REVIEW RESPONSES

clayfun2: I'm glad you find this story interesting and I tried to make the characters as close to the show as possible, and don't worry, I won't let this story end on a cliffhanger, I've just been working through a ton of writer's block.

Seven had to grit her teeth as she finished her long drive out of Ninjago City and parked her bike in front of a tavern known as the Fuzzy Raspberry. Despite the funny name, the outside of the tavern looked unwelcoming, gloomy, and broken. Hardwood planks and stone beams made up most of the building's outer structure. It was near impossible to see through the high windows but the whispers and weeping from within could be felt outside.

As Seven entered the tavern through the heavily used, metal door, she was welcomed by a few groans and the crinkle of the doorbell.

The bartender was talking to a customer and made no effort to acknowledge her presence. It was as unhappy inside the tavern as it was on the outside. Marble pillars supported the upper floor and the unlit torches attached to them. The walls were empty, only covered in a layer of fatty grime. The tavern itself was almost completely abandoned. The few people inside probably worked less honorable operations. Whoever they were, they gave her an uncomfortable feeling of dread.

She did hear rumors about this tavern.

Supposedly it was infamous for something, but for her life, she couldn't remember what for. Though judging by the things and people she had seen, she was not waiting to find out. Straightening up, Seven confidently approached the bar.

"Umm... excuse me, is he here?" She asked the bartender, trying not to wince when her voice sounded less fearless than she wanted to look.

"He's in the back." The bartender replied pointing towards the back room. Seven walked up to a door in the back and saw what looked like a small group of street thugs standing guard. Without glancing at them, Seven walked through the doors where Iron Baron was already waiting inside the room.

"You'd better have a good reason for dragging me down here, girl." He snarled when he saw the teen. "It had better be about the lackluster reports you've been sending in lately; am I not paying you to watch those monsters?" He spat but Seven matched his glare with one of her own.

"Yeah, but so far all I'm seeing is a bunch of weird, but normal kids." She replied, and it was true. She had been watching the gang for weeks now and although they were a little weird, Seven didn't think that they were animals.

"You have seen the evidence, my boss has provided us with undeniable proof that these people are werewolves and are a danger to the human race."

"All I've seen is a few pictures and test results that could have easily been fake by you or any of your psycho friends could have made." She argued. "Look, I'm not going to say anything about this, but I'm finished with this crap."

"What?!" He bellowed, but she wasn't backing down.

"You heard me, I'm done with your crazy shit!"

"You're not leaving! You are getting an important task." He snapped before he suddenly pulled out a pistol. This pistol was a celebrated pick amongst hunters who were looking for a fun model. Its decent weight made it straightforward to handle. It packed a big bunch with high precision. This particular revolver came with an expensive metal grip, with engravings at the bottom, and a light-duty barrel, which was inscribed with some kind of runes.

What made this gun special was that it fired silver bullets.

"It's the dark moon this weekend, a night when a werewolf loses its powers and is at its weakest; you are going to take them out with this."

"No!" Seven cried, pushing the gun away in disgust.

"What did you say?" Iron Baron glared.

"I- I- I can't! I won't do it! You're asking me to kill my classmates!" She shouted and turned to leave, only to stop when a knife was suddenly thrown across the room and embedded itself into the wall inches from her head.

"Oh, yes, you will, and I'm asking you to kill monsters; they're not real people." He snapped before his expression suddenly smoothed out with a tiny grin. "Have you forgotten why I hired you, or how much you're getting paid? My employer is paying us a small fortune to observe these beasts and protect humanity for them and one word from me and all that money will stop coming in for you; I wonder how your brother will be able to keep the roof over your heads on the money he makes." He hummed in thought as he stood up and approached her.

That comment froze Seven in her spot.

Yes, her brother made money, but her current income source kept them in their happy life. Scott's paycheck only paid all the bills, but they hadn't had money to buy groceries, new clothes, gas, school supplies, and other things to make their day-to-day lives possible. All of a sudden, Iron Baron grabbed the gun from the table and pressed it against her neck, with a click signally that the safety was off.

"Is that what you want? Is it?!" He spat, getting right into her face and allowing Seven to smell his rancid breath.

"N-No." She stuttered in fear, too scared to even blink in case he pulled the trigger. She didn't know if the pistol was loaded, but she wasn't about to find out.

"Good girl." Iron Baron smiled as he patted her on the head and put the gun in her pocket. "Return home and you will receive an update on your new assignment in a few days." He dismissed and although she was trembling, Seven made to leave. "Oh, and Seven! Don't EVER try this shit again!" He roared before he suddenly pulled out his gun and opened fire on the window, sending bullets and broken glass everywhere. Seven screamed as she bolted out the back room, out of the tavern, hopped onto her bike, and sped off back to Ninjago City.

All the while, she swore she could hear Iron Baron cackling loudly in her ear...

