Legends of the Halcyon Era: The Beginning

Foreword

Mega Man has been a part of my life for practically the entire time the franchise has been around.

I’ve made friends, I’ve had opportunities to do some pretty cool stuff, and I even met my wife, all thanks to Mega Man.

Even so, after a while, it’s become something I almost feel like I’ve started to take for granted. It’s something that feels like a part of me, and has been for a long time, and even when I’m not immediately focused on it, it’s something that’s still there. Even after relaunching this site at the start of the year, there was still something missing.

Then, several months ago, my wife and I sat down, and I got to watch the anime Cowboy Bebop for the first time, and parts of it reminded me of an RPG that I played with some friends many years ago. It was a freeform thing set in the world of Mega Man Legends, and the character interactions and such in the anime compelled me to look back at some of the logs I’d kept all these years. In doing so, I was reminded of the many good times, and what I believe were some good stories we ultimately ended up telling. I fell in love with that world again, and in turn, it helped reignite my passion for Mega Man, turning it from a flicker into a flame.

I also felt that they deserved more. Not only to have their untold stories finally told, but told to a wider audience that I hope will appreciate them, laugh with them, and maybe even have their emotions stirred by them.

I’ve been a writer for a long time now — a couple of decades, at least — but it’s largely been news, articles, interviews, and things of that nature. Only on the rare occasion have I managed to dip my toe into any sort of fiction writing, and even then, the biggest thing was an ill-fated comic. So in a way, this is still kind of new to me, and I’m hoping to grow with the experience.

Don’t think for a moment that this is a change in direction for The Mega Man Network, however. Now that the groundwork is laid, I hope to go between this and more reviews and the articles that you’ve seen over time, and ShadowRockZX is still here with the news as it happens. There are other things I’m trying to get rolling behind the scenes as well — even while working on this, I haven’t been ignoring the site.

As for the story, I understand it’s probably not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. While it takes place in the world of Mega Man Legends, it doesn’t star MegaMan Volnutt or any of his cast and crew. I feel like that’s not my story to tell — maybe someday, if I’m really lucky, but not today. And for what it’s worth, I’m going to try to keep things firmly within the “T” rating category, since that’s as high as a Mega Man game has gotten.

Instead, I hope you’ll join me to see what else might be happening in that far-flung future we all know and love. I’ve long enjoyed seeing and sharing what creations the members of the Mega Man fan community have made, from art to cosplay, music, videos, fan games, characters, and though it’s been a while since I’ve had time to read any, fan fiction. Heck, it’s through that last one that I met my wife, as I mentioned before. It’s with that in mind that I humbly (and admittedly, a bit nervously) hope that you’ll enjoy my own offering to the community and welcome it in kind.

Now, I happily present to you what I call “Legends of the Halcyon Era”.

Prologue

In a world covered by endless water…

The year is unknown, a number lost to the winds of time. Several thousand years ago, the planet known as Terra was plentiful in land and in life, but all of that has changed. Over the millennia, knowledge of what the world once was and how it came to be has been lost.

Vague clues to the past lie in various ruins scattered around the world, remains of a time long forgotten.

Amidst the vastness of the ocean covering this world, small islands and other patches of land stand above the waves, home to the people residing there. Forced to eke out a living on these islands, they rely on ancient technology, technology that utilizes a powerful energy source known as quantum refractors.

Throughout the ruins upon the land and the ocean, these refractors are sought out by the brave heroes of this world, explorers known as Diggers. It is through them that the civilizations of Terra gain the energy so badly needed to endure and survive.

Then there are the Reaverbots.

Remnants of the long lost civilizations of the past, no one knows exactly what the Reaverbots are, for what purpose they exist. Sticking to the ruins whose pasts they share, Reaverbots protect the precious refractors the Diggers seek. As such, they are typically viewed as an enemy to civilization.

On this day… two unsuspecting Diggers are about to find some of the most unusual Reaverbots ever seen… and something more.

Legends of the Halcyon Era

The Beginning

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

At the northernmost point of an island called Monroe lies a small structure. Pale beige in color, it stands freely, bearing markings around its edges and an inset maroon door. It is one of many such similar structures to be found on the island, yet stands out by standing apart from all the rest.

Few have dared to disturb the Kanga ruins, and those who have soon opted to leave well enough alone. As a result, it’s stood peacefully for many years.

Today, however, that peace is about to be shattered, as two figures emerge from the woods to the south.

One stood menacingly at an even six feet tall, sporting black Digger armor of a custom design, augmented by a mechanical left arm and trailed by a flowing cape. Atop his head sat a helmet which concealed his facial features, save for a pair of glowing red mechanical eyes which were dimmed by the shining black, T-shaped visor which ran down its front. Some who have seen him in passing have speculated that it must be to protect a dashing face underneath, while others have presumed that such a mask could only be to hide a visage most vile.

“Finally!” he expressed with aggravation to his digging partner. “They say it’s a small island, Nytetrayn, but whoever ‘they’ are, ‘they’ clearly never had to walk it!”

His partner stood a bit shorter, around a mere five and a half feet. The armor he wore was of a more standard store-bought variety, also sporting black with grey accents. On each shoulder was a circular insignia which resembled a dragon’s head, itself black with a gold outline, matching the golden blonde hair atop his head. On his back sat a knapsack loaded with weapon kits and various gear to help them through longer digs, as they had no Spotter to assist them in their endeavors.

Pushing up on his black-rimmed glasses, he affixed his eyes, an almost startling shade of green, on his partner. “Well, Fenix, ol’buddy, it’ll all be worth it once we clear this place out. They also say one of the largest refractors in the world lies within. Maybe we’ll even find the Mother Lode?”

The legend of the Mother Lode tells of a treasure so great, the world might never run out of power again. And to the one who finds it, great fame and wealth would be sure to follow. Fenix wondered aloud, “Could it possibly be here, of all places?” He paused for a moment, before dismissing the notion. “Nah, probably not. But whatever they’ve got locked up in here ought to fetch a good price, in any case.”

Fenix opened the entrance to the structure, revealing an elevator that would take them deep underground. “After you,” he said with a sweeping bow towards his comrade, to which Nyte complied.

After a quick elevator ride, the duo stepped off the platform. Fenix’s eyes began to glow as he peered down the darkened tunnels, trying to spot any unwanted surprises before those surprises spotted them.

Suddenly, Nytetrayn stopped dead in his tracks, and held out his arm to stop Fenix, much to the elder Digger’s bewilderment. Nytetrayn pulled out a small, spherical object, seemingly made of rubber, and threw it down the corridor. He watched as it bounced off the walls, floor, and ceiling, setting off several series of traps.

Nytetrayn held up his hand once the ball had finished making its rounds. It returned perfectly to the palm of his hand, as if he knew precisely where it would end up.

“After you”, the younger Digger told Fenix with a smile, gesturing to the now near-ruined corridor.

Fenix gave Nytetrayn a sideways glance before starting down the corridor again. Nytetrayn followed Fenix, who had now transformed his arm into its Gatling gun mode and started to pick off a few smaller Reaverbots. “I wonder how big this place is?” Fenix said over the gunfire.

“Guess we’ll have the chance to find out” Nytetrayn replied.

Fenix chuckled. “You brought the cooler, right?”

“You know it,” Nytetrayn said. “Best keep on guard.”

Fenix went on to examine the fallen Reaverbot, looking over its fallen form. It lay there, only about a foot long, with long, swept back wings and a drill-like nose. “Like a bird…” Nytetrayn observed.

“Nasty,” Fenix added, with a hint of wariness in his voice. “That thing could pierce even my armor.”

Nytetrayn nodded in agreement. “I wonder where these things came from?”

“Wherever the rest of them came from,” Fenix answered, as if stating the obvious. “From whoever created the refractors in the first place. Right or left?”

The pair looked at a fork in their pathway, giving them the aforementioned two options for proceeding. Nytetrayn looked down the left side, seeing a corridor with skeletons here and there. He then looked to the right, noting how empty that corridor was. Finally, he looked to back to Fenix.

“Hmm…” Nytetrayn said, contemplating the choices. “I say left,” Fenix chimed in before he could answer.

Nytetrayn nodded. “At least we know whatever is down there leaves some trace of it’s victims.”

“Nice way of putting a positive spin on things,” Fenix noted. “My scanners are negative, you want to try your ball?”

Nytetrayn nodded, and Fenix stepped aside as the ball was sent careening down the hallway, bouncing in every which direction before returning to the shorter Digger’s palm, with nothing else happening.

“Weeeeell then…” Fenix said.

“Any other scanners to try?” Nytetrayn asked.

“All I have is infrared and radar display,” Fenix said as he started down the corridor, adding, “nothing’s hot, and nothing’s moving.”

“Hmm,” was all Nytetrayn said to that, nodding as he followed his friend into the tunnel.

Suddenly, Fenix’s stride came to a halt as he had to stop himself from falling over. “What the-?!” he exclaimed, as he noticed that one of the skeletons he’d taken care to avoid seemed to have taken hold of his leg, as though it were grabbing it. “Okay, that’s messed up,” he said just before crushing its skull beneath his boot, revealing it to be a mechanical construct.

“Very weird,” Nytetrayn agreed, just before the other skeleton Reaverbots began to move as well. “This could get ugly,” Fenix said as he started to mow them down.

“Indeed,” Nytetrayn agreed again as he activated his Nyte-Buster: a custom Buster arm cannon featuring three configurations geared towards offense and defense. With its default mode, he joined in the skelebot hunt.

