Lance's new lucky streak was in full swing. After two additional days of traveling, he and Terra had found a paved road; a sign for an oasis, or at least Terra seemed to think so. "So where are we going again?" asked Lance as he followed Terra's lead down the road.

"It's this place I know," answered Terra, "You'll like it, trust me." Lance wiped his brow; he wished that they could get there sooner. But as much as he was tempted to use the watch to transform himself into the speedy blue dinosaur, Lance resisted, he needed to save the watch's power for when he really needed it. Lance thought of asking Terra if she could use her power over the earth to transport them, but decided against it. For some reason, the geomancer found her powers to be a touchy subject. No matter, Lance could wait.

"Here we are!" After what had seemed like ages, the two were approaching a small outskirt of buildings. Lance let out a small shout of joy. "Hungry?" Lance turned his head to see Terra motioning towards a diner.

XXX

Soft country music filled Lance's ears upon the opening of a swinging glass door. Lance followed Terra inside to find himself in what appeared to be something straight out of an old movie. It was a large wooden floored room; there was a pool table near the center, the lights were dimmed in a way that provided a tranquil atmosphere, and (much to Lance's amusement) a row of bar stools were positioned alongside a charming tavern table. Terra and Lance each took a seat. A middle-aged waitress adorning a pink beehive gave the two menus. After a few moments, Terra and Lance returned the menus after placing their orders.

"So, do you come here often?" Lance decided to make conversation as he and Terra waited for their orders.

"I've been here loads of times before," said Terra, "Traveler, remember?"

"Right." Lance then redirected his attention back to the table as his order was placed before him. "Wow," Lance chuckled to himself, "Great service." He thanked the waitress and began eating. After a few bites and swallows, the conversation resumed. "So, where do we go from here?" Lance asked his travel partner.

Terra shrugged. "Don't know…" She seemed pensive and began staring into a mirror on the wall in front of them, "I guess we just go where the wind takes us." Terra broke out of her trance. "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Not really," admitted Lance. He returned his attention back to his meal. "Like you said, we just go where the wind—" Lance froze upon glancing at the mirror in front of him. He turned his head around at such a speed that it nearly snapped off of his neck. Terra nearly fell out of her seat at Lance's action.

"Wh-what is it?" The geomancer asked anxiously.

Lance surveyed the diner for a few moments before responding. "N-nothing, I just thought I saw something, that's all…" Lance hesitantly began eating again. He had been so sure that he had seen someone, or something. Whatever it had been, there had been a streak of black and copper.

XXX

"You're starting to creep me out here." They were on the road once again. Terra had just noticed Lance checking over his shoulder for the umpteenth time.

"Sorry, i-t's just that, I don't know…" Lance had been feeling uneasy ever since their visit to the diner. He simply couldn't shake this eeriness away. Night was falling and it would once again be time to rest. Luck was in their favor; Lance and Terra had the fortune of finding a cave, their ideal shelter. However, the sense of security that the rocky walls normally gave Lance was not coming over him. He wasn't even starting the usual conversation he and Terra had as they unpacked their things for the night.

"Lance…?" Terra asked uncertainly. She felt as if she could feel the tension emanating out of him from across the cave.

"I'm fine." Lance replied offhandedly. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even seem to notice that he was merely shifting his things around. Lance let out a sigh. Lance pulled out a flashlight from his knapsack and got to his feet. "I'm going to take a look around," Lance announced solemnly before heading towards the cave entrance. The unease in him still wasn't leaving. He simply had to go out there and lay his fears to rest.

"Uh, don't take too long," Terra merely stared after him.

XXX

Lance crept around the rocky terrain, covered by the cloak of the night. His lit flashlight was the only thing that revealed his position. It had been quite some time since Lance had gone on a patrol like this. Lance had always reserved such an undertaking for when he was out in the wilderness; to make sure that none of his mechanical alien pursuers were near by when he was about to sleep. However, Lance had not encountered any more of the robots since he met Terra. It had assumed by both him and Terra that the last of his hunters had been destroyed on the day Lance and the geomancer met. Lance had long since ended nightly patrols, but tonight however…

Lance couldn't help but shudder at the memory of lunch at the diner. Lance's old threat may have been gone but the mysterious thing he had seen in that mirror…it had just given him this feeling that there was now something new to worry about. Lance turned around with a start upon hearing a rock fall. His heartbeat quickened. "Stay calm Lance," He said to himself under his breath, "It might not be anything…" Something rushed past Lance from behind. Lance whipped around upon hearing what sounded like footsteps.

