Task:

"It's not far now, just up ahead." said Sprocket as she led the two marines down the path towards the mines. Despite the calm exterior on Anton's face, he couldn't help but be nervous about what they were about to do. They were about to attack an evil organization of unknown size, and while he had managed to handle K. Lamiti with some level of ease, if he had to face more like her, especially if they were stronger... Anton suppressed a shudder. Not to mention they were going into a mine where there was an ore which caused an outbreak, resulting in the deaths of virtually everyone on the island. Yeah, there was absolutely nothing safe about this plan. Yet Anton knew that if they didn't so something, who knew what Barrel Works would do with all that Amber Lead? That stuff was best left in the ground. Just to be safe though, they had sent word back to the Noble Justice for some support, though it had yet to arrive.

Suddenly, Sprocket paused, the two marines stopping behind her. "We're here," she said, her stance getting lower to the ground, "Keep quiet." Anton and Celia nodded, cautiously following Sprocket. The path they were taking opened out to a large quarry-like area, several mine carts and mine tracks everywhere. Yet oddly enough, there seemed to be nobody there. The three looked around cautiously, Anton reaching for his sword, Celia holding her pistols, and Sprocket holding her wrench. "Erm," Anton spoke up quietly, "Think they're all on break or something?"

"Actually, we just got back to work."

The three paused as someone stepped out of the mine shaft in front of them. A large, muscular, piggish sort of man with a cruel smirk. The three brought up their weapons, ready for a fight, but the man wagged a fat finger in their direction. "Ah, ah, ah, not a bright idea." There was the sound of weapons being cocked and before they knew it, five men had come out from hiding, aiming their weapons at them. An ambush! Anton groaned. He should have known something like this would happen. Celia scowled, taking a step towards the man in front of them. "So, you're the boss around here?" she said, her expression steely.

"Actually my dear, that would be me."

The piggish man smirked and looked back, as someone stepped out from darkness of the mine.

Spoiler:

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man spoke, his voice smooth like oil, "I am Count Barrel."

Anton's eyes narrowed as he looked at the pale haired man before him. 'Count' Barrel? What was it with the people he was fighting and these titles that gave themselves? First Baron, now Count. "I guess it's not too much of a stretch to say you're the leader around here." the commodore replied, earning a smirk and a nod from the good 'count'. "You would indeed be correct. But I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. I know nothing about you." Anton took a step forward. "I am Commodore Anton La'croix of the marines!" he gestured to Celia, "And this is Commander Celia Stanson." As he introduced the two, he thought he heard a small gasp coming from behind him. Was that one of the men surrounding them? None of them seemed bothered by who they were. Especially not Barrel, who gave a small chuckle. "My my. I certainly didn't expect a marine presence here. Had I of known, I would have given you a proper welcome." Anton remained unamused by the joke. "Well then, now that we've introduced each other, how about you tell me what you want with the Amber Lead here?"

Count Barrel's smirk widened. "Why, I thought that would be obvious. We're here to mine it, process is, and make weaponry out of it." "You're making weapons out of Amber Lead!?" Celia exclaimed, "Don't you know that stuff is what caused the outbreak that killed this island?" "But of course!" Barrel yelled out, his smirk turning into a full blown grin, "Can you imagine what weapons of that sort can do? How much people would pay for them? And, if the materials happen to have any, adverse effects on them. Well, they knew what they were getting. Besides, with this island completely empty, what a perfect opportunity, don't you think?"

Anton couldn't believe what he was hearing. These lunatics were seriously planning on weaponizing this stuff? Celia's face darkened. "I think I understand now..." she pointed dramatically at the count, "You caused the outbreak in the first place, didn't you!?" All the tension seemed to vanish as the count, and everyone else, stared at Celia, dumbstruck. "Um...excuse me?" "You heard me!" Celia said. Anton could almost see a sense of satisfaction in her accusation, like she uncovered a huge mystery, "You caused the outbreak to clear the island so you can mine here unopposed. That's it, isn't it?" Everything was quiet for a moment. "Um, Miss? The outbreak happened decades ago. I was only a child when it happened." "Um, yeah," Anton agreed, "I really don't think Barrel Works is behind the outbreak." Celia seemed to deflate, as her major discovery was squashed. "Oh..."

