Monsuno of the Magic Kingdom: Chapter 15
By: jungleboy69

Chapter 15: Night Adventure

"A castle!?" Charger asked with wide eyes, as Lok and the flying Monsuno told the others what they saw. "Yes, my brothers!" Evo replied excitedly. "You should have seen it, it was magnificent!" "A palace by the sea, made of porcelain and marble!!" She added, spreading her wings wide.

"How is that possible?" Long-fang spoke. "There are no castles today.." "Well, where are we?" Boost added. "More importantly, how are we going to get back to our human partners?" He turned to Mystic-blade. "High Shaman, do you have any answer?"

The Winged-Serpent was deep in thought. "I believe there is more to this..." He replied. "I fear my vision is coming to pass." Everyone looked at him in confusion. "Oy, mon" Babeon questioned in concern. "Could it be the dream you had, Far-seer?"

"I believe so..." Mystic-blade replied. "I fear that strange light has taken us to a world, far different from our own." "I have heard tales of countless worlds among the stars." He added, staring up in the sky which was growing darker and stars were appearing. "I never imagined them to be true."

"Brothers, listen." Nite-stone spoke up, his pointed ears pricked up. "I hear something coming." The Blue-Moon Tribe tensed up. "What is it?" Boost snarled. "Is it Backslash and his tribe?" "No," The Jackal replied, his brow furrowed. "It's something else, sounds like a vehicle of some kind."

"Someone must be coming" Lok ordered. "Everyone, head into the forest and stay out of sight" He added. "Don't let anyone hear or see you." The other Monsuno nodded and made their way out of the crater and into the forest.

(Meanwhile...)

The carriage was rolling down the forest path, the kids wanted to stay clear of the village. Mainard steered Tempest from the dirt road to the direction of the fallen stars while Ping, Luciana, Garrick and Malak rode on ahead on some horses, Ping rode on Khan, Luciana and Garrick both rode on Maximus while Malak rode on Sahara. Azad stood on top of the carriage keeping a lookout while the rest rode inside.

Night had fallen and the sounds of the nocturnal echoed all around. Tracy, Kathrin, Jin and Melody huddled close together while the rest took to watching, eagerly waiting for everything. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea." Jin spoke up, nervously. "Maybe, we should head back."

"I'm with Jin." Tracy added. "I have the strange feeling that we are being watched and it's not the owls." Melody nodded her head, keeping silent so she could hear any kind of noise. "Don't worry!" Edgard stated. "So far, so good! No sign of any stupid bandit!"

"Don't let your guard down." Ping replied. "The forest is more dangerous at night; we don't know what's out there." "Shh!!" Mainard whispered excitedly. "We're here, everyone!" Tempest had made it through the woods and they were arriving at the place where the stars had fallen.

Everyone remained still, save for Dianne, Luciana and Melody were buzzing slightly with anticipation, all of them were eager to see actual stars. However, the horses came to a short stop and refused to go any further. "Max, come on!!" Garrick exclaimed, patting on the horse's neck. "It's alright, there's nothing to be afraid off."

"Yeah, Max!" Luciana added. "It's just a large, scary crater; it's not going to hurt you!" Max whinnied nervously and started to back away. He was eager to help the twins when they told him they needed his help, but something was wrong with that strange crater. "It's no good." Malak spoke up, trying to calm Sahara down. "Something's got the horses spooked."

"Then, we'll continue on foot." Azad added, leaping off the carriage. "Come on, sis!!" He exclaimed. "Race you!" "Hey, wait up!" Malak called out, dismounting on Sahara and racing after him. "Wait for us!!" Mainard added as he, Edgard, Dianne and the Corona twins followed behind them.

Ping sighed. "Come on," she called out as she dismounted on Khan. "We better make sure they don't get into trouble." With that, the rest of the girls followed, Kathrin and Jin a little slower than the rest.

When the kids finally arrived however, all they found a large crater about 20 feet in diameter and 7 feet deep. There was... nothing; nothing inside. No rock, no star, nothing but 14 blackened spots within the earth. "What?!" Luciana exclaimed in shock. "I don't understand... where are the stars!?" "It can't be!" Mainard added, just as shocked. "I'm sure this is the right spot! How can they have disappear?!"

"Well, so much for your discovery of a lifetime." Radelle spoke up, sarcastically at Luciana who blushed in embarrassment. "We came all the way out here for nothing." "Oh..." Tracy muttered, just as upset and disappointed; she had her hopes building up to see an actual star up close, only to be robbed by it.

Melody looked around in concern. "I don't know." She replied. "But, where are all the animals?" It was then the children noticed just how quiet it is. Some of the trees were destroyed but the ones around the lip of the crater were still intact and there was no sound coming from them. No owls hooting, no crickets chirping, not even the rustle of firefly wings. Just complete silence and it mad the children a little uneasy and nervous.

The boys looked around for any sign of life. After a few moments, Mainard whispered. "Maybe, we should head back now. Since there is nothing here, let's go back home." The other kids quickly agreed and that was when a stray wind kicked in and blew the lantern's light out. Jin and Kathrin squeaked in fear

"Oh no!" Kathrin whispered in fear. "What do we do now? How can we get back to the carriage without any light?" They had no more lanterns, and the moon was covered by clouds, making it almost pitch dark. "Calm down." Malak tried to assure her. "I'm sure we'll think of something."  At that moment, a rough voice with a thick, English accent came out from the shadows. "How about this?" It asked. "Will this lantern do?"

A fiery lantern came to life and the kids were relieved for a bit...but it turned into horror when they saw the one holding the lantern. He was a middle-aged man with a light brown short beard, mustache and brown eyes. He wore deep brown clothes, like that of the legendary Robin Hood. His eyes and smile had a wicked and sinister gleam and around his tunic, was an insignia of a red demon's head.

