Chapter 6 - Arrival

It was a dark night, but no one noticed it in this city as the lights were always shining into the beyond, and the citizens never truly slept.

Still, there were some areas where the buildings were too close together to be truly lit up. Most of these areas existed in the slums, where the dregs of society banded together in gangs and tried to squeeze out a meagre existence.

It was in one of these unlit, relatively dark alleyways that a sudden flash of light occurred, and a tall, naked mass of muscle appeared.

The mass of muscle staggered a little before he stabilised himself and looked around, marvelling at the strange structures around him. 

His bare feet felt wet as he looked down and saw he was standing in a puddle of blood dripping from a lower body that was missing its upper part.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "I guess this means I won't have to silence any witnesses."

A beautiful woman dressed in red appeared next to him, but instead of standing in the blood pool, she floated slightly off the ground and shrugged, saying, 

"Wrong time, wrong place. The teleportation can be a little violent, it seems, or maybe it's a lack of experience on my part. Either way, it's a good thing we didn't land in a more populated area."

Ivar nodded, "Right, setting that aside, any idea where we are? Clearly, this planet is inhabited by an intelligent species, but is it our original planet?" He then lifted his arm and looked at his fist as he clenched and unclenched it. "Also, why do I feel weaker, and why am I naked? "

Selene shook her head, "I have no idea where we are. But the fact this place is inhabited bodes well for our plan of gathering allies." She then looked up at the night sky and noticed a single moon, barely visible through the light pollution and said, 

"Your weakness is likely because my moon back on Máni bathes that planet with energies that will empower therians, while that is not the case here."

She grinned, "But have no fear, as I will always be with you from here on." She then gained a red glow before it retreated again, but Ivar felt the consequences of whatever she did through the lost strength returning to him.

Ivar nodded, "Thank you." After all, there's no point in not being polite to the goddess that is helping you become more powerful. But he had to be careful not to get too dependent on her, at least not until he found a way to keep her under control.

Selene shrugged, "As for your clothes, they got disintegrated during teleportation." She then looked at the large meatstick dangling between Ivar's legs and grinned, saying, "I don't mind the view, though."

Ivar had long since realised this woman was no prude and clearly took after the therians in many ways. So he grinned back at her, "I bet you don't." 

Then he frowned, "But we have more important things to deal with, as I still feel a little strange."

Selene nodded, "Right; while most of my stored energy was spent on teleporting and bonding with you, I used whatever was left to start strengthening your lineage. You should be able to shift only parts of your body now instead of all or nothing."

Ivar looked intrigued upon hearing this and immediately attempted to shift only his hand, something he quickly succeeded in as he suddenly looked at his humanoid wolf claw instead of a hand while the rest of his body remained the same.

He smiled and said, "This could come in handy!" before chuckling at his own bad joke.

Selene rolled her eyes before looking excited like a teenager in an adult store, "If you are done with the bad jokes, let's get out there and conquer this place!"

Ivar smirked at her, "Not even considering the diplomatic option, huh?"

Selene's excitement dulled a little, "Don't tell me you have?"

Ivar chuckled, "Of course not."

He looked around to ensure no one else saw his arrival, "Shouldn't you be hiding, by the way? A naked man is one thing, but I doubt floating red-headed bombshells are common here."

Selene giggled, "Not to worry, only you can see me. In fact, I'm not even really floating here; it's all in your head."

Ivar scratched his hair, unsure how he felt about his head being messed with, but quickly shook his head as he had more immediate problems to deal with.

He asked, "So, how do we get your more energy to aid in empowering my lineage?"

Selene grinned, "Simple. I am not only the goddess of the crimson moon but also the goddess of therians. While I will naturally accumulate energy as I am bonded to you, it will go much faster if you perform actions that align with therian customs and instincts."

Ivar grinned back at her, "So, fuck, kill, dominate, lead and convert?"

Still grinning, Selene nodded, "That's right, not a problem for you, right?"

Ivar chuckled, "Of course not." He then looked at himself, "First things first, though. Although I enjoy walking around like this, it's not great for blending in, and I doubt I am powerful enough to simply start conquering straight away. I need to find some clothes."

Ivar shifted his ears to those of a wolf and used his enhanced hearing to scout the surroundings. He was almost immediately deafened by the cacophony of sounds around him, but he quickly adapted and filtered out the different sounds, one of the first skills taught to young therians of the Fenrir clan.

Soon, he found what he was looking for and took off running.

********

A young, human-looking woman was dashing through dark alleys while clutching her side with her right hand, as clear red blood was streaming from between her fingers.

In her other hand, she carried a futuristic-looking handgun which she occasionally banged against the walls while yelling, "Come on, work, you piece of shit! Godamit, why the hell did you start jamming now?! Didn't I give you a checkup earlier?!"

From behind her came three men who, while seemingly having replaced some body parts with robotics, still looked relatively human. They did not seem to be in a hurry as they leisurely strolled after the struggling woman.

One of the men smirked and said, with clear malice in his eyes, "Come on, Alita, stop running. Your gun doesn't work, and no one in this neighbourhood is going to lift a finger to aid you. Just surrender, and maybe we'll try to make your last moment a little more pleasant."

He licked his lips at his last words, the meaning clear to everyone, as his two compatriots had perverted smiles while the young woman became even paler as she tried to pick up the pace.

She yelled, "Stay away from me, you sick fuck! I don't know how you know my name, but since you know so much, surely you're aware the others won't let you get away with it?!"

The three men kept advancing as the one who spoke earlier did so again, "Oh, we're not too worried about that. We're confident they won't make a fuss. Now, come here before we have to start getting rough."

Alita groaned and coughed up some blood before she stumbled around a corner, only to find herself in a dead end. She cursed herself for not knowing this area well enough but quickly realised there was no chance to turn around anymore.

So she moved forward and set herself down against the wall before she took her hand off of her wound, causing the blood to flow freely while she frantically started trying to get her gun to work.

But there was no point; the gun didn't work, and her pursuers were now in front of her.

She didn't even have the means to take her own life before her obvious fate arrived, so all she could do was glare at the three men in defiance, determining herself not to give them the satisfaction of screaming.

As they closed in on her with perverted smiles, the leading man took out a knife, "We'll kill you eventually, of course, but first, we'll have our fun, and for that, I feel like you need to be a little more compliant first."

As they prepared to torture the woman a little before they got down to business, one of the more alert men suddenly tapped the leader on the shoulder, "Hey, uh, boss. We have a spectator."

The leading man raised an eyebrow as he looked behind them, only to see a large, powerful-looking, but stark-naked man looking at them before advancing forward.

One look at this person gave the leading man the realisation that he stood no chance against him in single combat, but luckily, alone, he was not nor was he unarmed, like this naked man seemed to be.