A.S.H. Elympios Branch: Episode 5 Part 1

It was already stated before, but in contrast to the barren lands of Elympios, Rieze Maxia was full of life in terms of nature. There was no shortage of green forest and jungles. Because of this, there was a lot of stuff to explore.


That was the goal of a teacher and his class was about to find out. There was a large, dense forest called the Sapstrath Deepwood and they were on a field trip. With them were a pair of Rieze Maxian soldiers.


The teacher gave a small smile as he stood in front of his class.


“Alright, class. Let me recap on what we are supposed to do here.” The teacher explained. “We are here to study on how the plant life on Rieze Maxia differs from our world. I want you to not only study the colour and shape of the flowers but also other stuff like how the symbiotic relationships between the flora and fauna.”


The class all nodded their heads at this.


“Now studying may be your main task, but remember, we are in a forest full of monsters.” The teacher said with his expression turning grim. “Even with our escorts here to protect us, I want you to watch out for each other.”


Everyone again nodded their heads, this time with serious expressions.


“Buttttt you ARE free to examine the monsters from a distance. I mean there are a lot of interesting creatures in this forest.” The teacher said before grinning. “Like how Sylvan Wolves are able to blend into their environment because of their unusually-green fur. Its tail even looks like a bunch of leaves. Oh, same goes for Basilisks. Despite their large size, they could…”


With that, the teacher had started to rant on the various monsters in the Sapstrath Deepwood. Everyone paused as they blinked twice.


The first soldier looked at the second one. “Who are we supposed to protect these kids from again? The monsters or the teacher?”


“Tell me about it.” The second soldier said, rolling his eyes. “I am getting bad memories of my old teacher.”


The soldiers watched as the teacher continued his speech. Suddenly, they had heard a loud rustling noise making their eyes bugged out.


“Everyone, brace yourself!”


The teacher and the students jumped as they looked in the direction of the soldiers to see them getting out swords and readying themselves. Suddenly, a green wolf-like creature had appeared from the bushes.


“Don’t worry, kiddos! We got this one!” The first soldier reassured.


The teacher and the students all stared in a mixture of concern and intriguement as the two soldiers got ready to fight the wolf. However, a Goomba student was quite scared as he stepped backwards away from the rest of the group, wanting to be away from the incoming battle as much as possible.


That was when he had felt himself bump into something. Turning around, he had expected it to be some kind of tree. Imagine his horror when he saw that it was a giant green lizard, glaring down at him and hissing.


“AAAAAHHHHH!”


Everyone jumped as they looked in the direction of the scream to see the Goomba rushing towards the teacher and hiding behind him.


“Teach! Teach! Help me!” The Goomba pleaded.


The teacher looked down at the Goomba before looking up at the giant lizard. Then, he noticed that they were slowly being surrounded by monsters. Everyone then stepped back in horror.


“W-What is going on?” A student asked.


“I-I don’t know. While it is not unusual for different monsters to form together to attack, it is never to this level.” The teacher explained.


Everyone prepared themselves to either fight or run from the monsters, worried for their lives. Suddenly, they heard a strange noise from above them. They all looked in the direction of the voice.


There, they saw another monster on top of a cliff. However, it didn’t look like a local monster. It was some kind of orange glowing wolf-like creature with three blonde pigtails sticking out of its head.


The teacher looked in awe at said wolf. “What in the world?”


The wolf-like creature then did a loud howl. This acted as a command for the rest of the monsters to attack.


“AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!”


/-/-/-/-/-/


Tetsuo and Pascal both grinned as they stood outside of a door inside of HQ. The former knocked on it a few times. They waited until the person opened the door to see the two.


Marina raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”


“Hey, Marina! How is it going?” Tetsuo grinned.


“Just fine.” The sniper said. “Do we have a mission?”


“No, nothing like that.” Tetsuo said, shaking his head.


“But I thought we should talk to each other and know more each other more!” Pascal grinned.


