Before the four heroes is the evil The Evil Ernold Jerganstein and his robot army. There are about a dozen worker bots, a good ten killer bots and one very large, very pissed off looking evil cyborg platypus with machine guns for arms.

Gremliminator: How did we not notice the platypus?
Torturess: He only just walked into the light… or maybe he was invisible.
Gremliminator: Invisible cyborgs. Frightening thought.
Sapphire Zephyr: Invisible cyborgs with machine gun arms
Naninami: That’s bad, right.
Gremliminator: I thought those were just part of being a cyborg. Like how suits of powered armor just have rockets in them by defau OH WAIT.
The Evil Ernold Jerganstein: Greetings, I do not believe we have met. I am Dr. What? and you are the filthy mammals buggering around my new lab.
Gremliminator blinks: I haven’t been buggering in here. You’re one to talk anyway, after what we found upstairs.
Sapphire Zephyr: Just blowing up robots.
Naninami: Who are you calling filthy?
Dr. What?: Well not you, my treasure. Kindly get back in your trunk so I can cart you to my old, more secure lab.
Naninami: I don’t think so.
Dr. What?: But I do. Oh, and the rest of you can die. That would suit me best. Especially you, Sapphire Zephyr. Please die. It would be a relief.
Sapphire Zephyr: Hwe~h?! I don’t wanna die…
Evil Cyborg Platypus: Squee!
Dr. What?: Not now, Timmy. We are going back the way we came. Leave the killings to the minions.

Gremliminator resists the urge to point out that he’s a moron. It’s hard, though.

Dr. What?: I was hoping to use the self destruct mechanism on the old lab, but it looks like we’ll be using it on the new one instead. Oh well, expensive lesson.

Dr. What? pulls out a control device from his doctor’s coat. It has a big red button on it.

Timmy: Squee!
Dr. What?: No, I get to push the button! Don’t be selfish, Timmy!
Gremliminator: Who’s most selfish? The one who asks to press the button, or the one who refuses to let him?
Naninami: Why do you want to push that button anyways?
Gremliminator: It does look like a pretty sweet button, kid. I gotta give them that much.
Naninami: But self-destruct, doesn’t that mean he’s blowing himself up?
Sapphire Zephyr: Actually, it’s to blow up the base, not just himself.
Dr. What?: Obviously my thinking is far above all of you. Regardless, your time is up. Robots, kill them all. Bring back a piece of the small one for her genetic information. The rest you can just leave there.
Gremliminator: Nah, villains don’t have the balls to blow themselves up. That’s usually why they’re villains.

Dr. What? pushes the button.

Announcer (who sounds like Dr. What?): Evacuate now. 5 minutes are remaining until the base self destructs.
Gremliminator: I’ve always said it. Putting punctuation in your name is the sign of an unbalanced mind.

Dr. What? turns and leaves, followed by two bots and the platypus. Leaving 8 killer bots and 12 worker bots…

Sapphire Zephyr: Eight of the big ones and 12 little ones… in five minutes? Lovely.
Gremliminator: Not to harp on it or anything, but rockets would be handy right about now.
Torturess: So would a working escape route.
Gremliminator: Hey, maybe Iron Maiden will wake up before we’re all killed and come help us.
Sapphire Zephyr: Or maybe she’ll get us an escape route, that’d be equally awesome.
Gremliminator: That’s what I meant. These robots should be easy-peasy.
Uno: Shut up, UGLY! I’m in charge here. We’re going to get them on the count of 1.

Right after Uno says that, a grenade drops underneath him.

Uno: Ugly.

BOOOM! It frags all of the workers.

Sapphire Zephyr: Well, that was easy.
Gremliminator: As pie. Told ya. You guys got the ones with sword arms, right?

The 9 killer bots look perturbed.

Uno: Oh, you’re going to pay for that uglies.
Naninami: Let’s see how you look with a new dent. tries to kick Uno (7 which should hit)

Naninami moves forward and pummels Uno in his armored chest piece, causing the right side of his armor to fall off.

Uno: Oh, UGLY! You will pay for that!
Gremliminator: Huh. The squirt’s not half bad.
Sapphire Zephyr: That sure looks like it’d hurt.

