Chapter 84: Chasing the Werewolf
"I found it!" Gwen's voice cut through the quiet night. She pointed eagerly at a dense patch of vegetation. "The growing place of the Matrimonio cactus!"
Kai Green stood beside her, eyes bright with matching enthusiasm.
Klein, however, maintained a perfectly blank stare. His mind was occupied with far more pressing matters. He stared at his cousin, currently covered in thick fur and sporting a snout. An ordinary dog leash definitely would not be enough to hold Ben back anymore. He would probably need to upgrade to a heavy-duty iron chain. But if he bought an iron chain, he would have to paint it himself to make it look decent, and that just sounded like way too much effort.
Awoooo!
A long, drawn-out howl echoed from outside the Rustbucket, interrupting his lazy musings.
"Relax. That is just the Dweeb losing his mind again," Klein said, waving a hand to calm the two girls.
He turned and led Gwen and Kai out of the RV.
Outside, Ben had regressed even further into his Loboan transformation. He squatted on his hind legs in the dirt, head thrown back as he howled at the full moon.
"Ben! Ben, snap out of it!" Gwen called out, waving her arms.
The only response she received was another loud, prolonged howl.
"Do not worry. I happen to have an alien hero who passed his wolf language proficiency exam with flying colors," Klein said dryly. He raised his hand and slapped the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix.
"Wildmutt!"
A flash of quiet blue light illuminated the campsite. In Klein's place stood a massive, orange-furred beast. In the dim moonlight, its hulking, quadrupedal frame bore a striking, albeit completely eyeless, resemblance to the very werewolf creature they were hunting.
Kai took a startled step back, her eyes widening in alarm. "Yenaldooshi?!"
"Hey, I am not the same species as that thing!... Probably," Wildmutt grumbled, his voice rough and guttural. He shook his massive head and trotted over to Ben, tilting his earless head to seriously listen to the continuous howling.
A few moments passed in silence, save for Ben's vocalizations.
Gwen leaned in carefully. "Uh... Cousin? Did you understand any of that?"
"Not a single word. This guy is just straight-up losing his mind," Wildmutt sighed, shaking his heavy head. He took a step forward and casually smacked Ben upside the head with a heavy paw. "Speak human!"
Ben blinked, his howling cutting off abruptly. He rubbed the back of his furry head and let out an awkward, scratching laugh. "Sorry, Cousin. I just looked up at the moon and got a little too excited."
Another flash of quiet blue light washed over the clearing, and Wildmutt reverted back into Klein's relaxed human form.
Footsteps crunched against the dirt as Grandpa Max and Wes Green emerged from the tree line, returning to the camp.
Gwen immediately turned to them. "Grandpa, we found out where the Matrimonio cactus grows!"
Max nodded, his expression turning serious. "Good work. Then we will split into two groups. One team will go harvest the cactus, and the rest of us will track down the Yenaldooshi."
"Kai and I will go look for the cactus," Gwen suggested quickly.
Kai nodded in agreement. "We will head straight back and meet up with you the second we find it."
No one raised any objections. Klein certainly did not. In fact, a slow, amused smirk crept onto his face. If they caught the Yenaldooshi while Ben was still stuck in this form, he could walk two giant dogs at the exact same time. The comedic potential was simply too high to pass up.
Leaving the girls behind, Klein, Ben, Max, and Wes began their search for the alien werewolf.
"The Space Administration facility nearby just suffered a break-in," Wes shared, his flashlight cutting through the dark woods. "The authorities suspect it was the work of a werewolf."
Max frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Why would it target a space center? What could it possibly want from there?"
"It stole a bunch of satellite equipment," Wes explained.
Ben's furry ears twitched. "Hey! It stole your receiver too! What exactly is this overgrown mutt trying to build?"
"The local legends say the Yenaldooshi is angry," Wes said, his tone grim. "Angry about modern civilization invading its sacred ancestral lands."
Klein shoved his hands into his pockets, his expression utterly unconvinced. If a highly advanced alien species actually cared about sacred dirt, it would have attacked decades ago, not waited until a random Tuesday to steal specific satellite tech. This was a calculated gathering of parts, not a spiritual crusade.
"Let us analyze its potential escape route," Wes continued, pointing a weathered finger into the distance. "The Space Administration is surrounded by lakes on three sides: the north, the east, and the south. That means the Yenaldooshi must have run south."
Max nodded and began to march toward the facility, but stopped when he noticed Klein had not moved a muscle. "Klein? What is wrong?"
Klein shook his head slowly. He pulled one hand from his pocket and pointed at his furry cousin. "I was just thinking. A werewolf is still technically a wolf, right? Ben. Howl."
Ben blinked his yellow eyes, thoroughly confused by the sudden command. But the instinct was too strong to resist. He threw his head back.
"Awoooo!"
Klein immediately raised a hand, signaling for absolute silence. The group froze, holding their breath.
A few seconds later, a distant, echoing howl answered back through the trees.
