Author's note: I DARE somebody to read this story without saying "Goo goo gajoob"! On a more serious note, I don't know the Captain's name, so I just made one up. Oh yeah, I neither own Xenogears nor the Beatles! There! I said it!

I Am The Walrus

By Al Kristopher

Captain Walrus of the Thames stood on the starboard side of the vessel with both hands planted firmly on his hips. The omnipresent pipe he smoked was in his mouth, along with the smile of pride, and with the sea air floating in his face and the crash of waves beating against the salvage vessel, it seemed to be the perfect day for a good old-fashioned treasure hunt.

"How're the cranes holdin' up to the weight?" he shouted. The person manning the craned waved his arm and flashed a thumbs-up.

"They're a little resistant, but I think they'll hold up!"

"Don't be too vicious with the treasure!" shouted the Captain. "Fishin' for gold is just like fishin' for a delicious marlin! You gotta tug on your line with strength and firmness or she'll get away on ye! Toledo, increase power output to the cranes!"

"Aye, Cap'n!" A loud cranking sound erupted into the chaotic air, and all of Thames shivered just slightly under the sudden increase in power. The cranes gained a much-needed boost, and the once-heavy treasure became twice as easy to haul up. Captain Walrus and his crew had been especially tenacious about this latest find--not just because the entirety of the salvage vessel depended on what it could find in the ocean, but there had also been a rumor going about that this one treasure was particularly valuable.

In his red overcoat, corncob pipe, and prideful voice, Captain Walrus gave off a powerful impression to everyone who saw him--and with an image as impressive as his, lots and lots of people were able to watch him in action. There was never a time when the demi-human was down or depressed; no, the Captain always had a twinkle in his eye and a proud smile on his mouth, even in the worst of conditions. A problem was just another way for him to prove his valor and skill, and there was no crisis that he could not overcome--hence the reason he was Captain.

The stalwart Captain Walrus had just recently heard of this particular treasure from an old friend of his, Captain Lex Ron Ton of the Rogue's Gallery pirates. Captain Lex was indeed a pirate and a rogue, so of course he and Walrus saw eye-to-eye on many things, and treasure was just one of them. Their last encounter had been a brief but profitable one, in which Walrus and Lex barely had time to cross swords when the human told of the treasure. Of course, everyone and their grandmother knew that the promise of gold always got Captain Walrus' attention, so just whispering about it gained the demi-human's audience.

"A magnificent find," Lex had called it, "the likes of which have never been seen before!"

"Aye, and where might this valuable find be?" inquired the Captain. Lex drew out a tattered map and pointed his finger at it.

"Straight off the coast of Kislev's northern shore, there lies a cache of magnificent undiscovered priceless gems and rubies, all there for the taking!"

"Aye, but why're ya tellin' me this?" asked Walrus. "I know you well enough to suspect somethin'! How can I be sure that you won't double-cross me like ya did last time?" Captain Ron Ton had peered around the room suspiciously, probably to make sure that there were no eavesdroppers, then lowered his voice for added security.

"(The truth is, the treasure's really mine,)" he had whispered. "(I had to dump it all cuz' I was bein' chased by the Kislev navy. Those slimy steam-heads woulda confiscated everything I had before I ever had a chance to use it!"

"And ya want me to go and retrieve it for ya?" said Walrus. Lex nodded his head.

"Aye… I'd get it myself, but… as we speak, I'm bein' chased down by my fiercest rival, the monstrous Black Rose. I can't spare the time nor the men to go down and look for it myself, but if you're there, then nobody'll get suspicious." Walrus had nodded his head in thought, and so far, things seemed reasonably legit (for a pirate, that is).

"Aye, I see what'cha mean now… All your treasure was dumped in the northern Kislev sea for safekeepin', and ya want it back again, eh? But'cha can't get it now cuz' yer bein' chased down by your so-called rival."

"Arr, she ain't no ordinary sea-dog!!" snarled Lex. "That Black Rose is a merciless killer! We've been at each other's throats for years! She'd treat me as bad as the Kislev, I tell ye th' truth!"

"Haaa, I'm sure!" chuckled Walrus doubtfully. "I'm quite certain that Miss Rose and yourself have a very healthy 'rivalry' goin' on…" Lex had grown angry just then, mostly because Walrus had just pressed the right button, and he snapped at the demi-human in a most impolite manner.

