Hey, Everyone! Get ready for a really fun ride this chapter!

My newest OC; DJ Troniquez, is a tribute to my friend and fellow writer: DJ Rodriguez! Theresa, his mom, is purely my OC. For those of you who haven't yet, check out his Godzilla/Disney tribute crossover trilogy 'Monsters and Magic', 'Monsters and Magic: Divide and Unite', and 'Monsters and Magic: Burning Finale', plus his current follow-up story 'Monsters and Magic Special: Sofia's Imagination'!

Chapter 27

(two months ago)

He woke slowly in a dark room. His vision kept flipping from normal to some kind of Heads-Up-Display on varying wavelengths….why is that? Was he dreaming? And why couldn't he move?

"Where am I? Mom? Are you there?"

"Take it easy, DJ", his mom's voice said, sounding like it was coming through an intercom. "I'll be right there."

A few minutes later, he heard a door open and close.

"Oh, DJ!", his mother; Dr. Theresa Troniquez, cried as she hugged him. "Oh, my son! My Boy! I love you so much!"

"Mom, calm down", he said. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in my lab at MEGTAF, DJ", she explained. "You've had a terrible accident. Dr. Pytel and I saved your life."

"Accident?", he asked, trying to remember. The last thing he remembered was working on that Tesla-coil for his rock-band friends. He was almost finished, then there was a bright white flash, and then…..nothing. He woke up here.

"The Tesla-coil?", he asked, sipping the water she held for him.

"Yes, dear", she said, sniffing as she held back tears. "It overloaded and surged while you were working on it. Your central nervous system was…", her voice broke.

"Fried", Dr, Pytel finished for her as she entered the dark room. "Your mom kept you alive with a homemade external pace-maker until we could get you here. You gotta admire a genius who can think on her feet!"

"So….I'm paralyzed? But I can still feel you touch me?"

"Your sense of touch was the only nerve function that was unaffected", his mom said.

"But I can talk, and move my fingers?", he said, then tried again to sit up. "Why am I strapped down? And why is the room so dark?"

"DJ, honey", she began, "don't be alarmed. Even your autonomic nerve functions were compromised. To save your life, Dr. Pytel and I had to rebuild your central nervous system using my work…."

He gasped. His mom's work at MEGTAF centered on cybernetics….

"Show me", he said haltingly, then more forcefully, "I want to see!"

"DJ, you should take things slo…."

"DAMMIT, MOM, I WANT TO SEE!"

Sighing in resignation, she turned on the lights, briefly blinding him. As his eyes adjusted, the table he was on was tilted until he was almost upright. When he could see, he not only saw his mother and Dr. Pytell, but the HUD was back, noting them and all items he looked at in view, streaming data to his cortex.

"Whoa", he said. "That's... trippy."

"The Heads-Up-Display, right?", Dr. Pytell said. "It's the most advanced version in the world!"

DJ found her perky optimism annoying, but was still impressed.

"Mirror?", he asked softly.

Sighing again, his mom pulled a tall mirror over, then stepped away.

He saw that he was wearing a standard exam gown, and strapped to the table across his chest and knees. After that, it was total sci-fi! He had what appeared to be a 'bare-bones' exo-skeleton on him from his neck to his toes with a chest-plate over his ribs, a metal head-band connected to a metal jaw-piece over his real jaw. When he looked at his eyes, his vision zoomed-in much closer and clearer than humanly possible, enabling him to see that his iris's now resembled those of a camera. His HUD showed that his metal parts were composed of titanium and gold nano-wires that connected them to his muscles through his skin.

With a surge of strength, he snapped the straps and stepped onto the floor, closer to the mirror, tearing off the gown. Lucky for him, he was wearing shorts underneath. He turned and looked over his shoulder to see his back. He had a titanium exo-spinal-column nano-wired to his vertebrae and back muscles, to which the rest of the exo-skeleton was connected.

"I'm so sorry, DJ", his mother said tearfully. "But I just couldn't let you die."

"I-it's ok, Mom", he said. "It's not so bad. How long will I have to use this?"

