I'm back! And now it's time for the second, concluding chapter of this story! Can Tiger come to grips with his internal problems and personal matters? And what of his friends and what happens when he finds out both their fate and of the fact Moo is back as three of himself? It's up to him to save the day and the world he lives in. Can he do it? Let's find out in this chapter now.

I own none of the characters. They all belong to the Monster Rancher franchise.

Cold Drop

Chapter 2: The Wind Of Salvation

We start this chapter with how Tiger, back at camp, was lost in thought and a lot of emotional pain and confusion. Tiger was saying to himself: "My God, am I never going to get any control of my damn temper? And why is it I just can't come to grips with my feral side and wolfish nature like I should have been able to long ago?"

He hung his head and got lost deep in thought, remembering a great deal. How he was born along with Gray Wolf. How both were once innocent, but were both separated from their mother at a very young age, given to the wrong sort of humans and raised very cruelly, receiving much abuse. How they were put into that box and sent right down river, forced to survive on their own and growing to hate humans thanks to the way the lot that once owned them treated them. How they stole to survive, along with the many Datonares and Datons, who also had been raised oppressively and escaped, then lived on their own with a deep hate of humans thanks to how their human owners had been unkind to them. How they'd one day encountered Moo and Gray Wolf had been kidnapped, and most of the Datonares and Datons killed. How the rest got killed by Captain Dino and his troops after he met Genki and the rebels. How Gray Wolf was revealed to have been brainwashed into being a baddy by Moo. How he and the other rebels, before and after he met Hare and many others he'd meet, fought long and hard until Moo was finally vanquished and the world purged of evil, with Gray Wolf back to normal, and one of Datonare and Daton each resurrected by Tama. How in the end, he reunited with all his friends, brother and pack, old and new, monster or human. How he'd always had a problem in both his lives with his temper and why this was, as well as how he was a free spirit and one with both nature and the wind. How his feral side and the wolf in him, the soul of the lupine beast within him, were always part of him, but could have taken any shape, and merely took the shape that made him what he was now thanks to how he'd been brought up.

Tiger looked into how things were here, envisioning his soul, along with the souls of those closest to him and/or those he knew, whether he loved, hated or was neutral about them. He looked into all he could have been and all he was, as well as into the soul of his mother, as soon as he saw it in this, opening his eyes wide in shock, though it soon disappeared. He soon found himself going through every landscape he'd ever walked through, be it tundra, forest, canyon, field, river, lake, desert or anything else, and he also saw the starry sky with a full moon in it and him, Gray Wolf and all of his pack howling at it while being respected by good humans who would have made it so they grew up different if they'd been their owners and not the cruel, uncaring, heartless ones which gave them the wrong impression, as they would learn. Tiger from Genki and Holly, who he now saw mirages of, Gray Wolf from Nina and Datonare and Daton from Tama, him seeing mirages of all of them, too. After all this and looking into his life, what it would be like after death and all that his having the spirit of the wolf and the wind in him meant, and all his being what he was meant and why he was always as angry and wild as he was, which was because he needed to be that way to survive and help his friends, as well as use it to his utter advantage in battle along with scaring enemies or braving tight spots, he finally saw the sequence come to an end. When this epiphany was over, he said, gaping: "Oh, my God. I finally get it. At last, I can grasp why I'm the way I am and will never change in some ways, like my pride, anger, wild and feral side and lust for battle. It's because these things are needed both for myself and the sake of those around me. If I hadn't had them, I'd have died long ago, and so would those I am close to. And as I was born a horned wolf, I was meant to live, act and think like one anyway, even if I also have all my other assets to go with it and am one of the goody rebels along with one of the Tigers of the Wind. Of course. How could I possibly have been so fucking blind, dammit?" He took a bit to get back to normal now, since this was a new feeling to him, and it felt good yet strange to have finally solved this mystery of his life. Eventually, he was fully back to normal and all the wiser and more able to understand himself, even if he was the same in all other regards and respects.

