Deep within Dragon Valley, among the lush greenery along the river, three close friends are enjoying the warm sunny weather, thankful there's no‑one around to disturb them. While Carol lounges on the bank basking in the gentle warmth of the sun, Lilac and Milla swim and play in the river itself.

"Come and play with us, Carol!" Milla chirps, waving to the wildcat.

"No thanks," Carol replies, half asleep.

"Aw, come on! It's fun!" Milla encourages.

"Maybe later," Carol sighs, resettling herself.

"Lilac, tell Carol she's being‑" Milla begins, turning to Lilac, pausing when she realises the dragon‑girl has disappeared. "Lilac?"

Suddenly, Lilac bursts out of the water, her Dragon Boost sucking up an angled column. Once the Boost ends, the column breaks over both Milla and Carol, soaking them both.

"Milla's right you know," Lilac giggles, landing softly beside the nonplussed wildcat.

Carol simply fixes the impish dragon with a 'did you have to?' look.

Milla bounds out of the water and shakes herself dry, spraying both her friends in the process. "You're not scared of water, are you?" she asks Carol.

"Me? Scared? Nah!" Carol replies defiantly.

"Then come and swim!" Milla asks once more, getting down on all‑fours and adopting her cutest expression.

"There's no way to resist that look, is there?" Carol smiles, sliding off her deck chair. As she does so, her ears pick up a rustling in the bushes. "Can you hear something?" she asks, turning towards the direction of the sound.

Milla lifts her ears. "I can't‑ I can now."

As Milla finishes her sentence, the robot bursts out of the bushes. Standing about two feet tall, with a red shell casing, a grey face, yellow claws, and a single wheel underneath, the robot observes the trio through emotionless eyes.

"That doesn't look like one of Brevon's," Lilac observes, involuntarily taking hold of a hair whip. "Maybe we should‑"

Without warning, the robot charges directly towards the group. Milla summons a Phantom Block, lowering it to form a shield, while Lilac and Carol crouch either side of the puppy, ready to attack. When the robot is close enough, Milla unleashes the pent‑up energy in a powerful jade blast, reducing the robot to a smouldering wreck, the recoil knocking her back about a foot.

"Well, that was easy!" Carol remarks, relaxing.

"Yeah, but normally, one of those weird black flying things comes out," Lilac observes. "There wasn't one in this robot though."

Carol walks up to the wreckage, and picks up a small piece of shattered casing. "The metal's not the same as Brevon's bots either," she concludes, turning the piece over in her hands.

"Is it from the Red Scarves?" Milla asks.

"It's not a Red Scarves design," Lilac explains. "It's not from any of the three kingdoms either."

"Then where is it from?" Carol asks.

"I don't know," Lilac answers. "But we should find out, just in case there's more, and they start causing trouble," she adds, heading towards the bushes where the robot originated.

"She's being 'Little Miss Heropants' again," Carol sighs. "Come on Milla."

Lilac pushes deeper into the bushes, Carol and Milla following. After a few moments, they come across a strange ovoid phenomenon: a ring of purple fire and electricity forms the edge, and within, a maelstrom of colour fills the space.

"What is that?" Milla gasps, cowering in the bushes, peeking out at the strange portal.

Before the others can answer, a hornet‑like robot flies through, Carol swiftly dispatching it with a Wild Claw.

"Where these strange robots are coming from," Lilac concludes.

Slowly, the dragoness reaches out to touch the portal, ready to pull back if she gets hurt. Without warning, she's pulled through completely.

"Lilac!" Carol and Milla cry in unison.

After a few tense moments, with Lilac not returning, Carol moves towards the portal.

"What are you doing?" Milla asks, her voice shaky.

"My best friend just got pulled Ancients‑know‑where, and I'm gonna go and get her back!" Carol declares.

The instant she touches the portal, Carol is also pulled through.

"Carol!" Milla cries.

After waiting a few moments, and with no sign of either wildcat or dragoness, Milla edges closer to the portal. When close enough, she reaches out to touch it: the instant she makes contact, she too is pulled through the portal.

A moment later, the portal collapses with a pop.