Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 3 - The Devil's Yard Journey, Part 1

---

Author Notes October 1, 2022: Halloween time is my favorite time of the year. It's basically the holiday of Autumn, my favorite season, and while I'm not huge into intense, graphic horror or anything, I am rather fond of the spooky and macabre stuff which comes with the holiday. Also, the black cats.

As such, it didn't escape my notice that the next part of the "Legends of the Halcyon Era" story was rooted pretty heavily in stuff that would fit right in with Halloween. The result is going to require busting my butt to get everything out in a timely manner, but I'm kicking things off today, October 1st, with the first part of this story, and I plan to have semi-regular updates throughout the rest of the month, culminating in the final chapter on October 31st.

Around other work and stuff, it's going to be quite an undertaking, and a bit different from the Legends norm.

I hope you'll join me for this journey and enjoy it!

After signing on, albeit conditionally, with the Air Pirate Xenos Geist, the group of Nytetrayn, Fenix, and Janine have had a day or so to get used to their new life aboard the captain's surprisingly luxurious and well-equipped airship. The abundance of materials on board have already made the venture worthwhile, at least for now.

In the ship's workshop, Nytetrayn had been hard at work on his pet project, a mech suit he'd been reconstructing and upgrading from some wreckage found in the depths of one ruin. Thrilled by the resources at his disposal, his current task involved mounting a heavy-duty Buster cannon on one of the arms, just like the one he'd seen on TV.

Meanwhile, Fenix sat on his bed as he put the finishing touches on a plasma caster he'd managed to refurbish from the junk shop back on Monroe Island.

As he went about polishing his latest weapon acquisition, a knock came at the door to his quarters before a small humanoid robot peered in. "Hey," it said to the Digger in a high-pitched voice.

"Hello..." Fenix said back, only mildly perturbed by the intrusion.

"We're coming up to a town," said the robot, revealing the number "6" on its forehead as it stepped in. "Xenos wanted me to ask the passengers if they were up to a morning raid." The cheerful expression on its face made it seem as though this was a perfectly normal thing to be asking, as much as if it wanted to know if Fenix would like some coffee, or perhaps the morning paper.

Fenix chafed at this. Sure, he knew it was going to come to this eventually – they did sign on with a pirate, after all – but this quickly? Why now? Why not a month from now? Or perhaps a year?

"I'm... not terribly anxious to shoot at innocent civilians..." Fenix admitted to the little helper robot as it swayed back and forth, eagerly awaiting a response. "But, if Xenos would be open to another option, I have a suggestion..."

"He wouldn't have sent me to ask if he weren't open to other options!" Number SIx said, a large smile plastered across its disproportionately large head.

"Cool," Fenix thought to himself. "Maybe this won't be so bad, after all."

Hopping to his feet, Fenix was already all decked out in his armor, which now featured several red elements and a few yellow highlights after their fashion faux pas with Black Steel back in the Kanga Ruins. He holstered his weapon in an opening compartment on the outside of his thigh armor. "Great, lead me to him," he told the little robot man.

"Um," Number Six hesitated. "I need to talk to the others, too."

"Lead on, then," Fenix said. "I wanted to talk to Nyte, anyway."

Number Six did just that, leading Fenix to Janine's room, where she had just finished showering. After rubbing down her hair with a towel, she wrapped it around herself before opening the door to the sound of metal knocking on metal. "Hey, guys!" she said, sporting a cheerful smile.

"Hey, kiddo," Fenix greeted her. "How ya' feelin'?"

"Great! I hesitate to say it, but I think the irritation and redness has faded..."

"That... that's nice..."

"Hi, Janine! Xenos–" Number Six chimed in, before pausing to process what it had just heard. "...wanted me to talk to you guys about our next destination. But he wasn't sure you guys were up to raiding a village so..."

"Okay, lemme slip something on," she said before heading to the closet. "Okay!" Number Six responded, as it seemed altogether oblivious to what was happening around it, while Fenix just averted his eyes.

