Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

"Halt, intruders!" A monstrous stone knight sculpture bellowed at an unimpressed Nushi and Aranea. "Turn back now!"

"If you wish to proceed, however," a second, identical sculpture spoke up. "You must pass through one of two doors," it said, indicating a pair of identical doors at the far end of the chamber.

"But be warned!" The first statue declared. "One door will lead you closer to our master's keep, but the other…"

"To your DOOM!" The second statue roared.

"You may ask us one question to determine which door is the correct one," the first statue continued. "But be warned, for one of us always tells the truth, and the other always wait what are you doing?"

"Yeah, sorry, but we don't really have time to figure out this clichéd and overdone logic puzzle the hard way, we're just going to be on our way," a very bored Nushi explained, crossing the room and opening one of the doors.

"What?!" The second statue cried. "How did you know that was the right one?!"

"I'm very smart," she said flatly, not feeling the need to mention that it's because Ariel had told her which one was the right one.

"Also, this puzzle makes no sense," Aranea complained to the statues. "If one of you is always lying, then doesn't that mean half of everything you just told us was false to begin with?"

The statues' eyes glanced around shiftily. "Uh, well, the thing is-"

"Nevermind, I don't really care, we'll just leave you to your no doubt soul crushingly boring guard duty," Aranea said dismissively.

"No, wait, it's been so long since we've had any visitors-" the statues protested desperately, only for Aranea to slam the door shut behind her.

"Good work, Nushi!" Ariel congratulated her lover. "Sorry I didn't give you the chance to try and solve this puzzle the right way, but-"

"No, it's fine, I know we're on a schedule," Nushi reassured her. "Plus, that puzzle is so done to death I really didn't have any interest in solving it. It's almost as overused as a Sphinx who asks the tired old 'what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, three legs in the evening' riddle because they couldn't come up with anything more original."

(A monster just down the hall, who had indeed been about to ask that riddle, pouted and decided to go home.)

"I'm also kind of surprised we haven't run into a Minotaur down here, the place is like a maze," Nushi continued.

"That's because I've been steering you away from them," Ariel reminded her. "You need to get here as fast as you can. My uncle's getting really anxious, and it's only a matter of time before he remembers he can just summon Floragel back here. I can only keep him distracted for so long, though the big battle outside his front door is helping with that."

"How's it going?" Aranea asked, Nushi relaying her conversation with Ariel to her.

"Our side is doing great! My family are some of the strongest magicians in the world for a reason, after all," Ariel said proudly. "And the Magitopian elite are nothing to sneeze at either! Anyway, you need to take a right at the next intersection."

"It really is a good thing Ariel is guiding us," Aranea commented as they took the next right. "Given how my magic has been weakened, I'm not sure how we would've been able to navigate our way through this place." She glanced at the seemingly endless ball of thread affixed to her side, gradually unraveling and leaving a trail of string behind them. "At least we shouldn't have any difficulty finding our way back."

"That's my Ariadne," Nushi teased.

"Who?" Aranea asked, confused.

"Oh. Nevermind, it's an old human myth," Nushi replied, slightly disappointed.

The travelers came upon another intersection of tunnels. "Okay, which one now?" Nushi asked.

"Go straight ahead," Ariel told her.

"Right."

"All right," Aranea said, turning towards the right tunnel.

"No, we need to go straight!" Nushi insisted.

Aranea gave her a confused look. "But you just said-"

"Who's on first?" Ariel joked.

Nushi groaned. "Not now, Ariel!"

Aranea started to turn away from the right tunnel – as in, the one that went to the right, not the tunnel which went straight, which was the correct one – and hesitated, glancing back. "There are spiders."

"Huh?"

"Look." Aranea pointed down the tunnel, which had a bit more cobwebs than the others. A train of spiders was steadily marching down the passage.

"Hmmm. Wonder where they're going," Nushi murmured. "Ariel, what's down that way, anyway?"

"Uhhh… Let's see… According to the map, a HUGE nest of Hades Beast Spiders, and a particularly vicious breed as well. You probably should avoid them, not the least because it's nowhere near your destination," Ariel reported.

