Changes to a hero's perspective
A hero learns a harsh lesson that sometimes it's better to wait for backup before rushing in, though things work out in the end but is it for good or bad? This is a much darker tone of story than my usual things, trying new ideas.
Jacob's boots made a fairly solid thud against the ground as he ran away from whatever had been chasing him. He had no idea what it was, but it was far above his power class and he prayed that someone had gotten his request for help.
CRASH! He'd barely been able to dodge the car or whatever vehicle that had been thrown at him, maybe it was a bit of a mistake to think he could have fought whatever it was. There was a faint hope that his arrogance wasn't going to get him killed this evening.
It had started simply enough, doing a bit of late-night patrols because it had been fairly quiet the last few months as of late. Jacob had been travelling on his custom electric motorcycle enjoying the quietness that the late night afforded and the almost silent noise of his motorcycle on the roads. Just as he was preparing to head back, his ears picked up the muffled cries from a nearby alley.
Dismounting from his bike, he made his way down the dirty alleyway. There was trash from the multiple overturned trash cans as if someone had stumbled down the narrow alley. Eyes darted around, taking in some of the more suspicious details like the claw marks in the wall. Reaching out, he ran his fingers through the furrows in the concrete and it was odd they felt warm compared to the rest of the cool wall.
There was a light drizzle that evening and even though the rest of the wall was damp the spots were dry. That meant that the marks were done very recently. Ears perked once more when the muffled cry echoed from the rear of the alley. Jacob strained his eyes but with the late time of the evening all he could see was just inky black shadows in front of him.
"Hello?" His words were plaintively called out, hoping that whoever heard him was alright and not hostile. He thought he had been prepared for any sort of encounter until he saw that face lift up and look at him, eyes staring at him filled with fear.
"G... Go Away, Please, run away while you can." The voice sounded young but there was an oddness to it, almost as if the words had been growled out.
"Hey, I'm a hero, it's going to be alright. I'm here to help." Seeing what appeared to be a teenage wolf and not some vagrant or super villain. His confidence level jumped a few notches. Jacob started to take steps forward, stopping when his nostrils flared and drank in the harsh scent of burning ozone.
"Y... You don't understand. I... it's too late." Jacob took a slight step back, watching as the young boy slammed his paws down into the concrete of the alley cracking the material.
"Hey kid, we can help whatever is wrong. Just calm down, okay?" He tried to keep confident, but there wasn't a calm look crossing the boy's face as far as he could tell. It had to be a trick of the light, or maybe just the placement of shadows in the alley. The kid's paws that had cracked the concrete seemed to be growing quite a bit larger. There was a moment before the shock started to wear off that he realized it wasn't just the paws that were growing larger.
The boys entire frame had started to swell, growing larger with each passing moment. Overpowering everything in the alley was the smell of something that had been seared by lightning. Deep guttural growl escaped that growing muzzle when it finally opened, no words coming forth. Suddenly Jacob had realized that he needed to get out of this situation and do it quickly.
In hindsight, he may have been better just stepping quietly out of the alley as to not draw attention to himself. The moment his boot made that heavy thud, a mistake had been made and it was too late to fix itself. Jacob wouldn't forget that sound as long as he lived, he looked back and instantly regretted that decision.
Living shadow, that was the only way to describe what he had been seeing. It almost seemed to be emerging and growing larger with each passing moment. What had been a small scraggly looking wolf pup was now something far more intimidating. Jacob's rough estimates put the creature at almost nine feet tall and massively built. Appearing vaguely wolf like in appearance, it was the eyes that made him freeze in place.
Glowing red eyes started at him from where roughly the face would have been, with the faint glow it almost seemed to illuminate the large muzzle. A paw gripped one of the dumpsters in the alley that were there beside it and with an effortless motion launched it towards him. Jacob barely dived to the side feeling the breeze as it went past, hearing it smash and tumble along the ground. Quickly glancing back showed that it had destroyed his motorcycle and the only thing that stopped it from continuing was the fact it had smashed into a car.
