The next section of the Ark was nearly complete, Lily was making a few more materials while Hellen and Zebadee were in the summoning chamber getting Lily what she needed to make the materials for the blueprint. Lily pulled back and wiped her brow, glad to be breaking a sweat while working. She was about to get back to it when the ground shook beneath her feet, causing her to fall back on her ass. Eyes wide, she looked up when Hellen and Zebadee ran out and stared at her. "That was a big one…"
"That tremor was an indication that our Master's strength grows ever greater." Hellen grumped as she easily pulled Lily up.
"He may only now be stirring from His long slumber, but His preparations for Doom's Day are already in full swing." Zebadee sounded like he was torn between fright and excitement. "I believe that once he is fully awoken, Doom's Day will truly be upon us."
"Lily, you're mates with the Master, right?" Griswold came up and stood next to the bell, leaning against one of the pillars that held it up. "Can you tell us what kind of bloke He is?"
Lily thought for a moment, a stupid grin spreading across her lips. She could tell them how hot-headed and destructive he was, or… "Well, one time, he wore a pumpkin on his head and danced with me. And he enjoys flexing his muscles with the half-naked miners of Khrumbul-Dun."
"We are not fools, Lily!" Hellen gasped and looked to the builder, the orb on her mask bright with her frustrations. "Surely the Master of Destruction would never partake in such silly pastimes!"
"Whatever you say, Hellen." Lily laughed, shrugging as she turned and went back to work at her bench. "Anyways, Doom's Day is getting closer by the minute, no time in gossiping now!"
Griswold and Gremville had approached Lily shortly after her teasing about Malroth and his pumpkin head, asking for a creepy conservatory and a gory grill house. She finished up the conservatory first, beaming when Griswold came in and dropped his lower jaw in awe. "Ya know, kid. I'm glad I didn't disconnect your noggin when we first met. I blame the sword in my hand, hold one of these things makes you wanna just… take a swing at someone!"
"Another monster like you nearly chopped my noggin off when I was a prisoner on his ship. You remind me of him." Lily gave a sad smile and rubbed her eyes. "I hadn't thought of captain in so long… I sure do miss him."
"Keh heh, heh! Why am I not surprised? It's in our nature to chop first, ask questions later. On behalf of animated skeletons everywhere, I apologize." Griswold patted Lily on the back, a laughter coming from him. "Also, thank you, kid. Without your help, I'd never have got to see those three numbskulls again. So, thanks. I'll do everything in my power to bring you and your mate the Master of Destruction together again. I owe you that much!"
Lily's lip quivered as she looked up at Griswold, she tried her best to hold back the sobs with her pitiful sniffles, but then she broke when he gave her a small hug. "OH GRIS!" She hugged him back and gave into the waterworks.
"You humans are a watery bunch, aren't you?"
Gremville fluttered by the last small room on the Ark, his nose wiggling when he smelled something absolutely disgusting. He burst through the doors, his little eyes going wide. "Oh, Lily! Thith ith abtholutely dithguthting! I love it!" He plopped onto Lily's shoulders, nuzzling against her cheek before giving her a curious look. "Ya know, I like you, Lily, but I thtill think you're a very thtrange creature… you just waltth into the unholy homeland of the Children of Hargon, the enemy of all builderth, and make yourthelf the thenter of attention by building thtuff…" He shrugged and dove into the smorgasbord of gore Lily had just set down. "And to top if all off, you thay the Mathter of Dethtruction ith your betht buddy!" He came up from the middle of the pile with a slimy steak in his teeth. "But don't you worry about Malroth, Lily. I'm thertain you'll thee your friend again thoon enough!"
"Thank you, Gremville." Lily patted his gore-covered head before going out to the belly, she looked down at her arms, seeing she was starting to get the wonderful glow. "Time to ring the bell." She purred as she pulled her hammer out and focused on the head of it, seeing the magic gather there before she swung and let it roll off in waves with each ring of the bell.
The large group of monsters all rushed to enjoy the magic rolling off the bell before a small cluster of more monsters came flying over. Lily whirled around, grinning at the new monsters. "Welcome to the Ark!"
"Caw! We heard this horrid noise and flew right over! What are you lot doing here?" The gargoyle in front cautiously flew into the Ark, looking around as he came in.
"I'm Lily, the resident builder! This is the Ark that's going to take us to safety-" Lily gasped when the gargoyle pushed her aside.
"Builder!? Ark?! Knock me down with a feather! We'd better destroy it! Stand back, I'll deal with you in a minute, pesky hu… man…" The gargoyle froze when he noticed the large group of monsters glaring at him. "Uhm…?"
