Within the heart of the mountain, the first sounds that came to ear were that of the crystals as they reverberated and buzzed. The crystals’ bodies shook from the churning of the gears that could only faintly be heard as they whirred inside. Beyond that, even one's own footsteps couldn't even be heard underfoot.

It was a perfect cover for anyone planning for a sneak attack, and it seemed that Luz's entire group knew this. Their eyes bounced and dashed across the room, as if they waited for a cyclops to jump out and cleave their head in half at any moment. But, nothing came from even the deepest cracks in the walls, so they trailed forward.

Of them all, Luz was the antsiest as he fiddled with his shield; he pushed it back and forth from where it rested on his arm as he scanned the area.

The only things that caught his eye were the crystals that lined the walls as they glimmered in all sorts of colors, and the shiny, churning gears that looked to be made directly from crystal themselves as they cranked away. The soft hum of the crystals melded with the much louder cranking and churning of the turning gears. It blocked out all the sound in Luz's ears, yet it seemed as though he heard something else as he glanced around with wide, expectant eyes.

Luz sighed and hung his head. "Please let him be okay," Luz whimpered, his head still hung low as he stepped forward. "If, if he dies, I—"

"Luz, look out!"

Luz grunted as something yanked him back by the back of his chestplate, and he found himself pressed against Dej in a matter of moments.

"Hey, Dej, let me go!" Luz shouted as he pushed himself free of Dej's grip and shook his head. "What was that for, anyways?"

Dej scoffed and nudged Luz's arm. "Just trying to keep you from getting sliced in half! Didn't you see those buzzsaws?"

Luz blinked a bit more furiously, shook his head and turned back to the path ahead. There, shiny crystal buzzsaws infested the once-tranquil stone paths as they bounced from side to side, left to right, up and down... A few even curled in circles. They all glimmered with such intensity that Luz shielded his eyes with his shield, but soon he frowned and lowered his shield.

"Just give me a minute," Dej said as he stepped forward. Frost formed on his knuckles as he cracked them. "I'll have these things frozen up in no time—"

"But I can't wait for that!"

Luz sprinted along the path at the speed of light, and went so fast that all that could be seen was the trail of golden light he left behind! He was sure he heard somebody calling his name, or telling him to look out, but the shriek of the buzzsaws as they trailed along their chosen path numbed out the sound.

Instead, Luz swerved around one buzzsaw, but jumped back as another burst past him! He stumbled backwards as both his feet planted on the ground, just barely avoiding the graze of another saw.

His eyes flickered. Before him, he almost saw visions of his younger self, who smiled as he walked hand in hand with Fintster while they both laughed.

"Now, just turn around this way," the younger Fintster said as they both side-stepped another buzzsaw.

Luz blinked as the buzzsaw ahead of him passed by once more while the illusions disappeared. He hopped along the path, wedging himself into a free space between two of the buzzsaws. When he turned ahead. there were those illusions, hopping and skipping right along the path with not even a scratch!

"Take the third street,"

Luz teleported behind them, inched away from one buzzsaw, and his whole body pushed forward without him even thinking about it. He trailed along after the illusions once more, and the buzzsaws' screeching noises started to numb a little in his mind as he followed after them.

Now that he thought about it, he remembered this. It was when Fintster took him home for the first time, wasn't it? He couldn't bring himself to say a word, or do anything but follow. If he reached out, if he said something, surely they'd disappear, so he just quietly followed. His footsteps barely pattered along the path as he trailed forward, and dodged the graze of oncoming buzzsaws.

"Skip right across here!" Fintster chirped as he bent down and leaped across a small gap, one where a buzzsaw whirred back and forth. He giggled a bit, but his smile faltered as the younger Luz whimpered and stepped back.

"But, what if I don't make it?" the young Luz asked.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fall! Just jump!"

The younger Luz gulped. As the buzzsaw passed by him once more, he hopped right across, eyes shut and cheeks puffed the whole time…

And as he landed on the other side, and swung his arms around, he popped one eye open to find himself on solid ground! He released his breath and beamed as he glanced up at Fintster. His grin only grew wider as Fintster ruffled his hair.

"I did it, I did it!" the young Luz cried as his body filled with bright yellow light and slowly dissolved into glittering specks.

Fintster's body dissolved into smoky black clouds, but he didn't even notice. He just laughed with the younger Luz as they both dissolved.

