Even though the weather was clear, it was as if a dark cloud was soon to form over the unsuspecting island of Kettlepot. Zentar's plans were all but complete as he his unstoppable army was close to completion. Soon, an invasion the likes of which no one had ever seen before would come to pass and a new ruler would reign over Kettlepot with an iron fist.
And to add to his victory, he know had his creator, Ignatius Barnum Bartholomew Yonderson, trapped and at his mercy with the good fairies and stood before him, face to face.
"Well, Iggy, how does it feel? How does it feel knowing that your creation is a mere step away from being your superior?" Zentar said. "You know, you are your kind are a selfish species. You create us robots with no other reason but to be your slaves. And then you mistreat us, take us for granted, and when we're of no use to you anymore, you toss us aside, because after all, you can just make more, right? We're just expendable as far as you're concerned. Well guess what? No more. We robots will be the ones who are in control of you and you will know what it's like to be controlled and mistreated."
Ibby hung on every one of Zentar's words and even though he didn't want to admit it, he had a point.
As Zentar turned to leave, the good fairies stepped to give their say. "Wait! I understand how you feel. We all do!" she said.
"Where we come from, magic is sometimes misused and taken for granted as well," said Flora.
"But not everyone misuses magic just like not everyone mistreats robots," said Merryweather.
But Zentar would not listen and stormed off to make the last of the preparations for the invasion.
Meanwhile, the good fairies thought about the rest of the gang, hoping that they got off the island and continued on their quest.
Belle had gained a considerable amount of mechanical knowledge from her time spent with Ibby, but now it was time for her to put it to the ultimate test. She had spent numerous hours toiling away, working on some kind of invention that she was confident would be able to help and her friends save Ibby and the good fairies.
"It's been 4 hours, what is that girl working on?" Tiana said.
"Whatever it is, I hope it'll help," said Cinderella.
Being that Belle didn't have that much experience with machines, Tiana did have her doubts. Given the fact that this was an important rescue mission, Tiana realized that this was no time for error.
"Have faith, Tiana," said Snow White. "I know Belle will come through for us."
"You know, Snow, you sure know how to stay optimistic. How do you do it?" asked Tiana.
"I'm not really sure. It just comes naturally I guess. Sometimes, having faith is the best thing to have," said Snow White.
Reflecting on Snow White's words, Tiana realized that she had a very good point. Granted, her and her friend had the weight of an entire kingdom on their shoulders and were the only capable of stopping Golett and the Evil Empire, which in itself was a lot to bare. But maybe in this case, faith was indeed the best thing to have. Lately, she hadn't exactly been the more positive of the group and she realized that a lot of the gang were doing their best to stay positive, particularly Cinderella and Belle. Maybe it was time for her to follow Snow's example. She put this into consideration as Belle emerged and called the gang forward to where she had been working.
Belle stood before the gang behind a giant white cloth.
Curious they were as to just what could possibly be behind it. Whatever it was, it was obviously of massive size. What exactly was Belle working on all this time?
"Girls, it took a while, but I finally finished it," said Belle.
"What?" asked Cinderella.
"This," said Belle before she pulled back the cloth.
To the shock of the gang, four robots similar to the one that Ibby used stood before them. Each of them had been painted a different color. One was gold, one was green, one was red, and one was blue.
She had used Ibby's blueprints to construct the robots and designed them to be incorporated with the Mecha Orbs.
"I'll be using one. Now I just need three more volunteers," said Belle.
Aurora was quick to volunteer. "I'll do it!" she said.
"I'll go," said Merida.
"So will I," said Mulan.
"Wait, Aurora. You can't go, it's too dangerous," said Cinderella.
"I have to. It's my fault they were taken in the first place, so I have to be the one to save them," said Aurora before she walked to the red robot.
Cinderella was about to try and stop her when she herself was stopped by Pocahontas.
"Let her go," Pocahontas said. "This is a path she must walk on her own."
Aurora asked if they were ready to go, but Belle said that they needed to first learn how to control the robots. But even Belle herself was pretty wobbly since she had never even used the suits before and most of her information came from a dated instruction manual.
