The day broke over Lastation as Koei stared restlessly at his coffee, a furrowed brow clearly telegraphing his mood as IF and Uzume sat alongside him with their own hot beverages.

"I'm surprised you three actually arrived on time," Kei stated, wide awake with a stack of papers in hand. "Of course, I was awake all night creating this legal document confirming your responsibility for anything that goes wrong and Lady Noire has already signed off on it."

"Good for you," Koei stated bitterly before yawning. "I was too busy going over everything that could go wrong and by the time I had calmed down, the sun was already coming up."

IF ruffled his head with a tired smile. "Uzume and I have your back, always."

"If we're done with platitudes, read over this document." Kei slid the neatly stapled pile of paperwork across the table. "Basic legal disclaimer, releases Planeptune from all responsibility for your actions and as long as you're doing this mission, you are not considered Planeptune citizens for the sake of not sparking another Console War."

Koei glanced at the several centimeter thick pile of paper and looked on in awe. "Damn, Kei. How'd you get this done in one night?"

"A lot of coffee."

Koei nodded sagely before getting up, ignoring the paper presented entirely. "On behalf of the Planeptune Special Forces, we agree with everything written here."

Uzume put her head in her hands while IF seethed. "Okay, can you at least look at the papers before accepting for the three of us?"

"Too late, I'll take that as verbal confirmation." Kei gave the slightest hint of a smug grin as she snatched the documents back. "I'll start working on getting in touch with your transport to Leanbox."

Kei got up to leave but was interrupted by Koei slamming his hand onto the table. "Wait a minute!" he yelled. "Is that all we're getting? No cool outfits, or CPU backup, or even some guns? I gave Peace and Tranquility back to Nepgear over a month ago so she could submit her patent, I can't face down a terrorist organization with just Serenity!"

"You're going to have to," Kei stated simply. "This fanfic's budget doesn't allow for any more ass-pulls than I've managed to wrangle already."

Without another word she left, leaving everyone present dumbfounded. "Okay… So did Kei just break the fourth wall… to utterly diss the lack of budget this story has?"

"Yes." IF responded immediately. "But I wonder what she meant by ass-pull…"

"Ta-dah! Mysterious beauty Neptune has arrived!~" The black hoodie-clad Adult Neptune announced, walking into the meeting room with nary a care upon her face. "I heard you needed a ride to Leanbox?"

Koei nodded with a sigh. "More or less. Croire got enough juice?"

Neptune threw her book into the air, the notepad spinning wildly before being caught. "Of course! It was a bit of a rush recharging Crosty, but Nepgear helped out with Nep Jr. Having a family like mine is chaotic, but I wouldn't give them up for anything." She rambled with a wistful smile before realizing she had completely gone off-topic. "Ah, right right. Yeah, she's fully charged, but Crosty isn't quite familiar with this version of Leanbox, so it's going to be a bit of a crackershoot, excuse my language."

"Crackershoot." Uzume replied monotonously. "Having a kid really screwed with your swears, huh?"

She had the decency to rub the back of her head with a blush. "Nepgear was like that at first too, but when she heard Nep Jr. say the f-bomb after Blanc spilled some tea during a visit, she changed her mind pretty quick." She noted with a soft chuckle.

"Crackershoots aside, I appreciate the save." Koei cut in with a genuine smile. "Hope things go well for your new family."

"Thanks, Kopey." Neptune responded with a sad smile. "I did miss your genuine kindness when you disappeared…"

The atmosphere of the mood fell a bit before IF piped up. "Bad memories aside, getting to Leanbox sooner would probably be the best idea for now."

With a curt nod between the four, a hole in time and space was opened up by the other-dimensional fairy trapped in the NepNote. "There you go, one guaranteed warp to the Leanbox shore!... Sorry if in advance if that means being knee-deep in the ocean, as I said it's a bit of a crackershoot sometimes."

"Thanks, Big Nepsy." Uzume gave a salute before stepping through the warp, leaving Koei and IF to stare into the shifting mass with a hint of worry.

"Ladies first?" Koei offered, to which IF grabbed his shoulders and shoved him in before hopping in herself without another word before it finally closed.

"Goddesses, they're still adorable, despite how awkward they act." Neptune chuckled to herself before creating her own portal and returning home to her sister and daughter.

"Hmm, so this is what Leanbox's shore looks like now." Uzume mused to herself in the brief moment she had alone before Koei fell face first onto the sand with a soft thud, with IF soon following as the portal closed behind them.

"You really had to shove me through the portal, huh?" Koei sighed as he coughed up some sand before getting back up on two feet.