Moments later, Janine stepped up, sporting a sleeveless off-white outfit consisting of a crop top, shorts, and high-heeled boots which came up just below her knees, each piece trimmed in dark red. A pair of purple and pink bracelets adorned her wrists as she put her hair up into a sleek ponytail. She cut a stunning figure in the outfit, standing nearly six feet tall, only a couple of inches shorter than Fenix.

"Ready!" she exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Okay!" said Number Six. "Follow me!"

Down in the workshop, Nytetrayn stood back and took a good look at the robot as it stood before him, with wheels at its ankles and waist, and a normal arm on one side, and now a big Buster arm on the other. Convinced everything looked right so far, he hopped into the front and closed the hatch.

Inside, Nytetrayn moved some levers, pressed some buttons, and the robot's upper-body turned to face behind it, and as the others entered the workshop area, it looked like it fell on its butt. It now looked like a big metal ball with arms on the front of an oversized skateboard.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Janine asked. "Got no idea," Fenix replied. "Hey, Nyte!" he shouted. "You dead?"

Through an external speaker, Nyte's voice told them "Nope. Just a second..." Moving the levers back and pressing a few buttons, the mech returned to a standing position before Nyte climbed out.

"Well," he said as he toweled some grease off his hands. "I have the basic stuff down, but I still need a good refractor to power it, and it could maybe use a little work on the part alignment for–"

"Hey dude," Fenix cut in. "Xen wants to know if you're up for a spot of pillaging."

"Sounds good to me," Janine said as she cracked her knuckles.

"A bit less testosterone there dear, it's not healthy."

"Pillaging... hmm," Nyte said, as though he was rolling the word around in his mouth. No, it still just wasn't quite sitting right with him. "Uh, is there anything else we could do? Like dig for a refractor? So I can power this thing?"

"That's exactly what I had in mind, as a matter of fact," Fenix said. "Let's go! Lead the way, Sixy!"

"Right-o~!" the little robot practically sang.

Janine and Nyte followed, the latter saying something about how much ass this mech was going to kick. "That bit you guys saw was the long-range mode," he said.

"Nifty," Fenix replied.

"It was for when Fenix and I were on our own, to help get us place-to-place faster, but unfortunately, it only seats two... maybe three, if we were to squeeze? I should add something for that, like a trailer or something. It could unfold out and have these laser–"

They arrived at the bridge to see Xenos, sleeping against the wheel. Fenix cut off Nyte as he asked Janine to "be a good girl and awaken our pirate friend."

Leaning over the back of the captain's chair, Janine shouted, "Hey, hey, pirate boy! Time to wake up!"

The startled Xenos jerked straight back in his seat. Unbeknownst to him, a part of his outfit was still caught on the wheel, causing him to bounce back into it face first as Janine winced.

"Ow," he said in a muffled voice as he rubbed his nose and unhooked himself from the contraption. "I guess Number Six brought you up here for a reason. You guys didn't want to raid the town, eh?"

"Well, while I would love to terrorize innocent people..." Fenix began.

"I want to get a refractor for my ride armor," Nyte said, cutting him off. "I don't think those are as common in town."

"Um, yeah," Fenix said while giving a sidelong glance to Nyte. "I have something else in mind you guys might be interested in." He holds up a golden disc before his comrades, allowing it to glisten in the light for a moment before continuing.

"I was given this by an investigative reporter back in town. He'd been researching odd ruins, and after I told him about how we saved Janine in the dungeon of evil kangaroos, he figured we had the stuff to plumb the depths of some of these places. Most of the bigger ruins have already been investigated. There was an interesting incident on a spit of land called Kattelox, for instance, but one remains that I found particularly interesting..."

Fenix inserted the disc into a slot on one of the consoles on the bridge, and a newspaper article came up, with one photo which showed a stretch of land that was barren, all but for a few skeletal trees.

"A few klicks from here is a large island called Innsmouth, and the only town is a seaport called Arkham. The rest of the island is made up of a large, barren plain called "The Devil's Yard."

