A/N: Spent almost all of break writing, rewriting, and then rewriting even more. I might not update again for another few weeks since I want to finish the rest of the story before posting (seven or so chapters left to write). But know that it is far from done. (also Jeredy's such a bamf in this chapter)

Thanks to Myra the Sark, KaimelarTheDreamer, ilicsm, ChasexJinjaForever, and the guest review.

Enjoy!

He didn't dare move. The beast, which looked like a jackal, was right outside the train continued to breath heavily, eyeing him through the tinted windows. Jeredy could see its glassy stare through the reflection on his screen. Slowly, it started to move away.

Jon Ace let out a weird noise. The monsuno's fur still obscured the window, but didn't pay any attention to the two of them. So they both sat still, waiting for some sign of it leaving. Unfortunately for them, there was none. Almost as if it was looking for something.

Jeredy edged his fingers down to the keys, carefully typing in the emergency backup generator to the train. There was a hum of energy, and then everything flickered alive.

The beast was back, eyeing him with a malicious glare. As if to threaten him for moving. Not hesitating, Jeredy slammed down on the throttle, and the train lurched forward. It took off, leaving the mosuno behind. He sat back down and furiously started to type up the controls to the train. The train picked up speed, and after a few minutes of silence, Jeredy let out a sigh of relief.

The train lurched again, and Jeredy brought up a few of the security cameras. It was back, and was now on top of the last cart. It started to make its way up to the control car again. Jeredy didn't have time to react before it was now denting the ceiling with its feet, almost making it collapse on top of him. Instead of stopping, it continued to the front of the train.

'What is it doing?' Jeredy thought. There wasn't anything in the other cars except files and samples-

He gasped in realization, and bolted over to the armory case towards the back of the cart. Quickly, he grabbed one of the taser guns, charging it up as he headed for the door. The sun was blazing above him. He stood in between two of the cars as the train rushed on. Gripping the rails, he looked over the side. He could make out the fur of the monsuno: a dusty gray color with blotches of black, but that was all. Carefully, he took aim.

The train staggered, and he shot the window instead, glass showering at him. He let out a gasp when some of it hit his face.

Immediately the monsuno turned around, staring at him with a hateful look. It shrieked, and clawed down at the car, tearing through the metal and reaching inside. He brought up the taser again, aiming again.

He made five shots before the monsuno looked up again. There was something in its jowls, so it only growled at him. He shot five more shots before the monsuno let go of the train. It flew by him, clawing out at him. He yelled out when he felt it nick his shoulder.

"Dammit!" He gripped his shoulder, feeling it go numb. There was a warm feeling around his hand, which he guessed was blood.

The monsuno rolled a few times on the ground, giving out a howl as it got farther and farther away. He waited until it was out of sight before he went back inside. Jon seemed to notice his wound, and made a low sound.

"Don't worry... It's not as bad as it looks," He said, tossing the tazer gun back into the chest. He winced, and quickly sat back down. He took his jacket off, and saw Jon's eyes widen a bit.

"I'm guessing it got me good," he said, wincing as he touched it lightly. When he looked, he could see his shirt staining red. Carefully, he took it off. He reached into one of the lower cabinets and brought out a first aid kit (something he installed in all the cars).

He looked into one of the blank screens and saw that there were three claw cuts that ran from his arm pit to the top of his back. The cuts got a lot darker and deeper on his shoulder, and blood was now streaming down his chest. Carefully, he took a large amount of gauze and put pressure on the wounds. He grit his teeth, but held them firm.

"Something tells me that was one of the new monsuno that have been running around," He said, moving his arm a bit, trying to keep it from getting too numb. In his message, Chase had mentioned something about 'rogue monsuno,' which he found a little strange. There have never been cases about natural formed monsuno. Hell, he was the one of the first to make it possible when working for Core Tech.

"... I wonder if it had anything to do with that wave of monsuno essence," he thought. He walked into the other car, grabbing a rag and running under water before returning to the car with Jon in it. He replaced the soaked gauze and wiped some of the blood away before putting more gauze on the wounds. He started wrapping the bandages around, and it was awkward at best, using only one arm. When he finally managed to get it on, he sat back with a sigh.

