Session 28

J.J. was sitting in Gary's tavern, alone for a change, editing one of his chapters and privately relishing the fact that he had some time to himself. While he could have gone to his apartment for privacy, he had always preferred the ambiance of the tavern. There was something about it that felt more like his home in the city – possibly because it was the first place he had set foot in once he arrived in Marville. Even though the little room Gary had lent him for a short while was cramped, he still waxed nostalgic about it from time to time, and he never regretted that he'd spent a few months there.

The reason he was alone was because, coincidentally, it seemed that everyone else was doing their own thing that day. Gwen was meeting with her brother, Ryan and Abby were still in school, he hadn't heard from Agni in a while, and Tristan and Susumu were at the garage. J.J. frowned to himself, pausing in his typing as his thoughts touched on Tristan. After their last battle with Agnar, Tristan had practically secluded himself from J.J. Of course, the knight didn't have a phone in the first place, but even when J.J. had tried to reach out to him through Susumu, he'd always gotten a curt response that Tristan was "busy."

J.J. wasn't stupid. He knew that seeing Agnar again had riled up Tristan, and he was certain that Agnar's taunt to duel him the next time they saw each other was weighing heavily on Tristan's mind. Personally, he couldn't fathom why Agnar's challenges to Tristan's honor were so offensive. Historically, most knights took their oath of chivalry about as seriously as an office worker took his oath to faithfully work a full eight-hour day without any interruptions. Yet Tristan was almost fanatical about defending his honor, and it was obviously clouding his judgment.

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted as something in his pocket began vibrating. Thankfully, this time he was able to avoid a small heart attack – he'd started carefully separating his phone and diary into different pockets, so that he would immediately know if there was something attacking or if he was just receiving a phone call. In this case, it was the latter. He picked up his phone and glanced at the number, recognizing it as Agni's. Torn between pleased surprise and slight annoyance at being interrupted, he tapped the button to answer the call.

"Hello!" J.J. said cheerfully, leaning back in his chair a bit. "I was just thinking, I hadn't heard from you in a while."

"Sorry. Been busy with clients," Agni said sheepishly.

"That's a good sign. If they're giving you work, means that you're not in any danger of getting fired, right?" J.J. asked, unable to keep a slight grin off his face. "And if you're not getting fired, that means you won't become a Diemon again."

"Psh. Even if I was still a Diemon, I wouldn't stand a chance against you in a fight these days anyways," Agni chuckled. "So, I wanted to run something by you. Your manuscript's been making the rounds, and the company wanted to send out an editor to talk to you about it. Is there a meeting time that'd be good for you?"

J.J. hesitated, tapping his fingers against the edge of the table. "You… know that I'm always on call," he replied slowly.

"Yeah, and I've told the company that. They're flexible about a meeting time, but they'd like a two-hour window or something that they can use to speak with you," Agni replied. "If you can't make it, they're willing to reschedule."

"That's… oddly generous of them," J.J. said carefully. "They liked the story that much?"

"Apparently," Agni replied. J.J. could practically hear the shrug in his voice.

"Huh. So, who're they sending?" J.J. asked, leaning forward slightly.

"No idea. I'll have more details for you later. Do you think we can set up a tentative meeting, though?" Agni asked.

"Yeah. Let me check a few things and get back to you with a time," J.J. replied. "Barring something catastrophic happening, though, it's not like I have much on my schedule to begin with."

"Psh. Knowing you, something catastrophic is going to happen, no matter how available you supposedly are," Agni remarked with a snort of laughter.

"Yeah, such is my life," J.J. sighed. "I'll call you back when I have more info for you. Thanks, Agni."

"Least I can do for you, man," Agni replied. "Talk to you later."

J.J. hung up, and then proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes calling everyone that he could think of to make sure that no one had any pressing matters for him to attend to. Those that he couldn't get ahold of, he left a voicemail that basically begged them not to bother him with anything. When he had run through his list of friends, he spent a few moments considering whom he hadn't asked yet. His stomach began to sink as he realized one person he had yet to call, and he let out a soft groan. He had a sneaking suspicion that, due to the timing of Agni's request, something he had put into motion weeks ago was going to finally produce results. With a deep sigh, he pressed the contact number and held it up to his ear.

After the first three rings, a slightly elderly voice answered, "Ah, Mr. Wells! I'm glad you called! I was going to call you myself later today anyways, so I'm glad that you beat me to the punch!"

"Yeah… somehow, I figured you were going to," J.J. muttered, burying his face in his palm.

"I didn't catch that, son," Dr. Newman said.

"Nothing. So, what's going on?" J.J. asked.

"Well, I came across something in that book that you gave me. And… something else also came up that I should tell you about, too," Dr. Newman replied, his voice momentarily turning sour. "Would you and your Almencian friend be willing to stop by the school in a little while so that we can talk?"

"Sure. Might as well get it out of the way now," J.J. muttered. "Let me go grab Tristan and we'll be over in a bit."

"Atta boy! I'll be in my classroom!" Dr. Newman said cheerfully, before hanging up.

J.J. lowered the phone from his ear and buried his head in his arms with a despairing moan. He began banging his forehead against the edge of the table until Gary came over and grabbed him by the collar to restrain him.

"You know… it's times like this that I really wonder if the universe delights in torturing me," J.J. said gloomily, half-heartedly straining against Gary's grip so he could resume bashing his head against the table.

"Diemon attack?" Gary asked conversationally, holding J.J. firmly until he stopped struggling.

"I don't even know what it is this time," J.J. admitted, pushing himself up and straightening his collar, at which point Gary let him go. "But I'm sure it's going to be something that takes up all of my free time and prevents me from pursuing my career as a writer at the expense of saving someone else."

"Isn't that the definition of a hero? Someone who gives of themselves to save others?" Gary asked, smirking slightly.

"Even Superman was able to hold down a day job!" J.J. complained, scowling up at Gary. "I can't even schedule a meeting to get my novel looked at!"

"Superman also wasn't human. You are, and you have to deal with human problems as a human being," Gary pointed out. "And you've been do an excellent job, all things considered."

"Yeah, well, give me some of his powers so I can wrap this crisis up by the end of the week," J.J. groused, pushing himself up with a sigh as he slipped Gary a five dollar bill for the two sodas he'd had. "Thanks for letting me take up space, though."

"Hey, I let you take up an entire room for three months. I consider letting you lurk at a table a downgrade," Gary smirked at him.

"You're too kind," J.J. said drily, but he grinned to take the edge off his retort as he picked up his backpack. "I'll probably be back later to take up even more of your space."

"Next time, you're getting shoved in the corner," Gary said, tossing him a wave. "Good luck."


The first thing J.J. heard when he killed the engine of his motorcycle as he pulled up to the garage were the labored grunts of someone straining themselves. He briefly wondered if Tristan was trying to bench-press a car. As he walked around behind Susumu's garage, he saw the knight, shirtless and drenched with sweat, furiously swinging his mace at a practice dummy that was half-hanging off its wooden stake from the amount of abuse it had taken. Susumu was standing off to the side, leaning on his cane and staring silently at the knight as he watched the training session. When J.J. approached, he glanced over and tossed him a wave before motioning towards the knight.

"Good timing. He's been at this for four hours already. Not that I haven't been enjoying the view since he took his shirt off, but I'm getting to the point where I'm thinking of opening a betting pool regarding how long he has left before we have to rush him to the hospital," Susumu said drily. "Care to place a wager?"

"Fifty bucks on an hour and a half longer," J.J. quipped without missing a beat, though he was frowning with concern. "Has he taken any breaks? Drank any water?"

"Not to my knowledge. I wasn't paying attention for the first hour or so, but I haven't seen him stop this entire time," Susumu said, folding his arms. "Did something happen to set him off?"

"Another duel with Agnar," J.J. suggested, frowning to himself. "Agnar questioned his honor, but I didn't think he'd be working himself to death over him. Preparing for a duel is one thing, but he would read me the riot act for overworking myself like this. I'll talk with him."

"Remind him that he needs to shower before he comes inside. I want my garage to smell like grease, not sweat," Susumu said, turning to limp back to his workbench.

