Hiya all you lovely people, what's up? :D *all kinds of deadly weapons pointing towards me* Okay, so nobody miss me but hey, now that I'm back you guys wouldn't have to worry about not getting an update isn't it nice? *crickets sound in the background* Fine, I'm TERRIBLY sorry for updating absolutely nothing for the past..3 years (since the last update is 20/12/2009)! So again, very sorry for letting you guys wait for an update for so horribly long ~ It's true that I don't have confidence to write anymore but I finally decided to make a comeback and finish this story (and truly complete at least one story) but I have to warn you that you will get a slow update from me because I'm a final year student in my art college right now so I'll get very busy next week onward. Anyways, enough chit-chat from me and on to the story! Please excuse my poor writing skills, have stopped writing for 3 long years after all.
Beta: Natoya
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Keys:
"Talks"
'Thoughts'
Chapter 12: Monstrosity
'So these are the dangerous animals father is talking about.' Yami thought quietly while having a few flashbacks where he had seen some in the news back when he was living in the city.
You see, there were many scientists who were having experiments in creating new types of species by combining two or more species into one. What's the use of them you ask? Besides gaining popularity so they could earn more money by selling them as pets, they could also be used to do lots of different things like helping you do chores perhaps due to the fact that by combining them, they will have more abilities and thus, much smarter than their previous generations. Even some were created for combat and killing purposes.
But of course there were many failed experiments on the way so the scientists either killed them or abandoned them in a deserted place and where do you think is the closest and best suited for their environment?
'The Abandoned Forest', pondered the ruby-eyed adolescent as his eyes narrowed cautiously at the deadly creature in front of him, one arm shielding his 'twin' who stood behind him in silence.
It was no surprise that the 9 feet tall beast that blocked their path was none other than the animal with the best sense of smell in the world, a brown grizzly bear, but it was no ordinary bear. Two long, curved tusks belonging to a certain Mammoth was attached on each side of its mouth with long but supportable leopard legs that stood on the ground firmly, sharp nails glinting in the sunlight. Last but not least, its thick brown fur was replaced by spiky but fatal needle-like quills.
When the huge being let out a frightening growl, Yami knew that it was time to move or else they'll be smacked down by the enemy's sharp claws, so without further ado, he grabbed Yugi's hand and ran as fast as he could towards the north.
Yugi searched through his pockets and swiftly took out his laser pen. However, it failed to not only harmed the creature but also worsen its mood as it quickened it's speed and soon, it was 4 arms distance away from the 'twins'.
"Yami, what should we do? It'll catch up to us soon if we don't think of something!" Said the younger of the two with anxiety detected in his voice while trying his best to keep up the pace.
'There is only one thing I can do.' Yami thought with resolution in his mind as he pushed Yugi a few steps forward before he swung round to face his opponent.
"What are you doing-"
"Go up ahead and tell the others about the situation. I'll fight this beast to slow him down."
"Are you crazy? You can't fight this animal by yourself and I wouldn't leave you alone here!" The amethyst-eyed teen cried but when he took a step forward, his companion shot him a warning glare with apprehension shown in his ruby orbs.
"Just go! I'll be fine; I have experiences in fighting off beasts like this." Yami clarified which was not a lie as he and the others had been trained to fight ever since they have gotten their Elemental powers.
"Well, I can fight too-"
"No! I-" Before Yami could speak anything more, he saw thousands of jagged spines shooting towards the two and without thinking, Yami threw both Yugi and himself to the left where there was a large tree trunk standing innocently for shelter.
'I can fight that thing easily with my powers but I can't let Yugi know about it.' The taller of the two pondered uneasily and before he could think further, a cry of concern reached his ears.
"Yami! The spikes.."
The said teen examined his body and found out that about 6 spikes stabbed on his left shoulder, 8 on his back, and around 10 on both his arms and legs respectively. Yugi on the other hand only had a few on his arms as Yami had shielded him just in time from behind.
"No worries, it's not poisonous so I'll live." Yami replied calmly as he took out the spikes on Yugi's arms while Yugi took out his.
