Mine Cars are GO! II
"Now where do you suppose that idol is? We're runnin' out of places to look!"
A sound of shuffling feet.
Snivels suddenly went into a sharp spin cycle as Rex darted past without any warning. Shaking his head dizzily, the man sent the oblivious canine a reproachful look.
A patch of dirt caught the man's eye and he pulled out his pickaxe. Raising it up, he swung down—
Wham!
—A disoriented blink from the dirt as colors flashed across his vision.
A pitiful whine of apology from the offending canine.
Wobbly, Snivels got to his feet, teetering dangerously. The new bruise on his side throbbed uncomfortably. "Hey, dig here, boy." A sharp gesture to the patch of dirt. "Come on."
"When are you two idiots going to stop clowning around?"
Both jumped at the thoroughly annoyed tone. Their eyes slid to Vivian.
Arms on her hips, the woman glared.
The sound of crunching dirt caught their attention. All three turned—
—and gave mirroring starts as Creed strode up nonchalantly, arms folded casually behind her back.
"Hey there." Was the almost pleasant greeting. "Fancy meeting you three here."
An enraged look. Snivels wilted.
"Snivels!" Snivels seemed to shrink in size. "Explain to me what exactly is going on here? Weren't you supposed to take the mine cars out of commission?"
An apprehensive look flashed through dark eyes. "Yeah, that's right, Vivian." An anxious nod. "And I did it, just like we planned. I even went a step further and stole McJunker's tools so he can't fix it! Heh."
A suspicious look. "And what did you do with the tools after you stole them?"
A wary glance, but slowly rising confidence. "I gave 'em to Rex to hide." An affirmative bark. "Yeah, and buried them where no one'll find 'em!"
Palm smacked loudly against banged forehead. Creed sniggered softly.
"Yes. On this island full of Fighters trained to dig up buried objects, no one will ever find them now." Dark eyes widened as Snivels realized his folly. "Idiot." The blond wilted again.
Blue-green eyes landed on Creed as Vivian advanced closer. "You! You wouldn't dare interfere in our business, would you?"
A smirk. "I would, I could, I do, now what will you do about it?"
A frown, a studying look. "Well, well. You're either brave or too stupid to understand the situation." A pause. "…Let's go with stupid," Creed shrugged nonchalantly. Vivian looked sharply at her subordinates, "You two—get her!"
Rex and Snivels lunged forward.
/\/\
Two against one, eh? …I still like my odds.
Rex's nodo stood at point. At starboard flank stood a red bipedal, vaguely sauropod-like, vivosaur, called a zino, which stretched a length of almost eleven meters, its long neck had to stoop almost double to avoid contact with the cavern ceiling. Derived from a therizinosaurus, meaning "Scythe Lizard", its fore claws were almost as long as Creed was tall, and undoubtedly sharp. It possessed a fire-affinity.
At port flank stood a large blue theropod. Derived from a ceratosaurus, meaning "Horned Lizard", it stood at only six meters long and possessed a wind-affinity.
"Firma, Lethar…and Torrent." The three vivosaurs appeared
Water's tide, pushing and pulling continuously. Anticipatory oranges and aggressive reds swelled and receded with flecks of calculating pale orange. They will be swept away. A resolute promise.
Torrent roared loudly as he appeared. An alectro, he was the first vivosaur Creed had revived earlier. However, with Mistral's revival, she had almost completely forgotten about him.
Hey…that's odd… A frown. My vision seems sharper, my body lighter…but Lethar increases attack and accuracy, not accuracy and evasion… Aquamarine landed on the scythe lizard. Perhaps…I'll have to tell Dr. Diggins about this.
A bark, and the nodo dropped its front legs and raised its tail.
Move! Creed sent as sudden gusts of wind careened towards her vivosaurs.
Firma and Torrent evaded, but Lethar was struck dead-center.
Wild bursts of wind, updrafts, downdrafts, spirals, and more. A sudden descending spiral of disoriented browns.
Creed swayed slightly at the sudden feeling of vertigo coming from Lethar. Confusion. She realized. Don't move!
A faint wisp of acknowledging colors amidst jumbled browns and other gradually muting colors. Twice, don't have, tell…
Creed shook off the dizziness and forced herself to tune out the fused lizard's delirium. "Venator Bite!" We can't let it fire another attack like that.
