Chosen to Control

The Demons Peter and Natalie

Chapter 24

The Demons Peter and Natalie





“Bobby, do you think we are going to be able to stop the demons?” asked Stephanie while flying over the ocean just catching sight of land.

“I really don’t know, all that I know is that we have to be as prepared as possible. I mean, who knows how good they are going to be in a fight,” said Bobby slowing down so that he and Stephanie were now next to each other.

“That’s pretty true. I think I’m going to stop by Metro Zoo just to get a few last minute animals that I can fight as.”

“Good idea. I’ll hold off the demons until you get back.”

“No,” said Stephanie shaking her head and staring directly into Bobby’s eyes, “I do not want to risk losing you. Plus it is not a fair fight. Last time I checked when it’s two on one, the group of two wins. You are coming with me. I promise it will not take long. I just need to get maybe ten animals.”

“Ok, I’ll go with you. Good thing about us two though, is that even after we touch down, we can still fly without the fairy dust,” said Bobby smiling as they were approaching the beach.

They flew over the marina and Bobby noticed the spot where they rented the boat. “Oh man. This trip is going to cost so much money. We rented it for three hours. Do you know how many hours it has actually been?” Bobby asked Stephanie.

Stephanie was about to answer when Bobby cut her off saying, “It’s been nearly eight hours! That is more than twice the amount of time we were supposed to have the boat for! We do not have enough money to pay for that! We barely had enough money to pay for the refill of the tank when we were supposed to come back!”

“Bobby, you’re drifting. The zoo is this way. We are taking a little bit too long. Do you think you can cook up a little wind and speed up this trip?” asked Stephanie ignoring Bobby’s obsession with the boat payments.

“I’m on it,” said Bobby with an irritated look on his face. His stone glowed and before long, he and Stephanie were traveling at least ten miles per hour faster than they were originally. They flew side by side without talking all that much.

Stephanie decided to break the silence by asking, “Do you think the others will be alright fighting the demons?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” asked Bobby in return.

“Well, it’s just that they have only had their stones for about a month while we have had ours for almost four months,” said Stephanie with a gloomy look on her face.

“Well, I know Jessica will be fine. She fought really well against the titan and she did almost all of the work. She knows how to tap into her stone’s power ever since her stone split in two.”

“Yea I guess they will be alright. Patty was pretty good at not getting hit or attack by the titan we fought. She should be able to stay out of trouble. Plus she has help from all those Amazons.”

“Kemelly has help from the sirens and Kristen too,” said Bobby.

“But what about Jonathan, Andrew, and Nick? We didn’t see them fight and we were not able to tell us much about it.”

“They should be fine, trust me. Anyway, how long do you think it will take before we reach the zoo?” asked Bobby.

“I promise it should only be like five more minutes. Look, we are close. This is where I got my driving learner’s permit,” said Stephanie. Bobby then flew up higher and said, “Oh I think I see it. It shouldn’t take much longer.”

They continued to fly for the remainder of the five minutes until they reached the park gate. “Now what do we do?” asked Stephanie preparing to land.

“Don’t land yet Steph. Paying is going to take too long and it looks closed anyway. Plus, how are we supposed to get into the exhibits on foot or how will we sneak into the animals’ sleeping quarters?” asked Bobby rhetorically.

“Very true. Ok well then we should first go to the water buffalo exhibit. Give me a second. Let me get a map.” Stephanie then flew down toward the front gate and grabbed a pamphlet that had a map of the zoo inside it. She didn’t touch the ground so she flew right back up to Bobby without needing to morph.

“Now let’s see,” said Stephanie opening the map and searching it for the water buffalo exhibit, “There it is! The African Cape Water Buffalo exhibit is right next to the bird show.”

“Show me the way,” said Bobby to Stephanie. She put the map in her pant pocket and she flew off in the direction towards the water buffalo exhibit. They found it with little difficulty and landed on the grass of the exhibit.

“Now where are the buffalo?” asked Stephanie looking puzzled.

“Well I see a few over there,” said Bobby pointing to a large baobab tree.

“I saw those already. They are all females. I need firepower. I need a dominant male, the leader of the herd.”

“Why are the females not good enough?”

“The females just have their horns. The males have an extra layer of bone under their horns and they just all around are more powerful and more aggressive which is exactly what I need. I need to find him. Help me look.”

“Wo, hold your horses. If one of those things charges you, you can just tell it to stop and it will listen. If one charges me, I am in trouble. Sorry, but I like the way my body is right now without a horn embedded in it.”

“Fine, plus I think I found him anyway. Come on out big guy,” called Stephanie softly toward a big group of bushes. From behind it stepped a large brown male water buffalo. “Come here and let me pet you for a little bit,” said Stephanie smiling happily.

