Hi everyone! Gantz Gun here! Well after a bit of time, I present to you chapter two of Legend of the Dream Traveler! Enjoy! (P.S. sorry it took so long, I get distracted a little too easy.)
Legend of the Dream Traveler
Chapter.2.
Kuma the Clawed Hurricane.
"Of course Master Kuma." The parrot bartender said, taking the cup and walking to the beverage dispenser. Satisfied, Kuma (The big bear.) rested his head on the bar, his eyelids starting to get heavy. "Hey bartender, I'm taking a small nap, I have a match in say an hour and a half, and I want you to wake me up in an hour okay?" The parrot simply answered "Yes sir." Before putting the bear's already full cup into the nearby refrigerator. After hearing that the bear fell into a deep sleep, thinking he would have a peaceful sleep… that is until his peaceful slumber would be rudely interrupted.
Meanwhile back in Krowbar's room, Wally was looking at himself in the mirror deep in thought. Krowbar had left the some time ago to run some errands, some of which Wally didn't really understand. "Man this is just too weird… How'd I get here? Since when did people start looking like birds? And…" Wally seemed to freeze at that last statement.
"Since when did I have fur?" he shouted kind of minding his volume. As he had his internal conniption his mind went back to something Krowbar said.
'Eagler, just because he looks like a mongoose and his fur looks as light orange as the palace guards, does not mean he is one of them."
Wally rubbed his chin in absolute confusion, ever since he woke up in this strange hotel, he was handed one confusing surprise after another. "What are these 'Palace Guards'? Where exactly am I? And finally, since when did I become a mongoose?" Suddenly a kind of sickening realization hit him… Hard. He felt the back side of his pants and realized that there was a long lump going down. As he did this he realized there was a small hole in the back of his pants, just small enough for something midsized to fit through…
Krowbar had just finished his errands, and was returning to his room. He had just put his hand on the doorknob when there was a very loud yell. "GAHHHHH!" Fearing the worst Krowbar quickly turned the doorknob, and ran in… Only to see Wally, holding to what seemed to be, to his absolute horror… His tail. Wally had pulled the tail through the small hole on the back of his pants, and freaked out about it. "Wally what happened? I heard the scream!" Krowbar said, he sounded worried beyond relief. Wally stopped inwardly freaking out about his new tail, and popped into attention. He saw Krowbar, and the worried look in his eye, he immediately started looking around for an excuse for his little screaming fest. Suddenly Wally's eyes brightened, as a smile appeared on his face. "April Fools!" Krowbar's eyes bulged, "April… Fools?" Wally immediately pointed at Krowbar's calendar which showed the month of April. "Yeah that's what day it is… Isn't it?"
Krowbar stared Wally flabbergasted, "No, I'm afraid not. You see today's April 24th, exactly, if I'm not mistaken, 23 days after the day you thought it was." Wally scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Oh sorry, it's just your calendar… I usually cross out the days that had passed so I could keep better track of the date." Krowbar shook his head completely surprised, "Well very sorry, but I don't do the same thing, young man." Wally continued to scratch the back of his head, looking like he was embarrassed beyond belief, but deep inside he was breathing out the breath he held in a sigh of relief.
"Well Wally as soon as you're ready, I'll show you around the hotel some more." Krowbar said seemingly forgetting about the accidental April Fools joke. That is before he added in, "And this time, try not to give me a heart attack." Wally's bashful smile only grew wider, "Uh right…" He answered even though his head was still full of questions, about the world he was in, about the people, and even about his new tour guide… 'Well might as well let it slide… for now.' Wally thought as he got off the floor and followed Krowbar out.
Kuma continued to sleep peacefully at the bar, unknown dreams going through his head. Suddenly a black feathered finger, tapped the shoulder of the big brute. Kuma drowsily turned his head, only to see the unwelcoming sight of his latest employer. "Eagler… What do you want?" He said, his baritone voice easily shown his grumpy frustration. "I just want you to know, I found some extra money for the amount I'm already going to give you." Eagler said a little bit of evil glee in his voice. "And that should get to me, how?" Kuma said completely uninterested.
That's when Eagler's evil smile became something worse…
"You'll get that extra money and more… If you make the fight look good and painful… Give the audience a fight that'll definitely leave the long shot betters, a big scar they won't soon forget…" Kuma frowned slightly, the job sounded like a very dishonorable one, heck if it wasn't for the payment, he probably would have just backed out of the match.
"Fine, but I'm not going to kill him, if that's what you're getting at." Eagler simply scowled, then under his breath he growled, "What? And I was so enjoying the thought." Kuma heard that undertone however. "What was that?" Eagler dove to correct it when he realized he was almost caught in his sadistic plan. "Oh, nothing."
