natural defense mechanism. Hey, what's that?"

From his position flat on his back, Jimmy found himself staring straight up the side of the outer wall. And it was from there that he spotted something else.

"What's what?"

"Up there. High up on the wall."

Junior had to squint against the morning sun, but he did manage to spot it as well. "Oh shit. Are those more claw marks?"

They were indeed, and as Jimmy stood back up to get a better look, he could see that there were more still, trailing up the surface of the wall until vanishing near the top. And from there…

Jimmy suppressed a gasp as the photos flashed through his mind again, all those devoured mammals. He had no idea which of them came in the wake of these tracks, so his subconscious apparently just decided to remind him of them all and cover its bases.

But therein came another angle. "This wasn't caught on camera?"

"We don't got cameras back here, pup. Not usually a need for 'em. And if our perp is a pack member, they would know that. Probably how they've managed these little hunger sprees without gettin' caught yet."

"Not just the perp," Jimmy said, kneeling back down and tracing a claw slowly around the giant prints. "But the Beast too."

Junior frowned. "I…don't follow."

"Well, this guy…or gal, don't wanna assume the Beast's gender."

"Of course."

"Anyway, they would be smart enough to avoid the cameras and go somewhere where they wouldn't be easily spotted to 'transform' or whatever. But after going Beasty, they should be all dumb and feral, right?"

"Feral don't necessarily mean dumb," Junior said, an edge of harshness to his tone. "But close enough. So what yer sayin' is…"

"It can think," Jimmy concluded. "And pretty well at that. I mean, this has been going on for months."

"That we know about."

"Right. Because a werewolf is a big, hairy, mythical monster, but it's also a serial killer. And those I'm trained to understand, so I know that they're generally pretty smart."

"Great," Junior groaned. "That's just what we need. A smart monster." He finally pulled himself off the wall and came over to give Jimmy a literal pat on the back. "But hey, it looks like we've got a little smartypants of our own."

"Smartypants?"

"I almost said smartass. Just take the compliment."

"Thanks, Junior!" Jimmy grinned, tail wagging so happily that it somewhat damaged the suave investigator image he'd been building up until now. "You were right though. It's not much."

"It's more than we had," he countered. "And at least somethin' worth reporting. Come on, let's get back to…do you smell that?"

"My nose is still kinda fuzzy from earlier. What is it?"

Junior narrowed his eyes. "Smells like flowers and shamelessness."

Putting a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, Junior silently crept up to the metal door they'd entered through and abruptly yanked it open.

"Waaaaah!" A startled Molly Moonflower tumbled through the open door and fell to the ground, making a cracking sound that Jimmy was relieved to see had only come from her hat camera. "My lens! OPINION: Felix Dire Junior Is A Jerkface!"

"That ain't news. What are you doin' here, Molly?"

"Going where the scoop is, duh!" After a fall like that, she sprung back to her feet surprisingly fast. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't catch wind of something like this? HEADLINE: Your Unfriendly Neighborhood Werewolf! Just think of the press!"

"Uh…yeah, we are. That's kinda why we're keepin' this under wraps." Junior leaned in, slamming a paw into the wall behind her. "And if you wanna keep yer position here, it's gonna stay under wraps. Got it?"

Staring up at the imposing wolf towering over them, anyone would be intimidated, but Molly wasn't backing down so easily. "Y-You can't hide this forever. The people deserve the truth."

"And Ruffles deserve ridges, but ruffling is the last thing we wanna do right now. If you think that's unfair, then go write a slam piece on how much of a 'jerkface' I am. But if this ends up in the news, then you can count yerself out of a job faster than a cheetah with intestinal distress!"

"Fine," Molly spat, and likely would have done so for real if she wanted to top Junior's analogy. "I just have one question then. If you're so keen on keeping this story away from the public, then what exactly is he doing here? He's not even a full pack member yet!"

It took Jimmy a moment to realize she was now glaring at him. Well, not glaring exactly. More like affixing him with a gaze of intense journalistic curiosity. "Me? Oh, I'm just…taking a tour…of the facilities."

"He's not supposed to be here either," Junior stepped in. "I was givin' him a tour, but the little scamp wandered off on me. What do ya have to say for yerself, James?"

Playing along, he looked down and folded his paws in shame. "I'm sorry. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of my parents has given me a lingering distrust of authority figures."

Molly's eyes lit up like her broken camera. "Did you say mysterious circumstances?" She brandished her pen and notepad, which he was pretty sure she hadn't been carrying a second ago. "Tell me more!"

"Well, it all started-"

"-happily ever after. The end!" Junior all but shoved Molly back through the door before slamming it in her face.

"My search for the truth will not be denied!" She made a few attempts to get back in, boldly thwarted by Junior holding the door shut. "My denial will not keep me from searching for the truth! You win this time Junior, but I'll be back! In print!"

"No one reads print anymore!" he shouted back, but it was in vain as Molly had already run off again. "Well, at least she's gone."

"For now," Jimmy said worriedly. "Is she gonna be a problem?"

"Molly? Nah. I know her. She's overzealous, but threatening her job gets her to cave every time. She knows the Beast is off-limits now, so she'll just find some other big scoop to focus on."

"Like me?"

"Yeah, like you." Junior paused. "Okay, that could be a problem."

"Couldn't you just scare her off again?"

"Not without it lookin' majorly suspicious for me to get so defensive over the new guy. We're lucky enough that she only came in at the end of all that. Still though. We're gonna have to be more careful."

"What did she mean, by the way?" Jimmy asked, not light on questions himself. "That I'm not a full pack member yet? Is there like a big ceremony I gotta go through?"

"Well…there is, but there's also…" Junior waved his paws around a bit, but this impromptu magic spell didn't summon any further explanation. "Look, we can worry about that later. Wanna go grab a bite to eat?"

The rumbling of Jimmy's stomach both answered the question for him and immediately ended the discussion. Yet he couldn't help but feel that Molly may have been onto something about the Langs and their secret-keeping.

---

Rainforest District

The Bunker

10:20 AM

"Do you think he's doing alright?" Nick asked. "I know from experience that the first day apart can be rough."