The large buffalo slowly stepped toward Stephanie. He then started to rub his body against hers making happy bugle sounds. Stephanie then placed her right hand in between the buffalo’s horns and closed her eyes.

“Lend me use your power,” whispered Stephanie to the water buffalo. She didn’t remove her hand from the water buffalo for several seconds and then her stone glowed and she removed her hand. She looked at the water buffalo and said, “Thank you so much. This means a lot to me.” Stephanie then bent down and kissed the water buffalo on the nose.

Stephanie turned and looked at Bobby and said, “Ok, now we have to go to the aviary. There should be some good birds for me in there. It’s that building over there on the other side of the bird show.” Her stone then glowed and her body began to change shape. Feathers covered her body and her arms turned into wings.

Her body shrank and her legs transformed into scaly talons. Her face grew a hard beak and her eyes bulged out. Tail feathers sprouted from her rear and her necklace shrank to fit around the bird’s neck just tight enough for it to not fall off. She had become a red-tailed hawk.

Stephanie opened her wings and began to flap her wings lifting her off the ground and in the direction of the aviary. Bobby’s stone glowed; he was lifted up from the ground and took off after Stephanie in the air.

They arrived there in almost no time. Bobby landed by the entrance to the large aviary and Stephanie landed in a tree. She quickly became human again and swung down from the tree. Stephanie dusted off her hands and asked, “Should we try and go in the front or should we sneak in through the back?”

“Well I think we should try the front first, then to the back,” responded Bobby walking over to the entrance of the aviary. He pushed the door and it slid open. “We’re in Steph,” said Bobby.

Stephanie jogged to the entrance beside Bobby and they walked in together. Bobby looked up and saw many beautiful birds flying around. Stephanie didn’t even look up and kept on walking. “Aren’t you going to try and morph these birds?” asked Bobby inquisitively.
Stephanie responded rather plainly, “No.”

“What is wrong with these?”

“They are not good for battle. I came here for two types of birds that they have in a separate room.”

“Which ones?”

“The bird with the largest wingspan in North America and the most powerful bird of prey in North America.”

“And what types are those?”

“The California Condor and the Golden Eagle,” said Stephanie walking toward a set of doors at the end of the aviary. Bobby jogged up next to her and pushed the door open for her.

Stephanie walked into a room filled with glass exhibits holding different types of birds. The first enclosure had a pair of red-tailed hawk similar to the one Stephanie became only moments before. Next to the hawks was another similar exhibit that housed two large bald eagles.

“Aren’t these bald eagles big enough?” asked Bobby curiously to Stephanie.

“Golden eagles are even bigger than these two over here and can lift heavier objects with their bigger talons, plus I can already morph a bald eagle,” said Stephanie continuing to look around the room in search for the pair of golden eagles.

“Here we are,” said Stephanie looking at the enclosure housing two large brown birds of prey with gold around their heads.

“Steph, you should morph the male. He will be bigger and stronger,” said Bobby trying to help out.

“Wrong again,” said Stephanie, “In most eagle species, the female is significantly larger than the male. If only there was some way for me to get rid of this lock…” Stephanie began to shake the lock relentlessly, but to no avail.

“Ok, now step back Bobby,” said Stephanie. Her stone began to glow and her body began to shift its shape. Her head bulged out and became massive. Then her body began to become massive as well. Her legs became like tree trunks and her body became very fat. Her mouth than grew and grew and grew until it finally stopped. The necklace became big enough to fit around this massive creature that stood before Bobby.

“You became a hippo?!?” asked Bobby in shock.

~This is the only animal that I can become that is strong enough to break the lock without breaking everything else,~ said Stephanie now opening her mouth to reveal teeth that really could be called tusks. She placed two teeth around the lock. She bit down and the lock cracked and fell to the floor almost instantly.

She quickly became human again. Bobby opened the door into the enclosure and Stephanie crawled into it. “Come here girl,” called Stephanie softly to the bigger golden eagle in the exhibit. It flew to Stephanie. Stephanie lifted her arm and the eagle landed on her arm. It enclosed its talons around the flesh on her arm and she began to bleed.

Bobby was watching outside and made a pained face looking at the eagle drive its talons into her arm. “Don’t worry,” called Stephanie, “She is just getting a grip that’s all.” Stephanie then looked up at the eagle and their eyes locked. “Let me become you,” whispered Stephanie to the female eagle. Their eyes did not divert from each other until Stephanie’s stone began to glow.

