A group of Necro Knights hoisted the Flash Lord into the back of the reactivated device and took defensive positions around it.
The machination stood up with a loud creak of gears. The Flash Lord began to fumble with the controls set in its 'head'.
"They shouldn't have just left this thing lying around," he remarked with a nasty grin.
Fyre's lizard-like head popped through the large wooden doors and whimpered slightly.
"What is it, Frye?" Alisia quested as she and the others slowly entered the chamber.
The dragon growled back at her... and pointed at the large shadowy form with his tail. Whisp rose into the air and burned brighter... illuminating the shape.
Alisia stifled a slight giggle. Jean glared at her.
"What? That thing looks ridiculous! Heh, heh."
The dancer angrily responded, "That thing wasn't a joke last time... and it doesn't look like it is this time either!"
"What in Althena's name-" Leo started.
Standing directly in front of them was a mechanical device... nearly twenty feet tall... that apparently had been Lemina Ausa's Magic Tester LX1. The fat, round body and big head with a goofy hat and glasses were exactly the same as before. Its arms and legs were far different though... studded with sharp blades made from an unidentifiable metal.
Jean, the only one who had actually seen this thing before, recalled that battle from long ago. It was not an easy fight then... and it was only a test that time. The machine didn't look quite as 'friendly' as it did last time.
Whisp cast light on the rest of the room. A quartet of blue colored knights was standing ready to attack on the sides of the abomination.
The same booming voice that had recited the riddles on the lower floors called forth from within the body of the machine.
"Meet the Magic Deleter DX5! You're not going to be using sorcery against us!"
The beast-knight immediately parried a wide swing from one of the Necro Knights. The blue armored warriors charged as the Deleter slowly began to walk towards the party.
Alisia apparently didn't catch the obvious hint and hurled a bolt of lightning at the machine. The Flash Lord laughed as the blast reflected off the metallic hide of the Deleter. The thunder spell ricocheted at Frye and knocked the dragon to the floor. The red-haired sorceress ran to his side, muttering apologies feverishly.
Jean was about to dash over as well... but the body of the Deleter began to spin rapidly with its bladed arms extended. She dove to the dusty floor as a gleaming limb of death narrowly took her head off. She shuddered and rolled away from the circle of flashing blades.
Whisp remained next to Leo as he held off two of the knights, occasionally throwing his body into one of their visors to keep the beast-man equally matched in his duel.
Alisia seemed oblivious to everything else in the room as she helped the dazed dragon back up. Frye whined painfully with his eyes shut tightly.
"I'm sorry," she said softly... then her head snapped up. Alisia glared at the machine as it stopped spinning and opened its mouth. Her eyes flashed an odd tint... almost green... with anger and she sprang to her feet, snarling.
A Necro Knight who had been watching Leo battle his companions was suddenly penetrated by LightningFang. Alisia dashed around the room to the far end as he sunk to his knees and expired.
The Magic Deleter began to emit several red bubbles of energy as Leo finished off one of his adversaries. He turned to face the second and was engulfed in one of these crimson spheres. Leo bellowed as a great pain racked his body. The Necro Knight was also engulfed by a separate bubble... but seemed not to show any signs of damage.
Jean reached Frye's side as he flapped his wings and rose into the air. He spewed flame onto the machine, blackening its side but not doing much damage. The dancer performed a Comet Tail as the ruby-colored bubbles came at her. She leapt up in time and slammed into the side of the Deleter with a powerful kick. It teetered from the force of the impact.
Whisp rammed the last Necro Knight and set his mail aflame. The armored warrior spun about wildly and rolled about on the floor...and right out the door and down the stairs. The creaking of the Deleter as it prepared to whirl its blades around once again made his shrieks inaudible.
Leo collapsed with both his life and magic drained by the energy bubbles. The remaining knight (who had no magic to absorb) raised his blade to finish him off... and suddenly felt a set of fangs and claws pierce his armor and flesh. Frye held on to the knight's back with his mouth as he tried to shake the little dragon off of him. Jean planted a fist into the warrior's stomach as she ran away from the rapidly spinning machine.
