Would you believe me if I told you that last week I forgot to upload this story? and I was sad to see that no one had read the chapter until I realized that I had not uploaded it in the first place XD

Right now i feel really stupid

god kill me pls

Now, on important issues... the feedback

Guest #2(?): what? me? no, u! (angry pacman-face)

Jim McCawley Darney: yup, writter's block sucks pretty bad... but try exercising, it helps me a lot.


10-. The Deadly Enemies of Man (part 1)

The basement walls began to crack causing dust to fall from the ceiling beams. When a small piece of plaster hit her forehead, the little girl finally reacted.

Lisa came to her senses little by little. She was lying on the cold basement floor and her body ached intensely; the feeling of 'Déjà vu' sent a shiver down her spine. When she opened her eyelids, and after waiting a few seconds for her vision to get used to the almost absolute darkness of the place, she could see, for the first time since the accident, with both eyes. The strange thing, apart from being able to see with both eyes, was that she felt on the left side of her face a faint tingling sensation that immediately reminded her of the feeling of electricity coursing through her body.

It was thanks to that strange sensation in her face that the little girl managed to wake up completely and as soon as she was a little more recovered, Lincoln's face suddenly appeared in her mind. She had seen him, or thought she had seen him, just as she was beginning to lose consciousness. If she remembered correctly, her brother's face was stained with blood and bumps that were beginning to form bruises. Worried, the scientist stretched out one of her arms and grabbed both her backpack and the laser pointer and reactivated as fast as she could the LED headlights to illuminate the whole place, however she did not find the albino there.

Thick veils of dust began to surround her. Struggling with the pain in her body, Lisa sat up and pressed several buttons on her laser pointer; the mechanical limbs of her backpack activated, latched onto the concrete floor and lifted her up. She was now breathing through an adapted mask with a filter of her own creation, though she tried not to remember how things ended for her the last few times she'd had to breathe through the thing in recent years. The metallic flashes that the ceiling beams let her see, every time one of Lisa's headlights hit them, as shiny and transparent drops dripped down and ended up hitting the floor and her hair, surely some of the pipes that crossed over the know-it-all had been damaged.

With a hand movement, more quick than agile, Lisa pressed the corresponding buttons on the laser pointer indicating to the metallic extensions to turn her around.

Then she focused one of her headlights to illuminate the end wall of the basement. The little scientist was not sure what she saw. The material the walls were made of was, at least for the most part, cement and mortar which gave them a grayish, homogeneous appearance.

However, what she had in front of her was something totally different.

After verifying the absence of noxious gases, Lisa took off her purifying mask and advanced using her own legs towards the portal. She touched the wall with her bare hand. It was still rough to the touch but also felt warm, with a peculiar engraving that she could only distinguish with her left eye.

"I speak fifteen different dialects and I don't understand what these symbols mean," she said aloud. "None of this makes sense"

Her rational mind was asking her to take samples, to conduct studies and tests to understand the nature of the phenomenon but a more primitive and emotional part of her mind demanded that she need to save her siblings.

"I guess I'll have to break through the wall if I want to get to my brother and sister..."

"Please don't do it," exclaimed a monotonous voice, echoing throughout the room as if it was coming from everywhere. Lisa had no problem recognizing it immediately, but it seemed impossible to her that she was hearing it at that moment.

With her heart racing a little faster by the minute, the brunette once again scanned the entire basement with her lights and her eyes until she finally came upon the stairs leading to the kitchen, where she saw a figure form from the shadows. Without thinking, she re-aimed her laser pointer and fired at the thing on the stairs. After the energy pulse the ceiling cracked even more.

She had annihilated a ghost! Or so she thought until she squinted and focused her eyes, through her glass eye Lisa saw a figure with golden hair crossing the stairs.

The darkness twisted and gave way. Lisa watched in stupefaction as the figure of a slender woman, Leni, slowly advanced towards her with a cold and dead expression.

What she saw was not something from the material realm she knew.

"That won't get you in with the boys," said Leni. Lisa was so surprised that she barely paid attention to her sister's words. "Breaking that wall will only weaken the foundation of the house and free the prisoners that are there... in short, it's a bad idea...".

