by Sergio Black
“I’m not an animal, Lisa Ann... I’m a fucking monster, an insane, fully aware nightmare, like the ones that lurk in the shadows of your mind, the ones your parents warned you about. But yet, you still ate the Devil’s Candy.” The Mad Doctor bends over, raises his rotting hand, touching a finger to Lisa Ann’s nose, his lips curl like a puckered butthole, he releases a small BOOP! The Mad Doctor laughs and looking back to his Silver Team, he smiles, sending a silent signal. The Silver Team springs into action, taking Phantom Phorm they weave a tight-knit circle around Lisa Ann. No.1 converges in front of Lisa Ann then wrenches her by the arm, hauling her from both knees to an erect position. The Mad Doctor stares at Lisa Ann, with growing anger he backhands her in the mouth. Lisa Ann tastes the faint trickle of iron carving a path down her lips. The Mad Doctor sticks his nose in her face. “Lisa Ann, I had hoped you would’ve helped me willingly. Now I see my foolishness was blinded by what pleases the eye. No matter, either way, you’re going to play a part in my ascension. And oh, by God, it’s going to be glorious!”
Lisa Ann stares at the Mad Doctor like he’s lost his mind. She loses her composure at the realization of his seriousness and in a moment of what should have otherwise been an alarming situation, she sputters, exploding into full-blown laughter, laughing in his face like she’d heard a genuine joke from Bozo the Clown. Lisa Ann speaks through spates of laughter. “Oh my God. After all this ranting, you wage a personal vendetta against Superiors and the tagline of their inferiority, and all along you’re trying to become not just one of them but him. You really think you’re going to become Nefarious.” Lisa Ann stops laughing. “You’re delusional. Nefarious will probably kill us all when he gets free and rightfully deserved. I only hope I live long enough to watch you die. What a joke you are, you can’t even take Phantom Phorm!” The Mad Doctor looks at his assets, who questioningly stare at him from beneath their skull death masks. He knows if they even accuse him of this infraction after taking his vows, he will not make it ‘til sunrise. Andrew laughs nervously, his mouth expeditiously dries like sandpaper in the desert. His lazy eye swivels faster and faster about as his anxiety increases.
“She’s lying everyone, trying to aim your attention toward me.” Andrew, exceedingly vexed to full-blown anger, marches forward, curling his fingers into a fist, he uppercuts Lisa Ann in the stomach. Lisa Ann doubles over and wheezes, her constricted lungs work hard to gasp at breaths of fresh air. The Mad Doctor grabs Lisa Ann’s red hair and twirls his hand through her red locks, spinning his fingers like a fork through spaghetti, he abruptly snaps her head upright so they are face to face.
“Baby, you are really going to wish, you hadn’t said that. You and I, we could have been something special like Kanye and the Kardashians.” The Mad Doctor forces his putrid tongue in Lisa Ann’s mouth. Lisa Ann struggles to breathe, the taste of rotten cheese greatly overpowers the flavor of trickling iron. No.2’s eyes widen, his body becomes stiff and rigid with fear, as he feels the dampening of sweat beads trickle down his back.
“Furher?” The Mad Doctor breaks the one-sided passionate lip-locked kiss with Lisa Ann, turning his head, he talks over his shoulder to No.2 who stands behind him.
“What is it? No.2, don’t interrupt me. Can’t you see I’m working my moves?” No.2 looks beyond the Mad Doctor’s back and out into the distant desert.
“Boss, there’s red eyes out there.” The Mad Doctor looks to No.2, then forward to where he saw said red eyes. The Mad Doctor scans the distance with effort.
“Shut up, you morons, be still.” Lisa Ann can’t explain why, but she feels an avalanche of relief plow through her body. Then she feels their presence, the same projection she felt at Attica… Deep growls sever the silence, then one by one an orchestra of terrifying howls shatter the darkness. The Mad Doctor looks to the four members who stand in front of him for expendable support. “Okay, hurry up, get her inside.” The Mad Doctor turns around only to be greeted by the biggest Monstrosity he’s ever seen. The Maned Wolf sits on top of No.2 like a well-guarded chew toy. The Mad Doctor backpedals in a flurry, almost falling to his butt. He points and sounds, “What in the fuck is that!?” The wolf snaps its jaws then applies pressure under his right paw, popping No.2’s head like a zit on a fat man’s back. The Monstrosity steps forward with a lowered head, gruffing lowly. “Kill that, that thing! And get us inside!” The remaining four members of the Silver Team acknowledge the command.