"Ooh, catchy," Nyte said. "Heh, Xenos added. "Devil always has somethin' good."

"Sounds ominous," Janine chimed in, before adding "I like!"

"Indeed," Fenix chuckled. "Basically, this place will not support normal life–"

"Which is why we're going?" Nyte said, looking at the lot of them.

"Hush, Nyte, I'm getting to that. Anyhow, the water is tainted, the plants are mutated freaks of nature, and scientists are largely baffled. The soil is contaminated, but they're not exactly sure by what. Tectonic readings indicate a vast network of tunnels beneath the surface, and an extremely large source of energy has been detected down there as well. The popular opinion is that there is something really funky down there that's corrupting the local flora and fauna."

"Fun," Nyte said.

"Oh, that's not the best part. You know that refractor we found in Jan's dungeon?"

"Yeah, I remember," Jan said. "We almost drowned for it."

Xenos asked, "Small fry compared to this baby, eh?"

"The readings are, and this is a conservative estimate, almost ten times the power that baby gave off."

Nyte's eyes widened before he let out an enthusiastic "Woo-hoo!!!"

"So, why is this fabulous dungeon untouched?" Janine asked. "I imagine someone would want this massive chunk of energy for themselves. Besides us, that is."

"Ah, yes, well..." Fenix began, a little nervously.

"Certain doom?" Xenos asked. "Unspeakable, terrible deaths which await all who enter? The biggest flippin' Reaverbot in all history?"

"Destruction of the world, actually," said Fenix. "The locals live in deadly fear of the place, as legend has it that the dungeon is the resting place of a supernatural demon."

"...ah."

"Yes, quite yummy."

"Hmm, I dunno," Nyte pondered. "Destruction of the world... that's no good. That's where I keep all my stuff."

"Well, I'm not too keen on dying," Xenos added.

"The interesting part is," Fenix continued on, "what Diggers have ignored the warnings and gone in, rarely come back. Those who have reported that there is a large, ugly Reaverbot squatting over the entrance."

"I knew there was a big-ass Reaverbot involved! I knew it!" Xenos shouted.

Fenix paused and stared at Xenos for a moment following the outburst.

"Squatting?" Nyte asked.

"A figure of speech. By all accounts, it lacks legs, but that's beside my point."

"And what is your point?" Jan asked. "That we all commit suicide?"

"Come now, we're more formidable than that. We kicked your cute little butt, didn't we?"

"...fine, point for you," Jan conceded. "But I still want a rematch."

"Anyhow, my point is this: While other Diggers went in unprepared, we have the advantage of research, and," as he gestured to Janine, "we have the Reaverbot Queen on our side. We're golden."

Janine just stared at Fenix for a moment. "In the same breath, you belittle me and praise my prowess?"

"I'm screwy that way, yes."

"He is," Nyte confirmed.

Patting Janine on the shoulder, Xenos added, "We're a confusing bunch, aye."

"Walking into the nastiest dungeon this side of Hell's creation, counting on me to save your asses?" Janine said with a chuckle. "I'll say you are."

Fenix shrugged. "I'm just bringing it up, you tell me what you guys think."

"Well," Xenos said while stroking his chin. "If you guys really want to do that, I do have an entire army on this ship."

"Hell yeah!" Nyte exclaimed excitedly.

"Um, I don't think an army would be necessary," instantly deflating Nyte's enthusiasm.

"Aww, c'mon..."

"How are we gonna fit an army in an underground tunnel?"

"One at a time," Nyte said, matter-of-factly. "Know all those twists and turns and forks? We can send some out to explore and such."

"I doubt those Helpbots are any use in combat outside their tanks," Fenix argued.

"So we send in the tanks!" Nyte countered with a big smile.

"You're ruining the spirit of the work I love, Nyte."

"C'mon, we always go in lonesome," Nyte said, almost in a pout. "Just once, I want a siege. Total control, nothing left standing! Taking everything, down to the linoleum tiles on their bathroom floors!"

