Mogwai (IC)

Mogwai

A small shape moved through the forest, silhouetted only by the faint glimmer of the crescent moon. Moving with the grace of a dancer, she wove effortlessly through the tree branches and underbrush, not making a sound. She couldn't afford to make noise, or use the dirt paths marked between cities and towns. It was too dangerous, too obvious. They would find her too easily if she took them. She couldn't allow herself to be discovered.

Rachel Swan had been running for a long time, to the point that she could no longer remember a time when she was normal. She did not go to school like most fifteen-year-old girls, though she was very smart. She did not have a home, or a job, or even a true, valid identity that would be accepted by any town or city. To the rest of the world, she was nobody, but to the M.L.A.F., she was a wanted fugitive. Rachel had never done anything to harm them. She had only found something that had been lost, and when she had discovered what she could do, what she was, they had come after her. She had resisted, and now, they wanted her more than ever. She was not afraid, but merely cautious. It was the M.L.A.F. that feared her. She was a threat.

After a long time of wandering, the strength drained from Rachel's legs, as the sky began to lighten, with the approaching dawn. She finally staggered, and collapsed, her legs protesting their abuse for perhaps the third time that week. She was used to running and walking, but even so, she had limits. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and her mind went to the subject of her lack of provisions with dismay. She had no choice, she would have to risk it. She had put off eating and searching for food for far too long.

She reached to her belt, unsnapping the Matrix of the Mogwai she would call forth. She held it in front of her face, checking to ensure it was the right one. It was about the size of a hockey puck, tarnished silver, with a glowing light violet core. Wrapped around the edge was a design like a gecko with wings. She clutched it for a moment, before pulling herself to her feet with the air of a branch. Silently, without a word, she threw the Matrix at an opposing tree.

It hit the trunk, and a violet energy surged from it, taking on the form of the creature depicted by its design, as the Matrix bounced back into Rachel's hand. "Sunspot," Rachel addressed the small Mogwai, as it looked at her, awaiting orders. "I can't go much further. I need you to go search for food. Move quickly, though, don't let yourself get spotted. If you are seen, come right back here immediately." The Mogwai blinked it's glowing violet eyes, and Rachel felt a feeling of understanding reach her from the link she and her friend shared. It turned and flew off, it's markings fading in the distance.

A little while later...

"Jack...? Jack, wake up!" Jack woke up with a start, as someone shook him awake. He blinked tiredly as he looked up into the worried faces of Tabitha and Mark, his two traveling companions. "Guys...? What time is it?" He sat up in his sleeping bag, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Forget that! There's something in your backpack!" Tabitha whispered fiercely. "Something in my...?" Jack glanced over at his backpack, sitting a distance away. Indeed, it was shifting, as though something were rummaging through it. "What do you think it is?" Mark asked. "How am I supposed to know?" Tabitha frowned.

Suddenly, the rummaging stopped, and a scaly green head, something that looked like a combination of an exotic gecko and an iguana, popped out, holding one of Jack's apples in its mouth. It's eyes glowed a bright shade of violet, as they fixed themselves upon the three. It crawled out of the backpack, never taking its eyes off of them. Upon further inspection, it had wings, like a tiny dragon, decorated with glowing violet markings the same color of its eyes. It hissed at them past the apple in its mouth.

"Is that another Mogwai?" Mark asked, blinking with surprise. "It can't be, I haven't ever seen one that small!" Jack said, now wide awake with shock. "Well, we haven't exactly seen other Masters, and it's markings aren't olive green, so it must belong to someone." Tabitha said, slowly standing up as Jack got out of his sleeping bag, hastily standing with his two companions. When Tabitha tried to get closer, the tiny Mogwai's hisses turned into a dark growl. It snorted, and wisps of smoke came form its nose. It reared up, and a flap of bright blue skin folded out from its throat, clearly a threat display. "Tabitha, it's not one of ours, you're getting too close." Jack said.

Before they could react any more, the Mogwai gave a sharp growl and flew into the woods, taking the apple with it. Everyone picked up their things, hastily putting up their sleeping bags and preparing for travel, as the sun rose. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Jack asked. Tabitha and Mark looked at him questioningly. "Someone had to be that little guy's master, let's follow it! I bet it'll lead us right to him!"

Up in the frigid north, where the frozen winds howl through the tar black night, the frozen winds of a blizzard kicked up from the fresh snow. Through the screaming blizzard came the silhouette of a man wearing a tall top hat and a trench coat with the collar turned up. From behind him came the piercing noise of an explosion, yet he didn't flinch a bit. From out of the frigid sky swooped what looked like a winged polar bear with olive green markings on it. It roared and plodded across the snow towards the man in the top hat. When the bear got within twenty feet of him, the man stopped, grabbed a black, hockey puck-like item with a grey skull on it from out of his pocket, and threw it into the air.

From out of the hockey puck came a bellowing roar, and it burst open to reveal a great winged beast with blood red skin and long, sharp claws. It's eyes glowed grey, and it's chest was illuminated in the pulsating light of a glowing grey tattoo on it's chest. The demon touched the frigid snow and snarled; it hated snow.

On seeing the beast, the polar bear switched targets and plodded directly at it, roaring in anger. The man smirked.

"Finish him, Diabel." he called out over his shoulder. The demon complied and ran at the polar bear with blinding speed. The bear leapt into the air, and Diabel leapt too, sinking his set of sloth-like claws into the bear's abdomen. it roared in pain and it's albatross-like wings haphazardly flapped through the air. Diabel smashed the winged bear to the ground and stabbed it in the neck with it's arrow-sharped tail, cutting it's jugular. The bear roared one last time, shimmered olive, and turned to stone. Diabel pulled it's claws out of the dead bear, and roared into the whistling wind.