"I am going to have to let the others know of this as soon as they get back, especially my brother, Gray Wolf, and my two packmate loyalists, Datonare and Daton." Tiger said. "I wonder how long they'll stay at that carnival, especially Genki, Mocchi, Holly, Suezo, Nina, Hopper and Golem." Tiger rolled his eyes, knowing how much they'd go crazy at a place like that, and most especially at a time like this. Just then, however, he would see holographic images of the three Moos be projected right the fuck at him, in front of him, right before his eyes. "What the fuck?!" he exclaimed. "Well, if it isn't Tiger of the Wind!" Red Moo said. "You should know…that there are three Moos now, and although the three of us separately aren't as powerful as Moo was when he was one being in just one of these bodies, we are still more than powerful and capable enough to work together as a trio and get back at all you rebels and traitors to us for what you did, as well as conquer all of this world!" Dragon Moo told him. "We were brought back through a special eclipse that made it so Moo's soul was restored to life, but the instability made it so he was formed into three bodies, one of each of what he'd had before. We already have the rest of the rebels, and now we intend to capture you!" Golden Moo told Tiger.

"WHAT?!" Tiger roared. "Where the hell are my friends, brother and packmates, you fucking assholes?! I swear to God, if you've killed them…" "Oh, they're not dead." Dragon Moo spoke. "But they are trapped under the ground in a special ice prison we made for them." "You want a chance of stopping us and rescuing them?" asked Red Moo. Then Golden Moo would say to him: "The place to find them, and us, is on the way to that carnival they were hoping to go to today. So you just have to follow that path, and we'll be waiting for you where the area of the ground they're under is. You want to save them? You have to destroy us first!" "Count on me both being there and destroying all three of you!" Tiger snarled, and with that, he got up, a new fire burning in the spirit and body of Tiger of the Wind, and took off, using his nose to track down the three Moos and how close he was to them as he ran down the path that his friends, two followers and brother/second in command had followed before, meaning to go to the carnival.

And, since you just witnessed Tiger take off to try and rescue his friends, let's see just how the hell they were doing right now, hmm? Having reached the bottom of that ice tunnel, they were now in a giant prison hole surrounded by ice walls and icicles everywhere, just big enough for all of them to fit into, as the three Moos had designed it. Gray Wolf would ask: "Are we dead?" "No, I don't think so." Nina replied. "Though it sure feels like it." Hare put in. "Go, Golem cold." "Chi, Mocchi cold too, Chi!" Mocchi added. "Huh? No wonder!" Daton let out. "There's nothing but ice all around here!" "What?!" Datonare exclaimed. "Where the hell are we?!" "Funny you should ask." Golden Moo said as his hologram appeared in front of them. "YOU!" Gray Wolf shouted. "You did this, asshole!" "You're going to pay now!" Big Blue let loose. "And in the worst way, too!" Pixie added.

"Don't bother attacking. This isn't the real me. It's just my hologram." Golden Moo said to them, with Genki feeling through it and going: "I'm afraid he's right. The real Golden Moo must be back in that special temper with Dragon Moo and Red Moo." "Dammit, what is this? Where the fuck have you taken us?" demanded Suezo. "Why, you've all fallen down into a very big, deep, dark and of course cold ice containment pit trap that us three Moos so generously and thoroughly designed for you. We're well aware, just as Moo when he was one being was, that the lot of you, along with Tiger, who isn't here yet, but soon will be with all of you, at least in hell, anyway, normally would be able to find your ways out of things like this." "And we're going to this time, Moo!" Hopper let out. "Chi! We find way outta here, too, Chi!" Mocchi let out. But Golden Moo simply laughed.

He then said: "Sorry to break it to you, but there is no way out of this, for the tunnel you slid down is coated in ice, just like this pit is, and not only would you slip and fall even if you all were able to reach the beginning of the tunnel that leads back up, that's before you throw on how the bunch of you are going to, after a while in here, freeze to death. Or have you not noticed how much colder it's getting in this already icy, freezing place?" "Oh, dear God…" Holly said as she shivered an' so did the others, even those with fur and Big Blue, and especially Genki, Mocchi, Suezo and Pixie. "No question…the temperature is definitely dropping in here!" "Yeah, and fast, too!" let out Hare. "Indeed." Golden Moo told them. "There is no way out, and you can try all of the escape tactics you want. None of them hold even a remote chance of success. You will all be frozen solid and quickly die thereafter in just a while, and while you're down there and dying of intense cold and all the illnesses and damaging effects that come with it, us three Moos will be awaiting the arrival of Tiger, who we will subsequently destroy before we proceed with our new plan of conquest of both this world and this universe. Enjoy your igloo…while you can!"

