When Destiny Calls: The Master of the Desert: Sympathy for a Devil
By Cale Kuecker (Ashertye@aol.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Rancher in any way shape of form. After a major setback (the computer ate my disk) I finally am able to present Sympathy for a Devil. On the plus side, I think this particular story is especially well suited for Halloween. Please enjoy
Author's Note: Melodi Hare has the right answer again, the skeleton found by Genki in the Labyrinth was indeed Indiana Jones. Once more I will be choosing a new guest character, but this time it may be a bit more difficult since I am unable to do accents well. Also, this chapter signals the beginning of a new, short-term contest. The specifics of this will be in the endnotes of this story, so pay attention afterward.
Warning: This chapter is not for the feint of heart.
Summary: The searchers have come across a caravan traveling from town to town. But beneath it's innocent appearance, something terrible is happening, something that could end up killing them all.
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"This is a murder most foul."
-Sherlock Holmes.
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Prologue
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The sun faded from the sky as the woods became darker and darker, further creating an atmosphere in which few creatures would find safe to be. This was especially true for the young man who was busy collecting sticks of firewood. He was blond haired and blue eyed, with the lanky body of one only barely coming into adulthood. His white shirt was dirty from his weeks on the road, and his skin was a deep tan from the sun, which showed off the red freckles on his face.
*Just a few more pieces and then I better get back,* the boy thought to himself. *The last thing I want is to be caught out here alone.* A disturbing image flashed through the young man's mind of himself tied down to a plate with a black dino standing over him with a knife and fork. Suddenly, he heard the rustling of leaves. The teen grabbed the bit of firewood and slowly began to back away, unwilling to face whatever was hiding in the bushes. That's when he heard another rustling sound, this time coming from behind him.
"H-hello? Who's there?" No answer came back in reply. Once more the teen backed away, only to once more hear the rustling sound behind him. This did the trick, and the firewood went flying through the air as the boy took off at high speed. He could hear the sound of his pursuer every so often as he ran, trying to keep from tripping over the dense foliage he was running through. Unfortunately, this was not a feat he was able to maintain for very long as he tripped over an exposed root. The young man landed with a painful grunt, just as his pursuer caught up with him yet again. He looked back, fear in his eyes as the bush that had been behind him shook from a body coming from it. Suddenly, a small form jumped out of the plant.
"Oh, it's just you," the lad said, a relieved look washing over his face. "You had be scared there for a minute, guy. Hey what's that you've got there? Wait be careful with that, you could hurt someone... No get back!! You're getting too... AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
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End Prologue
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"BRRR! I'd forgotten just how cold the air can be in the morning," Joshua said as he wrapped his large arms across his bare chest. The massive human sat in his underwear near the fire, a cold morning breeze blowing into his thick brown beard.
"You know Josh, if you're really cold you could always move closer to the fire and warm up," Pink Eye said as he fanned the flames to roast five fish and a carrot. Every so often the rose-colored eyeball would dip a ladle into a small pot which was filled with a foul smelling yellow liquid, using the ladle to pour the liquid over the cooking food. Each drop that fell into the fire seemed to make the flames jump higher and grow a little more out of control.
"I'm not coming anywhere near that flame so long as there's a chance I'll be flambeyed by that sauce you're using," Joshua said. "And heaven help you if those flames so much as singe any of the clothes on that line." The big man indicated the rope that hung between two trees, on which rested his own rough and tough adventuring suit. Next to it hung a familiar pair of brown pants and a blue T-shirt, along with a pair of white socks, all of which were steadily drying after being washed in the nearby pond. Said pond sat only a few feet away from the searcher's base camp, and was bordered on one side by a cliff, over which water fell to feed the body of water below. By and in the pond were three of the searchers' monster allies, Gray Wolf, Hare, and Golem. Hare was actually in the water, taking advantage of the group's respite to clean out some of the gunk that had accumulated in his fur. Golem was spending his time looked at the storm of color that were the flowers feeding on the tranquil water. Gray Wolf sat on a rock near the base of the cliff, his eyes closed and his body relaxed as he allowed the serenity of his surroundings to wash over him. Suddenly, the wolf was hit by a splash of water, knocking him out of his trance-like state.
"Ha ha ha ha," Hare giggled from the pond, sinking so that only his eyes stayed above the surface.
"Hare, you annoying little furball!!" Gray Wolf yelled.
"Geez, don't get so steamed Gray. After all, you can't expect the water to get you clean if it never touches you, do you?" Hare then held his nose, feigning being assaulted by something noxious. "And believe me you could use a good scrub-down."
"I DO NOT STINK!!"
"Bah, I don't even have a nose and I can still smell you," Pink Eye said.
"I DON'T STINK!!"
"Actually Gray Wolf," Joshua began, "We've been meaning to talk to you..."
"Joshua, not you too..."
"I believe that's a clean sweep," Hare said, shaking his finger at the silver wolf. "Golem, do you duty." Suddenly, two stony hands grabbed Gray Wolf around the sides. Before he could even form a complaint, the lupine monster found himself falling head over all four heels into the pond as Hare broke into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"HARE!!" came the roar of an angry Gray Wolf as he rose from the water. "YOU SET ME UP!! BLIZZARD!!" A blast of winter cold flew from the wolf monster's mouth, striking, not Hare, but the water surrounding him. The temperature dropped drastically, and Hare soon found his teeth chattering from the chill.
"W-What are yo-you t-t-t-tryin' ta do to me, make me a h-h-harescicle?" Hare chattered out, as Gray Wolf laughed. "Well t-t-take this! DRAGON KICK!" Hare stuck out his foot as far as it would go. Since he had not jumped, his body did not move forward, but his still submerged foot did catch fire. The water around Gray Wolf quickly came to a boil, bubbling and steaming.
"AAHHH! That's hot!!" Gray Wolf yelled. "BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!" On and on this went, with the temperature of the water constantly changing between hot and cold. From their vantage, Joshua and Pink Eye couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle. Then, the human's eyes shifted up the cliff, retracing the falling water until he came about three fourths of the way up. There, two figures were steadily climbing up the rock.
The sun glinted off the tiny drops of water that clung to Genki's bare skin as he and Mocchi slowly made their way to the top. The pink and green monster cast an excited look downward, letting out a squeal as he did so. But it wasn't a squeal of terror or fear, but one of unbridled excitement as the child monster thought of how high he would bounce when he jumped from the top.
"Can't wait chi," Mocchi said, as he turned his attention back to the task of climbing.
"Yeah, you get to just jump down, I have to cut my feet on those rocks climbing down again," Genki said, looking down as well. "Still, for a view like this, it'll be worth it."
"GENKI! IF YOU GET TIRED BE SURE TO STOP!" Joshua yelled up at the climbing duo.
"DON'T WORRY JOSH! I'VE DONE THIS A THOUSAND TIMES BACK HOME!" Genki yelled back down. "Of course back home the highest things to climb was the neighborhood tree."
"JUST REMEMBER, CALL BACK DOWN EVERY TEN MINUTES!"
"OKAY!!" Genki's attention then turned back to climbing, trying to figure out which rocks were safe to depend his weight on. Joshua's attention once more returned to Pink Eye's cooking, which was currently churning out a cloud of black smoke.
"Uh, Pink Eye, do you think you may have overdone the food?"
"Nah, this is how it's supposed to look big guy," Pink Eye said. "Trust me this technique was painstakingly taught to me by my original trainer. Admittedly I'm not an expert at it, but this will taste as good as all the other meals I've prepared for this group."
"I see," Joshua said, rolling his eyes. For the next fifteen minutes, Joshua watched as his pink friend worked diligently on preparing the breakfast. Soon, he removed the stick the food had been rotating on, laying it on a nearby cloth. "Hare, Gray Wolf, Pink Eye's breakfast is ready." All this got from the group at the pond was a collective groan, followed by a resumption of their one-up contest. Joshua knew this routine all too well, and knew that Hare and Gray Wolf would come along just before they broke camp. Joshua turned back to Genki, only to notice that he and Mocchi were no longer climbing the cliff. The two had made it to the top and were bouncing around the edge, trying their best to take in all of the view at once.
"GENKI, BREAKFAST TIME!! YOU AND MOCCHI SHOULD GET DOWN HERE IF YOU WANT TO EAT!!"
"OKAY, WE'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!!" Genki called. Mocchi quickly jumped off the cliff, flying as far away from the rock as his short legs take him. The baby monster tucked himself into a ball as he hit the ground, bouncing off and flying almost as high as the cliff itself. The penguin-like monster bounced a few more times before coming to a stop at the campsite, scooping up a plate for a fish as he did so. Silently, anticipating how much longer it would take for Genki to make it down the cliff-side, Joshua put another fish on a separate plate. That was when he looked up to find Genki straddling the waterfall, both of his arms straight out in front of him. To the others' horror, the boy jumped off of the cliff, his body twisting and turning in mid-air as he dove into the pond. For a few moments, he did not surface, and both Hare and Gray Wolf prepared to dive in and pull their friend from Neptune's embrace. Suddenly, Genki jumped up, breaking water as he walked up onto the shore, a very pleased expression on his face. Joshua's however was very angry... at least he was until he noticed something was amiss, which elicited a quiet giggle. Mocchi to began to giggle as well, while Pink Eye fell over in a fit of laughter. Behind Genki, both Hare and Gray Wolf fell into fits of uncontrollable laughter, falling backwards and into the pond. Golem came rushing forward, both his massive hands forming walls around the perplexed boy.
"What? What's so funny?" Genki asked, thoroughly confused by his friends' reactions.
"Genki, I know you like to emulate us monsters, but you should understand that those of us that go o'naturale typically have fur or scales," Hare said as he began to twirl something white around on a finger. A sudden sick feeling appeared in the pit of Genki's stomach as he recognized the object to be his underwear. He looked down, and sure enough, he was completely naked, the only thing blocking him off being Golem's hands. Like lightning, Genki dove back into the water and tried to snatch his undergarments from the brown bunny. He was too slow, however, as Hare threw the pair of undies to Gray Wolf, who caught them on one of his horns.
"Ha ha too slow," Gray Wolf said as he jumped away from the boy. As soon as Genki got too close, Gray Wolf sent the clothing flying back to Hare. The two continued playing keep away as Genki continued to try desperately to get back his underpants.
"Ha ha ha," bellowed Pink Eye. "If only I had a canvas." Suddenly, something on the horizon. "Hey guys, we're gonna have company pretty soon," the eyeball stated. At his words, the game stopped as Hare handed his friend back his missing garment. Genki put them on and quickly went over to the dry clothes as he and Joshua got dressed, while the monster's prepared for their guests. Soon the group came into view, revealing themselves to be two carriages following a third a very high speed. Two centaur purebreeds, each holding a battle lance, pulled the two trailing carriages, which were carrying many strange buckets and pots, but it was the leader that was strangest. Nothing pulled it along, yet it was easily outpacing the other two. A funny looking man wearing a red scarf and goggle was driving the thing, and it had antennae, wires, tubes, levers, switches, and other odd things protruding from it.
"Grrrrr. Just say the word and I'll freeze those jokers in their tracks," Gray Wolf said.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Gray Wolf," Hare said. "This doesn't look like an attack force to me."
"Still, be ready for anything," Joshua said. At those words, Gray Wolf began to move off to the side, and get lower to the ground, ready to spring up at the first sign of trouble. Soon the carriages arrived at the camp, with the centaurs putting all their muscle into stopping their individual burdens. The man driving the lead carriage took a hand off the steering wheel he was using to guide his vehicle and used it to pull on a long lever that sat next to him. Gears and wheels ground to a halt as the carriage actually turned a quarter turn before coming to a complete stop, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"Well, I say that went rather well," the goggle wearing man said in an unmistakably English accent. Now that he was no longer in motion, it could be seen that the man was completely bald. He wore a green wool vest with a diamond pattern around it's waist and a long sleeved white shirt and brown pants, all dusty brown from travel. He had big ears and a nose to match, as well as beady eyes. "Are we all okay chaps?" One of the drivers of the other carriages, a elderly looking woman wearing a shawl and a purple dress.
"Everything is all right Mr. Walton," she called. The two centaur, still harnessed to their carriages, walked up to Walton.
"Are you sure this is a safe place to stop?"
"Yes, if necessary we're very much able to go further. I'd hate to think we can still be attacked just because you were worried about us."
"Don't worry boys, we're over a mile away and I doubt anyone would be able to keep up with the pace you two set."
"Ah-hem," came the voice of Joshua. Instantly the two centaur turned to face him, their lances ready for use.
"Thought you could sneak up on us did you?" the centaur on the right said.
