Hero 108: A New Beginning Ch. 31

Tar

By: ARTgazer12

The Petrified Forest is known as one of the many mysterious areas of Hidden Kingdom. This strange forest lied just south of the famous Tar Pits. Legend held that the forest is the final resting place of a dangerous monster. The young new leader was walking into the forest now, to see if the legends are true. Liliac has been exploring the different unknown areas, hoping to learn something of YX’s explanation and hopefully something about her. She wanted nothing more than to gain the full trust of every member in the new Big Green, and being an outcast among the others was affecting that.

The Petrified Forest lived up to its title. Many of the trees were cast in stone, if not most in strange glob-shaped stone bits. It was a flood washed through the forest, and was turned to stone in a flash. Liliac never unsheathed her weapon; there was no real reason to. The forest was void of all life; the animals never bothered to enter the forest. It was almost like there was something driving them away. But that did not stop the young new leader. There was another legend, saying that deep in the forest there was an old temple. Not much is known of the temple, but it wouldn’t be that way for long.

Liliac trudged on ahead, taking in what was around her. All of the trees were cascaded in stone, and life very well was void. Even the air itself had this stale taste that showed that absolutely nothing could ever live in this forest. The atmosphere was starting to get to thin. “What…happened here?” she asked to no one in particular. She walked ahead on a small cliff, but even the ground was dead. The ground under her feet cracked, and she fell with it. Liliac tumbled down the cliff side and landed roughly at the bottom. The gray haired girl rubbed her back, and just about the other places that hurt. “Ow…man…” she grunted, “That hurt. Now where…am…I…?”

Her voice drifted off as she looked up. The scenery has almost completely changed. Not many trees grew down here, and pieces of rubble were scattered around the landscape, bit something else took its place. What was in front of her could only be described as a hideous monster that was turned to stone. Claws, tendrils, teeth; the most hideous things you can imagine on a monster were present. A few puddles of black tar were also seen scattered amongst the mess. Despite the air of danger that surrounded it, Liliac got up and entered. She maneuvered through the mess of stone and tar, watching over each side of her being. She stepped over a puddle of tar, but unknown to her it started to follow.
Branches of the stoned monster seemed to crack. One end had a bit of tar dripping out. The human slowly approached, but then as it suddenly a small set of claws came out and tried to grab her. Liliac stepped back in surprise, but then tripped over a rock. She fell into a ditch, “Ow! Again? Really?!” She was about to get up, but she saw a large glob of tar. It moved to her, in which she reached to grab her weapon. Liliac backed up as the tar moved closer. The suspense of the area was getting to her as she feared the worst for this thing. The glob rippled, and the human looked away in fear of what was about to happen next.

What came next, however, forced her eyes open. All she heard was a small little sound, something a baby animal would make when it was first born. Liliac looked to the blob, only to see it blink back at her. She fell on her back in surprise, but the creature only blinked some more. It slowly moved closer to her, tilting its head in curiosity. Liliac gave back an equal stare of curiosity mixed with confusion. The creature suddenly moved back, making a small sound of fear and sadness. Its eyes were locked onto her weapon. The human set it aside, showing she meant no harm. The tar blob instantly returned to its normal pace and approached her. The young leader was still weary of it, so she picked up a rock that was nearby for defense. The reaction however, was much different.

Instead of hiding again, the tar monster seemed excited. The small horn that it used for a tail wagged, almost like Long John when he’s excited. Its eyes were fixed on the rock she grabbed. Confused, Liliac lowered her hand, and gently tossed the rock to the monster. It jumped and engulfed the rock whole, making what sounded like chewing sounds as its body moved. It made happy sounds after it swallowed the rock. Liliac was now able to get a better look at it. Its head had three blue eyes; two on one side and one on the other. It had a pair of horns too, but like his eyes, he had two on one and one on the other, just reversed. The monster had a few small spines jutting out of its neck, and a spike in place for a tail.

The creature approached Liliac’s boot and rubbed up against it, almost like how a cat would. She gently pet its head, but she couldn’t remove her hand. The human pulled back, but still nothing. Then, her hand started to sink into him. In fear she threw her hand out, taking the creature with it. Her glove flew off with the tar blob flying straight into a piece of the ruins. Her gloves sunk into its body and disappeared. “Okay…” she spoke, “I shouldn’t do that again…” The little creature whined as it looked to Liliac. “Oh don’t cry little guy…” she spoke, her eyes darted to the sides. “I’ll…” her face lit up as she walked over. She picked up a pot, a rather decently sized pot. The human placed it before the creature, who quickly darted into it. After it was filled, the little tar blob poked his head out with a cheerful mew. Liliac smiled at it, “You’re so adorable…but, what are you?”

