I don't own Monster Rancher.
Now, as you probably saw in the little summary thing for this story, I have a challenge to issue to all fanfiction writers. It's fairly simple, actually: if you've ever watched Monster Rancher, or any show really for that matter, then you've probably noticed that everything works out a certain way for the group. No matter what happens, it has some effect on them, often a major effect. For instance, when Pixie left after her defeat, she later helped the group escape from Moo's floating fortress.
But just what would have happened if, instead of becoming a good monster, Pixie had died in the battle with the rebels? Or, for another example, what would have happened if, after parting ways with Golem, Genki and the others had returned to find that the Jells had turned him into a lost disc? What if Tiger of the Wind had been captured by Moo instead of Grey Wolf? How might things have turned out for the rebels then?
So, my special challenge to all you fanfiction writers is to take one event in the Monster Rancher plot –major or minor– and create a story about what you think might have happened if it had worked out in a different way. You can use one of the suggestions above or use your own ideas. It can be any type of writing –a story, a script, a poem, a songfic, anything you can think of. The only guideline is that you have to change one thing that happened to Genki and his friends and have it turn out differently than it did in the series.
For an example, I've written a fanfic about how events might have turned out differently if, instead of trying to trick the group out of their prize money, Hare had just turned and left after the tournament. You can look over it to get an idea of what I mean. I hope that this challenge will help a lot of writers get started on their own storylines, and I look forward to seeing what all of you come up with.
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Genki gazed out at the cheering crowd, cradling a bag in his hands. Inside the small purse was the prize money for second place in the monster tournament. Things hadn't worked out exactly the way he had expected: he had been certain that Tiger of the Wind would win first place in the competition, since he was the best fighter their small rebel group had. However, the blue wolf had been too confident in his own abilities, and had let down his guard long enough for his final opponent to trick him into turning his back.
Now that last competitor, a purebred Hare, was standing on the first place podium beside him, grinning ear to ear. Genki glanced over at him, wondering if the rabbit felt the least bit guilty about winning the fight by trickery; he certainly didn't look upset.
Well, it wasn't a complete loss
, Genki sighed to himself, weighing the pouch of gold in his hand. It felt like it held a lot of money: not as much as first place received, but certainly a large amount. At least the rebels would have some cash reserves now. Plus, there was always the chance that Tiger would learn from his earlier mistake and not let his guard down again in a similar situation.A low growl snapped Genki out of his reverie. Snapping his head up, the boy's eyes widened in shock as Tiger came surging out from the sidelines and toward the winner's platform, straight at the rabbit. Genki stared at him, stunned: the last he had seen of the blue wolf, Golem and the others had carried his unconscious body away from the arena to help him recover.
Now Golem seized Tiger by the waist, and pinned him down to the ground as the blue wolf snarled and tried to claw his way toward the stage, golden eyes glaring at the rabbit. Holly, Mocchi and Suezo struggled to calm the frenzied warrior of the wind, and Genki hastily leaped down from his platform to help them. The people of this village were already biased toward the former bandit, and the last thing they needed was things getting out of control now.
"Tiger, calm down!" Genki said as he latched onto the blue wolf's side. "Second place is good! Don't lose your temper!"
Ignoring the boy's warning, Tiger glared at the rabbit, his golden eyes flashing violently as he snarled and struggled under Golem's firm grasp. He howled out a challenge, ordering the rabbit to turn and face him in a fair fight.
But Hare ignored the blue wolf's demands, instead turning his back on the sight and striding off into the crowd. Tiger continued to try and follow him, to attack and rip his rival's body apart, but the rabbit paid no attention to his raving and ranting. While trying to hold back the enraged monster, Genki lost his footing and stumbled backwards, and the sack of prize money fell to the ground, the flap coming loose. A shower of gold pieces spilled out, glittering against the gray stone.
But Hare had already turned and left the stadium, and didn't see the money fall out of the purse. The rabbit strode away, heading into the marketplace.
* * *
Suezo eagerly counted out the gold pieces that Tiger had earned, his eye gleaming with excitement. Genki looked over at it: there had been a lot of money in that sack, more than he had realized. He grinned over at Tiger, trying to encourage the wolf monster.
The blue wolf just growled low in his throat and looked away, his cold golden eyes narrowing. He wasn't going to ever forget how he had been humiliated. The great Tiger of the Wind…falling to a damned trick! It's inconceivable!
