Monster Rancher Fan Fiction ❯ The Searcher Chronicles ❯ Armageddon: pt 3 - Showdown ( Chapter 5 )

Armageddon pt 3: Showdown

Disclaimer: I don't own Monster Rancher apart from the characters I create

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Monol: But despite their technology, they were not able to foresee the great disasters that attacked the land

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"We need a lift to Dragon's Peak"

Moo nodded "Is that all"

"Yes"

Holly shivered and grasped the magic stone, Genki noticed this

"You don't have to go" he said, concerned

She turned her soft brown eyes to him, they were full of worry

"We'll go with him" Tiger replied, seeing this, Tigress nodding in agreement

"Yeah, and us" Hare and Nancy piped up

"Chi" Moochi jumped into Genki's arms

"I'll go too if you're going to Dragon's Peak"

"You" Genk turned to stare at Rialto

"I have 'business' to settle there, nothing more" the dragon said

Minette had moved behind Holly, staring up at the huge black rock-like palace, fear in her eyes

"Minette, you stay with Holly"

The young pixie nodded

"Are you coming" Moo stood, waiting

Holly leant over and gently kissed Genki on the cheek

"Be careful" she whispered

Then they disappeared in a beam of white light, heading straight up to Moo's castle, Holly and Minette both watched as the floating castle turned and moved away, as soon as it had gone, Holly turned and headed down the cliff

"Where are you going?" Minette ran after her

"To face my destiny, I'm going to defeat the Dark Angel"

"Should you wait till daybreak"

Holly looked round, it was getting dark

"Ok, we'll stop for the night" she said

"Listen" Minette was facing the forest in front of them

Holly stood, a faint rustling noise could be heard, drawing her dagger, she just waited, the rustling grew louder

"Who's there?" Holly demanded, her dagger held out in front of her

A shadowy figure staggered up from the bushes, then collapsed on the ground, Holly ran over and turned the figure, it was an Evil Hare wearing the rags of a familiar set of clothes

"Commander Coal, what happened?"

The black-furred hare opened his eyes and looked up at Holly

"He came, destroyed the tower, I, I don't know what happened to the Sorceress or Bobbi"

"Shush, just sleep" she replied, knowing who 'he' was

Holly then stared up at the stars, the Sorceress, gone, who would help her defeat the Dark Angel now, suddenly she felt a cold, hard circle buried in her tunic, she pulled it out and stared, the Sorceress's medallion still hung round her neck, then Holly smiled

* * * * *

"Dragon's Peak" Moo pointed at a tall mountain which was drawing closer and closer

"Drop us at the foot" Genki said

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" the boy stared at him

A few minutes later, the small group of rebels stood at the base of the mountain

"Well, we better start climbing" Nancy moved towards the peak

Genki frowned as the ground started to tremble

"What?" he cried

"It's an earthquake"

A mass of rocks slid slowly down the mountainside, while Hare ran after Nancy, the other rebels braced against the tremors, Tiger thought that he saw the rabbits disappear into a cave, then the landslide cut off any further sightings of them, Genki looked up

"Hare" he shrieked

"They're alive" Tigress said

"How do you know?" Genki replied

"I can sense their thoughts" the lilac she-wolf replied

"There was a cave" Tiger added

Inside, Nancy slowly raised her head and saw this familiar brown figure lying trapped under some rocks

"Huh, Hare"

Dragging him free of the rocks, Nancy spread-eagled Hare on the ground and started patting his face

"Come on, Hare, wake up"

Then she got a wild idea, leaning over, she kissed Hare on the mouth, his eyes flew open

"What in the world are you doing?" he spluttered, scrabbling away from Nancy

She turned and moved to sit on a rock, her back to him before replying "All my life I wanted someone special, guess I was kinda hoping it would be you"

"Why not chase after Blue? You've known him longer than me"

"Are you crazy? He gets all shy and tongue-tied if a female so much as looks at him, besides you're kinda cute" she still didn't look at him

"Me" Hare scowled, he'd buried the feelings Nancy stirred up inside him, he thought with his head, not his heart, yet

Nancy sat, her back to Hare and sighed, guessing she'd just blown it, suddenly Hare was standing behind her, then he stretched out his hand and gently rested it on her shoulder, she turned to look to him

