"Goodbye, element of surprise," Paltio muttered in frustration.
"It's time to fight, young master," Mok said, unsheathing his knives with determination. He was ready to face whatever came their way.
"How dare you enter my main structure? You will be eliminated."
Ruby's metallic voice echoed throughout the room, and she began deploying small robots, each the size of Paltio. On each one, a screen displayed Ruby's unsettling face. The robots wielded gleaming swords, prepared to attack.
"We need to keep her attention so she doesn't call for outside help, or we're done for," Paltio warned, quickly assessing the situation.
Ruby interrupted coldly:
"I don't need outside help. I am more than capable of dealing with two pests like you. This will be your tomb."
Hundreds of robots surrounded Paltio and Mok. With an agile movement, Mok formed a shield with his knives to repel the robots while protecting Paltio. Without Golden's help, the prince was useless in combat.
"Where are you, Golden? Why can't I reach you?" Paltio murmured, trying to stay calm as chaos swirled around him.
Meanwhile, in the room where Paltio's friends and Pax were waiting, a tense and boring atmosphere reigned. Ron began making annoying mouth noises, irritating Alita and Pax. Toco-Toco, under the illusion of being Paltio, was sitting on top of Mok—or rather, on a chair resembling the butler's form, though it was all an illusion thanks to Golden's magic.
"Meow! This is so boring. I hate waiting. At least back where Golden is, I could train and jump around freely," Toco-Toco complained, flicking his tail impatiently.
Alita observed the scene and, for a moment, forgot her annoyance with Ron.
"It looks kind of weird seeing Paltio sitting on Mok's lap. It's like he's his little kid," she remarked with a laugh.
However, Ron, trying to make even more noise, passed his hand through the illusion of "Paltio," causing Toco-Toco to fall to the ground. Annoyed feline sounds erupted, and even Pax couldn't help but laugh.
Ron broke the silence with a tone that mixed boredom and concern:
"I'm bored. There's nothing to do… Besides, if we leave here, they'll treat us like slaves or something."
Pax turned toward him sharply, his posture rigid and his voice sharp as a blade.
"Yeah, but stop making that stupid sound, or I'll cut your tongue out," he snapped, clearly irritated.
Ron stopped the annoying mouth noises, but almost immediately began clicking his fingers, unable to stay still.
"Hey! If you keep that up, I'll cut your fingers off too," Pax warned, his tone laced with irritation as he clenched his fists tightly.
Just then, the door opened. A young soldier entered, pushing a cart with food.
"I've brought you something to eat while my boss Yaco is away," he announced without much interest, his tone neutral and professional.
The soldier handed a plate to each of them, but when he reached the illusions of Paltio and Mok, Alita and Ron quickly intervened.
"They're not hungry. We'll take care of saving their food," they said almost in unison, trying to sound natural.
The guard looked at them indifferently.
"Whatever," he responded before leaving.
Both wiped the sweat from their foreheads, relieved to have avoided being discovered. The illusion of the chair and the cat faded, revealing Toco-Toco and the real chair once again.
Just before the door opened again, Alita signaled to Toco-Toco:
"Go to the bathroom. Let's pretend Paltio and Mok are there."
The door opened once more. It was the same guard.
"Ah! My boss said he'd be delayed longer than expected. He'll return three hours later than I told you."
The guard glanced around and asked curiously:
"And where are the butler and the prince?"
Alita responded nervously, trying to maintain her composure:
"Oh! They're in the bathroom."
The guard raised an eyebrow, suspicious.
"Both of them?"
Ron quickly jumped in, improvising:
"Yes, they were both not feeling well. They felt like throwing up."
Toco-Toco, always ready to help, mimicked a vomiting sound in his feline form. Then he shifted to his Felica form and repeated the gesture, this time with a deep, theatrical voice.
The guard took a step back, startled by the grotesque sounds.
"Oh, I see! That's why they didn't want to eat. Got it… Well, I hope they feel better. If you need anything for that, I'll let the staff know to send something over."
He hurriedly left, leaving everyone relieved to have avoided detection. Alita sighed and said:
"You can come out now, Toco-Toco."
"Great job, kitty," Ron praised, smiling.
The cat, crossing his arms (or as close as he could get in his form), replied sarcastically:
"I understand the situation and the hints, unlike your distracted friend, Paltio."
Pax interrupted thoughtfully as the other two laughed at the cat's comment:
"It's strange we weren't alerted by the cameras. Now that you mention it, something odd is going on. First, Golden's magic fades, and then the cameras don't work. Let me test my theory."
He opened the door carefully, fearing something would detect him immediately. However, when he stepped onto the sliding floor panel, nothing happened. No alarms, no sounds at all. It was as if they hadn't recognized him.
"What could it be?" Pax murmured, perplexed. "This requires investigation."
"But we can't leave this place," Alita quickly interjected. "If they discover we're gone, or worse, that two of our group are missing, they'll have enough reason to imprison us."
"Well, you've got a point," Ron admitted, scratching his head. "But shouldn't we do something, don't you think?"
"You're right," Toco-Toco said, meowing with determination. "I can help. I can investigate quickly outside without taking risks."
Without wasting time, Toco-Toco used his speed to scout the surroundings. He confirmed everything was the same outside: stepping on the moving floors triggered nothing. He returned to the group to report what he had found.
"What do we do now?" Alita asked, worried. "If we leave and don't meet up with Paltio, he'll think something has happened to us, or we could get into serious trouble."
"You're right, smart girl," Pax replied, nodding seriously. "But I prefer investigating why things are happening. Normally, I'd only listen to my master, Golden, but he's not here right now. I'm worried that his magic—well, his illusion powers—vanished so suddenly. Something must have happened."
"Meow!" Toco-Toco concluded, sharing the same concern.
"Perhaps I can go," Toco-Toco proposed decisively. "I'm the fastest, and I can see everything happening outside. You can all stay here to keep up appearances and wait in case Paltio and the others arrive first. What do you think? Meow!"
Alita nodded firmly:
"Alright, I think it's the most sensible option."
Ron also supported the idea:
"Yeah, it makes sense."
Pax, though with an annoyed gesture, conceded:
"Bah! Whatever. I'll have to stay put. The speedy cat wins this round," he said, looking at Toco-Toco with a mix of admiration and resignation.
The three stayed in the room, tense but alert, while Toco-Toco shot off like an arrow, ready to search for the others.
In another location, Yaco bowed before Trebolg, who observed him from his throne.
"Master, why have you called me?" Yaco asked respectfully.
Trebolg smiled maliciously.
"Ah! I see you took that group to Hotel B. Good. Leave them there until Tejod's words come true, as you told me. If they fail to obtain, within 24 hours, the piece the prince believes is in Ruby's central facilities, I'll have more workers under my command."
His face lit up with a sinister expression.
"Humiliating royalty has always been my motive. I still remember when the kings and queens of the kingdom I was in before would cancel my work and look down on me. Now I make them work for me without pay."
Trebolg let out a resonant laugh as he pointed to a room where the king and queen of the current realm were repairing a machine, heavy chains clanking around their ankles.
He glanced at a clock on his wall, its hand pointing to noon.
"They have less than a day left for Paltio to find the piece… or Tejod will destroy another citizen. Or perhaps someone closer to them." He erupted into another bout of uncontrollable, yet utterly terrifying, laughter.