Chapter 27: Confrontation

During the conflict, the mystery gang was holding a webcam conference while they gathered information and stayed current on events. Clare was not in her usual gothic clothing and make-up although the irises in her eyes were yellow like Toby or any werewolf's would be like.

"OMG, did you say that Sasha is out there too?" Kari asked

"Yea, she's helping Lilian with treating the wounded" Percy

"What are you doing?" Terra asked.

"I'm dealing with my parents. You know? The usual" Percy

"Okay, I have to come clean with you guys. I thought I would be able to surprise you all towards the end of the school year, but Toby and Zoe both spoiled the whole unveiling the supernatural thing" Clare said.

"What are you a werewolf too?" Tim asked.

"I was wondering about what you were. I knew you'd open up to use sooner or later" Terra said calmly.

"What's your surprise?" Rea asked.

Clare blushed and took a deep breath. "Okay, well...just don't be taking screencaps...Kari!" she said nervously.

"Hey! You did it too!"

"You don't have to show us if you're not ready" Terra finished.

Clare gulped and pulled her hair back behind her shoulders. "Here goes nothing" she muttered before her ears became pointed, and she started sprouting horns above them while her skin began change to a more reddish hue. Her breasts grew to rival Sasha's and bat wings sprouted out her back. She showed her tail with a tuft of fur on the end as her massive horns finished growing.

"You're a Succubus!?" Kari shouted.

Clare nodded rubbing her shoulder. "No one told me about who my real parents were, but you can imagine what it's like when I was in the orphanage. I was called the spawn of Satan and demon child. Toby and Zoe helped me out when I was a kid" she said before a smile crept upon her lips as fond memories flooded back.

"Did you ever...you know? Sleep with him" Tim asked.

Clare rolled her eyes at him. "I may have had a few nights where I've gotten lonely. You do know that Zoe and I are bi right?"

"Gasp!" Kari said starting to blush.

"I had no idea!" Tim said.

"You dated Zoe?" Rea asked.

"I dated both of them..." She said before she grabbed a scythe off the wall and grinded a whetstone against it. "I've always been closed off to everyone, and they were the first to actually understand me. I had to...Zoe is so strong and dominant. Toby's so smart and lets everything hang out. I wanted to have all those things in myself"

"But you are all those things" Kari said before she clenched her fist. "What are you doing? You aren't going to fight too are you?"

"I'm not going to let Olivia fuck this all up! She's too girly girl and inexperienced to be caught up in this all"

"Are you experienced?"

"Kari...I have the strength of a minotaur and the agility of a vampire. This is just my anthro form...I held my own against Zoe. All I need to do is lop off their heads and it is as simple as that"

"But the guns!"

"I'm out!" Clare said standing up and logging out.

"No!" Kari shouted.

"Kari? You know she's got armor" Percy said.

"But her armor doesn't cover her whole body!"

"Uh, yea it does. Are you stereotyping succubi or just the female hero? Zoe's covered head to toe with gear. Zoe gave her some just in case Clare decided to play hero as she put it"

"You knew?" Tim asked.

"Yea, Zoe's been trying to get Clare involved with the supernatural community for years. Clare's been trying to hide her powers from her parents all this time, and she knows they would be ashamed to have a demon sexual deviant for a daughter or know that she hangs around beasts and monsters"

"Jez, she must have felt more at home sleeping in another person's bed than her own. Sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy right there" Rea muttered.

"Lilian and Zoe's parents were cool with a Clare randomly popping up to sleep over?" Tim asked.

"They are Supernatural parents...I'm pretty sure that a Teenage succubus randomly sleeping with their teenage children are the least of their problems. Actually, from what I heard, Zoe and Toby kept their windows open just to not wake their parents up whenever Clare needed them, but now she's been without a partner for months" Percy explained.

"Can't she just...finger herself?"

"No...based off from what I know from supernatural creatures is that it's all about bonding. Zoe pretty much cuddles me most the time, but she gets more out of it just being with me not doing the act itself. I don't know...It's all weird to me still"

"Dude! They just blew up a dam!" Tim shouted.

"What!?" Everyone shouted.

"I'm serious! Oh shit! They just blew up another one...three, four, five?"

"They're blowing up dams?" Kari asked.

"They are hell bent on taking out as many people as possible! This is terrible! I bet that the places these people are going are in the path of the floodwaters. I need to warn everyone about this" Percy said.

•••

Meanwhile on top of Council Crest, Toby was waiting for his squad to catch up to him when Percy's voice cracked on the radio. "Hey! I just got word that several dams got blown up"

Toby looked towards Terry and Patches. "What dams got blown up?" Bernie's voice boomed.

"They are all dams to the South. They said that Oakridge, Cottage Grove, and Sweet Home got wiped out. They are evacuating everyone up river. The floodwaters shouldn't get here for a several hours" Someone said.

"Fuck! That's where mom's headed" Terry shouted.

"I've already told your mother to head for higher ground in a text, and she's replied back already. Don't worry about them. Your mom knows where to go" Bernie reassured him.

Zoe stood beside Toby, and she touched his shoulder. The sounds of Sirens, gunfire echoing, people were screaming, Helicopter blades, explosions, and wolves all polluted the air. A column of smoke rolled up at the clearing. "Toby? Should we go into town?"

"Of course we go!" he growled before he ran off, and headed down the mountain. He stopped after merging onto one of the streets before he remembered that he was not alone.

"I need a couple of squads to meet me at the tunnels!" He yelled into his communicator. He ran down the streets to the other end of the tunnel. Toby looked at the crowd of his allies clustered at the tunnels; some were sitting on the divider that separated the in and out bound tracks waiting patiently. A news drone hovered overhead, and He walked up to Bernie. "You knew about the dams?" he asked.