"Woah woah woah, I don't know who you think we are but we most definitely are not them," Genki said.
"Calm down fellas, calm down," Walton said as a giant pair of hands wearing white gloves came out of the his wagon, picked him up, and gently placed him on the ground. "Sam, Max, don't be so quick to attack. I somehow doubt these people mean to attack us." At these words, both Sam and Max seemed to relax a little, though their weapons still stood ready just in case.
"In truth, we were here first sir," Joshua said.
"Oh, terribly sorry about that friends," said Walton. "We didn't mean to startle you. From the looks of those plates, we must have interrupted your breakfast. Since we have plenty food, and none of my crew have had anything to eat either, the least we can do is offer to break bread with you."
"Oh there's really no need for that, we're quite..." Pink Eye began before Hare's hand suddenly clamped over his mouth.
"What my friend here means to say is that we would be honored to share a meal with you." Behind the two, Gray Wolf was busy dumping the food Pink Eye had prepared quietly into the fire.
"Most excellent," Walton said. Then he turned back to the wagons, cupping his hands around his mouth. "It's all right everybody, it's safe to come out." At his words, more travelers came out of the normal looking wagons. There were two old ladies, a younger looking man, a teenage boy and girl, and another girl who looked to be about five. Also in the group was a scaled hare with an arm in a sling, a kato hybrid, and a even a vanity. "Eleanor, it would appear we're going to have guests for breakfast, will that be a problem?"
"It shouldn't be, but I am gonna need a bit more help preparing the food," the vanity named Eleanor answered.
"We'll help you Elly," the teenage boy said, grabbing the young maiden who stood beside him.
"Fine then I'll set the table up," Walton said as he walked back to his wagon. The angora wearing human pulled on a thick lever, and a whole side of his wagon came down, two legs popping up under it to form a table. Next, a pair of hands on two-by-fours wearing large white gloves appeared from the top, reaching into the depths of the vehicle to pull out bench. Carefully, the two hands set the bench next to the table opposite Walton before reaching back in and pulling forth another bench. The third time this happened, the hands dropped the bench directly onto Walton's foot. "YEE-OUCH. Blasted machines, we'll soon have this problem nipped, we will." With those words, Walton produced a screwdriver from his belt and began to fiddle with the hands' controls. Suddenly, the two dexterous helpers grabbed their creator about the waist and lifted him into the air, shaking him violently. Soon they grew tired of this and twisted the man upside down driving him into the soft ground head first before plucking him back. This lifted him, ready to do it again until Sam and Max grabbed each arm.
"Don't worry Mr. Walton..."
"Yeah, we'll get you down." The two centaur worked quickly, wrestling the wayward arms to the ground and freeing their hapless employer.
"Oh," Walton said, once he was back on his feet, dusting himself off. "Marvelous time-savers, those robotic hands, but they can be beastly dangerous if not properly maintained."
"Yeah, or if the mood strikes them to be," Sam said, getting a laugh out of Max. The little girl walked over to Walton and began to help the older man clean himself up.
"Oh, thank you very much Jessica. Now, I'd say we have about an hour before Eleanor is ready to serve breakfast, she's such a perfectionist. And I see you have fire already started, so what say I set up my teapot and we can have a spot of morning tea?" The human did not wait for an answer but simply brought out a strange looking teapot equipped with a winding key and legs. Deftly Walton wound the teapot up and set it on the ground, where it promptly took of for the pond and filled itself with water before returning to stand over the fire, its lid open to accept the tea-bag its owner put into it.
"Well that's certainly something you don't see everyday, is it Mocchi?" Genki asked of his diminutive friend. When the boy received no answer, he looked down to find that Mocchi was no long standing beside him. A quick scan of the area found Mocchi being bounced around by Jessica, who was giggling like a bandit over the monster. "Oh, you like him do you?"
"He's so fun, you're so lucky to have a monster who can be a ball," Jessica said smiling. "You know, I have a monster."
"Really?" Genki said, curious as to what so young a girl could have as a monster.
"Uh-huh, and he's the cutest, bestest monster ever." The young girl turned back to the wagon and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Jaaaaaa-Aaaaaaace." Suddenly, one of the sacks that hung from the wagon's side began to wiggle as a wolfish head poked its way out. Like a missile, the furry cub bolted directly for Jessica, and caused both Genki and Mocchi to give the oddest expressions they'd ever done. The monster in question was definitely a tiger type, of that there was no doubt, but as far as what its sub-breed was, the pair could only guess. The wolf was a mixture of black and white, but it was completely half and half. While the left side of the cub's head was white, the right was black, but the two colors flipped sides on his mane. The colors switched again at his body, a fourth time at the lower half of his tail, and a final time at the tails tip. Even his feet were the opposite of his body, giving him a very distinctive harlequin appearance. And his eyes were an almost unnerving shade of blue.
"What in the world is that?"
"We're not quite sure really," Walton said as he knelt down to pet the wolfling. "He could be anything I suppose, but the general opinion is he's just an odd colored gray wolf." It was at that point that the tiger hybrid seemed to finally notice the presence of another tiger-type. Yipping like mad, the pup bounded over to Gray Wolf, sniffing and examining the elder lupine with an intense curiosity.
"No Jace, that's rude!" Jessica said, running over to grab her pet.
"It's all right, the little fella is just making my acquaintance," Gray Wolf said as he gave the pup a quick sniff of his own. Jace responded to this by weaving his way through Gray Wolf's front two legs, yipping at the new game he believed they were playing. He soon lost interest in this, however, as he noticed Genki. Like a cannonball, the puppy jumped on the boy, knocking him flat on his back. Genki looked at his chest where the pup now stood, looking almost as if he was sizing the boy up before he mercilessly began to lick Genki's face.
"Well, I feel used," Gray Wolf said, smiling a little at the youthful exuberance the pup showed. As if responding to his words, the pup bounded back over to the silver wolf. This only lasted for a few more minutes though as a very loud whistling was soon heard coming from the mechanical teapot.
"Ah good, the tea is ready," Walton said. What looked like a skateboard shot out of the inventor's wagon, using a magnet to guide itself to the teapot. On the board sat several cups and saucers, along with cream, sugar and, most surprising of all, cheese. Walton reached down, grabbing a cup and filling it with the hot tea which he began to offer to his guests.
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A little over two hours later found the searchers recounting their many adventures to the pleasure of their gracious hosts, the debris from their breakfast littering the table as a very pleased looking Eleanor cleaned up, with help from her two helpers from before. At one end of the table, Genki and Jessica handed pieces of leftover bacon to Jace who sat under the table. The pup seemed to have more interest in licking their greasy fingers than eating the "dropped" food.
"My, it does sound like you've had an adventurous past few months," Walton said. "I don't think we've had but a handful of rather mediocre adventures in the five years we've been together."
"That reminds me, what exactly is a caravan doing out in the middle of nowhere?" Hare asked. "I didn't know of any trade routes in this area."
"We travel from town to town trying to avoid the road-blocks bandits and Moo's forces have been throwing up all over the place to discourage trade, hence why we're in the middle of nowhere. We buy and sell different goods in different towns, deliver mail, and, on occasion, provide little gadgets to make life just a little easier to live."
"You're a shipping service," Genki said matter-of-factly.
"You mean you actually make money off of this stuff?" Hare asked as he examined the legged teapot.
"Not nearly as much as he'd like..." Sam began.
"But it's rather hard when you have to prove your products won't explode when you use it," Max completed. Both centaur laughed at their joke.
"So if this route is so secret, how come you were all so scared when you rode up today?" Genki asked. As soon as the question left his lips, the somewhat jovial mood around the table died as one of the old women dropped her plate as he began to cry. Eleanor put down the dishes she'd been carrying and walked over to the human and wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort the sobbing woman as they walked into one of the wagons.
"Well, there in lies our biggest problem to date," Walton said, closing his eyes as he began to tell the tale. "It started about four months ago, when we first met Jace here. There were twenty of us then, along with a fourth wagon. We were passing through a new town, figured we'd take a gamble and try to add another village to our little circle of life. What we came across was trouble..." At those words, Jace began to whimper, crawling into Jessica's lap as the little girl began to squeeze the wolf cub tightly. "We'd heard that the groups of bandits and brigands were getting bolder and bolder, but what we came across was total destruction. Buildings were blackened by fire, and mutilated bodies and shattered lost disks littered the ground everywhere. Men, women, even children lay dead in the streets or in buildings that had burned and collapsed on them. There were even monsters who hadn't had enough left to transform lying dead. Of course we looked for any survivors, and that's how we found Jace. He was trying to drag a corpse, it must have been his former owner, into nearby barn. The poor thing was probably thought the guy was just hurt was trying to help him."
"There is no monster with more loyalty to his owner than a tiger," Gray Wolf whispered, pride clearly in his eyes as he gazed at Jace.
"Jessica was so enamored with the little tyke, and we couldn't simply leave him there to starve, so we decided to take him with us... That was when we discovered the town wasn't quite as abandoned as we'd thought." Walton looked around the table at his new friends, pausing to all them time to digest what they'd heard. "They seemed to come out of the ground itself, there were so many so suddenly."
"Baddies?"
"No, bandits. They must have still been scavenging through the village, trying to find anything valuable they might have missed before. The moment they saw us, they attacked."
"We were lucky to get out of there in one piece," Sam said, only to be followed up by Max.
"Or so we thought."
"For almost a week we kept fighting them at every turn. Fortunately, we're not really pushovers, but they still managed to destroy one of our wagons."
"They broke my arm," the scaled hare said.
"We'd thought we'd escaped them, but then... Over the next four months, anyone who left the group, even for the most trivial of things like gathering wood, just disappeared. Every so often we came across the same bandits, and people and monsters continued to disappear. That's when we found Tobias..." With those words, Walton walked over to one of the wagons, opening it's doors to the searchers. The searchers gasped as they saw what it contained. Suspended by ropes, his body almost completely covered bandages, splints, other bindings hung what the seven friends could barely recognize as an evil hare. One of his arms was missing up to the elbow.
"What... What happened to him?" Genki asked.
"Tobias disappeared a little over a week ago. We searched the whole night and most of the morning before we found him. He been torn almost to pieces. Even now he's held together mostly by the bandages. He hasn't woken up since we found him," Walton said. "We can't even take him to a proper doctor. Every time we come close to a town, those bandits attack us and force us back. Eleanor has been doing what she can, but without some real help... I'm afraid Tobias won't last much longer."
"We'll help you get him to a doctor," Genki said, fists balled as he eyes were shadowed by his hair.
"The kid's right. No one deserves to die like this," Gray Wolf said.
"Besides, it's the least we can do after you saved our tastebuds with this wonderful meal," Hare said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pink Eye quipped.
"I think what Hare meant to say is that it would be the right thing to do," said Joshua, ignoring the suezo hybrid.
"Thank you but I wouldn't want to put you in any danger," Walton said.
"If we can handle villains like Moo and Ragnorak, somehow I doubt a few bandits'll get the better of us," Genki said.
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The noon day sun found the searchers and their new companions walking through the forest each one on their guard in case of attack. Joshua walked up front, the ax he usually used for chopping wood out of his pack and resting in his hand, while his dagger hung at his side, the straps that kept it from being drawn undone and ready for a fight. Golem walked in back of the whole procession, ready to block any attempts to attack them from behind, his gray eyes bouncing from side to side as he kept watch for anything out of the ordinary. Genki sat on the wagon carrying the injured evil hare, ready spring out of his hiding place like a rocket should the need arise. Mocchi was actually in the wagon trying his best along with one of the kato to keep their patient from being disturbed by the rocking of the wagon. Nearby strode Gray Wolf, who, for reasons he'd kept his own, had stayed close to the medical wagon ever since their trek had begun. Hare had opted to travel with Walton, completely fascinated by the machines the human had built over his travels. Pink Eye has positioned himself in the food wagon, while the rest simply took the positions they normally took as they traveled.
"Gray Wolf, you look a little distracted," Genki called over to his friend, noticing it as the wolf's golden eyes darting from side to side.
"I'm looking for Jace," Gray Wolf responded, albeit much quieter than Genki.
"Jace travels with Jessica," Eleanor said. This seemed to satisfy Gray Wolf, but Genki could almost swear he heard a very soft growl coming from somewhere.
"Ah, whatsamatter," Hare called back from the lead wagon. "Gray Wolf getting scared all by his lonesome?"
"Not now rab..." The wolf stopped in his tracks. This fact was not lost on the rest of the searchers.
"What's up Gray?" Joshua said as Walton called for the wagons to stop.
"Shhh.... I think we're being followed," the wolf whispered.
