Monster Rancher Fan Fiction ❯ Last Battle Saga ❯ Episode 4: The Wise Group Returns ( Chapter 4 )

Episode 4: "The Wise Group Returns"

Moo frowned as Titian slowly walked up to him.

"What is it now?" Moo growled. Titian sweated.

"Master Moo, I have good news, and I have bad news…" he trailed off.

"What's the bad news?"

"Well…Captain Lilim and her troops failed to carry out your plans. They're all Lost Disks now…"

"WHAT?!" Moo raged. Titian stepped back. Moo took a deep breath and spoke. "What's the good news?"

"The rebels are headed in the direction of my ruins." Titian replied. Moo smiled.

"Good. Titian, take all your best troops and get the rebels out of my hair-for good." He said. Titian bowed his head.

"Yes Master." He turned to leave.

"But," Moo continued. Titian turned back to him.

"Yes?"

"Do NOT kill the little boy named Yuji." Moo said.

"What should we do with him then?" Titian asked.

"Bring him to me." Moo said. Titian nodded and left. Just as he was gone, Captain Clay came in.

"What is it?" Moo growled.

"We're almost to the Emerald Forest, sir." He told Moo. "Do you wish for us to precede onto the Temple?" Moo smiled broadly.

"Yes, keep on going," Moo ordered. "as fast as you can!" Captain Clay nodded and saluted Moo.

"Yes sir!" he exclaimed, leaving the room. Moo smiled evilly, looking out the window.

It won't be long now. He thought. You might as well give up Holly, because your journey is about to get worse. Much worse…

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*GGGRRRROOOOOWWWWLLLLLL* Mocchi grabbed his stomach as everyone else sweated.

"Mocchi hungry." The others sighed.

"I guess some things will never change." Suezo groaned.

*GGGRRRROOOOOWWWWLLLLLL*

Everyone but Mocchi sweated more and stared at Yuji, who turned red.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind lunch right about now." He said. Suezo grumbled.

"We just had breakfast two hours ago!" He exclaimed.

"Your point?" Yuji asked. A vein appeared on Suezo's head.

"MY POINT IS, WHAT THE HELL IS WITH YOURS AND MOCCHI'S STOMACHS?!" He roared. Yuji yelped and hid behind Holly. Holly glared at Suezo as Yuji clung to her pants leg.

"Now, really!" Holly scolded Suezo. She turned to Yuji.

"We'll have lunch as soon as we get to a town." She told her son kindly. Yuji smiled.

"Really?" He asked. Holly couldn't help but smile.

"Really." She replied.

"Yosh'!" Yuji exclaimed, jumping in the air. He pulled his rollerblades on. "Let's go!" He zipped ahead of them, scooping up Draco along the way. Tiger, Gray Wolf, Golem, Big Blue (With Pixie on his shoulder), Ghost, Achika and Angel caught up with them easily, leaving the others in the dust. The others sweated.

"HEY! WAIT FOR US!" They cried, running after them.

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Yuji, Draco, Coltia, Mocchi, Tiger, Gray Wolf, Achika, and Pixie ate their lunch speedily as the others sweated. Ghost was eating peacefully until Hare stole his noodles. The ticked off Ghost threatened to posses him again. Hare sweated and handed the noodles back to Ghost and dove under the table, hands over his head. Holly sighed as Yuji finished his rice.

"Yuji, come here," She said. Yuji leaned over to her.

"What?" He asked. Holly took a napkin and wiped his face, dripping with soy sauce and rice, off. Yuji squirmed.

"Aww, c'mon Mom!" He said. Holly shook her head.

"Stay still, your face is a mess." She told him. Yuji sighed and stopped squirming. Holly wiped the last bit of rice from Yuji's face.

"There, that's better." She said.

"Thanks, I guess." Yuji mumbled.

"Aww, ain't that cute?" Suezo mocked in a babyish voice. "Mommy's widdle boy!" A vein appeared on Yuji's head.

"Hey, be nice!" He yelled.

