//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 - Wookie the Defiant(Give Them A Fight) // Story: Monster Hunter Pie // by BronyArmitage //------------------------------// Two weeks had gone by, and the body count had grown exponentially in the time since Vinyl Scratch had joined Pinkie and Wookie in their never-ending quest as Hunters. Despite his struggles to make the Gigginox X armor and completely upgrade his Kelbi Bow, Wookie had become very fond of the Sword and Shield. He preferred the mobility and defensive capability of the close quarters weapon. The Hunters had been capturing Brachydios quite often for the Guild. There had been a mutual goal in mind, and they had set out to do it. "I think this is it." Pinkie spoke as she examined the slain Brachydios. The wyvern was splayed onto its side, its fists shattered and its horn cut down to its base. Wookie and Vinyl joined the Dual Blader as she carefully carved a piece of the monster's shell. There was an iridescent glow about it, and she moved with the steady hand of a surgeon. Quite the opposite of how she normally acted. When she had finished carving around it, she pulled it away from the muscles that it clung to. The tearing sound would have made just about anyone sick. "It is. It's a Pallium." "Amazing." Vinyl's voice was an awe-inspired whisper. "This was what you guys needed?" Pinkie nodded. "We didn't have to kill nearly as many of these as we did those fucking Gigginox, though." Wookie still sounded bitter about that. His new armor covered his face, leaving only his mouth and chin exposed. He was adorned in the Helios Z armor, with the Helios X waist. The ivory colored waist piece clashed with the ebony set, but the gold lines ran throughout, making it look almost intentional. The helmet gave him an Anubis-like appearance, the pointed ears and the triangular eyes cemented it. Pinkie had grown very attached to her Barrioth X armor, and had not upgraded recently. "We need to go back to the smithy." Pinkie spoke again. "I'll finally have these things finished after we turn this in." The Huntress patted one of the Demolition Blades. "Then, we can start hunting whatever you need, Vinyl!" "You sure about that? The parts I need will not be...easy to acquire." The musician said, cringing at the thought of what they would be going after. "You have helped us bunches since we've teamed up. The least we could do is return the favor!" Pinkie bounced slightly as she spoke. Wookie nodded in agreement. "Well, if you're sure, let's head back and get you set up, then we'll head out." Vinyl said with a huge grin. She wasn't sure why she had doubted her friends, but they had more than proven themselves against dozens of foes. This wouldn't be too hard. She'd heard stories, though. Terrible things. Of Hunters who had fought this monster never returning, or of coming home too broken to ever work again. This would be a truly fearsome enemy, one that would push their every ability to its limits. Vinyl believed in them, but her normally unfailing bravado was wearing a bit thin on this issue. The blue-haired musician's eyes fell on the horizon as the boat took off towards Tanzia. /)(\ Pinkie was the first to come back from the blacksmith with her newly forged weapon. She twirled one of the Spectral Demolishers through the air, a red blur following in its wake. A smirk played across her lips as she sheathed the blade and sat next to Vinyl at the food bar. "What, exactly, do we have to hunt that has you so worried, Scratchie?" She asked before ordering her meal. Vinyl reached into her item pouch and pulled out the Hunt Request, passing it to her partner. Pinkie's eyes scanned the page, reading over the information. "A Stygian Zinogre?" She cocked her head a bit, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Aren't Zinogres those big wolf-things?" Another nod. "Why are you so worried, then? They're not that bad." "Not the regular ones, no. But thi-" "Check it out, ladies!" Wookie yelled as he joined them, ramming the new Struxion Demolisher into the counter. "Pretty bitchin', right?" The sword looked like a double-edged version of one of Pinkie's Dual Blades. It even had the same red blur when it was swung. The navy-blue coloration was complimented by the bright red edges. The shield that came with it looked much the same, though the center was red rather than the outside. It was concave at four points, giving it a rounded square appearance. "Ooooohhhh!" Pinkie was enamored by the shield as she took a long drink from her mug. Wookie sheathed his sword and ordered the same thing that Pinkie had gotten. "Looked like you guys were having a serious conversation when I came in. What's goin' down?" Wookie asked, folding his hands in front of him and waiting for his food. "We were talking about our next Hunt. We're going after a Stygian Zinogre." Vinyl said, and Wookie dropped his sandwich, which plopped heavily onto his plate before he could take a bite. He turned to face Vinyl slowly, fear in his eyes. "No we're not." He said, flatly. She nodded "No, we're not." There was more force in his voice