Blobbers and Eye both panted as they rested against the walls of the sleek facility they took residence in, its cold metal a surprising relief that cooled the sweat from their journey.

A faint, hollow knocking sound a bit like footsteps, or maybe just a tired machine toiling away for nothing, echoed through the facility. Aside of that, only their breath was heard in the vast expanses of sleek metal tinged blue by the dim lights overhead. Shadows covered the rest of the area, save for the few spaces lit by lamps. The faint light that came from those lamps showed off sleek, tiled floors, and conveyor belts with machinery coated in dust that surely hadn't been active for at least a decade. A faint smell of old oil or gasoline lingered in the air, and added a bit to the eerie feeling brought on by the mist that leaked in from place to place amid the significant parts covered in shadow.

Eye and Blobbers cringed at the sight.

"I don't like the looks of this place," Blobbers winced as he rubbed his hands. "Are you sure she ran in here?"

"Eye'm certain," Eye said as he fluttered forward. "Nothing gets past my impeccable eyesight, after all."

Blobbers' shoulders slunk a little as he glanced around. His frown grew deeper as his eyes met lengthy stretches of machinery only. The faint sounds of mumbling carried themselves over the sounds of mechanical work, and Blobbers flicked an ear.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Blobbers asked as he tugged on Eye's wing.

Eye bobbed up and down, and flew off to the right. "It sounds like it came from here!"

The sounds of muttering and angered mumbles grew louder as Blobbers and Eye sank into the shadows, and Eye cast out a silver laser to act as a lamp while they walked through. Endless stretches of visible machinery, and metal walls, floors, everywhere appeared before them. The only variance was the occasional corridor or corner at first, but then, soft blue light poured through the path!

Eye and Blobbers trailed the light to a door that was creaked open slightly. Eye pushed it open with his wing before he flew inside!

The room inside appeared to a control room of some kind with screens plastered across a metal room with a widely-stretching keyboard set into a rusty counter to accompany. The blue, grainy light of the screens poured over its rusted metal walls, and at its helm was a single swiveling chair. There, the muttering turned to a shocked gasp! The swivel chair spun around…

And inside sat none other than Boomette, whose wide eyes lowered as she sighed.

"Oh, it's just you," she remarked, and sounded a bit more disappointed than she seemed as she turned around and muttered.

Blobbers frowned as he turned to Eye, hopped up, and turned the chair around slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked as he nudged Boomette's shoulder. "You got pretty worked up back there."

"It's nothing you should worry about." Boomette span the chair back to the front and groaned. She pounded the keyboard with her fist, sending a few keys flying before they fell back in place.

"It's just, well, Dyna's been way too self-centered! She's always getting on my case for everything and looking down on me! Even though my girlfriend and I found this place, and brought up the whole idea of repurposing this to begin with, she still takes the whole thing for herself and gets on my case for so much as taking a step! She always looks down on me, but she's perfectly happy to take my ideas…"

"Even though she said that, she's still ranting after all," Eye remarked as his wings drooped.

Blobbers sniffled and rubbed his nose. "Oh, I totally understand!" he cried. Crossing his arms, Blobbers scoffed. "It seems like the captain never appreciates anything I do! It's always 'Blobbers, do this!' and 'Blobbers, do that!' but when I need help, they just run off!" Blobbers turned to Boomette and leaned against the chair. "They even abandoned me when we got caught at a pirate carnival and left me to be taken prisoner! Can you believe that?"

Boomette gasped and turned back to Blobbers. "That's awful! How could they do that?"

"I know! It seems like they only want me around when it's convenient for them!" Blobbers sighed and hung his head. "Otherwise, they're always looking down on me and acting like they'd be better off without me! They just don't know how lucky they are! If I were gone, everything would fall apart! Maybe I should just quit, and then they'll realize!"

