EBA Fic C16: Travis Goes Home

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(16)_*_( )    (The)    (Beast)    (Within)

Travis sat at a ledge, letting a leg dangle and leaning back, looking up at the moon one night. He had decided to transform, even though a full moon was not present. He wanted to revel in the joy of being able to be something else at will, and, besides, it was a bit chilly. Poochyena was beside him, enjoying the moonlight with his friend. Frank and Dorian were back at camp through the trees aways. They were in Hoenn, now, and were not far away from his relatives' home. Truth be told, they HAD gone to Dorian's folks in Cerulean, but afterwards, Travis had gotten a letter, strangely.

They were walking out of the city towards Vermillion to catch the boat out when Poochyena perked his ears. "Yen?" he muttered, looking up and sniffing, stopping.

Travis looked down, the wind blowing his hair behind him, towards the group's faces. "Yena? What's wrong?" he asked, stopping as well.

The other two stopped as Poochyena sniffed a bit more, then barked, "Yen! Yena!"

Travis raised his eyebrows. "Really?" He looked up and behind him, hooding his eyes. He then saw the shape of a swellow flying towards them. "Ah, I see. Hey...has it got something in its talons?"

Yena shrugged. "Ye-en," he replied in the same way as someone going, "I dunno."

Frank smirked. "Hey, maybe I can catch THIS one," he muttered, maximizing a ball.

Travis held his hand out, his interested look now concerned. "Wait, Frank, that's not yours," he said. "That's actually MY folks' swellow, Coaty. I can recognize him, now; he's got an off-color right foot."

They couldn't see right then, since Coaty was too high for their normal eyes, but a few moments later, the Flying-type came close enough for them to see. A moment after, he had landed. He landed in front of Travis, holding said right foot up(it was a little lighter than the other one). Indeed, Travis had seen him carrying something. Dorian raised an eyebrow. "A letter?"

"Yeah," Travis said, taking the envelope. It was addressed to him, all right, but only his name. He smiled thankfully at Coaty. "Thanks, Coaty!" he said.

"Swell!" he replied, and flew off without another word.

Travis opened the letter, feeling worried. "Why would they send me a letter instead of calling me?" he wondered aloud. He brought it out and saw that it was very short.

"What's it say?" asked Frank, who went up on tiptoe to look over Travis' shoulder.

Travis held it up and cleared his throat, then read, "'Dear Travis, Please return home as soon as possible. We would like to talk. Love, your parents.' Not much, really," he added after folding it up and putting it away, sighing and frowning. He bowed his head to his friends. "I'm sorry, guys, but we've got to go to Hoenn, now, since they want me there ASAP, so..."

Frank and Dorian smiled and nodded. "That's alright, Trav," Dorian said. "I'm cool with that."

"I've always wanted to go to Hoenn, anyway," Frank pointed out, grinning. "I've heard the babes there are choice!"

Travis and Dorian sighed exasperatedly. ""You always hear the babes are choice anywhere we go,"" THEY pointed out. They all laughed after, and so all was good. Well, to the other two.

After walking a ways, Yena could tell his friend wasn't feeling well. "Yen?" he asked concernedly, looking up.

Travis was looking down as he walked, face a little worried. He cleared it as he looked down at Yena and said he was fine.

Now, a couple days later, Travis was looking the same way again. Yena whined worriedly as he looked up. Finally, he asked, "Pooch-na yen?" "Are you sure you're fine?"

Travis sighed and leaned back on both paws. His tail swished to one side wistfully. "I'm only worried, Yena," he answered. "It's pretty serious when my parents call for me by letter like this."

Yena tilted his head in that cute way dogs sometimes do. "Well, how so?" he asked. "Why?"

Travis puckered his lips to a side, then another, before asking, "Is anyone else around?"

Yena took a quick whiff. "Nope, except for Dorian and Loudmouth back in their sleeping bags," he answered.

Travis chuckled at his friend's name for Frank. "Well, anyway...well, it's because of this," he said, briefly motioning down his body with one paw. He then sat up and walked to a tree, sitting down and leaning against it. Yena padded over to him, nodding in understanding. "It's just that...well, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else in my family breaking the curse," he continued. He looked down at his paws in worry. "I wonder...is THAT it? Do they know...?"

Yena scratched behind his ear with a hind leg. "Neh, so what?" he asked as he did. He got the itch and stopped. "It's nothing bad, is it? Maybe they're so happy, they want to see you!" he suggested optimistically, smiling.

Travis frowned. "I...I dunno..." he said. He looked away. "I...Well, ever since that night, every night, when I go to sleep, I've been having these dreams...in them, I'm up against the huge wolf that always controlled me whenever I was transformed. All through my dreams, I'd have to fight him again. It always felt so real..."

Yena gulped uneasily. "W-Well, uh, it's...it's just a dream, right, Travis?" he asked. 'I don't wanna see him all scary like I know these guys can be...'

Travis heard and sensed the fear and turned, smiling, down to his friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure it is," he lied. He really wasn't all THAT sure.

Yena breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, good," he said. "I thought that things would go like how I feared they would when we first met...I was worried that you'd, like, eat me or something!"