“We’ll protect you, sir, stay inside our circle,” commands No.1. The four members form a defensive circle around the Mad Doctor and Lisa Ann. They steadily edge toward the entrance of the N.S.W.P. with attempts at getting behind the safety of the reinforced doors. While the Silver Team are occupied with the Maned Wolf in their line of vision, they fail to notice the other pack members taking up strategic positions. The Monstrosity raises his snout and snaps his jaws in a way that his massive head disguises the Blur of Fur that leaps from the N.S.W.P.’s rooftop. The Blur of Fur soars over the Monstrosity’s backside, his mouth opens widely, revealing a set of white canine teeth that have little thorns protruding out the sides like jagged ridges of broken glass. Monstrosity hits the ground and immediately snatches No.1’s head in his mouth.
No.1 frenzies and tries to defend himself by releasing a harrowing blast of black static that glitters hot, scoring a direct hit on the Blur of Fur’s midsection. Blur of Fur, unfazed by No.1’s would be devastating assault, casually shakes his fur, the black energy ripples along his coat like an Amtrak train traveling through a pitch-dark tunnel. Mesmerized by the horrendous attack, No.4 is blindsided by a Black Wolf that rushes him from the shadows. Snatching No.4 by the collarbone, Big Black shakes him with such ferocity that the distinct snapping sound of legs on concrete rings through the empty night. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Big Black, satisfied with the devastation, drags No.4 off to the shadows like a panther’s kill, disappearing into the still of night. The agonizing screams and tearing of flesh can be heard in the distance as No.4 becomes the wolf’s next meal.
“Where the fuck did these things come from?” No.5 quips with distraught. Lisa Ann further unnerves the team with a timely chuckle.
“They’re here for me. I called them,” Lisa Ann snorts. “You’re all fucked; their going to eat every single one of you.” Lisa Ann is exhausted and on the verge of passing out, but No.3 holds her tightly in his grasp, dragging her along like a sack of trash.
“Don’t listen to her. I’ve seen her power and it’s not animal telepathy,” the Mad Doctor says, trying to calm his disposable assets. “Alright, walk slowly. Only use your abilities if you have to. Don’t give them a reason to rip us a new one.” The Mad Doctor’s troubles grow and that growth gives sentience to fear. The same Monstrosity that stampeded their path as before now sits in front of the N.S.W.P.’s entrance with understandable warrant, casually flicking his tongue around his snout, cleansing the blood off his flews. Andrew is no fool, despite the wolf’s calm temperament, he has seen enough to know that this thing will tear them apart before they have a chance to mutter a scream. The Mad Doctor attempts to try something he had seen on an animal documentary, loud noises said to scare off bigger creatures. The Mad Doctor stands on his tiptoes and yells at the Monstrosity. “You fucking filthy animals. Get away!” The Mad Doctor turns around and grabs Lisa Ann by her hair and tears her from No.3’s grasp and up to her feet. The Mad Doctor whispers in Lisa Ann’s ear. “Make them go away or I’ll send a team to dear old mom and dad. The boys are itching to blow off a little steam!” Lisa Ann tunes her eyes to the Mad Doctor’s and her insubordination fans a riot within that trailblazes a fast path for blatant disregard.
“Those eyes…” The Mad Doctor turns around and looks to what remains of his team and an overwhelming fire grips his heart. “Kill them all!” The Maned Wolves are very capable of understanding just about any dialect and know what the Mad Doctor has commanded. Big Black doesn’t hesitate and descends from the thick of darkness like rolling thunder clouds. No.3 is
snatched in razored jaws and is also hauled off to the shadows, sharing the fate of his unsavory comrades. Now only the Mad Doctor, Lisa Ann, and No.5 remain. The Mad Doctor is thirsty for self-preservation and twists Lisa Ann in front of him, then jerks her arm behind her back, in a move called the chicken wing, using his left hand to maneuver her head. Lisa Ann has now become a human shield, the Mad Doctor playing the last wild card in his Uno deck. He nudges Lisa Ann forward and speaks to the Monstrosity that still stands sentry between himself and the safety of the N.S.W.P.
“I’ll kill her, I swear it. I’ll neutralize her and this would have all been for nothing!... Back away.” The Mad Doctor licks his withered lips, grinding his teeth, he feels another set of rotted molars come loose from dark corruption; he spits the teeth to the paved concrete. The Monstrosity backs away, retreating to the brim of nighttime for the moment, not letting his pride compromise Lisa Ann’s safety. The Mad Doctor uses his peripherals to gaze sideward, looking to No.5. He speaks, barely moving his lips, like a ventriloquist.
