Pardon the long wait. And the bad writing. Stuff just unexpectedly popped up and that jumbled up my brain. So yeah. Enjoy...
"This, I have never seen before in all my years of zoology." Dr. Lawhorn said as he looked through the microscope. "Their DNA has become some sort of mixed mutation between lion and human."
Dr. Lawhorn had taken DNA samples from the three lions. All three had the same results. A mixed mutation of human and feline.
"Do you know if we can change them back?" Zak asked.
"So far the outcome doesn't look so good. Who did you say did this? An Animal man or something?" Dr. Lawhorn said.
"Yeah, Animal man. He's like some sorta African god that protects animals." Zak said. He looked down at Doyle, who, no matter what, would not go in one of the cages Dr. Lawhorn put Zak's parents in.
"Well, I never believed in those sort of legends till now. This opens up a whole new door of research!" Dr. Lawhorn looked up at Zak. "But there is one problem."
"Define problem."Zak said. He was quite familiar with the word problem and knew it had many differences.
"Well, those lions are still your parents. They can think and act like them, but since there is a little carnivorous gene in them, they could change into huge man eating beasts in a split second."
A crash came from outside the lab followed by screams of terror.
"Uh, like that?" Zak asked nervously. Dr. Lawhorn grabbed a long stick with a wire coil at the tip. He flicked a small switch and the wire coil turned on.
"A shock stick. A device that keeps the animals controlled without harming them to severely. Kinda like a taser." Dr. Lawhorn explained.
"You electrocute them!"Zak exclaimed.
"Yes, but not severely. Well actually it kinda depends on how long you shock them." Dr. Lawhorn ran to the door with Zak and Doyle following closely behind. The larger secondary animal testing lab was in complete ruins. The cages where Dr. Lawhorn had kept Zak's parents and Sherlock in were completely destroyed, and his parents and lion cub friend, were gone.
"That's not good." Zak mumbled.
"Yeah, it's not good when you have man eating killers running around your base." Dr. Lawhorn snapped. An alarm sounded.
"Come on, we have to get back in here before they come back." Dr. Lawhorn dragged Zak back into the lab they were just in. He pressed some buttons on the keypad and the doors slammed shut.
"What's going on?" Zak asked.
Dr. Lawhorn sat down in front of a computer and typed in a series of numbers. Security camera footage of a warehouse filled with cells on top of cells came on screen. It kinda reminded Zak of a prison. All sorts of animals, even ones Zak had never seen before, were wildly running or flying around the large room.
"This is not good!" Dr. Lawhorn yelled.
Zak noticed the familiar yellow glow in all of the animals' eyes. "You see that glow in their eyes? It's got the animal man's signature written all over it. He's controling them! Like at the Serengeti!"
There was a slam on the door.
"Quick, go find a place to hide." Dr. Lawhorn warned. He took his stick and flicked the switch on the handle. But of course, Zak didn't listen and he readied himself for a fight.
"Please! Open up!" someone on the other side yelled. Dr. Lawhorn sighed with relief and punched in a few numbers on the keypad making the door open. Three of his co-workers rushed inside.
"What happened?" Dr. Lawhorn asked as he closed the doors.
"They... escaped..." One of the workers panted.
"Yeah... we tried to stop them... but.." the other said before fainting.
"Zak, get me some water!" Dr. Lawhorn said as he rushed over to his fallen comrade.
The two still standing workers noticed Doyle running next to Zak.
"Hey, he's one of them!" the man grabbed Dr. Lawhorn's shock stick and lunged towards the lion. Zak turned just in time to see the man barreling towards them. He jumped in front of Doyle and struggled to hold off the man with his claw.
"James, stop!" Dr. Lawhorn yelled.
"No!" James snapped. "He could change in an instant! Better to kill him now before anyone else gets hurt." Doyle jumped out from behind Zak and pounced onto James, knocking the electrical stick out of his grasp. Zak ran over and got it.
"For some reason, that lion's DNA is immune to the Animal man's powers." Dr. Lawhorn stated.
"Animal man? There is no more animal man! He's been dead for eleven years!" James snapped as he pushed Doyle off him. " And if he were still alive, no creature could be immune to him." Doyle growled and then sulked off into a dark corner in the back of the room.
"I know! But there could possibly be another. The original, like the one stated in legends." Dr. Lawhorn continued. The man that fainted earlier groaned. "Zak, where's the water?"
"Sorry, Doc." Zak walked over to the sink and filled a cup with water. "You guys keep talking about this other Animal man like you've met him before. Who was he?"
"Your parents never told you?" Dr. Lawhorn gasped.
"Uh, no. I don't think so." Zak walked over to Dr. Lawhorn and gave him the glass of water. Dr. Lawhorn poured some of the water into the man's mouth. The man coughed and fell back asleep.
"His name was Zachary Greenland." Dr. Lawhorn began as he laid his comrade down. He walked over to the computer.
"Greenland as in the country?" Zak asked.
"Yep." Dr. Lawhorn typed in something in the key pad.
"Dr. Greenland was-" a burst of yellow light came from the back of the room interrupted Dr. Lawhorn from his story.
"What was that?" James asked. Dr. Lawhorn readied his shock stick. A beige wolf with tufts of maroon colored fur from his neck to his forehead walked out from the shadows.
"Doyle?" Zak and Dr. Lawhorn said simultaneously.