Just like I promised, here's the next chapter. This is where it all begins... again (Wrestlemania 20 tagline, but it works here). Enjoy! Keep reviewing!

Chap. 5

The Trigger

The dogs leapt forward, eager to meet their prey. But the cloaked figures sidestepped the huge creatures easily. Two of the dogs righted themselves, but the other two slid forward, ramming into the alley wall. Before they could recover, the figures whipped around and pointed their blades at them. The weapons began to glow, the sword blackish-blue, and the blade gold. Suddenly fire shot forth from both blades, but not normal fire. Black-blue flame and golden flame combined into one force and slammed into the dogs. A mutilated howling could be heard, as the monsters were burned from the ground up. When the flames finally left, there was only a charred spot where the monsters had remained. The figures turned back to Slade and with one outstretched hand, Black beckoned for the villain to face them himself.

Slade's response was for his hands to suddenly burst into flame. Crouching his body, he leapt up into the air and drove both fists down onto the figures. But they raised up their weapons and blocked his attack. For a millisecond, their blades forced Slade up, and then he flipped back onto the ground and began to face them head-on. He swung his flame wide, trying to force his opponents back. It managed to do that, but the second it faded, Gold delivered a roundhouse kick to the villain's side. But Slade caught the leg and kept it pinned to his side, immobilizing his foe. But in trapping one, he had forgotten about the other. Black suddenly vanished into the shadow and then reappeared standing behind Slade. From there he delivered a vicious dropkick to his foe's back. Unprepared for it, Slade was driven forward by the impact, as Gold used his grip on her leg to pull him further along, dropping him into a modified monkey roll. Slade went flying, but he righted himself in mid-air, bounced off the wall, and landed on his feet. Gold flipped to her feet and joined Black as they continued the fight.

The children meanwhile, were watching with utmost interest. "Holy crap, how'd they do that?" Lisa cried in amazement, as the figures grabbed Slade's arms and used them as stepping-stones as they leapt up, trapped his head in their legs, rolled forward, and drove his head down onto the pavement. "How'd he do that?" Rivers asked a moment later, as Slade suddenly created a flame-spear in each hand and shot them at his enemies. "Uh guys," Martin began. "maybe we should be running away now?" "We can't abandon them!" Bart argued. "We can't help them either." Martin shot back. "Maybe if we wait, we can." Katie said keeping her full attention on the fight. She knew eventually, someone had to make a mistake that could lead to his or her downfall. Every fight was built around that moment, and the journey it took to get there. She just hoped that when it came, Slade was the one who met it. But as the group watched the fight, they forgot one important detail. One that became apparent, as the sounds of growling grew louder.

"Looks like my pets are about to take care of this for me." Slade said, as he forced another stalemate between the figures and himself. Both figures looked up and saw that the other dogs were right behind the kids, who were completely focused on the fight. "Kids, look out!" Gold yelled as the dogs began to pounce. The children heard her warning and scattered, but not in time enough. The huge dogs slammed into the ground hard enough to knock Martin, Lisa and Rivers into the wall, where they slowly slumped down, dead to the world. As for Bart and Katie, the dogs caught them underneath their huge paws.

"Catherine! Bart!" Black yelled inanguish as he and Gold raced towards them. But before they could reach the children, a wall of flame shot up from the ground. Blocked off, the figures turned to see Slade standing before them. "I wouldn't try to pas though this." He said calmly. "You know what my flame does to your kind." As he spoke, his body began to lose focus, as though he was slowly being erased. "It'll go down in a minute, but I doubt that's enough time. I'll see you later, when you've lost all chance of stopping me, and my master." With that, his image faded more and more, until it finally disappeared into nothing. Black and Gold looked at each other, then looked at the wall. "This is it." Black said. "If they're going to trigger, they have to do it now, or it's over."