"Suezo, be nice." Holly said a lot softer than Yuji did. Suezo grumbled and went back to eating.

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Titian's White Hound troop moved in closer on Holly's group. Captain White Hound stopped and sniffed the air.

"All right, I've got their scent!" He exclaimed. "Let's move out!" His troop ran after their captain.

"Remember, if we lose to these rebels, Titian will have our heads!" The Captain warned them. "So don't screw it up!"

"Right Captain!" His soldiers barked.

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"It's always a mountain or a desert…" Hare groaned as the group trudged through their sweltering surroundings. Puck had taken off his cloak and somehow had made it disappear. Pixie groaned.

"Damn! Even I'M hot!" She complained, wiping sweat off her brow. Holly rolled her long sleeves up to cool off. Yuji saw his mom do this and looked at his sleeves. He sighed when he realized they were already short.

"Man…" He mumbled to himself. Then, he got an idea. He nudged Draco off his shoulder and took his shirt off, slinging it over his shoulder. Coltia watched Yuji and groaned.

"Unfair! You boys can take your shirts off!" She whined. Yuji grinned.

"Ha ha!" He laughed. Yuji caught his mother's gaze and closed his mouth. "Sorry Mom." He muttered.

"The cold I can take, but this heat is Hell!" Tiger exclaimed as Gray Wolf groaned in agreement. Ghost hovered above their heads, chuckling to himself.

"Too bad you're not a Ghost like me, then you'd never be cold or hot!" He told them. Veins appeared on everyone else's heads.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING THE SITUATION!!!" They all screamed at Ghost, who sweated.

"Okay, I'll shut up! Shesh!"

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The campfire cackled loudly as Holly looked blankly into the starry night. Everyone else was asleep. Holly sighed.

How are we ever going to get you back, Genki-san? Holly thought. The odds seem pretty hopeless. You're so powerful that I'm afraid the only way to get rid of Moo is to kill you… A tear streamed down Holly's cheek. Genki-san…why'd it have to be you? More tears trickled down her young face.

"Thinking about Genki?" A voice asked behind her. Holly turned her head around.

It was Angel. She flapped over to Holly and sat down next to her. Holly looked back up at the sky, but said nothing.

"It must be hard." Angel commented.

"You don't know the half of it." Holly muttered. Angel put her arm around Holly.

"I've told you before, we'll kill Moo and get Genki back, and everything will be all right again." She told Holly.

"I don't think it'll be that easy…" Holly replied, looking sadder. Angel frowned.

"No one said it would be…but it's worth it." Angel said. Holly smiled a little.

"You're right…" She said, yet her expression was still sad and lonely.

"So, how's it going with Yuji? I hope he gets along with you better than Pixie does with me." Angel said as Holly's smile widened.

"Oh, he's a good kid. Doesn't always listen to me though, and is a bit impulsive, like his father…" Holly told Angel.

"Bit of a handful, eh?" Angel asked, smiling. Holly smiled back.

"At times. But he cheers me up when I need it, and makes me laugh when I'm sad. I couldn't ask for a better son." She said.

"Does he remind you of Genki?" Angel asked.

"Oh yeah. He's so energetic and hyper, he reminds me a lot of Genki when he was young. For four years it was almost as if Genki was still here."

Holly sighed and looked at Yuji, who was snoring softly in his sleep, muttering, "I don't want to study now, why not tomorrow?" and, "I can fight!" Holly smiled.

"Yuji and Suezo are all I have left. They keep me going." Holly said, smile fading just a little bit.

"Everything will be all right in the end," Angel assured her, "it always is."

"I hope you're right…" Holly whispered.

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"C'mon, not much longer!" Captain White Hound exclaimed.

"Um Captain," one of his "men" asked, "could we possibly have a snack? We're starving!" Captain White Hound growled.

"Is it really that bad?" He barked. His troop sweated and nodded. The Captain sighed.

"Fine then. We'll ransack the nearest town." He said. His troop yelped for joy.

"But it'll be real quick, got it?" He growled. His troop groaned.

