Adrian arrived at the scene with his characteristic swiftness, moving like a whirlwind as he gathered every electronic and metallic object he could find in his path. With almost superhuman skill, he began assembling two improvised machines: one to monitor Larot's body condition and another to administer the cure. His hands moved with surgical precision, adjusting wires and soldering components with small bursts of energy that emanated from his fingertips.
Meanwhile, inside Larot's mind, the situation was becoming critical.
"Too many! I can't hold on any longer!" Leila shouted, her telekinetic field beginning to fade. Her breathing was ragged, and beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she struggled to maintain the protective shield around Lingo.
"Stay calm! I'm coming!" Aragon responded, unleashing golden AURA blasts against the endless copies of Larot that kept emerging without pause. Every time he defeated one, another rose from the shadows, as if fueled by the very darkness of the place.
"These things never end!" growled the brown knight, his voice heavy with frustration as he blocked another attack with his energy-covered arm.
At that moment, Azulema called Adrian again. Her voice rang out urgently through his communication device.
"You need to hurry. I see my little one is about to run out of energy. If you don't save her, there won't be a date," Azulema said, using her most persuasive tone to pressure him.
"I'm working as fast as I can, Azu!" Adrian replied, using the affectionate nickname that usually annoyed Azulema. "Well, I hope so. Hurry up; there isn't much time left," she shot back before abruptly cutting off the connection.
Adrian sighed, glancing toward where the young woman stood alongside the two knights.
"I'm going to lose the date of a lifetime—the one I've waited so long for with Azu!" he muttered to himself, clearly anxious. "I need to find a way."
He had injected the first dose of the cure, but it hadn't worked at all. When he doubled the dose, the virus was neutralized only briefly before returning stronger than ever.
"What can I do?" he wondered, feeling the weight of responsibility pressing harder on his shoulders.
Just then, a familiar voice interrupted him.
"Sir! I followed you quickly once I realized it was you, thanks to the location nanobots you gave me," said Rafael, who had already arrived with Akira, Megumi, and the others.
"I'm busy; I can't deal with you right now. If I don't hurry, I won't have my date," Adrian murmured, momentarily ignoring the group.
"It's me, sir! It's Rafael!" the young man insisted, stepping forward with determination.
"Rafael, I'm busy; I can't attend you," Adrian replied without lifting his gaze from his work.
"You said Rafael! Good thing you're here! I need your help to figure this out. Support me, yes!" Adrian commanded, his tone shifting from frustrated to authoritative.
"Of course! Absolutely, sir! Always at your service!" Rafael responded enthusiastically, though he couldn't help but notice Akira's mocking glance from behind.
"Kiss-ass!" Akira muttered quietly enough that Rafael didn't hear it directly, but the monitoring nanobots picked up the comment.
"What did you say, brat?" Rafael asked, turning toward Akira with a piercing glare.
"No, nothing!" Akira quickly replied, hiding behind Megumi, who shot him an exasperated look.
"Focus, Rafael!" Adrian ordered, shaking his head to clear it of distractions.
"At once, boss," Rafael responded, refocusing on the task at hand.
"I need to find the cure, or I won't have my date," Adrian muttered nervously, frantically scanning the data on his holographic screens.
"Sir, it's fine! Just support me, kid; we don't have much time," Adrian urged, addressing Rafael with urgency.
"Yes, sir!" Rafael responded, nodding firmly.
The two began disassembling everything they could see around them, even taking equipment from the lab through the opening Tron had created earlier.
"No, this isn't it! Neither is this! It doesn't solve the problem!" Adrian exclaimed in frustration, discarding piece after piece.
"Tron! Keep probing the individual," he commanded.
"Understood, sir!" the robot replied, carefully analyzing Larot.
"No, sir! The virus refuses to leave him," Tron reported after a moment.
"Damn it!" Adrian shouted, slamming a nearby table in frustration. His anxiety spiked when Azulema called again to remind him that if he didn't hurry, there would be no date.
Meanwhile, Leila continued battling the hordes of Larot clones. Though these copies weren't as strong as the original, their persistence made them extremely annoying. Every time she eliminated one, another emerged from the shadows, forcing her to stay constantly on guard.
"Watch out! More are coming!" Leila yelled as she unleashed telekinetic bursts against the advancing clones.
