"If I were you, I'd take a couple days off to relax. You probably need to stock up on supplies anyways, right?" Uni asked, leading us to a nearby hotel. She even had the hotel manager let us stay, free of charge. I wasn't about to bitch, and I don't think anyone else was either.

"Thank you so much, Uni!" Nepgear cheered.

Uni smiled and said, "It's nothing. What're friends for?"

The man behind the counter at the hotel handed us our key, but we headed out before going to our room. It was time for some shopping!

"It's been a while, but I'm actually excited to go shopping," I noted, looking around at the black but vibrant shopping district that spanned half the city.

"It's alot of fun around here, but it's a real pain if you're here on a weekend. I can't even get around!" Uni said. There weren't too many people around, this being a Thursday and all, so we could luckily do our shopping without disturbance. Valve already left with Compa to discuss medical items and see what medical books Lastation had to offer. The clock ahead in the center of the shopping region was illuminated with blue digits, claiming it to already be going on ten o'clock. I never knew why, but I always liked shopping at night. The lights that illuminated the districts always made me feel at ease.

"It's the same over at Planeptune. It's still nice though to see all the people up and about, even though most of them have their noses buried in their handhelds." IF added in, playing with one of her phones.

"Can't really blame 'em, there's alot of good games coming as of late. Of course, Lastation's being the best," said Uni, that pride of hers almost suffocating.

"They're high quality, but anymore they're all the same game no matter where they're from." IF replied. We entered the vapid grocery store to pick up some eating materials for the road. The interior had an odd smell of fresh plastic instead of fresh produce. The steel girders above had multitudes of security cameras and a few alarms hidden around the support pillars of concrete and steel. Black, wrought-iron stands held a lot of unfamiliar produce and groceries, most of which looked extremely fresh.

Honestly, I wanted to go over to the hardware store, but I didn't quite trust Uni, whether she was the CPU or not. I heard a long time ago they were the best of friends but they split up once they had a spat over trying to combine Trickstar with Ruination and Speed Haven. Ever since then, Uni considered her Lastation to be better than Planeptune and not in need of them anymore.

Uni sighed and said, "Normally I wouldn't care but that lack of creativity is screwing with my shares and I can't even hardly gain the power to transform anymore."

"Hopefully when we find the Spark of Creativity, your land will go back to normal," Nepgear said, looking over to Uni. Nepgear examined a jug of milk, looking for dents and checking the expiration date when something caught her eye in it. She stared blankly at it for a solid minute.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked Nepgear, giving her a tap on the shoulder.

"I'm fine!" She zapped herself back to normal.

I had a feeling that she was having another vision, but I didn't pry, instead going about my business. I no more than took a step away from her and my eyes caught a magical sight. I walked over to the nearby shelf, decorated in a multitude of soda cans and bottles, refridgerated individually, and I plucked a glass bottle from the shelf.

"What's that? Is that...alchohol?" IF shouted loud enough for half the store to hear.

"Oh the precious. I never thought I'd see you again," I mumbled under my breath. IF snatched the bottle from my hand and examined it closer.

"Ohh, its...whatever it is. I ain't got a damn clue." IF gave me my bottle back.

"It's sarsaparilla! This is like...the best carbonated drink you'll ever taste!" I stated enthusiastically, the bottle clutched to my chest melodramatically.

"I'm with him on this, that's the best soft drink Lastation has," Uni grabbed a bottle with me. I stocked myself with multiple bottles, knowing myself to have plenty to pay with considering the sale I made selling the Strength-Gate and stealing it back. Gotta love having a high sneak level, good thing that moron was too busy chasing someone out of his store to notice that his gate was gone before he even noticed. He wasn't gonna need it anyways. Though I had to make a note to get the Strength-Gate fixed, preferably by someone that dealt with artifacts before.

"A long time ago Planeptune offered samples of this stuff but they never sold it for some reason. I'll tell ya this though, it was like little angels were dancing on my tongue. I can't drink enough of this stuff!" I rushed to the express counter, waiting impatiently for the guy ahead of me to finish paying. Once they were gone, I bought a grand total of twenty four bottles, all held in my meager hands.

"Well, time to deposit these at the hotel room, I'll catch ya'll later," I notified Nepgear as I ran off.

"He's...strange." Uni bluntly said as I fled from earshot.

[+-o-+]

"So if someone finds themselves stricken with radiation poisoning, you aren't supposed to pour bleach on the wound?" Compa asked Valve. Both of them lounged about at the hotel room, snacking occasionally on what was in the fridge to eat. Compa studied away at dealing with Ruination's enviroment and enemies.

"No, that isn't applicable at all out in that hellhole. You're best bet against rad poisoning is a mixture of anti-paralysis potion and anti-venom. Don't need alchemy for that one, just mix and bam, you're done," She educated bluntly. She never seemed to stop checking on her rifle though, looking like she was tending to a needy baby. Every two minutes she'd be doing maintanance on it, checking the clips, adjusting the sights, everything.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Valve?" Compa asked.

"Nope, I'm paranoid as hell right now, comes with my personality," Valve replied, finally putting her gun down on her bed.

"That's probably not good. Do you want me to make you some tea or something to calm down with?" Compa innocently offered.

"That sounds good I guess, go for it," Valve jittered a little from not tinkering with her gun. A sudden noise filled the room, the sound of the hotel door being violently moved. It was locked, making a rattling noise as I tried to open it. The shaking of the door pushed Valve over the edge.

"Zombie!" She shouted loud enough for people in Planeptune to hear. She grabbed her gun and shakily focused it on the door.

"Someone wanna let me in? The door's locked," I yelled into the door.

