Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 56 - The Avion Adventure: In Search of Ancient Avion

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Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era...

After arriving on Avion and getting checked into their hotel rooms, the Diggers from Terra got a good night's sleep. Early the next day, as Nytetrayn was still trying to get used to his new upgrades, Black Steel approached him about teaming up to see what sorts of ruins they might be able to find on this new world.

Following a rough start, the pair met up with Edge, and the three set off to the scientific and historical capital of Avion, the city of Arkopolis. There, they met a kindly Reploid professor who was able to assist them in finding a new ruin to dig out.

Now, the three are on their way to the coordinates they were given to see if there's anything left to discover...

Soon, after a bit of driving and a detour from the main road later, the limo came to a stop. "This is as far as we can go on the terrain here," the driver informed them.

Nytetrayn, Steel, and Edge emerged from the limousine and surveyed their surroundings.

"Hmm, we're still a distance from the ruins' location," Edge noted.

"No problem," said Steel. "We can hoof it from here."

"Or we can fly," Edge suggested.

"...fly?"

"Sure," Edge said, as he held one arm out to each Digger. "Grab hold."

Nytetrayn looked up at Edge before reluctantly taking a firm hold of the red Mechadrake's arm.

"Ya' gotta be kiddin' me," Steel said in disbelief.

"Nah, I can handle it," Edge reassured them. Steel, not liking this arrangement, took hold of the arm.

"We check for the wind, and..." Edge opened his wings and caught a gust of air, lifting the three skyward, which he then used to fly over the rougher terrain to the ruins' location.

"...the only way to fly!" the large Reploid shouted into the wind, while the two Diggers quickly tightened their grip, and held on for dear life.

Edge soon landed by a hillside that looked rather indiscreet. In fact, it didn't even look like there was anything there. Nevertheless, the Mechadrake told them "This is the place."

Nytetrayn gladly lets go of his hold on Edge's arm, as did Steel, who tried to resist the urge to collapse. He shook it off and looked around.

"Guess we'll have to explore to find it," Nytetrayn observed.

"You guys got it okay from here, then?" Edge asked.

"We're good," Steel told him. "Thanks for the, uh... lift."

"Hey, no problem," Edge told the older Digger. "I'm going to head back to the limo then. Try not to take too long, and just give me a call on your communicators if anything comes up, or y'need to be picked up."

"Alright, fair enough," Steel replied.

"And with that, I'll bid you adieu!" Edge said before opening his wings and flying on back.

"Bye, Edge!" Nyte shouted as he waved after the departing Mechadrake. "Seeya when we get out!"

Steel pulled out something resembling a visor that attached over his right eye, and fit it onto the side of his head. He looked about with the device as he scanned the hillside for any structural weakness. According to his scanner, it looked as though there was a possible opening high up on the west side of the hill. With Nytetrayn following, he wandered over to where the scanner indicated they should investigate, and examined the area now displayed on the visor, which appeared to be a cave of some kind.

"Found something?" the younger Digger asked.

"Yeah," Steel replied. "Looks like a cavern. This could be the way in."

"Cool, let's check it out. I bet that's the place," Nyte said, as he activated his helmet, its metal panels mechanically sliding and unfolding from the neck of his armor into place atop his head.

Black Steel cautiously entered the cave, his scanner still active and searching for possible structural weaknesses or indication of activity.

As Nytetrayn followed, he noted "This seems darker than the usual ruins back on Terra..."

The duo pressed onward, and the cave started to even out a bit, seemingly becoming more structured as they moved along.

Steel observed the area about them, looking for any markings, perhaps remnants of lost writ forms. Nytetrayn fired a shot off into the darkness, briefly illuminating their way.

"Fool!" Steel shouted at him. "Don't do such a reckless thing! You never know what you could disturb!"

After a brief pause to see if he was finished, Nyte responded "Okay, then, what do you suggest?"

Steel pressed a button on his waist, causing a light from the scanner piece over his right eye to pop on. "Being prepared."

Nytetrayn reached out and grabbed something from the wall that he saw during the brief moment the hallway had been lit up. Realizing it was an old torch, he reignited it.

"That works," Steel said.

The torch threw out a fair bit of hot illumination across the tunnel, which appeared to be some sort of a yellowish brick color. Not a bright yellow, but dusty, dirty.

"This... isn't like the usual ruins back on Terra," Nyte observed.

"No kidding," Steel concurred. "Low tech... very low tech."

Nyte's foot touched a loose brick in the floor, making it wobble. "Reminds me of the tiles in our apartment's bathroom," he said.

Alarmed, Steel forcefully told him "Keep your foot still! That tile... could be rigged. Dammit. Alright, most traps are set up to be an on the spot reaction, so..."

Steel followed his statement by tackling Nyte, rolling off to the side with him in tow.

"ACK!" the younger Digger yelped. As he looked up from his spot on the ground, he saw nothing happening. That is, except for the highly uncomfortable scenario of having Steel on top of him.

"...at least I cared, dammit," the older Digger said.

"Please move," Nyte said. "Celeste might get jealous."

"Shut up," Steel said, as he pushed himself off Nyte and the two stood and dusted themselves off.

"I have a theory," Nyte said.

"So do all men," Steel replied.

