Chapter 15.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part VI

ME: This time I mean this when I say this, I am EXTREMELY SORRY for the lateness of this post! A lot of craziness has been happening for me that past two and half weeks(?), the apparent fact that I like traumatizing myself out of boredom, (SOME of which I blame solely on James Patterson's "Kill Me if You Can") seeing the new Transformers: Age of Extinction movie (I swear Michael Bay knows how to make some awesome action scenes!) and my cat, Baby (Who was originally my sister's cat) getting Anemia out of nowhere and us having to put her down. :( At least she's in a better place now . . .

All that aside, I'm both a little proud and a little sorry to say that I'm starting to get plum-worn out by writing this Arc of "Tidal Wave"! I mean I've been so active with this story, it's insane!

But you'll be happy to know that they'll only be one or two chappies left after this one! So be on the ready when this Arc Act finally comes to an end!

I got a feeling that my next song selection is going to get me SOOOO many haters . . . . The lyrics are a little askew for this chapter but the beat definitely fits! So please do not make a roast out of me!

Once again, I own nothing save my own OCs whom I think you all know who!

It's the Big one, folks!

"That blonde, she's a bomb, she's an atom bomb . . .
Rigged up, and ready to drop!
Bad news, I'm a fuse, and I've met my match . . .
So stand back, it's about to go off!

That vixen, she's a master of disguise!
I see danger, when I look in her eyes . . .
She's so foxy, she could lead to my demise!
So I'm running, 'cause I've run out of time . . .

She's a bombshell blonde, wired up to detonate!
I'm James Bond, live to die another day!
Bombshell blonde, high explosive dynamite!
She's all I want so I, I'm on a mission tonight!

I-I'm on a mission tonight . . ."

"Bombshell Blonde" – Owl City

~X~

"Logai! Quit following me! Go home!"

"What? And let you have all the fun? Fat chance, Haddock!"

"Logie! This isn't fun! This is serious!"

"You think I don't know that?! Why do you think I'm coming with you in the first place?!"

"Because you never listen to me!"

"Details, details!"

Dr. Marlin slid down a steep hill-side, keeping one set of claws trailing behind him in the dirt like climbing hooks before gently landing on his feet and going right into a skip/gallop. "Logie, I'm serious! Go home now before you break something!"

"Oh puh-lease!" Mother Logai was only a few paces behind him, her staff bobbing up and down her back as she leapt right over the small hill and landed with a "thud!" without stumbling on her paws. "If anyone's gonna be breaking anything, it's gonna be you!"

"Logai, I'm not kidding!" Dr. Marlin used his staff to pole vault over the small river, landing on his feet just as remarkably as Mother Logai. "Regardless to what you think, you are not as spry as you used to be!"

Mother Logai sent him a huff of annoyance before charging full speed towards the said river, jumping and going right into a single-double-triple flip and once again landing flawlessly on her bowed legs with front paws throw up high in the air in a practiced flourish. Dr. Marlin watched her do so with a straight face, even as she ran past him, flicking her tail at him haughtily with a sassy "Look who's talking!"

Dr. Marlin groaned before proceeding with his odd skip-gallop. Once within hearing range, he shot right at her rapidly rising and lowering rump. "God, you are the most stubborn woman I have ever known, y'know that?!"

"I'm the only real woman you've known, you know that!?" Mother Logai countered. Dr. Marlin didn't need to be ahead to know that she was smirking at him.

Dr. Marlin chose not to answer that. Mostly because . . . He had nothing to lie that one down.

Even if he had anything, she'd probably bring up that one time where he had had drinks with that rather convincing drag-queen . . .

Great.

Now, it was Mother Logai: 58.

And Dr. Marlin: 2.

Wonderful.

This was just like old times.

Back when he was a young upstart doctor and she was a sprightly yet cranky tailor-in-training, never taking orders yet always eager to hand them out – Usually just to him – And him always having to just grin and bear it whenever she stuck herself to him when he was heading on an adventure.

There were times that he actually didn't mind if when she did so and other times . . . Well, there were times where her tendency to protest everything he did was a royal pain in the –

"Hey, are we getting any closer to this lead that you said you had?" Mother Logai asked him, pausing for just a bit so he could catch up.

Startled from the sudden burst from his thoughts, Dr. Marlin almost tripped over the opening of a gopher hole, earning a snort of amusement from Mother Logai, before pin-wheeling his arms for a minute or two and getting back into his rhythm. "Yes," He grunted. "It shouldn't be too long now; most of these attacks originate around close range of Blue Island, if my hunch is right, our monster should be there!"

"And what if Cassie is there too?" Mother Logai asked him.

Dr. Marlin gripped his cane tighter in his paws. ". . . Then we better hurry along, shouldn't we?"

Mother Logai looked at him in silence before nodding, ". . . Right."

Yep, just like old times.

~X~

RUFF, RUFF, RUFF –

"OI! Down, dumb dog!"

THWAP!

The brownish/yellow-furred wolf fell to the ground, stunned from the blunt strike Riley had given it from the flat side of his sword. The other wolves dodged his fall, not wanting to get decked like their clan mate but continued to edge forward towards the assailant, his brother and the blue-skinned girl, snarling, growling and drooling all the same as before.

Riley and Tuff once again formed a two-man barrier in front of Cassie, much to her exasperation; before pulling out his swords, Tuff quickly pulled off his satchel and handed it to her, never taking his eyes off the pack growing closer and closer to them by the minute. "Here, hold on to this for a bit." Cassie gave him a look before he quickly explained, "It's my last satchel and I don't want it damaged. Stay behind us and whatever you do, just stand back!"

