" Ah, we have a joker here." The monster said, his voice trailing after the girl as she took flight and went out.

Let me make this more interesting...

The monster, however, just stood there, staring into space and at the back of the naked girl as she walked away, obviously looking for a way out. Farther and farther she went, but the monster just stood there, completely rooted to the ground. He observed the girl.

A little more sooner he disappeared from the spot where he was standing, seemingly disappearing. But in Kouzakai's mind...the hunt has begun once again.

"Ok...just how do I get out of here?" I thought to myself as I looked around the cave, just walking down the length of the place.

In the whole length of the moment that the girl wandered aimlessly around the cave in which the monster had bought her, the monster had been jumping stealthily on every nook and cranny of the cave. He knew the entire length of this cave...and it did not help that the cave was a part of a massive underground channel which ran through Shokushu island.

He had been around the cave quite a few times now and it was highly delighting to watch the girl get lost, seemingly. He tracked her down and followed her from a distance.

" Well, now, brave girl." He taunted. " I have to laud your efforts. Brave, but foolish."

He did so, speaking from different points and scattering his voice, making it seem like he was at many places all at once.

"Sometimes it takes a fool to do the task." I replied, while pressing onward, keeping to a relitivly stright line.

" Ah, that it does, that it does." The monster replied back with a hearty guffaw, looking around in the vast cave which he sometimes called home. He was content...for now...on watching the girl, seeing if she could see so well in the dark.

Not really well as it seems she's slowly making a beeline for a particularly nasty 40 feet fall from a crag.

" You might want to veer a little to the left, foolish girl." he said, watching the scene take place with all the pretense of a demi-god watching mortal men.

I stopped, and started to pick up some random stones. After gathering 10 or so around me, I started to chuck a couple down the tunnel, going farther each time to check for any hidden traps or pitfalls. I found a drop about 13 yards away.

Very good, very good, the monster thought.

Sooner than he's hoped she's learned a technique to get around any unseen dangers she might fall into or stumble into. Slowly he's been tracking her, and more and more he's getting closer to her once more.

He's going to give her quite a few more times to see a fake light of escape...then frustrate her once again.

I kept the stones on me, tossing them out to check for any traps, making my way slowly down the tunnel.

Ah, patience was growing thin for the monster. He needed a particular kind of food, and he needed it now.

Slowly and noiselessly, he moved through the vast caves and finally found the entrance through which they had come through. It was the one she was obviously looking for, and it was fit for only one person.

Then came his plan. He used two or three of his thickest, strongest tentacles, and started whipping stalactites and stalagmites which were in abundance, to cause an avalanche.

Thus he took Madison's only escape route away. There were other openings as well, but only he knew the way to them.

He laughed evilly at what he did, and went back to tracking the lost girl.

I heard the rumbling, and cursed to myself. A cave-in was NOT what I was wanting right now.

From the shadows, a silent stalker patiently watches.

He's been around and he knows any possible routes she might take...all of them impossible for any human to pass through. He does not underestimate the measure of a cornered human though...experience taught him that his extraordinary skill posed no threat for a cornered human with no escape, at that most crucial time.

No. He had to goad her into some kind of truce. Something for something, in his mind. They had to reach terms.

He decided to bide his time.

I came across the collapsed area, and stopped to think for a bit before starting to try to dig away the fallen rock.

The monster watched silently, waiting for any movement from the girl.

When he grew a bit impatient he decided to do a little something.

" I could try and help you in your predicament." He said, from the shadows.

"What?" I said finally, still digging at the rock.

" you see, that pitiful digging wouldn't do anything." He said.

" This cave is one big network of entrances and exits to the outside. And it seems the area you're digging has had one big cave-in that would take even the most skillful digging teams a whole month to even remove one-third of the debris." He paused to stop himself from smiling. " But since I know most of this cave, there are about a thousand other entrances which you can pass through and only I know about all of them."

Now he moved the pieces to start his plan.

" Of course I can help if you'd...agree to cooperate with me."