I meant to have this out a few weeks ago but I wound up rewriting it multiple times. Enjoy.
The Untold Stories of Monsuno
Ch.6 The Collector part 2
"Sir, may I talk to you in private for a moment?" asked Bertran.
"Very well Bertran. If you two well excuse me, I'll be back in a minute." said The Collector before following Bertran out of the room.
"Now, what did you need to speak to me about?" asked The Collector as they entered the main hallway.
"Actually, I'm the one that needs to talk to you." stated a young man standing near the door. The man was Jimmy Larriks.
"Ah, Jimmy. I was wondering when you would show up." replied The Collector.
"I held up my side of the bargain, now you have to hold up yours." growled Jimmy.
"All in good time Mr. Larriks. First, we need to see how my new creature works against some valid opponents." said The Collector calmly. The sound of a window being smashed came from the dining room. "I had better go check on that. We will finish this discussion later." He ran back into the dining room while Bertran led Jimmy outside.
"Toxiking return!" ordered Leslie. Her monsuno flew back into her core. She walked over to Dennin and checked on the bruise on his head.
"What happened?" asked The Collector as he ran into the room.
"We just got attacked by a freaking gargoyle!" yelled Dennin. "Now, what the crag is going on around here?"
"Please, calm down." said The Collector soothingly.
"Calm? You want us to be calm? We were nearly killed by that beast!" shouted Dennin.
"Now, you said you saw the gargoyle?" asked The Collector.
"Indeed, it flew down from that pedestal up there and attacked us." replied Leslie.
"Where is it now?" asked The Collector.
"It flew out that window." said Leslie as she pointed to the giant hole in the window.
"I see. Well I suppose I owe you an explanation. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what is happening myself. There have always been rumors that a gargoyle lived on this estate. However, no one had ever truly seen it so it was always assumed to be rumors. Then, a few months ago, I was walking through the grounds one night and the creature came out of nowhere and attacked me. Since then it has shown up periodically and caused havoc. Then, it seems to disappear into thin air." explained The Collector.
"Sounds like a real problem. Once we manage to contact headquarters we'll send a squad to investigate." said Leslie.
"Do you really believe that your Storm soldiers can take care of this creature?" asked The Collector skeptically.
"Of course, Storm Elites are the best at this sort of thing. They'll be able to take care of it." replied Leslie.
"Well, sounds like a plan. But there's nothing that we can do tonight." said The Collector. "Bertran!"
"You called sir?" asked Bertran as he entered the room.
"Yes, show Dennin and Leslie to their rooms and make sure they're comfortable. I'm going to go make sure the front door is locked. Hopefully we won't have anymore surprise guests tonight." Said the Collector. He left the room and proceeded back towards the main hallway.
"If you'll follow me," said Bertran as he led them down another hallway and up onto the second floor. They went down a long hallway and entered a large lounge area at the very end. It had a large TV against the back wall with three couches arranged around it and a coffee table between them. There was a window near it that looked out onto the courtyard. On either side of the room was a door leading to a bedroom with a large draped bed and a desk in each one.
"Fancy," muttered Dennin as he entered the room and took a look around.
"I'm glad this room is to your liking, sir." said Bertran. "Can I get you anything?"
"I'm good." said Dennin as he dropped onto one of the couches.
"I think Dennin means to say that we're fine, but thank you anyways." interjected Leslie.
"Well, if you change your minds, I will be down in the kitchen." said Bertran as he exited the room.
"Isn't he nice?" asked Dennin sarcastically.
"I guess you could say that, except that he's involved in the illegal theft of Storm property." replied Leslie.
"There's no proof that he's involved." said Dennin. "In fact, we can't even prove that either of them were involved."
"No proof? The bloody monsuno attacked us and there the only two people here! Who else could be responsible?" asked Leslie angrily.
"Unless there are more than two people out here." said Dennin. He walked over two the window and looked out. "We haven't been here that long, for all we know there could be plenty of other people out here. This is a big place, I bet The Collector has more than one person working for him."
"Well, why haven't we seen anyone else?" asked Leslie skeptically.
"Maybe they're in the other wing of the building. We haven't even been over there yet. Or they could be somewhere elso on the grounds." said Dennin gesturing out the window.
"So, your defending them?" asked Leslie.
"No, I'm just saying, we shouldn't go around accusing them of anything until we... wait a second. Come here, quick!" said Dennin waving her over to the window.
"What is it?" she asked as she walked over.
"Looks like I was right about there being more people out here." he said as he pointed to Jimmy sneaking along the wall near the window.
