Wolfgang had once been an ordinary man like any other, albeit poorer than some. When he'd finished his high-school education, he lacked the funds to go to college, and had not been bright enough to qualify for scholarship. So he had done the only thing he could--joined a paramilitary outfit called the Fifth Column. Oh, he had not espoused their party line, a line unchanged in over sixty years--but then, he did not need to. If you only followed orders, that was enough.
But then he had "volunteered" to participate in an experimental super-soldier program. He had been infused with a "Nictus fragment," a piece of some alien life-form. It would either grant him paranormal abilities, or...
In Wolfgang's case, it turned out to be "or..." His body had not been strong enough to integrate the fragment; instead, the fragment had festered and infected his entire body, changing it, turning it bestial. He became one of the program's legions of failures: a Warwolf, an eight-foot-tall muscular wolf shaped like a man.
But Wolfgang did not think about this much. In fact, he did not think about much of anything anymore, being largely incapable of forming a coherent thought other than "Graaaah!" or the occasional "Burp!" Now he roamed the gloomy hills and swamps of Striga Island with the others of his kind, foraging on the few small animals still left in the forest and the occasional hapless Sky Raider (mmm, tasty!). He'd learned to avoid the zombies with whom he shared his terrain; they were well-preserved enough but there was hardly any meat on their bones and what there was was overspiced to the point where it burned his tongue. He also had the occasional encounter with heroes, but they always ended in frustration: he could defeat the heroes easily enough, but they invariably vanished right before he could chow down.
Today was a day for Wolfgang like any other. He woke when the sun was halfway across the sky, shuffled out of the cave where he slept, and began wandering the island looking for food. Or trouble, but mainly food. He expected that this would continue until the sun went down, at which point he would find a hill, wait for the moon to rise, and howl at it until his throat was hoarse. Then he would go to sleep again.
But a swift movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned in time to see a lithesome form drop from over the trees into the forest clearing where he stood. It landed in a crouch, then slowly stood upright again. It was a woman. She was human in shape, but covered from head to foot with dark orange fur dappled with red spots, and a mane of long hair to match. A hero, then. Wolfgang growled, thinking of the time and effort he was going to have to go to to dispose of her, and the lack of any tasty meat afterward.
As Wolfgang stood there growling, the woman looked him up and down and smirked. "Yeah...you'll do. You'll do nicely." She chuckled. "And by the way, my name's Infurno--because I'm 'in fur, no?' Yeah, yeah, not like you understand a word I'm saying."
Wolfgang didn't know what the human speech meant, but he knew she wasn't supposed to be there. He growled, and advanced toward her. Best to get this over with so he could go back to foraging usefully.
"Yeah, that's the way, big boy. Come to mama." Infurno grinned, raised a hand, and snapped her fingers. "Let's light 'em up!" With a WHUFF of ignition, her body was wreathed in orange and blue flames.
Wolfgang didn't care. He'd seen flashy heroes before; they all went down the same. He raised a massive claw and lashed out, slapping Infurno high on her chest. She didn't give, didn't even move; she just laughed. "Is that the best you've got? Come on, hit me again!" As Wolfgang swung the other claw, she ducked under his arm and got behind him. "Here, try this on for size!" She brought both hands down onto his back in a bolt of blazing force, sending him stumbling forward.
As he reeled, Wolfgang felt the woman close behind him again. He tried to turn, grab her with a claw, but she was too fast for him, staying behind him. "Oh, my...you look pretty tense, Mister Wolfie. Here, let me help with that." And then Infurno's hands were pressing into his back, right below his shoulderblades. Her hands were hot, on fire even, and yet they didn't seem to burn him. Instead, the warmth penetrated into his body, relaxing knotted muscles he didn't even know were tensed. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. See how much better that feels?"
Wolfgang felt strange--but it felt good. It felt better than anything he could remember, in fact, but...it wasn't right. Something was wrong here! He tried to pull away--and then it was as if a ripple of pleasurable warmth went through his entire body. And another one...and another one...it was as if the flames were emanating from her in pulses, and each pulse of flame stole a little more of his will to move.
Infurno continued massaging aching muscles, loosening them up. "There you go. Doesn't that feel gooood?"
Wolfgang turned his head to look at her, grunting questioningly. Infurno smiled at him. "Why, I do believe you're almost ready. You may not realize it, but you're going to thank me for this." She grinned, and raised her hand again. "Let's light 'em up!" With another WHUFF, both she and Wolfgang were enveloped in a blazing pyre.
