Chihiro panted and collapsed on the warm metal floors, and her hands became the only thing keeping her body suspended up. Beads of sweat dripped down on the warm metal floors as the sounds of metal banging against metal and churning, spinning conveyor belts rang in her ears, Her vision blurred as she lifted up her heavy, heavy head to catch a glimpse of the road ahead.

Amid endless bogs of gray, the lights that shone from the other portal masters' blurry bodies sparkled like stars, a perfect guiding light until the tension faded and her vision started to clear. Chihiro grunted as she crawled over and rested herself next to a mass of green and pink she guessed was Inochi. The chilling feeling of ghastly energy paired with a feeling akin to walking outside on a fresh spring day confirmed it.

"Are you okay?" Inochi asked, and that same fresh spring feeling grew stronger as cool hands laid on Chihiro's shoulders. "Here, just rest a bit."

Chihiro nodded and leaned her head against Inochi's side (which was surprisingly solid for Inochi being a ghost and all), and a warm, green glow fell over her. Visions of fresh, grassy fields filled with flowers, clear blue skies, and springs breezes came over her for a moment. When the glow faded, Chihiro found herself staring right at Inochi, the haze in her head fading by the second! Chihiro smiled and leaned against Inochi's body, but pulled away while Inochi nodded and grew less solid.

Turning her gaze at the massive strips of dormant assembly lines barren of machinery and the tall balconies above, Chihiro frowned and drummed her fingers against her lap for a second. She peered up at the overhead lamps, and then the boxes of what she guessed were machine parts. A couple of groans brought her to the side across from her. There, the rest of the portal masters leaned down and caught their breaths. A red glow came from a few, but quickly faded as they hit cold metal—save for the one surrounding Vatra, which still burned bright.

"What were you thinking, Vatra?" Nemir sniped, his face turning cross as he finished propping Vatra against some boxes.

"I don't know, maybe I was thinking about how to save your sorry asses?" Vatra hissed as he slapped away Nemir's hand. He grunted, leaning over a bit as he clutched his chest, but still popped a glance at Nemir. "If I hadn't burned the metal away, you'd still have to deal with all those lasers bouncing everywhere and the robots!"

"The robots we wouldn't have had to fight if you hadn't agitated them!" Nemir drew back with a scowl on his face as he turned around. "What's gotten into you? Normally you're much more level-headed than this, but ever since you came here, it's like you've been—"

"Trying to hurry this thing up so we can stop whoever this Kaos person is from causing an Arkeyan revival? Protecting the innocent for the horrors of supervillainy? The things we're supposed to do?" Vatra grunted as he forced himself up. He still swayed from side to side, and his feet slipped from tile to tile as he hunched over and grunted while clutching his chest. Still, he found it in him to push up and thrust his face in Nemir's. "I don't know if all those years spent sleeping made you forget, but the Arkeyans are a serious threat, even moreso in the hands of someone who's conquered Skylands already! I'm not going to stand around and wait for some shoddy talk to end when there's real danger bubbling under the surface!"

"And I'm as concerned as you are" — Nemir pushed Vatra back, a stern glow in his nearly-black eyes — "but rushing into things headfirst will only make things worse!"

"And so will waiting around and twiddling our thumbs!"

A couple of thumps came from the door, and Chihiro winced as she turned to Vatra and Nemir.

"Uh, guys?" she started.

Vatra's eye twitched, and he snarled as he turned to Chihiro. "If you're going to start with me about how I should've listened to you—"

Another, louder set of thumps came as the door began banging. Something on the other side slammed against it so hard that the door stretched out and nearly burst from its hinges! The dents on the door remained, leaving it in more of a crescent shape as something kept banging, and the sound of mechanical shouting echoed as light poured in from the spaces between the door and hinges.

Chihiro gulped as the thumping from the door grew louder,. "Actually, I was going to say that it looks like they found us!" she cried.

Both Vatra and Nemir's eyes fluttered, but Sihiri just jumped to her feet.

"Quickly!" Sihiri shouted, and flicked out her hands while her purple glow consolidated at her palms.