All the brunette could do was blink at the apparition.

"I must have hit my head pretty badly to hallucinate so badly."

The appearance of his older sister raised an incredulous eyebrow, the eyebrow crossed by the open wound, before letting out a single thunderous laugh, devoid of any humor.

"You didn't hit your head, Lisa, at least not so hard that you started hallucinating, I think. I guess that seeing me here is something illogical for you, a phenomenon alien to this world... but in spite of all that I can assure you that I am your sister Leni, even if it's hard to believe it."

"No… that's not possible," Lisa refused to believe such nonsense as her older sister's appearance. "What are you?"

"Ah! What exactly am I? I am a shadow of Leni Loud, a servant of the lords of Order and Chaos seeking to maintain balance in the world... or so I think, after so many months it's hard to remember everything those two fuckers told me right after the accident, but you can still call me Leni."

As the apparition of her sister smiled absently, oblivious to everything around her, some more plaster fell from the cracks in the ceiling while the beams squeaked as they resisted stresses for which they were not designed. Lisa knew that the situation of the house would be seriously compromised if she didn't act quickly.

"Then I guess you know what to do so that the house doesn't collapse... 'servant of the lords of order and chaos' right?" said Lisa sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was forgetting."

"You said that when the wall was broken, the... the prisoners would be released? Which prisoners?"

"Infernal creatures that should not roam the mortal world, seven beings that exist only to corrupt and devour."

Lisa felt her skin crawl. After 'studying' Lincoln's comics concerning 'Saboom' for several weeks, she knew what creatures her sister was referring to.

"I understand," said the chestnut in a whisper. "But those things are supposed to be trapped for eternity in pillars of stone."

"Perhaps it was so before, but now they were released by that thing which controlled our sister. Just now they are preparing to threaten the mortal world and poison the souls of its inhabitants once again."

Lisa worried, maybe a few weeks ago she would have taken every word as just more nonsense from Lucy, but she had just received a sample of the veracity of those myths.

"Don't worry Lisa, those things are still trapped on the other side of the portal. Lincoln can easily get rid of them while they are alone, but if they could escape to our world... they would create more beings like them to serve them and that would be the end of everything. So you must be careful that no one enters this room until Lincoln comes out along with Lucy, okay?"

Her sister's apparition faded as she passed through the ceiling.

"Perhaps it would be best for you to lock yourself in your room and start the quarantine protocol," Leni's voice boomed again, "the one you made us practice for when there was a gas or one of your toxic substances leak."

The situation urged her, limping, Lisa headed for the stairs. She had to get to her room as soon as possible, so that from her main control panel she could lower the iron curtains and activate the airtight seals and thus seal the basement.

-o-

"Great! The worm failed in its attempt to seize the champion's powers, it seems that blind violence is still superior to scheming."

"But he left the portal open, just listen to me, you idiots! We must escape to the world of the fickle while the lightning champion is still distracted."

"I will take your words into consideration, Pride, my dear asshole. I obey no one."

"Nice words from a pretty face Lust, but you're always the first to get fucked."

"Stop fighting! I can't wait to find a corrupt soul and be the first to start plunging this town into chaos."

"You won't be the first if I find a corrupt soul first, Envy! Gluttony spew that right now, that's mine!"

The last of the brothers swallowed a rock that once formed part of his statue, without responding to Greed's shrieks he went ahead of the group, being the first of the seven to pass through the portal.

-o-

Lynn kicked open the front door, it was now a normal thing to see her in a bad mood after her workouts with some of her teams.

"Stupid Paula!" Furious, the sporty teenager threw her backpack against the couch, "Since they took the screws out of her leg she thinks she's so pretty... just 'cause some boys are after her blonde ass."

Lynn walked past the dining room, not reading the note her older sisters had left. She was heading to the backyard wishing Lincoln was home and not babysitting the twins and Lisa's friend at a silly elementary school science fair, she needed to release her frustration, she needed her brother to listen to her.

However, upon entering the kitchen, the athlete's heart skipped a beat as she noticed the atmosphere foul with smoke and dust, her nervous eyes quickly scanned both the kitchen and the dining room without finding anyone there. But when Lynn was about to run back to the living room to dial the emergency number, she saw out of the corner of her eye Lisa, who was staggering out of the basement, the scientist stumbled forward without stopping, leaning on two pairs of slender metal legs protruding from her backpack.

