The Anchor Brothers: The Great Search

So after listening to some good advice, I thought I'd finally start this new story. Sorry the first chapter is so short, but i wanted to take some time to think through this.Enjoy.

Ch:1

It was a warm day in the human stronghold city of Negav, and not much was out of place for the inhabitants within it's titanic walls. On the streets the merchants were selling their wares to the weary people, all while the others continued their business walking down the busy crosswalks. The sky above was a beautiful, if not odd, turquoise color, with nary a cloud amongst it's view and the sun blazing down a warm light upon the life forms below. Harpies could be seen in the very far distance fluttering in the wind, at a distance where they appeared no bigger than common sparrows, going about their usual business swearing and making nests.

A particular Negav patron, however, was not in this above habitat. Was he to be found anywhere? No, he was down under the surface, levels below even Negav's deepest catacomb city, within the well being of his private laboratory. Down in this semi-mysterious bastion of science and technology, the elderly patron sat away at his computer, clicking and clacking away at his keyboard with the odd whimsy of a loony old man. Some of the events he input into the machine included his previous adventure involving two robotic companions who stumbled upon his lab, the nagas who got caught up in it all, and the disgruntled killing machine that almost ended them all, along with the afterpart, explaining how he gave them shelter in return for giving them jobs as delivery boys for him, and how their search continued for the nagas in question. It was quite a tale he was sure to log carefully. The man, who often went by the monicer of "Al", catalogued all his information within his computer, not missing any detail to the best of his knowledge, before turning it off for the day. Afterward, pending a moment for him to work the creaks out of his neck, the old man stood upward from his seat and gazed upon the shut down computer with a smirk.

"Well, I reckon that should do fer the day. But hoo-ey, that took alot out of me to type. Better recharge."

Al took off to a deeper part of his laboratory towards a large incubation tube, He removed his chest plate, revealing his mechanical wiring underneath as well as his power cell, which showed a weak charge, as he hooked it up to the device. He slipped in and closed the tube, placing it into hibernation mode.

"I'll take a quick recharge, then head out later to do some night research...."

And with that, Al shut down for the day.....

Later, about halfway into Al's recharge, a commotion rocked his incubation device, along with his entire lab, hard enough to knock him out of it. A groggy disposition sat upon his face, seeing his battery only halfway charged.

"Now what in tarnation is that? I only got a partial charge!"

He stormed off to his security monitors to see what was causing the shaking spree. Much to his surprise, it was the large, 70 foot tall green robot Anchorus who was causing the shaking. He was banging on the wall of his lab that seperated his laboratory from his port that led to the Carnivorous grove. Before the big guy could wreck the wall, Al opened the door for him and allowed him to stomp in. Anchorus was shaken up, almost emulating perfectly the human emotion of fear.

"Al! We need your help! Anchus and I are in a bit of a pickle!"

Al subtly nodded, expecting such from his earlier action.

"Alright, what's the problem? And fer that matter, where's your brother Anchus? I don't see the ten foot fella on yer shoulder."

Anchorus was quick to respond, panicked as he was.

"That's the thing! Anchus and I were at the beach visiting some of those electric crabs that you wanted us to bring you. There was this big electrical storm, though, and what followed was a huge collaboration of waves crashing on the beach. We were caught off guard and before I knew it, we got seperated! I tried looking for Anchus for hours, but I can't pick up his signal anywhere! Can you help me?!"

Hearing of such a situation was something new to Al, and his response reflected it.

"Are ya'll serious? How the hell does that happen? I've known storms to follow large amounts of them crabs, but typhoons? This is something I'll have to investigate. Come on big guy. Let's go!"

Al quickly retreated into the back, then erupted from the darkness of his lab in his silver lined power armor, equipped with his needler weapon and a fully functioning jetpack. He then jumped onto Anchorus' shoulder.

"Bring me to the electric crab's home, Anchorus. I wanna see this anomaly fer myself. And hopefully we'll find yer brother."

And with a speedy interlude, Anchorus took off towads the port in Al's lab, which would lead outside and allow him passage to the beach in question......

Hmmmm....The descriptions were pretty well done. The idea of an elderly man with two robots as main characters seems pretty original. I ant to see what happens next^^

Yay onto a new adventure !

As a welcome back to Karbo, I hope he enjoys this new chapter.

ch:2

Despite the unfettered silence of the forest beforehand, it was soon interrupted by the overwhelmingly shaky footsteps from Anchorus, who stomped through the forest in a hurry with Al accompanying him. Their destination was the Topazial Sea, where Anchus had last been spotted. Predator and prey alike avoided his path so as to not be within this mobile freight train's path. Though Anchorus displayed only worry with his brother's disappearance, Al seemed rather overjoyed as he hung on to Anchorus, looking over every vast expanse and tree they passed.

"I'll be damned! I haven't been outside my lab in ages! Felarya sure has changed since the last time I treaded upon the soil."

"I'd love to chat about it, Al, but we're about to approach the ocean!"

Anchorus came to a stop seconds later as the trees opened up to the vast beach ahead of them, where the ocean glistened and the sands shifted, almost nothing like how Anchorus had described it, though the trees on the beach were bent back from a strong force, not to mention most were soaking wet, giving evidence to some sort of damaging event. The large droid showed vast confusion to why the waves weren't crashing up against the shore at this moment as Al jumped down to investigate for himself.

"Hmm... so Anchorus, ya'll claim this was the spot where Anchus disappeared, correct?"

Anchorus nodded.

"And this was caused by a typhoon? Or something in that area?"

Anchorus nodded again, as he explained.

"Yeah. I was standing about here, trying to grab a few of those crabs that scuttled along the beach head, when the waves got huge, and me and Anchus were wiped out. They must've been about 100 feet tall! They shifted the sand underneath me and I can't remember what happened after that. All i remember was waking up from emergency hibernation and Anchus not being there."

Al rubbed his mechanical chin, trying hard to put the pieces together.

"Hmm... well, it's a possibility that yer brother might've been swept out to sea, big guy. But it's not like Anchus to give up like that. He's too tough to be subdued by the waters... hmm.... something else must've been in play...."

Al reached into his back storage device within his power suit and grabbed a portable scanner, before sweeping the beach in an attempt to locate any signs of Anchus, be it his signal, his foot print, or even his pieces, Anchorus meanwhile hoping he would not find the latter. Within the vastness of the shifting grains of sand, it seemed almost hopeless to find anything, as Al searched constantly while Anchorus searched as well, keeping their visual scanners primed. The search continued well into the afternoon, and still nothing came up. They had both feared that the ocean had carried away any signs of his brother, and hope seemed lost until Al surprisingly stumbled upon something.

"Hey big guy! I think I might've got something here!"

Anchorus stopped his search and went over to see what Al had found.

"Al, what is it? Did you find Anchus?"

Al simply pointed to an oversized tree which had collapsed onto the beach. However, the entrance to a large hole dug in the sand lay underneath it, which seemed almost big enough for even Anchorus to fit through, so the big droid quickly lifted the tree and pushed it back just far enough into the sand to see the hole it concealed. Both of them were astounded to find such an oddity.

"Anchorus, how did you not see this cave? It's huge! I mean almost Great tree huge!"

"I don't know Al. The tree was blocking my vision. Hell, I didn't even know it was there."

Al ran his scanner over the cave, and indeed the results came back as he suspected.

"Well, at any point, Anchus's signal is coming from this cave. He must've been swept down into it."

When he heard this, Anchorus looked into the black cavernous beach dwelling.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's head in there and fi-"

Al cut him off there.

"Hang on big guy. Just cause the cave is big doesn't mean ya'll should go in. It might get smaller, and where will ya'll be then? It's better if I scout ahead inside while ya'll be the lookout."

"But..."

"Trust me, I can search fer your brother faster."

Al did make a good point, as his agility would allow him to traverse the cave easier, so, despite a bit of grief Anchorus gave in.

"Alright. Just be careful."

Not a moment sooner, Al jumped into the hole and gave a thud as he hit the bottom. He turned on his thermal scanner and got to his feet.

"Alright, big guy! I'm in!"

What Al saw was a rather crudely constructed home, the sand being compacted in all over the walls, thus forming a stable structure which Al gave a quick scan of.