"You said ladies first." IF snarked back with a wink while helping him back up. "But it seems Big Nep had the right idea about where we'd end up, at least. I'd wager we're towards the more uninhabited Southern border, which gives us some time to compile a plan." She quickly started to take the lead of the trio.

"We have our weapons and not much else," Uzume noted, taking out her battleax and spinning it before finally hefting it over her shoulder. "But do we need anything else?"

"We have three Hero-class adventurers… And that's about it." Koei noted with a sigh as he dusted himself off. "But then again, we have the Saviour of Planeptune, a former CPU and one of the most legendary Guild members in Gamindustri! If anyone can pull off this batshit insanity, it's us, right?"

The sound of wind blowing was the only sound that could be heard on the empty beach as IF sighed deeply. "There was an attempt." Was all she said before making a gesture to follow her. "Come on, I'm a Leanbox native, I'll give you the grand tour!"

Briskly walking away, Koei and Uzume followed suit quietly, a look of worry crossing the male's face as the green pasture gradually gave way to a derelict factory district, dark green buildings long abandoned by their owners as the gutted remains of various robots were scattered like leaves.

"The Mechanical Graveyard." IF finally spoke up, tone somewhat solem as she navigated the sharp pieces of loose metal. "Frankly a bad name, but I never named it. This is the resting place of Leanbox's… varied attempts at war machines."

Uzume raised an eyebrow. "Wonder if I had anything to do with that. From what I learned about Leanbox in my time as CPU, they seemed to be rather… Defensive."

"You would be too, entering a three way war with no military." IF pointed out logically, grabbing a fried circuit, tossing it lightly with an inquisitive look. "Leanbox had a massive military budget, considering it managed to transform the PC Continent into its own sovereign Nation with no CPU and decided to move on into the Console War for… Well, the reasons are unknown but if I had to guess, Credits."

"Always about money." Uzume sighed, leaning against a corrugated iron fence. "So I'm guessing they invested a lot into the military branch?"

"Leanbox wasn't exactly the Land of Green Pastures back then, no." IF shook her head with a wistful look in her emerald-green eyes. "It was mostly research people and their families who lived here and when the military bubble popped, those same scientists worked on making the place more akin to Lowee than an island of death and mechanical corpses… But you can never truly hide your scars."

Koei, who had been listening silently simply nodded, patting his chest with a sigh. "Thanks for the reminder."

Uzume, being half-curious at the mangled green spider-walker in front of her, opted to kick at it in a bored manner. Rather surprisingly, this caused the hit cannon to discharge a shot high into the sky. "Huh. Didn't expect it to still be functioning."

"Built to last." IF stated with a smile. "This place is actually a pretty popular questing spot, because the electronics you can scavenge are in hot demand…"

The sound of buzzing copters alerted the trio to an incoming battle as they prepared their weapons. "I could use some practice." Koei chuckled weakly as he pulled out Serenity with a flourish and a smile.

IF rolled her eyes and pulled out her katara as she eyed her opponents, calculating her first strike against the oncoming Bits,

Koei on the other hand, simply waited for a bot to enter his range.

Uzume opted to take the initiative, hopping over the duo and swinging her axe downwarde, annihilating the two Bits that happened to lined up beneath her.

In response, the other Bits fell back, seeming to show some intelligence despite their simplistic nature. Suddenly, panels on the Bits slid away to reveal miniature guns and started firing upon them, forcing them to duck behind the solid remains of another spider-mech, the small bullets harmlessly bouncing off the thick metallic hide.

"So…" Uzume spoke up with a candid tone. "Any ideas?"

"Not kicking the hornet's nest?" Koei snarked, to which he popped his head out from behind the improvised cover before ducking back to avoid the hail of gunfire. "I had to give back Peace and Tranquility, didn't I?"

"You weren't using them anyway!" IF yelled back, leaping from her cover to unleash a wave of fire to fry the circuits of their attackers. "There. Not so difficult, eh?"

"Easy for you to say." Koei sighed as he finally got up out of cover. "I think I sat on something sharp…"

"Now you know how I feel." IF snarked with a smile as Uzume decided to catch up to the duo as they made their way through more wreckage. "Amway, where was I before Uzume did an Uzume?"

"First off, rude." Uzume rolled her eyes with a playful smirk. "Second, you and I were nerding out over Leanbox's past tech, I believe."

"Ah, right right." IF rubbed the back of her head with a blushing smile. "Surprised I got caught in that talk considering it's… You."

Uzume raised an eyebrow, but didn't follow up on that comment. "Honestly, after I learned that Leanbox started as a hyper-militarized Nation, I was worried until the LBX-001 incident. Then I was just straight up fascinated."

IF's face lit up in realization. "You mean the time they tested that anti-CPU weapon on the patron CPU, only for it to completely fail to even scratch her?"