Bernie shook his head. "No..." he said.

"Well, if he's blown up a few already, then he's probably going to blow up something big. Remember he's got nukes, and..."

"I got it Toby"

"So, they don't have the bombs in the city?" Someone asked.

"I didn't say that...all they need is one" Toby said.

"He's right though..." Terry said before he looked towards his sister who balled her fist so tight blood dripped onto the ground.

Bernie saw his daughter's reaction before he looked down at the ground. "You're not going to like what you see...we'll mourn over the dead later! All I can say is to use your grief as a tool. Some of you may have no idea what determination brings...maybe it can get to the point where you'd be calling it stubbornness, but I call it being a hero, or heroine for you females out there. We're going to need as many of them as we can get!" he said before the some of the others looked down at the ground.

Toby looked up at the group intensely. "Just remember if anyone is going to pay then it's going to be Ian. Just remember what we're fighting for. I'm going bring this bastard 100 years of pain and suffering in just 5 minutes!" he yelled.

Joseph walked up to Toby, and he put his hand on Toby's shoulder. "Settle down...there's no point in stirring yourself into a blind rage...be smart" he said sternly.

Toby gave him a most unsettling look, mixed with emotional pain and grief. "I need this...what other purpose do I have?" he asked.

Joseph growled and let go of Toby briefly. "If you keep this idea, then what happens when you do manage to kill Ian? What purpose would you have then?" he asked. Toby looked away. "You have a beautiful mate, who is worrying and hoping that her lover will return to her with a beating heart...You mean to tell me that she isn't important to you?" he asked.

Toby paused for a moment. "That's not what I meant...You don't know what he did to her" he said.

"Toby!" Zoe shouted out.

"We just secured the Underground...We're ready to apprehend loads of Thralls!" Tai said over the communication device.

"Perfect" Bernie said before he looked up at them. "Alright, I have a secondary objective for all of you. Locate and take all Thralls into custody. If you locate Ian or any of his Betas let us know" he said before he motioned for them to go ahead. "Now let's go!...and hurry!" he yelled.

He ran past Toby slapping at his back encouragingly. "I know what you meant. When the moment is right...when you get him pinned to a corner with no way out, then you can unleash that monster inside you" he spoke confidently.

"Dad!?" Zoe shouted.

Bernie looked back at her. "You better kick some ass out there!"

Zoe let out a heavy sigh. "Yea"

"Come on! Let's go!" Terry shouted.

"Hey come on! We just got here!" Lenny shouted on the radio.

"Too bad!" Terrance said with a titter.

Toby ran off into the city with his squad, but his squad was lagging behind. The horde of armored and cloaked metahumans ran out from the tunnel and fanning out into the city while the News drone filmed them. A sequence of explosions occurred with subsequent flashes of blue lights and then it was followed by the entire city plunging into darkness. Patches tripped over a severed head and fell on top of a mutilated corpse. He jumped away and tried rubbing the blood off his hands and onto a tree.

"Attention all units! *coughs* They have deployed mustard gas on NW Front and Kittridge" said a voice from the radio on the corpse.

Toby reached in grabbing the radio and lifted his mask taking in the scent of blood on his hands. He clicked the receiver and put it near his mouth. "Attention all units! Do not come into contact with werewolf blood. They contain an extremely aggressive pathogen! I repeat! Do not come into contact with their blood!" he shouted with his best Ulf impression.

"10-4"

"Can you clarify what pathogen they have?"

"Lycanthropy Virus...if you get exposed to it, there's a good chance you can become a werewolf"

There was a long pause before Toby set the receiver down. "What should we do for those of us who are already exposed? There's werewolf blood all over the streets!"

Toby thought for a moment before he picked up the receiver. "Follow CDC decontamination procedures and everyone exposed must be quarantined..." he said before he growled to himself. "The whole city must be quarantined..."

He looked back at Zoe worried, and he gritted his teeth. "Shit! There's going to be a shit ton of people infected" He said.

"Toby...why didn't they know? Wasn't SAD supposed to tell them?" Zoe asked.

"Tch! Despicable! I can't believe how incompetent they are!" Patches remarked.

Overhead there was a huge explosion as a fighter jet got shot down. The pilot ejected but unfortunately the parachute drifted him into the burning power substation. They began to realize just how real this was as the pilot was screaming inside the burning seat.

Toby bit his lip, and he jumped the fence seeing the man on fire. Zoe jumped over with a fire extinguisher and sprayed at it as Toby ran to free the pilot who was bleeding and burnt badly. Toby cut the pilot free, and the Pilot fell forward screaming more as his broken legs hit the scorching hot ground. Toby dragged the pilot out, and he jumped the fence. The man had a compound fracture in his leg, and shrapnel was stuck in his chest.

Terrance looked at the man, and he picked him up. "I got him" He said.

Toby rubbed his slightly burnt hand. "Thanks" he said.

Zoe ran up to him and grabbed a grenade. "I got your back alright?" she said as she pulled the pin and threw it up ahead. A werewolf jumped out, which Zoe and the others shielded themselves as the flash bang went off. The werewolf fell to its knees and grabbed onto his ears whimpering in pain. Zoe looked back at their squad noticing that Van and Olivia were missing. "Where's Olivia?"

"Uh, Van said it was probably a good idea not to leave the men in the iron man suits, so they stayed behind trying to open them up" Casey said.

"Tch, whatever...I don't have to worry about them anymore"

"You do remember what happened to her last time she strayed from the group" Toby reminded her.

"Why do you think I gave them those dazzlers? I hope she's not stupid enough to drop her guard again" she muttered as she rammed her fist into the back of the werewolf's head to knock him out. "Hey! I knocked out a thrall near NW 16th and Columbia Street. Take him to the underground" she said.