For the next hour, Belle did her best to instruct Aurora, Merida, and Mulan on how to use the suits. She guided them through things like, walking forward and backward in the suits, using the arms, jumping, and using the jet packs.
At first, it went about as well as one would expect. The princesses were running into each other, into the walls, and piling on top of one another.
The other princesses just watched casually, eating popcorn.
Eventually though, their progress improved until they seemed to master the robot suits better. Although Aurora still had her problems. Nonetheless, there wasn't anymore time to practice. The time had finally come for them to save the fairies.
On the other side of the spectrum, Zentar stood at the balcony of his fortress, overlooking his completed army, who stood before their mighty leader, awaiting his words.
"Robotic men!" Zentar proclaimed. "For too long, we have been subjected to the mistreatment of humans! Taken for granted and treated as nothing more than stepping stones! We have done everything in our power to please them, to make them respect us, but do they? No! Instead, they treat us as if we're expendable! Well now, they're about to find out-"
Suddenly, Zentar leaked again from out of his armpit. But his servants quickly took care of it.
"As I was saying, now they're about to find out how it feels to be expendable! Today, we will begin a new age of prosperity and freedom for all robot-kind! Today, Kettlepot will know that the robotic will is strong and the human flesh is weak!" Zentar proclaimed.
The robotic army cheered in adulation at the inspirational words of their leader and at his command, they prepared to make their way to Kettlepot. But just then, a voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Not so fast," the voice shouted.
The voice, as it turned out, was coming from Belle, who, along with Merida, Mulan, and Aurora stood in their robotic suits ready to face the army.
"Let Ibby and the fairies go, Zentar," Belle said.
"I don't take orders from a human! I see you have borrowed some of Iggy's toys, but I'm afraid it won't help you. Get them!" Zentar commanded.
On Zentar's command, the robot charged forward at the princesses with Belle leading them.
"Alright girls, let's get them!" Belle exclaimed before she and the others charged forward.
Though they were outnumbered, the four fared considerably well. As the battle ensued, Zentar's soldiers fired a barrage of lasers and missiles, showing their enhanced abilities by moving at a rapidly fast speed, and landing powerful blows. But the princesses fought back as well with Belle firing her own lasers. Merida did the more direct approach and went full force at the army, wailing on them with punches and kicks. Mulan used her martial arts skills and incorporated them into her suit, using karate chops, kicks, and punches. Aurora joined in, fighting a few soldiers herself.
Because of the enhancements, neither side was able to completely get the upper hand on one another due to the increase in durability of their armor. But Belle quickly realized that they didn't need to beat them, only that they needed to create an opening to get into the fortress. And she did just that. After fighting off a few robots, she found herself in front of the fortress entrance and blasted the door down.
"Will you guys be alright?" Belle asked to the other princesses.
"Yeah, don't worry about us!" said Merida.
"You just worry about finding Ibby, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather," said Mulan.
Aurora insisted on going with Belle, but Mulan rebutted, saying that she needed to stay and help them fight off the army. She reluctantly agreed.
Making her way into the fortress, Belle fought up to the top, taking down multiple soldiers on her way there. It wasn't easy, but eventually, she came to the top floor. However, awaiting her was none other than Zentar's wife, Omerian.
"I don't know how you managed to make it up here, but I promise you this is as far as you go," Omerian proclaimed.
"I don't want to fight you, but I will to save my friends," Belle said.
Infuriated by Belle insolent words, Omerian fused herself with a Mecha Orb. Her metallic body became sleeker and her robotic eyes glowed a bright yellow color. She levitated in the air, staring Belle face to face. The two females eyed each other intently; each one waiting for the other to make a move. Then suddenly, Omerian disappeared.
Belle looked around, but saw no sight nor sound of her. It was as if she had vanished.
Just then, she appeared behind her. "Over here," she said.
Belle turned, but she quickly vanished again.
"No, I'm over here," Omerian said as appeared on Belle's left hand side.
