Monster Rancher Fan Fiction ❯ When Destiny Calls ❯ Heaven's Canyon ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

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Øü DhC:\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOT �Cale Kuecker �Cale Kuecker@¼äj~gÁ@À¤YÜ¥e=À eûxß‹ûu†j†jj†j†j†j 224;j†4‡4‡4‡4‡4‡4‡
>‡ ;"4‡.‹1`‡`‡`‡`‡`‡`‡`‡ `‡L‰N‰N‰N‰h‰Ô<ŠÔ 249;_‹T³‹,.‹j†`‡=>`‡`‡`&# 8225;`‡.‹`‡j†j†`‡`‡`‡`̶ 5;`‡`‡j†`‡j†`‡L‰~†DÂ& #8224;rj†j†j†j†`‡L‰`‡ì` 225;When Destiny Calls The Western Continent: Crossing Heaven's Canyon: Part 1 By Cale Kuecker Summary: The magic stone has pointed the searchers towards the western continent, where hopefully, the phoenix resides. There's just one problem... None of them can fly. Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Monster Rancher, Monster Farmer, or the mainstay character in the series. Tecmo and the anime company that produced the show do. The story itself, however, is mine, so it better not be reproduced for any sort of financial gain. Author's Note: So did you guess who the guest characters were? Pulsar got the one from "Choices" right. The answer was; the village elder was Master Roshi from Dragon Ball Z. And as for "Children," I realize this is obscure, but the grandfather was actually the character Gre Nade from the Dreamcast game Evolution: World of the Sacred Device. Now, on to the next one. ************************************************************************ "I wanna fly high, so I can reach the highest... of all of the heavens. Somebody will be waiting for me so I... have got to fly higher." -Miles "Tails" Prower, "Believe in Myself" from Sonic Adventure. ************************************************************************ The sun shined down bright and beautiful on the forest as the searchers walked on, ever intent of finding the phoenix and completing their quest. Of course, just walking was never much fun, a fact Gray Wolf was trying to fix by telling a story on his favorite subject; that of his adventures with Tiger and himself. "So then, Tiger charged the dino, knocked that sorry saurian a good twenty feet before he hit a tree. The other two thought he'd be easy prey, but not my brother. He jump into the air and let loose such a lightning bolt that it zapped both of 'em good. I'm telling you, you should have seen those reps. The lightning turned their scales completely black, and their eyes, their eyes were as big as saucers. Man, nobody beats my brother. Reminds me of the time we took on an angel.." "Of goddess, not this one again," Pink Eye said, breaking the wolf's string of words. "You've already bored us to death with this story, Gray Wolf, along with his little encounter with those three dinos, plus the fight to the death he had with that ragnorak. Don't you know any other heroes besides Tiger of the Wind?" "Why talk about others when you have the best there is?" The wolf asked, smiling triumphantly. "While this Tiger fellow of yours is certainly impressive wolf-boy," Hare said sneaking up beside the silver lupine, "he hardly counts as 'the best there is.'" This comment stopped Gray Wolf in his tracks as he stared wide-eyed at the rabbit before responding. "And what is that supposed to mean? Do you think you can do better?" "Perhaps you've heard of a fellow named Vega," came Hare's response. It didn't have quite the response the lapine had expected. Both Gray Wolf and Pink Eye fell down laughing, and even Joshua seemed to chuckle a little. Only Genki, Mocchi, and Golem didn't seem to get the joke, while Hare adopted an insulted look on his face. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!?!" "Ha ha ha ha. For a minute I almost thought you were serious about knowing a great warrior, rabbit. Ha ha ha ha," Gray Wolf laughed. "Yeah, who's next, you gonna say you met General Garuda," Pink Eye added. "Who's Vega?" Genki asked, not wanting to be left out, a sentiment echoed by Golem and Mocchi. Joshua began to explain. "Vega is, or was, a champion fighter on the western continent. THE champion some would say. Now let me see if I remember the facts correctly..." "He was a Kung-Fu Hare," Gray Wolf continued. "And according to every story I ever heard he was a damn fine fighter. Supposedly he never lost a fight his entire career, something Tiger wanted to remedy." "Like Tiger would have stood a chance. He had trouble with three dinos, but Vega took down five with one attack. And then there was the time we took on a group of three kato in less than a minute," Hare said. Once more his comments were met with laughter from the group. "Oh why don't you just drop the charade Hare. Not only wouldn't Vega hang out with you, he'd probably burn down the stadium just to keep you from attending one of his matches," Gray Wolf said. "You must admit Hare, your story is just a bit unlikely," Joshua said, putting him hand on the rabbit's shoulder. Hare immediately smacked it away. "Why is that?" Genki said. "Vega died seven years ago," Joshua said before turning back to Hare. "And he was in his