Thanks to those who told me it's spelled Zoenthropie, I've been trying
to find that for a while now. My copy of Sorcerer Hunters is on a bad
tape, and that's the part where it messes up. I haven't heard it anywhere
else. [The manga is hard to find where I live.] Anyway, it's been
corrected and thanks again.
Nerima Park
West turned to Carrot and frowned slightly. "I hate to be the bearer of
bad news, but I don't think he's imagining things."
"I know, in the manga called Sorcerer Hunters there's another guy who
goes by Carrot Glace. When he's hit with a magic spell he turns into that
by absorbing the magic energy. I don't have a clue how the hell Kon
pulled this one of," replied the man simply.
"Why isn't it attacking us?" asked Jones in a shaky voice as she eyed
the creature in terror. Almost in answer to her question a huge set of
black claws slammed through the roof tearing a hole through it causing
everyone inside to jump in terror. A moment later the car was thrown
sideways, it remained on its wheels though as it slid across the gravel
road for about ten feet.
"Shit! What the hell are we gonna do?" cried Hugo in terror as he picked
himself up off the floor.
Carrot smiled as he shook his head and slowly rose from the steering
wheel, his forehead was bleeding slightly but his hat had remained on his
head somehow. "What the hell are you doing?" said West as he watched the
man open his door.
"No you fool!" screamed Jackson as he dove for him and tried to grab him
through the window. The car was jolted again throwing the passengers
around inside as the creature rammed the side of the car, this time
however Zoenthropie's claws sliced into the back passenger door on the
right side and tore it off of the car. Jones screamed as the massive
almost human like claw shot inside the car and started to feel around
near her. The creature couldn't fit more than its wrist inside at the
moment, but the doorway was quickly bending and tearing away to
accommodate more of its arm.
Outside Carrot stood on the side of the road watching as the monster
tore at the car completely ignoring it's surroundings. He could see the
passengers inside move away from the creature as it reached inside. He
steeled himself and stepped towards the car again. "Hey ugly."
Zoenthropie slowly turned it's bulk towards him with its claw still
inside the vehicle and snarled. Carrot lifted his arm and fired the
handgun three times into the monster's face.
The beast reared back in rage and pain tearing its claw out of the car
in an instant and instinctively covering its wounded face. Carrot aimed
again, but another shot stopped him as Jackson raised his own firearm and
shot the thing in the chest six times.
Zoenthropie turned away and dashed into the trees around them.
Jackson panted heavily as the others emerged from the car looking tired
and worn out. Carrot walked over casually and smirked. "It took you long
enough Jackson."
"I lost my pistol when he hit us the first time, took me a minute to
find it," replied the man with a shrug.
"Is it dead?" asked Jones nervously as she walked over to them.
"Nope," replied Carrot simply. "I doubt it'll be back anytime soon. It
should turn back into a man soon."
West's jaw dropped in shock. "Excuse me, did you say turn back into a
man?"
"That's right," replied Carrot as calmly as ever, he completely ignored
the stares of his companions.
"That's impossible, the mass alone is too much," cried Jones as she
pushed her hair out of her eyes in frustration.
"Not impossible, he's managed to recreate Jusenkyo curses, that
pigtailed boy I was talking to turns into a girl. I saw him do it myself.
It's reasonable to believe that Kon has been using magic on this island.
I know some of the attractions can." Carrot leaned against the remains of
the car and sighed.
"They aren't attractions remember?" said Hugo in a dangerous tone.
"I just like the word better than experiments," replied the man with a
small shrug. "Let's get what we can out of this thing and get moving, I
think we can assume that the whole island is hostile now."
West and Jackson nodded grimly while the other two merely moved away to
sulk against the nearby trees.
In the tree's nearby a figure stood in the shadows watching carefully.
"No sir, the plan failed. They drove it off." She paused for a moment as
another figure appeared behind her, instead of noticing she continued to
talk into the small microphone that jutted out from her headset. "I don't
think he'll be very useful to us, they shot him up pretty good. If he
lives he'll need medical soon." There was another pause in the
conversation and the girl frowned slightly. "Yes sir, they still have the
weapons with them," she winced at the shouting that came from the other
side of the receiver. "I'll take care of it."