"I think that whoever put the tiles in here must have the same descendant as my landlord. So rather than a loose tile being booby-trapped, I think it just means that the upkeep around here sucks."

After a moment of bewilderment followed by contemplation, Steel admitted, "I see your point."

Nytetrayn went back to the center of the hallway, and pulled out his trap-tricking ball, and threw it down the darkened hallway. Through the darkness, it bounced, the sound fading from the Diggers' ears.

Soon, the sound of the ball could be heard again, as it bounced back through the darkness. Nytetrayn calmly held up his hand with the palm facing outward, as the ball bounced right back into it.

"Well, I didn't hear anything," Nytetrayn said. "I think we're good to go."

"Alright," said Steel. "But we should remain cautious, nonetheless."

"Sure," Nytetrayn said, as he looked at his ball. "Do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Hold this a second," Nyte said, as he tossed the ball into Steel's hands before digging around for something in his backpack. After a moment of this, he soon pulled out a small spray tube. "Do me another favor?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Turn the ball towards you about halfway."

After a brief pause, Steel slowly did so.

Now on top of the ball was a spider of noteworthy size, who had apparently somehow caught a ride on the spherical projectile, miraculously without being squished along the way. No sooner than Steel saw it than Nyte sprayed something at the stunned arachnid, bringing it to its senses and causing it to drop off the ball to the floor and run away.

"Thanks," Nyte said, taking the ball off Steel's hands. "I really don't like spiders."

Steel stared at Nytetrayn wide-eyed before shaking him violently. "YOUBASTARDIHATESPIDERS!"

"O-o-k-kay," said the dazed Digger. "Th-that m-makes t-two o-of u-us..." Once Steel let him go and Nyte steadied himself, he added, "all the more reason for me to have sprayed it, then."

Turning back towards the darkness, Steel said "Now then..."

"Y'know, that doesn't really make much sense, now that I think about it..."

"So stop thinking about it."

"You're the one who said it, though."

"...shut up."

"Seriously, though," Nyte continued, as the two walked onward down the corridor. "'Now then'. Who came up with that? If it's now, then how's it then? If it's then, then it can't be now..."

"...and you know what else?" Nyte asked, as they reached a dead end. "These ruins suck. They're boring. We've reached a dead-end without finding a thing."

"Because we're not seeing something..." Steel said, as he looked around. The dead end had opened up a bit, making the area they stood in wider than the tunnel had been up to this point. What's more, this area had various carvings on the wall.

While Steel clicked his light back on and inspected one portion of the carvings, Nytetrayn held his torch up to some of the others. They were a mix of pictures and symbols, seemingly some written tongue they could not make out.

"I'm certain the answer is here somewhere," Steel said, "but I've no idea what to make of this."

Nytetrayn just hummed a few bars from a song called "The Answer", as it seemed fitting enough at the moment.

Steel switched his eyepiece to scan mode, and adjusted it to pick up on any stray winds from within the structure. However, they didn't seem to pick up anything. "Dammit," he said.

Nytetrayn put his torch into a holder on the wall so he could focus more on reading and less on not burning himself. Upon doing so, the action seemed to trigger something within the room, as various bricks began to move and relocate their resting positions at high speeds.

Unfortunately for them, this happened to be away and out from under where the two Diggers were standing, and the pair soon found themselves with no floor beneath them, and falling down into the cavern below.

"Shi–!" Steel yelped out as gravity took hold. He threw out a wire tipped by a small hook and hoped for the best. It snagged a hold of something out of his line of sight, and as the line tightened, he snapped his arm around Nyte's wrist and seemed to strain with the effort of keeping both of them from falling.

What he didn't notice was when Nyte stopped himself briefly in midair for just long enough to fire his own grappling line from his gauntlet, snagging something else high above.

The two looked at each other. "I didn't know you cared," Nyte said. "But you still don't have to hold my hand."

"Shut up," Steel said, as he gritted his teeth. "If I let you go, who knows what'll happen..."

Nyte looked up at the chain that extended from his other arm, then back to Steel, still holding on, and shrugged. "Maybe we should lower ourselves down?"

After Steel took in the full scope of the situation through an awkward silence, he released Nyte's hand, and began to lower himself without another word. Nyte followed suit, descending alongside him.

Eventually, the pair descended deep enough that they both ran out of line.

"So, now what?" Nyte asked.

Before Steel could answer, an indistinguishable sound could be heard from above. "What was that?" the younger Digger asked.

"If I were you, I'd just release your cord and prepare to scream, as I am."

Nyte was just about to respond when he saw he and Steel's hooks fall down past them.

"Guess I may as well hold on to this, then," he said, before falling with a yell.

The pair plummeted into the darkness, only to hit the ground seconds later.

"What the hell?" Steel said, as he scrambled back to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Heya," Nyte said from behind the other Digger, eliciting a yelp and a spin with arm cannon at the ready. A mildly disturbed Nyte said, "I come in peace?"

After a brief pause to take in the awkward moment, an equally disturbed Steel said "Let's just get this over with." He clicked his light back on to get a better idea of their new surroundings.

As he did so, several large lights illuminated the room they were in. It appeared to be an arena of some kind, as a stone platform formed a ring around the center of the arena, where a large pit dwelled, with what appeared to be sand at its bottom.