"...I like this kid!" said Xenos.

"Ehhh, well, if you're afraid, then..."

"Who's afraid?" Nyte shot back. "We've never had this kind of advantage before!"

"Anyway, I'm not sure a siege exactly works against dungeons, anyway," Xenos said.

"Oh, it will.... it will..." Nyte said, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

"I mean, there's a reason digging teams are usually small right?" Xenos continued. "Those labyrinths were designed to repel such attacks."

"Alright, alright, we'll do it the normal way," Nyte conceded. "...but only if we get to lay siege to one of the next ones!"

"Personally, I like the idea of going in alone," Jan said. "You don't get to kill anything yourself if you send in an army!"

"Spoken like a true Reaverbot," Fenix replied.

"Leave the girl alone, a taste for destruction is healthy!" Xenos said in her defense.

"I like the idea of leading a force," Nyte told Janine as she glared at Fenix. "Conquering all..."

Turning her attention back to Nyte, she said "Aww, don't worry honey, you can lead an assault force on the next dungeon! We just have to find one that's less constricted."

"Cool," Nyte replied with a smile, apparently satisfied by this. "They usually outnumber us, I want to outnumber them for a change."

"Aww," Janine said as she got up and gave Nyte a hug. "There now, I'll make it all better." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek and a cute smile for good measure, the young Digger frozen and speechless as his face turned several shades of red.

"Woah, there," Fenix said. "Don't want to give him a nosebleed."

"Actually, I do, but okay," Janine said as she let go of Nyte and went to perch herself on the arm of the snickering Xenos' chair. Nyte just coughed in response.

"I'll bring in a few Helpbots," Xenos added, "but I don't have much well suited to the small corridors, anyway."

Sensing an accord had been reached, Fenix turned to the captain and said "Well, hey, Xenos, turn this puppy around!"

"Actually, Number Six has been turning us around during this whole conversation," Xenos revealed after he stopped chuckling at Nyte's awkwardness.

"Nice," Fenix said. "I will say, I like your style." Turning his attention to one of the Helpbots, he asked "Number Two, what's our ETA?"

"Um," the little robot helper said as it checked its data. "We should be arriving at our destination at approximately 6:15pm local time."

Fenix turned back to the group. "So..." he began, as he rubbed his hands together. "Who's up for a game of Monopoly?"

—--

Hours later...

"I'm telling you," Nyte said to Fenix, his voice rising. "You have to pay for staying at my hotel!"

"And I told you, I'm filing for bankruptcy, because paying for one lousy night at your stupid four hotels would force me to mortgage my doghouse and rent Janine as a personal servant for a good few decades!"

"And you would, too! Just admit it, I won!"

"...I doubt it would take that long," Janine muttered under her breath. Xenos, meanwhile, was sitting against the sofa, counting the faux-money as the banker and sniping property auctions whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"Admit it, and you can keep your money!" Nyte continued.

"The only reason you won–"

"Aha! Nyte interjected.

"...the only reason you won is because these bloody dice hate me. Nobody lands on Boardwalk twice in a row!"

"Hehehe," Nyte laughed sinisterly, a large grin spread across his face. "I only landed on it once."

"You know, Fenix, on that servant note," Xenos began as Nyte started counting his money. "I don't think you'd make a very good salesman by any stretch. You just don't have the charisma. And besides, who's scared of a frickin' boot?"

"Yeah, really, I'd probably have to kill you or something," Janine added.

With that, Fenix activated his Gatling arm and aimed it at his own head. "Good-bye, cruel world," he said as an audible click went off, but nothing happened. "That's it: my life sucks."

"Dammit, Fenix, stop fooling around," Nyte said. "You know that never works."

"I'd ease your pain, but you tried to rent me out as a personal servant, so..."

"Yeah," Xenos chimed in. "You heartless bastard!"