One skeleton’s eyes began to glow before unleashing a blast at Fenix. “Damn!” was all he had time to shout before Nytetrayn stepped in with the Nyte-Buster converted to Nyte-Shield mode, absorbing the blast. “Makes me wonder what was down the right hallway,” he pondered before switching back to Buster mode and blasting the skeletal Reaverbot to smithereens.

Drawing one of his beam sabers, Fenix responded, “Probably something more subtle, or less valuable” as he sliced more skeleton-bots in half. “Come on! Let’s just try to get past them!” he shouted, charging through and swinging his saber as though he was clearing a path through a bony jungle.

“Right!” Nytetrayn responded, converting his Buster into its Nyte-Saber mode and following his lead through the bounding bunch of bone buddies.

At the far end of the corridor, Fenix stood doubled over, catching his breath. “Are you alright?” Nytetrayn asked as he caught up.

“Damn, those little buggers just didn’t want to quit,” he gasped, before letting out a blood-curdling shriek. “Aaah! One of them pinched my ass!” he yelled before a bewildered Nytetrayn, stomping whatever was left of it into spare parts.

“Anyway…” Nytetrayn said, hoping to leave that experience behind them.

“Yeah, those hieroglyphs were trying to tell us something,” Fenix continued, not quite ready to let the matter rest just yet. “Enter, and you’ll get it in the glutes?” Nytetrayn mused. “Damned if I know,” Fenix exclaimed. “I can’t read the things, I just saw one that looked like a woman and a kangaroo!”

Turning his attention to the door standing before them, Fenix asked, “So, what the hell’s in this room?” “Don’t know, so let’s find out,” Nytetrayn answered before opening the door, while Fenix readied his Gatling arm.

“It’s pitch black in there,” Nytetrayn observed as he reached into his pack for a flare bomb. Tossing it into the darkness, it burst to life, shining light on around 60 Reaverbots.

“They look like… kangaroos” Fenix said, his red eyes shining wide through his visor, as though traumatized. “We’re boned.”

Nytetrayn wore a similar reaction on his face, speechless, before slamming the door shut. “Okay… okay…” he said, taking a few deep breaths as Fenix started welding the door’s panels together.

“Okay,” he said one more time before continuing. “Now that we have proper intel, we should evaluate the situation, and then make a sound tactical decision based upon the available data.”

“We run like scared children?”

“Sounds good to me.”

With that, both Diggers gunned it for the other path from the fork, Fenix running like a bat out of Hell and Nytetrayn like its conjoined twin. As they arrive at the divergent paths, Fenix skids to a halt and grabs Nytetrayn by the back of his knapsack before he ventures too far.

“Remember what I said about what was probably in here?” he asked his younger compatriot.

“…no, what?”

“Whatever’s in here is probably more subtle, which means we’ll be taken completely by surprise instead of only partially.”

“Ah, right. And do you remember what I said?”

“…no, what?”

“Whatever is down here looks to leave even less of a trace of its victims that the other tunnel.”

“So we’re going to chicken out just because we could get vaporized?”

“Let’s see,” Nytetrayn pondered. “One way leads to pain, agony, and lots of screaming… and this is the other way.”

“Aw hell, Diggers never live very long, anyway.”

Suddenly, the distinct sound of a Buster shot could be heard as a massive energy projectile passed between the two Diggers, narrowly missing them both. “HOLY…” Nytetrayn shouted, with Fenix chiming in “JESUS!”

Both turned in the direction of the blast, weapons at the ready, as a raven-haired figure emerged from the shadows with a smoking arm cannon, eyes of gold, and armor–

“…so, we’re all wearing black?” Fenix asked.

“Apparently,” Nytetrayn responded.

“You guys are, too?!” the new figure added, looking the pair over.

“Um, yeah,” said Fenix.

“Dammit!” the stranger shouted.

“That’s it, I’m changing color schemes once we get home,” Fenix said, sounding so done with this as he aimed his gun between the newcomer’s eyes. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want?”

“And why are you shooting at us?” Nytetrayn chimed in.

“…didn’t I just ask him that?”

“No, you asked who and what, but not why.”

“I see.”

Nytetrayn nodded.

“And yet, he remains silent,” Fenix noted. “I’m going to shoot him in the groin.”

Nytetrayn chuckled before turning back to the stranger. “Wait, where’d he go?” he asked, once he saw their assailant was no longer there.

“Maybe he turned invisible?” Fenix suggested before firing a few rounds from his Gatling arm, hitting nothing but the wall. “Damn, that’s spooky. I can’t pick him up anymore.”

“Very weird,” Nytetrayn concured. “Think maybe the kangaroos got him? Maybe it was his ghost, come back to haunt us?”

“That would be scary.”

“Indeed.”

“Let’s just go on… and keep a look out for kangaroos.”

Nytetrayn nodded, and they continued on their way down the right passage. Fenix scanned ahead as they walked, while Nytetrayn kept a watch over their backs.

“Hold on,” Fenix said, “I’m getting some movement. It’s… overhead?”

Fenix looked up in time to see a spider-like Reaverbot the size of an automobile open fire with a burst of energy down upon the Diggers, landing at his feet. Nytetrayn rolled clear while readying his Buster as Fenix leapt backwards and opened fire on their overhead attacker, albeit to no avail. “Damn! My bullets aren’t affecting it! Its armor is too strong for solid-round weapons!”

The spider-bot started to make its way down the walls, and fired a number of rope “webs” at the Diggers. Fenix dodged while Nytetrayn opened fire on it with several shots from his Nyte-Buster, knocking it down to the ground for but a moment before it regained its bearings and leapt back up to the ceiling.

Fenix drew his saber. “If you can knock it down again, we might be able to finish it off with our sabers!”

“Right! Here’s the plan: I blast it down, you hack it up!”

Just as they prepared to carry out the plan, the spider-bot caught Fenix with one of its web-ropes, hoisting him toward the ceiling. But not for long, as Nytetrayn opened fire, bringing both to the ground.

“Okay, bug eyes — eat this!” Fenix shouted as he plunged the blade of his saber straight into the spider-bot’s face. Meanwhile, Nytetrayn switched to Nyte-Saber mode and slashed deep down the length of its body.

The duo turned and struck a pose as the Reaverbot exploded behind them… before Fenix was thrown halfway down the corridor by the shockwave of the blast.

Nytetrayn shook his head. “Gotta do it with style, man!”

Before Nytetrayn even knew it, Fenix has zipped back to where the Reaverbot fell. “Quick, scoop up the refractor shards!” Nytetrayn joined him in rounding up the valuables, and muttered, “There’s gotta be an easier way…”

“Shall we continue?”

“We shall.”

And so they did just that, resuming their journey further and deeper into the ruin. As they walked along, Nytetrayn broke the silence.

“You know what would be great to have in a place like this?”

“No, what?”

“…a dinosaur!”

Fenix blinked at his traveling companion.

“Or at least a big robot suit,” Nyte continued.

“Wasn’t the spider enough?”

“I meant on our side.”

Soon, they arrived at a crossroad, with doors on either side, as well as the hall they’d been following continuing further still.

“Hmm, which way do we go?” Nytetrayn thought out loud.

“Right. We’ve had luck with that direction so far,” Fenix said as he opened the right-hand door.

“Yeah,” Nytetrayn replied. He couldn’t argue with that.

“Aha! Interesting!” Fenix said, as he gazed upon a set of three chests.

“Indeed — wait!” Nytetrayn shouted, as Fenix opened the first chest to reveal… a rusty fan blade.

“That was anticlimactic,” Fenix said, poking at the artifact before putting it away. “Oh well, maybe we can use it for scrap metal or something.”

As they turned their attention to the next chest, Fenix stood before it while Nytetrayn took the more cautious measure of standing off to its side. Carefully opening the chest, an extending boxing glove-arm sprang forth out of the chest, bopping Fenix right in what would have been his nose and sending him flying across the room.

Nytetrayn watched in wide-eyed surprise before jumping out of the way when Fenix opened fire on the chest. “That wasn’t nice,” said the masked Digger.

“Seems we have some sick jokers in these ruins.”

“Indeed. Now for the last one?”

Fenix tensed as Nytetrayn once again took up a position to the side of the chest, opening it to reveal… a pair of spider-like legs, which the chest leaped up onto before kicking Nytetrayn across the room like a Russian dancer.

“Aaaah!” Fenix screamed before slicing it in half. “That was a scary one,” he said as he gasped and panted.

Groggily, Nytetrayn rubbed his head with a moan as he got back to his feet and followed his companion into the opposite room. “A handful of refractors and a fan blade,” he grumbled, taking stock of their haul so far.

“Remind me to hurt the boss Reaverbot,” Fenix said, as Nytetrayn gave an approving nod. It was the plan, anyway, but it’s good to keep your priorities in order.

As they opened the door on the other side of the hallway, the pair found none other than a 12-foot tall kangaroo-like Reaverbot, complete with boxing glove-like hands and trunks. It stared back at them with its red eyes while it hopped in place.

Fenix let out a long, panicked scream as he and Nytetrayn alike both opened fire on it senselessly, promptly making it keel over and die, posterior aimed skywards.

After a moment of stunned silence later, Fenix said, “I am afraid.”

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn looked to the fallen Reaverbot… then to Fenix, then back to the Reaverbot, all while he considered their situation thus far.

“So…” he began. “How much Zenny do you think the trunks would fetch?”

After getting over the shock of even being asked such a thing, Fenix replied, “Actually, they could fetch a pretty high price.” He paused. “You get ’em.”

“No, I couldn’t… you get ’em.”