Around her, that purple glow spread to the assorted parts and crates that littered the room, and in turn they soared past her and piled up at the entrance. Sihiri narrowed her eyes as she conducted the magic with her hands.

"Barricade the entrance! That should buy us some time!"

A large crash came as the door burst open. The assorted parts that sat at its feet flew all across the room, and crates splintered as the robots wheeled in! The door laid crushed underneath their spiky wheels as they rolled in, arms at the ready. Beams of red light fanned out from their lenses as they wheeled back in, and the moment those red beams hit the portal masters, the robots spun their heads around and shouted out in angry beeps and cries!

"Surrender now, intruders!" the robots cried.

"Actually, let's save this for later!" Vatra cried as he hopped onto the assembly lines and dashed off. "For now, we need to get out of here!"

"You're telling me!" Chihiro cried as she hopped off.

Lasers shot out from overhead as everyone ran against the smooth rubber of the conveyor belts. A few gasps came as they ducked underneath the lasers, leaped down, and dodged another before hopping back on! Sihiri cast out a shield as the next round of lasers came screeching in, and left the lasers to smash into the shield and explode into puffs of light as she escaped with the others.

"There, I see an opening!" Nemir cried as he pointed towards a balcony above the endless stretch of production lines with a door at its very end.

Sihiri grinned, but soon cringed as the sounds of ramming and cracking came behind her. She clutched her skirts, running and bouncing as fast as she could before she finally leaped up. Her bright violet glow turned even brighter as she floated up and reached for the balcony's edge—but right as she did, a mechanical arm phased right through her, and shook her so much that she collapsed right on the conveyor belt!

Sihiri grunted as she pushed herself up and dusted off her skirts. As she did, the world around her creaked and groaned like a machine coming to lift. Sihiri lifted her head, her eyes set on the balcony—except it almost appeared to be moving away!

"Wait a second, why am I moving?" Sihiri remarked as she peered down at the conveyor belts.

The flaps at the end of the belts fluttered in the wind as assorted machinery emerged from the space behind them. Sihiri frowned for a moment as she and the box moved down the conveyor belt line. A mechanical arm swept down, grappling for the machine as Sihiri ducked underneath it.

She popped back up and gasped as the sounds of shouting reached her ears! With a jolt of her head, she glanced back at the other portal masters to find that they had just as much trouble as she did! Behind her, they all scrambled over machinery and ducked underneath oncoming arms. Behind them, the robots turned to each other as one released a lever from its grip!

"Looks like they've started up the belts!" Chihiro cried as she screamed over an engine, squealed, and ducked underneath a mechanical arm as it swept right over her. "Be careful!"

Another squeal came from behind as one of the arms yanked away Inochi's pendant behind them, and her ghost faded out as everyone's eyes fell on her! The arm lifted up Inochi's wheel, its green light glistening and reflecting on the arm's surface, but that quickly dulled as Chihiro jumped onto the arm and wrapped it tight! The arm whirred, shaking back and forth as Chihiro screamed and clung to it tight.

Chihiro’s fingers twitched and sweated as she flew from side to side, and she dug them in tight as she could while bright purple flares of magic crackled and burst from her. Chihiro dug further in as the magic started to pulsate, and an electrical surge of purple lightning burst from her fingertips as it fried the machine! The lightning coursed through the mechanical arm, shooting sparks into Chihiro's face and showering them down as it janked in every direction it could. Finally, a loud clunk came and smoke burst from its gaps.

It went limp and dropped Inochi's wheel on the floor! Chihiro dropped down soon after, lifted the wheel from the floor, and charged it with magic with a single rub of her fingers. The wheel floated back out as a green burst of light shone from it, and Inochi fell to the ground and panted. Chihiro knelt down and gently nudged her arm, but Inochi smiled.

"That was close," Inochi panted as she stood up, "too close."

Inochi and Chihiro both smiled at each other, but shouted, collapsing to their knees as a bright flash of purple light came from the back! Shattering hit the air as the fragments of Sihiri's barrier fell before the two. They both gasped, and jumped back onto the conveyor belt as the robots zoomed right for them with laser guns readied!