"Let's give it a go" he gently said

Nancy smiled

* * * * *

"Hare, can you hear me?" Genki yelled as the rebels tried to clear the rocks away from the cave entrance

Suddenly Tiger's ears pricked up

"What's that?" he asked, looking up

An adult male dragon landed in front of them

"Father" Rialto breathed

"I am Rime of Dragon's Peak, the guardian of the crystal wishes your company"

"Our friends were trapped in a cave by that landslide" Genki cried

The new dragon snorted, then turned to the pile of rocks and started clearing rocks away, Genki stared, marveling at the strange dragon's strength and speed

"Hare, Nancy" Genki called as the last rocks were cleared away

The two rabbits stood in the cave entrance, holding hands, Genki smiled at thesight

"Now, what's the quickest way up the mountain?" Tiger asked

"Flying" Rime said

"Flying?" Genki asked

"With my son here, we can take three of you apiece"

"But" Rialto started to protest

"The guardian wishes to see them, will you disobey her?"

"No, father"

A minute later, Genki, Moochi and Tiger were being carried up to the top of the mountain, while Tigress, Hare and Nancy were on Rime's back, then they were dropped off on a ledge in front of a cave

"I have to go, I need see that my clan's alright after that earthquake" with that Rime was gone

The group walked into the cave, a crystal stood in the middle of the floor, while a wooden bed lay beyond it, but there no sign of anyone in the cave

"So what's the story, Rialto?" Genki asked

"The legends say that a long, long time ago, before the civilization that created a race of monsters ever existed, the world was a place of magic, then one day a seer who loved his homeland more than life itself received a vision of a great and terrible disaster, but didn't know when it would happen so he gathered spells and deciding that he would be here when it happened, turned himself into a crystal, waiting and watching for the disaster. Days, months, years, centuries passed until one day when the ancient civilization which created Moo lived on this land, the seer sought guardianship and his mind called out to a group of dragons and two Mints, one male and one female, they answered the call and"

"And their descendants live here to this day" Tiger realized

Rialto nodded

"Wow" Genki ran one hand down the crystal, it started pulsating gently, then glowed white

"No, they must not activate the crystal" the Dark Angel's eyes flicked open and he smiled "A little wind ought to stop them"

Back on Dragon's Peak, a tornado roared into the cave and spun round the cave, the pull was strong and threatened to blow them all out of the cave

"Moochi, here, grab hold" Genki pulled the little pink monster to the pillar of rock he was holding on to, but losing his own grip on it in doing so, the boy was blown straight towards the mouth of the cave

"Genki" Tiger yelled, bracing himself against the pull of the wind

Then the boy crashed into something, turning, he looked straight into the face of a young female Mint about Holly's age

"Going somewhere" she smiled down at him

Flying into the cave, she dropped Genki, then landed in front of him

"Who are you"

"I'm Myst, listen, did the crystal glow when you touched it?"

"Yes" Genki replied, how did she know

"I need your help then, the land needs healing, we must make physical contact with the crystal together"

Genki stared into her blue-green eyes and slowly nodded

Then the tornado swooped down at them, plucking Myst from the ground

"Milady, I have you" Rialto cried, grabbing her in mid-air

The tornado soared up to the roof and started dislodging the spikes of rock that hung there, Rialto quickly dodged them one by one, then while he was concentrating on this, a large piece of pointed rock fell and impaled the young dragon in the chest, Rialto threw Myst away from him as he fell, the pointed rock sticking from his chest, Genki watched as the dragon hit the floor and disappear in a familiar white light, the Mint rolled along the floor and stopped in front of the crystal, she slowly got to her feet, placing her hands on the smooth surface.

"Ready" Myst looked at Genki

He nodded and positioned himself on the other side of the large crystal, his own hands, then Myst started muttering strange ancient words under her breath, then Genki found himself saying the same words, suddenly she threw her head back

"Help us" she cried

The crystal started humming and glowing white and suddenly in a bright flash of white light, it exploded, Genki gritted his teeth and braced against the force of the blast, the air shifted round him, then through it all, he heard a cry of pain

"Myst" the boy shrieked

There was no answer

Genki felt tears running down his face as he let the darkness claim him

* * * * *

"I'm going to find the Dark Angel" Holly said

"But?" Minette said

"Stay with Coal, he needs your healing abilities"

Minette nodded

Grasping the medallion, she whispered "Take me to the Dark Angel", then Holly closed her eyes as she was engulfed in a silver light

"So, you are the girl prophesied to defeat me"

Opening her eyes, Holly found herself standing in front of a mountain shaped like a throne, the Dark Angel was sitting in it

"To get to me, you have defeat my servant first"

A blue-furred figure swooped down from one arm of the throne

"Blue, what have you done to him?" Holly cried

"What, don't you like it?"

