Journey of the soul chapter 54
It's inconceivable I tell you!
Hunter: what is?
Can you believe this. Downright incredulous
Hunter: okay, it's bad. But what is it?
I still can't believe it to this day.
Hunter: WHAT?!
Honestly, the auda-Oh, when did you get here Hunter?
Hunter:…can we just start the chapter?
Sure, but can you believe thi-
Hunter: START THE CHAPTER!
Footfalls echoed through the empty space as Hunter and Rupert scaled back down the volcano. Their pace was a little quicker than usual due to the next matches of the caliosteo cup starting soon.
"Hey Rupert?"
"What?"
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to win the cup?" Rupert stayed silent for a while after that question.
"Couldn't be for prize money," Hunter said to himself, "he's rich enough already, and I don't see what a regular kid would do with a fossil park if he got one."
"I've got it!" Spinax announced, "he's going to use the park as a stepping stone to get one step closer to world domination through a corrupt corporation!"
"that's stupid."
"You're stupid." At that point, Rupert spoke.
"The fossil park has been a place of interest for my father's company for quite a while. For me to acquire it would mean a profitable expansion for fossildig incorporated." He said with a flat tone to his voice.
"Ha! I was half right! Capitalism lives on!"
"Yeah, that would make sense." Hunter replied. The two were silent for the rest of the way down the mountain.
"Hey!" Todd waved once he saw them. Hunter gave Todd a two finger salute.
"How'd it go up there? Did you find any of the barebones brigade?"
"Yeah, there were a couple grunts." Hunter clasped his hands behind his back, "but nothing we couldn't handle. Right Rupert?"
"Indeed." Rupert seemed put off by Hunter being friendly.
"At any rate Hunter, we need to get you back to the stadium for the next match!" Todd grabbed Hunter by the wrist. PTSD flashbacks ensued.
"WAIT!" Hunter shouted, "I can walk on my own," Todd have Hunter a strange look, but let go nonetheless. The two boys jogged back to the teleporter. After pressing random buttons and giving it a good kick, they were transported back to cranial city.
"Alright, time to get to the station," Hunter straightened his goggles and tightened his gloves.
"Is that some sort of pre-fight ritual or something?" Todd smirked.
"I guess you could say that," Hunter checked his vivowatch and paleopager at the same time. His match would start in about ten minutes from now.
"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and get to the lobby."
"Right, and I'll find some good seats!"
"And I'll…kick tail?" Spinax chimed in hopefully. Hunter shook his head.
"Sorry bud, I'm not making any calls until I see what this girl has up her sleeves."
"Gotcha Coach, I'll keep the bench warm." Hunter nodded. He and Spinax has come a long way too. He could easily remember a time when not using spinax would devolve into a shouting match. Todd and Hunter both walked into the station, but went in two different directions.
"Good luck!" Todd called.
"Don't jinx it!" Hunter called back. He entered the common room and gave a quick look around. He was the only person there.
"Alright, game plan. From what Alvis said, this girl has got to be good. And if she really was a threat to dinaurians, then I think the best thing to do would be to play it safe." Hunter pulled out Dino medals for Delta and S-raptor.
"Aaaaaaaaaaand?" Spinax rocked back and forth. Hunter chuckled.
"That'll be up to what she does."
"Speaking of she, do we even know what to expect?"
"No idea, but we'll find out soon eno-"
"Hey you!" Hunter's eyes snapped back to attention. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone.
"Who's there?" Hunter left hand flew to his holder while the right went to his foldax.
"Down here!" Hunter's eyes drifted down. A small girl was standing there tapping their sandal against the ground impatiently. A blank expression marked Hunter's face.
"…Are you…Lila Frost?"
"No, I'm Hunter Elwood Oh wait, that's you."
"I'm guessing Alvis filled you in then." Hunter let his muscles relax, "sorry, I was just expecting someone…older."
"I'm not a kid!" Lila protested, "I'm already 8!" Hunter laughed in spite of himself.
"This is a precious child that must be protected," spinax said with no humor in his voice.
"Sorry, guess I couldn't tell." Hunter couldn't help but smile, "I've heard a lot about you from Alvis too. He's says you're pretty strong."
"Of course I am!" Lila puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips, "I'm gonna win the cup and be the best fighter ever! Even better than Hunter Cloud!"
"You sure you want to be like Hunter Cloud?" Hunter played along. If the kid didn't know about him, then he wasn't about to tell her, "I heard he's kind of a bad person."
"I don't care about that! There's no way he's a bad guy!" Lila had a strange determined look on her face.
"I reiterate, protect this child," spinax said again.
"Agreed," Hunter extended his hand to Lila, "well, I aim to be the best too, so this fight is sure to be interesting."
"Right, I'm not gonna lose." Lila shook Hunter's hand as the door to the stadium opened.
"Sweet kid," spinax commented, "…well, time to blow her to hell now."
"That took a 180 real quick, I thought you liked Lila?"
"I do, now let's crush her dreams." Hunter accepted the grim reality. I matter what, one of them had to lose, and Hunter wasn't going to back down after coming this far already. As they walked to opposite ends of the arena, Hunter wondered if the crowd could see the grim look on his face.