"We don't acthept that thort of behavior on our Ark!" Gremville flew over, Arisplotle in his arms. "Not when conthtruction ith nearly complete! Why don't you join uth inthtead? Bethideth, our builder ith betht buddieth with the Mathter!"
The gargoyle went to snap at the gremlin and slime when he felt an energy gathering nearby, he glanced over and swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in his throat when he saw Lily glaring at him. "O-Of course! Caw! W-We'd love to! R-r-r-right boys?!" He gave a nervous chuckle as he instantly dropped his sword. "Quite a… a uh, feather in your hat there. Best buddies with the Master? Hah… right… we're joining up with you!"
Lily was leaning against the unholy altar some time later, listening to Hellen and Zebadee talk about how with each raise in her creative powers, Malroth's destructive ones grew as well. All to even each other out. "We must speak with Adamn about this." Zebadee put his hand to his mask as he thought. "He would be extremely interested in hearing this-"
"Hey! No thlacking!" Gremville dove into the room, glaring at the three. "I know you're the Children'th top brath and everything – and you're the Mathter'th betht buddy – but we're short-handed enough ath it ith. Thtop wathting time and thtart building!" He growled before ducking out of the room again.
"Lily! Warning! Warning! Lily! Something-is-coming! Fight-in-bound!" N04H ran by the altar room, luring the three bigwigs out of the room and into the main area. "Fight-imminent!"
"Alright, let's get ready! N04H, you gotta be careful this time, alright?" Lily patted the robot on the back, frowning up at him.
"My-nuts-may-be-rusty-but-I-will-fight-nonetheless!" The robot patted Lily on the head. "I-can-hear-the-scrap-heap-calling-my-serial-number. I-cannot-predict-if-I-will-remain-in-operational-capacity-after-this-battle. But-I-will-not-power-down-quietly!" The monsters around them roared in agreeance as they all ran out to the clearing in front of the Ark, readying themselves for the fight ahead.
The fight went quicker than Lily anticipated, but then again, she had nearly thirty monsters on her side now. "Man! Tell me why I ever fought monsters in the first place-"
"Probably becauthe we tried to dethtroy everything you were creating." Gremville grinned as he attacked a shadow monster near Lily.
Lily gave a shrug but nodded. "Yeah, that's very true." She laughed and dove back into the fray.
When the final monster appeared, it grinned down at Lily, a shadowy tongue running over his monster maw. "So, we meet again."
The builder stared up at the shadowy batmandrill that was grinning down at her. "Warwick…? But… how?"
"I did excellent work, High Priest Hargon approved of my tactics when I went against you." He slowly climbed down from the ledge, a loud hiss leaving his throat as he moved towards her.
Hellen and Zebadee grabbed what monsters they could, yanking them back as Lily trembled. "Her magic is spiking…" Hellen whispered, watching as magic gathered around the builder, rocks and vines getting whipped up in that very magic. "Back to the Ark with all you smaller monsters. We'll help her with this one!"
"Eek, eek, eek! The Master hasn't been happy with you, priestess! Helping out this… abomination!" Warwick cried out as he pounced, easily leaping over Lily and onto the priestess. He let out a shriek when Lily was suddenly next to him. "I'm not ready for you yet. I want you to watch as I destroy everything-" He took pause when he looked to her, her eyes were glowing, and the magic whipped her hair around her face.
The shadow form of Warwick turned to slam down on Lily when four arms appeared around them. He stopped and looked to them. "Damn you." He snarled and opened a portal just behind him. "Just you wait, builder! If you make it to the castle, He won't save you there!"
Hellen stared in awe as the four arms of Malroth slammed down where the shadowy batmandrill had just been, ripping and tearing the ground to shreds before disappearing. She spun around, watching as Lily's eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground. "Lily!" The priestess grabbed Lily and lightly began to pat the builders cheek, a worried noise leaving her when Lily began to stir. "You need to stop frightening me so, child."
"Hellen? What happened?" Lily whined as she sat up and rubbed her head.
"The arms, Master, He came, and He saved you from the last shadow fiend. Come, we need to finish the Ark." Hellen helped Lily up and back to the Ark.
"So, we gotta find these eyeblobs. Should be easy, right?" Arisplotle looked up at Lily who was driving the buggy through the torn-up lands.
"I hope so. Though, I have a sneaking suspicion that it might not be." Lily drove along, scoffing when arms starting ripping apart their path. "Yeah, that's what I thought. It's like he knows I need to get here. He's being a brat."
