The Anchor Brothers: The Great Search

ch.23

Within the forest, even the strongest trees bent to the colossal monster's weight as this 200 foot tall abomination arose from the shadows. It was the spitting visage of an Abyssal tonorion, only at an extremely large scale and warped beyond what most could recognize. The razor sharp teeth it had were grown out of proportion and bent, the legs were abnormally sharp and covered in spikes which hooked back, while the shell was a piercing color of black so dark it absorbed the sunlight around it, giving the beast a shroud of darkness around it. The aura of anti-magic it gave off was strong enough to give one of the wizards on the Vehicle a stroke, bewildering the rest of the crew as the monster marched out of the trees. Al quickly scanned through his holocube, showing nervousness which was unlike him.

"A... A Tonorion?! But that's impossible! Those critters don't grow above 100 feet! That thing is U-Class at least, according to my scales..."

The Abyssal from before turned over to see what it assumed to be one of it's brethren, only to get a spiked claw to the face, which sent it back into a group of trees in a semi-bloody mess. This U-Class was warped out of it's mind, and saw everything in the vicinity as an enemy, even the others of it's species. It started with the Abyssal Tonorion, descending onto it in a horrific fashion. The Abyssal got to it's claws and attempted to fight back, but the only weapons it had were useless against the unnaturally tough armor of the U-Class, which tore easily into the Abyssal. The poor creature tried hard to penetrate this new monstrosity and it's armor by bashing and gnawing away at it's claws, but such only proved futile as the U-Class jabbed one of it's scythe like appendages into the back of the abyssal, before proceeding to LIFT THE ABYSSAL INTO THE AIR and hurl it half way across the field, ripping it's organs out in the process. Once the Abyssal hit down hard, it was left to collapse onto the ground, a dead heap of a once ferocious creature. The other Tonorions, shocked by this, all leaped at their traitorous warped brother, only to be swatted away like flies under the beast's mighty claws. The Tonorions could see the burning look within the U-Class's hundred glowing oculars, but continued their attack, lashing out at the monster's armor and stabbing at it all they could, even going so far as to try and rip off the armor it held. It was just no use though, as the U-Class shook them all away with no effort. It soundly stomped upon another of the Tonorions, leaving only two left, which prompted them to retreat back to their nest in defeat and paralyzing fear.

Before the group knew it, the U-Class tonorion then turned towards Endrynna and Gisor, sensing the heat from their flesh and scales. It charged at them with violent intent, planning to feast upon them in a desire driven frenzy. Gisor took to the skies as Endrynna slithered back. She spat several globs of acid into the monster's eyes as Gisor dive bombed the U-Class, digging his claws into the back armor. Unfortunately, the claws did little to scratch his impervious outer shell, as the globs of acid did little more than drip off the face of the U-class. A few of it's eyes were burnt, but this wasn't enough to deter it, as the U-Class rammed directly into Endrynna, a terrifyingly sharp pincer jabbing right through her belly scales and into her stomach, all the while smacking Gisor out of the sky with it's tail, covered in painful barbs. Gisor was hurled into a group of trees, catching multiple splinters across his body, as the U-Class threw Endrynna back, now with a gaping hole in her chest. She held onto it, blood coming out fast. Her panting increased greatly as Gisor got up and went to her, turning back to see the U-Class charge at the two of them. Gisor attempted to lift Endrynna into the air to get her to safety, but he just wasn't fast enough as the mighty Tonorion slammed into the both of them, which propelled them back through several trees which all bent under the weight being thrown at them. Unfortunately for the two predators, they were thrown right into a perilously deep crater which had the ground above it warped out of this dimension, leaving it steep as a cliffside. Both Endrynna and Gisor were thrown down this pit into the darkness below, as the U-Class witnessed them fall out of sight. They were two meals lost, but before it had time to register this, it detected another scent, one much like it's own. The humongous Tonorion turned around to see the Vehicular fortress, sensing the eggs within. They gave off the same energy as the U-Class, which enticed it so. It now set all of it's eyes upon the mobile fort. Al saw the beast's eyes looking their way and jumped into the cockpit.

"What are ya'll waiting fer?! MOVE THIS TUB ASAP! GOGOGOGOGOGO!"

The engines revved as the humans aboard the remaining jeeps got out of their vehicles and jumped into the larger convoy. They knew better than to stay out here, leaving the jeeps behind. Al boosted out of the cockpit in a hurry and looked at Anchus and Anchorus.

"Let's get movin fellas! We just ran into the biggest fluke we'll ever get in any of our life times! I suggest we not wait around fer big and ugly over there to come after us!"

The brothers nodded and got their butts into high gear, Anchus going atop his brother as Anchorus ran right alongside the vehicle fort as it got into full gear as well, leaving dust in it's wake and burning rubber. Behind them was the ever vigilant U-Class Tonorion, it's pincers open and ready to tear them all to shreds, as it scuttled all of it's legs with surprising speed. It had the velocity and continually building momentum of a hundred freight trains, spelling death to the droids or the fortress should it catch up. The cannon lodged atop the vehicle, now being manned by Al, turned around and aimed at the U-Class, firing off a powerful round at it which exploded on impact. It left a few cracks on the face of the creature's armor and created a vast explosion from impact, but did nothing to slow it down. Al yelled to several of the humans for a reload.

"Quick! I need more ammo fer this cannon ya dern fools! Fast!"

The humans reloaded the cannon as fast as they could all while staring down the abyss of the U-Class Tonorion's wide open maw, which was lined with enough teeth to chew up a skyscraper. The pincers snapped shut every time it was about to grab Anchorus or the ship, which left them no room for error speed wise. Anchorus ran without pause, pushing his legs to the limit as the pincers were only missing him by mere INCHES. Anchus was holding on for dear life, sweating oil from every robotic orifice he was built with, and the fear he showed was clear as day. Meanwhile all the turrets on the fortress were firing nonstop on the U-Class, the sounds of constant machine gun bullets being fired and empty shells falling towards the ground filling the air; but as expected their bullets and cannon fire were doing no damage whatsoever to the U-Class, merely pinging off of the beast's unnaturally thick exoskeleton. It was slowly catching up to the convoy, and worse yet, one of the humans spotted a massive tree blocking the path ahead, which would spell doom if they tried to cross it. As Al aimed the cannon, he yelled out to Anchus and Anchorus.

"Boys! Clear the road or we're all Tonorion food! We can't afford to lose any speed ramming into it!"

