Task:

Anton landed firmly on his feet when he finally reached the bottom if the massive shaft. Up above, he could still hear the fighting going on above, gunshots echoing down to his level. Looking up briefly, he hoped Celia and the others were okay. He didn't want to go through all this and then to lose them. He then looked at his surroundings. The ground was dirt, no walkways set up down here yet, with numerous drills set about. A couple of elevators for bringing the ore up were set up around the place, as well as numerous barrels and crates, no doubt for storing it. But there seemed to be nobody around. He was sure that Count Barrel would be here, unless he had fled when the fighting broke out.

No. That can't be it. The man I saw up there seemed too arrogant to run from something like this.

Fortunately, Anton turned out to be right. Unfortunately, what proved him right was the sound of a gunshot, followed by an explosion of pain in his right shoulder. Anton stumbled back, one hand coming up to grip the wounded shoulder as his eyes turned to the source of the sound.

"My aim must be getting rusty," came a voice from above, "That shot was intended for your head." The count was standing on one of the elevators, which had been stopped half way up to provide cover. Anton scowled. How hadn't he noticed him there on the way down? He must have been hiding there, waiting for him. The count smirked as he suddenly jumped down from his position, landing flawlessly before the commodore. "I have to admit, I'm impressed you made it this far. Even if you ruined my operation doing so..." Anton could hear the anger underlying that calm, polite tone. Anton tried to hide his pain as he brought his sword up. "So glad I have your approval. And to be honest, I'd have done all this even if you weren't impressed."

Barrel gave a small smirk and a mirthless chuckle. "Well, good to see you're dedicated," he slowly brought his gun up, taking aim at Anton, "A shame there aren't any retries though. Though to be fair, even if you had the chance to do this over again, it would still end the same way." Anton gripped his sword tightly. "We'll see about that 'Count'."

The two of them stood in silence for a moment. The final battle was about to begin.

-----
Anton's Stamina: 409/520

Currently in hybrid form.

Gunshots rang out as Count Barrel opened fire. However, this time Anton was able to react, diving to the side to avoid the gunshots and rolling behind a pair of barrels. His shoulder stung, still bleeding from the last shot, and at this range, there was no doubt Barrel would hit his mark. But what was he going to do? He couldn't get close enough to attack him without getting shot at, and he didn't have any ranged weaponry of his own. A part of him wished Celia was down here. She could at least provide some cover fire.

Oddly enough, Barrel was quiet for a moment as Anton hid behind the barrel. He figured the man didn't want to waste bullets, but he knew he couldn't stay here. The man would no doubt be getting into a better position to shoot at him. However, as he started looking for somewhere to move to, something flew over his head, landing in front of him. Anton blinked as he looked at the object in front of him. A metal can-looking object. It took him a second to realize what it was.

A grenade.

Anton yelped and immediately dove from cover, just as the grenade exploded. The blast launched Anton into the air, spinning him around like a rag doll. As he flew through the air, he spotted Count Barrel, taking a shot at him but missing. Quickly trying to adjust himself, Anton managed to land on his feet, wasting no time as he launched himself towards the count. "Hopper Tackle!"

However, as he flew towards him, the count smirked, moving to the side just as Anton flew past him. A blast rang out and pain exploded in his leg, earning a cry of pain from Anton as he failed to make the landing, bouncing along the floor before sliding to a stop. The count chuckled as he slowly turned around. "I certainly hope that's not the best you have to offer," the count taunted, turning and  pointing his gun at Anton. The commodore managed to jump out of the way on his good leg before the count fired. This was bad. Not only was he a good shot, but also fast. And Anton couldn't keep hiding from him with those grenades. What was the commodore to do?

---

Skills:

Anton's Stamina: 392/520

Up top, the fighting raged on, both Barrel Works operatives and marines taking shots at eachother. So far, the fighting appeared to be pretty even, both sides using cover to keep themselves from harm. Even Celia was having difficulty getting any ground, despite her superior skill. With so many bullets flying everywhere, It was hard to even get out of cover long enough to get a decent shot. Sprocket in turn had remained behind cover the whole time. What was she going to do, throw her wrench?

As they fought, Celia heard the distinct sound of an explosion echoing up from below. From her cover, she peered down in the darkness below. She hoped that Anton was okay.


Anton cried out as he narrowly dodged the explosion caused by Barrel's grenade, only to have to dive back behind cover to avoid gunfire. This was insane! This entire fight, Anton had simply been on the defensive. His shoulder and leg screamed in pain from the gunshots he had recieved from the count, severely hampering his movements. After what had happened the last time he attacked, he wasn't willing to try again without being absolutely sure. The problem was, with his limited speed, he couldn't get a sneak attack on the count off, and his enemy always seemed to know where he was.

Count Barrel was laughing as Anton dove behind cover. "This is like one of those shooting galleries at a carnival!" the man laughed as he reached for some more grenades. "But, I'm afraid it's time we ended this little game." With a laugh, he threw three grenades towards Anton's location, just to make sure he got his target. Everything seemed to slow down as the grenades flew towards him. Anton's heart was racing. What was he going to do? He had to do something!

Or else all this would end. How many people would die because of the count and his weaponry?

Closing his eyes, Anton lept straight up.

----
Charging...