"I know, right? Everyone looks down on me because I'm the youngest. They just think of me as some stupid kid!" Boomette shook her head, turned back around, and frowned as she glazed over the many security screens. "Syracuse and I were just going to tackle things ourselves, but Dyna insisted we wouldn't be able to handle it, and we'd just spend the whole time making goo-goo eyes or something, so she demanded to come along and make a whole scene!" Boomette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Heck, I'm always running around, looking for new places to make deals with, and supply tech and stuff, but if you asked her, all I do is laze around all day! She never appreciates anything I do!"

"Yeah! I don't know why I signed up in the first place!"

Boomette's ears fell, and she sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I stuck around cause I wanted to help out and all, especially since everyone else's doing their own thing now. Trollver's got a family of his own, Boomont's moving out and taking it easy, and Trollance's got a new job making maps and other things that has him traveling all over Skylands. I thought Dyna might've been taking it hard since everyone's going, and she's the only one sticking around to take care of the family business, but if this is how I'm gonna be treated, I might as well leave too!"

Eye hummed, flew down beside Boomette and took a seat. He nearly crowded out the right-hand side of the room as he wrapped his wings around his base. "Well, have you every really told them how you feel, then?" Eye asked.

"I've tried, but they don't listen! Every time I talk to the captain about it, he just brushes me off!" Blobbers shouted, throwing his paws in the air. He gritted his teeth, cheeks red as he prepared to rant further, but the sound of Boomette humming silenced him.

"Well, I…" Boomette twiddled her fingers, huffed and stuck her nose up. "It's not like she'd listen, anyways!"

"But you care about her, don't you? After all, you said it yourself—you stuck around because you were worried about her!" Eye reached out a wing and gently nudged the chair. "I'm sure she cares about you, but she might not understand how you feel if you don't sit down and tell her." Eye chuckled and drew back his wing. "I know that from experience."

"You do?" Blobbers chimed in as he poked his head in. "How so?"

Another chuckle came from Eye, and he stretched out his wing once more. "Well, Brawl and eye weren't always as tightly knight as we are now," Eye gestured vaguely. "In fact, there was a time we almost split up for good!"

"There was?" Blobbers and Boomette both exclaimed.

The two of them gasped, and Boomette leaned over in her seat. "That, that's impossible!" Boomette cried. "You two are the most famous team there is!"

"Ah, that may be true now, but back when we were first christened Elder Elementals and started freeing others from Arkeyan control, we had our fair share of bumps in the road. In fact, it all started during one of our first missions…"

§

Tree Rex frowned and parted the leaves from within the massive brush of plants and trees that the Elder Elementals hid inside.

There before them all laid a large building site. It was a monument that showed King Arkus himself as he brandished his sword and stood over the piled corpses of those he toppled, a monument to his sick and twisted conquest… Well, if it had been finished, but it had not.

Instead, its half-finished state stood surrounded by wooden barriers, and masses of blocks heaved away by mabu, elves, humans, dragons, trolls, and more, who all worked with tired faces as they stacked and built away. Above them all, a massive Conquertron glared over the edge. Its yellow eyes shone with the malice that otherwise couldn't be shown on its blank face. Even though it bore no expression, it almost seemed to revel in the moans and cries of the tired beings that trekked along down below, as they slowly, slowly trudged along in their work.

"It's awful," Ninjini gasped. She shuddered for a moment as she turned away before she turned her gaze back on the leaves. "I heard from the Ancients that this site kept prisoners, but I didn't expect there to be so many!"

"I know," Tree Rex whispered back as he pushed the leaves aside. "But, that's why we're here—to take it down." Tree Rex squeezed his fist tight, and stomped further out into the open. "Come on, follow me!"

Tree Rex stormed past the brush and on the very edge of the cliffs, a good distance away from the Conquertron but close enough to catch its attention. He hummed as he held out his arm. His one eye closed as he prepared to aim, and the node on top of his arm sparked with sunlight. He sniped the Conquertron with a single shot, hitting its eye! It was solid enough that the light only bounced off its eye, but the laser threw it off-balance enough that it stumbled, and wavered a bit before it stomped back down. It sent a few beings on the ground flying before it stormed closer to the cliffs.