What had been across there when Luz first arrived? He was sure it was a river or creek of some kind, one that was probably long dried up at this point. Luz hadn't even seen his childhood hometown since he left to train amid the free magicians with Fintster. Was it even still the same place? Was the place he once called home even standing still?

Luz shook his head, hopped across the gap as the buzzsaw finished rushing past, and grunted as he landed. Once he got back Fintster, he'd find out everything: what happened to their home, their family, to everyone!

Luz huffed, and turned around towards the still-whirring and traveling buzzsaws. He spun his shield the fastest it could, until the heat and light it accumulated burned against his skin. The heat grew as fast as the seconds themselves passed, and when it grew too hot to even embrace, he yanked it off and flung it away!

It spun so fast that it burned like the sun, and sliced through one buzzsaw after another as it disappeared further down the path. Only sharp, shattering noises and sparkling crystal shards remained on the path. The faint light that burned near the end of the path was the sole sign of the shield's remains.

Slowly, the light grew brighter as the shield flew back to Luz, and he lifted his arm right as it came in. It attached back with a click, and after that, soft talking resounded through the cavern. He supposed the others were probably going to make their way in soon, but he couldn't quite wait.

Luz turned around and gritted his teeth as a different kind of talking came from the path ahead, one that vaguely sounded like the idle chatter of guards as they lingered about. He stepped forward, but stopped as something kind of hard, but warm, brushed against his shoulder.

"Now, don't tell me you were gonna go ahead and take out all the guys yourself?" Swarm teased behind him. "I knew you were hot-headed, but I'm not letting you get busted up like that!"

Oh, seems like they all came back. Luz turned around and blinked as Swarm smiled back down at him. He grunted as Swarm brushed a finger against the side of Luz's head.

"After all, we can't have you getting beat up before you and Fintster meet up again!"

Luz forced a smile, and Swarm gave him a kind of weak one before they both glanced down at the halls.

Swarm removed his finger from Luz's head and squeezed his hand. When he opened his hand, a small swarm of bees formed in his gigantic palm, and flew off with a surprising low volume despite being bees. They were so tiny that Luz couldn't even tell if they had left or not, but he didn't really need to. They came back just as quickly as they left, and swarmed around Swarm's antenna as buzzed.

"Uh-huh, yeah, yeah," Swarm mumbled as he tilted his head and flicked his antennae. He nodded a bit, grinned as the bees disappeared, and turned his attention down to the others. "The bees say they've only got a few guards down there. This'll be a drop of honey!"

"That's good enough for me!" Luz shouted as he stormed forward.

His footsteps thumped against the stone floor while the blue and yellow crystals that lined the wall glistened. Their light brushed against Luz's face, and warmed it as he lifted his shield and took it into the shield's core. If there were as little guards as Swarm said there were, surely, one light wave would be enough to put them out of commission! His feet hit the end of the tunnel, and Luz found himself in a much taller sections of the caves free of crystals, but with a few sparse cyclopes dressed in armor littered around the floor

"Intruder!" one cyclops cried. "Quick, get the defenses ready!"

Luz snarled, smacked his hand against his shield and spun it around. All it would take was one little wave, just enough to wipe them out. The cyclopes rushed for a wall near the back and pulled on something, and in turn the wall itself opened. Luz just spun his shield further and faster, the shriek of burning light crying away in his ears! The cyclopes turned back at him and sneered, and Luz held up his shield in response, its metal burning against his skin once more.

"Just one shot, just one shot, that's all it'll take!" Luz hissed under his breath.

The light shrieked and burned away as it funneled into the core. A bright, intertwining laser of blue and yellow light shot for the cyclopes—but at the last minute, something rushed forward and shouldered the blow!

A large red and gold robot, undoubtedly an Arkeyan by the looks of its body, fell on its side, slunk over and collapsed. A hole burned through its core and wafted with steam, and around it, the cyclopes sneered and drew their weapons. A few meager beeps came from the robot as the cyclopes swarmed around and over it. They trampled it underfoot as they ran to the back of the rooms, but with its massive size, the most they did was flip it on its back.

Luz stepped back a bit, the smoke wafting from his shield's core and clouding his vision. He barely managed to keep focus on the cyclopes. They all jeered at him, but he could barely discern their mocking cries as more large, lumbering red and gold things stormed out from the back of the room.

The robots’ faces glowed with dull red lights as they took labored steps forward, and Luz shook his head as he gripped his shield, ready to strike. A sharp, swinging sound came from behind him and he immediately hit the floor!