That display of strength gave him a surge of adrenaline, making him scramble back to his feet running out of the alley. He prayed to Ahura Mazda to protect him and allow him to survive long enough for backup to come to his rescue.
Jacob turned from the alley, paw reflectively going to his ear, tapping into his communicator and calling out for assistance and needing it quickly. He wasn't able to give his location, moving to dodge when a shadowy paw slammed down into the sidewalk where he'd been standing a moment before. Thankfully the creature had been reflected in the store windows and he noticed long enough to dodge.
Rolling as he hit the ground, making his way back to his feet quickly and scrambling down the street dodging between cars and other things to keep some distance between him and whatever was chasing him. A moment of terror gripped him when he realized his communicator had fallen out. Eyes glanced back and forth along the sidewalk and street where he had just been to see if he could find it.
A loud crunch grabbed his attention, pausing and taking a moment to look back. Jacob saw the creature lifting its massive foot paw off the ground, the electronics dropping to the sidewalk.
"Well fuck me." The words were a combination of his frustration and somewhat a confirmation of his current status.
The creature was fast, faster than he was expecting something of that size to be. Jacob was barely able to get his arms up in time to block the strike that hit him hard, tossing him backwards like a ragdoll. The blossoming warmth on his arms didn't need any sort of confirmation of what had just happened. The uniform that he wore had been shredded and had taken fairly bad scratches, glancing at his arms for the briefest of moments almost felt like there was something shadowy there for a moment but when he blinked it was gone.
It was starting to sink just how much danger he was in currently. The mesh weave of his uniform was made would stop most small arms fire, knives and even swords, but for something to right through just increased that feeling of terror that was overtaking him.
That small part of him that thought he might have been able to say and try and fight had left him. Fear had helped make that decision, he turned and ran. Jacob used his head a bit and made sure to try and keep something between himself and the massive shadow creature that was hot on his heels. A shortcut through a used car lot had bought him a few moments of breathing room.
The creature was much too large to move between the cars, and obviously didn't think to just run atop of them. It was taking a much more destructive route, tossing the cars to the side like they were nothing but small toys. He could hear the sounds of breaking glass and crunching steel and knew it was causing a lot of damage. Jacob thanked himself that this part of town was normally empty since it was almost all office buildings and car lots.
A car went flying past him, bringing him instantly back to the moment instead of worrying if the child was alright that was in the alley. The vehicle made a loud crash against the building beside him, showering glass everywhere as it bounced against the ground.
Making his way, Jacob frantically tried to remember the layout of this part of town. Part of him was sure there was a police station or something nearby that could possibly offer help. Glancing up at the street signs he realized it was only a few blocks away and his ears perked, hearing the sounds of approaching police sirens. Obviously there had been a security guard or something the area that either saw the creature or heard the commotion.
Jacob topped head over paws as something struck him from behind, it felt fairly solid and metal. Groaning as he started to get up to his paws and knees looking around. There was one of the public garbage cans that lined the streets, the metal deformed into a somewhat shape of himself.
Standing up and turning his attention towards the growl behind him on shaky legs. Part of him realized that if he didn't stand a chance against this beast, what chance would the cops really have?
"Ahh hell, today is a good as any day to die." Jacob struck a defensive pose and waited to see what the creature was going to do. There seemed to be a moment of confusion on the creature's face when he stopped and turned to face it. The street lamps were making the area fairly well-lit and it was then he got a much better look at it.
It looked like a wolf like himself but was far more primitive. There was an almost feral build to its stature especially in the paws and feet. Jacob was sure it easily outweighed and outclassed him by quite a bit and from his guess a good chunk of the Society too. The paws were massive and almost looked like they would cover his entire head.