"Yami, I-"
"Listen." The Fire Elemental spoke in a commanding but composed tone. "The others are searching for us right now and I'm sure that they have found out that we are not around that part of the forest but somewhere deeper so I need you to go ahead of me and tell them what's going on before they-"
Once again his words were cut off when a loud thumping sound was heard and before long, the tree they took shelter on were falling down the ground beside them. Instinctively, they both turned around to face another large, odd animal with forest-green orbs staring at them in anger.
With sweats dripping down their foreheads, they did the only course of action registering in their brains – Run.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest...
"Hey, can't you slow down for a bit? You're going to trip if you keep running like that." Exclaimed a teen with snow-white long hair as his classmate, Malik was running down the path with his counterpart, Marik following close to make sure he didn't trip.
"Come on, Ryou you slowpoke! We're going to rescue our friends down there and who knows what trouble they are facing right now!" Malik shouted as he glanced back before he took off in a greater haste.
"Yeah, I bet they're starving right now, good thing I brought some bread for them so they can eat when we reached them." Joey said with a dazzling smile painted on his face like he thought he was a genius for having such an idea.
'All you can think about is food.' The tallest of the group, Kaiba mused while rolling his eyes but didn't object.
They have pattered (or ran on Malik's part) for nearly an hour but there was no sign of their tri-coloured haired friends so they continued walking until...
"Hey, did you hear that?" Malik asked but his mauve irises kept staring ahead.
"Yeah, what's that sound?" The Earth Elemental spoke while narrowing his eyes to see something moving, no...running towards them but at a far way distance.
Once they got closer to the subjects, their eyes widened like huge round plates before they spun round with their legs moving like spinning wheels.
"Where did both Malik and Marik go?" Ryou enquired curiously since they had gone further and have lost sight of the golden haired 'twins'.
"They wouldn't get lost since this is the only path that is connecting to the other side of the forest so there are no crossroads or whatever. And yes, I have been through this path before you came." Bakura added when Ryou was about to ask another question before his younger counterpart cogitated with his right hand on his chin.
"Did you find anything down there? And how come you didn't say anything about this path when we are looking for them?"
'Why am I stuck with a brat who keeps asking so many questions?' The Air Elemental thought with a frustrated but anxious expression written on his face but Ryou mistook it as annoyance.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you. I'm just being curious and I heard from Yugi that you guys have been staying in the forest a week longer than we do." The Newcastle student explained softly whilst scratching the back of his head in a shy way.
With no idea forming in his head, he glanced at Kaiba who was busy chatting (more like arguing) with Joey who was eating a loaf of bread and after a minute, he sighed inwardly and was about to answer his counterpart's questions when out of a sudden, a faint shout reached his ears like a whisper so he decided to quicken his pace with his friends following behind him intriguingly.
"Bakura? What's happening? Did you hear something?"
"Shh!" The said teen put his right index finger to his lips as he slowly stopped his movements and listened closely to the screams which slowly getting more audible and when everyone heard the noise, it turned out to be the screams from their two other friends, Malik and Marik who by now were getting close to their visions.
"Why are they screaming? Is there something behind them?" Ryou asked peculiarly with Joey munching on his second half-eaten bread behind him. "Dohn nuoh, caunht cee onihin bahienth thmn." (Translated: "Don't know, can't see anything behind them.")
"Can you speak after you swallow?" The Water Elemental spat irately before he turned to his younger cousin and gradually stepped towards him before he whispered in a quieter tone. "Did you find anything?"
Bakura closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he replied just as quiet. "I can smell lavender shampoo, peach flavour with mint body wash and blueberry pie which is no doubt from Marik." Marik had stolen food from Joey when he was not looking from his backpack before he took off with Malik leading the way 20 minutes ago so there was some pie crumps lingering in his mouth.
"Furthermore, way behind their back, there's some stinky smell of animal breath, fresh apples, slimy saliva and...poison?" The last word spoken by Bakura was unheard as Malik and Marik were only a few meters away from them but all they did was shouting hysterically with arms rising up in the air like wavering flags as they hurriedly approached them with panting breaths.
