As Axel and the others make their way towards the forest, glimmers of lights lurking in the shadows trail behind them. The three of them walk along the lonely road, surrounded by the extremely quiet atmosphere, not a single droid or machine in sight. A cold ominous breeze suddenly blows by, whistling through the destroyed houses, riddled with holes and burnt exteriors.

Axel: "I thought you said this area was a droid town R3D? There isn't a single machine or droid here"

R3D: "Bree Ooop...Breee Oooop ooop oooooooop"

Axel: "So you're saying it looks like here was attacked? So maybe they all left the area...But why does it feel so eerie"

Scrappy suddenly begins to growl, as she spins around behind them, snapping her jaws and baring her sharp teeth ahead.

Axel: "What is it, girl?... Something must be in those shadows"

R3D: "Bree Oooooop"

Axel quickly gets behind Scrappy and reaches into his backpack and pulls a steel bat, with jagged spikes moulded around the top of it. Axel then wraps it with a piece of worn cloth and drenches it in oil leaking from a nearby vehicle and points it towards R3D.

Axel: "Ignite it"

R3D extends his arms and releases a spark of electricity, igniting a huge flame onto the steel bat. Axel firmly grasps the weapon as sweat drips from his chin and a quite obvious look of nervousness drawn on his face.

Axel: "... Come out, we know someone is in those shadows!"

He shouts nervously, holding the flaming bat aways from his small body, Scrappy immediately cease her growling and dashes off into the shadows.

Axel: "Scrappy! Where is she going? It's gonna be dark in a few hours... We shouldn't split up"

R3D: "Breeee Oooop"

Axel: "It was probably just some animal, we should continue to the forest, Scrappy will find us easily after she's finished hunting down whatever that was"

Shortly after they started walking away, Scrappy returns from the shadows with the head of a machine in her mouth, clearly recently gauged from its body as its metallic spine still attached to its skull was dripping with fluids.

Axel: "Scrappy! What... "

Just then four other machines leap out from the shadows, with metallic weapons made of scraps and junk in hand.

R3D: "BREEEEEEE OOOOOP!"

Axel: "Scavengers?!"

The four machines rush towards Axel, swinging their weapons dangerously towards him. Scrappy immediately tackles one of them to the ground and viciously tears it apart. The other three still heading towards Axel.

R3D: "BREEE OOOOP"

Axel: "Run? No... this is the perfect example to show I can defend myself R3... I won't run away like Mom and Dad did that day. I can do this!"

He said, shaking nervously as the machines approach him. Scrappy rushes over and knocks the three of them down, dragging one by its foot aside and savagely rips it to pieces, Axel uses this opportunity to run over and smashes the skull of another machine on the ground with his bat. "SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!"

Axel: "Aaahhh Aaahhh, Haa ha... See not so hard..."

The last machine stands up and punches Axel to the ground, causing him to drop his bat. The machines then stands over Axel with its weapon raised to the air, and as it's about to bring it down on him.

R3D: "BREEEEEEE OOOOOOOOP!"

R3D rolls on over to the machine and tries to shock it, but it just kicks him to the side. Axel then reaches for his bat and swings it into the leg of the machine, setting it on fire with the oil-soaked cloth. He quickly crawls from under the machine as its vision quickly became obscured by the flames.

The machine now covered in bright raging flames still proceeds to walk towards Axel as he stands there shaking with fear from the sight of the terrifying machine stomping towards him. The machine then throws its weapon at him but Scrappy jumps in the way, catching it in her mouth and stares furiously at the flaming machine as she snaps the weapon in two.

Axel: "Scrappy..."

The machine then dashes towards them, with its burning hot metal covered in a suit of fire. Scrappy jumps up onto the machine, tackling it to the ground but the hot fire burns her skin, scorching her fur as the machine grabs hold of her. "OOOOWWWOOOOO" Scrappy howls in pain from the burns,

Axel: "Scrap! No!"

Axel rushes over to help but the heat from the fire keeps him from getting close. Scrappy however snaps her jaws onto the machine despite the heat, latching her teeth around the machine's neck and rips its head from its body ferociously. She then quickly leaps away from the flames and throws the head of the machine to the ground, Axel smashes the head to pieces with his bat.

Axel: "Are you ok girl? Come on Scrap, let me see those burns"

R3D: "Breee Oooop"

Axel: "There could be more of them"

R3D: "Breeee oooop oooop"

Axel: "Ok, so Scrap got the scout first... Good girl! We should get going before any more come this way"

The three of them then continue along the path towards the forest, Axel goes to put the flam out in a pool of dirty water he comes across on the ground.