Without warning, a cry was heard as a 'rope' of electricity was draped around the head of the Deleter. The eyes of the machination rolled about wildly and its arms began to slow their revolutions. Apparently the energy in the constricting cord was penetrating the control area in the head of the Deleter. The head spun around and revealed a thoroughly angry Alisia with her TandleLash wrapped around the neck of the machine.
She held on to both ends of the lightning whip and hung several feet above the floor. Still with a nasty expression on her face, the thunder sorceress yelled out to her companions.
"HIT IT NOW!"
Leo was shakily getting to his feet as Jean nodded. The dancer made a few motions with her arms and performed an Aura Wave... dashing back to the door and then back at the Deleter with both fists forward.
Alisia pulled with all her might from behind the abomination. The force of the blow caused the Magic Deleter to teeter and finally fall over. Alisia dropped to the floor and leapt out of the way before it crushed her.
"No! Dammit no!" the Flash Lord screamed from within. Its bladed limbs thrashed about uselessly and it began to spew more energy absorbing bubbles straight up into the air. This action proved to be a mistake... no wind carried these and they ended up engulfing the Deleter itself.
The machine sizzled as its strength was removed and destabilized.
Leo, after consuming a few restoring herbs, unleashed a single Flash Blade and bisected the huge belly of the Deleter.
The party took cover in one corner as it exploded into several large fragments. The silly head rolled past them and smashed through the door they had come through.
A loud rumbling shook the entire mansion as the party rested momentarily.
"What was that?" Leo muttered, still in a little pain from the absorbing spheres.
Jean was staring at Alisia, curious about her apparent ferocity.
"I was just about to ask that same question," the dancer remarked. Frye interrupted Jean by nuzzling against her.
Whisp took off down the stairs to see the resting-place of the head of the Deleter.
The rest of the group soon followed.
At the foot of the stairs they found Whisp peering around a corner into the main chamber of the mansion.
The elemental was looking at the Necro Knight who had rolled out of the attic in flames, now in blackened armor. The knight helped a coughing Flash Lord out of the Magic Deleter DX5's smoking 'melon'.
The others joined Whisp in watching the two miscreants.
"Curses... *cough, cough* ...those ancient enhancements didn't prove too...effective... *cough*. I would never had expected... any of those heroes to try and get close to the machine while it was whirling."
The knight nodded as he stared at his mail.
"Apparently they weren't intimidated by it. I hope the other ruins have better artifacts than the one to the east."
The Flash Lord climbed to his feet. "Maybe we should head back there... there's bound to be some allies guarding there still while the others move to the west."
The knight agreed and the two of them ran quickly out the front door.
"Hmm... ruins to the east... where?" Alisia pondered aloud.
"There's a small secret cave to the east of here... maybe that's what they're talking about," Leo responded.
Jean noted, "I don't see how there could be anything there. That's just an empty cave."
Leo looked at both young women.
"Perhaps it isn't empty anymore."
Frye sniffed the ground next to Alisia's sandal-clad foot as she knelt on the ground.
"What could have made tracks this big?" she wondered aloud.
Leo and Jean were next to another huge depression in the dirt.
"Could it be one of the dragons?" Jean quietly asked Leo.
Leo shrugged his shoulders.
"It's possible... but why would one of the dragons walk rather than fly?" he answered, pointing to the large number of huge footprints in the ground directly in front of the mansion. They appeared to be originating in the east and heading southwest.
"Frye can't identify the scent," Alisia remarked as the young dragon growled something to her.
Jean glared at her and spoke to herself.
"Can't imagine why... how could he identify many creatures on this world if he's from the Blue Star?"
In the sky above them, the fire elemental trailed the two running humanoids to the east.
"Whatever made these also came from the east... another reason to head in that direction for now," Leo spoke as they set off to chase the mage and knight.
The Flash Lord and Necro Knight made it to the cave in about ten minutes at a flat out run. Their wounds slowed them down enough for Leo's group to keep up with them.
The quintet was in view of the cave mouth when they saw an amazing sight. The mage and knight slowed down as they approached the entrance and were puzzled by the nature of the guards there.
"Uh... is anyone still here?" the Flash Lord asked in it a shaky voice.
