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Chapter Text

Gremlins Mutation
Prologue

Splice of Life Lab, summer 1990

“Day fifteen of experiment number seven is another day that has yet to prove results,” Doctor James Friedrich spoke into his tape recorder. “Attempt at splicing the DNA of O. Hoazin with Chalmydosaurus has been unsuccessful. The DNA of both species has refused to bond.” He turned off the recorder and rubbed the top of his gray hair covered head. He had been trying to create hybrids of different species for a while and all he had been able to create were creatures such as Ligers and Zonkeys creatures that could be made by normal breeding.

Everyone else at the lab was creating something special. The Stanton twins were creating electric rodents, Walter Watson was working on both a genetic sunblock and various formulas for vegetables and his only complaints were not creating pimentos and corn in his vegetable medley solution.

Doctor Catheter himself had created a formula that improves brain function and can make creatures and humans smarter and his working with various diseases and what has he, doctor James Friedrich contributed to the lab? Nothing spectacular unless one would count the hermit crab clones.

Maybe if he had a larger area to work in it would be easier. A place with various labs and offices would suffice and one that wasn’t so cramped, nor did it reek of various animals, not to mention the noises they made.

“Should we tell Doctor Catheter about the new kind of rodent?” One of the Stanton twins asked from their section of the lab. They were usually happy men, both with ginger curls and moustaches. This one was more giddy than usual and he and his brother had recently returned from one of their specimen collecting run.

“Not while he is sleeping,” the other twin said. “Can we try working on the electric rat project again?”

Friedrich slid his hand down from the side of his head as he watched the twins move onto a different part of the lab, abandoning the cage that was covered in a cloth.

“New kind of rodent?” Friedrich’s curiosity was piqued. What kind of creature did they find in the city? Nothing rare of course since most of the animals consisted of insects and rats, birds and well some squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and possums that were found in Central Park. “Let’s see what we have here?”

He quietly snuck over to the cage and lifted the cloth…and felt his eyes widened and the mysterious creature. It was a small mammal with brown and white fur and large ears and it was asleep, but it didn’t look like a rodent. It was more of a type of tailless primate similar to a Bush Baby but with a mouth like a squirrel monkey. Those fools couldn’t even classify the specimen correctly.

“Keep on sleeping, little one.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. “I don’t know why they are waiting to take your blood, but I will do it for them.” He slipped his fingers into the bar and pulled the creature’s arm towards him and with one deft movement he injected the needle and filled it with blood.

The creature’s eyes opened and he sat up.

Friedrich dropped the cloth before he made his way back to his section of the lab and kneeled down to a special shelf that he kept a small safe inside. Only he knew the combination. He placed the blood sample within. He will study it later.
-
Three Days Later

Most of the building was trashed from the green and brown mystery creatures that had shown up on the day after the twins had discovered the new mammal and after it had escaped somehow. The lab was also destroyed and Doctor Catheter was dead, killed by the electrocution caused by an electrified version of one of those things, Friedrich had heard Daniel Clamp refer to them as gremlins, well that was a simple enough explanation.

“Such a shame,” Friedrich said as he waded around the former lab. Cages were wide open and empty and only a few vials and flasks were left. Some of the cleaning team had already swept up the broken glass and Friedrich and his fellow scientists were allowed to retrieve any personal belongings that may have been intact.

One of those things was his recorder, surprisingly. He pressed the play button and only could hear the various sounds made by the creatures. He shook his head as he dropped it. That wasn’t the important item he had hoped to retrieve. The safe was untouched. He opened it and took out the vial of blood he had collected. This was going to be useful to him. Now he just had to find a new place of employment, perhaps that medical research building out in the country? They did have cancer research department there and once he had enough funds he could start his own genetics lab with a new team.

-

Carey’s Glade, NY, June 22, 1998

Billy Peltzer yawned as he stretched out in his bed. Dateline NBC was almost over and then it will be time for the eleven o clock news and he could barely keep his eyes open for that. He didn’t have his blanket on him and only the top sheet covered his knees. Monday nights were always so tiring.

“You don’t have to stay up,” Kate Peltzer, his lovely wife, said to him from her side of the bed. She was wore her cute pajama set that looks like a t-shirt and shorts and was flipping through a magazine. “You look exhausted.”

“I’m not that tired,” Billy answered as he rubbed his eyes. “It was a non-eventful day at work.” He was looking over proposals for the new apartments that would be built next to the community college. Ever since the gremlin attack eight years ago he had been busy as head of city development for Clamp’s town. It started simple with a few subdivisions and schools and a grocery store along with a post office, a bank, churches, police station, fire department and hospital. Then came more subdivisions and a few areas for apartments, office buildings, a park, a community college and a large mall and their small town just keeps on growing. It was originally going to be called Clamp Corners, but Marla had informed Clamp that a lot of people hear Cramp instead of Clamp and nobody wants to live in a Cramped Corners and they let the people vote on the town name and thus it became Carey’s Glade named after former governor Hugh Carey.

“Maybe we should make a big plan for the weekend?” Kate asked as she brushed her fingers into his hair. “Take the kids to the park for a picnic and get one of the neighbors to watch them on Saturday night and we can go see a movie together. We can go see Six Days and Seven Nights.”

“Just the two of us,” Billy said. They did go to the movies last Saturday, granted it was to take the kids to see Mulan but it would be nice for Kate and him to go and have a date night.

“Three,” a small voice said from in between then. Gizmo was seated in between the two and was looking at a comic book. Ever since he came home with them the mogwai was a big part of the family and the Peltzer’s took great care of him. They kept him in dim areas, kept him dry. When they moved out of the city found a house with two coat closets and one was a walk in and they turned the walk in one into a room for Gizmo with a little bed, a nightstand for a TV, a toy box, some shelves and another table.

The brown and white mogwai wasn’t the only border between the couple. Their ragdoll cat Snowy and gray tabby Knight were curled up next to Giz. There was a time when they shared a bed with their dog, Harris, but when their son, Benny, had developed an allergy at age 3 they had to sadly give him up and he went to live with Billy’s parents. Snowy’s breed was recommended by a friend who said the ragdoll breed had the brain of a puppy and Knight showed up a year later on their doorstep. She was originally going to be taken care of until they found her a new home and then a yellow jacket had found its way into their house and Knight killed it in front of Kate.

“Sorry buddy,” Billy said as he stroked Gizmo in between the ears. “Just of the two of us this time.”

“We promise the next time we go see a movie I’ll sneak you in my purse,” Kate told him while she stroked one of his ears.

“Okay,” Gizmo said and went back to his comic book.

“Coming this weekend to Clamp Corner’s mall,” the announcer said on the TV said. “A brand new experience for the whole family. The New Build A Bear is going to open this Saturday. Come and bring the kids. They can choose one of several different colorful animals. They can stuff them, give them a special heart, brush them and dress them in our wide variety of clothes and accessories then they create a name and birth certificate.”

“A customize your own teddy bear store?” Kate asked. “Maybe not this weekend, but next we can take the kids there.”

“I might look at it when I go this Friday, I have a half day and I need to get new loafers, and you said we ran out of cough drops.” He looked down at Gizmo. “And after I finish those errands we can borrow Benny’s hotwheels, right, Giz?”

“Hotwheels,” Gizmo answered.

While the town took on a new name the mall kept the original moniker. It was a good large sized mall with two stories and six anchor stores, along with a cinema, a hotel and a medical research building that had the bottom two floors connected to the mall. The first floor contained the pharmacy the Peltzer’s used.

“Still have the rest of the week ahead of us,” Kate said as she set her alarm. She went back to banking and was the head teller of The First Bank of Carey’s Glade.

“I’m going to take Gizmo to his room and then go to bed,” Billy said as he took the mogwai into his arms. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were going to go by slowly and he can’t wait until Friday.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The Inspection

May 1998

“What you are seeing here is a creature unlike anything you have come across. It is extremely rare. From what data I have gathered there is only one other exactly like it.”
“How did you come across such a discovery, Doctor Friedrich?”

“A good question, Doctor Henderson, a very good question, but the subject you see before you had only been fully created a few days prior, from the blood sample of the original creation.”

“This is a clone?”

“Yes, Doctor Bivens, it is a clone. Last year they were able to clone a sheep and I have been able to clone various creatures before I successfully cloned this creature, surprisingly I did not need to use a brood mare to carry it and trying to find such a mammal would have been difficult. They claimed it was a rodent, but it does not look like one.”

“I agree with you, it looks more like a primate, part of the suborder of Strepsirrhini. It is almost like a tailless galago or bush baby as they are more commonly called.”

“Very astute observance, Doctor Cordova. The blood sample came from what I was able to salvage from the Clamp Tower eight years ago. From the notes of the Stanton twins this creature does not like bright light and I was informed it was called a mogwai.”

“Mogwai is Cantonese word. It means devil, but I don’t know why such a cute little creature like this would be called that.”

“Maybe they originated from that part of China, Doctor Lei?”

“Possibly.”

“Mogwai.”

“He—it—the creature spoke.

“Yes it is able to communicate, it seems.”

“What is it doing now?”

“It sounds like it is singing.”

“Beautiful.”

“Truly is a lovely sound, Doctor Cordova. We will continue to observe the creature, this mogwai.”

-

June 25, 1998

“And this is just shrimp?” Gerald Hopkins asked as he finished the pasta like sample he was given. This was his third food sample in the molecular gastronomy lab that was located on the seventh floor of the Clamp Medical Science building.

His reason at being at the location was to investigate the different services and labs to see if they are still worthy to continue receiving the funding from Prescott Prestige. So far everything seems to be using their money wisely. The first floor that connects to the Clamp Corners Mall was Thompkins pharmacy and a walk in clinic. The second and third floors were devoted to radiology, mammography and blood work, fourth was a clinic making prosthetic limbs and various braces, fifth was a pharmaceutical developing various medicines and vitamins, sixth was leukemia research and seventh was for gastronomical sciences including something he had never heard of: molecular gastronomy.

“Shrimp salad to be exact,” the curly haired scientist said. “We put in three kinds of vegetables and a bit of mayo before turning into pasta.”

“Great way to serve it,” Gerald said and held up a finger. “And I love the way you served the broccoli in a rice form and it didn’t even taste like broccoli. This is going to help a lot of parents at the dinner table.” He knew it would be welcome at his home. Both is daughters will eat vegetables but Lily only eats them raw and Maddie only eats them cooked.

“Next time we will have a party at the bank we will ask you to be our caterers.”

“We will see,” the scientist chuckled. It was not a fake laugh but a laugh of delight and relief. They will still receive their funding.

“That last one was kind of fun,” Gerald said as he rode the elevator to the eighth and top floor. “I wonder if this one will be as fun.”

-
“North Sector is looking good,” Charles “Chuck” Penderghast said into the walkie-talkie as he walked his route through the Clamp Corner’s Mall. “Nothing suspicious today nobody is having any problems.” He looked up and down at the nearest stores and all he saw were the usual consumers and few employees. It was the same every day since he started his job working security and nobody seemed to notice him. It was almost as if he was invisible or didn’t exist. Well not everyone ignored him. His fellow coworkers in security did as did some of the employees at his favorite noshing stations and of course snobby teens would point and make jokes about him, call him a loser. Maybe he was one, but at least he didn’t depend on mommy or daddy for money.

“Where is your exact location?” His boss, Stewart, asked from his office. Stewart rarely left his office. He had several screens behind him and a desk in front of him and two chairs. He liked to stay, watch the screens and give commands. Chuck didn’t mind, but some of the language Stewart used made him cringe. He referred to the elderly as geezers, and he called all Hispanics Ricans for starters. It was almost as if he was absent from the sensitivity training seminar they were required to take not long ago.

“Heading towards Thompkins pharmacy and clinic,” Chuck answered and stopped in front of the the pharmacy and glared at the directory for the medical building. He had no problem with the first seven floors but the eighth? That was for genetic research. He had no idea what they were doing exactly but knew it couldn’t be anything good. They had to be cloning something or using gene splicing on something, heck they could be making dinosaurs or experimenting with something from another planet.

“Do you see anything?” Stewart asked in his usual bored tone.

“Just people walking in and…out.” He lowered the radio when he saw her again. He usually timed it just right so he could walk by the building just to look at her, the beautiful woman in a lab coat. She looked young, early twenties like him and she had to be an assistant or an intern or else she skipped a few grades in school. Her dark brown waves framed her heart shaped face and she wore silver framed glasses on a pert little nose and had beautiful warm brown eyes. One of these days he was going to get the courage to say hello to her.

“Earth to Charles!” Stewart said, clearly agitated.

“Uh, sorry,” Chuck said as he remembered he was still on duty. “I got distracted.”

“Stop making up stores about government conspiracies involving that genetics lab like you always do and go to the West sector. Trevor said he thought he saw that creeper enter the mall before he went on break.”

“Oh right, sorry, I’m on it.”

-

It was one of the most boring half hour’s Gerald had been through. He fought to keep his expression looking interested as he listened to a Doctor Trainer talk about how DNA can track a person’s ancestor’s but also pinpoint their ethnic heritage. The only interesting thing about the conversation was the fact the scientist was devoid of any pigmentation. His skin was pale pink, almost as white as his snowy hair and eyebrows and his eyes were ice blue.

“Uh yeah.” Gerald reached up and pressed the side of his temple. “I do like the idea that I can just go up to a lab and give them a drop of blood and they can find out my great great grandmother sold baguettes to the people who built the Eiffel Tower.” He was trying to not to sound bored.

“Not blood,” Doctor Trainer said and as a strange chittering sound came from one of the labs. “If we keep working on it then it would be a saliva sample. Your saliva contains the cells from inside your cheeks we use those today for paternity tests.”

“I see.” He looked at his watch and heard the sound again. “What was that?”

“Could be one of the televisions,” Trainer answered. “We do have a few here in our offices.”

The chittering was heard again and Gerald felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up. He remembered the last time he heard a strange animal sound, not just any animal sound but sounds he had never heard before, followed by laughter. It was right before several small green monsters forced their way into the bank of Kingston Falls. He had watched in horror as the monsters slam a clock down onto Mr. Corbin while he ran into the vault.

“Gerald, run!” was the last words from his boss.

“Are you feeling all right?” Trainer asked. His pearly eyebrows were raised in concern.

“I-I am going to be fine.” Gerald closed his eyes. He didn’t see any strange creatures, nobody had It was some nasty biker gang after releasing a gas that was stolen from a chemical plant. The gas made Gerald and everyone else in town believe it was small green monsters. Several authorities told him this, his psychologist told him this and even he told himself the fact.

“I’m sure Doctor Friedrich is ready to speak with you.”

“Sure.” He followed after the scientist as they made their way down the hallway and he only stopped when he heard a different chittering sound, similar to the first one coming from behind one of the closed doors. “What is that?” He reached for the knob.

“Nothing,” Trainer said and stood in front of the door. “These closed offices and labs are to remain closed.”

“Right.” He followed after Trainer until they entered an office that was more organized than the rest. Everything was neatly stored in shelves or a case and the desk was clean and uncluttered. The gray haired man seated behind the desk didn’t even look up at them. He was mostly focused on the microscope he was using.

“Doctor Friedrich?” Trainer asked. “Gerald Hopkins from the bank is here to speak with you.”

“Ah so he has?” Friedrich said as he looked up at him. Bushy brows seemed to peak over the top of thick black framed glasses that rested on a beak like nose. The thin mouth formed no expression. “What would you like to talk about, Mr. Hopkins? What would you like to see? Would you like something to drink? Have you been offered a glass of water or a cup of coffee?”

“I am good, thank you.” Gerald held up his hands. “And I would like to see what you have been working on and what you have worked on in the past.”

“Let me show you my past data,” Friedrich answered, still without expressing any form of emotion. “Our past data and what we have been working on.”

-

Gerald tried to make sense of all that he saw from both the slides and the binders he read through. Most of it was still gibberish but he was able to glean a few details about natural pesticides and creating healthier and bigger poultry for food. He wasn’t sure if he was reading some of information right but it looked like they were trying to create new animals that would go after various pests such as rats and cockroaches. They were also trying to develop a formula to improve the brain for those who had Alzheimer’s, a vegetable growth formula and they had DNA for several different animals such as bats, snakes, moles, kangaroos, dogs, cats, bees, rabbits, cows, and armadillos.

“You seem distraught,” Friedrich had said after Gerald had finished and the older man had finally cracked his face into a disappointed frown.

“Just, this seems more like science fiction than fact.” He slammed the binder shut and placed down on the nearest surface.

“Visiting outer space was once science fiction.”

“Yes but creating new creatures and cloning dead pets? I know people get upset when their dog or cat dies. I’ve held some funerals for a few hamsters myself, but we grieve and we move on and get a new pet.”

“This is not it,” Friedrich said in a nonchalant tone. He had his arms folded and his fingers were tapping against the other arm.

“I understand there may be more, and there is more I do not understand and frankly I’m not sure if everyone at Prescott Prestige will continue to fund your projects. I am not seeing much that can benefit mankind.”

“You are only seeing what is on the surface, only the tip of the iceberg,” Friedrich said while frustration oozed into his mouth before he smiled. “Come with me and see what I am developing for the military.”

“The military?” Gerald blinked. What does the military want with a genetics lab? “You mean the United States Army.”

“But of course.”

Gerald followed him to a different elevator. It was almost the same size but it had a smaller control panel He looked around as Friedrich pushed one button.

“Where are we going?”

“My smaller private lab and well living quarters. I tend to work late and happen to be too tired to drive home. It is better for me and everyone else if I just sleep downstairs when I work late.”

“Like an apartment?” Gerald asked as they continued their decent. “Why are we coming down here? Does it stop at any other floor?”

“Just to the basement and back up.”

The doors opened to a small room with two doors. Fredrick entered the one on the right and motioned Gerald to follow him into another large room with two more doors. It didn’t look like a lab, nor did it have a bed. It did have a screen, a bright orange plastic chair and a table with an overhead projector.

“Go on and sit down.”

“You are going to show me your stills?” Gerald lowered himself to the chair.

“I will explain everything.” Fredrick turned on the machined and placed a clear sheet of plastic with a drawing on it.

Gerald’s heartbeat increased and he felt his eyes widened when he saw the picture. Small creatures with long arms and short legs and big ears and sharp teeth were crudely drawn with a marker. It looked like the same hallucination he had seen years ago.

“Eight years ago these same creatures were found in Clamp Premiere Regency Trade Center and Retail Concourse building and attacked the genetic labs there. I used to work there and sadly we lost the brilliant Doctor Catheter that day, but I was able collect some data, retrieve a few samples and talked with some of my former colleagues about these creatures. Their DNA is a bit unstable and they are easy to alter.”

Another picture was placed with four different creatures each creature had a plus sign next to each one and after that was a beaker followed by an equal sign. The first bottle had an image of plant and its result was a creature with vegetables growing off it, another had an image of brain and a creature wearing glasses, then one with a picture of a bat and winged creature and the last bottle had a bolt of lightning and an electric looking creature.

“They can be changed by just simply ingesting the formulas. Humans can’t be changed like that, but imagine having soldiers that could wield electricity or have the extra legs of a spider, or be able to fly.”

“What, these, no.” Gerald rubbed his head and felt how damp it was. “They can’t be real. Those things can't be real.”

“Oh but they are real, or were.”

“They are killers. They can’t be reasoned with.” He couldn’t believe he was saying that and more importantly he couldn’t believe what he was hearing or if this crackpot believed what he was saying. “No they were not real. They were an hallucination. You suffered from the same hallucination and you are creating some crazy theory based off it.”

“These creatures were real.”

“No it can’t, it cant.” He placed his hands on his head and his hair was soaked with sweat. “Those monsters killed people. You can’t mean to clone them if they were real.”

“They may have killed, but this is what comes next.” A third picture was revealed of a human man along with a plus sign and a creature and third creature looked like a combination of the two, resembling a goblin like being. “I am going to make soldiers out of hybrids and if my theory is right then they can be altered like the creatures, but they will have human intelligence, able to be reasoned with.”

“This…isn’t…real.” Gerald rose to his feet and pointed a shaking finger at the madman. “You are insane this is pure science fiction insanity. I thought they weren’t real, but that if I heard something upstairs that turned out to be these things…and…and you are going to try to control these things and make more monsters.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “No, no, no. We are going to put a stop to this.” He pointed at himself. “I’m going to put a stop to this and we are going to pull the-“ He paused when he felt something sharp enter his shoulder. He turned around to see a strange man with short carrot colored hair as he was lowering a syringe.

“I had a feeling this would happen.” Friedrich said he became a blurred double. “You are going to help me with this theory.”

“Heeellpppp,” Gerald said as he stumbled. Everything he heard seemed to have an echo and he couldn’t see straight nor could he feel his legs. “Iiiii Nnneeeddd heeeellllppp.” He felt strong arms catch him before the world vanished.
-

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Looking for Trouble.

June 2, 1998

“Why does he still have that water bottle in there? He has been avoiding it.”

“What do you mean?”

“The water bottle in the Mogwai cage, Doctor Wilcox. It needs to be removed. He refuses to go near it, wont drink from it. He prefers juice and milk and only drinks that.”
“Your, correct Val—Doctor Cordova. Sorry I don’t know why none of us have removed it.”

“It’s okay, you can call me Val, or Valerie. I thought this was a bit more laid back like the gastronomy lab below.”

“Okay, past formalities, folks. There is a little footnote here about how we are not supposed to give the mogwai any water at all.”

“Why are we now just being informed, Doctor Bivens?”

“Doesn’t matter now. Let me just get this out of here. Excuse me, buddy. And…damn it’s stuck.”

“What do you mean it’s stuck?”

“I mean…it’s just really…tight…inside and I got—oh shit.”

“What happened?!”

“It spilled…and I think it got on him.”

“He’s screaming in pain! Someone get him a towel.”

“Doctor Cordova what are you doing?”

“Getting him—Que Dominos!”

“What was that?”

“It just jumped off his back.”

“There it is. It’s like a little pompom.”

“He is still crying.”

“Its…growing.”

“Two more just shot out of him.”

“What?”

“There are three, no four, no five little puffs.”

“Um the first one just stopped growing.”

“And”

“It turned into another mogwai.”

“I think we should let Doctor Friedrich know about this.”

“Shhh, shh little one. It’s over, Valarie is here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

-

June 26th, Carey’s Glade, New York.

Billy Peltzer had a feeling the alarm was about to go off soon. He was awake and wish he wasn’t, but he had a feeling it was about to ring, maybe it was because his second child was lying on top of him with her pink stuffed fox tucked under her arm. She had a tendency to wake up first, at least ten minutes before he was ready and she would always come into their room and climb into their bed, sometimes she would lay between them and other times it would be on top of him.

The silence was broken by Aerosmith singing their song from that asteroid movie and Billy opened his eyes and peered into the green eyes of his daughter. She had his green eyes, his curly hair and smile and the rest looked like Kate.

“Are you going to turn it off?” Kate asked from her side of the bed.

“I can’t,” Billy answered. “I’m being immobilized by a small giggling child.”

“Daddy,” Sarah giggled.

“It’s always a child or a cat,” Kate said as she slid off the bed and walked around to turn off the alarm before she turned to face them. “Okay short stack, what do you want for breakfast?”

“Donuts,” Sarah answered as her mother helped her down.

“We don’t have donuts,” Kate told her. “We have cereal and pop-tarts.”

“Thanks,” Billy muttered before he rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. After a quick clean and shave he dressed in a purple button down and slapped on his khakis. Today was a half day at work and that meant it was a business casual kind of day.

He entered the kitchen to find his family seated at the small round kitchen table with glasses of milk, cups of coffee, two bowls of cereal and an English muffin and cup of yogurt for his wife and a large bowl of Waffle Crisp for himself. He still had one more thing to do and that was to toast a pop tart for his little friend.

“Can I give Gizmo his breakfast today?” Benny asked. He was their six year old son and was an almost spitting image of Billy at that age, except he had his mother’s eyes.

“We’ll give him his breakfast together,” Billy told his son with a smile.

Once the breakfast pastry was toasted Billy placed it on a small saucer and placed that on a small tray along with a napkin, and a small carton of chocolate milk with a straw. He handed the tray to his son to carry it through the house to the extra closet in the hall.

“Morning, Giz,” Billy greeted as he opened the door. The closet was a walk in and had everything set up, including a small bed an end table with a small TV and a few shelves that were covered with toys, and coloring books, papers and crayons.

“Hi Billy, Hi Benny,” The brown and white mogwai greeted them. Gizmo was perched at the end of his bed while Snowy, their ragdoll cat was curled up next to him.

“Did Snowy sleep with you?” Billy asked.

Gizmo nodded and pet the cat who responded with a purr before stretching out his legs. This was part of their usual morning routine. Billy would usually give Gizmo his breakfast and his little friend would eat it while watching his television.

“No cartoons?” Benny asked in a disappointed tone as he stared at the television. “Just the news?”

“News,” Gizmo answered before he took a bite from his pop tart.

“News is important,” Billy said before gently petting the top of Gizmo’s head. “Looks like they still have those wild fires down there in Florida.” He watched as they talked about the destruction the fires were causing. “Don’t worry I’m sure it will rain soon…it is Florida in the summer after all.” He stood back up. “Good news is today is a half day and that means I’ll get off around lunch and I’m going to do a few errands.” His car was being worked on, just a simple tune up and his car pool was going to drop him off at the Blockbuster and he was going to take the bus to the mall and back home. “Sorry that I can’t pick you and your sister up.”

“That’s okay, daddy,” Benny said. “I don’t want to go home early. We are having a water balloon party at daycare.”

“Right I nearly forgot about that. I want you to have fun but don’t get anything wet near Gizmo, okay?” They had spent the last eight years to do everything they can to keep their mogwai dry. “Okay I’m going to take care of a few errands and come back here and spend the afternoon with you Giz, but until then you have fresh batteries in your Gameboy, right?”

“Gameboy all ready,” Gizmo replied.

“I see you soon.” Billy said in the language Gizmo had taught him. It wasn’t a dialect of a Chinese but a language that Gizmo said all mogwai knew as well as gremlins and Billy had spent the last eight years learning.

“Now,” Billy said and picked up his son. “Let’s get some breakfast into us and then make sure your bag has everything, bathing suit, towel, and sun screen.” He closed the door half way and headed back to the breakfast table. The day was planned he would drop the kids off at day care, go to work, drop off the videos at Blockbuster and stop by the mall.

He needed new shoes and he could pick up cough drops from his favorite pharmacy.

-

Was he dreaming? Gerald kept staring at the white walls of the room, or he tried to but everything was still blurry. He tried to raise a hand but his arm was too heavy, no it was strapped down. Where was he and what was going on? He looked around but all he could see were a few machines making beeping sounds and there were clear bags with tubes running down to his arms.

“Awake are we?” a vibrating voice asked as the blurred figure of the same gray haired scientist walked in. “Oh no you are only half awake? Are you awake or are you asleep? Ah perhaps are you dead or alive, such as Schrodinger’s cat.”

“Who—what?”

“No my dear Mr. Hopkins, don’t talk.” He was holding something in his hands, something small and furry with large ears.

“Uh what am I do—“

“What are you? Well that is a good question. You have already started to change, not a whole lot, but once the solution is fully absorbed you will complete your transformation. I can see that it is working and you are mutating as I hoped. Oh is this where you will tell me I will never get away with it and people will be looking for you? I’m sure that will be soon and we took care of your car and covered our tracks, not all of us just Tim, Hector and I. The others don’t know, oh and Razor here knows but he won’t tell anyone.”

“Wanna sleep more.” He had no idea what was going on or what the other man was saying. He felt the void pulling him back.

“Good, you go back to sleep and continue your metamorphosis.”

-

Why was it always so easy for Billy to find a good pair of shoes for work but it took forever for his wife to find ones she likes? It was best not to dwell on the subject and instead make his way towards the pharmacy.

As he passed by the pretzel stand he caught a whiff of fresh baked pretzels and even though he finished lunch a little over an hour ago he could use a small snack and those parmesan flavored ones looked delicious.

“Quick bite and then get the cough drops,” Billy said as he waited in the short line. He didn’t have to wait long and soon had a tasty fresh toasted treat to munch on, along with small lemonade.

He had his snack half eaten when he noticed one of the mall cops. The guy looked young, maybe late teens or early twenties and had honey brown hair under his hat. The kid had warm brown eyes and a squarish jawline ending in a short curved chin. He also had the far away looks on his face, but he wasn’t day dreaming. Billy knew that smile and turned to face what the security guard was facing and sure enough there was a woman. He knew it. He had often made that face when he was mustering up the courage to ask Kate out when they were working at the Kingston Fall’s bank.

The security guard wasn’t watching where he was going and he took one step and bam, right into a pillar, causing Billy to cringe and breathe out through his teeth.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked as he ran up towards the kid. “That looked like it hurt.”

“Uh a little,” the mall cop said as he rubbed his head. “I’ve had worse before.”

“Do you need any help?”

“I’m fine.” He ran his fingers through his hair and replaced his hat. “I have to do a sweep on the next floor and I spent too much time here.” He had turned pink before he headed over to the escalator and Billy glanced over to where the lady in the lab coat was and yes she had seen it.

‘Poor guy,’ Billy had thought as he finished his snack. He had been there before and wished him luck.

-

Finding a pair of shoes for work was easy, but choosing a flavor of cough drops was not. Did he want the soothing honey lemon or the cooling effects of cherry ice? He pointed at the two bags and closed his eyes and played eeny meeny and finally decided on the honey lemon.

“And that is done.” He grabbed the bag and headed to the register and paused when he heard a whistling. “No that can’t be right.” He handed the bag to the cashier and heard it again. It was Gizmo’s song.

“Two-fifty sir,” the cashier said.

“Here.” He handed her the cash while not paying attention. Why was he hearing Gizmo’s song out here? None of the goofy merchandise that Clamp had made around Gizmo featured the song. “That song.”

“Yeah it’s that new song from Savage Garden,” the cashier answered while she handed Billy his change and purchase.

“No not from the speaker overhead. The whistling.” He held up his finger when he heard it again. “There it is.”

“Yeah some of the guys in lab coats have been whistling it, must be one of their in jokes or whatever.”

“You are probably right.” And that is a bad thing. Last he checked Giz was home and the only possible explanation was that there was another mogwai somewhere in the building, but that was impossible, was it? Humans didn’t know that song and Gizmo had told him all mogwai knew it, but only those like him would sing it. Damn it. He had to make sure it didn’t happen again.

The directory for the labs was next to the elevator and Billy shook his head and scowled when he saw that on the top floor was a genetics lab. It was just like last time. He sucked in his breath and pressed the button for eight.

Nobody was around to greet him or tell him he had the wrong floor when he entered. He looked around and could not see anyone. He had to make his move and was not going to wait another second before he bolted and ran to the first door. It was locked. He went to the next door and it was open and of course it was just a closet with a few extra lab coats hanging. Without a second thought he donned one as he ran through the halls checking each door and holding an ear to them, hoping to hear the chittering babel of a mogwai.

“I think your idea for this hereditary website could work, Gary.” Two men exited one of the rooms and Billy turned to face the wall. “Sure it is not high on Doc Freddy’s agenda, but I can see a lot of people would be into that.”

Billy turned his head and could see them out of the corner of his eye. One was in his early forties and had his dark brown hair cut into a buzz and the other was tall and an albino.
“I don’t think he would be happy if you called him that,” the albino said

“I won’t to his face. Hey you want to break out the rock em and sock ems. Your Garrison verses my Chuckles?”

“Sure, why not?” He unlocked one of the doors and the two went inside.

Billy let out his breath as he continued his way around the floor. He had to find that mogwai and to his frustration every door was locked and the few that weren’t locked were just offices. He was going to have to risk getting in trouble and confront someone and ask them. He was certain if he called Clamp his boss would get him off the hook.

He froze when he heard the doors of an elevator opening and noticed that there was second and smaller one. Once again he turned to a wall and waited for whoever it was to leave. Once the ginger hair man had left the area Billy ran towards it and pushed down. Maybe there was more going on to the building than it had appeared.

“Just two buttons?” He muttered as he pressed down. What was he going to find, a secret storage? A secret lab run by the government? A mysterious underground Mogwai breeder?

The elevator reached its destination and opened the doors revealing a gray room with two doors on opposite ends. He raced to the one on the right and tried to open it and found that just like the other doors he had recently tried it was also locked.

“I bet this one is also locked.” He fiddled with the knob and to his surprise it was unlocked. Inside was a large room with three doors. The one without a window was locked of course. He rolled his eyes and looked into the second room. There were medical machines and an empty chair that resembled a dentist’s chair. The third room was same as the first, except it had something on the chair. It looked a little like a Mogwai but it was too big.

The door was not locked for some reason.

“Hellloo?” The slurred voice asked as Billy stepped inside. It didn’t sound like a Mogwai. It almost sounded human, albeit with a high voice, similar to what he remembered from watching Smurfs and it sounded drunk.

“Hello?” Billy greeted back as he observed the creature. It was strapped down, however it looked like the straps were adjusted and it was larger than a Mogwai, over three feet in height. It also looked like it was wearing human clothes that were much too large for it. The face was furry, except there was no fur over the human like nose and mouth.

“Who you?” The creature asked.

“Um I’m Billy, well William, William Peltzer.” He wasn’t sure why he was introducing himself to this creature but he wanted to know what it was and if it can communicate then he could try to learn more about it.

“Bill-Billy Pelt…Pelt-Peltzer?” The creature blinked and looked like it was trying to study him. “Peltzer, Peltzer…Captain Clip on?”

The answer caused Billy’s heart to sink. Only one person in the world called him that. Gerald Hopkins? That thing was Gerald Hopkins? His former co worker and ass kisser? He hadn’t seen the man since the first gremlin attack. Gerald went to psychiatric care and Billy nor Kate had heard much from him since. This couldn’t be him, but no one else called them that.

“Jerry?” He decided to do a simple test.

“Gerald, don’t call me, Jerry.” It was him alright.

“Jesus, what…what?” He had to pause and lick his lips. “What happened? Who did this to you?”

“Gonna shut em down, report them,” Gerald answered before he closed his eyes. There was no way he was going to be able to sneak out in his sedated state.

“I’m going to get help.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I’m going to make sure they will find some way to turn you back.” He stepped back and felt something sharp prick him in his back.

“Aint that sweet, Hector?” The man standing behind Billy was older with gray hair and black framed glasses. “They know each other.”

“Did you do this?” Billy pointed at Gerald. “What did you do to him?” As he talked he felt the room move and everything in his view grew blurry.

“Hector saw you enter the elevator and notified me,” the older man said with a smug grin. “I had a feeling you were looking for trouble so I unlocked these two doors for you. I had no idea that you two were friends.”

“Nooot frieeendsss,” Billy slurred. “Not Reallly.”

“I think you two might be, get ready to catch him.”

“Nighty night,” the larger man said before the world went dark.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: No Longer Human

June 4th 1998

Science Log no 87

We have learned a valuable lesson two days ago when Doctor Wilcox accidently spilled water on the Mogwai’s back it had caused him to spawn more mogwais. There were five new ones. When he learned of the information Doctor Friedrich decided to test the lesson and placed a single water drop on the back of one of the new mogwais and a new one formed. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to to double check to make certain it was just mere water or if he wanted to have seven mogwais in total since there were seven of us.
We each were assigned our own individual mogwai to watch over and study. I had thought Doctor Friedrich would want to keep the original, but he seemed to prefer the one with the black four point star on his chest and a white spiky Mohawk of hair on his head. The original does seem to like me and I have grown fond of him and gave him the name of Gene after genetics. Doctor Wilcox chose the spotted mogwai that wouldn’t stop laughing and named him Chuckles. Doctor Bivens chose the one with a large black spot over its left eye and named him Patch. We all jokingly said the albino runt should be with Doctor Trainer but he accepted. We have jokingly called him Gary’s son and the name of the mogwai became Garrison, Doctor Henderson chose the chubbiest one and named him Butterball and the seventh went to Doctor Lei who named him Brody
The Mogwai’s have all been measured and weighed and they are all as smart as Gene. They love to play and dance to music but instead of gathering around Gene they seem to ignore him and chose Doctor Friedrich’s mogwai, the one he named Razor after Occam ’s razor. Doctor Lei’s seems to be distant from the others and would rather play with Gene.
We are working on creating some activities to test on them, fun tests like picture recognition and jigsaw puzzles. I can’t wait to see how Gene performs on these tests.
Doctor Valerie Cordova.
June 26, 1998

-

Billy’s eyes lifted halfway and glanced around the room. He was alone and he was resting on a chair with his arms weighed down. Through his fog covered brain he tried to remember where he was and how he got there. He was shopping at the mall. He was sure of that, but shopping for what? He wiggled a foot and remembered he bought new shoes for work and then he went somewhere. There was pretzel? No he went to the pharmacy and heard…he heard a mogwai and then he found Gerald the jerk and Gerald was fuzzy?

No that can’t be right. No he was and as Billy looked around he saw that he was in the same kind of chair that Gerald was in.

“No,” the gasp was more of a hiccup and he choked the word out again. The same thing was happening to him. They were mutating him in the same way.
He tried to sit up but was strapped down and he couldn’t move.

“Me out,” he slurred. “Let me out. Help me. Someone help me.”

“What the?” A voice was heard before the same scrawny ginger haired man that Billy saw before ran into view. “You are a bit too resilient and vocal.” His cold blue eyes stared at one of the clear bags that were hooked up to Billy. “Huh it is only half full and…well there is the problem. This thing got twisted.”

“Let me go you sicko. You lunatic, you jerk.”

“That is some not so nasty insults,” the man chuckled as he was fiddling with something. “Maybe you starting to turn into a mogman is affecting your ability to insult properly.”
“Mogman?” Billy asked.

“You will see when you transformation is complete. We finally made some breakthrough with this mogwai DNA when we cloned one. We tried splicing different animals before and making hybrids in the tube, but it just wouldn’t stick and we tried injecting animal DNA into some homeless people we nabbed off the street and still nothing but this new creature we made or rather Doctor Friedrich had made really changed the game.”

“You tried to test on others?” Billy asked in disgust. He was growing wearier. “You made a mogwai? Do you not understand the risks and responsabbbl…”

“Responsibility? Yes we can’t get them wet and they don’t like bright light.”

“Don’t fffeeeedd theeeeemmmm.” His eyes closed as he drifted back to sleep.

-

“As soon as we get inside you are going to put your stuff away,” Kate said as he walked up the steps to their front porch. She was half listening to Benny as he described how he and his close friends launched several water balloons at other kids in the school age division of daycare while also trying to listen to Sarah as she as singing a new song she had learned. “And we are going to set the table.”

“Daddy and Gizmo are going to want to hear about it,” Benny said as he bounced into their house. “Daddy we’re here.”

“Going to have a bit of a hard time getting him to settle,” Kate said as she hung up her keys. “Benny I want you to place your swim trunks on the bathroom sink and you sandals in your room.” She turned around, eager for the kiss her husband was about to give to her and blinked when he wasn’t there. “Honey?” She strained to hear him. “Billy?”

“Dada?” Sarah called out. “Snowy! Knight!” She was instantly distracted by their two cats and ran over to them to hug. Knight had bolted but Snowy remained where he sat and accepted to the full on toddler hug.

“Mommy, I can’t find daddy,” Benny said as he skipped up to her. “And I don’t smell food.”

Kate ran into the kitchen and turned on the light. It was the same as was when she left the house that morning. She touched the stove and it was cold.

“I heard something in my room,” Benny said.

“Stay with your sister,” Kate ordered as she slowly approached her son’s room. She could hear the familiar whizzing of Benny’s Hotwheels as they raced along their plastic tracks and she let out a sigh of relief. Billy was too caught up playing with Gizmo that he forgot to start dinner. It had happened several times before. “Hey Billy, you forgot-“ She opened the door and saw only Gizmo sitting beside the tracks and watching the toy cars.

“Zoom zoom,” Gizmo said

“Giz?” Kate asked. He should know where Billy is.

“Hi Kate,” Gizmo greeted. “Where Billy?”

“He didn’t come home?” She watched as the mogwai shook his head no. “Maybe they worked a full day and he was working late. Or, or he is still running those errands.” She ran towards their answering machine and there was one message.

“He Mr. Peltzer this is Rick from Adison’s Garage and we are letting you know your car is ready to be picked up. Please call us back.”

“No, no he would always leave a message.” She had to call his office. She dialed and after hearing the dial tones on the other end she heard the answering machine. She mentally cursed and left a message.

“Mommy?” Benny asked in a worried tone. He was holding Gizmo in his arms.

“Go watch TV with Gizmo and Sarah,” Kate instructed as she dialed the number of one of Billy’s coworkers.

“Mama I’m thirsty,” Sarah said.

“In a minute, baby,” Kate told her and listened as familiar voice greeted her. “Hey Dave, this is Kate. Do you remember the last time you spoke with Billy?”

“Right before he dismissed us and wished us a good weekend,” Dave answered. “Is something wrong?”

“Billy hasn’t come home yet.”

“I’ll try calling the others. You try Jason and the others in his carpool.”

Kate called the numbers of Billy’s carpool and few others who work in the same building as Billy. Everyone hasn’t seen him since he either left the building or since he was let off in front of Blockbuster. Kate called the rental store and they said they received the rentals at 1:45. There was one more person she was going to call and she dialed his personal secret number.

“Hey Kate how are things?” Daniel Clamp’s voice was heard on the other line. “You know I was thinking about you and the family. Marla and me were going to take a cruise down to Nassau at the start of August and I can pull a few strings and bring you along, bring the kids. It can be one last summer hurrah before Benny goes back to school. He is starting first grade, right?

“Mr. Clamp-“ Kate had started but was immediately cut off.

“That will give you plenty of time to pick out a new suit and see if Bill’s folks can watch little Gizmo and speaking of which I am going to have a meeting with the Tiger division of Hasbro and we are going to reach a compromise with their upcoming Furby launch.”

“Billy hasn’t come home yet and he hasn’t left a message,” Kate blurted out.

“Bill isn’t home yet?” Clamp asked. His normal jovial tone had turned somber. “And hasn’t tried to call.”

“No.” She felt her eyes well up with tears.

“This is what we are going to do,” Clamp said in a calm manner. “As soon as you are done talking with me you are going to call the police. They are going to tell you they have to wait twenty-four hours but they will keep in contact with you. You are going to talk to your neighbors and then you will not make any more calls. Only answer when it rings. I will be making more calls around. The first is I gotta order some pizza and send it to your place. You, your kids and Gizmo need to eat.”

“Thank you,” Kate gasped as she felt a single tear roll down. Call the police, ask around and wait was all that she was able to do right now.

-

Billy woke to the strange sound of rabid chipmunks and it took a second for him to realize it was the sound coming from his stomach, right after the pang of hunger registered through his body. He was lying down on something and while he was asleep a few seconds earlier he was awake now. His mouth felt like it was full of dry sand and he was starving. He reached down to pet his stomach and recoiled in shock when he felt soft fur and everything came back to him at once.

“Son of a bitch, no!” He was kidnapped by a bunch of insane scientists and they injected him with drugs and mogwai DNA. “God damn it no. No.” He closed his eyes and raised his hand and opened his lids one at a time. His fingers looked human, except there were only four fingers now and the back of his hand was covered in white fur. He took a deep breath and looked down at the rest of his body. He was more slender than a mogwai and taller. His feet had the same human shape but smaller and ended in four toes. His fur was mostly black with white on his ankles and hands and a noticeable white spiky patch on his chest. Above that patch there was a bit of dark brown and thick brown stripes across the middle of his arms. He was also wearing bright red briefs and lifting the edge and looking down he could see he still had another human trait. Well at least that hadn’t changed. He reached up to his ears and yes they were large and pointed and felt his face. His nose and mouth still felt human and was hairless.

He was in a cage? A small jail cell? He wasn’t certain but he was in a large room that had bars running down the middle and on the side was a chair, a desk and of course the door to the other side. He got up off the cot and walked up to the bars. He was still thirsty and hungry and he wanted to give someone a piece of his mind. Where the hell are his captors? Was this a dream? He could feel the cool floor underneath his naked feet and when he pulled on some of his fur it hurt. It was not a dream. This was real. This had really happened to him.

“Where are you, you psycho bastards?” He grabbed the bars and rattled. “Where are you? Are you trying to drug someone else and ruin their lives?” Billy had to pause for a second. His voice even sounded different. It was higher than usual, not as squeaky as Gizmo’s but it wasn’t his normal voice either. He shook the bars one last time. “Shit.”

“Bad language.” The voice came from his right.

“Listen right now I don’t give a damn.” He turned to see who was speaking to him and found himself staring at another creature. He was about three feet tall and his top half had light brown and white fur and his legs were covered in reddish brown fur, the same as his lower arms. There was a small black patch on his chest and he had a shaggy mop of dark red hair on his head. Like Billy he had human facial features, four human fingers and toes and large mogwai ears.

“You use bad language,” the creature repeated.

“What are you?”

“Mogman. I am mogman like you and Schrodinger. I Darwin.”

“Jesus Christ how many has he turned?” Billy asked. “Wait, Schrodinger?”

“Still on cot,” the mogman pointed at the third being in the cage. “He not move.”

The third mogman was still and breathing. He was slightly taller than Darwin and his fur pattern was different patches of white, yellow, golden brown, reddish brown and brown. He had light brown hair on his head and his hazel eyes were open wide. Was that Gerald Hopkins? It looked similar to the creature he had seen yesterday.

“Gerald?” Billy asked and ran to his side. “Gerald, are you okay?”

“Real, they are real, they are real, they are real…”Gerald kept muttering over and over.

“What are real?”

“They are real, they are real, they are real.”

“Gerald come on.” He tried to shake his former coworker but nothing. “Gerald? Jerry?”

“It’s Gerald, not Jerry!” Gerald snapped. He paused and blinked twice. “The little green elves.” He finally turned to look at Billy. “They attacked us, attacked Mr. Corbin. I was safe. I was smart and they were real. Not bikers and not gas and not a hallucination. Everyone saw the same thing.”

“They were real,” Billy said with a sigh. Great, just great, this whole ordeal was taking it’s mental toll on Gerald and he was remembering the first gremlin attack and it was traumatic for him. Back then after all the fires were put out and they had to clean up the place they had to haul off Gerald to an institution, and now with his transformation it was opening up old mental wounds

“They are going to come back and will need help and I wanted to give them accounts, but they talked me out. Doctor Kupferberg helped me, tried to convince me it didn’t happen that way. I told myself it didn’t happen that way and now we know evil green elves are real.”

“They were gremlins.” Billy wasn’t sure why he was telling Gerald this, just that if it will help the former banker out of his break down then he would tell him everything.

“Gremlins, yes and that is a better word for them. Accounts for the little people I once said and now we are the little people. We are Ewoks.”

“No those are not real.” He grabbed Gerald’s hands.

“We are mogman,” Darwin said.

“I guess that is what we have been turned into,” Billy said with a sigh. “We are part mogwai and we will find a way out and get help and find a way to turn back into humans. All three of us.”

“Never human,” Darwin said. “I was mogwai.”

“What?” Billy turned to look at him. “He used human genes on you and made you into a mogman?”

“Yes.”

“Well that would explain his communication skills,” Billy said before he turned back to Gerald. “I know Daniel Clamp and I know he will do anything in his power to turn us back.”
“Clamp?” The taller mogman blinked. “You know Clamp?”

“Yes I do and he is going to fix this.”

Gerald’s grin faded. “What if he can’t? I will stay a mogman and I will need a little person account. My kind will need accounts.” He rubbed his head. “I am in charge. I cannot change the past, but make things better for the future. I am in charge.” He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

“If we can easily be transformed then we can easily be transformed back.” Billy had to keep positive even if he was unsure about it himself.

“They are coming,” Darwin spoke up.

Billy could hear the footsteps in the hall and wondered if he could hear better with his new larger ears or if the steps were just really loud. A few seconds passed before the door opened and the large brick of a human walked into the room. The guy was the size and shape of a refrigerator with bulging arms, a square jaw, jutting chin and dark hair in a buzz. He had a tray on wheels with him.

“Where are they?” Billy demanded.

“Where are who?” The brick asked as he stared at Billy with beady dark eyes.

“Where are the sons of a bitches who did this.”

“No bad language,” Darwin said while the big man laughed.

“Oh man hearing that voice of yours trying to sound tough is a riot,” the brick said. “You guys are like kittens acting so tough.”

“If these bars weren’t here, I’d-“ Billy was cut off.

“What bite me in the kneecaps?” He laughed again as he set a few trays through the slot. “Grub time and you might want to catch before it falls to the ground.”

Billy felt his blood boil as he stared at the large man but he could also smell the food and anger was replaced by his need to eat. He grabbed one of the tray’s and handed the other to Gerald before he removed the lid. A large slice of pizza, a juice box and a cookie greeted him.

“Yum yum,” Darwin muttered before he picked up his slice.

“Yes, yummy,” Billy agreed before he brought the slice to his mouth but before he bit down he pulled it out. “What time is it?”

“One in the afternoon.” The human pointed at the clock and the middle hand was pointed at twelve while the smaller one touched the one. “Why you got specific time for lunch.”

“No it’s just that don’t give us food after midnight.” Billy had no idea what would happen to him and the others but he didn’t want to take any chances. “Tell those upstairs no matter what no matter how much they beg do not feed them after midnight.”

“Yeah I think they said no food from midnight to dawn.”

“Good at least follow that bit of advice.” Billy turned his attention back to the food and bit down into the pizza. The warm gooey cheese was a welcome savior to his mouth. As soon as he had chewed and swallowed he took a long drink. He was going to be careful with his food while transformed, but then he could hide maybe the crust and eat it later. Maybe he wanted to change because once he changed he could get his revenge.

“Peltzer?” Gerald looked at him.

“Huh?” Why did he just think that?

“You stopped eating.”

“Yeah I was just lost in thought. Gerald, Darwin we can’t eat after midnight, just watch each other’s backs.” He had that idea in his head. He can’t let his new instincts take over him, but he wondered and feared if the mogwai that was kept on the eight floor would repress that urge and how long he was going to stay this way. The first thing he had to think of was a way to escape.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Mogwai
-
Earlier that morning

Kate had spent the night on their navy blue couch, clutching the phone in her hands. She had no idea how she made it to the sofa. She vaguely remembered sitting at the kitchen table with the phone while sipping on her third cup of coffee that evening but that was the last thought she had. She stirred a bit and felt something furry and thought it was either Snowy or Knight and took a second to realize it was Gizmo. Of course it was Gizmo who gently poked her when she fell asleep at the kitchen table and she had picked him up before making their way to the couch.

“Oh, Giz,” She brushed her fingers against the top of his head before she had looked at her watch. It was only a few minutes after seven. She still had at least six hours before she could file a police report. She had to check the machine to see if anyone had called since she collapsed.

“Mama!” Sarah came bouncing out of her room. “You not in bed.”

“I know sweetie.” She reached out to hug her daughter and watched as Gizmo woke up. “Did you go potty?”

“I go potty now.” Sarah said before she skipped along the way to her room.

“Come on, Giz. We have to see if there were messages.” She carried her furry companion to the answering machine and closed her eyes when she saw there were no new messages.