"You'd think after that they'd try to alter it, but I guess the politics at the time meant the PC Continent couldn't really develop anymore without the CPU giving them the stink-eye."

Koei was simply lost by the jargon the two spoke, but smiled at them finally finding some common ground. "Least I know they might not try to kill each other in the middle of this. Hopefully."

Truthfully, Koei had been worried for a while about leaving IF and Uzume unattended, but they seemed more amicable than usual. "Seems you two are finally getting along." He mentioned with a soft smile.

"Consider it a working relationship." IF said cooly. "We had a few drinks last night, worked things out a bit and I'm fairly confident that Uzume won't try to horribly murder us."

"Fairly confident? I'm not trying hard enough to give off my murderous intent." Uzume stated sternly before breaking out into giggles. "It's cool, Ifsy. If you want me to be out front while you cuddle Kosy, I don't mind being at the front while you two have a bit of a 'lover's break'-"

IF took the opportunity to storm off ahead, angrily slamming her katars into whatever got in her way as Koei and Uzume watched on in a combination of awe and fear.

"For both of our sakes, never bring the phrase 'lover's break' up in conversation again, agreed?" Koei asked simply, face as white as Lowee's pristine snow.

"Agreed." Uzume said with a wry grin. "But seeing her completely lose her cool is pretty funny, you have to agree."

"More cute than funny, but yeah." Koei conceded with a soft smile. "Probably not good for her yo- I mean blood pressure." He was entirely unaware that Uzume knew already, but for simplicity'she kept her mouth shut and simply headed through the wreckage that IF left behind.

Meanwhile at the Leanbox Basilicom,. Chika sat at her desk, her hair frazzled from stress as a pair of elite guards waited outside her office door, ordered not to let anyone in as she attempted to devise a plan to save Vert.

Key word being attempted, as Chika's head was buried deep into her hands, guttural moaning emanating from her. "Lady Vert… I promised to save you but I can't even catch the bitch who did this to you…"

Her self-pity was interrupted by the double dors of her usually pristine office swang open wildly. "Lady Chika! There's been reports of some lunatic rampaging through the Mechanical Graveyard!"

Chika barely raised her head, death in her ruby red eyes. "I gave orders to be left alone." She stated simply, tone dripping with murderous intent.

"B-But Uzume was spotted among the flames!"

Chika shot up in response. "Gather a strike team as soon as possible and wait for my command. I need to prepare to kill that traitorous goddess."

"Lady Chika? She's not alone, maybe we could just capture her and whoever is accompanying her?" The grunt asked nervously.

"Don't care. Suit up to kill." Chika barked with no room to argue. "As the acting leader of Leanbox, I'm ordering you to gear up for a damned massacre here, or am I sensing a mutiny on my hands?"

The sheer hatred from Chika's glare caused the soldier to clam up very quickly before sheepishly exiting the office as Chika finally got up, heading to the corner of where her spear laid, picking it up with a flourish.

"Dear sister… You shall be avenged."

Koei and Uzume finally caught up to an exhausted IF, wheezing and panting while surrounded by the eviscerated electronics of at least fifteen Bits, along with a spider-mech.

"Iffy…" Koei sighed uncharacteristically. "Are you done with your wanton slaughter of all artificial life within a mile radius?"

IF flipped off Koei with a knowing smile. "It was more for her than for me, thank you. Also you should pry your eyes off of me for a second." She helpfully pointed out as the whirring of a second wave of Bits charged at Koei, forcing him on the defensive.

Uzume attempted to swing her axe at the swarm, but in a rare showing of intelligence they dodged. Grunting in frustration, she swung wildly again, only for them to dodge again.

Uzume blinked, before preparing a third strike… Which was comically dodged once again. In response, Uzume let out an inhuman scream of rage before throwing her axe into a nearby wall, which the blade of the axe embedded itself into one of the steel walls, before she grabbed a Bit and threw it at one of its compatriots.

In response to Uzume's outburst, Koei simply leaned back against the same wall that IF was resting against and watched the carnage unfold with a nonplussed look plastered across his face. "Well, I'm not cleaning up her mess."

"Someone will. Scrap electronics make for a good side hustle." IF said with a wry smile, moving her head to dodge an incoming piece of Bit flying at high speed, embedding itself in the iron wall and fizzled slightly. "Assuming anything salvageable is left… I'm actually afraid to stop her."

"It's strange how quickly she tears through metal…" Koei nodded inquisitively, also dodging a shard as it ended up sizzling and melting the wall slightly as he inched away slowly. "Yeah, you think we should…"

IF shrugged as she got back up, kicking aside the rapidly growing pile of scrap metal. "Leave her to it? And miss out on this carnage?"