Travis chuckled at the memory. "Ah, yes," he said, "I remember..."

The night after the "No Sleep Tonight" incident, Travis and the other two were traveling down to a dock city so they could get to Kanto. As they camped the night in the middle of nowhere again, Travis decided to get a laugh from his friends' reactions and play a trick on them. He said he felt like transforming just for the heck of it--Frank said, "Sure, you could use that extra firepower of yours and chop us some more wood; this fire ain't gonna last long on these twigs," and Dorian was pretty mellow either way--and did so. He then acted like he was possessed again and falsely attacked them. Dorian saw through it--he remembered that Travis' eyes were different when he was possessed from seeing them using the flashlight the night before--but Frank screamed and bolted through the woods. Travis chuckled and Dorian said he should follow him.

He did, and while tracking him, he kept "feral," in that he acted as he did while possessed. He caught the scent and raced to his friend, ready to give him a tackle and big fat Lick on his face, laughing. He rushed, though, and didn't really pay attention as a lone poochyena stepped out in front of him. The pokémon yipped as he saw the big, scary beast tearing right at him, and Travis was able to veer to the side--slamming right into a tree, yipping as well. He hit his head and slammed into the ground.

"OWOWOWOWOW!!" he growled, sitting up and rubbing his head with a paw. "Yow, that wasn't fun..." He looked up and saw that he'd made a big dent in the tree. He yipped again. "Oh, crap! Sorry, Mr. Tree!!" he apologized, sweat-dropping.

"Yep, that's you, alright," said Frank, coming down from another tree a little ways away. He came over and smacked Travis on the spot he had slammed his head, causing him to yip again. "That's for you making me nearly crap my pants," he said. He was smirking, though.

Travis chuckled and looked up, rubbing his head again. "Yeah, guess I deserved it," he said, and laughed.

"D-D-DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!" cried the little pokémon, who had been frozen in fear. He looked up at the werewolf with frightened eyes.

Travis, who could understand this as if it were normal speech, just like any pokémon, looked about in wonder. "Huh? Who's there?" he asked. He then looked at the poochyena and sweatdropped. "Oh, dear! I'm sorry, little guy!" he said, putting his paws together in apology, smiling nervously so that his eyes were closed. "I didn't mean to scare YOU!"

The pokémon gulped and asked, "R-r-really?" shakilly.

Travis nodded, still smiling the way he had been. "Yup!" he replied. Then he snapped his eyes open as it dawned on him. He looked at the pokémon and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you...?"

"What's going on?" Dorian asked, crashing through the trees. "I heard a lot of yipping, so..." He stopped as he saw the intent-looking wolfy and the scared-looking pokémon. He blinked, then pointed at them. "W.T.F.?"

Frank shrugged. "I think they're communicating," he said. He smirked and added, "I bet they're gonna sniff butts now, or something."

He was rewarded with a Headbutt in the gut from the poochyena and a smack on the head from Travis. ""We're wolves, but I think this is quite a bit different!!"" both said, looking a little affronted as they turned their noses up and away.

Frank held his stomach, grimacing. "Yeah, but neither of you can take a joke...Oof!..."

Travis and the poochyena, though, looked at each other in surprise. "Wow, talk about weird," Travis said.

"We were just on the same wavelength, weren't we?" the poochyena asked.

They blinked, then laughed and were friends since. Yena, as Travis decided to call him, decided to accompany Travis as he went around the land, since he was a pokémon that wanted to go around the world someday, to visit new places like no other. He had a feeling Travis would assist him in that goal.

Travis and Yena sighed as they recalled that event. They gazed at the moon a bit longer, then Travis stretched and yawned. "Well, I think it's about time I turned in, Yena," he said sleepily. He stood up and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he glowed with moonlight, his fur rippled, and, after his body flashed once, he was back to normal human, sans shirt and shoes(which he'd left at his sleeping bag). He was fine going barefoot and half naked, though, just back to camp. He was careful where he walked, and nobody was up that could see him.

Yena followed. "Alright!" he said. "I feel tired, too. So, g'night, Travis!"

"Night, Yena!" Travis waved to his friend as they reached camp. He went to his sleeping bag and Yena curled up by the fire.

-...-

The next morning, Travis, Frank, Dorian, and Yena finally reached a lone, traditional-style home in the woods. Travis smiled a little. "Well, look, it's my house," he said. "I'm so happy..."

Frank and Dorian looked uneasily at Travis. "You don't sound like it," Frank said a little quietly.

"Nervous?" Dorian asked, smiling a little.

Travis nodded. "I hope it's nothing bad..." He sighed and the four walked to it.

Someone dressed in a simple kimono opened the front door. She, so it seemed, had long hair the same colors as Travis', tied in a long braid. She had wild bangs, though, so she MUST be related to Travis, reasoned the two humans. She had on light blush and no lipstick. She smiled as she looked at them with her large, kind eyes. "Why, good morning," she bade in a nice, mellow voice.

Travis sighed and gave a weak smile back. "Good morning, mother," he said back.

A few moments later, the four were inside, shoes off. They were kneeling at the low table(well, Yena was merely sitting), and Travis saw the rest of his family across from him.

