Sorry for the delay on this one. Ran into a dead end, and needed to spend a large amount of time redoing it.

But, it's a big chapter! And a big end to the story arc!

Now, Review time.

RedBurningDragon: Poor Iffy indeed. Don't worry, she'll recover.

Ant: In general, if the plot requires something that makes no sense, and doesn't have an adequate reason for needing it (say, for instance, Kei), then the party will probably brush over it. Fetch quests suck.

To Broach or to Put Up: Yay! It's creepy cringy guy! I missed you. I bring you body pillow. It's blank, and I put it through a dryer so it's all lumpy.

Soggy Biscuits: I love that story. I can't recommend Direct Connection enough.

Draxinus: 1/3 pimp. How does that even work?

A.S.M.F: Thank you. 10/10 for your review.

Y'know, I think I liked it better when we didn't have plans. Because every single plan we've set up so far has been to deal with something that I really, really wish we didn't need to deal with.

Namely, this time we need to break back into the World Labyrinth.

Yes, the exact same Labyrinth that I blew out the back entrance for, before I was unwillingly extracted via angry demigod twins. I mean, it was either that or die via killer robot, but man, if I hadn't done that, we'd have had a much easier time getting back in.

But that's why we're here now: outside the only accessible entrance, huddling down to both stay in cover and to stay warm. Loosely scattered around us, about two dozen Lowee troops of varying competency and armedness shuffle about in the snow erecting tents and whatnot, or setting up barbed wire.

That's right: this time, we actually have backup. Well ummm... Sort of.

I don't give these people even a snowball's chance in hell at actually taking down or even slowing a Killachine. Essentially, while they might be able to stop a small infantry rush, the moment a Killachine shows its ugly face, they're going to have to run for their lives. That, or get run over. Still, I'm counting my blessings where I can get them, and any support is a good thing. At the very least, we won't have hostiles coming in from behind.

We seem to still have a reasonably long time before any of the machines make it out though, if the irregulars periods of silence are any indication. If they were all activated, I doubt the near-constant rumbling would have as often a pause as it does right now.

Hopefully, we won't need to run into another one of those things… Failing that, it'd be nice to not have to fight it. Either way, we're going to definitely do this quick. None of us are sure whether ASIC's going to be moving them out to the entrance piecemeal or in a single group, but either way, the minute enough of them hit the field it's game over for us.

Time to take a survey of our party...

Nepgear's sitting in the corner staring at the False Mascot, occasionally glancing away from it towards her sword. I'd probably be psyching myself up too, if I hadn't already passed the mental point of no return.

If I started acknowledging the sheer madness of our plan in its entirety, I'd probably be unable to recover in time. Thus, logic and common sense have been shunted away into the dark corners of my mind, at least until we stop needing to fear for our lives.

Man. I'm so glad none of the girls can hear me… Even I think that this is too much whining.

IF's still in a bad mood from earlier, but has recovered admirably all things considered: she's at least attempting to fake a smile. Compa's right beside her, hand never straying from her friend's side. The two of them are currently talking with an official-looking soldier in a fancy uniform with equally fancy lapel badges, probably setting up the ambush point for if ASIC troops make it out here.

Marvy and RED are seated a bit to the side, with Marvy flipping through a handful of scrolls, and RED… doing RED things, I guess.

While we might have humans backing us up, we've still not heard back from the other two resident Goddesses. Rom and Ram pretty much just glazed over their eyes while we were planning things out, and then wandered off to do their own things. They're probably going to show up when the shit hits the fan, but until then, we can't rely upon them.

So that just leaves us, our little ragtag squad of six, against a full battalion of terrorist troops.

And fortifications.

And like eighty giant killer robots.

"Everyone still remember the plan?" asks Marvy, voice only barely hinting at the unease she's probably feeling. Her scrolls are quickly stashed into wherever she keeps her inventory pouch. Maybe in her cleavage? I definitely don't see any pockets in that skin-tight uniform.

Ah yes, the plan. I believe the best words to describe it would be 'easier said than done'.

It's a simple plan with four steps: sneak back into the Labyrinth, get to the Mascot's chamber, place the False Mascot, then activate the thing. That should get the barrier back up again. Without the…

"Hey IF, what happened to that device you guys took from the Labyrinth?" I ask, glancing towards the agent. "It sorta slipped my mind."