"Oh...it's just that one kid," Valve lowered her gun and walked over to the door to unlock it. She stepped out of the way but still held her gun with a tight grip just in case. I didn't even notice that she locked the door again behind me.

"I'm home, Compa!" I shouted into the kitchen.

"Welcome home, Cody! Would you like me to make you some tea too?" Compa asked.

"Thanks, but I'm good," I replied as I stored my sarsaparilla in the fridge. As hard as it was going to be for me, I had to wait for the sarsaparilla to get cold.

"So why'd you think I was a zombie?" I asked confused, sitting on the couch next to Valve.

"Yeah, I'm a little paranoid. Better safe than sorry," Valve replied. I shrugged and leaned back in the couch, Grindrix resting against the side of the couch, her blade resting on my arm. Compa returned to the living room with tea for Valve. It smelt of relaxing herbs and mints, the fresh smell lulling me to sleep a little just from the scent.

"So how was the marketplace?" Compa asked, sitting at a recliner near us.

"It's a little empty, but the stores were well stocked. I didn't get to run around very much though, I wanted to stay close to Nepgear," I replied. Already I suffered from sarsaparilla withdraw, my tongue rasping inside my mouth, silently begging for more of that luscious drink. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. For a while, there was an odd silence, like something bad just happened.

"Cody?" Compa asked, using that silly name for me.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"Are you in love with Nepgear?" She asked.

Emotions aside, I did as a brother, not as a lover.

"Uh..well..how to put this? I love her as a brother, nothing more." I replied. A little sweat drop fled down the back of my neck.

"Hmm, I see..." Compa quietly uttered, much to my dismay. I had bad vibes coming from whatever she had working in her head.

"So, you pop her cherry yet? Get the deed done? Screw the pooch?" Valve asked vulgariously.

"What? Nononono, that's off limits for me! I mean, she's Planeptune's CPU! No way on Gamindustry would that ever happen!" I shot back to her. I could feel my heart pumping a little faster.

"So you don't really love her? Is it her snoring at night that you don't like?" Compa asked.

"No, I love her, just not that way! And her snoring isn't that bad, at least, I don't think so anyways," I could feel the awkwardness levels rise quickly. The situation wasn't looking good at all.

"Come on man, there's gotta be at least a little chemistry there!" Valve added.

"Nou! I don't think either of us wanna lose our purity yet or ever! She's way out of my league anyways."

"Oh I get it, she's playing hard to get with you! Come on man, you gotta at least try!" Valve pressured me.

"Uh-uh! I wouldn't even be a good boyfriend for her anyways! Compa'd probably do better than I would!" I replied, my reaction speed increasing every time one of those two made an absurd statement.

"Mrs. Valve, don't worry him so much. I just wanted to see what he'd say, don't push him into doing something stupid. That's Neptune's jo-" Compa cut herself off before finishing that heart-wrenching phrase. "Cody, could you do me a really big favor?" Compa asked.

"Sure, whatcha need?"

"I wanna test this anti-radiation poison and see if it has any ill side effects. Would you be kind enough to test it for me?" Compa asked, trying to use her pink puppy-dog eyes to lure me in.

"Sorry, but I ain't gonna be a test dummy for one of your crazy chemical concoctions!" I shot back. No way on our fair Gamindustry was I gonna be subject to another one of her crazy-ass expiriments!

"Oh, come on! It's not gonna hurt a bit and I promise to give you a big colorful band-aid when we're done!" Compa pulled out her enormous syringe and polished it up with rubbing alchohol. By that time, I already had the window open and was well on my way to jumping out. Compa panicked, but was too late. I was off the ground and quickly running away.

"Aww, poo! He got away," Compa moaned, still looking out of the open window.

"Me thinks he's afraid of you," Valve added her input in. She sipped occasionally on her tea, which did help her with playing with her gun, but now she was paranoid about checking her phone every five minutes.

"Well, maybe IF or Uni might help. Are you sure this works?" Compa asked, looking again at the lime-green liquid in her giant syringe.

"Yeah, I take a capsule for it once a week." Valve replied, pulling out a tray of pills stored neatly for every week from inside her jacket.

"Oh, I didn't know they come as capsules," Compa said.

"Yeah, you probably should've told that to Code before he did his leap of faith out of the window," Valve stowed her pills away and continued to check her phone.

[+-o-+]

"I think that should be enough. What do you think Iffy?" Nepgear asked.

"We should have enough to live on. How about you, Uni? Think it's enough?" IF asked, observing their cart.

"Oh, that should be more than enough," Uni added. They walked out with necessities for the long trip ahead of them. A lot of the stuff they had was put on their list by Valve. Neither of them doubted her knowledge about what it takes to survive, but why they needed a lufa sponge, none of them could guess.

"I wonder what Compa and the others are up to?" IF pondered aloud.

"Who knows with your party. If I hear about some kind of toxic spill or hotels getting burnt down, I think I'll know who's fault it is," Uni commented with a smirk on her face signalling playful teasing.

"Goodness! They aren't that destructive." said Nepgear.

"I didn't say they're destructive, they're just clumsy," replied Uni.

"I hate to say it, but she's got us there," IF chimed in. They walked through the calmer streets of Lastation, the night giving the town a peaceful aura and the lights scattered amongst the roads gave the town a nice glow that soothed the soul. Fewer cars were about to make noise and the town was clear of monsters. The sounds of steam spouting and gears shifting added more white noise than sheer noise at night, creating a mechanical lullaby while the busy city slept.

"Uni, why aren't we as close as we used to be?" Nepgear asked, reminiscing on days past when Nepgear, Uni, Ram, and Rom all were like a family, close to each other and helping each other at every turn.

"That's a good question. I don't know, why're you asking me anyways? We're here, having fun, catching up, why worry about the why, focus on the now," Uni replied with a bitter smile.