"We can't just give up!" Genki said after Golden Moo's hologram disappeared. "Of course we can't, but what can we possibly do?" asked Tama. "Break the ice!" Pixie let out. Following Gray Wolf going: "Good idea, Pixie!" Naga would then say: "Anyone with powers and/or strength enough to break ice, let's do this!" "Let's, indeed! And quickly! We don't want to turn into corpse flavored popsicles!" Gali let out. So everyone with any hope of breaking ice did whatever they could to attempt to do so, but quickly learned that the ice was unbreakable and nothing was making so much as scratch in it. "Dammit, the ice can't be broken!" Datonare let out. "The Moo trio must have taken precautions and made it indestructible!" Daton let out. "Oh, no! Tell me we're not stuck down here as goners!" whined Suezo.

Back on the ground, Tiger was running as fast as his legs could carry him, and he soon was at where his sharp nose an' ears told him he should be to confront the three Moos, who, at this time, conveniently enough, were going right in the direction he was going, having left their temple and gone to where their trap was in an attempt to find Tiger, and now they saw him as he was coming right the fuck at them. "Look!" Dragon Moo told the other two Moos. "It's him! It's Tiger of the Wind!" exclaimed Red Moo. "This is perfect!" Golden Moo stated. "No doubt he's coming to rescue his friends from certain death by intense cold! Well, let's subject him to certain death by our wrath!" "Let's, indeed!" the other two Moos said in unison. When Tiger was close enough, he got ready an' posed to fight as he snarled: "Okay, Moo Trio! Where the fuck are my friends? You let them go right now before I rip all three of you to shreds and ribbons!" "You're talking through your fucking mane, Tiger of the Wind!" Dragon Moo told him. "Even with the three of us not being as powerful as Moo was when he was one monster and in one of these three forms originally, you still have no chance against the three of us at once, regardless of how fast, powerful, skilled, brave and formidable you are!"

"But fear not." Red Moo told him. "Very soon, you will be joining them, for they will soon die of the cold, thanks to where they are right now, and you will die by the three of us!" "Like hell!" Tiger roared, and with that, the fight was on. Despite how this looked less like it would be a fight and more like it would be a nasty beatdown for Tiger, the incredible thing was that, in using what he already had and also utilizing his anger, focus, determination and bloodlust and how he used those things as a weapon and advantage, now that he could control it better than he could before and understood himself more clearly than he previously had, plus how he was of course able to make his feral side his ally, Tiger held his own for quite a bit against the Moo trio. In fact, he used his speed to make it so he clawed, bit, horn stabbed, lightning blasted, blizzard froze, wind assailed and paw and/or tail smacked all three, dodging their attacks with his speed and agility, as well as his skill and reflexes. It was only after a while of this, as Tiger was starting to run out of steam and landed in front of the three Moos, that things started to turn in their favor.

"Now…" Tiger snarled to the three injured Moos, "…you are going to tell me just where t he hell my fucking friends are, and you are going to free them before I rip your sorry asses the fuck apart. With their help, especially that of Gray Wolf, Datonare and Daton." "No, Tiger," the three Moos said in unison as they blasted him with their attacks and made it so he was hurt bad an' fell over onto his back, alive but injured and barely conscious. Then Red Moo told him: "We are going to turn the fucking tables on your ass and see to your demise while the ice sees to those of all the other goody rebels." "We especially look forward to destroying the traitors to the many baddies of the past, be it Big Blue or the ones who were once the Big Bad Four!" Golden Moo a second later put in. Suddenly, though, fortune smiled upon Tiger and not the three Moos.