"Grrr," came the voice of Jace as he poked his head out from the food cart, along with Jessica. The two children looked around, trying to identify whatever Gray Wolf had seen.
"Both of you, get back in the wagon," Gray Wolf commanded. From out of the trees flew a arrow which struck Eleanor right in the arm. Gray Wolf was off like a shot in the direction the arrow had come from, only to be blasted back by a pixie's lightning. Like a swarm of bees, the rest came into the clearing, over thirty humans and monsters, each brandishing weapons and each looking ready to kill. Sam and Max, along with Golem, intercepted the bandits hoping to buy some time for their friends. It was at that point that Jace jumped out of his wagon, followed by Jessica as she tried to keep her little friend safe.
"Jessica, get back here!!" Walton cried as he kicked one of the bandits into the grip of his mechanical hands.
"I have to save Jace!" Jessica yelled back as she continued after the little wolf cub as he dove into the forest.
"Don't worry, I'll get them," Genki said as he tried to get to them, only to be stopped by an usaba. Golem's giant hand swept away the plant/suezo effortlessly, even as two humans brandishing daggers of their own. Genki easily outmaneuvered his two assailants, who found themselves facing a very angry, roaring Gray Wolf.
"GENKI!!!"
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Genki raced through the forest after the fleeing children, cursing all the fallen branches and other things that prevented him from reaching top speed. Up ahead of him, Jessica ducked and weaved through the trees, never loosing sight of her quarry. This was an impressive feat considering that Jace's small form was moving between the underbrush as easily as Genki moved through the trees. The small wolf stayed just in sight of the two humans, though, allowing them to continue following him. Suddenly, Jace came to a skidding halt in front of a cave hidden deep in the woods. At the entrance, he seemed to wait for his two pursuers to catch up before he jumped into the cave.
"JACE!!! WAIT!!! COME BACK!!!" Jessica yelled as she began to scramble into the cave, only to be grabbed by Genki.
"Jessica we have to get back..."
"NO! I WON'T LEAVE JACE!!" the girl wailed.
"Fine, then we go in and get him together. Walton would probably kill me if either of you got hurt in there," said Genki. With those words, Genki and Jessica entered the dank cavern. Genki's hand rested on wall as he tried to feel his way through the cave. Unfortunately, this provided no protection for the boy's feet as he stubbed his toes on several stalactites. Soon though, the two came to the end of the cavern, which proved to be a vast chamber with several torches to provide a dim sort of light. As his eyes finally began to focus in the light, however, Genki found himself wishing the torches weren't there. Inside the chamber was a horrifying sight.
Bones littered the floor, but not the ancient bones the boy had seen in the underground crypt scant days ago. Bits of muscle and skin still clung to these, and small pools of blood had formed around some of the larger piles. On the walls the bodies of both monsters and humans hung, each missing various pieces of anatomy where something had apparently taken huge bites out of them. Indeed, this was no tomb.
"What is this place?" Genki asked aloud as a scared Jessica moved closer to him.
"My dinner table," a raspy voice said. Genki turned around to meet this new intruder, only to be sent flying into a cavern wall by twin bolts of black and white lightning.
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Meanwhile, back at the caravan, the battle continued to rage. Gray Wolf was a blur of silver fur as he jumped from opponent to opponent, using a combination of his ice attacks and his claws and horns to disable attacker after attacker. The bandits soon learned to avoid the wolf. That was when he began to notice something... While the bandits were putting up a good fight, keeping Gray Wolf and his friends occupied, many of these so called "highwaymen" were busy looking through the caravan.
*They aren't even keeping the things they find, what are they up to?* Gray Wolf thought. That was when he heard Mocchi's distressed squeak. The veteran warrior looked over to the wagon Mocchi had been guarding to see the little pink monster spinning like a top, trying to use his Cherry Blossom Blizzard to keep seven of the bad guys away. It was clear, however, that the young monster was quickly depleting his all of his energy, a fact that would soon leave him helpless.
"ICE BULLET!" Gray Wolf called as he charged the humans, sending a clump of ice smashing into one of the seven. The silver wolf tackled another bandit, knocking him to the ground as another grabbed his hind legs. This proved to be a mistake, though, as Gray Wolf bucked, his back claws raking across the man's face as Gray Wolf moved to stand over Mocchi, keeping him safe from the battle. That was when he saw two of the raiders break open the lock on the wagon. *Tobias,* Gray Wolf's mind screamed as he remembered the wounded evil hare hanging helpless within. "TORPEDO!" Gray Wolf cried as a bolt of fast energy flew from his horns. His aim was off, however, missing the raiders by several inches. The doors to the wagon were opened and, for the briefest of moments, the silver wolf was afraid he had failed in his mission.
"Jake, he's not in here," one of the human's called as he closed the door.
"Find him!!" Called a balding human wielding two clubs. "We will have revenge for what that animal did to our village!!"
*Waitaminute, their village! Something smells here.* With those thoughts, Gray Wolf charged the man named Jake, using his lightning to force the human to discard his weaponry before knocking him to the ground.
"All right," Gray Wolf growled, energy dancing around his horns. "You have about ten seconds to spill whatever you know about what's going on, or it's maximum voltage at minimum distance!"
"It doesn't matter what you do to me, we won't stop until we've destroyed the killer," the human spit back.
"Killer? What killer? You're the only killers here."
"Is that how you justify what your friend did to our village?!"
"What are you talking about?" Gray Wolf asked as he pulled away from the human.
"Don't pretend you don't know! We saw your friends retrieving that blasted cub from the burnt husk he transformed our village into!" The human said taking a swing at Gray Wolf.
*CUB!!* Gray Wolf's mind screamed. "A tiger cub?!"
"Of course..." Jake said, his clubs lowering. *What's this guy trying to pull? What else would....* Suddenly, realization dawned on the human. "He fooled you too, didn't he?"
"Stop the fight, and get as many healthy bodies as you can to follow me," Gray Wolf barked. "SONIC MOVE!!" With those words, Gray Wolf was off like a shot after Genki.
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"Aaahhh!" Genki yelled as he felt the bump on his head from where he'd hit the wall of the cavern. But that wasn't nearly as painful as the his chest where the twin lightning bolts had struck him. Nearby, Jessica was clinging to his arm in fear, shaking uncontrollably as their attack came into the light.
"Jace?" Jessica said, perplexed as she saw her "friend" standing before him, black and white energy dancing around his horns.
"Ding ding ding, give the girl a prize. You're not as dumb as you make yourself out to be," the wolf cub giggled. Energy began to swirl around Jace as his blue eyes glowed an even deeper hue. For a brief moment, the two human's couldn't see their captor, but soon the energy died away, revealing Jace's true self. While he was still a tiger hybrid, he had now fully doubled in size. His blue eyes were no longer a soft shade of blue, but instead were the nightmarish blue of a joker. His fangs were clearly visible, no longer pristine white, but now stained red with blood. "Now get up before I fry you like I did the other one," he barked.
"What... What are you doing this for?" Genki said as he got to his feet, using his arm to pull Jessica behind him.
"It's simple. I do this for the same reason the shark hunts the fish, the hawk attacks the mouse in the field, and the wolf slaughters the lamb," Jace said, smiling as he licked his lips. "For food."
"Food!" Genki said, stunned at the answer while Jessica clutched tighter to him, frightened almost to death.
"All living things exist for one purpose, to kill or be killed. Only the strongest have the power to kill, and it is the job of the weak to feed that power. And as you can see from everything around you, I've been busy proving which class I belong to, sampling all the different tasty treats this planet has to offer. Hares, pixies, zuum, even dragons have all fallen to their designated place as prey. But my favorite prey are you humans. No fur, no sharp claws, and no real teeth, just pure flesh and bone to be devoured by those with power."
"So you used the battle to lure us here, and now you plan to eat us," Genki said, his fists balling.
"I don't want to be eated," Jessica wailed.
"Truthfully, I was only planning on having little Jessica here for dinner, then we came across you... Old humans are always tough, and their meat has no taste. But you two are nice and young, I can't wait to eat you. The only question is, which one do I kill first?" Jace's blue eyes scanned both, trying to decide which one would be the most fun to rip into. For the briefest of moments, Jessica moved away from Genki, creating a small hole between them. That was all Jace needed. "HARLEQUIN LIGHTNING!!" Black and white energy flew from the tiger hybrid's horns, exploding with a thunderous boom as it sent the children flying in opposite directions.
"OWW!" Jessica yelled as she slammed into the wall. The little girl looked up to see Jace's face grinning down at her.
"Guess who I chose!" Jace yelled as he opened his mouth for a killing bite as the young girl's arms raised to try to block the ravenous wolf. It wasn't her arm that stopped the wolf in his tracks however, but a thrown rock.
"Why am I surprised you'd choose her over me," Genki said, laughing as he pointed at Jace.
"Such an impatient little edible. Don't worry, I'll eat you next so just wait your turn."
"You're telling me you'd rather have a skinny little thing like her instead of something like this." With those words, Genki raised his shirt and began to slap his now exposed belly, sucking in air to make it appear fuller than it really was. "Yum yum a tasty treat fit for a conqueror. What more could you ask for, yep yep? I exercise, I'm healthy, I eat right." A few quick movements and Jace found himself looking at Genki's legs as the boy begins to show himself off like a cut of beef. "Look at these drumsticks. Mouthwatering aren't they Jace, so thick and juicy looking. And check out these ribs, I bet they'd look delicious baked by a lightning bolt, wouldn't they." Suddenly, Genki stood up, looking the renegade tiger right in the eyes. "But what am I saying, you chose Jessica. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. I mean, I'm a meal fit for a true warrior, how could you possibly feel worthy of me?"
"WHAT?!" Jace growled as he took as step away from his frightened prey.
*Great it's working,* Genki thought. *Now if I can just keep his attention on me... and hopefully stay alive in the process.*
"Well what else should I expect from someone unable to take on a real challenge. Just 'cause you can crush an ant doesn't make you're stronger than a bear," Genki continued grinning slyly as he noticed the black and white wolf grinding his teeth in anger. "But go ahead and eat that thin little scrap of meat if you want, I'll just be leaving, I'm sure there has to be someone out there worthy of having me over for... dinner."
"YOU RUDE LITTLE PUNK! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW STRONG I AM!!" Jace roared, charging for the boy with a murderous gleam in his eyes. Saliva sprayed from the ravenous wolf's mouth as he prepared to rip open his target. For his part, Genki stood almost perfectly still, his hands behind his back, his chin up, and his neck exposed, as if waiting for Jace to kill him. Soon Genki was within striking distance and Jace could almost taste the boy's hot blood on his lips.
He never got the chance however, as Genki's arms reappeared, a large leg bone in his hands as he swung with all his might. The ball section of the leg bone caught Genki's attack square in the muzzle and sent him flying as well as knocking a few teeth loose. The force Genki had used to swing the makeshift bat sent Genki himself spinning dizzily to the ground.
"Woah, that was a rush," Genki said, his hand holding his head to try to stop the world from spinning.
"Genki, are you all right?" Jessica said.
"Yeah, it'll take more than some second rate mutt to beat the Monster Champ."
"Oh really," came a raspy voice. Boy and girl looked over to where Jace had landed only to find the wolf was once more standing and, aside from his bloody muzzle, looked fit as a fiddle. "Get me angry enough to charge then try to take my head off with one of my own chew toys. Might have worked if you'd have been stronger. Too bad, so sad. HARLEQUIN LIGHTNING!!" Once more, twin bolts of black and white lightning flew from the tiger hybrid's horns, spiraling at high speed to strike Genki.
"AAAUUUUGGGGGGGHHHH!!" Genki screamed as electric energy surged through his body, unrelenting and unstoppable. The brown haired boy could feel his blue eyes tearing up with the pain that coursed through him, as his body spasmed from the shock.
"You mentioned how good you'd look roasted by a nice strong lightning bolt. What say we see just how good?" the deranged monster asked as he turned up the voltage on his attack, eliciting an even louder scream from his tormented victim.
*I'm... I'm dying... I can feel it,* Genki thought as more energy raced into him. This was by far the most painful experience he'd ever had, even more so then when Moo had taken over his body all those weeks ago. He used every ounce of strength he possessed to look around the cave, his eye finally stopping on Jessica who was frozen in place with fear. *Run Jessica, run or he'll kill you too.* Genki thought as hard as possible, scared all he'd done would soon be in vain.
"Ah, still trying to hang in there, maybe you are tougher than I gave you credit for. Well let's see how long you hold out against this," Jace said as he prepared to once more increase the amount of power in his attack. He never got the chance, however, as a larger form crashed into his side, it's horns goring him as a familiar silver and white form drove him to the wall.