mid-forties then, so unless you're a lot older than you look, I don't think you'd really be in Vega's normal circle of friends. And that's not even counting the fact that he stayed strictly on the western continent." "And what makes you think I'm not from the western continent?" At these words, everyone got quiet again. Hare smiled, thinking he'd finally convinced them until he heard Gray Wolf once again laughing. "Oh man, I've heard of guys going to the distance to get a story passed, but you take the cake. Actually pretending you're from another continent, I can't believe it. Ha ha ha," Gray Wolf said, much to Hare's ire. "I'm not pretending!!" Hare said. The others simply pressed forward, ignoring the now grumbling bunny. They hadn't gone more than a few hundred yards when Genki finally broke the silence. "So, what happened to him?" the boy asked innocently. "Huh?" "You guys said this Vega guy was dead and it doesn't sound like it was from old age. If he was such a powerful guy, what happened?" "Let's see there was a big uproar over it..." Gray Wolf began only to find himself shoved away by Hare. "I'll tell him, if you don't mind, wolfie... After all, unlike the rest of you, I ACTUALLY knew Vega." Hare faced Genki full on, ready to show off his knowledge and vindicate himself. "Believe me when I say I can give you details most don't know, after all I have first hand experience." "Oh please," Gray Wolf said. Hare shot him an angry look the silver wolf simply ignored. "Now the story goes like this. Over on the western continent you see, things are not as good as they are here, believe you me. Over there, monster battles can turn into truly vicious affairs." "That's terrible," Genki said. On his back Mocchi listened as well, a little upset at what was being said. "Not all the owners are so bloodthirsty, but enough are to make being a monster a dangerous proposition. And Vega's owner was one such person. You see, the more dangerous the match the bigger the prize money. Well in his last match, Vega had to face this Crimson-Eyed, a naga/monol hybrid. The guy was an excellent fighter, the kinda opponent that gives you no end of trouble. It didn't matter what Vega did, that kung-fu hare only managed to land a sixth of his attacks on the snake. The Crimson-Eyed even managed to catch Vega in a hold five times. Never capitalized on it though. But in the end it didn't matter. Vega took the guy out with his patented combination of a spinning kick followed by a super-charge punch that send that slimy snake crashing into the stadium wall. Of course that ended the fight, and Vega turned and raised his hands in victory. He had no reason not to after all, the fights may have been vicious, but once the match ended, that was it, it was over. But not that time." Hare's voice suddenly became more solemn and his face lost all of its former cheerfulness. "I remember it like it was yesterday... The cheering was deafening, a lot of those greedy $#%^$%^@& won a lot of money off the win, and it was impossible to hear anything else. Vega didn't have a chance, he couldn't even hear the warnings someone was screaming at him. All those cheers stopped the instant that damn Crimson-Eyed's claws exploded out of Vega's chest. Then before anyone could even act, the snake was gone, and all he left was Vega's lost disk. To this day... Hey, why'd we stop?" "Well, if you'd break away from your story for a while, you'll see we have a very good reason," Gray Wolf said, pointing ahead. The reason they'd stopped was indeed very good. Not but a few meters away, the ground stopped, completely. Beyond there was no water, or even a bridge, but simply sky, as far as the eye could see. And there was no other side, at least none the searchers could see. "I see what you mean. Didn't think we'd make it to Heaven's Canyon this quickly," Hare said, walking up to the edge to look down. "Heaven's what?" Moochi asked. "Heaven's Canyon, kid. It's the boundary between the Western and Eastern continents," Pink Eye said as he hopped up to Hare, also looking down. "They say if you fall in, it takes days before you reach the bottom." "Hare should know more about it than the rest of us, seeing as how he's supposedly from the Western Continent and all," Gray Wolf said, making no effort to hide the mocking sarcasm in his voice. Hare seemed to barely notice as he was busy surveying the area. "Well I'll be," the large lapine said, scratching his head. "What is it Hare?" Genki asked, a little puzzled by his friends strange behavior. "I don't know how we did it, but we've arrived at the same place I landed when I crossed Heaven's Canyon a few years ago." "Oh come on!" Gray Wolf yelled, not willing to believe what he'd heard. "Hare it's time you stopped this charade. You're no more from the Western Continent than I am." "Oh really wolf boy. Well, the object behind this bush seems to contradict your little theory." So saying, Hare walked over to a bush and parted it for all to see. Behind the plant sat a small plane, partly rusted