Shaun smiled once more, and patted his pet on the nose, which was about all the affection it ever got.

"Good, Diabel." he said "Now let's find the rest of them!"

(turn that music off now)

Rachel looked up when Sunspot flew back into the tiny clearing where she was staying. He was carrying a bright red apple in his mouth. He walked up and deposited it at her feet, before looking up into her face for approval. Rachel reached out and picked up the apple, holding it up and inspecting it. An amount of time passed, before she looked back at Sunspot, "Sunspot...you didn't steal this, did you? You know that I don't like that. Don't forget, we're trying to keep a low profile, and if someone caught you taking their food, they're going to want it back. It ain't right to go take stuff that doesn't belong to you." Sunspot tilted his head to one side, and Rachel got an irritated vibe coming from him. She sighed, "Good point, I never told you that it was forbidden. I wasn't very specific. That, and we can't really return it, to begin with. We might as well give ourselves up if we did that." She pulled Sunspot's Matrix out of her belt, and held it up, preparing to make him return, but her actions were met with a tiny surge of protest. Rachel rolled her eyes with a groan, as she put the Matrix back in her belt, "Fine, you can stay out of your Matrix for a little while." Sunspot, happy to get his way, flew up and landed on her, supporting his head and upper body on her right shoulder, while the lower half of his body coiled around, his tail ending half-way down her back. He had no trouble holding on, thanks to the sticky pads on his feet.


Jack and his friends had trudged through the forest after the small Mogwai that had taken the apple, after awhile becoming convinced that they had lost it, and would probably never locate its Master. However, they were lucky, when they heard a voice in the distance. When they had gotten closer, it was revealed to be a girl of about thirteen years of age in appearance talking to the tiny creature. They listened in at the edge of the clearing, as she lectured her Mogwai that it was wrong to steal, before sighing and agreeing to some silent message sent by her companion, and then allowing it to stay outside its Matrix.

That was when Mark, being the clumsy person that he was, stepped on a twig and blew their cover. The girl shot to her feet, her eyes locked onto the spot where they were. She probably couldn't see them past the foliage, but something about those large, dark eyes, which were like deep pools, made Jack feel that perhaps she could, indeed, spot them among the trees.

Eventually, they walked out, where she could see them, and she seemed to reflexively reach for her belt, which was when it occurred to Jack that she might have more Mogwai with her, and not tiny ones like the creature perched on her shoulder. "Uh, Hi, I'm Jack, this is Mark, and this is Tabitha. We're Mogwai Masters. We...uh...kind of followed your friend....and...we were wondering if you might be a Master, too?"


Rachel silently scolded herself for not being more specific with Sunspot's orders. He had accidentally led these three people to her, and worse, they were all Masters. She guessed from their age they weren't M.L.A.F. field agents, but still, there was plenty of reason to be suspicious. One of them looked like a nerd, with a green plaid jacket over a white wrinkled T-shirt, blue jeans, and plain shoes. His brown hair was messy and full of cowlicks, and his glasses seemed to slide down his nose, no longer covering his green eyes. The girl looked irritated with the two boys, wearing a pink and cream striped sweater, and plain jeans and running shoes. Her blond hair was almost completely absent of breakages, enough to make one envious, and she had blue eyes, too. The guy between them seemed to be their leader, and the first thing she noticed was the bright shade of blue that characterized his eyes. His hair was messy and brown. The 'leader' seemed to be trying to make small talk, probably trying to make her let down her guard.

Eventually, he sighed, and asked, "So, how old are you? I'm fifteen, so is Mark and Tabitha, you must be, what? Thirteen or fourteen?" Rachel felt a tiny surge of anger. Great, another person who judged age by height. "I'm fifteen, same as you." She said, gritting her teeth. "Now what do you really want from me?" The teen frowned, "Well, actually, we saw your friend there take an apple." Rachel huffed, "Well, I told him to go look for food, but I didn't expect him to steal it." She tossed the apple to him, and he caught it, "If you want it back, then take it. I don't need it." With this she turned to walk away.


Jack looked at the apple she had tossed to him, before looking back at her retreating form, "Wait," he said, and she stopped. "Why did you say you didn't need this, if you sent a Mogwai to go look for food?" he asked. Surely a human being that only felt hunger as a mild discomfort could find food on their own? If she had sent her Mogwai, and had been sitting at the base of the tree waiting, then she might have been starving, in reality. The girl seemed to consider this, "Good point, why did I send a Mogwai?" She wondered aloud. Eventually, Mark took the apple from Jack, surprising them, "When's the last time you actually ate a meal?" He asked. The girl shrugged, "I dunno, two or three days?" Jack was shocked. If she hadn't eaten in three days, then it was surprising that she wasn't collapsing from hunger. No wonder she had sent the Mogwai. "Well, then why don't you come eat breakfast with us?" Mark asked. The girl glanced sidelong at them, "How can I be so sure that I won't be attacked the moment I accept?"

Jack stepped forward, "You won't be, I promise, whoever those M.L.A.F. guys are, we're not one of them. In fact, I think they're keeping their distance from us for awhile, they haven't attacked us in over a week." The girl, upon hearing this, laughed, although it was humorless, "That's probably because they attacked me two days ago! I've been trying to make sure I get far away from them!" Mark frowned, "Well, I'm sure that if they do attack, we can handle them." The girl turned to look at them, "You're serious, aren't you? This is a real invitation? Not some cruel trick?" Mark nodded, "I promise, I mean it."

The girl seemed to think it over, "Okay, then, I would love to come, but don't think this means I'm a friend or anything." Jack stepped into the conversation, "We know, but just so we can, what do we call you?" He asked, attempting to get a name. The girl looked at him, searching, before sighing a little, "I don't normally just tell this to anyone, but the name's Swan, Rachel Swan."

