Trial on the Chicago River by Garret Schuelke
Trial on the Chicago River by Garret Schuelke
The wind blew off of Lake Michigan, causing a group of teenage girls who were posing for a selfie to laugh. They agreed to get a picture inside instead, and joined the line of locals, tourists, students, and even Amish families to get into the Shedd Aquarium.
A child bouncing his small rubber ball lost control, sending it bouncing away.
“Come back!” the child yelled, stepping out of line.
“HEY!” the child’s father grabbed him by the shoulder. “I told you not to walk away from us!”
“My ball is bouncing away!” the child replied, pointing towards it.
“You stay here with your mother,” the father pushed his child next to his wife, “I’ll go get it.”
The father power walked towards the ball. It eventually collided against a person’s leg, making it slide down their pants and roll across the pavement.
“Sorry about that, buddy,” the father said, scooping up the ball, “my kid just can’t—”
He stopped speaking when he looked up at the man his child’s ball bounced off of. The man wore ragged, brown clothes. He had dull, swamp-green skin, and shaggy, bright green hair that nearly covered the entirety of his face.
“Yeah…” the father said, awkwardly, “sorry. Are you okay?”
The man ignored him, staring at the aquarium
“Sir?”
The man began walking towards the Chicago landmark, catching the attention of the people in line. They began to whisper to each other about his condition—some of whom the man passed by commented on the stench coming off of him. Children either closed their eyes, or cuddled next to their parents in fear.
The man walked up the stairs, which made his limp more obvious. He opened one of the doors that was labeled OFF LIMITS, and entered the building, catching the attention of one of Shedd’s security guards.
“HEY!” the guard yelled, marching over. “YOU CAN’T ENTER THROUGH THAT WAY!”
The man stopped, and shrugged his shoulders. “I need to talk to Ford,” he said in a thick, German accent, looking over. He shook his head so that his hair parted, revealing his face.
“Oh, my God,” The guard’s anger turned into shock.“Von, is that you?!”
The man nodded. “It seems so.”
“Von, where you been, man?” the guard asked, getting excited. He put his hand on Von’s shoulder. “We haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Is Ford around?” Von asked, grabbing the guards arms so that he would stop shaking him.
“Yeah, he is. But what happened to—”
Von glared at him. “I NEED TO TALK TO FORD!”
The guard looked into Von’s eyes, and noticed both how bloodshot, and distant, they were.
“Okay, okay,” the guard said, backing away. “Let me give him a call.”
The guard activated his earpiece, turned around, and made the call. Von sneered, and walked through the next set of doors into the lobby. He looked around and noticed that, though there were some new banners and some new decorations, it had not not changed since he had been gone.
He then saw the custodian sweeping near the vending machines.
“…I’m telling you, it IS Von Zeil!” the guard nearly yelled. The person on the other end told him to bring the man into the office. “Will do,” the guard said, turning around. He saw that Von was gone.
“Shit!” he muttered.
Von grabbed the broom and tried to tear it away from the custodian.
“The fuck…” the custodian yanked back. “What’re you doing?!”
“This is MY broom!” Von said, trying to take it away.
“Old man,” the custodian yanked the broom out of Von’s hands. “I will kick you ancient, green ass all over—”
“Von, Matt’s ready to see you,” the guard said, putting his arm around Von’s shoulders and leading him away.
“He took my job!” Von mumbled.
“What did you say?” the guard asked.
Von continued mumbling, this time in German. The guard remained silent as he escorted him to the office of Matt Ford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shedd Aquarium. He knocked on the door, and a voice from inside yelled “COME IN!”
“Sir,” the guard said, poking his head in, “Von Zeil is here to see you.”
Matt Ford shut his laptop. “Let him in.”
The guard bit his lip, nodded, and opened the door, allowing Von to enter. He quickly closed the door, let out a long sigh, and returned to his area.
“Von,” Ford asked, standing up, “is that really you?”
Von gritted his teeth. “Does no one around here recognize me anymore?”
Ford took off his glasses. “It’s you, all right!” he said, smiling. He walked up and embraced Von. “It’s so good to see you!”
Von squirmed. “Stop hugging me, Matt,” he sneered.
Ford immediately noticed that Von smelled like a swamp—but something else made him more anxious.
Something smelled like death.
“Sorry, old friend,” Ford said, backing slightly away. He swept his hand towards the chairs in front of his desk. “Let’s chat.”
“Yes,” Von said, sitting down. “It’s what I came here to do, after all.”
Ford sat down behind his desk, and the room fell silent. He knew what he wanted to say but he was so dumbstruck by Von’s condition—not just his scent, but his skin and hair color as well—that he did not know where to start.
Fear began to spread through him.
“What are you looking at?” Von sneered.
Ford sniffed, and gulped. “What the hell happened to you, Von?” He felt slightly better now that he blurted something out. “You vanished without a trace over a year ago! We did everything we could to find you.”