Nya hummed a song in her head as she wrote down another Math equation with ease. She wasn't as smart as Pixal and Zane, but that didn't mean she was stupid, and sometimes Math and engineering helped her relax. Not that she needed any time to relax; things had been quiet for the teen pack these last few weeks, which was for the best with the dark moon coming up this weekend. She was sure the others felt the same way. She looked up at Lloyd and Morro who were in the same class sitting in front of her.

The former looked like he was struggling with the lesson and the latter looked bored and although she couldn't see it she was certain he was doodling in his sketchbook.

Cole was in drama class and is probably the best one in that class, mostly thanks to her father's work and all the training he made Cole do. She never cared to learn Harumi's class schedule so she had no idea where the lead cheerleader was. Jay had this period free and was probably working on one of his little projects in the library, where he was not supposed to by the way. Kai was in gym class and if Nya knew her brother then he was probably trying to make the most of his powers before the dark moon came.

Pixal and Zane were probably having the time of their lives in biology.

Yep, things were good for the pack and Nya couldn't think of what could go wrong.

"Can Nya Smith, Harumi Jade, Pixal Borg, and Seven Chan-Kent report to the principal's office?" A voice over the loudspeaker suddenly said, causing everything to stop. Nya was shocked; she had never been called to the office. Lloyd looked over his shoulder and gave Nya a concerned look. Morro barely looked up from his sketchbook. Almost all of the students in the class laughed and mocked her as she slowly got up and headed to the principal's office.

When Nya arrived she saw Harumi, Pixal, and Seven already waiting.

"So... what do you think is going on?" The noirette asked after taking a seat in between Harumi and Pixal.

"Not a clue." Harumi shrugged, looking incredibly bored.

"Well, you're usually called to the office if you have been behaving badly; as I'm sure Harumi knows better than any of us." Pixal huffed and Harumi snapped a glare at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't exactly have the greatest reputation with the school, the staff, or the students, as I know from personal experience." Pixal hissed coldly and Nya was growing more and more nervous and irritated at being caught in the middle of this. She glanced over at Seven and saw the girl was trying to hurry away from the upcoming fight. Harumi looked like she was about to say something before closing her mouth tightly and taking a deep breath as she leaned back into her seat.

"Look, I haven't done anything and even if I have, why would you guys be here if I had?" She scowled and when Pixal didn't have an answer Nya hoped that was the end of it, but that hope was immediately dashed when she saw a mischievous grin grow on the lead cheerleader's face. "Unless you three did something bad? What happened Pixel? Was your writing not the same shape?"

"Will you two knock it off already?!" Seven suddenly shouted from across the room.

"Oh look! She finally speaks!"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, SHUT UP!" Nya suddenly screeched, stunning everyone. "I SWEAR IF ONE MORE PERSON SPEAKS I'M GOING TO THROW YOU ALL OUT OF THAT DAMN WINDOW!" She roared and the waiting room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Eventually, the secretary called them all into the office. When they entered, they were surprised to see Koko and the principal waiting for them, the latter of who had a big grin on his face.

"Hello girls', please, take a seat." The principal smiled and gestured to the chairs lined up by the desk. "I have good news and bad news: the good news is that you four have been invited to a weekend trip away to an engineering symposium out of town; the train will pick you up and you'll be back in Ninjago City by Sunday afternoon." He explained and handed each of them a flyer for the trip. While the others looked somewhat excited and interested in the offer, Seven looked worried.

"What's the bad news?" She asked quietly.

"Because you girls are underage you will need an adult to accompany you to the symposium, but the company who have invited you is only paying for one ticket; if you want to attend you will need to find an adult to take you there," Koko replied, and they all shared a look. This might be a problem...

Although they knew that finding an adult to take them to the engineering symposium would be difficult, they didn't realize how hard it would be. Unless it had something to do with Cole then Lou wasn't interested in helping the girls out. Harumi wasn't going to even ask her parents, already knowing what the answer would be. Her mother would be too busy and her father didn't even want Harumi hanging out with the pack, especially Kai, Nya, and Morro.

Kai and Nya's parents were out of town for work once again.

Misako was also out of town with her explorer's club on an archaeological dig for the next few weeks and Uncle Wu had his tea shop and dojo to run. Much like Lou, Morro's foster parents weren't willing to help them out unless into involved their foster children in some way or form. Cyrus Borg had meetings all weekend, although he did hope his daughter had fun at the event and took plenty of notes. Seven's brother Scott couldn't afford to miss any work at the garage so he was out.

Zane's father was going to a medical conference in New York City.

That left Jay and his parents. Thankfully, although Ed had work to do this weekend, Edna was free and was more than happy to chaperone the girls on their trip. Once they got an adult arranged for the trip, the girls all gathered down at a train station just outside of Ninjago City. Lloyd, Kai, Cole, Jay, Morro, and Zane had also come down to see them off. To say the station looked like it was copied and pasted right out of a ghost town was a good joke.

It looked like it hadn't been in use in decades.

The whole place was covered in patches of mold, dust, and overgrowth. The roof tiles with patchy and some were missing. The building had no doors and all of the windows were either badly cracked or broken.

"I have never heard of this Iron Works Company; do you think they are legitimate?" Zane wondered as he read over the leaflet for the hundredth time that day.