"Ok, it might be something..." Lance's palms were sweating. He waved his flashlight around, desperately trying to locate whatever it was that was out there. Lance heard noises from another direction. Whatever it was, there were more of them. Lance swallowed. "Whatever you do Lance, don't panic," hysteria was rising in his voice. Lance let out a nervous laugh as he continued waving his flashlight about.

So far he wasn't finding anything. Lance flashed his light in the direction of another noise. It was merely a mouse that scurried away at the instant the light touched it. Lance sighed with relief. "See Lance, it was probably just a few mice running around…They made some noise and the sound bounced off the rocks, and uh just sounded louder!" He only managed to half convince himself. Lance waved his flashlight around again. Every stop revealed relatively harmless objects. "L-like I said before nothing… just a few shrubs here, some rocks," Lance was naming objects as his light passed them in an attempt to calm himself. "M-more rocks, a small tree, a creepy mask, a little more grass, nothing to worry abou—" Wait, a creepy mask?

Lance whipped his flashlight around. His lungs filled with ice as his eyes met a pair of sinister white ones. Lance started backing away as his flashlight revealed an orange-centered black mask. Lance's mouth went dry when he was able to make out a number of dark forms standing beside the illuminated figure. "Y-you guys!" Lance hadn't encountered these mechanical assailants since— His train of thought was interrupted when a metal fist cuffed him across the face. The attack sent Lance rolling across the ground until his back struck a rock wall, hard.

Lance pushed himself back up despite the pain that racked his body. The first thing he noticed was that the scenery around him had gone dark; his flashlight had slipped out of his hand. It was a desperate situation. Lance was outnumbered, the enemy already had the jump on him, and the dark would now make things even more treacherous for Lance, unless…

Lance's right hand quickly made for the watch's dial. " I've got just the form for this…" Lance said under his breath. The masked assailants, who had been making their way towards Lance, stopped dead in their tracks when the area was bathed in a green light. The assailants tensed when a deep growl permeated through the air. Suddenly, a great snarling mass of fur and claws leapt out onto the masked robots from the darkness.

Lance's attackers all leapt out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by their new opponent as it landed onto the ground with great force. Standing before them was a beast. The creature was roughly the size of a polar bear; it was standing on four well-built legs, and possessed claws that could reduce potential prey to ribbons. Strapped to one of its shoulders was an hourglass symbol. The most peculiar feature was the beast's head, while a strong jaw that was lined with thick sharp teeth was present, nothing else was. No eyes, nostrils, ears, or anything that appeared to be a sensory organ was available.

One of the masked robots cautiously made a step forward; the beast merely stood its ground and continued growled. It seemed that the beast could not detect the assailants. Emboldened by this, the assailants leapt forward to attack. But to their great surprise, the beast responded, very quickly. In an instant the beast charged and swatted the androids out of the air. The beast turned itself back around after charging to face its opponents again. Odd gill-like slits had opened alongside the beast's neck. Lance mentally congratulated himself for choosing this form. The dark hardly mattered to him now. Despite his lack of eyes, Lance could still somehow see his attackers. He really couldn't explain it, but he could form images in his head from simply hearing things and smelling the air. At the moment, Lance could see his astounded opponents quickly placing themselves back onto their feet. They were setting themselves to attack again, but this time their hands were reaching to their sides. Lance's legs were already moving before the androids fired advanced handheld weaponry at him. Laser bolts whizzed past Lance as he bounded towards his opponents with a roar.

XXX

Elsewhere, Terra continued to set everything she had up for the night. She glanced towards the cave entrance. "You've sure been out for a while…" Terra said to herself, "But why I'm I worrying?" Terra returned to what she was doing as tried reassuring herself, "You can take care of—" Terra's back went rigid when a roar carried itself into the cavern. Something was wrong.

