Nergigante felt her stomach rumble for what seemed like the thousandth time.
She was hungry. Again. Now she had to hunt for a meal. Again. A meal that would be an amateur Aptonoth or another herbivore rather than her prized Elder Dragon cuisine.
She hated this. She hated the New World, as the human scum called it. She had traveled miles of blue liquid to the torture of her wings only to be greeted by a land devoid of any good food.
Nergigante growled and plunged her powerful paws into the crystal floor of the Elder's Recess, digging into the ground and tearing away at it in a rage.
She was starving, and she couldn't bring herself to feed off the worthless herbivores that other Elder Dragons consumed. It was beneath her, and it made her sick to even think about stooping so low.
She roared and slammed her horns into a nearby crystal pillar, making the structure collapse and the crystals shower her head.
Through her growls, she heard a peculiar sound. The sound of crystal crunching beneath a set of feet.
Her food obsessed mind took a few seconds to determine where the sound was coming from.
Behind her, a Hunter dressed in red and black armor walked briskly towards her, his sword and shield already shining in the light of the Elder's Recess.
Nergigante turned to face the Hunter, growling as he approached. She recognized the Hunter.
He was the one who denied her the full course meal that she sought, and drove her away from the gargantuan feast she desired.
Anger quickly filled Nergigante's mind and she let out a roar that shook the crystal around her.
The Hunter didn't flinch, as he had already put thick earplugs in his ears. He continued to approach, and Nergigante charged to meet him.
-Transition-
There was his target. He watched as Nergigante rammed a nearby crystal tower, shattering it.
Eclipsen continued to walk forward. He had drawn his sword long before he reached Nergigante's area, as well as shoved powerful earplugs made of a mixture of tree sap, Old World chewing gum, and wool into his ears.
It made it so that no monster except for the greatest of schreechers could bother him with their roar.
And it worked perfectly when Nergigante reared it's head and opened it's mouth and all Eclipsen heard was a sound similar to a light breeze.
The Elder Dragon then dashed at him like a beast from hell, it's horns pointed downward like a bull preparing to gore it's target.
Eclipsen sped his walk to a run, letting out his own war-cry as he charged toward the beast he had already faced two times over.
The Hunter jumped into the air as Nergigante lifted it's head upward at the end of it's charge, allowing Eclipsen to run down it's back and cut multiple slashes into it's spine.
Nergigante reared as the Hunter leaped off it's back and carved into it's tail. Nergigante turned quickly, slamming it's claws into the ground and dragging them across the floor.
Eclipsen rolled away just in time to feel the wind of the attack brush through his hair.
Then a Plunderblade dragged itself through Nergigante's shoulder, pulling valuable material from it's hide.
The Elder Dragon roared before glaring at the Palico who tossed the weapon.
"Meuh oh!"
Sundancer shouted as Nergigante charged towards him. Eclipsen quickly sprinted to the Palico's aid, leaping into the air and slamming his shield into Nergigante's snout.
The Dragon reeled, violently shaking it's head in an effort to dispell the pain.
Eclipsen quickly took the time to rake his curved sword across Nergigante's chest and send a second swing into it's arm.
The Elder Dragon roared before standing on it's back legs and burying it's horns in the ground.
Eclipsen failed to move in time, taking one of the beast's horns to his privates and sending him flying.
Eclipsen groaned as he rolled to a stop after being sent nearly ten feet through the air. Not to mention the pain between his legs.
-Transition-
Nergigante felt a small bit of joy as she watched the Hunter roll across the ground and curl up, seemingly in pain.
That was until the Hunter's cat companion slammed it's sword into her face, breaking one of her teeth loose.
Nergigante growled before swinging a paw into the Palico and sending the poor cat into a crystal tower.
She gazed at the fallen animal for a bit, feeling even more joy at the cat's attempts at trying to get up.
Nergigante looked back at the place the Hunter landed, only to see a blade heading straight for her eye.
-Transition-
Eclipsen heard the loud mewl of Sundancer despite his earplugs. The Hunter felt his blood boil, and his crimson eye began to glow.
Eclipsen forgot his testicles protests and dashed forward, snatching his sword off the ground. He had dropped the weapon during his flight.
Eclipsen growled as he swung the metal towards Nergigante's eye. Unfortunately, it reacted faster than he had hoped, only getting to bury the sword in the Elder Dragon's nose.
It still reared though, lifting Eclipsen into the air. He yanked the Heavy Bang from Nergigante's snout and let gravity take it's course.
As Eclipsen fell downward, he dragged his sword down his target's back, extracting a light yelp from the creature.
Eclipsen grappled a growing spike as he fell, stopping his decent. He then began to wail on the Elder Dragon's back, with each hit getting stronger than the last.
Nergigante began to writhe like a bull, forcing Eclipsen to dig his claws into it's hide in order to stay on.
It's energy did not last long and it fell into a calmer movement. Eclipsen took the opportunity and lifted his blade high into the air.
-Transition-
Nergigante felt the blade pierce her back and touch her spine. The following jerk to the side made the metal hit a nerve cluster, forcing her to fall to one side.
She roared as she struggled to get up, flailing her only working side to defend her stomach.
That didn't stop the Hunter, who she assumed that she had enraged, from slipping past her claws and wailing at her soft underbelly with his sword.
She felt the metal cut into her nearly twenty times over before her motor function returned.
Nergigante quickly took the opportunity, but the Hunter's hooked blade pierced her stomach and he pulled her back down onto her side.
Her right side was still weak, but it surprised her that the Hunter had enough strength to pull her.
