"So, what happened next, then?" Dyna remarked, drawing her hand away. Though her gaze tried to remain neutral, there was a sort of fascinated look in her eyes. It was that kind of glimmer that beings got when they were absolutely transfixed by a story, and desired nothing more than the very next word. Alternatively, it seemed a bit more contemplative, given how she shot glances at that translator every time Eye and Brawl's fight came to light.

"Yeah, yeah, what happened?" Snuckles asked with all the excitement of a young child. "Did you and Eye team up and beat those guys?"

"No, if you asked me, Brawl wiped 'em out single-handedly!" Rizzo remarked as he leaned back and stretched. "Nobody's a match for a tough guy like him!"

Somehow, Brawl got the feeling that Rizzo completely missed the point of the story, but he shook his lack of a head.

"Well, you see—" Brawl started to sign—but an awful screech burst across the lands as Brawl lifted his nonexistent head!

Dyna, Rizzo, Snuckles, and Nort all keeled over and covered their ears as the sharp, harsh sounds of wailing sirens burst across the land. Brawl himself winced as red, eye-burning light fell over the fields! The sirens grew even louder as fields of electricity burst from the ground, and the sound of marching started to echo over the horizon!

Dyna must have noticed too, for she finally uncovered her ears and pushed herself from the ground. "They found us!" Dyna cried, pointing to the hills. "Look, over there!"

Rizzo, Snuckles, and Nort all pushed themselves back up and glanced across the hills. Brawl followed them right as the marching sounds grew louder. Masses of white and blue that marched over the horizon in tandem with the sound; these masses leaped and bounded across the cliffs, soared through the skies and crashed down before Brawl’s group! The clicking and whirring of machines stirred the air as the masses of white and blue revealed themselves as massive armies of drones, and they all encircled around Brawl and the others while they turned on their weapons!

"We're outnumbered!" Dyna cried as she backed into Brawl's leg, clutching the translator close to her chest.

Brawl shook back and forth and stepped forward. That's only what they thought!

"One minute, please!" Brawl signed.

The others nodded and hurriedly scrambled behind Brawl, who slammed his palms together as the wind chilled around him. A thick, dark gray and black smog swirled around him while the skies above turned gray, and the grass around wilted as the earth turned cold and cracked. The cracks grew larger, stretching across the ground while the drones beeped and squealed.

Out from the cracks burst a whole flurry of purple ghosts, and the were all in such a fury that they were little more than a mass of howling purple smog! The ghosts swarmed the skies, blocking out its stretches with their purple smoke. The ghosts split into droves and zipped down into the drones' ranks, spinning and tossing the drones around like they were little more than feathers! The drones' weapons fell to the earth and disappeared within the cracks in the ground, and some of the drones followed as the ghosts tossed them inside!

Dyna stumbled out from behind Brawl's legs, and blinked for a moment at the sight of entire swarms of powerful robots rendered hapless by swathes of unruly ghosts. She stuck the translator back into her pocket, and pulled out a handful of tiny marbles in exchange! With a swing of her arm, the marbles flew through the air and expanded, becoming full-fledged bombs in the blink of an eye! The bombs exploded quickly afterwards, their flames bursting all over the earth and enveloping the robots in their heat!

"Now's our chance, boys!" Rizzo cried as he yanked out a laser gun and rushed out with a quick moment taken to wave for Snuckles and Nort. "Quick, let's scrap these drones!"

"Right, Captain!" Snuckles and Nort both cried as they pulled their own guns out.

The three of them lined up. Their crosshairs fixed on the flaming robots as they lifted their guns, and with a trio of trigger pulls, hot lasers leaped into the flames and slashed right through the chests of several flaming robots! The robots’ burnt corpses exploded. The fires burned brighter and angrier as their flames spread to the remaining robots and seared their circuits; they ate every robot in succession until they blew each one to bits, and formed a veritable wall of fire! The flames quenched with a series of swirls from the ghosts. All that was left behind were seared earth and charred circuits as the ghosts flew back into the earth's cracks, and soon sealed themselves up as the sun poked through.

Brawl left the ghosts with a small nod of appreciation. Below him, Dyna, Rizzo, Nort, and Snuckles all caught their breath when a set of beeps came from Rizzo!

Rizzo frowned and pulled something from his pocket, a small device that flashed red. "Wait, my com link was still on?" Rizzo remarked. "I thought I turned that thing off!"

But here it was, flashing brightly as the sounds of shooting and crashing crackled across its speakers, and muddled with static and feedback!

"I, I don't think I can hold them back much longer!" Eye cried over the speaker.

Brawl gasped. He leaned forward as crashing, and shouts, and the sounds of laser blasts rattled. The sounds occasionally mingled with another voice shouting something about robots and trying to contact someone. Brawl couldn't quite recognize it, for the feedback seemed to spark up whenever it spoke, but the worried looks Rizzo exchanged with Nort and Snuckles showed they certainly did.