"Gotcha, I'm at the Providence Park" Someone said on the radio.

Toby looked at Zoe. "Let's go!" he said before he continued to run down the middle of the road.

They made it to an overpass, and he stopped to look down at the freeway. He saw a person stumble out of an overturned car looking badly shaken with another Thrall looming behind. Toby jumped over the 8 foot fence with ease and landed on the concrete 28 feet below. Zoe and Patches leaped down with him while Terry and Casey gave them cover from above.

Toby ran up to the car that was upside down propped up against the concrete center divider where the driver leaned up against the divider grabbing his shoulder. Toby walked up to the guy cautiously. "You alright?" he asked. The thrall yelped as Patches punched her in the nose, and Zoe threw her across the freeway.

"Yes, I think I dislocated it" the man said.

Toby kneeled down beside the guy. "Let me help!" he said reaching out for the man's arm.

The man looked at Toby oddly. "What the hell kind of get-up are you wearing?"

"It's werewolf armor" Toby shouted pointing to himself.

"Is it for them or from them?"

"Both...wait wha?"

"Forget it!"

Toby looked at the guy's shoulder and sighed. "Yea, it's dislocated...okay this might hurt a little...I'm going to count to 3 okay" he said gently taking the man's arm.

The guy cringed. "Alright" he said nervously.

Toby raised the man's arm. "Okay 1..." Toby said before shoving the guy's arm back into place with a loud pop.

The guy screamed in agony before realizing what Toby had done. "I thought you were going to count to three?" he whined.

"I lied...Thanks for using Toby's Mobile Chiropractic Service...come again!" Toby said. He heard growling, and he looked ahead to an adjacent overpass as a big werewolf jumped onto the in freeway.

The man looked at the werewolf with horror. "It's another one!!" he yelled.

"Hey! I thought you were giving us cover!" Toby shouted at Terry.

Terry was wrestling another werewolf, and he growled. "Um! I'm a little busy right now!"

Casey flew overhead and took out another werewolf that popped out of a tunnel. "We're a little overmanned right now!" she said.

Zoe stood next to Toby and pointed at the huge werewolf. "This one isn't a Thrall" she said.

He looked back at her. "I'll take care of this one..." he said.

She looked up and she saw that her brother knocked out his target with a snapped off no parking sign pole. He jumped down having the werewolf surrounded and cracked his knuckles intimidatingly. Toby growled started to walk towards the werewolf who knew that three larger werewolves would be more than he had bargained for. Toby lifted his mask, and his nose curled and growled viciously. The werewolf backed up, and he looked around very intimidated trying to find an escape route, which Casey had a gun aimed at his face.

"You can't even hold your ground. Is it because you know who I am? Or is this your first time?" Toby yelled. The werewolf growled and snarled back not wanting to seem weak, but they all knew it was an act. Toby looked annoyed. "Tch, like talking to a child" he muttered.

The Werewolf laughed. "Ian wants to fight you...as much as I want to tear you out of that tin can of yours, I really don't want to be reprimanded" he said.

Zoe crossed her arms over her chest and growled. "You must be one of his betas...you know what? None of us have any reason to fight you...you're just a patsy and to me you're just nothing more than..." she said before she smirked. "An Omega" she said.

The werewolf was shocked, and he began to snarl at her. "You stupid bitch! How dare you!! You don't know what an Omega is!! Thralls are Omegas! You are an Omega! Your whole clan are Omegas!" He yelled.

Toby laughed. "Really...to me Thralls could arch on trees better than you could! Mr. Squatter. I bet you get the piss scared out of you so often that you have nothing to mark your territory with" he said.

"FUCK YOU!!!" the werewolf yelled charging at Toby. Toby jumped back on top of the car, and he jumped out of the way as the werewolf swatted the smart car across several lanes into the retaining wall. Casey's acquired gun was empty and only clicked every time she pulled the trigger.

The man gasped. "MY CAR!!" he yelled.

"Fuck your car!" Zoe yelled.

Two members of another squad jumped onto the freeway. "Toby, we got it from here...he's just a distraction" one of them said.

There werewolf looked at Toby then at the other two. Toby looked back at the other squad. "You think one of you take this guy out of harm's way?" he asked.

"I got him" the female squad member said.

Toby grinned. "Good" he said as he put his mask back on. "As for the Omega...well, I think he's overstayed his welcome in this realm, I trust you ladies can handle him easily" he said.

He turned his back and taunted him, and the werewolf jumped at him. "FUCK YOU!" he screamed. Toby swerved out of the way just as the werewolf was to slash his claws down upon him. He jumped up and delivered a brutal kick to the top of werewolf's neck. There was a loud snap before pushed back against the wolf's shoulders jumping away, and the wolf collapsed onto the ground. He looked down at the werewolf and growled. "Mistake number one, never attack an alpha male..." he said.

The other back was stunned by what they just witnessed. "Toby...what did you just do?" one asked.

Toby looked back and frowned. "I severed his brain stem with his spinal cord...I'm done giving him chances to give up..." he said coldly. He pointed to the abandoned cars and the dead bodies all over the road. "Do you think they got a second chance?"

Terence and Lenny caught up with the squad, and they were horrified with the mass casualties in the freeway pit. "Are there any survivors?" Lenny muttered.

"There has to be" Terence muttered.

Toby jumped up the 20 foot wall, and he ran down the streets hearing more gun fire from far away. He looked at the shattered windows, and the over turned cars. Walls were smeared with bloodied palm prints, body parts strewn to the wayside. "Where the hell are you hiding Ian? I know you're here!!" he yelled.

