Drifter

[Dragge]

Prologue

Five years ago things were different. Five years ago Dragge was alive. Five years ago...I saved the world. The name's Drifter and if you recall the story of how Dragge fought to save the world again from Nemesis, then you'll remember me. Things have changed since I first came to Archibald Island and started to live the life I wanted. This story is about how I found the secrets hidden deep within Archibald Island and how I stopped a major disaster from destroying the island itself. So sit back in your chairs, grab your favorite can of soda, and listen to a great tale.

[Dragge]

Chapter 1- Things Happen for a Reason

Drifter woke up one morning in the early summer and smiled at the bright blue sky that hanged over the island. He sat up and smelled breakfast coming along.

Not too long ago, Drifter kept to his promise and married Serra, Henry's daughter. He came into the kitchen and saw that the table was already set.

"I told you that I'll make breakfast on the weekends." Drifter said hugging his wife.

"Well. Whenever I wake up, you're still sleeping as if you stayed up for over half of the night." said Serra winking at him.

"Well, I set my alarm for eight." Drifter came back.

"But who's the one that doesn't hear it?"

Drifter let the whole argument behind himself and sat himself down in one of the chairs that the two owned. Drifter ate as much as usual and washed everything down with coffee. He then got up from the table and went outside to get the daily paper.

Drifter cut off the wrap and looked at the headlines. "Giant sinkhole appears in the middle of the island!" Drifter took notice of this right away and flipped to the page on which the article was printed.

Drifter read the words as followed: Yesterday a giant sinkhole was found in the middle of our dear beloved island. Our defense team is going there today to check out the damages and even see if there is anything going on inside.

After Drifter finished reading he handed the paper over to Serra who was equally shocked at the sinkhole being there. "Do you think someone is trying to destroy the island?" she asked.

"Nope. These types of things happen for a reason. Why would a sinkhole, open up all of a sudden when this island has been here since my father was only a couple hundred years old."

Drifter went into his room and equipped his tye-dye style armor which has aided him on many trips to ruins around the planet. Serra saw him open up the door and start to walk out. "Where are you going?" she asked waiting for an answer.

Drifter ran back to the table. "I'm going out there with the defense team to investigate this thing. It could be something of my father's past."

"Be safe now!" Serra called after him as he ran out the door. Since there was no time to start up the Yellow Jacket, Drifter grabbed his hover board and followed the defense team to the giant hole.

The head of the Archibald Island Defense Team, Rob, was shouting out orders left and right to numerous people on the squad. Drifter came up behind Rob and tapped him on the shoulder.

Rob turned around and grunted in disgust seeing Drifter there with them. "What are YOU doing here Drifter?" Rob said turning back around and taking samples from the dirt around the hole.

"I've come to check out the sinkhole and find out about its origins." Drifter said kneeling down next to Rob.

"Get out of here Drifter. You're not needed here at all." Rob said not even looking at Drifter.

"This could be about something from my father's past. It could be very important. If you guys disturb something, you may not know how to handle it."

"Back off. You're father was a great man and helped us out of those ruins. But you're not him. In fact, you're nothing like your father at all. You're like the complete opposite of him. If you try coming back here, I will have you shot."

Drifter didn't even try to argue with the head of the defense team. Drifter got on his board and headed home. He thought of what Rob had said and thought of the best plan on how to get in that sinkhole.

At night, he would head out when he knew everyone was asleep and head out to the sinkhole and drop down inside of it. He would then take the amount of time needed and search it inch by inch.

He got back home and told Serra of everything including his plan to go at night. "It sounds very risky Drifter."

"I know. Then again everything I do is risky. I'll just have to go along with everything and see what happens in the end. Drifter got some supplies with him before he went to sleep. He didn't know how ling he would be down there and thought that some food wouldn't hurt. He even prepared his armor and tightened some loose bolts on his board because that would be his way in and out.

[Dragge]

Chapter 2- Into the Night

Drifter woke at the right time that night and grabbed all of his gear. He softly patted Serra on the shoulder because he didn't want to wake her. He went into the living room and grabbed his hover board and jumped out the door.

He hopped on his board and headed to in the direction of the giant sinkhole. As he got closer he wondered to himself if he should really be doing this at all.

Drifter guessed wrong when he thought that none of the Defense Team would be there to guard the sinkhole. He saw only two of the team.

Since he was getting closer, Drifter decided to turn off his board so that he wouldn't attract any attention to himself. He walked the rest of the way while putting his board on his back.

Drifter was able to find a large boulder that would hide him from the view of the two defense members. He didn't want to hurt them at all so he switched his buster over to stun mode.

He aimed carefully at the two guards and before he fired, something came buzzing next to his left ear. He turned his head slightly and immediately realized that Rob had set up and ambush for when he came.

Drifter put his buster to normal mode and then leaped over the boulder. The two guards noticed him right away and started firing at him. Drifter ran straight into the oncoming fire and jumped up into the air. He activated his blades and sliced their guns so that he wouldn't be attacked by them.

The guard with the spear came rushing at him full speed. Drifter stood in the way and just cut the spear into numerous parts. Many more guards came out of the bushes. They all had the electro spears as well and all rushed at Drifter at the same time.

Drifter jumped over the circular group and started destroying their weapons one-by-one. After the spears were destroyed, Drifter stood back upright.

Before he knew it, he was hand-cuffed by an unknown source. "Just couldn't resist staying away, could you?" Rob asked Drifter.

"You knew I would be coming one way or another. That's why you set up the ambush and tried to stop me from entering the sinkhole."

"Exactly why. So now I need to think of what to do with you. I could have you shot like I said earlier today, or I could throw you in jail for the rest of your life. I'll be back in a few hours when I have made my mind."

Rob signaled for the Defense Team to follow him back to town. Drifter sat there tied up to a tree by ropes. Drifter got out of many mishaps but this one had him totally baffled.

Drifter fell asleep for a good couple of hours. When he woke up he noticed the sun starting to rise up in the bright sky. He saw no sign of Rob or the Defense Team. While he slept, he had a vision on how to get out of the trap.

Another hour or so passed by before Rob and the Defense Team came back to him. "I've made up my mind. I'll have you shot like I originally planned."

"I don't think you'll be able to do that Rob." Drifter said smiling like he had a secret in his head.

"Why won't I?"