J.J. approached Tristan from the side, letting the knight see him clearly as he approached. Tristan glanced over at him, nodding by way of greeting as he finally stopped swinging his mace long enough to face him.

"Good afternoon, page. I am pleased to see you," Tristan panted, pausing to wipe his face off. "I trust that there is a reason for your visit?" His tone was almost hopeful.

"Dr. Newman might have a lead for us to follow," J.J. said cautiously, nodding to the practice dummy behind him. "Working out some frustration?"

"Attempting to modify my style so that it will be more effective against Sir Agnar," Tristan replied simply, wiping his forehead off. "I have found that mere defense is insufficient to stand against him, so I have been experimenting with an increased focus upon offense. If you would, I would like to request that you transform, so that I might judge its effectiveness against a live target."

J.J. glanced past him towards the battered dummy, before returning his gaze to the knight and slowly raising an eyebrow. "I dunno. Am I going to wind up looking like that?" he asked cautiously.

"I shall not endeavor to harm you. Though… I would recommend that you assume your Paladin Class. It will offer superior protection, and it is the best facsimile of Sir Agnar's form that you possess."

J.J. was still apprehensive, but a few moments later he was standing in front of Tristan in his Paladin Class, holding his halberd out in front of him. Tristan nodded from behind his own helmet, then pressed the stallion icon on his Driver. A loud neighing filled the air, and his lance appeared, hovering in front of him. J.J. raised an eyebrow at the unwieldly weapon, but Tristan pressed a button on its side, and it shrank considerably down to a more manageable size, about eight feet long. He gripped the spear in his right hand while keeping his shield raised as he beckoned for J.J. to attack. "Please be aggressive, page," Tristan encouraged him. "That is how Sir Agnar will fight."

J.J. wasn't sure about his role in this spar, since he knew that he was a poor substitute for Agnar. Even if he didn't lack Agnar's years of experience or talent for battle, the red knight also fought with a simmering bloodlust that J.J. knew he could never replicate. J.J. was a very cerebral fighter, while Agnar seemed to be more instinctual, and his strikes were far faster and more powerful than the ones J.J. could muster. Still, the least he could do was try.

Instead of trying to find an opening, J.J. simply charged in, though he kept his halberd in front of him, since he figured Tristan would try to jab at him with his spear. As he expected, Tristan tried to keep him at range with quick thrusts, but J.J. already knew how to counter that style; it was very similar to his own, after all. He parried the first two jabs before stepping in, cleaving at Tristan with an overhead attack that the knight caught on his shield. Immediately, Tristan responded with a shield bash that caught J.J. in his chest and sent him stumbling backwards. The knight followed this up by jabbing him in the chest, hard enough to push him back more, but not hard enough to pierce his armor. Still, it left J.J. momentarily out of breath.

J.J. was impressed by the maneuver, and he fought against his instinct to regroup and strategize. Instead, he reacted as he thought Agnar would. He pushed in again, furiously cleaving Tristan's spear to the side before stopping just short of another shield bash. He then brought his halberd down in another attack, which Tristan caught again. He stepped in once more and pushed against J.J., but the writer resisted, pushing back and turning Tristan's advance into a shoving match. With him pinned like this, however, Tristan suddenly dropped his spear and pushed the bull icon on his shield, summoning his mace while his lance disappeared.

J.J. immediately realized the danger he was in and tried to step back, but Tristan began furiously swiping at him with the mace. The first two attacks J.J. was able to block with the haft of his halberd, but Tristan's shield again caught him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. J.J. stumbled back, trying to slash at him, but Tristan's mace was faster, and he was caught in the shoulder. J.J. grunted in pain, falling back further, while Tristan kept advancing.

The knight kept continually raining blows upon him, but while J.J. was forced on the defensive, he noticed that Tristan's swings were steadily getting wider and sloppier. J.J. wasn't fast enough to capitalize on them, but he spotted moments when Tristan had his shield down, exposing his arms and chest. His halberd's range was restricting what he could do, but if he was in his base form with his shorter saber and Tristan was swinging at him this wildly….

His thoughts were interrupted as an attack caught him in the stomach, and J.J. fell to his knees, the wind knocked out of him. Tristan stood over him, bringing his mace up to deliver a finishing blow. J.J. threw his hands up, screaming, "Enough! Tristan, breathe!"

Tristan hesitated, and J.J. could almost see him blinking behind his helmet. He lowered his mace slowly, before shoving it under his armpit and holding his hand out to help J.J. to his feet.

"My apologies, page," Tristan said, sounding slightly dazed. "I was… overzealous."

"To put it mildly," J.J. grumbled, gingerly touching his ribs and wincing.

"Nevertheless, I am pleased that my adjustments appear to have been successful," Tristan added, stepping away from J.J., who glanced down.

"I don't know about that," J.J. said slowly. Tristan lowered his head, a gesture J.J. had come to interpret as him scowling.

"Explain," Tristan said shortly.

"I mean… yeah, there was nothing I could do to counter you when you were going on the offensive there," J.J. agreed, straightening up. "But that doesn't mean that you didn't have openings. You kept dropping your guard there towards the end, especially when you were putting everything you had into that final rush."

"Ah, I understand," Tristan chuckled. "No, you are mistaken, page. When one pursues offense to that degree, lapses in defense can be overlooked. After all, you were unable to counterattack, were you not?"

"Yeah. I was," J.J. agreed. "But Agnar's faster and stronger than I am. Who's to say that he won't be able to exploit those openings?"

A slight edge crept into Tristan's voice. "That is why I intend to combine this new strategy with the defensive options afforded me by my own Criticals. I have yet to show you my full arsenal of Criticals."

"Yeah, but what about Agnar's Criticals?" J.J. asked. "Do you know what they are?"

"Of course I do," Tristan growled, sounding increasingly impatient, like a parent growing tired of answering a child's questions. "Rest assured, they pose no threat to me."

"But he's also stronger than I am, as I said, and I don't think you're factoring that in either," J.J. insisted. "If he can just overpower you-"

"Enough!" Tristan snapped, silencing J.J. immediately. Tristan took a short breath, saying in a calmer tone, "Enough, page. I appreciate your attempts at analysis, but your inexperience is apparent. I assure you, my strategy will prevail. Let us discuss it no further. Thank you for your assistance, and forgive me for distracting you. I assume you did not originally intend to aid me in combat training?"

"No," J.J. said, trying to keep the annoyed bite from his voice as he pulled his D-former out of his Driver, canceling his transformation before slipping it back into the central slot on the front cover of his diary. "Dr. Newman said that he had something he wanted to share with us, if you have the time."

"Indeed? Then we should depart immediately," Tristan said. "Once again, you have my apologies for my insistence upon training."

"It's fine," J.J. said. "It's the least I can do after all the help you've given me. Though I am worried that you're overworking yourself. You've gotten on me about that in the past, so I don't want you to do the same thing."

"Your concern is noted," Tristan said simply. "However, I am aware of my own limitations, so there is no need for worry. I have not pushed myself to exhaustion."

"Right," J.J. said, though he was unconvinced. He followed Tristan quietly to their motorcycles, but the entire time, he kept watching Tristan out of the corner of his eye, wondering when his mood was going to sour again.


"Thank you both for coming so quickly," Dr. Newman said as J.J. and Tristan sat down in empty desks at the front of his classroom.

"Quickly?" J.J. echoed under his breath. "And here I was worried that we were dawdling."

"You have information for us, Dr. Newman?" Tristan asked.

"Well… maybe," Dr. Newman said, taking a seat behind his desk and motioning the pair forward. They peered at the small text over his shoulders as the doctor ran his finger along the page. "I've spent the past few weeks studying this thoroughly. The text is fragmentary at best, and worse, it looks like some of the pages were torn out. It's as though someone was taking precautions to prevent other people from gleaning any information from this book."

"Considering it's a book about alchemical wonders, I can't imagine why," J.J. said drily. "We've already seen how much havoc alchemy can wreak."

"Quite right," Dr. Newman agreed. "However, whomever was selectively editing this book wasn't careful enough. There are a few references to a 'treasure of a forgotten island' that caught my eye. Now, a normal scholar might think they were referring to the legend of Atlantis and dismiss it outright, which is why I believe the references were left in there – the average person wouldn't know what they were looking at. We, on the other hand…."