"Who goes there?" the Conquertron demanded as it reached the furthest it could go without knocking over the construction site. "I must inform you that attacking an Arkeyan officer is a felony in the Arkeyan empire! Whoever you are, surrender yourselves immediately!"

Tree Rex clenched his mighty jaw shut, and yanked his head down to where the other Elder Elementals backed him up. All eyes narrowed, fists clenched tight, and weapons held at the ready while the powers of not just their elements, but of light and darkness, the core of Skylands itself, even, glowed right from their bodies. A bright, shimmering sight perfectly fit for the battle up ahead!

"Alright, just like we planned!" Tree Rex cried. "Elder Elementals, battle formation!"

"Right!" the others called as they split…

But as they split apart, Eye scoffed and turned to Brawl.

"Don't mess this up, alright? We can't exactly risk any casualties!" Eye said.

"Likewise," Brawl signed with fast, furious hands. "Don't go showing off like you usually do!"

Eye gasped, and jolted back in the air before he flung a wing in front of his, well, eye. "Eye do not show off!" If Eye had an eyelid, he surely would've narrowed it in anger, but he didn't, so he flapped his wings as angrily as he could. "Don't tell me you're still bitter that I burned down all those robots before you could even punch one—"

"You almost got us caught that time is what you did! You were so busy blowing things up that you didn't even notice the security officer behind you! If I hadn’t pulled you out of there, we would've been stuck in Arkus's prisons right now!"

"Like I needed you to spot that for me!" Eye shoved himself in Brawl's lack of a face and growled. "If I hadn't noticed, I wouldn't even have the right to call myself a floating eyeball! I could've wiped it out—"

"Cut the chat, Eye! We need you on the aerial team, stat!"

Eye grunted as something yanked against his wing, and he got pulled into the skies before he knew it! He grunted and shielded his eye from the harsh winds that whipped around him. Finally, whoever grabbed him let go, and he flapped away as he hastily jumped through the skies before he could fall and splatter. With a few more flaps, he passed through a cloud, and found none other than Swarm and Ninjini floating and flying beside him.

"What was that about?" Swarm asked as he flicked his antennae.

"Nothing a child like you needs to know about," Eye scoffed back as he flew ahead.

Swarm spat out some kind of bitter, angry insult in the back, but it was left unheard to Eye as he dove down and caught a glimpse of the ground below.

There, the Conquertron babbled out some kind of nonsense and smashed its fists against the ground as Brawl ran off with Thumpback and Crusher hot on his heels. Right as it went to smash them, a group of solar blasts, flames, and robotic bullets hit the Conquertron right in the shoulder! The Conquertron craned its body left and right; it alternated between attempting to smash Tree Rex, Hot Head and Bouncer as they shot away, and then attacking Brawl's team as they led the prisoners down the side of the site.

But, Brawl was the only concern for Eye. Oh, he was so full of himself, thinking he was doing all the heavy lifting while Eye just… Wait, what was it that Eye had to do again? Blurs of purple and sky blue passed Eye by with such speed that it spun him around. He teetered in a wobbly circle for moments before he shook himself down, and he turned down to where Swarm and Ninjini flew for the Conquertron.

"Aerial team, attack!" Ninjini cried in the distance.

That's right, he was supposed to attack! A round shield of bones formed around Eye with a flap of his wings. He shot down fast as he could, and just barely tailed behind Swarm and Ninjini as they crashed right through the Conquertron's eyes! The eyeglass completely shattered and rain down. Only a few shards remained when Eye crashed into the control room and knocked something against the wall. The bones around Eye shattered, and he immediately found himself face to face with an unconscious robot dressed from head to toe in red and gold garb—definitely an Arkeyan controller.

The air turned smoky, and Eye watered as hot, sparking noises burst from behind him. With a few hops, he turned to where Swarm and Ninjini drew their barbs and blades from a broken, fritzing control panel with wiring scattered everywhere.