R3D: "Bree Oop! Breee ooop oop"

Axel: "Oh yeah, you're right, it will be dark soon and we could use the flame like a torch to see as we travel through the forest"

after a few minutes, they arrive at the base of the hill, and they begin to climb via the pathway leading to the top. The large sun begins to set in the distance, causing a blinding light to shine across the entire landscape. Axel stops as the bright lights catch his eyes, he raises his hand over his eyes to shield himself from the rays as he looks over to the sunset, witnessing the beautiful silhouette caused by the light.

Axel: "This world, It's so beautiful..."

He says with a large smile on his face as he continues climbing up the hill.

Axel: "We're almost at the top"

R3D: "Bree Oop"

The three of them finally reach the top, confronted by the large forest in front of them. Humongous trees stood in front of them, with massive trunks and countless branches overwhelmed with leaves, completely blocking the sky above. They begin to walk into the forest, dwarfed by the size of the trees surrounding them, like ants among tall grass.

Axel: "Ok Scrap, sniff out any freshwater. Mom said the cave was next to a stream of fresh water, so all we have to do is find that stream and follow it to the cave."

Scrappy begins searching, as they go deep and deeper in the forest. The sky above darkens, and sparkling stars appear as night arrives, the moon rising slowly above them as its rays of light barely pierce through the thick leaves over their heads. Axel holds his bat like a torch in front of him as they traverse through the forest, but with the cloth around it almost all burnt away the flame begins to weaken.

Axel: "Oh no the fire is about to go out"

R3D: "Breee Ooop"

R3D then emits a bright light from his head like a flashlight.

Axel: "Wait a minute... If you could just do that, why didn't you do this last night? Why did you wait till now?!"

R3D: "Breee Oooop oop op"

Axel: "I know you're not a lamp, but still what the hell R3"

Scrappy continues sniffing the ground in search of freshwater when suddenly she stops and lifts her head up high staring into the distance. She then slowly crouches down and begins to sneak into some bushes ahead of them.

Axel: "Where is she going? Wait, what are those shadows in the distance?"

R3D: "Bree Ooop"

Axel and R3D begin to walk in the direction of the strange shadows in the distance when suddenly loud rustling can be heard in the bushes in front of them and out storms a herd of deer, emerging from the dark as they race out from the area. One knocks Axel to the ground,

R3D: "Bree Oooop"

Axel: "I'm fine, I guess that's what those shadows were"

As Axel and R3D walk on over to where the deer came from, they see Scrappy feasting down on a deer she had just killed, completely ignoring her task of finding freshwater.

Axel: "Scrap! Don't tell me this whole time you were just searching for food?! Come on, if you were hungry, couldn't it have waited until you found the stream?"

Scrappy continues to tear through the flesh of the deer, as Axel shakes his head in disappointment but then he realizes something.

Axel: "Wait a minute... The stream of water... It's here!"

Just across from them, there was a small lake of water where the deer was having a drink. Axel and R3D begin to follow the stream leading into the lake, leaving Scrappy behind eating her meal.

Axel: "Catch up when you're done Scrap!"

The two of them follow the stream for a couple of minutes until,

Axel: "Ouch! Something just threw this at me?"

Axel reaches down to pick up a fruit from the ground and looks up to a bunch of fruit being thrown from the trees. Bombarding him and R3D with hard, unripened fruits. As they try to run away from the onslaught of fruits being hurled towards them, more just came from up in the trees everywhere they went.

Axel: "What is going on?! What is throwing these fruits at us? It's too dark to see"

Up in the trees, however, were monkeys, all hurling fruits and other objects at the two as they entered their territory. But then a loud growl echoes through the forest, and the onslaught of fruits ceases.

Axel: "Finally..."

Out walks Scrappy from the shadows with a large piece of the deer in her mouth.

Axel: "Thanks Scrap, I see you brought a snack with you"

They then continue on following the stream, and after a couple of minutes, they finally see the cave ahead.

Axel: "There! That must be it!"

Axel runs on over to the cave, Scrappy right behind him as R3D slowly follows.

Axel: "It's dark... too dark to see if there's anything at all in here. R3! Hurry up!"

Axel shouts as he jumps up with excitement at the entrance of the cave. Quickly losing his patience he runs back to R3D and picks him up from the ground and rushes back to the cave with R3D as a flashlight.

Axel: "Yes! That must be it, their valuables and parts for repairs... This is a lot though, a lot bigger than I imagined too. How will we get all of this back home?"

R3D: "Breee oooooop"

Axel: "Yeah, definitely didn't think this part through. Anyway, the good news is we found it, we can worry about how we get it back there in the morning. I'm tired"

Scrappy curls up on the ground next to her piece of meat and goes to sleep. Axel sits at the entrance glancing up at the stars above from the glimpses of the sky as the wind blows through the few gaps in the trees above.

