Chapter Text
The desert stretched far ahead for miles, sunlight heating up the sand below their feet. A black haired teen in a blue jacket, Chase Suno, was the first out of the shade of the adjacent tropical jungle. He took a long gaze around as the rest of his friends trailed out behind him.
"Ugh. Why does it have to be so hot here!" Bren said, slumping as he walked along. He took his glasses off as he wiped some of the sweat off his brow.
"It's only been ten minutes since we left camp, Bren. I'd imagine you could man up for a few minutes," Jinja remarked, sighing at the heat.
"Easy for you to say. It’s as hot as your head out here,"Bren said with a smirk. Jinja turned with a ferocious look.
"What was that?!"
Chase chuckled at the antics of his friends. After Jinja was finished pummeling Bren's arm, he brought up the Core Tablet.
"We should reach the spot Dr. Suno specified in an hour or so," he said, “The monsuno frequencies should be there.”
"We should be able to head back soon then," Beyal said, gazing around at the desert around them.
"Yeah, then we wouldn't have to listen to Bren complain," Dax snickered. Bren glared daggers at him.
"Oh haha. Make fun of the smart guy."
Chase's attention to his group was long gone, however, as he continued to walk forward. His dad had sent the small group out to collect monsuno frequencies for his big board, something that would help prevent the monsuno essence from burrowing to the Earth’s core. Yet as Chase continued to walk forward, half listening to his friends talking (or in Bren and Jinja's case, fighting), the urgency seemed to be so far away. It was almost relaxing when compared to all the other battles they had been facing.
Chase slowed his pace at that last thought. As much as he loved having his father back in his life, he was still missing his mother, and it had only gotten worse with the constant visions he would have of her. But she had gone missing eleven years ago, only faint memories of her lingering.
He started walking again, his thoughts on what happened a few weeks ago with their last encounter with the Hand of Destiny. That was when he finally found out what happened and who took her. And now that he knew he wasn’t about to give up-
"Oi! Baby Suno!" Dax shouted. Chase turned around. He must've quickened his pace at the last moment without realizing it, because everyone was now at least twenty paces away.
"Oh. Sorry. Lost in thought. Was there something you wanted?" Chase asked. Dax rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. We've been at it all day now going through that jungle. And I don't think you've noticed, but everyone could use a break," Dax said, tilting his head towards the others. Chase immediately looked all around them, seeing nothing but sand and desert for miles. By the time he turned completely around, everyone had caught up and were heavily drinking water.
"Sorry Dax. But I don't see anywhere for us to take a break," Chase shrugged, "I'm sure we're almost to the meeting point. Isn't that right B?"
"Wha-" Bren spluttered as he spilt water all over his front."Oh. Hold on."
He took out the core tablet, and after a few clicks, he frowned.
"Sorry Chase. I can't seem to get a signal out here," Bren said, and started to tap away at the screen, "I think that means we're getting close?"
"That's okay. Beyal, can you see anything with your-" Chase stopped as soon as he saw the far away look that Beyal was giving. Not really looking at anything in particular, and most likely in the middle of some sort of vision. After a moment, his eyes blinked back to normal.
"Uh... Earth to Beyal. Did you see anything?" Chase asked. Slowly, Beyal looked up, but shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. Though I did sense... Something," he replied, trailing off at the end. Jinja, who was next to him, gave Chase a worrying look.
"I'm sure it's probably fine," Chase waved his hand around, "According to my dad, we only have to go a few miles out before we get to the point."
They spent a few more minutes walking across the sand dunes, which started to look extremely similar. The only difference was how distant the jungle trees behind them became. Chase could feel sweat rolling down his face in bucket loads.
"I spy with my little eye-" Bren said, "Something starting with s."
"Oh let me guess. It's sand right?" Jinja said sarcastically, "Like all the past five times."
“Sorry for trying to lighten the mood,” Bren said, then looked around, “I spy-”
“Let me guess,” Dax said with a loud sigh, “Is it sand?!”
Bren came to a stop, “No. Actually.’
Chase noticed the surprise in his tone, and turned around. "What is it, B?"
