Fiction | Writing Prompts | Superhero

Gremlins and the Pizza Hideout

Part 3 of a 5-part superhero story.

This story continues on from Top Team — Woof! and No Rest or Comfort.

Previously… Poofie (a pomeranian-featured human) recruited his friends Coop (a pigeon-person) and Jill (camel-girl) to a super team. At their base, they were joined by Hop (basically a big sapient grasshopper) and Twister (a blind snake with mysterious powers).

They learn that a mysterious foe has been transforming people into gremlins via magic cookies. Then the base was invaded by ravening gremlins, out for blood!

Straight away, the heroes found themselves outnumbered three-to-one.

“Aaarrrkkk!!! Bird of prey coming your way,” yelled Coop, spreading his wings. The gremlins shied away from his approach… right into waiting limbs of Hop, who began to pound them into the floor.

Several gremlins were now approaching Camel-girl, but she picked up the saddle-chair, and began whirling it around at speed, cracking their slavering heads, and sending teeth bouncing across the carpet.

“Yass!” cried Poofie. “Pew! Pew!” He formed his paws into finger guns, pointing them at the stunned gremlins at his feet, before Hop stomped those, too.

As the last of the attackers fled, the team began to pick up the fallen gremlins. Each was small, green, a mass of sharp fangs, with horrifically distorted features.

“I was hoping they would turn back into humans,” said Coop sadly. “This could’ve been someone’s kid.”

“Nothing reverses that magic,” murmured Camel-girl.

“She’s right,” murmured Twister. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before…”

Soon the group were outside.

“I can summon smoke, steam, rain, or in this case, cement,” said Twister. “Easy to clean up our mess after a fight. Just throw the corpses in one of the skips there, and I’ll cover them.”

“Jeez, really?” muttered Coop.

But he couldn’t see what else to suggest. And with the job done, he followed the others into their new team vehicle.

“Great work, folks,” said Poofie, contemplatively, seating himself at the wheel. “Dirty work, but necessary. Hopefully, you see how we can be more effective together.”

“Budge over, doggo,” said Twister, coming to the driver’s door. “You might be the heart of the operation, but this vehicle is adapted to my body shape. You need a snake tail.”

“You drive? But, like… you’re blind,” said Camel-girl. “And you have no arms.”

“Got here, didn’t I?” responded Twister.

“Uhh…” There was little Poofie could do or say, and he moved silently to a back seat.

“Hey, uh… we have to find out who is selling these ‘magic brownies’,” drawled Hop contemplatively, perching on one seat and unfolding her legs before slamming the back door.

“UberEats?” suggested Camel-girl. “Those guys are a nuisance.”

“Unlikely,” replied Twister sharply, as he revved the engine and drove off. “Wouldn’t really be profitable to mess with their business model.”

Coop swivelled his head to look at the snake-hero. “Then who benefits from turning civilians into gremlins?.”

“Someone that wants chaos,” murmured Camel-girl.

“Right. The camel is thinking,” hissed Twister. “I am pretty sure I know who. This has the stamp of my arch-nemesis, Doctor le Fay. But I didn’t know how… or why. Perhaps you are right — it’s just for chaos.”

They were now driving along the main city road nearby.

“Let’s go question this Doctor le Fay,” said Poofie.

“I would,” snapped Twister. “But he is elusive. Always disappearing.”

“Allow me,” said Camel-girl, and began to mutter another incantation.

“Really? Magic?” sighed Twister.

“She’s good, believe me,” said Poofie.

Coop was unconvinced, but said nothing. As they drove, he was recalling his last time in the neighbourhood.

It was the day before his transformation — before the Progenitor Incident.

Coop had been drinking with his coworker Billy at a run-down bar named the Bermuda Triangle, and they had started discussing why the bar was so named. Neither of them could remember why, but after a few beers, Billy’s theories got wilder. “A place where people get taken?” he suggested. “Or they want to go missing?”

“I’m sure that was once a sign outside at some point,” said Coop, “but it vanished.”

The next morning he had woken up with a hangover on his last day as a human…

“Stop here,” yelped Camel-girl, breaking Coop from his reverie.

Twister slowed and pulled off to the side of the road, not far from the Bermuda Triangle bar. On the other side, a group of humans were standing alongside a pizza joint, yelling and shaking their fists.

“You’re right,” purred Poofie, looking out at as Twister put the vehicle into park. “Let’s shake down some locals.“

“And get pizza,” said Hop brightly.

Coop dismounted, and approached a man in the nearby crowd. “What’s going on, pal?”

“Shit, a giant pigeon!” yelped the man, backing away with wild eyes.

But a nearby woman called out: “We are looking for our missing relatives.”

“They… transformed,” said the frightened man. “We expected super powers, like, like, well…” He looked at the now assembled animal top team, and gulped.

“It was my husband,” explained the woman. “No job, no money. The good doctor promised that he would gain these awesome powers.”

“And this doctor’s name?” asked Poofie.

“Dr Lennox le Fay.” She pointed up. “And he’s hiding in the place above that restaurant.”

Twister hissed angrily, looking up towards the second floor, eyes narrowing.

“Jill nailed it,” purred Poofie, patting Camel-girl. “Magic!”

“Who’s this Doctor le Fay?” asked Hop, lighting her joint again.

“The one that sold them the cookies,” snarled a kid with a goatee towards the back of the crowd, patting at his own sweating brow as he spoke. “A tall businessman, wearing shades.” The kid pulled off his shoe, and threw it hard at one of the upstairs windows.

“And finally, I’ve cornered him,” said Twister, sliding forward, a mist starting to cover the ground ahead of him like before. “Folks, I’m gonna need to handle this one alone.”

Read on: Part 4 (much delayed!).

Thanks for reading! Part 4 is coming soon!

This was a response to the Kraken Lore Monday Mashup challenge #11:

Main prompt:

A fey creature selling magic brownies - Dr le Fay selling them and turning people into gremlins - 2 pts

Elements:

A makeshift thrown weapon (angry kid throws a shoe) -  1 pt
Somebody says “Pew! Pew!” using finger guns (Coop) - 1 pt
The Bermuda Triangle (name of bar) - 1 pt
A bird of prey (Coop pretends to be one) - 1 pt
This table - 1 pt

Hardcore Constraint:

A character makes something seem to disappear (Twister hides the bodies) - 2 pts

Literary Device:

Include a flashback (Coop recalling his last day as a human) - 5 pts

     Total: 14 pts

Thanks again for reading! You can find more of my fiction here, as well as all of my advice and guidance on creative writing right here.