“Oh, I know you did,” Von said, his eyes scanning the security monitors lined up along the wall. “I saw the Facebook posts yesterday when I was at the library.”
“Well, what happened then?”
Ford noticed that Von was staring at the monitor that was directed at the giant tank in the lobby, which currently had one of the aquarium employees inside, interacting with the sea life for a cheering crowd.
“Von?” Ford asked.
Von continued starting at the monitor
“VON!”
“Oh, sorry,” Von said, straightening himself out.
“What happened to you?”
Von rubbed his eyes. “I finished my usual shift and went back to my apartment. As I was going up the stairs, I was ambushed by these men in black suits.” He grimaced. “I don’t know what they’re called—people wear them around radiation, I think?”
Ford raised an eyebrow. “Hazmat suits?”
Von tapped his finger on the desk. “Yeah, that’s it. They knocked me out, and after that I was floating in a tank, and…” Von growled. “Well, a lot of things happened after that.”
Silence filled the room again. Von’s attention returned to the monitor. Ford cracked his knuckles.
“What did these people do to you?” Ford asked, going along with the confusing story. “How did you escape?”
Von ignored him. Ford took a deep breath.
“Von, talk to me, man.”
Von scratched his chest.
“VON!”
Von cringed. He turned towards Ford, glaring. “I DON’T KNOW!” he screamed. “THEY TORTURED ME—FUCKED WITH MY HEAD!” He shot out of his chair. “I’D BE IN DARKNESS ONE MINUTE, THEN I’D BE AWAKE AND IN PAIN THE NEXT!” He slammed his fists on the desk. “IT’S ALL BLURS!”
The guard, who had decided to return to the office, banged on the door, shouting Ford’s name.
“Everything’s fine in here!” Ford replied. He stood up and looked Von directly in the eyes. “Just calm down, please.”
Von breathed heavily, and continued glaring.
“Did you talk to the police?”
Von nodded. “They think I’m crazy. My home is gone—I’ve been on the street and in shelters since I escaped with the others—”
“The ‘others’? You weren’t the only one being held captive?”
“Then I scroll through Facebook,” Von’s tone became quieter, “and I see posts and pictures of that new janitor—the one who took my job.”
“Von, I can get you help. I can make some calls right now to get the process started.”
Von gritted his teeth. “I want my job back.”
For blinked a couple of times. “What?”
“I said,” Von began breathing heavily again, “I want my job back.”
“You’re homeless and in pain! There are way more important things to worry about right now than your job. We need—”
“I NEED MY JOB!” Von screamed.
“CALM DOWN!” Ford yelled, coming around and putting his hands on Von’s shoulders.
“You need to get a hold of yourself!”
Von began to sniffle. “I’ve had that job since I was a young man—when I first moved to this country.”
“I know, I know,” Ford patted Von’s shoulders as he black, murky tears formed in his eyes. The same feeling of fear shot through him again, but he ignored it. “You’re family here—and I WILL help you.”
Von rubbed his eyes. “So, you’ll get rid of him?”
“Who?”
Von glared at Ford. “The new janitor.”
Ford took a deep breath. “I just can’t fire him, okay?”
“WHY NOT?!” Von pushed Ford away. “YOU’RE THE BOSS—YOU GOT THE AUTHORITY—”
“I just can’t fire Ben!” Ford composed himself. “He’s been with us for over a year now, and is in good standing. Not only is it NOT right to can him—”
“You replaced me for some little shit,” Von sneered.
“WE THOUGHT THE WORST HAD HAPPENED TO YOU!” Ford yelled. “WE HAD TO MOVE ON—WE COULDN’T JUST WAIT FOR YOU TO RISE FROM THE DEAD AND COME BACK TO US!”
Ford stopped himself before he could say anything else.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to say all that.”
Von still had a furious look on his face.
“Please, just sit down,” Ford went back behind his desk. “Let me find my contact book.”
Von, still standing, looked rapidly around the room as Ford rummaged through his drawers. On the opposite side of the room, next to the closet, a trident hung on the wall, next to a picture.
“Dammit!” Ford said. He stood up and put his arms on his hips. “I can’t find that thing anywhere!” He gave a short laugh, in an attempt to brighten the mood in the room. “Let me check the closet.”
Ford waited for a response, but noticed that Von was staring off into space again. He nodded, walked to the closet, and entered it.
Von immediately went up to the trident and tore it off the wall. He looked at the picture next to it that showed Paul Ford, Shedd Aquarium’s former President, and father of Matt Ford, posing with it.
“You’d be so disgusted with him right now, Paul,” Von muttered, gripping the trident.
Ford cursed as he looked through the cabinet for his contact book. The light coming from his office suddenly disappeared. He sighed heavily and stood up.
The scent of decay hit him hard. He noticed that the darkness behind him was shaped like a person, and coming closer.