Nushi nodded. "Okay. Come on, Aranea, let's go."

The Arachide princess didn't move. Her gaze was fixed on the spiders.

"Aranea?"

"Do… Do you feel like something is… Calling to you?" Aranea murmured, voice distant.

Nushi blinked and exchanged looks with the confused Coccinella. "No?"

"I hear it," Arachne whispered. "It feels… Familiar?"

Suddenly, the Heart of Hera around Aranea's neck started glowing. Startled, Aranea glanced down as the spider in the stone started flashing, a thread of light shooting out from the gemstone and coursing down the spider filled corridor, where it soon vanished from sight.

The travelers stared down the tunnel in disbelief.

"Is… Is it supposed to do that?" Coccinella asked after a moment.

"It is… but only if it senses a piece of the Loom of Fate!" Aranea exclaimed, a look of joy forming on her face. "The first piece of the Loom… It's here! In Tartarus!"

"Aranea, this is wonderful!" Arachne cried. "The first step to fulfilling your destiny is at hand! We must retrieve the piece at once!"

Aranea nodded eagerly. "Right!" She took a step forward…

And froze.

Reluctantly, she turned away.

"Aranea?" Arachne asked in confusion. "What-"

"We'll get it on the way back," Aranea insisted, forcing a smile. "Saving Ariel takes priority. We don't have time for any side quests. Let's rescue her, and then-"

"Go."

Aranea blinked at Nushi in surprise. "What?"

"Go," Nushi repeated, nodding down the tunnel. "You've been looking for pieces of the Loom for months. There's a piece right there. Go get it."

Aranea gave Nushi an astonished look. "What? But… But Nushi, we have to save Ariel! That takes precedence! I can get the piece of the Loom later-"

"We have no idea what's going to happen once we reach Ariel," Nushi interrupted. "You may not get a better opportunity than this. For all we know, this could be your only chance. Go."

"But… But I can't just abandon you!" Aranea protested. "Or Ariel!"

"I'll be fine," Nushi assured her. "I'm not a defenseless girl, and with Ariel's guidance, I'll be able to avoid anything really dangerous. You can catch up when you're finished. I'm sure you'll make it just in time to help us when we need you most, that's how Ariel claims this sort of thing works, anyway."

Aranea stared at her incredulously. "But… Nushi, I… I can't just-"

"Aranea. You've told us time and again that it is your destiny to rule the universe," Nushi reminded her. "And you need the Loom to do it. And the first piece of the Loom is right here. If that's not destiny knocking, I don't know what is."

Aranea stared at her for a moment, stunned. "But… What if I want the two of you to be my destiny, too?"

Nushi blinked. "… What?"

"Whaaaaat?" Ariel and at least half the Buzzing echoed.

"Oh my gosh is this actually happening?" Philia squealed.

Aranea blushed and glanced away. "It… It should come as no surprise that I am… Fond of you and Ariel. Extremely fond. I…" She glanced up at her, a nervous smile on her face, then glanced away again, tapping her fingers together in an uncharacteristic show of anxiety. "In fact, I… I had planned to do this later, but I was… Going to ask that… When, when I rule the universe and govern the fates of all, I was hoping that… The two of you would rule beside me."

Nushi's eyes bugged out of their sockets. "Bwaaaah?!" She blurted eloquently.

"While I admire my ancestor, Hera the First, and seek to follow in her footsteps… She was alone, reigning and watching over the universe in solitude," Aranea explained, finally meeting Nushi's eyes again. "I… I don't want to be like that. I have never been alone in my life, not really, and… I do not wish to meet my destiny alone either. I want… People I know I can trust at my side. People who care about me. People with an unshakable moral compass and boundless compassion, who will make sure that I rule with wisdom and kindness. People like… You and Ariel."

"It's happening!" Philia shrieked.

"But… But what about Antares? And your concubines?" Nushi stammered, overwhelmed.

"I love them dearly, and of course I shall keep them with me, but… They are beholden to me in a way that you and Ariel are not," Aranea replied. "If I were to do something wrong… Truly, terribly wrong… I'm not sure they would be able to stop me. And… They do not have what it takes to rule. To be Queens. Not like the two of you do."