"You want lightning you sick freak I'll give you LIGHTNING!!" Gray Wolf said. Then, his horns still buried in the younger wolf's side, the silver wolf released his energy attack. Jace roared in unbearable anguish as the lightning bolt exploded inside of him, causing massive burning as it did so. His foe thus vanquished, Gray Wolf removed himself from the juvenile monster, making his way over to his human friend. Genki's body was smoking as a result of the energy attack the boy had suffered, and Gray Wolf nudged the boy with his nose, hoping he had not been too late. Soon, Genki stirred, rising to his hands and knees as he coughed up smoke. "Hey kid, you all right?"
"I've been better," Genki replied quietly before standing up. "But at least now I know what a fried fish feels like." That was when Genki remembered about his fellow captive. "Jessica, hey are you all right girl?" Genki scrambled over to the girl, who was now sitting with her knees to her chest, crying.
"Genki, Genki, I was so scared," Jessica bawled, grabbing onto the boy and hugging him tightly. That's when she noticed Gray Wolf and, for the briefest moment, the silver wolf could see fear welling up in her face. Not that the veteran could blame her, she'd just been betrayed by a wolf she'd loved, she'd probably never be able to look at another tiger, pure or sub-breed, the same way again.
"Come on, I imagine the others'll be catching up to us soon, I left a pretty clear trail for them to follow," Gray Wolf said as he pushed his nose under Genki's arm to help steady him.
"What about the bandits?" Jessica asked.
"They weren't bandits, they were what was left of the village where you found Jace. I'd lay odds that they haven't killed any of your friends, it was all that psycho's doing."
"Kinda figured that after he hit me with the first lightning bolt," Genki said as he allowed his friend to take his weight, a smirk on his face. It was a look that quickly faded as another voice made it's presence known.
"A pity you didn't figure it out beforehand, I might not have gotten you so easy," Jace said as he got back up. Dark energy began to circle around him and, much to Gray Wolf's intense dismay, all of the black and white wolf's wounds healed.
"No... It's not possible... There's no way you could survive an attack like what I gave you," Gray Wolf said in disbelief.
"How can you say it's not possible when I just proved it was," Jace said. Suddenly, his face became coated in anger. "Now I suggest you leave me to my dinner before I'm forced to tear you to pieces as well." With those words Jace charged at the trio.
"Get out of here, I'll hold him off for you," Gray Wolf said as he jumped to meet the dark wolf's charge. The two tiger sub-types met in fierce combat, biting and clawing at each other. Gray Wolf clearly had strength on his side, but the cramped fighting quarters quickly proved to give the speed and maneuvering advantage to the smaller wolf. Jessica grabbed Genki, helping him to walk out of the death chamber as the two warriors fought, much to Gray Wolf's relief.
"Looks like you missed out on dinner," said Gray Wolf as he raked his claws over Jace's side.
"It doesn't matter that they got away now, I'll just go and collect them again. Believe me, they haven't escaped yet," came the reply as Jace bit into the elder wolf's shoulder. The two monster continued their melee combat for a few more minutes, swiping, biting, and clawing at each other before jumping to opposite sides of the cave, Gray Wolf careful to put himself between Jace and the exit. "I must say, I am impressed old man. You're tougher than that old dragon I took down."
"Don't even try to be civil with me," Gray Wolf spit. "This is not a game. I will make you pay for every creature whose life you ended in this cave."
"Ha, don't make me laugh. I said you were good, but you're nowhere near up to me. I've been killing all my life, ever since those fools unlocked me. And I will continue to kill long after you're dead. I am the wolf in sheep's clothing, moving freely among these pathetic animals like your little brown haired friend, until I decide to make them my next meal ticket."
"You're insane, a savage butcher, that's all you are."
"Maybe so, but if you haven't noticed, that seems to be the way the world is turning. I hear there's a monster taking over the planet even as we speak, some sort of super-fighter known as Moo. Word has it that Moo doesn't really have any use for humans, or the weaklings. Maybe I can help him come up with a way to put all that fresh game to work..." At those words Jace licked his lips.
"You'll do nothing of the sort!" Gray Wolf yelled as he charged Jace once more. "TORPEDO!" A super fast bolt of energy flew from the wolf's horns, but the younger tiger was able to dodge it, jumping out of the way. This however, proved to be what Gray Wolf had been waiting for, as he jumped to meet Jace, his powerful jaws latching onto the black and white wolf's leg, crushing the bone as he did so.
"AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!" Jace yelled as his injured leg crumbled beneath him. Gray Wolf smiled, pleased with his work until he noticed the dark energy swirling around the demon dog's injured leg. Gray Wolf moved like lightning, attacking his injured opponent with all the ferocity of his nature, trying to do as much damage as possible before Jace could heal. The rain of claws was ended, however, by a loud roar from Jace, which sent Gray Wolf crashing into a pile of bones. The silver lupine stood again, his body covered by wounds and other battle injuries as he looked for his opponent. Jace wasn't hard to find as he jumped onto Gray Wolf's back, biting and clawing in an attempt break his rival's neck. In an effort to shake his opponent, Gray Wolf launched himself at a wall, but this proved to be a bad decision, however, as Jace escaped and allowed the winter warrior to smash into the wall full force. Gray Wolf got up to see Jace standing in front of him, all of his previous injuries had completely healed.
"Bet you're wishing you hadn't butted in now, huh old timer?" Jace sneered. "Face it, you can't beat me in a fair fight."
"You're right, I can't beat you like this," Gray Wolf said. "You've got too much of an advantage here... So let's change the circumstances." Suddenly, Gray Wolf erupted in energy as he activated both his Arctic Blast and Lightning attacks. His target, however, was not Jace, but rather the cave itself. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as it began to collapse around the two.
"You senile old fool, you've started a cave-in," Jace called. "We'll be buried if we stay here."
"Who said I was staying, SONIC MOVE!" Gray Wolf was off like a shot through the tunnel, using his super speed to outpace the collapsing structure.
"You.... YOU.... SONIC MOVE!!" Jace called as he took off after Gray Wolf. Down the tunnel, Gray Wolf was beginning to feel the stress of using up so much of his energy, he body was feeling much heavier that it normally did, and he was having trouble keeping his body in it's accelerated state. A quick glance behind him revealed Jace to be rapidly closing the gap between them.
*Where is he getting all this energy,* Gray Wolf thought. *I have to do something or he'll beat me out. Just enough energy for one last trick.* Gray Wolf continued to move as Jace continued to catch up with him. Suddenly, Gray Wolf turned around, his mouth open as he began his plan.
"ARCTIC BLAST!!" The familiar blue and white beam of energy shot forth for a few seconds, freezing the ground directly in front of Jace as Gray Wolf quickly continued his escape. The frozen path would slow him down long enough for the second part of Gray Wolf's plan. A few more seconds and Gray Wolf exploded out of the cave's exit.
"Gray Wolf," Genki cried from the spot he lay. His shirt was off as a bandaged Eleanor used her healing powers to repair the burn damage caused by Jace's lightning attacks. Mocchi was nearby, relieved to have his trainer back.
"No time to talk," Gray Wolf said as he turned around, facing the cave entrance. In the distance he could see Jace had recovered from the icy patch and was almost out as well. "TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO!!!" Gray Wolf yelled rapidly firing his energy blasts at the cave entrance, forcing it to begin to collapse inward. The attack proved too late however as Jace leapt out of the cavern, heading straight for the now powerless Gray Wolf. A stony hand caught the wolf in mid-leap, wrapping around his middle like a vice and cracking several ribs and perhaps Jace's back. With only seconds to act, Golem threw the black and white wolf like cannon ball back into the collapsing cave, the entrance of which sealed behind him. "Finally," Gray Wolf said, collapsing to the ground. "It's over." With those words, the wolf's entire world went black.
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Gray Wolf didn't regain consciousness again until night time, at which he was greeted by the sight of the shining stars, a roaring fire, and Mocchi pressing a cold cloth to his forehead.
"Where... where are we?" The silver wolf asked.
"Gray Wolf awake, Gray Wolf awake!!" Mocchi called with glee, a phrase that immediately summoned Gray Wolf's friends to his side.
"Good to see you're awake wolfie," Hare said, smiling his most annoying smile at his friendly rival.
"You are... all right," Golem said, a smile on his face as he looked down at the injured wolf. Similar words of thanks and praise were given by all the searcher's even Genki who was wearing several bandages over his visible burns.
"He's... he's gone?" Gray Wolf asked.
"Jace got buried in that cave, and we haven't seen any trace of him," Walton said, walking over to the group, a plate of cheese and crackers in his hand, along with a cup of tea. "As far as we can tell, your plan worked."
"Not a plan..." Gray Wolf said. "Just... a gamble." The silver lupine tried to get up, only to collapse again.
"I wouldn't try that again. Eleanor says you won't get your full strength back for a few days, you kinda exhausted your energy supply," Hare said, catching Gray Wolf to gently lower him back to the ground. "Which means you're not gonna be shooting off your mouth or running at supersonic speeds for a while."
"And the villagers?"
"They're returning home as we speak," Joshua said. "With Jace dead, they really have no reason not to return home. Walton's planning on taking his caravan onwards tomorrow so Tobias can get the help he needs."
"After leaving you with enough supplies to continue on your journey," Walton interjected. "I feel that's the least I could do after you saved Jessica from Jace. I still can't believe he turned out to be a killer."
"He was psychotic," Gray Wolf interjected. "I'm just happy he's gone... What about Jessica?"
"Scared, but sleeping," Walton said. "Cheese is a great comforter in times of crisis. Speaking of which, I brought this for our resident hero." Walton placed the food and drink on the ground in front of the injured tiger, who gratefully began to eat the offered food. Soon it was gone, and finally, after what had arguably been the worst day of their lives, the searchers went to sleep, thankful that in the end, they'd all survived.
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Epilogue
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Where once had stood a magnificent cave and tunnel, now there only stood rocks and rubble, the last remnant of the Gray Wolf's battle against the deadly Jace. On top of the rubble, a circle of red flames appeared, marking the exit of a portal belonging to a very unique traveler. From the fiery transport floated a horned figure, his red mask and dark blue eyes shining brightly against the burning blades of his double-bladed scythe. Daemon looked around at the destruction, a disappointed sigh escaping his unmoving lips. The rubble was packed very tight, it would take a team of a hundred years to clear the debris away using conventional means. Daemon didn't have years. A gauntlet-clad hand let go of the handle of his weapon, as his index and middle finger pointed upward. Dark energy encircled each of the rocks in turn, lifting them into the air one by one as the demon monster quickly got to what he was after. From the rubble, also carried by the black energy, came Jace's mangled body, damaged almost beyond recognition.
"Well, it looks like you had a blast," Daemon said, looking Jace right in his one good eye. "I would venture to say your even beyond the ability of your joker blood to heal you, you'll probably die in less than an hour. I suppose I should let you, after all, what good is a failure to one such as me... Still, I have an eye for talent, something you DO seem to have, so how about we make a deal. I'll save your life, and even increase your already vast power, but in exchange, you serve me. Of course the alternative is death, but I'll let you decide." In response, Jace began to wiggle and groan, barely able to get his head to nod in agreement to the demon monster's terms. "Excellent." And with that single word, both Daemon and his charge disappeared in a halo of flame.
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END
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?????? - Tiger/Joker - Though it's name has been lost in the annals of history, tales of this monster's savage power are still the stuff of legends. Manufactured during the war as advance scouts, these wolves of war shined as assassins. Unfortunately, they proved to be so adept at killing without being seen that they began targeting civilians without orders and making no distinction between friend or foe. Able to leave whole villages as ghost-towns, it soon became apparent the species as a whole was too dangerous, and the project that spawned them was soon terminated.
End Note: Well what do you think, scary huh. I doubt anyone will really like the new character Jace but I decided not to waste a character with such potential on only one story, so you will see him again. But now, onto the contest I promised. As you could plainly see, I never gave a name to Jace's species, mainly because I couldn't think of anything interesting that fit. So, I'm leaving it open for everyone else to name. Come up with the best name, and it will be used for the species as a whole, with you receiving the naming credit. The contest begins now and won't end until Jace's next appearance, which of course won't happen for many months, so you have plenty of time to come up with a good candidate. Now, onto the preview of the next chapter.
Daemon is after something. The problem, it's in Gali's domain, and Daemon is definitely not welcome. So he sends a powerful agent to retrieve it and destroy the searchers at the same time. But an ancient rivalry also brews within the region, and the searchers bear witness to the final battle of personal war centuries old.