Anton's Stamina: 390/520

The three grenades went up in a mighty explosion, effectively leaving a massive crater where the commodore was hiding. Barrel had to leap back to avoid the debris from the blast. He thought he saw the marine leap up before the blast, there was no way he avoided that. The grasshopper man had to be in pieces right now! As he slowly approached the smoking wreck, he held his gun out, ready to deliver a killing blow, just in case, for some reason, Anton had managed to survive. Holding his weapon out in front of him, he tried to wave away the smoke, trying to see any remains.

As the smoke cleared, he would be surprised to find absolutely nothing there. Not even little green grasshopper bits. The count looked around, gun in hand. There was no way he could have dodged that! Where did he go?

"I'm up here!"

The count spun around, his gaze turning upward. Much to his surprise, Anton was actually above him, floating in the air. No, not floating. He could see the tell tale distortion of wings buzzing behind him. That marine could fly!? When did this happen? And why hadn't he done it until now?

To be honest, Anton hadn't done it before because he didn't know he could. He was even amazed he was doing it now, though he could feel it was rather draining. But right now, all he could think about was defeating the white haired man in front of him.

Barrel snarled before pointing his weapon at him. "Well, a flying target's still a target," He opened fire, only for Anton, no longer hampered by his injured leg, to swiftly dodge to the side and suddenly shoot down towards the count. Quickly reloading, Barrel moved to avoid, though he noticed that the marine was preparing his sword to attack.

"Cacophony!"

Suddenly, the entire area around the commodore seemed to explode in pain, the air around him distorting as a painful din suddenly erupted around him. While he had moved to the side, he was still close enough to Anton to be caught in the blast. Count Barrel cried out as it felt like the air itself was hitting him from all sides, his very body violently shaken to the core.

----

Mode:

Skills:

Anton's Stamina: 328/520

Count Barrel cried out as the blaring sound finally ended, though the pain to his form lingered. His vision was blurred, disoriented by the painful sound as a hideous snarl spread across his face. "Damn you!" the count snarled, turning to point his gun at the commodore. However, Anton reacted faster, lashing out with a leg and kicking the weapon out of his hand, before delivering a second one to Barrel's chest, knocking him to the ground. Shaking his head to clear his vision, the 'count' wasted no time in grabbing some more grenades. "I will not be brought down by some damn bug!" he yelled out in anger, pulling the pins and throwing the grenades.

However, Anton moved quickly, avoiding the flying explosives and before Barrel could react, the commodore was right in front of him, glaring into his eyes. "I'm more than just 'some damn bug'," he said, suddenly grabbing hold of him with all four arms, "I'm Anton La'croix of the marines!" With a cry from the count, Anton suddenly shot skyward, lifting up and out of the shaft. Up above, the fighting immediately stopped as Anton flew into view, both sides surprised by what was happen. "Let me go!" The count cried out, trying to headbutt Anton, only for it to prove ineffective against the zoan's chitinous face. "As you wish," Anton replied as he suddenly released him. As Barrel began to fall, Anton brought his legs up. "Leap Launcher!"

The attack scored the falling man right in the back, sending him rocketing downwards. He slammed into numerous walkways on the way down, the iron bending and breaking as he flew through. Finally, the count slammed into the ground below, kicking up dust before it revealed the man's unconscious body. It was over. The count was beaten.

Everyone stared down at the defeated crimelord, before looking back at the commodore. Anton slowly touched down on one of the walkways, looking right at the remaining Barrel Works forces. The men slowly backed away, some even dropping their weapons. Staring straight at them, Anton's buzzing wings finally went quiet as he slipped back into his human form. Then, the fatigue seemed to hit him all at once, as he stumbled slightly, gripping hold of the hand rail. "Commander..." Anton spoke up, his voice level, "Place these men under arrest."

Celia smiled as she and her men trailed their weapons on the remaining enemies. "With pleasure sir."

----

Skills:

Anton's Stamina: 266/520[/b]

Anton sat on the dock, recovering from the ordeal. His shoulder and leg were bandaged up as he watched the Barrel Works operatives being escorted onto a marine ship. With Count Barrel defeated, the remains of Barrel Works surrendered easily enough. Celia had to give out a call to any nearby marine ships to come and pick up the prisoners. There were simply too many for the Noble Justice to hold. He couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction from all this. Earlier they had come here completely by accident, and now they had taken down an entire criminal organization.

He looked over as Celia and Sprocket approached him. "How's everything going?" Anton asked. "We've just finished up sealing up the mines," Celia responded, "They're just getting the warning signs up." After defeated Barrel Works, they had decided to use some of their own explosives to seal up the mines, to stop anyone from mining for Amber Lead again. With that done, maybe they could convince people to come to Flevance, bring some life back to the island. Needless to say, Sprocket was more than happy for this to happen.

"Commodore?" Sprocket spoke up, "I...I just want to thank you...for all of this." she looked around, seeing the unconscious officers of Barrel Works being carried onto the ship, in chains. "You know, after all that happened, I never thought I'd be happy to see marines here again." Anton chuckled and smiled. "Well, it's what a decent man would have done. After all, marines are supposed to be the heroes after all." Sprocket gave the commodore a heart warming smile. "For the first time in years, I actually believe that now."

Out of all the victories they had today, THAT was what made Anton's day.