Mason (POV)

‘Fort Worth Dallas International Airport.’

Mason stared at the sign board and turned his back to look at Selvaria’s dead body that was slowly repairing itself. All the animals that were rescued from Seaworld are surrounding her. He wanted to take them all to the stadium, but the Ice-Bugs destroyed the Truck, and Dallas was a bit too far for the animals, especially the seals.

High Command’s clone suggested finding shelter in the airport until Selvaria woke up. However, there were still four and half hours left on the clock. So he decided to accept her suggestion and bring them all here to rest and find food to eat.

Mason did not want to rush into the building, fearing that there might be Ice-Bugs hiding out inside. He would deal with them if they showed up, but it didn’t hurt to have his Monster partner ‘Spike’ recon the place with his superior senses.

It took five minutes before Spike returned to his side. The bat carried in his mouth fried chicken legs, which he placed in front of Mason, who picked it up and was surprised by how hot it was.

Someone had cooked it pretty recently. So the place wasn’t empty.

Mason. “Are there humans inside?”

Spike nodded his head with a bit of uncertainty.

Mason. “How many did you see?”

Spike seemed to struggle to find a way to communicate and then decided to draw one line on the asphalt with his metal wings.

Mason. “Just one?”

Spike nodded before nibbling on the fried chicken in Mason’s hand.

Mason. “Any Ice-Bugs in there?”

Spike shook his head and gave a sad expression.

Mason. “Eat it! You earned it.”

Mason tossed the chicken piece toward Spike, who used his wings to slice the drumstick into three parts and then devour them one by one. Spike had resisted the urge to eat it on the way here, but his duty came first over a snack.

Mason then called out to the two genetically enhanced bunnies standing by Selvaria’s side.

“You two! Follow Spike into that building and bring the others with you.”

The intelligence of the two Bunnies had been growing daily to the point that Mason forgot they were animals. He had grown accustomed to treating those two like kids and treated the Seals similarly. Exo-Gene may have treated them like disposable livestock, but they created life forms constantly learning and adapting to extreme situations.

None of these animals panicked or complained after their ordeal over the last 12 hours. But it was clear they were hungry, thirsty, and needed rest. Moreover, Ice-bugs could spot them from the sky and call in another swarm if they stayed outside.

The Seals, Penguins, Otters, and the Bunnies followed Spike into the Mall while Mason gently carried Selvaria’s body in his arms. Once they were all inside, Mason ordered Spike to lead them to the food court.

Spike navigated through an empty hallway covered in broken glass, dried blood, frozen corpses, or half devoured by the Ice-Bugs. Damaged suitcases with their contents spilled out can be seen everywhere.

Oddly enough, the boxes that contained electronics were the only ones that had been targeted.

Mason. “Guess the survivor has been scavenging.”

While Spike led the animals to the food court, Mason took Selvaria to the Airport’s clinic and laid her on one of the beds that looked clean. The two Bunnies returned to her side with cold Cinnamon Buns found in the food court.

Mason. “You two keep a watch here while I find the scavenger.”

The Bunnies used their long ears to give a salute as an acknowledgment and then focused on munching away at their bread rolls. Mason found Spike gorging on sausages from a luxury Hot-Dog stand that sold real meat instead of the lab-grown kind. Mason recalled Spike back into his phone and walked over to inspect the food.

Mason had never tried real meat before, so he took a small bite from it to test the taste. The sensations he felt on his tongue stimulated his mind. But he could tell it would taste better if it was cooked properly.

Mason. “Sorry, Spike! But I need to eat too.”

Mason’s stomach was growling so hard that the sight of food was enough to make him jealous of his monster partner. He played around with the grill and cooked several dogs for himself. Since no one was around to stop him, he poured every topping that could fit.

Several bites and a few burps later…

Mason. “Is it wrong to feel this good? No… but I have to get back to work.”

Mason spent the next half hour exploring the airport and found himself in front of a large fountain in the middle of the duty-free lounge. He had discovered hundreds of wet footprints leading away and into it.

Mason. “You can stop holding your breath! I am not going to hurt you.”

Several seconds later, a young woman’s head slowly emerged from the water in front of Mason. She looked Japanese and had an athletic body common among Olympic swimmers. She mumbled some words in Japanese, which the implants inside Mason’s head translated for him.

“How did you know I was here?”

Mason then made a mental command to the implant to translate his replies into Japanese.

Mason. “A lot of wet footprints around the fountain. Too fresh to be left by someone hours ago.”

“You can speak Japanese?”

Mason. “I have a universal translator implant in my head. Now come out so that we can talk.”

Rin got out of the fountain, grabbed a towel in an apparel shop nearby, and changed into some dry clothes.

Mason. “Why were you hiding in there?”

Rin. “I accidentally discovered that the Ice-Bugs can’t find people when they are in the water. So almost everyone in the airport was killed or taken away but me and two others…. now it's just me.”