"Holy crap," Ariel murmured, stunned.

"That is quite an offer," Mibojin noted.

"Your Majesty, I can't… What she's asking… I mean, I'm part of the Hive, I couldn't… We couldn't… Could we?" Nushi stammered, overwhelmed.

"If this is a path you truly wish to follow, I have no objections," Apista said calmly. "I trust the both of you implicitly to do what is right. And… honestly, I think you'd both be very good for my daughter."

"AND if you marry Aranea, that would make us sisters, so I'd be part of the Ozu family after all!" Philia exclaimed eagerly.

"Which would mean you'd stop trying to seduce my cousin?" Ariel asked hopefully.

"Oh no, I'm still going after her, she's cute," Philia replied matter-of-factly.

"Wonder what my kittens would say to that…" Goro muttered.

"She is pretty cute," the kittens, who happened to be on the Buzzing at that moment, commented.

"I don't need an answer now," Aranea said patiently, seeing the stress on Nushi's face. "Like I said, I'd planned to ask you a bit later, when we were a bit further along in our relationship. Think it over. Take your time. And whatever you choose, I'll be okay with it."

"You… You really trust me, trust both of us, that much?" Nushi asked incredulously. "To offer us… That kind of power?"

Aranea smiled and kissed her on the lips. "Nushi," she crooned. "You were immediately willing to make things harder for yourself just so I could fulfill part of my lifelong dream. I can't think of many people more worthy." She paused, glancing over her shoulder, where the threat of light was still pointing. "You… Are absolutely certain it's fine for me to go?"

"Y-yes," Nushi mumbled, still trying to process Aranea's incredibly weighty offer. "Go."

"Very well," Aranea resolved. "But I shall not leave you defenseless."

She pointed all of her appendages at Nushi, spraying her with webbing which formed dozens of intricate, complex patterns on her body before fading away. "I've cast as many spells of protection, strength, guidance, and luck as I can manage right now," she explained. She then grabbed the ball of thread on her hip and broke it in half, handing one half to Nushi, a thread connecting it to the original part. "Once my business is concluded, I will be able to follow this thread to you."

Nushi stared at the thread. "It's… It's red."

"Yes, because you are the Red Ladybug," Aranea pointed out. "It seemed right."

"That's not… Oh, then I guess you don't know about cultural significance of the red string… Never mind," Nushi muttered, stunned.

Aranea gave her a perplexed look, then shrugged, conjured Widow's Bite and held it out to Nushi.

Nushi gawked and quickly shook her head, raising her hands in protest. "What?! I can't take that, Aranea, that's… That's your weapon! It's… It's a part of you! A fragment of your soul!"

"And there are very few I would trust to handle it," Aranea replied, pressing it into her hands. "And you are one of them."

"But-"

"I am far from defenseless without it," Aranea reminded her, her extra limbs twitching. "Right now, you need it more than I."

Ignoring Nushi's feeble protests, she unraveled the string connecting her sword to her wrist and rewound it around Nushi's arm. "This magic thread will respond to your will and allow you to manipulate Widow's Bite. It has nearly unlimited range, can snap back like elastic to pull the sword to you or you to the sword, and with a thought can become sharp enough to slice through just about anything except for your own flesh." She pricked her finger on the tip of the blade, causing the sword to briefly shimmer darkly. "It is also now extremely poisonous. So long as you're careful, this along with my enchantments should allow you to handle anything Tartarus throws at you until I can come to your assistance."

"… You… You really want me to have this?" Nushi asked again.

Aranea nodded. "You are precious to me, Nushi. As is Ariel. Take it, and use it well. I have faith in you."

She hugged Nushi with all six arms, kissed her again, and turned away, smiling briefly over her shoulder as she turned towards the tunnel and her destiny. "Be well, my Crimson Queen. I will see you again soon, with a piece of the Loom in tow."

With that, she headed down the passage, soon disappearing from sight.

Dazed, Nushi stared at the alien sword in her hands. It felt a lot more comfortable than she had expected. Like it had always been meant for her hands.

