When Junjie awoke, it took him a few moments to remember where he was. He was surprised at first at not being able to see the vivid orange bedcovers he usually slept under, or the pale greyish-blue of the walls he usually faced.

Instead he was met with a large, somewhat dimly-lit room that appeared to be an entire house in one, with the blinds still drawn over both the windows.

He rubbed his forehead. He still felt sore from yesterday.

The woman he was accompanying was nowhere in sight, but he could hear - from what was apparently a very short distance away - splattering of water and faint humming of a tune he hadn't heard before.

He sat up, yawned and stretched his back, wincing a little. His bones weren't what they used to be.

"You up then, mate?"

He froze. She genuinely sounded like she was right next to him.

"Yes," he replied, and he stood up. "Yes, I'm awake."

"Well, you're going to have to wait if you want the shower," said Perry. "I don't know if you can tell, but it's a bit occupied right now."

Junjie had been in the process of looking around the building and it was only as he was turning to his left that he realised what (and who) was there, and he quickly looked away again.

"So I see," he commented. "And there's no way of making it a little more private?"

"There were only s'posed to be about two people here at a time," Perry explained, "and they could stay here for months on end, so there weren't much need for a great deal of privacy."

"Ah," Junjie said simply, unable to distract himself from the fact that a woman was showering mere feet from where he stood. "Could you... you said that this place was a hideout for slug wranglers?"

"Yep!" She squirted something out of a bottle with a bizarre slurping noise.

"Yet you don't explain what a slug wrangler is." He approached one of the windows and tried to untangle the cord on the blinds.

"Well, surely you must know 'bout mail order slugs, right?"

Junjie gave up and just tugged on the cord, and the blinds released a cloud of dust as they slid upwards. Luckily he waved it away before it had a chance to go down his throat or up his nostrils.

"I believe I heard it mentioned at some point," he said, and tried to wipe some dirt off the grimy windows.

"You ever wonder where they come from?" asked Perry.

"The thought hasn't exactly crossed my mind." The dirt appeared to be on the other side of the glass.

"They come from slug wranglers." The water was turned off. "Bunch of lads and lasses and ladsies and what have you who catch slugs so they can be sold on the market. You know I said we're meeting up with someone? Her brother's a slug wrangler. He's down in Symphogna Cavern right now. He sends us the rejects."

Junjie breathed on the glass and it squeaked as he tried to wipe it.

"Rejects?" he said curiously.

"Not all slugs get sold, lad," Perry replied, and there was another squeak - this time of hinges - as she stepped out of the shower. "Most do, but then you get the ones what're mutated or got attacked by something. Ain't you taken an actual look at me arsenal yet?"

His interest piqued, Junjie looked to where his slugs were apparently getting to know hers. Joo-Joo seemed to be having a rather angry conversation with the reddish Infurnus, and nearby was a pale blue and grey one-eyed slug of a species he'd never seen before. There was also a Tazerling and a Frostcrawler, but the Tazerling had three eyes and the Frostcrawler didn't have feelers.

"I'm travelling light at the moment," Perry explained. "The rest are with me friend. Right now there's just Fury, Barry, Greg and Dave."

Junjie frowned in bafflement.

"Barry, Greg and Dave?" he repeated. "Fury I can understand, but-"

"He sends them to us free of charge," Perry said, oblivious to his confusion. "He's a nice lad. Quiet. It's okay, you can look now."

Relieved, Junjie looked to where she stood as she pulled her dress down over her hips. Her hair was still wet, but looked far cleaner than it had last night.

"You looking to shower?" she asked as she picked up her jacket. "There's only cold water, but it'll wake you right up."

"No," Junjie said, "I showered last night. You seem to be rather a heavy sleeper."

"Aye," Perry said, and she zipped up the jacket only two-thirds of the way, "well, almost drowning got me a bit worn out."