"Legitimately boring, I'm guessing," Harumi grunted as she dropped her fifth case down on the floor. Despite only going to be gone for the weekend you would think Harumi was moving house with how much she had packed for this trip. She noticed, however, that all conversation had stopped when she approached and when she looked up most of the pack was either completely ignoring her, or like Pixal, giving her a cold stare. Only Morro seemed happy to see her, smiling at her.

Harumi could take a hint and quickly gathered up her bags and moved to the other side of the platform.

"Why is she here again?" Lloyd frowned, still glaring at Harumi.

"Hey, she got invited too and you never know, maybe she's into this engineering stuff." Morro defended his girlfriend, only to be met by the disbelieving glares of his friends. "Come on, you won't know unless you get to know her." He suggested, but this didn't make them feel better.

"Ha! I'd rather let a poisonous spider sleep in my mouth." Pixal spat before heading off to call her dad, as the signal in this place had terrible, and Zane gave the group an apologetic look before following her.

"Talk about dramatic." Cole frowned at the couple. He didn't like Harumi that much either, but he wouldn't say something like that.

"In her defense, Harumi made her life hell for years; you can't just forget all that overnight." Kai pointed out.

"She could still make an effort," Morro growled under his breath, but they all still heard it.

"Well, I'm not going to spend this trip making sure those two don't tear each other to shreds," Nya said with a look of annoyance. She was going on this trip to try and have fun and to take her mind off the draining effects the dark moon would have on her, not to play referee between Harumi and Pixal.

"Yeah, that's what Mom's for." Jay smiled and glanced over at his mother, who was looking through her giant-sized backpack to go over all of the food she had packed for the trip. She also made sure to pack things like a first aid kit, some matches, and other unnecessary items. Jay didn't know why she always overpacked like this but he knew better than to argue about it with her and be stuck here for hours, especially after she had offered to escort the girls.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the train finally pulled into the station and everyone was shocked.

This train looked like it had just come straight out of the Victorian era and it had not aged well. This thing had more rust than paint and the wheels screeched louder than a banshee. All the werewolves had to cover their ears to try and protect their sensitive hearing from the violent sound.

"Damn, now that's rustic charms." Kai whistled, getting a clip around the ear from his sister. As soon as the train stopped the conductor stepped out and the gang had to take a second look at first. The conductor was a tall, lanky man with freakishly pale skin and wide, lifeless eyes. His appearance creeped the teen out.

"All aboard!" He called out in a gargled smoker's voice as a crew member, who didn't look any better than the conductor, also stepped out and started taking the girls' bags inside.

"Now don't you go worrying yourself honey, I've left plenty of food in the freezer for you, just heat them and munch away, and don't forget to call me as soon as you get to bed," Edna instructed as she peppered her son's face with dozens of kisses. Jay could only whine in embarrassment as his face blushed bright red and the guys all tried to hide their snickering. Finally, she let him go and began ushering the girls onto the old train. "Don't worry dears, I better this will be the best trip you all ever have." She beamed as they all put their bag away.

Nya watched as she, Edna, Harumi, and Pixal sat in the same booth while Seven chose to sit as far away from them as possible.

Nya wasn't that bothered by this, but her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw the racer's eyes tear up a bit, and for a second Nya thought she could see something shiny sticking out of her pocket. All thoughts suddenly came to a halt however when the train start to move, releasing yet another loud metal screech. Nya was forced to cover her ears again to try and shield them from the noise and incoming pain. When the ringing in her ears finally stopped Nya removed her hands from her ears and opened her eyes.

She saw Edna rubbing soothing circles into her back and offering her a hot beverage that she poured out of a thermos.

Giving the older woman a smile she took the drink and looked over to Pixal and Harumi. The two of them were glaring at nothing in particular and Nya could both hear and feel them kicking each other under the table. The werewolf teen sighed heavily. This was going to be a very long trip...

Nya yawned as she awoke to a familiar, empty feeling associated with the incoming dark moon. They had been traveling most of the night. By the morning it would be the dark moon and her powers would be gone. At this moment she felt that she still had her powers, but Nya doubted she could even run faster than a normal girl, not the speed she was used to. She looked around the train cart and saw Edna, Harumi, and Seven were still fast asleep.

Pixal was wide awake with a little torch in her hand and a textbook in the other, seeing how none of the lights worked in the cabin.

Sensing that Pixal didn't want to be bothered, Nya pulled out her cell phone to see how Jay and Kai were doing. She sighed when she saw that there was no signal. With nothing better to do, Nya turned her attention to the dusty window and looked out at the stars. It was nice to see all the stars without all the artificial lights of the city. As she watched the world go by, a sudden creak made her look over and see the conductor and the crew member walking through the cabin toward the back of the train.

There might be a malfunction and with the state, of the train was in Nya wouldn't be surprised.

Nya returned to starting the murky glass, but as she was gazing out of the window, Nya's eyes narrowed when she noticed something she hadn't before. Were they supposed to be in the middle of a dense forest on the side of a mountain, and why did it feel like they were speeding up?