A chill went through him.
“Von?” Ford asked, turning around.
Von thrusted the trident into Ford’s stomach, and, using all the strength his old body could muster, slammed Ford into the cabinets. Ford gurgled a scream, blood coming out of his mouth. Ford yanked out the trident, and thrusted it into his boss’ chest.
Ford’s eyes looked like they were about to burst out of his head. Adrenaline shot through Von, and he began stabbing Ford repeatedly.
Outside the office, the security guard pressed his ear to the door. The silence on the other side after all the yelling from a few minutes ago was beginning to concern him.
“Matt?” he asked, knocking. “Von? Are you guys all right in there?”
Von walked out of the closet, his entire front, as well as the trident, covered in blood. He ignored the knocking, and walked up to the monitors. He focused once again on a monitor that showed the diver in the lobby tank.
The Caribbean Reef Shark came into view. Von closed his eyes, and concentrated.
The shark passed by the diver as he was adjusting his gloves. It suddenly stopped in place. Patrons immediately took the chance to take pictures and video.
To the shock of everyone, the shark started to viciously contort. The diver, alerted by the patrons pointing and tapping on the glass, turned around in time to see the predator grow in size. Arms and legs shot out of its body, and instantly grew muscles.
The diver backed away slowly. The shark stopped mutating, and floated in the tank, its body looking like that of a bodybuilder. The patrons and diver remained still and quiet—the only things in motion being the other creatures in the tank.
The shark turned its head towards the diver. On reflex, the diver backed away some more.
The shark launched itself at the diver, jaws open wide.
“WHAT’S GOING ON IN HERE?!” the security guard yelled as he opened the office door.
Von immediately impaled the guard with the trident, sending him to the ground. He then jumped on top of the guard, yanked the trident tout, and thrusted it into his head.
“You nearly stopped the process,” Von muttered, gripping the trident. He closed his eyes, and began concentrating again.
All around the aquarium, patrons reacted with a mix of fear and confusion as the sea life around the building began mutating just as the shark did.
It all turned into sheer terror as the creatures began bursting out of their tanks.
Von walked into the main entrance area as all the patrons rushed towards the exits. He laughed maniacally, his eyes glowing bright green, as the various animals he mutated into muscle-bound, humanoid monstrosities began tearing into the crowd.
“EVERY ONE OF YOU WILL FEEL MY PAIN!” Von yelled as the panicked crowd ran past him. “THIS CITY WILL PAY FOR ABANDONING ME!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Von saw the door of the janitors closet slam shut. He stopped ranting, walked over to it, and tried the handle. Unable to move it, he snapped his fingers, and a nearby shark stopped attacking patrons and ran to Von’s side.
Von nodded, his eyes flickering. The shark’s eyes, for a millisecond, glowed green. I then put both of its fists into the door, took a hold of it, and ripped it off its hinges.
Against the back of the closet was Ben, the janitor, clutching the broom defensively, horrified.
“You shouldn’t have taken my job,” Von said. He growled, and charged at the janitor, whose screams mixed with those of the other patrons being slaughtered.
Godan woke up, rolled onto his back, and immediately shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand.
“Okay, okay, I’m getting up,” he said, sitting up. He pulled his hood down, and looked around the rooftop that he had decided a couple of hours before to sleep on. He noticed that the corner was more shadowed than the rest of the roof. “Remember that for next time.”
He stood up, stretched, walked to the ledge, and looked over downtown Chicago, focusing his attention mainly on the Chicago River, which was already busy with boats of all types. He slid the back of his hands underneath his mask and rubbed his eyes. His thoughts went to the past few days since his confrontation with Paris and her gang, the Melton’s, in the Back of the Yards. He had done his best to track them down—checking out every place in Chicagoland that he was sure they could be hiding out at, shaking down drug dealers and numerous gangbangers, and spending hours at various libraries, using their computers to search the internet for clues—with absolutely no luck.
I can’t even get a scent, Godan thought. He then remembered that Paris was an android. Oh yeah, robots don’t smell, I guess.
The Gray Wolf’s stomach rumbled. He felt a heaviness within himself.
Bathroom, he thought. He scanned the street, and saw a McDonald’s. He stretched again, looked down the side of the building, and, seeing that the coast was clear, jumped down into the alley.
On the Chicago River, kayakers, personal boats, and cruise ships flowed alongside each other in relative harmony. Tourists and residents alike took pictures, video, and conversed.
A couple, one of whom was attempting to take a wide picture of the river from the DuSable Bridge, noticed something odd coming from the distance.
“What’s that supposed to be?” she asked her partner as she looked up from her phone.
“What are you looking at?” he replied.
“That thing, just coming in,” she said, pointing. “Hang on.”
She zoomed in on her phone. Her eyes widened.
“Is it a ghost ship?” her partner joked.
“No way,” she gasped.
