When Destiny Calls: The Master of the Desert: The Underground Labyrinth.
By Cale Kuecker (Ashertye@aol.com)
Disclaimer: Sorry about being so long with this chapter, it's just I haven't had a lot of time to work on it. Well after a long long silence, I finally present to you the next chapter of When Destiny Calls. Now let's get one with the boring stuff. I do not own Monster Rancher, nor do I own any of the characters from the series. Tecmo owns them. As to the new characters and monsters, yes I do own them, so if you want them to be guest characters in your fanfiction, you've got to ask me first. Also, I have never played any of the monster rancher games; so all the information I have to go on is the anime. That said, you'll understand if I take certain liberties with the rules of the monster rancher universe.
Author's Note: And Melodi Hare scores again with her guess of the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock. I would have also accepted the Dozers from the same show, but I guess it'd be too much for them to be remembered.
Summary: Trapped under a mountain, the searchers must solve an ancient maze if they expect to make it out alive. But guarding the exit is a powerful baddy, and in such a tight spot, speed is just not gonna cut it.
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"Two heads are better than one." -Unknown
************************************************************************ Prologue ************************************************************************
Once more the sun shone brightly on the white sand that comprised the castle of the baddy general known as Gali. The golden masked monster floated almost serenely through his lush garden, a large watering can and a pair of pruning scissors floating on tendrils of golden energy behind him. Quietly, the powerful villain worked on his plants, caring and tending to them as though they were his children, which might have been close to the truth. Suddenly, a single weed catches Gali's unmoving eyes. A thin beam of golden energy left the masked monster's cape and the weed was burned away by fantastic heat. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared behind Gali, it's eyes shining blue even in the light of day. "Do you have a purpose here Joker?" Gali said without even bothering to turn to acknowledge his underling. "Your garden looks beautiful, Master Gali," Joker said, his hand cupping a red rose sitting on a thriving book. "A pity beauty so often lacks substance to maintain itself." "Get to the point clown, and remove your hand from my roses!" Joker did as he was told, though only half-heartedly. "I suppose you have heard of Eclipse's 'tragic' demise. Such a pity, he looked so promising," Joker said. "But one must not dwell on the past. Now I suppose you will send your ever faithful nightmare soldier to deal with these... rebels." "I forbade you from attacking the searchers already, clown, and that order still stands. The searchers have entered the underground labyrinth. They shall not escape from that torturous maze," said the holy monster as he began to depart his plants. "Now, leave my garden and never darken it again, you cause too many plants to die." "Yes my liege," Joker said as he watched the masked monster disappear into his castle. Once more, a gauntlet-clad hand reached down to the roses, dark energy shimmering around it. Suddenly, the rose bush shifted its shape, becoming a small gray and black mocchi type with blue eyes. "Ah ah ah, jokester, his high and mightiness Lord Daemon didn't place you here to kill off flowers," Hell Pierot said as he danced around the floating executioner. "Pest! What are you doing here?!" "Lord Daemon needed reassurance that you're still on the job. He's a bit concerned you're more interested in Moo's big reward than your lord's ultimate plans." "Tell Daemon he need not worry, twit. I know my duty and I will see it done. Now be gone before Gali senses your presence." "Tootles dead head. You just remember, Daemon ain't too likely to forgive screw ups." With those words, the mocchi/joker hybrid disappeared in a puff of smoke, followed closely by Joker.
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"It's a maze!" the group said in unison as they stared at the forbidding walls of the structure that stood before them. "And a most daunting maze it is my friends," came a voice that startled the searchers. Each turned around, ready for any attack that might come at them, but instead found themselves staring at a floating slab of blackest onix. "Monol-chi," Mocchi said, smiling at their faceless friend, sure that he if could, Monol would be smiling back. "Monol, it's good to see you again," Genki said. "What are you doing down here?" "I was traveling through the territory and heard of this supposed shortcut. With time being so short in supply, I thought it would be wise to make it to do whatever I could to cut down on travel time between the free villages. Unfortunately, I had not counted on this most daunting obstacle," Monol explained. "How long have you been here?" There was no answer as Monol had fallen asleep on them, as evidenced by the giant bubble coming from his body. Mocchi poked the bubble cautiously, only to watch it explode, waking the slumbering monster. "Hmm? What?" Monol asked. "I asked how long you've been here," Joshua repeated. "About a week. Each time I try to enter that horror, I get so turned around that I can barely find my way back. When I heard the explosion, I thought baddies were coming and hid." "A baddy was there, a ragnorak by the name of Eclipse," Genki said. "Yeah but Hare and Gray Wolf took that slimy lizard down when they merged into that freaky hare hound," Pink Eye said. "Merged?" Monol asked, clearly confused. "Yeah, we'll tell you about it as we go," Genki said as he prepared to enter the maze, only to feel it as Joshua grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Woah there. Didn't you hear Monol? This thing's not easy, and I really don't think being lost for weeks would help our cause." "You don't have anything to worry about," Genki proclaimed. "We have a secret weapon... Gray Wolf!" "If there's a way out of this maze, I'll be able to sniff it out faster than anyone," the silver lupine crowed. "Just leave it to me." "And I'm an expert at mazes. I used to be president of my school's maze club back home," Genki stated. That's when the boy noticed Golem. The rock giant was standing in front of the maze's entrance, not moving a chiseled muscle as he stared at the entrance. "Golem? Is something wrong?" "It's nothing... at least nothing I can put a name to. It's a feeling... I don't know," Golem said. "Ah it's probably nothing, rocky," Pink Eye said as he bounded up to his stony compatriot. "Don't worry Golem," Genki said. "We'll be in and out in an hour, tops. Let's go!" And so, with Gray Wolf leading the way, his nose to the ground, the searchers and their ally Monol enter the maze. Every time the group came to a fork in the path, Gray Wolf took another sniff of the ground, directing them down the path. Such was the action the searchers took for an hour, before Gray Wolf suddenly stopped in his tracks, sniffing all over. "Something wrong wolf?" Pink Eye asked. "This is impossible," the silver lupine said. "What is?" "The scent... I keep picking up our scent... but that's impossible." "Sounds to me like you've been leading us around in a circle," Hare said. "I HAVE NOT! It's not possible," Gray Wolf said, sniffing the ground again. "Why's that?" Genki asked, leaning over to try to see what Gray Wolf was talking about. "Because, the scent is there and then it isn't." "But that's impossible." "I know." Gray Wolf turned back to Hare. Gray Wolf took off like a shot, the searchers hot on his heels as he continued moving through the maze before stopping again. The silver wolf cursed and changed directions, trying desperately to find the right path. Finally, the group stopped and fell to the ground, exhausted from all the running around. "I don't think this is working Gray Wolf," Hare said, looking around the walls. "Any ideas rabbit?" "None that are plausible..." "Maybe..." Golem began. "What is it Golem?" Genki asked. "No, it's nothing," the rock giant said. "In case you haven't noticed, big guy, we aren't exactly flush with ideas, so anything you can give us might help," Pink Eye said as he hopped onto the rocky one's shoulder. "I've been hearing... grinding. Like at a mill. Could that have something to do with our problem?" "Grinding? Golem I think you may be..." "There it is again," Golem cried, interrupting Hare before the lapine could finish. The searchers that could, all put their hands to their ears to hear better. Sure enough, the faint sound of the scraping of metal on metal could be heard. "It sounds like... gears?" Genki said, disbelief in his voice. "I don't believe it." "What is it Genki?" "Back home, there was an amusement park with an attraction called the endless maze. They used a bunch of machines to change the way the maze looked while you were inside. Every time the walls began to move into different places, there was the sound of gears moving. I think that's what's happening now." "How are we supposed to solve this thing then?" "Well, if this maze is gonna cheat, I say we do some cheatin' of our own," Gray Wolf said. "Golem, bust us a way through this trap." "No!" Monol cried. "You mustn't do that!" "Why?" the others asked. "I tried that at one wall, and roof tried to cave in on me. Apparently, the walls of this labyrinth also support the roof of this cavern," the black slab of a monster said. That was when Hare began to rummage through his travel bag, finally producing a rather large ball of very bright yarn. "What are you doing Hare?" Gray Wolf asked, a bit annoyed that the rabbit had apparently decided to catch up on his knitting. "Since you're obviously incapable of pointing us in the right direction, I'm gonna try to keep us from getting turned around," Hare said as he tied one end of the yarn to an outcropping on the wall. The group continued on their way, with Gray Wolf still in the lead trying his best to find the correct path. Every time they came across Hare's yarn, they turned back and chose another path. "Monol, I've been meaning to ask you something," Genki said as he slowed down to walk with his wizened friend. "During our battle with Eclipse, something really weird happened." "I'm not an expert on 'really weird' things, but I will answer any questions in my power," the slab of obsidian stated. "Eclipse tried to kill both Hare and Gray Wolf, and well, I didn't want him to do that." "Of course." "Suddenly, I felt really weak, like all the energy was just drained out of me and I blacked out," the boy continued. "I opened my eyes and there was a hare hound battling Eclipse. It didn't look like any hare hound I'd seen before, but it just walked all over Eclipse like he was nothing... Then, when the cave was caving in, the hare hound jumped inside and split back into Hare and Gray Wolf." "Most interesting," Monol replied. "The closest I can identify it as is some sort of temporary combining, like when two monsters are merged permanently to make a new one. But that requires a shrine... and it never just... wears off," Genki finished. For a few minutes, Monol floated along in complete silence, as though he had not heard a word of Genki's story. Genki was about to knock on the monster's front and see if he was still awake when the storyteller finally did speak. "I have heard of the technique you witnessed, though I have never actually seen it," Monol began. "It is called Fusion; the temporary joining of two monsters of equal strength and ability to form a single warrior that is twice as strong. It was a technique created during the war against Moo, but very few trainers had the ability to use it, and those that did seldom did." "Why?" asked Hare, who had gotten interested in listening to just what had happened to him a few hours before. "The human who activates the fusion becomes the weak link of the super monster... Get rid of him, and you kill both the monsters used to make the fusion. And since proximity is required for the technique to work, the chances of the human getting killed were very good. The vast amount of energy needed for the fusion to work often would leave a trainer too weak to defend themselves, and even the good trainers didn't want to place their monsters at such a risk." "Wow," Pink Eye said. "But from what I saw, the fusion