His mother sat across from Dorian, who was on Travis' left, and another young boy, about ten or eleven, sat across from Frank. The boy, wearing everyday clothing, had a bandage over one cheek and his hair, the same way as Travis', was actually cut short. 'He still does that every morning, huh?' Travis wondered, wanting to sigh and shake his head at his little brother's stubbornness. But the one he sat across from was his father, who was the reason he felt so much more uptight. He couldn't help but gulp as he looked at him.

Travis' father was tall, leanly muscular, and had a gruff look about him. He wore a traditional Japanese male's outfit, the name of which escapes me, and he was currently crossing his arms. His face had a couple scars, one across his right eyebrow and one down on his left jaw. His right ear even had a bit of a notch out of it. His hair was even longer and wilder than Travis', but was a bit whiter than his. His eyebrows were big and poofy, and he had a scruffy beard (no moustache). His serious green eyes pierced his son. He didn't look pleased, either, which heightened the feeling of dread.

The room was quiet for a moment until Travis finally asked softly, "Er...Why is it that I was supposed to come right away?"

His father looked sternly at his son. "Travis Monkshood," he addressed, voice deep and growly, like the voice of a proper alpha male. "My son. We called you here because of something very serious."

The other humans and Yena gulped, and Travis asked, "Er...And what, may I ask, is that?"

Moments passed. A clock on in the room ticked away seconds that seemed to echo for eons. Finally, with a glare, Mr. Monkshood said, "Because..."

A moment passed, and then, suddenly, all three of the other family members were leaning over and smiling. "Your brother finally got his first all-A's report card!!" his father answered at last.

Everyone on the other side of the table anime-fell backwards. Travis sprang up first even before the dust cleared and, anger-veining, barked angrily, "You send me a private letter just to tell me Johnny's just frozen hell?! Yeah, right!!"

(Johnny anger-veined at this and 3-mouthed as he went, "HEY!")

Travis' father chuckled. "I'm sorry, Trav, I couldn't resist," he said. He looked a lot more pleasant when he smiled. But this smile wiped right off as he cleared his throat. "But, now, the real reason we called you here, for which I ask your friends leave the room, has something to do with your...affliction..."

Frank, who, with Dorian, had righted himself a few seconds after Travis, said, before Travis could stop him, "Oh, about his lycanthropy? Yeah, we know about that." The room was deadly still as everyone stared at Frank. Travis was giving him a pale look that registered as shock and terror and, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Frank blinked, sweatdropping. "Eeeeuuhh...I...shouldn't've said that, should I've?" he asked.

Travis was about to rebuke him when his father sighed. "Well, in that case, nevermind on the leaving the room part," he grumbled.

Travis blinked, then looked at him confusedly. "You're not gonna do anything to him?" he asked.

His father smirked. "Well, if they can survive all this time and tell me that without any signs whatsoever of being cursed, I'd say they can take this," he said. He then straightened his mouth again. "And I bet they know something about this, too," he added.

Travis gulped. "What?"

His father was silent again for a few moments. Then, he looked at Travis and barked, "TRAVIS! SHIFT!" in an echoing voice.

Travis yipped as, suddenly, he involuntarily flashed and, with the sounds of his pants' seat, shirt, and socks tearing, transformed. Frank and Dorian made a simultaneous, ""WOAH!"" at this. Yena barked the same word, in his language, of course.

Travis blinked, a little surprised at this, and looked at himself. "Err...What?" he asked.

Travis' family gasped. "So it's true..." his mother said gently.

"No fair..." Johnny muttered, looking a little pouty.

Travis' father looked surprised, then he closed his eyes and chuckled. "So, I was right to follow my instincts and watch the state of your dreams a few nights ago from my own...I'm very proud of you, son," he said. "You're the first one in our family who's reacted to that command. Thus..." He looked up with an obvious mixture of pride and envy. "...you've conquered the beast within."

Travis blinked, then shook his head, shaking his paws as well. "No, no, no, that's not completely true," he said. "It wasn't all me--I got help. Don't treat me like some sorta hero and don't...ask...er..." He looked at the information-hungry glints in his family's eyes. He sighed, whiskers and ears drooping. "If you guys wanna hear it..." He nodded and looked up. "Basically, what happened was that, one night, I woke up, wondered where my friends were, and re-met an evil spirit that I had not really heeded earlier that sunset when it was in the form of an old hag. It basically tried to get me killed or something, and sent loads of other evil spirits like will-o-wisps and such, or at least attracted them, to my friends. It also caused me to trip, fall, and get me acquainted with Miss Luna."

"After that, he turned crazy and tried to kill us," Frank said, making a sort of cat smile. He laughed as Travis barked, "NOT HELPING!!"

Travis cleared his throat and continued. "Basically, though, that's what happened next. I was trapped in my mind as normal, but I was so nervous and confused and freaked out, since earlier I had given in to the peer pressure my friends gave me and the experience still had some tremors, I guess, but I was so in a state, I didn't really feel like I could do anything when faced with the beast. The frightening part was that it seemed, this time, the thing was HUGE!!" He spread his arms up to emphasize. "I mean, like, head as big as our house, huge!! And he was more frightening than ever, too..." He shuddered and looked down a bit. "I wondered if that night was the night that, if I lost to him...he'd kill me..."