"Almencia," J.J. finished, folding his arms over his chest. "So, what is the treasure? Do you know?"

"Unfortunately, no. Merely that such a treasure might exist," Dr. Newman explained, shaking his head as he closed the book.

"Okay… so you called us over here to tell us that you hadn't really found anything, and that you just had a couple of suspicions?" J.J. asked, raising an eyebrow. "I feel like you could have done that over the phone."

"Ah… well, there is one other thing," Dr. Newman explained, looking away almost sheepishly. "You see, I… made a mistake. Because I wasn't sure about the reference, I called up a few of my former colleagues to see if they had any ideas. One of them is a former professor who's got something of a taste for artifacts. He didn't know what I meant, but… he informed me that he intended to find out."

J.J. and Tristan scowled more deeply at the doctor as he cringed under their glares. "Meaning what?" J.J. asked.

"Well… you know how I insisted that I was an archaeologist when we first met?" Dr. Newman squeaked. "My… associate styles himself as a treasure hunter instead."

J.J.'s frown deepened. "Meaning that while you'd go hunting for artifacts to study them and put them in a museum, he's in it for the money."

"Exactly," Dr. Newman nodded. "And the last thing the world needs is to be exposed to potentially volatile alchemical artifacts that could become active again. It's better to keep them all in one place to at least minimize their impact."

"Agreed," J.J. said. "So… where is he now?"

"That's just it," Dr. Newman explained. "He texted me about an hour ago explaining that he'd just arrived in the city. I told him to meet me here, so he should be here any minute. If he's going to do this, I wanted you two to be there to guide him through the tunnels so that he doesn't get hurt."

"Oh, you arranged a guide for me, Pat? I'm flattered," piped up a new voice, which drew the attention of the three men. Standing in the doorway was a balding grey-haired man in his mid-fifties wearing a loose blue denim shirt and khaki pants, with an overstuffed green backpack slung over his shoulder. He grinned at Dr. Newman as he sauntered into the classroom, holding his hand out to Dr. Newman, who took it reluctantly.

"Ed," Dr. Newman replied with a sigh, before motioning to the man by way of introduction to J.J. and Tristan. "Boys, this is Mr. Edward Murray. Ed, this is Tristan and J.J. I figured they'd be able to show you around the ruins without you getting hurt."

"Pleased to meet you boys!" Mr. Murray said cheerfully, holding his hand out to Tristan and J.J., the latter of whom took it, while the former nodded briefly, seeming put off by the man.

"Greetings, sir. I would suggest you depart immediately," Tristan said coldly. Mr. Murray's smile faltered, and J.J. gave him a sidelong glance.

"Something troubling you, son?" Mr. Murray asked uneasily.

"I dislike the idea of someone else poking around the last remains of my heritage," Tristan replied simply. "Not to mention, I do not believe you fully grasp the danger we may encounter."

"Agnar?" J.J. whispered to Tristan, who nodded in reply.

"To say the least. He will not hesitate to slay interlopers, especially those that lack Almencian blood. You know this, which is why I have insisted we steer clear of his domain," Tristan whispered back. "Not to mention the Shards, or any other Diemons we might encounter."

"I assure you, I'm fully trained in excavation and exploration, son. You don't need to worry about my safety," Ed replied soothingly. "Besides, I brought the very best equipment with me."

"That you place such value upon equipment highlights how woefully underprepared you are for this venture," Tristan replied sharply.

Ed was looking uncomfortable, but he said simply, "Son, I'd like you to guide me, but if you refuse, I'm more than happy to do this myself. I would even be willing to split anything we find with you, as payment," he explained.

J.J. could see Tristan bristling, and he quickly stepped in, pulling Tristan aside. "Look, we should take him up on this offer," he said in a low voice. "He's not lying – even if we chase him off, he's going to find another way to get underground. If you're that worried about his safety, we can go with him and keep an eye on him. Plus, if he has proper equipment with him, maybe we can go deeper into the ruins than we ever have before. It'd be good to find out what Agnar and the Black Seraph are doing down there. If a book in the Marks family library has pages specifically torn out, then it's likely they were trying to hide something, and I'd like to know what it is. It might give us answers about what the end goal of the Seraphs is."

Tristan looked away, seeming to be considering J.J.'s proposal, so he added, "Plus, you were the one spending all your time preparing for a duel with Agnar. Wouldn't it surprise him if you showed up on his turf, instead of the other way around for once?"

Tristan frowned at J.J., replying in a low voice, "I would much rather face him on my terms. If we descend into the ruins, he will likely have a distinct advantage, as he is far more familiar with the area than we are."

"Maybe. Or maybe we'll find something that even he hasn't seen, and that'd give us the advantage." J.J. glanced over at Ed, his tone turning sympathetic. "I'll admit, I don't like playing tour guide for this guy either, but going with him sounds like the best option to keep him from getting hurt and to maybe get a little more information while we have the chance," he said.

Tristan still seemed hesitant, but he reluctantly sighed at last and inclined his head towards Ed. "Very well, Mr. Murray," Tristan said heavily. "If it will satisfy your curiosity, we shall accompany you into the ruins."

"Wonderful! So, what're we looking for, exactly?" Ed asked.

"We're… not sure ourselves," J.J. replied.

"Even better! It's more fun when we don't even know what awaits us!" Ed replied eagerly. Despite himself, J.J. smiled slightly. Though the man seemed foolish, there was something about his enthusiasm that was infectious. "Do we at least have an idea where to start?"

J.J. glanced over at Tristan, who shrugged. J.J. turned back and said, "Probably the easiest place to start would be one of the entrances over by the sports stadium. There's a large arena under there that'd be a good place to start poking around."

"An entire arena? Underground? Intact?" Ed asked, unable to keep the awe out of his voice. J.J. and Tristan nodded, and a grin split across his face. "That sounds fantastic!"

"Are you certain?" Tristan asked J.J. in a soft voice.

"If the White Seraph wanted you to find the arena like she said she did, there are likely tunnels leading from it to other facilities you would need to get in fighting shape," J.J. murmured in reply. "We're also more likely to find something new there. I think we already cleared out the section under the library, and it's less confusing than the catacombs under the Marks manor. Plus, I doubt you want this guy hanging around your father's remains," he added with a smirk at Tristan, who quirked his mouth in tacit agreement. "I also don't think Agnar is likely to be there. He doesn't have a reason to be, if Justin was the only other Almencian in the arena. There's nothing else to be gained. If we're trying to avoid him, this is the best way to do it."

Tristan slowly nodded as he listened to J.J.'s arguments, finally sighing as the writer finished. "Your argument is sound, page. Very well." Looking past him to Ed, he said, "We hereby agree to provide you with safe passage through the ruins beneath this city. However, you shall not stray from our protection under any circumstances. You do not understand how dangerous the lower levels can be, and there shall be no compromise to this stipulation."

"Yeah… alright," Ed replied, his face falling for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "That said, if we do run across any treasure, I want dibs on it."

"Maybe. Depending on what it is," Dr. Newman said, standing behind Ed with his arms folded. "The ruins mean much more to these two than they do to you. I'm going to leave it up to them to decide what you're allowed to walk away with."

Ed's glowered, but he finally sighed. "Alright, fine. But I expect to get at least something out of this," he grumbled.

"There's just one other quick thing," J.J. said, folding his arms over his chest. "When you entered town, did a man in black approach you, offering you a jewel of some sort?" Tristan nodded behind him, also looking somewhat concerned.

"No? Why, was there someone handing out jewels? Can I still go see him?" Ed asked, a greedy smile crossing his lips. J.J. and Tristan let out sighs of relief, trading smiles.

"Afraid not. Don't worry, if we go underground, we're likely to find something far more valuable than a couple of jewels," J.J. assured him. "In that case, we shouldn't waste any more time. Want to head there now?"

"Yeah, no point in lingering here any longer. Thanks for the tip, Pat!" Ed said, waving to Dr. Newman as he headed out the door. Tristan followed him out, and J.J. was about to do the same when Dr. Newman quickly grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him close.