Nepgear smiled back and said, "You're right. I wonder if it'll be nice to catch up with Rom and Ram too?"

"I'm sure it'll be nice, but not as nice as getting to hang out with your's truly," Uni gave a snooty look that IF and Nepgear knew her by. They all chuckled, but their laughter was cut short when a strange noise attracted their attention. It was like a moan but much deeper and shorter and came from an alleyway. The distant sound of shuffling feet was disorganized and came from nowhere but that dark alley.

"What was that?" IF primed her claws.

"Is it a...zombie?" Nepgear asked.

"No, it can't be. The guards would never let one slip in," said a nervous Uni. It was times like that Uni wished that she had her hidden pistol. The moaning grew louder until out of the shadows came a dark but familiar figure.

"Code! Dammit, you scared the hell out of us!" IF shouted.

"Ack! Not so loud!" I replied, holding my head. A huge bruise covered half of my forehead and was purple enough to be seen in the dark. A small stream of crusted blood glistened in the distant street light.

"Code, what happened?" Uni asked, helping keep me up by offering me her shoulder.

"I nailed my head on the concrete trying to escape from Compa. She wanted to test some kind of paralyzing potion or some crazy thing like that so I jumped out the second floor window to escape. I kinda screwed up my landing though," I explained.

"Are you gonna be alright?"Nepgear asked, also helping me walk.

"Yeah, just a bruise, I feel more sorry for the people that're gonna have to look at this thing," I tried to jest.

Nobody found it too funny so I just kept my mouth shut until I was back at the hotel. My vision faded in and out a few times, black haze filling my sight, but I made it. At least, until I was plopped on the bed and passed out upon contact. I needed some sleep and boy did I deserve it. I just prayed that I didn't end up an unwilling donation to Compa's twisted cause of "science".

[+-o-+]

"Is he gonna be okay?" Nepgear asked looming over Code. Uni had recieved a call from Kei telling her to return to the Basilicom so she said her farewells and left. Compa tended for Code, Nepgear helped her and IF looked around the mobile Guild app for monster hunting jobs they could do for some spending cash. Valve was well asleep on the couch, twitching occasionally in her sleep for some reason.

"Having any luck, Iffy?" Compa asked, applying a cold compress to Code's bruise.

"Not along monster hunting, but I think I've got another idea. I'm gonna make one last phone call to see about a last minute registration to the Tech Expo tomorrow," IF put her phone to her ear and made sure there wasn't any noise around her.

"I completely forgot that the Tech Expo is tomorrow. What's the theme this year?" asked Nepgear.

"I think it's innovative weaponry. I'm sure it's gonna be alotta fun, I just hope Cody will be able to go too," Compa finished her last needed duty addressing Code's wound. Once she was finished, she noticed that the cap on her rubbing alcohol bottle was broken. Compa took one of the empty soda bottles of sarsaparilla and stored her alchohol in it then stowed it in the fridge.

"What are we going to enter in the expo?" Nepgear asked IF who just finished her phone call.

"I think Code's little toy there will make a great competitor in the expo," IF pointed to Grindrix, laying beside the bed to Code.

"Are you sure Cody won't mind?" Compa asked.

"He doesn't seem the type to get pissed off easily, I'm sure he wont miss it tomorrow," IF said, "Question is though, does anybody know how to work that thing?"

Both Compa and Nepgear shrugged. IF wandered over to Grindrix and picked her up with a mighty heave.

"Damn, how does he even use this thing? It weighs a ton!" IF complained, trying to keep her balance while wielding Grindrix. She looked around for the button that transforms Grindrix into Shredrix. Her hands finally wandered onto the button, shifting the whole thing into Shredrix. She almost felt natural holding Shredrix, despite her increased weight.

"Yeah, this'll work wonders at the Tech Expo," IF mumbled to herself.

"Be careful with it, I don't think Cody will be happy if it's returned broken," warned Compa.

[+-o-+]

Finally concious, I shot up in a desperate breath, looking around like I'd just come back from an underwater swim. Sweat rolled down my head and the cold compress Compa laid on my forehead flew away past the bed.

"Thank goodness your okay! I was worried," Nepgear said.

"What's wrong?" IF asked.

"I just had a horrible nightmare. I dreamt that Compa was doing some kind of evil dissection of my body and she forgot how to put me back together!" I shuddered in fear.

"How rude! I wouldn't ever dissect a living human!" Compa shot back. I stared openly at IF, who looked suspiciously guilty about something. Something didn't seem too normal about her.

"What up with you?" I asked bluntly.

"Nothing. What up with you?" IF returned.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, there's a giant bruise on my head the size of an effin' baseball," I mouthed.

Silence. "Wonderful, I made an awkward silence. Where's my achievement?" I thought to myself. Back to the conversation on hand, I apologized briefly, saying, "Sorry, sorry, I'm just on edge from the accident."

"It's okay, you know what? How about you get some rest and maybe try to have a better dream, we'll be fine without ya for a while so get some rest!" IF said at a rapid speed.

"Well, sure, whatevs..." I laid my head back down and closed my eyes. Something still seemed off about IF, but I cared more about getting some more rest than whatever she had planned. I fell asleep in just a few minutes, weary from all the medicines that Compa gave me.

[+-o-+]

"Ah, I see you're back. I'm sorry to say but your reward has already been claimed," Kei informed her returned trio of failed monster hunters.

"73h h311?" Overkill shouted.

"Dude, we so kicked that things ass and there was nobody else around!" Headshot lied. Overdrive kept quiet, still torn up a little from his little wreck back in the MotorTempest Carnival.

"Not according to the other applicants. One of them even showed me the Strength-Gate they achieved from the corpse," Kei replied.