The sound of metal splitting and screeching rang in his ears, and Luz lifted his head to find that the large Arkeyan robots that once marched for him tumbled and stumbled over their own feet. The robots were barely able to keep balance thanks to the swords and stingers that lodged into their chests!

"Luz, are you alright?" Ninjini asked as she floated in and knelt beside him. When Luz gave her a simple nod and stood, she smiled back and lifted herself to full height, a wishblade appearing in her hand with a single snap of her fingers.

"Hah, that all you got?" Swarm asked as he flew in and sneered, his arms crossed tight to his chest. "That wasn't even a challenge! I'd dealt with stinkbugs worse than that!"

The cyclopes stumbled back in turn. Their eyes were wide, and sputtered nonsense billowed from their mouths as they glanced at each other, and then back to Swarm and Ninjini. One cyclops decorated in slightly fancier armor than the rest stepped forward and frowned as he crossed his arms behind his back for a moment. His eye fluttered and he dashed back to the panel.

"It's them! The beings Her Majesty warned us about!" the decorated cyclops cried as he slammed a big, red button on the wall. "Looks like it's time to call in the big guns!"

The button sank into the wall with a single click, and the room rumbled as parts of the ceiling crumbled down, and dripped on everyone's heads like rain!

Swarm and Ninjini winced and covered their heads.

Beside them, Luz bounced away as a particularly large rock crashed down, and splintered into many more right before his face! He grimaced a bit, and gasped as someone gripped his arm. When he turned around and found that it was just Vaayu, who ran in with all the others behind him, Luz quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just what's doing all this?" Vaayu demanded.

A single, red light flared from the depths of the open space in the wall, one high enough that it even met Swarm and Ninjini's gazes. It followed up with groaning machinery and even more lights, some red and some gold, that flared out from the wall's inner workings. The ground thudded, knocking the cyclopes and a few of the smaller members in Luz's group off their feet. Something that sounded vaguely like the whirring of a machine ruminated from the cavern as a clawed, red and gold hand emerged from the depths, and grabbed at the air before it.

That single thud was with another and another as a giant Arkeyan robot, about the same size as Ninjini, labored its way out of the cavern! Its red and gold knight's armor shone in the light the overhead lights had to offer. Its red eyes glinted with fury as it grabbed a shiny broadsword from its back, and charged forward!

"That's one big Arkeyan defender!" Swarm shouted as he flitted back.

"Eye've never seen one this size!" Eye cried out as he popped off of Brawl's head.

"This is only a taste of what Her Majesty's benefactor offered her if she agreed to get her the high priest!" the decorated cyclops cried as he puffed out his chest. He chuckled to himself, but quickly shook his head. "And just to ensure you don't wreck this one, too…"

The decorated cyclops whistled, and slobbering, huffing noises came from the back of the cavern. A trio of slobbering muttici stormed out of the cavern's depths, and knocked the cyclopes onto their backs! The cyclopes sneered as they took the reins and whipped out crystalline axes. With a snap of the reins, the muttici were off! Their drool pooled below their feet, and steamed away as they charged for the giant defender's feet, yet not once did their steps slip!

Swarm and Ninjini grimaced and charged forward, Ninjini wielding her swords and Swarm wielding his blades the entire way. Just as they came within inches of the defender and prepared to strike, something bit into Swarm and he collapsed to his knees!

"That stung!" Swarm cried as he glanced down at his ankles. "Who did that?"

The answer? A simple mutticus that gnawed away at his foot. The cyclops that rode it slashed away at the wound the mutticus created, just to salt it. Swarm whimpered as he yanked the mutticus from his ankle and tossed it away, but right as he stood, the defender's broadsword swung in for him and he rolled back!

Swarm slammed into the cavern walls. He cracked it enough that a slab of stone slammed into his head and knocked him down, and the defender lifted its sword as it charged for him again!

Swarm lifted his head just as the blade came in once more, and Ninjini zipped in, shouldering the blow with her wishblades! Her blades and the defender's sword clanged against each other; their shouts echoed around the cavern as they smashed together. The defender hesitated, and Ninjini went to strike its neck, but stopped midway as something gripped onto her skirt and gnawed away!

She grimaced and glanced down as two of the muttici sank their teeth into her skirt, dangling from it like leaves on a tree branch. She snarled and turned around right as the defender laid its blade on her! She threw her blades up once more, but floated back as something slammed into the defender's side and knocked it to the ground!

