The sounds from before never stopped. Some days, you would hear multiple clangs. On others, maybe just one. But they all still came from the same direction: over the fence, the hill, and across the creek.

Since you had returned from her little exploration the other day, your father hadn't mentioned a word about your little adventure- not that you were aware if he knew or not. But from the way he would always be happily humming a tune in the kitchen or working in his office, you could tell that he's been in a good mood and is ultimately unaware.

So, you kept going. You kept going towards the edge of the large garden just to hear the distant sound of clanging and banging. Just to peer over the vegetation, and up the hill, towards where the sound came from.

Sometimes you'll simply stand and stare for a couple minutes in a daze, trying to catch a difference in its tone, or the slightest bit of a shift in the distance noises- just to see if she could have the slightest guess on what was going on.

"(Y/n), going out again today?" You paused by the backdoor upon hearing your father speak up from the kitchen. Looking over to him, you had to hold back the laughter that almost escaped from your mouth. The sight of cookie ingredients such as flour and raw dough smeared across his face and his pink, frilly apron wasn't exactly one you were preparing yourself for.

Quickly clearing your throat, you composed yourself. "Yeah, I just wanted to go out some more."

"Well then, I can only wonder what has your interest so much outside,"

"..." You looked to the side. Should you tell him? Would he flip out? Would he end up not letting you out for a couple of days? Although it seems way too much for a parent to do, you wouldn't put it past your father to do it. More so, you didn't want to risk lying to him, only for him to find out the truth later one.

He always seems to be able to do that.

And with the close relationship you had with your father, seeing as it is only the two of you, you wouldn't dare betray his trust in such a way.

Looking back up at him, you couldn't help but wring your hands together. "I've been, hearing some noises past the edge of the garden the past week."

Your father paused, slowly taking off the yellow rubber ducky cooking mittens before setting them on the kitchen counter.

"What kind of noises?"

"Um...some clanging and bangs? It kind of sounds like some construction going on, over the hill."

"Hmm," Your father rubbed his chin in thought. "Yeah, there might be some construction going on in the area. I wouldn't be surprised if Lamoille started expanding." He then craned his neck to the side and a few pops were heard, relief immediately painting across his face. "I'll see what kind of construction they're doing another time. Just make sure you don't go exploring it."

You couldn't help but smile in relief. "Okay! I'll be back soon!" And with that, you ran out the door and into the vegetation.

Although, you did forget to close the door behind you.

With a small chuckle, your father shook his head and walked over to slowly slide the door closed until it was but a crack away from completely closing.

He couldn't help but peer out to where you ran to, simply enjoying the thought that you were able to relax in the garden he spent years working on.