Uno counterattacks, punching at Naninami with his bladed arm. Naninami catches the arm! Robot 5 moves around to flank Nani. He attacks, but she is too quick. Robot 4 shoots a bladed missile at Nani. The blade whizzes by her left shoulder. Robot 9 fires a bladed missile directly at Torturess, striking her in the shoulder blade. Robot 8 skirts around the battle and rushes SZ. Robot 8’s attack is dodged by SZ, who barely dodges away from its deadly bladed arm. Robot 11 fires a bladed missile at Gremliminator, but it goes wide and sticks into a box behind him.

Sapphire Zephyr slashes up the one that attacked her, Robot 8. She sends him staggering back. Gremliminator attempts to shoot Robot 8, but the shot hits the ground to the side of him. Torturess moves up to help Nani by taking Robot 5 off her flank. Her whip crackles as it strikes #5. Robot 10 moves in to defend 8, attacking SZ. 10 misses, but managed to get in the way. 7 attacks Nani from her other flank! 6 attacks Torturess. Torturess is hit again, this time in the side.

Torturess: I’m not liking these odds, Grem!
Gremliminator: I know it could be more fair to the robots, but they need to take what they can get.

Naninami: Slams Uno into Robot 7 Hyah!

Uno is shut down, but not destroyed. Robot 5 is rolling after the electric whip incident. Robot 4 shoots another blade at Nani. The blade misses and sticks into the ground. Robot 9 moves down and around and attacks Gremliminator. Gremliminator steps out of the way of the attack. Robot 8 is stunned below SZ’s feet. Robot 11 fires a blade at SZ. The blade bounces off, but the impact hurts her arm for 4 damage. Sapphire Zephyr slashes at the one that got in the way (I think it was 10). Robot 9 is tangled up in Gremliminator’s cape! Sapphire Zephyr attacks Robot 10, but it is too fast, and it steps out of the way to counterattack.

Gremliminator: Hrm, and now it occurs to me that basically trying a homicidal robot to myself might not be the best idea.

Torturess slashes at Robot 5 again, sending it tumbling, stunned. Robot 10 attacks SZ, raking its blade at her! Robot 7 attacks Nani from her left side. Robot 6 attacks T. Nani dodges the attack, jumping over the downed Uno.Torturess follows, standing side by side with the girl. Robot 10’s attack is deflected off SZ’s armor. Uno is in front of her, shutdown. 4 is nearby, previously having fired missiles at her. Robot 7 is chasing her as well.

Announcer: 4 minutes and 30 seconds remain before the base is melted with thermite. Please evacuate… or don’t.

Gremliminator: Oh, thermite. That’s, uh… we should go.
Naninami: Never knew robots would be so eager to get melted.

Naninami kicks at 4. Robot 4 is knocked to the ground, staggered.

Sapphire Zephyr: I’m certainly not a fan of being melted by thermite.

Robot 9 struggles to break free! He fails to escape the cape, however. Robot 8 attacks Sapphire, but she puts Robot 10 in the way, causing his attack to be for naught. Robot 11 fires a bladed missile at Sapphire! The blade bounces off her armor, harmlessly. She returns fire, slashing Robot 10 across the chest. Robot 10 starts shorting, stunned.

Gremliminator holds Robot 9 with his cape, and then zaps him with his tazer. He rattles as electricity shorts his wiring. Torturess finishes off Robot 5 by wrapping her whip around its neck and tearing it off. Robot 5 explodes! He takes Uno with him and catches Robot 6 in the blast too!

Naninami: Wow!

Nani watches as Robot 6 attacks Torturess, but the blast caught him off balance, and his attack misses. She surveys the situation. Robot 4 is in combat with her, as is 7. Robot 6 is nearby attacking T. The rest are near SZ. Robot 4 is fairly weakened. Naninami kicks Robot 4, and smashes it a second time while it’s down. Robot 4 goes into shutdown mode.

Gremliminator tries to hold Robot 9, but it manages to escape the grasp of his cape. Nearby, Robot 8 attacks SZ, but the blade deflects off her gauntlet. However, Robot 11 takes the chance to move in and attack SZ with its arm blade! The blade barely nicks her armor, and is deflected. However, now there are 3 circling SZ.