Bren pointed forward, and when they all looked there was something on the horizon. It was small and black at the moment, but was moving across the desert to their left.
"What is it?" Jinja asked, squinting.
"... It kind of looks like S.T.O.R.M.," Chase said. They had managed to avoid the organization for a while now after their battle with the Strike Squad and converting the railway into a sub. It was only a matter of time before they crossed paths again. "Bren, do you know if there's a base around here?"
Bren was tapping on the core tablet and furrowing his brow.
"I still can't get a signal out here. It's like there's something blocking it," Bren said, "Or it's just a big dead zone out here."
Chase bit his lip. Now they couldn't tell how far to go, or even if they were heading in the right direction.
"Well... Since they're not heading our way, I suppose we should just keep going," he said, and continued to walk. He only took five steps before he found himself slipping down one of the dunes. He let out a yelp as he rolled before hitting the bottom.
"Chase! You all right?" Jinja exclaimed. Chase brushed the sand out of his hair before turning back.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" He shouted, "Just slid down a small-" He stopped when he found himself staring up at everyone at the top of the sand dune.
'I guess the fall was larger than I thought.'
"Hold on! We're coming down!" Bren shouted. Chase continued to look around, and found that he was standing in a large depression in the sand. There were also rocks instead of sand as he moved to the middle, and soon he was looking down a large pit in the ground.
"Whatcha find Baby Suno?" Dax asked. Chase bent down to look inside, but it got dark after a few feet down.
"Not sure. But I have a feeling it's what my dad was looking for," he said, standing back up, "He did say we would know it when we saw it."
"Well maybe we should send someone down, just to make sure," Jinja said. They heard Bren give out a yelp as he slid down, and all turned to him.
"Ah! I hate sand!" he groaned, and looked up, "... So what are we doing?"
Jinja turned to Chase with a mischievous smirk.
~*~*~*~
"Chaaaase! Why do I have to be the one to go down?" Bren whined as they continued to lower him into the hole. While they could’ve let him climb down, he insisted on having a little extra safety. They strapped a rope around him like a harness, though that did little to comfort him. It kept getting darker and darker as they let the rope drop more.
"Because-uh!... Bren... You’re... The lightest!" Chased huffed out, trying to keep a firm grip on the rope. It was an overstatement considering how they were all desperately trying to hold on while sliding along the sand.
"Why couldn't you send Jinja down? Or Beyal?" Bren continued to complain, his voice echoing up to them. "You know how much I don't like cold, dark, cramped spaces!"
None of them responded, so he brought the Core Tablet up, pushing a few buttons until a decent amount of light was shining around. Bren frowned when he was still looking at the walls, despite being a good ten feet down from everyone. He looked down and could see the ground a few feet below, and the hole widening out.
"I think I see the bottom now!" Bren called out, "It looks like it’s a cave. Or something. Can you guys lower any more?"
"...I don't think so!" Chase shouted. "Do you see anything down there?"
Bren frowned at the wall, "No. If you could lower me one more-"
A small bit of light crept through a crack in the wall. Bren tried to look through, but the hole was too small. He started to chip away at the wall, crumbling in small shards at first and then quickly becoming large chunks.
"... Bren? You see something?"
"Yeah! There's this light but I can't see anything. The hole's too small," Bren replied. He continued to poke at it until his hand could fit through, "... I can't see what it is! The light's really bright!"
He started breaking more away before hearing Chase. "Can you see where the light is coming from?! Is the Core Tablet picking up something?"
Bren looked to the tablet, which was still all static. He twisted around on the harness, "... No... Maybe if I-woah!"
The light became blinding and he was forced to lean back. When he shifted his weight, they were all yanked forward into the hole. Their screams echoed as they hit the ground.
"Ow ow ow..." Jinja said, turning to punch Bren in the shoulder, "Why'd you pull us down, Bren! Now we’re all stuck in the hole!"
"Agh! It's not my fault! The light got really bright," Bren mumbled. Chase managed to pull himself out from everyone, looking around. It looked like any other cave, except for a few glowing rocks. Ahead of them Bren could see where the light had come from, but there was also someone there. Beyal went up to Chase.