Axel: "I wonder R3... If we are at the cave Mom told me about. That means we must be close to The Iron City..."

R3D: "Breee Oooop"

Axel: "Don't even think about what? Haha, calm down R3. All I wanted was to bring back the parts so Mom and Dad could repair themselves"

R3D: "Bree Oop"

Axel: "But now that you brought it up... It would be better if I could get a look into the City and maybe get some extra credits to get them even closer to being uploaded!"

R3D: "Breeee Ooooooop"

Axel: "Hey, you were the one who thought about it not me. So while it's still dark and Scrappy is asleep let's go to the city, and have a look. We are so close and there's no way Scrap would blend in, so it's the perfect opportunity to get a quick look and come back by morning!"

R3D: "Breeeeeeeeeee Oooooooooop"

Axel: "Hey! Nice try R3, but there is no waking Scrap up after a big meal. Let's go, you coming or are you staying here?"

R3D: "Bree Ooop"

Axel: "Good! Well the city must be just outside of the forest from this cave, so all we should have to do is keep following the stream"

Axel and R3D continue down the stream leading them out of the forest in the middle of the cold and gloomy night.

Axel: "What's that loud sound?"

Finally getting out of the forest they look up to a large amount of water pouring down from a massive mountain made completely of iron up above, crashing down into the lake below. Up in the sky, they can also see bright lights travelling across the sky, to and from the top of the mountain made of iron.

Axel: "Wow! It's huge! Those must be hovercrafts in the air, and the city must be on top of this gigantic metal mountain. But how do we even get up there"

R3D: "Bree Ooooop"

Axel: "No, we're not turning around R3. I guess Mom did say they had to jump from pretty high, but this is way higher than pretty high. How did we even survive the fall? Hmmm, there must be a way up there"

Axel stood there with his head tilted all the way back to look up at this towering mountain in front of him, he suddenly sees one of the hovercrafts descending from the top of the mountain over to the right where he can see some machines with large crates waiting at the base of the mountain and immediately gets an idea.

Axel: "I got it! Over there, quickly R3!"

The two of them rush on over to the group of machines awaiting the descending hovercraft. Axel sneaks up and hides behind one of the large crates on the ground and awaits R3D who is quickly rolling up towards him.

Axel: "Ok, we're gonna take whatever is inside of this box out and climb inside while they're looking up at the hovercraft. Ready?"

R3D: "Bree Oop"

Axel breaks the lid of the crate and quickly peeps inside to see what it is.

Axel: "What is this? "

He then lifts the object along with some surrounding styrofoam out of the crate, and onto the ground. R3D does a tiny scan on it,

R3D: "Breee Ooooop..."

Axel: "you have no idea either? Well, can't just leave it here lying around. they will realize one is out of its box"

Axel rolls the ball-shaped object away, rolling all the way into the distance and into the forest. And hides the styrofoam in some nearby bushes. He then lifts R3D into the crate quickly and jumps inside, closing the lid behind him.

Axel: "Alright, into The Iron City we go... The hovercraft should land soon"

As the hovercraft lands, the awaiting machines begin loading the crates into the craft's storage, including the crate with Axel and R3D inside.

***

Meanwhile, within the city, The Primordial stands before his R&D team of machines, the Os500s.

The Primordial: "Are you confident in your new method to enter the Deadsone?"

Os500: "Y... Yes... Yes Sir!"

The Os500 clearly shaking its metallic body with fear in the presence of The Primordial.

The Primordial: "I will be on the testing ground this time around, If it fails... I will have you all destroyed. I do not accept failures among my ranks, only perfection. You have already failed me too many times, it comes to an end now. I will have to think of methods myself if your efforts fail here today, and that annoys me"

Os500: "Un... Understood..."

The Primordial's projection then fades away from in front of the Os500 and the rest of its team.

Somewhere out at the border of The Deadzone, a small army of Ti1millions stand gathered around the area. The Primordial suddenly possesses one of the Ti1millions among the group.

The Primordial: "Begin the test!"

The small army of Ti1miliions all step back and stand into a single file line, with one Os500 among them, equipping them with a device strapped to their backs. The devices were large and had multiple antennas sprouting from them with circular steel balls on the tips of the antenna. Electricity coursing through all the tubes and wires, projecting a visible shield of electrical and sound waves around the Ti1million.

The first Ti1million begins to step forward after the Os500 finishes its final check, as it walks towards the border of The Deadzone, the other machines stand by watching in suspense. "Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!" With each step as the Ti1million comes closer to the edge, the suspense grew larger on the metallic face of the Os500. "Bam!"

The Ti1million crashes to the ground instantly as it crossed over to The Deadzone, every piece of equipment shutting on simultaneously.

