To say the gang's current situation was less than desirable would be an understatement. As they sat in Ibby's house, depressed, they pondered if here was any way to save the fairies.
Belle, Aurora, Merida, and Mulan were especially down about the whole thing.
"I should've protected them better," said Aurora.
"There was nothing you could've done," said Mulan.
"No, but there was something you could've done," Merida said to Mulan.
"What?!" Mulan responded.
"You could've gone in after her!" Merida said.
"Hey! Don't blame Mulan! It wasn't her fault!" Tiana said.
"Stop it! All of you! Arguing is not going to get us anywhere!" said Jasmine.
Suffice to say, things were not looking at their best for the gang. Their mentors had been kidnapped and to make matters worse, by an enemy unlike anything they had ever faced. If they were planning on a rescue, odds are it would be near impossible to do so.
Ibby was no better off as he couldn't help but think about the fact that Zentar had gotten his hands on the Mecha Orb and what he was planning to do with it.
Belle noticed this and walked up to him, attempting to ask him a few questions.
"Not now, Belle. I have to figure out how to fix this mess, that you caused by the way," said Ibby.
"This is no time to place the blame," said Belle. "What matters now is getting our friends back."
But if the gang was planning on rescuing the good fairies, they would first need to know their enemy first. And Belle took the opportunity to ask Ibby if maybe he knew something about Zentar.
"I built him," Ibby said, much to most of the gang's shock.
Belle however, wasn't so much. She figured that someone with Ibby's mind would've created such a robot, but the question here was why did Zentar attack him?
Reluctantly, Ibby sat down and explained. "Back when I was a llittle inventor, I constructed Zentar as one of the first robotic servants of Kettlepot. Like many things on our island, he seemed perfect. He obeyed every one of my commands. However, one day I decided to take him out for a walk around the island and to say it was an unsatisfying experience for him would be a gross understatement. Zentar saw many of the people taking the machines for granted and it didn't sit well with him. Overtime, as he saw more of this, he grew angrier and decided that no humans were worthy of being served by robots or any kind of machine, not even me. So he ran away and that was the last time I ever saw him. Until now," he said.
"Well I have to admit, he does have somewhat of a point," said Belle.
"What do you mean?" asked Cinderella.
"Yes, Belle, what do you mean?" asked Ibby.
"Well, it's just that people rely so much on machines and they do take them for granted. Sometimes, they rely on them so much, that they forget how to do things by themselves. I do not condone what Zentar did, but I kind of understand where he's coming from," said Belle.
After securing the good fairies in a glass cage, Omerian informed her husband of their magical powers which automatically piqued his interest. She decided to take Merryweather's wand and show off its magic, making a Mecha Orb appear before him.
"You see, my digital darling, with the magic of these strange creatures, we can create as many Mecha Orbs as we want!" Omerian said.
"Excellent! You never cease to amaze me, you mechanical minx, you," said Zentar.
The good fairies watched as Zentar and Omerian rubbed their noses against each other.
"Awww," Fauna said, to Flora and Merryweather's annoyance. "What? It's adorable."
Zentar ordered the guard to take the other two fairies' wands. The good fairies quivered in fear as they could only imagined what Zentar was planning to do with them. He then ordered his guards to use the wands to create a multitude of Mecha Orbs.
"In a matter of hours, Kettlepot will belong to me! The age of flesh will soon be over!" Zentar said as he chuckled in his preconceived victory, only to have it ruined by him leaking again.
Panicking, he ordered his guards to send him to get fixed up.
"I have leaked like that myself a few times," Flora said, causing Fauna and Merryweather to back away from her a bit.
Later that night, Ibby packed his things in a bag. They ranged from a sonic disruptor; to a flying jet pack; to an automated dandruff dispenser. He figured the best place to look for Zentar would be on the outskirts of the island and that would be where he would find the Mecha Orb. But he also realized his mecha suit would be too conspicuous, so he would have to be sneaky about it. So with the essential provisions, he was ready to head out. However, he was not the only one, for as he turned to head for the door, he bumped into Belle, who also had an assortment of things with her.
"What are you doing?! I'm going to rescue the good fairies and get the Mecha Orb back!" they both said simultaneously.
"No, Belle, it's too dangerous," said Ibby.
"I don't care, I'm going. You were right, it's my fault the orb was stolen and on top of that, I need to rescue Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather," said Belle.