"Will ya help out an old friend or not?!" he demanded. Walrus guffawed and slapped his stomach until he had the power to speak again.

"Ghaa hahaaa!! Sure, sure, I'll help ye out, Lex Ron Ton! But in exchange for my services, I'll be expectin' a 35% cut of yer treasure!" Lex Ron Ton was a surprisingly shrewd pirate with more pride than even Walrus knew about, but desperation and greed were his weak spots, and so he agreed (besides, Walrus was also quite a sharp haggler, and knew just how much of a percentage to ask for when dealing with pirates: not too high, but still reasonable).

"Fine, fine," grumbled Lex as he shook Walrus' hand. "T'ain't much anyhow. Sixty-five ain't bad, considerin' how much I trust you and how desperate I am. Most of that treasure has a lot of…… sentimental value to me, if ye catch my drift!"

"Ha!" laughed Walrus. "Captain Walrus knows a drift when he's caught one! You can bet I'll have that treasure for ya or my name ain't the Captain!!"

Now, about three weeks later, Walrus was being good on his oath. The Thames had traveled all the way from Aquavy to Kislev's northern shore, and with the assistance of the underwater Gears, Walrus was able to find the treasure that Lex had told him about. According to the crane operators and the divers, most of the treasure was just the usual gold and jewels in chests, while there were some partial Gears lying around that were worth a little bit of money. Captain Walrus preferred Gears over gold, since the large mechs had more uses to them than just a means of trade, but if Lex Ron Ton was going to be stingy (as Walrus anticipated), then the most he could probably expect was a bagful of rubies.

Still…

"Hoist her up, Dooley!" shouted the Captain, waving his hands in the air like some drunken orchestra conductor. "Set her down right here on deck! I wanna see what's so bloody important about this treasure!"

"Aye, sir!" called the crane operator. The multitude of salvaging equipment slowly drew the boxes and chests of precious valuables from the sea, and placed them carefully on the main deck of the Thames. Several Gears also found their way onboard, and a dozen mechanics and tecchies scrambled forward to appraise the mechanical beasts. Walrus' own eyes were locked on the treasure first.

"Gimme a locksmith up here!" he shouted. "I don't doubt those chests are locked!"

"Aye, Captain!" Crewmembers were already running around to meet Walrus' orders, while the big cheese himself approached the chests. Walrus' left leg had a peg to it, and while most people would still be adjusting to the wooden appendage, it felt almost organic to the Captain, so he had no trouble walking at all (there was still a sound that came from it whenever he stepped on the floor, but that couldn't be helped).

Walrus was able to open three of the seventeen chests there, and as he suspected, they were all filled with miscellaneous valuables, from coins to crosses and even crowns. The contents of the other fourteen would have to wait until the locksmiths arrived; Walrus would also have to be patient for the news on the Gears. Even if the machines were completely busted, they could still be broken down into small spare parts. There was always something broken on the Thames, it seemed, so even a broken Gear wasn't exactly useless.

The smiths arrived ten minutes later and the mechanical appraisers came after them. Captain Walrus let the locksmiths do their duty while he was listening to the report on the Gears, and most everything he heard was satisfactory.

"Model HD22-RX43 is completely operational," said a tecchie. "However, it design is incompatible to underwater use, so we'll probably have it used on the deck."

"Good, good! And the others?"

"Model AE-62-RF4 is partially damaged. It'll cost more money to fix it than to break it down, so I suggest we take it apart. It's underwater-compatible, so maybe we can use the scraps on the HD22."

"Aye, a fine suggestion! What about the other two?"

"One is completely useless," sighed the third tecchie. "We'll have to use it for parts. The other one seems okay, but we can't make it inside the cockpit to be certain."

"Well, there's no rush," said the Captain as he placed his hands behind his back. "We can rendezvous with Lex at our own leisure. He's a rather busy man, being pursued by Kislev and that lady pirate o' his, so I think it'd be best if we didn't interfere with him for the time being. Mola, you and the other tecchies get to work and disassemble those Gears we can't use! The engine room's been screamin' for new parts, and the screw elevator looks to be a little rusty as well."

"Sir!" they barked, and about half of the men surrounding Walrus ran off to perform their work. The whiskered Walrus then faced those men of his who had no technical skills.