"Just keep grabbing their attention!" shouted back another voice—Boomette's.

"Boomette!" Dyna cried. She shoved Rizzo aside as she yanked the com link from his hands. "Boomette, it's me, Dyna! Do you read?"

Boomette said nothing back; she just cried in pain as something crashed down over the speaker! The com link's light dulled after that.

Dyna kept frantically poking it, tapping it, and doing whatever she could. "Boomette, Boomette, answer me!" Dyna cried as she shook the com link with eyes wide and fingers shaking. "Please, answer me!"

No response—the link still laid dead. Dyna breathed a shaky, barely-there breath, and shoved the link back into Rizzo's hands!

"Trace the call back, right now!" she cried.

Rizzo hastily nodded and pressed a few buttons. A map flashed into existence above the com link, one that stretched across the plains with a single red light flashing in the distance! Dyna dashed off at the very sight, not even bothering to look any further while the others tailed after them.

Brawl winced as he followed after. He was sure Eye held up the best he could, but… Brawl gulped and clenched his fist.

Hang in there! I'm coming! was all Brawl thought as he strode across the cliffs.

§

Footsteps in a hasty, pattering rhythm echoed around the cavern as Vatra and Chihiro stumbled inside, and both of them collapsed on the side. Chihiro left out a soft moan as she retrieved the wheels from her pocket. Though she could barely stand, and her legs shuddered the whole time she even so much as laid down, she still pushed herself up and swayed up to the center of the tunnel.

Chihiro laid the other portal masters' wheels down and held out her hand. Cyan magic sparked from her palms, glittering like the gemstones that sealed off the tunnel from the rest of the underground. It glowed even brighter as the magic spread out in sparkly, curly wisps that fed into the wheels. As the magic seeped into the wheels' crystal and replaced their sparking, flashing light with something a bit more solid, Chihiro frowned and clasped her hands before she opened them and cast out a bit more.

"What's taking them so long?" Chihiro whispered. "Is that not enough?"

"Of course it isn't!" Vatra snapped back.

Chihiro winced and lifted her head to where Vatra leaned against the opposite side of the wall. He seemed to have gathered his bearings at last, judging by the way his face was devoid of sweat and grime, yet his ever-present scowl stayed as he leaned against the walls. Fingers twitching, he pushed himself from the wall and knelt down to where the wheels rested on the rocky ground.

"Whatever that blast did, it completely scrambled their magic essence—not to mention all the essence they lost channeling their magic to fight. They must be struggling to reform," Vatra explained, eyes not moving from where the wheels laid. "You'll need a lot more than a few measly sparks to revive them."

Chihiro nodded and held out her hands once more as their veins glowed cyan. Despite how she locked eyes on the wheels, their crystalline surfaces still reflected the scowl and judgmental gaze Vatra held with eyes that bored into her soul. She knew for a fact that he was probably going to blow up any second now, and berate her for every perceived mistake he thought she made. When he inevitably did, she was half-torn on whether she should snap back, or just take it.

If he hadn't been so testy and blown so many things up, they might not have had to retreat into a tunnel in the middle of nowhere in the first place! But, if there was one thing she knew about self-righteous people from all the time she had to deal with them, it was that they never liked being told that they were wrong… Or argued with.

So, she stood with her head hung low, and pumped as much magic as she could into the others' stagnant wheels. Her fingers trembled a bit at the sight, and the memory of there being such a bright flash, and them just… Completely going dormant shaking her core. Still, she clenched her hands again and carried on; she pumped the magic in while she tried her best not to lose her temper, or panic, or let slip, or—

"So?"

Chihiro refused to look up still, and instead peered down at the wheels. Their glow started to stabilize once more, faintly shining from the confines of their crystal. The runes that were carved into the surface started to light up one by one. Now that she thought about it, what did those runes mean? She studied older forms of Common with Spyro and Hugo in the library whenever she got bored, but she never quite could remember the runes for it. Her magic slipped, so Chihiro shook her head and pumped some more.

"Hello? Are you there?"

Chihiro scoffed and stuck her attention to the wheels.

With one last burst of magic, the wheels finally floated back off the ground. They shook a little as they reformed and the rest of her team hit the ground as not wheels, but ghosts. Their ghostly bodies stabilized, they didn't seem to have sustained any serious injuries from the looks of it (whatever injuries a ghost could get, anyways). They all fell to hands and knees the very moment they reformed, sweat pouring down their bodies as they panted and struggled to keep up.

Chihiro winced, shuffled up to Sihiri, and wrapped Sihiri's arms around her shoulders. Chihiro gently leaned Sihiri against the wall, and crafted a few cool pillows for her to rest on. Sihiri's brows clenched for a moment, but released as she moaned and turned over, clearly still worn from the fight. A small wince came from Chihiro, and she reached out for a moment, but then shook her head as a few red pillows burst from behind Sihiri's back.