"You think you're pretty hot stuff, don't cha?" Hot Head chuckled as he lifted a flaming hand and prepared to lunge. "Well, so am I!"

Hot Head chuckled as his flames puffed and burst, but the sounds of acid burning away rang in the room and his eyes went wide! Hot Head screamed as green flames burned away at his heels, rolled right off the defender and blew them out. All the while, he frantically wiped away the gooey green slobber that fueled the flames as it seeped into his lava veins. He panted as the flames atop his head flickered in and out, patted them a few more times, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. The flames extinguished at last, though his foot was now a bit tattered in appearance.

Just as he started to catch his breath, more green flames burst from his hand and he screamed! He frantically blew away at the fires. It was in that moment the defender completely bodied him into the wall! The flames coated Hot Head's body quickly burst as he collapsed on the ground.

With Hot Head incapacitated, the defender turned its gaze on Eye and Brawl. It heaved up its broadsword and wrapped its fingers against the handle as it charged forward. Its blade slashed just barely against Brawl's chest. In turn, Eye popped off of Brawl and zapped the defender in the face!

The defender reeled back just a bit. It stumbled backwards while its sword nearly slipped from its hand, but it quickly reclaimed its grip and changed direction, swinging the blade for Eye instead! Eye grunted, and hopped up just before the blade could slice him, but the defender twisted it and sliced for him again!

Eye panted and flew off just as the blade missed him again, retreating to a corner of the room. He zapped the defender's head once more. The defender charged forward, and Eye flew back into the open gap in the wall as he zapped again—but the defender stabbed its sword into the gap!

Eye grunted again as he bounced around the confined space within. He panted shallow breaths while he ducked and flew into every corner he could. Like a bouncing ball, he sprung from one corner to the bottom, but finally, his balance slipped and he tumbled right out of the corridor! He landed right below the defender's foot, groaned, and rolled himself back upright as the defender turned around.

The defender hovered its foot right over Eye, but just as the foot landed, a purple shield formed right around him, and caught the foot in midair! Eye rolled backwards as the defender lifted its foot, and Brawl yanked him right from the floor. He popped Eye back on his head as he slid forward, and punched the defender right in the chest!

The joints holding its shoulders and legs in place started to spark, and a tiny gasp left not just Brawl and Eye, but those below them as well. The defender creaked as it raised its fist and swung a punch. Brawl blocked it with his fists before he jumped backwards. The rest of their team watched in silent awe as Brawl and the defender both punched away, eyes trained on the sparking joints.

"Those have to be its weak points!" Ninjini shouted as she summoned a new pair of wishblades. "Come on! Once we slice them off, it'll be down for the—"

"Hold it right there!"

A volley of arrows rained down, and formed a barrier between where Brawl warred with the defender and the rest of his group. At the other end of the barrier, a cyclops stood and sneered. The bow he wielded changed to an ax so large he could barely hold it, and the cyclops blew all the arrows away with a single strike before he charged in! He leaped in the air, and underneath him, Luz, Dej and Eruptor split right before he could cleave them!

"You're not scrapping our fancy new robot just yet! We still haven't had enough time to play with him!" the cyclops proclaimed, and his eye turned to where his fellow cyclopes chimed in agreement.

He sneered as the cyclopes' cheers echoed around, and heaved up his ax as he dashed for Vaayu—but Vaayu chuckled and swept out of the way!

"Oh, whoops! Looks like you missed me that time!" Vaayu remarked as he clasped his hands while wisps of fog curled around his fingers. "You're not going to see me any more, I'm afraid!"

With one more clap of his hands, a thick coat of fog billowed over the cavern floor, coating everything underneath Brawl and the defender's waists in solid mist! Even those above it could barely see a thing underneath the tightly-packed clouds that obscured their footing. The thick coat of fog chilled the air a little, leaving the once-warm cavern cold as a rainy day. Even with its thick exterior, the shouting from those below still pierced through!

"Hey, what happened?" demanded the ax-wielding cyclops as he yanked up his ax. "Who turned out the lights?"

"Forget that, where's the robot? I can't see a thing in all this fog!" shouted another cyclops.

A few lights blinked in the distance. They were bright enough that they burned like stars even through such a thick fog, and the third cyclops gasped as they pointed back to the lights.

"Over there!"