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"When's the nearest town?" Yuji groaned from atop Holly's back. Draco whimpered next to him.

"I don't know kid," Pixie replied, "but I hope it's soon. I can't stand this heat." Big Blue grumbled in agreement.

The group went on in silence with the occasional groan or curse from Pixie.

"Mommy, who's that?" Yuji asked lazily, pointing ahead. The others looked to where he was pointing.

"ALAN!" Everyone but Draco and Yuji cried. They ran over to Alan and his "Wise Group". Alan and Pinnochio were holding their heads, looking dazed. Sueki Suezo, Worm, and Genolly all were fallen over, spirals in their eyes. Monol appeared to be asleep…again. Alan and Pinnochio fell over, spirals in their eyes as well. Hare and Coltia helped them to their feet.

"Alan!" Coltia exclaimed. "What are you guys doing here, in the middle of nowhere?" Alan held his head for a second before answering.

"Well, we were trying out Worm's Teloport-" Pixie cut him off.

"Worms can't Teloport." She said. A small vein appeared on Alan's head.

"Well, for some reason, my Worm can!" He growled. Then he sweated. "'Course, he can never Teloport us to the right place. We were trying to get to Northtown to see if it worked properly. Obviously, it didn't." He glanced back at the rebels.

"Say, what are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Well," Colt replied proudly, "we're on another journey to stop Moo, once in for all. We fighters of justice, peace, and love can't stand scum like Moo-" Colt stopped when she saw Holly's sad expression. Alan noticed this too.

"What's wrong Holly?" He asked. Holly shook her head.

"Nothing." She muttered. Alan turned his gaze to Yuji, still on Holly's back.

"Hey, who's the little kid?" He asked. A vein appeared on Yuji's head.

"I'M NOT LITTLE!" He shouted. Holly and Alan sweated.

"Okay, sorry!" Alan muttered. "What's your name?" He added politely.

"Yuji Sakura." Yuji replied, his vein starting to go away. Alan cocked an eyebrow.

"Sakura, eh?" He looked at Holly. "Say, what's your last name again, Holly?" Holly turned a little pink.

"Sakura." She said softly. Alan grinned.

"I thought it was Mercris." He said a bit slyly. Holly turned a bit pinker.

"No. It's Sakura now." She retorted.

"So that must mean you married Gen-" Holly cut Alan off.

"Now's not the time to talk about that." She said quickly as Alan and Yuji looked at her, puzzled. "I'll tell you later." Alan shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Yuji.

"So, Holly's your mom?" He asked Yuji. Yuji smiled a little.

"Yep, and she's the best mom in the world!" He exclaimed. Holly turned a light shade of red.

"Please Yuji, you're embarrassing me!" She said modestly. Everyone else laughed, which woke Monol up.

"Huh? Wha happened?" He asked. Alan sighed.

"Can't do a thing with him…" He shook his head.

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After everyone one else had gone to sleep, Holly explained everything to the Wise Group. When she was finished, she looked up at the sky, tears watering up in her eyes.

"Well, I can see why you don't want to tell Yuji Genki's Moo, but, why wouldn't you let me say Genki's name around Yuji?" Alan asked. Holly looked back at him.

"Because-" She sighed. "Because Yuji doesn't even know his father's name." Alan and the others looked a bit shocked.

"You never told him?" Alan exclaimed. Holly shook her head. "Why not?"

"I never really had the emotional strength left to ever mention Genki around Yuji." She replied. "Even saying his name around him hurt. And now I won't tell him because, sooner or later, someone's gonna say that Moo is Genki. If Yuji doesn't know who that is, the name will mean nothing to him. He'll find out about his dad once we get rid of Moo." At least, I hope we get rid of Moo. Holly thought. Alan looked down.

"Well, I'll do my best not to mention Genki's name around Yuji." He said. He looked back at Holly. "I know you must've heard this a million times by now, but, we'll destroy Moo and get Genki back. That is a promise." Holly smiled at him.

"Thanks Alan. I'm glad I have so many supportive friends." She said. Alan smiled back.