Arisplotle laughed at Lily, glad she was being so calm while the arms came close to hitting them until they reached an outcropping of land. "Is that more blood?"
Lily let out a whine and stomped her feet as she got out of the buggy. "Yes. Dammit, Malroth." She stomped up to the beast looking out into the lake of blood, pouting up at him. She had to stare for a moment because the monster was asleep and talking in his sleep. "Uhm… excuse me?"
"GRAAAAAGH! I've half a mind to blow up any fool who dares disturb my dreams of destruction! Know you not the name of Adamn the Abominable?" The archdemon roared when Lily simply shook her head. "Well now you know it, for I am he – Adamn, grand inquisitor of the Children of Hargon! Let the name ring long and loud in your ears like a mighty explosion!"
Adamn looked between slime and builder, giving them a curious look. "You two are certainly an unlikely pairing. What is a human girl doing all the way out here in the company of a metal slime?"
"I came to collect one of Malroth's disgusting eyeballs. And since you're Adamn, Zebadee and Hellen would like you to come back with us and talk to them."
"Wait, you know Hellen and Zebadee? Then… you did know my name?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to get you riled up." Lily shrugged when the monster glared at her.
"I see… then cast your gaze to that great red orb. What you seek is inside. I just hope you're a competent swimmer… and not too squeamish, girl." Adamn pointed his trident out to the lake of blood as he spoke, taking a moment to look back at Lily. "When you say… 'collect'… you do mean handle the Master's relics with the utmost respect, don't you?"
"Oh, hell no." Lily was already jumping into the lake when Adamn roared at her again. "I need to turn those puppies into materials!" She gagged on the thick blood when she resurfaced, grumping as she swam through it. "My hair is gonna be red by the time I'm done here."
Adamn was cursing and swinging his trident when Lily climbed back to him and Arisplotle. "How dare you?! You sword you would treat the Master's eyes with respect! I did not expect you to take a hammer to them!"
Lily gave Adamn a look before looking to Arisplotle. "Did I ever-?"
"Oooh, scary!" Arisplotle grinned at Lily. "You look gooross!"
"Wow. Thanks, bud." Lily crossed her arms, feeling the blood dripping all over and into areas she never knew she didn't want blood to drip, but now she knew. "Bloodbaths, I don't recommend it."
"By His own hand, the Lord of Destruction will rain punishment upon you for this infraction! For this… this heresy!" Adamn tossed his head back and cried out to the heavens.
Lily smirked as she cocked a hip and put her hand on it. "I certainly hope so. I'm a gluten for his punishments."
The two monsters eyed Lily, Arisplotle shook himself and turned to Adamn. "You should be quiet and listen for a change. You're one of the big splots in the Children of Hargoon, aren't you? Well, it just so happens that we're goo-operating with your friends, Hellen and Zebadee, as we mentioned earlier. You should come with us."
"Very well, I will return with you. As we travel, you will confess to me all that you have done – or I will blow you up myself! Is that your… ride over there?"
"This is the Ark you told me about on the way over? I was expecting a wooden ship, not this mechanical monstrosity!" Adamn climbed out of the buggy, not seeing Lily wince when the little vehicle cried and bounced from the relief of the archdemons weight no longer bringing it down.
"Well met, Adamn!" Hellen ran up, waving to the much larger monster.
"Ah, our builders silver tongue has won even you over!" Zebadee laughed as he patted Lily on the head. He stopped when he noticed she was… red. "Lily, what in the hell are you covered in?"
"Is that blood?" Hellen gaped as the girl threw her arms up and walked away from them. "Oh, my…"
Lily let the three gaggle as she set the new 'relics' on the forbidden altars, letting them being broken down to create materials before going to a small room in the back she had made for herself and taking out her bottomless pot. "Please, oh please have water." She whimpered as she tipped it some, letting the liquid fall out. "Sea water works!" She cried out and dumped it over herself.
"Lily! Oh, Lily! Adamn is telling us about the castle!" Arisplotle squeezed under the door, gasping when he spread out through the pooled water. "Uhm… Lily?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Arisplotle. I wanted to clean up a little." Lily gathered the slime up and looked around, making sure she didn't miss any of him before going back out to the others as Adamn told them about the three beings that kept the barrier up. "Flying, huh?" She looked to the buggy and put her hand to her mouth as she tried to think of how to upgrade it.