Behind her, Vatra lifted from his spot. He knelt down to the others, propped them up against the walls, and magically crafted something soft for them to rest on. Well, at least he did something decent for a change—maybe he calmed down. Actually, no he didn’t, judging by the glare he shot her as he led Inochi down by the rest area and laid her next to Sihiri.

"Are you going to acknowledge me or not, child?" he spat as he turned to Chihiro.

Chihiro snarled and turned back to Vatra. "I have nothing to say to you," Chihiro spat at last. "After all, I don't need a lecture from the very person who bungled this mission!"

Chihiro had to admit, the words just kind of slipped from her mouth—but it didn't seem to matter to Vatra, who scowled right back and crossed his arms.

"And you have an awfully snide attitude for being the one who got us into this situation in the first place! Meandering around didn't get us anywhere! It just set us further back! That Kaos person is probably already en route to Arkus, and here we are sitting in a tunnel, locked in by a bunch of crystals with most of our ranks down!" Vatra gestured back to the beginning of the tunnel, which was still sealed off by its shiny crystals. "And it was all for nothing! All those records were blown to smithereens before we could find it!"

Chihiro's vision tinged red, but she clenched her fist. She had better things to do, and she couldn't get wrapped up in arguing with this dude (even though she knew he was just as much as fault as anyone), so she turned back to the other portal masters. Their tense expressions lessened, and turned neutral as they rested against their spots. An occasional twitch of the finger and groan came as they rested, a welcome break from Vatra's ranting, and Chihiro sighed.

"Quite the mission this turned out to be," Vatra scoffed behind her. "If we had all just done as I said, this'd be over with already!"

Chihiro's brow twitched, and she growled as she turned back to Vatra. Alright, that was it—he has the gall to think that? He does? When he was literally the entire reason this failed in the first place? She was not taking this lying down any longer!

"And if you just stuck to the plan, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place!" Chihiro snapped back at last. She bit her lip the way she bit back her desire to blow something up then and there. "I had everything perfectly planned out! If you'd just cooled your hot head a little, we could've gotten those records and left!"

"And if I hadn't, we wouldn't have found those records in the first place! We probably would've been stuck meandering in the caves with those drones! I actually took some initiative—"

"—and you taking initiative led to those drones getting all irritated, chasing us down and blowing the whole thing up! If you'd just listened to me, we wouldn't be hiding in an ANCIENTSFORSAKEN TUNNEL RIGHT NOW!"

Before she even knew it, Chihiro and Vatra were face to face, noses pressed against each other as they both glared! Now that she finally broke from her enraged trance, the very sight of his burning hot eyes locked on her completely locked her up. Her hands shook and her head spun for a moment. A soft groan came from the back, so Chihiro huffed and turned around.

"This conversation is over," was all she said as she turned back to where the others rested.

There, Luz groaned and rubbed his head as he pushed himself up from the resting spot, and one hand keeping him anchored to the ground as he tried to shake the grogginess. Beside him, the others slowly began to push themselves from the ground and open their eyes, pendants shimmering just barely as they pulled themselves together. Sihiri was the first to rise. She still moaned and groaned as her shaky legs just barely kept her stable, and beside her, the others began lifting themselves up in turn.

"What happened?" he groaned, his eyes just barely opened as he rubbed them. "Where, where are we?" Rubbing his eyes again, Luz lifted his head just a little. "Did, did we…"

"'Fraid not. Those 'bots completely scrapped the place, and almost would've done the same to us if we hadn't escaped." Chihiro said, kneeling beside Luz. "Think you can stand?"

Luz staggered back up, immediately fell back down and grunted. "Guess not."

Luz chuckled and forced a smile. He turned to where Inochi sighed and laid down, and Sihiri and now Dej collapsed beside her. Nemir laid his crown on the ground next to them, showing off the silver roots that streaked across the top of his head as he curled back around the fading rest area. Finally, they all sat up and sighed.

"I'm, I'm still a little dizzy," Inochi admitted, hanging her head, "but, I'll—"

"No, it's fine, just rest for now," Chihiro interrupted. A few hasty huffs came from Vatra beside her, and they burned up her back as she decidedly avoided his gaze. "We'll need to think of something else for the time being anyways."

Vatra stormed forward and pushed Chihiro to the side with a huff. "Correction, I'll be the one to think of a new plan since" — Vatra shot a glare at Chihiro — "you are not capable of such important tasks."

Chihiro huffed and crossed her arms. She clenched her hands tight to prevent herself from any more… Impulsive actions. Sure, she'd love to give the dude a flick in the face or something more aggressive, but if she flipped her crap at him, he'd only use it against her! Besides, how could she hit a ghost anyways?