"So," Nyte said. "Where do you think they keep the lions?"

"Lions? Probably nothing so merciful. I'm thinking 'mutant kangaroos'."

"Eww," Nyte said, sticking his tongue out at the thought. He then looked around at the walls surrounding them. Covering them were lots of pictures, symbols, and that sort of thing.

"Why would there be an arena here, anyways?" Steel pondered. "Could it be that the ancients of this world used public battle as a form of entertainment?"

"Eh, why not?" Nytetrayn said. "We have wrestling rings, they have... stone rings and quicksand. The parallels are there. Sort of."

"Vaguely, but your point is there. Wait, how do you know it's quicksand?"

"What other kind of sand are you going to put at the bottom of a death trap?"

"Ah, touche," Steel responded. "I wonder what's down here that activated those lights, however. If we had to use torches to see our way in, what logic would there be in technology powered lighting?"

"Dunno," Nyte admitted.

"One way to find out," Steel said, before leaping into the pit.

His leap did not take him very far, however. In fact, he was now rising... atop the head of a giant stone monster of some kind.

After staring in surprise for a moment, Nyte exclaimed "Dude, you didn't tell me you could summon mecha! A bit outdated, from the looks of things, but..."

Steel's eyes widened, as he looked down regretfully. There, he could see the giant golem's eyes looking back up at the insect sitting atop its head. "Ah, crap," he said, before leaping off the golem's head and skidding to a halt a safe distance away.

The golem brought its arms out to its sides, and attempted to clap them together at Steel, but missed as the Digger leaped clear.

"Alright, we've established that it's not friendly," Steel said. "Now, to deal with it. I'll scan it for any signs of weakness!"

As the scanner did its thing, no apparent weaknesses could be detected.

"...crap."

The golem brought one of its massive hands down at the Diggers, with Nyte diving and Steel flipping out of the way before returning fire, hoping to do something. However, it seemed to be unphased, as it took another swipe at the pair.

"I'm not detecting a weak point!" Steel shouted, as he narrowly ducked beneath the attack, the wind swishing his hair.

"Me neither!" Nyte said, having tried his own instruments and jumping over another swing from the massive monster.

"Suggestions?"

"Keep shooting!" Nyte said, as he kept firing at the golem, who reared its head back in preparation for a ferocious headbutt.

Steel leaped back, as the impact of the headbutt knocked him across the arena and off his feet. He quickly jumped back up to his feet. "Damn, time to get serious," he said, drawing back his right fist as his armor's cannon mode shifted to unleash a metal gloved fist.

"Wish I'd brought the GunRobos," Nyte lamented at his lack of additional firepower. Just as he got that thought out, the shockwaves of the headbutt's impact sent him off the edge of the platform. He managed to stop himself in midair for a moment, just enough to maneuver and grab the ledge before pulling himself up.

"Okay," Nyte said as he got back up on the platform. "Shooting isn't doing much good. You have anything?"

Steel's answer came as he threw a hard right punch towards the golem. As he did so, his right arm's armored gauntlet fired off explosively, like a large bullet, trailing steam behind it as it flew towards the golem's head. "Impact Fist!" he shouted.

The projectile smacked the ancient mechanical monstrosity right in the nose, making the entire thing recoil backwards, holding its rocky nose.

"Nice shot!" Nyte called out.

"Thanks!" Steel replied with a smirk.

As Steel retracted the gauntlet back onto his right arm via a metal coil wire connecting it to his armor, the Golem removed its hands from its nose, which was now visibly cracked. Greenish-yellow liquid was now leaking out from the bottom of it.

"...that doesn't look happy," Steel noted.

"Indeed."

The golem started to spin with its arms spread out wide, ready to mow down anything in their path along the circular platform.

"Nyte, get down!" Steel shouted, as he leaped off the platform's edge to the bottom of the arena below. While Nyte jumped the arms like hurdles as the golem spun, Steel landed right at the bottom with a soft thud, now beginning to sink into the quicksand. "Dammit..."

"Crap!" Nyte shouted, as he leaped another rotation of the arms. "Steel, are you alright?!"

"Not to worry!" Steel called up to his colleague. "My emergency jet propulsion system will help me back up!" As he activated the jets, they proved somewhat ineffective, as they were now getting clogged by the quicksand. "Oh," he replied, as a look of dread realization crawled down his face. "That won't work.'

Just then, a familiar voice called down from above. "Need a lift?"

"Huh?" the Diggers exclaimed in unison, looking skyward as a red Mechadrake swooped down and grabbed Steel, pulling him up and out of the quicksand and back to the relative safety of the platform above.

"Edge?" Steel said before being dropped to the platform.

"What are you doing here?" Nyte asked.

"When contact broke and wasn't reestablished after a standard length of time, I decided to check up on you guys," he told the pair. "And not a moment too soon, if I don't say so myself. So, who's your friend here?"

"I have no idea," Steel said, "but I know a way to hurt him, it seems." As Steel let off another Impact Fist attack at the golem's nose, the creature raised a hand to protect it this time.

"...crap," Nyte said, as Steel retracted the metal fist.

"My turn," Edge said, as he held out his hand and a large silver pistol of some odd design appeared. He fired off a few rounds into the chest and stomach of the beast, and a moment after impact, the shot areas exploded, revealing some sort of greenish-yellow glow beneath the stoney exterior.