Anchorus clenched his metal teeth and took this objective, running ahead of the vehicle, pushing the gears in his legs PAST their limits and aimed for the downed tree. With a swift plowing motion, Anchorus was able to to bulldoze the tree in two, cracking it asunder and tossing massive pieces of bark and underwood in all directions. He ran infront of the convoy as it went right through the newly formed path, but the U-Class Tonorion plowed through the entire tree with no slowing down whatsoever. Sadly, Anchorus's legs had been pushed beyond their limit pushing through the tree, and at the worst possible time they sparked viciously and malfunctioned. Anchorus felt this and soon was unable to feel any electrical current in his legs, which stopped him dead in his tracks. As a last, desperate gambit, he fell behind the fortress, but reached one of his mighty arms upwards and clamped down onto the bumper, being dragged along on the floor. Just then Al fired another shot of the massive cannon at the U-Class, in the same spot as before. The cracking had become worse, and small amounts of fluids were dripping from the spot. By now Al could feel Anchorus dragging on the ship. He looked out and was stunned by what he saw.

"Anchorus! What the hell happened boy?!"

"Al! My legs have stopped working! I can't even move them! Breaking through that tree at such a speed after the fight must've caused a malfunction!"

Anchus was barely hanging on by Anchorus' foot, the gaping maw of the U-Class Tonorion right behind him.

"WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING AL! ME AND ANCHORUS ARE ABOUT TO BE CHOW FOR THIS UNHOLY MONSTER!"

Al saw how close the pincers of the U-Class were and got an idea.

"Anchorus! Yer slowing us down! Can ya lose some weight? That might give us a chance to speed ahead!"

Anchorus took what Al said and thought hard, trying to get his small processor to pop out a decent idea. Then it hit him! He actually had an idea. He picked up Anchus who was barely holding on and put him on the hull of the vehicle. Then, in a surprising twist, Anchorus grabbed at his waist joints and started ripping them off by force. Al and Anchus were stunned by what he was doing, until they saw his results. Anchorus was slowly tearing off all of his body which was below his waist, seeing it as dead weight now and having no other options to assist them. He had to focus, as the glitching this caused to his system was unnerving, and broke his train of thought constantly. It was not in vain, however, as he was able to successfully tear asunder the metal armor which connected his lower body to his upper body. Anchorus released his deceased lower half, and as the legs tumbled right into the Tonorion's maw, they soon clogged his throat which slowed it down, as they required heavy chewing to get through these legs of steel. The beast had little trouble chewing through them, as his teeth were sharp enough, but it caused him to slow down more and more so he could chew better. This bought Al and the others time.

"Excellent job Anchorus! Now Hang on!"

Anchus held on to his brother's massive arm, making sure he did not lose his grip, though it wouldn't help much because of their size differences. Meanwhile, Al manned the cannon again and had the humans reload. He aimed it again towards the back of the Vehicle Fortress, ready to fire it at the U-Class again, but oddly, the beast had fallen far behind and out of sight, even though it had finished chewing up Anchorus's legs seconds ago. The fort was moving at full speed, as Al looked around.

"Fellas, I done got a bad feeling about this... Keep yer eyes peeled...."

Without warning a minute later, the U-Class ran up beside the ship and rammed it, nearly causing the entire vessel to tumble onto it's side. Al was quick to use his boosters, trying to push the side in the air back onto the ground.

"EVERYONE SHIFT YER WEIGHT! KEEP THIS THING LEVEL!"

As ordered, the humans shifted their weight fast, while Anchorus reached up and grabbed the side of the bumper that was in the air. This caused the vehicle to stabilize back onto the ground, bumping around and almost losing control, though thanks to the human pilots, it managed to regain footing and continued driving forward. The bumpy ride nearly threw Anchus off the ship, but he held onto a spare wire hanging out of anchorus which kept him from being flung off. The U-class disappeared once more, before scuttling back and appearing on the other side, ramming into it at full force. The ship almost tilted towards the other direction, but Anchorus was fast in maneuvering his weight to the other side this time, and kept the ship from toppling to one side. Seeing it's side attacks fail, The U-Class charged at the convoy once more. He gained ground at a slower pace due to the internal cuts he suffered from swallowing the metal legs, but was still catching up. The cracks on his face from the two cannon shots now had dried blood leaked from them, but did little else than to enrage the monster further. Anchorus was dragging up big clods of dust, as his grip was slowly loosening. They had to find some way to end this now, as Al thought to himself while he aimed the cannon.

"Damnit all, just die already ya dern varmint!"

Just ahead they saw another large crater, again from a fraction of land which was phased to another dimension. Anchus looked at it while regaining his spot on the vehicle fort and an idea struck him.

"Al! I got a plan! What if we lure that Tonorion beast to the edge of that crater, then shoot him when he's really close? The recoil will stun his reaction time while he's charging and he won't be able to stop himself from falling in!"

Al looked at the crater, then at the U-class tonorion and ran the strategy through his head.

"Boy, trying that would be suicide! Have ya'll lost yer nuts and bolts?!"

"We're already dead if we don't find some way to shake this monster!"

".... Alright, I guess ya'll got a point Anchus. Let's go fer it fast!!"

Al informed the crew of the desperate plan, and they all quickly got to work prepping. The Vehicle fort meanwhile drove straight ahead to the crater, all while the U-Class gained ground with it's pincers snapping at Anchorus. The vehicle didn't slow as it approached the edge of the crater, and they were within a few hundred meters of driving into it. Al and Anchus knew this would be a close one, and the second they were within the right distance, they yelled the orders the crew.

"SLAM ON THE BRAKES!"

The vehicle came to a screeching halt as the pilot turned the wheel as far to the right as possible. The fort turned to the right and came to a full halt, almost tipping over from the massive decrease in speed, the wheels just one foot away from the edge of the crater. Al then turned the cannon and aimed at the Tonorion.

"TASTE THIS YA ORNERY VARMINT!"

He fired the cannon straight at the Tonorion's face, right where he hit the last two times. This time the shell was filled with the rest of Al's acidic needles, and as it exploded on his face, the acidic needles shot out in a shrapnel formation and blinded half the creature's eyes. As planned, the U-Class was too busy dealing with the pain to stop his charge, and his body kept in motion towards the crater, having built up too much momentum to stop. Al yelled out to the pilot as he saw the tonorion right ontop of them.

"NOW! HIT THE ACCELERATOR! GO GO GO GO!"

The vehicle fort's engine blew into overdrive and the tires burnt rubber once more, flying out of it's neutral position and driving right out of the way as the U-Class Tonorion just barely missed hitting Anchorus who was still being dragged in the back. Much like a freight train driving off a cliff, the U-Class plunged into the abyss of the Crater, unable to stop itself in time. It wasn't long before the human crew could hear the gruesome crashing noises at the bottom of the crater, signalling the U-Class had hit rock bottom with a major thud, all while the Vehicle fort with the brothers tagging along drove off fast. Al saw the tonorion plunge off the edge, took off his goggles and looked out the cockpit.

"YEEEEEHAAAA! We did it!!!"

He then bunkered down and got back into the cannon.

"Now let's vamoose out of here boys! I don't wanna find out if he's still alive down there!"

