Ohayho everyone! CJzilla here with another update! In this chapter the Beast of Gévaudan is getting a little desperate to get Zak in its jaws. Enjoy.
As I trash this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... review.
Dragonscall: Bring on the dark fics! Thanks for R&Ring!
ArtimisHowl: Doyle... that's a hilarious name!
Amaris Solbes de la Vega: DUDE! Here's another update.
allycat: I am immune to puppy eyes... But here's another update.
Super Poof: Glad I could provide inspiration and thank you. I enjoy Doc and Drew even though they get their butts kicked regularly and they're the standard clueless and control freak cartoon parents... But they're good looking! Jay could have made them looking like Danny Phantom's parents. (CJzilla shudders)
Pirates VS Ninjas: Here's an update!
vballer: Thanks... you're too kind.
AnimeBook12: Bring on the Shitake Mushrooms! Swear words disgust me so I never use them.
crystalshake: Holy mushroom jokes Batman!
Chapter 5
Smash N' Grab
Come here. Come here. Come. Come.
Zak's eyes flew open and he looked around his room. He was hearing a voice calling to him.
"Mom?" The eleven-year-old boy rubbed his eyes and tossed his legs over the side of his bed. Zak stopped and listened. "Mom?"
Come… Come here. Come.
Now the eleven-year-old was convinced someone was calling him. Hopping out of his bed, slipping on his sneakers and a hoodie Zak stumbled out his door. The voice kept calling him, kept summoning him through the airship. Barely awake, the eleven-year-old boy waddled through the corridors following the voice, thinking it was Drew.
"Mom? Mom, why are you up this early?" Zak complained, shuffling through the hallway. But the voice kept calling him, motivating him to walk passed the living room.
Komodo who was just waking up in the early morning light of the sun when he heard Zak walk by the living room. The huge lizard got to his feet and plodded after his eleven-year-old caretaker, curious to why the boy was up so early. Finally Zak heard the voice coming from outside. Dazed and slightly awake the eleven-year-old walked to the exit of the airship. Looking around, groggy Zak didn't see his mom anywhere.
"Mom? What the heck mom?" The boy called out, fed up with getting dragged out of bed by his weird acting mother. Then he heard the patter of lizard feet on the floor.
Looking up Zak saw Komodo walking casually up to him, a curious look on his usually hungry face.
"Mornin' Komodo." The tired eleven-year-old waved as he yawned. Komodo came to Zak's side and cocked his head. "Have you seen mom? She's been calling me and I can't seem to find-"
Come. Come here. Come. Come.
Zak heard the voice again and it was coming from outside. The eleven-year-old sighed.
"How did mom get outside? And WHY is she out there?" Zak grumbled, hitting the button to open the doors and lower the ramp. Komodo was just short of getting concerned.
Drew hadn't even left the room she shared with Doc. Zon was still asleep in the rafters of the control room, Fisk was in his room and Doyle hadn't moved from his bed since his head hit the pillow last night; the komodo dragon hadn't seen anyone move the entire morning! Now WHY was Zak going outside? What if the Beast of Gévaudan paid another visit?
Komodo bit onto Zak's hoodie and pulled him back into the airship.
"Komodo! No! Mom's out here and she wants be to come to her!" The eleven-year-old gave the big lizard a stinging swat to his sensitive nose. Komodo dropped his shirt and recoiled. "I don't know why you're freaking out. It's just mom."
Zak walked down the ramp and out into the early morning French countryside. The sun had just peeked over the tall mountains and the entire valley was bathed in renewed sunlight. Yawning, the boy scratched himself as the cold nearly-fall air zipped up his hoodie and down his pants.
"Mom? Mom! I'm out here!" Zak stepped away from the ramp and glanced around the quiet morning scene. As he turned back to the airship, he spotted Komodo standing at the top of the ramp, still inside the zeppelin. "Where are you mom? It's cold out here!"
Here.
Zak heard the voice behind him. Laughing he turned.
"Gee mom; I have a name you kn-" But when Zak turned around he was staring into the red and yellow eyes of the Beast of Gévaudan. Fear froze him over.
Komodo knew something didn't smell right in the air! With a stroke of brilliance, the komodo dragon zipped to the nearest alarm button on a nearby wall. Komodo gave the glass-covered button a vicious head-butt. In an instant, the glass shattered and the alarm wailed through out the ship.
