Chapter 29 – Accelerizer

Kendra, Warren, Tanu, Vanessa, Raxtus and Geminus all stared at the massive, robotic dragon that was standing in the large doorway before them. In addition to its great physical size, the dragon appeared to have numerous cannons and barrels mounted across its body.

"Robort has informed me that you are in violation of Silicon Station's visitor policy," said the dragon, aiming his arm at the group. "You must be eliminated."

"Why?" asked Kendra. "We mean you no harm! This is a mistake!"

"Robort does not make mistakes. And I, Gygaxtron 9000, have been ordered to eliminate you."

"Look out!" shouted Warren, as a laser shot out of a narrow cannon situated upon Gygaxtron 9000's raised arm. The knights barely managed to dodge the blast.

"I got him!" said Vanessa, as she quickly aimed the Sizeshifter at Gygaxtron 9000 and unleashed a beam of orange energy directly at the robot.

"That Sizeshifter does not affect me," said Gygaxtron 9000, enduring the hit. "Now it's my turn to shoot you."

"Vanessa!" shouted Tanu, as he dove into her, knocking her aside. Tanu was now standing directly in Gygaxtron 9000's line of fire. However, even though Gyaxtron 9000's laser was focused on Tanu, it did not harm him.

"You must succumb to my laser," said Gygaxtron 9000, as he aimed the laser cannon on his other arm at Tanu and fired away. It was at this point that Kendra noticed the glowing Essence of Immunity that Tanu was clenching in his hands. "Subject appears to be hoarding the Essence of Immunity. He is impossible to harm. Must eliminate other targets."

"Vanessa," said Tanu. "Grab hold! You too, Geminus! The rest of you use the Disapirit!"

As Vanessa and Geminus placed their hands on the glowing Essence of Immunity, Warren pulled out the Disapirit. As Raxtus placed his hand on the instrument in Warren's hands, Gyaxtron 9000 attempted to shoot Kendra with his laser.

"Help!" cried Kendra, as she ran for her life across the room.

"Over here!" exclaimed Warren. However, Kendra had run over to the other side of the room, and was now up against the wall.

"Die," uttered Gygaxtron 9000.

"Leave her alone!" snarled Raxtus, leaping onto Gygaxtron 9000. Raxtus attempted to overwhelm Gyaxtron with sheer physical strength, but was far too small and weak in comparison to the large robot.

"Kendra," said Warren, as he ran up to where she was standing, "touch the Disapirit and come with me."

Without hesitation, Kendra touched the Disapirit, and Warren used it to render both of them incorporeal.

"Come with me," said Warren. Still holding the Disapirit, the two of them ran over to Gygaxtron 9000, who was attempting to shoot the currently invisible dragon.

"Do not think you can hide from me," said Gygaxtron 9000, firing his lasers at what appeared to be nothing.

"Raxtus!" said Kendra. "Come over here!"

"Now!" said Warren, as he restored his and Kendra's tangibility. Raxtus quickly became visible and dashed over to Kendra and Warren, placing his claw on the Disapirit. Warren then used the Disapirit to render all three of them incorporeal, but not invisible.

"Ha!" said Warren with a grin, as several lasers shot through him, Kendra and Raxtus without any harm, leaving singes on the floor behind them.

"Attacking you three is impossible now."

"Good riddance," said Raxtus, directing Kendra and Warren's attention to his left leg where he now had a bleeding slash that had been cut in a perfectly straight line. "Stupid thing got a hit on me."

"Are you okay?" asked Kendra.

"I'll be fine soon. We should be thankful he didn't get any more shots in."

"What are you going to do now, Gygaxtron?" asked Geminus in a teasing voice. "You can't hurt us now. What're you gonna do about that?"

"If you three are impervious to damage, then I will dispose of you using another method."

Gygaxtron 9000 began walking over to Tanu, Vanessa and Geminus, claws outstretched.

"Onto my back," said Geminus, grabbing the two humans in both her claws and placing them on her back. She then darted over to the door to the room, but it would not open up for her.

"You cannot escape," said Gyaxtron 9000, as he approached the invulnerable trio.