"Even if he doesn't have a D-former of his own, keep an eye on him," Dr. Newman murmured. "I know Ed. We've put a lot of restrictions on what he can do, and he's going to chafe under them. Even without a D-former, expect his greed to get the better of him."

"Probably a good thing the Black Seraph didn't snap him up as soon as he entered the city, then," J.J. muttered in reply. "You're right, he seems like he'd probably hit Apotheosis as soon as he got a D-former. Don't worry, I won't let him out of my sight."

"Thank you," Dr. Newman replied. "And good luck."

J.J. nodded and hurried out the door, quickly catching up with Tristan and Ed, who were already nearly at the front doors of the school. Ed climbed onto the back of J.J.'s bike, and he led the way for Tristan, guiding him to the stadium. It was a short drive, even with afternoon traffic piling up, and less than ten minutes later they had parked and were making their way towards the drainage pipe that Abby had shown them.

"So, Dr. Newman mentioned that you were bringing your own equipment with you to help excavate," J.J. commented as they walked. "I was half-expecting you to have some sort of backhoe. Is your stuff in that backpack you're wearing?"

"Oh, yeah. Check this out," Ed said with a grin, unzipping the bag. J.J. and Tristan watched as he reached inside and withdrew a glistening black orb about the size of a basketball, with a large clear spot in the center that looked quite a bit like a flashlight before it was turned on. Ed reached down and flicked a switch on its top, whereupon the orb's central eye slowly flicked to life, turning an electric blue color. It let out a short string of binary sounds that reminded J.J. of a dial-up connection, and then it slowly floated into the air, swiveling around to take in its surroundings. J.J.'s mouth fell open and Tristan shied away from it warily while Ed grinned, his arms folded over his chest.

"What… is that thing?" J.J. asked, eyeing the construct warily. It swung its central eye towards him, and he could see the inner circle dilate, making him feel like he was being scanned.

"That's a little toy that I ran across on another one of my digs," Ed replied, a pleased look on his face. "I found it in what looked like the bombed-out ruin of an abandoned city. Give it a little while to boot up and it'll be capable of speech, but I'll save you some time. Its explanation can take a little while, so I'll give you the cliff notes. It calls itself a Pupil, and it was designed to perform any task assigned to it. Suppose that I want it to go digging. It'll find some loose scrap metal, design a body with a drill or some other mining equipment, and dig as deep as I want. It's a marvelous invention, really."

"No kidding?" J.J. asked, wandering around it to try and get a better look at its backside, though the Pupil kept staring at him, denying him that chance. "Susumu would love this thing. If it can perform any task, how come we haven't seen them before? Companies could make trillions on these things."

"No idea," Ed admitted. "Maybe something happened in the city where I found it, I dunno. Either way, it's been a big help on the digs that I've been on."

"And how many have you done?" J.J. asked.

"Total? About three dozen in my lifetime. Some lucrative, most not," Ed admitted. "I've been able to sustain my hobby with a few big scores. I'm hoping this dig will leave me with enough to retire, though. I can't do this forever."

"Oooh, so it's motivated by profit, is it?" came a familiar high-pitched voice that set J.J.'s teeth on edge. J.J. and Tristan whirled around to see the Fool sitting on the edge of the chain-link fence surrounding the outskirts of the stadium, giggling faintly. "If it's avaricious, we can give it riches. Gold and silver, jewels and gems… we can even give it a free gemstone immediately, if it so… desires," the Fool cackled.

"Really?" Ed asked, his eyes sparkling with greed.

"Don't bother," J.J. interrupted, stepping in front of Ed while he faced down the jester. "Keep in mind, every transaction has a price. Do you really think he's going to give it away for free? Besides, I'm sure that Dr. Newman mentioned how things have been in town lately. Trust me, it's not a price you want to pay, and if you're as skilled at treasure hunting as you say you are, you don't need any extra help anyways," J.J. assured him with a grin.

"That's… kind of you to say. And you've got a point," Ed said, smiling faintly, before looking up at the Fool. "I'll stick with what I have, thanks."

"Well, it's not as though we can force it to take our offer," the Fool shrugged. "But it may wish to reconsider our offer when it sees what waits for it underground. For instance," the jester chuckled, motioning to the entrance of the drain pipe.

J.J. and Tristan swung around in time to see a trio of Shards lumbering towards them. The Fool laughed as J.J. snapped his fingers, swearing under his breath as his quill flew into his hand, and he snapped it out into its saber form, while Tristan pressed a button on his own shield and his mace appeared as a loud mooing sound filled the air.

"Stay back!" J.J. said sharply to Ed, before darting forward with his sword extended. The Shard he was facing had an unusual protrusion in its arm – rather than the usual claws, its hand had fused together with the crystalline points forming a sort of shortsword. It stabbed at J.J. who immediately swayed out of the way and slashed at the monster. Its reflexes were quicker than he'd expected, as it brought its hand up and parried J.J.'s blow. The sound of the metal hitting the crystal resounded like a sharp, clear bell that echoed through the drainage ditch before fading.

The Shard reached out to grab J.J., but he jumped back before it could, waving his sword to fend it off. The blade nicked two fingers off, but the Shard seemed unperturbed. It stabbed at him two more times, both of which J.J. managed to sway out of the way. The third attack left it overextended, and J.J. stepped in after he parried the blow, burying his sword into its throat. The Shard silently fell to the ground before dissolving, and J.J. looked up in time to see Tristan facing off against the other two Shards.

The knight wasn't holding back against the Shards, and J.J. had never seen him fight so aggressively. His mace never stopped moving as he bashed one Shard's claws to the side before bringing his mace down on its skull with a dull, rocky cracking sound. The monster collapsed as its compatriot slashed at Tristan in retaliation. Tristan kept swinging in return, however, ignoring defense entirely, and to J.J.'s surprise, one of the Shard's swipes opened a bloody gash on Tristan's upper arm. It was the first time he'd ever seen a Shard wound his companion. He hurried forward to flank the Shard, but Tristan finished the fight before he could get there. He kicked the Shard viciously in the chest, sending it sprawling, and he stood over it for a moment before bashing its face in with two brutal attacks. When the Shard dissolved into dust, he turned towards the Fool and pointed his mace at the clown.

"Follow us and you shall share their fate," Tristan threatened the harlequin. The Fool stared at him for a moment before throwing its head back and laughing hysterically, rocking back on the fence while gripping it to maintain its balance.

"Oh, what fun! We do hope you can follow through on that threat!" Still giggling, the Fool shook its head. "But rest assured, we don't intend to stop you. We're merely an envoy of the Black Seraph, and those that don't want his gifts needn't take them. But we wonder if what it finds down there is really the treasure it expects to discover."

"You could just tell us what we're looking for," J.J. suggested, folding his arms.

"We could, but what fun would that be? That's the purpose of an adventure! Go forth and see what it can discover! And do bring us back a trinket if it finds one." The Fool bounded away, still laughing, as J.J. shook his head.

"I wish I knew what that thing's game is," he muttered. He walked over to Ed, who was looking back and forth between J.J. and Tristan with a look of awe on his face. "Are you alright, Mr. Murray?"

"That was incredible!" Ed exclaimed. "Where'd you two learn to fight like that?!"

"We've been practicing," J.J. replied evasively. He glanced over at Tristan, who was glaring at the wound on his arm. "Is that going to be a problem?" he added, frowning at the knight.

"It shall not hinder me," Tristan said gruffly. He tore the rest of his sleeve off and tied it around the wound, before motioning towards the entrance to the tunnels. "Let us proceed."

J.J. gazed at Tristan for a second longer, but when Tristan glared at him insistently, he took the lead and walked into the drainpipe. They walked in silence for the next several minutes as J.J. tried to remember the path they'd taken with Abby. Ed's floating Pupil lit the way far more effectively than a flashlight would have, so their progress was, thankfully, relatively swift. Fortunately, the route was familiar enough that J.J. was able to retrace their steps, and some time later, they emerged into the open arena.