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Back at Big Green, Kawkee was still hard at work on his energy source situation. He was aided by Cyber this time. They were at work with chemicals. “Mixing batches S and T now…” spoke the alien as he progressed. The moment the two chemicals mixed, they exploded. Kawkee coughed before shaking off the black soot. “Stardust! Another failed pair!” He sighed as he grabbed a rag and began to clean the mess off of the tables. Cyber started on the scorch marks on the floor. Someone knocked on his door, “Come in…”

Liliac walked inside, holding the pot behind her to obstruct it from view. “Hey Kawkee, you can make anything right?” she asked.

“That depends…” he spoke while cleaning, “What is it that you want?”

She placed the pot on a table. “I was wondering if you could make a pair of gloves or clothes than can slip off of any surface.”

“Interesting request, what exactly is it for?”

Before she could reply, a loud siren went off. It startled both Kawkee and Liliac. The source of the noise was Cyber, who by Liliac’s view, was going insane. “UNKNOWN LIFEFORM DETECED! UNKNOWN LIFEFORM DETECTED! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” His eye suddenly scanned the room, and much to her fear, it hit to pot. He suddenly extended out into his battle form, “INTRUDER FOUND!” His wheels burned rubber as he charged to the pot. Liliac pulled out her staff and swung it, knocking Cyber over. The robot quickly got up, “INSUBORDINATION!” His cannon arm aimed to her and sprayed a steady stream of flames. Liliac ducked and jumped behind a lab table stacked with several beakers and flasks. Cyber followed her with the flame cannon still spewing.

Kawkee panicked, “CYBER NO! ALL OF THOSE CHEMICALS ARE-!” A chain reaction of colorful explosions followed his shout. Once it cleared, both Kawkee and Cyber was both singed and splattered with a wide variety of colored chemicals. “Highly…combustible…” Kawkee coughed a ring of smoke before falling over.

Liliac peeked out, perfectly fine. Her vision strayed over to the pot, but much to her shock is was in pieces. “No!” she shouts in horror. Quickly darting around the newly created debris, she had to see it with her own eyes to make sure. “No! He’s gone!”
“Who’s gone?” Liliac looked up to see Lovely. However her attention was driven more onto the black thing she was holding, the little monster.

“Asphalt!” She ran to him as he jumped into Liliac’s arms. “You’re okay!” They both nuzzled each other, but soon they were stuck together. Lovely shook her head, gently helping the two separate. Cyber calmed down enough to let them with the “unknown lifeform” for a short bit. “I found him all alone” Liliac explained, “He seemed really friendly, so I brought him here. Maybe you can help me figure out what he is exactly.”

Cyber and Kawkee pulled out devices to scan him. Asphalt simply blinked in their direction. Lovely, however, took one look at the creature. “Liliac, where exactly did you find him?” she asked.

“I found him in this strange forest” she replied. “It had these weird stone formations that covered the trees. This black stuff was seeping out of some of the cracks.”
The description of that sent chills down her spine. Before Lovely could respond, Kawkee beat her. “Amazing! This creature’s chemical composition seems to be exactly the same as common Earth tar!”

“So…he’s a tar monster?” asked Liliac.

“Yes, but that is what’s so strange about it…” Kawkee pulled out another device, “I am not seeing any bone structure, organ systems, I’m not even getting steady brain waves; how can this thing even be alive, let alone think?” Asphalt sneered a bit in the alien’s direction. “Is it even intelligent?” The tar creature hissed in anger at Kawkee, causing him to snap back.

“I believe that answers your question” Lovely told him, earning a giggle from Liliac. However the girl’s attention was brought to Lovely now. “Liliac” she started, “Tar creatures are very unpredictable. They can easily absorb anything living or non living into their bodies. If you’re not careful, this thing could actually swallow you whole.”

She looked down to her newly named creature. Asphalt was rubbing his head against her shirt. But, even though it was sticking slightly, he could still do. “Lovely, I know you’re trying to look out for me” she spoke up, “But this little guy is not trying to eat me. I think he would have tried when I found him.” Asphalt looked to her, “But I trust Asphalt, and I think he deserves a chance.” The little tar blot stretched his neck up and gently rubbed her cheek. He only stuck a little and was still able to get off. Lovely let out a sigh but a smile still formed on her face.

“I will get to work on those non-adhesive gloves” Kawkee spoke, “In the meantime; maybe you should take him back with your place.”

The young leader gave a nod to him as she placed Asphalt into a bowl to carry. Liliac walked off with her new friend. Maya, without anyone knowing, was watching the entire scene from above. She gave a sigh, “If only she would give me a chance.” And without a single trace, she flew out of the room.