At this, exclamation points dinged above both Frank's and Dorian's heads, and they whipped them to look at their friend. ""KILL you? Where'd THIS come from?!"" they asked.

"Whenever a werewolf falls prey to the full moon," Johnny said, holding up a finger, "he or she enters an arena inside their mind. They can see what they're seeing, but mostly, it's like they're in another realm. There, they are faced with a very big and strong and scary wolf, which is the embodiment of the curse controlling the victim. They fight for the entire night, or at least until one of them is defeated. Every night, the large beast usually wins. Each time he does, he gets stronger and scarier and larger, and the next time, he wins more and more easily. Then, one night, he's so huge, strong, and frightening, he's able to kill the victim. That's the victim's very self in there, you know. Once the victim dies, the spirit controls them forever until death. Fun, no?" he asked, smiling.

Travis sighed. "Yeah, scads of it," he said. "I bet the power of that evil spirit amplified its own power, which made it so huge." He nodded and continued. "But, anyway, there I was, and I was feeling so hopeless, so desperate, I cried out for help as loud as I could." He then looked up in memory. "Then, I heard this music...and I saw, from the window that was my eyes, three men in black leap onto the road. The center one showed a badge and said..." He stood up and got into the exact pose and imitated Lock, saying, "'The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!'" He stayed standing as he continued with enthusiasm. "Then, it was AMAZING! I just felt so much energy as I heard The Faders' 'No Sleep Tonight,' and...I just had to move!! I was swaying with the beat, I felt so pumped! With that vigor, I went and I fought that beast with all my heart. All the time, the Agents were cheering me on, and I know that, without their help, I wouldn't be here today." He sighed and smiled wistfully, sitting back down. "So, it's really not that big a deal, since the hero work was done mostly by them. I just dealt the finishing blows. I didn't even think I'd totally get rid of it, at least knock it out, but I did it." He chuckled. "And in time to avoid nailing a tree, too!" he added.

A moment passed, with looks of amazement, envy, and thoughtfulness on his mother's, brother's, and father's faces, respectively. "Interesting," said the gruff-faced man. "Very. But still, what's done is done. It was your hand--or paw, really--that dealt the final blow to that beast. You're free from that curse for the rest of your life. It doesn't matter if you were assisted--especially in this case. It sounds like these men were nothing but very good cheerleaders."

Travis nodded. "Yeah, that's what they said, I think...it sounds about right," he said. His face brightened. "So, when I'm having these dreams, it doesn't mean anything bad?" he asked. "I mean, dreams of me--"

"--fighting the beast," finished his father, looking stern again, "yes, they mean something. While you've defeated the beast, sadly, as long as you still live, the curse's primary transformation aspect still remains, unless you truly wish to be rid of it...?" He raised his eyebrow.

Travis laughed. "Yeah, right, and lose what just may be the only thing that's gonna get me lai--OW! What was that for, Dorian?" he asked, massaging his arm where his friend had elbowed him. Dorian pointed to the young boy in the room, and Travis said, "Oh." He chuckled. "Well, you get my point."

His father smirked. "All too well," he said, grinning to his wife, who blushed profusely. He shook his head. "Well, that curse is, by the way, one that you are able to tame. You have accomplished the hard part--defeating the beast for good in battle. Now, you must free that beast's mind from the clutches of the curse." Travis raised his eyebrows at this as his father nodded. "Yes, every time someone is bitten by a werewolf, they start to carry two separate souls. One is theirs, and another, a much more distant soul that can only be felt in the subconscious or when the bond between the two is great, is of the consciousness that is needed to control your body during the curse. Why this is, nobody knows. The popular theory is that, since the curse has been around so long, it's weakened somewhat."

Travis grinned. "Glad it has, then," he said, then looked serious. "So what are you saying I should do? Free its mind? How?" he asked.

His father nodded. "Yes, free his mind," he said. "You must do this by simply sleeping within a room adorned with complex seals and symbols designed to channel the power of moonlight, a crucial element in lycanthropy, to wash away the darkness blinding the beast's soul. With it gone, you two may now communicate during sleep. He will have his own personality and, sadly, may decide to be hostile to you, anyway. Believe it or not, many aren't, however," he added, smiling. "So I've heard, at least."

Travis nodded, looking thoughtful. He stroked his wolfy beard. "Where could one of these rooms be?" he wondered.

"Upstairs," his mother said simply, shrugging.

Travis laughed. "No, really," he said. After a moment of silence, his smile dissolved right off, as if it was sugar dropped into a glass of water. "...Really?" he asked in disbelief.

Upon later being led up to the room, he couldn't help but say, "Well, I'll be damned."

"Let's hope not, son," his father chuckled, leading him inside.

Travis looked around in wonder as his friends followed. 'I don't remember this room before...but, then, well, I never really searched for secret rooms in our house before...' The room was white and opened out to the heavens--before it was noted that that was merely a glass roof. Indeed, many strange, complex symbols, diagrams, and other such pictures were etched around the entire room. "I suppose tonight or sometime soon I'll be in here?" he asked.