How so, you ask? You see, the temple, from afar, had made it so, thanks to the essence of the Moo trio who had been resurrected by that freak eclipse by chance, three separate forms of him existing at once making said essence unstable since it was three different bodies of the same damn monster, being present in it for as long as it was, as well as how its magic orb had been put to use by them, making the magic in it unstable as well, built up some kind of chain reaction in the temple. As well as throughout and out of it. A chain reaction which made the temple utterly disappear with the exception of a long flashing streak of green magic. Said magic streak left the area where the temple used to be and was now gone from forever and made its way towards the area of the ice trap, where it went because the trap was made from the temple and thus would be eliminated completely before the magic disappeared forever. "What the hell?" exclaimed Red Moo. Golden Moo then went out: "What is that? Why is it coming this way?" "And going right into our trap?!" Dragon Moo roared out.

Tiger recovered enough to get up and see what was happening just now, their words all having reached his super-sharp ears and looked to the magic, which, by a freak flash which it had happen in it as it started to destroy the ice trap, made it known to Tiger that, if he let loose a wind attack, it would turn into an enormous tornado and be more than sufficient to carry his friends out of the trap and back onto the surface, though this was the only chance he'd ever get to do so. As such, he quickly let loose a wind attack, and, sure enough, it turned into a tornado which in the next instant reached all the way down under the ground to the now being destroyed for good ice prison where the other rebels were. "Say, guys! The ice is breaking itself to bits all of a sudden!" Genki cried out. "Chi! It is, Chi!" let out Mocchi. "Holy shit, you're right! Gray Wolf exclaimed. "But though this is indeed a blessing, how is this possible?" asked Naga. "Your guess is as good as mine, Naga!" Pixie let out, but then Golem saw the wind coming down, pointed up and said: "Look! Something is coming down!"

As the tornado came in, Big Blue exclaimed: "Oh, my God! Is that wind?" "It is! It's a tornado!" let out Tama. "Wait, a tornado?! And that big?" asked Daton. "And did you say wind, by the way?" asked Hare. "Yeah, they did!" Gali replied as the tornado got hold of them and also pulled them up. "Whoa, we're being pulled up!" let out Datonare. "And by wind, too!" Suezo let loose. "Tiger must be here!" "Chi, Tiger saving us, Chi!" Mocchi cried out. "Hope so, but in any case, I think we're about to leave this place for good!" Gray Wolf shouted. "Yeah, Gray Wolf, I think you're right!" Hopper added. "WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAA!" everyone went in unison as the tornado carried all of them back up through the tunnel they'd all slid down in an' back up to the ground, then the surface, which the tornado was in the opening of which led from the ground to what was previously that ice pit, of course.

Back on the surface, the three Moos saw the huge tornado in the hole that led to what was once their trap, and Golden Moo thundered: "Tiger, what the fuck have you just done?" "It's not what I've done, assholes!" Tiger barked. "It's what I've undone! TORPEDO ATTACK!" He let loose a blast of lightning at Golden Moo, which hit him and knocked him back, then Tiger let out a roar of: "BLIZZARD!" and blew ice breath onto Dragon Moo to cause some damage by cold to him, going out: "Taste of your own medicine, motherfucker!" nastily. Finally, he let out a yell of: "LIGHTNING ATTACK!" an' made Red Moo stagger back when it hit him. "You will pay for this insolence, Tiger!" bellowed Dragon Moo as he flew over, grabbed Tiger and tossed him a good distance away, but just as he landed, the Moo trio turned to see Genki, Holly, Big Blue, Golem, Pixie, Hare, Gray Wolf, Datonare, Daton, Tama, Mocchi, Hopper, Naga, Gali and Suezo all jump out of a different part of the giant tornado, which disappeared along with all of the green magic and what little remained of the ice trap by now, in addition to the hole in the ground which also vanished completely. At the same time, this lot all landed on the ground.

"Look who's back!" Hare shouted out. "And more pissed off than holy hell itself!" Gray Wolf barked. "NO! THIS IS ALL SCREWED UP!" Golden Moo yelled as the Moo trio ran for them and vice versa. "GET THEM!" Dragon Moo bellowed. "DESTROY THEM ALL NOW!" Red Moo roared on out. And so the melee ensued!