Ninjini swept him in her arms before he could hop further and zipped off. "Quickly now! It won't be long before those core processors explode!" Ninjini cried.

The three of the hit the air as the faint sound of explosions echoed in the distance. Eye wormed his way free of Ninjini and took to the skies. Thick, black smoke poured out from the Conquertron's eyes as its legs and arms stiffened; it janked and jolted in almost every feasible direction as it slammed into mountains and structures, knocking them down like sandcastles. The smoke from it poured into the skies, leaving them dark and awfully smoky, so Swarm, Eye and Ninjini floated down to the ground.

They all panted as the three of them touched down on the space underneath the cliffs. Footsteps brought their attention to the other Elder Elementals running up, and ugh, Brawl looked so smug. Surely, he was ready to rub things right in Eye’s eye! Thumpback came to them first, and Ninjini immediately floated up to him.

"How's the situation? Is everyone gone?" Ninjini asked.

"Every last prisoner was evacuated," Thumpback said with a nod. "Sihiri's group is bringing them to safety as we speak."

A massive, ear-ringing crash came from behind as the robot smashed into the cliffs behind them. Everyone dashed away as a massive landslide reduced the mountains below to a mountainous pile of rubble instead! Plumes of dust clouded around the area like morning mist, choking out everything else in favor of their dusty, eye-watering nastiness.

Eye coughed as he floated into something cold and hard. He peered up at Brawl, scoffed and flew off to where Tree Rex stood in the center of the group. Tree Rex paid no mind to Eye; he just peered up at the Conquertron as it smashed into mountains and structures alike, and it sputtered out garbled, glitchy garbage.

"You, are, Arkeyan, conquer, build, destroy, regulations two point five state—" the Conquertron babbled as it smashed another mountain down.

Crusher cringed behind them as the mountain collapsed, but the others all had eyes on the Conquertron.

"If that's the case," Tree Rex remarked between cracks of his knuckles, "I'd say it's time to take this thing down!" Tree Rex knelt down, leaped up, and hopped onto one of the still-standing structures. He moved from level to level with ease despite his massive structure. "Conquertron assault formation, go!"

"Right!"

Once again, Eye took to the skies. His vision tinted silver as he zoomed in, and dashed alongside the Conquertron's neck while searing, hot light burst from his eye. Its heat was so bright and hot that it left him watering!

He wasn't the only one burning, either. The Conquertron's neck was left with a bright burning gash across the center of its neck; the rest of it started to rust and decay in shades of silver as the light spread around it, until the light finally engulfed the neck in silver. The neck completely crumbled to dust, and the Conquertron's head crashed down onto its body, casting out dust everywhere while it teetered back and forth in time with its body's sways. The head swung backwards, and a burst of magic slammed into it, knocking it off before it crashed into the ground below!

The body stood stagnant, its only movement being the stumbling of its legs. Even that was short lived as Thumpback's anchor wiped out its kneecaps, and a slash of solar light and sharp leaves courtesy of Tree Rex halved it! The bottom half of the legs stood tall while the body fritzed and sparked, and Eye flew down with the others as they stepped back.

"Quick!" Tree Rex cried as he stormed down a path along the back of a mountain. "It's gonna blow!"

Eye soared over, and bolted down the mountain's side as a massive explosion rumbled the area. The heat of burning crimson flames beat against his back, and the distinct smells of burning wafted in the air. The sounds of crackling firelight joined with that of crashing rocks and crumbling buildings, and the mountain around rumbled and vibrated in time with the destruction of the structure ahead. With all that ruckus, there was no need for anything to be said or seen. Anyone could tell the monument was gone for good!

Eye fluttered down to where the prisoners crowded alongside Sihiri, Vatra and Inochi, and met with a chorus of cheers! He beamed and bowed as he floated up and down, but something shoved him out of the way just before he could speak! Eye grunted as that familiar feeling of cold, hard metal hit him once more, and growled as he turned around to catch Brawl bowing in his place.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Brawl signed. "But please, try not to crowd too much—"

Eye shoved Brawl back, chuckled and bowed. "Don't worry, that Conquertron is gone now, and you have me to thank!" Eye proclaimed.

