Disclaimer: I don't own the Winx Club, and I do not profit from this story.

I'm sorry this took so long. Thank you to Ultimate Bohab, SharpieMassacre and To die upon a kiss for the reviews!

Chapter Three: The Songbird

Tecna and Musa slowly made their way out of the hospital, a few hours after Dawn. The two had spent the night in the hospital, resting after Tecna's arms and leg had been fully healed with the aid of nano-machines. The building remained an oasis of order in the city which had become gripped by chaos. Police and peacekeeper troops had maintained the perimeter they had established for the entire night, and they weren't showing signs of ceasing anytime soon.

"He should be on top of the roof," Tecna said, as she pointed up to the top of the hospital. She and Musa both changed into their Enchantix forms, and flew to the top of the building, where a grey metal bull with wings and a single horn had been perched.

"I thought you said he was gold," Musa said, as she stared at the robotic animal. She paced around the creature, getting a good look at it from multiple angles.

"He is, when he's active," Tecna replied. She held her arm up to the robot, and began to channel her magic power through Kantakka. The gold colour quickly returned to his body, as he began to move around once more, stomping his hooves, and stretching his wings.

"Organic," the robot began, "you've returned. I trust that you are in good health?"

"I'm all fixed up, and now, it's your turn," Tecna said, as she rested an arm on his back. "I don't believe I've told you my name yet."

"That is correct," Kantakka replied. "You know that I am called Kantakka. Until now, without a proper name, I have referred to you with the somewhat crude title of organic."

"My name is Tecna," the pink-haired fairy said. "You can call me that."

"Very well, Tecna," Kantakka said. He turned his head, and saw that there had been another girl up on the roof with them. "Who is this?" Kantakka waved his head in Musa's direction. "Is this girl an ally of yours?"

"Yes," Tecna said as she gestured to the blue-haired girl. "This is my friend, Musa."

"Hi there," Musa said, as she waved at the golden robot.

"Hello, Musa," Kantakka said. He turned his head to look at Tecna once more. "I took the opportunity to conduct a diagnosis in my low-powered mode, and I discovered that with my current damages, I can only act at thirty-two percent maximum efficiency. For reference, during the battle after my reawakening, I had been acting at sixty-seven perfect efficiency; likely due to a temporary overclock."

"That's a pretty big margin," Tecna said, as she crouched down to examine Kantakka's fractured leg. She took out her palmtop and began to scan over the robot's body. A Green web of light emitted from the camera inched across the beast's body. "Did you run a check on which of your systems are most damaged?"

"My leg may be the most visibly damaged part of my body, but it is not the part responsible for the massive drop in efficiency. That part is one of my processors, which has become corrupt over the years. The processor in question regulates power distribution, and is still treating my system as if it were in low-power mode."

"How many years has it been?" Tecna asked.

"I was last active twelve years ago," Kantakka said. "However, my creation dates back approximately eleven-thousand years."

"How is that possible?" Musa asked, finally joining into the conversation. She looked at the machine with wonderment, unsure if he was experiencing an error, lying, or if he really was a true marvel of an ancient civilization.

"I was not given details on the nature of my creation," Kantakka said. "I was created without any such interaction. Yet still, I remember what one of my creators told me, the first thing I had ever heard. The language is dead now, but it translated into: You will be like us. You shall live and learn the way we do. You shall feel and know the way we do. At the time, I did not understand what he meant, but I kept it locked in my memory. Today, I know what he was trying to tell me."

The robot spoke with what had seemed to be pride. Pride in his creation, his creators; his very existence. "There have been other automatons, both before and since my creation, even some based on my design, but among all of them I have heard of, I am still unique. To make a strong digression Tecna, in your blood, I found a specific synthetic enzyme, along with residual magical energy."

"And that acted as the catalyst for your reboot?" Tecna asked. Kantakka nodded. "Interesting. So, how can we replace your processor?"

"The only copies I've known of were created by the Machine Party," Kantakka said. "However, they are created on a basis of one per Konolento. There is a chance that one of my old counterparts can assist in acquiring a replacement. She is a Konolento named Veisulin. I will also require your aid in replacing the unit."

"I just have a couple more questions for you first," Tecna said.

"Go ahead."

"What does Konolento mean? Monster used that word as well."