"I can imagine," Junjie said, and he found a chair on which to sit down (after brushing all the dust off first, of course). "May I ask-"

"Why it is I swim like like a lump of limestone?" asked Perry as she secured her first belt.

Thankful that he wouldn't have to mention it himself (though he wouldn't have put it anywhere near as bluntly) Junjie nodded.

"I never really found time to learn it, see," she explained, and pulled on her second belt. "I know it's dumb, 'specially since there's so many lochs and rivers in me world, but I never thought to ask me mam about it. And by the time her job was mine, I were too busy to take time out."

"I see," Junjie said, and she sat down to pull her socks on. "And you made your way across the Cavern Sea by yourself, even though if you fell into the water, there was a good chance you wouldn't be able to get out again."

"Don't remind me," said Perry, and there was a snap as one of her boot clasps closed. "Never said I enjoyed it, did I?"

"No," Junjie said, and noted that despite her dark and apparently extra strong make-up that was only just beginning to fade, her nails were unpainted. "No, you didn't. I'm sorry. It can't have been easy."

"And yet I did it," Perry said as she donned her other boot. "Just goes to show how fantastic I am."

The methodical snapping of her clasps was almost hypnotic.

"So," said Junjie, "this expert you speak of..."

"Me oldest friend," said Perry, and she took her gloves from beside her bunk. "Knows pretty much everything there is to know about slugs. I knew we'd be in trouble when she didn't know anything about what these scuggans are doing, see. Them... ghouls, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Them ghouls had her stumped. And if she don't know something about slugs, it's bloody worrying."

With that, she finished pulling up her gloves and reholstered her blaster on her back.

"You want to head off or shall we have a bite to eat?" she asked.

Junjie watched as she flipped a switch by the side of the shower and it slowly spun around to reveal a large cupboard. The sight was both mesmerizing and mind-boggling.

'This world shall definitely take some getting used to,' he decided.

This cavern certainly seemed to be a good deal colder than the one he had departed yesterday. Even the light seemed somewhat duller and the colours of the plants were faded and dark, to the point that the trees surrounding the road were near-black. Junjie couldn't avoid feeling apprehensive as he followed Perry down the beaten track, where the ground was hard and grey rather than the light brown he had grown used to.

"So which cavern is this?" he asked.

"Ludgate Cavern," said Perry. "They do good chips here."

'Where?' thought Junjie. 'In a tree trunk?'

There didn't seem to be anything to this place except trees. The idea that somewhere around here was a salesperson for fried potatoes seemed rather out of the question.

"Stop."

Junjie instinctively halted even before he heard the command, as Perry had stopped and drawn her blaster.

"Are we being followed?" he asked, and he looked around at the trees that surrounded them.

"Pretty sure of it," said Perry. "I can't hear anything, but don't you feel it? That tingle on the back of your neck? You get it too, right?"

He didn't reply. It took Junjie a few seconds to realise that yes, he did feel as though he was being watched. He had been concentrating so hard on their surroundings that he hadn't even noticed.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. It was never comfortable.

"When I give the word," Perry muttered, "you charge on down the road. You ride hell-for-leather and you don't stop for nothing. You think you can handle that, lad?"

Suspecting (if not just hoping) that she had a plan, Junjie nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Three..."

In the nearby trees, something moved.

"...twooneGO!"

He slammed on his accelerator at the same time as her and they shot down the track as if fired from blasters. Junjie had no idea where they were heading, but as long as it was away from the threat, he couldn't find it in himself to mind.

Beside him he heard a whoop of joy, and he looked to find that Perry was laughing and smiling like she was on a funfair ride.

"You seem to be enjoying this a little more than necessary!" he pointed out.

"Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun!" she replied. "Do you know how epic it is to go full speed like this? WHOOOO!"

As she cackled and revved for more speed, Junjie looked back to the track. He could feel every rhythmic step of his mecha's feet on the hard ground, strangely calming in their repitition, and air was blowing into his face like he was riding into a gale. He understood her excitement; to ride at such speed, with adrenaline already pumping through his veins and buzzing in the back of his head, was incredibly exhilerating.