First, we see how Gray Wolf, Datonare, Daton and Pixie took on Golden Moo. Gray Wolf, Datonare, Daton and Pixie all nailed Moo with every single offensive attack they had, and due to how he was already injured from his fight with Tiger, this proved enough to destroy him and make him vaporize into thin air forever, which happened just after the four dodged his blasts and sword swipes, with Gray Wolf going: "Hey, motherfucker! Can you guess what the hell fucking time it is?" and Datonare saying: "We'll tell you what the hell fucking time it is!" Then Daton barked: "It's payback time, Golden Moo!" Pixie would add: "And the way you pay for trying to kill us in that fucking ice prison of yours so you could conquer all and kill Tiger before that is that you get killed yourself!" After Golden Moo was gone, screaming; "ARRRRRGHH!" as he vanished into nothingness, never to be seen again, Pixie told the three horned wolves: "Nice job, boys. One down, two to go!"

Now for the fight of Big Blue, Golem, Naga and Gali against Dragon Moo. When Dragon Moo unleashed his fireball at them from his mouth, they all were able to dodge it before Naga let loose: "It's time to exact revenge on your ass for all you did to us, all you meant to do and how I was, for a long time, a baddy thanks to your corrupting brainwashing!" "And that revenge will mean we see to it you meet your fucking demise!" Gali added in. Golem then spoke: "Golem usually never moved to anger, but Moos have pushed him way too far in this case!" Big Blue let out: "No way in hell are you doing anything but perishing now!" They all unloaded onto Dragon Moo with all of their attacks, all of them doing so at once, and like with Golden Moo, since he'd already taken the damage he did from Tiger, this proved sufficient to make him evaporate right into nothing and be gone for good. Also like with Golden Moo, if he were as powerful as the real Moo in his original body had been ,he'd still be here, as would Golden Moo, if he'd been as high on power and evil as Moo had been when he was in that body. But this was not the case, and the both of them had taken nasty injuries from Tiger, as you saw, so Dragon Moo was also destroyed completely. "So much for him. Good work, the lot of you." Naga spoke. "Let's just hope that the others are faring just as well against the other two Moos." Big Blue put in, obviously not aware that Golden Moo was already destroyed yet, which the other three weren't aware of yet, either.

Finally, there's the battle that Hare, Suezo, Mocchi, Hopper, Genki, Holly, Tama and Nina had with Red Moo. Red Moo swung his sword and unleashed his power blasts at them, but they dodged while Hare said: "No way we're letting you nail us again, you bastard!" They let all of their attacks be unloaded into him, though for obvious reasons Holly, Nina and Tama didn't have as many to deliver, and this made it so that, while Red Moo was severely damaged, he was slightly luckier than the other two in that, despite having taken just as much damage from Tiger previously, he had time to stomp the ground and knock them all down, going: "Impudent worms! AWAY!" "Knock us down, will you?" asked Suezo. "You'll live just long enough to regret that shit!" Hopper put in. "Chi!" Mocchi shouted. "All right, let's all get up and get this son of a bitch!" Genki yelled. "Guys, I think we've got a bigger problem just now…" Holly said as Red Moo raised up his sword and brought it down at them, saying a cruel sentence of: "Say goodbye for real this time, you maggots!"

Suddenly, however, lightning came shooting at Red Moo's hands and knocked the long sword out of them, Red Moo going: "What the fuck!? ARRRRRGGGHHH!" The last one was due to how the lightning burned and damaged his hands some. "Lightning?" cried out Tama. "From me." Tiger's voice said, and they turned around and all yelled in unison: "TIGER!" "It's you! You saved us, didn't you?" asked Holly. "I sure did!" Tiger told them. "I'll explain how so and why I was absent when you returned here from that tornado after we finish off what seems to be the last Moo here!" "Sounds like a plan! Good to have you back, Tiger!" Genki put in before Nina looked and went. "Hey, he's right! The other two are gone!" "Then it's just this last one!" Hare said as Tiger joined with them. "We can take him!" "No, you can't! I finish all of you off now!" Red Moo exploded as he charged at them.

