Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia or any of the references made.

Summary: All he could see was darkness, the dark abyss to his right, the infinite void to his left. Nothing but the dark, cold grasp of death to his back and the smile of death itself in front. Was it a dream? Was it a vision? He didn't know, what was important now was that he had to help his sister, dammit.

Reminder: Everything is planned, if you don't like where I'm going then you're free to leave whenever you want.

-This is Fanfiction, anything could happen.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Hello... my... precious..." Hikari immediately placed K-Sha in her arms, her mind basically screaming 'Stranger Danger!' and 'Fuck this shit, I'm out!' she completely ignored the latter by the way. She wasn't a pussy. The woman in front of them smiled kindly underneath that inconspicuous robe of hers and Hikari felt immense power underneath her four foot frame. The woman coughed, "Gah, really need to lay off on the crackers. They mess with you're voice I tell ya."

"O-Okay?" She cautiously said, "Who are you?!"

"Oh you don't need to worry about that," Her blue orbs basically screamed, 'Try me bitch,' "If you'd be so kind, would you hand me that darling over there?"

Hikari took a step back.

The woman took a step forward.

Hikari's arm began leaking lightning.

Behind the woman summoned blue flaming wisps.

Both of their eyes narrowed.

K-Sha went unconscious from the lack of air... she went completely unnoticed.

"..."

"..."

Hikari darted to the alley ways, K-Sha in her arms, like hell she'll let this woman take a defenseless and cute girl! She forced her legs to carry her weight, darting from corner to corner, jumping from boxes to boxes, doing all she can to try to lose this woman as her lightning erased her footsteps. How that worked, she didn't know. It just did, so who was she to complain? Ass-Pulls rule...

She glanced back and smirked, no woman in sight. Did she lose her? Heck yeah! That was the first significant thing she helped with! "Take th- ow!"

Hikari rubbed her head and glared at the 'wall' she bumped into. "H-How?!"

"Young woman, you..." She panted, "Are in so..." More panting, "Much trouble...!"

"God of Lightning, grant me thy aid! [Judgement Bolt]!" The woman's eyes widened at her immediate response, "Turn thy enemies to ashes, [Burning Will]!"

Her opponent covered herself in her robe and a pillar of Gaia rose to protect her from the dual magic, the lightning pierced the arm of Gaia while the flames danced around the hole made by it and their escape. Hikari turned back and began running once more. The woman groaned and wiped the arcs of electricity and growled audibly. "That kid is really pissing me off!"

She chuckled, her blue orbs glinted maliciously, "You shouldn't have done that. "

With that, she gave chase.

Leaving the three dead bodies behind her.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"No... no, no, no, no, no! This... This wasn't supposed to happen!" The shiny lilac haired girl sobbed, "I'm so, so sorry!"

"Hehe... hehe," Scath let out a bloody chuckle and wiped her tears, "Don't cry... I'm... not... worth it..."

The world around them crumbled, the building they hid in fading, the floor... evaporating. They were leaning against the wall with him clutching his bloodied chest, his weapon which he bought from the store and had learned to love as he did with his last one, shattered and used to block the door. The sounds of guns, blades and arrows hitting the metallic door only meant one thing... one, detestable, thing.

His sisters, his friends... failed... they breached their defense.

"Please you two, this is not the time!" Histoire cried, sending another wave of magic against her own, formerly beloved, people. "You must reach our innermost chambers! Scath, I will let you turn completely just this once with the power given to me by you're Master. So please, protect Nepgear, and [?] from happening!"

Nepgear's eyes widened, "You can't! Histoire you know what'll happen if he turns completely! We don't have enough CPUs to stop him, they..." The sight of Uni's bloodied smile she gave them as the life faded away from her eyes, "They..." The memory of the twin's bloodied clothes, "T-They..." The... memory of her own sister laying down her life with her usual, albeit bloodied smile, "They... aren't here anymore."

"And they will never be if we do not act!" She snapped, "Hurry Scath, we must not wait any more, all of our lines of defenses have fallen and I'm afraid that I do not have the power, or the heart, to last any longer..."

