The elevator slowed as we approached Moorcroft Manor. As we came to a stop and the elevator’s fences around us dropped, the cold and stale air hit me all at once. At this point, it was familiar, but that by no means meant it was pleasant. We were smack in the middle of the manor’s lobby and reception area, a red and orange checkered carpet spread out in front and behind us. The furniture and architecure’s aesthetic was so old, and accompanied by a not  insignificant number of cobwebs, that it could be confused for being either vintage, antique, or ancient. The area was dimly lit by a series of candles fixed into the walls, creating shallow auras of purple with their colored flames. A few blue and purple gaslamps helped to light the hallways branching off to the sides. And, of course, the lobby was complete with the multiple spirits and corpses walking about. 

The “rest stop for restless spirits” too closely resembled a haunted mansion, and yet it felt much more homely than when we had first encountered it. After all, we now understood that the undead citizens were merely bored and strict on rules, not openly hostile. Despite that fact, almost nobody had been so willing to entertain the ghost or zombie residents until we stumbled across the manor a few years ago.

Before Silver, Lance, Zimthose and I had discovered the establishment, any kind of visitor would have been enough to cause quite a commotion; we sure as heck did upon our first arrival. Now that inhabitants from Haven frequented the place often enough, the manor’s residents’ reactions were much more subdued. Although, their pressure to get us to stay had only lessened slightly.

“Why hello there, Wolver Squad! Welcome back to Moorcroft Manor. Passing through or staying for eternity? We have our once-a-year bingo night next month!” The Mewkat desk clerk smiled at us from his wide desk counter towards the northern end of the lobby, the book in front of him closing despite no hands having touched it. The ghostlike, cathead-like creature was in the same spot as always, wearing his classic monocle and blood red bowtie. He lacked any limbs, so it was a mystery how he was able to put anything on, much less interact with something like a book. 

“Hey, Clerk! Working hard or hardly working?” Zimthose asked as we got close. The Mewkat simply meowed questioningly in response.

“Passing through, thanks,” I said, hurriedly leading the way to the elevators around the back of the lobby. 

“Of course! Please feel free to visit when not on business some time. We keep our position fixed in the Clockworks just for you chivalric folk, after all.”

“Of course,” Zim replied. He gestured to the desk clerk, and with a wink told him “Don’t go working yourself to death now!” before leaving.

Oh lord, this mission is gonna be one long punishment, isn’t it?

As we passed by the desk clerk’s counter, I noticed the most recent addition to the lobby was being well kept: a large, pointed tooth floating upon a gold pedestal. The Frumious Fang.

When Wolver Squad had first come across the Moorcroft Manor, we’d just slain the Snarbolax, a beast so terrifying that even undead creatures wouldn’t tread through its forest. By presenting the Manor’s desk clerk with a tooth from the beast, he agreed to let us go rather than trying to trap us for eternity. Since the manor also provided access to multiple elevators leading further in the Clockworks, we also managed to convince the clerk to fix his establishment in place so other residents from Haven might come and conduct business. As well as earning a not-likely-but-greater-than-zero chance of recruiting more residents.

I was glad to see the token of our good standing with Moorcroft being so well maintained, compared to the rest of… everything.

“That one,” Lance said, rousing me from my nostalgia. He was pointing to the elevator we needed to transfer to. It looked just like the one we’d taken in the Arcade: the third elevator to the right with a large screen containing the image of a green lion on it. 

Moorcroft Manor’s sole zombie bellhop, clad in a torn red uniform, was sluggishly moving in front of the elevators, struggling to carry a few pieces of luggage in its arms. Did someone or something just move in? If we weren’t in a hurry, we might have spent a few minutes wandering about, seeing what new residents might have arrived or what wares they were selling. Alas, time was not on our side now.

 We gave the bellhop a wide berth, gathering on the elevator once more. This time, Lance reached for the dial, turning it three times, and pulled the lever. The last thing we saw as the elevator’s fences went up was the bellhop turning to wave at us, the luggage he was carrying tumbling to the ground.

* * *

A few moments after leaving the manor, Lance spoke up.

“Well, that was enough depressing news from me during the first elevator ride. You had something to share too, right Blast?”

“Oh, great,” my brother mumbled, rolling his eyes. “More happy thoughts, I’m sure?”

“Something like that,” I said. “First off, why we delayed our departure: Rhendon asked us for a favor. And a pretty big one, at that.”

“What’s in it for us?” my brother asked, raising his hand.

“To help him,” I continued, pretending not to hear anything, “we needed to wait for the Clockworks to make its evening rotation first. Otherwise, there’s no guarantee the plan would work out.” I looked at Lance and then my brother, who still had his hand raised. Lance’s eyes betrayed a wariness, while Zimthose’s seemed a cross between determined and bored. “You’ll recall in the second briefing that some knights went missing. Well, they weren’t just any knights. They were Rhendon’s. And they go by the name Magma Squad, of the Scarlet Scouts. They’re led by a Champion knight named Nether, and I won’t go into details but he’s the real deal. The others in the squad aren’t as seasoned, but they’re still up there in capability. Rhendon is seriously concerned how a group of knights of such high caliber went missing. As such, he’s asked us to go find them immediately after capturing the data regarding Project R.” I paused, and glanced at Balldrick. He nodded, and I continued. “I’ll be blunt, from what Rhendon told me and Balldrick, Magma Squad is better than us. In most ways. So until we find out what happened to them, we need to be extra cautious. Even during the data heist.”

“Extra cautious as in, going from one mission to the next with little to no break?” Lance asked.

“Better than us as in, they go from mission to mission with no breaks on the regular?” Zimthose asked. I didn’t miss his eyes rolling as he glanced at Lance, before returning my own gaze.

“I just can’t with you two.” I facepalmed, expecting this reaction. “I get that this isn’t normal, but this whole situation isn’t to begin with. Champion knights gone missing should be a much bigger issue, but the Spiral Order is having us deal with it. Knight Elites. I worry we’re out of our depth. And personally, if we go after them tomorrow, I feel we’re only putting them in more jeopardy. While we could take some extra time, I just can’t imagine any amount of prep will put us on par with what they’re capable of.”

“And remember, we don’t have long to recover the data before it’s expected to be moved,” Balldrick interjected. “Both are time sensitive, so either we get them done now, or it’ll be too late for both the data and Magma Squad.”

Lance and Zimthose were quiet for a moment.

“I take it Rhendon was busy, if he came to us for help?” Lance asked.

“Yeah. He really wanted to go, but he’s been tasked with taking out other strategic points regarding Project R.”

“And you’re sure these guys were better than us?” my brother asked again.

““Yes”” Balldrick and I responded, our tone telling him Leave it at that. Zimthose just huffed, shrugging.

“Alright,” Lance said with a sigh. “I don’t like it, but I get it. Not like we should be too tired after grabbing the data, anyways. We’re going to be in and out without any Gremlins knowing we were there, after all. Right, Zim?”

“Damn straight! And even if they do figure it out, they won’t stand a chance with my new gear.”

Just as I was feeling relieved that they were both on board now, the elevator shuttered, slowing down as we were reaching our destination.

Alright, just like Silver used to do. Quick and to the point. Hype, but don’t oversell. With confidence, not arrogance…

“Okay Wolver Squad,” I announced, taking my shield off my back and magnetizing it to the bracer on my left forearm. “We’re almost there. Just a quick navigation through one Clockwork passage, and we’ll find the elevator leading to the next level. After that, we’ll be on our way to infiltrating the Gremlin compound, before busting a prison of theirs wide open to rescue Magma Squad. Now, let’s roll!”