Steele appeared running alongside with him. "You are new to this aren't you...If you can't find Ian look for signs" he said.

"Like what?...I can't take my mask of"

"You need me to hold your hand?"

"That would be nice"

Toby stopped abruptly. "Wait...I think I need a better view..." he said. He looked straight up a 550 foot building. The building's façade had columns of black tinted glass separated by columns of white marble running up vertically throughout entire height of the building. It was as glorious as the sunlight hit the side of the building. He ran down the sidewalk and up the steps to the front of the building past a sign that said "Wells Fargo Center". He opened the door, but he was not aware it was locked as it bent open. The alarm went off in the lobby, and the security guards spotted him.

"We have a breach, we have a breach!" one of the guards yelled speaking into his receiver.

"Don't move!" the other yelled as he pointed a gun at Toby.

Toby ran off as the guard fired a shot at him, which it bounced off Toby's armor. "Attention, intruder is wearing body armor! I repeat! Intruder is wearing body armor!" he shouted into his radio.

Toby opened the door to the stairway and jumped up the many flights of stairs. He heard footsteps coming ahead of him and behind him. Toby went through a door and ran to the elevators. Toby pushed the button, and the door opened. Toby walked into the elevator, and he immediately pushed the 41button before he pushed the close door button.

The doors shut, and the elevator shot up. He smirked coming up with his plan before the elevator shuddered to a halt. He growled and punched the control panel out of frustration busting it. "Scheissa!!" He shouted. He forced open the doors and grabbed onto the floor and pulled himself up out of the elevator car. He pushed against the ceiling of the car with his back as he got onto the floor before it shuttered and rattled as the cables were pulled tight once more after he freed himself.

Toby ran to the doors to the stairway and jumped up the stairs for the remainder of the way. He finally got to the top floor and opened the door to the roof. He walked around to see the devastation and carnage for a second time. He closed his eyes and then whimpered. "This sucks...Looks like a couple hundred Billion dollars in damages" he muttered. He looked off at the smoke rising from the neighborhoods in the east. "Maybe a trillion dollars" he said.

"Toby...did you hear about the Grand Coulee dam?" Zoe asked over the radio.

He reached up to push the button on his mask. "No...what happened?" he asked.

"Apparently the Army Corp of Engineers is starting to drain all of the dams because of the others being blown up. Apparently they tried blowing up the Grand Coulee Dam"

"Damn...He's got wolves over there too?"

"I don't know, but the wolves were all shot...just letting you know"

He saw military helicopters fly overhead with gunners aiming at him wearing night vision goggles. He thought he was about to be shot at, but they continued onward. While he was distracted a security guard jumped on him failing to bring him down to the ground. Toby looked at the guard annoyed and walked while dragging the guard dragging behind him.

"I got him...I need backup!" the guard yelled.

"Roger" a voice sounded from the guard's earpiece.

Toby was walking towards the door when more guards opened the door with their guns drawn. "Freeze!" they shouted.

Toby sighed. "Fine, fine you got me" he said holding his arms out. The guards ran up to him and slapped handcuffs on. They firmly grabbed onto his shoulders and escorted him to the door. His father walk beside him with his arms crossed shaking his head at him.

Finally, Toby broke the handcuffs apart with ease and double elbowed the two guards in the stomach all in one motion. He pulled apart the handcuffs stripping the gears, and the guards looked at Toby in horror while trying to recover from the blow to their diaphragms. "I'm here to save your sorry asses, and this is how you repay me?!" he yelled while slamming the cuffs into the door. They flinched at the hefty dent left in the steel door, before Toby walked past them.

His father cleared his throat pointing towards the building kitty-corner from the Northwest edge of the rooftop. "I can make that jump" he stated simply.

"Hey! Dumbass! Where the hell are you!?" Zoe shouted on the radio.

Toby reached up to turn on his receiver. "I'm in the Wells Fargo Center"

"Get your ass down here! I'll meet you outside!"

Toby looked towards his father, and he had disappeared. He passed this off as just a figment of his imagination before he jumped his way down the stairs to meet up with Zoe at street level. She was waiting impatiently outside the City Hall which was across the street from the skyscraper.

"Hey any word on Ian's where abouts?" he asked. His stomach started to growl.

She shook her head. "No, but you should feed that monster of yours before it attracts more attention" she said.

"Fine, I think it's a good time to grab a bite to eat"

"Heh, I found a snack to eat along the way" Terry said pointing back at the streets.

Lenny gasped. "You ate someone!?"

Terry rolled his eyes. "Why would you think I'd do that?"

"Well you vanished, and..."

"Tch, I raided the Safeway deli! You think I'd eat roast beef around ya?"

"I could actually go for a roast beef sandwich right about now" Terrence said.

Terry opened a backpack, which he also commandeered, and he threw Terence a sandwich. He distributed out the food and cracked open a beer. "Funny...I never knew why dad always drank so much until now" He said as he looked at a body in the street.

"Throw me one!" Zoe asked.

Terence pulled out a joint and lit it up before he took a bite of his sandwich. "Jez dude...how about a little warning before you do that!" Casey shouted waving off the smoke.

Terence took a big drag before he leaned back. "I didn't think I would need this so soon" he said before he offered it. Toby waved him off, but Lenny took the joint gratefully. "Casey? How old are you?"

She looked at him surprised before she looked away. "Um, I'm 24"

"Look, I'm in my 40's...I've had two deployments in Afghanistan and three to Iraq. I've seen my friends get vaporized by a suicide bomber. I've nearly had my legs blown off when our Humvee rolled over an IED. I've been in war before...this is how I deal with it" Terry held out a beer, and Terence waved it off. "No, I'm good"

"I'm sorry. I was told that pot wasn't good for us"

"War ain't good for us either but at least with this I can relax. This is the worst carnage I've seen in my entire life" he said before he took back his joint. "It will sink in..." he said before he looked towards Toby concerned.

