A/N: Decided to add this new chapter for the fun of it. Decided to focus more on Lumine Raiden.

Disclaimers here, I don't own Genshin or MGR:R . Let's go.

[Aether Armstrong]

The Traveler yawned, hands in his pockets as he entered a certain cavern along with Paimon, Zhongli and a geo analyst he didn't bother getting the name of. This investigation was talking too long for his tastes – and was already getting bored out of his mind. No matter the Geo Archon talked, he tuned out of the conversation unless it was necessary to the task at hand. He played with his sword, twirling it in his hand as they continued walking.

For Zhongli, the Traveler's case confused him. Aether had not acted like this before he left for Inazuma. Yet when he returned after negotiating with the Shogun (from what he heard, multiple broken bones and internal bleeding came after), he was no longer the same. He wasn't the same soft-spoken but courageous Hero of Liyue anymore. He grew more cynical and disinterested with the world around him, more focused on finding his missing sister. It didn't help that he grew more bloodthirsty - as with one incident with hunting for their lunch, Aether mutilated the boar with his bare hands. Disturbing to some, but not to him. Still, he was concerned that his new attitude might harm the innocent.

"The missing miners are here!" Paimon suddenly blurted out, getting the attention of the party. Zhongli and Aether see the people that they were looking for – digging out a tunnel towards some sort of entrance.

"Oh, finally!" Aether puts his sword away. "Now we can bring them home." He approaches towards them, but is halted by the Archon. "What gives?"

"There's something wrong with these three." Zhongli narrows his eyes, noticing that these miners have a dark aura surrounding them. "Something is at work here." It didn't take long for the miners to notice the newcomers and rushed to attack them. Paimon yelped as she dodged a pickaxe swipe and ran behind Zhongli. The Archon was ready to activate his shield...when Aether stepped forward and blocked one of the attacks from the possessed miners with his bare forearm. What was supposed to cleave through skin, instead it hit hard metal. Zhongli looked at his arm with slightly wide eyes. Skin that can turn metal? He hasn't seen someone with that specific ability.

The miner did not stop swinging, so Aether decided to headbutt the miner – his head turning into the same black metal. The miner fell over, unconscious and with a bleeding forehead.

"Traveler! What are you doing?!" The other person, Kun Jun, calls out. Before he could try and talk sense to him, Aether had already knocked out the other two possessed miners. He wiped his nose before chuckling. "You people take too long." He says, seeing the black aura around them disappear from their knocked-out bodies.

"That does not mean you needed to incapacitate them." Zhongli answers back sternly. This was exactly what he was worried about. "We could've simply-"

"What, negotiate with the possessed? You think we could simply use some magic elemental bullshit to try and ask the demons to politely leave?" Aether interrupted him, his eyes glowing red...that wasn't there before. "Listen, I didn't come here to deal with more of this world's incompetency – this whole investigation is a means to an end, nothing more." The Traveler walks towards the sealed entrance, turning his back on the group.

All of them looked shocked, though Zhongli hid his well. This was not the Traveler that helped beat back Osial, nor the one that saved Mondstadt...this was someone else...

Kun Jun shook his head. "Goodness...I didn't think your friend here would be this hostile." He looks at the unconscious miners. "We should wrap this up before anything else goes wrong."

As this was happening, Aether looked at his nanite hardened hands – feeling the nanomachines move across his skin. Truth be told, he never really knew where he got this or how it got into his body. All he was told was in a dream – he will be given great power, but at a cost. "To fester economical, technological and social ideals into this world. Memes, if you will." Of course, he didn't know much about memes, nor did he understand what he said...but once beating Raiden Shogun and that stupid diplomat (the nerve to even call herself that), that's when it began to change.

This world has its flaws, yes. But there was one major one – its dependence for the gods. Khaenri'ah wasn't a failure because it did not survive. It survived, but the gods took that away from them. Now, it felt like the Abyss had an understandable reason.

What's the point of going through this whole world's rules when he can be the one to change it?