Cassie took it but not without starting to protest once again, "But, Tuff –"

"No buts, Cassie, just stay back!" Tuff cut her off, swinging his left sword and landing a hit on another brown wolf's flank. Cassie let out a noise of frustration at his back but remained where she was. Men! They never take no for an answer!

Before she could think anything else on the stereotypical worry of men over women, a gray-furred wolf snarled and lunged right towards her with the strength and power it had in its body. It had its muzzle wide open, all too eager to bite out her throat . . . To which, in response, Cassie simply ducked, allowing the wolf to sail over her head. With it realizing far too late that it couldn't change its course, it went right over the cliff's edge with a frightened yelp, the sound echoing off the walls of the chasm as it disappeared. So much for survival of the fittest . . .

She got up just in time to see another wolf, this time red and clearly having an attitude, leap at her and hit home in her chest with its paws. Cassie's felt her head pop off the ground once again. Geez, her head was really going to hate her now, three times in one night . . .

The wolf from on top of her growled viciously with bared teeth, daring her to make a move against its might. Cassie struggled to push it off but with it biting at her arms each time she pressed them against its throat, it was hilariously futile. She would've called out to Tuff and Riley, but they were both busy trying to fend off their own wolves at the moment. Apparently they had unwittingly spread apart from her as they slashed and swung their swords at the beasts, leaving her wide open for attack.

'Wow, Tuff,' Cassie couldn't help but think bitterly. 'Just stay behind you two and wait to give these guys an opening once you were out far enough. Great plan!'

She had to get this rabid canine off of her, so since pushing it with her bare hands wouldn't work, she went to plan B; by which, she simply took Tuff's satchel from where she dropped it and bopped it hard against its head. The wolf let out a bark of confusion at this, tumbling off of her, giving Cassie a chance to give it another hit, this time using her foot and kicking it square in the jaw. After a sharp and painful crack resounded, the wolf went down instantly.

Riley, who was watching this as he used his spare hand to scratch a rather rambunctious wolf with his now extended claws, sounded his approval. "Whoa! You sure surprised him, Cassie!"

With a short laugh, Cassie rubbed at her head, saying, "It's a woman's provocative, Riley, to surprise –" She saw yet another wolf spring at her, giving a swift and hard smack with her electricity crackling, spiral-designed tail. "– Men!"

Tuff leap-frogged over one yellow-gray wolf in anything but playfulness; the stakes urging him to either come out alive or allow the rabid wolf to rip out his stomach. He wasn't so keen on taking those odds. Then again, who wouldn't be? The wolf didn't care either way if he came out alive or not, all it wanted was to keep coming at him and get a couple of good-sized chunks of bloody Sharkman-meat out of him. Not the smartest strategy but it had clearly succeeded with in the past.

But not this time, though.

Because this Half-Shark was also Half-Quillotian. And they were quite known throughout the Archipelago for their . . . Stubbornness issues.

Tuff made sure of that point by turning both swords in his hands, shoving both tips into the ground, and using them as makeshift bars to support him as he jumped up and delivered a hard and powerful kangaroo kick to the head of the said wolf as it pounced right towards him, snapping its neck easily on contact. The second he landed, he yanked both of the Twin Swordfish swords right out and sliced the unfortunate old and scraggly wolf sneaking up behind him into not just halves but thirds.

Tuff breathed in satisfaction despite himself.

You see? Stubbornness issues.

Riley proved that as well as he jumped back two steps to keep from getting his stomach bitten right out from a brown-furred and yellow-pawed wolf, causing him to mimic a certain doctor's actions while he teetered on one foot over the edge of the cliff. He wobbled there for moment, trying to keep the magicked-induced weight of Jawbreaker on the solid side of the edge he stood on. He looked down behind him with a protest yelp climbing his throat. He almost died one time from falling to his death tonight, so no way in hell was he ending up down there again!

He regained his balance just in time to swing his massive sword right at the persisting wolf; the wolf jumped back to dodge but wasn't quick enough to avoid losing one of its front limbs to the sharp tip of Jawbreaker's blade. Riley watched as blood begun to spew out of the freshly wounded socket and cover the grass underneath its feet.

Uh oh.

Blood.

Riley already felt his human mind darkening. His Sharky side was coming on strong as he smelled iron filter the air. His sight was getting foggier and foggier, blocking out the world save for the hot, fresh, blood –

An unrelenting force crash-landing right in his chest shattered all of that in an instant. He felt himself land on his side on the grass, the iron smell now far away and giving way to the scent of earth and leaves. Blinking blindly for a few seconds, he looked up and saw Cassie looking down right at him, breathing heavily.

He couldn't help it; what with the flushed dark blue on her face, the sweat growing on her brow, the almost sexily tousled bangs of the golden blonde hair, the haggard breathes of air coming from a pair of cupid-bow shaped lips, he instantly felt himself growing aroused. Despite the serious danger of the battle going on around them, predictably, he sent a flirty, toothy grin right up at her. "Wow, Cassie, if you wanted me this badly all you had to do was ask."

Cassie blew a breath of air up towards her bangs, moving a few strands out of the way of her eyes. "I'm not the only girl who's after you tonight, Riley Luck," She looked behind her and sent a look towards the now incapacitated wolf that had crashed into the tree Riley was in front only moments ago. "If I hadn't jumped in like I did, you'd never be able to get her off of you."

Riley snapped out of his flirtatious state and blinked at the said wolf. "What? How'd you know that thing was girl?"

Cassie got off of him, pulling out the other kitchen knife on her waist. "Female wolfs are smaller than male wolves; same policy goes for dogs. Especially Were-Dogs, like that huge one that almost got me earlier tonight."

Again, Riley blinked in shock. ". . . That thing was a she?!"

"Word of advise, Riley," Cassie started, turning to jab at a brownish, gray wolf with her knife. "If you want to get a girl, make sure you can identify her as one first!" The wolf only had time for one snap before Cassie swung upward, slicing its ear off and earning a large undignified yip and a dust-cloud as it ran off.

