Chapter 12
Find the War Tiger! The Bringer of Light, Alonya Czar!
Someone once said:
There is a lake of pure, sweet juice where fruity gummy fishes swim. Juicy Lake!
There are also porcupines with a crispy body and fried quills that taste so crunchy, like a Tempura shrimp, and echidna with a soft body and meaty quills, like an enchilada. Tempurcupine and Enchidnada!
The world is in the great Gourmet Age. An age where people quests for more yet unknown culinary delights!
Last time in our heroes' adventure, Garry wondered what everyone was else doing since their adventure into the Regal Mammoth's body and capture of the Jewel Meat. As he prepared to go to school, he met Cream and learned that his class kitchen was raided by a mysterious creature, and his entire school day was canceled due to the arrival of the mysterious organization, the GIA. Cream and Garry were escorted to the Gourmet Hotel by Johannes from IGO, and there they met the Heavenly Kings, Komatsu, Rin, and Chief Mansam.
"Did you call me handsome?!" Chief Mansam directly asked.
…. As I was saying, Chief Mansam explained to Cream and others that the GIA is investigating and searching for the smuggled creature from the Gourmet World, the War Tiger. He asked Cream, Toriko, Coco, and Sunny to find the War Tiger before the GIA does!
Cream and Garry stayed together as a duo group, walking around the street of the city to find the War Tiger.
"Cream-san," Garry spoke up, catching the young woman's attention but still kept walking straight. "Why do you think Chief Mansam wanted us to capture the War Tiger before GIA?"
"Hmmm...Not sure. What do you think?" She asked.
"Well, the way the Chief Mansam-san said, it sounds like to me that even though the GIA people is part of the IGO, they don't seem to be friendly with IGO," Garry stated.
"Hmm, well I wouldn't say that, but it does sound like the two groups aren't too cooperative with each other," Cream said.
"So how are we going to capture this War Tiger? If anything..." He said as he shivered. "It sounds like we are getting into another danger."
"That's true," Cream agreed, which surprised Garry a bit. He never heard Cream to actually say or admit that what they are doing is dangerous.
"The War Tiger, one of the ferocious creatures in the Gourmet World and a rival king to the Battle Wolf since ancient time, is very hard to find due to their excellent camouflage ability and quiet nature," she explained.
"Then, how are we going to find it?" Garry asked.
"We just have to rely on our senses. War Tiger likes to hunt foods through stealth. If anything, we just have to search every alley street we can find in the street until we find it," Cream said as she grinned. "Sounds exciting!"
'Is it really?' Garry thought to himself as he sweated doubtfully, yet afraid.
Meanwhile, Toriko's group was consist of the blue-haired man himself, Komatsu, and Terry. They were searching in a different area of the city.
"So Toriko-san, how are we going to find this War Tiger?" Komatsu asked.
"Well, I am not quite sure, but I do have an idea," Toriko answered.
"You do?" Komatsu said.
"Yeah! By relying on both my nose and Terry's, we can track down where the War Tiger is by its smell," Toriko explained.
"That might work. Toriko-san's sense of smell and Terry's sense of smell are a lot stronger than a normal human or dog's sense of smell," Komatsu stated. "Though, I am curious as to why we are told to do this. The way Chief Mansam explained, it sounds like he doesn't want the GIA to capture it first."
"Well, it's understandable. I don't know much about the GIA since it is the first time I heard about them today, but I am curious to see the War Tiger for myself, so that's that!" Toriko stated excitedly.
"Well, either way, it is bad that a creature fearsome like a War Tiger is roaming around the city. Someone might get hurt!" Komatsu exclaimed.
At other place or more specifically in the sky, Coco was searching from the cloud while on the back of his pet, Kiss.
"War Tiger is a creature that hunts in the shadow. Looking for it by foot at streets will be too difficult but from up here. I can search for it easily by looking out for a unique electromagnetic wave," Coco thought aloud.
