Chapter Ten: All Together Now
After they had finished working on Sindain, Max, Monica, and Gokuu entered Rainbow Butterfly Wood once more.
"The monsters here should be really strong," Monica said as Max and Gokuu walked alongside her. "Be careful."
Max nodded. "To think, this'll be the last time we encounter any of the monsters here…not including the Rainbow Butterfly." He took out his camera. "I have to take some pictures and show them to Donny. I'm sure he wants to see the different kinds of monsters in the outside world."
"I have to say bye to all the monsters here," Gokuu said, "even though some of them don't like me anymore."
"Let's try not to get separated this time," Monica said. "It's easier to fight as a team."
Gokuu's eyes lit up when he saw a Gyumo in front of them. He ran over to it.
"Ah, Gokuu!" the Gyumo said. Max and Monica watched, as they couldn't understand what it was saying.
"Hi!" Gokuu said. "I'm leaving soon, so buh-bye!"
The Gyumo pointed its head to the sky and roared. Max quickly took a picture of the roaring Gyumo.
"Goodbye, Son Gokuu," the Gyumo said. "You'll be missed."
"I can come back anytime, remember? I'll come back sometime, promise."
"See you then, Gokuu." The Gyumo glanced at Max and Monica. "Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about. I've heard that you've been hanging out with humans lately." It looked disappointingly at Max and Monica. "It looks like it's true. I've also heard that those humans have been tearing up this forest and have encouraged you to do so as well. I've heard that you turned on the Man-eating Plants, Himarras, and Hunter Foxes, killing them all. Those humans over there helped you."
Gokuu blinked. "Yeah."
"It just makes me uncomfortable, that's all. Good luck!" The Gyumo continued on its way.
Gokuu ran back to Max and Monica.
"What was that all about?" Monica said.
"I don't think the monsters trust you two," Gokuu said. "I think they're starting not to trust me, too."
"Well, we don't trust them either."
"That monster over there said that humans have been wrecking the forest."
"Usually, they pick fights with us. We kind of don't have a choice."
"All we can do is keep fighting," Max said. "What we're doing is for the greater good."
Max, Monica, and Gokuu had to be running through the forest for at least an hour, yet they hadn't encountered any more monsters.
"This is really strange," Monica had said, "especially since you'd expect that there'd be the most monsters on the last floor."
Nevertheless, they continued to run, picking up Georama materials and the Geostone. However, they couldn't find the exit. All they needed to do was cross the tree, and they would be at Rainbow Falls.
"Maybe it'd be better if we split up," Monica said. "Gokuu and I could run, and Max, you could ride Kintoun."
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Max said.
"I'm hungry," Gokuu said. "Can we eat first?"
"Um, sure," Monica said. "It's not like we're in a rush or anything."
Max took out three bread loaves and handed one to Monica and one to Gokuu. Gokuu opened his mouth to eat it, but the bread loaf touched a wall. The area the bread touched was white.
"Hey, I can't eat this," Gokuu said. "There's a wall in my mouth." He looked at Max and Monica. They both had their bread loaves up to their mouths, but the wall was keeping them from putting them inside their mouths.
Monica lowered the bread loaf. "A…White Seal, maybe?"
"We have to get rid of it!" Gokuu said. "It's keeping us from eating!"
"It's probably removed the same way the other Seals are."
"You mean defeating all the monsters on this floor?" Max said.
"Uh-huh. Let's find all the monsters."
Max, Monica, and Gokuu ran around the forest again. They made sure to explore every inch of the floor, but there were no traces of any monsters anywhere.
"Gah, I'm really hungry…" Gokuu said. "That Seal's making me tired and mad!"
"Where are all the monsters?" Monica said. "Well, maybe we should just go to the next floor, which we probably should've done in the first place."
Surprisingly, it didn't take them long to reach the fallen tree. It was right around the corner.
"We made it…" Max said. "We can finally defeat the Rainbow Butterfly and meet Holly. Maybe…my mother…"
"We can finally eat…" Gokuu said.