Riley cringed at the sight of the now detached appendage lying on the ground. "Yes, Ma'm."

"Riley! If you're not too busy, I can use a little help over here!" Tuff exclaimed to the air in frustration while dodging two wolves, who at the moment he was assuming were twins considering the identical white fur pattern on their backs, while trying to land a hit on a grayish-brown wolf that bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain dead Were-Dog; which gave him all the more reason to slice open its stomach when it came in close enough for him to hit.

"Coming!" Riley hollered before adding quickly saying to Cassie, "Sit tight, I'll be right back!"

He sprinted off towards his brother, leaving Cassie to stand on her own for a second before she said with a huff, "Ugh! Seriously?!"

Riley didn't hear her remark, focusing all his attention on jumping behind Tuff and stopping a red and brown-furred wolf dead in its tracks quite literally by chopping off its head when it tried snapping Tuff's neck with its teeth.

"About time you showed up!" Tuff commented, pressing his back against Riley's as he kept his eyes on the one of the supposed twin wolves prowling in front of him.

"Sorry, I got distracted!" Riley said as he swung at one of the same wolves, only to growl when it leapt back, making him miss his strike and graze the ground.

"Please tell me you weren't trying to ask Cassie out at a time like this!" Tuff accused him with what Riley was sure was a frown.

"No!" Riley responded. ". . . Why, you think I should?"

"No!" Tuff snapped, swinging his right sword and growling himself as he too missed and grazed the grass as his wolf dodged.

"Okay, easy, no need to bite my head off!" Riley swung again and missed his wolf from before. Was it his imagination or was he seeing double?

"Don't tell me, tell them!" Tuff argued, swinging his hardest and missing yet again. He grunted in frustration. "Man, these things are fast!"

Riley grunted himself before snapping, "Forget about them, we gotta find this Master guy! Where is he?"

Neither one of them noticed the giant creeping shadow lurking in well-shaded surroundings of the trees. To be precise, lurking near Cassie.

Cassie, in the mean time, had just got done with swiftly dodging and using her second and last large kitchen knife to pin a rather large wolf's tail to the ground, earning a large and undignified yelp. She stepped back to get a safe distance away from its snapping jaws, only to trip over some unseen rock with the back of her heel and land flat on her tail. Tuff's satchel fell out of her hand again and hit the ground, the flap of it opening and spilling a few of its contents. One of which, a large white box that had not been closed.

Cassie saw this, after quickly gathering the other items in the bag, took the box and hesitated only a moment before opening the lid. Inside, she saw an emergency flare gun with two unused flares. She was confused for a minute until she something clicked into place.

"You were supposed to shoot it towards the Were-Dog!" Riley voice admonished in her memory.

Huh. Using a flare gun for a weapon. That was original. Cassie couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her lips as she subconsciously took out the flare gun and began loading it. Maybe if she could aim towards the air right, she could signal someone on Pound Island and get some help before things got out of hand –

When Cassie looked up, the image of the Master flying towards her, claws and teeth bared with a wild look in his eye, instantly startled her into a shout of fright, making her throw up the flare gun on pure instinct and –

BLAM!

TSWiiiii –

POFF!

"OWOOHHH!"

~X~

Mother Logai pushed past the very same patch of leaves that the Luck Brothers went through only a while ago and pulled a face at the sight in front of her. "What the –? Haddie, there's no bridge here!"

"WHAT?!" Dr. Marlin exclaimed from afar; he came out of the leaves, needing to pause for a moment to pull his tail out from it had gotten stuck on some branches and regain his balance once again after freeing out with a heavy noise of annoyance. Dusting off his coat, he followed Mother Logai's gaze and blanched.

"Are you sure that this was the only way to Blue Island?" Mother Logai asked him apprehensively.

"Yes, I'm positive, Logie!" Dr. Marlin insisted. "I don't understand it; it was just here this morning! How could it be gone?!"

"Well, you said the thing had been here ever since these islands' had been founded, right?" Mother Logai inquired. "If that's the case, maybe the rope rotted out and fell into the ocean below."

"No, no, no, that can't be it, otherwise we would've heard it . . ." Dr. Marlin said, wagging a finger in thought. He hobbled over to the edge and began looking over the two stakes hammered on the very tips of it. He fingered the small lengths of tied worn-out ropes wrapped around the top and bottom. ". . . This rope is old . . . But it didn't just rot out, it snapped right at the ties somehow."

"Maybe someone tried to cross it?" Mother Logai suggested as she came up behind him.

"Yes, maybe but who would be dumb enough to do that in this thing's condition?"

Blam!

Tswiiiii . . .

. . . Poff!

". . . owoohh! . . ."

Mother Logai's ear went up in alarm. What the . . . ? She raised her head and began looking around. Did that come from behind her? . . . No, it was too far off. Plus, Haddie would've been freaking out by now. Where in the world did that –

She looked over to the small island only a few feet away from them. What she saw there instantly answered her question.

"Haddie . . ." She started. Dr. Marlin raised his head up from the stakes and hummed in response. "I think you might've been right about your lead." Before he could ask what she meant, she simply grabbed his chin and turned his head in the direction she faced.

Dr. Marlin felt his heart drop at who he saw. "Are those the boys?!"

~X~

The "Master" was ablaze with flames. More specifically his Manticore pelt was.

The head of his pelt was alight with red hot flames and smoke from where Cassie had shot him with the flare, the licks of fire growing with each toss and shake of his head as he struggled desperately to put them out. Clearly, this dog had never heard of "stop, drop and roll".