“No Billy?” Gizmo asked as his ears sagged.

“I’m sorry,” Kate choked out before she forced herself to keep from crying. “We are trying everything.”

“Mommy?” A half sleepy Benny stumbled out of his room. “Did Daddy return?”

The question broke the levee and Kate fell to her knees as tears cascaded down her face. She felt Benny grab onto her and they continued to cry together, careful to not allow a single tear to touch Gizmo. They didn’t stop crying even when Sarah hugged them and they could feel their cats rubbing up against their legs and only stopped at the sound of the doorbell.

“Benny could you put Gizmo in his closet?” She handed the mogwai over to her son before headed to the front door and opened it, hoping to find her husband standing before her or a neighbor or a friend with news. Instead she was greeted by her in-laws and the Futtermans.

“Hello, Kate,” Rand greeted with a somber look.

“Oh Sweetie,” Lynn pulled Kate into an embrace and the two held onto each other as they continued to cry while they were joined by Sheila Futterman.

“We thought we should come down here,” Murray explained as he and Rand brought in the small amount of luggage. “We want to help as much as we can. You have a handful with finding Billy, and taking care of the kids and the cats, and Gizmo.”

“Grandma, Grandpa!” Benny and Sarah shouted as they ran up to them. “Uncle Murray, Aunt Sheila.”

Kate rubbed her eyes. She had her good cry and now it is time to get down to work. She was going to drive to each place where her husband was yesterday and she had family in town to listen by the phone.

“Mama I’m hungry,” Sarah said as she rubbed her toy across her nose.

“Right I promised pancakes for today.”

“I’ll make them,” Lynn said and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You should rest up a bit.”

“I’ll help,” Sheila said and followed Lynn into the kitchen.

“I’m going to try to shower and change,” Kate said. She had slept in the same clothes she wore to work yesterday and her shoulder length hair was a mess. She had a lot of work ahead of her.
-
June 27 2:00 pm

Now that his stomach was full Billy had time to think and had time to walk around or pace around and think. There wasn’t really much to do in that cell, just eat and sleep and after he investigated the far end of the cell that was screened off by a curtain they could use the bathroom in those buckets. There was some pictures that were drawn with markers and crayons that were put up in the cell but he couldn’t find any paper or anything to draw with. He did notice a stack of copy paper on the desk in front of the cage along with some art supplies and a few magazines though.

“I don’t know how we are going to get out,” Gerald said. He was better after he had eaten but he was still looking at his body. “I wonder how much I’m going to shed.”

“Mogwai don’t shed,” Darwin told him. “Maybe mogmen don’t shed.”

“Fleas?”

“No fleas,” Darwin confirmed.

“How long have you been here, Darwin?” Billy asked. He could learn a little more about the former mogwai. He still needed to come up with a plan. How was he going to open their cell?

“Two days,” Darwin answered.

“Have they ever opened the door to the bars?” Billy asked as he tapped on the metal bars.

“Yes to clean bathroom,” the former mogwai nodded.

“Do they use a key?”

“No press buttons and a card.”

“Are you going to figure out the code?” Gerald asked as he slid off his cot. “How are you going to reach the buttons?”

“That is what I am going to have to figure out,” Billy said as he rubbed his fuzzy chin. Maybe he could rig something with the art supplies, but then how was he going to get a card?

Light filled the room, burning Billy’s eyes and nearly blinding him. He covered them with an arm before he dove to the floor to seek out a dark sanctuary. He could not remember the last time he was in a place that was so bright.

“Jesus,” Gerald cried out. “Turn it down.”

“No bright light,” Darwin cried out.

The light went out and only the night lights plugged into the room along with the soft glow of the desk lamp was there.

“Thank you for holding Razor for me, Tim,” the older man from before said as he entered the room carrying what appeared to be a mogwai with brown, black and white fur. “I see you have the same reaction to bright light as the mogwai.

“Well it was sudden,” Gerald said once he had lowered his arm. “If you gave us time for our pupils to contract.”

“No it didn’t feel like that,” Billy said as the realization hit him. He, Gerald, and Darwin had the same weakness as mogwai and that meant they would have a similar reaction to sunlight and water.

“Mogmen,” the mogwai in the scientist’s arms spoke. There was something familiar to him and maybe it was the white spiky fringe on the top of its head or maybe it was the way he was staring down at them. It sent a chill down Billy’s spine.

“You have become familiar with Darwin and you already knew Schrodinger. I am Doctor James Friedrich and this is Razor.” He gently rubbed the top of the head of the mogwai and Razor closed his eyes and purred.

“William Peltzer,” Billy snarled out his name. His eyes never left Razor and as soon as he said his name they eyes of the mogwai widened as if he recognized Billy. “I’m the head of city planning for the Clamp Corporation.”

“Does that mean you help design our quaint little community?” Friedrich asked in a condescending way while he raised his bushy brows. “What does that make you, a glorified architect?”

“It means he gets to draw and design buildings,” Gerald said in a pleased tone. “He gets to draw and do art for a living. Way to go, Peltzer.”

“Billy,” Razor growled out his name and his eyes and mouth were set in a menacing scowl.

“He knows me,” Billy said. “Why do you know me?” His question threw the mogwai off, mostly because he asked it in the mogwai tongue.

“How do you know our words?” Razor asked.

“Interesting on how you can communicate. Is that a side effect of your mutation?” Friedrich’s thin lips pulled up into a grin and he sounded giddy. “Or maybe it is because you and Razor share a bond, you both have something in common and that is blood. It’s his blood that is coursing through your veins. You two are almost like brothers now, but I wonder how did you find your way down here?”

“I heard whistling of a mogwai song,” Billy answered. “I had to find your mogwai, your Razor because there are three rules-“

“No sunlight or water, no after midnight feeding,” Doctor Friedrich finished. “I believe we have things under control, Pavlov.”

“What?” Billy asked and could hear Gerald mutter the name under his breath in confusion.

“That is your new name, Pavlov. You were lured by whistling and I feel that name fits.”

“My name is William Peltzer.”

“That is a human name and you are no longer human.”

“You old bastard.”

“Now, now Pavlov, it is best not to use such language.” He waved his finger. “ I’m going to take Razor back and then we will run tests on you and Schrodinger.”

“His name is Gerald Hopkins.”

“Tests?” Gerald gulped.

“Don’t worry there, Schrodinger. I just want to measure your weight and height and blood pressure. I will be back in a few minutes.”

“Bye Pavlov,” Razor said as he waved his arm.

“Razor don’t like you,” Darwin said once they were gone. “You speak mogwai. How can you speak mogwai?”

“I have been learning it for the past eight years,” Billy answered. “And I know he doesn’t like me.” He stared at his hands again. “But I knew he was familiar and he knew me and I don’t think it is because Friedrich used his DNA to mutate me.” He was so much like Stripe was when he was a mogwai and that caused another shiver to wash down his back.

“I wonder if that mogwai has a mouth on him,” Gerald said. He had a smirk on his face. “Caused you to develop a sailor mouth.”

“I swore before,” Billy said and cast the other former human a side glance. What did Gerald think he was? Some sort of choir boy?

“Not the Billy Peltzer I knew from Kingston Falls,” Gerald said with a grin. He was no longer scared or losing his mind like he was a few minutes before. He did seem somewhat calmer and maybe just talking with him is what he needs.

“You are not the Gerald Hopkins I know. You used to scoff at my drawings and now you are proud that I am doing art professionally?”

“Ever since that night when those gremlins attacked I changed. I spent several months in an institution and regular visits with a therapist after and once I put the monster behind me we talked about me and my goals and you know what I realized. I was a monster or going to be one like Deagle and as we talked I had a epiphany. I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I tried to be nicer. I donated more. I volunteered more. I met Jenny and got a job with Prescott Prestige but I was a lot nicer to clients. I have two daughters. I hate the person who I once was and you know it is kind of funny but maybe it was for the best those gremlin things came.”

“Gerald I’m glad you tried to become a better person, but I wish that wasn’t the way.”

“I’m sorry for how I treated you back then. I was a prick and I am sorry for the condescending way I talked to you…and everything,” Gerald said and placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for the whole Captain Clip On stuff.”

“Gerald, you don’t have to apologize,” Billy said. “But thank you.”

“You look like you want to hug,” Darwin said. “You should hug.”

Billy felt a small laugh escape from him before he felt himself pulled into an embrace by Gerald. Shit, they were both stuck together, both transformed into human-mogwai hybrids, might as well hug since they were dealing with this nightmare together.

“Come on, Darwin,” Billy pulled the third mogman into a hug with them. He was going to find a way to get Darwin out of the cell as well and…well he wasn’t sure. “Uh Darwin, Gerald and I are going to try to be human again, but uh do you want to be a mogwai again or do you want to stay this way?”

“I think I want to stay,” Darwin said with a shrug. “I speak human better now and I have four fingers. I like four fingers.”

“No matter what we will find a place for you,” Billy promised. He just had to focus on escaping but he still had to worry about Razor and whatever that little mogwai had planned.
-
That was a large surprise for Razor to hear. He had no problem with Doctor Friedrich using his blood to transform a human. He liked the idea of changing humans. It made them upset and that was amusing. Friedrich was not like other humans and was glad he was chosen to be his mogwai. There was also the fact he had his own private cage and a Gameboy to play with.

What he had a problem with was the fact that his blood was used to transform Billy Peltzer. He still wanted revenge on him, to punish what he had done to his brood, his army years ago. He could remember back when he was Stripe and saw how the movie theater blow up and it was Billy and his woman and Gizmo who were responsible.

Gizmo! He set his teeth on edge thinking about that human loving pure and goody mogwai. Gizmo had killed him back in ’84, using sunlight to melt him. He got some revenge on the little furrball when he was Mohawk, oh yes it was fun to burn him with sparks, torture him with the light of a copy machine, painfully place Velcro on him and slowly remove it, but then it was Gizmo that caused his fiery death.

“Group play time,” Friedrich said as he placed Razor into the room with the other mogwai. It was an office that was converted into a play room with a padded floor, colorful pictures and plenty of toys. The doorway was cut off by a childproof gate. “Play nice with the others now.”

As soon as the human had left the other mogwai took notice. Butterball dropped the rubber ball he was playing with and didn’t notice that it rolled over and nearly knocked over Garrison while Chuckles laughed even harder and Patch just shrugged.

“Come here,” Razor instructed. “Chuckles you watch over Brody and Gene, make sure they don’t listen.”

Chuckles responded with a salute and blinked his eyes that always were facing the opposite direction and his tongue was always hanging out. He had golden brown and white fur with black spots on the golden brown part. He also had two dark streaks over his eyes and the shortest ears of the group. He wandered over to where the other two mogwai were and sat down to play with them. The other two mogwai were playing with toy musical instruments and Gene had a toy horn while Brody strummed on a guitar. Chuckles blinked and picked up a drum and began to beat on it while is laughter grew louder and louder. Razor had a feeling he was once Daffy.

Butterball was dancing to the music. He was the tallest and fattest of the batch. He was mostly brown with copper fur on his shoulders and two stripes from his white belly that wrapped around and connected on his back. Light brown fur was on his ankles and the top of his head and he had black fur forming a mask on his face. He had knocked over Garrison once with his dancing. Something about them made Razor feel they were the reincarnations of Lenny and George.

Garrison was the shortest, grouchiest and covered in white fur. He also had pink eyes and paler skin.

Razor scowled at Gene. That one was like Gizmo. He even looked like Gizmo save for the fact there was a black ring around his white spot and there was black fur outlining the white parts. He had the stench of purity on him and Razor couldn’t wait to go into his cocoon and emerge so he could “play” with Gene. He wouldn’t kill him not like he planned to kill Gizmo first. As for Brody he had no idea why the brown and ginger mogwai with folded in ears would choose to play with the goody-goody.

“Did you see the new mutant”? Butterball asked. He had retrieved his ball and bounced it.

“I did and you are not going to believe it, but it is the Peltzer man.”

“He is here?” Patch asked. His fur was various shades of brown except for the white on his ankles and his white head, neck and upper shoulders. He had a marking over his left eye that was all black with a black stripe connecting it to a small spot on the back of his head. He was holding a small toy pirate ship. There were two things that mogwai liked, one was to draw and the other thing was an insane obsession with pirates. He pretended to sword fight, draw up treasure maps and build pirate sets with Legos.

“Yes and he is part mogwai now, but he has my blood. I can’t believe Doctor Friedrich would befoul my blood.

“Is he a Hei’an Lingxiu like you?” Garrison asked using the specific name of the type of mogwai that Razor was, a dark leader.

“Yes that is also what annoys me. I don’t know if he can lead our kind or just mutants like him.”

“Don’t despair he is still furry and in a cage,” Garrison said with a grin. “He is an easy target for when we become stronger.”
When will that be? Patch asked.

Soon, but not tonight, Razor instructed. They have cleaned out the large refrigerator last night. Everything has been thrown and barely any scraps, tomorrow there will be a delivery of a sandwich platter and other goodies and I heard they are going to order some cheesecake.”

“Cheesecake?” Butterball gasped in delight and licked his lips.

“We just have to wait. I have everything planned out and I also have my home made tool to use to unlock our cages. We will have our fun soon.” and Billy Peltzer will be in a world full of hurt.

-

They were still talking when it was time for their examinations and Billy felt himself yanked out by Hector the hulk and handed over to Tim who just carried him around like a sack of potatoes, and he didn’t like the way the string bean of a human was touching him.

Billy was going to make sure those jerks were going to feel pain. He had managed to plant his foot into the stomach of Tim not once but twice as the lab assistant man handled him. They had to use a muscle relaxant in both his arms and he couldn’t even move them and they said they would have used them in his legs but they need him to stand for the scale.

“Three feet and a half inches” Tim said as studied the results. “And thirty five pounds. Think of all that weight you lost.”

“Lose this,” Billy said with another kick and cringed when felt the needled enter his leg.

“I warned you, Pavlov.”

“Let me go,” Billy snarled.

“So you can limp back to your cage?” Tim asked before he strapped him down to the chair. “I think you might be a little too agitated to measure your heart rate but there is this.”

Billy cringed when another needle was inserted into him and he watched as blood was drawn.

“Now for the last.” He grabbed another small vial and reached into Billy’s underwear.

Oh hell no. Billy leaned forward and bit the assistant hard on the wrist.

“Damn it, you little shit.” Tim nearly dropped the bottle.

“Try that again. I dare you.”

“I think that is enough testing for now.” Tim picked him up and carried him back to the cell where he practically threw Billy inside. “No fun stuff, boys, thanks to Pavlov here.” He slammed the cage shut before he stormed off.

“What you do?” Darwin asked as he helped Billy to his cot.

“I bit him,” Billy seethed and then grinned. “I kinda enjoyed that.”

“I wish I did that,” Gerald said softly from the cot next to his. He was curled up in a fetal position and he had his ears lowered. “They did things to me and not just weigh and measure.”

“They were about to violate me,” Billy said and realized what happened. “What did they do?”

“They wanted my stuff, so that old guy reached down…and..and…”

“What?”

“Shoved his finger up my anus. They had to get to my prostate so they could harvest,” Gerald closed his eyes. “Harvest my stuff. They took my semen.”

“Those sons of a bitches,” Billy growled. He wanted to punish them severely and there was one sure way but they had to become stronger. “Tonight we will hide food and tonight we will wait until twelve in the morning and—“

“Eat after midnight?” Darwin asked. “No we don’t do that.”

“Want revenge,” Billy hissed. “I want to get them for what they did to us. I want to-“

“Be human?” Gerald asked as he sat up. “Right now you are scaring me.”

Billy blinked a few times. “Oh my god, what am I thinking?” How long was he going to last until he succumbed to his dark desires?

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Penny

Kate had spent the entire morning preparing to meet with the police. She had cleaned herself up and enjoyed a pancake breakfast with the others. She had chosen a simple white blouse and a pair of blue jeans to wear. She chose no jewelry or makeup and just placed a light blue headband in her hair.Lynn and Sheila had agreed to stay home and watch the children and Gizmo while Rand and Kate would go down to the station. Murry was given a map of the area via MapQuest and had places that Billy had been or would have visited highlighted.

“Plan of action,” Rand said as they had entered the station. “We will file the report even if we might have had a head start.”

“Clamp said he had hired the best private detectives in the city,” Kate said as she had remembered the phone call she received earlier when they made the plans. There were two private investigators looking for Billy along with Frank Forster.

“Great to have friends with power,” Rand agreed as they had entered the building.

There was a bit of a wait time and as the time went by she was growing more agitated, only to be calmed by the reassuring hand of her father in law. She could tell he was
frightened as well. He hadn’t tried to sell any of his contraptions to anyone else in the room.

“When did you say he was missing?” The officer said as he wrote down the information. He looked bored or tired and was twirling a pen in his right hand.

“Yesterday at one forty five in the afternoon. That is what the people at Blockbuster told me,” Kate said. “He said he was going to the mall and maybe someone there saw him, but that was the last time he was seen that I know of.”

“My son works for Clamp,” Rand said as if that would cause some sway.

“Him and half this city,” the officer said, brushing him off.

“No my son created this town. He designed it.”

“He is the head of city development,” Kate explained. “I already spoke with everyone who works with him and everyone in his carpool and I even asked our neighbors.”

“We are going to need names and phone numbers and-“ He was interrupted when Kate slammed their address book down onto the table. “Is everyone in there?”

“Yes.”

“Does your husband have any enemies?”

“Billy?” Rand asked and shook his head no.

“No, not that we know of,” Kate added.

“Has he been involved with any one that might seem suspicious?”

“No,” Kate answered.

“Was he acting strange or unusual?”

“No he was looking forward to the weekend,” Kate said. “We were going to have a picnic in the park and then one of our neighbors was going to babysit so he and I could go to the movies for a little date night.”

“I have to ask.”

“Please find my son,” Rand asked in a weak tone that Kate had never heard him use.

“We will do everything that we can.”

-

Billy had regained the feeling and ability to move his arms in time for his enchilada dinner. He was going to make sure to eat all of it and put the tray back. He was not going to be tempted to eat when he shouldn’t. In fact he was going to go to sleep before midnight. He looked up at the clock. It was a few minutes past seven.

“Yummy cheesy food,” Darwin said as he ate.

“Called an Enchilada,” Gerald explained. “It’s from a place called Mexico and I have been to some really good Mexican restaurants and this is nowhere near as good, now this is better than a TV dinner version and better than cafeteria food from like a hospital.”

“Mall food court,” Billy explained. “This taste like Taco Vida Ole from the food court. I think the pizza from earlier came from the Sbarro.

“I think you are right,” Gerald said before he took another bite. He had relaxed by the time dinner had arrived and seemed to be enjoying his meal and talking to Darwin about it. He was also making sure the former mogwai used his plastic fork and a napkin and to excuse himself whenever he belched.

“Glad you are feeling better,” Billy told him as he used his plastic fork and knife to cut off another bite sized piece. He took longer than usual to eat his dinner and mostly it was because he didn’t want to get cheese on his fur.

“Don’t worry about me,” Gerald said and gave his arm a light pat. “I was worried about you for a second. You started to scare me a few hours ago.”

“I’m sorry.” He reached up to rub his head. “I don’t know why I keep getting these cravings. I mean neither of you have these cravings to eat late.”

“I don’t want to eat after midnight,” Darwin said and plopped another cheese filled bite into his mouth.

“No, no desires for that,” Gerald added after he took a sip from his cup. They were only ever given juice or soda to drink. “At least not yet.”

“Unless…unless it is because Razor is like Stripe.”

“Razor is Stripe,” Darwin said after he swallowed.

“What Stripe?” Gerald asked. “Who is Stripe?”

“It’s time I explained everything,” Billy said and took a deep breath. He started with receiving a brand new pet years ago, a mogwai named Gizmo. Gizmo was kind and friendly and playful and Pete accidently splashed him with water, creating five new mogwai. Billy took one of them and created a sixth for Mr. Hanson to study. One of the mogwai was Stripe and he lead the others into tricking Billy into feeding them after midnight. They formed cocoons along with the sixth one and they were gremlins once they were hatched. One killed Hanson while his mother took care of three of them and Billy killed a fourth. Stripe escaped and made it to the YMCA pool where he spawned hundreds more.

“That night,” Gerald said softly as his ears lowered.

“Gerald, I’m sorry. It was my fault.”

“You said that one tricked you.”

“Stripe tricked you,” Darwin said. “Stripe died and came back. He was Mohawk.”

“Huh?” Gerald asked and looked at Billy for answers.

“There was another attack at the old Clamp Center building in Manhattan about eight years ago. There was one gremlin that had this reddish fin on his head. That could be him. He also mutated into being part spider.”

“That’s what they want us for,” Gerald said as he set his food down. “When they first brought me down here and before they turned me they showed me a slide show. They want more spider gremlins and ones that can fly and shoot electricity.”

“Why?” Billy asked.

“Friedrich said he was doing this for the army, make better soldiers,” Gerald answered.

“Do they not understand how dangerous that is?” Billy asked.

“Not understand Razor is dangerous,” Darwin spoke up. “He was Stripe and Mohawk and now Razor.”

“How do you know this?” Gerald asked as he stirred his rice and beans together. “You feel a connection to all mogwais?”

“Mogwai,” Billy corrected. “Plural is the same as the singular.”

“No just Razor and just memories. I came from him, but I’m not like him. He wants to be bad.”

“Great,” Billy sighed as he cradled his face. “Not only do we have to find a way to escape but we have to make sure Razor doesn’t transform.”

“How?” Darwin asked.

“Figure out a way to escape first,” Billy said. “And I need you to help me in case I start getting certain ideas in my head.”

“I promise and you will help me in case I have any other breakdowns?” Gerald asked.

“Yes.”

“I will also help,” Darwin said. He held his hand out and both Billy and Gerald placed their hands on top.

-

Dinner that night was good, but then again both Lynn Peltzer and Sheila Futterman were amazing cooks. They barely talked through the meal. Murray did try breaking the ice with questions about baseball and asked Rand what new invention he was working on now, but each discussion lasted only ten minutes at most.

Silence was shattered by the phone ringing and both Kate and Lynn had bolted from their chairs. Kate had reached first and her heart raced when she answered it.

“Kate great to hear you,” Clamp rattled off at the other end. “Have you gotten anything new or heard anything about Bill?”

“No, nothing,” Kate answered. “Please tell me you have something.”

“One of my boys found something interesting. Your husband isn’t the only person that went missing in the last forty eight hours and the second one also was last seen in near the Clamp Corners Mall, more specifically the Medical Research building and according to his profile he is originally from Kingston Falls.”

“Who is he?”

“Do you know a Gerald Hopkins?”

“Yes.” That name was a flash from the past. She hadn’t seen or heard anything from Gerald since he was committed. She heard he was released and moved out of town but that was it. “Hadn’t heard about him in years.”

“Any news?” Rand called out from the table.

“Gerald Hopkins is also missing,” Kate explained.

“That pompous prick from the bank?” Murray asked before he shoved more food in his mouth.

“Murray,” Sheila gasped while she covered Sarah’s ears with her hands. “Don’t use such language.”

“Not in front of my grandchildren,” Lynn added while she pointed at him.

“We used to work together,” Kate explained into the phone. “We both worked at the Kingston Falls bank.”

“Might be a lead and we will investigate your old hometown as well,” Clamp said on the other end.

“I don’t think any of our past customers from the bank wants any form of revenge.”

“We have to look for and at everything, leave no stone unturned. Call if you have any new leads and will touch base tomorrow.”

The mystery was getting even more mysterious and now there were two men to search for. Kate hung up and wondered what was the connection besides being former employees at the same place?

“Might be coincidence,” Kate said as she sat down. “But I’m going to help find Gerald also.”

“Why?” Murray asked and received a smack on the side of his head from his wife.
-

June 28, 1998

“This mall food?” Darwin asked as he held up the breakfast meal consisting of an English muffin sandwich with egg and cheese inside.

“No this is an Egg McMuffin,” Gerald explained after finishing his bite. “Since our lunch and dinner came from the mall and the mall doesn’t usually open until ten then our breakfast came from somewhere else.

“Milk.” Billy grumbled after slurping his small carton of milk through the straw. “Guess coffee is too much of a luxury for us.”

“I like milk,” Darwin said.

“Gives you strong bones,” Gerald said. “And it’s good for your teeth.” He cast a glance at Billy. “We should both be encouraging him to make good healthy decisions.”

“It is good, but I’m already missing coffee,” Billy said. “Unless that is one of their tests for us today.”

“To see how caffeine affects us?” Gerald asked and then shrugged. “I’d volunteer for that.”

“I think we all would, but who knows what kinds of tests they are going to run on us,” Billy said.

“Testing before they alter us further,” Gerald said. “Gives us shocking abilities and wings so we can become better fighters.”

“Or take our DNA and clone us,” Billy said with a sigh.

The footsteps were heard down the hall and Billy could tell by the gate it was Tim. He was not going to get angry at the pasty faced assistant, anger seems to lead to those dark desires and he refuses to allow them to take over.

“How is breakfast, boys.” Tim said as he entered the room. He was grinning and that meant he was in a good mood and that made Billy nervous.

“Delicious, thank you,” Darwin said.

“We have a special test for today,” Tim said without losing that extra chipper tone to his voice. “Who wants to volunteer?”

“Are you going to test how coffee affects us?” Gerald asked before he wiped some of the egg from his mouth with his napkin. “Because I would volunteer for that.”

“No, but I like that idea.” He smiled as he held up a finger and nodded at Gerald. “We will maybe do that in the future. I just need one of you, or I will have to grab one by force.”
“Me,” Billy said when he noticed the panicked looks on the others. He set his tray down and stood up. “I promise I won’t bite this time.”

“Remember I still have the muscle relaxers,” Tim warned as he pointed at the syringes sticking out of his pockets. He opened the cage and pulled Billy out “Both Doctor Friedrich and Hector will also be in the room. So don’t think of anything.”

“I won’t, just don’t do anything to hurt the others,” Billy said as he reluctantly was dragged out of the room towards the one large room that had been set up for something. There was large metal tub, like the kind one would use for apple bobbing, in the middle of the room along with several white plastic bins. He could see a beige picture sticking out of one and a clear gallon of water in another.

“Place the subject into the basin,” Friedrich instructed and Billy felt himself hoisted by the hulk and placed into the basin. “Test one.” He held out a medicine dropper.
“What are you doing?” Billy asked and felt a drop of something wet on his head.

The humans were silent for a couple of minutes when nothing happened.

“Test number two,” Friedrich said as he emptied the dropper on Billy’s head.

“Feel anything?” Tim asked he had a note pad in one hand and a pen in another.

“Tickles a little bit,” Billy answered and watched as both Friedrich and Tim wrote something down. “What are you trying to achieve here?”

“Test three.” Friedrich held up a clear vial and poured it on Billy’s head. The tickling intensified causing the mutant to giggle. “Test four.” He dumped a tumbler size glass of water on him.

“Are you trying to get me to multiply?” Billy asked in shock after he had stopped laughing. “Are you serious?” How many Mogmen did they want? Getting him to produce by water would be better than to just kidnap and mutate another innocent being.

“Test five,” Friedrich said and dumped a larger glass of water onto Billy. The tickling turned into itching for Billy and he tried to reach behind him to scratch the itch on his back.
“Still nothing, sir,” Tim said.

“I see and now for the final test.” He held up a plastic gallon jug and poured the entire contents onto Billy.

The water was cold and Billy kept his mouth shut and his eyes closed as the water soaked him and the itching had turned to burning, a burning that dug deep down into his flesh.

He cried out as pain coursed through him. He could feel something tear inside and not only tear but move. He couldn’t move as he felt the lump wiggle around under his skin. He fell forward as the painful sensation continued as it moved around growing closer to the surface of his flesh and finally tear free.

“Whoa,” Hector gasped as the gray ball of fur landed on the floor in front of them.

Billy watched as it grew while the pain subsided. Poor Gizmo. He went through that several times before and back then it was in multiples.

The ball grew in size until it was three times the size of a mogwai before it rolled around and uncurled, stretching out its limbs—no her limbs. The new creature was female in form and she even had long dark brown hair that contrasted with her grayish fur that was covered with darker gray stripes.

“Congratulations, Pavlov,” Tim said. “It’s a girl. She even has green eyes like you.”

“Cold,” the new female mogman said. “I’m cold.” She wrapped her arms around her chest. “I’m cold and naked.”

“You heard her,” Friedrich said. “Get her something to cover up.”

“She has breasts,” Hector said as he continued to stare at her with his jaw hanging.

“Don’t ogle her,” Billy said once he regained his voice. The pain had disappeared and he was just as curious about her as the others in the room. Why was she female?

“Yes, have some decorum,” Friedrich said as he approached the new mogman. “Do you know where you are?”

“A lab?” The female asked as she continued to look around. “I’m in a lab and you are Doctor Friedrich and I came from Billy Peltzer.”

“Yes,” Billy said. “But how come she is well a girl.”

“Good question, good question,” Friedrich said and scratched the top of his beak like nose. “Mogwai are genderless but humans are not and mogmen also have a gender, both male and female. It seems different genders can come from the same mogman, also there is the human trait of usually one birth at a time and it took more water to actually create one.”

“Can they also you know get intimate and make a baby that way?” Hector asked.

“Still have yet to find out.”

Billy had grimaced at the idea. He wasn’t certainly going to sleep around on his wife and not with a female mogman, at least not one that spawned off him. It felt like incest. He would of voiced his opinion except for the fact that he did not want to draw attention to himself as he climbed out of the basin and snuck towards the door.

“You want something that starts with the letter P?” Friedrich asked. “Patricia, Pauline Penelope…”

“I like Pen el oh pee,” the new female mogman said as she continued to hug herself.

“Then Penelope it should be.”

“It is long though, maybe something shorter?”

“Penny?” Hector asked.

“I found this old shirt,” Tim said as he opened the door, not noticing that Billy was behind it.

It was his chance. Billy bolted past Tim and into the hall. He had reached the elevator and reached up to press the button. The doors open and he ran inside. He was about to jump up when he felt groggy and his vision grew blurred. He reached behind and pulled out the tranquilizer from his backside.

“Damn it,’ the words barely left his mouth before he blacked out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: The Third Rule

Another day and another dollar as the saying went and Chuck used to think this way when he went in for his simple job, but now there was some serious news that rocked his community. People just don’t go vanishing into thin air, in quiet little towns, at least not usually and for Chuck it wasn’t people who he had just met right before they go missing. It was a bit surreal for him that he had just met the guy hours before he went missing.

People were talking about it and reading about it and he could see an elderly couple as they sat on one of the benches near the pretzel place looking over their newspaper and reading about it.

“He was last seen right here, Bea,” the husband of the two had said while waving his arms around. “The people working at the pretzel place had seen him.”

“So did I,” Chuck said as he approached the two. Both of them looked up at him. “I wasn’t watching where I was going and I bumped into that column.” He pointed at the one that smacked him in the face the other day. “And he asked me if I was okay.”

“Sounds like a nice person,” the wife, Bea said and shook her head. “Poor man, I hope he is well.”

“So do I,” Chuck agreed. “But I’m not sure if he is.” He pointed towards the direction of the pharmacy. “I watched him go in there and that is the last place anyone saw him and you know what is on the top floor?”

“No,” the man said. “What is it?”

“A genetic research facility,” Chuck answered. “They are doing experiments with all kinds of DNA up there. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are taking people as ‘test subjects.’” He made finger quotations.

“Young man you are not thinking they took those men and using them for their experiments,” the elderly man said.

“He could be onto something, Edward,” Bea had said and pointed to a different photo in the paper. “This young man also went missing and he was also last seen here.”

“Or maybe some of us need to stop watching and reading too much science fiction and making up stories,” the new voice belonged to Laura and she was standing behind Chuck with her hands on her hips. “Not again.” She also worked in mall security and wore her long brown hair into a ponytail. She also claimed she could kick Chuck’s ass if they ever got into a fight and he believed her.

“What?” Chuck asked and noticed the way she had her hands on her hips.

“What do you mean what?” She rolled her eyes at him. “Stop scaring people with your crackpot ideas. Those people in the genetics research are working on new ways to fight diseases, not create a mutant army, not to create a clone of an alien and they are not kidnapping people to perform experiments on them.”
“It’s just suspicious.”

“Chuck, I like you and I’ve actually read some of your fan stories on your Tripod site.” She held up her hands. “But this has to stop. Stewart doesn’t know about this and I don’t want him to know about this.” She closed her amber eyes and sighed. “You did everything you could do. You told the police the facts and they took down your disposition and I want to help them find those missing men. We all do but we also have to keep our feet on the ground, okay?”

“I understand.” He turned back to the couple. “Sorry I just read a lot of stuff and I like to write a lot of stuff.” He shrugged. “And sometimes I let my imagination run away and get the best of me.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Edward said. “We won’t tell anyone.”

“I need to go patrol around the food court,” Laura said. “And you need to be on the upper level at the South Sector.”

“Got it.” Chuck gave her a thumbs up. He cast one sour gaze towards the pharmacy before he went back to patrol.

-

Billy woke up to find out he was on his cot and back in the cell. He had no idea how long he was out but he also could hear Darwin and Gerald talking about…ping pong? The last thoughts that were running through his head earlier were of him trying to escape and before that they soaked him and caused him to spawn off a female mogman.

“Almost,” Billy mumbled as he tried to sit up and ended up falling off the cot.

“Easy there,” Gerald said as he helped him back up. “You had been out for a few hours. You even missed lunch.”

“I guess that is my punishment,” Billy chuckled as he sat on the edge of his cot. “I’m sorry guys. I tried to escape.”

“I’m not blaming you.” Gerald placed a hand on his shoulder. “You at least tried.”

“And now they are going to starve me. The one with occasional bad thoughts.” He noticed they had changed his briefs and now he was wearing a dark purple pair.

“I kept an apple,” Darwin said and tossed him the shiny red fruit. “Won’t starve.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Billy said before he bit into the fruit. After he had chewed and swallowed he looked around the room. “Where is she?”

“She who?” Gerald blinked.

“The girl, the female mogman.” Billy closed his eyes as he tried to remember the encounter with the striped female that had came from his soaking earlier and he couldn’t remember her name it was Pen—something. “The test they did. They placed me in a basin and they would add water. A few drops at first and then a little more and a little more until the dumped a large amount and soaked me and she came out of my back.” He took another bite from his apple.

“Don’t get us wet,” Darwin murmured.

“We can do that multiplying thing?” Gerald asked.

“It took a lot of water and only one at a time and—Penny! Her name is Penny. I want to know where she is. Why isn’t she here with us?”

“Different room?” Darwin asked and shrugged.

“They probably did put her in a different room since we are guys and she is a girl,” Gerald said. “That makes sense.”

“But she’s alone,” Billy said before he took a bite from his apple. Was she scared? What kinds of tests were they doing on her?

“Rescue her,” Darwin suggested. “We also rescue her.”

“Shhh,” Gerald said as he held a finger to his lips while one of his ears was raised a little higher. “They are coming.”

Billy didn’t look up when he heard the one door open and he didn’t look when he heard the approaching footsteps except there were two people there and one wasn’t wearing shoes and their footsteps were lighter.

“Peltzer,” Gerald whispered.

Billy turned to see Tim but he was not alone. He was holding the hand of a light gray female mogman with dark gray stripes and long curly brown hair. She was wearing a small pink cotton dress and she was waving at them.

“Hello,” Darwin said and waved back. “I Darwin.” He blinked. “I am Darwin.”

“Better,” Gerald said and placed a hand on the red head’s back. “Uh hello uh Penny?”

“Penny?” Billy sat up. “Are you okay?”

“I feel great, daddy,” Penny said. “It is nice to meet you Darwin and…” She tilted her head. “What is the name of the cute one?”

“Schrodinger,” Tim answered with a smirk. He was trying to keep from laughing at something and Billy wondered what the heck was so funny.

“What are you going to do with her?” Billy asked.

“Give her a small examination,” Tim answered. “And then she is going to her room and do whatever she wants.”

“I would like to stay here,” Penny said with a shrug. “But girls can’t be with boys but I hope we can all play games soon.”

“Okay sweetie, you got to see the others,” Tim told her. “Now say bye bye for now.”

“Bye daddy, bye Darwin, bye Schrodinger.” She blew them a kiss.

“Where are you taking her?” Billy rushed to the bars and grabbed them. “Don’t take her away.”

“She has to go,” Tim said before they stepped outside.

“Come back here,” Billy said as he felt his anger rise. “Don’t you dare harm her or I swear I’ll.” He felt a hand on his back. “Don’t touch me.”

“Easy there,” Gerald said as he stepped back. “There is nothing you can do for her.”

“That’s just it.” Billy smacked his hand against the bars. “I can’t help her and I can’t help us, not when we are like this. I don’t know if we can escape.” He just stared at his four fingered hand. “We are lab rats. I’m afraid we might be like this forever.” At least until he found a way to—no he can’t think like that.

“No you said Clamp will help us,” Gerald said. “Even if we don’t escape we will be found. I been thinking while we working on that puzzle-“

“Puzzle?” Billy interrupted.

“While you were out cold they took me and Darwin to another room to solve a jigsaw puzzle together and then play a few rounds of ping pong. I don’t know what kind or research that was for unless it was a team building exercise, but back to my main point I was thinking that there are people out there looking for us. My ex would have noticed something was wrong when she came by with our girls and I know Kate is looking for you.”

“Kate.” Billy closed his eyes. He missed her, missed his children and Gizmo. How were they going to react when they see him like this?

“You know they have the cops involved and the media and they are looking for us. Once they have the clues put together they are going to get these sick bastards—sorry, Darwin—arrested and they will find us.”

“You are right,” Billy said as he raised his ears and grinned. “Kate is on top of things and before you know it they are going to have the police storm this area and then we start curing us and…” He trailed off as he looked at Darwin. “Oh.”

“He’s going to live with me,” Gerald said. “Do you want to live with me, Darwin?”

“I would like that,” Darwin answered before he gave Gerald a hug.

“And I’ll take Penny in,” Billy said. “She is my child in a way.” He wasn’t sure how they were going to arrange things and was she going to sleep in Gizmo’s closet room? They will make it work. The first matter was hoping Kate and the other’s would find him soon.

-

Daniel Clamp was not one of the most patient men in the world but he knew that some things had to take time, like cooking a good steak dinner, or building a town, but when it involved trying to find one of his favorite employees and friend, well that wasn’t something he could wait for. He had been calling his hired detectives every hour on his mobile phone asking and later on demanding new information. When one of them called him back after three in the afternoon after he had touched base with Kate Peltzer he almost jumped.

“Which one is this?” Clamp asked as soon as he answered. “Eh doesn’t matter. Have you found them? Have you gotten in contact with the kidnappers? Are there any kidnappers? Did the police call you? Did you call them?”

“We all came across something different,” the man on the other end said. “And I’m Carson by the way.”

“Well what do you have?”

“I thought we all could meet at my office and don’t bring everyone involved. It’s a small office.”

It didn’t take Clamp long to reach Carson’s office and it was small, just a single large room with a desk in front for his receptionist and a desk in the back for Carson to use along with a bathroom and closet. The receptionist wasn’t there but the other hired P.I was there and she was a former bounty hunter. She was leggy, attractive and had her copper colored hair in a bun. The fourth person in the room was of course Frank Forster. Carson was middle aged with salt and pepper hair and was seated in his chair.

“What do you have for me,” Clamp asked as he ignored the combined odor of stale coffee and cigarette smoke.

“I got some video from the airport,” Carson answered. The man wore wrinkled clothes and didn’t shave that day. “Where Hopkins’s car was found. Now a man fitting Hopkins description at least by hairstyle and was wearing the same outfit as him was seen leaving this medical facility Thursday night. Parking lot footage has him or rather someone looking like him from behind, getting in his car and driving away and there is footage from LaGuardia driving there. His car was parked a security blind spot though.”

“What else?” Clamp asked. From what he had learned the car at the airport was a dead end.

“I asked for the footage after and took note of all the cars that had left since then. I got footage for the following six hours. I have all the cars makes and models and licenses plates. They are being analyzed as we speak. They have reported at least seven also arrived at the airport within the six hour time frame as well.”

“That’s it?” Clamp asked trying not to allow him to hear how disappointed he was.

“Cops received an anonymous tip,” Avers added before she placed a stick of gum in her mouth. “Someone said they saw Peltzer enter the clinic and they suspect it was the genetics lab on the top floor, but the cops think this tipster is just some kook.”

“They are still going to talk these genetics people,” Clamp said as he remembered the Splice of Life lab that was in his old building. “I don’t trust these genetic scientists. There are just some things man shouldn’t mess with.”

“The tipster said he thought Peltzer and Hopkins were nabbed by them to be experimented on.”

“Sounds like something out of Science Fiction if you ask me,” Avers added.

“So did the Internet at one time and look where we are now,” Clamp said. “I agree with this anonymous guy. I had a similar lab and they were making daytime bats and electric rats. They had all their freaky experiments lying around and it created a variety of monsters and…well it was on the news. You did see that right? We got it under control.”

“The little green and brown things?” Avers asked as she raised her eyebrows. “Those were real? I thought it was some strange show you were testing at the time. I mean the newscaster was Dracula.”

“They were real all right,” Frank answered. Clamp had remembered how he had tried to keep a cool head throughout the incident, until they came across the lone female one that had the hots for Frank. Greta still lives with Frank and they all agreed she wasn’t a threat and they have done a great job in preventing her from getting wet.

“That is what you remember?” Clamp asked and shook his head. Fred was now one of his leading anchormen and had long since ditched the vampire get up. “It’s not important right now. What I want is to find out what happened to those men. Where are they?”

“We will be investigating everyone in that building,” Carson said. “My sources showed me that Peltzer had entered the building via the pharmacy that connects to the mall and nobody has seen him leave and yes I made sure the authorities were also informed.”

“They have seen someone matching the description of Hopkins leave,” Forster said and held up a hand. “I also have spoken with an employee from the Casual Male and they said someone purchased the exact same suit that was seen on Hopkins an hour before they saw him leave the building.”

“Description?” Clamp asked.

“Pale and twiggy with long dark hair and a goatee,” Forster answered.

“Talk with every employee,” Clamp ordered. “With every technician, receptionist, cashier, janitor, scientist everyone and ask if they saw this twiggy red head. We will leave no stone unturned.”

-

The punishment for his escape attempt earlier wasn’t as severe as Billy had thought. They were given paper and pens and markers for art and even comic books to read. Some were from a few series that Billy hadn’t read before but he enjoyed reading them, but not as much as he enjoyed watching Gerald help Darwin improve his reading skills. He wondered if Penny could read and what she was doing. Was she scared? Was she lonely? He hoped they gave her something to read or keep her mind occupied.

While he had read it did keep his mind off his growing appetite and he noticed the others were getting hungry from the sounds coming from their stomachs.

“They’re late with dinner,” Gerald said as he placed some of the cards he was given out in a solitaire fashion. “It’s almost six thirty.”

“Still have plenty of time,” Billy said and rubbed his stomach. “But you are right they are late. Just try to keep our minds occupied, unless they are trying to hurt you as well for what I have done earlier.”

He decided to work on some art and used a pen to create a large multi headed dragon. He was working on the scales design when he his hands were shaking. His stomach hurt and he felt almost nauseous. When were they going to get dinner? He looked up at the clock and it had just struck nine.

Salvation came when he heard the sounds of steps on the tiles. He set the picture aside and sat up when the door opened and Hector entered the room.

“Sorry guys. We all got held up,” Hector explained as he slid the trays through. “Seems there are bunch of private investigators trying to talk with everyone in the building. Talked to me and they really grilled Tim but haven’t spoken with Doctor Friedrich yet. I got ya some take out. Fried rice and Pu pu platter.”

“We have to eat Pooh-pooh?” Darwin asked in a weak voice and looked at Gerald for confirmation.

“No it’s spelled differently,” Gerald assured him. “It’s like a lot of different tasty appetizers. There is usually egg rolls and fried shrimp things and meat on a stick.”
Billy tore of the lid to his tray and didn’t even bother with the fork or spoon. He shoved handfuls of the rice into his mouth and chowed, only pausing to take a sip from the drink in the sealed container, iced tea with just a touch of sugar. Once he had finished the rice he moved onto the rest. The eggroll was gone within seconds, followed by the chicken, the rib, the shrimp, meat on a stick and the last was a crab dragoon. Once he had finished the last of his drink he let out a belch.

“Peltzer,” Gerald said with a mouthful of food.

“Sorry,” Billy said in a sheepish tone. “Excuse me.” He watched as the others finished their food. “We all made pigs of ourselves.”

“We were starving,” Gerald explained after he took a long slurp. “This is also the best tasting food they have gotten for us and that might have been our other new instincts.”

“Gizmo has better manners than the ones we just displayed, but you are right we were starving.” He picked up his tray and set it back through the slot. He made his way back to his drawing and continued to work on the scales.

He had only worked on it for a few seconds before he felt drowsy. Well that makes sense. People usually get sleepy after going without food for a while and then gorging themselves. It wasn’t just drowsiness. It felt more like the effects of the drugs that were used on him. The pen fell out of his hand and he crawled onto his cot. Perhaps a little nap would be nice. Rolling over he could see that both Gerald and Darwin had also fallen asleep. He blinked his eyes when he saw something oozing over Gerald’s fur, something green and almost slime like.

“No we didn’t,” Billy gasped and forced himself to sit up. He looked at the clock and saw that it was nine thirty. It wasn’t past midnight, unless while he was out earlier and the others were in the other room the clock had been set back…then that meant they were forming their cocoons and, and it was finally happening. They were going to transform at last. He wanted to change. He chuckled as he saw the same slimy mucous on his own fur and he lowered his head, closed his eyes and allowed sleep to overtake him while he began his metamorphosis. Soon he will be larger, and stronger and soon he will be able to kill Friedrich and those other humans that helped him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Cocooned

June 24: Science log

Amazing progress we have made in the lab today. Doctor Wilcox had successfully developed a flowering plant that attracts bees but repels wasps and yellow jackets. I know many would want to have it this type of plant in their garden.

Doctor Harbour from the leukemia research has invited me to join his team. I am very tempted. He has read my thesis and is very impressed, but if I leave what would happen to Gene? He is my responsibility.

Gene has impressed me these past few days. He not only can unscrew and twist screws in place from both sides but he has lasted the longest playing the Simon game, only Garrison had come close.

Patch’s artistic skills have improved even if all he wants to draw are pirates and pirate ships and Brody can play a few songs on the toy guitar.

Razor has defeated the last boss on his game boy and I thought I heard him say perfect timing. I wasn’t certain what he meant. Maybe doctor Friedrich was going to get him a new game. Well the future will see.

We are going to be interviewed by a representative from Prescott Prestige tomorrow.

Time for my pretzel break. I hope to see that attractive young security guard again. Maybe I should talk to him soon.
Doctor Valerie Cordova.
-

Razor sat up with a jolt. How long was he asleep? Was it already morning? Was it too late? He tried to stay awake but he had drifted off and it wasn’t like they were run ragged that day. Doctor Friedrich was only around to make sure they got breakfast and then it was Doctor Cordova who gave them lunch and Bevins who gave them dinner.

“Caca,” he grumbled as he shifted around his stash of smuggled supplies and assembled his device. He placed it through the bars and angled it just right. He also had a stolen key card and he used that as well. He smiled as he heard the beeps and was able to raise the latch.

A chuckle left his mouth as he pushed and stumbled out of the cage and onto the floor, landing on his bottom. It hurt but now he had to break the others out.

He found a chair with wheels and pushed at it until he reached the right door, and climbed onto the chair, using the same device he used earlier he picked the lock and twisted the knob and pushed.

“Razor,” Garrison and Butterball called out while Chuckles just laughed in delight.

“Jail break, jail break, jail break,” Butterball chanted as he danced, except he didn’t look where he was dancing and knocked over Garrison.

“Don’t make too much of a racket,” Razor ordered. “Especially in their language.” He rolled the chair along the floor and climbed it again. This time he just typed on the code and lifted the latch. Chuckles climbed out first followed by Garrison. The smaller white mogwai had reached the ground when Butterball slipped and landed on him.

“Sorry Garrison,” Butterball apologized.

“Fat fool,” Garrison grumbled.

Razor chose to ignore them and look around. To his delight he could see a clock and it was only ten minutes until three in the morning. The sun had yet to rise. They can still eat, but he had just one more cage to unlock.

This time it was easier to reach the door with Razor in the chair and the others to push him towards the door that contained the last cage. The mogwai inside were fast asleep, curled up together. It was almost adorable and Patch was holding a copy of Treasure Island close to him.

“Wake up,” Razor said as he rattled the door. The mogwai yawned and stretched and Patch immediately rose to his feet. “Time to go.”

“Captain,” Patch greeted with a salute.

“Razor, what are you doing? Brody asked before he stood up.

“What is going on?” Gene asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“It is time,” Razor said as the chair wheeled towards the cage and he unlocked it. He climbed down and waited for the others to join him. He felt rather annoyed to see Brody and Gene had also climbed out. “What are you doing here, Gene?”

“What are you doing?” Gene asked.

“Embracing my destiny.” Razor answered. “Are you going to embrace yours? You may smell like Gizmo but you are not him. Join us.”

“No I refuse to break the third rule.” Of course he wouldn’t. Razor knew he would but he had to at least give him the offer. He would have been floored if Gene accepted and quite pleased but that was expecting too much.

“Gene, Caca,” Razor cried out and reached for the cloned mogwai.

“No Razor,” Brody stood in between them. “Let me dispose of him. Me and Chuckles.”

“Brody”? Gene’s mouth dropped in disbelief.

“Well well I wasn’t expecting you to come around.” Razor grinned. “You and Chuckles, take care of him and then meet us by the fridge.”

-

Brody couldn’t believe he fell for it. Then again Razor was arrogant. He thought about joining Gene but wasn’t sure if they would both get away.

“Here,” Brody said when they were several feet away and right next to a vent. “Open this.”

Chuckles laughed as he opened the vent. As soon as the panel reached the floor he and Brody shoved Gene inside.

“Brody, why?” Gene asked.

To keep you safe Brody answered. Go get help. Run, Gene, run. He felt himself being dragged away by Chuckles.

He was brought back to the others who have already opened the fridge and removed the sandwich platter and the large cheesecake. The other four have already eaten a few bites. As soon as Chuckles had seen the food he released his grip on Gene and dug in.

“What are you waiting for?” Razor asked.

“I will not eat.” Brody said and crossed his arms while Razor rolled his eyes. “I will not disappoint Doctor Lei and the others. I thought you all cared for the humans who took care of you. Was there no bond?”

The others paused in their eating and a few blinked and even Chuckles had stopped laughing before Garrison just shrugged.

“I will gladly spare Bivens,” Patch said before he took a bite from a piece of cheesecake.

“All a ruse, although I do admire Friedrich,” Razor said before he pointed at Brody. “Feed him. Make him eat.”

The other mogwai were upon him and pinned Brody down. Butterball had picked up a sandwich and shoved it into his mouth. Brody shook his head and spat it out and continued to spit until he could no longer taste anything. His mouth was completely empty for a few seconds before a handful of creamy substance was crammed inside. A hand grabbed onto his nose and he could feel them rubbing his neck. Despite all of his resilience he swallowed.