this time. "You gonna' eat that?" Pinkie pointed at his sandwich. Wookie picked it up and took a bite, glaring across the counter at nothing. He swallowed before he spoke again. "How do you feel about this, Pinkie?" The pink-haired Huntress shrugged, finishing her drink in a final large gulp. "Why not?" Her voice reflected none of the fear that either of her partners were displaying. "You know what a Stygian is, right?" Wookie asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Big wolf-thing? Pointy back? I cut one's head off back at the academy?" She counted on each finger as she went. "That was a regular Zinogre. Stygians are...worse. Much worse. They call them the Infernal Overlords for a reason." He was trying with everything he could muster to press the severity of the situation on his partner. Vinyl sat between them, feeling like she was watching a tennis match. Wookie would spike the conversation to Pinkie, and she would just lob it back to him with delightful indifference. Vinyl could tell he was getting frustrated. When he had finished eating, he pushed his plate away and turned towards Pinkie. "I'm vetoing this. This is a bad idea, and I don't want to be puppy chow." "Is that how it's going to be?" Pinkie cocked her head again, sometimes it was cute, but the unnatural severity in her voice made the gesture a little more towards frightening. "Are you going to 'veto' when Guildmaster Luna tells us where Alatreon is? Are you going to stay here and hide? You knew what you were getting into when you decided to become a Hunter, Wookie Love. You knew it would be dangerous. You knew there was a chance of death. Now, get off your feet and let's go. If we can't beat this thing, how can we ever hope to strike down Alatreon?" "Pinkie! Wait!" Wookie stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her to face him. "Don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. We're not the only ones who can hunt down Alatreon. There are hunters who are better equipped and better trained." "So? What happens if they fail? Or the Hunters below them? Or even lower? What happens if this thing tears the Guild down to just us? Then what?" Pinkie asked, narrowing her eyes. "I'm not going to take that chance. And you shouldn't, either." She pulled away and made her way toward the boat. Vinyl got up and followed her. "She makes a very strong argument." The musician said as she passed Wookie. He gritted his teeth and grabbed his helmet off the bar. He put it on and followed the other two. "I'm really going to regret this." He said, mostly to himself. As their boat got further from Tanzia, Wookie had gazed back at the Port. He could swear that another boat had taken off and was following them. /)(\ There was a two-week lapse where they had not entered the Tundra, and they remembered why as soon as they were off the boat. Pinkie's teeth started chattering and she crossed her arms over her chest, clouds of steam billowing out of her mouth with each breath. The other two Hunters weren't any better equipped for the cold. In fact, Pinkie had the warmest set of armor on, but that didn't help when the icy wind cut through you like a knife. "This monster doesn't hide." Vinyl said, taking sips from her Hot Drink until she could feel her fingertips again. "It doesn't run. It doesn't flinch. This will be Tartarus on earth very soon." She finished her drink, as did her partners. "If you're having second thoughts..." Pinkie shook her head and slapped Wookie's hand down before he could interject. "Then let's go." They set off from the base camp, crunching through the snow. There was only a thin dusting before the snow became as solid as concrete, and the heavily armored trio didn't even crack the surface of it. Wookie looked back as the camp dropped out of view. He had a nagging feeling that would not go away. He shook it off, and sprinted a bit to catch back up with the girls. They descended into the valley, and there stood the monster. It was at least twice the size of the Zinogre that had attacked the academy, but it was almost identical in every other way, save for the black fur and crimson claws. It swished its head around, sniffing the air, before it turned a blood-red eye onto the Hunters. They noticed that the beast appeared to be missing it's left eye. A low snarl echoed through the valley as it stalked forward. The hardened snow cracked easily under the weight of the massive creature. A few moments of silent looks between the Hunters, and they scattered in three different directions. Pinkie did the blind charge, weapons drawn. Wookie took off to the left, and Vinyl to the right. The latter strummed the chords out on her guitar as she ran. The Sword user was trying to flank the Fang Wyvern. Pinkie had closed the gap quickly, but her victory was short lived as the Stygian reared up onto its hind legs briefly before diving forward. It dug its claws into the ground and smashed its head into the Dual Blader, sending her flying backwards. She hit the ground and rolled back onto her feet, immediately charging towards her target. The monster rose up again, but