"I got an idea," said Vanessa, using the Sizeshifter to make Geminus grow larger, until she was the same size as Gyaxtron 9000 himself.

"Nice," said Geminus. "Now he can pick on someone his own size."

Geminus slammed her tail against Gygaxtron 9000, but the robot didn't so much as even flinch upon impact.

"That was harmless," said Gygaxtron, grabbing Geminus by her right wing. "Come with me."

Geminus struggled to escape from Gygaxtron's grip, but failed, even after Vanessa shrunk the fairy dragon back down to her proper size.

"Let her go!" shouted Kendra. "Oh, I wish there was some way we could help against that horrible machine! I feel worthless."

"We really weren't prepared for this," said Raxtus. "I'm really starting to regret coming here."

"Drink this!" said Tanu, as he learned forward and poured a potion into Geminus' mouth. Moments later, the dragon became gaseous, causing Tanu and Vanessa, still holding the Essence of Immunity, to fall to the floor. At the very least, Geminus was safe for the moment.

"I don't know how we can stop that thing," said Kendra. "It's too powerful! Not even the Sizeshifter will work on it."

"Why don't we use the Disapirit on all six of us?" asked Raxtus. "That way we'd all be safe from Gygaxtron 9000."

"The Disapirit, like the Essence of Immunity, won't work on more than three beings at once," said Warren. "If we're going to get through this, we're going to have to find a way to stop Gygaxtron 9000."

"But how?" asked Kendra. "Nothing seems to work."

"I have a hunch," said Warren. "Gygaxtron 9000 came as soon as Robort deemed us intruders, right?"

Kendra and Raxtus nodded.

"Well, Astro-Jet mentioned that Silicon Station has a mainframe of some sort, which is likely a servo that the robots are linked to. If we can find this mainframe, maybe we can deactivate Gygaxtron 9000 with it."

"It's worth a try," said Kendra, watching as Gygaxtron 9000 raised Tanu and Vanessa up in the air.

"Do not resist me," said Gygaxtron 9000.

"Hang in there!" said Warren. "We're going to try and find a way out of this predicament!"

"Where do we go?" asked Kendra.

"I dunno," said Raxtus. "Maybe through a wall?"

"No," said Warren. "If we make a wrong move, we might walk out of the vault and into space. We should only pass through doors that we can see."

With Kendra and Warren on his back, the incorporeal dragon ran directly through the door to the room. Seconds later, the door opened, and Gygaxtron 9000 stepped out, still holding Tanu and Vanessa.

"Get back here, or I will eliminate these three."

"We can't hold him off forever," said Vanessa, dangling from Gygaxtran 9000's hand. "Even with the Essence of Immunity."

"I've got an idea," said Raxtus, pressing firmly against the Disapirit. At that moment, Raxtus, Kendra and Warren, already incorporeal, were now rendered invisible as well.

"What'll that do?" asked Warren.

"You two make a run for it with the Disapirit," whispered Raxtus. "I'll stay here to try and help the others. As long as he thinks we're together, I'll stay invisible under my own power, and hopefully, he won't detect me."

"It's worth a shot," said Kendra. "But you'll only get once chance."

"Let's hope it's all I need."

Kendra and Warren felt as Raxtus released his grip from the Disapirit, then scurried through a nearby door. On the other side was another hallway.

"Now what do we do?" asked Kendra.

"I'm not sure," said Warren. "We need to find the mainframe, wherever that is."

The door that the two of them had passed through suddenly opened. Standing on the other side was Gygaxtron 9000, still holding his captives.

"So much for this place being user friendly," muttered Warren.

"I know you're in here," said Gygaxtron 9000. "You cannot evade detection from my sensors. This is a restricted area. Leave or your friends will be eliminated."

"Give me a break," said Geminus. "You can't hurt us as long as we have the Essence of Immunity."

"I will not be the direct cause of your termination," said Gygaxtron 9000. "Listen to me, ghostly intruders. Surrender now, or your friends will be ejected into space."

"I only have three more potions," said Tanu, passing a bottle to Vanessa.

