In the distance, deep in the darkness of the temple, where the Diesel Pharaoh's ambient light failed to penetrate, something slithered with uncanny speed. A creature of its size shouldn't normally be able to move with such silence, yet it was doing so anyway. The creature moved easily in the darkness, the sensor antennas on its face detecting vibrations in the light ahead. Whatever was in front of this massive worm-like creature had suddenly brought up a week-long feeling of hunger in its stomach.

Slowly but surely, as Rick stood in an awkward position with Thirteen circling him as if he was her prey, a large predator slithered closer. Its many front legs pulled it forward, while its segmented body moved in the fashion of serpent, causing the slime on its skin to stick all over the metal floor. It moved quietly, its maw dripping with gooey saliva as it began to reveal itself in the light. The thing towered many feet over both Rick and Thirteen, sizing them up as its meal for the week. And they still didn't notice it yet....

Despite the danger that this new creature circling him could have on Rick, he still couldn't help but almost stare at the same time. The fact that it was something female was affecting him greatly in this situation, sapping his normal resolve and keeping him distracted. Ever since Rick had first developed a crush on a former tribe member that was over ten years older than him, he had become a sucker for good-looking women.

While the thing circling him wasn't really all that human, and it was more comparable to a mechanized cat-girl, Rick still was caught in the moment. He smiled wide with a stupid grin as he watched Thirteen continue to circle him, and he found the nerve to say something to it.

"So...you have a name?" Rick asked, his voice brimming with fake suaveness. If anything, Rick's mind was centering around if this thing would actually have the will to answer him back in a coherent sentence. Out of complete whim, he looked up towards the ceiling with a smile, but it faded almost instantly.

Straight above him, the titanic, mandible-filled mouth of a Pallid Horror was dripping saliva, and he felt a drop of the disgusting fluid hit his forehead. Rick's eyes went wide with fear, before the creature made a loud and terrible screeching sound, its mandibles flailing.

"Watch out!"

Rick didn't think. He acted, jumping in the direction of Thirteen and pushing her below him and towards the ground. At the same time, the Pallid Horror directed its body downward, with its mouth slamming hard against the metallic ground that Rick had just been standing on. The creature screeched again, this time in pain as its mandibles crashed against the hard silver floor. A crack could be heard, as the hard impact caused one of the insect limbs to crack apart.

Meanwhile, Rick was blushing beyond belief, having landed right on top of Thirteen. He couldn't move for a few minutes, and he was forced to look down at the eyes of the hybrid he was pinning. Another screech alerted him of the danger and snapped him out of his state, and Rick quickly rolled off of Thirteen. He was sweating and his heart was pounding in his chest, but nevertheless, he focused himself and turned in the direction of the Diesel Pharaoh.

Got to get to it! Got to stop this thing from making dinner out of us! Can't let this hot cat girl thing die!

Rick ran as fast he could towards the Diesel Pharaoh, and to his surprise, the back of the machine seemed to open itself up as he inched closer. Another screech could be heard, and only a few feet away, he could see that the Pallid Horror was sizing them up again, readying another quick strike. Without second thought, he tumbled into the Diesel Pharaoh's cockpit, and the moment he touched the controls, he felt his mind begin to synchronize in pattern with the machines' movements. In seconds, he was a part of the machine.

As the Pallid Horror looked down upon its prey, something large got right in its way. It was not something familiar to this giant invertebrate, like the many neosaurs it had encountered and feasted upon in the past. No, this something glowed with a bright orange light, and reeked of a strange scent.

A powerful mechanized punch seemed to rocket into the Pallid Horror's face way before it could assess the situation with its primitive mind, causing multiple mandibles on its face to crack apart and spew greenish ichor. The retractable left arm of the Diesel Pharaoh was already pulling itself back, as the giant machine took position in front of the Pallid Horror. Though the creature was larger, the Diesel Walker was more imposing, causing the large arthropod to back away just a bit. Inside, Rick's voice vibrated throughout the temple, filled with sudden courage.

"Not so scary when you got someone your own size up against you, eh? Come and get a piece of me, claw face!"

Jasmine felt a cold chill rush down her spine, and it was not just the incoming blizzard upon the frozen heights. The Ice Boar stood there motionless. Jasmine did what she was taught to do when encountered by an Ice Boar. She slowly stepped back, the Ice Boar still motionless. She thought of it was to attack, she wouldn't have time to think of a way to escape. She started moving back, and then starting swerving around it, very slowly. The Ice Boar turned its head to watch her steps. She began to walk away.

The Ice Boar moved towards her. She stopped in her steps with a jerk and flipped her head around. The Ice Boar was nearing her. It came within 3 feet of her. Then, she ran for it. The Ice Boar took about 3 seconds to realize that she was running. When it noticed her, it dashed straight at her. The treeline began to recede, and trees began to appear as she was running down. She tripped, and fell down the icy path that lied below. She rammed into a tree, sort of dizzy. By the time she regained her full vision, the Ice Boar had barely missed her. Those horns would of pierced her hips onto the tree. She ran behind it, and started running back down the hill. By this point, the trees were beginning to become more common. Eventually it was forestlike. The snow began to dissapate, and then she heard a familiar roar. The Ice Boar stopped in its path and began running back. A Pallid Horror shape was noticed in the background. Good thing it did not notice her. She jumped from tree to tree. It was far back behind her, but she didn't want to be so sure. She eventually ran out of its vicinity and the roaring stopped. She found a cold cave and hid within it. She took a few minutes to inhale and exhale, which she didn't really have the chance to do for the last ten minutes. She looked to the left and saw a strange door. She looked in the sky as it was nearing night, then looked back at the door. She saw a small hatch. Her head went off. She withdrew the key within her bag and placed it in the hatch.

It fit.

She turned it and opened it. Smoke piled out and she realized that it was some sort of ancient cavern. She recognized the smell of diesel as she entered and noticed a well nearby, filled with it. There were cans nearby it. She looked on the wall that she had just entered in, and there was ancient text. She translated it

"1948 BC - Welcome to the sanctuary. You have been led here, by the clues. I understand you are on your way to Giza. I want to show you my creation, in the next room. Use the diesel in here to lead yourself to happiness."

She saw a door entering the next room. She opened it, the light from the outdoors illuminating the room and the flames within lighting it up. She smelt diesel. She noticed a stairway. She went down the stairway.

And another stairway. And another stairway.

Eventually she reached the bottom. She looked up and saw an endless hole from where she had come from. She then noticed something falling from above. She screamed, and ducked, hoping to survive. When it landed, there was a monstrous earthquake. She realized she was alive and looked at it. It was 15 feet tall. She felt it. It was a cold metal, familiar from her diesel pistols. She looked at the top. It was a feminine looking face. It resembled a Geisha, from ancient Chinese times as she had remembered. The face was a shaded white, with its eyes closed. The thick makeup that outlined the features on her face was delicate and fragile. The thing was a human like shape. It had a huge hat, somewhat like a peacock's feathers. The body had ancient geisha clothing, a strange midriff like clothing and a long skirt. It was fully metal. It seemed just like a giant statue of smething, all of the metal outlined very nicely. She noticed a sword on the side of it. Then she noticed an opening in the back. She climbed up the back, but it was somewhat hard to go up because of the slippery naked back. She entered it. As she sat herself down, the hatch automatically closed. Her vision then blurred red, and everything around her spun. Eventually a voice said, "Analyzing Owner." it said. Then a red scanner visioned her whole body from head to toe. "Welcome to your Diesel Walker, Jasmine Tamirah Tyoka." It said.

"How did you know that?" she yelled.

"I have scanned your body and retabilitated your brain cells. I am an artificial intelligence software installed into this walker. Whatever you think, it does. I think we should minimize to your regular size."

The world around her shrunk. She was now about 5 feet tall, as tall as she was as a human. The Geisha still kept her features and slim body.

"You are in a time of distress, I am aware of. I understand we are on our way to Giza, aren't we?" it said.

"Yes, we are." she said.

Jasmine placed the strange hat above her onto her head and she flipped the switch On.

It seemed as if blood was being sucked from her brain and into the machine.