But upon seeing a light sheen of smoke drift up over the trees and into the sky, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

~~~

CLANG CLANG CLANG

There it was again! Over and over, getting louder and louder with each sound before quieting down- only to repeat itself again. This is the most noise you've heard from over the hill in the past few days, and there were some new sounds that were heard as well, ones you haven't heard of before.

If they really were doing construction, then it seemed like they were really getting down to business!

Just like the other times you've listened, the trees provided you with its shade, and the wind continued to carry the sounds of change to your ears. The surrounding weeds seemed to have grown more since last time, but the moss in between them made itself better known with the way it climbed up the trees.

In the time you've been living in Lamoille, Nevada, there hadn't been much news of new houses or buildings near where you lived, considering it was about a mile away from the first public road. Everything had been the same since you and your father moved here a few years ago and nothing new had appeared in your daily routine, but with another metallic clang in the distance and the smell of burning metal in the wind, you were tempted to truly see what was going on over the hill and pass the creek.

...

Just, one quick peak, right?

Your father hasn't said anything about how you've been lingering at the edge of the garden, so maybe since he hadn't found out about it, then he won't find out about this. And it's just once,

...right?

As if it were a mind of its own, your body took initiative: placing both your hands on the wooden post holding the metal wires before flinging you over. You stumbled for a quick second, unaware of your body able to do such a maneuver, but it was quickly put in the back of your mind as you began to run up and over the hill, through the vegetation, over the smooth stones in the creek, and up another hill.

Crouching down behind a tree at the top, you peeked around the truck only for your eyes to widen at the large clearing down before you.

This wasn't...this wasn't...

This wasn't a construction site- this was a whole battlefield!

Large, multicolored robots were fighting each other- beams of blue and red being exchanged between both sides and the familiar clangs reached your ears again as you saw a large rounded green robot practically deck a smaller purple one in the chest.

So those noises you've been hearing the past few days, the ones you thought were just sounds of construction, was actually a whole fight going on without pause.

In between the distant sound of fighting, you heard voices; multiple voices shouting back and forth, overlaying one over the other.

Never would you have thought that you would explore the edge of your father's garden, never would you have thought that you would hop over the metal wires that reached your chest- much less even knew you could have been capable to do so, and never would you have thought...

That you would dare to run closer to the battlefield, all for the sake of curiosity.

Weaving between the untamed trees and bushes, you made sure to stealthily creep closer and closer to the battle, staying out of their sight. Eventually you were close enough to where the vegetation turned to stone the closer you got to the battle, only now able to see the large opening of the cave and the familiar blue glow that you swore you had seen before. You crouched behind a large rock, perhaps a little too close for comfort, but now able to clearly hear the words coming from the more colorful robots. The sight of the large robots fighting one another definitely spiked an adrenaline rush through your veins and put you on the edge of your fight or flight response, but the questions that ran through your head kept you watching.

Was this some sort of government thing? Some sort of new secret government weapon? A testing site? A secret war maybe? If that's the case...

Your eyes widened. You had told your dad not even an hour ago about the noise. There's no doubt he would come to investigate himself just to make sure it was even safe to be near such a thing. And with this fighting going on...and if he were to come see for himself...

They'll take him away ȃ̶̠̳̠͔̙̈̿͆͒̅̀̽̊̓̈́͑̒̉̅͘̚͠g̸̨͉̮̼̗̰̲̫͖̺͎̑̃͒̏̈́͋̄̽͛̏͘̚͜͠ͅa̵̲̬̥͎̠̮͂͒̑̓͋͘͜i̷̡̛̛̹̺͈̥̼͙͓̰͉̝̻͉̰͎̽̇͆̔̃̿̃̅͑̿̄̌n̶̼̟̜͎̖̘̗̜̙̫͍̩̊͑̍̉͊̓̄͜͝͝.

What?

Aga̵̲̬̥͎̠̮͂͒̑̓͋͘͜i̷̡̛̛̹̺͈̥̼͙͓̰͉̝̻͉̰͎̽̇͆̔̃̿̃̅͑̿̄̌n̶̼̟̜͎̖̘̗̜̙̫͍̩̊͑̍̉͊̓̄͜͝͝?

A sudden pain shot through your head, and you quickly grabbed the sides of it, groaning at the unexpected feeling. But the feeling of the ground trembling before you quickly took you away from that feeling as you came face to face with one of the purple and black robots.

Ah, you forgot, it wasn't a fight or flight response anymore,

It was a fight, flight, or freeze response, and clearly, your body had made its decision as you stared straight at the weapon pointed at you with the growing purple light.

Extra:

With a small curse, your father quickly dropped the pan of chocolate cookies on top of the stove. He quickly took off the cooking mitts and blew on his burning hands, cursing at the thin material of the gloves, although refusing to get new ones simply because his only child had bought them for him on the last field trip she had been on.

Looking over at the three pans of freshly baked cookies, he couldn't help but beam in happiness upon his achievement, quickly sliding each cookie off the pan and onto a large plate where he created a small mountain. He hoped his daughter would enjoy them once she got back from exploring his garden

He then plucked one from the top of the mound and bit into it, smiling before grimacing before grabbing another and doing the same.

So good, but...

*munch*

...hOT

Note: When stressed he sometimes bakes sweets for (Y/n), although most of the time he overdoes it and ends up with extra.

Note 2: He always ends up with a stomachache afterwards due to how many he ends up eating straight out of the oven without letting it cool off first.

I wanted to finish at least a few chapters ahead before I publish one to have a steady stream of updates going but you guys have waited long enough-

I also plan to have this book done by the end of the year before moving onto the crossovers

Thank you all for being very patient with me throughout this year- it hasn't exactly been easy but for me the past couple of months but regardless, I thank you ♡