Still, the former Candidate shook her head and caressed the head of the guardian. Scath had his eyes covered and slowly nodded, "Nepgear..."

"Scath! I'm so sorry! Please believe me, I didn't meant to shoot you!" She sobbed, "I-I-!"

"Stop," He pushed himself up, the wind picking up and his form emanating a ethereal green light, "I..." His eyes shifted, "I... I'm going to hold them back, Histoire, go with her. She needs you more than I do."

"What?! N-No! You can't!"

The Tome nodded and dragged the reluctant Candidate down the hall, her screaming for her to stop all the while.

Scath sighed sadly and slid into a stance, his hands pocketed. "Now then... come at me!"

Both two doors broke open and came flooding the angry citizens and warriors carrying a whole assortment of weapons ranging from guns, to swords, to pitchforks and charged the still Guild Member. From the pile of bodies came a bright jade light, and a roar of power, then silence... the slaughter may now commence.

Limit: 5 Minutes.

A bloodied grin spread across his face, his now larger than average teeth in full shine...

"Let the games... begin...!"

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Ha...!" The hooded figure gasped as she grasped her chest, "What... why...?"

"Yo, lady? You alright?" Hikari asked, "Geez, you look like you need a rest and lay off on the make-up, it suits you, but I doubt it does you anything good cause... you know."

The lady's eyes widened, "Y-You...!" 'T-Then that means... he's near... and... I'm too late,' "I-If it's not too suspicious, did you have a little kid with you a little while ago?"

Hikari tilted her head, "Yeah, but she got kidnapped, I'mm'a heading to get my friends so we can save her!"

'So it is true...' "I was just curious, I'm sorry to be a bother," She bowed, "I'll be taking my leave."

The brown haired woman scratched her chin, "Huh... she was weir- gah! I forgot! Gotta find Aishi! Gotta find Aishi! Gotta find Cave! Gotta Find Cave! Gotta find those barely covered boobies!" She froze, "Wait, just gotta find Aishi, Scath told me I should go to her house. That's what he told me, I shouldn't get distracted."

She repeated that to focus, there was literally a lot of things in this suspicious alley that could draw her attention. Like for example, the gang fight happening a few blocks away, or the gang right in front of her, or the man right behind her, or the arms that- wait! "Ah! Let go!"

"Hehehehe," Eww, fat man alert, "Look what we have here?"

The one in the front, the assumed leader, frowned, "Halmond... how many times have I told you, don't try shit like this on my turf." Despite the situation, she found the time to inspect the man. If the fact that he wasn't full of scars, rugged and smelly as hell, wasn't surprising enough. He was also a pretty boy older than her with a rather intimidating looking pistol on his hip, lower from that was a holster that contained a knife.

He had pastel green hair, odd-grey skin and sapphire red eyes with pointed ears. With clothes he had a big grey jacket with same colored baggy pants and black combat boots and he had a spiked collar and grey gloves with red for the palms.

This guy really liked grey it seems, almost a bit much, which she immediately pointed out. "You wear too much of one color."

The man raised his brow, "Huh? You're awfully an odd girl, don't ya realize you're situation?"

The man behind her grinned, "Yeah, girly, ignore the stupid rat," The guy up front's eye twitched, "And how 'bout you hang with a guy like handsome ole me,"

"...[Hedgehog]," She blankly announced.

Like it's namesake, she enveloped her back with spiked purple lightning, both pushing and shocking the man at back. With the one in front now gaping at her casual show of magic, she kicked the twitching man a few times on the chest just because. "I don't want to 'hang' with you, you creepy old pedo!"

"...Was that magic?" The one on front gaped, "H-Hey, answer me!"

She crossed her arms, "Yeah? So what, I'm a Member of the Leanbox Guild Branch... I feel like I said that a bit differently like, a few chapters ago, wait a minute, did I even say it?"

"Chapters? Boss is this woman high?" The leader shushed his men.

