Tomas’ soul was sitting in the emptied moonshine jar on the centre of the table between Wally and Wanda. Wanda had lined the jar with her black glove so that it wouldn’t drift off and disintegrate. Wally was squinting at it through her sunglasses as she explained things to him.

“He Jusht walked in an let ya tug out his soul? Ishhe a bit slow or what?” Wally slurred his words. He took the sunglasses off, put them down on the table and shook his head to clear it.

He had learned two important things about Tomas since Wanda had sat him down to explain. First, the fella made poor life choices, his hand was missing, his body was stolen, he owed Wanda a bunch of cash, and he wore unicorn shirts. But Wally was hardly one to judge when it came to making life decisions; Him having died as a result of his alcoholism and all.

And speaking of alcohol, the second big thing Wally had learned about Tomas was that he had no tolerance for it at all. That single jar of moonshine he downed upon waking up had left his eyes spinning and head buzzing. This was the first time in ages he had actually enjoyed being drunk as opposed to feeling numb and sick. That much would have just been breakfast for his old body.

Wally was also learning a lot about himself. He had never realised just how unwell he had been. He had forgotten how it felt like to not be hungover or sick. What it felt like to be young and light on his feet. Even his skin felt better now that it wasn't sunburned. The absence of pain was glorious! “I vow to slip, slop, slap, from this day forth,” he murmured to himself.

“WALLY!” Wanda snapped him out of his thoughts. He had completely zoned out and hadn’t even paid attention to her answer to his question.

“Shorry, what’d you say?” He tried real hard to pay attention to her this time.

“I said… You know what, never mind. Tell me about what you last remember. It may give me a clue as to how you ended up in Tomas’ body,” She said, annoyed at his lack of attention.

“Right, yeah, right. Lemme jusht take off this, uhh thing. It doeshn’t provide enough sun protection,” He got up, removing the fishnet jacket and wobbled over the coat rack.

Wanda sighed, “We’re indoors.”

Ignoring her, Wally picked up a hanger and tried to hook the jacket on with his one hand. He found it too difficult in his inebriated state. So, instead of hanging the jacket, he just draped it over the top of the whole rack. He turned back to Wanda and held the hanger out like a fishing rod.

“So, I was out fishing on the lake…”

A master actor can captivate an audience and spirit them off into the world of the story. No matter what prop they hold in their hands, to the audience, it is what the actor wants it to be. Wally could be a master actor. As long as the prop had a hook, like a coat hanger for example; and as long as he was under the influence of an alcoholic substance, His supernatural ability made it so.

Wanda’s eyes sparkled in excitement as Wally gave the most dramatic and captivating rendition of a fish’s capture she had ever heard. She was literally on the edge of her seat, gripping the table when it sounded like the fish would escape. She jumped and cheered when Wally revealed he had one last trick up his sleeve. She shed tears of joy upon his capture of the fish and tears of sorrow at his subsequent death in the water.

Wally finished the story with a bow, “and that's the last thing I remember before waking up here.”

Wanda stood and applauded. Even the weird part at the end with the talking fish had been amazing.

The front door to her shop was kicked in.

Three armed soldiers rushed into the room, with guns raised, “There he is! Open fire!” The first to enter ordered. He pointed the barrel of his gun at Wally and pulled the trigger. A tranquillizer dart shot out; Time slowed.

What you have to realise about Wally, is that he is a real deal, superhuman. Up until now he only had a powerful-on-a-universal-scaled magic fish to square his powers against. He had never used his powers offensively against a non-fish. This would be his first.

The hanger that was moments ago an acting prop in the hands of a master actor changed as Wally’s intention for it changed. It whipped down and hit the dart mid-air, deflecting it to fly past the left side of his face and into a wolf poster on the wall. The hanger was now a deadly weapon in the hands of a divine sword master. His perception of time resumed.

The second intruder fired their dart soon after. Wally effortlessly deflected that dart as well with an upwards strike. The dart flew into the ceiling and the impact knocked several dream catchers down. Wanda overcame her initial shock and began to scream.

As the third was lining up their shot, the first two started to dash forward to grab Wally, he unleashed one of his secret weapons, "Who the bugger are you lemon sucking goat heaps?!"

The words hit like a blow from a sledgehammer. The two charging Wally stumbled to a stop. The one taking aim was even more drastically affected. She lowered her aim and fell to one knee clutching her chest. She had never been so offended in her life.

The man closest to Wally went nuts. His normally stoic face cracked in anger. He screamed and resumed his charge. Wally stepped forward and swung his coat hanger in a diagonal arc. The hanger's hook pierced straight into the man’s remaining eye. Wally's momentum ripped the eye clean out of its socket. Then, with a graceful sidestep, Wally avoided the now-blind man’s charge like a bullfighter, “Gotcha eye, Winky.”