Robot 8 (injured) and Robot 11 (not) and Robot 10 (injured) circle her. Sapphire Zephyr slashes at 10 again, but misses. Gremliminator attempts to ensare Robot 9 with his cape again, but Robot 9 dodges the attack and advances on Gremliminator. Torturess senses her boss in trouble and leaps over the robots, and her whip wraps around 9’s leg, shocking him. 9 goes into shutdown mode!

Robot 10 takes his turn on Sapphire Zephyr. The blade causes sparks on her armor! Robot 7 slashes at Nani, but T’s feet brush over it, making its attack shift up and miss both of them. Robot 6 charges after Torturess, but cannot reach her in time! Naninami tries to kick Robot 7’s feet out from under it while it’s off balance. The kick lands, causing the robot to stumble back.

Robot 8 and 11 and 10 seem to be moving in sync with each other now! Uh oh! They’re doing some kind of combination attack!

Sapphire Zephyr slashes at Robot 10, the most damaged one, doing damage! He explodes as her blade rends through his power supply! The damage does not hurt her.

Robot 8 and 11 attack simultaneously! The two robots strike her from the front and back, causing massive damage to her systems! Her suit is rendered useless as they sever the cords that power it, and the armor is shredded!

Torturess sees Sapphire Zephyr in trouble and attempts to slash at #8. Her whip catches it. She tugs it back as the electricity courses through it… it explodes safely away from Sapphire Zephyr.

Robot 7 and 6 attack Nani 2 hits The first one’s blade leaves a long scratch on her side (8 damage), but she manages to block the other attack. Tired of it, Nani grapplies, who tries to shake her off but can’t!

No longer powered, her heavy armor is weighing her down, but still provides half armor value. Naninami kicks at 4. Taimi has to extricate herself from her armor, so she can move easier. Gremliminator sees Taimi in a difficult position, unable to defend herself. Robot 11 is still threatening her.

Gremliminator assess the situation, realizing there is little he can do to help now. Robot 11 is attacking Taimi, and 6 and 7 are attacking Nani. 4 and 9 are in shutdown mode. Robot 11 attacks Taimi, but she slips out of her armor and gets out of the way just in time! Torturess tangles him up with her electric whip, causing stun damage!

Robot 7 tries to break free of Nani’s grasp… but is unable. Robot 6 attempts to smash her in the back. Nani pushes Robot 7 in the way of the attack! Robot 6 smashes Robot 7, but it’s still not dead. Nani has 7 grappled. Naninami tries to rip 7’s head off. Kerplow!!!!

After the smoke clears, its head is now in her hands. Robot 6 is stunned by the explosion.

Naninami mutters: And that’s why Nella-sensei said not to lose your cool in battle.

Robot 4 seems to have powered back up and is now up. Same with Robot 9.

Torturess: What the…why are those back up?

Robot 11 is stunned. Robot 4 and 9 are heavily damaged, and Robot 6 is attacking Nani. Taimi will now have to rely on her Mallet, which is likely to be very ineffective against these. Taimi thwacks the one near her, hitting it while it’s down to hopefully make it stay down.

Grem notices 11 is not stunned now, and 9 is back awake, though sparking and generally messed up looking.

Announcer: 4 minutes remain… you might as well stay there if you haven’t left already. Watch the nice rocks tuck you into bed.

Gremliminator trips 9 with a cape. 9 just explodes. Luckily, his cape shot him from far away. Robot 11 looks angry! It swipes at Taimi, but she ducks behind Torturess… who rips his head off with her whip! KERPLOW!!!!!

Torturess: Am I your hero now, Zapphy?
Taimi: That might depend on if we get melted by thermite or not.
Torturess: True, but if we don’t…

Robot 4 is all messed up, and Robot 6 is injured, but still okay. Nani tries to club Robot 6 with Robot 7’s head, but misses. Robot 4 runs at Nani! KERPLOW! Nani throws Robot 7’s head at Robot 4, causing it to trip and ram into Robot 6! KERPLOW!

Robot 6 looks sparky…

Gremliminator: Just keep out of their way. It looks like they’re trying for kamikaze attacks.

Gremliminator tazes Robot 6, causing it to start showering sparks everywhere.

Torturess: Push it into the girl’s freezer!

Gremliminator goes behind the freezer, whips the cape around the robot, and pulls it in, unwraps his cape and shuts the door. KERPLOW!

Gremliminator: Hope you didn’t have anything in there, kid.

Naninami shakes her head.

Announcer: Three minutes and thirty seconds remain until self destruction! Hope you made a will.

Naninami: Let’s get out of here
Taimi: I think now would be a very good time to leave.
Torturess: Follow Dr. What? No, that wasn’t a question…

All of the heroes but Taimi run after Dr. What? She takes a moment, looking down at the ruins of her blue power armor. She shakes her head, and then runs after the other.

Naninami: I just hope that platypus isn’t as scary as he looked.

They enter a very large cave full of boxes, some opened and some not, and a large pool of water, the size large enough to fit several small ships. However, only one is there… a submarine… a nuclear submarine from the BC military (likely stolen).

Dr. What? greets them from a speaker: It looks like you filthy mammals bested my minions… well, too bad there isn’t any other way out of here, except through underwater caves. And I’m the only one with a submarine… too bad, for you.

Announcer: Three minutes and no seconds remain. You have enough time to call your mom and beg forgiveness for beating her. Too bad I have a cell phone jammer in here, haha!

Gremliminator: …What kind of person assumes a person beats their mother?
Torturess: The kind the lines his base with thermite, just in case.
Gremliminator: Pfft. Everyone does that.
Taimi: … They do?
Gremliminator: You don’t?

Gremliminator runs wades down into the water after the submarine, but it submerges too fast for him to possibly stop it. By the time he touches it, it’s already submerged and escaping.

He pulls himself back out of the water, looking around for another way out. However, there isn’t any, aside from the water and the way they came in.

Gremliminator: Well folks, if water stopped thermite I’d have an idea.
Torturess: Well, let’s see… our radio is blocked, the path out is underwater, or through a labyrinth of the 9 hells… I’m open to suggestions…
Gremliminator: Anyone got an aqualung?
Naninami: Don’t think so… Any way to turn off the thermite stuff?
Gremliminator: If I knew where it was stored and had access to the detonator, it would be easy. Once it gets started we’re pretty much dead. Well, unless you want to learn to breathe water the hard way, I guess we need to go up through the labyrinth.
Torturess: Yeah… I don’t know if we’ll be able to get up to it, let alone all the way up or… or even through the death rays.

Torturess looks around frantically. "There’s gotta be something here! I didn’t become a hero to die in some stupid unheard of villain’s explodey lair.”

Taimi: Maybe we should have dragged what’s-his-face along from earlier after all. Maybe he’d have known a quick way out. This guy seems to like shortcuts, after all.

Naninami starts looking at the boxes.

Announcer: Two minutes…you know what… screw it. I’m not going to announce anymore. You’re dead anyway.

Gremliminator finds that the boxes are organized by what lab they go in. There’s a robotics lab. A genetics lab and a chem lab. Taimi finds herself among three very, very large crates.

Naninami: Oooh, what pretty boxes.

Transported in by the sub or something else.

Torturess: Oh God, Oh God, I don’t want to die… Gremliminator… do something mad bomber like and make a hole or something! I want out!
Taimi: Think there’s something explosive in these we could make a hole with?
Gremliminator: Zephyr, look in the robotics areafor anything that can get us out of here. I’ll check the chem area for inspiration.

Taimi goes check out robotics, hopeing there’s nothing there too shiny to distract her.

She’s already kind of distracted by the big boxes, two side by side, equal size. What are they? Plus she doesn’t know where the robots section is…

Grem found a quick and dirty solution, as he discovered enough materials to make a quick batch of thermite. Though, the chances of it being enough to make a hole… well…

Nani sees Taimi gazing at one of two large boxes, and Grem stirring up something in the chem lab.

Torturess: Dun wanna die… dun wanna die…

Nani wanders over and check out the large boxes, but they’re completed covered. Taimi decides to find out what’s in the absurdly large boxes, but they aren’t marked, and she can’t pry it open without big tools or her working suit. Nani tries human crowbar mode to open a big box. Nani SMASH! The crate falls around from it. It’s a huge cell phone jammer.

Taimi(as she’s pelted by splinters of wood): Hwe~h! 10:21 PM Grem’s batch of thermite is ready.
Nani: Uhh… watch out. I’m going to open the other one now. smashy smashy

She pummels the crate around the other box into submission as Gremliminator notices the jammer.

Gremliminator: Wait, is that the jammer that’s currently jamming us?
Taimi: I would assume so.

The lights and buzzing noises point to agree. The second is some kind of giant laser gun, but its not powered.

Announcer: One minute remaining… yes… I know I said I wouldn’t be back, but I really wanted to rub it in that you’re going to die.

Gremliminator: He seriously kept his jammer… in a box… in his cargo bay… this guy is weird.

Taimi: Out of everything we’ve seen so far, this surprises you?

Taimi hides behind the ginormous gun, after Gremliminator plants his newly minted thermite on the jammer.

Gremliminator: You guys might want to stand back.

Sizzle, SIZZLE SCREEEEEETCH! KERPLOW! The jammer folds in on itself and crashes down, all explodey like.

Iron Maiden (radio): GUYS?! ARE YOU THERE?! ITS ALL GOING TO EXPLODE SOON!
Taimi: We know!
Gremliminator: Well, not explode so much as melt inward, but yes, we know.
Iron Maiden (mic): OH! Uh… I see you on radar. You’re like… super under the cliff.
Gremliminator: We know!

Gremliminator looks at the gun, since he’s not really doing anything anyway. There’s a giant AC Adapter it’s attached to. And two boxes away is the generator.

Torturess stops panicking. “Oh, big gun,” she says as Gremliminator walks around it to the generator, pulling a big switch on he side of it. The generator boots up, but the gun is not plugged in.

Gremliminator: Kid, you get over here and help me plug this thing in.
Naninami: Yes, sir!

Gremliminator lightly guides the plug in while Nani does all the work. Naninami has little trouble with it, carrying it like an oversized beach ball. She plugs it into the generator! Perfect Fit! The gun powers on.

Gremliminator‘s knowledge of underground architecture suddenly seems really useful. He realizes that based on the water level and what not, that they are likely not that deep underwater, and that the ceiling is high enough that it wouldn’t be underwater at all. Getting out wouldn’t be as tough with a direct line and Lizbet.

Announcer: 10, 9…

Gremliminator: Thirty degrees declination! Eleven degrees to port! FIRE!

The beam charges and then fires a steady blast, disintegrating the roof above.

Iron Maiden (radio): Holy shit! Is that where you are?
Announcer: 8, 7, 6… Gonna burn you with sticks…
Gremliminator: We’re at the bottom of the big light spear.
Announcer: of thermite…

Taimi: Got it! On my way!
Announcer: 5, 4, 3… you gonna get something that starts with “D”
Iron Maiden: Got it! On my way! Heads up! Rope coming down!

A rope begins to descend from the ceiling.

Announcer: 2, 1… time for the fun!

All of a sudden, the entire place starts to light up as the charges are being lit, as the rope lands in front of their feet.

Torturess: GAH!

She scrambles up it as it begins to go up. Taimi grabs the rope, and starts scrambling up behind T.

Gremliminator: Ladies first.
Naninami: OK. starts climing
Iron Maiden: All on?
Gremliminator grabs the end: GO GO GO!
Iron Maiden: HOLD ON TIGHT!

The sound of a screeching thermite is all they hear as the rope tugs them up at full speed, nearly a 50kph!

Torturess: Ahahaha!

Suddenly light envelops them as the entire cave collapses…
Even the mansion is exploding.

Iron Maiden: OK, going over land…well the part that isn’t melting.

She gently drops you off in the cliffs nearby, and lands.

Gremliminator: See? Easy. And we did prove that Engelbert is evil.

Taimi tries to summon the remains of her armor, once she’s safely on the ground. They appear around her, and immediately fall off. Taimi sighs, “This is going to take a lot of work…”

Naninami catches her breath then asks, “So, does that kind of thing happen often out here?”
Torturess: Surprisingly, yes.
Gremliminator: Eh, you get used to it after a while. Since you aren’t used to it, I assume you’re not from around here.
Naninami: Yeah, I’ve never got outside of the lab until the night I got in that chronostasis camber. Where exactly is here, anyways?
Iron Maiden: Chronostasis chamber? Only the BC Military has license to use those.
Taimi: This is Borderline City. This sort of stuff happens a lot around here.
Naninami: Oh, pooh. I didn’t make it very far at all. I was trying to go from Karabou to America.
Gremliminator: I guess you needed a bigger cannon.
Torturess: What’s in America, sweety? That place is a long way from here. Family?
Naninami: Yeah, family. I was supposed to meet the woman who raised me in America.
Naninami: Her name is Myrna Jipson and she worked for the company that made me.
Taimi: Made you?
Naninami: They made me by combining human DNA with genes from animals. A lot of horse genes in my case.
Naninami: Then they grew me in a test tube.
Iron Maiden: They do that in Karabou? I mean, I knew they were pretty off the charts crazy mad science, but that’s really messed up.

Lizbet Integer turns off her power armor.

Lizbet Integer: I’m Lizbet Integer Integer!

She holds out her hand. Taimi is gathering up any important bits of her power armor she doesn’t want to take the chance of losing.

Naninami: shakes Lizbet‘s hand I’m Naninami, pleased to meet you.
Lizbet Integer: Don’t you worry. I’ll take you under my wing.
Gremliminator‘s been awful quiet: …You know you could just buy a plane ticket to the US, right?
Naninami: Well, I have a feeling…
Torturess: With fake ID… so long as people weren’t trying to get you back… or if your existence were illegal… like genetic super soldiers are kind of an international crime.
Naninami: Myrna would have been there when I woke up if she was able. And she wouldn’t let that creep with the robots and the platypus get my capsule if she could help it.
Taimi: Sounds like you were intercepted on the way to america, then
Gremliminator: What, they check your genes before you get on a plane these days? Aren’t you supposed to be a villainess, T?
Torturess: No, I’m a hero.
Naninami: Yeah, I think she’s in trouble, too.
Lizbet Integer: Ok, tomorrow after a shower and food and bed, we’ll look for your momma.
Naninami: Thank you. Thank you all for everything you’ve done for me. Please let me know if there’s ever anything I can help you with.
Torturess: So Grem, you picking up another straggler?
Lizbet Integer: It’s our job to help you! We’re the good guys!
Gremliminator: I… wait, the kid’s coming with me?
Lizbet Integer: No, I’ll take care of her…
Gremliminator: …You sure about that, Lizbet? Have you ever taken care of a child before?
Lizbet Integer: No, but I can osmosis read some books about it. Food, sleep, exercise? Right?
Gremliminator: …How about you read those books tonight and she can spend the night at my place for right now?
Lizbet Integer: Nah, I totally got it! My penthouse is much nicer than your sewer, anyway.
Gremliminator: Actually, I was going to put her in one of the aboveground guest rooms. Sewer’s getting pretty full anyway. Though really, Nani should have some say in where she goes. She’s the super soldier here.
Lizbet Integer: Sure, but I’m sure she wants to come with me. Right, Nani?
Torturess: Bet goo girl tries to eat the munchkin first.
Gremliminator: Nah, we’ve been keeping her fed. The gobs have a vested interest in doing so, after all.
Naninami: Thank you, Lizbet. I think I’ll stay with Mr. Grem and his friend tonight. Maybe I’ll stay with you in a few days after I’ve gotten my bearings.
Lizbet Integer: You sure? I live on the 30th floor of the Trivio building now. It’s super high in the sky and is totally awesome. He’s in a boring apartment.
Torturess whispers: Maybe the munchkin eats the goo girl first… haha…
Gremliminator: Well, whoever she’s staying with, we should hit the road. Let’s all head back to the Gremlipult.
Taimi: I’d offer a place where I live, but I’d probably keep you awake most of the night with my trying to fix my suit.
Lizbet Integer pouts.
Torturess: Whatever, I’m outta here. Gonna go find my bike.
Nani: Lizbet, I’ll stay with you tomorrow, OK?
Lizbet Integer sniffle: ‘kay…
Nani: Your apartment sounds great, but I think I need “boring” tonight.
Gremliminator: Boring. Yes. Describes my place to a T.
Lizbet Integer: I ping your ride at a mile that way. She points.
Taimi: At least this way, she’ll get to meet the goblins.