#390 – Echoes of the Past – In search of possible pieces of Lojack that may have been spread through history, Araneae, Phase, Angelus, Battletron, and Kensai travel to Mount Ashigara in Japan, the location they believe to be the focal part of the chronal storm more than a millennium prior. After they recover a piece of armor from a Japanese collector, Rune arrives and transports them all to Argentina, the site of another man who has amassed a vast storehouse. The Guardians agree to protect his treasures and set up a successful ambush in an archive under his mansion, corralling Brain and Brawn soon after they arrive, though Intuition is able to teleport away with Spirit, Will, and Passion. After removing an energy artifact from a Byzantine statue, the heroes realize that each piece has an additive effect on the others and secure their three sections far away from each other. They speculate that there may be as many as three distinct Lojack heirs who successfully converted paranormals, each with different goals and abilities. The party travels to Mexico, only to find that a Lojack heir beat them to another relic. After some time spent researching and testing a piece, they interrogate Brain and Brawn. In Belgium, investigating the mysterious Mr. Jones who hired them, the group realizes he is searching for an artifact there. Using their superior technology, they find it first and Araneae carefully removes it. The champions successfully ambush and defeat Jones, who proves to be another of Lojack’s heirs, but an artifact on their adversary is teleported away before they can acquire it. Makeshift arrives and helps identify the relics; they prove to be a match for Kubera rather than Lojack! They learn that Lojack, back when he battled the Time Guardian, was likely enslaved by someone else. The team, flying in the Guardian Angel, secures another object from a remote location in Siberia, but learns that in China, the zombie-like minions of one Lojack heir defeated the robotic followers of another. Battletron is examined, and the adventurers learn that he was preset to get involved; they also learn of alien influence in his construction and discover a message to find Kubera. Kageryu joins them in Japan, where Kensai reveals that he built Kintetsu; together he and his robot are Tamonten/Kubera! He was also the fabled Golden Child of legend, brought to Earth in a lightning strike, as well as a master samurai during pivotal historic battles. The gathered artifacts are pulled into the ancient warrior, who they implore to help them in the final battle against the heir of Lojack, who has accumulated the remainder of the pieces.
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