"That must be the thing's core," Steel said.

"Aim for the weak spots!" Edge called out to the others.

Nyte did as Edge said, and fired his Buster at the core of the creature, while Steel shouted "IMPACT FIST!" as his gauntlet flew towards one of the exposed areas.

The Golem recoiled from the first few blasts to its core, but managed to get a hold of itself and followed up with more hamfisted swings at the intruders.

Nyte dove out of the way while Edge took to the air to avoid another blow. "Shi—" Steel began, but was cut off as the fist caught him by surprise and flattened him against the hard stone.

Another wave of the attack ended up hitting Edge, and knocked him down onto a platform below. "Aww, nut--oof!"

"Damn, Edge! Steel!" Nyte shouted, as he saw his friends go down at the hands of the behemoth. Now good and pissed off, Nytetrayn clenched his fists and called out to it. "Alright, ugly... you're going DOWN!!!"

Nytetrayn started to glow with a golden aura around himself, holding out his Nyte-Buster as energy began to gather, forming at the tip of its barrel. Finally, he released an enormous, supercharged blast of energy at the golem, which shattered its stone structure.

The golem recoiled heavily from Nytetrayn's attack, as its entire exoskeleton shattered. Meanwhile, Nytetrayn stood there for a brief second, breathing heavily before dropping to his knees and then down flat on the platform, where he lay motionless.

As this went on, Steel had tried to pick himself back up, and stifled a scream as he realized his legs had been shattered. "Not good... I can't go out like this... Jan... dammit!"

The Digger pounded both of his legs, and there was a very loud cracking sound before he stood upright. " Heh... that wasn't so bad," he chuckled to himself.

"Now," he said, as he followed Nyte's attack up with by launching another Impact Fist attack at the golem with a scream.

Just as the golem began to move in towards the now-immobile Nytetrayn, Steel's attack hit its more vulnerable body with the hope this would be the final blow. It let out a loud sound of pain, like a grunt, a groan, and a scream all at once, and it turned its attention to Steel.

As his gauntlet retracted, the Digger ran over to Nyte, who seemed to have collapsed, exhausted. "Crap," Steel said. With no time to move Nyte, he moved to lead the golem to the other side of the platform and away from his fallen companion.

The golem naturally followed, and raised a giant fist over its head – one of the few parts of its body where there was still some stone left. In turn, Steel fired off a few rounds from his arm cannon at its shoulder joint, which caused the arm to drop limp, so it began to raise its other fist in the same manner.

"Gotta end this here," Steel said, unleashing a concentrated blast at the beast's waist, hoping it would be enough to sever it. The golem doubled over, but soon reared up again, raising its fist overhead to pound Steel.

"Dammit, go down!" he shouted, as he fired his Impact Fist yet again.

The golem's head went spinning from the off-center connection of the flying fist, before finally collapsing downward at Steel.

"Not again!" he shouted, dashing to the side in an attempt to outmaneuver the falling mass.

The golem's form crashed down on the platform, and it flinched slightly, as it tried to get back up again. Agitated, Steel ran over and began to kick it in the head, eliciting a grunt from the fallen beast.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADIEDAMMIT" Steel bellowed, as he opened fire point-blank with a barrage of blasts that didn't end for a good seven minutes.

During the barrage, the golem started to go critical, blowing up as it began to slide backwards into the pit. However, its weight, combined with the pounding it took throughout the battle proved to be a bit much for the section of the platform Steel was standing on. As the golem finally fell, it wound up catapulting Steel across the arena and into the far wall.

The dazed Steel was peeled off the wall, courtesy of gravity, and deposited in a heap on the platform below like so much rubbish.

"Damn, but that hurt," Steel said, as he picked himself up slowly.

Remembering Nyte, he moved over to him right away. "Nyte? Nyte? You okay?"

Nyte moaned from his place on the ground. "...too... too tired... can't... move..."

"Wake up. We gotta find Edge and get outta here."

"Ugh. Well, you can check one item off your list," Edge said as he climbed back aboard the platform.

"Edge!" Steel said. "Good to see you're alright!"

"Heh, thanks," the Mechadrake replied. "It'll take more than that to put me down." As he looked over at their fallen companion, Edge grew more serious. "Is... Nyte okay?"

"Not sure," Steel replied. "He seems worn down, more so than usual."

"What happened?"

"He let off this enormous energy blast. Made mine look like a gnat."

"I see. Must be that new system they installed."

"New system?"

"Sort of a quick power boost," Edge said, as he picked Nytetrayn up to carry him on his back, "but it can leave him exhausted after, if he's not careful."

"That explains it. He must've gotten pissed off when we both went down and went all out. We better get him outta here. How are you holding up?"

"I'm good... just a bit sore, now. Man, who'd have thought something like that would be down here?"

"Obviously not Professor Fox," Steel mused.

"Obviously. Let's see, now... how to get out of here..."

As Edge looked around, Steel took note of a fallen scrap of the golem's stone plating that had landed on the platform. As he picked it up, he found himself surprised to be able to read "B.E.N." printed across it. Before he could do anything more with it, the piece fell apart in his hands.

