Finally, after two hours of searching, they made a breakthrough. Cosmo had suddenly stopped, turned his head to the side, and began sniffing the air vigorously. His English was still at the level of a toddler, so he was unable to convey his findings in words. All Cosmo could do was get Lura's and Will's attention, and lead them in that direction.

"It looks like Cosmo found something." Will said, as he began following his scaly friend.

After a few moments, the group finally had their first sight of Respyn and the other monster. Just like Cosmo, this monster had grown too. It was still a quadruped, and hopped around like a frog as it followed Respyn. Its previously blue skin had gotten lighter and was a blueish-gray color, and even more slimy than before. Its rat-like tail had gotten much longer, and on the tip of its tail there was a hook like a barb. Its body had two rows of one inch long spikes starting at the top of its head and going all the way down its back. The spikes were a tanish-white color and almost looked like bones that had punctured its skin.

There didn't seem to be a hiding place in this area, so Lura came to the conclusion that they had caught him traveling either to or from his location. After thinking for a moment, Lura decided it would be best to retreat for now. Trying to follow him could lead to them getting caught, but spotting him had given Lura a starting point for her next search.

Lura using her hands to point back in the direction they came, conveyed to Will they were going back. Will patted Cosmo on the shoulder to get his attention, and the group began walking back. After only a few steps, a voice rang out behind them.

"Leaving already?" Respyn shouted so they could hear him.

Lura and Will stopped in their tracks when Respyn called out to them, Cosmo who didn't at first, looked back at them confused. Lura was the only one able to understand Repspyn, due to her specie's ability to comprehend languages. For Will, all he heard were unfamiliar sounds with no meaning. Respyn's deep voice was still intimidating to the boy, possibly even more so than if he could understand what he was saying.

"This is perfect timing. I brought my little friend out here to do some hunting, to really get a grasp of what he is capable of. What better way to test his strength than with that other creature." Respyn said, pointing towards Cosmo.

When Respyn pointed at Cosmo, the frog-like creature began charging towards Lura, Will, and Cosmo. The way it hopped at full speed could have been amusing under different circumstances, but the size of the creature and its appearance made the hopping unsettling rather than funny.

Lura attempted to get Will and Cosmo to run back home, but the creature's speed didn't give her the chance. In a moment it had made up the distance between them. Setting its sights on Lura, who was the nearest, the monster spit out its long tongue towards her. Instincts kicked in and Lura shut her eyes and flinched, but she didn't feel herself get hit. Before she opened her eyes, Lura heard Will yell.

"Cosmo!"

Lura opened her eyes to see Cosmo standing before her. The frog's tongue had wrapped around Cosmo's arm. With his free hand, Cosmo took a swipe at the frog's tongue with its claws. The pain from the slash made the monster release Cosmo's arm and hop back back a few feet.

Cosmo and the frog stared at each other, hissing and snarling. Neither made a move on their own, they just kept their eyes on one another.

"Cosmo, let's go!" Will yelled, as he started taking steps back in the direction they had come from. Lura was moving alongside Will as best she could, while watching over the two monsters clashing.

Seeing Cosmo not react to Will's call, Lura thought to herself, "He is a weapon for war, of course he isn't going to flee when an enemy is in front of it."

Will once again called out to get Cosmo's attention. "Cosmo! We're getting out of here!"

This second attempt reached Cosmo's floppy ears. He looked in the direction he heard Will yelling from, and when he noticed that Will and Lura were attempting to flee he began following. The three began running through the forest as fast as they could.

Seeing Cosmo turn his back, Respyn took advantage of that moment.

"Now's your chance! Kill it!" Respyn shouted.

Responding to Respyn's command the frog creature charged towards Cosmo. It was significantly faster than Cosmo, so it got within attacking range quickly. Once again it shot out its tongue, this time wrapping around Cosmo's leg. Cosmo tumbled to the ground and shifted his attention behind him to see what happened.

As Cosmo turned his head the frog was already making its next move. It had released Cosmo's leg, retracted its tongue, and had leaped toward Cosmo. The frog landed square on Cosmo's chest pinning him to the ground. Its long tongue slithered out of its mouth like a snake, and coiled around Como's neck.

Cosmo panicked and began flailing in desperation. He took desperate swipes at the frog but the combination of not having a good angle to attack, the frog's slippery skin, and the spike protruding from its back made each desperate swing fail. The swipes Cosmo was taking either skid off the frog's skin, or he hit a spike injuring himself.

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Seeing this going on, Lura charged back to help. She took her baton from her belt, ran up beside Cosmo, pulled back for a big swing like she was in the MLB, and clocked the frog on the side of the head.

The hit rattled the frog, but not enough for it to release its grip on Cosmo. Instead, the frog attempted to retreat, dragging Cosmo by the neck behind it.

Cosmo was still panicking, unable to breathe. Now that the frog was no longer close enough to attack, Cosmo shifted his focus to the tongue wrapped around his neck. Trying his best to get a grip on some part of the tongue, he finally managed to grab the part that was on top of the wrapping. Because it wasn't tied down by the tongue on top, Cosmo was able to move it a bit. He brought the free piece of tongue up towards his snout. Once it was near his mouth, Cosmo chomped down on the frog's tongue.

The frog let out a screech as it retracted its tongue. Drops of blood fell to the ground from the bite marks in the long tongue.

After freeing himself, Cosmo quickly hopped back on his feet. He rubbed his sore neck while taking deep breaths. Focusing on the frog the entire time he caught his breath.