"Analyzing thought mechanism: successful. Whatever you do shall be done now." the voice said. Jasmine thought of swinging her right arm. It swung her right arm. She then jumped up the tunnel, and in the entrance of it. It withdrew the sword from her side, and did whatever she knew it could do.

"I don't believe this.. off to Giza!" she yelled.

The machine outside was completely quiet.

[blank]

The Therbraxis Anthelia staggered back from the force of the mechanized blow, obviously very confused at what had just happened. In its dank and deplorable career, this was the first time something had ever fought back this hard.

Thirteen lased her tail in disgust, watching the exchange. Her processor could not pick up any sign of higher function from the Horror. It's legs waggled aimlessly in the air, and its mandibles drooled with no greater intent than crunching. The monster had no business in being so intrusive, and deserved a sound trouncing.

Silly two-legs. Beating something so large and so pasty to a pulp was both impractical and messy. Thirteen prowled a wide circle around the huge creature. Her processor whirred and clicked, and she devised a sort of plan.

When she sprang at the heap of pale, wormy flesh, it wasn't to bite and slice and maim. With her ferocity and the keenness of her fangs, she was sure it could be done, but it was very messy and would take a long time.

Coating the entire monster was a sick, acidic sort of ooze. It reeked of death and decay, a primal bestiality. She felt herself skid along the segmented rings and dug her claws deep to save hold. Almost at once the Horror hissed in pain, lurching to the side in an attempt to roll her off.

She found what she had been looking for, though. Her claws had scored a large pool of some bright green liquid. This was how the Pallid Horror sensed the deep movements in its lair. Its ears, of sorts.

As the monster thrashed, she tightened her grip, bent down, opened her jaws and screamed.

The sound ripped through the torn chamber, magnified from the acoustics as well as the mechanized speakers that cranked the volume to ten. Thirteen was enjoying herself immensely. The affect was instant.

The Pallid Horror could not handle the sound. It wailed and fell to the ground, curling up in a tight ball. Thirteen extracted herself and rolled to the side, her green-stained claws skittering. The monster continued to groan as its ears bled and bled and bled. She sat back on her haunches and curled her tail neatly, licking at her claws.

It was all too clear that she couldn't be bothered to do more. Her garnet eyes glinted through the darkness at the boy in his Walker. He had better finish the thing off, or at least send it packing.

Although the face of the Diesel Pharaoh could not actually change its metallic expression, it certainly would of if such a thing had been possible. Rick looked on in surprise as the strange cat-girl unleashed a powerful sonic scream that reverberated throughout the entire temple. The screech was powerful, hurting Rick's ears as well as seriously damaging the external sensory organs of the Pallid Horror. As Thirteen dismounted the creature, the Pallid Horror seemed to violently thrash back and forth, green blood pouring out of shattered parts of its skin.

Rick stood in front of the dying creature with this Diesel Walker, wondering what exactly he should do. From what he could see, it was bleeding quite a bit, and a time like this was when it was probably most vulnerable. With one punch of that powerful stretching arm that the Diesel Pharaoh had displayed just before, the Pallid Horror would be dead in a heart beat.

Rick thought about it for a moment, wondering if he really wanted to do such a thing. Inside the Diesel Pharaoh, he felt morally conflicted. Something about the situation was different. He didn't really want to kill, despite the fact that he now had the means to do so. His opponent was no longer a threat to him, so he felt like attacking it would almost be wrong.

A few more seconds passed, and finally, Rick had decided what he was going to do.

The Diesel Pharaoh stood still, arms at its side while it seemed to just stare down the Pallid Horror in front of it. The huge arthropod had stopped thrashing by this point, and most of its bleeding has begun to lessen. As its senses figured out the position of the two beings in front of it, Rick could see the Pallid Horror's body quiver in what seemed like fear. Without making any noise, the creature seemed to turn tail quickly, and proceed to slither into the darkness behind it as fast as it could. It retreated in only a few seconds, leaving Rick a little surprised, but satisfied.

Hmph. You got lucky this time...

Slowly, the Diesel Pharaoh seemed to relax as Rick gave out a big sigh of relief. He was more glad than anything that the threat was gone, and he didn't have to actually do much to make it go away. In fact, he felt a little jealous as he glanced at the creature below him, which looked back up at his Diesel Walker with the same strange curiosity as before. Rick began to notice that it was behaving a bit strangely. It's posture was slouching, and it seemed to be leaning back and forth uncontrollably on all fours, as if it was getting tired. Thirteen's tail seemed to be dragging along the ground now, as if it was losing energy or something.

"Hey? Cat-girl thing...you okay?" he asked, slightly concerned even though he and this thing were still strangers to one another.

Her processor was clicking slower and slower, now. Each step took a bit more out of her until she wisely chose to curl up into a little ball, wrapping her tail safely under her chin.

She felt no stark finality, no fear. The system needed to reboot for a while, that was all. Her garnet eyes were gleaming dimmer and dimmer.

Tired...

Vaguely, in the back of her processor she observed how ridiculous it all must have seemed. That two-legs...if he hadn't of snatched the Diesel X this might not have happened. She irrationally made a mental note to chew his arm off the next time she saw him.

Yes, the system must be flickering, along with her reason.

When the system finally slid into stasis once more, it was not for good. Thirteen dozed fitfully. Her eyes flickered once--then closed.

Isaac was occupied, for the first time in his life, with good, honest work. Specifically, he was digging. Well, digging and occasionally rubbing at his bruises. Apparently he had not been quite done with education that day, because he'd learned that flight takes up a lot of fuel. He'd also learned that the... the... the walker... didn't do a great job of cushioning a long fall.

Apparently there was some kind of fuel threshhold for the boosters, because even after they'd shut off, he'd been able to move, at least a little bit. Enough to frantically glide closer to the ground, so that when control finally did cut out completely, he'd only had about fifty feet to fall. More by good fortune than from his own sense of direction, he'd landed in the clearing that had previously housed the vinebeast. After sitting for a while, exhaling long, pained breaths, he managed to regain control of his thought processes. It had took a while, but finally the idea had managed to collect itself in his head.

So now he was digging for Diesel. It was hard work, lifting the heavy, oily soil on the flat of his axe, but he could tell that it was slowly getting purer as he wnt downwards. Fortunately, his body was easily up to the task. He hadn't known that it took this much effort to get Diesel. He'd always thought of it as something you took from somebody else while they were too busy either running for their lives or being dead to notice. In fact, he realized with a start, he'd thought of everything in that way. Well, everything except his mask. That had taken work, both to earn the right, and to make. He reflected a moment, then shrugged the thought off. If you couldn't defend what was yours, than it wouldn't be yours anymore. That was just the way things worked.

Finally, after what must have been an hour of digging, his entire body streaked black with Diesel, he hit premium grade, running slowly off of his axe. Isaac gave a sigh of relief, and wiped his brow, getting it dirtier than it had been in the first place. He unhooked the dieselcans from his waist. Now for the fun part.

Half an hour of trips back and forth through the clearing, and climbing up and down the machine later, he poured yet another oily can into the tank. Or tried to. It overflowed out of the opening, dripping down onto the ground beneath him. He screwed the gascap back on, and basked in the orange glow of the machine in the darkness. One quick trip to fill up the cans one last time, and to retrieve his axe later, and Isaac was seated in the... the mech. That was the word, wasn't it? It would do for now. It would do until he could discover the mech's name. He knew it had one. He could even feel it, lurking at the bottom of his mind. Yet he could not bring it to the fore, and he knew any name of his imagination would not suffice. For now, then, it was the mech.

He began to yawn, but was interrupted by the same wave of pain as the first time. Knowing it was coming, it almost felt good in a way, like a purging of the weakness in his body. His vision swam momentarily, and he found himself towering over his surroundings. His mind felt as alert and ready as it had when he'd woken up... how long ago? It must have been at least a full day since he'd left Noo Dellee, and he'd been in too much danger to sleep well for some time before that.

He found that he could, with unnerving clarity, remember the direction he would need to travel in to get back to the temple. He turned and looked into the jungle in his path. It was thick and overgrown, even for a section of jungle. Even the lights shining from his... from the mech's... from their... from the mech's eyes only penetrated a few feet into the foliage.

