The Anchor Brothers: The Great Search

Are you ready kids?

Aye Aye Captain!

I can't hear you!

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!

Then here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

___

ch. 17

There Anchus stood, atop his brother in beholding the miles-wide river which impeded their path. To their right, they saw no land with which to cross, and to their left was a similar sight. As it stood, they were now faced with a watery road block, and both the brothers quickly attempted to find a solution to this situation. Anchorus went first.

"Hey Anchus, this doesn't seem that bad, right? We did get waterproofed a few months ago, so why not just swim across?"

His brother's eyes were scanning deep into the water when he let out a less than welcome response.

"Well, waterproofing doesn't help the fact that this water is basically an unclimbable chasm, Anchorus. If my scanners are correct, it's a veeeeeery long drop, and the walls are steep. We'd likely be stuck down there until we rusted. Also, considering the strength of the current, we would both be wiped away before even hitting the bottom."

Hearing this put a sad face upon Anchorus.

"Isn't there anything we can do then?"

He sighed and sat back.

"The only viable solution is to skirt the shore and see if there's some way across. Best get to it."

Anchorus could only shrug as he chose to walk left, looking forward to try and see if anything could help them cross. For a while, there was nothing he could see that would help them, but rather just more of the same. The current did not let up and worse off, Anchus found that the river did not get any less shallow. It would've very well been the end of their venture, had they not spotted something in the distance. Anchorus zoomed in his vision to find that there was a small human-made dock, housing several people and humanoid beings. Anchus got a close look and beheld that various boats were docking there and departing there as well. He then gained an idea.

"Anchorus, do you see that human settlement ahead?"

His brother nodded.

"Yeah, I see it brother."

"It appears they are providing transport across this river. Perhaps that may be our solution."

"That's all fine and dandy Anchus, but how will I get across? I'm bigger than five of those boats combined."

Before Anchus had time to answer, a very large vessel soared through the waves of the Jewel River and headed towards the dock. It was a beast of a ship, being three times the size of Anchorus and looking very stable, though it had a plume of black smoke erupting from it's backside. Anchus smiled when he saw it dock.

"I believe that is the answer to your question, Anchorus. Hehe."

As Anchorus was astounded by this, he started walking to the dock to try and negotiate a way onto the boat. Anchus was able to stop him in his tracks.

"Whoa! Hold up you big lugnut. I have a feeling they're not up to giving big guys like you a free ride. Better let me handle this."

Down off of Anchorus his little brother hopped, landing onto the ground and straightening himself out. He turned back to his brother.

"You just take cover until I give you the signal. If I can coax these humans into providing us a ride, we should be golden."

Just as Anchus took off, Anchorus hid within the jungles right behind them. He waited and kept an eye out for Anchus and his signal. His smaller brother meanwhile approached the docking bay and the various beings gathered around as the huge vessel from before settled into the bay. He cleared his voice box and spoke to them.

"Pardon me, humans, but I would like to schedule a trip across this river, particularly on that giant vessel. Are you who I should address about this?"

One of the beings turned around and responded with apathy.

"Ey, it ain't up to us jack. We's just the movers. Ya gotta ask da Captain for dat permission. Eh's on board now, and should be departin'. OY CAP'N!"

He screamed out for the captain as he stepped down from his vessel. Clad in a sailor uniform, adorned with various medals showing his rank as a superior commanding officer. He went down to the crude being and looked at him, then at Anchus.

"Good day to you two. I'm a bit busy, so state your business."

The humanoid saluted the captain before continuing.

"Oy sir! Dis landlovin bloke wants to charter a trip aboard yer vessel. Think eh's man enough to handle da seas?"

The captain shook his head in gloom, an air of disappoint about him.

"I'm afraid I'm not chartering any more trips today. You see, the engine blew a fuse during a venture into the river, and we just barely arrived back before she broke down completely. I'm afraid my ship is beached until we can get a replacement engine. It'll be quite a shame. Alot of people were hoping to get across this river today..."

At this point Anchus looked back, still seeing his brother in the bushes, and concocted an idea.

"Wait a second captain! I might have a solution to your problem."

The captain gave Anchus his attention.

"A solution? What kind of solution Stranger?"

The droid inhaled a deep breath to explain.

"Well, what if I was to procure something... or someone who could replace your engine? Who I have in mind can bench press twice his weight, and he would probably be able to get your ship across the waters with ease. Thus you wouldn't need to cancel the rest of your trips today."

Again the captain could do nothing but scoff at this outlandish claim.

"oh please. Do not speak such ridiculousness. Who do you know that can propel a ship as large as mine?"

Anchus then whistled, which he considered the signal for his brother. Anchorus immediately rose from the bushes and walked towards the dock, to the shock of the captain and all of his crew, who immediately reached for their harpoons and various weapons as Anchus walked to him.

"THIS guy is the one I refer to. Do not fear. He can propel your ship across the river bank, and in return all we ask is that you allow us to ride free, as we do not have much in currency."

stroking his beard, the man had a decision to make. His crew, along with himself, did not trust this giant who just appeared out of nowhere. He was more than willing to let his crew open fire upon this suspicious character, but then took a moment to think it over.

"So hold on.... this... metal behemoth can propel our ship? How?"

Seeing as Anchus was making this up as he went along, he gazed at the ship and quickly thought of an answer.

"Well, since the ship's deck isn't very high off the surface of the water, my.... companion's arms can reach down and dog paddle the entire ship to the other side. It's what he was designed for."

The plan had clear signs of being patched together at the last second, but the captain's quota for scheduled trips was too large for him to outright deny it.

"Grr...Alright... I guess we can give it a try. I do have alot of people who will be angry if I cancel this trip, but tell me; are you sure this... behemoth can propel the ship?"

Anchorus was worried about what he'd have to do, but he was assured by his brother.

"Yes, my big friend here is very capable. You have no worries."

The captain then put his sailor hat back on and took a deep breath.

"Very well. Men, get the ship packed and prepare for our next departure. We will see if these two are trustworthy enough. We'll set sail within the hour."

Both the brothers pumped their fists in victory, not aware of the captain whispering one last thing to his crew before getting aboard.

"However men, if they do anything suspicious, feel free to retaliate. I will not have insubordination upon my vessel."

The crew all nodded and packed their harpoons away, getting ready for the next river expedition. Anchus and Anchorus were escorted to the back of the ship where they would be able to fit on the poop deck, and here was where they waited while the crew and captain set up preparations, along with the occupants who boarded the vessel. Some stared at Anchorus in fear, while others tried their best to ignore him. Either way, the time passed slowly, and the crew did their best to try and even out the ship, because the weight of the Anchor Brothers was forcing the ship to tilt back. They had to push all the cargo to the front to even out the weight, and even still, the balance was barely made. Thankfully, once everyone was aboard, the ship was stable again, and the captain took his place at the steering wheel as the crew sat in the back, staring at the brothers. One of them approached and laughed heartily, taking a corn cob pipe out of his pocket and lighting it.

"So, how dya landlubbers expect ta move dis ship? Ya ain't lookin like ye got the power that we had in our last engine, and oy'm pretty sure it was smarter then da both of yas. Har har har."

By now Anchus was getting a little pissed off at the multiple cliches of sailors, keeping his back to them so the crew wouldn't see the anger brewing in his face. INstead, he took a rope and tied it around Anchorus' body, doing his best to tie it to the boat, much to the confusion of his brother. Anchorus tried to inquire of this as Anchus then got to bolting his chassis down.

"Anchus? What exactly are you doing? How am I gonna move this big ship?"

"Anchorus, listen up. This is how it's gonna work. I'm going to tie your body down onto the main deck, and you're going to use your arms as giant oars. Since they can reach into the water, you're gonna use them to propel the ship."

Obviously, Anchorus had a few objections with this plan.

"B-but Anchus! I'm not sure if i'm strong enough to move a ship like this. Also, I'm built for strength, not endurance."

Anchus continued bolting him down, clearing the deck of any obstructions.

"Brother, you really shouldn't doubt yourself. You are the muscle of our partnership, so I'm sure you can handle it. Just leave the thinking to me, and propel your arms in the water in a circular motion. Continue doing so for as long as possible until we cross this river."

Anchorus could hear his metal teeth chattering.

"I'm still a little nervous."

"Look Anchorus, if you want the Crimson weed which can save that woman of yours, then I suggest you start. I'm sorry if there isn't much else in terms of options, but hey. It's something we gotta do."

At this point the crew, captain and occupants were getting impatient with the delays, and Anchorus could see the growing malice in the eyes of the crew, so he took a deep breath, let out a little exhaust and started rotating his arms within the water. Their first dip into the watery depth made a resounding splash, and as Anchorus pushed his arms back, he also lifted them out of the water, before bringing them forward and back into the water, pushing the water back. He continued doing this, both his arms pushing water in a circular motion much like the giant oars Anchus had predicted they could be. Before long, Anchorus pushed into high gear, his arms now moving at the speed of turbines, and surprisingly, enough water was being displaced for the ship to actually move forward. Most of the crew actually fell over in disbelief, for they thought he wouldn't be able to move at all. Yet here Anchorus was, invariably PUSHING the ship through the water with his own arms. They were impressed, but nevertheless left the brothers to their duties as they got to their positions on deck. The captain steered the boat out of the dock and slowly into the river as Anchorus continued his position as the replacement "engine". With this, the brothers were now on their way across the jewel river, thankful the humans had actually managed to be helpful, though it was something Anchus would not admit out loud.

The ship traveled into the river and it appeared this obstacle would be out of their way soon in only a few hours, as Anchorus could spot a red cue barely on the horizon, which was the Crimson Woods he assumed. However, this river held quite a few dangers, unknowing to the brothers. A few in particular were swimming right towards them....

