AN: Hey everyone! I've got a new story ready for you all! This story is based on a request by Abyssdancer! Thank you so much; I thought this was a super cool idea :)

Now, I'm actually doing something different with this first chapter, something I've never done before. That being, staring in Medias Res! I hope you guys like that!

Oh, and Happy early Halloween!

Chapter 1 Monster Under the Moon

Snarl.* *Snarf* *Growl.*

The beast had only one thing on its mind; the hunt. Its primal instincts guided its mind and told it exactly what to do. The beast didn't object to these notions. How could it?

The beast, all fours ferociously beating against the ground of the Mushroom Kingdom, ran forward. The light of the full moon guided it, both lighting up a path and fueling its desire for bloodlust and food. The Mushroom Kingdom, for the most part, lay silent at this time of night. Except for the sounds made by the beast, there was no noise, not even a single cricket. The beast snarled again, having a specific destination in mind.

Before long, the beast was joined by others of its kind. The beast looked from left to right to see the other wolves. Big, much bigger than the typical wolf. Deadly, with sharp teeth and eyes that seemed to stare into the soul. Powerful; blood could and would stain the lips of these creatures, creating an image that anyone would find terrifying. The first beast would probably fall under that umbrella… if it was still human.

But it wasn't. Its humanity had been lost. It was nowhere to be found within its mind or under the ever-shining, horrible moonlight. The beast no longer had rational thought, so how would it experience the very human emotion of fear? It couldn't. It didn't have fear, it didn't have worry, and the less said about any positive emotions that once graced its soul, the better. This beast had no personality other than the instincts that guided it and drove it forward.

After a little bit of running, a town appeared up ahead. The beast, along with its brethren, snarled and picked up the pace. This was their target. This was where they had been wanting to go for so long. This town had so many different people that could act as the monsters's prey. Toads, mushroom people, whose taste would tickle the monsters's tongue and fill up their stomachs. The wolves hadn't had a taste like this in so long. They craved it, wanted it more than they could possibly want anything else.

So, they barreled forward. Some of the lights came on in the houses of Toad Town, but the beasts paid attention to this development. What really drew their interest was some of the Toads coming out of their houses and standing on their stoops to see what the weird noises outside were about. This was their downfall. Before they could even turn around, a wolf grabbed them in their teeth and bit down on their body. Their screams could be heard for miles around, chilling in all the wrong ways. The wolves didn't care. They only wanted meat, only wanted a way to satisfy their unsatisfiable appetites. They chowed down on each Toad, picking them up one after the other and chowing down on them like popcorn.

As great as the Toads were, as delicious as the Toads were, they couldn't satisfy the first beast's hunger. It had a goal. Yes, all rational thought had been replaced by instinct and bloodlust, but there was a small snippet of desire left in its corrupted, unnegotiable mind. This desire was brought along by a memory, a little snippet of their human life that they were able to hold onto against all odds. They remembered a man. A man in red who wore a cap and overalls, and had a mustache on their face that would make every lady swoon and every other guy jealous. This man… just recalling images of him now made the beast's mouth water. So tasty this man would be. So rich, so meaty, so filling.

The beast rushed toward the house where it knew the man would be, this time letting that small snippet of memory it retained guide him as opposed to just pure instinct. Trees became more common, as did the sounds of screaming and the howling of its wolf brethren. It couldn't care less.

It got closer and closer, snarls and snuffles coming out of its mouth. In the moonlight, it could see everything crystal clear; it had no chance or worry of getting lost. It was getting closer and closer and closer still. It could imagine not only the taste of the man it was hunting on its tongue but could also imagine his scent. His sweet scent, his scrumptious scent. It made the wolf's hair stand on end. It made him hungry, made his gigantic stomach growl almost as much as he himself was doing. It was almost there, almost to the place where it could devour the man when…

There it was! The house standing tall and strong. The wolf put on a burst of speed, smashing through the door. It let out a howl once it got in, and that hollow was what alerted the man he was targeting. He rushed out of his room and down the stairs, looking like he immediately regretted coming out at all when he saw the wolf, staring at him like he was a plate of barbecued ribs.

"MAMA MIA!"

The wolf lunged forward. The man quickly jumped over it, barely avoiding the beast's clamping jaws. The man rolled across the floor before getting up and righting himself. His eyes wide and his breathing shallow, he looked back over at the wolf. His body was doused in sweat, which just made his scent stronger. The wolf gritted its teeth at him, getting itself ready to strike. The man wiped some of the sweat off his brow right before the beast pounced. The man dodged again, making it ram head-first into a side table.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" The man yelled.