The leader crossed his arms, "The name's Len and I'm interested in you,"

Hikari crossed her arms, "Well I'm not interested in you,"

He blinked, "Eh? Oh, I didn't mean it like that, your magic... it makes me curious,"

"Can't you just ask someone to teach you?" She shocked the downed man for good measure, "That's what I did,"

Len shook his head, "No, I'm... kinda infamous... listen, have you ever heard of the gang, Cold Steel?"

"Nope, Never heard of it, Nada, Zilch, Nein." Len shook his head with a small chuckle, "So I guess it's just a group of thugs? Some, lowlife no good riff-rafts?"

'This girl's pissing me off a bit,' Len's eye twitched as he calmed his men down with a wave of his hand, "If you want to go with what the world thinks of us, then yeah."

"That's so cool!" Personal space woman, know of it? "I mean, it's not cool to do bad things, but it's so cool you don't have to follow jack shit!"

He puffed out his chest, "Well, I don't like ta brag, but we're one of the strongest and most influential gangs in all of Gamindustri.. and she's gone, she's a rather rude one ain't she?"

"She did look a bit... paranoid, like she was waiting for something to jump her and take her away." The man behind him, Chuck, the typical afro haired man with a gun, chuckled, "And well boss, you were going to start your hour long monologue, last time that happened we lost 99% of our gang... I'm the only one left of Cold Steel sir,"

Len scratched his head, "Really? Man, that sucks, no wonder she didn't know us... how long ago did that happen again?"

"Four years, same time as that Guild Member hoping was kidnapped," Chuck sighed, "You expended the last 1% on saving her with that strange partner of hers and thus, I'm the only one left... cause I couldn't go... cause I was fapping... to anime ass and titties..."

"You are one perverted bastard," Len muttered.

"Heh," Chuck chuckled, "Takes one to know one, eh boss?"

He nudged him, "Shut it."

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Are you sure we should push on?" Uni glanced at the exhausted man, he didn't show any severe external wounds but Celestia above, she could just hear his bones shatter with every step. It didn't help that he winced every time too, "You... look like you need it,"

Scath just grunted and adjusted the sleeping women on his back, "..."

"C-Come on, talk to me..." Uni shifted her load, the lesbian woman known as Red... or so he said, "Y-You're making me really uncomfortable here..."

He stopped.

"What is it?" She looked at where he was looking and involuntarily took a step back, "O-Oh my..."

He began walking again.

"H-Hey! You can't be serious, at you're condition?!" He didn't stop, "Argh! Why do I even care?! Hold up I'm going to cover for you, but you better not get in my way!"

"...Wouldn't dream of it," He smirked, "...I'm counting on you."

"Please, I'm the CPU Candidate of Lastation." She smirked, "Still, their numbers are annoying. I guess I'll clean them out a bit for you."

"Much appreciated," He laid the three unconscious woman by Uni's side and took out his halberd, "Now then, sorry if I'm more of a burden than an asset. I'm, ah, a bit injured."

Total Targets: 53.

Allies: Uni, CPU Candidate of Lastation, acquaintance.

Personal Status: Severely Injured.

Estimated Time in Combat before forced withdrawal: 2 Minutes.

"This is gonna be tough," He frowned, "No mana... hey, do you have limited bullets?"

A nod was his answer.

"How many rounds do you have?"

"Why do I have to answer you?" She narrowed her eyes, "Just get to killing,"

"Just checking," He didn't really trust guns, were they useful? Yes. Were they cheap? Hell no. Were they reliable? Depends on the ammunition, "...Mmn..."

"Are you sure you should fight? Its not like I care or anything, but I'm more than enough for these creeps," He shook his head and ran forward, wincing every step of the way, "Fine! Ignore me why don't ya! You wanna die that badly?!"

"Nope!" He felt a smile rise up to his face as he cut yet another monster in half. Remaining targets: 52. "Why don't you get unloading that clip? I can only fight for so long!"

"Oh don't you order me around!" She growled, "How about this?!"

One down, two down, thre- no wait, seven- nine. This girl was a sniper, no doubt. Just a few minutes later they already killed over half of them, with the remaining numbering to a mere 13. Scath rose to continue but his body wouldn't allow him, so he leaned against the nearest tree and watched as Uni unloaded her clip into these beasts... damn, his pride hurts.

