Nico and the crew continued their journey to Junko's castle. On the way, Coden spoke to the overlord.

"Hey, Nico...?"

"Yeah, Codes?" Nico said to the lynx.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Nico tried to think back and remembered what he was talking about.

"Yeah, there was..." Nico said, "But Metatron answered most of the questions."

"You mean about me being Lady Chiaki's bodyguard?" Coden asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to make sure you weren't lying to us."

"I guess I did... Though I didn't know I was at the time..."

"Hey, no need to be so down about it. Someone fibbed in order to keep Chiaki safe, so I have no problem with it."

"Ms. Yukizome sees Lady Chiaki like a daughter. Of course she'd want to keep her safe."

"Well, even if you were the deceiver and not this Yukizome person, I'd still trust your judgement. I want to keep Chiaki safe, too."

Coden smiled at Nico.

"Maybe you should stop talking to me, and talk to Lady Chiaki now." he said.

"Why?" Nico asked.

"To get to know her more." Coden said to the overlord.

Nico's face got a little red.

"W-what are you implying, Lynx?" Nico asked.

"I see how you look at her sometimes." Coden said with his hands behind his head, "If you want to win Lady Chiaki's heart, you've got to get to know her a bit. You're a gamer, so that's already a plus. Now you should see what else you two have in common."

"And you're okay with this? Seeing how protective you are of her, I'd of thought you had a crush on her, too."

"Dude, I'm a lynx. I do find Lady Chiaki beautiful, as well as one of the best people I've ever met, but we don't need to support bestiality like a certain train-wreck of a game did."

"What, you mean 'Sonic 06?'"

A boot flew and hit Nico in the back of the head the moment he said that. He turned around to see an angry Chiaki puffing her cheeks. He was tempted to ask how she keeps hearing that and where the boot came from, but decided against it when he remembered this story doesn't have much of a fourth wall.

"Why do you think I didn't say the name?" Coden asked the overlord.

"Could have warned me..." Nico said.

"I guess I assumed you'd already know... Sorry Nico."

"Eh, it's alright... Hey, wait a minute! You called the game a 'train-wreck!' Where's your boot?!"

"I may have called it a train-wreck, but Lady Chiaki knows I don't hate the game. In fact, I appreciate it."

"Why's that?" Nico asked.

"Silver the Hedgehog. He's the most relatable Sonic character I've ever seen in a Sonic game."

"Really? How?"

"We both have Asperger Syndrome."

"You have Aspergers? ...Actually, that explains a lot."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'll stop boring you and the readers about Sonic and Asperger Syndrome. Why don't you go talk to Lady Chiaki?"

"Let me recover from the boot to the head first."

"Very well."

Coden then walked back to check to see how Nagisa was doing. Nico thought about what he'd say to Chiaki the next time they were alone.

As the crew moved on, they noticed something heading their way. It looked like a giant robot.

"Oh no, MEGATRON!" yelled Morishige.

"Knock it off, would you?" Nagisa told the janitor.

Nico approached the robot.

"Hey, Kazuichi! Is that you?!" he said.

"Lord Nico!" said a voice from inside the robot, "I knew you'd recognize one of my creations!"

The head of the robot opened up, revealing two demons inside. One was a guy with shark-like teeth and a magenta colored hair, which Nico recognized. The other was a new face to Nico. He was a young lad with white hair, glasses, and a Vic Mignogna voice.

"So, this is the great Lord Nico you've been talking about, Soda?" the boy asked

"Yup! That's him!" said the shark teeth guy.

Both boys jumped out of the robot.

"Long time, no see, Lord Nico." shark teeth said.

"C'mon, Kazuichi." Nico said, "You're an overlord now. You don't need to call me 'Lord' anymore."

"I know, but I can't help it." Kazuichi said. "To me, you're always 'Lord Nico'"

Seven came closer to Nico and asked, "Who's this, Boss Man?"

"This is Kazuichi Souda." Nico told the bad-ass, "He use to be my vassal and my mechanic, until he graduated to overlord when he mopped the floor with an enemy kingdom using his robot army."

"Yeah. I was gonna refuse the spot of overlord, till Lord Nico here told me I'd have a better chance with Princess Sonia if I were an overlord rather then a vassal. So, I became the overlord of the Metal Shark Netherworld."

"By the way, how'd it go with Sonia?" Nico asked his former vassal.

"Well..." Kazuichi started, "I'm... Kinda with someone else..."

