"Coincidence?" Puck waggled his eyebrows. "I think not."

"This way," Grimalkin said, trotting along the edge of the parking lot. To their right, cars zoomed past them on the street; a few slowed down to honk at the girls or whistle. Grimalkin led them around the factory, skirting the edges of the sidewalk, to a drainage ditch that separated one lot from the other. At the bottom of the ditch, oily black water pooled from a massive storm drain, trickling through the weeds and grass. Bottles and cans littered the ground, glinting in the moonlight, but there was no sign of Ironhorse.

"I left him right here," Grimalkin said. Looking around briefly, he leaped to a dry rock and began shaking his paws, one by one. "We appear to be too late. It seems our impatient friend has already gone inside."

She just stays silent, and close to Ash. She really hates being defenseless like this.

" Honestly I didn't expect anything less. " she muttered.

A deep snort cut through the air. "HOW FOOLISH DO YOU THINK I AM?" Ironhorse rumbled, bending low to clear the rim of the pipe. He was in his more human form, as there was no way he could have fit his real body inside. "THERE WAS A PATROL COMING, AND I WAS FORCED TO HIDE. I DO NOT BREAK THE PROMISES I GIVE." He glared at Grimalkin, but the cat only yawned and started washing his tail.

Ash stiffened, and his hand went casually to his sword hilt. Barring his brief stint with Virus, the last Ash had seen of Ironhorse, he was dragging them to Machina in chains. Of course, Ironhorse was wearing a different form now, but you had only to look closely to see the huge, black iron monster that lurked beneath the surface.

Ironhorse snorted. "THE GREMLINS WILL NOT BOTHER US. THEY ARE SIMPLE CREATURES. THEY LIVE FOR CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION, BUT THEY ARE COWARDLY AND WILL NOT ATTACK A POWERFUL OPPONENT."

"Im afraid I have to disagree," Ash said, a dangerous edge to his voice now. "You yourself lead an army of gremlins in Machinas realm, or have you forgotten? They dont attack powerful opponents? I seem to recall a wave of them trying to tear me apart in the mines."

" Ash, calm down. " She said.

She stays silent.

Ironhorse shook his head. "LET ME CLARIFY. BOTH TIMES, THE GREMLINS WERE UNDER MACHINAS COMMAND. LORD MACHINA WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD CONTROL THEM, THE ONLY ONE THEY EVER LISTENED TO. WHEN HE DIED, THEY REVERTED TO THEIR NORMAL, FERAL STATE. THEY ARE NO THREAT TO US, NOW."

"What about Virus?" Puck asked.

"VIRUS SEES THEM AS VERMIN. EVEN IF SHE COULD CONTROL THEM, SHE WOULD RATHER LET HER DRONES DO THE WORK THAN STOOP TO DEALING WITH ANIMALS."

"Well, this should be easy, then." Puck smirked. "Well just stroll in the front door, waltz up to Virus, grab the scepter, have some tea and save the world before breakfast. Silly me, thinking it would be hard."

" Wow, Puck, what a great idea. " she said, clearly being sarcastic.

She stays quiet.

"Dont worry about Virus." Ashs voice would raise the hairs on most peoples' neck. "Ill take care of Virus."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Very nice, Prince Cheerful, but there is one problem. We have to get inside first. How do you propose we do that?"

"Youre the expert." Ash glanced at Puck, and his mouth twitched into a smirk of his own. "You tell me."

Grimalkin sighed and rose, his tail lashing his flanks. "The hope of the Nevernever," he said, eyeing each of them disdainfully. "Wait here. I will check the place out."