When everyone got up to leave, Skan held Nisemeisho, Teron, and Thom back.
"Two cryptologists," Skan nodded toward Nisemeisho and Teron, "a mechanic, Thom, and myself. An Engineer. A well balance team, and the people I trust most out of only a handful. Sit, please." Everyone quickly complied.
"In four days, Bart's Company will search for the Zodiac Stones." Skan checked the calendar. It was Tuesday, right? Yes. "But we will go ahead of them. Tomorrow morning. Is this OK?" Skan didn't wait for the nods the soon came. "Good. We will look for Aquarius first. Thom, I will need the Sea Serpent, your submarine. OK? Thanks."
Skan stood up and grinned. "Then tomorrow it is. Everyone please bring your weapons and Battle Gears. Dismissed!"
The next morning, Skan stood at the Gear paddocks bright and early, as Seth, his Gear Mechanic, tuned up Sentry. The damage that was earlier done to his sensors was very minimal, and was already fixed. Skan told Seth to board Sentry into the the Sea Serpent, then walked over to the boardind room himself. Several vehicles were there, and two of them belonged to Thom, and Skan would need them both. There was an airship, the Highwing, and of course, the submarine. It had already been lowered into the water. Thom and Teron were waiting for Skan there.
"Are you ready?" asked Teron.
"Not yet. Sentry is still being loaded."
Thom laughed. "It's loaded, Skan. Has been for, oh, about an hour."
Skan scowled at Thom. "Another one of your stupid pranks, Thom? What did I tell you about them!?"
Thom's laughter actually grew. "You told me not to do them unless you are a part of it."
Skan joined in on Thom's laughter, and after a minute, so did Teron. Nisemeisho walked up and gave all three of the other men a wierd look, not knowing what was funny.
Skan's laughter faded away, and Thom led them down a ramp into the submarine. Nobody noticed the dark shape dart in behind them.
"Only two more hours, Skan."
Thom sounded like he was getting tired of reminding Skan low long until they reached the temple. He said so, and Skan just grinned at him.
Skan leaned back into his chair and let out a long sigh. "How boring..." he said as Thom went back into the cockpit.
As if to remedy Skan's situation, red lights in the submarines began to flash, and the alarm sounded. Skan saw several mechanics scurry back and forth. Skan heard Thom curse, and he sped to the cockpit.
"What's happening?!" asked Skan.
"We were hit! By an enemy sub. Deck's nine to eleven are damaged. They are flooding, and I'm sealing the doors now." Thom flicked a switch. "Permision to return fire?"
As captain of the ship, Thom really didn't need permission, so didn't wait for an answer. Thom targeted and fired, but missed the sub. He cursed and fired again, but only barely hit, causing minor damage.
At this moment Teron came running in. "I'm better with guns!" he said. "Let me shoot!"
Wordlessy, Thom handed over the controls, then looked at Skan. "Where's Nise?" he asked.
Skan shook his head. "Probably at the bathroom easing his sea sickness."
As the enemy ship, on screen, came into view, Skan saw a logo on it's side. It was a blue Mecha, with a large red 'B' in the backround.
"Bart!!" roared Skan, but before he got the words out of his mouth, Teron fired, catching the enemy sub directly in the engine, and utterly destroying it.
"Battle Gears ready!" said Skan. He and his friends were all in there Gears. "Sentry, go!"
"Aesir, go!" said Thom.
"Bloodscythe, go!" said Teron.
"FT Nise! Go!" that was Nisemeisho.
"The autopilot whould have us there any second now," said Thom.
"Skan, do you think Bart's Company will be there?" asked Nisemeisho.
"They DID say this weekedn...but that WAS there sub...." said Skan, contemplating.
"Please!" barked Teron. "You really think that fat old goat would tell us the truth?"
"We're here," interupted Thom.
Follwed by Aesir, with FT Nise and Bloodscythe flanking him, Skan led Sentry down the submarine's dock down the ramp and into the temple. Oddly, there was a dome of oxygen around the temple. Skan suspected it was magic, but wasn't sure what kept it up. The Zodiac Stone? How was it activated?