Janine's hair began to rise, with electricity crackling around her as her eyes began to glow. As Nyte's own eyes widened, he took the money and began inching away before deciding to dive behind the sofa. Meanwhile, Xenos was already taking cover underneath.

"You know, you're cute when you're angry," Fenix said.

Janine paused. "Nice try."

With that, she let loose a burst that sent Fenix flying through a nearby wall.

"That hurt," Fenix said as he brushed himself off after climbing back through the hole in the wall. "But I kinda liked it."

"You're sick, Fenix," said Xenos. "Real sick."

"You just now figured that out?"

"No, I just had to remind you."

"He's been sick for as long as I've known him," Nyte thought to himself from his hiding spot.

"Um, guys?" Janine said, interrupting the two as she pointed out the window at a large island. "I think we've arrived."

"Why, so we have!" exclaimed the Air Pirate.

"Cool," said Nytetrayn as he popped out from behind the sofa, his playtime earnings all carefully counted and sorted. "Where to first?"

"Hm," Xenos thought out loud. "I dunno. I generally don't stop by a town without blowing stuff up."

"Ah, what the hey, shoot a few windows out or something," Fenix offered.

"I dunno," Nyte said. "You think it's a good idea to rile them up before going underground?"

"Wow, Nyte, you're smart," Fenix said as he grabbed the shorter Digger by the shoulders. "Who are you, and what have you done with Nytetrayn?!"

After a pause, Nyte just bopped Fenix on the top of his helmet, and in a spooky voice, said "I am not Nytetrayn. Fenix... I... am your father!" He then made a face as he shouted, "Boogedy-boogedy-boo!!!"

"Well, now I've lost all respect for my mother."

Janine just looked puzzled for a moment, then said "Let's just land."

"Sounds good to me," said Xenos. "Number Six..."

"Roger!" came the sing-songy reply from the Helpbot, right before the ship dropped out of the sky like a stone.

"Hey, good news!" Nyte told Xenos, holding back laughter. "You're awake for it this time!"

Fenix chuckled. "Yeah, Janine probably wouldn't want to wake him up again."

"The blood was sort of unpleasant," she noted.

"Hey, in case you all haven't noticed, we're heading down so fast that we've lost contact with the floor!"

"Damn, and here I was hoping my diet was working," Nyte said.

"Oh my, this could hurt," Fenix added.

"Number Six?! Are you crazy?!?" shouted Xenos.

Meanwhile, Janine smiled amidst the chaos around her, as she held herself to the floor with little effort.

Xenos, on the other hand, bounced off the walls and ceiling before winding up stuck in the sofa when everything came to a halt. Fenix was hanging out of the hole in the wall he'd made earlier, while Nyte and the overhead light fixture he'd clung to fell to the floor.

"Yes, sir!" Number Six sang out in response to its leader's query.

"...can I kill it?" asked Fenix.

"Me first," said Nytetrayn.

"Sure," Xenos told them. "But first... Janine, how the hell did you do that?"

"I can fly," she said with a smile. "So I wasn't really standing on the floor, so much as just floating in that position."

Fenix and Nytetrayn pulled themselves to their feet, while Janine yanked Xenos free of the sofa.

"Can we kill him now?" Nyte asked as he converted his Buster to Nyte-Saber mode.

"First come, first serve," Fenix said as he drew a beam saber.

"Hey, now!" Janine said as she stood protectively in front of Number Six. "You know he didn't do it on purpose..."

"Nor will he the the chance to," Nyte said with a glare at the little robot as it cowered behind Janine.

"Now, now, Jan," Fenix said. "Stupid people shouldn't be allowed to ruin the experience of life for other people. It's not fair."

"C'mon, Number Six," Nyte said as he beckoned with his finger. "We just want to fix some loose wiring..."

"But... it was fun," Number Six said in a slightly-less sing-songy voice.

After a moment's pause, both Fenix and Nytetrayn pounced at the Helpbot as Janine let out an "Eep!" and leaped aside, allowing the two Diggers to collide. As they rubbed their heads and winced from the blow, they saw no signs of Number Six.