"Hey, Pix, shouldn't we be there by now," Nya asked, snapping Pixal out of her book. With a frown, Pixal looked out the window and then pulled out the leaflet and a map. Her frown deepened when she saw they were way off course. They should have been in the city and getting settled into their hotel by now.

"I don't understand, we should have been there hours ago." She said as she examined the map, wondering if they were just taking a scenic route.

"Wake the others and I'll go talk to the conductor," Nya said as she got up and began making her way to the back of the train. The noirette teen started walking through the empty carts and suppressed a shiver when she realized how quiet and dark it was. The only light in the carts were the bits from the stars barely shining through the dirty windows. She cursed under her breath, wishing she still had her night vision. Aside from the faint complaints from Harumi being woken up and the loud rattle of the train, Nya couldn't hear anything else.

Swallowing her unease, Nya straightened herself up and continued on her way.

Eventually, she made it to the end cart, however, she was met with a horrifying sight. The door at the end of the cart was wide open and she could see the conductor and the crew member making a slow escape down the tracks on a pump wagon. As if sensing her presence, the conductor turned his head to look at her and Nya almost fainted at the look she gave her. His eyes were open wide and wild while his mouth was formed in a painfully wide cartoon of a smile, showing off his rotten teeth.

As the pair disappeared into the night, the situation finally hit Nya.

She bolted back into the train, through the carts, ignored the girls' cries of surprise and concern, and headed straight for the front of the train. But when Nya got there, she was shocked. Not only did the conductor destroy the controls but had also started a small fire that was quickly spreading. That wasn't was terrified her, however. Looking through the thick smoke, Nya could just make out with horror that they were heading straight for a cliff.

"Nya, dear, what's the matter?" Edna asked when Nya ran back to them and they saw her distress.

"The conductor's fucked off and now we're going to drive off a cliff!" Nya screeched.

"WHAT?!" The others cried and the teens started to freak out at their impending doom. Suddenly, Edna's eyes narrowed and without a word, she threw their bags at them and started pushing the girls toward the end cart.

"Edna, what are you doing?!" Pixal exclaimed.

"We have to jump! Just tuck and roll!" Edna ordered as they reached the end cart.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Harumi cried in shock but a sudden small explosion from the front rocked the train and quickly changed her mind. Without saying anything Harumi clutched the bag to her chest and launched herself off the train, disappearing over the steep slope. The effect was almost instant with Nya following seconds later and after a moment of hesitation so did Seven with Edna going last after the girls escaped. Edna cried out in pain as she rolled down the forest slope, slamming into small rocks and the trees.

When a large bush stopped her from rolling further down the steep slope, Edna grunted as she slowly got up and heard the sound of the girls making similar pained noises.

Ignoring the pain radiating through her body, Edna followed the sounds and was relieved to see all four girls were safe. They were bruised, a little bloody, and stumbling around in stunned silence but at least they were all alive. Suddenly there was a loud bang. Everyone turned around and watched in shock as the train finally derailed and crashed in a fiery explosion, illuminating the forest for a second. That crash was just the jump start the girls needed and they all started talking all at once.

"Oh, my gosh! Who's idea was this anyway?!" Nya shouted as she began pacing around.

"What do we do?! What do we do?! What do we do?!" Pixal muttered fearfully.

"Girls we-"

"We're dead! We're dead!" Harumi shrieked loudly.

"How are we going to get home now?!" Nya exclaimed.

"Girls-"

"It blew up!" Seven gasped as she started hyperventilating.

"We may have survived but we're as good as dead out here!" Harumi screamed, tearing up slightly.

"GIRLS, STOP IT!" Edna roared, silencing the four teens. "We are NOT gonna die here! Now you will ALL GET A GRIP or SO help me, mother or not, I will GROUND you all for a month! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" She yelled and after a moment they nodded and Edna took a deep breath to calm her nerves slightly. "Alright, from now on we all need to work together to get back home and I need you four to trust me," Edna said and again the girls nodded.

As the girls started to calm down from the fear and adrenaline Edna opened her bag and began to search for supplies.

Being a part of the girl scouts taught her to always be prepared for everything. While she hadn't packed for being stranded in the forest, she still made sure to pack a small first aid kit, a box of matches, and several bottles of water and packets of food. Using the torch on her phone, Edna used her small first aid kit to bandage the girls up, thankful that none of them had broken bones.

"So, what do we do now?" Seven asked as she itched her band-aids.

"We need to rest and recover for the night and then in the morning we will try and find out how to get back to Ninjago," Edna replied and after she was sure the girls weren't in immediate danger, she got to work. The first thing she need to do was search for a source of fresh water, but thankfully they had been stranded next to a mountain, and she knew water collected at the foot of cliffs and mountains. Yes, they had bottled water but it wasn't enough.

She didn't want to scare the kids, but Edna didn't know for sure how long they would be stranded out here.

Mercifully, Edna's theory was correct and she found a large stream with a small waterfall. The Gods also saw fit to bless them that day as it seemed that one of the train carts had fallen off early and had crashed close to the stream. It was banged up and dented, but it would serve well as a temporary shelter.