Steel's train of thought was broken when Edge said "Well, looks like there's just one way out of here." As the red dragon looked skyward, he said "But how to get there..."

"Can't you fly us out?" Steel asked.

"Maybe," he said. "I can get us up to the tunnel drop easy enough, sure, but I don't know if I'd have enough room in there to get us the rest of the way."

"Back..." Nyte started to say. "Backpack..."

"Huh?" asked Edge.

"Backpack?" Steel inquired.

"Any idea what he's talking about?"

Steel rummaged through Nyte's backpack, and discovered the built-in jetpack system that the Air Pirate, Xenos Geist, had given him some time ago. "Sonofa..."

"Find anything?"

"Yeah. Our way out." He removed the backpack from Nytetrayn, and handed it to Edge. "Here. Use it to get Nyte out, and you can come back for me."

"Hmm, I don't know. There may not be enough juice in that thing for two trips. I can fly us to the entrance to the arena here, and maybe the pack can get us up further?"

"Let's do it then, I've no desire to die here."

"Nor I. Alright, I'll get us up there, and you activate the jetpack once I give the word."

Edge waited for Steel to ready himself with the backpack and grab on, and then began to flap his massive wings, flying around a bit to gain altitude, and eventually reaching the hole in the ceiling they dropped through. "Now, hit it!"

Steel fired up the jetpack, and it kicked in, lifting the Digger to the top of the group and carrying the three up the tunnel.

"Holy hell," Steel said. "This thing has some power!"

Eventually, the trio reached the top, where the bricks had moved earlier. Steel cut the power, and they skidded across the tiles to a halt. Edge landed keeping Nyte on his back.

"That was a close one," Steel said, as he removed the key torch from its place on the wall.

Edge nodded, and said "C'mon, we should get Nyte back so he can get some rest," before starting for the limo.

Steel followed along, looking down at his legs. "Y'know..."

"Hmm?"

"This might sound crazy, but I'd swear that thing broke my legs back there."

Edge raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses at this. "That... can't be right. You seem to be walking well enough."

"I know. Maybe they were just dislocated? Nothing a little kick didn't fix. Yeah, that must've been it." Steel chuckled to himself, "Heh, woulda been damn nifty, though."

Edge nodded, and they continued on their way.

Eventually, the three reached their limo, and headed back to Avion City and the hotel where the Terrans were staying. They unanimously agreed that they could just contact Professor Fox later to fill him in on what they'd witnessed.

---

On the way back, Nytetrayn got some energy to help boost his systems, at least enough to partially function.

The limo eventually arrived at the hotel, and Nytetrayn was better off, but still weakened from the ordeal. Edge and Steel helped him into the hotel, where they spotted Celeste and Janine in a cafe area of the lobby.

"Hey, girls!" Edge called out to the pair.

"Ack, this could be both good and bad," Steel said, as images suddenly plagued his mind of worried women assaulting them with pans and sticks.

Janine smiled and waved. "Hi, honey!"

"Hi," Steel replied, sporting an almost disturbingly large smile as Janine hopped out of her seat and gave Steel a hug. He gladly returned it, happy to be alive to even be able to hug her again.

"Hi, guys!" Celeste said. "Where'd you all go?" Her happiness at seeing them quickly gave way to concern upon getting a good look at her boyfriend being dragged in. "And what's wrong with Nyte?"

"Just a little sightseeing in Arkopolis, a little exploration of an old ruin of some kind," Edge explained as he helped get Nyte into a chair with the others. "He just got a bit exhausted, is all."

"Kind of had us worried," Celeste said, as she gave Nyte a quick hug of her own before taking her seat again.

"Eh, we are Diggers, after all," said Steel. "Gotta say, this world is more dangerous than we'd have believed, though."

"Well, it's been fun, guys, but I've gotta get back. I'll catch you all later!" Edge told the group as he departed with a wave.

"Later, Edge!" Steel called out to the Mechadrake. "Thanks a lot!"

"Anytime, fellas!"

After the rest of the group said their farewells, Janine brought the conversation back as she sat down again. "There are ruins worth exploring here?"

"Sorta," Nyte told them. "All that, and we didn't get a thing out of it."

"Sure we did," said Steel.

"What did we get out of that?" Nyte asked, puzzled.

"A chance to test out our new abilities."

"Huh," Nyte shrugged.

"So," Janine said, "I'm guessing they don't have Reaverbots around here, so what nearly killed you guys?"

"Something nice and big. Not all that unlike a Reaverbot, come to think of it," Steel answered, as he got lost in the memory.

"What happened to you in there, anyway?" Nyte asked him, snapping him out of it.

"Eh? I shot the thing up, that's what."

"I mean your legs."

"Your legs?!" Janine asked, while Celeste looked on curiously.

" Eh, I dunno exactly," Steel said. "I think they just popped outta joint. Musta gotten jarred when the thing hit me. No big..." He paused as he looked down and noticed his leg armor was shattered above the knees, revealing his bare, black-and-blue skin. "...deal."

Celeste and Nytetrayn were struck speechless, while Janine looked on, wide-eyed and aghast.

"I guess maybe the popping sound was just... my armor flaking off..."

"I think you need to see a doctor," Janine told him.

"Y-yeah..." Celeste stammered.