Count Barrel sighed and shook his head. "As amusing as this little theory discussion is, I'm afraid I must get back to work." He smirked and gestured to the piggish man, "Greg, take care of them for me will you?" The big man, Greg, grinned. "With pleasure boss." Simultaneously, all five men surrounding them cocked their weapons. The three 'heroes' braced themselves for a fight.

"Get down!" Anton yelled, suddenly grabbing hold of both Celia and Sprocket and yanking them towards him. All five men opened fired at once. "Sir!" Celia yelled out, looking up at her superior in a light panic. However, the first thing she saw when she looked at him was a face with skin of green chiton. Anton had assumed his hybrid form to shield them from the shots. Though the bullets weren't enough to penetrate the exo-skeleton, the shots still hurt, and no doubt Anton would be bruising in the morning. Greg and his men were caught a bit off guard by this turn of events. Evidently they had been expecting an easy kill.

"Now!" Suddenly, Anton broke off into a run, dashing towards one of the men who was quickly trying to reload his rifle. The grasshopper zoan closed in, bringing his sword up in a quick strike, not enough to kill, but wound. The man yelled out as the gun was knocked out of his hand, before a second strike brought him down. Celia sprang to her feet, drawing her pistols and without missing a beat, opened fire. She managed to catch two of the men by surprise, catching one in the shoulder and the other in the sternum, bringing both of them down. Sprocket seemed to react the last out of the three, hesitating before charging towards one of the men, wrench raised. The panicking man only just managed to get his weapon reloaded before Sprocket swung her wrench, catching him in the head and bringing him down like a sack of potatoes.

Anton looked over to see the last remaining man had reloaded his weapon, and rather than try to fire on the armored insect, had turned his attention to the ladies. Particularly Celia. Thinking fast, Anton noticed an old mine cart sitting nearby, having been knocked off of its rails. Thinking fast, he dashed towards it. "Hopper Kick!" The cart was launched into the air, crashing into the unfortunate man with a crash. Both Celia and Sprocket looked over to see what had happened, quickly putting two and two together. "And now for you!" Celia said, spinning to the entrance of the mine, only to see that both the count and Greg were gone. Had they run when they saw things were going bad? Suddenly, there was a noise coming from the mines. A low, droning growl.

Something was coming out from the mines.

----
Assumed Hybrid Form

skills:

Anton's Stamina: 495/520
Celia's Ammo: 18/20

Anton and the others stepped back as it rumbled into view. Rolling along the mine tracks, it could only be described as a massive machine, seemingly built by combining various digging equipment together. Armored and painted in yellow, it sported two massive, claw like shiver arms. A battling gun was mounted to the top, and exhausted spilled from the back of it. Inside the mechanical monster's armored cab, a familiar voice laughed out. "What's wrong?" Greg boasted from within, "Though we're we're all guns and soldiers huh? Well, get a load of this beauty!"

With a piercing buzz, the battling gun spun to life. Anton, Celia and Sprocket were forced to dive for cover as the machine gun fired. It seemed though that Greg wasn't the best shot, as the bullets went wild, but with something like that, fine skill wasn't exactly required. With a grumble, the machine rolled on its tracks, one of its arms reaching out for one of the mine arts that Sprocket was hiding behind. "No cover for you!" Greg laughed, as the shovel grabbed the mine car and tossed it aside. As the other one came up to try to crush the woman. Sprocket managed to dive to the side, just as the iron claw crashed into the ground. Two gunshots rang out, bouncing off the machine's armour. Greg turned to see Celia some distance away, her guns smoking. "Dammit!" she hissed, before ducking back to avoid the incoming gunfire. Her bullets couldn't pierce that armour!