The cyclopes fumbled with their weapons as they drew closer and closer to the ever-blinking lights. Around them, the fog started to clear! Their smiles grew wider the closer they got, but as the fog cleared, those smiles faded. They screamed and leaped back, for what faced them was Luz's group!

"Can't believe you fell for the fog-lights trick!" Luz chuckled as he lowered a still-glowing palm. He smiled for maybe one of the first times since he began that mission. "That's one of the oldest tricks in the book!"

The cyclopes growled, and the one that led their group glanced back to where Eye-Brawl and the defender traded blows still. Brawl and the defender's feet twitched, and they lifted them up before they stomped down.

As they did, a thick wall of ice surrounded the cyclopes' battling grounds! Its shiny, solid exterior completely blocked the outside world save for an open gap in the back. The world inside turned to a proper arena within—much to the cyclopes' irritation as they raised their weapons and charged!

Two cyclopes riding on muttici came in first, and Eruptor clapped his hands as he cast spewing pools of lava! The seething heat of the lava was unlike any other, so hot that it crackled and formed bubbles that popped with large, booming noises. They were loud enough that the muttici shook their riders off, and ran up the walls, scaling them like ice climbers!

The cyclopes both shouted out as they flew through the air. Terrafin leaped up and joined them, punching the cyclopes in the face and knocking them into the wall! A shattering noise came as they slammed into the ice wall, cracked it, and popped off as they planted on the floor. The damage they did was apparent enough, for the wall cracked further, the cracks spreading around the wall and glistening in the light!

Dej grimaced, froze over the ground underneath him, and brushed his hand against the walls. His eyes slowly turning around them as the cracks slowly filled. The sound of footsteps came from behind, and he formed a pair of chuí out of ice. He turned forward and struck a third cyclops as it swung its ax for him!

The cyclops grunted as the ax flew back, its handle nearly slipping from the cyclops's grip. The cyclops grabbed it back, swung for Dej once more, but he jumped out of the way. Instead, the ax hit the cracks Dej just sealed, bursting open their wounds and leaving them deeper than before!

Dej gasped, but raised his chuí and blocked the next blow that came from the cyclops! He glanced from the cyclops as it swung its ax towards him, and then the growing cracks at the wall around with a grimace. The cyclops sneered, swung for Dej with his ax—but yanked it back as a group of fluffy gray clouds rushed past them both!

The clouds spread in a circle around the wall's edges. They blew cold air and snow into the cracks, and slowly sealed them until they were tightly-packed with crystalline icy snow! Though the walls themselves were now a bit off-color, they stood firm as ever. As their light glistened, the clouds nodded to each other and zipped back to their creator: none other than Whirlwind, of course!

She grinned, petted a few of the clouds as they disappeared, and nodded as their wisps faded away. With a flick of her ear, Whirlwind flew off and left Gill Grunt in her steed. She straggled over to the side, and smiled as he raised his cannon.

Gill Grunt spewed out a torrent of steaming water that washed away the cyclops who fought Dej! He drew back as the cyclops slid towards the other two unconscious cyclopes, and the torrent poured in soon after, leaving them all soaked.

Whirlwind flew ahead of him as lowered her horn, lightning crackling at its tip. However, it wasn't electricity that burst from it; Instead, a stream of storm clouds flew out, and hovered above the cyclopes as lightning struck from the clouds' undersides! The cyclopes screamed as the sudden shock jolted them back to life, the lightning conducting through their wet bodies. They jittered and collapsed once more.

"Hey, what's all this racket about?" exclaimed a bulkier cyclops as he rushed into the arena's open mouth with a whole fleet of cyclopes at his heels. "You grunts disturbed my afternoon—"

The bulky cyclops screamed as a massive wind current blew up from the ground below, tossed him and his underlings in the air, and juggled them like they were little more than toy balls! They screamed and shouted as they spun around in midair. They were unable to do anything more than flail their arms and legs in some faint attempt of breaking free. It was of no use, for the wind was too strong for them to break free!

The bulky cyclops growled as Vaayu strode up to him with the smuggest look on his face. The bulky cyclops went to shout, to scream and curse, but with a flick of Vaayu's hand, the wind roared stronger and blocked out his voice.

"Luz, how about you finish them off?" Vaayu asked as he turned his attention down to Luz below him.