By Cale Kuecker (Ashertye@aol.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Rancher in any way shape of form. After a major setback (the computer ate my disk) I finally am able to present Sympathy for a Devil. On the plus side, I think this particular story is especially well suited for Halloween. Please enjoy
Author's Note: Melodi Hare has the right answer again, the skeleton found by Genki in the Labyrinth was indeed Indiana Jones. Once more I will be choosing a new guest character, but this time it may be a bit more difficult since I am unable to do accents well. Also, this chapter signals the beginning of a new, short-term contest. The specifics of this will be in the endnotes of this story, so pay attention afterward.
Warning: This chapter is not for the feint of heart.
Summary: The searchers have come across a caravan traveling from town to town. But beneath it's innocent appearance, something terrible is happening, something that could end up killing them all.
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"This is a murder most foul."
-Sherlock Holmes.
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Prologue
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The sun faded from the sky as the woods became darker and darker, further creating an atmosphere in which few creatures would find safe to be. This was especially true for the young man who was busy collecting sticks of firewood. He was blond haired and blue eyed, with the lanky body of one only barely coming into adulthood. His white shirt was dirty from his weeks on the road, and his skin was a deep tan from the sun, which showed off the red freckles on his face.
*Just a few more pieces and then I better get back,* the boy thought to himself. *The last thing I want is to be caught out here alone.* A disturbing image flashed through the young man's mind of himself tied down to a plate with a black dino standing over him with a knife and fork. Suddenly, he heard the rustling of leaves. The teen grabbed the bit of firewood and slowly began to back away, unwilling to face whatever was hiding in the bushes. That's when he heard another rustling sound, this time coming from behind him.
"H-hello? Who's there?" No answer came back in reply. Once more the teen backed away, only to once more hear the rustling sound behind him. This did the trick, and the firewood went flying through the air as the boy took off at high speed. He could hear the sound of his pursuer every so often as he ran, trying to keep from tripping over the dense foliage he was running through. Unfortunately, this was not a feat he was able to maintain for very long as he tripped over an exposed root. The young man landed with a painful grunt, just as his pursuer caught up with him yet again. He looked back, fear in his eyes as the bush that had been behind him shook from a body coming from it. Suddenly, a small form jumped out of the plant.
"Oh, it's just you," the lad said, a relieved look washing over his face. "You had be scared there for a minute, guy. Hey what's that you've got there? Wait be careful with that, you could hurt someone... No get back!! You're getting too... AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
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End Prologue
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"BRRR! I'd forgotten just how cold the air can be in the morning," Joshua said as he wrapped his large arms across his bare chest. The massive human sat in his underwear near the fire, a cold morning breeze blowing into his thick brown beard.
"You know Josh, if you're really cold you could always move closer to the fire and warm up," Pink Eye said as he fanned the flames to roast five fish and a carrot. Every so often the rose-colored eyeball would dip a ladle into a small pot which was filled with a foul smelling yellow liquid, using the ladle to pour the liquid over the cooking food. Each drop that fell into the fire seemed to make the flames jump higher and grow a little more out of control.
"I'm not coming anywhere near that flame so long as there's a chance I'll be flambeyed by that sauce you're using," Joshua said. "And heaven help you if those flames so much as singe any of the clothes on that line." The big man indicated the rope that hung between two trees, on which rested his own rough and tough adventuring suit. Next to it hung a familiar pair of brown pants and a blue T-shirt, along with a pair of white socks, all of which were steadily drying after being washed in the nearby pond. Said pond sat only a few feet away from the searcher's base camp, and was bordered on one side by a cliff, over which water fell to feed the body of water below. By and in the pond were three of the searchers' monster allies, Gray Wolf, Hare, and Golem. Hare was actually in the water, taking advantage of the group's respite to clean out some of the gunk that had accumulated in his fur. Golem was spending his time looked at the storm of color that were the flowers feeding on the tranquil water. Gray Wolf sat on a rock near the base of the cliff, his eyes closed and his body relaxed as he allowed the serenity of his surroundings to wash over him. Suddenly, the wolf was hit by a splash of water, knocking him out of his trance-like state.
"Ha ha ha ha," Hare giggled from the pond, sinking so that only his eyes stayed above the surface.
"Hare, you annoying little furball!!" Gray Wolf yelled.
"Geez, don't get so steamed Gray. After all, you can't expect the water to get you clean if it never touches you, do you?" Hare then held his nose, feigning being assaulted by something noxious. "And believe me you could use a good scrub-down."
"I DO NOT STINK!!"
"Bah, I don't even have a nose and I can still smell you," Pink Eye said.
"I DON'T STINK!!"
"Actually Gray Wolf," Joshua began, "We've been meaning to talk to you..."
"Joshua, not you too..."
"I believe that's a clean sweep," Hare said, shaking his finger at the silver wolf. "Golem, do you duty." Suddenly, two stony hands grabbed Gray Wolf around the sides. Before he could even form a complaint, the lupine monster found himself falling head over all four heels into the pond as Hare broke into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"HARE!!" came the roar of an angry Gray Wolf as he rose from the water. "YOU SET ME UP!! BLIZZARD!!" A blast of winter cold flew from the wolf monster's mouth, striking, not Hare, but the water surrounding him. The temperature dropped drastically, and Hare soon found his teeth chattering from the chill.
"W-What are yo-you t-t-t-tryin' ta do to me, make me a h-h-harescicle?" Hare chattered out, as Gray Wolf laughed. "Well t-t-take this! DRAGON KICK!" Hare stuck out his foot as far as it would go. Since he had not jumped, his body did not move forward, but his still submerged foot did catch fire. The water around Gray Wolf quickly came to a boil, bubbling and steaming.
"AAHHH! That's hot!!" Gray Wolf yelled. "BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!"
"DRAGON KICK!!"
"BLIZZARD!!" On and on this went, with the temperature of the water constantly changing between hot and cold. From their vantage, Joshua and Pink Eye couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle. Then, the human's eyes shifted up the cliff, retracing the falling water until he came about three fourths of the way up. There, two figures were steadily climbing up the rock.
The sun glinted off the tiny drops of water that clung to Genki's bare skin as he and Mocchi slowly made their way to the top. The pink and green monster cast an excited look downward, letting out a squeal as he did so. But it wasn't a squeal of terror or fear, but one of unbridled excitement as the child monster thought of how high he would bounce when he jumped from the top.
"Can't wait chi," Mocchi said, as he turned his attention back to the task of climbing.
"Yeah, you get to just jump down, I have to cut my feet on those rocks climbing down again," Genki said, looking down as well. "Still, for a view like this, it'll be worth it."
"GENKI! IF YOU GET TIRED BE SURE TO STOP!" Joshua yelled up at the climbing duo.
"DON'T WORRY JOSH! I'VE DONE THIS A THOUSAND TIMES BACK HOME!" Genki yelled back down. "Of course back home the highest things to climb was the neighborhood tree."
"JUST REMEMBER, CALL BACK DOWN EVERY TEN MINUTES!"
"OKAY!!" Genki's attention then turned back to climbing, trying to figure out which rocks were safe to depend his weight on. Joshua's attention once more returned to Pink Eye's cooking, which was currently churning out a cloud of black smoke.
"Uh, Pink Eye, do you think you may have overdone the food?"
"Nah, this is how it's supposed to look big guy," Pink Eye said. "Trust me this technique was painstakingly taught to me by my original trainer. Admittedly I'm not an expert at it, but this will taste as good as all the other meals I've prepared for this group."
"I see," Joshua said, rolling his eyes. For the next fifteen minutes, Joshua watched as his pink friend worked diligently on preparing the breakfast. Soon, he removed the stick the food had been rotating on, laying it on a nearby cloth. "Hare, Gray Wolf, Pink Eye's breakfast is ready." All this got from the group at the pond was a collective groan, followed by a resumption of their one-up contest. Joshua knew this routine all too well, and knew that Hare and Gray Wolf would come along just before they broke camp. Joshua turned back to Genki, only to notice that he and Mocchi were no longer climbing the cliff. The two had made it to the top and were bouncing around the edge, trying their best to take in all of the view at once.
"GENKI, BREAKFAST TIME!! YOU AND MOCCHI SHOULD GET DOWN HERE IF YOU WANT TO EAT!!"
"OKAY, WE'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!!" Genki called. Mocchi quickly jumped off the cliff, flying as far away from the rock as his short legs take him. The baby monster tucked himself into a ball as he hit the ground, bouncing off and flying almost as high as the cliff itself. The penguin-like monster bounced a few more times before coming to a stop at the campsite, scooping up a plate for a fish as he did so. Silently, anticipating how much longer it would take for Genki to make it down the cliff-side, Joshua put another fish on a separate plate. That was when he looked up to find Genki straddling the waterfall, both of his arms straight out in front of him. To the others' horror, the boy jumped off of the cliff, his body twisting and turning in mid-air as he dove into the pond. For a few moments, he did not surface, and both Hare and Gray Wolf prepared to dive in and pull their friend from Neptune's embrace. Suddenly, Genki jumped up, breaking water as he walked up onto the shore, a very pleased expression on his face. Joshua's however was very angry... at least he was until he noticed something was amiss, which elicited a quiet giggle. Mocchi to began to giggle as well, while Pink Eye fell over in a fit of laughter. Behind Genki, both Hare and Gray Wolf fell into fits of uncontrollable laughter, falling backwards and into the pond. Golem came rushing forward, both his massive hands forming walls around the perplexed boy.
"What? What's so funny?" Genki asked, thoroughly confused by his friends' reactions.
"Genki, I know you like to emulate us monsters, but you should understand that those of us that go o'naturale typically have fur or scales," Hare said as he began to twirl something white around on a finger. A sudden sick feeling appeared in the pit of Genki's stomach as he recognized the object to be his underwear. He looked down, and sure enough, he was completely naked, the only thing blocking him off being Golem's hands. Like lightning, Genki dove back into the water and tried to snatch his undergarments from the brown bunny. He was too slow, however, as Hare threw the pair of undies to Gray Wolf, who caught them on one of his horns.
"Ha ha too slow," Gray Wolf said as he jumped away from the boy. As soon as Genki got too close, Gray Wolf sent the clothing flying back to Hare. The two continued playing keep away as Genki continued to try desperately to get back his underpants.
"Ha ha ha," bellowed Pink Eye. "If only I had a canvas." Suddenly, something on the horizon. "Hey guys, we're gonna have company pretty soon," the eyeball stated. At his words, the game stopped as Hare handed his friend back his missing garment. Genki put them on and quickly went over to the dry clothes as he and Joshua got dressed, while the monster's prepared for their guests. Soon the group came into view, revealing themselves to be two carriages following a third a very high speed. Two centaur purebreeds, each holding a battle lance, pulled the two trailing carriages, which were carrying many strange buckets and pots, but it was the leader that was strangest. Nothing pulled it along, yet it was easily outpacing the other two. A funny looking man wearing a red scarf and goggle was driving the thing, and it had antennae, wires, tubes, levers, switches, and other odd things protruding from it.
"Grrrrr. Just say the word and I'll freeze those jokers in their tracks," Gray Wolf said.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Gray Wolf," Hare said. "This doesn't look like an attack force to me."
"Still, be ready for anything," Joshua said. At those words, Gray Wolf began to move off to the side, and get lower to the ground, ready to spring up at the first sign of trouble. Soon the carriages arrived at the camp, with the centaurs putting all their muscle into stopping their individual burdens. The man driving the lead carriage took a hand off the steering wheel he was using to guide his vehicle and used it to pull on a long lever that sat next to him. Gears and wheels ground to a halt as the carriage actually turned a quarter turn before coming to a complete stop, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"Well, I say that went rather well," the goggle wearing man said in an unmistakably English accent. Now that he was no longer in motion, it could be seen that the man was completely bald. He wore a green wool vest with a diamond pattern around it's waist and a long sleeved white shirt and brown pants, all dusty brown from travel. He had big ears and a nose to match, as well as beady eyes. "Are we all okay chaps?" One of the drivers of the other carriages, a elderly looking woman wearing a shawl and a purple dress.
"Everything is all right Mr. Walton," she called. The two centaur, still harnessed to their carriages, walked up to Walton.
"Are you sure this is a safe place to stop?"
"Yes, if necessary we're very much able to go further. I'd hate to think we can still be attacked just because you were worried about us."
"Don't worry boys, we're over a mile away and I doubt anyone would be able to keep up with the pace you two set."
"Ah-hem," came the voice of Joshua. Instantly the two centaur turned to face him, their lances ready for use.
"Thought you could sneak up on us did you?" the centaur on the right said.