"There's something wrong about the air in here," the monk said, "it is as if pure monsuno energy is around us."
Chase took a few steps forward. The light started to distort. They could all hear voices ahead.
"Is it almost ready?"
"Only a few more minutes and the barrier will finally come down. The second it does, we will only have a moment before it escapes."
"Petros will be proud to know that we will have succeeded."
Chase let out a gasp. He ran forward a few steps.
Jinja got back to her feet. “Chase wait-”
“Who’s there?”
The figures towards the light noticed the group. In all there were four of varying heights.
“We should be saying that!” Chase exclaimed, “You said Petros. Do you work for the Hand of Destiny?”
There was silence. Chase held out Lock’s core. “You better have something to say. Otherwise Lock will answer for you!”
One of the figures gasped, “ Lock… The lynchpin-You’re Chase Suno.”
As soon as that was said, another one of the figures rushed out towards Chase.
“ Hey! Get back over here Te-”
The light suddenly got more intense. Everyone flinched back.
"Lock, Launch!" Chase shouted. Within a second of hitting the wall of the cavern, Lock appeared in a burst of blue light, and gave out a roar that shook the whole cavern. Lock immediately stared down the figure that was still running towards Chase. He couldn’t see what they looked like, hidden under a brown cloak.
“I-I mean it!” Chase warned, “If you don’t stop Lock will-”
The light got blinding. Suddenly, it started shooting out in white beams. It struck out into the cave, making the ground shake.
"Chase! What's going on!" Jinja shouted. He wasn’t paying attention, instead watching as the Lock charged at the figure in front of them. His paw swung out, the figure leaping into the air. Chase took a step back as they pounced on top of him.
He hit the ground hard, still hearing his friends shouting at him-
“ Chase.”
He gasped, recognizing the voice. When he saw their eyes, which seemed to be glowing blue, his mouth hung open.
“... It can’t be-”
Chase felt captivated by the look, everything seeming to fade away as he stared into them. As if there was a deep abyss beyond them, and staring into them just drew him in more and more.
Suddenly, it was gone. And everything went to black.
~*~*~*~
"What's going on ?!"
"It's too unstable! We need to abort the mission!"
"But what about the monsuno? Shouldn't it have formed?"
“Summon the others so we can escape-”
“What in bleezers is going on?” Dax shouted.
“Doesn’t matter!” Jinja shouted back, “Let’s get out our monsuno and ask questions later!”
"Chase! We have to get out of here!" Bren shouted. Dust was tossed in the air along with the crumbling ceiling, making it even harder to see in the dark.
"Lock’s over there!" Jinja shouted. Both she and Beyal ran towards the monsuno, who was swinging out into the dark. Getting closer showed Lock was trying to strike at one of the figures that was leaping around through the air.
“Chase!” Beyal called out, spotting the teen on the ground. The figure turned and dodged between Lock’s swings, charging towards Chase. Jinja sprinted forward and got between them.
“Out of the way!” They growled, throwing a punch at Jinja. She caught their fist, heels digging into the ground.
“Beyal get Chase!” Jinja grunted, catching the other's free hand that tried to strike at her.
Suddenly, Lock let out another roar. A beam of white light shot out from the center of the room.
“Tesserah catch it!”
The light went straight towards the small group. Jinja flinched, shielding her face. Just as she did, she saw the light shoot through Beyal.
He gave a small gasp before falling backward.
"Beyal!" Jinja yelled, and ran over to him. The cavern quaked, and sunlight finally started to shine through the ceiling as sand poured through.
~*~*~*~
"We have to get out of here!" Dax shouted. Bren turned and nodded, but then saw a flash in the corner of his eye. It was then that he noticed the glowing eyes staring out at them from afar.
"Dax look out!"
A monsuno leaped out and dashed forward at them. Dax grabbed Boost's core."Boost, launch!"
Boost came out in a blue light, and stopped the monsuno from advancing. Both Dax and Bren could see that looked like a Jackal, though half its body and tail were covered in crystal-like scales. It bit and thrashed about as Boost griped tighter with its own claws.