"What are you guys running away from?" Yelled Ryou but he did not get a reply as Malik swiftly grabbed his left arm and ran towards north with the others racing behind him but at a slightly slower pace.
"We found..we found..."
"What?"
"Yugi and Yami."
Everyone except Malik turned towards Marik who had no problem speaking. "They are right behind us."
"Then why are we running away from them?" Asked the honey-brown eyed stripling. "You guys are weird; I'm going to meet them while you guys go ahead." And so, he turned his direction and ran down the path.
"He's an absolute idiot! Of course we are not running away from them!" Malik sputtered wrathfully before turning back as well. "You guys can go forward."
"Malik, what's going on? Why are you running away? Did something chase after Yugi and Yami?" Ryou asked inquisitively while running beside Malik.
"Hey, I told you guys to-"
"I wouldn't leave you behind and I'm worried about Joey and the others." Ryou said with honesty and concern in his voice.
"We're coming along just to make sure you guys are safe and to prevent that bird-brain from causing any more troubles." Came from a deep tranquil voice from the tall brunet, Kaiba with Bakura snickering from behind.
"Fine, but don't blame me if I hadn't warned you about-"
Malik's words were cut off when they heard Joey's high-pitch panic-stricken shriek and soon, not only Joey but also Yugi and Yami were dashing towards them with sweats drenching their faces like heating food in microwaves.
"Yugi, Yami! We're so glad to see you-"
"Sorry but no time to talk, just run and don't look back!"
When Yugi's words reached their ears, they had already found their answers as their shocked yet stiff expressions proved their point. Not one but many kinds of weird and humongous beasts were sprinting towards them with their feet thumping down the ground harshly like drums, leaving some huge holes called footprints on the mud.
With one final scream from Ryou, the whole gang who were finally united scurried away from the hungry ugly monsters which were no doubt, planning their lunch preparation in their heads.
"What are we supposed to do? We can't run away from them forever, they'll catch up to us soon!" Malik howled frenetically before catching Ryou's arm, who almost tripped on the slippery mud.
The tallest of the group glanced at his three cousins and with a nod from each other, Kaiba announced with his authoritative voice.
"Bakura, take Yugi and his friends back to their tents. We'll stay behind to buy you guys some time." With these orders spoken by the brunet, three Elementals stopped their movement and swung back to face their foes while the Air Elemental pushed the Newcastle students forward while shielding them from behind.
"What? You people can't just-"
"Go! We'll be alright!"
"They can handle these things just fine so don't make things harder for them. Go now!" Bakura sputtered with pure irritation and aggravation in his tone so the Newcastle students had no choice but to listen to their counterparts and rushed forward, but not before they saw Kaiba's, Marik's and Yami's reassuring grins.
When the famished animals were getting a few inches closer to them, they started to battle with hand-to-hand combat while avoiding some poisonous saliva spitting from one of the creatures with its long elephant nose.
"Can we use our powers now?" Marik questioned stridently while punching on the rhino's back before jumping out of the way when thousands of rose thorns shooting from the same place.
"Not yet." The ocean-blue eyed adolescent answered while evading another round of spitting saliva but this time, it was sticky instead of poisonous. Yami on the other hand was jumping onto the elephant's back whilst narrowly avoiding poisonous darts shooting from its nostrils. 'What kind of shooting machine is this? Firstly, there's toxic saliva, then sticky gum, and now poisonous darts?'
"Can we use it now?" Marik asked again after a minute of dodging saliva and punching big rhino game.
"No." Was the only word Seto uttered as he swiftly grabbed the twisting snake around his left arm that acted as a 'tongue' in the rhino's mouth, successfully untangled it before the rhino can claim his juicy delicious arm. 'Phew, that was close.'
"Now?!" The Egyptian enquired yet again and just when he was about to kick away one of the spider's sharp blade-like legs, his right foot accidentally stepped on the sticky gum on the ground near an old-looking tree. "Oh, shoot. This is my favourite shoe!"