"Don't give me that look," Vatra hissed between clenched teeth as he glared at Chihiro and crossed his arms. "In my day, I took down Arkeyan forces by the thousands! There's no way I could bungle something so simple as retrieving a record from a storage room! That would be child's play, and not in the way you perceive it, anyways!"

Chihiro raised a brow and stepped forward. "Wait, are you saying I'm not taking this seriously?"

"If you thought something as simple as a little lie would be enough to get what we need, I'd say so! This is something that should be left to the adults, not children barely old enough to conduct themselves! That just leads up where we are now, trapped in a tunnel with nowhere to go! We'll be lucky if we get that record before the day ends at this rate!"

"You know, it sounds to me like you all could use a little help!"

Chihiro's eyes fluttered and she turned away from Vatra. That, that was the voice she heard in the office, the one that lead her right to the tunnels! She gasped as a familiar brown light flashed from the tunnels' furthest stretches, one that seemed fairly distant but grew closer with every flash. A soft gasp came from her side, and on instinct she turned to Vatra, whose eyes were just as wide.

"That voice…" he gasped. "Could it be?"

So he recognized it, too? But, the sheer wideness of his eyes, the sheer look of wonder in them while his hands went limp and his jaw started to fall, it all suggested that it seemed much more familiar to him to her, something more than a simple savior.

The brown glow reached its furthest, and its warm caramel light brushed against Chihiro's face the way a friend's would. Finally, something warm and smooth dropped into her hands! The added weight pushed against her enough that she turned down to her outstretched palm, where a bronze crystal wheel with ancient runes carved into its surface now rested! Wait, a wheel? Could it be?

"I'd love to help ya'll out, but I can't do much when I'm stuck like this," the voice chuckled with an accent that reminded Chihiro of some kind of weird mixture between a southern accent and some fancy European one. "Yer a magician too, right? I'd tell, I can sense the magic coming right off'a ya! So I'm sure—"

The wheel's glow started to flicker, and it cut itself off mid-sentence as it floated out of Chihiro's palm. Its light stabilized as it glazed over the rest of the tunnel, where the other portal masters all planted their eyes on it with the same awestruck expression that Vatra had. Judging by the way the wheel’s own light flickered and flashed, the feeling must have been mutual. It warily floated up to Vatra, who gently lifted the wheel from the air and cradled it in his palms as the others all crowded him.

"Jorden?" Vatra whispered, cupping his hands further around the wheel. "Is that you?"

"You bet your boots!" the wheel chirped.

Vatra's hands flickered out for a moment, and Jorden fell right through with a shout before they floated off. They now hovered back, and positioned themself right in the middle of where Chihiro and the rest of the portal masters stood as they took a bow.

"I actually woke up like this a while ago—dunno how it happened, really! One minute I was fighting off all those robots, next thing I know, I black out and I'm here, sleeping with the rockfish!" Jorden chuckled and twirled around in place. "But, it hasn't been so bad. I've been travelin' the tunnels, scouting the area out just like the old days! I practically know it like the back of my hand!"

"That's Jorden for you," Sihiri chuckled as she clasped her hands. "He's the finest lookout woman I've ever had the pleasure of working with!"

"Aww shucks, you make me blush!"

Jorden's light turned a bit warmer, but even that tone turned back to normal as Chihiro yanked Jorden from the air. Jorden yelped for a bit, and his light flashed so bright that Chihiro immediately let him go, shielding her eyes as Jorden fell to the floor! Chihiro groaned, rubbed her eyes as the light faded, and Jorden warily chuckled as he floated up.

"Whoops, sorry 'bout that, caught me a bit off guard!" Jorden floated closer to Chihiro and hummed. "Anyways, back to business. Yer a new face here, aren't cha? Can't recall ever seeing you 'round these parts!

"Sort of," Chihiro replied as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm a portal master—er, free magician from today's era. My name's Chihiro Hatsuki!"

"Today's era?" Jorden tilted to the side. "Whaddya mean?"

Sihiri winced and clasped her hands. "Well, you see, Jorden," Sihiri said as she floated up to Jorden, who in turn tilted to meet her gaze, "to cut a very long story short, while we were laying unconscious in our pendants, ten thousand years have passed."

Jorden gasped, jumping back a bit. "Ten thousand?" A hum came from Jorden, and he tilted downwards as his light dimmed. "Would explain why the dates were all off on those fancy tablet thingies I saw those drones carryin' around. Here I thought all those sales records were way off!"

"Wait, did you say sales records?" Chihiro cried.

"Sure thing! I've been keepin' tabs on this whole place, studyin' the writin' and all that fancy stuff! What can I say, gives me somethin' to do."

Jorden chuckled, and Chihiro gasped as she yanked Jorden from the air.