"I can't ask you to put yourself in danger," said Ibby.
"You're gonna have to tie me up in a bag to stop me," said Belle.
"...OK..." Ibby said before he pressed a button on a wristwatch he was wearing which sent out a giant white bag that captured Belle. "Sorry Belle, but I have to do this alone."
Belle struggled in the bag as Ibby headed out the door.
Already, massive piles of orbs towered in Zentar's fortress and he was inching closer and closer to creating his flawless robotic army.
Being that she was soon to be the surpreme ruler of Kettlepot, Omerian took the time to prep herself up in her quarters. Figuring that a supreme ruler would need to have a presentable hairstyle, she ordered the servants to give her her just that.
On her command, the guards brought in what looked like a hair dryer, but more stempunk-ish.
"Now give me something regal, but not too snobbish, sophisticated, but not too uppety, classy, but not too expensive looking," Omerian said.
With that, the guards placed the dryer over her head and pressed the button. Tiny mechanical hands rapidly constructed Omerian's hair at a fast paced speed. When it finished, she looked in the mirror to see that her hair was in pigtails.
"Hmmm, too southern," said Omerian.
So the guards placed the dryer back on her. This time, she had towering hair that almost went to the ceiling.
"Too tall," she said.
So they tried again and this time, her hair looked like Miley Cyrus.
"OK, this one is just a wrecking ball of disaster," Omerian said.
Ibby had managed to find his way to the fortress and upon seeing the countless hoards of mechanized soldiers, he snuck to the side of the fortress so as not to draw any attention to himself. The young inventor upon looking at the massive fortress of course realized that getting inside would not be a simple task, but with careful thinking, he figured he would be able to salvage a rescue and get back the orb.
So, he went further down the side of the fortress and prepared to make his way through, when he suddenly was stopped by the sounds of footprints coming in his direction. He grew nervous as he didn't have much place to run, so he kept his ground, took out his sonic disruptor, and prepared for a possible fight. Suddenly, the footprints stopped, and Ibby breathed a sigh of relief, but then the footprints started up again, then they stopped, then they started again,. then stopped again, then started again. Growing confused, Ibby went to check things out and discovered that the footprint sounds were comming from one of Zentar's robots who was trying to get the dirt out of his foot.
Once again, Ibby was relieved and went back to hide. Getting himself, together, he was once again ready to sneak his way in. But as he was, a strange shadow slowly crept on him from behind.
A hand tapped on his shoulder.
Quickly, the young inventor pulled out his sonic disruptor, ready to defend himself, and turned around.
"Belle!? How did you get out?!" Ibby said.
"A little advice. Next time, don't make your net out of white chocolate taffy," Belle said.
"Drats! I knew I should've gone with rock candy! But nonetheless, you should not be here, you need to go," said Ibby.
"No, I'm not leaving without the fairies," said Belle.
As the two began arguing, they heard something and went to check it out. The sound, more familiar to Ibby than it was to Belle, resembled gears and wires being strewn together.
Nearby the fortress, a few members of Zentar's robot army were being outfitted with Mecha Orbs. Belle and Ibby watched as the robots fused with the orbs; new weapons formed from them such as lasers and cannons, and their armor became more sleek. Everything Ibby had said about the orbs was true. They were improving Zentar's robots brick by brick.
Belle was amazed at what the orbs were capable of, but couldn't figure out how Zentar had made so many since he only had one. That is until she realized that he must've used the good fairies magic. And in the hands of someone like Zentar, those magic wands were capable of anything. She knew she had to free them and get those wands back as well as stopping Zentar from fulfilling his plans.
Obviously realizing he wasn't going to budge her, Ibby decided to let her tag along. He could see the resolve hardened in her hazel eyes. He could only hope that he could get the fairies and the orbs and do it all before Belle got herself into trouble.
Although Ariel was quite a vivid sleeper, on this particular night, she woke and wandered Ibby's house with her hair in a wreck to get a drink of water.
"That was some dream," Ariel said to herself. "The most surprising part was finding out that the pig was German."
Ariel headed to the kitchen and got herself a drink. When she went back to attempt to go back to sleep, she noticed the door wide open, but thought nothing of it, figuring Ibby must've left it open, and went back to bed.
But before she went to sleep, she noticed something else, Belle's sleeping bag, and Belle not in it. And after putting two and two together, Ariel readily woke up the rest of the gang.