"Cerato Fang on Venator!" Snivels yelled as Rex barked commands of his own.
Both vivosaurs lunged on collision courses, though with different targets.
The sound of teeth on flesh. A pained bugle.
"What the—how?"
Torrent released the downed cerato.
Firma grabbed the nodo and, like in their original fight, flung it hard into the unforgiving wall.
"But water vivosaurs can't hurt wind vivosaurs!"
"It may cause less damage." Creed brushed a strand of hair from her face. "But it's easy to land a hit when one's eyes are drawn away. Firma: Finish it."
Firma lunged again, ramming his shoulder into the nodo's unprotected belly. The fused lizard's dino medal bounced across the dirt floor.
Movement caught Creed's eye. "Torrent: Evade!"
A nimble leap and powerful jaws caught nothing but dirt. Growling, the cerato spat out the dirt and straightened up.
"Venator Combo."
A frantic bark.
Solid ground rumbled and invoked a landslide of focused yellow-orange accented by streaks of aggressive red-oranges. Motion in green peripheral vision. A tremor, yellow-orange landslide was suddenly broken up by jagged streaks of surprised pale blue.
Firma dropped, scythe claws passed harmlessly overhead.
Creed stared in disbelief, a feeling echoed by all her vivosaurs as the zino swung again and missed by a large margarine. Its aim is terrible…
A snap of fingers. Blue flared and white fangs flashed as Torrent's jaws clamped down over the scythe lizard's vulnerable neck. Brown connected with blue and orange, repeating the latter's earlier acquaintance with the ground.
Two Dino Medals struck and bounced across the floor.
"No way!" Blonde and canine leapt back, eyes wide.
Vivian stepped forward. "I'll take this opportunity to," she held up a Dino Medal, "take my revenge from before! Go: Carchar!"
Oh, Hoinigen…this is not good. That is big.
Derived from one of the largest theropod dinosaurs, the carcharodontosaurus, which means "Sharp Toothed Lizard", the carchar filled the entire cavern. Its yellowish coloration betrayed its earth-affinity.
"Come back!" Creed catching the Dino Medals as her vivosaurs obeyed. "Discretion is the better part of valor."
Turning, she ran back towards the tracks.
"Giving up so soon, girl? You'll never outrun us!" Creed glanced back to see the BB Bandits leaping into their stolen cart and giving chase. The carchar crawling behind them like an iguana. "We've got the only cart!"
"Chicane!"
The swift thief appeared out of the shadows beside her, an axel with wheels in his claws.
"It's all downhill from here!" Snivels crowed. "So we'll catch up in no time!"
Gripping soft fur, Creed swung onto his back. Metal struck metal.
"What are you doing?" Vivian blinked in shock. "She rode her v-raptor down the track? Impossible!" Her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "The tunnel! It's narrowing!"
A low moan made the trio look back in horror. "Carchar, is stuck!"
A chuckle made them slowly look back. The sight before them drained their faces of blood.
"Bigger does not always mean better." Creed chided, arms crossed as she stood next to Ferno, "And in a small tunnel like this, that definitely applies." She rested her hand on the theropod's ankle, eyes alight. "S-Fury!"
Lungs expanded and flames licked open maw. Ferno roared and exhaled, a stream of fire shooting out.
Carchar howled at the searing heat.
Creed glanced over at Chicane. "Lethal Poison."
The swift thief opened his jaws and fired the green-tinted cyclone. Wind melded with rampant flames. The entire tunnel rocked violently in the following explosion, just as Creed had predicted.
Panting and fighting off a faint feeling of vertigo, she waited for the dust to clear.
The carchar and the bandits were gone.
A glimmer of mild concern. I forgot they'd get caught in the explosion. A faint niggling of guilt. I'd better see if they're still alive…
"Thank you, Ferno, that'll be all for now." Catching the dropping Dino Medal, Creed got on Chicane and guided him back down the tunnel.
There was no sign of them, even when she backtracked all the way back to the cavern. Somewhat bemused, Creed dismounted again and looked around quizzically. Well, there are no bodies and no blood splatters…so they probably got out alright…though how they managed to do so I couldn't begin to guess.
A flurry of wind amidst surprised pale blues accented by curious light greens. Creed, there is something here.
