Arachnophobia

by Bloodlustful

Gray Wolf, though glad to be joined with the group, especially Tiger, has not seen the end of his problems. Because he's had a secret fear all his life that now rears its scary head on one fateful night. The secret is out...

3. Chapter 3

I'm back, and the third chapter is hot and fresh from the oven! This is when, after he's made as much of a recovery as he can from his conquering of the fear being ruined, Gray Wolf sleeps, only to have a nightmare which heightens his problem in the worst way. Soon enough, much to their delight, the goodies find a seemingly wise old man who appears to have the answer to Gray Wolf's plight. A miracle! Or is it? You'll find out when you read this chapter.

I own none of the characters. All of them belong to Monster Rancher.

Chapter 3-Nightmares And Delirium

It had been a long day since that fateful misfortune Gray Wolf had when he was so close to conquering his fear, and surprisingly, it had been rather quiet and merciful since then. Much to everyone's relief, but especially that of Gray Wolf for obvious reasons. Now that everyone was fast asleep, including him, he felt that he would now be more free than ever of what he knew still existed despite having come so close to eliminating it, only for it to return at the last moment.

But not so. For as soon as he began dreaming, his dreams quickly became nightmares. He saw that he was, in fact, standing in webbing. Yeah, WEBBING. "Huh? What in the world?" he asked as he looked down at all four of his feet. "WEBS?" he went, suddenly becoming terrified. It was all too blatant why. The fact his feet were caught in webbing of all things could only mean one thing and one thing only. He was in the presence of spiders, and spiders galore. Even in his dreams, there was no escape from the one thing he was actually frightened of.

"Oh, God…" he shook, turning extremely white and beginning to shake. He was stilled and unable to move from the fright he was feeling. "Well, well, well, look what we have here." said the spider in the center who was obviously the king of the gigantic horde of spiders who lived in these webs. He was as big as he was hairy, and as frightening as he was repulsive. "An attractive, sleek young wolf." Then Gray Wolf saw several spiders crawl towards him and try though he might to attack them with every move he had, going: "Stay back, you filthy monsters! I'm warning you!" nothing happened at all, much to his further horror.

"Tie him up," said the queen spider next to the king, "or at least tie him down, so we may feast on his flesh." "As well as drain out his blood." the king added. "And his organs should taste especially good." added on one of the many spiders tying a paralyzed with fear Gray Wolf down. "Forget hot dogs…we like GRAY WOLVES!" cackled another spider. Many dropped down in front of and around Gray Wolf, then others leapt onto him. But then the worst part came.

A hole opened under Gray Wolf's feet and he fell, seeing as he fell a spider bigger than any of the others there, even if all of them were combined together into one! It was a colossal and tremendous monster spider, and equally scary looking, bloodthirsty and repulsive. As soon as he saw it open its mouth and go: "Here comes my mutt of a meal!" he screamed out loud, only to at that moment wake up. Wide awake and still screaming. To the point where everyone would be awakened by the noise, and soon come rushing in to where Gray Wolf was.

"Gray Wolf?" Tiger exclaimed. "Good God, brother, what happened?" "We were woke when we heard you scream as if you were in mortal pain!" Big Blue added. "Bad dream?" asked Genki. "BAD DREAM?" Gray Wolf exclaimed. "BAD DREAM? TRY A NIGHTMARE SO FULL OF SPIDERS IT FELT ALL TOO REAL AND ONE THAT MADE IT SO I'LL BE UP AND SLEEP DEPRIVED FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!" Everyone was shocked at how he reacted so lividly, but Gray Wolf then calmed down as much as he could and told them: "I'm sorry I blew up like that…it was just so horrible…and I thought I'd dream about anything BUT spiders after today…trying to forget how miserably our plan failed…"

"It's okay, Gray Wolf. Don't lose hope." Holly told him. "We'll find a way to help you, one way or the other. Our first one may have failed by chance, but there are others we can try as soon as you've recovered from that…unfortunate happenstance…that ruined the last one." "But my God, no relief even in your dreams?" asked Suezo. "We really gotta help you!" "Chi!" put in Mocchi. "Hey!" Hare told them. "Let's cheer our little puppy up with a nice, happy song!" "I'm not a puppy, Hare…" Gray Wolf snarled. Hare ignored him and started singing: "The itsy witsy spider crawled right up Gray Wolf's snout! He then immediately started howling out…"