The other figure that sat waiting in the shadows decided to speak up.
"You know, that red head looks a little like you, but she's older and has
bigger..." he was cut off as the girl punched him in the gut.
"You talk to much."
"So which way do we take?" asked Hugo nervously as he approached the men
in front of the group. West, Carrot, and Jackson were all walking
together with Jones and Hugo behind them.
"Well, all we found inside the car was a flashlight and the lunch we ate
a few minutes ago. I say we go back the way we came, we aren't equipped
to deal with new territory," said Jackson calmly.
"Our first priority is to get off this island," said Carrot calmly. "If
we go back to the center we'll be killed." He squatted down on the ground
and began to draw a crude map in the dirt. "There's a dock here, I bet
there's a supply ship that comes through here. It's just a matter of
when."
"That could take as much as a month to come in," warned Jackson.
"With this many to feed? I doubt it, the dock didn't look that big on
the map, I'm betting it comes at least once a week," the boy stood up and
dusted his pants off. "In any case, it's better than dealing with the
contents of that armory with only two handguns to our name."
Jackson nodded in agreement. "Kon will most likely expect us to return
to the visitors center. He might have a guard there just in case though,
and we'll be moving through unfamiliar territory for pretty much the
whole way."
"It's past the future compound, we've got a day or two's walk to get
through this area here until we even get there, it looked like mostly
wilderness on the map in the car." Carrot circled the large area between
them and the future grounds. "In any case it won't take much time for him
to figure out what's going on, once he knows we're heading for the ship
he'll definitely send someone to stop us."
"Like he already has?" said West casually.
"There'll be someone waiting for us at the docks, probably somebody
armed," replied Jackson. "Or have you forgotten about that room he showed
us earlier?"
The psychiatrist looked away with a cold stare as he realized what the
man was implying. "So, we're probably not going to leave here alive
then?"
"Not all of us," agreed Carrot.
A few hours later they found themselves in a grassy valley that seemed
completely open, in the distance a small town could be seen resting
quietly. There where several others arranged in a familiar pattern,
Carrot raised his eyebrow and said nothing as he trekked forward.
"Hold it right there," said a voice from behind them and the group
turned slowly to see two figures standing in the center of the road
staring them down. "So, you escaped that pervert I sent after you did
you? You won't get away from us!" cried the short red haired girl who
stood in front of a taller blonde man.
"Lina Inverse," sighed Carrot.
"Who's the kid?" asked Jackson.
"Probably one of the most dangerous beings on the island," said Carrot
as he turned to face the girl with his gun drawn.
Gourry jumped out in front of her with his sword drawn. "You'll have to
go through me!"
"I don't want to fight you, all we want is to get off the island," said
the man coolly. He watched the swordsman very closely and stepped back
holding the gun closely at his side.
"I'm afraid we can't allow that," said the girl casually as she stared
West straight in the eyes. The doctor smiled slightly at this and stepped
back.
"Well, I don't think she's kidding," he said with a small shrug. "I
think she's crazy enough to kill us too."
Carrot eyed them both coldly. "Why don't you come with us? There's a lot
more to this world than the island, someone with your talents could go a
long way in the real world if you're careful. Honor, money, and glory
could be yours for the taking."
"Are you nuts?" whispered Hugo harshly.
Lina stopped for a moment and lowered her hands; they had been pointed
at the group. She seemed to consider this for a moment. "It's tempting,
but I'm afraid I can't be bought. You see, we are programmed for
loyalty."
"If that's true, what's wrong with the Saiyans?" countered West. This
got an unusual reaction from both of the characters before them.
"You don't know what you're talking about," growled Lina as tears
started to flow down her face. Carrot slowly began to realize that it
might have been the wrong thing for West to bring up. Gourry moved out of
the way as the girl started to growl under her breath. "Zel, Amelia,
those monsters!" A steady light began to grow in her hands as she stared
them down with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.
"Oh, shit!" said Hugo as he started to run into the field behind him.
Jackson was about to join him, until Carrot raised his hand and shot the
girl dead in the face.