"That's great news! You see, long story short, we're looking for a record for a person named Kaossandra, but when we checked in there we didn't find a thing!"

"That's 'cause the stuff there ends at the J rune names!" Jorden wiggled out of Chihiro's grip and turned further down the tunnel. "The stuff startin' with K's at the end of this here tunnel!" Jorden twirled around, and bobbed up and down as he floated down the tunnels. "Just follow me!"

Chihiro gasped and skipped down the tunnel, but turned around a moment to cast a glance at Vatra.

He frowned still for a moment; his eyes closed as he drummed his fingers against his forearms, but then he sighed and released as he strode along. He cast a tiny glance at Chihiro, but rather than argue, sighed and passed her by. It seemed like he was in no mood to argue anymore. The others slowly pushed themselves from the walls and trailed after Vatra in a tightly-packed line.

Chihiro skipped along the back, but paused for moments to peer amid the small, round walls of the tunnel.

The normal kinds of crystal formations lined their rocky, hard walls, and tinted the tunnel in all sorts of bright colors. Amid them stood a few oddities, namely the strange, spiraling stalagmites that pierced the bottom. They all colored in deep, cool, dull shades of brown that were totally unlike the warmer and brighter colors of the rest of the scenery. They each had rune-like scratches twisted into their surface like some kind of marking, a small protrusion compared to the rest of the thin, bumpy stone. Chihiro brushed her fingertips against it, but the sandy, gritty texture was so unpleasant that she yanked her hand away and skipped off shuddering.

"Now, according to my markers, just gotta veer a lil' to the right, and… We're here!"

The light ahead of the tunnel flashed bright, this time in searing shades of yellow and white, and Chihiro skipped past the other stalagmites to follow it. As she reached the end of the tunnel and turned around to the light's source, her eyes first locked on the stretches of office floor and cabinets near-identical to the prior record room. Next, they moved to where the other portal masters all crowded around one particular file that had a drawer pulled open.

"Now, let's see," Jorden said, his brown glow slightly visible as it bled into the others' light. The others all crowded further around Jorden, and his humming became the only thing that marked his presence. "Kadredz, Kaitlin…"

Chihiro stepped forward, gasped and jumped behind a larger red crystal formation. She could've sworn that she caught something zipping around the office there, but when she rubbed her eyes and peered over the crystals, it was gone! Maybe she was just seeing things? She stepped away from the crystals, and crept a little more hesitantly towards the entrance—when a white blur zipped right before her eyes! Yeah, she definitely didn't imagine that!

Chihiro dove behind a few large rocks amassed at the entrance and peered around. She was just distant enough that she could see, but couldn't be seen. There, a couple cabinets across from the one the others investigated, she caught a sliver of white, black, and silver hiding behind a cabinet and peering out. Its sleek bodice and the black void that made up its face brought to mind those drones from earlier—wait, a drone!

"Hey, look out!" Chihiro cried as she slid towards the entrance.

The others turned around and scrambled as the thing came bowling for them, but Jorden turned around and grunted as it bowled right for him! A cry came from Jorden as he disappeared from view, and the sound of mechanical cackling echoed through the offices! Gasps came from all around as eyes living and dead focused on the drone, who kept Jorden tight in its grip no matter how much he struggled.

"Target acquired!" the drone bellowed with not a moment taken to watch as Jorden grunted and attempted to squirm out of its grip. "There is no escape from security!"

"Hey, lemme go, you tin can!" Jorden hissed. He rammed against the drone's palm as his glow grew bright and furious. "I thought I shook you five rooms ago!"

"No intruders shall escape from my sights! As a security drone, it is in my protocol to ensure that riff-raff like you doesn't escape!" The drone squeezed its hand closed. "And that includes you!"

"Give Jorden back!" Sihiri proclaimed.

She leaped out and thrust out hands glowing with magic. Her eyes flashed a bright purple, flaring like fire in tandem with her hands. The others did the same all around her: flames burst at Vatra's hands and feet, Inochi summoned vines that shattered the ground with a single wave, and weapons of bone and ice formed in Nemir and Dej's hands as they pointed them towards the drone. Chihiro rushed forward and crafted a shield out of magic at the front of the group, barring the entrance right as Luz joined her with his own shield!

The drone was surrounded by an angry, armed portal master at every angle, and it wheeled back. "It seems I am surrounded by powerful intruders." It beeped a bit more frantically, rows of text scrolling across its face before it finally beeped. "In that case, there is only one choice of maneuver according to protocol!"

The drone glanced over a slight open space between Nemir and Dej, and it revved its wheels as it sped right between them! The two of them gasped and flickered for a bit as the drone passed them by. The drone veered to the front, dashing towards the door at the back of the room with such fury that it kicked up furious clouds from the dust on the floor, and it shouted one thing as it did.

"ACTIVATE SECURITY!"