The convoy drove out of the area, while Anchus and Anchorus held on, looking back at the carnage that was created by the battle before. They thanked their motherboards they were still functioning, and were very relieved to see the edge of the Miragia Forest ahead.......

That was quick thinking from Anchus, but I have a feeling it ain't over yet. Keep it up.

awesome fight, the ending kinda reminded me of the movie tremors' ending. I wonder how Anchorus is going to get the plants there now with no legs.

Holy crap, this fic is awesome.

I should have the last few chapters up in these next months. Until then, thanks for the comments.

woah that was just epic

Ch.24

The vehicle passed the border of the trees and stopped right near the river. Anchorus took the time to let go of the vehicle and lie on the ground as Anchus tended to him.

"Anchorus, are you okay? You haven't lost too much oil, have you?"

"Urgh... brother... I feel so worthless... I can't even walk anymore... but i guess I'm still okay.... and the important thing is that we're not tonorion food..."

Anchorus looked down and saw where his legs used to be, only to see just wires hanging out, most of which were covered in axel grease and oil.

"Speaking of which, what are we gonna do now Anchus?"

"Beats me Anchorus. I'm still a bit shellshocked from before. Gimme a moment to get all my gigabytes together."

Al then jumped off of the vehicle fort and walked towards Anchus and Anchorus, as he waved farewell to the humans in the fort who drove off soon after he agreed to meet with up them in Negav.

"Ya'll did great back there. I can't thank ye enough fer helping us shake them tonorions.... and that big Tonorion as well..."

Anchorus attempted getting up onto his hands to look at Al.

"Well, i'm glad we could help, but what am I gonna do now? I'm only half a robot."

"Calm yerself, Anchorus. I got yer blueprints back at my lab. I can fix ya up some brand new legs in a month or two."

His eyes went wide as he thought this over.

"But I don't have that time Al! I need to get this crimson weed to the Sunken Forest! Then I gotta travel to the Pyrale Mountains to get the cure to Laureen. It's the entire reason me and Anchus embarked on this journal. How am I gonna get there now?"

The desperation and depression in his voice became more apparent as he talked on.

"We barely got passed the Swamps, angry mermaids, dangerous lightning birds and lizards which had OCD, not to mention the insane forests with a hundred billion orange spores everywhere and endless chasms. Without my legs, we'll never even get passed the Soral Region..."

He then fell back onto his back and looked up.

"There's no way to Laureen now... By the time i get my new legs.... who knows what will have happened to her... I made a promise and I won't be able to uphold it. I've... I've failed her and I've failed everyone wh-"

Just then Anchus smacked his brother across the face.

"Come on Anchorus! Give me a break. We just survived being torn to pieces by a THOUSAND sharp teeth attached to a bloodthirsty mutated abomination AFTER we got ambushed by the naga elder and that crazy bird freak! I stuck with you then, i'm not about to give up on you now."

His head pivoted fast towards Al.

"Al! Is there some way we can get to the Sunken Forest without a 2 month waiting period?"

Al gave it some thought, thinking of how to get half a robot torso across half of Felarya. It was then he had an idea.

"Alright, if we can get back to my lab, I might have something to help ya fellas out."

Thanks to a stroke of good fortune, the humans were more than happy to drop Al, Anchus and Anchorus off near the Grove of Carnivorous Plants just before departing earlier. Al once more led them into the perilous hive of hungry plants and made a trip towards his secret entrance rock. Anchus followed behind while Anchorus was only able to walk on his hands, using them to support his body. Upon opening the rock up, Al led Anchus and Anchorus into the elevator which was waiting for them, then started it up, as it led them down the long tunnel underground and towards his secret below Negav laboratory, the entrance rock ominously closing behind them and encasing the tunnel in darkness before the lights kicked on. Al took the time to look back at the droids as the elevator traveled through the tunnel.

"I'm very impressed by you fellas. I didn't think ya'll would survive out there fer long. When this is all said and done, ya'll gotta regail me in yer adventures."

Anchus gave Al a look which was, to say the least, unsettling.

"Al, when this is said and done, I'd rather not go into it any deeper. I said I was in this because my brother needs a brain to keep him out of trouble, and I'll stick by him to the end, but frankly, I'd rather wipe my hard drive so I don't remember half the crap we went through just for that crazy organic Anchorus has a thing for."

Anchorus looked at his brother and let out a deep breath.

"Well, give me a break Anchus. Laureen is one of the few life forms that gives me reason to boot up in the morning. I'd go through all of this twice if it meant I could be with her."

"Yeah yeah, I know brother. But going through it once cost you half your body. Another trip through and you'll be out of a body."

Anchorus had little to say to this and stood quiet.

"Besides, we're still not done yet, so let's finish up this adventure before you start making such bold statements. Okay Anchorus?"

The big droid nodded to his brother's question, and by the time they were done, the elevator had already reached the destination. Al promptly stepped off and walked into his laboratory, Anchus and Anchorus dragging themselves to follow. The old mandroid of a cyborg walked to a darker part of his lab, and as fast as he disappeared, Al reappeared from the shadows, wheeling behind him a device held underneath a sheet, which drew the attention of Anchus and Anchorus.

"Now, fellas. Ever since ya'll came here, I've been thinking of how to help ya'll travel around Felarya, considering ya'll took up the job of my new delivery boys."

He then grabbed the sheet and prepare to unfurl it from the invention in a fantastic revelation.

"That's why I've been making this beauty fer 13 months on end. Gentlemen, BEHOLD!"

He removed the sheet, unveiling what was underneath. To Anchus and Anchorus' surprise, it was a wall with various female oriented cyborgs and operating systems pinned up on it, some with phone numbers next to them, others with operating codes, but most of them showing their bare chasses and circuits underneath. Al turned and saw that this was not what he meant to unveil and quickly re-covered it.

"Oh! Whoopsie. That was the wrong secret project. Hehe. One sec."

He ran back inside before wheeling out an even bigger device covered under a sheet. He looked under it this time to be sure, then grabbed the sheet.

"Okay. THIS is what I've been working on. Gentlemen, NOW BEHOLD!"

Upon removing the sheet, the Anchor Brothers beheld a set of mechanical boosters, attached to a high grade jetpack. It was the size of a small house, and definitely looked big enough to lift off even a regular sized predator with ease. Anchorus was stunned by what he saw.

"Is that.... no, it can't be."

Al grinned.
v
"Yep. A functioning aerial propulsion unit. Also known as a jetpack. This should get you to the place ya'll need to be, and in record time."

Somehow Anchus was having a hard time believing this, as he inspected the machine front to back.

"Wait.... this thing could've made our trip a thousand times easier, and you didn't tell us?! You wanna tell me WHY?!"

Al smacked Anchus and sat down, holding a holopad which held the detailed specifications of the jetpack.