Somewhere else in the city, Rin was with her brother, Sunny and she looked a bit displeased about it.
"Why the hell am I with you, Onii-chan? I want to be with Toriko!" Rin complained.
"War Tiger, a creature that's feared in the Gourmet World, smuggled illegally into the human world and now hunted by some intelligence agency, the GIA in this very city..." Sunny seemed to be ignoring Rin's bickering as he talked to himself. "Someone must capture it before they do, What a drama story! This can only be done by someone quick, strong, and beautiful!"
'How am I even related to this guy?' Rin asked herself, but then a different thought came to her. 'Hold on. If I capture War Tiger and show it to Toriko…. He will be impressed over me and I can make him fall over for me! With Onii-chan's feelers, it will be easy to find the tiger!'
"Come on, Onii-chan! Let's go find the tiger!" Rin exclaimed as she looked very excited.
"Ho? You look a bit over-excited," Sunny noticed. "But yes, let's find the War Tiger and I will make it the most beautiful capture ever!"
At the same time, a familiar newscaster was drinking at a vendor bar, looking a bit upset.
"Aw man! First, I cannot use the footage I got for the Jewel Meat or my time at Gourmet Garden because of Terry. Second, I broke the boss' camera thanks to Sunny's flying. And now, he cut my pay! If I don't find a new scoop, I might be done for!" Tina cried in a drunken state.
"Kuruppo..." Her pet bird looked worried, watching over her before it noticed something. "Kuruppo!"
"What's wrong, hic, Kurupoo?" Tina asked as she turned over her shoulder. Her eyes glanced and saw Toriko walking by.
"Toriko…? Toriko!" Tina jumped off from her chair and went outside, catching Toriko, Komatsu, and Terry heading off the direction.
"I smell a heaping helping of the scoop! Let's go, Kuruppo!" She declared.
"Kuruppo!" Her pet agreed.
"Hold on a second, Missy! You got to pay first!" The bar owner called out to her.
Meanwhile, Cream and Garry searched around any and all alley streets they could find when Cream heard something not far in the distance, thanks to her super-hearing.
"Did you hear that, Garry?" She asked.
"Huh? Heard what?" He replied before he was grabbed by her and dragged him in almost lightning speed.
"This way!" Cream stated as her friend panicked as he hung on tight literally.
She stopped at the crowds of people around what appeared to be a local steak restaurant. Garry was dizzy thanks to her. "Cream-san, why did you have to grab me?" He said, feeling a bit sick.
"Look, Garry," she replied as the young lad looked over. He was surprised to see another crowd of people around, but this time in front of the steak restaurant.
"What happened here?" Cream asked one of the crowds.
"The restaurant was attacked by some kind of creature," the person explained. This made Cream and Garry surprised and had a hunch that the creature must be the War Tiger. Cream also noticed the GIA truck parked in front of the restaurant, meaning that they already started investigating this restaurant. That was when she caught a scent.
"Hmm?" She began sniffing around.
"Cream-san, what's wrong? Did your nose smell something?" Garry asked.
"Yeah, it's faint, but I can smell this restaurant's popular T-Bone steak. This way!" Cream stated as she grabbed him again and ran off.
"Aaaaahh, please Cream-san! I can run for myself!" Garry yelled.
Cream ran all the way to the old dumpster area. This was the place where all the trashes in the city go to as it was nearby the garbage processing center.
"Uuuuh…I think I'm gonna be sick…." Garry's face was green like a mash.
"Smell leads here, and the scent is much stronger. The War Tiger is near," Cream said.
"What?! It is?!" Garry said loudly before he was covered by Cream.
"Shhh! The war tiger is sensitive with its ear and it is good camouflage, so we have to look for it carefully and quietly," Cream whispered as they began the search around the trashes.
There were many large and tall piles of garbage, all collected from around the city and town. There were some lights, but not so much like in the city and some of them were either broken or old and flickering. Cream and Garry walked quietly as they eye-to-eye little by little as they walked through the mountains of trashes. That was when Cream stopped.