The wolves, or rather what remained of them and weren't chopped or sliced in different parts, froze at the call of his howl. Tuff and Riley held dead still as well while Cassie, being the closest and still baring the literal smoking gun from her place on the ground, had a front-row seat. That, naturally, did nothing to calm the shaking in her limbs while his panicked snarls scratched at her eardrums.

The flare gun slipped out of her trembling fingers and hit with a clatter to the ground, snapping her out of whatever daze she was in; she had to practically grapple with the blades of grass under her fingers to push herself back in to her feet, swiping and tucking the box under her arm and holding up the now empty flare gun once again in one fluid motion. No need to show this "Master" creep that she was currently low on ammunition . . .

That is if he ever stopped stomping and kicking around like a Lopchicken with its head cut off.

His wild thrashing only made things worse, however; the flames had now begun to rake through the dry and dusty fur of the skin, growing a searing burning trail down the arms tied around his thick throat and the spine of its back. His noises of agony and confusion grew, this time mixed with a serious of crazed snorts and grunts.

Whatever humane characteristics he had were gone now; the full canine side of his DNA taking over and leaving nothing behind for him to cling on to, all except the thought for escape. Escape from burning, fire, slow and painful death . . .

His claws gripped at the arms of the pelt, pulling them loose after blindly stepping back far enough to make his back smash against a tree. Savagely he ripped off the cloak, pulling it off from over his head and throwing it down hard onto the ground. From there, the once probably proud-looking beast skin enveloped into nothing but hot, cruel flames, burning as a symbol of sadistic glory.

In actuality, to all who saw the Master then and there, the light of the fire cast a glow on something that had anything but glory.

Something that had all the attributes needed to be made of a monster from old Ghost Night stories.

The brown fur of his arms crept from the underside of his arms, slithering up the tops of his shoulders and giving them an equally as drab and dreary appearance as the rest of him. His head was bald, almost nothing on his head anymore save a few wisps of poorly preserved strands of hair and a few spots of scabs and lacerations, allowing his natural set of drab brown doggy ears to be seen by the world.

But that wasn't the horrific part. The true extensions of the scars and scrapes on his body were exposed, reaching all over his sides and over his shoulders; vicious, horrendous marks that could never be made certain of what caused them. One horrid theory would be that he had been tossed into cage filled to the brim with each and every sharp and cut-worthy thing imaginable and shoved around until every single part of his body was destroyed and torn like fabric with broken glass.

But there was one mutilation that stuck out above all else.

Right on the Great Master's face.

Right where his left eye originally was nothing but an empty crater. And crater was using the term loosely.

His left eye socket was as empty and black as his other eye was wide and twitching. There was just nothing but a big empty space in the right side of his head. The only evidence shown that proved that an eyeball was there before was the small array of poorly healed cuts and patches of black and blue colors that should never appear on a human being or any living thing for that matter. But even though there was no eyeball there, there was nothing that could stop the powerfully suffocating and unrelenting aura of absolute anger and hate from blasting through the atmosphere like lighting.

Cassie could not take her eyes away from the eye. Its emptiness had chilled her right down to her bones. So deep and dark . . . It was almost like –

The head of that dead girl's body.

Now Cassie was sure that she was shaking all over. She could hear the flare gun rattling between her completely sweaty palms, the gears of it giving off a creaking and clattering melody that told of nothing but the flat-out terror harmonizing throughout her being. She could not believe how scared she was; everything that she thought was fear before couldn't even match a candle to this.

The Master knew this too. And he confirmed it with giving her what was his now known as his signature grin. Oh, crap.

"You . . . Heh, heh, heh, heh . . ." He guffawed like he was about to tell some incredibly funny joke. ". . . You see now, woman? This, this right here," He brought up one claw and traced it down his cheek in the exact same manner he did with the burn mark adorning the corner of his mouth. "Is what you did to me. You hurt me real bad, woman. But you had more in mind then that, didn't you?" He gave her an accusatory look that would've fit for making even a cold-blooded murderer confess to his sins. "You didn't just want me hurt. You wanted me gone."

Cassie, Tuff and Riley glanced at each other, their voices unneeded for either one to understand their befuddlement as to what this yahoo was talking about.

If the Master saw this, he didn't say anything short of going on with his tale. "You had had enough of me, you said. That I ain't too good to keep around anymore, you said. So you said would finish me, you said." His paws curled right back into fists, his mind again gone into the river of memory floating behind his eye."You ordered those men to come for me and hold me down. They pushed me down hard and wouldn't let me get up. Each time I moved they hit me with hard sticks or rocks. They just hurt me over and over and over and over and over –"

Cassie almost thought that he would go right off track with his rambling again. Instead, much to everyone's surprise, he cut himself off hard and fast and hung his head. His paws came up, opened and showcasing the deep dips of blood now gushing out of his palms. He made no mind to look up as he finished, "Then you came, wench . . ." He spit that word out of his mouth like it was the most poisoned thing that he had ever heard. "You came with a knife. You came with a knife just like tonight."

Cassie's eyes flickered to the knife still holding that one wolf's tail hard to the ground. "You stood over me. You are the monster when you say, "No second chances, mongrel." You held up the knife high and . . ."

He paused. His paw, from where he had unconsciously raised it during his speech was now twisted, his fingers curled like he was holding the handle of the precise knife of his nightmares. A nightmare that still haunted him to today, obviously.

No one said a word. A dead, cold silence filled the air with such thickness that Cassie almost felt as though she couldn't breath. She was sure that Tuff and Riley felt almost the exact same way.

Nothing prepared them for the silence to be shattered by the Great Master's scream.

They all cringed at the nail-scratching, high-pitched shredding sound. This scream was unlike anything neither Luck Brother nor Cassie had ever heard before. Clearly the wolves hadn't either, because they all begun to whine and paw at their ears to relive them from the ache of the sound.

