"We're getting close, I can feel it. I recognize these halls from before." Michael said.
The team had now gone up against numerous guards that tried to stop them and their numbers started thinning out.
"Yo, Mike, I wanted to ask something." Randy spoke up.
"Shoot."
"You got back all the Zapfish the Octarians stole back in the last war, right?"
"Yeah."
"How's this place still have power, then?"
"That's something I've been wondering since we got here. But who knows, with what kind of stuff goes on in here I know there has to be something big powering this place."
The team came across a door with a keypad resting next to it.
"Gimme a sec." Randy said. He approached the keypad and looked it over. He then swung his fist into it, crushing it into pieces. A recording of Micheline's voice rang out from the debris.
"Thank you for breaking this panel, we were just dying to spend more money to fix another one. We'll open the door for you out of pity that you really weren't able to remember the code. This will come out of your paycheck, by the way."
"Hah! Guess Junko's method does work for all of these things!" Randy said as the door opened.
The room was abandoned, with large systems with multiple screens lining the walls.
"I remember this room, I was brought in here while I was captured." Michael said. "That means the room with the machine is just past that door over there!"
The team moved to the door Michael mentioned, the doors slid open automatically.
Michael walked into the room and gazed upon the conversion machine. It was left in the same state he had last seen it. His mind flashed back to the encounter with Micheline in this room. His grip on his Octoshot tightened.
'I'm going to save you, sis, no matter what.'
The team approached the control panels that rested at the machine's side. Shelly noticed a setting for 'Heat'. She turned it up to the maximum level.
The ink in the machine started bubbling even more than it had before. Steam started rising from it, too.
"Jeez, Shell, did you have to turn it up so high?" Randy said, tugging at his shirt collar.
Michael cautiously moved up to the catwalk that gave a view into the machine. The ink was starting to dissipate. It eventually all vanished, turning into a violet vapor.
"The ink's gone, turn the heat off."
Shelly set the heat back down to the lowest level in response.
With the machine essentially deactivated, the team only had one last objective now.
"We're coming, sis." Michael said."
"If you're all done with turning that machine off, will you please move on now?" A voice rang out from behind Michael.
"Sis!"
Micheline put a hand up. "Stop, Michael. I don't care for what you have to say. I'm just here to get you all moving faster."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, I realized something, about all this."
"What is it?" Michael said, somewhat hopeful that everything would end now.
"It was wrong to send my guards after you all. Those braindead idiots couldn't even kill a fly if they tried. What I realized is…"
Micheline pulled out her weapon, an Octoshot.
"Is that I should have killed you myself!" She grinned, the light source from her mask intensifying.