//------------------------------//
// Enter Tartus 
// Story: The Mighty Machines 
// by Epicdiscord214 
//------------------------------//

Meanwhile, Creeper flew across barren fields with his map.
"According to this," he said observing the map, "The place should be right around..."
Suddenly, Creeper hit something large and metal. He creeped away from it and saw a gigantic wall made of steel. He looked and saw a metal mansion the size of a city block.
"How'd I miss that?"
Creeper was about to approach the door when he heard bird screeches. He stood paralyzed and rolled his eyes looking up. He saw three vulture silhouettes circling above him. They landed around him. One vulture had a scar over his eye, another had a crack on his beak, and the last one had a large body. But the most noticeable part about these vultures was their green feathers. Their bodies were covered with a bright shade of green.
"Well, well, well." the green vulture with the scar said. "Hey, Leaf, what do you think this little morsel is?"
"I don't know, Emerald." the vulture with the cracked beak said. He turned to the big one. "What do you think, Verde?"
"What's think?" the big one asked.
"Now... hold on." Creeper said nervously. "Do you know who I am?'
"Why, did you forget?" Leaf asked.
"I know who you are." Emerald said licking his beak. "You're brunch!" The birds started to get closer to him. Creeper thought of flying away, but he knew they were too big for him to escape. "I sure am hungry for dragon wings. Did you know they taste like chicken wings?"
"I've... heard." Creeper said.
"Chow time!" Emerald shouted.
They were about to strike down, but three stones hit them on the sides of their heads. Creeper looked and a fourth green vulture flew down. There weren't any distinguishing features on this one, but it was clear it was a female.
"What are you idiots doing?!"
"Jade, we were about to have a snack." Leaf said.
"Well, cut it out!" Jade shouted. "Obviously, you bird-brains don't read up on the news. This is Creeper, and he has a very high position in Kul'as' empire. If you eat him, then Kul'as will make us pay! So keep your beaks to yourself!"
"Oh, come on." Emerald said. "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinkin' days!"
"Well, it's your fault for messing up the master's experiment, Emerald!" Jade shouted. She then turned to the little dragon. "Do forgive them. They're just idiots."
"Uh... thanks." Creeper said. "Anyway, Kul'as sent me. I have a message for your master."
"Is that so?" Jade asked. "Well, follow us and we'll take you to him."
Creeper wasn't so sure how it would turn out, but he had no choice. The vultures opened the door and they all wend it witnessing what happens in there. There were conveyer belts covered with spare parts and little, metal men at the sides putting the parts together.
"Welcome to Nightmare Labs." Jade said. "Here, we provide the most dangerous and most liable for disaster."
"Well, how come Lord Kul'as only heard of this place now?" Creeper asked.
"Maybe we've got a bad agent." Leaf replied.
"As you may have guessed," Jade continued, "We're not ordinary vultures. We call ourselves Greengear, and our master created us out of his very personalities. While the boys have strength, speed, and ambition, I am gifted with the master's logic and reason."
Creeper looked ahead of the group and saw a human teenager slouching in the corner in front of them. His black hair was slightly greasy, but brushed fine. He also had a black hoodie with a gray skull printed on it.
"What about him?" Creeper asked.
Jade looked at the teenager. "Oh, him? That's just the master's son. He's a bit of rebel." They stopped when they reached the boy. "Hey, Scimitar, we have a visitor for your dad."
The teen sighed heavily and pointed. "He's in his lab working on his arms. You dunces will find him there."
"Thank you, boy." Jade said.
"Arms?" Creeper thought to himself. "Wait; dunces?"
Greengear and Creeper walked down the hall and found a big door. They opened it and saw an entire room full of floating platforms covered with lab equipment. At the bottom platform, there was a figure humming to himself. He had one long, metal arm attached to his side and another arm laying on the table in front of him. It was open with its wires and internal parts that he tinkered with. When he was done, he closed the hatch and reattached the arm on his side.
The man then turned revealing the rest of his body. He had an unbelievably thin figure with only his head revealed. It was about the normal size of a human head, but his left eye was clearly robotic. It had a red glow that clashed with his green, thin hair. He didn't notice Greengear at his door and he slashed the air around him while humming.
"...the most of freedom and of pleasure. Nothing ever lasts forever. Everybody wants to rule the..."
"Master." Jade interrupted making the guy jump. "Sorry for interrupting you when you're working, but you have a visitor and..."
"Jade." the skinny man said turning his robotic eye in her direction. "Do you remember the last time a vulture came into this office without permission?"
"Y-Yeah." Jade answered nervously. "Emerald almost lost his tail feathers."
"Exactly." the cyborg said scraping his metal claws on the table keeping them sharp. The other vultures ducked behind each other shaking in fear. "Now, I know you're the rational one, so I'm going to give you a chance to explain yourself. If I don't like your answer, you're going to wish that I had boiled your egg when I had the chance!"
"It's the dragon, Master Tartus!" Jade panicked pointing at Creeper. "Kul'as sent him! Something about a message!"
Tartus rotated his real and metal eyes toward his tiny visitor. "Kul'as, eh?" Suddenly, he zipped down and grabbed Creeper's hand. He shook it (and Creeper) really hard up and down with a big smile on his face. Even when he's moving really fast, he doesn't let his body seen. He just kept his cloak sealed. "It's so exciting to have someone in his inner circle in my humble abode! I'm such a fan of his methods! All the mayhem and carnage is really inspired!" He stopped shaking and Creeper felt dizzy. "Sorry about the mess in my lab. I wasn't really expecting visitors."
"It's all right." Creeper said shaking back to sense. "So... Tartus, is it?"
"Yes, that's me." Tartus said. "So what brings one of Kul'as' top followers to my labs?"
"Well," Creeper replied, "We've recently 'lost' our top scientist and we've heard you're a pretty decent nerd yourself, so we're looking to hire you. We can discuss the pay rate all day if we have..."
"I'm in!" Tartus declared leaving Creeper confused.
"But... we didn't discuss your salary." Creeper said.
"Give me nothing for all I care." Tartus said. "All I ask for is the chance to work for a big name like Kul'as."
"Well... okay." Creeper said. "I'll tell Lord Kul'as to expect you tomorrow."
"Thank you!" Tartus said. He opened a window and motioned for Creeper's exit. "I'll have my drones pack the equipment and tell my son we're moving to the big leagues. Don't worry, Creeper. With me by your side, no one will mess with you again. Not Arcanus, and definitely not those meddling wirewolves."
Creeper opened up his wings and flew out the window. He was already half a mile away from the creepy lab when he stopped thought to himself, "When did I mention the wirewolves?"