Chapter 9 Twinrock Town

On the way to Twinrock town, Lex spotted a few monsters as he traveled Woodfield village road. The road was filled with a coat of light brown dirt, grass plains covered with bushes, grass blades, and patches of flowers along the edge. He could see roads of trees where the end of Woodfield forest began or ended, depending on the direction you were coming from. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, as it lay on Lex's head, basking in the sun,

"Are you comfortable? " Lex said, smiling, and ruffling Mirabit's soft fur. 

He noticed a few Gremice monsters and Pigens, which were common types around Woodfield Village. So seeing them on his way to the very first town he would stop by on his journey to become a monster tamer wasn't strange. Yet, despite them being common monster types he saw around Woodfield Village, he was still excited to see them because now he was seeing them with the eyes of a monster tamer, well not officially, but he still felt like he was a monster tamer now, he just needed to pass the taming license exam and he would finally be officially a tamer. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, as it climbed down from Lex's head and headed toward his bag. 

"Don't eat all the bread now," Lex said, as it felt Mirabit moving around in his brown leather bag. 

"Mirabit, Mirabit," Mirabit said, smiling, as bread crumbs were sticking out from its cheek.

"But I'm sure Carlos wouldn't mind." 

He thought, petting Mirabit's grey color fur, he was quite the lively partner, which he liked. 

Lex looked at the bright blue sky and wondered just what kind of monsters he was going to come across in his journey. Will they be cute like Mirabit, or fierce like Ragepanzee, either way, he was excited. He also wondered what kind of tamers he was going to battle against, how they fought along with their monster partners, and if any of them could do what he did. But he figured probably not, for he had never heard of any tamer being able to do what he did during his battle with his grandmother, being able to do a monster attack. 

"We're here," he said, brushing those thoughts aside, he did not have time to think about that right now. 

He came to a stop in front of two large boulders on each side like an entrance of sorts. 

"So this is why they call it Twinrock town," Lex joked. He looked at the sign that was next to one of the boulders and read it. 

"Welcome to Twinrock town, the town behind the Great Turtle mountain." 

"The Great Turtle Mountain," Lex said, looking at the large shadow of a mountain that seemed to separate the town and Woodfield Village from the outside world. He had heard of the mountain and how it was one of the four wonders of Monsterra, but seeing it so close made him realize just how massive it truly was. 

"It looks like a giant monster," he said, admiring the mountain, and wondering what kind of monsters lived in it. 

"Shall we?" Lex said, 

'Mirabit," Mirabit said, nodding, as both entered the first town in their taming journey. 

Twinrock town was a small town with houses built of clay and stone bottoms. The town had a light brown hue to it, but the first thing Lex noticed as he entered the town was the large stone statue in the middle of the town square. 

"Wow! Look at that! " he said pointing at it. He ran toward it, and luckily there weren't that many people, which made it easy to navigate toward it. 

The statue showed a person striking a heroic pose and on its shoulder was a small monster. 

" A monument to the brave tamers that fought valiantly that Red Night," Lex read, 

"The Red Night," he repeated, he had heard the name of the event from his aunt Lily, she had told him it was the day the sky of Monsterra was a crimson red, it was also the night his mother fought bravely, she along with many tamers fought in the defense of Monsterra. 

"Mom," Lex said, despite feeling sad for not getting to be with her, he felt as if he was looking directly at her through the statue. He felt a sense of pride as he thought about the mother who was a part of those great tamers. 

"It's quite the sight isn't young man," Lex turned around and saw a short old man standing next to him. He had on a bright lime green shirt and shorts with a light blue vest on top of it and blue sandals. He was bald but had a large white beard with an equally long mustache to go along with it, and long eyebrows that went past his round glasses that seemed to take most of his face. He looked wise beyond his years to Lex. 

He also stood out against the dirt floor and clay houses of Twinrock town. 

"It is," Lex said, wondering how he hadn't noticed him sneaking up on him. 

"Is this the first time you've seen a Tamer monument?" 

"A tamer monument?" Lex said, there was so much he didn't know about the taming world, but despite being ignorant of most things about tamers, he didn't blame Nana for trying to shield him from it. 

The old man looked at the young kid and studied him. 

"And where are you from my young friend?" 

"I'm Lex Greyfield from Woodfield Village." 

"Ah! Woodfield village," the old man said, smiling at him, 

"The village south from here. I hear that is a very peaceful village." 

"It is," Lex said. 

"Perhaps that's why," the old man said, caressing his long beard, 

" Tamer monuments are stone statues built to commemorate those who fought on the Red Night. They're sprinkled all around Monsterra, some are more grandiose than others, but they are very beautiful." 

"They are beautiful," Lex said, looking at the tamer monument. 

"And who is this little guy," the old man said, noticing a small light grey color monster peeking from Lex's blonde hair. 

"He's my monster partner," Lex said, proudly. 

