Hello everyone. Here is part seventeen of my Adventures of Max series. Hope you enjoy/

Preface: Max and his PE class are practicing for a big capture the flag game between one of the other local high schools. On the day of the big game, Max’s class soon finds that the other school’s team doesn’t play fairly. Not wanting to lose the game, Max and his friends decide to play their trump card, since the rules don’t say anything about werewolves being banned.

Max and his friends were currently in the middle of their third period PE class playing capture the flag. The class was divided in half to form the two teams and it just so happened that Max, Jake, Chris, Ethan, and Joe ended up on the same team. “I kinda feel bad for the other team.” Said Jake as the teams moved to their sides off the football field. “It feels unfair to have the five of us on the same side.” “Do you think we should go easy on them?” asked Chris. “You know Coach is going to give us shit if we don’t try. How about we just play on defense? At least then the game won’t be over in like five minutes.” Said Ethan. “Ok then.” Said Max. “I normally play defense anyway.” The version of capture the flag the class was playing was a version with the setup of flag football, every person wore a colored belt, or a player flag, around their waist that could easily be pulled off. If you were on the other team’s side and your player flag was pulled, you were to walk back to your side of the field with your player flag off. Once you got back to your side, you waited five seconds, then you could put your player flag back on and rejoin the game. While your player flag is off, you can’t pull another person’s player flag while you wait to rejoin the game. The goal of the game was to take the opposing team’s game flag, in this case a football, back to your side of the field. If you have the other team’s game flag and your player flag is pulled, the game flag was to be handed to the person who pulled your player flag so it could be returned. The game flags were placed at the ends of the field surrounded by a set of cones. The area inside those cones is safe for 5 seconds after you enter it. Once five seconds are up, the area is no longer safe, and the other team is allowed to pull your player flag. When someone scores, the game flags are reset, and everyone returns to their side of the field so a new round could begin. The game is over when one team reaches a score of five points. Max and his friends put their red player flags around their waist as they walked to the end of the field, getting into position to guard their game flag. Chris and Jake stood as the first line of defense halfway across their side of the field along with one other person while Max, Ethan, and Joe stood around their game flag. “Everyone ready?” Coach called out. “And go!” Coach blew his whistle to start the game. A group of five players from the other team came running over to try to steal the flag on Max’s side of the field. “Here they come!” Chris yelled out. As the group of players advanced, they tried their best to avoid Jake and Chris. Two of them were so focused on Jake and Chris that they failed to notice they were getting closer to the other of the two they weren’t paying attention to, and their flags were quickly pulled. “Nice try.” Jake said to the player whose flag he pulled as he handed it back to them. The remaining three looked surprised that they were able to make it past the first line of defense, only to see they still had the second one to get through. Ethan decided to be a little more aggressive and ran towards the advancing players. Seeing Ethan’s advance, the opposing players did their best to run around him, two going to Ethan’s right and the last one to Ethan’s left. Max and Joe started running towards the two players to Ethan’s right and seeing this, Ethan himself went for the guy to his left. The opposing player tried to cut even more around to Ethan’s left, only to realize he was now at the edge of the field. He was getting closer to the flag, but he was more likely to reach Ethan first, no matter if he changed directions or not. The opposing player decided to run straight at the flag, moving away from the edge of the field. Unfortunately for him, he was now running right into Ethan’s path. Within seconds, Ethan had pulled the guy’s flag off. Meanwhile, Max and Joe were gaining fast on the two players that went to Ethan’s right. One of them was so focused on Max and Joe that he forgot the other person on defense, who pulled his flag. “Wait, what?” said the student. “I’m here too ya know.” Said the player on defense as he handed back the player flag. There was now only one opponent left and Max and Joe both decided to go for her. The opposing player tried to run around to Max and Joe’s left and was able to make it into the safe zone along with the game flag. She decided to use the five seconds she had in the safe zone to catch her breath. Just as she was able to leave the safe zone, Coach