"How were you able to deal with being in war as a werelion?" Patches asked.

"I didn't start out that way. My wife was a princess from Zambia, and she was the lioness who turned me. I met her in Nairobi, and you should have seen the look on my face when she transformed during our third date"

"Did she ask you if the cat got your tongue?" Zoe asked.

Terence rolled his eyes. "A lot sexier than that" he said before everyone but Toby laughed, which he was not relaxed at all, and Terence once again offered his joint. "You sure? You look tense"

"I don't smoke" he muttered before he growled to himself. "That stuff is only going to make me feel less"

"Don't bottle it up too much...you might explode at the wrong time"

"I can manage"

Zoe looked around and frowned. "I'm worried" she said.

He looked up at her oddly. "Why?" he asked.

She looked off into the distance only hearing gunfire a mile away. "Things have gone quiet...Not that many Betas have been found and neither has Ian" she said.

"With all of this smoke and other crap in the air, I can barely smell you. It's not like they disappeared, they are here somewhere" he said. "Hey...You notice it being a lot quieter than usual?" he asked over the radio.

"Yea, Ulf and I were just talking about that. We think based off his last transmission that he's on the eastside. We've been having problems getting across the bridges" he asked.

"How many of our men are injured?"

"About 40...Dr. Lovejoy and your mom are experimenting on the soldiers who are on the verge of death"

"What are they doing?"

"Well, from what your mother told me was they were injecting them with Immunosuppressive drugs..."

Toby and the others gasped. "And?" he asked.

"They inject them with a cocktail of stem cells and the Noble strain of lycanthropy virus"

His eyes widened in horror after he heard this news. "Isn't that against our laws?"

"She gave them a choice. They know the risks involved, and some opted out while others still died after being treated with the virus" she said.

"Do they think Noble strains will work quicker?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know, but they want to give them the best shot in living"

"Hey! We've spotted Ian heading towards Mt. Tabor" Someone shouted over the radio.

Toby sighed and munched on the last quarter of his sandwich. "So he's just letting his cronies run amuck and infect, is that it?" he muttered. He stood up after swallowing the thing without chewing. "If he's heading to Mt. Tabor then he'll have cover. He has access to water...the perfect hiding spot to drag this out" he said.

A Humvee pulled up and an Oregon National Guard soldier approached them quickly carrying a brief case. A soldier manned a turret on top scanning the surroundings with night vision. "What's going on?" Patches asked. The soldier was looking like he was ill, but he was trying to hide it.

Toby looked at the soldier curiously. "You aren't going to shoot us for the sandwiches are ya?" he asked.

"No sir! I'm here on direct orders, sir!" The soldier yelled. He pulled out a brief case and opened it.

Toby looked at the item inside the brief case and cocked his head. "Huh? What's this for?" he asked.

"This is a transmitter to differentiate us from Ian's forces...Ian's forces are using similar cloaks as you are. We've been relying on drone surveillance and radio contact to track who's who, but it's not working out with them being shot down and our radio doesn't carry your frequency. This would make things much easier. All you have to do is give your passphrase in the paper provided"

Toby strapped the tracking device onto his arm and he looked at the passphrase. "What time is it? It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time"

Terence could smell the soldier was covered in werewolf blood, and he had a patched up gunshot wound on his bicep. "You realize you probably have Lycanthropy now, right?"

"You don't need to remind me! I already fucking know!" The soldier snapped before calmed himself down taking a big deep breath. "How much time do I have before I turn all furry?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you turned by morning...you're just drenched in it" Patches remarked.

"We don't know...the virus affects people differently" Terry said.

"I guess my wife and kids are going to have a werewolf for a husband and father then, huh?" the soldier said lowly.

"I just hope your wife has a thing for furries" Terence said.

"Fuck you!" the soldier shouted.

"Hey! Henderson! Get your ass inside!" The soldier on top shouted before he started shooting into the trees in the park. The soldier ran to the Humvee getting hit in the leg by a bullet, and Terence grabbed all the papers from everyone before he lit them aflame with his lighter.

"Lunch time is over!"

They all got up and ran down to the drawbridge at the end of the street. Patches gulped as they ran across the road deck up to the green lift towers with red counter weights. The steel grates on the bridge clanked and clattered along the entire length. As they got to the lift span, a group of werewolves dropped from the control house down to the road deck with a huge thud.

They laughed feeling most clever with their tactics. "You aren't worthy enough to fight Lord Ian!" one said.

Patches backed up, and Toby took a step forward. "You are making a huge mistake!" he said as he looked at the werewolves assessing their strength.

Zoe got between him and the werewolves "Toby, we can take them out no problem!"

"Alright, let's take them out!" Terry said.

Patches pulled out a gun and aimed it at one of the werewolves. "Really? You're going to shoot an unarmed werewolf are you?"

"Save your bullets" Terry muttered pushing his arm down.

Toby smirked before he charged one of the werewolves along with Zoe. He faked a punch and kicked the werewolf off the bridge. He smirked and looked back to see Zoe in her Therian form kick a werewolf in such a way that the werewolf managed to slam into the counter weight directly over him. The weight swayed before one of the sheaves broke loose causing the other to break loose. The massive sheaves dropped through the road deck, and the counter weight to fall. The cables sliced through the beams or they snapped.

Toby ran to the other side as the counter weight go through the road deck and into the pier. The whole bridge shook violently as the truss segment Toby was on start to sag towards the damaged pier. He ran towards another segment before the tower fell towards him falling in place of the segment where he once stood. He looked at the others on the opposite side and Terry waved him off. "Just go Toby!"