Belle turned but yet again, Omerian disappeared.
Next, she began appearing and disappearing and reappearing again and again until she appeared in front of Belle and dropkicked her before disappearing again.
Belle realized that this was the work of the orb, but despite this, she had to figure out a way to beat her. But considering how quick she was moving, it would be quite a time before that would happen.
Meanwhile, Merida and Mulan were doing well holding off the robotic soldiers. Aurora was faring well herself, but because she hadn't fully master using the suits as well as the others, she soon found herself being overpowered, despite the enhancements.
Two soldiers knocked her down and a third hovered in the air and fired a missile towards her that was blocked by Mulan.
"Are you OK, Aurora?" asked Mulan.
"Yes...I'm fine..." said Aurora.
As Mulan and Merida continued to fight against the soldiers, Aurora looked on and as she saw them, she was impressed, but at the same time, she began to feel inferior to them. Here they were fighting well in their suits and here she was still struggling. But she couldn't let these feelings overcome her. She had to keep fighting.
Eventually, the three managed to take down a large number of soldiers. It appeared as though the invasion was all but stopped.
However, there was another threat that had yet to be eliminated.
From out of the fortress emerged none other than Tankana. He didn't say a word; he didn't laugh, he didn't smile; he just stood there, cold, merciless, focused.
The three princesses stood their guard, prepared for anything, as Tankana fused himself with a Mecha Orb.
With the enhancements, Tankana had gained extending arms and swung them at the princess, but they managed to dodge them. Tankana used his enhanced speed, caught up with them, and knocked down Merida and Aurora. Mulan fired her laser, but Tankana dodged out of the way, then jumped in the air and landed on her. He then used his drill and drilled into her suit, but was quickly stopped by Merida who threw him back. Tankana landed on his feet and fired a barrage of missiles. Merida and Mulan quickly dodged, but Aurora was not so lucky. Tankana then charged forward towards Aurora, but was stopped in his tracks by Merida and Mulan. Merida then punched him away, then Mulan kicked him, but then Tankana got to his feet and drilled Mulan's leg, then lifted her up in the air and threw her away. Merida rushed towards him and went for a punch, but Tankana dodged and wailed on her with a series of punches and then shoulder blocked her to the ground. Aurora went for an attack of her own, by stomping him, but he quickly dodged and head butted her, then tackled her hard to the ground. He then extended his arm and drill into the torso of Mulan's suit, but she grabbed Tankana's arm and slammed him to the ground. However, Tankana held on, retracted his arm, and gave her an uppercut, then fired a bunch of lasers at Merida and slammed her to the ground.
"He's really strong!" exclaimed Merida. "I'll bet he could give my dad a run for his money."
"We have to stop him somehow," said Mulan.
"I already know how!" Aurora said before she tackled Tankana down.
She had him pinned down for a bit, but eventually, he managed to free one of his arms and drill into her suit before kicking her away.
On her back, Aurora tried to activate her suit, but Tankana's attack had left it useless.
"I-I can't move," Aurora said.
Tankana charged in to attack, but was tackled by Merida.
It seemed as though Merida and Mulan were the only ones left to fight, so they had to do their best to not only beat Tankana, but also protect Aurora as well.
Omerian was continuing to give Belle a hard time with her increased speed and teleportation as Belle was unable to land a single hit on her.
"What's the matter, human? Am I too fast for you?" Omerian mocked.
Although Omerian was enhanced by the orb, so was Belle. And she realized that maybe there was something she could use to give her the advantage. But first, she took the time to hide behind one of the pillars and activated the suit's invisibility; one advantage that the orb had given her.
As Omerian searched, Belle toggled through the many buttons and switches in her suit. She had done her best to teach her friends how to use the suits, but even she herself was not too familiar this kind of technology. It was true that her father was an inventor, but she didn't think too much about it. Most of her time was spent reading books. She hadn't really bothered to ask her father how he made any of his creations. But now, it seemed that she would need to use whatever knowledge she might have inherited from her father to save her friends.