"Lily! High-levels-of-power-detected!" N04H hustled over to Lily, giving her a little shake. "Builder-is-covered-in-blood? Never-mind-that. Use-those-spheres-to-upgrade-buggy-and-fuel-the-Ark's-propulsion-drives!" The robot lifted his arm and shot off a few crossbow bolts out of joy.
"Say… That's a mighty fine weapon you've got there, N04H. I could do with something like that…" Griswold came up, grabbing the robots crossbow arm and looking it over.
"This-old-thing? The-model-has-ceased-production-but-it-was-top-of-the-range-in-its-day. It-still-packs-quite-a-punch!"
"Oh boy." Gremville groaned as he flew over and grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her towards the Ark. "Come on, Lily. Onthe the old rutht bucket getth to going, he never thtopth. Hith batterieth might run out before hith taleth do."
As if on cue, N04H shot up and spun around, a robotic laughing noise leaving him. "Commencing-interminable-ramble-mode! I-remember-when-" N04H followed after Lily and Gremville, ignoring the gremlins groans. "Program-interrupted! Ark-progress-report-compiled! Ark-has-exceeded-a-completion-percentage-of-ninety-percent. We-are-currently-well-on-schedule. Current-data-points-to-projected-completion-date-is-BZZZT!?" The robot stuttered and came to a halt as his upper half twitched and spun around.
Lily pulled her hand free of Gremville as she looked to N04H. "N04H? Are you alright?" She cried out when the ground shook worse than the last time, her eyes wide as she fell against the robot. "Shit!" She let out a loud whistle and did a head count as the monsters came rushing into the main room of the Ark. "We're all here?"
"It would seem the Master has grown even stronger, Lily." Zebadee shook his head and huffed. "He'll be waking soon; we have to get the Ark up and ready as soon as possible."
Lily frowned as she looked around. She crossed her arms as she plopped down in the middle of the room. Arisplotle bounced over and looked up at her. "What's up, Lily? You look like you've got the blooze. Are you worried about Malroth?"
"No, we might have a small problem…" Lily chewed on her lip as she looked to where the cockpit was being built.
"Bleep! Something-very-important-has-just-occurred-to-me!" N04H shuffled over to Lily and lowering himself down to her level. "When-the-Ark-is-finished… who-will-operate-it? I-am-not-pre-programmed-with-piloting-protocols…"
Lily pointed to the robot, frowning more at Arisplotle. "And bingo was his name-o."
"My-name-was-never-bingo."
The other monsters seemed to begin to sweat at this thought. If N04H wasn't programmed to fly this thing, who could? Adman let out a roar of laughter and shook his head. "Looks like little miss builder has come across a problem that could blow our plans out of the water! Without a capable captain, this Ark is nothing more than a very fancy coffin." He grinned down at her, the look turning to a sneer. "But I know just the monster who might be able to steer this vessel to safety."
"Who?" Lily jumped up, eyes wide with wonder. She would find this monster and convince him, no matter the costs.
"He captains a strange ship that has run aground in a world between worlds. Monsters who've met him say he is inexplicably… weird…" Adamn shrugged as if he grew bored of being helpful already. "There is, however, one problem. The world between worlds is cut off from Malhalla by a lightless void, where a wayward soul might lose their way and stumble to their doom…"
"I bet if we put our noogins together, we could find a way to reach this curiooze captain!" Arisplotle jumped around excitedly. "C'mon, Lily! Let's goo and chew the splat with the others! Someone will know what to do!"
After digging through everyone's thoughts on the idea, Lily was busy working on a new and improved garage for the buggy so she could do upgrades on the buggy. She was so into her work that she hadn't noticed the monsters that gathered around her to watch what she was doing. Hellen leaned back and watched, a smug chuckle leaving her as Zebadee and Adamn watched with renewed interest as Lily started throwing magic around like it was nothing. "How does she intend…" Adamn rumbled, his eyes barely able to keep up with Lily's quick movements around the buggy.
Lily popped up from somewhere, grinning at her monstrous friends as she put a hand up and snapped her fingers. Magic erupted from the buggy and once it calmed down, the vehicle looked completely different. Now it had big red headlights and gold along with the silver on the body. "All done!"
"Blasphemy!" Zebadee gasped and threw up his scepter, pointing it at Lily.
Hellen reached over and put her hand on the scepter. "Now, now, Zebadee. Let the girl have her fun."
"You did a bang-up job there, kid! Now you can go through that thick void with ease!" Griswold patted Lily on the head, laughing as the builder beamed with pride.
Adamn roared in laughter, slapping his belly as he bellowed. "Go on, builder! Go find this captain! But be weary, he is certainly curious beyond compare!"