"Guys! We've got a problem!" she said.
Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that when one attempts to sneak into any kind of place, including a giant fortress and hundreds upon hundreds of mechanized, mechanically enhanced robotic soldiers, one has to make sure to be as stealthy as possible and the case of Ibby and Belle was no exception.
The first step was to get past the two guards in front of the entrance.
On one side of the fortress, Ibby observed the situation before going back to Belle. "OK, when I give the signal, throw this onto the ground near the guards," he said before he pulled out a gadget and showed it to her.
It looked like a small metal sphere with a red light on it.
Belle wasn't sure what it did, but decided to trust Ibby anyway.
After going back to the other side of the fortress, Ibby gave Belle the signal, pointing two hands at her, and she threw the gadget.
The sphere's red light blinked and a loud beeping sound emanated from it, drawing the two guards to it.
Belle quickly ran to the other side of the fortress and with the guards distracted, her and Ibby quickly opened the gates, went inside and closed them before they noticed.
"What was that?" Belle asked.
"My Beep Ball," said Ibby. "It uses a loud beep to distract enemies. Also it's good for keeping stray cats off the lawn."
Knowing the history of Ibby's inventions, she figured there was a flaw somewhere and asked him and as it turned out...
After the couple of minutes, the Beep Ball stopped beeping and created a black hole which sucked up the two guards.
Belle and Ibby searched through the first floor, looking into the rooms while avoiding any guards that may come by. The good fairies didn't seem be anywhere on the first floor, so the two decided to continue their search on the second where they met four more guards.
"Belle, what did you bring?" asked Ibby.
Even though Belle had brought along some of Ibby's inventions, she wasn't sure how to use most of them and in a situation such as this, they would need something very useful. She showed him a number of gadgets, not really knowing what they were. One in particular that interested him was what looked like a small gun with a large nozzle.
He asked her to give to him and he pointed and fired it at the first two guards, releasing a green goo that incapacitated them and then at the other two as well.
"Let me guess, the Goo Gun?" Belle said.
"Indeed," Ibby answered.
Again, knowing Ibby's history with inventions, and given her previous experience with one of them, she went over to one of the guards and curiously tasted the goo.
"Lime...of course..." she said to herself.
So with that, the two continued on their search which was easier said then done because as they soon found out, Zentar's fortress was a massive and complex structure. Multitudes of rooms and corridors covered the massive halls, so suffice to say, the good fairies could be anywhere.
So after an unsuccessful search on the second floor, they figured the fairies must've been on the third floor and decided to continue their search there. However, as they did, a hoard of guards appeared, marching in line towards them.
Now of course, Ibby figured he could use his sonic disruptor to take them out, but he could only use it once and using might be essential for their escape.
Belle also realized this, so basically, the two seemed stuck between a rock and a hard place. But then, an idea came to Belle's head, though one she was a bit reluctant to do. She took out a gadget from her bag which looked like a small circular kind of gadget.
Ibby recognized what it was and instantly knew what Belle was up to as she lifted the gadget over her head and activated it. Suddenly, the circular gadget expanded in size and a long cloth emerged from it, surrounding her. When the cloth lifted up, Belle revealed herself to be wearing a long blue dress.
Ibby was in awe of how beautiful Belle looked as she took another gadget and walked towards the guards.
As for Belle herself, this was a rather weird experience for her as she had never been in a dress like this before, but she made the best of it as she approached the guards. Once they had spotted her, it was time for her to go to work. Nervously, she pulled back her dress and revealed part of her leg, stopping the guards in their tracks. Next, she did a series of rather appealing poses, causing them to go weak in their mechanical knees.
With the guards fully mesmerized, Belle took the opportunity to take the other gadget and throw it in front of them, causing them to shrink.
Ibby was impressed at how Belle was able to handle two of his own gadgets. There was definitely more to her than he thought.
"Good work, Belle," said Ibby.
"Thank you, but how do I get back in my old clothes?" Belle asked, tinkering with the gadget.
"Oh, that's the thing about the Quick-Acting Clothes Maker. After you use it, it takes 2 hours for it to work again," said Ibby.
Belle groaned in annoyance, not really planning on being stuck in a dress for 2 hours, but it was what it was and she and Ibby didn't have much time, so the two proceeded to the third floor.