The Primordial: "Next..."

Another walks forward and the same occurs,

The Primordial: "Next!"

One after another, multiple Ti1millions step forward, all falling at the same spot, none getting any further than the last. The Primordial quickly losing his patience stands by as he witnesses their efforts fail repeatedly.

The Primordial: "You... Walk towards it!"

The Primordial points at the Os500,

Os500: "But we still have fifty more Ti1millions to attempt the test, Sir, I have to be here to do the final checks and..."

The Primordial: "You don't need any final checks! We can see that every single one of your useless equipment will fail! one hundred Ti1millions already attempted the test and none have gotten any further into The Deadzone, I have lost my patience with this pathetic effort. Fifty more will change nothing Now walk over there now!"

Os500: "But Sir each Ti1million is strapped with a different device of different stre.."

The Primordial: "I said... Begin walking..."

Os500: "I don't have any equipment on Sir, I will be deactivated, Sir"

The Primordial: "You don't need any, start walking..."

The Os500 shakingly begins walking towards The Deadzone, slowly approaching its demise. It pauses just before crossing as it notices the line of Ti1millions piled up at the border of The Deadzone. As it lifts its foot into the air to take the final step,

The Primordial: "Stop... I will give you one last chance for redemption. Equip yourself with the one you believe with the best odds of working from the fifty remaining Ti1millions. Then take the one you believe with the least odds and give me"

The Os500 quickly steps back away from the border anxiously.

Os500: "Ok Sir!"

The Os500 thoroughly inspects each of the fifty remaining devices on the Ti1millions and gears himself up with one he finally decides to be the best. And approaches The Primordial with the one least likely to work.

Os500: "Here you go... Sir. I believe this one should have the least odds of success based on it extreme similarities to all of the failed subjects so far"

The Primordial: "Alright, Remaining Ti1millions. All of you advance into The Deadzone now!"

The remaining forty-eight of the Ti1millions all walk towards the border, crashing as they pass the line, some even climbing over the already deactivated bodies piled up in front of them. The Os500 watches in awe as all of them fail.

The Primordial: "See... Now it is just me and you. The best odds vs the worst odds, now walk..."

The Primordial straps the device around himself as the Os500 nervously walks towards The Deadzone, where it sees nothing but a sea of Ti1millions laid out in front of it. It begins to think to itself as it comes closer,

Os500: "This one has the best odds, it will work. I believe in our abilities, our team has done it. I just have to believe it will work"

The Os500 stops just at the edge of the border and takes a huge leap forward into The Deadzone. Jumping high into the air as it screams loudly...

Os500: "AHHHHHHHHHHH...."

"SMASH!" the Os500 hits the ground, deactivated in the air instantly.

The Primordial: "Pathetic... well let's try this final piece of trash. You two remaining Ti1millions, head back to base and destroy all of the Os500s"

Ti1million: "Understood Sir!"

The Ti1millions take off to the air flying back towards the city. The Primordial begins to walk over the border of The Deadzone, walking as he thinks to himself about how he will beat humanity's last effort against him.

The Primordial: "This really is a nuisance, maybe it is powered by a battery, it has to be right? But it has been years since it was active, maybe it is solar-powered, then that way it has unlimited energy. Hmmm What if I block out the sun in the area... No, the perimeter is too big. What can we do, we already tried reflecting the signal back, magnetic shields, electrical shields, soundwave shields...wait a minute..."

The Primordial suddenly stops talking as he looks around to notice that he has walked past the line of Ti1millions, further than any of them even the Os500 who got further by jumping into the air.

The Primordial: "... I am in The Deadzone..."

Just as he takes one more step he instantly appears in the body of a random machine in another major city nearby The Deadzone.

The Primordial: "Well, I guess it deactivated the body after that last step. No worries, we have some progress, but why? Why did I make it further just now... And where am I? Anyway, I won't cancel the order of eliminating those Os500s, they won't have the answers either. But I am one step closer to entering The Deadzone..."

***

Back in The Iron City, the hovercraft with Axel and R3D finally lands within the city and the machines begin offloading the large crates.

Axel: "Seems like they're moving the crates now, lets get out of here while they leave with the first set before they come back"

As the machines start transporting the crates, Axel lifts the lid up peeking out of the crate and notices that there was a machine still there watching the crates.

Random machine: "Hey you! What are you doing in there bot!"

Axel quickly jumps out of the crate with R3D in his arms and starts running away down into an alleyway from the hovercraft.

R3D: "Breeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Axel: "Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh! I think we ran far enough. Wow, so this is the city!"

Axel spins around as he looks at the city around him out of breath, exhaling stressfully.

Axel: "I have finally returned...To The Iron City"