Sensing they’d never get anywhere otherwise, Fenix reached out with trepidation and used his mechanical arm’s thumb and forefinger to gingerly pull the trunks off and away from the marsupial-like Reaverbot’s body.

“I swear, I will get you for this.”

The Diggers continued on their way down the main corridor. Fenix wiped his mechanical hand on his cape all the while. “That was foul… you owe me big.”

“Hey, I do all the talking,” Nytetrayn countered. “We’re just lucky we had something handy to wrap it in. Besides, you’re always complaining about a lack of sexual activity, anyway…”

“With women,” Fenix snapped. “That was a kangaroo. And a robot,” he added with a shudder.

“Oh, nitpick,” Nytetrayn said, trying to hide the amusement in his voice as he stifled a laugh.

Fenix began to study the hieroglyphs on the walls, while Nytetrayn prepared for whatever lay ahead. He removed one of the weapon kits from his pack and began to assemble something a little heavier duty.

“Have you ever seen runes like this in the other ruins?” Fenix asked.

Nytetrayn put the last touches in place before taking a look. He saw that they had something of an ancient Egyptian vibe, but were more mechanical in nature. “Hmm… you got me. You sure you didn’t write this, old-timer? Your hand writing is about as bad.”

“No, I wouldn’t create a language with so many… dear lord… those kangaroos are everywhere.”

“What is it with you and kangaroos, anyway?”

“I’m not making it up! Look! Those are clearly kangaroos!”

Nytetrayn looked, and they did indeed bear a resemblance to kangaroos. A clanking sound rang out in the distance, but already preoccupied, he looked back to Fenix and asked, “What I mean is, why do you hate them?”

“I have nothing against kangaroos, normally, but these…” Fenix trailed off, as the clanking grew ever louder. “Do you hear something?”

“Sounds like… jumping metal?”

“Oh, please no…”

The Diggers turned, and to their surprise, a frog-like Reaverbot the size of a car hopped down the hallway towards them. With both their eyes widened in surprise, Nytetrayn asked, “Um, what do your instincts say about frogs?”

“Eliminate with extreme prejudice,” Fenix responded as he activated his Gatling arm.

“Hmm, your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. But first…” Nytetrayn powered on his Gatling Buster, a larger handheld weapon which, unlike Fenix’s version, fired energy projectiles at a rapid clip instead of physical ammunition.

“Die, slimy!” Fenix shouted as he filled the hallway with steel-jacketed ballistics. Nytetrayn joined in with his own special blend, raining an energy hailstorm down on the Reaverbot. “Hasta la vista, toady!”

Unlike the earlier kangaroo, the toad Reaverbot wasn’t so easily dealt with. Stopping in its tracks, it let out an ear-splitting bellow that forced both Diggers to cover their ears. “Must… stop… ribbiting…” Nytetrayn stammered.

As luck would have it, the frog stopped ribbiting in order to snatch a fly out of the air. Wasting no time, Fenix pulls out his grenade launcher and fires one of the explosive rounds down its throat. The frog swallowed, then burped a cloud of smoke.

Gobsmacked, Fenix said, “This ruin is a place of madness.”

“…I say we fabricate something when people ask us about this.”

“Yes.”

Fenix raised his launcher again. “I have an idea,” he said before firing a grenade up the frog Reaverbot’s nose.

“Instead of kangaroos, we faced… uh… elephants…”

The frog Reaverbot then sneezed, blowing its own head off in the process.

“Well… that works,” Nytetrayn said.

“I am the bullgod,” Fenix said cockily as he ventured over to inspect its remains.

“Refractor, refractor, energy, something that looks like a bunch of dead flies…”

As the two took stock, a familiar voice called out from behind them. “You know, I do so find you two so terribly amusing.”

“…the hell?” Nytetrayn asked as he turned to the source of the voice.

“Oh, it’s you again,” Fenix said upon identifying the interloper as they stepped forward from the shadows once again, black armor glistening. “Can I kill him?” he added as he raised his Gatling arm.

Nytetrayn just shrugged.

Immediately pointing his shoulder mounted rocket launcher at Fenix, the stranger said, “So, you want to duel, do you? It’d be a shame to kill you so early on.”

While the two were keeping each other preoccupied, Nytetrayn quickly gathered up anything that looked remotely profitable or useful while the grabbing was good.

“…dammit, why does everyone else always have bigger guns than me?” Fenix pouted upon seeing the launcher aimed squarely at him, deactivating his own weapon.

“I keep telling you, you should modernize!” said Nytetrayn.

“Some men are just born small.”

Fenix’s eyes glowed through his visor. “Put down your big, Freudian gun and say that.”

“Ah, I think not,” the stranger remarked. “You see, I enjoy my life. Now that I have your attention… I’ll thank you to hand over your refractors.”

“…say again?” Nytetrayn asked, taken aback.

“Oho! so he does have a death wish!” Fenix added.

“Perhaps one more time: I need those refractors. It seems you two have already drained the shards from this mine, and if I must fight you to get them… then so be it.”

Eyes glowing and raring to go, Fenix raised both his Gatling arm and his grenade launcher, ready to fight for what little they’ve managed to procure at great personal risk and displeasure. “I’m going to blow his head up like the frog’s.”

“…need, eh? Alright. That’s different,” said a much calmer Nytetrayn. He tossed a package wrapped in paper to the stranger, much to Fenix’s bewilderment. However, the stranger cautiously put the package on the ground and backed away.

“What, you don’t need your refractors so bad?”

” I do indeed. What I don’t need is for you to shoot the refractors and have them detonate in front of me.”

“No worries,” Nytetrayn responded. “We’d shoot you before we shot the refractors.”

“Yeah,” Fenix said as he shrugged and lowered his weapons. “If my stupid partner is gonna wuss out and hand the shit over, you can have it.” Nytetrayn responded with a displeased look on his face, doubly so after Fenix thwapped him upside the head. “Hey!” “”Doofus, there’s two of us! We can take him!”

Cautiously accepting the refractors and cradling them in one arm, the stranger said, “My apologies. Perhaps another day I can repay this to you, but for now, Black Steel must take his leave.” With that, he disappeared back into the shadows.

“…did he just refer to himself in the third-person?” a befuddled Nytetrayn asked.

After a few moments with no response, once Nytetrayn was sure he and Fenix were alone again, he fell over laughing.

“We could have gotten good money for those trunks,” Fenix opined.

“I think it was worth the trade,” Nytetrayn said as he laughed some more.

Fenix chuckled. “I wish I could see the look on his face…”

“Something tells me we will. C’mon, we got ruins to ruin.”

Before they can resume their journey, however, a missile struck the wall near Fenix, shattering its ages-old facade, and then a pair of boxer shorts wrapped themselves around Nytetrayn’s head at high velocity.

“Uh-oh…” said Nytetrayn, muffled by the garment.

“I knew there had to be a catch to this!” Black Steel shouted as he marched back out of the shadows.

“I thought he’d wait a little longer,” Fenix said with a combination of surprise and disappointment.

“Boxer shorts. BOXER SHORTS?!”

“Um, oops?” Nytetrayn offered meekly. “…wrong package…?

Fenix just doubled over laughing.

“For gods’ sakes, man, please have some decency!”

“You can get some good Zenny for that…” Nytetrayn said, before putting his finger to his mouth and looking aside to contemplate. “…we think.”

Black Steel aimed his rocket launcher at Nytetrayn and opened up with a barrage of missiles. “Here’s some dirty laundry for ya’!”

“Ack!” Nytetrayn shouted, reflexively opening fire on the incoming missiles with his Gatling Buster, destroying them in mid-air.

“Well aimed.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey now,” Fenix interjected as he raised his arm and fired at the floor in front of Steel’s feet. “There’s no need for projectiles!”

Steel bounded back to avoid the shots. “A duel of blades, then?”

“Hm, now that, I can do,” Fenix replied as he drew his beam saber. At the same time, Steel’s Buster deactivated and a pair of blades emerged from the armored gauntlet in its stead, igniting with a crimson glow.

As the two dash towards each other, Steel leading with his claws while Fenix performs some whirling saber trickery, Nytetrayn watches out of the corner of his eye, distracted more by the runes lining the walls of the corridor. “My hero,” Fenix thinks to himself upon observing this.

Black Steel parried Fenix’s thrust, and slipped his blade through his guard, coming close to stabbing him in the gut, but Fenix hopped to one side and returned the favor with a slash at Steel’s legs. Steel evaded with a leap over the low slash and brought his claws down with an overhead swipe, which Fenix narrowly managed to block by raising his saber blade, straining against the force of the blow. “Such skill…” Steel said with amazement.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn cheered his companion on, despite not actually paying much attention to the battle unfolding only a short distance away. “Go get ‘im, Fenix!” he shouted, all while never removing his eyes from the runes on the wall.

With blades still locked, Fenix shouted “I’m going to kick your ass after I’m finished with this guy, Nyte!!!” He then grabbed the handle of his saber with his mechanical arm, using it to force Steel back with a surge of strength.

“What?!” Nytetrayn shouted back. “What do you want from me?!”

“Honestly? I just feel like it.”

“You would. Anything to get near an ass…”

Black Steel performed a handplant on the wall and bounded back, landing just before Fenix, which he followed with a rising claw uppercut.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn kept looking over the runes. “Hmm… hey, Fenix,” he called out into the fray. “You got the time?”

Fenix leaned back, just narrowly avoiding Steel’s rising claws, eyes blazing as they flashed right past his face. “The what?!” he yelled back.

“The time!”

Steel quickly used his claws to parry an attempted stab at his stomach. “I think he wants to know what time it is.”