"Konolento is a word reserved for a machine which has transcended the notion of a limit to artificial intelligence," Kantakka answered. "A machine which can be said to have achieved sentience. A word such as robot is deemed inefficient, due to an original meaning carrying implications of mindlessness and servitude. Konolento as a word dates back to the culture of my creators."

"I see." Tecna nodded her head. "Secondly, why did Angel call you a traitor?"

Kantakka was quiet momentarily. "I am branded a traitor because I betrayed the Revolutionary Machine Party. Angel remains loyal to them, as she was created by them. They have committed many transgressions in the past, and they continue to do so now."

"Reasonable, I suppose," Tecna said.

"To let them go unopposed... There is a Konolento saying; its irony might be lost on organic life, but it goes: 'I was not programmed that way.'"

"After what I heard, I'd have betrayed them too," Musa added. Tecna scanned over Kantakka's leg once more with her palmtop, just to be thorough.

"The damage isn't severe," the pink-haired fairy commented. "If I can get parts, I can fix it quickly, and then we can go look for your counterpart."

"What do you mean Musa's on Apex?!" Whenever Riven yelled into the receiver, Timmy couldn't help but cringe at the feedback noise.

"She came with me to try and find Tecna." Timmy's own voice remained very controlled. There was hope. Just like last time, he could feel something. Something which went beyond rational explanation, but he could feel it. And whatever it was, it kept him standing.

Riven muttered incomprehensibly, but Timmy could hear a few curses muddled in there. "Have you tried calling anyone else?"

"You're the only one I could get through to so far. But, I haven't called Helia yet... I wasn't able to get him when I called yesterday."

"I'll call him. You come back to Magix and pick me up. If he answers we'll get him after." With that, Riven ended the call, and quickly dialled for Helia. Asking for help wasn't one of Riven's strong points, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Riven?" Helia said as he answered his phone. Riven grunted slightly, just to indicate it was indeed him on the other end. "Have you heard about what's happening on Apex? Does Timmy know?"

"Yeah. I've heard. Timmy's the one who called me." There was a particular bitterness to Riven's voice that immediately alerted Helia. Not the bitterness of his normal tough guy routine, but the bitterness of a man who was on edge; a man who could break at any moment.

"What's wrong?"

Riven let out a weary sigh. "Musa's on Apex too." There was a bit of murmuring on Helia's end of the call. "I'm calling to... ask if you can come with us. We wanna be as prepared as we can get, so we'll need your... help. "

The murmuring on Helia's end continued for a few seconds, but Helia eventually replied: "We'll help in whatever way we can."

"We?"

"Me and Flora."

"Fine then." Riven did his best to sound as indifferent as he could, but he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that they'd have at least one magic user around to help. "We'll drop around Linphea College to pick you up soon." The magenta-haired specialist had hoped for a break after the nightmare that had happened with Mandragora, but evidently, it was not meant to be. Six of them, in total, against an army. These odds weren't looking too good.

"Where are we gonna get parts?" Musa quietly asked. "All the stores are closed." The two fairies found themselves ducking between alleyways, trying to avoid the anarchical mobs that had rampaged through the streets; breaking windows, signs, and making off with just about everything that wasn't bolted down.

"We'll just have to borrow a few," Tecna replied. "Given the current situation, I doubt anyone will mind. Much." She pointed across the street to a small hardware store that still had its windows intact. However, the building was three storeys tall, and judging from the potted plants on the windowsills of the upper floors, only the ground floor was the actual shop.

"That looks like a shophouse," Musa meekly whispered. "I don't think breaking into one of those is a good idea..."

"Just keep your head low, and we'll seem like just few more punks taking advantage of the turmoil."

"How are we not a few punks taking advantage of the turmoil?" The two ran across the street, and Tecna quickly disintegrated the window with a spell. Wasting no time, she jumped through, Musa closely following. The shop seemed as though it would be bigger based on its outside appearance. The space was cramped and impersonal, cluttered by cabinets, toolkits, and various half-finished projects. Light from the window was more than able to light the entire room. "What are we looking for?" Musa asked. As she took a step inside, she stubbed her toe on a box of screws lying on the ground.

"Wire, and a sturdy sheet of metal. The type doesn't matter right now." Tecna quickly opened all of the cabinets and scanned through each of them. "Come on now, we need to hurry."