"Hush yer mouth, Anchus. Despite 13 months of work, it's still only in beta testing. I didn't tell ya because I didn't think ya'd need it, not to mention it's untested and very dangerous to try out. Technically the thrust it gives out is enough to lift up 400 tons of weight due to the antimatter generator I installed, but I couldn't guarantee it's success. Also, the gas container is flimsy, the generator might be prone to random explosions, yada yada. I'm only showing ya now since Anchorus seems desperate fer a solution."

Anchus, taking the slap in stride, turned to his brother, not sure of what to do.

"Well... Anchorus... we've been through enough already. I guess it's your call. If you wanna test out this jetpack, it's our only way to Laureen. What do you say?"

There was alot for Anchorus to think about here, Al taking a moment to walk to him while he thought.

"Keep in mind I can't guarantee its success. But the beta testing proved it can traverse an entire continent in less than half an hour. So it's yer best shot."

Anchorus finally had his answer and looked at Al.

"It's my only shot at saving Laureen Al. I gotta do it."

The old mandroid nodded.

"Very well. I'll attach it to your system ASAP."

...

An hour later Anchorus stood at the entrance of the Grove of Carnivorous Plants, the jetpack fastened to his core chassis via some well placed bolts. Anchus stood on his shoulder and held on, looking back at his entrance as Al waved them off.

"Remember, try not to break that jetpack. Those parts were expensive. Oh, and be careful yerselves."

He sunk back into his elevator entrance, the rock slamming shut behind him. The brothers looked at each other, then at the jetpack fastened to Anchorus. Finally they looked to the button Al had placed on Anchorus's shoulder to turn on said machine.

"Alright Anchorus. According to Al, you should be able to control the direction of the boosters via your cybernetic link with the jetpack."

He nodded.

"Right, the one Al established. I got it."

Anchus raised his foot atop of the button, keeping it in place.

"Are you ready, big guy? Remember, aim for the Sunken Forest."

"I'm ready Anchus."

The small droid sent his foot downward, pressing upon the button without hesitation. The boosters hummed to power slowly, giving off a bare drift. A bit of smoke escaped from the jet columns, though not much else happened. They did this for a while, prompting Anchus to press the button a few more times. He thought it was broken, but as soon as Anchus went to look, the brothers heard a sudden BOOOOOM! The boosters roared with fiery intent, exploding with thousands of pounds of pure thrust which filled the entire grove with smoke. Anchus and Anchorus were launched into the air, nearly having their armor ripped off from the intensity. There was a problem though. Once in midair the boosters reacted like crazy as Anchorus had not thought fast enough to order directions to them. The brothers were performing aerial loops and messy barrel rolls, before soon finding themselves flying for the Great Tree nearly out of control. Before they crashed, Anchorus took the initiative to finally think and think hard, his thoughts connecting to the boosters and redirecting them downward to correct their flightpath. Once this was done, Anchorus was no longer spinning rapidly towards the Great Tree. He was now decently stabilized in midair, successfully floating above the clouds, while Anchus just barely held on.

"H-Hey! The jetpack, it works! It really works! Isn't this great Anchus?!"

Anchus had managed to grab hold of the jetpack's back and held on tight.

"Oh yeah, this is REAL fun almost dropping to my death! Now hurry towards the Sunken Forest before you jinx it!"

"Alright! To the Sunken Forest we go!"

He located the direction that the Sunken Forest was in and told the boosters to jet full throttle in that direction. They acted on a whim and flew the Anchor Brothers past the Grove and towards the Forest at speeds they had never traveled before. It appeared as though they would be there in record, and the situation was finally looking up for them....

Al is apparently Master Roshi.

Don't question crazy old droid mechanic, for he will bitch-slap you!

Even when they're done, they still have rotten luck. XD Nice one.


Typo Count!

Gimme a moment to get all my gigabites together (Do you mean gigabits or gigabytes?)

"yeah yeah, I know brother. (The first "yeah" should be capitalized)

he ran back inside before wheeling out an even bigger device (Same as above, "he" should be capitalized.)

Thanks for the feedback Sean. I hope to reduce my typos in the future.

Ohh Al ! you pervert old droid geezer XD

And the story reaches the endzone! Enjoy.

____________-




ch.25

Far below them, The Anchor Brothers saw every area they traveled by, Anchorus having ordered the boosters lower in altitude for them to see. They truly saw how vast these sections of forest and swamps were, marveling first at the sight of the chidokai Forest. Anchus remembered the constant rain, slippery vines and moss covered trunks which gave him and his brother a wild ride. Then they beheld the Chanossa Mangrove, which they couldn't see very well from this height, but they could still distinguish it enough. It had become much more populated since their trip through it, which made the brothers thankful they departed when they did. Afterward they beheld the Soral Swamps, which still left some rather unwanted memories to them, as Anchus had finally gotten the last of the muddy water out of his system. What also came back to them was the "island hopping" they had to do to progress. This time Anchus and Anchorus were overjoyed to not have to go through that again. The boosters accellerated faster and they soon found themselves flying above the Great Marshes. So vast were these marshes that they dwarved even the mighty city of Negav in landmass. Anchorus could barely see the ends of the swamp, despite the high altitude they were at. This was such a boggling revelation to him, but Anchus only sighed.

"I didn't realize how big this marsh was. No wonder it's called 'The Great Marshes'. Am I right Anchus?"

"Yeah. Real Great. Like when we ran into that Gorudan Behemoth."

It took only ten minutes to fly above the marsh before they were clear of the fog infested country. They were now reaching the eternally orange tinted Mycoria Forest. It was a pleasant trip this time, for they were not assaulted by sludge water on the floor or a putrid odor in the air. Anchorus could even see thanks to the lack of orange spores at this altitude. It made their venture much easier, and even better, it wasn't much longer until they saw the Sunken forest ahead. The jetpack was still holding out, and Anchorus took joy in seeing this sight.

"We're almost there Anchus! Just another few miles and we should be near Froggo's Venue."

"Excellent. Keep up the pace."

The trip seemed like it would be a peaceful one, until suddenly, out of nowhere, Anchorus felt something with a tight grip grab his jetpack and crash into it with tons of momentum. This sent Anchus and Anchorus spiralling out of control, but thankfully giving him time to correct it before falling towards the ground. He corrected the boosters and pointed them downwards again, turning around to see what had hit him and his brother. The being that did this made no attempt to hide itself, or better to say themselves. Anchorus looked back and saw these beings and was shocked to death. He could not believe it.