Several minutes later, Mason and the Japanese woman were seated next to Selvaria’s body.

“Why are we sitting next to a corpse?”

Mason. “She is dead right now, but in a few hours, she will wake up.”

“Huh? I do not understand….”

Mason. “It's fine. I don’t understand it either. So tell me about yourself and how you ended up alone in that fountain.”

“Rin Miyo, I am from Japan. Daughter of… sorry.”

Mason. “Sorry?”

Rin. “I can’t share too many details about my family.”

Mason. “No worries, I can’t share my background either. Call me Mason and her Selvaria.”

Rin. “Mason? Not Bison?”

Rin looked disappointed.

Mason. “Don’t know who Bison is but were you waiting for him?”

Rin. “So you are not from the stadium?”

Mason. “No, we came into town from another state. But we are heading to the stadium.”

Rin. “Oh, that is a relief. But we should wait until Bison gets here.”

Mason. “Why is that?”

Rin. “There were Tamers who tried, but Albert… My contact inside the stadium said they never made it. He thinks they got attacked by the Ice-Bugs.”

Mason remembered the faces of the Tamers who fell onto the truck.

Mason. “So they are sending Bison to collect you?”

Rin. “That’s what Albert said.”

Suddenly Selvaria’s Bunnies emerge from under her bed, where they were taking a nap after their heavy lunch.

Rin. “Where did these two come from?”

Mason. “They are Selvaria’s pets and family.”

The two bunnies left on Rin’s lap and sniffed her before jumping to Selaveria's side.

Rin. “They are adorable!”

Mason. “Do you want to meet the rest of the gang?”

Rin was confused until Mason led her to the food court where Seals, Penguins, and Otters were sleeping and waiting on the tables. She went up to the Seal pups and began stroking their furry bodies.

Rin. “Where did they all come from?”

Mason. “Sea World, via a frozen delivery truck.”

Rin did not seem to understand him and proceeded to pet every one of them.

Mason. “I think you and Selvaria will get along well.”

Rin. “Is she your partner?”

Mason. “Ah… no. My boss, technically. But we are friends.”

Booom!!!

The earth shook from an explosion outside the airport. Mason summoned Spike from his phone and ordered him to check out the disturbance.

Rin. “You are a Tamer?”

Mason. “Is that a surprise?”

Spike flew outside through a broken window in the ceiling and came back within a minute. He screeched in fear as he returned to Mason’s side. Before Mason could figure out what had spooked him, the nearest wall collapsed, and a 9-foot tall Minatoaur lumbered its way inside.

The Beastman had tungsten-like plate armor over his body, diamond quills protruding from his back, and the horns on his head were pointed upward in a perfect U shape. The density of muscles all over the body gave the impression that they could bring down the tallest sky scrapper.

Mason activated his combat style out of reflex and got in front of Rin.

The Minotaur, more like an ancient Bison in humanoid form, slowly walked toward Mason while looking him up and down. Finally, he turned his head towards all the animals staring at him in fear and grunted in surprise.

Mason. “You must be Bison.”

The minotaur paused, nodded, and spoke in a deep voice that caused one to shiver.

Bison. “Is that your truck outside… Did you steal all these animals from Sea World?”

Mason. “Saved more than stole. We were on our way to the stadium when the Ice-Bugs ambushed us.”

Bison. “You were bringing them all to the stadium?”

Mason. “Have no choice. My boss wouldn’t come without them and would kill me if I left them behind.”

Bison. “Your Boss? Only Rin is behind you, and she ain’t your boss.”

Mason showed him Selvaria’s body in the clinic and explained that she was in some recovery coma.

Bison. “Your friend seems pretty dead… why bring her with us?”

Mason scratched the side of his head, trying to think of a way to explain away the situation without going into the details.

Mason. “Look, I know her wounds look really bad, but she is alive… or will wake up in a few hours. But, for now, just help us get to the stadium.”

Bison. “There are a lot of Ice-Bugs surrounding the stadium. I had to fight to get here and was planning on carrying Rin back. Didn’t think I would have to bring back Sea World with me.”

Mason. “I understand… is there anything I can use around here?”

Twenty minutes later, Bison activates his Bull Rush skill to charge into a swarm of five-foot-tall Ice-Bugs that look like Ants. A few thousand of these monsters had been laying siege to the stadium with their elemental powers over Ice to no avail.

The surrounding buildings had been picked clean of Human life. Buildings were being deconstructed, and their materials were being taken away to build something on the other side of the city.

Whatever they were building was the center of their hive. The bugs around the stadium were just the ones that specialized in building and scouting. Though Soldier class Ice-Bugs weren’t present in the area, the sheer number of opponents was enough to deter anyone from trying to break through.

Bison only managed to get out of it before because of his extraordinary defense stats and skills. Now he was doing his best to clear the way for a double-decker bus that was following behind him.