Musa sighed as she began to rummage through the drawers of a nearby desk. "I really hope no one ever finds out about this."

General Masiina ran her hand over a coffin-shaped shell of metal, occasionally glancing over to a group of five scientists wearing thick coats huddled around several computers. Hundreds of wires ran between the coffin and the terminals. The room was small and dull, barely large enough to hold more one of the Konolento inside. The cooled air was filled with a low humming sound, and a peculiar clicking noise every few seconds. Masiina eventually had to lift her hand off of the shell, when it had become to hot to touch any longer. Taking this as some sort of signal, she spoke to the scientists.

"How much longer will this take?" There was a rare drop of sorrow in her voice that threatened to drown her words.

"The process is nearly finished General," one of the scientists quickly replied. "Ninety-nine-point-four percent of the way finished. We've an estimation of only twelve minutes until completion."

"Very well. I'll stay until then." She glared at the scientists, who seemed a bit shocked at her display of compassion to an underling who failed a mission. She could see that shock in their faces. "If any of you say anything about me based on what you've observed in this room, you won't live to see the outside of this base." That certainly got their attention. Nervous sweat and quickened breathing. "You're not the first crew to perform this operation." The General took out a small palmtop from her pocket and typed in a short code on holographic keys. Within seconds, the screen on her palmtop was being occupied by the image of a man.

"Lab n-sixteen reporting General," the man said. He raised a hand to his head in salute.

"How are the repairs of Konolento Angel coming along?" Masiina asked. She didn't even bother to look at the screen of her palmtop; instead keeping her eyes transfixed on the coffin.

"Angel's repairs are now complete, and we're just running a few final examinations before rebooting.

"Good." The General shut her palmtop and shoved it back into her pocket. Light filled the room, and Masiina found herself trapped in a trance-like state, only broken when one of the scientists spoke.

"We're finished now. We're opening the tank." The scientist quickly pressed a few commands into the screen, and the humming in the room stopped. It was replaced by a groaning hiss, as the coffin's lid began to rise open.

A small smile formed on Masiina's face when she saw that Monster's repairs had finally been completed. His body was intact; his fingers were rebuilt, the hole in his chest was filled, and his crystal eyes were restored to how they once shone. Masiina looked over the shell of a man with pity. Trapped at the bottom of the uncanny valley, trapped between being human and construct. It seemed as if Tecna and Kantakka had shown him pity by leaving what little organic body of his was left untouched. Not that it was much.

Masiina rested her hand on the artificial cheek skin that covered his metallic skull. "Vilkas..."

"Masiina?" Monster's synthesized voice crackled a bit as he spoke. He had moved neither his jaw to speak, or his neck to look upon her face. "Is that you?"

"Yes."

Monster began to stir. He first moved the fingers of his left arm, one by one, before he managed to lift his arm in front of his face. "Good." It was still organic. He sat up and finally saw Masiina standing next to him. "Where is Angel?"

"She has been repaired, the same as you," Masiina replied.

Monster nodded, and formed his hand into a fist. "What of the fairy and Kantakka?"

"They returned to the capital, but I'm doubtful they'll stay there long. Regardless, we can still track Kantakka's signature."

"Then I won't waste any time. I'll go with Angel to take care of them. Properly this time."

A brief pause, as the gears turned in the General's head. "Fine. I will allow it." Monster left the room with such haste that he never saw the frown on Masiina's face.

Sufficiently repaired by Tecna – and now sporting a fashionable discoloured patch on his leg – Kantakka carried his two fairy companions on his back as he flew to the east, in search of his counterpart, Veisulin. They had travelled far, to a corner of the planet which had numerous gorges and mountains, covering thousands of acres, stippled with trees and other plant life, sustained by generous waters.

"We've reached what the inhabitants of this world refer to as God's Oasis," Kantakka explained. "Humanoid organics are forbidden to dwell in this place. The superstitious believe that those who do are cursed with ill fortune. I was able to track Veisulin's signature to this region, but the co-ordinates are too vague for an accurate result."

"It's a rather wide area," Tecna said, as she surveyed the wide expanse of land. "How should we go about searching for your counterpart?"

Kantakka took a long pause before responding. "I must confess, I failed to properly think this plan of mine through." Tecna's jaw dropped, and Musa's face met her palm.

