The dog arrow tilted towards the Repairman looking alarmed. “Um, excuse me, Mr. Sir~! But, that hallway leads to Smithy’s room~! Bowyetta would not want to go there~”

“But then where is she?” Beepsumu asked.

The dog arrow looked around. “Just think~ Bowyetta would want to go somewhere she can hide~ Somewhere she can go unnoticed~” The dog arrow pointed itself in the opposite direction. “Down there is where Bowyetta’s kind are made and stored~ If she remembers this place as well as I do, she’ll be in there~”

Beepsumu looked around. “What do we do? Bowyetta is in there, but the house isn’t… And if we go after the house we might run into Smithy… Anyone have an idea?”

“Wait, so your house is at Smithy’s?” the Repairman asked incredulously. “As in, the guy we’re trying to get away from?”

He covered his eyes with one hand. Somehow, he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“All right,” he sighed, “we should probably split up. Someone needs to find Bowyetta, and someone needs to make sure your teleporting house is okay.”

He looked back at the group, wondering what they thought.

Beepsumu pulled Bowyetta and Jingletooth towards the wall, and Bonkakira followed. In the distance, they could hear what sounded like two people laughing and talking very loudly.

“HA! That really DOES look like Smithy!” Said one of the voices.

“Huh. Maybe I’ll grow a beard myself.”

“What, you? You know we can’t do that, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“WE’RE MADE OF METAL, YOU DOLT!!”

Before the two voices approached, Bowyetta whispered to the group. “Do not be moving at all. Bowyetta is recognizing those voices.”

Two figures approached the group, one red and one blue. They were mechanical just like everyone else in the factory, but rather than being some sort of weapon like the others, they seemed to be made of armor.

The blue was the first to notice the group. “Hey! Turn that light off!”

The two approached the group. “What the heck are THESE things?”

The blue one “shrugged”. “New models, maybe?”

The red one inspected Jingletooth’s face closely. “This one’s kinda ugly. And doesn’t look much good at fighting either.”

The blue one took a look at Beepsumu. “What’s this one supposed to be, a walking TV?” Beepsumu’s frown turned more pointed than before. Of course, her technology was a bit dated, but she wasn’t exactly from this era, and in her time she would’ve been considered superior… She wanted to say something, but saw the look that Bowyetta was giving her.

Speaking of Bowyetta, it was her turn for an inspection. “You! Bowyer!” The red one barked at her. She twitched slightly at his voice, then stepped forward. It had been a long time since she had been spoken to like this… “Come on, we don’t have all day. Show us what you’re made for!”

Bowyetta produced an arrow from her hair and loaded it into her body. As much as she wanted to burn the place down, she also didn’t want to give them away, for fear they would be thrown into the furnace. “Hurry up!” The blue one yelled at her, startling her so much that she fired the arrow off anyway. It did not ignite, but left a very visible blue streak on her body.

The red one sighed. “Well, what are we supposed to do with these things?”

“I have no idea. I think they might be broken.”

While the two armor-suits were debating what to do with the group, the dog-arrow from before spoke up: “Run, my dear Bowyetta~! Run while they’re distracted~! Do not worry about me~!”

“Come on, let’s sneak away while they’re not looking at us,” Beepsumu whispered to the group.

As soon as he was called out, the Repairman grunted, trying to cover the light, with little success. Still, they seemed too busy looking at the others to notice. The Repairman found himself so wrapped up in trying to hide his siren light that he completely failed to notice his companions being casually insulted. That is, until one of them shouted for a Bowyer.

He watched as Bowyetta emerged and shot one of her arrows from before. Wait, what was that? “Broken”? “Run”?

Uh oh.

He looked around. It looked like the guards weren’t paying attention, so if he just crept past them and back towards the house…

Still, he worried a bit about the weird arrow thing. He pulled out a piece of flint and threw it the other way, in the hopes that it would distract the guards long enough to help the guy.

Jingletooth eyed him oddly as she spoke. “Spackledorf NEVER comes with me anywhere!” she complained. “But SOMEONE has to keep the house from BURNING!”

“Please to be keeping your voices down,” whispered Bowyetta. “we are approaching a more dangerous area.”

Bowyetta wasn’t kidding before. The next room was slightly hotter than the the last. Bonkakira was quick to complain about it. “Bonkakira doesn’t do so well with heat.”

Bowyetta was too busy staring at something to comment. The walls in this room were lined with rows of mechanical monstrosities, some of them resembling Bowyetta herself, complete with a wide, sharp-toothed mouth. However, none of them looked exactly like Bowyetta, in fact they were even more unsettling than she was. Bowyetta’s “lip” twitched slightly. “Prefect they are being,” was the only thing she could say.

As she stared, she began to get an idea. “Bowyetta is wondering how well they are burning…” She broke into another of her smiles, but this one wasn’t cheerful or friendly. She knew that she shouldn’t be doing this, but now that she was no longer bound by Smithy’s rules she didn’t exactly care either. Not to mention, she was still a Bowyer, and she had quite a strong instinct for causing destruction.

However, her thoughts were interrupted by Beepsumu. “Ack! Someone’s coming! We have to hide!”