In the next instant, Hare was pinned to the ground by both Tiger and Gray Wolf, who were snarling furiously and talking through clenched teeth. "HARE, FOUR THINGS…" Tiger growled nastily. Gray Wolf then added: "SHUT…THE…FUCK…UP." "Do you understand?" asked Tiger. "Yes, yes, all right, already!" Hare cried. "Let me up!" They got off of him and turned away disgruntled, while Genki said to Hare: "Ha! Serves you right for making fun of Gray Wolf like that, and after he had a nightmare about spiders of all things, no less!" "Chi!" put in Mocchi. "Hare a jerk, Chi!" "Looks like more than a few members of this group need to start lightening up!" Hare scoffed.

"WHAT DID WE JUST TELL YOU, HARE?" Tiger roared. "TRY AND MAKE ME SHUT UP, TIGER!" Hare shouted, but Tiger blew his ice breath onto Hare and froze him solid. "I will, thank you." Tiger retorted. "Ha, ha! Tiger! Way to go!" Gray Wolf told his brother. "I'm speechless, Tiger…" gaped Pixie. "Although, in a good way." "Come on, guys. As mean as it was of him to be like he was, we have to defrost him…" Holly told them. Golem sighed: "Golem will do it." He picked up the frozen Hare and went to find some source of heat.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I woke you up." Gray Wolf sighed. "Guess I should just go out and take a dip in the water or something…" "It's okay, Gray Wolf. You couldn't help it and none of us are upset with you at all." Holly said comfortingly. "And we promise you, just like Tiger did, that we won't give up looking for a way to aid you in your time of need." added Pixie as she put a kind hand on his shoulder. He smiled and felt a little better, though he was still steamed at Hare as much as anyone, if not more so.

Soon enough, when everyone else resumed sleeping and Gray Wolf went out to take a dip in a nearby lake, things got better, albeit only gradually, from there. When the morning came, Gray Wolf got out of the water and walked back to the cave. He noticed quite a lot to note when he got there. Breakfast was being made and Hare had been defrosted by Golem, who found a hot spring earlier in the night, and thus was back with everyone, much to the dismay of both his blue brother and now Gray Wolf himself. Plus, everyone else was awake as much as Holly, Hare and Golem were. But Gray Wolf saw the perfect way to pay Hare back, and in front of everyone else.

"Oh, good morning, Gray Wolf!" Pixie said. "It's good to see you back here." "Would you like some breakfast?" asked Holly. "I would, in just a moment…" Gray Wolf replied. He walked in front of Hare, who was going: "Oh, uh, hi, Gray Wolf! So, no hard feelings about me making fun of your fear of spiders?" "That'll be the case as soon as I do this one thing…" Gray Wolf replied, grinning cruelly. "By the way, brother, how was your dip in the lake?" asked Tiger to Gray Wolf. "Did it make things any better for you?" asked Genki. "It sure did." Gray Wolf replied. "So much, in fact, I spent a great deal of time in there and just got out. As you're about to see with your own two eyes…"

Hare, true to intellectual form, quickly caught on to all that had been said and realized what Gray Wolf was going to do. "OH, NO! PLEASE NOT THAT!" cried Hare. But Gray Wolf paid his begging no heed. He shook off with all his might and drenched Hare soaking wet. Not to mention equally sopping wet. Everyone, even the hard headed Tiger, Pixie and Big Blue, burst out laughing. They fell over on their sides and Hare ran off in humiliation, sobbing his eyes out. After a while, everyone recovered from laughing. Gray Wolf then said: "What a washout that Hare is." while also laughing very hard. "Way to make him pay, brother!" Tiger cackled. "I'm just sorry it wasn't me!" "Ditto!" guffawed Pixie. "You said it!" Genki yelled out in laughter.

But once everyone was back to normal and breakfast had been eaten, Tiger thought he was the best to ask Gray Wolf: "By the way, are you up for any discussion on how we may find a different way to help you with your fear? If you still aren't ready, that's all right." "But if you are and can deal with it again, then we may have a brand new solution at hand." Golem told him. A reply from Gray Wolf of: "That dip I took in the water helped me a lot. I think I can stand it once more as long as there are no spiders for the next fifty miles." "Thankfully, I can't smell any and I can smell things great distances away, so I think there's nothing to fear." Tiger told his brother.