"Yes," his mother said, smiling. "It's a clear night tonight, and, though the moon isn't full, there's going to be enough to work. That's the best part--the linework is so well-done, it maximizes the light filtering from above!"

"Um, question?" Frank asked, raising a hand. The others turned to him. "Yeah, why does moonlight work? I know it's bright, but if you're banishing darkness, wouldn't sunlight work?"

Travis' father chuckled. "It IS sunlight, ninny," he reminded him, waggling a finger. "But it must be moonlight because of the nature of the curse. Besides, it's the only thing that werewolves are able to really work with."

"As I've discovered," Travis said proudly. His face fell. "It...doesn't do much against that evil spirit, though, and I needed salt to finish it off. Had to basically save the Agents and their friends, too, while I was at it."

His father raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? So your debt to them is repaid?" he asked.

At this, Travis shook his head vigorously, hair going to and fro. "Not to me, no," he said. "I still feel like...like...It's just that I owe my life to them," he said, holding his paws palm up to emphasize. "I...I want to help them in any way I can. I don't know how, but..."

His father sighed and put a hand on his furry shoulder. "Son, you've saved their lives. Don't feel that you need do more," he advised.

Travis frowned up at him, but said nothing.

During the day, the group talked, caught up on each others' news, and even had a few for-fun battles. Travis preferred to be human by daylight, actually, one reason being that when he was all covered with hair, he got quite uncomfortable under the Hoenn sun. He battled sometimes with Yena, who was quite willing to battle, despite his cowardice. He trusted Travis' commands, though, and was able to win quite a few battles. Travis only had Yena, while Frank had with him a manectric nicknamed Volt, a crobat nicknamed Crowbar, a kangaskhan--who actually was his family's pet before she insisted on joining him on his journey--nicknamed Belle, with her child nicknamed Joey for the time being, and finally his starter from Sinnoh, a prinplup nicknamed Bubba. Frank was actually quite good at battling, and whenever he had his pokémon out, he was quite a force to be reckoned with. He owned three badges. Dorian actually had with him two pokémon, a scyther and a haunter, both nickname-less, but preferred not to battle. He was actually into Contests, specifically the Super Contests. He has won one ribbon. Travis is just going around for the heck of it, really.

Speaking of Travis, he really had a debate nagging him in the back of his mind, but he never said anything about it.

At last, nightfall came, and so everyone went inside for dinner. As soon as he was done, Travis stood up. "Can we go now?" he asked. If he was in his wolf form, he would definitely be wagging his tail.

His father and mother chuckled at this. "Oh, calm down, you little pup," his father teased him. "Let us finish eating first, then we'll get you fixed up."

Frank and Dorian got gleams in their eyes. "May we watch too, Mr. Monkshood?" asked Dorian.

Travis' father shook his head, frowning. "It's for werewolves only, sorry," he said. Frank and Dorian bowed their heads down, going, "Awwww..." He smiled at Yena, who was also disappointed and doing the same thing, though, and said, "You may come, though, Yena, since you're a wolf pokémon." He grinned evily. "Then you could tease Frank and Dorian about how cool it looked!"

Yena barked happilly, wagging his tail, and was all bright until he realized something. "Wait," he said, tilting his head and looking baffled. "How am I gonna do that if they can't understand me?"

Travis' father laughed, a big, hearty one. "Oh, then I guess you CAN'T tease them afterwards!!" he laughed, and Yena bowed his head and whined in disappointment while the others laughed.

Soon, though, Travis was eagerly dashing upstairs. His parents came after, silently. They reached the secret room's entrance, hidden behind a wooden panel in the wall, and entered. Travis gazed at the work-of-art of a room as it was now bathed in moonlight--it was unearthily beautiful from it. In fact, the designs glowed softly with the gathered moonlight Travis remembered using before. Yena, who had padded up after anyway, just gaped in wonder before going, "Preeettyyyyyyy..."

The werewolf family chuckled at this, but the parents' faces went grim. They closed the door behind them, and Travis noticed another set of lines on the inside part of the door. It seamlessly connected with the other lines and suddenly, the room was brighter from the now warm, not just soft, glow of the designs. "Travis," his father said.

"Yeah?" he asked. He didn't like the tone in his father's voice.

His father sighed, looked at his wife, and nodded. Back to Travis, he said, "I'd normally love to do things well and without any complications to weigh you down, but..." He closed his eyes. "The real reason we called you here was to tell you...tell you that...that..." He could get it out.

Travis gulped as his heart sank. "This had better be another joke..." he muttered.

His mother finally spoke up. "Travis, I'm sorry to say, but...the next night of the full moon, we're going to...to be killed by the beast within..." she said softly.

Travis paled, his heart plummeting to his stomach, and he took a step back. "Wh-WHAT?!" he shouted. "No! You guys are strong werewolves! You've always handled the beast within!!"

His father looked away. "But...there's a problem..." he said. "It's about Johnny...and you..."