“See? He heard me!”

“Do I look like I have time to check my watch!? I’m in a damn life or death struggle here!”

“Oh, for the love of…” Nytetrayn removed his pack, and started digging around for his clock, eventually finding it. “Uh-oh,” he said upon checking the time.

“Hey, Fenix?” Nyte said as he put his pack back on. “Do me a favor…”

“What!?” the exasperated Digger shouted back as he forced Steel away to get a little breathing room.

“Jump!!!!”

Fenix leapt straight upwards, as if on command, with Steel instinctually doing the same. As Steel clinged to the wall with his claws, Nytetrayn also leaped up at the same time, grabbing hold of a bar high up on the wall, taking hold of Fenix’s arm with his other hand.

Beneath them, a court of kangaroo-like Reaverbots stampeded down the hallway where they had just been. “Gah!” Steel shouted at the sight, while Fenix screamed out “Oh my god!”

“Right on time.”

“Don’t you think you could have warned us sooner?!” Steel shouted across the hallway and over the sound of metallic feet bounding off the floor.

“I tried!” Nyte fired back. “But you two looked like you were having so much fun!”

Steel waved his free fist at the duo, as a new thought began to cross Nytetrayn’s mind.

“…be a shame if someone blasted his part of the wall, wouldn’t it?”

Fenix was quiet for a moment before realization struck, Nytetrayn whistling nonchalantly.

“Oh, hell no!” Steel said.

Fenix raised his Gatling arm. “Say goodnight, Chumly!” he said before opening fire. A huge grin spread across his face, albeit hidden by his visor.

Steel quickly tried to retaliate, firing his rocket launcher at the bar Nytetrayn was holding on to before being blown off the wall and falling down into the mercy of the Reaverbots below. “Hah! I won’t suffer alo-mmmppphhh!!!!” he shouted before his cries became muffled.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn ‘s bar comes out of the wall at one end, and he and Fenix begin to dangle ever closer to the kangaroo horde. “It was nice knowing you, Fenix,” Nyte said as the stress on the metal bar began to emit a creaking sound.

Fenix didn’t reply, now in full-on panic mode. “Oh god they’re getting closer make it stop make them go away….!”

Nytetrayn closed his eyes as the bar snapped, and the two fell… onto solid ground? Fenix blinked.

Nytetrayn opened his eyes, just in time to see one last kangaroo, smaller than the rest, hopping down the hallway after its peers. “Wow…” was all he could muster.

“Son of Sam,” added Fenix.

Black Steel, however, was left behind by the kangaroo stampede, trampled and battered, face down on the ground with his posterior in the air.

“What should we do with him?” Nyte asked.

“I think the poor guy’s had enough for one day.”

“Think we should help?”

“…why?”

Nytetrayn shrugged. “I dunno. Just seemed like the thing to say.”

In that moment, Black Steel leaped back up to his feet, clenching his fist before him. “That was not cool.”

Nytetrayn just lowered his head and shook it before walking over and taking Steel’s hand, placing an unwrapped refractor in his hand. “I think you earned this more today than we will.”

“Er.. uh…” Steel stammered, trying to find the words.

Nytetrayn shuddered before walking back over to Fenix, who started going into spasms at Nyte giving away their hard-earned money. “Oh, come on,” the younger Digger said. “Let’s just finish digging.”

“You forget,” Fenix says as he gets up and brushes himself off, “I have infrared vision. I saw that!”

“Did you also see what he went through?!”

“Hey-hey!” Steel tried to interject. “That’s enough of that, already!”

“‘Course, were it me, I’d probably never want to see anything remotely shaped like a kangaroo again, but still.”

“It was horrible,” Fenix agreed, “so horrible…”

“Don’t ignore me,” Steel said, tear ducts ready to burst.

“Awww, does baby boy want attention?” Fenix asked mockingly.

Nytetrayn turned his attention to Steel. “Shouldn’t you, like, see a doctor, or something?”

Black Steel aimed his launcher again… and learned he was now out of missiles. “…yes.”

“At least buy some new pants,” Nyte said, noticing a bizarre stain.

“They only got my leg, dammit!” Steel casually let that part of his armor fall off, now leaving him standing in full metallic black armor… minus one upper-thigh piece.

Nytetrayn grinned nervously.

“That is wrong on so many levels,” Fenix said.

“So very many.”

“Hey, shut up!” Steel shouted. “At least I have matching tights on underneath!”

“By the way…” Fenix continued to Nyte.

“Hmm?”

“How did you know that was going to happen at that time?”

“‘S what the runes said, best as I could tell.”

“Interesting…” Fenix mused.

“We should keep a lookout later,” Nytetrayn continued. “They’ll probably come back.”

“Oh God, yes. That would be bad.”

“So very bad.”

“Weeeeelll then… shall we go on?”

“I think we should.”

“Hey Steel,” Fenix called out to their new acquaintance. “You wanna come with?”

Letting out an exasperated puff, Steel replied with a defeated look, “I might as well.”

As they began their march down the hallway, they spotted another skeleton ahead of them. “Oh, not again…” Fenix groaned as Steel readied his Buster.

“Dammit, my thigh is drafty,” Steel complained.

Examining it closer, Nytetrayn found it was wearing an Outback-styled hat, along with the remains of other explorer-styled clothing, as it lay face-down on the ground with his bum sticking in the air. “I guess we know what happened to him,” he said. Spotting a boomerang laying nearby, Nytetrayn picked it up and examined it. After a moment’s hesitation, he took the hat, too.

“Uh…” said Steel, a wide-eyed expression on his face as Nytetrayn pocketed the boomerang and tried on the hat.

“So, how do I look?”

“Craptacular,” replied the newcomer.

“Like that crocodile guy,” Fenix chimed in, “only uglier.”

“Dorkier, I’d say.”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Uh, shouldn’t we get going, before we wind up like that?” Steel said, pointing at the skeleton.

“Probably a good idea,” Nyte responded, with Fenix concurring.

They continued along down the hallway, Fenix tip-toeing fastidiously past the skeleton, while Steel guarded their rear flank.

Breaking the silence, Fenix asked, “So Steel, tell me, what did you need our refractors for, anyway?”

After a beat of silence, Nytetrayn suggested, “To buy a new hip plate?”

“Yes, that must be it,” Fenix replied.

With a sigh, Steel began. “My home island has run out of refractors. The mines have all been used up nearby. Most of the Diggers in the area departed, there was no reason for them to stay. I was the only one left with a ship strong enough to come this far. Without power, when the pirates come again… we’ll have no way to defend ourselves… or even to live our daily lives.”

Fenix sat silent. After a moment, Nytetrayn just said “Well, damn.”

“I suppose I should feel like a heel,” said Fenix. “By the way, that stain has spread to your tights.”

Steel cursed under his breath once again, a downtrodden look on his face.

“Yeah,” Nytetrayn added. “And you call ME dorky-looking with the hat, you look like…”

Before he could finish his thought, Black Steel ripped the stained section of his tights off, revealing pale hairy leg.

“…never mind.”

“Let’s move on!” Steel exclaimed, now wearing a smile that unnervingly seemed about seven times cheerier than he’d been only moments ago.

“Right,” Nyte said as Fenix finished spasming at the hairy sight and they continued along their way.

Fenix led the way down the long hallway, and used the sensors in his helmet to continuously scan to the left and right as they go. “By the way, did those runes mention the kangaroo stampede occurring at any other time of day?”

“Um… not that I remember,” Nytetrayn replied. “I say we just clear the place out, and get out before they come back. What do you think, Steel?”

After a moment with no answer, Nyte repeated, “…Steel?” Looking behind him, he saw that Steel was no longer there.

“He’s been gone for about five minutes,” Fenix said.

“Well, damn.”

“This is a really long hallway.”

“Yeah, really.”

“If there isn’t anything in here besides kangaroos who like to violate our personal space, I’m going to be pissed.”

“Indeed, but there was supposed to be a huge refractor here.” After a moment’s thought, Nyte added, “What if Steel gets it first?”

“Somehow, I’m not too concerned about that,” Fenix replied.

As the floor began to slope downward, Nytetrayn spotted a hole in the wall, and went over to investigate.

“Anything there?” Fenix asked, looking around idly as he waited.

“Lessee here,” Nyte said as he dug around inside. “Some refractor shards, a comb, a notice that ‘you may have already won one million Zenny…'” As Nytetrayn opened the envelope, a small breeze blew some crumbled dust out. With that, he tossed it aside as Fenix began to develop a twitch in one eye.

Digging a little more, “Feels like a book…” Nyte pulled out a book about animal wildlife, which seemed a bit dampened. “Ick!” he shouted, dropping it. “That’s it, I ain’t lookin’ for anything else in there.”

“Well! Let’s move on!”

“Right… wait, hold up.” Nytetrayn looked behind them, and saw the wet magazine slowly sliding down the slope. Wearing a frustrated expression, he blasted it to smithereens. “No amount of Zenny is worth having that around. Let’s just keep moving,” he said as Fenix shuddered.

As they continued down the decline, Fenix spoke up again. “Any bets on where this is taking us?”

“…Hell?”

“It’s moving down.”

“Exactly. I don’t like this. ‘Down’ in a place like this seems like it would be anything but good.”

“Oh man, I so did not need to hear that.”

“I didn’t need to think that, either, but here we are.”

Fenix shuddered again. “It’s getting cooler.”

“Guess that shoots down my theory.”

“Hang on… you hear that?”

Somewhere, water can be heard lapping against something.

“…what… what is that?” Nyte asked.