Incoming enemy from the rear! Nice chapter, I'm waiting to see how worse their luck can get.

Thanks.

By the way, the next chapter will be a little while before I finish. It's gonna be big.

hehe nice chapter ^_^ I hope for the ship and the crew it's not Anko XD

ch: 18

An hour into the voyage across this vast river, the crewmen had managed to jerry-rig a treadmill to Anchorus' battery, with Anchus running on it, to ensure he did not run out of energy during his navigation across the water. Though Anchus was reluctant to stoop to such archaic forms of generating energy, he did it if only to keep him and his brother from being stranded in the open waters around them.

"How are you doing Anchorus? Just a few miles left!"

Anchorus' gears were creaking left and right from such constant use, yet he conjured up a smile upon his mechanical expression.

"I'm still functioning Anchus. Thanks for the extra energy."

"No problem big guy. Just don't stop dead in this water. We should be across this jewel river shortly."

While Anchus continued to peddle, an older crewmember in the back took a smoke from an old corn cob pipe, chuckling underneath his breaths.

"Ye fellas be lightweights fer such big critters. This river be just a small branch off from the main Jewel River, which be three times as long, and yeilds an infinite amount more dangers. Ya both wouldn't last a day in those waters."

Anchus turned his head to the man, nearly falling off his shoulders from the speed he turned.

"Wait, so there are rivers BIGGER than this?!"

He let out a loud laugh, again addressing Anchus.

"Aye. Just be thankful the captain picked today to sail this vessel. T'is the day most of the mermaids head to the main river to catch a plentiful catch of indigenous migrating fish. We won't run into much trouble, specially considering this river be home to a fierce beauty named Anko."

The brothers were relieved to hear this, as Anchus looked into the water.

"Sounds scary....er, but we can handle it."

The mariner laughed heartily.

"Sure ye can. Sure ye can..."

Both brothers remained cautious about saying anything, not wanting to jinx it, so the response they both gave was a simple nod before they went back to work either providing energy or moving the ship along. The waters behind them meanwhile echoed various ripples, which normally would arouse suspicion from the crew, but unfortunately this did not catch their eyes. The normal lookouts merely continued talking to Anchus and Anchorus, often talking down to them. The brothers just did their best to ignore them.

Another hour into the voyage, Anchorus could feel the gears in his arms occasionally screech against eachother, due to the fact that he wasn't designed for such a strenuous task. He didn't think much of it until ten minutes later, when his right arm actually stopped responding to him, causing it to cease his function as a replacement engine, and soon the vessel slowed, then stopped dead in the water. Anchus looked at his brother, half in disappointment and half in panic.

"Anchorus, now's no time for a break. Keep the ship going."

"Anchus! I... I can't move my right arm! It's stopped responding!"

Everyone, including Anchus, was rather nervous about hearing this, as he rushed to his brother's right arm to investigate.

"What do you mean it isn't responding?! Issue another command prompt! FAST!"

Doing as instructed, the big droid issued another prompt towards his right arm. Yet, it remained unmoving.

"It isn't working!"

Anchus looked around at the crew, which had the same worried expression, then looked into the water.

"Then we're dead in the water...."

The lookout crew quickly sped to the captain to inform him of what happened, all the while Anchus scrambled into Anchorus' inventory to find some tools. When he found a few devices he was looking for, he went towards his brother's right arm and opened up several compartments.

"Hang on Anchorus. Perhaps I can find a way to get your arm working again. Hang tight."

the droid quickly got to work, all while the human from before with the corn cob pipe stared out into the waters, noting several distortions in the surface. He shook his head.

"Aye, we be already dead if ye don't fix yer mate up...."

As Anchos got to work, he spoke to the man.

"What do you mean? You said the mermaids were all gone, right? As long as we don't sink, we should be relatively safe."

A few puffs of smoke escaped from the man's pipe. He knew all too well the danger they were in.

"That first part be correct. I did say the mermaids had departed from this place fer now.... but I never said they were our only concern..."

Anchus didn't wanna ponder on these words for long and got right back to working on his brother. He went over to reach for a three inch screwdriver he left on the deck when he noticed it was missing. In it's place was instead a creature on deck which resembled a two headed pelican, the various feathers on it's body having a plathera of colors. Both heads of this creature were fighting over the shiny screwdriver, to which Anchus did not take well.

"Hey, give that back you filthy creature!"

His arm came hurdling at the being, barely missing it before the beast ascended to the air with it's wings, while it still fought over the screwdriver. It was about to fly off of the ship, when the old man from before threw his corn cob pipe at the beast, forcing it to drop the driver into his hand as the bird made a hasty retreat. Revolving like a boomerang, his pipe returned to his other hand and back to his mouth for another smoke, as he handed off the tool to Anchus.

"Ar, those be Suwaro Pelicans matey. They fancy yer shiny possessions, and yer lucky it didn't make off with that screw driver of yers. Now fer the love of everything holy, fix up yer mate so we can get the hell out of here!"

Anchus took the tool and turned around, uttering a low sounding "thanks" under his mumbles before getting back to work on Anchorus. He dug deep into the circuits to find what was the problem, which took him a good long while to figure out.

The crew of thirty or so men meanwhile went back to the Anchor Brothers, each looking slightly panicked.

"Ey, listen ya metal land lovers. The captain needs ya to get this ship moving ASAP. Hurry it up will ya?"

Anchus turned around, covered in bits of oil with a grim expression.

"Don't rush me, humans! This is a complex problem in Anchorus' mechanical synapses, and it takes time to fix."

One man in the crew, a tall, musclebound, four armed being looked out at the ocean.

"You think dis is bad now, well the captain has detected large amounts of movement in dese waters. If we don't get a move out, we gonna be in some big trou-"

A powerful jet of water interrupted him, splashing right into him and nearly throwing him off the deck of the ship. Two of his arms caught onto the side railing and grabbed himself back up. He saw what did it and pointed towards the direction, his gaze locked onto a particularly menacing fish with a puffy exterior and great, round eyes. It sucked up some more water and pointed towards the muscle bound man again, before spitting out another extremely powerful jet of water. This time, the four armed crewmember got to cover and just avoided it by centimeters.

"LOOK OUT! It be a Toxotida! All crew men your stations!"

The four armed behemoth muscled himself onboard and grabbed a harpoon from his station, as did several other crewmates. They quickly loaded them and fired at the Toxotida, injuring it greatly and forcing it to retreat. Anchus all the while was looking on.

"A Toxo-what?"

Seeing this unfold, the corn cob pipe smoking gentlemen took another inhale from his device and looked into the waters.

"The Toxotida be powerful blowfish style creatures that use hydro tactics in blowing sailors off of vessels."

Unfortunately, more distortions in the water caused the ship to shake violently, as several other fish emerged from the river. Some were similar to the Toxotida, others leaped above the watery currents and glided above the water with their unusually large pectoral fins and tail fins, circling the ship, while still others had the appearance of silver colored groupers, each bearing mighty jaws and rows of teeth which struck fear into the hearts of the newer crewmen. Corn Cob pipe man did not look happy.

"Looks like we also got some Exovoles skating across the waters, and I be damned, I even spot some Silver Mycorpes as well ."

All these fish at once started attacking the ship, the Exovoles skating right over the ship and grabbing unsuspecting crewmembers off the deck, while the Silver Mycorpes used their powerful jaws to ram into the ship, trying to knock sailors off of it. Meanwhile, other Toxotidas used their powerful jets of water to shoot onboard, trying to blow anyone off guard into the waters. In an instant groups of beings were blown off the ship and swallowed whole by these ferocious river dwellers. Some were fought over, as these fish apparently didn't feel like sharing, but all in all the situation turned violent quickly. The remaining thirty odd crew manned their harpoons and began firing into the fish below, aiming for vital spots and keeping them from continuing their attack on the ship. The man with the pipe ran to Anchus and took a peek inside his brother's malfunctioning arm.

"It appears as though we swam right into a feeding frenzy. Ye best pray fer mercy from whoever rules these seas here."

A stream of water blew right above both the man and Anchus, leaving them drenched.

"Alright, I get it you badgery old human. Besides, I should have this fixed right about...now!"

He attached two circuits together, which created a minor explosion which blew up in Anchus's face. He wiped the oil and soot off as he looked over.

"Not a word you crotchity old...."

He made a zipper motion across his lips.

"Aye, it be a small mistake. Now work around it and get yer mate workin again."

"Relax. I work well under pressure. It's in my warranty."

Around Anchus and the old man was a great seafaring skirmish which took place, harpoons flying across the air, striking and killing some of the durable predatory fish, while more and more of the unprepared deck hands were pushed over by jets of water or grabbed by the skating Exovoles. Anchorus did what he could, despite being bolted down and without a right arm, utilizing his left arm to grab these fish one at a time and hurl them far back, or just plain smack them into waters, hoping they would retreat. Several Exovoles attempted to grab Anchus, as he was bigger prey to them, but the old man kept them off of Anchus either by manning a harpoon himself or letting them have it with his old corn cob pipe, throwing it at them and having it return like before. Atoxotida aimed a jetstream of water at the old man when he wasn't looking, but thankfully Anchus caught sight of it in time and pulled him back, just barely avoiding the attack.

"Aye, thanks fer that."

Anchus nodded.

"Just repaying the favor. Now keep me covered."

The battle waged well into the hour, and there were now much fewer crewmen then before, but the fish were still coming in. The passengers inside the vessel were now panicked, thinking they might die. The families onboard held eachother and feared for the worst, as the ship continued to be rocked and abused. Right in the nick of time thankfully, Anchus slammed the compartments of his brother's arm closed and shouted the orders.