"I guess that's something we've all done today," Musa said flatly.

Tecna could practically feel Musa's glare burning into her. "How was I supposed to know that there would be a family living on the upper floor of a cramped store?"

"It was a shophouse! Of course people would live there!"

"For maintaining a strong work ethic, and a professional business space, there are no shophouses on Zenith," Tecna said matter-of-factly. "In any case, I'm sure the father has recovered by now, and–"

Tecna was suddenly muffled when Musa blocked her mouth with one hand, and raised her index finger on the other. "Shh. I hear something," Musa whispered, as she closed her eyes and raised her head. "A song." The sound was faint to Musa, and non-existent to Tecna. "Sounds like a pan flute – glass. And, tiny bells. With a subdued electronic bass, and... a slight rattling?" She lifted her hand off of Tecna's mouth and wiped some saliva onto Tecna's shirt.

"Musa, it seems as though you possess extraordinary auditory capabilities, which are greater than my own," Kantakka said. "It is possible that you have heard the song of Veisulin. She would have come to this continent so that her song might go undisturbed."

Musa pointed down to the top of a tree-covered hill. "It's coming from there. I'm sure of it." After a small nod, the golden bull began his descent, and the three dove down into the trees on the hill. Soon enough, all three of the travellers were able to hear the tune, loud and clear. Following the sound to its source, they found themselves creeping up on a robotic bird. The bird was covered from head to talons in metallic silver feathers. What little light crept through the gaps the the leaves above sparkled on the bird's majestic wings. But there was no time to waste.

"Veisulin." Kantakka spoke the creature's name, and she ceased her song's performance immediately.

"Kantakka?" The bird spun around, and stared at the golden bull before her. The lights which passed for her eyes rose to gaze upon the passengers on his back. "Why have you brought these organics to this place?"

"These two are my allies. One of them was responsible for my awakening," Kantakka replied. "Veisulin, I would like to introduce you to Tecna and Musa."

"Pleased to meet you," The pink-haired fairy said. "I'm Tecna."

"Hi there," The other fairy chirped. "My name's Musa."

Veisulin's eyes dimmed as she looked over the two fairies. "I am Veisulin – and this land is forbidden to your kind."

"We're aware of that," Tecna said, slightly taken aback by the robot's discourtesy. "However, we came here because Kantakka needs a replacement processor."

"Is that so? Did you think I would just have one to give one to you? My days of conspiring with organics are over. Leave this place at once. Kantakka, I would have thought that you were wiser than to ever associate with creatures like this ever again."

"These two are unlike other organic lifeforms you have met before," Kantakka retorted. "Please give them a chance."

"If you will not leave, I will have no choice but to show you what the 'god's curse' actually is."

"Then so be it." Kantakka began to fly away, when his two passengers suddenly jumped off from his back; already having assumed their Enchantix forms. "Tecna! Musa! What are you doing?"

"We can't just leave," Tecna said. She looked back to Kantakka and smiled. "We weren't programmed that way." Musa gave the golden bull a thumbs up. "Please Veisulin, we need that processor. Without it, we can't fight the Machine Party."

"Bothersome creatures!" Veisulin stretched her wings, and pointed their tips towards the fairies. "What good can two little fairies and a decrepit machine do against an army?" There was a clicking noise, as the metallic feathers on Veisulin's wings shifted.

The fairies jumped back, just as Kantakka swooped down to shield them from the coming volley of gunfire.

"Author's" Notes:

Finally... This chapter jumped around a lot – even more than previous chapters – and ultimately ended with a cliffhanger. I feel kind of bad about doing this, especially since It's been 8 months since the last update... but, if you're still on board, it should be comparatively smooth(er) sailing from here on out. I think the first two chapters are somewhat stronger than this one, since this one ultimately serves to further establish every separate group and what they'll be doing, and it's a bit exposition heavy. TvTropes calls this "Four Lines, All Waiting." Thankfully, it's over and now I want to jump around less with future chapters.

Part of the reason I took so long with this, was that I was a tad hasty when it came to even posting this story in the first place. I was sort of gung-ho about it, and probably should have waited a bit longer, especially since I hadn't even finalized the entire frame of the story at that point. It's finalized now, and I'm excited to finally get this story moving again! (Hopefully)