could be heard blowing his whistle. “And that’s one point for the red team. Everyone back to your sides for round two.” Coach yelled out. “Well that didn’t take long.” Commented Max. Everyone returned to their sides of the field and reset their positions for round two. The game went on for another five rounds, with Max’s team winning five to one. “That’s going to be it for today. Excellent work out there.” Coach said to the class as they gathered around him. “I think this class is ready for the big game tomorrow.” “What big game?” asked Chris. “I selected this class to represent our school for a game of capture the flag we have against Riverpoint High School.” “We always hold a game of capture the flag against another school once a year.” Max told Chris. “It’s one of the little traditions we have.” “Sounds fun. I wonder why Coach picked our class?” Chris asked. “It’s because you guys are my best performing class at capture the flag. This class as a whole already plays very well but the five of you take it to a whole other level.” Said coach as he pointed to Max and his friends. “I have high hopes for you guys so you better win this. Now head on back to the locker rooms. Class is dismissed.” Said Coach. “So, it looks like our defense was a little too good.” Said Joe as the five of them walked to the boy’s locker room. “Well we are good at chasing things down.” Said Max. “I guess you’re right. We are werewolves after all.” Said Joe. “These kinds of sports really do trigger some of those instincts.” “Multiple times during that game I had to stop myself from running on all fours.” Said Jake. “I came really close to pulling someone’s flag off with my mouth.” Said Chris. “Since he had our game flag, I got really invested in chasing him. I felt bad for nearly doing that to someone, so I let him have the point.” “So that’s what that was. I thought you were about to fall over while chasing him and that’s how he was able to score.” Said Ethan. “No, that was me nearly biting his flag off.” Said Chris. “I hope we can keep those urges in check for tomorrow’s game.” “Then let’s try to win the game as quickly as we can.” Said Jake. “If we’re all on offense, we have a pretty good shot of getting points quickly.” “Let’s try that if our urges start getting out of hand. I want to actually play the game properly for as long as possible.” Said Max. “I guess that’s fair.” Said Jake. The group made it to the boy’s locker room and after they got changed out of their PE uniforms, they went off to their next class.

It was now a bright and sunny Saturday morning as Max’s PE class was getting prepared for the big game of capture the flag, which was being held at their school’s football field. While everyone was warming up, Max couldn’t help but notice that most of the other school’s team was made up of upperclassmen. Max’s team was entirely sophomores, putting them at an age disadvantage. “Is it just me, or does it look like most of the other team is made up of juniors and seniors?” Joe asked the group. “I noticed it too. They’re definitely older than us.” Said Max. “That puts most of our team at a disadvantage.” Said Jake. “’Most of our team’ being the important part.” Said Coach, overhearing their conversation. “Most but not all. Alright everyone, listen up!” Coach addressed to the whole class. “The game is going to be a 15 versus 15 player game of capture the flag, same rules we’ve been playing with. The only difference is that the game flags will be actual flags on small wooden poles instead of footballs. The half of the class that isn’t playing will be rotated in as the game goes on or if someone gets hurt. I’ll make sure everyone has a chance to play and a chance to rest. With the exception of you five.” Said coach, pointing to Max and his friends. “I’d like the five of you to be in the game at all times. But if you absolutely need to, I will switch you guys out.” “Well we have the stamina for it. It shouldn’t be too big of an issue.” Said Max. “Excellent. Now I want roll call numbers one through ten to join them on the field as the first ones up. Let’s get out there and win this!” “Yeah!” cheered the entire class. Half of the class took their place on the football field while the other half sat at the side benches. Max, Chris and Ethan stood at the half yard line to play offense while Jake and Joe were on defense. Coach took his place by the half yard line next to the coach from the other school. “Good luck. You’ll need it.” Max heard the other coach say with a bit of an evil smile. Max then looked at some of the players from the other school and saw they had similar smiles on their faces. “I got a bad feeling about this.” Max said to himself. “And go!” yelled Coach as he blew into his whistle to start the game. Max immediately made a mad dash to the opponent’s game flag but didn’t get very far as one of the players on the other team stuck his foot out causing Max to trip over it. Max’s flag was pulled as he was getting back up. “What the