Longest chapter I have ever written. 1,569 words to be exact!
"Holy sugar honey iced tea! He has a whole army!" Doyle exclaimed.
"Yeah," Doc said as he threw a lion off of him. "Like we haven't noticed?"
"I don't think right now is the time to be having a pointless argument!" Drew said before a leopard pounced on her. She was quickly able to push it off before it did any harm.
"You're lucky I even showed up! I could've stayed where I was but I had the descensy to come and see if you're alright!" Doyle argued. He took out the cortex disruptor and began shooting at the animals.
"We could've easily taken care of this ourselves, but no! You decided to show up and through grenades at a guy who can control an army of animals!" Doc fired back as he punched his way through a bunch of vultures.
"Why do you give me all this crap? I told you already, I'm a good guy now! I'm helping you for god sakes!" Doyle yelled.
"Uh, guys?" Drew tried to interrupt as she saw the Animal man lift up his golden staff.
"You little, " Doc threatened. While the two men where distracted the Animal man gathered energy into the little sphere on his staff. Then, using that energy, a streak of bright golden light shot out of the sphere and straight towards Drew, surrounding her in a bright yellow dome.
"Drew!" Doc and Doyle yelled simultaneously.
Line break!
Zak and his newfound friend ran as fast as their legs and paws could take them. The reason why Zak knew he wasn't just running in place was because the light grew brighter.
"I wish they hadn't drained the gas out of everything!" Zak complained. "If only Fisk or Zon were here!"
When Zak and the cub reached the outskirts of the animal ravaged village, they found a hiding place inside one of the huts. A few wide eyed children were huddled in the corner.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help." He calmly told them.
Zak peeked out from the vines that hung down from the doorpost to act as a makeshift door."I wonder what's causing these animals to go berserk." he whispered as he saw the shadows of different creatures through the small ally way between the two huts in front of them.
"It's not a what, it's a who." One of the children said.
"You understand me?" Zak was baffled that a small African child in the middle of nowhere could understand English.
"Yes and everyone else that lives here." He replied. "We call him the Dier man."
"Dier man?" Zak said.
"It means animal in English." Another child said.
"The animal man has a strong power that can control animals and turn people into them." The boy that first spoke to Zak said.
"Oh no! Mom and Dad!" Zak thought.
"Did you guys see two people wearing orange and black come through here?" Zak frantically asked.
"Yes, last we saw of them, they came out of our village leader's house to fight the animal man." The boy continued.
"I have to go and help them!" Zak said.
"You can't defeat him!" the boy intercepted.
"Can't isn't in my vocabulary." Zak fired back.
The boy struggled for words but sighed in defeat."You're a crazy American, but here, take this. It's a good luck necklace my father gave me. Supposedly the tooth is from the Nandi bear. Who ever wears it has good luck." The boy took off the sinew necklace that had the Nandi ber's tooth dangling from the center.
"Um, thanks?" Zak took the necklace and put it around his neck.
"Please friend, save us!" The boy cried.
"Call me Zak." Zak replied as he and Sherlock ran out of the hut.
Zak and Sherlock ran around the outskirts toward the center of the village. Fortunately, the animals were in the center part of the small community so he and his furry friend were able to run from the back without ease.
When Zak reached the cluster of huts that blocked him from the center of the village, he had to figure out how he and Sherlock could get a view of the center without the animals knowing. He looked at the tops of the huts and found that the one next to the village leader's hut had a small guard tower on the top of it. Zak picked up the cub and put him on his shoulders.
"Hold on tight!" Zak said as he used his claw as a grappling hook to get onto the roof of the hut. They scurried over to the small look out and jumped inside. Now Zak had a full view of what was happening below them.
"So that's where you went." Zak said as he saw his uncle in the crowd. Of course he and Zak's father where having another disagreement.
"Can't they just quit it for once?" He asked himself. He saw as his mom trying to get their attention and he also noticed that the sphere on the animal man's staff was glowing. Before Zak could even jump out and warn them, a bright yellow streak hit his mom.
Line break!
"Mom!" Doc heard the familiar voice of his son above him. As he was distracted, the animal man shot another bright streak out of his sphere and hit Doc. Doyle, filled with anger, started firing wildly at him. What he didn't notice was that a vulture was flying up behind him. The bird slammed into Doyle causing him to fall forward, and the cortex disruptor fell out of his hands. Doyle looked up and saw another bright streak heading straight towards him.
Zak ran out to his parents as the yellow dome that engulfed them slowly faded, revealing two full grown lions. Their eyes glowed yellow as they slowly stalked towards him.
"Uh, guys, it's me." Zak said nervously.
What he didn't know was that Sherlock scampered up behind him and caused him to trip and fall. The two lions took the advantage to try and attack him. Zak used his quick reflexes to block them from biting his head off with his claw. But their power combined was too strong for him and his arms were starting to give up on the pressure.
Suddenly another lion, with a not fully grow mane and bangs that reminded Zak of his uncle, attacked the two lions that were on top of him. The lion that saved Zak didn't have the glowing yellow eyes like the ones his parents had.
As the lion fought with his parents, Zak used this time to try and capture the attention of the animal man.
"Hey animal freak, why don't use mess with someone your own size!" Zak threatened. His eyes glowed bright orange as Nandi bears appeared from the shadows. The animal man's eyes stopped glowing as did the animals and he slowly started walking back.
"What's this? Are you scared of an eleven year old boy?" Zak teased as he walked towards the man. The animal man, along with his army, slowly started to retreat as Zak and the Nandi bears walked closer.
"You may have one this battle today, but the war has only just begun!" The animal man screeched as he and his creatures disappeared.
"Yeah, run away and never return!" Zak declared as he lifted up Sherlock with pride. Then he remembered his parents and his uncle. He knew his parents had been changed but he didn't see what happened to Doyle.
He turned and saw the lion that saved him still fighting with the lion that was his father. The lioness, that was his mother, was sitting on the side lines clearly unamused.
"Mom? Dad?" Zak asked as he walked slowly up towards the lions. The lioness and the lion with the full mane that was fighting with the lion that saved Zak, looked at him. The lioness slowly crept towards Zak and licked his hand. The lion with the full mane also walked towards Zak and stood in front of him. Zak could tell the lion was his father by the color of his mane, black with a white streak, and his right eye was a milky white with a scar going down.
"So wait, if you're my parents then," Zak looked towards the lion that saved him. "Doyle?"
The lion ran and pounced on Zak playfully. The lion's weight knocked him over and Zak's lion father was clearly not happy with what Zak's lion uncle did. He growled and pushed Doyle off.
Zak could tell, even if they were lions, that Doyle and his father had a bone to pick. His mom, clearly not pleased with the two male lions, jumped in between them and growled. Zak knew that when his mom got angry, she got angry. And now that she's a lion, it's was two times worse. The male lions apparently new that also and slowly backed away in opposite directions.
Sherlock pounced onto Zak expecting him to wrestle again.
"What am I going to do?" Zak asked himself.