"The rest of you make an account of that treasure. I trust that you won't steal any of it for yourselves?"

"No, sir!" they shouted.

"Good! I wanna know just how much we've been given! I trust that Lex Ron Ton, but not very much, so I'll wanna know just how much I'm entitled to!"

"Sir!" The other men ran off to join the locksmiths, who had just opened up the final stubborn chest. Walrus smiled proudly as he watched them spill out the contents, while his attention also focused on the men who were disassembling the Gears. Things were going smooth as always on the Thames, what with a treasure reclaimed, a friend's debt to collect, and a few new parts to install. This was just part of what Walrus enjoyed about being a free man on the sea, the other part being the sea itself.

"I'm gonna go have a drink," he said to the men. "When you're done, come tell me and I'll treat you all to one on the house! How does that sound?"

"Hooray!" they shouted. "Hooray for the Captain!" Walrus laughed out loud, and raised a mighty flipper for all the world to see.

"Remember, men!" he exclaimed. "All work and no play makes ya dull! And you know what I say to that!

MEN…

OF THE SEA…

ARE NEVER DULL!!!" And with that, Captain Walrus retired to the beer hall, and began to plan his next move.

After guzzling back a few big ones, Captain Walrus leaned back in his chair and began doing the math. He was planning on asking Lex to give most of his 35% cut in Gear parts, since he needed those more than jewels. The stingy pirate would probably refuse (for what intelligent man never had a use for a Gear?) and insist on the less-useful valuables in the chests, and there would probably be some heated haggling going on for awhile. Captain Walrus truly was a man of the sea, so he could not boast the skills of a merchant of Dazil or Aveh, but he was quite shrewd for one so seabound, and could definitely talk his way into just about anything. But against a fellow man of the sea like Lex……

Well, al least I don't betray his trust by squealin' to the Black Rose, grumbled the Captain to himself. If that sea-dog Lex couldn't trust me even a little bit, he never would've laid an eye on me. It's good business to stay neutral, but it's better to have a few friends around to rely upon…

As Walrus basked in his thoughts and his beer, several of the tecchies came storming in with their bodies entirely covered with grease and oil. A blind man with no sense of smell could tell that they had been working on the recently-discovered Gears--in fact, the Captain didn't even have to twitch a whisker to notice their presence.

"And a fine day to you lads," he said, waving his hand blindly in the air. "Tell me, are ye finished already? I know you're fast workers, but ye sure ain't been this fast in years."

"It's not what you think, Captain," said one of the men. "We were screwing around with that Gear we couldn't access, and eventually got inside the cockpit to check out its statistics. But when we searched around, we also found something that we think Captain Ron Ton was unaware of."

"Eh?" Walrus tipped his hat out from his eyes and span his chair around so he was gazing at the tecchies. One of them, probably the one who had spoken, was holding what appeared to be a very old scroll. It was yellowed and tattered with extreme age, and how it was able to even remain intact without disintegrating was a marvel. Walrus carefully took the roll in his hand, and snipped the seal off as gently as he could.

"Looks like this goes back 500 years ago," he muttered to himself. "……Or maybe even longer than that. From what the old folks tell me, this sure don't look like it came from the Zeboim era. Yes, I wouldn't doubt that this little piece of paper is older than the city of Nisan, but not by much!"

"How can you tell that, Captain? Do you know what it is?" Captain Walrus smiled back at his men and let out a guffaw.

"Haven't a clue!" he chortled. "I was just spoutin' words, tryin' to sound all scholarly-like! Bah, I'm not the type who can tell these things apart! Get, uh, Fyshon in here! He'll know how to read it!" Several of the men saluted and ran off to get old man Fyshon, one of the top appraisers on the Thames. He was as skilled as he was old, and his eyes were as sharp as his hair was white. Captain Walrus employed him solely to determine the true value of any treasures he had salvaged, and so far, Fyshon had been worth his weight in gold, so to speak.

A moment later, the men came back with the wrinkled Fyshon being dragged after them. As usual, he was spouting something about "improper manners" and "barbaric buffoons", and even around the Captain, he wasn't that friendly.

"Well, if it isn't my tusked friend the walrus…" he sneered as he brushed the dust off his sleeves. "What manner of rubbish have you dug up this time!" Walrus, ignoring the man's babbling, slammed his hand on the table that had the scroll on it.

