Prologue Part Two: Strange Instincts
Now that the threat was over, all the weredogs transformed back into their human forms. The black and tan bicolored German Shepherd transformed into Riley, the silver Poodle transformed into Fifi, the tricolored black, brown, and white Majorca Ratter transformed into Jose, the pure white Husky transformed into Gregory, and finally the light brown Wolfdog transformed into Devon.
"Is everyone alright?" Devon asked.
"Apart from a splitting headache and a few bruises, I'm fine," Riley said.
Fifi suddenly doubled over in pain, held her back, and spoke through gritted teeth, "Lucky you, the adrenalin is wearing off and I feel like my spine is broken in half!" She groaned in pain as she sank to the floor.
"Can everyone else see if they can scavenge some blank scraps of paper from any of these books?" Devon asked the rest of his pack. He could notice that everyone else was starting to feel the effects of the battle, limping and moving awkwardly. His own body started to ache and he felt the sting of a cut on his face.
They started carefully picking up the textbooks, handling them as if they were red hot pieces of metal. Wearing armor did nothing to protect them against their supernatural weakness to incorrect information, but it seemed like while they were on the moon they were more resistant to it, these books still stung though. Did the same thing happen to their weakness to silver? What about wolfsbane? Chocolate? The moon's effect on a Weredog's body was something they can look further into now that the Moonbase belonged to the villains.
"I found a blank page!" Jose exclaimed, tearing a page out of a thick physics book and tossing the book aside. He tore the paper into strips and handed a few to each pack member.
Everyone took out a pencil they kept in a pocket or pouch and wrote the words 'Heal all pain' in the language of the Weredogs on one of the strips of paper they held. They then made their strip of paper smaller by folding it or balling it up before popping it into their mouth, chewing it, and swallowing it.
Fifi sighed in relief and stood up effortlessly, "Much better!" she exclaimed as she moved about.
"My eye no longer burns and false information isn't stabbing my brain anymore," Gregory said.
"If everyone's feeling better now, let's start taking prisoners," Devon commanded. While his pack started restraining the unconscious or incapacitated operatives with zip ties, Devon activated a slightly cracked touchscreen on his vambrace and made a call to someone, "Colonel Lincoln, the Supreme Leader and her squad have been neutralized and are being restrained as I speak. Sectors 120 to 140 have been secured."
"Good work, Lieutenant Thompson," Cree Lincoln praised over the audio call, "Take the wretches to the prison wing of the base. Once the stragglers have been mopped up, the Moonbase is as good as ours!"
"At your command, ma'am." Devon said and ended the transmission. He crouched down beside the Supreme Leader and zip tied her wrists extra tight before hoisting her and an unconscious nine year old boy who was already restrained upon each of his shoulders. "Alright pack, you heard the Colonel. Grab a kid or two and let's make our way down to the prison wing," he said before he started walking. He was followed by his pack who were each carrying or dragging at least two KND operatives with them.
They walked through halls and rooms that were once filled with busy and laughing kids, now a war-torn mess. Armed teens and adults secured hallways, entrances, and exits. Injured KND operatives were restrained, lined up against the walls, and awaited escort to the prison wing. Devon recognized a few high ranking operatives among the captured children. He was confident that the KND were as good as defeated.
Devon looked at the kids as he heard some of them crying, a tightness squeezed his chest and a pit formed in his stomach. Was this guilt? Did he feel sorry for them? He didn't feel it while he was zapping and beating kids up, but now that the adrenalin was gone that feeling was awakened. He guessed all that annoying KND rhetoric got to him, all those years he spent in the KND as a pup, all those lessons about saving his fellow kids and dismantling establishments of cruel adult rule. Sure, he did some good for kids, stopped anti-SAGA laws from passing, killed off a few villains he couldn't let live, it was to keep his front as a good KND operative, but it was also personal. He turned his face away from the crying kids, it was best to ignore them.
When they finally got to the prison wing, they dropped off their captives, "Do make sure to keep the dear Supreme Leader in a dark and solitary cage. The little turd gave us quite the trouble," Devon told a Teen Ninja acting as a guard.
"With pleasure, Lieutenant. I hope she's scared of the dark," The guard said as she and some other teens dragged the operatives away.
Devon turned to his pack, "You guys go to our meeting spot and give a report to the commander. I'll join you there soon," he told them.
"Alright, don't be too long, they'll want to hear from our squad leader," Riley told him before he led the other three Weredogs out of the prison wing.