Wally continued to follow Krowbar around the hotel, enjoying all of the sights the hotel had to offer. As they walked Wally began to see that the population in the hotel was made up of more then birds. There was also possums, armadillos, kangaroos, koalas, cats, dogs, lizards, and in some cases even bigger animals like bears, lions, and horses. Wally was so surprised by the wide variety of animals that he ended up running into a big lizard man. After being narrowly saved by Krowbar, Wally was taken to a completely new area of the hotel.
"What is this place?" Wally asked as they took a seat in what looked like stands. Krowbar smiled slyly, "You'll see." Soon the stands filled up with people of all kinds; once again Wally became surprised… But at the same time he was curious about what was going on. 'What is going on here?' Wally wondered, when suddenly a new figure walked onto the central stage.
It was a badger of some sort, wearing a black and white striped shirt, and had no pants. He carried a microphone of some sort as he walked to the very center. "LADIEEEEEEEES, AND GENTLEMEEEEEEEEN! ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLEEEEEE?" (His voice had a somewhat western accent in it.) The entire crowd obliged with a humongous roar, everyone except Wally who only looked to the center stage in confusion. The badger drowned out everyone's yelling with his own through the microphone, "ALLLLLLLLLLRIGHTY! Well for those of y'all who don't know me, I'm B&W the badger! And I'll be the referee for tonight!" Wally was really starting to get concerned, "A referee? For what?" he wondered aloud.
Krowbar heard him and answered "He's today's referee for the 'Hawk of Pain' Arena Matches! The place where tough characters come and duke it out!" No sooner had he said that, that he, despite his old age, started cheering his lungs out. Wally grew pale, 'Hawk of Pain… Arena matches? Duke it out! Man I don't like the way this sounds!' It was at that time, that the badger referee decided to continue, "Alrighty then 'Pards'. I'll introduce today's fighters! In this corner, Weighing in at a measly 48 pounds, I give you the Babylonian representative, 'The Feathered Wonder!'" The lights suddenly kicked on at the cue of fire works, in the corner that was shown by the badger, a bird no more bigger then Eagler came into view, he threw off his cloak, to reveal a somewhat muscular bird wearing a pair of boxing gloves, and boxer's apparel, including the face mask and mouth guard.
Krowbar and some other random bird men that, Wally figured, were called Babylonians, started cheering. While everyone including mongooses just like Wally, started booing the bird man fighter. "And in this corner of the arena, weighing in at a WHOOPING 200 big ones! (That's pounds for those who don't know.) I give you the clawed madman of the southwestern wood!.. KUUUUUUUMA THE CLAWED HURRICANE!" The lights shown on a gargantuan, which could only be described as a bear, he wore a black sleeveless black shirt with a crescent moon on the chest area, he also had gigantic arms, a massive chest, and a pair of pants and shoes that hid the rest of his muscular body.
This time everyone, except for the bird men started cheering, some even shouted the occasional, " Kill him!" or "Massacre him!" Wally was certainly didn't like the vibes vibrating in their voices. "WELLLLLL! LETS GET THIS TRADE WAGON MOVING! READY!" He immediately jumped out of the stage; both fighter's seemed tense ready to jump at the signal. A gong sounded! Both fighters charged, the 'Feathered Wonder' went in for a punch, but it was caught by Kuma, who took advantage of the situation, and tossed the bird to the ground. The bird slightly squawked in pain as the audience, ex the Babylonians, started cheering like crazy! Wally looked to the side to see Krowbar watch the scene with worry, it was apparent that the old bird wanted the bird fighter to win and was starting to get concerned. Personally Wally couldn't blame him; he looked to the central arena, to see Kuma launching attacks against an already weak 'Feathered Wonder', and his legs wobbled as his strength left him.
Wally couldn't bear to watch the brutal display anymore, he covered his eyes hoping it would be over in the next few minutes. As if granting his wish, the 'Feathered Wonder' fell to the floor, Wally heard the thud and thought it was safe to look. As soon as he did however Kuma loomed over the fallen fighter and continued the one-sided slaughter.
Wally gasped, even when the poor bird was on the floor, the bigger fighter kept on beating him, like his opponent was meat being beaten just to make him soft enough to eat. Wally's eyes narrowed at the big bruiser in disgust. Finally the slaughter settled down, Kuma picked up the unconscious body of the 'Feathered Wonder' for all to see. "THE FINISHER!" Kuma yelled, everyone yelled in agreement, "FINISH HIM!" "TEACH HIM A LESSON!" Kuma was just about to hurl the bird man back on the ground, when a new sound pierced the air.