They were interrupted by Uzume clearing her throat tiredly, sweat and oil covering her jacketed shirt as she brushed metal off her body. "What carnage? Can I join?"

IF sighed. "Never mind. Are you done with your… Thing?"

Uzume chuckled , rubbing the back of her head with some least. "Sorry, I guess? Did you want a piece of the action?"

IF groaned, putting a hand to her head, "I hate the both of you, but we need to get things back on track. Namely getting the Shining Spring water to Vert and getting the Guild back online so we can finally get this Nation back online in a reasonable amount of time?"

"Love you too." Koei noted with an eyeroll. "You ever get the feeling that something is about to go horribly, horribly wrong?" He pondered aloud as a red dot slowly danced along his face, eventually stopping at his forehead as IF noticed, her eyebrows raising in alarm as the gears in her brain turned. "Uh, Koei? Your shoe's untied?"

"It is?" Koei looked down and promptly got on one knee to peer closer before a bullet wooshed over his head before Koei realized something "Wait, these are velcro. No laces."

Uzume began to look in the general direction of the bullet's trajectory to find the assailant. "Couldn't have thrown him to the ground?"

"Gotta look natural, Uzume." IF noted with a serious look on her face. "Whoever is aiming at us might not realize that we know yet, so let's just head behind a wall and see what happens."

With curt nods, the trio ducked behind a nearby wall and began to formulate a counter strategy to their latest assailant.

"Goddess DAMMIT!" Chika slammed her binoculars onto the grassy plain overlooking the industrial district after her elite sniper missed such a simple shot. "All I ask is for my elite trained sniper to nail someone in the head, and she misses because the guy KNEELS DOWN TO CHECK HIS SHOELACES!"

"Lady Chika, are you sure this is necessary?" The sniper sighed with a pained look. "I feel like we're missing a piece of the puzzle in terms of who actually raided the Basilicom…"

Chika gave a look, her imposing figure being aided by the golden shield Grace in her non-spear wielding arm. "Your job isn't to ask questions, it's to shoot who I ask you to."

The helmented woman got up and stared defiantly at her so-called boss. "I work for Lady Green Heart. You on the other hand, are overstepping your bounds for the sake of ill-reasoned vengeance and I'm only going with this because you threatened me with execution."

Chika simply put her spear to the sniper's throat. "You want to rephrase that before I relocate your neck?"

The sniper pushed down her spear with a look. "You want to relocate your spear before I relocate your brains over the floor? Oracle or not, I don't appreciate threats, and I know I'm one of the few people who can nail a headshot from this far that you can get a hold of, so I'd back off so I can do my job."

Chika trembled slightly, before sighing and stepping back. "Just don't miss this time?"

The sniper rolled her eyes, looking down the scope before making a frustrated groan. "And your babbling let them get away. Time for plan B…"

Chika suppressed a groan before grabbing a walkie talkie. "Alright troops, since my elite sniper can't shoot through the wall, I need you to surround Warehouse… 343? Yeah, that one. Surround it, pour lead into any unknown targets and don't report back until I have three dead Heroes."

Putting the radio back down, Chika simply sat down with a defeated look in her eyes. "They're going to fail, aren't they?"

"You're sending a bunch of thugs with machine guns against a traveller from another dimension, a high ranking Guild agent who's spent over a decade adventuring and a former goddess who threatened all of Planeptune at one point. I'm putting money on the underdogs here."

"We'll see."

Poking around a disused warehouse, Uzume noted that the double doors were chained up, the rusty chain barely holding together. "Yo, guys." She caught the attention of the other two. "I can break this chain pretty easily and we need a place to formulate a plan."

"Breaking and entering? Suppose if this place is abandoned…" IF conceded, before giving a shrug as Uzume quickly yanked the rust-covered chain off easily, the links shattering like glass as they clattered loudly. "Could have been more subtle, but I guess we already have a target painted on our backs so a little property damage won't hurt in the long run."

Koei simply opted to look behind him with some trepidation as he entered, closing the metal doors behind him before finding a nearby pole and jamming it between the handles. "There…" He muttered almost to himself. "That'll give us some time."

Catching up to the other two, Koei started to glance around the rusting facility, abandoned remains of experimental prototypes lay untouched for seemingly years, the natural plant life gradually reclaiming its former home.

Wandering over to a display case, worn away with time and cracked by vines, Koei carefully reached into the case and grabbed what it was originally housing, a strange-looking pistol. Mentally shrugging, he aimed it at a nearby wall and held down the trigger, a green orb of energy slowly growing out of the barrel.

In response, he freaked out thinking it was going to explode, throwing it across the floor, the green orb slamming into one of the iron walls, eating through the wall before disappointing with a fizzing noise.