Gray Wolf nodded and said: "Okay, explain away. Now, more than ever, I want to be rid of my phobia once and for all. The quicker it happens, the better." "All right, so Genki, while you were still soaking yourself, suggested that we go and find a phobia doctor of some kind." put in Pixie. "He thought this would work much better where our nearly successful attempt with the amulet Holly found had failed." "We talked about it a lot and decided this was our best bet for the next try." Suezo informed him. "How does this sound to you?" asked Tiger. "It sounds like it could work…" Gray Wolf began, considering the facts. "I think we should try it. What have I got to lose, considering no hope of curing me of my phobia is too small at this point?"

"All right, then, it's settled." Genki told them. "Let's go, everyone. We need to find that phobia doctor as soon as possible." They left the cave, walked along the area they lived in and took a trip to village after village, it being to the point that they only stopped for things like rest to regain energy and lunch. Finally, however, just when they were about to lose hope, they found a village which looked like it may have exactly the fear doctor they were looking for. Gray Wolf told them: "Well, this is it. Our last village to be found." "If this doesn't provide us with the sort of doctor we're looking for, nothing will." Genki agreed. "I can tell by its looks alone."

"All right, then, let's go in." Holly said. "Though I admit it sort of gives me the shivers." They all walked into the village and the chief saw them enter. "Eh?" he said. "Who are you?" A reply from Genki spoke for them all: "We are a group of goodies. Heroes, that is to say. And we come here in search of a fear doctor." They told the chief their names, and then the reason they needed the fear doctor was told by the one who truly needed him. "Yeah, we need a fear doctor, all right. And fast. I have horrible arachnophobia and need help with it, you see." Gray Wolf said to the chief. "Ah, you've come to the right place." the chief told them. "All of you come right along, please." "Ah, thank God this is nearly over." Suezo stated. "Chi. It take so long to find this doctor, Chi." Mocchi added.

"Good thing is, it's about to pay off." Pixie pointed out. "Especially for my brother." put in Tiger. "All right, then, let's move it." Big Blue reminded. "Indeed." Genki spoke. "As good a time as any." Gray Wolf sighed. "I don't want to be trapped by my fear for one second longer." As all of them were led to the doctor they sought by the chief, the doctor in question came right on out. He did so because he'd noticed the group out the window of his place. Once he came out, the chief saw him and said: "Ah, splendid! He's arrived sooner than we expected!"

"Hello. I couldn't help but notice this group outside my window." the doctor told them. He looked like a wise old man, dressed in the kind of clothes and having the kind of beard you would expect any wise old man to have. He also had a variety of doctor's equipment. "That you did. They have come here for your help." the chief informed him. "Is that a fact?" asked the wise old doctor. "So, what is the problem, and who has it?" "Hi. We're called the goodies." Genki said to him. They all introduced themselves by name after that, then Genki went on. "And our problem is that our friend Gray Wolf here needs help with his intense fear of spiders." "It's been causing him trouble for two days now." Golem added.

"Well, a very simple matter for me." the doctor told them, stroking Gray Wolf atop the head, which, much to the horned wolf's surprise, actually felt good and, though he wouldn't at all admit it, he liked it. "I know just what you need, and you can be certain the treatment I give you will rid you of your fear once and forever. I bid you to come this way, Gray Wolf." The grey horned wolf gave a nod and followed the doctor, who said: "The rest of you wait here. When he has been cured, I will let him out to rejoin you." "Thank you so much. You have my highest of appreciation." Gray Wolf told him. "He speaks for all of us when he says that, by the way." said Tiger to the doctor. The doctor gave a kind smile and walked Gray Wolf into the place he was always working in within the village he lived in.