"Look, there's The Collector." said Leslie pointing towards the main door. The Collector had emerged from the door and walked down the courtyard looking around for something. Jimmy waited for him to get near him and stepped out of the shadows.
Leslie opened the window so they could hear what they were saying. "We never finished our chat." said Jimmy.
"Indeed, Gargoyle's attack seemed to have happened at a very inconvenient time." replied The Collector. "Much sooner than I had wanted it to."
"Perhaps you should keep more control over it." said Jimmy.
"I never had any trouble controlling it before you tampered with it." complained The Collector.
"I warned you this might happen." said Jimmy. "The monsuno essence I used to increase it's power came from a wild core. It's never been done before so there's no telling what side effects there could have been."
"Well, it won't respond to my calls and I need to get it back into its core soon." complained The Collector. "Since your the expert, what do you suggest?"
"I doubt it will have gone to far, you could simply wait for the automatic recall." suggested Jimmy.
"How long will that take?" asked The Collector.
"I'm afraid that I can't say that for sure, we still don't know the exact effects of the wild core's essence." explained Jimmy.
"Is there anything else we could do?" asked The Collector.
"We could start combing the grounds to try and find it." suggested Jimmy.
"I'm afraid that we don't have enough people to do that, besides we need someone to keep an eye on our guests." he said.
"You could try luring it in with some bait." said Jimmy.
"Bait? What kind of bait?"asked The Collector.
"I bet it wouldn't be able to resist a monsuno battle." said Jimmy reaching towards his belt.
"Wait, not yet. I want to make sure the Storm elites aren't anywhere near by first. Don't need them interfering with your plan." said The Collector.
"You fool," said Jimmy. "They already know, there listening in right now."
"What?" asked The Collector shocked. Jimmy pointed towards the window that Dennin and Leslie were standing by. They stepped away but not before The Collector managed to realize they were there. "Why didn't you warn me that they were listening in?"
"That would have ruined the fun," said Jimmy as he pulled out his core. "Now, to lure your monsuno in. Scapegoat, launch!" He spun his monsuno towards the wall and it materialized next to the window. "Scapegoat, open that window for me." It reared up and kicked the window with its hoof smashing a hole in the wall.
Dennin and Leslie stared at the broken section of the wall for a second. "Well, time to join the fun." said Dennin as he pulled on a strike glove. He pulled out a strike launcher and loaded his core into it and powered it up. He activated the strike gloves laser sight and aimed it at one of the pillars across the courtyard. "Tribite, launch!" he yelled as he launched his monsuno across the courtyard. It hit the wall and exploded out in a flurry of golden energy. It materialized into a large black and yellow snake with three heads.
"Always in a hurry." Said Leslie. "Toxiking, launch!" She spun out her own monsuno. She and Dennin jumped out the hole in the wall and landed in the courtyard. "You both are under arrest by order of Storm and Commandant Marshall Charlemagne! Hand over your cores and surrender!"
"That's not about to happen!" yelled Jimmy. "Scapegoat, ram them!" Scapegoat charged at Toxiking.
"Toxiking, quick strike!" order Leslie. Toxiking pounced on Scapegoat and bit him on the neck.
"I could use some help over here!" yelled Jimmy.
"Don't worry Mr. Larriks," said Bertran as he walked outside. He pulled out a Storm core. "Venom, launch!" He spun out a large black and yellow frilled lizard monsuno. "Venom, help Scapegoat out!" Venom ran across the ground at blinding speed and tackled Toxiking. Tribite slithered over to Venom and started to snap at him. Tribite quickly had Venom backed into one of the pillars. Venom ran up the pillar and held itself up on the top. Tribite rapped itself around the pillar next to it and slithered up until it was level with Venom.
"Venom, acid spray." ordered Bertran. Venom's frill opened up and it shot a spray of green acid at Tribite. Tribite dropped down onto the ground and Venom's attack hit the pillar and melted a hole in it. A crash came from the roof near the main door. They all looked over to see Gargoyle standing on the roof between two gargoyle statues.
"Finally," said The Collector. "Gargoyle, destroy those Storm monsunos!" Gargoyle tore the heads off of the statues next to him and threw them at Toxiking. They hit him and shattered against his shell. "Gargoyle, shadow beam!" Gargoyle unleashed a powerful beam of energy from his hands at Tribite and blasted him into the wall. Tribite's health meter dropped down to 70%.
"Crag! That's some serious power!" said Dennin staring at the meter. "Tribite, triple threat!" Tribite glowed yellow as if he was going to return to his core and then his three heads separated into three snakes. The three snakes slithered towards Gargoyle and up the pillars towards the roof.