Isaac nodded, both within and without. He knew that even with his short flight, he didn't really know what he... what they... what she was capable of. Striding forward, his pace long and strangely fluid, he brandished both sword and sickle, sword in his upper left hand, sickle in his lower right. He made a series of quick slashes, that even to his heightened vision looked like metallic blurs in the air. His hands met no resistance.

The entire foliage wall before him fell to the ground.

Thirty more feet of cutting, finished in a matter of seconds, revealing the (relatively) thin jungle beyond. A maddened grin came across Isaac's face.

"Hell yes." Something about the voice that came out over the mech's speakers seemed a bit odd, as though it were not his own. Isaac only barely noticed, and cared even less. Right now, there were more interesting things to do. He crouched, leaning forward onto his lower hands, upper arms tensed back, palms facing forward. He sprang. He ran.

The speed was incredible. He wondered if he'd been travelling this fast on the bike. That had been... what, 30 miles an hour? This had to be more than that. He covered the ground in long, loping slides, hands sliding forward without a break in movement to slice down vines in his path. Once, he was forced to leap over an incredibly large fallen tree. Feeling showy and confident, he did a double flip through the air, landing and continuing on with only the slightest shift in momentum.

All told, the trip took less than ten minutes. It felt like it had been longer than that, much longer. Then, as he was skidding to a halt with machine-granted grace, he felt his perception of time shift. The world around him seemed to speed up. It was similar to the sensation of entering the mech, but in reverse. He hadn't even noticed the change forwards. He blinked. That would take some getting used to.

As he descended the stairs into the temple, his steps oddly soft despite the expected clang of metal on stone, his mind reached a question he hadn't considered.

"Now what?" he said aloud. Once more, something seemed wrong with his voice, but within its echo, he could not ascertain what. He pushed it out of his mind.

He could return to Noo Dellee. He'd certainly have the power to do whatever he wanted. Stev wouldn't be an obstacle in the slightest. He could be not just boss, but king. It could all be his. He could sit back and live the high life, such as it was.

And yet... such a thing did not feel... did not feel worthy of this. It was... it was like fate that he come across it. Isaac was not religious. The question, even the concept of religion was one entirely foreign to Noo Dellee. There you lived until you died, and then you were dead. Yet Isaac could almost feel, as a tangible sensation, that someone was watching him. Watching over him. And he was a Metalhead. No Metalhead would ever settle for less when somebody else was watching.

But if not east, back to Noo Dellee... then what?

A phrase scrawled itself across his mind, dredging itself from his memory unbidden. He remembered that it had been told to him by the same person who had told him of the goals. Mad Hava always had been an odd duck. He'd even been able to read, and he did so at every opportunity. The old man wasn't even part of a gang! He just lived in the middle of Noo Dellee, surrounded by the indecipherable wisdom of the ancient world. He'd been the man to go to for advice. He had been as far as anyone could remember. Isaac remembered the cryptic words the man had spoken to him one time when he'd gone for consultation.

"Go West, young man!"

The path of the raider's run painted itself upon his mind. Isaac knew what he would be doing tomorrow... heck, even for the next week. It would take some time to prepare. But oh, it would be glorious.

Rick raised an eyebrow, suddenly confused. Inside of the Diesel Pharaoh, he watched this strange cyborg cat-girl just...fall asleep...right in front of him. She seemed relatively at peace, as she just curled up into a ball and closed her eyes. He could hear a faint whirring sound before Thirteen dozed off, and all this just made Rick even more confused.

"Hello?" he said out loud, his Diesel Pharaoh instinctively waving as he did so inside the cockpit. Thirteen didn't give him any response. He scratched the back of his head inside the cockpit, causing the Diesel Pharaoh to do exactly the same thing. It was a time like this where Rick didn't really know what to do. He closed his eyes, thinking hard.

What do I do? I got the Diesel Pharaoh now, and this thing that saved me fell asleep! Am I supposed to leave it here? How the hell do I get out anyway?

This is freaking confusing! Well...I can't leave her here. Whatever she is, she'll get eaten by something down here if I leave her. It shouldn't be too hard to take her along, right? Once I build the first city in my name, I need a citizen or two, right?

Rick shook his head, as if trying to drive away silly thoughts.

Those are just stupid fantasies! Gotta focus on the situation at hand!

I got it! I'll just take her with me! Getting out of here with the Diesel Pharaoh should be easy!

Rick smiled at the thought of his plan. Slowly but surely, he reached down and gently picked up the lean form of Thirteen in one of his machines' hands, which were big enough for her to be comfortably continue sleeping in a ball. The other hand was partially covering her, and Rick's Diesel Pharaoh was now looking straight up, as the boy inside figured out just what he planned on doing. He didn't know if it would work, but he figured he would try it anyway.

He began to focus on pumping his legs like pistons, as if he was ready to pounce at something. His Diesel Pharaoh responded to the thoughts in his head, as the pressure around its legs seemed to increase, and it began to crouch. Rick focused on his destination. He wanted to be above.

Come on...

Without warning, he thought about the long jump ahead, and as if one cue, the Diesel Pharaoh acted.

GO!

The robotic being seemed to rocket upwards as its legs pushed off the ground. The darkness around Rick began to dissipate, and as the Diesel Walker began to get closer to the surface, the boy closed his eyes tight.

A loud explosion of cracking rock and dirt could be heard all around as the titanic shape of the Diesel Pharaoh smashed through the ceiling of the underground and exited above. The jungle floor ruptured to make way for the shape of the Diesel Walker to go through, causing animals to scatter and foliage to become uprooted. The Diesel Pharaoh didn't land nimbly, but it made its way on firm ground, having created a large hole in the ground.

Situated on all fours like a gorilla for the moment, the Diesel Pharaoh seemed to be surveying the new landscape with an expressionless face. Inside, Rick's heart was beating fast, and he almost couldn't believe what he had done. His mind was tense, and he felt ready for anything.

Inside his one hand, slept the creature that was Thirteen, safe and sound. Rick looked out towards the jungle, and figured out just what he was going to do next. With this new machine, and a new name for himself, he felt he finally had a reason to go back to that tribe of his. He hoped with the Diesel Pharaoh, perhaps they could give him the respect he deserved, instead of treating him like a little kid.

Time to show them all!

With that thought, Rick focused, and the Diesel Walker began to lumber forward, crushing foliage underfoot as it began to venture into the thick jungle. All around, the jungle ambiance was interrupted by a different sort of sound, one that was along the lines of mechanized, grinding noises that signified the Diesel Pharaohs' mighty approach.

Megan enjoyed the coolness of the water, floating on her back as she relaxed. She dived under again touching the ground before coming back up as she glanced over at the waterfall. She noticed something sparkling behind the small waterfall. That’s strange! She swam a little closer it looked as though there was a secret passageway behind the waterfall. She quickly swam back to the shore, putting on her clothes and gun holster before moving over towards the waterfall. Megan carefully moved across the wet rocky ground and squeezed passed the water rushing down over the rocks making sure her weapons wouldn’t get wet. She stopped at front of the entrance of the passageway looking with amazement at the ancient carvings on the arc. She had never seen anything like it before. Megan noticed the sparkly object she had seen before on the ground in front of her. She picked it up feeling the smooth texture as she rubbed her fingers across it; it looked like just a normal piece of metal except that it didn’t have them same texture or feel to it.

She pulled out her lighter, flicking it open to give herself a little light as she decided to see where this passageway led to. The ground was rather wet and so she kept one hand on the wall in case she would slip over. All the sudden she approached a staircase, she hesitated for a moment looking back at the way she had come from, it was completely dark and she couldn’t see the entrance anymore. Megan was about to step down when all of the sudden the ground began to shake and she lost her balance and was sent tumbling down the staircase. “Ah Fuck!” She hit her head hard on the edge of the steps….then her back…then her legs….then her arms…then her head again and she continued tumbling until she got to the bottom. The ground shook again and small bits of dirt fell from the roof of the cave, it was as if something heavily smashed into the ground above her. Megan picked up her lighter that she had dropped before getting back to her feet feeling all sore. She rubbed the back of her neck a bit as she gazed around the cave/room. It looked like an Egyptian temple, with ancient symbols and drawings scribbled all over the walls.