"Oi, JJ!" Perry shouted, snapping him out of his stupor. "Six o'clock!"

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder and Junjie glanced back to see their pursuer. From what he could tell, it was a young woman dressed in dark reds and greens, her brown hair in braids that flew back behind her and her dark brown eyes intently focused on him and his companion. Whatever her expression was behind the mask that hid her nose and mouth, it was almost certainly less than friendly.

She raised a blaster from somewhere within her lioness-built mecha and aimed in their direction.

"It's one of 'em!" Perry shouted. "One of those scuggans what're ghouling our slugs!"

As if on cue, the woman fired, and Junjie leaned to one side as a Grimmstone blazed past his head.

"She must have been waiting for you to return," he stated.

"No shit!" Perry responded bluntly. "Okay, listen up, I got an idea!"

Junjie didn't speak, but after making sure he was on a course to avoid crashing into any trees, he looked to her in expectation.

"Your mecha's got that bike thingy, right?" she asked.

"Yes?" said Junjie.

"If you keep following this track, you'll get to a big clearing!" Perry told him, nodding in the direction they were driving. "What I want you to do is speed on ahead, then turn about and come back the other way and attack her head-on! I'll try stalling her with what I got now, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: I know when I need help!"

Hoping sincerely that she knew what she was doing, Junjie pressed his helmet onto his head.

"And don't you dare ride off and abandon me!" shouted Perry.

"After the effort I went through to keep you alive?" asked Junjie.

With the press of a button, his vehicle transformed underneath him and his wheels kicked up the ground as he shot forward as if fired from a blaster. A smile crept across his face again as he navigated the road, the cold air rushing through his face at speeds one might consider insane.

He couldn't hear the engine of their pursuer anymore, but neither could he hear Perry's, and while he knew it was simply down to distance, the absence was a little concerning.

'She's alright,' he told himself. 'She's a guardian. She can handle herself. This won't be for nothing. She's alright.'

He wove down the track, steering to the left and to the right, and finally came to the promised clearing. It wasn't as large as the Northern woman had made it sound, but it was large enough for him to pull a smooth U-turn with minimal spraying of earth and he was soon speeding back down the road in the direction he had come.

"I'm not looking forward to taking any lives," he said, "so I think it would be a good idea to cool things down."

He held up his arm, ammo slot open, and his faithful Frostcrawler leapt into the blaster. His speedometer told him that he was coming close to a hundred miles per hour, even if it somehow didn't feel that way.

"Are you ready to hit two hundred?" he asked.

The slug nodded with an enthusiastic smile.

Up on the road ahead he saw Perry, and even at this distance he could tell she was relieved to see him returning. He raised his arm and levelled his blaster, making sure he was aiming past her, and as his speedometer's needle finally ticked over the 100 mark, he let loose.

"Yeesh!" Perry exclaimed as she quickly ducked to avoid being hit.

Junjie carefully guided his shot forward and into the opportune position where, as expected, it blew out an immense cloud of ice that froze up the track and all but welded the legs of their pursuer's mecha to the ground. A quick flick of his fingers and the Frostcrawler flew around and around her, surrounding her with a huge, thick tower of pale blue ice, before finishing it off with a domed roof and flying back over to its slinger.

"Excellent work," Junjie said proudly, and gave the little slug a well-earned rub on the head.

"I have absolutely no clue what that thing you were doing with your fingers was," said Perry, who had stopped nearby, "but if that great bloody block of ice is what the result is going to be, you have got to show me how to do it."

Junjie placed his Frostcrawler back in its canister on his bandoleer.

"Perhaps when all of this is over," he said. "This is your realm; where do we go now?"

"Our meeting place is that clearing you did a U-turn in," Perry told him. "Hopefully you didn't scare her off. I told her that if I wasn't back there within a week, she needed to rally her forces and find another way to deal with the problem."

