CHAPTER 84: TROUBLE WITH TINKERERS

Ka’Lula bursts into the cottage like a thunderbolt wrapped in a towel as she cradles an unconscious Penelo in her arms.

The team blinks in unison, half-asleep across the living room, as Ka’Lula huffs and lays Penelo onto the couch.

"She fainted again," Lula huffs. "Right after she said she wouldn’t faint."

Sera giggles. "Did she look directly at Pip’ glow?"

Lula shakes her head. "She did touch it though."

"She’ll be out for an hour," Vuvi grunts before curling back under her blanket. "Minimum."

"Poor bunny," Lula pouts while watching Penelo snore peacefully.

But outside, the real action begins.

As soon was Ka’Lula is out of sight, the forest rustles.

From the bushes, Mysa emerges, half-dressed, her blouse hanging loosely off her shoulders, the moonlight illuminating her curves like an art exhibit with very questionable morals.

Her eyes burn with singular purpose as she saunters into the clearing like a cat who finally caught the mouse... only this mouse happens to be Pip, bathing peacefully beneath the forest’s magical waterfall.

Raenly watches from the safety of a bush, his bizarre binoculars strapped to his face and one hand deep in his magic pouch while the other holds a pastry.

"Mysa... good luck," he whispers through crumbs.

Pip hears her soft steps and spins around, letting out a loud, nervous beep.

Mysa raises one finger to her lips. "Shhh... it’s just me."

The beep fades into a worried chirp as Pip rises from the water. Steam curls around him as his golden chassis gleams.

Mysa’s gaze intensifies. She lets the blouse drop from her shoulders, baring her smooth, feline form to the world with zero shame.

Her tail flicks with anticipation.

Raenly nearly chokes on his scone.

Pip beeps again, nervously scanning the surroundings, but Mysa’s already slipping into the water, approaching like a predator made of soft skin and silky hips.

Her fingers graze his chestplate.

"I just want to finish what we started," she whispers.

Pip fidgets, beeping uneasily as Mysa eases him back onto the pool’s edge. He sits like a statue made of stress and wires while she kneels between his legs, one hand sliding up his thigh.

His pelvic port glows softly in response.

"Just a taste," she purrs. "Please?"

Pip shakes his head rapidly.

But Mysa gently runs her fingers across the port, and with a ping and a gentle hiss, it opens.

Mysa gasps and covers her mouth in awe as divine golden light bathes her face. "Oh my goddess..."

She licks her lips. "Hello, holy relic."

Just as she lowers her gaping mouth toward Pip, a sudden clank and whirring hiss makes her jump.

Pip’s body jerks. His eyes dim. His limbs go limp.

"What—?" Mysa blinks.

Raenly drops down beside them, panting.

"Wow," he grins. "I can’t believe that worked."

"What did you do!?" Mysa shrieks, covering her chest with both arms and glaring.

"I activated a power-disruptor," he says proudly, holding up a sparkling magical disc. "It’ll only last a few minutes, his core is too divine to suppress for long. But it’s enough."

"For what?!"

"To finally look inside him!" Raenly claps, pulling a massive tool kit from his pouch. "Hold him steady, I need to see the core crystal."

"I was using him, you jerk!"

"I’m using him too! Just... differently."

He pries open Pip’s chestplate with a magical screwdriver. Gears click. Plates shift.

With a final twist, the core chamber hisses open.

A pulsing orb of divine energy glows within, sending flickers of light across the forest floor.

Raenly gasps. "It’s... it’s beautiful..."

"BACK AWAY FROM THE CONSTRUCT."

The new voice rumbles like thunder.

Both Mysa and Raenly jerk their heads up to see a squad of demonic mercenaries step from the shadows, clad in crimson armor and bearing enchanted weapons.

Mysa squeaks and scrambles behind Pip’s torso, still glistening and very, very nude.

"HEY! I was here first!"

The mercs chuckle. "We’d love to play with you, kitten," one sneers. "But we’re under strict orders. Our liege wants the golden construct. Now!"

Black tendrils burst from the ground, Mysa and Raenly scream as they’re yanked into the air, limbs bound and mouths gagged.

The mercs close in on Pip.

"Bag him and go—"

WHOOSH.

A gust of hellish wind tears through the forest.

Then...

SHING.

Two heads hit the ground.

The mercs freeze. One of them lets out a startled shout before his body exploded into golden sparkles.

"W-what the—"

THWIP.THWIP.

Two more mercs are suddenly cocooned in shimmering spider thread, hoisted into the trees like panicked piñatas.

The final merc stumbles back, falling to his knees. "Mercy! Please!"

A portal rips open in front of him.

Bilorial steps out, elegant in tailored suit, his sword already pressed to the merc’s throat. Behind him strolls the ethereal angel, Mika, her wings glowing in the moonlight, and the arachna-kin woman, Rana, cloaked in shadow.

Bilorial sighs. "We only killed your friends to make a point. I hope you understand."

The merc nods rapidly.

"Go tell your liege," Bilorial says coldly. "Pip is not hers to claim. If she wants him, she’ll have to fight more than just adventurers and golems. She’ll face us."

The merc whimpers. "Syraleth... won’t stop."

"She will," Bilorial growls, "when she’s dust."

The merc vanishes through a portal, trailing curses and threats.

Bilorial turns back to Pip. "Let’s see how you’re—"

"Oi!" Raenly grins, still upside-down and somehow fiddling with Pip’s open chest. "You’re just in time! I need help identifying this—"

WHACK!

Bilorial slaps his hands away with a cane. "You incorrigible worm."

"Hey! I’m being scholarly!"

"You were tampering with a divine construct!"

"I was researching!"

Bilorial sighs and lifts Raenly into the air with a finger flick. "One more time, and I’ll have your hands replaced with ladles."

"I would make excellent soup," Raenly mumbles.

He’s set down gentlymmediately, he opens his notebook and begins scribbling notes as Bilorial kneels beside Pip.

They glance into the core chamber like two obsessed scholars at a rare exhibit.

"Look at that crystalline fractal," Raenly breathes.

"Is that a floating glyph matrix?" Bilorial murmurs.

"His soul is encoded."

"Of course it is, you dolt. He’s practically a god."

They chuckle together like two schoolboys dissecting a frog.

A moment passes.

Then...

Mysa, still naked and still damp, storms up to them with all the fury of a thunderstorm trapped in a teacup.

"Excuse me," she huffs. "When you’re done nerding out, I would like my moment with Pip."

Raenly gasps. "You’re still naked!"

"And furious!" she snaps.

Bilorial sighs and rubs his temples. "By all the screaming pits of Zarneth..."

She pouts. "Come on... I’ve been waiting weeks."

He groans and waves a hand. "Fine. You deserve a taste as much as anyone."

Mysa squeals.

Raenly turns to Bilorial, aghast. "You’re enabling her."

"You’re one to talk," Bilorial mutters.

The Rana, the arachna-kin giggles from the treetops. "This group gets weirder every day."

The Mika, the angel sighs. "Kinda like ’em."

Bilorial rises, brushing dust off his coat.

"Finish up and let the boy reboot, we’ll have to finish our inspections another time."

The trio step back into the portal, vanishing with a swirl of divine mist, leaving behind one rebooting Pip, one purring Mysa, and one dramatically weeping Raenly.

"Just hurry up." he whines. "This trip has been traumazing enough."

Mysa flicks her tail at him. "I’ve waited weeks for this. Let me savour it."

Pip lets out a faint boot-up chime, his eyes flickering.

Raenly darts into the tree line.

Mysa claps her hands and bounces in place. "Yay!"

She leans in close, whispering into his ear.

"Now. Where were we?"