monster really doesn't have a lot of problem handling any foe." "What you witnessed was a fusion monster going up against a single opponent who no doubt had no idea what he was up against or how to handle it. Had there been a flight of ragnorak trained in how to deal with a fusion, Genki would be dead and your friends would now be lost disks," Monol concluded. "So, will I always feel so weak?" Genki asked. "In truth... no. The technique is like a muscle, the more it is used, the easier it is to bare. Unfortunately, with the war going on, there was little time for such preparations for a single warrior, no matter how strong. I will say this; the stronger the monsters you fuse Genki, the more energy it will require." "But how can I have the ability to use this technique, I'm not even FROM this world?" Genki asked. "If I knew the answer to that, I would not hesitate to tell you... Sufficed to say, I no longer believe you were summoned here for the sole purpose of unlocking your mocchi." "WHAT THE (*#(*$!!" Gray Wolf yelled from up front, his fur standing on end. The other searchers turned to see what had riled up the silver wolf this time, but nothing was in front of them. "Gray Wolf, is something wrong?" Joshua asked as he walked up to his friend. "I ran across a patch of our scent, but there was no yarn. It's too fresh to have been made before Hare used that yarn so I looked around and look what I found." The tiger hybrid pointed to a section of wall. There, almost invisible to the naked eye was a seam that went straight down and jutting out of that seam was a small length of yarn. "Looks like your yarn snapped," Joshua told Hare, only to move aside as Pink Eye examined the end of yarn. "Snapped nothing, this has been cut," the suezo/pixie declared. "Guys, I don't think we're alone here." "What was your first guess?" Came a voice as seven black worms came charging. "We're the runners of the maze, it's our job to make sure it remains free of filth like you! POISON STING!!" The ebony worms jumped into the air, firing the deadly stingers from their tails. Golem and Monol ran interference, allowing the poisoned spikes to bounce harmlessly off their hard skin. "LIGHTNING!!" Gray Wolf yelled, sending a like of electric energy bouncing off the walls and towards the black worms. Suddenly, one of the slime covered baddies grabbed pole that jutted from the wall. "If you think the maze was difficult before, try this on for size!" The worm said as a very loud grinding sound came to the searchers ears. That was when the walls began to turn wildly, scooping up Golem, Pink Eye, Joshua, and Mocchi as another wall scooped up Monol, Genki, Hare, and Gray Wolf, gruffly depositing them on separate sides of the previous corridor. Once again the walls shifted, further separating the searchers and depositing them in different areas of the maze. "What happened?" a scared Mocchi asked of the large human standing by his side. "It would appear those baddies have succeeded in sending us to different parts of the maze... A most cunning strategy..." "Where's Genki?" Mocchi whined, looking around at what he could see of the maze. "I'm afraid I couldn't answer that, Mocch. But, he and the others are no doubt searching for us as we speak, and I suggest we do the same," Joshua concluded. "No," Mocchi said, sitting down on the ground. "Genki said whenever I get lost to just stay where I am until he finds me." "Sound advice under normal circumstances, kiddo. But I'm afraid this is anything but normal. There is a very good chance our friends will be unable to find us. Our best bet is to come to the end of the maze, where they're more likely to end up." With those words, Joshua pulled the still reluctant mocchi to his feet. "Don't worry, we'll find them." "I hope so," Mocchi said as the two started down the path.
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Elsewhere in the maze, Hare and Gray Wolf had turned up in a chamber of some kind. In the center of three of the room's walls were doors leading back into the maze, a situation further complicated by the fact that one could easily send the rabbit and wolf back to the maze's beginning. Immediately, Gray Wolf began sniffing the air, hoping against the odds that there was something, ANYthing he could use to guide them down the right path. "Got anything?" Hare asked as he searched the room, hoping to find some clue as to which door to take. "There's a very feint black worm scent in the air... coming from those two doors," Gray Wolf said, pointing to the two doors closest to them. "Unfortunately, the scent's so old I can't tell the direction it goes." "Then that leaves us with only one option... the never fail path finding method handed down from generation to generation in my family," Hare said. "Wait a minute rabbit, the last thing I want is to be lost in this maze just because you wanna try one of your ridiculous ideas," Gray Wolf said. "For your information, oh great sniffer of scents, this little trick comes all the way from my great great great grandfather on my mother's side. It's an incredibly ancient technique that has never, NEVER failed to point lost travelers in the right direction." "Fine, I just hope it's not having an off-day," Gray Wolf countered. Hare walked forward between the two doors as his silver companion stared intently, watching the rabbit's every move. *After all, if this really is some sort of super path finding technique, I'd be a fool not to try an learn it.* Hare stretched out an arm, pointing to one of the doors as his eyes closed. His mouth opened and Gray Wolf prepared to listen to every word said. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," Hare chanted as he moved his finger between the two doors on every syllable. For his part, Gray Wolf had fallen to the ground, unable to process the sheer ludicrousness of what the rabbit was suggesting as he continued, "Catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go, eeny, meeny, miny, MOE!" "THAT'S YOUR GENERATIONS OLD TECHNIQUE TO FIND OUR LOST PATH?!?!" the lupine yelled as Hare continued to point at the middle door he'd stopped on. "And as I've said, it has never failed me," came hare's reply as he started off down the passage. For a moment, it looked as though Gray Wolf was going to say something more, but instead he decided to follow the hare monster. *I need to cultivate a saner group of friends," he thought.
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"Hello!!" Genki yelled as he traveled down the passages, Monol floating almost serenely behind him. All the boy got in response to his call was his own echo bouncing off the walls. "Mocchi! Joshua! ANYBODY!!!" "It would appear we have been separated from our friends," Monol said. "Thank you Mr. Obvious," Genki quipped. The two wandered through the twists and turns of the labyrinth, listening intently for any sign of the others and occasionally calling out in case the others were doing the same. Soon, the two came to a dead-end room, in which sat a grisly sight. Neatly arranged in several alcoves in the rooms walls were bones, human bones complete with skulls and every thing else. Rats climbed all over the remains, carrying food and the like here and there. Some of the skeletons still possessed bits of clothing that were covered in a very thick layer of dust. Genki approached on of the corpses, a peculiar one with a dried, brown fedora on its skull. Pieces of brown leather and a bull whip adorned the rest of the body as well, and it's arms were crossed over a jewel encrusted golden cross. Above the alcove was the resident's name, which had been eroded away by the centuries. Genki could still make out the initials though, a capital "I" and a capital "J". "What is this place?" the boy asked Monol. "Apparently, this is some sort of crypt used by whoever owned this land to bury their dead." Monol moved closer to investigate the walls. "Strange, someone appears to have etched something in this brick." "Let me see," Genki said, moving over to his flat friend. Indeed there was something written in the smooth stone. "Every Evening the Sun Sets," Genki read aloud. "True, even if it is common knowledge," Monol remarked. "This has got to mean something..." "It might be directions," Monol said. "What?" "A similar trick was used in the vaults of King Midor long ago. The vaults were so extensive, it was easy to get lost in them, so each room had some simple directions to lead the unfortunate human back to the entrance. But King Midor was so paranoid, he made the directions into sentences with the first letters of the words standing for a direction." "So that means their could be telling us to go east, east, south, and then south?" Genki said in a tone that was showing how irritated he was getting at their situation.. "Great, now all we need is a compass and we're all set to go hiking. Monol, what are we... Monol?" Genki turned to see the obelisk-like monster was floating horizontally in the air, spinning slowly until his body was pointing at the wall Genki had read the inscription off of. Slowly, the slab-like monster floated towards the wall. "This is north," Monol pronounced. "Which means once we leave this room..." "We need to take the eastern passage," Genki concluded. "I just hope wherever these directions take us, we meet up with our friends again." "Yes, but let there also be more instructions, lest we remain lost forever."
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"Nope, it's no use, I can't sense anything," Pink Eye said to his rocky companion. The suezo hybrid stood in front of Golem, his eye closed as he tried to sense the minds of there friends. "That means their either out of range or unconscious." "Then where does that leave us?" Golem asked. "My guess is we try to complete the maze and get to the end. Then, I can teleport freely through the whole thing and try to find them," Pink Eye answered. "But first we must find the way." With those words Golem began walking trough the corridors, slowly and methodically. "Uh, big guy, not that I'm doubting your sense of direction, but how do you know where to go?" "Feelings... Genki had a phrase for it... a 'belly feeling.'" "Eh?" Pink Eye asked. "I'm following my belly, and it tells me where to go." "Riiiight," a skeptical Pink Eye said. "Not to say anything bad about gut, but what does it know about mazes?" "Nothing," Golem replied, continuing on as though Pink Eye had said nothing. Suddenly, the two entered a long room. The instant they entered the room, the doors at both ends slammed shut. "I don't like the looks of this Golem." Suddenly, a very loud grinding could be heard as ancient gears were set into motion. Immediately, the walls of the room began to move, closer and closer to the two adventurers. "Cripes somebody's tryin' ta turn us inta pancakes!!!" Pink Eye screamed. Golem quickly slammed against one of the walls hoping to stop it. The walls though continued to push forward, slowly sliding Golem along until his other hand was able to touch the opposite wall. The trap stopped, but it was evident from the grinding noise being made that the only thing that kept the two monsters from being crushed was Golem's outstretched hands. Frantically, Pink Eye searched the doors for some lever or button that would stop the trap. Finding none, Pink Eye hopped back and began to power up an attack. "EYEBEAM!!" Pink Eye yelled as a blast of pink tinted energy flew from his eye and slammed into the door. For thirty full seconds the pink suezo kept up the assault as Golem struggled to hold back the walls. The door crumbled under the power of the suezo hybrid's attack. Quickly Pink Eye raced through the open portal. "Golem, come on!" "I am right behind you," Golem said, letting go of the walls. The stone giant raced to the door as the path became narrower and narrower, scraping his broad shoulders as he barely made it out. The instant the room became empty, the walls began to quickly slid back into their normal positions as the other door once more opened. "Looks like someone was really serious about keeping salesmen out," Pink Eye quipped. "Well I hope this is the right way, 'cause there ain't no way I'm going back through that room." "It probably is," Golem replied, once more continuing to plod forward at his slow but steady pace. Despite his companion's lack of speed, Pink Eye found himself have to move pretty fast to keep up with the rock giant's large paces. "What makes ya say that?" "Why make the wrong way a hazardous one."