Drew and Doc were jerked from sleep. Still in their pajamas, husband and wife hopped to their feet and sprinted out into the hallway. Not a word was spoken as they flew to the rendezvous room. Zon was all ready in the control room and as Drew and Doc screeched to a halt. Just then Fisk and Doyle came skidding through the door.
"What?! Where's the fire?!" Doyle gasped, Fisk holding his furry hand over his rapidly beating heart. Doc and Drew looked over their family.
Two members were missing.
"Where's Zak?!" Drew gasped as she saw her son and Komodo were missing. Then they heard Fisk cry out to them, his face against the bay window.
"BEAST!" The Fiskerton Phantom formed a coherent word as his red eyes were the size of dinner plates. Everyone zipped to the window, only to see the Beast of Gévaudan staring into Zak's eyes.
"ZAK!" Doc cried out sprinting to the door, the rest of his family close behind.
Zak heard the alarm blare and he could kiss Komodo for having a flash of genius, but he was too busy staring into the Gévaudan Beast's eyes. He felt an icy feeling grip his chest as he stared into those fear-inducing eyes. The boy's feet seemed glued to the grass as nothing came to his mind. Then he heard whispers, the same whispers he heard from the beast yesterday.
Just then the wolf-dog-like beast jerked its head up and bared its teeth at something beyond Zak's shoulder. In an instant Komodo flew off of the ramp and sunk his teeth into the creature's upper left leg muscle. The Beast of Gévaudan was easily five times Komodo's size but that sort of thing never stopped the nutty lizard from biting off more than he could chew.
The Beast of Gévaudan snarled in anger as it tried to pull away but the lizard's teeth sunk deep. The creature's teeth went down over the back of Komodo's neck but its teeth couldn't penetrate the big lizard's thick hide. Komodo held onto the Beast of Gévaudan, giving Zak a chance to run back to the airship. The beast saw the boy getting away from it. Snarling at the troublesome lizard, it brought up its back left foot and scratched Komodo's head. That was enough to get the lizard to release it. As Komodo was partially blinded from getting claws across his face, the Beast of Gévaudan galloped after the boy.
Zak was nearly at the top of the ramp and as he reached the hallway, he saw the rest of his family thundering toward him.
"Zak!" Drew called to her baby boy.
"Mom!" The eleven-year-old called back, his eyes wide. And then everything from that moment went in slow motion.
Zak saw his family's eyes go to something behind him and their faces marred with horror. His feet couldn't hit the floor fast enough when suddenly something firmly grabbed him by the back of the neck. Jerked to a stop, Zak then realized that he was being dragged back out of the airship and down the ramp.
"ZAK!" Drew screamed, seeing her son's neck in the beast's jaws.
The Beast of Gévaudan had the boy by the back of the neck and was pulling him back down the ramp. Hauling Zak's eleven-year-old body was easy for the huge dog-like cryptid and it spun, pointing its nose back to the forest from where it came. Jumping over the wounded and partially blinded komodo dragon, the Beast of Gévaudan made a break for the trees.
By the time the rest of Zak's family got to the ramp, the beast had gotten in a couple of good sprints between them, still holding onto Zak. Fisk snarled in absolute rage as he ran down the ramp, the Beast of Gévaudan in his sights. Zon had taken to the air and screamed her extreme anger as she and the Fiskerton Phantom pursued the monster.
Fisk caught up to the creature and gave it a punishing blow to its side. Shunted, the monster cryptid skidded to a stop in the grass. Bringing its eyes up, it saw the gorilla-cat cryptid standing between it and the forest.
"Basurg!" Fisk fumed, making fists with his big hands. The Beast of Gévaudan growled back at the bothersome creature, its hair standing rigid.
Just then something from above cut into the beast's back. Flinching, it spotted Zon flap into the air, sheathing her talons with a clump of the beast's reddish fur in her grasp. By that time the boy in the beast's jaws had snapped out of his vertigo and began to fight back.
"Let go of me!" Zak slapped the beast in its eye. Irritated and starting to get angry, it had completely forgotten about the adults racing off of the airship.