"What I'm wondering is how it got all the way north when it was in the desert," he said, "And why did it show up here-"

He stopped, and got to his feet. He stumbled a bit as he went back to the car that the monsuno was digging in. When he stepped inside, there was a large hold in the middle, with many of the boxes of monsuno energy samples scattered everywhere. Luckily, all the bottles had held up, but he was still cautious not to touch any of them.

He went toward the wreckage, and looked into one of the cases that was opened. He let out a defeated sigh. The monsuno was looking for something, and it had found it.

"It took the Crystal of Tav Kagah," he muttered, and went back to the other car. When he had tried to use it on Jon, he had to admit it did have special properties. There was something about how pure the energy was, much more purer then anything he had seen so far. But now it's in the hands of someone else.

"Whoever's controlling those monsuno must have an idea of how powerful the crystal can be," Jeredy concluded. He sat back down, bringing up his files on the crystal. He wasn't able to do as much research on it like he should've, but that was also because he was focusing on helping Jon at them moment.

He was stirred from his thoughts when the screen started to blare again. It was another incoming message. When he opened it, he gasped.

"It's-"

HLP

"Madea," Dax finished, brushing some of the dust and rubble from the bar off his coat, "It looks like S.T.O.R.M. aren't the only ones looking for Little Suno."

The woman and her gang stood among the burning wreckage of the bar, smoke rising into the already clouded area. She had a smirk as she stood twirling the red core between her fingers, stepping out of the remains of the bar. It wouldn't take long for local authorities and S.T.O.R.M. to come.

"Well well. As much as I love reunions, me and my boys are on a bit of a schedule," she said, and took a hold of the core, "Now, where is Chase Suno? I have some business with him."

"Like we would tell you," Bren scoffed. Madea shook her head lightly and tutted.

"While I would love to have a battle with you little children, as well as Chase himself, I'm here on business. And if you don't tell me in the next minute, I'll be sending the rest of this little dingy town up in flames!" she cackled.

"You wouldn't!" Beyal said, surprised at the extreme actions of the woman. She simply tossed one of her stands of hair over her shoulder. The three of them were silent at her action, although they wouldn't put it past her to be ruthless. The second Dax saw her, he was prepared for her worst.

...

He walked into the bar. A little small and slightly rundown place that hardly had any lighting. There was a few people inside, along with the rather burly barkeep. He eyed Dax a little suspiciously, but was signaled for a refill before he could say anything. Using that little distraction, Dax snuck off towards the back where he wouldn't be bothered.

In these types of places, it was best to stay out of the limelight. Yet, he still needed to find information, so he stationed himself at a table that was in a corner, but had a view of most of the bar.

'I guess here's a good a place as any,' he thought, and brought out the envelope with the familiar red seal. Taking one last look around to see if any of the few people were looking (and if S.T.O.R.M. troops came in), he reopened the envelope and took out the notes. They were simple enough, with reports and a map of where his mother had been almost five years ago. Still too outdated for him to use, but it was a start.

There was a note tucked under the flap that he had read earlier, but picked it up again regardless.

"There is a lot more information on your family then you think. If you would like for more recent data, follow the instructions below."

A note from Klipse no doubt. Demanding something in exchange. It was a typical dealer move, give your client a taste so that they have to come back for more.

"You will meet Hargrave in the coastal town towards the East. It is there that you have to exchange the monsuno readings and data about the past few months of Jeredy's research. Along with it should be included anything else that you find intriguing."

Dax took a breath. This was a test. Chances were, Klipse could hack into Core Tech's previous entries, and maybe even Dr. Suno's personal computers, so it wasn't the research he was probably after. Especially since he included that last part about including what he thought would be important. If Dax could hazard a guess, Klipse would probably be interested in the rogue monsuno, and had probably heard by this point. Word caught on fast in the monsuno world after all.

"Who do we have here?"

Dax looked up, and then quickly stood when he saw a familiar woman with black hair standing next to his table.

"What're you doing here Madea?" he snapped, immediately reaching for a core. She sat down and relaxed a bit in her seat, taking no heed to his obvious panic.

"I'm just here for some information from a certain old man. I'm sure you know by now," she said, and waved her hand in the air (probably to the barkeep).

"... What do you mean? Are you saying you're Klipse's lackey for the day?" Dax asked, raising a brow. Madea clicked her tongue in annoyance. One of her own lackeys came over with what looked like an iced tea with a lemon wedge on the glass. She shooed him away.