"Where'd he go?" Janine asked.

"Dammit." Nytetrayn exclaimed, grumbling as he got back to his feet and deciding to give up the hunt, at least for now.

"So! Time to go spelunking! I'll go fetch my ammo," Fenix said as he ran off to his room, while Nytetrayn went to get his pack.

Meanwhile, Janine decided to change into something more athletic. She returned with the others a short time later, now wearing round sunglasses, a teal leotard underneath some short brown shorts, brown hiking boots, and a brown backpack. Around her waist was a thick black belt with a large, gold belt buckle and a couple of holsters hanging from it.

"You look ready to raid some tombs," Nyte remarked.

Janine tilted down her sunglasses and smiled as she struck a pose, then asked as she looked around, "So, where is our illustrious captain?"

"Spending some quality time with your picture, I'm guessing," Fenix said.

"I heard that!" Xenos's voice rang out as he appeared in the doorway, now sporting combat armor.

"Congratulations. You have ears," Fenix said. Xenos's eye twitched at the remark.

"Let's go, before you guys kill each other," Janine said as she tried to stifle her chuckling.

"Or before you try to kill another one of us," Fenix added.

"Hey! You deserved that!"

"Thank you, may I have another?"

"Oh god... I've never understood masochists," Xenos said as Janine smacked Fenix on the butt.

"Well, that's my pick-me-up for the day! Now onward, to the backyard of the Devil!"

"While the day is still almost sort of young," Nyte added, moving out to lead the way.

—--

Out on the plain, Fenix touched a control on his helmet, and said as he pointed, "the entrance is about a klick in... that direction."

As Nyte, Fenix, and Janine started moving in the direction indicated, Xenos took a moment to pull his pants up to his armpits and followed them across the dry, barren landscape in his bizarre, multi-limbed mech suit.

The group had never seen anything quite like it, though no one let on they might be a little perturbed at the powdery, gray dirt on the ground, nor the dried-out and wasted plants which bore an unusual, silvery sheen. They almost seemed to twitch somewhat, despite a complete lack of wind to move them.

Fenix piped up. "Does anyone else feel like they're being watched?"

"Yeah, kinda," Nyte said. "C'mon, let;s keep moving, quick-like. We get in fast, we get out fast."

Suddenly, something of unusual size could be seen running towards the group, making fierce squeaking noises.

As Janine's eyes widened, Fenix promptly shot what would turn out to be a two-foot tall squirrel.

"Well," Nyte said. "That was anticlimactic."

"That's not normal," Janine added.

"I told ya'," Fenix said. "Mutated plant and animal life."

"I wonder how big its nuts are," Nyte said.

Fenix just gave him a look.

"What?"

Fenix then whacked Nyte upside the head.

"Ack! What was that for?!"

"You need therapy."

"What? Squirrels eat nuts! Look it up! But I doubt you'll find anything, because everyone already knows that!!!"

"Except this one looks all thin and mangy," he continued, "like it's half-starved. So I don't think it's getting much nutrition."

Fenix just shook his head and continued walking, with Janine following and Nyte grumbling something about whether or not Fenix is a big enough nut to feed the squirrel as he moved on. Xenos adjusted his pants and followed, snickering all the while.

They soon came to a tall concrete pillar, featuring an opening in the front which revealed a standard elevator doorway. "I guess this is it," Fenix said.

"Well, after you," said Nyte.

"Fenix pressed the button, opening the doors and revealing a grey, cheerless room.

"Fire the decorator," said Janine as Fenix chuckled and stepped inside.

"Wow," Xenos added, as he and the others stepped inside. "I do believe this is the most depressing room ever." Janine chuckled at the remark as Fenix pressed another button to take them down.

As the elevator descended, really bad music started to play.

"Kill the decorator," Janine said.

"He should be dragged out into the street and shot," Fenix added.

"Or locked in a flooded ruin with kangaroos," Nyte chimed in while he began to assemble his Gatling Buster in one corner of the elevator.