Seeing her sister's condition, Lynn went into big sister mode. She ran to Lisa and slipped one of her arms under the little girl's left armpit to help her walk. At the moment she didn't care that she could be contaminated by some dangerous substance after the last failure of one of the experiments of the infamous "Dr. Loud".

As they made their way to the living room, Lynn was surprised at how well those metal limbs were able to support Lisa's weight. Without much trouble they finally made it to the armchair.

"What a time Lucy chose to play hide and seek in the ventilation! Right, Lis?" Lynn joked, trying to lighten the mood, she would call the fire department as soon as her sister was finally safe.

"Lucy... basement... quarantine…" Lisa was struggling with her own mind and tongue to speak and explain herself, but what she had managed to say didn't help clarify the situation at all.

"In the basement? Lisa... Lucy is in the basement?" Remembering the huge amount of smoke in the kitchen coming directly from the basement, Lynn began to fear the worst. "Lisa, where is my sister?!

Suffering from a panic attack, the athlete released the little girl in her arms, Lisa almost collapsed when she lost the support of her older sister. Without staying to listen to the genius' plan of action, Lynn ran back to the basement, ready to do anything to save her confidant and best friend.

Lynn made it all the way down the stairs in just three strides. She watched as the back wall, the same one Lucy and Lisa had been doodling on for days, bent and moved... as if there was someone on the other side trying to get through a rubber curtain. That had to be her roommate.

The chestnut closed both hands forming two fists, clenched her teeth so hard that her jaws began to bleed and closing her eyes she charged with all her strength against the wall. There was a small explosion, bricks and stones flew through the air, the wall shook and after a few seconds it yielded to the tackle.

The air was clouded even more by the dust released by the small collapse. Just as the ceiling beams were beginning to give way under the weight of the entire house, the steel curtains were lowered, providing extra support to keep the house from collapsing and hermetically sealing the basement.

Now, Lynn was trapped alone in a darkened room, unaware that she would soon encounter the horrors that plagued mankind in ancient times... or at least she was unaware of the danger until the smoke inside the room began to take on definite, humanoid shapes.

The face of one of the monstrous creatures materialized out of the dust cloud just inches from the athlete's face, leaving her gaping. Normally, Lynn would jump up ready to punch anyone who even made the mistake of giving her the stinky eye, but it wasn't very common to see an entire body materialize out of the dust.

"And that's how quickly I found a being corrupted by my... Lynn Loud Jr! "

"Get the funk outta here, Gluttony, she's mine!"

"Brothers, we will have to share avatar, so we will have more opportunities to face the lighting champion."

The figures dissolved back into smoke, Lynn, for the first time in years lost her nerve and instead of preparing to fight, she took a breath to scream.

"HELP ME LINC...!"

-o-

Lucy had to blink several times to focus on Lincoln's familiar, smiling face, just inches above hers.

"Did you know that you still mumble in your sleep?" said the white-haired man in a whisper. "Regardless of the fact that you tried to kill me a few moments ago, it's a cute habit."

More quickly than she was used to, Lucy became aware of herself seconds after waking up, she still remained transformed into the body of the first champion and was being carried by Lincoln. Her head was resting on the left shoulder of her brother, who was carrying her bridal style.

"I didn't mean to... wait… how much I'd been asleep?" Lucy began to feel some tears forming under her eyes, she wanted to cry and explain to her brother that it was all someone else's doing.

"Shh... it's all right, Luz, I know that thing that infected you was forcing you do those horrible things," said Lincoln with a sympathetic tone. "Right after I expelled that bug of your body you lost consciousness, although only for a moment. I don't think you hit your head. You seemed to be fine after you separated from the parasite, but you suddenly fainted."

"I'm a little dizzy... but I think I'm okay."

Strangely to Lucy, Lincoln didn't seem upset and with a small smile adorning his face helped her to her feet as he said, "I guess it's the perks of having... PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER...! Ity bity person."

Lucy looked at him dumbfounded and silent.