Just then something exploded to the beast's side. Jumping, it spun and saw the red-headed adult cranking back his arm, a small explosive in his hand. The Beast of Gévaudan snarled at the man before the Fiskerton Phantom jumped onto it. The gorilla-cat's hands went into the beast's mouth to try and pry its huge jaws from around Zak's neck. The beast saw its chance to escape.
Shaking, Fisk's loose grip was easily undone from the beast's body. Now that the gorilla-cat was on the ground, the Beast of Gévaudan clawed Fisk's face, blinding him. Fisk let go of the monster's jaws and clapped his hands over his pained face.
Turning, the Beast of Gévaudan sprinted to the forest with no one to stop it.
"It's getting away!" Drew cried out, her eyes streaming with tears. "ZAK! NO!"
Zon came in for another swipe. Flying fast and hard to the monster that was taking her kind human caregiver, Zon opened her talons to dig deep into the beast's flesh. But before she could get to it, the beast zipped into the trees. Even Zon couldn't fly through trees and it stopped her cold. Dropping to the ground the female Ornithocheirous screamed at the woods, pacing the spot where the beast had disappeared with Zak.
Fisk was on his feet again. Pushing the pain of his scratched face out of the way, the gorilla-cat bounded into the trees after the Beast of Gévaudan. Swinging from the tree branches, Fisk rigorously searched the immediate area and found nothing. No creature, cryptid or otherwise could move THAT fast with a human boy in its jaws. But there was no sign of the beast… or Zak. Nothing.
"No. No. No. No! NO!" Fisk broke tree branches and tossed them in every direction. Then he took in a big breath and gave a roar that shook the valley.
With his hope taking a huge blow but his rage far from satisfied, Fisk felt tears fall from his eyes. But now was not the time for that! Turning, the gorilla-cat sprinted back to the airship. Drew and Doc will know what to do. They would find Zak... either alive or in pieces and that's what scared Fisk the most.
Drew and Doc were scrambling for their hover disks when they saw Fisk come running back out of the woods. Zipping up to his family, the gorilla-cat shook his head.
"Oh no." Drew gasped as she strapped her feet onto the hover disk. Doyle came running out of the airship with his jetpack.
"Doyle! Fly over the area! Stop that thing at all costs!" Doc yelled as his hover board left the ground. Without any word of agreement, Doyle took to the air on his jetpack and flew over the trees.
Doc took off to the right of the forest while Drew took the left. Fisk waved at Zon and the female Ornithocheirous flew down from the sky and picked up the gorilla-cat, leaving Komodo to zip into the woods.
The entire family fanned out to search for the eleven-year-old boy in the jaws of the Beast of Gévaudan.
Zak awoke to a warm feeling over his body. He heard the breeze moving through the leave of trees as it tickled his face. The eleven-year old's head was on something soft and warm.
Zak's eyes fluttered open but shut just as quickly in this inviting lull. Though his eyes were shut, Zak's senses began to adjust to the conscious world. The air was cool and damp as it hung on his face. The boy turned in his sleep and immediately he felt the soft and warm thing his head was lying on move out from under him. Zak caught his head before it hit the ground but he curled up into a ball and tired to go back to sleep.
Then he felt a wet and warm tongue move over his neck and cheek, encouraging him to rouse. Zak laughed and pushed who he thought was Komodo away.
"C'mon Komodo. I'm trying to get some sleep." The boy curled into a ball again. Again he felt a supporting lick to his face.
Secret stone…
There was that voice again. And then reality hit Zak like a wall at Mach 4. His eyes flew open and he saw a huge shadow standing over him. As his sight adjusted, he saw those terrifying red and yellow eyes of the Beast of Gévaudan. Zak gasped as his hand curled around a rock. Bringing his arm up, he swung the rock with all of his might. The rock struck the dog-like monster on the side of the head. It yelped in pain as Zak scrambled to his feet.
The eleven-year-old found himself in the middle of a thick forest of broad-leafed trees. The ground was wet and muddy and he fell half-a-dozen times trying to get away from the Beast of Gévaudan. Just as he floundered over a log, the beast was waiting for him. Zak squeaked in surprise as he made an effort to clamor over the log again, but he felt those vice-like jaws close over the back of his neck. The boy fought, clawing and kicking the huge cryptid.
Zak was still thrashing as the beast carried him through the forest by the back of his neck. The eleven-year-old's hands were shooting in every direction, looking to grab onto anything!