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Joshua and Mocchi had been walking for what felt like hours through the maze of corridors, trying in vain to find their way through the obstacle. "How much farther?" a tired Mocchi asked his larger friend. "I don't know," Joshua said flatly as he moved along, not really listening to the youngest searcher. Instead, his attention was focused on elsewhere. Mocchi seemed to sense this, and he didn't like it one bit. Whenever the grownups needed to pay that much attention to something, it almost always meant trouble. The little monster quieted down and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to catch whatever Joshua was listening to. Soon he heard it, a tiny scratching sound. They were being followed. Mocchi gulped as his mind processed this new information, and he moved closer to Joshua. That was when the walls once more groaned whole sections of the formerly sparse corridor twirled around to reveal... "The black worms!!" Mocchi yelled, jumping into the defensive position Genki had taught him as Joshua drew his dagger and prepared for the attack. "Well well well, look what we found," the head black worm said. "I suggest you surrender now, human, Master Moo would very much like all of you searchers alive so he can... question you personally." "I don't think so," Joshua countered. "No way chi!" Mocchi sprang into action, using his rolling attack to try to scatter the worms. The worm/monol hybrids bounced out of the way, just as Joshua struck with his dagger. Unfortunately, the worms moved so fast the blade of the dagger could not find it's mark, simply bouncing off the obsidian coated shells of the deadly ebony worms. Unwilling to allow the two searchers to be the only ones to go on the attack, firing their ballistic poison stingers. Mocchi and Joshua quickly moved to get out of the way of the onslaught of barbs. Suddenly, both monster and human fell into a sticky web of silken string. As soon as their bodies touched the white strands, a gas began to escape from the webbing. Soon the two searchers were hacking and coughing as the sleeping affects of the gas began to take effect. "Ha ha, you've fallen into our dream web," the lead black worm gloated as Mocchi felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier. Soon, all was darkness.
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"Hare, do you hear something?" Gray Wolf asked as the two monster continued down the maze of corridors. "Nah, you're just being your usual paranoid self," Hare said as he walked, his hands folded behind his head. "And you're being your usual careless self. For all you know, this whole maze is probably crawling with baddies." "We already know this place has baddies in it," Hare said, "so there's no point worrying needlessly over something we already know." Suddenly, Gray Wolf tackled Hare, knocking him to the ground. "What was that for!?!" "You were so busy not worrying, you didn't see where you were going, rabbit," Gray Wolf said as he pointed at the floor of the room they'd been about to enter. It was covered in tiles with roses, crowns, skulls and crossbones, scythes, and doves engraved on them. "Gee, what are the odds the floor is safe to cross?" Hare asked, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Maybe I should have let you keep walking, then we'd have a definite answer." "Har har har. I have a better way of testing this." Hare picked up a small pebble from the ground and tossed it onto one of the tiles with a dove on it. Suddenly, the air in the room was filled with several deadly looking needles. Then, just as quickly as the needles had appeared, the needles stopped. "Well, I guess that answers that question." "So how do we get across the room?" Hare reached down for more pebbles. "We'll just have to use trial and error." So saying, Hare tossed more pebbles onto the tiles, taking careful note of each tile that did not trigger the hail of needles. In the end, a trail of tiles could be seen leading through the room. Three rose tiles moving diagonally across the room, followed by a scythe tile, then a crown tile, a dove tile, and finally the skull and crossbones. Carefully, Gray Wolf began to cross the room, ready to use his sonic move attack to escape the room. "Looks like trial and error worked," Gray Wolf said as he made it across the room. "Okay Hare, get over here." Hare complied actually hopscotching across the room as he did so, singing a short rhyme. "Three roses laid upon a bower, a scythe to thee who cuts the flower, a crown, a dove most noble race, thy bones make sacred this dread place." "Where did that come from?" "Not sure, it just seemed appropri..." Hare suddenly fell over, and Gray would could see a long dark thorn sticking out of the rabbit's back. Suddenly, the silver lupine felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked to find an identical barb sticking out of his skin. Already his legs began to collapse as the barb took affect. With a thud Gray Wolf fell to the ground as two black worms landed in front of him. "Don't worry wolfie," one of the black worms said. "The master wants you searchers alive, so we coated our stingers with a sedative instead of poison." The worms approached the fallen warriors, and Gray Wolf snapped at them. "Ah, still some life in ya boy, well that won't last long. The more you struggle, the quicker the chemical takes affect." "Stupid Hare... I... told... him... we were being... follow......."
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Elsewhere, Genki and Monol were busy searching for more inscriptions and directions, hunting for a way out of the maze. All around them the bones of people long dead lay in alcoves along the walls, creating a truly eerie feel to the whole maze. Every so often, Monol performed his compass trick to get their bearings, but that did not full dissuade Genki's fears that they might be lost. "So, do you think we're any closer to the end of the maze Monol?" "I wouldn't know. As far as I can tell, no one has been down way in ages," Monol said as he broke through a cluster of webs and dust. "No one tall anyway saps," came a voice behind them. The duo turned to find five black worms crawling up to them at high speed. They jumped to the side to avoid the stampede as the worms continued to attack. "STICKY THREAD!!" the worms yelled in unison as white thread filled the air, drastically cutting off maneuvering room for both Genki and Monol. The black worms' smaller bodies, however, were unaffected by the smaller spaces. Three of worm/monol monsters leapt and weaved through the webs, firing off their stingers as they did so, and forcing the two searchers dodge the small projectiles as the other two baddies continued using their sticky thread attack to further cut down on the space. With no more room to move, Genki found himself staring at a hail of flying stingers from the offending black worms. "POISON...."
"TELEPORT!!" Came a call that interrupted the lethal storm. Right next to Genki, the familiar pink form of Pink Eye appeared, his tongue wrapping around the boy's arm. "TELEPORT!!" Monster and human disappeared just as the worm's flying stingers hit the space they had formerly occupied. "ROLLER ATTACK!!" Golem cried as he barreled through the webs like a boulder. Black worms went flying in every direction as the rocky giant came rolling through. Pink Eye quickly followed up on his friend's attack with a barrage of teleporting tail attacks. Monol joined the attack as well, using his body to press several black worms into the stone walls. Genki too attacked, using kicks and punches to keep the worm hybrids' mouths closed and contain their webbing. "Retreat!" called one of the black worms, and immediately the baddies began to roll up and flee the battle. "Golem, stop one of 'em!" Pink Eye said. The rock monster was quick to react, slamming his open hand down on one of the runners. The hapless creature was squashed almost flat by Golem's hand. Pink Eye used his tongue to grab a long strand of the webbing the black worms had been using. "Genki, I need your hands over here if you don't mind." Genki obeyed, curious as to what plan the rose colored monster was using. Pink Eye instructed Genki to loop the silk around the helpless black worm like a lariat. That done, Pink Eye handed the end of the string to Golem. "Okay Rocky, you can let him up now." Golem gently lifted his hand from the still groggy baddy as Pink Eye jumped onto the rock monster's shoulder. "Okay my little friend, you're gonna lead us out of this worthless maze and you're gonna do it quickly." "Ha," came the black worm's reply. "You're dumber than you look, eyeball. What in the world makes you think I'm gonna help you?" "That thread around your neck for one thing. It set right between two of your armor segments, so there's nothing protecting you from it. If you don't help us, or you try to scurry away, my friend Golem here will yank on your new leash." "I will n..." Golem began to protest, only to be stopped by Pink Eye. "I know that and you know that, but worm-boy there doesn't need to know that," Pink Eye explained. "This is what's known in the trade as a bluff. All you haveta do is look like you'll do it." "I suppose I could do that." "All right then." Pink Eye turned back to the ebony monster. "Okay dirt-eater, I suggest you get moving. My friend here isn't known for his patience."