"We'll help you right to the end. Right guys?" He turned to his group. His two Worms gurgled something that must of meant "Yeah!" and Sueki Suezo and Pinnochio nodded, smiling. Alan looked at Monol.

"Uh, Monol?" Alan tapped Monol. A bubble appeared on Monol, and he slanted over, snoring. Everyone else fell over.

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Yuji was running through the darkness, utterly alone.

"Draco?" He shouted. "Miss Coltia? Mr. Puck? Suezo? Mommy?" Nothing. No response. Yuji kept running until he ran into something hard. He fell to the ground, landing hard on his backside. He looked up.

Standing over him was a large figure in a black cloak. A hood covered the creature's face. Yuji shakily stood up.

"W-w-what are -y-you?" He asked in a quaky voice. The figure in the cloak laughed. It was a deep and evil laugh that echoed loudly around Yuji.

"WHAT AM I?" The evil voice chuckled. "WHY YUJI, YOU OWE HALF OF YOUR VERY EXISTENCE TO ME!!!" The figure threw back his hood, reveling a man's face.

The face reminded Yuji a little bit of himself. The man had the same dark brown hair as Yuji, only his hairstyle was different. His bangs stuck out in front of him, but he had four fairly large clumps of hair in the back of his head, visible from the front, just like Yuji. He had the same three lines under each eye like Yuji. The only thing about him that didn't seem normal was that the man's eyes were glowing a ruby red. Yuji backed away.

"W-who a-are y-yo-you?" Yuji asked, still backing away. The man laughed again.

"ARE YOU TOO DENSE TO FIGURE OUT WHO I AM?" The man asked, grinning evilly. "HERE, LET ME SHOW YOU…" He started walking over to the boy. Yuji screamed…and heard his mother's voice.

"Yuji! Yuji! Wake up!" Holly's voice said. Yuji opened his eyes. Holly looked down on him worriedly as he sat up. He had woken up Draco as well, but everyone else was still asleep. Yuji hugged Holly and started crying.

"Mommy!" He sobbed. "It was a horrible dream!" Holly hugged him gently.

"It's okay." She said softly. "Tell me about it." Yuji sniffled and wiped some of his tears away. Then he told his mom about the nightmare.

"He said I owed half of my existence to him, Mommy," Yuji said. "What did he mean by that?" Holly looked sad for a split second, then caught herself.

"I don't know Yuji." She told him, tough she had a very good idea what the man in Yuji's dream meant. A tired-eyed Draco nuzzled Yuji.

"C'mon Yuji," He yawned. "Let's go back to sleep." Yuji nodded.

"Hai." He replied, lying back down with Draco. Holly pulled the blanket over them and kissed Yuji on the cheek.

"Goodnight Yuji." She whispered. Yuji yawned.

"Goodnight Mom." He said softly before falling back asleep.

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"Tell me again why Yuji gets to ride on the Worms and we don't?" Of course, it was Suezo grumbling. Alan sighed.

"I told you Suezo," He retorted, "Yuji's only five, and he deserves a rest after walking for so many days in the desert." A vein appeared on Suezo's head.

"WELL WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US?" Suezo roared. A vein appeared on Alan's head.

"What about it?" He growled. Suezo came face-to-face with him.

"WELL, MAYBE THE REST OF US WOULD LIKE TO RIDE ON THE WORMS' BACK FOR A REST!!!" Suezo yelled.

"YOU'RE TOO HEAVY FOR THE WORMS!!" Alan yelled back.

"YOU RIDE THEM!" Suezo shot back.

"YEAH, BUT I'M NOT AS HEAVY AS YOU, FATSO!" Alan yelled.

"That's it!" Suezo jumped forward. "TONGUE PUNCH!" Alan blocked it with his sword. He now had about seven veins on his head.

"TAKE THIS, EYEBALL!" Alan hit Suezo in the head with the blunt end of his sword and thus the two began to battle in a fight cloud. The rest of the group sweated at the sight, except for Holly and Yuji, who looked irritated as veins appeared on their heads.

