By Moonlight (P.P + M.J)

26. Betrayal

*Werewolf pov*

Jack escaped the scrapyard, mortified by what he'd almost done to Spiderman. He almost killed him! He, Jack Russell, almost murdered a superhero in cold blood! Why had Spiderman forgiven him? Why had he been so understanding? The look on the beat-up boy made him feel guiltier, knowing that he was so young.

And he really was just a kid. And a familiar one at that. But the young hero's features were shadowed behind the black eye, bleeding lip and the busted face. But his youth couldn't be hidden. He had to still be in high school. And yet, he had handled himself quite well in their fight. Up until the end, that is.

And, to be fair, Iron Man's actions had been unwarranted. Jack was already in his right mind by the time he showed up. He was appreciative that Spiderman had helped out the way he did by holding Iron Man back. It gave him a few seconds to escape, even if he did get torched on the way out.

If Jack didn't have his regenerative ability and toughened skin, the laser would have taken his arm clean off. But the second the beam made contact with his flesh, his cells were already working to protect and heal him, new skin already forming to replace his burned area.

He crossed the bridge, his feeling of betrayal building with every step. Connors had managed to oust him in public, put him at the top of New York's Most Wanted list, and had attempted to turn him into a monster. If it wasn't for Spiderman, the maddened scientist would've succeeded. Oh God, Jack even helped him formulate a plan to dismantle the whole city of New York ! He handed him the machine to do it!

No, it ends here, Jack thought as his rage grew. He would kill Connors before anything bad happened and then skip town. If Iron Man was on his tail, who knows how far behind the rest of the Avengers were? He would flee to the Appalachians, stay out of sight, and live the rest of his days in solitude. He couldn't risk hurting anybody else ever again.

As soon as he was across the bridge, he found a grate and pulled it up from the sidewalk. He slipped into the sewer and fixed the grate back in place before taking off in a sprint through the drains. He knew where to go because he usually got around the city unseen by using the sewer system.

After a good run through the murky sewer water, he came to the waterfall that poured into the Hudson River through the main drainage pipe. Beside it, lay that platform where Connors had built his lab. Scowling, Jack climbed up to it and looked around.

"Connors!" Jack roared at the top of his lungs, flattening his ears, "where are you, you backstabbing son of a bitch!"

"Well, well, well, looks like someone is upset," a calm, hissing voice said, and Jack looked over his shoulder.

It was Connors, but at the same time time, it wasn't. He was in his reptilian form, a form he coined simply as Lizard. He was maybe a few inches taller than Jack, with a long tail and green scales, and powerful muscles. He carried his lab coat over his arm, which was torn and shredded, and he gave Jack an evil smile, his teeth jagged and pointed.

"You bastard," Jack swore, baring his teeth, "I'll kill you for what you made me do."

"No no, Mr.Russell, that is where you're wrong," the scientist said, walking around Jack, "your willing actions are what made this plan happen. You got me the money and the DNA I needed to succeed."

"You won't," Jack growled, his black fur bristling.

"Oh yes, because you'll stop me, is that it?" Connors laughed, going over to his small wooden box and opening it, laying his ruined coat on the table, "dear boy, you were just a distraction. With the police after you, no one will notice me."

"No one will be able to find you after this," Jack snarled, flexing his claws and lashing his tail.

Connors then straightened up, and flexed the claws on his right hand. Jack noticed a silver glint, and saw that Connors had metal caps over his index and middle claws.

"I figured something like this was bound to happen, you know," the lizard said, turning to him and showing off his talons, "so I had these special silver claws made."

Jack trembled. His one weakness, like all lycans, was silver. When wounded by it, his healing factor took longer to react, and he'd heal at a sluggish rate for a time. But if he was mortally wounded by anything containing pure silver, he would die. It was the only way to kill him.

"I have some special silver bullets too, in case you ever felt... determined," Connors added, his green eyes dancing with a mischievous light, "I took all the necessary precautions."

Jack didn't know what to do. With his newfound weapons, Jack couldn't go near him without suffering some serious injuries. But if he got a good bite in, he might be able to trigger a reaction. His fangs contained a poison that could kill an elephant in minutes, while his claws carried his lycanthropy disease. Both were capped with metal to keep him from infecting or poisoning anyone. Jack thought if he bit Connors with bare fangs, the poison would kill his lizard form and revert him back to his one-armed human form.

"I can't let you do this," Jack growled, shaking his head, "this is madness."

"My plan could save-no-enhance the human race. You and I are step one. Soon, everyone in New York will be powerful lycans," the scientist explained, spreading his arms, "there's no need to stop me, Jack."

"There's every need. You told me you wanted to help people, not change them. Not turn them into things like me. That was never the idea," Jack retorted, snorting as he grasped one of his fangs, and with a shot of pain, ripped out the tooth along with its metal sheathe. A new one almost instantly appeared, growing back to take up the newly-vacant spot. "There will be others to stop you if I can't."

"You never did kill the bug, did you? Eh, no matter," Connors sighed, rolling his eyes.

He then slashed at Jack, scoring his now-silver claws down the lycan's shoulder. It felt like fire was incinerating his skin, like red hot blades were digging into his flesh and scorching him. He released a high pitched howl of anguish as Connors hooked his claws into his shoulder and dragged him backward toward the waterfall. Jack yelped and cried out, the tortuous pain practically blinding him.

"I could just shoot you," Connors was saying as he hauled him to the edge of the roaring falls, "but seeing you squeal is just such fun."

Tears were now streaming down his face, the agony unbearable as Connors held him on the edge, his claws still driving into his shoulder. He couldn't even move to defend himself. He glanced down at the waterfall that would take him to the Hudson, wondering if he'd even survive the fall.

"Now, my dear Jacob, this is where we part," the wicked scientist hissed, smiling sadistically, "and thank you, for all your help."

With that, Connors tossed him, throwing him down the waterfall. Jack clutched his shoulder, which gushed blood, and curled into a ball as the water overtook him. He hit the river system below and bumped violently against the sides of the drain as the tumultuous current carried him to the Hudson.

As darkness overtook him, Jack thought to himself that maybe this kind of fate was one he earned for himself, as punishment for everything he'd done to doom the city. In the end, maybe he did deserve it. Like he'd told Spiderman, he wasn't a hero, and he would never be one. He was thief, and at the end of it all, he would die a thief. Lycans weren't heroic anyway, and they were rarely depicted as do-gooders, if they ever were. Even Van Helsing killed his true love in the end. They weren't good guys. They were fiends, beasts, things to fear.

They were monsters.

And as his life flickered before him, Jack knew he would die a monster too.

Killed me to write this. Felt terribly sorry for him. How do you think our unfortunate soul will fare through his unexpected plunge? I'll make sure to let you know soon. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think of our Werewolf, and how the story's going! I love reading your feedback! Puts a smile on my face to know you guys like this story as much as I do! <3 :)

~Fargone5