Emerald Section

The night was terribly still and cold. In the sky, helicopters from Cerulean Section scoured the streets looking for Aster, illuminating every nook and cranny with their searchlights. Emerald Section's lead squadron marched down the streets of a quiet neighborhood. Dogs barked from afar and owls hooted in the trees. The hum of cars poisoned the silence and sirens from first responders wailed loudly from the distance.

"Did you guys hear what happened in Sector 4?" asked a grunt, following his team into the Azure District's central park. They were assigned to investigate a strange disturbance that wiped out their 4th Squadron.

"I heard a lot of things going on, Jenson," said the squad leader. "Try and be a little more specific."

"Well, I just got some news from Black Section that one of their drones spotted some major magic activity down there. They spotted some chick in a really sexy magician's getup. She came out of nowhere and saved Gray Prince from a group of thugs looking to cash in on the bounty."

"I think I know what you're talking about," said the team's sniper. "Some of our men went missing not long after Order 110 went up. Their last messages reported some girl casting magic spells and summoning an overpowered white tiger into battle. She launched fireballs from her hat. Turned Cobalt 4 into doves. Things of that nature. If anything, we better keep an eye out for her. I don't want to tangle with a mage, that's for sure."

"Yeah, well, she hasn't met Emerald 1 yet," sniggered Jenson. "We can take her on. We've got the best gear. And not to mention Gray Prince is with her. He's half dead. Those thugs beat him good."

"You have no interest in Gray Prince," said the squad leader. "You just want us to run into that girl."

Jenson laughed. "Are you kidding? Of course, I would. I don't know about you, but from what I heard, she's really hot. We should do our jobs and arrest her. She's interfering with our mission. Yeah, let's arrest her and take her back to headquarters so we can...interrogate her. Heh, heh, heh."

"You're an idiot if you think guns and bullets can stop a mage, Jenson. I don't want to handle and wizards or anything like that until we get that new tech from high up. I heard Doctor Guarnizo has cooked up some new toys that could give us an edge against mages. Jenson, I don't know about you, but I do not want to deal with any magic folk right now. I just want to track down Gray Prince and get this night over with."

The sniper gripped his weapon tightly. "Yeah, I really do want to get out of here on the double. All this commotion is going to attract those heroes I've heard so much about. The Cyber Knight. Man, we're gonna be totally screwed if he decides to show his ugly mug around here tonight."

"Do you think it was him who wiped out Emerald 4?" asked Jenson.

"I doubt it," said the squad leader. "Those Cyber Dragons of his are pretty huge monsters. There's no way we could have missed them. Either way, we need to keep our guard up. The Gremlin's bounty is so high, every scumbag from Domino to Cobalt City is swarming down here. Maroon Section is currently at war with them in Sector 5. It's a fucking mess. This kid, this Gray Prince as they call him. He's more trouble than he's worth."

"I agree with you, boss. Those D-HEROES of his. Talk about power. You saw what they did to Saffron and Cobalt Section. Twenty-five of our best troops dead in a matter of minutes. If you ask me, we're out of our league. This is work for Shadow Company or something."

"I'm transferring to them as soon as this job is over," said Jenson. "They pay better, have the Gucchiest gear, and they can actually handle fighting mages cuz they're affiliated with the Church's Templars. Those guys know how to exterminate magic users."

Emerald 1's leader was not too pleased to hear that. "Yeah, well, until that happens, you're under the employment of DracoTEK! I don't wanna hear any more crap about defecting or I'll gun you down myself! Am I clear?"

"Sir!" "Sir!" "Got it, boss!"

"Good. Now weapons up! We're nearing the park."

The team was soon enshrouded by the darkness of the dead trees, stretching on forever and ever. Their branches concealed all the light from the city. The team put down the NODs and spread out to search the area. Emerald 1's leader tried to communicate with Emerald 4. He was answered with nothing but eerie static.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Jenson.

"You know, all of a sudden looking for that magician chick doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Shut up! All of you!" shouted the squad leader. "I think I see something up ahead. Watch my six."

Emerald 1's leader saw an arm sticking out of the bushes. It was clothed in black, with an elbow pad. The hand, covered by a black glove with carbon fiber knuckle guards, was still gripping the Earth-manufactured G36. He called out to the soldier. Nothing. No response.

"Come on, soldier, talk to me," he said, getting terribly nervous. He got nearer to the arm. The wind howled, chilling him to the bone. He touched the rifle and pulled it. The arm followed until it finally came out of the bush. It wasn't attached to anything.

"Oh, Goddesses!" said Jenson. "We've got a maniac on the loose."

"I don't think a person did this," said the squad leader. "Keep an eye out guys, this is going to be…"

He felt something drip on his shoulder. The squad leader put his fingers on whatever it was and examined it. He turned on the flashlight mounted on the side of his CRYE helmet and examined the substance. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was blood.

"BOSS!" shouted his troops. "BOSS STAND BACK! GET AWAY!"

More blood dripped on his fingertips. He looked up. Something was moving behind the tops of the trees. Whatever it was, it was huge! And had very sharp teeth. The leader had no time to scream, for the massive creature swooped in and clamped its teeth down upon him. Jenson fired instinctively out of fear. The flash from the muzzle revealed that the monster chomping down on his boss. His legs dangled sickeningly from the mouth. The dagger-like teeth were bathed in his blood.