"Woah woah woah, I don't know who you think we are but we most definitely are not them," Genki said.
"Calm down fellas, calm down," Walton said as a giant pair of hands wearing white gloves came out of the his wagon, picked him up, and gently placed him on the ground. "Sam, Max, don't be so quick to attack. I somehow doubt these people mean to attack us." At these words, both Sam and Max seemed to relax a little, though their weapons still stood ready just in case.
"In truth, we were here first sir," Joshua said.
"Oh, terribly sorry about that friends," said Walton. "We didn't mean to startle you. From the looks of those plates, we must have interrupted your breakfast. Since we have plenty food, and none of my crew have had anything to eat either, the least we can do is offer to break bread with you."
"Oh there's really no need for that, we're quite..." Pink Eye began before Hare's hand suddenly clamped over his mouth.
"What my friend here means to say is that we would be honored to share a meal with you." Behind the two, Gray Wolf was busy dumping the food Pink Eye had prepared quietly into the fire.
"Most excellent," Walton said. Then he turned back to the wagons, cupping his hands around his mouth. "It's all right everybody, it's safe to come out." At his words, more travelers came out of the normal looking wagons. There were two old ladies, a younger looking man, a teenage boy and girl, and another girl who looked to be about five. Also in the group was a scaled hare with an arm in a sling, a kato hybrid, and a even a vanity. "Eleanor, it would appear we're going to have guests for breakfast, will that be a problem?"
"It shouldn't be, but I am gonna need a bit more help preparing the food," the vanity named Eleanor answered.
"We'll help you Elly," the teenage boy said, grabbing the young maiden who stood beside him.
"Fine then I'll set the table up," Walton said as he walked back to his wagon. The angora wearing human pulled on a thick lever, and a whole side of his wagon came down, two legs popping up under it to form a table. Next, a pair of hands on two-by-fours wearing large white gloves appeared from the top, reaching into the depths of the vehicle to pull out bench. Carefully, the two hands set the bench next to the table opposite Walton before reaching back in and pulling forth another bench. The third time this happened, the hands dropped the bench directly onto Walton's foot. "YEE-OUCH. Blasted machines, we'll soon have this problem nipped, we will." With those words, Walton produced a screwdriver from his belt and began to fiddle with the hands' controls. Suddenly, the two dexterous helpers grabbed their creator about the waist and lifted him into the air, shaking him violently. Soon they grew tired of this and twisted the man upside down driving him into the soft ground head first before plucking him back. This lifted him, ready to do it again until Sam and Max grabbed each arm.
"Don't worry Mr. Walton..."
"Yeah, we'll get you down." The two centaur worked quickly, wrestling the wayward arms to the ground and freeing their hapless employer.
"Oh," Walton said, once he was back on his feet, dusting himself off. "Marvelous time-savers, those robotic hands, but they can be beastly dangerous if not properly maintained."
"Yeah, or if the mood strikes them to be," Sam said, getting a laugh out of Max. The little girl walked over to Walton and began to help the older man clean himself up.
"Oh, thank you very much Jessica. Now, I'd say we have about an hour before Eleanor is ready to serve breakfast, she's such a perfectionist. And I see you have fire already started, so what say I set up my teapot and we can have a spot of morning tea?" The human did not wait for an answer but simply brought out a strange looking teapot equipped with a winding key and legs. Deftly Walton wound the teapot up and set it on the ground, where it promptly took of for the pond and filled itself with water before returning to stand over the fire, its lid open to accept the tea-bag its owner put into it.
"Well that's certainly something you don't see everyday, is it Mocchi?" Genki asked of his diminutive friend. When the boy received no answer, he looked down to find that Mocchi was no long standing beside him. A quick scan of the area found Mocchi being bounced around by Jessica, who was giggling like a bandit over the monster. "Oh, you like him do you?"
"He's so fun, you're so lucky to have a monster who can be a ball," Jessica said smiling. "You know, I have a monster."
"Really?" Genki said, curious as to what so young a girl could have as a monster.
"Uh-huh, and he's the cutest, bestest monster ever." The young girl turned back to the wagon and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Jaaaaaa-Aaaaaaace." Suddenly, one of the sacks that hung from the wagon's side began to wiggle as a wolfish head poked its way out. Like a missile, the furry cub bolted directly for Jessica, and caused both Genki and Mocchi to give the oddest expressions they'd ever done. The monster in question was definitely a tiger type, of that there was no doubt, but as far as what its sub-breed was, the pair could only guess. The wolf was a mixture of black and white, but it was completely half and half. While the left side of the cub's head was white, the right was black, but the two colors flipped sides on his mane. The colors switched again at his body, a fourth time at the lower half of his tail, and a final time at the tails tip. Even his feet were the opposite of his body, giving him a very distinctive harlequin appearance. And his eyes were an almost unnerving shade of blue.
"What in the world is that?"
"We're not quite sure really," Walton said as he knelt down to pet the wolfling. "He could be anything I suppose, but the general opinion is he's just an odd colored gray wolf." It was at that point that the tiger hybrid seemed to finally notice the presence of another tiger-type. Yipping like mad, the pup bounded over to Gray Wolf, sniffing and examining the elder lupine with an intense curiosity.
"No Jace, that's rude!" Jessica said, running over to grab her pet.
"It's all right, the little fella is just making my acquaintance," Gray Wolf said as he gave the pup a quick sniff of his own. Jace responded to this by weaving his way through Gray Wolf's front two legs, yipping at the new game he believed they were playing. He soon lost interest in this, however, as he noticed Genki. Like a cannonball, the puppy jumped on the boy, knocking him flat on his back. Genki looked at his chest where the pup now stood, looking almost as if he was sizing the boy up before he mercilessly began to lick Genki's face.
"Well, I feel used," Gray Wolf said, smiling a little at the youthful exuberance the pup showed. As if responding to his words, the pup bounded back over to the silver wolf. This only lasted for a few more minutes though as a very loud whistling was soon heard coming from the mechanical teapot.
"Ah good, the tea is ready," Walton said. What looked like a skateboard shot out of the inventor's wagon, using a magnet to guide itself to the teapot. On the board sat several cups and saucers, along with cream, sugar and, most surprising of all, cheese. Walton reached down, grabbing a cup and filling it with the hot tea which he began to offer to his guests.
************************************************************************
A little over two hours later found the searchers recounting their many adventures to the pleasure of their gracious hosts, the debris from their breakfast littering the table as a very pleased looking Eleanor cleaned up, with help from her two helpers from before. At one end of the table, Genki and Jessica handed pieces of leftover bacon to Jace who sat under the table. The pup seemed to have more interest in licking their greasy fingers than eating the "dropped" food.
"My, it does sound like you've had an adventurous past few months," Walton said. "I don't think we've had but a handful of rather mediocre adventures in the five years we've been together."
"That reminds me, what exactly is a caravan doing out in the middle of nowhere?" Hare asked. "I didn't know of any trade routes in this area."
"We travel from town to town trying to avoid the road-blocks bandits and Moo's forces have been throwing up all over the place to discourage trade, hence why we're in the middle of nowhere. We buy and sell different goods in different towns, deliver mail, and, on occasion, provide little gadgets to make life just a little easier to live."
"You're a shipping service," Genki said matter-of-factly.
"You mean you actually make money off of this stuff?" Hare asked as he examined the legged teapot.
"Not nearly as much as he'd like..." Sam began.
"But it's rather hard when you have to prove your products won't explode when you use it," Max completed. Both centaur laughed at their joke.
"So if this route is so secret, how come you were all so scared when you rode up today?" Genki asked. As soon as the question left his lips, the somewhat jovial mood around the table died as one of the old women dropped her plate as he began to cry. Eleanor put down the dishes she'd been carrying and walked over to the human and wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort the sobbing woman as they walked into one of the wagons.
"Well, there in lies our biggest problem to date," Walton said, closing his eyes as he began to tell the tale. "It started about four months ago, when we first met Jace here. There were twenty of us then, along with a fourth wagon. We were passing through a new town, figured we'd take a gamble and try to add another village to our little circle of life. What we came across was trouble..." At those words, Jace began to whimper, crawling into Jessica's lap as the little girl began to squeeze the wolf cub tightly. "We'd heard that the groups of bandits and brigands were getting bolder and bolder, but what we came across was total destruction. Buildings were blackened by fire, and mutilated bodies and shattered lost disks littered the ground everywhere. Men, women, even children lay dead in the streets or in buildings that had burned and collapsed on them. There were even monsters who hadn't had enough left to transform lying dead. Of course we looked for any survivors, and that's how we found Jace. He was trying to drag a corpse, it must have been his former owner, into nearby barn. The poor thing was probably thought the guy was just hurt was trying to help him."
"There is no monster with more loyalty to his owner than a tiger," Gray Wolf whispered, pride clearly in his eyes as he gazed at Jace.
"Jessica was so enamored with the little tyke, and we couldn't simply leave him there to starve, so we decided to take him with us... That was when we discovered the town wasn't quite as abandoned as we'd thought." Walton looked around the table at his new friends, pausing to all them time to digest what they'd heard. "They seemed to come out of the ground itself, there were so many so suddenly."
"Baddies?"
"No, bandits. They must have still been scavenging through the village, trying to find anything valuable they might have missed before. The moment they saw us, they attacked."
"We were lucky to get out of there in one piece," Sam said, only to be followed up by Max.
"Or so we thought."
"For almost a week we kept fighting them at every turn. Fortunately, we're not really pushovers, but they still managed to destroy one of our wagons."
"They broke my arm," the scaled hare said.
"We'd thought we'd escaped them, but then... Over the next four months, anyone who left the group, even for the most trivial of things like gathering wood, just disappeared. Every so often we came across the same bandits, and people and monsters continued to disappear. That's when we found Tobias..." With those words, Walton walked over to one of the wagons, opening it's doors to the searchers. The searchers gasped as they saw what it contained. Suspended by ropes, his body almost completely covered bandages, splints, other bindings hung what the seven friends could barely recognize as an evil hare. One of his arms was missing up to the elbow.
"What... What happened to him?" Genki asked.
"Tobias disappeared a little over a week ago. We searched the whole night and most of the morning before we found him. He been torn almost to pieces. Even now he's held together mostly by the bandages. He hasn't woken up since we found him," Walton said. "We can't even take him to a proper doctor. Every time we come close to a town, those bandits attack us and force us back. Eleanor has been doing what she can, but without some real help... I'm afraid Tobias won't last much longer."
"We'll help you get him to a doctor," Genki said, fists balled as he eyes were shadowed by his hair.
"The kid's right. No one deserves to die like this," Gray Wolf said.
"Besides, it's the least we can do after you saved our tastebuds with this wonderful meal," Hare said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Pink Eye quipped.
"I think what Hare meant to say is that it would be the right thing to do," said Joshua, ignoring the suezo hybrid.
"Thank you but I wouldn't want to put you in any danger," Walton said.
"If we can handle villains like Moo and Ragnorak, somehow I doubt a few bandits'll get the better of us," Genki said.
*****************************************
The noon day sun found the searchers and their new companions walking through the forest each one on their guard in case of attack. Joshua walked up front, the ax he usually used for chopping wood out of his pack and resting in his hand, while his dagger hung at his side, the straps that kept it from being drawn undone and ready for a fight. Golem walked in back of the whole procession, ready to block any attempts to attack them from behind, his gray eyes bouncing from side to side as he kept watch for anything out of the ordinary. Genki sat on the wagon carrying the injured evil hare, ready spring out of his hiding place like a rocket should the need arise. Mocchi was actually in the wagon trying his best along with one of the kato to keep their patient from being disturbed by the rocking of the wagon. Nearby strode Gray Wolf, who, for reasons he'd kept his own, had stayed close to the medical wagon ever since their trek had begun. Hare had opted to travel with Walton, completely fascinated by the machines the human had built over his travels. Pink Eye has positioned himself in the food wagon, while the rest simply took the positions they normally took as they traveled.
"Gray Wolf, you look a little distracted," Genki called over to his friend, noticing it as the wolf's golden eyes darting from side to side.
"I'm looking for Jace," Gray Wolf responded, albeit much quieter than Genki.
"Jace travels with Jessica," Eleanor said. This seemed to satisfy Gray Wolf, but Genki could almost swear he heard a very soft growl coming from somewhere.
"Ah, whatsamatter," Hare called back from the lead wagon. "Gray Wolf getting scared all by his lonesome?"
"Not now rab..." The wolf stopped in his tracks. This fact was not lost on the rest of the searchers.
"What's up Gray?" Joshua said as Walton called for the wagons to stop.
"Shhh.... I think we're being followed," the wolf whispered.
