They arrived all too soon. The Empress's estate looked more like a castle, colossal in size and impressive in artistic direction. It reminded Willow of a haunted castle from one of her Aunt Aya's old movies. The room they were taken to was metallic, almost with a bluish tint. The empress stood over them as they were thrown in, both couples clinging to each other for dear life.

EVE couldn't get off the ground again, "What's the meaning of this!?"

The empress smiled cruelly, "I don't think you understand...to everyone, I am Mistress. Please address me as such."

"I don't have to do that!" EVE held onto WALL-E fearfully, "You trample everyone to raise yourself higher! It's horrible!"

"Eve! Shut up!" V-GR hissed.

"Oh...so that's how it's going to be, huh?"

EVE flinched, "Ow..."

"You see? This is what happens to those who defy me..."

EVE felt a boiling sensation rise through her system explosively. It felt like being struck by lightning, except it came slowly, rising like bile in a broken computer.

A power surge.

EVE screamed enough to rattle her own head.

"EVE!" WALL-E held her as she shook in agony, "Stop! Please stop!"

"MOM!" Willow cried, "Let them go, please! They haven't done anything wrong!"

"Haven't done anything wrong, you say?" the empress chuckled, "All who defy me are subject to fair punishment."

"But this isn't fair! Stop this! You'll only make it worse!"

"You set foot on my empire! You are subject to punishment!"

Willow shrunk as she felt dread settle in the pit of her chamber.

"You guys. There's nothing that will change her mind." V-GR held Willow tightly, "It will only make the punishment worse."

"Stop talking in that foul language." the empress scolded, "Put them away. I'll punish them after lunch."

Willow cried as she was torn away from V-GR. She struggled against the guards as they locked her in a cage with her mother. Her father and V-GR were locked together across the room from them. The guards left, closing the door loudly and shrouding the room in darkness. Willow trembled with fear.

"Mama..." she hugged EVE, who was lying on the ground, "I'm scared..."

"Sh...it's okay...I'm here..." EVE stroked the top of Willow's head as she lay beside her.

"So...uh..." WALL-E rapped his knuckles together, "Who are you?"

"Ah. So you don't remember me." V-GR smiled, "Figures. Sorry I can't restore the data I overrode. My name is V-Gr."

"Wall-E." he shook V-GR's hand.

"Nice to meet you again." V-GR replied, "I love your daughter."

"Yeah, I freaken noticed."

Willow laughed in spite of herself.

"At least she's with her mom." V-GR remarked.

"Yeah..." WALL-E called out to her, "I miss you, Evah!"

"I miss you too, Wall-E!"

Willow giggled, "You guys..."

WALL-E shrugged, "What?"

EVE looked around the room, Hang on...

She serveyed the layout of the area as she found the strength to hover into the air, her screen glitching a bit as she focused on staying conscious. She checked the door mechanism, pressing one of her hands to the magnetic lock.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

EVE narrowed her eyes critically as she sent a surge through the lock. It released, "Ugh..." she fell to the floor with a loud thud!

"Mom!?" Willow lifted her up.

"Sorry..." it took a moment for EVE's thrusters to come back online, "My head still feels a bit hazy..."

Willow took her hand, leading her from the cell, "Once more?"

"Okay..." EVE sent another surge through the lock on the other cage, almost falling into stasis.

"Eve..." WALL-E swept her up lovingly, "...I'm so happy you're okay..."

"Mm..." she replied, nuzzling into him.

"What's the plan, Mom?" Willow asked.

"Escape through the vent." she weakly pointed to a grate in the ceiling, "It goes back outside. My internal map says our pod is nearby."

"You have an internal map?" V-GR asked.

"Yeah." EVE stroked her husband's solar charge display, "Sorry, Wall-E. You'll have to carry me."

"Don't say another word, my queen." WALL-E swooned as he nuzzled her affectionately, "I'll carry you all the way back home."

"Aw..." EVE blushed, giggling as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well if we're going to escape, let's hurry!" V-GR jumped up to the grate, pulling it loose, "We don't have much time!"

"The prisoners are escaping!"

EVE cursed, looking all around as the other three bolted. Her regenerative battery was faulty. If she didn't get to an emergency charger, it would take a long time to recover from the surge the empress sent through her system. Not even her cannon was working.

"Eve, can you not shoot?" WALL-E asked.

"No. It's locked up."

"Look out, V-GR!" Willow shouted.

"Huh?" he looked behind him, realizing a plasma blast about to shoot from a cannon. He jumped to the side just as it shot. It grazed his shoulder, "Whew...that was close..." V-GR stood up, straightening his floating head, "Run!"

They were backed into a corner.

V-GR grabbed Willow, throwing her onto a high-off ledge and taking EVE, "Come on, Wall-E!"

WALL-E handed off his wife as he began to climb, the enemies advancing with crazy weapons. For some reason, they only shot a few warning signals the whole way, easy enough to dodge if they came too close.

"Dad!" Willow reached down to take his hand, pulling him up to safety.

"Why are they helping each other!?" someone shouted.

"Wouldn't it be more efficient to just save themselves!?" another added.

"That doesn't make any sense! How do they survive with such crippling kindness!?"

Willow let her dad pull her up another ledge, "We're kind because we care! Because we're a family! We survive off the love of each other!"

"The love of each other?" an alien looked at another, skeptical.

"How does that work?" the other one looked at the first, "Do we love each other?"

"We did..." the other one frowned, "Once..."

"Yeah..." a third joined in, "A long time ago..."

Willow beamed, "We work together! Because individually, we are weak! But together! We are strong!" Willow held her mother as they got to the top of the building, "Could my mom have gotten up here without our help!?"

They considered this.

"They didn't surrender when we shot them..."

"They didn't leave the small white one to die...

"They helped and survived with each other..."

"They got to the top, and they're all alive!"

Willow laughed as they opened the space pod's door, "That's right! You got it!"

The aliens looked amongst themselves, smiling with fond nostalgia as they began to hug their loved ones. Some of them even kissed, a few of the same gender in fact.

Willow's smile fell, "We have to come back for them..."

"We will! I promise!" V-GR escorted them inside, "But first we need reinforcement."

EVE smiled with them, but then her eyes caught something in the crowd. The Empress had shown up, and her black eyes began to glow red.

She caught the heat of the surge before it actually came.

But it wasn't aimed at her.

"V-Gr!" she realized.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

The empress rose her hand.

"V-GR! LOOK OUT!"

She jumped...

WALL-E saw just as the pod was ready to launch...

EVE took the surge, shutting down and rolling off the side of the building...

She fell into the crowd down below...

The rocket launched...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE!"