The long corridors of the the temple were dark and silent. There were strange writings on the blue-green walls, of a language that Skan didn't understand. This irritated Skan, because he was fluent in seven, and he had NO IDEA what this was!
Soon, the corridor ended, revealing a huge room. The hallway extended passed the romo, but it's contents were what caught their attention.
Hovering above a small pedestal, on a dais was a sprakling, perfectly round stone of the same blue-green colorof the walls, and in the center of the stone were three perfecly wavy lines that made it clearly recognizable.
"The Aquarius Zodiac Stone..." Skan whispered.
Skan led Sentry up the stairs of the dais,but before he got two steps, a massive shape roze from behins it. It was as large as the Gears, but it wasn't machine. It looked at first like a slightly fat man, excepting several major differences. It's body was blood red, it's face hideous, with sharp black teeth. It stood erect on two tyrannosaurus feet and a long spiked tail. From it's shoulder blades came huge black wings that filled the room when spread. Like now. In one hand the beast had a blackwhip, but ending in a dozen barbed tips. The other hand held a sword shaped like a lightning bolt. It's presence made the room lookde like it should be in flames, despite the color.
"A Balrog!!!" roared Skan, but that was all he could get out before it charged. Skan flipped a switch to turn on the rocket pack. He and Teron soared several feet above it, and Thom was only a second behind, but a second too slow, and was wrapped about with the Balrog's whips. Nisemeisho made the mistake of holding his ground, a clawed hand of the Gear ready to rip aprt skin and flesh alike. He did manage to slash the Balrog's face before the sword caught him in an upward stroke, knocking FT Nise several hundred feet to the ground. The Gear convulsed as electrity shot through it.
Nisemeisho was out of the battle.
Teron landed next to Thom and slashed at the whip with the scythe, turning it on at the same motion. A few tips were sliced through, but several still held Aesir fast.
Sentry's fall was broken by the Balrog's back. The creature sprawled out on its face hard against the floor, bringing Thom with him.
As the Balrog whipped to his feet, and still knocking about poor Thom, Skan decided not to heat up his whips. He had read about Balrogs, and in that reading it sais that they were helaed by heat, and even though Skan doubted it, he didn't want to take that chance. He ignored the heat knob.
The Balrog raised his sword and roared. Thom took this moment to raised the huge shilef the capped over his drill arm and plunge the spinning drill into the Balrgo's side.
It roard, and the sword came down at Thom. Since the shield was liftedn, Aesir took the full brunt of the attack and hit the ground hard. Rivulets of electicity marked Thom being out of the battle.
As it's back was turned, Skan lunged at the Balrog. It dropped it's now useless whip, still wrapped around Aesir, and whirled around to face Sentry. It's hand snatched the black Gear by the head and the sword plunged into Skan's left joint to his leg, and into where a 'heart' would have been. Obviously the Balrog thought Sentry to be a living creature. Either way, electricity still ran through the Gear as it convulsed for a second.
Dropping Sentry, the Balrog turned to face Bloodscythe. The emergency evacuation opened up ni the back of Sentry's head, and Skan stumbled out, coughing from the smoke. He saw Bloodscythe facing off with rhe Balrog, and hoped Teron could win. He WAS the best Gear pilot out of the four of them...
Skan felt something pulse. He was drawn down a hallway, one thar branched from the room, the only one Skan hand't been through. Out of two, but nontheless unexplored. Skan walked down, all the while cursing at himself. He should do SOMETHING to help Teron, but...
Unable to help himself, Skan carefully walked down the hallway, the sounds of battle fading. At the end of the hallway was a round room, with a cieling and floor that looked to be miles away. Skan stood on a catwalk that ran alnogside the circular wall, with protective railings and several computers rimming it. Any other time, the computer consoles would interest him. But now...
Something pulsed...
Suddenly, a cylindar appeared in the middle of the room, of the same metallic silver that the rest of the room. Pulse. A door slid open to reveal... pulse.