“What?” he asked, putting his head next to hers.
“It looks like a giant turtle.”
Now depowered, Gareth entered the McDonald’s. The patrons had angry looks on their faces—some of whom looked like they were on the verge of crying—as they looked at their phones and talked amongst themselves.
Real cheery place, Gareth thought. He saw the bathroom, and headed towards it. He tried the door, but it did not budge. I love doing this, he thought as he looked to make sure no one was watching him. He gave the knob a quick punch, busting the lock. He smirked, and went inside.
“Sir, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” the police officer, on an patrol boat, said into a bullhorn, as his fellow officer, who was driving, looked on, just as confused as he was.
Von, trident in one hand, and his other hand on his hip, continued floating down the river on an enormous, ferry-sized turtle, past the police boat, with a triumphant look on his face, flanked by two shark bodyguards.
“HEY, ASSHOLE!” the cop ran to the other side of the boat as his partner went back to the controls. “I’M TALKING TO YOU!”
The giant turtles that Von and the sharks were riding on lifted its head out of the water, and let out a whimper that was both gentle and deafening to everyone in the vicinity.
“It’ll be all right, girl” Von said, his eyes glowing green. “I won’t let anyone hurt us.”
The police boat pulled up. “I’M GIVING YOU ONE CHANCE TO CEASE, SHITHEAD!” the cop yelled.
Mutated fish erupted out of the water, and landed on the boat. Before they could draw their guns, the fish began beating the cops into a pulp.
“NOW IS THE TIME!” Von yelled, raising his arms. “NOW, WE DESTROY CHICAGO!”
More mutated aquatic creatures shot out of the water, attacking those on the river, and began making their way onto the streets of downtown.
“THIS IS WHAT YOU ALL GET FOR DISRESPECTING THE POWER OF SEA HORROR!”
Screams came from the outside of the door, scaring Gareth so much that he almost dropped his phone into the toilet.
“Oh, come the fuck on!” he said, standing up. “Does a robbery really have to happen while I’m shitting?!”
Gareth grabbed a wad of toilet paper, and began wiping. He heard glass shatter.
“Damn, they’re not fooling around out there,” he said, flushing the toilet and pulling up his pants. Gareth stepped out of the stall and washed his hands. He heard a woman shriek, and a guy yell “WHAT THE FUCK?!”, followed by more sounds of destruction.
“I am so gonna smash you motherfuckers,” Gareth mumbled. He wiped his hands dry on the side of his pants, put on his mask, and transformed. He cracked his knuckles, took a deep breath, and burst through the door.
“ENOUGH, YOU ASSHOLES!” Godan yelled as he emerged. “I’M NOT GONNA LET YOU—”
Before Godan was a giant starfish, with muscular human arms and legs, shielding itself from patrons who were throwing trash at it from behind an overturned table.
“What the hell?” Godan mumbled as he stared at the scene. He looked around, and saw the busted window, smashed chairs and trash cans, and bloodied bodies on the floor.
The starfish stopped blocking, and let out a roar from its unseen mouth. It bent over, grabbed a body, and threw it at the patrons.
“Shit!’ Godan yelled. He zipped over in front of the patrons, and caught the body, sending him crashing against the table.
“Hey, you all right, man?” one of the patrons, a teenager, asked.
“Just peachy,” the Gray Wolf said, rolling the body off him. “Is he the only one here?’
“Yeah, he just came in and started fucking shit up!”
The starfish charged at him, arm cocked back.
“He ruined your brunch,” Godan stood up, “and he ruined my shit!”
The Gray Wolf charged at the creature, claws ready. The starfish swung at him. Godan ducked under its fist, and swiped his claws sideways, digging into the starfish’s flesh. He switched his momentum, and swiped again, digging through more hardened flesh.
The starfish shrieked. With its other hand, it grabbed Godan by the back of the neck, and whipped him across the room. The Gray Wolf slid into the Happy Meal toy display.
“Guess that’s not a dude in a weird costume,” Godan said, shaking toys off his head and shoulders. As he got up, he saw the starfish, wailing in pain, punch the wall, putting his arm through it.
The Gray Wolf glared. “Which means I don’t have to hold back!”
Godan charged at it, fists ready. As the starfish unknowingly turned to face him, Godan leapt, and punched the middle of the creature’s body. Before it could keel over, the Gray Wolf punched again, sending it smashing into the wall.
With lighting speed, Godan furiously attacked the starfish. The patrons behind the table cheered him on. Blood splashed on his face—the Gray Wolf ignored it, and continued punching.
Finally, he wound back, and gave one last, mighty blow, punching through the starfish’s body. It shrieked, and went limp on his arm. Godan yanked himself out of the monstrosity, and let it fall to the floor.
“FUCK YEAH!” one of the patrons yelled as the others around the room cheered.
Godan wiped the blood and guts off his arm. “You folks okay?” he asked, breathing heavily.
