Hello and welcome to another story written by yours truly and this one is going to be a doozy so, let's just get right into the meat and potatoes of things. First, I was inspired to make this story after finishing up the latest Spiderman game for PS4 (specifically "The City That Never Sleeps DLC) and remembered how much I loved the dynamic between Spiderman and Black Cat. This led to me wanting to make an original superhero story with the Victorious gang.
Secondly, this story is going to be in the "Demons Within" story universe as an alternate universe. Here's the quick rundown, Liam grew up with his mother, Celeste, and sister, Lucille in New Orleans. He knows about his father's passing and history though not everything. This means, he never met Tori, Jade, or any of the others in the aforementioned story. Instead, it's a few years into college where he's already completed one semester and is now transferred to PCA University. (Yes, this may include the cast of Zoey 101, albeit to a minor capacity unless otherwise mentioned).
Lastly, Liam has his original last name, Marshall in this story as he was never raised by his uncle nor takes his last name. This also means that his 'sister'/'cousin' has not been introduced either. Either way, this is the first chapter of "Fangs of Cerberus"
Fang of Cerberus
Arc 1: Freshman Year
Chapter 2: Of Horns and Halos
Evening fell over the city, masking it in a beautiful blanket of twilight, creating the perfect scene for some vigilante activity. It had been about a week since the incident involving that loud girl, but, it created a new sense of purpose for one Liam Marshall; one in which he vowed to continue whenever possible.
After classes had concluded, Liam entered his room and got dressed for patrol in his room. Gone was his casual attire, replaced now with cargo pants tucked into military style boots, and an armored vest over a black sleeveless hoodie. Given the warm weather, he skipped the jacket altogether but made sure to grab his protective scarf that covered most of his face once he finished tying up his hair.
With that taken care of, he focused on the area where he stopped those hoodlums from assaulting that young woman and with a few deep breaths, he sat down on the side of the bed in the lotus position.
"Breathe..." he quietly chanted. "Focus on your target and visualize it."
He repeated this mantra in his head several times before disappearing from the bedroom in a puff of black smoke.
In a matter of seconds, he appeared on the rooftops of the scene of his first successful crime bust. He wouldn't get a chance to celebrate as he began to pick up a disturbance in both his stomach and head; the former being a side effect of using this ability. He pushed down the sick feeling rumbling in his stomach and did his best to pinpoint the source of this feeling that was plaguing him.
He would feel several presences to the east of his location and rushed over as quickly as he could.
His journey brought him to a seemingly empty lot behind a large bank where some shady characters were entering the building that very moment.
"Two groups of thugs in two nights?" he rolled his eyes. "Right up my alley."
He inhaled deeply before teleporting once more to a closer spot near the structure, nearly gagging from the queasy feeling in his gut though he ignored the temporary illness to focus on the task at hand; stopping these criminals. Slipping inside, Liam carefully trekked through the dark corridors making sure not to alert the robbers of his presence. In his mind, this was far beyond what he was expecting to encounter and yet, here he was about to engage possibly armed men in an attempt to stop them from robbing a bank.
"What was I thinking?" he hissed under his breath, feeling a sense of dread as he neared the main lobby.
Keeping to the shadows, Liam noticed that many of the men were actually unarmed and currently just randomly tearing the building apart, almost as if they were just hoping to find something and leave. He shook his head at the incompetence of the men before shifting down the wall back to the rear exit. His mind told him that these goons weren't worth his time or effort...
...that is until...
"What's going on in here?!"
The random voice startled the group as well as Liam himself who all turned their attention to find an overweight guard carrying a flashlight standing near a flight of stairs. If the bank robbers were incompetent, then this guy should be fired on the grounds of sheer stupidity. The next thing he knew, the sound of gunfire rang through the establishment, prompting Liam to do what he knew was the right thing.
Oh, how he despised doing 'the right thing' right now.
"I should've stayed in my room..." he rolled his eyes before darting at the man as fast as he could. "Oh well..."
Rushing in, he tackled the overweight moron to the ground, saving him from several potentially fatal shots., though one of the bullets happened to graze the poor man in the arm. The two slid across the smooth tiled floor before disappearing in a puff of smoke; the aftermath resulted with them appearing behind the teller's desk making them safe for the time being.
"My arm!" the gruff man clutched his wounded arm.
"Get out of here now! Call the police and don't come back without them..." Liam growled, clearly annoyed at the situation that he put himself in. "I'll draw their attention and you go out the rear exit. Understood?"
The man looked into the fierce glare; those dual colored orbs letting him know that there was no room for debate.
"Alright..." he flinched.
Nodding in approval, he watched as his savior suddenly vanished in a puff of black smoke, leaving him alone behind the makeshift refuge.