"My men discovered this thing while looking inside a Gear. I was hoping you'd know what the devil it was."

"Charlatan," grumbled Fyshon as he peered at the scroll. "It's a wonder I'm still in your service, what with the way you--hello, what do we have here??" The sudden interest in Fyshon's creaky voice made even Walrus surprised, and everyone stood on tip-toe as if it would help them see any better.

"What? Did you find somethin'?"

"Shush!" snapped Fyshon. "Do not breathe on me like that. It is very disturbing." The men grumbled but declined an apology, leaving the ancient man to examine the worn-out treasure with more privacy. With the delicacy that only older people have, Fyshon pinched the edge of the paper and held it up in the light. He adjusted his magnifying lens back and forth several times, and let out a little hum every so often.

"The paper itself is worthless," he said flatly. "A beggar wouldn't take it from you, not even to burn. It has no use save for the refuse pile."

"What?!"

"Hush up," muttered Fyshon. "I only said that the paper was worthless, not what was written on it. That, my so-called friends, is the only thing that prevents me from wadding this up and throwing it away."

"So what in bloody Hades is on it?" demanded Walrus. Fyshon grunted again and curled his nose at the walrus.

"…Any old fool can see that it's a treasure map," he said. "Whomever owned the Gear before it was unearthed must've kept this document inside, then sealed it off. I wouldn't know how your men opened such a thing, but it seems as if they have stumbled upon something far more valuable than gold or rubies--or the Gears you found."

"Gahh, is it possible?!" snarled the Captain. "Is there really a treasure out there that valuable?" Fyshon shrugged indifferently.

"It's probably worth more than your puny imagination can grasp," he muttered. "Of course, this is no 'keepsake of God', but if I were you, and I thank the stars I'm not, I would do whatever I could to get this treasure. Enlist the aid of your pirate friend if you want, or keep the whole thing to yourself. I don't care."

"Now wait just a minute, old man!" shouted a tecchie. "You say that this is an old map, but how can we be sure? Where does this thing lead us, anyway?" Fyshon muttered something nasty and groaned at the man's base ignorance.

"If you bothered to get any education at all, then you'd be able to read this thing!" he hissed. "The language is old, but I'm sure your well-traveled Captain can read it."

"Aye, he's right," said Captain Walrus suddenly. As Fyshon was talking, the good Captain had taken the liberty of peering over his shoulder and examining the parchment. It was indeed a map of some kind, with a definite legend and some faded directions to it. From what Walrus could tell, the map seemed to be in the drawing and writing styles of the legendary Green Eagle, a hearty and fierce pirate that had been the model for countless buccaneers, Walrus, Lex, and Black Rose included.

"I can read this thing," continued the Captain. "An' from what I can tell, I think it might've belonged to old Green Eagle himself!" A gasp of awe and amazement rose up from the salty sailors, and a few muttered how unbelievable it had been to just stumble across a record of the Green Eagle's treasure, especially one that had not been confiscated by the Ethos.

"Are you serious, Cap'n?" whispered a doubtful worker. Walrus gave the man a broad smile.

"I ain't bluffin'!" he declared. "Boys--and you girls who I overlooked--this map here might very well lead us to a treasure far greater than the Gears we've been digging up."

"I believe that's what I just told you," grumbled Fyshon. Walrus shooed the old man away with his hand and continued to rally his followers.

"…Old fool… We don't need him anymore, right boys?!"

"Hurray!!!" Walrus beamed like the old sea-dog he was (or not…), and began giving out orders without a moment's hesitation.

"Aha, start the engines and power up the thrusters! Load the treasure up--all of it--and make sure it's secure. Assemble all the Gears and the spare parts in another place, as well! Make sure everything's out in the open, but keep that paper here! Captain Lex Ron Ton can have all 100% of his treasure for all I care; it's this map that's sparked my interest!!!"

"…Somethin' fishy's goin' on, and I don't mean the catch of the day," said Captain Lex Ron Ton. Of course, considering the fact that Captain Walrus was relinquishing almost all of his 35% cut, he had a reason to doubt the tusked one. Walrus gave Ron Ton his proudest smile and let his eyes twinkle as he assured the pirate that all was well.

"I just thought… well, maybe I could take all these Gears, and let you have what's left. That about adds up to 35%…"

"Huh, no chance!" snorted Lex. "Do ya think I'm dense? I know you--you'll probably use'm wrong or somethin'. You can have the broken Gears, sure, cuz' they ain't worth jack to me, but lemme keep the good ones."

