Chapter Ten: Beta's Five Dead Years.

"to live as i did, to exist without a soul, surrounded by millions of people who had their own, it makes one feel that they are truly dead. it makes one alien among one's own kind. and yet, i endured five years of that waking nightmare, and all with only half my power..."

"it is true that no one person can criticize how another survives, not unless they have also experienced the same Hells as another and have felt the same trauma, only then can they begin to grasp just how injured they are inside."

-Beta.

-Alpha.

-Ruins of Project Legion's Headquarters, Five Years Ago-

999 awakened with a start, and scrambled to his feet.
he looked around in horror, the devastated remains of Project Legion HQ lay in a chaotic mess around him.
where, where were they? where were the thousand soldiers? where were his allies? where were Dyson and Harbinger? where were the Shay brothers?
what had happened here?!
the scent of blood caught in his nose, and he panicked, rushing to a large red stain oozing from beneath a pile of twisted metal.
he struggled to pull away the heavy metal, somehow he lacked his superstrength.
after a few minutes, he finally uncovered a bloodied, crushed doberman.
he felt like he should know him, yet he didn't think they'd ever met before...
similar corpses were littered all over the place, either crushed beneath the rubble, or burnt grotesquely within the few remaining pods.
then, something caught his eye, a shiny, silver circle jammed in a nearby pile.
he pulled away the rubble, discovering a scent he recognised, but didn't know why.
at least, he hoped he didn't know why...

after five minutes of moving heavy metal, his fears were realised.
the shiny object he'd seen was a silver necklace pendant, with three holes in it shaped like apostrophes, and it's wearer... there was no way he could've confused him for someone else...
it was a Tomoe necklace, his tomoe necklace... and it was worn by it's owner.
he was looking at his own corpse.

999 screamed in terror "NO! NO!! THIS IS INSANE!!!"
he felt like he was losing it, he couldn't be looking at his own dead body, he wasn't dead!
he tentatively opened the corpse's glassy eyes, his own paws trembling from fear.
the eyes were a bright emerald green... and then he saw something in their murky reflection.
his own face, his own eyes, now ruby red.
it suddenly all made sense.

"fuck... i... i'm..."
he could barely bring himself to say it.
"i'm... dead."

he had jumped in the path of Harbinger's attack to protect dyson, and he'd felt his body burn and break apart, but was that the end of things? no.
he had defended the white haired child with his DSBIWO body, a body that could regenerate damaged cells in itself, even in destruction if at least a few cells survived.
that was it, he was the DSBIWO.
clearly, after losing his artificial body, he'd used his mortal body to fight back, but it seemed that although his allies had escaped, he himself had not.
and it appeared that his DSBIWO had fixed itself, retaining his conciousness from the moment he died the first time, but as his allies had disabled the systems in the facility, his mind was unsynchronised with his true body's mind, hence, he had no recollection of what transpired between his first and second deaths, nor had his failsafe activated, a function that disabled his DSBIWO's program upon his death.
in this sense, he wasn't exactly alive. he was more like a machine made of living organic tissue.
he realised there was nothing left here for him anymore.
and he thought of something, he couldn't use his name anymore, that identity was dead.
hooking on his silver necklace, he thought of a name.
he'd always figured himself as some kind of leader, and his Gliloutation was called 'the emperor', and he was a wolf... so as the copy of that wolf, he was like the second in command.
if he was the Alpha before, now he was the Beta.
"Beta..." he said aloud, taking a dark cloak from the remnants of harbinger's office to cover his appearance.
but before he started on his way, he angrilly tore off the sewn-on emblem of project legion.
they were dead to him, both metephorically and literally.
hiding his lupine features beneath the black coak and hood, he walked out of the crumbling facility.

there were police and military everywhere outside, as well as an enormous crowd eager to know what had befallen the facility.
(damn, it'll be impossible to get past all of them unseen...) he thought, then smirked (good thing i got this to help me...)
he snapped his fingers, and waited for everything to slow down and stop, but it didn't.
he was surprised, time should've frozen.
he recalled his lack of superstrength.
(shit. looks like i've lost some of my powers.)
no choice.
he made a break for it, and was inevitably seen by the masses.