“Let’s take him and the food downstairs,” Razor commanded. “He will come around once he has changed.”

Brody didn’t move as the horror overtook him. He could feel himself being carried while they pushed the chair with the food on it towards the elevator. They were not just going to find another place to eat, but also to sleep.

He didn’t know where they ended up only in a small room sealed off by a curtain as they continued to feast. Brody closed his eyes and sighed as he grew more and more drowsy and could feel the mucous ooze.
-

June 29 8:07 am

It had been hours since he began to crawl around the maze and Gene was nowhere near finding any vent that was close to someone who can help him. He might have gone down a single floor, or two but he wasn’t sure where he was, but he did know it was up to him. He thought what the others were going to do to the humans, especially Valerie. The others seemed nice except for Doctor Friedrich, and Brody, oh no poor Brody. Gene had no idea what the others did to them.

Has he gone down this way before? He wasn’t sure. It looked new and—Gene screamed as he plummeted down the long, long drop until he had landed with a small thud.

“Ouchie” He squeaked and rubbed his bottom. Looking around he was still in the ducts and there was another vent. He also heard a sound coming from the other side. He twisted the screws and pushed the panel out and stepped out to see he was under a desk. He snuck out from the desk and…oh no. He was facing a large cage of some sort. The bars went from floor to ceiling and inside were three large green slimy mogwai cocoons and they were moving. “Uh oh.”

-

Air, he needed air. He had to breathe. Billy pushed against his encasement and clawed his way through the material. A large tear was made and he could breath. With a hiss he continued to tear away at his cocoon, removing the large chunks until he was able to crawl out. Snarling, he jumped away from it.
He was free and he was ready to kill. Oh how he wanted to kill, especially that lab assistant, Tim. He felt stronger and he examined his now green mottled hands. They were still slick from the slime but impressive with four human like fingers ending in long sharp claws. He ran his tongue along his teeth and felt how sharp they were. He was no longer a mogman. He was a gremlin or part gremlin now and he was ready to lead the others.

Darwin was growling as he kicked off the last piece of cocoon that was encasing him and Gerald had his needle like teeth bared as he stared at his own hands.

“Claws?” Gerald hissed as his slender slit like pupils dilated and became round. “I have claws and I’m green?” He looked over himself. “I’m a monster. I’m a monster, a monster, like the ones, the ones that killed him. They killed Mr. Corbin. I killed Mr. Corbin I’m the monster that killed him.” He collapsed into the fetal position. “I killed him, I killed him, I killed him…”

Billy blinked as the ideas of murder and conquest ebbed from his mind. What the hell was he thinking? He smacked his head and made his way to Gerald.

“Hey, hey,” Billy said in a soothing tone, or as soothing as he could sound. His voice had become deeper, even sounding like his normal voice again, except there was a bit of a gravelly rasp to it. “You didn’t kill him. You didn’t kill anyone. It was me. I was irresponsible with Gizmo. I shouldn’t have placed him next to my paint water. I was the reason there were more mogwai and they became gremlins. It was my fault.”

“Mogwai?” A small voice was heard. It sounded like Gizmo.

“We are not alone,” Darwin said. He was also sitting next to Gerald. “Behind the desk.”

Billy stared through the bars at the desk as a trembling pair of ears poked out followed by a mogwai with a white spot over its right eye.

“Giz?” Billy gasped. “Gizmo is that you?” He felt overjoyed and ashamed. He had frightened his friend. “I know it’s hard to believe but I’m Billy.”

“Billy?” The mogwai repeated as it stepped forward and Billy could see that it was not Gizmo. The white spot had a small black ring around it and the there was a little more black outlining the other white areas.

“You’re not Gizmo,” Billy was dejected, but he could at least still talk to it.

“Not Gizmo.” The mogwai pointed at itself. “Gene. Gizmo clone.”

“Clone?” You’re a clone of Gizmo?” He rubbed his head and could still feel the dark curls on top. “That one lab, they probably had something. Maybe just a little blood sample and they cloned him here and Razor came from you.” He pointed at the mogwai. “Are there others?”

Gene nodded and his ears lowered.

“They got out also and they ate after midnight?” He waited for Gene to nod. “There is a bad man. Three bad men and they used mogwai blood on me and my friend and made us into mogwai-human hybrids and they used human blood on Darwin and then they tricked us into eating. Cause we know the rules.”

“No,” Gene gasped as he heard the information. “Poor Billy.”

“I’m sorry about scaring you earlier.” He looked over at the others. Darwin still had a hand on Gerald’s shoulder but the other former human was slowly sitting up. “It was just when we were coming out of those cocoons and we needed to breath. It was involuntary sound like a snort.”

“Just trying to breath,” Gerald said in a weak tone. “Just waking up?” He raised his eyebrows. He still had them as well as a Caucasian skin tone on his chest and chin and well a certain mammal trait on his chest and huh he still had a naval, which Darwin lacked and below that—they were quite exposed.

Footsteps where heard coming down the hall.

“Gene I need you to hide,” Billy instructed and watched as the little mogwai as he scrambled back under the desk.

The door opened and Tim had entered with a clip board in his hands and he was too busy staring at it at first before he looked up and nearly took a step back.

“Wow, look at you guys,” Tim said in a tone that was both frightened and impressed. “The pupae stage was shorter than I thought and now we got a trio of goblins in here.”
The desire to spill blood was growing but Billy took in a deep breath before he glanced back at Tim. He could see a syringe poking up from his pocket. An idea grew in his mind. He turned to the others.

“Darwin get some of this slimy mucous out of this cage,” Billy whispered. “Gerald, lay low until I say jump.”

“What are you three talking about?” Tim asked as he approached them.

“Trying to figure out a way to get this crap out of our cage,” Billy said as he turned to face the human. “Darwin wants to just throw it out.” As on cue Darwin grabbed some of the slimy chunks and pushed it through the bars.

“Well if you all cooperate then we will get it cleaned for you.” Tim held up the bag he was carrying. “Got you some new shorts and a good thing because, I can see everything.”
“Why are you staring at our goods?” Billy asked.

“He’s jealous,” Gerald said. “His tiny dick is no match for our big boys.” He chuckled and even Billy and Darwin snickered at that.

“I see your sense of humor has gotten a bit more juvenile, but you can be reasoned with.”

“Oh your little super soldier project,” Billy said in a low tone. “This is why you trick us. You didn’t have gremlin DNA, so you used mogwai on us and had to have us change even further. So you can gather our genetic material? Do you want to clone us or drench us? Are you certain an army of my kind can be tamed?” He reached through the bars and swiped at Tim’s leg.

Tim jumped to side and landed on the gunk and slipped. He fell and landed on his side.

“Jump!” The command had barely left Billy’s mouth before he and the others had grabbed onto Tim’s limbs and Billy extracted one of the syringes from the lab pocket. He bit off the cap and shoved the needle into Tim’s leg. Looking up he could see that Darwin and Gerald and managed to get the other leg and arm.

“This felt good,” Gerald said as he bared his teeth. His round pupils had become slit like. “Don’t like it, do you?”

“Lets see what else you got,” Billy said as he fished through the pockets and pulled out a key card.

“That won’t work without a code,” Tim said as he used his one good arm to try and pull himself away from them.

“Give us the code.” Darwin grabbed one of his legs and pulled back .”Or we kill.”

“If I’m dead then you will still be in there,” Tim said.

“Yea, but you will still be dead,” Billy said as he pulled on his one paralyzed arm. “And we will feel better so for us it will still be win, but a lose for you. Now give us the code and we will spare you. We win and you win.”

“5-5-3-8-2.”

“Thank you,” Billy said and reached up to try to swipe the card and couldn’t quite reach. He just needed a few inches and he remembered there was someone else in the room. “Gene, you still here?”

“Uh-huh?” Gene poked his head out.

“I’m sorry, again if I scared you.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “New instincts and new urges and will try to repress them, but we need your help. Will you please help us?”

“Yep.” The mogwai scurried out from his hiding place.

“How did you get out?” Tim asked. “How did you get down here? Did the others get out?”

“Bad man,” Gene glared at him and made his way towards Billy.

“I need you to swipe the card.” Billy gave him the card and held him up. He heard the sound of the swipe. “Now the code is-“

“5-5-3-8-2,” Gene repeated as he pressed the numbers.

“You are the clone of Gizmo, all right.” He pushed on the door and it opened. Free at last. “Let’s go. We’ll take Gene with us.”

He ran past the floundering form of Tim and snatched the plastic bag. He set the mogwai down and put on a pair of red shorts and it was only slightly tight on him. He was about to hand the others to Gerald and Darwin when he heard a scream along with liquid striking something firm. He turned to watch as the others finished peeing on the fallen human.

“The hell,” Tim shouted out. “What the hell, you seriously…you just.. just pissed all over me.”

“Yuck,” Gene commented.

“Really guys?” Billy asked as he tossed them their shorts.

“I really had to go,” Gerald said. “And he deserved it.”

“We didn’t kill him,” Darwin said as he and Gerald both laughed.

“They always say it is better to be pissed off than pissed on,” Gerald added as he continued to laugh.

“And we were pissed off,” Billy said as he giggled for a few more seconds. “But we have to reign in on this frat brother like immaturity. We have to get out and find help.” He picked up Gene. “Let’s go” They ran towards the door and opened it and entered the large room. They made their way across, and opened the door on the far end only to come face to face with a confused Hector.

-

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Chuck

They were so close to freedom from the lab of nightmares; they had finally escaped from the cage and one of the testing rooms and had made it to the hall only to be blocked by the walking bicep himself. Billy glanced at his fellow mutates while he tried to think of a plan.

“What…the…hell?” Hector managed to spit out. His square jaw hung while his eyes had doubled in size. “Little dudes?”

“Not anymore,” Billy growled out, making his voice sound as vicious as possible. He set Gene down behind him and raised his hands and flexed out his claws. “Yummy meat.”

“So hungry,” Gerald hissed as he bared his sharp teeth.

“Yum, yum,” Darwin added.

“Mierda, mierda, mierda!” Hector stepped back as he reached for what looked like a stun gun from one pocket and a radio from the other.

Darwin hissed and lunged at the hulking security guard and managed to leap onto his shoulders and slash down with his claws.
Billy was the next to jump and grabbed onto Hector’s arm before he bit down as hard as he could. The pain filled human cries were a delight to his ears. He heard the man cry again and he could see that Gerald had given Hector another chomp on one of his knees as Hector fell down onto his back.

“Run,” Darwin gasped. “Both of you run. You have family. Go to them. Tell people. Get help.”

Billy detached himself from the flailing human, as much as he wanted to inflict more pain and misery and pain on Hector he knew Darwin was right. He picked up Gene and grabbed Gerald by the shoulder and pulled.

“Can’t leave him,” Gerald growled. “Not going to leave him.”

“Go! I do this for you,” Darwin said as he sank his claws onto Hector’s head. “Run, Gerald, Run.”

“We are doing this for him,” Billy said as he continued to pull while Gene kept chittering in fear only a few intelligible words made it out of the mogwai. “We will come back for him, and Penny but he is doing this for us.”

“No…not again,” Gerald gasped. The wicked rasp had left his voice and was replaced by anguish. “Not going to leave him this time, not again.”

“Not hiding in a vault this time.” Billy knew what he was talking about and figured out what Mr. Corbin’s last words were. “ We are doing it for them and all of them.” He continued to pull his fellow former human down the wall and while Gerald had stopped trying to pull away he was still deadweight. He wasn’t even moving and damn it that was the last he needed. Now was not the time for another break down.

“Going up,” Gene squeaked as he pressed the button for them while Billy held him up, making it easier for Billy to just drag Gerald inside.

“Thanks,” Billy told him once the doors closed and he could sit down and catch his breath. He gently rubbed the top of the mogwai’s head. “We will find a way to go back for them.” He sat back up and activated the elevator. They did it. They escaped that underground lab and now they were headed…up…up to another lab and that was the next obstacle. Do they look for the first human and explain who they are and what had happened to them? Was Friedrich telling the truth that only he, Tim and Hector were in on the underground or were they all in cahoots? Even if they were innocent how were they going to react to their appearance?

He took a long look at Gerald who was still curled up in a fetal position. How were they going to move him around? Not too mention people were going to be frightened of how they appeared. Gerald was no taller than a seven year old and his skin was a darker shade of green than Billy’s. His legs were longer than the legs of a gremlin but his feet were large and shaped like the feet of one, albeit ending in four toes and his arms were shorter than a gremlin’s. His facial features were the same as Billy last remembered him, same jaw line, chin and nose, even the shape of his now red eyes were the same and his eyebrows. There were some spiky protrusions on his face, but not as many as a gremlin’s.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

“No close!” Gene cried out and took his place in the entrance and spread his arms out.

“The doors could still crush him,” Billy said as he picked up their smallest companion and took his place at keeping the doors opened. “Gerald, please snap out of it. We have to move.” He stared at the unmoving mutant. He had to think of something. “Let’s go, Jerry.”

Gerald blinked and his face scrunched up. “Don’t call me, Jerry. It’s Gerald.” He blinked again. “Crap!” He bolted and nearly knocked into Billy trying to get out.

“Coast, clear,” Gene said. He was right. There was no one wondering around the halls. “No Valerie.” His voice was soft and sad. “Razor gone, Chuckles gone, Butterball gone, Garrison gone, Patch gone.” Sadness was replaced by fear. “No more mogwai.” He closed his eyes. “Brody.”

“Those were the other mogwai,” Billy said. “He knows they have eaten and are changing…or have already changed.” Fear washed over him. “We don’t know where they are.”

“It’s going to happen again,” Gerald asked. His eyes and widened and his ears lowered.

“I’ve seen it twice and now I know exactly how they feel and think, but unlike us they don’t have filters, nothing to hold them back.” He rubbed the top of his head. “We have to tell someone. They have to shut off the water to this building, not to just this lab but also the mall it’s attached to.”

“I keep forgetting this building is connected,” Gerald said. “Never really been inside the mall part since I live and work near the city.” He blinked. “Does it have any fountains?”

“No.” He tried to focus on the layout of the Clamp Corners mall. He knew it was a large two story mall and only the pharmacy and the radiology and mammography part opened up into the mall. There were Six large anchor stores: Sears, JC Penny, Macy’s , Saks, Bloomingdales, and Dillard’s. It had a cinema and some of his favorite stores were in there including Waldenbooks, Spencer’s Gifts, Camelot music and the Discovery store and his children loved the Disney store and the Warner Brother’s store and they just opened that new teddy bear building store. There was also a hotel—“Crap there is a hotel attached.”

“Does it have a pool?”

“I’ve only been through the mall entrance and the bar, but Clamp told me there is one on a sub level. He was inspired by this one mall in Orlando for the hotel.”

“Do they have gates?”

“Not sure but if they do they are going to have to keep it shut, but we can’t just stand around talking about it.” He held out his arms. “We have to move now.” He looked around.

“Do we look for help here or-“

“I want to get out of here.” Gerald shuddered. “The sooner I get out of this building the better.” He rubbed his head. “I’m, I’m just really not in a good place and I can’t really put my emotions into words.”

“The entire building or just this floor?” Billy asked.

“This whole building. I’m sure the people on the other levels might not know, but I can’t be here.”

“Find some help in the mall then,” Billy said. “Let’s go find the other elevator.”

They ran as fast as they could, at least as fast as they could on their new feet, only pausing by that one storage closet that had extra lab coats. It wasn’t going to completely disguise them nor did they fit but it did feel more comfortable to wear before they raced towards the elevator with Gerald dropping to all fours for a few seconds.

“I’m surprised that worked too well,” Billy said as he closed the elevator.

“Can’t believe they escaped like that,” a woman in her mid-forties with graying blond hair said as she was accompanied by a tall black man. “All six of them.”

“What the hell are those!” The man had spotted them just as the doors had shut and they began their decent.

“Alice Henderson,” Gene said. His delightful tone told Billy that he liked the people. “Jacob Bivens.”

“They were shocked to see us,” Billy said as their ride continued. “I don’t think they knew.” The way Gene shook his head confirmed it.

The doors opened and luckily nobody was waiting for them in the lobby, except for a well lit room. Billy suppressed the urge to hiss as he and Gerald hefted up their collars over their heads and shielded their eyes and ignored Gene’s complaints about bright light while they snuck around. They were lucky they were not facing the front entrance with the large windows and glass doors.

“Where are we?” Gerald grumbled as he squinted through the area that was filled with shelves.

“I think this is the pharmacy,” Billy answered as he recognized some of the bottles on the shelves as various kinds of vitamins.

“How bright is the mall?”

“Not too bright, well at least not too bright for humans.”

“Skylights?”

“Yes and no,” Billy said and sighed. “Fake skylights with blue glass panels that cover artificial lighting, some of the glass have cloud patterns. Don’t ask me why they suggested that and they didn’t ask me. Someone else approved of that odd design. I guess so it would always have a pretty blue sky even when it was actually raining or snowing outside.”

“That’s good for us then,” Gerald said.

They froze when they heard the sound of metal sliding against metal, very similar to opening up a garage door manually followed by human footsteps that were growing closer.

“Stay low,” Billy whispered as they ducked back into the shelves as two people walked past him.

“Are you sure he is going to call?” A female voice was heard as the two walked passed.

“He said he would,” another young female voice answered, accompanied by the sound of gum snapping.

“Jessica, when a guy says he is going to call that means he won’t until three or four days later.”

“Chatty teens,” Gerald whispered as he shook his head and peered out first. “They just opened the gate. The mall just opened.”

“It means it’s daytime and that means they can’t go outside, and neither can we.” Billy said as they snuck around. He could see past the entrance to the pharmacy and to the mall and since it had only just opened all they could see were a few senior citizens in jogging suits. He also could see a directory. “Let’s go.”

“We need to find a phone.” Gerald was thinking along the same path as Billy as he looked for the nearest location of a pay phone and one was just a few yards away from them, right next to the restroom. “There it is. We’ll just call collect.”

“Or I’ll call your parents for you,” a man said from behind.

Billy jumped and turned around, ready to attack as a growl escaped his lips.

“Holy shit,” the mall cop that encountered them was just a kid. In fact he was the same young man that Billy saw days earlier before he face planted into a column. “What the hell are you? Are those really your ears? Those are not costumes are they?” He was fumbling around with his pockets.

“We are real,” Billy said as he composed himself. “These are not costumes.”

“No, no no,” Gene added.

“Where did you…” He looked over his shoulder at the pharmacy. “I saw you run from there.” He pointed at the store. “Did you come from the lab?” He pointed up. “Are you guys some kind of genetic experiments that escaped.”

“Uh yeah,” Gerald said and glanced over to Billy. The slight frown and raised eyebrows were of pure uncertainty.

“I was right,” the young man chuckled in small voice. “All this time I was right about that place. They tell me I was out line with my thinking, that I watch too many movies, but the truth is in there.” He stared at the small black radio in his hand. “I should call this in. I have to—but they aint going to believe me.”

“Easy there,” Billy said. The guy was a bit of a weirdo but he could be reasoned with and he might be able to listen to what they are about to tell him. So far this guy might be there only form of help. “Just breath easy and we need your help.”

“Please help us, Chuck,” Gerald added. Chuck? Oh that was the name on the tag. “I know this sounds strange, but Billy and I used to be human. My name is Gerald Hopkins and this is Bill-“

“Peltzer,” Chuck finished and licked his lips. “I was right about everything.” His voice turned into a whisper. “I see you. I can see your pictures from the news, but under those ears and spines I…I can see you.” He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his sand colored hair. “What… did they…did they do to you guys? Did it hurt? I gotta radio this in.”

“Chuck, where’s your location?” A voice came through the walkie-talkie in Chuck’s pocket left shirt pocket and the one in his hand. He had two radios.

“Near the bathrooms right next to the Stride Right,” Chuck answered. “You are not going to believe this but I have found those missing men from the news and they are alive but they have been mu—“

“Don’t,” Billy said as he waved his arms. “Keep it realistic.” He knew how outlandish it sounded even if the young man was about to reveal the actual truth.

“Muted,” Chuck answered. “Duct tape across their mouths.” That sounded better and actually believable.

Silence was heard on the other end followed by static. “This isn’t funny.”

“Not joking—“

“Need you to make a sweep around the west sector,” the woman instructed. “Make sure that creepy guy isn’t near the Gap Kids again.”

“The place just opened,” Chuck protested.

“You want me to tell Stewart?”

“I—wait Gap Kids?” Gears were spinning around in his head. “Sure I’ll check that area out and let you know.” He put the radio back into his pocket. “You guys are gonna half to lay low.” He looked around. “In the bathroom, you can hide out in the handicap stall.”

“Hide?” Billy asked. “We don’t have time. Letting people know we are alive and having Friedrich and his cronies arrested is important, but more important is that there are little
green creatures, gremlins are going to be running around and we have to turn off the water.”

“They multiply when they get wet,” Gerald added.

“Gremlins? Little green guys and not you two?” Chuck asked as he pointed at them.

“Smaller than us and vicious nasty killing machines,” Gerald explained. “I’d seen these things kill my boss and Billy seen them destroy and kill even more. He knows more about them than I do.”

“Explain later,” Chuck said as he ran off. “I will be back as soon as I can.”

“Wait!” Gerald waved his arms. “We need your help.”

“Gone, bye bye,” Gene said in a worried tone.

“He is helping,” Billy said. He remembered being in Chuck’s shoes before when he tried to warn people, first the Kingston Falls police and then Forster and the security team at Clamps old building and the latter only started to believe after that one gremlin leaped out of the controls. “We should do what he says.” He felt the urge from earlier growing.

“Hiding in the mens room,” Gerald said. “How—ugh light.” The light was even brighter when they stepped inside until Gerald turned it off. “I really, really hope Clamp can find a way to turn us back.”

“You and me both,” Billy said as the entered the third stall. He set the mogwai down and stepped out from there.

“Where are you going?” Gerald asked as Billy opened the door the next stall.

“I’m right next to you. Unlike you I didn’t piss all over that scrawny jerk and I really need to use it.” He pulled down his shorts. “Do you want to watch me take a leak?”

“No I don’t.”

Sure he could have used the urinals but he didn’t want to risk anyone walking in and seeing what, Some human-gremlin hybrid in a lab coat relieving itself? After he finished he walked over to the sinks and mirror. Since his whole body had to become drenched before he could spawn it might be safe to wash his hands, but there was also a container of hand sanitizer and he decided to use that.

The creature in the mirror that looked back didn’t look too scary. Billy could see his features and like the other’s he had his dark curly hair and eyebrows although his hair had developed a streak of bright red in the middle. His nose and other facial features were still human and practically unchanged. His green eyes had turned red and his sclera were gray and his pupils were round. The inside of his ears had stripes in addition to spots and there was a fringe of red flesh on the back of his neck, the same fringe he had on his elbows. None of the others had that. Was that because his genetic makeup was merged with an evil leader mogwai? Did that mean he was the lead, whatever he was, a greman, humalin, goblin?

He closed his eyes as he felt angry at Friedrich for doing this to him and Gerald. He enjoyed attacking and hurting both Tim and Hector and he would love to come across Friedrich. He wanted to bite him, tear a chunk out of his throat, slash at that disgusting excuse for a human’s chest and tear out his heart.

The snarling snapped Billy out of his thoughts and he it only took him a second to realize he was the one making that sound. He looked into the mirror and his reflection frightened him. His pupils had narrowed into vertical slits and his teeth were bared. He blinked as his pupils had rounded and he gently touched his teeth with his tongue and that was when he noticed something else, only the front teeth, the incisors were longer, thinner and pointed. His molars were still thick, bumpy and human.

“Peltzer?” Gerald called out. “You feeling all right?”

“Yeah—“

The sound of footsteps were heard right outside the door.

Billy bolted towards the third stall and entered just as the burning light had filled the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Gremlins Emerge

Billy had barely managed to get the door shut and locked when the other person had fully entered and he, Gerald and Gene cried out in pain while they shielded their eyes. Closing them did nothing to help and even covering his eyes with his arm was barely enough.

“Hey, you okay in there?” The man on the other side was not chuck. “Do you need me to get help?”

“I’m fine,” Billy cried out while he tried to form a tent over his head with the coat. “I’m just constipated.”

“Say no more,” the man said before he stepped back. “I’ve been there earlier this week. Just breath in and out and if you still need help they have this smoothie place on the
second floor that has this special high fiber drink.”

“Thanks for the help,” Billy managed to get out while he kept himself and Gene covered. He listened as the man did his business, washed and left and he had thought about just running out and turning out the light again, but that wouldn’t be much help. As soon as another person entered the light would automatically turn back on and he should be thankful that design of the mall including all of its facilities was not as advanced as Clamps old tower. That was annoying having a voice greet him every time he had to use the bathroom.

“How long do we have to stay here?” Gerald asked.

“Until Chuck returns,” Billy said. “I don’t know how long that will take and hopefully we will not have to wait too long.” He still had no idea if the gremlins had emerged from their cocoons and if they had what were they doing? Were they looking for a water source? Or were they looking for something else to eat because Billy surely felt hungry.

-

Clamp Corners Medical Research Center, Mammography.

She had to do it just once a year and even though it was only once a year, Marsha Bowman was not looking forward to having breasts crushed by flat metal panels, but as uncomfortable as that was it was still better than having a tumor go unnoticed. So she had sucked it up, made the appointment and drove to the center. At least the floor she was on opened up to the second level of the mall and after dealing with some discomfort she could treat herself to a little retail therapy.

“Just go into one the curtained rooms, Mrs. Bowman,” one of the medical assistants said. “Change into a robe and after they are done you can have the option to just change back or use one of our showers.”

“Thank you,” Bowman said as she pulled back the curtain and recoiled in disgust at the sight of the slimy globs of what looked moldy cabbage leaves. “Did you not look in here?” She stared at the assistant in disgust.

“They usually clean in here before we be-“ She cut herself off with her own gasp. “What is this?”

“Looks like someone had a party here weeks ago,” Bowman said as he pointed one of her well-manicured finger at a sandwich crust. “And you never cleaned up. Is this some kind of hidden camera joke? Because I don’t find it the least bit funny.” She backed away from the mess and did not see that she was backing against another curtained room. “You are probably too young to need one for yourself but when you get older and need a mammogram you will understand how vulnerable we feel and how much pain we are about to endear. This is-“

“Avast!” The voice hissed in her ear as the curtain was pulled back to reveal a leering, teal, two and half foot monster.
Both women screamed as they backed away from it.

“Saucy wenches,” the teal creature said. It looked like a monkey crossed with some type of reptile with large reddish orange ears and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The skin around its left eye was darker almost black and resembled an eyepatch.

“Boo,” another curtain pulled back and a taller creature emerged. It was darker green in color and pudgy. Like the first it had red eyes, large ears, claws, spines on its face and darker spots on its body.

Laughter was heard behind a third curtain as it pulled back revealing two more creatures. One was light brown and had eyes that were staring at the opposite directions and a tongue hanging out. The fourth was shorter than the others and a creamy white color with golden mottling and pink eyes.

The two women slowly backed away as the final curtain pulled back and there stood a light jade green creature who had a row of long silver spikes run down his head and down the back of his neck. The spikes on his face were even longer than those on the others. He even had spikes on his ears. The ones on his shoulders were even longer than the others and he had spikes on his elbows, his chin, his knees, a large spike on each hip and a small one jutting out of each heel.

The women screamed once more before they ran out of the room.

-

Of course they scream. The humans might be bigger than them but they were still weaker, still dumber and of course much more cowardly. Razor could hear the laughter from his gang subside until only Chuckles was still laughing.

“Let’s go,” Razor hissed. Scaring some humans were fun, but there was more he had to do and find something to eat was one itinerary on the list.
The others had walked out of the changing rooms ready and eager to do mischief except for one. Brody peeked out from the small room that he had shared with Patch. Like Chuckles he had emerged from his cocoon as a brown gremlin but the ends of his ears were folded in like when he was a mogwai and his pupils were large and round.

“Join us,” Razor hissed. Why was he still resisting? He was transformed as well. He should be wanting to join in their revelry.

“Yeah play,” Butterball added only to be met with a sigh and the curtain closing back.

“Leave him,” Razor snarled. How dare he? How dare he just stay back. “We will come back for him later.” He pointed at the brown gremlin and glared. He would give him just one more chance. Just one more…someone was tapping on his shoulder. He turned to look into Chuckles goofy face. “What?”

Chuckles continued to giggle as he pointed to a sign right out of the room, a sign that said SHOWERS THIS WAY.

There were no one using the showers when they arrived but there were only four shower stalls. Razor shoved Garrison out of the room and ran towards one of the shower heads while the others took the others. He turned on the water and could instantly feel the burning within his back despite how cold the water is. He adjusted the knob until it was slightly warm and he sank his claws into the grout of the tiles while he felt the bulges on his back and—oh the slight pain. He cringed as the skin on each of the bubble like growths had burst and five new gremlins crawled out of him. As soon as the new gremlins emerged and started to grow he felt new bulges emerge. He could hear the sounds coming from the other stalls as his gang was spawning off even more. He will soon have his army.

-

Billy tried to ignore the growls coming from not only his stomach but also Gerald’s and Gene’s. How long were they in that bathroom? At least two others have come into use it, including someone who had an upset stomach and that odor was bad enough to cause his eyes to water. If he wasn’t already green he would have turned.

“Are we cold blooded now?” Gerald was the first to speak after several minutes of silence. “Are we reptiles?”

“Not sure,” Billy answered. He never thought about that and frankly that was the furthest thing from his mind and he wondered why Gerald as asking that unless it kept him from breaking down again. “We have hair still and I’m not sure. If we stayed they probably would of poked and prodded and cut us until they could determine what we were.”

“Until they wanted to give us bat wings and electric powers and ship us off to fight guerillas in some third world country.”

“I don’t know if it would be us or if they just want to dunk us in a tank and use our offspring for that.” He thought about Penny. She was still with them. Would they trick her into eating after midnight? Did Darwin escape?

“You guys alone?” The voice of Chuck was heard before he tapped on the third stall. “Guys? Gremlin people?”

“Still in here,” Billy said. “Can you kill the light?”

“Sure,” Chuck answered after he turned off the light. They could hear the door being locked. “You are not going to attack me now? I will turn the light back on.”
Billy pushed open the stall. “First thing about gremlins and us…uh…goblins, just call us goblins. The first rule is that we hate bright light. You know when you wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the light in the bathroom? That’s like that for us, but all the time. The second is you cant get them wet. They multiply with water.”

“Just a few drops for them,” Gerald added. “You have to dunk us in a pool or a tub and then it’s just one at a time.”

“Sunlight can kill them,” Billy continued. “And we think us as well.”

“Only sunlight can kill them?” Chuck answered as he handed them several bags. One of the bags was made out of paper and smelled delicious.

“You can kill them with guns, knives, decapitation, crush them, electrocute them, strangle them, shove them into a paper shredder or an electric mixer or blow them up in a microwave.” That was not fun to clean up, but Billy had to admire his mother for disposing three of them in the kitchen.

“Hey!” Someone shouted from outside. “Why is this still locked?” He shook the doorknob.

“Mall security,” Chuck called out to them. “You will have to use one of the other facilities.”

“What’s in the bag?” Gerald asked and sniffed. “I smell cinnamon rolls.”

“I got you all something to eat in one of them,” Chuck said. “I didn’t know if you were hungry or not.”

“Oh yes we are,” Billy said as he licked his lips. He pulled one of the sticky buns from the box and tore into it with his mouth. “Yum.” He was halfway done with his when he remembered that Gene was also hungry and he tore of a chunk and fed it to the little mogwai.

“That toy is eating?” Chuck asked as he sat next to them and ignored the sound of someone shaking the knob. “That isn’t a toy is it?”

“He is a mogwai,” Billy explained after he had finished his breakfast. “Gremlins start out as mogwai and there were others and they used their blood to mutate us into half human half mogwai creatures.”

“We were smaller and fuzzier,” Gerald added while he was licking his fingers. “We looked like Ewoks with big ears.”

“Mogwai also fall under the other rules but they have a third rule and that is to never feed them after midnight. Anytime from midnight to sunrise.”

“The other’s changed?” Chuck said as he handed them what felt like cups and they smelled like milk. “Why hasn’t he transformed? Is it because he didn’t eat like the others?” The way Gene shook his head confirmed it. “And you were telling me these other things are now on the loose?”

“That is why we have to cut off the water,” Billy said. “Close and seal off the hotel.”

“First part may be hard, but the second is easy. The hotel is already closed until next weekend,” Chuck explained. “And it’s sealed off as well. They are doing some last minute renovations, mostly on the bar entrance on the second floor but they are also sprucing up some of the rooms.”

The door shook again but after another throttle the person on the other just gave up and left.

“That is somewhat of a relief,” Billy said. “But we have to close down the mall just in case, keep people out and-“

“What’s with these kids clothes?” Gerald asked as held up the Gap Kids bags. “And backpack and he held up a small bag from a beauty store. “This?”

“I got you some stuff to wear. I figured that one maybe if you didn’t come off as scary as first then people will be easier to talk too.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that you two are all that scary.”

“We can be frightening,” Billy explained and remembered how he scared himself with his own reflection earlier.

“The second reason why I got you this stuff is well you guys are running around in swim trunks and lab coats and if I was transformed.” He pointed at himself. “I would want to try and find someway to cover myself and if I had some clothes then it might make me feel more human.”

The doorknob shook again. The person on the other side cursed and left.

“That will make us more comfortable,” Gerald said as he pulled out a pair of jeans and handed the other to Billy. “Which shirt do you want, the Godzilla or Banjo Kaz..kazoo…kaz-zoe?”

“New game for the N64,” Chuck explained and tilted his head. “I guess they think it will be all the rage, but seriously there are enough games with cute fuzzy characters. I don’t think it will catch on.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Billy said as he accepted the shirt with the bear and bird on it. He slipped into the jeans and pulled on the top, noticing the shirt was slightly loose and it did snag on his shoulder spikes. There were also two large baseball caps and two pairs of sunglasses in the bag. Billy lowered his ears as he slapped on the cap and slipped on the sunglasses.

“I didn’t know about the light thing I just…well your red eyes might throw some people off,” Chuck explained and cringed again. “Sorry. I really don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Why the hell is this door locked?”

“Mall security. You will have to use another facility.”

“These will be helpful,” Billy said. “Thanks for helping us.”

“I understand about having to go on your rounds,” Gerald added. He looked kind of goofy with his cap and shades, but he also looked more human. “I don’t want any creepers near stores my daughters might shop in.” He reached into the last bag and pulled out some small bottles of beige liquid. “Foundation? Oh I get its for our green skin.”

“Sorry,” Chuck stared down. “I don’t want to offend you and your predicament.”

“We understand and was the backpack for our toy?” Billy guessed and he was right when Chuck nodded. “Gene can ride inside and shield him from the light. Can you get in?”

“Uh-huh,” Gene squeaked as he climbed inside.

It took them a few minutes to apply the makeup and several more people trying to enter the bathroom. The makeup was streaky and looked more like they were trying for a fake tan but they looked less like goblins and more like humans. There was plenty of bottles and they were able to cover their arms and hands.

“I would have gotten gloves, but they were out of season, same as long sleeve shirts and I don’t think I can find shoes for you.”

“This will work for us,” Billy said as he gave one last tug on the hem of his jeans. “We have to find your head of security and try to speak with him.”

The door rattled again followed by pounding.

“I’m going to turn on the light.” Chuck had decided to ignore the other patrons as he flipped the switch. The room became a bit brighter, but it was still tolerable thanks to the sunglasses.

“They work,” Gerald said. “This is going to make everything a bit more easier.”

“We have a mission,” Chuck said and opened the door , only to reveal a tall, attractive and very pissed off female security guard. “Laura?” He took one step back

“You are in big trouble,” was all that she said.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: Lab Smash

“Uh, Laura hey,” Chuck greeted the other security guard in a nervous tone while he reached up under his cap to scratch his head. “What is going on?”

“What is going on?” Laura blinked. Her tone of voice carried the shock and annoyance of how someone could ask such a stupid question. “You are not at your post and you are not where you are supposed to be.” She placed her hands on her hips.

“I did a sweep of the west sector,” Chuck explained as he tried to step away, hopefully bringing both transformed humans, himself and Laura away from the area. “Everything was in the clear and I also checked the top floor of the west sector and part of the south.” He pointed over to the nearest escalator. “Maybe we can talk over there.”

“Stewart is pissed,” Laura said. She had removed her hands from her hips and folded them across her chest. “You were supposed to check in ten minutes ago, oh and I heard you were shopping? You know you only shop on your own time.”

“Grabbing a snack is allowed,” Chuck explained as he lifted up the empty bag from Cinnabon. “I was taking care of these guys.” He gestured at Billy and Gerald before lowering his voice. “I will explain everything over there.” He pointed at the escalator again.

“Were these kids having a medical issue?” She raised her eyebrow and while her voice hadn’t completely softened it wasn’t as angry as before. “Or were they caught doing something and again if they were you should have still called it in.”

“He was trying to explain before,” Gerald told her while waving a hand. “But you wouldn’t listen or believe him.”

Laura’s jaw dropped as she took a better look at both Gerald and Billy. “Oh my gosh. I am so sorry.” Her voice switched from annoyed to embarrassed within a second. “I shouldn’t have assumed you were children. You get that stereotype at all the time and we just had a sensitivity training a month ago.” She placed her hand on her head and let out a breath.
Did she think that Billy and Gerald had dwarfism? Billy looked over at Gerald who had the same confused expression as Billy.

“Ma’am we are not…uh dwarves or little people or I am not sure what the right term is.” Billy felt his mouth flounder. “Let’s just go where Chuck said and we can explain everything and fast.”

“I want to give Dingus here just five minutes before I grab him by the ear and haul his ass to our chief,” Laura said as they made their way by the escalator. “I’m giving you two ten minutes to explain.”

“My name is William Peltzer,” Billy had started. “I came here to get some shoes and some cough drops and then I will admit I was poking around where I shouldn’t. I found Gerald Hopkins here in an underground lab where he was mutated by Doctor James Friedrich and assisted by a man that I only know as Tim and a security guard named Hector. They drugged me and mutated me also.”

“They are the missing people,” Chuck said in a calm tone. “Look, look at their faces.” He watched as Laura studied the faces of both of the mutants. “Well?”

“Aside from the odd warts, They do look like their pictures,” Laura said slowly. “But this is not possible.”

“Oh but it is,” Gerald said as he removed his sunglasses and smiled, revealing his sharp incisors. “Under this make up we are green.”

Billy lifted up his hat and raised his ears before lowering them and replaced the cap.

“No,” she shook her head. “This isn’t possible. You can’t turn people into other things, not with magic or mad science.” She looked over at Chuck. “There is no way you are right. That is fiction. It can’t be real.”

“I wish it wasn’t real,” Billy said as he grabbed her hand. “But it is.” He guided her fingers till the touched the tops of his claws before he let her touch the red fringe on his elbows and pointed at his feet.

Her eyes doubled in size as she lowered herself and stared at their large four toed gremlin feet. She even reached out to feel their toes before she slowly stood back up and used the side of the escalator to brace herself.

“I didn’t know they were using gremlin DNA on them,” Chuck said while he waited for Laura to compose herself. “But I promised I was going to help them. We have to inform the police to bring those psycho’s to justice and close the mall.”

“What?” Laura blinked twice. “I can understand the first two, but why do we need to close the mall? She stopped slouching and stood tall. “Do you think they will kidnap more people?”

“The creatures they used to mutate these guys with are dangerous,” Chuck explained.

“If you remember the story about Clamp Center Tower years ago then you might know these creatures,” Billy explained. “They are going to find a way to get wet, multiply and over run the mall. So many lives are at stake.”

“I’m just finding out that people who recently went missing have been genetically altered,” Laura said as she put on a weak smile. “And now you are telling me there are little monsters that are going to attack this place?”

“Laura is that you?” A voice came through her two-way. “Have you found Charles? Tell him I want to see him.”

“We have a situation that is more important,” Laura answered. “I’ll bring this to you.” She placed the radio into her back pocket. “I am going to vouch for you for the first time, Chuck.”

“Stewart won’t believe me and I don’t think he would even believe you,” Chuck said and shook his head. “You know how he is.”

“Will he believe me?” Gerald asked and pointed towards himself. “Me and Billy if he saw us?”

“I think…” She trailed off and flexed out her arms. “I’m not sure, maybe if we go report to him.”

“Just one of us,” Billy said as he felt Gene stirring around in the backpack. “This Stewart is head of security and his office is near where mall management is located?”

“Security is near Sears,” Chuck answered and he seemed to figure out what Billy was thinking. “Mall office is near the food court on the second floor.”

“We have to split up,” Billy said. He didn’t exactly like the idea but they had to make sure everyone knew so they could get the people out. “Two of us will go to management and the other to security.”

“I’ll go talk to security,” Gerald volunteered.

“I’ll take him,” Laura said while she gave Chuck a pat on the shoulder. “You never talked to the managers here about any of your weird conspiracy theories like you have to Stewart?”

“Never talked to them at all,” Chuck said.

“Stewart won’t let you get one word out. He will listen to me at least.” Laura turned to Gerald and held out her hand. “Let’s go, Mr. Hopkins.”

“How about we meet in front of the Warner Brother’s store in twenty,” Chuck suggested as the four of them split into two groups.

“In twenty,” Laura confirmed.

-

“Gene?” Valerie Cordova called out as she searched every nook and cranny of the floor, every lab, every office, every closet and their kitchen. She could not find the mogwai she had grown attached to, nor could she find the others.

She had started work at nine as usual and went straight towards the cage that had Gene, Brody and Patch to greet them and give them their breakfast, but their cage was empty and the door was open. All the mogwai cages were empty and that wasn’t all. The sandwich platter and cheesecake that was supposed to have been delivered on Sunday was not in the fridge. Did they get out and eat after midnight? She knew Gene wouldn’t break that rule and neither would Brody.

“Give it up,” Wilcox said as he shook his head. “I don’t think he can hear you.”

“We need to find them,” Valerie said. “They could be lost and scared or hurt or they could of come across the creatures Bivens and Henderson saw.”

“They did say they saw a mogwai with those creatures,” Wilcox said as he pursed his lips. “But they didn’t get a good look at which one before the elevator closed.”

“Why didn’t anyone notify security?” Valerie asked. “Don’t tell me keeping them a secret is more important than keeping them safe.”

“Oh trust me we are going to look for them,” Wilcox said as panic edged into his voice. “I’m worried about my Chuckles and Gene and the others. I don’t know what happens when you break that third rule.” He shoved his hands into his pockets while they headed to the lab Wilcox shared with Henderson. “I don’t want to think about what is going to happen when Friedrich finds out and he will find out.”

He opened the door and was about to step inside, but froze in his tracks. Inside the lab and perched on one of the tables was a brown creature that none of them had seen before. Its scaly skin along with the spiny growths on its face made it look reptilian but its body shape was more simian, along with the large ears. It was picking up and sniffing several of the vials before dropping them on the floor where two more creatures, one light green and one that was teal were lurking around and pulling out more vials from the shelves, a fourth dark green one was climbing the tallest shelf in the lab.

“What are they?” Wilcox asked as the brown one had selected another vial. He had removed his glasses, cleaned them and put them on his face.

“I-I don’t know,” Valerie answered. Her first thought was of a mysterious and most likely mythical creature from her native Puerto Rico that was said to attack livestock, but they couldn’t be the Chupacabras, especially when they were this far north.

“Could they be what the others saw?”

Valerie shook her head. “They said they were bigger and wore swim trunks and lab coats and had hair on their heads. I think this is something different.”

“Could they be our mogwai?” Wilcox asked as he pointed at the creatures. “Is this what happens when they eat after midnight?”

“Mogwai?” A few of the creatures repeated before they laughed. The brown one was still sniffing the vials as if it was looking for something specific.

“Gene?” Valerie asked in a small voice? “Are one of you Gene?” She was answered with more laughter.

The brown one seemed to find one that he liked and chugged it down and of course threw the empty vial on the ground where it shattered along with the others.

“No, no we don’t drink that,” Wilcox said as he pulled out a few candy bars from his pocket. “I have some candy here. Who wants a Snickers?”

“Snickers?” Three of the creatures chimed in at once while the brown one was having spasms and coughing.

“Help him,” Valerie said as he rushed over to the brown chupacabra and placed her hand on his back. “Shhh shhh, try and breathe.” She watched as the other creatures had swiped the candy bars from Wilcox and began to devour them. “I’m going to make sure you are all right.”

“Fine,” the brown creature rasped out. “I am fine. I am feeling much better actually considering all that has happened to me in the past and what you have been doing in this very research facility.” His voice had changed from the gravelly raspy voices of the other creatures and took on a much more soothing, deeper and posh voice. It reminded Valerie of the main character from her favorite show about a radio psychologist living in Seattle. “I greatly appreciate your concern.” He smiled at her. “I just wanted to return and hoped to find something similar to the cerebral intensifying solution that was created by Doctor Catheter.”

“I tried to recreate it,” Wilcox said in a stunned tone. “He sounds not just smarter but sophisticated.”

“Ah sophisticated,” the creature said. “That is the compliment I admire the most along with civilized. You two have several quandaries you want answered. I suppose I should start with the most simple and yes your mogwai have evolved into the vary creatures that you see before you, although the ones you were caring after are not here.”

A cough was heard from the dark green one as it dropped the empty vial it had started to change its form. The creature became shorter and stockier and its ears drooped. Its eyes grew smaller while its muzzle grew longer and it grew whiskers. Two of its front teeth grew longer and became flat while it’s hands grew larger, grew a fourth digit and longer claws.

“Why are they changing?” Wilcox asked. “Any other animal drinks that and nothing would happen to them.”

“Our biochemistry is a bit unstable,” the brown one said. “Our genetic structures are easily adaptable to change.”

The fat green one sniffed the air before it dropped to the ground and scratched at the tiles. Chunks of floor tore away as the creature continue to dig down.
“You had mole DNA in here?” Valerie asked.

“Not mine, that was Henderson’s,” Wilcox answered.

A cackle was heard as from the direction of the light green one. His ears looked like leaves and his limbs looked like they were wrapped in more leaves while carrots replaced its claws and sprouted from his chin. Tomatoes, avocados, beets, potatoes and bell peppers grew from its cheeks and the top of its head. More vegetables developed in its abdomen.

“That one was mine,” Wilcox admitted. “Well it is Walter Tanner’s formula. We’ve been trading notes and he asking my help because I have had success with corn and he couldn’t quite get the corn to grow.”

The ears of the vegetable creature became filled with corn, two more cobs sprouted from its shoulders. The creature sneezed and several golden kernels flew off it.
“It appears your corn component is a success,” the brown creature said.

The teal creature looked at the vial it was holding, shrugged and just dropped it on the ground.

A screech was heard from outside and Wilcox and Valerie rushed out to see another creature, this one was black and it large pointed ears of a bat and was flying by a pair of bat wings that had sprouted from its back. It was followed by a hopping brown creature that had the legs, feet and tail of a kangaroo.

“Fascinating day in this lab of yours,” the one creature said as several more of its kind ran out.

“How many are there?” Wilcox asked.

“I unfortunately did not acquire a tally of my species before I ascended a few floors.”

“We have to inform everyone in this building,” Valerie said. “And call Doctor Friedrich.”

“You call him,” Wilcox said. “He’s going to be pissed and you never seen him when he is angry. He is scarier than all of this.”

-

The army was created and Razor had given the basic instruction to them to go and have fun and they will meet later at sunset. Now it was time for revenge on Peltzer and as for his two furry friends? Well they will be used for more fun. Razor remembered, back when he was Stripe how Billy had destroyed his minions and after they had gotten rid of that Deagle woman for him. He had attacked the young human with saw blades and would of cut him with a chainsaw if the light’s hadn’t come one. He almost got his revenge on Billy, later when he was Mohawk and he had that machine gun, but he still wasn’t able to kill the human.

It was just him, Chuckles, Butterball and Garrison who took the elevator to the underground lab. Patch had told them he was going to form his own crew before he went looting and plundering. Well Razor wasn’t going to force him to assist in the death of Peltzer.

A dead bloodied human was on the ground waiting for them when Razor, Chuckles, Butterball and Garrison had left the elevator. He was the large man who worked for the medical research security. Razor had pegged him as a dimwit.

“He dead,” Butterball stated the obvious.

“Who did it?” Garrison asked and that was a good question? Did some of their spawn make it down here before them?

“As long as they didn’t get to Billy I don’t care,” Razor said to them. “Follow me they are kept on the left.”

To his pleasant surprise the door was unlocked, not that didn’t matter, Razor did have a key. They made their way across the floor of the large room to the door with the cage. Razor wasn’t sure what he was going to do first, tear out Billy’s throat or his guts, maybe he would torture him first such as slowly tearing off his fur.

The first thing that greeted Razor and the others was the stench of piss.

“Pee-pee,” Butterball said.

The second scent and one that disappointed him was the scent of their cocoons and just as he had feared there were the remains of large green cocoons in the open cage. Damn it. Those mutants also had eaten and now they have claws and sharp teeth of their own.

“They are like us now?” Garrison asked.

“Yes and probably bigger than us as well.” Razor clenched his jaw. “Billy Caca.” He was growing more annoyed by the situation. First he was insulted that Doctor Friedrich had used his own blood to transform Billy and now he and his pals had also eaten after midnight?

“Where they go?” Butterball asked. Yes that was a good question where did they go and where would half human gremlins go?

“They did it,” Garrison said and pointed out the door. “They kill him.”

“Yes,” Razor said as some of his anger faded. They have become as vicious as him. Billy did have his blood in him and they already killed, most likely out of revenge. Even though he still wanted to punish the former human he can’t help but admire what he had become and knew where his blood brother had gone. Billy was looking for a water source so he can also spawn.

“Find and kill?” Garrison asked.

“Yes, find blood brother,” Razor ordered. “No kill.” He would wait on that.

“Yes Tim, I know it’s bad but if they are gone then I can’t be there,” Tim’s agitated voice was heard outside the door. “Oh don’t worry I will come by later, just try to find them.

Come by later? Hector’s dead, the hybrids have escaped, they paralyzed me and two of them peed on me and most importantly Hector is dead, but oh no he is only thinking about-“ He opened the door. “Oh.”

“Hello,” Butterball said and waved.

Razor grinned when he saw Tim. He might not be able to kill Billy but he was going to have some fun, right now.

“Uh…hi little guys. Is that you Garrison?” He pointed at the white gremlin who simply nodded. “Then that is Chuckles since he is laughing and Butterball…and Razor? How is it? Uh would you like some breakfast?”

“Fun,” Razor said as he and the others closed in on the human.

“Now uh, its me, Tim.”

“Don’t care,” Razor hissed.

“Shit!” The human turned and ran and he might have gotten far if a light green leg did not appear around the corner for him to trip on.

“Kill him,” Razor ordered as he and the other’s pounced on him. He tried to find who had tripped the human but only caught a glance of a naked green figure with long curly hair as it ran away. He will find out who that was later, but now it was time for some fun.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Separated.