"Really? I never thought you'd have eyes on anyone other then Sonia..." said Nico, "Well, except Overlord Von Karma, but she has a restraining order against you."

"So who's the lucky lady?" asked Godot.

"It's... Mahiru Koizumi." the Metal Shark Overlord answered.

"The photographer?!" Nico cried, "That, I did not see coming! How'd you two hook up?"

"Well, Mahiru knew I liked Miss Sonia, but didn't stand a chance. So, she gave me lessons on how to win Miss Sonia's heart. However, as we spent time together during the lessons..."

"That's when you two fell for each other, right?" Coden finished for Kazuichi.

"That's right. She gave me lessons to be a better boyfriend for Miss Sonia, but I ended up being hers instead."

"That's so beautiful! Love, love!" Monomi said.

"I still can't believe it..." Morisige said, "Last I checked, you two were as compatible as antifreeze on a snowman!"

The Picky Penguin Overlord ignored his janitor and put his hand on the Metal Shark Overlord's shoulder.

"Mahiru's a good person, Kazuichi." he said, "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Lord Nico." Kazuichi said.

"By the way," Nagisa asked, "Who's that with you?"

"Oh, right! This is Mao." said the mechanic, "He's a friend of mine who visits my Netherworld for spare parts. He's joining me for a robot joyride."

"You forgot to mention that I'm the highest honor student of Evil Academy!" said Mao.

"Right. He's that, too." said Kazuichi.

Mao straitened his glasses and made a devious smile.

"Pleasure to meet you, Nico." he said, "If you'd ever like for me to experiment on your body, just let me know."

"Ooh, am I detecting yaoi?!" Maya cried

"I-It's not like that!" Mao said, looking flustered, "I meant give him upgrades! Like a rocket arm, or jet-powered wings and such."

"Yeah, Mao here is a wiz mechanic, too." Kazuichi said, "Though, what he makes are mostly for experiments and stuff. He actually helped me put together Sodatron here."

Kazuichi then pointed to his robot.

"Oh no, SODATRON!" Morishige yelled.

"You never change, do you Morishige?" the mechanic said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ooh! A Nuclear Imp!" Mao cried as he got closer to Morishige, "I heard your blood is made out of the same liquid found in nuclear power plants! It makes a great energy source! Just imagine all the possibilities! Nico, please give me permission to experiment on your janitor!"

"Granted." Nico said, "Just don't kill him, and make sure to return him. I need him for cleaning my castle."

"Mwa ha ha ha ha! I'm going to have so much fun with you...!" Mao said to the janitor, who looked horrified.

"Somebody SAVE ME!" yelled Morishige.

Maya knew this wasn't real yaoi, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

"So, where're you headed?" asked Kazuichi.

"We're headed for Junko's castle." Godot answered.

"Ah, I remember the good old days when I had my robot army take on her Monokumas..."

"And they always yelled 'Bubbling' when they exploded!" Nico finished for the Metal Shark Overlord.

They both start laughing.

"Say, why don't I tag along for old times sake!" Kazuichi requested.

"We'd be happy to have you along, Kazuichi." Nico said.

"Alright! Watch out, Junko! Kazuichi Souda is back!"

"You have fun, Soda." Mao said, "Now excuse me as I start my experiments on this janitor."

Mao then ran off, carrying the janitor with him. Everyone could hear a loud "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from Morishige.

"Well, that's one load off my back." Nico said.

Mean Dino began to whine.

"Hey, don't worry, buddy. He'll come back. You'll be able to eat him then." Nico told his T-Rex

The Picky Penguin Overlord then faced the rest of the crew.

"Alright, everyone! Let's press on!" he said.

Little did Nico and the others know that someone was watching them from above.

"Ah ha ha ha ha. Heading to Junko's castle? That's what you think, Sally."

The crew carried on the trail to Junko's castle.

"You think Junko will send someone else to stop us?" Nico asked his adviser.

"That's definitely a possibility, my lord." said Godot, "But if that happens, just remember; The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup."

"...Dammit, alright." Nico told his adviser.

Godot starts drinking some coffee afterwards.

As the adviser was gulping down his bitter elixir, Riku noticed a familiar face up ahead.

"Hey... Isn't that...?" he began.

Nico looked towards that direction, and notice a youth with silver-ish blonde hair and a lavender shirt looking around.

"Where are you...?" he said, having a voice that was a bit feminine despite his gender.

"...You." Nico said, having clear anger on his face, "...Joshua."

