As Raven had described it, coiled around the Dust stores and power capacitors in the bottom of the tower was an enormous white eel. The monster was bigger than the two creatures Ruby and Neo had killed before, its head equaling their size on its own. She'd informed them that it was growing in teeth that were essentially large jagged Dust crystals, which it was pulling out and putting through the refinement machines, then feeding into the power generator as fuel. Their guess was that then the power produced was channeled back into the eel's body. If it was somehow able to produce more energy than it spent creating new Dust, then that meant it had somehow managed to find itself an infinite supply of power, which it had undoubtedly been storing up for a very long time. How powerful it would be now was impossible to tell.

If they wanted to have any chance at fighting and beating this monster, they needed weapons. Ruby had thought it odd how Raven had been naked when she first appeared, and apparently the reason for that was just that Raven had been fighting this world for so long all her clothing and armor was destroyed over time until nothing was left. She was also without any weaponry, which made her far less useful than she could have been, but not useless. She was still Raven Branwen, and she was still the Spring Maiden. Those facts were not to be underestimated. While the lack of clothing was not currently so big of a concern, since the water was nice and warm, and if they were wearing clothes they would be waterlogged and helpless. The real problem was the lack of weapons. Neo had wisely brought Hush with her, and Penny still had her blades, but that still left Ruby completely defenseless. There was no way for her to assist in the battle against this giant eel.

Ruby wasn't entirely used to this style of fighting, where they were now planning out every move according to Raven's descriptions of the status quo down below them. She was fine with plans, but not ones that were predicated on the concept of retreating when the status quo changes. Raven was emphasizing this point, that if any step of the plan went wrong, they would all need to retreat immediately and make a new plan. Of course, it made sense. They didn't have a lot of resources, and they were running short on time. While everything else going on was a concern, Neo was constantly checking the control console inside their little air pocket, and when Ruby had asked why she'd been told that they had limited oxygen in here. She should have expected that, but it hit her like a brick wall. They were underwater here, and all the air vents, anywhere they might get fresh air from, was also flooded. If they opened those up, they would drown in a matter of moments or have to retreat all the way back to the roof.

This concern led them to another facet of their plan. Ruby kicked her legs behind her, propelling further down into the tower, keeping her head on a constant swivel. She kept looking back and up, for any sign of a similar air pocket they could use. Ahead of her, Raven pushed herself towards a ladder that climbed the side of one of the generators. Ruby was about to go to join her when she saw Raven hold out her hand, palm out towards Ruby, warning her to stay back. Just then, a huge piston whirled around the generator and moved between them, moving up and down in a rhythmic mechanical motion. Ruby had no doubt her body would have been crushed if she'd been caught in that machine, and the blunt force from its motion alone would have knocked her out. When it moved like a pump, she could feel the water moving and sucking her in towards the piston. If she had been unconscious and floating near that, it would have easily pulled her in and all that would be left of her would be a red cloud, and not the kind with rose petals.

Once the generator turned again and the piston moved away, Ruby swam over to Raven. She was worried that they might get trapped by the piston and be unable to return to the air pocket before they drowned, but their situation was getting a little tight and they needed to take risks if they were going to survive. Ruby felt Raven reach an arm around her and pull her close, pressing their two bodies together just as another piston rushed past. Ruby wasn't sure how to feel about where her face was being pushed. It was big and soft, like a mom's chest should be, but she still had misgivings about Raven just in general, and on top of that it just wasn't Neo. Given the circumstances, however, Ruby wondered if Raven would have a problem with, or even notice, if Ruby just so happened to grab onto her breasts and sink her fingers into the large soft mass. So far so good, Raven wasn't reacting at all.

Ruby felt Raven's knuckle rap on her head. When she looked up, she saw Raven's deep red eyes staring back down at her. The dark-haired woman pointed up above them, then turned her gaze towards the paneling just over their head, and Ruby watched obediently through the sizable bosom of her sister's mother. She was just wondering if she would have ever had moments even remotely similar to this if she'd grown up with her own mother in her life the whole time, when two adjacent panels slid away, revealing a room above them. After just two seconds, they slammed shut again. This was going to be tricky to handle, but from the look of it Raven already had a plan. After another five seconds, the panels slid open again. It must have been an access door that was shorting out. Otherwise, there was no reason Ruby could think of for it to be opening and closing like this.

The next time it opened up, Raven reached up and grabbed either side of the door, putting her hands up against the spaces where the two halves of the door were retracting into. She pulled herself up and locked herself in place, holding the door open. Ice spread out from her hands, filling up the mechanical cavities to jam up the system and hopefully keep it open a little longer. Ruby saw the ice crack and break, pieces fragmenting off, floating away, and melting as the doors stressed against Raven's hands in their effort to close again. After five seconds, they let up again, but Ruby knew this would only be for two seconds. Raven wasn't holding the door open for fun, either. She needed Ruby to climb in past her. Ruby's eyes glazed over as she stared at the large bust floating in the water over her head. She had to climb past that. Well, it was necessary for survival.