Luz nodded, and with a click, he yanked his shield from his arm and flung it like a disc! The wind currents dropped a bit as the shield passed through, and slammed the bulky cyclops in the gut. It knocked the bulky cyclops back into one grunt, and then the next! They all flew off the side, smashed into the ice wall, and fell over each other in a pile. The bulky cyclops groaned as one of his grunts knocked him in the head, but quickly shook off the pain as Luz ran off beside him!

"Hey!" the bulky cyclops cried as he shuffled through the pile, and patted his around, reaching for Luz's foot. "Get back here!"

"Luz, what're you doing?" Vaayu shouted from behind.

Luz only spared them a passing glance as he spun his shield, and heated it up while hot light charged in its core. He held his shield towards the crack that formed in the wall from the cyclopes' collision, and shot a single beam of light that burned right through, forming a hole just big enough for him to crawl through!

Around the hole, the cracks spread across the whole wall, and shattered it completely.

Luz drew his shield back and spun it further, its whole body glowing in warm shades. He lifted his eyes towards the defender as it wrestled with Eye-Brawl. That thing was the only thing that stood between him and his brother. If he could just snipe out its weak points, he could get to Fintster!

Luz grunted, slid past them and flung out his shield. He popped it twice as he rushed right past the defender! Two hot beams of light smashed into the defender's leg joints, and shattering pierced the air as the lights and sparks in them dimmed. Luz slid around, and pushed himself up as the defender stumbled back for a moment. It was enough that Eye-Brawl stepped back in alarm, but the defender quickly regained its balance and turned its attention to Luz instead.

"Damn, looks like that wasn't enough," Luz panted. "Maybe if I take out the knees next?"

The sound of rattling, speeding chains caught Luz's ear. He lifted his head up right as a mechanical arm shot forward, and it yanked Luz's shield right off of his arm!

"Hey!" Luz cried as he leaped up and clutched his shield by its spikes. "I didn't say you could have that! Give it back!"

With a single flick, the arm tossed Luz off and knocked him on the ground! A sharp pain hit his back as he landed, and his whole body ached with dull, sore pains as he staggered up. He positioned himself just upright enough that he caught the arm as it fed into the defender's back, and dangled his shield right above the defender's face.

The Defender turned its glance at Luz as its eyes flashed red. Luz raised his hand, ready to fire—but the arm flicked his shield right back at him instead, and shot it so fast that it smashed right into his chest! Luz hacked as the shield fell and rattled right by his side; Luz himself rolled into something cold!

Luz let out another cough as something sat him against a particularly large rock. He found himself staring right in Vaayu and Dej's faces next. Vaayu's gaze was stern, and Dej's a little more concerned. Soon, Swarm joined the two of them as he smiled and ruffled Luz's hair.

"Just let us handle the big guys, okay?" Swarm chirped.

He flew off before Luz could give him an answer. Ninjini flew forward, joining Swarm and charging forward. Their eyes set on the defender as it turned around.

The defender's eyes flashed red again, and that back arm of its hid away in its back while it reached for its sword. Shining purple blades swung forward just before it could grab the sword, and hacked off its right arm! No longer bound to its body, the right arm fell as smoke and sparking electricity burst from its open end! The defender turned around, and glanced at the missing spot where its right arm once was for a moment. Something hacked off its left arm, and its eyes flashed before it pushed forward.

Sharp stingers skewed through its front like swords, and it stumbled forward as it unveiled Swarm at its back!

"Yo, Eye-Brawl, your turn!" Swarm shouted as he saluted.

Eye popped off of Brawl, nodded, and turned his attention down to the shadow the defender cast as it fell. Eye zapped the ground below! It glowed silver while bony brambles burst forward from the earth and stabbed the defender's front! It left the defender propped up, and it leaked out dull, bluish-silver oil as low, droning noises ruminated from its inside.

Eye popped onto Brawl's head once more, and the two of them slid forward as Brawl slammed through with a punch. He shattered the brambles and knocked the defender on its back! A sound like sharp, shattering glass came as fragments of shiny bronze glass poured from its limbs. With a stomp from Brawl, the defender's chest caved in and its eyes' lights faded.

Brawl stomped on the Defender's chest a few more times, and scoffed as he turned to where Ninjini helped up a dizzy Hot Head. Eye didn't join him, instead fixing his attention towards the empty space in the cave's wall.

"Is something wrong, Eye?" Brawl signed.

Eye hummed for a bit, and his wings flared as he did. "Eye think eye see something coming out of there!"