"You to thank?" Brawl turned around and snarled. "You hardly did anything! Don't tell me you're taking credit for others' work now, too!"

Eye's wings fell down as he growled, and he yanked forward to where Brawl sat. "If I hadn't knocked out the pilot and corroded the neck of that thing, you would be a metal pancake right now! Last I checked, you were busy standing on the sidelines!"

"I was busy looking out for any intruders! Besides, bringing everyone to safety is much more taxing than shooting a few lasers!"

"I could've done that, but could you take down that robot? I was doing far more of the work compared to you!"

Brawl seethed, brought up a hand, and—oh, Brawl did not just give him that gesture! Eye snarled, his eye turning red and swollen as he fluttered in Brawl's lack of a face.

"You take that back! I was the one doing all the heavy lifting while you ran around!"

"And I was the one making sure the very beings we came here to save got to safety! That's far more work than taking down a robot!"

"And taking down a robot's much harder than you think, especially when you're not a metal-headed suit of armor!" Eye chuckled and nudged Brawl. "Oh wait, without me, you don't have a head!"

"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Swarm shouted as he flew down and pushed Eye and Brawl away. "Don't tell me you're fighting again!"

"You two have been bickering ever since we got here," Crusher added as he slid in. "No, for the past week! What's gotten into you?"

"He thinks he did more during this mission than I did!" Eye shot as he pointed a wing at Brawl. "Can you believe that?"

"And he thinks blasting things makes him hero of the hour!" Brawl signed before he pointed at Eye.

Tree Rex winced, walked up and held out his hands. "Now, now, you two, nobody did more than anyone else. This was a team effort."

Eye groaned and turned himself around to Tree Rex. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about. What would you know, anyways?" Eye huffed and glared back at Brawl. "You don't have to deal with the most insufferable partner in all Skylands!"

"Insufferable? how am I the insufferable one?" Brawl signed with hands fast and trembling. "You're the one who's constantly starting things!"

"Because you act like you're better than I am!"

Eye's wings snapped, shooting bursts of cold air down below. The beings they rescued crowded behind Tree Rex's legs, but Eye huffed and pointed his wings back at Brawl.

"You never appreciate how hard I'm trying to make this partnership work! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is, constantly trying to fight as hard as I can with no body and only half the elemental powers the others have? I have to work twice as hard to do just a fraction of what you can do, and I still fight harder, but all I get from you is complaining!"

"Because you're always showing off! You're always jumping in headfirst, and not thinking for a moment how much trouble you're causing for the rest of us! Do you have any idea how many times I've had to pull you out of trouble?" Brawl signed furiously, his hands trembling even more. "If anything, I'm the one who doesn't get enough credit for having to put up with you!"

"So are you saying that you can work without me?"

"Yes!" Brawl's hands spat out at last. "I don't need a partner who's always causing more trouble for me! I don't need a flying load of dead weight who doesn't even do his job right!"

Eye gasped. The part of him that burned with rage completely extinguished, and all he could do was float, trembling as he struggled to stay airborne. Beside him, though the beings talked in confusion, the winces and bated breaths of the other Elder Elementals beside him showed they definitely heard it.

"Come on, now, Brawl, don't you think that's too harsh?" Tree Rex winced as he pulled Brawl aside. "You might have your differences, but Eye's just as much a team member as any of us—"

Brawl grunted as he pushed Tree Rex away. "No, I don't," he signed, and let out a small scoff as he turned to Eye. "In fact, I'm sure I'd be much better off if I were the only Undead Elemental here!"

Eye gasped, and he almost fell down before he collected himself and flapped back up. Something hot and wet dripped down his surface, splashing in pools underneath him—tears, maybe? The suddenness of the whole thing left him struggling to see, much less fly, for his wings trembled and shook. How could Brawl say that about him? He was always working so hard for all of them, for him, too!