heck was that about?” Max asked. “Someone wasn’t paying attention.” The other player said smugly as he handed Max’s flag back. As Max waited his five seconds, he noticed that most of the other people on his team that tried to cross over to the other team’s side were tripped over as well, with Ethan being the only one who made it over. “Did they trip you too Max?” one of the other players on his team asked. “Yeah, they did. Talk about a cheap move.” Responded Max. He then noticed that Chris had also been tripped. Chris tried getting up, but he immediately fell back down to the ground. “STOP!” Yelled Coach as he blew his whistle to stop the game and ran over to Chris. “You okay Chris?” Coach asked Chris as he helped him up. “I think I rolled my ankle.” Chris said as he limped his way to the side bench. “Looks like you’ll have to sit out for the rest of the game. That’s a damn shame.” Said Coach. “Just give me five minutes and I’ll be ready to get back in the game.” Said Chris, who didn’t look to be in a lot of pain. “With a rolled ankle? I don’t think so. That’s nowhere near enough time for that to heal.” Said Coach. “For a normal human, you’d be right.” Said Chris, smiling. Coach stared at Chris looking very confused for a few seconds, then it clicked in his head. “Right, you’re not human.” Coach said quietly. “My ankle is repairing itself as we speak. I just need a few minutes for the pain to go away.” Chris said quietly. “Got it. Thomas! You’re subbing for Chris for a bit!” Coach yelled to one of the students on the bench. Once Chris was sitting down, Max looked over at the person who tripped Chris and saw him fist bumping another person on the other team, looking proud of himself. “Why you…” Max said under his breath. “And continue!” Coach yelled before blowing his whistle to start the game back up. Max tried going for the other team’s flag again and the same person from last time tried to trip him again. Max jumped over his outstretched foot and ran as fast as he could to the safe zone with the other team’s flag in it. Max was about halfway to the other team’s flag when someone charged at him from his right, knocking him to the ground. Max’s flag got pulled again. “Don’t you think tackling me is a bit excessive?” Max asked as he was handed his flag back. “Get over it.” The other player said to him. Max gave a low growl as he walked back to his side of the field. As he was looking to see how his team’s defense was doing, he saw someone from the other team charge into two people on Max’s team and continued to run as Max’s teammates fell to the ground. As Max was about to cross over to his side of the field, the same guy from earlier stuck his foot out again and because Max wasn’t paying attention, he tripped over it and fell. “Seriously?!” Max yelled as he got back up. Coach could then be heard blowing into his whistle. “That’s one point for Riverpoint High.” Coach called out. The two sides reset their positions as they readied for round two.

The fourth round was now over, and Riverpoint High had a score of four while Grover High had zero. “I’m calling for a team meeting.” Coach called out to everyone. Everyone gathered by the side benches to hear what Coach had to say. “It’s not looking very good for us. Not only are we behind in points but because of how aggressive the other team is playing, we’re behind in the number of people able to play too. Most of the team’s been injured and the ones that can play are severely worn out.” Said Coach. “Are they even allowed to be that aggressive?” asked Jake. “Physical contact isn’t banned, but it’s highly frowned upon. They’re technically not breaking any rules.” Said coach. “There has to be something we can do.” Said Chris. Max went to look at all of his injured classmates. He was getting really mad at the other team for playing so unfairly. He and his friends would have been sitting out as well if they weren’t…werewolves. An idea came to Max’s head. “I think I may have a plan.” Said Max. “What is it?” Jake asked. Max just stared at Jake with a big smile on his face, waiting for Jake to piece it together. Jake eventually caught on to Max’s idea. “You really want to do that?” Jake asked. “We’re down 20 players and the ones that are left can barely keep going. They’ve injured too many of our teammates and I’ve just about had it with them.” Max yelled. “As long as it’s not against the rules and you don’t hurt anyone, I’m all for whatever you have in mind.” Said coach. “Do the rules say anything about werewolves being banned?” Max asked. Coach just stared at Max, shocked by the boldness of Max’s idea. “That will surely make up for the missing players we have, and it should give the rest of the team a confidence boost.” “Is that something all five of you are willing to do?” asked Coach. “I’m down with that. I rolled my ankle because of these jerks.” Said Chris. “Hell yeah I’m in. Wait till they see how fast I can really run.” Ethan said joyfully. “I’m fine with that. I think they deserve a