"Hah! How's that?" She smirked, "Huh? Hey Scath, the heck did you go?"

Oh, there he was. Right in the middle of a cluster hell of fading monsters. The young man was looking at something, Uni was curious so she pushed a couple of bodies away and saw that he was pushing his hand into a monster's split open body and pulled something bright and red. "The hell's that?"

"Hm, imagine our luck," He was grinning, "This here, my fair and lovely lady, is Hematite."

"W-What? But it's so tiny!" He gave her a dry look, "You don't mean, all Hematite are this tiny?! Geez, no wonder Kei wanted this stuff so badly... also the way you did it was kinda gross, don't ever do that again. Ever."

He pocketed it, "This should do nicely," When he noticed her look, he pointed to the cleanly made cut, "My kill, my loot. That's how life works my lady."

Uni inspected the body for any bullet wounds and frowned, there was none, which meant he wasn't lying. The Candidate looked up and saw the man pick up the three unconscious women, "We heading out already? You should rest for a bit," 'That way I can find out if I got some Hematite as well...'

Scath shook his head, "No, the sooner we can get to the Capital the better. No need to risk them in case more monsters attack us,"

'Drat,' She sighed, "Fine, don't blame me if you get hurt."

Scath smirked, "Don't worry so much, I'm not a Guild Member just because I know how to swing a weapon."

"Huh? Who the hell said I was worried? I'm not worried, why would you think I was worried?" She huffed, "Don't make assumptions, you're not important enough."

He shrugged, "My apologies,"

Uni scoffed and picked up Red with a bit of effort, woman may be small but she was heavier than she looked.

Beyond some more monsters, nothing eventful really happened. Which made talking a little awkward as Scath didn't say anything unless talked to and Uni was... Uni, she was busy looking for monsters to get rid of the uncomfortable silence. She glanced at the man and saw that he was walking a little straighter... he shouldn't drink so much Nep Bulls in such a short amount of time, it might have some negatives.

"...Uni," What a surprise, he was the one to start, "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot,"

"Heh," He snorted, "Then don't mind if I do... what were you doing out of the Capital at this time of night?"

"Nothing much, just the usual patrols." She said, "You'd be surprised by how much people get lost these days, it's hard at times, since they don't trust a girl with my appearance."

"You do look like a kid," Scath ducked to avoid being shot, "Hey! I could've died!"

"But you didn't," She placed her side-arm back, "So, quit whining."

The young man lightly glared at the back of her head, he wasn't whining dammit, he was overacting. Get it right... on the other hand, Nepgear was stirring awake. By the rate of her body's moving, she'd wake up around the time they'd enter the Capital. "The one on my back's starting to wake up."

'Crap, Nepgear.' "Is that so? Good good you then," She said, 'I need to find an excuse! I'm not mentally prepared!'

..."You alright? You have a resting bitch face right now," ...So that was five bullets? "The hell's wrong with you?! That's a literal term!"

Once again, she put away her side-arm with a twitching face, "The way you said it made it sound otherwise," Here comes the gates, "I have something else to do, can you handle them by yourself?"

He glared at her lightly as he checked the ones behind him if they were hit, once he was sure they weren't he turned to her, "Stick with me until I can lay them down somewhere, or at least until Nepgear wakes up, my back's feeling like needle hell right now."

"You are carrying three girls on you're back, lucky you," She smirked, "Most people would give an arm or a leg to be in your shoes,"

'...Deja vu?' The Guild Member grunted, "Yeah, well I think they won't cause these girls are heavier than they look."

"You can't really complain though," She smirked, "I bet you're having the time of your life right now."

"Right," He grunted, "Let's go with that..."

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Watch out!" Scath pushed the unsuspecting Nepgear away from the scary looking monster, it was a... a... what does sister call them agai- oh right, a Fenrir-Class monster. The shiny looking woman groaned at her place on the ground, once she got her bearing back she pouted at the rather sudden shove from the young man. That is, until she saw what he shoved her from.