Danielle gave a shrug, sitting cross-legged on the floor nearby as she tinkered with something in her lap. "Honestly, I think he's fine."

"But he's all by himself in a strange new place. Sure, he's got company, but it's still a big change from what he's used to. And I have to wonder if the guy's feeling a little replaced," he said, looking down in sympathy at the small, wallaby-shaped plush toy sitting quietly on the coffee table. "Like Jimmy doesn't need him anymore now that he's got us, and the Vixens…and I guess the wolves now too. They used to be best friends, and now Jimmy's off on an important mission where he can't take him, so all he can do is just sit and wait and hope he'll get to see him again. It must be so lonely."

"Perhaps," Dani replied. "Counterpoint: it's a toy."

Nick nodded sagely. "Yes, Wallace may be a toy, but he is also an icon. A symbol, if you will. Of one mammal's determination to find companionship and spring life from the lifeless."

"What the hell are you on about?"

"I have no foxing idea. This isolation is getting to me." Nick grabbed Wallace by the head and turned him away before he could give him any more ideas. "I think I'm starting to lose it."

"Dude, it's been a day. I thought you spent most of your life alone."

"I lived by myself, yeah, but there were still plenty of mammals to talk to. Granted, I was either hustling or being threatened by most of them but the social interaction was there." Nick laid back across the couch, staring up at the ceiling and suddenly really craving a ball to toss up and down. "At the very least, there was fresh air and the occasional change of scenery."

"Eh, overrated. And the air in here is circulated in from outside, so it's technically just as fresh."

"If you say so. Don't suppose you have a ball, by the way?"

"Sure." She took a quick break from her work to reach into her toolbox and toss something back to him.

"...This is a ball wrench."

"Yeah, I don't know why you thought I'd have a ball either. And actually, I think I'm gonna need that back."

Nick rolled his eyes, but passed it back. Admittedly, this had been the most stimulation he'd gotten for a while now. "What have you got there anyway? Trying to fix your zoomba?"

"It's a bit more than just a zoomba." As clearly evidenced by what appeared to be a small turret gun attached to the top of it. "Say hi, Giles."

[greeting beeps]

Nick jumped. "What was that?" He didn't want to admit that he'd thought the high-pitched beeping noises had come from Wallace for a second.

"This is Giles," she introduced, turning to let him get a good look at her little cleaning companion. "I built him a while back when I got bored one day. He's programmed with a whole slew of automated responses. Plus, he's good at cleaning up filth."

"What's the gun for?"

"Filth."

[affirmative beeps]

"So you just…casually built a robot on a rainy day," Nick said, feeling obligated to at least sit up after that. "Not gonna lie, that's stretching my suspension of disbelief a bit."

"Right, so the giant transforming robot your dad chased you around in, that was okay, but this little one is where you draw the line?"

"Hey, I'll go on the record that there was nothing okay about that thing. Call me old-fashioned, but most of my experience with machines that weren't dispensing money typically involved them being used against me. Recent events have not helped that impression."

"Just give him a chance," Dani urged, affectionately petting Giles straight across the gun barrel.

[contented beeps]

"Well, so far you're not exactly selling me on these 'automated responses'. Kinda just sounds like an emoji on wheels."

"He's a simpler model," Dani admitted. "He does know a few tricks though. Giles, fetch!"

The small robot hopped off of Dani's lap and rolled up to Nick. "Uh…hi?"

"Roll over!"

"Ow!" Nick clutched his foot as Giles promptly drove across it.

"Shake!"

Giles did a victory dance.

"I hope you'll forgive me if I don't ask to see the rest of his repertoire," Nick groaned, rubbing his foot. "But I will concede that he is impressive. Or rather, you are for building him."

She smirked. "I'm just one mammal springing life from the lifeless."

"And my Wilde ramblings come full circle."

[apologetic beeps]

"I forgive you, Giles. You were just following the orders of your cruel master."

"Gotta amuse myself in here somehow," Dani said innocently, though her persistent smirk was anything but.

"Of course. But since I'm going to be living here, you got any other murder machines I should know about?"

"Just one mainly. Lemme see if I can call in Lancelot." Dani got up and headed over to the wall.

"Just to clarify, I was joking."

Dani knocked lightly on a metallic part of the wall, making a resounding clang. "Hey, Lancelot. Wanna come out and meet Nick?"

She got no response. "Hmm. He might be busy monitoring something. Remember when I told you that I'd designed my own security system? Well, now I have a version of it watching over this place."

"And you named him Lancelot?"

"Fitting, right? He defends his castle and his queen. But instead of lancing anything, he just shoots them."

Nick immediately recalled the fate of the other Danny, thankfully also recalling her mention of non-lethal riot control rounds. Not that it made him feel much better about it. "Hold on. You mean all that gunfire we heard before…"

"That was just him sending a message. At roughly two dozen words per second."

"...On second thought, I don't strictly have to meet Lancelot."

"You summoned me, my queen?" asked a deep, robotic voice both intimidating and surprisingly classy. It came from above, followed shortly thereafter by a large, ceiling-mounted minigun that emerged from a panel.

Dani was completely unphased. "I just wanted you to formally meet Nick Wilde, since he's gonna be staying with us." She gestured to the openly gaping fox. "Please don't shoot anything into his mouth no matter how big of a target it is."

"I heed your command." If Nick was frozen stiff before, the gun now turned to point at him directly. "Salutations, Mr. Wilde. There is no need to be alarmed. Your visual identification data is already in my system. I know you are not a threat."

"Lancelot scans anyone who enters with those lenses up there," Dani explained, pointing to some glass lenses atop the gun that bore a striking resemblance to a pair of spectacles. "Anyone registered or wearing one of those guest cards gets a pass."

"Anyone who does not pass is issued a firm warning to leave the premises immediately and I shoot."

"Or you shoot," Dani corrected.

"Indeed. Please forgive my linguistic error."

"Seems like a…charming fellow," Nick said, putting on his best 'please don't make an example of me' smile.

"He's not so scary once you get to know him," Dani said dryly as if his concerns were unreasonable. "Watch this. Lancelot, who's a good boy?"