“No.5, open the door.” No.5 speed walks past Lisa Ann and the Mad Doctor and punches in his key code that unlocks the door. The Mad Doctor has no intention of helping anyone but himself. Certainly not No.5 who would most definitely snitch on him for not being able to take Phantom Phorm. No sooner than the door opens with a small hiss, the Mad Doctor pushes aside No.5, before intentionally shoving Lisa Ann in the same direction, causing a forward collision with the sole survivor of the Silver Team. No.5 collides with Lisa Ann and throws her out of the way, attempting to follow inside the door. The Mad Doctor’s diversion worked as foreseen and gives him enough time to seal No.5’s fate. He hits the red lockdown button and slowly waves bye-bye to No.5.
“Sorry, No.5, dead witnesses tell no tales.” The Mad Doctor licks his chapped lips and is enthralled with the concern of will he escape alive? No.5 feels his heart pitapatting so hard he becomes dizzy, takes a deep breath of courage before darting through the parking lot. No.5 scrambles onto the totaled hood of Lisa Ann’s Toyota Camry. Just as he jumps off to take Phantom Phorm, the wolves descend upon him, snatching him out of the air like a black frisbee. No.5 hollers bloody murder, WAHHH! as he is dragged to the ground and bitten from all angles, the ridged teeth piercing through his uniform, shredding his skin. No.5’s pulled until spread-eagled, the wolves fiercely yank his appendages in opposite directions, all four limbs detach from his body, the limbless torso falling at the Monstrosity’s plate-sized paws. Monstrosity shifts his eyes downward then forward at the Mad Doctor and seizes the head of No.5 and easily serrates it from his body, the separation just as grotesque sounding as it is appalling to witness, the neck breaking in an inhuman fashion. CRACK!! The pack leader looks to the Mad Doctor a final time, then disrespectfully lops No.5’s head to the pavement which rolls toward the N.S.W.P.’s doors, before trotting over to Lisa Ann.
The Maned Wolf licks her cracked, bruised face with the tenderness of a pet companion. The Maned Wolf kneels and gently grips Lisa Ann’s wrist, assisting her to stand. Lisa Ann looks to the Mad Doctor who cowers behind the safety of locked doors, then she crawls onto the wolf’s back. Tucking her head into the safety of his strong vertebrae and gripping large clumps of silky fur, she gently kicks the wolf’s side like a jockey. The Maned Wolf hunches lowly and leaps off into the vacant distance with the fearsome pack following.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALL ISN’T WHAT IT SEEMS…
The Mad Doctor finally lets out a sigh, sinking to his knees in silent thought. ‘Fuck, that was close. A few more seconds and I would have been the last meal, and those wolves were unlike anything I have ever seen. The way they listened to Lisa Ann was something terrifying, uncomfortable and altogether magnificent. The abilities of my assets did nothing to phase them. At first, I had thought they came here for Nefarious because of their eyes. Those big black eyes harbored that same hatred and renegade attitude that can never be misplaced. But I was wrong. How could I have been so wrong about her? I knew she and Nefarious were connected but now I am ever more curious to find the connection.’
The Mad Doctor is immediately flocked by various Superior assets, the variety of Teams kneel to his aid. “Sir, are you okay?” The Mad Doctor jerks free of their grasp.
“You bumbling idiots did nothing. I could have been eaten alive!” No.1 of the Sicherheitspolizei Team takes the lead.
“Sir, their Superior-Abilities had no effect on those things, fighting would have been suicide.” The Mad Doctor looks at the cowardly units that surround him and fervent anger boils in his belly.
“How’s this for career suicide, you’re all fired! Get out of my face!” The Mad Doctor pushes through the teams who stand in silent shock, walking past the security desk in the middle of the lobby and to the nearest black elevator. He puts in his access information and drops to his bunker, going through the grievous process of unlocking the bunker doors, he places his newly acquired trophy, the Spear of Destiny in a newly fitted glass case…
***
Lisa Ann is exhausted but holds tightly to the back of the Maned Wolf who had saved her from the clutches of what was sure to be a horrible death. Lisa Ann is taken aback at the size of the pack. The animals had been attacked with very high-level abilities and had run off unaffected as if they absorbed the energy, just like Nefarious. Lisa Ann wants to test her theory.