The fact that they were now in a castle somehow made Jingletooth’s inflections less strange. The Repairman nodded. At least the house would…hopefully be in one piece as they got back.

A small amount of mist slowly rose off of the Repairman as they entered the next room. He couldn’t see what Bonkakira was complaining about; this was nice, relaxing, cleansing…

Distracting was what it was, he thought as he mentally shook himself. Almost as distracting as Bowyetta right now…

He thought it best to step back a bit as he heard her remarks about these other…metal…plant…things. Wouldn’t want to be collateral damage, and he doubted he could stop her right now anyway.

Especially since someone was coming.

Looking around, he found an empty space in the line of creatures on the wall and went to it. He struck a hieroglyphic pose, and effectively froze.

Well, his siren light was still blinking. But hopefully, whoever was coming wasn’t paying much attention…

Beepsumu realized what he was doing, and she led the rest of the group out of hiding. “Y-yeah, he sure will!” she said. “Gosh, it wasn’t easy finding that thing was it? It’s a good thing we met those cute little cats who were so willing to help us.”

Axem Red drew his axe as he stopped the group. “Hold it! Who the heck are you?”

Beepsumu answered him. “Come on, Red, don’t tell me you don’t remember us?”

Red paused for a moment, before turning to Green. “Yo, Green! Do you know these guys?”

Axem Green gave the group a quick look. “Um, no. Maybe they’re new models or something?”

Red turned back to the group. “Uh… Of course I know who you are! Just… remind me what you were doing, okay?”

Beepsumu continued her act. “We’ve just returned from a strange and dangerous dimension. We were sent there to retrieve this EXTREMELY rare artifact from an island in the south seas.”

Axem Black finally spoke up. “What does Smithy want with that old thing? It look like a piece of junk to me!”

Bowyetta’s expression turned stern, and, hoping they wouldn’t notice her odd speech pattern, she said “Do not be questioning of Smithy. This is not looking much, but is being extremely powerful. We must be personally delivering it to him right away.”

The Axems looked at each other for a minute, before moving out of the way. “Alright.” said Red. “But make it quick! If we waste any more time we’re gonna be in even bigger trouble!”

As the group hurried inside the Factory, they could hear Axem Pink call to them, “And you better hurry! You already look like you’re starting to rust!”

 “Can’t believe they actually fell for that,” Beepsumu muttered as she took a look around. While the interior of the Factory wasn’t much different from the outside, it was much warmer without the pounding rain. There was also a strong smell hanging in the air, a mixture of smoke and metal and fire. Bonkakira crinkled her nose at it, and even Beepsumu seemed bothered by it. Bowyetta didn’t seem to mind at all, however. “So, Bowyetta, is there anything else we need to watch out for?”

“Let Bowyetta to think… Bowyetta is not knowing where the house is being. But, she is knowing one thing. As we are going in, it is going to be getting hot. And it is going to be getting loud. Is this being a problem for anyone?”

The Repairman nodded vigorously at the “new model” suggestion. Sure, that sounded right.

“Piece of junk? I’ll have you know–” was what he was about to say, until Bowyetta gave a response that was probably better.

He didn’t waste any time getting into the dry, dry castle. Almost immediately, he got back into his normal, blobby form. He sighed in relief. Like Bowyetta, he wasn’t too bothered by the smell, but it was unusual for him.

“I honestly expected them to try and take it,” the Repairman admitted. “Apparently they were a little smarter than that.”

He listened to Bowyetta, and then replied, “I might evaporate, but that’s not as bad as dissolving. I’ll be fine.”

 He paused.

“Wait a minute,” he said, looking at Jingletooth, “Who is that Spackledorf guy you mentioned? And why didn’t he come with us?”

Bowyetta looked worried again. “Bowyetta is unsure. But, we are nearly getting there. We are only having to walking a little further bit. But… We are having to be getting past them…”

Bowyetta pointed out five figures near the entrance of the castle. They were more brightly colored than the rest of the world around them, and were carrying what looked to be small axes.

Bowyetta now began to speak in a whisper. “Please to be keeping your voices downed. Those are being the Axem Rangers. At least, Bowyetta is thinking they are. There are being hundreds of us, so Bowyetta is uncertain if it is really being them. But, Bowyetta is remembering they were being much incompetent…”

Axem Yellow spoke up. “Hey, Red… How long do we have to stand here?”

“What does it matter?” Red replied. “This is our punishment for what happened in the volcano! If it wasn’t for you DIMWITS, we would’ve gotten away!”

Axem Green sniffled a bit. “But, we’ve been standing out here for hours now, and I think I’ve got a cold…”

“You can’t even GET a cold! You’re made of metal!”

Then it was Axem Pink’s turn to speak. “Just because we can’t get sick doesn’t mean we can’t rust! I think I’m starting to get rusty!”

Red’s irritation was growing. “Would you all just stop complaining?”

“W-whoa, calm down, Red,” Green said, “Y-you look like your head’s about to explode! He really does look like a volcano…”

Red finally snapped at them. “SHUT UP ALREADY!! Someone could’ve gotten in in the time you spent whining! We’ve gonna get chewed out if something happens, so get back to your posts! And don’t say another word!”

