N04H was doing his rounds with the badboon when the two felt a small wave of magic wash over him. "Warning! Blueprint-detected! Lily-made-a-new-blueprint!"
"Let's go-oo-oo! What did she make?" The monkey took off towards the Haven, skidding to a halt when he nearly tumbled over Lily.
"This-does-not-appear-to-be-a-shelter." N04H looked around, something buzzing as he analyzed the blueprint before them.
"It's not, it's a blueprint for an Ark. It'll be a vehicle big enough to carry lots of monsters and get us off Malhalla." Lily grinned back at N04H and the monkey.
Arisplotle came over and looked down at Lily's book, jiggling with excitement. "Not to disappoint or anything, Lily… but do goo really think the three of ooze can build this on our own?"
"No, not in time. But I think if I can do enough for those of you around here, I'll be able to ring the bell a few more times and get more monsters to help!" As Lily spoke though, the ground shook hard enough that she fell back, luckily for her, Arisplotle expanded and caught her. "What's going on?"
"Bzzt! Gravitational-field-perturbations-detected! The-mass-of-Malhalla-is-decreasing-at-an-accelerated-rate!" N04H picked Lily up with the robotic claw from his chest before setting her down safely on the ground again.
"Doom's Day draws near. This is merely a taste of the Master of Destruction's grand machinations." Hellen ran over, putting a hand on Lily's shoulder.
"Skree! Are you thaying the real thing will be much, much worthe!?" Gremville flew over to Lily, colliding with the builder and hiding against her.
"BLEEP-BLEEP! Elevated-readings-in-fear-sensors! We-must-complete-the-Ark! There-is-not-a-moment-to-lose!" N04H shook Lily some, his elevated fear sensors causing him to go higher pitched.
"As our day of deliverance approaches, I expect we will see an increase in such tremors." Hellen crossed her arms and shook her head at the now scared monsters.
"Ya know, I don't really feel like being dethtroyed. I think I'll help with conthtruction on the Ark after all!" Gremville looked up at Lily, his lip quivering as he watched her.
The other gremlins all surrounded her as well, clinging to her where they could as the monkey spoke. "We don't want to die either! We'll help you-oo-oo build the Ark too-oo-oo!"
"So, you have all turned your backs on the Master!" Hellen scoffed and shook her head.
"What disciple would rather die over wanting to worship their God for a longer period of time? If we are able to stop Hargon, then you all will get to not only meet Malroth, but you can come live with us on our island. Talk to him, all the time. See him in the flesh." Lily hugged Gremville, narrowing her eyes on Hellen.
"Hellen… you-say-that-destruction-will-bring-us-salvation. But-is-this-truly-what-you-believe?" N04H stood next to Lily, straightening out his joints so he was taller than the human. "Lily-is-a-builder… the-enemy-of-our-order… but-in-trying-to-save-us-she-has-destroyed-something-more-valuable-than-our-physical-forms…" He spun around, taking in all the monsters around them. "She-has-destroyed-the-Children-of-Hargon's-fundamental-principles! Perhaps-she-is-the-only-true-believer-among-us!"
"I… had never really thought about all of this… like such…" The priestess looked away for a moment before turning her attention back to Lily. "In light of this revelation, it must be Hargon's will that I help Lily to build the Ark!" She let out a meek laugh as she shook her head. "And if truth be told… I do not wish to die either."
Lily looked up from what she was working on at her workbench when Hellen came over and stared down at her. "Priestess?"
"Lily… I still struggle with the idea that you and our Lord are friends. But, if it was so… have you spoken with Hargon?"
"I have. When he came and kidnapped Malroth and gave us his warning about the world."
"I see. Then you know of the secret that very few know of. That this world is naught but an illusion." Hellen sighed as she sat next to where Lily was working and looked up at the red sky. "You are not of this world. Only a select few were like you, never once did I think I would get to meet your kind. I'm glad I did."
"Lily! Lily! I've been thinking-" Gremville flew over and landed on the workbench, not having heard what Hellen had said to the builder.