Gerald had already planned on letting Laura talk first since this was her boss after all and despite just meeting her he had respect for her. She had just learned what was once in books and movies was now real and that she had come across a human that had been mutated into, well, a goblin. He felt a little sorry for her. She had just been thrust into the world of the unknown and it was going to change her view. He had been there fourteen years ago.

He couldn’t reflect on the gremlin attack at the bank but he remembered being taken to the nice institution and they had calmed him, help his nightmares, helped him get better and once he was released he still kept on talking with the doctors there even when he got his new and regular therapist and it wasn’t just about the Christmas Eve of Terror either.

Questions were asked. Why did he want to be tough? So he could make it in the world of the mid 1980’s. Was that how the world worked? Did have to step on people to get there and what did he want most in life? He wanted Kate Berringer but she had fallen for Peltzer. He wanted to be successful and rich at no matter the cost and the only comparison he had at the time was Mrs. Ruby Deagle and she was dead and she was alone. All she cared about was money and making more and was that what Gerald Hopkins wanted to just be alone with money?

After a few sessions he realized that was not what he wanted. Oh he wanted money, but he wanted that to help his dreams. He wanted to visit other countries and learn to scuba dive and had a dream vacation of diving in the Bahamas. He realized others had dreams and some of those dreams was to not be sick or have their children not be sick. He learned to feel empathy and he began with a few donations to cancer research. He donated his blood and while he started from the bottom at Prescott Prestige rose fast and that was not just by being tough. It was because he had a great team and they met again at the bar after work and he got invited to baseball games, made new friends and went golfing with them and he was invited to and backyard barbecue’s and he met the neighbor of one of his coworker’s, the lovely Jennifer Danes.

He and Jennifer went on dates, fell in love and became husband and wife. She held him when he woke up screaming from one of his nightmares and was patient with his therapy. He became the happiest when she had announced she was pregnant with their first child, Lily and felt the joy again when they welcomed their second daughter, Maddie into the world. They worked hard and he still volunteered and taught his daughter’s to help others. He even went on his dream vacation.

Then the marriage fell apart. Her nights at her office grew longer and she was away a lot on business trips. He would not begrudge her the changes to further in her career but he still wanted her home for their daughters and he also missed her. There was also the fact she no longer had the patience she once did with his occasional freak outs and there were other issues like taking care of the dishes, who paid what bills and it was those little things that also contributed to their divorce. They were still on good terms, friends even, but the love was no longer there.

“Where is he?” The man behind the desk in the security office asked. He was middle aged, hair that once was dark had both gone gray and receded. He had an angular nose, dark eyes and mouth set into frown mode. Behind him was a regular security panel with screens reflecting different areas of the mall.

“Busy talking with management,” Laura explained. “We have a situation.”

“Great,” Stewart grumbled as he buried his face in his hands. “I’m going to have to tell my sister’s friend that I fired her son.” He inhaled and shook his head. “I don’t want to but he has his head in the clouds too often and now the management is going to think I’m hiring people from the nut house.”

“I kind of take offense to that,” Gerald said. He never was confined to a padded room or had to wear a strait jacket but he did wear all white and received pills from a nurse. “I had a nervous breakdown once and we and they are not like those you see in movies.”

“Who is this?” Stewart asked as pointed at him. “What’s with the midget?” As soon as he had asked Laura had covered her face and groaned.

“I do not have dwarfism and if I did I would not appreciate being called a midget,” Gerald felt his voice grow more gruff. “My name is Gerald Hopkins and I’d like to alert the authorities, my family and my associates from Prescott Prestige that I am alive and well and I would like to press charges against Doctor James Friedrich for kidnapping me, holding me hostage and for…” What kind of crime is genetic mutation on a victim? “Mutating me and I know that sounds crazy but that was what he did.”

“You are not going to believe this, but Chuck was right,” Laura said. “I’m still reeling from the news myself. You can use your computer and go online and check.”

“This is ridiculous,” Stewart said. “You might want to share in his Kool-aid but I refuse to sip from it.”

“You have to believe me,” Gerald said as he swiped off his glasses. “Lives are at stake and you need to call the cops right now.” He barred his teeth and hissed. He heard a gasp from Laura and quickly turned to her. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Nice contacts and dentures,” Stewart was still unfazed.

“This isn’t a costume,” Gerald hopped onto the chair and growled. “I have been turned into a fuzzy half human creature. I formed a cocoon around myself and now I look like this.” He raised his ears, knocking off the cap. “Now either you look me up like the nice lady asked or believe her before I get angry and you won’t like me when I’m angry.” He swiped down onto the desk, leaving deep claw marks, marks that were too deep for a human to make in the wood. He snatched a Kleenex and rubbed it on his arm, removing some of the make-up and held it up. Revealing the foundation that had stuck to the tissue before he showed Stewart his green scales.

Stewart sat there, bug eyed and frozen. After a few seconds he blinked and reached for his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Laura asked.

“The police about a wild animal,” Stewart answered. “They won’t believe me if I tell them I’m being threatened by a monster.”

“He’s not a monster,” Laura said as she placed a hand on Gerald’s shoulder and had to remove it, most likely because those spikey growths were not comfortable. “The only monster here are those people who did this to him.”

“Technically I am a monster,” Gerald said. “But I can control myself. There are going to be dozens if not hundreds more monsters that are going to be smaller than me, uglier and more vicious and they don’t have my humanity. Sure I got a little bit of a rush a few seconds ago, but I am stopping now. They won’t.”

“They mentioned an invasion and think we should close the mall.”

“Oh no we are not,” Stewart said. “I’m getting rid of this threat right before me.” He reached for his phone right as it had rung. “Hello? What do you mean the power is out in the pharmacy and the clinic? It’s the whole medical building? And people on the upper floors have a pest problem?”

“That isn’t something you can fumigate like cockroaches,” Gerald said.

“I think we should listen to him,” Laura started but was cut off by Stewart raising his hand to silence her.

“Little green, brown and teal creatures?” Stewart asked and stared at Gerald. “Four foot tall goblin looking things? No more like two foot tall imps? I’ll be right there.” He hung up. “We will report this thing later.” He pointed at Gerald as he reached into his pocket. “Laura, come with me.” He grabbed Gerald’s hand and slapped a metal cuff on it and attached the other cuff to the arm of the chair. “That should hold it.”

“It?” Gerald snarled as he tugged on the cuff. He tried to slip through it but it was too tight.

“Those are the pair I use for juvenile punks.”

“Can’t just leave him here,” Laura said as Stewart grabbed her by the arm and hauled her out. “He used to be human.”

“Well he isn’t now and you saw how he threatened me. We don’t know how long until he actually does fall back on his instincts out and go on a rampage. Now move.”

“Gerald, I’m sorry,” Laura said as she looked over her shoulder as she was being dragged. “Call home.”

“Go on a rampage?” Gerald repeated as he pulled against the cuffs. “That asshole thinks I’m going to go on a rampage?” He kept pulling and kept trying to shift his wrist around but he was still changed. He wasn’t feeling beastly right now and at his worst was acting like a twelve year old. He only reacted the way he did because that pompous jerk wouldn’t listen to him or Laura and ugh the words he was using earlier, nut house and midget. There has to be some higher up he could report the jerk to.

He felt awful for Laura and Chuck and every other mall cop that works at this place. He hoped Billy and Chuck were going to halve better luck with mall management.

He pulled one more time and thumped his other fist on the desk causing everything to rattle, including the phone—the phone! Laura told him to call home. He reached for it and couldn’t quite reach. He struck the desk again with his fist and the vibration caused it to move a little bit closer to him. He struck again and this time the receiver fell of and he stretched and yes he could grab that. He pulled the phone closer until he could reach the buttons and he pressed 9-1-1.

-

Billy wanted to be more patient but with the growing problem posed by the gremlins he was going to half to wait. Being turned back to normal was also secondary and now he and Chuck had to wait to be seen by some lady named Ms. Baker.

“You boys can come in,” Baker called from her office. Her dark hair was cut in a pixie cut and she had dark eyeshadow and she wore too much perfume. “Sorry about the wait. I have a few things going on and well my own secretary has the flu and how are you?” She spoke as rapidly as Daniel Clamp and had a similar nasally voice as Marla. “I’m Ms Baker and you work for security don’t you? Haven’t really talked with you yet.” She was standing, not sitting behind her oak grain desk that was covered in, papers that were in multiple neat stacks with brightly colored sticky notes poking out from them like tabs. She had a computer on one of the desk and a phone at the other and there was an empty and coffee stained mug next to one of the paper stacks.

“Ms Baker I am Chuck and we have a situation.” He removed his cap and held it in front of his chest.

“Uh oh,” Baker’s grin fell. “Did you and your little friend there find packages of a certain white powder?” She pointed a dark red claw at Billy. “If you did you would have told Stewart and he would have called me, but then again he could of sent you.”

“He did,” Chuck said as he raised a finger. “Send me, sent us because we are together on this and no we didn’t come across any boxes of cocaine. You see it’s the genetics lab on the top of the medical research center.”

“Their rats got out,” Billy interjected. They were going to report Friedrich later, but first he had to make sure to get the people out of the mall and he and Chuck came up with a more plausible explanation than gremlins. “They were testing them for certain diseases and the rats got out and we think they might have gotten out of that building and into the mall.”

“Wait, diseased rats have escaped one of the labs?” Baker asked. Her face frozen into disgust as she curled her fingers. “Are you saying they can get people sick?”

“Yes,” Billy said and glanced at Chuck who was also nodding. “Just one bite and they can transfer the disease to another person.”

“Could start a whole epidemic,” Chuck added.

“That I can’t have, but I should call Stewart first.” She picked up her phone and pressed a button. “Huh line is busy.”

“He is already calling for help,” Chuck answered as he folded his cap in half.

“You should also make some calls,” Billy told her. Gerald and Laura are calling someone for help in some form. “But you have to close the mall, at least for the day.”
“I don’t know. I really would want to hear from Stewart first.” She pursed her lips and twirled the pen in her hands.

“Should we risk it?” Chuck asked. “The longer we talk the longer those rats are out there and any second we will have patient zero. Do you want to risk some senior citizen who is resting on a bench to get bitten or maybe some toddler sees a rat and think’s it’s a cute animal it wants to pick up and pet.”

“I personally work for Clamp,” Billy sputtered. “I can call him and ask him what we should do and I think he will not to waste a single second.”

“Okay how about this. You call Mr. Clamp and when you reach him have him talk to me.”

-

If Kate was a smoker she would have moved on up to three packs a day, however she wasn’t although she did buy a pack of the nicotine gum and was chewing on it along with drinking her fourth cup of coffee that day. She was at a café along with Lynn, Murry, Mr. Clamp and Forster while they were discussing their next step. The staff of the research center was interviewed along with several mall employees and nothing new was learned. They even talked to the man that matched the description, except he had short ginger hair although he could have been wearing a wig and fake goatee earlier and Forster said he was going to exam the footage later and compare it to the scrawny man.
Forster did find something interesting about the medical research building and had brought in several rolled up forms.

“I believe this may be of interest,” Forster had said after her rolled off the blueprints of the building and the blueprints of something else. “Before it was upgraded it used to be a schoolhouse, but it had something else.” He pointed to the area beneath the old schoolhouse. “The school closed down in the late seventies and by 1983 it was turned into a medical building, but four stores tall. Three years later it had two more floors added and by 1990 it was eight stories tall. When Mr. Clamp bout the land he kept the building and built the mall around it.”

“I didn’t know there was a giant basement,” Clamp said as he held up one of the prints. “How old is that school?”

“Built in the forties to be a boarding school,” Forster answered “In the early sixties this area was built under it. It was originally a fallout shelter.” He shrugged. “It was the early sixties.”

“Yeah I remember,” Murray said while he stared into his cup. The different kinds of coffee confused him and all he wanted was a simple cup of coffee black. He had also complained about the price. “I started digging beneath the shed in the back and Sheila was canning food like crazy.”

“What are they using it for now?” Kate asked. “Unless they don’t know.”

“Frank, I want you to have that place investigated,” Clamp said as ringing was heard from his pocket. “We are to leave no stone unturned.” He pulled out the glossy black Nokia 5110 and brought the phone to his ear. “This is Clamp.” His eyes widened. “Bill? Is that you, is that really you?” A large grin spread across his face while everyone stood up.
“Billy?” Kate asked and nearly snatched the phone from Clamp and would of if Lynn hadn’t beaten her too it.

“Billy?” Lynn asked. “Billy it’s me, your mother.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Oh thank god I’m so glad you are all right. Where are you? You’re in the mall office and you want to speak with Mr. Clamp? Billy you have been missing for several days. What happened? Oh there is an infestation? Oh…that kind of infestation.” She handed the phone back to Clamp. “That’s my Billy, putting others before himself.”

“What, what is going on?” Kate asked as she stared at Lynn and then back at Clamp.

“Of course let me speak with Ms. Baker.” Clamp said as he continued to talk.

“Billy?” Gizmo’s voice came from inside Kate’s purse. She had brought him along and she had made sure there was his little multi-tool that he used sometimes along with a few office supplies he could use to make weapons out of. While they were talking he had been munching on a cookie she bought him.

“He sounds healthy, just a little raspy,” Lynn explained. “I don’t know if he wore his voice out or he is starting to get a cold, but he is alive.” She held onto Kate. “He is alive. He is just trying to ask Mr. Clamp to order the mall to close because he says there are gremlins inside.”

“Christ, again?” Murray said and shook his head.

“How would they have gotten there?” Forster asked and pointed at Kate’s purse. “You have been careful with the little pet of yours.”

“Of course he hasn’t been wet in a long time,” Kate said. She tried to hide how insulted she had felt but he had asked and important question. How did gremlins get to the mall?
“Yes I am ordering you to close down the mall and get the people out. We can’t have diseased rats running loose with people around now can we. Now can I speak with Bi—wait you are hanging up?” He blinked. “She hung up.”

“Never mind her,” Murray said as he grabbed his cap. “We have to get to the mall.”

“We’ll meet back there,” Clamp instructed as his phone rang. “Bill glad you called…you’re not Bill? Gerald Hopkins? I don’t know how you got-oh the police gave it to you. Yeah I’m glad to hear you are also alive and well…what do you mean not exactly well. I know about the gremlins and are on our way.” He paused. “You were kidnapped by a doctor Friedrich and he works in the genetic department? You both were kept underground in a secret lab?” He looked up at Forster and pointed at the prints. “We just discovered the lab’s old blueprints. You were experimented on with mogwai DNA?”

“What?” Kate wasn’t sure she was hearing right. “Mogwai dna?”

“Says he and Bill got turned into half human half mogwai creatures.”

“Is that possible?” Kate remembered when she and Marla about to be killed by a giant spider legged gremlin and she later was informed by Billy and some of the scientists that all the gremlins had to do to mutate was just drink the flasks containing the genetic codes for the animals and plants. Gremlin dna could be easily changed and that was the same for mogwais she had assumed but she had no idea if it could change other animals including humans.

“They tricked you into eating after midnights and you are part gremlin now and Bill? Oh don’t worry we will get you fixed up and try to figure it out. I need to call the authorities and we are headed out to the mall right now.” He blinked again. “Oh you already did, now listen Jer-“ He pulled the phone away. “Line went dead.”

“My Billy’s different?” Lynn asked she had a folded up napkin in her hands and she was twisting it.

“Should we take precautions with them?” Forster asked and earned sour looks from every one. “We don’t know how they changed mentally.”

“Billy wouldn’t hurt us,” Kate said. She wasn’t sure how she was going to cope with what he had become, if what Gerald said was true, but she knew that no matter what she would love him and now they had to go and help with both his transformation and the new invasion.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: Maul the Mall

-

Laura went through a mix of emotions as she followed after her boss. She felt a bit of fear and curiosity of what these gremlin creatures could pose, she felt anger at Stewart for the way he was reacting to everything and the way he treated Gerald and she mostly felt sorry for Gerald. The man never asked to be transformed and now he was trapped in Stewart’s office. She would hope her boss wouldn’t try to hurt him.

“Let’s see what this B.S. is all about,” Stewart said he walked into the now darkened pharmacy. The employees that should be working there were not around. “Ah the stench of geezers in a waiting room.” He stepped into the clinic and like the pharmacy it was empty. “Where is everyone?”

To answer his question the door to the emergency stairs opened and several people in lab coats ran out.

“What’s going on?” Laura asked as a few of them ran past her. “What did you see?”

“Little imp things,” one of the frightened people said. “They were tearing apart our labs and eating up our data. My cauliflower rice and my translucent edible cubes of jellied cranberries are all gone.”

“What did they look like?” Stewart asked in an annoyed tone. He was trying to keep from rolling his eyes as if he was the only sane man around and everyone else had lost it. God forbid he admits that maybe Chuck was right about something.

“This big,” the scientist said as he held up his hand near the middle of his thigh. “There were three different shades of green and brown and scaly and mouths full of sharp teeth. There were big ears and long arms with claws.”

“We have to clear out the mall,” Laura said as she reached for her walkie-talkie only for it to be snatched out of her hand by her boss. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to report this to Ms. Baker first and if she wants us to evacuate then we will-“ Cracking and crunching was heard from above. “What is that?” He looked up as several chunks of powder flew to the ground. “Move!” He shoved Laura as large pieces of the ceiling rained down on him.

Laura tumbled toward the ground and landed on her arm. She winced from the pain and rolled around to see Stewart under not only the remains of the ceiling but under a fat dark green creature that looked like a cross between a reptile and a mole.

The creature sniffed the air before it ran on all fours to one of the shelves and began to knock over bottles.

“Stewart!” She ran back to him and swept off the pieces and dust, only pausing when she realized she sprained her right arm. Her boss was unresponsive and had several cuts. He was also still breathing. “Stewart, wake up.” She reached for her walkie-talkie, only to see that it had broken into several pieces near Stewart’s hand and the one Stewart had on him was also out of commission. She still had her other radio and pulled it out. “Chuck, Trevor, can you guys hear me?” The only sounds she heard was several beeps before her radio went dead. “Of all the times.” She grumbled as she stared at radio. She was certain it had fresh batteries earlier, but now it was out of juice.

-

Valerie was the last one on the floor. Her Wilcox and the others had left along with the few assistants who were there that day. Most of the creatures that were running amok had grown bored and moved on to somewhere else. She was alone with just a few of the chupacabras including the one who can talk.

“They can only stay focused for about ten to fifteen minutes,” the talking one said as he flipped through the binder containing some of their notes. “We have short attention spans.”

“You are now different,” Valerie said as she studied him. “Are you certain you are not Gene?”

“I am certain I am not.” He closed the binder and adjusted his glasses. She had no idea where he found them and was that a side effect of the formula for his vision to change? “I have procured knowledge from the ones that I was born from and the one you have designated Gene is still in his mogwai state.” Then that means Gene was with those other creatures. She had to find him to make sure he was all right, but she couldn’t abandon this one creature.

“When a mogwai eats after midnight it becomes a chupacabra?” She noticed the confused look on his face. “Sorry I don’t know what to call you. In Puerto Rico there are sightings of creatures called chupacabra and your kind reminds me of them.”

“Ah yes I can see why you would refer to my kind as them. We have been labeled other things such as creatures and little monsters and the popular terminology for us are gremlins.”

“What would you prefer?”

“Hmmm.” He rubbed his chin as he thought about it. “I suppose gremlins would do for my kind as for me. I believe in the past I was called Brain but if you have a proposal I would to hear it.”

“I named one mogwai, Gene,” Valerie said as she pondered the idea. “How would Helix sound?”

“As in the double helix strand of a DNA molecule? It does have a lovely sound and past life may sound absurd to you but I can assure you with my species it is true.” He picked up another binder. “I remembered the particular scent of the formula and I specifically sought it out. If some of my fellow gremlin have also reincarnated they might also look for the exact or similar solutions to became what they once were.” He held up a claw. “The one who had drank Doctor Wilcox’s vegetable formula.”

“And the ones who drank from the mole and kangaroo formulas?”

“No those two are new, but there was a Pteropus chioptera back then and they said a heteropoda maxima formula was missing years ago.” His eyes widened in fear. “One became a creature of pure electricity. You don’t have any solution that would endow a creature with electric organ discharges?”

“Not exactly. We have been developing a solution for electromagnetic impulses similar to how some fish can navigate in the water, it would help those who have visionary problems and those who need to navigate caves and tunnels, but it is more magnetic than the electric.”

Several metallic clangs echoed through the halls. Valerie stuck her head out as another gremlin, teal in color, was walking down with a few scalpels and couple metal dishes stuck to it.

“We found it and you have nothing to worry about.”

-

“But you need to make the announcement now,” Billy said as he and Chuck were both being shoved out of the offices, not physically shoved but it was the way Baker was behind them. The way she talked seemed to create an energy field that was pushing against them.

“I am just about to,” Baker said as she grabbed onto her door handle. “You can help evacuate, keep the people from panicking and Billy, its Billy isn’t it?”

“Yes?” Billy asked.

“You might want to see someone about your complexion and getting your teeth fixed.” She slammed the door shut.

“That was pretty rude,” Chuck said.

“The don’t call us and we’ll call you way she dismissed us?” Billy asked and shrugged. “Seen a lot of that in Manhattan.”

“I was thinking of the way she insulted your skin and your teeth,” Chuck said as he pointed at his mouth. “ I mean the spiky growths do look like weird acne at first and as for your teeth, despite how some of them are sharp they look pretty healthy and kind of pearly.”

Billy laughed. “Again you get that in Manhattan and I guess having healthy and clean teeth as a human means they are still healthy as a goblin. I’m actually pretty glad that is all she had to say. I can’t believe she and everyone else is falling for this disguise.”

“Most people don’t look down so they are not really getting a good look at your feet and secondly she wasn’t really looking at you and I don’t think she was really looking at me either, but then most people don’t.” They headed towards the stairs for the food court.

“Why?” Bill tilted his head to the side to look at Chuck. “You look young and in good shape and not bad looking.”

“I’m a lowly mall cop.” He pointed to himself. “Nobody notices people like me.”

“I did the other day and that was right before your head on collision. I noticed the way you were looking at that young woman in the lab coat.”

“Um.” Chuck had placed his hand behind his head and cheeks turned pink.

“What’s her name?” Billy asked and noticed the sheepish smile on his face and the fact he was blushing even more. “Haven’t talked to her huh?” He smiled and remembered the first time he met Kate. “I was where you were one time. My coworker at the bank rendered me speechless at first and as we got to know each other we talked more and I finally mustered the courage to ask her out and now we are married.”

“Yeah, but she works in the research building,” Chuck said. “And again I’m a mall cop who hasn’t even finished community college.” He shrugged. “I could go back and I’ve been thinking about it, but what after?”

“Enroll in a university?”

“Yeah and get what a B.A. in English? I’d still be doing what I’m doing now.”

“What would you want to do?” Billy asked as he leaned against the wall. “What do you like do?”

“I like to write stories, some of it’s for different fandoms or fan fiction but some is original, but again where would I get a writing job?”

“Where would you get a job doing art, Billy?” He repeated the question he had been asked before. “I’m a draftsman. I got a job in the art department for Mr. Clamp and now I’m head of city planning and design. Don’t give up on your dreams.”

“I’ll think about,” Chuck said as he paused by the pay phones. “Do you want to borrow some change so you can call and explain what happened?”

“After we make sure everyone is safe and the threat is over,” Billy said as he held up his hand. “Wonder how long until-“

“Attention shoppers of Clamp Corners. We regret to inform you the mall will be-“ the voice of Ms. Baker was cut off.

“What happened?” Chuck asked as the mall patrons who were seated at the food court looked up in surprise at the announcement but shrugged and went back to eating after it abruptly stopped.

“They are already getting into the wiring,” Billy said in a weak voice. The gremlins had already left the lab and were making their way through the building and taking out the electrical systems or at least the P.A.

“That’s not good,” Chuck said. He took a deep breath and strode to the middle of the court. He pulled out a bright orange whistle on a black lanyard and blew as hard as he could.

“Everybody listen to me. I already know what the complete announcement is and we have to close early for extermination. Please leave your trays and get up. Walk in a calm manner to the nearest exit.”

The people grumbled and were asking various questions but they were complying with the order. A few people tossed the remains of their lunches in their bags and a few even emptied their trays in the trash before they walked out of the area. It wouldn’t be instantly but they were going to find some way to get everyone outside.
Billy sighed a bit in relief as he watched everyone vacate the area. Shoes of all kinds echoed along the floor, not long after the last person had left the lights had suddenly dimmed.

There were also a few wooshes and what sounded like screeches. He looked up and saw a dark gremlin with wings flying around in a circle.

-

“They are going to have a cartoon,” one little boy around the age of eleven years old said to his friends who had gathered in the Babbage’s store. They stood in front of a large colorful cardboard display of three strange creatures with big eyes, one was a squat pale green lizard with a flower bulb protruding from its back, the second was a pale blue turtle and the third was an reddish orange lizard with a flame on its tail. The words under the sign were “Pokemon Red and Blue coming this September.”

“Big whoop everyone knows that,” one of the other kids said. He was slightly taller and stockier than the others.

“Yeah and it’s called anime,” the third one said as he blinked his large blue eyes.

“Do you know what all fifteen types are?” The first boy asked. “Well I do. There is Fire, Water, Grass…”

-

The dirt in one of the potted plants near a jewelry kiosk stirred and the vegetable gremlin poked his head out. He sniffed the air as the lights went out over head. He reached up to his cheek and plucked off one of the cherry tomatoes and threw it as a passing shopper. It bounced off them but another person stepped on it and tripped. The gremlin laughed before he threw more vegetables at the people.

-

“Rock type, ground…”

-

Several people were looking at the various character shirts inside the Warner Brother’s store while a small television playing classic looney tunes cartoons were nearby. A few people paid attention to the cartoon until they felt the ground move.

“Earthquake?” Someone asked when the lights went out.
Movement was seeing under the tiles as something was coming towards them. A few people looked up at the screen as Bugs Bunny was making his tunnel trails as he moved around underground.

“Bugs?” An associate asked as a hole formed, but instead of the cartoon rabbit popping up and munching on a carrot, a large mole like creature climbed out, sniffed the air and ran towards the display of candy while everyone else screamed and ran out.

-

“Bug type, electric type…”

-

Maybe he shouldn’t have drunken that liquid, but the gremlin was hoping he could zip around and electrocute people again, as long as he didn’t get trapped on hold or short circuit. It smelled the same but now he had various metal objects sticking to him. There were the scalpels and pans from the lab, small office supplies, nail files, keys, a Swiss Army knife and even a clip board

“Off, off,” he grunted as he stomped and shook himself, but nothing fell off. Frustration rose and he gave off one last stomp while sparks emerged over its entire body. Crackling was still heard in the air as the metal fell off. “Free at last, free at last.” He ran away and only stopped when he felt something stick to his foot. He looked down and saw that it was a large paper clip. Looks like that shockwave only lasted for a few seconds.

-

“Psychic type, fighting type…”

-

“Now this type of towel looks like it would be better for your brother,” the employee of the Power Play sports store said. He was helping a customer find a type of gym towel. “The other looks like it will leave an impression in his back and might be uncomfortable.”

“Thank you,” the customer said with a smile before she took the towel she wanted to the registers.

The man smiled as he was having a good day so far and enjoyed the feeling of helping someone find the right gift. He headed back to put the other towel back when the lights went out.

“Hey who is messing with the lights?” He made his way to where the other gym towels were and he set the one in his hands down.

“He he, put em up.” The strange voice was heard.

“Hello?” He asked. “I’m not sure you should be here.” He looked around and he he heard a sound from the small area that contained boxing supplies. “May I help you?” He walked around the corner and came face to face with a strange brown creature with pointed ears and the lower half of a kangaroo.

“Put em up,” the creature said as he struck the employee in the face with his boxing glove clad fists.

-

“Ice type, ghost type, poison type…

-

The genetic labs were mostly empty. One light green gremlin reached up and grabbed a vial labeled “Cobra” and brought it to its mouth. He gulped it down and dropped the vial while he cried out in pain. The sound of flesh being twisted and crushed and bones snapping was heard and followed by a hissing sound.

-

“Dragon, normal and flying.” The boy placed his arms across his chest and gave his friends a smug grin. He hadn’t noticed the fact the lights had gone out and his friends were staring at him in fear. “What is going on?” He stepped towards them and turned around to see a strange teal creature standing on top of the cardboard display. “What the hell is that?”

The creature was holding onto a large Captain Hook plush from the Disney store. He ripped off the felt hat and placed it on top of his head.

“Landlubbers,” the creatures hissed and pointed at them. “Capture them, me sea dogs.”

Several more creatures crawled out and advanced on the boys who ran away in fear.

-

“Chuck we have another problem,” Billy said as he ran up to his friend. “Some of the gremlins have mutated.” He kept his eyes on the flying bat winged creature.

“Mutated?” Chuck asked before he looked up as well. “What the hell? First they alter humans and now bats?”

“No that started out as a gremlin, apparently they just have to drink the DNA to change. This is why Gerald and I were transformed. Friedrich was working with someone in the army to create the perfect soldiers.” He scowled. “Not only can their biological makeup be easily altered but it can be used to alter others. He wanted several of us goblins and not just regular ones like me. He wanted to make ones with spider legs, ones with electrical abilities and ones that can fly.” He pointed at the creature as his voice grew lower, turning into a growl. “And we’d be expendable too, since all you have to do to make more is just get us wet. There would be no need to risk the lives of humans.” He flexed his hands and bared his teeth.

“Uh dude?” Chuck was growing paler.

“Spare the humans and use the goblins as cannon fodder.” He hissed and turned towards Chuck. He expected the human to shrink back in fear but instead Chuck had stepped forward and stood in front of Billy.

“Duck,” Chuck had ordered.

Billy blinked and looked up as the flying gremlin dove down towards them.

-

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: Gizmo on the Trail
-
Every angry thought and thirst for violence had left Billy’s body when Chuck had stepped in front of him to protect him. What the hell was he thinking? Was he going to attack his friend? He closed his eyes as a new feeling took over, shame and embarrassment.

“Billy?” Gene’s voice was heard on the inside of the backpack.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry,” Billy said softly.

A cackle of electricity was heard followed by a screech and the clatter of chairs being knocked over.

“Got him!” Chuck said in triumph.

Billy opened his eyes to see a struggling bat gremlin as it was trying to get up and out from under two fallen chairs. He set down his back pack and ran on all fours towards the gremlin and pulled it out.

The creature stared at him in confusion before it hissed and Billy hissed right back at it. It flapped its wings and tried to get away but Billy held onto it.

“We both got him,” Chuck said as he grabbed onto the wings of the creature.

Billy used one hand to hold on to the bat gremlin’s ankles to keep it from moving. The creature was using all of its strength to try to get away, but it wasn’t going to get away. Billy swiped at the gremlin’s throat with his claws.

The bat winged gremlin screeched once more before it made a gurgling sound and green blood oozed from his wound.

“That’s one down,” Chuck said as he stepped away from the dying creature as it bled out. “Hundreds more to go.”

“Yeah.” Billy found a stray over turned napkin to wipe the blood off. Was his blood green now as well?

“Something wrong?” Chuck had picked up the backpack and Gene had popped his head out. “We make a good team with my security guard training and your claws.”

“I was close to sinking my claws into you.” He placed a hand against his forehead. “I was growing angry with you, not specifically you but humans in general.”

“Do they all hate humans?”

“Not all,” Gene said. “Hei’an Lingxiu.”

“What did he just say?”

“I’m not sure,” Billy said and sighed. “But I’m pretty sure that is what I am. They didn’t just use any mogwai DNA on me but they used the blood of their leader, Razor and there was always one lead trouble maker out of the group. The first time it was Stripe and the second was this grayish green one with a red Mohawk like fin on his head.” He reached up to touch the back of his neck. “I have a bit of that same red fin on me and he had it on his arms and legs and so do I.” He pointed at the red fringe on his arms and legs. “The other gremlins love to have fun, go nuts and cause trouble. It’s funny to them and they don’t really know the extent of what they are doing or they don’t care, but those leaders do and they seek to cause more, kill as much humans as possible and I’m the same.”

“No you’re not,” Gene said and shook his head.

“The little guy is right,” Chuck said. “You’re not evil. I mean do you feel evil? Do you want to kill all humans?”

“No,” Billy said with a sigh and shrugged. “Not now I don’t.”

“A few minutes ago I asked you if you wanted to call your boss again and tell them about what happened and bring justice to this doctor Friedrich, but you didn’t because you wanted to make sure everyone in this mall was safe first. That is not evil.”

“I may get cravings and urges again.”

“And I’ll keep you in check,” Chuck said as he set the backpack back on him. “The others aren’t really that evil?”

“No like I said they don’t understand or care about the consequences of their actions. They have some soft spots. They don’t like animal testing and they love Snow White.”
“Disney version?” Chuck raised his eyebrows.

“They loved it.”

“You might think some of them might be in the theater? They could be interested in Mulan?”

“They might,” Billy said as he held out his hand. More people were approaching the food court and they looked confused. “We have to keep evacuating.”

“Billy, let’s get down to business.”

-

“Cops haven’t arrived yet,” Kate said as she leaped from the car. She didn’t even wait for Murray to stop once he had entered an empty parking space near the clinic of the medical building.

“Told you I’d get you here first,” Murray said once he had turned off the engine. “Should we wait for the others first?”

“No,” Lynn said as she slammed the door behind her. “Billy is in there and so is Gerald and they been through so much.” Tears were forming in her eyes. “My boy is in there.”

“We are going to find both of them,” Kate said in pure determination and from her purse she could hear Gizmo agree. She wanted to help Gerald as well even though he used to make advances at her, unwanted advances, but that was fourteen years ago. He had a wife, an ex-wife who was seen crying on the news and he had two daughters. Two little girls who were missing their father and from what some people who knew Gerald recently mentioned how he was always helping others and volunteering at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, it sounded like he certainly had changed.

“Wow beat me here by a few minutes,” Clamp said as he and Forster ran up to them. “The police should be here soon and should I call in the swat team now or wait?”

“I say we wait until we hear from Billy,” Murray said. “Or we find Billy and talk to him. I’m sure he has a dozen good ideas on how to deal with these gremlins.”

"Good point,” Clamp said with a nod of his head. “Bill comes up with great plans even at the last second he can think of something.”

“We still need to find him.” Kate ran towards the clinic entrance and ignored the people who were crowding around. There were several people in lab coats talking to each other and few angry people who were complaining about how their appointments were canceled.

“You don’t want to go in there,” a woman said as she waved her cigarette and the direction of the clinic. “There are things inside, little ugly things.”

“I’m about to become a little ugly old lady if you don’t let me in,” a woman with a head full of pale white curls and red cat framed glasses barked.

“Security issue,” a man said as he was sitting on a curb and holding a blood stained cloth to his head. “I’m head of security and it is not safe. Trust me. I got attacked by something and now I’m dealing with a concussion.”

“Sheesh, I know how hard it is to get appointment these days but they are really pushing it,” Murray said as they were about to enter.

“Freeze,” a young woman in a security suit said. “I can’t let you in there.” Her hair was out of place and she had an arm in a makeshift sling.

“My husband is in there,” Kate said as she tried to shove past the woman.

“They are going to get him out of there,” the woman said as she stepped in front of Kate.

“I don’t think you understand,” Kate said if what Gerald had said was true then being outside in the sun was going to be a problem.

“You listen to me, young lady,” Lynn marched right up and put herself between Kate and the woman. “We know about the gremlins. I even killed three of them by myself one time.”

“Gremlins?” One the people in the white lab coats said. “Is that what they are?”

“You did,” another person asked. “How did you kill them? Is there a special way?”

“Sliced, blended and microwaved,” Lynn said in a proud tone.

“I killed a flying one,” Murray held up his hand. “I helped in killing hundreds at once and Mr. Clamp also helped.”

“Mr. Clamp?” Several voiced cried at once.

“Oh hey how are you,” Clamp greeted when the people crowded around him and were held back by Forster. “I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.”
The crowd was distracted and both Lynn and Murry were keeping the woman from security back making it easy for Kate and Gizmo to enter inside.

There was nothing near the doors or front windows, obviously with the sun streaming in at them. The clinic side was empty and everything was clean if slightly dim the further back it went until it met with the pharmacy that was where the clean and tidy part was gone.

Shelves were knocked all over and various bottles and packages were scattered across the floor. Some of them looked empty and various pills were spread out. There were also a few small puddles of vomit and a few sleeping gremlins.

“May cause drowsiness,” Kate read from the half empty bottle that was in the green creature’s hand.

Kate perked up when she heard a slow and soft scrape like something being dragged along the ground. She stepped towards the mall entrance and froze.

Standing between her and the mall was a large monster. It had the upper half of a gremlin and the lower legless half of a snake. Its ears were connected to its neck, forming a cobra like hood and it had two long protruding fangs.

Kate gasped before she bolted back towards the clinic and didn’t look back to see if the thing was chasing her. She could hear it. She stepped right into the bright sunlit area and turned around.

The serpent hissed in pain as it recoiled from the light and slithered off into another direction.

“A snake gremlin,” Kate gasped as she fell to her knees. “Why did there have to be a snake gremlin?” She breathed in deeply and looked around her. Her purse! Where was her purse? She must have dropped it and Gizmo was still inside. She had to go back for him.

The snake was not around the corner when she peered from the one clinic counter. She also couldn’t hear it . Taking in a deep breath she stepped around and looked for her purse, ready to run back to the light if she could see the large and frightening gremlin.

She could see the back of the serpentine gremlin as it slithered into the mall and was crawling towards the direction of one of the other shops.

“Giz?” She whispered as she approached her bag. “Gizmo I’m sorry I left you.” She looked inside her purse and Gizmo was gone. “No!” She shook her head. She abandoned her friend and now he had been eaten by a giant cobra gremlin. She felt the tears well up in her eyes when she noticed something else was gone. It was the small multipurpose tool that belonged to the mogwai. Did that mean he was still alive?

-

Gizmo felt like he was dropping while he heard Kate scream and felt the thud of the landing. He could hear something move fast and he parted the purse and peered out as a large snake like gremlin was slithering around it looked like it was slightly burned as it grew closer to the bag.

Gizmo ducked in further and forced the bag to close and listened to the scraping sound of the monster as it slithered past him. As soon as it was gone Gizmo had bolted and dashed towards two shelves that had fallen against each other and crawled underneath the tunnel they had formed. When he crawled out from the other side he faced a vent.
“Vent,” Gizmo said as he used his trusty little multi tool to remove the screws in the panel and crawled inside. He could find Billy this way.

He paused when he heard footsteps and could see Kate coming up to where he was.

“Bye bye, Kate,” Gizmo said.

“Giz, you are okay?” Kate asked. “Where are you?”

“In vent,” Gizmo answered. “I find Billy.” He scurried off before Kate could say anything else.

-

Directing the patrons of the mall to the nearest exits wasn’t too hard, at least Billy thought so. They had approached well-lit areas and explained to the people the mall had closed for an extermination before ducking into various stores to warn them and Chuck was hearing from another guy named Trevor who was helping people evacuate at other parts of the mall, but for some reason he couldn’t reach Laura and that worried Billy.

“We will keep this up while on the path to the WB store,” Chuck explained while trying to hide how worried he felt. “It’s not like for Laura to lose communication. She always has two radios on her.”

A scream came from several yards ahead where the lights were out and it came from the direction of Claire’s. Both of them had bolted to the store where seven gremlins were running around.

A light green one was sitting in the piercing chair while a teal one was covering the large ears with different kinds of studs and laughing while the other screamed. A dark green one was seated on the counter near the registers and was eating the impulse candy. Another teal gremlin was eating various kinds of lip gloss while a light green one and another brown one were dolling each other up with various make up and accessories and a different dark green one was wearing several glittery scarves while trying on different sunglasses in front of the mirror.

In one corner of the store was the employee standing in front of several women and their children and a small group of middle school aged girls.
“Everyone be quiet,” Chuck whispered as he approached them. “They are distracted by all the shiny stuff.”

“Slowly and quietly you need to get out,” Billy explained. “Chuck you need to get them out and I’ll distract them.” He went right up to the one in front of the mirror who had turned around and pointed at himself.

“You like?” the gremlin asked.

“Yes but I think the scarf is too loose,” Billy said and grabbed at the ends. “Let me tighten it.” He wrapped the scarf even tighter and pulled as hard as he could while the gremlin grabbed at the air. He continued until the creature fell down.

Snarling brought his focus towards to the two make up wearing gremlins. One launched itself at Billy as he brought up his fist and struck it in the face, knocking it back.
The other gremlin swiped at Billy and his claws grazed his arm.

Billy growled as he covered his bleeding scratches and yes his blood was also now green. He tackled the creature and ripped out its throat while his teeth were bared.

“He’s also a monster!” One of the women screamed as she grabbed her daughter by the arm and ran out of the store.

“Monster?” Billy repeated and stared at his injured arm.

“Get back!” Chuck shouted followed by the crackle of electricity. Snarling was heard followed by more crackles of Chuck’s stun gun. “And you.” The electric sound heard was loudest followed by the scent of smoke and some kind of floral fragrance “Whoa that one was a little too long.”

“Too long?” Billy asked as he found where his new friend was. Smoke was still wafting off the melting form of an electrocuted gremlin. “I think long enough.” He noticed the broken bottle of some cheap pink perfume bottle was next to it. “Not to mention it must have soaked itself in fragrance first.”

“I uh didn’t know that would happen,” Chuck said before he looked up at Billy. “Oh, hey one of them got you.” He pointed at Billy’s arm.

“I’ve had worse,” Billy answered and remembered the pain from the arrow.

“Let me take care of that.” He ran back to where the scarf accessories and the strangled gremlin was and grabbed one of the thicker scarves. “They all escaped and I got a few Band-Aids here. “ He felt around one of his large pockets and pulled out a small medic kit. “I better use the gauze pad and this antibacterial spray. He applied the spray to Billy’s wound before placing on the cotton pad and wrapped it up with the scarf.

“That’s good they have escaped.” He couldn’t shake off the fact he appeared as a monster. “Let’s go meet up with Gerald.”

-
“I’m not sure if the Warner Brother’s store is safe,” Billy said once they had reached another darkened part of the mall. The store in question had various gremlins climbing up and down it and there was laughter heard on the inside.

“I don’t see your friend,” Chuck said as he was looking around. “I also don’t see Laura.” He brought his radio to his ear. “Hello, Laura, come in Laura?” He was silent for a few seconds. “She is not there.”

“Don’t think they are on the inside,” Billy said as he looked inside. The gremlins were in there, but they were not causing trouble. Several where wearing oversized shirts with the various characters on them and they were munching on candy, but they were mostly fixated on the several screens. One was playing a Roadrunner and Coyote cartoon, another had a classic Bugs Bunny and Daffy and the third had a more recent 90’s cartoon, an episode of Animaniacs was playing.

“What are they doing?” Chuck whispered.

“Watching cartoons,” Billy answered as he continued to watch the screens and smiled.

“What should we do?” Chuck asked. “Should we go back to the office?”

“No…wait,” Billy was trying to think but he was also distracted by the antics of the characters. “What if they are not there? How about you take Gene and I’ll stay here.”

“I don’t like the idea of us separating even more,” Chuck said. “Wait a second.” He reached into a different pocket and pulled out another walkie-talkie. “This is my back up. I always have a backup.”

“Thanks,” Billy said and turned his on. “What frequency?”

“Number five,” Chuck answered. “Are you sure you will be safe?”

“I have my claws and these are the regular ones. If you don’t provoke them they won’t attack.”

“Stay safe.”

“Gotcha.” He didn’t even see Chuck leave and was focused on the cartoons. He felt himself grin and laugh along with the gremlins.

-

It didn’t take Gizmo long before he came across another vent that wasn’t abandoned nor was it near any gremlins. He could hear a man swear and grumble out of frustration.
“Come on,” the man said. He did not sound like Billy “I just need that other paperclip.”

Gizmo removed the panel and entered a dark office. He could see the desk with a computer on it and the chair in front of it and there were a few other office items. He crawled under the desk and saw the chair on the opposite side, a few paper clips on the ground and a pair of large four toed gremlin feet.

“Uh-oh,” Gizmo said. He wasn’t sure what he was looking at. Was it a large gremlin, but it sounded more human and then he remembered when Mr. Clamp was on the phone and said that Billy and another man were mutated into being half gremlin.

“Who’s there?” The man’s voice was heard again. “Gene is that you, or are you another mogwai?”

“Mogwai,” Gizmo repeated and stepped out from under the desk. “Gizmo.” He could see the feet were sticking out from the cuffs of denim pants and there was a very short man wearing those pants and he had strange streaky tan and greenish brown arms save for the green spot on one of them and he wore a t-shirt with a giant lizard foot on it. The man had the same streaky complexion along with strange pointed growths on his face. He had light brown hair on his head and that was crowned with a baseball cap and something hanging from the sides, those were ears, gremlin ears.

“Gizmo,” the being repeated and grinned, showing sharp pointed teeth. “Billy told me about you and boy am I happy to see you. I tried to warn them about the gremlins but they cuffed me to his chair.” He raised his hand, or tried to, causing the cuff and chain to rattle. “I’m trying to get a paperclip so I could bend it and use it to pick the lock. Could you hand me one?” He had to be Gerald.

Gizmo had a better idea. “Pick me up.” He held up his arms.

“Okay,” Gerald said as he lifted Gizmo up. “You have something in mind?”

“Uh-huh,” Gizmo answered as he crawled across his lap and pressed the tip of his multi tool into the lock. After jiggling it for a few seconds there was a click.

“Huh.” Gerald opened up the cuff and pulled his wrist free. “You are very clever, just like your clone.”

“Clone?” Gizmo said and wondered how they were able to copy him. The twin scientists hadn’t taken any samples from him, but he remembered waking up from a nap not long after he had arrived and felt something sharp. He looked and there was another scientist walking away.

“Gene is a nice mogwai like you.” Gerald said as he picked up the sunglasses that fell to the ground. “I don’t need these to block out the light, but it covers up the red and I look good.” He placed them back on his face. “Let’s go find, Billy.”

“Yeah,” Gizmo agreed as he was carried by Gerald.

“I’m going to have to find the directory because we were supposed to meet up at the WB store.”

They left the office and they were not alone. There were four gremlins waiting for them. One was pale and short with pink eyes, the one right next to him was a taller, green and fat, the third was brown had two eyes facing the opposite direction and a tongue hanging out and the fourth was light green in color and covered in spikes.

“Gizmo,” the gremlin said with the same voice it had as Mohawk and Stripe. It had narrowed its bright orange eyes. “Gizmo Caca”

Chapter Text

Gerald swallowed when he saw the four gremlins, sure one was short and another looked dopey but the one with all the spines looked pissed and not only did he have more spiky growths than the other gremlins but they were also longer.

“Uh oh,” Gizmo squeaked and trembled in Gerald’s arms.

“Uh hi,” Gerald said as he removed the sunglasses from his face. He really had no need for them since the lights were off and he slipped them into his pocket. “I’m Gerald and you may have never seen something like me before but I’m called a goblin. I’m half of what you guys are.” His one instinct told him to not talk with them and just run. He also felt a tiny urge to attack with his own claws but logic says a four against one fight was not going to happen.

“Schrodinger?” The spiky one asked as he tilted his head and looked him up and down.

“Stripe, Mohawk,” Gizmo said as he continued to tremble.

“My name is Gerald,” his voice dropped as he felt the bile form. How did this gremlin know what Friedrich had tried to rename him unless it was the one mogwai pet of the deformed scientist. “Razor?” He waited for the lead gremlin to nod. “Who are your friends?”

“Ooh, ooh,” the large fat one raised his hand. “Butterball.” He pointed at himself and then the albino one. “Garrison.” At last he pointed at the brown one. “Chuckles.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Gerald said as he tried to hide his fear.

“Nice to meet you,” Butterball said and held out his hand only for Garrison to smack it away and growl at him.

“I’m guessing you are not a fan of the little guy,” He looked down at Gizmo who stared back up with his large fearful eyes and ears held back. “Now I wonder if you would spare my life if I handed him over to you.”

Razor blinked and his scowl switched into a frightening grin while he nodded.

“Oh and this is where the humanity in me is the strongest,” Gerald said. “Also you guys are so stupid you didn’t realize I was stalling you while my friends are about to hit you with mallets.”

“Huh?” Razor and the rest turned around.

That was his cue. Gerald bolted and ran as fast as he could and turned to look over his shoulder to see the others right after him and even though their legs were shorter they keeping up by running on all fours.

“I need you to hold on tight to my shirt,” Gerald said as placed the mogwai on his shoulders. “Have a good grip?”

“Uh huh,” Gizmo answered and Gerald could feel the area near the collar being pulled back.

“Good.” He dropped down and loped. He was faster than he was before and he noticed he was headed towards the direction of Sears. He could try and lose them in the department store.

He ignored the few other gremlins as he dodged through clothing racks and ran around the aisles. He leaped onto a table with several shoes on display and leaped down, scattering the footwear everywhere.

“Up,” Gizmo said and pointed to the nearest escalator. It was off but it would suit as stairs.

Gerald climbed up the escalator until he reached the second floor and looked behind him. Garrison and Butterball were climbing up and Chuckles was about to join them.

The escalator started back up and it was the down direction. Garrison lost his footing and tumbled down to the ground followed by Butterball who landed right on top of him while Chuckles just pointed and laughed.

“Whoa,” Gerald gasped. He stood back up to his full height and had to catch his breath. He stared at the escalator and wondered why it had started back up again.

“Razor,” Gizmo said.

“Crap.” Gerald had turned to the other escalator on the other side. It wasn’t working but Razor had climbed up its steps and had reached the top.

“Gizmo, Schrodinger,” the gremlin hissed.

“The name is Gerald,” he snarled. “Your little goon squad had a spill and now it is you and me.” He bared his own teeth. “You have claws and sharp teeth? Well so do I and I’m bigger than you.”

Razor growled once more and leapt.

Right as a large metal object struck his head and sent him sprawling to the ground.

“Nasty little thing,” the wielder of the object said. She was as tall as Gerald and had the same shade of green skin as Billy and wore a hot pink dress. Her head was crowned with dark brown curls and the narrow pupils in her pale green eyes turned round when she turned to look at him. “Hi I’m Penny.”

“Penny?” Gerald tilted his head as he studied her. She was like him: four feet in height with four fingers and toes, large feet and ears. There were shorter spines on her shoulders and her face and she had human nose, mouth, chin, jawline and eyebrows and she was cute, pretty even. She also had the lovely curves of a human female.

“Gerald?” Penny asked in a pleased tone. “Where’s daddy?”

“Downstairs with Chuck, uh he is a new friend of ours.”

“New friend?” A familiar voice asked as a red headed teal goblin joined them.

“Darwin?” Gerald used his fee arm to sweep his friend up into a hug. “You got away from that oaf.”

“I…ki…killed him,” Darwin said and looked down. “I couldn’t stop biting and scratching. I hated him. He helped them hurt you and Billy.”

“Hey,” Gerald said and brushed the crimson bangs out of the teal hybrid’s eyes. “I was very tempted to do the same and he was a very bad man.”