“Yeah, we’re good, bro!”
A large crash outside made everyone jump. Godan looked out the broken window, and saw that a car had smashed into a building.
“Looks like my good citizenry is gonna continue,” Godan said, taking a deep breath. He jumped out the window.
“Hey, dude!” one of the patrons yelled. “You a superhuman?”
The Gray Wolf turned around and looked back. “Yeah, I think that’s pretty obvious,”
“That mean you’re a Rudkus?” another patron asked.
Godan glared. “NO, I’M NOT A FUCKING RUDKUS—OR A MELTON!” He bared his teeth. “GOT IT?!”
The patrons, terrified, nodded and shouted “YES!” and “YEAH!”
The Gray Wolf pointed his thumb at himself. “I’M GODAN—AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT!”
Godan heard smashing behind him. He turned around, and saw a mutated catfish trying to tear off the door of the crashed car.
“What the fuck is even going on?!” Godan asked himself.
The catfish tore off the door, revealing the horrified passengers inside. Godan immediately dashed at it and, with one swipe, sliced the creature’s head off.
“Well, at least he was easier to take down, ” Godan thought as he wiggled his hand in an attempt to get the guts off his claws. He looked over at the people in the car. “Don’t worry, folks,” he gave them a thumbs up. “I just saved you from a real—”
The Gray Wolf heard another crash behind him. He turned around, and saw various other freakish, aquatic mutant atrocities attacking anyone they could get their hands on.
“A real bad cat pun,” Godan mumbled. He shook his head, gave the people in the car a grin, and charged at the nearest creature.
Sea Horror smashed the handle of his trident against the giant turtle’s shell. The turtle groaned in pain.
“Forgive me, friend,” Sea Horror gritted his teeth,” but SOMETHING is killing off all our comrades!”
He closed his eyes, and was able to immediately see from the viewpoint of one of his minions. It was chasing after a woman and her daughter. It was then skidding on the ground. The last thing the former janitor saw, as the minion got on one knee and composed itself, was Godan swiping at it with his claws.
“DAMN YOU!” Sea Horror shouted, falling to his knees as he felt the same pain his creatures felt before they were killed. His shark bodyguards helped him to his feet.
“I’m okay,” Sea Horror said. He looked into one of his sharks, eyes glowing, as he connected his mind with theirs. “Go up there, hunt that masked bastard down, and bring him to me!” He pointed his trident towards the street.”I won’t let him get away with hurting us!”
The shark nodded. In a flash, it leapt from the turtle, and landed on the street, the impact causing the pavement to crack. It ignored the chaos happening around it, and proceeded on its mission.
The cop finished unloading into a salmon, blowing it to pieces. He noticed the shadow behind him, and turned around to see a crab launch its claws right at his head.
Godan suddenly appeared, smashing his leg on the top of the crab’s head. It went down, and Godan finished it off by putting his fists through its eye.
“Didn’t think that Chicago had such a bad case of the ‘crabs’!” Godan joked, yanking his fist out.
He then noticed that he had saved a cop.
“Shit,” he glared. “Don’t go about telling everyone I saved your ass, all right? My ‘FUCK COPS’ cred will take a hit.”
The officer glared at him. “As if I needed your help, freak!”
“You did—though you sure as hell didn’t deserve it, pig!”
They noticed a fish fly over them and smash into the side of a building. They looked over and saw a man fighting off a group of mutants with a tentacle coming out his back.
“Holy shit,” Godan’s eyes widened, “I finally found one!”
The man was pushed back into a light pole by a clown fish, who wound its fist back. The man shielded himself with his arms.
Godan appeared behind the clownfish and slashed through it with both claws.
“You’re a Melton,” he said to the man as pieces of the fish fell to the ground in front of them.
“I’m a what?” the man asked, lowering his arms.
Godan grabbed the man by his throat. “Fine, you’re a Rudkus. Whatever.”
The man shot his tentacle at Godan, who caught it and crushed it.
“Oh, God,” the man’s eyes widened. “You’re that thief—Gray Wolf!”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Godan yelled, slamming the man against the pole. “Tell me where your new leader is hiding out!”
“New…” the man gasped, “leader?”
“Paris,” Godan tightened his grip, “the robot chick wearing a purple suit.”
The man shook his head. “I don’t know—one of her boys tried to recruit me, but I refused. I’m done with the gang shit.”
In the distance, the shark bodyguard saw Godan. It huffed, and began charging towards him.
“Good for you,” the Gray Wolf shook him. “Now, tell me where she’s hiding.”
“I told you, I don’t know!”
Godan again slammed him against the pole. “Fine, then give up some locations where you THINK she might be hiding!”
The man’s head turned to the side. He saw the shark charging towards them, and began screaming.
Godan flinched. “WHAT’RE YOU SCREECHING ABOUT?!” he yelled, looking over.