Megan moved towards the centre seeing a large marble table and something odd looking was laying on top. As she got closer to take a better look her hand immediately reach out to touch the structure feeling the same smooth texture that the object she found earlier had. Holding her lighter over it she noticed all these weird looking cracks in it, her fingers trailing across them it felt rather sticky. She brought her fingers up to her nose taking a whiff of it. It smelled like Diesel X but she wanted to be sure so she licked a bit of it. Megan started coughing “Oh gross…that is defiantly Diesel X…ew.” She shook her head in disgust before wiping her tongue on the bottom of her shirt trying to get it off. She stood there rather curious as to what this structure was and why there was Diesel X on it. Megan pulled out one of her pistols unscrewing the back lid as she decided to pour a little of it into some of the cracks. Although she didn’t pour in a lot the liquid seemed to spread rather faster into all the cracks. Megan screwed the lid back on from her pistol and just watched the Diesel X spreading through the cracks; it looked like blood travelling through human veins.

All the sudden the cracks lit up in a neon green colour, and for the first time she was able to see the whole structure, it was at least twenty two feet long. Megan stepped back eyes wide wondering what would happen next, her finger was already resting on the trigger as she held her pistol out in front of her aiming at the structure. Suddenly the structure began to move, the ground beneath her feet shook just like earlier and she was so surprised by its sudden movement that she dropped her pistol and quickly scrambled away. Holy Shit! She moved further away but kept her eyes on it as it seemed to get up on its legs. There were all these strange sounds of things shifting around and clicking together, it looked almost like a robot coming to life. The structure all the sudden stopped moving and the temple fell silent again. Megan couldn’t believe her eyes as she stared blankly at the robotic being which kind of looked like a cat. She got to her feet again and moved slowly towards it to have a better look now that the room was lit up with this blue light.

It stood motionless on its four legs as Megan walked around the back, noticing that it had a segmented tail with spiky metal pieces coming off the end. It looked rather deadly just like a scorpion’s tail. She moved along the side taking note of how its feet looked a lot like those of a tiger or some other big cat. Once she got to the head of the creature Megan again could see the similarity it had with a cat. It had large pointy metal pieces sticking out on either side like ears. Her eyes trailed down its head where its eyes should’ve been but all she saw was her own reflecting. There was like a strip of glass across the top of its head, it looked like those two way glass screens were you can’t see in but the person inside can see out. Below the strip of glass was its jaw. Megan stepped back admiring the whole structure before smiling cheekily, “You look like a giant panther!....I think I going to name you fluffy…do you like that name?” She joked as she tapped its so called nose and just as she did the metal being moved again as its front legs bent down and the glass strip opened up to reveal what looked like a plane cockpit. Her mouth dropped open, as she just stared at the empty chair inside. “You have got to be shitting me!”

Jasmine exited the temple.

"Hostile life form detected within a mile of our current location." the voice said.

"Let's see what this thing can do!" she muttered. She moved towards the location of the hostile life form. She heard a roar in the distance. She then entered a clearing, where a large creature stood. An Imperiasaurus. As the creature looked down at her at her 5 feet metal body, she felt pain as she looked into its eyes. She had seen this before.

"Damn you!" she screamed and she withdrew the sword on the side. She ran up to it at an extreme speed and stabbed its sword onto its leg. The Imperiasaurus was too slow to react. With a screeching moan, it let out its painful cries. It limped to the Geisha, unafraid of what she would do next. She ran up to it, and slashed the other leg. Its head shuddered and it blinked, hoping to win the fight. He probaly felt weak, being beat up by a girl in a metal costume. The Imperiasaurus jerked its head towards the Geisha's location, and stood motionless. She stared into its eyes. She finally had revenge. She avenged her mother's death. The Imperiasaurus fell to the ground, and its eyelids closed. She placed the sword away, and silently began making her way to Egypt.

For Rick, the jungle world around him seemed very different now that he was traveling through it via the Diesel Pharaoh. Foliage was crushed underneath the machines' lumbering steps, and most of the nearby jungle ambiance was drowned out by the mechanical grinding sound that accompanied the walking machine. It almost seemed like the jungle was giving way to the power of the Diesel Pharaoh, despite its relatively calm pace.

Rick's mind felt at peace, as if comforted by the sound of mechanical grinding that took the place of the usual jungle sounds he was used to hearing. It was if the Diesel Pharaoh was beginning to become a second home to him, and that he almost didn't want to leave its safety for the dangerous jungle outside.

Inside one of the Diesel Walker's hands, Thirteen continued to sleep in a ball, her tail wrapped around her part-beast, part mechanical body. Rick took a quick glance at the creature, wondering when, if ever, she would wake up. Nevertheless, he planned on bringing her with him until she did, even if that meant having her be seen by the tribe.

For the next few minutes, the Diesel Pharaoh walked unfazed through the jungles, and none of the many creatures disturbed it in any way. Rick at least expected something to attack him, but alas, everything seemed to be just avoiding him.

Finally, he could see his destination in the distance. The tops of small tents could be slightly seen through the foliage ahead, signifying the temporary living space of the Gen Tribe. It would only be a matter of time till the tribe moved on to another location, so Rick was lucky he had found them before then.

--

Anjen snorted in displeasure.

He'd yet to find the chance. With Rick gone, he'd thought it would be easy. Go into Isayo's room at night, cut a hole in the man's head, shred his body up a bit, and blame it on Asenoraptors. Unfortunately, every chance that Anjen could have had seemed to go up in smoke. The opportunities passed by too quickly.

He was very pissed at the moment, as he sat in his tent, pondering about his next plan of action. Killing Isayo would give him so much power. He just had to get it done...

"My friend...are you awake?" a voice called out, and it belonged to Isayo, who took no time in peeking inside the tent. Anjen put on a fake smile almost immediately.

I will have to deal with this fool for longer then...

"I am. Is there something you need?" Anjen replied, speaking in a fake, but respectful-sounding tone.

Before Isayo could say a word, something vibrated the tent. It was a loud, crushing sound, and it came from nearby. Whatever it was, it sounded titanic, and it caused Isayo's eyes to go up immediately in fear.

"An Imperiasaur!" he said out loud, looking behind him. Anjen smiled as he watched Isayo run out of the tent. He began to see an opportunity arising in front of him.

This could be my chance. Who is to say that beast won't end up biting our Elder in half? All it takes is a little push...

--

"What...what is that thing?"

As they held their Diesel rifles, the various members of the Gen Tribe seemed to be backing away in fear. At this very moment, what seemed like a black metal monstrosity stood before them. Towering at over twenty feet tall, it was truly a sight that one could fear.

"Don't shoot! It's me! Rick!"

Isayo was the first to raise a questioning eyebrow. The voice sounded like Rick's, and it certainly came from within the machine. In all honesty, the leading Elder was already astonished at the great metal man standing before him. It certainly was an imposing construct. With hands as big as the ones it was equipped with, it looked like it could crack an Imperiasauras neck or crush a human into a ball with minimal effort.

"Is that really you, Rick?" Isayo asked, looking upwards at the machine standing before him and the rest of the tribe.

"Of course it is!"

Rick's voice rang out at the same time that a mechanical grinding sound could be heard, signifying that the back of the Diesel Pharaoh was opening up. A few seconds passed, before the machine seemed to relax as Rick appeared from behind it, walking in front of the Walker with a smile on his face. He had his arms crossed, as if he was scanning the the entire tribe in front of him, all of who seemed in awe.

"What is this machine? I've never seen anything like it in all my years..." Felek said, rubbing his chin curiously as he inspected the might of the Diesel Pharaoh from afar. Rick smiled wide as he spoke. He was liking this quite a bit.

"It's called the Diesel Pharaoh, and it's mine!"

From afar, Anjen watched from the tent, suddenly feeling very interested in this strange machine that seemed to capture the attention of every tribe member. The first thought on his mind was just how destructive it looked. With something like that, he could...

...take over this tribe easily. With that...I could bring the other tribes to their knees as well.

Anjen went back into the tent, smiling to himself devlishly as his mind already began formulating new plans.