"That's dangerous of you, Gremville." Hellen teased, laughing when the monster shot her a dirty glare.
"There'th thomething very odd about you, Lily. I think you have thome kind of mythteriouth power… I mean, we're the monthterouth memberth of the Children of Hargon, vigorouth opponentth of building! Yet here we are, about to conthtruct thith Ark…" The smaller monster shrugged as he patted Lily's head. "If I didn't believe you before, I thertainly do now – you have to be friendth with the Mathter of Dethtruction!"
Lily smiled at Gremville and Hellen before going and putting all the necessary items in the storage locker so the monsters could get to work. Her grin grew as they all gathered around and took what they could carry so they could start work on the Ark. Hellen touched Lily's shoulder, her red orb flickering some. "Lily, while we finish this, might I suggest you and Arisplotle go to the Court of Chaos? The magistrate in charge there may know where there are more monsters who quietly await their demise. However, since the destruction began, the route has become littered with vortexes that would suck you into oblivion at the slightest slip… to walk that road is too great a risk."
"Lily! Lily! Warning! Warning! Enemies-detected-in-close-proximity!" N04H screamed as he came running up to the builder. "Shadow-fiends-approaching!"
"We're under splattack! Ohh, why do they have to be so aggooressive?!" Arisplotle cried as he wrapped around Gremville, forcing the gremlin to the ground.
"Let's knock 'em back and get to work! I think the five of us can take them on while the others work on building, what do you guys think?" Lily didn't wait for an answer, she bolted for the clearing in front of the blueprint and into the fray when the shadowy monsters appeared.
Hellen joined her with Gremville and Arisplotle right behind her. N04H came up next to Lily, attacking the monsters that tried to come up behind her. He turned and watched her fight for a moment, taking notice when a power spiked from her. "Lily-I-detect-powers-of-destruction-in-you."
"Is that so?" Lily leaned back, bend backwards to avoid a sword that was stabbed towards her before she dropped all the way down and kicked the monsters feet off. She rolled and struck the shadow with her sword. She and N04H looked up when a troll shadow came up, Lily growled and dove out of the way but N04H wasn't as quick as the builder. He took the hit but kept moving. "You okay, N04H?!"
"I-am-fine-Lily. Please-proceed!"
Lily nodded and started her assault on the monster, she and the others easily took it out before returning to the nearly completed Ark. She looked around; glad they had kept the monsters held back from causing damage to the Ark. "Sprinkler-system-activated. The-flowers-have-all-dried-up-Miriam! Watering-the-spronkle-drib-krooooooblorp…" Lily whirled around, seeing N04H was having issues, he twisted around sporadically as if he couldn't control his movements.
"N04H?" Lily slowly moved to him, holding a hand out to him. "What's going on, bud?"
"BLEEP-BLEEP-BLEEP! Entering-automatic-shutdown-mode… powering-off. Goodbye-Miriam… BLOOOOooop… BZZZT… BZZT…"
"Oh, N04H… you fought goorageously, but a robot your age should know better than to overload yourself…" Arisplotle bounced over as the robot collapsed onto the ground.
"Life-signs-bzzzt-detected. Execute-bzzzt-reboot-program?" Lily patted him on the head, frowning when he only made whirling and buzzing noises. "Reboot-program-failed. Troubleshooting… rupture-detected-in-air-vent. Elevated-risk-of-overheating…"
"Hang on, bud. I'll make you a new one." Lily ran over to her workbench and quickly made something the robot might be able to use. "Where do I put it in, N?"
"Back-panel. Overheating-threshold-will-be-exceeded-in-T-minus…" The robot buzzed and clicked as Lily set to work on yanking out the old vent. The builder hissed as she dropped it from how hot it was. She bit her gloves off so they wouldn't get in the way as she worked with the small wires and tubing. "Air-vent…installation-successful!"
"Shit, let me get my hands out of your back first!" Lily yanked her hands back and shut the small door as she jumped away from N04H. "Damn."