The shark landed a right hook on Godan’s face, sending him to the ground. The man, released from the angry superhero’s grip, ran off.
“Ugh,” Godan rubbed his cheek. “Jesus, what the hell was that?!”
The shark grabbed Godan by the hood and began dragging him down the street.
“What?” he mumbled, blinking rapidly in an attempt to stop seeing colors.
The Gray Wolf regained his composure just in time to see cars filled with Chicago cops fly by, and to see two of them unload on the mutated sea life. He looked up and saw the shark casually dragging him.
“Pretty brave of you to keep you back to me like that,” Godan mumbled, flexing his claws. Sighing, Godan used one hand to push himself off the ground, and used the other to slash at the shark’s arm.
The shark recoiled, but, much to Godan’s surprise, the arm did not fly off.
“Looks like you might be a tad bit tougher than the others,” Godan said, slashing at it again.
The shark used the same arm to catch Godan’s claw. It immediately turned around and hit Godan with another hook to the face.
While stunned, a thought flashed through Godan’s mind: he had been hit hard numerous times in his life, but never THAT hard.
The shark slugged him a few more times in the face. Godan tried back away—his legs wobbling, face bruised and bleeding.
The last thing he felt was the shark pulling him forward and punching him in the back of the head. The last thing he saw was the sidewalk coming up to his face.
Godan heard a voice yell “WAKE UP, KILLER!”
The Gray Wolf felt something tap his face. He slightly opened his eyes, and saw something gold and metallic in his face.
“You need to wake up!” the voice yelled. The gold disappeared, and was replaced by an old, ugly green man who slapped Godan.
“Ugh, do I really have to,” Godan asked. He was then hit by the foul stench. He began retching.
“Yes, you do,” Sea Horror said, using his trident to steady himself. “My shark guards would have easily killed you by now.” He paced in front of said guards, “but you need to know why you’re about to die. You need to know the harm—” Sea Horror saw Godan’s cheeks puff up, and his chest rapidly expanding. “Just what the hell are you doing?”
Godan turned his head sideways, and flailed about.
“What’s your problem, you little shit,” he asked again, getting closer.
Godan headbutted Sea Horror, making the janitor back away.
“HOLY SHIT, DUDE,” Godan yelled, swallowing. “YOU FUCKING REEK!”
Angered, Sea Horror’s eyes glowed. His shark guards, each of whom were holding Godan up by an arm, both punched the Gray Wolf in the stomach at the same time.
“I DON’T NEED TO BE REMINDED OF MY STENCH!” Sea Horror yelled as he walked up, grabbed Godan by the chin, and pushed his head up. What you do need to be reminded of is the power of Sea Horror.”
“’Sea Horror’?” Godan coughed. “Is that a direct-to-video movie I can find at Family Video?”
“Movie?” Sea Horror tightened his grip. “That’s my name!”
“You’re Sea Horror?” Godan asked.
“Yes, you idiot!”
Godan gave him a confused look.
“What now?” Sea Horror asked.
“You’re a long way from the ocean, pal.”
Sea Horror grunted. “Don’t get smart with me!” he demanded, letting go.
“So, I’m guessing you’re behind this mess,” Godan asked, spitting.
“Yes, every creature you’ve murdered today was my friend.” Sea Horror started pacing again. “I thought that by giving them a bit of my power—evolving them, strengthening them—we could waste this ungrateful city. But your acts proved that it wasn’t enough.”
Godan hummed. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, but if they got their ‘power’ from an old fuck like you, no wonder I was able to slice them up so easily.”
Sea Horror snorted. “Typical young person—one who has NEVER had to struggle for what they had, only to have it taken away!”
“Ugh,” Godan tried spitting at Sea Horror, “give me a fucking break. Nothing in your life was so fucking precious that it justifies what you’ve done today!”
Sea Horror glared, eyes glowing. The shark guards tightened their grips on Godan’s arms, making him cringe.
“My friends here ALL come from the Shedd Aquarium—where I’ve been the custodian for decades, until I was kidnapped and experimented on, and they gave my janitorial job to a young, worthless nobody!”
“You too, huh?” Godan gritted his teeth as he felt the shark’s fingers penetrate his skin.
“What was that?” Sea Horror tapped Godan’s forehead with the trident. “Speak up!”
Godan growled, “I fought another superhuman recently who said the same thing you just did: he was kidnapped, given powers, tortured, lost everything,” he struggled to move, “and he thought that gave him license to act like trash!”
“I AM NOT TRASH!” Sea Horror punched Godan in the mouth. “I WORKED AS HARD AS I COULD SINCE I CAME TO THIS COUNTRY—AND EVEN THOSE WHO I THOUGHT CARED ABOUT ME WOULDN’T HELP!”
“You’re killing people with monsters because your ancient ass can’t clean toilets anymore?!” Godan spat a blood-filled loogie onto the janitor’s shirt.