"No, no, I'm sure it's fine," Steel protested. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be walking, now would I?"

"I bet they have some good doctors here," Nyte offered.

"And I'll bet they have an even better kitchen," Steel countered. "I'm going to have a bite."

The three looked on as he stood up, still not sure what to make of all this.

"Hey, digging takes a lot out of a fellow."

"No kidding," Nyte said.

"Want some coffee, Nyte?"

"...sure. Can you get me a packet of cherry kool-aid while you're at it?"

"Celeste? Jan?"

"I... I've already got some," Janine said, as she continued to stare at the Digger's legs.

"Me... too..." Celeste added, also finding it hard not to look.

"Ah hah," Steel said. "Well then, no reason we guys shouldn't join in."

"Yeah, I could use a menu," Nyte said, as his interest drew away from Steel's malady. "I'm really hungry."

Steel went to the counter, and fixed Nyte's coffee to spec, while taking his own black, naturally. He returned and slipped the cup over to Nyte before taking a sip of his own.

"You know, that was a damn impressive blast back there, Nyte."

"Thanks," Nyte said, not looking up as he perused the menu.

"If you hadn'ta hit that damn thing, chances are my shots wouldn't have penetrated."

"I'm not even sure how I did it," Nyte admitted.

"Ah, the wonders of adrenaline," Janine said.

"Well, according to Edge, it's a system that was installed in you," Steel told him. "Lets you unleash stored power or something. But you can overexert yourself, he said, and that's pretty much what you did."

"The AAG..." Nyte said with realization.

Steel sipped his coffee. "AAG?"

"Attribute Amplification Generator. It lets me briefly supercharge various attributes... I guess that includes my weapons, too."

"Ah, so you know what it is then."

"Yeah, Clank told me about it yesterday. But I've never used it before. Not until earlier."

"Damn effective."

"Maybe it was only just reactivated?" Janine suggested.

"Actually, he said it was new. I just haven't really gotten to practice with it yet," Nyte explained. "Don't know that I want to, now."

"Hey, that thing saved our asses," Steel countered. "But this whole ordeal has taught me one thing..."

"What's that?"

"That I'm not prepared enough. I'm gonna have to work up new equipment. New attacks. I had expected the Impact Fist to do the job. Three direct shots with it was no match, however."

Nyte blinked. "I dunno, this is alien stuff. Think you'd need more on Terra?"

"I can't say. But location doesn't matter. If these things are stronger than me, then I need to be stronger than them."

"Why?" Janine asked.

"Because I've got people to protect now. One in particular."

"Awww," Janine cooed as she hugged him around his shoulders. "Sweetie, that's so adorable, and I love you for it..." As she put her arm around his neck, she continued, "...but don't forget, I can still kick your ass."

Steel blushed nervously as he replied, "I love you too... er... heh... yeah..."

Meanwhile, Nyte ordered one of everything from the menu.

As Janine released him and settled back into her seat, realization hit Steel. "Wait," he said, as he looked at Nyte, who looked back inquiringly. "Did you just order the whole bloody menu?!"

"...just once."

Steel's jaw dropped. "My god."

"I'm hungry!" Nyte argued.

"I'd guess so," said a visibly perturbed Steel.

"This should be interesting," Janine added, as Nyte began digging in as the first wave of food arrived.

"No, this oughta be messy, when he pops."

"Guess it's all that energy I used up," Nyte said between bites.

Celeste looked on in stunned silence, and Janine gave her a sympathetic pat.

"Well I've no intention of being covered in Nyte," Steel said.

"...I'm sure you'll be covered in Jan before you're covered in me," Nyte shot back.

"I fail to see the problem with that," Steel retorted with a sip of his coffee, as Janine snickered.

Nytetrayn gulped his coffee down, and asked for more.

"Subtlety," Steel said, "thy foe be Nyte."

"Are you sure this morning's the only reason you're tired?" Janine asked, sparking a big grin at Nyte from Steel.

Nyte paused his gorging and looked up at Jan, and asked with a mouth full of food, "Huh?"

Steel's grin quickly dropped. "Eewww.... Keep that to yourself."

"Weww, i's the bes' I can figgur," Nyte said, before swallowing a big mouthful of food. "Sorry. Anyway, yeah. I could barely stand after I fired that shot off." After a moment's thought, he added, "Wait, I couldn't stand at all..."

"Yeah, thank Edge for carrying your ass out," Steel said.

Celeste frowned and patted Nyte on the hand – between bites.

"Be more careful when you use that thing next time," Steel said. "That's all ya gotta do."

"Right," Nyte said, before resuming his consumption.

"Hmmm, I dunno," Janine said, as she pondered the matter. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Well, I did get up kinda early," Nyte admitted, "so I could practice with my new shoes."

Nyte managed to get a little over halfway through the menu before he stopped. "Ah, that's better."

"And so the beast rests," Steel said. "So I gotta know: Does your new body have accelerated digestion systems, or what?"

"Actually, I don't think they did anything to that part of my body," Nyte said. "I don't really know just how it works, though. I just... eat. And get energy."

"I guess you need to restore that protein," Janine said.

"Well, that's kinda how most people work in general," Steel added.

"I think mine works a little faster, yeah," Nyte said, as he sat back and relaxed a bit.