"After this, we're one step closer to defeating Griffon," Monica said. "Let's go!" She ran towards the fallen tree and jumped towards the trunk, but a Gyumo jumped down in front of her and hit her in her stomach. It caught Monica by the leg as she was falling. It then threw her towards Max and Gokuu. Max caught her, but the impact made him slide backwards. Despite this, he managed to retain his balance.
"Monica, are you okay?" Max said.
"Yeah… Thanks, Max." She got back on her feet and said, "Where'd that monster come from?"
All the monsters in Rainbow Butterfly Wood, save the Himarras, Man-eating Plants, and Hunter Foxes, seemed to fall from the sky, surrounding the trio.
"It's an ambush!" Max said. He took out his device to call the Ridepod. A Skeleton Soldier snatched it, dropped it on the ground, and crushed it with its foot. The expression on Max's face turned to horror as the Skeleton Soldier made sure the pieces of the device were so small, they were hardly visible.
Max stared at the spot the device had been broken at. "My…"
Gokuu withdrew his Nyoi-bo. "You guys are keeping me from eating, and I'm really hungry!" He hit the Skeleton Soldier in the side with his Nyoi-bo. "Extend!" He knocked down half of the army of monsters with his Nyoi-bo. The fallen monsters quickly got up.
Max and Monica withdrew their weapons. Gokuu sheathed his Nyoi-bo and took a battle stance.
Monica looked around. She jumped in place and saw that the army of monsters went on for miles. "This…might take a while."
Max, Monica, and Gokuu didn't have a chance to attack first, as the monsters attacked first instead. Two Tortoises bit each of Max's legs. A Pixie flew around Max's head happily. It then bit one of his cheeks, stretching it out and then letting it go as though it were rubber. Max held his cheek with his left hand. When he held that hand in front of his face, he saw that it had blood on it.
Gokuu was knocked down by a Killer Snake. They were face to face. The Killer Snake hissed, its tongue lightly touching Gokuu's face.
"G-Get off…" Gokuu said through clenched teeth. "I'm really hungry and really tired, but if I need to beat all you guys up in order to eat, then… Get off!" Gokuu pushed the Killer Snake off him. He stood up, but a Moler tackled him and knocked him down.
A nearby Pumpkinhead had a strong urge to throw a bomb, but it would kill everyone. Instead, it ran over to Gokuu and repeatedly stabbed him with its trident. Gokuu was bleeding heavily. He elbowed the Pumpkinhead off of him and sent it flying into other monsters, making the monsters unfortunate enough to be caught by the Pumpkinhead flying short distances in different directions. Those monsters fell on top of other monsters, creating chaos. The monsters that had been fallen on were pushed into other monsters, and the domino effect began.
Monica was wrestling a Skeleton Soldier, both their swords cast to the side. The Skeleton Soldier had her pinned down. Several other monsters aided the Skeleton Soldier by pinning Monica's legs down. They allowed her hands to stay free, however, in order to make the wrestling match more entertaining. Monica's hands pushed against the Skeleton Soldier's hands, but the Skeleton Soldier was winning.
A Kotore flew into the Skeleton Soldier, sending it and the Skeleton Soldier flying into other monsters. The monsters pinning Monica down stared at the monsters getting knocked down in front of them, as did Monica. Monica realized that she was in the middle of a fight and, while the monsters pinning her down still stared at the monsters getting knocked down all around them, grabbed her sword and sliced all of them in half. They disintegrated.
She stood up and looked around. The monsters were killing themselves, as the monsters that had been knocked down had not disintegrated and were now fighting other monsters. They had all thought they had betrayed each other. Max and Gokuu were standing and were also watching the monsters kill themselves. A Tore who had, luckily, not been affected by the domino effect went in front of the crowd and yelled, "Stop!" It came out as gibberish to Max and Monica, but Gokuu could understand it.
The monsters stopped fighting and looked at the Tore.