Since it was the last floor, the fairies had to have been on it, but the question was where? This floor would not be any easier than the previous two as Belle and Ibby had learned, but with enough persistence, they would find them.
But low and behold, as they began their search, what sound should they hear but more guards. And from the sound of it, there were a lot more this time.
However, Ibby happened upon an idea.
Belle also had the exact same idea.
The two looked at each other and nodded.
As the guards walked through the hallway, their patrol was interrupted by a loud clanking sound. They immediately rushed to where they heard it, but they found nothing. The clanking noise was not heard again, so the guards thought nothing of it and continued on their patrol.
Unbeknown to them however, above them, high in the ceiling, were none other than Ibby and Belle, who stood on the ceiling, wearing metallic boots.
"Wow, Ms. Belle, you learned how to use the Anti-Gravity Shoes rather quickly," said Ibby.
"Well I did a bit of homework before I left. Now let's go save the fairies and get out of here. I'm having a hard time keeping this dress up," said Belle.
Suddenly, and without warning, the boots deactivated and the two fell from the ceiling. Ibby was the first to land after sliding on one of the supports and caught Belle on her way down.
"Are you alright?" Ibby asked.
"Yeah, thanks to you," said Belle.
So with that little episode out of the way, the two commenced with their search.
They searched through a large number of rooms, but weren't able to find even the slightest trace of the fairies. Eventually, their searching led them Zentar's quarters and they figured if the fairies were anywhere, they had to be here.
There didn't appear to be anyone in the room so at least their search would be easier.
At Belle's suggestion, she looked on the right side of the room while Ibby searched the left.
There wasn't any sign of the fairies. Neither Belle nor Ibby could find them, but Belle was not about to give up so easily. If they weren't in the open, then maybe they hidden a different way. While she searched, she also noticed some of the manufactured Mecha Orbs before she decided to feel around the walls to see if maybe there was something she could find and low and behold, eventually, she happened upon a small button in the center of the back wall and brought over Ibby to show it to him.
"Excellent work, Belle!" Ibby said as Belle pushed the button.
A hidden door opened out of the wall to reveal the fairies in their glass box.
The fairies cheered in elation to see Belle, but were worried about her being there.
"I'm going to get you out of here," said Belle.
"You shouldn't be here, dearie," said Fauna.
"Fuana's right, it's not safe," said Flora.
But Belle resolved that she was not leaving without them as she tried to figure out a way to free them.
Ibby was quick to point out that in addition to freeing the fairies, they had to stop the production of the Mecha Orbs. Belle didn't forget, but for right now, she had to focus on Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. So realizing this, Ibby aided her in trying to open the cage.
But any plan, escape or otherwise, would not have much time to come to fruition, for as the two came close, a voice stopped them in their tracks.
"If I knew I was having visitors, I would've put on some oil tea," said the voice, after which, Belle and Ibby turned around to see that it was coming from Zentar.
And he was not only, as he had Tankana with him as well as his wife, Omerian, who was sporting two giant pigtails which made Ibby and Belle as well as the good fairies chuckle.
"I should've gone with the bouffant," Omerian said with a sigh.
Belle stood behind the fairies, ready to protect them.
"You know, "Iggy," when you created me, I never realized you were so stubborn," said Zentar.
"Iggy?" Belle said with a chuckle. The good fairies chuckled as well.
Disregarding the slight embarrassment, Ibby realized they needed to leave and fast so they could live to fight another day. Belle was against it, since she didn't want to leave the fairies behind.
"Belle, don't argue with me, this time. I can't let anything happen to you," Ibby said.
At that moment, as Belle looked into his eyes, she could see it. The same kind of eyes that Adam had in his eyes. The eyes of love.
But before she could respond, Zentar ordered Tankana after them.
The tank-like robot charged at the two and nearly crushed them with a forearm shot. He then turned his hand into a drill and wailed away at them. They nearly dodged all of Tankana's attacks, but then, Ibby used one of the bags to cover up Tankana's face, stopping him for now, but Ibby knew it wouldn't last, so using the last invention he had, he took out a metallic board, get on it, and told Belle to get on as well, saying that they would use it to escape.
"You have to go, Belle," said Flora.
"But," Belle said.
"Don't worry about us! We'll be fine," said Merryweather.
"You have a mission that needs to be completed, dear," said Fauna.
As Tankana ripped the bag off his head, Ibby grabbed Belle by the hand, got her on the board and the two escaped out of the room.
