He plowed through any trees too stupid to get out of his way, his fear driving him forward with the momentum of a cannon ball. Not-Wolfie didn’t care that he had a sleeping marine stuck to his back. He didn’t care that he was running on empty. All he knew was that his friends were in danger, and it was up to him to save them. (Or if he was too late, avenge them. Or if they had made him worry for nothing, kill them. Either way, someone was about to die.)
As he broke through the tree line, Not-Wolfie caught sight of the remaining wisp. It was in the process of dragging Wolfie and Also-Not-Wolfie to a bowl shaped depression in the center of the ruins.
“NOT TODAY, YOU HENTAI LOOKING MOTHER-FUCKER!” Not-Wolfie screamed as he barreled toward the glowing blue wisp. The dire wolf didn’t even know what hentai was. The word had come to him unbidden, as if his new class was making him a conduit for forbidden academic knowledge. (Which was technically true, though probably not in the way he was thinking.)
Not-Wolfie felt his blood boil as his rage grew from a flickering flame to a raging inferno, triggering his new class ability.
Big Feelings
Prerequisites: Berserker
Cost: 1 Stress
Duration: 5 Minutes
Your body is too small to contain the rage within you. Increase your size by one category while Enraged.
You are under the effects of Enlarge.
Your size has increased from Large to Huge
+1 to Attack: Melee
-1 to Deflect
The remaining wisp flailed its tentacles at him, but that wasn’t enough to stop over two thousand kilos of pissed off dire wolf. Not-Wolfie didn’t try to evade the attack. Instead, the dire wolf gladly accepted every lash and sting, letting them fuel his rage even further.
Was this pathetic little wisp stupid enough to think that I would just let it sacrifice my friends? Not-Wolfie thought as he used his bodyweight to pin the struggling creature. The wisps hadn’t fared well against normal dire wolves, and thanks to his class, Not-Wolfie’s was a full size bigger than his packmates. It kept trying to lash out at him, but the fight was all but over.
“You’re already dead. You just don’t know it yet,” said the dire wolf as he felt his mind ascend to the deadly calm beyond rage. Fear and anxiety melted away, replaced by serene tranquility and the conscious desire to inflict harm on any creature stupid enough to threaten his packmates. And to the dire wolf’s delight, he had one such creature pinned beneath him.
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Not-Wolfie leaned in close and let out a low menacing growl. “I don’t know if you can understand me,” he told the wisp, “I don’t know if you have ears to hear my words, or a brain capable of comprehending speech. But I don’t care. One way or another, I’ll make sure you get the message.”
It couldn’t understand the dire wolf’s words, but his intent was coming through loud and clear. The wisp stopped struggling, hoping against hope that Not-Wolfie would choose to show it mercy.
The dire wolf glanced over at his packmates. They were still breathing, thank Francis. But neither one was in any shape to do much besides lay there and hallucinate. They grinned like idiots, their wide eyes following dancing lights that only they could see.
At least they seem to be enjoying themselves, Not-Wolfie thought as he directed his attention back to the task at hand.
He had always imagined self-control as a grasping vine, something that could be wrapped around his anger to keep it from hurting his friends. But the hate burning a hole in his chest was too powerful to be contained. He needed to let it out before it killed him. He needed to set it free.
Not-Wolfie had momentarily dipped into a pool of lucidity and peace, but now the time for words was ending. The dire wolf took one last breath and closed his eyes. Then he consciously surrendered to his rage, and slowly exhaled.
The berserker felt a vicious wave of calm settle over him as he opened his eyes. He looked down at the creature that had dared to hurt his friends, and smiled.
***
Wolfie was still poisoned, and actively hallucinating. But at least the paralysis was finally starting to wear off.
“Our friend certainly seems to be enjoying his new class,” observed Wolfie.
“What new class?” asked Also-Not-Wolfie as he rolled on his side to get a better look, “Oh, yeah. He’s a lot bigger than usual, isn’t he? Do you think it’s permanent?”
“I have no idea,” replied Wolfie.
The dire wolves watched as their packmate violently disassembled the unfortunate wisp. Despite Not-Wolfie’s best efforts; the creature was still managing to cling to life, which enraged the dire wolf even more.
Not-Wolfie opened his jaws as wide as they would go, then closed them around the smaller creature. At first there was resistance. But then the wisp finally popped, filling his mouth with sticky blue ichor. He chewed the brainless creature into paste, then swallowed it.
Congratulations! Not-Wolfie has defeated a Blue Psychedelic Wisp!
Experience will be divided among the party!
“Uh… buddy,” mumbled Wolfie from his position on the ground nearby, “That… that was a lot of wisp.”
“Way, way, way, too much,” agreed Also-Not-Wolfie, “We each had… like… a few bites of a tentacle.”
“And we’re both really, really fucked up,” added Wolfie.
Not-Wolfie felt his body begin to shrink down to normal size as rage turned into apprehension. “What do I do?”
The two tripping dire wolves shared a look of concern. But they had to stop, because one of them was turning into a six dimensional butterfly, and they both found the concept of extra dimensions deeply confusing.
Finally, Also-Not-Wolfie spoke up. “I don’t know, dude. Just… enjoy the show?”
“What show?” asked Not-Wolfie as his legs buckled.
A minute later, he got his answer. “Oh,” said the dire wolf as he felt his consciousness expand, “That show!”
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