"W-What the goodness?!" She quickly summoned her weapon and charged the monster, wincing as she got herself splashed in its blood accidentally. She glanced at the unconscious form of the one that probably saved her and winced, she had to end this quick, the amount of blood out of his body was... warrant for worry. Once she killed the monster she inspected the body... that was a bad way to word it.

"Are you alrigh- oh what am I saying, I got to get him healed!" Only three visible wounds, severe bleeding... these'll scar. Even if she wasn't an expert on the field of medics, she knew when a injury was out of her league. The kid was unconscious, probably from the pain... it was kinda better that way. She knew she couldn't handle hearing his cries of pain as his life essence slowly dripped out of his cold, little hands. "Please be alright, please be alright!"

Her hands were held together and were giving off a angelic white light, the signature color of healing magic.

Even though she tried her best, she only managed to get the wound to close. The blood he lost was something she unfortunately can't do anything about as unfortunate as that was. Much to her surprise, his eyes slowly opened and saw her, whatever bad words she prepared herself to hear from him... it showed her what she knew about humanity at least.

"A... Are you... alright...?" This kid... was this what Neptune called, 'The people of Planeptune's kindness?' If so then consider her impressed, "A-Ah... Sister's going... to be... sad..."

Scath let his head fall into her lap. Nepgear moved his bangs to see that he fell unconscious, which was relieving, she thought he died to Neptune's sake. "...I can't leave him here..."

She carried him in her arms and began walking, "..."

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

This... this feeling felt a little weird, being carried around, by a guy of all people, seemingly around her age that is, Nepgear wasn't used to being carried around. Having Neptune as her sister basically forbade that. So waking up with Scath still carrying her as he walked through the busy streets of Lastation was... a bit embarrassing. Not that she appreciated his efforts though, its just... really, really embarrassing.

"U-Uhm," Scath jumped a little, "Ow, uhm..."

Jade orbs stared into lilac, "You woke up! Thank Purple Heart, I was getting worried..."

"T-Thank you, b-but can you... p-please let me down?"

"Sure," She didn't know why, but he sounded very relieved at that, "Thank Celestia..."

She pouted, "Goodness, I'm not that heavy!"

'...Yeah, sure.' He glanced at the others, still sleeping, Uni left a while ago since she got a phone call that sounded really important... so hello hell for him. "We're almost at Aishi's house, get ready for a good scolding."

"S-Scolding?"

"Of course," He sent her a empty smile, "You think I'd let you scot free just because you're cute? Ohohohoho, sorry kid, the world doesn't work that way,"

"U-Uhm, S-Scath you're scaring me!" Nepgear took a step back as the young man chuckled darkly, "You want actually do that... won't you...?"

He just smiled.

Nepgear felt that she would've been much safer if she woke up the same time as the others... on the other hand, there was Uni with Red, so to save herself from peeing her panties from the odd feeling of fear. She turned to the one she assumed was still her friend, "U-Uni what brings you here?"

"Huh? This guy asked for help, so I helped him," She huffed, "Don't think of this as us being friends. This is just me doing my duty as a CPU Candidate."

"O-Oh," Was it wrong for her to be disappointed that she was helping them because they were friends? "I-I see,"

"Enough chit chat, I see Aishi's house," It was kinda hard not too, since it was pure white in the middle of ll these gray and black buildings. Two stories, exactly four windows, and a stoic young woman standing still as three guys tried to woo her. Scath sighed and shoo'ed them off with a swing of his weapon to be sure. They put up a bit of a fight, but they were no match even if he was tired and exhausted as hell.

"Dude! Watch where you swing that thing!" The one in the middle shouted, they all had the same uniform so they must be from the nearby highschool. He ducked under his admittedly lazy swing and ran for it, "J-Just think about it! I swear you'll have fun!"

"...No." Was Aishi's only response.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Ram! Where the hell are you, you little brat!" Millia shouted as she ran through the halls of the Basilicom, "Where the heck are you two hiding?! It's past lunch, get your ass back on the table!"