Drifter didn't say a word as he used his blades to slice the ropes holding him to the tree. Drifter then jumped into the air as he dodged fire from the Defense Team. Drifter landed behind them and in front of the large sinkhole.

"Catch me if you can Rob!" taunted Drifter. Drifter then turned around and jumped inside of the hole which had to have been twenty feet deep. He landed with a loud thud and stayed on the ground until the time was right.

"Leave him to die." Drifter heard Rob saying. "It's not worth getting him if he's already going to die." Drifter then heard everyone walk away from the site and back to the town.

Drifter still had all of his supplies with him and found out that none of the items were damaged what-so-ever during the previous night's encounter. He took out a picnic cloth and a light and rummaged through all of his things to find something for breakfast.

Since Drifter wanted to conserve things for later just in case this lead him underground. After a small breakfast; Drifter packed everything up and put the backpack on his back. He then started to search for an opening somewhere to where he could pass through into a new place.

It took a while but Drifter finally found an old door that looked worn out. He tried pulling on it but its hinges were rusted shut. After a few pulls he blasted the thing apart with his buster. He entered and found that it was eternally lit.

After that door he found another. This one however looked more mechanical than man made. He recognized the symbols on the door right away as those on other ruin doors.

When first trying the door, it wouldn't open. After having to guess a password and put it in the keypad (it ended up being Elysium) the door opened but very slowly for it hasn't been used for many years.

"I wonder if this is that ruin that Dragge saved everyone from." Drifter said to himself. Drifter then recalled that the ruin had been on the east coast and this was the center of the island. There was no way that this was the ruin.

Drifter opened the next door to get into the first room and right away a few hundred reaverbots stared him in the face with their dark, red, and deadly eye.

Drifter swallowed and wished that he hadn't interfered at all. The reaverbots activated right away and got into battle position. Drifter thought to himself that these were no ordinary reaverbots. They were the types of reaverbots that were located in the high leveled ruins.

The reaverbots started to approach him and Drifter activated his blades. Drifter stood in his battle position and waited for the worst to come.

[Dragge]

Chapter 3- One Hundred Versus One

Drifter leaped into the air to try and land in the center of the reaverbots. There was only one problem with that theory. There was no center for the reaverbots. Drifter landed right on top of about ten reaverbots.

The reaverbots all jumped on top of him. He tried to fight his way out of it but he was being pummeled under about one-hundred pounds of each reaverbot. He struggled to even breath let alone fight.

He figured that Rob was right. That he was a fool to come in here and find out what secrets this place held. Nobody would find his corpse after he died and the reaverbot will have taken all of his armor.

Yet somehow, in that struggle, he never gave up hope. Hope that laid deep within him. Giving it one last effort, Drifter lifted his body up off of the ground and started to fight the reaverbots.

Even after counting one-hundred of them dead, more came. He had no clue where they came from or why there were so many, but he knew that he couldn't give up.

One reaverbot jumped at Drifter and got him in the back. Drifter fell and thought that he would die there all alone with no one. His eyes closed, but not fully.

Drifter saw a red figure jump in front of him. "Rising upper." Drifter saw flames shoot from the stranger's sword and wondered who could be there. The stranger didn't approach him until the time was right.

Drifter was shaken to full senses by the stranger. Drifter's eyes had been knocked unclear and couldn't recognize the person. "Drifter come on! I need your help!"

Drifter's vision came back fully to him and saw that the stranger was Zero. The same Zero that helped his father try and destroy him about five years ago.

"Zero! What are you doing here?"

"I..." Zero started but had to jump back from a reaverbot shot. Zero held out his hand and Drifter pulled himself up. Drifter got his own blades out again and started fighting alongside his once good friend.

The two fought on before they found where all of the reaverbots were coming from. There was a large generator sitting in the true middle of the room which reached from the floor to the ceiling.

Zero slashed at the reaverbots that still came out of the generator. Drifter stood there in front of the massive machine and tried destroying it. There seemed to be a force field around it though. No matter how much Drifter sliced at it, there was no contact between his blades and the machine.

"There's got to be a force shield protecting it!" Drifter shouted seeing the reaverbots come out twice as many. "What should we do?"

"Hold off the reaverbots while I think of what to do!" Drifter obeyed the commands and destroyed any reaverbot that came from the machinery. Zero stood silently in the back thinking of ways to shut down the machine.

"Any time soon!" Drifter yelled jumping back from a couple of reaverbots. Zero, though the smartest person on Terra, couldn't think of a way to get rid of that barrier.

"If you're not going to do anything, then help me!" Drifter yelled out after about another hour of fighting. Zero did go back and help him destroy any reaverbots that came through. The reaverbots started getting feistier and more combatant like.

Zero and Drifter were starting to get backed up to a corner in that room. There was almost no where left to go. Zero saw then the opportunity to strike back. He threw his sword not caring that he would have to pick it back up later.

His sword cut through numerous reaverbots and Zero then switched to his Z-buster which did a great amount of damage. The reaverbots were once again getting fewer as time went on.

Zero went over to the machine and found that there was a generator sitting on the outside of the shield itself. Zero sliced it and the shield went down. Zero let Drifter take care of the machine and went after the reaverbots.

Drifter had taken care of the machine and helped finish off all of the reaverbots. There wasn't many but there weren't few of them either. There was about another two-hundred reaverbots that needed attending to.

After finishing them off, Drifter was finally able to ask why Zero was there. "I was watching the news. They Defense Team of Archibald Island came on talking about the newly discovered sinkhole. They also talked about that if anyone should try to get in it, that they would be dealt with one way or another. I knew right away that you would risk your life to get inside and find any secrets that may lay down here. So I got in my ship and headed off to help you out."

"Thanks Zero. I don't know what to say."

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad that I could come on out here and help you out. I can see in your eyes that you're very tired."

"I am. I didn't get much sleep the night that I left and had been fighting off those terrible reaverbots for hours before you showed up."

"I should have gotten here sooner. I hope you weren't beaten too much."

"Nothing too serious, except for maybe my back. A reaverbot jumped up on my back and maybe broke it in a few places."

"We should get some rest. There's no chance of reaverbots getting us now."

"Can you stay up and watch the night shift? Just in case. I really need the sleep."

"Go ahead. I'll talk to you in a few hours." Drifter heard Zero's last words and fell into a deep sleep.