Marina shook her head. “No, thank you. I am perfectly content on my own.”


Tetsuo’s grin vanished. “Aw, come on! We had been living with each other for almost a month now and all we know that you used to be a hunter, a sniper and even learned as a soldier in a war!”


“Yeah, you are the only one I don’t know much about!” Pascal whined. “Even the Wraith gave us a few stories about this time as a wrestler!”


Marina merely shrugged. “I fail to see what there is to tell you. I had told you everything there is to know.”


“No. You told us everything there is to know as to why you should be a part of the A.S.H.” Tetsuo scolded. “But we don’t know anything about you as a PERSON.”


“I am not into socializing.” Marina said.


“Don’t give me that. We are going to be with each other for who-knows-how-long so we would basically be like a second family!” Tetsuo corrected.


Marina paused. “...If that is the case, then why are you talking to me and not the Wraith.”


Tetsuo physically winced at this, realizing that Marina was right. Pascal on the other hand, was hardly fazed by this.


“So if we invite the Wraith with this, you would reconsider?” Pascal asked.


Tetsuo jumped at this. “NO!”


Pascal returned the shocked gesture as Marina shook her head.


“Listen, it’s not that I don’t see your logic.” Marina explained, getting the two’s attention. “But I am a sniper. A sniper doesn’t run alongside with the soldiers. They stay in the shadows and provide support from there.”


“Yeah, but we are not always on the battlefield, Marina.” Tetsuo started.


“Yeah, you should get to actually know the place we are living in.” Pascal asked.


“I already do as much as I need to know. Where my home is, where I could go for food, where I could go for ammo, everything.” Marina explained.


“But there is more to it than that. There are theatres, restaurants, arcades!” Pascal insisted.


“Not interested. They are far too noisy.” Marina explained.


“But Marina…” Pascal whined.


“No. I am not coming out unless there is a mission.” The sniper said before she was about to close the door. “This conversation is…”


“Oh, perfect timing!”


The three turned towards the direction of the voice to see Samurai Bob walking over.


“So glad that you are all here.” Samurai Bob said. “We have another mission. Come on.”


“Understood.” Marina said, making her way past Tetsuo and Pascal and closing the door behind it.


She and Samurai Bob then ran off with both Tetsuo and Pascal watching her and Samurai Bob leave.


“Ugh, isn’t having the Wraith on our team bad enough?” Tetsuo groaned, crossing his arms. “We already have one loner. We don’t need TWO!”


“We will worry about how to make Marina more social later.” Pascal reassured. “Right now, someone on this planet needs our help!”


Tetsuo nodded his head as he and Pascal ran off after their teammates straight into the briefing room. Once there, they saw that the Wraith and Panmusu were already there in front of Cortez.


“We are here, boss! What is the problem?” Tetsuo asked.


Cortez nodded his head. “I am sure that you are well-aware of the Sapstrath Deepwood?”


“You mean the one all in the way of Rieze Maxia? Yeah.” Pascal nodded.


“Well, a teacher and his class from another world had gone all of the way there for a field trip.” Cortez explained. “However, from what I had heard, they had been attacked by the monsters there.”


“What in Makai was the kids studying for?” The Wraith asked in disbelief. “How to win a Darwin award?”


“Wraith!” Samurai Bob scolded.


“It is not like the students are unprotected. Two soldiers came with them to protect them and from what I heard, the teacher is a retired soldier himself.” Cortez corrected. “However, from what I could make out from the distress call, the monsters pinned them and trapped them. As if they planned it.”


This startled everyone.


“R-Really? But usually monsters are not that strategic. Unless…” Pascal said.


“Someone is commanding them.” Marina explained. “Like a beast-tamer?”


“Actually, no. Apparently, the leader is a glowing orange wolf with pigtails.” Cortez explained. “And it is only able to command the beast-type monsters.


“A glowing orange wolf with pigtails?” Samurai Bob asked in surprise. “Is it even native to Rieze Maxia?”


