Down the stairs of the building, Wolf rushes through with the woman and her kids in hand. Wolf moves fast and sharp as the mother holds onto her kids tightly. The oldest child holds even tighter onto the plushie of a cow in her hands as Wolf leaps down and lands at the base of the stairs.
She looks up to see the exit clear and open so she runs forward but just before Wolf can exit, a mantis claw made of hard fleshy material slams down right in front of her. The family screams as a Torn comes from around the corner from the dark hall. It then slams down at Wolf again as she jumps back, avoiding it. Wolf slides to a stop as she glares sharply.
'I can't use my powers.' She thinks as the Torn stands in front of the exit. Wolf grits her teeth as she charges forward. "Hold on tight!" She shouts as they do just that, the mother holding her kids close to Wolf's back as the older child grabs onto Wolf's shoulder tightly.
With her speed, Wolf is able to get to the Torn first and slams her foot into it with a front kick, sending it smashing through the front of the building and outside. As it tries to get up, Wolf leaps forward and uses its face as a springboard, jumping across the street, sliding to a stop.
As soon as she does, the older child looks around and notices she dropped her plushie at some point. She struggles from her mother's grasp before breaking free and running back towards the building.
"Ah! Jolene! What are you doing?!" The mother shouts as Wolf sees her. Wolf quickly lets the mother go and dashes over to the child now approaching the rising Torn. It flips over and sees Jolene so it raises its claw and swipes down at her. In an instant, Wolf catches the claw with her left arm, grabbing Jolene with her right.
"What's wrong with you, kid?" Wolf asks as she struggles to hold back the Torn, her hand bleeding. Wolf shouts then throws the Torn back for a moment.
"I dropped Mr. Mooshie!" The girl says as Wolf looks back sharply and sees the Torn preparing to strike. Wolf grabs the girl and dashes back to the mother, narrowly avoiding the attack. Wolf lets Jolene go as the mother grabs her.
"Don't you ever do that again! Hear me?!" The mother scolds. Wolf catches her breath a bit as she looks towards the building.
"I'm sorry… I just…" Jolene mumbles out as she cries a bit. She looks at Wolf as she looks back at the little girl. Wolf exhales before turning around and stepping backwards towards the building.
"I'll go get the plushie. Stay here, stay hidden, stay safe. I'll be right back, I promise." Wolf says before rushing back to the Torn. The mother understands as she pulls her kids into the destroyed store building and hides.
The Torn roars as Wolf dives straight at it, tackling it back inside the apartment building. It hits the ground as Wolf stands above it and she starts her assault. She slams her fists into it over and over. She beats the Torn repeatedly as she seemingly gets lost in the beating for a moment, attacking aggressively, before pulling her fist back and igniting purple lightning from it.
Before she can strike, a tentacle wraps around her arm, stopping her. She looks back as the Torn she kicked out earlier returns. It swings her up and slams her into the roof before jetting her back and slamming her into the stairs. She hits the ground hard as the two Torn step into the building.
She lifts her head before throwing herself over, avoiding a strike from the mantis claw. She gets to her feet and slams her fist into the Torn, throwing it back into the wall. The tentacle Torn then shoots two at her but she catches both with her arms and instantly starts electrocuting it.
The Torn screeches as it gets fried by her purple lightning but Wolf seemingly also starts to hurt from the electricity. The mantis claw Torn gets up and charges Wolf so she quickly swings the other around and slams it into the first, smashing them both into the wall.
The attack causes the building to shake a little so Wolf looks up but quickly notices a plushie sitting on the edge of a stair above her. She smiles as she quickly rushes upstairs and grabs the plushie cow.
"Got you." She says happily before the stairs she's on start to shake. The Torn grabs the staircase and breaks it off the building causing Wolf to fall and hit the ground. She looks up in pain before her eyes grow wide as the Torn lifts the staircase above her and slams it back down on her.
Wolf grunts it pain as it lifts it back up to strike again but Wolf quickly dashes out of the way and gets to her feet. She then sharply leans back to avoid the tentacles snapping at her again from the side. She now stands with the entrance to her back and the Torn standing before her. Wolf huffs as she puts the plushie in her belt and pulls her arms back.
"I'm done with this." She says as purple lightning begins to spark and charge around her arms. The Torn roar and charge her as she does the same. She then slams both her fists into the Torn's heads and with a shout and thunderous boom, slams them both back and through the rear wall of the building.
She lands as the Torn quickly disperse into the black energy. She exhales as the lightning also disperses from her arms. Wolf looks out of breath and in pain as she lifts her hands up and looks at them.
"Okay. Can't do that much more…" she says as her hands vibrate and tremble with sparks coming out of them.
Wolf walks back out with the plushie in hand and approaches the family. They peek their heads out and see her so they get up and come out.
"Did you get him?.." Jolene asks softly. Wolf smiles and lifts the plushie cow to her as her eyes light up. She takes it and hugs it tightly as the mother picks up the child.
"What do you say?" She says with a warm smile and bright eyes.
"Thank you!" Jolene says happily as the mother smiles. She looks at Wolf with a gentle look.
"I haven't caught your name, Hunter of the Academy." The mother says a bit playfully as Wolf smiles.
"I am Wolf Anderson." She says. The mother smiles at her.
"Thank you, Wolf." She says softly as she lifts her daughter a bit and rubs her head into hers as she cuddles the plushie. "Maybe one day my daughter will grow into an amazing young lady like yourself." The mother says warmly as Wolf's eyes brighten just a bit. She gets embarrassed a little as she turns around.