[Dragge]

Chapter 4- Clutter in the Night

Drifter woke back up and saw Zero investigating the door into the next room. Drifter got up and walked over to the door as well. Drifter looked at the door then up at Zero quizzically.

"What are you standing here for? Why not go through the door?"

"It's locked." Zero responded. "It looks like it needs a key. In fact, from the readings that I'm getting, there are four locks in this ruin total."

"A key."

"Do you know where to find any keys of the sort?" Zero asked. "There are four colors; gold, red, blue, and black."

"Yes. There are rumors about four keys that have been placed throughout the island. The person that first discovered this place had the four keys with him then put them where people wouldn't think to look."

"Where are they?" Zero asked starting to get annoyed.

"The gold one is in City Hall, the red one had been placed inside of the library, the blue one is located a the docking station, and the black one had been buried somewhere underground."

"Any specifics on the black key?"

"No. It may be located here in the ruins itself but we'll find it out later."

"Let's backtrack then. We'll get the other three keys then come back here." Zero said. The two of them went back outside into the night sky and Zero wondered how they would get out of there. Drifter must have been reading Zero's thoughts because right away he pulled out his hover board.

Both of them got on and they jetted out of the sinkhole and headed to the city where everyone was still asleep not caring if anyone was outside. The first place the duo headed to was the docking station.

The station was huge and could dock any size of airship, from the smallest to the largest. It could hold up to five-hundred airships. Traders and company workers stopped here quite often which is why Archibald Island had many hotels and tourists attractions.

The two of them got there and looked for the blue key. They had no specifics on the exact location but they checked every square inch of the place. To do it quickly, Drifter went through on his board and Zero on foot. After about two hours of searching, Drifter was the one to turn up on it.

"I found it Zero!" Drifter said coming back down to ground level. "It was in one of the clamps that holds the ships in place."

"Great. Next we'll hit the library." Zero got back on and the two of them went in the direction of the library. The library had books from all over the world and the history of each individual island. The doors were always open for there was no true librarian. There were a couple of computers that would scan your card and then the book and keep it on file. If someone was late returning a book, the computers would keep a fine count on the files.

Drifter and Zero got into the library and started to search high and low. There were over one-thousand books in the library which made it difficult searching through ever book. If it were in a book, once again it would be in a place where no one looks.

Zero started searching through the history section and saw a book on Elysium which is odd. Even though Zero was not from Elysium he knew that Dragge was along with Trigger. He knew that there were no books on Elysian history and immediately flipped the book open. Instead of pages, there was a single red key sitting inside.

Drifter walked up to Zero seeing that he had gotten the key and they both walked out with half of the keys. There was only one key that they knew they could find. It was located in City Hall.

They arrived to the door and saw that it had a security lock on it. "Do you have a key for this place. I mean, you are important and all."

"Nope, no key what-so-ever. We'll have to bust inside to get the key. There's a problem and it's not locating it because I know where it is."

"What's the problem?"

"I'm the head of the police force and no one but the mayor knows it because we still need to get people to join it. Not even the Defense Team knows about me being the head of the police force."

"Cut to the chase man."

"Anyway. Once this security system is busted, an alarm will go off warning the Defense Team that something is wrong."

"So what's the plan?"

"I bust the system and rush in to get the key. You'll stay out here to take care of the Defense Team once they come by. After that, we're out of here and back to the ruins."

"Alright." Zero agreed. Drifter stood a safe distance away from the system. He shot his buster at it and the alarm went off. Drifter quickly opened the doors and blasted into the building. While Drifter was searching for the key, Zero saw the Defense Team, lead by Rob, approach City Hall.

"Stand down!" Rob shouted.

"Never!" Zero yelled back. Rob gave the signal and the Defense Team fired their rockets at Zero which were deflected back at them by the Z-saber. Drifter came rushing back out of City Hall just barely dodging a rocket.

"I've got the key Zero." Drifter said holding up a golden key.

"The one in red must be Drifter's accomplice!" Rob shouted. "Leave no survivors!"

The Defense Team kept firing at the two of them. They hopped back on Drifter's hover board and went back to the center of the island. The Defense Team must have been ready for that type of moment because they had jet packs strapped to their backs.

Rob lead the group firing at Drifter and Zero. "Zero! Take over controlling the board! I'll take them out of the sky!" Drifter yelled over his back. Zero listened and swapped places with Drifter. Drifter activated his buster and picked the Defense Team members out of the sky one-by-one.

In the end there was only one and it was Rob. He didn't stop firing rockets at the two of them. Rob got a great shot and hit the bottom of the board. Luckily enough, Drifter and Zero landed right next to the sinkhole. Since there was no time to hesitate, they both let themselves fall into the hole.

Rob hovered over the sinkhole for a few minutes then left not saying a word. When the everything was all clear, the two friends entered the ruins again. The machine was still broken which they were glad to see.

Drifter walked up to the padlock and set the key against the lock. There was a loud hiss then a click. The door finally opened and the two of them were able to pass through freely.

[Dragge]

Chapter 5- Chain of Reactions

The next room contained numerous computers. In fact that's all it was; computers and monitors. There were reaverbots controlling the computers and didn't notice the two of them enter the room.

"What is this place?" Zero asked looking at his surroundings. He was amazed by all of the technology in that one room. He hadn't seen so much before.

"It has to be some sort of control room. I don't know what the computers control but it all controls something." Drifter creped up to one of the computer monitors to see what it controlled.

He didn't get a chance to look at anything because the reaverbot sitting there spun around in an instant and fired at Drifter. Zero rushed over to help Drifter up off of the floor but the other reaverbots had responded to the first.

They jumped in the air and landed all around Zero. The first reaverbot had grown larger in size and started to fire at Drifter again even though he was down.

Drifter felt the pain as each shot hit him. He couldn't move and the reaverbot kept closing in on him. Drifter's instincts kicked in and he regained his balance and started to fire back.

Zero on the other hand had a rough time trying to slice through each reaverbot. These were high class reaverbots like the ones located within the s-class ruins on other ruins.

Drifter finished off his reaverbot and turned around to help Zero out. Even the two of them together couldn't put a dent in the reaverbots. Drifter started to use his swords instead of his buster. His swords made the smallest of scratches but nothing more.

Zero and Drifter were in the middle of the room with fifty reaverbots around them. "How do we get out of this predicament?" Drifter asked waiting for the reaverbots to continue fighting.

"I don't know. This is like a sss-class ruin." Zero replied slightly moving his sword about.