"It is I. I am designated as a 'good boy'."

Nick groaned in defeat. "You're right. That is objectively adorable."

"See? Now you try."

"Uh…" He stared up at the rotating gun barrels still pointed at him. "Lancelot…who's a good boy?"

"Do not patronize me, cur."

Nick stared blankly in shock, his silence allowing him to clearly hear the sound of Dani's muffled laughter nearby. "Well. I see this model is significantly more advanced."

[amused beeps]

"Of course you'd find it funny."

"I'm sorry," Dani said with a chuckle. "But you've seen enough of my designs by now that this sort of thing really shouldn't surprise you anymore."

"True, but I didn't know you made friends with some of them," he replied. "If nothing else, he certainly does make the place feel more secure. It would take someone with a completely cavalier attitude towards death to mess around with this guy."

"Hiiiiiii, Lancie!" greeted Pearl Vixen, skipping into the room with her sisters. "Where'd ya go? We were so just getting warmed up with our athletics training."

"Could you, like, swivel a little faster next time? Maybe speed up the rate of fire?"

"Literally didn't even break a sweat. Mainly because I don't sweat, but still."

"My apologies, ladies. I must answer the summons of the queen. We can resume your training soon."

"Yaaaaay!" they all cheered.

Nick wasn't as surprised as he would've liked to be. So he'll still shoot you if he has consent? There's ONE loophole I won't need to worry about.

"Was wondering where you three went," Dani said, leaning against the wall. She either wasn't surprised herself or just not showing it as usual.

"If we're going to be helping out our Jimmy-Wimmy, we figured we should, like, stay in shape," Crystal said, doing a stretch that her uniform showed off particularly well. "No offense to the police academy, but those courses were super tame compared to what we're used to."

Nick didn't know what kind of courses they were used to, but if dodging heavy artillery was their idea of a good time, then Major Friedkin's shouts of "You're dead!" may have been more nostalgic to them than anything.

Before Jimmy's girlfriends could disturb him any further, Pearl's phone rang. "Ugh. If we get one more job request, I am so gonna lure them here for target practice."

"I cannot directly state that I support that idea."

Nick watched the Vixens head off to get shot at more while Dani started looking over Lancelot and Giles nuzzled playfully against his leg. He was starting to feel like an idiot for ever thinking he'd get bored here.

---

Packed Plaza

11:25 AM

The meal Jimmy and Junior had was late for breakfast, a bit early for lunch, not fancy enough to be called brunch, and barely qualified as a meal at all since it consisted entirely of concession stand junk food.

"How do they get them like this?" Jimmy asked, marveling at the wonder of fried dough known as the engine cake, a funnel cake woven into a close approximation of a motor engine. He could swear it even rumbled a bit.

"Oh, we just tie 'em around an actual bike engine and rev up 'til we reach that golden brown," Junior answered, munching on a bag of onion ring nuts himself.

"Was that a joke?"

"The fact that ya can't tell means yer fittin' in already."

"I guess so," Jimmy said, using a metal fork to try to pry apart the engine cake. His plastic fork had already died in the attempt. "Still weird that it's basically been just us so far. Nosey reporters and noisy recorders aside. Didn't you used to have a whole posse you rode around with?"

"Still do, pup. I'll introduce ya later on."

"When I become a full pack member, you mean?"

Junior naturally ignored the question. "You were pretty good back there, ya know. For never having actually done it and all."

Jimmy shrugged, finally managing to carve out a piece for himself. "Was I? All I did was happen to look up. I'm sure one of you guys would've gotten around to that eventually."

"And ya made some pretty solid conclusions too," Junior added, shaking a soda at him that came in a container shaped like an oil can but probably wasn't. "Don't sell yerself short."

"But I am short."

"That don't mean ya can't make a big impact. Trust me, there have been shorter wolves than you who have done some crazy things."

"Why?"

"That's a bit of a long story, but it mainly involves-"

"No," Jimmy cut him off, pointing his fork at him. "I mean, why trust you exactly?"

Junior blinked. "...What?"

"I get that you've been assigned to help me, but so far you've spent most of the morning distracting me with carnival rides, junk food, and pep talks. I had to ask to be taken to my actual job here and now you're being all flighty about what I have to do just to join the pack. You can't help me gather information while also actively concealing it from me." He managed to make that accusation without sounding the least bit hostile, seeming more genuinely curious than anything. And he followed it up by stuffing his face with engine cake.

Junior would've said he was more floored than a flounder on Jupiter had he not also been rendered just as speechless. "I…wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Jimmy said, just as casually. "And at some point, I kinda have to wonder why. You do remember our honor duel, right? The one where I beat you?"

"Ixnay on the uelday," Junior whispered, looking around at the crowds of passersby.

"I'm just saying, I'm not the scared, fragile little pup you all think I am. Isn't that the point of this? To be a different mammal?"

"In a sense, yeah. But yer still gonna be you at the end of the day. And even if ya don't wanna admit it, we can tell that this is takin' a toll on you," he insisted. "I wasn't tryin' to hide anything. I was just tryin' to be a good friend and give ya a nice day at the park before diving headlong into it all."

"Why?" Jimmy asked again, though he was quicker to clarify this time. "Why do you want to be my friend all of a sudden? Yeah, I hugged you before, but that's normal for me. You're one of the top dogs in a gang that, until very recently, was made up mostly of criminal biker thugs. And now you're suddenly being all nice to me? What did I do to deserve that? Because I know what I've done to not deserve that, and a sixth of this park is named after her."

"What's with all the hostility?"

"What's with your lack of hostility?"

"You wanna see hostile?!" Junior slammed a fist into the table so hard that it nearly collapsed the engine cake. "Alright, pup. I was gonna let ya relax a while first, but if yer in such a hurry to get things done, I've got just the place."

"As ominous as you're being right now, you're still not answering any of my questions."

"Oh, I've got one answer for you," he said, his smile turning a bit sinister. "You wanna know how to join the pack, right? Then lemme tell ya about initiation."