Stephanie bowed her head and said, “Thank you.” The eagle bowed its head as well and then flew to a branch in its exhibit. Stephanie crawled out of the exhibit and shut the door. “Bobby, help me find the California condors. They should be right over…” started Stephanie. “Here!” exclaimed Bobby pointing to an exhibit with a sign underneath it that said “California Condors” with some writing underneath it.

“I guess it is back to hippo for me then,” said Stephanie. Her stone glowed and her body began to shift and grow large again. Soon enough, she was a hippo again. She strategically put her teeth over the lock and bit down destroying the lock. Stephanie became human again and she crawled into the condor exhibit.

“Stephanie, are the females bigger in these birds too?” asked Bobby curiously.

“Not really. It just depends on the individual here. It’s like comparing you to Brigit Neilson and me next to Shaq. Women are not always taller than men, and men are not always taller than women,” explained Stephanie as she continued to crawl further into the exhibit. She stumbled upon pieces of bones. She continued to crawl further in and found two condors feasting on a big chunk of rotting flesh.

Stephanie looked at the two birds and began to pet the larger one. She said to it, “Don’t be afraid, I am not going to hurt you. I just need to ‘borrow’ you.” She focused on the condor and soon her stone glowed. After that she crawled back out of the exhibit and dusted off her shorts. “Where are we off to next?” asked Bobby.

“Next stop, the farm animals’ enclosure,” said Stephanie. They jogged outside. Stephanie quickly morphed the golden eagle she had just “acquired” and flew to the deepest part of the zoo where the farm animals were kept. Bobby was lifted into the air and followed after her.

Stephanie became human again by the horse stable and waited for Bobby. “Hey Stephanie, why did you become that golden eagle right now?” asked Bobby. “Well, I thought that I would be using it in the battle, so I decided to take the body for a test flight and see how it works,” responded Stephanie. Bobby nodded his head in agreement and walked toward a corral a few feet beside the stables.

Inside the corral stood a huge auburn colored bull with long sharp horns that could easily kill anything that threatened it. “Oh well while we are here, he wouldn’t be a bad choice to use in a battle,” said Stephanie walking up to the bars in the corral. She placed her foot on one of the bars and began to climb over it.

“Are you crazy?!? That thing will stomp all over you!” exclaimed Bobby insanely. “Bobby, I think you forgot I can CONTROL animals. I will be fine,” explained Stephanie hoping to calm down Bobby.

She hopped into the corral and approached the bull rather casually. The bull lifted its head and stared at her. It then pawed the ground and rushed toward her. “Stop,” commanded Stephanie. The bull slowed to a walk and then stopped six feet in front of Stephanie. Stephanie approached the bull more slowly this time and then began to pet its enormous head. “You would definitely be helpful in a fight. I mean, you were ready to fight right now even,” said Stephanie with a big smile on her face. Her stone then glowed and she climbed out of the corral.

“Bobby, find me a big horse, but make sure this one is female,” said Stephanie climbing over the bars surrounding the corral. Bobby nodded and hurried to the stables. He walked around and found several female horses, but none were very large. He then stumbled upon a large fawn colored horse. He did a quick check and confirmed that it was indeed a female. “I think I found one for you Stephanie!” called Bobby.

Stephanie hurried over and stared at the beautiful mare. It had a blonde mane and tail with a white blaze on its forehead. “Well aren’t you a beauty?” asked Stephanie to the horse as she began to walk into the stall. “It says her name is Allison,” stated Bobby.

“Well Allison, how would you like to help me out?” asked Stephanie as she went to the side of the horse and began to stroke it gently. “That’s it, good girl,” said Stephanie. Her stone glowed. She began to walk out the stall but kissed Allison “thank-you” on her way out.

“How many more stops are we going to make?” asked Bobby with an annoyed tone in his voice. Stephanie looked at him with an upset look on her face and said, “All I need is one more animal and then we can leave.”

“Good, because you know, any longer and the demons would have destroyed the city already,” said Bobby still sounding annoyed.

“Look, we just need to sneak into the shelters they use to keep the animals in at night. That is where the silverback should be,” said Stephanie starting to morph into the golden eagle again.

“Wait, by silverback, you mean the lead gorilla?” asked Bobby in utter awe.

~Yea that is what a silverback tends to be. I am a little surprised that you knew that Bobby,~ said Stephanie as she started to flap her wings and take off into the air.

“Hey! I can watch Animal Planet too you know!” shouted Bobby as he was lifted up in the air and began to follow Stephanie. In about two minutes, they landed at a large one story building with few windows. “That,” said Stephanie pointing at the building already human again, “would be where all the animals spend the night.”

Bobby walked up to the door and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried again, but all he did was rattle the doorknob. “Stephanie, bad news. I think the door is locked,” said Bobby looking baffled.

