The warm, silky swathes of cloth finally broke to the more open space of the Information Center, the muffled chattering and squawking bursting upon Swatch as they made their way from the darkened den of Firefox, "Wh-What is the meaning of this?!" They questioned as they strode over to the fighting swatchlings, pinching some feathers at the backs of their heads and pulling away.
Gerald yelped and slapped his hand over the pinch, "Ow Ow Ow! Chill!" He squeaked as he and Barnaby backed away from each other.
Barnaby gasped and rubbed the back of his neck, "Boss! Terribly sorry, Gerald was-"
"Don't pin this on me, snitch!"
Swatch cut in, putting themself between the two and pushing them from each other, "Stop, the both you! Where are they?!"
Vince rubbed his head and glanced around frantically, "I… I'm sorry boss… they slipped away during the-"
Barnaby finished tugging his uniform into place, "That little salesman tried to convince Gerald to try something called a Jello prank."
Gerald squinted back, "It's made of food, bro! It wouldn't have been permanent and you get a snack out of it!"
The black and white-donned lead put one hand up, "That's enough! Where did they go?!"
"HOCHI MAMA! That's a long way up!" Spamton yelped as he popped his neck looking up the tall, steep cluster of worn-out metal frames. The mountain wobbled every few moments, ripples and bits of it being plagued with glitches and hearts or smilies that fluttered out from between the cracks.
Tasque Manager nodded agreement and tapped her muzzle, tail flicking side to side at the tip as she pondered, "I think I can see a path that will make it pretty quick and easy to scale…" the cat Android said as she lifted her floating hands and grinned, "When you don't have a normal arm length limit at least! I'm sure I can carry us up there easily!"
The short salesman tapped his chin, and glanced down at the ground, thinking of how his traveling companion brought up his work in the employee cafe, ". . . I'll race you to the top!"
Tassy's expression blanked for a second, the cat woman turning her head to look for him on her shoulder, but instead found he'd jumped down and begun sifting through the heaps of scrap around him, "You want to… you want to race?! Ah.. not trying to be mean, but we don't have a whole lot of time and I don't exactly think y.." she trailed off as she watched him grab a few old suspension springs and lay them next to some square pieces of metal about half the size of his arm lengths and height.
Spamton looked up to her, a smirk curling across his face, "I'll beat you to the top." He revised his challenge, eyes squinted a little bit as a grin gleamed his teeth into view, "Go on! Get started, it won't change much!" The salesman almost mocked as he continued to turn the spring on its side and wedged a flat piece of metal that had been curved on one side in by the point.
Tasque Manager blinked a few times before her own playfully mischievous grin was tossed back, "Alright! I'll beat you there!" She laughed, turning, running, and leaping onto the mound of scrap metal.
He watched her hands reach up a couple of lengths of her own height above her, one after the other to grasp on before zipping out of view with a few leaps and bounds of electromagnetism, "Let's hope this works…" he lifted the connected pieces, the full contraption looking akin to a ground-stabbing sign with a spring where the handle would go.
Strapping a second one to his back, Spamton ran towards the heap as he lifted the first gadget over his head and, with one leap, stabbed the pointed end into a layer of metal. He landed on the flat side, the spring cocking back with a creak before a flick of his finger to remove the curved hook towards the base gave the contraption a sudden release that launched Spamton into the air, rocketing past the cat woman as she bounded her way up.
Tasque Manager's eyes widened as she watched him zoom past, her jaw-dropping before curving into a grin, "WOAH! HA, DON'T THINK THIS RACE IS OVER!" She laughed as she drew her whip and began swinging above her to latch and pull herself up.
Spamton glanced back down at her, snickered, and pulled the next one from his back, stabbing it into the side as his momentum slowed and brought him to a momentary hover. Clinging to the flat end, he pulled backward and attached the hook before crawling on the top and letting loose again.
Within a matter of minutes, the two reached the top, Tasque Manager slinging herself up just a few feet behind the little rocketeer and reaching out a gentle hand that would catch him. As she took a somersault tumble across the steel shoulder padding of an older battle bot model, Spamton was let off onto the landing surface by a floating hand.
"Holy Tolito! Are you okay?" Spamton gasped with a dropped jaw as he watched the robot woman break apart and tumble in a few different directions at the waist, shoulders and even her head, unplugged, rolled a few feet from her torso.
"Oh, it's okay! I'm fine!" The cat woman's head bounced as she laughed, "I'm meant to fall apart like this! Electromagnetic parts handle tumbles much more easily.."
The short salesman had picked up a shoulder piece, but stepped back and gasped in awe when it ripped itself from his hands and hovered back to her, doing the same with her torso to her hips.
"Ta-da~!" Tasque Manager sang as her body dusted itself off and began stumbling to her head, "Warmer, waarmerr… Okay no too far." Her head sighed as her body missed and grabbed a rock instead.
Spamton blinked a few times and tilted his head as he walked over to hers, grabbing and lifting her, "You can't control it?"