"PLEASE! STOP FIGHTING!!!" They shouted coincidentally. Alan and Suezo stopped in mid-fight. Suezo had his tongue wrapped around Alan's neck, and Alan had his fist raised at Suezo, while his other hand gripped Suezo's tail.

"Like mother, like son." Alan choked, tugging at Suezo's tongue. Holly and Yuji sweated.

"Heh, heh…" They both grinned sheepishly. Alan let go of Suezo, who dropped to the ground with a THUNK!

"Oh sure, no one cares about me…" Suezo groaned, eye swirling.

"Just exactly when is the next town?" An agitated Achika asked. "It's been more than three days! THREE! And we're running low on food…"

"Don't remind us that the food supply's almost out." Coltia groaned. "I hope we don't go for another week without food like before…" She sighed.

"Why don't we see if there's a town nearby?" Alan asked, eyeing Suezo.

"Who me?" Suezo asked. "I'm not really-" Golem picked up Suezo and threw him in the air. "-REEEEEAAAAADDDDYYYYY!!!" Suezo looked into the distance with his binocular-like eye.

"THERE'S A TOWN UP AHEAD!" He shouted down to them.

"How far?" Holly shouted up. Suezo began to fall back down.

"ABOUT FIVE MMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLEEEEEEESSSSSSS!" Suezo hit the earth with a loud crash. Golem and the others were too busy looking ahead and walking to notice him.

"Why me?" Suezo groaned from the ground.

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"All right! It's good to be in a nice, warm bed again!" Coltia said as she lied down on her Inn bed. "It's sooo much better than a sleeping bag!" Achika nodded.

"Hai." She agreed. Yuji yawned and plopped down on his bed.

"*Yawn *. Yeah, you're right Miss Colt." He said, getting under the covers of his bed. "I think I'll go to sleep right now…." He yawned again and closed his eyes. Draco flapped up to Yuji and settled down next to him on the pillow. Holly took her ribbon out of her hair as she settled down into her bed.

"Well, don't get too used to it, guys," She told everyone. "we really need to stretch our money, and we can only do this once in a while." Everyone else nodded in acknowledgment to this. Then they blew out the candles in their room and settled down to sleep. They hadn't been asleep long though, when a loud crash for outside woke them up. There was screaming and shouting emitting from outside the windows. Puck and Holly shot out of their beds as Coltia hid under the bed.

"What the hell is going on?" an irritated Pixie asked. Holly looked out the window and sweated.

"The town's being attacked!" She said. "By Moo's White Hounds!" Suezo and the other monster groaned and got up. Yuji pulled on his shirt and rollerblades and went over to the window with his mom, sweating as well.

"We always pick bad times to stay in a town, don't we Mommy?" He asked, waking Draco up. Holly said nothing as Puck sighed.

"Looks like it's time for another fight." He said. "Well, we might as well get it over with." He disappeared and reappeared in the streets below. Coltia got out from under her bed and dashed out the door.

"Puck-sama! Wait for me!" She yelped, running out in her pajamas. Yuji rollerbladed after her.

"Hey! Wait for me!" He called. "I wanna fight!"

"Yuji! Wait!" Holly called, but her son was already gone. Holly sighed. "At least he's not fighting in his PJs." Alan and the monsters ran past her.

"C'mon, let's go!" Alan called behind him. Holly sighed again.

"Oh well…." She followed the others outside.

"HYAH!" Yuji kicked a White Hound in the face, sending it into a wall, turning it into a Lost Disk. A White Hound came up behind him, but Yuji turned around and kicked him, sending him flying off.

"LIGHTNING!" Pixie and Angel shouted, electrocuting two White Hounds, turning them into Lost Disks.

"BLIZZARD!" Tiger and Gray Wolf froze three White Hounds, turning them into more Lost Disks.

"FLAME!" Draco and Achika yelled, burning five White Hounds. Nearby, Mocchi did his Cherry Blossom Tornado, trapping a White Hound inside it, not stopping until the White Hound turned into one more Lost Disk. Hare jumped up and did his Dragon Kick, sending two White Hounds over a house.