As she looked through the controls, she decided to wing it and try them all.
First, she pressed a green button on her upper left hand side which activated a green vision from her suit. Even though Omerian was invisible, the infrared vision allowed her to she her charging towards her and catch her with a hard punch.
"I didn't want to do that, but I have to go," said Belle before she headed off.
"Maybe I should retire to a hot oil message on Kettlepot Beach," Omerian said before she cocked out.
Mulan and Merida charged into Tankana, but he caught both of them, lifted them in the air, and tossed them away. Meanwhile, Aurora still tried in frustration to start her suit, but to no avail.
Tankana jumped in the air and attempted to stomp the two, but they managed to dodge. Merida and Mulan fired a barrage of missiles that directly hit him.
"We got him!" exclaimed Merida.
"Wait, don't assume anything yet, Merida," Mulan said.
And Mulan's suspicions were correct for out of the smoke came Tankana's arm that knocked Merida to the ground. He then wailed on Mulan with a series of punches and brought her down.
With the two princesses down, Tankana charged in to deliver the final blow as he jumped up in the air and started up his drill arms.
But while he was in the air, Mulan took the opportunity to blast him with her lasers which disoriented him, allowing Merida to grab him and use his drill arms to drill himself into the ground, rendering him motionless.
"And he is grounded!" Mulan with a chuckle.
Merida just looked at Mulan confused.
But their victory was short lived as more soldiers attacked. Mulan grabbed Aurora with her suit and while Merida took held the soldiers back, she hid her in the fortress, telling to stay hidden while she and Merida handled things.
Watching a hidden spot she found, Aurora watched as her two friends continued to fight. Now she felt more useless than before. They were the only one with working suits and hers had been deactivated. It didn't seem like she could do anything right. But as she contemplated herself, she noticed that the fortress was at the moment, empty, and realized that it was the perfect opportunity to go and save the fairies.
In Zentar's throne room, Belle did what she did before and pushed the button to open the secret door, only to find that Ibby and the fairies were not there.
Belle gasped in shock at the fact that her friends were not there, but also sighed in disappointment that she failed to realize that Zentar would just keep them in the same place after she had found them once. It just wasn't like her to make this kind of mistake. She dropped to her knees in tears as Zentar approached her, chuckling.
"Typical human arrogance and ignorance," Zentar said.
"Where are Ibby, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather?" Belle said, wiping her tears.
"Oh don't worry, they're safe, but you will never see them again, I'm afraid," Zentar said before he fused with a Mecha Orb and knocked Belle to the ground. "With my unstoppable army, the days of flesh are over and the Age of Metal is born."
Belle implored him not to go along with his plan, but Zentar refused to listen, reiterating was he had previously stated to Ibby before to her.
Zentar fired lasers that made direct hits on Belle and wailed on her with a series of punches and kicks and smashed into her suit. The robotic commander chuckled in his dominance.
As Merida and Mulan did their best against the army, Aurora walked through the fortress, searching through the places Belle and Ibby had been before, but could not find them anywhere. She searched through the multiple rooms and floors, but found nothing. But she wasn't going to give up, she would find them if it was the last thing she did.
Meanwhile, Zentar continued to toss Belle around, smashing her into the walls and punching and kicking her around. Belle went for a punch, but Zentar dodged it. Then wailed on him with a series of punches and kicks and Zentar dodged each one and then blasted her with an energy blast followed by a barrage of lasers. Zentar then charged towards her, but Belle activated her invisibility. Zentar stopped and looked around and then Belle reappeared and hit him with a swipe of the arm. Zentar then got to his feet and spun rapidly like a drill towards Belle, but she blocked him. However, he retaliated with red laser eye beams that he fired multiple times that Belle was just barely able to avoid. Upon dodging them, she charged towards him, but then he formed a cloud of smoke and steam around him that she got lost in. While she was looking through the smoke, Zentar came from behind and tackled her to the ground. But as Zentar charged at her, she accidentally pushed a button that made the feet on her suit to extend and hit him in the face. She then grabbed him and threw him into the wall.
