Wild Kratts: Here Be Dragons (Wild Kratts X Monster Hunter)

Chapter 11: Kirin

Seregios hunched over, his claws digging into the ground as he grew in size. His eyes turned red and he started huffing purple smoke. His scales darkened to a red-purple-bronze hue and a dark purplish-black aura began to surround him.

Aviva's eyes widened and she started to ask a question, but Nargacuga quickly shushed her. "Not now."

Seregios's voice was now harsh and shrill. He roared and charged towards the massive robot and punched it across the jaw. Its face caved in. Before it could recover from the hit, Seregios circled behind it and a large, bronze horn suddenly burst from its chest and the robot was lifted up. A pair of talons grabbed it from behind and yanked downward, the horn sticking out of its chest slicing its body from the chest up in half.

"No, no, no!" Zach slammed his fists into the shoulders of the robot he was sitting on.

"Shut up, you petulant child!" Seregios rasped. He swatted at the hovering robot like it was a fly. "Leave, or you may find an Apex chomping on your tail."

Zach promptly obeyed and was flown back to his jet, which took off.

Aviva deactivated her suit and ran up to Seregios as he went back to normal. "What was that? Is that some kind of ability thousand blade wyverns have that you didn't tell me about?"

Seregios shook his head. "No. I got infected by something called the Frenzy virus when I was young, but most monster just call it the Frenzy. Some of its outwardly noticeable symptoms aren't too far off from rabies, like heightened aggression, but infected monsters also turn a purple hue, their eyes become red, and their immune system practically shuts down, so they can't heal from injury or fight off disease, meaning that they die very soon after getting infected. Luckily, though, it's curable, using nulberries. Some monsters however, like myself, can overcome the virus and become Apex monsters, meaning we get all the advantages of Frenzy to an even greater degree and none of the disadvantages. I can shift between normal and Apex states."

"Where does the Frenzy virus come from?"

"It can, very rarely, occur naturally, but mainly comes from monsters who produce it, namely black eclipse and heavenly revolving dragons. They're taught from a young age to control their Frenzy as to not spread it on accident. In fact, we had a pretty recent Frenzy epidemic. Well, pretty recent by our standards. But that time, there was a criminal mafia spreading the Frenzy on purpose, so that wasn't so much a natural epidemic as it was attempted terrorism."

"Yes. And that is why the gifts of the Sapphire Star should never be abused," said a soft, melodious voice.

Chris turned to see a unicorn-like monster the size of a large draft horse. It was a pale blue, with some darker lightning-shaped streaks on its shoulders, hindquarters and legs and white feathering around its hooves. White fur flowed off of its head, jawline, shoulders, and the tip of its tail. As it walked closer Chris noticed that the rest of its body wasn't covered in fur, but scales. Its head was less equine in shape than one might expect. Sharp fangs flashed in the light as it spoke. And its eyes were red and its pupils slits, like those of a snake.

"Kirin! We were not expecting you." Astalos bowed to the monster. The rest of the monsters followed. Figuring that it was polite, Chris bowed too, albeit awkwardly.

The monster bowed in response. "No need for such formalities." It looked at Chris, then at the rest of the Wild Kratts. "Now, who are the rest of these?"

"That's my brother Martin, that's Aviva, that's Koki, and that's Jimmy."

"Interesting names. Mizutsune! I have not seen you in some time now! Is your brother doing well?"

Mizutsune laughed. "Yes, my brother is fine. How is Oroshi?"

"As serious as ever. I was watching your battle with those mechanical beasts from afar, and I must say," he turned back to Chris, "I am impressed. I assume that they have trained you?"

"Yes."

"Ah, well then, you couldn't have found better teachers, if I do say so myself. And trust me, I have seen great warriors come and go."

"That's very kind of you, sir, but you haven't told us your name yet," Aviva said.

"Oh, is that so? How very rude of me! My name is Kirin."

"So, are you a wyvern? Or some other kind of monster?"

Kirin looked a little caught off guard, but answered quickly. "No. I am an elder dragon."

"What are elder dragons, exactly?"

Kirin shook his head. "You're a curious one, aren't you? Tell you what, there's a library near Dragonsreach's city hall. That will contain the answer to every question you could possibly have about us monsters. All you would need is a translator."