GAH! I hate writers block! I've had it for several months now and it took me this long to upload chapter 5! In any case...now that the block is gone...I've finally uploaded this, and I can focus on commissions now. Sorry for the wait everyone! Please enjoy!

Characters in the story are © me.

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Wrath of the Tiger



Watching Toshiro walk out of class, Axel couldn't help but look a little jealous. This class was sooo boring. Mr.Hiroshi was a cool teacher and all, given how he interacts with the students, he wasn't as formal as the remaining staff which was great. But he hated how long the teacher's lectures lasted. “Why does he get a break from this torment?”



[Heh heh! You're just upset you didn't come up with the excuse before Toshiro. Besides Toshiro can handle this school work in his sleep, YOU'RE the one that needs to pay more attention.] Synn remarked from within the Moonstone bracelet on his partner's arm.



“Oh comeon now YOU'RE lecturing me?” Axel groaned, laying on his desk when he caught the sight of a strange looking vine poking out from out of the window. They were three stories up...how could something like that be growing so far above them. “Synn? Are there plant type Valnitians on your world?”



The comment confused Synn. Not due to him not knowing, but because it came out of the blue. He had to wait until Axel turned the bracelet so that he was pointing at the right direction. [Ibara Aka. The red Thorn is here.]



Listening quietly, Axel lowered his voice to a whisper himself. “Red Thorn? Should we evacuate everyone?”



[We could. But nobody would believe us. I do have an idea though... so listen carefully. This is the only way it's going to work.]



For the better part of a minute, all was quiet save for Mr. Hiroshi's speech. Axel kept one eye on the vine steadily growing and trying to invade the classroom, good. It looked like it would take another few minutes for it to completely spread. “Mr. Hiroshi sir. May I use the restroom?”




“First Toshiro and now YOU want to leave the class?” The teacher sighed and pointed to the door. “Five minutes. If you're not back by then...”



Axel was already making his way to the door, sliding it open. “Don't worry sir...I shouldn't be long!” He grinned nervously, before stepping out of the class. Once he slid the door shut he took a deep breath. “Alright Synn...this better work.”



With a sigh, Axel watched the alien monster bat materialize from the bracelet from his arm. Synn's tail flailed in the air some, the jewel at it's tip shimmering. “Unless you want your classmates to become the prey to the Ibara Aka, we need to work fast. But I need someplace where I can be submerged in the dark. Otherwise it won't be as effective.”



Axel nodded, running down the hall, with Synn following behind in large strides. Once Axel was certain that nobody was occupying the restroom, he pressed down on the light switch, leaving them fumbling in the dark, save for the jewel on the bat's tail and neck. “OK you have your darkness now.”




A loud alarm rang throughout the building suddenly. Liz looked up from her seat to locate the source of the sound. It sounded like the fire alarm, but she couldn't smell any smoke. But as soon as Mr. Hiroshi opened the sliding door, a mass of smoke billowed out and engulfed through room, leaving each of the students to cover their mouths with either a cloth or their own shirt. “Alright kids form a line and move on out.” He replied muffledly through a white piece of fabric.



The whole school was in disarray, every classroom opening, and the students getting into single file lines and following the exit plan for the school as they descended down the stairway. To Liz it felt strange. While there was smoke, she couldn't smell any sort of fire. Chemical spill? No...then there'd be hazmats suits and everyone would be in quarantine. For once she was actually thankful that Toshiro was out of the building when all of this was happening, she wouldn't have to worry about him hurting himself.


And that was when she felt something hit the back of her head. Looking down the hall of the first floor, she caught the sight of the same green wolf from the other day, it's head just beneath the clouds of smoke and waving a paw in her direction, gesturing her to follow as it dashed through the hall.



“I-” When she realized that the class had gone on without her, she decided she didn't have anything better to do, and chased after the wolf. There had to be some sort of connection, last time she encountered the beast, there was an earthquake not too long before it had first appeared.



Thankfully, her search wouldn't take much longer. The wolf lead her to what looked like a drain pipe. “Below?”



“Your friends are doing everything they can to keep you and your classmates safe. If you want to keep THEM safe, please follow me.” The wolf remarked, not unkindly but gesturing towards the manhole cover, and with a stamp of it's paw, the cover seemed to just burst loose.



“How can you even be speaking? And how'd you do that?” Liz asked, climbing into the opening, being careful not to slip and fall.