Theresa started sobbing as Dr. Pytell placed a hand on DJ's shoulder. "I'm afraid it's permanent, DJ. Your mom's cybernetics are the only thing keeping you alive and fully mobile….for the rest of your life."

xxXXxx

(Present)

Margaret had just gotten an email from Duncan, telling her that after a brawl with some griffins and a manticore, things were going well so far. She was relieved as were the other parents she could reach. What was strange was that she couldn't reach the Wolf's. Before she could think more on it, her computer beeped; notifying her of an incoming video call from MEGTAF. That was odd, Barnes wasn't due to call again for a few more days. She answered….to see the face of an old friend.

"Hi, Margaret."

"Theresa!", Margaret greeted her warmly. "How are you doing? Moreau and Mechanicles drive you crazy yet?"

"Not yet", she grinned. "But that's not why I'm calling. You remember what happened to DJ this Summer?"

"Yes", she replied sympathetically. "How's he doing?"

"Not so good", Theresa said. "He's adjusted to living with his cybernetics fairly well. It's his peers that are the problem. They're treating him so differently; avoiding him, picking on him, bullying him, treating him like a freak. Even those that had been his friends before are guilty of it. It reminds me of the problems you told me Duncan used to have."

Margaret nodded, remembering those years. DJ and Duncan had been good friends since they were two years old. They didn't often see each other, but whenever they did, they picked up where they left off. Margaret was always grateful that Duncan had one friend he could always count on. DJ had also gotten along well with Kenny, as well as Isabel and Jenna before the kaiju attack.

"How can I help, Theresa?", she asked.

"Col. Barnes told me about the school Duncan is attending now", she replied. "Do you think they would take DJ? I've talked to him about it, and he's open to trying if they'll take him."

"I don't see why they wouldn't", Margaret said thoughtfully. "I'm friends with the Headmistress. Let me talk to her and see what she says."

"Fair enough", Theresa smiled. "Thank you, Margaret."

xxXXxx

Clawdeen and the others had just finished dinner their second evening on the Gore-ient Express. The two couples kept getting teased occasionally by the others; Clawd and Draculaura had apparently not been as quiet the night before as they'd hoped, and Clawdeen and Duncan hadn't even tried to be quiet! Howleen jokingly suggested that maybe they all would get more sleep if the couples only used the beds for sleeping, earning her a smirking glare from both her siblings, and giggles from the other ghouls.

Ghoulia was looking over their route and did some calculations. She determined that even with a stop at the border of Groan-mania and Transylvania where several passengers, including Tara, were leaving the train; they should arrive to the Vampire Court the following evening. Draculaura was practically bouncing with excitement.

"I can't wait to see Elizzabat!", the perky vampire squealed. "We used to have so much fun there in the castle! And now she's Queen!"

"We'll get to spend a day or so there before we move on", Robecca said. "If we get there on time, that is."

"No sweat", Clawd grinned. "Other than that little dust-up we had outside the airport, it's been smooth sailing."

"Dude", Duncan face-palmed, "you do realize that you just jinxed us?"

"Aw c'mon, Duncan", he smirked. "we're riding the most reliable train in the world! What could possibly go wrong?"

Suddenly, they and all the other passengers were all thrown to the floor of the lounge car as the train brakes screeched like a thousand banshees! Amid the ensuing chaos, the whole group glared at Clawd.

"Thanks a lot, bro!", Clawdeen said.

"Ok! Point taken! I'm sorry!", Clawd said sheepishly. "At least things can't get worse!"

"Dude!", Duncan face-palmed again. "You just did it again!"

Just then they heard screams and shouts from other train cars, along with chittering laughter. The lights flickered and went out in the lounge car. The door to the next car opened and the werecat conductor staggered in, struggling with two creatures that resembled gleefully vicious, two and a half foot tall, green and brown, scaly monkeys with large bat-like ears! "Help me!", he cried.

Abby froze the brown one in a block of ice, while Robecca swatted the green one away. It crashed onto the lounge bar, shattering a full pitcher of water. It giggled maliciously as the wet flesh on it's back bubbled up and discharged five small balls of flesh, which began to grow quickly! Then the block of ice shattered as three more balls came off that creature and did the same thing. Now they had ten of these creatures to deal with!

Growling, the werewolves bared their claws and fangs, while Duncan shifted to full kaiju w/o his wings. Abby cracked her knuckles, Robecca readied her fists, and Draculaura and Ghoulia each grabbed empty drink trays.