"Hmmmm... Ya know, I'd kinda like to go back there at some point," Steel said. "See what else is there."

"Knock yourself out," Nyte said. "Seemed like too much work, not enough reward. Besides, this is supposed to be like a vacation or something, right? We can go digging when we get home..."

"Oh, I intend to," Steel assured him, while Janine appeared to be deep in thought, tapping her chin. "Just... don't you find it odd that there was a fully functional mecha golem in a -- Jan, you okay?"

"That part is kinda weird," Nytetrayn admitted.

"Yeah, yeah, just..." Janine pondered further. "Okay, alcohol, we need lots of... wait, they don't drink alcohol. Damn." As she noticed the others staring at her, she waved them off. "Don't worry about me, carry on..."

"Y'know, I've just eaten half the menu to recharge," Nyte told the others, "but I'm still tired. I'm going for a nap." As he got up, Celeste gave him a quick hug before he headed back to their shared room. "Later, all," he said with a big yawn.

At about the same time, Steel finished up his coffee, and decided to leave the girls to it, and slipped out. He also decided that he looked half-stupid walking around with busted-up metal pants, and aimed to fix it by wearing non-busted-up pants.

"But enough about me," Janine said to Celeste, once the others left. "How about you? Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, it's a neat place," Celeste said, as she looked around. "Haven't really done much yet, though."

"Oh? Spent most of the time in your room so far, have we?" Jan replied with a wink and a smile.

"Well, yeah," Celeste said, not sure what she was getting at. "We did just get here yesterday, after all. Though... I guess I should be doing more."

"More what...?"

"I dunno. Sightseeing? Hanging out with Nyte? Just... stuff." While Janine raised an eyebrow at this, Celeste continued. "So far, all I've done before coming down here is eat, sleep, and watch TV. I guess you guys handle... er... 'spacelag' better than I do."

"A little," Jan said. "Hm, I guess I was wrong, then..." Celeste looked at her quizzically, and she went on. "Nothing. I just thought you two would be doing, er, something else."

"...'something else'?"

Janine gave Celeste a flat look. "Okay, no use in sugarcoating it: You two have been relatively alone together for the first time in a while. I figured you would be doing it. Shaking sheets. Doddling. Planting the parsnip. Doing two-person push-ups. Dipping the wick..."

"Er, well, no... not... not really," Celeste said, as she turned a little red and gave a nervous cough.

Janine shrugged, and said "Sorry. Just curious!"

"It's... it's alright," Celeste tried to reassure her, playing with her hair nervously as she looked at her coffee cup.. "Just, you know... we haven't really... you know..."

Janine gently smiled, and asked "Is anything wrong?"

"Huh? Oh! No, nothing. Not at all," the younger woman replied, inwardly hoping for a way to change the subject.

"Juuust making sure," Janine replied. "Because if you need some advice, I think you're looking at your best choice," she added with a wink and a smile.

"Heh, yeah, I know..."

With a contemplative expression, Janine continued. "Fenix knows quite a bit about it as well, but... uh, he's kinda scary."

"Anywho!" she said, ready to change the subject to something more engaging than Celeste's nervous silence. "The two of us are out here, all alone, on a new planet, while our menfolk sleep. There's only one logical thing to do..."

Celeste let her curiosity get the better of her as she asked "...what?"

"Shop 'til our shoes give out, girl!"

Celeste chuckled. "That's an idea..." She wasn't exactly the "shop 'til you drop" type, but what the heck. "Lead the way!"

"Onward!" Janine shouted while pointing dramatically, before making a 3-point toss with her coffee cup into the nearby receptacle and boldly marching out into a new world of shopping possibilities. Celeste followed, dropping her cup into the bin on the way.

---

(Put following in next chapter?)

Black Steel made his way back to the room he and Janine were sharing, casting the odd glance down at the bare portions of his legs along the way. Fortunately, he didn't run into too many people to also give him odd looks along the way.

Back in his room, he decompressed his armor and let it drop to the floor. With a groan, he looked down at his bruised legs... only to find they were no longer bruised. "What the hell?" he asked of no one in particular.

Steel shook his head. Maybe it was best if he didn't dwell on this. But he was going to need new equipment, clearly. And maybe something more. Perhaps he needed more than just better gear. Perhaps what he needed was a way to hone, to refine his skills. He settled on the bed with his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling while he considered what he just lived through, and the strange symbols they'd found. Maybe this evening, after he'd rested, a return trip would be in order... or, he thought, maybe a trip somewhere else?

Absent-mindedly, Steel rubbed at his legs, before noticing that he felt no pain in the act. Could something in those ruins have been the cause? But then it occurred to him that couldn't be it – he realized that the limp he'd gained from the recent battle with Sherman East had faded within hours, before they'd even left the planet.

Steel began theorizing, and reached for his utility knife. With great care, he drew the edge of the blade in a short line across the top of his hand, just enough to part the skin and cause a thin red line of fluid to swell up.

He looked at the room's clock, and over the course of the next half-hour, watched in awe as the red line disappeared, until nothing more than a scratch was left. And even that began to fade.

In shock, he whispered "holy shit" before standing up and making his way to Nyte's room.