Deciding not to waste the creature's brief moment of confusion, Jacob launched himself at the creature. Smacking his balled fist into its muzzle and it was clear the creature hadn't been expecting to be attacked. The force of his attack had caused the creature to stumble and fall back into a car that was overturned.
The blow wasn't without its own drawbacks, his hand felt as if it was broken. It wasn't an issue that there wasn't any give, but the creature felt dense and probably weighed far more than it appeared to. Even as the sirens were starting to get closer, Jacob realized that his attack wasn't going to keep it down. Glancing over showed it was already moving to stand up.
Jacob wasn't prepared for what happened next, instead of trying to rush towards him or attack it lifted its head and howled to the sky. The sound was deafening and something was clearly wrong with how it sounded. Windows on both cars and buildings shattered from the sound. Even with folding his ears flat against his skull, he felt his head go a little fuzzy before he was able to shake the cobwebs clear, but in that brief moment it was already too late.
Thankfully it had been a small car, but it was still a car that had hit him throwing him back until it crushed him between another. He wasn't sure how he was still standing but thanked whatever was watching over him as he pushed the car away, the exertion causing him to cough fairly rough. Crimson blossomed and started to spread throughout the puddle on the street below. Jacob wasn't sure how much damage it did to him getting smashed like that but he couldn't afford it to happen again.
He decided that even if it cost him his life, he needed to try and finish this fight as soon as possible or at the least slow the creature down until someone stronger could stop it.
Jacob wasn't an overly religious person, but he still said a small prayer to Ahura Mazda and hoped they heard his plea. His paw reached out grabbing the closest item to him which happened to the bumper from the car that hit him and threw himself at the creature. This wouldn't last long, being well aware that shock and adrenaline were the only thing that kept him moving right now.
He was able to get a few good solid hits on the creature, throwing everything that he had into swinging that metal bumper. A few howls of pain that the creature elicited helped him go just a little bit longer. Out of the corner of his fading vision he could see the lights of the police cars, but oddly enough wasn't able to hear the sirens.
Jacobs only solace was that he was able to take from this was that he hadn't let anyone get hurt. Part of him hoped that the police would be able stop this thing from continuing its rampage. His last swing had almost no force and watched the creature grab the bumper tearing it from his grasp, tossing it to the side.
That simple motion had robbed him of any strength that he had remaining, slumping forward against the creature. Jacob was determined to look the creature in those glowing red eyes, paws gripping the chest fur pulling himself up to look into those eyes before he faded. What should have been normally an effortless motions seemed as if it was happening underwater with weights attached.
His eyes locked with the creature after a few moments, and suddenly in that one moment he knew fear and sadness truly were. Here he was, going to die and hadn't stopped the creature and was pretty sure the police that were arriving wouldn't be able to.
Pain suddenly blossomed like an uncontrolled wildfire in his should. Being a hero, he'd learned over the years to block out pain or to ignore it and he'd barely noticed the pain when he was smashed between two cars. This wasn't like anything he had felt before and since. Even with everything facing, the pain in his shoulder felt more vibrant than even life itself. Jacob wasn't aware of being tossed to the side with the creature's muzzle letting go of him but was barely aware of the impact of the cold ground.
The last thing he could see before his vision had faded to black were several heroes landing on the ground with dozens of cops aiming their guns at the creature. Escaping from his muzzle was a plaintive laugh, feeling the blood on his muzzle before everything went dark.
He felt himself stirring but couldn't move, couldn't feel anything or do much of anything. Jacob's thoughts were in his head, wandering from one morbid top to another.
"Is this death? The afterlife?" His thoughts seemed to echo in his head, faint and struggled to make sense of things. "I just hoped that I would have earned something better than this."
It was a strange sensation, almost of there was some sort of weight upon himself and that he couldn't move. Jacob wasn't sure how long this went on for, but it took some time before he thought he could feel himself once more.
Soon he realized with a bit of hope that he must still be alive, cause however faint they were he could start to hear other voices that were not his own. It felt like it took forever, but as he struggled it seemed like it was a doctor saying his was physically fine but couldn't seem to wake.