An odd, almost female-sounding voice was emitted from one of the six mechanical humanoids.
"Fatale Commander identifying... class Flash Lord, class Necro Knight... admittance permitted."
The metallic figures spread out from in front of the cave mouth.
"Thanks...I guess," the knight responded and walked inside with his ally.
The automatons moved back into guarding positions.
The party inched closer and closer to the cave mouth, hugging the surrounding mountains.
"More robots... so strange," Alisia muttered to herself with Whisp hovering over her shoulder.
"Our adversaries are getting more and more exotic, aren't they?" Leo mentioned... a little too loud.
The lead machination's head snapped towards the group. The other five robots turned immediately.
"Fatale Commander identifying... class... unknown... commence attack patterns."
"Uh oh," Alisia muttered, glaring at Leo. For once, Jean agreed with her.
The beast knight unsheathed his silver sharion again.
"More 'enhanced' enemies..."
The two groups began to charge each other... only to be interrupted by cries from within the cave... and the Flash Lord and Necro Knight running out... the former with a small, yellow, bird-like creature tightly latched onto his head and pecking furiously with his beak.
A strong, female voice boomed forth from the cave, accompanied by a few wild squeaks.
"Fatale units, return to your sleep chamber."
The Fatale commander, a humanoid shape that mocked that of a human female covered with dark metal and wearing a long mane of orange hair, stared into the cave and recognized the speech pattern of the unseen speaker.
"New mission parameters are being followed. Do not interfere, Guardian."
The Necro Knight skidded to a halt at the sight of Whisp. He was not ready to get cooked again. His companion was thrashing about wildly as the fluffy bird chirped rapidly and continued to assault his hat with its pointy beak.
Two Fatales charged at Leo and Alisia. Another went at Frye.
"Very well then... I must render you inoperative and return you there manually," the voice from within the cave spoke.
The metal leader seemed to back up a bit, then ready itself with two Fatales at its side.
Jean hopped over a low swing by the knight and responded with a fan swipe across his chest. She bumped into the side of the Flash Lord as he tried to bat the yellow-winged creature off his head. The dancer grinned and elbowed him in the head, knocking him cold. She turned to finish off the knight who had rolled away and ran behind a Fatale automaton in front of the cave.
The fluffy bird hopped onto the ground and looked at Jean, chirped and then bounced toward the cave.
Jean muttered, "What is it with weird animals these days?"
Alisia tossed several bolts of lightning at the Fatale who was engaging Dragon Frye before dealing with the one who rushed her.
Unfortunately, these 'robots' were a lot faster than the ones she had encountered back on Earth. She whined in pain as the mechanized humanoid kicked her in the stomach with lightning speed. Doubling over, Alisia groaned and crawled away.
Her attack aided her dragon companion fortunately. The shock of the bolts stunned the metal humanoid long enough for Frye to incinerate its circuits beyond repair. He flew over to flame Alisia's attacker.
Leo dueled the wildly kicking Fatale without much effort. The former White Knight of Althena was not experienced when it came to fighting creatures that were not truly alive... but it didn't seem to affect his prowess much.
He finished his attacker with a halving Flash Blade and then ran over to aid Frye.
Whisp had not done much in the battle so far... his glare was concentrated on whatever was going on at the cave opening.
"FOI!"
A huge ball of flame shot forth from the mouth of the cavern and set the Fatale who the Necro Knight had taken refuge behind aflame. The knight hopped away as the metal figure collapsed.
Leo helped a wheezing Alisia to her feet.
"Not so much fun anymore, is it?" he jeered.
"Don't raise my ire... I'm having a rough week here," she responded harshly.
Jean was faster than the Fatale who was now pelting Frye with punches.
"Let me show you how to kick right!"
The Fatale spun around with a roundhouse... which the green-haired girl ducked with lightning reflexes and responded with a sweep kick. The automaton dropped to the ground and never got up due to Frye's breathing of fire on it.
"Two left... and the tin man," Alisia noted. "Looks like they're occupied right now though."
As if in response, a strange star-shaped device whizzed out of the cave. It flew in a wide arc like a boomerang and sliced the right arm off the remaining Fatale. The commander robot received a deep gash across its chest.