Duncan slashed one with his claws and back-fisted one over his shoulder, snarling in frustration at being unable to use his fire inside the train. Abby punched one from one end of the car to the other. Clawdeen and her siblings were each struggling with a giggling, hissing mini-beast. Clawdeen had just ripped the throat out of hers….

KLANG!

She looked behind her to see a drink tray pull away from the gremlin it just hit, who looked comically cartoon-like as it stayed suspended with a dazed look on it's face for a moment before falling to the floor.

"Thanks, Bestie!", she said.

"No prob!", Draculaura said.

Robecca back-handed one and choked another. She saw Ghoulia struggling to hold one off with her tray. The copper beauty snapped the neck of the one in her hand and threw it at the one attacking Ghoulia. The zombie moaned in gratitude and grabbed her digital camera, accidentally triggering the flash.

"Aaaahhhh!", all the gremlins hissed in raspy voices, covering their eyes. "Bright light!"

This was all the opening the guys and ghouls needed to finish off the rest.

"Everyone ok?", Duncan asked as he withdrew his claws from two green bloody messes that used to be gremlins.

"All good", Clawd said.

"Mad, but ok", Clawdeen added, as Howleen nodded.

"Ah-Huh!", Ghoulia affirmed.

"Totes", Draculaura said.

"Yiiick!", Abby scoffed. "Little things are messy! What are they?"

"Ghoulia!", Robecca turned to the smart ghoul. "Look them up here on your computer!"

"Ah!"

"Small, vicious, strong, hates light, and multiplies with water…", Duncan counted off, as Ghoulia typed.

Her eyes widened in horror at the result of her search, and Howleen read:

"Mogwai; start out small and cuddly, but mutate into the gremlins we just fought if they're fed after midnight. They're just as smart as they are vicious and mischievous. They like to dismantle and re-rig machines to explode or go haywire almost as much as they like to play vicious and deadly pranks. They can't stand bright light, and sunlight can destroy them."

"Have heard of these from elders of village", Abby said with a scowl. "Come from highest mountains of Asia and homeland. There are rare ones that can be tamed and kept as pets, as long as follow rules and not feed after midnight."

"I got a nasty feelin' it's no accident that these things are on this train!", Clawdeen growled.

Just then, they heard more shouting and screaming from the next car toward the engine. Robecca's eyes widened with realization.

"They like to mess with machines!", she exclaimed. "Who knows how many of these things there are on the train! If they get to the engine…..!"

"We gotta stop 'em!", Clawdeen growled, heading for the door with Duncan right behind her, followed by the others.

In the next car were several passengers sporting claw-marks, bumps, burns, and bruises. There were two dead gremlins on the floor.

"Are there any more?", Duncan asked a nearby vampire nursing a few claw slashes on his arm.

"They ran toward the far end", he grunted. "I don't know how many."

The group continued forward cautiously, checking empty seats as they approached each row. Nothing. Duncan reached in front of him and put a hand on Clawdeen's shoulder, prompting her to stop.

"Let me and Clawd take point here", he suggested.

"No way, Handsome!", she retorted. "The Alpha told me to take the lead…"

"For the quest, yes", he replied softly. "That means you're too important to risk for these little freaks. We all agreed to follow your lead, but a smart leader uses her resources to best effect. Clawd and I are more likely to survive a hidden ambush and keep fighting at full strength."

"Ok", she growled grudgingly. "I guess you're right, but I'm right behind you, got it?"

"Of course", he smiled, giving her a quick kiss as he and Clawd stepped ahead of her.

They started moving cautiously forward again; Clawd and Duncan at point, followed by Clawdeen and her sister, then Draculaura and Ghoulia, Robecca and Abby brought up the rear just case any gremlins tried to sneak up behind them.

As Clawd came up even with some cabinets on either side of the door to the next car, the bottom left one flew open, cracking him in the shin. When he bent forward in pain the top right one cracked him in the head, with chittering laughter from inside. The next set opened and gremlins started throwing things at them, laughing maniacally.

Snarling, Duncan tore the cabinet doors off and lunged at the gremlins inside as did Clawd from the floor. Clawd had one on the floor when another lunged at him….only for the werewolf to painfully bite it's arm almost off. Duncan crushed the two he grabbed and smashed their heads together for good measure. Two more managed to jump over the guys, only to meet the angry slashing claws of Clawdeen and Howleen.