Jacob wanted to scream, wanted to do something other than lay there and not be able to move. It was then he realized that he must still be too weak to get his body to cooperate with him.
Each day he'd listen to the conversations around him, thankfully feeling as if he was getting stronger and more aware of his surroundings. Even though he still wasn't able to move any muscles, he was becoming aware of the sensations of the bed under him the motion of the blanket when it was drawn back to clean him and that horrible sterile smell of the hospital, he was in.
It wasn't too long after that point that the voices seemed to be fairly clear and then sensations were more than before, and he was able to start focusing on trying to do something other than being a vegetable.
Took what felt like an eternity to finally be able to open his eyes, felt somewhat exhausted from what should have been an effortless and a simple motion he'd done his entire life. There wasn't any light to blind him so he guessed it must have been late at night. No one noticed for a few days until he opened his eyes when one of the nurses was checking the leads attached to his head.
There was a rather big hub bub about that fact, he could see a number of doctors and nurses. None of them were people that he recognized. After a short while, he was able to blink fairly easily and confirm that he was awake and could make out what they were saying.
Jacob's progress at that point started to progress much faster, even though it still took nearly a month before he was able to move any of his limbs. It frustrated him that even for all of his physical advancements that speech was far more difficult to regain.
Some of his fellow heroes had come to visit him to see how he was doing. Once he'd regained some more of his strength they informed him what happened after he collapsed. The creature had been taken down after a somewhat short fight and they were able to capture it. He was informed that the creature reverted to the form of a young teenage boy a few hours later.
After a few visits, the boy had come to visit him and thanked him for stopping the creature's rampage from getting more out of hand than it did. Jacob listened as the boy told him something had bitten him a while back and once a month he transformed into that hulking creature. He could tell the boy felt bad about what happened even if he couldn't remember anything about it.
Something that one of his heroes told him on a following visit had bothered him. The boy hadn't transformed back at all, and seemed to be cured of whatever had its grip on him. Part of him was grateful to hear the boy was going to be able to have a normal life, but there was nagging feeling in the back of his mind he couldn't place.
After being released from the hospital, he'd gone to the Society and gave them his full recount of the events that happened that night. He allowed the heroes doctors and magical specialists to go over him with a fine-tooth comb to see if there were any lingering effects from his fight.
Once he was cleared, he returned to his dirty apartment and was taking a few days to rest before a day was devoted to cleaning everything. Jacob could feel like he was growing antsy for something. Throughout this entire ordeal, his body had felt fine but for some reason his shoulder was aching lately. Glancing in the mirror, he ran his fingers along the scar where there was no fur anymore.
A few of the other heroes suggested the idea that maybe he was getting stir crazy and just needed a weekend out of town, go camping and decompress since he'd had almost no privacy since waking up. It was a good suggestion and maybe it was just what he needed since it felt like he couldn't turn around without someone asking if he was okay. One of the heroes offered him a weekend at their cabin that was away from everything and was fairly isolated.
The quietness and lack of noise other than the sounds of nature were comforting. Even his shoulder wasn't bothering him nearly as much, the ache was barely noticeable. Jacob was just in a pair of shorts, letting the warmth of the sun warm his fur. Allowing his fingers, a moment to trace over the teeth marks that covered almost all of his shoulder. The doctors told him the creature had bitten him and that there would most likely be phantom pains for a while.
Jacob couldn't believe he'd survived that fight with the boy, well creature, after looking at the hospital chart while relaxing. Punctured lungs, half his heart had collapsed, almost all of his ribs and upper body was broken. He guessed that a lot of that damage must have happened when he was crushed between the two cars. He was fairly shocked when they told him he had been out of commission nearly eight months before he opened his eyes that one day.
Slowly he stood up and was just happy that he was alive and thankful for a second chance at life. He started to talk around the campsite looking at everything taking in the moment. Off in the distance he was able to see that the sun was starting to set between the mountains. It was an oddly calming sensation compared to his fairly hectic life that had been.