"Hmm... the walls are constructed of sand, but they have an extremely high nitrogen content..."

He felt the walls, and surprisingly, they were glossed over with the texture of glass.

"Hmm... something turned this sand to a crude glassy dome... very interestin... but only a bolt of lightning has the capacity to do that.... unless..."

Al then turned around, and took a look around. All over he could see scattered electrical parts, pieces to a ripped apart jeep, and even some discarded batteries, none of which had a charge left in them. In the corner, however, he saw something familiar, running over to investigate as soon as possible.

"Can these be? They're awfully familiar...."

It looked like a pair of robotic legs sticking out of the sand. Al ran his scanner over them, and they indeed belonged to Anchus!

"Hey Anchorus! I found yer brother! He's stuck face down in the sand. Heheheh! The fool must've been knocked out by the impact."

The droid above released a sigh of contentment.

"Oh, thank the great motherboards! Can you bring him up? I wanna make sure he's okay."

Al gladly grabbed one of Anchus' legs and yelled back up to Anchorus.

"Don't worry, big guy. I'll have him up in no time. Just gimme a sec to-"

Unfortunatly, much to Al's horror, when he pulled the legs up from the sand, he found that they came out of the ground rather easily. This was because.... there was no upper body attached to them! Anchus had been cleaved in half at the pelvic region, his ripped circuits hanging from the top of the legs, which nearly made Al vomit up nuts and bolts as he dropped the legs back onto the floor. Al panicked and looked around, only to see no sign of Anchus' top half.

"Um...... big guy... I don't know how to say this... but...."

Unaware, Anchorus hurried Al up.

"What is it, Al? I wanna see Anchus. Bring him up."

"Anchorus... I'm afraid I have some bad news... yer brother.... he's....."

Al took a deep breath and decided to pick up the legs again. As he headed to the entrance of the cave to show Anchorus the legs and the bad news, the cave began to rumble furiously. From one of the dark corridors the cavern lead to was an eerie scuttling noise, as well as the sound of someone banging against a shell. Al turned back and saw the corridor turn pitch black, a pair of shining beady eyes looking right at him. The shadow approaching him nearly spooked Al out of his shell, as he tried to make a run for the entrance, but within seconds a mighty lightning blast erupted from the shadow, bolting Al out of the entrance with a burnt backside, surprising Anchorus enough to push him back.

"AL! What happened?!"

Sadly, before Al could answer, the shadow erupted from the cave, letting out a shrill cry as it towered over Anchorus, being a mighty one hundred feet tall, dwarfing Anchorus well over thirty feet. It appeared to be an Electric crab, but it was angry, leaving the big droid dumbfounded.

"AL! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

Al turned around and his jaw nearly fell off, rummaging through his scanner sloppily.

".... That's.... that's not possible! An Electric King Crab?!....."

.........

ch.3

The 100 foot tall Electric King Crab stared down angrily at Anchorus with it's black eyes, prompting the droid to back up hastily. It approached Anchorus slowly.

"Al, why didn't you tell me there was such a thing as a Electric King Crab?!"

Al picked up his jaw and prepared his power suit's weapons.

"Don't blame me, Anchorus. They're so gosh darn rare I didn't think they even existed! It's probably a mutated crab er somethin! They don't grow this big normally!"

As they looked over the mighty beast, they saw what was in It's claw, and to both Al and Anchorus' surprise, it was Anchus! Even though he was cleaved in half, the top half was bashing the claw that held him, to try and escape as oil dripped from his torn circuits and gears, dripping down the claw of the mighty beast. The oil was just about everywhere on this beast, as if it had gotten in a scuffle with Anchus in order to try and eat him.

"GAH! Release me you overgrown surf and turf! I'll kill you!"

The creature was not effected in the least, even though Anchus had the mechanical strength of five men. The beast's shell was just too resilient, and Anchus began figuring this out as he turned to see Anchorus and Al.

"BROTHER! It's about time you found me! This thing is gonna rip me to shreds and gnaw on my batteries! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Anchorus couldn't even respond before the king crab smacked him upside the head with one of it's massive claws, throwing him back into the sand. the big guy was quick to get up, but unfortunately couldn't do much else.

"Anchus, I don't know how to help you out of there! That thing has alot of feet on me! And it's very moody!"

The King crab pushed some sand back in a bull like taunt againt Anchorus, before charging right at him with a claw ready to snip his head off. Anchus was almost powerless to help, losing oil at a rapid rate and his batteries having been damaged. He could only pound effortlessly against the crab's shell to try and stop it as it charged, ready to make Anchorus it's dinner. Anchorus was too close to dodge and decided to take a stance against the beast, holding his arms forward to halt it's charge. The creature slammed into him and forced Anchorus back, even when he used all his hydraulics to stop the king crab's advance. The big droid mustered his best efforts to push all his gears forward, but it would seem as though Anchorus would be overpowered by this monstrosity of a crab.

However, in the nick of time, a flaming needler shot right at the king crab, right where Anchus had been leaking oil. This set the oil, and the crab, ablaze with a sheet of fire, causing him to drop Anchus to the ground, as the cleaved droid was saved by a certain Al moving at high speeds thanks to his power suit's boosters. Of course Anchus didn't take this well.

"AL, what the hell?! You lit an oil fire right next to me?! YOU COULD'VE TERMINATED ME!"

Al only responded with a chuckle like an old geezer.

"But I didn't. Yer still functioning fer the moment. Now Anchorus! Throw that wannabe lobster to the side and let's get out of here! I'd rather retreat in one piece, thank you! And step on it! Before Anchus here runs out of oil!"

As Al was quick to grab Anchus' top half and his legs, Anchorus took the momentary weakness in the crab's position and delivered a mighty right hook to the beast's face, hurling it back several yards into the sandy dunes of the Topazial Beachhead, since it's defenses were weakened from the fire. He didn't waste any time afterward in following Al, taking his advice on a hasty retreat. Within mere minutes they dissappeared into the forest, and even as the king crab recovered, it could not detect them anywhere around. This thus left the beast with little option other than to put out the rest of it's fire in the water, then return to it' den in hopes of ensnaring another meal....

...

Hours later, back within Al's underground laboratory, a hesitant Anchorus waited out the operation on Anchus as Al got right to work fixing him. The big droid could do nothing but wait, practically on edge worrying for his brother. IT certainly didn't help hearing such foreign machines working on Anchus, for Anchorus had never seen such repair methods used. It signaled that the damage was indeed severe. Regardless, he put his trust in Al, though whether that trust was misplaced would soon be found out.

From the waiting Anchorus had nearly run out of batteries when he heard the machines inside come to a halt, which heralded Al emerging from his emergency work chamber. He removed his safety goggles and put down his welding torch, before looking up at Anchorus, who could only ask one thing.

"Al... is Anchus.... okay?"

Al wasn't quick to answer, as the operation had drained him as well. Regardless, he gave a straight face.

"Well, boy... I did all I could, and he did lose alot of oil.... maybe ya'll should come inside and take a look...."

Nice to see this thing updated.

But why'd you have to go and leave it on a cliff hangar!? What happened to Anchus?

Happy Holidays to you guys. Here's an early present. Hope you enjoy. ^_^

_
ch.4

Anchorus made the trek through the dark following Al until he reached the operating chamber. In the middle lay the nearly unmoving mechanical pile that was Anchus. He opened one of his optical receptors and looked over at Al and his brother.

"Ugh... Al, isn't it early to have visitors...."

Just hearing his voice made Anchorus jump in excitement, promptly shaking the whole lab.

"Brother! You're still functioning! Thank the Great Motherboards!"

Anchus sighed, but Al reassured him.

"Yeah, Anchus survived alright. But just barely. That mutated electric king crab didn't play around in ripping ya in half, so I had to re-weld his top and bottom together, replace his ripped circuits, give him a new radiator, refill him with an oil transfusion of three barrels, and give him a pine air freshener to get rid of that crab smell. I estimate y'all will return to optimum efficiency within 3 days."

This made Anchus a bit at ease, though did not help with his attitude.

"I appreciate it Al, but I'd rather have a bit of peace and quiet to charge my power cell. Anchorus hopping in joy certainly isn't helping any."

His brother was quick to stop upon hearing this.