"We must cover up that seal before anyone else tries to break it." Zhongli said, standing by Aether. "I understand you want this to be done, so we shall see it through. I disagree with your idea of us being incompetent, but I shall not let this ruin our relationship."

The Traveler gives a sigh. "Whatever. What's in there anyway?"

The Archon narrows his eyes before he approaches the entrance. "An old friend. I will handle this myself. You may evacuate the miners out of here." He spoke before taking a step forward inside to deal with the dragon underneath.

Aether looks at the entrance before grinning with...not noble intention. "You bet." He turns back to see that the miners have already been brought out from the cavern. A roar rumbled the caves from whatever Zhongli's fighting in there so it was time for him to go.

Perhaps another time. For now...planning for Teyvat's slow but deliberate change.

[Lumine, the Cyborg Swordswoman]

The Abyss Princess looked around in the void, realizing her slumber won't be as peaceful as she thought. Perhaps she might that swordsman again in this dream. Even though they had just met, Lumine had this great urge to get back at him for suddenly cutting out her left arm and her eye out...

"Looks like our fates are more intertwined than we thought."

Speak of the Devil...

"Nice to see our princess still up and running." A familiar accented voice came from her right as Lumine turned her head to see the armored samurai that nearly cut her up, slowly walking around her. She grits her teeth as she clenched of her fists.

"What are you doing here?" Lumine asks, her enrage gaze never leaving Sam's playful eyes. How did he know about her current status? The Brazilian gives a chuckle as he shrugs.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I didn't expect to suddenly slice up a 16-year-old girl instead of my...intended opponent." Samuel continues to walk around her. "You're lucky this is just a dream, otherwise I would've cut you to pieces."

"I would've denied you the chance either way." She answers back with ferocity.

The samurai laughs. "Oh, good. That's very good." He smiles. "Yes, I like that." He then stops in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Ah, now I remember why we're both here." He speaks. "I wasn't given the memo sooner. Something about your brother...yes, he's not looking too good right now."

Lumine's rage turns into confusion and worry. "Aether? What about him?" Since when was he involved in all this?

Sam nods. "He has...gotten mad, if you will. He's currently planning to usurp your position in the abyss and overthrow your world's order himself." Seeing her shocked and confused face, he continues. "Of course, if you don't want a cynical sibling to take your place...or maybe you have a thing with him, who knows...I can offer help."

The Abyss Princess stares at him with doubt. It was natural – who would even trust someone that harmed them before. But at the same time, she still cared for Aether and hearing about this new change worried Lumine that he might be in trouble. Hearing about this from a dream seems unreal and downright absurd...but Sam's sincere voice told her otherwise.

"What do I get from this?" She asks.

Samuel gives his signature grin. "What else? Better combat skills, an understanding of your enemy. All needed to face your brother gone rogue." He opened his arms wide. "What do you say?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation from the Abyssal Twin, before she steeled herself and nodded. "I'll do it. For my brother."

"That's something worth fighting for." The samurai slowly disappeared as the void slowly took form into an urban environment. "Let's begin."

Lumine found herself standing in the streets of some unknown city, now in a new body. When she first entered this world – she was wearing strange white armor, and her left arm had been severed. Now, she seemed to be a bit taller as she looked around to see that she was wearing black armor this time, one that hugged her figure. Of course, her left eye had gone blind and noticed there was a cloth over it in a makeshift eyepatch. Once again, in her hands is the katana that hummed with energy. As she was just getting used to her surroundings, a new adversary stood before her.

[[Greetings, cyborg.]] What appears to be a canine-like creature stands before her. Lumine is shocked to find that it is an all-metal automaton with a red head and a weird looking bladed weapon. It looked nothing like anything Khaenri'ah made, even more advanced that she realized because its ability to speak.

"What are you?" Lumine asked, holding her blade.

[[I am LQ-84i, a prototype UG with a conversational interface. I possess an intellect far greater than human understanding.]] The automaton answered. While Lumine didn't understand half of what this robot said, she was able to understand the premise. "A talking mechanical dog who's smarter than me." She muttered, looking down at it. "I didn't know such a thing exists."