---

Stanky Lang's Junkyard Jamboree

12:13 PM

"Didn't this used to be the haunted house area?" Jimmy asked, looking around in awe and a bit of ew at the literal mountains of trash now surrounding them. It was paved just enough to let visitors navigate around, with the various attractions hidden either between or within the junk piles. Surprisingly, it still seemed fairly popular, if only because there was a sizable demographic of mammals who enjoy strong smells. "Ooooh, I get it! Environmental pollution is what we should really be afraid of."

"Actually, we kinda just wanted a place to dump all our junk," Junior admitted. "And Stanky Lang did establish her territory in the local junkyard back in the day, so I'm sure she'd be honored."

Sitting right at the front of one of the mounds was a faded portrait of the Alpha in question. She was a red wolf in black shredded jeans and a vibrant red biker jacket over a white tank top, sporting a pair of cracked goggles atop her head. She had her booted feet propped up on a desk in front of her and her arms behind her neck, smiling at the viewer as if somehow knowing she'd one day be a tourist attraction.

"She does look pretty impressive for living in garbage," Jimmy remarked. "What is she known for?"

"Stanky Lang was big on makin' the most of all the pack's resources," Junior explained. "Some called her a hoarder, but she was really just invested in ensuring that every member of the pack had ample food and shelter. On the flipside, that also made her fiercely territorial. She basically took over the junkyard and moved the whole pack inside, forcin' the city to bow to her whims if they wanted to make any use of the place. She was clever, tactical, and had a stench that could drop a charging rhino."

"That's a weird superpower."

"This comin' from the guy dating the ninja masseuses? Whatever. You're here for yer initiation, right?"

"Right!" Jimmy agreed, tail wagging enthusiastically. "So what does that involve?"

"Well, the exact requirements have changed over the years," Junior said, running his claws along the shell of an old car as they passed by. "One year it was doin' a lap around a particularly dangerous bike track. Another year you had to mud wrestle one of our own into the ground. Then there was that stint where they'd just lock ya in a dark room and have a bunch of guys beat the tar out of ya. That didn't last a year."

"Uh…huh," Jimmy said, suddenly a bit less excited about his initiation. "What is it now?"

"You mentioned the haunted house attraction that used to be here. It still is. Just gone through a lotta refurbishin'. More of a modern take on the concept, but scarier than walkin' in on an elephant in the shower. All you gotta do is ride through the whole thing without freaking out too much."

"That doesn't sound too bad…" Jimmy said carefully, not wanting to tempt fate already. "I've been through some pretty scary stuff before. Abduction, blood sports, jury duty…"

"Child's play," Junior scoffed. "This is gonna make even that killer doll dream of yours look tame."

Jimmy gasped. "W-What if I fail?"

"Then ya try again tomorrow."

"And if I fail tomorrow?"

Junior frowned. "Then ya try again the next day. But I hope ya have more faith in yerself than that."

"I do. It's just…this is important and all, so I'm kinda wondering how many chances I get before…"

"Before what? Before we kick you out? We're adopting orphans here, pup! The point is to toughen ya up a little, but we're not gonna throw anyone out on the street just for failing initiation! What do you think we are?!"

"A crime family?"

"Okay, yeah, we were, but there's always been more emphasis on the 'family' part than the 'crime'. All the Alphas throughout Lang history, no matter how they ran things, they understood that. And now we've dropped the crime, so we don't even have an excuse to pretend otherwise."

Jimmy nodded. "Makes sense to me. So are we gonna keep walking?"

"Don't need to. We're here." Junior titled his head up at the building now in front of them.

To call the place refurbished would be an understatement. They seemed to have just taken a wrecking ball to the old haunted house and started from scratch. The more classical design had been replaced with what looked like an old farmhouse, about two stories smaller than the original. "Guess you had to shrink it down a bit."

"Seemingly yes."

Junior kept walking before Jimmy could even process that, making the wolfox scurry behind him to catch up. Despite the redesign, the old rustic nature of the place still creeped him out a bit, even in the daytime.

Junior led him inside, the front door opening with an artificially loud creak. It barely caught the attention of the mammals waiting in line along the carpeted wooden hallway before them. Junior led his charge right past it, barely bothering to flash a card to show his authorization to do so.

Jimmy still felt a little bad about it, at least until Junior brought him into a separate, empty room designed like a cozy study with bookshelves on every wall. "Alright, this is where you'll wait for yer initiatin'. This version of the ride's a bit different from the public one."

Making a smaller creak with every step, Jimmy sat himself down on a semi-comfortable chair in the middle of the room. He closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself for the terror to come. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Glad to hear it. You just sit here and wait until the guy who conducts this thing is prepared."

"Cool. So like a few minutes or…?"

"He starts takin' initiates around dusk. The effect is better at night."

Jimmy glanced up at a clock on the wall. "…It's barely past noon."

"I know."

"I'd be sitting here for, like, six hours."

"I know." Junior headed out the door without skipping a beat, only taking a moment to look back at him. "Maybe you'll consider that next time ya try to rush things. You're in a theme park, pup. Grow some damn patience."

And without another word, Junior closed the door on him with a resounding slam and the ominous click of a lock.

Jimmy looked back at the clock. One minute had passed.

It was then that he knew what true terror was.

---

Like Six Hours Later

Or probably. Jimmy refused to look at the clock again during his unexpected imprisonment in this fairly comfortable room. Being surrounded by books and actually being a pretty avid reader despite stereotypes about his generation, he turned to the printed word to pass the time.

Thankfully, the Lang Family's penchant for recycling assets meant that the books were real and not just decorative, which didn't necessarily mean they were actually good. He dove in hoping to find some juicy Lang lore and came out with a bunch of wolf-themed mystery novels that only seemed to taunt his desire for answers. Plus a few books about anatomy that didn't seem to fit the vibe and were probably just shoved here to take up space. All those taught him were a few aspects of wolf biology he would not be able to replicate.

He was halfway through reading The Case of the Stolen Howl (not to be confused with the much more controversial The Case of the Stolen Howler) when a dark shadow was cast over him. Jimmy looked up to politely ask the shadow to step back, and saw a grinning skull staring down at him. "Why hello there, son!"