“But killing people is wrong,” Darwin said. “Killing is wrong.”

“Wrong,” a brown gremlin said as he walked up to them. He had the largest eyes of any gremlin and the tips of his ears were folded in. “Hi. I Brody.”

“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Penny spoke up. “Razor is about to wake up.” She pointed at the spiky gremlin who was slowly sitting up.

“Here take, Giz,” Gerald handed her the mogwai and walked straight up the spiky gremlin. “Darwin can you get his legs?”

“Yes,” Darwin replied and was careful to avoid the knee spikes on Razor.

“Huh?” the gremlin leader asked as Gerald grabbed his arms.

“Who wants to see if he can fly?”

“Yes,” Darwin, Penny and the brown gremlin answered. Even Gizmo liked the idea.

With a quick motion the tossed Razor over the side and watched him fall to the floor. The spiky gremlin shook his head before he glared at them. He didn’t see Chuckles run up behind him and grab his leader by the arms and haul him away.

Gerald wondered why they were running when the reason slithered into a view. He felt his heart rate increase as a creature that was half cobra and half gremlin crawled around in the area where Razor and his goons were.

“Everybody stay low,” Gerald whispered as he dropped to the ground. “There is a snake gremlin monster down there and I don’t think he saw us.”

“Where should we hide?” Penny asked.

“Split up,” Gerald suggested. “We find two different places and meet near kitchen supplies after about twenty minutes and then I will see if it is gone.”

“I want to stay with you, Gerald,” Penny said. “Please?”

“Darwin is that okay?” Gerald was originally going to be with Darwin and Gizmo, but he didn’t mind being with the female goblin.

“Brody and I will hide together,” Darwin said as he crawled away and was followed by the brown gremlin.
He’s different from the others, right?” Gerald didn’t feel threatened by the brown gremlin.

“Didn’t want to change,” Penny agreed. “Force fed.”

“And we were tricked.” He shook his head. “Follow me.”

“Do you think, daddy is okay?” Penny asked as she crawled after him and Gizmo walked besides them.

“I’m sure Billy is fine.”

-

Billy was relaxed and quite entertained as he continued to watch the cartoons. He could not remember the last time he enjoyed watching those classics and new series and laughed. He only wished he had some popcorn to snack on while he watched…or candy. Yes, he wanted some of that sugary candy and licked his lips while several gremlins chomped down on their Marvin the Martian lollipops.

“Yummy candy,” Billy hissed.

“Here you go.” The screechy voice was heard as something was placed in his hands. “Veggies are better than candy.”

Billy stared down and watched as a half gremlin half salad bar walked away and then at the carrots in his hands.

“He’s not wrong,” Billy said as he took a bite from one of the carrots. He was always trying to make sure his own children had healthy snacks. He had to follow his own example. He did pause in midchew when thought of where the carrots came from. Did that vegetable gremlin break off some of his own body parts and if by eating them did that make Billy a semi cannibal? He’d worry about that later. He was hungry.

“Hey Billy do you read?” Chuck’s voice came from the radio. “I repeat, do you read?”

“Loud and clear,” Billy said after he had finished his first carrot. “Nothing has changed since you have left.”

“Well nobody is in the office and I can’t get a hold of Laura and she usually has two like me. I did talk to the other security guard and he found some people hiding in Walden Books and he is right now leading them outside.”

“Good we need to get everyone out to safety first,” Billy said and took a bite from another carrot. “I need to make sure everyone is outside and then we can look for Gerald.” He looked at his hand and sighed as he remembered how the one woman had said he was a monster. “And you should be the one to do it, you and the other guard. I might scare someone.”

“Dude if you speak with them-“

“Before these guys broke out into the mall they would listen but right now they are panicked. You were busy fighting some of the other gremlins in Claire’s but I scared someone. They saw my teeth and claws and…and said I was a monster.”

“You. Are. Not. A. monster.” Chuck slowly drew out. “Don’t let anyone get to you. It’s because of you I know how to handle these things. You have been helping me and everyone. You are a great guy and a good friend.”

“Thanks,” Billy felt the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile. “Still would be easier for everyone with me staying here and you helping people. Is Gene still with you?”

“Yeah, he’s snacking on some cookies.”

“Stay together and get everyone to safety and I will try to come up with a plan.” He would think of a place later, right now he needed a place to lie low. He looked around and his eye caught hold of the arcade. “I’m going to be in Vidiots. I’ll kill some time there.”

“I’ll check back with you soon.” Static ended the transmission.

“I’ll just think of an idea on getting rid of these guys,” Billy said softly as he approached the arcade. He could lure them all to the cinema. That worked the first time although he didn’t want to blow up another building…even if it would look cool to watch. “No.” He smacked the side of his head. Tricking them into stepping into the sunlight won’t work and the only reason why soaking them and electrocuting them the last time was because of the electric gremlin and he was gone, then again the vegetable and bat gremlins have returned. He thought of how Chuck caused one of the gremlins to melt with a stun gun and maybe if they had more they could kill all of them, but they had to be wet as well.

Maybe the idea will come to him while he did some gaming.

-

They had removed the pillows from the shelves in the bedding department and slid inside and grabbed a few of the pillows to cover them. It was a quick plan but it wasn’t the best.

“I don’t think he is coming up here,” Penny had said after a few minutes. “I don’t know if he can climb up the steps or he just doesn’t want to.”

“I think you are right,” Gerald said as he released his hold on the shams he was holding and tossed them to the ground. “How long have we been hiding? Five minutes?”

“Uh-huh,” Gizmo agreed.

“I guess we can stop hiding,” Gerald said. He was the first to climb out and he placed the pillows back.

“It was frightening.” Penny helped him clean up the area. “It even scared Razor and did you see his face when you and Darwin tossed him?”

“Yeah,” Gerald chuckled, “But not as funny as when you beaned him with a frying pan and those others falling down the escalator.”

“Brody and Darwin were able to get it to run again,” Penny said as she ran her fingers through her waves. “We make a great team.”

“Yes team goblin and mogwai and rogue gremlin.”

“Why do you keep calling us goblins?” Penny asked and raised her eyebrows.

“It’s easier than calling us gremlin-human hybrids and few other words we came up with.” He shrugged and looked down at Gizmo. “You think its good a temporary name for us.”

“Goblins, yes,” Gizmo agreed.

“Temporary,” Penny said and looked down. “You are not going to stay like this?”

“I don’t mean to offend you or hurt you, but Billy and I were born human. We have human lives, jobs, families. He has a wife and two kids and I have two daughters.”

“No wife?”

“Divorced and it’s complicated.”

“Does that mean it will be okay if you gave me a kiss?”

“Huh?” He looked up at her and she had her hair twirled around a claw and a shy smile. “You want a kiss?”

“I’ve never been kissed.” She traced the ground with her foot. “I know I’m only a day old, but in that time I read stories about kissing. The hero saves the princess and he would receive a kiss from her and I did save you from Razor.”

“Sure, I guess.” He walked up to her, closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were warm and soft. “That was kind of-“He was pulled in for another kiss. The second one lasted longer than the first. “That was something.”

“You are very handsome,” she breathed. “And smart, just like Darwin said.”

“I..I..guess I’m not bad looking for a goblin.” He felt her hands on his shoulders.

“Please kiss me again.”

He didn’t answer but complied with her request. He opened his eyes again and looked at her. She was the prettiest goblin he had even seen and he could imagine what she looked like if she were human. Damn when was the last time someone kissed him like that?
The kissed again, longer deeper and he felt her tongue in his mouth. A part of him wanted to stop but another part wanted to keep on going. Finally after a minute he pulled away.

“Whoo I think things are getting pretty intense, pretty fast. If we continue I might have to buy you a drink first.” He opened his eyes and felt his jaw drop. She was standing in front of him, completely naked. When did she take that dress off? “Yes very fast.”

“I want to go fast,” Penny said as she ran her fingers along the length of her body. “I want to go all the way.”

“We barely know each other and did you not hear what I said about a drink?”

“Buy me a drink later, I want your body now.” She pressed against him and grabbed his wrists. She lowered his hands to bottom while she kissed him again.

Gerald closed his eyes again as he felt the soft yet firm cheeks of hers. She also had that short bit of a tail that he had and it felt great to stroke. He could feel his pants tighten.

His eyelids flew open when he felt her lips on his neck and side of his head and then her tongue licking his ear.

“Please,” she murmured and looked into his eyes. Her pupils were slits again. “Please have sex with me.”

“I..I..really think we…” He was interrupted by another kiss. Why the hell was he resisting? He has gone way too long without some action.

“Yes?” She breathed while she traced his chin. She hissed at him, but it wasn’t a threatening hiss, more soothing and more arousing.

“We should move to one of those bed set displays.” He pointed to the nearest one while he slipped out of his jeans and shorts. He hissed in the same way she did before he removed his shirt and carried her to the fake bed.
-

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: King Billy

“What is keeping these guys from just attacking us?” Murray Futterman said as Kate led him and Lynn Peltzer through the mall in the search for Billy, Gerald, and Gizmo. She had thought the cobra gremlin might have eaten the little mogwai at first but she heard him the vent and he said he was going to find Billy. They have been separated before but always reunite and usually around the time when Gizmo pulls off a heroic rescue. The little guy was resourceful and knew how to survive.

“Are you all right?” Lynn asked her.

“I’m thinking about Billy and Gizmo,” Kate answered as several gremlins climbed out of kiosk dressed up as characters from a Japanese cartoon, the one about the girl with the moon wand. “I’m just worried about them.”

“I’m sure they will be fine,” Lynn said and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they have already found each other and are looking for us.”

“Think we should check in with the others?” Murray asked as they watched a small group of people head towards the direction of the nearest exit, they were led by a mall cop.

“That guy is just doing his job, but he might try to get us out.”

“Sure,” Lynn said as the three of them ducked inside the nearest store. “Mr. Clamp. I mean team Clamp this is team, uh team Kingston Falls.”

“Hey there, Team Kingston Falls this is Team Clamp and we read,” Clamps voice was heard on the other end. “Frank and I are just loading up. We have a few guns, some extra bullets, plenty of flash lights and Frank will also being carrying a good size med kit.”

“No sign of Billy,” Lynn said. “And we have seen one of the security officers lead some people outside. We are trying to avoid them.”

“Understandable,” Clamp said. “We will be inside soon and if the mall security asks you to leave have them talk to me. “

“Will do,” Lynn said before she placed it back into her pocket.

They waited until the coast was clear before they walked out of the store and past an elevator and while it wasn’t running it did have a gremlin sticking to it. The creature also had various metal objects stuck to it. Small sparks crawled across his body and he and the metal pieces fell down. He ran off and didn’t notice he had stepped on a metal brooch and it had stuck to him.

“Do we know what to expect when he catch up with Billy?” Murray asked as synthesizer music was heard from a nearby shop that sold instruments. “We don’t know what he is going to look like.”

“I think I recognize my own son,” Lynn said while she placed her hands on her hips.

“We also know he changed physically, but what about up here?” He pointed at his own head. “Do we know if he is going to think like them or act like them?”

“Not my, Billy,” Lynn said. “You should know better.”

“I’ve seen people change from simply fighting at war,” Murray said as they passed by the music store. “A lot of us changed after these things attacked Kingston Falls and that is simply from traumatic experience and not having our wiring changed to some mad doctor messing with our genes.”

“Billy will know us and we will know him,” Kate said as she looked into the shop. She could see a gremlin with a cloak and a mask playing one of the keyboards. Another gremlin bumped into him and knocked the phantom mask off. The gremlin grumbled as he picked it up. There was no scarring on his face, not even a little scratch.

“I’m just saying-“

“No!” Kate marched right up to him and jabbed her finger in his chest. “Billy would not do anything to harm us. He loves us and we love him and we are going to help him no matter what.”

“Whoa.” Murray held up his hands. “Easy there, Kate. I just want to you to be prepared for the worst.”

“The worst won’t happen,” Kate said in a determined tone. “I won’t let it.” She turned around and paused in her steps as a gremlin was standing before her wearing a sunglasses and a trench coat. “Are you kidding me?”

The gremlin laughed as he spread out his coat.

“Does this have to happen every time?” Kate asked and was ready to kick it.

Lynn swung at the gremlin with her fist and sent it flying.

“He didn’t have anything to show,” Murray said and was trying to keep from laughing. “I’ll tell you one thing. I feel a lot braver and safe with you two next to me.”

“That actually felt good,” Lynn said as they continued their search. “And don’t worry about Billy I know what he is thinking about and he is thinking about his family and friends.”

-

“Victory is mine you stupid human,” Billy growled out in triumph as his hands flew across the game controls and watched as his character, Blanka, go up against the final boss. He had defeated the other characters rather easy and was only seconds away from winning the game.

“Billy, Billy, Billy,” the gremlins that had gathered around to watch were cheering him on. They had barely noticed him when he had started the game, too preoccupied with their own amusement to pay him any heed but as he had progressed they had gathered around to watch. A few even climbed on top of the cabinet and hung their heads over the edge to watch. One of them had even gotten him a soda from the pretzel place when he mentioned he was thirsty.

“One more, just one more and I am ready to…oh you lowered your guard?” The final attack was played and M. Bison went down. “Oh ho and that is how you do it.” He held up his hands while his audience cheered. “I hadn’t played in what a month? I am still the king of this game.”

“King Billy, King Billy.”

“Chuck hadn’t said anything in a while so I can maybe do one more game and I’ll play one of you. So who wants to take me on?”

“Me,” the voice belonged to a jade green gremlin covered with more spikes than any other gremlin and he had a long Mohawk of razor sharp spikes that ran down his head and to his shoulders. “Razor.”

“Razor?” Billy repeated as he tilted his head. He can see the spikey hair that had become actual spikes and the arrogant look in the eyes. “I can see it. Still have that cocky attitude?” He felt like intimidating the gremlin and decided to use the video game tough guy persona he once used back in ’83. Some bullies where giving his young friend Pete a rough time at the arcade and Billy challenged them to a few rounds of Galaga. Billy mopped the floor with them and since he won they promised to leave Pete alone.

“Billy Pavolov,” Razor said. “No more human.”

“Don’t call me that,” Billy snarled as he leaned against the machine. “And so what if I’m no longer human? Maybe I like being this way.” He pushed up his sunglasses and stared into Razor’s eyes. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“No,” Razor growled. His scowl had faded and almost looked confused. Billy had gotten to him.

“Interesting how I wanted to be like this since well I was fuzzy. I wanted to eat once the clock went past midnight. I was hoping to transform. Sure those idiots tricked me and the others but I was happy…maybe it’s because it came from you?”

“Yes,” Razor agreed and his smug expression returned while he grinned. “Blood brother.”

“Blood brother?” Billy repeated. That was one way of looking at it. “We are blood brothers.” He turned to his audience. “This will be a game between two connected by blood. Which do you think will win?”

“King Billy,” the gremlins said.

“Razor,” the three gremlins that accompanied Razor had cheered.

“So far I’m the king,” Billy said and took a long slurp through his straw. “Still think you are up to it.”

“It is on.”

I’m already Blanka. You choose someone else.”

“Him.” He tapped at the screen on the image of Zangief .

“Excellent choice now let’s fight.”

-

That was more fun and enjoyable than he expected, Gerald had thought once he had put his clothes back on. He couldn’t believe Penny wanted to do it while the mall was under siege and he couldn’t believe he gave in but he did, of course now he had to find the others and the first thing he did was apologize to Gizmo who just shrugged. Then again that little guy was probably used to it.

“First I need to apologize,” Gerald said to their two waiting companions who were surrounded by a pile of half eaten junk food. “We would have been here, uh, sooner but there was something I, uh, we had to do.” How was he going to explain to Darwin and Brody that the reason they took longer to join back up was because they were being intimate and he still wasn’t sure why he did it. Was it his new instincts or was that his human side, or a combination of both?

“We had sex,” Penny said in pleased tone. “It was great.”

Gerald tried to speak but he was fumbling over his words and broke down in a small fit of coughs. Darwin and Brody were staring at the two of them with their mouths hung open and Gizmo had placed a hand over his head.

“Yay,” Brody said and clapped. “Good for you.”

“It was good for me,” Penny said. She had never lost that smile she had formed on her face when they had finished. “Was it good for you, Gerald?”

“It was, it was great,” Gerald gulped and ran his claws through his hair. “It’s just we don’t tell our friends about it out loud.”

“Oh, but there were lady friends talking about it while drinking coffee,” Penny said. “It was on the TV.”

“When did you watch TV?” Gerald asked and shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. Women friends talk to each other about it when they are alone and guys talk to each other about it, but we skimp on the more intimate details.”

“Oh don’t tell friends out in public,” Penny said and looked down. “I’m sorry. Can we go have sex again?”

“Whoa,” Gerald gasped and turned to her. He thought that was a onetime deal. “Right now we have to save the world and find your daddy.”

“Oh okay.”

“I think it’s safe to leave the area,” Gerald said. He took one long look at the snacks and grabbed a bag of Funions. “Where did you get these?”

“We hid in a room with em-ploy-ees only,” Darwin explained. “It had machines with food inside.”

“We’ll take the snacks.” Gerald ripped open the bag and selected a crispy ring. “They have a kids area up here. We’ll grab a backpack for Gizmo to ride in.” He remembered how they carried Gene around and looked down at the mogwai. “You okay with that?”

“Uh huh,” Gizmo said. He had a half-eaten Payday bar in his hands.

-

“I think we got everybody out,” Chuck said as he walked back away from the Discovery store. He had noticed that the creatures liked to go into places that were fun, stores that kids would enjoy. They had run amok in the Radio Shack, Kay-bee, Spencers, the Disney Store, the brand new Build a Bear and of course the Discovery store. They played with all the toys, art kits, science sets, puzzles and while they did try to make new stuffed animals they had left the floors and everywhere else in the bear shop covered in white fluff. Other stores they just would break or throw items around before losing interest and if it had food then of course they would eat it. Godiva was a mess with melted chocolate and chocolate fragments all over the place. They tried to eat the candles in Wicks n Sticks and sampled some of soaps and lotions in Bath and Body Works. The little monsters were burping up bubbles that were scented like juniper breeze, freesia, sweet pea and cucumber melon.

There was no response and that worried him. He needed to head over to the arcade. If Billy isn’t responding then he could be in trouble. He looked up when he saw a thump thump sound and saw a taller brown gremlin with the lower half of a kangaroo and boxing gloves as it made its way to him.

“Put em up,” the boxing kangaroo gremlin demanded.

“Okay sure,” Chuck said as he reached for his stun gun. “Ready, three, two, one.”

The gremlin thrust out his arm and Chuck ducked and placed the stun gun against the gremlin’s arm. The creature shrieked and collapsed.

“I don’t have the patience for this shit,” Chuck said as he replaced the gun. “You okay in there little guy?”

“I’m okay,” Gene said as he poked his head out. His large round eyes seemed to grow even bigger. “Valerie!”

“Huh?” He looked inside the store they were standing next to. It was a Hallmark store and inside walking around amongst the fallen shelves and various cards that were scattered around on the ground was the beautiful scientist had had been admiring for months, the same woman he and Billy were talking about. He should talk to her and least guide her outside so she could be safe. Was she the scientist that cloned Gene or worked with him? She worked in genetics research, but did she know what happened to Billy and Gerald?

“Valerie, Valerie.” Gene was jumping up and down in the pack.

“Okay, okay don’t fall out,” Chuck said. “Let’s see why she is still here.” He took a deep breath and stepped inside. He could see the emptied cardboard that held the various kinds of candy displays that were near the registers on the floor, along with empty wrappers. “Hello?”

“Who’s there?” The sweet as honey voice greeted him. “Who are you?”

“Charles Penderghast,” he answered as he stepped over the shattered remains of Precious Moments figurines. “I’m with security and it is not safe to be here right now.”

“Charles?” The beautiful scientist named Valerie stepped out from behind a shelf that was still erect. She looked only slightly disheveled with several strands of hair out of place and she was not wearing her labcoat. “You were the one who bumped your head the other day.” Great she remembered that. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Chuck said. Oh shit he was really talking to her. “Why are you still inside? It’s dangerous.”

“I know and why are you still here?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Just doing my job, ma’am.” Well that sounded cliché and corny. “I have to make sure everyone else is safe first before I can worry about myself.”

“Your backpack is moving.” She pointed at the shaking pack. “And it’s a child’s backpack. Don’t tell me you have a puppy inside.”

“Not really,” Chuck said as he opened up the top.

“Valerie,” Gene said as he popped up.

“Gene?” Valerie gasped as she smiled and tears formed. “I thought something bad happened to you or you changed like the others.”

“Uh-uh,” Gene shook his head and practically jumped out and would have hit the floor if Chuck wasn’t there to catch him.

“Easy pal,” Chuck said as he handed the mogwai to the scientist. “He really missed you.”

“Oh and I missed him,” Valerie said as she brought Gene closer to him and nuzzled her nose against his head. She received a small kiss from the furry creature. “Oh thank you for keeping him safe.”

“Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” A posh and refined voice asked.

“There is someone else back there?” Chuck asked as he looked behind where the one shelf was and stepped back when he saw a brown gremlin wearing glasses and at a makeshift table looking over notes and had flasks and vials around him along with one microscope and a few petrie dishes. “That’s a gremlin.”

“This one states the obvious,” the gremlin spoke with the same voice and didn’t look up from his work.

“He can talk?” Chuck had to take a step back. “I mean the others say words and phrases but this one sounds human.”

“I suppose one should take that as a compliment,” the gremlin said.

“I’m named him Helix and he wanted to work on something,” Valerie said. “I couldn’t leave him alone. It would be like leaving someone like you or me in a group of Neanderthals.”

“I guess so,” Chuck said as he continued to watch the gremlin as it was using a dropper to put something from a glass into a test tube. “He’s probably more like Billy and Gerald.” Crap he still has to make sure they are okay. “Um wow how to explain them and that is how I came across your mogwai. The three of them were together and those two guys well they used to be human.”

“Used to be human?” Valerie asked and raised an eyebrow.

“This sounds like something worth listening to,” Helix said as he sat up.

“Their names are Gerald Hopkins and Billy Peltzer and they were kidnapped by a Doctor Friedrich and his assistant and personal body guard and were given mogwai DNA and became half human half mogwai creatures.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Doctor Friedrich would never do something like that and you can’t mutate people like that.”
“Uh huh,” Gene said. “Friedrich bad, Tim bad, Hector bad.”

“Gene?” Valerie asked in a weak voice. “Did you see it?”

“They in a cage down,” the mogwai said and pointed at the ground. “Down, down.”

“He has a private underground lab that only he uses,” Valerie said. Her voice was trembling “Only he, Tim and Hector went down there and we respected his order not to follow, but our DNA can’t be changed like they show in movies.”

“Valerie my dear, humans may not but my kind can,” Helix said. “You have seen some of my kind become part bat and plant, mole and even kangaroo. Our own genetic makeup could alter other creatures, including humans.”

“No esto no puede ser verdad,” Valerie said as her whole body shook and she was holding back tears. “He was our teacher. We all admired him.”

“My poor, Valerie.” Helix ran over to her and grabbed her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“I wish it were not true, but it is and I gotta go find them and make sure they are okay,” Chuck said. “I’ll be back and you three will be okay together?”

“Yes,” Valerie choked out between sobs. “Find them and tell them I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Chuck said as he stepped out from behind the shelf. “Not your fault at all.”

Hissing had greeted him and he thought he was about to face another gremlin. What he had come across was a large cobra and gremlin hybrid and the creature had seen him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: Pirate Trouble

-

Chuck froze in place as he stared at the large mutant while the monster grinned. In its arms was a dead teal gremlin. It hissed at him once before it placed the dead gremlin in its mouth head first and widened its jaw before it slowly swallowed it whole. Not only was this a creature a thing of nightmares but it was also eating its own kind.

“Shit,” Chuck swore under breath as he backed up as fast as he could. Once he had reached the others he looked over his head. “Where is the back door for employees?”

“Over there,” Valerie said as she pointed to the room in question. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Big giant snake gremlin.” He continued to back up while he held out his arms. He glanced once again over his shoulders and could see Valerie clutching a trembling Gene closer to her chest. “Big cobra gremlin monster.”

“Oh dear,” Helix said as he removed his glasses. “I fear I won’t be able to reason with it.”

“It did eat another regular gremlin just now,” Chuck gulped as the snake monster slithered towards them. “And I think that was only the appetizer.”

“Security is equipped with flashlights?” Helix asked in a hopeful tone. He was right and Chuck nearly forgot about light.

“Yes,” Chuck pulled out his flashlight and shone it in the face of the monster and smiled when the creature hissed and recoiled. “Valerie take Gene and Helix and get out of here. I’ll hold it off.”

“I can’t just leave you,” Valerie said.

“Once I know you’re gone I will back up and follow.” He didn’t look back at them and only kept his eyes on the monster that seemed to be growing more agitated by the second.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Gunshots echoed through the store and the top half of the monster’s head was blown off. The mutant fell over revealing two more bloodied holes in its back, and two men wielding shotguns.

“Great shooting, Frank,” one of the armed humans had said once the smoke had cleared.

“I believe you also managed to score a hit, sir,” the other man said. He was dressed in a black suit and had dark hair. The other man was far more recognizable as he had appeared in the news at least a hundred times and was there to cut the ribbon for the mall except instead of wearing a three piece suit he wore a button down red and black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans.

“Mr. Clamp?” Chuck asked as he lowered his flashlight. Of all the people he expected to come to his rescue the industrious media mogul was the last person that came to mind. “I uh…uh well for starters thank you.”

“No need for thanks, kid,” Clamp said as he stared at the dead creature. “I protect all my employees.” He looked up and squinted at him. “And you do work for me?”

“I work for mall security and it is your mall,” Chuck answered and looked of his shoulder. “It’s safe. Mr. Clamp is here.”

“Mr. Clamp I am grateful,” Valerie said as she emerged with Gene in her arms.

“I also like to express my gratitude,” Helix said as he stepped out from behind Valerie only to step backwards when the man in black aimed his shotgun at him.

“This one is okay,” Chuck said and raised his arms. “He can be reasoned with.”

“I understand your reservations,” Helix said. “Especially after encountering one such as this.” He gestured to the dead monster. “He consumed a serum containing some DNA of the Elapidae Naja the Indian Cobra. His new physical form had also affected his cerebral state as well. Indian Cobras have and will eat other types of snakes.”

“Great another one that talks,” the man in black said.

“Another genius type,” Clamp said as he shifted his head. “Fred interviewed one just like you.”

“How is Fred?” Helix seemed to brighten at the name. “Is he still dressed like a vampire? Is he still hosting a horror show?”

“He’s a regular anchorman now,” Clamp said and looked up at Chuck and Valerie. “How is he still alive? I thought he died when Bill fried them eight years ago.”

“He told me he remembered dying,” Valerie said. “And they reincarnate. I didn’t believe in reincarnation. I used to not believe in a lot of things and I am being proven wrong multiple times today.”

“Mr. Clamp not that I don’t appreciate the rescue,” Chuck spoke up. “ And you sir.” He lookled at the other man. “I wish I knew who you are.”

“Frank Forster,” the man answered.

“I…uh I mean we are both grateful,” Chuck continued. He still realized his flashlight was one and turned it off. He didn’t want to waste any batteries. “I am just wondering why you are here?”

“That would make the two of us,” Helix said.

“Three,” Gene squeaked.

“Another mogwai?” Forster asked and stared at Gene. “I thought Peltzer kept his pet dry.”

“He’s a clone,” Valerie explained. “The original DNA most likely came from this Gizmo.”

“That Splice of Life lab,” Clamp said as he raised a finger and shook his head. “What is one thing I keep on saying, Frank?”

“They were a bad idea?” Forster answered.

“Exactly. That place was creating all kinds of freaks.” Clamp frowned and pointed at Valerie. “And you are just the same. That genetics company on the eight floor was a bad idea. I should of cleared them all out and loan out office spaces, well except for pharmacy and clinic and x-ray place and the blood work labs…and what else is there?”

“Research,” Valerie answered in an annoyed tone. “Leukemia research, a pharmaceutical company the hangar prosthetic clinic and molecular gastronomy.”

“That’s the food lab, sir,” Forster explained.

“Wasn’t that the place that made that delicious cake out of vegetables?” Clamp asked before he pointed up and grinned. “I loved that cake. They can also stay.”

“Genetic research is an important science,” Valerie said with a scowl. “Police officers use it in their forensics, my one colleague is creating a system to help people learn about their ancestors, another is working on making better vegetables that grow in different environments to help hungry people in impoverished lands. I and doctor Lei are working with the team on the seventh floor. Genetic research can possibly find a way to cure cancer and we might someday find a cure for aids.”

“Beautiful and well spoken,” Helix told her.

“Those are all good and helpful,” Clamp said. “Don’t get me wrong, but you also have mad scientists playing around with snake cells and end up kidnapping my head of city planning and development and another man, and end up mutating them into gremlin human hybrids.”

“First of all she and I’m guessing most of her colleagues had no idea their boss was a psychopath or any of this was going on,” Chuck said. “And secondly they like to be called goblins.” He shrugged. “It was a term we agreed on.”

“Can you turn them back?” Clamp asked.

“I’m not sure,” Valerie said. “But with the help of the others I am certain we will find a way.”

“Once this is done you and the other non mad doctors are going to find a cure,” Clamp ordered and pointed at Chuck. “Do you know where Bill is?”

“In the arcade,” Chuck answered.

“He’s playing video games at a time like this?” Forster asked as he raised his brows.

“He’s a little self-conscious about his appearance.” Chuck explained. “He was worried he might scare people even further and asked me to get everyone outside and into safety before we think of a plan.”

“Hmm good point,” Clamp said as he brought his hand to his mouth. “If I was mutated into being a green creature I’d have low esteem about my appearance as well. Guess we’ll locate him later.” He pointed at Forster. “Need to communicate with the others.”

“Here you are, sir.” Forster handed Clamp a small black and sleek walkie-talkie.

“Ah thanks,” Clamp said. “I’m the only one with a mobile and you can’t get any decent reception inside this place.” He brought the radio to his ear. “This is team Clamp calling team Kingston Falls, do you read?”

“We hear you,” a voice was heard on the other end. “We are in front of a pirate ship.”

“Pirate ship?” Clamp repeated in confusion and looked at Chuck.

“There is a play area in front of Macy’s,” Chuck explained. “Fake pirate ship with a lot of slides and it is all covered in this glossy foam material. The whole area has a nautical ocean theme.”

“Oh that pirate ship. Team Kingston Falls this is Team Clamp. Bill is at the arcade. We are all going to meet together at the arcade, over.”
The other end was silent except for some silent except for some static and few peals of laughter and grunts from gremlins in the background. “Do you read?”

“We’re surrounded,” the voice said on the other end. “And I don’t think-“ Scratching, clicking and static followed.

“No more talky talk.” The raspy voice of a gremlin was heard before the line went dead.

“Hello?” Clamp asked.

“Sir, they are going to need our help,” Forster said as he accepted the radio back.

“I’ll show you where they are,” Chuck said. “They are going to need all of our help.” He looked over at Valerie. “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Valerie said as she and Gene nodded at the same time.

Helix shook his head. “I’ll stay behind.” He held up one of the flasks he had on his desk. “I feel I would be no use to you all in a fight and I need to finish my work.”

“All alone?” Valerie asked. “You are not safe.”

“I’ll be able to manage,” Helix said as he placed his glasses back on. “You can come back here after you rescue those people.”

“We have to go,” Chuck said as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out. “Follow me.” He hoped he would get to the others in time.

-

It was a disappointing sight to behold for Doctor Friedrich. He had managed to allude the crowds and authority figures before he slipped back into the building and went straight down towards his private lab. He had to gather what he could before he risked being caught, but oh the mess. First he came across Hector’s corpse and then Tim’s and he could not find any trace of the mogmen or what they had transformed into.

Going back up was a slight problem. While the elevator did allow him to go down to the basement level it had stalled on him when he wanted to go back up. He was going to have to use his personal stairs and that was going to be a long and exhausting climb, but he was in good shape and a little exercise will do him well. He will find Razor and his escaped experiments.

“Damn it,” He grunted as he leaned against the railing and looked below him at the flights he had already ascended and then up at the steps he had yet to climb. “I need to get in shape.”

He never intended for the mogwai to transform. The creatures they turn into were unstable and could not be controlled. He wanted to know who had let them out of their cage. He did know he wanted all of his mogmen to go through their metamorphosis. He had the clock set back a few hours while they were preoccupied and Penny never knew about the third rule.

He paused when he came across a door and wondered why this was here when the other landings had none save for the basement level and eighth floor. There was the other primary stairs that had doors on all the floors but nobody knew about this one except for him. He even had the only key.

“Sixth floor,” he said as he stepped out. He looked around at the dark and empty level before he made his way to main stairs, took a deep breath and started to head back down, only pausing every two flights to catch his breath.

He needed a break and stepped out on the second floor for radiology and mammography and noticed the entrance to the mall. Did Razor leave through there? He had to find him.
There was the sound of laughter when he stepped out and he looked into the nearest store, a store that sold Clamp memorabilia and at several creatures in brown, two shades of green, and teal.

“Razor?” Friedrich asked as he stared into the shop.

The creatures stopped laughing and ran towards him.

Friedrich cursed as he turned to run only to find his path blocked by more creatures. He turned around and there were several more. He was surrounded.

-

The pirate ship play area was a familiar sight to Kate as she, Lynn and Murray walked towards it. She had taken both Benny and Sarah to it several times before. Most of the gremlins had either gathered somewhere else because there were only thirty of them running around. They heard a few shouts from above and they looked up to see the remote control planes flying out of the toy store and small explosions from Discovery and she was certain she heard gremlins singing “Hi-Ho” In the Disney store.

It was no surprise there would be several gremlins in the children’s play area. The padded floor was painted blue and there was a large blue wave that was used as a slide with a tunnel underneath. There was an undersea grotto with foam coral, barnacles and sponges that also had a tunnel and slide. There various sea creatures for the kids to climb on like a dolphin, a crab and an octopus, starfish and seashells for the children to jump on and the biggest was the pirate ship with three different sliding areas and a tunnel underneath to crawl through

“A lot of them are gathered around on that ship,” Murray said as he pointed to a large group of gremlins as they were singing and dancing on the fake ship, several were even dressed like pirates.

“It’s fun for them,” Kate explained. “They like to have fun.”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure they thought they were having fun in my plow,” Murray grumbled and shook his head. He looked back at them and frowned. “I swear they are all looking at us.”

Kate looked back at the gremlins and sure enough they had stopped singing and were staring at them and all were grinning.

“This is Team Clamp calling Team Kingston Falls, do you read?” Clamps voice was heard over the radio. He picked a fine time to call them.

“We hear you,” Lynn answered. “We are in front of a pirate ship.”

“Invaders,” one gremlin called out. He was teal in color with a dark spot over his left eye and he wore a large pirate hat with a feather and a pirate coat. “Capture them.”

The gremlins squealed, grunted and hissed as they exited the boat, either by the slides or by jumping off as they ran towards Kate and the others.

“Run,” Murray cried as they turned to run from the gremlins.

Kate ran several yards when something tackled into her leg and sent her sprawling to the ground. She looked up to several gremlins, some wearing bandanas and or vests and eye patches looking down on her. She could hear Murray crying out in pain. She glanced over to see he had a few gremlins on his back.

“Team Kingston Falls this is Team Clamp. Bill is at the arcade. We are all going to meet together at the arcade, over.”

Lynn had the radio in her hands as several gremlins surrounded her.

“We’re surrounded,” Lynn managed to answer. “And I don’t think-“ A gremlin swiped it from her hands.

“No talky talk,” it growled into radio before it tossed it over the shoulder.

Kate gritted her teeth as she stood back up. It looked like they were going to have to fight their way out. She had both a stun gun and pepper spray in her purse…and her purse was now in the hands of the enemy and she was feeling something sharp poke at her back side.

“Move,” the gremlin said as it poked at her with a sword. “Parley.”

“Parlay?” Kate asked. “You want to gamble?”

“No, parley, parley.” He stabbed at her end again causing her to nearly jump and cover her backside with her hands.

“I think he means parley with an e,” Murray said. He had his hands raised. “They want us to talk to their captain.”

“Parley, parley,” the gremlins repeated.

“What do they want?” Lynn asked as she walked along with them. Her hands were also raised.

“We’re about to find out,” Kate said in a nervous tone as they entered the play area and stood in front of the fake ship. The teal gremlin with the spot was staring down at them.

“Hello?”

“Avast,” the gremlin said and pointed at itself. “Captain Patch.” He gestured to the other gremlins. “My crew.” He pointed at Kate. “Landlubbers.”

“Okay Captain Patch,” Lynn said. “You just want to play pirate and we can also play pirate too. Do you want to find some buried treasure?”

“Treasure?” A few gremlins repeated and grinned. “Treasure, treasure.”

“Hmmm,” Captain Patch placed a claw under his chin. “Where treasure? There be map?”

“Yes there is a map,” Kate said as she thought of what could pass for treasure in the mall. “There are several located in this sea. They are shiny and on pillars like one yonder.” She pointed at the nearest directory. “You will find the treasure, but not x marks the spot. They will be found under Jewelry Stores.”

“Jewelry stores?” A few gremlins repeated and ran over to the directory. After a few minutes of studying it they whooped. “Found treasure!”

“My treasure,” Captain Patch said as he rubbed his hands together.

“Would you like us to go get it for you?” Lynn asked.

“Uh-uh,” Patch said and shook his head. “My treasure.” He meant he wanted to find the treasure himself. He pointed at them. “Walk the plank.”

“Walk the plank,” the others repeated over and over.

“Walk the plank?” Murray asked as he looked at Kate in confusion. “What the heck is he talking about? Does he mean he wants us to get on his boat and walk of the side or try to use one of those slides?”

“Plank,” Patch said as he pointed up at the second level. Several members of his crew had taken what looked like a long board and slid it out under the railing guard creating a plank that was several feet above their heads.

“He wants us to get up there,” Murray said. “He can forget it.” He reached for the teal gremlin and picked him up. “We played pirate with you and now we—ah!” He screamed as Patch swung down his sword. “That aint a toy.” He dropped the gremlin and his hand went to the cut in his shoulder.
Patch growled as he stood back up. He brushed imaginary dirt of his coat and replaced the hat on his head before he raised they blade and sneered at them.

“Walk, the plank.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: Regroup

Kate glanced over to Murray who still swearing and at Lynn who was assisting him with his wounded shoulder. She looked up at the gremlins holding the plank and then at Captain Patch who still had his sword pointed towards them.

“If I walk the plank will you let the others go?” Kate asked. The others could escape and maybe find Clamp and come back in time. She would find another way to stall them.

“No, all walk,” Captain Patch said and shook his head.

“Can’t we join your crew instead?” Kate asked. “I mean there others who might want to take over and then there is the giant sea serpent.” She thought of the cobra like gremlin.

“We can all help you fight it.”

“Sea serpent?” Patch asked as he lowered his blade.

“Large snake like creature,” Kate said. She was buying time for Clamp and Forster to arrive and they did say they were going to be bringing weapons from the back of Forster’s car. Just have to wait a little bit longer.

“Snake, snake,” several of the little monsters chimed in and instead of their usual mannerisms they actually expressed fear.

“Your crew is also afraid of that monster if we all work together we can take it down.”

“Nah,” Patch said and shook his head. “Walk plank.” Damn it, he was being stubborn.

A small clanging sound was heard and Kate spun around two see a couple fallen gremlins and the lid to a pot that had fallen to the ground right next to them.
Several more pot lids flew through the air like Frisbees and took out a few more gremlins.

Kate didn’t know where they had come from but she was thankful for both the distraction and the possible use for a weapon. She picked up one lid that was closest to her and struck it down as hard as she could on the head of the nearest gremlin that had a sword. She picked up the fallen blade and held up the lid as shield.

“Bangarang!” A shriek from another gremlin was heard.

“Peter?” Patch asked and looked up as a brown gremlin with large eyes swung in from some kind of rope and struck the pirate wannabe in the chest, knocking him down.
The brown gremlin stood back up. He had taken Patch’s sword and pointed it at him.

“Let go,” the new gremlin said. His jaw was set in a frown and his ears were folded in.

“Brody?” Patch asked. “Join crew?”

“No, cause he is with us,” the voice almost sounded human as a teal creature in human clothes came racing down the steps while swinging a baseball bat around, knocking gremlins over. It was larger than a gremlin and shorter than a human. He had a pair of large ears and dark red hair. He had human hands ending in for fingers and gremlin like claws and large four toed gremlin like feet.

“Back,” another new voice was heard as a female version of the first creature came into the fray while striking the gremlins with a frying pan. She had a hot pink dress and long brown curls on her head. She had less spikes on her face.

“What are they?” Lynn asked as she used two lids at once and slammed them cymbal style on a gremlin’s head.

“I don’t know,” Kate said as she used her blade to stab a few of the other gremlins to death. “I think they might be on our side.”

A tiny spherical projectile flew through the air and struck another gremlin in between the eyes. It was followed by a second and a third. Kate turned towards the direction of where they were coming from and saw a third of the strange new creatures. Like the other male he wore a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that were made for children. He also had a baseball cap on and a backpack. There was also something familiar about him. The wavy light brown hair was styled different and his face had the same spiky growths on his face, but he still looked a little like Gerald Hopkins.

“Gerald?” Kate asked as she continued to stare at him. Could that really be him?

“Kate?” Gerald looked up at her. His voice was the same as Gerald’s if a bit raspier. “Nice to see you but maybe we talk after we take on these idiots.”

“Don’t have to mention that twice,” Murray said as he used the sword in his hands to decapitate a gremlin.

Kate looked for more gremlins to kill and continued to battle against them. Several of them had turned tail and ran off and a few were actually putting up a fight. She knocked the blade out of another gremlin and was ready to fight another, only realizing she was face to face with the ship and the two battling gremlins on board.

“No Razor,” Patch said. He had somehow got another sword. “No Razor. My crew.”

They were hissing and snarling at each other and saying some strange words that Kate could not understand.

“Gene friend, Gizmo friend,” the brown gremlin said as he got the better half of Patch and pinned the other sword down. “Darwin friend, Penny friend, Gerald friend.”

“Patch friend?” The teal gremlin asked in a hopeful tone.

“No,” the brown one growled. “Patch, Caca.” He balled up his hand into a fist and knocked out the other gremlin. He pulled out one of the other sword’s and shoved it into the chest of the Captain Patch.

“All right, Brody,” Gerald said as he clapped his hands together and approached them. “Good one, buddy.”

“That one is with you?” Kate asked as the brown gremlin climbed down.

“We are together,” the teal human-gremlin creature said as he lowered his bat. “They run like cowards.” Sure enough once Patch was killed the other gremlins turned and ran off.

“Don’t be afraid of us goblins,” Gerald said. “Darwin and Penny and our rogue gremlin pal, Brody and I have a friend of yours here.” He turned around; exposing the backpack he was carrying. The top opened a familiar furry head popped out.

“Kate,” Gizmo said in delight.

“Gizmo, you’re all right,” Kate gasped as she picked him up. “I was so worried for you and I thought the worst had happened.”

“Told you he would be fine,” Murray said. He had dropped the weapons he was carrying and was nursing his shoulder. “Damn I hate those guys, no offense to you guys that helped.”

“None taken,” Penny said with a shrug.

“Where did they get those swords?” Murray grumbled.

“There’s a shop upstairs,” Gerald explained. “Also a sporting goods store and a kitchen supply shop as well.” He held up his golf club. “Even like this I can still swing em.”

“Gerald,” Kate said as she stared down into his red eyes. The last time she had seen him she had to look up at him and hated that cocky smirk of his and now all she could feel is gratitude and sympathy. “Thank you for helping us.”

“Your welcome and I want to apologize for the way I acted back in Kingston Falls. I was a jerk and a grade A asshole and I hate the person I was. I should of backed off the first time you made it clear you had no interest in me.”

“I…well I accept your apology.” She was not expecting him to say that.

“Now he chooses to apologize?” Murray asked and was met with scowl from Lynn.

“Mr. Futterman I also apologize for the condescending way I spoke with you,” Gerald said and ignored the way the older human just waved it away with a ‘feh’. “Mrs. Lynn Peltzer I want to apologize to you for the way I scoffed at your husband and I never complimented you on your culinary skills. You made this meatloaf for Billy to bring to our little potluck once and it was the best meatloaf I had ever tasted. I-I still haven’t come across one that is just as delicious.”

“I really appreciate that,” Lynn said with a smile. “Maybe when this is all over I can cook one for you and your friends here.”

“Gerald, we are going to help you,” Kate said as she took his hand into hers. She stared at the four human like green fingers ending in claws. “All of you. We are going take care of you.”

“Thanks.” He smiled and it was a little discerning seeing those sharp teeth in his mouth but she had to get over it. “I have to tell you Darwin and Penny are not like Billy and me. Darwin started out as a regular mogwai and Penny came from Billy.”

“What do you mean came from Billy?” Kate asked as she turned to look at the female, what did Gerald call themselves? Did he say goblins? Her eyes widened when she realized what he meant. “Billy got wet and she is the result?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Murray said as he held up his hands. “Are you saying that Billy and the rest of you can also spawn off more like the gremlins?”

“We are part gremlin,” Darwin answered.

“We have to really get soaked and it’s still just one at a time,” Gerald explained. “A little splash in the face won’t trigger it and light also bothers us.”

“Gerald, do you know where Billy is?” Lynn asked.

“He went with Chuck and Gene who is also a mogwai and I’m not sure since I got handcuffed to a chair.” He pointed at Gizmo. “This little guy came out the vent and helped me.” He gave the mogwai an affectionate scratch around the ears.

“We have to find daddy,” Penny said. “We have to help the old man. He is hurt.” She pointed at Murray’s shoulder.

“I aint that old,” Murray grumbled.

Steps echoed along the mall and that meant shoes and that meant humans. More people were approaching and Kate had hoped that it was this Chuck with Billy, but instead it was Clamp, Forster and a man and woman she had never seen before.

“Doesn’t seem like much of a carnage,” Forster said as they came closer. “Only four creatures in sight and they are not threatening anyone.”

“Frank, that man is hurt,” Clamp said as he pointed at Murray. “He needs your assistance.”

“On it,” Frank said as he pulled out a small black rectangular box with a red cross on it. “Not sure if it will be any help. Let me see, Mr. Futterman.”

“It’s just a scratch,” Murray said as he lifted up his hand. He pulled down his shirt to allow Forster to examine and winced a little. “See not bad.”

“Looks more like a gash,” Forster said as opened up the kit. “It might need some stitches.” He pulled out a bottle and dripped some of the contents on Murray’s wound. He ignored the flinches and the swears before he covered it in a wad of cotton and sealed it in with medical tape. “I’m not sure if you can continue.”

“Nuts to that,” Murry said. “We just found Hopkins here and he brought help against the gremlins of the Caribbean.”

“Gerald?” the young security guard grinned when he saw them. “I’ve been trying to find you.”

“I was in the office, Chuck” Gerald explained. “Your boss decided to handcuff me to a chair because of what I am.”

“What?” the other woman and Chuck asked at the same time.

“Stewart did that?” Chuck added and shook his head. “I know he has a hard head, but damn.”

Gerald tapped him in the hand. “I’m sorry you and Laura have to work for that guy and I try not to use this word often but he is a shmuck. He used offensive words for those with physical and mental disabilities.”

“You poor man,” the fourth member of Clamp’s group said as her hands flew to her mouth. “I am so sorry. If I knew what he was doing I would of…would of broken his nose with my fist, right before I called the cops and I knows the others would of done the same.”

“This is Chuck,” Gerald said as he pointed at the young security guard. “Not sure who she is but you seem nice.”

“Valerie,” the woman answered as she shook Gerald’s hand.

“Nice to know your name,” Gerald answered before he turned to Clamp. “Gerald Hopkins is the name and I used to work for Prescott Prestige as financial investigator until well you can see.” He pointed at his body.

“Daniel Clamp and I am going to do everything I can to help you.” Clamp shook his hand. “I’m also going to have Forster give this Stewart a review.”

“Where’s daddy?” Penny asked.

“Daddy?” Clamp asked and pointed at her. “Where did she come from?”

“Peltzer got wet and she came from him,” Gerald explained.

“Bill, is still at the arcade,” Clamp answered. “At least that is what Chuck here says.”

“Last where I left him,” Chuck answered. “Well the last place I saw him was at the WB store but he said he was going to be at the arcade and that was the last time we talked.” He held up his radio. “He said he was fine before I encountered Doctor Cordova and Helix.”

“Gerald,” a second mogwai lifted his head out the backpack that Chuck was wearing.

“Another mogwai,” Kate said as he studied him. He looked like Gizmo with a mostly white body wearing a brown vest like patch over his back and chest, and a brown head with a white spot over the right eye and on top of his head, but he also had brown on his ankles along with black and more black fur outlined the brown and the white spot over his eye.

“He’s also adorable,” Lynn said. “But is he like Gizmo?” The question was answered when Gizmo waved at Gene and spoke few greetings and Gene waved back. “They seem to like each other.”

“Gene is a clone of your Gizmo,” Cordova explained. “Doctor Friedrich cloned him and he got wet and five more came from him and then Brody came from one of them.”
“Valerie,” Brody said and waved. “Where Lei? I miss him.”

“Brody?” Valerie gasped as she stared at the gremlin. “You also ate with them.”

“No,” Brody answered and grabbed at air and shoved it into his mouth before he looked like he was trying to spit it out. He grabbed at the air and shoved it back into his mouth then grabbed at his neck and nose, made a few choking sound followed by a swallow.

“He was force fed,” Darwin explained. “He didn’t want to eat after midnight. They made him eat.”

“Oh poor, Brody,” Valerie said softly before she pet the gremlin on the head and Brody closed his eyes and leaned in towards her.

“So now there are good ones?” Forster asked, never losing his cold skeptic tone.

“I guess,” Clamp said with a shrug. “I mean we got the egghead out in the card shop.”

“Egghead?” Several people, including Kate had asked.

“The genius one is back,” Clamp said. “And apparently they can reincarnate.”

“Stripe, Mohawk, Razor,” Gizmo said.

“What about them?” Kate asked as she looked at her little friend. “Are you saying they are all the same? Did Stripe come back as those gremlins?” She waited for Gizmo to nod. “Mohawk became the spider one that Gizmo killed.”

“And Razor did not like Gizmo,” Gerald explained. “He literally came back with a vengeance.”

“Helix doesn’t want to seek vengeance,” Valerie said. “He is advanced and understanding and he is not like the others.” She pointed at Brody. “Brody is also different.”

“He has human intelligence but a gremlin body and gremlin instincts,” Gerald said. “Brody also has them and he is working on keeping them in check and I, Darwin and Penny also have them. When we were just fighting the others I wanted that fight to last longer because I was enjoying myself. I was getting off on killing them.”

“I was feeling the same and I’m all human,” Murray told him.

“It’s still different,” Gerald said and took a deep breath. “Trust me on this and I apologize in advance if I scare you.”