"Hunter!" He heard a voice call before it was drowned out by the roar of the crowd, Hunter looked to see Todd shouting. He couldn't make out what was being said, but he knew enough to k ow that Todd wouldn't want him to act this way.
"Right. Right. Screw off depression." Hunter gave Todd a thumbs-up before taking his place.
"Compso! Dimetro!" Lila called out a small brown raptor-like vivosaur and a quadrupedal red vivosaur with a sail adorning its back. Hunter waited for the third one, but it didn't come.
"Hmm…" Hunter already noticed Lila didn't have any digging equipment on her, but only two vivosaurs?
"Aeros! Tricera!" As Hunter called out his "hold back" team, he noticed that Lila was glaring at him from the other side of the stadium. Did she realize he wasn't giving it his all?
"Dimetro! Use charge!" Red bolts of electricity crackled around dimetro, "Compso, back!" Compso moved behind dimetro.
"Gasp! Your only weakness, strategy."
"Shut up Spinax," it was true though, most of Hunter's more recent matches have been in the moment fights with little strategic planning. He could already tell, even with his stronger vivosaurs, that this was going to be difficult.
"Enflame on Aeros!" Tricera thundered as blue flames whipped around Aeros, reminding Hunter of soulflame.
"Wind blast!" Aeros reared up at dimetro and roared out a blast of wind, but the small red vivosaur was barely fazed. Dimetro retaliated with a tail whip that sent Aeros flying backwards into the wall. It cracked the stone buffer as it crashed.
"What the?" Hunter quickly checked his vivowatch. Aeros had lost about 75% of its health in one hit, while dimetro was barely scratched.
"Wait a minute, Compso's support effects…" Hunter glared at the small raptor. As long as Compso was in the back, Hunter's attacks would be one tenth of their ordinary strength. Not to mention that any defense he had was shattered by the support effects too.
"Not bad!" Hunter called to Lila, "pairing Compso's support effects with dimetro's charge for a massive hit. You're pretty good Lila!"
"I'm not gonna let up just because you're being nice!" Lila shouted back, "don't think you can pull that on me!"
"Didn't plan on it! Running smash!" Tricera wasn't as affected by the support affects, so it was able to land a solid hit on Compso.
"Dimetro whirl!" Using its sail as a buzz saw, dimetro spun in the air towards tricera, electricity sparked up around it.
"Aeros special!" Aeros fired a stream of green energy at dimetro. Once again, the damage was nothing special, but dimetro was knocked off balance and missed tricera.
"Now! Enflame once more, then tri-torpedo!" Tricera surrounded itself in flames this time. Blue energy surrounded it in a spiral as tricera slammed into Compso, returning it to its Dino medal.
"No! Dimeteor!" Dimetro fired multiple meteors at tricera, but without support effects and charge, they were easily resisted.
"Cyclonic breath!" Aeros fired a massive laser at Dimetro. Hunter watched as the vivosaur disappeared in the blinding light. Hunter recalled his vivosaurs
"That seemed…too easy."
"C'mon dude," spinax protested, "she is just a kid,"
"No, it's not that. I think I'm not the only one who was holding back." Hunter watched Lila slowly walk back into the common room before following. He was happy the crowd quickly filed away anyone that wanted to talk to him as he reached the lobby. Right now, there was only one person he needed to talk too.
"Hey," he found her on the bench near the exit, her eyes were hidden through long blond hair.
"…not fair…" she muttered. Hunter watched a tear fall onto her clenched hand. It broke his heart.
"It's not fair! I wanted to win more than anyone. Why…why can't I be strong enough to win?"
"What'd you mean?" Hunter gently lifted lila's chin, "you battled better than some of the strongest people I've faced. You're strong Lila, you just need someone to help you." Hunter felt a pang of guilty nostalgia. He had gone through the hopeless feeling of not being strong enough, he wasn't about to let someone else walk through the hell he did.
"Fantastic you two!" Hunter and Lila both turned towards the sound of clapping. Alvis had now walked up to them both.
"That was quite a well fought battle Lila, I'm very proud of you."
"But…I didn't win," Lila sniffed, "and now…nana…"
"Hmm?" Hunter looked towards Alvis for an explanation.
"Ah, she hasn't told you. Lila's grandmother has fallen ill. At her elder age, the virus that infected her is fatal. Lila wanted to win the cup with the secondary goal of paying for the expensive medicine that would save her."
"I see." Hunter could understand that. Even with the prize money he won for beating saurhead, Hunter still couldn't afford most higher up medicine.
"I could've won," Lila tensed up, "but you said not to use it. Why gramps?"
"Gramps? Alvis, what's going on?"
"I say we bite him," spinax grunted. For a moment, Hunter agreed with him.
"Hunter, Lila, I'm sure you both know that I've been awaiting your meeting for quite some time. Lila, I have already told you why your abilities should not be used during the tournament. However, you will get your chance to use them in a battle with Hunter."
"Another fight?" Hunter stepped in front of Lila, "don't you think the kid should take it easy for a while?"
"I'm not a kid!" Lila protested. Alvis laughed.