Jacob continued to let his eyes linger on the sunset that was going on before him, getting irritated at the fact there was a tree a few feet in front of him that blocked his entire view. Instead of just taking a few steps to the side and watch the calming sunset, a loud growl escaped his muzzle in frustration. Before he even realized what he was doing, his fist had punched the tree in front of him causing it to explode into a shower of splinters.
He was taken back at his actions, looking at his balled fist expecting to see splinters or for it to hurt. Nothing, not a scratch or anything more overwhelming anger that was still there. There was something stirring inside him, that scar on his shoulder felt like it was burning.
"No... Oh god no." The realization hitting him, there had been a fairly clear reason that the boy hadn't transformed since that day. Jacob could feel the surge of anger and strength blossoming inside him.
His body suddenly felt incredibly heavy as he dropped to the ground, the dirt underneath him almost seeming to make an empty hollow thud as his knees and paws hit the grass. Jacob's vision was slowly going red, a strange sensation felt like it was encompassing his mind.
The transformation continued, body growing larger and fare more muscled than the boy's transformed had been. Each and every moment seeming to drag on, Jacob was well aware of what was going to happen. Taking a slight bit of grim satisfaction knowing he was far from the city.
"Wouldn't take us long to get to the city." There was a deep voice that echoed in his mind, he didn't recognize it and knew it wasn't his own.
"Hello?" Jacob's voice spoke up, hoping to try and figure out where the voice was coming from in his mind. His own voice had sounded different, not the soft voice he normally spoke with, now it deep and gravelly almost like a growl.
"Don't waste your time looking around, I'm inside you." The feeling was weird, he couldn't pinpoint it but for some reason it made a bit of sense and it was terrifying.
"What do you want?" He hoped that he'd be able to reason with this thing, keep it from hurting anyone.
"Oh, I want to be free, same as anyone else really. I never meant to hurt the boy, it's just that for some reason we weren't compatible and butted heads." He didn't want to believe it, figuring it had to be some sort of lie, but wasn't going to push the issue.
"So, what's this got to do with me?" His own voice dropped much lower, almost as if he was afraid what the voice was going to say in his head. The creature spoke, it's voice almost like a seductive lover with the promise of something that he knew was wrong.
"Simple, I want to be free... strong and powerful. Together, we'd be far stronger than most of your so-called heroes." Jacob shook his large shaggy head, not liking where this was going but the voice ignored it and continued. "Tell me, wouldn't you like to be stronger... bigger... able to just easily dominate anyone who challenged your authority?"
He hated how good it sounded, he was sure this creature was doing something to him but so far it seemed that they couldn't read each other's thoughts.
"Y... Yes." The words seemed to echo loudly in his head. "That doesn't mean I'm going to hurt anyone, that's not who I am."
The voice in his head laughed, sounding like that it was coming everywhere at once. The words taunted him as it spoke up once more.
"Oh please, we both know if given the chance and the power, you'd love to kill some of these villains and even some heroes." A whimper escaped his muzzle as the voice continued. "Think about how easy it would be if not for your silly laws and you wanting to follow them." The air felt suddenly cool and Jacob didn't want to admit it how those words sounded.
Jacob knew that there was always that temptation and it scared him. Though he'd never tell anyone, sometimes it was just an exciting thought. Just the idea of being able to stop a lot of those threats forever by just killing the villains before they were able to escape again.
Suddenly he was inside his own head, floating there in empty space and before him was the creature staring at him with those intense red eyes.
"Join me. It would no longer just be me or you, but a powerful combination of us both. We'd be able to do some much good and I'd get my simple wish of being free." Jacob shook his head, trying to strike out at the creature. The inky blackness disappeared into a puff of smoke and reappeared behind him.