nice helping of karma.” Said Joe. “Screw it, let’s do it. I’ve been tackled way too many times already and I’ve been on defense the whole time.” Said Jake. “I’ll say this now though; no elemental powers. That would actually be cheating.” “Aww man.” Said Ethan, looking very disappointed. “Ok then. Let me just ask the other coach something real quick.” Said Coach as he went over to where the coach from Riverpoint High was sitting. “So, some of my players want to try something a bit…unconventional for the rest of the game. Are you guys OK with them doing that?” Coach asked. “Well…” the other coach started. “Let them do it, coach. It’s not like it will matter anyway.” Shouted one of the players from the other team. “If it’s fine with my team, it's fine with me. It’s not like what you have planned with help. Just don’t go breaking any rules.” The other coach said. “Nothing in the rules says they can’t do what they have in mind.” Said coach as he walked back to his team. “They said they’re fine with whatever you guys have planned. Now get back on the field and win this game!” “We’ll still need everyone’s help to win this. Five people can only do so much.” Max said to the rest of the team. “Right” said the other five members still able to play. Everyone took their places on the field. Max, Jake, Chris, Ethan, and Joe all stood at the half yard line, preparing to play offense. “So, what do you guys have in mind?” asked someone on the other team. “You’ll see.” Said Max smugly. “Won’t be needing these.” Max and his friends took off their socks and running shoes and threw them to the side of the field. “Are you guys seriously going to be running with no shoes on? Some plan you have.” Said another opposing team member as the whole other team started laughing at Max and his friends. “You won’t be laughing once you see what we really have planned.” Said Jake confidently. “It’s a good thing our PE uniforms are just big enough to handle this.” “Are we ready to show them?” Max asked the rest of his pack. They nodded in agreement. “Then here goes nothing.” After a few seconds of concentration, fur started to grow all over the bodies of Max and his friends. Their fingernails darkened and lengthened, forming claws. They could be seen getting taller and their upper bodies bulked up. Their legs extended to form hind legs and their feet became more paw-like. By this point, the other team’s laughter had stopped and was replaced with complete silence as the transformations went on. The backs of Max and his friends had started to arch, and the fur started to reach their heads. Their ears began to get bigger and become pointed as they moved higher up on their heads. Their mouths stretched out from their faces, forming muzzles and their teeth sharpened into fangs. Once the fur had completely covered their bodies, their tails ripped through the backs of their PE shorts, which was the only part of the transformation that caused visible damage to their clothing. Now, half of the remaining members of Grover High School’s capture the flag team had transformed into werewolves in broad daylight. “You still game?” Max asked in a much deeper voice as he and his friends looked at the other team smugly. “You said you were fine with whatever we had in mind.” “All we’re here to do is play a game of capture the flag. No more, no less.” Said Chris. “C-can we even reach their player flags? They’re like 7 feet tall.” One of the players from the other team said to his teammate. “We can fix that.” Said Joe, who had overheard the player’s comment. After a little more concentration, Joe had returned to his normal size and the rest of the pack did the same. “I’m actually kinda glad we did that. My player flag was feeling really tight around my waist.” Said Joe. “I’m surprised they didn’t come off entirely.” Max added. “What…what are you guys?” asked one of the opposing team members, still trying to process what he just saw. “I’ll tell you what we are, we’re ready to play some fucking capture the flag!” Ethan responded. “And remember, you only need one more point to win and we haven’t scored yet.” Said Jake. “And you still have more active players than we do. Do you really want to give up when you’re so close to winning?” “I’m also calling for a quick team meeting. Everyone, get over here!” yelled the other team’s coach. All of the players from the other team huddled together by the side of the field and quietly began discussing a strategy. “We didn’t really come up with any sorta plan, did we?” asked Max. “No, we didn’t. Shit.” Ethan responded. “I feel some of us should still be on defense and the rest on offense.” Suggested Jake. “We’ll have Ethan and Chris go for the other team’s game flag while the rest of us defend ours.” “What happened to using our code names?” asked Ethan. “The other half of our team only knows us by our real names, and it would be best if we don’t confuse them by using different names.” Explained Jake. “Got it.” Said Chris. “As for everyone else,” said