Once she was safely below the surface, the wolf followed shortly behind. With another stamp of it's petite paw, the ground shook slightly and the cover came back down to it's resting position. “Do you want to spend time talking? Or would you rather follow me and avoid getting into a very messy situation.”



The two statements fell on deaf ears for awhile. But once the ground above them started shaking, and she saw what looked to be tendrils of vines slipping through the cracks in the ceiling she didn't need much more convincing to start running along with her canine companion.




Axel was using the smoke as a cover, thankfully Synn's illusions paid off. Everyone in the school has left the scene. From the outside, none of the Ibara Aka's vines would be visible, so long as his partner's powers remained in effect, and the school was properly evacuated under the guise of a chemical mishap that required the school to be emptied for the next 12 hours.


Once the coast was clear and the students and teachers were well away from the school, and Axel had been able to safely leave the building via the back entrance, He reunited with Synn who looked absolutely giddy. “I think you WANTED school to end early. Trying to skip out on exams?”



“I wish...those are in two weeks! I couldn't find Liz among the crowd evacuating. Are you sure she got out safely?” Axel asked with a hint of worry, looking at his school which had been enshrouded in thick, red thorny vines.


“Well...” Synn couldn't well tell Axel the truth. It might stun the boy. “She's fine I'm sure of it. Besides that's Toshiro's mate. You really should find your own.” He cackled, sporting a big grin before stopping abruptly and grabbing his partner by the waist and darting to the side. Non too soon either did the ground they previously occupied morph, turning into a set of deadly spikes that would have torn the pair apart.



“We're not alone kid.” Synn hissed, keeping hold of the boy while searching his surroundings for the perpetrator. “Another Terrarius member...He's somewhere, I can smell it. Come on out! I'd rather that we not make a mess of the place.”



To his side, in the school garden, Synn could see a shadow that was just slightly above the average human height. It was 7 feet in height and judging on it's physic he could tell it wasn't human. But then...humans didn't have fluffy ears prodruding upward, or a slender tail that twitched behind them. The figure decided to come out of the shadows only after Synn had addressed it, revealing itself to be a white tiger with black stripes covering it's body. It was anthropomorphized so it was standing on it's hind legs just as a human's would, and wore khaki pants to cover itself moderately enough. It's upper body was a different story, short white fur and a chiseled body that put most body builders to shame, with stocky muscular biceps on each arm a testimate to it's strength. What really set it apart, and what seemed to put Synn on the defensive, setting Axel to the side, was it's eyes. Yellow cat like eyes that looked as if they were staring into his very soul, threatening to rip him apart just for gazing into those orbs.



“You wanted me to come out.” The tiger rumbled in a deep baritone voice. “You're going to wish you hadn't.”



Axel wanted to call out the Tiger on his actions, but he stopped short when Synn hid his figure with a wing, nervousness visable on the monster bat's features. “What do you want from us?”


The tiger didn't reply immediately, it simply stared into Synn's eyes as if gauging what his opponant was going to do next, but when he deemed that there would be no threat, he finally responded. “From you? Nothing too important. Just the gem on your neck.”




Synn took one step back, glaring at the tiger. “You want my moon stone? No deal. If you're a Valnitian then you have a gem of your own don't you?”



“What I have is irrelevant.” The tiger stepped forward, a branch crunched under his foot as he did. “Now are you going to hand it over? Or will I have turn you into a trinket and snatch the gem from your sealed state?”



Axel climbed onto Synn's back, and glared at the feline. “Don't think that just because Synn's from Necross that he'll be helpless in the daytime. We won't hand over his gem. Besides why do YOU want it?”



The tiger growled low, wondering how a small creature such as this human could dare to defy him. “I believe I just told you. It's irrelevant. What matters is that you have it, and I want it.”



“Then you'll have to take it from us!” Axel and Synn shouted in unison, the great bat springing into the air and taking to the skies. “In physical combat we're at a disadvantage.” Synn remarked, staring at the tiger below who just remained stationary, watching them soar. “And unlike Virtue, I don't think this guy really cares about having a fair fight.”



“Then we give him exactly what he wants.” Before Synn could argue, Axel climbed up to his ear and began whispering. When Synn's eyes bugged out, Axel figured he saw the legitimacy of his plan. “Think you can do that?”



“Right now? If I'm left to focus solely on the task at hand...maybe 5 minutes.” Synn commented, and started getting into position. “This is crazy, you know that right?”