The cheery country accent only startled him more and Jimmy chucked the book at his assailant, clocking the skull on the nose. "Please don't eat me! I have to know how it ends!"

"Oof, that smarts! Didn't think I'd ever be thankful for someone choosin' the paperback version." The 'assailant' was a jet-black wolf dressed in the type of old-timey suit he'd last seen worn by a funeral director. The skull was just a mask, and any menace it still exuded was somewhat undermined by the low-brimmed hat he politely held to his chest. "Anyway, yer James, right?"

"Wh-Who told you that? The spirits beyond?"

"Nah, it was Junior. Said he locked the new guy in a room about forty minutes ago, but felt bad so he called me to let ya out."

"Forty…minutes?" Jimmy finally looked back at the clock. Maybe he should've done more than skim all those books. "My attention span is unnervingly small. So are you like the manager of this place?"

He gave a slight bow, waving his hat with a flourish. "That's right. Call me Morty. Now I know my appearance may be a tad frightenin', but I assure you that I'm no ghastly cryptcreeper. That's just my role in the park. Before that I was merely a body dumper."

"O-Oh. I-Is that all?"

"Bah. There I go, layin' it on too thick again. This should help." Morty reached up and removed his skull mask, revealing the face of a kindly old wolf with a soft smile and a few stray patches of gray fur around his eyes. "But if yer gettin' this jumpy over little ol' me, I dare say the initiation trial might prove a challenge."

"Yeah, you're right…" Jimmy steeled himself, prepping up all over again. "Oh, but wait. Junior said you don't start taking initiates until dusk."

He laughed. "Trust me, that don't matter. We wolves may work best by the light of the moon, but we ain't limited by it either. Come along, son."

It only occurred to Jimmy that he hadn't seen how Morty entered when he turned to leave, approaching a wolf-shaped bust and flicking it on the nose. "No. Bad. Lay down."

The nearest bookshelf fell backwards through a fake wall, making a walkway for them to pass over. "Kinda mussing up the books by walking over them, aren't we?" Jimmy asked.

"But if it fell the other way, all the books would fall out," Morty replied. "Gotta make yer secret passages all economic-like."

"I think that's why they normally open sideways?" But what did he know? He wasn't a haunted home designer.

They entered into a long hallway, slowly losing light as they went along until only a few torches and their natural night vision were left to guide them along. On top of that, Jimmy was getting unnerved by how quiet it was. That was supposed to be a horror staple and all, but if he was standing inside a haunted house, shouldn't he be hearing the other guests screaming in terror and such? Either this place was better soundproofed than it appeared or it really wasn't that scary after all. Neither sounded right to him.

He tried to distract himself from that by striking up conversation again. "So…have you been with the pack long?"

"Longer than most," he chuckled. "Enough to have known a few of the past Alphas personally."

"Does that include Lady Lang?" Jimmy asked, before realizing he might've asked too much. "I-I mean, I've heard good things about her, so…"

"Ha! I should hope so. I'm the one who recruited her. Glad she's made such a fine legacy for herself that even the fresh meat knows of 'er."

This started as just a diversion, but Jimmy knew he had an opportunity here that he might not find anywhere else. "What was she like? Lady Lang?"

Morty gave a wistful smile. "She was one of the greats, that's for sure. Kind, caring, ruthless where she needed to be, loyal to the pack above all else…not to mention a damn fine shot. I tell ya, even if her zone here didn't come with the place, I reckon the pack would've added it in a heartbeat. No offense to Ms. Foxy Lang, of course, but she's got some big high heels to fill."

"So she was pretty special even among the Alphas, huh?" Jimmy asked, feeling both touched and even more guilty over helping to rob the world of her.

"I'll say. And to think, she had my old job at first. Just a young gal with a kind heart and aspirations of motherhood, takin' care of the bodies. But I suppose it was only a matter of time before she got my old old job."

"And that was?" Jimmy wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know, but he'd already dove into this. No going back now.

"The position of Alpha, naturally."

And now he wanted to know everything. "Wait…you? You're a-"

"I was," Morty corrected. "Like I said, I'm the one who recruited her, remember? Best decision I ever made in my day."

"What was your Alpha name?"

"Morty Lang."

"I'm…not sure what I was expecting…"

He laughed. "Hey now, ya gotta admit it was the perfect fit already. Even before all the grave business, I've always been a pretty morbid guy. You know the pack tradition of stickin' skulls on our bikes? I started that."

"Oh yeah! I've, uh, seen that before. Those fake skulls are really authentic."

"Right. Fake."

"But if you were an Alpha, why are you confined to this haunted house attraction? Shouldn't you have a whole section all to yourself?"

"Nah, I don't deserve anything like that," he said dismissively. "Park doesn't have enough space to give all the Alphas that honor and I'm more than content with runnin' this attraction."

"Wait…there's even more? Just how many Alphas have there been?"

"Foxy Lang would be the nine…teenth, I believe. I used to be really good at keeping track, but that's a skill that faded with age, I'm afraid."

"Wow…" This hallway was going on forever, but more importantly, "I didn't know the Lang Family's been around that long. Why is it only the more modern ones getting represented then? Shouldn't there be like a…Wild West Lang or something?"

Morty paused. "Son, the Lang Family's only been around for like eighty years."

"What? But all the Alphas…"

He shook his head. "While we pride ourselves on bein' a family, that don't mean this is a generational thing where the title of Alpha gets passed along a line of succession. Most of us were elected well into our adult years from across all kinds of bloodlines. Which we generally weren't aware of anyway, bein' orphans and all."

"So you just have short terms then?"

"Well, we're not supposed to, but bein' the head of a criminal gang generally ain't good for life expectancy. Most of us either retire in a couple years or meet the bad end of a gun, usually from outside the pack at least."

"You, uh, seem pretty comfortable talking about it." As opposed to Jimmy himself, who was starting to regret his thirst for lore.

"I hafta be in this job!" Morty laughed. "Heck, I wasn't even the first choice for Alpha back in the day. That would be my pappy. They call him Windy Lang now. Wanna know why?"