"No...no....don't take Mizu....not..." Iris Harlow woke up near midnight, sweating and crying. Her oblivious boyfriend was in his sleeping bag, out like a light, completely, well, oblivious to his girlfriend's plight. She sighed, and tried to roll back off to sleep. She was having the nightmares again. The nightmares about Him, as she called the man she'd seen. Ever since, she'd been a little on edge, and was unable to sleep without having horrific nightmares. She reached into her bag to get herself a bottle of water, but instead found something else. it was smooth and almost....disk-shaped...

Iris grabbed the object and pulled it out of the bag to find that it was a matrix; it was a pure, polished, licorice black matrix that almost seemed to pulsate. As she held it, a feeling of despair and fear came over her, as if the Grim Reaper himself was present, wielding his scythe and ready to strike. She looked at the matrix, and gasped. It was what was causing the nightmares; it had to be. She went to scream, but didn't want to alert any... unwanted guests. She remembered the dreams; the ones with the men in the masks.

She shuddered, and put the matrix back in her pack where it would be warm against the cold night. But Iris had no want to keep having the nightmares. She took her pack to the other side of the pile of smoldering ashes that was once her camp fire and left it there, far away from her or jordan. Then, she rolled off back to sleep.

several hours later

Iris awoke to feel of the sun on her face and the aromatic scents of frying bacon. She propped herself up on her elbows to find Jordan frying bacon on a pan over a now-burning fire. Iris smiled, and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Good morning sweetheart!" he said in a slight British accent.

"Good morning, honey!" she said hazily as she yawned and stretched. Remembering the event of the past night, she walked over to her backpack and took out the sparkling black matrix. The feeling of dread and despair filled her, and she visibly shivered.

"What's that, Iris?" Jordan asked as he looked up from the frying bacon.

"If I knew I'd tell you." she replied dreamily, not taking her eyes off of the egg. She sat down next to the fire and handed it to him "what do you make of this?" she asked. He took the matrix for a moment and examined it closely, then handed it back to her.

"I think that we'd better get this egg to the professor immediately". Iris sighed, and hugged her knees.

"Great," she said, after a moment of gazing into the burning fire "More moving around. Why do we always have to move around? Why can't we all just get along?"

"I'm not sure about that Iris," Jordan said, putting a strip of bacon and a few sausage links onto her plate "Maybe someday we'll stop the MLAF and then everything will be okay. But for now, eat your breakfast. We've gotta get going soon".

"If you're hungry, then you should eat." Tabitha said, urging Rachel to keep eating her baked potato. After she had accepted the invitation to breakfast, they had started a fire, and baked potatoes in the coals. Although she knew Sunspot had possessed the ability to breathe fire, Rachel had chosen to keep silent about it. The way he breathed fire, there wouldn't have been any coals to speak of. In the end, even after she had food, Rachel was slow to eat, and it was this lack of appetite that worried her three hosts. They stared at the amount left on her plate with concern.

"I'm fine. There ain't much you should be worried about. I don't eat much, to begin with. That, and your staring is making me nervous." Rachel pointed out, taking another bite, hoping to satisfy them. "Well, we ain't...aren't used to having guests for breakfast." Mark had almost used the southern variation, but had caught himself before using bad grammar. Rachel knew that, being from the south, with a southern dialect, that her grammar was poor, although most of the time one could say that she used proper grammar much more often for a southerner. It really depended on where she was. She sighed, "Y'all, please don't push me to eat, I like to take my time. Besides, it could have been worse. If you had fixed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I wouldn't have eaten at all."

They looked at her with confusion, prompting her to sigh with exasperation, "I once ate the same thing for lunch every day, for over three months. That was before I became a Master, and I went to school, strange that I still remember that." There was still no response, so she continued, "As I said, I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for who knows how long every day at lunch, and I finally just got so sick of eating them that when I tried to take a bite, I would almost throw up because I couldn't stand the taste." She sighed and shook her head, "By this point, I wish I had listened to my parents, they warned me it would happen. Now, I can't even figure out where they are. No doubt the M.L.A.F. got them, just like they take everything else."


Jack frowned, as he realized that Rachel sharing her story about the sandwiches and her parents was personal. "Hey, it's okay, you're not alone. They got my Dad when I found Keystone." He tapped the Mogwai's Matrix on his belt. Tabitha nodded, "They took my Mom when I found Sandtrap." The two looked at Mark, who sighed, "My Uncle...The M.L.A.F. are just...evil...they took him after I got Shasta." Rachel seemed to watch him for a moment, before nodding, "It's already bad enough if you already lost one or both parents...but to take those closest to you, and not tell you if they're alive or not? It's wrong, and cruel. How all those cities and towns can stand to communicate with them, I don't know. Whether it's out of fear, or respect, I don't get it, and I don't care. They don't deserve half the gifts those mayors and governors give them." Jack was surprised. Rachel's words were painfully bleak, but there was something powerful about them, too. For some reason, he felt a spark of kinship. Perhaps they shared more ideals than he had first thought.

Unknown time, unknown place, 2011...

Deshi! Deshi! Basara! Basara!

A three toed foot smashed the ground, cracking the stone beneath it's feet. It growled in anger at the small annoyance that had reared it's face.

Deshi! Deshi! Basara! Basara!

A pair of red eyes looked at the behemoth of destruction before him. Not a single word came out of the owners eyes. No expression on the face. Just blank. Others would scream in terror, or run away. This one... He did nothing.

Deshi Deshi Basara Basara! Deshi Deshi Basara Basara!

The monster snarled and swung around, it's long tail curving with as the owner used it's weight to it's advantage. The wind hissed as the tail cut through it. Not a single once of remorse in the beast's eyes. The markings that surrounded the beast's body lit up. Glowing an even brighter red than before. It's eyes, doing the same.