was greeted this time by two weapons, one bashing into each of its haunches, that sent it careening towards the ground. Pinkie ran up to the fallen beast and sunk one blade into the soft spot on its back. Her smirk turned to genuine terror as she noticed hundreds of black and red striped beetles crawling around under the Stygian's thick, black fur. She reeled backwards, leaving a thin coat of slime where her blade had punctured. "What are these things?!" She yelled, stomping on a few of the bugs that had come off when she withdrew her weapon. An answer never came, because the monster recovered. It planted its left foreleg into the ground, and with amazing dexterity made a 360 degree rotation, slamming all three Hunters with the paddle on the end of its tail. They were sent sprawling in different directions, and Vinyl was the first to get back on her feet. The Stygian turned towards her and planted its front feet firmly into the ground. It tilted its head back and began to howl. She watched in terror as her partners got to their feet, only to be met with a bolt of red lightning crashing down on them. She dropped her weapon and fell to her knees as the beast began bearing down on her. "No...Not again." Tears welled up in her eyes. "More people have died for me." She stared up into the Stygian's lone eye. She could see herself reflected behind the red glow. She remembered when her last hunting partner had sliced out the left eye. She saw it all happening again. The only difference is that this time, she wasn't going to run. She grabbed the neck of her guitar and wheeled it around, smashing it hard into the side of the monster's face. Blue lightning sprung into the air when she connected, sending the beast reeling away. It staggered a bit before it regained composure. This time, it bore down on the musician with blinding speed, mouth open. Its fangs almost seemed to glitter as Vinyl faced her death head on. What happened in the time that it took for the Stygian to close in on Vinyl was about as likely as lightning striking the same place four times. Wookie closed in and crushed the shield into the right side of the Fang Wyvern's face, throwing its head, open mouthed, to the left. On that side, in the split second in which it faced her, Pinkie rammed a single Spectral Demolisher into the roof of the creature's mouth. As soon as she had sunk the blade, she drew her right leg back and kicked the monster's bottom jaw, slamming it shut and sending her blade rocketing through the air. Blood freed itself from the top of the Wyvern's mouth and showered the trio as it flung its head side to side. It backed up, roaring in pain. Pinkie held her right hand to the sky and caught the flying blade effortlessly. They began to close in when a loud crack drew their attention. A heavy thud came from the Stygian, and they saw what appeared to be an oversized arrow lodged into its good eye. There was a moment where it howled in pain before the arrow exploded, silencing it with the removal of the monster's head. The body slumped to the ground, and the beetles scattered away from the corpse of their host. "Grooooooossssssss!" Pinkie pointed, her face horror stricken. "What? They're just Dracophage Bugs..." Wookie said, shaking his head and chuckling before he was cut off. Another arrow hit the ground and he drew his shield up over his face, but Vinyl reacted quickly, using her guitar like a golf club and smacking it away before it exploded. "Not bad." They heard a voice from near the body of their query. "You guys are a bigger threat than we thought before." A Hunter approached them, his silver armor shining bright despite the cloud cover. It was armor crafted from a Silver Rathalos, the true king of the skies. The armor was reminiscent of a Japanese shogun, with only the eyes of the wearer visible. The skirt of his armor was split in the back, but it wrapped around to the front of his legs. The weapon on his back was clearly made from the same monster, as the silver plating indicated, and was almost the same size as he was. Three massive spikes protruded from the back of the weapon. The new Hunter folded his arms across his chest as his two partners joined him. The one to his right was the Heavy Gunner who had shot down the Stygian. She was adorned the armor of the Golden Rathian, which, while missing half the skirt and gold in coloration, was almost identical to Pinkie's old set of armor. The cap that sat atop the Gunner's head was quite different from the Blademaster helmet that Pinkie had worn. The goggles were pulled down over her eyes, and she carried her weapon at the ready. Her Heavy Bowgun, the Empress's Garden, had the look of a high-caliber sniper rifle, and was covered in the pink scales of its host, the Pink Rathian. To the leader's left stood the Hammer wielder. A mountain of a man who stood a clean foot taller than the leader of his group. He wore a full set of Steel Uragaan armor, which made him look like a human tank. He had to be solid muscle under the armor, because there was no way he'd be able to move otherwise. The blown-out shoulders of