XXX

A heavy paw brought itself crashing down, smashing a mechanical head against the ground. Before long, another android was snatched in midair by a strong pair of jaws and crushed. Lance tossed away the remains. Ten down and a lot more to go…Lance's senses told him that he was surrounded. This time, there were many more androids than that day in Jump City. Lance emitted another snarl, he would simply have to try and fight his way out as usual. He bellowed again, ran forward, and began swiping aside every android that was unfortunate enough to be in his path. Lance felt laser bolts graze various areas along his body like red-hot fires. Steel boots and claws continued to beat and hack away at him. Lance had to admit it; he was in real trouble this time. Sure, Lance had faced uneven odds many times before during his days of being chased by the alien droids, but this was different. Now, Lance was facing a new kind of opponent, a thinking one. Unlike the alien droids, the masked robots didn't simply rush in blindly into a fight. No, these assassins were capable of strategizing and were able to rework their tactics. They could learn how to avoid Lance's blows, find ways to bypass Lance's defenses, and even trap him. Lance was like a wild animal fighting for its life against a group of hunters.

A portion of the masked robots managed to regroup and assemble themselves into a formidable formation. Lance merely charged at the group in an attempt to scatter them as quickly as possible. To Lance's surprise, the androids flew into the air using rockets that were built into their feet, avoiding him completely. Lance was then met with a barrage of laser bolts, forcing him back. Now that he was facing airborne opponents, fighting was about to become much more difficult for Lance.

Lance was met with surprise a second time when the airborne androids were pelted with a volley of stones. An almost human smile spread across Lance's muzzle. The androids were not the only ones who relied on teamwork. "Hey, lay off!" A clumsily levitated large slab of earth then brought down the airborne androids. Lance detected a lone figure that was standing on the top of a rock wall. "You okay?" Terra called from up above. Lance gave an appreciative nod. "Then let's stomp these guys!" Terra's eyes and palms glowed yellow. Lance let out another roar and attacked another group of the masked robots with renewed effort.

Lance would swing his paws and catch the androids across the head. Occasionally, he would catch a mechanical body between his teeth and thrash fiercely. All the while, rocks flying in from above were crushing more of the mechanical assassins. The small brigade was being taken apart piece by piece. Before long, the numbers of the masked robots were reduced to the point that Lance was able to back them into a wall, Terra's wall.

The geomancer couldn't believe her luck, this battle was almost won and nothing had gone wrong. "Eat dirt!" Terra prepared to dislodge the earth from the ledge in front of her to bury the androids and finish the fight. Unfortunately, Terra's powers dislodged more than what she had been hoping for. "No, no no no no no…" Terra's eyes widened upon seeing the numerous cracks that were forming beneath her feet. She had dislodged the entire ledge. "AAAAAAAAAGH!" Terra's feet gave way to the crumbling edge as she came tumbling down. As Terra was three quarters of the way finished with her fall, she felt a strong tug at the back of her shirt. Hot breath brushed across her neck as Terra felt herself pulled this way and that. Her senses were in chaos, everything was out of order.

The confusion stopped when Terra felt herself lowered until her feet touched solid ground. Panting from shock, Terra looked behind her to see a large alien beast staring back at her and then in front of her to see a large pile of rubble. From what she had just seen, it was easy for Terra to surmise what had happened now that her mind was calm again. No functioning androids were in sight, so it was safe to assume that the avalanche had crushed the remaining androids. Judging from how she was still alive, Terra was able to deduce that Lance had snatched her in midair in a feat of acrobatics.

"Th-thanks for that," breathed Terra. Lance let out a small growl in acknowledgement. Terra looked around at the area that was now littered with strewn about mechanical parts. "Looks like we'll be sleeping well tonight huh?"

Terra chuckled grimly.

Lance responded with a nod and another growl. He lowered himself down and allowed Terra to climb onto his furry back. "Let's go…" The geomancer said wearily as she took two tufts of fur between her fingers. Lance complied and trekked off into the direction of their resting place for the night.