Dalton clenched his fist, growling obscenities that were definately against the Prophet. Zeal-sama trusts that cloaked figure too much, and he, as head of the Zealian Guard, must put an end to this trust immediately. But how? Wouldn't that walking corpse know about it then? Hmn...The doors he faced flung open suddenly, and he recognized all but one face. "You'll pay for what you did last time!" he shouted, completing his pose of summons. "Go GOLEM BOSS!" The portal almost opened when the foundation of the Ocean Palace began to shake. "I cannot skip my chance for immortality!" with that, Dalton shut the portal, and ran towards the room behind him.

"Wait," Kaeru ribbited, "let us go through the Solice first."

"What's a Solice?" Neka wondered aloud.

"Remember those star things we saw in the back?" Chrono asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't know how they got here, on anywhere else, but they make you sleep when it's only a split second. Kinda gets you ready for the big fight."

They stormed through the heavy-looking doors, rushing by what looked like images of themselves. While those from before 1500 AD dismissed them as realistic paintings, the two from 1999 had to gasp a little. Clones. It was never invented yet, according to history books. And they never existed until a milinnium and a half in the future! How could anyone know of their existence?

She would have to thank Lavos-sama later for warning her of new arrivals. She sucked in her breath, standing tall and proud as the goddess she would become. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, showing off the Mammon Machine like some kind of car in a game show, "The Mighty Mammon Machine can bring you your eternal dreams. Oh, did I say 'dream'?...I meant nightmares!" Her voice echoed throughout the main room of Ocean Palace.

Dark luminescent rings surrounded her, then expanded far enough to trap her enemies. She watched as they tried helplessly to squirm free. Ha! The more they moved, the more their pitiful life energy was drained. No matter, it will all go to Lavos-sama, who will then reward her with ruling the galaxy as well as this filthy hovel.

Finally, it stopped, and each of them suddenly became greatly fatigued. All of them were near the state of feinting. Somehow, Chrono managed to toss an Elixer to Kaeru, who then threw it to Sono, who threw it to Neka, and she then tossed the near-empty bottle to Chrono. Suddenly, they were more than ready to fight.

Blessed yet cursed with his inhuman ability to recover, Kaeru lept and slashed the Pearl Edge in the direction of Queen Zeal's stomach. His chivalry backfired somewhat. Normally he'd aim for his enemy's head. No matter, even if she was possessed by the demon Lavos, she was still a woman, a noblewoman.

As soon as he could see Kaeru leap back into a fighting position, Chrono raised his katana high, slashing down Zeal's chest diagonally, then back up on the opposite direction. Even as he got back into a defensive position, his eyes revealed blood lust.

She snarled under her breath. Slowly, she regained her proud posture, showing all that her wounds completely healed. She rolled her head back in laughter, catching them off guard. Again she completed her spell, yet again draining them of nearly all their energy. What fools these mortals be, she thought.

It didn't linger for long however. The only female in the group gave a sharp uppercut to Zeal's stomach. When Zeal hand enough strength to look up, she noticed the youngest looking at her. A mere boy, what can this yearling do to a queen?

A good question, one which Sono's chattering teeth answered. Is it just me or am I in way over my head? She looks so powerful, can I beat her? Can anyone beat her? He shook his head. She bleeds. She can be killed.

When he got out of his trance, however, he found the mad queen standing in front of her, raising her fist to strike. He clutched the Masamune to prepare for his defense, but it came too late. Just like that, he felt the stinging blow of an almost inhuman slap.

Her royal garments fluttered as she yet again went through the same spell. She forgot one thing: her defensive sheild. A blade went through her shoulder, just missing her jugular. At least 50 thousand volts of electricity ran through her body, making her blood sizzle on her skin. The weilder roughly removed their sword, and dashed back into a defensive position.

Wasting no time, Neka made a running start. With a battle cry, she slammed her knee into Zeal's stomach. Using her first attack as a boost, she spun in the air and connected her other foot to Zeal's chest, making her fall on her back. She stood over her, tempted to end her misery right then and there. But living with disgrace is much worse than death. So she backed off, deciding to give the final blow while Zeal was standing.

Even to Zeal's surprise, she stayed down. A glass filled with tangerine liquid rolled out of her sleeve, spinning and turning its way to the feet of Kaeru. He kept his yellow eyes on Zeal, slowly kneeling down and picking up the vile.

Zeal grit her teeth, and lept back to stand in front of the Mammon Machine. "No matter," she said half to herself. "You will be destroyed by the mighty Mammon Machine!" She laughed with more arrogance than confidence, and teleported to safer grounds.