"Wanna bet, asshole?" growled Tiger before he yelled out: "Lightning attack! Torpedo attack! Blizzard!" and unloaded those attacks along with his wind attacks onto Red Moo until he was no more, completely dissipated and disintegrated, to say nothing of obliterated, into absolute nothingness. As soon as he was gone, all of the goody rebels let out in unison: "YES!" "We can't thank you enough for saving us, brother!" Gray Wolf told Tiger, obviously speaking for both all of everyone else who Tiger rescued along with himself. "Though we can see you've also taken some damage yourself." Hare observed. "Yeah, when I confronted the Moos, I had to deal with all three at once, and although I dodged and nailed them a lot, when I started to wear down, they started to wale away at me." Tiger explained. He also informed them of how he was able to get them out of the pit, and before that, how he finally made his anger an advantage and ally to him along with discovering who he truly was at long last.

"Well, congratulations, Tiger! And thank you!" Holly put in. "You did a bang-up job, and even I can't deny that!" Hare added. "You did it, brother. You vanquished all three Moos and in addition to saving us, you helped make it so we all saved this world once again." "We ought to inform everyone of this, though, since they should know of it." Naga pointed out. "Wait, guys! I have the perfect idea!" Genki said. Everyone turned to him, and he explained: "See, before all of us but Tiger got pulled down into that popsicle pit, we wanted to go to the carnival. A lot of men, women, teenagers and children alike are there right now, and so are some monsters. So we could do two great things at once…we could go to the carnival and have a blast of a good time, and we could inform everyone who's there of what happened while we're at it, then the world will be all around spread, no doubt, and all will be covered to pave the way for a better future than ever!" "I think that's a marvelous idea, Genki." Pixie said. "By the way, since Tiger saved us and was key in stopping Moo, I think we should ask…" Nina began, and Golem continued: "Would you like to come to the carnival with us as well, Tiger?" "You've more than earned it and must want to after all this and getting your feral side and anger mostly under control, along with getting a full understanding of yourself for the first time." Suezo encouraged. "Chi!" added Mocchi. Tiger did a roll of his eyes and said: "I suppose after all this, a one time only trip there wouldn't hurt."

And so, they went to the carnival and enjoyed a nice, long day at it, it being made all the more fun in that the carnival was turned into a celebration of how they'd vanquished Moo once more, made in Tiger's honor, in particular, and by the time the day was done along with the fun and celebrating in the carnival, it was late at night thanks to how it had been extended for a Tiger centered, hour long part of it. After all, they all enjoyed themselves, but they also did the telling of what had happened they intended, and not only did all that resulted from it come to be, but in addition, the people and monsters there would tell those who hadn't gone to it that day. Once all of everyone were back home, here's what was going on with the rebels, who'd also returned to their camp for the night.

At the camp of the rebels, just before everyone went to sleep, Tiger was asked by Genki: "By the way, Tiger," "Yes, Genki?" Tiger responded. Genki gave Tiger, who was lying on his back, a tummy rub while saying: "I have got to congratulate you for all you've overcome and accomplished today, because while you've repeatedly proven how well you can look out for us, we were, for a time, unsure whether or not you could, at least in the psychological sense, look out for yourself. Physically and survival-wise, no question. But your inner beast and feral side were both more questionable. Not anymore, though. You've not only gotten yourself fully in the state you've longed to understand and be in, but you've got a full understanding of yourself and what makes you what you are, as well. It is good the mystery is finally solved." "Yeah," Tiger's reply consisted of as he nodded, "and thanks for the kudos, but make no mistake, Genki. I am still, even now, going to, in many ways, be as mysterious as the wind itself. The difference lies in how now, it happens with that mysterious air eventually being seen through and grasped, first by me, and then, whenever I so choose, all around me…"

He fell asleep from his belly rub after that, and Genki would say before falling asleep himself(which everyone else had already done): "True enough, Tiger, but at least it's a good mysterious which can be seen through a lot better now, and it's from someone who couldn't be more fit to be mysterious, whether you're one of us or one with nature and the wind, or, more accurately, in your case, both."

THE END

Good ending, huh? Hope that I pleased my fellow Tiger fans in particular! Rate and review, please!