--

"What a fantastic machine...it's truly something only the gods could provide..."

"This ain't from no gods. I found it."

"Where did you find it, Rick?" Isayo asked, his voice ever-curious.

Rick stopped himself for a second. He didn't want to go through all this explanation at the moment. Plus, they hadn't noticed Thirteen in one of the Diesel Pharaoh's hands yet, and Rick knew that would be a whole different story.

"Never mind that! With this thing, we have a new goal at hand!" Rick announced, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as he grinned.

"What might that be?"

"With the Diesel Pharaoh, we finally have the tool we need to start the construction of the first city in over six hundred years!"

How lucky could he possibly be? First he leaves the tribe that would have him named the "Son of Stone", and now he hasn't encountered a single neosaur. It was almost as if the two were interlinked! He wasn't going to hunt them, and they would repay him with the same respect. What would be a great word to describe this wonderful event?

"Wicked" Eckhart grunted out, still sprinting full bore. He had been on the run for about four days now, and only stopped to take long rests for about half of that. Feeling the need to rest again, he slowly came to a stop, and began scanning the area. Even if he didn't care much about hunting, he was still grateful to have the skills needed to survive. If any of his senses picked up on anything out of place, he would keep running until he deemed an area safe to stop and recuperate. After deciding that the area was void of immediate danger, he took the map out of his side bag and skimmed over it once again. He was in desperate need of a long rest, not like the one he was on now. He needed to sleep for a long period of time, to rest and to plan out his next set of movements. Taking another swig of cold liquid from his water skin, he saw that there was once an old city close to his location. That would be where he would go. Folding up the map to put it away, Eckhart let out a big sigh. "Close" was probably another few hours or so of full out sprinting.

"When do I ever get to relax?" He asked himself, feeling tired. Running for more than one third of a person's life-span could make anybody tired. Shaking himself out, he began a slow jog that eased into a fast run, ultimately bringing himself up to speed. On a full sprint, Eckhart could probably cover anywhere between fifty-fife and sixty-five clicks in about a few hours. For anybody who was not raised in his tribe, or a tribe with similar doctrines, this would be near impossible to do. Although he had several obvious advantages over most people, he would give it away if he could just live an easy carefree life. A life that he set out only days ago to find.

Sweat beads trickled down his entire body, the sun an unforgiving king as he sat upon his throne in the sky. After running for what seemed like hours, Eckhart stopped. The ruins were in sight; they lay just beyond a cliff in a small clearing. It was almost over, just a few hundred meters and he could find a place to rest and recuperate. Deciding that he didn't need to run, he began to walk at an easy pace. Knowing it was close, he didn't feel the need to expend any extra energy getting there. Without thinking, he walked straight ahead into the clearing. Only when he came to the center of the clearing did he hear it. A rustling in the bushes behind him. A big rustling. Less than a second passed, and Eckhart dropped his hammer to the ground at his side, un-slung his rifle and shouldered it, ready to fire at whatever produced the sound. Just a few seconds of letting his guard down, and something was able to sneak up on him. Either it was a neosaur, or it was one of his ex-tribesmen. It was going to be a bad outcome no matter which it was, but he would definitely prefer a person.

Snarling, an alpha male ansenoraptor stepped slowly out of the tree line, staring Eckhart down. "Ahh crap..." If it were almost any other neosaur, he would have a chance at surviving. Where there was one ansenoraptor, there was four or five others somewhere close by. They probably had the small clearing surrounded, with the only way out being the cliff behind him. He could maybe kill two or three before he would be overwhelmed and eaten. Seconds later, screeches echoed out from all directions, and they all came into view. Four mighty raptors, fully equipped with razor sharp talons and hundreds of teeth to tear at his flesh. Of course these creatures were slightly more intelligent than other neosaurs; they knew the weapon Eckhart held pointed at their leader could kill them. But they also must have known that it could only kill a few of them, which would explain their slow, methodical approach towards him. "Oh this is bad..." He had to think quickly. What could he do in this situation? There was no geographical advantage, no advantage in numbers. He was screwed.

"Alrighty then, Let's do this." He said through clenched teeth, opening fire. The alpha male was caught in the shoulder, and kneeled down as it winced in pain. The other four raptors rushed in, mouths wide open and salivating in anticipation of a rare delicacy. As quickly as humanly possible, Eckhart turned to his left and trained his gun on the raptor closest to the alpha male. Bang! The round caught it in the back of the throat, instantly killing it. The other three ansenoraptors had closed in fast in the second that it took Eckhart to switch his target to the raptor on the left of the dead one. Bang! Bang! The first shot barely grazed it's side, and the second one punched a hole through its chest. It fell forwards, rolling to Eckhart's feet. Realizing that he had no more time to focus in on another raptor, he dropped his gun, crouching as he turned to face an ansenoraptor in a mid-air leap. Eckhart sprung forward, low to the ground and grabbed his hammer, rolling underneath the first raptor. He felt a light thud through the ground as it landed behind him. Now there was one behind him, maybe by a meter or so, and one still prancing straight at him. With the momentum of the roll, he came to his feet and swung the hammer with all the strength he could muster. The blunt end connected right under the beasts' left eye, crushing bone and tearing muscle. The raptor was shaken, and shrieked in pain as it stumbled to the ground, going into shock. As it fell, it glanced Eckhart with its side.

The simple force of the glance pushed him off balance, and he stumbled backwards. The raptor that had jumped over him was now turned around, and had dug itself in, legs bent and ready to uncoil. Eckhart fell backwards as it leaped forward, and it landed right over top of him. Putting his hands on either end of the hammer, he brought it up and held it out in front of his face; just in the nick of time as the raptor clamped its teeth around the shaft of the hammer. Now he could feel the raw power this beast had. There was no comparison between him and this neosaur. It was simply shaking its head like a dog, and it managed to lift Eckhart off the ground, giving him whiplash at the same time. There was no way in hell he was going to let go of that hammer, it was the only thing between him and this monster's tooth filled mouth. Oh how he was wrong. In frustration the raptor brought its head up into the air, jaw still holding onto the hammer. Of course, so was Eckhart, who was thrown over the back of beast.

He landed with such force, the breath was taken out of him. Stars filled his vision, which was black around the edges. "No." He thought. "I'm not going out like this. I have to live." He pushed himself off the ground, only to notice the Diesel rifle by his side. The raptor dropped the hammer, and the Alpha male stood back up.

"Shit shit shit"

He brought the rifle up in time to fire off a couple rounds at the alpha male, the first round connecting with its opposite shoulder this time, the second hitting a tree. The pack leader reared its head and let out a high pitched wail, falling to its knee once again. Eckhart was still dizzy from the impact, his shots were a testament to that. The other raptor closed the distance in no time, and wrapped it's jaws around his right shoulder. Were it not for the steel pauldron, his arm would have been torn clear off. Of course, this did not stop the teeth of the beast from puncturing his arm. Eckhart had no time to scream as the Raptor pushed him to the ground, it's mouth still clenched on his shoulder. The impact was hard, but now it was his turn. Eckhart whipped around and put the sharp edges of the gauntlet on his left hand straight into the right eye of the raptor. It wheezed in agony as it let go of his shoulder. Without skipping a beat, he brought the dirty heel of his foot straight into its exposed neck, making it keel over coughing.

He pushed himself off the ground, ran to the rifle and picked it up with his left hand, turned to fire at the one-eyed raptor only to be struck in the gut by its tail. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three wild rounds rang out as he was once again thrown through the air. Landing harder than before, the gun flew out of his hands into the trees. Luckily these giant lizards kept launching him to his weapons. Coughing warm blood, he grabbed the hammer he landed on, and stood up. His legs were shaky, and he was slow to stand, his head bobbing side to side. When he could see, Eckhart realized his random shots had actually caught the one-eyed raptor in the side twice; it now lay dead beside the one he struck with the hammer earlier. That one wasn't moving anymore either. All that was left now was the Alpha Male. And he was pissed.