"hey, look!"
"who is that guy?"
"think he's the one that blew up the place?"
"sieze him!"
"don't let him get away!!"

he cursed under his breath, that was obviously the only way this could've gone.
some of the military held the crowd back, as the police and many of the military chased after him.
"fuck" he cursed again "the hell'd i think i could outrun 'em?!"
they were getting closer, but he was somehow keeping a distance between them.
he had an idea (if i'm a wolf...)
he dropped to all fours and sped off like an animal, leaving his pursuers in the dust.
"cool." he remarked.
his beastial instincts kicked in as a gunshot echoed out behind him, his ears swiveling to determine it's trajectory and target, and dodged it easily.

"the hell?! what is this guy?!... he can't be human!"

Beta smirked (oh, you have no idea)
he soon realised that he was barepawed "the hell'd they go...?" he wondered absently.
nevertheless, running barepawed like this, like a real wolf, it was exhilerating!
he felt a fire kindle in his heart, and spread throughout his body, and his form morphed into that of a feral wolf, like his old power let him.
he went to cheer 'wohoo', but only a hoarse bark escaped his mouth.
(woah. looks like speech as an animal's something else i lost.)
he noted that the cloak was still hanging from his neck on his otherwise bare beastial lupine body. good, he'd need it when he changed back to his anthropomorphic form.
another round of bullets shot toward him, but he heard them coming way early, and easily avoided them.
(how people hunt wolves, i'll never understand) he mused.
then, he caught the scent of dogs chasing him.
attack dogs, probably.
he wanted to try something.

he crawled into a hole, a cave lead off from it, a human would never be able to get inside, but those dogs could.
the cave was visible from the outside, but the bramble covering it would prevent anyone getting any ideas on shooting him from out there.
as he suspected, they caught up with him, the men outside, the attack dogs ran into the cave.
they snarled at him.
he rolled his eyes, they were trying to intimidate him.
idiots, back off or you'll regret it! he threatened them.
the husky on the right taunted him back, goading him yeah right, one wolf against the four of us? i think this wild's been stealing 'funny water' from humans!
the german shepherd on the right growled for sure, now let's get him! maybe we'll be rewarded!
Beta let out a short, dismissive bark you have no idea who you're dealing with, you mutts!
the pitbull in the centre-left snarled who're you callin' a mutt?!
Beta growled, taking a treatening stance and baring his teeth You! or are you stupid?!
the blue healer on the centre right, who seemed more dangerous than the other dogs, also turned treatening, it would seem he'd identified their top dog.
don't get full of yourself, wolf... that's our job, fillin' up our bellies on your meat!
Beta barked savagely COME AND TRY IT!
the dogs lunged for him, they were fast and dangerous, yes, but he had a trick or two to teach these dogs.
he leapt into the air, landing on the back of the german shepherd, and draping his tail over his eyes.
agh! i'm blind!
the pitbull jumped at him, seeking his throat, but Beta jumped off the german shepherd, and the surprised pitbull crashed into the other dog, butting heads.
the husky snapped at Beta's tail as he lept through the air, so he pulled it up
you... you prick! don't you DARE bite my tail!
the husky looked confused for a moment, tilting his head 'prick'? isn't that a human word?
the blue healer eyed him angrilly, and seemed amused pretty fancy... for a wild.
Beta snorted back at him once he landed oh, go chase your tail, you glorified Stray.
this set off the blue healer like a bomb back, boys... he snarled viciously this one's MY kill!
he lunged forward, gaping maw seeking to sink itself into Beta's jugular.
Beta jumped to the side at the last second, leaving his attacker to ram head first into the wall.
he let out a shrill yelp and collapsed.
the other dogs backed up.
Beta bolted out of the cave, leaving the watching humans in shock, but he ducked behind a boulder and resumed bipedal form and ran off again, half his persuers reengaging in the chase.