"Toxiking, poison missiles!" ordered Leslie. The spikes on Toxiking's shell glowed green and shot into the air and came down on Scapegoat and exploded on his back. Scapegoat exploded back into his essence and returned to his core.
"Looks like I'm out." said Jimmy. "But, I'm sure you can handle things from here." He walked over and leaned against the wall.
"Venom, take care of Toxiking!" ordered Bertran. Venom jumped down from the pillar and charged at Toxiking. He jumped on Toxiking's back and bit his head.
"Toxiking, venom shell!" ordered Leslie. Toxiking's shell got coated in a thick venom. It burned into Venom's leg and forced him to jump onto the ground. Gargoyle released a beam of green energy from his chest that blasted Toxiking and Venom and forced both of them back into their cores. "Crag!" yelled Leslie.
"Sir, why did Gargoyle attack my monsuno?" asked Bertran.
"I never ordered that attack. In fact I didn't even know he could use that attack." said The Collector.
"Leslie," said Dennin. "That attack looked remarkably similar to the beams of energy that a wild core unleashes when it destabilizes."
"Well, Jimmy did mention using a wild core to boost its power." replied Leslie. "Try attacking its chest, where that bolt shot out from."
"Tribite, hit its chest." ordered Dennin. Two of Tribite's snakes jumped at Gargoyle and rapped around his arms pulling them out of the way. The third snake lashed out and bit it's chest. A wave of green energy exploded out of Gargoyle and sent the three snakes flying onto the ground. The snakes began to glow and merged back into a single snake with three heads. The energy beam shot into the sky and exploded in a shower of green light.
"Gargoyle, stop that now! You'll attract to much attention!" yelled The Collector. Gargoyle pulled one of the statues off the roof and threw it at The Collector. The Collector managed to dodge it but just barely. Bertran ran over and pulled him over to some cover. "Jimmy, what did you do to my monsuno?" yelled The Collector looking around. Jimmy was no where to be seen. "Where the crag did he go?"
The sound of several motorcycles driving towards them made everyone look behind them. Three Storm motorcycles drove up and stopped next to Dennin and Leslie. The elites parked the motorcycles and stepped off. They were each wearing a Thunder Storm logo marked with a 1, 4, and 5 respectively. The man with the 1 pulled of his helmet revealing himself to be Rick Larriks. "What's the situation?" he asked.
"The gargoyle monsuno up there has been supercharged with a wild core's power and it's controller is having trouble keeping it under control." said Leslie.
"How is that even possible?" asked Devon White, the Elite marked with a 5.
"I'm afraid the only person who could tell you that is Jimmy Larriks but he seems to have disappeared." said Dennin.
"My brother is here?" asked Rick concerned.
"Yes sir. He is the one responsible for that creature's power." said Leslie.
"First things first, lets deal with this creature. Thunder Storm, attack!" ordered Rick. "Stampede, launch!" He spun out his buffalo like monsuno.
"Bladerunner, launch!" shouted Jeremy, the Elite with the 4. His cheetah monsuno joined the others.
"Abyss, launch!" ordered Devon. His squid monsuno exploded from its core near Tribite. "Abyss, check on Tribite!" Abyss crawled over towards Tribite and pulled some debris off of his back. Two Storm H-trams drove up and parked near them. Three more Elites in Thunder Storm armor ran over and stood at attention next to Rick. They were designated with a 7,8, and 9. Several Storm soilders also ran over and stood at attention.
"Bertran, this is getting out of hand. Load the rest of my collection onto the van and get ready to evacuate." ordered The Collector.
"Yes, sir." said Bertran. He ran inside the building.
The Collector took off his jacket and threw it aside. Underneath it he had a bandolier with three Storm cores and two Eklipse cores on it. He pulled a multi-launcher out and loaded two of the Storm cores and the Eklipse cores into it. The third Storm core was already empty. "Crossbolt, shadowstreak, launch!" The Collector launched out the two monsunos. Crossbolt was a large black boar like Storm monsuno. Shadowstreak was a red and black falcon like Eklipse monsuno. "Shadowstreak, wing slash!" Shadowstreak flew straight at Abyss and Tribite and slammed into them. Abyss went flying into some trees while Tribite was forced back into its core.
The wall behind them exploded and a large monsuno flew out. "Crystalwing, get us out of here!" ordered Jimmy who was riding on it's back. Behind him was a young girl holding a blue core-tech core. "Hold on sis, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
"Bladerunner, bring them down!" ordered Jeremy.
"No, stop!" yelled Rick. "Don't attack them, you could hurt Cadence." Bladerunner stopped and looked back at Jeremy to see what he was supposed to do.
"Sir, who is Cadence" asked Jeremy.