Flying in the air, with a bloody vengeance in his eyes, was Gisor, who was bleeding horribly from half his whole body. In his Talons, a gaping hole in her chest, was Endrynna, who looked like a raging zombified cobra naga. She showed her fangs with such intense hatred, Gisor sharing this hatred. Anchorus couldn't even question this horrible turn events before Gisor flew right over his head and lobbed Endrynna onto him. He couldn't concentrate, and so his jetpack started flying insanely as Anchorus tried getting this insane monster off of him. Anchus jumped onto her head and immediately drew his staff, stabbing at her multiple times, but she wasn't budging at all. She kept her fangs out, trying to bite Anchorus to melt his circuits from within, to which he continued to resist, all while Gisor flew after the swirling trio, trying to get a good shot to pounce on Anchorus.

The situation only spiraled further out of control, as they were now hovering over the Sunken Forest, and worse, Gisor's rough handling of the jetpack from before was causing the fuel to leak out and malfunction the jets. Anchorus was too busy to do anything, all his time being spent keeping Endrynna's fangs out of him. Worse off, when his back was turned, Gisor struck a blow at his neck joint, causing another error in the jetpack's connection to his cybernetic brain. There was no denying it now. Anchorus was descending to the Sunken Forest fast, with a crazy naga trying to bite him and an even crazier harpy trying to claw him to pieces. Anchorus could sense his connection to the jetpack lost and yelled to his brother.

"ANCHUS! I can't control the jetpack! We're going down!"

"Damnit brother, we can't let it end here!"

Anchorus jabbed Endrynna in the jaw with his left arm, but she quickly bit into it and started injecting an acidic venom into it. The metal on his arm and the circuits underneath started to sizzle and burn from the chemical and it wouldn't be long before she burned through his left arm completely. Meanwhile Anchus had tried to help the jetpack connect with Anchorus, only for Gisor to continually strike at it and nearly gut him in the process. It was no use, as the situation just got worse.

The big guy had to think quick, coming up with an idea on the spot before even Anchus could.

"Anchus! Listen! I don't know if it'll work, but I need you to manually kick the engines to the left!"

"What? Why?"

"There's no time! JUST KICK!!!"

No time was right, for they were right in the Sunken Forest and heading towards the deep chasm. Anchus got to kicking the boosters to the left all while dodging Gisor's blows. Once both were turned, Anchorus began spinning around, still falling but in a spiralled fashion. He then looked Endrynna in the eyes and grabbed his left arm.

"The only thing you'll ever get from me is my left arm, you monster! NOW TAKE IT!"

He then grabbed his left arm joint and forcibly ripped it from the connecting socket, leaving Endrynna confused as her only means to latching onto Anchorus had detached. He timed it with spinning infront of Gisor as he used his right arm to fling the naga right into the harpy, slamming the two of them together in a messy aerial collision. The jetpack could take no more of this and finally let out an explosion from it's core, dislodging from Anchorus's chassis altogether and spiralling into the Sunken Abyss, before blowing up in a fiery blast. Gisor and Endrynna, unable to keep it together due to their collision, fell into the Abyss as well, both of them screaming at a horribly high frequency before descending into darkness, the only thing Endrynna having held onto was the left arm of Anchorus, which was disintegrating from her venom, but it made no matter as they disappeared from sight, presumably for good this time. Unfortunately Anchus and Anchorus were about to share the same fate, until he latched tot he side of the Sunken Chasm and grabbed onto a large tree trunk. He had only one hand to hold it with, so his grip slipped fast. Anchus pointed out a large mushroom growing nearby which would be sturdy enough for him to land on, and Anchorus swung himself to it, this time landing right in the middle. He fell flat onto the fungal bed along with his brother, breathing deep to clear out the oil and exhaust clogging up his systems due to nervousness.

"Egad.... that was quite a terrifying development.... I didn't think Gisor and Endrynna would actually be that determined.... that was quick thinking Anchorus..."

Anchus was damaged as well from the impact of one of Gisor's attacks, as surges of electricity flew from his body. He quickly took a look into the Abyss and sat back to rest his aching servos

"By the looks of that pit though, it's a safe assumption they're not coming back... pretty fortunate if you ask me... right brother?"

He took a moment to listen for a response, but a silence occured instead. Anchus asked again.

"... I say, it was fortunate that we survived a second encounter with them, right Anchorus?"

Again there was silence.

"Anchorus, are you giving me the silent treatment?"

Once more the big droid didn't respond. Anchus had to get in his face to get a response.

"You're not offline, are you Anchorus?"

Out of nowhere, Anchorus jolted to life, grabbing onto the wall of the chasm to try and pull himself up. He had a good grip on a tree, but he merely hung there without another arm to climb further. Soon his attempt was in vain as he slipped from the branch and fell back onto the mushroom. Anchus stood back as his brother fell, trying to rush to his aid, but only in futility as Anchorus got back to an upright position, his right arm the only thing supporting him, as he looked around, a panic on his face. He tried climbing out once more, only to repeat his past tries. Finally, he just sat back in defeat as his brother tried to help him.

"Anchorus! what's gotten into you?"

Anchorus didn't respond to his brother, but tried just once more to climb the chasm wall, and once more his efforts were futile and he fell onto his back again. Anchus stood on in disbelief, watching him try again, then falling, then trying once more, only to fall back. This continued until Anchorus couldn't continue anymore, his mechanical fist balled up in anger as he hit the mushroom with great frustration built up. Afterwards he merely sat back without saying a word until Anchus walked near him.

"Come on, brother, you shouldn't be straining yourself so much. We're still functioning, which is grounds for celebration. Right?"

The look on Anchorus transitioned to one of extreme anger, as he stared at his brother.

"Celebration? CELEBRATION?! Anchus! LOOK AT ME!"

He wriggled the stump he once called his left arm, then nodded down to his stump he used to call a lower torso. They were both covered in oil and grease leaked from his wires before he shut off power to them.

"I don't have any legs, I just lost my left arm, and now we don't have any means of propulsion! Worse, we're stuck in a bottomless pit and I can't climb out or climb across the walls. I don't even see Froggo's place from here. We're probably miles away from his location! I'm trying to find a positive about this situation, but I can't. I really can't."

"Now Anchorus, the situation seems bad, but you've always told me to look on the bright side. Well, I'm looking at it. We can still find some way to contact Froggo."

Anchorus sighed.

"Really? How? We're probably a hundred miles from anyone who can even help us. It's hopeless...."

His manner slowly became more depressing, and sadly Anchus was unable to cheer him up.

"Come on, we never got anywhere by showing that kind of attitude. Now if we put our heads together we can-"

"We can what Anchus?! I only get plans once in a while from things I observe, and that's if I get a fluke... but I'm drawing a blank right now. Face it, you're the brains of everything we've done and I used to be the brawn. Now I don't even have that. I'm not even worth my warranty card anymore..."

"Anchorus...."

Anchus's attempts to cheer him up fell on deaf ears.

"Please brother. I failed the only organic I ever 'loved', I failed the only sibling I ever had, and I can't do a thing to correct it... Just leave me be...I'm tired of fighting an unwinnable battle in this world... just let me rust like all the other garbage that falls into this chasm...."