On the other side, Bart and Katie were trying to hold off the huge dogs that held them down, but having little luck with it. Bart was holding open the creature's mouth with his hands, but it was a nasty business. "Dude! This is disgusting!" Bart yelled, as he was covered with drool and a breath that stank of the grave and a hundred other rotted dead things. "Keep trying!" Katie yelled, as she dodged the huge beast's lunges. "Can't…. arms…. Tired." Bart sweated out, as his arms began to tremble under the strain of keeping the creature off him. Inch by inch, the creature gained more and more ground, moving closer to swallowing the boy in one gulp. As it did, the fear began to grow in the boy's soul, filling him with a feeling he had never felt before. This feeling spread all over his body, giving him a strange sort of clarity. Suddenly, Bart's mind was filled with a picture of the small squirrels that he had seen in the park, which seemed to always be able to escape him. There was a flash of smoke, a stench of brimstone, and then the dog's jaws snapped shut.

"NOOO!" Katie yelled, her horror at losing her brother pouring out. But then the dog's jaws opened again, revealing nothing inside them. Both Katie and her attacking dog looked over, unsure of what had happened. Even the creature looked confused, until a small squirrel ran out from under his body and leapt onto the wall. The dog took one look at it and chased after it, biting at it whenever possible. But the small animal was always able to move faster then it's huge predator. "Where'd it come from?" Katie wondered, as she watched the scene unfold before her. But then she heard a snap of jaws above her, and realized that her dog was back on her. Once again, she began to twist and turn, trying to avoid the creature's jaws. "Help! Someone!" she yelled out in a terrified voice.

"Uhh…." Rivers muttered. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was a wall of fire then…. "HELP!" he heard in a girl's voice. That cut through the fog in the boy's mind. He pulled himself to his feet and looking to the side, saw that Martin and his sister were waking up. He also saw Katie being attacked by one of the dogs. "Hang on Katie, we're coming!" he yelled out, as he began to run towards her. As Rivers ran, he could feel the burn begin to come back into his hands. But he ignored it, focusing only on the dog. Reaching the monster, he drew back his hand, thinking only to gain its attention with a punch. But before he could connect, a blast of green energy shot from seemingly nowhere and threw the creature into the wall. Rivers didn't know where it had come from, but he was thankful that Katie was safe. "Are you ok?" he asked. But the girl gave no response, only stared at him. Rivers looked himself, wondering what was wrong. Then he saw his hands. They were glowing with green energy, completely surrounded by it. Rivers flexed his fingers once, twice. They moved fine, unaffiliated by the energy. It was then Rivers noticed that his burning joints no longer hurt. "What is this?" he whispered as he stared at his hands.

But as the children stared, the dog shook itself, and got to its feet. "Rivers look out!" Lisa yelled out, but it was too late. As Rivers turned, the creature pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. "Get off!" Katie screamed at the hateful monster. She pointed her fist at it, as though she could get it off by sheer force of will. It was at that moment, she was struck by a brief, incredibly sharp headache, which broke as quickly as it came. But in that time, another miracle happened. The creature was enveloped in black energy and lifted into the air. The energy began to contract, crushing the creature inside it. Then finally, the creature blew, in a burst of brimstone and flame. The energy vanished, but now Katie's hands were glowing, albeit with black energy. "What's happening to me?" she cried, as her friends stared at her and Rivers.

"Katie just calm down please." Lisa said, trying to keep her friend from doing anything else destructive. But then, a pungent smell filled her nostrils. Lisa's ears twitched and a new force seemed to override her mind. Suddenly, she threw her arms back and with a huge leap flipped up in the air, just as the second dog pounced on where she would have been. Lisa came down hard, driving her body straight into the dog's head. She then flipped off the creature's head and landed on her feet right by her brother. But the dog shrugged it off again, and then saw Martin. The boy cried out in fear and put out his hands in a protective gesture. But then, some kind of glow surrounded his hands, and they became pure steel. Moving with a will of their own, Martin's arms shot out, increasing in size, and slammed the dog back into the wall. Martin opened his eyes then, and saw what he was doing. The dog snarled and bit at his arms, but they were complete steel and impossible to damage. Martin just stared, unable to conceive what was happening. Suddenly, a burst of black and white shot out, incinerating the dog. Martin turned around, as his arms retracted and returned to normal. The last of the flame-wall vanished and the two figures raced into view.