Deshi Deshi Basara Basara! Deshi Deshi Basara Basara!

A simple duck and the tail flew over the head, slamming into the stone wall behind it. The wall shattered as the appendage met it, an fell. Feet propelled the owner forward as the legs pushed off, dodging the falling debris by inches. The shoulder curled in, allowing the body the roll out of the spring it's legs propelled it. The owner rolled directly beneath the beast's stomach. The beast roared in rage, and stepped around, facing the annoyance once again.

Deshi Deshi Basara Basara!



Present time...


"..."

A boy, clad in a black shirt and red hoodie stood alone in the waiting room of the lab, his old ally, Professor Bell was nowhere to be seen.

He silently reached one of his gauze wrapped hands into his hoodie pocket, fondling matrix inside.

A surge of impatience filled his body. Although he was not here physically, a seemingly spiritual form of him was standing over his shoulder.

It was the first time in nearly two years that he had been down from that god forsaken mountain. Life had been difficult up there, but he had survived. He had grown accustomed to the freezing temperatures nearly four thousand feet high, and could stand still for hours and simply look down and watch the world below him.

It was lonely at the top.

Now, he had returned from being off the grid for so long. He was probably officially dead.

He wanted to keep it that way.

However, he felt the urge to return to the ground, to reality.

A lot had changed in two years.

It wasn't him that made him return to the ground. He had come back because if the urge. He felt the need to return to his old friend in hopes of finding out the meaning of the urge.

So now, there he stood, and he stood with a purpose. Purpose that drives us, pries us... Because without purpose, he wouldn't even exist.

He shot an undefinable emotion to the boy. As if to say 'Stop with the philosophical thought, you did enough of that on the mountain.'

As the mountain molded him mentally, if trained him physically. He was strong, with toned muscle and an eye that seemed to search for danger. His skin, pale from the constant cloud cover and snow.

After all, once you come back from living in the wild, you must be strong or die...

He couldn't walk through a park anymore without scanning the trees for game. It was engrained into his brain... An instinct.

He shot an emotion of proudness into his master. Proudness of what he had become.

He was a color. So simple that no one spared a second glance at it once they saw.

So simple, yet secretly so complex.

It was the life color of blood.

It was the color of victory.

He was this color.

He was Red.

Professor Oliver Bell happened to be out on his ranch at the moment, playing with Byk, one of the many Mogwei that lived on his ranch. The ranch was a perfect circle, with a one mile radius. At the enter was Dr.Bell's lab, an old, castle-like structure built of stone, and a straight, mile long cobblestone road lead to this lab. The ranch was surrounded by a twenty foot high stone wall and was topped with barbed wire. The entire ranch and lab was covered in a great black net that rose about fifty feet in the air and resembled a net above a birds enclosure, which it was.

Professor Bell fed his monstrous yak-like beast a bale of hay and a Paul of water, after which he walked back to the lab.

Just before he came inside, Professor Bell was greeted by Tasok, a gelatinous cube of some sort of orange material. The blob made a barking noise like that of a dog's and ran up to greet his master, rubbing his pseudopods against Bell's leg.

"hey there, boy!" Professor Bell chuckled and bent down, petting the gel blob gently. The blob was ticklish to the touch, and made Prifessor Belk feel incredibly happy. He opened the door to the lab and walked into the cool, air conditioned breeze, Tasok close behind. He stepped into his living room and stopped dead.

"Red?" he said with a mixture of confusion and elation "is that you?"

Red looked up, from his thoughts, seeing his old mentor.

For the first time in Two years, 334 days, sixteen hours, and twenty five minutes, he had seen another human being. Not a great sentient earth serpent. Red's lips curled up into a small smile. A rare thing idead to get an emotion out of the boy.

"Hello, Professor."

An even rarer thing to get him to speak. His voice was scratchy and deeper than it had been when he left to the mountain at thirteen. He was taller too. On a regular occasion, it was like pulling teeth trying to get Red to speak, yet...

The selective mute had spoken with no coaxing at all.

"I came... Because I felt an urge... Has anything... Happened? While I was gone?"

It took all of Red's strength to pull out the sentence. It was one of the longest he had ever spoken at once.

In truth, many things seemed different from when he had left. Sure, a few things around the lab looked the same, but the books, the occasional magazine he had seen in the waiting room, everything had changed.

Who the heck was Kim Kardashian?

His stomach audibly growled, it had been nearly a day and a half since he had eaten. He had run out of food as soon as he reached the base of the mountain. Another thirty six hours of walking later, here he was.

And he was restless.

He removed his hand from his Hoodie pocket, and held it out for the scientist to shake.

After all, he hadn't seen his friend in nearly three years.

Professor Bell eagerly shook the boy's hand.

"yes, nearly everything has changed since you left! But how about we discuss it over lunch, eh?"


---

Iris and Jordan were on the move now. They had made excellent time and were almost at the professor's lab. When they were about a mile away from it's wrought iron entrance, something began to rustle in the bushes.

"what was that?" Iris said, jumping at the noise.

"not sure luv." Jordan replied "but we'd better..."

"bock!"

"what the..." a chicken crawled out of the brush. It wasn't an ordinary chicken, though. No, this chicken had oily black feathers and blood red eyes. It turned to them, and was soon joined by two more black chickens. All three were staring at Iris, who suddenly didn't feel too good. These were shadowfowl, which meant that the Masquerade was near.

"mizu!" Iris summoned her giant gorilla-whale shark hybrid, and it let out a fearsome yawn. The massive humanoid creature saw the line of shadowfowl, which had now gained two members, and they all stared at Iris as if...

Waiting for something...