"Because he was really good at huffing and puffing?"

"Because he stayed in power for about two weeks and then died in a police shootout that coulda easily been avoided. Gone like the wind. Anyway, we've made it."

Oh thank god. Jimmy didn't hold onto that sentiment for long though as he looked upon the ride in question.

It was named Howl's Descent, as stated by a glowing red sign that was the only source of light in the small room. The ride itself was on rails, with a cart that looked uncomfortably like a wolf-sized coffin and was thus more than able to fit Jimmy. "Where are the other guests?"

"Oh, they get a version of the same experience, but we make it especially terrifyin' on our new recruits," Morty said, just as pleasantly as ever. "The two rides are on different layers so they won't overlap."

"Layers?" Jimmy looked back at the long hallway they had just traversed. Only from this angle was he able to see that it wasn't just a hallway, but a very slight ramp, gradually leading them down into darkness. Though apparently the true descent was yet to begin.

"The rules are simple," Morty explained. "You sit tight and ride all the way through, enduring all the pants-wettin' horrors within. If ya can't, just hit that big red button." He pointed inside the car, to a button attached to an intercom below the lip. "That'll patch ya through to me and I can stop the ride in a heartbeat. Or several, depending on how fast yours is goin'. Of course, that'll mean ya hafta try again another day, not that I'd mind the company. Any questions?"

"Surprisingly no," Jimmy said, slowly stepping inside and making himself comfortable before pulling the guard rail down. Safety first. "At the very least, I'm pretty sure I've been through worse."

"If you have, then I feel for ya, son." Morty stepped over to a nearby control console, one black paw gripping a lever. "Ready?"

"I'm actively resisting the urge to say YOLO unironically."

"I'll take that as a yes. Good luck!"

He pulled the lever and the ride started with a loud creak and a demonic laugh. Jimmy gripped the rail and tried to calm his nerves as he was carried into the dark tunnel ahead.

It was true that he had probably been through worse, but back then he had Nick, or the Vixens, or even Wallace by his side and cheering him on. For the first time since he'd gotten here, he was truly on his own.

As he was surrounded in pure darkness, he almost started to welcome the pants-wetting horrors.

---

Howl's Descent

1:36 PM

It soon became apparent to Jimmy that he had no idea what darkness truly was. Most predators, including himself, had some degree of night vision after all. But this was something different. It was so dark that nothing at all could be seen. Were he not trying to fight down his nerves with every passing second, he may have been tempted to refer to it as 'advanced darkness'.

Worst of all, it was quiet. There was no sound from up ahead to alert him to what he was in for. All he could hear was the soft thumps of the cart on the track. Or maybe that was his heart.

Then, without warning, there was an electrical snap that made him jump. A dim, flickering, fluorescent ceiling light came on ahead of him, revealing that the tunnel had transformed. Instead of some dingy farmhouse, he was in what looked to be an underground hospital. Patient charts sat beside doors, through which he could barely see hospital beds, neatly made, but empty...so far.

"Please!" came a male voice from ahead of the cart. "I'll do anything to save them! Anything!"

A room to the right lit up bright red. "Anything?" answered a low, menacing growl.

As he passed by, Jimmy could see a figure, a wolf in a doctor's coat, knelt before a glowing red pentagram on the floor. It was the only source of light in the room...except for a giant, crimson smile that suddenly appeared in the dark.

"Anything!" the doctor replied earnestly, spreading his arms wide. "Please! The plague is just too much for me to handle!"

The change of scenery was wild and the content was wilder. Jimmy stared in rapt attention. He knew he probably shouldn't be looking so closely at something that was designed to terrify him, but dang, these production values were something else! Also, plagues were a thing. Good historical accuracy.

"HELP!"

From the next room over, a wolf's paw grabbed the edge of the door. It pulled up just enough for the top of the owner's head to come into view.

Then, more paws. About a dozen of them, covered in blood. Some were missing fingers. They seized the one who had asked for help, dragging him back around the corner.

A scream. The sound of horrific tearing. Silence. Then squishing, chewing, and the satisfied growls of wolves eating.

He hadn't realized the subject matter was going to be so topical. Jimmy let out a small squeak and backed away. He didn't get very far on account of the seat he was confined to. It's okay. It's not real. You can handle this. You've handled actual life-threatening danger before, so you can definitely handle this.

"Begone!" someone shouted. "Begone from this vessel, in the name of God!"

A bright, white light shone from within one of the rooms, casting two silhouettes on the far wall: a wolf in priest's robes holding a cross, and a thrashing figure in a hospital bed.

"I command thee, out! Out, demon!"

"Out..."

The backlight turned from white to red.

"And in!"

"Gah!" the priest recoiled, dropping his cross.

The bedridden figure stopped thrashing. "Ungh...Father?" said a dazed female voice. "Is that you? Why is everything red?"

The priest staggered towards the girl in bed...and lunged.

There was a choking, and a tearing. Then just the sound of the priest's ecstatic devouring of the girl he'd tried to save.

Something splattered across Jimmy's cheek.

It took him a moment to notice. Not the splatter, but the fact that he was actively whimpering. He really didn't want to touch whatever that was on his cheek. You can handle this, you can handle this...

"RUN!"

Jimmy screamed as a doctor banged on the glass in front of him. "You have to get out of here while you still can!"

"But I caaaaaan't…"

The doctor didn't listen to his protests and next turned to a patient sleeping on a nearby cot, shaking her awake roughly. "Wake up, wake up! We have to run!"

The other wolf awoke, looking at the doctor, and over his shoulder at what appeared to be a growing mass of red light creeping down the hall. She screamed, making Jimmy scream again by reflex, and shoved the doctor away before taking off running. He stumbled, proving unable to follow his own advice before the red light overtook him and filled the entire room.

One more shrill scream was unnaturally cut off, followed by pure silence. And blackness, as the red light vanished as well.

Now most of the sounds were coming from Jimmy, still trying to convince himself that he was okay.

The cart turned a corner. Now he seemed to be in some kind of security room, passing a big bank of monitors.