"You're fixed Anchorus. NOW LET'S GO GO GO!"

Anchorus started to row, and to his joyous surprise, his right arm started functioning again. He now put all of his effort into rowing as hard as his processor could allow, pushing it to the very limit. In less than a minute, the ship started moving again, and was gaining ground away from the fish, who still pursued the vessel. Most of them still continued their attack, but eventually, the ship just got too far away from them and the mass of fish gave up the chase and simply sunk back beneath the waves. Shore was now in sight, and the crew threw their harpoons up in glorious victory, having avoided a worst case scenario, as did the passengers inside. Even the captain felt a relief as he gripped the steering wheel and prepared to move towards the docks...

...

Their ship safely docked with the harbor on the other side of the river, following it with breaths of relief from everyone on board. Though they mourned the people who were lost, they also celebrated escaping a similar fate. Anchus slouched down and relaxed his pained servos right after helping the crew to unbolt Anchorus from their ship. Both the tired and worn droids jumped off the ship and practically kissed the solid ground, thanking their motherboards that they made it in one piece. As they did so, the man from before walked up behind them, smoking the last tobacco in his pipe.

"Ye fellas weren't too bad considering the pressure ye was under. Both of yas have got potential."

Anchus, showing a rare curiousness, gandered back at the old man.

"It's appreciated. You weren't too bad yourself. Hell, you were particularly.... helpful. I guess we both owe you a debt of gratitude, for a human anyway. Though something is bothering me. Neither of us know your name. What is it by chance?"

The old man took one last smoke of his pipe and laughed.

"Aye, the debt be nothin. Ye earned yer sea legs fer today, and next time you'll be able to swim with em. So no worry."

As said old man turned back and walked around the corner of the ship, he emptied his pipe before putting it in his pocket.

"Oh, and fer future reference, the name be Jones. Davy Jones. T'was a fine day makin yer acquaintance, but I have a locker to attend to...."

Anchus tried to look around the corner to see where he went, but by then the oldster had already disappeared from sight, to the surprise of Anchus and Anchorus. Anchorus sat on the dock to let his systems recover from that strenuous trip, all while Anchus sought out the captain. He found the captain escorting his passengers off to the dock.

"Say, captain, I need to know where one of your crewmates went, in particular a guy named Davy Jones. He seems to have disappeared. Have you seen him by chance?"

The captain gave Anchus a questioned look, as if he was staring at a crazy person.

"Davy? Jones? Nobody on my crew goes by that name. The river's perils must've gotten to you lad."

The captain walked off, leaving Anchus to wonder.

"Not part of his crew? then how...."'

All the way back to Anchorus he pondered of the absense of this character from the captain's crew list, but he just couldn't figure it out. Fearing it would malfunction his logic circuits, he tried to forget it, and mounted his brother's shoulder.

"Alright, let's... put this little fiasco behind us Anchorus. Continue forward towards our objective!"

On a last note, Anchorus was still a bit worn.

"Did you find out where that Davy fella disappeared to?"

"...I'd rather not discuss it Anchorus. Time around these humans are likely caused more damage to us then we realize. Let's move."

The two of them thus continued with their journey, despite their weary condition, fortunately with the dangerous rivers now behind them. They took an hour or so to let their systems return to a better condition, but they did not have much to fear. They were less than 2 steps away, in convenience, before they were face to face with the reddest section in all of Felarya: The Jungle of Perils....

This chapter was pretty good and it utilized a lot of critters as the main threat, which I think writers should do more often. Jones is badass and for a moment I thought it was Al in disguise... within a disguise. Here are the typos I picked:

"As Anchos got to work" Instead of "As Anchus"

"Atoxotida aimed a jetstream" Instead of "A toxotida"

Thanks. That's what I was going for.

Great chapter ^_^
I really loved the interraction wit the fauna of the Jewel river , especially the Suwaro Pelican

CH. 19

Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, a little orange, then more red. This was what the Anchor Brothers beheld in the zone that came to be known as the Jungle of Perils. For a brief moment they thought their eyes had malfunctioned, for it was impossible at first for them to grasp that one color could dominate an area to such an extreme degree. They corrected themselves, however, and noticed that what they saw was no error. The perilous jungle was indeed permanently stained in the hue of blood. Anchus nearly tripped off of his brother's shoulder from merely looking at the forest around him.

"URGH! SO MUCH RED! Damnit, Anchorus, who's idea was it to make such a headache inducing spot in this world? I can barely keep my balance with all this red messing up my depth perception."

Anchorus walked inward into this mysterious crimson maze, making sure to stick close to one tree after another, to avoid falling over himself.

"It isn't so bad brother. I mean, yeah it really messes up my vision, but you kinda get used to it. Regardless, get the map out. I really want to start looking for that Crimson weed. Frogo said it was around here, right?"

Anchus scrambled into their inventory and grabbed out the map. When he turned it on, he saw the various pinpoints Frogoboscus had made, and the two of them were right ontop of one of the marks, a relief no doubt to Anchus, since the map was hard enough to read.

"Well, we're actually pretty close to one of the spots marked on the map. Just keep an eye out for the weeds. If Frogo is correct with these markings, they should be easy to spot. If his description of the weeds is also accurate, then we should find them easy."

Halting in his tracks, Anchorus took a look around on the jungle floor, scanning any of the flora he could find. He had a vague idea of what regular weeds looked like, and so assumed the Crimson weeds wouldn't be much harder to spot. Meanwhile, his miniscule brother jumped down from the shoulder, but this time kept close to his brother, to ensure he wasn't caught off guard by the fauna around them.

"Alright, start scanning Anchorus. When you spot anything funny looking, just tell me where it is."

"Gotcha brother."

The search for the weed was now on, as the brothers focused deeply in finding them. Thankfully there were no predators around this particular area, which meant they could search in relative peace. Their presence there did attract some attention, unbeknownst to the two of the droids. This was made apparent when Anchorus turned his back for a mere second and heard the sound of Anchus being punched hard enough to throw him to the ground. He turned around as fast as possible, only to witness Anchus's face being punched in and deep. He had actually been knocked backwards onto his back.

"Anchus! Are you okay?!"

The stalwart Anchus slowly got to his feet, shaking off the shock of what happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just took a hit from something."

When he opened his eyes, Anchus saw infront of him a strange sight. What stood before him was what appeared to be a man-like dinosaur creature, which hopped around and kept its gaze solely on Anchus. As Anchus got back up, the creature used one of it's very boney arms and smashed into him again, sending him back to the ground, which did not sit well with him.

"Damnit all! Brother, get this thing away from me!"

As Anchorus was about to raise his arm, the strange punch-happy theropod jumped off into the distance to retreat, having gained his jollies from delivering a one-two punch to Anchus. Now with nobody to retaliate against, Anchorus merely helped his brother up, and helped to get his face back in order.

"Sorry about that Anchus. The thing retreated before I could act. What was that anyway?"

Once back in order, Anchus got himself back in order and grabbed the holo-cube he dropped. Again taking a stroll through it's encyclopedia, he found an entry which perfectly described what they encountered.

"According to Al's cube, what we just encountered was a Clobbersaurus. It does nothing but go around and punch people, then it runs away before people can retaliate."

He sighed, as he already found that out the hard way.

"They're also found here quite alot. Ugh, that means we better find that Crimson weed fast Anchorus. I do NOT want to run into another one of those filthy beasts."

Once the holo-cube was put away, the brothers quickly resumed their search, which went on for a good hour. During that hour, the brothers encountered multiple creatures which were thankfully less annoying than the Clobbersaurus. Among them were rather docile life forms like the land urchins, which blended in rather well with their bright red spherical spine covered shells. With a cautious motion to his step, Anchus was able to avoid their almost nonexistent mouths. They had also managed to run into a few storm seekers, which they remembered from their previous journeys through the swamps. This time the brothers stayed low and stayed together, to avoid their lightning attacks. Once clear of them, the brothers now found themselves deeper in the jungle, and as they were about to continue, Anchus tripped on a very large patch of heavy leaves.

"OOF! Damn this forest!"

As he got back up, he looked down and noticed that what he tripped on looked suspiciously like weeds.

"Wait a sec... Anchorus, give these a scan, will you?"

His brother obediently did so, and soon was delighted by what he found.

"Hey Anchus! The scans say these are definitely weeds, and they're heavily influenced with crimson hue."

"Excellent. These must be the weeds Frogo spoke of. It's odd they don't occur more often in these forests, but that doesn't matter now. Grab what you can and let's get out of here."

Anchorus was not sure how much Frogo would need, so he filled his entire inventory with the crimson weed, extracting nearly one hundred pounds of the floral substance. When he couldn't carry any more, Anchorus shut off his inventory area and grabbed his brother.

"Alright. I guess this means we can head back, right Anchus?"

He nodded.

"Right brother. Erm... which way did we take again?"

The two of them were now stuck in a little situation. Anchorus turned around and found that his footsteps in the jungle floor had now blended in with all the red. Every area around him now looked the same, because of the constant red which almost blotted out any key differences in the surroundings. Worse off, there was a strange magnetic presence because of the stormseekers which flew above, which was causing problems to the internal compasses both brothers had. They were essentially lost in the Jungle of Perils, and it wasn't long before they started to panic.

"A-Anchus... how do we get out of here? My internal navigation isn't working.... I don't know where we go from this point..."

Anchus scrambled to pull out the map, trying to make head or tail of it.

"I don't know brother. The map doesn't give any indication of where we are in this Jungle. Try turning around exactly 180 degrees and just head that way. I'm sure that should help."