Turning, she saw Chicane nudging a small mound of dirt with his nose. Intrigued, Creed walked over and brushed the dirt away.
…another one? She blinked. This must be what they were looking for. She pulled a corpulent idol out of the dirt. It was predominately the same color as the other one, only with pinkish accents rather than blue.
A slight frown marred her face. Something strange is brewing…
/\/\
"Hey Creed!" Stepping onto the dock, Creed greeted Rosie with a nod. "Are you going to go for the Level-Up Battles now?"Creed nodded. "Great, so am I!" a grin. "I just got back from Knotwood Forest." The two Fighters headed towards the stadium. "Did anything interesting happen in Rivet Ravine?"
"I ran into the BB Bandits again."
"What?"
"They were causing trouble in one of the tunnels."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, an acquaintance and I helped stop and fix the damage caused."
"An acquaintance?"
Creed held out a photo Holt and McJunker had insisted on taking as a reminder of their victory. "His name's Holt, I've met him a couple of times."
Stars appeared in Rosie's eyes. "This Holt guy is kinda cute." She giggled. "I have a feeling I'm gonna pass the next test to go to Rivet Ravine!" Creed blinked, then rolled her eyes as she took the photo back.
They entered the stadium side-by-side. Newly inspired motivation lightened Rosie's steps while Creed strode ahead with cool confidence.
/\/\
"Congratulations on passing your cleaning test!" Tiffany applauded as Creed walked up to the desk. "Next is your Fossil Battle test." A nod. "For this Fossil Battle test, you'll have two battles—a preliminary battle and a final battle."
An eyebrow arched. Oh? This sounds interesting.
"For the preliminary battle, you'll face off against a normal Fighter—someone else trying to level up. Assuming you win, you'll return here to the lobby after your preliminary battle. Then you'll face a Level Master for your final battle." A smile. "You will level up if you defeat the Level Master." A gesture to the side door. "When you're ready, go on through the door to your right to the Battle Area."
With another nod, Creed walked through the aforementioned door. She paused, and blinked. You know…I really should expect this by now…
"You and me battling it out at the Fossil Stadium?" Holt's eyes were bright. "This is great!" A determined look. "You beat me last time, but I've been practicing, so don't expect me to drop so easily this go-round." A clever smirk. "I've been working on my strategy, and I think I've got what it takes this time! Let's battle!"
/\/\
"Coatlus, Tricera, Pachy!" Holt threw his Dino Medals.
Creed's eyes lingered on the white pterosaur before turning her attention to the unfamiliar yet familiar vivosaur standing point.
As long as Aero was, from beak to tail, the tricera was a blue triceratops, hints the name, which literally meant "Three Horned Face".
"Firma, Ferno, Lethar."
Her own vivosaurs appeared, Firma taking point. The slight restriction caused by the pachy went hardly noticed.
"Tricera: Running Smash on Goyle. Coatlus: Wing Cutter on Venator!"
A blink. That's his idea of strategy? Does he even know about how to take advantage of elemental traits? Oh well, we'll see. "Firma, Lethar, brace for impact!" Ferno, get ready.
The tricera charged, Lethar turned at an angle, absorbing the blow with little effort. Spade-like tail blurred, and Tricera reared back, blinded.
The coatlus dived down. Firma grunted as he took a blow down his shoulder and side, offending wing tips surprisingly sharp.
Red flashed, the coatlus let out a piercing cry as it was stuck with powerful talons and slammed into the ground. Creed winced, running a finger across Mistral's Dino Medal. She reluctantly sent the next command. "Firma, finish it!" She looked away as a heavy brown tail slammed down on the fallen feathered serpent, leaving its Dino Medal buried in the sand.
A pained bugle.
Creed's eyes widened. Lethar!
Arms quickly raised up to fend off a sudden wave of sand as the fused lizard crashed just in front of her.
"Finish it off, Tricera: Running Smash!"
Armored head struck, Lethar was flung into the air. His Dino Medal landed in Creed's limp hands. Eyes wide, Creed shuddered, a surge of fatigue washing over her. She swayed slightly and the feeling vanished. Head shook back and forth and then aquamarine eyes hardened.
"Ferno: S-Combo!"
The tricera cried out as taloned feet struck home. The three-horned-lizard crashed heavily onto its side.
"Firma: Finish it!" the theropod lunged.