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"Well well well, the big bad searchers, all trussed up like helpless little lambs," Captain Black Worm said. "I knew we'd have no problem out maneuvering you losers in this maze." Before the helmet wearing black worm, Hare, Gray Wolf, Mocchi, and Joshua hung suspended from the ceiling, trapped in cocoons of white silk. "Mmph, hmph mmmph mmph mph," Gray Wolf yelled, struggling against the silk that held his mouth shut. "I'm sure that was some particularly foul litany for our benefit, but I really don't have time to listen to such drivel," Captain Black Worm retorted. "Sir," one of the black worms interrupted, pointing at Joshua. "This is not the human Master Moo wants." "Then he's as worthless as the monsters," Captain Black Worm said. "And all worthless things deserve to be eliminated." At those words, the other black worms lined up, arching their backs as they raised their stingers over their heads, aiming directly at the bound searchers. "Ready men! Aim! FI... ARGH!!" Captain Black Worm yelled as a wheel-clad foot slammed into his side, sending him tumbling into a wall. At the same time a thick column of rock slammed into the lined up black worms' exposed underside, knocking the wind from their lungs. Meanwhile, a spinning obsidian slab cut through the silk strands that suspended each of the searchers from the ceiling. Pink Eye stood off to the side, his long pink tongue wrapped around the beak of their captive black worm, keeping him quiet until his teammates' tasks were completed. Genki, Golem, and Monol returned to their ocular ally while the four formerly captive searchers also got to their feet. "Bet you didn't expect to see us, huh guys?" Genki said, blowing a raspberry at the ebony worms. "Impudent whelp. We will make you suffer for daring to challenge us!!" "Ha, you black worms fight using tricks and cowardice. That's the only reason you caught us. Now that we're together, you slime suckers are toast!" Gray Wolf snarled. "We may not be a match for you, but you don't seriously think we're the only ones set to guard this place." Captain Black Worm scurried over to the far wall, grabbing a lever that jutted out and pulling it down. A small section of the wall slowly slides upwards, revealing what looked like a large durahan. A cape was draped over the creature's broad shoulders. A thick and deadly broadsword sat at the end of the monster's left arm instead of a hand, while the right hand was replaced with a small shield with a hole in it's center. The entire body was covered in gold armor, and the searchers could hear the sounds of gears and other machinery working within the giant monster. Suddenly, the blackness of it's helmet was illuminated by two red eyes. "Now you pathetic fools must face the awesome power of.... The GATE GUARDIAN!!" "Targeting mode activated," the behemoth said, lifting it's shield arm to point at the searchers. "Target's acquired. Activate.... FUSION CANNON!!" With a mighty roar, a titanic blast of purple energy poured forth from the hole in the shield. The searchers barely had time to move out of the way as the powerful energy beam crashed into the wall behind them. In it's wake the beam left nothing but holes, completely obliterating the stone of the walls as far as the searchers could see. "Geez," Genki said, unable to believe the power of the fusion cannon. "Isn't he great. He's been programmed to completely obliterate anyone who trespasses in these catacombs," Captain Black Worm cackled. "There's only one way out of this maze, boys, and it goes right through him." All the black worms began to cackle, oblivious to the fact that the robotic giant's gaze had fallen on them. "Targets acquired," Gate Guardian's voice once more boomed as his cannon trained on the worm hybrids. Too late, Captain Black Worm realized the danger he and his troops were in. "No, waitaminute, we're on your side!" "Mission objective: Eliminate all creatures found in maze," the robotic durahan stated. "FUSION CANNON!" Once more the energy poured forth from the cannon, this time obliterating the worms as well as taking out a chunk of the ground they'd been standing on. That task complete, the red eyes once more turned to the searchers. "SPLIT UP!!" Hare called. The searchers immediately split into eight different directions as Gate Guardian leveled his cannon again. "If he keeps firing that blasted cannon, he'd gonna collapse this whole place," Gray Wolf said. "Then he must not fire," Golem said, grabbing the monster's cannon arm and pointing it skyward. "Warning. Proximity alert. Switching to close range combat." The durahan's sword arm came down like a sledgehammer, knocking the golem purebred away. The sword's point slowly leveled to Golem's chest, ready to punch right through Golem's rocky hide. Suddenly, a pink tongue wrapped around the robotic monster's wrist as Mocchi slammed into the gate guardian's face. "Okay you walking pile of junk, let's see how you like my LIGHTNING!!" Silver energy raced once around Gray Wolf's horns before flying to it's target. "Energy attack analysis: negligible. This unit was shielded against electric attacks." "Oh yeah, let's see how shielded you are against fire," Hare said as he jumped into the air. "DRAGON KICK." Hare's body accelerated forward as flames sprouted around his outstretched foot. Before his attack could hit, however, the gate guardian's shield arm swept forward to block the attack. The rabbit fell to the ground clutching his injured foot as Gate Guardian raised his sword to cleave the hapless hare in two. Golem had other ideas, however, grasping the sword as he began to grapple with the deadly droid. For a few minute, rock and robot seemed equally matched in strength, but it soon became obvious steel was superior to stone. Golem was sent flying backward as the searchers regrouped for a new attack. "This sticks. We might as well be fighting a wall," Genki said. "Then let's move the wall," Pink Eye said. "What?" "If you guys can keep him occupied, I can use my teleport and get him away from that exit. Then we all run like mad. We should have an easier time with him once he's outside." "Okay, I think we have a plan. Let's do it." Quickly, the searchers once more broke up, preparing their attacks. Golem was first, using his rolling attack to slam into the machine monster. Predictably, Gate Guardian swatted the boulder away, but it was only to be assaulted by both Hare and Gray Wolf. The two monsters used their speed effectively as Genki clamped onto the monster's head, covering his red eyes to further disorient the baddy. "Pink Eye... NOW!!" Pink Eye hopped onto Gate Guardian's shoulder, concentrating on his attack. "Okay big guy, defend against this... TELEPORT!!" Both Gate Guardian and Pink Eye disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the room. As soon as that was done, Joshua grabbed his rose-colored friend. "GO!" The searcher's took off down the now exposed tunnel, but their lead was cut short as Gate Guardian gave a strong, grating pursuit. "Geeze, he's still coming," Genki said as he skated. "Relax, that's part of the plan. All we have to do is make it out of this cramped corridor," Hare said. Suddenly, a claw flew past the searchers, barely missing them as it grabbed a rock to the side of them and began to fly backwards. "Don't look now guys, but you-know-who's got some sort of capture claw in his chest," Joshua said as he watched Gate Guardian's sword slice through the boulder. Once more the claw fired. This time it clamped onto Mocchi. "Help me!" Mocchi cried as he was pulled back towards to pursuing baddy. "Mocchi!" Genki said as he turned around to try to save his friend and partner. Pink Eye jumped back word only to find himself in the clutches of a second claw. The two screamed as the claws tightened around them, threatening to crush the two monsters. "NO! I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!!" Golem cried, his eyes glowing a familiar white light. "Uh oh, Golem's gone into Enigma mode," Genki said as he watched his rocky friend charge forward. Golem ripped the claws out of Gate Guardian's chest, releasing a battered Mocchi and Pink Eye. The crazed rock monster continued forward to attack the durahan hybrid, only to feel the bite of the sword cut through his chest. A deep cut was left behind from the sword's strike as the shield was rammed into Golem's jaw like a battering ram, knocking the rock giant to the ground. Golem soon found himself staring down the barrel of Gate Guardian's gun. "FUSION CANNON!!" As the durahan/hengar prepared to deliver the final blow with his fusion cannon, Pink Eye materialized beside Golem. "TELEPORT!!" The duo disappeared, reappearing a few feet away, the most the injured eyeball could manage. "Your efforts are a waste. You are too weak to fend off my attacks," Gate Guardian said as he once more took aim. "Subjects: terminated." "NOOOO!!!!" Genki yelled. Suddenly, energy welled up from within the boy as he floated into the air. The energy began flowing from his body to both Pink Eye and Golem, surround and permeating them as they were wrapped in cocoons of pure white energy. The cocoons soon merged into one as Genki once more fell to the ground unconscious. The energy glow faded and standing where it had been was a titan. Unlike normal titans, however, this one possessed pink eyes. "Warning: structure of enemies drastically altered," Gate Guardian said. "FUSION CANNON!" Before the laser could fire, however, Titan grabbed the outstretched arm and crushed the cannon. With nowhere to go, the energy blast completely destroyed both shield and gun, reducing them to a useless club. Gate Guardian's sword rose into the air, only to be caught by one of Titan's hands. "TWIN EYE BEAM!!" Titan yelled in a voice that was both Golem's and Pink Eye's. Pink lasers flew forth from his eyes, blasting Gate Guardian back several feet. "Now I will end this." "I am the Gate Guardian, the ultimate defender, no monster has the power to defeat me," Gate Guardian said. "I am not a monster, I am two. And now..." "TWISTER ATTACK!" came Golem's voice alone. "EYEBEAM!" Pink Eye sounded off. "PSY-CLONE!!" finished Titan. His yellow and brown body broke into pieces, each glowing with a strong pink aura. The boulders began twisting around and around as a tornado picked them up, forming pink circles as the tornado slammed into Gate Guardian. Trapped in the storm's center by the rings of energy, the durahan hybrid could do nothing but feel it as the boulders ripped into him. When the attack ended, Gate Guardian was left lying on the ground, wiring sparking and falling all over the robot's ruined body. "Structural integrity severely compromised. Initiating self destruct program." Gate Guardian's eyes transformed into two number fives. The numbers began to count down. "He's gonna explode!" Mocchi wailed. "There's not enough time to get out of here," Gray Wolf said. "Yes, there is," Titan said as he gathered his friends in his arms. It was a tight fit but soon they were all in his grip. "Now... TELEPORT!!" The searchers all disappeared just as the counter hit zero. The roar was deafening as the baddy exploded, taking the entire cavern with him.
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Meanwhile, outside the maze, Titan and his friends rematerialized, just as Genki began to regain consciousness. The boy gazed up at the yellow giant that now towered over him. "What... What happened?" "You performed another fusion," Monol said. As if on cue, Titan began to glow, separating once more into his two composite monsters, both at full health. "And just like your last one, this performed it's job admirably." "At least we're out of that lousy maze," Pink Eye said. "Hey kid you okay?" "I'm fine, just a little tired," Genki replied. "Excellent. Now we can at least continue searching for the Phoenix," Hare said. "What about you, Monol?" "My purpose is my story. I must spread my story as far as I can," Monol said as he turned to leave. "But I wish you good luck my friends." With that Monol was gone, leaving the searchers to continue their mission.
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Gate Guardian (Durahan/Hengar) - A marvel of ancient technology, this monster has a reputation for being the ultimate guard. While his shield is fundamentally useless, it houses the main weapon, the awesome fusion cannon.
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Over the course of this story, we have seen monsters and human's commit evil for a variety of reasons, some understandable, others not at all. Next time, however, you the reader will be introduced to the very definition of evil, as the searchers are confronted with evil unlike anything they've faced before in "Sympathy For the Devil." This is a warning, this next chapter may be too intense for some readers, and will earn the rating of this series.
