Two sets of boots crunched over the ground and neared the grate.

"Whoa, Liz, I thought you were a lizard. Since when were you human?" The contralto voice—markedly low among women—reminded him of the Disco Menace.

"Since always? Since never?" a second, masculine voice said. The familiar tone made eX-0281's tail wriggle along the metal bar.

"704," he hollered for joy. "Over here!"

If his friend had been in human form, eX-0704 switched when he had called his name. "281, we made it!" The fellow sub-dragon went bounding onto the grate and landed on all fours. "It's so great to see you!" Tail lifted in a smile, eX-0704 bobbed up and down with happiness.

"Yeah! You too." eX-0281 could not manage the same animated greeting that felt natural per instincts. Nevertheless, he waggled his body from side to side the best he could on the underside of the grate. "I'm glad you're here!"

Since Charlotte was stuck swinging with him on his chest, she murmured a sarcastic remark. "Are you a lizard hammock blowing in the breeze?"

"Charlotte isn't doing so good." eX-0281 nodded his chin down to the girl.

Given that it had just been their friends approaching, she curled back up to his chest and was likened to a corpse.

With his tail free, eX-0704 had been doing their secret tail flick for celebration. Seriousness quickly washed over him, and he cleared his throat. "Is mana poisoning already affecting her?"

"Yeah." Given eX-0704's lost helmet, he read the number on his screen aloud. "She has one and a half hours left like this."

"We've got to get them out of there." The Disco Menace latched a cable onto one end of the grate. The colorful, patterned mask bore down on him through the haze of mana in the air. "You're the second lizard, huh, buddy?"

"Hi," eX-0281 said. "I'm 281."

"Hey," the sleepy Charlotte murmured. "How come you didn't let me call you 281?"

"Because you wouldn't let me call you Lottie."

"Eh," the Disco Menace said, indifferent to the petty disagreement. "You're Liz 2, to me. Liz 1, you need to help pull."

"We'll have you out of there soon." eX-0704 jumped back up and retreated with the Disco Menace.

The hovercraft vehicle was revved up, out of sight. The engine continually whirred as it expelled energy. The cable drawn taught, eX-0704 must tug along with the hovercraft at full power. The mechanical hum grew higher in pitch, threatening to overheat an overworked system.

"This would work better if they had some leverage first," Charlotte murmured.

"How can they do that?"

"That depends. How much mana do you and your friend have?"

eX-0281 checked his status page and performed a [Scan] on eX-0704 since they were no longer in a party together.

Name: eX-0281 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 95%

Discrete Parts: Right Wing (90%), Left Wing (90%), Tail (100%)

Mana Reserves: 7 Mu

Element: Ice

Just like how Charlotte had helped him unlock his potential as a mage, there was a chance that eX-0704 could have learned some magic tricks from the Disco Menace. His hopes were especially high for his friend, given the magical prowess of the Disco Menace.

Alas, the mana reserves were at his default while his overall vitality had dropped more than eX-0281's. Briefly, he felt sad that eX-0704 had been subject to a tougher time than him.

Member: eX-0704 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 85%

Discrete Parts: Right Wing (98%), Left Wing (97%), Tail (100%)

Mana Reserves: 10 Mu

Element: Ice

The query updated for how long Charlotte could survive with them both present to make ice: indefinitely.

"So long as eX-0704 can learn [Manifest Ice], our mana levels aren't an issue anymore."

"In that case, knock it off Vickie!" Her weak frame managed quite the loud shout.

The engine murmured back to its idling state, and the Disco Menace reappeared by the grate. "You called?"

"All things become more brittle when cold, including steel. Could you help 281's friend learn [Manifest Ice]? If he freezes the metal, it should be easier to break."

"You heard the nerd," the Disco Menace cheered. "It's ice slice time!"

"Too many rhymes," Charlotte said as she faded back to her absent state.

More hands-on than Charlotte's teaching style, the Disco Menace created sparks of electricity along her fingertips in demonstration. Her [Manifest Thunder] set the greenish spores in the air aglow with a blue light. At its core, her verbal coaching was a lot like Charlotte's but relied on less scientific verbiage.

eX-0704 kept one hand pressed to the metal beam and focused. His empty efforts soon had him flicking his tail in agitation. "I don't think I can do this."