Toby looked at the destruction in disbelief. "How in the hell did that happen?" he muttered. Toby was prompted to run when the section that he was standing on began groan and shake. He looked up ahead to see a fight on the viaduct between a werewolf and two national guardsmen.

He blew past the werewolf, which it looked back at him and snarled offended that he ignored him. "Hey! A little help!?" he shouted.

Toby stopped suddenly and looked back at him. "Do I look like an ally to you?"

The werewolf stared at him before he growled jumped at Toby out of frustration. "How can you betray your own kind like this!?" he shouted before he was shot in the chest and neck by the guardsmen. After he fell to the ground, Toby brutally slammed his foot into the werewolf's chest causing him to let out a yelp.

"Do you have a fucking clue what betrayal is? Well!?" He shouted before he put all his weight onto his foot causing the werewolf to writhe in pain. "You've fucked it up for all of us who!" he shouted as he began to stomp on him. "I wanted peace you piece of shit!" The werewolf put his hands up and drew his legs in defensively whimpering in pain. "Where's Ian!?" Toby shouted as he grabbed him by the neck.

"I don't know! I haven't seen him since yesterday!"

"Do you know where the nuke is!?"

"I don't know! That's all Amarok's plan!"

"Amarok has them?"

The werewolf laughed at him and coughed up blood. "She's taken this war up in scale. Ian might want the city to burn, but Amarok wants the whole world to burn! We're going to be back on the top of the food chain once again!"

"Tch, How conceited can you get? The only outcome this will have is extinction of all of us! You should be worried that Amarok has the trigger...she has nothing else to lose" he said before he slammed the back of his head into the pavement.

"Who the hell was that guy!?" one of the guardsmen asked as he helped his comrade up.

"I think that's the Leader of the group of werewolves around here"

"I'd hate to see what he can do when he's transformed! He's fucking huge!"

"Hey Toby! You alright?" Tai asked over the radio.

He reached up and realized that his mic was on the whole time. "Yea...I'm fine"

"I think we have to find Amarok"

"No, if she does have the trigger, and we corner her, then what will happen?"

"Toby? I think Ulf and I can speak to her. We know her second only to your father" Bernie said.

"You think she would want to see you?"

"I don't think she's too far gone to turn back. Her children are here, and you've came across them before. Don't think she has nothing to lose yet" Ulf said.

"I have?" He muttered as he thought back on his past encounters.

"Yes...I saw them myself, back on Sauvie Island. I think you know the two I'm talking about" Bernie added.

"Those twins?" Zoe interrupted.

"Yea...They are the only remaining children she had from Steele"

"It always bugged me why they weren't helping Ian when I pounded him into the ground. They could have taken me out easily, am I right?"

Toby started to run through one of the main streets, while he conversed with his friends. "You're pretty strong Zoe, you might have scared them"

"We've seen your father fight. He had a thing for crushing skulls with his bare hands. I reckon you could do the same just as likely" Bernie said.

"Like you can't?"

"Yea, if I used both hands"

"Seriously dad, I think you may have overhyped him some" Zoe scoffed.

"Your brothers and sisters remember him"

"Leave me out of this!" Terry protested.

"He's telling the truth" Ulf said.

"No joke! Your dad popped a guy's head like a tomato" Haley added.

"Incredibly strong grip! Haley was always terrified of him after he did that in front of her" Tyler said.

"Okay, why hasn't anyone told me about this?" Toby raised his voice. The conversation provided just enough of a distraction from focusing completely on the Bodies, ruble, and overturned cars that littered the streets.

"Long story short, we were having an outing over in Yellowstone where Haley and Tyler made friends with a wolf pack. They wound up following up to our camp site at Twin Peaks--somewhere in Montana. I don't know if the man was a rancher or a poacher, but he killed the alpha pair before he started shooting at Haley and Tyler. Steele got to him before any of us did, and we saw that happen" Ulf explained.

"Steele snuck home the orphaned pups back to his place. I could only imagine what the Forest rangers thought when they came across the corpse. Must have been a real mind blowing experience" Bernie said.

"Ew, Dad...that's terrible" Haley said.

A German Shepard wearing a green bullet proof vest bearing a Multnomah County Sheriff badge ran up to him from a corner. He stopped as the dog barked out in distress. "My friend needs help!" he shouted.

He looked around before he looked back at the dog. "Where are they?" he asked.

The dog turned and ran off. "Follow me!" he yelled.

He followed the dog several blocks before they came across a gas station set ablaze with a fuel truck nearby apparently struck by a car. Toby looked around before he noticed the Sheriff pinned between his squad car, and the main building unresponsive. He gulped and ran up to the officer just as the fuel truck began to catch fire.

He checked the officer for a pulse before he came back around grabbing the squad car by the bumper lifting it up and pulled it away from them dragging the front wheels behind. The dog started licking the officer's face after he fell onto the ground. The officer woke up and looked at Toby gratefully.

"Thank you..." He said before he held his ribs.

Toby frowned pulling out a red tag. "I have a victim on Ladd and Hawthorne" he called out.

The officer looked at Toby then at his dog. "You're one of them aren't you?" he asked.

"If you are referring to me being a werewolf, then yes, but if you are referring to me being with Ian's comrades, then no"

"Ian?"

"Ian is the leader of the group you humans are calling the Ragnarok Terrorists. I'm the leader of the Metro Clan...We are basically his worst enemy"

"I've been hearing talk about two werewolf groups fighting..." he said as he walked with Toby to safer location.

"Are you going to be alright?"