"73h h311 d00d? 1 7h0u6h7 u h4d 17?" Overkill shouted to Overdrive, glaring at him.

"I probably lost it when I crashed," Overdrive said in his defense.

"Now you two, let's not argue in here, this is a place of business not war," warned Kei.

"l00k 47 u, c4n7 3v3n h0ld 0n70 4 d4mn 70y!" mocked Overkill.

"Hey, you have alot of room to speak, you were the only one that got knocked out," Overdrive calmly shot back.

"1 d1d n07!"

"Did to."

"1 fuck1n d1d n07!" Overkill shouted, making that high pitched noise again that sounded like a highly pissed off five-year-old.

"That's it! All three of you, out!" Kei shouted, pointing to the door.

"You'll regret this you punk! We'll see how much more of a reward we get from burning your whole damn town to the ground!" Headshot warned, running out of the Basilicom and into their street car. They revved the engines loud and pumped music out of it that cracked nearby windows and shoved some passing cars off to the side.

"It looks like IF will have her chance to enter the Tech Expo after all," Uni noted, standing behind Kei.

"I'll call her immediately."

"No, I'll call her, let me handle it," said Uni, pulling her Lastation Vital out and calling IF with it. A few rings later and IF picked up.

"Hello?" IF asked.

"Hey, we've got something you can do in return for letting you into the Tech Expo as a late entry. Those stupid Faith Breakers are loose in the city and they're not happy," Uni informed.

"And you want us to take them down?" IF asked expectantly.

"Only because Kei requires a fair trade for letting you in. Lastation is perfectly capable of defending itself against it's own problems!" again Uni defended her pride of Lastation.

"Yeah, yeah, so do you know where they're at?" IF asked.

"Hell if I know! Just listen in to their loud music, you'll find them. Call me back when you're done," Uni hung up on IF.

[+-o-+]

"Alright everyone, looks like we've got a seek-and-destroy mission," IF announced as she stored her phone in one of her multi-colored pockets.

"What's going on?" Compa asked, finishing her work on Code.

"Looks like we stole the reward from the Faithbreakers and they're pissed off and throwing a tempertantrum like a group of little kids. Now they're screaming obscenities and blasting obnoxious music all around town," explained IF.

"They sure are a rude group of kids," Nepgear said.

"They're not rude, they're assholes. Now let's go kick some ass!" IF got up and moved for the door with Compa and Nepgear in tow.

"Just like old times huh?" reminisced Compa.

"Just like old times! This should be a lot of fun!" Nepgear grew excited. They climbed down a fleet of stairs and out of the hotel, already hearing distant music. Their search wasn't going to take long at all. Question was though, how were they going to be dealing with them when they're riding in a car?

[+-o-+]

"Damn my head hurts...it's hard to even get out of bed," I thought to myself. I noticed that someone was playing on the Lastation console set up in the 'living room'. My vision was hazy and it was hard to keep my balance. Laying in bed too long made my body a bit stiff and hard to coordinate. Silently, the person on the couch played games, not making a sound. "Sis, is that you?" I asked drearily. I peeked over the couch to see that it was Valve, playing a zombie game. "Brushing on your zombie-slayin' skillz?" I asked, sitting down next to her. She jumped a good fifteen feet in the air.

"Careful dude, don't scare me like that!" Valve warned. She kept playing regardless, getting the most out of the game she played.

"So I take it your a Lastation person?" I asked, trying to keep a mellow conversation to help ease my tension down.

"Eh, I'm not picky when I play. If it plays games, I'll play it. I've just always grown up with Lastation so I'm used to it," Valve replied.

Thinking about it, Valve knew Lastation better than anyone. As I'd suspected, the Strength-Gate was broken, and I would need someone to fix it. When Valve took a break from her game, I asked her, "Do you know anything about artifacts?"

"A thing or two, why?"

I tossed her the Strength-Gate and she eyed it over closely. "It got beat up a little. Was wondering if you'd be able to fix it."

Valve, hardening her expression, said, "I'm surprised you got this, but it is indeed broken. I believe I know someone who can fix it though."

"How much will it cost?"

"Not a thing. Him and I go way back, he owes me a couple favors. We'll pay him a visit, come on." Valve quickly took off for the door. I had to fight to get my body to work again, Valve helping me parts of the way. We locked the door on our way out, heading down the dimly-lit halls of grey and blue.

Taking the grey, grated stairwell leading to the bright, but dreary lobby, we left for the ash-laden streets, Valve leading the way with a vigor in her gait. I asked her, "Who's this person you were talking about?"

"His name's Vice, works in engineering. Him and I went way far back, I rescued him from the Stardrain Expanse when his ship was infested with alien parasites. Boy was he pissed too, those things wanted his head on a silver platter, if you catch my drift. It was funny as hell when I pretended to lock him out of the escape hatch."

The more Valve explained, the more I questioned just what all there was to the mysterious girl. I'd only heard legends of the Stardrain Expanse, nevertheless someone that had actually come back from there.

Down the street was an aged garage, rusted to a perfect dull streak. Pipes failed in some of the upper corners, and the tilted neon above the garage read "Planetcracker Repairs" with the 'P' and 'k' flickering on and off. Inside the garage, Valve called loudly, "Vice, you in here?"

A man, clad in a brown-tinted armor and wearing a welding mask that glowed blue, rose up from underneath a futuristic hovercar, speaking with a voice muffled by his mask, "It's Visceral, and what do you need?"

"Ready to pay off one of those ten debts you owe?"

"No, but tell me what you need," Visceral replied.

Valve tossed the Strength-Gate to Visceral, who viewed it carefully from the guise of his welding mask. "Its got a dent in it, probably won't work unless its fixed."