"Just you and me now bucko. Wanna strike a truce?" The bloody warrior said in hopes the ansenoraptor would somehow oblige. It stared him straight in the eyes, and let out a bloodcurdling growl. "I guess that's a no..."
The Raptor jumped for him, and he rolled out of the way, cringing as the ground put pressure oh his shoulder. With the Raptor now in-between him and his gun, it looked like it was going to be an old-school showdown. May the bloody contestant with the better melee weapons win. Eckhart began to back away slowly, his eyes trained on the beast, weapon ready to swing. The Alpha Male matching his slow pace walked forward with a murderous intent. It got lower to the ground with every step, and the young warrior knew that meant it was going to pounce. He held his weapon with both hands in a white-knuckle grip, ready to swing as soon as the beast left the ground. Seconds turned into hours. The sun's rays were beating down so hard it was as if they had weight to them. There was a silence, not even the chirps of birds or the buzzing of insects could be heard. This tension was felt by both combatants, so thick it could be spread on toast.

The Alpha male finally made its move, leaping at Eckhart. He would have brought his hammer to its face, were it not for the raptor corpse he backed into. He tripped, and the clawed feet of the Alpha Male connected with his chest, cutting him open and sending him flying to the edge of the cliff. Getting thrown around like a ragdoll took its toll on him. He tried to stand, but his muscles wouldn't work for him any longer. The best he could manage was to lean on his good arm and his opposite knee. "No. NO! This can't be happening! This is not how it's supposed to end! Not like This!" His thoughts screamed at him. When he looked up, he saw the Alpha Male charging straight for him. He tried to move, but his muscles reached their capacity.

The collision sent both the man and the beast flying over the edge of the cliff, and they began their violent tumble down its side. At the base of the cliff they both made contact with the ground at the same time, but unlike the hard bone crushing solid ground Eckhart expected to end his life, it gave way. Soon, both he and the raptor were sliding down a smooth tunnel filled with darkness. Where it would lead, neither could anticipate. But one thing was for sure: They were both alive, and wherever the tunnel ended, one of them would have to die.

A lone man walked along a narrow dirt road, scanning the area ahead of him. Slowly, he took a bite out of a light blue fruit, and a small amount of pinkish juice ran down his chin. ‘That’s good..’, he thought as he continued down the road. This land was strange to him, and it’s vegetation was much different than what he was raised eating.

The man was dressed in a long black trench coat, made of a Red Hunter’s pelt, a dirty tank top, slightly baggy black pants, and black boots with scattered blue streaks, which was made from Imperiasaurus skin. Deep red eyes seem to glow behind the lenses of his glasses, the right lens of which is slightly scratched. His long black hair was spiked, standing about six inches tall, and was a little dirty from traveling for so long without bathing.

As he walked, he spotted a couple buildings off in the distance, and wondered whether or not he should check them out. As he approached the buildings, he realized one was larger than he initially thought. After walking for about ten more minutes, he stopped and studied the buildings, now only around one hundred yards away. It was a massive old metal structure, parts of it corroded or rusted away, connected to a much smaller residential building. The entire place looked completely abandoned from the outside…Probably for quite some time.

Contemplating whether or not to investigate the structure, the man decided to sit down and take a break. He took one last bite out of the strange blue fruit, and discarded it into some thorny bushes, then took a seat on the side of the dirt road. ‘I’ve been walking for so long…I don’t even know where I am anymore,’ he thought as he gazed upon the smaller building. ‘This place is nothing like home. Strange food, animals I’ve never seen in my life…’

He quietly continued to ponder about the strange structures, and if they contained anything or not. ‘What would such a large building be used for..? I mean, here, in the middle of nowhere...I want to see what may be in there, but...Hell, maybe I should just come back to check it out another day. I shouldn't go in there alone, who knows if something really is in there.’ And with that, he decided against exploring the building today. The man stood up and made his way back down the dirt road to a fork. He turned the way he was originally going to head, and continued down the narrow road.

A week later, the plan was almost ready. It had taken a lot of travelling back and forth, but he had managed to repair the Raider's Run. Well, he had managed to clear off the Raider's run, up to its abrupt end at 350 miles. There were still a lot of bumpy patches, but there just wasn't anything he could do about that. It had all gone a lot faster once he had figured out that the wheels on the side of... her... legs were more than ugly ornamentation.

Of course, now that the road was clear, he had to do the part he'd been putting off. Speeding along the Run was all well and good, but was rather less effective for travel when you crashed into a bunch of trees at the end. He'd even checked to see if it started up again, and it didn't seem to. At least, not within 40 miles of the end of the road. The plan had formed in his mind, but unless he took up woodworking for the rest of the life, he knew where he'd have to go to make the plan work.

He'd had to come back to Noo Dellee.


So it was that he was crouched on the outskirts of the ruins, trying to be as inconspicuous as he could be in a 25-foot tall robot. Eyes carefully scanning the terrain around him for watchers, he began to creep forward, leaning forward onto his lower arms, moving forward in a sort of half-crawl. Knowing that no shadow could possibly hide him, he resolved to simply stay as low as possible. Even if he couldn't hide from anyone even remotely near him, he could avoid telephoning his presence to everyone within miles.

As he moved, he tried to remember whose territory he was in. He was pretty sure that it was the Dread-Nots, but it could have passed to the Skarz since he left. Both were pretty minor, anyways. By his (rather biased) estimation, the only gang worth a squat in Noo Dellee was the Metalheads, and they were all the way on the other side of the city. He'd get close, given that his objective was in the middle of the ruins, but he'd be gone by the time they were anywhere near him.

Isaac blinked, momentarily unsure of himself. Had he seen something there? A glint in the sunlight... no. There hadn't been anything there. He shook his head and pressed onwards towards his goal. He'd be in and out in no time, and then he could finally leave Noo Dellee behind him.

The scout turned back to camp, hands sweeping the steel mask back from beneath her cloak.

---

Stev Ansahok was displeased. He did not like it when his... yes, his gangers lied to him. It showed a lack of the respect he was due.

After all, was he not the undisputed ruler of Noo Dellee?

"Now..." he drawled, gently running his hook along the scout's bare back. "I'm sure you saw what I did to your old boss, yes? And you remember swearing your allegiance to me, along with the rest of your puny little excuse for a gang, yes? And, I was compassionate, was I not? I accepted you, at your lowest point. I granted you masks! No... I gave you your true faces, deemed you deserving of rising beyond that past, and let you become equal in my eyes, equal with any Metalhead. Is this not true?"

A muffled moan, laden with agreeing yet panicked tones came from the scout, her head tightly bound in an old sack.

"So why..." the point of Stev's hook pricked into her skin, just below her right shoulder.

"Do you..." it sunk in deeper, and she moaned in pain. The muscles Stev's wiry, weatherbeaten arm tensed in expectation of the coming pleasure.

"LIE TO ME?" he roared. His hook came ripping through the scout's skin, a massive bloody gash erupting from smooth flesh. He grinned madly, his eyes full of bloodlust. The scout screamed, her cry piercing through the sacking. Leaving the wound to bleed, Stev kneeled down to the ground, level with her head as it jutted off of the steel table. "I am not a injust man. I just do not appreciate lies. Now, I'll give you a chance to tell me the truth. When I remove that sacking, will you be willing to tell me the truth?"

The scout nodded through wracking sobs of pain.

"Good. So tell me... what did you see?"

"I... I already... told..."

Stev raised a single finger in warning.

"My... my lord... it is as... as I told you! It... it is a... a machine! It walks through the... through your city! I know... I know not what... what it is! It is headed... to the... to the... to the wreck! Torture... torture me if... if that is... your will... but that is... that is the truth!"

Stev's eyebrows slowly raised in dignified surprise.

"Really, then. If that is the case... then it is my property. Everything... Everything! in this city is my property. It would seem that I have a matter of theft to attend to." Stev rose, and turned to leave the room.

"Wait!" the scout cried, tears streaming down her dirt-stained cheeks. "Why... why aren't you... freeing me?"

An expression of mild amusement crossed Stev's face. "Oh? I believe you gave me permission yourself, to exercise my own will upon your body. I make a point of being gracious enough to accept the offers my property makes to me".

As the door slammed shut behind Stev, the scout cried tears of despair.

---

Isaac was breathing more easily now. He hadn't realized how nervous he had been about returning to Noo Dellee. He knew it was ridiculous, he wasn't going anywhere near where Stev would be, and he couldn't be hurt, anyways. But even so...