Was she going to hold back on her language? Hell no. She spoke how she wanted, when she wanted, to whomever she wanted. The platinum haired woman ripped open the door and smirked, "Found you~"

"Ah! Rom let's run from the big meanie!" Ram laughed, "Try and catch us dummy!"

"Stop right there!" Millia groaned, "Dammit those kids are way too fast for their own good!"

She shook her head and ran up the stairs, "Stop running dammit!"

"No!" That Ram girl was getting too into this game.

On her way she passed a pastel green colored chick that seemed really suspicious, but she was way to freaking tired to care. Still, her eyes landed on the small shard of red crystal hanging off her neck, whatever the hell it was, it held a lot of power within its small form. It felt... dark.

She clicked her teeth, "Dammit, I can't leave these two with that out on the loose."

They left the Basilicom and were now in the fields.

She might not be as strong as a Senior Guild Member, but she was pretty close.

Millia didn't know how strong those two were, but that wasn't what she was worried about, it was their mentality. They were Mages, so their mental state mattered above all. Without it, they can't properly channel their mana into the four main elements or change it's alignment for support... or something like that, she wasn't really that much of a mage.

Far as she knew was how to coat her fork and her body in the four elements for various uses, like for example.

"The flames of Hell call for you, [Hades' Hand]!" Dark, demonic-looking flames covered her arm as she pierced through the chest of a wolf. Millia grimaced and wiped the blood that covered her arm, even though most of it was burnt away dammed did it feel bad that she had to do this. It was either that or take too long and who knows what's happening without her knowledge? She would never risk it, her reputation and pay was on the line.

...Yeah, definitely only her pay and reputation.

Those two were what definitely mattered.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Now then..." Scath tapped his foot on the floor and stared at Nepgear in the eyes, "You... You're the leader of this party, aren't you?"

She nodded.

"And you ignored my warnings... didn't you?"

She nodded.

"And you almost got yourself, and your team, killed... am I right?"

She... nodded.

Scath let out a breath, "I can't get mad at that face, just don't do it again." He stood up, "You shouldn't just go off take unnecessary risks like that, if you'd just waited then you wouldn't have gotten as hurt,"

"Y-Yes, I'm sorry."

"Remember, 'Patience is a Virtue,' Nepgear," He nodded, "Even if you are a main, you don't just go tempting fate like that, hell knows I know a few that dies due to poor decisions."

Aishi yawned, they have been at that for about two hours straight ever since they came into her house. Cave was still out looking for Hikari and said girl was still missing from action, the others were asleep upstairs as they weren't as durable and quick to heal as Nepgear. Scath wasn't that injured, so he was fine with a quick healing spell.

"Huh, so he's letting her off lightly, eh?" Uni commented over her cup of coffee, "But should I really be this lenient with them?"

"I do not see why not," Aishi said, "They broke the law, yes, but please tell me who doesn't?"

She glanced to the side, "I can name a few,"

"Hm," Aishi hummed and stood up, "Scath, can I ask you to look for the others?"

The young man glanced at her and back to the girl, she was shaking, he sighed, "Nepgear... Nepgear look at me," He tilted her head up, "Look, I know I've... been a bit abrasive, sorry."

"I-I'm sorry, I won't do it again," Argh, dammit. He shouldn't have done that, "P-Please don't be angry, I won't do it again!"

"Alright then, consider this as a mistake and learn from it," He petted her head, "I'm off to find the others in my party, so get some rest, you need it."

"Huh? But what about you?"

Scath smirked, "I'm a man, Nepgear, endurance and I go hand in hand," 'Although when I run out of it, I'm more useless than a dunk crippled man... semantics!'

The early dawn was still a bit cold, just great, even when Lastation was rumored to be a Nation that never sleeps he never even saw another soul for the past three minutes... what? He liked being specific, don't judge. The empty streets were... a bit unnerving to be completely honest, call him paranoid cause he was a little, but there was something... odd about that corner.

"What the hell?!" Three dead bodies.

Scath's lips thinned and his eyes narrowed. They looked like thugs, so it was possible they picked a fought with someone they couldn't handle, it couldn't possibly be Hikari or Cave, neither of them knew Earth-Magic and he didn't know anyone that does without them being in jail. He quickly did a [Slyph] and waited, the killer could still be here... or they already left and saw him.