The UG revved its bladed weapon. [[Yet I stand in front of you.]]

The Abyssal Princess gives an amused huff. "You're here to train me, right? What's there to teach me with that mighty intellect of yours?" Before she could continue taunting the UG, three blades suddenly shot towards her. Lumine widened her eyes as she deflected most of them, with one scraping her cheek. The cut steamed, as the blade was red-hot.

"What the hell was that for?" She covered her wound as the automaton moved its tail for the weapon mounted on its back, revving it again.

[[I am testing you by combat trial. Unless you are able to defeat me in combat, you will not be able to progress.]] The UG spoke, before suddenly leaping over her head and landing on a roof behind her. The automaton reared its head and howled like a wolf – echoing across the street.

Lumine, not really having much choice, took a battle stance to prepare herself for the training she will receive. For moment, during their interaction she swore she heard a guitar strumming to a beat before this UG initiated the battle.

Of course, knowing Metal Gear...she was in for a fight.

The UG leaped downwards from the roof and lunged for Lumine, his body glowing orange as he spun towards her like a drill. While she was no stranger to combat and with the sword, never has she really faced something as fast, if not faster than an Abyss Herald. She moved just in the nick of time where she was close to getting a painful tackle from the UG, moving to the left. The automaton turned around quickly, readying his next attack. With a swing of its tail, he began his next attack as he slashed at Lumine with the chainsaw.

Lumine raised her sword to parry it, but slightly stumbled from how hard the automaton hit. Something that small was able to hit that hard...

Her small moment of thought would be her downfall as she did not pay attention to the two other chainsaw strikes. She cried out in pain as her chest was cut lengthways twice, the force actually sending her stumbling. Like before, despite it being a dream – it hurt like hell. Lumine grunted as she refocused back to the robot dog.

[[Pay attention.]] The UG spoke, almost in a taunting manner, before throwing three heat knives at her. She was ready this time and was able to deflect it away from her. That's when she dashed forward and moved in, slashing at the UG. This was also where Lumine noticed that she had strange symbols around her vision: two bars labeled Lumine and LQ-84i. It seems that Lumine's bar was a quarter down, while the automaton just barely reached 90%. Maybe this was a way to notify their vitality of sorts.

It also ticked off Lumine. How the hell was this automaton doing so much damage with just physical attacks?

She kept on attacking the UG, trying to bring down his health, failing to notice the UG's preparation for his next attack.

[[Evade my blows.]] The automaton said before lunging, tackling her as he went past. Lumine stumbled as the UG jumped from spot to spot, before jumping on the princess' body and pinning her down with his large metal claws that dug into her shoulder. She grunted in pain and tried to squirm away, but the automaton was too strong.

Lumine widened her eyes to see the chainsaw loom over and tried her best to escape. But unfortunately, she was stuck. She can only watch in horror as the chainsaw buried into her chest and began to rev, the blades cutting up her insides and shooting out blood like a red fountain. She screamed in agony as she squirmed. This had to be the worst pain she has ever felt in her life. Not even the gods can match something this cruel. Every second of the chainsaw cutting up her torso, the weaker she felt. Eventually the revving stopped, and her health had dropped to zero.

[[Disappointing.]] With the chainsaw still embedded in her, he tossed her body towards a wall – effectively ending the fight. Lumine felt her back break the brick wall she landed on, before falling to the ground.

Before dying, she could hear Sam's voice. "That's a pity. Of course, there's a first time for everything. Unfortunately, it looks like sunrise...Same time tonight?"

[…]

The Abyssal Princess awoke on her bed, feeling like her chest had been burst open with a chainsaw. She clutched her chest as she woke up in her room in the Abyss. "Argh..." She groaned in pain. In fact, her entire body felt exhausted, like she was training the night before...which was oddly strange as there was no possible way for someone to feel this physically drained after a dream training session. Lumine gave a sigh as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Something told her that this wasn't going to go as she planned.

A/N: And that's all of my motivation spent.