Disclaimer: Sorry about being so long with this chapter, it's just I haven't had a lot of time to work on it. Well after a long long silence, I finally present to you the next chapter of When Destiny Calls. Now let's get one with the boring stuff. I do not own Monster Rancher, nor do I own any of the characters from the series. Tecmo owns them. As to the new characters and monsters, yes I do own them, so if you want them to be guest characters in your fanfiction, you've got to ask me first. Also, I have never played any of the monster rancher games; so all the information I have to go on is the anime. That said, you'll understand if I take certain liberties with the rules of the monster rancher universe.
Author's Note: And Melodi Hare scores again with her guess of the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock. I would have also accepted the Dozers from the same show, but I guess it'd be too much for them to be remembered.
Summary: Trapped under a mountain, the searchers must solve an ancient maze if they expect to make it out alive. But guarding the exit is a powerful baddy, and in such a tight spot, speed is just not gonna cut it.
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"Two heads are better than one." -Unknown
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Once more the sun shone brightly on the white sand that comprised the castle of the baddy general known as Gali. The golden masked monster floated almost serenely through his lush garden, a large watering can and a pair of pruning scissors floating on tendrils of golden energy behind him. Quietly, the powerful villain worked on his plants, caring and tending to them as though they were his children, which might have been close to the truth. Suddenly, a single weed catches Gali's unmoving eyes. A thin beam of golden energy left the masked monster's cape and the weed was burned away by fantastic heat. Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared behind Gali, it's eyes shining blue even in the light of day. "Do you have a purpose here Joker?" Gali said without even bothering to turn to acknowledge his underling. "Your garden looks beautiful, Master Gali," Joker said, his hand cupping a red rose sitting on a thriving book. "A pity beauty so often lacks substance to maintain itself." "Get to the point clown, and remove your hand from my roses!" Joker did as he was told, though only half-heartedly. "I suppose you have heard of Eclipse's 'tragic' demise. Such a pity, he looked so promising," Joker said. "But one must not dwell on the past. Now I suppose you will send your ever faithful nightmare soldier to deal with these... rebels." "I forbade you from attacking the searchers already, clown, and that order still stands. The searchers have entered the underground labyrinth. They shall not escape from that torturous maze," said the holy monster as he began to depart his plants. "Now, leave my garden and never darken it again, you cause too many plants to die." "Yes my liege," Joker said as he watched the masked monster disappear into his castle. Once more, a gauntlet-clad hand reached down to the roses, dark energy shimmering around it. Suddenly, the rose bush shifted its shape, becoming a small gray and black mocchi type with blue eyes. "Ah ah ah, jokester, his high and mightiness Lord Daemon didn't place you here to kill off flowers," Hell Pierot said as he danced around the floating executioner. "Pest! What are you doing here?!" "Lord Daemon needed reassurance that you're still on the job. He's a bit concerned you're more interested in Moo's big reward than your lord's ultimate plans." "Tell Daemon he need not worry, twit. I know my duty and I will see it done. Now be gone before Gali senses your presence." "Tootles dead head. You just remember, Daemon ain't too likely to forgive screw ups." With those words, the mocchi/joker hybrid disappeared in a puff of smoke, followed closely by Joker.
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"It's a maze!" the group said in unison as they stared at the forbidding walls of the structure that stood before them. "And a most daunting maze it is my friends," came a voice that startled the searchers. Each turned around, ready for any attack that might come at them, but instead found themselves staring at a floating slab of blackest onix. "Monol-chi," Mocchi said, smiling at their faceless friend, sure that he if could, Monol would be smiling back. "Monol, it's good to see you again," Genki said. "What are you doing down here?" "I was traveling through the territory and heard of this supposed shortcut. With time being so short in supply, I thought it would be wise to make it to do whatever I could to cut down on travel time between the free villages. Unfortunately, I had not counted on this most daunting obstacle," Monol explained. "How long have you been here?" There was no answer as Monol had fallen asleep on them, as evidenced by the giant bubble coming from his body. Mocchi poked the bubble cautiously, only to watch it explode, waking the slumbering monster. "Hmm? What?" Monol asked. "I asked how long you've been here," Joshua repeated. "About a week. Each time I try to enter that horror, I get so turned around that I can barely find my way back. When I heard the explosion, I thought baddies were coming and hid." "A baddy was there, a ragnorak by the name of Eclipse," Genki said. "Yeah but Hare and Gray Wolf took that slimy lizard down when they merged into that freaky hare hound," Pink Eye said. "Merged?" Monol asked, clearly confused. "Yeah, we'll tell you about it as we go," Genki said as he prepared to enter the maze, only to feel it as Joshua grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Woah there. Didn't you hear Monol? This thing's not easy, and I really don't think being lost for weeks would help our cause." "You don't have anything to worry about," Genki proclaimed. "We have a secret weapon... Gray Wolf!" "If there's a way out of this maze, I'll be able to sniff it out faster than anyone," the silver lupine crowed. "Just leave it to me." "And I'm an expert at mazes. I used to be president of my school's maze club back home," Genki stated. That's when the boy noticed Golem. The rock giant was standing in front of the maze's entrance, not moving a chiseled muscle as he stared at the entrance. "Golem? Is something wrong?" "It's nothing... at least nothing I can put a name to. It's a feeling... I don't know," Golem said. "Ah it's probably nothing, rocky," Pink Eye said as he bounded up to his stony compatriot. "Don't worry Golem," Genki said. "We'll be in and out in an hour, tops. Let's go!" And so, with Gray Wolf leading the way, his nose to the ground, the searchers and their ally Monol enter the maze. Every time the group came to a fork in the path, Gray Wolf took another sniff of the ground, directing them down the path. Such was the action the searchers took for an hour, before Gray Wolf suddenly stopped in his tracks, sniffing all over. "Something wrong wolf?" Pink Eye asked. "This is impossible," the silver lupine said. "What is?" "The scent... I keep picking up our scent... but that's impossible." "Sounds to me like you've been leading us around in a circle," Hare said. "I HAVE NOT! It's not possible," Gray Wolf said, sniffing the ground again. "Why's that?" Genki asked, leaning over to try to see what Gray Wolf was talking about. "Because, the scent is there and then it isn't." "But that's impossible." "I know." Gray Wolf turned back to Hare. Gray Wolf took off like a shot, the searchers hot on his heels as he continued moving through the maze before stopping again. The silver wolf cursed and changed directions, trying desperately to find the right path. Finally, the group stopped and fell to the ground, exhausted from all the running around. "I don't think this is working Gray Wolf," Hare said, looking around the walls. "Any ideas rabbit?" "None that are plausible..." "Maybe..." Golem began. "What is it Golem?" Genki asked. "No, it's nothing," the rock giant said. "In case you haven't noticed, big guy, we aren't exactly flush with ideas, so anything you can give us might help," Pink Eye said as he hopped onto the rocky one's shoulder. "I've been hearing... grinding. Like at a mill. Could that have something to do with our problem?" "Grinding? Golem I think you may be..." "There it is again," Golem cried, interrupting Hare before the lapine could finish. The searchers that could, all put their hands to their ears to hear better. Sure enough, the faint sound of the scraping of metal on metal could be heard. "It sounds like... gears?" Genki said, disbelief in his voice. "I don't believe it." "What is it Genki?" "Back home, there was an amusement park with an attraction called the endless maze. They used a bunch of machines to change the way the maze looked while you were inside. Every time the walls began to move into different places, there was the sound of gears moving. I think that's what's happening now." "How are we supposed to solve this thing then?" "Well, if this maze is gonna cheat, I say we do some cheatin' of our own," Gray Wolf said. "Golem, bust us a way through this trap." "No!" Monol cried. "You mustn't do that!" "Why?" the others asked. "I tried that at one wall, and roof tried to cave in on me. Apparently, the walls of this labyrinth also support the roof of this cavern," the black slab of a monster said. That was when Hare began to rummage through his travel bag, finally producing a rather large ball of very bright yarn. "What are you doing Hare?" Gray Wolf asked, a bit annoyed that the rabbit had apparently decided to catch up on his knitting. "Since you're obviously incapable of pointing us in the right direction, I'm gonna try to keep us from getting turned around," Hare said as he tied one end of the yarn to an outcropping on the wall. The group continued on their way, with Gray Wolf still in the lead trying his best to find the correct path. Every time they came across Hare's yarn, they turned back and chose another path. "Monol, I've been meaning to ask you something," Genki said as he slowed down to walk with his wizened friend. "During our battle with Eclipse, something really weird happened." "I'm not an expert on 'really weird' things, but I will answer any questions in my power," the slab of obsidian stated. "Eclipse tried to kill both Hare and Gray Wolf, and well, I didn't want him to do that." "Of course." "Suddenly, I felt really weak, like all the energy was just drained out of me and I blacked out," the boy continued. "I opened my eyes and there was a hare hound battling Eclipse. It didn't look like any hare hound I'd seen before, but it just walked all over Eclipse like he was nothing... Then, when the cave was caving in, the hare hound jumped inside and split back into Hare and Gray Wolf." "Most interesting," Monol replied. "The closest I can identify it as is some sort of temporary combining, like when two monsters are merged permanently to make a new one. But that requires a shrine... and it never just... wears off," Genki finished. For a few minutes, Monol floated along in complete silence, as though he had not heard a word of Genki's story. Genki was about to knock on the monster's front and see if he was still awake when the storyteller finally did speak. "I have heard of the technique you witnessed, though I have never actually seen it," Monol began. "It is called Fusion; the temporary joining of two monsters of equal strength and ability to form a single warrior that is twice as strong. It was a technique created during the war against Moo, but very few trainers had the ability to use it, and those that did seldom did." "Why?" asked Hare, who had gotten interested in listening to just what had happened to him a few hours before. "The human who activates the fusion becomes the weak link of the super monster... Get rid of him, and you kill both the monsters used to make the fusion. And since proximity is required for the technique to work, the chances of the human getting killed were very good. The vast amount of energy needed for the fusion to work often would leave a trainer too weak to defend themselves, and even the good trainers didn't want to place their monsters at such a risk." "Wow," Pink Eye said. "But from what I saw, the fusion monster really doesn't have a lot of problem handling any foe." "What you witnessed was a fusion monster