"I think I get the picture," Visceral stated, walking to the back of his shop. While he was off in another room with Valve hot on his heels, I checked out the racer he was working on. The machine was slick and stylish, having not a wheel on it. There was a few afterburners on the underside, hinting it was probably a relic from the days of 0G racing. There was even the "2048" logo still slightly visible on the chassis.

Back already, he had the kink hammered out. I couldn't help but ask, "How'd you get that done so fast?"

"Not the first time I've dealt with artifacts."

"He's the one that taught me the Transferrance Theory. Good thing I got you off that ship, huh?" Valve teased.

"Yeah, yeah." He casually replied before going back under his machine. "You're lucky you didn't get caught up in that mess."

"You kidding me, I had the crisis figured out before you did!" Valve shot back with a grin on her face, hinting a pride about something I knew nothing of.

I couldn't help but laugh a little, uttering quietly, "That's funny."

Valve pointed down to Visceral, saying, "No, I'll tell you what's funny. Convincing brain-death down there that cars needed blinker fluid. I had him trying to find the stuff for a week!"

Visceral shouted from underneat his vehicle, "Hey, I work on ships, not cars!"

I was laughing whether he knew better or not. Even I knew better than to believe in "blinker fluid".

Done with the conversation, I thanked Visceral for his help

All this talk of artifacts had my interest. Though I questioned if anything would come of it, I asked Visceral anyways, "What was the name of the ship?"

"The UFS Nakamura. It's probably still floating in Stardrain right now," he replied, doing some quick arc welds to his machine before reaching for a trio of thick, steel cords.

I kept that information in the back of my mind as I thanked him. He seemed like a nice enough person, and if I had any further mechanical requests, I'd be sure to be back with him again.

"He's sure fun to be around," said Valve sarcastically.

I couldn't speak ill of him. He seemed a little like myself, quiet but sociable. "He's just a little quiet."

"Probably from the five years he spent in the looney bin."

I pretended to ignore that last bit.

Calmly continuing while we traversed the expansive, dark city, Valve asked, "So are you going to be testing my fabled theory?"

She already had caught on to my intended plan. I had to give it to her, she was sharp. I couldn't be too surprised though. I told her with a firm voice, "I'm not going to just test it, I'm going to make it work."

"Have fun with that. You're gonna be in for quite a hidden collectible task. I would know, I designed the theory."

"I'll take my time getting things together, but it will be done."

Valve, scrutinizing me with her shifting eyes, said with a confident smirk, "I think you've got enough soul for this one."

I took that as some kind of odd compliment. Before the silence could get too thick, I asked her gently, "I hate to ask even more of you, but could you please not mention any of this to the party?"

"I suppose I could do that much," Valve said.

I was so relieved to hear that, but I questioned if she'd hold on to that promise. Back at the hotel, we quickly settled back in, the night deepening as the hours passed. I went over to the mini-fridge, clutching the wet handle tight. Valve sat patiently on the couch, back to plaing games again already.

"You want something to drink?" I asked, searching through my sarsaparilla.

"Please and thank you?"

I cracked open two bottles of sarsaparilla and set them down on the coffee table in front of us. I took a long sip of mine and noticed a bizaare flavor. It was probably just me. Valve took a long drink of hers then shuddered.

"Somethin's up with that."

I retrieved my drink and sat back down with her. It was strange how casual she dressed, I'm too used to the eccentrically colored clothes of Nepgear and Compa. Just a blue skirt, a green tanktop and a brown half-jacket. Now that I look at myself, just an Axe-Hero hoodie, cargo jeans, and black sneakers, I really am as dull as I act.

"Wanna play? There's a spare controller," She asked.

"It's been a while since I've played this, but I think I've still got it. I'mma go for it," I grabbed the controller hidden on it's attached docking bay that wasn't too far from the system. It was already going on five in the morning, but I wasn't tired at all, and I didn't think Valve was either.

"Aww, shit, this thing's laced with something slippery," I complained, wiping my hands on my jeans.

"Biggest rule of gaming, never eat and game, you always make your controllers all nasty," quoted Valve.

"So, if you don't mind me askin' which if you do just stop me now, but is there anything you're afraid of?" asked Valve.

"Hmm...been a while since I've thought of that. If I had to say something specific, it'd probably be the cold. I hate the cold, when my house lost the heater during the coldest winter Planeptune ever saw, I was near freezing to death. I actually had snow forming in my house and icicles forming on my TV. Scared me so much to see my life fading to black by the minute," My story appealed to Valve enough to temporarily distract her from the game.

"Oh, it couldn't have been that bad," Valve said with a smirk. "Ever been in cryosleep?"

"You were in cryosleep?"

Valve, with a dismissive tone, said, "Just once. Went scouting with my buddy Kit in an abandoned bunker. We were screwing around and, just for the humor of it, I pretended this little cushioned closet was a coffin. Next thing I know, the door locks and I get sprayed with a weird liquid. I'm out for about a full week before Sam finally trodged his ass back to get me out, lazy son of a bitch."

I didn't know whether or not to believe her, but I went along with her story. I asked, "Where did Sam disappear to for a full week?"

"Said he was getting 'professional help'. I still say he thought it funny to leave me in there for a while. I figured as much too, him and I go way back. I know how he thinks."

It was funny to hear the story, I couldn't help but smile, but I still questioned just what all there was to Valve. She seemed like she'd been in some pretty bizarre places.

"I wonder where the gang is," I mumbled, accidentally speaking louder than I intended.

"Could be shopping," Valve guessed.

"At five in the morning? I can't even think of any stores that would be open at this hour," I replied. Valve took another huge gulp of her sarsaparilla and shook her head in disgust.