"Are you sure Anchus? I don't think we walked north all this time. We took a few turns every now and then."

"It's all we can do Anchorus. Just give it a try."

The lumbering droid did as his brother said and turned around exactly 180 degrees. He then walked further into the forest, trying to recollect where he and Anchus had traveled. Though the surrounds did look slightly familiar, it didn't help them to a great degree, for the red still disoriented them. They came on a break though, when Anchorus stumbled into an area which vastly differed from the rest of the Jungle. Anchus took a look around and noticed the area change immediately.

"Hang on brother! This place seems to stick out from the rest of the surroundings."

"Really Anchus? How so?"

"Well, just look at it."

What they saw infront of them was an extremely huge path, which was paved clean. Trees in the path were bent over and crushed to death, flora AND fauna alike were torn apart and left to die, and there were millions of small foot steps which didn't seem human at all. Overall, the path which was carved out appeared to be more of a warzone than a simple man-made trail. When the brothers saw these details, Anchorus couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Anchus... whatever made this trail wasn't human.... I don't think even a predator could do this... just look..."

"I understand Anchorus. I see a bunch of killed creatures and a path of destruction that continues into the darkness, but it's a marker, right? Perhaps if we follow this path, we'll find our way out of here."

Though this was logic Anchorus could agree with, something in the back of his head kept warning him.

"I dunno Anchus. WHat if the thing or things that made this path come back?"

"Well, we'll just have to hurry then. It's better than waiting here."

So it was settled. Anchorus got onto the beaten path (quite literally) and walked down it, hoping that the end would lead them out of the jungle. The brothers finally caught a stroke of luck this time, as the path did have a non-red light at the end of it, which was the end of the jungle. The brothers were quick to race to this end, but were cut off abruptly as the forest shook violently. Anchus and Anchorus heard this noise coming from behind them, and what they saw was a fearful sight. In the darkness of the veil of red which encompassed the jungle was the sight of thousands of little glowing eyes as they stared in the direction of the Anchor Brothers. Without warning, the two of them heard the sounds of growling and howling by the thousands. The sound alone was enough to leave Anchus and his brother in shambles, but it just got louder from there. Anchus tried pulling out his holo-cube, which was on the verge of shattering from all the noise.

"Anchus! What the hell is that sound?! It's so loud!"

By the time Anchus opened the cube, the wave of glowing eyes had made progress towards them. At the same time, the jungle shook as if in a magnificently horrifying earthquake.

"Okay, hang on brother.... Jungle of Perils... fauna... wildlife.....okay, here it is...oh sweet mercy...!!!"

Anchus was now actually afraid, as he stuffed the cube back into the inventory and grabbed onto Anchorus.

"Anchorus, start running!

"But why? What does the entry say?"

"JUST RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Anchus had plenty of reason to be afraid. The creatures they saw, which killed and ravaged everything in their way, were the most dangerous life forms one would ever encounter in the Jungle of Perils, if not the entire dimension, and he had found their description in Al's holo-cube...

Bloodclaw Apes.

Oh, so the entire Clobbersaurus race comes from the Jungle or Perils. That actually expalins a lot on their mentality. Every time I read your story, it makes me think that I should incorporate more wildlife as the primary threats when my story starts for real. I can think of another reason the Jungle of Perils is called so: It's so red that it blinds you to all dangers around.

Yeah, that would pretty much fit the jungle perfectly. Thanks for the feedback.

great chapter ^_^
I loved your description of the jungle and the encounter with the closbbersaurus made me chuckkle XD

Ch: 20

The two brothers sped along the beaten path as the literal wave of murder known as the BloodClaw Ape Stampede rustled ever closer to them. Behind them Anchorus could hear the sound of innocent beasts being caught off guard and being violently killed by the apes. It only added as an incentive to run like hell. Anchus, not particularly worried for the well being of organics in this zone, was less affected by these sounds, though still showed great fear concerning what those beasts would do to him and Anchorus. He held on tight, praying to his motherboard they would reach the edge of the forest.

"Keep running Anchorus! Those demons are bloodclaw apes! Al's information says they're one of the top ranked dangers in all of Felarya! NOW RUN DAMNIT!"

Even though the path was paved from what Anchorus assumed was the ape's previous rampage, he had to pull Olympic class jumps to avoid all the debris on the Jungle floor, including knocked over stumps, crushed mounds of leaves, sticks and wood, and of course the occasional land Urchin who had made home there. Having to dodge all these obstacles while running like a madman, he accidentally tripped on a slowly migrating urchin, which made him tumble to the ground. Anchus was sent flying into a tree and nearly tore through the bark. He quickly unstuck himself from the tree and ran back to his brother.

"Hurry and get up Anchorus! You chose the worst time to fall down!"

His stalwart yet clumsy sibling rose to his feet and grabbed Anchus.

"I didn't choose to fall, Anchus. Come on, cut me a break!"

It appeared as though they were going to bicker again, but the blood curdling screeches of the ape stampede behind them brought them to their senses, resuming their trek to the end of the destroyed path. Said end to the path Let out a shine that was pure white, signalling that no more crimson flora were that way. Anchus and Anchorus did not let up, eventually reaching the gateway out of their Ruby influenced surroundings, and landing in the open field which lay to the side of the Jungle of Perils. They did not know if they were out of danger yet, so they turned their gaze around and peeked back in, only to find that the wave of Bloodclaws had mysteriously disappeared. Even Anchus, with all his logic and intelligence, could not make head or tail of this.

"They... they're gone?! What? I... what is this I don't even..."

Anchorus took the moment to rest on his robotic posterior and release some steam.

"Anchus, I really don't wanna question that. They're gone, right? That isn't a bad thing... let's take a break before heading back..."

"....I guess you have a point, but still... you saw them, correct? They were on our backs, and then they just disappear... it's like they warped into thin air..."

In the end he just shrugged and decided to let it go. The two brothers rested on their backs to let their servos recharge from before.

"Anchorus, check your inventory real quick. We still have the Crimson weed supply, correct?"

Anchorus opened his inventory slot on his back and peeked in.

"Some of it fell out during that chase, but we still have alot. I'm sure Frogo can make a decent anti-curse vaccine with this."

"Alright, I'm just checking. There is no way in the deepest pits of Robot Hell am I returning here after we finish this retarded fetch quest."

Anchorus laughed lightly and shook his head.

"We are in agreement there Anchus. I also don't want to see the color red anymore. Urgh, my optics have red burned into them."

The two sat back and continued conversating all the way to the early evening, when they had finally recharged and got back up. They looked to the evening sun and prepared to walk back to the Jewel River, when a thought occurred to Anchus.

"Guess we should head back now. Though I just thought of the conondrum of how we're going to get back..."

Keeping his stride full, Anchorus looked on the bright side.

"Why not take that ship from before? I'm sure they'd let us have a ride back."

"I don't know Anchorus. What makes you sure they'd even be there? They're humans, I'm sure they had to scurry off somewhere to do something else."

Once again Anchus was proven wrong, as when the brothers reached the Branch off of the Jewel River, they saw the same dock where they had coem from, and indeed the same ship which took them here was still parked at the port. The back of the ship was blank, still missing a replacement engine. Anchorus smiled upon seeing this.

"I told you Anchus. I had a feeling they wouldn't replace that engine in time."

This was a rare moment of brilliance for Anchorus and Anchus could do nothing but applaud.

"Well, melt me down to soup cans! For once you actually outsmarted me Anchorus. Perhaps there is hope for you after all. heh."

The captain from before, who previously was pacing back and forth, saw the coming of the two droids and ran up to them, actually relieved to see them.

"Phew, thank goodness you two came back. Listen, we tried ordering an engine for us to make our return trip, but the latest they'll be able to get it to us is in 4 days, due to the long trek around this branch of the Jewel River. Of course we have to be the only vessel available for swimming across it. Since you brought us over, do you think..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, this man beheld Anchus bolting his brother onto the deck of the ship in record time.

"Yeah, yeah, sure whatever. Me and Anchorus will help. Let's just go!"

He was relieved they were willing to help, so the captain rounded up his crew and boarded his ship, which soon took off out of the port thanks again to Anchorus and his mighty arms. This time the droid seemed to have little trouble propelling the ship, thanks to previous experience. Within less than thirty minutes the perilous red jungle became nothing more than a red shadow on the horizon, and the brothers never turned back. As Anchus stood by his brother, using a power generator to help him keep up his energy, he saw several new crewmates nearby, which puzzled him. He later found out that some were technicians who would help him incase Anchorus malfunctioned again, while others acted as battle hardened navy combatants, incase they experienced another attack. AFter hearing about what happened before, having them nearby did bring a semblance of safety to the crew.

The return trip was oddly peaceful. While the men were arming the harpoons, it appeared as though no fish were following them. There was barely a Suwaro Pelican sighting around them, but nobody on board seemed to complain for obvious reasons. Also, it appeared as though Anchorus was having less trouble than before. His arms showed no sign of breaking down like last time, and Anchus merely attributed it to his superior technician skills.

"You see Anchorus? You haven't broken down yet. I'm not too bad at fixing us up, eh? I could even give Al a run for his money."

Through his strokes, Anchorus merely chuckled.

"Heh. You got it Anchus."

Every once in a while though, Anchus turned his head, for he still remembered the man named Davy Jones, who disappeared from this ship entirely. Anchus was suspecting it was merely a malfunction of their optic sensors and planned to have Al check them up later, but for now, he kept on giving Anchorus an extra bit of battery power for his strenuous task...

