Karl gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the ignition dial as the eight gear-shaped projections hovered steadily before Erevos. But almost immediately, the cogs began spinning faster and faster, gears rattling like a mechanical hurricane. Steam hissed from the vents in uneven bursts, and a sudden surge of kinetic feedback made the floating gears tilt slightly… toward Erevos itself.
"Wait… w-wait, Karl! They're… they're moving on their own~!" Agnes exclaimed, voice a mix of awe and alarm.
Karl's eyes widened. "What the hell—? They're… heading straight for us?!"
Before he could react, the first gear lunged forward at terrifying speed, spinning like a miniature wrecking ball. Karl instinctively jumped back, narrowly dodging it. Steam from the regulator hissed in protest.
"Aaah~! Karl! Move! Move! They're trying to… crush us~!" Agnes squeaked, flustered but still teasing in tone.
Karl scrambled backward, sliding across the nanite-infused floor, Erevos trembling as the other seven gears followed in chaotic pursuit. "Holy—okay… okay… we did NOT plan for this!" he shouted, his voice echoing against the empty walls of the bunker.
The gears spun faster, bouncing off the walls and floor like mischievous mechanical predators, each one locking eyes on Erevos and its pilot. Karl ducked under a spinning blaster-blade gear, feeling the vortex of steam swirl around him, hot and suffocating.
"Mmm~ Karl~ hurry~! You're too slow! They're catching up~!" Agnes cooed teasingly, despite the panic.
Karl groaned, "I… I'm trying, Agnes! I'm literally trying not to get my face smushed by my own creation!" He leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a gear that clattered into the wall, leaving a dent the size of his torso.
"You see what I meant by Vythra control, Karl~?"
Karl shot her a look of pure exasperation. "Control?! They're trying to kill us! The orb's supposed to help me, not betray me!" He pivoted, kicking off the floor to dodge another spinning knuckle-duster gear as it zoomed past.
The eight gears zig-zagged chaotically, spinning and bumping into one another, creating a steam-shrouded gauntlet of imminent doom. Karl muttered under his breath:
"Okay… deep breaths… think like a mech… act like a mech… do NOT get crushed by your own gears…"
"Karl~ come on~! Step it up! Don't make me do all the work~!" Agnes purred teasingly, but even she couldn't hide the tiny note of panic in her voice.
Karl vaulted over a spinning wheel, skidding on the metal floor, and landed behind Erevos' leg. "Yeah… yeah… we are not going down to our own gears! Okay… time to… uh… figure this out—fast."
Steam hissed, gears whirred, and Karl and Agnes scrambled like two humans in a mechanical funhouse, dodging, weaving, and yelling at their rogue creations—all while Erevos just stood there, massive and imposing, somehow still keeping its composure.
"Mmm~ Karl~ you're so adorable when you panic~! Faster~ faster~! Dodge~!" Agnes purred teasingly, clearly enjoying Karl's frantic acrobatics despite the imminent gear apocalypse.
Karl groaned, rolling his eyes. "Oh, shut up, Agnes! This isn't adorable! This is terrifying! They're gonna crash into me!"
The chase continued, the eight gears now forming a chaotic whirlwind of spinning navy-blue death, while Karl and Agnes scrambled desperately—two terrified pilots running from their own power, steam hissing all around, cogs clattering like deranged metronomes.
The eight solid gear projections hovered in front of Erevos, spinning faster and faster, their metallic teeth whirring with an almost manic intensity. Blue sparks shot from the seams of the Drive Regulator as if the system itself was panicking, the sound like a chorus of tiny engines revving to the brink of combustion.
Karl's eyes widened inside the cockpit, his hands gripping the controls tighter than necessary. "Oh… oh no. No. Nope, we are not doing this," he muttered, his voice low, panicked, and yet tinged with that quiet edge of dry humor. He tapped the console lightly, trying to stabilize Erevos' stance, but the spinning gears didn't respond to any input—they were moving with a life of their own.
Agnes' voice rang through his mind, dripping with her usual teasing tone, though this time laced with genuine concern:
"Vrrrmmm~ Karl… they're… they're spinning way too fast~! Ohhh… don't let them catch you like that~!"
Karl squinted at the eight mechanical predators hurtling toward them. "Agnes… are you serious right now? Are these things—like—trying to murder us?" He swerved Erevos backward, dodging the first two gears, the whirring hum turning into a high-pitched screech.
"Nooo~ Karl! You're going too slow~! Vrrrmmm~ push me harder, get away before they—ohhh!" Agnes' playful tone mixed with alarm, each syllable punctuated with the mechanical hum of the spinning orbs.
The next gear zoomed forward like a missile, and Karl ducked instinctively—only for it to slam into the top of Erevos' head. There was a brief, sharp clang—but then, almost impossibly, the gear didn't bounce off or dent the armor. Instead, it melded seamlessly into the head's cerulean plating, clicking into perfect alignment like it had always belonged there.
Karl blinked, a smirk forming amidst the panic. "Wait… that's… that's not going to hurt us?" He muttered, eyebrows raising. "Okay… theory time."
He froze Erevos in place, letting the next three gears rocket toward him. One by one, each gear connected with Erevos' body without resistance. First the left arm, then the right, one along the spine forming a ridge of armored cogs, another over the torso. The two at the legs clicked into place with a satisfying whir, locking in like pistons ready to pump.
Karl's jaw dropped. "Holy—these things aren't hostile. They're… helping?!" He swiveled Erevos slightly, letting the last gear approach, and watched in awe as it shrank, split neatly in half, and perfectly attached to the palms, the shapes resembling mysterious mechanical symbols. His mind raced: This isn't a weapon… it's… gear armor. Full integration.
Agnes' voice purred again, teasing as ever but tinged with excitement:
"Ooooh~ Karl… look at that~! Every piece… right where it should be~! Vrrrmmm~ you're like a surgeon, perfectly precise~!"
Karl shook his head, half-laughing, half-panicked. "Yeah… a very lucky surgeon." He flexed the controls experimentally, testing each new gear panel. Every movement responded seamlessly, the rotating cogs whirring in harmony with Erevos' servos. Steam hissed faintly from vents on the back and shoulders as residual heat was pumped into the newly integrated gear armor, creating a faint mist that shimmered in the dim bunker lights.
And then—the chaos hit a new peak. The reinforced bunker doors, already weakened from prior structural strain, gave way with a thunderous crash. Dust and debris rained down, but Karl didn't flinch. Erevos' massive form pivoted, armored gears clinking, each movement precise. His pulse raced. The integrated gears hummed and spun, a protective symphony of engineering marvel and mechanical instinct.
Karl muttered under his breath, a wry smirk curling his lips: "Well… that escalated quickly. But you know what? I like this."
Agnes giggled in his mind, pure amusement:
"Hnnng~ yes, Karl~ that's it~ feel the connection~ every rotation, every torque… vrrrmmm~ ohhh, I can feel your Drive singing~!"
Karl tightened his fists, feeling the power flowing through the Drive Regulator and into the Trinity Core, through Erevos' body and out to the integrated gear armor. The chaotic, terrifying moment had turned into… controlled precision. The bunker doors may have been gone, but Kurogane Karl and Erevos were more than ready for whatever—or whoever—was about to come through.
And in that brief, perfect calm before the storm, Karl whispered to himself:
"Let's see what else you've got for me…"