The Master's scream was a one that epitomized his descent into simple, life-swallowing madness. The scream that proved his mind had fallen to straight insanity; the scream that point-blankly explained that he had just plain lost it. The sound was similar to something that only a Jabberwocky would make when it was happy. And that was in no ways reassuring.

Especially in this case.

His bark almost startled Cassie into dropping the flare gun again. "PAIN! THAT'S ALL YOU DO TO ME, YOU DEMON WOMAN! ALL YOU DO IS MAKE ME SUFFER! YOU WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I'M DEAD! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I KILL YOU, YOU COME BACK TO HURT ME OVER AND OVER AND OVER! YOU NEVER JUST LET ME BE!" His claws came up to his head and started scratching thoughtlessly at his empty socket, making blood spill from it like splattered red wine. "YOU NEVER DIE! YOU NEED TO DIE! YOU NEED TO STAY DEAD! STOP HURTING ME AND JUST DIE!"

The wolves were still distracted by their Master's episode so Tuff and Riley used this chance to make their move; Tuff gave a swift kick to the underside of his wolf's jaw, knocking it over with a yelp and the wolf in front of Riley received an equally hard punch to its own jaw that knocked it out cold clean. Now free of any other distractions, they charged the Master with swords at the ready with Riley exclaiming, "Fat chance of that, you creep!"

Cassie saw this and once again tried to warn them, "Guys, no! Don't go near –!"

Once again, she was too late.

God, she had bad timing.

The Master drew his claws back from his face just as Riley jumped towards him with darkened green eyes and sword raised high over his head, eager to stab through his chest. He reacted faster than expected for someone who had just torn his own face up like cat would to a curtain; he dodged the fall of the sword and once he had sight of Riley's back, took one swipe with his claws and slashed the middle of his spine, not deep enough to sever bone but just enough so blood would fly out and stain the back of his shirt. Riley gave a sharp, fierce shout of pain as he fell onto the hard ground.

"Riley!" Tuff shouted, his own eyes going near black themselves. He charged the Master a second after, unlike his twin, aiming low and swinging out, landing a stab into his shin and a superficial cut on his chest. The Master let out a grunt of pain before lacing his digits together and bringing both hands down hard in between his shoulder blades. Tuff choked on the air that caught in his throat as his head snapped back from the shock and landed heavily on his shoulder, losing his grip on the sword in his hand.

The Master picked up the said sword from where it fell near the now ashy ground where his pelt once was, stomping down his foot on Tuff's back in almost the same manner as his Second-in-Command had done with Cassie earlier before Tuff could even sit himself up. "I've had enough of your interfering, half-breeds!"

Cassie saw him grip the sword hilt with both paws, aiming the sword tip directly over the area of the back where Tuff's heart would be. Panic once again filled up inside her, prompting her to take the box out and take out the last flare, throwing the now empty box aside. Her hands were shaking so badly as she nearly juggled the flare into the chamber, her urgency messing with her senses and making her clumsy and uncoordinated.

She cursed herself for the umpteenth time that night. Maker, she was acting like a mess!

Get a grip on yourself, Miss Blue! If you don't hurry, Tuff's going to be –

CHOMP!

"YAARGH!"

Cassie looked up. Riley had gotten up, in spite of the still badly bleeding injury on his back, and gave a large, vicious bite to the Master's furry arm with his sharp teeth. His eyes were almost completely black now and non-human growls thundered out of his throat as he held on with everything he had. The Master dropped Tuff's sword onto ashes once again, curled his paw tightly and started to knock his fist into Riley's head in an effort to get him off. But Riley held firm, biting down harder with each punch the Master gave to his crown. It wasn't long until the Master let out another shout, looking down and seeing Tuff had come to, seizing his uninjured shin and sinking his teeth into the sensitive part of his leg.

Both the brothers strived not to let up in their mouth's hold on the mad Were-dog; even though they really, really, really wanted to due to the fur that filled their mouths each time the Master thrashed his arm or leg. Anything they thought about the Were-Dog female's hygiene was automatically squashed at the absolutely disgusting taste coating their taste buds. Did Were-dogs know nothing about cleanliness?!

Tuff, being careful not to open his mouth all the way, hollered to Cassie the best he could, "Cassie! Shoof the gun!" Cassie looked like she wanted to protest, seeing that they were in the line of fire, but he quickly added, "Shfop worrying abou'us! We'lff bef fine! Shoof it!"

Cassie still looked apprehensive about it but she nodded. She had finally loaded the flare gun albeit still with shaking fingers; allowing her to quickly bring up the gun and point the barrel straight for the Master's chest. If she could get the flare to hit the scratch Tuff made with his sword; that should be enough to take him down. Rubbing salt in a fresh wound would be nothing compared to that.

With that in mind, she pulled the trigger and –

BLAM!

TSWiiiii –

PING!

Cassie was stunned as she saw the ball of magicked fire suddenly lurch off course from where it had been flying towards the psychopathic Beastman, going up into a wide, wild arc only a few feet from them and landing with a neon red pop into the branches of a tree.

As the leaves of the tree automatically lit up from the heat of the now dead flare, everyone froze in shock and confusion at the sight that had just occurred. Cassie especially looked at the tree, blinking dumbly as her tail went pure white again behind. "What the . . . Ping?"

~X~

Dr. Marlin almost had the exact same expression on his face as he watched the flames of the trees grow fiercer and brighter, overtaking the entire treetop before a few lit branches cracked off and touched base with other trees, setting them on fire in an almost domino-like pattern.

Mother Logai's face fell. She remained in the same awkward position as before when she had thrown the fatal needle, her right arm curved out behind her and her right foot stuck out below her balancing on her heel with her left foot reflecting it, her tail slinking behind her. She went quiet as she examined the scene she had just caused with wide, shocked eyes. ". . . . . Oops."