'Rally her forces?' Junjie internally echoed. 'I thought she said that it was a slug expert. Is this woman we're meeting a military commander?'

"C'mon," Perry said, and she revved up her engine. "I've already kept her waiting long enough."

She rode on down the track, and Junjie hurried to catch and keep up with her, as the prospect of meeting up with this person seemed to have her somewhat more determined than she had been before.

"Thanks, by the way," she said. "Gotta admit I half expected you to just ride off and leave me."

"I followed your plan and it worked," Junjie pointed out. "I fail to see how that makes me worthy of gratitude."

Even though he was focusing on the road, he could tell that beside him, Perry was rolling her eyes.

"Mam was right about you Eastern blokes," she said. "You're too polite for your own good."

It was Junjie's turn to roll his eyes as he decided to take this comment in stride rather than retaliate and risk starting some bizarre sort of compliment/insult battle.

It wasn't long before they reached the clearing, which was still as empty as it had been the first time Junjie entered it. They halted their rides and dismounted, at which point the newcomer to the realm decided it was time to bring up a new subject.

"'JJ'?" he said questioningly.

Perry, who was leaning casually against her mecha, glanced over at him with a face like she was preparing to laugh.

"Aye?" she said. "What about it?"

"When you alerted me to the fact that we were being chased," said Junjie, "why did you feel the need to call me 'JJ'? It has the same number of syllables as my actual name, so as a nickname, it rather falls flat."

"You want me to be honest?" said Perry. "It was all getting exciting and in the heat if the moment, I forgot your name."

Junjie's questioning look became an annoyed glare.

"I remember it now, so there's no need for you to look at me like that!" she responded angrily. "Tell you what: give me a nickname. Go on. Make it fair. I'll call you JJ and you can call me whatever the hell you want in return."

She wasn't showing any of the typical physical cues that would betray a lie. Odd though she was, it would be rude to deny her request, especially considering how he was a guest in her realm now.

"Very well," Junjie said, "...Blue."

Perry's expression was now one of complete befuddlement.

"It makes more sense as a nickname than that you have chosen for me," Junjie explained. "I'm no botanist, but I know that a periwinkle is a small, bluish-purple flower usually found in grass, and I would be blind not to notice the blue that you yourself have included in your shoes, gloves and even your hair. And please refrain from taking this the wrong way, but the colour of your eyes would put even Eli to shame."

Perry scoffed.

"I've had six boyfriends, lad," she said. "Pretty hard for me to take something like that the right way."

Junjie was about to respond with something snarky, but his attention was caught be the sound of approaching footsteps that were unmistakably those of a mecha. He pressed himself away from his vehicle preparing to greet whoever was arriving...

...only to find, to his dismay, that it was the woman who had chased them through the woods mere minutes ago.

"She must have had a fire slug," he muttered as the stranger dismounted. "I can-"

"No way, JJ."

He was halted by the blue-gloved hand of the native to the realm.

"You stand back this time," she said. "If this lass wants me for a fight, then it's a fight from me she'll bloody well get."

She pulled her blaster from her back and slotted a canister in. From the pale coloration, Junjie guessed that it was Barry, the slug she had referred to during breakfast as a 'Mistspitter'.

"So what's this all about then, eh?" she demanded, and her accent seemed somehow emphasized by the rage in her voice. "You lot come over here, you take our slugs and you do who knows what to 'em and you think people'll just sit back and let you roll over 'em, do you?"

The stranger remained silent.

"I don't know where you came from or who the hell you think you are," said Perry, and took aim with her blaster, "but I ain't letting you or yours do whatever it is you're trying to do to my caverns. You got that? Now scurry on home and tell your bosses to clear off!"

Still the strange woman was quiet, save for the rattling of her breath in the mask on her face.

"Are you even listening?" Perry said, so loud that she was almost shouting.