his armor made him appear to have no neck, and his helmet covered his face completely. Pinkie wondered to herself if he could see her. He held, with one hand, the Hammer known as Onslaught. There was a Guild symbol on each side of it, but it otherwise appeared to be an anvil on a stick. "Who...Are you people?!" Wookie had lost his temper. They had been robbed of their victory. A feeling in the back of his mind had been warning him of this, but he didn't want to believe it. "We're Hunters. Just like you." The leader spoke with a smug undertone in his voice. "Though, we're much more than that, really. We are the late Guildmaster's hunting partners." Pinkie had been taking a swig from another Hot Drink, but spit it everywhere when he spoke. "You're Celestia's team?!" She yelled, shocked. This was the equivalent of standing in front of a royal family's Honor Guard. In fact, they were probably better trained than that. "What are you doing out here?" "Carrying out the last wishes of our leader." The silver-armored man drew his Great Sword and brought it to bear, clutching it in front of him in both hands. "You see, the Stygian Zinogre is about to claim three more victims. And we are going to return home with the sad news of your deaths, having barely escaped the monster ourselves." "The Stygian is dead." Pinkie pointed at the corpse. "He's talking about them, Pinkie." Wookie spoke as he unsheathed his sword. "They're going to kill us and tell everyone that the monster did it." "Wait. What? Why?!" Pinkie's voice rose in volume, a steady crescendo with each word. "Celestia's orders. She said that if she didn't survive Alatreon's attack that we were to hunt you down and bring you to justice." The Heavy Gunner spoke. Her voice was light, and she almost bounced with glee. She was enjoying this, perhaps a little too much. "If you lay down your weapons, it'll make this a lot easier on everyone." The tank's voice came through the armor. He sounded almost robotic, as his helmet caused a reverberation in each word. "Guys...I'm...I'm sorry." Vinyl spoke, her voice breaking and tears pouring out from under her sunglasses. "Why are you sorry?" Pinkie asked, drawing her Dual Blades. "Because, had we not come out here to hunt this thing, we wouldn't be in this situation." She hiccuped during her pauses, and she raised an arm up to wipe her face. "They were going to follow us no matter where we went, Vinyl." Wookie's voice was calm, comforting as he spoke to her. Despite their situation, he had cooled down and was preparing for the worst. "They would have followed us to the ends of the earth. It wasn't a matter of 'Where', just a matter of 'When'." He clutched the hilt of his sword tightly. "Yeah! On your feet, Scratchie! I'm not dying here, and neither are you!" Pinkie grinned, spinning her blades a few times. Vinyl looked up at them, mystified. They both stood, defiant, in the face of impossible odds. She choked back another sob and readied herself. This was probably going to be her last Hunt, if not her last minutes. She drew a deep, steadying breath, then strummed her guitar loudly. Pinkie took off like a shot, her body weaving up and down as she Demon Dashed towards their foes. The leader stepped into her path and cleaved his blade horizontally through the air. The air was all he cut, though, as the Huntress jumped effortlessly over his weapon's arc. The shock was clear in his eyes, and a smirk flashed across the Dual Blader's face as blue energy burst from her eyes and the purple aura leapt from her body. She swung her right hand down towards his face, but he brought his weapon up to guard himself. He gritted his teeth and braced himself, but there was no impact. He lowered the weapon slightly and was greeted with Pinkie's fist crushing into his face. He felt hot blood spatter out of his nose and into his mouth. The silver-armored Hunter sputtered as he staggered backwards. Pinkie picked up her weapon and dashed forward again, but was cut off by the tank's Hammer smashing into the ice inches from her face. When Pinkie was cut off, Wookie made his attack. He sprinted towards the Heavy Gunner, who had been trying to escape the fray so she could open fire. She turned quickly and blasted a shell at Wookie. He stopped and swung his sword straight down, cleaving the Crag shot in half and sending it in opposite directions in his wake. They popped helplessly and fell to the ground. Her second shot came and it stuck into his shield. He grinned and his eyes flashed. "Here's a little trick my friend taught me!" He drew his shield arm across his torso, then threw the piece of equipment with every ounce of strength he had. It spun through the air, making a b-line for the Gunner. She ducked, and it sailed over her head, skimming the top of her cap. As she stood up, Wookie had already closed the gap. A small squeak of fear escaped her and she covered her face. Wookie, rather than slash at her, actually swept her legs with his own. When she was taken off her feet, he planted his sword hand firmly on the ground and roundhouse kicked her. Stars erupted behind her eyes, and