“Stop!” The wolves snap at each other before winding down to a halt. The Maned Wolf easily stands every foot of a 15ft, possibly taller, frame on 4 legs. The Maned Wolf hunches down then lays on its belly so Lisa Ann can crawl from its back, landing on the forest ground with a faint thump. Lisa Ann’s adrenaline wears off and the vulnerable feeling of being human takes hold through the hardship she’s just experienced and she notices how her head now throbs with a pulse. Lisa Ann looks to the pack of Maned Wolves and stares into their black eyes, noticing something peculiar about their boosted awareness and comprehension for empathy that makes them much more than your average animal, an intellect she has never quite seen before. They are assessing her as she is sizing them up. The black eyes froth with hyper-intelligence and she can sense the many thoughts forming in their minds.
“Thanks for saving me. My name’s Lisa Ann, but you probably already knew that on the helm of saving me.” The Brown Monstrosity rises from his belly, and sits at attention before pawing forward in a playful manner. Lisa Ann carefully approaches and reaching out, she gently scratches the tufts of soft fur sitting atop his head. Her fingers linger on the large red scars that sit on the surface wound of his eye.
“This is awful. Someone was really cruel to you at one time, weren’t they?” The Monstrosity whines lowly then begins licking Lisa Ann’s face as if he were confirming her gentle words. “My God. You poor creatures, the cruelty you’ve all suffered.” Lisa Ann looks to the rest of the pack who sit panting and whining, staring at her through eager, loving, eyes.
“None of you will have to worry so long as I am around. You’re all safe. I’ll protect you as you’ve protected me. You have names, don’t you?” Lisa Ann looks back to the pack leader who is a pretty Cocobolo brown, with sleek fur and flecks of white on the tips of his paws. “I’m gonna call you Balto.” Lisa Ann looks to the other wolves and proceeds to name them as well. The Gray one Lisa Ann names Dorian, the snowy White one Winter, the Beastly Purple one Monster, the Bolt Yellow one Sparky, the Fire Red one Crimson. The last one is Midnight Black but she names him Fang on behalf of his cute, large incised snaggletooth.
No sooner than Lisa Ann finishes naming her companions, her stomach begins to growl loudly and she looks to her newfound support team for help. Crimson and Dorian stare at one another in silent debate before turning away to bound off into the dark Oklahoma forest. Lisa Ann looks at Winter.
“Could you get me some wood for fire?” Winter turns away and runs off into the forest but in an opposite direction from his siblings. The remaining four Maned Wolves stick closely to Lisa Ann’s side, guarding her like Br
itish sentries. Minutes tick by when Winter returns with several large logs that cling to the back of his jaws. He trots forward, laying the boscage at Lisa Ann’s feet. Lisa Ann looks around and walks deeper into the wet forest, then sets about rubbing her hands together to generate warmth. She proceeds to gather what dry tinder she can scavenge then backtracks to her campsite. Squatting to the ground, she sets the lumber against one another in a teepee formation then puts the dry tinder in the middle, as this is the best possible way to start a nice fire.
Sparky trots forward and prompts Lisa Ann. His wet snout rubs gently against her torn blouse. Lisa Ann stands then steps to the side as Sparky looks at Lisa Ann, ensuring she is a safe distance from his lightning spark. He hacks loudly like a cat with a hairball in its throat. Lisa Ann is amazed as she watches a twinkly energy roar from Sparky’s stomach to his mouth, the yellow arcs surging forward, hitting the firewood in bright surges. The searing temperature lights the kindling almost instantaneously. Lisa Ann looks to Sparky, walks to him and hugs him hard. Sparky looks to Balto and winks as Lisa Ann pats Sparky’s head and sits close to the fire. In a matter of minutes, Crimson and Dorian return with half a deer in each of their jaws, covered in slobber and other foreign material Lisa Ann can’t quite discern and spit it out at Lisa Ann’s feet. Lisa Ann stares at them both.
“Gross, guys.” The Wolves sit whimpering, pawing at their noses as if to say sorry. Lisa Ann rubs and pats their heads. “Aww, that’s okay, I suppose you can’t help it. I’m sorry, guys, you did well and I’m proud of you.” Lisa Ann rubs each of their heads. Lisa Ann yawns. “I’m tired, guys. I am going to bed.”
Lisa Ann lays down. Fang trots forward and lays down next to her. Lisa Ann watches in bafflement as Fang slowly shrinks and shapeshifts into a big fuzzy sleeping bag. Lisa Ann is lost for words but happily crawls inside the sleeping bag and closes both eyes, and sleeps harder and more peaceful than she had ever remembered.