Meanwhile, the men had ceased their fire temporarily as they stalked around trying to figure what had just transpired. One moment they were firing on a single fat guard who was stupid enough to announce his presence and then, out of thin air he disappeared.
"What happened, Rick?" one of the masked men whispered as he scanned the surroundings.
"I don't know," was his only response. "For now, three of you keep looking for that butterball. The rest of you need to come with me to collect the money." In truth, there was no logical explanation that could be given. "People don't just vanish into nothing."
The group went their respective ways, having no clue that the very cause of this 'mystery' was right under their nose.
The trio continued their search, each one more fearful than the last as they scoured the area for their target. Liam took advantage of this as the three men gathered around one another, shaking their heads when discussing their results.
"Find anything?" the biggest one asked.
"Nope. Nothing around here but empty chairs and desks."
"Same here..."
"I found something, guys!" The three turned around to find a fourth figure standing behind them. The next thing the trio saw was complete darkness as they were blindsided by a swift barrage of punches and kicks that knocked them completely unconscious. "A bunch of wimps."
He spared a grin under the scarf concealing his identity but, let it fall when he remembered the other members were currently heading to the vault.
"Hurry up!" The one known as Rick ordered while his buddies continued to pull the massively heavy vault door.
At this point, this simple in-and-out job was beginning to turn into a convoluted train wreck. All he wanted was to get what they came for and get the hell out of dodge. Instead, he was stuck in a mix of panic and anger as he watched his team struggle with a doorway.
"What's the hurry anyway?" one of them grunted.
"Who cares?!" he sharply rebutted, rubbing his temples. "Right now, focus on the task at hand and get that jewel!"
Another 30 seconds passed before the entryway was wide enough for the men in black to enter. One by one, they stormed inside and began ransacking the place. Safety deposit boxes were scattered throughout the large area as they searched diligently for what they sought.
"Boss! Is this it?" he held up a rather ordinary necklace from one of the boxes.
To his surprise, Rick's eyes lit up upon gazing at what appeared to be a green and brown wooden necklace with an emerald pendant on the end; It was, in fact, what they'd come to claim. He quickly snatched the piece of jewelry, stashing it in a small pouch in his jet black vest.
"Good work! Let's get out of here..."
"Aww but, we were just about to roast some marshmallows and sing campfire songs," The remaining men turned around only to find nothing but a closing vault door.
Try as they may, there was not enough time for them to escape the room as the sounds of it banging shut echoed in the otherwise hollow room. Rick instinctively drew his gun only to feel something clamp down on his wrist, forcing him to drop the firearm. His yelp filled the startled the others who attempted to mirror his actions only to find that they were unarmed as well.
The first punch glanced Rick's chin. He noticed too late that it was a feint, though, when the second punch doubled him over and expelled the last bit of choked air from his beer-weighted belly.
It was a heck of a shot. Outside of having the wind knocked from him, which he always hated, Rick noticed a fair amount of pain with the gutshot, which was something he wasn't used to. A hit to the face, yes, or even the kidney...but the gut shouldn't have been much more than discomfort if that.
Fortunately, he was used to it all. A veteran of bar fights in four states and countless cities, even being out of air was something Rick knew how to deal with. However, his impending comeback was halted before leaving the gate as he felt another shot of pain through his body, namely below the belt, effectively taking him out of the fight.
One of the thugs who thought it best to try to rush him from behind. Drawing his hand back, he let out all of his fear as he punched the back of Liam's neck. The sound of connection brought an unseen smirk on the guy's face until he noticed something that made his blood run cold.
He did hit something, but it wasn't the young man that he targeted. What he hit was something black and floating, forcing him to withdraw in trepidation.
Liam stood up straight, eyes bulging with rage, and stared at his opponent—some punk with a smart mouth—right in his borderline demonic gaze. The man tried to stand tall, but he was about to pee his pants he was so scared. Liam had him where he wanted him.
"You…little…" Liam took a lurching step forward with each word. On the third, he swung: "Ass!"
With the tiniest amount of courage hanging on a thread, another dumb punk tried to counter with a punch of his own.
The blow felt too sluggish though. Liam knew the second he noticed who launched it. The spry, smirking college kid ducked under it. Before anyone could even register the dodge, however, a body shot, this one to his ribs, sent fresh ripples of pain through the second's torso. He didn't fall—he made absolutely sure he did not fall—but it was a lot closer than he'd have liked.
The first thug went in for another shot. Liam shoved him off. Seeing the guy scoot back so far against the weight of it gave him enough time to end things. He covered the distance between them. Threw three more punches that did land. The poor grunt fell.
Then, he stood again, surveying the other remaining souls.