"Alright girls, you four settle here and have some of these while I try and get a fire going." Edna smiled as she handed them some of the packs of food. As the girls reluctantly started eating, she began to look for dry grass, leaves, tree bark, or any other small flammable materials she could find in the area. Hopefully, Nya's wolf was gone enough so that the flames wouldn't bother her because they needed a fire to keep warm, cook their food, and purify their water.

Fortunately, Nya didn't bat an eye as Edna gathered the materials and eventually got a good fire going.

"Edna, how are we gonna get home?" Nya suddenly asked in a quiet, tired voice.

"Let's get some sleep dearie and when we have a clear mind we can focus on getting home." The older woman soothed as she gave Nya a soft kiss on the forehead, wishing her goodnight. She then did this with the other two, much to their surprise, but they didn't say anything. Once she was sure the girls were somewhat safe, Edna sat against the train cart and tried to get some sleep. As she drifted off to the land of sleep, Edna could only hope that they got out of this alright...

Try as she might, Seven couldn't get any sleep. It wasn't because she wasn't tired. She would give her right arm to get even five minutes of blissful, dreamless slumber. It was because her mind was too restless and wouldn't give her peace. She could hear the others sleeping soundly and she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. How could they sleep after everything that had happened? Seven could feel the small handgun sitting in her pocket like a knife pressing into her gut.

She didn't want to do this, but her and her brother's lives were at stake and if it came down to a choice between them and her brother then there wasn't a choice.

Slowly, Seven rose from her corner of the train cart and pulled out her gun. Here they were alone and defenseless. All it would take were a few bullets. Then she could call for Iron Baron to get her, she could say the others died in the train crash, and she and Scott could move on with their lives. Once she was sure none of them were going to wake up, Seven pulled out the gun and aimed it at them. But try as she might Seven couldn't pull the damn trigger.

She couldn't understand why she couldn't do this.

She didn't know these people and she didn't owe them anything. After standing there for a few minutes, Seven had to grit her teeth to stop herself from screaming in frustration and she quickly left the train cart to get some much-needed air. She didn't know what she was going to do now. If all of them went home then God only knows what Iron Baron would do to her and her brother. But if she did kill the others she didn't know if she could live with herself.

The sudden crack of sticks breaking nearby caused her to jump out of her skin.

There was something big out there just beyond the treeline. She looked at the smoldering fire and grew fearful that the smoke might have attracted the attention of some dangerous animals. At this moment she was thankful for the gun and aimed it out into the forest. Maybe if she fired the gun at the thing stalking them then the shots would wake the others. Then she could report that she didn't have the opportunity to kill them and Iron Baron would postpone it long enough for her to find a way out.

Switching off the gun's safety, Seven walked toward where she thought the sound was coming from.

She walked for a few minutes until the dim light of the fire was out of sight. Only when she was alone in the darkness did she realize that this might of been a mistake. Suddenly someone large came up from behind her and grabbed her. She tried to scream but the person covered her mouth. She tried to fire the gun but she only shot it once before it was wrestled out of her grip. Seven thrashed, bucked, and screamed against her captor as they dragged her off into the darkness.

After she was pulled further away from the campsite the person suddenly let her go and pushed her forward.

Seven whipped around and bared her teeth at the person who assaulted her. The person who had grabbed her was an adult man and three other people. The man was muscular and around Edna's age and had fair skin, shoulder-length light brown hair with fringes, and blue eyes. He wore a light blue long-sleeved button shirt with sleeves folded into cuffs, black pants, and dark blue boots with folded sleeves. He was also wearing a satchel and a hunting rifle.

Next to him was a woman who looked the same age as him, if not a few years younger.

She had big, poofy black hair, light skin, and dark brown eyes. She wore a skin-tight red shirt with cream-colored polka dots that showed off her bust, a red bracelet, big circular blue earrings, purple eyeshadow, dark pink lipstick, torn-up blue skinny jeans, and red boots. Just behind the woman were two young children, a girl, and a boy, who looked between the ages of eight and twelve. The girl had dark brown hair tied into a long ponytail, pale peach skin, freckles, and brown eyes.

She was shorter than her brother.

She wore a lavender sweater, black jeans, and brown boots. The boy had shoulder-length black hair, warmer-tinted skin, freckles like his sister, and small, dark blue beady eyes. He wore an animal skin hat, a white shirt that had elbow-length sleeves, brown shorts, and green boots.

"Who are you?!" Seven cried in shock, mentally cursing herself for ending up in this situation.

"The names Finch, this tall drink of water's my wife Blaze, and these two angels are our brood, Julie and Dash." The man introduced with a grin that coiled Seven's stomach. "Iron Baron called us to make sure you got the deed done quickly; we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to our newest recruit now would we?" He smirked and Seven's eyes widened. This was not how this was supposed to go.