Aragon, enveloped in a golden AURA halo, released an explosive flash that disintegrated several nearby clones. Without wasting a moment, he rushed to Leila's side to form a protective barrier around her and Lingo.
In Leila's lap, Lingo trembled with fear, clutching her clothes desperately. "Don't let go! Please don't leave me!" he pleaded, almost in tears.
"Calm down," Leila responded in a soothing voice, though her hands trembled slightly. "I still have enough power to protect us."
"Hurry up, guys," Leila thought to herself. She knew that if they didn't find the cure soon, her telekinetic shield might collapse at any moment.
In the makeshift lab, Adrian and Rafael worked frantically, tweaking formulas and mixing substances in search of an effective solution.
"What if we try adding this, boss?" Rafael suggested, pouring a glowing liquid into the main mixture.
As they experimented, they didn't even notice they were being observed from above. Creg had sent drones to monitor the situation, capturing every detail of the chaos unfolding below.
"You're recording everything, right?" Melisa asked Greg, who was controlling the drones from his portable device.
Professor Kile, watching the footage on a holographic screen, frowned. "That isn't… Is that scientist Ronald Borges?" He looked closer. "Yes, it's him. Or someone very similar."
"Who is that?" Choy asked, pointing at the holographic screen with genuine confusion. His brow was slightly furrowed, as if trying to recognize the man in the image. "Is he someone famous?"
"Famous, boy? He's extremely well-known!" the professor exclaimed enthusiastically. "He's a scholar, one of the best in his field of technology and science. Ever since his reports came out, I've always wanted to meet him, but he was always busy with his projects. Now I see why."
"If he's with those people, he must be part of their group. He surely has some kind of power," Melisa speculated, crossing her arms.
"Let's not jump to conclusions so quickly," Michele interrupted, ever cautious.
"It's true," Philip and Ian added in unison.
"But that guy… wasn't he the same knight wearing that dark armor who fought alongside the dog against Guardian Urion?" Greg remarked, adjusting the image on his screen.
"The drone isn't capturing the image very well," Greg commented, trying to focus it better.
"Maybe it's time we went down and see the situation for ourselves," Melisa proposed decisively. "Let's head down to check it out. Besides, if anything goes wrong, they'll protect us."
Without waiting for a response, Melisa secured a rope and began descending rapidly. Creg, always ready to match her pace, followed closely behind. The others exchanged uncertain glances.
Professor Kile, thrilled at the prospect of meeting one of his idols, also decided to descend. "I can't miss this opportunity," he muttered to himself.
Philip joined the group, though reluctantly. "If something happens to the professor, I'll miss my recommendations or something like that," he grumbled.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Ian shrugged. "Well, whatever. I've been in worse places, though it's pretty cold down there."
Michele and Choy looked at each other. Finally, Choy sighed. "Oh well," he said before starting his descent.
Michele was the last to go down, doing so with evident nervousness. "Well, I just hope I come out unscathed," she muttered repeatedly as she slowly descended.
In the lab, a sudden alarm blared through the air.
"Intruders detected! Activating Alpha Protocol!" announced a robotic voice.
Maos appeared on a floating screen, his expression impassive. "I see many have arrived," he said, addressing Zeus.
"Then give them a proper welcome," Zeus replied coldly.
"As you command, sir," Maos responded before activating a series of additional combat robots.
The newcomers barely had time to prepare as the robots began moving toward them, ready to attack.
Down below, Melisa and her team stealthily entered through the hole Tron had left after piercing the wall. The atmosphere was tense, charged with a mix of curiosity and alertness. However, the fleeting calm was abruptly interrupted when a shrill alarm echoed throughout the area.
Suddenly, an army of robots emerged from the walls, moving with mechanical precision toward them. Their eyes glowed with a menacing red gleam, and their metallic footsteps resounded like war drums.
"We'd better stay here," Creg said, placing a firm hand on Melisa's shoulder to stop her. His tone was low but urgent, as if he feared even a whisper might alert the robots.
Melisa nodded slightly, though her gaze remained fixed on the robots advancing toward the improvised lab where Adrian and Rafael were working frantically.
Inside the lab, Rafael noticed the intruders' approach and quickly took action. "Protect Mr. Adrian!" he ordered the others, giving Akira a stern gesture. "And you, boy, do your best if you want your punishment for insolence to be light."
Akira swallowed hard, visibly nervous, but nodded with forced determination. "Yeah... Whatever you say," he muttered, adjusting his defensive stance.