"You see, Travis," his mother said, putting her hands together, "one night, recently, we met a man who looked rather...odd. He felt empty to us. We were taking a trip in Kanto at the time, someplace along the path between Vermillion and Cerulean, and stumbled down a ledge. We discovered that someone had built a laboratory down there...and..." She shuddered.

"...That man approached us," said Travis' father. "He looked pale, grim, and the feeling of emptiness we felt from him was powerful, not to mention the amount of pure power we felt radiating from him. He told us that we were trespassing, and he said that he knew that we were a pair of werewolves. Don't ask me how he knew, but he did," he shook his head. "But basically, he said that he hated us and, because we trespassed on his property, punished us by giving us a choice. Choose to die soon or face our kin's demise."

Travis gulped. "You...You're not joking..." he said, putting a hand to his mouth. "But...why did he do this?! He can't be so...so heartless that he'd just go and, BAM!, knock off your kids just because you accidentally discovered his laboratory!"

They shook their heads. "Travis, I believe that there's something going on between that spirit you found and that man," his father said. "Because, you see, when we escaped from him--because after he said that, we felt such fear that we wanted to run--we also felt, nearby, a faint malevolent presence. The further away from it we got, the more courage we regained."

"Last full moon, when we were fighting the beast, it was quite larger than before. We were both JUST able to defeat it, but we know that the next time, we'll not be so lucky," she described. "That evil spirit DID amplify the curse. We know it. And we know that there's no way that we could get those men to help us."

Travis laughed and shook his head. "Oh, don't worry," he said. "Just scream, 'HEEAAAALLP!!' as loud as you can, and they'll be there," he said confidently.

His parents shook their heads. "Son, you ever hear of the Ouendan?" asked his father. After a headshake, he said, "They're a trio of three young people who have been seen going through Johto and Kanto. They are cheerleaders, as their name sugg-"

"WAIT!!" Travis said, snapping his fingers into a gunpoint gesture. "I know them! I met them on the way to Cerulean! There was a guy with a ponytail in a black gakuran, and two others, one girl with her hair over one eye and a boy with slicked back hair, both wearing blue military-type uniforms!"

"They had a dratini with them, too," Yena piped up, "and Frank almost caught a totodile and a teddiursa that were with them, too, before Frank and that ponytail guy stopped him."

Travis' folks nodded, looks of mild surprise on their faces. "Well, then," his mother said, "what were they doing, perchance? Where were they heading?"

Travis thought, wondering at the straying from the real meat of the matter. "Well, I think they headed for Vermillion...why?" he asked.

The two adults raised eyebrows and looked at each other, then shook their heads. "No, there's no chance..." Travis heard his mother mumble. "Well, Travis," she said louder, looking back at him, "from what we've heard from our friends in places nearby where they have cheered, they have only cheered for people in dire need. They work the same way as those Agents you described, but more Japanese. Those Agents appear to be from America, by the looks of them and their style of cheering. I wonder if they even consider it cheering..." She sweatdropped for a moment.

Travis nodded. "That's what I'D call cheering!" he said vehemently. "Without them, I'd be toast! I was feeling so helpless--"

"Exactly," his father interrupted. "We both are confident in our abilities and will fight to the death, but you, under your circumstances, was unable to believe in yourself like we know you can. In fact, I bet that evil spirit's presence was what caused you to lose your courage. But this time, I doubt there'll be any evil spirit to sap the fire of our spirits. That man sounded serious."

The room was silent for a moment. Finally, Yena asked, softly, "You realize he probably is going to get rid of Travis and Johnny, too, right?"

Travis raised his eyebrows. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, we realize that," said Travis' father. "However, if we can annihilate the final part of the evil curse within you, you'll be safe and could communicate with the now-wise beast within. You could defend your brother afterwards by learning how to assist him in his mind, since he's a blood relative, from your beast." He crossed his arms. "See, I hypothesize that if that evil spirit returns to haunt you, then your beast, if it's not been cured of darkness, will be given so much power that it will resurrect and have even more power than it did when you conquered it."

"I don't understand," Travis said, shaking his head. "Why can't YOU guys just use your waaaay-better-than-mine skills and defend us before that evil spirit comes back?"

His mother frowned. "Because we haven't defeated our beasts, thus cannot cure ourselves, and thus cannot learn how to help you in your inner battles," she said. "Our beasts are too much for you to take, even with us, but we're certain Johnny's is small enough for the two of you to handle. We'll teach you the ritual we're going to perform for curing your beast of darkness, but I doubt that you'll actually be able to use--" She clamped her mouth with her hand.

Travis and Yena blinked in confusion as Travis' father groaned. "Well, delcatty's outta the bag," he groaned. "See, Travis, while you can assist other werewolves in their minds like that, you can only fend off their beast. They must defeat them on their own. Our family, while we're of a rare breed that has a great deal of strength and confidence in our lupine forms, must not be able to resist the glooming power of those evil spirits. If you could at least keep your brother and yourself alive until that evil spirit is done for, then you could survive."

Travis shook his head, holding his hair, groaning. "Aarrgh! Wait, could you just put it in a nutshell what you want?" he asked. "I'm getting confused..."