The drone dashed through the doors, and the moment it disappeared down the halls, those same doors slammed shut! The lights hanging above the ceiling turned a deep crimson as sirens blared. Down below, the whole room started to rumble.

"After it!" Sihiri shouted as she dashed off. "We can't let it get away with Jorden!"

The others all shouted out in agreement as they dashed after Sihiri, and Chihiro herself teleported to the back of the room and rushed up to the doors. A few pries of its knob showed that it was locked completely shut, so her eyes turned to a keypad beside it as she reached out for its key. The moment she did, a cage of electricity formed around the keypad and sealed it off! The lightning jabbed at Chihiro's fingertips and gave her a nasty little shock. Pain seared through her fingers as she jumped back and crafted a sword.

"Open sesame!" Chihiro cried as she slammed the sword right into the doors' surface.

She'd anticipated that even the tiniest gash would've formed inside, but her blade shattered the moment it hit the metal! Chihiro frowned and tossed a sphere right at the door as her blade’s crumbled bits turned to dust and disappeared. The sphere too burst into sparkles and disappeared. Chihiro clenched her jaw, and held out her hands as sparks of cyan light formed between them.

"Allow me," Sihiri said, placing a hand on Chihiro's shoulder as she floated beside Chihiro.

Chihiro lifted her head, and the light in her hands faded as she hopped behind Sihiri. Sihiri mimicked Chihiro’s position in front of her, holding her hands in an almost circular formation as a large burst of purple magic formed between her palms. Sihiri jolted back as that burst turned to a giant purple laser that split a hole right in the center of the doors!

The doors fell over soon after. Their remains falling just outside of where Chihiro and Sihiri stood right as the others joined them, and they all rushed through the stretches of wide metal halls ahead.

Chihiro's footsteps pattered underneath her as she ran. They were a measly sound compared to the unrelenting wail of the sirens around, but thankfully, the red lights that blared over relented some. She wasn't sure if her senses could take it. The red lights almost completely faded with every step she took, save for strips and strands of red that shone bright… Almost like, lasers? Chihiro came close to one, but skidded to a stop right as she came within a hair's length of hitting it. She peered over as large streaks of red light intersected, and they formed a tight, abstract grid around the halls ahead.

"That looks like a laser trap if I ever saw one," Chihiro remarked. She stepped backwards as sparks from one laser popped off and nearly zapped her.

"Did someone say lasers?" Luz asked as he popped up beside Chihiro. He rubbed his chin, leaned forward, and nodded as he drew back. "Yep, those are lasers alright!" With a wave of his hands, Luz's shield slipped down to his right arm, and he held it to his front as he charged through. "Luckily, I've got just the thing!"

Chihiro gasped and shut her eyes on instinct. The full expectancy of pained screams awaited her—but what she heard instead was flashing! When she opened her eyes, Luz stood behind her. His shield shouldered the lasers' blows and reflected their light onto the walls, far away from where they all stood in the center of the halls!

Luz chuckled and dashed forward, his shield reflecting the lasers the whole way. "Behind me, everyone! This won't last for long!"

Chihiro dashed forward, ducking underneath the lasers overhead as she tailed after Luz. The lasers' light grew hotter and harsher, and tinted the walls in shades of red while the faint scent of smoke wafted through the room. Luz stayed strong; he charged forward with no hesitation as it reflected the lasers onto the wall, yet the sound of panting came from him as he ran, first shallow then heavier by the second. His legs trembled as the lasers glowed even brighter. He fell to his knees with one last pant, arms shuddering as he propped up his shield. Even that shuddered too, for particles of light burst and faded around its rim.

"Geez, these things sure are strong!" Luz panted, planting his hands on his shield to further steady it. "I don't think even the Arkeyans had lasers like this!" Luz panted as his fingers slipped from his shield. "Don't know, if I, can keep going…"

"In that case, leave it to me!" Inochi cried as she floated up.

Inochi rubbed her hands, smiled and cast them out. Soft humming strayed from her lips in time with the green lights that swirled from her palms. The lights fed into a large green orb just ahead of her, one that bubbled and stretched as it slowly formed a large, bulky body, long muscular legs, a round, fluffy tail… With one final stretch, a bear made entirely of green light fell to the floor and roared! The lasers pierced into its sides, but instead of breaking or injuring it, the light turned green and formed into armor that flanked its sides!

Chihiro gasped and stepped back, almost intimidated by the sight of such a regal creature right out of the stories her mother told her. She stepped back as her eyes locked with the bear. The bear lifted its head up and snorted; it glanced at her with some kind of curiosity before it laid its head down. She reached out for a moment, but shook her head and rescinded her hand. Bears should be treated with respect and all, especially when given the honor to ride one. Instead, she rushed up and jumped on the bear's leg. She climbed up on its back, and scooted until she was inches away from the bear's neck.