Mason kept up Bison’s speed and did his best to run over the fallen bugs. The animals were on the second floor, where the seats had been removed and filled with bags of Ice scavenged from the airport's food court.

Mason was reluctant to proceed with the plan when he saw the sheer number of enemies with his own eyes. Then Bison shared his skill sheet to assure that he alone could clear a path through the Ice-Bugs and give Mason an opening to the stadium.

[Monster: Diamond Brute Bison (Small Horn)

Type: Body, Mountain, Defense, Beast, Metal

Combat Style - Fusion

Skills: Horn Manipulation (Expert), Vulcan's Fur (Intermediate), Bull Rush (Expert), Minotaur's Rage (Expert)

Skill Features:

Horn Manipulation - The Curved horns on its head can be manipulated to change its angels and rotated at high speed like a drill.

Vulcan's Fur - The thick hide on the beast can be transformed into heavy Tungsten Plate armor.

Bull Rush - The Monster becomes a Juggernaut when it builds momentum and charges straight.

Minotaur's Rage - The monster can shoot ten Diamond spikes over its armor for five minutes. The cooldown is ten minutes before it can be reused]

None of the Ice attacks could harm Bison’s tungsten plate armor. Their bodies were flattened the moment they made contact with his body. Occasionally if a flying Ice-Bug attacked him, they would be taken out with the Diamond spikes on his back.

Mason. “This guy is unstoppable! I don’t know where he gets the balls to fight like this.”

Rin. “According to Albert, Bison was a Pro Football player who joined the Army Rangers.”

Mason. “Was?”

Rin. “He lost his legs in some military operation and had to retire.”

Mason couldn’t stop himself from studying Bison’s legs which resembled the back half of a bull. However, there didn’t seem to be any issue with his movements which meant that his fusion form had given him back his freedom of mobility without prosthetics.

Mason. “Was wondering why he didn’t cancel his combat style before. So he stays like this all the time?”

Rin.”Wouldn’t you if it gave you real legs again?”

Mason. “Makes sense. But how do you know so much about him?”

Rin. “Albert and Bison became friends during physical therapy sessions.”

Mason. “Wait a sec… you can’t speak English, so does Albert speak Japanese?”

Rin. “He learned it through watching anime shows. We became friends online, and I came to the Union to visit him. But I got stuck at the airport when the Monster Invasion began.”

Mason. “I see… By the way, is Selvaria fine in the back there?”

Rin. “She still looks dead, but the wounds have almost disappeared.”

Mason. “That’s good! Did you tell Albert what to do when they see us coming in?”

Rin. “He knows… look! They are opening it up right now,”

Rin pointed to the Stadium as it retracted the blast doors to reveal a passageway for large vehicles to get inside. Mason quickly stepped on the accelerator and shifted the gear to the max speed the bus was capable of.

Several Tamers came out of the entrance in their combat forms to release their long-range elemental attacks to keep the Ice-Bugs at bay from exploiting the opening.

In the middle of mowing down the Ice-Bugs with his momentum, horns, and diamond spikes, Bison stopped and jumped onto the top of the Bus when it accelerated toward him. He pulled in his limbs to turn himself into a tungsten ball and smashed through the windshield next to Mason.

They had planned and arranged for this maneuver, so no one was seated in that spot. Mason is in his Dark Knight armor, so the broken glass bounced off him.

Once Bison was inside, the bus slammed into Ice-Bugs, who foolishly tried to stop the out-of-control vehicle. Their internal organs and green blood splattered all over the front of the bus, blocking Mason’s line of sight. He had to summon a javelin and break his side of the window to avoid veering into a wall.

To his surprise, they had already crossed into the stadium. Mason slammed the brakes as hard as possible and brought the vehicle to a screeching stop in the middle of the grassy football grounds.

Behind them, the stadium resealed the blast doors, and the Tamers who were defending it cried out in relief. A few Ice-Bugs got through, but they were cut down by the Tamers, who were coles combat specialists.

Bison slowly uncurled himself and pulled his body out of the bus through the front since the side doors were too small for his massive body.

Bison. “That was… MAD!”

He then let out a roar that only an American Bison can make and ran around the field to release his adrenaline built up over the fight. Tamers and Non-Tamers gathered around the bus to help Mason and Rin get out of it. They then brought out Selvaria’s body and checked on the animals on the second floor.

The animals were clearly shaken by the experience, but they welcomed the attention of all the humans who wanted to pet and feed them when they came close. Some had been injured, but it wasn’t life-threatening or crippling.

Rin had used her own body to keep Selvaria’s body down during the whole thing. Fortunately, she did a great job with no new injuries being added to the lifeless corpse.

Mason looked at the timer on his phone and realized there was half an hour left before the promised time of Selvaria's resurrection. He wondered if he should tell his Admiral what he did to get them all inside.