During this entire ordeal, Will had been scared stiff. So much was happening around him, and he had little idea what he should do. When Cosmo was being choked, he had wanted to run and help, but his legs wouldn't move. All he could do was helplessly watch from the sidelines.

As Cosmo stared down the frog, Lura shifted her attention towards Respyn. She believed this was the best course of action since he was feeding the monster commands. She charged forward towards the pale skinned alien. Unlike the last encounter she didn't have the advantage of coming up from behind, but she couldn't let that deter her. Lura, Will, and Cosmo were in a bad situation, and she was going to do her best to get them out of it.

"Bold of you to come at me again after last time. I guess this is for the best though. I don't want you interfering with my pet's fight anymore." Respyn said casually as Lura approached.

Lura ignored his words and was focused only on fighting. She lifted her baton overhead and began her assault. Once again, Respyn avoided Lura's attacks with ease. Even light attacks that were meant to get him in a position for what she thought was a sure hit were easily avoided by Respyn. No matter how Lura attacked, Respyn saw through her every move.

On the other hand, Respyn was easily delivering blows to Lura. When he had an opening he would throw a punch or deliver a kick. All of which either came from an angle where Lura was unable to see the attack, or he made his move when Lura was in a position unable to dodge.

Lura took a few steps back to get some distance. Respyn on the other hand was incredibly nonchalant, not even taking a fighting stance. At this point, Lura knew Respyn was going to let her take her time to prepare her attack. All she could do was try to take advantage of his hubris. She took slow methodical steps toward Respyn, taking her time to make sure she positioned herself exactly as she had been trained.

She did a light thrust towards Respyn's right shoulder, which he turned to the side to avoid. Next, Lura stepped forward with her left foot, and did a backswing with her baton towards Respyn. Respyn again casually dodged this with a simple step backwards. Everything had gone perfect, Lura knew Respyn would dodge, so instead she was trying to move him into an unfavorable position. Respyn now stood in front of an exposed tree root, sticking about six inches out of the ground. Now with this next swing all she needed was for Respyn to try and step backwards, stumbling over the root. Whether he fell completely or just stumbled but stayed on his feet, either would give Lura the chance to land a hit. She lifted her baton over her head and swung it down towards Respyn.

Respyn's next move was something Lura hadn't counted on. If he had dodged in a normal way where he missed the root, Lura would have tried to adapt. Instead he dodged backwards like Lura had hoped, but he didn't step back or even leap backwards. He casually lifted his foot over the root avoiding it, as if he had known it were there the entire time. Lura had kept her eyes on Respyn, and she never saw him take a look at his footing. When she began her attacks he was also in a position where he shouldn't have known the root was there, and she carefully planned her moves to make sure it stayed out of his vision.

As the momentum of Lura's swing moved her forward, Respyn delivered a kick to her midsection. Lura dropped to her knees, partly from the kick but also out of frustration. No matter what she did, she was being toyed with. This was no longer just her doing her job trying to catch a thief. She now needed to defeat Respyn to heal her wounded ego.

Cosmo and the frog stared at each other, neither wanting to make the first move. As the frog creature grew impatient, it found an opening. Right as the fight between Lura and Respyn began, Cosmo shifted his focus towards them. In that brief moment, the frog took his chance. He spit his tongue at Cosmo once again, but Cosmo noticed in time.

Once again Cosmo lifted his arm to block the oncoming tongue. The tongue wrapped itself around Cosmo's arm again, like it had earlier. Cosmo readied his claws to attack the tongue, but the frog had different plans.

Instead of pulling or tugging Cosmo with his tongue, the frog did a little hop. As soon as his feet left the ground he began hurtling towards Cosmo. As if Cosmo was holding a fishing rod, the frog was being reeled in towards the crimson lizard. Before Cosmo had a chance to slash the tongue, the frog it belonged to had come crashing into him. The slimy beast released its grip on Cosmo's arm as they collided, and Cosmo was sent hurtling backwards.

After rolling backwards a few meters, Cosmo quickly tried to get back on his feet. The frog creature however, wasn't going to simply let Cosmo get up. It leaped forward towards Cosmo, did a spin mid-air, and whipped its tail towards him. Cosmo, on one knee, lifted his arms to block the attack. Cosmo's forearms blocked most of the attack, the middle of the tail slamming against them. The spiked tip of the frog's tail had not been blocked, and still had enough momentum to bend past Cosmo's and hit his shoulder, piercing it.

Thrusting his arms forward, Cosmo sent the frog flying backwards. Blood flowed from the puncture in Cosmo's shoulder, down his arm, and dripped off his claws onto the ground.

The frog, after being pushed back, managed to land on his feet. Not wanting to give Cosmo time to recover, he began charging back towards him. As he charged forward he spit out his tongue, but this time Cosmo didn't try to block it. He swung his claws at the tongue, and they met in the air. After taking the slash, the frog retracted his tongue, but didn't stop his charge. He got within a few feet of Cosmo, and leapt. The top of the frog's head collided with Cosmo's chin, once again knocking the lizard backwards.

As Cosmo fell backwards, the frog wrapped its tongue around Cosmo's torso. The frog spun its body to gain momentum, and flung Cosmo. His body rolled, hitting a tree, bringing him to a stop. As Cosmo laid motionless, the frog looked around for another target. He saw his master, Respyn, fighting Lura, and didn't want to get in the way and be punished. With one down, one occupied, the frog finally set his sights on Will who had been standing in the same place shocked this entire time.