Apparently not, as the stranger opened fire. An enraged Thrasher barreled towards Perry too quickly for Junjie to try to save her.

She bent over backwards, avoiding the shot flawlessly, and rested her right hand on the ground for support. She looked Junjie dead in the eye and winked with a cheeky smile, and then her weight carried her over her hand in a near-perfect flip. Her touchdown was as light as a feather and she was straightened up again in less than a second.

"I'll take that as a no," she said, as behind her a tree crashed to the ground with its trunk sliced neatly in the middle.

She fired and Junjie got a brief glimpse of a Velocimorph striped in pale grey and blue before the woman was engulfed in a dense yet localised fog. Perry quickly slotted another canister into her blaster and fired again, and her Frostcrawler sped out and spat a cloud of freezing air at the slowly dissipating mist.

"Are you ready to give up?" Perry shouted.

The mist fell as it froze and revealed that the woman was standing as still as a statue, glaring at her opponent with murder in her eyes. She raised her blaster and fired again, and the same Grimmstone from earlier came flying out and Perry darted to the side with a deft twirl so quick that her feet left the ground. When she landed, she spun down onto one knee, aimed again and fired her Tazerling.

It hit the woman on the leg and she froze, her body paralysed by the currents coursing through her, until a sudden jerk of her leg sent the slug spinning off into a tree. She reloaded and fired again, shooting another Thrasher, and Perry jumped up and would have fallen over had she not launched herself into a one-handed cartwheel. She straightened up, balancing perfectly despite her crossed legs, and slotted Fury into her blaster.

'She's like a dancer,' Junjie realised. 'If music was playing, she would almost certainly be moving to the rhythm. But why would she choose such a style for slugslinging, of all occupations?'

"One of two things, lass!" Perry yelled. "Either say why you're here or GET YOUR FACE OUT OF MY CAVERNS!"

She supported her left arm with her right and fired, and Fury flew out and surrounded the assailant in a tornado of flame, but she raised her leg and kicked and the Infurnus fell out of the air and hit the ground in a daze.

"Fury!" Perry cried in shock. She reached for her belt, but her canisters were all gone.

Realising that she was in trouble, Junjie jumped over his mecha and prepared to let loose a slug of his own.

"Perry! CATCH!"

The shout came from somewhere in the trees and was followed by a fresh canister flying in the female slinger's direction. She caught it left-handed, slotted it into her blaster and fired, just as the masked stranger let loose another Grimmstone.

A Rammstone flew from Perry's barrel and punched the ghoul aside, but Junjie could see that in its current trajectory, it was going to miss.

He raised his hands.

Just a small nudge...

...and the angry red creature slammed into the woman's chest, sending her flying to the ground.

She scrambled up and onto her mecha and rode away faster than Junjie would have thought possible.

"Perry!" cried the same voice from earlier, and Junjie looked just in time to see another stranger crash into Perry. He almost assumed a fighting stance before he realised that rather than another attack, this was a hug. A tight one. Definitely one of reunion.

"I'm so glad you're back!" the new girl said. "You had me worried sick!"

"Hey, it ain't me if I ain't worrying someone," Perry replied with a smile.

The two broke apart and Junjie got a proper look at the newcomer. She was shorter than Perry and dressed entirely in two shades of green that closed up to her neck but left her upper arms bare, and she was somewhat chubbier and more rounded than the other woman. Her hair was pale purple, chin-length and wavy and her skin...

She was blue. Proper troll blue. Were she any more natural flesh tone she would have just looked like an ordinary if slightly overweight girl, but her skin was the same colour as Kord's and stood out like a sore thumb.

And right now, she was frowning.

"Why is your hair loose?" she asked. "It's damp too, and your make-up's faded."

She sniffed.

"You stink of salt!" she exclaimed. "Perry, you fell into the sea, didn't you?!"

"You got me, Len," said Perry. "Can never hide anything from you, can I?"