Naturally this attracted the attention of IF and Uzume, who gave a guttural moan and broke out into hysterics respectively. "Koei…" IF started, before unknown voices came from outside.

"So, this Chika lady is payin' us 50 grand to take out these three shmucks who were spotted around here?" A gruff male voice asked, to which another spoke up.

"More or less. We should have asked if that was total or each, though." He said with a tired sigh. "I mean it's the gal right underneath the CPU in terms of power, I'm sure if we twisted her arm enough she'd be more generous…"

Hard thudding came from the jammed doors as angry muffled voices came from the other side of the door as Koei started to walk away, spinning on his heel and closing the distance to IF with a worried look on his face.

Without a word, IF pulled him into a soft embrace, patting his head gently in an attempt to calm him down. As she did so, Koei took a look around and spotted something in the corner of his eye. Wriggling out of IF's grasp with a twinge of sadness, he silently walked over to the thing that interested him as Uzume rubbed the back of her head with a defeated sigh.

"Well, the enemy's at our gate sooner than expected." She reasoned while looking around the deserted dark warehouse, filthy windows barely giving enough light to see more than a few feet, let alone make out anything clear in front of them.

That was until a pair of flashlights came on from a disused corner, nearly blinding the pair as the machine rumbled to life. From above it, Koei stood with a grin that could split concrete. "Ladies… May I present the LBX-001, otherwise known as a fucking tank!"

IF was surprised by the sudden shift in mood, but climbed up the armored front, to which Koei politely moved out of the way for her to enter unobstructed. Inside the vibrantly lit cockpit, she found a notebook full of concise operation instructions for driving, loading, and firing. "A three-man vehicle, huh?"

Her musing was interrupted by Uzume letting herself into the loader's seat, spreading her legs as she found her bearings and picked up a shell to gauge the weight of it. "Quite the oddity, huh?"

IF, still peering over the instructions nodded with a chipper smile despite the odds. "It seems that that shell you have is basically the ammunition used in the cannon…"

"Ya'll never seen a tank before?" Koei half-yelled from outside, before dropping in. "I suppose Gamindustri has no need for armored warfare when magic exists… Oh and literal gods walking the lands, I guess."

"... I forgot that you're not from around here." IF noted with a thoughtful look. "Guess you've adapted that well."

Koei nodded, before poking his head back out and turning back to the door, the pipe slowly giving way as the gruff voices grew louder. "Looks like we don't have time to talk. Either of you know how to drive this, 'cause I got a plan?"

"I swear, this door feels like it's sealed shut." One of the gruff thugs complained, the doors slowly giving way to his relentless assault, however slow going it felt to him.

The other thugs rolled their eyes with mutters of "pansy" as the ground started to rumble. Reading their weapons, the thugs stepped back from the doors, including the one fighting the door as the rumbling grew in intensity.

"Alright lads, open fire on whatever comes through that door and we'll be gettin' paid in no time!" The leader chuckled, putting his eye near the iron sighs of his submachine gun.

As something exploded out of the wall, warcries came from the small group as gunfire filled the eye, their vision obscured by the rust and dust flying around the area. After their clips ran dry, the leader gave an evil smile, a job well done…

But as the dust settled, the job had just become far more complicated as the hatch opened up to reveal Koei, smiling down the group while leaning in an almost bored manner. "I heard you fine gentlemen know the location of a certain Oracle, or at least were hired by her to fill me with lead, correct?"

One of the group nodded. "She's just around the corner, setting up her 'Master Plan' or something."

"And what a plan it is!" The green-haired Oracle made herself known, stepping out from behind the wall of another warehouse, accompanied by a specially modified Bit, dark green and equipped with a camera. "Citizens of Leanbox, I apologize for the inconvenience, but after a long and arduous journey, I have found the perpetrators who attacked our glorious Nation!"

Koei tilted his head in confusion. "These grunts here?"

Chika blinked, losing her composure slightly as her "script" was broken before shaking her head and starting again. "No, it's the guy who hijacked the freakin' prototype tank, of course!"

Koei looked down at the prototype war machine he was currently occupying, looked back at the wall that had been ploughed through a minute prior.

"Ah." That was all he said before Chika continued, pointing her spear at the tank.

"Regardless, I knew that you radicals would be trapped here like rats once I shut down the Guild and took away any chance for you to escape!"

"... Do you realize who actually carried out the attack on Leanbox?" Koei asked rhetorically, "Didn't you check the meeting room afterwards? Didn't your security team see the broken windows or-"

"Are you going to keep interrupting me with excuses?!" Chika finally snapped. "I finally found those who have wrong my Nation, my CPU, my sister and you dare to sully this moment with meaningless drivel?"