"Power-system-fully-operational. Initialising-reboot-program. Bleep-bleep! Reboot-successful!" N04H jumped up and spun, nearly hitting Lily and Gremville. "Greetings! Assault-android-number-zero-four-H-at-your-service! You-can-call-me-N04H! Pleasure-to-meet-you!" He spun around again, stopping so he was looking at Lily. "Thank-you-for-repairing-me. I-may-be-old-and-rusty-but-I-am-grateful-to-have-my-warranty-extended!"
"It'th jutht one thing after another with you, N04H! You had me worried thick!" Gremville grumbled at the robot.
"Lily-it-is-time-we-devised-a-way-to-avoid-the-gravitational-globules-and-search-for-other-monsters." N04H lowered himself back down so he was eye level with Lily.
"It isn't just the globules that are the problem. Malhalla is an enormooze place." Arisplotle bounced around between N04H and Lily. "If you goo out on foot, Goom's Day will have come and gone before you can bring anyone back!"
"Tho what are you thaying? We need to build thomething that letth uth travel fathter?" Gremville looked down at Arisplotle.
"We-need-a-high-velocity-vehicle!" N04H extended up again while spinning.
Lily crossed her arms as she leaned against her workbench and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Vehicle, huh?" She looked at N04H, nodding. "Can I see your guts?"
"My-internal-components? You-have-an-idea?" N04H twirled around once more before a door opened and showed off his circuits to Lily. "Please-be-gentle. I-am-more-delicate-than-I-look." The robot let out a squeak when Lily dove in and started poking around. "O-Oh-my!"
When Lily pulled back she shut the door to his circuits quickly before running off and going to the landing at the edge of the Ark. She whipped out her book and threw down a blueprint, beaming when the monsters all stared at her in shock. "Got it!"
"That-tickled…" N04H turned away from the others, a whimpering alarm leaving him. "I-believe-I-may-have-oiled-myself."
Lily got busy on her blueprint while the others finished the Ark. Lily stepped back when the basics of her vehicle were finished, a grin on her face. Until the others came over. "What in the world ith that? How'th it thuppothed to move without any wheelth?" Gremville flew around it, frowning at the thing.
"Muah, hah, hah! I would seem even the esteemed builder is not immune to failure!" Hellen let out a roar of laughter as she shook her head.
Lily rolled her eyes and grinned before all but attacking the base of the thing. Magic on her fingertips as she hammered and tinkered, shaping it as she went. She backed away and put a hand on her hip as she looked at the monsters. "Eat shit." She snapped her fingers and magic erupted around the vehicle, changing it into a small buggy.
"What is this trickery, builder?!" Hellen slammed her morning stars down, roaring at the human. "Explain yourself!"
"Very-interesting! The-blueprint-was-merely-a-substructure-from-which-to-build-the-completed-vehicle." N04H walked around it, looking it over as the others consulted Lily. "Initial-scans-of-the-internal-components-indicate-a-fuel-cell-that-can-absorb-the-destructive-energy-of-the-gravitational-globules. The-fuel-cell-neutralises-this-energy-and-converts-it-into-propellant. It-is-quite-brilliant!"
"I underthtood none of that." Gremville held onto Arisplotle as he looked to N04H, frowning at the robot. "But, I gueth it thoundth amathing."
"I have never laid my eyes upon something so foul… does it have a name?" Hellen looked to Lily, slight concern in her voice.
"It'll drive and it looks like a buggy. So, I'll call it The Buggy Buggy."
"What in the- that is ridiculous!" Hellen gaped at Lily who was beaming with pride. "You're not very good at naming things… are you?"
Lily and Arisplotle slowly made their way back to the Haven, the Buggy Buggy was full of slimes and another badboon. The builder parked the buggy on its' landing strip, she tried her best to keep her smile as the monsters climbed out and ran off to look over the Ark. She slowly followed after Arisplotle, going to Hellen when one of the little blue slimes wiggled over to her. "You're our resident builder, are you? What's got you looking so goolum?"