Klein's lips curled upward. "Over there."
The group broke into a sprint, following the sound through the dense brush until they arrived at the gaping maw of a rocky cave.
Wes stepped forward, sweeping the beam of his flashlight across the dusty ground at the entrance. Deep, clawed footprints marked the earth. "The tracks disappear right here."
Ben stared at the empty ground, his wolfish face dropping into a mask of pure despair. The trail was cold again, and he was already looking more beast than human.
"What am I supposed to do?!" Ben panicked, his voice cracking. "Am I really going to be stuck like this forever?!"
Klein patted his cousin's furry shoulder, his tone entirely too cheerful. "Do not worry, Ben! As long as I have food on my plate, I promise you will never run out of premium dog food!"
Ben's ears flattened against his skull. His entire snout drooped. Clearly, his cousin's brand of comfort was not helping the situation.
A low, vibrating growl suddenly echoed from the shadows of the cave.
Four heads snapped toward the darkness at the exact same time, each voicing a different reaction.
"The werewolf!" Ben shouted.
"The Yenaldooshi!" Wes warned.
"My new big dog!" Klein declared.
Before anyone could formulate a plan, Ben launched himself forward. Cactus or no cactus, he was going to beat the cure out of this thing right now.
The Yenaldooshi did not retreat. It let out a vicious snarl and lunged out of the shadows to meet him.
The two beasts collided in a flurry of fur and claws. Ben threw a heavy right hook, his knuckles connecting solidly with the alien's jaw. The force sent the Yenaldooshi flying backward, tumbling twice across the dirt before digging its claws in to stop its momentum.
It recovered instantly. The creature rose to its full, terrifying height. Its jaws unhinged, splitting open into four separate, terrifying mandibles. A deafening howl erupted from its throat, a concentrated sonic wave so powerful it visibly distorted the air.
Ben crossed his arms to brace himself, but it was completely useless. The sheer kinetic force of the sound wave lifted him off his feet and blasted him backward into the dirt.
Seeing his cousin get swatted away like a fly, Klein sighed. He raised his hand and slammed it down onto the Another Omnitrix.
A brilliant flash of quiet blue light erupted, illuminating the entire cave entrance.
When the light faded, a massive, bipedal tiger alien clad in black and blue wrestling gear stood in Klein's place. The single claw protruding from each wrist gleamed dangerously in the moonlight.
Rath cracked his knuckles, his face twisting into a scowl of pure, unadulterated aggression. He pointed a thick, clawed finger directly at the alien werewolf.
"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING, STUPID BIG DOG! YOU BETTER SQUAT DOWN FOR RATH RIGHT NOW, OR RATH IS GONNA BEAT YOU UNTIL YOU CRY FOR YOUR MOMMY!"
The Yenaldooshi froze. It stared at Rath warily, a low warning growl rumbling in its throat. It did not pounce. Every single biological instinct in its alien DNA was screaming at it that this Appoplexian was not to be messed with. Extremely, violently, not to be messed with.
Seeing that the overgrown mutt did not know what was good for it, Rath let out an earth-shaking tiger roar and launched himself forward like a furry missile.
The Yenaldooshi's eyes widened. It subconsciously took two steps back in sheer panic before its own predatory instincts forced it to rush forward to meet the charge.
It was a terrible mistake.
Rath slammed into the werewolf with the force of a freight train. He tackled the beast straight into the ground, the impact cratering the earth beneath them and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
The Yenaldooshi lay spread-eagled in the center of the pit, both of its arms firmly pinned beneath Rath's crushing grip. It thrashed wildly, kicking and twisting, but its physical strength was completely and utterly inferior to the Appoplexian's. It could not budge an inch.
Desperate, the werewolf opened its mouth wide, its mandibles splitting apart as it prepared to unleash a point-blank sonic howl.
Rath's right hand shot out, clamping down over the creature's unhinged jaws and forcing them shut with a sickening snap.
"RATH SAYS YOU ASKED FOR THIS!"
The Yenaldooshi's eyes bulged. Pure, unadulterated terror flooded its gaze. Even though its left arm had managed to slip free during the struggle, it was too paralyzed by fear to even attempt a strike. Its entire brain was consumed by the sight of Rath pulling back his free fist, the muscles in his arm bulging with lethal intent.
Rath brought his fist down like a meteor.
The ground shuddered violently. Dirt and shattered rock exploded into the air.
Rath's fist had buried itself deep into the earth, creating a miniature crater less than two centimeters from the side of the werewolf's head.
The Yenaldooshi lay perfectly still, its wide eyes locked onto the devastating fist hovering right next to its ear. It did not even dare to breathe.
Rath slowly pulled his fist out of the dirt and stood up, towering over the trembling alien. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared down.
"RATH COMMANDS YOU! SIT!"
The terrifying alien werewolf scrambled to its feet with comical speed. It immediately dropped onto its hind legs, tucking its tail between its legs and letting out a series of pathetic, high-pitched whimpers.
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