"Man, this stuff's got a weird kick. Where'd you get it from?" Valve asked.

"Grocery store, just a little ways into the market place."

"This stuff tastes just like that crap Kit gave me from his great-great-great grandma's house."

I gave a chuckle and said, "Dare I ask?"

"Just another scenario where I could've killed Kit, given the chance. I'd never think a man so stupid as to mistake brake fluid for 'ancient wine'."

[+-o-+]

"Come on, Iffy! You almost got 'em!" Compa cheered for IF, who was driving like a madwoman through the dimly lit streets of Lastation. She slammed hard against the Faithbreaker's car, using a car she hotwired herself.

"GTFO you assholes!" Headshot screamed from the passenger seat. Occasionally he'd try to shoot his shotgun at their tires but his aim was so horrible that no amount of trash-talk could ever hide it. IF rammed their side again, tearing a hubcap off their front-right tire. Their green neon was busted, their music was silenced and their car was falling apart.

"Gear, hit them with your sword!" IF commanded. Nepgear had to edge herself out of the car a little but finally gained enough reach to slash at their tires. She missed the first few strokes, not even grazing the tread.

"Go Iffy! Go Ge-Ge! You can do it!" Compa cheered loudly, not able to do much in the passenger seat. Nepgear reached a little further, her sword almost touching their tires when IF made a sudden turn that threw Nepgear back into the car.

"Sorry Gear! Needed to make that turn," IF said to Nepgear who was already back out in the window.

"Please...just a little closer!" Nepgear struggled to touch their tire with her beam sword. The very tip of it nicked their treads and the whole tire detonated like a bomb, sending rubber shrapnel soaring behind them.

"You go, Gear!" IF congratulated, ramming the Faithbreakers one last time and pushing them off the edge of the road and into a nearby river that left them squirming to get out. By the time the trio of troublemakers were out, Kei and Uni already had soldiers ready to "escort" them out of Lastation.

"Now you can GTFO!" IF taunted Headshot as he was put in handcuffs and hauled off with his cohorts.

"Where do you think they're taking them?" Compa asked.

"Juvie, jail, space, anywhere that's away from here," IF listed comically. They already were driving back to the hotel, their car beat up but running. IF's phone went off, forcing IF to drive one handed while she dug her phone out.

"Iffy, no talking on the phone while driving! Give the phone to Nepgear," Compa commanded, prying the touch-phone from IF and passing it to Nepgear.

"Uhh...how does this work again?" Nepgear searched for a talk button or something but couldn't find it. Finally, IF instructed her and she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah, hello Nepgear. I was calling to inform you that you're registered for the Tech Expo," Kei replied over the small speaker of the phone.

"Okay, thank you so much for the help!" Nepgear thanked.

"It's no problem. Take care and rest up for tomorrow."

"I will, thank you. Bye Kei!" Nepgear bid farewell and hung up the phone, holding onto it while IF tried to find the way back home.

Compa gave a concerned glance to IF, asking, "You don't know how to get back, do you?"

"I...have a slight idea." IF reluctantly admitted.

[+-o-+]

During a giggling fit I held with myself, I heard the door open behind me.

"Look's like you two really missed us," said IF.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's up you three, where'd you go off to? We missed ya!" I looked back behind the couch with a weary head.

"Hi, Cody! You're in an awful good mood," Compa greeted us.

"Yuppers! I feel *hic* wonderful!"

Nepgear looked at IF with a worried face. IF was disecting something inside her mind but Nepgear couldn't figure out what.

"What's up, IF?" Nepgear asked.

"You smell that? That really strong scent?" IF asked, walking closer to me. At that time, I didn't realize that Valve had just recently passed out, but my head was cloudier than the Fog of War. IF smelled around my side of the couch, homing in on something.

"What'sa *hic* wrong there, tsundere?" I asked with a smirk. IF picked up my empty sarsaparilla bottle and smelled inside before thrusting it away.

"That smell! It's coming from here!" IF held her nose in disgust.

"What smell? I can only smell puppies *hic* and rainbows right now." I added, holding my head on the couch. Compa took a wiff of the putrid bottle and her eyes widened.

"Uh-oh, I think Cody and Mrs. Valve just drank all my rubbing alchohol!" Compa exclaimed.

"What? Well, wh-what do we do?" IF asked, watching me crash onto the couch in an awkward motion.

"Uhm, uhm, I think I have something to take care of this in my bag. Ge-Ge, I need you to help keep Cody still while I give him a shot. Iffy, I need you to help me find my syringe!" Compa directed in a panic. Nepgear walked over to me and held my flailing arms down.

"Just hold on a minute, Code, Compa's gonna have you feeling better in no time," Nepgear said with her gentle voice.

"Whatchu talkin' bout feeling better? I feel fine! Oooh, my stomach's starting to hurt," I moaned holding my queasy stomach. It felt like somebody poured a vat of cough syrup into it and it was rejecting it. I could hear my stomach growling and grumbling occasionally over Valve's loud snoring. She sounded like she hadn't had a good rest like this in years, which I would imagine considering how paranoid she is.

"Just hang in there brother, they're almost done," She comforted me again. I could barely even feel her hands holding my arms down. My body was really cold and kinda numb right now. I didn't even feel Compa inject me with some sort of medicine.

"This will work, right?" Nepgear asked.

"Uh, hopefully?" Compa replied, worrying Nepgear and even IF. Compa, before calling it quits, gave the sleeping Valve a quick shot as well, to make sure she'd be alright in the morning.

"I feel asleep..." I moaned, slowly falling asleep. My eyes shut and body empty, I quickly passed out.

[+-o-+]

"What a night. I don't know about you two but I'm ready for a nice long nap." IF plopped in her bed, checking her phone one last time and rolling over for sleep.