Lily tried to hide her sigh as she explained to the slime that she was searching for Malroth, who was in fact the Master of Destruction. She looked away from the slime when it only laughed at her. "Serioozely? Don't make me laugh! It takes me forever to slop jiggling!"
The newest badboon came over, putting his large hand on the jiggling slime. "Even if it's true-oo-oo what you say, I've got no idea how you'd ever find Him. He co-oo-ould be anywhere…"
"Don't worry, Lily. That's one reason we're resgooing monsters! Someone out there will know something. I just pray we can find them before Goom's Day comes!" Arisplotle bounced onto Lily's shoulder and rubbed against her cheek.
"Lily, I think it's time for you to head to the Court of Chaos. The… Buggy… will get you there with relative ease. Once you arrive, you'll need to seek council with magistrate and ascertain the whereabouts of any nearby monsters who wish to join us. And perhaps he will be able to provide some clues as to what has become of your friend Malroth." Hellen put her hand on Lily's other shoulder, giving the builder a small shake. "You can do this, child. Go, I will watch over the Ark."
Lily and Arisplotle sped through the wasted land beyond the large gravitational globule, narrowly missing an arm the shot out next to them and destroyed some of the cliffs that was blocking their path. Lily stuck her arm out, her fingertips burning from the amount of destructive magic radiating off of the arm before it disappeared. "Lily! Look! Up there!" Lily looked up, seeing a building up on the cliffs on the other side of a clearing from them. "We're almost there!" Arisplotle bounced in his seat before pointing something else out. "Look, it's a tiny dracky!"
Lily spun the Buggy around, stopping next to the dracky who let out a screech at the large thing suddenly being next to him. "Hop in! I'm Lily and this is Arisplotle!"
The dracky quit crying long enough to slowly flap into the Buggy, sniffling as he spoke. "My name'sss Drackssson. I jussst came down to check on the sssituation, but I got ssso ssscared my wingsss turned to jelly. Now I can't get back to the Court of Chaosss."
"Sounds like someone else we know." Lily gave the dracky a playful wink as she grabbed him and pulled him in. "We're headed to the Court; we'll give you a lift!" The builder cranked and slammed the Buggy around, dodging the arm that was trying to destroy their path every few hundred feet. And if it wasn't the arm she was dodging, it was those stupid gravitational globules. Drackson and Arisplotle clung to each other, eyes wide as Lily drove through the mess of destruction. She turned to them when they finally got there, grinning at them. "That wasn't so bad."
"I'm gonna be buggy sssick…" Drackson turned and threw up what vile he could, luckily making it out of the buggy on time. "There'sss a ladder… the magissstrate isss very sssmart… he'll help usss…"
Lily plucked the Dracky up and tossed Arisplotle onto her shoulder as she made her way through the destroyed temple and down the ladder. She turned and looked at the magistrate that was watching them. "Magistrate, I'm-"
"You dare disturb my prayer? Know you not the name of Zebadee the Zealous?" The magistrate let out an offended gasp when Lily shook her head. "Would it surprise you to know that you are looking right at him? Yes, I am Zebadee – the mighty magistrate of the Children of Hargon." He waved his hand as if he were growing tired of his own introduction. "But now, you stand in the Court of Chaos. For what purpose have you come here, hated human?"
"My name is Lily, I come in search of monsters who wish to flee Doom's Day while searching for my friend."
"You're joking. We have nothing to fear from Doom's Day. Our only salvation is in destruction." There was a smile in the magistrates voice until he lifted his scepter and snarled at Lily. "Pray tell, why would a human risk life and limb to construct a rescue craft 'The Ark', you call it, to save the lives of monsters? I cannot allow such heresy to continue…"
"Your Honor!" Drackson tore from Lily's arms and flew up in front of her face, giving the magistrate a desperate look. "Forgive my rudenesss, but I don't want to be dessstroyed! I want to essscape on the Ark with missusss builder!"