The officer nodded. "I think my ribs are broken...and my lower half feels numb"

"You probably broke your back too, just don't move much. I promise some of my clan will get you out of here on a stretcher. I'll only fuck up your back more if I carry you myself" he said before he started to walk off.

"Where are you going?" the officer muttered as he tried to gasp for clean air.

Toby looked ahead to see the green tree cover hump in the distance. "I'm going to go confront Ian...we got a lead that he's over there on Mt. Tabor" he said

The officer sat down and propped himself up against the wall of the building across the intersection. He looked up at Toby solemnly. "I hope, you can shut them down!" he said firmly.

Toby smiled and held a thumb's up before the tanker exploded near the gas station. He flinched at the sound and shielded himself from the intense yellow glow. Cloaked men ran up to them and unfolded a stretcher. "I got him Toby!" he said with his voice disguised.

The officer looked up at Toby as he ran off. "Toby? Where have I heard that name before?" he muttered. He gasped. "Are you that one High School Quarterback everyone is talking about?" he muttered.

The cloaked man helped the officer up. "I can't confirm or deny that claim" he said before he looked around to see a car. "You won't mind if I commandeer that vehicle would you?" he asked.

The officer looked away. "We're under martial law...I no longer have authority" he said.

The cloaked man busted the window open with his elbow, and he reached in to unlock the door. He got inside and hotwired the car before they pulled the officer into the rear using the stretcher. The dog jumped in and sat on the floor resting his head on the officer's leg before he slammed the door shut.

Once the two cloaked men got inside, the driver yelled, "Hold on tight!" before he peeled out.

Toby ran ahead jumping over fences and through peoples' yards until he got to a huge fenced off basin of water. He jumped clear over the reservoir and hoped up the forested slope. He jumped over yet another reservoir, and he soon reached the summit. He stood still remaining quiet, and he removed his mask. The wind started to pick up blowing the stench of death and war through the trees. He grew irritated before he recollected himself as he surveyed the area. He closed his eyes, and he looked towards an old boarded up shack. "I know you're here. Stop hiding!" he spoke harshly.

Laughter echoed from the trees in the clearing. It was followed with more, but it was everywhere and not in one spot. Toby looked around trying to decipher the origins of Ian's laugh. "Who said I was hiding? I was sleeping" Ian's voice echoed from the trees.

"I know you are hiding, admit it you a fucking coward!!"

Ian jumped out from a tree and landed near Toby. "Is it wrong to give you more time to live? But since you're in such a hurry to die...I'll reconsider my reasonable decision. You and I both know that I can kill you in an instant...what's the point in fighting me?" he asked. He turned back and jerked his head up as if startled. "Well well...you've put on a lot more muscle since last time. Maybe you'll be able to actually give me more of a fight" he said trying to hide his genuine surprise.

"Fuck you! Your mind games aren't going to work on me. I've been training to face you...you have no idea how much stronger I have become!" he yelled.

Ian's smiled grew wide before he let out an evil chuckle. "Ah, of course, was that what you pups call it these days? Looks more to me like screwing around than training" he retorted.

Toby's fangs enlarged and his nose snarled. "No, thanks to you!" he said in a raspy tone. He smirked. "Something tells me you got scared...You couldn't stand that I was to surpass you...that's why you and your little posse tried to snuff me out while I still had my weights on!" he shouted.

Ian smirked evilly. "Don't kid yourself. There's no way you could surpass me. You are even weaker than your father was. At least he could last 15 minutes with me weights or not! You've never broke 5 without someone to bail you out. If I wasn't weak from being shot in the face, then I would have finished you off myself. Well this time no one is going to stop us. I've made sure of that" he said. His smirk grew wider as he looked to his group. "I'll enjoy making you whimper like the sniveling pup you've have always been" he said.

Toby growled and his veins bulked up and muscles twinged. He was itching to transform. "I'll kill you before that will ever happen!" he yelled in a raspy tone.

Ian laughed. "Well I've heard that one before...I'm surprised they picked you to be their Alpha...What a joke, talk about false hope!" he said starting to chuckle again.

Toby clenched his fist. "Shut up!" he muttered. Ian continued to laugh at him. "All you do is just talk" he muttered before he smirked evilly. "But I'll let you on a little secret...Jean has been giving me private lessons"

"Psh, Jean gives all his favorites private lessons. You aren't anything special. In fact, I think he takes pity on you" he sneered.

Toby's skin crawled, and he was slipping into a blind rage. "Shut up!!!" he yelled throwing a transformed fist into Ian's jaw. Ian took a couple steps back and stared at Toby blankly not sure what had just happened as Toby was in human form.

He rubbed his face and took several steps back to regather himself, but when Toby turned to face him, he saw that indeed Toby had transformed his arm to that of its Therian equivalent. "Okay! That kind of training"

Toby was breathing heavily while he shivered from his intense rage. Ian glared at him and spat blood on the ground before he noticed blood on his thumb, which he smirked afterwards. He licked his thumb in a sadistic manner. "Well, it's at least you've gotten a lot faster...what did you transform your legs too" He muttered.

Toby gave him the most murderous expression, and Ian smirked at this. "Your feelings towards humans make you weak...they are our food...nothing less, nothing more...You'd make a decent werewolf had you consumed human meat!" he said.

Toby's nose curled, and he clenched his fist having difficulty reverting it back to its human state. "If humans are our food, then why can they bear our pups!? I think that they are not food at all! You're too stupid to realize it, mutt!!" he shouted back.

Ian narrowed his eyes upon Toby and snarled. "Alright...I've heard just enough of you, runt! You have no place in talking down to me!" he muttered.

Pete walked out with his arms crossed. "Just kill him already...or let one of us take the runt" he said.