As soon as they left, Devon shifted into his Wolfdog form, dropped to all fours, and began to roam the prison wing, sniffing the air in search of a very specific KND operative. Most kids who saw him cowered and cried in terror in their cells, some brave and angry kids shouted and shook their tiny fists at him, one very brave or very stupid kid threw their stale, rock hard, whole wheat bread roll at him. When the bread roll bounced off the Wolfdog's flank, he stopped walking and let out a growl, teeth showing, ears perked forward, and hackles raised. The child tried to act tough but trembled in fear, and even took a small step back. Satisfied, Devon continued his search, luckily the prison wing wasn't too large as it was only a temporary holding facility for prisoners going to the KND's massive prison ship. In one of the final cells, he found who he was looking for.
A ten year old boy with white skin, green eyes, and brown hair sat alone in a cell. He was scratched up, bruised, and held a blood soaked strip of his shirt to his nose. He glanced over at the beast standing outside his cell, "You know, I used to think that my brother was the coolest person ever. I wanted to be just like him," he said, solemnly. "When I joined the KND and apprenticed under you, it was the best day of my life. When I learned of the existence of the Teens Next Door I was so happy that even when you were decommissioned we could still work together," the boy said, giving an exacerbated chuckle.
"The Kids Next Door betrayed us before you were born. All we were trying to do was survive, to eat, and they attacked us, Kevin!" Devon said, ears folded back.
"I read Number 5's report on that attack, over and over. The Weredogs were to blame! And our mother forced that curse on her when she didn't want it!" Kevin said, leaping off his cot and slightly doubling over in pain.
"Abigail rejected the blessing because she was weak! The Kids Next Door turned our mother human and she yet again tried to suppress my true self!" Devon replied.
"It's all about you, isn't it? Your true self is a monster and you proved them right!" Kevin said, pointing aggressively at his older brother. "I can't believe I wanted to be a Weredog too. I'm glad I never shifted," he said, turning his head away, "I hope I never do; I like being normal."
That stung worse than Devon wanted to admit, he had to hurt him back, "Mother checked on why you might be… Stunted… Late blooming can happen in shifters," he said, a grin spreading across his muzzle as he saw his brother turn back to him wide eyed. "That's right, pup! It's only a matter of time before you'll be sporting a coat of fur and running around on all fours hunting human honor students for sport! And there'll be no KND to stop you, because they've been destroyed!"
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Kevin repeated over and over in disbelief, "You're lying!"
"I took the Supreme Leader down myself. She's sitting in a nice, cozy, dark cell as we speak," Devon said, malice in his lupine eyes. "The Kids Next Door can't function without a leader."
"Hailey couldn't have lost," Kevin said as he began to pace in his cell, "She'll find a way to escape and then," he said as he stopped pacing and looked pointedly at his brother, "Then we'll take all of you villains down!"
Devon stuck his snout through the bars and snapped his jaws at Kevin, amusement in his eyes as the kid jumped back, "Face it, you little shit! The Kids Next Door are gone! There's a new order coming and I'll be top dog in it," he said before starting to walk away triumphantly.
Kevin ran up to the cell door, put his hand through the bars, and made a fist of defiance, "Kids Next Door rule!" he shouted. After he saw that some of his fellow operatives noticed but did not act, he shouted even louder, "Kids Next Door rule!"
Devon's ears rotated as he heard kids start to echo Kevin's chant. He stood on his hind legs, shifted back into his human form, and ignored the kids chanting and rattling their cell doors. They'll wear themselves out eventually and if not then the guards he heard coming down the corridor would maintain order. He walked up to a high ranking ice cream man who was just finishing sending more guards to quiet the prisoners. "Lieutenant Thompson, leader of Teen Ninja squad 4157," he said, activating the touchscreen on his vambrace and showing him his rank.
"Captain Burgundy," the ice cream man greeted in return, "What do you need?"
"Can you make sure that the prisoner named Kevin Thompson in cell number 97 gets healed of his injuries and is given into my care tomorrow morning by 6 AM GMT -4?" Devon said.
"Why?" Captain Burgundy asked.
"He's my idiot brother and our mother commanded me to bring the punk back home unharmed," Devon said.
"I understand. I got a cousin up North who started a business selling ice cream to kids, can you believe that? The good stuff too, triple chocolate and overly sweet strawberry. But I still have to play nice with her on holidays and family gatherings," Captain Burgundy replied, disgust in his voice. "Don't worry, we'll get the brat back to you. Though, our interrogators might wanna have a few words with him before then."
"That's fine, just as long as you give him back in one piece," Devon said. "Hey, before I go, do you know if you have any more Doggylicious liver flavored ice cream?"
"We were using it as ammo for today's siege, but I could see if we have any left, it's gonna cost you though," Captain Burgundy said.