Dr. Marlin automatically snapped at her, ""OOPS"?! Logie, you were supposed to aim your needle at the Were-Dog!"

"Well, excuse me, Haddie!" Mother Logai snapped back, spinning on her heel and baring her teeth at him. "But in case, you haven't noticed, I'm an old lady! You know my eyesight is like crap when it comes to hitting long distance things with these little things now!" She held up her pincushion wrist-strap in his face in emphasis, earning a flat look void of amusement.

"Tell that to them!" Dr. Marlin gestured towards Blue Island, referring to its current inhabitants.

Mother Logai simply answered that by rolling her eyes at him and turning back to the Island, shouting, "Cassie! Tuff! Riley! Forget that monster! GET OUTTA THERE!"

~X~

"Cassie! Tuff! Riley! Forget that monster! Get outta there!"

Cassie's right ear went up at that voice. The very same one that she had heard telling a story to her for no apparent reason at all. "Mother Logai . . . ?"

She turned her head and, sure enough, there was Mother Logai and Dr. Marlin standing on the other side of the gap; Mother Logai shouting and jumping up and down, waving her arms in an almost crazed fashion that was often unhealthy for a woman of her age and Dr. Marlin looking at her calmly but fearfully.

Cassie didn't think too hard on what Mother Logai was trying to tell her. It was made painfully obvious by the rapidly growing wildfire that was going on in the woods just inches near them. She cast one final glance at the flare gun still in her hands before tossing it aside. That thing had caused enough damage for one day.

She put a hand to her mouth and coughed a little. The smell of burning wood and ash was already permeating the air, the strong scent making her eyes water and her throat tighten from the fogging smoke.

This was bad. The fire was growing quickly around them with all the dry wood and leaves this island had for the flames to eat. It would only be a matter of minutes before the fire would reach the parched grass, the ground they were standing on would soon be burning like a mansion-sized fireplace. If the Master or the wolves still waiting on the sides didn't kill them, the fire would with no questions asked. They needed to get off this island, now.

Or else she and the Luck Brothers would all become well-done Fishmen.

She looked back towards the said Half-Sharks just in time to see the Master grab on Riley's hair with his free hand and yank it back hard and sharp; the instantaneous strain and the feeling of sharp claws digging into his scalp took Riley by surprise, forcing him to release the Master's arm with a shout and allowing pine-cone sized drops of blood to drip from his wound. Both arms now free, he threw Riley like he was dirty old rag before reaching down and practically ripping Tuff off his leg and doing the same with him.

The both of them bounced off the ground twice before rolling to a stop a few inches away from Cassie. She quickly fell to her knees and looked them over as carefully as she could with out upsetting their injuries. Riley's back was still gushing blood but he was trying hard to not to acknowledge it and Tuff was hissing from the monster bruise she knew was forming below his neck but was still conscious enough to look back up at her when her hand touched his aching shoulder.

She let out a small, quiet breath of relief. Good, they were still breathing. That was a good sign.

"FOOLISH HALF-BLOODS!" The Master bellowed at the three of them. "I am THE MASTER OF THE FOREST! You stand NO CHANCE against ME!"

Tuff pushed himself up and spit out the vile, rotten taste that still lingered in his mouth on the ground the best he could before responding, "Weren't we the ones that just took a bite out of your arm and leg?"

Hideous rage tore at the Master's face. "Do NOT mock me, half-breed . . ."

"A little . . . Little late for that, ain't it?" Riley quipped, his breath becoming hard as the pain in his back started to climb higher and higher. "It's hardly any joke if we . . . W-we can manage to g-get a couple scrapes on ya. It's just . . . Just fact. Maybe you aren't as great as a . . . A "M-Master of the Forest" as you thought?" Cassie watched as a massive red thundercloud continued to grow around the tears in his shirt. Her injured side was humming right along with the sting that she didn't need to be Riley to feel. She had to give Riley credit though, he was handling his injury with a lot more grace than she did with hers.

"Half-human f-filth!" The Master snapped his fangs at him.

Cassie's ear tipped up at the last word . . . . . No, she wasn't just hearing things. His voice was a little . . . Weaker than before.

Something about it wasn't right. Besides the obvious, that is.

The light of the wildfire edging towards them each minute easily lit up the dark, giving Cassie a chance to look at the so-called "Master-of-the-Forest" more clearly.

He certainly was sight to behold; the blood practically caked his arm and leg like rain on a glass window as it drained out of his body, staining his fur and his already filthy pants and the grass beneath his bare feet, making his countless scars stand out like cracks in stone; the color of his skin was beginning to turn paler and paler with every ounce of red liquid pumping out of him, his form hunching over as bites of breath broke out from between clenched teeth.

Cassie took all this in, biting her bottom lip. There were only two things that she could come up; that even though this Master was weakening for sure, the situation was still everything if not impossible.

The fire and heat were closing in from all corners of the island, swallowing everything in their path, so escape was not that likely without earning some wicked burns in the process. On top of which, Were-Dogs were one of the most feared beats in the Archipelago due to their proud relentlessness and their gut reaction to tear anything apart that got near them when they were hurt. All they had to do was smell some blood and nothing short of the smell of freshly killed food would –

Cassie gasped. It was quiet enough so even the Master with his evolved ears couldn't hear it over the roaring brush fire, but Tuff and Riley had no problems hearing her. "Cassie, what is it?" Tuff asked.

"I think I have an idea." Cassie said. "But I'm going to need your help." She looked towards Riley with a guilty frown. "Riley, I hate to ask this of you, but do you think you can still move around?"

"Sure!" Riley said, a little too quickly for Cassie's liking before wincing when he squared his shoulders. He tried to hide it with a wobbly grin and gave her a trembling thumbs-up. "N-no problem, I'll be fine!"