“I don’t think you could scare a mouse,” Murray told him.

“I’ve seen them when the grem out,” Chuck said as he removed his hat. “Trust me when I say he can get a little scary.”

“Why are we just standing around here?” Lynn asked. “We have to find Billy.”

“And Helix,” Valerie added. “We could split up and-“

“No more splitting up,” Chuck said and shook his head. “We stay together and we know where everyone is, no more worrying about broken or lost radios or anything like that.”

“Besides,” Kate said as she held up her head. “We are stronger together. Most of us have experience with gremlins before and those of us who haven't seem to handle it just well.” She paused to take in a breath. “Now lets go find my husband.”

-

They had marched on through the damaged mall in smaller groups of conversation but still together. Valerie, Chuck and Darwin were speaking about something and Brody was with them but they were too far in the back for Kate to pay them any attention. Right behind her was Lynn and Penny with Lynn telling the female hybrid stories about Billy. Murray was up ahead with Forster and Clamp talking about of all things the Yankees.

“Worried about him?” Gerald asked as he walked beside her.

“I was worried about both of you when I found out you were missing as well,” Kate told him. “I’m sure Billy is fine right now.”

“I used to brag about how tough I was and I liked you because you were tough.”

“Oh,” Kate said as she remembered his old crush on her. “And here I thought you had liked me because of my looks.”

“Well you were beauty-“ He froze. “Are beautiful you are still beautiful and smart and you are still tough. I mean the way you swung that sword back there, but now these days I don’t want to be tough. I want to be good and I know I am still trying to be good and-“

“You are better now that you were then,” Kate told him. “Just by talking with you now I can sense that and despite what you have physically become you are still as handsome as ever.”

“Wait you used to think I was attractive and still am?” He smiled again. “I wish I were able to reconnect sooner, have a little get together, throw some burgers on the grill, your kids playing tag with my kids, something like that.”

“Same,” Kate said as they walked past the now empty WB store and into the arcade. There were no sounds of gremlin laughter or cheers, only the bleeping digital sounds of the games was the only noise to fill the area. “Billy?” She ran inside and ran up and down the rows. “Billy?” Her husband was gone.

-

Chapter Text

Chapter 18: The Plan

-

“Billy!” Kate shouted as she continued to run around the arcade. She could not see her husband anywhere, nor were there any gremlins to be found, except for Brody. There was evidence the creatures where there before, no doubt about it. There were spilled containers from the different food vendors, empty paper cups next to straws and stains of soda, lemonade and fruit punch soaking into the thin carpet and all kinds of candy wrappers thrown about.

“Check it out,” Murray said as he pointed at the trashcan. “One of them actually threw their cup away, along with some carrot tops.” He squinted as continued to stare into the can.

“There is some writing on the cup.”

“That might be a clue,” Chuck said as he reached in and pulled it out. “King Billy?” He held up the cup for everyone to see. “Is this his hand writing?”

“A little sloppy for him,” Kate said as she squinted while trying to read the cup. “But he could have written it in a hurry and his hands have been transformed.” She hoped that it was a sign from her husband. “Calling himself a king is a little unusual.” She took a deep breath. “But he would throw his trash away.”

“That’s my son,” Lynn said proudly. “Always cleans up after himself.”

“Good eyes you two,” Clamp said as he looked around the place. “We should look for more clues, but this gang will not split up.” He turned to Kate. “Do you know what games he prefers? I never pegged him as the type.”

“He had a few handheld mini cabinet games back at Kingston Falls,” Kate said as she remembered back when they had started to date. “He also played with Pete, our younger friend. Lynn used to be his babysitter and Billy became his surrogate big brother in a way. He liked the classics like Galaga and Donkey Kong. We have a few game systems at home and Benny received a N64 this last Christmas.” It had taken her a long time for her to accept the holiday into her life again and when they were first started to live together and were later married they wouldn’t celebrate even though she told Billy that he and Gizmo should. Once Benny was born it changed. Both her mother and Lynn couldn’t wait to spoil their grandson with gifts and soon they bought a plastic tree and a wreath and while she would always still go visit her father’s grave on Christmas Eve she would still be home in time for Christmas for her children.

“Uh-oh,” Brody’s voice came from one corner. “It broken.” He held up a plastic hand held radio.

“That’s…not…good,” Chuck said as he accepted the radio from the gremlin. “This is the one I gave to Billy.”

“Found another uh-oh,” Gerald said as held up a boy’s t-shirt and jeans. “He was wearing these.”

“Billy?” Kate asked and her voice trailed off. She looked over to Lynn who had her face scrunched up and tears roll down her cheeks. She pulled Penny close as the female goblin hugged her back.

“Let me see,” Forster said as took the clothes from Gerald and examined them. “No sign of any struggle.” He held up the shirt to show them. “No tears or blood, just a little smudges from foundation. It looks like he just took them off.”

“Why would he do that?” Murray asked as he started to fan himself “Did he get too hot or something, cause it’s getting warm in here. I think the air is on the fritz.”

“Not sure,” Forster said as he continued his examination. “There’s something here.” He pulled out a folded up piece of paper from a pocket.
Kate walked over and snatched it out of his hand. ‘Get Stun Guns, and electronics.’ written on it. “This is his hand writing. He wants us to get stun guns.”

“I knew it,” Clamp said as he struck a fist into his hand. “I knew Bill would come up with a plan.”

“Yeah back at Claire’s I held my stun gun on one and let it linger longer than normal and it just melted,” Chuck said. “But he also saturated himself with perfume.”

“He wants us to fry them again with electricity?” Murray asked. “Well it worked last time but after I soaked them with a hose. Do we know where the fire hose is?”

“The pool,” Chuck said and held up a finger. “The pool in the hotel it’s on a sub level but they could all fit in there if they wanted too.”

“Why haven’t they gone there already?” Kate asked. Maybe the gremlins hadn’t discovered it yet or maybe they want to explored the rest of the mall first, but if they did know about it then wouldn’t they have used it already?

“Hotel is closed,” Gerald answered and turned towards Chuck. “You told us that earlier.”

“For renovations,” Chuck confirmed. “I don’t think any of them could break in.”

“They can,” Kate answered along with Lynn, Murray, Clamp, Forster and Gerald.

“But they haven’t yet for some reason,” Chuck said. “Last time I passed by it the gate was still down.”

“We have a water source and we now need to get some stun guns and other electronic devices,” Murray said. “Anything else that can short out in the water? I’m sure we can find some hair dryers or toasters here and maybe some extension cords.”

“There’s a Radio Shack on the second floor near Bloomingdales,” Chuck told them.

“I hate splitting up, but we are going to,” Clamp said as he held up his radio. “One of us will be Team Clamp again and the other Team um Team Kingston Falls again. One of us
will look for the chords and other electric items and the other team will go fetch some more stun guns. Frank has several in his car. I’ll lead Team Clamp and Kate will lead Team Kingston Falls.”

“Murray and Lynn you are still with me?” Kate asked. “And I take it that Gerald will also join us?”

“You know it,” Gerald said.

“And me,” Gizmo said and pulled out a pencil and a rubber band from the backpack. He had already started to make some more weapons

“I want to stay with grandma,” Penny said while she held onto Lynn’s hand.

“I guess that means I’m going with Mr. Clamp and Forster,” Chuck said. “What about you?” He turned to Valerie.

“I’ll go if we can stop by and check on Helix,” Valerie said with a nod. “And Gene will be with us and I guess maybe Darwin and Brody?”

“Where are they?” Gerald asked. He had craned his neck to look around. “They were right next to me when—oh there they are, right in front of the Street Fighter game.”

“Hey guys,” Kate said to them as she approached them. “We figured out Billy’s plan and we need to split up into two teams. Do you want to go with Clamp and Chuck?” She noticed the way they were staring at the screen. “Guys?”

“Brody found another clue,” Darwin said as he pointed at the screen. The demo animation ended and the names of the top players appeared. The two names on top of the list were KingBilly and Razor. “Not good.”

“Razor caca,” Brody growled.

“Then we need to hurry,” Kate said. She had no idea where Billy was but if he was close to a gremlin that Brody hated and Darwin feared then he was still in trouble and she wished she was with him. She prayed that he had everything under control and was not harmed by Razor.

-

“Not too much,” Billy said as the gremlins on his left were finishing with filing his claws. He was seated on the hood of a bright red corvette. One of those little scams where you fill out a form in hopes to win one but instead people were singing up to be hit by telemarketers for timeshares. Humans were so stupid. “I want to keep them nice and sharp, not that would be anywhere near as sharp as my brother’s.” He nodded down at Razor who sat next to him on their shared throne.

“Sharp claws,” Razor agreed. He wore a cloak made out of a purple towel and a plastic tiara on the top of his head. He would have chosen the same kind of fake crown Billy had if it would have fit over his Mohawk of spines. He was also getting the same kind of manicure while his hand was placed on a cushion held by another gremlin. A few other gremlins had large leafy fronds and were using them to fan them while two other gremlins stood by their side with bowls of grapes chocolate truffles and were hand feeding them to him and Razor.

“Agreed, now where are our drinks?” Billy had ordered one his subjects to bring the both of them something to drink and that was minutes ago. He adjusted his own crown and he also sported a cloak, but his was made from a beach towel. He had removed his other clothes save for his under shorts. He no longer need a disguise and he even gave his cap to the gremlin named Butterball.

“Drink,” Razor snarled. He was also getting thirsty and impatient.

“Drinks,” a few gremlins said at the same time as they came up with trays with two drinks from Orange Julius.

“Finally,” Billy grumbled as he accepted the cup and stared out at the hundreds of gremlins that had gathered before them. He had no idea if he had won them over with his gaming skills or because he was the goblin version of a Hei’an Lingxiu but they were practically worshipping him. He had to keep up the pretense since he planned on leading them to their death like a pied piper, although he was also enjoying it. He also had to keep on guard with Razor next to him.

The music that played near them was enchanting and beautiful. Some of the gremlins had wielded out a keyboard from the music store and a gremlin wearing a phantom mask was pressing at the keys.

There was pit in front of salon that was dug by a mole like gremlin. Several others had grabbed balls of different sizes from the Kaybee and threw them in and now several of them were playing in their ball pit while the mole was curled up and sleeping under a chair.

There were several Gremlins in different costumes and few dressed up like Batman and his rogue’s gallery and there were characters dressed like they were from Superman. There were five dressed up in white leotards with different colored sailor collars and skirts. It was quite a site and they were all his to control, his and Razor’s.

“Yum, yum,” Razor said after he slurped from his drink. “More yum yum “We want more snacks. Get some more candy and something crunchy and salty for us.” He clapped his hands.

“Yes, some more delicious yum yums are to be consumed,” Billy agreed. “The grapes and truffles are nice but I want different kinds of candy, and some chips and maybe see if you can find a hot dog or two.” He looked over the crowd and found the half vegetable gremlin. “You there Veggie, how are you with herbs?”

The gremlin responded by plucking a sprig from his head and held it up. “Cilantro.”

“Can you also make onions? Oh and limes?” The gremlin nodded and removed the vegetables and well technically a fruit from his body. “We’ll be having chips soon and we need something to dip in them and I want you to make some guacamole and salsa.”

“Yes,” Razor grinned at him. “Yum yum dip.”

“Can’t wait for the sun to go down,” Billy said as he stretched. “That’s the only thing I don’t like about being a goblin is that stupid sun restriction, but soon this town will be ours. Goblins and gremlins will both rule the world and get rid of those humans.”

“We rule,” Razor said with a grin. He was eating this up.

“Obviously won’t kill all of them. I do plan on finding a way to turn others into goblins like me and they will bow down to us, my blood brother.”

Chuckles bounced up to them and was pointing while grunting. He had never lost that stupid dopey expression on his face.

Razor rolled his eyes and grunted back, demanding what the other gremlin wanted.

Billy felt a tap on his leg and he looked down to see the short albino gremlin, Garrison as he was called was pointing in the same direction Chuckles was pointed at. There was a large group of gremlins approaching them and they were carrying something, no someone who had their arms and legs bound.

“Ooh looks like we have an offering,” Billy said with a grin. His grin faded as the victim came closer and false delight was replaced with rage. He felt his hackles rise while he growled.

The gremlins deposited their victim right in front of them and Billy glared into the steel colored eyes of Doctor Friedrich.

-

“Here we are,” Chuck said as Team Clamp had made their way to the nearest exit and paused in front of the dead snake gremlin while in front of the Hallmark store.

“It will only take a few minutes,” Valerie said as she was giving Gene a small pat on the head. “I just have to make sure he is okay.”

“How long is this going to take?” Forster complained. “Peltzer is going to need for us to be ready when he has those monsters where he wants them.”

“It will only take a few minutes,” Clamp assured him before turning over to Valerie. “Am I right, Val?”

“You are correct,” Valerie said as she stepped around the dead form of the cobra gremlin.

“Do you want me to join you?” Chuck had offered.

“I’ll be fine,” Valerie told him.

“When all is done what are we going to do about all of this?” Forester asked as he waved around his arms around to indicate the trashed mall.

“This place will stay closed while we clean everything up, and redo the floors” Clamp said. “Sure the fourth of July sales would be missed but that is a holiday that shouldn’t be spent at a mall. People should be with their friends and family celebrating America. They have barbecues or go to the beach, or a lake, or a carnival and watch fireworks. We’ll have new deals and sales when we reopen.”

“I meant what about them?” Forster pointed at Darwin and Brody. “We are going to try and cure Peltzer and Hopkins but this one was never human and the other is a gremlin.”
“Gerald said I could live with him,” Darwin said as he brushed his crimson bangs from out of his eyes. “Maybe Brody can also live with us as well.”

Brody’s ears picked up. “Yeah, yeah.” He blinked. “Or maybe Lei. I like Kevin Lei. I want to be with Doctor Lei. He nice. I no feel needle and he gave me hug and treats.”

“There you see?” Clamp asked. “Everything is working out and if Jerry or this Lei won’t take in Brody here then maybe you can take him, give Greta a companion.”

“Don’t call him Jerry,” Darwin said with a frown. “It’s Gerald. He doesn’t want to be called Jerry.”

“I’ll take note of that,” Clamp said and raised up his walkie-talkie. “This is Team Clamp calling from a brief stop at the Hallmark store. Do you read, Team Kingston Falls?”

“We read,” Lynn answered. “We found a hardware store up here and stocking up on chords and connecting outlets.”

“Great, now I have to watch over two of them,” Frank grumbled.

“Two of them?” Chuck repeated? “There is another gremlin that is alive?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Frank said as he covered his face with his hand.

“Female gremlin,” Clamp explained. “She used to have feelings for Frank here, big time crush and it was a sight to see.” He had a large grin.

“Please, sir,” Frank was growing red from embarrassment.

“She’s not as malicious as the others, mostly horny but she started to yearn for attractive celebrities a few years ago and now she is drooling over pictures of the Backstreet Boys.”
“Females are more into uh, being inti-“ Chuck started.

“Stop!” Frank held up his hands. “I am begging you to stop.”

“Penny doesn’t seem to be into-“

“Not something you talk about in front of others,” Darwin cut him off as he rubbed his hair. He had a sheepish expression on his face.

“Oh,” Chuck said. He understood Darwin’s embarrassment. “You and she are in love?”

“She’s a friend and I think she likes Gerald and…” He trailed off and he looked down.

“No talk,” Brody said and shook his head.

“Wait that means?” Chuck blinked when he realized that Gerald and Penny had already done the deed. “Okay I’m gonna stop.”

“Gerald and Bill’s daughter?” Clamp asked.

“She is attractive for a goblin,” Forster added and coughed. “Forget I said that.”

“No!” Valerie’s cry came from inside.

“Valerie,” Chuck cried out and ran to her. He found her sitting down in the middle of the floor and crying. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find him,” Valerie said. “He is gone, Helix is gone.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 19: A Hallmark Moment

“Gone?” Chuck repeated as he scanned around the store, all he could see was the destruction from before and the empty makeshift table that the hyper intelligent gremlin was using. “Are you certain he isn’t hiding?”

“I looked and called out to him,” Valerie said as she tucked a few stray strands behind her ear. “He would have come to me, but he didn’t. He is no longer here.”

“I’m sure he is fine.” He reached out to grab her hands. “But we don’t have time to search for him we have-“

“Don’t have time?” Valerie snapped. He shouldn’t have said that with the venom that was brewing in her glare. “How can you say that? He is defenseless and we left him alone and now who knows what happened to him?” She took a step back. “I refuse to give up on him.”

“Billy needs us, all of us, for his plan.” He took a deep breath. “I know Helix is different. He is smart and he cares for you and he is kinder, much kinder than the others, but he is not defenseless. He has sharp teeth and claws and still has his fighting instincts.” He pointed to the entrance of the store. “Back out there, back at the food court when we were fighting the flying one I saw Billy use his new abilities and he was able to rip out its throat with his claws and he is or was a human and he’s no idiot, maybe Helix can talk with them and reason with them, but even if that fails him then he could always rely on his fighting instincts.”

“What’s going on in here?” Clamp asked as he stepped inside. “It’s going to take a couple hours to clean up all of this, good thing this is before the new holiday ornaments have arrived.”

“Just can’t find the super smart one,” Chuck explained as he turned to face the billionaire. “Valerie is very worried about him and well after dealing with Serpentor out there I can’t really blame her and I upset her.”

“Can’t be upset,” Clamp said as he pointed at him. “Don’t make her upset, but we do need to get those stun guns.”

“You and Forster go on ahead,” Chuck said as he placed a hand on Valerie’s shoulder. “Those weapons our outside and it’s still daytime, right?”

“Right—oh right!” He blinked. “Can’t take the little guys with us.”

“Tell them to stay here with us and when you get the weapons and then come back here.” Chuck looked over to Valerie who had removed her glasses to wipe her eyes. “We will keep looking for any sign of Helix.”

“You all will promise you won’t leave?” Clamp asked. “We all just kind of reunited and it would be better if we knew where everyone was.”

“Promise,” Chuck said. He wasn’t sure what the was going to find but had to at least try and find the missing gremlin. He turned back to Valerie. “Let’s see if he left anything.” He pulled out his flashlight and turned it on.

“No,” Valerie said as she grabbed onto the flashlight. “Turn it off. They hate the light.”

“Oh right.” He turned it off and strained to look around. He knelt down next to the table and felt around. He smiled when he felt an enveloped taped under the surface. “Looks like he left a message.” He pulled out the message and handed it to her.

“I think I see my name on it.” She squinted as she read it. “I don’t know if I can read it in the dark.”

“Don’t hurt your pretty eyes,” Chuck said and felt himself heat up. “Your eyes are pretty but you need them to do your work, not that there are no such thing as blind scientists and…I don’t want you to hurt yourself. I’ll read it for you so you won’t strain your eyes.”

“But you might risk hurting yours and you need it for your job.”

“Yeah but I’m just a mall cop and you are brilliant scientist. You were working on new ways to fight diseases and save lives and you look young for someone in your position. You are so smart you probably skipped a few grades and I don’t even an A.A yet.”

“I did graduate high school when I was fourteen but you shouldn’t degrade yourself. You did start college?” She waited for him to nod. “You are still young, nineteen I think and you can probably enroll in a university and go for a B.A. if you wanted to.”

“Twenty one, actually and yeah I guess I could, major in English I guess.”

“I was right though you are younger than me. I’m twenty three and English is good, what would you like to do?”

“I thought of being a writer.” He remembered having a similar conversation with Billy earlier and his new friend was encouraging and now he was having a real conversation with Valerie.

“What do you like to write?” She seemed generally interested.

“All kinds of stories, mostly science fiction and that type and I have written some fan fiction stories for X-Files and Star Wars. Those are stories fans write that take place in already created universes for different fandoms.

“I like to read all kinds of stories.” She smiled at him. “And I like fan fiction. I have read some for Transformers and Buffy.”

“Wait, you like Transformers and Buffy?” He grinned at the fact they had a common interest. “I love those shows and I still have some of my original Transformers, on a shelf for display, but I still have them.”

“Which ones?”

“I have all the dinobots, and Iron Hide, Ratchet, Jazz and I also have a Starscream and a Soundwave.”

“Soundwave and Jazz were my favorites.”

“I like to read also,” the voice came from Darwin and he and Brody were right in front of them.

“Yes read,” Brody added.

“Hey you guys can read in the dark,” Chuck realized. “Right?”

“The only way we can read,” Darwin said.

“Will you read this for us?” Valerie asked as she handed them the note.

“Yes I can.” Darwin accepted. “It says ‘Dear Valerie. I can no longer stay where I was for I grew restless. Do not fear for my safety. I have achieved what I sought out to find and I know we will meet again soon, signed Helix.’ And that is it.”

“He says he is safe,” Valerie said as she leaned back and exhaled. “He left on his own.”

“I know you are still worried for him, but Mr. Clamp and Mr. Forster will be back soon and when they are we have to go.”

“I will be ready,” Valerie said as she stood back up.

“We have to wait,” Darwin said as he turned towards the direction of the entrance. “What should we do while we wait?”

“Pick up cards?” Brody asked as he picked up the nearest set of birthday greetings and envelopes.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Chuck said as he gathered a few. They would certainly not be able to finish cleaning the store but it was at least a start and they were able to pass the time.

-

“We have a toaster, a blender, and a waffle iron,” Gerald said as he stared at the three kitchen electronics they had gathered. There was a kitchen supply store not far away from the Radio Shack and they had several feet of extension cords and connectors, they even found some dusty Christmas lights in the clearance corner, anything that might be able to work.

“Are you sure this will be enough?” Kate asked as she stuffed several of the appliances into large shopping bags. She felt wrong to steal and Lynn had voiced similar concerns to Clamp earlier but he said he would take care of it. They also used a bag to carry around the two swords, two pot lids, a frying pan, a golf club and Billy’s clothes. “What if there is no power in the hotel?”

“We will find a way to get it to work,” Gerald said as he placed a hand on hers. “And if not, well you keep saying Billy can think of another plan and well we can also come up with an idea.”

“Clamp can always call in a swat team,” Kate said. “I still don’t know why he hasn’t yet.”

“Less lives to risk.” He looked up at her and noticed she was not looking back at him. “Hard to look at me like this isn’t it?”

“Gerald, I’m sorry.” She cringed as she sighed. “It’s just…well it has been so long and back then it was hard for me to look at you.”

“That I don’t blame you.” He picked up a box and placed it into the bag. “I don’t like looking back at what I was either, but I still have to acknowledge it so I can see how much progress I have made and I know I still have far to go.”

“The therapy has been helpful. I think we all had to see a psychiatrist after what happened back at Kingston Falls and it was traumatic for you.”

“I still have nightmares sometimes.” He stared at his hands. “I still wonder how I am able to cope with being like this and not fall into a fetal position and I guess it is because of the adrenaline and in my heart the strong possibility that I and Billy will be turned back, when this is over and if I am stuck like this…then I’m not sure.”

“No matter what I will help you.” She was looking at him, staring into his eyes. “We will keep on working to restore Billy’s and your humanity.”

“Thank you.” He paused to breath. “I don’t know how my girls will take it seeing me as a goblin…except maybe around Halloween would be fun and if I am human I will be able to take Darwin out for trick or treating and you would be doing the same for Penny. I mean you will take care of her, right?”

“Either us or Billy’s parents,” Kate said and sat back. “Where is she? I thought she was here with us.”

“Penny?” Gerald stood back up. “Penny where did you go?” He walked around the store and couldn’t find her. She couldn’t have gotten far since she was with them a minute ago? Did she leave the place?

“I’ll go this way,” Kate said once they stepped out of the shop. “You look for her that way.”

“Try not to get too separated,” Gerald said as headed out of the shop and went next door to a jewelry shop.

There was no where she could of hidden as he looked in and continued towards the next place, another small clothing shop and as he stepped in front of the entrance he felt someone grab him by the shoulder and pull him inside.

“Hey,” Gerald cried as he felt himself shoved against the wall and blinked when he saw that it was Penny. “There you-“ She cut him off with a kiss. “Nice to see you as well but you shouldn’t have run off like that.”

“I knew you would find me and I’m glad you did,” Penny said as she lowered her eyelids. “We are alone.”

“Yes we are and we need to go back to the others.” He looked back to the entrance and felt a finger under his chin directing his gaze back to hers.

“Not yet.” Her voice dropped to a low whisper. “I want you.” She kissed him again, this time it was deeper.

“Now?” He couldn’t believe her timing. “We have to-“ She interrupted with another kiss and he did not pull away. He could feel her hands run down his back and he parted his mouth so he could touch her tongue with his. After a few more seconds he pulled away. “I’m going to owe you two drinks.” He kissed her again and sought out the changing room.

“Follow me.” He took her into the stall and locked it.

-

Razor could not believe his eyes as he studied the human that was set before him. His former caretaker did not show no emotion despite the fact he was tied up, arms and legs were bound and he had a piece of shiny silver duct tape over his mouth. His gray blue eyes were as stoic as ever.

“Friedrich?” He asked as he blinked and looked him up and down. “What the hell is he doing here?” He had thought his former caretaker was a genius, smarter than the other scientists and yet he came back here? Unless it was for some strange reason the human actually came back for him, Razor. He should feel touched if it was true, but then again he no longer felt an allegiance to the man.

“Friedrich,” Billy growled. His teeth were bared and his eyes were staring the human up and down with pure hatred. “Why is he here? Oh they always come back to the scene of the crime.”

“He has some purpose to be here,” Razor said and wondered how much of it his blood brother was able to understand. They seem to be communicating better. “He wouldn’t show up unless there was a reason.”

“Yes reason,” Billy answered. “He want me fight in army."

“You can speak human. We can still understand you.” Razor told him although he respected the former human for using their tongue.

“I know you can,” Billy spoke to him. “Human can’t ear.” He closed his eyes and shook his head.” Hear.”

“I see, but what are you going—do you want to kill him?”

“Kill yes.”

“Hmma Mee Moh mamp,” Fredrich tried to tell them.

“Fun first.” Billy grinned and reached and tore off the tape. He laughed when Friedrich cried out in pain and several gremlins joined in laughter.

“Yes I can see how this amuses you,” Friedrich said. There was large rectangle of reddish colored flesh where the tape was. “And I am impressed you are communicating with him. I wonder if it is in the blood or was it from the transformation.”

“Years of study,” Billy said and blinked. His slender pupils have never regained their roundness from before they started to play their video game. “Did you come back so you could cart me and the others off to your military buddies, or did you come for my blood?”

“I came back for my research and my samples,” Friedrich answered. “The lab and every part of the research building has been trashed as has the mall.” He turned to look at Razor. “This was your doing?”

“Yes,” Razor said. “Hi Friedrich.”

“Razor?” Friedrich asked as he studied him. “The name I chose was very fitting for you and where are the rest of your transformed mogwai?”

“Here,” Garrison as he stepped in front of him along with Butterball and Chuckles.

“Due to your size and coloring I conclude you are Garrison. The corpulent one is Butterball and the one that won’t stop laughing is Chuckles. Am I correct?”

“Yay,” Butterball said and clapped his hands. “He won.”

“Where is Patch, Brody and Gene?”

“Patch gone,” several of the others said. “Brody kill Patch.”

“Gene, Caca,” Razor snarled.

“He means Gene is still a weak little mogwai,” Billy answered. “I don’t know nor do I care where the little fuzzball is. Surprised you don’t have your stooges with you.”

“They are dead, as if you didn’t know,” Friedrich said.

“Oh isn’t that nice?” Billy asked. “Not really. Somebody deprived me of my revenge.”

“You didn’t kill them?”

“Oh trust me I wanted to,” Billy said.

“You and the others didn’t kill the big human?” Razor asked. He felt disappointed in his blood brother.

“Gerald and I wanted to escape and Dar…” The former human trailed off and grinned. “Darwin killed him.”

“Kill Tim,” Razor said and pointed at himself and his original gang. “We kill Tim.”

“Razor?” Friedrich stared at him. “Why would you kill him? Is it because of what you are now? We took care of you all and fed you and entertained you and we gave you toys and books and we cared for you and you snuck out and broke the last rule and…” He stopped at the sound of a liquid hitting the floor.

Razor looked down as Billy finished using Friedrich’s shoes and legs as a toilet and joined in with the others as they laughed.

“I understand why the others did it to Tim,” Billy chuckled. “It’s fun and it’s funny.” He noticed the way the scientist scowled at him. “As before we said it was better to be pissed off than on, but you are both.”

“You maturity has sunken even further than before,” Fredrich said. “How old are you again, Pavlov?” Oh that was a mistake.

“My name is not Pavlov,” Billy snarled as he slashed down on the human’s face and turned to the others. “What is my name?”

“King Billy,” The others shouted.

“King Billy?” Friedrich repeated, ignoring the bleeding slashes on his face. “Are you their leader?”

“My blood brother and I are,” Billy answered. “King Razor and I will lead our people once the sun has set.”

“You are quite delusional.”

“And you are about to be quite dead.” Billy grabbed him by the shirt and pulled himself up. “You think you are so smart but you are in fact an idiot. Look around you, human. Do you not see this is all your fault? Do you know why I came down into your secret lab? I was trying to find your mogwai because I knew you couldn’t handle them and I was right. You played around with water and they escaped their confides and ate after midnight and you wanted us to eat. You tricked us and now look at me. This is what you wanted and I will be your demise.”

“Oh no no,” Friedrich said as fear entered his voice. “Razor my boy, you will protect me. We had a bond.”

Razor stared into the pleading gaze that Friedrich had cast him and then locked eyes with Billy.

“Kill him,” he urged.

“Maybe you had a bond, but he understands the need for revenge,” Billy hissed.

“I can find a way to change you back.”

“Who says I want to turn back?” Billy asked and with one swipe he tore out Friedrich’s throat.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20: The Traitor
-

It was just one quick swipe and it was over. Doctor Friedrich, the being who had kidnapped Billy and Gerald genetically transformed them into mogmen and subjected both to humiliation and discomfort and violated their bodies was now dead on the ground, bleeding onto the tiles. The monster was dead. The human monster was dead. The human…was…dead.

What have I done? The thought had echoed around in Billy’s head. He had taken a life, a human life. He glanced at his blood stained talons and the chunks of flesh that were embedded in them and then down at the corpse and the gouges in its neck. He did that. He killed a man. He was a murderer; well he would be considered one if he was still human, but now he was a true monster.

“King Billy, King Billy, King Billy,” the crowd of gremlins cheered his name. They were proud of him. Was he proud? No he was ashamed of what he had done. He had taken a life and sure he wasn’t innocent but that gave him no right.

“Blood Brother You sad,” Razor spoke to him in the language of both mogwai and gremlins. It wasn’t a question but a statement and there were a few words he wasn’t sure of but what of them might have been look.

“I killed man, I killed a man,” Billy answered and frowned. He felt his stomach twist into a knot.

“Yes it is good,” Razor said and placed a hand on his arm. “Feel good. You like.”

“It feel great,” Billy answered as he remembered what that human had put him through. The queasy sensation was gone. “I like it.”

“Want to kill more? Feel good again?”

“Yes.” Did he though? Did he want to actually take innocent lives or lives of humans whether they were awful people or not, or was he just saying it to appease the other Hei’an Lingxiu? He stared at his claws again and well his manicure was ruined. He wiped it on the clothing of the corpse before he climbed back onto the hood of the car. “My brothers you have seen what I have done? That is what will happen to all of our enemies. We will all get to kill soon once are armies have grown and we will be able to leave this place, sure it was fun and there is more fun out there, so much to destroy to smash to maim and so much pain. It will be nothing but pure fun for us.”

“That does sound like a rather good time,” a refined voice spoke up. “But I was hoping we could do it in a more civilized manner.”

“Who the egghead?” Razor asked and blinked. “He back?” His lips pulled back into snarl. “Try and challenge?”

“Challenge?” Billy repeated and looked out to the sea of gremlins as one brown one who was wearing plum colored turtleneck a dark gray vest and a white lab coat approached. He was also carrying a small briefcase and wore a pair of glasses. “You look familiar.”

“You might have been more familiar with my previous form,” the gremlin answered. “I was simply called Brain back then and now I have been given the moniker of Helix by the lovely and intelligent Doctor Valerie Cordova.” It only took Billy a few seconds to recognize this gremlin as the leader of the batch they killed in the lobby of Clamp Center Tower. He could understand why Razor was being defensive.
Razor grumbled her name and rolled his eyes.

“My liege does not have a fond opinion of the female?” Helix asked.

“She with Gene,” Razor spat.

“She did have a soft spot for the little clone,” Helix answered. “I do hate deceiving her but I have to stand with my own kind and I sought out and found you.” He gave a little bow.

“My king.” He stood back up and looked Billy up and down. “Correction my kings. You must be one of the new species of human and gremlin hybrids.”

“Formerly William Peltzer now I am King Billy.” As soon as he had spouted his title the other gremlins shouted his name along with King Razor.

“There is something familiar with you.” Helix brought his hand to his chin as he studied Billy. “I believe I saw you when you up on top of the stairs in the lobby while I started to lead my big number.” His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. “Ah that is correct you were one of those humans who first drenched us and then electrocuted us.”

“My idea,” Billy said with a grin.

“How long did that take you to come up with that? All day?” Now he was insulting him.

“Spur of the moment actually. First idea was to trick you into thinking the sun had set and then drop a big cloth.”

“And let in the sun,” the corners of his mouth turned up. “Also clever and you had to think of a new idea when you heard thunder, both would have been painful and yes being fried by electricity and then melting was excruciating pain.” His voice dropped to a low growl.

“And now you want to kill me out of revenge,” Billy said and rolled his eyes.

“A part of me does, but my developed cerebral cortex doesn’t,” Helix said. “Yes I am angry for how you killed me and the rest of us in the past, but I can’t fault you since you were trying to protect your species and you are quite adept at conceiving clever ideas.”

“I still want to protect my species,” Billy said. “I want to protect the goblin race and my brother’s species.” He held out his hand and Razor took it.

“And I want to help you create more hybrids or goblins as you prefer to go by,” Helix said as he lifted the suit case. “I have recreated the formula that was used on you except instead of using mogwai DNA I will use our own gremlin blood and I also used some human blood that was in storage.”

“Turn others into goblins?” Razor asked and pointed at himself. “Turn us into goblins?”

“Only those who wish to be turned,” Helix answered. “Like myself for instance. I already have human intelligence. I would like to require some of their physical features as well. I know it sounds shallow but it would be nice to be a bit taller, maybe some hair as well and four digits per hand are better than three and once I have been turned then I will use the other on Valerie. We would be the same and I could properly woo her.”

“Awww,” Butterball said.

“Transform your lady friend,” Billy repeated as he thought about Kate. Damn he hadn’t seen her since he was taken. Was she looking for him? Could she be here at the mall? Knowing her she is somewhere inside. She with her beautiful brown eyes and soft lips, the scent of her hair and the sound of her voice and her gentle curves of her body and…now he had an erection. “Transform my wife?”

“By all means my liege I will transform all that you want to be turned,” Helix said.

“The first thing I’ll do once she is a beautiful goblin is to bang her. I want to spread her out on our throne all nice and naked and make her moan and then after we will find her a crown because she will be your queen.”

“Queen?” Razor asked.

“Don’t worry, brother, we will find you girl if you want one and she will be your queen,” Billy assured him. “Helix here has quite the skills to be our royal adviser.”

“He talks no show,” Razor growled.

“I can understand why you have reservations, my liege,” Helix said as he removed a syringe from his suitcase. “So I shall perform.” He closed his eyes as he injected the contents of the vial into himself.

-

“That was fun,” Gerald said as he pulled up the zipper to his jeans. “And I’m sorry it was just a quickie, but we have work to do.”

“After we save the world?” Penny asked in a pleading tone. “It could be victory sex.”

“Victory sex is always great,” Gerald agreed as he tried to smooth his hair back into place before he put the cap back on. “But it will have to wait.”

“I understand,” she said as she stared down. “Do you think they will fix this place?”

“This mall?” He blinked. “Yeah it is pretty popular and it will take a while. All those groundhog like tunnels will have to be filled in and the tiles replaced and they are going to have to clean everything up but they will fix it.” He opened the dressing room stall and came face to face with Murray Futterman who looked away and up at the ceiling. “Um.”

“Yeah, um,” Murray said. “Kate told me she first lost sight of Penny and then you and now the three of us are looking for you two and where do I find you? Hiding in here doing…well making certain sounds that can only relate to one kind of activity.”

“Uh well,” Gerald gulped as he placed his fingers under his collar. He could feel his whole face burning up. “Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Murray said as he held up his hands. “I can understand and what you kids do on your own time is no one’s business but your own, but we are on a time crunch.. Now come on we need everyone to haul this stuff.”

“You are not going to tell the others?” Gerald asked.

“Like I said what you two do along is your own business, but we’ll tell them that Penny here was feeling sad about something and hid and you went to comfort her.”

“Isn’t that lying?” Penny asked as she tried to keep up with the human. Her legs stretched and she was almost jogging.

“Gerald was comforting you.” He did finger quotations at the word ‘comforting’. “Trust me I don’t think the ladies want to know that you were performing the horizontal tango in a dressing room.”

“We are not supposed to talk about it in front of friends and family,” Penny repeated what Gerald had told her earlier.

“Exactly so we stretch the truth a little.”

Kate and Lynn were nearly running towards them when they had seen each other, both had scared and frustrated expressions on their faces that were instantly replaced with joy and relief.

“Where were they?” Kate had asked once they were reunited.

“I was scared,” Penny answered in a small voice as she stared at the grown. “I was worried about what if it doesn’t work what if we lose and even if we did win what’s going to happen after? What if Daddy and Gerald don’t get to be human again.” She reached up to wipe away a tear. “What if I can’t help.”

“I had to sit with her and encourage her that it was going to be okay,” Gerald explained as he placed an arm around her. “That everything will be okay. She was just scared.”

“Don’t worry,” Lynn said as she smiled down at her. “We are all in on this together. We are going to be together and it is going to be all right.”

“Sorry, it won’t happen again,” Penny told her before she was swept into an embrace.

“Thank you, Gerald,” Kate said before she kissed his forehead.

“We don’t have time to dawdle,” Murray said. “We have to contact the others and tell them we are ready.”

“Clamp already called us,” Kate said and held up the two-way. “He wants us to meet in front of the Macy’s in five minutes.”

“Then what are we doing just hanging around?” Murray asked. “Let’s grab the stuff and go.”

Gerald didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed two of the bags and tried to pick them up, but they were too heavy. He handed one to Penny before they followed the humans down the mall. In addition to the electronics they also had to carry their weapons of frying pan, swords and a golf club. They had to be fully prepared.

-

Billy watched as Helix had finished the injection before he stretched and closed his eyes and…nothing. There was no instant mutation. There were no changes whatsoever. He kept watching the intelligent gremlin until he heard a light tapping.

Razor had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot, impatiently.

“What am I looking at?” Billy growled. “You said you can change both gremlins and humans, but clearly that was a lie.”

“Perhaps I just need a little time,” Helix sputtered. “My calculations can’t be wrong and I followed the notes to an exact.”

“I became spider fast,” Razor said and held up his hand before he pointed his thumb down at the ground. “Kill him.”

“No I feel a tingling in my body,” Helix protested. “And now it’s itching…no burning. It’s starting to work!” He was twitching in several places before he fell over.

“This sucks,” Billy said. “I was hoping we can change my Kate and change others, but we are going to have to make more goblins the old fashion way, and more gremlins. We need more to take over the town and take revenge on those who wronged us.”

“Gizmo caca,” Razor snarled and was drooling.

“Gizmo does stand in our way and I’ll let you have your fun and play with him, but don’t kill him.” He jumped back when Razor growled and nearly lashed at him. “We want him to suffer right? How about an eternal suffering by forcing him to eat after midnight, make him become what he hates and you can play around with him even more.” The idea of his best friend becoming a gremlin had crossed his mind and had even worried him in the past but now it seems like a great idea.

“Yes one of us, one of us,” Butterball sang out as he danced. Garrison had grinned at the idea and Chuckles laughed even more.

“Gizmo eats,” Razor said with a nod. “Razor has fun.”

“But first to increase our numbers,” Billy said as he held up a talon. “There is a hotel attached to this mall and I have been informed there is a pool below the ground level. Who wants to go for a dip?” He was answered by his minions cheering.

“Lets go swim,” Razor ordered.

“Bring everyone, except for the failure.” He pointed at the convulsing form of Helix on the ground. He watched as everyone ran off, following after Razor, even the keyboard was wheeled off with the masked gremlin sitting on it.

“The plan is set,” he said softly. He just hoped the others will follow his clues and kill the—his army? No he had to make sure they all got wet and then got out…no he had to make sure they died, did he? As a goblin he was king and he didn’t have to bend to the rules of society. He could do what he wanted whenever he wanted and what he wanted was…he wanted his wife…he wanted his wife as a goblin, his queen, no he wanted to be a human again, did he?

“King Billy?” The only gremlin that had remained was Veggie and he had a tray with both guacamole and salsa. “Where everyone go?”

“To multiply,” Billy answered. “Let’s go and join them.”

-

His whole body was wracked with pain. His muscular structured felt like it was being torn apart, his blood felt like it was on fire and his bones felt like they were going to break apart and tear out of his system and Helix wished death would come fast, but it didn’t. He twitched and shuddered for a few seconds more before the pain had left.

“It’s done?” He asked as he started at his unchanged hand. “No. I’m still the same. It’s back to the drawing board then.” He stood back up and still felt warmer than usual, as if the temperature had increased even more. “I thought I had it.”

He picked up his briefcase and brought it over to the car and placed it on the hood while trying to ignore how tight his clothes felt. They didn’t just feel tight they were constricting.

A button flew off his vest followed by the other two and soon that was followed by the stretching and ripping off fabric. His head also became itchy and the car did seem lower than before.

“Could it be?” He stared at his hand and noticed the more human like shape and the fact there were four fingers. He reached up and ran his fingers through his new hair. “Yes.” He climbed inside the car and placed himself in the middle of the front seat before he studied his reflection in the rear view mirror. He had grown more attractive in appearance, at least he thought so. He had a human shaped nose and jawline and cheekbones as well and he also had eyebrows. He looked down at his four toed feet and down at his…oh dear. He not only was half human now, but also very naked. He had to rectify that before he could rejoin the others.

Chapter Text

Chapter 21: Plan in Motion
-

Chuck kept looking around as he and the rest of team Clamp continued their way towards Macy’s. He glanced at each shop, determined how long it would take to clean it up and tried to figure how long would it take before they would reopen and therefore how long he would be without a job. He could get a security job somewhere else, but is that really what he wants to do with his life? Maybe he should go back to school, maybe take on some non-fiction writing classes as well. He could write a book based on all that he experienced that day.

“What do you think?” Clamp asked as he held out his arms. “About a month at most.”

“Give or take a few days,” Forster said. “There is still the matter of the destroyed flooring not to mention the hole on nearly every floor of the medical building.”

“Hmmm that is a good point,” Clamp said as he tapped his fingers against his head. “We will obviously restore that as well, but the eight floor will be used for something else.” He turned to Valerie. “No offense, Val, but this is the second bad experience with a genetic lab. I could relocate you and the rest of your team somewhere else.”

“I was invited to join the leukemia research team,” Valerie said. “And I had been thinking about it and after seeing what kind of person Friedrich truly is than I am more willing to leave. I just hope I can help the others find new places to work.”

“None of them are evil?” Clamp asked. “I mean none of them are mad scientists.”

The sigh came not from Valerie but from Gene who shook his head.

“Each one are noble and intelligent and are trying to find new ways to improve our lives,” Valerie explained. “Doctor Wilcox is trying to work on making better vegetables to fight world hunger, Doctor Lei has been working on finding ways to help those with Cleidocranial Dysplasia, Doctor Trainer has been working on a better internal sunblock for those who like him are albinos and those who have porphyria and polymorphous light eruption and he is also working on a hereditary project. I’d continue but your confused and non-caring expressions tell me you are not interested in learning more.”

“I could always hear more,” Chuck piped up. He was actually interested in what her team was working on and he didn’t know such medical conditions existed before.

“Sure I might not understand what is going on but I’m not uninterested,” Clamp said and turned to look at Forster who did look bored. “Oh she meant you.”
They were interrupted by laughter from Darwin and Brody. The two of them were all cleaning up as fast as they could until Clamp and Forster had returned but they paused when they came across the Shoebox line of cards and couldn’t stop laughing at them. They brought along a few of their favorites.

“I fail to see how this situation is a laughing matter,” Forster said before turning to Clamp. “We will restore everything; maybe start a psychiatry practice on the eighth floor.”

“Funny cards,” Brody said as he handed one to Clamp. “See?”

“Oh hey a Maxine,” Clamp said as he selected the card and read it. “Ha ha another great one.” He closed it and tossed it. “We will laugh again later but now we have to wait for the others.”

“They are here,” Darwin said as he skipped ahead to meet with the others first. “Mr. Clamp and Mr. Forster have the stun guns.”

“We have the chords and other electronics,” Kate answered as she raised one of the bags she carried. “What’s the next part?”

“Can you open the gate from this side?” Clamp asked as he stared at Chuck.

“No I can’t,” Chuck explained. “I do know the code that unlock all the gates but that has to be on the inside.”

“Can we unlock the front door?” Lynn asked.

“That I can also do,” Chuck said as the gears spun around in his head. He knew what they were getting at but as he looked at the goblins and gremlin he realized one small problem. “Well we humans can go outside and then enter the hotel but it’s still daytime and.”

“And we’ll die,” Gerald said. “I guess we’ll just wait here then.”

“Until I unlock it from the inside,” Chuck said. “The rest of you can take some of the stuff and start heading down to the pool and I’ll let the others in. We need everybody.”

“Uh-huh,” Gizmo said.

“Right,” Gene added.

“That’s some good thinking,” Clamp held up a hand. “We who can handle the sun will go out, head towards the hotel and Chuck here will unlock it then we will head towards the pool area while Chuck helps the others inside.”

“Is it wise to leave them without adult supervision?” Forster asked as he pointed towards the non-humans and didn’t notice the way Gerald sunk his shoulders and lowered his ears.

“Excuse me but they have an adult,” Kate said and placed her hands on her hips. “Gerald will watch everyone and keep them out of trouble.”

“He can have my radio,” Lynn said as she handed the black glossy two-way over to Gerald.

“We’ll keep you informed,” Gerald said. “Maybe the mogwai should stay with us, just in case?”

“Good idea,” Valerie agreed before she brushed her fingers against the top of Gene’s head. “Just to be safe mi pequeno carino.”

“Be safe,” Gene agreed as the pack he was in was handed to Darwin.

“Protect them, Giz,” Kate said as she handed her pack to Gerald. “I know it sounds strange but he has saved the day.”

“Billy has told me everything,” Gerald told her. “We will be at the gate waiting.”

“All right to the exit,” Clamp said once the mogwai were handed over to the goblins. “Follow me.” He took a few steps and paused. “I mean follow Chuck.”
Chuck took a deep breath as they headed out.

-

Billy scowled at the display that was before him. The gate to the hotel was down and locked and a few scouts had informed him and Razor the same could be found at the hotel bar on the second level. He watched as the gremlins climbed the gate and were either trying to claw their way through or bite their way and none of that was working.

“Can't bite through,” Razor growled.

“Could you be able to use your sharpness?” Billy asked as he gingerly tapped the elbow spikes on the other alpha.

“I try,” Razor and struck at the metal gate with his elbow at first and then kneed several times before shaking his head. There was no damage at all.

“Can’t get through the gate and we can’t go outside, obviously can’t get through the top then we will have to go

“Under.” Both he and Razor said at the same time. They exchanged a grin and looked back at the crowd. The masked gremlin was still playing on the keyboard and several others were using chips to dip into the home made guacamole and salsa, but where was the mole?

“Where is the mole?” Billy demanded. “Your kings request his service.”

“Bring dig dig,” Razor added.

“Dig, dig, dig,” the other gremlins chanted.

“Dig me dig,” the words were said in a voice that was deeper than the other gremlins and framed in sniffling sounds. The shorter than average and dark green gremlin with smaller eyes, buck teeth, and whiskers approached slowly. “Me dig now?”

“Yes dig now,” Razor instructed.

“Not too long,” Billy added. “But wide, a big wide hole just for us to get inside, oh and deep enough so we can reach the pool.”

“Me dig wide,” the mole said before his large hands and claws plowed into the floor in front of the gate, sending chunks of tile and cement foundry flying. He swam into the ground before he changed his position and ploughed around in circles before he disappeared.

“Widen hole,” Razor ordered and several gremlins who were closest to the hole picked up pieces of the former floor and tossed it aside, making the hole wider and cleaner.

“Looks like we can all get it,” Billy said as he stared down into it. He looked at the gremlin who was closest to him and it was Garrison. He picked up the short albino and tossed him into the pit and earned laughter from both Chuckles, Butterball and several other gremlins. “Well, what do you see?”

“Hole,” Garrison answered. “See long hole.” They could hear him trying to move. “I see below me. I see weights and bikes and carpet. I see Bowflex. I see mole sleep.”

“There must be a gym under there also,” Billy said. “The pool is also down there, probably next to it, and that lazy gremlin is snoozing again.”

“Yes,” Razor agreed. “Everyone follow.” He jumped down into the depression followed by his goons and then three other gremlins, then five more until everyone was knocking over everyone else to stream down inside.

Billy stepped aside to let his subjects enter first. He didn’t mind to bring up the rear and if he was the last one in then that would mean there would be several gremlins for him to land on. He did look away from the crowd when he heard a sigh and noticed the way the masked gremlin was looking at his keyboard.

“You will have to leave it for now,” Billy told him. “You can always come back to it.”

The masked gremlin sighed once more before he joined the others. He looked around to see if there were other stragglers and paused when he thought he saw movement behind a kiosk shop that was several feet away. He blinked because he wasn’t sure if it was a gremlin or not. He pretended to look away and then glanced over his shoulder and yes he was being watched, but by who or what? Was it that egghead? Was it a different gremlin that wasn’t fully committed to following him? Was it another goblin? It could be Gerald or Darwin, both who still side with the humans.

“Don’t know who you are,” Billy hissed under breath. “But we are about to win.” He flipped them a finger before he followed the others into the ground. It was wide and deep enough for him and a bit dusty. He sneezed as he crawled along and grabbed at the edge before he lowered himself into the gym and as he had hoped there were hundreds of gremlins running around.

“King Billy,” one shouted.

Billy released his grip and fell a few feet only to be caught by several gremlins.

“To the pool!” He cried out.

-

“The hotel should be this way,” Gerald said as he led his team. “This is team non-human over to team Clamp do you read?”

“This is team Clamp,” the billionaire’s voice was heard on the other end. “Chuck is unlocking the front right now. Got a bit of a problem with some reporters but both Forster and Futterman is taking care of it oh and Val’s scientist pals are also blocking off the media from talking with us.”

“Sorry about that,” Gerald said and was glad he had to stay inside. The media would have a field day with him and the others.

Penny gasped as she was about to turn the corner first and jumped back before holding up her arms to keep everyone else back.

“What is it?” Darwin asked her.

“Gremlins,” Penny answered. “Lots of them.”