He then turned on his side and delved into standby mode, trying to think of how it came to this, his thoughts turning to negative emotions generated by his feelings of worthlessness. Anchus was speechless against his depression, and instead just stopped trying to cheer him up altogether. He sat next to his forlorn brother and put his mind to work. Surely there was something that could be done.

"It surely can't be that hopeless.... right?"

His words fell upon deaf ears. Soon came the darkness of the night ahead, and it truly showed in the Sunken Forest as the small visages of light through the canopy above disappeared to darkness. Anchus and Anchorus were stranded in the lower depths of the chasm, all alone, in the pitch black of the night. To top it all off, Anchus just couldn't find a bright side to their predicament. The happy ending they thought was in reach suddenly became an abysmal nightmare, one which they might have never woken up from....

Well, that was a downer ending. Goddamn, that Harpy and Naga just won't die, won't they? Guess it's time for the little genius to pull a MacGuyver out.

Typo Time:

Anchorus could sens his connection to the jetpack lost and yelled to his brother. (You forgot the last 'e' for sense.)

Thanks Sean. I fixed that little typo.

so this hole time I've been wondering if the guys with the armored core are still around with Al. or is it something completely unrelated to this? oh well... the only option I see is for Anchus to go on ahead to get Froggo and maybe bring him back.

They're like his customers actually. The groups don't know eachother, but they both have met Al and have conducted business with him within similar periods of time.

Of course, it's only a matter of time before they meet, if this story ever finishes...

wow a truly epic final battle o.o
and I'm sure the two aren't even dead after that

damn the situation looks really grim. I guess Anchus will have to take the lead on that one.

Wow, poor Anchorus.

Brutal Cliffhanger you got there, hope the next chapter is finished quickly!

I've just caught up to where you were a couple weeks ago.

I'm not one of your regulars, and only now do I get to regret it. You're good at this writing thing, your solution-finding skills are good and you manage to convey an appropriate sense of danger. Your humor is quite good too. The storyline is nice, but what's really original is that you even manage to add some really epic moments while staying both sober and clever, like the part with the U-class tonorion, which is where I got so far.

The weekly system is a little tough, though.

ch.26

It was far into the night. Anchorus had already shut down, feeling no point in staying online as he felt himself useless now. The nocturnal beasts sang their choir from the trees in the Chasm and Sunken Forest, various beings from abroad listening in. All was quiet, with the exception of Anchus, who could not shut down knowing the predicament they were in. He took out the holocube from Anchorus's inventory and gandered into it, finding the mark on the map where Froggo's shop was set up. He put it in his inventory and got his staff ready, walking to the edge of the massive mushroom which held them up.

"We're not done yet Anchorus. I'll help you see this through to the end. As one mechanical sibling to another."

He then jumped off the mushroom and grappled himself onto a root, climbing along the wall, not looking back or showing doubt. Anchus kept his gaze constantly forward, for even he felt an inkling of fear of the abyss below and what awaited him should he fall. His progression along the chasm side was slow, but didn't deter him in the slightest At one point some of the roots tore from the side, almost making Anchus fall backwards, but at the last second he clamped down on a mossy rock, just barely keeping him on the wall. He clung to the wall very tight from that point, not wanting to risk another accident. However, his movements were slightly jerky and unpredictable, due to the damage he suffered from the previous fight. Anchus acknowledged that he might malfunction any minute, but kept going regardless. Within half an hour, Anchus could spot another giant mushroom growing from the side of the sunken chasm, but this one was very familiar....

~~

It had been a long day, and the old amphibian witch doctor Frogoboscus felt the fatigue fall upon him. He leapt to his miniature little pond and knelt down on his specially made lilypad.

"Well Jeeves, I must say today was quite a pickle. More customers than I thought, considering how few people visit the Sunken Forests. Oh well, it's good for business. You did remind them to spread word of our shop, correct?"

The golem Jeeves simply let out a gravel-ish grunt, which the doctor understood perfectly.

"Excellent. Might as well turn in for the night. My frogs are barking from all the potions we had to concoct. Jeeves, put up the closed sign and let's get some rest..."

He closed his eyes and decided to turn in for the night, having Jeeves dim the candles all around his shop and signalling the shop as "closed" via a small sign in the front, before returning to the dirt from whence he came. From there he drifted to sleep, awaiting tomorrow to come....

~~

It was only an hour later before Frogo was in a deep sleep. He had his favorite recurring dream of being teleported to a buffet of flies in every direction, and as usual, he lept around like crazy attempting to snatch one, forgetting completely that his tongue could accomplish this for him. The wonders of dream logic he thought, but he continued regardless. Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he leaped in his dream, and ended up getting splashed within a pool. What he didn't know was that this was the result of his real lilypad being flipped over, sending him right into the water. This woke Frogo from his dream in an instant, nearly leaving him speechless as he got to the end of the mini-pond to get out of the water.

"WAGH! ... oh, it was only a dream... wait, how did I end up off my lilypad?"

When he stepped back on dry land, he saw in the darkness a figure holding his lilypad, and red glowing eyes staring right at him. He lept up in slight terror and grabbed a nearby cane.

"Whoa! Who are you?! And what are you doing with my lilypad?! Talk damnit! I know magic and I ain't afraid to use it!"

The figure then dropped the lilypad and walked up to Frogo.

"Frogo, thank goodness you're still here. We're back..."

Finding this tone of voice familiar, Frogo put the cane down.

"We're back? From what?"

He went to a candle and lit it, illuminating the room enough to show who this stranger was. To his surprise, it was Anchus, who had made his way in just minutes ago. Though damaged, he stepped forward.

"Frogo, me and my brother... we came back and we have the ingredient you asked for us to retrieve."

It then struck Frogo regarding his identity.

"Oh yeah! You're the two iron golems that came here a day ago.... but wait, I sent you to get Crimson weed from the Jungle of Perils. Are you telling me you ACTUALLY acquired it?!"

He nodded.

"Yes. It's been very rough going Frogo, and we almost died a minimum of six times along the way. Can you hold up your end of the bargain now?"

Frogo sighed, looking outside.

"It's kinda late. Can it wait until tomorrow?"

The stare on Anchus' face gave him his answer. It was late, but he did make a promise.

"...oh, very well. I'll stir up Jeeves and we'll get the concoction started."

As he began the summoning spell to bring Jeeves back from the dirt to his rocky form, he gandered at Anchus.

"Did you have to wake me up in such a sloppy fashion though? I was having the most interesting.... vision. Yeah, vision."

Anchus shrugged weakly.

"I tried waking you up normally. you're a heavy sleeper."

Frogo sighed and finished his summoning spell, Jeeves erupting back to life in mere seconds. He looked to Frogo with a puzzled expression on his rocks, letting out a small grunt, to which Frogo replied.