“I don’t know. But whatever the case, the soldiers, the teacher and the students are still in the forest.” Cortez said. “From what I had heard, they are all still alive. But unless we work quickly…”


Tetsuo narrowed his eyes. “Say no more, boss! We are on the case!”


“Good. Now King Gaius and Prime Minister Rowen had taken it upon themselves to help out so they had gone on ahead to the Sapstrath Deepwood.” Cortez explained.


Samurai Bob narrowed his eyes as well. “I see. Well, in that case, we have to get to Sapstrath Deepwood while they are still alive.”


“I wish you and everyone else the best of luck.” Cortez said. “Cortez out.”


With that, the hologram vanished.


“Well, what are we waiting for?” Tetsuo asked. “We got people to save.”


“Wait, hold on!” Samurai Bob said, holding out his hand.


“Hm? What’s wrong?” Pascal asked.


“Marina, I want you to take charge for this mission.” Samurai Bob explained.


This caught everyone by surprise at the sudden request.


“...Excuse me?” Marina asked.


“Of course. You used to be a hunter, didn’t you?” Samurai Bob asked. “And seeing that the mission is taking place inside of a forest full of monsters, I thought it would be better for you take the lead.”


“Wait, MARINA is taking the charge?” The Wraith asked. He then smirked. “I am already loving this development already.”


“Yeah, what better to lead us into a forest!” Pascal grinned.


Tetsuo and Panmusu had both stayed silent for different reasons. The lone wolf, Marina acting as the team leader?


The sniper in question blinked her uncovered eye. “Is that an order?”


Samurai Bob paused. “Um, technically…”


“Then, I will accept.” Marina said. “I will temporarily take control of this mission.”


Pascal jumped in joy. “Alright, we got our new lead…”


“We are wasting time here. Let’s go.” Marina piped up.


With that, she ran out of the briefing room, leaving Pascal literally frozen in her stance with the men blinking twice.


“...Samurai Bob, this could either be one of your smartest ideas you ever had or one of your dumbest.” The Wraith piped up.


The green-clad man just let out a deep sigh. “I know…”


/-/-/-/-/-/


Despite the sudden change in leaders, the A.S.H. made it into their hover-jet and started their journey towards the Sapstrath Deepwood where the soldier, teachers and the students were.


For the A.S.H., this was their first time entering Rieze Maxia, aka the second part of the world that there were protecting. Almost immediately, they had noticed the difference between the two lands.


Upon reaching Rieze Maxia, they noticed that the ground beneath was far greener than in Elympios. They all remembered when was the last time that they seen such a sight seeing that they had been living in Trigleph for a while.


Finally, Pascal spoke up as they headed over a forest. “Alright, guys! We are here!”


“Sweet!” Tetsuo grinned. “So which part of the Sapstrath Deepwood should we park in?”


Samurai Bob jumped at this. “Wait, as in you think we should actually park our way inside of the forest?”


Tetsuo looked confused by this. “Um, duh? We have to save everyone there right?”


Marina shook her head. “Remember, Cortez said that the monsters are acting strategically as if being commanded by a leader. If we park in there, we would alert them.”


“That and King Gaius and Prime Minister Rowen asked us to meet up with them OUTSIDE of the forest.” Samurai Bob added. “Are you suggesting that we should ignore THE authority figures of the world?”


Tetsuo winced at this. “N-No! I wasn’t! I was just suggesting that if we landed there, we would have a better chance of finding everyone than entering from the outside!”


“Entering in a random location of an area that you don’t know is an easy way to get killed.” Marina scolded. “Especially when we don’t know if there are any locations would be monster-free.”


“Ooh, our temporary leader is already asserting her leading skills by showing their team what’s what.” The Wraith smirked, making Tetsuo growl at him.


“In any case, we are wasting time.” Marina instructed. “Pascal, take us down so we could get intel from King Gaius and Prime Minister Rowen.”


“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Pascal said, saluting with her free hand before sending the hover-jet to the ground.