"Oh that thing?" she answers, pausing her conversation just long enough to respond. "I just left it in the hotel. You seemed intent on being the one to take it apart, and it didn't really seem important. Plus, I ended up renting the room for the entire day, so it's not like it's not secure."

"Great." I reply. At least it's out of the picture. Bringing something like that back into the Labyrinth by accident would be a rather bad thing.

Anyway, since there's only one entrance left that works, Mina's plan was to set up a guard post at the entrance, and just blockade the place until the ASIC troops run out of supplies and surrender. Either that, or they charge a fortified position and get taken down.

I mean it works, but it sounds like it'll be a lot of effort in the long run to make sure that they get everyone down there. I'm glad we're not going to have to be the ones to flush out all of the remnants after the main wave's dealt with.

Mina was even kind enough to compliment her provision of armed troops with a dozen Eject Buttons, so we'll be able to get out afterwards, instead of y'know, getting trapped inside of the barrier and slowly starving to death. I'm personally carrying two buttons.

Assuming people can even starve to death in this world…

Yuck, staying alive but slowly…

NO.

I'm going to steer my train of thought away from there. I have enough things to be worried about!

Someone pokes me from behind. "You alright, Derek?" asks Compa, voice full of concern.

Right, I must've shuddered.

"Just a stray disturbing thought." I answer with a sigh, shaking my shoulders loose. "The cold doesn't help any."

"Alrighty then. Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

Nepgear rustles about in the snow for a moment, before she finally takes a breath.

"Is everyone ready?" she asks, although her tone is not exactly confident.

"Yup.~" "Ready to go."

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answer.

And with that, we plunge back into the Labyrinth.

Now that I'm better rested, the color scheme of this place, while still bad, is not as terrible as it was last time.

Of course, that might just be the added new colors of slate grey and silvery steel, intermixed amongst the rainbow: there's ASIC troops goddamn everywhere.

"Wow!~ That's a lot of bad guys…~" murmurs RED, who has thankfully decided to tone her voice down for this mission. I was beginning to question the intelligence of bringing her on a stealth mission.

Indeed there is… four… eight… sixteen troops in plain sight, as well as a single Killachine, which seems to be on standby. Thankfully, there's no way something has detected us quite yet, so they're probably just guarding the entrance, rather than trying to escape the complex.

"We need to get up top as fast as we can." states Marvy, finger pointed to a nearby ledge gap in the wall leading off into the distance. "They might have patrols up top, but they definitely won't be able to get any Killachines up that high."

Nepgear nods. "Do you want me to fly up top with a rope?"

Marvy shakes her head, even as she continues to glance around the corner. "Sorry, but I don't have another rope. Didn't have time to pick one up."

IF chips in her suggestion. "Gear, do you think you could fly us up one at a time?"

"I should be able to." states the Candidate. I hand her my coat, and soon in a diminished flash of light, Purple Sister hands me it back. "Okay, who's first?"

"Me!~ Me!~" chirps RED, practically throwing herself into Nepgear's arms. The poor candidate blinks back at the redhead in confusion, eyes unfocused.

Or umm… maybe confused or embarrassed or something. I still can't tell, what with her CPU eyes being the way they are and all. Either way, I take a position out of sight. Marvy's on point, so I'm not needed anywhere at this moment. I'm just going to hang back with IF and Compa.

Taking a deep breath, Nepgear launches herself into the air and out of sight. I can faintly hear RED whispering "Wheeeeeeeee!~".

There's several tense moments of silence, before Nepgear returns to the ground, with a nearly inaudible click.

"Did anyone see me?" she asks, as she dashes back towards us to cover.

"No, you're good. They're distracted." answers Marvy. "Derek, you up for being next?"

I nod my head back. "Okay."

It's a little bit awkward attempting to find a position where I'm able to safely hang onto Nepgear, what with the fact that I'm over a head taller than her. The wing things on her back don't help matters either. They're definitely a lot harder than they look.

It basically ends up with me throwing myself over her shoulder, with my legs dangling over one side, and my head and left arm sticking out the other. My face is pretty much directly pressed against her right wing.

Needless to say, I look like an idiot. I feel like an idiot too. But it's still better than accidentally forcing myself into the world's worst wedgie.