Next was the dining car, where two gargoyle train-crewmen were struggling with several gremlins just like those they'd seen so far, plus two that were very different. Both were the same height as the others, but were beefier. One seemed to have a permanent scowl as he growled orders at the others; including his 'partner', who was apparently as dim-witted as he was buck-toothed. Under orders from Grouchy, two of the gremlins lunged at Duncan. Grouchy had to smack Doofus upside the head to get him to stop punching a crewman and attack Clawd. Duncan had his hands full with his two, when the gargoyles went down, freeing the others to attack the group. Ghoulia clobbered one with her tray while Robecca gave another a rocket-powered kick to the face. Clawdeen slashed two more with her claws, while two tried to attack Draculaura, only for her to turn into a bat, causing them to collide in empty air. Howleen finished them with her claws.

After killing the two he had, Duncan charged at Grouchy, who slashed at him with his claws….which broke against his armor. Grouchy snarled in pain, jumping up and down gripping his injured hand. He ran past Clawd and Doofus to the next car.

"Clawd! Get past that dummy and keep going forward!", Clawdeen yelled. He nodded as Duncan grabbed Doofus by the leg and dragged him away from Clawd, who sprinted to the forward door.

The next car was split-level; luggage above, cargo below. The werewolf opted to go through the luggage level. His senses were on high-alert. He could smell that they had been in here, so he remained cautious.

"Ooooooh! What a hunk!", a feminine raspy voice purred from ahead of him. A female gremlin stepped into view in the middle of the car. Her wavy, green hair styled like a 40's glam siren, exaggerated eye-makeup, and extra-full red lips. She was wearing a small pair of high-heels and leopard-print halter-top and mini-skirt that she must've made herself from clothes in the luggage. Her curves were generous in proportion to her size. She looked like a twisted version of a trailer-park tramp. She strutted toward him like a stripper. She didn't seem dangerous like the others, so she caught him by surprise when she leaped up onto him, trying to kiss him with her ginormous lips! Clawd struggled to keep her back, but the little tart had one hell of a grip! In the struggle, he tripped backward onto the floor.

"Don't fight it, Wolfy", she cooed. "I'll make you howl!"

Out of nowhere, a pink and black high-heel kicked the she-gremlin off of him. She tumbled almost all the way to the end of the car, then glared back at her attacker.

"Stay away from my boyfriend, you little bitch!", Draculaura hissed. The gremlin giggled maniacally like her brothers and disappeared through the door.

"Are you ok, Sweetie?", the vampire asked her boyfriend, helping him up.

"Yeah, thanks, Babe", he answered with a smile as the others came in.

"Doofus got away from me", Duncan growled. "He must've gone through the cargo level."

"I am thinkink the last gremlins are in engine", Abby said.

"And it sounds like they're havin' a party in there", Howleen growled.

The gleeful malicious laughter of the gremlins was mixed with the sounds of metal straining and banging, making Robecca wince at the thought of what they must be doing. Duncan quietly looked through the window into the engine. The hunchback and zombie engineers were tied up and being tormented by Grouchy, Doofus, and Tramp and two others. One was bouncing and spinning all over the place like a Wonderlandian cuckoo bird on ten cups of espresso with extra sugar! Totally Whacko! His eyes were spinning like plates on a stick as he laughed even more maniacally than the others. The last one….he had to be the one in charge! At three feet tall, he was bigger and brawnier than the others, his head crowned with a black Mohawk. And the way he was slashing the engineers with his claws and laughing was testament to how vicious he was. There were parts and controls strewn chaotically around the room. Duncan eased back.

"Yup, they're in there and they made a mess of the controls", he told the group. "From the looks of it, we're lucky the train was stopped, or we'd be running totally out of control! And they've got the engineers in there, too."

"Then what are we waiting for?", Clawd growled.

"Whoa, Clawd!", Duncan said. "There isn't a lot of room to move in there, the engineers are tied up, and the leader looks bigger and stronger than the rest. We have to be careful!"

"He's right, Bro", Clawdeen said. "How do you suggest we do this, Duncan?"

Duncan thought for a moment. "Clawd? You and I will rush them. Clawdeen? You and Robecca back us up and protect the engineers. The rest of you, make sure they don't get past you to threaten the passengers again."

"In fact, Abby?", Clawdeen added, turning to the yeti. "Go block the other door with ice, just in case."