"That's what I'm saying," noted Walrus. "I don't want the treasure, just the Gears. I'd be glad to take the broken ones off your back…" Shrewd Captain Ron Ton rubbed his smooth chin thoughtfully, and tried to peer his way past Walrus' smile. The sly demi-human was definitely up to something, Lex could tell. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to hang around and inquire further--Black Rose would be after him again soon, along with half the Kislev navy, so for the moment, he had to trust the lesser of three evils.

"D'arr, all right," sneered Lex. "you can have yer stinkin' Gears. But only on one condition--your men have to help my Rogue's Gallery load up the rest of the cargo."

"Aye, sounds reasonable," agreed Walrus, and the tusked Captain turned around to bark orders as usual. Mentally, though, he figured that the temporary loss of time and manpower was worth it. Captain Ron Ton doesn't know about that treasure map--at least, I don't think he does. Sure, we'll let him off easy this time. After all, all we really needed were those Gear parts…

Four hours passed before Captains Lex and Walrus could wave farewell to each other, and it was clear that the former still had a look of suspicion on his face. He had to shove his thoughts aside for the time being, however, as he was in kind of a rush to leave. Captain Lex didn't fear the Black Rose nor the Kislev navy--he was just being cautious. Walrus let him think what he wanted (especially about his "rival"), and allowed the pirate Captain to leave easily. On the surface, it seemed as if Lex had become the richer man, but if the map was as precious as Fyshon claimed, then Walrus would indeed have the last laugh.

"…Set sail for the lighthouse near the ruins of Zeboim," he muttered once Ron Ton's Rogue's Gallery galleon had sailed away. The mates standing behind him all saluted. "…And give that map to Hans. He knows the lay of the land pretty well for a dolphin."

"Sir!" The men scrambled towards the bridge, leaving Walrus with his hands folded behind his back and his pipe billowing out smoke. Mentally, he wondered what sort of treasure awaited him there in the darkness of the forgotten Zeboim city. Only a few people, including the loveable Elvis impersonator Big Joe, really knew what was down there, so Walrus had to prepare his men for anything. But if it had been drawn up by the legendary Green Eagle, then it was surely worth the trouble.

Captain Walrus' three strongest Gears submerged into the water in search of the treasure mentioned on the ancient map that had been found in one of the Gears Captain Lex had "borrowed". The treasure itself might or might not have actually been inside the dead city of Zeboim, so Walrus' gears actually split into two groups of three, half going in the water and half going in the city. Captain Walrus led the group that explored the city, and Hans led the group that went down beneath the waves.

As carefully as a king, Walrus and his two men rode the elevator into the quiet bowels of the ancient city of Zeboim. The map that had been found was brand-new compared to the ruins in the old city, which was roughly four-thousand years old. Walrus had only seen a few people hailing from that era, perhaps the most notable being Big Joe himself, so he didn't have a lot to go on as he and his men went into the ruins. Walrus' own Gear was hardly top of the line, but it was the best one he owned. His other two men, Porkins and Dak, also had fairly good Gears.

"Sure is dark down here," grumbled Porkins in his mumbling voice. "Can't see a bloody thing. This Gear have any lights, Cap'n?"

"Yours doesn't, but Dak's does," replied Walrus. Stimulus-response kicked in and Dak's Gear activated its headlights, giving partial illumination to the darkened city. Thankfully, the area wasn't flooded with water, nor was it bracingly cold or sizzling hot--but then again, there was a definite musky chill in the air, the kind that sent shivers down even the hardiest of spines. Walrus and his men were in a whole other category, however, and only the weakest out of all of them had any kind of fears; the rest ate danger up like Hob-jerky.

"So what did that map say, Cap'n?" asked the younger Dak. Walrus shrugged inside his Gear.

"How should I know? All it said was that the treasure was near the ruins of Zeboim. That Green Eagle wasn't too specific about anything else except for its general location, so it looks like we're gonna have to look for it."

"Great," grumbled Porkins. "And I don't suppose you know what the treasure is?"

"Nah, but I figure we'll know it when we find it." Porkins grumbled again, but followed his Captain anyway as the demi-human marched into the dead city.

