Chapter 5

Senel and the girls arrived at the bottom of the Great Hollow.

"We've searched the place high and low, and we haven't seen anything that matches Coolidge's description," Chloe said.

"Maybe the monster went home," Grune suggested.

"I thought this place was its home," Norma said.

Shirley pointed ahead. "Senel, is that it over there?"

Senel looked ahead and spotted the beaver creature that had bitten Will. "Yeah, that's it. All right, I'm going to catch it."

"Please be careful."

"I will."

Senel carefully approached the creature. "Easy now..."

The girls watched intently as well. Senel closed to within a few feet of the creature and knelt down on one knee. The creature paused and looked up at him. Acting more on impulse than anything, Senel lunged forward, grabbing the creature by its body.

"Senel!" Shirley cried.

The creature struggled wildly, flailing its arms about. Fearing that he would get bitten, Senel released the creature and stood up. The creature fled into the dark shadows.

"Coolidge!" Chloe cried.

"Are you all right?" Shirley asked.

Senel looked down at his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. I managed to get some of its fur. That should be enough for Alcott to make his medicine."

"Whew..." The girls all exhaled a sigh of relief.

"All right, let's get out of here," Senel said.

The girls nodded in agreement.

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Harriet walked down the road en route to Will's house with a bowl of popcorn in her arms. When she reached the house, she was surprised to see the door wide open and to see the commotion happening from within. She peeked inside to see the battle ensuing between Jay, Moses, and the three Terrors.

"I can't believe it!" she growled as she marched into the house. "Hey, you!"

Cashel had been trying to strangle Jay, but stopped upon hearing Harriet's voice. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jay punched Cashel in the face.

"Harriet?" Jay gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here!?" Harriet sounded insulted. "This is my house, you know!"

She marched right up to the Terrors next. "What I wanna know is what you guys are doing here! You can't be in here! No Terrors allowed!"

"What makes you think we're going to listen, kid?" Cashel asked.

"You're the little brat that distracted us at the bridge when we were about to dispose of these fools," Melanie said. "How fortunate that you should show up now. We can dispose of you here and now as well."

"Hey, you leave the little miss alone!" Moses hurled a spear at Melanie. Melanie dodged it, and Harriet snuck past the Terrors and went down into the basement.

Will sat by the door of his cell, trying to listen to the noise upstairs. "Harriet, what's going on up there?"

"The Terrors are here!" Harriet responded. "Moses and Jay are fighting them off, but...they're still chained together, and they're outnumbered.

"Ah..." Will let out a weary sigh. "They're still chained together...that must make fighting difficult."

Harriet picked up the keys and opened the cell.

"What are you doing!?" Will cried. "If I transform again, I might..."

"Just take care of those Terrors!" Harriet told him. "You're the sheriff! Stop them before they destroy our house!"

"I'm not a sheriff!" Will sighed again. "Never mind...arguing isn't going to help."

He left the cell, heading up the stairs with uneven steps.

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Senel and the girls returned to the hospital.

"Here, Alcott, we got some fur from the creature." Senel handed the few stray hairs over to Alcott.

"Ah yes, this should suffice," Alcott said. "Thank you, Senel. I'm sorry you had to go through all that trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about it. There'll be a lot more trouble if we don't cure Will."

"Ah, you have a point. I'll get started right away."

"Thank you."

The group sat down to wait.

-----------------------

Solon slipped behind Jay and grabbed him tightly. "Gotcha! I'm taking you back!"

"No!" Jay cried.

Solon attempted to drag him out, but was stopped when the chain stretched all the way out and Moses was pulled also.

"What the..." Solon stopped and realized that Jay and Moses were actually chained together.

"They're chained together!" Cashel exclaimed. "Why are you two chained together?"

"Ugh...I'm sick of that question!" Jay responded.

"Well, we certainly can't bring the stupid bandit with us," Solon said. "So I'm afraid this chain is going to have to come off."

"Good luck," Jay grumbled flatly.