"Wait a minute. If the reaverbots here are that powerful then that must mean we're in a Main Gate of some sort. Remember Trigger had to go into the Main Gate back on Kattelox?"

"Yeah."

"This must be the Main Gate for Archibald Island." Drifter concluded.

The reaverbots snapped and jumped back at the two diggers. Both of them closed their eyes and waited to be taken apart. The reaverbots never came though. When they looked up they both saw Ira standing there with a shield in her hand that covered the group.

"Fire at them. They can't get in the shield no matter what they do. Our shots can go through however." Ira said not looking at the two of them.

They did just that and it worked this time. Drifter used his buster and Zero used the Z-buster. The reavebots were destroyed one by one. The last one finally fell a few minutes later.

Ira put the shield down and was finally able to start talking to the two diggers. "I'm glad to see you guys again." Ira said with a smile spread across her face.

"Why..." Zero had started. He didn't get much else out because the computers were starting to overload and explode. Ira put the shield back up again and they looked on in horror as each and every computer burst into multiple explosions.

When the explosions were over Ira lowered the shield. Instead of brightly light monitors; there was just dim screens with sparks flying out of them.

"It seems that the destruction of the reaverbots caused the explosions." Drifter said heading to a computer then backing up as sparks flew out of the screen.

"Well, let's get to another room where we can sit and eat something." Zero said heading to a door to go into the hallway connecting two of the rooms. Once there they set up the cloth and got something good to eat.

"So, why did you come here Ira?" Zero asked eating a slice of apple.

"I heard of your terrible happenings Drifter. When the Defense Team came on the news saying about how they would take out anyone trying to enter the ruins; I knew right away that you would be stupid enough to do it."

"Every time something like that is said, I'm the first person that comes to mind!!!" exclaimed Drifter punching the wall.

"So what was on the computers?" Ira asked.

"That's what we were trying to find out. Now that the computers are busted, we can't find out any information." Zero said.

"We'll have to find out for ourselves. Whatever they were controlling is probably somewhere here in the ruins." Drifter said.

"Right. Let's get going. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get back to the surface." Ira said finishing her food. The other two agreed and packed everything else up. They all waited until everything was up off of the floor then prepared themselves for what awaited on the other side of the door.

[Dragge]

Chapter 6- Red Room, Red Key, Makes Perfect Sense Part 1

The trio walked through the doors and came to a dark red room. Actually it was one of those rooms in which it's not really a room at all. It's multiple rooms connected by multiple hallways.

"Where do we go first?" Ira asked looking at the three directions they could travel in.

"Let's split up." Zero said calmly. "That way, if one of us finds the right path, the others can backtrack their way and catch back up."

"Great idea." Drifter said to Zero. "Ira, do you have any weapons besides the shield?"

"No, none at all." Ira said looking disappointed.

"Don't worry. I've got an extra sword right here that you can use throughout the rest of the ruins." Drifter unsheathed his sword and handed it over to Ira who put it in an item holder on her armor.

"I'll take the left way." Zero said running off without another word.

"I'll go right ahead." Ira said.

That left Drifter to the right side. He headed to that direction and turned the first corner. He encountered some reaverbots right away but they weren't as powerful as the ones as before. The room at first didn't seem all that big but in fact it was huge. If someone didn't know where they were going they might be lost in there for quite some time.

Drifter came through a series of twists and turns before getting to another large sized room. The room contained numerous mean looking reaverbots that were of the large variety.

Drifter jumped back dodging a huge shock wave that was created by one of the reaverbots. Drifter activated the autofire unit and started to fire away without a care. It didn't matter if he shot wildly because he was the only one there other than the reaverbots.

The reaverbots fell to the ground but recovered after a few moments. Drifter switched over to his only blade and started slicing through the reaverbots which seemed to be working. After another couple of moments, the reaverbots repaired themselves and continued to attack the lone digger.

"How can I take them out?" Drifter asked to himself. "Whatever I through at them they just take it and repair themselves." Drifter then remembered back to a time when he was under Nemesis's control.

He had used a huge laser to try and destroy Dragge which in the end worked. Drifter switched to his buster and charged it up fully. He made sure that all of the reaverbots were in a line before firing because the blast used up a lot of power.

They all lined up as he had hoped and fired the shot. Those few seconds seemed to be hours to Drifter. Everything had seemed to go slow but in reality, the reaverbots were destroyed before the laser even touched them.

Drifter dropped to the floor huffing and puffing from using so much energy. He thought that the reaverbots would once again counter the attack but they didn't this time. Drifter slowly lifted himself and limped to the next hallway where no reaverbots lurked.

He came across some treasure chests along the way which he opened. He got a lot of zenny from opening the chests. Some of them in the end were trapped and he destroyed everyone of them without hesitation.

Drifter continued his trek and wondered what happened to the others. He saw one last chest and was about to open it when a signal came in.

"Drifter, Zero, come in. I found the right way and will wait for your arrivals." Ira said over the intercom.

"I'll be there." Drifter replied. Drifter almost left but then remembered the chest that sat at the end of the hallway. He opened it up and saw a single paper resting inside of it. He picked it up and put it inside his armor then turned around to meet the others.

Drifter didn't know this a the time but it contained some important info.

[Dragge]

Chapter 7- Red Room, Red Key, Makes Perfect Sense Part 2

Zero rushed off to the left path without saying a word. He didn't care what the others thought. They all had to take one of the paths so Zero headed straight to the left going at full speed. The whole reason why he chose the left path was because he was closest to it.

He got in the hallway and saw it branch off into two different paths. The one to the right only contained a chest with zenny inside. After picking up all the zenny Zero headed back to take the left way of the left path.

He had walked only a few steps when he was ambushed by multiple reaverbots. Zero reached behind himself and unsheathed his Z-saber and started to slice the reaverbots in half. Like Drifter's experience; these reaverbots repaired themselves.

"What's this!?" Zero shouted. He was surprised to see such a powerful weapon fail in the end. Zero switched to the Z-buster which seemed effective against the reaverbots. He decided to stay with shot attacks rather than melee.

One reaverbot came up behind Zero and hit him in the head. Zero never saw the attack coming. Zero blacked out for what seemed to be hours. It was only minutes before he woke back up. His vision was blurry but he could see someone in front of him.

"Hurry, get up Zero!" Drifter shouted to him.