"Let's go; there's nothing more fun and thrilling than hunting monsters in the dead of night." Blaze chuckled as handed Seven her gun back and the family pulled out their own. All hunters and Seven carefully made their way towards the campsite, where the group was now awake and wandering around the campsite, looking for Seven. The commotion from earlier must have woken them up. Edna, Pixal, and Harumi were calling out for the missing teen.

Nya was trying to pick up Seven's scent but her powers were all but gone by now.

While Finch and the twins stayed low to the ground Blaze and Seven leaned against the side of a large tree, rising from bushes. Once he was sure that none of the girls had seen them Blaze stood up and peered into the tiny group.

"This is too easy." Finch chuckled darkly as he started loading up his rifle.

"Wait... Are you killing some teenagers and an old woman?!"

"No, don't be a puss, we're just killing a bunch of monsters." Finch smiled as he positioned his rifle. "Trust me, it's better we do this now before they have a chance to hurt someone, and I'm sure they would thank us for that if they could comprehend what they were doing!" He dismissed as the rifle clicked.

"But... Ho- Hold on, hold on! Let's just think about it." Seven stammered before she suddenly lifted Finch's gun as he fired. The bullet hit the side of the cart, very close to Edna's head, and ricocheted off into the forest. All three of them screamed in fear and Edna was frozen in shock as the teens started to panic.

"What was that!?" Harumi cried as her eyes darted around the darkness.

"I don't know! Maybe a hunter or potcher?!" Nya ranted off in fear. Back with the hunters, emotions weren't any better.

"What the fuck was that?!" Finch fumed in anger as Seven wheezed anxiously. Up until now, she had foolishly believed that maybe she could fix this situation she had found herself in and no one would get hurt. That was until one of these psychos nearly shot an innocent woman. It had finally hit her what was happening and what was probably going to happen no matter what she did now. She let out a croak and she then fell to her knees, hands over her face.

"I'm sorry! B-B-But y-you can't just s-s-shoot people!" She cried with tears falling as she took more breaths.

"Are you kidding me, bitch?! From the moment of birth, these beasts are just ticking time bombs, ready to eat and slaughter innocent human beings!" Blaze ranted as she leaned in and poked Seven's head. "Get the FUCK over yourself and remember whose side you're fucking on!" She snarled before pulling out some rope and tossing it to her children. The kids immediately knew what to do and without a word, they grabbed Seven and tied her up.

She had already interfered and they couldn't risk it happening again.

Making a mental note to deal with the traitor later, Blaze pulled out her gun and fired. The bullet thankfully only grazed Nya's arm, but it was still bleeding. Now knowing they were being shot at, the girls fled the scene and Edna hid in the bushes as another gunshot rang out, but luckily that bullet missed. Finch and Blaze grinned and leaped through the forest with their guns drawn. He chased after Harumi while his wife went after Pixal and Nya.

Edna peered out from the bushes and rapidly looks around to make sure the coast was clear.

When she believed it was, she made to look for the girls when suddenly a child's hand grabbed her by the leg, tripping her up. She yelped as she fell but before she could do anything something hit her in the back of the head and that was the last thing she knew...

Harumi's heart was racing as she ran for her life. The cheerleader knew she shouldn't have agreed to go to this stupid symposium. One moment she was on a rattly train with an old woman and girls who hated her guts, then she survived a train crash, and now she was being chased by some madman with a gun. Why was this happening to her? Yeah, she wasn't the best person, but Harumi didn't think she deserved this. At times like this she wished she had some of those cool werewolf powers right now.

Harumi ran until she found herself at a large lake in the middle of a clearing.

She pulled out her phone to try and call someone for help but cursed when she saw that not only was the battery almost dead but there was no signal out there. She didn't know where to go or what to do. Just then the hunter erupted from the forest with a nasty snicker. Finch made to fire at Harumi who ran as fast as she could and dove into the murky waters of the lake for cover.

"Where'd you go, little monster?! Y'all can't hide long from me!" He shouted out at the dark water. With no light and little to no moonlight, it made it almost impossible to see his pray in the darkness. But Finch had spent nearly thirty years hunting without learning anything. He quickly aimed his gun toward the tree line on the other side of the lake and opened fire in that direction. The sudden noise caused Harumi to gasp and flinch, which caused ripples to spread through the water and alerted Finch to her location.

Finch smirked at this and aimed at her head.

But when he tried to fire, nothing happened. He had run out of bullets. He roared in frustration and threw his gun to the ground, cursing at himself for making a reckless mistake. Seizing the opportunity, Harumi tried to run away but Finch was faster than she was. With frightening speed, he launched towards her and pulled out his empty beer bottle to finish the job. Harumi managed to get out of the water and tried to flee into the woods but she was too late.

Finch swung his bottle, knocking Harumi in the head.

She cried out and fell to the ground. She struggled to stand but collapsed onto the muddy bank. The last thing she saw was Finch smiling evilly down at her as the world went black...

Groaning in pain, Seven opened her eyes and gasped with a squeak to find herself tied up inside a dark vehicle next to Edna, who was awake too but unlike Seven she was gagged. If she was anything like Jay, Seven wasn't that surprised. Edna's eyes were wide in terror as they darted around, looking for something to help her and Edna escape. Seven couldn't feel her gun in her pocket and saw it set on a counter nearby. Next to the gun were their phones and some things from their campsite.