"Alright, everyone, get on!" Inochi cried as she teleported beside Chihiro. "We don't have much time!"

Everyone teleported onto the bear's back, and the bear roared as it charged right through the lasers! Their light burst off the bear's armor and ricocheted back into the walls, burning holes in them as the bear charged through. The shriek of lasers grew shriller as the walls melted away. Their watery, melted metal pouring onto the floors below, yet the bear not once lost its footing as it stormed through the halls. Its eyes narrowed, and it snorted once more as its eye fell on a wall at the end of the hallway.

The bear roared and crafted a bright shield right as it charged straight through the wall! A hole split open in the metal as the bear burst through, and its shield disappeared as all four paws hit the ground. Everyone slid off the bear's back in an instant, but while the others dispersed, Chihiro lingered behind and glanced just one moment more at the bear. She shared a slow nod with the bear. It snorted before it disappeared into streams of green light, streams she lingered on momentarily before she rejoined the group.

The stretch of halls before them all seemed particularly normal. There were no traps or tricks of the trade to be found—just massive, identical stretches of dimly-lit cold metal. No odd sounds came, nor the smell of poison or the taste of toxicity on the tongue. Yet, it was far from inviting to Chihiro, not with the extensive security that befell them prior.

Judging from the way the others huddled together and whispered, they definitely felt the same. Dej parted from the group first. His eyes narrowed, and he tossed a tiny ice cube into the halls expanses. The moment it hit the floor, hissing burst from the ceiling as thick, green gas poured into the halls! The ice melted like it was splashed with acid as the gas flooded into the halls, and the gas left everyone with watery eyes and hacking fits as they fell to their knees and covered their mouths.

Chihiro herself stumbled back, but the gas slammed her and she let out some kind of noise between a cough and a scream as she collapsed. Her eyes burned, straining to stay open as her chest tightened. She could barely make a word out as she hacked and coughed! Propping herself up with one arm, she crawled along the floor as the gas grew thicker, clouding out the halls ahead.

Just ahead of her, Nemir coughed and waved a shaking arm in the arm in small, circular motions. A small, clear vortex formed above him, and it slashed through the air in swift waves! The gas vanished as the air slashed it away until the halls were clear once more. Everyone coughed and shuddered still, so Inochi forced herself up beside Nemir and planted her hands on the ground. Pulses of green burst from her palms and spread through the halls, and slowly the coughing ceased.

The pulses hit Chihiro, and her chest loosened as the harsh, burning feeling left her face; she finally found it in her to stand. The others sped ahead of her, but her body still shuddered a bit with each step, so she walked along briskly enough that she wouldn't lose sight of them. They passed through the door and into another identical stretch of halls—albeit one with much thinner walls, for the sounds of rolling and rumbling echoed around them!

"Let me go!" shouted a muffled voice from the end of the hall.

"It's him!" Sihiri cried before she turned around to the others. "We can't be far now, hurry!"

Sihiri stepped forward. The moment her foot hit the ground, the ceiling rumbled and down from it came a whole trio of drones! They seemed a bit less sturdy compared to the ones before. Their metal was less polished, and their glass was a bit stained, but with them being so bulky and tall that they only barely squeezed into the hall, they more than made up for it!

"INTRUDER DETECTED!" they bellowed with voices deep and hollow. "PREPARE FOR ERADICATION!"

Sihiri snarled as she floated back and held up her hands, but grunted as Vatra pushed past her.

"Not right now!" he cried as a fireball bright as the sun burst from his hands. "We have a friend to save!"

The fireball crackled as it soared through the air. Its size grew larger by the second before it finally slammed into the robots and exploded! The robots flew backwards in a pile, bodies crashing and smashing then warping underneath the fire's heat. The fire turned purple and they slammed through the walls, but the hole they made quickly barred off from the weight of their corpses.

The ceiling rumbled again above them all. Sihiri waved her hands as she teleported everyone to a door at the end of the hall and waved it open. The door sealed behind them as they all rushed in, just in time for more loud thumps to drop behind them. They shook the entire hall before something pounded at the door and dented it!

"INTRUDER DETECTED! INTRUDER DETECTED!" bellowed the robots on the other sides, their voices not a single bit muffled by the doors.

Sihiri winced as one dent came inches away from her back, turned back to the halls ahead and floated forward. The path split three ways, each one identical to the last—and of course, lacking any signs of entry! More pounding came from below as Sihiri winced and floated forward. Her eyes drifted between all three entryways as she clasped her hands.

"I'm tellin' ya, if ya don't lemme go, I'll skewer yer lousy tin can with the biggest crystals I can find!"

"There!" Nemir shouted as he pointed to the central tunnel. "I hear his voice!"