"Drifter." Zero said wearily trying to get up. "I thought you took one of the other paths."

"There wasn't much except a few chests with zenny in them. It was a short path."

"Is Ira still on her path?" Zero asked finally getting strength to stand up.

"She said she hadn't found the right path so she should be coming any moment now."

Zero understood right away that this was the right path. What he didn't know was that he was being lead into a trap. Drifter started walking ahead when another familiar voice rang out from the hallway.

"Don't trust that fake!" yelled Drifter. Zero spun around to see another Drifter. "Two Drifters!?" Zero thought to himself. That couldn't be. Which one was the true one though?

The first Drifter spoke up, "Come with me Zero!"

"No me!" the other shouted back at Zero. Zero dropped to the floor covering his ears with his hands. Who was the real one? Zero then thought of some questions to ask them both. Which ever one got the most correct would be the true Drifter.

The two Drifters were still arguing. "ENOUGH!!!" Zero roared. "I'll ask you both the same questions. The Drifter that gets the most questions correct will be the right one."

Both Drifter just looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders and agreed on Zero's plan. "First question. How long ago did you kill Dragge?"

The first Zero said ten years and the other said three. Zero moved on to the next question. "Who is Ira's partner in the Kattelox School for Diggers?"

The first Drifter claimed that it was Trigger and the other one said that it had to be the Master from Elysium. Zero had only one last question and both of them had nothing right. "What two weapons do I carry with me?" Zero asked them.

Neither of them knew the answer. "Neither one of them can be the real Drifter. Drifter would have gotten everyone of those questions correct." Zero thought to himself.

Both Drifters wanted to know which of them was the real Drifter. "Neither of you are." Zero said. "You're both fakes!" Zero spun around and shot him with his buster and took out both of them. He walked up to the two 'Drifters' and found out that they were both reaverbots.

"The ability to copy anyone or anything most likely." Zero continued on his journey and the first had lied when it said that Ira would meet him there. There wasn't much left to find.

The reaverbots grew fewer as he went on and more chests were there. He wondered if the door was really at the end of this path. It would be great if it was because then he wouldn't have to backtrack all the way.

Drifter then ran across another split in the path. This time he went left hoping that the left path was the correct one this time. He made a bad decision because at the end was a huge reaverbot. It wasn't large enough to be the master but it was still larger than the others.

Zero decided to use his buster because that seemed to be the right weapon to use in that ruin. The reaverbot fell not much later. Zero started picking up all the zenny that was left behind. He got a good deal out of it too. Enough to buy the upgrades he wanted to get for his armor.

Zero got an incoming signal from Ira. "Drifter, Zero, come in. I found the right way and will wait for your arrivals." she said over the intercom.

"I'll be there." Zero heard Drifter say.

"Same here Ira!" Zero said. Zero left the room and almost forgot about the other path. He decided to run down it really fast. He went through the doors and found a lone chest sitting in the room.

He opened it and saw nothing but a lone piece of paper sitting inside. At first glance it looked as if it said nothing. Though he didn't know it when that and the other paper were combined, it revealed the true writing on it.

Zero stuffed the paper in his armor and started to backtrack to the main room in which everyone split. He couldn't wait to get back to the others and wanted to show them the paper that he had found.

[Dragge]

Chapter 8- Red Room, Red Key, Makes Perfect Sense Part 3

Ira sped straight through the doors which went through the northern path. She really didn't care about which path to take but she just chose one for the heck of it.

She was pretty scared being alone in the ruin. Usually Art or someone else had been there with her since she was basically the defense portion of the team. Now, when she comes by a reaverbot, she would have to fight like diggers are supposed to.

She actually got a lot of experience by fighting by herself. Reaverbots had started attacking her left and right. She really didn't know how to fight until she had to start using the sword Drifter let her use.

She had seen Drifter fight with it numerous times and knew how to hold it, how to throw an attack, and how to block. After her first true fight with a reaverbot, she felt as if she could take on the now dead Colonel from years back.

Once more there were chests located along the path. Most of them contained zenny and the rest were trapped boxes. She had files on every reaverbot known to man and knew the strengths and weaknesses of them all.

After a while of walking, Ira started feeling cold. She didn't know why until she turned around and saw Art standing there with a smile across his face and an energy pistol in his hand.

"What are you doing here Art?" Ira said surprised at the sudden arrival of her best friend.

"I came when I heard the news. Me, being the person that loves researching things, just had to get here right away."

"Well, tag along if you want." Ira turned back around and started to walk along the path. She didn't see Art smiling as if he contained a secret. She didn't know that this same trick was being played on Zero at that exact moment.

Art cocked his pistol and aimed to shoot Ira in the back of her head. Ira had an enhanced sense of hearing and heard the loading of the pistol. She immediately spun around and kicked the gun out of his hand.

"Now what's that all about Ira?" Art said starting to approach her.

"You're not Art. The real Art wouldn't aim for my head."

"I wasn't aiming for your head. I thought that I saw a reaverbot."

"Oh really?" Ira said as if she was expected to believe that lie.

"Yeah really! Why can't you trust me!?"

"Because, Art said that he went on an extended vacation and was out on an ocean liner at this very moment."

"It got boring. I didn't want to be there any longer."

"Is that why you wasted four hundred-thousand zenny on the cruise?" Ira asked.

Art started to stumble over his words and couldn't get anything out of his mouth. Ira then caught a glimpse of his eyes and recognized them as reaverbot eyes.

She brought out her shield and plowed it into the reaverbot's chest area. The reaverbot stood back up and Ira saw that some of the "skin" had come off during the attack on it.

The reaverbot grabbed the energy pistol and started to fire at Ira who stood behind her shield. "No more hiding behind things." Ira said to herself. She put the shield down and activated Drifter's energy sword. She swung at the reaverbot hoping that she would get a hit on it.

She did as well. She hit the arm which held the pistol. Ira slid over to it and picked it up. She put it on her armor and jumped back from the reaverbot. She decided to try and use the pistol to see if it would work against reaverbots. It did too.

The shots were efficient enough to destroy the fake Art. She put it in a holster and started to get back on track. She had already wasted a lot of time as is trying to defeat the reaverbot that was posing as her best friend.

She took a path to the right and found a dead end with nothing but a few reaverbots. She went back and took the left pathway. She came across more chests containing zenny. She also came across more reaverbots putting her new abilities to the ultimate test.