"No!" The tallest of the group repeated exasperatingly just before he managed to land a kick on the bear's long tusk that pointed dangerously close to his throat a while ago but failed to notice its long tongue that suddenly came out from its mouth and successfully trapped both of his wrists before another monster with long whip-like tail slapped his back callously, releasing a hissing sound from the brunet.
"Seto!" Yami cried with worry glimmered in his ruby irises before he too was trapped by a long rope-like slimy tongue belonging to a large shape-shifting iguana that was camouflaged and changed into a tree a while ago. "What kind of monsters are these?" He grumbled tediously while struggling to free himself from the tongue trap and getting away from the rhino which was charging and aiming for his chest.
While Marik was trying to save his younger cousin after leaving his right shoe on the sticky gum, Seto silently started a countdown in his head starting from...
10...
The golden-haired teenager slammed his body to the right with brute force, causing the rhino to crash onto the ground with a loud thud but not before it released a cloud of toxic gas onto his face from his butt.
9...
"Eww!" Marik cried whilst covering his nose and when he could see things clearer, the spider shot his eight blades that attached to each of its legs towards him, four of them effectively stabbed his clothing onto a huge tree trunk with one stabbing onto his right arm which caused it to bleed immensely. "Gah!"
8...
Although the spider lost its precious blades, it still had its ultimate weapon; the venomous spit that could form into sticky web strings as it slowly and creepily crawled near its prey.
7...
"Even though I like to play Dart Games, this isn't what I have in mind." Marik whimpered with sweats falling down his forehead like pouring waterfall as the image of his ravenous enemy reflected in his mauve orbs.
6...
While the Egyptian aggressively pulling one of the blades away from his injured arm, at the same time Yami was pulling his second dagger from under his long right black boot by lifting his legs closer to his outstretched right hand (his first was thrown and crushed by the rhino's strong teeth when he was fighting with the elephant).
5...
When Yami lucratively grabbed the dagger in his hand, he immediately swung it towards the rhino's right eye which splattered blood out of its socket instantly, making the animal roared in pain.
4...
Unfortunately, this made the leader of the monster group: a giant lion with large eagle wings, pointed cat ears, malicious bat fangs and long lizard tail to growl with fury as it headed straight to Yami's direction with tramp steps, mouth opening wide to reveal its sharp fangs that sparked in the sunlight.
3...
Seto has untangled the bear's tongue by cutting it off with his knife hidden in his right pocket but was swiftly snatched away by a sneaky hyena and with its saliva, the knife was melted with a sizzling sound before swallowing it into its stomach.
2...
Before the brunet had time to think, the hyena pushed him onto the dirty mud with its legs stepping onto his body, preventing him from escaping with drops of saliva dripping down his chest which slowly burnt his clothes and later on, flesh.
1...
"Arrgghh! I can't take this anymore! I'm going to use it no matter what!" Marik shrieked after pulling the blade out of his wounded arm but by now the spider had gotten close to its victim and is releasing its long string of poisonous spit towards his face. At the same moment, the lion pounced on Yami who was still trapped around the giant iguana's tongue in a cocoon form, its fangs two inches close to his restless face.
0...
"NOW!" Was the only word Kaiba voiced aloud as everyone at the same point transformed part of their bodies into their respective elements. As the hyena was shooting lava-like saliva onto Kaiba's face, his ocean-blue eyes glowed before he transformed his body into water, making him able to shape-shift and avoiding the lava spit in time but that's not all, as soon as he returned to his original form, his left hand turned into a solid ice blade and cut the hyena's body into half, resulting said animal to screech in pain before falling onto the ground lifelessly.
On the other side of the battle, Marik dodged the spider's spit by lowering his head whilst pressing his hands onto the tree trunk behind him. Half-minute later, vines started to grow from the tree and soon it acted like the octopus's tentacles and coiled around each of the blades that stuck onto the wood's surface before pulling them out simultaneously, freeing him from his trap. "You're gonna pay for that Spidey!" The Earth Elemental bellowed before wrapping the creature's body with the same vines and since it lost its blades, it had no way of cutting the thick vines and when it was wrapped into a cocoon-like form, the teenager smirked in triumph.