It seemed that she had truly enraged him, and just like any other monster, he had gotten stronger because of it.
For the first time, she felt afraid. All she could do was wait and flail as her right side regained it's strength and the Hunter cut away at her belly.
-Transition-
Eclipsen felt a manic grin creep it's way onto his face as he unleashed his fury on Nergigante's stomach, carving nearly fifty cuts into it's hide.
His nearly demonic strength had surprised him too, until he remembered what the scientists had told him after his fight with Shagaru Magala.
-Transition-
The scientist handed Eclipsen a small pad of paper, and on it was a drawing of a cell with a smaller cell latched on.
The bigger cell was a regular red blood cell, and the smaller cell was a dark purple color.
"In short, the Frenzy Virus adapted to you. After Shagaru Magala's death, they binded to your cells and fused with your DNA."
Eclipsen frowned. He almost thought he could feel the Fenzy Virus driving him to destroy, but the doctors had already told him that it was his mind tricking him.
"When it bonded to your DNA, it altered the way your brain processes emotions. Anger is the most effected, but others are also influenced."
The scientist picked up another pad of paper and took the picture of the cells from him, handing him the other.
On the new pad, it displayed how normal emotions were felt and how they would be felt under the influence of the Frenzy Virus.
"The Fenzy Virus can't be called a virus anymore. It is a part of you. You don't have a chance of infecting others, if it's any consolation. It had to shed that ability to bond to you."
Eclipsen barely heard the scientist as he read the pad of paper.
Happiness - Enhanced and easier to experience
Sadness - Harder to experience, but much more powerful
Love - Enhanced to the level of animals. Once a partner is taken, they are kept.
Anxiety - Easier to experience, and greatly enhanced
Disgust - No noticeable change
Pride - Harder to experience, but slightly enchanced
Contentment - Harder to experience and slightly suppressed
Hope - Much harder to experience and no other changes
Anger - Greatly easier to experience, and enhanced to the point of murderous rage
The rest of the emotions were also skimmed over, but Eclipsen couldn't focus on them at the moment.
Then a rare moment came about. Eclipsen spoke, much to the surprise of the scientist.
"So I'm going to be this way for the rest of my life?"
The scientist nodded sadly in response. Eclipsen put a hand on his forehead before dragging it down his face.
"Okay. I can live with this."
The scientist gave a questioning look, receiving a sigh in return. Eclipsen handed the paper back to rhe scientist.
"At least I have an edge in battle. Permanently."
-Transition-
Eclipsen felt his muscles enlarge with the Frenzy Virus working away in his body, making his strength skyrocket.
Nergigante lifted itself to it's feet for the second time before quickly slamming it's body into the distracted Hunter.
Eclipsen rolled backwards before dashing to the right as the Elder Dragon tried to ram him.
He slammed his shield into Nergigante's forearm, shattering the spikes growing out of it's scales.
Nergigante stumbled to the side once more, only to receive a Frenzy powered slash to the face.
The blade cut easily into the Elder Dragon's hide, causing blood to fly into Eclipsen's eyes.
Nergigante saw it's opportunity and swung it's arm into the Hunter, sending him flying backwards.
Eclipsen grunted as he collided with a crystal wall, quickly wiping away the blood in his eyes.
Once he opened his eyes, he saw Nergigante charging straight at him. He brought up his shield to block the strike, but was rewarded by Nergigante slamming into the wall.
It's horns were too wide to properly reach Eclipsen, making him grin when the Elder Dragon locked eyes with him.
He could almost see the regret in it's eyes as he brought up his sword.
-Transition-
Nergigante screeched as the Hunter's weapon cut through her hide and touched her skull.
She ripped out her horns from the wall and failed around like a bull, managing to dislodge the blade and throw the Hunter across the arena.
Nergigante felt her spikes harden as she faced down the Hunter. She felt a small twinge of confidence form as she roared and lauched into the air.
She saw the twinkle of fear in the Hunter's eyes before a smile tore it's way onto his face.
It confused her when he dashed towards her when she dove downwards.
She felt the ground crunch beneath her as her spikes shattered and broke off. She buried her claws into the crystal to stop her movement, and looked back to where the Hunter had ran.
There he stood, confidently pacing back and forth. Nergigante growled at the sight.
Her anger quickly overtook her fear, and she charged forward once more.
-Transition-
Eclipsen smiled as his target raged forward. He quickly matched her pace, watching for his opportunity.
Nergigante leaped at him, and as he expected, it overshot it's jump. Eclipsen slid as the dragon sailed over him, and thrust his sword upward.
The blade cut into Nergigante's stomach, but not enough to do fatal damage as he had hoped.
That is when the Hunter noticed the reproductive organs between the Elder Dragon's legs.
He quickly closed his eyes in response to the sight, but he was unable to banish the image from his mind.
He swiftly lifted himself from the ground, only to see Nergigante's claws collide with his side.
After that, his sight went dark.
-Transition-
Nergigante watched as the Hunter was thrown through the air, his body obviously given out.
He landed hard, and she thought she heard a crack when he met the crystal ground.
His Palico quickly moved to drag him away, with some admirable success for a cat a quarter the Hunter's size.
After they had made it past her area's exit, she saw a wooden contraption with more of the cat creatures approach and carry the Hunter off.
Nergigante let out a small roar of victory, before going over the battle in her mind.
She shook herself as she went over the events in her head, before she realised something.
He had slid under her twice, that meant he had seen her...
She then proceeded to fly into another rage, making the entirety of the Elder's Recess cringe as her roars echoed through the crystal infested landscape.