"I sense something around this pile of trash," she whispered.
"Oh god! Is it?" Garry asked quietly, yet afraid.
She and Garry stopped and stood at the side around the corner. They could see a shadow flickering in the light, which looked like a shadow of the beast. They suspected that it was the shadow of the war tiger, so on the count of three, they decided to jump on it.
"Is this really a good idea?" Garry asked.
"Don't worry. On the count of three, we jump on it quickly before it gets away," Cream said as she began counting, making Garry nervous as she counts to three. "One….Two…..Three!"
"Aaaaahh!" Garry yelled out as he and Cream jumped on the creature.
"I caught its tail, Cream-san!" Garry called.
"I got the rest of the body and…. huh, Terry?" Cream said as she was strangling Terry who was trying to breathe.
"Cream-san and Garry-kun?!" They turned around to see Komatsu and Toriko, who were both surprised to see them as they were to them.
"Oh, it's you guys," Cream said as she let go of Terry. "Sorry about that, Terry."
"Chef Komatsu!" Garry exclaimed as he let go of Terry's tail. "And sorry that we jumped on you, Terry. We thought you were the War Tiger."
"You surprised us!" Toriko stated. "Though I am surprised that Terry allowed you two to jump on him, I'm guessing that it wasn't that he let his guard down, but he knew that you two would jump on him, so he didn't need to feel alarmed."
"As I said, my bad to scare you, Terry," Cream apologized as she padded the wolf pup as it barked in response.
"So, why are you and Toriko-san here, Chef Komatsu?" Garry asked.
"Well, Terry and Toriko-san's nose led us here," Komatsu answered.
"I take it that you both are here due to the smell, right?" Toriko asked.
"Yes and I feel like we are not the only ones here. The war tiger is near," Cream said as Terry began growling.
"What's wrong, Terry?" Toriko asked until he sensed something. "Everyone, back off!"
Toriko grabbed Komatsu while Cream did with Garry when a shadowy creature jumped over them and then turned around to face them.
"What was that?!" Komatsu asked surprisingly.
"Is that it?" Garry asked.
"Yup. The one and only War Tiger!" Cream exclaimed as the light flickered over the said creature.
The creature was a large (about the same as Terry) black-furred with orange stripes. Its tail was long with a tuft of orange hair at the end, like a lion's tail, and two saber-tooth fangs. It had a piece of T-Bone steak in its mouth before it chewed and swallowed the meat and then roared at Cream and others.
"It's the War Tiger!" Komatsu and Garry yelled at the same time as they hugged together in panicking mode.
"So we finally meet, War Tiger!" Cream stated.
"Grrrrr…..!" Terry growled as it howled, which was heard by Coco, Kiss, Sunny, and Rin.
"That howl…. Kiss!" Coco said as his pet knew exactly what to do, turning around and headed straight to the dumpster area.
"Onii-chan, that howl just now sounds like Terry!" Rin said.
"Come on! This way!" Sunny stated as they headed to the direction.
Little did Toriko and others know that Tina and Kuruppo were at present nearby, hiding in the pile of trash.
"What's Toriko, Komatsu, and even Cream and Garry are doing here for?" Tina asked herself before she looked at the War Tiger. "What the heaping helping of a gram is that thing?!"
"Kuruppooo!" Kuruppo gasped, too.
Suddenly, Terry jumped in first, surprising Toriko and Cream as the War Tiger did the same thing at Terry.
"Terry, wait! What are you doing?!" Toriko yelled, but it was a bit too late as Terry and the War Tiger began fighting.
First, the two rival beasts headbutted each other but reacted quickly enough to recover from it. Terry bites down on the War Tiger's left arm. The War Tiger cried out before it slashed Terry with its claw. The claw hit Terry, but Terry stood back up quickly and strike back with his lightning speed movement. Terry trapped the War Tiger inside its circle by moving so fast.
"What is Terry doing?" Komatsu asked.