"AH! A Monster partner, I'm guessing you're on your way to the Monster Taming Examination in Stonetopolis city." 

"Yes sir," Lex said, 

"There aren't too many tamers around these areas, most leave for the bigger towns and cities of Monsterra. But little towns like this are quite nice if I do say so myself, less crowded," he

said, 

"But I fear young tamers don't like that. Ah! To be young and adventurous," he said, almost lost in his thoughts. 

"Oh! Where are my manners," the old man said, looking back at Lex. 

"My name is Spark," Spark said, extending his hand to Lex. 

"It's nice to meet you, Mister Spark," Lex said taking his hand. 

"Oh! That's quite the mark you have there," Spark said, noticing Lex's birthmark. 

"Y-Yeah," Lex said taking his hand back, quickly, and remembering what he had done at his grandmother's house, as well as remembering that the only people who had seen his birthmark were the people of Woodfield village, which wasn't a lot since it was a small farming village. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." 

"It's okay," Lex said, nodding at him. 

"Well, it looks quite cool if you ask me," Spark said, smiling at him. 

"Well, Lex Greyfield from Woodfield Village. It was nice to meet you, and good luck on your Monster taming journey," he said, petting Mirabit's head.

"I'm sure you will be quite the tamer."

'Thank you," Lex said bowing before him. 

"Have a safe trip," Spark said, waving goodbye to Lex and Mirabit. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, smiling. 

"He seemed like a nice old man," Lex said, picturing the difference between him and his grandmother Nana, and letting out a faint chuckle. 

"Shall we go find Carlos," Lex said, taking out a small 

map his aunt put in his bag. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, nodding in agreement. 

***

As Lex searched for the research building that Carlos worked in, he noticed that Twinrock town was populated with mostly town folks and very few if any tamers. Though a few monsters were roaming the streets, mostly from the forest, the town was filled with townspeople for the most part, going about their business, and not minding the small monsters around them. There were a few food vendors, which made Lex's stomach growl a bit, but he would have time for food later. First, he needed to deliver the bread to Carlos. 

"Here it is,' Lex said, coming to a stop at a small white building. There were two small monster-like statues next to the building just as it showed on the map. 

"Twinrock Town monster research building," he read, looking at the sign that was next to one of the small stone statues. 

"Shall we, Mirabit?" he said, petting the small creature's head, 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, with a piece of bread in its mouth. 

"I hope you left some for Carlos." 

Lex let out a faint laugh. 

"But I'm sure he won't mind." 

As Lex tried to open the door to the research building, he found that it was locked. 

"Now what?" he said, scratching his head. 

Lex wondered if he should perhaps leave the bag on the floor next to the door with a letter for Carlos, but decided not to since his grandmother would not approve. 

"Maybe there in the back of the building?" he said, looking behind the research building and walking toward the back of the building, hoping to find someone to leave the bread with for he needed to be at Stonetopolis city for the examination.

But there was no one to his luck. 

The building looked empty. 

"Now what?" Lex said, scratching his head. He looked around trying to find something, when suddenly, he noticed a solution to his problem. 

"Lucky," he said, noticing an opened window. 

"I'm sure Carlos won't mind if we snuck in and drop it off." 

"Mirabit,' Mirabit said, in agreement as it ate another piece of bread. 

Lex managed to jump through the window, landing inside the research building. 

"I guess no one is home," he said, noticing that the research building was covered in darkness. 

"Let's try to find the lights and leave the bread," he said, as he walked carefully around the dark room, trying not to knock anything, as he searched for a light switch of sorts. 

And as he walked around the lab, he noticed the shadow of someone. 

"Oh, there's someone, lucky." 

"Excuse me," he said, waving at them. 

"What the?" a voice said. 

Lex came to a stop. 

Noticing something was not right with the figure covered by the darkness of the room. 

"You're not a researcher, are you?" Lex said, he might not know a lot, but he knew how researchers looked, due in part because of Carlos and seeing him around the village a lot. The figure was not wearing the white coat that Carlo always wore, instead, he was wearing a dark cloak that was covering his face and body, almost as if he was trying to hide his identity. Which was never a good sign. 

"And you're not supposed to be here," the dark-cloaked figure said. 

"Eviley, get rid of them," the cloaked figure said, taking out a dark tamer crystal from his pocket. 

A light shot out of the crystal and a monster appeared in front of Lex. 

The monster looked at Lex with its single red eye that sat vertically in the middle of its black floating body. Its mouth was a ragged zigzag line that sat on the bottom of its dark floating body. 

'It's a monster partner?" Lex said, 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, jumping out of Lex's bag, and standing in front of the one-eyed monster. 

"A tamer?" the cloaked figure said, 

"It makes no difference, go Eviley." 

"Ready partner?" Lex said, he didn't know who the figure was but he knew one thing, he wasn't supposed to be here nor was he good news. 

"Eviley use shadow sphere! " the cloaked figure commanded, 

'Evi evi," the one-eye floating monster said, sprouting dark spheres from its two small hands and throwing them at Mirabit. 