and grown over with vines. It was in pieces, clearly the result of a crash or something similar. "May I present my iron bird, the Fireball." "I don't believe it," Gray Wolf said, moving closer to inspect the wreck. "Well I'll be." Was Pink Eye's response. "So it was true," Joshua said. "I flew this thing right across the canyon to here, hoping I could find some new challenges to wet my competitive appetite," Hare said, hopping up onto the wreckage, pantomiming being at the controls of the bird. "For three full days I flew in this plane, soaring on winds to dizzying heights before plummeting down below the canyon edge." The rabbit looked to his friends, hoping to have impressed them. Unfortunately, they weren't paying as much attention to him as they were the craft. "So this thing is yours? Great, we can use it to cross the canyon and get to the Western Continent," Genki said. He didn't seem to notice how nervous Golem suddenly got at the prospect of being suspended in the air from the small plane. "Well we could if I hadn't... hrmph... crash landed it," Hare said in a small voice. Gray Wolf's response was to laugh at this last comment. "Oh brother, some hotshot pilot you are." "Let's see you fly an iron bird with no previous training. I was lucky not to fall down that blasted canyon with the rest of the thing." "So now what do we do?" asked Golem, relieved. "Danged if I know. Without some replacement parts, this thing'll never fly." "HELP!!" Came a scream from above over the canyon. The searchers looked up to see a trail of black smoke in the sky. At the head of that smoke was an iron bird which was spiraling down, heading directly for the searchers, and doing it fast. "Scatter," Genki called, something his friends did not have to be told twice to do. Just as the area was vacated, a loud bang was heard as the formerly flying machine crashed and crashed hard, throwing pieces, and passengers, every which way. The searchers came out of hiding, checking to see if the two human pilots were all right. "Hey buddy you okay," Pink Eye said as he fanned fresh oxygen to the man with his tongue while Joshua held him up. He was a lanky young man with brown hair and stubble on his chin. The clothes he wore were more like rags, ripped and dirty. On the other side, Hare and Golem were busy with the other human. He looked almost completely different from the first one. He was a lot older, and his head was completely bald. In fact the only hair that could be seen was a huge red mustache. His body was round, almost egg-shaped and he had spindly arms and legs. His suit was red and in slightly better condition than his friend's, and he wore dark glasses that hid his eyes. "Cough... Yeah yeah, I'm okay," said the first guy as he came around. His eyes opened and the first thing he saw was Pink Eye grinning back at him. "AAAAAAHHHH!!!" The man screamed, trying to back away. "No no no... please don't hurt me, I promise I won't try to escape again, just don't kill me!" The man began to plead. Genki stopped him before he hit the wreckage of his plane. "Whoa, hold it, what's wrong? We're not gonna hurt you," the boy asked. The man turned his head to give Genki an almost confused look. "You mean... you're not with Moo's army," the man said, hope creeping into his voice. "Did we escape the western continent?" "I guess you did, guy," Hare said, "'cause this is the eastern continent." With those words, the man suddenly jumped up, revitalized by the news. "Yes we did it, do you hear that Ivo, we did it!!" On the other side of the wreck the other human also began to stir, grumbling as he came to in Golem's arms. "Well I'll be damned, we made it," Ivo said, as he got up. His voice then became very flat. "How's the plane Marcus?" For the first time, the man called Marcus looked at what he had been flying. The flames had died down considerably and he saw the twisted metal and broken pieces of the wreckage. "Oh great, that's just great," Marcus said, throwing his hands into the air. "I knew I shouldn't have let you drive. Now what are we supposed to do?" "Uh excuse me?" Genki said. "Huh, oh sorry kid. Didn't mean to ignore you," Marcus said, turning to the boy. "Thanks for checking on us, all of you. Sorry if we scared you, but you'll never know how much trouble we went through to get here." "Yes, thank you for your help," Ivo said. "Though it would have been better had you also managed to save our iron bird." "Ivo!" Marcus hissed. "I'm sorry about my friend. It's just, we were planning on selling the iron bird so we could start our new lives here." "Hey those winds can be rough. As I understand it, even the professional can't always handle them." "I WAS a professional pilot," Marcus said, his face becoming downcast as he spoke. "That was why my friends chose me to pilot this thing. And it wasn't the winds that knocked me down, it was the pixie trio." "The what?" "The pixie trio. They're part of the group Moo put in the canyon to keep people and monsters from escaping. They chased us for three days