Neither Tuff nor Cassie looked convinced but they didn't push the issue. "So, what's your plan?" Tuff asked.

"I need the both of you to just try and distract the Were-Dog." Cassie's fingers once again went into her sleeves, this time pulling out a handful of small, tied up bags. She gave both of them two little bags each. "Stall him for as long as you can. When I give you the word, take these and throw them right at his face."

"What are these things?" Riley sniffed at the bags in his hand.

"A little extra surprise I made back in your kitchen on the sub, just in case." Cassie explained. "By the way, the next time you both go to town, your "fear" of "signs" aside," Tuff turned a little red at that. "You might want to think about picking up some more spices."

"Why? How much did you use –" Riley was cut short by a loud, impatient snarl. The Master's footsteps thumped from behind them, prompting Riley to add, "Oh, y'know what, nevermind!"

The three of them broke apart just as the Master took a massive swing with his bloodied claws, the blood sprinkling onto the grass where they stood. Cassie allowed herself to fall so she could avoid his second swipe and found herself scooting back each time he tried to land a hit on her. She winced as small and large red streaks begun to splash against her skin.

This Were-dog clearly did not care that he would bleed to death if he kept this up; all he wanted was to rip her to shreds. That was made clear by the blank, vacant look in his one wide eye and open mouth that threw out large wads of spit and barks at her whenever he was close enough. The odor her nose picked up each time she got near him did a good job of twisting her stomach. When was the last time this sorry excuse of a hunting dog had a bath?!

She let out an "Oof!" when she felt her shoulders hit hard, tree bark. Her heart dropped for probably the umpteenth time that night. Crap! Another tree?! Geez, fate really was out to get her tonight!

The Master grinned widely at her, unnervingly giddy at her slim chances of escape. Cassie started to reach down for her knife as he rushed towards, his claws extended and ready to strike –

A sandal suddenly made contact with the back of The Master's head. Although it did nothing to hurt him, it did throw him off enough so Cassie could duck underneath his claws and slip out away from him. His claws made their mark on the tough tree's surface.

Cassie made some good use of the tree adjacent to it and went behind it. A somewhat comical plan to put some distance between her and the psycho, true, but it was better than nothing.

She peeked out just as she heard, "Hey, ya mangy mutt!"

She saw Riley, now missing one sandal on his left foot and having the one hand undoubtedly holding her little "surprise bags" behind his back with the other fanned against his mouth. "Nice haircut! Who did it for you? Your mother?!"

The Master snapped his head towards him, looking as though Riley had just smacked him. "WHAT?! Leave my mother out of this, Half-breed!"

Tuff, from where he had rushed to grab his fallen sword, instantly caught on to his brother's game. He only needed one second to sheath his sword and copy his brother's stance before adding just as loudly, "Hey, dog-boy! Ever hear of a tooth-brush? I've met Daggits that have better breath than you!"

"You DARE compare ME to one of those WORTHLESS HOUSE PETS?!" The Master whirled towards him, looking totally ready to charge him and make him eat his words. "I am THE MASTER HUNTER!"

"Oh please!" Riley chimed in once again. "I bet I've caught more fish with a man-made fishing pole than you've ever have with your own bare paws!"

"I don't need to eat FISH! I'M A WERE-DOG, YOU STUPID FISHMAN!" The Master shrieked, stopping in his tracks and running back towards Riley.

"Really?! Could've fooled us with the way you smell!" Tuff shot as his back.

The Master halted and turned on his heel once again. "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY SCENT!"

Riley snickered at him. "By the way, what the heck was up with that ratty old pelt? Did you lose a bet?"

"HOW DARE YOU! THAT PELT WAS MY PRIDE AND JOY! IT WAS MY VERY FIRST PRIZE AS THE MASTER HUNTER!"

"Oh, how'd that happen? Was the Manticore asleep when you caught him?" Tuff inquired with a smirk.

"I DEFEATED IT IN A MIGHTY BATTLE, YOU PATHETIC –"

"How about those pet wolves of yours? Did you win them in a game?"

"THEY CAME TO ME BECAUSE I AM THE GREATEST! I AM THE –"

""The Master"! "The Master!" We know, we know!" Riley droned. "Man, that is getting old! Where'd you even get that name? Some cheesy butler book?"

"I DON'T READ THOSE STUPID HUMAN BOOKS!"

"Sounds like someone's a little illiterate~!" Tuff sang.

As the Master started to shout obscenities at him again, Cassie was starting to admire Tuff and Riley. The two of them had come up with a brilliant plan of distraction on such short notice; The Master would start racing for one brother, than the other brother would insult him from behind his back, making him turn and head towards him. Before he could get close, the brother he was targeting earlier would taunt him enough to bring him back to them.

The Master was growing slower and more fatigued each time he was forced to stop, his movements getting choppier every minute. His face was starting to sweat bullets in time with the paling of his skin, the blood icing the grass like paint with each jerk and twist. The impatient expression on his face almost would have made Cassie laugh if the three of them weren't still in mortal danger. They've must've had plenty of practice with this in the past. It sort of made her think of how Vince used to taunt other people.

The smile that was creeping on her face dissolved when a roar of raw, simplified rage elevated from the Beastman's throat. The intense magnitude of it was enough to provoke everyone to slap their hands over their ears, even Dr. Marlin and Mother Logai who were in good mileage away from the island. The wolves didn't take it any better as they lowered their heads and practically clawed at their ears.

"DO NOT MOCK ME, YOU VERMIN! I AM THE MASTER OF THE FOREST AND THE MASTER OF THE HUNT!" His voice was the edge of hysteria, making his twisted lip as dark as his empty eye socket. "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TOPROTECT THAT DEMON WOMAN! SHE DESERVES TO DIE! AND FOR THAT, YOU ARE GOING TO JOIN HER!"