J.J. heard Ed gasp behind him, and he grinned to himself as he turned around to see the amazed look on the man's face. He chuckled slightly as Ed gazed around the arena, quietly taking it in, before turning to J.J. "This was underneath the city the entire time? How long has it been here?"

"Centuries, at least," J.J. replied. "And there's no point in stopping here, before you ask. We've already looked around here. Unless you want a couple of rusty swords, there's nothing of value. From this point on, we're as lost as you are."

"Hm. While old equipment might have some value, I'll take your word for it. I agree, there's probably more valuable things deeper in. From here on, let me take the lead," Ed said, nodding to his Pupil.

The floating robot's eye dilated, and a blue laser scanned the area while it beeped softly to itself. It swung around in a brief circle before commenting to itself, "SCAN COMPLETE. VIABLE RESOURCES DISCOVERED. ASSIMILATING."

The robot flew up to an upper level, extending a pair of small claws from its underside as it did. It disappeared from view for a few moments, and when it returned, it was clutching the pieces of a rusty suit of armor. It did so two more times until it seemed to decide it had enough scrap metal. Once the suits had been collected in a pile, it dove into them, and loud whirring and banging sounds filled the air as J.J. and Tristan stepped back a few paces, eyeing it warily. A small duststorm was kicked up from the activity, and when the clouds of dirt finally settled, J.J.'s eyes widened.

The Pupil was now resting atop a four-legged machine, comprised of the rusted iron that it had pulled together. Three arms extended from the trunk of the body, one ending in a drill, another in some sort of piston, and the third shaped like a spade. The Pupil looked down at itself before experimentally testing its legs. It scuttled forward far more rapidly than J.J. would have expected, and even the Pupil seemed surprised, as it reared back onto its hind legs before it stopped. The robot then shifted its gaze to its drill, which spun rapidly, and the piston clanged loudly as it hammered a couple times. Seeming satisfied, the Pupil spun in place to pin Ed under its vision. "IRISE FULLY CONSTRUCTED. MINING MODULE COMPLETE."

"Excellent work," Ed grinned. J.J. gaped at the machine while Tristan folded his arms, gazing at it curiously

"…Irise?" J.J. asked dumbly.

"Yep," Ed shrugged. "That's what it calls itself when it's got a body. I don't get it myself, but I'm sure it has some sort of meaning."

"It sounds kind of like iris, another part of an eye. Or does it mean that it rose? Arose?" J.J. asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Like I said, I dunno. All I know is that it's a damn good mining machine," Ed chuckled.

"Utterly fascinating," Tristan remarked. "This is on par with some of the alchemical wonders that Lord Quintus created. Its only flaw is the absence of true life."

"And it even recycles scrap materials," J.J. added. "This thing could revolutionize the way we live. You said you found it in a bombed-out city?"

"I did. Like I said, I don't know what happened. I'm just glad I found it before someone else got their hands on it. This thing alone has been worth a fortune, and I got it for free," Ed grinned. He turned his attention to the Irise, adding, "You know the drill… no pun intended. Look for the nearest source of valuable metals or gemstones."

"ACKNOWLEDGED," the Irise said. J.J. glanced over at Tristan and he hurried forward.

"Please don't damage any of the ruins either!" he said hastily.

"Don't worry. It tends to avoid anything valuable once those parameters have been set, and it won't damage any part of the structure, especially if it's keeping the cave up," Ed assured him gently. "Just let it work."

J.J. couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive as the Irise approached a solid wall near the back of the arena. To his relief, he saw that the wall wasn't part of the main structure of the colosseum, so it did indeed seem to be avoiding damaging anything it didn't have to. He covered his ears as the drill part of the machine began spinning, and it drove into the solid rock while the piston jackhammered into the wall to weaken the stone further and the spade steadily cleared away the loose dirt. Ed motioned for them to follow the Irise as it cleared a tunnel for them to walk through.

They walked in silence for about half an hour, unable to say anything to each other over the noise of the machinery. J.J. kept his hands clapped over his ears the entire time, and he could feel his teeth vibrating as the Irise dug deeper into the ruins. Finally, there was a loud cracking sound that could be heard over the whirring of the Irise, and the drilling abruptly stopped as the machine stepped out of the newly-created tunnel. Ed followed closely behind, and J.J. and Tristan clambered out after him. They blinked as their eyes adjusted to the new sight before them.

Looming over them was what looked like a small castle. The white walls were lower than the massive curtain walls J.J. had seen in books and movies, but they were still formidable, and studded with the trademark crenellations of a medieval fortress. Four circular towers guarded each of the corners, capped and illuminated by massive blue crystal formations, and inside the walls J.J. could just make out the large keep. Once again, he was amazed at the White Seraph's ability to move entire structures, and he turned to comment about it to Tristan when he noticed that the knight was staring at the manor with more than mere admiration. He looked like he was in shock.

"This… is impossible," Tristan whispered. J.J. frowned and nudged his shoulder.

"What's up? You look like you've seen a ghost," J.J. said.

"This… this is Lord Quintus' manor," Tristan explained. J.J. stared at him in silence for several long moments before looking back at the imposing fort.

"He needed an entire castle to himself?" J.J. remarked drily.

"He was quite reclusive," Tristan explained. "And as a lord, he was entitled to private lands. I visited his manor on a few occasions, and it was unlike any other in Almencia. The most obvious sign that this is his property are those," he said, nodding to the crystals bathing the area in a soft blue light. "No other lord possessed those."

"I wonder how much those are worth," Ed commented, an avaricious grin spreading across his face.

"Do not attempt to take them," Tristan warned him sharply. "It would prove a futile effort. Steel alone would not be enough to damage them."

"You really won't let me take anything, will you? Mind if we check inside, then?" Ed suggested.

Tristan hesitated. J.J. walked over, touching his shoulder and murmuring, "This is why we came down here, to check Almencia's alchemical history. We can't do better than visiting the home of the person who invented the Seraphs. Maybe he'll even have something on their creation."

"I… must concede that is true," Tristan murmured. "It merely feels… wrong to desecrate the lands of one of Almencia's greatest minds."

"It's for a good cause. And it's better we do it than let Ed run wild and destroy the place," J.J. pointed out softly, before raising his voice and adding. "C'mon, help me open the gates."

"Oh, allow me," Ed said, motioning for his Irise to come forward. "You two might have trouble getting through them."

"ACKNOWLEDGED. PROCEEDING TO REMOVE OBSTACLE," the Irise announced. Its drill began whirling loudly while its piston clanked, the sounds echoing through the cavern.

"Please wait!" Tristan cried, moving forward to stop the Irise as it scuttled forward to breach the doors. Before he could reach it, however, a new voice boomed over the din.

"What in blazes is that noise?!" a deep, angry voice demanded. The Irise and the three men paused and looked up at a figure standing on the battlements above them, directly over the gate. By J.J.'s estimation, he was in his late forties or early fifties. He was sporting thick, curly red hair that was turning grey and which fell to his shoulders and slightly obscured his green eyes. It was matched in bushiness by the similarly colored full beard that obscured most of his mouth. His tall, brawny body was hidden behind a blue tunic and leggings combination, the former of which was cinched by a familiar Driver. Tristan's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth as he spat the man's name.

"Sir Agnar," he hissed. "Pray, how dare you befoul Lord Quintus' lands with your presence?"

"Befoul? This manor was enfeoffed to me by the Black Seraph himself," Agnar replied. "Say what you will of the legitimacy of his claim to the crown of Almencia, but you cannot deny that as the patriarch of the Marks family, these lands are his to give at his discretion."

"I dunno about his position as patriarch," J.J. chimed in, smirking up at Agnar. "You scampered away from Gwen pretty quickly the other day, so you must recognize her legitimacy. Wouldn't you say her brother has more of a claim as head of the Marks family than one of Quintus' old toys?"

Agnar looked down at J.J. with a glare that could melt iron, and he growled, "As we speak of befouling presences, I must ask you, Sir Tristan, to remove this insolent peasant from my lands. I will not deign to address him, particularly when he trespasses upon my domain."

J.J. snorted with laughter while Tristan glowered up at Agnar in return. "I shall not. Nor have you answered my question."

