Chapter 105: Canyon Cruise

Neither of us woke the other three for about six hours; we were too involved, getting sweaty. I could have never imagined that Mikota would be so good at this kind of thing, and my blood was pumping, and I didn't need any sleep; I was ready to go! I held up the last piece to the monster we had created as the Micro-Nano attached it, making the joint.

I stepped back to where Mikota stood with her arms outstretched, making some final adjustments with her bugs to the Mega-Buggy. Mikota had scanned all the parted and broke the damaged parts down to their basic level. Then we asked Alta to make a schematic for this Mega-Buggy, and we set to work.

Now we had a six-wheeled monster with five seats and a spot for Tilly to stand up and fire rockets. It was not much bigger than the normal ones we had before, but now it was covered in the extra metal as armor. We even had glass windows and extra protection around engines and the dual back tires that were now bigger thanks to the additional two tires' material. 

I don't think this dungeon's creator would like what we built, but I didn't care. The bugs gave us our carts in pieces, trying to kill us with them, and now we had put it back together. There were no rules on dungeons; it was just that most had small doors to get inside the entrance or small halls, so a vehicle was pointless.

This place, though, was perfect for it, a large straight sandy canyon with one thin stream of magma running down the middle, making it a comfortable place to drive this beast. We had also mount Mikota's clones guns to the side and gave them an upgrade since they could just reform if destroyed while we were safe inside.

I turned to Mikota to see her sweat dotted brow and a big smile as she put her arms down. I put an arm around her shoulder, and she head against mine. I guide us over to where the other girls were sleeping and woke Tilly and Iona up to keep watch for three hours.

Both girls were shocked and filled with questions about the Mega-Buggy, but I told them to wait until we slept some. I thought it best to let Tama sleep through this, considering her near-death experience earlier. I leaned against the canyon wall with Mikota and slid down, passing out shortly after that with Mikota's head in my lap.

When Tama woke us up, I still felt a bit groggy, but I did some stretches and shook it off. A few hours was better than nothing, and the Mega-Buggy was going to help get us to move much more comfortably than if we walked. Mikota and Tama did the stretches with us, and then we headed over to the vehicle where Tilly and Iona were waiting for us.

"So, how did you guys do it? I've seen Mikota fix stuff before, but never like this. This thing is something completely different than before!" Iona talked excitedly.

"The bugs are more creative now that I've upgraded. Who knows what will happen with the next one!"

"Well, let's get going then so we can get back to the rest of the group. Tama, do you want to drive?"

"Who? Me? I could drive, but are you sure?"

"Ya! are you sure? don't you want me to drive?" Iona asked while getting in my face.

"No, you are going to be firing a laser at the things that get too close to the turrets. Since this is a dungeon, we just have to kill all the monsters and the boos, and we will get all the loot at the end. That means that it will be better to stay inside and fight. Tama has had the most rest and knows how to drive well enough for this."

Iona looked like she wanted to argue but crossed her arms instead. Mikota opened the side door that slid up, and we all got in, weaving around one of the side gun turrets. While I was the one with the big plan just now, I found that I had left myself without a job.

Once inside, Tama took the driver's seat with Mikota across from her in the other. While Iona sat next to me, Tilly was seated behind us and beside her short ladder to her battle station. Once everyone was seated, we opened up both side doors, and Mikota's clones hopped onto the turrets she had made.

The standard rifle was a single shot with a long-range, but Mikota had somehow given them each two barrels with auto fire. Iona was looking out her door as we started to move, and I checked the map, but the enemies had moved out of the map's range. 

We started to move, and soon we were off. I was surprised just how smooth the vehicle rode. I leaned forwards and squeezed Mikota's shoulder, and she put her hand on top of mine and then rested her head on it. She must still be tired, but hopefully, this wouldn't take all day, and we could get back to the camp.

//Enemies ahead -Tama

I let go of Mikota's shoulder and sat back, willing the glass of my visor to lower. I looked at my HUD map, and I could see four large crystal ants through the front window running at us. I was worried for about two blinks of my eyes when red streaks cut down the ants like paper, and they disintegrated into black particles. 

//Woah! Those things really just cut through them like butter! -Iona.

We kept going, and the ride was pretty relaxing for the most part. Iona, Mikota, and Tilly killed the monsters, and Tama drove. Since Tama and I were melee specialists, I twiddled my thumbs and waited, but ahead I could see the end of the canyon coming up. 

That would be my time to shine! It didn't matter what kind of boss was waiting for us; I was itching for a fight!