Beside them, Vatra winced as he glanced back at the robots, snarled and snapped his fingers. Fires burst from his fingers, and he cried out as he shot them back at the robots, but they shifted gears and shot at his flames instead! Massive explosions bombed the entire area; they blew up machines and crates, and even parts of the construction line with their heat.

Vatra backed away before one explosion burst near him and tossed him off the belt. He grunted as he slammed against the walls while a shadow cast over him, and he only had moments to look up before a massive engine crashed down and smashed right in his place! His ghastly form completely disappeared, crushed underneath the metal weight of the engine!

The robots beeped, wheeled around the engine, and lowered their weapons. A chuckle sounded around them while a red wheel floated up from the side of the wreckage, and Vatra reformed before them once more!

"I suppose being a ghost does have some benefits," Vatra remarked.

The robots snarled as he hopped back onto the belts. He tried to fly right through an engine on the line; right as he did, his pendant banged against the engine's metal and he shuddered, his form dissolving and reforming in minutes! Vatra grumbled, pulled back, yet jumped ahead as a laser burst slammed into the engine and blew it to bits. Vatra winced as he slid away from the wreckage, or at least, tried to, but his pendant slid over a lever on the wall and left him stuck!

Vatra grunted as he yanked it away, grabbed onto the lever and yanked it down, sliding his pendant off!

"Finally!" he gasped, catching his breath as his pendant rested against his chest. Vatra smiled and rubbed his pendant free of some stray dust when the sound of fast, furious whirring and churning rumbled around the room. "Wait, what is that?"

Vatra frowned as he peered up at the ceiling, turned around, and gasped as a screaming Dej and Luz flew right past him on a speeding conveyor belt! Another slew of lasers forced him to duck, but he poked himself up high enough to catch a glimpse of the conveyor belts.

They now sped faster than ever! Their belts spun so fast that the rubber bounced along the metal surfaces. The other portal masters shouted as they danced around mechanical arms and jumped over engines, all while the laser shows from the robots carried on!

Vatra gasped, turned back to the lever he pulled down, and immediately pushed it up. Despite his intense straining and grunting as he pushed the hardest he could, the lever wouldn't budge! Vatra ignited his palms. Their bandages turned warmer and hotter as he pushed the lever down further—and completely snapped it off! Vatra gulped as he held the broken lever in his now-cooled hands.

In front of him, the other portal masters screamed as the conveyor belts flew backwards instead! The robots all beeped at the end of the belts, and readied their weapons, leaving all portal masters wide-eyed and screaming…

All but one! Luz teleported backwards in a flash of light, summoned a shield, and clasped it as tight as he could with the speed he went! Luz turned his eyes towards a mechanical arm flailing about at the top of the ceiling as the shield turned a hot yellow; he flung his shield and sliced it clean in half! The arm collapsed down on him, but Luz grabbed it and flung it right towards the robots! The robots shrieked as the arm knocked them back into the wall.

The group of portal masters converged at the base of the conveyor belts, all snarls and tight brows as the robots pulled away from the wall. They all held out hands charged with elemental energy, save for Chihiro who backed away.

"You hold them back!" Chihiro shouted as cyan light enveloped her. "I'll see if I can find a switch or something!"

Chihiro teleported away with a pop, hid behind some crates, and pushed them aside with a frown.

"Nope, nothing here!"

Ducking underneath a stray ice shard, Chihiro teleported back onto the balcony and tried to yank open the door. The moment she reached out for the knob, all she felt was solid metal! A few knocks against the metal, and she scoffed and drew back.

"This is just a fake door!"

Another pop and Chihiro teleported down by the belts. She dove near the back of the machine that housed them, and flipping open a control panel. The first thing she met with was all sorts of flashing buttons and shining lights—and a giant lever labeled "Emergency speed control"!

"Hey, here's a switch!" Chihiro cried as she reached for the lever.

But, as she did, something shone in the darker parts of the area and she drew back her hand. Chihiro hopped off the conveyor belts and drew over to the back of the room as the light shone; she summoned a sphere and tossed it into the darkness. The sphere splattered against the wall, and light burst from its corpse as it dusted the room in a glow of cyan glitter. The glitter shimmered, unveiling stretches of stained metal walls. and a single door labeled…

"Records room!" Chihiro cried. She spun around, pivoting herself on one leg. Chihiro forced herself into a stop with a hollow stomp that echoed around the room. "Hey, everyone, over here!" Chihiro waved her hand up and gestured towards the door. "I found the records room!"