"Am likink that idea", she said as she headed back the way they came.

"Good idea, Hon", Duncan grinned, kissing Clawdeen's cheek, making her blush. Then he gripped the door handle with Clawd ready. "On three?" The werewolf nodded.

"One…two…THREE!"

Duncan slammed the door open and they rushed through. Duncan smashed his fist into Grouchy's face, sending him reeling. Clawd slashed his claws at Mohawk, driving him back. Clawdeen back-handed Tramp away from the engineers while Robecca pulled them through the door then blocked it with her metal body. Grouchy got up snarling at Doofus, who turned to face Clawd alongside him.

"Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk!", Doofus laughed as he slashed at Clawd at the same time Grouchy swung his de-clawed fist at him. Clawd blocked Doofus, but took the punch from Grouchy. He was surprised any of these things could hit that hard! He kicked Doofus away, who was still laughing like an idiot. Grouchy tried another punch, only for Clawd to catch it this time and break his arm! His scream was cut short by the werewolf breaking his neck while slamming him through the window of the engine. He pulled the lifeless body back through the broken glass and dropped it.

Doofus picked up a large wrench to swing at Clawd, who punched him in the gut. This made him drop the wrench…right on his own head. Doofus saw stars in like a cartoon before falling over unconscious.

Whacko took one look at mechanical Robecca, and went gleefully insane!

"Break! Break! Break! Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hahahahahaha!", he squealed as he bounced and spun all around her, trying to take her apart!

"Stay away from me, you beast!", Robecca yelled, swinging her fists at him; missing him every time as his insane movements equated to artful dodging. "And hold….still!", she grunted when she finally hit him…hard. He slammed into the opposite wall and slide down to the floor in cartoon fashion. He got up almost immediately and made a mad(literally!) dash for the robot again….only to meet Clawdeen's slashing claws. He died laughing insanely.

Doofus got up, shaking his head vigorously to clear it, and charged at Clawd again. The werewolf was ready for him. He caught the idiotic gremlin by the throat and snapped his neck.

Tramp looked around, seeing the odds turning against them, and managed to dash through the door past Robecca and Clawdeen…only for Draculaura to catch her by the hair! The vampire grabbed her wrists with her other hand.

"You're mine, you little slut!", Draculaura hissed as she slammed her screaming to the floor. The vampire then drove her stiletto heel through the gremlin's chest; from her cleavage to her spine, pinning her to the floor as she died.

Duncan had been struggling with Mohawk this whole time. His speed and agility rivaled Duncan's, and being smaller plus stronger than he looked, the cramped space was to his advantage. Even with his recent martial arts training, Duncan was hard-pressed fighting this thing without hurting anyone else or causing more damage to the train! Mohawk managed to drop-kick him away and into the others, but in doing so he was pushed backward himself, too. Duncan and Mohawk both rolled back up to face each other at the same time. Mohawk hesitated to see what Duncan would do, and that was his downfall!

Duncan took a breath to calm down. Then he focused, tapping his power and fine control. He had to do this just right and do it fast. He took a breath and opened his mouth. Mohawk's eyes widened in horror as the fireball hit him, causing him to explode in charred fragments, leaving the remains of the control panel untouched.

"It's over", he breathed.

"Howleen", Clawdeen turned to her sis. "Take Abby and any other passengers or crew willing to help and check the train, make sure there aren't any more of those things!"

"You got it!"

"Robecca? You and Ghoulia untie the engineers and get started on repairs, ok?"

"Right, luv!"

"I'll see if anyone else is hurt and try to help them", Draculaura piped up.

"Good idea. Duncan? You, me, and Clawd will look around outside the train, to see if there's any damage to the train out there or if any gremlins escaped."

"Ok", Duncan smiled. "Just let me catch my breath, ok, sweetie?"

xxXXxx

Author's notes: What a mess! But what do you expect from gremlins?! I do not own 'Gremlins', but it was sure fun to use them in my story! But why were they on the train? Find out soon!

Some of you may be wondering why Duncan hasn't been taking the lead, it's simple: Clawdeen was chosen to lead this quest by Fenris Silvermane. Duncan understands this, and has been letting her take the lead; offering her suggestions and basically acting as her second-in-command. Privately, they remain equals. And besides, this is her destiny arc!

As always, long reviews and suggestions are welcome!

xxXXxx