"Stop!" a voice shouted. Isaac started, his movement reflected, almost comically, outside of the walker. He turned to find the source of the voice, and then remembered to look down. It was a figure, dark of skin and grey of hair, clad in orange and prostrate upon the ground, begging. "It is a wicked age indeed, but there is yet hope in the world! Do not bring its end just yet!"

"Hava..." Isaac whispered, half incredulous, half awestruck, beneath his breath. The old man jumped at the sound of his own name. "Hava, what are you talking about?"

"Lady Kali! Surely you know!"

"Kali?" Isaac asked, bringing the walker... Kali... to a sitting position, cross-legged upon the ground, hands resting upon her legs. He clambered out of the cockpit, and up onto a shoulder. "Hava... it's me."

The metal figure gallantly ran with Jasmine inside. The foliage around her was beginning to become smaller, which was a sign she was entering a more hotter region. She jumped from tree to tree, until she noticed sand on the ground.

"Egypt," she whispered. She looked around her in the plant life that was somewhat different then what she had known before. All the different creatures would probably be different her.

(sorry for this relatively short post, I have other things to do)

Fields of golden wheat were being swayed gently by the light breeze, and it felt warm on his bare skin. The Sun was overhead was smiling today, and the clouds were content making comical fluffy versions of neosaurs. There was a building in the distance... It was untouched by the ravages of Dalkaron and time. There was a white aura around the house, and when he looked at it, there was a feeling of peace deep inside, melting into all the rest of his body. As he walked closer, he saw the house was made of wood and brick, coloured with mother nature's browns and reds. It had glass in the windows, and smoke in the chimney. A porch stood out from the front end of the house, and on it was a hanging swing bench. As he neared closer to the building, he saw a beautiful woman on the bench, reading a book with her legs curled beside her. She saw him, and a smile like no other spanned across her face. She stood, placing the book by her side, and began to run to him. It was such a pleasant scene, the definition of Serenity.

The breeze started picking up speed. The clouds were getting darker and more numerous the more he tried to get to this girl, and they began to take a more realistic shape of ansenoraptors. The sun was choked out, and the warm breeze that was so nice before was now cold and harsh, bordering on torrential windstorm. The house began to rot and decay, falling in on itself in a matter of seconds. The girl's smile faded, and as she edged closer she became less attractive, her features becoming sickly and distorted. Soon, he was not looking at the girl, but a beast. An Alpha Male Ansenoraptor. Thunder echoed all around, mimicking the raptors shrieking and wailing. The Raptor leaped at him and bit his leg, picking him up off the ground and throwing him into the air. He was going to land face first into the jowls of the beast, when suddenly everything went dark.

Eckhart opened his eyes, only to be greeted by darkness. He was lying on the ground, which felt like cold cement. "OW." He said plainly as he tried to move. "Okay, so I did just fight a pack of ansenoraptors... Wait, that would mean..." He silenced himself immediately, remembering his tussle with the pack leader. That beast should be here too. Taking the pain like a man, he sucked it all in, making no noise as he stood up. "No broken bones...but man, do I feel woozy." He thought to himself. Putting his left hand on his right arm, it came away wet. Blood. "Well isn't this just a tea party." If he could just see.... He would really like to see right now, especially with an Ansenoraptor in the same room. Closing his eyes, he focused all his might into his ears. Heavy breathing. somewhere.... It wasn't moving though, which was good. Probably out cold like Eckhart was only moments ago.
Sticking his hands out in front of him, he took wobbly step after wobbly step, not knowing where he was going, only that it was further from the heavy breathing. It was hard work, moving his exhausted and strained muscles. Eckhart couldn't feel his side bag, which meant no tasty food anymore, and no medical attention. No war hammer, no Diesel rifle. Nothing. Talk about going back to the basics. The cement under his next step suddenly depressed, bringing his thoughts back to the world of the living. "Ahh, I am Done with dealing with this crap. If you're going to kill me mister trap, then at least have the decency to show yourself!!" Eckhart yelled out into the darkness. He waited. and waited. "What the hell? why aren't you going to kill me? Not that I would care for that sort of thing mind you but--"

CRACK!
An intense flash of light whipped down from the ceiling, and disappeared. Eckhart ducked at the sound. nothing happened, and he was still alive. he opened one eye "Uhh.. you missed"
CRACK!
Another bolt of light lashed out from the ceiling. Eckhart now stood with both eyes open. "Wow, you people should really work on your traps. They kinda go on the basis of 'kill the intruder before he sets off another one'."
CRACK!...CRACK!...CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The bolts that were coming from the ceiling became more frequent and more numerous, until the whole ceiling was raining down bolts of light to the point that the room was completely visible. The light that was given off was dim, and it created a sensation that room was moving like an organic being. If one could call it a room. The proportions were off the scale! The ceiling might as well be the sky for how high up it is. A thunderstorm of a sky at that too. But that was not what caught his attention. In the center of the room was a figure... Huge, it was huge. It was awe inspiring.

The body of a man, but maybe five times taller than Eckhart. It stood rigid, facing out to the left. Its head was that of an eagle, a giant beak a most obvious feature. There were also long rubbery vine things coming off the back of its head, so long they trailed the floor behind it. Its arms were also of strange length, its hands almost hitting the floor. Metal, it was made of nothing but metal. An orange glow seemed to emanate somewhere from underneath it's armour. There must not have been any structure like this in all the world! Eckhart walked to it, feeling drawn by its magnificent presence. There were patches of what could only be Diesel X all over this thing. He walked right up to its arm, and touched a dark patch. No mistake, it was the fuel. When he withdrew his hand, A whoosh sounded from the metal giant's back.

Going around to investigate the noise, Eckhart saw its back opened up. Before he could investigate further, a familiar roar could be heard in the distance over the buzz of the ceiling. Spinning around, he saw the ansenoraptor running at him. Without a second thought Eckhart raced up the cables, through the pain, and into the hatch of the metal bird-man. The hatch closed, and Eckhart released a sigh of relief. In front of him now was a seat...
"Well, I have been waiting to rest for a while.." he said in his mind. As soon as he sat down, his body evaporated.

The feeling was one in a million. It was as if there were an insurmountable hive of insects crawling under his skin. He looked down, seeing not the floor of the machine, but the floor that the machine was staring at. How could that be possible? Eckhart took a few steps forward, but the machine stepped instead. He brought his hand up, but the machine did it instead. Alright, that's weird. He flexed all his muscles, and the machine struck a pose. Fair to say he was controlling the machine now. He let out a laugh in excitement, and the machine copied his movements, and a static filled laughing sound echoed from the machines open beak.
"This is awesome!!" He yelled out, filling the room with a booming static voice. "Now where are you mister raptor?"

Eckhart must have been in that cavern for hours. There were no doors or windows, only the chute that he and the ansenoraptor fell through. He found the raptor, but when he picked it up it just... died in his hands. He didn't mean to kill it, but when he picked it up it felt as if he sucked the life out of it, and his hive of insects grew slightly. He looked for an exit, and after a half an hour he took to punching the walls, which did nothing. Well, almost nothing. The machines arm fell off, revealing to Eckhart's horror, many flailing tentacles. At first he thought they were giant snakes, Which he tried to get away from, but soon learned they moved and bent to his will. After he got over his initial surprise, he took to whipping the walls. That also did nothing. It didn't take him long, however, to find the wall of bolts. They were javelin type blades shaped like lightning. He had picked one up with his bare tentacle, and it started to glow as some of the insects from under his skin seeped out of his tentacle and into the bolt. That is how he made his escape, after hours of trying to figure out what the bolt did. He tossed it over his shoulder at a wall in frustration, and the wall exploded with a force Eckhart had never seen before. He stood there for a couple seconds, staring at the destruction the bolt caused. Quickly he put his arm back on, and stocked up on the bolts. The only thing left was to pick a name for his amazing prize. Eagle seemed too prestigious, even though that's what its head was shaped like. Hawk sounded much more down to earth. But he needed another name, a first name. Everybody needs two names right? Diesel sounded appropriate, as it was the fuel that kept people alive. It was the fuel that kept him alive. Now, this thing would keep him alive, and it was only right to commemorate Diesel X. Diesel Hawk it was then.
"Time to go."