"We've got a big day tomorrow, so we could all use some sleep," Nepgear followed IF's idea, Compa too. The night was finally silent and the moon loomed over Lastation with a silly looking smile on it's face like it was mischiviously plotting something. Outside, the wind blew with an industrial smell and the cars occasionally passed by the hotel with their high-tech motors propelling them. With but a sound or two to hear outside, the gang was fast asleep.

[+-o-+]

The alarm clock went off like a screaming banshee, waking only IF, Compa, and Nepgear. IF grabbed Grindrix from under her bed and followed Compa and Nepgear outside.

"So how much is first prize?" Nepgear asked. Her purple hair fluttered around in the hard breezes that passed through Lastation effortlessly.

"Around 50,000 credits," Valve informed, wide awake and fine from the night before.

"That's alotta money! Could Cody's toy really have a chance to win that much money?" Compa asked.

"Guess we're going to find out huh? Oh, there's where the Expo's being held, come on!" IF ran off to a large dome-shaped building, reminiscent to Planeptune's Coliseum, a glass dome sheltering steel girders that decorated the rusted ceiling. She slouched a little and was worn out fast from carrying Grindrix. Kei greeted them at the door, with Uni already inside.

"Welcome girls, your booth is set up in the back to the right. Once inside, you can use a rental Pop-Up to customize your booth" Kei informed, handing them all little wristbands that glowed with a black technological energy.

"Hi Mrs. Jingoocci!" Compa waved happily.

"It's Jinguji!" Kei replied as they walked away. The Expo was filled to the brim with potential weapons. So many weapons of mass destruction had even IF a little dizzy.

"We've got alot of competition," Nepgear said aloud, looking at a display for a large bipedial mech with a nuclear railgun. The elderly looking man standing next to it explained it's features and purpose, referring to it as Steel Cog X.

"Come on, we've got a booth to set up," IF pulled her away, spotting their mid-size booth in the distance. They waded through a crowd of people and took command of their booth. They worked hard to quickly decipher how to use the Pop-Ups and place information where needed on their booth.

"Uh, we've got a bit of a problem," IF noted, speaking loudly over the surging crowds.

"What is it, Iffy?" Compa asked, accidentally placing a donkey tail on their statboard. She hastily deleted the object and replaced it.

"I don't even know how this thing works. How can I fill out information about an object I don't even know about?" IF asked aloud, staring blankly at Nepgear and Compa.

"Uh-oh. And Cody isn't up and around to tell us either," said Compa. Compa looked over to Valve, helping with structural features.

"Don't look at me, I ain't got a damn clue how the things work, I just fire them," Valve said as she worked on a shooting range.

"It's made using an Otto-Aim on a modified Axe Hero controller. The fake blade was replaced with a real adamantium blade and runs on a 200-K chip," Nepgear educated, skipping a breath just to pour out the much needed info.

"I forgot how good you were with hardware," smiled IF.

"Actually, Code showed me all of this. I helped him with it," Nepgear replied.

"You two really do get along well don't you?"

"Yeah," Nepgear chuckled, "I suppose we do."

They cut the chatter to work even more, making their booth as good as all the others. IF took over showing off the gun, Nepgear educated people about the weapon, Valve kept the booth interesting by working the different behind-the-scenes switches and mechanisms, and Compa was there...well...in case someone gets shot. The crowd was quite interested by the weapon, even so much as drawing in other contenders to examine the unique battleaxe. Luck was with them today. Grindrix hadn't malfunctioned even once. Though something was amiss, something disturbing radiated in the aura established by the semi-lethal playground of wires and metal.

[+-o-+]

I popped my head up and brushed a lock of oily brown hair out of my eyes. It felt like a wave of water tried to drown me. Despite the swishing of my brain in my skull and my joints being stiffer than a board, I got up from the couch.

"My bruise is gone but my head still hurts. How lovely," I moaned in disdain to myself. I looked around our hotel room to find it empty. Deep inside my mind, I couldn't help but notice a drifting problem in my foggy thoughts. Something kept telling me that there was a problem. I was too weary and tired to properly capture that problem though. The fridge was still well stocked, but I made sure to double check what I was grabbing before hastily chugging it. I opened the cap and smelled inside, my nose still able to recognize this smell as my favorite drink. The couch welcomed my rear again as I sat down and relaxed, setting my drink down on the coffee table. My hand flailed around the side of the couch and then it hit me.

"Where's my weapon? Where'd she go?"

And just like that I was out the door.

[+-o-+]

"I think we might just have this. First time I've ever been on a winning team before," Valve smirked in almost-victory.

IF gave a laugh and said, "Don't normally win? You sure seem like a bread-winner."

Surprisngly, Valve gave a hardy laugh and said, "Noobs, man. They weigh you down a lot. Not bright people."

"Alotta people sure do like Cody's toy!" Compa exclaimed, happiness filling her eyes. They looked around the amassed crowd that never seemed to get enough of the weapon. Then Uni appeared, donning her black and blue armor. She caused the crowd to quiet but only a little. Kei was right behind her, taking notes all the while she observed. Nepgear grew stiff and stuttered on her words a little, but continued to remind herself of her powerful confidence. She was doing what she did for the team, and that was all that mattered to her. Uni smirked for a brief moment and walked on with Kei hot on her heels. Nepgear's body loosened up and she silently congratulated herself.

"I think she likes it!" Compa whispered in Nepgear's ear.

"I know!" Nepgear silently squealed.

"People of Lastation!" Uni shouted over the loudspeaker, taking stand on a personal stage that brought her up above the others. Everybody's attention flocked over to her, anxious to hear what she had to say.