Cassie could see Tuff's eye turn black for a single moment before brightening back to sea green.

She felt a shiver run through her again. Was the Shark trying to overtake him again? 'Please, don't lose it again. Please don't lose it. Not here. Not now . . .'

Cassie let out a breath of air she didn't even know she was holding when a sly smile stretched out on Tuff's face. "You'll have to catch us first, you overgrown fur-ball!"

The Master gave on last growl and once more turned on his heel, "YOU WILL DIE, YOU WORTHLESS SON OF A –" The last word he would've said had abruptly died on his lips when his feet tripped over one another. With a noise of surprise, he fell to the ground, that noise turning into a scream of pain when he collapsed right on his injured arm.

That slip-up was exactly the chance that Cassie needed to spring out from behind the tree and shout, "Boys! Now!"

At that, Riley, Tuff and Cassie all produced the small white bags and threw all their bags with all their might –

B-BOFF!

B-BIFF!

P-POFF!

Tiny, multiple clouds of red dust burst the instant the bags made contact with the Master's face. The confusion that came over his face twitched and exploded into a fury when he felt nothing but powerful, red hot, spicy scents inflate his nostrils.

His burning mouth let loose a stream of curses and words that should never be repeated in the company of others, his eyes watering like faucets and the one eyeball turning as red as the seasonings that hit him. He even started to shake his head in a desperate attempt to get the smells out of his sinuses. Nothing else came to him except for searing, numbing fire.

Riley watched this with a frown. Yeesh, that must be painful; he didn't need to be a Full-blooded Beastman to know how strong their sense of smell could be, and he didn't even this so-called "Master" one bit.

Once when he was eight, his cousin had dared him to breathe in an entire jar full of mustard. He wasn't able to smell for thirteen hours. He bet even that had nothing on this.

"YOU STINKIN' –" The Master hacked continuously, the clouds still buzzing around his head like swarms of flies. "– CHEATING, DECEITFUL –" Cassie felt no pity at all when he turned his tomato red, watery eye towards her with enough emotion filling it to kill. "– DEMON WOMAN!"

Cassie showed no fear in her voice as she declared, "The only demon I see here is you!"

The psychopathic Dog-Man screeched like nails on a chalkboard. "YOU HURT ME, YOU WENCH! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! YOU'RE WHO NEEDS TO DIE! NOT ME!"

"If you believe that, then you're even more off your rocker than I thought!" Cassie said, absolutely fed up. "None of that matters anymore! Look at yourself, you're outnumbered and your forest is dying! There's nothing you can do now! Your hunt is over!"

The Master's expression stated that she had just said the most blasphemous words possible. As quickly as all the times before, his face erupted into one of pure anger and hatred. This time though, he was looking all too eager to kill.

Before Cassie could even prepare herself, without warning, he flew to his feet and lurched right at her with the speed of a bear trap. He crashed into her with a hearty laugh of eerie glee, increasing when she felt her injured side hit the ground first, making her sound her own pain.

His face was molded into that of pure ecstasy, his eye portraying his delight perfectly as he bellowed right into her face. "The hunt isn't over! It will NEVER be over! IT'LL ONLY BE OVER WHEN YOU ARE DEAD!"

Cassie's heart sped up like a submarine motor as his laugh grew more frantic and high-pitched. It doubled that when his paws suddenly found the slope of her throat.

Her throat instantly closed in, her breath now going nowhere beyond her esophagus and trapping itself, making her choke out, "T-Tuff, . . . R-Riley - !"

Both the brothers reacted at the weak whimper in her voice. "Cassie, hold on, we're –" Tuff started but was stopped when the last few wolves made themselves known by jumping into their path, cutting them off with low, sneering growls.

Riley spoke both their minds when he exclaimed, "Damn! You mutts? Again!?" For their answer, the wolves snapped their jaws at them, drawing them back.

Tuff knew he should be keeping his eyes on the wolves but his mind was on the Blue-Skinned woman fighting for her life only feet in front of them. Cassie!

Cassie's hands slapped pathetically at the Master's paws instinctively, pushing at them to get them off but they wouldn't budge. His claws covered her entire neck and could easily snap it in two if he wanted to. But, of course, he wanted her to feel every single thing as he throttled the life out of her. That, and the pure, sick joy on his face, scared her more than anything else.

Her eyes were burning with salty saline, trekking down her cheeks and her voice was becoming as weak and fragile as an ailing bird. Helpless and defenseless. Black was starting to dance in front of her eyes and the sounds of the creeping fire, the Were-Dog's laugh, Tuff and Riley's calling her name were growing softer and softer, leaving nothing but the blood that was roaring into her ears with each beat of her heart. She felt a familiar cold creeping into her body . . .

Oh, god. She knew what this was. She was dying again.

All of this was a huge replay from before.

This monster was killing her again. And this time there would be no getting away.

She was done. She was dead.

She was –

SHANK!

"Guh -!?"

ME: WHEW! MAN, this was a toughie! My longest chapter yet! 21 pages, YEOW! If this doesn't make up for my lateness I don't know what will!

By the way, I'm sorry if the fight scenes weren't that accurate to Tuff's regular fighting style; but it wasn't entirely my fault! Aside from that whole fight against Han back in Arch book 4 and a few snippets throughout the rest of the comic, did anyone actually pick up any real scenes of Tuff using his swords? If they did, I sure didn't!

Plus, do not hate me for the cliff-hanger . . . Actually, no, just kidding ate me all you want! I AM EVIL! (Cackles evilly) Oh, that sounded strange . . .

Anyways, with a promise of a swifter update, 'till next time!