Blue advanced on her, raising one hand and striking her to the ground, then the Blue Hare lifted Holly up by the neck and pushed her up against the side of the mountain, his grip tightening

"Blue, I know you're not doing this out of your own free will" Holly managed to get the words out

The Blue Hare's eyes reddened eyes seemed to lighten slightly and Holly stared at him, was her name he was mouthing, suddenly she fell to the ground, rubbing at her throat, then the magic stone flashed once and the metal collar around his neck dropped to the ground

"Holly, my god, I'm sorry" Blue whispered, staring down at his hands

"It wasn't your fault"

Blue put his hand up behind his back and felt the wings on his back, then lifted his hands to look at the claws, he sunk to his knees

"Look at me, I'm a freak"

"No" Holly knelt besides him

"And a treacherous freak at that" the Dark Angel raised one finger and a black lightning bolt shot from his finger and hit the Blue Hare in the back, Blue just collapsed, his fur smoking, Holly stared at him, shocked, then

"I won't let you hurt my friends anymore" Holly stood, a determined look in her eyes as the magic stone glowed under her top

"Girl, let your anger guide the stone's power" the Sorceress's voice seemed to echo in her head

Holly gritted her teeth as she stared at Blue's still form, then the magic stone lifted free of her tunic and started glowing, the green light grew and grew

"No, the light, it hurts" the Dark Angel shrieked

The green glow exploded, Holly blinked to clear her vision, where the Dark Angel had been, a lost disc stood, Holly picked a small rock, thinking of all he had done to her friends

"Yahh" she raised the rock and brought it down on the Dark Angel's disc, shattering it into a million pieces

"Holly" Blue slowly got to his feet, his wings and claws gone

"Up here" Suezo was looking down at them

Holly smiled up at him

"Be right up" she called

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"Boy"

"What? Myst? Rialto?" Genki slowly opened his eyes

Rime's face loomed across the boy's vision

"My son is gone, the crystal has been destroyed and the Guardian is no better off"

"Let us take her with us" Genki said

"Why?" Rime's eyes burned into him

"We have a pixie with us" was the reply

"With the healer's touch?" the dragon asked

"Yes" Genki said

"Hmm, wait here, I'll fetch some of my clan, we can give you a lift"

* * * * *

Holly shaded her eyes from the setting sun, in the distance, she could see three winged figures heading straight for their position

"Suezo, what are those?" she asked

The eyeball squinted

"Dragons" he answered

She continued staring up at them, then

"Hey, Holly" a familiar voice was calling her name

"Genki" she cried, waving

The trio of dragons circled the hill, Genki and Moochi were riding the lead one, while Hare, Nancy, Tiger and Tigress were on the two flying behind the biggest dragon, then in formation, they all landed on the grass, where the lead one gently placed a still form on the ground, one by one, Holly's friends slid off the dragons' backs

"Till we meet again, boy" Rime said, spreading his wings and taking to the skies again, his clan members following his example, the Searchers waved till the dragons were out of sight, then Genki suddenly spotted the Evil Hare

"Hey, isn't that the?"

"Genki, meet Coal" Holly smiled "Now who's that" she asked, spotting Myst

"This is Myst, we befriended her up on Dragon's Peak"

"She's in bad shape, what happened?" Holly bent down to examine the Mint

"It's a long story, sit down and we'll tell you what happened"

By the time Genki and Holly had exchanged stories, it was evening and a fire had been lit

"Genki, your friend is waking up" Suezo suddenly called

He hurried over, Myst's eyes were open, then her lips moved, Genki could just hear her faint whisper

"The crystal?"

"Gone" he replied

"Then what do I do now?"

"How about joining us?" the boy smiled

"Really"

"Yeah" Genki said

Myst smiled weakly and closed her eyes again

"And now what?" Suezo said

"We continue our quest as soon as Myst's able to travel, our team may changed, but our goal is the same" Genki replied, looking at the sleeping forms of Coal and Myst.