He went over the battle again in his mind, mentally replaying the events in his head. It wasn't hard: the loss was burned into his memory, and it festered like an old sore. Going over everything in hindsight, he could easily pick out the things that should have warned him that it was a ruse, things that he had missed in his self-imposed fog of pride and overconfidence.
Tiger snarled, mad both at the rabbit and at himself. I should have seen it coming…the first thing I taught Grey Wolf was to never underestimate your opponent. The memory of his lost younger brother only soured his mood even more, and he closed his eyes as the pain of that loss swept over him again.
I seem to lose a lot of things, don't I? First my brother…then my pack…and now I couldn't even win a tournament that should have been easy!
"Hey, we're going now," Genki called, snapping Tiger back to reality. The blue wolf glared at the boy, and Genki scratched his head, confused. "I said we're going now," he repeated, looking straight at Tiger. "Aren't you coming?"
He almost said no. The blue wolf's eyes narrowed into glittering golden slits as he considered that option. However, he decided to discard it. Like it or not, these weaklings needed his help. Sighing, Tiger got to his feet and slunk after the group, following them down the path.
Before long, the small band had come to a crossroads. Genki chose to race forward, picking the path directly before him, and the boy faded into the distance quickly, half-dragging Mocchi behind him. Holly and the other monsters followed more sedately, speeding up only when they heard Genki cry out. It turned out that the boy had skated right over a cliff, and they found him sprawled out in a field of flowers, dazed and embarrassed but otherwise unhurt.
There was a village just ahead of them, and they decided that it would be the perfect place to rest for a while. Genki ran out ahead of them, as always, but Tiger couldn't help but note that the boy moved just a little bit more slowly. Smirking, the blue wolf followed them into town.
* * *
Captain Evil Hare smirked to himself, watching the searchers from his vantage point on a nearby cliff. His scarlet eyes glimmered as he considered just how to wipe them out. His gaze drifted upwards, toward a canyon that cast its shadow over the tiny village, and his smirk slowly twisted into a grin…
* * *
"What's that-chi?" Mocchi asked. The others didn't answer, and looked around in confusion as the clear sound of bells ringing echoed through the suddenly active streets. The villagers flooded out of their houses, and the rebels found themselves swept along by the crowd as they headed toward a lookout tower. A cry for an explanation rose from the masses, and a young man peered out of the tower.
"There are two suspicious-looking monsters over at the dam site!" he called, pointing up the canyon road. Curious, Suezo decided to get a look for himself, and he hopped up on Golem's shoulder to get a better view of the dam. He gazed out, letting his vision focus, and was decidedly unnerved by what he saw.
"They're Evil Hares," he informed the others, "and they're messing with the dam. I think they're trying to break it down!"
The villagers gasped, and began to panic. Tiger grimaced, and he suddenly broke past the crowd and surged toward the dam. Realizing what he was about, Genki skated after the blue wolf, and the others followed as quickly as they could.
Tiger reached the Evil Hares first, and his lightning flashed out toward them. The two scampered away, ebony fur smoking from the electrical energy. Something yelled above the blue wolf, and he leapt away as Captain Evil Hare landed where he had been standing. The baddie glared at him as the other rebels arrived.
"Aw, what a shame," he said, his voice mocking. "We were planning on flooding the village with all this water to get rid of you searchers, but it looks like you want to do things the old-fashioned way."
"What did you just say?" Genki demanded, horrified. The only response he got was a bum rush from the Evil Hares. Enraged, he flung himself into the fight, striking out wildly with his fists and feet. Golem swung his massive hand, and three baddies went flying out of the canyon. Tiger unleashed his lightning, and five more scattered with their pelts on fire.
Captain Evil Hare felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck; these searchers were stronger than he had counted on. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he called out, "This looks like a job for Captain Evil Hare!" He then turned and started pounding on the dam again, feeling it give way slightly under his fists.
Tiger roared behind him, and the captain dodged away as lightning surged into the area where he had been standing, striking the wooden dam. Cursing, the ebony-furred rabbit ordered a retreat, something his men were very eager to obey.
Tiger growled as the last of the Evil Hares scampered up the cliffside and out of sight. None of the baddies had become lost discs during the battle. Next time…
A cheer rose behind them, and the rebels turned to see the villagers heading toward them, shouting out grateful thank-yous and praise for their efforts. Genki turned a bright red, and the others laughed as they noticed his embarrassment.
Something creaked behind them, and the canyon suddenly became deathly still. The only sound that could be heard was the slow, terrifying crack of wood. The group slowly turned to see the dam coming apart at its seams.
"The Evil Hares did break it!" Suezo exclaimed.