After sending the vehicle to the ground, the team had opened the hatch and released the airstair. After that, they saw that Gaius and Rowen, along with a few other Rieze Maxian soldiers were indeed waiting for them.


Rowen smiled as he put his hands behind his back. “Ah, A.S.H., we are so glad that you are here.”


“Same here, Prime Minister Rowen.” Samurai Bob smiled as the team made their way down the airstair.


“So what is the current status report?” Marina asked.


Rowen’s smile vanished as he shook his head. “Unfortunately, we can’t tell you. All I could say is that it is dangerous to go in unprepared.”


“And the class?” Samurai Bob asked, not liking where this was going.


“...I have no clue on that either.” Rowen said, stroking his beard. “Which makes it all the more important that we start planning our first course of action.”


“Agreed. Come on, let’s go. We had wasted enough time.” Gaius nodded.


Samurai Bob jumped at this. “Wait, you two are going to be accompanying us?”


Gaius raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Why wouldn’t we be?”


“Um, well, you are the king of an entire world so you need to…” Samurai Bob started.


Gaius shook his head. “What kind of king would I be if I just sit back and let travellers from another world get killed on MY world?”


“Whoa, alright, your Majesty!” Tetsuo grinned.


“In any case, I had already thought up with a plan.” Marina said.


“Really?” Samurai Bob asked, surprised.


“Way to step it up, Marina!” Pascal grinned, flashing a thumbs-up.


Marina nodded her head. “Here is the plan. I will go on ahead and sneak into the forest. And when I find everyone, I will alert you with my communicator.”


Everyone blinked twice at this.


“...Wait, what?” Samurai Bob asked.


Marina raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”


Samurai Bob narrowed his eyes. “Yes, there is. You can’t go into the forest by yourself!”


“Don’t worry. Remember, I used to hunt in the wild before. I know how to sneak around in a forest.” Marina explained.


“But what if you DO get caught?” Samurai Bob asked. “You were the one who said that you are not good at close-range combat. If you are swarmed by the monsters, you are dead!”


“Then, that is a risk that I would have to take.” Marina said, shaking her head. “I mean it is not like rushing in headfirst is any better.”


“Yes, but…” Samurai Bob started.


“Samurai Bob has a point.” Rowen explained. “Normally, the monsters here are not that hard to defeat, but with this new leader commanding them to attack in groups, they may be too many to maneuver around.”


“That’s right.” Samurai Bob nodded.


“BUT… At the same time, if you go with the direct approach, we would waste too much time fighting the monsters to find everyone.” Rowen noted.


Everyone paused at the dilemma that they were met with. Gaius on the other hand merely crossed his arms.


“I assume that you have a solution for this?” Gaius asked.


Rowen then smiled. “I do. What if Marina had an easy time sneaking around the forest if they were less monsters because most of them were distracted by something?”


The Wraith leaned in forward. “Continue.”


“Alright, here is my idea. We will break into two groups and go our separate ways inside of the forest.” Rowen explained. “There, whoever the leader is will send the other monsters after us. And then…”


“Marina could go on ahead without much trouble.” Samurai Bob realized.


“Exactly! And who knows? Maybe we would be lucky and find and incapacitate the leader, thus breaking off the chain of command.” Rowen smiled.


“Hey, that sounds like a great idea!” Tetsuo grinned.


Marina paused before nodding. “Understood.”


“Though there IS the matter, while they should be less monsters if you get caught, it is dangerous to go alone.” Rowen piped up.


Marina however, shook her head. “With all due respect, Prime Minister, you can’t go on a stealth mission on the field with two people.”


“Well, in any other situation, I WOULD agree.” Rowen said. “But you have someone who has the potential to be a stealth expert.”


This took Marina, along with everyone else by surprise.


“What? Who?” Marina asked.


Rowen just smirked before looking in the direction of the person he was looking he had in mind. Everyone quickly followed suit.


Panmusu blinked twice at this as he looked around at the stares.