"My sister," he replied. "But, why was she here?"
"Was that Rick?" asked Cadence as they flew away.
"I think so," replied Jimmy.
"Shouldn't we go back and get him?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "If we go back he'll have to arrest us for being rogue monsuno controllers."
"But, you just gave me this monsuno." she protested. "I haven't even spun it out yet, so I'm not technically a rogue controller. Why do I need this thing anyways?"
"I don't want you going unprotected." he said. "The Collector was able to kidnap you way to easily without a monsuno to defend you. I don't want that to happen again."
"Because your worried about my safety or because he used me as a way to force you to help him?" she asked.
"Both," he replied.
"Do you really think this monsuno can protect me?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied. "Sheline has one of the strongest defenses of all the monsunos I've created." They flew away from the battle.
Meanwhile the battle was still raging. Abyss and Crossbolt had already been defeated. The Collector had spun out another Storm monsuno named Hydro which was a large alligator with a hammerhead sharks head and wings. Bill the Elite with the 7 had spun out a large bat monsuno named Nightwatch. Janine the Elite with the 9 had spun out a large ape like monsuno with a sharks head. The ape monsuno, Goldback, was fighting against Hydro while Nightwatch was fighting against Shadowstreak. The other Storm monsunos were attempting to break through a glowing green hurricane that had formed around Gargoyle.
"Bladerunner, lightning slash!" ordered Jeremy. Bladerunner ran at the shield in a blur of gold fur and slashed at it with the blades on its back. It hit the wall and was forced back into its core. "Crag!" yelled Jeremy.
"Sir, that monsuno is giving off similar readings to that of a wild core that has destabilized." said Janine. Gargoyle released a volley of green energy beams that blasted holes in the building and made craters in the ground. One of the motorcycles got hit and exploded apart.
"Sir, the prisoner we were transporting, Zack, is still trapped inside the building." said Leslie.
"I see," said Rick. "Sarah, front and center!" Sarah, the Elite with the 8 on her back and a medical cross on her shoulder ran over and stood at attention. "I want you and Leslie to go and get the prisoner out of that house. Take some of the soldiers with you."
"Yes sir." she said. The two ran over and got three of the soldiers and ran inside the building.
"Nightwatch, echo blast!" ordered Bill. Nightwatch released a sonic attack that sent Shadowstreak back into its core. At the same time Goldback defeated Hydro and sent it back to its core as well.
"Bill, Janine, we are going to have to hit that creature at the same time to take it down!" yelled Rick pointing at Gargoyle. "On three. One, two, three!" The three remaining Storm monsunos sent an attack at Gargoyle at the same time and created a giant explosion. Gargoyle was forced back into its core and The Collector ran inside the building. As he was running he noticed that Zack's Eklipse core had been dropped on the ground. He picked it up and ran into the garage. Bertran was sitting in a white van waiting for him. He jumped into the passengers seat and they drove down a back road behind the building and escaped into the forest. Sitting in the back seat was several boxes each with a half a dozen monsuno cores in it. Also sitting back there was Zack who was unconscious.
"What is he doing here?" asked The Collector as he motioned towards Zack.
"His cell was partially collapsed and he was unconscious." replied Bertran. "I figured he might be more useful to us alive than he would be dead." They drove down the road and chuckled evilly. Back at the house the Storm group was gathering itself together. The remaining monsunos had been called back into their cores.
"Give me a status report." said Rick.
"Sir, the prisoner has disappeared and we lost his core during the fight." said Leslie. "The Collector and Bertran have escaped. So has Jimmy Larriks. One of the motorcycles was completely destroyed during the battle and two more were damaged. Both of the H-trams are fully functional. Dennin and Jeremy were injured but not severely. Sarah is treating them now."
"Very good, have three of the soldiers guard the building until we can get a search squad to come in and clear the place out." order Rick.
"Yes sir," said Leslie. "And sir, if I may ask, how did you find us?"
"Your driver helped lead us here. He was attacked by Gargoyle. The creature had grabbed him and carried him into the woods and left him there. He managed to find his way into a small town and contact us. After we picked him up and got him medical care we went out on the road to search for you. While we were searching we saw an explosion from your battle and proceeded towards it." explained Rick. "And here we are." He turned towards the others. "All right troops, lets pack it up and head back to base!" The Storm soldiers loaded onto the H-trams and they drove down the road. Inside one Leslie sat down on a computer and opened her mission log.
"Thunder Storm case 613. Thunder 3 reporting." said Leslie to the computer. "Target Zack Summers and monsuno Shadowpincher have been lost. Full report shall be filed upon arrival to Storm outpost 857. End report."