It was already partway into the night, as Anchus and Anchorus had successfully driven the human vessel across the Jewel River's branch off and returned it to the first dock. When the crew brought the ship in to port, Anchorus unbolted himself from the deck and got up, still feeling the strain in his arms. Though it had been easier than the first time, it still drained him and left him drowsy. He and Anchus departed the vessel and prepared to leave, when the captain walked up behind them.

"Hold on you two! I didn't get to properly convey my gratitude to you giants. You performed better than I thought you would, and I salute you for your help."

Following this was a traditional captain's salute, with his arm at position to his forehead. Anchorus didn't know what else to do but imitate what he saw, "saluting" the captain right back. Anchus couldn't be bothered to, as he gave a mere wave.

"Very cute Anchorus. Now let's head back."

Anchorus went up to a tree, however, and sat against it.

"Actually Anchus.... it's kinda late. Why don't we take a break for the night. You know, let our systems cool down and our internal batteries recharge a bit. I'm pooped."

There was little resistance had, as Anchus too felt a mechanical fatigue in his gears.

"Alright then. We can rest for the night. Let's get moving first thing in the morning though. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

It was then agreed upon, both of them shutting down for the night and securing a fresh start tomorrow. It would be a loooong trek back to the Sunken Forest, but they knew it and were ready for when the next day came...


~~~~~


"Hurry up you birdbrain! We've almost arrived!"

These words uttered from the mouth of the irritable naga Endrynna as she was carried across the jungles by the ever weakening harpy Gisor, whose breaths gave away the fatigue he felt as his wings flapped harder and harder in order to keep the two of them aerial.

"Ugh, I don't know why I have to fly you to the Jungle of Perils Endrynna. We're heading towards it from the West, and I don't recall ever running across a river from this direction."

This was met with a whack to the head by Endrynna's staff, which she had retrieved from her old naga den.

"Shut your noise hole featherface! I need to be in peak condition if we're going to dispose of those monsters."

Under his whims, he could only muse to himself.

"Yeah, whatever..."

Gisor used the remaining might in his wings to bring Endrynna and himself to the Jungle of Perils, which conveyed it's own red hue to the two predators. He landed right where the forest began, and collapsed thereafter, right as Endrynna got to her tail and rubbed a bit of dirt off of her body. She took a deep long gaze into the Crimson colored maze and grasped her staff tight.

"I can smell them. They should be here..."

"Are you sure? It's been a while since that Ancho guy showed us that image of them catching air. They better not have moved on already."

Endrynna shook her head and tugged Gisor by his talon, dragging him foot first into the forest.

"Don't be so lazy. We will check it out, and we will find something in here."

Eventually the oversized chicken got to his feet and followed her in, wherein she took her staff and moved a bit of debris out of their way. She grinned when she looked down.

"Yep. I told you. Take a look at these!"

Gisor wasn't sure what she meant, but when he looked, he saw large footprints which dug deep into the floor of the forest. They were inhuman, and matched Anchorus's robotic feet exactly.

"I told you Gisor. His trail leads here by these footsteps. I can smell them from a mile away, because they leave the distinct odor of rusting metal. It makes me want to kill when I smell it up close...."

"What foot steps? agh, I can barely see anything. This constant red causes my eyes to funk out."

Endrynna sighed and dragged Gisor along the trail. The overzealous naga followed the tracks into the forest, Gisor following behind. They did not catch on that the Anchor Brothers were long gone, but continued investigating anyway. Eventually they ran into the same beaten down path the brothers encountered before. It was an unsettling sight to Gisor.

"What the hell.... the Anchor Brothers did this?!"

"No, bird brain. Look at these markings. Not to mention the sheer size of the destruction. This isn't their doing.... it looks like..."

The both of them then came across the thousand howling demons that did make the beaten path, but by the time Gisor and Endrynna noticed them approaching, they were far too close to run away.....

~~~~~~~~~

Another sunny morning dawned for Anchus and Anchorus, and as they powered up, the shine from the new day caught their attention, Anchorus especially.

"Ah, what a wonderful new morning. Don't you think brother? ...Brother?"

By this time Anchus was tapping his foot, arms crossed in waiting.

"Yes yes, it's nice. I really don't want to delay this trip Anchorus. Now shake off the morning static and let's go."

Anchus was saddened his brother was in such a hurry, but he agreed. They were on a time limit, so Anchus jumped up on his brother and made their trek back.

As they walked away from their resting tree, they looked up and saw the obstacle known as the Miragia Forest. It seemed even more intimidating then before, as if to mock the two of them. Anchorus was already having second thoughts.

"Hey... Anchus... do we really need to travel through here?"

"It's the quickest way back brother... but I see your point... we can try looking for some other way around this forest."

With this set in mind, Anchorus decided to walk parallel to the forest's rim instead of walking into it, hoping instead to find a way around it. Even from the outside, the Miragia region made both Anchor Brothers very unsettled. They could hear the sound of dupligeckos warping in and out of this dimension, and remembering their previous encounter, were doing everything possible to risk another run-in. Infact, the act of being near the forest was enough to make their sensors slightly nauseous, especially Anchus.

"Urgh, slow down Anchorus... all the magnetic and dimensional activity around here is making me feel sick."

"Well, just hang on a bit more Anchus. There's gotta be some way througth here tha..."

By a stroke of fortune he just so happened to stumble upon a paved road that ran through the forest. Seeing as it was pretty much empty, both Anchus and Anchorus took delight in immediately traveling down said road, and it was quite a trek. Unlike the oddities of their previous run through of this unstable area, the road was unobstructed and even odder was that it remained mostly undamaged by dimensional warping around it, save for the occasional piles of rubble which fell from the sky. Without a doubt this road was their ticket through the Miragia Zone.

"Anchus look! I think we have a path we can travel through.!"

"Excellent. Let's ride Anchorus."

They took no time before running along the trail, and the peaceful facade did not let up as they entred it. They ran into very few of the jungle's creatures, which made the trip all the faster. All was not quiet the whole trip, however, as soon Anchus and Anchorus could hear the sound of vehicles approaching. Anchus opened his hearing receptors and listened closely.

"Anchorus.... I hear something... vehicles! I hear the treads of vehicles! And they're getting closer! Stay on your guard."

Anchus didn't know how right he was, as three large sized vehicles burst onto the road, mere meters away from the brothers. Anchorus was almost knocked onto his butt as they skid to a halt. Anchus took the time to scan the vehicles infront of them as they recovered from skid halting. The large bulky vehicle had tank treads in the back with 6 wheels on the front of it's axle, and was armed with multiple gun emplacements, along with being reinforced with high grade carbonite steel. This mobile fortress was about 40 feet tall, but still gave Anchorus a chill by looking at it, especially since it had a massive railgun in place on the top of it, which swung around towards Anchorus in defense. Around this larger truck were smaller jeeps, numbering to about 5, each with 4 humans inside armed with sawed off shotguns and revolvers for reserve. Oddly enough, there were some men and women wielding staffs as well, suggesting several of them were users of the arcane magics. Suddenly, all the weapons on the truck aimed towards Anchorus and the humans aimed their armaments at him as well, leaving him mortified as Anchus tried to intervene.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on humans! We mean no harm. Do not fire upon us!"

"Y-yeah, what my brother said. We don't want any trouble."

Both Anchus and his larger companion remained still as statues, scared that one movement would be all it took to get them shot up. The guns did not fire, however, but what happened was that a hatch on the top of the large vehicular fortress opened up, and a humanoid popped out. It was particularly old human with a glaring white beard and a creepy old laugh. He turned to Anchus and Anchorus and let out said laugh.

"Heheheh. Well, I'll be damned."

The brothers looked at the humanoid and couldn't believe what they saw...

I knew he couldn't stay out of the story for long. Looks like shit just got real for Snake and Chicken. :p

Haha. Yes, it's gotten real indeed. XP

ahh nice to see him again

By the way, I apologize if the story might be a little incoherant at times. I'm doing all I can to follow Karbo's map to a tea, to avoid making geographical errors. Anyway, please continue on.
_____________
ch:21

"It's been a while fellas. What are ya'll doin 'round these parts?"

Anchus hit his palm with his face so hard his head nearly came off.

"AL?! Are you KIDDING ME?! You scared the circuits out of us!!!"

The jolly cyborg hopped out of the hatch and leaned against a gun turret.

"Well, I didn't expect to run into ya fellas, especially in this part of Felarya. Tell me, how is yer search fer that naga lady goin?"

Anchorus got up and shook off the tension he just felt before.

"Well, we found her, but it's a long story and we really need to get to the Sunken Forest, which is faaaar down South of here. That's why we need a quick way through the Miragia Forest."

Al chuckled, then signaled to all the humans around him in the jeeps.

"Well, yer in luck. My jetpack malfunctioned while I was doing some research in the Ur-Sagol ruins and I ran into some old colleagues from an old Negav toolshop who were willing to give me a ride. If ya want, we can head through the Miragia Forest in one big convoy."

The brothers nodded yes simultaneously.

"Yes, that would be very appreciated. Thank you Al."

A human from inside the large vehicle fort signalled the jeeps around them to start up, and soon the convoy treaded down the path through the Miragia region. Anchus and Anchorus followed, though the bigger of them couldn't really understand something about the humans.

"Hey Al, I don't mean to be picky, and since Anchus isn't gonna ask... well, why are these humans so well armed? And for that matter, where the hell did they get these weapons?"

"Well, though it's against my policy, I helped em make a few of these vehicles a long time ago, and ever since then they've owed me a few favors. They're a big group of human researchers that helped me become the encyclopedic cybrog I am today, not to mention they often travel to dangerous places. Though I do agree with ya, the giant railgun is a little overkill. Still, it gets the job done."

Anchorus was amazed by the giant gun which stood atop the largest vehicle.