"How many times have I asked you to stop talking about that!?" Janine asked as frustration rose in her voice.

When the elevator touched down, the doors opened to reveal a short hallway made of white concrete.

"Cheap stuff," Fenix noted. "This place was built in a hurry."

"Jeez," said Xenos. "So, this is supposed to be some special, valuable ruin, eh?"

"...there's something down here," Janine said suddenly. "Something really powerful, but... I'm not sure it's a refractor."

"Oh? How can you tell?" Nyte asked, but Janine was too distracted to respond.

Nyte removed his hat and activated his helmet, which formed around his head from its hiding place in his armor. He rarely wore it, but for when he needed to use the scanners he'd built into the visor that came down over his eyes. "Hm, something at the far end of the hallway," he said as he looked over the area with infrared for any heat signatures.

"Let's go!" Fenix said as he started down the hallway. Nyte readied his Buster and followed, with Janine nervously following their lead.

The end of the hallway opened up into a large, square chamber with a strange, metallic door awaiting them at the far end. Xenos walked right up to it and knocked. At that moment, the door they had just come through was suddenly cut off by a massive metal barricade sliding down into place over it, locking them in.

The ground trembled as an alcove emerged from the far wall, revealing an enormous figure. It sported a broad, metal chest and wide shoulder plates, giving a sense of raw power on a Herculean scale. Barrel-like forearms floated by its sides, and where one would expect to find legs stood a massive, spiked pillar. Atop its shoulders sat a head bearing features one would hardly call human: black, slitted eyes rested above a flat, reptilian nose, with a small, cruel mouth beneath. A red gem glowed to life on its forehead.

"...the hell?" was all Nytetrayn could muster.

"Aw, now this is no good at all," said Fenix, while Janine simply frowned.

"I am Bureaucratic Model MegaMan Uni," it said. "I am assigned to protect this facility from outside interference. Do not seek to pass me. Further invasion of the facility will force me to react with lethal force. I promise, you cannot defeat me."

"Got any ideas, Jan?" Fenix asked the other Bureaucratic Unit in the room.

Janine bit her lip as she tried to remember. "It... sounds familiar, but I can't remember what kind of rank I am compared to him, or even if he'd listen to me at all."

MegaMan Uni raised their arms, glaring at the intruders. "You have thirty seconds to comply."

"I believe the word is... 'crap,'" said Xenos.

"I believe the proper response is... screw that!" Fenix said as he activated his Gatling arm and opened fire. Nyte brought up his Gatling Buster and joined in, while Janine unleashed a wave of pyrotechnic energy that washed over Uni.

"I guess we die today," Xenos said with resignation in his voice before unleashing a volley of missiles at Uni.

As the shots dented his armor and the wave of energy ruined his paint job, MegaMan Uni snarled. "Noncompliance noted. I suggest you pray to your respective deities." With that, he held out his palms and unleashed a pair of brilliant rainbow-colored energy beams.

"Ack!" Fenix shouted, leaping to the side, while Xenos used his powered armor to climb up the wall. Janine growled, her eyes blazing red as she blocked with a force field. "Is that all you've got?!"

As Uni moved in closer to Janine, focusing both palms on her, he said "A techno-organic model? Impossible, they were discontinued..."

With Uni's focus on Janine, Nytetrayn managed to sneak around behind him and opened fire with his Gatling Buster at the back of his head, resulting in a pained shout from the giant Reaverbot.

Uni's energy built up in front of Janine, until she snarled, "discontinue this!" and pushed back with her own high-intensity beam. Nytetrayn kept up his own assault, and Fenix joined in with his grenade launcher, while Xenos piled on with a volley of Buster shots from his robot suit's arms.

"I did not... anticipate such an opponent..." Uni snarled as the beam struggle began to go in Janine's favor. Just then, Fenix decided to tilt the odds further in their favor with a slash from one of his beam sabers at Uni's nearest arm. The Reaverbot let out a scream and a curse as his mangled arm fell to the side.