“Well that doesn’t mean that we cannot get in,” said Stephanie with a grin on her face, “You see that crack on the bottom of the door? Well, I think it is big enough for a roach to fit through.”

“Oh, well someone knows how to deal with situations that people think are dead ends,” said Bobby looking at Stephanie with one eyebrow raised. Stephanie walked up to the door and her body then began to shift. Her body shrunk drastically. Antennae shot from her head and an extra pair of legs erupted from her chest. Her back hardened forming the exoskeleton of the roach. Her necklace and stone also shrunk amazingly small to fit around the neck of the cockroach.

~I’m going in,~ called Stephanie as she began to crawl under the crack in the door. Bobby waited a few moments. He noticed the doorknob began to shake from the inside and that the lock was not in place anymore. He hid behind a bush thinking it was a zookeeper or another zoo employee.

The door swung open and there stood Stephanie. “Am I brilliant or what?” asked Stephanie rhetorically. “Definitely ‘or what’,” confirmed Bobby. Stephanie shot him an angry look but then she turned around and began to walk into the hallway of the building. Bobby hurried after her. After he walked into the hallway, the door slammed shut.

Bobby hit himself in the head with his own hand and said, “I should’ve known that would happen.” Stephanie ignored it and continued to walk throughout the hallway looking for the bars that would be holding a herd of gorillas behind it.

They passed by tigers, lions, hyenas, and leopards, but still no sign of the gorillas. They did not give up hope though, they retraced their steps and then turned left when the hallway split in two instead of going right. In this hallway they saw chimpanzees, gibbons, and orangutans. “We should be getting close,” announced Bobby. They continued to walk and to their right was a large cage containing five gorillas.

In the very back of the cage sat the large silverback gorilla. “Come here big guy,” called Stephanie softly. The gorilla turned around and began to knuckle walk slowly to the bars of his shelter.

Stephanie reached her hand through the bars and said, “Take my hand.” The large male reached out with his hand and took hold of Stephanie’s. Stephanie reached in with her other hand and held onto his hand tightly. Her stone glowed and she released her grip.
“Hey! You two down there! What are you doing!” shouted a voice coming from the end of the hallway.

Stephanie and Bobby turned around and saw the security guard. “Steph, I think its time we leave,” said Bobby lifting himself into the air and flying down the hallway. Stephanie nodded and began to change shape rapidly. Large spots grew all over the skin of her body. Her hands transformed into large paws with retractable claws. A tail shot out from behind her and large teeth grew from her mouth. She had become a leopard and as soon as the transformation finished, she began to spring down the hallway to the heavy door to the outside.

When she arrived, Bobby was already there and he had opened up the door for her. As Stephanie was exiting the building, she became human again and began to run for the park entrance. A small bird came and began to fly right next to her. She held out her hand and the bird quickly landed on it. “You seem to fly pretty quickly,” said Stephanie, “I think you will be able to help me out sooner or later.” Stephanie’s stone glowed and the bird flew off into a passing tree.

“Stephanie come on! We need to go to the forest behind our houses. We should find the demons there. We need to get out of here,” called Bobby to Stephanie while he was already flying off toward their houses. Stephanie nodded, and began to run really quickly. She jumped into the air and quickly became the little swallow she just acquired and flew up into the air for some altitude. As soon as she reached a high enough altitude, she morphed into the golden eagle and soared next to Bobby. They flew side by side without saying a word until they reached the forest.

“Well Stephanie, here we are. We need to be careful because the animal demon might be able to become an animal too,” cautioned Bobby. ~Wait, I feel something. It’s an animal in pain,~ said Stephanie. She flew down into the forest and quickly morphed the swallow and began to weave in and out of the trees.
“Wait!” called Bobby who quickly followed Stephanie.

He finally reached the lake and found Stephanie waiting there standing in shock crying. Bobby walked up to her and asked, “What is wrong?” Stephanie looked up and said, “Rebecca is dead.” She pointed to the tree on the other side of the lake where the alligator lay hanging upside down with its legs missing and flesh missing from its underside.

A small rat quickly scurried across the ground in front of the tree. It began to shift and change shape and grow into one of the male demons that they met back in the Bermuda Triangle. Then from the sky came another demon with long brown hair and fully white eyes. This one said licking her lips, “This gator really tasted quite well. Don’t you agree Peter?” The male demon turned to the other one and responded saying, “I only wish it would have put up more of a fight. The animals in our world are much more powerful. Right Natalie?” The other demon nodded and began to laugh.

Stephanie began to breathe heavily and her body began to change. “Bobby get ready. And as for you two!” shouted Stephanie to the demons, “You ARE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”