"Really Al? What kinda job involves a gun of that size?":

Al made a zipping motion across his mouth.

"Well, it involves some tonorion nests we encountered, but it's more of a secret job. The humans respect a little privacy, but if ya'll don't go about blabbin' to everyone, I can let ya in on a few hints."

Anchorus shrugged, since it didn't bother him much.

"Well, just as long as the humans don't turn against us, I'll feel much better."

"Ya'll need to relax Anchorus. These humans are actually not too bad. i know several of em on a personal basis."

Almost immediately they could hear sighs coming from the shoulder Anchus was on.

"Don't tell me you're sympathizing with these meatbags Al. I get enough of this tender heart garbage from my brother. I don't need you joining him."

Al shook his head and sat back on the vehicle as it sped up a bit through the harsher terrain. Anchorus increased the pace in his step to compensate.

"Now relax sonny. Ya'll just be thankful These humans ain't crazy like most of Negav's organic population. During rough situations, ya gotta deal with the cards yer given."

The petite Anchus shrugged and continued his lazy lounging.

"Whatever. Since we're on a safe path, I'm gonna catch some recharge time. Wake we when we're there."

It was then Anchus went into hibernation, leaving his brother and Al to make more conversation, the Convoy ever vigilant in paving a path ahead. The forest was huge, and so the trip would definitely be a long one...

...

It was 3 hours into the drive, a much relieved Anchorus taking the time to explain their predicament to Al, in the meantime viewing the oddities of the forest once more. Trees warped in through other trees, strange creatures of all kinda abusing their natural warping abilities, and every once in a while a native creature seeing the convoy and fleeing off in terror, were events Anchorus had now gotten used to. It didn't confuse him any less, but he had nonetheless grown accustomed to seeing them. Al meanwhile took his holo-cube map from Anchorus and examined it closely.

"So, ya'll are gonna bring some frog fella some medicine so he can make a vaccine to help that Laureen lady not wanna kill stuff thanks to a curse?"

Anchorus nodded.

"That's the jist of it."

"Well, these things happen. Say, about that 'Crimson weed' ya'll say yer carrying... if ya got any left over, I might be interested in performin some tests on it. If ya'll don't mind."

"Not at all Al."

Assured of another good deal made, Al got back into the vehicular fort and checked on the humans below. According to their instruments, they were more than halfway through the region, and would reach the southern rim of Miragia Forest within the hour if they continued without end. Indeed this was good news to Al, as he went back out of the vehicle and informed Anchorus. Anchus couldn't be bothered as he was continuing to hibernate.

"Well Anchorus. We should be near the rim of the forest soon. And from there we'll be partin ways fer a bit. These humans gotta head fer Negav."

"Okay Al. I still wish you'd tell me why though."

AL leaned in towards his direction and whispered loud enough for Anchorus.

"Don't tell nobody, but these here pals found some tonorion eggs about a few kilos Northwest of Negav, near the Forest of Whispers and within a great big hive of Tonorions. They swiped em and then made a big exit."

Anchorus tilted his head.

"What? Why? Those eggs don't belong to the humans."

The expression on Al's face was one of agreement, but a bitter shrug followed.

"Yeah, I'm aware sonny, but I scanned them eggs, and they have some abnormal readings. They're the same readings that came from the Electric king Crab. Remember him?"

Anchorus didn't have to answer, for his own expression, AKA one of untold fear, told Al everything he needed to know.

"Yep. These eggs have those same readings. It's some sort of dimensional energy that's warping the embryos inside, and it affected that King Crab as well. Hell, while I was out doing my research, I noticed alot of critters from the Miragia forest sufferin' from this effect. I take it this sector is letting off some nasty vibes."

Al looked around again, then back at Anchorus.

"With this in mind, I've been doin some research. The crab and these eggs might have been warped by the energies here. Though I don't know what kinda beast would lay these eggs... They're massive, if ya haven't seen em yet."

Anchorus denied his chance to look at said eggs and just kept walking alongside the vehicles.

"Well, for your sake Al, I hope those Tonorions don't get mad you stole their hatchlings."

Again a look of agreement but bitter reality shone from Al's mug.

"Actually, few of em did chase these humans out of the hive, but they assured me them tonorions stopped chasin em around the time they drove by me. We're gonna keep drivin to the rim of the Miragia Sector and then double back to a crossing bridge near the Ur-Sagol site to make sure we lost em."

Thus came a relieving sigh from Anchorus.

"That's good."

It was then Anchorus and Al heard a beeping sound, which came from within the armored vehicle fort. Al went underneath to verify it, only to be met with several stunned humans who were deathly afraid of what was on the radar: several blips, each incoming from the west, though since they were traveling south, it was their right. Al popped his head back up through the hatch and looked at Anchorus.

"uh, Anchorus, we got a problem. There are some hostile readings coming from the radar. Ya'll see anything?"

"What?!"

CRASH! From the side of the path came several 40 foot tall bug like beings, each bearing a minimum of thirty blood red eyes, massive scythe like legs and claws, and pitch black exoskeletal armor. The scent of the warped eggs drew their attention to the vehicle, which made them go into a battle stance, rearing their razor sharp teeth and drooling at the sight of the humans in the jeeps, who all readied their weapons as they saw a total of 5 of the beasts come from the west, and behind them was a beast at least 100 feet tall, who loomed over the horizon and stood behind the others. It appeared the same as the others, but had a much bulkier frame and much more devilish design. It stared at the Vehicles, then at Anchorus and Anchus, the latter of whom was shooken awake by the ambush.

"Whuh? I was almost fully recharged, what the hell's happening?"

Al actually felt pale as he saw the big beast in the back of the 5 smaller ones and shouted to the humans.

"We got an emergency! 5 Tonorions have just appeared and they're being led by an Abyssal!"

While the humans around him prepared battlestations to counter their attack, Al looked over his own holo-cube, flipping to the entry he made.

"This can't be... from everything I've catalogued, Tonorions don't usually stray from their hive... and abyssals have never left the safety of their underground hives.... these damn eggs must be really important..."

The Abyssal then started waving its various antennae around, which were orders for the smaller Tonorions. They began surrounding the vehicles, charging inward at the same time. The various jeeps surrounding the vehicles revved their engines and flew into action, the humans inside firing their guns towards the Tonorions. The magicians attempted to cast slowing spells, which did little due to the anti-magic aura of the massive bugs. Meanwhile, the big vehicle aimed its guns at the massive Abyssal and fired at it, but the creature had surprising speed, taking only a little damage before crawling out of range and to another vantage point. As all this happened Anchus and Anchorus were trying to dodge all the fire and flying attacks from the Tonorions. Anchus attempted to contact Al, who had ducked into the hatch of the ship to help the humans navigate.

"AL! What do we do?"

"Anchus, you and yer brother get back! They only want us, ya'll don't got business with em. Just head to that Frog fella and get that vaccine. These bugs ain't got jack on us."

Having just been woken in a shaky fashion, Anchus was none too keen on the thought of leaving Al behind.

"Al, you've gotta be kidding me! Those Tonorions will tear you apart! The humans I could care less about, but you're our only mechanic!"

"Damnit boy, I haven't lived 1000 years in this world to get torn to pieces by some giant roaches. Ya'll got nothin to worry about! Now git movin!"

The two of them never saw Al so serious as he busted out of the human vehicle, now in his power armor and with a temporarily fixed jetpack. He primed his special acidic needler and fiery left hand chainsaw and flew into the air.

"Ya'll can trust me. I haven't lied to ya before."

The both of them agreed and looked at eachother.

"Anchus, he's right. Best to not be in the way."

"I see his and your point Anchorus. Let's get moving. You be careful Al!"

The two droid brethren followed Al's directions and stepped back as the armed humans waged war with the very dedicated Tonorions and their Abyssal leader. Anchorus was about to run out of the area and to the rim of the forest, when he felt something smash against the back of his head, sending him to the ground and Anchus flying onto his face. Anchorus barely had time to get up before he heard the sound of wings flapping from above him, along with the sound of a large being landing on the ground with a large "crash". He could hear two organisms scowling over them as he and Anchus got up and turned around, but what Anchorus saw not only terrified him, but made him cringe in absolute fear...

Guess we're in for a Battle Royale, they just couldn't see they are already in a cross fire with bugs.

Only one typo: AL leaned in towards his direction


You forgot to decapitalize the "L"

Ah. thanks for that. Sticky shift key and whatnot.

yup taking those eggs wasn't a good idea XD

ch.22

"At last. I can finally have my revenge!"

"As can I!"

In the air, covered in scratches and blood and torn out feathers, was the extremely pissed off harpy Gisor, whose burning rage reflected from his eyes and stabbed right into the Motherboard of Anchus, who he remembered was the very one who stabbed him between the eyes and gave him his permanent scar wayy back in their first meeting. On the ground, wielding her staff and covered in scratches and blood much like Gisor, was the similarly pissed off Diamond Naga Endrynna, who still had a lone bloodclaw ape gnawing on her tail. Seeing Anchorus made her feel hate which she hadn't felt in years. She violently whacked the lone bloodclaw off her tail before turning to Anchorus, who she felt was the sole cause of everything that made her life miserable.

"So Anchorus, we meet again."

Anchorus was in disbelief, and rightfully so.

"Endrynna?! G-Gisor?! But how!?"

Endrynna slithered closer to him, completely ignoring the tonorion-human fight nearby.

"Don't you ever use my name, you filthy worm! For a year I've been waiting, I almost died because of you idiots! I barely avoided being ripped to pieces by FILTHY BLOOD APES! Now I'm back and I have a minion who will help me!"

Gisor was of course not happy to hear this.