"He's trying to trap the war tiger by encircling around it!" Cream answered.
The War Tiger stood still as if it was trying to focus. When there was an opening, Terry pounced at the tiger from behind it, but the Tiger dodged the attack and then counter-attacked Terry quickly with its clawed paw.
'What the?! It dodged Terry's attack!' Toriko thought to himself as he watched it. 'No. It's not just that it dodged Terry's attack. Rather, it predicted when Terry would attack from. That's why it waited and be still!'
Terry growled and roared at the War Tiger, still itching for the fight as War Tiger growled back.
'Incredible! I don't know what's exactly going on, but this is just HUGE helping gram, no, a kilogram of scoop!' Tina thought herself as she watched from safe, yet near distance with her spare camera.
"Terry is fast, but the War Tiger is just fast!" Komatsu commented.
"How can it be possible?!" Garry questioned aloud.
"Just like the old legend says," Cream said suddenly. "War Tiger is an ancient apex predator and king with power, speed, and intelligence to rival even the Battle Wolf. If anything, I think Terry can win a battle, but I don't think even he can win the war against a War Tiger!"
Just as Terry and War Tiger pounced at each other, something stopped them when everyone realized it was a poison.
"Poison Dressing!" Everyone looked up to see Coco jumping off from Kiss as he landed gracefully in front of the group.
"Coco-san!" Komatsu called out as he looked happy to see the poisonous Gourmet Hunter.
"It looks like you guys found the War Tiger before me, just as I predicted in my fortunate," Coco said over his shoulder.
"Huh?! You predicted this would happen, Coco-san?" Garry suddenly asked.
"Damn it, Coco!" The said poisonous Gourmet Hunter turned his head to see Sunny and Rin just arrived at the scene, more or less a second or two after Coco arrived. "You stole my thunder again, you bastard!"
"Sunny! Rin!" Toriko called out.
"Toriko, I am here to help you!" Rin stated as she looked over to the War Tiger as it roared at her. "Eeek! So that's the War Tiger!" She pointed her gun at it.
"Ah! Wait! Rin-chan!" Coco warned her, but it was too late.
"Endorphin Smoke!" Rin shot out the smoke of endorphin at the War Tiger, but it jumped back away from the smokescreen and used the opportunity to escape.
"Damn it! It escaped!" Coco yelled.
"Oopsie…" Rin said, feeling bad and embarrassed.
"Quick! It went to the city! We got to chase after it!" Cream stated.
"That's far enough for all of you." Cream and the Heavenly Kings sensed a strong presence very nearby. They all stood in a fighting stance as the smokescreen cleared away, revealing a single person walking over to them.
"Who is that?" Tina asked herself.
The woman was wearing a sunglass as she stood in front of them from a safe distance.
"Heavenly Kings Toriko, Coco, Sunny, and rest of you lots," the woman stated in a serious tone.
"Ah, ah, who is this scary lady?" Komatsu asked honestly.
"GIA Agent," Coco answered.
"Eeeeek! GIA!" Garry screeched.
"So you finally show yourself, huh?" Cream said as she smirked. "Why don't you come closer and introduce yourself?"
'Huh? Why is Cream-san talking to the lady like that?' Garry asked himself in his mind.
"Hmph. I never expected to see you once again, but this will be the last time," she said as she snapped her finger.
Once the smoke cleared away, the group noticed that they were surrounded with guns pointing at them.
"Aaah! Where did these people come from?!" Komatsu panicked.
"Chef Komatsu, this is terrifying, too terrifying!" Garry screamed.
"Ho, it looks like we are completely surrounded," Sunny said calmly as Terry growled.
"Indeed you all are, but I would like you all to listen to what I say, and I will say it only once," the woman said. "Stand down and let us capture the escaped War Tiger instead."
"Sorry, but me and my friends here aren't kind of people to stand down and not complete our job," Toriko admitted as he smirked. "So, why don't you all backdown?"
"You dare to fight us, Heavenly King Toriko?" The woman asked.