"Sorry about that. I was just worried."

There wasn't much else Al could do at the moment, so he quietly slipped away while the brothers talked away, a theory within his noggin.

"Hmm... ya know, enough electricity does normally cause a change in wave patterns... maybe that big crab had something to do with the waves..."

As he slipped into his work station, Anchorus sat down.

"So Anchus, what was it like in the clutches of that ferocious crab beast?"

Anchus sighed.

"It was unpleasant, brother. That's all you need to know. A monster that feeds off of electricity isn't going to be a pleasant experience, incase you thought different."

"No, Anchus, I didn't mean it like that. It's just I never saw such a beast up close, especially at that scale."

Hearing that suddenly reminded Anchus of something important, and he was sure not to forget to tell Anchorus.

"Speaking of which, Anchorus, while I was within that beast's den, I happened to... stumble upon something. It's something I think you may wish to see..."

The big droid leaned in closer.

"Really? What is it?"

Anchus used what strength he had to point to the south of the room to where a large crate was, which contained a myriad of sandy objects that Al had extracted from the beaches earlier.

"There was something stuck to my back that Al removed and he put it in that crate... I think you should look at it...."

For a moment Anchorus had no idea what his small brother was talking about, but he decided to trek over to the crate and open it. He reached inside and picked up the only object within it. What he saw left him silenced.

"It's... a s-scale... a purple one with a very glossy finish..."

Anchus nodded.

"Yes. And unless my optical visors are malfunctioning, it has the same hue and same shine as.... you know...."

He witnessed his large brother turn around to face him, a glimmer of hope in his eyes as well as an emulation of confusion and sadness.

"Laureen's...."

"That's right, Anchorus. I know it seems like a large coincidence, but the similarities are pretty close."

Indeed Anchorus felt a small ray of hope that this was Laureen's scale, as it matched the scales on her body from back when he saw her, those many months ago, and despite the period of time that had passed, his mind retained the image of her, from her piercing eyes of purple, or her glistening black hair, or especially her diamond naga tail, showing a purple sheen in the day. He just couldn't put her out of his mind.

"Laureen...."

Almost as if to interrupt the reminisce, however, Al came in with a joyful glee.

"Just came in to check on ya boys! Ya'll doin okay?"

Anchus and Anchorus looked at him.

"Yes, we're doing fine, you old coot."

"Alrighty then. Hey Anchorus, whatcha got there?"

The shiny scale had caught the attention of the mechanical geezer as Anchorus lowered his hands to show it to him.

"It's a scale and we think it might belong to Laureen. Can you see if it's hers?"

He picked up the scale from Anchorus' hand and examined it, before heading inside.

"Hmm, interesting specimen. I picked it up off of Anchus before, but I didn't notice it was a scale. Hang on, I'll run it through my scanners and check it out. Ya'll hold on fer a sec...."

It was quite a silent moment while the brothers waited for Al's scanners. Indeed, after finding that Anchus was okay, Anchorus didn't know much else to say. The big guy did admire the welding work Al performed on Anchus, as Anchus tried to perform a few basic actions. Sadly, it seemed as though the work wasn't done yet, so his robotic systems were unable to move from the waist down. He let out a sigh and sat back down, swearing never to go to the Topazial Beachhead again.

Once an hour had passed, the brothers were about ready to go into standby mode, but Al interrupted them again with the scale in hand.

"Well, boys. I got some good news fer ya. I did some scans on this here reptile scale, and it belongs to a naga from the diamond naga tribes, specifically from the northern regions from Negav. That's where yer friend is from, right?"

The brothers simply nodded, leaving Al room to tell the rest of his news.

"Excellent. Unfortunately, the scale is kinda old. From the decay on the back, I reckon it's over a month old since yer friend shed it."

That news did not bode well with Anchorus. If anything, it brought him down.

"Really Al? So there's no way I can look for her using it?"

The old droid let out a chuckle, as he knew that wasn't true.

"Now now, I didn't say that. This scale left us alot of evidence to look fer her. Fer example, I found some ingrained soot deposits underneath all the sand. And this particular soot usually comes from the mountainsides near the Pyrale Mountains, south of the Topazial Beaches. Chances are yer friend was there before she went to the beach. Why not look there for clues?"

Despite Al's normal nonsensical facts, this time was surprisingly clear. Anchorus lit up with hope, feeling like once again he had a chance to see Laureen.

"That's a great idea Al! If it helps find Laureen, I'll be near those Py-something mountains in no time flat! What about you brother?"

The look on Anchus' face showed his feelings about the situation. Needless to say, he wasn't as enthusiastic.

"Brother, look, I only showed you that scale to cheer you up. I didn't plan on it turning into a wild goose chase. There's such a small chance of finding anything useful near those mountains. I mean, for all we know, Laureen could be hundreds of miles away. She could possibly be seeing some other predator, which would explain her disappearance. Why, with all the dangers out there, she could even be...."

Unfortunately, Anchus didn't have the chips to finish that sentence, for he saw the look on Anchorus, who had recently mastered the "puppy dog pout". It oddly affected him and made him feel bad for reasons he couldn't explain.

"....alright, alright. I guess we could take a look. But only because you're my brother. I wouldn't do this under any other conditions. You got that?"

Again a smile returned to the big droid's face.

"Thank you Anchus! That means alot!"

Anchus sighed and lay still on the operating table.

"Whatever. We should be able to head out tomorrow. Al, why don't you finish fixing me up first? I don't like having the mobility of a toaster."

It didn't take much convincing for Al to oblige, as he grabbed his tools and jumped towards the table.

"Sure thing, fella, and tomorrow I'll give you coordinates to the Pyrale Mountains. Ya'll can begin yer search there."

Before Al started the operation, the brothers thanked him as Anchorus made his way to the exit to let Al continue his work.....

Hehe nice chapter ^^
The moment where they recover Anchus's legs was striking !

>>Anchus didn't have the chips to finish that sentence,

I chucckled at this quote XD

Thanks. I chuckled a bit myself thinking that one up. XD

ch:5

Outside of Negav's vast borders, where the winds blew through the trees and branches, all seemed quiet as it should be, underneath the glow of the changing moons. Not much stirred to interrupt the peace, giving the sleeping beasts of the night a calm rest, until the sound of a sorrowful step came through the canopy.

It was a large predator, a harpy to be exact, who decided to step along the ground, miserable in his self pity. The feathers upon his body were ruffled and, in some places, burnt and broken. One of his wings was slightly messed up and, in the center of his forehead, there was a terrible scar. Despite the soil and it's ever healing properties, the scars appeared to be deep and took long to heal. His steps were sloppy and uneven, as he tread past various large oaks, some of which were dryads awakened from his midnight stroll. Several turned around, ready to face down this stranger and complain of his noisy passage through their neck of the woods so they could continue sleeping. However, an odd scent caught up to them, emanating from the harpy. It was the scent of alcohol, and quite a dose of it, for the harpy had delved into the substance thanks to a tanker of it he swept off a human road. It was something he wished to try to drown his troubles, but sadly it did nothing more than impair him mentally, not to mention it gave him a 5 o'clock shadow and an odor that could scare the nose right off a dridder ten miles away. It also unfortunately gave him a violent temper, as one dryad had unfortunately figured out as she confronted the harpy.

"Excuse me mister. I am trying to put my saplings to sleep. could you please quiet your steps?"

Hearing this the harpy turned around angrily and showed the dryad the anger in his eyes, which were red from sleep deprivation. Within his voice one could also detect a slurr from drunkenness.

"HEY! I dun get on yer ass and *hiccup* tell you to be qui...quiet lady! So shut yer trap be-before I *hiccup* shove a branch into yer eye, ya bi-*hiccup* bitch!"

The dryad was offended by his manner of speaking and felt like reprimanding him, but could see his condition and decided not to bother. she turned back around and cared for her saplings as the harpy studdered off.

"ha! I thought so, ya green whore! *hiccup*"

Unfortunately, the avian buffoon didn't watch where he was going and fell backwards, right into a large tree and slammed his head into it. Of course a migraine ensued, which brought only more pain upon the poor predator. He couldn't do much more than screech out in anger.

"RAHHHHH! Damn these trees! This stupid world! Why is my life so *hiccup* messed up!?"