going up against a single opponent who no doubt had no idea what he was up against or how to handle it. Had there been a flight of ragnorak trained in how to deal with a fusion, Genki would be dead and your friends would now be lost disks," Monol concluded. "So, will I always feel so weak?" Genki asked. "In truth... no. The technique is like a muscle, the more it is used, the easier it is to bare. Unfortunately, with the war going on, there was little time for such preparations for a single warrior, no matter how strong. I will say this; the stronger the monsters you fuse Genki, the more energy it will require." "But how can I have the ability to use this technique, I'm not even FROM this world?" Genki asked. "If I knew the answer to that, I would not hesitate to tell you... Sufficed to say, I no longer believe you were summoned here for the sole purpose of unlocking your mocchi." "WHAT THE (*#(*$!!" Gray Wolf yelled from up front, his fur standing on end. The other searchers turned to see what had riled up the silver wolf this time, but nothing was in front of them. "Gray Wolf, is something wrong?" Joshua asked as he walked up to his friend. "I ran across a patch of our scent, but there was no yarn. It's too fresh to have been made before Hare used that yarn so I looked around and look what I found." The tiger hybrid pointed to a section of wall. There, almost invisible to the naked eye was a seam that went straight down and jutting out of that seam was a small length of yarn. "Looks like your yarn snapped," Joshua told Hare, only to move aside as Pink Eye examined the end of yarn. "Snapped nothing, this has been cut," the suezo/pixie declared. "Guys, I don't think we're alone here." "What was your first guess?" Came a voice as seven black worms came charging. "We're the runners of the maze, it's our job to make sure it remains free of filth like you! POISON STING!!" The ebony worms jumped into the air, firing the deadly stingers from their tails. Golem and Monol ran interference, allowing the poisoned spikes to bounce harmlessly off their hard skin. "LIGHTNING!!" Gray Wolf yelled, sending a like of electric energy bouncing off the walls and towards the black worms. Suddenly, one of the slime covered baddies grabbed pole that jutted from the wall. "If you think the maze was difficult before, try this on for size!" The worm said as a very loud grinding sound came to the searchers ears. That was when the walls began to turn wildly, scooping up Golem, Pink Eye, Joshua, and Mocchi as another wall scooped up Monol, Genki, Hare, and Gray Wolf, gruffly depositing them on separate sides of the previous corridor. Once again the walls shifted, further separating the searchers and depositing them in different areas of the maze. "What happened?" a scared Mocchi asked of the large human standing by his side. "It would appear those baddies have succeeded in sending us to different parts of the maze... A most cunning strategy..." "Where's Genki?" Mocchi whined, looking around at what he could see of the maze. "I'm afraid I couldn't answer that, Mocch. But, he and the others are no doubt searching for us as we speak, and I suggest we do the same," Joshua concluded. "No," Mocchi said, sitting down on the ground. "Genki said whenever I get lost to just stay where I am until he finds me." "Sound advice under normal circumstances, kiddo. But I'm afraid this is anything but normal. There is a very good chance our friends will be unable to find us. Our best bet is to come to the end of the maze, where they're more likely to end up." With those words, Joshua pulled the still reluctant mocchi to his feet. "Don't worry, we'll find them." "I hope so," Mocchi said as the two started down the path.
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Elsewhere in the maze, Hare and Gray Wolf had turned up in a chamber of some kind. In the center of three of the room's walls were doors leading back into the maze, a situation further complicated by the fact that one could easily send the rabbit and wolf back to the maze's beginning. Immediately, Gray Wolf began sniffing the air, hoping against the odds that there was something, ANYthing he could use to guide them down the right path. "Got anything?" Hare asked as he searched the room, hoping to find some clue as to which door to take. "There's a very feint black worm scent in the air... coming from those two doors," Gray Wolf said, pointing to the two doors closest to them. "Unfortunately, the scent's so old I can't tell the direction it goes." "Then that leaves us with only one option... the never fail path finding method handed down from generation to generation in my family," Hare said. "Wait a minute rabbit, the last thing I want is to be lost in this maze just because you wanna try one of your ridiculous ideas," Gray Wolf said. "For your information, oh great sniffer of scents, this little trick comes all the way from my great great great grandfather on my mother's side. It's an incredibly ancient technique that has never, NEVER failed to point lost travelers in the right direction." "Fine, I just hope it's not having an off-day," Gray Wolf countered. Hare walked forward between the two doors as his silver companion stared intently, watching the rabbit's every move. *After all, if this really is some sort of super path finding technique, I'd be a fool not to try an learn it.* Hare stretched out an arm, pointing to one of the doors as his eyes closed. His mouth opened and Gray Wolf prepared to listen to every word said. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," Hare chanted as he moved his finger between the two doors on every syllable. For his part, Gray Wolf had fallen to the ground, unable to process the sheer ludicrousness of what the rabbit was suggesting as he continued, "Catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go, eeny, meeny, miny, MOE!" "THAT'S YOUR GENERATIONS OLD TECHNIQUE TO FIND OUR LOST PATH?!?!" the lupine yelled as Hare continued to point at the middle door he'd stopped on. "And as I've said, it has never failed me," came hare's reply as he started off down the passage. For a moment, it looked as though Gray Wolf was going to say something more, but instead he decided to follow the hare monster. *I need to cultivate a saner group of friends," he thought.
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"Hello!!" Genki yelled as he traveled down the passages, Monol floating almost serenely behind him. All the boy got in response to his call was his own echo bouncing off the walls. "Mocchi! Joshua! ANYBODY!!!" "It would appear we have been separated from our friends," Monol said. "Thank you Mr. Obvious," Genki quipped. The two wandered through the twists and turns of the labyrinth, listening intently for any sign of the others and occasionally calling out in case the others were doing the same. Soon, the two came to a dead-end room, in which sat a grisly sight. Neatly arranged in several alcoves in the rooms walls were bones, human bones complete with skulls and every thing else. Rats climbed all over the remains, carrying food and the like here and there. Some of the skeletons still possessed bits of clothing that were covered in a very thick layer of dust. Genki approached on of the corpses, a peculiar one with a dried, brown fedora on its skull. Pieces of brown leather and a bull whip adorned the rest of the body as well, and it's arms were crossed over a jewel encrusted golden cross. Above the alcove was the resident's name, which had been eroded away by the centuries. Genki could still make out the initials though, a capital "I" and a capital "J". "What is this place?" the boy asked Monol. "Apparently, this is some sort of crypt used by whoever owned this land to bury their dead." Monol moved closer to investigate the walls. "Strange, someone appears to have etched something in this brick." "Let me see," Genki said, moving over to his flat friend. Indeed there was something written in the smooth stone. "Every Evening the Sun Sets," Genki read aloud. "True, even if it is common knowledge," Monol remarked. "This has got to mean something..." "It might be directions," Monol said. "What?" "A similar trick was used in the vaults of King Midor long ago. The vaults were so extensive, it was easy to get lost in them, so each room had some simple directions to lead the unfortunate human back to the entrance. But King Midor was so paranoid, he made the directions into sentences with the first letters of the words standing for a direction." "So that means their could be telling us to go east, east, south, and then south?" Genki said in a tone that was showing how irritated he was getting at their situation.. "Great, now all we need is a compass and we're all set to go hiking. Monol, what are we... Monol?" Genki turned to see the obelisk-like monster was floating horizontally in the air, spinning slowly until his body was pointing at the wall Genki had read the inscription off of. Slowly, the slab-like monster floated towards the wall. "This is north," Monol pronounced. "Which means once we leave this room..." "We need to take the eastern passage," Genki concluded. "I just hope wherever these directions take us, we meet up with our friends again." "Yes, but let there also be more instructions, lest we remain lost forever."
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"Nope, it's no use, I can't sense anything," Pink Eye said to his rocky companion. The suezo hybrid stood in front of Golem, his eye closed as he tried to sense the minds of there friends. "That means their either out of range or unconscious." "Then where does that leave us?" Golem asked. "My guess is we try to complete the maze and get to the end. Then, I can teleport freely through the whole thing and try to find them," Pink Eye answered. "But first we must find the way." With those words Golem began walking trough the corridors, slowly and methodically. "Uh, big guy, not that I'm doubting your sense of direction, but how do you know where to go?" "Feelings... Genki had a phrase for it... a 'belly feeling.'" "Eh?" Pink Eye asked. "I'm following my belly, and it tells me where to go." "Riiiight," a skeptical Pink Eye said. "Not to say anything bad about gut, but what does it know about mazes?" "Nothing," Golem replied, continuing on as though Pink Eye had said nothing. Suddenly, the two entered a long room. The instant they entered the room, the doors at both ends slammed shut. "I don't like the looks of this Golem." Suddenly, a very loud grinding could be heard as ancient gears were set into motion. Immediately, the walls of the room began to move, closer and closer to the two adventurers. "Cripes somebody's tryin' ta turn us inta pancakes!!!" Pink Eye screamed. Golem quickly slammed against one of the walls hoping to stop it. The walls though continued to push forward, slowly sliding Golem along until his other hand was able to touch the opposite wall. The trap stopped, but it was evident from the grinding noise being made that the only thing that kept the two monsters from being crushed was Golem's outstretched hands. Frantically, Pink Eye searched the doors for some lever or button that would stop the trap. Finding none, Pink Eye hopped back and began to power up an attack. "EYEBEAM!!" Pink Eye yelled as a blast of pink tinted energy flew from his eye and slammed into the door. For thirty full seconds the pink suezo kept up the assault as Golem struggled to hold back the walls. The door crumbled under the power of the suezo hybrid's attack. Quickly Pink Eye raced through the open portal. "Golem, come on!" "I am right behind you," Golem said, letting go of the walls. The stone giant raced to the door as the path became narrower and narrower, scraping his broad shoulders as he barely made it out. The instant the room became empty, the walls began to quickly slid back into their normal positions as the other door once more opened. "Looks like someone was really serious about keeping salesmen out," Pink Eye quipped. "Well I hope this is the right way, 'cause there ain't no way I'm going back through that room." "It probably is," Golem replied, once more continuing to plod forward at his slow but steady pace. Despite his companion's lack of speed, Pink Eye found himself have to move pretty fast to keep up with the rock giant's large paces. "What makes ya say that?" "Why make the wrong way a hazardous one."