He scowled, "How troublesome..."

...Scath pulled out his phone and quickly took pictures of the dead body from different angles and sent it to one of his contacts, he'll text him once he finds something, if he doesn't then he won't. Simple as that. After he was done with the pictures, he called his source from Lastation and explained the situation to her and once he was done with that he noticed something strange.

"Scorch marks...?" Was there a fight that happened here? Scath dragged his hand along the marks and felt the metal bend under his touch, he tired it with different pressure and one time he almost got himself stuck. The metal was warped and melted at random angles, odd... Scath's eyes narrowed and shot off east. The pain was bearable and easily ignored, what wasn't was the fact that Hikari and K-Sha were in danger.

He knew what the result of [Burning Will]'s work, having been the receiving end of a few.

And this was one.

Unbeknownst to the young man, shocked eyes followed his injured form.

"H-How...?" Eyes fell to her knees, "T-This is getting all messed up!"

She glanced to the wall and the bodies and winced, "...He did say something about dead bodies when he first visited Lastation." She winced again, "Though he never said it was this... gory..." She pouted, "He didn't have to censor himself for me..."

She gave them another look before heading out, leaving the bloody bodies with their guts on plain sight.

...As regretful as that was...

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

Nepgear was uncomfortable.

That woman, Aishi was her name, was staring at her... rather intensely, it made her uncomfortable to be completely honest. It was a weird feeling, the woman wasn't even doing anything, she was only staring at her with very empty and blank eyes. The Candidate gulped and turned to the black haired girl, she was still here but looked very uncomfortable also.

"...You are..." She jumped at her monotone voice, "...A very confused being, aren't you?"

"Eh?"

Aishi had a weird smile on her face, "...Nothing of note... go to sleep, you will need it."

Uni glanced at them and sighed, "I'm leaving,"

Aishi stood up as the bright aura moved, "Safe travels,"

"H-Huh?" Nepgear snapped out of her confusion just as her fellow Candidate closed the door, "O-Oh..."

"Are you disappointed?" Aishi asked.

"A little," She smiled sheepishly, "She didn't seem like she wanted to talk to me,"

Aishi hummed, "You two will make up,"

"Huh? I'm glad you said that but how do you know?"

"Lets just say, I have a good 'eye' for things like these." That and the fact that their energy always tried to merge with each other, of course like all energies, it also tried to fight it and take control but the ones that wanted to merge won in the end. Aishi stood up and went up the stairs, "Oh, we are sharing a bed as the others are already full."

"Huh? What about Scath?"

"He's already sleeping on the couch," She could still see Hikari arguing with him about that, "So there is no need to have concern about him."

Nepgear frowned, "I-I don't want to be a bother, so I'll take the couch instead."

Aishi frowned, "He would not like that..."

The Candidate followed her form as it went up the stairs in confusion, "Why won't he like that?"

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Hikari!" Scath shouted, "Cave!"

He clicked his teeth in annoyance, "Where the hell are they?!"

His phone just died, so that was a no go.

He was this close to barging into the Basilicom to try the 'equivalent exchange' with the Oracle to find out where they are. However, that would be a blow to his pride as a Member of the Guild... even if tracking people down wasn't his forte. That was why Cave was here after all, even with her bad eyesight and her not being a Guild Member, she was experienced and knowledgeable.

Also nice.

And sexy.

...Yeah, nothing else needed.

"Dammit, where could they be?" At this rate he might have to ask for Aishi's sensing. "...I'm getting low on energy and my body's at its limits."

Dammit he hated that word.

"Can I help you?" He turned and faced the short white haired boy."

"...Who're you?"

"Ah, my apologies, my name is Kei Jinguiji the Oracle of Lastation." His body tensed.

"Why is someone as important as you here?" Scath asked.

"I'm here to discuss that... matter you have stumbled on," She said, "Do not worry, I know of you're reputation. The closest to become Senior and potential to be strongest; Scath Staigin; you're last name was something you thought of on you're first mission."