"No! That's not who I am, and I'm not going to let you free!" Outside his mind, there was another battle of wills going on. His body had been shifting slightly back and forth between his own smaller form and the creature's larger more powerful body. His paws were clawing at the ground, ripping up the dirt and grass.
"Fine turn down the offer, but I'll be here for a long time and the offer stands. You'll know how to call upon me." With that, suddenly as the creature had appeared it faded and he slumped to the ground. No longer was Jacob trapped in his mind, but now back to normal covered in dirt and ripped ground underneath him.
"Fuck." The words had such a weight on him that he had no idea what he was going to do. The worst part was that the creature's offer was so tempting. Jacob hurried and packed up everything from his tent, getting back into the car and making a beeline for the city to see the Society. It was clear he needed to figure out something and get it taken care of quickly.
There were a number of concerned heroes and others at the society's headquarters. He explained to them everything that happened. Some of them weren't initially sure what to do since all the physical and magical examinations they had done showed nothing out of the ordinary. One of his fellow heroes suggested something to him that he considered a bit silly.
"Magic? Really that doesn't exist, I don't care what you say." Jacob couldn't recall the heroes name, but he was one of the lesser minority of the society when it came to magic. He'd seen a lot of things that he couldn't explain, but wasn't sure that magic really existed but he was willing to try anything.
Jacob reluctantly agreed to cooperate with some of the mystics and see what they could find. Science hadn't turned up anything, he felt so silly standing in the empty room in nothing but a pair of boxers as they drew a salt circle with symbols outlining the circle on the ground around him.
That sensation of feeling silly had lingered only for a few moments before he howled out in pain, a black fire erupting from the floor engulfing him. Once it disappeared, he could feel the creature behind him, massive black paws gripping his shoulders pinning him in place.
"I see you fools figured out a way to find me inside him. I mean, I can't say I'm too surprised..." Jacob tried to pull away from the creature but found himself unable to move at all.
"What do you want? Leave him and go free." The sensation of the creature laughing at that request almost like some parent ignoring a child's demand, even though it was one of the most powerful mystics in the society. The laughter that filled the empty room felt like someone had poured ice water down his spine.
"Leave this powerful of a host? Someone that wants my gift and what I'm offering even if they don't know it." He shook his head side to side, a loud growl filling the air.
"It's a fucking lie, I don't want whatever you're offering." He grumbled slightly, deciding it might a good idea to let those who have this experience with this subject to deal with it.
"What would we have to do? I'm sure we could you to leave him." They sounded confident, and he felt a bit better at that concept.
"I'm sure you could force me to leave, but think about this for a moment... you'd have to make him submerge his personality and allow me to take over for that to happen. Are you sure you'd be able to control that?" There was something nervous to that comment, it was like he could feel the palpable fear in the mystic's eyes as they weighed on that concept.
"It may take a bit, but that is something we'd be able to control until we were able to expel you." The laughing echoed throughout the chamber, seeming to make the entire room shake through to his essence.
"Who are you? We can expect that answer from you at least are we correct? The symbols mean you cannot lie." It was a different sensation this time, the creature almost seemed to pause before giving a response, he could almost sense something like trepidation or fear?
"Very well, at least you were smart and requested something smart, though it's going to do you little good." The creature seemed to bristle and draw himself up almost brimming with power at his words. "I am Ahriman, and broken free of the Daevas unlike my brethren."
Jacob wasn't sure what was going on, but he could swear that he could see the fur on the mystics standing on end. He recognized the name from his teachings as a child but it wasn't possible. They broke the circle with a bared foot paw, there was another burst of flame, the creature fading into obscurity. There was several lingering moments before he felt on his paws, tail hanging limply behind him.
"I'm guessing that's not a good thing?" His words were spoken lacking any sort of real confidence as of them looked on at him. There were a few moments of doubt before the spoke.
"Yes, it's an Iranian spirit wolf, they were very powerful and feared for centuries while they were controlled. To think of one that has broken free, the sheer amount of power it must possess I believe that it may be past our point of control." The mystic's voice was slightly shaky.