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Joshua and Mocchi had been walking for what felt like hours through the maze of corridors, trying in vain to find their way through the obstacle. "How much farther?" a tired Mocchi asked his larger friend. "I don't know," Joshua said flatly as he moved along, not really listening to the youngest searcher. Instead, his attention was focused on elsewhere. Mocchi seemed to sense this, and he didn't like it one bit. Whenever the grownups needed to pay that much attention to something, it almost always meant trouble. The little monster quieted down and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to catch whatever Joshua was listening to. Soon he heard it, a tiny scratching sound. They were being followed. Mocchi gulped as his mind processed this new information, and he moved closer to Joshua. That was when the walls once more groaned whole sections of the formerly sparse corridor twirled around to reveal... "The black worms!!" Mocchi yelled, jumping into the defensive position Genki had taught him as Joshua drew his dagger and prepared for the attack. "Well well well, look what we found," the head black worm said. "I suggest you surrender now, human, Master Moo would very much like all of you searchers alive so he can... question you personally." "I don't think so," Joshua countered. "No way chi!" Mocchi sprang into action, using his rolling attack to try to scatter the worms. The worm/monol hybrids bounced out of the way, just as Joshua struck with his dagger. Unfortunately, the worms moved so fast the blade of the dagger could not find it's mark, simply bouncing off the obsidian coated shells of the deadly ebony worms. Unwilling to allow the two searchers to be the only ones to go on the attack, firing their ballistic poison stingers. Mocchi and Joshua quickly moved to get out of the way of the onslaught of barbs. Suddenly, both monster and human fell into a sticky web of silken string. As soon as their bodies touched the white strands, a gas began to escape from the webbing. Soon the two searchers were hacking and coughing as the sleeping affects of the gas began to take effect. "Ha ha, you've fallen into our dream web," the lead black worm gloated as Mocchi felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier. Soon, all was darkness.
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"Hare, do you hear something?" Gray Wolf asked as the two monster continued down the maze of corridors. "Nah, you're just being your usual paranoid self," Hare said as he walked, his hands folded behind his head. "And you're being your usual careless self. For all you know, this whole maze is probably crawling with baddies." "We already know this place has baddies in it," Hare said, "so there's no point worrying needlessly over something we already know." Suddenly, Gray Wolf tackled Hare, knocking him to the ground. "What was that for!?!" "You were so busy not worrying, you didn't see where you were going, rabbit," Gray Wolf said as he pointed at the floor of the room they'd been about to enter. It was covered in tiles with roses, crowns, skulls and crossbones, scythes, and doves engraved on them. "Gee, what are the odds the floor is safe to cross?" Hare asked, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Maybe I should have let you keep walking, then we'd have a definite answer." "Har har har. I have a better way of testing this." Hare picked up a small pebble from the ground and tossed it onto one of the tiles with a dove on it. Suddenly, the air in the room was filled with several deadly looking needles. Then, just as quickly as the needles had appeared, the needles stopped. "Well, I guess that answers that question." "So how do we get across the room?" Hare reached down for more pebbles. "We'll just have to use trial and error." So saying, Hare tossed more pebbles onto the tiles, taking careful note of each tile that did not trigger the hail of needles. In the end, a trail of tiles could be seen leading through the room. Three rose tiles moving diagonally across the room, followed by a scythe tile, then a crown tile, a dove tile, and finally the skull and crossbones. Carefully, Gray Wolf began to cross the room, ready to use his sonic move attack to escape the room. "Looks like trial and error worked," Gray Wolf said as he made it across the room. "Okay Hare, get over here." Hare complied actually hopscotching across the room as he did so, singing a short rhyme. "Three roses laid upon a bower, a scythe to thee who cuts the flower, a crown, a dove most noble race, thy bones make sacred this dread place." "Where did that come from?" "Not sure, it just seemed appropri..." Hare suddenly fell over, and Gray would could see a long dark thorn sticking out of the rabbit's back. Suddenly, the silver lupine felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked to find an identical barb sticking out of his skin. Already his legs began to collapse as the barb took affect. With a thud Gray Wolf fell to the ground as two black worms landed in front of him. "Don't worry wolfie," one of the black worms said. "The master wants you searchers alive, so we coated our stingers with a sedative instead of poison." The worms approached the fallen warriors, and Gray Wolf snapped at them. "Ah, still some life in ya boy, well that won't last long. The more you struggle, the quicker the chemical takes affect." "Stupid Hare... I... told... him... we were being... follow......."
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Elsewhere, Genki and Monol were busy searching for more inscriptions and directions, hunting for a way out of the maze. All around them the bones of people long dead lay in alcoves along the walls, creating a truly eerie feel to the whole maze. Every so often, Monol performed his compass trick to get their bearings, but that did not full dissuade Genki's fears that they might be lost. "So, do you think we're any closer to the end of the maze Monol?" "I wouldn't know. As far as I can tell, no one has been down way in ages," Monol said as he broke through a cluster of webs and dust. "No one tall anyway saps," came a voice behind them. The duo turned to find five black worms crawling up to them at high speed. They jumped to the side to avoid the stampede as the worms continued to attack. "STICKY THREAD!!" the worms yelled in unison as white thread filled the air, drastically cutting off maneuvering room for both Genki and Monol. The black worms' smaller bodies, however, were unaffected by the smaller spaces. Three of worm/monol monsters leapt and weaved through the webs, firing off their stingers as they did so, and forcing the two searchers dodge the small projectiles as the other two baddies continued using their sticky thread attack to further cut down on the space. With no more room to move, Genki found himself staring at a hail of flying stingers from the offending black worms. "POISON...."
"TELEPORT!!" Came a call that interrupted the lethal storm. Right next to Genki, the familiar pink form of Pink Eye appeared, his tongue wrapping around the boy's arm. "TELEPORT!!" Monster and human disappeared just as the worm's flying stingers hit the space they had formerly occupied. "ROLLER ATTACK!!" Golem cried as he barreled through the webs like a boulder. Black worms went flying in every direction as the rocky giant came rolling through. Pink Eye quickly followed up on his friend's attack with a barrage of teleporting tail attacks. Monol joined the attack as well, using his body to press several black worms into the stone walls. Genki too attacked, using kicks and punches to keep the worm hybrids' mouths closed and contain their webbing. "Retreat!" called one of the black worms, and immediately the baddies began to roll up and flee the battle. "Golem, stop one of 'em!" Pink Eye said. The rock monster was quick to react, slamming his open hand down on one of the runners. The hapless creature was squashed almost flat by Golem's hand. Pink Eye used his tongue to grab a long strand of the webbing the black worms had been using. "Genki, I need your hands over here if you don't mind." Genki obeyed, curious as to what plan the rose colored monster was using. Pink Eye instructed Genki to loop the silk around the helpless black worm like a lariat. That done, Pink Eye handed the end of the string to Golem. "Okay Rocky, you can let him up now." Golem gently lifted his hand from the still groggy baddy as Pink Eye jumped onto the rock monster's shoulder. "Okay my little friend, you're gonna lead us out of this worthless maze and you're gonna do it quickly." "Ha," came the black worm's reply. "You're dumber than you look, eyeball. What in the world makes you think I'm gonna help you?" "That thread around your neck for one thing. It set right between two of your armor segments, so there's nothing protecting you from it. If you don't help us, or you try to scurry away, my friend Golem here will yank on your new leash." "I will n..." Golem began to protest, only to be stopped by Pink Eye. "I know that and you know that, but worm-boy there doesn't need to know that," Pink Eye explained. "This is what's known in the trade as a bluff. All you haveta do is look like you'll do it." "I suppose I could do that." "All right then." Pink Eye turned back to the ebony monster. "Okay dirt-eater, I suggest you get moving. My friend here isn't known for his patience."