Golem and Big Blue Tornadoed, sending more White Hounds off in all directions. Suezo used his Tongue Punch to knock a badie out, and Ghost did his Soul Beam, blasting four nearby White Hounds away. Alan slashed and whipped at the white lupines while his Worms used Razor Bite. It wasn't long before Captain White Hound found himself as the last one left.

"Ggggrrrrr. I won't forget this, rebels!" He snarled. Captain White Hound ran towards the town's entrance, followed closely by Yuji.

"Oh no you don't!" Yuji growled. He rollerbladed up to the White Hound and punched him hard. Captain White Hound felt the wind get knocked out of him and slowed down a bit.

"Damn you!" He snarled at Yuji. He did his Bite attack, nailing Yuji on the arm. Yuji yelped in pain and skidded hard on his brakes, causing him to land hard on his butt. Yuji held his bleeding arm and frowned as Captain White Hound ran out of the town and into the woods.

"Hey! Come back here, you coward!" Yuji yelled. He tried to get up, but couldn't with his hurt arm. He fell back to the ground and groaned as he landed on his wounded arm. Holly, Coltia, Puck, Alan, Tiger, Golem, Pixie, Angel, and Draco ran over to him.

"Yuji!" Holly cried, rushing to his side. She picked up his bruised and bleeding arm. Yuji flinched in pain as Holly held it up. "Look at your arm! That White Hound Bit you hard!"

"It's okay Mom, it doesn't hurt that much." Yuji lied. Holly helped him up.

"Well, whether it hurts or not, I'm taking you to a doctor right now." Holly said, picking him up into her arms. Yuji groaned.

"Aw Mom, you worry too much." Yuji said, but he didn't bother to argue more, as experience told him it wasn't worth it. He said nothing else on the way to the hospital.

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"Well, it's not that serious," The doctor told Holly after he had bandaged Yuji's arm. "but it will take a little while to heal." Holly nodded.

"Thank you." She said. The doctor smiled.

"No problem." He replied. "You guys can go on your way now, if you wish. That arm will heal on its own."

"C'mon Mom, let's go." Yuji insisted. "I wanna get going and beat more badies!" Holly looked at her son.

"I don't know if I'll let you fight for a while." She said to him as they left.

"Why not?" Yuji asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Alan asked. "Your son's a pretty good fighter." Yuji beamed at the compliment, but Holly was not pleased.

"You're not helping!" She said, annoyed. Alan smiled.

"Just giving my opinion." He said innocently. "Oh come on Holly, if the kid wants to fight, I say let him."

" And I say to keep him out of danger." Holly replied irritably. Alan shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He mumbled. Yuji frowned.

"But Mom, I wanna fight!" He said.

"No Yuji, and that's the end of it!" Holly retorted. Yuji groaned.

"Man…" He sighed, lines for eyes and tears waterfalling out of them. Tiger chuckled.

"Stubborn, the both of them." He said to himself.

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Titian was very angry.

"YOU LOST TO THOSE DAMN REBELS AS WELL?!" He roared at White Hound. White Hound flinched.

"They were very powerful sir!" He protested. "The little kid you told me to capture killed over ten of my men- with two or less punches each!" Titian was still very P.Oed.

"DOESN'T MATTER! I AM SUPPOSED TO CARRY OUT MOO'S ORDERS, AND YOU ARE TO CARRY OUT MINE!" He fumed. "I DO NOT STAND FAILURE, CAPTAIN WHITE HOUND!"

"Titian, please!" White Hound whimpered.

"BROW HIT!" Titian roared, slamming his finger upon the unfortunate White Hound's forehead. Captain White Hound roared in pain before turning into a Lost Disk. Titian lowered his hand with two veins on his head.

"Looks like it's up to my best troops." Titian said to himself. "And they'd better not fail me or Moo…"

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Well, that's all for this chapter. Please review all the chapters you read. I want to know what you guys think about each ep, what you like and hate. It's easier then for me to see what I need to work on, and what I should keep doing the same.