"Mirabit! Quick dodge them! Then use Horn bullet!" Lex commanded, and Mirabit obeyed, dodging the small dark spheres that were coming its way, and shooting a gust of wind in the shape of a horn at Eviley. 

"Dodge it!" the cloaked figure said. 

'Eviley," Eviley said, its body becoming translucent as the attack passed through its body. 

'I don't have time to play around kid," the cloaked figure said, annoyed that it had to spend time on such an insignificant thing. 

"Eviley use shadow cloak." 

A dark shadow sprung from Eviley and took over the environment that Lex and Mirabit found themselves in. 

"What the… Where are we?" Lex said as he found himself trapped in some kind of dark prison. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said looking around for Eviley but finding nothing but darkness. 

"I don't have time to play around with you, consider yourself lucky and stay put while I finish my job." 

The voice of the cloaked figure commanded, there was a certain hint of urgency that Lex noticed. 

"Mirabit use horn bullet," Lex said, shooting aimlessly at the dark purple darkness they found themselves in. They needed to get out of this dark prison and stop whatever that dark figure was trying to do. 

"It worked," Lex said, as he saw the darkness begin to retreat where the horn bullet attack had hit, but just as fast as it disappeared, it went just as fast back to the darkness. 

'It's useless kid, shadow cloak makes all attacks useless unless you're a higher level than the monster that cast it, now sit still," the cloaked figure said, 

"What now?" Lex said, fearing he was going to be stuck in this dark space they found themselves in. 

"Carlos…" his face flashing before Lex. 

"We can't just sit here and wait, Carlos and the rest of them are no doubt in danger."

"Mirabit," Mirabit said. 

"Higher level, huh?" Lex said, repeating the cloaked figure's 

words. 

"So we just need more power." 

He looked at his hand, where his birthmark was. 

Remembering how he had been able to cast a monster attack of his own. 

"Maybe?" he said, stretching his arm out and pointing his hand at the dark walls of this prison of theirs. 

"Horn bullet," he said, but nothing happened. 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said looking at him with a confused face. 

I guess it won't be that easy, huh partner," he said chuckling. 

"But we can't give up." 

Lex needed to do something quickly to leave this dark prison and help Carlos and them. 

He couldn't wait for whatever that person was doing to finish. Carlos needed their help now. 

"Carlos and the other researchers need us," Lex said, 

"Mirabit," Mirabit said, eager to keep fighting as well. 

"Horn bullet," Lex said, again and again, expecting a different result, but nothing. 

"Think Lex think." 

He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a way to get out of this dark prison he and Mirabit found themselves in. 

"How did I do it the first time," he said, trying to remember how it felt the first time he used a monster move. 

He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, trying to remember the feeling he had when he used one of Mirabit's attacks. 

"How did it feel," he repeated,

"I wanted to help Mirabit." 

He whispered under his breath. 

"That feeling," he repeated, and to his surprise, he was beginning to feel something. 

A feeling that was similar yet different. He could feel something within him. Something new. Mirabit looked at Lex's body and saw a glowing aura surrounding him and something in the small creature told it to get on top of Lex's head, which he did. 

"Horn bullet," Lex said, calmly, letting his words be carried by the silence. 

Mirabit's horn on its forehead began to glow a strong light blue aura, engulfing both him and Lex.

"Horn Bullet!" Lex's words carried with them a strength that encased Mirabit, its power coursing through the small light grey bunny monster. 

The horn on Mirabit's forehead began to glow more vividly now, but this time it was different, the aura that had encased Lex and Mirabit made the horn bullet attack stronger, as it shot outward through Mirabit's horn. The attack had grown twice in size, breaking through the dark prison they were trapped in, and shattering it like a window. 

'What the…" the cloaked figure said, surprised to find Lex and Mirabit had escaped the dark cloak prison of his monster partner. 

Mirabit's attack broke through Eviley's shadow cloak, and hit the ceiling of the research building, causing an explosion, which activated the fire sprinklers in the building. 

"Carlos?" Lex said, as the light from the building came back and he saw Carlos and the other researchers tied up by the corner. 

"Where am I?" Carlos said as he opened his eyes, the water from the sprinklers drenching them and waking them from their deep slumber. 

"You'll pay for this, kid," the cloaked figure said, drenched in water. 

"Eviley, shadow mist," he commanded, and a large black mist covered the now-drenched research building. 

'Wait!" Lex said, but the figure in black was gone. 

Lex felt disappointed that the figure had escaped, he didn't know who he was or what he was doing in the research building, but he was glad he had rescued Carlos and the other researchers from harm's way. 

Lex looked at Mirabit and petted his monster partner. 

"Is not what I wanted but it worked," he said, seeing the hole Mirabit's Horn bullet had made in the ceiling of the building. 

And wondering just if all tamers could do that, or if he was the only special one.