“You’re just too stupid to understand,” Sea Horror bent down, scooped up some of the water that had pooled on the turtle’s shell, and used it to wash away the spit. “I’ve wasted my time talking to the likes of you!”
“Where are you from, anyway?”
Sea Horror snorted. “Germany.”
Godan groaned again. “I can see where you get your logic from, Nazi.”
“I’M NOT A GODDAMN NAZI!” Sea Horror screamed as he shot up and plunged the trident into Godan’s stomach.
Godan vomited blood. His eyes widened, and his nose twitched.
“I barely escaped that hell hole,” Sea Horror got into Godan’s face, pushing the trident in deeper. “My entire family was slaughtered!”
Godan breathed heavily, turning his head away.
“FACE ME, COWARD!” Sea Horror yelled, grabbing Godan by the chin and turning his face towards him.
“You…” Godan coughed., “stink!”
Sea Horror calmed himself. He pulled the trident out of Godan and stepped back.
“Toss him into the river,” he commanded, using the trident to steady himself. “Let him rot at the bottom of it with the rest of the garbage.”
The sharks nodded. One of them released his grip, and the other lifted Godan over its head, and tossed him overboard. Sea Horror heard the screams of people who were hiding nearby.
“Don’t worry, ants,” Sea Horror mumbled, “you’ll get yours as soon as I catch my breath.”
Before he could be swept away, Godan sunk his claws into one of the turtles’ legs. This is a first, he thought as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his healing factor.
The turtle roared in pain. Sea Horror gritted his teeth as he read its mind.
“THAT LITTLE SHIT!” he yelled. He pointed at the shark who threw Godan into the river. “Go down there and tear him apart!”
The shark nodded, and dove in. Sea Horror rubbed his face.
“YOU, DOWN THERE!” someone yelled into a bullhorn. “PUT DOWN THE WEAPON, AND SURRENDER!”
Sea Horror looked up and saw the nearby bridge lined with cops—some splattered with the blood and guts of mutated sea life, all battle damaged—aiming their weapons at him.
“I need more time to evolve the others,” he mumbled, tightening his grip on the trident as his eyes glowed.
“DO IT, NOW!” the cop with the bullhorn yelled.
The tentacles of a giant octopus shout out of the water, and began swatting at the cops, who began firing at it.
“Go help your comrade eliminate them!” Sea Horror commanded the remaining shark guard. “Give me time to rest!”
The shark nodded, and launched itself from the turtle onto the bridge.
Godan opened his eyes as he was yanked off the turtles’ leg.. Through the murky water, he saw two hands holding him. He looked up just in time to see a set of jaws coming at him. He put his arms up to catch it, his hands being pierced by the shark’s teeth.
Godan knew he needed air. He put his legs together and kicked the shark as hard as he could in its groan. The shark released him. Godan tore his hands out of the shark’s mouth and kicked it in the chest, using the momentum to shoot himself upwards.
“NO!” Sea Horror shouted as the cops, divided into two groups, each unloaded into the shark and octopus, blowing them to bits. “I HAVE TO WIN!”
“You should have tried harder then, old man,” Godan said, ripping the trident from the janitor’s hands. “Mind if I borrow this?”
The shark had pulled half of its body up onto the turtle’s shell. Godan ran up to it and plunged the trident into the shark’s head. The creature released its grip and slunk back into the water.
Godan took a deep breath. He touched his stomach and flinched as he felt his barely-closed wounds.
“So I can heal underwater,” Godan muttered. “Didn’t think I would need to do that.”
With all his strength, Sea Horror sucker punched the Gray Wolf. Godan stumbled, turned around, and was set upon by the janitor, who wrapped his hands around his throat.
“I WILL DESTROY THIS AWFUL CITY!” Sea Horror screeched as he tried to push Godan’s head under the water.
Godan resisted. Sea Horror screamed in his face as he pushed down harder.
Godan’s senses—and stomach—could not take it anymore.
The Gray Wolf projectile vomited into Sea Horror’s face. As this happened, the cops who took out the other shark and giant octopus began firing at the turtle. The reptile screeched as it was pierced by the bullets, and took off down the river. Both Godan and Sea Horror fell into the water.
Sea Horror emerged, gasping for air. Godan’s claw grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him back under water.
After an officer declared the area safe, it became filled with injured civilians, emergency personnel, local media, onlookers, and more law enforcement officials.
A clawed hand shot of the river, and gripped the shore.
“HEY!” a bystander shouted, “OVER THERE!”
Two men ran up and grabbed the hand, pulling the person up. Nearby civilians watched and recorded as police and emergency personnel made their way to the location.
Godan crawled onto the shore. With a great heave, he pulled up his other arm, which held an unconscious Sea Horror.
“Hey man, you all right?” one of the men asked.