He sat back and reflected upon all he once had, or at least all he could remember due to his alcoholic disposition.

"All the ladies i could want, an entire beach I could *hiccup* claim as my own, and all the crab I could eat. everything was so good.... and then THEY CAME ALONG!"

Tightly clenched were his talons which signified his growing anger.

"They come into MY ter *hic* ritory, beat ME to a pulp, then leave without giving me a rematch! My women then leave me because apparently I'm too much of a puss to fight other species, then other harpies start harassing me for my territory, and then I actually lose it! Gah! why did everything have to go so wrong?!"

Looking back at the tree he smacked into, he unsheathed his claws and clenched his teeth.

"I'm so mad I could... I could..."

The harpy unsheathed his claws and talons and growled angrily at the oak before him, but just as he was about to reduce the tree to a scratching post, he heard a voice from a distance.

"Whoa whoa, easy stranger. That tree never did anything to you, now did it?"

The harpy became spooked from this sudden sound and turned around, claws still at the ready.

"W-who said that? SHOW YOURSELF!"

Wherever the voice was coming from, it sounded much closer than before.

"Relax pal. I am not your enemy. I just came to talk. I just happened to hear your woeful tale."

Unknown to the harpy, the voice was actually resonating from a hovering orb which remained out of sight. It's voice was not threatening, though gave an air of uncertainly to it.

"Why not sit down, my avian compadre? I have listened to what you've suffered through, and... we might be able to help..."

Of course the harpy took attention to his offer, walking towards the voice to inquire more.

"We? Help? just what are you, and where are you? This 'mysterious' stranger act isn't helping your plea to be friendly. now show yourself!"

Whoever was controlling the orb knew they had to do a bit of quick talking to avoid enraging the harpy or losing his attention.

"I will show myself in due time. But if you would, please tell me your name friend. Certainly we don't need to see eye to eye for that."

The orb was quick to dodge the harpy's swipes as he tried fervently to find the voice.

"My name? fine. It's Gisor. I used to be called 'Gisor, king ofthe feathers and of the eastern beaches', but not anymore....because of them......."

Once hearing his name and species, the orb went through it's data banks, attempting to find a certain file.

"Very interesting. Well, Gisor, what if I could help you get everything back, hmm?"

Once the orb found the necessary file, it displayed a large holographic image infront of the harpy, surprising him.

"What trickery is this?! what are you doing?!"

The image portrayed was that of several harpy concubines, all within a harem like setting near the beach, set up by the hovering device from which the voice yet again rang. It was almost as if it was meant to tempt the harpy in specific.

"My friend, Gisor. Surely all the things you have lost: your pride, your adoring women, your territory.... you would like them back, wouldn't you? And perhaps a bit more for the suffering you've gone through? Maybe even revenge against those 'beings' who wronged you?"

Gisor shakily nodded and answered yes, because it was indeed what he desired. A smirk could be heard in the voice from the orb.

"Excellent. Showing you this meager vision is only a little of what I can do for you, friend. I and my group exist because we wish to assist downtrodden fellows like yourself. The world can be an unfair place. I personally think it is our duty to make it a bit more fair..."

There was no doubt that Gisor was excited at the prospect, but if anything had stuck to him his whole life, it was to not trust a deal that was too good.

"This sounds good, but what's the catch?"

"Catch? You merely have to follow the instructions I provide for you if you want all this and more. Surely you can try, can't you?"

Stroking his brow on the matter, Gisor contemplated what he should do.

"Alright. I guess I an try listening to you. but first, I will see you face to face, or no deal. I will not be scammed by some petty little man who says he can make dreams come true, so you can...."

The orb's voice interrupted.

"Of course. If you'll follow my directions, I'll lead you straight to me. We can meet in person there. Agreed?"

Gisor spoke his answer.

"Agreed."

"Excellent. Now, here's where I am located..."

Thus with the agreement set, the orb created another holo-image, this time of an aerial view of Felarya, and pinpointed where Gisor should go. With that, Gisor opened his mighty wings and began to flap, ascending skyward at a fast pace. He didn't know who or what was offering this to him, but if he could promise him revenge against the two who ruined his life, then he frankly wouldn't care......

hehe nice idea to re-use him ^^ all that sound quite fishy

Nice. Looks like that Harpy's been reduced to a flunky.

He was pretty hard for the Brother's to beat last time, and now he's getting upgrades?

Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. hope you enjoy

ch:6

It was another glorious morning once the remainder of the night retreated to the horizon in the ever conquering glow of the sun's incredulous shining. The bustling Negavian Metropolis greeted the glow of the early sky with it's constant denizens moving about in their daily lives. Underneath the major city, within Al's lab, the same could be said of Anchorus, who was out of his charger and already preparing for the trip ahead. As he assembled his items together, he noticed upon the wall a note.

"Let's see. Navigational sphere, Energy field projecter, holographic Felarypedia, extra spark fuses, spare batteries, a few barrels of oil incase me or Anchus require a pick-me-up..... ooh! What's this? A note Al left...."

Just then, out of the corner of Anchorus' optical receptor, Anchus slowly stepped out of the operation chamber, appearing in an awkward, tired state. Around his neck was a strange plastic ornament in the shape of a pine tree.

"Good morning Anchus! How was the operation? And what's that thing around your neck?"

The begrudged smaller brother responded to Anchorus with just a hint of apathy.

"It went fine. Although yesterday Al said I should wear this ornament for a few days. He calls it an 'Air freshener', to give me that 'new car smell'. I swear, I understand less and less about that bag of bolts every passing day."

Anchorus gladly nodded.

"Agreed. But he helps out. And he's a friendly machine. So we shouldn't take him for granted. Speaking of which, he left us this note. Take a look."

The note, left by Al, was written in binary, but thankfully this was a language the brothers understood well. They read it thoroughly, which read as followed....

~~~~~~~

Dear Anchus and big fella with a slightly different name,

I done went out to do some research on some dangerous critters causin' a ruckus near the dridder forest. I don't want them arachnids gettin all antsy, so I'm gonna see what's up. If I haven't been blown to smithereens, I'll be back within 5 cycles. Enclosed under this message is a holo-map which shows detailed instructions to the Pyrale Mountains. Ya'll be careful now, since it's a dangerous place, especially since ya'll are clad in metal. Ya'll will see my point when ya get there. Oh, and Anchus, don't get cleaved in half again. Yer hide is damn expensive to repair. Signed, Al.

~~~~~~~

Despite several sighs from Anchus, Anchorus was quick to get the cube underneath the message. When he touched it, the cube opened up and displayed a transparent image of the Pyrale area. It's volcanic structure was impressive, leaving much for Anchus and Anchorus to gaze at.

"Woow! That's the Pyrale sector? It's huuuuuuge! Kinda scary to think that such is the only place to find clues, don't you think Anchus?"

"Nah, it doesn't look too bad. Now store that cube in your inventory and let's head out. I don't feel like postponing this goose chase another second."

Anchorus put the cube away and set the note down. He knew there was much to be done after all. Meanwhile, Anchus departed to Al's lower labs to find some form of self defense. He had hoped to find a missile launcher, some form of controllable bio weapon, or maybe even a high power laser rifle, which would surely protect him. Sadly for him, Al was a peaceful research droid and had no actual weapons within his lab besides his custom power suit. So once again Anchus was left with his default electro staff, a double sided ten foot pole surging with energy, though not very effective against larger threats. He picked up his staff and stored it on his back, before heading back to Anchorus, who was impatiently waiting near the exit.

"Well, Anchorus, I see you're not wasting any time."

The big droid nodded.

"Of course. This could be my chance to find Laureen after about seven months! I want to see her again. I really do..."

Anchus jumped atop Anchorus' shoulder, hearing his brother's plea.

"I know you do. You're reminding me more of the humans every day with your damn love connection. Let's head out before you start growing human organs."

Without further distraction, the brothers went through the exit and traveled along it's elevator line for miles until reaching the exit Al made within the grove of Carnivorous plants, in the form of a large mossy rock. Said rock split in half as the brothers approached the end of the tunnel, allowing them passage into the wilds of the Felaryan world. The rock slammed behind them the second they exited, hiding the exit from sight. Anchus and Anchorus greeted the scenery together.