Travis' father was about to speak when Mrs. Monkshood said, flatly, "We're going to cure the darkness in your beast. You have to get the technique of entering your brother's head during his beast fights and beat it off for him. You have to do this until a way is found to conquer the evil spirits. We cannot be saved, since we really do have enough confidence and hope that there is a slim chance we'll pull through next full moon, and our beasts are too powerful for you to help us with. While we are going to die, Travis, we love you and your brother very much and have faith that you can guide the both of you in life before he can manage by himself as an adult. We'd love to care for you more...but there's no choice now."

Travis stood, absorbing all of this. "But...I..." he began, but knew that his parents were resolute on this. He sighed, closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and nodded. "I...understand...I don't like it, but..." He shook his head and opened his eyes, a tear flying out. "Okay. I get it. So let's do this so we can get to helping my brother as soon as possible."

His parents nodded and stepped forward. Yena looked up, a lost look on his face. "No...that's it...?" he asked. "You can't do anything?"

Travis sighed and crouched down to his friend, smiling. "Yena, there're times in life where you have to do something you really don't want to do, but have to if you want the best ending possible in that situation," he said. "You have to bite the bullet. That's what being brave is all about--doing what you're afraid of doing even though you know it's not all going to work out perfectly. That's life." He gently stroked Yena's fur as he spoke. "So I'm being brave, now. You be brave, too, by just keeping on keepin' on. Things will only get worse if you stop trying."

Yena whined, but nodded. "Alright," he said. He stood up and got out of Travis' parents' way, sat down again, and smiled at Travis. "Say hi to that wolf guy you guys are talking about!" he said.

Travis chuckled, getting up. "That's the ticket, Yena," he said. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he looked up to his parents and nodded.

A few moments later, he was transformed and lying down on a narrow table in the center of the otherwise empty room. He was looking directly at the moon. 'I can feel the moonlight suffusing throughout my being,' he thought. 'Such power...I can't use it to help my parents at all...?'

"Close your eyes, son."

He did so. He felt his mother wave her hands over his body and heard a low hum start in the room. He couldn't see around him, but the designs became intensely bright. Then, the light all shifted from the designs into the center of his body, causing him to glow brightly. His fur rippled, he felt his muscles tighten, his bones crack, and his chest almost leaping with the sheer energy, and, strangely, he abruptly fell asleep.

He dreamed he was in a black room, and couldn't see anything for quite some time.

In the meantime, his body in reality began to sort of...phantomically grow. As if he was growing, flashes of his body sort of burst out, but then flashed back. Like a flickering candle, everyone saw flashes of him growing and changing. While he himself remained normal, the "phantom" him grew black-furred, and after a time, a head could be seen coming from the body, with glowing red eyes and frighteningly long teeth. The form soon rolled off the table and onto the floor, and they could feel the weight of it, though it was insubstantial. It continued to grow, and it growled at the three others in the room.

""Beast within our son,"" Travis' parents addressed, the moonlight in the room causing them to transform, as well. Travis' father's werewolf form was intensely strong-looking, with scars on his chest in a lowercase "t" tilted diagonally, making a sort of "X" on his left pectoral. His mother was more graceful, and had an savage beauty to her slender, agile, and--since she didn't grow at all except for her tail and head--still-clothed form.

Travis, in his dreams, opened his eyes and saw that he was looking at a mirror. He gasped as he saw that he was the beast, an enormous monster. 'What the...?!' His ears pricked as he heard his parents:

""We demand that you release the darkness binding your spirit to the curse of lycanthropy and free its vile hold!! Let the moon's brilliance infuse your body with more power than you could obtain from the darkness!""

Travis saw himself grow more, and soon saw his old body form in place of the other forming around him. 'Holy...' he gaped.

Outside, the dark form was growling and starting to spasm. The flickering grew more severe.

Thrusting their now-glowing paws out to it, Travis' parents shouted, ""BEGONE, DARKNESS!! QUAIL BEFORE THE POWER OF THE LIGHT WITHIN THE DARKNESS, THE LIGHT OF HOPE, COURTESY OF THE MOON!!""

''The...The Light of Hope...'' Travis repeated to himself, looking at himself as a ball of light lit up a foot in front of his chest.

Outside, the beast howled as, suddenly, the designs flared up with moonlight again, and Travis was lost in a ball of light. The beast, flickering in and out as if a strobe light was the only way to see it, gave one last glare to the three wolves below before burning away from the light. There was no flames, but the same effect happened: holes appeared, shriveled up, and ate away the being. The smoke made was obliterated by the light. Then, when it was all gone, the light faded.

Travis felt a deep growling and gasped as, in the mirror, he saw the beast, full-grown at the height of a skyscraper. 'Wh-what?! It's still here?!' he yipped.

Then, something else caught his attention. Oddly, he began to feel a beat pulse from the ball of light in front of it, and gasped as it, suddenly, formed into a musical note before him. He looked at the note of light, pulsing in a beat. 'What IS this?' He reached for it and felt the beat grow stronger.

'The gift within you,' he heard a deep, growly voice say.