"I'm just here to collect information about a certain monsuno that you have heard of, or apparently faced a few hours ago according to the old man," she said, looking at her drink, swishing it in her hand, "from the sound of it, it is quite powerful."

"So that's what it's about," Dax sighed, "Klipse wants more monsuno, right?"

Madea just continued to stir her drink, smirking a little as she did so.

"Alright fine," Dax said, and sat back down, "rogue monsuno are on the loose. They're white- maybe even silver- with no other colors or distinguishing marks, and are extremely violent. So far we saw three, all of which were quick to disappear. There's no set pattern that shows where they attack, so it's hard to say if they can even be tracked."

He stood up and leaned over to the woman, who was sipping lightly at her drink.

"Now where's my information?"

She glanced at him, and put the glass down. She reached into her pocket and withdrew another small envelope. He tried to snatch it, but she was quicker.

"Ah ah ah," she tutted, "you're forgetting one other part. I was informed that you would be handing over a certain item. One that would contain data from Jeredy's research."

"Did he... say anything specific?" Dax asked.

"... I actually have no clue what the old man was talking about," Madea shrugged, and downed the last of her tea, "although he assured me that you would know exactly what he was talking about.

Dax gave a confused look. So it wasn't the actual data that Klipse wanted, it was something specific with data on it... Something with Dr. Suno's data and research on it...

"... He wants the... Core Tablet?" he asked, unsure. Madea perked up.

"Is that what he wants? The little device that Chase has?" she asked with a peeked curiosity. It was actually Bren who carried it around, but he wasn't about to correct her. If it meant that she would go running around trying to find Chase, then that was fine (especially since he was probably still in the desert looking for that cave he was going on about). Just as long as she was out of their way.

"Well. If that's the case," she said as her lips curled, "you wouldn't mind handing it over then, ne?"

Dax bit his lip. There was no way he could hand over the tablet (especially since Bren would throw a hissy fit)... But that didn't mean he could hand something else over.

"... How about this?"

Dax pulled a jump drive from his pocket and placed it one the table. Madea perked up, taking the device in her fingers.

"Oh. What's this?" she said, curiously turning it in her fingers.

"Just some information given to us about a monsuno," Dax said. He had picked it off Bren earlier that day when he was frustrated. It always helped to have a few extra cards to play, and this was Dax's.

"... Interesting," she said, then look back up at him, "Is that what Klipse wanted?."

Dax nodded. He couldn't be sure if it was what Klipse was looking for, but it would do for the moment.

"... Hey! You over there!"

The two of them looked up to see a few S.T.O.R.M. soldiers approaching them. Immediately Dax got to his feet. The soldier stood a few feet away, Madea eyeing them carefully.

"Put your cores on the table, and your hands in the air," the soldier warned. Madea stood slowly, bringing her core out. She cast a mischievous glance at Dax.

"Poisonwing! Launch!"

...

He wasn't surprised that the woman would resort to fighting first, she was a bit crazy like that. He was surprised that Klipse would be interested in the Core Tablet. Again, he had probably had access to the dubious amounts of information that Core Tech had, so there was no way he would want the Core Tablet. Unless...

"Now tell me: where is Chase at? I wouldn't want my dear Poisonwing to make cinders out of this little town," she purred, clearly loving how drawn out this was.

The three of them exchanged looks. They had just gotten into the town, and still had no idea of where Chase or Jinja were. It had been well over a few minutes as well, meaning S.T.O.R.M. would show up in at least five minutes.

"Freeze!"

Speak of the devil.

"Hands where we could see them!" one of the soldiers shouted, at least twenty surrounding them all, including Darkspin. Bren and Beyal kept looking back and forth between the two groups, unsure of who they should be facing. Dax, on the other hand, was busy staring down Madea.

'I need to get that envelope,' he thought, knowing that that was probably the key to finding his mother, maybe even both his parents.

Madea snapped her fingers, and all the members of Darkspin threw something into the air. Instantly, a plume of smoke tossed in the air, covering the area. Dax payed no attention to the shouts by the shoulders, the roars of the monsuno, or even what Bren and Beyal were doing. He was aiming for Madea. And it only took him a few steps before he was face to face with the woman, alone.

A/N: Review Review Review!