Megumi, Amaya, Mukio, and Adora quickly formed a circular perimeter around Adrian and Rafael, creating a human (and in some cases, superhuman) barrier to shield them from the imminent threat.
Megumi moved the earth with her magic in one fluid motion, her expression serious and focused. "I won't let anyone through," she declared firmly, her voice brimming with confidence.
Amaya, on the other hand, extended her arms, and small rubber worms began to materialize between her hands. "If these tin cans want a fight, they're going to get one," she murmured with a defiant smile.
Mukio, always silent when it came to fighting, simply crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't need words to show he was ready to face anything.
Adora raised her fists, prepared for battle. "Time to smash some scrap metal," she announced, her voice calm but resolute.
Akira switched the robotic suit's hands for a pair of cannons, aiming at the approaching robots. "I'm not going to be the first to fall," he muttered to himself, trying to convince himself that he could do this.
The robots didn't take long to reach the defensive perimeter. With coordinated movements, they began launching laser attacks and projectiles from their mechanical limbs.
"Here they come!" Megumi shouted, blocking an incoming attack with a large chunk of earth before hurling it at the nearest robot with a battle cry.
Amaya launched her rubber worms, which exploded on impact against a group of robots, sending them crashing to the ground in pieces. However, more units emerged from the shadows to replace them.
Mukio, without uttering a word, allowed the robots to shoot and strike him, absorbing their energy. Then, with a single powerful blow, he knocked down several robots at once. His power was nothing short of impressive.
Adora adjusted her fists, smashing the robots with increasing force. Small cracks began to appear on their surfaces. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," she admitted, her voice tinged with frustration.
From the center of the circle, Adrian continued working tirelessly, ignoring the surrounding chaos. "Rafael, I need five more minutes!" he shouted, adjusting a valve on his improvised machine.
"Five minutes is all we've got, boss!" Rafael responded, throwing an explosive device at a group of robots attempting to surround them. The explosion briefly illuminated the area, but more machines kept coming.
Akira, feeling the pressure, finally fired his weapon at one of the nearest robots. The projectile struck its head directly, deactivating it instantly. "I did it!" he exclaimed, surprised at himself. However, his joy was short-lived as three more robots took the place of the one he had just defeated.
"Focus, kid!" Rafael shouted at him while fending off enemy attacks. "Don't get distracted!"
Akira clenched his teeth tightly, his trembling but determined hands gripping his technological gun. He repeatedly fired at the advancing robots, each projectile hitting its target with precision. Though he wasn't the strongest or most experienced member of the group, his determination began to shine through his nervousness. Every time a robot fell, he felt a small spark of confidence growing within him.
"I'm not going to be the weak link here!" Akira muttered to himself, though his voice was barely a whisper amidst the metallic clamor of battle.
At that moment, Megumi, the earth mage, intervened with lethal elegance. With a fluid motion, she extended both hands toward the ground and channeled her magical power. Massive rocks emerged from the terrain as if they had a life of their own, briefly hovering in the air before being launched like swift projectiles. The stones obliterated several robots within seconds, sending metallic fragments flying in all directions with a deafening roar.
"You keep working!" Megumi shouted toward Rafael and Adrian, her voice firm and authoritative as she maintained her defensive stance. Her connection to the earth was undeniable; every gesture seemed to resonate with her surroundings, as if nature itself responded to her will.
Akira, inspired by Megumi's bravery, found even more courage. He pulled out several additional weapons from his suit, revealing a small but impressive collection of improvised devices. "That's right, they're just machines... I won't show them any mercy!" he exclaimed, his tone now charged with renewed confidence.
Rafael, ever vigilant in protecting Adrian, raised a metal wall in front of them using his ability to manipulate materials. The shield shimmered momentarily under the flickering lights of the lab, blocking a laser attack that would have struck the scientific equipment directly.
Megumi, complementing Rafael's efforts, summoned another wall, this one made entirely of compacted earth. The ground trembled slightly as massive blocks rose from the surface, forming a solid barrier that covered any gaps in the defense. The robots attempting to advance were abruptly halted, unable to penetrate the natural resilience of the terrain.
Once again, the five realigned themselves around the scientific team.
"It's time to finish off these stupid machines!" Adora exclaimed, her voice ringing out with a mix of determination and enthusiasm.