The reaverbots were getting stronger as the path went along. Sometimes it took minutes to destroy just one reaverbot at a time. She felt terrible that she was taking too long. She then came across what looked to be a red door.

Ira approached the door to make sure it was indeed the right door. It had to be since neither Drifter or Zero had radioed her within the past two hours.

"Drifter, Zero, come in. I found the right way and will wait for your arrivals." she said over the intercom. She heard both of them say that they would be there right away and hoped that it wouldn't take another four hours just for them to get though the path then through hers.

She sat down on the ground and waited for them to come. There was just one more reaverbot lurking around and she headed over to it and was about to attack it. She stopped the sword halfway through mid-air.

It looked like the reaverbot wasn't going to attack her but she couldn't be so sure. She brought the sword back down and got it right down the middle. She grabbed the zenny that was inside of it but after that she saw a note.

On it read: Turn back now, if you know what's good for you. She wondered who put that note in the reaverbot. If it was either someone who had come here before or if it was someone that lay inside the ruin. She wouldn't know until much later.

She went back up to the door and rested against it and fell asleep thinking of the possibilities that await everyone in the ruin.

[Dragge]

Chapter 9- Catching Back Up to Ira

Zero and Drifter literally dashed through their paths and met each other at the same time. They both nodded and started through the path that Ira took only two hours ago.

They didn't run but they didn't hesitate for fear that Ira might run into serious trouble. They started talking about what they found and their experiences along each path.

Drifter listened to Zero's story and though right away that his experiences along the left path were much more troubling than his experiences.

It wasn't too much later before the two of them caught back with Ira. They saw her sleeping up against the door. Drifter snapped his fingers and she awoke right away.

She pulled out Drifter's sword and started slashing at the air thinking that a reaverbot was attacking. Drifter calmed her down saying that she had fallen asleep and that they had just gotten there a few moments ago.

She fully came out of her delusion and apologized for almost decapitating Drifter. Drifter then saw the red door and pulled out the red key. Just like before; he put the key in the slot and there was a loud hiss. The click came a little later than the last time but the door finally opened after a minute or two.

They stepped through into the hallway connecting the rooms and decide to stop there for a while. "We've all gone through a lot in the past two hours." Drifter spoke. "I don't see why we couldn't all get some rest.

They ate first so that they could regain lost energy. They didn't care whether or not about the reaverbots on the other side of the door. They can't get through those doors anyway. Also, there was another slot for the red key so they could pass through.

They fell asleep all at once and were glad to be together again. They didn't want to go separate ways again unless it was absolutely necessary.

[Dragge]

Chapter 10- The Secret Pages

All had waken up a little while later and were about to open the door. Drifter then remembered the page he had found along his path. "Guys hold on! It's a page I found while traveling down my route. For some reason it was located at the very end."

"Same with mine!" Zero said holding out his paper.

Ira took both papers and looked at them both. "What do they mean?" she asked looking confused at the writing on the papers. She put the papers close to another and they formed together. Instead of the gibberish on the page, they all saw a map.

"A map. What's it of?" Zero questioned.

"It's a map to the location of the black key. It seems that it is buried somewhere under the floor of the ruin as well." Drifter said pointing to the black mark where the key was located.

"How do we get it though?" Ira asked trying to look over Drifter's shoulder.

"There are more pages. They'll probably tell us about how to get." Zero said. Zero and the rest sat down on the stone cold floor. Zero started to read each pages and in the end told of his important findings.

"It seems, that after we defeat a certain reaverbot, we have to immediately grab the key or it will disappear for a full year." Zero said looking at only the papers.

"So, who defeats the reaverbot and who grabs that key?" Drifter asked.

"I'll take the reaverbot." Drifter said. "I have enough weapon power to bring it down. Then Zero, you can grab the key when I get the signal."

"I'll agree to that idea." Zero said. "After all; I'm known for my speed and such. First thing though, we have to locate the exact location of the key so that when the reaverbot blows up, I'll be able to grab it."

"Great, so let's get going!" Ira exclaimed.

"Not so fast Ira. There's more. If the key is grabbed at the wrong time, the ruin will self destruct trapping us in here." Zero said.

"So, I have to destroy the reaverbot and make sure it's destroyed before giving the signal?" Drifter asked just making sure.

"Yes. Let's et moving. We don't have time to waste." Zero said. They all got to the exact location of the key. Since they had no busters; they had to use their busters.

Drifter and Zero charged up their busters to full power. They both unleashed the lasers at the same time which cut a good sized hole in the dirt floor.

There they saw the black key laying there with a dark aura surrounding it. Drifter was almost tempted to go over and pick it up but stayed put.

"This reaverbot. What does it look like?" Drifter asked after staring at the key for a couple of minutes.

"It's a huge reaverbot with spikes along its arms. It also has a huge buster on its shoulder."

"Thanks!!!" Drifter screamed taking off to find the reaverbot.

"Do you think it'll work?" Ira asked Zero.

"Of course it'll work. It has to work."

[Dragge]

Chapter 11- Attack on the Reaverbot

Drifter found the massive reaverbot right away. There was no mistaking it either. At first, the reaverbot didn't notice Drifter's appearance. It was just walking around in circles.

When coming around to continue the walk it spotted Drifter and activated his shoulder buster. The shot fired off but Drifter jumped to the side just in time. The blasts were so big that it covered a ten foot diameter.

The reaverbot then resorted to its fists when it figured the buster wasn't working all that well. This reaverbot was fast and Drifter had barely any time to dodge the attacks. Drifter had no absolutely no time at all to fire off any of his own shots.

Drifter was pushed to his full limit and almost slipped up a few times just trying to dodge the massive reaverbot. He didn't know what it was but this reaverbot seemed to have no end to it. Drifter was forced back into a corner but daringly jumped the reaverbot and made it over.

Drifter was hit hard a couple of times but made it back to his feet to continue fighting. Zero even had to call him through the intercom a couple of times just to see if the reaverbot had been destroyed.

"No it's not destroyed!!!" Drifter snapped at Zero.

"You've been fighting it for three and a half hours now Drifter. Do you need help? I'll send Ira."

"Just stay there; both of you." Drifter continued to fight the reaverbot losing much energy as he jumped and flipped. Drifter never saw it coming when the reaverbot hit him with the buster and knocked him out.

