Lycanthrope

All gargoyles characters are the property of Disney and Buena Vista. Any characters not belonging to them in this story are mine.

Somewhere, in a dark featureless room, people were meeting. These were not normal people, and this was not a normal meeting. Most meetings do not take place in a dark room, around a table where the only light is a uniform lamp that casts its light solely on the table––leaving the rest of the room in complete darkness. In most meetings the participants do not wear dark, form covering robes, that hide any clue that might lead towards their identity.

"Why do we continue to pay Sevarius' research fees?" A robbed figure asked his fellows. "We know nothing of his project, and yet we continue to give him all the money he asks for. Why is this the case?"

One of the chairs was entirely covered in shadows. Whether it was occupied or not was impossible to tell. Suddenly, from the depths of the shadows, a voice spoke. "We pay him, because I know what it is he is working on." The figure's voice intoned the fact that this was all that mattered. "And now you will know what I have had him working on. I am sure," it said, "You will be most appreciative of his work."

Somewhere in the darkness a door was opened, and a man carrying a briefcase in one hand, and a portable projector screen under his other arm pit, stepped through the darkness into the pool of light.

"Ah Sevarius, so good of you to join us."

Sevarius nodded to the men sitting around the table. "I am glad to be here, gentlemen. Now, as you know, you have been funding my research." He placed the briefcase on the table and set the projector screen on the ground. He pulled the screen up. He opens his briefcase and pulls out a small projector. He sets the brief case back on the ground.

"Now you've probably been wondering what exactly I've been doing with your money." He turned the projector on, a picture of a wolf standing on its hind legs appeared on the screen. Behind it was a full moon, partially hidden by dark, storm clouds. "You are all, I assume, familiar with the term 'Lycanthrope'?"

"Yes, yes, of course," the first figure who had spoken said, "but you are a geneticist. I fail to see the connection between mythology and science."

Sevarius grinned, "Everything gentlemen, you see, for the past three months I have been creating werewolves."

This statement was not met with awe, as one would expect. The first robbed figure yawned––one of the others sniggered. "It's been done," he said, "The gentleman's name, who underwent the process, is 'Wolf', I believe. He used to be on that show, the Pack. But now he and his fellows work as mercenaries."

Sevarius frowned slightly, but as quickly as the crease in his eyebrows had appeared, it was gone. "True, gentlemen, it has been done before. But 'Wolf' can only take one shape, and that only just resembles a wolf. What I have done is create three creatures that cannot only transform, but are superior to Wolf in every aspect." He pushed a button on his remote control, the picture of a face appeared on the screen. The creatures whole head was covered in bristly, brown fur. Its eyes were a feral yellow, but retained a spark of intelligence. Its teeth were long and sharp, like fangs. Its mouth and nose formed a close semblance of a snout.

"The first of the three is called Bear," Sevarius said, "He is larger, and considerably stronger than Wolf." The picture on the screen shrunk and moved to the top left corner. A new picture appeared, this one of the creature's whole body. Next to it was the silhouette of a human, the Bear like creature was twice as tall, and nearly three times as wide. While Bear's shoulders and arms were incredibly large, his fingers claw tipped, his legs were even larger. He would have looked like little more than a very muscular human being––if it were not for the silhouette showing the size comparison between him and a normal human. Compared to a much smaller human he looked larger than life.

Sevarius pushed a button and the picture disappeared. "The second of my lycanthropes is called Hyena." A robed figure who had not yet said something, started at this. But his fellows silenced him. "He may not look like much, but his transformation is much more advanced than Wolf's."

A new picture appeared on the screen. The head on this picture looked for all the world like a real Hyenas'. The only differences were its unusually large mane that looked like hair, and the uncannily human look of his eyes. "Due to the shape of his mouth, he cannot speak while transformed. But this really is not a great disadvantage when one considers that his ferocity is something my other two lycanthropes have still to match."

The picture of Hyena's face shrunk, as Bear's had shrunk, to be replaced by the same picture showing his whole body compared to that of a human's. He was a head and a half taller than the silhouette. With its overly large head, the body seemed frail. It was slightly hunchbacked, all its muscle seemed to have been concentrated in the neck, jaws, and upper back.