"Pachy: Iron Ram!"
Firma was sent sprawling across the sand as the thick-skulled lizard collided with his head. Creed's brows furrowed. "Ferno: S-Fury!"
An earsplitting scream as a torrent of flames engulfed the pachy. Its Dino Medal landed in the sand, still smoking.
"Tricera: Running Smash! Quick!"
Recovered, the tricera charged like a living battering ram.
"Firma, stand and take it!"
Claws shot out and gripped piercing horns, feet dug into loose sand. Despite the sudden resistance, the tricera didn't stop.
Firma cried out as he slammed into the wall of the arena, horns digging into his chest.
Ground ruptured, pain dulled everything washed out gray, sharp spikes of angry red highlighted with jagged blacks.
Teeth sank into armored frill. The crowd gasped. Firma arched up, taking the tricera with him. A heave, and the three-horned –lizard was sent flying. Sand sprayed up in a thick dust cloud as the tricera crashed into the arena.
Firma stumbled, and fell forward.
Stone crumbled, pained grays spiraled downward into numbing blacks.
A Dino Medal landed softly in the sand. Ferno roared in fury.
An inferno roared, a raging maelstrom of frenzied reds and hateful jagged blacks. No!
Creed reeled, a wave of vertigo and blinding lights flashed over her vision. Firma! Fingers gripped temple and pulled auburn hair, palm covering one eye.
Agonizing heat spear-pointed sharp arrows of raging aggressive red-oranges and lashes of loathing burgundy. Burn! Reduce to cinders!
Hand pulled away and pointed at the tricera. "S-Fang!"
Sand sprayed. Ferno snarled.
"Tricera: Move!"
The tricera side-stepped and time seemed to slow. Ferno mid-air, narrowly missed the tricera by inches.
Creed smirked. "Now!"
Ferno's head twisted as he passed the tricera's flank. Razor-lined maw opened as a blast of white-hot fire encased the other vivosaur.
Steam filled the arena as the tricera bugled in agony.
Sand sprayed again as Ferno righted himself and skidded to a stop. The steam cloud dissipated, revealing a badly scalded but not yet defeated tricera.
"Finish it: S-Fang!"
"Tricera, you have to move!"
Ferno loomed over the three-horned-lizard, yellow eyes gleaming contemptuously. A snarl, sharp teeth sunk into vulnerable flesh behind bony shield. One final moan, and then the tricera's Dino Medal landed in the sand.
Fire banked abruptly, the sudden lack of a previously unnoticed pull made Creed lurch forward, heat receded and furious maelstrom calmed to an orange-red-violet of malicious satisfaction.
Creed quivered, eyes wide, as all the raging aggression faded, leaving her feeling cold and frail The raging need for vengeance and the pain for fallen comrades—
She shook her head. What…what was that?
The fury that had driven her floundered, leaving her with a jumbled mess of, what the heck was I doing?
Ferno let out a coarse cough and Creed just managed to catch his medal as he dismissed himself.
Holt approached her with slack jawed shock. Creed quickly reeled in her composure, standing stiff-backed as the two Fighters left the arena.
/\/\
"Well, shoot!" Holt seemed to recover himself as they entered the lobby. "I lost again…" A pause, and then he shrugged. "Oh well. I'm sure we'll battle again someday, right? I'll keep practicing!"
Creed nodded. "Good luck."
"Congratulations!" Tiffany applauded as Creed approached the front desk. "Next up is the Level Master—the final battle!" she paused, suddenly looking apologetic. "Unfortunately, the Level Master chosen to fight you has been delayed. He should be here in half an hour or so…so if you want to take a break you should have the time."
I need to eat. Creed thought wearily. I feel burned out… "Thank you, I'll do that."
/\/\
"Hello, Creed."
Aquamarine glanced up from her meat sub-sandwich. Mouth full, she dipped her head politely as Dr. Diggin's pulled up a seat and sat down at the table.
"Taking a break between matches?" A nod, Creed took another large bite. A concerned look crossed the scientist's face. "Are you alright? Is something wrong, you look rather pale."
Creed pause, and then swallowed what was in her mouth. A slight grimace crossed her face the large chunk of food forced her throat to expand somewhat painfully in order to handle it. "You…remember when you told me about the T-Rex?"
A nod. "Yes, why?"