"We gotta hurry," whispered Warren. "Those potions won't last them much longer!"

"Let's get outta here," said Kendra, as she and Warren, both holding the Disapirit, dashed through the hallway, Gyaxtron 9000 appeared to be confused, then focused his sights on the three gaseous bodies floating around him.

"We don't have much time," said Warren, as they reached the end of the hallway and passed through another door, much too small for Gygaxtron 9000 to fit through. In this next room was a large computer console.

"Is this it?" asked Kendra."That wasn't so hard."

"I hope so," said Warren. "But we're gonna have to release our hold on the Disapirit to do anything with this computer."

"Is there a code for this computer?" asked Kendra.

"I hope so," said Warren, as he pulled out his notes and began skimming through them.

At that point, the door opened up, and Gygaxtron 9000, too large to pass through it, poked his head inside and blasted a stream of fire from his mouth. Kendra used the Disapirit to become incorporeal, causing the fire to pass through her, although should could still feel the intense heat. Gygaxtron 9000 then attempted to shoot Warren, who barely managed to dodge the flames.

"Uh oh," gasped Warren, as he allowed some ashes to fall from his hands. "It burned the paper."

"I'll get you this time," said Gygaxtron 9000, as Warren leaped onto the console. "Get down from there immediately."

"Or what?" asked Warren. "I bet you're programmed to keep this room safe. Because it's important to you. That's why you've refrained from using your long range lasers in here. Well, that and because you're too big to fit."

"Good observation," said Gygaxtron 9000, as his neck telescoped outwards into the room, his head closing in on Warren.

"What's he doing?" asked Kendra.

"I think it's called "Go-go-gadget neck," cried Warren, leaping out of the way before Gygaxtron 9000 could clench him with his massive, razor-like teeth.

"We gotta shut off this computer!" said Kendra.

"But it's probably highly durable, and I lost the access code!" exclaimed Warren, who was dancing atop the console, trying to avoid Gygaxtron 9000.

"I got it!" said Kendra. Still incorporeal, she passed through the front of the console, and was now physically inside of the computer. With her ability to see in the dark, she could see circuit boards and wires surrounding her.

"Here goes nothing," said Kendra, drawing Vasilis and slashing through several pieces of machinery. Electric sparks were flying everywhere, nearly electrocuting Kendra in the process.

"Kendra," came Warren's voice from outside, "what did you just do?"

Kendra passed out of the computer, and immediately noticed Gygaxtron 9000 acting very strangely. Instead of attacking Warren, the robotic dragon was twisting its head back and forth. Its red eyes were blinking off and on, and its mouth was opening and closing uncontrollably.

"Mainframe down," said Gygaxtron 9000. "Mainframe down. Ghost in the machine. Does not compute. I am... error."

"Look out!" cried Warren, as fire shot out of the flamethrower concealed inside Gygaxtron 9000's mouth. "It's glitching up."

"Glitching?" asked Kendra. "What do we do now?"

"Take advantage of the situation," said Warren. "Clover, come here."

"What's going on?" asked Clover, making her entrance.

"Look, Gygaxtron 5000," said Warren. "Another intruder."

"That is not... 5000," said Gygaxtron. "9000. Intruder, not welcome."

"It's on the fritz now that I messed with the mainframe," said Kendra. "I don't know whether to celebrate or cry."

"Clover, try and get inside the dragon. See what makes him tick. It's a machine, so don't worry about hurting him."

"I'll try," said Clover, vanishing in a green cloud of sparkles. A moment later, she reappeared. "This is crazy! Bright, I need your help with this!"

Before Kendra or Warren could ask, Bright appeared and disappeared along with Clover just as quickly. Several seconds later, Gygaxtron 9000 stopped dead in his tracks. The lights in his eyes suddenly shut off, and his head fell down against the floor.

"What did you do?" asked Kendra, breathing a sigh of relief along with Warren.

"We made some of his internal wiring disappear," said Bright. "We don't know much of anything about electronics, but it seemed to make sense when we looked at it. Besides, that is what you did to the computer, correct?"