"Did… Did I make the right choice?" She asked suddenly, feeling abruptly small and frail and alone in a dark and scary place.

"I guess we'll have to see," Coccinella mused.

"Indeed," Apista agreed. "Still, I'm proud of you, Nushi. While you have made things a bit harder for yourself… You've also made my daughter incredibly happy."

"That you have!" Philia chirped.

"I was talking about Aranea."

"Yeah, I know."

"Lovebug," Ariel said softly, brimming with adoration. "You just make me fall in love with you more and more with every day that passes. Come. Aranea has her destiny to fulfill. You have yours."

Steeling herself, Nushi nodded, turning away from where she had last seen her spidery lover and headed down the tunnel which would take her closer to her ultimate fate.

The ball of thread at her side continued to slowly unspool the red string binding her to Aranea, providing her with the comforting reminder that she was not alone down here.

Shrieking, Pure Weevil smashed through the doors of the cell phone store, causing all the patrons to scream in terror and back away as the Fungal Beast knocked over numerous displays with its many limbs, howling and slavering as Funghouls rushed in after it, hissing and snarling at the frightened customers.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!" Shin yelled as he entered the store, carefully stepping over all the broken glass and cell phones the monsters had left in their wake. "You're making a mess of things!"

"So what? You heroes make a mess all the time! Remind me how much you damage your own cities fighting my minions?" Parasitica sneered.

"Far less than you do," Mibojin pointed out calmly, entering behind Shin. "And we actually try to FIX what we've broken."

"And you can fix what I've broken when we're done here," Parasitica said dismissively. "I'm certainly not going to do it."

"Yes, you are," Shin informed her.

"No I'm-"

"MOM!"

"Ugh, FINE!" Parasitica groaned, rolling Pure Weevil's eyes. "You lot, fix this up!" She ordered her minions, who promptly started sweeping up the broken glass and other electronic devices and began patching up the door and broken displays with cosmic fungus.

"That better not be contagious!" Shin warned her.

"It's not! This time…" She grumbled.

The customers stared blankly. More than a few of them were live streaming on their phones. "What the-" one started to say.

"It's okay folks, nothing to see here, just a temporary alliance, Parasitica promised to be on her best behavior, you have nothing to worry about," Shin quickly assured the confused and frightened civilians. He shot a glare at Pure Weevil. "Right?"

Parasitica groaned. "Right…"

"We are looking for a dangerous fugitive carrying an object of great power who came in here to buy a cell phone," Mibojin explained.

"Looks like a plant, answers to the name of Floragel," Shin added.

"Unless it's Fuku the Doppelgänger, in which case they could look like anyone at all," Mibojin pointed out.

"That is very true," Shin admitted. "However! We know for a fact that one of them is here in the store, and nobody is leaving until we find them!"

"And if they don't surrender themselves immediately, we'll start killing people!" Parasitica declared.

"What? No we aren't. Nobody's getting killed today! Don't listen to her!" Shin quickly asserted as people started screaming.

"What, not even our target?" Parasitica complained.

Shin hesitated. "Well, maybe our target, it depends on a number of factors-"

"All right, all right, you got me!" Someone resembling Floragel abruptly yelled as she crawled out from behind a table, raising her hands. "I surrender! Enough already! This is painful to watch!"

"Excellent!" Parasitica cried. "KILL HER!"

"What? No! We can't kill her!" Shin protested.

"What? Why not?" Parasitica protested.

"Yes, I thought we always planned to kill Floragel," Mibojin pointed out.

"She surrendered!" Shin insisted. "We can't kill people who surrender!"

"Why not? I do it all the time," the confused Parasitica pointed out.

"As have I," Mibojin added. "And didn't Nushi murder Shang in cold blood?"

"That's… Look, we don't even know if this is Floragel, it could be Fuku," Shin reminded them.

"I am Fuku," the person who looked like Floragel claimed.

"Which is exactly what Floragel would say if she didn't want us to kill her! Kill her!" Parasitica commanded eagerly.

"No, wait, I can prove it!" Floragel's entire body shimmered, and suddenly turned into an exact copy of Shin. "See? The real Floragel can't do a trick like that!"