The boy known as Joshua met eyes with the overlord. Nico expected him to make a douchey smirk and greet him as "Sally." To his surprise, he instead looked startled and ran off.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" Nico called out to him, chasing him soon after. "Get back here!"

The rest of the crew followed Nico, save Coden and Chiaki. They exchanged words with each other before following.

"Coden..." Chiaki asked, "... Was that really Joshua?"

"It looked like it, my lady." the lynx answered.

"I've heard a lot about him in Celestia..." said Chiaki, "Were all those things he did... Were they true...?"

"...Yes." said Coden,"Come on. Let's catch up to the others."

Nico and the crew continued to chase Joshua, eventually reaching a gate.

"That wasn't there before..." Nico said, observing it while still giving chase.

Joshua entered the gate, and turned around to see the others about to enter as well.

"No, don't...!" Joshua cried.

However, Nico and his crew entered anyway, and the moment they did, they all felt very lightheaded, and eventually passed out.

Nico woke up. He looked around and found himself in some kind of labyrinth. He thought he was alone at first, but then heard a peep behind him. He turned around and saw Chiaki, who just got up from the ground.

"...Nico?" she said as she finally noticed him.

"Hey, Chiaki." Nico said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." said the angel, "How about you."

"I'm fine." Nico answered.

"Where are we, Nico?"

"It looks like some kind of labyrinth..."

The overlord and the angel soon heard a voice from a nearby intercom.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! Hello, Sally." the voice said.

"Joshua!" Nico called out, "What did you do to the others?!"

"Oh, you silly nugget!" Joshua said, "They're fine. They're just in different parts of the labyrinth is all. In pairs of two, just like you and the angel. Well... save for one oddball."

"What do you plan to do with us?" Nico said.

"I just want to play a little game is all. Try to get out of this labyrinth. See if you can find the exit. But be warned, Sally. This labyrinth is full of traps that can slow you down. Ha ha ha! Some might even kill you if you're not careful."

"You cowardly douche! Come here and show yourself!"

"Don't be so impatient, Sally. We'll meet up as soon as you get out of this labyrinth...If you get out of this labyrinth. Don't die, now!"

Joshua then broke contact with Nico.

"Damn that douchey Jesus!" Nico said as he slammed his arm on the wall.

"Hey, Nico..." Chiaki said, "Didn't he say there was an oddball?"

"Yeah. Why?" Nico asked.

"Somethings wrong." said the angel, "If I'm not mistaken, there's sixteen of us, which is an even number. How could there be an oddball?"

"That's... A good question." said the overlord, "Maybe he counted wrong or something.

"Nico... Was that really Joshua?" Chiaki asked.

"Right... You must have known him since he's an angel, and a douchey one at that." Nico said, "Yeah, that's really him. Why do you ask?"

"...No reason...I think." Chiaki said.

"Okay..." said Nico, "We should get moving."

"Oh... Right." said Chiaki.

So, the overlord and angel began the search for the exit.

Meanwhile, in a different part of the labyrinth, Coden woke up and looked around.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"...We're in a Labyrinth." said a voice from behind him.

Coden was very surprised to see who it was.

"...Joshua?" he said.

"...Hey, Coden." Joshua said, sounding a bit depressed.

Coden stared at the other angel for a long while, then finally smiled.

"It's really you, isn't it?!" Coden said, sounding very excited, "It's been so long, my friend!"

"...It's best... You don't call me that..." said the depressed angel.

"Call you what?" asked the lynx.

"Your friend." said Joshua.

"But you are..." Coden began to say.

"Coden, what are you doing?" asked the supposed douche, "Why are you acting so friendly to me?"

"Why shouldn't I"

"Have you forgotten what I did?"

Coden remained silent, so Joshua decided to remind him.

"I tried to destroy the Netherworld. I tried to put an end to the demon race. I played god and killed many innocent demons because I thought they didn't belong in this world! I blamed the entire demon race because one demon killed my friend! I... I...!"

"You're trying to find atonement for your mistakes..." Coden cut him off, "You're trying to right your wrongs. You regret everything you did, and you're trying to make things right."

"...Well... Of course you trust me. You met me after I've done all those horrible things. "

"Yeah... I met you around the time you were trying to set things right. So of course I trust you. The Joshua I met was the one who wants to help people."

"...It's nice to finally cross paths with someone who's friendly towards me... Even though I don't deserve it..."

"Joshua, don't say that..."