"Wow. The morning is pretty, don't you think Anchus?"

Anchus couldn't answer quickly due to a ravenous plant snapping at him.

"Yeah. Real pretty. Let's just get out of here. The plants make me uneasy."

And with this, the brothers departed due south from the snap-happy grove of plants, their destination the mysterious Pyrale Mountains. The wind blowing behind them allowed the two good momentum in their stride, and the sun which gleamed off their armor blinded a random passerby kensha, causing it to crash into a tree. Anchorus simply stepped over the beast and continued onward, glancing occasionally at the holo map that Al had bestowed upon them. Anchus sat back on his bigger brother's shoulder and merely glanced around, for this had been territory he hadn't trodded before. It had the odor of oddities his sensors had never before detected.

"Anchorus, this zone of Felarya seems very.... odd... keep your detectors at peak. I don't trust this trip to be an easy one."

"I hear you, Anchus. According to the holo-map, right next to the grove is some place called the Chi-do-kai forest. Let's see, vast subzones of forest canopies, unstable lifted walking areas, not to mention..."

Suddenly a small clap of thunder caught the brother's attention, and before they knew it, they were drenched in rain which poured from the treetops. Anchorus looked at the holo map again.

"Oh yeah! And Al also mentions there's perpetual rainfall here. Isn't that interesting Anchus?"

The rain had made the brothers' armor slippery, causing Anchus to nearly fall off the shoulder he was perched on. Thankfully Anchorus caught his disgruntled brother in time.

"*sigh* yeah, Anchorus. REAL interesting."

Anchus took his spot at his brother's shoulder and held on as the big droid navigated the various, dangerous, and flora infested walkways that were everywhere within this realm.

"Phew. This place is big. Not to mention slippery... the rain makes it hard to keep balance."

As the two traversed along the Chidokai path, they noticed various movements within the trees. What they didn't know was that said movements were actually caused by dryads, who had mastered camouflage within the forest. Though they did not pose a threat to Anchorus, there still stood a hint of mystery behind every shady tree. At one point the brothers did not even notice that they were not walking on the ground, but rather on the branches of a huge tree. It astounded them to no end, making Anchorus nervous enough to grab onto the tree bark to ensure they did not fall to a perilous end.

Anchus kept on watch to ensure nothing jumped out at them from the dark hiding spots which were literally all over the place. Anchorus lightened up and decided to take it slow, exploring the scenery, for he considered it very beautiful, as the humans would put it. Unfortunately, at this point he did not watch his steps carefully.

"When we find Laureen, I'm definitely taking her here sometime. It's so incredible. Don't you think?"

"Just keep your eyes ahead of us Anchorus and on track. The last thing I need is WATCH OUT YOU BIG LUG!"

A steep branch ahead caught them off guard and tripped them over, immediately making them fall downward and roll down the hill. Anchus held on for dear life as the two rolled past a massive insect chasing a group of explorers, then past a dryad who hid in wait for her next meal, and finally stopped when they slammed into a large wall of trees, minutes later. This collision disoriented the brothers, but thankfully for Anchus he held on. Had he lost grip he would've gone flying into the deep dark crevaces of Chidokai's domain. Anchorus shook his head and got to his feet, looking around.

"Ugh.. brother, are you okay? That was a nasty fall..."

"Yes, Anchorus. I'm a bit shaken up, and my nuts are where my bolts should be, but I'm still functioning."

"That's good. But uh... where are we? Are we still in the Chidokai region?"

The big droid quickly reached for the holomap he held onto and surveyed the coordinates.

"Hmm.. according to this... we're still technically in them, but we're now within the Chanossa Mangrove, which leads to the great marshes and then, the Pyrale Mountains! We're already on our way."

Anchorus put some spring in his step and quickly got back on the trail, his brother none the more enthusiastic.

"Hang on big guy. Check the holo map first. We just sped down a steep log at mach 1. I'm not doing that again."

As ordered, the big droid pondered the map.

"I don't think we have to worry brother. The mangrove looks small. Infact..."

He took a look around and saw that there wasn't much to behold besides some mangrove dryads in the distance and a small collection of puddle sized lakes.

"It looks like there isn't much here..."

Anchus was quick to sneak in a smirky comment.

"Guess it's still under construction or something. Whatever, let's just hurry through it."

Trying to avoid any disturbances, the two quietly tip-toed through the muck and around each of the small branches, Anchus being alert to ensure his brother did not cause a ruckus. The further in the went, the more they noticed that the mangrove was becoming more swamp like, and the sky appeared to change a darker color.

"Hey Anchus... it's getting kinda swampish here..."

"Agreed, brother. I shiver at the thought of my circuits being muddled by the trash in this area..."

It appeared as though the mangroves were getting farther and farther apart the longer they traveled. It wasn't soon before the area led out into a wide open field of muddy lakewater.

"I think it ends here! According to the map, we should be in the.... hmm, let's see... ah! The Sorrel Swamps."

"You think? The place certainly looks li-"

Before Anchus could respond, Anchorus fell face first into a deep area of mud, splattering it everywhere. the brothers were now covered head to toe in muck of the mud, which was indeed a signal they had already left the Mangrove. Anchus wiped the mud from his face and armor after faceplanting into the swampy ground.

"Yep. We're in the Sorrel Swamps."

Anchorus got to his feet, only to find himself ankle deep in an undescribable muddy water which lay everywhere. Above the mud, to the brothers' surprise, were small chunks of land, careening across the surface and creating a gargantuan jigsaw puzzle of moving masses. Several were larger than Anchorus, but others were smaller than Anchus. Certain pieces even bombarded Anchorus, nearly knocking him over back into the swamp. He was able to keep his footing as he checked the holocube for information.

"Well, Anchus, according to Al, The Sorrel Swamps are pretty dangerous, even for wandering predators. We should definitely watch our step, because I can't see inside the waters very well."

His brother sighed.

"Of course. Just avoid those huge land masses. I do not like how unstable they loo-"

It was then he was cut off when the brothers heard an assortment of low growling noises. Anchorus had accidentally stepped into a herd of Saurotaurans, swimming beneath the water's surface.

"Holy crap! Look out Anchorus!"

The big droid halted his movement, his foot just inches away from stepping onto the group of creatures. However, now the droid was only balancing on one foot, and soon fell backwards onto a floating mass of land, thankfully big enough to ferry Anchus and Anchorus across the waters, albeit very slowly.

"Damnit, bolt brain! You should've watched where you were going! We were feet away from stepping on those crocodile-lizard taur hybrid things. Are you trying to have us dismantled?!"

Anchorus did his best to apologize.

"I'm sorry brother. I told you I can't see well in the waters. My optical scanners are inefficient for this atmosphere."

"Look, we have to get out of this hell forsaken swamp now. It's already proven very hard to navigate. Now let's get off of this land mass before it takes a wrong turn."

And so Anchorus followed his brother's order, jumping off of the land mass. What he didn't expect was that when his feet delved into the waters, it had suddenly become extremely deep! Anchorus quickly grabbed onto the side of the land mass, narrowly avoiding a fall into the murky depths below, which was too deep for him.

"AGH! Anchus, help me up! The depth of the water has changed!"

There was much tension running through Anchus as he dashed off of Anchorus and grabbed his finger, attempting to bring him back up.

"Ugh... I can't get you up! you're too heavy!"

Worse yet, the land around where Anchorus had grabbed was beginning to crumble, leaving the situation worse off.

"Hurry Anchus! I can't hold on for much longer! And I don't know what lies in that water!"

Anchus was literally sweating oil from every joint, trying to drag his brother up onto safe ground, but to no avail.

"DAMNIT ALL! I told you you're too heavy!"

The strain of the droids weight was finally too much on the edge of the land mass. It gave way and crumbled around the two of them, sending both Anchus and Anchorus downward into the murky depths.