before they were able to shoot us down. But we did it, we escaped." "Escaped?" Hare asked. "What were you escaping from?" "Moo's work pit," Ivo said. "You have no idea how bad it is on the western continent these days. Moo is in complete control of the entire continent. The humans are all slaves, working in pits to dig up mystery disks for Moo's army, and any monsters that refuse to join him meet the same fate. So few villages and settlements still exist outside Moo's control, and those that do live in constant fear of being attacked. A group of friends and I were able to smuggle in enough part to build the iron bird. Ivo here was good enough to show us how to build them." "I am a genius after all," Ivo interrupted. "But the day we were about to takeoff, the baddies found out about it. They attacked us, and tried to destroy the iron bird. Ivo and I were the only ones who made it off the ground." "And now, without that accursed iron bird, we'll have no money to get started here. We might as well be slaves again," Ivo said, clearly upset over their recent troubles. "But at least you are free," Golem said. "Yeah, things could be worse ya know," Pink Eye said. "Hmmph, please explain how anything could be worse than permitting my genius to go to waste in the gutter." "Well, this may actually not be as big a loss as you think," Hare said, inspecting the wreckage. These words attracted both human's attention. "As it happens, we're in need of the parts to complete our own iron bird." "Well, maybe we can help each other out then," Ivo said. "There he goes again," Marcus said. "Still, if you're willing to buy, we might be able to come to an agreement." "Not so fast my good man. First I need assurances that these two wrecks are enough to make one complete iron bird," Hare said, shaking his finger at the two humans. The lapine's attention was caught by Genki's high-pitched whistle. He looked over to see the boy pointing at Golem. "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me, Genki. And the bird has to be strong enough to carry all of us, Golem included." "I'm not sure, I mean, I wouldn't really..." "I'm sure we have enough engines to get your rocky friend off the ground," Ivo interrupted, making a show of looking at the wreck. "The only real problem is the restrictions of size. You'd have to rig up something to tow him, couldn't get him inside the iron bird don'tcha know." "Well that's all well and good, but there's still one more problem... None of us know how to rebuild an iron bird. Without that key knowledge, I'm not so sure we shouldn't just hire a pilot from another town." "Chi, that'd take too lon..." Moochi began, only to find Hare's hand covering his mouth. "Eh heh heh heh, kids, they say the dardest things don't they," the rabbit said, smiling. "Well, with that taken into consideration, maybe we could come to an agreement of, say, six thousand gold," Marcus said. "That's highway robbery!" Gray Wolf yelled. "Now now Gray Wolf. Our friends here have been out of the loop for a few years now. As I'm sure you can see, you're not selling a brand new top of the line iron bird, so I don't know where you get off trying to price it like that. Still, as I said, we do need the parts, so I'm thinking... one thousand gold." "Why you filthy little..." "IVO! On closer inspection, I can understand why you'd not want to pay so much, but we're also going to help you rebuild the contraption, surely that must be worth something?" "You're right. And you did get me on a good day, so I'm willing to go up to two thousand gold." "Wait a minute Hare," Joshua said from the cockpit. "This thing's sun cell is cracked. It's useless with out the power source." "Hey what are you trying to pull on me here?" "Don't get your ears in a knot rabbit, we didn't know it was damaged," Ivo said, looking at the small, dull yellow crystal with a rather large crack in it's surface. "As it happens, we do have a spare." So saying, Ivo reached into his pocket to pull out another crystal. This one was perfect, lacking any imperfections. Instead of a dull yellow color of the first crystal, this one pulsed a brilliant golden light. "One won't cut it. It takes two of those things at full strength to make it across that canyon," Joshua said. "I have another. It was my spare in case one of the two I used proved faulty. Thought it'd make a good momento of the trip," Hare said, reaching into his bag to pull out another crystal, pulsing at the same rate as Ivo's. "Okay then, we're agreed. Our iron bird, and help in combining the two, in exchange for two thousand gold." "Two thousand five hundred," Ivo interrupted. Everyone looked at the egg shaped human. "I am a professional and take great pride in my work. And besides, I can't guarantee the quality of my work should my offer be refused." "Why you...!" "Gray Wolf please," Hare said before whispering into the silver wolf's ear. "Need I remind you that it is seventeen miles to the next town, and with the current problems with Moo, there is no guarantee we'll