Jake as he turned to face the rest of his team. “Feel free to help wherever needed. We’ll also do our best to make sure no one else is forced out of the game due to injury.” “K then. Thanks.” The team responded. As Jake finished going over their plan, the other team could be seen returning to the field. “We’re ready whenever you are.” One of the players called out as the team took their places. “Then we’ll start on my mark.” Said Coach as he stood by the half yard line. “3…2…1…Go!” Coach blew his whistle to start the game. Ethan bolted towards the other team’s flag on all fours at an alarming speed. Before anyone on the other team had a chance to get close to him, Ethan was already in the safe zone where the other team’s flag was. He picked up the flag in his mouth and started running back with the flag at high speed. “Block him!” yelled the other team’s coach. The defending players on the other team formed a wall by the half yard line. As Ethan tried to change his path back to his side of the field, the wall of players moved to block that direction. Seeing what the other team was trying to do, Ethan ran straight at the players trying to block him. Just before running into the players, Ethan made a running jump over them and landed back on his side of the field. His player flag was still around his waist. “Point for Grover High!” Coach called out after blowing his whistle. “Hell yeah! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” yelled Ethan as he dropped the flag from his mouth and wiped off the handle with his PE shirt. He then walked over to the nearest player to him on the opposing team. “Here you go.” Said Ethan as he handed him the flag back. The player took the flag from Ethan in stunned silence. Riverpoint’s whole team was looking at Ethan in silent amazement. Coach was standing at the side of the field looking very smug. The rest of Grover High’s team was over by Ethan giving him high-fives. “I knew you were the fastest runner in the class, but damn.” One of his classmates commented. “And that’s not even top speed.” Ethan said as he pointed to the yellow crystal around his neck. “You can show them that later. We still have some catching up to do.” Said Jake. The players returned to their respective sides to start the next round.

It was now the end of the 8th round with the score tied at 4-4. Coach called the team over for a quick pep talk. “We’ve now evened the score. You guys are doing great out there. If I’d known the five of you would play like this, I would have had you transform sooner.” Coach said to Max and his friends. “The rest of you are going fantastic as well. I’m amazed you all can keep up with not just the other team, but the rest of our team as well.” “To be honest, so are we.” Said one of Max’s teammates. “The other team is definitely not letting up and they’re being a lot more aggressive. You should feel proud that you guys are able to hold your own against a team of older students while not being completely outshined by the werewolves you have as teammates.” Jake commented. “Let’s not start celebrating just yet. There’s still one round left to play, and I have the feeling the other team isn’t going to hold back at all.” Said Coach. The whole team nodded in acknowledgement. “How are we going to spread the team out this time?” asked Chris. “Let’s have Max and Joe be on defense along with Sam, Karla, and Dean.” Said Jake. “Which leaves me, Chris, and Ethan on offense with Oscar and Veronica.” “Alright everyone, let’s do it!” said Max. The rest of the team responded with an enthusiastic “Yeah!”. The two teams took their positions on the field as the final round was about to begin. “On my mark. 3…2…1 Go!” yelled Coach as he blew his whistle. Half of Riverpoint High’s team came running over to try to grab Grover High’s team’s game flag. Max and Joe proceeded to run at them at high speed. The other team then broke off into two groups, one went to run at Max, the other at Joe. “Why aren’t they trying to get away from us?” Max asked as he and Joe kept running. After a little thinking, Joe realized what the other team was trying to do. “They’re trying to take you and I out!” Just as Joe finished his sentence, he collided with the group that was going after him, tackling him to the ground. Max could see a fang fly out of Joe’s mouth. The other team then got off Joe and went straight for the game flag. Joe quickly got back up on his feet, holding a player flag in his hands. Max was about to be tackled himself but just before then, he quickly jumped over the students that were chasing him, quickly changed directions, and pulled all three of their player flags before they realized what happened. Max dropped the flag in front of the other team as he went running at the students that tackled Joe, two of which still had player flags on while one person was running without one. The group was able to make it to the game flag and started running back to their side with it. But not before Karla had pulled one