With Nemir at the head the group, they all rushed through the tunnel. They moved into a round, domelike room filled with black steel tiles all placed together so loosely that they almost seemed liable to fall apart, yet the tiles didn't budge a bit as everyone stepped on. Across from them, the drone rolled across the floor with its back turned to Chihiro's group. Perfect! It didn't even notice them come in!

"Silence, you!" the drone shouted as it shook the arm it carried Jorden in. It scoffed as Jorden cried out jolted, jittery shouts, and it drew its arm back. "Nobody will get me scrapped, and that includes a loud-mouthed crystal!"

"Then how about us?" Vatra cried.

The drone grunted and turned around. The moment it laid eyes on the portal masters that crowded its doorstep, a decidedly not-robotic shriek emerged from its voicebox as it leaped in the air!

"YOU AGAIN?" the robot cried as it landed. It clutched Jorden with both hands as bright numbers and error messages flashed across its face. "How did you get through the security measures? They're the finest modern technology has to offer!"

Vatra chuckled and cracked his knuckles as he stepped forward. "What can I say?" he asked. He drew closer to the drone in a slow, patient motion with every step, and the drone inched away and leaned back as far as it could. "We're a fairly powerful team!"

The drone's face flickered, and it hummed as it wheeled back further.

"A team?" A few more symbols flashed on the drone's face, and it cackled as it zoomed away. "That's it! Security measure number 816, activate!"

A further part of the platform shuddered and rattled as the drone zipped away, but the drone cackled as it hopped on! It fell under the drone's weight for a moment. With another shudder, it floated right towards the ceiling, and the drone cackled all the way.

"Get it!" Vatra cried as he rushed after the panel.

Vatra cried out as he leaped forward and went to grip the platform—but right as he did, a mechanical arm burst from the ceiling and lunged for his pendant! Vatra gasped as he slid just out of its reach and fell to the floor, only for two more arms to leap out and jab at him! Vatra teleported away in a burst of flames in that moment, but a scream pierced his ears as he reappeared.

As he turned around, a mechanical arm bent up and down in an almost taunting manner as Chihiro clung to its base. She grunted and shuddered as she climbed up and reached for its palm despite it flinging as wildly as it could. As it flung, sparks of purple and green shone in its fingers' gaps!

"Sihiri, Inochi!" Vatra cried.

Flames burst at Vatra's feet as he spread off in large sprints, bent down and jumped right for the arm. Flames propelled his jump and sent him flying further, but right as he came within inches of the arm, it leaned back and tossed Sihiri and Inochi's wheels right towards the drone. The drone extended its own arm and snatched them out of the air!

Vatra was only left to watch; his entire body frozen as the arm reached towards him. Before it could catch him, Luz jumped up and flung his shield in front of them both! The hand banged against the shield and flew back, waving around while both of them fell to the floor.

"You alright, Vats?" Luz asked as he turned back to Vatra.

Vatra went to reply, but his eyes just went wide as he pointed ahead.

"Behind you!" was all he could shout as another arm shot right for them.

The arm yanked Luz's pendant away before he could even reply! Luz's light burst right before Vatra's eyes as the arm swung back and tossed Luz's wheel towards the drone, and Vatra only gasped as he collapsed on the floor. Another pair of shouts came to his side, and he yanked his head up as another arm swung away with glints of blue and silver in its grip.

"Luz, Dej, Nemir!"

Vatra trembled as he pushed himself up just enough to reach, yet the three of them disappeared just as quickly, leaving his arm to fall slack. He shuddered. Choking noises coming from his throat as another hand leaped down from the ceiling and shot for him…

Shing!

And a bright cyan glow came next. Its light caressed over him as Chihiro jumped in front of him with a shield held high! Her shield transformed into a drill that pierced into the hand's palm, and tossed it aside as it exploded! Chihiro turned back and wiped her sweat as the hand hit the floor with a crunch and sparked.

"You alright?" Chihiro panted with barely any breath.

The sound of cackling rumbled from the ceiling. Vatra stumbled to his feet as he darted across the floor, swaying and dodging underneath the grip of the many hands that grappled and shot for him! Vatra slid underneath as a whole legion of hands burst from the ground and blocked his way, but flung a fireball into the ceiling with a single fling of his arm! The fireball tore through the ceiling, crafting a hole with flaming rims that rained down embers on the ground below.

Vatra leaped up with flames bursting from his soles. "After it!" Vatra cried, his voice an echo from the ceiling as he flew off.

Chihiro teleported underneath the ceiling, nodded as she flew up and tailed him—right as one robot hand grabbed her leg! She grunted, yanking her other leg up as the other hands all grappled for her; she summoned a sword and slashed the arm in half at the hinge! With a shake of her leg, the unfolding hand slipped from her leg and fell into the crowds. She floated up and tailed Vatra down the ceiling, with only a moment taken to glance at the sea of hands that grappled and grabbed like vultures below her.