“Find the others, Glasses!” Dax exclaimed.
Bren couldn't see anyone else around, but eventually spotted Chase on the ground, Lock protecting him from the falling rocks. Further he saw Jinja, who was now holding onto Beyal. He must've gotten knocked out.
There was another flash, and Bren was staring down another pair of large white eyes leering at them.
"Jinja get down!"
The monsuno was fast, and was soon standing above Jinja and Beyal. It looked like a mountain lion with crystals sticking out of its back like spines, though it was thin and sickly.
"Lock, take it out!"
Lock charged forward, and both wrestled ferociously. Bren quickly looked to see Chase back on his feet. Dax hurried over to Jinja and Beyal while Boost stood guard.
"Chase!" Bren exclaimed, running up to Chase, "We have to get out of here! The cave is collapsing!"
Chase nodded, "Make us an exit! Lock will keep it busy."
Bren took a hold of Neo-Quickforce's core.
"Neo-Quickforce! Launch!"
After it appeared, it didn't take long for Neo-Quickforce to burst through the ceiling, leaving them in a cloud of dust.
"Jinja! We gotta go!" Chase shouted. From the plumes of dust Jinja threw out a core.
"Skyfall, launch!"
Chase didn't bother with telling them where to go. It was obvious: out. "Bren! Let's go!"
"Neo-Quickforce!" Bren shouted, and felt the ground next to him quake. He could see his monsuno bend low so he could climb on. Without a second thought, he hopped on, Chase right after him.
"Lock!"
"Boost!"
"Return!"
Both Neo-Quickforce and Skyfall darted out of the dust and remaining ceiling into the desert sky. Below, the sand had finally consumed the remains of the cavern, and left nothing but mounds of sand in its place. Nothing was said as they watched for a moment, expecting something to happen or appear. Finally, the two monsuno climbed out of the sand. They spotted the group hovering above, and started to lurk below them.
"Now where do we go?" Bren asked as they slowly eased away from where the monsuno were. “What. What even was that back there?”
Chase was silent, something uneasy in his eyes.
“Bren,” he said, “Back there… Those creeps were from the Hand of Destiny right?”
“Uh. They didn’t look like it, but they said ‘Petros’ right? The weirdo you battled before?” Bren asked.
Chase continued to look ahead of them as Neo-Quickforce increased its speed. His eyes were conflicted, his mouth set into a deep frown. It was no secret that the Hand of Destiny were after Chase and Beyal. They especially seemed interested in Chase, which they had found out was because his mother had been taken prisoner by the Hand years ago.
Bren glanced back at the others. Jinja was looking furious and flustered (probably from the attack), while Dax sat behind her, holding onto Beyal who was still out cold. The white monsuno were still running along under them, though they stayed some distance away. Sighing, Bren turned back to Chase.
"So... Where are we going exactly? Are we going to find the monsuno frequencies or are we turning around to take out those monsuno?" he asked. Chase hummed in thought.
“Let’s find out who those creeps were,” Chase said, “If they have something to do with the Hand of Destiny, then they might know where my mother is. We can’t let this kind of opportunity go to waste.”
Bren nodded, “Sure. Sure. So. Uh. What’s the plan?”
"I'll go down with Evo and try to take the monsuno out," Chase said, taking out Evo's core, "Those weirdos are probably the controllers, so they shouldn’t be that far from here. Once we take out their monsuno, we can interrogate them on where their base is."
Bren nodded before looking down, “Yeah that would be a good plan. Except those monsuno are gone.”
"What?!" Chase exclaimed, turning to see for himself. Despite them being in the open desert, there was no sign of the monsuno. The other three hadn’t noticed either, still following Neo-Quickforce.
"Where the heck did they go so fast?" Chase muttered.
"Hey Chase," Bren said, stirring Chase from his thoughts, "Those monsuno... They were different then normal ones. And I don't just mean how powerful they were."
“You’re right,” Chase said, “Their attacks were too uncoordinated. And I didn’t see them spin out. But they couldn’t be wild monsuno...”