"I told you!" 'Len' chastised angrily. "I told you you should've taken the ferry, but oh no, Perry McLinden knows best! Perry McLinden knows crossing the Cavern Sea on her mecha is the most logical course of action a person who can't swim could ever hope to take!"

"I'm alright!" Perry insisted. "Look at me, I didn't drown! I'm fine!"

'Len' sighed, but it was hard to tell if it was from exasperation or relief.

"Did you at least find who you were looking for?" she asked.

"Aye," said Perry, "but he's already got enough on his plate, so this bloke decided to accompany me instead. Claims he's just as good and so far seems to be proving it."

She indicated Junjie, and that was apparently the first time the newcomer actually noticed he was there. Her light purple eyes widened upon catching sight of him, then narrowed in suspicion.

"Is he now?" she said, and cautiously approached. "And you're sure he's not with those people who are corrupting our slugs?"

"If I were a member of the group that is ghouling your realms' slugs, would I have agreed to aid Perry even though I was given the opportunity to leave her to drown?" Junjie pointed out.

The girl seemed unconvinced, and Junjie could both see and feel her eyes scanning over his body. They paused when they fell upon his bandoleer, at which point she finally seemed convinced of his legitimacy.

"Then I guess I should be thanking you," she said, and offered a hand to shake. "My name's Leonora Harper, but I'd appreciate it if you could call me Lenny. It's much easier."

"My name is Junjie," said Junjie, and he shook the hand that was offered. "Perry claims that you are an expert on slugs?"

"Pretty much," Lenny replied. "Speaking of which, c'mon out, boys!"

She turned her body towards Perry and a group of slugs leapt out of the canisters on her belt and hopped towards Perry, who knelt down to greet them.

"Hey, fellas!" she said happily. "You miss me? Steve, just as pale and energetic as usual, I see! Mike, you blow any good bubbles while I was gone? I see you haven't stopped spinning, Brian! Nice to 'sea' you too, Keith!"

It was a Fandango, a Bubbaleone, an Arachnet and an Aquabeek; the Fandango was so pale it was almost difficult to identify, the Bubbaleone had a scar where one of its eyes should have been, the Arachnet was plain purple all over and the Aquabeek was completely black. They were quickly joined by the other four as they returned to their slinger, and then Perry noticed the Rammstone hopping over to her.

She picked it up and stood, gently cradling it in her hand.

"What's this guy's story, then?" she asked.

"He arrived a couple of days ago," Lenny explained. "Denny sent him over after stopping some kid throwing him against the wall because the spoiled brat didn't want a 'broken' slug."

Perry's smile fell, and she held up the Rammstone for Junjie to see. He noticed that despite the slug's happy smile, it was balancing carefully on a single stubby leg.

"See, this is what I was telling you about," she said. "Look at this guy. He's lovely! But 'coz he ain't got two legs, slingers ain't going to look twice at him."

She drew the slug closer and affectionately stroked its head.

"I'm going to call you Graeme," she declared.

Junjie gave Lenny a questioning look, hoping maybe she could explain this woman's odd naming trend when it came to slugs.

"Be glad it's not a female," she whispered, "or else she would've called it Aileen."

Perry set her new addition down on the ground to socialise with the rest of her now-expanded arsenal.

"So then, Lenny," she said, "did you manage to find anything else out while I was away?"

"Yes, I did," Lenny replied proudly, "and if you'll give me a moment, I'll get some documents from my mecha that can help us."

She picked her way around the congregation of slugs and walked into the trees.

"You seem quite close," Junjie commented.

"I did say she's me oldest friend," Perry said. "Though sometimes it feels more like she's my assistant."

"And sometimes," called Lenny from behind the treeline, "it's more like I'm her carer!"

"Aye," said Perry. "She cares so I don't have to."

Lenny rolled her eyes as she emerged clutching a large roll of paper, and upon reaching the pair, she opened it to reveal an extremely detailed map.