"Lets." Red said, before falling into a comfortable silence once more. After all, he had nothing to say, yet.

He followed the Professor as he walked away. He hoped it would be outside. He, hated to be confined within his matrix. Yet, he sometimes needed to be.

After all, getting through a city with a massive dinosaur behind you was nigh impossible.

He stuck his wrapped up hand back in his hoodie pocket, and waited for some sort of snappy response from the hockey puck inside.

Nothing.

He fondled it for a few minutes before he got the feeling of extreme annoyance and sleepiness.

So thats what he was doing in there.

Eventually finishing breakfast, Rachel stood up from the fire. "Thank you very much for inviting me to breakfast, but I should probably go. It's best if I get a head start, I never know how far on my trail the M.L.A.F are. If they catch me with you guys, you'd just wind up in trouble." She started to walk off, holding up Sunspot's Matrix, "Sunspot, return." She ordered. The creature sent her a wave of annoyance, but obeyed, changing into a cloud of a violet energy and flowing back into the disk. She snapped the Matrix back into her belt.


Jack knew that she was leaving when she had mentioned the M.L.A.F following her, but strangely, he had a feeling that if she left, she would just wind up in another situation. He shot to his feet, "Wait!" He called, making her stop. "The M.L.A.F. is on our trail, too. You don't have to worry about them attacking us, because they're already looking for us to begin with." Just like before, Rachel glanced at him sidelong, "And how come it matters? Finding a group of masters is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. It's just going to make them want you more." Jack listened to this, and shook his head, "It doesn't matter, a group is still better off. We have a better chance of fighting them off." Rachel laughed, another humorless, bitter sound that probably didn't have any links to her real laugh. "Those people send Mogwai outside their radius, they don't care if their Mogwai turn to stone and die. Who's to say they won't send so many that they overwhelm us?" Jack clutched his hand into a fist, "They won't, they're too busy looking for all the other Masters out there."

Rachel seemed to think, before shaking her head. Jack heard her mutter something under her breath, "Rachel, you'd better hope you ain't making a huge mistake." She turned around and looked at them, before putting her hands in her pockets, "Fine, I'll join your group, but before I do, I'm going to warn you right know. I'm not a nice person half the time. I can be pretty harsh, and don't be surprised if sometimes I don't care if I hurt your feelings, because I might not even notice." Jack shook his head firmly, "We'll risk it."

Professor Bell walked down the cobblestone path and down the long street, towards a small town, where he got the two outdoor seats at a diner. He sat down on the chair closest to the wrought iron fence that surrounded the diner's outdoor seating, and attempted to flag down a waiter.

---

The group of shadowfowl following iris and Jordan quickly turned into a mob. there were at least thirty of the useless black chickens now following them in a dense pack of diabolical poultry. Iris was seriously worried now. Every Masquerade member only had two Mogwei at most, meaning that there must have been at least fifteen of them around.

The stepped out onto the road, the chicken army following them.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Jordan mused.

"Okay, I've had just about enough of this!" Iris threw one of her matrices into the air. Soon after, though, she realized her blunder. She had thrown the new one. From out of the black matrix came a terrifyingly loud gobble, and right before her very eyes, a chicken the size of a small car appeared. The feelings of despair and sadness left Iris, and she laughed hysterically to the point that she was in tears.

"What the heck is that thing?" Jordan said slowly as she laughed. The Shadowfowl quickly surrounded the giant black chicken and began to almost chant over and over again, occasionally bowing to the giant chicken. Suddenly, a shaking noise came from the bushes, and iris screamed. It was him. The tall cloaked man looked up at her, his artificial face nothing more than an opera mask that was completely plain, nothing but one sinister black eye on the mask's right side. His name was Axel Darkmeyer, and he was the leader of the Masquerade.

"Excuse me, madam." he said with no emotion "But I believe you have my chickens".

When the waitress came, he ordered a simple ham and cheese sandwhich with water. A healthy meal. When the waitress returned with the food, he reached for it and and took a bite. He savored the food for a moment before swallowing. Living off off of berries you harvested yourself and deer you had to home cook was difficult an sometimes didnt end up right. Having a meal he didnt have to get himself was a strange feeling.

He took another bite.

He had lost almost all excess weight while on the mountain. Leaving clean muscles. Beneath his thin shirt lied a solid eight pack. A side effect of constant movement and living on edge. Red would never consider himself musular, lean would be a better way to describe it.

Red took another bite out of his food, and another, and another. At this point most of his sandwhich had been comsumed. Then he stopped, full. He wasnt used to eating such rich food.

He placed his sandwhich down again and leaned against the tabel, waiting for the Professor to talk. He wanted to know everything. The new masters, the new technology, research... But most importantly, the opposition if there was any.

After all, he doesnt come down from the mountain for no reason.

Professor Bell thanked the waitress when she handed him his tuna sandwich and bowl of soup. He took a sip of his tea, ate some of the delicious tuna croissant, and then leaned back in his chair to talk a bit.

"So Red," he started slowly "how was your mountain training?"

---

Iris regained control of herself and lost it again as several more masked Masquerade members slid down the leaf-coveted hill and onto the street, where they began to examine the chanting shadowfowl, attempting to find their respective chickens.

"this," Axel said to Iris "is impressive. So that old matrix in the chicken's mouth did have a Mogwei in it". He paused for a moment, almost as if he was pondering his words. Axel wasn't used to talking. After an awkward moment of silence, he sighed and continued.

"I suppose the big bird would only come out of its matrix for a single person". He attempted to walk up to the giant chicken, but several Shadowfowl blocked his path and hissed dangerously. He was taken aback for a moment, and then tried again. The same result happened.

"call you shadowfowl back, gentlemen!" he called to the other members. They all attempted to get their shadowfowl back into the matrices, but with no luck.