"Yes, I know it's barely been an hour my friend, but we have some... late night customers. If you could, please prepare the ridiculously large cauldron with the other parts of the 'Cobra Blood' potion."

Jeeves simply grunted and went inside, dragging out said cauldron which was the size of a two story house from storage, and placing it over an open furnace. He had gone to the trouble of preparing the potion ahead of time, preserving it with a powerful magic tool known as "plastic wrap" which Jeeves took off from the lid before lighting the furnace with a few flint rocks. Jeeves gathered his robes and got out his recipe book to prepare the concoction for the next part of cooking.

"Alrighty then. Now if you could just hand me the missing ingredient, we can get started."

Frogo placed his hand out to Anchus, but Anchus didn't respond with anything except a saddened look. It took Frogo a bit before he looked at Anchus.

"... you do have the ingredient with you, right?"

He sighed and turned around.

"Well, that's something I need your help with actually."

"Ugh, what happened? And speaking of which, I remember you having a rather large cohort with you. Where is he?"

Anchus walked to the edge of the shop and looked to the darkness outside.

"That's the problem. My brother has been really badly injured and he can't get here like I did. I..."

The droid had to swallow all his pride, asking for help from an organic.

"I... need your help to save him."

Frogo took a step back, putting his book down. It took a moment for him to think, but he finally came back to Anchus with a sure look on his face.

"Alright. I guess I can help you out this one time. But you'll owe me."

Anchus nodded, accepting Frogo would now be able to call in a favor, and they both looked at Jeeves, who had overheard and was right behind them, looking at Frogo.

"Jeeves, equip yourself with your 'Wall climbing' rocks. We've got a little job to do...."

~~

Back outside on the lone mushroom, Anchorus lay in disrepair, a blank stare on his face. Finding he just couldn't sleep, standby or hibernate due to the damage he sustained, he decided to ponder his options. Sadly, Anchorus just couldn't fathom the options he had left at that point. He looked over the edge of the mushroom and saw pure darkness down below, then looked up at the insurmountable walls of the Sunken Forest which he couldn't climb with only one arm. It was a dead end on both sides, and he was trapped. Looking for comfort, he looked for his brother.

"Anchus? A-Are you there? I know I was a jerk before... I'm sorry. I just feel so helpless right now...."

He turned his head and found that his brother was no longer there.

"Brother? Where are you?!"

After a moment of effortless looking, he sat on his back and looked up.

"Did he... leave me too? I hope I didn't drive my only brother away.... why was I such a jerk? Now I don't have anyone to sit with me as I suffer alone in the darkness..."

The lonely droid sat back and contemplated how lonely he was, when he heard a voice from afar.

"Man, Anchorus. You can be a real buzzkill. You know that?"

The dismembered robot stood to attention and looked around.

"Anchus?! Is that you?! Where are you?!"

Just then a large appendage made of rocks reached out from the side of the mushroom. Anchorus took a closer inspection towards it and found out it was Jeeves! The stalwart golem had climbed the side of the chasm with Frogo and Anchus riding on his back. Anchus let out a smirk look and crossed his arms.

"Hahahah! I told you Anchorus. You shouldn't give up so easily. When the world takes away an arm and a leg, you punch it back and take a kidney!"

Anchorus welled up with joy as he grabbed the arm with his own arm and smiled with a saddened joy.

"I don't know what that means Anchus... but thank you..."

The Golem hung onto Anchorus and flung him onto his back as he slowly made his way across the chasm. Anchorus made sure to hang on, not wanting to fall to his doom after what Anchus went through to help. The trip was much shorter due to Jeeves being a versatile bunch of rocks, and in no time they returned to Frogo's potion shop/laboratory. Upon setting them down in the living room, Anchorus breathed in relief.

"I can't believe you actually came back to help me Anchus. I don't know what to say..."

This remark was met by a smack in the face from Anchus, who, due to his small stature, had alot of face to smack.

"Come on Anchorus. Don't get sentimental on me. I was just doing my duty as a robot with pride. I would never leave my own sibling in danger."

Anchorus subtly nodded to this, before he remembered about the ingredient that he had kept safe and opened his chest storage compartment.

"Oh yeah! That reminds me! We finally got the ingredient you wanted Frogo! I stocked up incase we didn't have enough."

From his storage area flowed a veritable lake of crimson weed, freshly picked and still in good condition. Frogo ducked down and grabbed a bit of it, tasting it with brisk movements of his extended tongue.

"Hmm... strong floral aroma, a bit of bloody aftertaste... and a slight zest of orange. Yep! This is the stuff."

In an instant Jeeves grabbed all the Crimson weed and brought it inside. Frogo followed him, but not before leaving the brothers on one last note.

"We'll have this done in no time. Until then, you boys relax. Especially you, big fella. You look like you've been through hell. You boy are quite handy to survive having your limbs ripped off. Phew..."

Anchorus nodded and sat onto the floor, as Anchus relaxed as well. Frogo went into the room with the cauldron and cast drapes all about them to hide their secret formula making technique before they went to work combining all the ingredients. As Anchorus looked at his brother, he felt joy and sadness all at once, which conflicted him.

"Anchus... I'm sorry about before... I feel so horrible about treating my own brother like that..."

"Perish the thought, my portly companion. You were merely letting the organics get to you. But fear not, for once again we got through the hardships, like true machines would."

Anchorus gladly agreed.

"Yeah. You're right."

"Aren't I always, Anchorus?"

Now all that was left was for them to wait out Frogo and Jeeves until they finished the formula, a process that would take all night, but was worth it for Anchus and Anchorus.....

Things are looking up for the Robots, although one question still persist: how are they going to carry the big one back? Also, it may be digging deep, but if Jeeves can only talk in grunts, he technically did his job of spreading to word, but it's not like the Humans understood him.

Only one typo: "I tried waking you up normally. you're a heavy sleeper." You should replace the first period with a comma or capitalize You're.

He speaks perfect Rockanese, and spread the word to alot of golem customers.

Last thing Froggo needs is a lawsuit about discrimination against Rock based lifeforms.

Mhh they are so close ^^ but I get that feeling they are not done with their ennemies yet who could be, after all, pretty nearby

ch:27

Daybreak had risen the next day, and Anchorus and his brother had fallen to slumber, recharging their batteries since they had gotten low on power. Anchus was the first to awaken as he took a looka round with his system, which was still booting up.

"rrghh... Day already? Time really flies..."

He was about to shut down again until he realized what that meant.

"Hmm.. wait a second... if it's day, that means...."

His gaze zoomed to the pond, where Frogo was sleeping peacefully on his lilypad, in his little pond. Next to him he saw Jeeves, surprisingly still in an animate form next to the hole that led to the surface, the one they took the last time to avoid having to climb in the sunken forest chasm. On the floor near Anchorus was a liquid seal tight pouch, big enough to hold a thousand gallons of fluid, and on the top where it was tied off was a note. Anchus jumped down to said pouch and translated the note.