of the flags of the player guarding the person with the game flag. The other team was able to make their way around the rest of the Max’s team and had a clear path back to their side of the field. Max and Joe were able to catch up quickly, but not quickly enough as the group crossed over to their side of the field. The whole of the other team ran over to the person holding the game flag and proceeded to cheer around him. “I can’t believe we actually lost.” Said Max as he and his team looked utterly defeated. All except for Joe, who couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” Max asked. “Look closely at the person holding the game flag.” Said Joe. As everyone went to look at the player, they could see he had no player flag on. “He has no player flag on! The game isn’t over yet!” yelled Max. Out of the corner of his eye, Max could see Jake running back with the other teams’ game flag in his mouth. Everyone on the other team quickly tried to catch Jake, but they were too late, as Jake had crossed over to his side of the field, his player flag still on. Coach blew his whistle. “Point for Grover High! That's the game point! Grover High wins 5 to 4!” yelled Coach. Every person on Max’s team that was able to walk went over to cheer for Jake for scoring the winning point. “We did it! Hell yeah!” cried Ethan. “I may have scored the winning point, but if it weren’t for Joe, we would have lost.” Said Jake humbly. “Thanks.” Said Joe while smiling, exposing his fangs as an obvious gap could be seen in his smile where one of his fangs used to be. Jake had a look of sheer panic on his face. “Why is one of your fangs missing?” Jake asked. “I think it must have been knocked loose when I got tackled.” Said Joe. “We need to find it now! We have to make sure it didn’t cut anyone.” “Oh shit!” said Joe, realizing the gravity of the situation. Max quickly went over to the players that had tackled Joe. “Did any of you happen to get cut by anything after you tackled Joe?” Max asked them in a worried voice. “What’s it to you?” one of the players said bitterly. “Now you all listen here!” Max yelled as he touched his crystal necklace. Max grew to his normal werewolf height as fire appeared over his fur on his arms, legs, and back. “You guys just happened to knock out one of my friend’s fangs out of his mouth! I’m trying to make sure none of you got cut by it because if one of you did, you’d turn into a werewolf! Now did any of you get cut?!” Max yelled, flames appearing from his mouth as he spoke while the flames on his body got bigger. The other team was absolutely terrified as they checked their bodies for any kind of cut marks or punctures. “N-no. None of u-us have any c-cuts.” One of the players said, quivering. “Good.” Said Max as the flames on his body disappeared and he returned to his normal human height. He then walked back over to his team to see they were searching the field for a missing fang. “Found it!” cried Joe. He picked up his missing fang to see that the only thing on it was a little AstroTurf. “Thank god there’s no blood on it!” Said Joe, relieved. “I’m I going to be stuck with a missing tooth when I turn back?” asked Joe. “You will but if you stay as a wolf for a bit, a new one should grow in its place.” Answered Jake. “Sweet.” Said Joe as he placed his fang in his pocket. “Well now that that’s taken care of, let’s get a team photo.” Said Coach. The team gathered around the benches where the rest on their injured team was to help them over to the bleachers. “Let’s have Max, Jake, Chris, Ethan, Joe, Oscar, Sam, Karla, Dean, and Veronica in the front row.” Said Coach as he pulled out his camera. Once everyone was in place, Coach took a photo of his winning capture the flag team, with Max and his friends still in werewolf form. “Now let’s get everyone home to rest up. The school has already payed for us to have a pizza party later tonight.” Said Coach. “Well congratulations everyone.” Said Max’s mom as she went over to where the team had taken their picture. “Oh my god! I completely forgot we literally just transformed in front of everyone’s parents!” Said Jake with his hands in his face. “Well, you at least gave us quite the game to watch.” Said Max’s mom as she went to pat Jake on the head. “Wait, did your mom know before the game that you were a werewolf Max?” Karla asked Max. “Yup. She’s known for a while.” Answered Max. “She seems so chill with it though.” Said Karla. “If there’s any heavy lifting that needs to be done around the house, she has me transform to do it.” Said Max. “Yup, that’s my little wolf boy.” Said Max’s mom as she scratched Max’s head. “Mom stop that. I don’t like it when you do that.” Said Max. “Really? Your tail says otherwise.” Said Max’s mom as she saw Max’s tail wagging. Max held his head in embarrassment as his team couldn’t help but chuckle. “Now let’s get you home.” Said Max’s mom. “You need rest for your big pizza party tonight.” Max and his mom soon left the field and headed home for lunch.