"As far as I can remember his jaws have about the power of a Great White Sharks." The picture on the screen changed again. "The third gentleman's name is Cat."

The picture on the screen showed a face that looked more human than the others. Its nose, and basic face shape were human. But its face was covered in fur, its eyes were like those of a cat. Unlike the other two it has shoulder length hair.

"I believe him to be my greatest creation," Sevarius continued. "He can take two shapes. His first shape is not all too dissimilar from Wolf, in it he has increased speed, strength, and agility." Once again the picture expanded to show his full body. It was only slightly taller than a human, but well muscled––and better proportioned than its fellow lycanthropes.

"His second shape is more feline. His face and legs are those of a large cat, while his arms remain human." The light of the projector began to flicker, and slowly, as if it were bad stop motion animation the creatures shape changed into a more cat like figure. Its hair grew shorter, and moved down his neck into a sort of mane. Its teeth lengthened, becoming fangs, as its face grew into a muzzle. Its legs transformed into paws.

"The only problem," Sevarius said, "is that he tends to loose control in that shape."

"Fascinating, is there anything else you would like to tell us?" There was a hint of sarcasm in the voice's tone.

Sevarius smilled grimly. "Now that you mention it," he said, "yes, there is. You see gentlemen, like true werewolves my creations can transfer their ability to transform." He pushed a button on the remote control. "All they have to do is bite their intended victim. I am not sure what will happen, but I believe the shape they take will not be the same as the lycanthrope that bit them, but I believe they will retain the basic principles of the one that bit them. If Bear were to bite someone, they would be as large as him. If Hyena were to do so, they would have more animal tendencies. If it were Cat, then they would have more than one shape. But what's most important is that my creations have complete control over those they bite."

"Impressive," one of the robes said, "But if I remember correctly, the last time you turned humans into mutant monsters, they rebelled against you." It sat back in the shadows of its chair. "What makes you think you will retain control over this batch of freaks?"

Sevarius shrugged and put the remote on top of the projector. "A good question. When I created the mutates, I made the mistake of creating some of them against their will. Only one out of four actually wanted to be a batwinged monster. This time I only used volunteers, people who knew what was being done to them, and welcomed the change." He shifted his weight from leg to leg, uncomfortably. Were they going to make him stand the entire time? "Bear," he continued, "used to be my lab assistant, he was not a very big, or muscular man. He wanted to be big and strong, but he didn't want to go to a gym, or do any other exercise. He wanted power, and he wanted it fast. I gave him that power. Now his human shape has been altered, to facilitate the transformation." He cleared his throat. Now he was getting thirsty.

"Hyena used to be a criminal. He still is actually. His reason for wanting power was simple, he thought it would help make him rich quick, and help him stay rich––and out of jail." Oh lord, now his bum was starting to itch. "Cat was a College kid. He had no friends, no real life, he spent most of his time playing video games and watching cartoons."

"And what could he possibly have wanted from all this? What did he gain?"

"I think he'd flunked college, money difficulties."

"Where on earth did you find him?"

"Well, he is my nephew after all..."

"Wait, you turned your nephew into a monster?" The man's voice was filled with horror.

"Well, yes." Sevarius said simply.

The robed man stared at Sevarius in disbelief. What kind of man were they dealing with?

Sevarius hoped this meeting would be over soon, his leg was begining to fall asleep.

"Well," the first of the robes who had spoken said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I see we've paid you to create these things. But now that we have them, what exactly are we meant to do with them?"

"I don't know," Sevarius said, shrugging, "I'm only the mad scientist. I make the monsters, you think of which city to destroy with them."

"We won't be destroying any cities," the shadowed chair said. "And I already have uses in mind for these creatures. But first we need to test them. We need to see if what you have said about their abilities. Can you do that?"

Sevarius brightened up, "Oh yes, I can do that. I already have a test to prove their combat prowess ready. As a matter of fact, you can watch it right now."

Several screens popped out of the tables in front of the robed men. Sevarius took a portable screen and microphone. They began watching the scene unfolding in front of them.