The abandoned Zeboim city was like something out of a terrible dream, or perhaps a beautiful nightmare. Not only was the entire place submerged in darkness, but the sheer emptiness and silence of the place was extra creepy. Only men with strong constitutions could explore those empty caverns of steel and mortar, but perhaps nobody could quite take in the whole scene. Even Captain Walrus held his breath as the three Gears wandered through the large ruins, and he had seen virtually everything there was worth mentioning in the world.

There was a definite sense of foreboding--and forbidding--that hung in the air. No matter where the Gears went, their pilots felt as if there were a hundred eyes watching them all the time, forever keeping a silent gaze on the trio of intruders. Their suspicions were baseless, of course, but even a grown man could feel fear…

"Pretty scary stuff," whispered Dak into his transmitter. "What do you make of it, Cap'n?" Walrus blew out some steam before responding.

"…Haa… I haven't a clue. Say, I wonder if Hans has found anything. Hans! Do you copy?" A pause.

"Aye, Captain!" Hans' transmission was barely audible thanks to the distance of the two teams. "Found anything yet?"

"I don't see a blasted thing," swore the demi-human walrus. "Heck, I don't even know what this thing looks like. You seen anything?" A pause.

"Not really."

"Hmm… Well, let's keep lookin' for awhile. I'll say that if something don't turn up in an hour, we get more people down here."

"Yes sir," came Hans' reply. "But we don't have many more Gears in stock. The most we could send out would be two per team."

"That'll have to do," reported Walrus. "This place is way too big for just the three of us to explore. You'd think the treasure would be a little obvious, but--"

"Hey, Cap'n!!!" Porkins' shout caused Walrus to interrupt his transmission, and the Captain demanded to know what was so important. "Have a look over there," said Porkins, using his Gear to point towards one of the ruined buildings. "Now is it just me, or did I see something glinting off of Dak's lights?"

"Let me see," said Dak, and he aimed his light beam to where his partner had been pointing. Since the light was not blindingly powerful, the trio could make out something shining in the distance, reflecting Dak's light as Porkins said.

"Looks like we found something, Hans," said Walrus into his transmitter. "Hey, get three of the Gears to come down here and help us take a look. We might need the extra manpower to unearth this thing."

"Roger that, Captain. Who should I send?"

"Let's have Piett, Veers, and Needa. They'll know what to do." A pause.

"Roger. Hans out." Hans' transmission faded, leaving Walrus, Dak, and Porkins there all alone.

"Let's see what we can't do by ourselves," said Walrus. "Dak, Porkins, it seems like you could squeeze through if you're on foot. Why don't you two have a look and report to me what you find? I'll watch out for anything suspicious in this Gear."

"Aye, Cap'n." Walrus had to wait a minute for the two men to hop out of their Gears, and a few more minutes as they walked from the tall mechs to the small doorways in the ruins. Walrus figured it was better to have at least one person standing watch just in case something nasty came out, and since his Gear was a little stronger, he volunteered for the job.

"Find anything?" he asked after awhile. Porkins' transmission was understandably weak.

"…aybe… …can't determine……ound. Looks like a…… outta gold, or something."

"What's that? I didn't copy."

"Something… outta gold! It's made out……!" Walrus sighed again, and tried to piece together Porkins' transmission. Something made out of gold? But what was it?

"Do you think you can bring it out here?" he asked. A pause.

"…need the others…… heavy…"

"All right," sighed Walrus. "Come back to the Gears and wait. We may need to force it out, whatever it is."

An hour passed before Veers, Needa, and Piett arrived in their Gears. Hans had wondered whether Walrus wanted his own unit to assist as well, but the feisty Captain insisted that there might still be a treasure in the ocean, so he left Hans in the drink for a little while longer. By the time the other three Gears arrived, Walrus had concluded that the buildings needed to be blown away for the object to be retrieved. Although he hated to see pieces of the fading Zeboim culture destroyed, he figured the treasure to be worth even this loss, and gave the go-ahead for his team of five to start smashing things up--which of course they did.

After wrecking many square meters of construction and clearing away the debris, what sat there in wait was definitely worth all the time, power, and sacrifice that Walrus and his men had gone through. This was not just an ordinary waiting in store for the salvagers, no. This was a legendary, priceless monument to glory and power, and its shimmering golden plating was proof of its inestimable value. Put simply, it was a pirate's galleon made entirely out of gold. From stern to port, from ventral to dorsal, from mainmast to poop deck, literally everything on the vessel was made from gold. It was as if King Midas had gone ballistic on the thing, and laid his magical fingers everywhere he saw fit.