Koei tilted his head in the other direction before getting out of the tank and sitting near the hatch, laying down slightly as he did so. "To a certain extent, it isn't meaningless and I'd like to take a moment to recount my side of the story, the side where I faced down a real terrorist with a real gun. Are you saying that the trauma I experienced doesn't exist because of this conspiracy you've seemingly made up to paint us in a bad light, despite being specifically asked by the other Oracles to come save your damn CPU?"

At this point, he had gotten off the tank and was now merely a meter or so from the spear and shield wielding Oracle. "That's not even counting the fact I nearly had my head blown off by a sniper, which could have been ASIC, but considering what these fine gentlemen-" he motioned to the grunts, looking rather awkward with no ammunition left and were simply watching the ham to ham combat unfold. "Have said, I'm almost convinced you have a reason to kill me."

Chika stood silent for a moment, a smile slowly forming upon her face. "Do you mean these people I specifically asked to hunt down anyone suspicious who might be hiding out here? It's a local questing area and I wouldn't want any unprepared adventurers to run into someone like you. Furthermore, all these claims about snipers and hiring people to hunt you down are clearly desperate lies and you just want to make me look bad on national television."

Shoving Koei away and trussing her hair for the grand finale. "Not that I'm shocked that Planeptune would collude with such renegade terrorists, much less a degenerate Nation like Lowee allowing the use of their Artifact by a non-native. But the best is to come!" She announced as the other two members of the Planeptune Special Forces clambered out of the no-longer running tank. "You see, I have done some digging on Uzume ever since the incident. Old newspaper archives help pass the time in these trying times and well… Would you look at that?"

Reaching into her pocket, Chika pulled out a newspaper extract. It showed a young woman with hair exactly like Uzume's up against a wall in handcuffs with a disgruntled look on her face. "PUDDING PLUNDERING PHOENIX OF PLANEPTUNE PLUCKED!" The headline read.

Chika gained a rather manic grin as she turned towards the trio. "Tell me Uzume, why would you be in the paper with the moniker 'Phoenix of Planeptune', along with being in cuffs? Don't tell me the CPU who betrayed her own Nation and has her own citizen's blood on her hands had a criminal past too? Is that why you're here, raiding the Land of Gree-"

Chika's boastful monologue was interrupted by the sound of metal being compressed, the bit screaming as Uzume's palm slowly crushed it effortlessly before tossing it over her shoulder, almost completely flattened.

Shocked silence reigned for a few seconds as Uzume's face seemed to darken before turning to the still frozen Chika with a glacial look that could douse the hottest blaze. "Ya think you're real clever for pulling this shit, eh… Oracle?" That last word cut like glass, as if being twisted into her gut as Uzume's usual irreverent tone being replaced by one Koei knew all too well. "You set up a sniper to get us to duck into this specific building, get a buncha dudes with only one clip of ammo and nary a bit of military experience to make them look like innocent volunteer guards and bank on us 'acquiring' a prototype armament you fully knew would have constituted a breach of Leanbox law, if not outright violate the Treaty. Is that all correct so far?"

Uzume's darkened tone and menacing pacing terrified the previously overconfident Chika, who now meekly nodded in response rather than try to lie her way out. "Good, good. See, this would be all fine and dandy. These 'innocent workers' should have really seen the signs of being set up, by the way." She noted, putting her arms behind her chest and staring up at the sky. "Chances are if you did succeed, you'd have silenced them using the legal system, ironic considering that you're working with ASIC."

Chika's mouth hung agape. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. At least not for sure, ha." Uzume chuckled, lightening her tone a bit. "It was little things at first, like Histoire not giving me a briefing, made sense, we were in Leanbox, us getting split up into patrol routes despite the meeting room having one entrance, covering your bases I guess. What started to concern me was when Ifsy sent out the panic signal to the Guild. That should have alerted you as well as the other Oracles, but you never turned up before we left due to Kosy's situation and wanting to get him to safety in case of backup... Then I woke up the next morning to find that Leanbox was totally shuttered. I don't know how long I looked at that screen for, because the gears were turning in my head, but Kosy snapped me out of it before I could connect the dots."

Chika had regained her self-confidence during Uzume's rambling. "So in summary, you think I, the Oracle of Leanbox, is working with ASIC because of jealousy or something? Hah, don't make me laugh." She crossed her arms with a smile.

Uzume smiled back. "I didn't say anything about motive either, but I appreciate the help."