"Just exactly what is your reason for wanting the War Tiger?" Coco questioned her.
"That's confidential, so I can't answer that kind of question," the woman replied with a smug. "If you don't cooperate with us, then I leave with no choice." The woman snapped her finger, making her agents to un-hide Tina from her hiding.
"Huh? What? Hey!" Everyone turned to Tina who was captured by the GIA.
"Tina-san?!" Komatsu gasped.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Rin yelled.
"Hey, what are you think you're doing with her?!" Toriko yelled angrily.
"Oh, nothing. At least, nothing yet," she said as she waved her right from up to down, creating a sword out from thin air. "Light Beam Sword!"
The two agents carried Tina to the woman's side with both her arms held.
"Let me go!" Tina demanded before she stopped struggling when the beam sword was in front of her.
"Kuruppo!" Kuruppo cried as he was also caught by the GIA agent inside a small cage.
"Tina-san!" Garry shouted.
"Settle down! As I said, I will do nothing her as long you all cooperate with us," the woman stated.
"You…. bitch! Who do you think you are?!" Toriko said angrily.
"I'm Agent Alonya Czar, Chief Executive of the GIA's Asian Branch," Alonya introduced.
"Alonya Czar, you!" Before Toriko stepped forward, Cream stopped him and she stepped forward instead, causing the agents to move their gun, pointing at her specifically.
"Cream-san?" Garry said, looking a bit nervous with his heart beating fast.
"Let go of her Alonya," Cream stated. "We will give up with the capture of the War Tiger."
"Huh?!" Toriko, Sunny, Rin, Komatsu, and Garry gasped.
"What are you talking about, Cream-san?! It's our mission to find and capture the War Tiger!" Garry stated.
"Garry-kun is right, Cream-san!" Komatsu added. "Chief Mansam is counting us to complete the job!"
"They're right! This isn't right!" Sunny yelled.
"I know, but they have one public person in hostage!" Cream replied, making everyone to shut their mouth and just listened. "We cannot let one person's life in jeopardy even if it means to complete our mission from the IGO or anyone! I don't want anyone and any living creature to get hurt, especially someone or something who I know and who is a friend of mine and ours!"
"Cream-san," Garry said softly.
"Cream…!" Tina cried, feeling touched.
"Kuruppo!" Kuruppo cried with the same facial expression as his owner.
"Hmph. You're just as naïve and soft like I remember, Cream. It is your weakness, after all," Alonya said as she giggled under her breath. She took off her sunglasses, revealing her crimson red eyes.
'The way she talks to Cream-san like that… It is as if they know each before,' Garry thought to himself.
"Just let go of our friend and her pet," Cream said seriously.
"Fine," Alonya agreed as she gave her agent a hand sign. The agent stepped forward and let go of Tina and Kuruppo.
"Geez. My ankle feels hurt because of you," Tina complained.
"Tina-san, are you alright?" Komatsu asked as she walked over to her.
"Thank you, Komatsu. I am fine," Tina smiled back at him for reassurance.
"Are you OK, too, Kuruppo?" Garry asked.
"Kuruppo!" Kuruppo flapped his wings joyfully.
"Now, as part of the trade deal, you will all stand down now," Alonya reminded them.
Everyone sit down on their knee on the ground. Right before the agents proceeded to arrest everyone at the spot, Coco opened his eyes, giving a sign.
"Hmmm…Hold on!" Alonya yelled.
"Now!" Coco yelled out.
Suddenly, something flashed lights at the GIA agents, surprising them.
"Rin, now!" Coco yelled out.
"Huh? Um, OK!" Rin knew exactly what he wanted her to do. "Endorphin Smoke!"
Rin shot out a smokescreen, distracting the GIA agents.
"A distraction?!" Alonya said surprisingly. "They fooled us!"
"Five Ren Nail Punch!" Toriko yelled out as he punched one agent distracted in the smokescreen, hitting three more agents in the process.
