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A New Power - Chapter nine

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The threat called the moon


He could clearly feel his brother’s only thoughts smashing their way through his brain. He wanted to shut them out, but they were too strong.
“PREY, PREY! KILL, KILL!“
With a giant effort, he finally managed to free himself out of his brother’s mind. Again, he was in his room, but he couldn’t relax yet. Chris was still in his wolf form and it was obvious that he couldn’t control himself.
Martin didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he somehow had to make the predator unable to move until Aviva could figure out how to turn him back.
While he was distracted by thinking of what to do, the wolf leaped forward, tackled him to the ground and tried to bite his throat, missing it by only a couple of inches. Martin desperately tried to get free, but the animal crushed him with its weight.
He struggled under the heavy body that slowly but steadily pressed the air out of his lungs. He knew he had to think of something quickly, or the weight would start to damage his organs, not before it would manage to rip him to pieces.
Then, he had an idea. Making a fist, he hauled off and with all his strength he punched his brother in the side, hitting a rib. It worked!
Instantly, the wolf backed up, groaning. Martin used the moment of freedom and rolled away from his enemy. Shortly after he stood up, he saw the wolf leaping towards him and a plan formed in his head. As soon as the predator was close enough, Martin stepped aside. The animal couldn’t react fast enough and ran straight into the wall, knocking itself out. The brother in blue instantly left the room and locked the door, trying to trap his brother inside.
“Aviva! We have a big problem!” he screamed, banging his fists on her door.
“Martin, what is it? You know that it is shortly past midnight, right?” she yawned, peeking out of her room.
“I know, but it is Chris. He’s going crazy!” he said and leaned over, panting. “He just transformed, but he is somehow strange. It is like he can't control himself anymore!”
Instantly, she was next to him. “OK, where is he?”
“He is in my room. I managed to knock him out, but he could wake up any...” he couldn't finish his sentence. The door to his room opened with a crash and a bigger than normal and angry wolf came out. Its eyes were glowing a red colour and it came charging towards Aviva!
“Ahhh! Martin, help!” she screamed, as the animal tackled her, lift its paw and tried to slash her.
“I'm coming Aviva.” he cried. Running past the crazy Chris, as he had named this, in a way new, creature, he waved his arms and roared:
“Hey, Chris! Yes, you furry ball. Come and get me if you can!” With these words he ran outside. But when Chris started to follow him, he realized his mistake.
“Oh, no. I completely forgot that he is a great marathon runner now. I will never be able to escape!” Just as he thought that, he only felt the hot breath at the back of his neck, before he was hit by a giant paw and thrown a dozen yards away.
He tried to stand up again, rubbing his head, only to see crazy Chris charging at him again. Frantically, he looked for a weapon, something that would hold him down until Aviva could find a way to turn him back. Finally, his eyes were attracted by something long, thin and sharp. It was a tree branch that, somehow, had been sharpened by some animals, probably beavers. But he didn't care about that right now. He only needed it to drive crazy Chris to a place where they could cure him.
He picked it up just when the wolf leaped to tackle him again. Rolling to the side, he escaped, letting it rip out the grass at the very spot where he had been only a moment ago. He swallowed hard, but made himself ready to fight the creature.
But contrary to him, it wanted to kill him. He knew that, somewhere in this animalistic mind, there was his brother. He couldn't hurt or even kill him, but he somehow had to defeat him so that they could analyse his new body.
The animal charged again and this time, he had a better plan. When it was close enough, he banged the stick against its funny bone with all his strength. Instantly, crazy Chris backed up because of this horrible feeling in his arm. He groaned and tried to get rid of the pain and fizzy nerves, but it didn't stop.
He let out a feral roar and leaped again, pure hatred and madness in his eyes. Martin tried to hold him back with the sharp tip of his stick, but the creature just lifted his paw and slashed. Martin closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the stick was only a dull bit of wood in his hands.
He stumbled back and fell as the animal stepped forward. It grabbed him with one of his mighty paws and slammed him against a tree. The pain was so incredible he thought his head would explode. He heard his ribs cracking and coughed up some blood. They must have pierced his lungs, but that wouldn't be a problem anymore he thought, as he saw how the wolf was about to slash him with his other paw. Martin knew he wouldn't survive it, closed his eyes and prepared himself for the final blow which would kill him.
But it didn't come. Instead, he felt himself fall on the ground. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the creature stumble and finally fall over, knocked out. Martin lifted his face to see who just saved his life, only to see Jimmy, panting and holding a frying pan. He saw him coming over, but before Jimmy could do anything, Martin passed out.