Gears and dials worked faster in the menacing heart-like device. The movement caused the ground to shake, and transported the heroes of time to a time rip.

None of them had time to look around, but each knew that they cannot stay in this place long. They switched to offense, Chrono and Sono completing a stronger variation of X-Strike.

When Neka had the chance, she eyed Kaeru. Immediately he began his attack against the evil metal. Neka mumbled a Zealian spell, her right hand making a large, glowing arc in front of her. "Heaven's Aide!" she shouted. The crescent flew towards the space between the Mammon Machine and Kaeru. The arc divided, weaving itself around the upper half of Kaeru's body and the Masamune.

Kaeru made an inhumanly high jump in the air, and held the Masamune with both of his gloved hands. He put the legendary blade over his head, shouting "Heavenly Strike!" He brought his sword down to increase the already incredibly fast rate the blade was going to slash the Mammon Machine. It struck the Mammon Machine in a perfect vertical line, Kaeru shifted the grip of his blade and slashed it horizontally. He backed away, spent from using so much energy.

The gears within the Mammon Machine squeaked and turned faster, letting out the energy it recieved. Actually, thanks to Zeal's highly advanced technology, the energy from the damage it received was processed into waves. The waves became concentrated into a laser that fired from a full 360 degrees. Of course, only the scientists that created the Mammon Machine would know that. For the victims of the laser, however, it felt like a counter spell.

Kaeru spread his arms beside him, reciting a spell in Latin. Flecks of light close enough to resemble stars floated around his body, flying towards the critically injured Neka. The lights buried buried themselves in her wounds, healing them almost instantly. She spun lightly in the air until the spell was complete. She opened her eyes, nodding to Kaeru in thanks.

I'm gonna hafta try and learn that someday, she promised herself. A deep, hacking cough interupted her state of mind. It was Chrono, his mouth and parts of his chin dripping blood. She ran and sat next to Chrono, barely noticing Sono and Kaeru covering her with attacks. "Keep still," she advised, "you're coughing up blood." She searched is blood-stained pouch, popping the cork off of one of the glasses. "Drink up." She put her hand on his back, lifting the bottle for him making sure none of the thick, blue liquid was left.

It wasn't his best state, but at least he could fight. "Arigatou, Neka." He leaned on his seath as he rose. Slowly, he shifted his arms and put his sword up in a battle-ready position.

Meanwhile, Sono was hacking mercilessly at a now slightly dented Mammon Machine. "Take this! And this! And this! And this!" He backed away, looking at his work proudly. "Is that all you can do? Just fire a sissy pink laser at me?! Huh?!"

Chrono stared coldly at the silver device. He held his katana tighter, and ran at a near impossible speed. "FOR THE FUTURE!" was his battle cry as he slashed deeply into the machine's protective armor. Once on both feet, he didn't end there. He reversed the hold on his sword, slashing in the opposite direction. Only then did he decide to retreat.

The Mammon Machine detected someone chanting in a familiar tongue. In a short while, its fiber optics translated in olde Zealian: "Thine time has come evil being. Feel the power of the heavens!"

By then, the pendant around her neck floated off her chest, pointing directly at the Mammon Machine. "Angel's Strike!!" Neka shouted. Her pendant glowed a blue-white, firing a beam the size of her head. The ray punctured deeply into the Mammon Machine, but didn't break its armor.

Part of the inner workings of the Mammon Machine short circuited. It soon set off a chain reaction in the power core. This then set off the shut down sequence. A few seconds later, the now heavily damaged machine and its opponents were sent back to the central room of Ocean Palace.

Zeal's blood pressure was now at a dangerously high level. Her brain child, the Mammon Machine, was destroyed. These fighters will not only witness, but feel the wrath of the Zealian queen.

"No matter," she said with an arrogant smirk, "You will be mere snacks for the mighty Lavos. For I will merge with him and rule not only this puny world, but the universe!"

The Mammon Machine started working again, and let out a flash of blinding light.

Lavos screeched with joy that it finally broke through the terran barrier. Out of instincts, its spines stiffened, and rocketed off to whatever poor piece of land happened to exist. But it sensed others, beings, though incredibly weak, that could possibley ruin its lifetime mission. So it opened its singular eye, and transported all who were in the central building to its "safe area."

Forget the fact she was in some alternate dimension. Forget Zeal and her just as insane lackies. Forget those who even came with her here! Neka's knees began to jello. This was the being that Schala-obaasan warned of. Lavos, a creature so evil that it made Satan shiver. This was it, but was she ready for this?

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