He looked down at Lock's core, the light inside flashing a bit. Lock was still antsy. Chase looked up, “Bren. Turn around, we need to find that cave again."
"What?! Has the heat finally gotten to your brain?" Bren exclaimed, "Chase. There's nothing out here but desert, and I'm pretty sure we're not going to see anything but desert. I doubt we're going to find that spot again now that it's buried under all this sand."
"I know B. But we have to try. The only way we'll ever find out about the Hand of Destiny is to find out what they were doing there," Chase reasoned.
Bren frowned, but couldn’t help but agree. Neo-Quickforce glided a bit slower, going next to Skyfall.
Chase’s eyes landed on Beyal, who was still out cold."How's he doing Dax?"
"I can't really tell,” Dax said, “He seems alright-”
Beyal let out a groan. His eyes slowly opened, and blinked a few times.
"How’re you feeling Beyal?" Jinja asked, and Beyal sat up. He held his head, and swayed a bit.
"... Tired..." He muttered, blinking slowly. A flash of gentleness was in Jinja's eyes for a moment before she to Chase, “Where to next?”
“We were just talking about that,” Chase said, “Those guys in the cave had to be part of the Hand of Destiny, but they must’ve used their monsuno to escape.”
“Or that weird transporting thing they do,” Bren piped in.
“So what’s next then?” Dax asked, “We turnin’ around and doing a sweep of the desert? Or should we-”
Immediately something went flying between the two monsuno. They all screamed as both Neo-Quickforce and Skyfall swerved away suddenly. A second blast came and hit Neo-Quickforce, turning it back into a flash of blue light.
Both Chase and Bren shouted out as they plummeted to the ground. Chase turned mid-air, grabbing the core launcher.
“Evo! Launch!”
Evo's core hit Skyfall, bursting out. It dashed down and caught the two teens. They roughly landed on its back as it circled around.
"Ah! That was too close," Chase panted, he turned to Bren, whose hair stuck up wildly as he sat up, "You okay, B?"
"Sure. As fine as a guy could be," Bren huffed, straightening his glasses. He blinked and suddenly pointed frantically in front of them. "Punk Monks twelve o'clock!"
Chase turned around to see Drezz and his crew, four more of their monsuno standing by. Fifty feet behind them was a cliff, dipping into the sand that most likely led down to a canyon. Afterburn hovered above them, but didn’t attack. Instead it kept them away from Skyfall.
“Think they wanna talk?” Bren asked.
“If they do it’s probably not good,” Chase replied, guiding Evo down. They hopped off, standing a distance away from the leering villains. "Out of the way Punk Monks. We don't have time to mess around today."
"It's not you we're after today, Suno," Drezz said, "We're just here for some information."
"And to deliver a message," Throttle added, her lips curling into a smirk. Chase exchanged looks with Bren. Skyfall had yet to land, kept away by Afterburn. Chase turned back to the Punk Monks.
"Alright then. What do you wanna know?" He asked.
"We heard there was a spike in monsuno energy near here," Drezz said, putting his hands in his pockets, "Apparently it has some special properties that could further the doctor's research. We were told that you know where it is. And as you know, the professor is vastly interested in all things monsuno."
Chase pretended to think for a moment.
"I can't say I know," he said shrugging, and pointed backwards, "Although there were some rogue monsuno back that way if you want to see. Though I'm sure S.T.O.R.M. would be happy to fight you for them."
"Rogue monsuno? Has the heat gotten to your head boy?" Tinker remarked. Drezz held his hand up to silence them.
"As much as I enjoy your jokes, we're in a hurry. You sure you don't know anything about it?" Drezz asked, and snapped his fingers. Immediately, Afterburn edged closer to Skyfall and the others, "'cause we can help persuade you if necessary."
Both Afterburn and Skyfall let out shrieks. Chase and Bren both turned to see the dragon-like monsuno taking a hold of the other as everyone dangled dangerously off the side. The other monsuno took off after them and were lurking below, waiting for them to fall.