The words slowly sunk in as he realized what he was dealing with, the sheer concept terrified him and also seemed to make him feel stronger. A creature of this level wanting to bond with him? Jacob had to fight the urge to puff chest up at that idea.
"I thought that was just a myth? I heard about it when I was child in my religious studies but that couldn't be true. What do we do now?" Pondering a few things. There was a number of discussions, most of which Jacob felt were useless as they spent most of it bickering back and forth on things to do. In the meantime, they had suspended him from active duty worrying that during a fight or such he'd give into temptation from the creature in a moment of anger or rage.
He felt confined and hated the sensation, spending most of his time at the society tower just doing watch duty. If he wasn't there, he was at his apartment doing more of the same he'd spent the last few months doing, which was absolutely nothing.
Even without the creature, he was feeling the ache of wanting to do something productive. Sneaking out of his apartment one evening, leaving his gear and uniform behind dressed in out a plain black outfit and went to see good he would be able to do. The creature hadn't bothered or even made itself aware in over a month and he figured he'd be safe.
The night routine had been quiet, nothing to even report as he'd spent nearly two hours searching and listening to the police bands. As he was about to give up and head home, feeling a bit better that he'd done some good the radio lit up. Comments about a suspected supervillain involvement in a jewelry store break in. Jacob made his way to the scene quickly looking around, the cops were keeping their distance. That was probably for the best considering the size of the hole in the side of the building. Only a few villains he knew of were capable of that much destruction and all of them were out of his range.
"Not necessarily..." That voice echoed in his head softly, he growled under his breath as it continued. "Merge with me, we can stop them before anyone gets here and be gone... your good deed done, and that excess energy burned off." Jacob had considered it, pausing as he watched the villain come into view. He couldn't remember their name, but their large size and carrying the bags of jewels or whatnot made him intimately aware that mostly by the time they sent someone here they'd be gone. Well aware of who was on duty tonight, no one with the speed needed to get here and to stop them.
"I... I can't." Jacob felt that form in his mind once more, feeling oddly familiar, stroking against him and whispering almost seemingly in his ear.
"I'd even let you be in control, why fight it? We both want it; we both get what we want." He sighed softly, relaxing as he whispered in his mind.
"Just once? Once we are done you go back and leave me completely in control?" He felt like what was like a confirmation and he nodded his head, giving a little whimper. "Just this once."
There were no more words, but the confirmation of his acknowledgment and he felt the creature surge into his mind. Suddenly Jacob was aware that he could feel every memory of the creature had gone through its long life, it was a two-way street though his own memories being rewarded to the creature. Opening his eyes, gaze reddening over as he looked at his paws feeling them grow as his body continued to shift. Suddenly he felt far more powerful than he ever had in his life, the creature's voice soft in his mind speaking.
"That's not so bad, we know more about each other than anyone else would ever know don't you think?" Jacob nodded his head slowly, he growled slightly his voice deep and more animalistic, reaching out to grip the wall with a large shadowy paw crushing it easily beneath his paw.
The villain turned their attention immediately towards the noise, Jacob could see their eyes go wide in fear his confidence swelling in response.
"H... hey man, what the fuck are you?" The villain's voice was shaky and Jacob allowed his nostrils flare, drinking in that smell of fear and almost getting drunk off it. None of the super villains he'd fought before ever reacted this way. "I don't want to fight; I'll turn myself in." That thought really didn't agree with Jacob at the moment, lunging and closing the distance with far faster than he thought was possible. He locked arms with the villain, some sort of large rhino or something similar. They were fairly strong and would have easily overpowered him before but no match for him in this current form.
"No, I can't be caught so I don't think I need to turn you in..." The villain didn't register what those words meant immediately until his response was gurgled. Jacob's muzzle had lunged forward ripping out their throat a spray of blood hitting the walls and display. After a few moments he let his paws relax letting the villain drop to the floor. Part of him was horrified at what he had just done, but a larger part took satisfaction that this villain wouldn't do this ever again and felt justified.