"that's strange..." Iris said for the first time in tbe conversation "they should be going back into their matrices..." one masquerade member went to grab his shadowfowl, but it spun around and pecked him in the hand, drawing a tiny droplet of blood. He gasped and jumped back, shaking his hand.

"let's try something else, shall we?" Iris said. She grabbed the chicken queen's Matrix and withdrew it. The chickens began to jump up and down in protest, and Irus felt the urge to jump up and down herself. The black matrix shook in protest, and Iris nearly dropped it. The shadowfowl soon finished their protesting, and some of them returned to their matrices, with only about ten remaining.

"we should take this to the professor." Iris said.

"I'll come with you." Axel said flatly "I need to find out how to get these stupid black chickens to go back in their matrices without following you around all day".

"um, Iris, a word please?" Jordan grabbed her by the shoulder and they walked a few feet away from the Masquerade members who were attempting to hold onto the angrily shaking shadowfowl matrices, who throbbed with protest of being separated from their queen.

"Iris," Jordan started in a hushed tone "we can't bring them with up! They'll steal all the Mogwei off of the ranch!"

"what other choice do we have?" Iris replied irritably "do you want to be followed by black chickens for the rest of your life?"

"of course not! But we can't trust Axel! He's a criminal!"

"Shaun's a criminal too, and we've helped him before."

"this is completely different! Shaun is a thief and runs organized crimes! Axel is the leader of a group of killers!" Iris hushed him, as his voice was getting loud and was raising some Masquerade ears.

"we'll keep them in check, Jordan." Iris walked back over and said "ok, you can come with us. But don't do anything illegal or I'll have Mizu stomp you into the dirt!"

"when do I ever do anything illegal, madam?" Axel mused.

Red looked at the Professor for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he should speak.

He decided against it, as he looked down and saw a small rock on the ground. He leaned down and picked it up before placing it in the center of the table. He didn't need to speak, the rock symbolized enough.

A rock was hard, right?

He took his matrix out and slid it over to the professor. The tooth engraving was worn and fading, and several small dents surrounded the edges. Showing that it was difficult, even for Ghentisis Rex.

Of course, like all things, you began to establish a pattern, and it became easier. He didn't need warm clothing, and he became creepily unaffected by the subzero temperatures above the clouds. Showing that nothing was impossible.

He leaned back in his seat, placing both of his hands on his core, and relaxed.

Time had matured him, aged him. He looked more like a man now than he ever did. His mentality and body showed this.

Red had a troubled past. It was his mouth that cost him his parents and sister, and because of this, chose to become nearly mute. Talking only when necessary.

He found that most girls like that about him, as a mysterious silent boy was alluring. Far more attracting than some loudmouthed kid, the one he once was...

Of course, he did the exact opposite of what most would do. Instead of finding comfort within a significant other, he distanced himself from all civilization and human activity. He felt that the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders, and at the time, feared for others safety. He didn't want to endanger others, and get them hurt, possibly worse.

Like his parents.

However, as he lived on the mountain, he aged out of this, finding acceptance and moved on from his mountain hermit style of living.

All because of one thing.

He was restless...

Jack was quickly beginning to understand why Rachel had told him that it might not be fun to have her in the group. As soon as they had begun to travel, they had managed to put her in a terrible mood by choosing to walk on the main road. "This is madness! All the M.L.A.F. need to do is fly over to locate us, and might I mention that thieves rob people, too?" Mark shook his head, "Nah, why would they rob a group? Besides, we can protect ourselves!" Rachel groaned with protest, making Jack wonder if she was always so negative. "Just forget it, you ain't listening, anyway!" She said.

Jack went up and put a firm hand on her shoulder, "Hey, lighten up," He said, trying to calm her down. Her gaze fixed on where his hand was gripping her shoulder, and he realized that she might take offense. He withdrew his hand as though he had been touching a hot stove. She seemed to make a hissing sound, which was oddly like a snake, "I have been dealing with this for three years! How can you possibly expect me to lighten up, when everyone around me might be a threat?" Tabitha held up a hand, "Woah, woah! Did you say three years?" She asked. Rachel huffed, "Yes, and if you've only been traveling on main roads, then you have a lot to learn about survival!"

Jack frowned, "Well, we've only been doing this for about a week, so-" Rachel rubbed her temples, holding up a hand to stop him, "Wait, you're saying you've only been Masters for a week?" She asked. She didn't let them answer, "No wonder! That's it, if you're going to keep making unwise decisions, then you're coming with me!" She started to walk into the woods. Jack protested, "Wait, what!?" He wasn't used to other people taking charge. "You heard me! Come on! Pick up the pace! No more traveling in plain sight!"

a rock.

Professor Bell would have laughed at this, had he not seen the rough marks on the matrix. he remembered when the boy had first found this Matrix all those years ago, back when the metal wasn't dented, and when the beast inside didn't emanate pure anger. (if this is inserting Bell into Red's past too much, I'll fix it).

He sighed and handed the matrix back to the boy quickly.

"Don't do that again boy." he said "It's not safe to have a matrix out in the open anymore". A hand flew to the professor's own matrices, which were in a special compartment in his lab coat.

---

"Do you even know where you're going?" Jordan irritably said. The three, Iris, Jordan, and Axel, had been walking down the same road. The Masquerade men were up in the woods, following their leader from afar, watching out for any MLAF activity. Not that they thought there would be any. This ranch was too far away from any major cities to attract MLAF activity, though the men were still slightly worried. No bystanders had been present when the giant chicken appeared. That chicken could easily get them all killed.

"I know where I'm going, Jordan!" Iris replied angrily. This was the fourth time that he'd asked her, and he was soon going to incur her wrath.