find another iron bird." "Very well, we accept your terms," Gray Wolf said. "Excellent, then we can begin now if you're ready," Marcus said. With that, the nine began to work on the iron bird. Joshua dug into his bag, pulling out some tools and passing them out to his friends. As Ivo barked instructions, the other eight disassembled the remnants of the escapee's. Golem easily lifted the heavy engine's out of the wreck where Ivo could work on them. Pink Eye's eyebeam and Gray Wolf's lightning cut through the metal and rebonded it as Hare, Moochi, Joshua, Genki, and Marcus held it in place. It took hours, but as the sun began to set in the sky, the iron birds no longer looked like two junkpiles. Though they didn't fit perfectly, they were holding together. Golem gently lowered the engines back into their casings. "There, that should do it, I am a genius," Ivo said, stepping back to look at the reconstructed flyer. "Hey genius, you still haven't told us how we're supposed to take Golem along," Gray Wolf said. "Silly boy, of course I've thought that out. We're going to suspend him from the iron bird. The tarp and cords we packed along should more than strong enough to support your rocky friend," Ivo intoned. "It's getting late," Joshua said, eyeing his tired friends. "And I don't want to risk a take off tonight. What say we rest tonight and continue our search tomorrow." When no one refused the offer, the searchers began setting up camp. ************************************************************************ The moon sat high in the sky over the searchers' camp as the five monsters and four humans slept. All around the campsite insects could be heard chirping, adding their voices to the gentle sounds of the night. But things were not a tranquil as they seemed. All around the camp shadowy figures moved at supernatural speed, as if searching for something. Marcus began to stir, yawning as he stretched. Suddenly, a green scaly hand clamped over the human's mouth, silencing him. In seconds, Marcus was gone, disappearing into the bushes. Over where Ivo slept, a second hand clamped over the egg man's mouth before yanking him into the bushes with his friend. A few minutes later found both humans in a clearing a little less than a mile from their camp. Both shivered in fear, unsure of what was going on as the bushes shook with activity. Suddenly, ten shapes leapt out of the bushes, and both humans balked as they recognized the monsters they belonged to. They looked almost human, and that was precisely what made them seem so alien. The monsters were covered in green scales, with claws on their fingers and toes. Their eyes were an wicked red color, and each one possessed a horn on their heads. Each one wore a Moo insignia around their necks and the one in the lead wore a silver helmet on his head. "Guro," Marcus said. Before he could scream for help, however, Ivo grabbed him. "Are you insane? There's no way they'd make it here in time before the guro killed us. And if they'd wanted us dead, they wouldn't have taken the time to bring us here." "Thgir s'taht," said Captain Guro. "So why have you brought us here?" Marcus asked. "I thought escaped slaves were supposed to be killed upon capture..." "Sevals yttep emos fo erutpac eht naht sgniht tnatropmi erom raf sah Oom Restam. Gnitseretni dnif thgim uoy taht noitisoporp a evah I." "You gotta be kidding me... Why the devil would we help you?" Marcus said, insulted at the idea. "Modeerf ruoy sa llew sa, hcir htob uoy ekam ot dlog hguone uoy yap ot gnilliw era ew." At these words both men gaped. "No we will never help that tyrant..." Marcus began only to once again be silenced by his partner. "Now hold on Marcus. Maybe we should hear the good captain out. After all, I'd like to live my life without having to worry about some bounty hunter wanting to return me to that pit," Ivo said. "Well..." "And the gold will go a long way too getting us both on our feet will it not?" "I suppose..." "So what favor is it you need us to do?" "Mih taefed ot xineohp eht rof hcraes dna Oom Retsam esoppo ohw sleber eht era htiw gnipmac er'uoy elpoep esoht. Tnenitnoc nretsew eht ot og ot kees yeht won. Neppah ot dewolla eb tonnac siht." "So?" "Noitanitsed rieht ot ti edam srehcraes eht rof segatnavdasid tcnitsid ruo fo lla ot eb dluow ti. Ti ekam ot ton erew yeht fi, tub..." Captain Guro said, hesitating only a moment before continuing. "Eno siht pihs rieht ni llec nus eht ecalper ot uoy tnaw ew. Noitcurtsed 'srehcraes eht eetneruag lliw dna rewop flah ta ylno di ti." The guro held up the sun cell. "No. I will not betray them," Marcus said, knocking the drained sun cell out of the lizardman's hand. "Marcus... Let's not be so quick to say no," Ivo said, grabbing his partner's arm. "Ivo, they helped us," Marcus countered. "And let's not forget how evil Moo is. We can't help get rid of the only ones who can stop him." At his words, Ivo did not argue, but simply looked at the lanky human with a flash of anger, an action not lost on Captain Guro. "Enif. Enif. Su