Embarrassment or not, in moments I am safely up top with RED. With only a nod back, Nepgear disappears back down below to retrieve the others.

Soon enough, we're all up top ready to go. Nepgear grabs my coat once more to shift back, and then sits down for a moment to regain what little power she expended.

"Be ready for anything." states IF, the second we're all recovered. "There's no way they didn't find the rope we left behind."

As we dash across the tops of the walls like scared rats, the sheer amount of ASIC troops we pass is staggering.

Patrol after patrol march below us, occasionally joined by an active Killachine. Still, not a single soldier glances up to where we stand. I'm not sure if they're just lazy, or are incredibly confident, now that they have so much power behind them.

Detected or not, it's definitely a rush to be sneaking past so many troops… There's more than triple the number out now than there were last night.

A quick hop across a few suspended bricks, and we're nearly at the position we were at last night, overlooking the main camp.

Yet, as we approach the overlook that we first examined the base from, the rather troubling sound of voices can be heard.

Nearby voices, at that.

"Eugh… I can't believe we're stuck up here…" groans a male voice. "I mean, I know why you underachieving idiots are up here, but why me?"

"Look, you were supposed to be on patrol." spits a female. "Fat good you did, at that. My ears are still ringing from the rant we all had to hear."

"How was I supposed to know they'd steal our money?" counters the first voice. "That's supposed to be our thing. I've never heard of a goddess doing something like that!"

"Just. Shut. Up. You're giving me a headache. Our shift's only another half hour, and I'd like to spend at least half of that in silence." groans another female. "Just be glad you don't need to haul crates until then."

"And all this hauling! I'm not getting paid enough for this!"

There's the sound of someone being slapped. "None of us are getting paid enough for this, you idiot! And it's your fault that we aren't!"

IF and I briefly exchange dispassionate glances. "Does this count as a mercy kill?" I utter, as I draw my weapon.

I barely even get a shrug back in return, as we close the distance.

The ASIC squad before us is a ragtag group only four strong: two males, two females. And by ragtag, I mean that one of the girls is staring over the edge at the machines below, one guy is obviously asleep, and the other two are trapped in a pointless argument.

Either the patrol before us is beyond incompetent, or they just believe that no sane person would ever assault the Labyrinth at this time.

Unluckily for them, we aren't sane. The three conscious members of their group are barely even able to register our presence before we're on top of them.

"What the?" murmurs one of the females, as she attempts to lift herself to her feet.

Of course, not even seconds later, she joins her companion in dreamland, courtesy of a crowbar to the face. It's a good hit too, if the vibrations I'm getting back through it are any indication.

Beside me, RED and Marvy make quick work of the other two, and so we're left with nothing but four unconscious people, in a place that's in direct sight.

"So uhh… what do we do now?" asks Nepgear, poking one of the now-neutralized thugs with her finger. "I mean… we could just leave them here…"

True, we could leave them up here, but then they could alert the others if they woke up… and I don't think we'd be able to carry them down the rope…

Oh, or they could wake up and fall off the edge. That could happen too.

So at this point, we've just got four bodies we need to get rid of. My little bag of tricks is almost empty, but I've got a few eject buttons now, as well as a whole lot of bombs.

"Hey IF - do Eject Buttons need a willing user?" I venture, as I join Nepgear at poking the sleeping guy. Still fast asleep. I mean, we could just whack him into the negatives too, but it seems sort of unnecessary.

IF blinks at me. "What?"

"If I were to poke them with the button end of an Eject Button, what would happen?"

That gets a bit of silence back from the group.

"Anyone against me trying to clump them all together then poking them with an eject button?" I ask, honestly curious now. "IF? Any safety guidelines I'm violating doing this? I'm not voiding any warranties, am I?"

IF shrugs. "If it makes our job easier, go right ahead. Just remember to keep the other one."

With only a tiny bit of effort, the three are soon in a small pile upon the ground. I'm pretty sure they only need skin to skin contact, so one of the arms of the three is laying atop of the sleeping guy.

Close enough.

"Okay…" I speak, as I step forward with the button. I flip the thing backwards, with the flat end pinched in between my fingers.

I hold my breath and close my eyes as I bring the button down. There's about a fifty-fifty chance at this even working, with the other fifty sending me back instead.