About half an hour ago, Nytetrayn had successfully made it back to the room he was sharing with Celeste. There, he had changed out of his armor into a black tank top and shorts, plopped down into bed, grabbed a handful of covers, and went right to sleep.

It was a good sleep. Some of his best. Way better than the living room sofa, in fact.

It was, until the sound of knocking came at his door. Nyte groggily got up and answered the summons. As he opened the door, he responded to the sight before him with a simple, drawn-out "...yeeees?"

"I need you to look at something."

Nytetrayn wordlessly stared at Steel. Steel wordlessly stared back, until a lightbulb went off in his head. "Not that."

"...good.'

"This," Steel continued, as he pulled out his knife and clenched his fist around it, before quickly pulling the blade out, slicing his skin. Nyte's eyes went wide as Steel wrapped his hand in a cloth he brought along, just in case.

"...did Jan dump you or something, and I missed it?" the tired, but now more alert, Digger asked.

"Shut up, and give me about half an hour of your time."

"Alright, alright," Nyte conceded. Anything to get himself back to bed.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, punctuated by a cough, Steel asked "Got something we can do to pass time for a bit?"

Nyte thought for a moment. "Rock-Paper-Scissors?"

Steel looked at him, unamused.

"...oh, right. Your hand."

"I'll turn on the television," Steel said, as he looked around. "Assuming they have those here..."

"Yeah, they got 'em," Nyte confirmed. "Doesn't your room have one? Or was it kicked aside in a mad fit of passion?"

Steel looked unamused. "Just put something on," he said. "And no showtoons."

Nytetrayn shrugged, and turned on "The Simpsons."

"Nice selection," Steel mused. "Animated yellow people... with four fingers?"

"Hard to believe they have an entire network dedicated to one show," Nyte said, adding "With no reruns."

"Seriously?"

"Well, so far."

"Damn."

"Really popular, it seems."

After getting lost in the stream of social commentary that was "The Simpsons," Steel and Nyte lost track of time easily enough, before the former snapped out of his pseudo-conscious state as the episode ended, remembering the matter "at hand."

Steel chuckled softly to himself at the wordplay, and Nyte gave him a curious look. "Never mind. "Alright, now," Steel said as he removed the cloth from his hand, revealing a white line where there had once been a large gash in his flesh. The rag was clearly stained with blood, and yet what remained on Steel's hand was dried, with no sign of any fresh to be found.

In stunned silence, Nyte looked at the once-bandaged hand, then back to the other to be sure, and then back to the first again. "What happened? Is that one of those trick knives?"

"Hell if I know," Steel answered. "Remember my legs?"

"Ew, yeah," Nyte replied. He didn't want to remember them, but he did anyway.

As Nyte wordlessly looked on, Steel pushed his pant leg up to reveal very normal, albeit slightly pale, skin. "I was thinking something in the atmosphere here might be causing some sort of acceleration in my blood cells or something," Steel told him.

"...I... guess that makes sense..." Nyte said. "This never happened on Terra?"

"Well, then I remembered how the battle with East caused me to limp for a day. When I met up with you guys that day I was having a hard time. Hours later, it was gone, and I never even noticed."

"Aha," Nyte said, as he nodded.

"There were several months I only remember bits and pieces of back on Terra, after I met you guys. You all said I 'woke up' or whatever that day I attacked Jan. So what the hell was I doing all those months? And does it have anything to do with this?" he said, as he gestured at his legs.

"I... have no idea," Nyte admitted. "You did have a real big thing for tea, though. Oh, and you thought Jan was your mother."

Steel cleared his throat. "She does, of course, inspire a sentiment of the such in me, but to believe her my mother..."

"If she reminds you of your mother, then why...?"

"Hard to explain, really. Jan has..." Steel paused to think for a moment, then continued. "...a certain gentleness to her. That gentleness is the only thing I remember about my mother." He shook his head. "I need to get you guys together at some point, and figure out what the hell happened."

"Maybe we can get together, and go over details at dinner?"

"That'd be nice. I have to know what's going on."

Nyte nodded. "Alright, so we'll get together and hopefully something can be figured out... Anyway, I need sleep, so seeya tonight?"

"Yeah, thanks for your time. In the meantime, I must use this new ability wisely... to scare the hell outta random people. Anyways, night Nyte!"

"G'nite!" Nyte said, as he smiled and nodded while Steel got a weird smile on his face as he headed out into the hall. Nyte closed the door behind him, and went back to bed, ignoring the sound of people screaming about excessive bleeding from out in the hallway, as well as the laughter that followed.

Steel considered using his new trick to freak Janine out, but then realized that she would probably hurt him beyond anything this freakish new healing ability could mend. Instead, he wisely chose to simply retire back to his room, leaving only the disturbed people in the hallway in his wake.

Author Notes: When it comes to covers, I normally either just commission Victor to do something for me and give him an idea of what I want, or I use art he's created for me and other assets to put something together. This time, however, was more of a collaboration, as I basically drew out the cover myself, then had him go to work on inks and colors.

But this time, I had a certain vision in mind based on one of the covers from one of my favorite comic book story arcs growing up, and thought the basic layout would suit this story perfectly. As such, I decided to get a little more hands-on this time around.

Here's a look at the inspiration, the line art I presented to Victor, and his finished version:

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