"Okay, so," she said. "Denny sent a letter along with your- along with Graeme, and he said there have been suspicious people building odd machines down in Symphogna Cavern."

"I'm not surprised," said Junjie. "I was told that dark water reserves can lie quite some distance below the ground, and that it can only be accessed by digging or drilling downwards."

"Dark water, eh?" said Perry. "Is that what they're using to mess up the slugs?"

"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly," Junjie said flatly, "but yes."

"Bugger," Lenny swore. "So I marked it out as a possible target, and I've been in contact with relatives near Firewall Cavern who've been saying similar things. That a large machine was built recently and it seems to be doing a lot of damage to the ecosystem. Fifty people have been admitted to hospitals with unexplained injuries that look like skin lesions at best and gangrene at worst in the past month and-"

"And that means it's another place we'll have to pay a visit to," Perry interjected. "Any others?"

A flash of worry crossed Lenny's features.

"One," she said. "Benny left yesterday to map the Eastern Ridge and he called me on his way to say he'd seen movement on Fogfall Island. Strange red lights and sounds of machinery."

"Fogfall Island?!" Perry blurted suddenly. "You're kidding me! Crivens, I know where we're going last!"

Junjie looked down at the map and he noticed that someone (and he had a fairly good idea who) had drawn a little skull next to a blotch labelled Fogfall Island and written HERE THERE BE DOOM in deliberately wobbly lettering.

"So that leaves us with a choice of Firewall and Symphogna," said Lenny, and she rolled up the map. "Where do we go first?"

Perry once again pursed her lips in thought.

"I must confess to being a stranger to these lands," said Junjie, "but of the two, Symphogna sounds far more pleasant."

"You got that right," said Perry. "Firewall's full of volcanoes and Symphogna's just full of herbs and paintings."

She looked down at her slugs.

"What do you fellas think?" she asked. "Wanna go back to Symphogna?"

The slugs squeaked and cheered in enthusiastic response. Even Fury was smiling at the suggestion.

"How about you, JJ?" asked Perry. "I'm guessing you're on board since the one who brought it up, but do you fancy a trip down to Symphogna?"

Junjie shrugged.

"This is your realm and I am the one providing aid to you," he pointed out. "Whichever you think is the best course of action is the one I shall follow."

Perry's smile returned.

"It has been a while since I got to see Denny," Lenny said thoughtfully. "It would be nice to pay him a visit. I wonder if he's still working for Sophia and Loren?"

"One way to find out!" Perry said, and she swiftly mounted her robot unicorn.

Though he still felt a little apprehensive, Junjie climbed onto his mecha.

'Symphogna Cavern it is,' he said to himself.

"Why did you fail, Aramis?" Athos demanded harshly. "Why weren't you able to take her out?!"

Aramis remained silent, as she had for the past seven years of her life.

"You were instructed to collect slugs from Ludgate Cavern," Athos reminded her younger sister, "and that if you saw the McLinden or anybody with her, you were to kill them!"

"Athos, please!"

A shorter brunette ran over to the kneeling one.

"Can't you see she's hurt?" asked d'Artagnan. "She got hit in the chest! She was struggling to breathe!"

Athos didn't speak. She frowned at her younger siblings in disdain.

"Please," d'Artagnan begged. "I was scared she was going to get hurt. I don't want to see anyone get hurt!"

Resigned to the fact that she couldn't expel her siblings, Athos sighed.

"Aramis, relocate to Fogfall Island," she commanded. "Reinforce the defenses and if anything's wrong with the drill, fix it. It's sure to have hit something by now."

Aramis stood and bowed, and then she left the room.

"Athos..." d'Artagnan said fearfully.

"It's alright," said Athos. "All of us are going to be fine, I promise."

Neither of the siblings shared eye contact during the declaration, and d'Artagnan left the room with a worried mind, a heavy heart and a neck far more sore than it had been yesterday.