With the others:
“Martin! Oh, no, Jimmy. What happened?” Aviva asked, after she came rushing out to see what was going on. But Jimmy didn't answer. Instead, he passed out in her arms, the most recent developments being too much for him to process.
Koki came out, carrying a shot with a clear liquid inside. She walked over to crazy Chris and injected him with the liquid.
“OK. He will be knocked out for four hours now, enough time for us to find something to help him. But we still have to chain him up. I don't know how his anatomy works, and perhaps it was not enough anaesthetic to make him sleep for that long. Aviva, you'll take care of Jimmy and Martin, I'll go and fetch some strong ropes and a wheelbarrow.” she ordered, and went inside to look for the things she needed.
Sometime later, Jimmy was in his bed to get some rest, crazy Chris was chained up in the middle of the room but still didn't move a muscle, and Martin was hooked up to some machines after Aviva had taken care of his fractured ribs and pierced lung. He was stable, but he needed time to heal.
“OK, I analysed the blood sample but I still don't know what happened exactly. I need Martin to wake up and tell me what was going on in his room, and perhaps I can find out what triggered the transformation.” Aviva said, but then she had to shield her eyes. The sun rose slowly over the treetops and shined into the room.
And then, it hit Chris. In front of their eyes, he began to morph back into a human, still in his pyjamas, but they were covered in small patches of blood and he had a wound on the back of his head where Jimmy had hit him with the pan. The chains fell when his body shrunk and didn't match the size of his shackles anymore. Slowly, he opened his eyes, wondering why he wasn't in his room anymore.
“Koki? Aviva? What happened...Ow, my head.” he groaned, clenching it with his hands. But he removed them instantly as pain as sharp as a knife sliced his brain. When he looked on his hands, they were covered in blood. Beginning to panic, he looked around in the room, only to notice that Martin wasn't there.
“Where is Martin? What happened, guys?” he looked at them, pure fear in his eyes. The girls gasped. They have never seen him like that, never. He has always been the one that was rational and calm, he never freaked out. But here, he looked like a caged animal, panting, sweating and darting looks around the room.
“Chris, everything is OK now, you don't have to be afraid.” they tried to calm him down, but he could tell that they felt uneasy, as if they were...lying to him.
“No. There is something you're not telling me.” he said, climbing down the table and standing in front of them. They looked down, not wanting to tell him what happened. “Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll ask Martin.”
Instantly, they stopped him. “No, you can't talk to him right now. He is...well...” Aviva started, but she stopped when Chris grabbed her and lifted her into the air.
“You will...tell me...what happened...NOW!” he said between his clenched teeth. She didn't say anything and didn't move, not only because she wasn't able to, but also because she was afraid of him.
Chris just stood there and tightened his grip around her arms. Koki heard the anger in his voice, but his eyes said something else. They were still full of fear and panic. Fear, that something horrible was going on. So horrible, that nobody wanted to tell him about it.
Koki couldn't bear it anymore. She felt he would go crazy if they remained silent. So, she slowly walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Fast as lightning, he spun around as if he was tracked by an animal. Seeing that it was only her, he relaxed a bit and finally put Aviva down again, but only to try to attack Koki.
“Chris, stop! I'll tell you what happened, but you have to promise me not to go crazy!” she cried when he wanted to grab her, too. He backed up, and nodded. She helped the, still shocked, Aviva to sit down and took a deep breath.
“Tonight, you slept both in your room, you and Martin, right?” He nodded again. “OK. We don't know what happened exactly, but suddenly, Martin came rushing out and said that you were a wolf again.” she explained, seeing the confusion in his eyes. Obviously, he didn't remember any of the things that happened last night.
“When Aviva came out to help him, you tried to...attack her, but Martin lured you outside.” Now, she could see that he began to tremble, but she had to tell him everything. She just wasn't sure if he could handle it.
“We don't know what happened there, but when we went outside, we saw how you...attacked Martin. You grabbed him and smashed him against a tree, and if Jimmy wouldn't have taken that pan and knocked you out, you would have...killed him.” she finished.
As he heard what he has been about to do, his eyes grew wide and he collapsed. Instantly, she rushed over to him and saw him lying on the floor, panting.
“I...I wanted to...to kill him.” he whispered, looking at his bloody hands. Then, he clenched his head in pain. “I was about to...kill my brother. Oh, what have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?” he roared, tears streaming down his face.
And then she saw it: As he screamed in pain and horror, his body changed again. But this time, it wasn't a complete transformation. Only his ears changed shape and his tail grew. The ears were put against his neck and his tail was clenched between his legs.