Finally Zak grabbed an old bulky tree branch. Picking it up, he swung it backwards, hitting the beast on its head. Still its jaws did not release him. Zak kept pounding the cryptid with the big stick. Finally the Beast of Gévaudan snarled in annoyance and dropped him to his back. Now on his back, Zak got better leverage to strike. Bring up the branch, he aimed to take out the beast's eye, but it caught the branch in its mouth. Zak let go of the branch as it was yanked out of his hands and cracked in half by just a flex of the beast's jaws.
Now quaking with fear, Zak was held to the ground by a huge paw. The Beast of Gévaudan locked eyes with him.
The guardian of the secret stone and the secret stone of the guardian.
There it was again; the beast was TALKING to him.
"You-… you can talk?" The eleven-year-old gasped. The beast cocked its head and brought its mouth down to his face.
The Beast of Gévaudan was now licking Zak's face much like a puppy would do.
The guardian of the secret stone and the secret stone of the guardian.
Zak gagged and pushed the beast's face off of his.
"Let me go! I'm not going to be your next meal!" He snarled, squirmed as he grabbed the wrist of the creature's paw. He couldn't move the heavy animal off of him even if his life depended on it. "You rotten piece of work! You mage-infested man-eater!"
The guardian of the secret stone…
With that the Beast of Gévaudan lifted up its paw from Zak's chest and sat on its haunches. The boy sat up, picked a twig out of his hair and quirked a brow at the monster.
"What? Guardian of the-…" He blinked. "Wait… You're a guardian?"
The guardian of the secret stone and the secret stone of the guardian.
The beast's red and yellow eyes softened and its tail began to wag, just like a normal dog. It was creepy and Zak shuttered.
"What is wrong with you?!" He threw his arms in the air. "You're a man-eater but you're not nibbling on me! I'm a kid and should be on your menu… not that I'm complaining…"
The large cryptid stretched his neck down to eye level with the boy.
Guardian… of the secret stone.
Zak had just about enough of the beast repeating that.
"Yes, yes; you're a guardian! I know! But you're a man-eater-…" Then realization hit him and Zak looked at the creature. "You're killing to protect… the secret stone?"
The Gévaudan Beast's tail was really wagging now. The eleven-year-old looked long and hard at the creature.
"What… is the secret stone?" Zak questioned. The beast's red and yellow eyes twinkled.
The secret stone of the guardian.
Zak quirked a brow.
"The secret stone is the secret stone of the… guardian?" The boy asked. The beast's tail was thumping hard on the ground and he could almost see a dog-like grin on its face.
The guardian of the secret stone and the secret stone of the guardian.
The eleven-year-old clapped his hands over his head, feeling brain freeze coming on.
"Oh… my head hurts." He groaned, closing his eyes for a second. Then he felt the beast's nose in his hair as it smelled him.
Pushing it away he glared.
"And is this why you drag me out of bed, trick me into coming outside before freaking out my family?" Zak growled. The beast's tail was still wagging.
Zak was not impressed.
"I told you not to hurt anyone! You gave my family a really good scare, let me tell you. Their eyes were as big as truck tires!" The eleven-year-old stomped his foot. "I bet they think that I'm as good as dead-"
The beast leaned forward and gave the boy's neck a lick. Zak brought his hand to his neck and found to puncture wounds where it had carried him.
"Okay… that's cool." Zak smiled. The Beast of Gévaudan got to its feet and its tail was going nuts. "But for now on, I don't want you so much as TOUCHING my family or anyone else!"
The beast's tail stopped wagging.
The guardian of the secret stone and the secret stone-
"AHH! I know what you're saying! But killing or mauling is not cool! For me and you to be friends, you have to stop killing!" Zak barked back. The beast paused before its tail began wagging again.
Zak sighed in relief and flopped down on his back. Staring up at the forest canopy, he caught a glimpse of blue sky through the crowded leaves. Then the Beast of Gévaudan looked down at him.
"And I bet this secret stone is why Argost wants you too." The eleven-year-old voiced pensively. The beast just cocked its head. "You're going to have to come with me and my family because if V.V. Argost wants you… you've got to be pretty valuable."
The boy got to his feet and stood along side the huge beast.
"I want to go back to my family's airship and you are coming with me." Zak commanded. The beast ducked behind the boy, ran its head between his legs and vaulted him onto its shoulders.