Lastly, Yami the Fire Elemental puffed his cheeks before shooting a fireball the size of a cannon ball into the lion's mouth, fruitfully melting the fangs in the process and moreover, caused the beast to leap away from the tri-coloured haired adolescent with tears falling from its eyes but there was no time to rest as he promptly turned his body temperature hotter and eventually, fire surrounded his whole being which in fact burned the iguana's tongue in the process so it impulsively released its hold on Yami. Just when he spun round to face the lion with its bleeding mouth, he noticed the clouds unexpectedly got darker on his right and when he and his cousins looked up, their faces grew pale.
"What the hell are those?" The stripling with the darkest skin among the group questioned with his mouth gaped slightly wider when the tiny objects got closer to their eyesight.
A huge swarm of scorpions with dragonfly wings stuck on their backs were flying towards their enemies; their small black eyes twinkled in the sunlight like cursed black jewels. Before any of the three could do anything, the insects pointed their tails straightforwardly in the direction of the three teens before firing thousands of noxious needles onto them.
Of course the three of them were preparing to protect themselves by releasing their respective shields, Yami with his warped fire shield surrounding him and his cousins, Kaiba with his water shield that acted like a bouncing jelly and last of all, Marik with his mud shield summoned from the ground below him but will they summoned their shields in time? And if they did, will these shields be enough to protect all three of them? And what about the animals that were charging towards them when they weren't looking?
Just when the needles were about to touch their shields, a huge gust of wind blew the threatening weapons away and before either of the three could even blink, a half-invisible guy were blowing strong swirls of winds onto the mud, creating large piles of dust scattering in every corner and efficiently pushed the approaching animals a few steps away from their foes.
"You guys just can't handle these creatures without me, can't cha?"
When the three cousins took a better look at their surroundings, they saw a smirking Bakura standing proudly in front of them with sunlight shining behind him with all its glory, making him looked like a hero from the movie.
"Pfft, yeah right...like we need you to help us. You're not our babysitter you know." Marik said sarcastically whilst rolling his eyes but they were happy to meet their last Elemental coming to join their team, now "The Elementals" was complete.
"It's all Seto's fault for making me lose half of the fun." The white-haired teen grumbled frustratingly at the brunet who slightly grinned in response.
"You know the reason why I sent you to bring the others to safety." Seto replied as he wrapped the sponge-like water around the spikes before shooting them back using the water shield's bouncing effect, causing the bear to take the damage instead. "You are the only one who is fast enough to bring them back to their tents and then come back using your ridiculously fast wind speed."
"True." Bakura answered back while spinning his fingers round the air to produce a tornado before sending it to the scorpion's direction. "Tornado Blades!" Stated the said teen as the scorpion army got sucked into the tornado and soon, the spinning velocity of the tornado quicken before turning into invisible blades that sliced all of the trapped scorpions into half."But you know that I love to battle."
Seeing Bakura's pout made his three cousins chuckled as they quicken their pace as one by one, the animal fell onto the ground helplessly while some like the iguana and the lion had escaped back to where they originally came from.
"Well, I guess that's that." Seto elucidated with his deep-blue eyes swishing from left to right before dusting his hands by clapping. They looked at the monsters they slaughtered mercilessly with guilt and slight curiosity flashing in their eyes.
The bear was drowned in bulky water ball container formed by the Water Elemental; the spider was stabbed by five prickly fang-shaped tree trunks which was no doubt the Earth Elemental's deed. Marik had been surprised by the sudden attack when the cocoon-like vines broke using its last defence: two thin but very sharp and wide insect wings the shape of a quarter pie. The elephant which acted as a shooting machine was killed by The Fire Elemental as he tied its legs using fire ropes before flipping it upside down. Then he burned its ultimate weapon: its nose using inflammation and sending a fire bomb into its mouth, causing it to explode into pieces of flesh and poison spits but before the explosion happened, Yami made a fire shield around the creature so the fleshes and spits did not fly everywhere. Finally, the rhino was murdered by Bakura's wind dagger dance technique and Yami's lava and fire breathing.