"Well, my head is the main controller but it must be plug-in, not electromagnetic like the rest of me." She explained as the salesman lifted her to her body and watched it drop the rock, "I can't do everything with Bluetooth, that kind of function in my system is a very minor one because Swatch couldn't fit a better one in along with the electromagnetic directional processors and the entire download of my consciousness. So a sound-responsive AI takes over while I'm unplugged!"
Spamton blinked a few times and raised a brow, "Can you say that again? But… simpler? I mean," he started walking in, "I understand all of those words, but we're already dealing with a lot today.."
"Too much stuff, not enough space. The plug makes it easier." She said calmly with an understanding nod, "Yeah, ah, tell me if you don't understand my words because I talk fast and I use big ones on habit from my job. Queen wants all of her paintings and sculptures organized by name in various alphabetical sequences!"
Spampton grabbed her skirt and dragged her into the cliff ledges gape, the center panel of one of Queen's old hands missing and leading a relatively stable way in up the arm, "Huh, interesting job you've got…"
Swatch meanwhile felt the feathers along their shoulders bristle with rage, and along their neck in fear, "Excuse me, have you seen a white-coated cat-android with turquoise accents? No…? With a short, white Addison, the Big Shot? You've seen him on ads right?"
The poker-face of Kingpin Interest glared back as he plucked a candy apple red quill from his back effortlessly and stabbed a picture of a fox in snow against a board, ". . . And what if I did?"
"Well, it would be very helpful to the preservation and repair of Cyber City. It would most certainly be beneficial to you to allow Her Majesty's right hand to make things right," they paused, sensing they'd need to do a bit more convincing, "How would you like… a splash of color?" The head butler bowed their head and stomped a foot a few times, a few drops of a vibrant light dripping from the toe of their shoe. The drops bounced once before changing into a few downy feathers of gleaming light that floated into the shop, bumping softly against some dull, jaded photographs, their quality increasing tenfold in both clarity and vibrance as they wavered in their spots, pinned by quills.
The Kingpin rolled the quill he used as a toothpick around to the other side of his mouth, eyes widening a bit as the light reflected off of them before turning towards the butler's feet, finding no trace of the droplets, "Hmmph… That is a great service to me…" he mumbled a moment as he turned to look the corvid over, "I saw em… They talked to Tinder and took off out the exit, probably to go after that dragon or key or something…"
Swatch felt their heart sink in dread, then jump again as they processed the entirety of the Kingpin's words, ". . . Dragon? Why would there be any mention of a dragon?" They asked, praying it had been a slip of the mind.
"Ah…" the porcupine dipped his head, "The dragon, MSI, moved himself into the scrapyard's center chamber. I don't even think he knows there's a key in there…" he explained gently to the Butler, his own eyes cast to the floor to avoid the anxious, dreadful look being tossed back.
The Butler took a long, quiet moment to think before giving another bow, "Thank you… Your input has been very helpful for us... Have a lovely evening.." They finished with a wave before turning to head off to the exit, the anger, and fear they'd pushed down bubbling up as they crossed the doorway, "The three of you head to the manor and make sure nothing else goes wrong." They said sternly, the three Swatchlings taking off quickly before the leader sighed and turned to stride off in the direction of the scrapyard, straightening their suit with a huff, "I cannot believe those two just ran off!"
"I can't believe we just ran off! Think he'll be mad?" Spamton asked as he walked alongside the tall cat android, stepping over dents in the metal and even areas that broke apart to lead into another giant part.
"I think they'll be fine… Swatchlings can fly!" She smiled as she followed closely.
The pair's trek led them over broken and ribboned, bent metal and around bends, the air cooling as they went further and further into the metallic mountain. The two began to worry that their turns had been taken wrongly before a glimmer of almost angelic golden light stopped them both in their tracks, Spamton squinting at the source, but dropping his jaw as his gaze drifted over a monstrously large pile of golden coins, gems, and trophies of all shapes and sizes.
Upon rapid closer inspection from the excited salesman who'd scrambled to the heap, the coins were engraved with symbols of various cryptocurrencies and the trophies were labeled with game-like achievement listings, "There's so much TREASURE!" Spamton belted as he buried himself in coins.
Tasque Manager followed a bit more slowly, kneeling to sift through and push aside the piles of gold with her hands, stopping to let her oculars scan the piles every few moments, "Mm… Key Shape, Key Shape… Do you see any keys, Spammy?" She asked, turning to only see a pointed nose peeking out of the hoard.
The pile of gold wiggled and shifted as he lifted his head, a pair of coins resting over his eyes, "Uhhh… I see a lot of B…?" He said with a shrug before the cat woman flicked one of them off of his cheek, "Oh… well, I see a lot of shiny things…"
"Yes, yes Mr. Entrepreneur, but what about-"
"That stupid key… Going to get us all killed!" Swatch ranted between deep breaths as their hand curved around the edge of a metallic cliff, pulling them up, "Ugh… Why didn't Queen ever get me flying lessons or at least a trampoline?! Ah, but noooo, clipping my feathers instead makes me look more professional, yes thank you, mother very-" they growled under their breath, but slowly stopped and looked up as the shadow of Spamton's springy contraption cooled their head, "That… Did he make that?"