Nemir gasped, and jumped away from the robot he was locked in combat with—but not before he slammed his hand across the wall! A barrier of bones so tall and thick that it stretched to the ceiling and completely blocked the room behind him from view burst from the floor. It left twisted metal on the sides of the flooring, and Nemir nodded. He rushed off, adjusted his crown's position on his head as he dashed up beside Chihiro, and right in time for her to yank open the door and run inside!

The portal masters all piled in one by one, and planted themselves against the window as Chihiro locked it tight while Dej mustered up a massive ice cube to act as a barricade. Chihiro wandered off and panted while Dej pushed the ice cube into place, but finally took a seat on a chair next to Nemir as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. The lights embedded into the ceiling shone harsh; they occasionally flickered as they beamed down on the endless rows of file cabinets that lined the room, and on Chihiro herself as she finally sat up and stood tall.

"That barrier should buy us some time, but it won't hold off those robots forever," Nemir said, still short of breath and catching it between words. "If we want to find this thing before they find us, we need to hurry!"

The sound of distant thumping and cracking echoed form the back room as if to affirm Nemir's words, a loud reminder of the little time they had.

A few of them cringing as they all poured over the filing cabinets. Chihiro was the first to approach one. She gingerly grab one by the handle, and gasped as it slid right out.

"Guess they must've forgotten to lock these things!" Chihiro remarked. She giggled as she snapped her fingers. "Just gotta use a search spell, and we should have the record in no time!"

The magic swirled around Chihiro's hand before it leaped into the air, and seeped its way into the keyhole at the top of the file cabinet! Chihiro hummed, swaying back and forth on her heels. She eyed the flashing keyhole and its occasional swells of sparkly cyan that faded just as quick as they came. Finally, the magic spat right back in her face, and dusted her in cyan glitter as she coughed and stumbled backwards!

Chihiro coughed her last as she rubbed the glitter from her face and sighed. "Well, looks like these must be magic-proofed," Chihiro remarked. "Should've thought of that."

"Let me try first," Sihiri remarked as she swept up beside Chihiro and cast a swirl of purple magic into the keyhole. "A simple spell may not do much, but perhaps a more advanced one will."

Chihiro and Sihiri both frowned. Their eyes kept on the file cabinet and it rumbled and bubbled in time with the swells of purple magic that flashed and faded from the keyhole. That spell, too, spat out from the cabinet and disappeared! Chihiro and Sihiri both frowned at each other and sighed.

"Yep, they really are magic-proofed," Chihiro remarked. "Looks like we're gonna have to find another way to search these things."

Chihiro crossed her arms, and hopped over to a simple white button sitting in the wall, one so small and clear that it could barely be seen. The file cabinets all rumbled with a press from her finger. The others gasped and jumped away as if the cabinets would explode, but all the cabinets did was open all their drawers at once. The drawers stretched forward, revealing shiny rows of tablets not unlike the ones the robots were carrying!

"Split up, everyone!" Sihiri shouted as she began pulling out record after record. "The one we're looking for has to be somewhere in here!"

Vatra frowned, lifted up a tablet from one of the drawers, and tilted his head as it flashed on. "Is this supposed to be Common?" he asked.

"I believe so," Sihiri remarked. "It's certainly changed a lot over these past thousand years."

Vatra squinted, holding the tablet closer to his face. "Well, I think this says…" Vatra hummed. His eyes squinted further, brows twitching and all, before he sighed and drew back his head. "Alright, I can't read this."

"Same here," Luz remarked as he shuffled through the tablets he collected. "I don't recognize any of these runes at all!"

"That definitely poses a problem," Sihiri remarked. She seated her stack of tablets at the top of the file cabinet she drew them from as she rubbed her hands. "I wonder?"

Sihiri hummed, breathed in and out as she waved her hands around, and swirls of purple magic seeped around the room. The magic coated it in a purple glow before it faded away. Sihiri smiled as she lifted up her stack of tablets, and her eyes trained on the top one as its screen glitched and flashed in an entirely different string of runes.