“This could be good.”

“…it could?”

“A wet t-shirt contest is never bad, young one.”

“It is if we’re the wet t-shirts!” Nyte shot back, looking around to see if there were any signs of water leaking in.

“Let’s just be careful.”

“Agreed,” Nyte said, readying his Gatling Buster as the duo continued on. “Do your scanners detect anything?”

“Just a slight temperature,” Fenix responded. “And…”

“And?”

After bending down and brushing his fingers across the ruin floor, he added, “Moisture.”

“…oh, is that all…?”

“I think we may have traveled under the surface of the island and below the ocean floor.”

“Well,” Nyte said with a combination of resignation and trepidation, “the place has held up this long, so I guess we’re safe. I can’t wait to get that mech suit finished, it’ll make treks like this less… edgy…”

“Indee–” Fenix began to say, before being cut off abruptly by a rumbling sound. “Oh no.”

“What is that?”

“Wait,” Fenix said, as he straightened up in surprise. “There’s something down there!” And with that, he bolted in its direction, intent on reaching the end of the hallway. “Something powerful!”

Nytetrayn took off after his friend. “Something dry, I hope! Boss Reaverbot?”

“Maybe,” Fenix said before skidding to a halt in front of a tall, bronze-colored door. Engraved upon it was a demonic face, with rubies where its eyes would be.

“Hmm, ugly door,” Nyte observed. “Looks like where a boss would hide to me.”

“Indeed,” Fenix replied as he prodded at it experimentally. “It’s locked. I think the keyhole is in its right nostril.”

Nytetrayn taps the back of his glove, and a compartment opens, revealing an assortment of lock picks. He removed a couple, and just before he set to work, said “Well, damn.”

Fenix looked at him quizzically.

“It just occurred to me… I’d be picking this thing’s nose.” After a pause, he added “Maybe we’re missing a key?”

“I didn’t see one anywhere.”

“Crap.”

“Maybe I should try to break it down?”

Nytetrayn kicked the door a couple of times, shaking it, before replying, “Works by me, I ain’t pickin’ this thing’s nose.”

After another moment’s pause…

“How much do you think those eyes are worth?”

Blinking, Fenix replied, “A lot. Here, stand on my shoulders.”

“Alright,” Nyte said as he hopped up.

“Can you get ’em?”

“Lessee…” Nyte said as he tried to chisel away at one of them with one of his sturdier picks. After a moment, he added, “Hang on.” He hopped down before putting his picks away, then rummaged through his backpack, and eventually pulled out a crowbar. “Alright, let’s try this again!”

As Nyte better prepared himself, Fenix couldn’t help but notice the door had begun to vibrate. Soon, Nyte noticed as well.

“Um.. you know that powerful thing I was talking about?”

“…yes…”

“It is behind this door.”

As Nytetrayn put his pack back on, he asked “Um, just how powerful are we talking here?”

“Uh, pretty powerful. Like, blow-your-ass-to-cinders powerful, I think.”

Nytetrayn considered this. “Think we should just take the eyes and run?”

“No,” Fenix said with resignation as he looked upon the doors. “I’ve run from a lot of shit in my life, but the day I run from any Reaverbot is the day I hang up my arm.”

“Alright then, should we switch weapons?”

Fenix was already reaching into the small pack he kept concealed underneath his cloak to retrieve his grenade launcher and a shotgun-like weapon. “Anything you got with a lot of firepower,” he said. Then he combined the two weapons into one larger gun, which now resembled a rocket launcher of some sort.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn made his own preparations, removing and disassembling his Gatling Buster and putting the parts away quickly and carefully before assembling a Powered Buster from his cannon kit.

“Let’s rock,” he said as he put his pack back on, but then hesitated. “Should we get the eyes first? I mean, even with a huge refractor, this place has just sucked outright as far as treasure goes.”

“Yeah, might as well.”

“Alrighty, then.” With that, Nytetrayn was back atop Fenix’s shoulders with a crowbar, prying at the gems and dropping them down to his partner. “Catch!”

As he pried the second gem free, something else fell out. “Looks like some kind of key… maybe it fits the door?” he questioned out loud. “You do the honors,” he said, passing it off to Fenix.

Fenix slipped the key into the nostril, and with that, a heavy creak erupted from the hinges as the doors slowly opened.

Outside of the slowly-opening boss door, Fenix and Nytetrayn braced themselves for whatever they might find waiting for them on the other side. If it went well, fortune awaits; if it went poorly, then a quick end to their short Digging careers.

“After you,” Fenix said to Nyte, as he gestured to the door with both hands and a slight bow.

“….no, no, after you.”

Fenix grumbled and walked through, while Nytetrayn tried to stifle his snickering.

Inside the chamber was a large, domed room. At its center, a huge, rotating cube with strange markings was floating in mid-air, pulsing with white energy as it spun.

After a moment to take in what he was seeing, Nytetrayn simply blurted out “what in the HELL is that?!”

“The source of all this power I’ve been feeling,” Fenix responded, stepping towards the cube. “I think there’s something inside it…”

“Not that,” Nytetrayn said, as he pointed behind it. “That!”

Behind the cube, a pair of red lights activated with a deep humming sound, and a kangaroo Reaverbot larger than any they’d seen yet hopped its way around the cube. Where fists would be, spiked balls were present instead, which the Reaverbot put to good use as it punched out with one, causing the ball to soar through the air on a cable straight at the Diggers.

“Duck!” Nyte yelled, pushing his digging partner out of the way and diving aside before the giant spiked wrecking ball crashed down where they’d just been.

“Are you blind?!” Fenix shouted back. “That’s no duck, it’s another stinkin’ kangaroo!”

“We’ll argue zoology later!” Nyte shouted back, getting to one knee and firing some Powered Buster shots off at the Reaverbot’s center mass, while Fenix followed suit with his launcher. The rockets and energy projectiles soared through the air, striking their target with explosive impact, staggering it somewhat.

The Reaverbot decided to accommodate for multiple targets by opening a hatch on its front side, which deployed a smaller kangaroo Reaverbot down the ramp. It targeted Fenix as it bounded towards him, trying to kick him while propping itself up on its tail.

Fenix yelped and narrowly ducked the blow before using one of his sabers to slash at the rear appendage, severing it and leaving the smaller bot off-balance. After leaping back, he took aim with his rocket launcher. “Say good-night, Junior!” A moment later, Fenix was down one rocket, and down one Reaverbot in his face.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn continued to dodge the one-two punches of the larger Reaverbot, returning fire whenever possible. The Powered Buster shots were having some effect against its thick armored plating, but not enough. When Fenix returned his focus to the bigger bot, it once again prepared to even up the score with another one of its own, opening its forward-facing hatch.

“The hatch!” Nyte shouted to Fenix. “Aim for the inside before it closes again!”

With that, the two concentrated their firepower on the opening, sending explosive ordnance into the belly of the beast, undoubtedly giving it the worst case of indigestion it’s ever had. The Reaverbot attempted to close its forward hatch again before the shots could reach inside, but it was too late. It began to hop back and forth from one foot to the other in a panic before a huge explosion rang out from inside, blowing its head clear off. It soared through the air in an arc, and landed right at the Diggers’ feet.

“I think that means we won,” Nytetrayn said. “I wonder if this makes us the heavyweight champions of the world, now?”

“You’re cruiserweight at best, buddy,” Fenix said as he finished carving “FENIX RULEZ, NYTETRAYN DROOLZ” into the burnt-out husk with his beam saber. He then turned his attention towards the giant floating cube over the center of the room.

“I really wish you’d stop putting that second part,” Nytetrayn said with slight annoyance as he put his Powered Buster away and began reassembling his trusty Gatling Buster.

“You can’t silence the power of the free press! The people have a right to know!”

Ignoring this, Nyte turned his attention back to the cube and asked, “Shall we crack it open?”

“Alright. But be careful, it might explode.”

Nytetrayn nodded, turning his Gatling Buster towards the cube, ready in case anything else was ready to cause trouble.

Fenix approached it and rapped on it with his hand. “Hello? Anybody home?”

With that, the cube stopped spinning. Not expecting that, Fenix scampered behind a speechless Nytetrayn, who looked to his cowering partner, then back at the cube as it slowly folded open.

Inside the cube was an adult woman, with dark skin bearing strange markings around her shoulders. Bright seafoam-colored hair adorned the top of her head, pulled back into a ponytail as she floated in place, curled into a ball.

Also? For whatever reason, she was naked.

“That’s it, I quit,” said a Nytetrayn who now thought he’d just seen everything. Despite this, he was quick enough to catch her when whatever had kept her suspended in mid-air suddenly decided to stop doing so. She opened her eyes, a subtle red in color, and he quickly set her down on her feet as soon as he was sure she could stand, and took a step back.

“Nyte, you fool, say something to the naked woman!”

“Um… hi?” was all he could muster.

“Hi!” she said, as she waved in response.

Continuing, he asked, “How’s the… er… weather?”

“Chilly!” she said, smiling innocently as she stood before the duo, her tall, almost uncannily voluptuous form now fully revealed. She almost seemed statuesque, as though she’d stepped out of an art exhibit or work of fiction, except for the part where she was apparently real flesh and blood, standing before them.

Fenix just stared as Nytetrayn tried to find something else in the chamber to focus on.

“Um… crap,” Fenix muttered. “Nyte? you know all that energy I was picking up?”

“…yeah?” he asked, rummaging in his backpack for something that might be useful for covering her up, and pulling out a blanket.

“It’s coming from HER.”