"Welcome to Lastation's 89th Tech Expo. It's a pleasure to see all the amazing talent gathered here today. So, let's cut right to the good part. Our CPU Uni will read off this year's Tech Expo Champion," said Kei. Her voice sounded even stranger on the mic than in person.

"Think it'll be us?" I asked from behind Nepgear. I knew how unaware she was.

"Yeah, I really think it will! I hope so at least." Nepgear replied.

"Well, your brother really knows how to make some badass weaponry." I gloated. Nepgear looked behind her to see my pretty face.

"C-C-Code! What the goodness, I thought you'd be out all day!" Nepgear tried to keep her voice down, barely succeeding but getting a few hushes from the crowd.

"This year's winner is Nepgear's group with their weapon, Grindrix! Come on up and show us one last display of this years most epic weapon!" Uni announced. The crowd cheered and clapped, some disappointed contenders booing. Uni motioned for Nepgear to go up but she hesitated.

"This is your weapon, you should be the one to present it," Nepgear offered the weapon to me.

"You should be the one, kiddo. I'm not much of a crowd-pleasing person anyways. Go up there and strut your stuff sis, you're using real weapon now!" I pushed the weapon back to her and smiled.

"I'm with Code on this Gear, go on!" IF encouraged. Hesitant and a little wobbly, Nepgear walked up to the stage. Uni and Kei stepped out of the way and made room for a micro-sized shooting range. Nepgear took a deep breath and transformed Grindrix to Shredrix, wowing the audience from just that. She had a hay-day firing Shredrix's rounds into the steel dummy that was set up. Screens all around the stage gave a dramatic but awesome look at the weapon and the person firing it as well. I took a good look and could've sworn I saw a smile on Nepgear's face. For the finale, Nepgear summoned Grindrix and gathered as much strength and courage she could. She leapt in the air with a mighty leap, spinning Grindrix rapidly and slamming her into the ground, letting her spin like a top. The blade completely annihilated the steel dummies summoned and almost frightened Uni and Kei. She dropped back down and picked Grindrix up and held it up for all to see. She looked like she was really having a blast. Uni and Kei clapped for her last performance, as did all the crowd, even the people that were originally booing. Uni and Kei both motioned for all of us to come up as a team to recieve our reward.

"Show-off," IF teased Nepgear.

"You did pretty damn good, sis, I might have to make an axe of your own to use someday." I smiled to her. Uni handed the trophy and prize money to us.

"Thanks again everyone for coming out today! See you all again next year!" Uni waved goodbye to the crowd, putting on a good show until the crowd left. Everybody started to either leave or pack up their stuff and depart. We were kept behind to have our picture taken by the legendary photographer, Kei. We all grouped together for a friendly group picture, Nepgear in the middle and holding Grindrix. Kei focused her camera for what felt like an hour before she finally gave us the countdown.

"Relax Gear, you don't wanna be stiff for something like this," IF whispered in her ear. A flash blinded us for a moment then faded.

"Your weapon truly was one of a kind. We'll definitely see about mass producing these," Kei talked business again, retrieving our rental Pop-Ups from our sweaty wrists.

"So, what are you guys gonna do now?" Uni asked, trailing us back to the hotel. Kei sped off to have the picture uploaded to a digital album online.

"Well, now that we have money, we can finally move into Ruination and try to find the Spark of Creativity," said IF, keeping an eye on the many passers-by that fled from the Tech-Expo.

"You should come with us! It'd be nice to have you around again," said Nepgear happily.

"Normally I would, cause I know you probably couldn't do this without me, but I can't leave Lastation yet. I'm still too weak from the lack of faith. I'm sure you'll live though, maybe once my shares get back up it'll be safe for us to go venturing again," Uni replied. We walked to the front of the hotel and stopped to finish the conversation.

"Are you sure? Really really sure?" Nepgear asked again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. D-Don't give me those puppy-dog eyes! It's not like we'll never see each other again, I'm sure we'll be traveling together soon enough!" Uni said in defense. I honestly didn't see the need to have another person with us considering that we have so many people in our party.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then. I hope we see each other again soon," Nepgear bid farewell for us all.

"Yeah, see ya later, Gear. Take care," Uni said with an honesty that showed her sweet side if not for a brief moment. We walked inside the aged hotel of blue and black, preparing for our journey, we still had a lot of daylight and a lot of land to travel. Compa and IF talked supplies with Valve while Nepgear helped pack up our stuff and store it in our universal inventory we shared as a party. I was glad I had my own separate inventory, 'cause I still didn't want anyone to see that I still had the Strength-Gate. Nepgear stored our trophy in a special trophy case in our inventory, even giving it a nice caption and fitting our group picture near it. I tinkered with Grindrix to make sure she was in good shape before we head out.

"You know, if you wanted to show Grindrix for the show, you could've just asked," I said to the busy Nepgear. I tried to maintain a friendly tone with her to let her know that I wasn't mad or anything.

"I'm really sorry, I truly am..."

"Don't be sorry silly! I'm here for a reason remember? I'm glad I could help, even if it's not directly," I interrupted Nepgear. We smiled together and helped pack the stuff together.

"Okay, I think we're ready to head out from here. You two ready?" IF asked. Nepgear and I nodded together and led our troop outside and soon over to the exit of Lastation.

"Welcome one and all to the glorious land of Ruination!" Valve assumed the role of tour guide, showing us a sunlit view of the enormous city ruin that seemed to span miles after miles. Buildings were ruined and streets were crushed, bandits roamed around endlessly raiding the makeshift towns that scattered the sides of the streets, and you could smell the dust moving around in the gentle breeze.

"Why aren't we going anywhere?" IF asked with a bewildered look.

"Oh, we're waiting for the author to get done describing the city and close the chapter," Valve replied.

"Oh, okay."