"That word, 'builder'… ah yes, I remember now. The Court of Chaos was constructed here long ago by a builder just like yourself. We merely requisitioned it for our own purposes. When our Master bestowed His destruction upon this place… I sang in praise, but I felt something stir behind this altar…" He turned to Lily, the magenta orb on his mask glowed brightly for a moment before he stepped back, allowing Lily the option to go up. He looked away when she ran up and broke down the altar and the wall behind it.
"Blood? Really? Why can't it just be normal water?" Lily gagged at the foul smell of the blood as it flowed down the walls and pooled around the walkway. She started for the chests she saw when the magistrate grabbed her arm.
"You would so brazenly tear down these walls! You wretch!"
"What gives? You told me I could-"
"Well… yes… but you did it without a second thought, and this is a sacred-"
"I thought the Children grinned upon destruction?" Lily smirked when Zebadee growled and let her go. "That's what I thought." She opened all of the chests, collecting the items that were inside. She grinned when she saw a seed of life, popping it into her mouth as Zebadee watched her.
"I…" He shook his head, pondering the things he knew. "I cannot believe it… All this time, there was a storeroom in the Court of Chaos, filled with the relics of the builder who founded it… and behind the very altar in which I prayed, no less. It was never in my power to destroy it, you see."
Arisplotle let out a childish giggle as he started to go back to the altar room. "The Children of Hargoon are an intriguing bunch! Not only did a builder build their buildings, they can't even squish their own altar without a builders help! They goo on and on about creation this or destruction that, but without building they wouldn't be able to destroy a thing! And without destruction, builders couldn't create!"
Lily grabbed the scepter when Zebadee went to point it at Arisplotle. "Further discourtesy will not be tolerated, builder. This slime might think himself slippery enough to escape my wrath, but neither of you will escape the Master!"
Lily put her forehead to his, a snarl leaving her throat. "Not to brag, but Malroth is my closest friend, my other half. Make me angry and after I save him, I'll let him know how good you were to me."
Zebadee went slack and stared at Lily. "E-Excuse me? How do you know that name?"
"I just told you. He's my best friend and I need to find him. Do you know where he could be?"
"You have me entirely befuddled, builder! First the storeroom and now… the Master's name… and a close friendship with him." Zebadee focused on Lily, taking in her calm demeanor and the bland look on her face. "You are an interesting one, I will give you that… take myself and my apprentice Drackson to this Ark of yours so that I might witness your sinful work with my own eyes."
Arisplotle was halfway up the ladder when he looked back down at the others. "Oh! Are there any other monsters who would like to live? We could take them with us to the Ark!"
"Hm… the was a masked monster just below… a little to the North of here." Zebadee followed Lily and Arisplotle up the ladder and back to the Buggy. "What an interesting… thing- AHHHHHH!" The magistrate lashed out and clung to Lily as she drove the buggy off the edge of the cliff, taking the four of them down next to the masked monster. "WHAT IN THE MASTERS NAME WAS THAT FOR?!"
"I wasn't about to drive through that shit again." Lily pushed the magistrate off before whistling at the other monster. "Hey! You want a lift to safety?"
The monster turned and looked at the group, tilting his masked head. "Oi, wot're you 'angin' round 'ere fer? Ya ain't wiv the Children o' 'Argon, are ya?" He held up a small pouch, waving it at Lily. "Can you lot 'elp me out, real quick? I wanna make mincemeat o' this wall 'ere!"
Lily shrugged as she jumped out of the buggy, snatching the pouch from the monster and setting down one of the old bombs against the wall. "Ah, I love blowing up the walls!" She laughed and dove behind the monster, only to laugh more with the monster when the wall came tumbling down.
"He doesn't seem too concerned about our impending goom… does he?" Arisplotle watched as the monster ran into the cave they had just opened up as he climbed onto Lily's shoulders.
"Nah, but let's go see what he was after!" Lily ran in after the monster, ignoring Arisplotle's protests as she came skidding to a halt, her eyes wide as she stared at the pile of discarded teeth nearby. "Holy… shit…"