With that single line spoken, everyone's eyes latched onto the wall. Well, save for Hot Head, who cried out as Ninjini dropped him to the floor before she hastily picked him up. Their eyes narrowed as clapping echoed from the open space, and it paired with soft, barely-there footsteps as something stepped out from the wall.

The hairs of a blue mohawk poked out first, followed by a light chartreuse face with a single large eye closed in pleasure, and out at last stepped a cyclops! They were muscular in a lean way, and dressed in spiked leather armor with a cloth bag attached at their hip.

"Gotta admit, that was some fine fighting you did there," the cyclops said. They whistled a bit, gulped, and jumped back as all weapons pointed right for their throat. "Wait, wait, hold on! I'm not here to fight!"

The cyclops raised their hands in the air, their mouth held in a tight, cringing frown. They poked their eye open, and revealed it to be a sky-like blue as the weapons all lowered. They gulped as they glanced back, unsure if they were going to be attacked once more, but when the last of the weapons sheathed, they smiled and lowered their hands.

"If you aren't here for a fight, what exactly are you here for?" Gill Grunt asked as he crossed his arms.

The cyclops chuckled and scratched their head.

"Well, you see, the boss told me to guard his hideout from intruders and stuff, but Ancients, it's so boring!" The cyclops groaned and drew their head back. "All we do is sit around and stare at rocks! That's the most excitement I've gotten since we arrived here!" The cyclops chuckled and jostled the bag on their hip. "You know, I've been itching for a good game of Skystones, so, I have a proposal!"

The cyclops disappeared back into the dark depths of the wall's open space for a moment, and huffed as they ran back out with… A folded table? With another few short breaths, the cyclops set it up into a full-functional Skystones table, pushed a nearby rock forward and sat on it like a chair.

"If you beat me at Skystones," the cyclops said as they gestured towards the table, "I'll tell you where the boss is hiding!"

Gill Grunt, Eruptor, and Terrafin all exchanged wary glances with each other. Behind them, Vaayu and Dej crossed their arms.

"I'm not so sure about this," Vaayu whispered. "For all we know, that cyclops has a trick up their sleeve."

"Oh, I'm being perfectly honest here, sir!" the cyclops said as they raised a hand. "All I want is a good, clean game of Skystones!"

Vaayu winced, clenching his teeth tight. "They could hear me?"

A few other whispers echoed around, followed by a few grunts as Luz shuffled through and stood at the helms of the group. Taking a breath, Luz planted a hand on the table. It was true, this could be a trap—but, if it would give them a shortcut to where Fintster was, he wasn't going to pass up that chance!

"Alright, I'll do it!" Luz proclaimed.

The cyclops beamed and nodded as they pulled out their bag and rifled through, but Luz only gave them a stern glance. That is, until he faintly felt something tapping on his shoulder and turned around. He met with a worried Gill Grunt.

"Luz, do you even know how to play this game?" Gill Grunt asked as he raised a brow.

"'Course I do! When I was still stuck in that wheel, I overhead those pirates talking about how to play!" Luz replied before he turned back, and summoned a crystal chair as his seat. "I know the game inside and out."

Luz clenched his brows as the cyclops pushed some Skystones towards him, and reluctantly took them in hand. The cyclops sat before him, and smiled as they scanned over the Skystones in their hand. Just what were they planning? Luz wasn't sure, but he held his own stones close, just to be safe.

"I play my enfuego chompy!" the cyclops proclaimed.

Luz nodded, gulped, and pulled a skystone bearing a spear-wielding drow from the deck as he spiked it up.

"And I play my drow lance master!" Luz proclaimed as he dropped the drow skystone underneath the chompy. An illusion of a drow popped up and stabbed the skystone above, flipping it to Luz's blue, and Luz gulped as he turned up to the still-smiling cyclops. "Your move."

The cyclops chuckled, spiked up another stone, and dropped it at the top of the board's leftmost column. "I play my Blaster Troll! Special move: Cannonhead!"

Out from the stone popped a troll wielding a gun of some kind. Instead of shooting, it pocketed the gun, and whipped out a giant cannon! With a flick of its fuse, the cannon shot a cannonball that ripped through the row below, and flipped all the stones below to red! The troll chuckled as it disappeared, but its laughter lived on as the cyclops sneered.

Luz winced, but not from the jeers of his opponents. No, it was the whispers of everyone else as they crowded around him and talked! He glared up, shooed them away for a moment, and glanced down at his deck. He had to have something here that could help.