It was unreal. Between the pain in his guts and ribs and the general confusion, the sight of this kid on his feet despite the numbers advantage was not something the second man wanted to see. He threw another haymaker that the kid ducked but didn't parry, then another that the kid swung under again—and responded in turn with an uppercut.
Click. The sound of his upper and lower rows of teeth making unplanned contact sickened him. Still, he kept his feet. He had to. Falling down was not—
Liam stared at the three crumpled heaps at his feet, a wealth of something dark welling up in his soul.
"Losers," he said, his throat full of evil intent while speaking that single word. He then turned his attention to the only remaining (conscious) member. "What'll it be?"
Needless to say, the authorities arrived after nearly half an hour after the security guard called. By then, Liam had concluded his mission, watching from a nearby rooftop as the men were led away in seperate squad cars. It seemed that no money was stolen; only a single necklace was their intended target, a fact that was excluded from the report as none of the officers were informed about that detail.
The only one who knew was Liam himself courtesy of the artifact known as the 'Gem of Kulkulkan' seemingly attached it around his neck after he removed from the leader's vest pocket. He stared at the bright green gem, fiddling with it between his pointer and thumb before finally settling on leaving. This was a bit more than he bargained for, but, on the other hand, he was grateful for the experience as it would come in handy at some point in the future.
"Time to go..." he pulled down the scarf, visibly showing off his smirk, a single canine resting over his bottom lip as the last member was shipped off to jail.
A silent puff of black smoke signaled his departure, unknowingly under the watchful eyes of two opposing forces.
"Interesting..." a sultry tone broke the silence several blocks away from the crime scene. "I guess "she" was onto something after all."
On the other side of the bank building, two conflicting shades of brown studied the fading smoke with both concern and intrigue.
"...talk about a game changer..."
After the events of the previous evening, the corridors of PCA University were abuzz with chatter; much to a certain girl's irritation. Long raven hair flowed with each step, complimented by purple streaks that stood out as the only source of color on the otherwise black-clad young woman. She currently was heading to admittedly one of her favorite classes when talks of the previously reported events caught her ear.
"Did you hear that Wade and his goons were arrested?"
"Yeah! Something about them stalking a girl and chasing her into a back alley...?" one of the nerdy boys inquired to a chorus of nods.
"I heard someone was recording the last part of what was happening and some mysterious guy came and saved the woman."
"What about that bank robbery just last night?" some random girl chimed in.
"So there's a vigilante?"
That last part caught the dark-haired girl's attention as she entered the classroom. Taking her seat in one of the middle rows, she continued to listen to the various conversations from her fellow students while resting her jet black combat boots on the table. In truth, there was something peculiar about all of this that piqued her interest, but she'd remain neutral about it all until she gathered some more information. In the meantime, the other students began to file in, followed by the professor, an older African-American woman wearing a dark grey suit that complimented her natural hair. She was around her early 40s but you wouldn't know that by looking as she had the appearance of a woman about half her age.
"Alright, class. Settle down and welcome to Culture 101. First off, I am Professor Freeman and I will be guiding along this journey of cultural diversity and comprehension. My office hours are on Mondays and Thursdays between 9 am and 1 pm. Also, my email can be found on the campus' website although it is included in the syllabus that I'm passing out now."
She handed over a stack of packets for the students to pass to one another before returning to the whiteboard.
"As you're passing those out, let us get started on the first lesson. Since it's the first day, this will just a simple lecture with some questions peppered in for fun," she smirked. "For starters, let's go into Haitian culture. Does anyone know anything about Haiti and it's spiritual culture?"
Not a soul raised their hand for the first few seconds until a pale palm casually rose, drawing the older woman's attention and acknowledgment.
"Outside of the religious construct of Catholicism, there was a much freer form of spiritual belief centered around voodoo where the people believe in a Supreme God called Bondye, from the French. When it came in contact with Roman Catholicism, the Supreme Creator was associated with the Christian God and the loa associated with the saints." the young woman answered with confidence.
"Very well said, miss..."
"West. Jade West."
"Excellent, Jade." she nodded in approval, earning a ghost of a grin from the gothic young adult. "Now, does anyone know anything about the Loas?"
A still standing Jade was about to answer when another voice interrupted her attempt. Cutting her gaze to the left side of the room where a dark-skin male stood to his feet. Of course, she took her seat, resuming her earlier position.
"One of the Loas worshipped is Legba who is one of the most important loa in Haitian Voodoo. In fact, he can open the gates to the spirit world, enabling communication with other loa. No loa dares show itself without Legba's permission. He controls the crossing over from one world to the other. Legba is also known to hold the "key of the spiritual world," and for this reason is identified with the Christian St. Peter."
Once more, Professor Freeman nodded in approval. "Correct, Mr..."