Drifter didn't know if he was dead or what because he saw an image of Dragge. "Dragge?"

"Yes Drifter?" Dragge replied.

"Am I dead?"

"No. Just knocked unconscious."

"That reaverbot is powerful."

"You have to destroy it. You're the only one that can do it."

"I can't!!!" Drifter shouted. "It's taken all energy from out of me. Even with your armor combined to mine."

"You can do it. And I'll help you do it."

"What can you do?"

"I'll fuse my soul with my armor and give it even more strength. You can do it."

"What now?"

"You have to hurry up and get back to where Zero and Ira are. The reaverbot is after them and will do whatever it takes to destroy them both."

"Thank you Dragge."

"Go. You can do it."

The image of Dragge disappeared and Drifter came back to see that Dragge was right. The reaverbot had left. Drifter also felt a new source of energy within his armor. He knew right away that Dragge had fused what was left of him with the armor.

Dragge sprinted at full speed to reach Zero and Ira and hope that they were alright.

Zero was fighting off the reaverbot while Ira was in the background. Zero got hit and went skidding past Ira. "Zero, get behind the shield!"

Zero did as he was told. "The reaverbot can't get through it." Ira said. Ira was totally incorrect though. The reaverbot started bashing at the shield and in a matter of seconds, the shield went down.

Drifter rushed in the room and saw the reaverbot going after his closest friends. The reaverbot must have sensed Drifter because it turned its head around and started for Drifter.

"You've messed with the wrong team of diggers." Drifter said in a threatening voice. Drifter swears that he heard the reaverbot laugh but then again he could have imagined it.

Drifter pulled out both of his blades and sliced Dragge's "D" onto the reaverbot's midsection. Drifter then stabbed both swords in the middle of the initial and jumped up on top of the reaverbot's shoulders.

Without having to charge it, Drifter shot off his powerful laser which cut through the reaverbot's head. Drifter jumped back to the ground and pulled out his swords. The reaverbot fell down and exploded into zenny.

Drifter started grabbing the zenny while shouting to Zero. "Zero, grab the key. Now!"

Zero rushed to the location of the key and noticed it starting to disappear. He grabbed it in time and held it up with pride.

Drifter felt something leaving him and noticed that Dragge had left the armor. Dragge was right. He could do it. Drifter walked over to Zero and plucked the key from Zero's hand. Drifter then put it with the other keys.

"Shall we move on?" Drifter asked the others. They said no and stated that they should have something to eat before continuing on their quest.

[Dragge]

Chapter 12- Mite

Drifter, Zero, and Ira swiped the blue key through the panel and walked through the two doors. They swiped the blue key once again through the doors on the inside of the hallway connecting the two rooms.

Inside was a person with orange armor and a sword instead of his right hand. The person turned around and wasn't surprised to see the intruders in the ruin.

"So. What the reaverbot said were true after all."

"What's true!?" Drifter shouted hearing his voice echo off of the walls.

"That Dragge has a son who also became a digger."

"How do you know about me?"

"The reaverbots at the computers when you came in. They collect information from all over the world and put it into my brain. That way I stay updated with the outside world."

"Who are you?" Zero asked taking out his sword but not activating it.

"Sorry for not telling you my name. I'm Mite. I used to be a close friend of Dragge back on Elysium."

"What do you mean used to?" Ira asked.

"We had a dispute of Elysium. He wanted to go to Terra with the others and I told him that he should stay here where it's perfectly safe. He didn't want to. So from that day on, I never spoke to Dragge again."

"So, what is this place?" Drifter questioned.

"It's like the Main Gate of Archibald Island. I was just about ready to wipe out the population just like Juno almost did years ago on Kattelox."

"What have those people done to you!?" shouted Zero.

"Oh nothing. I just want to destroy and conquer. So now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to the main control room and start up the destruction sequence."

"No!" Drifter yelled out. Mite was heading through the black door and rushed after him. He jumped into the air and just made it through as the door closed behind him. The black key had fallen from him and hoped that Zero and Ira could get it.

Mite was just opening the next door when Drifter tried slicing him with his swords. It did nothing. Mite turned around and just smiled. "You won't be able to defeat me Drifter." Mite said as if it were a joke.

Mite started back for his control room and Drifter followed. Mite didn't attempt to destroy Drifter at all. Drifter followed him wondering where the control room would be.

"Why Mite? Why do you have to take it out on anyone?" Drifter asked about halfway through the walk.

"Dragge was my friend. He left me for the others."

"Couldn't you have just gone? By the way, Dragge saved the world a couple of times from certain destruction."

"No I couldn't have gone. Besides, he was just lucky when destroying the enemies of the world."

Mite lead Drifter to a room with more computers in it than the first room. "Think for a second Drifter. Will you join me and take over the world?"

"I'd rather not." Drifter stated pulling out his swords and igniting them both. Mite's blade energized as well and the two went at each other for the main kill.

[Dragge]

Chapter 13- A Turn of Fate

Drifter turned and saw Zero and Ira standing in the doorway. What the heck were they doing here, Drifter thought. They should have stayed back in that other room where it would have been a lot safer for the two of them.

Drifter came back into reality and just barely dodged Mite's swinging sword. Drifter backed up and started to shout at his comrades. "Get out of here you guys! It's not safe here! I'll take care of Mite!"

"We won't leave you Drifter!" Zero yelled. He jumped to wards the battle but was immediately sent flying back wards. He sat on the ground and held his head in both hands still dazed from the force of the hit.

Ira calmly walked over to Zero and helped him up. "Sometimes, fighting isn't the best answer Zero. Let's leave to the other room and wait for Drifter to finish the fight."

Zero agreed and was almost ready to leave. He then turned around and saw that the battle was still paused. He took out his Z-saber and tossed it over to Drifter who caught it in one of his empty hands.

"What..." Drifter stammered.

"Take it. I know you have two swords like it already, but it may help you in the long run." Zero limped out of the room after Ira and the door shut with a heavy thud behind him.

Drifter put the Z-saber in a sheath located on his armor and took out his own swords once more and ignited them both. "Where were we Mite?"

"You had just jumped back from my attack which almost sliced your head off." Mite recalled.

Drifter agreed and the two went into battle again. Mite was a strong opponent and Drifter thought that he must have trained with his father to fight. The two of them must have been part of and elite group of Elysians. Mite's sword and one of Drifter's swords collided with each other.