the world was spiraling around her as he launched her into the air. His shield returned to him as he chased her skyward. He pressed his shield into her stomach as they were airborne and slammed her hard into the ground. The ferocity of his attack left her crumpled and bloody. The girl was alive, but she would not recover easily. Her fingers twitched a few times and she went still, blacking out. Wookie turned his back on her just in time for a projectile Pinkie to crash into him, sending them both rolling across the ground. "Ugh...Sorry, Wook." The pink-haired Huntress said, her overlaying voices sounding sincere as she got uneasily to her feet. "The Gunner is already down?" She looked at the broken girl to her right. "You must have been pretty brutal. Incoming!" Pinkie pushed him out of the way before he could answer, catching Vinyl as gently as she could. The musicians sunglasses had been broken, and her magenta eyes reflected an expected amount of rage towards that situation. Pinkie set her friend on her feet, and they stared down their foes. The leader, who had removed his helmet because his own blood was starting to fill it, stood with his Great Sword at the ready. Besides the bloody nose, it didn't look like another attack had landed on him. "Neither of you could hit him again?" Wookie asked, a bit of fear breaking his voice. "That guy with the Hammer is a dick." Vinyl's answer came, fury in her voice. Neither of the Huntress's had their weapons. They had lost them in the tussle. "Distract them. I have an idea." "Ummm...Weaponless, over here!" Pinkie waved her hands. "And they're getting closer." "Take this, then." Wookie tossed his sword to his partner, keeping his shield. "Should hold you over. It's pretty much the same as one of yours." "Good point." The Huntress responded and ran at their attackers. Wookie was close behind her, unencumbered by the sword, he was actually keeping pace with the Demonized Huntress. There was a split-second before the Hunters clashed with each other. Wookie folded his arms in and smashed through the silver-armored Hunter's attack. He had actually gotten in too quickly for the Great Sword user and had caught him before he could bring the blade crashing down. It sent him tumbling backwards onto the spikes sticking out of the back of his blade. They punctured his armor and deep into his back. He coughed, blood spraying from his mouth as he rolled onto his stomach. It was a matter of moments before he blacked out. Wookie pulled the Great Sword out of his foe's back and contemplated a swift decapitation, but decided against it as he threw the weapon to the side. Pinkie was playing a run-around game with the tank. He swung the Onslaught wildly through the air, but couldn't seem to hit the nimble Huntress. She struck him when she could, but his armor was far too thick. Her weapon sparked as she hit him, but she was barely scratching the armor. She continued to dance around, but it wasn't pointless. She had recovered both of her own blades. The Dual Blader put Wookie's horizontally across the small of her back and drew her own weapons. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vinyl waving frantically. The other Huntress was crouched down, her other hand clutching the grip of the Heavy Bowgun. Pinkie nodded, but she never took her eyes off the Hammer wielder. "Time to do a little dance, I think." Pinkie's voices came clear and there was a smile in them. She ran towards the tank, side-stepping his first swing and jumping up onto his shoulders. He didn't even budge under her weight. She put the Spectral Demolishers in their sheaths and grabbed his shoulders with her hands, doing a perfect handstand. He tilted his head back to look up at the grinning Huntress. "Time to go for a spin!" She twisted her legs, then let them unwind, causing her body to spin. The ice below him made it impossible for her momentum to not take control. She pushed herself up into the air as she heard the telltale crack of a Bowgun firing. A deep, echoing thud resounded from the tank and the Crag shot had buried itself in his chest plate. He grabbed onto it with his left hand and tried to tug it out, but it was no use. The shell exploded, blowing his hand off and shattering his armor. He collapsed backwards and Pinkie rammed both of her blades into the downed Hunter's exposed chest, drawing Wookie's sword and driving it between her own weapons. The three Hunters gathered together in the middle of the valley, all around the body of the Hammer wielder. Vinyl had recovered her instrument, and held her broken sunglasses in her left hand. Wookie pulled his sword out of their enemy's chest, placing it in its sheath. Pinkie removed her weapons as well, returning them to their rightful place. There was a moment of silence where the wind didn't blow, no monsters in the distance made a sound, and the three were left in complete silence in the middle of the bloodbath. They shared a few silent looks before collectively looking down at the body of the tank. "Guys..." Pinkie was the first to speak. "I think we may get in trouble for this..."