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. 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 Loony 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 shock wave 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.