Janine grinned. "Shouldn't be so cocky," she said as she further pressed her advantage.

Changing strategies, Nytetrayn leaped up onto Uni's back and climbed towards their head. Converting his Nyte-Buster to saber mode, he slashed at the back of Uni's neck.

Uni screamed once more, reflexively trying to swat Nytetrayn away, the Digger dodging his remaining arm from one side to the other. Unfortunately, that distraction cost him, as a significant amount of firepower was now rushing towards them, no longer impeded by his own attack.

Eyes widened, Janine shouted, "Nyte! Get out of there!"

Upon hearing Jan's warning, Nyte looked up and leaped away. "Oh, would you look at that? Looks like I have other places to be!"

The annoyance now removed, Uni returned his gaze to the others, just in time to see a massive beam of energy about to reach him. Involuntarily, his eye twitched as he uttered a single word in response:

"Crap."

Moments later, all that remained of MegaMan Uni was his damaged torso, which lay against the far wall of the chamber as the group celebrated.

"Woo-hoo!" Nyte shouted.

"Bye-bye!" Xenox waved.

"Wow," was all Fenix could offer, looking at the wreckage trailing across the room.

"I rock," Janine said, blowing imaginary smoke from her fingertips before putting them down into her belt's holsters.

"N-no," MegaMan Uni said in a desperate, depleted voice. "Please... do not venture past this door... I beg of you, do not pass the gate of the Necronomicon! Do not disturb... the Reanimator! Its power... such power... was never seen... it... it cannot..."

Before he could say any more, MegaMan Uni began to spasm and cough up circulatory fluids before erupting in an explosion that made the entire cavern tremble.

After a moment's silence looking among themselves, Nytetrayn spoke up.

"So... we going to get that refractor, or what?"

"What was all that?" Xenos asked.

"I don't know," Fenix said. "That was frickin' weird."

"Sounded important. Necronomicon and such... I think I heard something about that once, but I don't have a clue what it was, though."

"I've never heard of it," said Janine. "Or anything called the... 'Reanimator'? But with my memory being tossed salad and scrambled eggs, that's probably not saying much."

Fenix walks over to where they came in and rapped on the door. "Um, crap."

"'Sup?" Nyte asked.

"This thing looks fairly solid."

"Tell me you're joking," Janine said.

"That's weird," Nyte said. "You'd think if they didn't want people in here that badly, they'd have put that on the other door. Or at least have this one open back up."

"Um," Xenos began to ponder. "Do they usually have security quite like this on refractors?"

"Not quite this heavy," Nyte said.

"A Reaverbot like that?" Fenix added. "No, not normally."

Nyte's face lit up with a grin like half a moon. "Then that must mean it's a big-ass refractor!"

"Jan guarded the last one, Fenix continued. "Which reminds me," he said, turning to Janine. "When did you become the Goddess of Destruction?!"

"Oh, that?" she responded casually. "I could always do that."

"Then why are we still alive?"

"'Cuz she thinks you're cute," Xenos said. "Duh."

"Because you saved me from the evil kangaroos," she said, adding after a moment with a pleasant smile, "and Nyte was cute."

One of Fenix's eyes could be seen bulging larger than the other from inside his helmet, while Nyte's face went red as he started to look around for something – anything – else to talk about. Xenos chuckled while jabbing Nyte in the arm with his elbow.

"Well," Fenix said," only place to go now is down."

"You'd be the expert on that," Nyte said.

As the group walked to the other side of the room, Janine noticed something on the wall next to the door. "Hey, look," she said as she pointed at the markings. "Someone wrote something here."

It read:

Potter's Field filled with death...
The Moon-Bog covered in ancient breath...
The Nameless City with horror's silent wings...
Sarnath doomed with far worse things...
The Necronomicon, book of darkness and dead god's power...
Open the door to strike the hour!

"...right," Nytetrayn said. "Can we go now?"

"Not your average dungeon," Fenix noted.

"I wanna go home now," Jan said.

---