"All right, lie down on that table." the doctor told Gray Wolf, who obliged. "So, how are we going to deal with this?" asked Gray Wolf. "How will we rid me of my phobia, doctor?" "It is very simple, quick and efficient." the doctor told Gray Wolf. "You see, your fear of spiders is a hard, intense one, but it can be cured with a very special fluid only my own hands can create. It is a unique medicine which can eliminate any phobia of any kind, no matter what it is. It reads the phobia inside of the patient it is injected to, adjusts itself to destroy it and then does so with full accuracy, and permanent results." "That's amazing." Gray Wolf said, opening his lilac eyes up wide. "Well, it was no easy task creating it, but once I did, it was all too easy to duplicate." the doctor told him. "Now, then, you will need to have this injected, as I said, in order for it to work. Would you like some anesthesia first?"

"No thanks." Gray Wolf replied. "I've spent the last few days feeling like a puppy. I'm not going to go any further on that path. Give me something to bite, please, and inject away." A nod from the doctor was followed by him picking up a piece of metal which would withstand even the sharp, powerful teeth of Gray Wolf, and he placed it into his mouth. Gray Wolf, as he bit hard, was asked by the doctor: "Are you ready, Gray Wolf?" He nodded and the doctor got out the needle with which he would give Gray Wolf the medicine. He filled it up with the stuff he spoke of and put on the cover which also had the needle itself. Then he walked on over and said: "All right, here it comes." Gray Wolf nodded again and kept his teeth firmly on the piece of metal. The doctor injected the medicine into him, and though it hurt a lot, Gray Wolf ignored the pain and thanked the heavens his fear would be gone soon after this.

Once it was done, the doctor said: "All right, you can let go of that metal now." Gray Wolf did so and the doctor caught it, telling him: "Well done. My patients are always most cooperative, but I've rarely seen them this brave. I commend you." "Thanks." Gray Wolf said. "That's especially good to hear after two days of grappling with my now eliminated, or soon to be, fears, by the way. Shall I go get the payment from Genki, doctor?" "No, no, I'll come out and get it. You go rejoin your friends." Gray Wolf gave a nod, said: "Thanks again." and took off out of the place. The others saw him and Hare said: "Hey, look! It's Gray Wolf!" "Chi!" Mocchi put in. "He cured, Chi!" "I sure am." Gray Wolf smiled.

Indeed, it felt as if his fear had been washed from him for good, and he was now braver and tougher than he'd ever been before, which was quite a statement. "Ha, ha! This is just too good for words, brother!" Tiger told Gray Wolf. "You bet it is, brother!" Gray Wolf told Tiger as he rejoined the group. "I'm finally free of my fear!" "Man, good for you, Gray Wolf!" Holly told him. "Hey, guess we won't be having spider problems anymore, then!" Suezo added. "Yeah, but I would rather not think about spiders for a while, even cured. They're what got me into this mess in the first place." Gray Wolf reminded him. "Oh, sorry." Suezo said. Then Genki asked: "I think I should go pay the doctor now, though."

The doctor came out and said: "You can do it right now. I decided I'd come to you. Your friend was most appreciative, cooperative and courageous, by the way. I am glad I met a group with such a strong spirited member." "Hey, with all the praise Gray Wolf's getting these days, it's hard to believe he used to be a baddy!" mocked Hare. "Shut it, Hare!" Tiger snapped at the rabbit. "Try and make me!" Hare growled. They pressed faces and went: "NEEERRRRGGHH!" "Guys, not now! Please!" Holly said. "We just solved one problem. Let's not create a new one, okay?" asked Pixie. Then Tiger and Hare turned away from each other. Gray Wolf rolled his eyes and so did Genki, then the latter gave the coins to the doctor to pay for Gray Wolf's fear cure treatment. "Can't thank you enough, and all of us say this even though I speak for us all." Genki told him. "We gotta go now, but we all appreciate it just like Gray Wolf does."

"Though Hare sure could do more to show it than the rest of us could…" Tiger said under his breath. "What was that, Tiger?" asked Hare. "Like I'm gonna share my secrets with YOU of all people." Tiger retorted sharply. Hare tried to punch him, saying: "I'll knock it outta ya, then!" but Tiger ducked and leapt on Hare, pinning him down. "Yield, Hare!" Tiger snarled. "Okay, I give up! Uncle, uncle!" Tiger slowly got off Hare and said: "Try to attack me while my back is turned like you did last time, and you're my lunch." Tiger warned. Hare rolled his eyes and got up. The doctor asked: "Are these two…always like this?" "Pretty much." Holly replied.