“Panmusu?” Gaius asked, raising an eyebrow.


“Yes, I could feel that he could easily blend into the background.” Rowen nodded.


“Sure, because a kangaroo-mushroom hybrid does not stand out at all.” The Wraith said, sarcastically.


Samurai Bob jumped at this. “Wraith! Have you forgotten who you are speaking to!?”


“It’s fine, Samurai Bob. We, along with Admiral Cortez and Chancellor Marcia had all agreed to let the Wraith on the team, despite obviously having a personality problem.” Rowen reassured. “But as crude as your manner of speaking is, Wraith, I think if no monster sees him coming, Panmusu could easily pass a plant here.”


“Hey, that is a great idea!” Pascal smiled. “Now Marina has someone to make up for her lack of close-range skill!”


“Well, it depends if the two are up for it.” Samurai Bob said before looking at Marina and Panmusu. “Well, what do you think?”


“Breloom!” Panmusu said, brightly.


Marina paused before crossing her arms. “If Panmusu truly feels that he is up to it, then I will accept this plan.”


“Alright! Now let’s see who get to be Team 1 and 2!” Pascal said, brightly.


“Agreed. We have wasted enough time as it is.” Gaius nodded.


Everyone nodded their heads before they had started to decide who gets to go with who. However, Marina looked down at Panmusu. Even if Rowen’s plan made sense, she was still not sure about doing a stealth mission with someone else. When it came to being sneaky, she could rely only on herself.


/-/-/-/-/-/


It didn’t take everyone long to form the teams. Because of Gaius and Rowen actually appeared in the Sapstrath Deepwood before, they obviously needed to be on opposing teams.


The team of Samurai Bob, Pascal and Gaius carefully made their way through one path of the forest. Even though their job was to lure out the monsters out of hiding, they must be on their guard at all times.


“Stay alert.” Gaius warned. “Even under normal situations, this place is not to be taken lightly.”


Samurai Bob and Pascal nodded their heads as they followed the king through the forest. Suddenly, they had heard a growl. Turning their heads to the direction of the noise, they saw a Sylvan Wolf glaring at them. Then, they immediately got into their stances. Then, the wolf ran off. Despite this, they all stayed in their stances.


“Looks like he is going to alert the others.” Pascal piped up.


“In other words, Rowen’s plan is already working.” Gaius nodded.


“So what now?” Pascal asked.


“What else? Continue looking for the missing people.” Samurai Bob scolded.


“Agreed. We may not find them that soon but we might as well make an effort to search for them.” Gaius agreed.


The three nodded before they continued onward.


“So your Majesty, I know that this is kind of the worst possible thing to ask you this so I will try to make it quick.” Samurai Bob said.


The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”


“Are you sure that you want to be on the front lines?” Samurai Bob asked. “I mean, if you are killed, what will happen to Rieze Maxia?”


“I appreciate your concern, but like I said, what kind of king would I be if I just sit on the side while my own people fight for their lives?” Gaius asked.


“Yes, but nobody would think otherwise! You don’t have to be on the frontlines to be a great leader.” Samurai Bob insisted.


“While what you say is true, that is not my way of life.” Gaius said, shaking his head. “I am pro-active and prefers to deal with Rieze Maxia’s problems myself.”


“So is that why we are stationed up on Elympios but not Rieze Maxia?” Pascal asked.


“Actually, yes.” Gaius said. “In fact, I initially scoffed at the thought of our planet having its own “All-Star Heroes”.”


Samurai Bob and Pascal both winced at this.


“Okay, ouch?” Pascal asked.


“S-So if that is the case, what made you fold?” Samurai Bob asked.


“Well, while I consider myself a strong fighter, Marcia is not a fighter in the slightest. At least in the physical sense.” Gaius explained. “Rowen convinced me that Elympios needs as much help as they could have. And considering what you had faced so far, it seemed like he was right.”


“But your Majesty, what if you had faced the likes of Barbatos Goetia or the Sea Foxes?” Samurai Bob asked.