"Enough, Zentar! We can stop this!" Belle said.
"I will never stop! I'm sick of you humans thinking you're much better than us machines. You're not better, you're just a bunch of lazy tyrants!" said Zentar before he fired an energy blast from him arm that knocked Belle down.
As more and more soldiers attacked, Merida and Mulan were having an increasingly difficult time holding them off. But they knew they had to keep going until Belle could save Ibby and the fairies.
"They just keep coming!" said Mulan.
"Yeah! They're like my brothers. It's like there are hundreds of them," said Merida.
"I thought you had 3 brothers," said Mulan.
"I do, but with them, there might as well be over a hundred of them!" said Merida.
Mulan figured the soldiers had to be coming from somewhere, but she couldn't figure out from where. And to make matters worse, she came to a realization. "Aurora's gone!" she exclaimed.
Upon making it onto the last floor, Aurora barely snuck her way through a number of guards and continued searching. Once again, she was unsuccessful and wasn't able to find them. She was beginning to think it was all for not, but as she hid from more guards, she bumped against the wall and inadvertently opened a secret passageway.
She made her way through the passageway, up a series of stairs until she came to a secret room that was near lightless. The only thing keeping it lit was a small window at the far end.
Just then, she heard familiar sounds from inside, calling her for help. She turned to see none other than Ibby, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather contained in their box.
"Aurora? What are you doing here?" asked Fauna.
"Saving you, what do you think?" Aurora answered as she ran over and tried to figure how exactly she was going to free them.
"Where's Belle?" asked Ibby.
"She's alright, but I'll get you out of here," said Aurora.
She wasn't familiar was a box like this, so suffice to say, it would take some time before Ibby and the fairies were freed.
Zentar's blast had temporarily incapacitated Belle's suit, making her unable to move. He slowly closed in on her, chuckled in delight.
"You fared pretty well, I will admit, but now you're finished!" Zentar said before he hovered in the air and point both his arms at Belle preparing to fire twin missiles at her.
However, just as he was about to fire, one of his robots fired a blast at Merida which she dodge, causing it to hit the side of the fortress. The aftershock caused a crack in the ceiling and a part of it caved in on Zentar. He struggled as his legs and feet were sandwiched in between the rubble. Unable to move, not even the enhancements of the Mecha Orb could budge him.
Meanwhile, Belle had regained control of her suit and got back to her feet.
Still and still, Zentar tried to free himself as Belle inched closer to him. As she stood over him, realizing there was no escape for him, he closed his eyes and braced himself as Belle held out her arm, preparing to fire.
The sound of a laser shot was heard and a cloud of dust was left. But when the dust cleared, what should've been the destroyed remains of a robotic leader was instead the leader himself freed the rubble that had previously trapped him.
As Belle extended her hand to him, Zentar lay there on the ground confused. Why would a human even bother to save the life of a robot? He figured she just wanted to use the fact that she saved him as an excuse to use him as her own personal slave.
"Listen, I understand how you feel. Believe it or not, I come from a place where things like this don't even exist. I had the hardest time learning how to use these gadgets and such. But when I did, I made sure to always use them properly and not take them for granted. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't appreciate the things they have and just treat them as expendables, but there are others who value them, treasure them, respect them, and do the best they can to take care of them. That's what Ibby wanted for you when he created you. He wanted you to be appreciated by people. Now is humanity perfect? No. Do we make mistakes? Yes. I've made a few mistakes of my own in the past. But that's alright. What I'm trying to say is, humanity isn't perfect, but while there are those who don't appreciate what they have, there are also those who do, and who appreciate you; like Ibby...and me," Belle said as she extended her hand again.
This time however, she got out of her suit and extended her hand to Zentar.
The robotic considered Belle's words. Looking into her brown eyes he felt something he had never felt before in a human, something that not even his Mecha Orb enhancements could detect; sincerity. And so surely, but cautiously, he took Belle's hand and rose to his feet.
From his fortress, he could hear the battle still going on and quickly rushed to the balcony.