"A likely story-" Parasitica started.

"No, he's right, this is Fuku," Mibojin interrupted.

"… Does that mean I can't kill him?" Parasitica asked in disappointment.

"Not unless he puts up a fight," Shin replied, giving his doppelgänger a look that warned him to absolutely not try picking a fight. "So, are you going to hand over the Flower of Heaven? That is, assuming you have it and it's not a fake?"

Fuku tilted his head. "Funny story about that…"

Across town, Goro and Antares barged into a cell phone store – without breaking anything, Antares could be surprisingly delicate when he wanted to be – startling all the customers. "Freeze, Floragel!" Goro cried, pointing his gun at the alarmed Floragel, who was standing in checkout. "Surrender and hand over the Flower of Heaven!"

"If you have it," Antares clarified.

Floragel cackled cruelly. "As it so happens, I do have it!" She bragged, holding up the jewelry box. "But you're too late, Bugrangers-"

"I'm not a Bugranger," Antares interrupted.

Floragel blinked. "What?"

"I'm not a Bugranger," Antares repeated. "I'm an Arachranger. I am affiliated with the Bugrangers but I'm not a member of them."

Floragel rolled her eyes. "Whatever! You're too late! Now that I have my new Risephone, you can't stop me from returning to Infershia-"

"Ma'am, you still need to pay," the clerk reminded her.

"What? Oh, here," she said, handing him a credit card. "Now, like I was saying, now that I have my new Risephone, you can't stop me from returning to Infershia and giving my master the Flower of Heaven-"

"Ma'am, your card has been declined," the clerk interrupted.

Floragel gave him an incredulous look. "What?! Seriously?!" Exasperated, she sprayed pheromones in his face. "I don't need to pay for the phone. It's mine now. Now, as I was saying-"

"Ma'am, I'm a HumaGear, that sort of thing doesn't work on me," the clerk told her.

Floragel facepalmed. "Oh for… Minions, delay them while I get this settled!"

Suddenly, all the customers in the store stiffened, eyes turning glassy, and advanced on the startled Goro and Antares.

"She must've used her pheromones on civilians!" Goro growled in disgust.

"Can you get a clear shot at her?" Antares asked, tensing up.

Goro hesitated, then reluctantly holstered his gun as a number of people clamored in his way. "Not with all these people here. She'd probably order one of them to take a bullet for her."

Antares nodded in agreement. "Which means we must subdue them nonviolently. I can administer a sedative with my stinger, you keep them occupied."

Goro nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

Back at the register, Floragel offered another credit card to the HumaGear clerk. "Here, how about this one?"

"Ma'am, you just took that from the customer behind you," the HumaGear pointed out.

"We're dating! He's totally fine paying for it, aren't you, dear?" Floragel claimed, batting her eyelashes at the man behind her.

"Yes, dear," the brainwashed civilian drooled.

"Ma'am, I saw you dosing him with your pheromones," the HumaGear pointed out.

"He likes it when I do that! It's our thing," Floragel insisted.

"Really? Then what's his name?" The clerk asked skeptically.

Floragel drew a blank. "Um… Darling, what…"

The HumaGear crossed his arms.

"Okay, fine, I've never seen him before in my life," Floragel griped, snatching the credit card back and throwing it away. "Do you accept alternative payment? Like, um…"

She patted her sides, came up blank, then, rather desperate, asked, "Mana?"

Much to her relief, the clerk set out a device resembling a Hand Author, and she quickly pressed her hand to it, wincing as she felt a surprising amount of power drain from her. "Geez, cell phones these days are so expensive…"

"Okay," Goro said in relief after the last civilian was tranquilized by a gentle sting from Antares and carefully laid on the ground near the entrance. "That's the last of them."

"They didn't put much of a fight," Antares grunted in disappointment. "The civilians on my world aren't nearly so ineffectual combatants."

"Everything on your world is trying to kill you," Goro pointed out.

