Danny and Xander leap out of the path of the charging Roboskorp; as the mechanical beast passes between them, one of the twin pincers clips the end of Xander's tail; the Scarves land in a roll, recovering to counter-charge the infernal machine from the rear. But the Roboskorp is too agile; Serpentine slews the rear round and guns the engine, counter-charging the Scarves' own counter-charge.

"Tā māde!" Danny exclaims. "Xander, break left!" Xander obeys immediately as Danny breaks right; the Roboskorp turns to chase Danny; Xander slides to a halt and turns in pursuit.

Danny risks a look over his shoulder; Serpentine has launched several rockets, and they are all homing in on him. Desperately, the badger begins to weave and dodge; the rockets strike the ground around him, sending clods of earth in all directions; one knocks Danny off-balance; he falls, rolls, and recovers into a run; sensing the Roboskorp is closer now, he turns sharp right, knowing Serpentine cannot turn quite as quickly.

Serpentine slews the rear around again, trying his hardest to stay on Danny's tail; however, the turning slows him enough to fall back and allow Xander to catch up. The wolf leaps onto the side of the machine; he drops off again immediately as the stinger misses him by the slimmest of margins. But as the machine completes the turn and begins to accelerate once more, Xander spots his opportunity; he leaps again, this time holding on around the base of the tail, knowing the stinger cannot strike him.

Electing to ignore Danny for now, Serpentine starts to weave violently to shake Xander off; the wolf holds on however, repositioning himself so he can attack the base of the tail; once in position, he unleashes a series of powerful blows that slowly but surely break through the metal skin; once the metal is broken, Xander tears it open and rips out as much of the circuitry and hydraulics as he can; the mounting eventually fails; the tail breaks away and crashes to the ground.

With a cry of fury, Serpentine flicks a switch in the cockpit; the whole skin of the Roboskorp is electrified. Xander receives a brutal shock; slipping out of position, he falls behind the Roboskorp; the tail's momentum carries it straight into the prone wolf, the stinger impaling his right leg; Xander comes to a rest with the stinger pinning his leg to the ground.

Xander's distraction has allowed Danny to close in on the Roboskorp; he halts his charge when he sees the robot's skin crawling with arcs of electricity. The pause is all the opening Serpentine needs; he closes a pincer around the badger, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him from the ground in a crushing embrace.

"Victory!" Serpentine cackles over the tannoy.

"Not while there's a breath left in my body!" Danny grunts defiantly.

"Then say goodbye, furball!" Serpentine growls.

The pincer tightens; Danny feels several of his ribs crack as the breath is forced from his lungs.

Suddenly, a flaming comet slams through the carapace, taking out the Roboskorp's power supply; the resultant detonation tears the machine apart. The pincer holding Danny falls slack; Danny slams hard into the ground as a great cloud of dust and shrapnel envelops him; he does his best to shield himself, but cannot avoid sustaining hundreds of lacerations.

Struggling to breathe, Danny tries to pick himself up; the broken ribs grind; Danny collapses in agony. "Xander?" he calls out; the effort triggers an agonising though mercifully brief coughing fit. "Rob? Maria?" he continues, each name more desperate than the last. "Anyone?" he pitifully calls one last time.

There is no answer.

Shaking from the pain, Danny scrabbles on his belt for the vial of elixir; he finds the vial missing. Probably crushed by the Roboskorp's pincer; guess this is the end of me.

Resigned to death and barely able to breathe, Danny passes out.