They flickered to life, giving him a good view of the many untoward things happening in this hospital. His attention was drawn to the image of a female wolf in nurse garb, covered in red. She was stuck in a room, but somehow knew she was being watched. "Ooh! Thank God!" she moaned. "Please! I need help! You should come get me!"

The way she spoke was...odd. She moaned almost sensually with every word she said, and seemed to stare right into Jimmy's soul.

If only to fill the void, he answered anyway. "Um...I would, but I'm pretty sure you're not real so..."

"Come get me!" She lunged at the screen, bloodshot eyes getting right in his face. "I need company! I...need...release!"

The screen shattered, with the crazed and even bloodier wolf shoving her head through it and slashing her claws at him. "Come here! I want you closer!"

The ride did get closer for a moment, making Jimmy press his back into the seat, until it suddenly swerved away down another hall as her voice echoed after him. "Come back! I can't be alooooone!"

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief, cut short as he passed by a room where a doctor hesitantly approached a moving form under a bedsheet. Don't do it! You know how this goes!

He pulled back the sheet and screamed, for underneath…was a wolf who'd grown another head!

Jimmy sighed again. Okay, that one wasn't so bad.

All of a sudden, the cart took a sharp downturn. For just a moment, Jimmy was completely submerged in a warm, red liquid. And then it popped out again, causing Jimmy to cough and sputter, now completely soaked in…he really didn't want to acknowledge it enough to find out.

The red glow shifted into another room as the cart rounded a corner, forcing him to turn back to look at it.

The silhouette of the doctor was on his knees, in front of the crimson smile. "Have I not given you what you wished for?" the demonic voice taunted.

"So much death..." the doctor sobbed. "Please. End this madness. Take me in exchange if you want..."

"Granted!"

The room suddenly exploded with fire. The doctor gave an agonized scream the likes of which Jimmy had never heard before.

Unfortunately, he'd heard enough screams by now to know that that one was chillingly realistic. He found himself huddling in the corner of the vehicle, one eye on the demon and the other on the button. The rational part of his mind had left and the rest of it was trying to gauge if he could press it before the thing spotted him.

Before he could, he locked eyes with the demon. The smile curved to be a little bit wider.

Then the monster charged.

Before he could press the button, the cart rocketed forward, g forces keeping him pinned facing the demon.

Those red teeth were growing ever closer, opening up as if to devour the cart whole, and it couldn't go fast enough to escape the encroaching hellish maw.

Jimmy screamed, now just curling up in a little ball and waiting to be devoured. He didn't need the momentum to keep him pinned; he was already frozen stiff.

And then, everything else froze as well.

He couldn't hear anything at first over his labored breathing, but once he finally opened his eyes, he realized there were no longer any other sounds at all. Or light for that matter. Everything was at a standstill.

Jimmy wasn't sure if this was part of the ride or not, but either way he was done with it. Not wanting to even move from his seat, he kicked out his foot to hit the button. "M-Morty? W-What's going on?"

"Well, uh...good news and bad news."

Jimmy glanced around. The glowing red teeth had closed in front of the cart, causing everything to go dark.

"The good news is, ya made it," Morty continued. "The bad news is...normally there's supposed to be an elevator at the end that takes you back above ground. 'Fraid you're gonna have to go back through the ride. Don't worry though. Everything is shut down, and the cart's still working. I just gotta throw it in reverse."

Jimmy had a little trouble not worrying, but he gave a shaky nod anyway, even though Morty couldn't see it. "A-Alright, do it then."

"Sounds good. See ya in a few."

The intercom flicked off again, followed by a screeching noise that made Jimmy bolt upright. It took him a second to realize it was just the cart moving again, breaking the horrifying immersion a little as he now reversed away from the motionless demon teeth. Didn't help that he was still shaking and covered in grunge, but at least the worst of it was over now.

The ride was dark and silent. None of the red lights or screens came on as he passed by them.

Unfortunately, the one thing that did happen was Jimmy getting dunked in the pool of nope again as the cart ran through it. Alone in the dark as he was, Jimmy felt no shame in shaking it off in a very canine fashion. Real or not, he couldn't condone a ride that required a shower and dry cleaning to recover from.

Jimmy wasn't entirely free of shame though. Even if Morty had passed him, he'd still chickened out and pushed the button. He had no proof that was really the end, and was honestly inclined to believe it wasn't. Could he really call himself worthy after all that?

It didn't help that the ride wasn't entirely silent. There would be the occasional scratching noise. Or a soft thud that sounded eerily like a footstep. Or a rumble that resembled a growl.

Jimmy was pretty sure this was all part of the ride at this point, but he still wasn't pleased by it. He had already pressed the button! Was this being done out of some strange confidence they had in him?

Or maybe they were just tormenting him for his cowardice. Oh yeah, real funny, guys. You know I didn't really brave it through, so now you're trying to scare me even more. Well it won't work!

Jimmy steeled himself, just glaring down a pair of glowing red eyes he saw peeking out at him. "And what are you looking at?"

The eyes moved, showing that they belonged to a hulking silhouette that stepped out from the darkness and right into the path of the cart. "H-Hey! Lousy animatronic, get out of the way!"

It didn't listen. Instead, it swung a giant set of claws at him, making Jimmy fall back in his seat again. "I know you're not real, so stop trying to scare me! I'm not afraid of..."

A sudden sting of pain cut him off. Jimmy looked down and patted his chest, only noticing now that the claws hadn't completely missed, and had cut open three gashes along his chest. One whiff told him that this was real blood he was smelling. And if that was real...

The Beast roared.

Jimmy screamed.

It lunged at him again, forcing Jimmy to squeeze himself under the lip of the cart to hide. A set of giant jaws gnashed at him, allowing him only a brief window to slam the button again. "MortyMortyMorty!"

"Whoa! Calm down, pup!"

And now that nickname was spreading. But Jimmy didn't have time to complain. "I-It's here! The werewolf!"

"Now don't be silly! You're probably just hearing a power surge from the ride or somethin'."

Jimmy ducked as the Beast's jaws came at him again, letting loose another roar right into the speaker.

