Inside the tower was the pedestal they had taken the Energy Cube from. Above and all around them was a large machine with tons of cogs and wires and moving parts with the label “POWER EXTRACTION MACHINE - DO NOT TURN OFF”. The moving parts, however, were currently not moving because of the fact that there was no Energy Cube to extract power from. Next to the pedestal was a trapdoor.

“I remember this trapdoor!” said Mushpuff, opening the door and jumping down.

“Uhh…” uhh’d Klumpkrump.

“Don’t worry,” said Plagiarize, preparing to jump. “There’s a giant slice of cheese at the bottom which cushioned our fall.”

Plagiarize then jumped down, followed by Bird. Snorter was next. Then Gumpton (it was a big trapdoor) with Hoofa on top, then Klumpkrump, and finally Qaeron because he didn’t want to be left behind.

Unfortunately, there was no slice of cheese to cushion their fall anymore. But there was a Mushpuff to cushion them, and that’s all you need when jumping from any height.

After getting unpiled, the gang took a look around the place. All the lights were off, meaning they pretty much couldn’t see anything. There were a few conveyor belts suspended above them which were not moving. That’s about all they could see. Everything was super silent.

“This place is creepy, yo,” said Hoofa.

“There were lights on and conveyor belts moving last time we were here,” explained Bird. “And there was also a dragon. The conveyor belts fed him cheese and when they stopped he got really angry.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“So where’s he now?” asked Hoofa.

“No clue.”

“Let’s find him, then!” said Klumpkrump.

“Why would we want to do that?” asked Bird.

“Because if we know where the dragon is, we’ll also know where it isn’t,” she said. “The places where it isn’t is anywhere that is not where it is.”

“Genius!” said Plagiarize. “And if it attacks us, I can burn it with fire!”

“I’m not so sure that will work,” said Snorter.

“Well I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” said he, the human. “Onwards!”

Plagiarize lit the way with fire and everyone else followed him. After a whole lot of walking in a straight line, they came across a great big wall with a metal door on it.

“Yes, yes, I remember this door,” said Plagiarize, stroking his chin and/or beard maniacally.

“So do I!” said Mushpuff. “Let’s go inside! It was a smaller enclosed area, so wherever the dragon is, it won’t be behind this door. Not at all.”

Plagiarize opened the door and right behind it, breathing directly into his face, was an empty hallway. It was quite a large hallway, the size of one you might find in a school or a hallway factory. There was no dragon in sight.

“You’re a gosh darn smart one, boy,” said Plagiarize, patting Mushpuff on the back. Just then came a great rumbling. The dragon slammed into the wall as it rounded a corner in the hallway on its way to the gang. It was running on all four of its legs and just barely fit in the hallway. And it was running fast.