"Now that I think about it." IF finally chipped in, putting her hand to her chin. "Vert has mentioned that Chika seemed more distracted lately on the last double date we had. That coupled with the fact two CPUs are dating and Chika is pretty well known in the guild for her pseudo-sister complex…"

Chika started to sweat bullets as the Planeptune Special Forces turned to her with inquisitive looks, her entourage had disappeared during Uzume's theorising, leaving her on her own against overwhelming odds. "W-Well, it doesn't matter anyway, because you jumped the gun and crushed my TwitchyBit before you could figure me out! So yes, I did work with ASIC, but I simply bankrolled their efforts after they contacted me to 'help' with my 'sister's date'! It's not like I wanted it to spiral out of control like this, but it doesn't matter!" She gained a battle stance, determination burning through her veins as thoughts of Vert coddling her in the times before the end of the Console Wars gave her drive to fight. "I'll kill you three where you stand for interfering with my sister!"

"Add aggravated threats of assault towards citizens to her crimes." A familiar soft-spoken voice crackled in the relative silence as Koei's UI gloves opened to a video call featuring the other Oracles, Kei scribbling silently as they finally noticed their new audience.

"Your back and forth got boring, so I tried opening my UI Gloves out of habit and saw your TwitchyBit live streaming us, meaning the Guild Network was back online. So I called up the Oracles to listen in during Uzume's long-winded theorycrafting. I didn't actually expect for you to confess everything." He shrugged with a smile.

"To think we were concerned for your plight when you brought it upon yourself." Histoire stated in no uncertain terms, anger overshadowed by her sheer disappointment. "Not only did you willingly allow your own CPU to come to harm, but allowed the others to be put into a state exploitable by a sinister organization if it wasn't for the mercenaries I entrusted to you. Then you shut down all communications with us, endangering Lady Vert's life even more! Your behaviour isn't just disgraceful of an Oracle, but outright abhorrent!"

"You have no right to judge me." Chika stated with no emotion, taking the torrent of criticism, but not without anger rising. "You protected a criminal when she should have been brought to justice long ago, yet here you are judging me for my actions."

Histoire glared in response. "Uzume atoned for her sins. You refuse to see the error of your ways. From what we have gathered, we will have to discuss with our CPUs on what to do next… It's unfortunate that Vert isn't conscious yet, I'm sure she would have defended you in some capacity."

The feed cut out, leading to an eerie silence, a light breeze blowing through Chika's hair, the weight of what she had done starting to dawn on her. "So this is rock bottom." She finally said, bitterness in her voice as she looked to Koei with a mixture of hate and despair. "You. Koei. You did this to me. You took her away from me." Walking towards him with her spear ready to strike, Chika was now certain of the target of her frustrations before stopping. "Maybe… Maybe I should do the same for you."

Turning to IF sat fiddling on her phone, having long since checked out of the confrontation, Chika gained a wicked grin. "Or maybe I should take from you what you did to me." She marched towards the unaware Guild Agent, spear raised with intent to kill.

"DIE!" Came the battle cry of the crazed Chika, alerting IF slightly too late for her to dodge. Koei got up to try and move her out of the way, but the uneven surface, tripping over the turret and falling off the tank entirely to the soft ground below.

This still led IF to scrambling on the tank's surface, failing to significantly move away from the approaching Chika, slipping on the smooth metal, barely able to get friction from it as Chika lunged ever closer.

Scarcely before Chika could go in for the kill however, she felt a weight hit her gut as she doubled over in pain, Uzume looking over her in a bored manner before shaking her fist to regain feeling within it. "Yo, Kosy, Ifsy." She turned to the duo with a soft smile. "Get to the Basilicom already. I can take care of this traitor by myself." She nodded with a salute as the pair clambered back into the LBX-001, the dark green plates shining defiantly against the midday sun as it roared back into life as the hatch closed and in trundled off towards the emerald green hollow cuboid, leaving Chika and Uzume facing each other down, the sound of the wind blowing being

"Y'know, it might seem like I'm just putting myself up for slaughter-" Uzume's villainous tone crept into her usual tomboyish voice. "And if it wasn't the man who gave me a helping hand when I was at rock bottom, I wouldn't have let them walk away from this fight and up the pressure on me." She cracked her neck and punched her palm to psyche herself up. "But not only did you selfishly go against everything an Oracle stands for… You revealed the one thing I wanted to be buried to the entire world."

Reaching towards her loosely fitting jacket and shirt, she suddenly gripped it before throwing it away, revealing her bra and somewhat toned physique, the beginnings of a six-pack adorning her, having been finally exposed to the outside world for the first time in what seemed like forever. Turning around, she revealed an intricate tattoo, the iconography of Planeptune adorning the sides as a bird rose from the ashes and adorned in flames took up most of her back, only slightly being covered by the strap of her sports bra.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And you pissed off the Phoenix of Planeptune."