She tried to come closer to calm him down, but he turned away from her, still holding his head and not noticing the shifting.
“No, don't come near me. I'm a monster!”
“Chris, it's OK...” she tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he crawled away from her, his eyes filled with fear.
“Please, Koki. Stay away! I don't want to hurt you.”
“But you're not going to hurt me. It wasn't your fault what happened.”
“Yes, it was! I transformed and attacked him; I tried to kill my own brother! Nobody can forgive such a horrible thing; nobody can forgive that kind of high treason!”
She gave up, seeing that nothing would calm him down but some rest.
“Come Chris, I'll bring you to bed.” she came closer and this time, he didn't fight back. Instead, he collapsed in her arms.
'Poor little fellow, he must be exhausted. These transformations drain too much of his energy, and he almost didn't sleep at all last night.' she thought, carrying him to his room and carefully tucking him into his bed. He almost fell asleep instantly.
“Good night, Chris. You'll see, when you'll wake up, everything will be alright...at least I hope so.”

The next morning, Aviva woke up, still dizzy from the recent happenings, and went to check on Martin. She didn't want to think about it, but the state Chris has been in yesterday still whirled around in her head.
She had never seen him like that. It was like he had been a completely different person, scared, panicked and paranoid, instead of his usual rational, calm and thinking self. She just hoped that he was better now, after he had slept more than 24 hours. She herself had needed that much sleep to recover from his reaction towards her.
As she came into Martin's room, she noticed that he was already awake. Koki sat next to his bed, a plate with breakfast on her lap.
“Morning Aviva!” he said, and took a big bite off his jam, chocolate spread and rainbow sprinkles sandwich. “How are you today?”
“Thanks, I'm...fine.” she answered, avoiding his looks. With a quick glance at Koki, she asked her if she had already told him what had happened the last day. Koki quickly shook her head, and motioned her to go outside.
“Err, what's going on?” Martin asked them, confused about their strange behaviour. But they didn't react, they just exited the room.
“Aviva, I think he forgot everything that happened yesterday. He must have some kind of amnesia caused by the attack. I didn't want to tell him right away, because he would surely be strongly affected. I don't want him to be afraid of his brother.” Koki said.
But Aviva knew they had to tell him, sooner or later he would find out by himself, and it was better that he knew when he was prepared.
“Martin? We have to tell you something. Do you know where you got your wound from?” she asked.
“No. I already asked Koki, but she won't answer me!”
Aviva took a deep breath. “You know that Chris can transform, right? Well, last night, he lost control and attacked us.”
Martin interrupted her. “No, he didn't! He would never do that!” he said, crossing his arms. But when he saw the serious looks on their faces, he realized that they were not joking. “Did he really attack us?” he asked, not wanting to believe it.
Sad, Aviva nodded. “But he had no control. He was completely unaware of it when we asked him about it yesterday. And Koki, could you please check on him? Thanks.” she said, as her friend left the room.
“Aviva, please tell me what happened exactly. I have to know!” Martin begged. She sighed.
“You lured him outside, and there, he...smashed you against a tree.” He gasped, eyes widening, but she had to carry on.
“Jimmy managed to knock him out, but if he wouldn't have done that, I think that Chris would have...killed you.” she ended, afraid of his reaction.
At first, he didn't say a word, only stared into the distance as if he was seeing something that was invisible to her eyes.
Finally, he looked at her again.
“Yes, he attacked us. But at the same time, it wasn't him. When I looked into his eyes, I saw something different, and his mind has been controlled by something else. Something powerful had taken control over him, making him unable to counter-attack and protect us.”
And then, he realized.
“Oh no! He is probably blaming himself for what happened! We have to help him!” Instantly, he jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain in his chest. In the same moment, Koki came bursting through the door, holding a piece of paper in her hand.
“Guys, we have a problem. Chris disappeared!”
“WHAT?” Aviva and Martin cried in unison.
“He only left this note.” Instantly, everybody crowded around her to read it.
'I attacked you all and even tried to kill my brother. I am a danger to us all. Please, don't look for me; I don't want to hurt you anymore. Tell Martin that I will never forget him.
Chris'
“We have to go and look for him, NOW!” Martin punched his hand as they walked out of the room.
“Yes, we know, but you'll stay here.” Aviva said.
“But why? I'm his brother. He will listen to me!”
“Because your ribs still have to heal, and if he comes back by himself, we need someone here who can take care of him instantly. Right now, he is emotionally unstable and will need instant care. You will be the best to care for him, that's why you're staying here.” Aviva said and shoved him into a chair.