"Hey, now it works!" Vatra shouted.

"This should translate this into our Common," Sihiri remarked as she shuffled through tablet after tablet, and added in a smaller voice, "it's a good thing they weren't magic-proofed, too."

A shattering sound came from outside, and Nemir winced as he snatched some tablets and rushed. "And not a moment too soon!" Nemir cried as he shuffled through the tablets. "Looks like they finally broke the barrier!"

"Everyone, get searching!" Sihiri cried.

So, the search began! Footsteps and frantic panting were just barely heard over the sounds of rolling and robotic cries from the other side of the door. The room was in a flurry as everyone yanked as many tablets from the drawers as they could; they shuffled through the tablets, tossed them aside, and stacked them until the room was coated in stacks. Yet, as the piles of piles of tablets grew, their answers had yet to be found.

"Nothing here!" Luz cried as he held up a pair of tablets.

"I'm afraid this one's empty, too!" Inochi shouted as she closed a drawer.

Nemir glumly shook his head as he closed a drawer, but ducked as a tablet soared over his head!

To his side, Vatra and Chihiro frantically shifted through tablet after tablet. Their eyes glued to their stacks and sweat pouring as they flung through each other.

"Nope, nope, nope," Chihiro sputtered, hands clammy as she tossed a few tablets aside.

"Not this one, or this one," Vatra spat, tossing a few more tablets aside. As his stack came to its end, Vatra reached out for a drawer, shuddered, and phased out for a moment as something banged against the door!

"It's them!" Chihiro cried as she hastily yanked a bunch of tablets from the drawers and gathered them in her arms. "They found us!"

"This is pointless!" Vatra cried as he slammed a drawer shut with so much force that it bounced right back open. Vatra grunted as he kicked it right back in, yanked another open, and snarled before slamming it shut. "There's probably millions of records in this place! How in the Ancients' good name are we supposed to find it at this rate?"

Another bang hit the door, and Chihiro winced as she poured a little faster through the records. "Now's not the time to flip out!" Chihiro hissed as she shut the drawer she held and moved to the next. "The longer we bicker, the more time those things have to break down the door!"

"And the longer we meander here, the more time the Arkeyans have to be revived!" Vatra slammed another drawer shut, and spun around to face the other portal masters. "Tell me, has anyone found anything on this security system yet?"

A few shrunk from view as Vatra faced them, and Vatra only scoffed.

"See, I was right!" Flames burst at Vatra's hands and feet as he stormed back and forth. He occasionally slammed his hands against the file cabinets and dented their metal. "This is a fool's errand and we all know it! If you had just listened to me, we'd be on our way to beat this rogue portal master and prevent Arkus's arrival!"

Chihiro clenched her teeth and hand. "Now's not the time! The last thing we need right now is you being a hothead—"

"DON'T YOU LECTURE ME ABOUT WHAT THE RIGHT TIME IS!" Vatra cried as he whipped out his hand. The red hot flames that surrounded it crackled and burning brighter with every moment they had next to him. "YOU'RE THE REASON WE'RE IN THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Vatra, watch where you're tossing that thing!" Sihiri cried.

The sound of whooshing flames and bursting explosions hit the air, and the whole area turned warm-tinted and hot as flames crackled in the air! Vatra gulped; he slowly turned over to where the room's entrance laid—except it was an entrance no longer! The flames not only completely melted the block of ice Dej used as a barricade, but the door as well! All that remained of it was a giant puddle of water and melted metal that lingered at the front, and sloshed as the robots stormed right through.

"Surrender, intruders!" the robots bellowed as they smashed through the entrance and raised their weapons.

Vatra gasped. The flames around him extinguished immediately as he backed away, but with a single gulp, he stormed forward and raised his hands once more! The flames reignited in time with his screams as he charged forward. He punched the robot heading the charge in the chest, but the robot slapped his pendant away and knocked him into the wall! Vatra groaned, and his form flickered for a moment as he slouched over and held his head.

The robots paid no mind to him. No, they turned to where the rest of the group stood beside the filing cabinets, wide-eyed and frozen in place!