"By Davy Jones!!" gasped Walrus with amazement. "I… I do believe that this is the legendary pirate vessel, El Dorado! Why, just look at it, men! It's sparkling like the sun!!"

"Wow! Incredible!!" they sighed. "That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"Hey, Captain!" called Dak. "If this thing is made out of gold, then how are we gonna bring it up to the surface? You know that it won't float, and it's too valuable a piece to melt down!"

"Dak's right!" grumbled Walrus. "This is no time to celebrate! Men, put your thinking caps on and brew up some ideas on how we're gonna use this thing!"

"We could always keep it here," suggested Veers. "I mean, the thing's bigger than the elevator we used to get here!"

"But then again, how'd it get down here in the first place?" asked Needa. "This was obviously here well after the extinction of the Zeboim culture. What goes down should also come up, right?" Walrus rubbed his whiskery chin, and thought so hard that he nearly had a migraine.

"Arr, you're right," he muttered. "I don't wanna leave here without that ship, but unless we can find some kind of cave to hide it in, it really doesn't do us any good. Blast! If only this thing could--oh, I dunno, if only it could fly!!"

"That's it!!!" exclaimed Piett. "Flying! Captain, you're a genius!!"

"Piett, I was only--"

"No, think about it, Captain!" exclaimed the man. "If we install something on the vessel, like what's on our Gears--maybe an antigravity device or something--wouldn't it technically be able to fly??" Piett allowed a pause for his Captain to stew over this new development, and from the occasional hum and grunt from Walrus, he was taking a shine to it.

"…Hmmmmm…… A flying pirate ship… Well, I suppose it is possible. Arr, if the Thames had something like that in her arsenal, then we'd never have to worry about any malicious outside forces! The thing's big enough to house all the people on there, so… Well, I suppose that if it can be done, I say… go for it!"

"Right away, Cap'n!" shouted the men. "We'll use a few of the scrapped Gear parts that Captain Lex let us have."

"Aye, you're right!!" blurted the walrus. "That sea-dog let us have all those parts! Har, and we already found a use for them, harharhar!! All right, men, I trust you to do your job! If you can get it to fly, that'd be great, and if not…… Well, I'll just have to find a cave to hide it in, then! HAR, it'll be the world's most valuable decoration!!"

"Sir!!" The men eagerly set about their work, a small number of them breaking off so they could retrieve the antigravity parts, and the other half remaining to fix the ship so it could have the devices installed. Technically, anything within reason could have an antigrav unit attached to it, provided it was large enough, so it appeared there would be no problems with this shining ship.

It took the crew of the Thames about five whole hours to install the device, and about five minutes to fly it out of the ruined city. Once the El Dorado had broken out of its earthly shell, its bright illumination from the glow of the sun was even more spectacular, and everyone cheered as the vessel sailed around the Thames. It finally lowered to the point where it was just hovering above the water, wherein Walrus and his crew leaped out off the gangplank and back onto the Thames. Walrus had assigned Porkins the task of finding a place to store the vessel, and it would probably remain there until needed.

"I'd hate to see the look on poor Captain Ron Ton's face when he discovers what he missed out on!" laughed Walrus triumphantly. "…That is, if he finds out! Hahahahahahaha!!!"

"Hahahaha! Three cheers for the Captain!!" shouted his crew. Every man and woman aboard the Thames raised a mug of beer for Walrus, and drank them all simultaneously; Porkins waved at the Captain and the Thames as he flew away, and Walrus had every belief that the tubby man, aptly-named as he was, would definitely find a place to keep the golden ship until it became useful again. In the meantime, it would remain another proud decoration in Walrus' ever-growing collection of treasure. Poor Lex Ron Ton would literally die if he had heard the news.

"Ahhh, what a day this has been!!!" beamed Captain Walrus as his new treasure sailed off into the distance. "I wonder what sort of trouble and treasures we'll find tomorrow!

I SUPPOSE…

ONLY TIME…

WILL TELL!!!!!" And with that, the main man of the sea went inside his quarters to fix himself a drink.

THIS…

IS…

THE END!!!