Agnar looked behind him towards the keep before replying, "I have assumed residence of these lands while I fulfill my mission to my liege. You are welcome within my walls, though I must insist that your entourage remain outside. I was hoping we might discuss your resumption of service in the name of Almencia."

"There is naught to discuss," Tristan spat in return. "I name you turncoat and traitor."

"Yet still you refuse to back your insults through force of arms," Agnar retorted calmly. "Slander me if you wish, but your words carry no weight if you are unwilling to temper them with steel."

"You needn't wait any longer, if steel is your wish!" Tristan shouted at him. Agnar's eyes widened, then narrowed with disappointment.

"Is there no chance for parley, Sir Tristan?" Agnar asked sadly.

"Did you give my brother the chance to parley?" Tristan snapped back furiously. Agnar sighed, looking away as though weighing his options. Ed, meanwhile, nudged J.J., looking confused.

"What's this about, exactly?" he whispered.

"Agnar up there claims he killed Tristan's brother, and Tristan declared a blood feud. It was a serious challenge back in the Viking era," J.J. explained quickly.

"Uh… huh. Are you saying they're part of a Viking bloodline?" Ed asked. "Pat mentioned something like that over the phone, that these two are descended from some ancient European line. Do they still follow the old customs?"

"Sorta. It's complicated," J.J. whispered. "Long and short of it… this is going to end badly." Agnar, meanwhile, finally looked down at Tristan, his eyes full of regret.

"I wish it had not come to this, Sir Tristan," Agnar said softly. "Time and again I have offered my hand to you in friendship in the hopes that we could rebuild the land we love so much, and yet every time you have slapped it away. I have even indulged your camaraderie for this peasant, allowing you to violate rules we are honor-bound to obey, yet you continue to insult me while attempting to claim morality. No longer. If you truly wish a duel, then we shall fight to your satisfaction. Enter."

Agnar leaned over and pulled a switch, and the heavy double doors began to slowly creak open. Tristan walked forward, his jaw set and his eyes fixed on the manor. J.J. and Ed moved to follow him, but Agnar suddenly called out.

"I did not grant you permission to enter my keep!" Agnar bellowed. J.J. rolled his eyes and folded his arms, staring defiantly up at the knight.

"You need witnesses for a duel, don't you?" he retorted. "Besides, you know that I could jump these walls without a problem if I put my armor on. And if that's not enough to convince you, I thought my presence would be inconsequential to someone as powerful as you. Aren't you strong enough that you could easily beat me if I tried to interfere?" he smirked.

He could practically hear Agnar grinding his teeth in frustration, but it was clear to J.J. that Agnar couldn't refute his points. Finally, the red knight responded through clenched teeth. "Enter. Take your place upon the battlements and do not dare tread upon the central courtyard." He glanced at Ed before reluctantly motioning for him to follow J.J. as well.

J.J. and Ed walked through the large doors with the Irise following behind them, patiently awaiting orders. A staircase next to the walls led them up to the battlements, which J.J. walked on until he was standing above the gates where Agnar had been standing. Below them, Agnar and Tristan walked across the dirt courtyard, stopping near the center and taking their places about twenty feet from each other, staring at each other intently.

"It needn't have come to this, Sir Tristan," J.J. heard Agnar say sadly. "I wish you could put your love of your homeland before your need for vengeance."

"Silence," Tristan hissed. "I am doing this for my homeland. If you serve the Black Seraph, then your defeat will bring us one step closer to ensuring he does not bring ruin to the rest of the world as he did to Almencia."

"Too bad that's not really why you're doing this, eh, Tristan?" J.J. asked softly. Ed glanced over at him curiously, but J.J. simply shook his head. It was obvious that Tristan was using that as an excuse to get revenge on Agnar, and Agnar clearly recognized that as well.

"As you wish, Sir Tristan," Agnar said. "I assume you wish for us to fight in our armor? Please, then, arm yourself."

Tristan glared at Agnar as he slowly pulled his shield out of his pocket, briefly touching it to his breast before holding it out in front of him. "Henshin!" he shouted, and his Driver appeared around his waist at the command. He slotted the shield into his Driver, then gave the central blue die a quick spin.

"Steel yourself! Class: Cavalier!" his Driver shouted, and a shimmering blue die surrounded him, rotating around him for a few moments as cymbals clashed in the air. Once the spinning stopped, Tristan stood in his plate armor, and he touched a button on his Driver. A loud neighing filled the cavern, and his spear appeared from his shield, hovering in front of him until he grabbed it.

"HENSHIN? HENSHIN… SEARCHING DATABASE…." the Irise piped up suddenly. Both J.J. and Ed glanced at the machine curiously as it began clicking and whirring, sounding exactly like a computer processing an Internet search. The two men traded glances before shrugging and turning their attention back to the two knights below them.

"Henshin? Might that be your current battle cry? I believe the peasant used it as well. Intriguing," Agnar commented as he pulled his own fiery D-former from a pouch on his Driver. "A new era, and a new name for knights. I suppose I should follow convention as well, should I not? Henshin," he said, before putting the D-former into the pommel of the small sword that he used for his own transformation. He then slid the sword, point-down, into his Driver and spun the vermillion jewel.

"Take up arms! Class: Dragoon!" Agnar's Driver yelled in a far deeper voice than either J.J. or Tristan's Drivers. Bells resounded in the air as Agnar was enveloped in a fiery red-orange gem, and as it finished spinning, he was wearing his own draconic armor. His massive greatsword clung to his back until he pulled it from his armor and gave it a short test swing before holding it in a vertical, two-handed stance.

"To the death, then, Sir Tristan. To the victor go the spoils," Agnar intoned.

"And may the defeated find honor in death," Tristan replied, though his voice was strained with barely-contained fury. The two stared at each other for a few moments while J.J. held his breath. Then, Tristan made the first move.

The blue-armored knight charged across the courtyard, bellowing a challenge. Agnar seemed surprised, even taken aback by the sudden offensive maneuver. Thus, he barely managed to react in time as Agnar thrusted at him with his spear. Agnar's sword came around to parry the attack, but its size and weight proved to be a disadvantage as Tristan repositioned his spear and struck again, then again, and then a third time. Agnar kept shifting his blade to knock the strikes away, managing to parry them, before attempting a quick stab of his own. Thanks to the length of Tristan's spear, however, the blue knight was well out of his range, and he swiped the air while the attack left him open to a jab to his shoulder.

Tristan's attack knocked Agnar back a couple of steps, and Tristan pressed his opponent, stabbing forward once more. This time, Agnar batted the thrust aside and dove in to counterattack, trying to get within medium range. Just like during their practice, though, Tristan seemed to anticipate this, and he stepped in to meet Agnar's charge. He pressed a button on his Driver with his elbow, and spikes emerged from the face of his shield. He bashed Agnar with his shield, and Agnar let out a cry as he was forced back a couple of paces. In perfect timing with his counter, Tristan also stepped back and jabbed forward again, catching Agnar firmly in the stomach and making him double over.

"He's… doing well, isn't he?" Ed commented, watching the fight with wide eyes.

"For the moment," J.J. muttered, folding his arms. "I'm just hoping his form doesn't collapse like it did when we were training."

He looked past Ed at the Irise, which was intently watching the fight. J.J. frowned as the whirring of its processor picked up, and he began to grow worried as he heard the machine muttering to itself. "DATABASE… HENSHIN… UNABLE TO CONNECT… SEARCHING ARCHIVES…."

"Is… that thing going to be okay?" J.J. asked, nodding to Ed's machine. The treasure hunter tore his eyes away from the duel to frown at the machine.

"I've never seen it do that before," Ed admitted. "Hey, Irise, what-?"

That train of thought was interrupted by a loud clashing of metal, and both J.J. and Ed's eyes whipped back to the fight. Agnar was growing frustrated with Tristan's skillful distance management and was resorting to ducking in to attack. Each time, however, Agnar met him with a counter-charge. He was keeping his guard up, not allowing Agnar to establish himself at mid-range where his weapon was most effective. Agnar feinted a step in, then tried to back up, but Tristan retreated a step as well, allowing him to resume jabbing him with his spear, forcing Agnar on the back foot again. His attacks weren't doing much damage, but they were steadily wearing the red knight down. What's more, Tristan's endurance training was clearly paying off, as he was conserving his energy and maintaining his form despite having to constantly shift his tactics. It helped that Agnar was unable to throw many counterstrikes against him which would have whittled away Tristan's own stamina, assuming he even blocked the attacks.