"Liam Patterson," he smiled confidently before taking his own seat.
The older woman turned her attention back to the board and began to discuss the remainder of the lesson. As the minutes ticked away, the various students took notes but, a pair of icy blue orbs constantly gravitated to a certain young man who was busy compiling information without a care in the world. It wasn't that she liked the guy, quite the opposite in fact. She just didn't like being upstaged by anyone and that wouldn't change, even if the guy was attractive.
Soon, the time came for the class to draw to a close and Professor Freeman took the last few minutes to address her class once more.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to study chapters 1 and 2 for Friday's lesson alright? Also, please message me asap so that I have your student emails on file. For now, enjoy the rest of your day."
Within seconds, various students would file out, many murmuring amongst themselves about the class. Liam took his time to make sure that he recorded everything before shuffling to put everything away in his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulders and proceeded from the classroom only to find the goth girl standing next to the exit as if she'd been waiting for him.
"Can I help you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Chewing the inside of her jaw, she crossed her arms.
"Maybe..."
"So, what is it then?"
"What's with upstaging me? Did you think it was funny to just get up and embarrass me in public like that?"
Emerald avoided the hard gaze of Azure for what felt like an eternity.
"Look, I wasn't trying to embarrass you or anything. I just wanted a chance to answer a question about my own heritage. Nothing more."
"Mhmmm... Well, I suggest that you don't make this a habit, alright?" she rubbed the stubble on his cheek playfully, before hitting him with her dark hair as she headed down the hall to only Lord knows where.
Liam simply stared blankly at her departing form until she disappeared within the sea of students.
"48... 49... 50!"
The sound of clinking metal rang throughout the room courtesy of Liam Marshall who'd just finished his curling reps. The sweat poured all over his body as he proceeded to put the dumbbells back on the rack before moving on to an empty weight bench where the barbell was waiting for him. He allowed a goofy grin to adorn his face, but only for a split second as he regained his focus.
Several 45 lb plates were placed on both ends of the bar giving him a grand total of 315 lb for him to push. He then rested on the seat and got started on his reps, or at least he would've if he hadn't noticed a shadow standing over him.
"Excuse me?" he happened to catch the sweet voice when he removed his earbuds. "I'm sorry, but, I was going to use this bench."
Liam carefully sat up and got a good look at the girl. She was olive skinned and slender in size. Her eyes were the color of honey when the lights hit them, further accentuating her beauty. Even if he was annoyed at first, that quickly went away once he got a good look at her.
"Sorry," he bowed his head, letting his dark brown locs cover his eyes. "I didn't see anyone here. I should've been paying attention so, I apologize."
Given his track record with girls on campus thus far, nobody would fault Liam for expecting to get chewed out. To his surprise, he was greeted with a giggle from the girl. To add to his poor luck with girls, Liam missed the hue of red that rose onto the girl's cheeks as she sized up his sweaty and toned frame before snapping back to reality.
"It's alright. It was an honest mistake."
"You can use it. I was just going to do a few reps and then be on my way so, it's no big deal."
She smiled at him, tucking a stray piece of her hair before accepting his offer.
In turn, he responded by removing the big plates and placing the exact weights that she wanted. Once that was set up, Liam grabbed his damp towel to wipe away the beads that formed on his forehead before making his way out of the near empty room. He reached the door only to hear the faintest of coughs, drawing his attention back to the slender girl.
"Is something wrong?"
Her response came in the form of an outstretched hand.
"Not really," she replied with an even larger smile, showing off her perfect cheekbones. "But I'd like to ask if you wouldn't mind helping me out? This is actually my first time lifting weights like this."
"Sure! I don't mind at all."
With the verbal agreement in place, the pair returned to the weight bench.
"By the way," he helped her get in the proper position. "I'm Liam."
"Tori."
"Pleasure to meet you, Tori."
"Likewise, Liam..." she fought back the giggle that tickled her throat and resumed focusing on the bar hovering over her face. "Shall we begin?"
"Ready when you are," he smirked, grabbing hold of the metal bar to spot her.
To be continued...
Alright, so with the first two chapters out of the way, we can finally get to the heart of the story. I'll explain things as things progress but for now, here are the facts:
Liam is practically a mutant, meta-human, etc and while his teleportation abilities are obvious, they are not the only powers that he possesses. More will be revealed as he now possesses the Gem of Kulkulkan (an artifact in Mayan Mythology). As of now, nobody knows who he really is despite the last scene. These were just introductions to the main players as far as primary characters and potential antagonists/protagonists moving forward.
I would also like to add that everyone will not have supernatural abilities. (Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, right?) In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed these last two chapters and be on the lookout for the next one as it's coming up shortly.