With a smile, Axel climbed back down and remained seated over Synn's back. “If it works, then that's all that matters.”



When all their talking was done, Synn surged downward at the white tiger, mouth wide open as he shot a few fire balls out of his maw. The tiger however, decided to simply wait out the attacks that just fizzled on contact. “Your illusions won't work on my Bat.”



Synn stomped back to the ground, and swung his tail to create a dust storm, clouding up the surrounding area. While this didn't have any long standing effects, it did force the tiger to cover his eyes, and give Synn just enough time to close the gap, claws grabbing at his adversaries shoulders and a big grin strewn across his face. “You know...just because I'm Necros doesn't mean I'm defenseless.”



The tiger didn't even bother to pull Synn off and simply stared him in the eyes. “You can't do anything during the day. You're just giving me what I want by getting up close.”



“No creature is without it's defense mechanisms. I'm not a fighting class Valnitian...but I do have ONE attack that while not especially powerful...at point blank range, it will be quite a painful experience.” Synn growled as he stared into his foe's eyes. Even so close, and caught by the bat, his eyes didn't seem the least bit worried. {no! I have to do this. Axel's counting on me!} “DARKNESS ECHOES!”



While holding tight, Synn's body started pulsing a bit, before his jaws opened wide and a great piercing sound echoed around them. It was high pitched but the force it was Emitting was shaking the branches on nearby tree's, and breaking a couple windows in the nearby school. Axel had time to cover up his ears in time due to knowing what Synn was capable of, but the Tiger hadn't been so lucky. And it's eyes closed finally, as it tried to endure the ear grating sounds that, after a couple seconds longer, created a explosive effect when the monster Bat let go of him, sending the tiger flying into a set of tree's and knocking them off their roots. With a smack of his jaws, the sound receded, and Synn gave Axel a poke on his hat to let him know it was safe. “I think we won.”



Axel uncovered his ears, and looked to the chaos that Synn's attack did to the garden and a sweat drop emerged. “I think the school's gardener is going to have a fit...”



Synn chuckled to himself, then stopped when he heard something move. He quickly turned his attention back to his fallen opponent and realized it was gone. “Crap...where'd he go now?” Synn asked, looking around, and even walking over to inspect the fallen tree's.”



“Up here!” The tiger announced with a growl, but by the time Synn looked up, his opponant was already at him, hands locked together and slammed into the top of the bat's skull!



The impact from the tiger's attack left a small hole in the ground, where Synn's head remained locked in place. “nngh...that was very dirty.”



“You have zero room to talk Bat. Your clan is all about deception, and it's a wonder why we allowed you into our lands.” The tiger huffed, grabbing Synn by the neck and lifting him off the ground, glancing at the glowing gem on his neck. “Now...I believe it's time to claim my prize.”



Synn struggled in the Tiger's grip, gagging as claws dug into his neck. This went on for a few seconds, before he went limp. Suddenly, he started grinning and his eyes even glinted. “I believe it's time too.”



The phrase caught the Tiger by surprise, when Synn's body started melting away, evaporating into a cloud of black smoke, same with Axel's. When the two mingled, it created a smoke cloud that would not disperse. “What is this? Another one of your tricks?”



The tiger waited for a response, but he never got one. That made him realize what this smoke cloud was really about! “You're fleeing? I won't let you!” At this point, the feline began running, making a beeline out of the smoke, but no matter how fast he ran, it seemed the smoke was following him. “This is pretty elaborate for someone who's powers aren't even at 100 percent yet!”



The Tiger continued to run, searching through the smoke for five minutes, it was only then that the smoke slowly began to disappear, and he found himself in the middle of nowhere. In a rice field of all places! “I'll get those two if its the last thing I do.”



Back at the school, Axel and Synn poked their heads out of a set of bushes, big grins on their faces as they shared a high five. “Well I don't think he'll underestimate us next time.”



Synn only nodded, but when he saw Toshiro and his group leaving the school grounds, he couldn't help but wonder who the new girl was. He was about to jump out to follow them, but found himself collapsing on the floor. “Axe? Mind if I take a nap?”



“Given that Tiger probably has no idea where he's run off to, I think you deserve it.” With a glow of light, Synn began to form himself around Axel's wrist in the form of the moonstone bracelet. “I guess I'll go follow along and see what the group's up to.” Axel remarked, and with a smile and a stretch, began following his friends. The one thing that neither Axel nor Toshiro could figure out, was where Liz went off to.



(To be continued)