Strangely, the flames didn't hurt like they should have. There was no agony of heat, no singed flesh, no scorched hair...it was just an intense warmth, penetrating all through Wolfgang's body. But then Wolfgang felt something within him...change. Something was weakening, diminishing, shrinking...and to his horror, Wolfgang realized that he was starting to shrink as well! Infurno was getting taller, and he was getting smaller.
"Graaaahr!" Wolfgang said, lashing out at Infurno again with his claw. She just took his blow on her hip and laughed. He tried to move, tried to get away, tried to do anything, but his legs wouldn't budge--all he could do was stand there, watching the blazing woman grow progressively taller. His last memory was of Infurno, now positively huge, bending over to pick him up. Then everything went dark.
"Oh, wow, for me? Really?" the little blonde-haired girl gasped, reaching up to take the wriggling puppy from Infurno's hands.
"Uh-huh." Infurno grinned, looking over her shoulder at the smiling matron sitting on the bench in front of the "Paragon City Orphanage" sign. "Miss Armstrong felt that a puppy would help you learn some responsibility...and as for me, well, I thought you could use a little furry friend."
"Oh, wow! Thank you, Infurno! Thank you sooo much!" The girl giggled as the puppy licked her face.
"Now, he is going to take a lot of looking after, Cindy," Infurno said. "You're going to have to housetrain him and take care of him. And he's part wolf, so he's going to take some special care."
Cindy nodded seriously. "I know. And I promise, I won't let you down--or him. Does he have a name?"
Infurno reached over to the chain draped around the puppy's neck, and looked at the metal tag dangling from it. "Yeah. His name is Wolfgang. And I'm sure you'll be very happy together."
Infurno grinned as she walked away from the orphanage. She loved seeing strays go to good homes. It had been a win-win situation, for everybody involved. Cindy got a puppy, Wolfgang got a more fulfilling life than he'd had on the island, and she...well, since she'd learned to use her magic fires to consume Nictus energy, she found that the dark parts of Warwolves made a tasty meal.
The puppy would grow up, of course, and as he grew up, his human nature would gradually return to him. The Nictus fragment had done much damage, but it could never truly eradicate the man he had been--it would just need time to reassert itself. Who knew, Wolfgang might even regain the ability to shift his form. But by that time he would have been firmly imprinted on Cindy down in the most instinctual core of his being. Cindy would have a faithful protector for as long as Wolfgang lived.
"Another day, another job well done." Infurno grinned. "Because nobody likes their jobs medium rare."
Wolfgang had once been an ordinary man like any other, albeit poorer than some. When he'd finished his high-school education, he lacked the funds to go to college, and had not been bright enough to qualify for scholarship. So he had done the only thing he could--joined a paramilitary outfit called the Fifth Column. Oh, he had not espoused their party line, a line unchanged in over sixty years--but then, he did not need to. If you only followed orders, that was enough.
But then he had "volunteered" to participate in an experimental super-soldier program. He had been infused with a "Nictus fragment," a piece of some alien life-form. It would either grant him paranormal abilities, or...
In Wolfgang's case, it turned out to be "or..." His body had not been strong enough to integrate the fragment; instead, the fragment had festered and infected his entire body, changing it, turning it bestial. He became one of the program's legions of failures: a Warwolf, an eight-foot-tall muscular wolf shaped like a man.
But Wolfgang did not think about this much. In fact, he did not think about much of anything anymore, being largely incapable of forming a coherent thought other than "Graaaah!" or the occasional "Burp!" Now he roamed the gloomy hills and swamps of Striga Island with the others of his kind, foraging on the few small animals still left in the forest and the occasional hapless Sky Raider (mmm, tasty!). He'd learned to avoid the zombies with whom he shared his terrain; they were well-preserved enough but there was hardly any meat on their bones and what there was was overspiced to the point where it burned his tongue. He also had the occasional encounter with heroes, but they always ended in frustration: he could defeat the heroes easily enough, but they invariably vanished right before he could chow down.
Today was a day for Wolfgang like any other. He woke when the sun was halfway across the sky, shuffled out of the cave where he slept, and began wandering the island looking for food. Or trouble, but mainly food. He expected that this would continue until the sun went down, at which point he would find a hill, wait for the moon to rise, and howl at it until his throat was hoarse. Then he would go to sleep again.
But a swift movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned in time to see a lithesome form drop from over the trees into the forest clearing where he stood. It landed in a crouch, then slowly stood upright again. It was a woman. She was human in shape, but covered from head to foot with dark orange fur dappled with red spots, and a mane of long hair to match. A hero, then. Wolfgang growled, thinking of the time and effort he was going to have to go to to dispose of her, and the lack of any tasty meat afterward.