"An argument could be made that the same is true of your world, but fair enough," Antares acknowledged. "Now, let's deal with Floragel-"

"You're too late, heroes!" Floragel interrupted triumphantly. "Now that I really have my new Risephone – and set up my account, which took rather a lot longer than I thought it would – you can't stop me from returning to Infershia and giving my master the Flower of Heaven-" She paused, glancing at her new phone's screen in confusion. "Wait, where's the magic app?"

"It doesn't come preinstalled, you have to download it from the app store," the clerk informed her.

Floragel blanched as Antares and Goro advanced on her. "I, ah, may have spoken a bit prematurely. Minions! Get them!"

"What minions?" Goro taunted. "We already beat your puppets-"

A group of Zobils appeared from out of nowhere and attacked them.

"Oh for… Where were you even hiding?! We're in a small store!" Goro protested, drawing his gun.

"At least these foes we can kill," Antares noted with relish.

"Okay, what's the name of the app?" Floragel asked, navigating to the app store. She frowned when a notification sprang up. "What's this?"

"Oh, the OS got a new update. You should probably download it," the clerk told her helpfully.

Floragel glanced at Goro and Antares, who were swiftly cutting down her underlings. "Yeah, no time for that. The app?" She asked, opening the store.

"Hiden Enchantments. Our president came up with it."

"That's a stupid name," she muttered, typing the name in to the search field and selecting the first name that came up. "Finally, now I can – wait, it costs that much?!"

"Magitek isn't cheap," the clerk told her.

She grimaced. "I don't suppose the phone also accepts mana as payment?"

"As it so happens, it does."

Relieved, Floragel pressed her thumb to the sensor, wincing as still more power was drained from her…

And stared as an error message popped up. "What the…'The selected app is incompatible with your system?!'"

The clerk nodded. "Yeah, you need the latest OS to run it on this device."

"Why didn't you mention that in the first place?!"

"I did. I suggested you download it, remember?"

Floragel's eye twitched. Fighting back and urge to drive a vine through the HumaGear's chest, she tapped the button to download the update.

A notification immediately popped up recommending she plug her phone into an outlet to make the process go smoother. Forcing civility, she asked the clerk, "Where can I plug this in?"

The clerk raised a hand, his index finger flipping back to reveal a charge port. Relieved, she quickly jacked her phone in…

And shrieked as an energy bullet impacted her shoulder, nearly causing her to drop the phone. "What?!" She cried in disbelief, glancing over her shoulder to see that Goro and Antares had already finished wiping the floor with her minions. "You killed them all already?!"

"I killed them all," Antares bragged. "Goro helped."

"I killed a few of them!" Goro protested.

"I let you kill those ones."

"You did not!"

Howling in rage, she chanted a spell and suddenly half a dozen absolutely massive tree trunks very closely pressed together erupted out of the ground, dividing the store in half, with her and the clerk on one side and the heroes on the other.

The clerk frowned. "Miss, I don't appreciate all the property damage your causing."

"Take it up with your insurance company, I'm not paying!" She snapped, glancing down at the screen of her phone. To her relief, it looked as if the update was downloading. Very slowly. "Why is this taking so long?!"

The clerk shrugged. "The Wi-Fi in here isn't the best."

She gave him an incredulous look. "The Wi-Fi of a cell phone store is bad?!"

"It's something to do with interference from EM fields," he said vaguely. "It's a bit of a hotspot for those due to the way the city is laid out."

She groaned.

"Those are some pretty big trees," Goro observed from the other side of the plant barrier.

"No matter, my herbicide should deal with these fairly easily," Antares declared, his tail thrusting out at one of the trees…

And bouncing right off. "What?!"

"Good luck getting through those!" Floragel yelled, staring at her phone as the progress bar slowly filled up. "Those are magically reinforced ironwood trees! Their bark is almost impenetrable!"

Antares frowned. "I could probably penetrate it, given enough time and the right toxin."

"Time is something we don't have, though," Goro pointed out. "Can you chop through with your pincers?"

Antares grabbed the side of one of the trees and tried to dig his pincers into it. Sparks flew and an irritating screech filled the air as he scraped it but failed to get any purchase. "No."