“Against the shoe store,” Gerald ordered everyone to press against the glass display window before he peered around the corner and she was right. He could see hundreds of the little creatures and some of them were climbing down from the hotel gate.

“What do we do?” Penny asked.

“Stay quiet,” Gerald said as he held up a hand. “I have to let the others know.” He brought the radio to his mouth. “This is Team Non-human and we have enemy gremlins in our site. They are at the gate.”

“We hear you,” Clamp said. “Keep a good eye on them.”

“On it,” Gerald answered and looked at the enemy. He could see pieces of debris flying. “Okay we are going to try and move in closer. On three we run over to the Dipping Dots. Ready, one, two, three.”

They all raced over to the ice cream stand on all fours and gathered around before Gerald looked around that place. The debris was still flying and then it stopped. He could see something, a tall gremlin like being with a cloak and a crow—that was Peltzer and for some reason he was throwing a pale almost white gremlin down.

“I see him,” Gerald whispered. “I see, Billy.”

“Do we stay here?” Darwin asked.

“Wait for it,” Gerald said as he watched the crowd and he could see gremlins climbing down. “They are descending into something, maybe they figured out a way to dig under the gate?” He looked again and at the nearest kiosk that was selling brushes. “Again on three towards the brush kiosk. One, two, three.”

They bolted again and gathered behind the kiosk and squatted.

“This is Team Clamp,” the voice returned and Gerald had turned it down. “We are about to enter.”

“And they are entering as we speak,” Gerald said as he watched as the crowd grew smaller and smaller. Nobody was paying them any attention.

“Do we move again?” Penny asked.

“Again on three to the next kiosk,” Gerald commanded. “One, two, three.” Once again they grew even closer to the crowd as the hid behind a different kiosk, one that sold jewelry.

“I see daddy,” Penny said as she looked around first and then ducked back. “Why is he wearing a crown?”

“Shhh,” Gerald held a claw to his lips before he gently pulled her back and looked and she was right Peltzer was wearing a plastic crown on his head. Where he got it and why were the furthest questions from his mind. He watched as Peltzer approached a different gremlin who was standing in front of a keyboard.

“Billy?” Gizmo asked.

“I think he is trying to pretend to be on their side,” Gerald said to them. “He is leading them to his trap.” He looked back and had to duck again. He could of swore that Peltzer was staring back at him.

“What is it?” Darwin asked.

“Nearly got sighted,” Gerald said. If Peltzer could see him then so can the others. “I have to be more careful.” He looked again.

Peltzer was alone and had his back turned for a few seconds before he turned his head and then held up his hand and flipped the bird before climbed down into the hole.

“Really?” Gerald asked.

“What happened?” Darwin asked.

“He gave me the finger,” Gerald said and noticed the way Gizmo had lowered his ears and gasped. “Yeah I know that is something he never does.”

“Why do it?” Brody asked.

“Either criticizing my skills of espionage or pretending to go with the fake bad boy image at least I think it’s fake, right?” He looked down at Gizmo who nodded. He hoped Billy was pretending and not succumbing to his new second nature. He looked again and there was no one there. “Okay we have to move.”
He bolted first from behind their cover and ran towards the hotel. He could hear the others race behind him and paused before he fell into the freshly dug hole. He could hear the distant sounds of gremlins as they grew even further away.

Footsteps caused him and the others to freeze and he looked up and relaxed when he saw that it was Chuck running up towards them on the other side of the gate.

“They are already on their way,” Gerald said.

“So are the others,” Chuck said as he walked to the side of where they were. “Going to unlock it right now.”

“No, go join the others,” Gerald said. “We’ll also take this route.” He pointed to the pit.

“Are you sure?” Chuck asked. “You don’t know what’s on the other side.”

“Chance we will have to take.” He looked over to the others. “I’ll go in first.” He looked down into the hole and then up at the gate as Chuck ran away. He took a deep breath. It was go time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 22: The Deadpool

“I’ll go down first,” Gerald volunteered as he climbed down until he was submerged into the floor and cement and could see the tunnel ahead of him, even with his new night vision it was still hard to see and he had to feel his way around until he came upon a dimly lit opening right below him. “Everyone be careful. There is a bit of a drop.”

“I have you,” Darwin told him and Gerald could feel someone hold his ankles. “What do you see?”

Gerald looked down into what could only be the work out room. He could see stationary bikes, weights, work out benches and a punching bag that was being used by some boxing kangaroo gremlin. There were a few others on one of the exercise bikes. Two were sitting and one was standing on the seat and holding the handle bars while two others were working the pedals. There was one gremlin that was sticking to one of the machines and he was covered with various pieces of scrap metal.

“There are a few stragglers, but it is mostly empty,” Gerald answered. “I’m going to hold onto the edge and the rest of you will climb down me. Darwin you are first and I know we have to hurry but we also have to be careful and we still need to get our stuff down there as well.”

Gerald sank his claws into the edge of the ceiling and held on as tight as he could while he waited for Darwin to climb down his body. He then felt his own ankles being grabbed and looking down he could see that Darwin was still hanging a few feet above the ground. The next to climb down was Penny and he felt shiver go through his own body at her mere touch. He also needed to work out because his arms hurt from holding on with the extra weight, but he sucked in his breath as he felt Brody scale down followed by the two mogwai.

Once the smallest three members of their party were on the floor Penny let go and she ran towards the nearest padded exercise bench and pushed it over to where they were with the help from Brody. Darwin landed on the bench and he and Penny helped Gerald down.

“Did they notice?” Gerald asked as the mogwai climbed back into their packs. He looked around and could see the boxing gremlin and the ones on the bike still at it. “Come one we have to go.” He jumped down from the bench and they raced over towards the pool.

Gerald had to admire the design of the pool. There were a couple of shower areas along one side and a raised platform near the front covered with several deck chairs and behind the main pool there was a small two foot deep kiddie pool. There was also what looked like a tiki hut to the one side and Gerald could see the tops of the heads of the humans hiding inside along with glasses and bottles of various types of alcohol, but that was not the main concern.

The gremlins had gathered round both pools and already the smaller pool was filled with them while others hung around the tiled edges and stuck their hands in the water or where being splashed by the others. The larger pool was almost full of them with various shades of green and brown creatures treading the waters while others were either jumping into the water from the sides of riding down the water in the one slide or even using the diving board.

“Gerald,” Darwin’s voice was a whisper. “I found an outlet.” He pointed to the nearest panel that was several feet away.

“Everyone try and be quiet,” Gerald said as he and the rest of his party made their way over to the spot. He pulled out a couple of chords from the one bag and used the connectors for the two of them. He then pulled out the one electronic device they had, a purple radio.

“Time to fry?” Brody whispered.

“We’ll get the ones in the smaller pool,” Gerald whispered back. He reached for his two-way only to find out that he had lost it. He looked over and saw that Penny had already held it.

“Mr. Clamp this is Penny,” she whispered.

“Talk to me, Penny,” Clamp said on the other end. Despite the fact his voice and lowered into a whisper he was still loud.

“We are going to take out the smaller pool,” Penny answered.

“Great idea we are about to make a huge mess out of the large one,” Clamp asked.

“I just need these,” Gerald said as he placed on some of the rubber gloves from the janitorial supplies Chuck at gotten them. “Make sure you get yours on, Brody plug it in.”

The brown gremlin gave him a thumbs up and plugged in the chord.

“Let’s see if it works.” Gerald turned on the radio and was greeted with static. Well that meant it was on and it was running, just in between stations. Now he just had to launch it.

“Daddy?” Penny asked, her voice cracked from worry. “What is he doing?”

“What?” Gerald looked over to the larger pool and felt his jaw drop. Peltzer was standing on diving board.

-

“Cannon Ball!” Butterball cried out as he ran towards the large pool where everyone was jumping in only to be grabbed by the arm and held back by Razor. “oof.”

“No,” Razor said. He wanted to wait.

Chuckles grunted and pointed at the slide.

“Wait,” Razor told him and pointed towards the bar. “Humans.” He knew they were up to something.

“They kill us again?” The vegetable was standing near them.

“He not wait,” Garrison said as he pointed towards the diving board as Billy stepped on to it.

“After,” Razor said. He still had to wait and see. “Maybe.”

-

Chuck plugged the hair dryer into the connector. There were enough chords to give him enough length that he could turn it on and toss it into the water. He still couldn’t believe it was going to work exactly as how they described it but Kate and Murray had assured him they had seen it happen. The creatures get wet, they get fried and they melt into piles of green and brown goo.

“Can you still throw?” Lynn asked Murry as they were making the last connections.

“Shoulder hurts but it still works,” Murray said. “I promise I’ll get it checked after we fry these little bastards, just don’t tell Sheila I waited to get it checked out.”

“The others are going to take care of the ones in the kid pool,” Clamp said while Forster was checking out the stun guns and Kate and Valerie were putting on their gloves. “Before anyone does anything I want to make sure you have your gloves on, safety first.”

“Daddy what is he doing?” The voice carried over the two-way.

Chuck popped his head up and felt his heart sink when he saw that Billy was on the diving board and was about to jump in.

“Shit!” Chuck nearly threw the hair dryer he was holding towards Valerie before he jumped up, grabbed the bar and used it to hoist himself over and ran as faster he ever had before to the pool and jumped on the back of the diving board. He grabbed the makeshift cloak and pulled it back before he grabbed and tackled the former human to the ground. “Shit, shit, shit.” He grabbed at Billy’s middle and tried to drag him away.

Billy hissed and slashed at his arm with his claws.

“Ow, Jesus man, it’s me, it’s Chuck.” He grabbed at the bleeding cuts on his arm.

“Stupid human,” Billy snarled and was ready to lash again and would have if a feminine hand hadn’t slapped him across the face.

“Billy Larson Peltzer,” Lynn said in a stern tone. “You apologize immediately, young man.”

Billy blinked a few times as he rubbed his cheek. His slender slit like pupils grew round after the last blink.

“Mom?” He turned to look at his mother who just stared back at him with tears running down her face. “Mom it’s you. It’s really you.”

“My baby.” She pulled him into her arms and sobbed but only was able to hold him for a few seconds before Kate joined in. “Kate is here. All the people who love you are here, except your father but he and Sheila are watching your children.

“Kate,” Billy’s own eyes filled with liquid sorrow as he looked up at his wife. “Benny and Sarah, and Gizmo…What have I…oh God.”

“It’s okay,” Kate said as she stared into his eyes. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“No it’s not,” Billy said weakly.

Crackling was heard and Chuck looked over his shoulder as Clamp, Forster, Murry, and Valerie had thrown in the devices into the pool. Blue sparks had jumped up from the machines and over the closest gremlins and then the other gremlins nearest them. Within seconds the whole pool was filled with sparking and vibrating gremlins.

-

“He’s safe,” Gerald said once he had seen Chuck had tackled Peltzer to the ground and it was time. He ran up to smaller pool and held up the radio. “This is for Roland Corbin.” He drop kicked the radio into the middle of the water. He watched as several bolts of electricity jumped out and over the little monsters.

“The others,” Penny gasped as she ran up to the ones who were spawning but not frying and gave them a good dose of the stun gun she had carried.

Gerald ran up to two others and gave them the full charge of his weapon before he ran up to the next closest group while Penny and Darwin assisted. They continued to run around, using the weapons until all the gremlins were vibrating. Smoke wafted up from their vibrating forms and they began to disintegrate, flesh melted off their bodies, leaving behind skeletal forms before they too also melted until there was nothing left but a kid’s pool full of brown and green slime and puddles of the same color surrounding the tiles.

“Yuck,” Brody said from where he sat.

“Yucky, but it’s over,” Gerald said with a sigh before he pulled Penny close. He stared deep into her eyes and stroked the back of her head before he gave her a long passionate kiss.

-

“See?” Razor asked. “This why we wait.”

“Smart,” Vegetable told him.

“All gone?” Butterball asked. “All dead.”

“We could been there,” Garrison asked before he turned back to Razor. “What now?”

“New plan. Let go.” Razor made sure no one was paying them any attention before he four of them headed back towards the gym.

-

Billy watched the massacre as he was being held by both his mother and wife. A large part of him felt relief and triumph at the fact his plan had worked. The horde of gremlins were dying by electrocution and they were still twitching as they had begun to melt. Another part of him was angry at the fact that his army was being wiped out. He firmly told that other part to shut up.

“Your idea worked,” Kate said. She was smiling and crying at the same time. “I thought I lost you. When you first went missing…I had no idea…we worried for your life…had no idea.”

“That I’d be turned into a monster?” Billy answered in a low voice.

“No, no, no your not a monster,” his mother said. “You just look different. I’m sorry I just.”

“You look like you,” Kate said. “I still see the same handsome, sweet, clever and creative man that I fell in love with.” She lowered her head and kissed him on the lips.
Billy closed his eyes and he took in the kiss. It felt like he hadn’t kissed her in forever. It felt like the first time they had kissed. The painful hollow feeling he had felt inside was filled with warmth and it remained there for a few seconds before guilt weighed down on him and crushed him.

“I love you, Kate, more than anything and I love you, Mom and dad, Sarah and Benny, and Gizmo and Snowy and Knight.” He thought of their two cats and wondered if they would hiss and swat at him. “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a monster.”

“Billy,” His mother started but he cut her off.

“No mom I am. I thought I could just fool them and let them think I was going to lead them into the night, but after a few minutes I wanted to be their leader…I was their leader, both Razor and I. He was the same type as Stripe and Mohawk and he was them. He comes back and they used Razor’s DNA on me. He was a Hei’an Lingxiu and so was I. I wanted to kill people…I did kill someone. I killed Doctor Friedrich. I killed the man who turned me into this. I took a life.”

“He was the one who did this to you,” Kate said as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I don’t blame you. There was a possibility he would do it again to someone else.”

“It’s still wrong. I know it’s wrong, but I enjoyed it and—Chuck!” He looked over at his new friend. His new friend that he had injured who was having his arm inspected by both Forster and a pretty brunette with glasses. “Chuck is innocent and a good guy and I hurt him.” He approached the injured man. “Chuck, I’m so sorry.”

“Dude, it’s okay,” Chuck said softly. “You tried to warn me before about your new instincts.”

“And I let them take over me,” Billy closed his eyes and hung his head. “I allowed it to control me and I attacked you. I attacked you when I should be thanking you. You saved my life and thank you.”

“All part of the job,” Chuck said with a grin. “Which I’m not going to have for a while.” He stared at the pool filled with melted gremlins and made a face. “I’ve seen outhouses that looked better than that.”

“I’ll try to find you a temporary job,” Forster said. “I’m head of security for Mr. Clamp and I could use someone like you at least until the mall opens.”

“That is one of the most generous things I have heard from you.” Kate told him.

“I appreciate that,” Chuck said and took a few steps and tensed up and groaned.

“What is it?” the lady with glasses asked. “Is it your arm?”

“No my leg,” Chuck explained. “Hurts worse than my arm. I think I pulled something when I leaped over the bar like that and don’t apologize for that, Billy. I can see the words forming in your mouth but my leg is not at all your fault.

Billy closed his mouth. He was about to apologize and instead shrugged.

“I did something similar back in 48,” Murry explained. “But in my case it was less heroic. I was just trying to do some cockamamie stunt to impress Sheila at the time.” He kept grinning. “Billy, you gave us a scare down there.” He pulled Billy into another hug. “Great plan by the way. We got them.”

“Bill!” Clamp had finally noticed him and was walking over to them. “Finally found you, well we all found you.” His grin faded. “We were worried about you. How are you feeling?”

“Embarrassed that I wanted to rage ware on humanity and scared you,” Billy answered. “Guilty about killing Doctor Friedrich, relieved the gremlins are killed and feeling grateful that I have so many friends and family that care and happy that I am holding the hand of the woman I love most in the world, and slightly hungry.”

“You killed someone, Peltzer?” Forster asked. The way he phrased it wasn’t shock that Billy murdered someone but more likely that Billy was physically able to.

“It was the monster that mutated him and Gerald,” Lynn explained and nodded towards the other pool where Gerald, Darwin and a female goblin were.

“Penny?” Billy asked as he saw the pretty goblin as she joined the other two in a three way hug. “She’s okay. I had nearly forgotten…” He trailed off when Penny and Gerald shared a long kiss. “Should I be concerned about that?” He heard a cough from Murray who had turned away while the others shrugged. “I should have a talk with Gerald about this.”

“Where is the body, Peltzer?” Forster asked.

“Right in front of the Corvette in front of Saks,” Billy explained.

“How was it done?” Forster asked.

“Um he’s kind of a sensitive about this,” Chuck said as placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“I need to know the details so we can figure out how to cover it up,” Forster explained. “Was it by knife or gun?”

“I tore out his throat,” Billy answered and looked down. He pulled the sheet around him.

“That will be easy,” Forster said. “A mutant animal took him out.”

“Right, humans can’t do that,” Clamp added before turning to Billy. “Don’t worry about, this Bill, we are going to smooth things over. We will implicate Friedrich and his assistants in bizarre experiments and he will be rightfully blamed for your kidnapping and your friend. The whatever story you told to get the people out of the mall will be what killed him.”

“Spin it anyway you like it won’t change what I’ve done,” Billy told him and continued to stare down. “I still am a danger to others.”

“Not for long,” Clamp said. “We are going to do everything to help you. Whatever it takes to get you two back to normal and your friend says he is going to take care of Darwin, Forster will take care of Brody and-“

“Rand and I will take in Penny,” Lynn finished. “We have already bonded.”

“That’s good, but who is Brody?” He knew he heard the name before. “Wait isn’t that Gene’s friend?”

“Yes he’s the nice little brown gremlin,” Lynn said. “I know that sounds strange.”

“Yeah he’s the one jumping up and down for some reason,” Murray said and pointed at the other end of the area.

The brown gremlin did look frantic and was pointing at the two backpacks. Gerald picked up one and looked inside it and panic swept across his face before he set it down and looked into the other.

“Come on,” Billy said before he ran over to them, careful to side step and jump over the piles and puddles of melted gremlin. He noticed one puddle had a small opera cape and a masquerade mask. He wondered which puddle was Razor but he didn’t notice the other crown or towel cloak and he remembered seeing Razor standing to the side with his gang and the vegetable gremlin right before he climbed onto the diving board.

“We got a problem,” Gerald said when Billy and the others caught up to them. “Make it two, problems.”

“What is it?” Billy asked.

“Missing mogwai,” Gerald explained. “Gizmo and Gene are gone.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 23: Tracking Razor

“Gizmo?” Billy repeated while staring in the empty backpack. He had just been reunited with his wife and mother, his boss and friends and was looking forward to being back with his best furry friend and he was gone. “He’s gone and none of you saw anything?”

“We were busy,” Darwin said and looked down. “Trying to kill the gremlins, the bad ones.”

“You three were in charge of them?” Billy asked and noticed that Brody had raised his hand. “Four, sorry, you four were in supposed to be watching Gizmo.” He was baring his teeth as his voice grew louder. “How can he be gone? What is wrong with you?” He felt a twinge of guilt as soon as he asked the question, especially since Darwin and Brody took a step back and Penny lowered her head.

“Billy,” his mother said in her most disappointed tone of voice.

“What is wrong with them?” Gerald asked. “What is wrong with you? We all wouldn’t have been distracted if you weren’t about to make a swan dive and caused our friend, Chuck here to pull a super hero save.” He paused to give their friend a thumbs up. “That looked amazing by the way and thank you.”

“No problem and very appreciated,” Chuck said.

“I’m not quite myself,” Billy said as he pointed at his body. “As you can obviously see.”

“Neither am I, Peltzer,” Gerald continued in his rant. “But I am not turning into a complete ass and snapping at friends or hell trying to scare new friends and what was that back there giving me the one finger salute like that.” He was poking Billy in the chest. “We were all working hard to kill those gremlins and I’m sorry your little pet decided he wanted to ditch us.”

“Ditch us?” Billy asked. “Gizmo wouldn’t just ditch us and I have a feeling Gene wouldn’t either.”

“He wouldn’t,” Valerie said. “But I th-“

“So stop accusing me of them running out on us,” Billy snarled.

“Stop blaming us,” Gerald growled back.

Billy wanted to scratch him but held back and hissed instead and Gerald responded with a hiss of his own.

“Will you two stop it?” Kate asked. “I know you have trouble helping it but ease up on the aggression. Gerald, the mogwai didn’t ditch us and Billy leave the other goblins alone. It’s not their fault.”

“Right,” Gerald said as he rubbed his head. “I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “I am in control of my own actions.” He exhaled and inhaled again. “I can only blame myself.” He breathed out and in. “I can not change what I have done in the past and only accept what I have done.”

“What the heck is he doing?” Forster asked.

“Breathing and mental exercises,” Clamp explained. “I have done similar when I meditate.”

“He’s been in therapy,” Billy explained and thought about what Gerald was saying. “And I’m going to need a psychiatrist after all this.”

“We need to look for the little furballs,” Murray said. “Don’t think we should just be standing around here arguing.”

“He’s right,” Clamp said. “I know splitting up is not a popular choice right now, but will cover more ground and we do have three working radios right?”

“Right,” Brody said and held up one.

“I have another, and Chuck you have one?” Clamp asked.

“I’ll just adjust the frequency,” Chuck said.

“Great we will split up into three groups and look,” Clamp instructed. “Forster is with me, who else?”

Billy let out a breath as he leaned against his wife. He wanted to be whatever group she was in and he had a feeling his mom was also going to be in that group as well. He had no idea where Gizmo had run off to and he was worried for his little friend.

“He knows what he is doing,” Kate said as her fingers brushed the top of his head.

“Clamp?” Billy asked.

“I meant Gizmo. This isn’t the first time he snuck out of his pack before. Remember when you were hunting Stripe in the department store?”

“He found a toy car and zipped around and ended up saving the day.”

“He saved mine and Marla’s life from that spider gremlin,” She smiled. “Maybe he saw something and went to take care of it and Gene went with him to help.”

“I’m sure you are right.” He smiled back. “I sure as hope you are right.”

“Billy?” His mother had approached him. “How are you feeling?”

“A little worried about Gizmo,” Billy answered.

“Do you feel cold?” His mother asked. “You keep holding that towel tighter around you or do you feel exposed?”

“I guess right now a little of both.”

“I brought you your clothes you left in the arcade.” She held up the shirt and pants. “I thought you might like them back.”
“Thank you,” Billy said as he retrieved his garments and put them back on. Leave it to his mother to remember his clothes.

-

Small grunts where heard near the edge of the hole in front of the hotel along with a few complaints and words of encouragement in the same squeaky voice. A pair of large pointed ears emerged before a bright red headband and a brown and white furry body. Gizmo climbed out of the depression and reached down to pull Gene up. His clone had collapsed once he had finished surfacing and started to take in deep breaths.

“Can’t quit now,” Gizmo had told him. He had built himself another bow and a quiver from a used toilet paper roll that was full of pencil arrows. Kate had the supplies in her purse and he wished he had brought them along the first time he was separated from her. She had placed the items in the backpack along when he switched transportation.
“Sorry but that was the biggest climb ever,” Gene had said. After returning to the exercise room to find it completely empty they had scaled the equipment to reach the hole in the ceiling. “Are you sure they went this way?”

“Positive,” Gizmo answered. While most of the gremlins were being electrocuted there were a few that snuck by, ones that had yet to touch water. Razor was one of them and then there were his three lackeys and the last one was the vegetable one. He knew Razor was trying to find another water source to start over.

“But where did they go?” Gene asked as he picked up his ‘spear’ Like the arrows it also involved a pencil, several pencils bound together with rubber bands, the top pencil split and had a x-acto blade bound in place.

Gizmo blinked. He wasn’t exactly sure where they could have gone. He could hear them in the distance and there sounds were growing faint. They had to move fast. He looked around and found a rent a stroller parking with one of the stroller’s not all the way in.

“Let’s go,” Gizmo said and ran as fast his short little legs could carry him.

“How are we going to use this?” Gene asked. “We take turns riding and pushing?”

“Something like that,” Gizmo answered and climbed onto the back of the stroller. While holding on he pushed with one of his leg’s causing the stroller to scoot.

“Forget one of us pushing.” Gene got up on the other leg and also gave it a push. They were able to scoot much faster.

They strolled down to an intersection and wasn’t sure where to move until Gizmo saw a few yellow pieces a few feet away. It was corn, now they know which way to go.

-
The gym was completely empty when they left the pool area. Even the ones that Gerald had said he had seen were gone. There was no trace of either of them nor the mogway, at least until Billy had looked up and saw chain made of paperclips hanging from the hole. Gizmo and Gene were here and made it to the roof and while Billy and the other goblins, and Brody, could climb through it they had decided it would be for the best for everyone to take the stairs and have Chuck to unlock the gate.

“Now we just have to figure out where they went,” Forster said as he and Clamp helped Chuck to lift the gate

“Gerald said there were other gremlins in the gym that stayed behind,” Murray said as everyone exited the hotel. “I’m pretty sure Giz and the other one knew about them and probably went back to spy on them and since they left they followed after them.”

“That would be like Gizmo to go after them,” Billy said as he remembered when he was their leader and there were a few left in the gym before they had gathered around the two pools. He remembered giving the order along with Razor and watched as how they all jumped in save for Razor and four others. “I don’t think Razor is dead. I don’t remember seeing him jump in, maybe it wasn’t spying but more like he saw them sneak out and they followed after them.”

“My little Gene being so brave,” Valerie said in a proud tone. “They have no way to communicate with us. Oh why didn’t they wait? There is no way the two of them could take on the others by themselves.”

“Yes they can,” Billy said along with Kate, his mother, and Murray.

“Oh trust me the can do it,” Clamp said. “Now that we are out of there it is time to split up. Team Clamp will take upstairs and the other teams keep looking down here.”

Billy didn’t watch as Clamp, Forster, Murry and Darwin climbed up the stationary escalator. He continued ahead walking as fast as he could, before he jogged, then tried to run on his feet and finally he dropped down to all fours and loped.

“Billy!” Kate shouted from behind. “Not all of us can run like that.”

Billy stopped and stood back up. He looked behind to watch the others catch up to him. He felt his ears lower in embarrassment, especially as poor Chuck was limping towards him, using Gerald’s golf club as a cane.

“Penny, Brody and I can,” Gerald said as he continued to walk upright. “But we don’t want to leave anyone behind.”

“Sorry,” Billy said and gave them a weak smile. “Is it weird seeing me run like that?”

“A little, dear,” his mother told him. “Is it for you?”

“After the first time it was, but I think we are getting used to it,” Billy answered and looked around. “We are at a crossroads, and that means our teams have to split.”

“We’ll go this way,” Chuck said as he pointed to the left with his hand. “The Cinemania is that way and we will check it out.”

“Then we will take the right,” Kate said as they turned. “And we will all stay together this time.”

“Again sorry,” Billy said and shrugged. A new fear had entered his mind. How were they going to cope? Would she want to stay married to him if he keeps on falling back on his instincts? He could learn to try and control himself but how were they going to make it work? Would she want to sleep in the same bed with him? She was going to be the one to take the kids to school every day and pick them up and he could forget going to watch them play soccer or softball, maybe they could get into basketball or hockey. Those games are indoors and as he thought about the games what if he loses his patience with them over a bad grade on a test or if they back talk or fight. He didn’t want to scare them, much less risk hurting them.

“Something is wrong,” Kate said after a few minutes. “Still worried about Gizmo?”

“A little, but I have also been thinking about us,” Billy answered. “Do you want to stay married to me?”

“Of course, what kind of question is that?”

“Are you sure you want to stay with a goblin?” Billy asked and glanced over his shoulder. His mother was in a deep conversation with Penny.

“Billy, I love you.”

“And I love you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am no longer human and I’m not just any human-gremlin hybrid but also one that happens to be a dark alpha like Razor or Stripe. Before mom slapped me to my senses I wanted to spawn more goblins. I wanted to multiply and lead and army of both goblins and gremlins. I was hoping this genius gremlin would be able to turn other humans into goblins so I could transform you into my goblin queen. I’m afraid of what is going to happen if I lose my human rationality and lash out at you, or our children.” He sighed and looked up when she placed her hands around his head and looked deep into his eyes.

“I said I love you and not matter what we will make this work. I will help you no matter that.” She kissed him. “You really wanted me to be your queen?”

“No other woman measures up to how amazing you are or how much I love you.”

“Penny, no,” his mother said. She and Penny were ahead of them and Penny had picked up something small and red. “Drop that immediately.”

“What is it?” Billy asked.

“It looks like a little red ball,” Penny said as she held it up. “And it smells nice.”

“You don’t know how long that’s been on the ground,” Billy’s mother said.

“May I see?” Billy asked as he held out his hand. As soon as she had placed the object he could tell it wasn’t a ball. It was cool to the touch and smooth and while firm on the outside he could give it a slight squeeze. “This is a cherry tomato.” He gave it another slight squeeze and sniffed it. Penny was right it had a sweet and very familiar aroma. He took a bite out of it.

“Billy,” Kate gasped. “That will be something I have to get used to.”

“I’m trying to set an example for your daughter here and you should know better,” his mother said.

“Hmm,” he mumbled while he chewed. That tomato was fresh, almost out of the ground fresh. “This didn’t come from any salad bar. It came from the vegetable gremlin hybrid. They have been here recently.”

“That means we are on the right path,” Kate said.

“I promise I won’t run this time,” Billy said. “But we have to hurry.”

-

Cinemania 4 was as abandoned as the rest of the mall and just as messy. There were turned over popcorn buckets on the floor along with crushed paper cups and bags and various candy boxes. The carpet was stained with soda and it was impossible to not step on any pieces of popcorn or candy. The mess was not unusual, granted it didn’t last long before the staff would clean it up.

“Should we check each theater,” Gerald asked. “Make sure we don’t find anything hiding under the seats?”

“We should check there and in the booth,” Chuck said. “We can each check one of them and meet back in the lobby in ten minutes.”

“I’ll let the others know where…” Valerie trailed off when she heard something shuffling around behind concessions. “We are and what we are—not alone.” The sound repeated itself and it was louder.

Chuck carefully leaned over the counter while he tried to ignore the pain in his leg and the Icy Hot Forster had used on him did help a little but he needed more medical attention and he will when everything was over. He shined his flashlight and instead of a shrieking gremlin he came across a frightened teen age girl with blond hair and freckles.
“Don’t hurt me,” the girl said as she shielded herself.

“I’m not,” Chuck said as he turned off the light and looked at the others. “She’s human and scared and-“ He turned back to look at her. “What are you doing here? We tried to get everyone, customers and employees out of the mall.” He held out a hand for her and she accepted.

“I work in the projection room and had all the movies running and I was reading and I lost track of time,” the girl explained as she slowly stood up. “No one came for me and I came down here and they were here.” She gasped and pointed at Gerald and Brody. “Oh god more of you? You want more yum yums? Sure do want some popcorn, or candy or nachos or take whatever you want.” She shoved a scoop of popcorn into a bucket and picked up a box of Raisinets . “See more yum yums.”

“It’s okay,” Valerie said. “They are not like that others, Brody is a good one.”

“And I used to be human,” Gerald added.

“Used to be,” the girl whispered as her eyes went even wider. “Did they all used to be human? Is that what is going on?” She pointed at Gerald. “Is he halfway through transforming? Am I going to turn into one?”

“No, no It doesn’t work that way,” Chuck said as he placed his hand behind her back and read her name tag. “Now, Stacy I need you to try and keep calm. Those things, those gremlins came from a genetics lab.”

“The labs made the creatures and they escaped and now they are transforming everyone into them.” She folded herself back up into a ball.

“Aw shit, I’m only making it worse,” Chuck said.

“I am one of the scientists,” Valerie said. “And I am sorry for what has happened. The monsters started out as something different and went through a pupae stage. An evil man used the blood from the monsters and turned poor Mr. Hopkins into a half human and half gremlin hybrid. It is not contagious. You will not transform.”

“I’m not going to turn, I’m not going to turn,” Stay said as she sat back up.

“I don’t want to scare her,” Gerald said. “Neither does Brody.”

“No one wants to scare anyone,” Chuck said. “We are going to try and get you out of here, Stacy, but we need to know if they are here.”

“Yes, they’re here, they’re here. I gave them yum yums I show them the cartoon movie.”

“Cartoon movie,” Chuck and Valerie said at the same time.

“Mulan,” Gerald said as he pointed at the sign. “Theater 3.”

They ran towards the third theater and Chuck opened the door a crack. On the screen he could see a bright red dragon creature surfing down an avalanche and when he looked down at the seats he could see they were full of gremlins.

-

Chapter Text

Chapter 24: Food Court Showdown

-

Gerald could hear the action from the movie and after listening a few lines from the dragon character he knew they were in the avalanche scene. He had seen it twice with his daughters when it first came out, they begged to see it again before Jenny came by to pick them up, and he loved it as much as they did. His favorite was the dragon, mostly because the actor doing the voice was also a favorite of his. The only sound he didn’t hear was the sound of gremlins.

“Are you sure they are in there?” He asked as he leaned in closer to the door. “I can’t hear them.” He raised his large ears and pointed at them. “And yes they hear very well.”

“They are sitting still and are silent,” Chuck explained with a shrug. “It’s like they are entranced by what they are watching.”

“It’s a good movie,” Gerald said and placed a hand on Brody’s head. “I’m going to buy the VHS and we can all watch it at my place when it comes to video.”

“Popcorn?” Brody asked with a pleading look in his eyes. He had brought along the bucket of popcorn and box of candy that was on the counter.

“Of course, and candy and maybe I’ll put some pizza rolls in the microwave.” Those snacks sounded pretty good right now and he was a little hungry. “May I?” he waited for Brody to nod before he grabbed a small handful of fluffy white kernels.

“How are we going to kill these guys?” Chuck asked as he leaned back against the wall. “Can you radio the others?”

“On it,” Valerie said as she pressed the button on the radio. “This is Mall team three and we have gremlins in the theater. I repeat a full room or house of gremlins.”

“What in the movies?” Clamp’s voice was heard.

“Just the one theater or all of them?” Kate was the second to respond.

“None in this one,” Chuck said after he had checked another theater. “Nope.” He limped to the last one and looked inside. “Not a single one, just watching the cartoon.”

“They are only watching Mulan,” Valerie explained.

“I love that movie,” Clamp said on his end. “Do you have any ideas on how to take care of them?”

“Last time they watched a Disney movie we blew up the theater,” Kate said. “And I agree with Billy, we really don’t want to have to blow up anything again.”

“Okay no go on explosions,” Clamp said. “Anything else?”

“Do we have enough ammo?” Gerald asked and realized that wouldn’t work. “No several will still escape, and we don’t want to burn the place down.” The gremlins would just use the emergency exit….and get fried by the sun.” He grinned as the idea came to him. “I know we are not supposed to cry fire in a crowded theater but if they think the front is burning would they try to use the emergency exit?”

“Not if they know it’s still sunlight out,” Billy said through the radio. “You are on the right path.”

“Not the exits near the front of the screen,” Chuck said. He was staring at a door that said employees only. “They exit through there.” He pointed at the door. “It goes into the halls the mall employees all use. I know where all these tunnels go and sure it can be like a labyrinth at times but I know where to lead them. We are close to the Unlimited store and their loading dock which we can access through here. We get all the gremlins in there and open up the garage door.”

“And fry them,” Gerald said in a grin. “Peltzers you have that?”

“That would work,” Billy’s voice was heard. “Great idea.”

“We need someone on the outside to open the garage,” Gerald said.

“Leave that to me,” Clamp said. “Forster and I will go out and Murray will stay here with Darwin. We’ll let you know when we are in position or have someone on the outside ready for you.”

“Whatever we do I don’t want to get that poor kid involved,” Gerald said as he thought of the girl hiding behind the counter. He felt like crap making her more scared than she was before. “Just leave her out of this.”

“That poor girl,” Valerie agreed. “And I feel sorry for you, Mr. Hopkins. You were kidnapped and forced to become the creature you are and people see you like this and treat you like a monster. I vow not to rest until we can turn you back.”

“I appreciate your kindness,” Gerald said. “Promise me you won’t run yourself ragged to the point you get sick from working so hard.”

“I will try.” She smiled.

“I think I have the details figured out,” Chuck said. “We wait for Clamp to get outside and near the garage, but don’t open it. One of us goes upstairs and turns off the movie. Then another explains what is happening and the others direct everyone out into the tunnel.”

“I’ll go up and turn off the movie,” Valerie suggested.

“No I will,” Gerald said. “The two of you have to inform the gremlins and lead them out.” He pressed his lips together. “Okay I know I don’t want to involve the girl but maybe ask to borrow her vest. Chuck works in security so it makes sense for him to divert them for security purposes.”

“I will see,” Valerie said before she headed back to the lobby.

Gerald approached the door that lead to the projection room. He was ready and he nodded at Chuck who had the walkie-talkie. They just needed to wait for Clamp.

-

The stroller had been ditched the second they came across a skateboard that was propped up against a potted plant, most likely left behind by some gremlins who snagged it from one of the shops, and the two mogwai were able to travel even faster as they followed down the path of the last gremlins. It wasn’t just the random vegetable they were able to find or the distant laughing but also the occasional punched in cracks along the walls.

The skateboard slowed down as they grew closer to the food court and the sounds of laughter had increased. The two of them had abandoned their ride and ran up to the nearest trash can and peered around.

“Ya!” The punching kangaroo gremlin jabbed a fist forward and then jumped twice before he struck out his fist in another direction. “Put em up. Come on. Put up your dukes. Fight me.”

“He’s the guard,” Gizmo said after a few seconds. “He doesn’t seem that bright.”

“How are going to get past him?” Gene asked.

“Like I said not that smart. He should be easy to sneak past.” He pointed to the nearest table. “As fast as you can and go.”

The ran towards the table and hid under it before they turned around. The puncher didn’t even notice them. Gizmo pointed to the next table and the two of them ran using the various tables as covers.

A crash came from one of the eating establishments and they peered out and around. The gremlins were knocking stuff over, probably looking for something to eat.

Gizmo was ready and he was far away from the puncher that he stepped out into the opening. He looked up at the one gremlin sitting on the counter of the Taco place with his back turned. He removed an arrow from the quiver, took aim and fired.

The pencil arrow shot forward and shot through the gremlin’s neck.

Gizmo dropped to the ground and rolled back to where Gene was waiting and watched the gremlin as it gurgled and flailed before it grabbed at the wooden piece sticking in its throat. Bubbles of saliva and green blood formed in its mouth before it keeled over.

“Nobody noticed,” Gene said with his eyes wide open. “There is another one at the ice cream place.”

Gizmo nodded and crawled out from under the table and snuck closer. The gremlin in question was gorging on waffle cones. This was going to be another easy shot. He docked his arrow and let the arrow fly and landed right in the chest. He ducked behind another trash can and watched.

The gremlin looked down at his chest and pulled out the pencil, only for green blood to shoot out and all over the counter before it also fell over.

“He dead,” a gremlin had said.

“So is this guy,” Another one added.

“What is going on over there?”

Gizmo ducked under another table while he watched as chaos unfolded and also tried to find Gene but he couldn’t find the other mogwai.

-

Gerald had the door to the stairs open and was ready to run. He just had to wait for the moment.

“We are ready,” Clamp’s voice came from the walkie-talkie. “Got some people to come help us. Are you ready now?”

“Not yet,” Chuck said into the radio. Valerie had handed it over to him. “Got to get the little bastards there, Gerald go.”

Gerald ran up the steps and heard Brody following behind. He could use the help from the reluctant gremlin. It was quiet in there and only one projector was running and that had to be the movie in question.

“Where is the off switch?” Gerald asked as he examined the machine. He had no idea what to touch.

“Off,” Brody said as he climbed onto the machine and pulled the reels off one at a time causing strange flashes of color to appear on the screen followed by several gremlins shouting boo and angry growls and hissing.

“That’s one way to do things,” Gerald said as he scratched his head. “I guess even you can be destructive as the others.” He pat the gremlin on the back.
“Did I help?”

“You did great, little buddy.” He stared down and could see a tall figure walk up and down one aisle and he strained to hear, although he didn’t strain that much.

“We have to use a different route to evacuate,” Valerie’s voice was heard. “We need to follow the security officer to safety, please leave in an orderly fashion.”

Of course the gremlins were anything but orderly. They vaulted themselves over the chairs as they ran towards the exit and raced as fast as they could. They were screeching, whooping and laughing as they ran out.

“Okay guys,” Gerald as he leaned back against a wall. “Good luck.” He took a deep breath before Brody sat down next to him and together they munched on their snack of popcorn and candy.

-

“Everyone listen up and you will be okay,” Chuck lied as he lead the gremlins down the hall. He looked behind him and the small horde was staying close behind. “Now turn left and I’ll get into a room with a big door that will let you out into the mall.”

It didn’t take him long before he reached the loading dock. He opened the door and watched as the little imps ran inside. He waited for all of them to enter before he closed the door behind him.

“Clamp now!” He shouted and pressed his back against the door. He could hear the door open followed by pain filled screams. The door behind him vibrated and shook as he heard several of them trying to get out. The screams increased while scratching sounds were heard. It only lasted for a few minutes before the sounds faded. He waited one more minute and opened the door and was greeted by the warmth of the late afternoon sun and a hundred green puddles. One puddle had a small trench coat and a pair of sunglasses.
“How did we do?” A figure appeared in front of the garage and waved. It was Clamp. “It looks like we won this part of the battle.”

“Don’t know how much more battles we will have to face,” Chuck said. “We just turned a bunch into goo. “We need to regroup and maybe have Mr. Forster guide this cinema employee in here outside. She is traumatized.”

“There are still employees inside?” Clamp asked in a confused tone. “No problem we will get her to safety.”

“I’ll go back to the others and let Team Peltzer know what happened.” So far, so good they are going to get rid of the little creeps.

-

Gene couldn’t let Gizmo do all the work while he just sat there. Sure his genetic father had many years of experience, but he had shared some of those memories with Gizmo and should know how to fight, granted he was not proficient with a bow and arrow like the older mogwai he could at least help out in another way.

He found one of the nearest eateries had a little swing door section as part of the counter. He ran towards and pushed with all his strength and that was a little too much because he tumbled into the place. Well he was inside and it was time to cause a distraction. He used his spear to knock over some red and yellow condiment bottles and while it did make a sound it didn’t seem to call attention. He needed something louder.

He found a bright red plastic bucket and turned it over before he climbed up on it and reached up and pulled on a shelf. He pulled it all the way and it did come out and of course he couldn’t hold it. He fell backwards while he spilled the knives that were in the drawer.

“Something is from over here,” a voice cried out.

“Distraction,” Gene said as he lifted the bottom of the bucket and slid under along with his spear.

It wasn’t long before he could hear a gremlin enter the establishment. He could hear the grunts and footsteps of the enemy and the sounds were growing closer. Gene just had to time it just right and he stuck out the blunt end of the spear.

“Oof,” the gremlin grunted as it tripped.

It was now or never. Gene tossed the bucket aside but instead of his spear he grabbed one of the knives and plunged it into the chest of the gremlin and for good measure he shoved two more knives into its body.

“Wow,” he gasped when he realized what he had done. He had killed his first gremlin.

Snarling brought Gene’s attention to what was behind him and turned around to see another gremlin that was about to pounce on him. He grabbed another knife and a spear and was ready to defend himself when the gremlin pounced.

Instead of landing on Gene who stepped to the side at the last second it landed on one of the spilled condiment bottles and the bottle rolled backwards with the gremlin trying to balance on it, the bottle finally came to the a stop at the leg of a table and the gremlin went flying and landed head first in the grease filled vat of a deep fryer.

“Time to cook,” Gene said as he ran over with the bucket. He climbed on top and turned on the fryer and jumped down when the bubbling of grease cooking was heard. The smell of deep fried gremlin was horrible, almost bad enough to cause Gene to vomit.

He covered his nose as he walked away and almost walked into leafy green legs with ears of corn growing out of the thighs. He looked up as the vegetable gremlin stared down at him.

“Mogwai,” the gremlin said as he pointed at him with carrot like fingers.

“Not afraid,” Gene said as he stepped backwards and felt the presence of another gremlin behind him. “Uh oh?” He reached behind and felt something sharp and spiky.

“Uh oh, yes,” the voice behind him said, causing a cold fingers to climb down Gene’s back. “Gene, Caca.”

“Razor?” Gene asked as he turned around and came face to face with the spiky gremlin.

“I hoped to find you sooner or later,” Razor said. “Never thought you would be stupid enough to try and look for me.”

“Maybe I want to prove a point,” Gene said. “That I don’t have to eat after midnight to become a vicious killer. See I killed those guys all by myself.”

“Oh I know you did and you think I am pleased that you killed two of my shrinking army?” He picked up the trembling mogwai and glared at him. “It won’t be much longer now. In a couple of hours it will be night.”

“Our friends are looking for uh-me and they will find you.”

“I know. In fact I’m hoping for it and that grease will be a part of it, soon we will have a fire and that will cause to sprinklers to go off and that means more of us.”

Gene tried not to show fear as Razor carried him from out of the eatery. He didn’t know where any of the other gremlins are except for the punching one who was now standing in the middle of the food court and next to another dead gremlin that was embedded with two more arrows.

“I know who did that,” Razor said. “I know because we have him.”

Four other gremlins walked up to them. One was pale and short, another was tall and fat a third was teal in color and covered in metal hangers, jewelry, office supplies and other forms of metal including a cheese grater, and the fourth would not stop laughing. Gene recognized them as Chuckles, Garrison and Butterball, but seeing the three of them did not put Gene into unease it was what Chuckles and Butterball were holding. They were both holding onto a sad Gizmo.

Chapter Text

Chapter 25: Final Battle
-
Gizmo tried to wiggle out of the grasps out of the two gremlins that held him but to no avail. He had failed in trying to take on Razor. He had thought he would be able to since he had taken on the former carnations of the lead gremlin granted Stripe and Mohawk were alone both those times and even with Gene’s help eleven gremlins might have been too much for them, at least there were five less.

“Gizmo,” Razor hissed while constantly baring his teeth. He held the loathing scowl for only a few seconds before the corners of his mouth turned up into a grin, a very unsettling grin. “I wanted to kill you for so long, although torturing you is fun, much more fun and I like to have fun.” He walked over to the magnetic gremlin and pulled off two large knives that were stuck to him.

“Do what you want with me,” Gizmo said in defiance. He was prepared for the worst. “Let Gene go. I’m the one you want, not him.”
You care about your clone, don’t you?” Razor said before he walked over to where Vegetable and Gene were. “Before I play with you, we are going to play with him and you are going to watch and at midnight we will kill him right before your eyes and you know what we will do after?” He brought the tip of one of the knives against the nose of a trembling Gene who had his ears lowered.

“Kill me?”

“No my dear little goody two shoes, we will force you to eat and you will become one of us.”

Gizmo’s ears lowered as he gasped and he knew it was the reaction Razor was looking for and tried to hide it and he was able to turn it into a grin when he saw a goblin approach them, although he did not know who this goblin was since he was brown, had chestnut colored hair and wore glasses along with a child sized suit.

“So that is your game,” the goblin said in a refined voice. “Turning him into something that he hates. As for punishments that is quite clever, although that wasn’t your idea, not originally.”

“You?” Razor blinked and pointed at him. “It worked.”

“It did take longer than I had expected,” the new goblin said. “But as you can see it works.” He held up his briefcase. “I have more in here and my offer still stands.” His smug grin faded when Razor smacked his hand against the briefcase, nearly knocking it out of the goblin’s clutches.

“No goblin,” the gremlin leader snarled.

“No goblin.” The others chimed in.

“I don’t just have the human serum in here,” the goblin said as he set the case down on the chair and popped it open. “I do have some of it to turn some of my former species into creatures like me and the serum that would change humans, but I have others.” He looked back up at them and grinned. “It is quite obvious the human friends of your imprisoned mogwai will be here any second and even with the boxing champion you have on your side they still have the advantage, especially if they have weapons.” He pulled out three syringes “No human in here, but there are other animal serums that could give you and your party the advantage.” He walked over to Garrison. “Allow me to demonstrate.” He inserted the needle.

“Hey,” Garrison said as he was being injected.

“That should do it.” The goblin placed the syringe back into his briefcase and turned around to watch.

Garrison shuddered as his bottom bulged and another pair of arms grew from his middle. Two sets of translucent insect wings sprouted from his back. From the end of his bottom a stinger emerged.

“Apidae apis, or the common honey bee,” the goblin explained. “And just in time.”

Gizmo could hear the approaching steps and turned to see Billy, Kate, Billy’s mom and Penny run towards the food court.

“Billy,” Razor hissed.

“Oh, he betrayed you has he?” The goblin asked as punching gremlin leapt and Garrison flew off towards Billy and the others. “I could give all you some upgrades, make you even more stronger.”

“Yeah,” Butterball said and nodded while Chuckles also nodded his head.

“All I want is the other mogwai. Valerie is quite fond of little Gene and I am certain she will be grateful when she sees him safe and sound.”

Gizmo looked at Razor who seemed to just shrug before he nodded. The vegetable gremlin handed over a squirming Gene to the goblin. Gizmo felt himself being grabbed by the spiky gremlin before he was handed over to the half plant gremlin.

“Now for my part of the bargain,” the goblin said as he injected both Butterball and Chuckles. “Bovidae bos tauros and chlamyphoridaw tolypeutes. The bovine bull and three banded armadillo.”

Butterball grew taller and his legs longer and more muscular. His feet shifted into hooves and two large bull horns grew on his head. He swept one hoof on the floor, snorted and charged towards Billy and the others.

Chuckles continued to laugh as he mutated. His ears grew longer and floppier and his feet grew longer and he developed a fluffy tail.

“What?” The goblin asked as he stared at the empty syringe. “Lepus L Californicus?” He sighed. “I am sorry I mixed up the armadillo with the black tailed jack rabbit.”
Chuckles jumped a few times before he bolted and ran around in circles before he joined the others.

“Well I guess it does have some benefits,” the goblin said with a shrug. “Are you certain you wouldn’t like anything to give you a winning edge, King Razor?” He waited for the gremlin to shake his head no before he grabbed his suitcase. “Very well, then we shall be off.” The goblin walked away with Gene.

“Bye-bye,” Gizmo said sadly as he waved at Gene who looked over the goblin’s shoulder and waved back, at least the other mogwai was going to be safe.

-

“There they are,” Billy said as they approached the food court. He could see several gremlins, including razor and he could see both mogwai, one was being held by Butterball and Chuckles and the vegetable one was holding Gene. He wasn’t sure why the gremlins came here, unless they just got hungry again.

“Another goblin?” His mother asked and sure enough there was another one in a suit. There was something very familiar about him, especially the way he gestured when he talked and that briefcase he was holding. There was only one brown gremlin that walked around with a briefcase.

“Helix,” Billy said as soon as he realized who it was. “So his serum did eventually work.”
“Billy?” Kate had touched his arm.
The punching gremlin was leaping straight for them.
“Hold it,” Billy said as he stepped in front and held out his arms. “Easy their champ.”
“Put up your dukes,” the gremlin said.
“If you insist,” Billy said before he socked the gremlin as hard as he could in the chest and received a punch to the face. “Owe.”