"Yes, you can!" eX-0281 cheered. "Look at the ice on Charlotte's leg. I made that."

"Why don't you do this then?" Jaded, eX-0704 said, "I can't."

"Of course, you can." They had the same genetics and upbringing; there was absolutely no reason eX-0281 could do anything that eX-0704 could not.

When his gaze cast down to Charlotte, he realized that the particular circumstances might have been in eX-0281's favor. Alone with her, he had been the only one to save her.

"Charlotte needs you right now. If I use my ice, I might run out of mana before we get to safety. 704, you have to do this!"

Behind eX-0704, the Disco Menace popped out one hip as she tossed her concealed face up to the sky. Her foot was clearly tapping.

"Right," he said with a firm nod. A glimmer of inspiration entered his eyes before he closed them.

"Just be careful you don't freeze your… hand."

Crystals of ice shot up around eX-0704's claws and effectively trapped it. "Oops." A few peaceful seconds passed before he started howling. "Why didn't you warn me sooner? You betrayed me, 281."

"I tried!"

"It's okay," Charlotte said, struggling to chuckle. "At least you didn't stick your hand to my leg like 281 did."

"Hmph." eX-0281 grunted at her sharing that detail with his friend.

The embarrassing story was lost on eX-0704, too happy with his own achievement. "I did it! [Manifest Ice]!" His couple seconds of celebration were then cut short.

"Hurry up," the Disco Menace snapped. "Bust it with your claws and try again."

With eX-0704's hand free and a new coating of ice surrounding the metal, eX-0281 monitored the temperature with a [Scan].

"Yeah. That should be good. Try it again," Charlotte said when he read out a satisfactorily low number.

The Disco Menace and eX-0704 got back into position. This time, when the hovercraft whined at full power, sections of the metal bar snapped outward.

"They did it!" eX-0281 was easily excited, but he soon quieted down. The new gap in the bars was still not large enough for them to fit through.

"Now," Charlotte instructed. "Encase all points of contact that 281 has with the metal in ice."

"I get to freeze 281 to the bars now?" eX-0704 asked, oddly excited.

"Yes," Charlotte confirmed. While he worked on that, she continued giving directions to the Disco Menace. "You need to reorientate the bike and peel back the metal the other way."

"Excuse me, but I still don't think this is going to peel as easy as you think. It's not a can of soup."

"Not in its present state, no," Charlotte said. "Metals bend more easily at hot temperatures, so that is why we are using ice as an insulator so that you can heat it up with thunder magic."

"Fine. Good shit." The Disco Menace moved around her hoverbike. Before clamping the wench back on, she advised eX-0704 to stand back.

He readied himself to restore the ice that protected eX-0281 whenever the Disco Menace started to melt it. In the end, he would spend all of his 10 Mu on the endeavor to rescue them.

Though the Disco Menace put her hand directly against the grate, she poured enough Mu into [Manifest Thunder] that the lightning arced and snapped onto the bars. Eventually, she made the steel turn a rosy orange. The clasp went back onto the contorted top of the grate to maximize leverage.

Then, the combined strengths of the hoverbike and eX-0704 drew the metal upwards.

"Whee," eX-0281 called. With Charlotte clinging to him, they ended up partially upside down. Even though they were further away from the fan now, it was unsettling to see the blades rotate beneath them.

As soon as the metal was lifted, the Disco Menace ran around to sling a gas mask over Charlotte's head. Keeping the air tank in her arms, the Disco Menace played with a valve.

Charlotte was able to take her first breaths of clean air in a long while. Her body loosened in a sigh against eX-0281, her arms and legs barely staying wrapped around him.

Once the metal had cooled down enough, eX-0704 helped him break the weakened ice. A jump and some flaps of his wings let eX-0281 land on solid ground with Charlotte.

"Ah. So happy." Gently, he sunk to the solid ground that he had missed so dearly and set the girl down.

In front of them were eX-0704 and the Disco Menace, both rushing to each of their friends who they had teamed up to save.

"We did it," eX-0704 said whilst extending a clawed hand down to him.

eX-0281 accepted the help up. Given how his tail lifted in the biggest smile, it only felt natural to do their secret tail shake in victory.