Eye sniffed, gulped and turned away.

"Fine then! If that's what you really think about me, I'll just leave!" Eye spat. He flapped off with his eye firmly turned to the front so he couldn't see Brawl's reply. "I don't need you either! I'll just find someone who actually appreciates me!"

"Eye, wait—" Tree Rex called…

But Eye didn't hear. He just flapped further into the jungle.

More of his tears poured down, and they formed a quagmire in the dirt below as he dodged through the thin trees. He finally bumped into one, and it hit him with rough, searing bark that knocked him into the mud. Eye sniffled as he wrapped his wings around his body and wiped off the mud. His vision turned bleary, but from the crying or the mud, he wasn't sure, so he hopped onto something cold and gray and kind of rough as he sighed.

"He, he doesn't know what he's missing!" Eye sobbed as he wiped away his muddy tears with his wings. "That metalhead, he'll probably rush into some robot ambush and get himself burnt up, or tossed into a furnace without me! That'd be it! He's always rushing into things like that!" Eye scoffed and rolled his eye. "And he says I'm the one who's always getting into trouble! That hunk of metal's always rushing in, trying to save the day…"

Eye's wings drooped down to his sides and he passed a breath.

"And he always does."

Well, that wasn't wrong. It seemed like whenever Eye got into trouble, Brawl was always there. When Eye got cornered by Arkeyans, Brawl was the one to knock them down and blow them back; if Eye got trapped, Brawl was the first to pull him out. Heck, Brawl was even the first to suggest they stop fighting and team up! He had the smarts, the strength to go with it too, and with the powers of the Undead and Dark Elements at his fingertips, he had it all! He truly was a force to be reckoned with, partners or not, and with powers like that…

"It's like he doesn't even need me."

Eye sniffed, and a few more tears drenched the rock's front as Eye cuddled himself with his own wings.

"I don't need a partner who's always causing more trouble for me! I don't need a flying load of dead weight who doesn't even do his job right!"

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I am just dead weight." Eye sniffed. "After all, everyone else has all their strengths, all their element's powers at their beck and call, and more! I…" Eye unfolded his wings, and turned down to his reflection in the muddy waters. "All I can do is shoot lasers."

Eye's wings sank down again, and he only heaved a sigh—but then, he shook and hopped off with a scoff.

"Wait, what am I saying? If I'm worthy enough to get the Undead Ancient's blessing, I'm worthy enough of a partnership! He just doesn't know what he's missing! Yes, why am I even letting punches for brains gets to me? He doesn't have a head, much less the smarts to see that I'm the best partner anyone could ask for!" Eye chuckled, spun around and took to the skies. "That's it, I'll just find a partner who actually appreciates what I do! Then he'll really know what he's missing!"

Yes, that was perfect! He had the perfect plan! He'd find a new partner, a great partner, someone who truly did appreciate all his hard work and power, and then he'd make Brawl so jealous that he'd come crawling back! When he did, Eye’d have the perfect opportunity to rub it all in Brawl's face! That'll show him, that'll show that no-good hunk of—

Wait a second, was that rustling Eye heard from the bushes just then? He turned around. His wings drooped a bit at the bush he passed, when the bush across from it began to rustle as well!

"Who's there?" Eye demanded as he jerked over to the other bush. "Show yourself!"

Whoever or whatever was in the bushes didn't come out! In fact, the bushes next to it rustled as well, and more rustled and shuddered around him while footsteps stomped around! Eye shuddered, yet snarled as he charged his pupil with eye set on the bushes. If whoever was in there wouldn't come out, he'd make them!

A bright, solid, silver laser shot right into the heart of the bush. The laser burned its branches, and wilted its leaves as Eye spun around and coated the bushes around in silver light and death…

But right in the midst of it all, a net leaped out of nowhere and wrapped around Eye. It moved so quickly that he couldn't even react! His laser's light faded as he crashed onto the muddy ground, and splashed mud and muddy water everywhere! The net tightened around him while he pushed his wings against its thick, sturdy woven metal cords, and he shot a laser right at it with a grunt. The laser seeped into the wiring and shocked him! Eye cried out, screaming at the top of his lungs as he flailed like a chompy in the grips of a venus flychompy, but the sound of robotic cackling drew him to a stop.