"Grrr," came the voice of Jace as he poked his head out from the food cart, along with Jessica. The two children looked around, trying to identify whatever Gray Wolf had seen.
"Both of you, get back in the wagon," Gray Wolf commanded. From out of the trees flew a arrow which struck Eleanor right in the arm. Gray Wolf was off like a shot in the direction the arrow had come from, only to be blasted back by a pixie's lightning. Like a swarm of bees, the rest came into the clearing, over thirty humans and monsters, each brandishing weapons and each looking ready to kill. Sam and Max, along with Golem, intercepted the bandits hoping to buy some time for their friends. It was at that point that Jace jumped out of his wagon, followed by Jessica as she tried to keep her little friend safe.
"Jessica, get back here!!" Walton cried as he kicked one of the bandits into the grip of his mechanical hands.
"I have to save Jace!" Jessica yelled back as she continued after the little wolf cub as he dove into the forest.
"Don't worry, I'll get them," Genki said as he tried to get to them, only to be stopped by an usaba. Golem's giant hand swept away the plant/suezo effortlessly, even as two humans brandishing daggers of their own. Genki easily outmaneuvered his two assailants, who found themselves facing a very angry, roaring Gray Wolf.
"GENKI!!!"
************************************
Genki raced through the forest after the fleeing children, cursing all the fallen branches and other things that prevented him from reaching top speed. Up ahead of him, Jessica ducked and weaved through the trees, never loosing sight of her quarry. This was an impressive feat considering that Jace's small form was moving between the underbrush as easily as Genki moved through the trees. The small wolf stayed just in sight of the two humans, though, allowing them to continue following him. Suddenly, Jace came to a skidding halt in front of a cave hidden deep in the woods. At the entrance, he seemed to wait for his two pursuers to catch up before he jumped into the cave.
"JACE!!! WAIT!!! COME BACK!!!" Jessica yelled as she began to scramble into the cave, only to be grabbed by Genki.
"Jessica we have to get back..."
"NO! I WON'T LEAVE JACE!!" the girl wailed.
"Fine, then we go in and get him together. Walton would probably kill me if either of you got hurt in there," said Genki. With those words, Genki and Jessica entered the dank cavern. Genki's hand rested on wall as he tried to feel his way through the cave. Unfortunately, this provided no protection for the boy's feet as he stubbed his toes on several stalactites. Soon though, the two came to the end of the cavern, which proved to be a vast chamber with several torches to provide a dim sort of light. As his eyes finally began to focus in the light, however, Genki found himself wishing the torches weren't there. Inside the chamber was a horrifying sight.
Bones littered the floor, but not the ancient bones the boy had seen in the underground crypt scant days ago. Bits of muscle and skin still clung to these, and small pools of blood had formed around some of the larger piles. On the walls the bodies of both monsters and humans hung, each missing various pieces of anatomy where something had apparently taken huge bites out of them. Indeed, this was no tomb.
"What is this place?" Genki asked aloud as a scared Jessica moved closer to him.
"My dinner table," a raspy voice said. Genki turned around to meet this new intruder, only to be sent flying into a cavern wall by twin bolts of black and white lightning.
**************************
Meanwhile, back at the caravan, the battle continued to rage. Gray Wolf was a blur of silver fur as he jumped from opponent to opponent, using a combination of his ice attacks and his claws and horns to disable attacker after attacker. The bandits soon learned to avoid the wolf. That was when he began to notice something... While the bandits were putting up a good fight, keeping Gray Wolf and his friends occupied, many of these so called "highwaymen" were busy looking through the caravan.
*They aren't even keeping the things they find, what are they up to?* Gray Wolf thought. That was when he heard Mocchi's distressed squeak. The veteran warrior looked over to the wagon Mocchi had been guarding to see the little pink monster spinning like a top, trying to use his Cherry Blossom Blizzard to keep seven of the bad guys away. It was clear, however, that the young monster was quickly depleting his all of his energy, a fact that would soon leave him helpless.
"ICE BULLET!" Gray Wolf called as he charged the humans, sending a clump of ice smashing into one of the seven. The silver wolf tackled another bandit, knocking him to the ground as another grabbed his hind legs. This proved to be a mistake, though, as Gray Wolf bucked, his back claws raking across the man's face as Gray Wolf moved to stand over Mocchi, keeping him safe from the battle. That was when he saw two of the raiders break open the lock on the wagon. *Tobias,* Gray Wolf's mind screamed as he remembered the wounded evil hare hanging helpless within. "TORPEDO!" Gray Wolf cried as a bolt of fast energy flew from his horns. His aim was off, however, missing the raiders by several inches. The doors to the wagon were opened and, for the briefest of moments, the silver wolf was afraid he had failed in his mission.
"Jake, he's not in here," one of the human's called as he closed the door.
"Find him!!" Called a balding human wielding two clubs. "We will have revenge for what that animal did to our village!!"
*Waitaminute, their village! Something smells here.* With those thoughts, Gray Wolf charged the man named Jake, using his lightning to force the human to discard his weaponry before knocking him to the ground.
"All right," Gray Wolf growled, energy dancing around his horns. "You have about ten seconds to spill whatever you know about what's going on, or it's maximum voltage at minimum distance!"
"It doesn't matter what you do to me, we won't stop until we've destroyed the killer," the human spit back.
"Killer? What killer? You're the only killers here."
"Is that how you justify what your friend did to our village?!"
"What are you talking about?" Gray Wolf asked as he pulled away from the human.
"Don't pretend you don't know! We saw your friends retrieving that blasted cub from the burnt husk he transformed our village into!" The human said taking a swing at Gray Wolf.
*CUB!!* Gray Wolf's mind screamed. "A tiger cub?!"
"Of course..." Jake said, his clubs lowering. *What's this guy trying to pull? What else would....* Suddenly, realization dawned on the human. "He fooled you too, didn't he?"
"Stop the fight, and get as many healthy bodies as you can to follow me," Gray Wolf barked. "SONIC MOVE!!" With those words, Gray Wolf was off like a shot after Genki.
******************************
"Aaahhh!" Genki yelled as he felt the bump on his head from where he'd hit the wall of the cavern. But that wasn't nearly as painful as the his chest where the twin lightning bolts had struck him. Nearby, Jessica was clinging to his arm in fear, shaking uncontrollably as their attack came into the light.
"Jace?" Jessica said, perplexed as she saw her "friend" standing before him, black and white energy dancing around his horns.
"Ding ding ding, give the girl a prize. You're not as dumb as you make yourself out to be," the wolf cub giggled. Energy began to swirl around Jace as his blue eyes glowed an even deeper hue. For a brief moment, the two human's couldn't see their captor, but soon the energy died away, revealing Jace's true self. While he was still a tiger hybrid, he had now fully doubled in size. His blue eyes were no longer a soft shade of blue, but instead were the nightmarish blue of a joker. His fangs were clearly visible, no longer pristine white, but now stained red with blood. "Now get up before I fry you like I did the other one," he barked.
"What... What are you doing this for?" Genki said as he got to his feet, using his arm to pull Jessica behind him.
"It's simple. I do this for the same reason the shark hunts the fish, the hawk attacks the mouse in the field, and the wolf slaughters the lamb," Jace said, smiling as he licked his lips. "For food."
"Food!" Genki said, stunned at the answer while Jessica clutched tighter to him, frightened almost to death.
"All living things exist for one purpose, to kill or be killed. Only the strongest have the power to kill, and it is the job of the weak to feed that power. And as you can see from everything around you, I've been busy proving which class I belong to, sampling all the different tasty treats this planet has to offer. Hares, pixies, zuum, even dragons have all fallen to their designated place as prey. But my favorite prey are you humans. No fur, no sharp claws, and no real teeth, just pure flesh and bone to be devoured by those with power."
"So you used the battle to lure us here, and now you plan to eat us," Genki said, his fists balling.
"I don't want to be eated," Jessica wailed.
"Truthfully, I was only planning on having little Jessica here for dinner, then we came across you... Old humans are always tough, and their meat has no taste. But you two are nice and young, I can't wait to eat you. The only question is, which one do I kill first?" Jace's blue eyes scanned both, trying to decide which one would be the most fun to rip into. For the briefest of moments, Jessica moved away from Genki, creating a small hole between them. That was all Jace needed. "HARLEQUIN LIGHTNING!!" Black and white energy flew from the tiger hybrid's horns, exploding with a thunderous boom as it sent the children flying in opposite directions.
"OWW!" Jessica yelled as she slammed into the wall. The little girl looked up to see Jace's face grinning down at her.
"Guess who I chose!" Jace yelled as he opened his mouth for a killing bite as the young girl's arms raised to try to block the ravenous wolf. It wasn't her arm that stopped the wolf in his tracks however, but a thrown rock.
"Why am I surprised you'd choose her over me," Genki said, laughing as he pointed at Jace.
"Such an impatient little edible. Don't worry, I'll eat you next so just wait your turn."
"You're telling me you'd rather have a skinny little thing like her instead of something like this." With those words, Genki raised his shirt and began to slap his now exposed belly, sucking in air to make it appear fuller than it really was. "Yum yum a tasty treat fit for a conqueror. What more could you ask for, yep yep? I exercise, I'm healthy, I eat right." A few quick movements and Jace found himself looking at Genki's legs as the boy begins to show himself off like a cut of beef. "Look at these drumsticks. Mouthwatering aren't they Jace, so thick and juicy looking. And check out these ribs, I bet they'd look delicious baked by a lightning bolt, wouldn't they." Suddenly, Genki stood up, looking the renegade tiger right in the eyes. "But what am I saying, you chose Jessica. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. I mean, I'm a meal fit for a true warrior, how could you possibly feel worthy of me?"
"WHAT?!" Jace growled as he took as step away from his frightened prey.
*Great it's working,* Genki thought. *Now if I can just keep his attention on me... and hopefully stay alive in the process.*
"Well what else should I expect from someone unable to take on a real challenge. Just 'cause you can crush an ant doesn't make you're stronger than a bear," Genki continued grinning slyly as he noticed the black and white wolf grinding his teeth in anger. "But go ahead and eat that thin little scrap of meat if you want, I'll just be leaving, I'm sure there has to be someone out there worthy of having me over for... dinner."
"YOU RUDE LITTLE PUNK! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW STRONG I AM!!" Jace roared, charging for the boy with a murderous gleam in his eyes. Saliva sprayed from the ravenous wolf's mouth as he prepared to rip open his target. For his part, Genki stood almost perfectly still, his hands behind his back, his chin up, and his neck exposed, as if waiting for Jace to kill him. Soon Genki was within striking distance and Jace could almost taste the boy's hot blood on his lips.
He never got the chance however, as Genki's arms reappeared, a large leg bone in his hands as he swung with all his might. The ball section of the leg bone caught Genki's attack square in the muzzle and sent him flying as well as knocking a few teeth loose. The force Genki had used to swing the makeshift bat sent Genki himself spinning dizzily to the ground.
"Woah, that was a rush," Genki said, his hand holding his head to try to stop the world from spinning.
"Genki, are you all right?" Jessica said.
"Yeah, it'll take more than some second rate mutt to beat the Monster Champ."
"Oh really," came a raspy voice. Boy and girl looked over to where Jace had landed only to find the wolf was once more standing and, aside from his bloody muzzle, looked fit as a fiddle. "Get me angry enough to charge then try to take my head off with one of my own chew toys. Might have worked if you'd have been stronger. Too bad, so sad. HARLEQUIN LIGHTNING!!" Once more, twin bolts of black and white lightning flew from the tiger hybrid's horns, spiraling at high speed to strike Genki.
"AAAUUUUGGGGGGGHHHH!!" Genki screamed as electric energy surged through his body, unrelenting and unstoppable. The brown haired boy could feel his blue eyes tearing up with the pain that coursed through him, as his body spasmed from the shock.
"You mentioned how good you'd look roasted by a nice strong lightning bolt. What say we see just how good?" the deranged monster asked as he turned up the voltage on his attack, eliciting an even louder scream from his tormented victim.
*I'm... I'm dying... I can feel it,* Genki thought as more energy raced into him. This was by far the most painful experience he'd ever had, even more so then when Moo had taken over his body all those weeks ago. He used every ounce of strength he possessed to look around the cave, his eye finally stopping on Jessica who was frozen in place with fear. *Run Jessica, run or he'll kill you too.* Genki thought as hard as possible, scared all he'd done would soon be in vain.
"Ah, still trying to hang in there, maybe you are tougher than I gave you credit for. Well let's see how long you hold out against this," Jace said as he prepared to once more increase the amount of power in his attack. He never got the chance, however, as a larger form crashed into his side, it's horns goring him as a familiar silver and white form drove him to the wall.