As Wolfgang stood there growling, the woman looked him up and down and smirked. "Yeah...you'll do. You'll do nicely." She chuckled. "And by the way, my name's Infurno--because I'm 'in fur, no?' Yeah, yeah, not like you understand a word I'm saying."
Wolfgang didn't know what the human speech meant, but he knew she wasn't supposed to be there. He growled, and advanced toward her. Best to get this over with so he could go back to foraging usefully.
"Yeah, that's the way, big boy. Come to mama." Infurno grinned, raised a hand, and snapped her fingers. "Let's light 'em up!" With a WHUFF of ignition, her body was wreathed in orange and blue flames.
Wolfgang didn't care. He'd seen flashy heroes before; they all went down the same. He raised a massive claw and lashed out, slapping Infurno high on her chest. She didn't give, didn't even move; she just laughed. "Is that the best you've got? Come on, hit me again!" As Wolfgang swung the other claw, she ducked under his arm and got behind him. "Here, try this on for size!" She brought both hands down onto his back in a bolt of blazing force, sending him stumbling forward.
As he reeled, Wolfgang felt the woman close behind him again. He tried to turn, grab her with a claw, but she was too fast for him, staying behind him. "Oh, my...you look pretty tense, Mister Wolfie. Here, let me help with that." And then Infurno's hands were pressing into his back, right below his shoulderblades. Her hands were hot, on fire even, and yet they didn't seem to burn him. Instead, the warmth penetrated into his body, relaxing knotted muscles he didn't even know were tensed. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. See how much better that feels?"
Wolfgang felt strange--but it felt good. It felt better than anything he could remember, in fact, but...it wasn't right. Something was wrong here! He tried to pull away--and then it was as if a ripple of pleasurable warmth went through his entire body. And another one...and another one...it was as if the flames were emanating from her in pulses, and each pulse of flame stole a little more of his will to move.
Infurno continued massaging aching muscles, loosening them up. "There you go. Doesn't that feel gooood?"
Wolfgang turned his head to look at her, grunting questioningly. Infurno smiled at him. "Why, I do believe you're almost ready. You may not realize it, but you're going to thank me for this." She grinned, and raised her hand again. "Let's light 'em up!" With another WHUFF, both she and Wolfgang were enveloped in a blazing pyre.
Strangely, the flames didn't hurt like they should have. There was no agony of heat, no singed flesh, no scorched hair...it was just an intense warmth, penetrating all through Wolfgang's body. But then Wolfgang felt something within him...change. Something was weakening, diminishing, shrinking...and to his horror, Wolfgang realized that he was starting to shrink as well! Infurno was getting taller, and he was getting smaller.
"Graaaahr!" Wolfgang said, lashing out at Infurno again with his claw. She just took his blow on her hip and laughed. He tried to move, tried to get away, tried to do anything, but his legs wouldn't budge--all he could do was stand there, watching the blazing woman grow progressively taller. His last memory was of Infurno, now positively huge, bending over to pick him up. Then everything went dark.
"Oh, wow, for me? Really?" the little blonde-haired girl gasped, reaching up to take the wriggling puppy from Infurno's hands.
"Uh-huh." Infurno grinned, looking over her shoulder at the smiling matron sitting on the bench in front of the "Paragon City Orphanage" sign. "Miss Armstrong felt that a puppy would help you learn some responsibility...and as for me, well, I thought you could use a little furry friend."
"Oh, wow! Thank you, Infurno! Thank you sooo much!" The girl giggled as the puppy licked her face.
"Now, he is going to take a lot of looking after, Cindy," Infurno said. "You're going to have to housetrain him and take care of him. And he's part wolf, so he's going to take some special care."
Cindy nodded seriously. "I know. And I promise, I won't let you down--or him. Does he have a name?"
Infurno reached over to the chain draped around the puppy's neck, and looked at the metal tag dangling from it. "Yeah. His name is Wolfgang. And I'm sure you'll be very happy together."
Infurno grinned as she walked away from the orphanage. She loved seeing strays go to good homes. It had been a win-win situation, for everybody involved. Cindy got a puppy, Wolfgang got a more fulfilling life than he'd had on the island, and she...well, since she'd learned to use her magic fires to consume Nictus energy, she found that the dark parts of Warwolves made a tasty meal.
The puppy would grow up, of course, and as he grew up, his human nature would gradually return to him. The Nictus fragment had done much damage, but it could never truly eradicate the man he had been--it would just need time to reassert itself. Who knew, Wolfgang might even regain the ability to shift his form. But by that time he would have been firmly imprinted on Cindy down in the most instinctual core of his being. Cindy would have a faithful protector for as long as Wolfgang lived.
"Another day, another job well done." Infurno grinned. "Because nobody likes their jobs medium rare."