The second man resumed his charge moments later. He leapt forward in a low tackle. Wally reversed direction, took a step back, and kicked his ballerina slippered foot straight up into the man’s throat. It connected with a crunch. The man lost all strength but his momentum kept him moving forward toward Wally. Unable to dodge as he had done the other one, Wally fell backwards letting the man crash over him. They fell into a jumble on the floor, the man on top of Wally, struggling to breathe. He was too heavy for Wally to push off, “Get off me, ya fat lump!” Wally shouted as he struggled.

Wanda continued screaming as she tried to flee as fast as she could out the back door of the room. She ran straight into a fourth invader who was about to make his way in through the same door. She was a large woman and, relatively, he was a small man; physics did their thing. He bounced back and his head rammed hard into the opposite wall. He slumped unconscious. Wanda screamed again, louder.

Back in the room, the female invader had shaken off Wally’s verbal attack, picked up her tranquilliser gun and was trying to get a clear shot. Her suffocating teammate was in the way, “Get off him, Poindexter! Gimme a clear shot!”

Her blinded leader was up too. Standing, stumbling about, teeth grit in fury and pain. An unfortunate side effect of Wally’s curse words was that they turned the man savage. He was out for blood no matter the cost. He could hear the sounds of struggling on the floor nearby. Stepping towards the sounds, he kicked. The blow only scuffed Wally’s head.

“Close your eyes and open yer mouth!” From the floor, Wally hurled the hanger, eyeball still attached, around the choking man on top of him. The eyeball hit the woman square in the face. She jerked and pulled the trigger. The dart shot out and pierced the blind man’s thigh.

Without any Hooked tool in hand, he was just a skinny drunk guy and couldn't defend himself. The leader grunted at being shot, adjusted his aim and kicked Wally in the head twice more before succumbing to the tranquilliser, tumbling down limp. Despite the man’s inability to see, softening the power of the kicks, Wally's head still rang.

The final intruder pulled out a taser from a holster and made her way forward. The man on top of Wally had gone limp. Wally pushed and struggled to get out from under him. The woman strode over, jammed the taser into Wally’s side and let it rip.

"Toad-faced son of the devil!" Wally screeched as his body convulsed. The woman jerked back at his words but recovered. His words were having less effect as the fight continued. She jabbed the taser forward to finish the job.

There was a loud cracking sound from behind. Her head jerked forwards and she fell to the ground unconscious. Wally looked up and saw his saviour.

There stood Wanda holding the shattered remnants of the crystal ball from the table.

Two buses and a house moving truck, all painted with wolf emblems sped down the road towards Chook’s Creeks. In the back of the truck, Head priest Roy fidgeted and looked at the phone he held for the dozenth time. He had not heard anything from the team in Chook's Creek yet despite it being well past time for them to report back. He desperately wanted to call them, but he didn’t know how to use the phone. The only other person sharing the back of the truck with him wasn’t any better at technology than him.

The Matriarch lay, eyes closed, on her stomach on a large mat in the back of the truck. She spent most of her time resting and recovering these days. Despite healing significantly since the accident she was still terribly injured. Red burned skin and blackened fur covered every inch of her body. Her breath came out in wheezes.

Roy had convinced her to come along with them despite her condition. He intended to feed her Tomas ASAP to hasten her recovery and get the church back on track for taking over the universe.

He nearly dropped the phone in surprise when it began ringing. He pressed the button on the phone and nothing happened. He tapped the button again and again and still nothing. He was moments away from throwing it against the wall of the truck when he noticed words on the screen. He squinted at them for a bit then slid his finger along the button as it instructed.

The Matriarch’s ears perked up and listened in.

“Hello, Head Priest?” The face of Charlie, the man who had first spotted Tomas in the pub, appeared on the phone’s screen. Roy had his camera pointed at the ceiling again.

"Tell me you have him!" Roy hissed into the phone.

"Sorry, sir, there's been some complications,'' Charlie answered.

Roy ground his teeth, "Elaborate" he said.

“The team didn’t return quickly after entering the building. I was going to go investigate but several police cars and ambulances showed up. I can’t get close anymore to verify if they’re ok.”

Roy squeezed the phone and felt it begin to crack before softening his grip, “Is Tomas still there in the building?”

“Yes, I believe so, sir. I haven’t seen anyone leave yet.”

“Ensure that he stays there, no matter what. We’ll be there soon to fix your mistakes. DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE!”

“Sir, I don’t think you understand, there are at least 20 cops here.”

Roy finally threw the phone to the ground and stomped on it, smashing it into pieces.

The Matriarch let out a low growl.

“YOU FAITHLESS IMBECILE!” he screamed at the remains of the phone, “Nothing can stop the Church of the Wolf!” Roy laughed maniacally as the convoy sped onwards.