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
Kuma froze in his tracks, the 'Feathered Wonder' awoke, and every sound in the entire room silenced, they looked to where the referee stood only to see… Krowbar was the most horrified look of all, when he saw who it was. Wally was holding the microphone his look of disgust remained on his face. The referee looked up in fear because Wally had to practically beat the mike out of his hands. "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF HONOR! YOU HEARTLESS OVER-WEIGHT BUNCH OF FUR!" Wally shouted through the mike. Kuma stared at him in anger and hatred. Krowbar stood up from his seat, he decided that he better stop Wally before he ends up ticking off the audience AND Kuma.
"Wally! Please stop! You've got to get back to your seat!" Krowbar yelled completely aware that every eye was on him. Wally just ignored him, "AND GUESS WHAT 'KUPA' OR WHAT EVER YOUR NAME IS, I COMPLETELY DETEST PEOPLE LIKE YOU! AND IF YOU THINK THAT YOU HAD SUCH AN ADVANTAGE OVER 'FEATHERED WONDER' WELL…" Krowbar chose that time to shout again. "Wally! That's enough now stop before…" But he was completely drowned out by Wally's shouting. "WELL, LETS SEE HOW WELL YOU DO AGAINST ME!" At that word every jaw in the entire arena dropped, and just as quickly as it did everyone started laughing their fool heads off. Krowbar looked completely horrified. "Wally! Take that back, before its too late!" But Kuma seemed completely past the point of taking apologies. "Mongoose!" Wally looked up at Kuma in the arena; it seemed during that period of time he had dropped the 'Feathered Wonder', allowing him to make a clean retreat, and his look of hatred stayed on his face. "And what makes you say that Mongoose? Do you really think you can last longer against me, then that bird brain?" Wally simply gave a cocky grin, "I don't 'think' so, my friend…" Krowbar seemed to sigh in complete relief after hearing that… But he would bringing that breath back in as a gasp after the Wally's next line…
Wally's cocky looking face instantly turned into an eyes narrowed, disgust filled, more-hatred-then-I-can-keep-in look. "I know so…" Every land bound creature started to stare at the very brave young man, undeniably stunned. The Babylonians also stared in confusion, but Krowbar's look was filled with sheer terror. Kuma stared at him just as stunned as everyone else… But soon started laughing hysterically, after a few minutes of laughing, he eventually stopped and wiped a bit of water from his eyes. When he looked back at Wally, his face seemed to register a new look like he actually respected him.
"I must admit Mongoose, you are a very brave young man to stand up to me, and I respect you for that…" Then his eyes narrowed at him. "But I'm afraid due to the circumstances I must accept your challenge. Do you really think you're able to fight me?" Wally stared at the big bear and simply nodded. The bear nodded as a response, after a bit of silence, Wally walked into the arena. Once up there to his eye level Wally could see this guys full size; He must have been a good three feet taller then Wally, his arm muscles were probably twice Wally's own arm strength, and to boot he had claws… Very sharp claws…
Everybody in the audience seemed to recover from the initial shock and started cheering, and once again there was the occasional, "Teach that punk a lesson!" "Yeah! Show him who's boss!" Krowbar for the first time didn't join in; instead he watched in horror of the scene that was about to transpire.
Once he finally had the microphone back in his grasp, the badger of a referee decided to start off. "ALLLLLLLLLRIGHTY! LADIEEEEEEEES AND GENTLEMEEEEEEEN! A COMPLETELY UNFORSEEN MATCH BETWEEN 'KUMA, THE CLAWED HURRICANE!.. AND AN UNKNOWN FIGHTER I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD KNOW AS 'THE KID'!"
(What? I couldn't really think of another name.)
Wally didn't really care about the name it suited him just fine. After a few second stare down, the gong rang!
Even after it rang the two fighters stared at each other in a stare down, until finally Kuma charged forward. He reeled back his arm and instead of making a fist like some people thought he would, he just left his claws out stretched, as he continued the strike. Wally continued to stand in the same position he was in, when the match began. Just as Kuma got his absolute closest and was about to swing his clawed hand forward, Wally ducked the attack, and slid underneath the big bruiser. Realizing the trick Kuma quickly turned around only to find he disappeared from sight. Kuma growled menacingly, "Yellow bellied rat! Show yourself!" Suddenly he heard Wally's voice, but from where he didn't know. "What is with the rat cracks, all of a sudden?" Kuma, all of a sudden felt someone tap on his right shoulder. He turned around quickly and gave a roundhouse punch only to see he had punched air. Then he heard someone clear his throat behind him. He turned slowly to see Wally standing there… Only for one moment before he disappeared again. Kuma stared in bewilderment for a few seconds, but then his head darted around the arena, his face registered a mixture of hatred and fear. "Oh using your mongoose speed I see! Well how do you like it, huh? Really gives you quite the advantage, doesn't it?" Wally mentally awoke, 'Mongoose speed?'