"Are you-"

"Shut up!" Axel yelled, drawing his sword. Jordan jumped and Iris shot Axel a dirty look.

"Put your god-d*mned toy sword away Axel before I have Mizu crush you!" Axel grunted and sheathed the sword. No matter how strong her believed his Mogwei to be, he knew Iris was better. Him and Iris went way back. She was the first opponent he ever faced as a master, back when all he had was stupid Shadowfowl. She crushed him with her Mogwei, and he vowed to get stronger. he did, and one day, when on a raid, he found Zarowak's Mogwei. Ever since, he'd never lost a battle, but he still didn't trust the girl, even after all those years of training.

They continued down the road until they got to Professor Bell's ranch, which they entered through the wrought iron gate. the Masquerade men followed them in cautiously. Bell was known for having a hatred for the masked thieves.

Iris pulled her key to the lab out of her pocket and opened the door, letting her, Jordan, and Axel in, while the others stayed outside and kept watch. They were greeted with a loud barking noise, and Iris found herself pinned to the ground by Tasok, who nuzzled her with his pseudopods. He tickled her all over, and she laughed and pushed the blob of goo off of her. It made another barking noise and launched itself onto Axel.

"Get this thing off of me!" he screamed. It jumped and hit the ground, making a whining noise like a dog.

"Wow, Axel!" Iris laughed "You are the only person I've ever seen not laugh when they get pounced on by Tasok!"

"Iris, I have never laughed in my entire life." this was a lie, of course, because had he not been wearing his mask, just for a moment when the gel blob was on him, a wide, happy smile had stretched across his face.

"Whatever. I'll go find the professor. You two stay down here".

She ascended the large stone steps on the other end of the living room, and disappeared into the second story of the old crumbling castle.

Red, made a small smirk, and placed the old Matrix back into his hoodie pocket. He would release his monster when they got back to the ranch. It was getting to training time anyway.

"He wants to train." Red said, motioning down to his pocket. He stood up, and pushed his seat back up to the table. He reached into his backpack, and fished out about six dollars to pay for his part of the food. The money was crumpled and faded, just like Red.

The boy who became a man far to early.

"Hows... Iris?" He said.

Iris...

Iris had been one of his best friends and rivals before he left. She was one of the few people Red would willingly talk to. He admitted that he, at one time, had a crush on the girl. Although he had gotten over it, he feared that forgotten feelings might resurface. What if she was in a relationship? Would he ruin it?

No...

He wouldn't do anything to harm a relationship, if she had one. He cared for her enough to not. He would hate himself, and probably go back up to the mountain for another few years.

It would hurt more than just himself.

He stopped his pessimism. He didn't even know if he would feel anymore for her. All he knew is that he was nervous about seeing a friend after so long.

He'd probably be slapped and then hugged.

Girls are weird.

"That's an excellent question." Professor Bell began, "A few months ago she left to meet up with her boyfriend up north and go on some cruise with him." He took another bit of his sandwich, and thought of Iris' boyfriend. What was his name...Joey? Jordan?

"I'm not a big fan of that boy, though. He-" the professor was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He picked it up.

"Hello?" the professor said

"Hey Uncle Bell! It's Iris!" she said "Jordan, Axel, and I are in the lab. Where are you?"

"Axel?" Bell screamed loudly 'What is that criminal doing in my lab?"

"Don't worry about it uncle!" she replied "I'm watching him! Where are you?"

"I'm at lunch with Red".

"Red?" Iris gasped, and her cheeks flushed red. She was in her room, which was remarkably dust-free, and she sat down on the bed when he said this. Red was one of her best friends growing up, and she hadn't seen him since he went up the mountain. Him and that stupid dinosaur.

"Yeah. do you want to talk to him?" Bell asked

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess". He handed the phone to Red.

"It's Iris." he said.

After they had walked into the woods deeply enough, they had come to a rather large clearing, which appeared to be at the base of a cliff. Rachel stopped and turned to them, "Okay, this should be far enough. Now, let me see your Mogwai." She said. Mark's jaw flew open, "What?" Rachel felt herself become irritated, "You heard me! Let me see them!" Mark seemed to fumble, before pulling a single Matrix from his belt. It was bronze-colored, with a dark green core, and what looked like a sloth emblazoned around the edge. "Shasta! Come out!" He tossed the Matrix, a somewhat poor throw, and when it hit something, he had to run to retrieve it. Tabitha, in a similar poor catch, called out her Mogwai, Sandtrap. Much to Rachel's surprise, it seemed that Jack had the most skill. "Keystone! Taproot! Nighthawk! Dart! All of you, come on out!" He threw the Matrixes, and his throw, being a good one, resulted in the Matrixes bouncing back to him, and allowing him to simply catch them on the re-bound.

Energy surged, as six giant Mogwai formed in the clearing. Unlike most of Rachel's Mogwai, many of them roared or snarled or hissed upon coming out of their Matrixes. These Mogwai were new to their Masters, but they would follow with utter devotion. Rachel inspected Shasta first. Shasta, as it turned out, appeared to be a gigantic version of the now-extinct ground sloths, appearing awkward yet strong as well. Dark green eyes blinked at her, watching. Similarly, Sandtrap appeared to be a gigantic ant lion larva, light blue markings and eyes twinkled at her suspiciously. As for the four Mogwai sent by Jack, all of them looked strong. She stopped and looked at them, "So, which one is which?" She asked. "This is Keystone, this is Taproot, this is Nighthawk, and this is Dart. They're all male." He stopped with satisfaction.


