"Roger," Hyuuma said before putting the transceiver away. Stepping past Matt and Guy, he kneeled down by the shard--making sure not to get too close, of course. He studied it for a few moments, frowning, before standing up. "Guy," he said, "Think you can see if you can feel anything from this? It could be what you sensed when you found Matt."

Edited by RisingDragon on February 1, 2008 at 18:28:49.

"All right." Approaching the shard, Guy closed his eyes, opening his connections to the invisible wavelengths of life that flowed around him. Matt remembered that Guy could sense forms of energy...could he pick up what the Omega Core could display?

"...I can feel the same form of energy as before," Guy reported. "But it's faint...it's among a lot of others...I can't even begin to tell them all apart."

Well, no surprise there. "What do you think it means?" Matt asked.

Guy opened his eyes again. "Like your armor, it may be beyond anything we've seen before."

Eventually, the short figure of Liger crawled through the open space. "All right, gentlemen! Where's this shard you mentioned?" In his hands, he held a glass box framed with metal and a long metal arm device to grip hazardous objects.

"Over here, Uncle." Guy took a step back as Liger approached to handle the shard.

"Hmmm." Gripping the shard with the arm device, Liger narrowed an eye as he examined its surface. "Very interesting." He carefully placed it in the box. "Does it give off the same energy signature you found before, Guy?"

"Somewhat."

"Ah." Liger adjusted his hat. "Well, let's just go back and see what we have, then."

"Hopefully we still have all the equipment we need to analyze it," Hyuuma commented, still looking at the blue shard.

Back at the base, Liger set down the framed box on his table. "It's going to take some time to fully analyze this thing," he explained. "I'll call you once I can figure out all I can about it."

Matt doubted he could figure much from it. "All right."

"Well, I'll be around if you need me," Guy said to Hyuuma.

"Alright," Hyuuma said, nodding to Guy as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the shard a moment, then looked at the Doc and said, "When you're done, you should probably take another look at the kid. That thing could've done something to his armor, or to him."

Liger nodded. "All right." He cracked a smirk as he looked at Matt. "I guess you're full of surprises, huh?"

"...yeah."

It'd be two more days before anything eventful happened to GGG on Repli-Earth.

The day started out like any other, with Sergeant Hyuuma barking out orders to the various GGG crew out on daily tasks, as they gathered various supplies from the ruins and brought them to Kushinada and the J-Ark. Aboard the giant battleship, the door to Matt's room rang as another crewmember knocked on it.

Matt glanced up from his reading. Bookmarking his place, he rose from the bed. "Who is it?"

A man's voice came through the door, slightly muffled from the metal door. "Some of the crew are gonna head out to the ruins, think we might've found a warehouse that's intact. Want to come along?"

Glad to be of any kind of help, Matt tossed the book onto his bed. "Yeah, okay." The metal door parted as he stepped out into the hallway. "Lead the way."

The crewmember led Matt out of the hall to a group of others before they made their way out of the J-Ark. They had managed to get a couple trucks with a sideless trailer running, and were hoping to use them to bring what they could find in the warehouse back to the base, making the job much easier.

Matt took his place near the end of one of the truck beds. Without turning his head, he looked out the side, toward the ruins in the distance. He hadn't actually attempted much conversation with the other crew members. He didn't even want to think about how they would judge him now. If only they knew what sort of acts he had committed, they would probably judge him far worse. Forcing his lips shut, he kept quiet.

With the broken roadway, it took the crew a good half hour just to get into the city proper, and another fifteen minutes winding through rubble to get to the actual warehouse where the crew was hoping to find supplies. The building was expansive at three and a half floors, but numerous cracks ran through its walls and the roof. A number of unlit electrical lamps were spread out across a cleared-out parking lot in front of the building, and the two trucks were parked near them.

The GGG crew quickly vacated the truck beds and got to work, going about and turning on the generators and lamps, while others doled out safety gear prior to entering the building.

Matt decided to enter the building and help search for supplies. None of the passed out safety gear would really fit him, but then again, he doubted that much could get past his armor.

'Course, it would make a fitting coffin, given the right circumstances...

"Hah! The hell kinda shield is that? I'm surprised it didn't break earlier. Can't even withstand powerful energy. Geez, stupid," he said with a teasing laugh, "I can't believe someone as ill-equipped as you is traveling with X. Anyway, we can set you up with a good smith. He'll repair your stuff better'n new, and if you want, we can even infuse some of our Darksteel ore. Absorbs magic... to a degree."

------

"Welcome, X." The robed man said.

"Er... who the hell are you?"

"I am that who has walked beside you for all this time."

"I'm not really that happy about finding someone else in my head."

"Don't you realize who I am, X? Of course not, how could you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I am the sword. And you've never bothered to even learn my name. You are not worthy to wield me." He yelled, as he swept his arm across. The ground opened up beneath X, expanding into an abyss of darkness. X landed on a rough stone surface and waited, echoes of former foes surrounding him on all sides.