Wally unexpectedly stopped mid run, he 'was' circling the ring a little faster then normal but he really didn't pay much mind to it. Kuma saw the mongoose stop and stared at him confused, but the confusion left his face very quickly, as a smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Why did you… Oh forget it, I think its time I ended this." Kuma charged again he was literally standing above the young man before he reeled back his arm and slashed outward. Krowbar closed his eyes expecting the worst to happen like Wally screaming in pain from the blow… But instead he heard a gargantuan grunt and a gargantuan thud on the ring. Krowbar opened his eyes to see Kuma on the floor of the arena, Wally in mid-air looking like he gave a powerful roundhouse kick. Krowbar's mouth was agape, as was the entire audience, Babylonians and land walkers alike. Wally landed on the floor and stood over Kuma looking down on him. Kuma got back off the floor and stared at the young mongoose a proud smile on his face.
"I have to admit young man… In all of my years of fighting…" He held the left side of his face painfully, it was more then obvious that was place Wally's kick connected. "I don't think anyone had ever gotten a hit like that before… And I also have to admit that you are a very brave young man for standing up to me, and you have the strength to back up your words, that much is for sure." Wally had a small blush as he scratched the back of his head bashfully, while a big smile appeared. "Aw stop it, your makin' me blush." Kuma's grin turned into a competitive smile. "Well shall we finish this up?" Wally nodded a little. "Yeah, we shall."
Kuma reeled his claws back and swung them at Wally who sidestepped the attack, and started to attack as fast as he was running earlier. Krowbar really had to focus but he managed to catch two hard punches, followed by a tough roundhouse kick. That was soon followed by two tough uppercuts, and unexpectedly a head-but that obviously left a mark. Kuma seemed to expect the next move and caught the punch; he then threw the boy up against the arena wall and shouted. "I've had just about enough of you!" He then extended both arms outward, claws fully extended. "Now you're going to learn why they call me the 'clawed hurricane'!" Suddenly he stood up on his toe claws, and started spinning around, he increased velocity going faster and faster and faster, until he looked like a top, spinning at deadly velocity. A tornado was suddenly formed from Kuma's spinning form; it continued to go as Wally was pulled in. While in the tornado Wally felt as if a million blades were slashing him at every side. Wally closed his eyes as the pain continued to come, but even if he was in the face of it he kept himself from crying out. Suddenly he opened his eyes and saw Kuma at the very bottom of the twister. 'Of course! Why didn't I think about it before!' Wally straightened himself out and dove downward; he was his absolute closest to the bottom and swung a grand roundhouse kick…
Krowbar gasped as he saw the 'Clawed Hurricane's' twister die down. Suddenly he saw a sight he couldn't believe. In a mid-air scene there was Kuma head bent back his body recoiling from a hard hit, across from him was Wally; he was spinning at a the same velocity that the tornado was spinning which was really fast in Krowbar's book. After a few minutes, Kuma finally hit the floor, and Wally landed on his feet. He looked down at the unconscious Kuma, his clothes were somewhat ripped, there were a couple of cuts on his arms, tail, and chest. In a grand sense, he looked battle ravaged in every possible way. B&W the Badger was as awestruck as everyone, until he mentally awoke and yelled clear into the microphone, his yelling quite obviously woke everybody in the audience up. "I FEEL LIKE MY EYES HAVE JUST POPPED RIGHT OUT OF MY HEAD, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WALLY 'THE KID' HAS JUST BEATEN 'KUMA THE CLAWED HURRICANE'! IT IS A MIRACLE!"
It took a while but eventually the entire crowd, Babylonians and Land Walkers alike, started cheering! Wally looked out to the audience; they were cheering their ever-loving lungs out, because of his win. Out of curiosity he clenched a fist and shot it upward in a victory sign, almost instantly the crowd's volume increased greatly; as he looked around the arena's audience he saw sitting in the box was a certain eagle with a bad attitude, Eagler. Eagler was absolutely stupefied, staring at him in so much surprise; you'd think he saw the world coming to an end. Then he saw in another seat Krowbar also cheering his lungs out. Wally smiled at the scene and thought back to the beginning of the day.
It may have been hectic… But it sure had a nice ending!
Gantz Guns note: Lame ending sure, but it was the best I could come up with.
Anyway on the next chapter you'll learn more about the new world and its geography. It's a stall chapter pretty much. But there it is chapter two!
And remember… REVIEW!