I mean, I'd probably be able to make my way back, but it'd suck and take a lot of time. My hand meets a bit of resistance for a moment, before the familiar sound of warping reaches my ears.

"Huh. It worked." states IF, although she doesn't sound too surprised. "That's new. You're probably going to try to weaponize that, aren't you."

The area where they were sitting before is now entirely free of bodies. My hand that was previously holding a button is also now empty. Seems that the button is consumed upon use, regardless of how exactly it's used.

"Who knows?" I answer, getting back to my feet. "I mean, these things have a set rally point, right? Can't imagine it being too useful in a real fight. Maybe as a distraction or something."

The grinding of the Killachines below us jolts us back into the present. "We… we should probably keep moving!" utters Nepgear, as she pulls us into cover. Not a moment too soon either - I can see an ASIC Soldier glance up towards where we were but a moment later.

Sure, they'll probably wonder why the patrol's missing, but if the conversation they were having was any indication, it's really not that out of character for them.

Getting back into the camp is pretty much a carbon copy of what we did last time.

The only difference, is Nepgear needs to fly over to the entry point to retrieve the rope, and then bring it back to us. It seems the ASICs just left it there.

Climbing up and down the rope again sucks, but let's face it - we've done it once, so we could do it again. Plus, I know what not to do this time.

The girls are even kind enough to pull out some padding from the nearby empty boxes to cut the impact of hitting the ground, so it's not like we even run into any problems getting down either.

I probably was the reason they even did that, but I'm not complaining. Anything that stops unnecessary bruising is a good thing to me.

So, with the stars practically aligned in our favor, we rush out of the curiously-unguarded storage room, past the almost-empty tents sections, and into the Mascot room.

One problem.

"Uhh… Guys? Is it just me, or is the room bigger than it was last time?"

Whereas before the room was a relatively small one, now it seems to be double the size.

Behind us, something slides into place with a loud schunk. Iron bars? Why are iron bars even here? Where have I seen this before?

"It's a trap!" states IF, who draws her katar from their holsters. "Get ready, everyone!"

A massive rumbling fills the room, as something shifts from the back of the room. Something massive.

A Killachine rumbles into sight. It's the same one we dropped the roof on, if the external damage it's showing is any indication. There's cracks across its chassis, its mace is missing a few prongs, its axe is chipped, and even its central armor is tarnished. It looks like dropping a ceiling has definitely affected it negatively.

"Taaaaaarget kshhhtttt Identified" it states.

And holy crap, it got even more terrifying.

Whereas before its voice was sort of childish, this thing now sounds like one of those tacky singing fish things, once they start to run out of battery. Its voice is speeding up and slowing down almost at random, and it's shuddering every few seconds. I know that machines can't really hate something, but wow, this thing's doing its very best.

"Eliminatin kshhhttttt liminating targets" it groans, as it readies its weapons. And then it bellows, the sort of stock monster scream that you generally hear from… y'know… organic things.

No escape, nowhere left to run. I get a feeling the bars aren't going anywhere any time soon.

"Let's do this!" Marvy shouts, as the giant machine rumbles ever closer. Nepgear flashes into her Sister form, as the rest of us draw our weapons. Crowbar seems like the best choice for me… I don't know if anything else I've got would be effective against this thing.

It's damaged, right? We might actually have a chance at taking this thing down!

It definitely wastes no time in closing the distance though: even while in the state it's in, this thing's fast. In a moment, it's practically on top of us, weapons ready.

It raises its mace, and begins to…

"JUMP!" shouts IF, the instant she sees this happening.

We're all airborne the moment the mace comes crashing down. A good thing too, if the strangely-visible shockwaves coming off of the impact area are any indication.

Nepgear, being airborne already, is more than ready to counterattack the metallic monster. Pivoting into the swing, she attempts to strike the Killachine's exposed flank. But despite all of her best attempts, it only glances off of the thing's plating with a 'thakk'.

No dice.

"Gah!" shouts Nepgear, flying back out of the Killachine's retaliation strike. "It's no good! Its armor is still solid!"

IF stares intently at the machine for a moment, before turning towards me. "Derek… Think you can take the armor off of that thing?"

"Heh… you're joking, right?" I answer. Seriously, there's a difference between the robots we fought earlier, and this gigantic war machine in front of us.

"No." Her face and expression are entirely serious.

I was afraid of that.