Goro cursed. "Dammit, we don't have time for this! But if we can't get through, how do we-"

He stiffened, getting an idea. "Wait. I know to do! Follow me!"

He ran out of the store. Bewildered, Antares chased after him, wondering why he was going in the opposite direction of their adversary.

Floragel's face into a wicked grin as the progress bar filled completely. "Yes! Finally, I-"

The screen went dark. "What?!"

"Now your system has to restart," the clerk told her.

"How long will that take?!" She demanded.

He shrugged.

She started grinding her teeth together. "Just so you know, I'm going to be leaving a terrible review for this place later."

"That's your prerogative, miss."

After several agonizingly slow minutes, what felt like the longest in her life, finally her phone finished rebooting. Wiping away some sap, she quickly unlocked it, headed to the app store, and started downloading the Hiden Enchantments app. "Finally," she sighed in relief. "Just another few seconds and-"

Rather abruptly, Goro and Antares smashed through the wall. "WHAT!" She shrieked. " How… How did you-"

"We realized if we couldn't go through your trees, we would just go around them," Goro pointed out reasonably. "So we went to the store next door and broke through the wall."

"We would've broken through sooner if it hadn't taken so long to get permission from the owner," Antares grumbled. "We told her she could bill the Hive, why was she putting up such a fuss?"

"Most people don't appreciate getting holes in their wall, Antares, even if it's for the greater good," Goro informed him.

"I do not understand you humans at all," Antares complained.

"You're too late, heroes!" Floragel interrupted triumphantly, opening the magic app with the tap of her finger. "Now that I really have my new Risephone and the magic app and everything is fully up-to-date, you can't stop me from returning to Infershia and giving my master the Flower of Heaven! Uuza Ujira!"

Absolutely nothing happened.

"WHAT NOW?!" She screamed.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss, were you trying to cast a dark magic spell?" The clerk inquired. "I'm very sorry, but those kinds of spells are incompatible with the app."

Floragel looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

Exchanging amused looks, Goro and Antares started towards Floragel…

Only for the lights to flicker and the floor to shake as the store was struck by a thunderclap. "Floragel? Why are you still on the surface? I need you back here right now!" Cerberus's voice bellowed throughout the storefront, shattering all the glass and breaking most of the phones and other electronic devices.

"My Lord!" Floragel exclaimed in relief. "Forgive me, I ran into a number of delays! Some very, very irritating delays," she snarled at the clerk.

The clerk sighed, sending out a companywide alert to warn every HumaGear in the network to be wary if they ran into this customer again.

"Do you have the Flower of Heaven?" Cerberus demanded.

"I do! Quickly, take me back to the underworld!" Floragel exclaimed anxiously as Antares and Goro recovered from their shock and prepared to attack her.

"Very well. Prepare yourself for transport!"

Floragel laughed giddily as a dark magic circle appeared beneath her and she started to disappear, relieved that at last she had won and all of these setbacks and frustrations were finally behind her…

And that's when Antares' tail lashed out, striking her in the arm holding the jewelry box. She screamed in pain as the poison began to spread throughout her lamb, starting to lose her grip on her prize…

Only for her to vanish just before she could drop it, taking the treasure with her.

"No! She got away!" Goro cried.

"Not for long. I just stung her with one of my most lethal toxins, she won't last very long," Antares said smugly.

"That won't do us any good considering her corpse will still have the Flower of Heaven on it, meaning Cerberus now has everything he needs to-" Goro began, only to stiffen.

"Goro?" Antares asked in concern.

Much to his alarm, Goro started laughing hysterically. Oh dear. Had the weight of their failure broken him? "Goro, I know things look bad, but Nushi is still on her way, and as soon as my lady finishes retrieving the first piece of the Loom I'm sure she'll catch up and-"

"No, no, everything's fine," Goro insisted, much to Antares' confusion. "I just got word from Shin and Mibojin. Let's just say… Things aren't necessarily as hopeless as they might seem."

"They'd better not be," the clerk spoke up. "Because somebody is going to need to pay for all the damages to my store!"

"Bill it to the Hive," Goro and Antares replied instantly.

Apista sighed and reached for another bottle.