"We're killing our fellow monsters," the Tore said. "The ones we're supposed to be after are those humans!" He pointed to Max, Monica, and Gokuu, who had, despite the chaos, ended up next to each other. "If a fellow monster bumps into you or whatnot, I assure you it is an accident. No matter what happens, continue to kill those humans until they're dead!
"Oh, yes, I saw Son Gokuu cause all this chaos, so go after him first! He is clearly the leader! Defeat him and the rest go down!"
The monsters glared at Max, Monica, and Gokuu.
"I'm angry…" a Pixie said.
"Me, too…" a Moler said.
"I hate humans," a Mimic said. "All they do is mess everything up."
"I know," a Fire Element said. "They even brainwashed Son Gokuu."
All the monsters' eyes rolled back, and their bodies became gold with power.
"Looks like that tree monster cleared up the confusion," Max said.
"And they all look stronger to boot," Monica said, watching the monsters begin to glow gold and their eyes become completely white.
"Guys, that monster said that it doesn't matter if another monster attacks fellow monsters!" Gokuu said. "They're going to attack us no matter what now!"
"That gives me an idea…" Monica said. "If we can convince a monster to attack other monsters for us, it can help us defeat other monsters!"
"Great idea!" Max said.
Monica reached into her pouch and pulled out her Himarra badge. She held it in the air. The badge began to glow yellow.
A Face of Prajna spat poison goo into Monica's face. She was poisoned, but couldn't heal herself, as nothing would go into her mouth thanks to the White Seal. They now had a time limit to defeat the monsters, as Monica would die if she didn't get to the next floor soon.
The Face of Prajna's attack also made Monica flinch. She couldn't transform in the middle of these monsters. She had to get somewhere where the monsters couldn't attack her so she could transform.
"I know this'll be hard to do, but distract them for me," Monica told Max and Gokuu, who were practically drowning in monsters. "I'm going to try and get on top of a tree and transform."
"Got it," Max said, hitting all the monsters on top of him in the forehead with his wrench. The monsters fell down, knocked out, letting Max free.
"Okay!" Gokuu said, spin-kicking all the monsters off him.
Monica looked around and saw the tallest tree in the area. Before she could act, dozens of monsters tackled her.
"I…can't breathe…" she said. The monsters were biting her, punching her, stabbing her. Anything they were capable of doing, they did it. She was hurting all over, and she couldn't move. All she saw was darkness and the monsters' completely white eyes as they beat her to death.
"Max…! Gokuu…!" she said as loud as she could. But, even if they did hear her, they couldn't do anything because they were too busy fighting off other monsters.
"Here comes the big Tigriff!" a Gyumo that was lying on top of Monica said.
"Aw, I hope she doesn't crush us," a Kotore said.
"I heard that the human killed that Tigriff's friends," a Pixie said. "A vendetta!"
"Stay on top of the human, everyone," a Pumpkinhead said, "regardless of how much we'll be in pain!"
"Ah!" a Skeleton Soldier said. "Here comes the foot!"
Monica wondered what the monsters were talking about, as they had ceased beating her, but had remained on top of her. She could only hear gibberish, but she knew that gibberish meant they were talking.
Suddenly, Monica felt a lot of pressure. It felt like she was being crushed by a building. Then, the pressure was gone.
"Oh no… The body slam…!" a Tortoise slowly said.
Monica felt even more pressure. She thought she was going to explode. With the pressure and poison combined, Monica was certain she was going to die.
Then, she thought of something. She began gathering energy in her body. She gathered as much as she could. She released that energy, a purple sphere quickly growing around her and throwing all the monsters off of her. Any monsters that dared come close were thrown into the distance.
With the sphere still around her, Monica jumped onto the tallest tree's branch. She jumped onto its higher branches until she reached the top. Then, she relaxed, making her sphere disappear. She held up the Himarra badge and transformed. All the knowledge of an average Himarra filled her head, including all the monsters' names.
"Wow, that didn't happen the last time," Monica said. "Could it be that the more I use it, the more knowledge I get?"