“More are coming,” Kate said as a white bee like gremlin was flying their way. Great they were mutating again. The bee gremlin had to be Garrison and he was flying straight towards his mother.

“Get away from my grandma!” Penny shouted before she smacked the small white flying gremlin with her pan and sent him tumbling backwards in the air.

“Another one,” Kate said as a bull like gremlin came charging towards them and sent them scattering. Billy had leaped onto the top of a trash can and Kate and his mother had jumped or side stepped to the side. Their weapons were scattered as was the old beach towel he had used a cloak.

“Looks like it is a divide and conquer,” Billy said as the punching gremlin bounced towards him.

“I’ll take the rock em sock em one,” Kate volunteered as she got back onto her feet. She tackled the kangaroo gremlin. “Try and get me.” She ran back to where her sword was on the ground.

“Right,” Billy said and rubbed his jaw before he jumped down. It was time for him to get vicious again. He turned to face the Butterbull while snarling at him. The mutated gremlin was as tall as him now and he was charging again. Billy waited until the last second before he jumped and tried to swipe at the gremlin with his claws and missed. Well if acting like a gremlin wasn’t going to work then he had to act or think like a human and how does a human fight a bull?

“Come back here you,” his mother shouted as she tried to chase around Chuckles who was now running around twice as fast as a regular gremlin.

“Fight a bull, fight a bull,” Billy mumbled as the idea came to him. “Of course.” He was glad he kept the towel and picked it up off the floor. “Oh Butterball.” He held up the sheet. “Toro toro, ole?”

Butterball snorted and swept the ground with his hoof twice before he charged again and Billy side stepped him.

“Take that,” Penny said as she continued to swat at Garrison with her pan. “And that, and that.”

Kate managed to block the strikes from the kangaroo and smiled before she brought her foot up and kicked him between the legs.

Billy continued his dance with Butterbull, waving the towel and luring him away. He couldn’t keep it up forever and had to kill Razor and rescue the mogwai. He had one more idea since the mutated gremlin was pretty dumb and he seems to fall into a routine.

“Toro Bueno,” Billy said to him. “Toro, toro.” He waved the sheet this time in front of a brick wall and hoped it would work. “Toro, toro, ole.” He watched as the gremlin bull charged and he kept the sheet up and ready. At the last second he dropped it and the bull struck head first into the wall.

With that one gremlin out of commission for a little while he could help the others.

The head of the kangaroo gremlin rolled out in front of him. He looked up to see Kate as she lowered the blade, stained with green blood.

“Now for the other two,” Billy said and turned to face Garrison who was on the ground and just twitching. “Or one?” He looked for his mother and Chuckles who was also twitching. He turned to where the Butterbull was and it was also vibrating like the others. “What is going on?”

The three mutated gremlins kept on vibrating before bulges appeared on their bodies and then they expanded, growing bloated before they shrank back down again and expanded once more and shrank back to regular size before they shriveled up like raisins and melted into three puddles.

“Why did they do that?” Penny asked. She still had her pan raised but lowered it down and tilted her head. “Did anyone use electricity?”

“I must have failed to mention that side effect.” The voice belonged to Helix and Billy turned to see the former gremlin had returned with his briefcase and Gene. “The animal serum did transform them instantly as I had hoped and the other compound took effect a few minutes later causing their cellular structure to instantly disintegrate.” He set the mogwai down who ran straight towards Billy’s mom.

“Why are you here?” Billy asked, trying to keep his voice from growling. “Whose side are you on and are you plan on using your mutating and disintegrating serums on us?”

“I do not blame you for your reservations about me, my dear William, but the animal serums were not meant for humans but for them.” He pointed at the puddles. “I had them prepared when I made the others but I didn’t have enough to take on the whole army if I wished. I had a feeling you were going to take care of them and you have.” He gave him a polite grin and a brief applause. “I do have to give your performance as King Billy the proper respect it had deserved. You almost even had me convinced you turned against humanity.”

“I was actually starting to turn,” Billy said in a weak voice. “Then I had some sense slapped into me.” He turned to his mother. “Thanks mom.”

“My plan would have been perfect,” Helix said. “Except for the one detail. I was hoping Razor would also accept, but we will have to find another way.”

“What is this we?” Billy asked as he folded his arms.

“He okay, he okay,” Gene explained.

“I explained everything to young Gene as was the original plan was that I would bring the mogwai to safety and after the four disintegrated then Gizmo would be safe.”

“Gizmo,” Billy gasped before he turned back to where he last saw his friend and nearly collided with the vegetable gremlin who was running up to them with Gizmo in his arms.
“Fire bad, fire bad,” the vegetable one said before he was slugged in the face by Kate.

“Giz!” Billy took his mogwai into his arms and gave him a hug. “I missed you so much.” He stared into the warm brown eyes of his friend before he stroked the top of his head. “So glad you are okay.” He pulled the purring mogwai back for another hug.

“Billy,” Gizmo said and hugged him back. “I miss you.”

“Missed you as well. Are you okay with me being like this?”

“It is strange but I know it is you, my good friend,” Gizmo answered before he looked back to the center of the food court. “Razor.”

Billy heard the ringing of the fire alarm and turned to see Razor standing in the middle where several chairs were on fire. Almost instantly the sprinklers turned on.

“Uh oh,” Gizmo said as not only the sprinklers over the fire were turned on but other sprinklers had started.

“Cover the mogwai,” Billy said and pointed to the nearest store. “Inside now.” He grabbed the unconscious vegetable gremlin and hauled him into the store. It was an athletic apparel store the gremlins did not touch and more importantly it was dry.

The others had also ran inside and even though a few drops got on Helix and Penny it was not enough to cause any kind of an reaction.

“How are we going to stop them?” Penny asked as she stared out of one of the display windows.

Blisters had developed on the back of Razor while the other gremlin just started to twitch while sparks bounced over his body. It had ran off and only made it a few feet before it had started to melt. Well at least that was one down.

“Not sure,” Billy answered as he ran his claws through his slightly damp hair. It wasn’t enough for him to multiply. “We go out there and get wet and there will be more of us as well.”

“Two of you don’t have that problem,” Helix said as he gestured at the two human women. He was right.

“Mom,” Billy said as he looked at his mother and then at his wife. “Kate. It’s up to the two of you.”

“Don’t worry about us,” his mother said and gave him a kiss on the top of the head.

“We’ll be right back,” Kate added before she kissed him on the lips. “Well, mom, let's be heroes.” She grabbed onto the hilt of the sword and ran off with Lynn behind her.

-

Kate felt her heart racing as she ran towards the spawning gremlin. She had never fought against the gremlin leader before. In the past she assisted Billy with blowing up the Kingston Falls movie theater and by trying to find the right switches in the department store, eight years ago she pulled the fire alarm so people would leave the building and she assisted Billy with his idea and now she was going to take on the lead gremlin.

“Katie,” Razor said her name. His back was covered with the bubble like bulges and there were several small gremlins on the ground already and they were growing. He also had two knives.

“Hello Razor,” Kate said as she swung her sword and was blocked by the knives. She swung again and again only to be blocked by the gremlin. “Looks like you may have won this time.”

“I did win,” Razor said as more gremlins crawled out. He lashed at her with the blade only to be blocked. “King Razor.”

“You forgot about me,” Kate said as she swung her blade again. “I’m not the victim this time.”

“Where my blood brother?” Razor asked. “Where Billy?”

“Safe and dry,” Kate answered before she swung again and once again was blocked but it was just the one knife, freeing the other to strike her arm. She cried out in pain.

“Victim,” Razor chuckled as the first group of gremlins had reached their full height and a third group climbed out. “I win.”

“You forgot something else,” Kate told him.

“Huh?” Razor asked right before he vibrated and sparks danced over his body.

“You forgot about Billy’s mother,” Kate answered as Lynn Peltzer stepped away from the gremlin while she was holding a stun gun. Kate plunged the sword into Razor’s chest before she pulled it out and swung down and swiped at a few more of the new adult gremlins who had their backs about to burst with more spawn. Several heads went flying.

“I fry em and you carve em,” Lynn said as she used her stun gun on the other gremlins.

Kate continued to stab and slice the gremlins until they were all dead and the sprinklers had begun to shut themselves off, one at a time.

“That’s all of them,” Lynn said with a smile. “It’s over, again.”

“Almost,” Kate told her. “There is still one left.” She thought of the vegetable gremlin. “I’m pretty sure the others have taken care of it.”

They made their way back to the shop, soaked with water and clothes stained green by gremlin blood. Kate had handed Lynn the sword while she continued to hold onto her bleeding arm and paused where the dead gremlins were to retrieve the towel Billy had used to wrap up her arm.

“We did it,” Kate said as they entered the store and paused. She couldn’t see where they others were. “Billy? Gizmo?”

The only sounds she could hear were crunching and munching sounds followed by a few “Yum yums.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 26: Escape from the Mall
-
Kate tensed up as she heard the various sounds of creatures snacking. She thought the ordeal was over. They have gotten them all haven’t they? There couldn’t have been any gremlins in this store. The only creatures were three goblins, including her husband and two mogwai, well there was the one gremlin, but it would easily be subdued by the others

“Kate, what is it?” Lynn whispered as she approached Kate from behind. “Where is Billy?”

“He should be in here,” Kate said as she felt her grip on the sword’s hilt tighten. She took a deep breath and walked around some clothing racks. There was nothing there but when she stepped around a clearance rack she recoiled at what she found. There was a skeleton on the ground, a two and half foot skeleton with two green gremlin feet attached and one green hand connected at the wrist and everything else had been stripped, even the skull was bare except for the eyeballs.

“What is that?” Lynn asked as she pointed at the bones with a shaking a damp finger and Kate was sure she was shaking because of the cold wet clothes and not out of fear. “Was that a gremlin?”

“It was,” Kate said as she continued towards the munching sounds and stopped when she came upon Billy and the others, sitting down and facing each other in a circle. “Billy?”

“Kafe?” Billy sat up and turned around with a half-eaten potato in his mouth. He pulled it out. “Hey your back and you did it. We saw you stab Razor.”

“What. Are. You. Doing?” She asked while she stared at the others. Penny was chewing on a carrot, Helix had an ear of corn in his mouth, Gene was chewing on leaves and Gizmo had just popped in a tomato into his mouth.

“Having a healthy snack,” Billy explained as he pointed at the pile of vegetables in the middle. “Vegetables are better for you than candy.” He took another bite out of the potato.

“Where did they get the vegetables?” Lynn asked before her eyes widened. “It came from that gremlin, didn’t it? It was that one made out of vegetables, and they are eating it. Billy, oh please stop that.”

“Billy, you are eating a raw potato and more importantly you are all eating a gremlin,” Kate wasn’t sure what to make of all this. It was disgusting, that was for certain but they were not eating any actual gremlin flesh, but fresh raw vegetables as if they were just pulled out of a garden, still knowing where it came from caused her stomach to turn.

“He was mostly vegetable and it tastes just like fresh raw veggies,” Billy explained with a weak smile. “It doesn’t really feel like cannibalism to me. I guess because I started out as a human.” He turned to the others. “What about you?”

“I suppose from my vantage it would appear that way,” Helix said as he stared at the half eaten ear. “But he was always pulling off plants from himself and giving them to others to eat. This is a fitting demise for him.”

“Kate, mom, I’m sorry,” Billy said as he lowered his ears. “I didn’t mean to gross you out. We were just hungry.” He dropped the potato. “Sorry…I keep warning you…and I’m trying to think more like a human and-”

“It is going to be okay,” Kate said as she lowered herself to her knees and stroked the bottom of his chin. “This is an adjustment for everyone.” She kissed him.

“You stop eating that gremlin and we will go home and get you a nice home cooked meal,” Lynn said. “All of you.”

“What about him?” Kate asked and pointed at Helix. “What do we do with him?”

“He’s nice, can he come also?” Penny asked.

“I don’t exactly trust him,” Billy said as he stood back up. “He was willing to side with me and Razor when I went full Hei’an Linxu.”

“But I did help you,” Helix pointed out. “I helped everyone at the end and if Razor had taken the formula as well then it would have been perfect for everyone.”

“You were willing to betray the humans you had just befriended,” Billy said as he pulled Helix up and glared into his eyes. “You wanted to transform Valerie into a goblin against her wishes because you think that would make her fall in love with you.” His pupils narrowed into cat like slits.

“Billy,” Kate said slowly.

“And that was a mistake,” Helix said as he removed Billy’s grip from his jacket.

“Maybe he was lying to you and Razor?” Penny suggested. “He pretended to be on your side.”

“She is astute,” Helix said. “While I did want to transform her and me I also was trying to gain Razor’s trust so I could defeat him with my special formula, but I had to bide my time, wait for their numbers to go down and while I did want to benefit my species I realized the best that I could do for them is to help them evolve into goblins.”

“Do you expect me to believe you?” Billy hissed out the question.

“Sweetie,” Kate said softly and put her hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“You are getting a little aggressive again,” Lynn added.

“You both are right,” Billy said as he took in a deep breath. “I still don’t like him and I don’t trust him.”

“I believe him,” Penny said. “Maybe when he became a goblin he became better and Gene trusts him.”

“Uh huh,” the cloned mogwai agreed.

“Honey, mom?” Billy asked as he looked up at them before he turned to Gizmo. “What do you think, Giz?”

“Our side,” Gizmo said and placed his hand on top of Billy’s.

“He did help us back there,” Lynn said. “But I understand why you don’t want to trust him.”

“I’m with you, Billy,” Kate said. “But maybe we should let Clamp decide if he wants Helix here at his place. We will figure this all out.” It was time to call Mr. Clamp and the others.

-

Gerald wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the theater was cleared out. He and Brody spent the first few minutes finishing off their popcorn and the box of Milk duds that were given to them and it was a nice snack considering all he had to eat since he emerged from his cocoon was a cinnamon roll, a bag of chips, a Snickers, and most recently the theater snacks.

“I hope we get a real meal soon,” Gerald said as Brody was sniffing the empty candy box. “Mrs. Peltzer offered to make us her meatloaf.”

“Meatloaf?” Brody lowered the box and tilted his head to the side.

“It’s a type of food,” Gerald explained. “You take ground beef and some bread crumbs and mix I with an egg and seasoning and place it in a bread pan and there is this crust on top that usually involves ketchup, but from what I remembered Billy’s mom didn’t use ketchup. I can’t remember if it was Worcester or A1.”

“It yum?”

“Depends on how you prepare and cook it and Billy’s mother makes the best meatloaf.”

“You make meatloaf?” Brody pointed at him.

“Not as good as hers,” Gerald said. “I’m been trying to improve my cooking and when I have my girls over Lily and I work together. Our specialty is homemade French bread pizza.”

“Pizza is yum.”

“Hello?” Chuck’s voice was heard from the entrance to the control room. “You two still in there?”

“We are,” Gerald answered as he made his way downstairs to the door. “Did we win?” He opened and saw Chuck who had a pleased grin on his face and was leaning on his golf club cane. “I take it we did.”

“Oh we did,” Chuck said as he held up his radio. “Billy’s team is on their way over and so is Mr. Futterman and Darwin and uh Valerie is getting some stuff for you guys.”

“Stuff?” Gerald asked. “What kind of stuff? If anyone needs anything it would be you, maybe a compress and an ace bandage for your leg, at least until you get it checked out.”

“More caps and sunglasses,” Chuck explained. “And there is a costume shop on the second floor and she is going to find wigs for you guys and a large backpack that Brody can fit in and of course more foundation.”

“Why do we need to disguise ourselves?” He stared at his hands and how most of the original makeup was smudged off. “Nobody here, except us.”

“For now, but Clamp warned us police are about to enter and we don’t know if they will shoot first and ask questions later when they see you guys.”

“Good point.” He hadn’t thought about that. “Should we stay upstairs until they get here?”

“I guess it is up to guys, but I am going to take it easy and stay with Stacy and try to keep her calm until they get her out…and we will need to get out…damn.”

“We are going to be in disguise right?” Gerald asked.

“But it’s only six forty,” Chuck explained. “We have at least an hour and a half before the sun sets.”

“Damn,” Gerald muttered. “Maybe by the time we get the wigs and stuff on it might be dark enough.

“Stay low,” Chuck said and held out his hands. “I’m going to check on Stacy.”

-

A few more minutes had passed and Futterman and Darwin had returned and Gerald wished he saved some of the popcorn for the other goblin. He also wished he had something to drink.

“Talked with the kid,” Futterman said as he pointed towards the lobby with his thumb. “He is in contact with the others and told Clamp is prepping the cops to lead in but he wants everyone together.”

“And we will be here,” Gerald said. They just had to wait for Billy and his group.

They didn’t have to wait much longer. Billy, Kate and the others returned along with Valerie who had a couple of bags with they were going to need. They also brought along another goblin, one that he hadn’t seen before.

“This is Helix,” Valerie introduced as she pointed at the brown goblin.

“I am charmed to make your acquaintance,” Helix said and did not seem to notice the daggers that Billy was glaring into the back of his head. Gerald had no idea why Peltzer hated this guy but there might have been some reason.

“He used to be a gremlin and he changed himself,” Valerie explained while she handed the bag to Lynn.

“How?” Futterman asked. “What did he do, remake the cocktail that mutated Darwin here?”

“He apparently did,” Kate said with a shrug. “And he made a solution that not only mutated gremlins but also caused them to disintegrate a few minutes later.”

“So he is on our side?” Gerald asked as he gently scratched the top of his head.

“Yes he is,” Valerie answered and both mogwais and Penny agreed but Billy just growled and continued to glare at the former gremlin while Lynn shrugged.

“Kind of,” Kate said. “Right now we need to give all you goblins a makeover.” She approached Gerald and Darwin and handed both of them wigs and a few bottles of foundation and gave Darwin a pair of sunglasses.

“Let me help you with that,” Gerald said as he dabbed on some of the makeup on Darwin’s face and spread it around while Futterman applied it to his arms and hands, after a few minutes the teal goblin had a decent amount of coverage.

“Don’t forget yourself,” Futterman said and applied the same make up to Gerald’s face. “I apologize if I don’t do a good enough job. If Sheila was here you would look great.”

“Just have me look passable for a human,” Gerald explained before he reapplied some to his arms and blended it in. The last thing he did was lower his ears and placed a wig on his head before he plopped his cap on top. “How do I look?” He put his sunglasses back on.

“Like an ugly kid,” Futterman said. “An ugly human kid and I think this is the best we can do.”

Gerald glanced at Darwin and noticed that he looked more human than before and he looked over at the others. The other goblins appeared similar to Darwin, although Penny didn’t need a wig and had her hair styled to hide her ears along with the hot pink cap she wore.

“I have bad news,” Clamp voice came in low through a hand radio. “There is a SWAT team here and they are about to enter in five minutes and if they will find you they will order you all outside.”

“What time is it?” Lynn asked.

“Still got an hour until sunset,” Futterman said as he checked his watch. “What are we going to do, hide?”

“Might have to,” Billy said. “And we don’t have time to run.”

“We could all hide out in the projection room,” Gerald suggested. “We’ll be crammed but if we are quiet they might not see us.”

“Where is the security guy?” Futterman asked.

“With Stacy,” Valerie answered. “Trying to keep her calm.”

“Tell Chuck to lead her out to the nearest exit,” Billy said. “And all of us will follow Gerald’s suggestion and hide in the projection room.”

“Chuck do you read?” Kate asked as she held up her radio. “We need you to get that poor scared employee outside.”

“Got it,” Chuck answered.

“We got to move now,” Futterman said.

“This way,” Gerald said as he and Brody led everyone up the steps to the projection and once everyone was upstairs he closed the door behind him. He had no idea how long it will be before they were going to be discovered.

Minutes had passed and they heard nothing and they made no sound save for the scuffling noises when they squeezed Brody into the large backpack and Gerald felt bad for the little guy because while that pack was even larger than the ones that were used to transport the mogwais it was still going to be a cramped in space for the gremlin.

“I have some good news,” Clamp whispered into the radio. “And some bad.”

“We hear you,” Kate whispered back.

“Bad news is the SWAT team is swarming the mall and the good news is that Forster and I are going in after them, but the bad news is we can’t leave past the first little area with seats and a directory and the good news is Chuck is out here with Stacy. They have the girl wrapped up in one of those orange blankets and the medics are taking care of him.”

“Blankets,” Billy whispered. “Ask Clamp if we can get some of those blankets.”

“To cover us?” Helix asked. “Yes that should keep the waning sunlight off us at least until we are in a vehicle, particularly a shaded area.”

“Get the blankets and have Forster pull his vehicle into a shaded area,” Billy said. “We are located on the north side of the mall and if we go into the employees area we will be into the back hallways.”

“That are kind of labyrinth like unless you know the way,” Gerald told him. The only member of their party who knew how to navigate was Chuck and was being checked on.

“Right, damn it,” Billy frowned before he blinked. “Tell Clamp to still have Forster to park in the shade and then have ask Chuck to tell us where to go.”

‘“Mr. Clamp did you hear that?” Kate asked

“I got it,” Clamp answered.

“So did I,” Chuck whispered. “I was the one holding the radio for the Mall team. Maybe give Forster the radio and he can tell me when he has the car parked, preferably by Bloomingdales and I can guide you all.”

“Sounds good,” Kate said.

“I have the radio and we are moving,” Forster said the sound of a car started was last heard before static.

“We will get you into the vehicle,” Valerie told him.

Second had passed and they already felt like hours to Gerald. He held his breath as he could hear everything. The sounds of the others breathing, his own heartbeat, shuffling sounds from the others moving his feet was all that he could hear. It wouldn’t be long until her heard the heavy footsteps of the swat team. He still pulled the backpack with Brody closest to hime while Peltzer had the one with Gizmo and Darwin carried Gene

“I’m parked,” Forster said over the radio. It was the only thing he said and it was enough to break the silence.

“Ready?” Billy had asked and everyone either nodded or whispered in agreement. “Now.”

They bolted out of the projection room and raced towards the back room that was still unlocked.

“We are here, Chuck,” Kate said through the radio.

“Okay the first thing is move right and go past five doors,” Chuck answered.

“Right?” Futterman asked. “Isn’t that west?”

“Trust me,” Chuck said. “Then you will make another right and then go down entrances until you go upstairs and emerge from an Up Against the Wall, You will have to be in the mall, but you will be upstairs and be stealthy until you reach The Discovery Store. The back door is almost always unlocked.”

“We will let you know when we get there,” Billy told him. “Taking a bit of a risk but we have to do it.”
Everyone had their heads down when they emerged from the store, making sure there was no one around and they didn’t see any of the SWAT. Without a word they moved as fast as they could with their heads down until they reached Discovery and ran inside.

“Damn,” Gerald muttered as he took notice of the destruction. “I like this store. My daughters love this store. Lily told me she wants to grow up and study sharks.”

“I also love this place,” Billy said as they made their way to the back.

“Mr. Clamp said he was going to get it all cleaned up,” Valerie said. “I hope your daughter achieves her dream and becomes a marine biologist someday.”

“We made it,” Billy said into the radio.

“Good and that is the last time you will have to leave the back area until near the end,” Chuck told him. “Go straight for three entrances and then make another right and after two entrances you will go down stairs.”

They continued to follow Chuck’s directions as they made their way. He was right it was like a large maze and one could get lost easily if they didn’t know where to go.

“The path ended,” Kate said when they reached a wall.

“You are going to have to take that entrance,” Chuck said. “It’s the Wet Seal, but you are right next to a side exit and I already relayed it to Forster and he will be waiting for you.”
“Okay you heard him,” Lynn told them. “Let’s move.”

They ran into the store and carefully looked out once more to see if there were any officers there before they located the exit and ran towards it. They were going to make it. They could see Forster standing there with a stack of bright orange blankets in his arms. It was darker where he was standing and behind him some of the lights in the parking light had a soft glow.

“Freeze!” The commanding voice shouted at them and Gerald stopped dead in his tracks along with everyone else and raised their arms. He could feel Brody trembling in his backpack. “What are you all doing in here?” He looked over his shoulder at four men decked out in full SWAT gear and they had their arms lowered.

“We-we just want to go home,” Kate told him.

“I work with the medical research team,” Valerie explained. “I was on a meal break when the little monsters attacked and I insisted on helping people escape.” She pointed at Gerald and the other. “They were frightened and were still hiding and I was only now able to coax them to come out.”

“Should of left earlier,” the SWAT member said. “Now get these people out of here.”

“There might be more inside,” Valerie told them.

“We will look for them,” the man said. “Just get these people out, especially those kids.”

“Yes sir,” Valerie said before they turned and continued their way to entrance.

“That was too close,” Futterman said once they had reached the doors.

Forster didn’t wait for them to leave and had stepped inside to hand them their blankets.

“Cover up and follow me,” Forster instructed.

Gerald draped himself in a blanket and made sure everyone had followed suit before they followed after him and entered the back of his vehicle. Once the doors were closed Gerald had let out a sigh. He set the pack next to him and reached in and placed a hand on Brody’s head.

“Thank god,” Billy said as he stretched out and nearly jumped when his mother tapped the glass. “Mom?”

“Murry and Kate are going to get their wounds checked out,” Lynn Peltzer said. “I’m going to wait until Mr. Forster takes you to Clamps and then check on them. Until then keep your heads under the blankets.”

“Yes mom,” Billy said before he pulled his blanket over his head.

“Yes ma’am,” Gerald agreed as he covered up. It was finally over and they were safe.

Chapter Text

Chapter 27: Hoping for a Cure

It was decided they would stay at Clamp’s place until the genetics lab was set up and try to begin treatment for Billy and Gerald but even though they would be living with Clamp, Lynn and Sheila insisted on cooking for everyone and that first night it was Lynn’s meatloaf with mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli and Sheila’s homemade blueberry pie for dessert.

“Now this is food,” Billy said before he took another bite of his loaf and smiled at the two mogwai in the high chairs that were placed across from him. They were also enjoying the meal.

“Told ya this was the best,” Gerald said through a mouth full of meatloaf. He shoveled some more into his jaws before he took a long drink from his soda. “I already know I’m going to have seconds.”

“Agreed,” Billy said before he took another bite. It was nice and tender and practically melted in his mouth. He and tried to replicate the recipe and it was close but a bit more chewy and Kate made her own version of meatloaf, but he never had the heart and had too much common sense to tell her otherwise.

“This is the best meatloaf,” Darwin agreed after he had swallowed his bite.. “This is the only meatloaf I ever had, but it is the best meal I’ve had.”

“I’m glad you two are enjoying it,” Lynn told them before she ladled on more gravy onto Darwin’s mashed potatoes.

“It is delicious,” Penny told her. “My grandma is the best cook.”

“I wanted civilization for myself and my kind,” Helix said as he stared at the glass of wine he had. “That was my previous life to make everything better for us and for us to rule and why did we attack humans? Was it simply because it was fun or perhaps we thought we were making the world better for all other life.”

“Cause of what we been doin to the ozone layer and the rainforests?” Murray asked. He came by after he had his shoulder taken care of and decided to eat with them while Kate and and his mother returned home to eat dinner with his father and their kids. “Cause if it is pollution you guys aint any better.”

“You have raised a good point,” Helix said. “Becoming advanced in my level of intelligence was a start. I wanted to become quite civilized but I was the one that truly wanted to achieve that level and I felt had to improve myself and learning of the goblins existence would benefit me. I felt if I was more human then I would not give in to my chaotic nature and thus began my quest and that was when I followed the notes, stole the animal serums and created the human and gremlin versions before I created the cellular degenerative component.”

“What of doctor Cordova,” Billy asked. He was still unsure why the light brown goblin was there with them. He still didn’t trust him, nor did he like him. “You wanted to change her and she was unwilling to be turned.”

“Another flaw that was part of my old cognitive process,” Helix said while he carefully cut up his food with a fork and knife. “As I was seeking clothes I thought of what Valerie would like to see me in and I thought about what she needed to wear and that lead to the fact would she love me.”

“Not if you transform her against her will,” Gerald said before he shoveled more mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“I came to the same conclusion and learned I couldn’t make someone fall in love with me and I may have misread her kindness for love.”

“Take it from me,” Gerald said after he had swallowed. “If she has no interest in you then back off and if it looks like she might like someone else then back off.”

“He’s got a point there,” Marla said as she entered with the bottle of wine. Billy couldn’t believe that he was so happy to see her after his incident. She was still wearing one of her bright red power suits and still had her make up on. “Tried flirting with this one once.” She pointed at Billy with a crimson fingernail. “He was so adorably naïve he didn’t even realize I was hitting on him, but to cut to the chase if you keep going after the uninterested then you will miss your one chance and the one who is interested in you.” She refilled the glasses of those who were drinking wine and walked away.

“Find true love,” Penny said with a smile before she looked over at Gerald who smiled back at her. He lost his smile when he had noticed that Billy was looking at him.
“Huh,” Gerald said and pointed at the direction Marla had walked towards. “How did you not know?”

“I thought she was being friendly and really liked my work and wanted to help me since I’m small town guy in the big city,” Billy explained as he filled a spoon with more spuds. “And I was engaged to Kate. She is always on my mind, so I didn’t really notice Marla until she felt me up with her foot.”

“Fair enough,” Gerald said with a shrug and went back to eating.

Billy took a bite from his buttered bread and chewed. He hoped the former gremlin would take Gerald’s advice, especially since Billy had a feeling that Valerie was starting to have feelings for Chuck and he had been rooting for his young friend the whole time. He was glad that Chuck didn’t need stitches and just needed a little medicine and bandages for his scratches and just needed to give his leg some rest. After dinner a good night’s rest was something they all could use.

-
Billy wasn’t sure if he was going to get to sleep at night. He can’t remember if he had come across a sleeping gremlin before, except for that one mole mutant, sure mogwai go to sleep but do gremlins? He had pondered that thought as he stretched out in his bed. It was a real bed and not a cot and it was soft and comfortable and he was full from a large delicious meal and warm pie topped with ice cream. He yawned once more and lowered his lids.

And woke up twenty minutes later to the sounds of moans and snarls coming from Gerald’s room. Oh he was going to have a little talk with the two of them in the morning. He rolled over and buried his head under the pillow.
-

Billy wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Gerald when they woke up and he had woken up first before he took care of what he needed to do in the bathroom. Was he angry at the other goblin? Yes. Why was he angry? Well he did sleep with his goblin daughter and he was going to have to speak with her later about it.

“Good morning, Peltzer,” Gerald greeted as he practically skipped out of his bedroom. He was certainly chipper that morning. Like Billy he was wearing kids sized pj’s.
“Gerald,” Billy acknowledged him with a low voice.

“Something the matter?” Gerald asked. “Did you not sleep well?”

“Kind of hard to sleep with all the noises,” Billy answered. “Did it bother you with all those loud moans?” He stared deep into Gerald’s eyes. “Wouldn’t know anything about it?”
“Oh that,” Gerald smiled weakly. “I know you would of found out about it sooner or later, but yes Penny and I slept together.”

“You,” Billy growled and grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. “With Penny? You slept with my daughter?”

“Your adult goblin daughter? Yes I did. Three times in fact-“

“Three times?” Billy could not believe he was hearing this. “You slept with her three times. When were the two other times?”

“The first when we were in the bedding department at Sears and the second was in a changing room at a clothing store.” He reached up to grab Billy’s wrists. “I know how you feel, my oldest, Lily is nine and in a couple of years she will be in middle school where they have dances and she might slow dance…with a boy. The idea makes my stomach uneasy.”

“You still had to get in her dress.”

“More like she—No I won’t finish that thought. I know she spawned from you and you barely got to know her, but that is just it. You don’t know her. She came from you as a fully grown adult, possibly the same age as you. She’s like that Greek story about Athena and she is smart. She pretty much knows everything you know, just that she needs a few more skills about being an adult, a civilized adult.”

“That I and my parents and Kate will teach her.” Billy loosened his grip. He was still angry but he didn’t want his darker nature to take over. “She will be living with my parents.”
“I think I’m falling in love with her,” Gerald said when he reached up rub his head. “I know you don’t want to hear it but I am.”

“You barely know her.” Billy felt his nose twitch as the scent of coffee entered them and there was something else in the air, cinnamon and bacon. Somebody was cooking breakfast.

“That is the same for both of us,” Gerald sighed. “And I want to properly get to know her.”

“We can talk about this later,” Billy said while his stomach growled and not a second went by before another similar growl came from Gerald’s stomach. “Let’s get some breakfast.”

-

Two weeks later.

Valerie Cordova had thought it was going to take much longer for her to get the lab set up, but she had underestimated the power and sway that Daniel clamp had. The laboratory was not quite as big as the one she had worked in previously but it was enough. There was plenty of space and work stations and most importantly she was working with her previous colleagues and they brought in a few more people including the Stanton twins and Walter Tanner

“We have a few lab assistants that might not be what you are used too,” Valerie explained while catching the bewildered looks from some of the human assistants. “The two of them are unusual.”

“I can be unusual,” one of the interns said. He was in his late twenties and was more than eager to join the team. His name was Peter Fontaine and he like Billy and Gerald was from Kingston Falls and knows about both mogwai and gremlins.

“Not human,” Valerie said before she smiled at him. “Billy told me you have an interesting sense of humor, Pete.”

“I’ll try to be serious,” Pete answered as he grabbed a tray. “This is for Billy and I’d do anything to help him.”

“We have worked with the unusual before,” Martin said as he looked at his clip board. “We are working on separating cells?”

“Separating the DNA of two different species to be more exact,” Helix said as he approached them. He wore black pants, a button down shirt and a lab coat, all tailored to fit him. His hair was slicked back.

“It’s uh…him,” Walter raised a finger and pointed at the goblin. “I didn’t know he was still around.”

“Not exactly,” Lewis said as he studied Helix. “He didn’t have any hair last time.”

“And he was shorter,” Martin added. “And his jaw was different.”

“Oh and there are four fingers,” Lewis said and pointed at him.

“I have given myself a dose of human DNA,” Helix explained. “There are only a few others like myself and two of them are the reason you are here, gentlemen. You see they were once human and they were kidnapped and altered against their will.” He handed the three of them the paper work which they immediately read.

“Is this possible?” Walter asked after a few minutes before he lowered the paperwork. “Did doctor Friedrich really do this?”

“The DNA of the members of my former species has been proven to be highly unstable,” Helix explained. “You do remember how some of my past brethren had mutated themselves.” He waited for them to nod. “Our DNA can also mutate others, including humans. It is possible and the two men in question are creatures like myself and they desire to have their humanity restored.”

“Doctor Friedrich did this?” Martin asked. His face twisted up in shock and disgust. It was the same face Valerie made and the same expressions sported by the rest of their colleagues when they learned the horrible truth about their former head of genetic research.

“This is why we need your help,” Valerie said. “It will take all of us to change them back.”

“We will do everything we can,” Lewis said as he lowered the paper. “I’m ready to be a hero.”

“The first thing we need is the current blood samples from the two men,” Doctor Lei had approached them. He was followed by Brody who was also wearing a lab coat that was tailored to fit his smaller frame. “My personal assistant has them.” He smiled as Brody held up the tray carrying the two small vials.

“Uh there is another one,” Walter said. “And this is what you meant by unusual.” He took in a deep breath.

“Brody is not just an assistant,” Lei said as he placed a hand on the gremlin’s head. “He’s also a close friend of mine.”

Valarie felt a warm sensation in her chest as she watched the way that Lei and Brody looked at each other. It was the same bond she shared with Gene and Billy Peltzer had with Gizmo. The others were crestfallen when they learned what had happened to their former mogwai but grew to accept what happened and pointed fingers at Friedrich and Razor being bad seeds.

“We also have blood samples of when they were human,” Valerie continued. It was going to be a long journey ahead of them and today was the first step.

-
One month later
Billy sighed as he stretched out in the chair, ready to receive more injections of human serums and mixtures that would try to separate cells and those that would target the gremlin cells. Twice a week for the past few weeks he and Gerald would go in for the treatment, the same treatment that had yet to take any effect. He knew he should not give up hope. It was still too soon to give up.

Clamp was good as his word and had the perfect cover story. He went with the experimental monkeys instead of rats and the creatures had killed doctor Friedrich, his assistant and a body guard.

Forster did some further investigation and discovered that Tim had purchased a wig and fake goatee from the costume shop and later wore them to make suit purchase from the men’s clothing store to purchase a duplicate suit and wore that when he went to leave Gerald’s car at the airport and had Hector drive him out of there, as for the two of them assisted Friedrich in the first place it was all due to money. Their paychecks were triple the amount of what other assistants and others in the third party security the medical building used.

The mall was cleaned up and restored and the fake day panels were removed and replaced with real skylights. The mall was able to open up two weeks before school started to give everyone enough time to finish their back to school shopping and now fall themes filled the stores along with Halloween decorations.

Forster assisted Chuck with a temporary job until the mall had reopened, right after Chuck’s leg had healed off course. Billy felt somewhat relieved that Chuck didn’t need stitches although both Kate and Murray did and the stitches have been removed since then and Chuck still visits him. They talk about sports and art.

“I’ve enrolled at the community college,” Chuck had told him and held up a paper schedule. “ I got everything sorted out with work as well so I can do both. How have the treatments been so far?”

“Nothing has taken yet,” Billy had said with a shrug. “I’m still trying to be optimistic.”

“Keep your fingers crossed,” Chuck said as he placed the schedule back into his pocket. “Not just for you but also for me. I’m going to ask Valerie out.”

“I hope she says yes. I’ve been where you have been, knowing a wonderful lady who is sweet and caring and smart and beautiful and mustering up the courage to say yes, maybe the two of you can go on a double date with me and Kate.”

“I look forward to that.”

Billy’s thoughts had returned present time once he received the injection and felt the post swabbing and bandage was placed.

“Just need you to wait about fifteen minutes,” Valerie told him. She was wearing the button she had gotten from Coney Island during her first date with Chuck. “We are about to try the second part of this treatment.”

“Second part,” Pete had written down “At two fifteen.” He was always a welcome site to Billy and glad that he had both his bachelor’s and master’s in biology and was currently working on his PhD. He hadn’t seen his friend in a few years and during treatments they would often chat about comic books and life.

“What do you mean second part?” Billy asked and instead of a answer he was given a magazine to read. Great he is still left in the dark both metaphorically and in reality. He missed being in the sun and wished he could just pull back the blinds and feel the warmth and he could feel it, on his left hand at least.

“New treatment plan,” Pete explained. “I would have gotten you the latest Masked Shadow but apparently there is a delay.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Billy said as he flipped through the magazine.

“I..I think it’s working,” Valerie’s said.

Billy looked down as Valerie had a glossy black device that was the shape and size of a remote and emitting a bluish purple light on his hand. His hand that was now less green than before and the claws had retracted and there was a small growth where a fifth finger should be.

“It’s working,” Billy gasped and nearly jumped out of his chair. “It’s working. What is this?”

“A little UV light,” Valerie explained. “We have been restoring and strengthening your human cells it is time to weaken and kill the gremlin cells, but we did it. We found the cure.”
Billy was so overjoyed he leaped out his chair and embraced her and kissed her cheek.

“Sorry,” He apologized before he was pulled into an embrace by Pete. “Thanks, buddy.”

“No need,” Valerie said as tears formed in her eyes. “No need.” She wiped her tears before she and Pete exchanged a few high fives.

-

One and half weeks later

“Good to be me again,” Billy said as he stared into the bathroom mirror. It was his mirror in his bathroom of his bedroom in his house, well the house he shared with Kate and his family but he was home and he was human. They didn’t want to rush things and it would be a daily treatment where he would receive a shot and some of the light, and a few days ago he would spent a little time outside growing more and more human. Now he was back to his normal self, save for that burgundy streak down the center of his hair. Maybe he should dye it? Nah it would probably go gray in about ten years.

Gerald had also been treated and was on his way back home, yeah back home and away from Penny. Gerald said he had grown to love her and said he was willing to continue a relationship, well if Kate could love him as a goblin then Gerald could still love Penny, though it was still weird since she was his daughter in a way and Gerald was right she was an adult and Penny did confess that seduced Gerald and…yeah that didn’t make him feel better but the last few weeks they were respectful and Clamp even set things up so the two could go on dates while in his home.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Billy called out to his wife. He was about to do something he wasn’t able to do for a while, take a nice relaxing shower.

“Making art in the kitchen,” Kate had explained. Somebody did have to keep the kids preoccupied.

“Another time then.” He removed the bathrobe and stepped inside. The warm water felt comfortable as was the scent of his two in one. He savored the feeling of his hair being washed before he scrubbed the rest of his body, but when he tried to put the soap back he noticed it the shelf higher than normal and his hand was turning green. “No…damn it…no.” He turned off the water and jumped out and dried himself as quickly as possible. He did not feel the pain much less the tingling.

“Billy?” Kate’s voice called out. “Is everything all right?”

“No it’s not,” Billy answered as he stared into the mirror. He had reverted to his goblin state. “I just turned back.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” He put the robe back on and opened the door. He looked up at Kate who stared back down at him in shock.

“Oh…Billy, I’m sorry.” Kate reached out to him. “How did this happen?” She held him close in an embrace. “After all that…and they thought they had cured you and it worked and you were completely human.” Her voice cracked.

“I don’t know,” he answered softly. “I just went to shower and this happened.”

“Maybe the sun can help?” She looked at him. “It worked before.”

“It, it might,” Billy said. “But then it could kill me.” He had to find out. “Call Gerald and warn him.” He walked over to their bedroom window and placed a hand between the blinds and the glass. He could feel the warmth of the sun and some tingling, but no burning. It felt the same as it did when he received the UV treatment. He pulled back his hand and saw that it was human. “You are right.” He pulled up the blinds and let the sun do its work. He could feel himself grow and fill out the bathrobe. His mouth felt strange as his incisors changed shape and size and he could feel his ears as they also transformed. Once the he could no longer feel himself transform he stared at his hands and down at himself. “And I’m human again.”

“I have a theory,” Kate said as she held the phone to her ear. “Hey Gerald, it’s Kate. We think there might be a hiccup in your treatment.” She pointed towards the bathroom. “Well we’re about to test out this theory. It happens when you get wet.” She gave him a look and gestured to the bathroom again with her head.

“Oh right,” Billy said. He still had to rinse out his hair. Again he dropped the robe and hopped back in the shower. He felt the water soak him and wash out the cleanser and once again he shrank and turned green. He turned off the water and stepped out, dried himself and put the robe back on. “Changed back into a goblin.” He told Kate before he stood in front of the window and once again the sunlight turned him back. “Well that is interesting.” He was going to try once more. “I’m going to do this again.” He ran back into the bathroom, dropped the robe and soaked himself with the warm water and once again he had transformed. He dried himself, donned the robe and stood in front of the warm sun before he changed back. “Your theory was right.”

“It’s confirmed,” Kate said as she continued to talk. “You’ll change back into a goblin when you get wet and become human in the sunlight.” She blinked. “Well you are taking this in a healthy stride. Yes we will keep in touch and I do like that idea of our children going trick or treating together.”

“He’s okay with this?” Billy asked.

“I guess he figures out this is the best they can do,” Kate said with a shrug. “How are you going to take this?”
“I just know I’m going to make this work,” he said as he stepped away from the window and pulled her close. “We will make it work.” He brushed the bangs out of her eyes before he leaned down to kiss her.

Chapter Text

Epilogue

October 31, 1998

“I have been coping with both the physical and mental side effects and I’m just glad I have been cured of whatever plague those creatures were carrying,” Gerald said as he sank into the tan leather padded recliner. It was soft and smooth and felt cool to the touch. It helped him relax even more while in the office of his psychiatrist. “The whole situation was frightening for everyone that was involved.” He had kept to the story that Daniel Clamp concocted. He was kidnapped when he had informed Doctor Friedrich that Prescott Prestige was going to stop funding his genetics team. He was experimented on along with Peltzer and became ill while Friedrich’s experimental monkey’s had escaped and attacked the mall and Gerald had spent several weeks in a private care facility to be treated for his symptoms.

“You are feeling much better in a physical sense?” Doctor Kupferberg asked. He was seated in his plush armchair and had his elbows on his lap and head in his hands.
“No more nausea or fainting spells,” Gerald explained as he rattled off the made up symptoms that Clamp told him to say. “No more rash or random body aches.” He smiled as he stared at one of the pictures in the pastel blue office. It was off a little girl in a white dress standing in a field of flowers. “No more side effects.” He hated lying, but how was he going to explain to his therapist that he still changed into a half gremlin half human whenever he gets wet?

“Have you been having any nightmares?”

“None, none since the last time we talked and none since my ordeal and you would think it would have opened old wounds or made new ones, but it didn’t. Dreams have been dull and nothing too out of the ordinary.” He placed his hands behind his head. “I once woke up at four in the morning with a headache and I went back to sleep and I dreamt I took some Tylenol and when I woke up the headache was gone, simple dreams like that.”

“No more dreams about the creatures that attacked you?” Kupferberg raised his eyebrows. “Even after coming across creatures that were similar to what you saw?”

“It is kind of weird, but I have dreamed about them, but I am no longer running or hiding from them. I fight them, lock them away and blow them up.” He sat up. “I think it might be because I fought those mutated monkey things.”

“Sounds like you had some form of closure.”

“Closure,” Gerald repeated as blinked. “That was what it was and I think that helped. I guess what I wanted was to go back in time and save my former boss from being attacked instead of just running and hiding, but you are the doctor and not me.” He relaxed again.

“No, no you are on the right track,” Kupferberg said. “Fourteen years ago you prided yourself on being your definition of tough and when you and your boss were attacked you were afraid and locked yourself in the vault. You felt ashamed and weak and wished you could go back and be the so called tough guy you thought you were and now you have, but the question is where you standing up to those who attacked you, or yourself?”

“Good question,” Gerald said and tried to think. Who did he want to confront at the time? Was it his old cowardly, greedy, ambitious self or the creatures? “Perhaps both?” He shrugged. “I’ve been confronting my past self for the past decade at least and now I was able to physically confront the things from my nightmares. I think I needed both.”

“I know it is cliché but I believe you have made a breakthrough but sadly our time is up.” He rose from his chair and held out his hand. “Same time next week?”

“Of course,” Gerald said as he shook his hand. “Enjoy your evening and well have a happy Halloween.”

“Enjoy your night. Are you taking your girls out for trick or treat?”

“Yes in fact we are doing it at the mall.”

-

Lily and Maddie had been dropped off at his place and they were chatting with Darwin. That was a little secret the girls kept from their mother and Darwin was an expert at hiding from Jenny but while it was a surprise for his daughter at first they grew to love him and he loved them.

Their costumes looked great. Maddie with her dark hair tied up in a top not was dressed as Mulan and Lily was dressed in a green and white costume that looked like a cheerleader, except with a pink bow on her chest and another on her back skirt and she also had gloves and a tiara. Her wavy light brown hair was in a ponytail. The character was called Sailor Jupiter and she was Lily’s favorite.

“When are we going dad?” Lily asked.

“When our ride is here,” Gerald answered. “I still have to get into my costume. Darwin is in charge until I get back.” He smiled at his adopted son.

“Yee-haw,” Darwin responded. He had on a plaid shirt and chaps on over his denim pants. He also had a leather vest and a bandana around his neck and a white cowboy hat rested on his head.

“This shouldn’t take too long,” Gerald said before he ran into the bathroom where his costume hung. It was too small for him. He tore of his clothes and jumped into the shower and waited.

He stared at his hands as the fifth finger shriveled up and his skin turned green and claws grew on the remaining digits. He turned off the water and quickly dried off. Now his costume could fit. He slipped on the white shirt, red top coat, brown trousers, a cravat went around his neck and he used a belt with a fake plastic sword, he topped it off with a pirate hat.

“Okay I’m ready,” Gerald said as he stepped out.

“Daddy, are you going to change into a goblin every year?” Lily asked. That was the second secret his daughter’s kept from their mother.

“Maybe not every year,” Gerald said. “But this-“ the knock at the door cut him off. “That should be them.” He opened the door to reveal Chuck and Valerie both wearing suits and trench coats and both with fake FBI badges tapped to their costumes. “Hey great costumes.”

“Look Scully,” Chuck said. “A little green man.”

“There has to be a reasonable explanation,” Valerie said. Her costume was complete with a bright red wig and in her arms was Gene. The little mogwai was pleased to see them.
“Ready to get some candy?” Chuck asked them with a grin.

“Yes,” Lily, Maddie and Darwin cheered.

“Candy yummy,” Gene said.

“I promise to give him half my stash,” Gerald said as he held up his plastic pumpkin bucket.

-

The drive to the mall was short and while their friends arrived in Valerie’s car they rode together in Gerald’s minivan, it had enough room for all six of them.

“Remember the safety rules,” Chuck said while Gerald and Darwin donned a pair of shades. There even was a small pair of sunglasses for Gene, courtesy of Clamp of course. “Stay together, no wandering off. If you get lost look for a security guard. I am off duty but I still have my radio. Do not eat any candy until it is inspected by a grown up. Remember to wait in line. No shoving or name calling. No going into bright light. Stay out of water and do not eat after midnight.” He let out a sigh. “How did I do?”

“Very good,” Gerald said with a clap. “You will make a good dad someday.”

“Heh, thanks,” Chuck said. “Well enough standing around lets go meet the others.”

There was a small group waiting for them in front of the entrance near the food court consisting of Billy and Kate Peltzer and their children and Penny, Brody and a green female gremlin dressed as a witch. Gerald had learned of Great not long after the mall incident and he met the female who seemed similar to Brody. She and Penny even spent time together and read magazines and did each other’s hair and makeup.

Like Gerald, Billy had also gone for goblin form tonight, though he was wearing a Superman costume. He even used hair gel to give him that significant curl. He had also started therapy sessions and while in human form he was the Billy Peltzer that Gerald had remembered. The boy next door all grown up and he had explained that while in goblin form he worked on curbing his aggression and immaturity.

“You all look great,” Billy said as he took in all of their costumes.

“I like yours,” Darwin said. “I like all of yours.”

The other costumes did look great. Benny was dressed as a Red power ranger and little Sarah was a pink glitter fairy. Brody had a dinosaur costume and his own plastic bucket and while Kate wasn’t wearing any she was carrying Gizmo.

Penny was gorgeous in her nurse outfit. The skirt was short enough to reveal her legs and once the kids were in bed Gerald was going for a different kind of treat with her. That was another thing about his life had changed. He was in love with her and the only reason he switched back to his human form was for his daughters and job. The Peltzers were not too keen on them dating considering how new to the world she was, but he showed himself to be a perfect gentleman to her and while Billy was still annoyed with him having gone all the way with her he gradually accepted.

“Helix isn’t joining us?” Val asked.

“According to Clamp he wants to stay in and wants to watch some movies,” Billy explained with the shrug. “He says he isn’t really into candy and prefers savory snacks.”

“I share with him,” Greta said as she held up her pail.

“Greta says she will offer some of hers to him,” Billy said.

“I’d take everyone’s picture,” Kate said. “But the flash.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” Billy said as he adjusted his sunglasses. “Happy Halloween everyone.”

“Happy Halloween,” Gerald answered along with everyone else before they entered the building.

The End.
-
AN: Doctor Kupferberg is doctor Melfi's therapist from the Sopranos. He belongs to HBO and David Chase