Anton ran out from behind cover, taking advantage of him being distracted. He leapt towards what he believed was cockpit, crying out as he swung his sword. The sword struck metal with a loud 'clang', but all it seemed to do was scratch the paint. Oh hell! Greg's machine turned around, effectively back handing the grasshopper zoan and knocking him to the ground. "Got you now you little bug!" Eg yelled out ashes brought both arms up, swinging them down onto Anton. The ground cratered slightly as the blow struck, Anton only just having brought his arms and legs up in time. Now, he was struggling against the heavy claws as they tried to crush him against the ground. Sweat poured down Anton's face as he strained against the monstrous machine. How was he going to get out of this?

-----
Anton's Stamina: 493/520
Celia's Ammo: 16/20

Anton groaned as he tried to push back against the giant metal claws of the machine, which were equally determined to crush Anton into the floor. "So much for the great commodore!" Greg laughed from within, "Let's see how you look smeared on the ground!" The ground buckled and cracked beneath him, Anton's limbs trembling to hold the yellow steel up.

[color=orange]"No you don't!" came a yell, and suddenly, Greg's machine backed off. From his position, Anton could see that Sprocket had run up to the distracted robot and was now attacking the joint where it's right arm connected to the main body. No, not attack it, try to dismantle it! "Get off of me you little brat!" Greg yelled, the battling gun turning towards her. However, two shots rung out, knocking the gun off aim and forcing it to miss. From her position, Celia smirked. Now this was more like it!

Climbing to his feet, Anton decided to take advantage of the situation. With Greg distracted, he charged towards the machine, sword drawn. However, this time, he aimed for the joint of the machine's left arm. With a squeal of metal, Anton drove his sword in the gap, sparks flying as it speared through the wiring and metal. The arm spasmed wildly as Greg lost control, just as Sprocket managed to disconnect the other, causing it to slump limply to the ground. Anton lept back. With the arms gone, the cockpit was wide open. And if a simple sword strike wouldn't pierce the armour, then he had to hit it with something stronger. Greg was seeing this coming too, as the machine began to back away on the rails, dragging its dead arms behind it. "W-Wait! Get away!" A small smirk appeared on Anton's face as he suddenly ran towards the machine, closing in and then hopping onto one leg.

"Hopper Top!"

----

skills:

Anton's Stamina: 446/520
Celia's Ammo: 14/20

Standing on one leg, Anton began spinning around like a top, his other leg outstretched. As the leg connected with the armored cockpit, there was a high pitched squeal as sparks began to fly. It was like a saw cutting into metal, which really wasn't that far from the truth. The iron buckled and tore as the living saw sliced into it, before finally giving way and being torn off entirely. Now exposed, Greg pulled back in fright. "Wait! Stop!" Anton did indeed stop, spinning that is. Instead, in one fluid movement he drew his sword and thrust forward. Not into Greg mind you. Anton wasn't one to kill someone who couldn't fight back. Instead, he stuck his sword straight into the controls in front of him. Anton lept back as the machine began to spaz out, spinning around wildly as smoke and sparks flew from the cockpit. Suddenly, there was a loud 'bang!' and the machine went silent. Through the smoke, Anton could see Greg slumped in the cockpit, knocked out by the small explosion.

Anton stood back, panting as he slipped back into his human form. With the threat over, Celia and Sprocket approached the commodore. "Well...that was certainly interesting," Celia dusted off her cape, "How many people can say they've fought a giant robot now?" Anton chuckled and nodded, dusting himself off. "Yeah," he said, before pointing his sword towards the mine, "Now then, let's go get-" He didn't get to finish as suddenly the ground buckled beneath them. The three struggled to regain their balance, before suddenly the whole ground seemed to collapse beneath them. All the three could do was cry out in shock as they suddenly plunged into the darkness below.