Face Off

Traversing the inner sanctums, they again ran into Janus. He was trying to reach the Andro Shield, but none of his men were tall enough. Nor were they able to lift Janus, both Romero and Dario hadn't the coordination to keep from falling over with him on their shoulders. Virginia let out a small chuckle at the very sight of this. "And you boys call yourselves Drifters. It seems that neither of you have what it takes. Now then, Janus, you will get away from that shield right now. You have no idea what exactly you're dealing with if you take use them. Anything of the Demons' can't be a good thing, you would die if you played around."

"Play?" he asked, "Who said anything about playing, Princess? Our employer asked us to go and unleash the Eternal Sparkle for him. For that, we need all three shields. With this one, we'll have two of the necessary items. Then, we must find the female who has the third, as well as take them to the place where we can acquire the Eternal Sparkle. Once we bring it to our employer, we're going to be so rich that we'll need a carriage just to take all of it along with us. But, it wouldn't be fair of me not to share. Help me to acquire the Eternal Sparkle, and the four of you can reap the benefits from my employer as well. How about it, Princess?" He flashed a dashing smile, which chilled Virginia. Something told her that he wasn't about to share in any of his hard earned money. He'd probably betray the four of them the second he found what he was looking for. The Mediums began to pulsate fear, but it was so weak that only Virginia felt it happen.

"I can't believe your words. You've already turned on my team once, and I won't allow it to happen a second time. Besides, I don't think you have the best intentions for that artifact, either you or your boss has something sinister in mind. For the Guardian Mediums we carry are sending out a weak pulse of fear. I'm well aware you know we have them, I thought I saw you on the wall by the Fallen Sanctuary," Virginia said.

Janus stated, "You are a very perceptive girl, too bad you had to make poor choices. If only you had decided to stay out of my way, I wouldn't have to kill you and your little playmates now. So how about it, do you want to die fast or slow? I'll let you chose, it doesn't matter to me either way. Just as long as the four of you are no longer an obstacle in my path, I don't care." He aimed his bayonet at Virginia's heart.

But just before he could fire and kill the girl, he saw Jet run in front of her and fire his ARM. Janus saw the pure fury in the young man's eyes, he cared for this girl greatly. That made the Drifter laugh in his head, how can a person put someone else's life over their own? If you're always out for yourself, you live a good long life. But by protecting someone weaker than you, you'll find death in the form of a battle wound.

Jet looked at her. "Are you alright?" Virginia was startled, she'd never heard him speak so softly to even her in the last five years. Even when they would be together, and he was being nice, he always had a gruff tone to his voice, apparently thinking that she only cared because she wanted to please her father. But that was the farthest from the truth there could be, Virginia cared about Jet because he was her friend, the first person to treat her with respect for who she is. Most likely since he knew they were both outcasts, and by leaning on one another they would be able to keep safe. She nodded to let him know nothing was wrong.

'And I thought that punk only cared about himself,' thought Gallows, 'He seems to have a soft spot for the girl, but he doesn't really show it when the rest of us are around. He's really got an attitude problem though, how can she tolerate him? Does he show this side to her often? They've been friends for over five years now, so it's most likely true. But are they more than friends? I've got to figure it out. I guess I can just spy on them when they're alone, they might just do something that would make it all worth my wild.'

"Why did you save that little girl, boy? I admit she's pretty, but not pretty enough that I'd risk my own hide to rescue her. What if I'd fired before you? You could have been killed, no you WOULD have been killed. So tell me what's so special about her that you'd do something like that?" Janus inquired of Jet.

Jet curtly told him, "She's my friend, and that's all. Partners are there to watch your back, as you watch theirs." He then began to blush, "just a friend," he'd said. But why was he feeling like there was a swarm of butterflies dancing around in his heart whenever he looked at her? Jet shook off the feeling, they were in battle here. It wasn't safe to be thinking about his feelings for Virginia when they might be killed.

Suddenly, they saw something flying overhead. It was Shady, and he took the Andro Shield to Maya. The woman laughed. "Both Andro and Crio are mine. Hireco is the only one left now. And then, I'll be rich. I don't care what kind of gem this Eternal Sparkle is, it's got to be worth millions and millions of Gella if it's this hard to find." You could well see the dollar signs in both the woman's eyes, they were huge.

"Well, so you've got two and I've got one," Janus said, "How about we head on out to Ka Dingel, and have a duel there over the shields. That is where the Eternal Sparkle rests. So what do you say wench?"

"It's a deal you skunk," Maya shouted back. She was very upset with Janus for calling her a wench and even more upset with him for getting to the third shield before her. Janus was already on his way out to Ka Dingel, and he pushed a button to detonate the bombs he'd placed as a trap for Virginia and her team, he had no idea that Maya would come too. Virginia ran at him, and managed to fire two shots out before the ceiling collapsed. Jet ran towards her, and pulled her back, knowing well that she could survive that. It was only for show, really, so no one questioned the reason a simple girl survived being crushed by falling rocks.

Virginia told Maya, "We're going along too. There's something no one understands, the Demons are returning to Filgaia. We are on a mission from Baskar's High Priestess to stop it before it starts. If the artifact is indeed a weapon, then I need to be there to destroy it. If it's an ordinary gem, I don't really care."

Maya looked at the girl, so full of determination and fire. "Well, you better not get in my way. Take the Andro Shield with you, it'll be better if all three are separate. That guy, he's good and I don't know if my bumbling accomplices will be able to hold onto them. But if you take the other, you might just be able to keep him from acquiring the Eternal Sparkle. I don't care about weapons, only gems, and if this thing is not a gem, it's not worth my time." With that, she began to walk out, with the rest of her team behind her. No doubt they were heading towards Ka Dingel. Virginia took a deep breath, and motioned for the others to go as well. They had to find out what the artifact was, and if it would bring destruction to all of Filgaia again.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Tee hee, Jet's got a crush. He always has, he's just a tad more open here because she was the one who took care of him.