Melody gasped in horror. She recognized that insignia at once, for she heard her father say it when one of the reports came in concerning the bandits. "Y-You're...!" She stammered. The bandit turned to her with a wicked smile. "Ah," he stated. "I see you are familiar with this mark, the mark of the Blood Devils."

"Allow me to introduce myself." He added, sarcastically. "I am Shadow-streak and I believe we have caught ourselves some very interesting trinkets. Right, boys?" 15 lanterns lit up and the pre-teens looked around to see they were surrounded by the whole band of thieves.

One of them, a huge muscular, bear-like man in his 50's approached them. He had long, brown hair and dark brown eyes. "Hey, boss!" He exclaimed, pointing at Melody. "I know that girl, she's Princess Melody, King Eric and Queen Ariel's daughter!"

Shadow-streak grinned wider. "Well, boys!" He declared. "Looks like it's our lucky night!" "We came to investigate the fallen stars and end up with fallen gems on our laps!" "We have the royal children of the Magic Kingdom in our hands!!" The children said nothing but remained still. The boys along with three of the girls looked to be itching for a fight while the rest of the girls remained as calm as possible.

Shadow-streak rubbed his hands with glee. "Well now." He stated. "I believe each of you will be worth a handsome ransom price from your fathers." "Tight-fist, Springs take them." Two bandits came forward. One was the muscular man who spoke up earlier. The other was a very lanky man in his 20's, whose clothes almost seemed too big for him and he looked as if he would jump at any moment. He had dark brown skin with black eyes and hair.

The two bandits chuckled wickedly as they approached the royal children, but Melody had an idea. Slowly, she lifted her left foot and dragged it into the soft earth. Azad noticed this too, quickly realizing her plan and did the same thing. Just as the big goons came into range, the two kids reared and kicked their feet up!!

"Arragh!!!" The bandits screamed as dirt flew right into their faces. Seeing their chance, Melody and Azad grabbed the lanterns from the stunned bandits. "Hey!" Shadow-sneak yelled before he was kicked in the face by Ping who grabbed his lantern as he fell backwards, clutching his nose.

"Now!!" Melody exclaimed as she tossed one to Edgard. "Run for it!" Instantly, the kids sprung into action, running off in different directions. Melody, Tracy, Kathrin, Garrick and Radelle went to the right; Edgard, Dianne, Mainard went to the right while Azad, Malak, Jin, Ping and Luciana went on straight into the forest, before the bandits could realize what just happening.

Shadow-streak got up to his feet and turned to his men. "After them, you fools!!" He roared. "We need them alive for the ransom!" The group, plus Springs and Tight-fist, took after them. Tight-fist and three others chased after Melody's group; Springs and four others went after Mainard's group while the rest went after Ping's group. Meanwhile, the horses had turned around and galloped as fast as they could to the palace, knowing the kids would need adult help.

Shadow-streak remained behind at the crater, rubbing his nose which was bleeding slightly and muttering curses under his breath. As he was plotting on how to use the kids for ransom, he failed to notice that someone, or rather something had watched the entire scene.

On the other side of the crater, the Blue-Moon Tribe had been hiding in the forest and had seen the entire event unfold. The Monsuno were familiar with humans but they never interacted with children before. They were surprised to see children out in the forest so late and were a little impressed to see them kick dirt at the bandit.

"I must say," Boost whispered, grinning a bit. "that black-haired girl-cub has courage to stand up to those wicked men." "More like foolishness..." Deep-six grumbled, shaking his white head. "Those cubs won't stand a chance against those bandits."

"Well, we can't just stay hidden." Sky-fall spoke up. "We need to do something." "Calm yourself, brother." Clubber rumbled. "We can't expose ourselves too soon, we must stay hidden." "What about those children?" Evo asked, worriedly. "We can't just leave them."

"It is not our place to intervene, sister." Batteram snorted. "It could be dangerous if they see us." "Well, that's no better than watching them get killed." Charger argued back. "They'll die if nothing is done." "Brother Clubber's right." Nite-stone added. "I say we should help them."

"I believe the final decision should fall to the Grand Chieftain." Neo-Quickforce spoke up, hoping to stop the debate. "Brother Lok, what do you say?" However, they grew confused when they noticed Lok's reaction.

Lok had been watching Melody as the scene unfolded and had never taken his eyes of her for a second. The little princess reminded her of Chase, her compassion, her courage and her quick wit. For some strange reason, he felt something. "Brother..." The Hippogriff asked. "Are you alright?"

"I decided." The White Bear spoke up, before turning to the others. "We're going to help those children!" Everyone was surprised by this. "But Grand-Chief," Babeon spoke up. "What about remaining hidden?"

"Have you forgotten why we formed the Blue-Moon Tribe?" Lok questioned. "We made a vow to preserve peace between humans and Monsuno." He replied. "We vowed to protect all of humanity and Gaia from danger and threat." "We promised Chase and his friends that we will always help the innocent, protect the works of Gaia and wipe out evil." He concluded. "Who's with me?"

The rest of the Monsuno looked at their leader in astonishment before smiling. "You be right, mon." The Baboon replied. "We be with ya till the very end." The other Monsuno agreed. "Good," Lok stated. "Quickforce, take Evo, Batteram, Boost and Babeon and follow the auburn prince." "Charger; you, Glow-blade, Long-fang and Sky-fall will follow the Chinese girl." "The rest of you will follow me."

The other Monsuno nodded and each group ambled off to help the children. It was going to be a wild night for all of them to remember!