“But...Aw, man.” he pouted. But she was right. Chris would probably freak out if he came back and nobody was there. So he stayed as Aviva, Koki and Jimmy went into the forest to look for Chris.


Somewhere in the forest:
He ran through the forest, trees flashing by as his paws hit the ground in a steady rhythm. It was incredible! In his human form, he was insecure, weak and scared. Now, he felt so powerful! He could just run for hours, smell everything, and the whole forest feared him. Here, HE was the predator, this was his territory. Nobody could hurt him here, and he wouldn't endanger his family ever again.
He stopped. His family. He was about to leave them forever, about to leave his past life behind. But he had to do it. He has been about to kill his brother! He was a traitor, unable to come back ever again. So, he turned around, and without a single look back, he disappeared in the darkness between the trees.
But then, he heard a buzzing sound behind him. There were no bushes to hide in, he had no choice. He ran towards a tree with pretty low branches, jumped and shifted back in mid-air, grabbing the strongest branch and swinging himself up. Quickly, he climbed higher, until he could see everything that happened under him, but himself was invisible to the eyes of his trackers.
Some seconds later, he distinguished three figures under him. They were screaming his name, unaware that he was so close.
'How did they find me so fast?' he thought. Then, he slapped his forehead. 'Of course, the tracks! They must have followed them on the buzz-bikes. How could I forget to make them disappear?' But it was too late now. They already noticed that the tracks were leading nowhere. He smiled to himself. They just couldn't let him go, could they? But they had to, because he wouldn't come back.
Then, he felt something in his mind. Another presence, but not completely new.
'Come back! Chris, please, come back.'
'Martin! How can I hear you?' he thought angrily.
'I can address you directly. Learned that yesterday. But you have to come back, we need you! I need you!' Martin begged.
'You don't get it, do you? I won't come back! I lost control and almost killed you; I don't want that to happen anymore.'
'But Chris, we can do it! I can help you control your new power, and we will be able to live incredible Creature Adventures!'
'No! I'm a traitor. Nobody can forgive such a horrible thing.'
'Chris?' Martin stopped in his thoughts. 'I forgive you.'
'What? But why? I tried to kill you, that is impossible to forgive!'
'But I forgive you.' he told him gently. 'I'm your brother. It wasn't you who attacked us; it was some kind of bad spirit that took over your body. You didn't do anything. Just let us help you to control it.'
'Do you really think that I won't be a danger to you anymore?'
'Yes. Even if you'll lose control again, we will be prepared and will be able to hold you back. Everything will be OK.'
Chris could almost see Martin's reassuring smile in his thoughts, as he made his final decision.
He would come back. For the sake of his family and friends.


Later, in the Tortuga:
“OK. I finally analysed your blood sample, but this time, I used other methods based off the information you gave me about the shifting.” Aviva said, lifting the piece of paper with the results of her experiments.
“Then what happened? What caused me to transform and lose control?” Chris asked nervously, but eager to know the answer.
“I'll try to explain it in an easy way. You transformed when the moon was full, right? Like with a Werewolf, the wolf-part of your DNA reacted to the powerful attraction of the full moon. I don't fully understand how your wolf mind took over, but as soon as the ray of light hit you, the moon, in addition to the wolf part of your mind, started to control you. I know, that sounds weird, but I had no other explanation.” she told them.
“But is there any way to stop this? Did you find a cure?” Martin asked.
“There is a cure, but it is impossible to do that. In order to make him normal again, I would have to take the wolf-DNA out of every single cell in his body, and that is impossible, I'm sorry.” she apologized.
“It is no problem. You'll just have to chain me up every time the moon is full, and I won't be able to hurt you anymore.” Chris reassured her. “And I wouldn't want to lose my new power, anyway.” he grinned and laid his arm around his brother's shoulders.
“Then, it is official: Chris Kratt is a Werewolf, and proud of it!” Martin joked. “Beware of the full moon, it will drive you crazy!”
Chris shifted partly, only changing his head and neck, and began to howl. And soon, the whole crew joined in, filling the place with their howls.
And this is the ninth chapter where the story ends. There is a tenth one, which leads up to the sequel, but you can choose whether I should upload it or not. The Sequel is called "A new enemy". Leave a comment if you have anything to tell or ask me, I'll be happy to respond!
The Show Wild Kratts does not belong to me. It belongs to the Kratt Brothers, to 9 Studio and to PBS.
© 2017 - 2024 FrancistheDragon
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