Chika rolled her eyes and took up a defensive stance. "If you're done babbling nonsense and stripping, speak with your fists… And be silenced." Tranquil rage bubbled over her voice, clearly wanting to fight her seemingly weaker opponent.

Uzume simply clenched her firsts with a grin, spinning into a sprint as Chika prepared to block a straight punch, before Uzume crouched to unleash an uppercut fully supported by her toned arm, launching the Oracle up off the ground.

Traitorous Oracle of Leanbox

Chika Hakozaki

Vs,

Phoenix of Planeptune

Uzume Tennoboushi

Time seemed to slow down as Chika was launched off the ground, landing on her back with a hefty thud as she arched her back with a pained groan as Uzume shook her right hand again, the recoil leaving a slight pain in her wrist.

Getting back up, Chika snarled and started to formulate a counterattack as Uzume simply made a taunting gesture. Opting to advance, she raised her shield and shifted her spear to operate better on the offensive. Using her spear like a sword, she slashed at Uzume who barely moved her head to dodge the slashes before countering with a swift jab to her exposed arm, causing Chika to flinch mid-attack and giving Uzume more of an opening to follow up with a combo to her gut before falling back, starting to bounce about on her feet as she flicked her wrists before putting them close to her face, ready to strike.

"Are you mocking me?" Chika sighed as she readjusted herself.

"Nah," Uzume gained a confident grin. "Just realized how satisfying beatin' seven shades of shit outta ya is gonna be."

With a jaunt hop forward, a flurry of punches connected to Chika's face before a hard right hook staggered her once again, further anger building within Chika as she recomposed herself, gripping her armaments harder before lunging forward, catching Uzume off guard as the spear's blade grazed her cheek, a shallow cut left on the former goddess' face.

As Chika recovered from her reckless strike, Uzume suddenly grabbed the handle of the golden spear with a single hand, using her free hand to stroke the cut, bloodying her fingerless glove and fingers slightly as she did so. Examining her hand, she looked back at Chika with a confident grin. "I guess you are an Oracle."

Suddenly gripping the handle with her other hand, Uzume's grin intensifies. "Guess I'll step my game up." That was all she said before digging her feet in and starting to pull the handle towards her, using all of her upper body strength to lift Chika off of her feet, before spinning 180 degrees and letting go, flinging her and the weapon still in her hand into a pile of cardboard boxes with a crash, leaving Uzume to dust her slightly bloodied hands-off with a satisfied smile.

Chika's body was starting to give out, but her growing rage towards Uzume gave her resolve to if not outright beat her, at least wipe the smug look off of her face. "Vert… Vert as my witness, I won't g-giive up until my body is d-dry…"

Defying her body's urge to give up, Chika launched into a sprint, spear pointing directly into Uzume's torso. Noting this, Uzume prepared to dodge a straight spear strike.

To her shock, Chika pulled her spear back before leaping, slamming her buckler into Uzume's torso unexpectedly, knocking her backward, flipping before landing on her front.

Slamming her fist into the grass, Uzume pushed herself back up, scanning her surroundings before formulating an attack plan on the fly. Noticing a particularly heavy-looking piece of scrap, she grabbed it to use as a shield, charging towards Chika, who tried to strike through the makeshift shield but it simply bounced off as Uzume slammed the metal directly into Chika's torso.

As she fell over, clutching her stomach in pain, Uzume lifted the rusted metal above her head before slamming it down with a solid clang as it bounced off of the Oracle.

Groaning in agony, Chika struggled to get back to her feet, teetering with a tinge of dizziness as her vision blurred, Being beaten within an inch of her life was not something she expected when she woke up this morning, but eventually she got back into a fighting stance.

Uzume simply stared her down, smiling smugly as she knew the fight was basically over at this point. "Getting tired?" She taunted with a knowing grin as the Oracle trudged towards the former goddess with hate in her eyes, every breath barely being choked out of her throat. Once she was within striking range, she lunged lazily, Uzume dodged easily. "I think it's time you had a nap." She said before grabbing Chika's shoulder before delivering a full force right hook to her face, finally knocking her out as her now limp body let go of her armaments while Uzume dusted off her bloodied hands, the Oracles nose being utterly broken by the sheer force of the punch.

"Right then." Uzume cricked her neck as she looked down at the unconscious Oracle. "How do I deal with you…"

A/N: No, I'm not sponsored by Sega, as of right now I learned that Yakuza 3-6 are being officially ported to PC right as I was about to publish this, even if the revelation that Uzume is (In case you didn't get it already because you haven't play Yakuza) former yakuza herself was a relatively recent idea, I literally had this ready to publish yesterday and Sega dropped this shit.

Guess this story is either going to be finished by late January or not at all.