"It's a bit complicated." Big Blue added. "Anyway, we should be going now. Our full thanks again." Genki told him. "And our thanks to the chief for helping us find this perfect fear doctor." Golem added. Gray Wolf smiled to the doctor and the chief, then they nodded and the goodies left the village. "Man, I feel better already." Gray Wolf sighed as he took in the air. He also looked to Tiger and said: "Way to put Hare in his place, by the way." "Of course." Tiger said. "It's a pleasure, especially since the only reason he beat me once was that cheap shot he took like the coward he is!" "Tiger, knock it off." Pixie said. "I realize Hare gives you grief 24-7, but seriously! Your brother just got cured of his fear. The last thing we want is another can of worms opened!" "All right…" Tiger sighed, though he shot Hare a swift dirty look, then Hare did well to return the favor.

"Speaking of your cure, how did the doctor cure you?" asked Holly. "He injected me with a special medicine which is designed to destroy any fear in any patient. It adjusts to what fear it needs to destroy, and then does so thoroughly and permanently." Gray Wolf explained. "It hurt a lot, the shot, but it was worth it. I feel like I did before that spider entered two days or so ago. More so than before, in fact." "Well, we're glad for you." Golem told Gray Wolf. "Chi." Mocchi nodded. "Why, thank you." Gray Wolf grinned.

Soon, they were back at the cave, and after a while of resting, they had dinner and Gray Wolf went to take a run about the fields alongside his brother. When it was time to sleep, all of them found an appropriate spot and dozed off. However, the interesting thing was that in the middle of the night, while he was halfway through his sleeping phase, Gray Wolf was effected in a way that neither he nor anyone else would ever expect at this point.

He not only woke up, but his mind was not the same. You see, for whatever reason, he had just developed a HORRIBLE, and I mean, a HORRIBLE, case of delirium. He was not at all in his normal state of mind, nor was he seeing things right. He saw spiders everywhere. He saw everything around him as spiders, and he would be seeing everyone around him as spiders as soon as someone showed up as well, no matter who it was. He also was feeling more fear of the spiders he saw than he had before with any spiders, and this was saying something indeed. Gray Wolf went: "Oh, God! Where am I? Spiders? Spiders everywhere! Help me! Where can I go?"

He looked to the exit of the cave, but it looked like the mouth of a huge spider just waiting to devour him. "Oh, no!" he screamed. But he ran in the other direction only to see hordes of spiders coming at him, so he ran for the mouth of the one looking to eat him and did his best to run through it. None of this was real, of course, but Gray Wolf's delirium made it seem otherwise indeed! He kept running and running, right up until he was outside the cave, and he kept running after that, seeing spiders in greater and greater swarms and clusters by the damn second. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he howled as he didn't stop running. "GET THESE SPIDERS AWAY FROM ME!" He was as of this point headed for villages galore with the directions he was taking, but his delirious state blinded him to that very horribly indeed.

The next morning, the rest of the goodies awoke and they expected things to just be full breeze from here, now that Gray Wolf had seemingly been cured. But when they didn't see him there and started looking for him, they soon found paw prints. "What the hell?" Tiger exclaimed, becoming extremely tense as he realized something had happened to make his brother run off. "I don't know what happened to make him run off in the middle of the night like that, but it can't have been anything good. We have to find him before he hurts himself…or worse…" He froze at the thought of losing his brother again. "Oh, my God. Tiger's right." Pixie told the others. "We have to make a search team and split up fast, especially since he wouldn't just run off while the rest of us slept if he were in his right mind."

"Which means any number of things could be afflicting him right now!" Hare said. "My God, no sooner is he cured of his fear than does something else wrack his mind!" Suezo said. "Chi, it not fair for him , Chi!" Mocchi wailed. "But it'll be even less fair if he dies. So let's find him ASAP!" snapped Tiger at Mocchi, who did not even think of arguing. "Okay, let's go! If we find him in the next minutes, we can hope for the best!" Genki shouted. So they took off in all different directions, looking for Gray Wolf's whereabouts by any means necessary.

TO BE CONTINUED…

So, was that a frightening way to end this chapter and pave the way for the next one or what? Ratings and reviews, please, everybody!