The corvid pulled themself up, standing on the small ledge as they shakily tested a foot upon the flat end, "This… looks like something… that should help me to the top?" They mumbled as they shivered onto the platform and listened to it click back into its latch. A different spring slid into place adding a new tension that made Swatch's chest flutter as they rested all of their weight on it and made a reach for the hooked latch.
Within moments, the head butler had found their heart slammed into their stomach as they were flung up, rocketing to the top with a terrified yelp that cut with the thud following it, "Uhff!... Ugnnhh…" they groaned, pushing against their knees with their hands as they stood, "They better hope that dragon doesn't find them before I do…"
That jinx carried beyond the feathered leader as a tall figure lifted its slick head from behind the mountain of treasure with a sharp-fanged yawn. Its red scales glimmered almost as brightly as its eyes glowed, casting a squinted glare down at the intruders.
Spamton's swim through the shimmering pile as a search came to a stop as he turned to face the shadow that had enveloped him, "Uh… Tasque Lady?"
The robotic cat woman sighed as she shoved aside the mounds and piles of glimmering light, scanning them every time, "Manager. Why does everyone get that… wrong…?" Her question dropped off almost as quickly as her heart sank at the sight of the large, shimmering beast as it stretched its orange wings above it, "S… Spammy…?" She asked shakily the size of the dragon leaving her stunned, a daze that was only snapped out of when her scans chimed her attention towards the shape that hung at the center of the Dragon's hoard of necklaces, "key shape!"
Spamton looked from the dragon to Tasque Manager with a pair of wide, petrified eyes that followed her point to the key she'd spotted, "How the hell are we supposed to grab that?!" He asked, cut off by the low grumbling that gurgled in the dragon's throat, the dry, warm heat that radiated from its jaws wafting over him as a threat.
Tasque Manager glanced from Spamton to the dragon then back before sprinting towards the salesman and grabbing him behind her with her hands, ready to run off with him. Unfortunately, with a 'shffft', her boot sunk into the pile Spamton had swam in, swallowing her up to the thigh as the reptile leaned its head back and flicked its tongue across a melted pool of metal that coated its teeth, earning a spark, "No no no no-" she yelped desperately before throwing Spamton away from her and simply covering her head with her hands.
Spamton landed against a pile, watching with a dropped jaw as Swatch sprinted in with a forceful step forward, connected their first to the Dragon's snout with enough force to make it blast its fire at the wall instead. The Butler gripped Tasque Manager by the hips and dragged her out of the coins while the reptile stumbled, the robot reaching one hand to grab the key while the other picked up Spamton.
"Did you just punch a bloody dragon, Swatch?" She yelped as she was set down and pushed towards the exit with a gentle, yet tense and clearly upset touch.
The corvid glanced back at the dragon who shook its head and snarled as they pushed Tasque Manager towards the exit tunnel, "I break watermelon-filled barrels on the daily, just run!" They huffed as they rushed the salesman-mounted android up the tunnel, closely followed by the loud steps of the pursuing reptile.
Spamton looked around them frantically, clinging to Tasque Manager and shakily asking, "Is this the right tunnel?" As they leaped over and sprinted along some very unfamiliar twists and turns.
"Oh please don't ask me that.." Swatch begged as they dodged a swiped claw that rattled the echoic metal walls.
The robotic cat woman stumbled up a metal panel that had crinkled and ribboned like steps as another missed swipe shook the structure, "I just realized.. We… did a lot of climbing to get up here, didn't we?"
The salesman nodded slowly as he clung to her shoulder pads, "Yeah?"
"So how… Are you going to fly us down?" She asked with a bit of panic as the outdoor light began to gleam closer from the exit, glancing to Swatch and getting close as if ready to grip onto them.
Swatch whipped their head behind them to catch the glowing eyes of the dragon just on their heels before turning their attention to the exit, "Oh PLEASE don't ask me that!" They repeated as the group came to a mix of scuffling to a stop and preparing to jump that was forcefully pushed into the jumping aspect when the dragon's headbutt made contact with Swatch's back.
"What do you mean?! You mean you can't-" her question was cut off by the shove.
Spamton, Tasque Manager, and Swatch's screams echoed down the metallic mountainside, the three clinging to each other as the winds whipped past their heads. They closed their eyes for impact but their shrieks came to a halt as they were grabbed, looking to find that the three bodyguards from earlier had made a life-saving catch.
Spamton sat atop Vince's back, while Barnaby and Gerald had wrapped their legs around the other two by the waists, gliding the trio away from the distant roars that echoed over the city from the scrapheap.