"Can you at least keep its attention off of me then?" I reply. Hoo boy, frontline against a Killachine. This is going to be fun.

Taking a bracing breath, I wait until the Killachine has devoted itself into another attack, before I charge forward, crowbar ready.

The base of the thing's just as dangerous as the front, something I probably should've paid attention to before charging it. The tail, being a long, windy metal thing, is covered in sharp-looking prongs, and definitely isn't immobile.

"Yipe!"

Said tail is moving side to side rather quickly, even as the main body continues its assault on Nepgear. I'm going to have to do this quick…

I can't see anything able to be pried off from here, but there's a loose-looking plate just out of reach…

I'm going to need to climb it. Why do I need to climb the giant killer robot?

Right, because you always need to climb the giant killer robot. It's written in a manual somewhere, or something. It always, always happens.

I hop over the tail, and then over another shockwave, before gritting my teeth and scampering up the thing's back, doing everything I can to avoid the sharper-looking sections. It's definitely not easy to climb up something that's moving, but the plating actually has a decent amount of handholds, so rather than impossible, it's more just really annoying.

From there, I dig my knives into the handholds, brace myself against its back, and flip free the loose plate with my crowbar. The heavy plate somersaults through the air, before falling to the floor with a clang. The exposed section is still within reach, but I'm not risking irritating it, when I can have Nepgear hit it instead. Plus, it's not that big of a spot. I need to find a place with more loose plates.

Hopefully, it doesn't notice the thing on its back. I mean, it doesn't seem to be able to reach me here, but it could run me into a wall, which'd be painful.

Very painful.

There's a few more loose plates up above me, so it looks like more climbing for me...

One plate… two plates… I'm not even really pausing to think as I continue to chip away at this thing's armor. I can't, since even as I do so, this thing's thrashing and screeching. It doesn't seem to have landed a solid hit on Nepgear yet, or any of the others.

Still, regardless of how many I pry off, Nepgear's still not landing any decent hits. It seems the holes I'm making just aren't large enough.

By now, Nepgear's either been filled in on what I'm doing by IF, or she's seen it herself: she flies close enough to me for me to hear her clearly.

"Derek! Do you need me to get you down?" she asks, but she cycles back to avoid an incoming laser blast.

"No, I'm good!" I answer, continuing my climb. "I'll try to find a better spot!"

Up at this thing's shoulders, and wow, I'm beginning to see the extent of the damage we really dealt to this thing. There's not a plate up here that isn't cracked, damaged, or bent out of shape… more than a perfect target for me to expose.

Unfortunately, being on a part that is near something that is actively being rotated and moved is a lot less comfortable than being on the Killachine's relatively-immobile back.

As quickly as I can, I begin to rip off plates on both sides, more than enough to expose the thing's now-vulnerable shoulders. I can't reach any more from here though, not without moving onto the arms themselves and being ragdolled around.

Nepgear, seeing my success, flies in for a direct hit upon the exposed section.

I see her blade make contact, and sink into it!

It sinks entirely into the vulnerable shoulder, and rips a huge gash across it!

"SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Everything's spinning as the Killachine screams in pain. Or maybe not pain but really, I'm not paying much attention. Being this close to the thing's head has increased its volume from merely 'loud', to 'hello mister flashbang'.

Needless to say, I'm bracing against its body as it continues to screech. I can't see, and I definitely can't hear anything.

I feel a massive vibration, but I can't do anything besides cling on for my dear life. I can't help but recall the memories that lead to my hatred of amusement parks, as I feel myself reach the zero-gravity point.

And then I'm falling.

I've still got a grip on the metal monster, but I'm definitely falling. Its screams have at least lessened in volume, so my vision's clearing: enough for me to see the ground rapidly approaching. I was so high up before, but now, it's only seconds before impact.

I brace myself, squeezing my eyes shut.

This is going to suck.

But instead of the feeling of impact, I instead feel a massive pull on my midsection, enough to knock the wind out of me. What? I open my eyes, and while my head's still spinning, I can at least make sense of my surroundings.

Nepgear's holding me by the midsection, and her mouth's moving, but I can't hear a damn thing.

The Killachine that I was just pulled off of, continues towards the ground, where it collapses with a thump that sends reverberations through the air. Its arms are entirely gone, either having disappeared into data, or being thrown clear.