Nytetrayn offered her the blanket to cover up, but was summarily ignored.

“Bingo!” she said cheerfully. “Give the Digger a big cigar!”

Nytetrayn put away the blanket. Why did he not like the sound of where this was going?

“You just broke into my ruins, boys,” she continued. “Do you know what that means?”

“Orgy?” Fenix asked, as Nytetrayn scratched his head.

“Nope!” she said, a cute grin spreading across her face as Nytetrayn was hurled several feet across the room by a blast of force.

“Aw, hell,” said Fenix as Nytetrayn sat in a daze, embedded in the wall.

The mysterious woman raised her hand, a ball of white energy forming above it. “You boys are lucky. With the two of you, you’re not hopelessly outpowered!” She then let the sphere fly at Fenix. “I might have to kill you quickly!”

Fenix leaped to the side. “So, kill the naked chick?”

“Works for me,” Nytetrayn groggily returned as he peeled himself off the wall.

Both Diggers opened fire on her with their respective Gatling weapons, but she raised her hand to stop Fenix’s solid rounds in mid-air before somersaulting backwards to avoid the energy shots. “Hmph, lead bullets? Moron.”

Summoning a wave of fire, she further taunted the pair. “You have to be faster than that… Hame Tsunami!” And with that, she let the flames loose.

“Damn!” both Diggers exclaimed as they ran and rolled out of the way. Fenix unslung his missile gun and let loose with one, while Nytetrayn returned fire with his Nyte-Buster upon getting back to his feet.

Holding her hands out to block the incoming attacks, she was soon obscured by the smoke from the explosion.

“Did we get her?” Fenix asked warily.

“Hope so…”

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that the woman was mostly unharmed — slightly-singed hair notwithstanding. “That tingled.”

“…shit,” Fenix uttered.

“Aw, man…” Nyte added.

“I must admit, it’ll be a shame to kill you two,” she said as she held out both hands, forming a large, ever-growing ball of flaming energy between them. “You’re sort of… stimulating.”

Fenix’s mask hid a nervous grin, and Nytetrayn, who figured their days were numbered anyway, asked the one thing that had been bugging him since they got here…

“Why kangaroos?”

The fireball stopped growing. “…huh?”

“Just… why?”

She frowned. “Look, I didn’t design this stupid place. I just sat in the cube being used as some sort of living computer server for eternity, waiting for someone to show up so I could keep them from getting the big-ass refractor.”

“Hmmm,” Fenix mused loudly. “So we sort of saved you, didn’t we?”

The woman then blinked, before hesitantly admitting, “Um… well, I was getting bored…”

Nyte chimed in, “so we saved you from an eternity of boredom, right?”

“An eternity of mind-numbing boredom,” Fenix added, trying to lay it on extra-thick.

She shuddered. “Oh God, yes.”

“So you should be grateful!” the masked Digger asserted. Feeling like they might be getting somewhere, his companion simply added “Yeah!”

The woman sighed. “Look, I have programming to obey. You come through here, I have to kill you. If you beat me, well, then we’ll talk.”

“…programming?” Nytetrayn asked.

“I’m mechanical, yes.”

“Damn good-looking Reaverbot,” Fenix said.

“Y-yeah,” Nyte agreed.

The woman started to blush, but quickly snapped out of it. “Hey! No flattery! I told you guys, I don’t have a choice he–!”

“Nyte, shoot” Fenix said abruptly, letting off another missile while Nytetrayn fired off a few rounds from his Nyte-Buster.

With a look of panic across her face, the woman threw aside the ball of energy and quickly tried to raise a shield… but not quickly enough.

“I hope we didn’t ruin her figure,” Fenix said.

“One-track mind, that’s what you have.”

Once the smoke cleared, the woman could be seen sitting on the floor, coughing and covered in soot. “Dammit!” she shouted. “It’ll take a week for my repair systems to fix those energy generators.”

With a sigh, she relented as her head hung miserably. “Ehh, another day, another battle lost… isn’t that the story of my life?”

“This… happens often?” Nytetrayn asked.

Nodding, she explained. “Diggers get past me all the time, just because I stop to engage them in conversation. It’s usually the kangaroo that sends them running and screaming. But… you guys already killed it, so I guess you’re free to go.”

After a pause, Nytetrayn smiled. “Cool.”

“Come now, cheer up! Without anything to guard, you’re free to go!” Fenix said as he swept off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Yeah!” Nytetrayn added with an encouraging smile.

She blinked. “I guess you’re right…” Standing up, she added, “Alright, well, I might as well show it to you.”

“Ah, goodie!” Nytetrayn said as he rubbed his hands together with an eager grin.

“Yes, wealth at last!” Fenix added with a cackle.

Blinking at the two again, dumbfounded, she gestured towards the next passage. “Um, alright. This way…”

“We’re in the mo-ney…” Nytetrayn sang as he followed, Fenix right alongside him.

The woman led them to the opposite side of the room, where there stood a tall door with no decoration nor any keyhole. She pressed her palm against its center. “This’ll take a second.”

The door slowly slid up, revealing yet another large room. However, the middle of this chamber contained an altar-like mechanical structure, over which a three-foot tall refractor glowed with a brilliant green hue.

“Yesss!!!” Fenix exclaimed, as he and Nytetrayn both pumped their fists triumphantly.

The woman stared at the two, before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Humans…”

Fenix moved for the refractor. “It’s no Mother Lode, but this’ll buy us a new airship in a pinch!” he said as he reached for it.

“Um, I should warn you…” she began as Nytetrayn gave her a quizzical look. “If you take that down…”

Already having freed the refractor from its base, Fenix looks back to her. “Huh?”

“…the whole place floods,” she finished, smacking herself in the forehead as the ground began trembling. “Dumbasses…”

“I say we run,” Nytetrayn offered.

“Gee, you think?” Fenix retorted as he tucked the refractor underneath one arm and started hightailing it like a football player making for the end zone.

Nytetrayn was ready to bolt, but before he could, the woman grabbed him by the hand and took off flying down the hallway after Fenix. “Go! Go! Go!”

Outside, a moderately-sized, gleaming black airship shaped like a sawshark with flames painted down its sides appeared over the ruin entrance. “Hmm,” the pilot thought out loud. “Think I’ll set down on that island. Looks like some ruins are down there.”

Inside, the two Diggers and one mechanical lady continued running for their lives underground.

“How… much… further?” Fenix asked, gasping for air.

“…shouldn’t… be… too… far…” Nyte replied.

“Once we get out of the underground, I can seal the passage!” the woman yelled. “Ack! My ass got wet! Run faster!”

Nytetrayn spotted a familiar fork in the pathway up ahead. “Head left!” he shouted before he hit the bend and veered in that direction, with Fenix and their new friend right behind, quickly navigating the corridors they’d ventured down at a much more relaxed pace previously.

Topside, the airship came in for a landing right near the ruins. A man with purple hair emerged from within, adorned in silver armor that was partially covered by a black jacket with flame detailing similar to his ship’s down the sleeves. Shades concealed his eyes, and a large sword was fastened to his back.

“Are we there yet?” Fenix shouted.

Spotting an opening up ahead, Nyte shouted back, “I think we’re almost out of here!”

“What a nice little island,” the silver-armored man said to himself as he looked around. “I’ll have to remember it and bring a picnic here sometime.”

“Go go go!” the woman shouted. “The piranhas are massing!”

Nyte’s eyes went wide. “Piranhas?!” he shouted, as he quickly picked up speed.

The sword-bearing man started to hear shouting coming from within the ruin gate. “Hmm?”

Fenix screamed as he tore through the ruin entrance, with Nytetrayn and Janine following shortly after, the latter kicking a small, hungry fish off her heels.

“What the?!” the newcomer exclaimed at all the commotion erupting from the ruin before him.

“Seal it! Seal it!” Nyte screamed as he got clear.

“What? Why?”

The woman ignored him, clapping her hands together in front of her, which forced the ruin doors to shut in kind. “There! Drown in Hell, evil kangaroos!”

As Nytetrayn stood there panting, Fenix raised the question: “What happened to Steel?”

“No clue,” Nyte gasped. “I thought he left?”

“Would someone please explain to me what the hell that was all about?” the new interloper asked. The woman casually waved her arm at him, launching a light wave of kinetic force in his direction.

“Whoa!” he shouted as he barely jumped out of the way in time. “What was that for?”

Nytetrayn finally looked at him, puzzled. “Who are you?”

Turning to Nyte, the stranger responded “I’m Adam Powers. Who are you?”

“I’m Nytetrayn, and he’s Fenix,” Nyte said as Fenix waved. “And she’s…”

The woman, still wrapped in Fenix’s cloak, is standing off to one side, looking at the sky in wonder and amazement.

“…what is your name, anyway?”

“Hm?” she said, turning back towards the group. “Oh! My name’s Janine,” she said, holding out her hand. “And you are?”

“Nice to meet you all,” Adam says with a bow.

Nyte just blinked at the gesture, as did Janine. Nyte and Fenix shook her hand, introducing themselves again.

“Well… um… uh…” Adam stammered, before finally blurting out “Would someone mind telling me why you all came running out of the ruins like banshees out of hell?”

“Piranhas, kangaroos…” Fenix began as he spasmed.

Adam raised an eyebrow as Nyte continued. “Floods, frogs…”

“The horror! The horror!”

“Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria!”

“Ummm… oookay,” Adam replied, as he wondered what he’d just gotten himself into.

“That refractor had better be worth it,” Nytetrayn said.

“Oh, you bet it is,” Janine assured him while patting Fenix on the shoulder and trying to calm him down. He held up the massive shard of green crystal.