"You have… always been… a worthy… opponent, Sir Tristan," Agnar panted in a brief lull in the combat. "A masterful display."

Tristan didn't say anything, but it was clear that he was sensing weakness. He stuck his spear into the ground and charged forward, taking advantage of Agnar's fatigued state. A bovine bellow sounded throughout the cave as Tristan drew his mace, and he closed the distance once more. This time, he went on the offensive, smashing at Agnar with his mace while simultaneously battering him with the shield. J.J. almost felt as though he was watching a boxer execute a combo, as Agnar was forced to contend with Tristan jabbing at him with his shield before throwing heavy hooks with his mace. The red knight was on the back foot, trying to put more distance between him and Tristan so that he could swing his sword, but Tritan was doggedly pursuing him, not allowing him to pull more than a foot away while he hammered at Agnar from close range.

J.J. was growing concerned, however. When he had sparred with Tristan, he had thought that he'd seen him opening up as his assault grew more intense. From above, the openings were even more evident. Tristan was starting to forsake the use of his shield to focus on landing as many hits with his mace as possible. He kept winding back and slamming the weapon against Agnar's guard, but the attacks were becoming slower and heavier. Agnar seemed to notice this as well and began biding his time, patiently blocking the attacks and drawing Tristan further in. Finally, Tristan dropped his guard completely to wind his mace back as far as he could, and that was when Agnar acted. He suddenly kicked Tristan's exposed chest, catching him by surprise, and with Tristan's guard completely broken, he slashed the blue knight across the torso with one mighty swing of his claymore.

Tristan stumbled backwards, yelling as J.J. screamed, "Tristan!" His heart stopped for a few moments as he tried to assess the damage. Thankfully, Tristan's armor had withstood the blow, leaving only a long scratch along its azure surface. What worried J.J., however, was that with his rush halted, the aftereffects were catching up with Tristan. He was visibly sagging and panting, and while Agnar was still short of breath, he seemed to have more energy, even despite the moderate damage he had taken from the opening rounds. J.J. felt his blood start to run cold as he realized that the tide of the duel had shifted now that Tristan had lost his momentum.

"Foolish, Sir Tristan," he heard Agnar say. "Had you stayed the course, you might have prevailed. You were never particularly proficient at offensive combat. As you know, that was always my domain. Allow me to remind you why."

Agnar's hand drifted down to the D-former lodged in his belt, and he gave it a quick spin as his Driver yelled "Critical!" into the open cavern. A vermillion die briefly spun around him before collapsing around his body, sheathing it in a fiery orange light. The light seemed to begin rising around him, flickering like flames, as Agnar's head snapped forward limply. He began to scream, starting out at a low growl before rising in pitch and intensity until he was shrieking like a madman. Both hands gripped his enormous claymore, and he brought it over his shoulder before swinging it in a wide arc.

Tristan quickly brought his shield up, but the sheer force of Agnar's attack knocked it aside. Tristan let out a sharp yell of pain and was forced to back away as Agnar advanced, swinging his blade wildly. Twice more, he swung his sword in wild arcs, and each time Agnar managed to deflect the attack, though both times his shield was knocked aside again. Thankfully, Tristan was able to keep a grip on it, but he had no room to maneuver or counterattack.

From his position atop the battlements, J.J. could tell that Agnar's strength and speed had increased dramatically, but it appeared to be at the cost of his sanity. The man was yelling maniacally as he attacked, roaring like he was possessed as he immersed himself in bloodlust while hammering continuous blows down on Tristan's shield.

"A berserker rage," J.J. said under his breath. Ed gave him a curious look, but J.J. ignored him, focusing entirely on the fight. Agnar had no technique by this point, but his sheer power and speed were overwhelming Tristan. He suspected that Agnar was only risking this because Tristan had already worn himself out. Was that why Tristan had tried to end the fight so quickly, because he knew Agnar had this ace up his sleeve? Or had he been trying to beat Agnar with an imitation of his own style?

Unconsciously, his hand slipped into his jeans, grasping his diary. As soon as he felt the pages between his fingers, however, he stopped himself. Then, the rational part of his brain began screaming at him. Why was he hesitating? Fighting for honor was a stupid, outdated concept that was going to get Tristan killed. He couldn't take on the Black Seraph without Tristan's help, and if he didn't step in, Agnar was going to kill him.

Despite that, he continued to watch, though he gripped his diary so tightly that his fingers were turning white. Agnar's style had been reduced to mercilessly bashing Agnar's guard with a series of heavy overhead strikes while the blue knight cowered behind his shield. J.J. squinted as he saw Agnar shifting his hand towards his belt, and suddenly a cry of "Critical!" sounded in the air. Tristan was enveloped in a blue die, momentarily knocking Agnar back, and the die formed a shimmering blue coating around Tristan's mace and shield. Gripping his weapons, he charged forward, yelling furiously as he battered Agnar with several short, quick pummels of his shield. The sudden charge knocked the red knight back, and Tristan followed this up by swinging his mace three times. Two of the blows slammed into Agnar's face, while the third connected with his stomach. Slowly, the blue aura around Tristan faded, and the knight sagged again, exhausted.

Agnar remained stock-still in the aftermath of the attack, his head hanging limply as he gazed up at the ceiling. J.J. momentarily wondered if he had been knocked unconscious, until Agnar lazily rolled his head around and began yelling again. Tristan wearily raised his shield once more, but J.J. could see his arms trembling even from there.

"Come on, Tristan!" J.J. shouted. "Get your act together! You're gonna lose to this fake Kamen Rider? You-!"

He had more to say, but he was interrupted by a piercing alarm going off. J.J. looked over to see the Irise's central eye had turned blood red while a loud siren echoed from its loudspeakers. "DATA FOUND. SUBJECT: KAMEN RIDER. INITIATING ELIMINATION PROTOCOLS."

J.J. turned as the Irise suddenly raised its arm at Agnar and Tristan, pointing its drill at them. The tool began spinning rapidly before firing from its arm like a rocket. Tristan turned in time to roll out of the way as the drill slammed into the dirt, burying itself deep into it before it stopped spinning. The Irise's jackhammer began to piston threateningly as it moved to trundle down the stairs. Even Agnar's mad rush seemed temporarily broken as he registered the new threat.

"Page! Do not allow that abomination to interfere with our duel!" Tristan demanded. Agnar's head tilted curiously at the robot, but Tristan slammed his mace against his shield to draw his attention back to their fight.

"Right… that tears it. Today's been downright bizarre," J.J. said drily to himself as he pulled his diary out of his pocket and held it up to his left cheek. He flipped to his stats page, calling out into the cavern, "Henshin!"

His Driver materialized around his waist, and he slotted his diary before giving his amber D-former a spin. "Adventure: Begin!" his Driver shouted, and trumpets played while a brownish die appeared around him before rotating quickly as J.J.'s body was coated in his familiar leather armor. Once the holographic die had faded, J.J. snapped his fingers, and his quill flew into his hand. He snapped it out into its shortsword form before leaping over to land in front of the Irise just as it reached the bottom of the stairs.

The Irise gave him a curious look, its central eye flicking back and forth. "KAMEN RIDER?" it asked.

"I wouldn't call myself that, but if that'll get you to focus on me, then sure," J.J. quipped. He then had to duck out of the way as the Irise's jackhammer jabbed at his face. Reflexively, he brought his sword up to counter the attack, but the android was far stronger than he had anticipated. His blade simply bounced off its metal hammer, and it was only because he had ducked first that he wasn't impaled on the improvised weapon.

J.J. took a couple steps back and dropped into a fencing stance, daring the Irise to come closer. The droid responded by spinning around on its central axis, swinging its spade at him. J.J. quickly brought his sword up, catching the attack on the flat of his blade while he lowered his shoulder into the attack. With him putting all his strength into the block, he was able to stop it, though his feet slid across the dusty ground slightly. The robot clicked in surprise as J.J. threw a slash of his own at its arm, and it yanked the appendage back before he could slice it. That confirmed for him that his sword was sharp enough to do damage to it, as he doubted the machine would have pulled its arm back otherwise.