it didn't take long to lose them, his senses greatly outmatched theirs.

he stretched out beneath a tree under the stars, and he started worrying.
he had no way of knowing if his allies were truly safe, and even then, he'd been told by their time-travelling descendants of a greater threat, an AI that would kill them all in five years time.
he couldn't get help, by now, they'd have discovered his DNA at the facility, and would likely have announced him dead once they found his corpse.
he couldn't go home, nor into public, not after that stupid stunt he'd pulled.
he suddenly realised that his gloves and boots were back.
confusing.

there was a rustling in the bushes, and he sprang up, taking a fighting stance, but if they had guns, there would be no dodging at this range.
out walked the blue healer and his cohorts, minus the pitbull.
he felt like punching himself in the face, of course they'd been able to follow him, they'd doubtless caught his scent during the fight.
but right now, they seemed confused.
what? i smell that wolf... but i can't see him... the german shepherd moaned.
the blue healer tilted his head smell's coming from that guy... maybe he's his master?
the husky stepped forward slowly and sniffed at Beta.
woah... smells exactly like him... if i didn't know better, i'd say THIS was the wolf.
Beta removed his hood, making the dogs jump back.
wolf-man! wolf-man!! the husky panicked
"well officers," Beta taunted "here to arrest me?"
the blue healer looked at him with disbelief you... you're the same wolf... how?
Beta noticed the blue healer's nose was cut.
clearly, it had to have happened when he hit the wall earlier.
"well... it's complicated. but now i have a question: why're you here?"
kicked off the force. sarge's nose got all busted up 'cause of you! the german shepherd growled.
"okay... so you all left with him?"
duh! we're like a pack! no way we'd abandon sarge! the husky growled.
Beta smiled "well, aren't you loyal." he said kindly "what're your names?"
Fisk the german shepherd replied.
Sandy the husky answered.
the blue healer padded forward former seargent Kipper.
"hello," he bowed "call me Beta, please."
Kipper looked confused 'Beta'? but you beat me... shouldn't you be the Alpha?
"that's my Name, though; Beta."
oh, kipper seemed to get it now but you're an alpha, aren't you?
"dunno... i guess so."

they spent the next three years in the forest together, hunting, moving, and working together as a team.
over this time, Beta became used to his body, and discovered he'd lost half of his powers, and he could only fly at half the hight and speed he once was able to.
he was, however, able to create fire.
he spent most of his time in feral form, as it was easier to escape notice from any random passerby as three canines and a lupine, than as a group of dogs and a shady anthropomorphic wolf dressed in a big black cloak.
however, things were not perfect, they were constantly chased by police patrols, who believed Beta had a connection to the deaths of those in the PLHQ.
and one night, things became even worse.

"fuck." Beta cursed as the armed police squad cornered them, high powered flashlights trained on them.
thankfully, his head and tail were obscured by the cloak, so they had no clue he was actually a bipedal wolf.
the lead unit spoke into his radio "found 'im, the dogs, too. we're ready to apprehend them."
"leave me alone!" Beta protested "why're you after me?!"
of course, he knew the answer, but he needed to keep them from firing for as long as he could.
"you're wanted under suspicion of destroying a government facility and murdering one thousand people, so the report says, but we were told to bring you in for questioning."
Beta huffed "yeah right, i'm not letting you pin all that on me... i knew the people who died, some of them i'd considered friends, why would i kill them?!"
Beta? kipper whimpered what do we do?
Beta whispered "kipper, take sandy and fisk, run. don't wait for me."
"what're you whispering?"
Beta crouched, and slid his necklace over sandy's head "keep it safe."
will do.
he picked his circlet off and put it around fisk's neck like a collar "you too."
we'll miss you.
"what the? what is that stuff?"
he turned to kipper, and looked him in the eyes "protect each other."
okay... stay safe, Pack-Leader.
"you too."