"It's no problem, really. I'm happy to help!" Wolf says before crouching down for the family to get on her back. "Now let's get you all to safety." Wolf says as the mother nods and does just that.
Somewhere else, hidden in a dark shadow of broken buildings as destruction is heard elsewhere. Yoko sits in hiding with their knees brought up to their chest. They look distraught and anxious as a monster roar is heard followed by a victim's scream. The sound makes Yoko grab their ears tightly and close their eyes, trying to shut out the noise as they breathe heavily.
'This is all my fault… I couldn't- … I should've… I just want them to live…' Yoko thinks as they cry to themself. They slowly open their eyes as tears roll down their face.
"I didn't mean to hurt you…" Yoko whispers to themself as they think about what Maxus told them the night he found them.
"Here's what you're going to do. I want you to take this." Maxus lifts a small vile to Yoko and places it in their hand. "You'll put this in your mouth and bite the girl. At least get it into her system somehow." Maxus explains as Yoko stares at it.
"What does it do?.." Yoko asks in a whisper, barely able to get the words out without choking on them.
"It's totally harmless to our kind. Not so much for her. The curse will amplify her soul's Instability. Any problems she has will grow tenfold." Maxus says as Yoko looks even more scared.
"..and what will happen to her?.." Yoko asks again. Maxus' grin only widens as he leans in a bit closer.
"She will become everything she needs to be." He says ominously before disappearing. "Don't disappoint me now…" his voice echoing through the night.
Back in Yupond City, Yoko shakes a bit as they sob.
"I'm sorry… I didn't want to hurt you…" Yoko says again, thinking of the moment they kissed Wolf, in that moment, the curse transferring into Wolf's body. Yoko lowers their head even lower as they sob all alone. "I'm sorry…"
In the city, with the family and Wolf, she runs through with them on her back, keeping an eye out for any Torn attacking around them.
"Are we close?" The mother asks lightly.
"We should be. I don't think the center is much farther-" Wolf says with a smile before suddenly being struck across the face by a Torn, causing her to go flying back.
The mother flies off her back and hits the ground fairly hard, still holding the youngest child in her arms. Jolene goes flying back with a yell before landing softly in some bushes as Wolf slams into a metal pole then hits the ground.
Wolf grunts as she props herself up before looking at the Torn with no eyes but a long tongue and arms like clawed whips. Wolf growls before her soul starts to pulse erratically.
She lunges forward with a scream, slamming into the Torn and into a van behind it. Wolf begins beating the Torn repeatedly with animalistic fury, striking its face over and over again until it strikes her in the face, throwing her into the air. It then stabs on of its claws through Wolf's leg causing her to cry out in pain before it swings her down and slams her into the ground at full speed. The impact causes Wolf to cough out some blood before coughing and turning onto her side. She looks up with a pained look and sees the mother with her child on the ground.
The youngest child starts crying out loud as the mother tries to lift herself up, now bleeding from her head a bit. She looks dazed and confused as Wolf's eyes widen and shake, her soul in her chest twitching violently.
Wolf turns back over and looks at the Torn as it whips her back towards it by her leg. She goes flying through the air willingly before grabbing onto the Torn and grabbing its head and neck. She looks at the mother for a moment with uncontrolled eyes.
"I let them get hurt..! I have to protect them..!" Wolf says to herself before screaming and growling. With one aggressive pull, Wolf rips the Torn's head off of its neck. The Torn's body goes limp as it collapses and disperses. Wolf pants as she limps her way to the mother.
"I'm sorry. Come on. I'll get you out of here. I'm sorry." Wolf says as she pulls the mother up and onto her back. The mother struggles to move right as she looks around, still dazed.
"Wai… mooshie… Jolene..!" The mother says as Wolf takes off running with the mother and her crying child. Wolf's eyes are sharp and intense as she looks upset.
"That plushie can wait…" Wolf says through gritted teeth under her breath as the mother's cries are ignored.
"Jolene!…"
Not much later, Wolf rushes to the evac center with the crying mother on her back and calls out for help.
"I got a mother and two kids. She's hurt, I don't know how bad." Wolf says as a couple staff rush to take the mother and her youngest. The mother cries and struggles against them as she yells.
"No! No, my baby, you left her there!" The mother shouts. Suddenly, the staff holding her stop and look at Wolf. The shouting gains the attention of others too as everyone turns their attention to Wolf. Wolf stands there with wide eyes as she looks at the mother and not her child. "I-I dropped her and-and I.. you wouldn't listen! Please, my baby!"
The mother cries out, almost falling over as the staff member helps keep her up. Wolf looks around at the people now whispering to themselves as Wolf begins to panic. Her hands shake as her breathing increases.
"I-I'm sorry.. I'll get her back. I'll get her right now, you won't see me again until you have your daughter, I promise." Wolf says with a shaking voice as she steps back before turning around and rushing back into the city. The mother stands there crying out as Wolf leaves once again.
In the city, Wolf runs quickly through the streets, ignoring her bleeding leg, as she looks around. She whips her head from side to side but can't see anything at all as her mind is too panicked to. She eventually stops and bends over, leaning on her knees as her eyes are wide and shaking.
She hyperventilates as her whole body trembles, her soul quaking in her chest. This feeling in her soul unlike anything she's ever felt before, growing louder and more chaotic as the seconds pass, almost like a loud noise building and overcoming her senses before it suddenly stops.
In an instant, her breath is caught in her throat, the noise goes away, her eyes dart forward as she stares at the ground but there stands a pair of shoes not there a split second ago. Maxus stands before her, casting a shadow over her as he looks down at her.