"Thank you." I mouth back to Nepgear, but I can't tell if my voice is working or not. The smile I get back reassures me that either it is indeed working, or she can read lips proficiently.

Either way, we quickly descend to finish this thing off.

IF and the others have picked up the ball nearly immediately, and are doing whatever they can to strike the monster's now-vulnerable head. It seems that the impact from it hitting the ground was enough to knock the rest of its damaged plates clear. It's vulnerable now, and we all know it.

The creature's spraying lasers about, but it simply can't target all of us at once.

Hit by hit, the beast's thrashing decreases, until finally, it lays still, unmoving.

A big creature like this doesn't disappear into data all at once… No, it actually brings to mind the deaths of the dragons from Skyrim. Starting from the tip of its tail, it begins to disperse, like a fire creeping up its body. It's strangely beautiful, watching the thing disappear, leaving naught but a few chips, a handful of items and an absolutely massive indentation upon the ground.

Nothing left of the beast remains, save for a few discarded plates upon the ground.

RED jumps into the air, arms raised above her head, mouth moving wildly, but I still can't hear a thing.

IF points at me, and says something, before tilting her head and repeating herself. I shake my head back, and point at my ears, and then cross my arms.

Compa rushes over, carrying her bandages. It's a bit strange to have them wrapped around my head, but soon enough the familiar feeling of being healed settles over me, and the sound of the group comes back into focus.

"You able to hear us now, Derek?" asks Compa, the moment she takes off the bandages.

"Yeah… I'm good. Remind me to wear ear protection next time." I murmur, rubbing my forehead. The healing fixed my deafness, but I still have a headache.

I can see the bars on the entrance beginning to retract, just behind where Marvy is standing.

"Gear! The Mascot!" yells IF, as a handful of ASIC troops charge through the opening door one at a time.

In a blink, Nepgear's beside the Mascot plinth, and the False Mascot is in place.

With a "schoom", the white barrier phases back into place, cutting off the flow of incoming ASICs. The half-dozen that made it into the room with us glance back at the newly-formed barrier in confusion, even as their comrades slam at it in frustration.

Needless to say, after having taken down a giant killer robot, six thugs are a pushover.

In pretty much a blink, they're in a pile on the floor, we're all ready to go, and RED is busy making faces at the ASICs trapped outside. I even have time to grab a few shards of the Killachine's plating before we go, as both a souvenir, and potentially as a weapon upgrade.

Let's be honest here, I'm probably just going to make a knife out of it.

With a final mocking bow towards the people on the other side, Marvy retrieves her Eject Button, we link hands, and we all disappear in a flash of light, leaving this hellhole behind. I make sure of course to have an arm on the unconscious pile of goons. Leaving them behind would be unnecessary, and cruel.

Oh, huh.

The rally point is an absolute mess.

It seems that the ASICs were in the middle of launching an assault on the guard post, but from the amount of unconscious people in plain sight, it seems the Lowee soldiers were actually winning.

I mean, our arrival temporarily stops the fighting, as both sides turn towards the new arrivals. The people on our side let out a cheer as reinforcements arrive, but the ASICs still don't seem too concerned.

Oh, that's why. Yeah, I can see why they're not too concerned.

There's a Killachine over on the side, engaged in a fight with Rom and Ram, both of whom are in their Sister forms. It seems the two are keeping it at a stalemate, but aren't really able to win.

Nepgear dashes over to assist them, but it seems to be entirely unneeded, as before she can even close the distance, the machine seizes up and dies mid-swing.

I don't even turn towards Rom or Ram. Let them take their free victory, I'm going to go find a bed and pass out in it.

"IF… which way to the hotel?" I ask, rubbing my forehead as I stow my crowbar. These soldiers don't need our help, and I'm exhausted.

"This way." states IF, finger pointed whereverward. "Gear! We're heading back to the hotel!"

I'm pretty much dead on my feet by the time we arrive at the hotel. It turns out, IF had rented a rather large room, with more than enough space to host all six of us. Taking just enough time to thank her, I make my way to the couch, and pass out.

I awake to voices. Annoyed voices. Man, this sofa isn't as comfy as it was when I fell asleep on it.

"I don't understand why this thing does that to me though…" murmurs Nepgear. There's a pause, before she lets out a yelp. "Ow!"