Solon tugged on the chain, trying to slip it off Jay's wrist, but it would not budge. "Cashel, give me a hand!"

"With pleasure!" Cashel ran behind Moses and grabbed him in a bear hug.

"Hey, get off me!" Moses yelled. "You got a crush or somethin'?"

Cashel tried to slip the chain from Moses' wrist, but he didn't have any luck either.

"This must be some kind of joke!" Cashel threw one of his tonfa blades. It swirled around the chain, slicing at it repeatedly, but the chain remained unaffected.

Solon looked at the chain closely. "I see...so this is one of those chains. It's an obsolete chain that went out of style due to its unbreakable strength." So he wrapped his arms around Jay's body and squeezed him tightly. "So tell us where we can find the key."

"Argh!" Jay cried out. "There is no key!"

"Jay speaks the truth," Moses added. "There ain't no key!"

"Damn!" Solon growled. "Cashel, get ready!"

Cashel tightened his grip on Moses. "I'm ready!"

"Now!" Both Solon and Cashel began to pull back in opposite directions, stretching out the chain.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Moses cried.

"Arrgh!" Jay cried out as his arm was stretched to its limit.

"Damn, it's not working!" Cashel cried.

"There's only one thing left to do." Solon shoved Jay down onto the table, and then pinned him down with his knee. He then stretched Jay's shackled arm on the table and drew his sword.

Jay gasped upon realizing Solon's intentions. "No!"

"Hey, cut that out!" Moses yelled, struggling in Cashel's hold.

Solon only grinned as he raised his sword over Jay's wrist. "Oh, I'll cut it out all right."

"No!" Jay screamed again. "Solon, please don't!"

"Oh, you're so pitiful when you beg."

Solon raised his sword again, but then a lightning bolt struck both Solon and Cashel, freeing Moses and Jay.

Jay stood up. "That was Will's crystal eres."

Moses straightened himself. He looked across the room to see Will standing in the doorway with his hammer. "Hey, who let him out?"

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Will Raynard," Melanie said.

"We'll leave him to you, Melanie," Cashel said. "We'll take care of these two."

Moses raised his spear again. "Like hell!"

Jay raised his dagger, facing Solon. "You'll pay for that!"

Will slipped across the room, ducking behind the kitchen counter. He stood up and began casting his spell.

"Brilliant vanguard of the heavens, cry havoc and, with your wrath, lead my enemies to their doom!"

Before he could unleash his spell, he felt the burning sensation within his body. The cold sweat began to drip down his forehead.

Oh no, not again... he thought. Is it happening again?

But he couldn't let that stop him. He had to stop the Terrors. He finished his cast and unleashed his crystal eres.

"Indignation!"

A powerful energy bolt struck Melanie from above, sending her straight into the ground. Instantly afterwards, Will fell to his knees, propping his hammer on the floor for support.

Melanie stood up, holding her shoulder. "Grr...you'll regret that!"

When she went into the kitchen, she found Will on his knees, gasping for breath. "Well, well...are you worn out after only one spell? You really are a weakling."

Will held a palm out towards her. "Stay back, Melanie...or I'll...become a monster...and then I'll...surely destroy you..."

"Ha! Do you really expect me to fall for that one?"

"Ugh..." Will groaned as he held his stomach...and then he tipped over, hitting the ground unconscious.

Melanie walked over to him and kicked him in the side. "Hmph. Pathetic. I would be embarrassed to kill a weakling like you."

Harriet emerged from the basement and went over to the kitchen. "Oh no, Dad!"

She ran over to check on Will. Melanie only folded her arms.

"You're the little brat who distracted us last time," she said flatly.

Harriet turned to face her. "What? What did you do to my dad!?"

"Nothing at all. He just fell over like a tree. He's so pathetic, it's comical."

Harriet looked at Will again. Oh no...is he going to turn into the monster again?

She turned to face Melanie again. "By the way, why are you here anyway? I already told you, we don't want Terrors in our house!"

"We're just here on business, that's all," Melanie replied. "It's nothing to get so upset about."