gnisufer rof yrros eb lliw uoy tub, pleh ruoy tuohtiw meht yrotsed ot yaw rehtona dnif lliw ew. Kcab meht ekat." With those words, both humans found themselves roughly replaced at the camp. ************************************************************************ "It's time to get up, come on, come on. We're burning daylight here," Genki yelled shaking all his friends into consciousness. "What's the rush, it's not like the continent's going anywhere," Pink Eye said. "Haven't you ever heard of tectonic movement?" Hare asked as he repacked his travel bag. "Oh, so now you're gonna back Genki." "Enough. I don't need to hear yelling this early in the morning," Gray Wolf, said stretching away the morning sleepiness. "Well, I've hooked up your sun cell," Ivo said, wiping his hands off. "So you're ready to take off." "Thanks Ivo," Genki said as the searchers began to toss their stuff into the iron bird. "Hey, who's gonna pilot this thing?" Pink Eye asked. Suddenly, Hare popped up, his head adorned with a cap and aviator's goggles. "I thought you'd never ask," the lapine said, smiling. "Oh no you don't bunny-boy. The last thing we need is to rely on someone who's already crashed once," Gray Wolf said, moving to block the lapine. "I gotta agree with Gray Wolf here, Hare. I mean, you did total the last iron bird you had," Pink Eye said. "Ah huh. Quick question; who here can boast of ever flying?" "He has a point. I trust Hare not to let us fall," Genki said, jumping into the plane, ready for an adventure. Hare too entered, taking his place behind the controls. As Joshua and Moochi also complied. After a few moments thoughts, Pink Eye followed leaving only Gray Wolf and Golem behind. "All right, but I'm warning you rabbit, you screw up and I swear I'll kick you butt all the way to the bottom of the canyon," the wolf said, climbing on board. Golem walked behind the plane, lifting two cords until he felt the tap grab touch his back. "Are you ready," the stone warrior called to his friends. In answer, a loud growl sounded from the machine's quad-engines as the propellers began to turn. Golem placed his hands on the iron bird's back, pushing the flying machine over the edge of the canyon. The granite monster braced himself as the plane fell, ready to hold it up if it failed. Fortunately, the plane worked, climbing up and pulling Golem with it. "They made it," Marcus called back to Ivo. The egg-shaped man was standing with a smug look on his face as he tossed a small shining object in one hand. "Of course they did, did you expect anything less from a genius like me?" "What have you done?" Marcus said as he recognized the glowing object. "I secured a future for the two of us," Ivo said, a smug sound in his voice. "I did what you did not have the guts to do. By noon today those fools will realize they don't have the power to make it all the way to the western continent." "No we have to call them back," Marcus said, running up to the edge of the canyon, yelling at the searchers. "You've gotta come back!!! You don't have enough pow...!" His yells were cut off by the scaled hand of a guro. "I was afraid you'd do something stupid, Marcus. You just don't seem to realize how important it is that my genius survive in this world." Shapes began to spread out from Ivo as the guros took the field. "Oh well, looks like I'll be keeping you share of the reward. Send him to his buddies boys." The guro began to move Marcus closer the edge fully intending to drop him in. Suddenly, two stony feet landed on the guro, crushing them. "Golem," Marcus said. "Don't forget me," came Gray Wolf's call as he slammed into a third guro before using his lightning to fry a fourth. Overhead the iron bird was busy circling as the searchers jumped off, attacking the lizardmen. "Idiots, I should have known better than to let you stooges handle this," Ivo screamed at Captain Guro. The captain used his power over sound to send a shockwave at the rebels, only to see it blocked by Golem's powerful body. Meanwhile, the iron bird had landed and Hare joined the fight. Discretion seemed the better part of valor for Ivo, who took his leave when it became apparent the guros could not win. It did not take long for the searchers to finish, and it was a very happy Marcus that walked up to Genki. "Thanks for helping me." "Well, it was the least we could do for the warning you gave us." "I got this from Ivo, I believe it's yours," Marcus said, handing the boy the stolen sun cell. Once sure of their friend's safety, the searchers once more took off, ready for a new adventure, unaware of the eyes that watched them. To Be Continued... ************************************************************************ Well that's it for this installment hope you enjoy the next chapter, which will take place completely in the skyways. Moo has his own form of border patrol to keep people out of the western continent and they're called, the Pixie Trio. Be here for Part 2 of Heaven's Canyon. 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