Zak laughed and held to the Beast of Gévaudan thick reddish fur. Though riddled with twigs and matted with dirt, he got a good grip. In an instant he and the Beast of Gévaudan were galloping through the thick forest, back to the airship.
Zak Saturday flew through the thick forest like the Beast of Gévaudan had wings on its feet. No wonder it could strike and vanish so quickly; it knew these forests like the back of its talloned-paws. The eleven-year-old held tightly to the beast's thick mane as it galloped through the dense French forest. The last log it jumped over, Zak bit his tongue and every time he looked up, he'd get a tree branch in the face. But riding on the back of such a fearsome and powerful cryptid made up for the uncomfortable trip.
Finally the Beast of Gévaudan flew out of the trees and Zak saw his family's airship. The beast bounded up the last few meters to the zeppelin and stopped as the eleven-year-old slipped off of its shoulders. Zak's feet hit the ground and as he spat out a mouthful of leaves, he saw that the ramp was still down.
"C'mon!" The boy gestured to the Beast of Gévaudan as he ran up the ramp. "We gotta contact my family and let them know I'm all right."
The huge dog-like creature hesitated at the bottom of the ramp, unsure about the strange metal mass in front of it. Zak stopped.
"C'mon!" He threw his arms in the air, stomping his foot. "Get your scary butt up here!"
The beast put a tentative foot on the metal incline and found it cold and unnaturally smooth. It growled at the shiny metal before Zak ran back down to it.
"Come on!" The eleven-year-old pleaded. "I'm not leaving you out here. If you recall you are not a favorite of the local villagers or Van Rook. If they see you out here, they'll make you into a rug!"
Taking the large and dangerous cryptid by the scruff of the neck, Zak tried to pull the massive animal up the ramp. The Beast of Gévaudan simply grabbed him by the front of the hoodie with its teeth and walked up the ramp with the boy in its mouth. The eleven-year-old folded his arms.
"Oh, so NOW you make it easy." Zak grumbled. The beast wagged its tail as it carried him into the airship.
Meanwhile with Zak's freaking family, Doyle was high above the forest hovering over the forest cursing at his technology. Over an hour and STILL there were no life-signs on his tracker! That couldn't be possible! The Beast of Gévaudan couldn't be THAT fast to flee the area without alerting his equipment! And what about Zak? Was the boy not giving off a signal because he was… dead?
Doyle snarled, feeling his throat tighten with tears. Drew WAS right! This mission was too dangerous for the boy! They should have been more careful or this would not have happened! One long hour had passed by; a long enough period of time for the monster to have all ready devoured Zak. Again Doyle's eyes combed through the thick forest below him. He just saw dew-soaked orange and green leaves winking in the sunlight. Nothing.
The feeling of hopelessness set in. Zak was gone.
Just then the alarm sounded from the airship. Craning around to the zeppelin, Doyle listened to the alarm wail in the valley air. Why was it going off again?
Zak!
There was a lump in Doyle's throat as he changed course and flew back to the zeppelin. He hoped and prayed that his nephew was all right.
Zak sat back in one of the control room chairs as he listened to the alarm blare, breathing a sigh of relief. He never thought he'd be happy to hear that shrill distress siren. Looking over to the Beast of Gévaudan sitting at his side, the monstrous animal looked back at him. Leaning in, it gave the boy a lick to his face with its strangely forked-tongue. Zak laughed and pushed it off of him. The alarm would bring his family back to the airship and hopefully their blood pressure didn't spike too bad.
"You promise to behave yourself in front of my family?" The boy asked, passing his hand over the creature's head. Bowing its head, the Beast of Gévaudan let the boy pet it. "I'm going to take that as a "yes"."
The beast closed its eyes and let Zak scratch its small, pointed ears.
""The Beast of Gévaudan" is such a mouthful. I'm gonna call you Géva." The eleven-year-old stated. There were no complaints from the beast.
In that moment, Doyle was the first to make it to the zeppelin.
"Zak! Zak! ZAK!" Doyle had flown over the ramp and into the hallway, dumping his jetpack somewhere behind him. The red head flew through the halls to the control room.