"Darling, they're getting away!" said Omerian.
"Not for long," Zentar said as he held up a Mecha Orb.
Ibby and Belle jetted through the hallways and down the stairs on Ibby's invention.
"Let me guess, the Handy Hoverboard?" Belle asked.
"You really are good at doing your homework," said Ibby.
"It comes from reading books," Belle said sarcastically.
Sarcasm was something she resorted to in vain to get her mind off of the fairies. She knew she had a mission and that the safety of the Magic Kingdom was depending on her and her friends, but she couldn't leave without them. She couldn't help but imagine what Aurora would think.
They made their way back to the first floor, approaching the exit, but as it seemed like they would escape, from out of the ground emerged Tankana.
The two wondered how he had managed to catch up with him so fast and upon further observation, Ibby saw that Tankana had been infused with the Mecha Orb.
With his new enhanced abilities, Tankana formed a cannon from both of his hands and charged a laser that was pointed right at them. However, they quickly turned and dodged it, flying away from Tankana who followed after.
As he pursued them, Tankana fired a series of machine gun shots.
Ibby avoided them using creative flying.
Next, Tankana fired a barrage of heat-seeking missiles. Thinking fast, Ibby led the missiles to different targets, destroying them.
As much as they tried, they just couldn't shake off the infused robot tank. Through some quick thinking, they had managed to create a route to the exit. But Tankana was quick to once again thwart their escape plans as he extended his arm and grabbed the board, knocking both Ibby and Belle off. He then used his arm to grab Ibby who urged Belle to escape. But as she ran, she tripped and Tankana extended his other arm and attempted to grab her, only to be stopped by of all things, an arrow, Merida's arrow.
The gang had managed to find their way to the fortress and just in time to save Belle. However, it did not appear that Ibby would be so lucky.
Merida and Mulan stood behind Belle to guard her while the others went to check on her.
"Are you alright?" Cinderella asked.
"I'm fine," Belle answered.
As Merida turned to check on Belle, she noticed Belle's dress and was bewildered by it, as was Mulan.
"What's up with the dress?" they both said.
"It's a long story. I'll explain later. But first, we have to save Ibby," Belle said.
"No, leave without me! Go now!" Ibby said.
Mulan and Merida did their best defending themselves from Tankana's extending arm, but they both knew they couldn't do it for long. Ibby insisted that they had to leave and the gang agreed, but it would be easy to escape from Tankana.
But then, Belle had an idea as she looked up at the doors of the fortress. "Merida, wait for Tankana to fire a missile, then fire your bow upward when I say so," she said.
Merida was not sure what Belle what up to, but given the situation, decided to trust her.
Tankana fired a missile at the gang at Belle's command, Merida fired her arrow upward towards the missile, causing the missile to redirect to the upward most part of the entrance, causing a cave-in that blocked up the entrance, giving them enough time to escape.
Though captured, Ibby was relieved to see that Belle was able to get away safely as Tankana brought him back to Zentar and Omerian.
"Hello, Iggy. We need to talk," said Zentar.
Ibby kept his composure as he could only imagine what his former creation had in store for him.
The gang counted their blessings for they were safe for the moment. But nonetheless, the issue was that the fairies were still captive and now so was Ibby.
Tiana suggested that they should just continue on their quest without the fairies since it was their request, to which Aurora immediately responded by pushing her to the ground, much to the shock of the gang.
"How dare you even suggest that?! How dare you?!" Aurora shouted.
Jasmine pulled her back, trying to calm her down.
Some of the gang, such as Cinderella, Mulan, and Merida, agreed with Tiana on the matter; others like Pocahontas and Rapunzel, disagreed; while others like Snow White and Jasmine were indifferent.
But Belle insisted that they stay and fight.
"But, Belle, it's impossible! We can't get through that fortress!" said Mulan.
"Yes we can," Belle said.
"How do you know?" Mulan asked.
Belle knew because unknown to Zentar, she had something that could even the odds. She reached into her bag and to the shock of the gang, pulled out a Mecha Orb, as well as having others in her bag. Belle had studied Ibby's blueprints and had picked up a few things mechanically from him. She knew that if she could build one of his suits and fuse it with the orb, she would be able to go back and save not only the fairies, but him as well.
It was a bit of a stretch and a rather farfetched plan, but eventually, the rest of the gang agreed and so with that, Belle began working.