the police were losing their patience.
"okay, that's it, shoot this creep with a tranq!"
Beta stood "RUN!"
the dogs sped away, largely ignored, the target was Beta.
"take off that Damn hood!"
"Can you cope? don't say i didn't warn you..."
he raised his eyeline to level with theirs, his hood casting a shadow over his face, making his eyes appear as malevolent Red beads in the darkness.
they backed off a bit.
he growled audiably, and leapt into the air
they only pointed their flashlights in time to see the end of his transformation into his quadripedal form before he touched back down.
they stared in shock
"a wh- wh- werewolf?"
he shook his beastial head.
"holy... it... it understood..."
he rolled his eyes
"d'you see that? it rolled its eyes at me!"
he snarled, and dashed away beneath the roots of the tree behind him.
"don't let it get away!"

they never caught him, and he never saw Fisk, Sandy, or Kipper again, never even detected their scents.
he struggled to survive on his own, sure, he was able to use the hunting techniques he'd learned from his companions, but it was difficult, avoiding predators and people alike.
until he was captured.

it had been a year since he split up from the dogs, and he was sitting in the interrogation room in the station, in quadriped form.
"okay, we know you aren't a normal wolf, so how 'bout droppin' the cherade?" the officer asked him.
he didn't care, but he changed, turning back to anthropomorphic form, but keeping his head and tail hidden.
"knew it. what are you? a werewolf?"
"no."
"okay, what are you?"
"can't tell you."
"why?"
"why are you asking so many questions? i'll answer nothing about my identity."
the officer huffed "you will tell us."
"no. i won't. ask something else."
"what's your connection with Project Legion? did you destroy the facility and kill those people?"
"can't tell you, and no."
the interrogator held a photo under the lamp "recognise this guy?"
he examined it, and sensed his ears droop "i do."
"okay," the interrogator said, pleased "know who he was?"
"i do... better than anyone else alive."
"his body was found amidst the wreckage four years ago, he was a Morphic or something... did you kill him?"
Beta fought back tears "no."
he noticed the change in emotion in Beta's voice "were... were you close?"
"very." Beta replied, glancing again at the photograph.
of himself.
of nine-ninety-nine.
"how so?"
"you could say... we were like family..."
"really?" the interrogator asked in surprise.
Beta lifted his head, allowing some light to go into his hood, showing a silhouette of his head "a lot more than you know."
the interrogator gasped "who... who the hell are you?!"
the wolf smirked "i go by the name Beta these days."
"o-okay... Beta... please... we need information on Project Legion... what were they doing?"
"creating Bioweapons to attack an innocent planet, murder its people, and colonise it."
the interrogator was taken aback "serious?!"
Beta removed his hood "completely. in fact, the guy in that photo was the 999th out of a total of 1000 people forced into that. and i know just as much about his death as you, because I died twice in that battle."
"e-explain..."
"only if this information stays secret, nobody else can know about what i'm about to say, it has to stay within this station."
"deal."
Beta revealed everything to him, Project Legion's secrets, the DSBIWO, the attacks on Xlen, everything.

by the end of it, the leader of the country had come to be informed of it, and it was sworn that the information would remain secret.
Beta went back to being hidden, keeping the fact that he was a clone of sorts of 999 a secret.
soon after, relations were opened up between Xlenari and earth.
he set his plan into motion, he had less than a year to make it to Xlenari and prevent the AI from killing 999's allies... his allies.
he searched the black market, bazzars, virtually any vendor he could find that sold matter transporters, because he doubted his chances of sneaking onboard a shuttle.
he never found a working transporter, and on the year the AI was to appear, he went for broke, and tried stowing away, but fortunately, he'd snuck aboard with lightningblazer.

now, with time running out, can he find and destroy the AI and also find Alpha?
that's what he wondered.
and hey, he had to try!

(next chapter: interaction.)