"Lila, there is a reason that I wanted Hunter to meet you. You see, he is going to train you to become a great fighter."
"What?! But I don't need help! I'm already strong! Hunter said so!" Hunter gave Alvis a look. Why didn't he already tell Lila about the training?
"You are strong, but not strong enough." Strong enough for what, Alvis didn't specify, "Hunter will teach you to master your abilities, just as he has his own." At this Lila look up at Hunter with hopeful emerald colored eyes.
"You're like me?" Lila whispered. Hunter didn't know what to say. Does she know the truth about her past. He looked at Alvis, who shook his head.
"Yeah, I am. Lila, I'm sorry that you lost in the cup, but there's something really important that I'm fighting for too." Lila wipes the marks of tears from her eyes.
"Well, I may have lost now, but just you wait! I'll still be the best fossil fighter ever! And I'll start by going all out and beating you!" She pointed a finger at Hunter. He laughed in spite of himself.
"Tough talk kid, let's see if you can back it up."
"Don't call me a kid!"
"This kid is adorable." Spinax commented. Alvis laughed.
"Now then, let's find an arena suitable for this battle."
(Later)
"Here we are." They stopped almost all the way through Mt. krakanak. Since the cup matches were continuing, no one but the three were there.
"Alright, this is your stop." Hunter let Lila off his back, who climbed up there after getting scared of the drop over the edge of the land bridge.
"Alright you two," Alvis walked halfway through a circular rocky outcropping, "each of you will use your strongest vivosaur. Don't hold anything back either. I want to be able to judge your full abilities as well Hunter."
"All right then. Hey Lila!" Hunter called to her from the other side of the rocky platform, "you ready?"
"Ready to win!" Lila called back. Hunter couldn't help but smile.
"Kids these days say the darnedest things," spinax commented.
"Dimetro!"
"Spinax!" Spinax towered over the small vivosaur. Hunter thought it was a little too harsh to go guns blazing on a kid, but Alvis didn't look worried at all.
"Dimetro whirl!" Hunter's attention quickly snapped back to the fight as dimetro began spinning towards Spinax.
"What's the game plan coach?" Spinax sidestepped away from dimetro as it skidded to a stop.
"Nothing flashy, I still don't think this is a good idea. Try a light slash to start." Spinax grunted in agreement and reared back.
"Duck under its claw!" Lila called. Spinax's claws swished through the air above dimetro. He whipped around for a tail attack.
"Jump backwards!" Once again, Lila predicted the attack and dimetro dodged.
"Spinax mega!"
"What happened to pulling punches?"
"I want to test something."
"I like this plan already." Spinax rocketed at dimetro with its fist cloaked in a tornado.
"Dodge left!" Dimetro easily avoided the attack thanks to the guidance. The tornado dissipated and left the wind whirling around the fighters.
"How does she know every move we make?"
"ESP. I'm calling' it right now. The girl has ESPN."
"…you might be right."
"I'm telling ya coach, she-…did you just say I'm right?"
"Spinax Terra!" Hunter called out the attack in his mind. Spinax fired a compressed shot of gale force winds at dimetro.
"Jump!" Once again, the attack was predicted and dodged.
"Dimeteor!" Dimetro fired three meteors at spinax, who blocked with his crystal hide. Wind from spinax's attacks whipped around the arena.
"I'm not done yet!" Lila shouted. Hunter heard the wind pick up once more, "I'm gonna win without taking a single hit!" Lila's hair swirled upwards.
"Not bad!" Hunter called back, "you've almost got the hang of it!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?!"
"THIS!" Hunter's shout echoed in the wind as sparks shot from his eye and ignited into a blazing blue flame. Spinax let out an earth shaking roar as his crystals changed in color from green to blue. Hunter looked down at himself and flexed his fingers. It was good to be back.
"Soulfire!" Spinax sucked in before letting out a burst of blue flames.
"Jump!...wait no!" Dimetro jumped into the air to dodge the flames, only to get slightly picked up by the wind. Hunter had predicted this though, and spinax was already up in the air with dimetro.
"Falling Star!" Spinax fired flames from his feet to lift himself higher than dimetro, then came crashing down while engulfed in fire. Dimetro crashed to earth, leaving a massive indent in the makeshift arena. Spinax loomed over dimetro, who was struggling to push itself off the ground.
"That's enough for today!" Alvis called. Spinax backed up as Lila ran to her vivosaur. The emotion on her face was hard to describe. As Hunter began to walk over, soulflame remained active. Something was off. While in his ascended state, he could sense…something. To be safe, Hunter let soulflame dissolve.
"Lila, do you see why I wish for Hunter to teach you?" Lila looked at Hunter with a sense of awe.
"You're…you're," she sputtered.
"Yep." Hunter clasped his hands behind his head, "I never did properly introduce myself. The name's Hunter. Hunter Cloud."
Done! This was a fun one to write. Especially since it's the return of soulflame.
Hunter: Almost makes you wonder why I don't use it more often….*cough*
Spinax: I see what you did there.
I'm not paying attention to what you did there. No flaming eyeball for you.
Hunter: Why not? It's inconceivable I tell you!
….I see what you did there. Thanks for reading.