Let me just quote something real quick one of the versions of Season 2:

"That is a bet!" he said, running after Lao as the two went off on a journey back home. One that doesn't need to be written. Like seriously, what is so interesting about building a portal when all that is needed is already available to them. Hell, they have a dark mage that pretty much has internalized every known spell to human and monster-kind! It's gonna take them a week, tops. Three of those days is Virto teaching himself how to code after realizing he hasn't done Low-Level Languages at all with all the time he had spent hopping around on Vargas'-

That was something I wrote back in the 2nd book. Truth be told, I was burnt out and phrased it as something that would be so standard and trivial and boring that there was no need to write it out.

Well now, I'm finally getting back to it. I apologize for skimping on it, but now I'm older and know how to manage my writing schedule. By which I mean I don't have one to save sanity.

Lets get this thing written out now. I gave myself a week of in-story time then right? Oh boy….

Virto stretched for the last time he thought he will in the library. He had packed what little things he had into his watch the night before, and now was only carrying the clothes on his back. He clutched the ring on his finger, smiling to himself as he went to the second level of the library.

He caught Lao snoozing away, using his body-sized sack as a pillow while he had stolen Virto's coat for a blanket. Virto's attention went to feeling his body, suddenly realizing he only had his green sweatshirt and pants on. "You little-" Virto suddenly got the bright idea to stomp Lao in the gut, seeing his eyes open instantly as he felt Virto's small feet dig hard into his ribs. "Oh, fuck!"

"My lab coat is going to smell now idiot!" Virto snatched the coat away, inspecting the coat for any stains of Lao's doing. He took one whiff of the back and revolted, pinching his nose while holding the coat at arm's length. "It smells musty!"

"Well of course it does, I sweat like a normal person," Lao said, still in distress. "You could have woken me up like a fucking normal person too, you know."

"Using my coat as a blanket without a shower? You don't deserve to be woken up like a normal person, and your bones are fine."

"After I spent, in multiple regards, an entire season searching for your mop-haired self, I think I deserve a kiss on a cheek and free breakfast for the next year," he said, getting up and stretching. The white aura surrounded his torso accelerating the healing of his pain.

"Like you're one to talk about mop hair, you look like a discount Troy Bolton," Virto said back. Lao arched an eyebrow, turning to face him fully. "You think you look any better? You look like a neet, living in the basement and still asking your mom to eat food from the fridge."

"And you look like you put 'I watch The Office' on your Tinder profile."

"And you look like you bought a body pillow off Amazon and took it to Burger King on a date."

"And you look as light as a flashbang now, Discord light mode looking ass."

"Oh yeah, well- wait, when did you start cursing?" Lao said getting sidetracked by the sudden a-bomb. "I've never heard you curse."

"Well, get used to it," Virto said back, puffing out his chest. "You're not the only one who has been living on the edge in this library."

"Well whatever, it's not like I've changed now that the amnesia is gone and shit," Lao said. "I'm just a black man in a white man's body now. Only thing that's changed is the level of PTSD."

"Technically it's a Japanese man's body since we seem to be in a world more akin to…" Virto caught Lao staring absently in the corner of his eye, stopping himself mid-sentence. "Right, I forgot you barely listen to my rants," he noted disappointedly. "By the way, I know it's out of place, but…"

"I know. I'm still wondering if I can say the word. Where to boss?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Virto said, tapping a few buttons on his watch to pull up a physical map of Zipangu. Lao huddled in, seeing the number of X's grow as they pop up on the screen. "Each of these land markers note a place where we need to stop. They have all the materials I used to create the portal on the other side. If we can do that, and somehow link the portals, then not only will we be able to go back home, we can create two-way travel!"

"So we won't have to go back and pretend that this was just an elaborate dream we both had?" Virto nodded, Lao fits pumping the air. "Alright! So where first?"

"Isuka said best was to get the raw metals and minerals, so we are going spelunking sort of!"

"...In tight spaces?" Lao asked, his enthusiasm diminishing. "On second thought, maybe we should consider a second-best option."

"Why?" Virto asked while taking down the display.

"Well," Lao started. "All I'm saying is, we're better off just getting someone else to do the work for us! You know some yokai right? They don't have many fears?"

"No need! With my smarts and tech, and your explosives and general physical skill, we will be able to get in and out relatively easy," Virto said. "Now, if we were still on earth, then that would be worrying."

"I still think it's a problem here," Lao said sitting back down on the sack of clothes. "We should chill, enjoy some sake and find some good books to read right?" He playfully punched his friend in the shoulder, wiggling his eyebrows. "Mm, Mm?"

"Absolutely not, the last thing I need is someone else handling precious metals," Virto said matter-of-factly. He pulled up the sack from under Lao, tossing it over his shoulder while Lao scooted himself up. "I'm going, with or without you friend."

Lao gave him a side-eye but shrugged and picked up his weapons. "Fine then, but don't say I didn't warn you. I rather let someone else get trapped than us, like that time we made Sheldon try Leana's cooking first." He cracked a smile, remembering vividly the look Virto's classmate gave them when he put the first bite in his mouth. "I still can't believe he actually tried that!"

"That was kind of mean of us," Virto said, "But I guess it was kind of funny…"

"Yep, now let's go to this cave, at least check it out." He patted his side, the cylinder of his revolver dropping out of his holster into his hand. "Now, why did you need my boom gun again?"