“No, I’m not,” Godan said as he stood up. He threw Sea Horror at the wall. “I really hope I didn’t catch an infection from swimming in that shit!”
He suddenly bent over, and vomited. The man rubbed his back. The police and emergency personnel arrived. One of them checked out Sea Horror and announced that the old man was still alive.
“Give me a sec to catch my breath,” Godan gasped, “and I’ll cave his fucking head in.”
You’ll do no such thing,” one of the cops said, walking up to him. “We have some questions for you.”
Godan suddenly shot up and backhanded the cop, sending him to the ground.
“FUCK YOU, PIG!” Godan yelled.
“Please, sir,” one of the emergency personnel said, “you need medical attention!”
“I CAN HEAL JUST FINE ON MY OWN!” Godan yelled.
The Gray Wolf turned around, and jumped to the other side of the river. The onlookers cheered as Godan bounced around on various structures until he reached a rooftop, and disappeared
“Damn,” a reporter, whose press badge said CHICAGO TRIBUNE, mumbled as he put down his phone, “there goes my chance for an interview!”
“You thought he would talk to you?” the man next to him asked.
“I always hope for that possibility when it comes to cases involving superhumans,” the reporter looked over the man and noticed that he was roughed up. “Sir, were you caught up in the fighting?”
“I was,” the man smiled, “as a matter of fact, I saw Godan fight one of those freaks up close!”
“Godan?” the reporter asked.
The man glared. “Don’t give me that look! That’s what he called himself!”
“Sorry, no offense intended,” the reporter took out his notepad and flipped it to a specific page, “it’s just that I talked to an officer a few minutes ago, and he claimed that, when he was up close to him, he heard another superhuman called him ‘Gray Wolf’.”
The man shook his head. “I don’t know what that cop’s been spouting, but I’m telling you that after he saved my ass from being starfish food, he said his name was ‘Godan’!”
The reporter bit his lip as he jotted down the info. “Sir, please tell me that you’re up for talking.”
The man nodded. “I’d be more than happy to!”
As the man recounted what had happened to him earlier at McDonald’s, a headline appeared in the reporters head that he thought was perfect.
The next day, Godan once again woke up on another rooftop. He gently touched his stomach, and was relieved to find that he had completely healed up.
“Should have gone home right after all that bullshit,” he mumbled to himself, surprised, when he thought it over, that he still had the energy to continue searching for Paris and her Melton’s.
He sighed heavily, and rolled onto his back. This time, he slept closer to the roof’s ledge, which shielded him from the sun. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and slowly stood up and stretched.
The search continues, he thought as he looked over the neighborhood he was in.
“GODAN!” he heard someone yell.
“Huh?” Godan said, looking down to the street.
A few people were yelling out his name, and taking pictures. One man excitedly held up a newspaper, waving it at him.
“What?” Godan was baffled. “How do they know my name?”
“MOTHERFUCKIN’ GRAY WOLF!” the man with the newspaper yelled.
“What the fuck?!” Godan jumped down onto the street. The people cheered even louder. He walked up to the man. “Why did you call me that?!”
The man grinned. “The paper says it’s your name, that’s why,” he said, tapping the newspaper while holding it up for Godan to read.
It was that days Chicago Tribune. The front page featured a story, and a giant photo, of Godan battling one of Sea Horror’s creatures, with the headline, “MEET GODAN—THE GRAY WOLF OF CHICAGO”.
The Gray Wolf’s mouth dropped.
“Man, I wasn’t there, but I gotta thank you, Gray Wolf.” The man patted him on the back. “My brother and his wife were downtown during the attack, and one of those monsters made them crash their car. They said they would have been killed if you didn’t—”
Godan snatched the newspaper out of the man’s hand and jumped onto a nearby roof.
“HEY, WHAT THE HELL, GODAN?!”
The Gray Wolf stopped, and growled. He jumped back down, and gave the man back his newspaper. “Sorry—where did you get that?”
The man pointed to the newspaper box on the corner. The Gray Wolf ran up, took a hold of the handle, and pulled the door so hard that the lock busted. He took a newspaper and jumped back towards a roof. The street goers shouted their thanks and goodbyes.
“Fucking unbelievable!” Godan said as he sat down and began reading the story.
The wind blew gently, making the bottom half of the newspaper flap. Godan read through the pages, examining the various photos of himself and Sea Horror—some taken from security cameras, others from social media. He finally got to the part of the story in which the McDonald’s patron and the police officer he saved each told their stories of encountering Godan—each hearing him be called a different name.
The Gray Wolf finished reading, closed the newspaper, laid it on his lap, and sighed.
“Lana and Salt Chunk Mary are going to give me so much shit for this later,” he said, thinking of his housemates.
Godan looked up and saw a group of pigeons flying around. Well, maybe going home won’t be so bad, he thought, smiling.
* * * * THE END * * * *
Copyright Garret Schuelke 2023