"W-wait! Stop!" Chase shouted. Drezz looked back to his crew, who had their monsuno back off a little. Afterburn continued to hold onto Skyfall, and Chase's eyes lingered on the rest of Team Core Tech before he turned back. Drezz smirked, and held out a small USB drive.
"From Dr. Tallis."
"... What is it?" Chase asked, turning it in his fingertips.
"Not sure. We weren't allowed to see what the doctor put on it," Drezz said, " All I know is that you better start talking. Otherwise your little friends will be toast."
Chase slipped the jump-drive into his pocket, his eyes lingering on the ground. What was he supposed to say?
"…Well Suno?"
Chase licked his lips nervously, "If you call off your monsuno, we'll show you the readings we got from the monsuno essence an hour ago."
Drezz hesitated for a brief moment, debating whether to trust Chase or not.
"Uh… Chase," Bren whispered, leaning over to Chase. "We never got those readings, remember?"
"Yeah I know, but we just need to show them something," Chase said, "Try to bring up whatever you can."
~*~*~*~
"Wh-what's going on down there?" Dax asked as they all continued to hang onto Skyfall's talons. It was an awkward angle to see what was going on, especially with the monsuno moving every other second.
"Ugh... Can't tell!" Jinja said, trying to maneuver around. Afterburn's tail would keep swishing through the air and kept getting in the way of what was going on. "It looks like Drezz gave Chase something."
"Really? What'd he give?" Dax asked, trying to look over as well
"Well. If I could see from here I'd tell you," Jinja huffed out annoyed.
"Can't help it if your big head gets in the way." Dax smirked. Jinja's ears turned red, and she looked back with a furious look.
"Oh you and Bren are so dead when this is all over! If it weren't for Beyal being between us I would-"
Beyal, who remained silent the whole time, suddenly noticed something in the air. Ever since he woke up there was a strange presence around them. From the corner of his eyes he swore he saw a monsuno appear and then disappear, but Skyfall and Afterburn didn’t notice anything. There was also a faint ringing in his ears that seemed to be getting steadily louder, almost making his head spin...
"-and that's the last thing you'd want," Jinja finished.
"Sure thing princess," Dax said rolling his eyes. "Oi, I think something's going down over there."
All their attention went back to Chase and Bren, who were now talking to each other. After a moment, Bren walked over to Drezz, showing him something on the Core Tablet. Whatever he showed didn't make Drezz happy. Bren turned back to Chase, and as they kept speaking, Drezz seemed to be getting more annoyed.
"...Beyal..."
" Huh? Did you say something Dax?" Beyal asked, only to get a weird look from Dax. Beyal immediately looked away, thinking it was his imagination.
" … "
He heard it again. He looked over his shoulder. In the desert there was something approaching at a quick pace. A beam of light shot at Afterburn from the distance. On instinct, Beyal grabbed both Jinja and Dax, dragging them down. The light crashed into Afterburn and Skyfall.
Skyfall disappeared in a flash of blue and they went plummeting to the ground. Shouts pierced the air, the most prominent being Chase and Bren. Beyal grabbed a core. “Glowblade, launch!”
Glowblade appeared below, catching the three before shooting three beams at the Punk Monk's monsuno. Beyal, Jinja, and Dax all clung to the monsuno as it reared its heads at the oncoming monsuno.
"Chase! Over there!" Bren exclaimed. From across the canyon there was an unfamiliar monsuno. It looked like an owl, but when its eyes opened, they were like that of a snake's. It's neck elongated, tilting in a disturbing matter as it watched them all. Finally, the beast gave an ear-piercing shriek that caused them all to grasp their ears. That was when all mayhem broke loose among the monsuno.
The Punk Monks monsuno all flinched before turning on each other, firing blasts and clawing amongst each other. Glowblade immediately flailed about.
“Glowblade-what’s wrong?” Beyal asked as Jinja slid down the snake’s back. Dax grabbed Beyal’s cloak, tugging him down with him. As soon as he rolled off the tail, Beyal held out his core, “Return!”
As soon as the energy popped back into the core, Beyal cradled it. He could feel something… Wrong.
“Let’s go!” Jinja shouted, taking off into the clouds of sand.
“Beyal.”