Toby looked back at him with hatred. "Your next Peter!" he yelled.

Peter gave Toby a cold look. "I highly doubt it...even if you get past Ian. You still have 3 werewolves with comparable strength as Ian's...watching this fight including me" he said.

Ian snorted. "You are delusional if you think that any werewolf can compare with me Pete!" he said before he raised his hand towards Peter. "I'll lop off your head with one more outburst like that!" he yelled.

Peter looked over at Garou who was staring Toby down intensely before he looked at Ian. "Just fight him, it's pissing us off watching you just standing here doing nothing!" he muttered.

Ian growled and looked towards Peter before Toby jumped at Ian transforming into his anthro form. His armor was put under a lot of strain, which Ian's eyes widened in shock realizing Toby's increase in speed. His reaction time only allowed him to transform into his anthro form as he reached up to catch both of Toby's hands. Ian grinned with delight seeing Toby willing to slice him up.

The two struggled against each other, and their feet dug into the ground. "You weren't entirely bluffing about your improvement were yam? But you're still just an amateur!" he stated. Toby gritted his teeth, and he suddenly stopped pushing. Ian fell forward and Toby reached around grabbing him by the wrist and spun him around before hurling him into a huge tree. Toby pursued him after his throw and grabbed Ian by the neck.

Ian looked at Toby in confusion before he transformed into his therian form and kicked Toby in the stomach at the same time pushing him off. Toby yelped as he flew through the trees, and he rolled before he hit his back into another large tree. He stood back up and shook off the hit, and he watched Ian march down the access road tauntingly. "Come on! Hit me harder! Let's go!"

Toby transformed into his therian form. His body armor and titanium mesh burst in several places where it was designed to do so, but remarkably, the carbon fiber still did not give. "I'm going to tear off that fucking loud mouth of yours" he said viciously before he started to transform again. His body stiffened up, and his back crackled. His body violently lurched forward as he was now fully walking on four feet. He lost all humanoid resemblance and all that remained was just a huge wolf. He lost the ability to speak, but he did not need speech to get his message across. The carbon suit still contained the wolf.

Ian laughed. "Turning into your lycaon form won't make the slightest difference. Your chance in defeating me is draining away" he said in a monstrous voice. "You don't think you can defeat me do you?"

Toby circled him before he jumped, but Ian dodged with ease, and he hacked a huge gash into Toby's side. Toby yelped and then turned around to charge him again, which Ian hacked yet another deep gash into Toby's side.

•••

Meanwhile Zoe looked at the group annoyed after hearing Toby over the radio. "I'm going to help Toby! Don't try to stop me" she said.

Terry grabbed her arm causing her to growl. "I'm coming with you...I don't like this gamble Toby is making" he said. He removed his paw from her, and he looked back at the squad. "Hold them off!" he said. They all nodded before he looked at her. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" she yelled before she bolted down the street. They ran across the damaged bridge and jumped the gap onto the semi submerged slumped wreckage before they climbed up the slope up to the rest of the remainder of the intact bridge. Zoe ran faster, and Terry lagged farther behind.

When they finally arrived they saw Toby in his anthro form limping back away from Ian and blood trickled down his suit and dripped onto the ground. "Toby!" Zoe yelled before she was blindsided by Peter. He rammed his elbow into her side while running at full speed. She dug her nails into the ground keeping her balance as she slid across the grass coming to a complete stop. She growled to herself having a suspicion that he might have interfered with Toby's fight. "I knew you were no good!" she yelled.

"You've come to save the runt?"

Zoe snarled. "He's a lot stronger than you'll ever be!" she yelled.

Peter transformed into his therian form. "You're just as blind as the rest of them!" he muttered.

She transformed into her anthro form and cracked her fists. "I'm going to enjoy this!" she said as she grinned sadistically. "Now that you are officially our enemy, no one will hold me back from killing you!" she said.

Toby sighed heavily as he looked back at her. "You take him...I'll handle Ian!" he yelled.

She looked at him worried. "You're hurt...will you be able to hold him on your own before Terry gets here?" she asked.

"I don't know...but it'll try" he said before he glared at Ian.

Ian looked at the two of them and rolled his eyes. "It won't matter, you'll both die before your friends arrive" he said.

Toby clenched his fists getting into a fighting stance, while Terry arrived. "I wouldn't say that..." he said before he saw Garou and Gunter step between him and Toby.

Terry got into a fighting stance. "You got to be kidding me...two against one?" he asked.

Gunter laughed. "You can take your pick, you want a slow death or a quick one?" he asked.

Garou jumped at Terry laughing maniacally punching him in the face, and his mask shattered revealing he was in anthro form. Terry fell onto his butt and looked up at Garou annoyed. "What the hell is this guy?" he muttered.

Garou grinned hunching forward in a most unorthodox fighting stance. "Are you strong or are you weak? See how long can you last against a freak..." he said before he licked his lips.

Terry's eye twitched. "Really? Rhyming? " he growled. He looked at Zoe fighting Peter preferring to fight him. "Great..." he muttered before he looked towards Garou who was already taking another swipe at him. He dodged before he pulled out a grenade.

Garou looked at him amused, and one of the werewolves watching grew annoyed. "Fuck this shit!" he yelled before he charged in and tackled Terry from behind once he pushed the spoon. The grenade was jarred free as Terry fell forward, and the grenade landed near Toby.

Garou growled then grabbed the werewolf by the throat. "He's mine!" he yelled. The werewolf tried desperately to get free from Garou's grip before he went limp.

There was a loud explosion, and they all looked towards the explosion. "God damn it..." Gunter muttered before he kicked the werewolf in the side. "You insubordinate little twat!" he yelled.