After Devon ordered and paid for half a gallon of the canine confection for the celebration after the siege, he left the prison wing and started making his way toward the meeting place. His lupine hearing, even in human form, picked up the sobbing of several kids and the coughing and retching of one, and after he went down a few hallways he saw a few kids lying there. One kid was coughing up a foamy substance and making horrible gagging sounds. The bar of soap with human teeth marks laying on the floor was the cause of her predicament. Devon walked past the first child and saw another two laying in the fetal position, one was sobbing heavily and rubbing his own rear end as if in pain, and the other was hugging their own knees and shaking while repeatedly whispering to themselves that they'll be good from now on. 'Was Count Spankulot here?' Devon questioned, the mere thought of the spank-happy vampire stirred something in him and he clenched a fist in rage. He then heard the screams of another child further down the hallway and before he knew it, he took off in a full on sprint. He rounded a corner and saw, not the vampire he was expecting, but a middle aged male human wearing a black hooded robe along with white gloves with several silver rings and holding a heavy looking hairbrush in his hand.
One of the man's silver rings was glowing an eerie red color, a giant ethereal red hand was floating in front of him and clutching a child in its fist. The man patted his own palm with the hairbrush threateningly as he addressed the kid, "Young man, you are going to pay dearly for what you have done. Not only have you defied the leader of P.H.A.N.G but you also gave me a few sizable bruises with that blasted gumball gun," he said as used his hairbrush to point to a broken G.U.M.Z.O.O.K.A on the floor.
"I-... I'm sorry, mister," the child said, shaking with tears streaming down his cheeks as he closed his eyes and looked away.
"YOU'RE SORRY!?" the man shouted as he grabbed the child by the ear and twisted his head so he would look at him. "I am going to give you a good reason to cry! Your bottom will be one big black and purple bruise when I'm done with it!" he threatened before letting go of his ear and making the ethereal hand turn so that the child was now bent over. The man raised his hairbrush and was about to bring it down.
One moment Devon was standing at the end of the hallway, watching the exchange, and the next he was behind the man, clutching his wrist in a death grip, not allowing him to swing the implement.
The man turned and wrenched his wrist free, "What do you think you're doing?!" he hollered.
Devon regained clarity once more and stood there dumbfounded. He was on the other end of the hallway a second ago, wasn't he? "I-... I…" he stammered.
"Why did you prevent me from exacting my Count's justice on this rotten child? How dare you touch a Hand of the Count?" The man asked.
"I don't know! I didn't mean to, I swear," Devon said, backing up as the man started to approach him threateningly.
"What do you mean you didn't mean to? You chose to grab my wrist and stop me," the man said.
"I didn't choose to," Devon said, trying to sound as sincere as possible, "I don't know what happened, I wasn't in control of my actions."
"Then I won't be in control of mine either!" the man shouted as he extended his palm.
A red ethereal hand shot out from the man's palm and struck Devon in the chest, knocking him to the floor. He panicked and struggled against ethereal arms that were coming out of the floor and grabbing at him. He was flipped over onto his stomach and held down.
The man stood over him and began to say a prayer, "In the name of my Count, the Lord of pain, stinginess, punishment, and justice, I hereby bring my implement down upon a deserving bottom and may the tears wash away the naughtiness within!" he said as he slowly raised his hairbrush.
Devon started the process of transforming, but stopped before any noticeable physical changes occurred as he heard the crackling of flames, felt the heat of the blaze, and saw the orange glow and black silhouette of a familiar walking inferno.
"Samuel," Father said in a threateningly calm voice as he walked toward them ablaze with fire, "What in the nine levels of Hell do you think you're doing?"
Samuel turned around and plastered a smile on his face, "Father, I was teaching one of your Teen Ninjas a lesson. The little bastard stopped me from-" he was cut off as his wooden hairbrush suddenly burst into flames. He dropped the implement and started trying to stamp out the flames.
"Did I tell you to discipline him? No? Then I suggest that you," Father cut himself off as he practically erupted into a pillar of flames, "RELEASE HIM AT ONCE! HE'S WORTH A HUNDRED TIMES MORE THAN YOUR VAMPIRE AND HIS ENTIRE ASS SLAPPING CULT PUT TOGETHER!" he bellowed.
The hands around Devon vanished instantly and the teen was able to stand up. He dusted himself off and went to Father's side.
The flames around Father died down and he addressed Samuel, "Take your prisoners and head down to the prison wing, they'll be needing more interrogators anyway," he said, waving him off like an annoying pest.
"Yes, Father," Samuel said, picking up his partially destroyed hairbrush and brushing the soot off it. He stood and walked back toward where Devon had come from, the ethereal hand floated behind him, taking the now screaming and kicking child with it.
Devon took a step to follow him, but was stopped when Father put a hand upon his shoulder.
"Cultists," Father scoffed, "Take it from me, son, never get a cult. Subjects are fine, henchmen are ok, but cultists are far more trouble than they're worth."
"I'll take your word for it, sir," Devon replied.
"So, Cree said you and your squad captured the Supreme Leader?" Father asked.
"Yes, sir. I even gave her a nice private cell to stew in inside her own base," Devon said.