Megan stood there hesitant not sure if she should climb inside the structure or not. Her eyes shifted around the temple before focusing on the chair again, “Oh what the hell...it’s not like I’ll get hurt.” She smirked before climbing up at the front and taking a seat in the chair, noticing all the different colour buttons and controls in front of her. Unlucky for her but there didn’t seem to be a manual on how to work this machine, so she decided she would just try out all the buttons and hopefully there wasn’t a self-destruction one. She noticed one of the buttons had a symbol on it which looked like a door closing. She pressed it waiting for something to happen; it only took a second before the glass screen closed. Megan smiled proudly at her success, “hm…now how do we get your legs moving?” She wiggled her fingers a little as she glanced across the buttons not sure which one she should press. She decided to start from the left and work her way through all the buttons.

She confidently pressed down on the far left one, all of the sudden the temple went dark. This button turned off the glowing green light making it easier for the machine to blend in and camouflage. Megan pressed the next one but nothing seemed to happen which was rather strange. Maybe it just works when fighting. She continued on, the next button moved the tail backwards and forwards. At first it seemed rather harmless but the more she held the button down the more the tail swung backwards and forwards before it hit into the temple walls. “Oh crap,” as the tail returned to its original position there was a loud crackle sound before some of the roof collapsed were the tail had hit the wall. Dirt started falling onto the ground and the temple started to cave in. “Shit…got to hurry..” she picked up her paced not waiting to really see what would happen as she just stared pressing random buttons. The machine layed down….then jumped up…then its jaw opened. All of the sudden the words ‘Joystick Authorized’ appeared on the computer screen before a joystick come up from the floor below her. “Nice,” she smiled grabbing it and as she moved so did the machine. She couldn’t help put chuckle a little before her face became serious again remembering that she had to get out of her. There was another loud crack as more of the roof collapsed.

She turned the machine towards the stairs were she had come from, she realised that the machine would never fit through it. Well, if its tail can smash through a wall it can fit. Megan chuckled nervously a little before and pushed the joystick forward. The machine ran straight towards the stairs and Megan couldn’t help but close her eyes. She body pounced around a little in the cockpit as the machine ran before it came to a halt. Very slowly she opened her eyes to find herself back outside and as she turned Fluffy’s head towards the waterfall there was just a pile of rocks. “Lucky me,” she smirked.

(sorry about it not being so lengthy)

A ringing silence fell at Rick's last words, and in that silence there was a click and then a sleepy whirrr...

Thirteen uncurled back into existence. Immediately her processor informed her that she was in a new spot. There was fierce light here, but it was nicely filtered. There was sound, there were other life forms around. More than that, though, her processor informed her that there was food!

Thus, she did not jerk back to life so much as slide. Her body was lithe and as supple as always, despite the emergency hibernation. Thirteen slipped between the Walkers' fingers and made a beeline for the nearest two-legs.

The nearest two-legs happened to be Elder Felek, who was holding a Diesel Rifle to his cheek as he surveyed the Walker. He might have seen a flash of scarlet as Thirteen leaped at him, but nothing more.

She collided with him and they both crashed to the ground. Minding her claws, she swiped at his rifle, caring less about diving into his human flesh. The weapon clattered to the earth in the ensuing chaos. Over his shocked cries, Thirteen uttered a growl of frustration. She was hungry now!

Her processor whirred, directed her strike as she came down on the rifle. Instead of slashing the pressurized canister, she nicked the nozzle at the crown. Success...

The canister couldn't protest much as her jaws clamped tightly around the thing. Thirteen tipped her head back and drained it like a glass of wine. Her tail thrashed as her system sang.

Good.

Of course, the two-legs were not content to let her enjoy her meal. Being rather ignorant, they would probably do a lot of shouting and maybe even shoot at her.

Don't care...

Felek continued to watch the immense Diesel Pharaoh in front of him with great interest.

This is truly something else. I wonder what birthed such a gigantic device...

Something was moving at the corner of his eye. Felek became alert, wondering what it was. In less than a few seconds, a dark shape seemed to overwhelm him, applying pressure on his Diesel rifle, and slashed into the flesh of his arm at the same time.



Everything seemed to happen so fast. Rick was heading back towards the cockpit of the Diesel Pharaoh, eager to show the rest of the tribe just what it could do. As he was clambering inside, he heard the sound of Felek screaming out loud. Whatever it was, he knew almost immediately that it wasn't good.

The rest of the tribe seemed to turn quickly, and as expected, their Diesel rifles turned right with them. Thirteen had awaken after a short period of hibernation, and before anyone could really react, she had decided to make a snack out of Felek's Diesel rifle. There were sounds of struggle, and Felek was on the ground, his arm slashed badly as Thirteen clamped her teeth down into his Diesel rifle's ammunition canister. The many tribe members watching seemed to shout at once.

"What the....it's a beast from the jungles!"

"Kill it! Kill it before it harms our Elder any further!"

Rick wasn't stupid. He had been with this tribe long enough to know that when danger presented itself, the tribe shot first, and asked questions later. He was the same at times, but when the target was Thirteen, he suddenly felt the empathy to this cyborg cat-girl affecting his mind. As if he was being mechanically controlled, Rick tumbled into the Diesel Pharaoh's cockpit, and in an instant, he was one with his machine.

A symphony of fire seemed to erupt from the crowd of tribe members. Hard, black bullets of pure Diesel X zoomed towards the shape of Thirteen, who continued to drink from the Diesel X canister, unaware, or perhaps uncaring, of the dangerous projectiles coming towards her. Felek was on the ground, bleeding as he hoped he didn't get hit in the crossfire.

"Stop!"

A large, multi-plated arm seemed to stretch out in front of Thirteen as she feasted, and in the next few seconds, Diesel X bullets seemed to bounce off the surface of the plates, causing them to ricochet off in different directions. The Diesel Pharaoh took a mighty step forward, effectively putting its body in front of Thirteen. Rick's face was serious, while the rest of the tribe seemed to back away, suddenly afraid of the might of the walker in front of them.

"What is the meaning of this, boy? Can you not see this creature is dangerous?" Anjen said in a condescending voice, as he finally made his presence known behind the other tribe members. If anything, he wanted to put Rick on the spot for irresponsibility, and hopefully obtain access to that machine of his in the near future.

Rick spoke in a nervous yet angered tone. He couldn't let Anjen intimidate him at a time like this.

"I'm...I'm not letting you hurt her. I found her with this Walker, and she saved me from a Pallid Horror."

"Are you out of your mind? This creature is a ferocious beast! Are you willing to put our tribe in danger?" Anjen said, while Isayo walked in front of him, his eyes serious.

"Anjen is right, Rick. That creature is ravenous, and willing to hurt us all. Why are you defending it?"

Rick looked down at his feet for a moment, wondering what he should say. His cheeks felt slightly warm.

"Why does it matter!?! She helped me back there, so if you want to get to her, you're going to have to go through me!"

Ferocious beast?

She let the rifle canister drop, empty, to the jungle floor. Her appetite was for the most part sated. Thirteen wrapped her tail around her body and tilted her head to the side, content to simply observe in this high-octane situation. Her processor whirred as she took in all of the very angry, very upset two-legs.

Did I do that? She focused on the red pooling. Blood.

It wasn't her fault that humans had such terrible plating. They were sacks of meat wrapped around a frail stick frame, and smelt slightly of seawater. She blinked twice, and sniffed, turning away.

"Not. Enemy." The speaker in her throat clicked into place. The words ran patched from her throat, imperfect yet clear. Most of it was what Rick had said since they met, but a few words she had learned just recently from the angry humans, "Do not harm. Sorry."

An expression that might have been considered guilty crossed her features. She arched her back and tightened her tail around her. What would they do? Rifle blasts were nothing. They were easily dodged, and could not penetrate her armor. The boy, though. They might blame him for bringing her to them.

Her scarlet eyes shifted to a dark cunning sort of man. Her processor whirred and she didn't like him. Thirteen didn't know his name, but the two-legs she took an instant dislike to was Anjen.