"I can sympathize with the Fighter now."
A sudden look of alarm. "What? Are you okay?"
Creed shrugged. "Ferno just got a little out of hand, that's all." A pause, aquamarine met cyan. "The thing is, though, that I didn't realize what was happening until the fight was over."
"What happened, do you know what caused it?"
A nod. "Lethar and Firma were overwhelmed in the fight…that's never happened before. I wasn't expecting the fatigue or vertigo that followed their defeats. While I was off balance, Ferno struck with a one track mind." A pause. "He…pulled at my emotions and my fear for my vivosaurs and blended it with his fury…I think that's how it was, anyway… And I got carried along in this wave of anger, thinking it was my own. When Ferno calmed down, the wave receded and I felt burned out."
A contemplating, though still concerned, look. "That sounds much like what the Fighter described with the T-Rex. It—"
"Wanted to burn everything." Creed interrupted, "Wanted to strike out at the world before it could be struck at first."
"—yes, that's it exactly." A pause. "You said you felt burned out? Was it like when you had Chicane use his 3rd Tier ability, or like after your fight with Medal-Dealer Joe?"
"…No…more like…" Creed fumbled for the right words. "…emotional fatigue, like when a child throws a tantrum and then falls asleep afterwards…"
Despite himself, Diggins looked greatly intrigued. "Interesting…so you're saying Ferno synchronized his emotions with yours and dragged you along for the ride?"
A nod. "In a nutshell, yes."
A silence followed. Creed took several more bites of her sandwich before a thought struck her. "I almost forgot." She said after swallowing. "I ran into an interesting vivosaur back in Rivet Ravine, it had an ability you might find curious."
"Oh? Which vivosaur was it?"
"I believe it was called a zino. It remained in the rear lines of the fight until near the end, acting as a supporter. The funny thing was that it supported my vivosaurs, increased their accuracy and evasion to be exact."
"Really?" A curious gleam. "I'll have to look into that, thank you for telling me. Now…why would a vivosaur support its opponents…maybe if—" the scientist stood, still muttering to himself, and then wandered away.
Creed watched him go before chuckling fondly. Without another thought, she finished the remainder of her sandwich.
/\/\
"You did it, missy!"
You know, I think I can probably predict my future Level Master opponents if it keeps going like this.
"But I can't say I'm surprised. After all, anyone with your skills at finding and fighting was going to make it here."
"You're the Level 3 Master, am I right Mr. McJunker?"
"Hey, enough with the 'mister' stuff." A smile. "But yes, I am." Smile broadened into a grin. "Now you'll have to beat me, or you'll never be a Level 4 Fighter."
"I think I can manage." A sly smile.
McJunker laughed and then held up a warning finger. "Don't think I'll go easy on you, either. My vivosaur team is a force to be reckoned with, so watch out!"
"Duly noted."
The two Fighters entered the arena.
"Enough talking," McJunker yelled across the battlefield, pulling out three Dino Medals. "Let's battle. Stygi, Cerato, Kentro, come out!"
While the first two Creed had seen before, the third was new.
Just over five meters long, kentro was an air-affinity vivosaur from the same family as the stegosaurus. Sharp quills replaced parallel plates halfway down its back, making it a deviation of the kentrosaurus, meaning "Prickle Lizard", due to the afore mentioned quills.
Silently, Creed released Firma, Torrent, and Aero. Her gaze held on Firma, who glanced back at her upon feeling her look.
Supporting stone bracing a soft landscape of soothing blues. I am alright, Creed, don't worry.
Relaxing slightly, Creed turned her attention to her opponents.
"Firma: Venator Bite. Torrent, Aero, cover him!"
"Cerato Combo! Whirling Dash! Fiendish Ram!"
Sand exploded. Both sides charged each other.
At point, Firma and the cerato collided, bashing their heads together like a pair of mountain goats. The stygi barreled towards Aero like a rocket.
You know what to do, Aero.
The theropod sent faint wisps of acknowledgment and dropped to his belly as the thick-head-lizard neared. The stygi passed overhead harmlessly, and Aero struck. A startled yip, followed by a howl of alarm sounded as the stygi was flung high into the air and temporarily out of the fight.
Torrent, evade—don't retaliate!
Easily avoiding the razorblade ball, Torrent froze mid-lunge upon hearing Creed's command. It tossed back a demanding glance.