"Becoming the receptacle of a parasitic mind and destroying the greatest compendium of magical knowledge in history was not in my plans."

"Don't sweat it, I already talked to the caretaker of the place and the guy doesn't seem to be prone to sue for damages," Lincoln smiled showing his teeth, trying to improve his younger sister's mood and failing miserably.

Still dizzy, and ignoring the alvino's attempts not to make her feel lees guilty, Lucy wanted to offer her help to her brother to solve the problem she had helped cause.

"If you really want to help me, then we must hurry; every moment those things stay in our world they will become more numerous and stronger. Be careful Lucy... this will be something new and dangerous for both of us."

"Do you know brother, I just survived a point blank shot from a futuristic weapon and a confrontation with my older brother turned god all thanks to the control of a psychotic mind parasite... and despite all that I still have the powers of the first lightning champion. I feel I can survive anything!

Lincoln didn't understand how it was possible for Lucy to maintain a smile after saying such disturbing things, yet he decided to play along.

"You know? The first champion was called 'Adam', 'Black Adam' actually and 'Adam' is the word for 'human being'... you proved to me to be more than that, maybe you can be 'Black Elohim'."

"Thanks for trying Lincoln...but you suck at this naming thing."

-o-

With over one hundred and forty thousand square meters of parking for any kind of vehicle, hundreds of different stores, a small park on the upper floors that offered a great view of the town, famous banks and state-of-the-art ATMs, the "Grand Central" mall was a world apart. With newer and more expensive technology than many of the nearby cities could afford, it was the crown jewel of the town, and the target of the interested eyes of anyone who came to think of themselves as "somebody".

What began as a mere commercial district in the 1960s had become over the years a veritable fortress of luxury and comfort. The brands that owned stores there rose more and more one above the other, as if competing with each other for more space on the four floors that made up the building. Yup, the "Grand Central" mall was a window from which a few privileged locals could look out over all of Michigan.

For all that, when speaking of the disproportionate wealth that abounded in the country, that mall was the reference point par excellence. "Grand Central" represented the profligate and self-indulgent character of all the town's wealthy, the building was even better known than the Royal Woods city hall painted in the characteristic mustard color.

As the team of policemen entered the first basement level of "Grand Central," Peter Highsmith could feel the oppressive weight of the structure over his head; so many tons of concrete, steel and glass, crammed with groaning people and sweating workers keeping the local economy stable, secure and above the minimum necessary level.

He and his team had to wait several days for the public works department to grant them permission to enter and investigate the mall, however, once they were handed the pertinent paperwork the local government even sent the same health inspector specially trained to identify toxic chemicals who had found all the previous clandestine laboratories. The Mayor would no longer ignore the increasing cases of people getting intoxicated inside the plaza, not now that they finally had evidence to back up the suspicions that something bad was going on in town.

The ultraviolet lights the inspector had brought with her found hundreds of minor leaks in the water, gas and heating pipes, but any trace of a truly dangerous substance was still missing, surely remaining mixed with the countless mysterious footprints and puddles covering the floor.

"Unless we find something soon that shows otherwise, we still have no proof that our 'toxin' is actually in the pipes in this basement," said Inspector McCann, leaving her special flashlight resting on the floor. "If it really was in one of the basement levels of the mall it could have leaked from here into the drain and from there flowed freely to Moore Street or even to West Avenue."

"In other words, that our evidence may be here as well as in any other building in town," added Pamela Foster, the fat officer was about to have a heart attack from her claustrophobia.

"Yup, probably."

Highsmith turned to look down the plumbing-filled hallway they had come through.

"Is it possible that we missed something along the way?"

"Us...? Yes, probably; but not to the UV flashlights or my sensors, something like that is impossible."

Highsmith pointed to the cement floor stained by countless puddles and muck.

"And why do the stains end up here, just like that, all of a sudden?"

The red-haired inspector bit her lip to hide her smile before replying to the officer.

"Maybe our chemicals sprouted wings and flew away. Unless you're suggesting that maybe someone cleaned the place before we arrived," the redhead thought for a moment, "in which case it's highly unlikely that we can prove it."