"You know it's true, Coden."

"It's not..."

"Alright, let me put it in a way you'll definitely understand. You and Chiaki went to face Junko, right?"

"How did you know..."

"Chiaki wanted to change her, and you went along with it... Until Junko nearly killed her."

"Well, yeah..."

"You gave up on Junko, wanted to kill her, and hated her with a passion. Am I right?"

"...Yeah..."

"Well, imagine having trillions of people hate you that much. I don't have to... Because I'm experiencing that right now. I'm literally hated by the entire Netherworld for what I've done. No matter what I do to make it right... No matter how much I want to fix things... It doesn't change the fact that I've done something horrible that doesn't deserve forgiveness. In the end, all the demons will be happier when I'm dead..."

"Shut up!" Coden slapped some sense into Joshua, "I get it! The whole Netherworld hates you! So what? The whole Netherworld hates Junko, too. She just laughs when she does something awful... But here you are trying to make amends. You think I should hate you because the whole Netherworld does? You already proved you're better then Junko because you're actually trying to change! You're actually trying to right your wrongs! So of course I'm your friend despite what you did, because I know you're a good person! Remember what you told me when we first met? 'Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world.' You can't help the Netherworld if you give up on yourself. And you have no business giving up on yourself when you tried to encourage me not to give up. So stop being depressed and continue to do what's right!"

After hearing that and rubbing the cheek Coden slapped, Joshua finally picked himself up.

"Sorry, Coden." he said, "It's just hard living life when the world hate you... When you've done something so horrible, no amount of good can seem to make it go away..."

"Joshua..."

"...I have to ask... Do you still want to kill Junko?"

"Of course I do..."

"Then you just proved how right I am."

Coden didn't know what to say after that. He couldn't come up with anything that could prove his friend wrong. In the end, he realized he was indeed right. Joshua continued.

"Because you saw someone do something unforgivable, you came to hate them, and you don't want to forgive them. It's possible you don't even want them to change... Because even if they did, you'd still remember what they've done... you still couldn't forgive them... and you'd still want to kill them."

When Joshua put it like that, it made Coden feel horrible. Could it be true? Even if Junko changed, would he still want to kill her?

"...Listen, Coden..." Joshua said, "I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?" asked the lynx.

"...Nico...He's a demon I've wronged too. So if... When he attempt to kill me... Don't try to stop him."

"What?! Why not?!"

"... Because I don't want him hating you too... And..."

Before any more words could be said, there was a voice coming from the nearby intercom.

"Oh, boohoo!" said the voice, which sounded just like Joshua's, "Cry me a river, Sally!"

"Joshua, who is that?" Coden asked, "Is that your twin brother?"

"No..." Joshua said, "It's worse... Much worse."

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Guess the cat's out of the bag, isn't it?" said the Joshua from the intercom.

"Who or what are you?!" Coden asked."

"He's all my sins given a physical form..." said the Joshua who was with Coden, "I came across a demon who despite believing that I truly wanted to change, didn't care one bit. So he created this monster..."

"Don't say it like that, you silly nugget." said Intercom Joshua, "Here, let me make a more accurate description of who I am; I am the obstacle that prevents Joshua from moving forward. I am the wall that keeps him from reaching the promise land. You may call me... Jericho."

To be continued...

Okay, so I suppose I've got some explaining to do. First off, the pairing of Kazuichi and Mahiru. This is a reference to the fan fiction
"Improving" By Dr-J33. It's one of my favorite Danganronpa fan fictions that made me ship those two forever. If you read the fan fiction, you'll understand why. Please give it a read. Next is Joshua and Jericho. Bear with me on this... Joshua is my favorite TWEWY character. Now, why would such a Douchey Jesus be my favorite? Because I played Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance before playing The World Ends With You, and therefore met the reformed Joshua before meeting the treacherous one. I begin to wonder if things were reversed, and I met TWEWY Joshua first and Nico met KH 3D DDD Joshua first, that maybe I would have been the one that hated Joshua, and Nico may have come to like Joshua. (Which is what Joshua's philosophy was based on.) I'm the kind of guy that loves to see the good in people, and I love redemption arcs. I'm capable of hating characters, but I can forgive them if they can redeem themselves and they truly want to change. This is why even when I saw the awful things he did in TWEWY, he still remained my favorite character after seeing how much he cared for his friends and wanted to protect them in KH 3D: DDD. Plus, he says one of my favorite quotes; "Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world."