"It's a dinosaur!" shouted one of the soldiers.

Indeed it was. Its long tail slithered out of the ground and swatted two of his squadmates away. It let out a roar that was so primal. So terrifying. He could see that someone was brave enough - or stupid enough - to put a leather collar around its neck. There was a metallic device at the center glowing red. That didn't matter to Jenson. One by one, he saw his fellow soldiers getting smashed by a giant foot, smacked with a tail. Or engulfed in that vice of sharp teeth. Soon, Jenson and the remaining soldiers of Emerald 1 would realize that they were not alone. As they ran away from the carnage of the dinosaur, a loud woosh hissed through the cold air, followed by a sickening WHACK!

Jenson looked at the man right beside him. He seemed to be spazzing out. Once he went on his knees, he realized why. There was an arrow stuck to his chest. It went in deep, by the looks of it, piercing even the tough dragon scale vest he wore. Another woosh flew by Jenson's ear. He heard a grunt followed by a sickening thud against the leaves and pebbles. The soldiers started to panic. Jenson turned and saw that someone shot another soldier in the eye with an arrow. Someone was out there in the darkness. And they were hunting his group.

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" shouted Jenson, taking off into the woods.

Woosh! Woosh! Arrows flew out of the darkness, missing him. He looked back. He saw his friends getting shot by arrows as well. Those lucky - or unlucky - enough to be shot with them, were then attacked by the dinosaur.

"NOOOO!" shouted Jenson. He didn't want to be next. He dropped his rifle and ran as fast as his legs could go. Adrenaline, pumped by the fear, fueled him to go faster. His chest ached and his throat was stinging him. Breathing in all the cold air wasn't doing him any good at all.

Thump! Thump! The earth was shaking underneath his boots.

The trees were being snapped like twigs. That horrible roar trailed behind him. He turned for just a brief second and saw piercing, amber eyes glowing in the darkness. It was coming after him. It was coming to kill him. Jenson screamed so high he sounded like a little girl wailing for a lost toy. "HELP ME!" he shouted with all his might. Only the loud roar of the monster behind him answered.

The stomping was getting louder at his back. He could almost feel the teeth upon him. He didn't want to go down that way. No! He wanted to live. He wanted to get out of his terrible business and just go home.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The dinosaur was gaining on him. There was no escape. He didn't know where to go. There was nothing but trees everywhere. And it was so dark, he couldn't see!

He kept running and running. And then he felt a paralyzing pain stick him from behind. He wailed in agony and collapsed on the ground. He thought the dinosaur had gotten him. He looked over his shoulder and noticed the arrow sticking out of his back. The hunter, whoever it was, had gotten him.

The bastard was helping the giant dinosaur with the hunt. Jenson turned helplessly and saw the mass of armored flesh approach him. He screamed, holding up his arms in vain. Then he felt pain going down his body. Like he was being stabbed multiple times. And he found himself face first against something warm and slimy. It smelled awful. In those horrible moments, Jenson realized he was stuck against the tongue. Oh, Goddesses, he was inside the dinosaur's mouth!

It had gotten him!

He screamed as the monster bit down on his body. He felt as though someone lit his entire being on fire as his bones snapped over and over and over again. Jenson was left with only one thing. He prayed with all his being that it would all be over soon.

Aster

"Are you hearing this?" said Francesca.

"Yeah," Aster grunted. "There's something big out there. It's coming from the park. Come on. We've got to check it out."

"No," pleaded Francesca. "That didn't sound like mercenaries to me. We should just ignore it and make for…"

"No. That roar sounded familiar. Come on!"

Aster freed himself from her grip and sped off as fast as he could toward the park. Francesca cried out for him to stop and come back. But he did not listen. Francesca gave up and followed after him into the park. The roar thundered from the darkness again, sending a chill up her spine. For safety, she summoned her All-Seeing White Tiger again to guard her and Aster from the creature making that noise out there. It sounded so far away, but it still forced her to cover her ears. What in the world was it?

"Don't let me down," she said to her beast, petting its neck.

"Hey, Francesca!" shouted Aster. "Check this out!"

Francesca and her tiger sprinted into the park. "It's so dark in here," she whined. She snapped her fingers to create a ball of flame, lighting a wide radius around her. "Where are you?" she called out.

"Over here," said Aster. He was kneeling down over the bodies of a few dead soldiers.

"What did this?" Francesca said in shock.

"You mean who did this?" said Aster. "These guys were shot down with arrows."

Francesca pointed at the ground beside them. "Look at the size of those footprints. It must have been some kind of animal."

The roar echoed from the forest again. "Not just any animal!" Aster said running toward the direction of the roar. Francesca looked at her tiger and sighed before going after Aster again. It wasn't long before she and Aster stopped, staring in aw at the armored back of the dinosaur that had wiped out the squad of soldiers.

"I knew it," said Aster. He sounded almost glad.

Francesca, on the other hand, didn't like that sound of his glee, for it meant they were going to go after it. "I take it you know what that thing is."

"I do," said Aster. "That would explain the arrows on the dead goons back there. An archer with a big-ass dinosaur as a companion. That means only one thing. Hassleberry is in Domino City."