The next time the doors let up, Ruby reached up and grabbed onto the edges next to Raven's hands and pulled herself up. She had to squish her face up through Raven's breasts, but she found her fingers wrapping around the rung of a ladder, which helped her pull herself up and free from the doorway. Breaking through the surface, Ruby gulped in a deep breath of air. Looking around, she realized she was in a tall maintenance shaft inside the generator. Above her, arcs of electricity cut across the shaft haphazardly. The shaft was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to fit squished together, which was why after all the pleasure she secretly took from squeezing past Raven, she now found Raven's face was pressed into her own chest. Climbing a little further up, so that her hips were now level with Raven's face, Ruby braced herself against the walls with her legs and reached back down into the water, where she hooked her hands under Raven's arms. She watched carefully, counting down the seconds as the door fought against Raven's strength, and the instant it let up, she hauled on Raven's body, heaving her up out of the doorway.

Raven shot up out of the water, reaching out and grabbing onto the ladder, then pulling her legs up and to safety as the door slammed shut behind her. The two of them took a few moments to gasp for breath. As her heart slowly began to settle down, Ruby was able to take longer, more meaningful breaths, and she realized something. The air inside the generator had a unique taste to it. She thought it reminded her of how the sea air smelled, but a bit more energetic. Looking up, she remembered that electricity sometimes had that kind of effect on the air. If she remembered correctly, it was called ionization or something like that. Curiously, she noticed some other things going on. There were occasional jets of flame arcing through the shaft alongside the electricity, and then a jolt of purple, a quick cascade of blue ice, and Ruby understood what she was seeing. The eel was producing different kinds of Dust indiscriminately, and they were all going into the generator. She didn't know if it was supposed to be able to handle that, but everything looked to be in working order for the moment.

She heard a loud rushing sound, and then a blast of wind hit her in the face. Instinctively, Ruby ducked down and hid her face in the nearest soft shelter, which just so happened to be Raven's chest again. Pulling back just as quickly as she'd jumped in, Ruby started apologizing right away. "Ah! I'm sorry! That wasn't what I meant to do! It's just so cramped in here, I just did it automatically, and I forgot! I didn't mean to- I swear I'm not- I don't want to touch your boobs! Not that there's anything wrong with them, I just mean- They're actually pretty great, uh, yeah, I mean no! I don't- I'm not- I mean I do want- Ah!"

Raven slapped Ruby across the face, shutting her up. "You're using up oxygen." Once Ruby had sufficiently calmed down, Raven let out a long sigh. "Okay, there's Dust making air in here, and good air even. This is beneficial, but only for the two of us right now. Unless we can get that door to stay open, this doesn't really help Neo. Got it?"

Ruby nodded. "Yuh huh."

"Okay, good. Now, we need a few moments to rest after that." She went silent for a few seconds, and Ruby thought that was going to be it, but then Raven spoke again. "So start over. Do you or don't you intend to be sexually harassing me so much right now?"

Ruby gulped. It was better to be honest. Probably. "Definitely at least some of that was accidental and couldn't be helped."

"Hmm. Some, huh?" Raven didn't show any emotional response on her face, which left Ruby wondering what her fate was to be. Then Raven relaxed, taking a few deep breaths. Ruby watched nervously as Raven's chest heaved right next to her face, pressing up against her cheek with each breath. Raven looked back down at Ruby. "Don't tell the others, or anyone, ever. But that was exciting, and so long as it's just the two of us, I'm okay with it."

Ruby eyed her suspiciously. "You're serious?"

"Yes." Raven looked away, trying her best to avoid making any more eye contact.

"Well... not to be the business one here, but I think we should start moving again." Ruby looked up through the arcing Dust energy above them. "Any plans to get through there?"

"Not especially, but..." Raven slid down the shaft a bit, all but bludgeoning Ruby with her breasts as she passed her. "Sorry." She stopped short of the doorway and started feeling around the walls of the shaft. "There should be access to a power circuit for this somewhere. If we can cut the power lines completely, it'll stop closing and we can hold it open for good. It won't be able to shut again, so we can use this place as a more lasting air pocket."

"Great thinking. Do you need me to move?"

Raven looked up, seeing that her head was right between Ruby's thighs. A second passed, and then she answered. "No, you're find where you are."

"Okay, good. I'd hate for there to be any sexual tension between us right now."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're insufferable?"

"You have no idea."