Beepsumu turned back to the group. “Well, everyone?” she whispered. “Got any ideas on how we can get by them?”

The Repairman watched the Axems bicker amongst themselves. He’d seen these kinds of henchmen (and henchwoman) before. Bumbling and pretty easy to trick, which made them entertaining to the other side.

He dug through his recently-limited hammerspace and pulled out his paddleball. He sighed; it wasn’t much, but he would have to hope he could convince them…

“I think I could do something,” he whispered to everyone else. “Just follow my lead.”

He began sauntering up to the entrance.

“I’m glad we found the thing Smithy was looking for…!” he loudly exclaimed, obviously acting. He began waving the paddleball around. “I bet he’ll be so pleased to know that we found this, right?”

The dog arrow quickly produced an umbrella from Bowyetta’s hair. “Um, this is all she has,” it said, handing the umbrella to the Repairman. “Sorry, it’s kind of big, it’s more sized for Bowyetta, but…”

Bowyetta made a face. “Bowyetta is disliking being in rain, but you are needing it more than she is… The castle is being much closer than it is looking. But please take caution not to be falling. The ground is very much slippery here. And…” She stopped herself there.

“And what?” asked Beepsumu.

“Bowyetta is not being the only one of her kind,” Bowyetta replied. “There are being many others, Bowyetta is unsure how many. But, we must take much care to making sure we are not spotted.” As she spoke, she pointed out the various conveyors and machinery scattered around. “They are coming from the factory at all timings. Please be letting us to hurry.”

“T-thank you,” the Repairman said, grateful to have some relief. Not having water pounding on to him had a profound effect. While still not comfortable, he wasn’t melting nearly as fast as before, and could stand upright far more easily.

“Don’t worry,” he assured Bowyetta, “I can’t exactly trip.”

He began moving towards the castle again, but stopped. The umbrella was a little big, and the others did need to get out of the rain too (if only so their disguises would stay put)…

He handed it to Bowyetta, making sure to stay as close to her as possible while doing so. He didn’t need to get into the rain again.

“How many of us do you think would fit under this umbrella?” he asked, hastily. “Hurrying’s important, but your paint’s still gonna fall off…”

Beepsumu spoke up, and she seemed just as panicked as Bowyetta. “This is what I was telling you about! Our house acts as a gateway between dimensions… But I don’t know where she took us!”

After about 25 seconds, the group found themselves dropped into a dimension they had never seen before. The sky was extremely dark, and rain was pouring down nonstop. The ground seemed to be made completely of metal, and there was some sort of castle off in the distance.

“Owww…” Beepsumu sat up, and she looked around. “Where the hell are we? And where’s the house?”

Bowyetta spoke up then, and she seemed to be in a panic. “N-not good! Not good we be here! Smithy is very much disliking intruders! We must be making our exit fast!”

Beepsumu stood up, and helped Bowyetta up as well. “Wait, Bowyetta, do you mean…” She glared at Jingletooth. “Why did you HAVE to send us HERE?!”

Jingletooth turned her head. “My finger… SLIPPED on the BUTTON!”

Bowyetta turned toward the building in the distance. “This is being Smithy’s Factory. Bowyetta is not knowing where the house is being, but she is knowing we must finding it fast, or…”

Bonkakira was the next to say something. “Bonkakira fears the house may be inside the factory.”

Even when Beepsumu looked shocked, her mouth was oddly triangular. “What?! How are we gonna get in there?!”

As Beepsumu spoke, something stuck its head out of Bowyetta’s hair. it was shaped like an arrow, but had a face like a dog. “Oh, oh! We’ve been listening this whole time!” It said. “And we think we have an idea!”

“Wait, the whole HOUSE?!” the Repairman shouted, shocked. And to think all he had to do was move from point A to point B.

He didn’t have time to ask more (and he wouldn’t have heard a reply over the rising din anyway), as he suddenly fell and landed on a metal surface with a splat! He tried to pull himself together, but was finding it harder than usual. Ugh. Must be raining.

He tried to reach for his cart, only to find that it was still in the house. He muttered a small “uh-oh.”

Desperately, he looked in his personal hammerspace. A pair of earbuds, three small pieces of flint, a paddleball, and a vinyl record of polka music came out, but no umbrella or poncho.

This wasn’t good. The downpour was making it harder and harder to keep his form. As much as he hated to do it, he held the record above him. It would have to do.

He turned to the others.

“Wait, this is Smithy’s?” If this guy was as bad as Bowyetta said, then yeah, they had better hurry.

He wasn’t as angry as Beepsumu was (most Toon scientists have days like this), but he still glared at Jingletooth.

“Bonkakira’s right,” he sighed, tapping his still-active siren light. “It’s in that castle.”

He jumped as well as he could with a wet floor as some arrow-dog thing popped out of Bowyetta’s hair.

Well, this day was full of surprises.

“…And what would this idea be?” he asked, evenly. Might as well; small and plucky guys often come up with pretty good ideas.