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"Well well well, the big bad searchers, all trussed up like helpless little lambs," Captain Black Worm said. "I knew we'd have no problem out maneuvering you losers in this maze." Before the helmet wearing black worm, Hare, Gray Wolf, Mocchi, and Joshua hung suspended from the ceiling, trapped in cocoons of white silk. "Mmph, hmph mmmph mmph mph," Gray Wolf yelled, struggling against the silk that held his mouth shut. "I'm sure that was some particularly foul litany for our benefit, but I really don't have time to listen to such drivel," Captain Black Worm retorted. "Sir," one of the black worms interrupted, pointing at Joshua. "This is not the human Master Moo wants." "Then he's as worthless as the monsters," Captain Black Worm said. "And all worthless things deserve to be eliminated." At those words, the other black worms lined up, arching their backs as they raised their stingers over their heads, aiming directly at the bound searchers. "Ready men! Aim! FI... ARGH!!" Captain Black Worm yelled as a wheel-clad foot slammed into his side, sending him tumbling into a wall. At the same time a thick column of rock slammed into the lined up black worms' exposed underside, knocking the wind from their lungs. Meanwhile, a spinning obsidian slab cut through the silk strands that suspended each of the searchers from the ceiling. Pink Eye stood off to the side, his long pink tongue wrapped around the beak of their captive black worm, keeping him quiet until his teammates' tasks were completed. Genki, Golem, and Monol returned to their ocular ally while the four formerly captive searchers also got to their feet. "Bet you didn't expect to see us, huh guys?" Genki said, blowing a raspberry at the ebony worms. "Impudent whelp. We will make you suffer for daring to challenge us!!" "Ha, you black worms fight using tricks and cowardice. That's the only reason you caught us. Now that we're together, you slime suckers are toast!" Gray Wolf snarled. "We may not be a match for you, but you don't seriously think we're the only ones set to guard this place." Captain Black Worm scurried over to the far wall, grabbing a lever that jutted out and pulling it down. A small section of the wall slowly slides upwards, revealing what looked like a large durahan. A cape was draped over the creature's broad shoulders. A thick and deadly broadsword sat at the end of the monster's left arm instead of a hand, while the right hand was replaced with a small shield with a hole in it's center. The entire body was covered in gold armor, and the searchers could hear the sounds of gears and other machinery working within the giant monster. Suddenly, the blackness of it's helmet was illuminated by two red eyes. "Now you pathetic fools must face the awesome power of.... The GATE GUARDIAN!!" "Targeting mode activated," the behemoth said, lifting it's shield arm to point at the searchers. "Target's acquired. Activate.... FUSION CANNON!!" With a mighty roar, a titanic blast of purple energy poured forth from the hole in the shield. The searchers barely had time to move out of the way as the powerful energy beam crashed into the wall behind them. In it's wake the beam left nothing but holes, completely obliterating the stone of the walls as far as the searchers could see. "Geez," Genki said, unable to believe the power of the fusion cannon. "Isn't he great. He's been programmed to completely obliterate anyone who trespasses in these catacombs," Captain Black Worm cackled. "There's only one way out of this maze, boys, and it goes right through him." All the black worms began to cackle, oblivious to the fact that the robotic giant's gaze had fallen on them. "Targets acquired," Gate Guardian's voice once more boomed as his cannon trained on the worm hybrids. Too late, Captain Black Worm realized the danger he and his troops were in. "No, waitaminute, we're on your side!" "Mission objective: Eliminate all creatures found in maze," the robotic durahan stated. "FUSION CANNON!" Once more the energy poured forth from the cannon, this time obliterating the worms as well as taking out a chunk of the ground they'd been standing on. That task complete, the red eyes once more turned to the searchers. "SPLIT UP!!" Hare called. The searchers immediately split into eight different directions as Gate Guardian leveled his cannon again. "If he keeps firing that blasted cannon, he'd gonna collapse this whole place," Gray Wolf said. "Then he must not fire," Golem said, grabbing the monster's cannon arm and pointing it skyward. "Warning. Proximity alert. Switching to close range combat." The durahan's sword arm came down like a sledgehammer, knocking the golem purebred away. The sword's point slowly leveled to Golem's chest, ready to punch right through Golem's rocky hide. Suddenly, a pink tongue wrapped around the robotic monster's wrist as Mocchi slammed into the gate guardian's face. "Okay you walking pile of junk, let's see how you like my LIGHTNING!!" Silver energy raced once around Gray Wolf's horns before flying to it's target. "Energy attack analysis: negligible. This unit was shielded against electric attacks." "Oh yeah, let's see how shielded you are against fire," Hare said as he jumped into the air. "DRAGON KICK." Hare's body accelerated forward as flames sprouted around his outstretched foot. Before his attack could hit, however, the gate guardian's shield arm swept forward to block the attack. The rabbit fell to the ground clutching his injured foot as Gate Guardian raised his sword to cleave the hapless hare in two. Golem had other ideas, however, grasping the sword as he began to grapple with the deadly droid. For a few minute, rock and robot seemed equally matched in strength, but it soon became obvious steel was superior to stone. Golem was sent flying backward as the searchers regrouped for a new attack. "This sticks. We might as well be fighting a wall," Genki said. "Then let's move the wall," Pink Eye said. "What?" "If you guys can keep him occupied, I can use my teleport and get him away from that exit. Then we all run like mad. We should have an easier time with him once he's outside." "Okay, I think we have a plan. Let's do it." Quickly, the searchers once more broke up, preparing their attacks. Golem was first, using his rolling attack to slam into the machine monster. Predictably, Gate Guardian swatted the boulder away, but it was only to be assaulted by both Hare and Gray Wolf. The two monsters used their speed effectively as Genki clamped onto the monster's head, covering his red eyes to further disorient the baddy. "Pink Eye... NOW!!" Pink Eye hopped onto Gate Guardian's shoulder, concentrating on his attack. "Okay big guy, defend against this... TELEPORT!!" Both Gate Guardian and Pink Eye disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the room. As soon as that was done, Joshua grabbed his rose-colored friend. "GO!" The searcher's took off down the now exposed tunnel, but their lead was cut short as Gate Guardian gave a strong, grating pursuit. "Geeze, he's still coming," Genki said as he skated. "Relax, that's part of the plan. All we have to do is make it out of this cramped corridor," Hare said. Suddenly, a claw flew past the searchers, barely missing them as it grabbed a rock to the side of them and began to fly backwards. "Don't look now guys, but you-know-who's got some sort of capture claw in his chest," Joshua said as he watched Gate Guardian's sword slice through the boulder. Once more the claw fired. This time it clamped onto Mocchi. "Help me!" Mocchi cried as he was pulled back towards to pursuing baddy. "Mocchi!" Genki said as he turned around to try to save his friend and partner. Pink Eye jumped back word only to find himself in the clutches of a second claw. The two screamed as the claws tightened around them, threatening to crush the two monsters. "NO! I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!!" Golem cried, his eyes glowing a familiar white light. "Uh oh, Golem's gone into Enigma mode," Genki said as he watched his rocky friend charge forward. Golem ripped the claws out of Gate Guardian's chest, releasing a battered Mocchi and Pink Eye. The crazed rock monster continued forward to attack the durahan hybrid, only to feel the bite of the sword cut through his chest. A deep cut was left behind from the sword's strike as the shield was rammed into Golem's jaw like a battering ram, knocking the rock giant to the ground. Golem soon found himself staring down the barrel of Gate Guardian's gun. "FUSION CANNON!!" As the durahan/hengar prepared to deliver the final blow with his fusion cannon, Pink Eye materialized beside Golem. "TELEPORT!!" The duo disappeared, reappearing a few feet away, the most the injured eyeball could manage. "Your efforts are a waste. You are too weak to fend off my attacks," Gate Guardian said as he once more took aim. "Subjects: terminated." "NOOOO!!!!" Genki yelled. Suddenly, energy welled up from within the boy as he floated into the air. The energy began flowing from his body to both Pink Eye and Golem, surround and permeating them as they were wrapped in cocoons of pure white energy. The cocoons soon merged into one as Genki once more fell to the ground unconscious. The energy glow faded and standing where it had been was a titan. Unlike normal titans, however, this one possessed pink eyes. "Warning: structure of enemies drastically altered," Gate Guardian said. "FUSION CANNON!" Before the laser could fire, however, Titan grabbed the outstretched arm and crushed the cannon. With nowhere to go, the energy blast completely destroyed both shield and gun, reducing them to a useless club. Gate Guardian's sword rose into the air, only to be caught by one of Titan's hands. "TWIN EYE BEAM!!" Titan yelled in a voice that was both Golem's and Pink Eye's. Pink lasers flew forth from his eyes, blasting Gate Guardian back several feet. "Now I will end this." "I am the Gate Guardian, the ultimate defender, no monster has the power to defeat me," Gate Guardian said. "I am not a monster, I am two. And now..." "TWISTER ATTACK!" came Golem's voice alone. "EYEBEAM!" Pink Eye sounded off. "PSY-CLONE!!" finished Titan. His yellow and brown body broke into pieces, each glowing with a strong pink aura. The boulders began twisting around and around as a tornado picked them up, forming pink circles as the tornado slammed into Gate Guardian. Trapped in the storm's center by the rings of energy, the durahan hybrid could do nothing but feel it as the boulders ripped into him. When the attack ended, Gate Guardian was left lying on the ground, wiring sparking and falling all over the robot's ruined body. "Structural integrity severely compromised. Initiating self destruct program." Gate Guardian's eyes transformed into two number fives. The numbers began to count down. "He's gonna explode!" Mocchi wailed. "There's not enough time to get out of here," Gray Wolf said. "Yes, there is," Titan said as he gathered his friends in his arms. It was a tight fit but soon they were all in his grip. "Now... TELEPORT!!" The searchers all disappeared just as the counter hit zero. The roar was deafening as the baddy exploded, taking the entire cavern with him.
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Meanwhile, outside the maze, Titan and his friends rematerialized, just as Genki began to regain consciousness. The boy gazed up at the yellow giant that now towered over him. "What... What happened?" "You performed another fusion," Monol said. As if on cue, Titan began to glow, separating once more into his two composite monsters, both at full health. "And just like your last one, this performed it's job admirably." "At least we're out of that lousy maze," Pink Eye said. "Hey kid you okay?" "I'm fine, just a little tired," Genki replied. "Excellent. Now we can at least continue searching for the Phoenix," Hare said. "What about you, Monol?" "My purpose is my story. I must spread my story as far as I can," Monol said as he turned to leave. "But I wish you good luck my friends." With that Monol was gone, leaving the searchers to continue their mission.
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Gate Guardian (Durahan/Hengar) - A marvel of ancient technology, this monster has a reputation for being the ultimate guard. While his shield is fundamentally useless, it houses the main weapon, the awesome fusion cannon.
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Over the course of this story, we have seen monsters and human's commit evil for a variety of reasons, some understandable, others not at all. Next time, however, you the reader will be introduced to the very definition of evil, as the searchers are confronted with evil unlike anything they've faced before in "Sympathy For the Devil." This is a warning, this next chapter may be too intense for some readers, and will earn the rating of this series.