"What'll we do?" Holly asked.
Tiger of the Wind cursed loudly. "RUN!" he ordered.
The villagers panicked again, and the rebels struggled to keep together as they raced out of the canyon. There was no time to salvage anything: all they could do was run to higher ground. Behind them, the creaking noise gave way to the sound of rushing water…
* * *
Hare entered the bar and gave the crowd a quick once-over. There wasn't anybody he recognized in the room: just the stereotypical array of drunks that were associated with taverns like this. There didn't appear to be anyone threatening present, although the rabbit took note of a few people and monsters to keep his eye on, the ones who had already seemed to have a little too much sake or beer. He quietly found a small, unoccupied table located in one shadowy corner of the room and took a seat.
After a few moments, a pixie hybrid whose eyes had seen too much came up and asked if he wanted to buy anything. The rabbit ordered a simple drink of fruit juice: he wasn't all that taken with the concept of getting wasted. Alcohol dulled one's senses, and the only reason that Hare even bothered to visit places like this was because the people that frequented them often had interesting gossip and rumors to pass on. Traveling by himself had taught the rabbit that most rumors had at least some basis in reality, no matter how small, and that liquor typically loosened the tongues of most humans and monsters. In fact, Hare had first heard of the tournament he had entered and won in a seedy dive like this.
"Hey, did you hear the latest?"
Hare glanced over at the table next to him out of the corner of his eye. The group sitting there wasn't as inebriated as most of the crowd, and the speaker seemed eager to share what he had heard. The rabbit carefully tuned out the other noises in the crowded room and listened closer to what was being said.
"…completely wiped out by a flood. Seems like the dam broke and the river swept right into the village. At least a third of the people were wiped out."
"What a shame," the pixie waitress commented, walking by the table. She set down the drink Hare had ordered down in front of him, then waded back into the crowd. The juice went untouched as the rabbit continued to listen to the conversation.
"…Know what I heard?" the tiger hybrid at the table asked, leaning forward as his voice dropped to a lower tone. "I heard that those rebels are the ones responsible."
"What rebels?"
"Haven't you heard? There's this small group calling themselves 'Searchers' that are trying to overthrow Moo. Apparently, they deliberately broke the dam and flooded the village because they'd heard that some of Moo's soldiers were staying there."
"That's barbaric!" the purebred Zuum at the table exclaimed. The tiger hybrid nodded solemnly, his dark green eyes flashing.
"Well, I'm not surprised," a dark-haired man at the counter interjected. "What do you expect when that bandit Tiger of the Wind is involved?" The group at the table all stared at him, and Hare couldn't keep himself from jerking slightly at the name. The dark-haired man took a long swig from his mug and slammed it down on the counter, his brown eyes darkening as he said, "It's true. The rebels are with Tiger of the Wind."
"I've heard that too," the tiger hybrid commented. "From what I've heard, he's the leader of those rebels. He plans on assassinating Moo, and then taking over command himself. That bandit wants to control everything!"
"Is it true that he was in a tournament a few days ago?" a Pink Eye asked. The tiger hybrid nodded again.
"Yeah, he entered the fighting tourney, apparently planning on finding new warriors for his rebels. But he must have found more than he bargained for."
"What do you mean?" a human female asked. The dark-haired man at the counter smirked, his dirty face creasing slightly.
"I was there," he told her. "Tiger of the Wind was in it, alright, and made it to the finals. But he ended up losing the last battle to a Hare purebred. The crowd loved that, as you can probably imagine. But he got real ticked, and even tried to go after the winner during the ceremony. The guards would have taken him out, but his rebel flunkies got him out of there real quick."
"Too bad," the Zuum hissed, "he should have gotten caught at least."
"It doesn't matter," the dark-haired man laughed shortly. "There's no way he can hide from Moo forever. Sooner or later, he'll be stopped."
The conversation went on, but Hare had heard enough. Dropping a few coins as payment for his barely touched drink, the rabbit quickly and quietly slipped out of the bar. As he started out on the road again, his mind swirled with a thousand questions: why had Tiger of the Wind been in the tournament, really? Would the blue wolf have killed him if he had gotten the chance? Who exactly were the rebels, and how were they planning on defeating Moo? He felt almost as if he was missing something lately; was that part of it?
Hare sighed and shook off the feeling. At any rate, it wasn't like it mattered to him. Whoever the rebels were, and what they were planning, was of no concern to him. Shouldering his pack, Hare set off on the road again, alone as he had always been.
Alone as he always would be.