The Necro Knight didn't know what to do... whatever the device was sliced the blade off of his sword and flew back into the cave.
Leo, Jean, Alisia, Whisp, Frye and the knight stared dumbly as a figure emerged from the cavern opening.
A tall purple-haired woman in a shredded tan outfit stepped out into the sunlight. A short blue-skinned rodent with horns was standing by her side.
"Are you going to continue to disobey?" she asked.
The Fatale commander responded by charging her.
The woman sighed and raised her hands as the metal figure dashed at her.
She thrust a fist at... and through... the chest of the Fatale commander. The robot stood in front of her, impaled by her arm. The woman raised her foot and kicked the metal carcass off of her limb.
The remaining Fatale seemed to collapse suddenly.
"I'll take that as a surrender," the strange woman said.
The Necro Knight looked around at his broken and battered allies, then his broken weapon. He had only one thing left to do.
He kicked the fluffy bird as it bounced toward the stranger, laughing nervously and muttering, "Help."
The rodent at the woman's side seemed to get angry and opened its mouth. A stream of vile purple fluid impacted on the knight's open wounds and he winced... then collapsed of shock from the poison.
The woman picked up the yellow bird and placed in on her shoulder. She then regarded the group.
"Are you denizens of this world?"
"Who... and what are you? How strong are you to waste one of those with a single punch?" Alisia exclaimed, somewhat avoiding the question.
"Please, I must hurry. If you are not hostile, please help me move these cyborgs back into the satellite ruin and I will tell you what I can," the woman uttered as she hoisted two of the Fatales toward the cave. "If you are hostile, I warn you... you have seen my strength."
Leo, Jean and Alisia looked at each other and shrugged then grabbed the remains of the other ruined metal figures. They followed the stranger into the cave.
Frye and Whisp kept watch on the sleeping duo.
"This... this is astounding!" Leo remarked as he looked about the metal chamber.
"So... Khalidah," Jean began, "You say that you were on a ship that traveled the stars and crashed here? Why did you want to stay trapped with all these creatures and 'cyborgs'."
The purple-haired woman was resetting some sort of control on the last Fatale and then approached them.
"It was all I could think of at the time as amends for my deeds. I didn't have much else to live for then," Khalidah started. "I am surprised that you can accept my story so easily... I would think that space travel would be beyond your understanding."
Jean looked at Alisia.
"Oh, I think that some of us have that understanding already... there's Lucia, Hiro... maybe others."
Alisia caught the glance again, but she had another part of Khalidah's story on her mind. The 'guardian' had said that her main ship may have also crashed on Lunar... but Alisia had a different crash site in mind. The interior of this 'satellite' seemed very familiar... it somewhat resembled the odd metallic structure back on Earth that she had explored during her quest. Perhaps that was part of the main ship...
"Oh. I didn't know your civilization was that advanced... though how could I know in the few minutes I've been awake. Please, if you care for your fellow denizens of this world, we must hurry."
"What's the rush?"
Khalidah began to trot back towards the cave.
"A hideously destructive beast has apparently been awakened and let loose... along with several smaller organics and cyborgs from this satellite. It must be incapacitated and brought back here before it wrecks havoc on your world."
The others followed her.
"What kind of beast?" Jean quested.
Khalidah thought for a moment.
"Something that would slightly resemble that green... dragon that was helping you. Only it would be much bigger, yellow and wingless."
"The tracks... must have been it... oh no... they were pointed to the west... toward Takkar!"
The strange woman stared at her.
"A city on this planet!"
Khalidah looked shocked and nodded.
"I will tell you more of my story on the way. Let's chase the Gnasher quickly."
She rushed to the rope leading out. The guardian climbed up quickly, followed by Jean and Alisia.
Leo, below them all on the rope, smirked slightly at the luck he had been getting with companions... now three fine women (with 'light' outfits) and four strange animals.
"Maybe I should try settling down... if we weren't in the midst of a full-blown crisis."
They found the Frye and Whisp waiting above. They quickly bound the two sleeping miscreants and rushed off to the west.