"Excuse me? Minion? I was pretty sure we're equals in this."

Ignoring him, Endrynna pointed her staff at Anchorus again.

"Now, where is my daughter?! Tell me and I promise I won't use your skull as a drinking vessel."

Knowing how insane this woman was, Anchorus refused to comply.

"I...I don't know where she is. I've been looking for her for a long time."

She slammed her staff on the ground and growled even more.

"LIAR! You already stole her from me and reduced my entire tribe to shambles, just so you could take her away. I'm surprised she doesn't see you for the monster you are!"

Anchorus got back up, trying to correct the damage to his head and neck.

"I'M the monster?! You're the crazy lizard who whipped her best friend, tried to fry me and Anchus in a volcano, and then just assume Laureen will be okay with this! I'm happy she ran away from you! You're a horrible woman! To quote my brother, you're a horrible flesh ridden bitch not fit to change my oil!"

Anchus clapped hearing his brother make sense for once.

"Attaboy Anchorus! Tell that fleshbag what for!"

He then remembered Gisor, whose gaze fell upon him. He quickly got back onto his brother's shoulder where it was partially safer.

"Speaking of which, why are you here Gisor? We won fair and square against you, and we didn't even stay to rub it in."

Gisor puffed his feathers out, after coughing up some blood.

"Why? After my loss, everything fell apart. My women left, others took over MY beach, and I was left to wander Felarya a broken avian. You caused me to lose EVERYTHING!"

Anchus scoffed at his sad story and gave him a glare back.

"Well, that's your fault you big baby! You shouldn't have been so pigheaded in the first place. You got what you deserved."

Gisor was ready to peck Anchus to bits, when he simply took a breath and landed on his talons. He stepped next to Endrynna, who kept her menacing angry grin.

"Regardless. it doesn't matter. We're both here, and we have the perfect opportunity to make you suffer!"

The angry harpy Gisor took a step closer, his claws extended for a fight.

"And when we're through with you, you won't make us or anyone miserable any more..."

Both Anchus and his brother took a step back as the angered predators walked towards them.

"A-Anchus... what are we gonna do? They look like a really powerful team..."

"Well, judging by the marks and scratches and heavy breathing, I assume they've been weakened by something beforehand... this should be easier than you think."

"I guess, but I'm still worried that-"

Anchus jumped to his brother's shoulder and looked him right in the eyes.

"Listen Anchorus! Aren't you tired of these fleshbags pushing you around? Whether they're telling you to get off their land or stop loving their daughters, they're just pushing you around. Aren't you sick of it by now?!"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Then no buts! It's time you stood up for yourself! Tell these DNA filled Felaryan stains that you are a proud machine and you will NOT be brought to submission. Is that understood?"

His brother nodded shakily.

"I... I understand Anchus."

"Come on bro. I know you can do better than that. Tell me you won't be pushed around."

He then looked at Anchus, then at Endrynna and Gisor.

"I... I won't be pushed around anymore."

"Louder Anchorus! LOUDER!"

As instructed, Anchorus took a deep breath.

"I won't be pushed around anymore!!"

Anchus then assumed the stance of a preacher and raised his arms.

"Even louder! Make sure everyone in Felarya can hear you!"

Anchorus wasn't sure how to do that, so he just took a longer breath and yelled at the top of his volume limit.

"I'M NOT GONNA BE PUSHED AROUND ANYMORE!!! GRAHHHHH!!"

Anchus cheered with him and then grabbed his electrostaff.

"Now that's more like it! NOW CHARGE!!"

Anchorus balled his robotic fists and charged right into Endrynna, catching her off guard. The both of them went tumbling to the ground, while Anchus jumped off just before impact and landed on Gisor's wing.

"Hey fluff' n' stuff, I guess you didn't learn last time. Well, I learned plenty about harpies during my downtime. And I'm ready for you this time!"

He crawled along Gisor's wing, as the enraged harpy tried shaking him off by flapping profusely.

"Hey, get off me you little parasite!"

His wings were flapping rather violently, leaving Anchus barely hanging on. However, his grip was literally as strong as iron, and he was able to hang on, slowly gripping his way to Gisor's back. The harpy didn't know how else to shake him off, so he ran towards a tree backwards to attempt to crush Anchus between him and the bark. The stalwart droid looked ahead and saw the tree incoming, so he waited until the last second and jumped off, leaving Gisor to smash into the bark and nearly uproot the entire tree. Anchus thankfully was able to grab onto a nearby branch and climb into the tree, while Gisor recovered.

"Urgh... are you crushed yet you little worm?"

He got to his talons in a hurry and looked at the tree, surprised there was nothing there.

"What? You should've been crushed! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Angry, he smashed against the tree with his right talon, causing the already uprooted tree to fall down. Anchus jumped from the banches as it toppled,jumping right onto Gisor's head.

"Did you miss me? I know you did!"

With lightning fast precision, he struck his electrostaff right between Gisor's eyes, particularly in the gash Anchus himself caused a year ago. No doubt this brought Gisor to his knees, screaming in unbearable pain.

"AAGGGGGGGGHHHH! DAMNIT THAT HURTS YOU GREEN BITCH!!!!! AGGHHHH!"

His vision now distorted by the immense pain, he ran abroad in a crazed fashion, trying everything possible to smash his head against another tree to crush Anchus. Unknown to him, Anchus had already jumped off and onto the ground, watching as the befuddled harpy ran in a confused and painful haze. He eventually ran right into a tree, again with enough force to uproot it and tumble it over, as well as Gisor. However, he just wouldn't go down, as he got to his hands and knees and started getting up again. Anchus gripped his electrostaff and took another breath, running towards Gisor.

"I guess he's really determined. I better not let him get the better of me..."

Meanwhile, back near the Caravan, Anchorus had grabbed hold of a sturdy tree branch and was fending off the fierce beatings of endrynna and her magically endowed staff. Her strikes were fast and her staff held surprising strength behind it's flimsy facade, leaving Anchorus barely any time to counter. In a rather cheap shot, she used her tail to swipe under Anchorus, swiping his feet off the ground and making him fall. She took this time to deliver several whacks to his face, and one to his chest, denting the armor harder than he thought. Anchorus was trying to think quick on his feet, but it was difficult due to his processor's limitations. He scuttled back on his hands and tried to put him distance between him and Endrynna, while finding another branch lying around to defend himself with. He grabbed hold of one and got back up, using it to block one of the naga's direct hits with her staff. Unfortunately, the branch was much flimsier than his first one and it snapped like a twig from her attack, making him fall back even more. "This is getting me nowhere," Anchorus thought to himself, as there were almost no branches around on the trees to help him against Endrynna, so he put his mind to work and thought of a strategy fast. He quickly threw his hands up as Endrynna was about to strike him again and grabbed the staff before it struck him. Endrynna was taken off guard by this act and tried to wrestle it from Anchorus, but he bullrushed her shoulder first before she had the chance to. This pushed her to the ground and made her lose her grip on the staff she had. Anchorus quickly took the moment to break the staff in half on his knee, then threw the pieces asunder as he looked at Endrynna.

"Ha! Now we're even. You don't have a weapon just like I don't. How do you like that?"

The angered naga slithered to get up and looked pissed at Anchorus.

"Even? ME AND YOU WILL NEVER BE EVEN!"

What Anchorus saw next was something so odd and repulsive he nearly vomited his nuts and bolts out. Endrynna's fiery eyes started becoming thin and slitted, as her skin boiled and hardned to form scales. Soon all her skin on her human half was covered by a chainmail of naga scales. Her nails jutted out to dangerously sharp proportions, and her fangs grew several times over, now dripping with a dangerously acidic venom. Finally, her hair fused together and formed a hood, merging with her back, creating a hood one would see on a Cobra. Finally, her tongue extended 20 meters and became forked, as she let it hang from her lips. Anchorus took several steps back as she was now a mutated beast.

"W...What the hell... you're... you're a..."

She got down on her hands and slithered towards him in a primitive fashion.

"Yesss.... I wassss hoping I wouldn't have to ussssssse thisssss form.... now I'll have the pleassssssure of killing you with all of my hate...."

"Frogo was right... you are a monster!"

Not caring to listen to anymore of his words, Endrynna struck at him with lightning fast reflexes, spitting acid at his leg which actually started dissolving the metal. Anchorus jumped back, wiping off the acid with some large leaves nearby, before backtracking to get some distance between him and the crazed Cobra naga. he picked up a branch to smack at her with, but despite it breaking over her head, she remained unphased as she spat acid at him again, Anchorus barely able to dodge the attack. Her claws swiped at him whenever he was in range, and they were sharp enough to actually leave marks on his armor, which made him cautious about getting too close. He ran into the forest to attempt to find some type of advantage to use against her, as Endrynna slithered close behind.

Meanwhile again, while Anchus and Anchorus were dealing with the astranged predators, the humans and Al were busy fighting off the Tonorions, whose attacks continued without letting up. Al himself landed atop a tonorion who was harassing a jeep with a broken axle, as he jammed his fire chainsaw into the creature's armor, slowly breaking through and causing it to suffer heavy pains, as his attack gave the jeep time to head back to the main vehicle fort. The humans were very careful to conserve ammo, but sadly one jeep was flipped over by a surprise ambush by the Abyssal, who sent it into a tree and the humans sent flying. They all attempted to retreat, but some were caught by the tonorions and devoured whole without haste. One Tonorion continued hammering against the main vehicle in an attempt to knock it over, but the humans managed to charge the large railgun atop it and fired it down on the Tonorion. It actually broke the shell and sent the creature back from the sheer recoil of it, leaving the creature in pain. The Abyssal saw this and commanded the other 4 Tonorions to assist, which they did, while leaving the jeeps to scurry back and try and protect the main vehicle. Al boosted into the air and shot one tonorion with a barrage of acidic needles, which struck at the beast's armor and exposed skin, and thanks to the solution inside, began to slowly degrade them molecularly. He took this chance to come crashing down on the Tonorion with his chainsaw to land an even bigger wound, successfully connecting and actually paralyzing the tonorion in pain. Al turned around, hearing another tonorion rush at him, which made him boost into the air out of instinct, readying his weapon again to fire at the other tonorion.

