Episode 15 (4/6/01)

Rose DeVega could barely see from her vantage point Silverbullet follow Captain Rancor and his toddler hostage into the arena. With a kiss, Rose had promised her lover she would stay in the car until the blood camp had been liberated. The doors were locked, the windows were rolled up and part of the aforementioned promise also entailed laying down out of sight on the floor of the car (Silverbullet half-jokingly threatened to lock Rose in the trunk to keep her safe).

This part of the promise was quickly broken. Rose couldn't resist watching Silverbullet plow through almost a dozen werewolves within minutes with both her martial artistry and elemental morphing. Beyond the obvious attraction stemming from a lifetime of heroic escapist fantasy intake, Rose DeVega remembered being forced to watch as the border patrol almost beat her mother to death just for coming to America and since then wished for a chance to do more in a fight than watch it go on.

Be careful what you wish for. Even if she had hid from view, the werewolves retreating from Silverbullet's sudden, surprise attack would've smelled Rose in her car. And since a mere human (albeit one longing for a good cause to fight for) is far easier prey than what they just faced and failed against, Rosešs car all too soon became as jostled about as a carnival bumper car. Two 7-foot, 500-pound wolfmen began cracking the car windows trying to reach inside to drag Rose outside to be eaten (fighting the likes of Silverbullet was evidently hungry work) even as she had started the car and tried driving away (or over them).

The two Wolf Pack attackers managed to hold Rose's four-door sedan in place, but only barely, between her flooring the gas pedal and jerking the steering wheel about. From the werewolves' point of view, it was almost as bad as trying to ride a bronco or break a wild stallion. Rose noticed all the fresh scars along their furry bodies and correctly deduced that they would've breached the sedan by now if Silverbullet hadn't already (temporarily) exhausted them. Rose also concluded that a supernaturally quick healing constitution would have them back at full strength just in time for what little gas she had left to finally run out -- as it was about to do.

But some wounds still took longer than others to heal, even for the supernatural. For eating a human right in front of humans at the blood camp, almost provoking a panic among the prisoners, Captain Rancor ripped a patch of his wolven aide de camp Fritz's fur and flesh clean off. It had been a whole day and yet the place on Fritz's forearm that Rancor had torn was still visibly raw and tender. Strands of white fur were slowly growing back over pink, inflamed skin and this stood out to Silverbullet, who somehow managed to notice this despite simultaneously slipping in and out of consciousness from being beaten by the man-beast.

Fritz had seen (as Captain Rancor had) Silverbullet in action -- how her ability to change shape and form blunt or sharp objects allowed her to slaughter several of their Wolf Pack outside the arena they made a blood camp. But to be frozen in one shape, too stiff to morph in any way at all... All but imprisoned in bipedal, humanoid form, Silverbullet was still at least solid silver, so she could withstand being repeatedly hammered by the furry claws of the 8-foot, 600-pound wolfman -- but not for much longer. So she took an uncharacteristic cheap shot. Spying Fritz's still fresh wound, she engaged in ironic role reversal and bit him there. If only I was warm and fluid enough to form fangs, Silverbullet thought to herself.

Despite her teeth only being human in shape and sharpness, the cheap shot paid off. Fritz shrieked and then howled in pain as he staggered back. Staggering backward so had caused him to accidentally bump into Captain Rancor, who had been standing behind his personal guard while Silverbullet was being beaten down. When Fritz bumped into an obviously startled Rancor, the vampire officer's suddenly diverted attention caused him to momentarily lose his grip on the 3-year-old human girl he had been holding hostage to bait Silverbullet with. Mercifully swift enough to take advantage of the situation, the toddler first somehow managed to land (more or less) on her feet and then bolt upon doing so further into the arena -- where she'd no doubt run right into the very parents Captain Rancor had forcibly separated her from moments ago.

TO BE CONTINUED