The two reached the place, following the markings of a path that lead to an old mine. They came across it abandoned, small pebbles collapsing down onto itself as the structure slowly decayed. It gave Lao the heebies, looking towards his friend for his reaction. To his dismay, Virto wasn't even looking, scanning and inspecting the dirt that led up to the inside.

"Trace metals," Virto uttered, tapping a few buttons on his watch to turn off the blue scan light. "We're in the right place."

"What even are these metals man?" Lao asked.

"Mananodium, since you finally asked. They are the purest form of metallic mana, meaning they can be as volatile as we want." To prove a point he held a lighter against the ground, watching tiny spots spontaneously combust into flames. "See?"

"Where did you get Ignis sweat?" Lao asked.

"Don't you mean a lighter?"

"N- ….Yes, lighter, I meant lighter," the knight said facepalming himself.

"We might need to check your brain when we get home." Virto put away the lighter. "That machine might have caused some weird preservation going on up there. Now then! Let's go inside."

They started marching in. Lao noticed more and more deposits of the Mananodium sprinkle the ground as they approached the mine, feeling his soles absorb some of the energy that radiated from the ground. It made him feel more awake, stronger even! "This isn't so bad," he remarked, in a good mood. They reached the entrance to the mine, but it was cut off by a pile of rocks that caved on the inside long ago.

"Even better actually!" Lao said. "Guess we need to call some construction experts to clear this path. Shame to have to wait!" He sat down against the pile, sighing happily as he relaxed himself against the rock.

"What do you mean?" Virto said. "I have the expert right here?"

"Hmm?" Lao opened his eyes back up, seeing Virto go down and pick up his revolver from his waist. "Oh, right…"

"Well, let's get to shooting," Virto said checking the chamber. Lao nodded disappointedly. He got up and moved both of them far away from the cave beforehand, then aimed a bit high and shot. He watched the white trail of the bullet as it zoomed up and went back down, only to explode against the wall of the cave. Lao held his friend as the ground shook, keeping them both steady until the dust finally settled. "Are you alright?" Lao asked, getting a shrug from Virto.

"I was never not alright but yeah," he said, dusting off his shoulders. "More importantly though, we now have a good hole to go into."

"I don't know," Lao said, running up ahead. He pretended to inspect the walls, acting like he knew what he was doing. "This sedimentary is looking pretty trash. I give it, two minutes before the whole mine implodes."

"Really?" Virto questioned with narrowed eyes. "Isuka gave it a few weeks on the low end. Are you sure?"

"Completely!" Sweat started to bead down the side of Lao's head. Virto's squinted his eyes even further as his suspicion started to peak. "Of course, we can also try Isuka's opinion too," Lao reluctantly agreed.

"Right?" Virto said. "Alright, back to the plan. lets go get some Mananodium among other things. Here." He materialized a pickaxe with a light, handing it to Lao. "The nanites repair itself, so as long as we don't do anything too stupid, we can carve all the metal out that we need." Virto made his own and started marching in. Lao followed with his revolver in one hand and the pickaxe in another, looking cautiously around him while his friend seemed to wander ahead with innocent abandon. Why is he so laid back in here? Lao thought to himself, watching Virto wave forth his pickaxe light as they rounded a corner into darkness. He couldn't see the entrance he blew open anymore, just the surrounding area the flashlight brightened. His soles felt unsettling with mush and wet stone, and he could see the small glimpses of light reflecting off the bits of minerals that peeked through the rocky walls.

"Wait," Virto said, stopping and holding up his hand. Lao cocked his revolver, walking up beside him ready to fire. "What is it? Is there a bat? You scared of something?" Lao asked.

Virto shined a light higher up in front of them. The path narrowed down to a small crawl space, but they could see an exit widening back out on the other side. "This must be the chamber Isuka was talking about." He got up close and personal with it, shining the light right at the start of the tunnel. "It looks big enough for one person to shuffle under at a time."

"I'll do it," Lao said. "I can go in and pass the rocks back to you here."

"No need."

"Oh, should we just make the hole wider then?" Lao said, aiming his gun at the tunnel.

"No!" Virto put his finger at the exit hole of the barrel. "We could end up buried if we do that. I'm still pretty slender so I can just crawl under, and then you come in after me." Lao shook his head in disagreement and started aiming. "You don't have to do that Virto, I can just aim for a good spot…"

"Wait, I said no!" They struggled over the gun, Lao doing the best he could to wrangle it away from him. He swung Virto's arm over his shoulder, pulling taunt and using his body to try to wring Virto's fingers off the gun. "Come on, just let go!"

"I'm not letting you just shoot a wall idiot!"

"You're the idiot!" Lao elbowed Virto in his gut, before disregarding the gun altogether and pushing him away into the wall.

"Ow!"

"Don't you see how small that hole is? You could get stuck! We could get stuck!"

"Why are you so adamant about a flipping hole?"

"Because you hate small spaces!" Lao yelled. "Don't you remember 5th grade, that trip with Ms. Skolaski? We went to a haunted house and you started screaming in one of the rooms, and then you never touched a locker again!"

"You were saying all that because you still thought I was claustrophobic?" Virto questioned, getting angry.

"I did all this to protect you. I don't want you getting hurt. What if this place comes do-"

"I, don't, need, protecting!" