Stories: Pollution Panic

Story Written by: Redfork2000 & BoltBlizard

Plot
Bright Spark has invaded the forest, destroying nature and building a huge factory to keep up his robot production to give the gang a run for their money. However, the amount of pollution this factory is causing to Echo Creek is having really terrible effects on the environment and nature, so it's up to the gang to stop Bright Spark and his factory before he turns the entire region into a polluted wasteland.

Cast

 * Red Fork
 * Blue Ocean
 * Lemon Glass
 * Blast
 * Alice
 * Tommy
 * Boulder
 * Neptune
 * Nepgear
 * Ib
 * Beta
 * Mirage
 * Velouria
 * Bright Spark
 * Twi-bot
 * Fork-bot
 * Wendy
 * Apple John
 * Sharp
 * Pepper

Story
''It's a beautiful day in Echo Creek. Citizens live happily as they do their everyday activities, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming.'' ''Bright Spark arrives at the forest near Echo Creek in his Spark-o-Matic. He then looks at Fork-bot and Twi-bot, who came with him.'' Fork-bot grabs a huge electric saw, and starts chopping down the trees, causing many animals to run away. ''Meanwhile, the gang is hanging out at the beach, completely unaware of what Bright Spark is up to. Red Fork is resting on a beach chair while drinking a glass of lemonade and wearing sunglasses, while Blue Ocean is surfing, and Blast, Tommy and Alice are building a sand castle. Lemon Glass is giving lemonade to everyone. Neptune and Nepgear were side-by-side, laying down in the sand and just enjoying the lemonade.'' Blast, Alice and Tommy have built a large and detailed sand castle that's taller than all three of them. Tommy flies up to the top of the sand castle, and places a little flag on the top. Boulder sees someone selling ice cream, and buys two ice cream cones. ''Meanwhile, Red Fork continues to try and rest, but Blue Ocean keeps calling him. Finally, he loses his patience and snaps out at him.'' Boulder comes and lies down next to Neptune. ''With Blast, Tommy and Nepgear on one side, and Boulder, Alice and Blue Ocean on the other side, the game begins. Lemon Glass appears behind the play field, as she will be keeping the score. She's flying next to a large board where there's two big numbers: 0 - 0.'' ''Meanwhile, Bright Spark has finished building his factory, thanks to the help of Twi-bot, Fork-bot, and some builder robots. It's a huge building, at least fifty feet tall, and it has huge pipes at the top from which smoke come out.'' ''The forest itself is starting to lose its green color due to the pollution the construction has caused. The plants start dying, and the animals have fled to find a better place to live.''
 * Bright Spark: On days like these, villains like me, should be finding a way to crush that gang! (evil laugh)
 * Bright Spark: Are you ready? This is where we'll build the factory.
 * Fork-bot: I brought the blueprints.
 * Twi-bot: We're ready to begin the construction.
 * Bright Spark: Excellent. With this massive factory, we'll be able to keep such as fast pace of robot production, that not even the gang will be able to keep up with us! We'll win for sure! Now, first, we need to clear up the terrain. So get rid of those trees, and let's get working!
 * Fork-bot: Immediately.
 * Bright Spark: Beautiful. This is going to be beautiful!
 * Neptune: Hey, this is pretty good... Mmm...
 * Nepgear: It's Lemon Glass, it's kind of what she does... And really well, too, if you hadn't noticed.
 * Neptune: Really? How did I not notice?
 * Nepgear: I dunno, beach me...
 * Tommy: (laughs) Beach joke!
 * Boulder: It sure is nice to have some time to hang out with everyone.
 * Alice: Yeah. We don't get many chances to just relax and have a nice day at the beach.
 * Blue Ocean: Red Fork, check this out! (starts making tricks on the surf board)
 * Red Fork: Hey, careful there. Don't show off so much that you forget to look where you're going.
 * Blue Ocean: I won't. (slips and falls off his surf board)
 * Red Fork: Told ya.
 * Blast: And, voilá!
 * Alice: It's beautiful.
 * Tommy: But it's not ready!
 * Tommy: Now it is!
 * Boulder: Good job guys.
 * Boulder: (comes to Neptune) Hey, want some ice cream? (offers her an ice cream cone)
 * Neptune: Oooh, you bet! (eagerly takes it, seeming happy) Thanks Boulder! (thumbs up)
 * Nepgear: (continues just laying in the sand and chilling out) This is fine.
 * Red Fork: Shut up, Blue Ocean!
 * Blue Ocean: But I just wanted to show you my new trick. (crashes into a rock in the sea)
 * Red Fork: Ugh... (facepalms) Why don't you go play with Blast, Tommy and Alice?
 * Blue Ocean: Yeah, that might be a safer option... (comes out of the water with his surf board)
 * Blast: (looks over at Neptune and Boulder) So when's the first kiss gonna happen guys?
 * Boulder: Blast!
 * Blast: Just messing with you. You guys take your time.
 * Neptune: (flustered silence) ...You better be.
 * Nepgear: (silently) You know, no pressure.
 * Neptune: Hey, let me live my darn life and take things at my own pace.
 * Nepgear: Whoa, chill out! ...Have the ice cream.
 * Neptune: ...Good idea. (proceeds to devour and savour the ice cream)
 * Blast: Yeah... ok...
 * Boulder: I never bugged you when you were so shy you could barely even talk to Jaiden, now did I?
 * Blast: Ok, I get the point.
 * Boulder: How's everything going with you two anyway?
 * Blast: Well, she's been kind of busy recently, but at least we still have time to hang out from time to time. We sometimes train at the Ice Dojo, we sometimes go to Red Spoon's restaurant, and we sometimes just do anything random.
 * Alice: Gee, sounds like you two have a lot of fun...
 * Blast: Yeah, we do. She's a great person to be with.
 * Blue Ocean: Hey, you guys need help to build another sand castle?
 * Tommy: We already built one, but I brought some board games! I've got Snakes & Ladders, Checkers, Pachisi, Candy Land and Monopoly! Who wants to play?
 * Blue Ocean: I think I'll just go rest with Red Fork... (leaves)
 * Neptune: Naaah, I'm good.
 * Nepgear: If I've learned one thing, it's to not challenge you at board games. Also... Why did you bring board games... To the beach?
 * Neptune: I'm with her on this, the heck? Who the heck wants to inadvertedly get sand in boxes?
 * Tommy: I don't know, I just thought it might be fun.
 * Alice: (nervous laughter) Yeah... fun...
 * Blast: Sorry Tommy, but we should probably do something else.
 * Tommy: Oh, ok.
 * Blast: How about some Super Volleyball?
 * Alice: Super Volleyball? How is it any different from regular volleyball?
 * Blast: Well, in Super Volleyball, we can all use our powers!
 * Boulder: That actually sounds like fun.
 * Tommy: Yeah!
 * Blast: You coming, Red Fork?
 * Red Fork: Nah, I'll just stick around and rest. Besides, you know that if I played with my powers, I would be too overpowered. I'll just rest here and give you all a fair chance.
 * Blue Ocean: Sure, whatever... I'll go play Super Volleyball.
 * Nepgear: Why not, I'll try! I'll just try to tone back!
 * Neptune: I'll just be laying here a bit. Is good down here.
 * Nepgear: You scaaaared?
 * Neptune: (flustered) N-No I'm not! I just don't wanna play! It's called balance...
 * Alice: So, Blast, Tommy, me, Boulder, Nepgear and Blue Ocean. That's six players. We'll make teams of three.
 * Red Fork: Have fun! (drinks some more lemonade)
 * Blast: Hey Boulder, how about we're the captains?
 * Boulder: Sure. Always ready for a good competition.
 * Blast: Ok, that being the case... give me Nepgear and Blue Ocean.
 * Boulder: Wait, what? But that means I get Alice and Tommy!
 * Blast: Well, I chose first!
 * Boulder: But that can't be fair. You got the best players on your team.
 * Blast: Fine... you can have Blue Ocean. Tommy, you're coming to my team.
 * Tommy: Yay!
 * Blast: There, better?
 * Boulder: Let's do this!
 * Nepgear: Oh yeah! It's game time!
 * Neptune: (finished ice cream) Welp... This'll be good.
 * Lemon Glass: Have fun, and play nice please!
 * Bright Spark: It's beautiful! Let's get to work robots! We must start production immediately.

Meanwhile, some time later, the game has ended, and Blast's team has won. Red Fork is still resting on the beach chair. Suddenly, the gang notices the sky turning gray, and the plants starting to die around them. ''The gang leaves the beach, and as they do so they arrive at Echo Creek, seeing how the entire city is under a thick cloud of smoke. The plants are dying, the citizens are coughing due to the smoke, and the sky looks gray and dark.'' Beta pokes his head out of a manhole, waving to the others. Beta pointed towards the forest that once was, though most of it is incredibly damaged and a violent plume of smoke emerging either within it or outside of it. Ib emerges from the manhole cover as well, poking out next to Beta - to his left. Ib begins to show her rose, to which has already began to wither, and as it does, Ib herself is shaking and making pained groans. Ib nervously nods without another word, vacant fear in her eyes. ''The gang goes to the forest to stop Bright Spark, leaving Ib behind so her rose isn't killed by the pollution. However, as they enter the forest, they realize that the natural landscape of trees, bushes and animals is now gone, and has been replaced by an arid wasteland of stumps, lumberjack robots chopping down the last few trees that are left, and the terribly polluted air, full of toxic smoke.'' The gang advances, but as soon as the lumberjack robots see them, they turn hostile, and start tossing their axes at them. The robots are destroyed by the axes, but as soon as that happens, the gang sees hundreds and hundreds of robots coming towards them. ''Red Fork starts running around at high speed, ramming into robots while dodging their lasers. He destroys dozens of robots quickly, but many more are still coming.'' Boulder lifts the boulder with one of his hands, and tosses it like a bowling ball at the robots, managing to knock out a few dozen robots. Everyone keeps fighting, but hundreds and hundreds of robots keep coming, even faster than they can defeat them. Red Fork uses his magic to levitate several robots and toss them against each other. ''Hundreds and hundreds are robots keep coming at an even faster pace. The gang starts to feel a bit overwhelmed.'' ''Red Fork and Blue Ocean make a magic combo to defeat dozens of robots. Alice shoots plasma bolts, Blast shoots ice blasts, Boulder uses moer boulders to crush the robots in groups, and Tommy summons a yoyo to use as a weapon. But the robots keep coming nonstop. Even with Neptune and Nepgear transforming, they didn't stop coming at all.'' The gang continues, and after a few minutes, they reach the factory. The gang tries to enter, but the front door is locked. As the gang turns around to leave, Red Fork then has an idea. ''However, as soon as the gang starts to make their way out of the forest, the EMP's effect wears off. The doors of the factory are opened, and hundreds of robots come from the factory, while the hundreds of robots that were shut down before return as well, surrounding the gang from all angles.'' A huge screen appears on the front of the factory, with Bright Spark looking from it. ''All the robots attack the gang together, and despite the gang's efforts to fight them off, this time they are just too many robots to fight off. They end up overwhelming the gang, and defeating them.'' The gang is overwhelmed, and finally, defeated by the robots. ''The gang is knocked out by the robots, and are left unconscious. Meanwhile, Ib is alone, worrying about the gang's well-being.'' ''Ib would begin to sneak around the town due to the mass amount of robots there were, seeing as there were tons of them. She slowly and surely went step by step, trying her best to stay out of their crosshairs. As she goes, robots were practically roaming every inch of the streets, of course, as she slowly tries to make her way to the forest. Or at least, what's left of it.'' ''Ib attempts to use her power of nature to regrow the forest - it works, only to be withered back down to nothing a few moments later. It was fruitless, as were the trees that were trying to be grown. Ib's rose withered by the second as well, counting her seconds down petal by petal and thorn by thorn.'' Among her sprint towards the forest's remains, she would eventually end up taking a wrong turn and bump 'into' one of the robots, knocking her over due the collision with full on metal. ''As Ib ran from the robot, the chase would attract more and more robots while the pollution ate away at her rose, gradually slowing her down due to practically draining life (and in turn, energy). Ib took one moment to look behind her at all the robots coming her way, froze, and then continued running like her life depended on it.'' The robots began to encircle Ib, closing in on her in her pained state, while Ib just lay there, panicked. ''The robot was about to strike, but suddenly, a cloud of magic dust struck the robot, transforming it into a puff-shroom. the axe fell on the ground, as the puff-shroom looked around, confused. The other robots looked at it, surprised by what had happened. Suddenly, a ghost pepper appeared in front of the robots, and temporarily possessed one of the robots, making it fight the other robots. Meanwhile, apple cores began to fall from the sky, blasting more robots into pieces. Once the ghost pepper left the robot she was possessing, an endurian shows up, and finishes the job by ramming into the robot, destroying it with his sharp exterior. In a few minutes, all the robots were gone, and Ib could see four plants in front of her: a witch hazel, an apple mortar, an endurian and a ghost pepper.'' ''The four plants guide Ib to a secret hideout in a small cave hidden by a few bushes. Ib, in question, would gladly follow them.'' Velouria and Mirage come in - them both looking relatively drained and/or harmed as well. Wendy uses her magic, and turns a rock into a teddy bear, and makes a cheeseburger appear out of thin air. And so, the newly formed team of heroes exit the cave and prepare for their mission. Wendy uses her magic, and casts a spell on the entire team, turning them invisible. ''The team moves quickly towards the factory. As they are invisible, the robots are unable to see them. This way they avoid them, and they are able to reach the factory.'' ''Wendy uses her magic to teleport the team into the factory. They all appear inside the factory. The entire place is made of metal, and they can see lots of robots working in the factory, not only guarding it all, but also in the production lines, helping to enhance the production rate. The walls are all gray, the floor is made of metal as well, and the few windows that are high up only display the gray sky that there is outside.''
 * Blast: As usual.
 * Boulder: Yeah, yeah... we'll see what happens next time.
 * Alice: It was a nice game guys.
 * Tommy: Yeah!
 * Blue Ocean: Gee, I have no idea how that beach chair hasn't broken with all that weight on it.
 * Red Fork: It's special. Made in Starland, Equestria, and reinforced magically to be able to support my weight.
 * Blue Ocean: I see...
 * Neptune: ...I feel it'd be rude to suddenly ask 'how' heavy, but now I don't even see the point in asking in the first place if you need something literally made to counter it...
 * Red Fork: Yup, but that's how I am. I'm Red Fork the unicorn!
 * Nepgear: (joyful laughs with the others) Woo, that was fun!
 * Red Fork: (takes off his sunglasses) Hm... unusual weather we're having.
 * Blue Ocean: What's going on?
 * Nepgear: Um... Maybe 'that' will make sense. (points up)
 * Neptune: Something tells me those are 'not' rain clouds. (pause) ...I think it's best we maybe get the heck out of here before it gets worse...
 * Nepgear: I'm with her on this; get your stuff and run.
 * Red Fork: Yeah.... I can't get any sunlight with all this smoke in the air.
 * Blue Ocean: Let's get outta here.
 * Neptune: This is... disgusting! Eugh!
 * Nepgear: You don't say... This place 'has' seen prettier days.
 * ???: You can say that again.
 * Beta: Hey, fellas.
 * Neptune: You're here?
 * Beta: Uh, yeah, where else do you think I'll be?
 * Neptune: But there's water...
 * Beta: ...I have my reasons.
 * Nepgear: Point stands, what are you doing here?
 * Beta: To see what the mess is about. And... it looks like... (points to dying plants) 'That' is probably not good.
 * Nepgear: ...Oh... So is this all weed killer?
 * Beta: I freaking wish it was. I don't know what 'is' causing this at the moment, but I know it sure as heck ain't weed killer. Weed killer doesn't kill several elder trees.
 * Blue Ocean: Gee, this is worse than I thought. Whatever this smoke is, it's most likely very toxic.
 * Alice: But where could all this smoke be coming from?
 * Beta: Let me think... (silence) ...Hey, how about that over there?
 * Nepgear: What the heck...?
 * Alice: (gasps)
 * Blue Ocean: What happened to the forest!?
 * Blast: Something terrible must've happened there.
 * Red Fork: Well, there's only one way to figure out, and that would be to go there.
 * Lemon Glass: But what if it's dangerous?
 * Red Fork: Well, they don't call us the Locked Room Gang for nothing!
 * Blue Ocean: They call us that because we met in the Locked Rooms.
 * Red Fork: Whatever. The point is, we've got to go there and find out what's causing all that pollution, and stop it once and for all.
 * Beta: Heh, good luck with that. I wouldn't really go for that if I were you.
 * Neptune: Come again?
 * Beta: Well if it isn't obvious, it's been killing animals and plants left right and center. If I had to guess it's some kind of factory, but for some reason I've been hearing metal roam this street...
 * Nepgear: ...Metal what?
 * Beta: I don't know metal 'what', but I heard metal.
 * Red Fork: Pollution and metal in the same place?
 * Blue Ocean: Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Red Fork?
 * Red Fork: This has the name of Bright Spark written all over it.
 * Alice: Yeah, just like that other time when Bright Spark polluted the environment and ruined so many beautiful regions that were natural paradises.
 * Beta: Yeah... Worse for some than others...
 * Ib: ...Hi.
 * Neptune: ...What's the kid doing here?
 * Beta: That's the problem. It's not safe.
 * Nepgear: 'It's not safe'? What do you mean it's not safe?
 * Blue Ocean: I mean, I get Bright Spark makes robots, but I'm sure that if we all stick together, the robots shouldn't be able to harm her.
 * Ib: That's... not the problem.
 * Nepgear: ...Oh heck.
 * Neptune: Care to fill us in?
 * Beta: As far as she's told me, Ib's rose and herself have a 'voodoo doll' relationship. When either gets hurt, they both feel the same pain. When one dies, so does the other. As you'd imagine, it is of course a plant, so...
 * Ib: (nervous, scared expression) I... I'm scared... I don't wanna die...
 * Neptune: Waaait a freaking minute! If this rose of yours wilts, you're a dead child?
 * Nepgear: ...Well, this may be... a bit... difficult...
 * Blast: Oh no!
 * Tommy: This is terrible!
 * Alice: With this amount of pollution, we need to keep her and her rose in any place that's as protected from the pollution as possible.
 * Blue Ocean: We need to stop Bright Spark as soon as possible. That'll stop the pollution.
 * Red Fork: Exactly. We must hurry though. We're on a timer, and if that rose dies, it'll be too late.
 * Beta: Well, I can come with you, but Ib will have to stay here.
 * Ib: I... can't come?
 * Beta: No. You are staying down there to avoid exposure to that rose of yours. It's for your own good.
 * Ib: ...OK... Bye... (scales back down)
 * Beta: (climbs out and conceals the manhole again) ...Alright. Let's get a move on to find that darned source.
 * Nepgear: It's obviously near where the forest was. Or is.
 * Neptune: Yeah, but it can't be that easy to just 'approach' it, can it? He's probably got robots all around it, and is probably making more!
 * Red Fork: If I know Bright Spark, which I do, he's probably guarding the place with lots of robots. However, if I know his robots, which I also do, we'll probably be able to beat them easily like we always do.
 * Blue Ocean: You're right. This is pretty much like his everyday evil plans. He'll probably try to fight us with his robots, we'll destroy them, and then he'll unleash some super big machine upon us, we'll destroy it, and he'll be done.
 * Blast: Well, I guess we should get going, then.
 * Boulder: Yeah. Let's do it.
 * Beta: Alright then!
 * Nepgear: We've got a villain to stop.
 * Neptune: Let's MOVE OUT!
 * Alice: (coughs) Whatever happened to this place!?
 * Tommy: (coughs) I don't know, but it's terrible!
 * Blast: I just hope Emma Emerald and her advisors are ok. They usd to live here in the forest. I've got no idea what might've happened to them.
 * Red Fork: Well, if we're gonna stop Bright Spark, we've got to focus on the task at hand. Let's get going gang!
 * Nepgear: R-Right... We came her to do something, let's not leave until it is done!
 * Beta: I agree. Let's mess up this plan and fix the nature that is no longer here.
 * Blue Ocean: Look out!
 * Tommy: Sharp objects!
 * Neptune: Oh no you hecking don't! (spawns two swords and whacks the axes back at the robots)
 * Red Fork: Well, let's dance!
 * Beta: Alright, freaks! Eat 'this'! (leaps onto one of the robots and dunks his Tri-Slosher on them, blinding them and sending them towards other robots) Woo! This is a good ride!
 * Nepgear: OK, let's overclock it! (does something to the robot Beta is on)
 * Beta: OK, I didn't sign up for- (the robot speeds up a lot) THIS!!!
 * Blast: Time to chill out! (shoot several ice blasts, freezing robots in place before grabbing them and throwing them into other robots) Woohoo!
 * Alice: There's lots of them! (shoots at the robots with her plasma cannon while trying to dodge the lasers)
 * Tommy: (summons a lego brick wall around himself and Alice to protect both of them) Here we go.
 * Boulder: (sees a huge boulder that's ten times as large as himself) Hm... let's try this.
 * Boulder: Ha!
 * Blast: Nice one!
 * Lemon Glass: (flying above the robots) Oh my... (starts to drop explosive lemons onto the robots, destroying some of them) I hope we defeat them soon.
 * Blue Ocean: We will. (shoots at them with his electric cannon)
 * Beta: (leaps off the robot he's on which crashes) There's too many of these things! (whacks another one down)
 * Neptune: We'll be fine! Just remember what you're fighting for!
 * Nepgear: C'mon, people! Keep doing this! (blasts a few robots with a plasma explosion)
 * Blue Ocean: We can't give up! (keeps shooting with his electric cannon)
 * Red Fork: (finds himself surrounded by twenty robots) You may outnumber me, but I'm still the strongest!
 * Red Fork: It's no use! Take this!
 * Alice: How many of them are there?
 * Blast: It's an endless sea of robots!
 * Neptune: Stay... down!
 * Nepgear: I-I think we should-
 * Beta: Bail? A bit late for that!
 * Blue Ocean: Will this never end?
 * Red Fork: How is Bright Spark getting so many robots? He's never had this many robots before.
 * Alice: Something's really fishy with all this.
 * Beta: Stop... with these... buckets of bolts!
 * Purple Sister: Enough! (manages to generate and use an EMP, shutting down the robots and the nearby factory)
 * Purple Heart: Now! Let's go!
 * Red Fork: Great job!
 * Tommy: Whoa... this place is huge.
 * Red Fork: Heh, no wonder Bright Spark has so many robots. He made a factory to mass produce them!
 * Purple Sister: This explains it... A robot generator! This looks like a fantasy...
 * Purple Heart: Well, we're here now. ...How long do we have until it powers itself back up?
 * Purple Sister: Oh, 15 minutes.
 * Beta: ...Can we just go in and trash the place?
 * Red Fork: Yeah, let's do it!
 * Blue Ocean: Guys, the door's locked.
 * Purple Heart: Ahem... Excuse me. (re-spawns the two swords from earlier and tries to cut the door in half open, but the door doesn't open)
 * Beta: ...That's not gonna cut it.
 * Blue Ocean: The door must be made of starvenium, that metal alloy made in Equestria. It's extremely tough, I don't think breaking the door will be an option.
 * Purple Sister: Huh... Can we... melt through it? Or anything?
 * Blue Ocean: Uh... starvenium takes extremely high temperatures to melt, even more than most metals. It would be dangerous to try to melt it.
 * Alice: Is there any other way to enter the factory, like a window or something?
 * Red Fork: I see several windows up there at the top of the factory, but that's gotta be about fifty feet high.
 * Purple Sister: Well... Me and my sis can fly people up, but... That's still pretty high up, and a high risk of exposure to go with...
 * Purple Heart: I wouldn't say it's a good idea...
 * Blue Ocean: Another option might be to try to dig a tunnel below the factory to get in?
 * Red Fork: Digging? Yeah, that might work. But can we actually dig fast enough?
 * Beta: Probably not. Depends if we'll even come up on the inside, heck knows how strong the interior is.
 * Blue Ocean: Hm... there's got to be some way to get inside.
 * Red Fork: But how?
 * Tommy: I dunno...
 * Beta: Maybe we should get out of here while we have the chance.
 * Purple Sister: I agree. The EMP I used is going to wear off in another 2 minutes. Maybe it's best we try find Ib and update her on the situation.
 * Blue Ocean: You're right. Let's go find her.
 * Lemon Glass: I hope she's ok.
 * Red Fork: Wait a moment. I can teleport us inside! I can use my magic to teleport us inside!
 * Blue Ocean: (facepalm) Why didn't you think of that in the first place?
 * Red Fork: (shrugs)
 * Purple Heart: Well, if you want to teleport into a factory of killing machines, who are practically being made on the spot and will go after you, go ahead. 'We' are getting out of here.
 * Beta: I agree. Come on.
 * Red Fork: Hm.. you're right. Let's go then.
 * Red Fork: Uh oh...
 * Purple Sister: You can say that again...
 * Purple Heart: ...Hey everyone.
 * Beta: ...Have mercy?
 * Bright Spark: Seize them!
 * All robots in unison: Seize them!
 * Blue Ocean: No!
 * Blast: What now?
 * Red Fork: We can't... give up!
 * Red Fork: No...
 * Bright Spark: Nighty night, Locked Room Gang!
 * Red Fork: Bright Spark...
 * Ib: ...Where... is everyone? (silence) ...They should be back by now... No... Don't... (shakes herself) Sorry, Beta... (kicks manhole cover off, gets out and then recovers it) I can't be doing this all the time.
 * Ib: W-What is... is that... the forest...? It's... horrifying... It's so dead and empty... I don't like it... (idea) What if... I...
 * Ib: It's... not working... No, no, no... It has to! It must! (proceeds to run towards the forest)
 * Robots: Scanning... Member of the Locked Room Gang identified. You are coming with me.
 * Ib: N-No! Never! (gets up and immediately begins running away)
 * Robot: ...Children. (pulls out axe and begins to chase her)
 * Robots: (in unison) You are coming with us!
 * Ib: I said- (trips up on a rock) Whoa, whoa! (falls) Ow... I said no...
 * Ib: Y-You wouldn't... do this to a kid, would you?
 * Robot: I would normally question my morals, but I am a robot, not a sentient life form. (raises axe) Your status makes no difference, child of nature.
 * Ib: (fearful expression and shrieking as the axe slowly comes down) SOMEONE, HELP!
 * Ib: Y-You... Who are you... plants? (she sounds scared, nervous even, as she stood up) Or is now not the time...?
 * Endurian: You could say that.
 * Witch Hazel: (hears more robots coming) More of them are coming!
 * Apple Mortar: Quick, come with us if you want to live!
 * Ib: O-OK... A-Are we safe now...? This is all happening too fast...
 * Apple Mortar: Everything's ok now. The robots won't find us here.
 * Witch Hazel: Yeah, we've been hiding here ever since the robot factory was built.
 * Ghost Pepper: Yeah. So, who are you?
 * Ib: W-Well... My name's Ib. I don't look like much, and I'm sorry for that... But... Some of my friends headed out to solve this factory problem, and they haven't come back yet... So... Despite their warnings, I... I came out to try and find them... Yet here I am, slowly... going. (shows the increasingly withering rose she has) I know you didn't ask to know any of this, but... I see this as my mess to fix. This is do or die. For me. I want to fix this mess to not only save myself, but the other lives at risk.
 * Endurian: What's that rose?
 * Witch Hazel: I sense some sort of magical connection. Her life is linked to that rose. If it dies, she will die.
 * Apple Mortar: That's terrible!
 * Ghost Pepper: The pollution hasn't done any of us any good either. Hey, how about we all work together to save your friends and stop that factory before all plant life dies?
 * Witch Hazel: That could work.
 * ???: Not gonna happen.
 * Velouria: You actually need to reach that factory first. Me and Mirage just went to check it out; your friends are still kept busy. That thing is churning out robot after robot as we speak.
 * Ib: So... an endless supply?
 * Mirage: Ordinarily, yes. Velouria also tried to break her way in, but that didn't work either. The metal this factory is made out of must be incredibly strong...
 * Ib: I don't care how strong it is - no matter how strong something is, there is always a way to break it somehow. I say we formulate a plan, agree on it, and hope it works.
 * Endurian: There must be a way to get in. No fortress is impenetrable. There is always a way. What we have to do is find that way.
 * Ghost Pepper: Yeah... but what do you think the way is?
 * Endurian: I don't know. I don't know the way.
 * Apple Mortar: Well, we'd better think of something then.
 * Mirage: Well, from what I noticed, your friends seemed to be able to shut it down with something, making it safe to even approach to begin with.
 * Ib: So, the first problem would be...
 * Velouria: The mass amount of robots. They're endless.
 * Ib: Exactly. We can't get past them with just brute force. If we can figure out a way to shut down the factory beforehand somehow, that'd be great.
 * Mirage: Well... We could try and save these 'friends' of yours?
 * Velouria: And end up in the same situation? Blegh, no thank you.
 * Witch Hazel: Who said anything about brute force? We can try a different approach. How about a stealth approach?
 * Pepper: What do you mean by that?
 * Witch Hazel: Well, you happen to be talking to one of the most magical plants in existence, Wendy the Witch Hazel!
 * Apple Mortar: Oh yeah! (eats the cheeseburger)
 * Mirage: (sigh) Interesting... But what exactly shall we do with that, though it is applicable... And how?
 * Wendy: Well, instead of going face first into a robot army, we can sneak into the factory through other means. I have lots of stealth spells. I can turn us invisible for a while, and we could enter the factory that way.
 * Endurian: But what would we do once we're inside?
 * Wendy: We'd have to search for wherever the robots are coming from, and attack there.
 * Ib: And that should cause a knock on effect, right?
 * Velouria: Ordinarily, yes. Without anything to make them, infinite robots will turn into none. All that will be left is to destroy the ones still around.
 * Mirage: Let's not forget the culprit himself may be guarding that place at any time. And who knows what'll happen if he spots us.
 * Endurian: We should also try to rescue the rest of Ib's friends as soon as possible. I have the feeling they'll be a valuable help.
 * Velouria: Do you at least remember who they include in said group, kid?
 * Ib: Yes. Both Nep sisters, Red Fork, Blue Ocean, Tommy and Beta - among a few.
 * Mirage: Well, it's best we don't keep them waiting too long. The more time we waste planning, the messier it will get for not only us, but potentially for them and the surroundings.
 * Apple Mortar: Wait a moment... that's the Locked Room Gang!
 * Ghost Pepper: You're saying that factory bested even them!?
 * Wendy: Well, of course. Remember they went face first into biting the metal. They didn't know it was gonna be so tough. But we do, so we can use that to our advantage, approach with stealth, and that evil mastermind won't know what hit him,
 * Ib: ...Right! We know what mistakes they made. So we need to not make the same ones.
 * Velouria: We ready to move, then?
 * Mirage: I'd say so!
 * Ghost Pepper: Alright! Let's get going!
 * Apple Mortar: Oh yeah, by the way, we didn't get to introduce ourselves. My name's Apple John. That witch hazel over there is Wendy.
 * Wendy: Hi!
 * Apple John: That cute yet mischievous ghost pepper over there is Pepper.
 * Pepper: Hiya!
 * Apple John: And the endurian is called Sharp.
 * Sharp: Greetings.
 * Ib: Well. As you know. I'm Ib.
 * Velouria: Velouria here.
 * Mirage: And 'I' am Mirage.
 * Apple John: Well, Wendy, mind turning us invisible for this mission?
 * Wendy: Got it!
 * Wendy: Ok, now we've gotta move fast. This spell only lasts for a few minutes, and after that I won't be able to cast it again until tomorrow.
 * Ib: Right! You heard her guys, let's move. Fast now! Fast!
 * Velouria: We heard you - shush or you'll give away where we are!
 * Apple John: (tries to open the door) Great... it's locked.
 * Pepper: Well, now what do we do?
 * Velouria: There must be some sort of way to open it... If it's locked, there must be something to unlock it, normally...
 * Mirage: But 'he' probably has it...!
 * Ib: Well, we at least know breaking it won't work... (points to the previously left dents on said door, from Neptune's swords)
 * Sharp: Hm...
 * Pepper: What if we ask politely if we can come in?
 * Apple John: No.
 * Pepper: What if we say we're girl scouts selling cookies?
 * Sharp: I doubt that'll work.
 * Wendy: Alternatively, I could simply poof us all inside with a magic spell.
 * Ib: That would be easier, but don't we need to let you conserve your energy? Those must take up quite a lot.
 * Velouria: Well, do we have a choice?
 * Ib: ...Good enough point.
 * Wendy: I mean, it's gonna take a lot of magic energy, but I don't think there's another way that'll get us inside before the invisibility spell wears off.
 * Apple John: Well, do it then.
 * Wendy: Got it.
 * Velouria: Holy...
 * Ib: There's tons of them alright... But now we're in here, let's see if we can find what powers this joint...