"Okay, let's not waste any more time with assumptions and say that the clandestine laboratory we were looking for 'flew away' alright?" Pamela Foster looked angrier than usual. "I'm sure there must have been some residue left in the drains, right?"

The inspector pinched her chin and sighed.

"Then we are going to need a lot of paperwork."

"How many more warrants?"

"Too many…"

"How long would it take to get them and investigate the whole place?"

"With all the stores and brands involved, the plumbing and drainage tunnel outfalls, going through the list of supplies purchased in the last few months plus analyzing all the waste that has been discarded lately... I don't even want to guess."

"Then we will have to be satisfied with just checking the outer walls and separation gates between the different areas of the mall."

"Highsmith, dear, not counting the parking lot and the five basement floors, this damn mall has three hundred thousand square meters of construction. To analyze wall by wall would take several weeks... and I don't think the city hall will send me support to cover more ground," said the inspector cautiously. "So the sooner we start investigating, the better."

Pamela pulled out her radio, she was about to give the latest news to the entire squadron and order the retreat when the floor and walls shook.

"What was that, an earthquake?!" asked the fat officer nervously.

Both, the inspector and Highsmith were silent and shook their heads.

A second tremor shook the basement. The latter was strong enough to release a shower of dust from the concrete ceiling above their heads.

"I bet something or someone hit the building," Highsmith commented. "It wouldn't be the first time a drunk driver swerved off the road and ended up crashing into the mall."

The next tremor came accompanied not only by a shower of dust and debris from the basement ceiling, but by the sound of a distant explosion. The lights went out for a moment only to come back on moments later, causing the less experienced cadets or officers in the rear of the convoy to twitch nervously. After the first explosion, everyone began to hear the incessant howling of countless sirens and horns.

"My radio doesn't work," commented Pamela after hitting the transmit button and hearing nothing but static on any frequency.

"Well… we're underground, that it's pretty normal," explained the inspector without pausing in her search for the fluorescent green and mysterious substance.

That answer did not reassure Highsmith, since a certain incident with the largest family in town he could 'feel' the danger, and now all he could perceive was frenzy and pain.

"Inspector McCann, which way is the nearest exit?"

"The tunnel on the left will take you to West Street, the others will take you back to the cistern and from there to the interior of the mall."

"Very well, Inspector, Foster and I need to withdraw urgently and we will take half of the men present. The others will stay behind to help you evacuate the building. Keep me informed of progress."

Surrounded by a dozen men, both police officers ran away. The floor vibrated again as they pushed their way through a crowd of terrified shoppers and vendors, even some of the local private security trying to get away from "Grand Central". A scene worthy of a typical movie shooting unfolded before the police officers.

In the huge parking lot, customers and dispatchers hid under cabs and private vehicles, or ran to their cars in an attempt to flee. Shouting struggled with the representative hum of traffic. Further up West Street, cabs and transports of all kinds swerved in every direction, crashing into each other or into the walls of buildings as they tried to get away from the center of town.

Further still, a trailer engulfed in flames that was still moving straight ahead collided violently with a public transport bus and both vehicles ended up blocking the entire street.

Highsmith continued to watch the street scene for a few more seconds before looking up and shielding his eyes from the dusk light with one hand. The distant buildings burned faintly, nothing that could be considered deadly but would surely frighten several civilians.

Suddenly something darkened the sky. Behind the thick clouds overhead, lights and flashes resembling shots of electrical energy were seen; a kind of thunder but much larger reverberated in the firmament.

Pamela's eyes were wild as she turned to look at her partner and superior.

"Peter, they are attacking Royal Woods."

With his radio in hand, Highsmith tuned in to the headquarters frequency and held it up to his ear.

"We are still unable to communicate with headquarters or with the other patrol cars... Foster, we are cut off."

Highsmith's nostrils dilated.

"We will hold this position until help arrives and we can start evacuating the civilians!" he shouted to the men behind him. Then he turned to his partner and said, "You look for the mayor... she should be in her private office on the top floor."


First and foremost; remember, I am not a native english speaker so I'm open to opinions and criticisms 'bout my written english

And last but not less important; If you enjoyed the fic, please send me an PM with any feedback you may have... pretty pretty please with a cherry on top, that would help me (and motivate me) to create more fanfics in the future.