Mhh it's a long way to Pyrale mountains.. and there the strange magnetism could cause some surprises XD

Oh, that you can count on.

ch.7

The brothers plummeted from the land mass into the water below, sinking deeper and deeper as it seemed to have no bottom. Even for a seventy foot being, the depth proved too deep for them. Anchus held onto Anchorus' shoulder as the big guy struggled around in the dark liquid for anything to grab onto. When it seemed all but hopeless for them, both of them were on the verge of surrendering right there and then... thankfully, Anchorus' hand had located an odd scaly appendage and , witht quick reflexes, grabbed onto it with all his might. The appendage squirmed in his hand as it suddenly swam at a very high speed under the water. It was very strong, being able to ferry the brothers with little effort at all. They held on for the love of their motherboards, loooking upward and seeing countless land masses pass by them. Without warning the appendage stopped and flicked over with extreme force, sending Anchus and Anchorus soaring out of the water and onto a large floating island, miles away from where they were before, and as the brothers stood up, Anchorus coughed up several gallons of mud and water.

"oy.... that was close Anchorus."

His brother emptied a flood from his chest cavity and nodded along.

"WE're never going across there again. Do you hear me brother? NEVER!"

"I-I'm sorry Anchus. I've never been here before, and..."

"And while we're at it, what did you grab onto? I thought you lost your grip on the land?"

Anchorus didn't really know how to respond to that, since he didn't know himself.

"Er... I don't know. it felt like a big fish."

A disturbance in the water next to them caught the brothers' attention, as a womanly form rose from the depths. Her brunette hair was slightly messy as her blue eyes glared at the two droids. She lifted the back end of her tail up out of the water, showing them she was a river mermaid, well over 90 feet in length and far surpassing Anchorus in size. The brothers then caught on.

"Oh! She was a mermaid! That was convenient, don't you think Anchus?"

Anchus was taking several steps back, for he saw the mermaid's tail, and it was slightly crushed and bruised. The anger in her eyes told him they were in trouble. Anchorus, being thick as a log, didn't know this and smiled at the mermaid.

"Thank you for helping us out of that mess. We were almost goners."

He then extended his hand.

"My name is Anchorus. And this guy here is Anchus. What's your name?"

Instead of hearing a name, however, he was met with a titanic smack to the face by the mermaid, who was at this point shooting steam from her nostrils. It sent Anchorus's head spinning as the mermaid turned around.

"That's none of your business, you jerks. Next time don't crush my tail like that, or I'll tear your lungs out!"

Then, before Anchorus could correct his head, the mermaid lunged down back into the depths, splashing them with a tidal wave. The whole way down she muttered to herself while she nursed her wounded tail. Again Anchus sighed.

"Anchorus, I think you may have grabbed her tail too hard."

Anchorus finally snapped his head back into place as he got up.

"I-I didn't know. I mean, come on. I was worried we were gonna be nothing but rotting anchors at the bottom of that swamp. I had to do something."

"Well, at least she left us alone. And it looks like we're already nearing the end of this forsaken SWampland. Let's just head out before we make someone else mad."

After they brushed off the remnants of mud within their circuits and upon their armor, they quickly made haste to the other end of the land mass they were on, and to their surprise, they were near the edge of the Sorrel SWamp. They awaited their chance to jump upon another large land mass and took it, leaping over the murkey waters below and just barely making it onto the other mass. This piece of land was close to where the swampland came to an end, and the brothers were hasty to rush to it, taking one last leap from this mass to the solid ground they saw. Making a THUD upon hitting the soil, the brothers nearly collapsed, grateful they were finally out of those swamplands. However, before they prepared to leave, a gerridi, which was an arachnid type creature which skated upon the surface of the water, threw a necklace of flowers upon Anchus and Anchorus as she waved to them.

"Thank you for visiting the Sorrel Swamps. Come again now!"

With that same cheery expression she skated back into the mysterious swamps, leaving both brothers utterly dumbfounded. They didn't say a word for the rest of their time there and simply departed to their next destination: The Great Marshes...

It was about an hour later when the brothers noticed a vast change in scenery from the gloomy swamps of before. The area was now completely blanketed in a white blanket of fog, completely blinding the brothers' optical sensors. Anchorus stopped in his tracks upon being blinded by the fog to avoid another tripping incident.

"B-brother! The fog is really heavy here! I can't see a thing!"

Anchus by that time had already activated his built in secondary thermal visor and smacked his brother on the head.

"Come on Anchorus. Don't be stupid. You know you have visors built for special conditions. Switch to thermal scanning for this fog."

His brother did as told and switched his ocular vision for the mentioned thermal device. In an instant, Anchorus could see again, the heat outlines of the various beings and the heat emanating from other sources giving him a clear picture of what was ahead.

"i didn' know I even had this. Cool."

"Yes, you're welcome brother. Now onward we should go. This fog is a perfect staging area for ambushes."

The brothers did not waste any time proceeding through the fog. As they went, they witnessed the various animal shaped heat sources that went by them. They noticed in the sky small, fluttering butterfly shaped objects, clearly being the fog butterflies which posed no harm to humans, let alone Anchus or his brother, though one did fly oddly close, startling Anchus from it's 40 foot height and massive wingspan. Anchorus sidestepped and continued past the beast, tredging into a bit of a watery muck. Underneath the mud Anchorus sensed the heat sources tiny critters, such as the silver scorpions who did not do much other than unburrow from their holes and stab at his armor, barely leaving a scratch. Anchorus could also sense several little fangs attempting to bite into his armor as well. He looked down and noticed five Liethins, small snakes with fangs and feathered wings, trying to drain him. Anchus advised him to simply fling them off, and that he did, sending them skyward back to their holes. They had almost run into a group of birds who surprisingly shot lightning at the snakes, scaring them into their burrows immediately. Anchus shivered just feeling the energy flying through the air.

"Brother! Hold up."

"what's wrong, Anchus?"

"Those birds are giving me the chills. Let's wait until they pass."

Anchorus pulled out the holo-cube after hearing this and scrolled through, until finding a file fitting this bird's behavior.

"Oh! Good call Anchus. According to Al, these birds are called 'Storm-seekers', and despite their small size of 1.754 feet, they have alot of electrical juice, according to Al's data entry at least. They could fry our circuits if we're not careful."

Being smart, they took the advice and waited until the birds were finished, then proceeded forward. The marsh did not grow any cleaerer in sight, but thankfully the mud did not become thicker either, leaving the journey to Pyrale that much simpler. Following a time of treking through the larger muck of the marshes, Anchus could detect something over the horizon.

"Anchorus, I see something about ten miles South-east. The heat signature is very vague from this distance, but it appears to be... mmmm.... oh yeah! the Pyrale Mountains!"

Anchorus glowed with joy.

"Are you serious brother? We're almost there?! That means we're that much closer to finding Laureen!"

He then sprinted ahead, Anchus grabbing on for dear life. His processor could only process one thought, and that was of finding Laureen and satisfying this feeling he constantly felt towards her. Though he didn't understand it, he wouldn't be deterred now. Sadly, that wouldn't last long as a fog butterfly came out of one of Anchorus' blind spots and flew right into his face. the heat from the butterfly blocked the heat sources around him, making Anchorus perform a full stop. However he seemed to forget he was on MUD and continued sliding despite his stopping motion. Anchus could see though and was worried at what he saw ahead.

"Anchorus! There's a large heat source dead ahead! Stop!"

"I can't Anchus! It's too muddy! I don't have any friction!"

At this point it was now too late to stop, and Anchorus slammed full front into the heat source that was ahead. While Anchorus as sent back into the mud, Anchus was sent forward, landing on the beast. He got to his feet on the heat source and shook his head.

"Anchorus, that gag is getting VERY old. Please for the love of our Motherboard STOP RUNNING IN UNSTABLE AREAS! DAMNIT ALL!"

"I'm sorry Anchus. I just-"

"Nonono, don't give me another excuse. Seriously, did you not learn from the past five times this happened?! Yes, I know, you love your little stupid organic girlfriend and you want to find her. yada yada yada. But you gotta understand, I don't want to get scrapped just so we can go on a dead end goose chase to find a clue that doesn't exist from a soot covered scale we found on a f*cking beach!"

Anchus did not notice that the beast was sleeping, and his constant ranting had awakened it. A pair of bloodshot eyes erupted from it's head from long stalks, looking at Anchus from behind him. Anchorus saw this and tried to warn his brother.

"um... Anchus... I think that thing i-"

"Don't interrupt Anchorus. I'm venting here."