With a gasp, Travis turned and saw the face of the beast in front of him. He yipped in fright. 'What...Why aren't you gone?!' he asked. 'You look just the...wait...'

The eyes of the wolf were bright, blue, and natural. Before, Travis remembered the beast's eyes were all glowing red, no pupil or whites or anything. It smiled, then abruptly gave Travis a gigantic slurp, soaking him with saliva. 'You may call me whatever you like...but give me a male's name, for, since you are, so am I,' he greeted him.

Travis mopped his front as best he could, then sputtered, 'Wait, you're...so you're good, now?'

The beast nodded. 'Thank your parents for me,' he said. 'I owe them for awakening the true self within the darkness that had hidden me. Oh, and--' he gave another slurp, causing Travis to squawk, '--congratulations on beating one of the most vile curses known to mankind. Though, in my opinion, it HAS weakened slightly...or perhaps that is only because of...' He chuckled and shook his head. 'No matter. You're safe, now.'

Travis shook himself dry this time. 'Could you stop slurping me?' he asked. 'You're kinda...well, you're ruining my hair,' he reasoned, fixing it.

The beast chuckled. 'Alright. But please, name me. Who am I?' he asked.

Travis bowed his head and crossed his arms in thought, putting a leg over another as he sat down in a chair in his floating state. 'Erm...Alright...How about...Uh...' He thought for a moment and decided to go with the first name that had popped into his head. 'How about Jet?' he suggested.

'Alright, then I am Jet,' said the beast. 'Now, let me just explain: I am actually the embodiment of your feral power. How large I am is an indication of the limit of your power.' He chuckled and looked at himself in relation to Travis. 'You can become extremely powerful, if you want, in my opinion.'

Travis gaped. 'You're...You're from me?' he asked, pointing to himself. 'You're a PART of me? I mean, from the start?'

Jet nodded. 'Yes. But now, I want to say something before you awake...I want to say it now.' His face looked serious. 'Just because you can be powerful doesn't mean that you will be strong...it means that you'll be powerful overall. In this case...if you look behind you...' Travis did, and gasped. Jet smiled. '...You'll see what will most likely make up the bulk of your power.'

The note had grown ENORMOUS, and was pulsing quite strongly. Flames were leaping around it. 'I thought I felt something,' Travis mumbled.

'That is the powerful talent resting within you...and, if you search hard enough, perhaps in your friends,' Jet explained. Things began to brighten all around and he asked, voice fading into his ears as Travis awoke, 'Can you tell what it is by its appearance...?'

Travis awoke, opening his eyes to a normal room with a glass roof, looking out into the night. "Groove," he whispered.

"What?" Yena asked as Travis turned to sit up on the table.

Travis shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He looked at his parents, who had reverted to human form. "You guys...thanks." He smiled at them briefly, but then got up and moved to the door.

"So? What did he say?" asked his mother, smiling and trying to help his mood. "Is he nice?"

Travis chuckled. "Well, Mom, when a wolf goes and slurps your entire body, foot to head, would you say that it likes you?" he asked, smirking.

His parents laughed. "Well, that's good," his mother said. She then stretched. "All that magic stuff's got me tired."

"Me, too," his father yawned. "It takes a lot to transform without having just defeated your beast..."

"G'night, then, guys," Travis said, smiling and holding a paw up to them. "Hey, Yena, I want to tell the guys what happened. Wanna--"

"Coming!!" Yena barked, and Travis laughed as the two walked out of the room.

When they were gone, Travis' father sighed shudderingly. "Think it was better not to tell him that we really doubt we'll survive?" he asked.

"He'd feel obliged to try and save us," said Travis' mother. "It's for the best."

"...But if his beast liked him enough to give him a slurp...maybe he showed him something that he thinks he might be able to help us with..."

"...But there's no way that he could...At this point, the only way we can live..." She looked at her husband. "...is if we can defeat the beasts for good...and alone. Those people can't possibly get here in time to help us...and Travis can't leave and tell them..."

Travis' father put a hand on his wife's shoulders. "We're going to die young, I know it sucks," he said softly. "But we can't help it." He looked up at the moon. "Nobody can..."

Travis crossed his arms going downstairs. 'That's all I can say...groove...' he thought. He furrowed his brow. 'I know I've always loved singing, dancing, and playing the trumpet, and have been told to be quite good at them...but...how can having musical talent have power enough to be considered important? Jet was as big as a building, and he said that my musical talent would make up the bulk of the power he represents...but...why?'

"Trav! How'd it go?"

Travis yipped very softly in surprise as he jerked his head up and looked to the side. He'd reached the foot of the stairs and was in the living room. Frank and Dorian were sitting there, doing nothing--probably listening to what was going on above. They were giving him friendly smiles. He gave one back, as did Yena. "Oh, it went great!" he replied. "I'm now free of the curse, and can transform whenever I want, no longer forced to change every full moon." He grinned with his fangs and joked, "Though, I won't guarantee that you won't be seeing me howl to the moon once in a while!"

Frank and Dorian laughed with him. In that moment, Travis suddenly remembered the ending of the "No Sleep Tonight" scene, with everyone laughing. His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. '...No way...' He looked at himself. '...Could...Could I...?'