His eyes glanced over a stone bearing an Arkeyan Bomber, and he grinned as it spiked it up. He just barely recalled that this one had a special move, one some pirate used to con an unsuspecting gillman. Maybe it was a mabu? He couldn't tell by the voice alone, but either way, the poor guy definitely got tricked by this.

"I play my Arkeyan Bomber!" Luz proclaimed as he slammed it in the heart of the board. "Special move: Bomb Shower!"

An illusion of an Arkeyan Bomber burst forward from the stone's surface and tossed a rain of bombs down on the board! The bombs smashed into the stones and flipped them back to his blue! He smirked for a bit, but his confidence faded as a soft click came from the board. This time, a tall, green… Person? Zombie? Luz couldn't quite tell what it was, but it dressed in armor with spikes on its knuckles, and looked kinda grizzly as it landed on the board.

"I play my jawbreaker! Special move: Underground Pound!"

The jawbreaker slammed its fists and quaked the board, sending three diagonal fissures across and flipping two of the stones over to red! Three to two, huh? Luz winced, and quickly dropped another troll wielding a gun at the bottom of the center row.

"I play my d. riveter! special move: Burning Bullets!"

The troll leaped from the stone and shot its bullets across the board, but it only flipped over one stone before it disappeared! Well, at least Luz had the advantage now. He glanced down at the board again, yet shook his head as another gun-wielding troll snatched his troll and flipped it over! He lifted his head to find the cyclops sneering at him, but Luz just frowned and glanced over his stones. All he had left was an enfuego chompy… Hopefully, this special move would work.

"So, what're you gonna do next?" the cyclops smirked.

Luz breathed in and out, spiked up his enfuego chompy, and planted it in the board's middle-right section.

"I play my enfuego chompy! Special move: Festival of Fire!"

The enfuego chompy leaped from the board and danced around. Fire shot and spiraled from its footsteps; it moved across the board as the red stones trembled! One by one, they flipped over, and turned to a bright blue that shimmered like the sky on a warm day! The chompy flopped over and disappeared, but its stone was still in the grip of the cyclops's attention!

"Wow, pulling it off with just that," the cyclops whispered, before they shook their head and planted down their last stone. "Anyways, I play my d. riveter!"

The d. riveter shot off a few round, turning parts of the board red once more—but even so, the cyclops was outnumbered six to three! Luz won and there was no denying it!

The cyclops chuckled as the d. riveter disappeared. "Well, you beat me fair and square," the cyclops said as they leaned over and shook Luz's hand, "and I have to admit, that was the most fun I've had playing Skystones in a while!"

The cyclops chuckled, drew back as they swept the stones into their bag once more, and dug in forward as they pulled out a shiny orange key.

"There's a Tech Element gate just around the corner where our boss hangs out, but since most of us aren't Tech Elementals, we use keys like these to get it open!" The cyclops dropped the key in Luz's palm. "Just slot this in the mechanism beside it, and you'll be good to go!"

The cyclops chuckled, saluted Luz, and packed up the table as they drew into the shadows.

"But you didn't hear it from me…"

Luz only nodded as he drew back from his prism chair, squeezed the key and bolted off. He still wasn't entirely sure if the cyclops was tricking him or not, but still, he had to try! Fintster probably couldn't wait any longer on him!

Stowing away his worries with a bite of his lip, Luz rounded the corner, and a bright orange light brushed against his face! The bright sight was enough that it slowed his run to just a walk, and then a complete stop as the light glowed its brightest.

He turned to his left, and found a tall gate with sides made of gears, and a large, orange disc with a Tech Element symbol in the center. It blocked off the place ahead so well that the only notion he got of its identity was the sounds of working machinery behind it. To his right, there laid a round device with a keyhole inside. Luz plugged the key in, twisted it, and the gate shimmered as it unfolded to unveil a mechanical factory of some kind. It held cranking gears, steaming machinery at every angle, and more importantly, pictures of cyclopes plastered everywhere!

"This is?" Dej asked as he walked up behind Luz with the others in tow behind him.

Luz nodded and gripped his hand tight. Surely, Fintster had to be somewhere in here, and still in that cyclops's possession. Was he hurt? Strained? Whatever it was, it didn't matter! Luz was going to find him and bring him back home! He was gonna get his brother back, no matter what!

With that silent vow made, Luz rushed into the hideout.