"Persistent bugs, aren't ya? Well, I'd love to give them eggs back, but they gots too much research potential. So yer gonna have to go through me! Ha!"

As Al lunged down, his chainsaw in hand, Gisor and Anchus continued to skuffle, as the angry harpy continually let out angered bird screeches. Anchus was quick to dodge one of his rogue talons which flew towards him, then jumped into a hollow tree stump. Gisor saw him enter it and flew into the air, just high enough before dive bombing the tree stump feet first. He crashed into the stump and crushed it utterly, bark flying every direction as Anchus barely managed to jump out the other end and avoid being squished like a bug. He had to move quick though, for Gisor was stomping right above him, furiously stabbing at the ground with his claws, every chance getting closer to Anchus, who rolled out of the way several times just enough to get back up and run to cover. Gisor then flapped his wings fast, the gust that kicked up making a formidable weapon against Anchus, who was being swept into the air and being made an easy target for Gisor. The midget of a droid didn't give up hope at this point, for he took his electrostaff and spun it at a high speed, making it a propellor of sorts, which propelled him away from Gisor as he tried to engage Anchus. Once the gust died down Anchus landed on his feet and ran into the forest to get cover, Gisor following close behind.

As they ran deeper into the forest, Anchorus ran into the same field with the now destroyed stump, a glob of acid just flying over his head and landing to the ground, incinerating the grass it landed on. Behind him slithered Endrynna, whose eyes now clearly reflected her animal instinct to kill Anchorus. He saw on the ground very sharp pieces of bark, and picked them all up before turning around. He saw Endrynna slither ever closer, so with surprising speed, he grabbed the pieces of bark and used each and every one to stab her, as they were decently splintered. Each one just bounced off of her incredible scaly armor, and worse off it gave her a chance to grab Anchorus by the foot and pull him forward, which made him lost his footing and brought him to the ground. Endrynna loomed over him and spat a large amount of acid atop him, but he managed to roll over, so only his arm was affected. The acid still was lethal, as it deteriorated his armor and left his undercircuits exposed. Anchorus took the moment and promptly kicked Endrynna in the stomach, which gave him enough time to get out from under her and get to his feet. He grabbed the remainder of the stump, which was still in one piece oddly, and smashed it over her head. Endrynna went down, but not for long, as she grabbed her now bruised head and let out a scream of pain. Anchorus saw a spot of opportunity and got behind her, getting the mutated naga into a headlock and attempting to put her in a sleeper hold. Endrynna wasn't out of it though, and since she still had the size advantage over Anchorus, she simply got up and shrugged him off rather violently, throwing him back to his knees. She was caught off guard, though, by Anchorus bullrushing her after he recovered to his feet faster than she predicted, her whole body being pushed through a tree nearby, as it cracked in half from the pressure Anchorus put on her. Once Anchorus bullrushed her through the tree, he pushed her back and grabbed a strong branch and whack her over the head, trying to increase damage to her head area. It was for naught, sadly, since Endrynna wrapped her tail around his leg and swiped him to the ground yet again. She didn't want him getting back up, so she dug her extremely sharp claws into his side, which bore into his armor, before taking a deep breath. She was gonna spit acid right in his face, and Anchorus was still partially immobilized from her claws in his side, which was keeping him from moving too much. He needed to act fast, so in a desperate move, he inched right up to her and grabbed her neck, trying to stop her from taking in air. This gambit payed off, for she had acid built up but not enough air to exhale. Anchorus headbutted her in the chest and got up, nursing his damaged side armor, right as Endrynna spat the acid in her mouth onto the ground. Endrynna was actually showing signs of fatigue, as several scales of hers were ripped off or bluntly bruised inward, which caused her to bleed profusely. The mutated naga looked at Anchorus, holding her arm which had been twisted from the fall. Blood and acid trickled down the side of her mouth, which was very painful for her. In this form, though, the pain didn't affect her as much, and in a shocking turn, she manually re-twisted her arm and popped it back into it's joint, a sound Anchorus could not shake off easily. He ran back to Al's convoy, hoping to recover while she was still in that state of pain. Endrynna wasn't far behind for she still had enough to chase after him.

The skies had now become aflutter with action, for Gisor was now airborne with Anchus riding on his back and stabbing away at his lower spine. Each attack with his staff was minor compared to Gisor's size, but it all added up and left the harpy in a pained state. Gisor did everything possible to throw Anchus off of him, which included flying upside down, performing multiple barrel rolls, dive bombing and then recovering at the last second. It was only thanks to Anchus hanging on to the feathers on his back was he able to keep steady. The droid knew he was gonna lose if this kept up, for Gisor did have more energy than he did, so he attempted to end the conflict by climbing up Gisor's back and climb onto his head. Gisor shook his cranium to knock anchus off, but he kept holding within an inch of his life. Finally he jumped onto Gisor's face and looked him right in the eyes.

"This is for ever underestimating me and my brother, you avian whore!"

With a quick jab, he stabbed Gisor in his right eye, completely screwing up his equilibrium. This harpy was not able to fly without both his eyes working, and so he fell to the ground, flapping and fluttering in futility to stop himself. Anchus jumped off at the last second as he headplanted into the ground, shaking up the forest around him, but thankfully Anchus landed on his feet, though the servos in his legs became damaged from the height of the fall. He brushed himself off and looked at Gisor, who remained motionless after that nasty fall, assuming he was dead, right until Gisor grabbed the ground and slowly got himself back up. His face was now full of scars, as he had landed in a patch of sharp bark, and his one eye was now bleeding profusely. Anchus could see he wasn't down for the count yet and, in a bit of quick thinking, he kicked up some dust to make an escape back to Al's convoy, hoping he could get reinforcements there. Gisor followed him like a hawk, not letting him out of his sight.

Back in the main path, the convoy was slowly losing it's footing. Most of the human vehicles were wrecked by the tonorions as the people and mages inside were either devoured or retreated back into the main vehicle. Al stood atop the vehicular fortress, firing a barrage of acid needles as the turrets on the sides continued firing at the 3 tonorions who were left. The Abyssal who had stayed back was now actively charging the ship, as the massive railgun cannon atop the ship turned and aimed at it, letting off a massive blast of firepower at the Abyssal. The creature was fast to evade, but the shot did do plenty of damage to one side of his legs, the armor shattered and the skin underneath burned to nearly a crisp. The other tonorions were headbutting the ship, as Al kept firing needles at them to dissolve their armor. Just then, in the distance, he could see both Anchus and Anchorus with angry yet worn predators behind them, as they ran towards the convoy. Al quickly boosted in their direction to check on them.

"Ya boys look like yer in bad shape. What happened?"

Anchus jumped atop his brother's shoulder and took deep breaths to let his servos catch up to him.

"It's the harpy and the naga! They just won't give up, and we're running low on steam!"

Anchorus got to the side of the vehicle and coughed up some oil, right as he took a look behind him.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do?"

Al scratched the back of his head, as he saw Endrynna and Gisor close in.

"Well, gee, ya got me there boys. We're not doing too well on this end."

He pointed back to the humans who were firing their turrets at the tonorions, who were constantly ramming the vehicle head first, the Abyssal circling around in an attempt to find a weak spot.

"I think all 3 of us are screwed. Not to mention them humans."

Anchus, Anchorus and Al all backed up against the side of the vehicle. Around them stood 3 angry tonorions, their Abyssal leader, an enraged Gisor, and an insane Endrynna. They had all formed a circle around the vehicle and were closing in. Anchorus could only shake in fear.

"Oh man.... I think we're screwed. How could this get any worse?"

Al tried to think of a way out of this, but he couldn't think, though, because he was continually interrupted by two humans inside the ship arguing to eachother. The first human was pointing at the radar, particularly at a blip that took up half the screen.

"Look Frank, this thing has gotta be broken! There is no way in hell the size of that mark is accurate."

The other human retaliated rather nastily.

"It's not broken Ted! There is something REALLY big out there, and it's getting closer!"

"Well, what?! What is getting closer that could be such a collossal size?!"

At that moment, the entire ground shook like an earthquake. The sounds of a hundred claws could be heard scuttling closer to their position. The tonorions, abyssal, Endrynna and Gisor stopped approaching the droids to look back into the forest where the sound was coming from...

Something was coming, and it was big enough to knock over trees like they were toothpicks. A hundred red eyes pierced out through the forest, all trained on the convoy and everyone around it. Before long, a loud deafening roar pierced the air, making even the tonorions cringe from the sheer noise of it. All Anchus could do was stare into the abyss of a hundred glowing red eyes and think to himself.

"You just had to ask, didn't you Anchorus... you just HAD to ask...."

I have one word for this chapter: Action! That is how you write a giant beast's fight. When you first mentionned some sort of uber, mutated Tonorion, the first image in my was chitinous plating, an inverted head which could spit acid, and one frontal claw that's at least three times the size of the other. Can't wait for the Chapter Boss.

Thanks. Working on it as we speak.

Looks like Anchorus is starting to think like he should: with his fists.

an epic chapter here

The battles were really well done, striking and intense. and I so loved Anchorus giving Endrynna a piece of his mind