“That’s one large refractor!” Adam exclaimed.

Janine nodded. “That’s why they created me to guard it!” she said proudly, gesturing to herself with her thumb before quickly deflating. “…but that didn’t pan out well at all.”

“Who created you?” Nyte asked.

With a shrug, she replied, “After hundreds of years being mostly dormant in a cube, you think I can remember?”

“Fair enough.”

“Ummm…” Adam interjected. “If you’re supposed to be guarding it, then why aren’t you attacking them?”

“‘Cause we whipped her naked ass!” Nyte answered with his arms crossed and a proud smile on his face.

After a moment of awkward silence, Janine confirmed. “Yeah, they did…”

“Ooooookaaaayy…”

“We rock,” Fenix said.

“We roll,” Nyte added.

“We are in complete control!” they finished in unison, ending on a high-five.

“Would the lady like some clothes, then?” Adam asked. “I think I have a spare set of clothes in my ship, if you don’t want to go all the way back to town for some. They should suffice until you get back.”

“Okay,” Janine responded with a shrug before looking at Fenix. “So long as I don’t have to wear a bucket on my head.”

“Hey!” Grim responded as Nyte just chuckled to himself.

Adam made a quick run to his ship and returned with jeans and a t-shirt, handing them to Janine. “Here. These used to be my sister’s. They should fit you, you look about the same build as she used to be.”

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn had other things on his mind. “I wonder how many bills this thing will pay off,” he said to Fenix.

“A lot, I hope.”

“…like, say, your bar tab,” Nyte non-too subtly added. With that, Fenix slapped Nyte, and Nyte returned the favor with a boot to his bum as soon as he turned around.

As the two squabbled, Janine tried on her new clothes. “Well, do they fit?” Adam asked. It turned out that Adam might have been overestimating his sister’s build slightly, but all things considered, they did the trick well enough for her to not get arrested. “They’ll do,” Janine said with a wink and a smile at her new clothier.

“Lessee,” Nyte continued, counting off each expense off on his fingers. “Bar tab, food, shelter, maybe some new equipment… with any luck, this’ll last us a few weeks.” After a moment of realization, he added, “Oh! And put some back for a ship!”

“A few weeks?!” Adam exclaimed. “A refractor that size could last me a month including fuel!”

“Well, a month is only four weeks,” Nyte noted. “And like I said, we have bills to pay.” With a more exasperated look and a sigh, he added “And no rent control.”

“Oy. So, you all live here?”

“Fenix and I live in the town nearby… sort of. For the time being, anyway.”

“What do you mean ‘for the time being’?”

“Until we move on,” Nyte explained. “New ruins, new adventure, etcetera, etcetera.”

“So you have no ship, yet you drift?”

Fenix nodded, and with a sweeping gesture of his hand through the air, he said, “There’s always a bigger ruin just over the horizon.”

“Pretty much,” Nytetrayn confirmed. “It’s fun.”

“It sounds like fun,” Janine chimed in.

“Except when the weather’s bad, and there’s no town in sight,” Nyte added.

“Y’know,” he said to Adam, “you’re welcome to try these ruins, if you like. We left one room uncleared, for whoever else should come this way…”

Adam raised a finger as he was about to speak, considering it for a moment. After what he’d just seen, he quickly reconsidered the whole thing. “Hey, you guys already got everything out of there, why should I go down there?”

“Not everything…”

“I’m not going down there for one room.”

“Oh, but the Zenny count should be worthwhile from kills alone,” Nyte said with a borderline mischievous smile.

“Ummmm, no.”

“I never want to see this dungeon again,” Fenix chimed in.

“Nor I,” said Nytetrayn.

“Besides,” Adam pointed out, “from what you’ve told me, it’s flooded. And I don’t have my aqua gear ready yet.”

Already done with the conversation, Nytetrayn went on to nail a couple of boards up over the entrance way to the ruin, with the words “Don’t Go Here” written on them. Janine decided to add a few choice words of her own about the Reaverbots within.

“Do you really think that’s going to keep a determined Digger out of there?” Adam asked.

“Do you really think that’s my problem?” Nyte shot back.

“Fair enough.”

“So, I assume those Reavers weren’t under your control, then?” Nyte asked Janine.

“All except that big one… with those giant feet… and that loud, endless thumping, as it hopped… thumping… thumping… thumping. Why won’t it stop thumping?!?” With that, Janine shuddered violently and collapsed into Nyte’s arms, sobbing. “Make it go away!!!”

Nytetrayn held her with a stunned expression on his face as he looked to the others.

After a moment of silence, Fenix simply said “Woah,” while Adam could only offer an “Ummmm… okay…” After another awkward moment, Fenix told Nyte, “Don’t just stand there, pat her… or something.”

With no better idea of what to do, Nytetrayn patted her back, somewhat awkwardly. This was enough for Janine to soon quiet down and wipe her eyes. “Thanks…”

“…uh, no prob…” Nyte said.

“So… food?” Fenix asked.

“Alright,” Janine responded. “Well, um… what is food?”

After another stunned silence, Fenix said, “Food is the greatest thing about being alive! …aside from fighting.”

“What about sex?” Nyte asked, knowing his companion’s proclivities.

“And sex.”

“There we go.”

“So, shall we hit the local tavern?”

“Sounds good,” Nyte said. “I’m hungry.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing this town myself,” Adam chimed in. “And I also wouldn’t mind not cooking my own meal for once. I’m in.”

And with that, Fenix linked his arms with theirs and led them towards the town.

The town of Monroe, for which the island is named, isn’t especially huge or impressive. In reality, it acts more as a travel hub and rest stop, leading to slightly more restaurants and retail establishment being available than a town this size might normally contain. As a result, though there are several ruins across the island, digging isn’t a big pastime for its citizenry, leaving most of them largely untapped.

After a decent walk, our heroes arrived at the edge of the town.

“Let’s go cash this thing in first,” Nyte said, gesturing to the child-size refractor Fenix was cradling in his arms like a baby.

“Preciousss… Preci– huh? Oh, yeah, there’s a shop over this way,” he told the new additions to their group.

“Go ahead,” Adam said to them. “I’ll just wait at the bar for you.”

“Alrighty,” Fenix said.

Nyte and Fenix took turns lugging the refractor over to the shop, until Janine took it herself and carried it there quite effortlessly. Meanwhile, Adam found the bar and took a seat before ordering a good beer to hold him over until the others arrived.

As the door to the shop slammed open inwards, a salutation echoed out from Nytetrayn’s lips. “Greetings, kind merchant!”

With the kind of look you can only get from a retail worker who wishes they’d already clocked out fifteen minutes ago, the shopkeeper, Lance, replied, “I wish you wouldn’t call me that…”

“How much can we get for this thing?” the young Digger asked as Jan slams the merchandise onto the counter one-handed. “And these,” he said as he added their other finds to the pile.

Lance took a moment to pick his jaw up off the floor. Whether it was from the sight of the impressive refractor, or the impressive woman carrying it would remain a mystery. Or at least, it would until it became apparent that his eyes were glued to Janine as she looked around the shop curiously.

“Well, how does 850,000 Zenny sound?”

“Is that good?” Janine asked as she took notice of Lance’s attention, offering him a glare in return.

“Sounds good to me,” said Nytetrayn, before cashing it all in and splitting the cash between himself and Fenix. “So, got any new stuff in?” he asked Lance.

“A few items,” he said, putting a box on the counter. Nyte rummaged through it, but didn’t find much of interest. One item of particular note looked sort of like a blue mailbox with a cylinder attached to the underside, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

“What even is this thing?” Nytetrayn asked.

“I dunno,” Lance told him. “Some blonde girl in a red hat brought it in a little while ago, said it was her boyfriend’s. Most of the really good stuff sold quickly, but I can’t quite make out the rest of this junk. I might just sell some of it as parts.”

“Oh well, maybe next time,” Nytetrayn said after another look, pushing the box back to Lance. Meanwhile, Fenix examined some of the weaponry on display, his eyes growing wide upon spotting one item in particular.

“Holy shit, is this what I think it is?!” he exclaimed as he held up a large pistol. “‘Cause it looks a hell of a lot like a concussion blaster to me!”

“I thought you preferred physical ammunition?” Nyte asked.

“I will have you know, good sir,” Fenix said haughtily, “that I am an appreciator of many kinds of fine art.”

“I certainly prefer physical rounds,” he continued, his eyes now shining in an unhealthy manner. “But there are always exceptions to every rule.”

“Are you okay?” Janine asked, unsure what to make of Fenix’s declaration. “Are… are you drooling under there?”

Fenix quickly readopts his more haughty manner. “Hm, it’s probably been used… I can see some scuff marks on the handle, and the chamber has been worn a fair bit as well,” he tells Lance. “Why, if anything, I would be doing you a favor by removing this from your place of business. Shall I toss it in the bin across the street for you on our way out?”

Lance, outwardly unphased by Fenix’s grim assessment of the very item he’d checked in himself just earlier that day, pondered for a moment before stating flatly, “I can let you have it for 9,000.”

“What?!” Fenix exclaimed. “Nine thou–”

“Just shut up and pay the man already,” Nytetrayn interrupted. “We both know you’re not leaving here without it.”

Fenix grumbled and forked over the cash, then slipped the gun under his cloak.

“You guys done yet?” Janine asked impatiently.

“Yeah,” Nyte replied. “So, how about some chow, then?”

“Yes, food,” Fenix solemnly replied before his stomach growled, as if on command. Janine could only blink in disbelief at this.