Seven glanced around but she couldn't see Pixal, Harumi, and Nya anywhere.

Her face fell in fear as she looked at the girl and boy. Both their eyes were crazy and devious sharp grins were painted on their faces.

"Oh! Well, hello there, little ones." Seven said with a shaky tone, trying to defuse the situation. "Aren't you both super cute?" She cooed nervously at them. These were little kids, and children were innocent and wholesome; surely they weren't psychotic like their murderous parents. But unfortunately, those thoughts were quickly dashed when the kids opened their mouths and started to speak.

"It's nice to have some dogs to play with again." Both kids spoke in low creepy tones. Edna started to shake and Seven glanced around the vehicle. They were tied up inside a giant RV that was equipped with all kinds of different hunting gears like optics, range finding, handheld ballistic calculators, long-range rifles, computer monitors, trail cameras, communication devices, hunting apps, night vision technologies, and all kinds of other weapons.

On one of the monitors was footage of their makeshift campsite.

All of a sudden the girl was in Seven's face and she was holding a single bright yellow flower and a knife. She shoved it in their faces but snarled when nothing happened. Stabbing the knife into the floor a few feet away, the girl stormed over to her brother and threw the flower at him screeching about how the plant was defective and how these two couldn't be human. Edna and Seven shared a look and the teen could only say one thing in this situation.

"Ohhhhh... fuck."...

Pixal and Nya ran as fast as they could as the gunshots rang out in the woods right behind them. Nya was clutching her still-bleeding arm tightly. The bullet only grazed her, but thankfully she could still use it, although it hurt badly. Blaze's evil laughter follows as the teens ran for their lives. Pixal pulled Nya along as they slid down a hill and caught their breath at the bottom. Pixal reached into her pocket but panicked when she couldn't find her phone.

She didn't know where she lost it, but she knew that without it she couldn't call for help.

Nya had her phone, but she wasn't about to risk calling someone and alerting the mad woman to their hiding place. Plus she doubted they could get a signal out there. A sudden snapping of twigs and creepy laughter made the pair freeze. She was practically right next to them and Pixal thought her heart was going to explode out of her chest.

"I know you're hurtin', little puppies!" Blaze called out to them in a sing-song voice. Pixal was taking deep breaths as she leaned against a tree. Nya's eyes widened at this. Pixal was being too loud so Nya had to cover her mouth. They could hear Blaze walking through the woods. "I promise, that I can make that pain go real quick! Just come let me put a bullet in your pretty little skulls!" She cackled as she started walking away. Both girls sighed in relief as her laughter started to fade away.

That is until Nya's phone lets out a loud ringtone.

Pixal somehow got paler as Nya pulled out the cell phone, muttering curses as she did so. A quick look at the caller ID showed that it was Jay calling her; probably to see how the conference was going.

"Jay! This is a really bad time."

"N-... NYA! HEL-! SOME- CHASE- JUNK-! -COPS!" Jay's voice came out in a loud, glitchy mess before the call suddenly dropped. Nya looked scared and confused but she couldn't dwell on it as a rifle clicked. Pixal suddenly tackled her to the ground just as a bullet flew through the tree where Nya was moments before.

"I can HEAR you, mutts!"

"Shit!" Nya hissed as they started running through the woods again. A bullet hit a tree and they ducked behind another one. A bullet hit the tree that they were hiding behind. Nya started running again, dropping her phone in the rush, but Pixal thought it would be better to stay hidden. This proved to be a very bad idea as she was suddenly pinned to the tree by the butt of Blaze's gun.

"Gotcha! Thought ya got away didn't ya freak? Thought ya would get away, get your friends, and come back to eat me and my kin? WELL NOT TODAY, MONSTER!" She screeched with a toothy grin as she pressed the gun harder into Pixal's chest...

Back at the hunters' RV, Edna and Seven were still struggling to free themselves from the ropes but these were good knots. The two kids were lounging around, looking bored as they waited to hear from their parents. The walkie-talkies suddenly crackled to life and the kids were quick to respond. Finch and Blaze told the pair that they had successfully captured Pixal and Harumi and the kids cheered and high-fived. But the mood soured when the girl told her parents that they had presented the flower to their own captive and the results were negative.

This information was followed by a string of curses that Edna knew were inappropriate for children their age.

Finch then ordered his children to stay there and they would dispose of Seven and Edna soon. Seven's grunts and struggles increased as soon as she heard this. Edna's eyes filled with tears of fear and worry for the others and the thought that she might not ever see her husband and son again. She noticed the girl had left the sharp knife on the ground. She looked at the blade and then glared with determination. Reaching over with her foot, she carefully moved the knife towards her and gently picked it up.

After waiting for a second to make sure the kids hadn't noticed, Seven used the knife to slice through her binds.