"But brother! That thing-"

"Anchorus, I said I'm trying to say something here! What is so important you have to interrupt?!"

The beast then knelt up from it's position, shaking off it's long frog like body and shell, still having it's eye stalks trained on Anchus. Anchorus was surprised it was almost his height and his jaw was unhinged from it's daunting appearance.

"Anchus! Just look behind you!"

To shut his big brother up, Anchus finally looked back, only to look into the corneas of the beast he and Anchorus had awakened. He turned back to continue yelling at his only before doing a double take and turning back around to gawk at the beast's intimidating eyes. Now his jaw lay agape as well, and he fell back to the ground and towards Anchorus, fluttering in panic.

"Anchorus, w-why didn't you tell me I was atop th-that thing?!"

"I tried brother! I tried!"

Anchus and Anchorus had not realized it yet, but they were in a lot of trouble, for they had awoken a powerful predator: the Gorudan Behemoth...

Man those brothers seem to go from one predicament to the next.

uh oh XD !


"Anchorus, w-why didn't you tell me I was atop th-that thing?!"

typical

ch.8.

The Gorudan Behemoth rose to it's legs and arms and turned around, facing the mechanical duo with a disgruntled low sounding growl from it's throat. This frog creature, standing at a proud 65 feet, bearing a mightily armored shell over a majority of it's carapace, nearly stood toe to toe with Anchorus in size and towered over his smaller brother with great intimidation.

"Anchorus, how about you tell me what that thing is... it doesn't look happy that we woke it up...."

The big guy scrambled for the holo cube to try and get information on the beast, but the Behemoth countered with an incredible lash of it's sticky tongue, which struck Anchorus's hand and sent him stumbling to the ground. The holo cube was flung from his grip and sent to the ground, nearly a mile from their position. The Behemoth then retracted its toungue, nearly ripping Anchorus' arm off with it. This merely left Anchus paralyzed from fright he normally wouldn't feel.

"Anchorus... I don't think he likes sudden movements...."

"Yeah.... I think we should try and... move past this guy very slowly...."

They tried to proceed to the side of the Behemoth by trudging VERY slowly to it's side. Unfortunately, this didn't help them, for the Behemoth's eyestalks were focused on Anchus, seeing him as nothing but food. Anchus saw this and reached for his electrostaff which he kept on his back. Before he could grab it though, a sticky tongue slammed into him and stuck to him like glue, before retracting back into the Behemoth's mouth. Anchus was helpless against the unimaginable power the muscles had within that tongue.

"AGH! Anchorus, get me out of here! This thing has mistaken me for lunch!"

The sheen of Anchus's strong electrostaff beared forth, sliding out of it's holster before repeatedly stabbing the tongue. Unfortunatly, his small size did nothing more than pester the Behemoth as it's eyes focused on Anchorus next.

"I'll try Anchus.. but um.... I think I might have my own problem here..."

CLANG! was all Anchorus heard after that, bearing the weight of the Behemoth as it body slammed right into him. The titanic force the creature used was enough to throw Anchorus onto the ground again, mud splattering up from him skidding against the ground. He fortunately dodged to the right as the creature lunged forward to slam into Anchorus once more. While the beast recovered, Anchorus ran to the holo-cube and picked it up, seeking cover so he could identify the beast.

"Come on, come on... big frog thing with shell and eyestalks.... what are you..."

He scrolled through the whole encyclopedia at a rapid pace until running into the info he sought.

"A Go-rudan Behemoth? I never heard of one of those..."

As the creature searched Anchorus out, he tried reading more to understand it.

"Extremely dangerous against smaller creatures, a big threat to predators.... I know this, but how do you defeat one?!"

Underneath it's weakness entry, the words "I never figured that part out" were typed in. Anchorus was left speechless.

"Damnit Al, that would've been really helpful knowledge about now!" >.<

Meanwhile, within the creature's stomach, Anchus had been deposited into it and was taking notice of the pool of acid building up at the center. He climbed the walls and continued stabbing them.

"oh no you don't! I'm not gonna be some meal for a filthy organic! Release me NOW!"

The undulations of the walls left him raging mad as he repeatedly stabbed at the walls, which were very durable. Outside the stomach, Anchorus felt that he couldn't leave his brother behind and, in a desperate gambit, ripped up a small nearby tree and turned to the Behemoth, uttering a rather stupid warcry before charging at it.

"LET MY BROTHER OUT, YOU FOUL MONSTER! KYAAAAA!"

He smashed the tree against the behemoth's back as it's body hadn't turned around completely. When be brought the barky object crashing down, Anchorus heard a very loud crunch noise and he assumed he had knocked the beast out in one hit.

"Haha! That'll teach you!"

Of course, this assumption was shattered to pieces when he looked at what had actually happened. The tree had weakly snapped like a twig against the Behemoth's shell, and worse off, all he had accomplished was further infuriating the beast, which turned around and unleashed a froggish roar at him. Anchorus wasted no time in unleashing several punches against the creature, desperate to get Anchus out. Sadly, even his powerful metal fists were just not enough to penetrate the monster's vastly superior casing. Each blow to the shell clanged off in futility, but Anchorus continued pounding down on him, relentless. The creature at this point grew tired of his resistance and lashed out it's tongue at the big droid. Like a muscle-bound fist, the tongue smashed Anchorus's face in, throwing him back against the ground even harder than before. As the ground shook from his fall, he lay there, unable to think of anything to stop this creature from digesting Anchus or ripping his own hide to pieces. He got up again, hoping to try smashing another tree against him, but before he could reach for his barky savior, another tongue lash uppercutted him, spinning him around onto the ground again. There was nothing else for him at this point to do but behold the beast's tongue, which in a similar way to a whip, reeled back into the mouth before the Behemoth took a deep breath to lash it out again. Anchorus had been damaged from the last attack, and would be unable to last this one out. He closed his eyes and tried as hard as possible to think of something, but all he heard was the sound of the tongue rushing out of the mouth and towards him. It was the last sound he thought he'd hear....

There was a loud stabbing noise and the sound of gushing blood, as Anchorus kept his eyes closed, thinking he was already offline. He instead felt odd that the creature had not struck him again, and opened his eyes to see why. There was a decently crafted spear jabbed straight into the Behemoth's tongue, pinning it to the ground. It's eyestalks cringed in pain as it tried to remove the spear on it's own. Meanwhile, from behind Anchorus, someone grabbed his neck and dragged him back. He saw a hand cover his mouth and he tried to look back, only to be met with a voice.

"You tourists are such retards. I'll be damned if you lead that Gorudan monster back to my home."

He looked back and saw what appeared to be a predatorial woman with orange hair, red eyes, and the lower body of a gargantuan iguana bearing orange scales and topping off at a hundred feet in height, pulling him back from the beast's view. He stood dumbfounded and tried to speak.

"Who are you? What are you doing?!"

She answered quickly and silently.

"Don't make too much noise, that Gorudan can hear pretty well. Let's hurry out of here."

He scrambled to get up to his feet.

"I can't! My brother was eaten by that thing! I have to save him!"

She sighed and tossed him to the ground, quickly shuffling back to the Behemoth.

"Fine, you baby. Wait here."

She went back to the behemoth, who was still trying to get the spear out of it's tongue, and with quick reflexes, reached into it's mouth and grabbed hard on it's uvula. This caused the beast to gurgle up before vomiting Anchus out of his stomach. The begrudged droid wiped the acid and mucus off of his staff and armor, lamenting on the situation.

"Seriously, brother. That was disgusting. Could you have been any slower in savi-"

He looked up at the iguana woman and was left speechless.

"y-you're not Anchorus!"

She quickly grabbed him and high-tailed it to safety.

"Just shut your mouth before I leave you here! Now follow me!"

she trotted as far as possible from the beast past Anchorus, who followed her and Anchus towards the Pyrale Mountains. The poor Behemoth, left behind, finally broke the spear off out of his tongue and looked around, painfully looking for any sign of Anchus, Anchorus, or the Iguana woman. Unfortunatly, they were long gone and well out of the range of his elastic tongue. In sulking, the beast simply went back to it's spot and knelt back down, resting it's eyestalks and going back to sleep in order to nurse it's damaged tongue, and it's empty stomach...