He felt his sweat trail down his face, "Well you're the real deal, how do you know that? That's impressive."

"I do try my best," She smiled, "Now then, let's trade."

Scath sat down, "What do you want to know?"

"The location of three of the ASIC bases located near Lastation,"

"Endless Zone, Midcompany and near the eastern islands and just outside some unnamed dungeon from there... or so the members we caught said were true, actually why didn't you just ask them yourself?" He quickly answered, "Now for my turn, do you know who killed those three?"

Silence...

Scath smirked, "They're must've done a damn good job if they evaded you of all people,"

"I ask that you please be quiet," He merely chuckled, "We only know that it is a woman's work."

"As is almost all of- shutting up now."

"That would be for the best," She sighed, "Why does the Basilcom have to owe a debt for someone like you?"

"Blame the game, not the player," Wait a minute, "Or was it blame the player, not the game? Still confused on that."

"...What game?"

"The one where they decided to have a bet against me to buy my halberd..." He hung his head, "...Anyway, showed 'em. They thought a eight year old could beat a twelve year old? Ha, she didn't have the protagonist power with her."

One black haired and red eyed girl suddenly had a sudden urge to blast the nearest green and black thing she could find.

"...That was when..."

"You weren't in charge, yeah."

Kei sighed and palmed her face, "Back to the matter at hand, we shall conduct more thorough investigation on these matters."

"Nice chatting with you," The Trap left with a bow, "Nice girl, shame she looks like a boy... sounds like one too. Is she insecure about her looks?"

Anyway, putting aside the thought of the Oracle of Lastation being insecure about her boy-ish child-like looks he completely forgot to ask her where Hikari and Cave were. The Trap was also out of sight so chasing after her was a no go, he might get lost. So with a deep sigh, he climbed up the pole and began moving through the rooftops, gave him a good vantage point and made him stand out... as uncomfortable that feels... so if he didn't spot them first. They would spot him.

"Hikari!" Once again, he was back to blindly shouting and hoping it'll work. "Cave!"

The night was really cold by the way... something he didn't deal well with.

"I swear if she's lost I'll strangle her first chance I see," He deliberately avoided mentioning that he was lost as well. "Dammit, why do these Capitals have to be so big? How could the CPUs handle such a large nation... oh right, they're Goddesses. Nevermind."

Another sigh, another shout, another empty hand.

This was getting a little annoying.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

There was something wrong here.

Cave was sure of it, having stumbled into a cave by chance and was now wandering through the caverns with only her instincts keeping her safe. Her original order of finding Hikari and bring her back to the house and chase after Scath so that he gets backup in case he doesn't reach those 'idiots' or so he said, in time. Yet there was something she knew was... odd about this cave.

"Forgive me," She muttered.

She could only hope he wouldn't hold this against her.

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

"Woman, how did you hold yourself all these way without turning into... this?" Len sighed as he helped the young woman who he deemed as 'rude.' Some may ask why, well he'll answer with, 'She was shaking with a look of panic and fear while huddled into a corner! How, as a young and honorable thug, ignore her? It was like letting my sister join some questionable people just because she annoyed me! Completely irrational.'

So yeah, that was how... this, started.

"I had a goal and I was determined to see it finished," Hikari huffed, "B-But I sorta snapped back to my senses and... you know,"

Len sighed.

"Oh don't give me that look, you like what you see," She snickered, "I know a certain someone does," She gritted her teeth, "Even if he rarely shows it,"

"Boyfriend?" Head shake, "Candidate?" Another head shake, "...Friend?"

"Yup!"

Len scratched his head, "Right... so where ya heading?"

"To my friend's house!"

"...And that is, where?"

"...Oh..."

"Woman," Len sighed, "Get your shit together,"

"Shit? No, that's gross."

"No! I meant- oh to hell with it,"

[Guardians of Gamindustri]

AN: Sorry for the long wait, Thanks for reading and Feedback is much appreciated!

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-Will move on to canon next time for a few chapters before I take a detour again.

-Next Chapter: Linnaea Borealis Tribulatio