“...Then, they would fall by my blade.” Gaius said, making Samurai Bob and Pascal jump.


“Whoa, you don’t mess around!” Pascal winced.


“I never do.” Gaius said before looking back. “And that is not mere arrogance. Rowen and I had actually come across a shady organization called the Red Scorpion.”


“The Red Scorpion?” Samurai Bob asked.


“I had never heard of them either and according to Rowen, there is not much inter-galactic information about them.” Gaius explained. “All I know was that there were trying to use spyrix, the same technology that Exodus used, to extract the spirits of Rieze Maxia for themselves.”


“That’s horrible.” Samurai Bob frowned. “Why would they do that?”


“Unfortunately, I do not know. Even when threatened with death row, they continued to remain quiet.” Gaius said. “All I DO know is…”


“GRRRR!”


Almost immediately, the three turned around and readied their respective weapons. As if they expected anything else, they saw a bunch of wolves and lizards surrounding them. They all crouched down low, getting ready to attack.


“It seems that we have to cut our conversation short.” Samurai Bob said.


“Indeed.” Gaius said. “Now come. Show me why you are deserving of your spot on the A.S.H.”


Pascal smirked. “Don’t wrong, King Gaius! We will!”


Gaius nodded his head.  He then rushed forward with his weapon, an absurdly-long katana. He readied his sword.


“Demon Fang!” He yelled, swinging his sword upwards and sending a burst of energy along the ground and towards the group of monsters. This resulted in a good number of them being knocked down. However, Gaius was far from done as he rushed towards the group. Then, a Basilisk had pounced towards him. Gaius just narrowed his eyes before swinging his katana upwards and slashing the wolf killing it, instantly.


However, a Sylvean Wolf hissed before pouncing at him while his guard was done. However, the king saw the attack from the corner of his eye and quickly blocked the attack with his sword, causing the wolf to bite it himself. Kicking his foot out, he booted the wolf off of him before doing a hard upwards slash killing itself instantly.


Then, he saw that a bunch of monsters was advancing on him. But Gaius merely got into his stance and prepared for another attack.


“Dragon’s Maw!” Gaius shouted. Then, swords of light appeared above Gaius and charged towards the bunch of monsters, striking them multiple times. As all but one fell, Gaius’ sword got engulfed by the same light as he rushed over to the last monster and stabbed it.


Once he was done, he turned around and rushed over to help Samurai Bob and Pascal with the monsters. At the same time, a Sylvan wolf pounced towards Samurai Bob. Despite startled, the samurai acted quickly and raised his sword against the wolf’s paws. The two then struggled with each other for a moment.


However, because of this, he noticed some other monsters came behind him ready to attack. He gasped in horror as he struggled to keep the monster he was fighting at bay. Fortunately for him, Gaius came in time and slashed the attackers away from Samurai Bob. Samurai Bob then took the chance to defeat the wolf he was facing with a slash of his own sword.


“Oh, thank you, your Majesty!” Samurai Bob said in relief.


“Don’t thank me yet until we are out of this.” Gaius pointed out.


With that, he stayed back-to-back to each other with their respective katanas as the monsters had started to swarm around them.


“Perhaps we should stick together.” Samurai Bob said, slowly.


“Agreed. It is far too easy to get hit from behind.” Gaius said.


The two samurais then prepared themselves as the monsters started to swarm around them.


Suddenly, a blur had crashed into some of the monsters, knocking them down and taking Samurai Bob and Gaius off-guard. The blur slowed down to reveal Pascal riding on top of a Sylvan Wolf while holding her shotstaff around its neck. Said wolf was trying to shake her off with no success.


“Ride them, cowgirl! Yee-haw!” Pascal cheered.


The two swordsman watched as Pascal struggled to have her unwilling mount crash into other monsters.


“...Pascal. She doesn’t function like most people, does he?” Gaius asked.

Samurai Bob sighed as he shook his head. “Pascal is just being Pascal.”