"…Oh shit. Hang on tight!"

"To what?!" Jimmy barely had the chance to ask before the cart kicked into high gear, speeding much faster down the track and still in reverse. The increased momentum kept him glued to the interior just fine.

As for the exterior, the Beast seemed to have a bit more trouble hanging on, making even more unpleasant noises as its claws screeched against the metallic surface. All Jimmy could see was its massive shape shifting around on top of him before those red eyes glared at him again.

That wasn't a natural red either. Its pupils were slitted, not unlike other savage mammals, and its sclera pure black. If the eyes were a window to the soul, then this thing's soul was out to lunch.

It gnashed at him again.

As was the body, having chosen him as its entreé.

Then the cart made a sudden veer to the left and the Beast was flung off, making a loud thump as it hit the floor several feet back.

Jimmy was foolish enough to think that might have been the end of it and poked his head back out, immediately making eye contact with those soulless slits once more.

The Beast was back on its feet and charging after him on all fours, the cart just barely keeping him ahead of it. Jimmy tried to ignore the fact that nothing but crude engineering was keeping him alive and kicked the button again. "It's still coming!"

"Just a sec! Based on your current position, I should be able to…ah-ha!"

The cart veered again, this time onto another track entirely. A wall slid open to reveal a secret passage that carried Jimmy through, which closed again just as the Beast came after him.

Jimmy clutched his pounding chest. "Phew."

The wall burst open as the Beast came charging through, snarling after him. Even now, the only features he could make out were those eyes and a gleaming set of teeth that hungered for his flesh.

"Alright, it's soundin' like that didn't work. Can you confirm?"

Jimmy screamed again.

"Got it. Don't worry, we'll figure something out!"

"But it's immune to slapstick! I don't have anything else!" That included his ZPD-issue tranq pistol and taser, not that he'd expect either of those to work much better against something that just shrugged off a wall to the face.

But the cart was moving swiftly. Faster than even the gargantuan shape could lope after it. Before long, the Beast was nearly ten yards back, and falling further. It slowed to a stop, and Jimmy was over the moon to see its reflective eyes turn, and leave.

"I...I think it's gone!" Jimmy slumped back into his seat, exhausted.

"Hold tight," Morty instructed. "Imma bring ya to the employee hallways. We use these tracks for VIP tours."

The employee hallways were, thankfully, much brighter. Racks of costumes lined the walls, as did control consoles and microphones for the audio. All the tech looked somehow both slapdash and advanced. It wasn't absurdly bright, but Jimmy could see.

Still, it took his eyes a moment to adjust to anything other than near-total darkness. "I can see why the normal ride doesn't go back here. Does kinda spoil the mood."

"Yeah, well, be thankful ya passed then."

"Did I?" Jimmy asked. He had to be sure. "I did hit the button."

"Seriously? You just stared down an ACTUAL monster, son. If anything, that's extra credit."

"I didn't exactly brave that either though." And it's supposed to be my mission to catch that thing? I'm really not cut out for this, am I? Unfortunately, that part he couldn't share with Morty, so his well-meaning encouragement could only fall short.

"I think you're missin' the point of the trial. Come on, what kind of proof do ya need that you're ready to handle this?"

Up ahead, the tracks rounded a corner. A sign reading EXIT in big, red letters glistened like an oasis in a desert.

But on the wall before that was a switch marked LIGHTS. From around the corner, an arm stretched. It was bulky, and covered in brown shaggy fur. Its claws were twice the length of its fingers, and its paw was already the size of a dinner plate.

That paw almost coyly grasped the switch, and yanked it down.

The blackness returned.

Morty voiced both their thoughts with a string of expletives that would make a sailor pass out from blush force trauma. He managed to throw the cart back into reverse, but the sudden shift in momentum kept it from zooming off again right away.

Jimmy's eyes needed to adjust once more. As the cart struggled to pick up speed again, all he could see were the red eyes leering at him from around the corner, before even those disappeared into the blackness.

He blinked several times, rubbing at his eyes in a desperate attempt to help him see further. Thankfully, that did the trick.

His eyes had adjusted enough to take in the gargantuan shape now right in front of him.

He heard a horrific mechanical screech, swiftly followed by the sparks of the Beast's claws digging into the sides of the cart. And the next thing he knew, he was being hoisted into the air, the entire cart flipped over on top of him.

Jimmy was now pinned. He desperately tried to undo his seatbelt, but his shaking hands couldn't find the button.

There was a metallic creak as the Beast's claws forced their way into the door of the cart. Then the door was ripped away like it was made of paper. Jimmy whimpered as the claws reached in for him.

"GOTCHU, YOU SUMBITCH!" Morty yelled.

That...wasn't over the radio.

BANG!

A gunshot! The Beast roared in pain.

"Rar rar!" Morty mocked dryly, as Jimmy heard him rack a shell into a shotgun. "Shut the fuck up!"

BANG!

There was a wet splat, followed by heavy, retreating footsteps.

Jimmy jumped a little as Morty's masked face appeared in the gap of the ripped-off door. "You all in one piece there, son?"

Not able to bring himself to speak, Jimmy just nodded furiously. Finally managing to undo the seatbelt, he grabbed onto Morty's arm as the old wolf pulled him out. "I-Is it gone? For real this time?"

"It better be if it knows what's good for it." Morty spat on the ground. "I may have just been a body dumper, but that don't mean I can't make my own work."

Jimmy sniffed around, taking notice of a good splatter of blood left behind. "Wow. You really got it."

"Damn right. That thing ain't gonna be playin' football any time soon. Could probably get that blood tested, find out more about-whoa!"

He jolted a bit, looking down at the smaller wolf hugging him tightly around the waist as if afraid to let go. "T-Thank you…" Jimmy sniffled, breaths shuddering with each word. "Thank you…"

---

Well, at least we didn't keep you waiting this long for nothing! Some new characters, some lore, and a little near-death experience to build character. More to come hopefully soon.

Oh, and fun fact: that Omegaverse joke is based on a true story. Let's just say younger me was very confused for a while why Alpha and Omega seemed to be such a controversial topic.