The beast just righted itself. This man wasn't going to walk out of this house alive. When the wolves hunt, they don't let anyone or anything get in their way. They aim for their goal, their sweet goal that would make their hunger seem at least a little bit more tolerable. And since the wolf set his sights on this man… nothing was going to stop him. Sure, the man could fight back, but there was only so much one could do against a giant wolf that had more razor-sharp claws and more teeth than anyone could hope to count.

Snarling, the wolf got down into a fighting stance. The man, still experiencing the fear that would make him taste even more gamey and tasty to the wolf, reached into his pocket. The wolf sniffed the orange and yellow flower he pulled out, and gritted its teeth again as he swallowed it whole. His blue pajamas turned red, and a fireball burned in his hand. This managed to break through the wolf's primal instincts and made it feel legitimate fear.

"Get out of here right now or you get scorched!" The man exclaimed.

The wolf pushed the fear to the side. It couldn't just leave. It couldn't! This man was his prey, his dinner, his untouchable majestic meal. How could a wolf as hungry and as ferocious as it possibly give something like that up? The wolf prepared itself to jump again, readying its claws and preparing its teeth. It was going to take a big bite out of this man's shoulder.

It barked before jumping towards the man. Right before it could land on him, the man shot a fireball, making a direct hit right in the middle of the wolf's chest. It shrieked and fell to the ground, whimpering and moaning as the fire claimed a huge patch of its fur. It rolled around, recalling another human memory that told it to stop, drop, and roll. This procedure seemed to do the trick, as the fire went out within a good amount of time. Unfortunately, when the wolf picked itself back up…

The man was gone.

The wolf growled again, turning toward the smashed up entryway. Using its scent, it ran out the house. It noticed the moonlight was disappearing, and the sunlight was visible on the eastern horizon. That meant it had only a limited amount of time to actually accomplish its goal. It needed to work fast.

It put on a burst of speed, allowing its finely tuned nose to guide it. It managed to pick up on the trail that the man left, and it followed that nose-first. It ran and ran across the hilly landscape when it spouted the man. He was still a long way away in the distance, but he was visible to the wolf. It put on a burst of speed. It would catch the man. No question or shadow of a doubt; it would catch the man. It was getting closer and closer and…

"GRAAH!" A mighty yell came out of the wolf's throat as it pounced on the man. The power-up deactivation noise rang throughout the area, and the man looked like he was going to cry as the wolf had him pinned to the ground. This was it. It was time to feast, time to indulge. The wolf opened its mouth, an enormous drop of saliva sliding down its front tooth and landing on the man's forehead.

"Please…" the man said, his voice so squeaky and quiet. "Please don't…"

The wolf didn't heed his words. It made its mouth get closer and closer to his head. It was about to take the bite it had been craving for such a long time when…

The sun came up. The wolf felt its rays on its furry back, and it knew exactly what it meant. It pulled away, whimpering and crying as the sun made it change.

…

"Ugh…"

Luigi's eyes fluttered open, and he was immediately met with confusion. The morning sky hung over him, which… how? Did he fall asleep outside? He didn't think he did. This was just… what was going on? He lifted himself up, immediately noticing that he was completely naked. His eyes grew wide and he let out a shriek. Was this a dream? Oh, please let it be a dream…

"LUIGI?"

Luigi blinked and saw Mario, staring at him and shaking. Luigi, despite being naked, didn't worry about the fact that his brother was here to see his shame. No, all his concerns were directed towards one simple, one harrowing, one terrifying detail.

Mario's shoulder was bleeding.

Gasping, Luigi rose to his feet and ran over to Mario. "Mario? What happened?" He reached out his hand, hoping to comfort Mario. "Are… are you okay…"

Mario pulled away before Luigi could reach him. Luigi blinked, for this… this was so unlike him. He looked at him with genuine fear, as if he had just witnessed him murder a family one after another.

"Mario?"

The shaking Mario experienced got worse. "You… you were the wolf…" he shook even harder, which was an absolutely awful sight to see. "You tried to eat me…"

And with that, his memories were restored to him. Luigi backed up, remembering his time as the wolf. How he had wanted to hunt and eat Mario specifically. How he was going to stop at nothing until he was… dead.

"Oh my God…" Tears streamed from Luigi's eyes. "Oh my God!"

Without waiting to hear Mario's reaction to that exclamation, Luigi turned and ran away. Tears flowed from his eyes, but he didn't even bother to wipe them away. He had almost killed Mario! Mario would be dead if the sun hadn't come up in time! How could this happen? How could Luigi allow this to happen?

The youngest Mario brother shook, for he knew EXACTLY how this had happened. Despite not wanting it to, his mind started recalling the events that lead him to this, the events that lead him to becoming…

A werewolf.