Mini-Grand 5110 <Round 2: Chrome City>

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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What just happened? Freddie groaned, telekinetically lifting a piece of rubble off of himself.

"Hello Freddie!" Tulip said enthusiastically. Then she saw his second head. "Oh! Hello there! You must be Teddie!"

Ugh. It appears I am now.

Tulip triumphantly held up a small plastic ball on the tip of her left wing. "Well, I got the prize! Isn't it great? Now I'm a winner!"

Fabulous, Freddie mentally agreed. Then he collapsed to the floor, his entire body falling to the left.

Wonderful, Teddie's mind grumbled as the right half of the body started fumbling around futilely trying to get up. I can only move half of this body on my own.

"What's wrong, Teddie? Does Freddie need help?"

...Yes. Yes, he does.

"Oh no! Poor Freddie! I'll call a doctor! Or an ambulance! Or the fire department! Or... ooh, this is a really nice prize. I wonder what I won it for?"

Good help is so hard to find these days, Teddie sighed mentally. Then he found himself shivering.

A few feet away, several fries slipped out from another pile of debris, and carefully lifted bits of rock off of their unconscious master. The group slowly extricated itself from the rubble, and lined up obediently in front of Burgrar, waiting for an order.

As Thomice entered the ruins of the McGrease's, he was rather surprised to see not just one, but two Battlemonsters he didn't recognize. Along with an incapacitated Logosmorph - no, wait, it had evolved into a Harebrain now - and a group of Filefries. Nothing significant, he supposed, but there was no sense in leaving them behind while he grabbed the rarities. Besides, it wasn't unheard of for individual Battlemonsters to display unusual abilities - perhaps one of the seemingly-normal ones was actually responsible for this destruction. In any case, that could be sorted out back at the Unity Lab. Thomice's only concern was capturing them all.

It seemed that only the flying Battlemonster was in any state to resist, and it was busy flying around in circles. Thomice was almost disappointed. And here he'd been expecting a good fight. He took out his Capture Ball and prepared his shot. It was possible that the Filefries would turn hostile after the capture, but they were weak to Ice moves; he could subdue them easily enough if it came to that.

Thomice flung the Capture Ball at Tulip, only to see it harmlessly bounce off. He was baffled - yes, the ball sometimes failed to capture a monster, but normally it would engulf the creature and only be discarded after a struggle. But this one had simply shrugged it off effortlessly! It was as if...

As if the creature weren't a Battlemonster at all.

But how could that be possible? Before Thomice could reflect on this discovery, he was surprised by Tulip turning towards him. Or rather, by the fact that she spoke to him.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" she shouted. "Are you trying to take my prize? I won it, fair and square!"

A talking Battlemonster that couldn't be captured? This creature, whatever it was, intrigued Thomice. He had to bring it in, even if the Capture Ball wasn't an option.

His hands started to glow blue.

"Win your own prize!" Tulip shouted at him. As she did, Thomice felt the wind around him grow colder. That suited him fine, but it still struck him as odd.

"ICICLE SURGE!" he screamed back at her.

A pair of icicles formed in his hands, and he flung them at the strange Battlemonster. Tulip was in no position to dodge, but it turned out not to matter; one of the icicles suddenly swerved in midair, colliding with the other and sending both off course.

Thomice was puzzled. Then he took a closer look at the Harebrain. One of its heads was still moving.

It must have protected the flying one. But why? Wild Battlemonsters rarely took an interest in protecting those outside their species, and the Logosmorph evolution line was particularly known for its isolationism. They only protected their human masters.

Thomice stared at the colorful flying creature again. Could it be...

He put the thought aside. He wasn't paid to think. He was paid to capture Battlemonsters. And even if this... thing... wasn't one, it was interesting enough that it made no difference.

"Now that's just rude!" Tulip shouted at him suddenly. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's impolite to hit a lady?"

The cold winds started roaring. Then, it began to snow.

Thomice was puzzled at first; snow at this time of year? Then, he was amused as he realized what it meant. The snow grew stronger and stronger.

And so did he.

"ABSOLUTE ZERO!" he shouted.

The blizzard around him followed his command, swirling around the Battlemonsters. In just a few minutes, they were encased in blocks of ice.

The storm soon died down, but the snow and ice remained. Thomice pulled out his cell phone and called the number again.

"This is Thomice," he said. "I've retrieved four Battlemonsters, two of them unlike anything I've seen before. Don't bother with the containment team; just send someone to help me carry them. And quickly, before the police get here."

Thomice grabbed the block with the strange flying creature first, then carefully lifted the frozen burger on top of it. The more common ones could be handled by his backup.