"Gear…" IF sighs. "If it hurts you when you touch it, you probably shouldn't be touching it."

"But why is it doing that to Ge-Ge?" asks Compa. "Ge-Ge, you all right?"

"I'm fine, Compa."

I suppose I should wake up, right?

"Eurgh." I grunt, as I lift myself off of the couch.

Nepgear, IF, and Compa are sitting in a circle on the floor, with Compa clutching a small red…

Oh.

"Yeah, don't touch that, Nepgear." I state, as the three's heads swivel towards me. "That thing's an Anti-Crystal."

"Anti-Crystal?" queries IF. "Never heard of such a thing."

I shrug as I take a sitting position on the couch. "They're pretty rare. From what I've heard about them, they're really dangerous for CPUs, at least, the big ones are. This one probably isn't big enough to do any real damage, though."

IF raises an eyebrow at me. "One of these days, you really need to show me where you're getting this information from. These books you're citing seem interesting."

"How'd you get it out of the machine, anyway?" I ask, diverting the conversation away from my knowledge. Yeah, I could blame a book, but I wouldn't know the name of it, that's for sure.

'Ye Olde Tome Of Knowledge Longe Forbidden Ande Forgotten', maybe. Needs more stupid fake words.

There's silence all around.

Then Marvy chips in from a different corner of the room. She seems to be filing a report of some kind. "IF tripped over the machine it was in, and it broke."

We exchange glances, shrug, and then continue onwards, completely ignoring the visible blush across IF's face. "So… Throwing the thing away seems like a bad idea." I state. "Someone else could find it, and that could be pretty dangerous."

Compa stares at the crystal. "Derek, do you want to hang onto the crystal for us, then?"

I can't help but blink back. "Wait, why me? Why not you or IF?"

IF shrugs. "Nepgear can't carry it, plus you seem like you'd find a way to get more use out if it than any of us ever would. Just keep it in your inventory for the most part, and we should be fine."

"Okay then." I reply, as I step forwards to accept the crystal. It's a relatively small thing, fitting into my palm more or less perfectly. Let's just stow this thing so we don't need to see it any longer.

A knock on the door draws our attention upwards. "Hey! Dummies! Mina wants to talk to you!" shouts Ram through the door.

I don't quite entirely silence the groan emanating from my throat.

"And no, Derek. No using that crystal on the twins." states IF, although she doesn't sound that serious.

"Aw man…" I whine, doing a fake pouty lip.

"Don't even think about it!"

Mina's smiling as we step back into the Basilicom. "Good work, all of you. I have received reports back from the Labyrinth that you were successful in your mission."

"Yup!" replies Nepgear. She must've had a nap or something while I was asleep, there's no way she wasn't tired from that fight.

"I understand that you're going to be headed to Leanbox next?" ventures Mina, handing us back the original Mascot. "I wish you luck in doing so. Please be safe on your journey."

Nepgear smiles and accepts the Mascot, before stuffing it unceremoniously into her inventory.

As we step out of the Basilicom, I can't help but overheard Compa talking with IF.

"So Iffy, how do we get to Leanbox anyway?"

"Well, normally there's a boat that travels between Leanbox and Lastation." replies the agent. "If we head out now, we should be able to make tomorrow's midday launch, no problem."

"Wait, we could pay Uni a visit while we're there!" chirps Nepgear. Right, Uni! Maybe we can meet up with her in Lastation. Would be nice to see her again.

"Wait, Uni?" asks Marvy, eyebrow raised. "Should I know her?"

"Oh. You haven't met her. She's the CPU Candidate of Lastation, Black Sister." explains Nepgear.

IF seems to remember something, and turns to Marvy. "So… Marvy, you going to follow us to Leanbox? From the last I heard, you were stationed in Lowee for the next month or so."

Marvy is silent for a moment, before she nods her head, smile across her face. "I mean yeah, I am, but when am I ever going to get another chance to travel around Gamindustri with a Goddess or two any time soon? Besides, I don't think the Guild will be too mad at me if I take a little vacation from my post."

IF laughs a bit. "Just call it a 'working vacation'. That's what I always do."

As we begin our march through the snow, with our destination clear, and spirits high, I can't help but let out a small sigh of relief. That was an ordeal, but we only came out stronger from it.

Leanbox, here we come.