Epic battle here
One of the very few times I have seen a Gorudan behemoth used and you did it very well i think ! ^_^

Thanks. I'm gratefull the wiki entry went into detaill about the behemoth, to avoid any errors.

I'll get started on the next chapter right away.

That was a great battle. But who's the iguana woman?

Here you go. Next chapter.

_________

ch.9:

"Who are you? And why did you save us?"

Anchorus shouted such questions and more at the woman who helped them avoid a rather froggish demise, yet her responses were all but informative to him.

"That's on a need to know basis! Besides, like I said, I didn't want you two bringing that Gorudan back to my home. Now you metal idiots better leave me be or you'll be sorry!"

She tossed Anchus back at Anchorus, who caught him thankfully, but allowed her to gain an advantage in distance ahead of them. The curious robotic duo continued pursuit, now wondering more than ever about her. Even Anchus shouted his inquiries.

"Hang on! Will you just answer our questions?! We need some information!"

The brothers kept running after her as she pushed her four lizard like legs into faster locomotion. They did not notice the environment's transition to a calming, yet slightly creepy shade of cobalt blue minerals. As they approached further in, the woman continued yelling back to them.

"I said turn back! For Nemyra's sake, are you that stupid! You don't wanna come here!"

The brothers both chortled, Anchus taking his time to yell at her again his response.

"oh? And why not?"

Before she could answer, they entered through a smaller valley area, and before Anchorus knew it, he suddenly slammed down onto the ground, stuck like glue to the ground, while Anchus went flying into the air, being tossed around as a rock slide had begun to occur right near them. The airborn droid swiped his fists in anger and confusion.

"What the hell kind of magic is this?! Get me down from here!!"

Anchorus tried getting up, but his metal body was too fixed onto the ground for him to even move.

"I-I'm trying brother! But I'm stuck! And I'm getting a really bad migraine in my drive system!"

The woman stopped running and sighed, before turning back and looking at the two.

"You know, that's why I told you to stay away, you stupid bastards. That metal you're wearing will cause you to stick to or be repelled by every single rock here! Geez. You've never read up on the Pyrale Mountain Range?"

Anchus was nearly shocked at this.

"Read bout it? ANCHORUS! Why didn't you warn me about this?! Doesn't Al have an entry about this place?"

Anchorus couldn't even reach the holo cube, which was fizzing with electricity, almost malfunctioning completely from the magnetic effects around them.

"I was going to brother, but we were ambushed by that Garrodon thingy. And wait, THESE are the Pyrale Mountains?!"

The woman walked up to them and sighed.

"It's called a Gorudan. Moron. And yes, these are said mountains."

Without warning, Anchorus lifted off the ground as Anchus went rocketing back to the ground, screwing up the magnetic pulls around them. The woman caught him in time and held him to her face.

"Alright, listen, why are you here? Why did you follow me? What do you want from me anyway?"

As Anchus tried to correct himself, he looked up to her.

"Well, my brother here is searching for someone. And this place could have clues. Now could you help us?"

The woman shrugged.

"Are you both gonna keep following me unless I say yes?"

both the droids nodded.

"Fine. I'll see if I can help. First, we're getting out of this part of the mountains. My home is away from most of these magnetic minerals. Come on."

She held onto Anchus and grabbed Anchorus by the head, dragging him through the air as the minerals on the ground repelled him upward. Eventually, about ten minutes later, Anchorus dropped onto the floor abruptly as the blue atmosphere around them faded to a more reddish hue. As Anchorus stood up, he and the woman along with Anchus beheld several rivers of magma. Jumping across them, the stranger led Anchorus along and both droids did their best to follow.

"So um.. what's your name miss? I never did get to thank you for saving Anchus from that frog thing's stomach."

The woman answered him while jumping onto a burning log and then jumping off of that to cross a particularly large gap of lava.

"The name is Jenny. And about the gorudan thing... just forget about it."

Leaping over the extremely hot liquid made Anchus just a bit nervous as he held onto Jenny's hand.

"And you couldn't choose a better place to settle down?! What, do you enjoy living by MOLTEN HOT LAVA?! what is wrong with all you organics? Seriously."

Jenny could only laugh.

"I am partially cold blooded, so I need to be near high temperatures. Otherwise, I'd need to eat alot to keep my body temp up. At least, that's what i tell everyone. That stuff was never my strong point."

This left Anchus speechless, giving them time to head to her cave. She jumped over one last river, Anchorus jumping along with her, before reaching her cavern. It was fairly large, enough to house a being twice Jenny's height. She walked in and put Anchus down, before relaxing her body upon a bed of soft straw. Anchus jumped back onto his brother's shoulder. They sat down on the floor, listening to Jenny.

"So anyway, go ahead and ask me whatever questions you feel like. I normally enjoy company, but for you fellas, I'd rather have you out sooner than later."

Anchus went first, clearing his voice box of soot.

"Erhem... well, me and my brother, Anchorus, are here looking for a naga creature. Isn't that right, brother"

"That's right Anchus. Have you seen her?"

Jenny seemed slightly interested in this.

"A naga, you say? Go on..."

Anchorus spoke up, giving Anchus a break.

"Well, she's a naga with beautiful purple scales and black hair glistening hair, and she had a bracelet if I remember correctly, but i don't think it was relevant to the story."

Ignoring the break in the fourth wall, Jenny looked closer at Anchorus.

"A-and what... was her name?"

Anchorus did not waste time to answer.

"Her name is Laureen. The most beautiful creature I've ever seen. And if you have any information on her, I would really appreciate it. I would install a third party printer onto my mainframe and print a million search posters if it would help. And I've tried that, trust me..."

His little brother sighed.

"Unfortunately, we were sighted for littering and had to run away from yet another angry mob. Apparently predators don't like posters. Ugh."

"Yeah... anyway, we last saw her a few months ago, and there was some evidence she came this way. Have you seen..."

Before the brothers could even finish, though, Jenny had slithered to the back of the cave, bearing with her multiple curious rustling noises.

"I see. That is quite an interesting story. Say, could you hold on for a sec?"

They happily nodded and waited for her while she crept to the back of the cave, out of sight. Whatever she was doing, it gave the brothers time to talk.

"So Anchorus, you big lug. Tell me, what do you plan to do if we find Laureen?"

"You mean WHEN we find Laureen, Anchus."

"Whatever. If or when, I don't care. I'm probably gonna be scrapped before we find her. That's Felarya for you."

"Don't be down, brother! When we find her, everything will be okay. We'll live happily ever after together and I can take her out on exotic dates and feed her all the various foods she could ever want, and maybe travel alot.... what do you think?"

Each part of that sentence made Anchus cringe more and more.

"You live in a deluded world Anchorus. But whatever. I've honestly given up on trying to get you to forget your silly fantasies. Next up, you'll be wanting real human organs, and perhaps a real human nose so you can smell everything that stinks about your fantasies. Ooh! How about a faulty processor that fails on you almost ninety percent of the time? The humans call it a heart, if I last recall."

Sadly, his words fell upon a deaf Anchorus, who had locked him out to envision his fantasy of him and Laureen together again.

"ugh. Why do I even bother..."

It didn't require much more time before Jenny returned from the back part of the cavern, her body still cloaked in shadows.

"I'm back fellas. Anyway, you say you know Laureen?"

Anchorus stopped his vision to answer.

"Yes. We know her. Do you?"

She let out a creepy chuckle.

"I sort of know her. But probably not as much as you."

Just as the brothers were expecting her to talk, she lunged out of the shadows and pinned Anchorus to the ground, a newly furbished spear in her hands, pointed right at Anchorus's neck. '

"And now you're going to tell me what happened to her!"

The spear was particularly sharp, and left Anchorus no room to move. He tried to answer her, but something told him she wouldn't just accept anything he said.

"What are you talking about? I never..."

Jenny kept the spear adamant.

"Don't give me that. I know you're behind it..."

"Behind what?!"

She then told him to get up, and directed him and Anchus deeper into the cave.

"Get going, you two. You have alot of explaining to do..."

The both of them could tell this was trouble just waiting....

Oh, the plot thickens.

wow that was unexpected ! ^_^

Ahh Pyrale mountains.. the absolute worse nightmare for two mechas XD