"ELIMINATE INTRUDERS!" the robots all bellowed as they slammed their charged weapons into the ground!

A pair of swords were the first to come. They amplified the lines in the tiles, and turned them into glowing cracks, ones that glowed even brighter as a gun slammed in and shot off! The energy that pulsed through the cracks glowed brighter, brighter, brightest! The energy finally erupted into a flash of light so bright it enveloped the world in a hot glaze, as if they were trapped in an inferno! The beeping of robots, screams of others, and whooshing of flames marked the only trace of damage that could be seen amid the white light that completely enveloped the center of the room…

And then, it faded.

The light lifted its grip, and left behind a completely devastated room. Cracked, ruptured flooring peeled off and shattered to reveal stone underneath; toppled-over filing cabinets laid half-melted, and filled with cracked tablets bursting from their lumped, misshapen, and half-open drawers; the lights overhead had completely cracked, and left only splintered beams of light to brighter the room. Even that didn't last as a few fell from the ceiling and shattered on the floor.

Chihiro laid sprawled out and groaning between a pair of collapsed file cabinets. Red burns covered her skin, and her hair frazzled as her pendant fritzed and spat out bursts of magic on the floor. Nearby, Vatra only groaned and shuddered as he forced himself up.

As for the rest of the group? They vanished, the only traces of their existence remaining being their wheels pendants as they sparkled and floated in the air!

Chihiro and Vatra both gasped. Their eyes locked on the other portal masters' pendants as they fell. The strings around the pendants disappeared as they hit the ground, and only simple wheels that barely held any light to them remained!

The robots zoomed in, but Chihiro zipped right in before they could do anything, and scooped the wheels off the ground. She squealed as a robot lunged for her before a burst of fire slammed it in the face! Chihiro rolled underneath the flames' cover as the robot screeched and rolled away, and knelt forward, staying as low to the ground as she could while she bolted back to Vatra's side.

"We've gotta escape!" Chihiro cried as she shoved the wheels in her pocket. "I don't know what happened to them, but we need to heal them!"

Vatra grunted as he shot and kicked flames down at the robots. The robots screeched out jagged, angry beeps as the flames hit them and bounced off, extinguishing the moment they hit the metal. He drew back and panted, fists clenched and back hunched over as he snarled; he turned to the back of the room and heaved a heavy breath.

"I can't imagine how we'll do that, seeing as how this whole place is locked off!" Vatra cried. A laser shot in from a nearby robot, and he gasped as he crafted a shield of fire that ate the laser full blast. "Unless you have some magical solution to beating these robots, that is!"

Chihiro winced, clenched her teeth as she teleported behind a filing cabinet, and slunk down. Short, shallow pants left her lips as her eyes bounced from the endless walls and fake windows that lined the room, and then back around the cabinets. Flames and lasers burst, and sent smoke burning through the room. Her eyes watered, and she forced herself to keep from screaming as the smoky smell took hold of her head.

She whimpered as she peered down at the tile underneath the thick coat of smoke that covered the entire upper half of the room and all above it. Her attention moved next to the drawers, and then the lasers that came from the smoke, and then the sounds of banging and screaming that rattled in her ears. It all left her mind completely blank, save for all the overwhelming thoughts and smells and sounds…

"Hey, over here!"

Chihiro gasped, lifted her head up and jumped back to her feet. "Where'd that voice come from?" she whispered, before she doubled down and whimpered as the smoke coated her head once more.

She popped open a watering eye. There in the distance, a faint brown light flashed from a gaping hole in the wall lined with crystals of all sorts.

"An exit, there!" Chihiro cried.

Vatra swept around, yelping for a moment as he dodged a laser blow, but ducked underneath the cover of the smoke! He yanked Chihiro by the arm and held her close. The sounds of shouting robots grew louder. Vatra in turn shielded her the best he could as he ran; he paid not a moment of mind to her surprised squeak as he rolled into the tunnel. The shouts of angered robots and firing of laser blasters rang behind him and Chihiro both as they hit warm, hard red rock…

And finally, darkness set in as the crystals sealed up and closed off the entrance.