Tiberius lowered his body and set his legs wide apart as a robotic bull stopped, cocked its head towards him, then turned and ran at him.
The bull's horns shone in the small amount of sunlight that spilled in from the open door. They were finely polished and razor sharp, and Tiberius made a decision very early on in the engagement to not interact directly with them.
The bull lowered its head and rushed at Tiberius, who simply turned side on and faced his shoulder to the oncoming animal. The bull struck with an immense amount of momentum.
Tiberius grit his teeth and stuck his ground, keeping his body low as the front of the bull rammed into him. He placed one arm under the bull's chest and the other on its front left leg, lifting the bull above himself and holding it vertically above his head for just a moment. He brought it down on the other side of himself, slamming it hard into the concrete floor.
The steel head of the bull bent backwards as the concrete cracked and buckled beneath the impact. The robot lay there motionless, the deep humming sound emanating from somewhere within it rapidly fading. When Tiberius was satisfied that the bull would not be getting up anytime soon, he turned to face the rest of his team.
Brianna had gained a few metres altitude, the huge warehouse space giving her just enough room to move aerially. A robotic crane stayed inches from her feet.
On the ground, Leslie ducked to the ground and dragged herself sideways to avoid an attack from a metallic puma. She pointed towards the ceiling and fired at the crane, swearing in frustration as the bullet bounced harmlessly off its chest. It looked down at her, tracing the source of the attack. Her second shot struck it right in the eye.
Leslie jumped as the puma swiped at her. It stood still for a moment, and lowered it's jaw. A small gun poked out from the back of its robotic throat.
"Shit..." Leslie said and ran.
In the air, Brianna had noticed something odd. She turned her head to look at the crane, and found it weaving wildly through the air. Sparks flew from the eye which Leslie's shot had connected with.
Brianna quickly surmised that something in the eye allowed for the robot's navigation. Which made sense, really.
She turned and moved upwards, positioning herself above the crane. She then dove down and drove herself into the robot bird's back.
Brianna kept the pressure up for a moment then let go, floating clear as the bird kept moving downwards under its own momentum.
Leslie hid herself behind a concrete pole as bullets whizzed around her.
She decided to count to three before stepping out and confronting the puma. On two, it appeared next to her anyway.
"Oh, shit," She said.
She was somewhat shocked yet relieved to see a directionless robotic crane slam into the back of the puma, destroying them both in a shower of sparks. Leslie stepped back behind the pole to shield herself, and Brianna landed next to her.
"Is that all of them?" Leslie asked.
"It would appear so," Tiberius said, approaching them both. "The building is once again silent."
"Which has me worried," Brianna said.
"Why?" Leslie asked.
"Well... where's Mxy?"
The wall at one end of the room suddenly shimmered began to part like a curtain, the steel and concrete buckling as a gap opened wider and wider in the middle of the wall.
A wooden theatrical stage was set up behind it, a full lighting rig built into the roof.
"Ta da!" Mxy said, standing on the stage with a single spotlight highlighting him. "The stage is complete!"
"And why do we need a stage?" Brianna asked.
"For the puppet show!"
The ruined bodies of the robotic animals that lay strewn around the warehouse floor all propped themselves upright at Mxy's cue, walking towards the stage and then setting themselves up on it.
"I wrote a script and everything! It's a drama. It's about coming to terms with loss and meeting a talking sheep."
"A talking sheep?" Leslie asked.
"ITS NAME IS TALKY THE SHEEP!"
"Fine. You enjoy your puppet show, Mxy. But we should look around the place," Brianna said.
"For what?" Tiberius asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Whoever left here did it in a hurry."
"What makes you say that?" Leslie asked.
Brianna raised an arm, gesturing around the room. "They didn't take everything valuable with them. They left something. Some evidence."
"What?"
"Not sure."
"Then how do you-"
Brianna cut Leslie off. "If there's nothing of value here, then what were those animals guarding?"