"Oh I just love irony, I'll be sure to pay a visit to the little caged rat," Father said, holding his hand out in front of himself, obsidian colored draconic claws emerged from his fingertips and sparks of orange flame danced between them. "I incinerated an entire fleet of KND battle ships and cremated their crew. And there will be no mercy for their dear leader either," he said with malice.
"I caught a glimpse of you fighting in dragon form while the carrier ship I was on had just breached the moon's atmosphere," Devon said, "That was quite a sight to see. How did you deal with the lack of oxygen and the freezing temperature?"
"A wind wizard gave me a little help; a bubble of hot air did the trick. I never thought that my fire could burn so bright in the darkness of space," Father said, sounding pleased with himself. "Anyway, I have to go check in with the other high ranking villains and see how they're holding up."
"And I need to head to my squadron's meetup point, it was good speaking with you. And thank you for helping with that cultist, you saved his life," Devon said. After he and Father parted ways, he had some time to process things as he walked.
He lost control when that vampire cultist Samuel was about to spank that kid. Why? It made no sense. He had seen kids be attacked and injured in this siege, yet nothing got him to react without meaning to. When he acted it was always with purpose, with intent, with a plan. But back there it was like he wasn't himself. He didn't care before whether kids got spanked, just as long as it wasn't him, any Weredogs in his House, or a child being punished just for being queer. He had time to get answers later, he was nearing the meeting area, the Moonbase' Hall of Global Scientific Achievements. This room was trashed too, replicas, dioramas, and models of Kids Next Door inventions were broken and scattered everywhere.
Several other squads of Teen Ninjas were standing at attention in front of the squadron commander, a teen decked out in samurai armor in the traditional dark red and black colors. Devon took his place at his pack's side and gave the samurai a salute, "Commander Thayer," he greeted his squadron commander.
The armor clad teen regarded him with a nod, "Nice of you to join us, Lieutenant Thompson," they said.
"I apologize for not accompanying my team here, I had to take care of some things," Devon said.
"Nevermind that, your second," Commander Thayer said, gesturing to Riley, "Has informed me of your success in apprehending the KND's Supreme Leader."
"Yes, Commander," Devon said, "We were met with some resistance, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. I'll have a full report of our mission to you by tomorrow morning."
"No, I'll give you an extension to Sunday night. You've earned a break for a job well done," Commander Thayer, then they turned their attention to the rest of the squads gathered around, "And that goes for all of you. I've heard nothing but glowing reports for this mission and I couldn't be mor-" they suddenly glared at a teen girl who was taking a group selfie with her squad, "God damn it, Stacey! Put that phone away or I'll cut that one in half with my nodachi too!"
"Sorry, boss!" Stacey said as she scrambled to put her phone away and get back into position with her squad.
Commander Thayer sighed in annoyance and then cleared their throat, "As I was saying," they said, addressing the masses again, "I couldn't be more proud of MOST of you. After we get the all clear from Colonel Lincoln or one of the other higher ups, it'll be officially time for celebration for the defeat of the Kids Next Door! I never had doubts that I would see this day before I reached adulthood. At ease, everyone. Just mingle amongst each other for now, I'll make an announcement once I hear back."
The hundred or so teens started talking, joking, and laughing amongst themselves. Devon received congratulatory pats on the back and shoulders from many of his fellow Teen Ninjas, he thanked them briefly, but he found a way to excuse himself and get back to his pack.
"I found my dad's liquor stash, he is going to freak once he finds out that I took every bottle. But it'll be worth it. You guys can have some at the big party, you and your squad leader deserve it!" A seventeen year old teen ninja said, talking to Devon's team.
"Thanks, we'll be sure to find you at the party," Devon said, interjecting in the conversation. "Mind if I borrow you guys for a minute?" he asked his pack.
After Devon was able to lead them away from everyone, Riley asked, "Is everything alright, Chief?"
"Something strange happened to me…" Devon began, "There was an incident."
(And that's prologue part 2 done! I can't wait to start the next part, I'm probably more excited than you folks are.
Some clarification, SAGA is the LGBT+ of this universe, it stands for Sexuality and Gender Alliance. I saw it on a post on social media and just had to use it. Yes, this fic will contain LGBT representation, just like the old one, except I'm committed to making this one 100 times gayer. You can thank the raging transphobes that I had an argument with on another site that I posted the old fic on. I'm doing it to provide more representation and out of pure spite!
The acronym F.A.N.G (Fathers Against Naughty Gremlins) has been changed to P.H.A.N.G (Parental Harshness Against Naughty Gremlins) to incinerate the patriarchy and then bury the ashes. Women and nonbinary people can be villains (and heroes) too.
Anyway, I thank all of my followers, commenters, and lurkers. You folks give me the strength to keep writing).