Harriet picked up Will's hammer from the floor and set herself in a stance similar to Will's. "If my dad can't fight you, then I will! I may not be able to use eres, but I know how to use a hammer!"

"Ha! Don't push your luck!"

"YYYYAAAAAHHHH!" Harriet raised the hammer over her head, and brought it crashing down into the ground. Melanie quickly rolled out of the way.

Jay looked over as he spotted Harriet chasing Melanie into the living room with the hammer.

"Harriet, what are you doing!?" he yelled.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Solon seized him by the throat. "Never turn away from the enemy, boy!"

Jay slashed Solon's face with his dagger, then kicked him in the groin. Solon fell to his knees, screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, Moses was in another wrestling match with Cashel. Moses pulled his upper body back, then gave Cashel a powerful headbutt. Cashel fell backwards to the floor while Moses held his forehead.

"Ow! I'll never do that again..." he told himself.

Harriet moved towards Moses and Jay, still holding the hammer, while Melanie was advancing on her.

"It's about time to put an end to this!" Melanie said.

"Yes, this is getting boring!" Solon agreed as he stood up. "However, nothing will stop me from taking my apprentice back alive!"

"Go to hell!" Jay spat.

Cashel stood up as well. "It looks like we'll have no choice but to take the stupid bandit as well."

"Hey, you ain't takin' us nowhere!" Moses shouted.

Suddenly, a certain black-haired monster stepped into the living room. Everyone paused and turned to it.

"What the hell is that?" Melanie pouted.

The monster pouted in a similar manner. "Hmph!"

"That's Will..." Jay responded. "Sort of..."

Will advanced slowly into the room. No one dared to move. Will moved even closer and slowly reached out towards Jay, who only held up his arms for defense.

"Damn, you should feed him a laxative and put him out of his misery," Melanie said. "Try some skin lotion, you big black hairball! Your complexion could scare a proctologist!"

Will looked at her for a moment. He then turned and began to advance on her. Melanie held up her whip.

"Get out of here, you smelly pile of puss! I'll tear you apart!" She began to back up towards the door.

"Come on, lady, use that whip of yours!" Moses yelled. "Yah, mule, yah!"

Jay shrugged. "Moses, don't say such stupid things in the middle of a battle."

"Hah! I'd say this battle's just about over!"

Will pounced on Melanie, tackling her to the ground.

"Melanie!" Cashel ran to her aid. He threw the Raynard monster off, then pulled Melanie out of the house.

Moses quickly dragged Jay to the door and slammed it shut. "And stay out!!"

"Moses..." Jay gestured to his right, pointing out that Solon was still standing in the living room.

Solon folded his arms. "Just when I was beginning to enjoy myself."

He walked over towards the front door, while Moses and Jay graciously moved out of the way. Solon was about to open the door, but then turned to face the pair again.

"You were lucky this time, Jay. If not for that chain, I would have taken you back with me. So for your own sake, I recommend that you two keep that chain." Solon opened the door and left the house.

Jay shook his head and sighed.

"See?" Moses said smugly. "It was a good thing we were stuck together like this."

"Well..." Jay didn't want to admit it, but Moses had a point. He shook his head and moved on. "Harriet, could you do us a favor?"

"Okay...what?" Harriet asked.

"Could you head for the hospital and see if Senel and the others have returned? We'll keep an eye on Will."

Harriet nodded. "Okay." She left the house, closing the door behind her.

Moses rubbed his hands. "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"

"Hmm..." Jay pondered for a moment. "I don't recall doing anything special..."

"Ah, I get it!" Moses pulled some books from the bookshelf and carelessly tossed them onto the table.

Jay scratched his head. "Moses, what are you doing?"

Moses only flashed him a grin.

Jay felt a drop of sweat as he recognized the grin. Hoo boy...

Moses swung his arms across the table, knocking all the books to the floor. He then grabbed Jay and threw him down on the table. Finally, Moses climbed onto the table and began to express himself physically.