The monk froze. The voice was behind him.
~*~*~*~
"Wh-what's going on Drezz?" Throttle asked. The Punk Monk's monsuno were now fighting amongst each other, but when Chase and Bren looked closer, they saw the monsuno from the cave. Drezz growled, and took a hold of Chase by the front of his shirt.
"This is your doing isn't it Suno?" he said. Before anyone could say anything, there was another loud howl behind them. Glowblade disappeared into a flash.
"Guys!" Chase shouted, but was stopped when Drezz took a firmer grasp of his shirt.
"We're not done talking here Suno!"
Wasting no time, Bren took out another core before running forward.
"Longfang! Launch!"
His monsuno appeared, charging into the fray as the monsuno came dangerously close to the pair.
"Bren! Evo! Let's go! " Chase yelled. Bren turned around to see Chase running towards the canyon, Drezz doubled over clutching his stomach. Evo took off, clawing at Afterburn that tried to bite at Chase. Not wasting any more time, Bren quickly followed, trying to get sight of Longfang and the others. Finally he saw Jinja and Dax emerge from the cloud of dust being kicked up by the fight.
"Longfang this way!" He shouted, waving his arms in the air. Unfortunately that attracted the attention of the owl monsuno. Bren let out a yelp before running after Chase, the monsuno now charging into their direction. Evo threw Afterburn at it, the two monsuno crashing to the ground.
"Chase! We gotta get out of here!" Bren exclaimed. Chase looked over the edge of the cliff. Below was a canyon with a river running through it, but was far down.
"You’re right," Chase said. Evo wouldn't last much longer, and wouldn't be able to carry them all either. It was up to Dax and Beyal's monsuno now.
"Chase! Bren!" Jinja called out, avoiding a blast from one of the monsuno. She ran out of the plumes of dust, a bit flustered but overall unharmed.
"Jin, we have to find a way out of here," Chase said, ducking down as a blast came flying by, "Where's everybody else?"
"They're right behind-" Jinja stopped, Dax came running out of the dust, much more disheveled then Jinja. Longfang jumped out, standing a few feet away between them and the monsuno battling. It would hiss and growl as soon as the fighting came near them.
"Dax, where did Beyal go?" Jinja asked.
"How should I know? I thought you were keeping an eye on him," Dax snapped, dusting himself off a little. Jinja shot him a look, and started to look around. There was too much chaos to see anything beside the monsuno. Even the Punk Monks were somewhere amongst it all and were hardly visible.
" … Chase."
He blinked, thinking he was hearing things.
"Chase."
That time he definitely heard someone. If it was anything like his previous visions, he knew who it was.
"Chase? Where are you going?" Bren asked as he took off.
"You guys stay here and out of sight. I'll go find Beyal," Chase said, and charged forward, despite their yells behind him. There was dust and blasts flying everywhere as he searched, trying to find some sort of sign. Evo was close by, and managed to throw Ripsaw back. Chase eyed the mountain lion monsuno that immediately latched onto Ripsaw.
'How did those rogue monsuno get here so fast? They weren't even following us the last time I check,' Chase thought as the mountain lion monsuno suddenly charged towards Evo. Evo launched a blast, taking two in return. It was called back to its core.
Chase coughed as sand was kicked into the air. There were only a few of the Punk Monks' monsuno out battling, though they looked down to their last bits of energy. Drezz and the others were on the farther side away from everything.
When he turned around, Chase stopped. There was a woman standing on the edge of the cliff a few feet away, her long brown hair flowing in the wind. Chase's eyes widened in realization of who it was, even with her back facing him. Sand and dust was tossed in the air, and when Chase rubbed his eyes, the woman had disappeared and Beyal was standing there instead. Chase stood dumbly for a moment, realizing he was just seeing things.
Or. Was he having another vision?
"Beyal! We need to get out of here!" Chase exclaimed, getting as close as possible without drawing attention. The monsuno were still a couple of feet away, and even though they were going after the Punk Monks that didn't mean they wouldn't change their minds and come after him.