Jacob slipped out and didn't wait for the copy to even go into the store to find the villain, making his way to his apartment and sneaking inside. He was glad that he'd done something to help, but a little frustrated that the fight hadn't lasted longer and let him try out the bigger form. In his bathroom he was still transformed and looked into the mirror, closely examining himself for the first time.
The fur was black, it almost seemed to draw in the light making it hard to make out details. There weren't any sharp details the body almost seeming to fade into smoke. Jacob slowly ran a paw along his body, feeling the dense muscle mass underneath the thick fur and he was sure that coat helped keep his movements silent.
"See, we did something good. Now to keep my part of the agreement and transform you back." The voice spoke softly in his mind comforting and like a friend. Jacob wavered for a moment before he spoke up looking at the mirror.
"I don't know, do we really have to? I mean I know what I said back there." He swam through the mixture of memories, seeing the things that had been witnessed over the centuries. "Have you not been able to do this with others?"
"No, not to this extent. I've shared some of my power but never been able to go this far. I think it may have something to do with your wolf from my home region and you follow Ahura Mazda who we both answer to." The words seemed to make sense to him. "I must admit, I can see your allure to not killing the villains. Being able to fight them over and over, seeing them get harder to defeat each time." There seemed to be a bit of an elation as the creature, no, Ahriman spoke. "It's like a gladiatorial combat for the new age."
Jacob hadn't considered that aspect of being a hero before, though it did make a lot of sense the more he considered it.
"Yah, we did a good job back there. Have to admit, it feels so good being like this... the strength and power." His eyes closed breathing in and out, feeling the muscles underneath the fur. Jacob almost panicked when his communicator started to go off.
He shuddered as he felt himself shrink back down to his normal sense, eyes still glowing red in the mirror. A little sense of longing as he made his way to his table. Picking up the communicator he spoke into it, learning about the murder that happened and if he had left his apartment.
"No, I've been here the entire time. Just napping off and on, what happened?" A little smirk crossing his muzzle as he listened to them describe the scene and how the security cameras hadn't caught anything due to the villain disabling them before going in. Jacob feigned a bit of sorrow, but once they were done speaking to him, he tossed the communicator on the table and went back to his bedroom.
Once he was back in his bedroom he discarded his clothes, they suddenly felt constricting and wrong to have them on. Jacob closed his eyes feeling himself transforming once more. His plain gray fur shifting to that smokey black ink color, eyes starting to glow once more as the transformation finished. Running his fingers along his large form allowing his muzzle to open and growl out.
"That's so much better." The voice in his mind was in agreement, he floated inside his mind looking at the creature.
"This doesn't have to end you know?" Slowly Jacob nodded, floating over to the creature.
"We know it doesn't." Pressing himself to the creature locking his muzzle with it, he felt like he was being enveloped. It was like sinking into an ocean, but it was more comforting than scary. There was a brief moment where their personalities and memories conflicted before merging.
"Ahh, that's so much better." He looked at his paw, clenching it and knowing that things were going to be much different from now on. It couldn't be undone, and he didn't want it undone since he understood what it meant. They would go back to being alone and separate, weaker than they were now possessing an immense amount of power. They were going to be able to make a difference in the world and savor every moment of it.
"It's going to be so much better; I can't wait to see what challenges we will have." A bit of a growling laugh as he left his bedroom, looking at the table seeing the blinking communicator. Lifting it with his paw taking a moment to regard it before crushing it and leaving the pile of electronics on the table.
"Can't wait to experience everything we've missed out on over the centuries and now being in control things are perfect." The door closed behind Jacob wasn't just him leaving his apartment, it was him leaving one part of his life behind and engaging into a different adventure where he'd have far less restrictions being bonded to Ahriman.