"I think we better fix ourselves before we return to the tents." Kaiba stated before they looked at their injuries and torn clothes.
"Heh, mine is easy as the air is all around me, all I have to do is suck them into my mouth and wah-lah!" To prove his point, the brown-eyed stripling took a deep breath and sucked some of the air into his mouth, the cuts and bruises including a major gash found on his right thigh slowly closed and soon, not even a scratch can be seen on his skin.
"I can use Heliokinesis with the help of the sun to heal my wounds, I even bring along my uncle's specially made glass necklace to produce fire." Yami explained and when he held his necklace in the direction where the sun shone the brightest, a huge glass lens materialized and expanded in front of him and when its surface touched the sun-rays, huge amount of fire created on the pieces of dry wood Yami collected a while ago, giving him something called a "Fire Bath". Two minutes later, he was restored to full health. "I haven't eaten fire ever since our new friends arrived."
"Yeah, I miss using my powers so much already." Marik spoke while pretending to sob desolately as he too healed himself by cutting a hefty tree trunk into half and ate them with a satisfied grin on his features. "This tastes so good!" He exclaimed with a lick around his lips.
"Bakura, bring me to the lake once you're done, I don't think I can find water as much as that lake." The brown-haired adolescent requested but it sounded more like a demand.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." With those last words, the Air Eater took Kaiba to their destination using his teleportation wind speed.
After watching the two cousins flying above the trees, Yami told his golden-haired companion to hurry up before they both dashed forward, towards their new friends.
When Kaiba had finished healing by soaking himself in the lake, he turned to his shorter relative who was standing under a tree behind him with his arms crossed.
"How did you manage to convince Yugi and the others to not come and rescue us?"
All Bakura did was grinning back at him.
Meanwhile in Ryou's tent...
"Bakura, I'm SO going to kill you when you come back!" Yelled Ryou as he wrathfully hammered his door loudly and if you look closer, there was a small crack on the door's surface. This shows how infuriated Ryou was right now.
"Who would have thought that Bakura would successfully lock us in here by activating the tent's full security and traps system?" Joey asked with a nervous laugh.
To Be Continued...
I didn't expect this chapter to be this long...XD But anyways, I hope you guys enjoy reading this long-awaited chapter even though it might be confusing or expectable (because again, I can't make mind-twisting stories) this is the only thing I can think of that makes them scared or something? (I fail at horror, seriously because I hate that genre) At least it forced them to use their elemental powers and it's about time for them to show off what they're made of right? :P Bakura has better sense of smell and sounds because of his element of course, the wind brought those information to him like a whisper of the wind..;) Sorry if the action sucks (to be honest, it's the first time I wrote so many action and fighting scenes in a chapter until I got confused myself, lol!) I don't write enough stories and therefore, lack experience in these kind of stuff even though I read a lot of fan-fictions. Also very sorry for the lack of fluff as well, it's all action-packed here since in the previous chapter, all they did were getting familiarised with their new friends (without using much powers) so after this chapter, it'll go back to more chatting and more show time for the Newcastle students! :D
Once again, REVIEWS are very much welcomed as well as Story Faves and Alerts! *shows puppy eyes* Thanks a lot for the support and encouragement from you all, it really means the WORLD to me! It really do! :3 So keep them coming and it'll definitely keep my writing 'flame' going! :P
By the way, if you haven't noticed, I have changed this story's cover *points at picture* Things have changed so much in 3 years isn't it? So another workload for me (yes, I DREW that cover and here's the picture link if you want to see, it has the word "com" after ".imagetoo."):
www .imagetoo. /up/ tem p/ theelement. jp g
Hope you guys like it, even though I could have done better...*sobs* And expect a slow update from me since college starts next week onward and since I'm a final year student studying the 2nd final semester, I'll have even more workload! T_T
So go click on the button below! *shows halo on top of my head* And don't forget to vote on my poll! Ciao! *waves* Stay tune for Chapter 13: Grandpa! ^^
P.S: Merry (Belated) Christmas and Happy New Year 2013! :D