Despite all that was going on around them, Beyal seemed to have a calm demeanor, standing still against the wind that was starting to pick up. When he turned so that they faced each other, Chase gasped. His eyes were half open, but were glowing a bright green.
"B-Beyal? Are you-"
" Chase Suno." Chase's eyes widened, shocked at the strange voice Beyal spoke in. It was silent, but also rung clearly out, even with them standing far apart from each other. Beyal raised a hand and pointed towards the edge of the cliff.
"North of here is the real entrance to the ruins of the five tribes that you had found. We must go back before they do." Beyal lowered his arm slow.
"W-Wha- What are talking about?" Chase asked. The monk looked straight at Chase, who hesitated under the intense gaze. It was strange to see Beyal give him such a vicious look, when usually he had a peaceful air. Chase stood his ground though.
"Who are you? You're not Beyal."
They, whoever they were, didn't respond, and Beyal suddenly swayed before collapsing to the ground.
“Beyal-”
"Chase! Where are you?”
“There he is- Chase" Jinja shouted. Hands jerked his shoulders.
"Chase! Wake up, we need to get out of here!" Bren exclaimed, shaking his shoulders more. Chase didn't respond, eyes looking out towards the desert. Jinja spotted Beyal on the ground, running over to him.
There was another roar. Longfang was tossed back, retreating into its core. Leaving them face to face with the three rogue monsuno. Dax stepped forward with a grin.
"I guess it’s my turn!” he said, “Airswitch, launch!"
The monsuno stepped back a bit when Airswitch appeared, but charged forward anyway. Bren and Jinja could only watch as Dax tried to take the monsuno on single-handed.
“Airswitch, lead them away!” Dax called. Even with the flight advantage, the monsuno were able to overpower Airswitch easily. As soon as they pinned it down, the Owl-like monsuno suddenly flew overhead, and landed in front of Jinja and Beyal. It shrieked down at the two. Jinja sat frozen with fear, and without thinking, Dax stood in front of them as it charged up another attack.
Airswitch was suddenly thrown into the monsuno, and the blast hit the ground instead. Within seconds, the cliffs were crumbling down and they were all falling. The monsuno pelted Airswitch with more blasts, finally causing it to disappear. Dax cursed as Bren and Jinja screamed as they all fell. Chase snapped out of his daze when he heard them, and let out a yelp before they all hit the surface of the river below.
~*~*~*~
The sun was now on the farther side of the sky, meaning it was now well into the afternoon. S.T.O.R.M. cloud hoppers were now spreading throughout the desert. A few miles west was the entrance to a mine shaft where four people came out covered in dust.
"Who would've thought that Suno would show up," one of the people hissed, "Here. Of all places! Wasn't he supposed to be with his father?"
"That's what one of the reports said," the larger of the group said, " But as you know, he tends to find trouble. "
"Then how is it that Petros is having such trouble capturing this kid?" the first person asked irritated, " If it weren't for our task we probably could've captured him ourselves."
There was a sound in the distance. When they looked over towards the east, black helicopters were hovering over the remains of the cavern, taking took off into two different directions.
"… We could've captured him if it weren’t for our job," a third person added in, much younger then the rest of them, "Not that it matters since the monsuno got away. Let’s just go find the last seal and call it quits.”
“No,” the first speaker said, “ We were supposed to capture the monsuno here. We’ll be dead if we don’t. It must still be here somewhere… If not physically it must’ve…”
The last person who had yet to speak took a few steps forward into the desert. The jungle wasn't too far off, and could easily be reached before the sun went down, especially now that the helicopters were now traveling back into the desert.
"… The monsuno doesn’t matter," They said, voice feminine and soft, "Chase Suno was here."
The wind started to pick up, causing dust and sand to glide across the dunes. Dark clouds were forming in the distance towards the jungle. Their eyes glistened blue from under their hood. "… The monsuno has to come back here eventually. We can capture it then. And I think I have the perfect plan to get both it and Suno. "
There was a flash. The first figure pulled out a clear core which was now pulsing lightly. They scoffed.
“ Well. Looks like you can put that plan into place then Tesserah,” they said, “ Looks like they found Suno.”