J.J. went on the offensive, stabbing twice at the robot to probe its defenses. It caught the first strike on its spade, while the second slipped through to hit its body. J.J. grunted as he put a bit more force behind the attack. The tip of his blade sank into the softer metal, though he lacked the force to do more than superficial damage. Before the robot could counter, he put his hand on his red D-former.

"Reroll! Class: Warrior!" his Driver shouted, and J.J. was wreathed in a red die that appeared around him, shielding him. The Irise was driven backwards by the holographic gemstone, and war drums played as J.J.'s leather became a harder lamellar. He was soon clad in Viking-esque apparel as the spinning stopped, while the Irise scanned him curiously.

"ASSESSING THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE," the Irise intoned.

"See, now that's just insulting," J.J. replied, hefting his hammer over his shoulder. He grunted as he swung it around, slamming it into the robot's heavy body. This time, the attack left the monster shuddering from the force of the blow, and he saw a dent in its chassis, which brought a grin to J.J.'s face. Like he thought, when it came to sheer physical power, his Warrior Class was the best choice, and while the robot was quite resilient, it was also rather slow, so J.J. wasn't at a disadvantage in that category. All he had to do was keep bashing it until it stopped moving.

J.J. delivered two more hard attacks to the robot's metal body, making it tremble again, before turning his hammer around and swinging it around so that the metal spike at the end pierced its chassis. The Irise looked down at the weapon buried in its side, then realized that J.J. was stuck as he tried to pull it out. It swung its jackhammer arm around and rammed it into J.J.'s side, before activating it. J.J. screamed as the weapon pounded into his ribs, and only his heavy armor prevented him from taking lethal damage.

With a grunt, he yanked his hammer out of the robot and staggered backwards, clutching his chest and wheezing. He could still feel his bones reverberating from the Irise's attack. "Yeah… let's not… do that again," he murmured to himself. While he had left deep gouges in its metal body, the Irise was still only minimally damaged. J.J. would have to try something else. He looked up at the Pupil resting on top of the body and was struck with an idea that, in retrospect, seemed obvious.

J.J. put his fingers on the red and blue D-formers in his diary and spun them. "Reroll! Multiclass: Ranger!" his Driver shouted, and a red and blue die appeared around him, coalescing into a single emerald jewel that whirled around him as a hunting horn sounded. J.J. felt his body grow lighter as it was clad in leather armor once more, and his hammer bent to become a supple longbow. As the spinning stopped, his short green cloak fluttered behind him as the last of the wind settled.

The Irise lunged at him with its spade, but J.J. immediately leapt backwards as an arrow appeared in his left hand. He landed lightly on top of the walls and loosed the arrow at the Irise's head. The machine reacted with inhuman reflexes, covering the Pupil, but J.J. simply grinned at this. If it was that protective of its head, he was on to something. He began running along the battlements, firing off two more arrows as he went, but each time the Irise protected itself, though the wooden bolts did pierce its iron skin. The Irise lowered its arms for a moment, gazing down at them and inspecting the wounds while J.J. took a moment to glance over at Tristan and Agnar's duel.

Agnar no longer seemed to be in his berserker state, but in its wake, Tristan had suffered serious damage. His thick blue armor was scratched and dented in several places where it had barely managed to protect him from Agnar's furious onslaught, though thankfully Tristan was still standing. His shield was limply hanging off one arm, and his mace was lying in the dirt twenty feet away. As J.J. watched, Tristan weakly raised his shield to protect himself from a powerful horizontal slash. The attack tore the shield from his arm, where it clattered unceremoniously across the ground. Tristan watched it settle on the ground before looking up at Agnar from where he was sitting in the dirt.

Agnar hesitated. His grip tightened on his greatsword as he held it above his head, then he said shortly, "Rise, Sir Tristan. A knight should die on his feet, not cowering in the dirt."

Tristan glared up at him, but slowly pushed himself up. He staggered forward, and Agnar held out a hand to steady him. The two men looked at each other for a long moment, Agnar's shoulders slumping while Tristan glowered at him defiantly.

J.J. felt his breath catch in his throat as Agnar slowly brought his claymore to his shoulder to deliver the killing stroke. Quickly, J.J. summoned an arrow, aimed it at Agnar's unprotected back, and loosed it. The bolt pierced the air faster than the eye could follow, and less than a second later it struck the red knight in the back. Agnar let out a yell of pain, and both he and Tristan turned to glare furiously at J.J., who slowly lowered his bow.

"Oops," he said in a completely deadpan voice, before motioning to the Irise several feet below him. "I missed."

Agnar growled and gripped his sword tightly as he turned to stalk towards J.J. At the red knight's approach, the Irise glanced between the two, before announcing, "SITUATION UNFAVORABLE. RETREATING TO ENACT REPAIRS."

J.J. and Agnar had almost been ignoring it, but both their attention was drawn to the Irise suddenly scuttling between them and up the front stairs of Quintus' keep. It unceremoniously clanked through the front doors before disappearing into the mansion.

J.J. and Agnar stared after it, neither one seeming to know what to make of it. Thankfully, J.J. recovered first, and thinking quickly, he pointed to the keep.

"Shouldn't you go after it?" he suggested to Agnar. "You said the Seraph enfeoffed this place to you, right? I'm sure your duty of maintaining your lands supersedes any secondary honor duel, right?"

Agnar looked after the retreating machine, before slowly lowering his sword. He gazed at J.J. a second longer, and though it was faint, J.J. could almost swear Agnar gave him a slight, nearly imperceptible nod of his head, as if wordlessly thanking him. The draconic knight then spun on his heel and stalked into the keep after the Irise.

J.J. watched him depart before jumping down and walking over to Tristan, who was still kneeling on the ground. He reached down a gloved hand, and Tristan reluctantly took it, allowing J.J. to pull him to his feet. J.J. glanced away from him towards the keep.

"We should probably follow them," he said. "At least now we can look arou-!"

As J.J. turned back around, Tristan's fist collided with his cheek, stunning him as he was knocked to the ground. Although J.J. had been hit much harder before, he hadn't expected to be sucker-punched by his ally, and he was left momentarily dazed. Shaking his head, he looked up at Tristan, who was looming over him, seeming absolutely livid.

"You have shamed and dishonored me, page," Tristan growled to him. "Did I not warn you not to interfere with my duel?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm really sorry I saved your life!" J.J. snapped in return as he pushed himself to his feet. "If I hadn't stepped in, you'd be dead right now!"

"And now I must live with the stain of dishonor," Tristan replied, looking away from him. His shoulders were trembling with rage as he looked away. "I must settle my blood feud with Sir Agnar on my own. I shall track him down and demand that he duel me once more, on fair terms. Do not dare pursue me."

Before J.J. could respond, the knight walked over and scooped his mace and then his battered shield off the ground. He coldly examined it for a moment before strapping it to his left arm and charging into the keep after Agnar, leaving J.J. staring after him wordlessly. A few moments later, he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Ed approaching.

"That was… something," Ed commented. "Does this happen often around here?"

"More than it should," J.J. sighed. "Come on, this has been a bust. We should get you back up to the surface."

"Nuh-uh," Ed said, shaking his head. "We've already come this far, and I'm willing to bet that keep has the treasures I've been looking for. Besides, I need to get my Pupil back."

"When it's in a 'kill all humans' mode?" J.J. asked skeptically, unable to keep from smirking behind his helmet. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Hey, if you're going in after two knights that're looking to kill you right now, I can go after my equipment," Ed said stubbornly.

"Well… you have a point there," J.J. admitted, chuckling despite himself. He opened and closed his jaw beneath his helmet to make sure it wasn't broken, and then he squared his shoulders and turned towards the looming keep. "Alright then. Stay behind me and don't touch anything," he said. He shifted back into his Adventurer's Class before holding his sword out in front of him as the two slowly made their way up the front steps of the mansion and entered the darkened keep.