The man who had approached Matt earlier aboard the J-Ark approached him once again. "Come on," he said, handing the armored boy a handheld flashlight, "Our group's up to go inside now. You ready to head in?"

===In NationStates General===

"That would be nice," the warrior said, looking at his melted shield once more while ignoring the remark about him being ill-equipped. His sword and armor had been more than enough in previous battles; it had served him well enough fighting Diablo beneath England. "Though I'm not sure I'll be able to afford such."

He didn't know what the currency was here. Sure, he had been paid for certain services in the Nightmare Realm, but was this world one that accepted gold? Not all of the humans he had met down in that hellhole used it, some of them tried to explain their paper money system. Seemed lunacy to him, but he had to adapt if he was to survive in this world.

Matt nodded. "Yeah."

With a serious face, he shot a quick glance at the warehouse in question. Considering the state of the ruins about them and the rubble scattered along the ground, they'd have to jump in and out fast. He had the unshakable sensation that the damn thing would tumble on them, and that was the last thing he needed.

...bah. He had to focus on the present. Matt shoved the thought aside and remembered the groups of people around him, preparing themselves for the trek inside.

"Yeah," R.D. said, "Bryant told me earlier about an army hidden somewhere in Japan. He thinks that we might be able to recruit them into the battle against the Six Beasts. They've already antagonized Gouki once just by rescuing him and Brandon."

===In Repli-Earth===

For the Matt's first trip inside, it was rather uneventful. A plethora of supplies were found, but a good number of it was useless, thanks to some of the boxes having been destroyed by debris loosened from the meteor's impact. Taking turns going in and out of the warehouse, the three teams went around in search of viable containers.

It wasn't until the second trip inside for Matt that things spiraled out of control.

"Easy," one of the crew said, directing two others in removing a larger intact crate from a pile. Others were inspecting the room. They weren't too sure about the stability of the place, as many of the supports were damaged, but so far, this particular room had the most undamaged supplies. They had decided, on account of courage, to take the risk and retrieve the prize.

They didn't take in account that there was another large supply of crates on the floor above them, putting more and more strain on the weakening floor.

Matt didn't exactly share the crew's notion of bravery. He liked to think that his paranoia kept him alive-even as he was taking up a smaller box to move outside, he stayed alert. It was a habit, and he wasn't willing to drop it any time soon.

Something caught his eye. Crumbs of rock from the ceiling. He glanced up. Let's hope it was stable-

It was then that the roof caved in, tumbling down on Matt and the GGG crew members in large, broken pieces, followed by the crates of items stacked on the floor above. Reflexes fired as Matt dropped the box he was holding, covering his head as the heavy rain came down.

"From what I can tell," R.D. explained, "All they want to is for outside forces to leave them alone. But they are honorable. I think if you don't try and take over their home, they'll fight for you."

Frowning, he continued, "They seem to have some association with the Dragon Tribe. Perhaps they can give us a way to talk to them after we defeat Sheena."

===In Repli-Earth===

Screams of surprise, fear, and pain erupted all around, but was all but lost amid the sound of the crushing rubble falling overhead. Things were thrown into chaos, but it lasted only for a few short minutes. When the commotion died down, the GGG crew looked about, their flashlights the only source of light. The only way into and out of the room was blocked by heavy debris, mixed with crushed boxes. Moans of pain were heard as some of the crew came to, injured.

And in one pile, a broken arm stuck out at an odd angle amid the debris. Not all of the crew were so lucky.

R.D. shook his head. "They don't know us," he said, "We don't even know where they're living at, exactly. The dragons do, and they're not moving from Antarctica until Sheena's been disposed of. Besides, if we help them defeat Sheena, they might be willing to help us defeat the other five."

"It always seemed to work for me and Matt," R.D. said, considering Juno's plan. "Didn't you guys just wing it against Electra?"

Matt uncovered his head, and found himself face-to-face with rubble piled around the room. Shit! He looked toward the door, which was now barred. Double shit!

He quickly noticed the twisted arm sticking out from underneath chunks of rock. "Damn it!" Grabbing a slab, he tried to lift-damn it, he never thought this would be so heavy! Move, dammit, move!

"How are you guys going to get the army across the ocean, anyway?" R.D. asked, looking back at the Reaverbots and humans. "I have a boat, but its not nearly enough to get everyone across the sea."

===In Repli-Earth===

One of the unhurt crew reached over and grabbed Matt by the arm, trying to get the boy to look at him as he shook his head. "It's too late for him, kid."

"No it's not!" Matt continued his desperate lift. "We gotta make sure-"

He couldn't do it anymore. "We gotta make sure..."

It wouldn't budge.

Matt slowly let the slab fall back into place, panting in exhaustion as he stared at it and the broken arm.

...damn it.



Edited by The Helldragon on February 6, 2008 at 23:13:05.