"Thank God you're ok!" Black said, as he raced over, sheathing his sword. Then he got a look at their current states. "They've triggered." He whispered, as Gold came up to him. "Toldja they would." She answered. "Is everyone all right?" she asked. "Oh I don't know. Is being attacked by demon-dogs, dead villains, and having your arms transform on you ok!" Martin snapped, his voice echoing fear and disbelief. "Calm down, Martin. We can help you." Gold said. "How do you know my name?" the boy asked. "We know a lot." Black replied mysteriously. "But there's no time now. Where's Bart?"

"What?" asked Katie, looking around for her brother. But then she felt something pulling at her leg. Looking down, she saw a squirrel frantically trying to grab her attention. Bending down, she saw it look up into her face, with purple eyes she recognized all too well. "I think I found him." she whispered, as the others gathered around her. " Oh my God, what did he do to himself?" Rivers said in disbelief. "Nothing that he can't take away." Gold responded. Kneeling down, she looked the squirrel dead in its eyes. "Bart. Listen to me." she said gently, in a voice that sounded eerily like the boy's own mother. "You can do this. You just have to calm down." She spoke rhythmically, which seemed to gather the creature's full attention. "You have to picture yourself. Your human self. Concentrate on that in your mind, and on nothing else. It's the only way." Gold kept her gaze locked with the squirrel, not allowing his eyes to focus on anything else, keeping her voice low and soothing. The small animal stopped trembling; its' eyes began to close. Suddenly, there was another puff of smoke and when it cleared, Bart Logan stood before them again.

"Bart! You're ok!" Katie said, hugging her brother close. Then realizing what she was doing, she let go. But the boy gave no notice. "I turned into an animal!" he cried, with the same fear in his voice that the others all felt. "What's happening to me? What's happening to us?" The others began to speak then, their voices beginning to jumble together in a web of panic. Finally, Black cut through it; "Calm down, all of you!" he yelled. The kids quickly quieted, as the dark figure began to speak. "I know you're all scared, but what happened tonight has been destined to happen for a long time. Well, maybe not in this exact way, but what's happened to you is natural." "How is this natural!" Rivers yelled, holding up his glowing hands. "It's all like your parents told you." Gold replied. "What are you talking about?" Lisa asked. At that, Gold's eyes widened, but Black's narrowed. "I knew they wouldn't keep their part of the deal." He muttered. "I can't believe this." Gold said, shaking her head. "We had such faith in her." "I believe it's time we had a talk." Black said.

Turning to the kids, he said, "Listen, we've contacted your parents and told them to meet at the Logan's. We're going to meet them there." "Wait, what's this we?" Bart asked. Black shook his head and said, "There are going to be a lot of secrets revealed tonight. Most should have been told to you by your parents, but one is going to be told to you right now." Raising up his hands, Black began to pull away his makeshift mask. Gold did the same, and then the children saw something that they remembered for the rest of their lives. Underneath Black's mask, was a face covered in black fur. The jaw jutted outwards, revealing a pair of pointed teeth on top and bottom. The ears were placed on the top of the head, and were pointed like those of a fox. The eyes were blood red, with a pair of black pupils. Gold's face was shaped into a short muzzle, covered in red fur, with her lower jaw colored in white. Small teeth came out on the sides of her long jaw. Pointed ears stuck out through the mass of red hair on top of her head. Her eyes were yellow, and gleamed in the moonlight. As the children stared, dim memories began to surface in their minds. Memories of old heroes, who had once protected this city. Heroes that were part human, part animal; to be specific, a bat and a fox. It was then, that they realized that they were looking at Nightstalker and Lightweaver, members of the WILDB.R.A.T.S, and the Elemental Knights of Shadow and Light.