"Well, well, boys! Looks like we've got ourselves a nice little catch!" hollered a blue and gold robot of unmistakably Arkeyan origin as it stepped from the foliage!

A few more identical robots burst out from the bushes and cackled. Their laughter rang in Eye's ears so badly that he had to cover his sides with his wings. Though he towered over them, he was no more than a scared squirrel to them within the confines of this net. These Arkeyans knew it, for they puffed their chests and cackled as they gripped the corners of the net and lifted him up.

"Hey, let me out of here!" Eye hissed as he pressed and pushed against the netting. "Don't you know who you're dealing with?"

"Oh, we know, alright!" the head of the robots jeered. "The weakest of the Elder Elements!"

Eye winced as if he'd been stabbed in the pupil and shrunk away from view. "Weakest?"

"That's right, you little floating, er, something!" one other robot cackled from the back. "We may not know who you Elder Elementals are or what you're doing messin' with our stuff, but once we haul you in and show you off to our supervisors, well…"

The robot sneered as they lifted the net higher, high enough that their face with their jeering, glowing golden eyes met his.

"Then we'll know everything!"

§

"And the cackling of the birds chimed in, jeering in time with the awful laughter of those robots as they carried me away…"

Eye cut short as Blobbers shoved his face in Eye's, his own eyes wide and hands clasped.

"And then what happened?" Blobbers asked. He shook his clasped hands as he spoke. "Did you break free, did they really bring you to those supervisor guys?"

"Well…" Eye cleared his throat, but just before he could speak, his wings perked up at the sound of thumping.

"Before eye start, just what was that?"

Boomette winced, hopped from her chair and jiggled open the door. She peered outside with a few steps, and cast a few glances around.

"Strange, I don't see anything!" Boomette cried as she turned back to the open door. A looming shadow appeared behind her, but Boomette hardly noticed as she waved. "Must have been some old tech or something—"

"Boomette, watch out! Behind you!" Blobbers cried.

"Huh?"

Boomette frowned, raised a brow as she turned around…

But then, she screamed and jumped away as a red hot laser zapped the ground where she once stood, searing it with intense heat! Boomette gasped and stuck to the wall as Eye and Blobbers rushed out the door. They moved in time for all three of them to catch the massive, glowing red eyes that poked out like stars in the night. The ground underneath them shook, and all three only gulped as the sources of those red eyes stepped out from the shadows.

Before them were robots so tall they were only a few feet down from the ceiling, and their robotic bodies were rectangular and bulky like their limbs! The robots’ eyes glowered as dull, low beeps echoed from them, and their stomps shook the ground as they sent the overhead lights swinging! With one chorus of beeps, their eyes glowered and zapped the ground once more, heating it a hot red.

Boomette immediately dug into her pockets, and winced as she felt nothing but cloth. "My laser pistol, where is it?" Boomette hissed, digging further… But then, her eyes went wide and she buried her face in her hands. "Oh no, I must have left it on that battlefield!"

"I, I don't think a laser pistol is gonna do anything against those guys!" Blobbers cried. His arms and legs shook so furiously that they practically would've melted while his teeth chattered.

Eye snarled, lifted himself up, and shot a silver laser right into the core of one robot's eye. But, it just bounced off, sniped an overhead light and shattered its lightbulb! The shattered glass rained down, only to be crunched underfoot by the robots as they surrounded Eye, Boomette and Blobbers with lasers charged and fists tight.

"And I'm afraid you're right, Blobbers!" Eye cried as he hopped back down.

"So what do we do then?" Blobbers cried as he shuddered still.

Nobody had an answer, so they all just backed up close to the wall, and gulped as the robots glared them down.