She jumped back down into the crowd of monsters, landing next to a Skeleton Soldier.
"Ah, a Himarra!" a Skeleton Soldier said. "I saw all the Himarras and Man-eating Plants get killed, though."
"Exactly," Monica said. "I want to avenge them all."
"Let's go after the humans! Although, that human girl disappeared."
"I'll track her down later. Right now, I'd like to focus on the two human boys. But, I've heard that some other monsters are planning to betray us and help the humans, like Son Gokuu did."
"Exactly who's trying to?"
"The Pixies."
"Those Pixies were always tricksters. I'm not surprised."
"The Pumpkinheads, too."
"I'll tell the other Skeleton Soldiers, and we'll kill them together." The Skeleton Soldier ran over to another of its kind and told it about the betrayal.
"This is working out perfectly!" Monica said. "Now, if I do the same with other monsters…"
She ran over to a Moler and told it that the Tores and the Tigriffs were going to betray them. It believed her. Next, she went to an Ice Element and told it that the Fire Elements and Gyumos were going to betray them. It believed her. She continued to do so until she had all the monsters pitted against each other.
The monsters were now fighting as hard as they could against each other. All monsters were convinced that their fellow monsters were betraying them. Slowly, they killed each other, as Monica saw some monsters fall to the ground and disintegrate. She saw Max and Gokuu staring at the monsters. Even though she had clearly said that the humans were part of it, they weren't getting attacked.
Soon, all the monsters were gone. Monica de-transformed as Max and Gokuu ran over to her.
"Well, that shows how close-knit they are," she said. She pulled out an antidote drink and drank it. She immediately felt better.
"Great job, Monica!" Max said. "You saved us! I got some pictures at the end, too!"
"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Gokuu said, taking out his bread that he had held onto the whole time. "Finally, I can eat!"
"Back to Sindain one more time," Monica said. And the trio made their way back to Sindain.
The trio went in Jurak Mall after completing Sindain. The food and tailor shops were still there, but now there was a tree branch that had a weapon shop and nest filled with three golden eggs on it.
"This is the completed Jurak Mall, huh?" Max said.
"It's a little different than I remember it, but that's okay," Monica said.
"Max… Monica… Gokuu…" It was Jurak. The trio ran over to him.
"I have a special gift for you for restoring this place to its former glory… Here…" He wiggled his right nostril, green smoke puffed out of it, and a gun floated into Max's hand. The gun strongly resembled Jurak himself, even featuring Jurak's giant eyes.
"Thank you, Master Jurak," Max said. He took out his camera. "Would you mind if I took a picture of you?"
"Not at all…"
Max aimed that camera at Jurak and took a picture. Next, he ran onto the branch and took a picture of the golden eggs. He found gold paint and took it out.
"Are you ready, Max?" Monica yelled from the ground.
"Yeah, I'm ready!" He ran down the branch and followed Monica and Gokuu to the time gate.
It was night. Max, Monica, and Gokuu were in the Blackstone One. Max had built up his Drill Wrench to a Smash Wrench. He had also built his Trumpet Gun to a Bell Trigger, even though his Jurak Gun was much stronger. However, he had decided that the Bell Trigger would be his backup weapon. Unfortunately, Monica had hardly used her sword or brassard in the big fight and couldn't build up either.
Max had built a new device that would let him call the Ridepod. It only took him half an hour to make, as there weren't a lot of parts to it, and it was a small device. He hoped that it wouldn't get broken in a situation like that ever again. Then, he remembered that he could've used the Help Receiver. He smacked his forehead. He had forgotten that he had the Help Receiver.
He had upgraded the Ridepod from the battle against the army of Spider Ladies and Hunter Foxes. He had given it a new core. He would give it new parts later when he had time. Right now, he just wanted to go to sleep. He was anxious, though, as he could be meeting his mother tomorrow. He was excited, nervous, and sleepy at the same time.
Max managed to fall asleep, no one but his mother in his dreams.