The spikes on its shoulders. Understanding dawned and Torrent nodded.
"Firma: fall back!" Then use your tail. Firma pulled back, the cerato overbalanced—
"Fiendish Missile!"
"Above!"
A sudden rumble of a rolling boulder rocked alarmed streaks of red.
Firma twisted, cerato fell, and a flaming missile slammed into the sand between the two of them. A cloud of dust shot up.
"Spike Tail!"
A pained hiss as sharp quills sunk into thick hide. Firma stumbled and crashed into the sand as the kentro withdrew its tail.
Dust cleared, a slightly disoriented stygi crawled out of its crater. Sharp fangs flashed. A loud cry as Torrent reared back and slammed the thick-skulled-lizard back into the ground. Its Dino Medal slid back into the crater.
A hint of movement and then Torrent crashed heavily into the crater as well. The cerato snorted and straightened up—
—only to be slammed by Aero's shoulder.
"Rotate!"
Muscled frames twisted and Firma and Aero passed each other. Firma clamped down on cerato while Aero bit down on one of the kentro's shoulder spikes. In unison, they pivoted and spun. At the peak of their twist, they released their grips.
Creed winced sympathetically at the mid-air collision that followed.
Both Dino Medals dropped to the arena floor.
McJunker stared in astonishment before laughing out loud. "Congratulations, missy."
They retrieved their vivosaurs and returned to the lobby.
"I'm impressed." McJunker continued. "Beating me is no easy feat, frankly. Well done!" A grin. "My apprentice Holt has been improving steadily, but you're in a league all by yourself."
Creed fought down rising warmth. "I don't know. He gave me quite a hard time when we had our match." She said honestly.
McJunker laughed. "Oh, you fought Holt, did you? All the same, keep digging and reviving, and soon you'll be in a major league of your own!" he held out a new Fossil License. "All right, you are officially certified as a Level 4 Fighter, Creed." He laughed again. "Like I said back in Rivet Ravine, you're twice the Fighter in half the size of most of the adults on this island." He turned and began walking away. "If you ever feel like visiting, you can find me over in the Junk Depot!"
"Congratulations, Creed!" Rosie greeted as she trotted up. "I won my 3rd Level battle and decided to try for my 4th." she shifted from foot to foot somewhat nervously. "…I'm nervous."
"You should relax." Creed offered, awkwardly patting Rosie on the shoulder. "If you keep focusing on your doubts, you'll handicap yourself and guarantee a loss. Just put one foot in front of the other, curse if you have to, and just press forward."
Rosie straightened up slightly at the encouragement. "Alright. But seriously, Creed…great job. Seems like you're always one step ahead of me!" A challenging gleam accompanied by a laugh. "Better watch out, though. I'm hot on your heels!"
Creed smiled, "I'll hold you to that."
Rosie returned the smile, then pink eyes suddenly zeroed in on something on Creed's side.
"Hey, what's that?" Before the elder Fighter could stop her, the pinkette yanked the idol out of Creed's backpack. "You got another one of those weird idols?" She set the eighteen inch figurine on the front desk to study it.
"It was in the cave where I ran into the BB Bandits. I think they were looking for it."
"What in the world are these things?" Rosie examined it intently. "And why are they so tacky."
The corner of Creed's mouth twitched as she picked up the idol and slid it back into her backpack. "Maybe we'll find out sometime."
Rosie hummed. "Well, I gotta get going for my Level-Up Battle." Walking around Creed, she gave one last wave before walking towards the door to the arena. "Wish me luck!"
/\/\/\
A/N: And now you see the downside to having such a strong bond with vivosaurs. While the Fighter has better control over their vivosaur, the vivosaur, in turn, can control their Fighter to an extent. It takes a strong will to resist the influence, Creed was overwhelmed because she had never experienced something like that before and didn't recognize it.
You've already seen how Ferno influenced Creed, that's the instinctive Fire-Type vivosaur strategy. They amplify your emotions and strengthen your impulses, basically something like a blind rage. That's why Creed felt 'burned out' afterwards. You know how after a bad temper tantrum a baby usually falls asleep, or after you lose your temper, or hold onto it, you feel worn out? That's what happened.
The other types influence other aspects of someone's character, but you'll have to wait and see what those are.