Carrot watched the girl fall to the ground as the light dissipated from
her hands with a shocked expression on her face, her bandanna fluttered
away, severed in half by the shot as she fell dead on the ground. His
world seemed to move in slow motion as a scream came through the air and
a sudden sharp pain erupted on his face as the swordsman struck out in
his rage. Another report sounded and he looked down to find his own gun
still pointing at the girl. Slowly he reached up and touched his face
pulling his hand away to reveal it was covered in blood. He turned to see
the swordsman fall down almost on top of the girl, as he seemed to be
falling from a blow to his side, there was a vacant look in his eyes as
he fell. His head turned slightly, just before he hit the ground
revealing a large hole filled with a blackish red liquid.
Carrot's hearing faded back into existence as the piercing scream of a
woman filled his ears. He felt the world fade out of existence as his
left eye began to burn as the blood from his wound flow into it. The
world became a blur as he fell down and did not move any longer. The last
thing he remembered was Jones screaming his name.
Kon frowned as he watched the group in the cameras. "This is most
unacceptable."
"What do you want to do boss?" asked the fat man as he typed lazily
changing the views a few times.
"Wait. They have quite a few more areas to get through before they reach
the docks, and my guards stand ready for them when they do arrive." Kon
snarled at the luck they had so far.
Hugo staggered as he glanced around at his new surroundings gasping for
breath, he was in a small wooded area that was just off the road
desperately looking around for some sort of escape from the strange and
deadly place he found himself in. He stumbled and fell over in a small
stream.
Cussing to himself he stood and composed himself, he had to find a way
back to the road and find the others. It was his best chance at survival
right now. A strange noise caught his attention as he brushed the water
off of himself as best he could and brushed his matted down comb over out
of his eyes. He found himself staring face to face with what looked like
a yellow rat. It was only about six inches long and sat on the leaf of a
rather large fern. He waved his hand as it peered at him fearlessly.
"Shoo! Go away!" it squeaked excitedly and jumped into the bushes. Hugo
turned slowly and took in his surroundings, his leg throbbed in pain as
he took a step and he almost fell over again. Struggling back to his feet
he realized that his ankle had been sprained, but it wasn't a very bad
sprain. "I can at least walk back to the others," he muttered as he
hobbled along through the water. He could see the road from where he was,
and a less steep path ran a little way down the stream that went directly
up to where he could find his way back easily. He stopped when he felt a
slight tingle on his ankle. Without thinking about it he turned to see a
pair of the yellow rodents standing in the water behind him. The squeaked
excitedly and jumped back away from him; he stomped his good foot in the
water and shouted causing them to scatter into the woods again. "What the
hell? I guess they can't take a hint," he turned his attention back
towards the road for a moment and heard a few small splashes behind him.
Once again he found himself being followed. There were three of them
this time, he frowned and lifted a rock from the water and tossed it
towards the creatures. The made an upset sounding rasping noise and
scattered away, Hugo felt the tingle in the water again as this happened.
"Maybe now they get it," he thought to himself as he returned to the task
at hand. He was only about ten yards from the path now.
A few more splashes behind him sounded and he didn't turn around this
time, "They haven't done anything yet, let them follow me. He continued
on his way as the excited chatter of the creatures grew steadily louder
behind him. After a long moment he stepped out of the water and onto the
path, he glanced behind him to see around twenty of the creatures jumping
up and down watching him. The water flashed for a moment and he gasped in
shock as several fish floated by dead. "What the hell?" he peered at the
tiny rodents and noticed their cheeks seemed to glow for a moment as they
made a distinctive sound.
"Chuuu!" the water flashed again, less brightly this time. He shivered
slightly and started up the path again staring back at the strange
creatures. "What the hell was that?"
He turned his attention towards the road again and frowned, freezing in
place as terror gripped his heart. There were hundreds of the small rat
like creatures standing in front of him blocking the path. Almost in
unison they rushed forward like a swarm. In the distance the cries of
pain lasted only about a minute as the path by the road flashed with a
strange light on occasion.
Moments later, it was over and the small yellow creatures seemed to
converge on a single point in the water, which now had a strange red tint
to it.
TBC...
That was evil, but I liked it.
Next time: The group travels through the valley on their way to the
future of Japan, they meet with unexpected dangers as their group is now
much smaller; unfortunately an unpleasant surprise will make the
situation even worse.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203