Before the kids had a chance to react, Seven lunged for them. She sliced the cheek of the girl and kicked the boy square in the chest, sending him flying backward. He hit the counter and was knocked out. The girl jumped up behind her and wrapped her arms around the teen's neck. Seven quickly ran backward and slammed the girl into the wall, knocking the wind out of her. The girl's grip weakened so Seven turned around, grabbed the girl by the head, and slammed her face-first into the ground, knocking her out cold too.

Seven rushed over to Edna and cut her free too.

"Go find the others and I'll deal with these two," Edna ordered as she grabbed some leftover rope to tie the brats up. Although reluctant at first, Seven nodded, grabbed her gun, and left the RV. She raced outside through the forest to where she could hear voices and see lights. She followed them until she came to a small clearing. There she found the two hunters tying Harumi and Pixal up. Harumi had a small, bleeding head wound whereas Pixal looked relatively unharmed.

As Seven was thinking of what to do, what she didn't know was that on the other side of the clearing, Nya was also watching and hiding.

As soon as she realized Pixal wasn't following her, she doubled back and saw Blaze capturing her friend. She wished she still had her powers but there was only a sliver of moonlight left in the sky. She could still feel her wolf was active, but it was significantly weakened. They watched as Finch reached into his satchel and pulled out the same yellow plant that Seven had seen in the RV. Nya paled in shock when she recognized it as one of those gilliflowers.

They watched as the man held the flower up to the captured pair's faces and waited for a reaction.

"God dammit!" Blaze shouted when nothing happened.

"What are we gonna do now?" Finch asked in worry. So far, they had four humans and another missing. If the other one was a werewolf then she has probably contacted her pack with whatever kind of freaky powers her kind had and they would soon be outnumbered.

"Well, they're no use to us if they're human; so I'll just shoot them in your smart-ass mouth since we don't need them!" She grins and pulls out her rifle. Finch shrugged and pulled out a walkie-talkie to let Iron Baron know what was happening as his wife aimed her rifle at the teens. Both girls closed their eyes and braced for the shot. Seven aimed her gun at Blaze, but to her horror, the kids had removed the bullets so it was useless. Nya had to do something.

She had to save her friends, no matter the cost.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused. Almost immediately her body was flooded with an icy blast of pain, but that didn't stop her. She thought back to her reasons for forcing the beast out like this. She was protecting her friends, her pack, and yes that did include Harumi, as much as she loathed to admit it. With that in mind, Nya gasped and opened her glowing yellow eyes. She almost cheered in joy when she saw that she had managed to pull out her inner wolf so close to the night of the dark moon.

However, she hadn't managed to transform completely.

Her eyes were bright yellow and all her veins were black and visible. She had long black claws and she could feel her teeth were sharp and canine-like. She could feel her body straining to keep the wolf at the surface. She had to be quick. Emerging out of the shadows, Nya attacked Blaze. She tackled the female hunter to the floor, teeth bared and snarling, knocking the gun out of her hand. Blaze's struggles were stopped when Nya suddenly grabbed her by the neck and lifted her.

She dug her claws into the woman's neck, drawing blood but not enough force to cause life-threatening injuries.

That is unless Blaze made any wrong moves. If this hunter so much and twitched in a way Nya didn't like she would tear her throat out and not lose any sleep over it. From her hiding spot from the shadows, Seven was frozen in place. All she could do was stare at her classmate in a mixture of shock and horror. She couldn't even recognize that this was a girl she went to class with almost every day. This... thing didn't look like it could be a human.

It looked like something from hell.

Feeling her wolf fading more and more, Nya suddenly slammed Blaze to the ground, knocking her unconscious, before returning to her human form. Finch made to grab the gun to save his wife, only to cry out in pain when something struck him in the head. He looked up and saw Edna glaring down at him, holding a large rock in her hand. She had left the kids unconscious and tied up in the RV. Quickly, the older woman grabbed the gun, emptied the bullets, and put them in her pocket.

Once she was sure he was unarmed, she tossed the gun to the side.

Edna then beamed with joy and relief as she ran over and untied the rope, freeing Pixal and Harumi. Seeing how he was unarmed and outnumbered, Finch quickly picked up his wife before fleeing the scene; the others let him go.

"Are you all ok?" Edna asked as she inspected Harumi's head wound.

"We are fine; but where's Seven?" Pixal asked and Edna frowned.

"I-I sent her here to help you guys? Is she not here? Have none of you seen her?" She asked, growing more concerned when they nodded. This was when Seven decided to make her presence known by stumbling out of the bushes. The others were relieved to see her and Edna gave her the same examination, but the teen hardly said a word. After she was sure that their injuries weren't serious, Edna led them into the woods and they huddled down in a ditch.

When Pixal asked how they were going to get out of there Edna smiled and pulled out one of the walkie-talkies she grabbed from the RV.

She handed it to Pixal and Nya to let them work their magic. No one noticed how quiet Seven was the entire time or the way she was staring at Nya...

NEXT CHAPTER: While the girls are away at the 'engineering symposium' the boys decide to have some guy time to themselves, but have they bitten off more than they could chew?...