"He's still blocking the doorway," said Warren. "Kendra, we'll use the Disapirit to get out of here."

Kendra made herself solid again, allowing Warren to touch the Disapirit, and the two of them passed through the wall into the hallway where Gygaxtron 9000's motionless body was standing, but still crouched over.

"Kendra!" shouted Tanu, as he, Vanessa, Geminus and Raxtus came running down the hallway towards them. "Warren! What happened?"

"To put it simply," began Warren, "Kendra messed with Gygaxtron 9000's programming, and our fairies managed to deactivate him."

"Thank god," said Vanessa. "He would've tossed us out the airlock when we became solid."

"Not only that," said Bright, "but Clover and I saw that he's got the instrument!"

"Both of them" said Raxtus, pointing to Gygaxtron 9000. "He's got the Essence of Immunity in one claw, and the Sizeshifter in the other."

"We dropped them upon becoming gaseous," said Vanessa. "So he seized them."

"That's not what we meant," said Bright. "Look."

Bright and Clover flew above Gygaxtron 9000's fallen body, and Bright used her magic to make a section of the robot's back disappear.

"How'd you do that?" asked Geminus. "I thought he was magic-proof, or something."

"Not really," said Clover. "You couldn't use your instrument on him because of this..."

Clover then used her magic to lift something out of the gap Bright had made in Gygaxtron 9000's back. As it rose into the air, everyone could see what it actually was; the Accelerizer.

"It-" gasped Vanessa, "was inside Gygaxtron 9000 the whole time?"

"Guess Navarog wasn't the only dragon to hide an instrument inside his body," said Warren.

Clover levitated the Accelerizer away from Gygaxtron 9000 and into Warren's open hands. Kendra took a good look at the final instrument; a sapphire embedded in a golden base.

"I don't get it," said Kendra. "What was it doing in Gygaxtron 9000? When I saw the Accelerizer through the Oculus, it was in perpetual use."

"I cannot comprehend as to how it could've been using the Accelerizer," said Tanu, shaking his head. "This instrument enables the user to move extremely quickly. And that dragon was not moving all that fast."

"It may have been to purposely keep the instrument in an endless use, probably so that one could not properly observe it through the Oculus," said Warren. "Maybe Gygaxtron 9000 was programmed to operate really slowly, only to move at a normal speed through the Accelerizer."

"Or maybe it took a negative feed from the Accelerizer," stated Vanessa, causing it to move much more slowly, by its standards, anyway."

"Who cares?" asked Raxtus. "We got the Accelerizer finally. Let's go home!"

As the group walked down the hallway, Kendra stared back at the motionless Gygaxtron 9000, its neck still crammed in the doorway to the computer room. As devastating as it had been, the thing was only a machine, and was only following its programming. Still, in a strange way, she couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for it.

To pass through the sealed doorways on the way back to the docking bay, the group took turns using the Disapirit. When they made it back, to their relief, they saw that Astro-Jet was still parked in her original position. Tanu entered the access code into Astro-Jet's entry door and the group boarded the ship.

"Did your mission go smoothly?" asked Astro-Jet, once she closed her door.

"There were a few... technical difficulties," said Warren, "but we got what we came for."

"Are you all ready to depart?" asked Astro-Jet.

"YES!" shouted Kendra, worried that for some reason, a reactivated Gygaxtron 9000 would enter the docking bay and stop them from leaving.

"Okay," said Astro-Jet, warming up her engines, "we will be departing now. Next destination, planet Earth."

The door to the docking bay opened up, and Astro-Jet rose into the air, before blasting out into the asteroid belt. On one of Astro-Jet's monitors, Kendra watched as Silicon Station shrank in distance.

Kendra sat down in a seat in the same row as Warren, but at the other end. On the seat between them lay the four instruments they currently owned. For the time being they had been merged together, almost forming a five-point star, as one piece was still missing.

"Just one instrument to go," said Warren. "The Drakesoul. When we get home, we're gonna hunt Navarog down and reclaim it for ourselves."

Warren extended the palm of his hand to Kendra, and she responded by giving him five.

"And... we'll finally save Seth," added Kendra.