Drifter brought his other sword up over his shoulder and tried coming down on Mite. Mite dodged the attack and came back swinging with his sword. Drifter brought both of his on Mite's sword. Mite was struggling to keep up with Drifter's strength but still had more power and energy within him to keep fighting.

Like Dragge, Mite was an Elysian. He was more than the average Carbon. Then again, Drifter wasn't a carbon at all. He was a mix between an Elysian and Carbon. Drifter being a mix was able to keep up with an Elysian but just not as great as if it were an Elsian versus Elysian battle.

The swords kept flashing through the air. The sight was amazing. The swords were going so fast that it looked like a huge blur in the air instead of three swords. Drifter was even surprised at how he was able to keep up with not only the fight, but the speed at which the swords were going at.

Mite could sense that Drifter was losing his strength and his energy at a rapid pace. He knew that within minutes, Drifter would lay dead at his feet. But then there was a sudden burst of both areas.

Drifter remembered how once before Dragge had fused with him to destroy the massive reaverbot and allow him to get where he was now. All time around Drifter stopped. The only thing that could still move was himself. Drifter looked up and saw the image of Dragge again.

"What is it now father?" Drifter puffed regaining his breathe.

"I've come to help you out again. Mite is a powerful person to fight and I should know that. I fought him one on one many times before on Elysium."

"You're a full Elysian though! You're able to keep up with other Elysians. I can't. I may be a mix but it's nothing compared to the real thing!!!" Drifter snapped at his father's image.

"You'll need help again if you wish to keep up and overcome this adversary. I will fuse once more with you and help you accomplish your goal."

"After the battle, will I see you again?"

"I don't know. It probably depends on how much of a situation you're in. Now, let's get ready Drifter." Dragge fused himself once again with Drifter. Drifter could feel the energy flowing through him like what had happened once before only a few days ago.

Time resumed and Mite looked, with fear in his eyes, at Drifter. Drifter turned around to face Mite and went back to attack now with more speed than he had had only a few minutes before.

Mite was moving as well as attacking and also had to talk. "What... is ... giving... you... this power?" he was able to get out.

Drifter didn't feel out of breathe as before and was able to get out his statement without a break. "Dragge fused his soul with his armor which is connected with my armor."

Drifter didn't stop coming after Mite and didn't give him many chances to strike. Mite was even surprised to see the power that was now within Drifter for only moments before, he was winning.

Drifter now had the upside of the fight and wouldn't give up until Mite either gave up, or was dead. At one point, Drifter had both swords pushed up with Mite's only sword. The two of them wouldn't move their swords to attack.

Drifter then remembered that Zero had given him the Z-saber. Drifter pushed his swords forward and let go of the one in his right hand. Drifter quickly reached back for the Z-saber, and as he brought it forward ignited it. He made one slash at Mite's mid-section and returned the sword to its place.

He grabbed the sword he had let go of and sheathed both of them on the devices on his wrists. Mite staggered back wards and fell on his back. He just had enough energy to keep himself up off of the ground but not enough to stand up.

Drifter had his buster pointed at Mite's head. "Will you give up, or will I have to shoot you?"

"I surrender myself. Why should I keep fighting when I find you to be the superior person in this match. I will also join the Elysians again and fight on the side of justice."

Drifter put his buster away and helped Mite up off of the ground. Drifter took the way back through the long maze and reached the room where both Zero and Ira were waiting.

Zero pulled out his Z-buster and aimed it at Mite. "I will shoot. Not only him but both of you Drifter. I don't want to see you on his side."

"I'm not!" Drifter laughed. Drifter took the Z-saber off of his armor and tossed it back to Zero who put it in his specially made sheath on the back of his armor. "He's joining back with the Elysians, where he belongs. He's an ally of ours now."

"I'm so happy to here that!" Ira exclaimed jumping up and down with joy.

"Help me get him out of here." Drifter said almost unable to keep him upright. Zero nodded and together, the four allies walked slowly out of the ruin.

[Dragge]

Chapter 14- Taking a Prisoner

Drifter and Zero helped Mite onto the hover board. Ira hopped on last just making sure Mite was already. Drifter let the board rise into the air. As soon as Drifter got past the barrier separating the ruin and the above surface, Drifter was hit with a huge flood light.

Drifter was just able to land the hover board safely on the ground before collapsing from the blinding light. Drifter then heard a familiar voice ring out from the distance.

"There he is! He has three accomplices with him this time. Don't let any of them get away. As soon as you get them, kill them." Rob ordered to the Defense Team. The flood lights went of and Drifter was finally able to see clearly. It was also night out.

"You can't arrest me!" Drifter shot out at Rob. "You can't arrest any of us!"

"Why not?" Rob asked looking amused.

"I'm the head of the newly founded police force."

"What are you talking about? If there were any idea of a police force, the Mayor surely would have told me about it."

"Not exactly." said the Mayor himself coming out from behind one of the trees. "You see, I knew that if I told you, you would flip out and want the head job."

Rob took no notice of the Mayor and ran straight for Drifter. Drifter had no attempt to stop him until the time was right. Rob was about to strike down Drifter but Drifter side-steeped it and punched hard at Rob's mid-section letting him topple over on his side.

"I here-by place you under arrest Rob on three accounts." Drifter said hand cuffing Rob's hands behind his back. "One, assaulting an officer of the police force. Two, use of illegal weapons within the town. And three, resisting arrest."

Rob was in fact guilty of all three counts. Drifter picked him up off of the ground. "Can you guys please get Mite to town?" Drifter asked Zero and Ira.

"Sure. That's no problem for us." Zero said.

"Mayor, I'll see you back at town."

"Nice to see you still alive Drifter."

Drifter hopped on the hover board and took Rob along with him to the town jail. "You'll be here for a long time Rob." Drifter laughed as he guided the hover board back to the city.

Rob was sentenced to jail for the rest of his life with absolutely no parole. After all of that was said and done, someone had to be put in the top place for the Defense Team.

Only one person wanted to be the supreme commander of the Defense Team and did get the job. Drifter returned home and found Serra getting ready for bead. He sneaked up behind her and covered her eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Could it be my husband back from and extended leave?"

"You're correct." Serra turned around and kissed Drifter lightly on the lips then took them off.

"It's good to see you again."

"It's good to be home." Drifter said with a great big smile on his face. Drifter then cleaned himself up and went to bed for a well needed rest.