"Stop!" he commanded.
However, one robot accidentally released a grenade near Merida, causing to blow straight up in the air and hit the upper part of the fortress where Aurora was.
The impact caused the room she was in to shake and as a result, she lost her footing and tilted backwards towards the window, falling out of it.
"Aurora!" Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather shouted.
Hearing her scream, Merida and Mulan turned to see Aurora falling from the fortress. "Aurora!" They shouted.
There was no way that Belle could get back into her suit in time to save her.
Remembering what Belle had done for him, Zentar jetted off the balcony and caught Aurora in midair, saving her life, much to the shock of his robotic soldiers, Merida, and Mulan.
After placing Aurora on the ground, he then went to the hidden room and brought out Ibby and the fairies and in front of everyone to see, he released them, shocking everyone even more. He then turned to Belle and walked towards her.
"I never thought a human would even think to save a robot," he said.
He then turned and walked to the balcony and brought everyone, including his wife who had regained her consciousness, to his attention, and informed them that officially, the invasion was called off. He explained that a human had the opportunity to get rid of him, but chose instead to save his life, even after everything he had done. If a human could do that, why not a robot?
"Thank you," Ibby said to Zentar as he walked up to him and extended his arm to him.
And with a single handshake, the robot and his creator made amends.
The war was over, the fighting was done, and peace remained on the island of Kettlepot. The robots moved onto the island and the habitants learned to treat them more respectfully.
Omerian received work as a hairstylist in the local salon. Tankana became a farming assistant, using his drills to plant crops. And the other robots got varying jobs, from being servants, valets and so on. But the people made sure to thank them for their hard work.
As for Zentar, well with Ibby's help, he and a few other robots became the New Kettlepot Robotic Police Force; helping to eliminate crime wherever it may be.
Belle and Ibby were able to reconfigure the boat to be compatible with the Mecha Orb and improve its performance. It was as if the boat was brand new.
Now that things seemed to be better for the island and now that the Good Fairies were safe, it was time for the gang to once again head out. Ibby was there to see them off.
"Well I guess this is good bye," Belle said.
"Not good bye, Ms. Belle, only until we meet again," said Ibby. "And thank you so much for everything."
"No, no, I should be thanking you. You taught me so much, not just about all this, but about myself as well," said Belle.
"Well it was my pleasure and I'm very surprised you were able to learn how to use the suits so well and so quickly," said Ibby.
"Well it wasn't quite as well as you think. Most of the time, I was just pressing random buttons," Belle confessed.
Ibby chuckled, figuring as much.
"Hey, I'm not perfect," Belle responded.
"And that's just perfect by me," said Ibby.
Belle and Ibby shook hands and before heading onto the ship, Belle embraced him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush.
As the ship departed from the dock, the citizens of Kettlepot, human and robot alike, no longer treated as individuals, but equals, waved goodbye.
Ibby ran to the edge of the dock, his eyes fixed squarely on Belle and waved at her. "Until we meet again...Belle.." he said softly.
So another adventure was done and another scepter found.
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather approached Belle, thanking her for her rescue.
"Thanks, but I didn't rescue you, Zentar chose to free you," Belle said.
"But he never would have if you hadn't shown him the error of his ways," said Flora.
"That took a lot of strength, dear," said Fauna.
Aurora looked on in disappointment as her friends credited Belle more than her.
Just then, the scepter that the gang found on the island glowed a bright yellow and floated towards Belle. Belle the fourth crystal scepter's chosen princess.
Now with eight more to go, the gang was that much closer to finding the rest. And with the new enhancements from the Mecha Orb to their ship which made them go faster than before, they figured they would find them in no time.
However, somewhere else in Alatar, Ursula's monstrous creature continued following the scent of the scepter which had now grown stronger. It could feel that it was closer and was now coming from the north and followed the scent.
Though they didn't know it, the princesses would soon come face to face with a terrifying beast whose terror could almost match those of Golett or Maleficent combined. And when they did, one could speculate that they would not be ready for it.