“Food is good,” Nytetrayn said, pausing for only a moment before dashing out the door for the tavern. “Race ya’, Feeny!”

“Don’t call me that!” Fenix yelled as he raced out the door after him.

As they arrived at the bar, Janine was already there waiting for them. Wide-eyed in disbelief, Nyte stammered, “…how …you… there… here… huh?!”

“I’m really, really good.”

Nyte just shakes his head and goes in. Adam waves to them as they enter, and they go pull up a few seats at the table he staked out.

“Find anything good?” Adam asked.

“I sure hope so!” Fenix said. “Do you have any idea how many Zenny I paid for this thing? Nine. Thou–”

“What is it?” Adam interrupted.

“Some kinda gun,” Nyte answered.

“May I see it?”

Fenix hissed, but then handed it over. “I really think this is a concussion blaster. Rare to find one in such good condition.”

Adam examined it closely for several minutes, then sat back, taking the last pull off of his bottle of beer. He rubbed his chin for several minutes. “Hmm…” was all he said.

Everyone else leaned in, eagerly awaiting his appraisal. “So, is it?” Fenix asked.

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

To which everyone else present at the table promptly fell over.

“Well, let’s get some food,” Adam said as Fenix put his new toy away.

“So, what exactly do we do with this ‘foood’?” Janine asked, slightly elongating the vowels.

“You eat it,” Adam told her, matter-of-factly.

“We put it in our mouths and swallow it,” Fenix clarified.

“Chewing is sometimes involved, but not always,” Nyte added.

“I’ll tell you what, Janine,” Adam said. “You just watch us for a little bit, and if you think you want to try it, we’ll order something for you, okay? How does that sound?”

“…okay.”

After looking over the menu, Nytetrayn decided he wanted steak. It was a night to celebrate, after all. Fenix topped this by ordering a larger steak. Nytetrayn followed by ordering the cow, with a big “Nyah!” to Fenix… and then scaled back his order from the whole cow to just one really big steak, prompting Fenix to change his latest order from three cows to just one, along with a large stein full of ale. Nyte just had a potato and soda with his.

The waitress sighed as she wrote down each new order before scribbling it out. At least Adam’s was more straightforward: one large hamburger with a lot of onion rings, and another beer.

When the food arrived, a new question arose in Janine’s mind as Nyte and Adam adeptly demonstrated how this “eating” thing was done. “Fenix, how are you going to put that in your mouth with your helmet on?”

Fenix paused. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. Reluctantly, he removed his helmet, revealing a fringe “skullet” of long black hair that seemingly hung below a mechanical implant that encircled a ghostly pale head with sunken cheeks. Various scars scattered about his features, all surrounding a pair of circular bionic red eye implants.

Nyte never even stopped eating, while Adam paused for only a moment to take in the sight before resuming his meal. Before Janine could react, Adam held out something round and golden-brown. “Here, try an onion ring,” he offered her, taking another short swig of beer once she accepted.

After turning it back and forth in front of her face, examining it, Janine took a bite. “Hmm… very nice.”

“Want some?” Adam offered.

“Sure!” she said with all the enthusiasm of a kid offered an open candy jar.

Adam ordered her a basket of onion rings all her own, for which she happily thanked him before digging in. Adam smiled and continued eating his own meal.

Soon, the group finished their respective meals, content and sipping on the remains of their drinks.

“So,” Nytetrayn started. “Where do we go from here?”

“I say we find some women and celebrate,” Fenix offered.

“Is that all you ever think about?” Adam asked.

“Yes, dammit! What do you propose? Karaoke?”

“I’m just wondering what ruin we should go after next,” Nyte cut in. “Maybe I’ll hit the book store for some research. Or maybe work on the suit a bit.”

“If you need a ship,” Adam offered, “I’d be willing to take you where you want to go. It’s a bit cramped right now, but I could fit everyone…”

“Hmm,” Nytetrayn said as he considered this.

“It would also be nice to have some people other than that stupid bot to talk to on long trips.”

“I don’t mind being cramped if Janine is between me and you,” Fenix said, earning himself a whap over the head from her.

“Still some ruins around here, tho,” Nyte countered. “No sense leaving ’em. Besides, I want to get the suit going before leaving here.”

Adam shrugged. “I also have a small development lab, so if you need to use it, lemme know.” He paused. “What suit?”

“Robot suit. Mech suit. I saw one on the news, and now I’m making my own. I started it here, and I want it to at least be able to walk before we leave.”

“On the news?”

“Yeah, some pirates used it to knock over the bank a few times at Ryship.”

“Kickass,” Fenix said.

“Cool. Mind if I take a look at it later?” Adam asked. “I love tinkering with machines.”

“Eh, we’ll see. It’s kind of a pet project of mine.”

“Well, whatever…” Adam replied, a little put off, but he tried to keep it from showing.

“I’m tired,” Fenix declared as he rose from his seat, put his helmet back on, and paid for his dinner. Nyte did the same, popping his neck one way, then the other after standing. Adam covered both his and Janine’s bills. She stretched as she stood, resulting in several people at nearby tables dropping things.

“Well, guess I’m going to head over to the bookstore before it closes,” Nyte said.

“Who’s going to give Janette a place to stay tonight?” Adam asked. “I have a spare room on my ship if no one has room.”

Nytetrayn shrugged.

“We have a spacious apartment,” Fenix offered.

“‘Spacious’ might be a bit of an oversell,” Nyte said, earning a side-eye from Fenix.

Janine looked back and forth between Adam and the other two Diggers. “Um… I think I’ll stay with Fenix and Nyte,” she said.

“Okay,” Adam said with a shrug, accepting defeat. “Well, I think I’m going to go to the junk shop, and then I’m going back to my ship. You know where to find me,” he said, sauntering out of the tavern.

Fenix readjusted his cloak. “I’m gonna go hit the sack. Seeya later, Powers.”

As Nytetrayn headed off to the book store, Fenix brought Janine back to their humble apartment. It wasn’t much to speak of, a single-story affair that was one of only a small handful of units under their landlord. Nor was it much to look at, but there were worse places — Nyte and Fenix knew this firsthand. But at least it was a place to rest your head and keep you dry between jobs.

Once they stepped inside and Janine could look around, she saw that in a way, both Fenix and Nyte were right about the place. It wasn’t especially spacious, but nor was it terribly cramped. Kind of cozy, one might even think.

From where they entered, they stood on the left side of the living room. Straight ahead from where she stood was a bathroom, complete with sink, toilet, and bathtub with additional shower faucet. Through the door on her left was one bedroom — apparently Nyte’s, judging by the big “Stay Out, Fenix!” sign on the door. To her right sat an old television, facing a small-ish worn-looking two-seater sofa on the other side of the room. On the opposite side of the sofa from the bathroom was the door to the kitchen, which had a sink, a cupboard with a little counter space, an old stove, a refrigerator that looked old enough to have been a contributor to the ice age, and a small table with four chairs around it.

Finally, on the far side of the apartment was another door which led to Fenix’s room. At least, if the gaudy “Ladies’ Night; Chicks Eat Free!” sign on the door was anything to go by.

Fenix stood outside his door, trying to figure out what tonight’s sleeping arrangement would be. Caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice when Janine slipped past and into the bedroom behind him.

“Now, we could put you up in Nyte’s room,” he pondered out loud. Meanwhile, Janine peeked back out, a mischievous look in her eyes and a devilish grin spreading across her face. “He doesn’t mind if we go in there, and he’s kinda small, so I bet he’d fit on the sofa pretty comfortablYEEEEEE~!!” he yelped, suddenly yanked backwards into his room by his cape before the door slammed shut.

A short time later, Nyte arrived back home. As he let himself in, he looked over his latest acquisitions. No new books of interest, but he did pick up a couple of the newest issues of a few digging magazines that sometimes had good leads for spots to ply their trade.

He went to his room, hoping that Fenix hadn’t been messing around in there yet again. Not that Nyte had a lot of personal property or anything, he just liked having a spot just for him, and finding Fenix’s old magazines strewn about lent a certain sense of intrusion to the whole thing. He’d considered adding some measure of security, but knew anything worthwhile might leave him down one Digging partner. Still, though, it might be worth it, at least occasionally.

He tossed his new hat on top of the dresser, one of the few pieces of furniture afforded him when he moved in. As he looked around, there were a few stacks of old digging books and magazines strewn about, with a couple of odd kits and devices he’d been working on scattered in-between.

Kicking back on his bed, he flipped through his latest magazines, then decided it was time to get some sleep. As he started to drift off, he started hearing noises… loud noises, coming from across the apartment. Familiar noises, in fact, but different somehow. These sounded a little more… alive. Real. Local.

Oh no.

Nyte covered his head with his pillow, but to little avail as the noises continued on with no signs of stopping soon. As the sounds echoed out, only one thought ran on a loop through Nyte’s mind…

“We’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Not The End…

—–

Legends of the Halcyon Era is a work of fan fiction set in the world of Mega Man Legends. It is largely adapted from a series of freeform RPG sessions, combining ideas from several contributors, and further fleshed out here in a Prose format.

David Oxford, also known as LBD “Nytetrayn,” is a lifelong Mega Man fan who, along with his wife Nadia, has co-written the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide and Mega Man X Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide from UDON Entertainment, and runs The Mega Man Network (themmnetwork dot com). You can also find him on Twitter @LBD_Nytetrayn and @themmnetwork, and on Twitch and YouTube under the name “Nyteworks.”

You can also find Legends of the Halcyon Era as it updates at Archive of Our Own.

Thanks for reading!