"Poison Sword!" Coco slashed some agents as he moved past them quickly, causing the agents to cry in pain. "Do not worry. I don't see a shadow of death on each of you, so you all won't die today."
"Hair Net!" Sunny used his move to capture some of the agents, but more of them came from behind him, but for them… "Spatula!" Sunny called as he performed his attack even without looking back. "Oh, look at that. You all think that you can attack me from behind me. That is so un-beautiful thing to do."
"Damn you, Heavenly Kings! You won't get away with this!" Alonya growled. "Wait…. Where is Cream?!" She asked before she realized it. "No! This was just part of the distraction!"
"That's right!" She turned to Coco, who was fighting while talking. "I predicted all this to happen in my fortunate-telling today. That's why I asked for a little help to prepare ahead of time."
Alonya looked over to see where Coco was looking at. She noticed the familiar camera woman standing at the top of the mountain trash as she smiled confidently.
"Never underestimate the power of my camera!" Haruka stated confidently.
"Haruka-san!" Komatsu said as he, Tina, and Kuruppo looked happy to see her.
"What? Who is she?!" Alonya asked.
"Damn you, Coco of the Four Heavenly Kings! I was aware of your fortunate-telling skill, but I never knew something like this…. But it doesn't matter!" Alonya stated. "I prepared three teams for this mission to capture the War Tiger. I am only leading this team while the other two looks for the War Tiger in this city!"
"I predicted that already and if I were you, you should cooperate with us instead of we cooperate with you," Coco stated.
"Huh?!" Everyone looked at Coco with almost the same facial expression.
"Coco, what do you mean?" Toriko asked.
"I predicted all of the events that would transpire today. First, I asked Haruka-san to help with distracting Alonya Czar's team here, so that Cream, Garry-kun, and Terry go and find the War Tiger," Coco explained.
"Wait, now that I think about, Terry is not here!" Komatsu realized it.
"You're right!" Toriko exclaimed.
"I already know who's going to capture the War Tiger and it is not anyone from the GIA," Coco said.
"What?! Impossible! There is no way that none of my agents will fail the mission! We cannot miss this time!" Alonya stated.
"Third and most importantly," Coco continued. "Your second and third teams are by now already defeated."
"What?!" Alonya gasped.
"What do you mean by defeated, Coco-san?" Komatsu asked as everyone else had the same thought.
"Why don't the Chief Executive call her agents to confirm my fortunate is real?" Coco suggested.
Alonya Czar stared at the man for a few seconds before she called through her commlink.
"Team B and C, this is Chief Alonya Czar, do you hear me?" She called her teams, but there was no response from either of them. "Team B and C, repeat, do you hear me? Anyone?!"
"….No, impossible. I don't have a response from either team," Alonya said.
"Just as afraid, but my prediction was spot on," Coco said.
"Then, explain to me, Bishokuya Coco!" Alonya shouted at the man. "Who defeated my teams?"
"A completely new enemy that neither of us faces before, but I cannot say because I could not look that far into the future even with my fortunate-telling skill," Coco admitted, which made everyone looked concern and curious.
Cream, Garry, and Terry, it is up to you three now!' Toriko thought to himself as he looked up to the full moon.
Meanwhile, somewhere at the city street, all GIA agents from Alonya's secondary teams were on the ground, all defeated with injury and some in a worse state. A lone person walked alone as he smirked to himself.
Hello, everyone! Another new Toriko story update for this month!
We get the official introduction of a new OC, Alonya Czar, created by yours truly. She is Russion Agent who works as one of the tops in the mysterious intelligence agency organization, the GIA, also known as "Gourmet Intelligence Agency." It looks she starts off as a villain or is she really an evil person? I gave a little hint at that end there is someone else who is looking for the War Tiger, other than her and the GIA, Cream's group, and IGO!
What will happen next? Until next time, I will see you all later (because I need to get some sleep since I am writing this midnight by the time I upload this chapter)! Have a nice day or night!