Rachel frowned, "They're all male? But...Dart...looks like a Green Darner..." Rachel said. Jack frowned, "Yeah...so?" Rachel frowned, "Green Darner males are supposed to have bluish abdomens...aside from the markings, Dart's completely green." Jack seemed shocked, "Wait, you're saying Dart is...a girl?" As he said this, he felt a wave of satisfaction come from the Mogwai, as though it were glad that it was cleared up. "Yeah, she's a girl, and I wouldn't be surprised if you calling her a 'he' was a little bit irritating." Another wave of agreement. "Uh, yeah, she's agreeing with you." Jack said. Earlier he and his friends had figured out that only the Mogwai's Master could understand what they were feeling. That was after he had felt his link with Keystone, and then been told that nobody knew what he was talking about.


Rachel sighed, "Well, here's the thing, you might not know it now, but that's because you've only been Masters for about a week. Pretty soon, the link you have with your Mogwai will get stronger. You'll be inseparable by the end of the month. Trust me, when someone last tried to take my friends away from me..." She shuddered, and her pupils dilated, until her eyes were almost pure black, before returning to their usual look. "...Well, let's just say I wasn't myself."

Red looked at the Professor for a moment, with the 'You're kidding right?' kind of face. Red had spoken all of three sentences to the Professor after being back after nearly three years. That's big for Red. The Professor knew that he was a selective mute. He motioned for the Professor to put the phone down.

"I am better face to face."

Make it four sentences.

A surge of humor filled his body. Rex was laughing at him.

That useless reptile...

He rolled his mind's eye and looked back at the Professor, nodding in thanks for letting him know about Iris and her current relationship.

Red rested his arms on the back of the chair, Rex was beginning to become impatient again. His training time was drawing close.

"I would like to go back to the ranch... He is starting to become annoyed..."

Bell sighed and smirked in an almost evil way. He put the phone back up to his ear and told Iris what Red said. She smiled a bit, but was rather crestfallen. She secretly liked Red, or at least used to, though she was almost sure that he never liked her that way. it would be far too weird, as she was sure Red thought of her as a sister; an older sister that always kicked his little dinosaur's butt.

"Alright." she said "Just hurry back. I'm gonna make sure that Axel isn't messing with anything".

"You left him ALONE?" Bell said incredulously.

"No, he's with Jordan".

"So you left him alone?"

"Very funny dad. Bye!" she rolled her eyes and hung the phone up. She sat there for a moment, staring at the wall, thinking, and then went downstairs, where Axel was sitting in the lab, examining what looked like a stone pigeon.

"Yeah," Iris said "that was Billy. He flew away one time and got out of the ranged of his matrix. Some MLAF goon shot him because they couldn't catch him, and he turned to stone".

"That is sickening." Axel quietly said "those men should all be rounded up and killed slowly and painfully for what they do to Mogwei!"

"And you're any better?" Axel stood bolt upright, and his left hand flew to his sword sheath, but he resisted and sat back down. The girl would get her's later.

"At least I don't kill Mogwei." he said "I have never killed a Mogwei and never will".

---

Professor Bell told Red to put his money away and paid for both meals. He then beckoned to the boy and began to walk down the long dirt road towards the lab.

Red sighed, and took the money back, stuffing it back into his backpack.

Red walked with the Professor as they made their way back to the lab. When it came in sight, Red began to run, he wante to see his friends again, an make sure that this Jordan fellow wouldn't hurt Iris.

After all, you hurt Iris, you deal with a dinosaur that will gladly eat you.

So what if she beat him before he left.

She had no idea how strong Ghentisis Rex had become. Hopefully she'd see that in training.

Ah well, he was never a show off.

The Masquerade goons near the street saw the boy coming and pulled out their matrices. They walked in front of the wrought-iron gate, blocking the boy's entrance to the ranch.

"State your business, outsider!' one of the men yelled at Red.

"Get away from my d*mned house you little insects!" Professor Bell ran up to the gate, and the Masquerade men scattered. He chased one down the street like a mad man, and opened the gate with his key.

Iris saw him from the window, and screamed, causing Jordan to drop his coffee mug onto the floor, where it shattered into a million pieces. Iris completely ignored his complaints, however, and ran through the open lab door and down the long cobblestone road, where she threw herself into Red's arms and hugged him as tight as she could. Jordan sighed and clenched his fists in anger.

"Who's that loser and why is my Iris in his scrawny arms?" he seethed. Axel walked up and placed his heavy gloved hand on Jordan's shoulder.

"Stop whining before I run you thought, kid." Axel growled.

Red's eyes narrowed at the Grunt, only to shift in a split second to see Iris hurling herself at him. Red's eyes widened and he nearly ducked under her before realizing who was throwing herself at him. He opened his arms and allowed her to crash into him, spinning her to get rid of the momentum before placing her back down. He blushed slightly on the outside, but it disappeared soon after.

He couldn't help but notice that he was much taller than her now. They were around the same height where he left...

He also noticed that she had matured well herself.

Ghentisis Rex seemingly burst out laughing at that one. He could feel it.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, the first girl he had come in contact with for a while just so happened to be his past crush, and she had just hugged him.

Great.

For all he knew Jack, or Jacob, or whatever was getting ready to come over and try and beat him up.

He fought his Mogwai, he didn't fear any man, but he feared what would happen in self defense. He was a pessimist by nature. Always thinking of the bad and never the good. He couldn't really help that anymore. Ghentisis probably rubbed off on him while they were up there.

Speaking of which, the lizard was begging to be released.

Red gave a small smile to Iris, before walking into the fence's boundaries. He grinned greatly, and his eyes changed from gray-green to red.

Red lifted out his Matrix and unleashed the beast. In a flash of red light, an even larger and more imposing beast than before he had left was present. It's black underbelly and red top was scared and showed signs of a rough life. It stood up, showing off large and powerful muscles that line's it's body.

The beast flexed its three claws, and growled in approval.

It was free.