"You want lightning you sick freak I'll give you LIGHTNING!!" Gray Wolf said. Then, his horns still buried in the younger wolf's side, the silver wolf released his energy attack. Jace roared in unbearable anguish as the lightning bolt exploded inside of him, causing massive burning as it did so. His foe thus vanquished, Gray Wolf removed himself from the juvenile monster, making his way over to his human friend. Genki's body was smoking as a result of the energy attack the boy had suffered, and Gray Wolf nudged the boy with his nose, hoping he had not been too late. Soon, Genki stirred, rising to his hands and knees as he coughed up smoke. "Hey kid, you all right?"
"I've been better," Genki replied quietly before standing up. "But at least now I know what a fried fish feels like." That was when Genki remembered about his fellow captive. "Jessica, hey are you all right girl?" Genki scrambled over to the girl, who was now sitting with her knees to her chest, crying.
"Genki, Genki, I was so scared," Jessica bawled, grabbing onto the boy and hugging him tightly. That's when she noticed Gray Wolf and, for the briefest moment, the silver wolf could see fear welling up in her face. Not that the veteran could blame her, she'd just been betrayed by a wolf she'd loved, she'd probably never be able to look at another tiger, pure or sub-breed, the same way again.
"Come on, I imagine the others'll be catching up to us soon, I left a pretty clear trail for them to follow," Gray Wolf said as he pushed his nose under Genki's arm to help steady him.
"What about the bandits?" Jessica asked.
"They weren't bandits, they were what was left of the village where you found Jace. I'd lay odds that they haven't killed any of your friends, it was all that psycho's doing."
"Kinda figured that after he hit me with the first lightning bolt," Genki said as he allowed his friend to take his weight, a smirk on his face. It was a look that quickly faded as another voice made it's presence known.
"A pity you didn't figure it out beforehand, I might not have gotten you so easy," Jace said as he got back up. Dark energy began to circle around him and, much to Gray Wolf's intense dismay, all of the black and white wolf's wounds healed.
"No... It's not possible... There's no way you could survive an attack like what I gave you," Gray Wolf said in disbelief.
"How can you say it's not possible when I just proved it was," Jace said. Suddenly, his face became coated in anger. "Now I suggest you leave me to my dinner before I'm forced to tear you to pieces as well." With those words Jace charged at the trio.
"Get out of here, I'll hold him off for you," Gray Wolf said as he jumped to meet the dark wolf's charge. The two tiger sub-types met in fierce combat, biting and clawing at each other. Gray Wolf clearly had strength on his side, but the cramped fighting quarters quickly proved to give the speed and maneuvering advantage to the smaller wolf. Jessica grabbed Genki, helping him to walk out of the death chamber as the two warriors fought, much to Gray Wolf's relief.
"Looks like you missed out on dinner," said Gray Wolf as he raked his claws over Jace's side.
"It doesn't matter that they got away now, I'll just go and collect them again. Believe me, they haven't escaped yet," came the reply as Jace bit into the elder wolf's shoulder. The two monster continued their melee combat for a few more minutes, swiping, biting, and clawing at each other before jumping to opposite sides of the cave, Gray Wolf careful to put himself between Jace and the exit. "I must say, I am impressed old man. You're tougher than that old dragon I took down."
"Don't even try to be civil with me," Gray Wolf spit. "This is not a game. I will make you pay for every creature whose life you ended in this cave."
"Ha, don't make me laugh. I said you were good, but you're nowhere near up to me. I've been killing all my life, ever since those fools unlocked me. And I will continue to kill long after you're dead. I am the wolf in sheep's clothing, moving freely among these pathetic animals like your little brown haired friend, until I decide to make them my next meal ticket."
"You're insane, a savage butcher, that's all you are."
"Maybe so, but if you haven't noticed, that seems to be the way the world is turning. I hear there's a monster taking over the planet even as we speak, some sort of super-fighter known as Moo. Word has it that Moo doesn't really have any use for humans, or the weaklings. Maybe I can help him come up with a way to put all that fresh game to work..." At those words Jace licked his lips.
"You'll do nothing of the sort!" Gray Wolf yelled as he charged Jace once more. "TORPEDO!" A super fast bolt of energy flew from the wolf's horns, but the younger tiger was able to dodge it, jumping out of the way. This however, proved to be what Gray Wolf had been waiting for, as he jumped to meet Jace, his powerful jaws latching onto the black and white wolf's leg, crushing the bone as he did so.
"AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!" Jace yelled as his injured leg crumbled beneath him. Gray Wolf smiled, pleased with his work until he noticed the dark energy swirling around the demon dog's injured leg. Gray Wolf moved like lightning, attacking his injured opponent with all the ferocity of his nature, trying to do as much damage as possible before Jace could heal. The rain of claws was ended, however, by a loud roar from Jace, which sent Gray Wolf crashing into a pile of bones. The silver lupine stood again, his body covered by wounds and other battle injuries as he looked for his opponent. Jace wasn't hard to find as he jumped onto Gray Wolf's back, biting and clawing in an attempt break his rival's neck. In an effort to shake his opponent, Gray Wolf launched himself at a wall, but this proved to be a bad decision, however, as Jace escaped and allowed the winter warrior to smash into the wall full force. Gray Wolf got up to see Jace standing in front of him, all of his previous injuries had completely healed.
"Bet you're wishing you hadn't butted in now, huh old timer?" Jace sneered. "Face it, you can't beat me in a fair fight."
"You're right, I can't beat you like this," Gray Wolf said. "You've got too much of an advantage here... So let's change the circumstances." Suddenly, Gray Wolf erupted in energy as he activated both his Arctic Blast and Lightning attacks. His target, however, was not Jace, but rather the cave itself. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as it began to collapse around the two.
"You senile old fool, you've started a cave-in," Jace called. "We'll be buried if we stay here."
"Who said I was staying, SONIC MOVE!" Gray Wolf was off like a shot through the tunnel, using his super speed to outpace the collapsing structure.
"You.... YOU.... SONIC MOVE!!" Jace called as he took off after Gray Wolf. Down the tunnel, Gray Wolf was beginning to feel the stress of using up so much of his energy, he body was feeling much heavier that it normally did, and he was having trouble keeping his body in it's accelerated state. A quick glance behind him revealed Jace to be rapidly closing the gap between them.
*Where is he getting all this energy,* Gray Wolf thought. *I have to do something or he'll beat me out. Just enough energy for one last trick.* Gray Wolf continued to move as Jace continued to catch up with him. Suddenly, Gray Wolf turned around, his mouth open as he began his plan.
"ARCTIC BLAST!!" The familiar blue and white beam of energy shot forth for a few seconds, freezing the ground directly in front of Jace as Gray Wolf quickly continued his escape. The frozen path would slow him down long enough for the second part of Gray Wolf's plan. A few more seconds and Gray Wolf exploded out of the cave's exit.
"Gray Wolf," Genki cried from the spot he lay. His shirt was off as a bandaged Eleanor used her healing powers to repair the burn damage caused by Jace's lightning attacks. Mocchi was nearby, relieved to have his trainer back.
"No time to talk," Gray Wolf said as he turned around, facing the cave entrance. In the distance he could see Jace had recovered from the icy patch and was almost out as well. "TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO! TORPEDO!!!" Gray Wolf yelled rapidly firing his energy blasts at the cave entrance, forcing it to begin to collapse inward. The attack proved too late however as Jace leapt out of the cavern, heading straight for the now powerless Gray Wolf. A stony hand caught the wolf in mid-leap, wrapping around his middle like a vice and cracking several ribs and perhaps Jace's back. With only seconds to act, Golem threw the black and white wolf like cannon ball back into the collapsing cave, the entrance of which sealed behind him. "Finally," Gray Wolf said, collapsing to the ground. "It's over." With those words, the wolf's entire world went black.
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Gray Wolf didn't regain consciousness again until night time, at which he was greeted by the sight of the shining stars, a roaring fire, and Mocchi pressing a cold cloth to his forehead.
"Where... where are we?" The silver wolf asked.
"Gray Wolf awake, Gray Wolf awake!!" Mocchi called with glee, a phrase that immediately summoned Gray Wolf's friends to his side.
"Good to see you're awake wolfie," Hare said, smiling his most annoying smile at his friendly rival.
"You are... all right," Golem said, a smile on his face as he looked down at the injured wolf. Similar words of thanks and praise were given by all the searcher's even Genki who was wearing several bandages over his visible burns.
"He's... he's gone?" Gray Wolf asked.
"Jace got buried in that cave, and we haven't seen any trace of him," Walton said, walking over to the group, a plate of cheese and crackers in his hand, along with a cup of tea. "As far as we can tell, your plan worked."
"Not a plan..." Gray Wolf said. "Just... a gamble." The silver lupine tried to get up, only to collapse again.
"I wouldn't try that again. Eleanor says you won't get your full strength back for a few days, you kinda exhausted your energy supply," Hare said, catching Gray Wolf to gently lower him back to the ground. "Which means you're not gonna be shooting off your mouth or running at supersonic speeds for a while."
"And the villagers?"
"They're returning home as we speak," Joshua said. "With Jace dead, they really have no reason not to return home. Walton's planning on taking his caravan onwards tomorrow so Tobias can get the help he needs."
"After leaving you with enough supplies to continue on your journey," Walton interjected. "I feel that's the least I could do after you saved Jessica from Jace. I still can't believe he turned out to be a killer."
"He was psychotic," Gray Wolf interjected. "I'm just happy he's gone... What about Jessica?"
"Scared, but sleeping," Walton said. "Cheese is a great comforter in times of crisis. Speaking of which, I brought this for our resident hero." Walton placed the food and drink on the ground in front of the injured tiger, who gratefully began to eat the offered food. Soon it was gone, and finally, after what had arguably been the worst day of their lives, the searchers went to sleep, thankful that in the end, they'd all survived.
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Epilogue
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Where once had stood a magnificent cave and tunnel, now there only stood rocks and rubble, the last remnant of the Gray Wolf's battle against the deadly Jace. On top of the rubble, a circle of red flames appeared, marking the exit of a portal belonging to a very unique traveler. From the fiery transport floated a horned figure, his red mask and dark blue eyes shining brightly against the burning blades of his double-bladed scythe. Daemon looked around at the destruction, a disappointed sigh escaping his unmoving lips. The rubble was packed very tight, it would take a team of a hundred years to clear the debris away using conventional means. Daemon didn't have years. A gauntlet-clad hand let go of the handle of his weapon, as his index and middle finger pointed upward. Dark energy encircled each of the rocks in turn, lifting them into the air one by one as the demon monster quickly got to what he was after. From the rubble, also carried by the black energy, came Jace's mangled body, damaged almost beyond recognition.
"Well, it looks like you had a blast," Daemon said, looking Jace right in his one good eye. "I would venture to say your even beyond the ability of your joker blood to heal you, you'll probably die in less than an hour. I suppose I should let you, after all, what good is a failure to one such as me... Still, I have an eye for talent, something you DO seem to have, so how about we make a deal. I'll save your life, and even increase your already vast power, but in exchange, you serve me. Of course the alternative is death, but I'll let you decide." In response, Jace began to wiggle and groan, barely able to get his head to nod in agreement to the demon monster's terms. "Excellent." And with that single word, both Daemon and his charge disappeared in a halo of flame.
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END
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?????? - Tiger/Joker - Though it's name has been lost in the annals of history, tales of this monster's savage power are still the stuff of legends. Manufactured during the war as advance scouts, these wolves of war shined as assassins. Unfortunately, they proved to be so adept at killing without being seen that they began targeting civilians without orders and making no distinction between friend or foe. Able to leave whole villages as ghost-towns, it soon became apparent the species as a whole was too dangerous, and the project that spawned them was soon terminated.
End Note: Well what do you think, scary huh. I doubt anyone will really like the new character Jace but I decided not to waste a character with such potential on only one story, so you will see him again. But now, onto the contest I promised. As you could plainly see, I never gave a name to Jace's species, mainly because I couldn't think of anything interesting that fit. So, I'm leaving it open for everyone else to name. Come up with the best name, and it will be used for the species as a whole, with you receiving the naming credit. The contest begins now and won't end until Jace's next appearance, which of course won't happen for many months, so you have plenty of time to come up with a good candidate. Now, onto the preview of the next chapter.
Daemon is after something. The problem, it's in Gali's domain, and Daemon is definitely not welcome. So he sends a powerful agent to retrieve it and destroy the searchers at the same time. But an ancient rivalry also brews within the region, and the searchers bear witness to the final battle of personal war centuries old.