Busting into the control room, the man's eyes came immediately to the Beast of Gévaudan sitting beside a chair. Doyle skidded to a stop and dropped to the floor as the monster cryptid looked up at him. Just then Zak poked his head out from behind the chair next to the beast.
"Uncle Doyle!" The boy cheered, scrambling out of his chair and racing up to his flabbergasted uncle. Zak was just about to hug Doyle when the red head grabbed the eleven-year-old by the arm and yanked him to the door.
"Move Zak!" The red-headed man barked seeing the Beast of Gévaudan get to its feet. But before Doyle could drag his nephew to the door or Zak could explain the situation, the beastpounced.
The huge animal slammed Doyle to the floor, making him release Zak. The Beast of Gévaudan growled into the man's ear and Doyle got a glimpse of its slime-covered fangs. The creature's jaws could easily fit the ex-mercenary's thick head.
"Géva STOP!" Zak grabbed handfuls of the beast's mane and gave a sharp tug. The Beast of Gévaudan's attention was yanked off Doyle and back to the preteen boy. "I told you to behave!"
The huge cryptid obeyed the boy and walked to Zak's side, calmly sitting near him. The boy zipped up to his uncle and helped him to his knees.
"It's okay, Uncle Doyle!" Zak said. "The Beast of Gévaudan wouldn't hurt a fly."
Again Doyle lashed out and grabbed his nephew by the arm.
"Wouldn't hurt a fly my a-!" The ex-merc flew made a scramble for the door, dragging Zak behind him. The beast snapped to its feet and grabbed Doyle by the boot.
Once again the man was on the ground but this time, Zak was pancaked under him. Doyle's heart was in his throat as he was yanked off of his nephew by his foot. Tossed in the air by a flex of the Beast of Gévaudan's powerful neck, the man hit one of the windows. He let out a grunt of impact and fell to the floor.
"Oh man! Uncle D!" Zak got to his feet and attempted to run back over to his uncle. But then the beast grabbed him by the back of the shirt and held him in the air. "Stop! You don't understand, Géva!"
By that time Doyle got back to his feet. He saw Zak kicking and squirming being held in the jaws of the Beast of Gévaudan. Rolling up his right sleeve, the red head exposed a wrist-launcher full of anything from nets to bullets.
"Eat hot lead you freak of nature!" Doyle cocked his wrist launcher and took a bead on the beast's head. Zak waved his arms in his uncle's crosshairs.
"Wait! Wait! I can explain!" The eleven-year-old pleaded, flailing his arms in the air as he felt Gévaudan Beast drool run down his neck.
"Save it kid! You're too young to die. If we stick around here, we're not gonna see the looks on your parents' faces once they find out you're still alive." The red head told his nephew. Spinning the roulette of his wrist-launcher Doyle picked the biggest bullet in his arsenal. "Let's not give the Beast of Gévaudan another chance to take you from us."
"No! No, don't kill it!" Zak finally choked out. Doyle froze, blinking at what his nephew had just said.
Then the Beast of Gévaudan spun and ran out the door.
"Ahh! I CAN'T WIN!" Zak shouted as he was being forcibly carried through the airship. Doyle ran after the beast and his nephew.
The Beast of Gévaudan sprinted through the hallways. The boy's family was insane! The red-headed man just tried to shoot at the boy! There was no way the beast would stay here any longer.
"Hang on, Géva!" Zak was getting bounced and trounced, still dangling by his hoodie. It was pretty hard to talk let alone THINK when he was being partially carried and partially dragged.
Finally the eleven-year-old's hoodie ripped under the strain. Just as the beast was about to round a corner the hoodie shredded and Zak fell unceremoniously to the ground, tumbling to a rude stop on the metal floor. The Beast of Gévaudan heard the fabric rip and felt the boy drop to the ground. Coming to a stop, the beast's paws skidded over the smooth metal floor and it popped out in to adjacent hallway.
The Beast of Gévaudan chewed on the orange fabric in its mouth, the cloth tangled around its sharp teeth. It shook its head, trying to dislodge Zak's torn hoodie from its maw. Just then it heard a chorus of gasps from down the hallway. Craning around, the Beast of Gévaudan saw the rest of the boy's family; his parents and three cryptid pets.
The monstrous dog-like cryptid turned to them and all Doc, Drew, Fisk, Zon and Komodo saw was the shredded remains of Zak's hoodie in its mouth.
R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!