"hmm... a note from Frogo I assume..."

He read it aloud.

"To the metal golems... I finished the formula and placed it in this pouch. When you give it to that naga Laureen, pre-heat it beforehand and then have her drink it. That should help her... Oh, and PS, I ordered Jeeves to assist you to the surface via my secret escape hatch. you should be able to reach the Pyrale Mountains from there, even in your condition. Best of luck, signed FrogoBoscus."

Anchorus grabbed the liquid filled pouch and crawled over to Jeeves, who heeved the droid over his shoulder and began the ascension to the top of the ladder. Anchus grabbed on before he left.

"Well, Anchorus. I told you to look on the bright side. Your brother knows best, right?"

His once sorrowful brother nodded as he could see the light from the outside approaching from atop.

"That's why you're the smarter one Anchus. I thought we were really screwed there."

Following a bit of climbing, Jeeves had finally brought both brothers to the surface, as Anchorus crawled off of him to the solid ground around them. Anchus followed suit.

"Well, Anchorus. I guess our last destination should be the Pyrale Mountains, just past Mycoria Forest. Let's go."

"Right, brother."

The big guy turned around to say goodbye to Jeeves, only to find that the golem had already flipped back the hatch to conceal the exit before heading back down to Frogo's shop. With this in mind, they both charted off back through the sunken forest's edge and soon arrived back in Mycoria. Anchorus dragged himself across the ground, affixing the pouch to a clamp on his waist so he could use his only arm to continue. Anchus, rather than sitting on his shoulder, decided to walk alongside his brother, not wishing to put additional strain on his torn up system.

"Are you okay back there Anchorus?"

"Just fine Anchus. I'm just having to work a bit harder, nothing else. I wish we still had that jetpack."

As soon as Anchus was about to ask why, the sudden yet familiar smell of putrid rotting vegetation assaulted his sensors, along with a tint of orange spores literally greeting his face by the hundreds of millions, almost blinding him and Anchorus.

"...yeah. I wish we had that jetpack too. Ugh..."

Little could be done regarding their situation, so the two of them trudged through the sludge, Anchorus in particular having to wade across the marshes of this orange stained jungle. HE could barely see two meters ahead, as his brother was valiantly trying to wipe the orange spores out of his eyes using a window squegee. Oddly, as the two of them were closer to the ground, the orange spores were far more plentiful, meaning Anchus had to work twice as hard to keep Anchorus from going blind, and even then their system was not perfect. Occasionally Anchorus headbutted trees full force, throwing Anchus off of him and into the slimy ooze below. Anchus emerged after this event and looked down upon his armor and frowned.

"Damnit. I'm gonna smell like rotten tomatoes for a week."

"Sorry Anchus..."

He climbed back onto his brother and shook off as much sludge as possible, though he did get a good soaking, and it would stick to him for a while.

"This stench better come out. I do not want to change all of my armor because of this horrid stench."

"Well, look on the bright side brother. We should be through this forest in no time."

Indeed Anchorus was right. Without their knowing, they had already passed the friendly mycodryad that assisted them before, who was taking a hearty nap to soak in some rays from the sun. It wasn't much longer until the brothers had noticed the sludge getting more shallow ahead, and before they knew it, they came upon a dry spot of land where the orange spores cleared up. Once his eyes were cleaned, Anchorus blinked twice before looking forward.

"See? We're finally out of there. Though the smell is still lingering...."

"As long as it doesn't get worse. Let's-"

Anchus was cut off as his bigger brother spotted a being in the distance. It was a patrolling lizard woman, who held a spear in her hands. The orange color that made up her being hinted Anchorus as to who she was.

"Hey brother, isn't that Jenny?"

Taking a close look, the petite one verified his assumption.

"Yeah... good eye Anchorus. She's probably looking for us."

With an increased pep in his step, Anchorus managed to drag himself over to the mountainous Pyrale Region where Jenny was patrolling. She looked over and saw a green blur coming towards her, grabbing her spear.

"HALT! Who is that? Identify yourself!"

"It's us! Anchus and Anchorus, we got something to help Laureen! Can you give us a hand?"

The serpentine predator remembered him all too well from his voice alone and jumped down, still not able to see him entirely.

"Well, you two took your sweet ass time. You better have a potion or antidote or something that you brought back."

As she landed on the ground from her vantage point cliff, she looked up at Anchorus, only to find he was on the ground, missing not only half a torso, but his left arm as well, and behind him was a path of leaked oil a continent long.

"Holy Hell! What in Nemyra's name happened to you?!"

Anchorus merely dragged himself up to as close to a standing position as possible and handed her the large satchel filled with the concoction, as well as the directions that came with it.

"There's no time for life stories. I don't want to keep her waiting any more. Just please get this to Laureen...."

Jenny was astounded he was still moving, but didn't wanna risk him dropping whatever lay within that bag he held, so quickly she took it and hopped into the mountainous region to reach Laureen, turning back only once.

"If this works.... then I guess I might've been wrong about you idiots... thanks."

In mere moments she had fled from sight, into the underground Pyrale network to deliver the remedy. Anchorus looked at his brother and let out a small glimpse of joy.

"We did it Anchus. We... we saved the day.... we're real... real heroes, aren't we?"

Just then Anchorus's eyes closed shut and all his systems shut down, as he fell face first to the ground. Anchus was surprised by this and actually fell back in shock.

"Anchorus? ANCHORUS! Get up brother, this is no time for joking!"

He repeatedly attempted waking his brother up, via smacks to the face or shocks to the system with his electro staff.

"Why are you passed out? Come on, answer me!"

Anchus couldn't hear himself think over the panic he was feeling, but more so because of a muffled beeping he heard. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of Anchorus' armor panels slightly skewed open. He opened it and saw a large amount of foliage covering his oil gauge. Once it was removed, Anchus found the root of the problem; Anchorus had run out of oil, and the beeping sound that was being muffled by the foliage was the only warning he had.

"No... no no no! he's out of oil! Damnit, without it his systems will malfunction and rust!"

He looked around and tried to locate oil, or a predator, or anything he thought would help.

"Hello?! ANYONE?! I need help here! I'll even take an organic! Just someone!"

Alas, his cries for help went unheeded. All that responded to him was his own lonely echo which reverberated off of the Pyrale Canyon and Mountainside...

Even when the universe throws them a bone, it doesn't last for the two, does it? Can't wait for the next installment!

Typos:

he took a looka round (he took a look around)

mycodriad (I think it's mycodryad)

I got to fixing most of the errors. Thanks Sean.

UPDATE: The last chapter should be up shortly. Just need to polish it off.