A growl, a roar. More than animalistic, less than human. The Werewolf by Night had searched through wild forests of 1 and Canada for the right person or group of persons to help him in his hunt for the Knights of the Wolf and their leader, Mr. Satan. They had been searching ang chasing him for miles and countries now but he had seemed to have eluded them, thus far.

He saw it. The Alpha Complex, made of plastic and metal, almost a white shadow on his plight. His plight, his flight. When he was Jack Russell, he vaguely remembered reading in the Canadian Times about a member of Alpha Flight named Sasquatch. A man, a scientist, who studied gamma radiation and bombarded himself with tons of it to cure him of his poor eyesight. How stupid of Walter. Had he not heard of Lasik or contacts? But to each their own.

Sasquatch could help him, with the help of the rest of the Flight. But it wasn’t Walter Langkowski who greeted him when he approached the entranceway of the Complex, but a teenager with glasses. He was wearing an odd watch on his wrist. He was mumbling something about the sunlight and the sun must come out at this most precise moment.

Even through his hideous creature features, the werewolf saw that a beam of pure sunlight had entered an aperture in the watch and this youngling transformed into a gaudily clad super hero. He introduced himself as Solarman, said things that he wouldn’t take kindly to intruders, that the werewolf must turn back and go back the way whence he came, and most importantly, if he didn’t do as instructed, Solarman will find out if fur can burn.

Burn, baby, burn...

From out of his outstretched fingertips came solar energy the likes of which the werewolf had never seen. And the fur did burn and cause him great pain. Russell felt that his whole body was on fire, which it was. An idea occurred to the werewolf; if he transformed back into his human self, maybe this madman would stop attacking him. Maybe it would work. If it didn’t, then Jack Russell would die a young death.

The werewolf instinctively started the reverse transformation. Body hair retreated into his pores and he shrank to normal size. When it was over, all that was left was a half-naked man, clad in blue shorts, and steam rising from his backside.

“Whoa, who are you?’ Solarman asked, as the sunlight blasts stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Hold your fire, Solarman,” a voice other than the former wolf said. Solarman looked up in the sky behind him and saw Guardian landing right in front of him. Mac turned his EM—field off and separated the two previously fighting men. “This man may look like a horror show, but he is a friend to me. And Walter.”

Solarman closed the opening in his watch and changed back into Ben Tucker. “I kinda get that now. Like I said before, who is he?”

The naked man stepped forward and extended his hand for Ben to shake it. “My name is Jack Russell, but you may know me as the Werewolf by Night. I need your help, Guardian. There are some people after me. The last time I encountered them, I had help; Captain America and Moon Knight. * Now, this criminal, Mr. Satan, has been released from jail. He is after me. I need your help to defeat him. Will you assist me?”

(* See M2K’s Captain America Vol. 1 #15—Gregg.)

A figure garbed in kung fu gear crashed through one of the windows of the big mansion in a suburban district of Canada, preparing to do battle with the Cultists housed within. The man’s name was Shang-chi, the Master of Kung Fu, and he had been searching for Mr. Satan for months now. He had heard through the criminal grapevine that this Mr. Satan had been targeting Jack Russell for a long time ever since that debacle with Captain America and Moon Knight, years before, and anyone that targets an innocent creature like the Werewolf by Night is an evil man indeed.

His highly trained eyes scanned the room. Like Iron Fist, Shang-chi was a master of the martial arts. He could easily defend himself against any enemy, whether they be armed or not. He spied that the boys, girls, men, and women who had been brainwashed by Mr. Satan were actually supernatural creatures of the night, like Jack Russell, but these were turned evil by their Cult Leader.

They surrounded him from all sides. And he was clearly outnumbered. A young girl who was a vampire with razor-sharp claws and fangs went for Shang-chi’s throat, with the desire to turn him into of them. But he blocked her lunge with his arm, breaking her nails.

He grabbed her from the waist and hoisted her above his head. Then, Shang-chi hurled her into the crowd, knocking them all down like bowling pins. Seeing that the battle could be won in minutes, Shang-chi knew that these youngsters weren’t trained in fighting techniques.

Mr. Satan stepped forward and removed his mask. His eyes glowed red, red with blood, and ever penetrating rays of light pierced inside Shang-chi’s brain. He felt his mind being taken over by Mr. Satan. But he fought back.

Shang-chi turned away from Satan and went out from whence he came.

“No one has been able to resist my commands before,” Mr. Satan said, pulling his mask back over his head. “No one.”

The young vampire showed Mr. Satan her chipped nails. “He broke me. Do you know the phone number of a good manicurist?”

The Alpha Complex

Mr. Gentry postponed the immediate meeting of Alpha Flight and Jack Russell when they all heard the new report of the break-in of the Knights of the Wolf’s headquarters by Shang-chi. Gentry invited the Master of Kung Fu to the Alpha Complex to join them in their fight against the cult. Shang-chi was wounded from his battle and he felt disoriented from the attempted brainwashing on his mind. But after a little rest, a cup of java, and he felt as good as new.

“You both say that a ‘Mr. Satan’ is the ringleader of this little operation,” Mr. Gentry said, wanting to know the answers to the questions on the lips of every Alphan. “Who is he and what does he want from you two?”

“He is a villain from my past,” Jack offered. “Although he takes his name from the lord of the underworld, his real threat comes from his ability to alter people’s minds, to in effect brainwash people. He has taken children who possess supernatural powers and brainwashed them to his cause of destruction. I was his next victim.”

Shang-chi stood up and spoke his mind. “Jack contacted me after his battle with Captain America and Moon Knight. It seems that Mr. Satan does not give up so easily. We have been searching for the Cult for some time now to no success until now…”

Mr. Gentry harrumphed. “It looks like I have no choice in the matter but to send your complete opposites to aid you in your fight. I’ll send Kamikaze and Sasquatch with you to expose Mr. Satan for the fiend that he is.”

Jack Russell bowed his head. “Dr. Langkowski, I can’t be held responsible for what happens when I turn into a werewolf. Sometimes I lose control.”

“That is why I am here,” Walter said. “I’ll help you gain control in case they give you that drug to make you go more enraged. Trust me, nothing will go wrong.”

The trail had led them to a grassy plain on the outskirts of town in Canada. The Knights of the Wolf had moved from New York City where the American super heroes would most likely pound them into paste to Canada where there were less heroes.

There were two guards at the mansion. Shang-chi smiled. “Kamikaze and I will handle those miscreants. You two hirsute beings will storm the mansion.”

Kamikaze nodded in the affirmative.

“Give me a moment to change,” Walter said. In seconds, both him and Jack Russell transformed into their bestial forms. The Werewolf was ready to fight but Sasquatch had to hold him back.

Vaulting from tree to tree, Kamikaze hurled gas grenades to knock out he guards. But the guards were creatures of the night. They were beginning to change into their nocturnal selves. The ninja hurled throwing stars at their fur and skin, hoping against hope that that would stop them post haste. It did not. They used their razor sharp claws and animalistic fury to block them, having the stars become imbedded on the wall behind them.

Now, it was Shang-chi’s turn. A fierce kick to the head temporarily stopped the creature’s advance. It was a flurry of activity for moments of punches and kicks until both guards fell silent.

But before Sasquatch and the Werewolf could enter the fray, Mr. Satan came out of hiding, took off his mask, and brainwashed the four of them. His eyes were blood red and soon, they were under his evil spell.

Mr. Satan revived his two guards and they carried the four Alphans to a prison dungeon. He reapplied his mask. He knew that the beginning of the end of Alpha Flight was soon at hand.