A huge yellow rectangle, with a red eye in the middle.
Pulse.
Skan recognized it from sketches in Bartholomew Fatima's diary. This was...an anima relic!!!
Pulse.
Skandranon Rashkae Erreden...
Skan looked around. "ho...who was that??"
Skandranon Rashkae Erreden...Animus...
That caught Skan's breath. Animus? Him? One who's Gear was to be aligned with an anima relic, to become an all powerful Omnigear? No, couldn't be!
Take the Anima Relic, Skandranon...
Suddenly, instead of the yellow rectangle, Skan saw Sentry. With several differences. The hands of Sentry were clawed. Very small wings protruded out of Sentry's shoulders, for engine exhaust and the rocket packs both. The top of both of Sentry's hands still had the whips traling out, but the whips and the feather were now gray. In Sentry's left hand was grasped a huge boomerang, no doubt supposed to be a Gear sized gythka. Every joint on Sentry ended with a spike, like a knee joint jutted far up into a spike, and an elbow joint extended from the forearm into another spike, on both sides. The spikes were also gray.
Sentry dissapeared in a massive flash of light.
Skan sped down the hallway after a moment of thinking, and sure enough, Sentry remained, with all the changes. But instead of lying on the floor, it was on a knee, in the boarding position.
Teron was still fighting the Balrog, but doing badly. There were some serious slashes in the frame, and one arm hung useless. Smoke rose from several joints, and the green energy in the scythe flickered. This would be an epensive and extensive repair. The Balrog also suffered damage and dropped it sword, but soon, electricity darted through Teron's Gear.
Skan boarded Sentry, and his hands went to the joysticks...to find nothing. It took Skan a moment to realize. He blinked and cursed, hitting the dashboard. The Balrog took that very moment to turn around and lunge at Skan. Skan, frightened, could do nothing. He just wanted Sentry to grab the reaching arms of the Balrog and keep it from hitting Sentry. To his amazement, Skan noticed that the Gear DID reach up and grab the hands!
Of course! In Bart Fatima's diary, he said that Omnigears are controlled by thought! Skan slaped his forhead in felling his stupidity.
For a moment, The Balrog's hands and Sentry's hands struggled to gain an advantage. Skan imagined Sentry's left hand breaking away and throwing the gythka, and sure enough, the Gear complied. The right hand of the Balrgog flew several feet. The beast roared and clutched it's bleeding stump of a wrist. Sentry's reverse motion made the whip catch the Balrog straight in the face, wrapping around it and holding it fast. Sentry pivoted and rove his elbow spike into the Balrog's head, behind the ear. The beast roared in pain, and Skan unwrapped the whip in time to reach out a hand to catche the huge gythka, which, in completeing its motion to Sentry's hand, took the Balrog's head.
The beast's body slumped to the ground, exploding in fire.
Nisemeisho and Teron were both unconsious, but no serious damage as done to them. Thom was still active, however, and vouched Skan's seeminlgy fantastic story for truth, as if Sentry wasnt proof enough.
"So, you are Anima, huh?" asked Teron as the made their way up the dais, without the Gears.
"Well, um, yes," said Skan. "And I think you all are, too."
"WHAT!?" asked Thom and Teron together, increduolously. Nisemeishos lokoed at Skan like he grew demon horns.
"Think about it! We're all normal people, but still very different! Only me and Thom would have normally met, in the army, and that's STILL a low chance! All four of us like different things, and without the anima relic guiding us, we may have never met! ALL anima were like that, with twists of fate leading them together!"
Everyone thought on that. It WAS true that something seemed to...guided them, nut, it seemed strange. Animus? Them? It was very incredulous. They didn't have too much time to think about it, though. Skan hld up a hand, motioning for them to stop, and went up himself. He walked alone, the tan trench coat swishing around his ankles, and his hair hanging almost to the base of his neck. Scratching the back of his neck, Skan walked up to the pedestal.
He reached out with both hands to take the Zodiac Stone, and held it above his head.
"The Zodaic Stone, Aquarius!!"
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