Vergil watched her go suspiciously, knowing there wasn't something right about this, and he didn't need to tap into her mind to read that. He was wary and on edge, knowing they were getting close to the ruins. "She might be close by, so don't drop your guard. We've had too many newcomers for this to be a coincidence." he commented.
Tony nodded, and the group pressed on into the jungle, the temperatures falling as darkness began overtaking the mountainside. Tony cursed his lack of foresight, but at least he had his fur to keep him warm. As for Vergil, he didn't seem to mind it so much, pressing on with determination in his orange eyes as they followed the navigator.
Before too long, upon a gradual slope, black forms rose up like teeth in the night. The moonlight bathed them in a soft glow, revealing them to be stone ruins that had mostly collapsed over the years thanks to the elements. A large, open area stretched out ahead of them, with some of the same paintings from before clearly visible on what remained of the walls. "Here we are!" Vergil declared, grinning as he made his way forward. He almost stumbled as blocks of stone came out of the Earth to meet his feet, the remnants of an ancient stairway leading up to the ruins clearly visible to him now.
It was strangely serene up here, but foreboding as well. The night air didn't stir as they advanced. The silent ruins were watching them, or at least that's how it seemed to the gecko. The remains of the walls were more like bared teeth or silent sentinels as opposed to a temple. The years had not been kind to this place, and it showed. It was like they were walking through a cemetery for giants, the massive stone slabs resembling tombstones 20 feet or more in height. It was unnerving to say the least.
"So this place looks cheery." Tony cracked, half expecting zombies to suddenly pop out of the ground. He kept his hand on his pistol, planning to go right for the headshots if that did occur. He'd played enough Left4Dead and Resident Evil to be ready for it, after all.
Vergil could clearly see the waypoint in the middle of the ruins. It's chrome-like surface glinted dully in the moonlight, the metal sphere sitting silently atop its podium. There was also a console that was badly rusted in front of it, and Vergil stopped upon reaching it. "Well... moment of truth... let's see if Rex is the only one capable of accessing this thing... in which case we're shit out of luck." Placing his finger on the activation screen, a sickly blue light suddenly burst in his face, causing him to blink. A garbled voice emanated from the console, slowly becoming coherent as the ancient device came to life.
"Greetings, travelers. Parameters prevent me from allowing you access to this place. Initiating neural scan now." Vergil silently prayed that either the machine was too broken to effectively perform this, or else he was one of the few who could gain access. A light-blue beam shot out and struck his forehead, but otherwise no other sensation was felt by the gecko. After a minute of this, the beam faded, and a green light appeared on the screen. "Neural pattern recognized. Welcome back, traveler." Vergil sighed gratefully, and relaxed visibly.
"Yes!" he whispered, but the sphere wasn't activating for some reason. Suddenly, a red light washed over the screen.
"Warning: Differences detected in neural patterns. Inconsistencies perceived. Conclusion: you are not the same traveler who programmed these parameters. Access denied."
"What?" Vergil asked, surprised. "Wait a minute! I've been here though! You said that! Isn't there some way to prove that?"
"I am only programmed to allow access to the one who programmed me. Processing... processing... unable to reconcile neural inconsistencies. Access denied." the console repeated.
"Dammit! Isn't there some way to show that I was one of the ones here before? Some way to prove it? Some way to unlock these parameters?" Vergil figured this machine was seriously malfunctioning, or worse, it did recognize him, but only accepted Rex as its programmer, which meant they were screwed anyway. "Some sort of other test? I can prove I was here before and that I can access the waypoint!" he demanded.
"Processing... processing... please wait... solution confirmed. You must face a trial by combat to prove you are a match with my data banks. Succeed, and you may progress. Fail and you will die." With that, the console blinked red over and over again, and suddenly, the ground began shaking.
"Oh shit! The hell?" Tony exclaimed, struggling to keep his balance as panels in the ground began to slide back, splitting the Earth and throwing up dirt as they moved away. Out of the ground, giant insects began to crawl. But not organic... they were metallic as proven by the glint they gave off in the low light. They weren't like the previous droids, however. These were agile looking, with four legs, long, thin bodies, and once again the arrowhead featured craniums. Long, prehensile tails whipped gracefully behind them, and they let out unearthly shrieks in the night that split the ears and caused Vergil to temporarily hold his hands over his ear holes to block out the banshee wails.
"Agh!" he gasped, noting two green lights blink to life on each of the creatures, creating ghostly sets of "eyes." There were nine in all this time, their tails cracking in the night and their legs digging into the ground as they got ready to charge. These roughly resembled cheetahs, or at least to Vergil they did. "Well... here we go again!" Vergil declared, igniting his energy blade, its red glow lighting up the night with an eerie ambiance. "I guess I have to prove I'm the warrior I was when I first visited this place with Rex and Kalis. I do remember we had to fight... but that's about it. All right... let's do it!" Vergil shouted, charging forward now towards one that sprang right towards him, its pointed front feet bared outwards. Suddenly, the feet sprouted multiple spikes, and Vergil just barely managed to dodge to the side in time. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, landing in the dirt a few feet away.
Tony pulled out his laser, figuring it'd be more useful here than his old-fashioned pistol. "Well Soren... you get your first taste of the killer droids... and I guess I do too!" Tony said now, gritting his teeth as he fired off a blast at the nearest one, only to watch in horror as the light beam refracted right off the surface. "Dammit! Must have weak points, like the other ones!" he shouted as the entire group was charged now by the machines...
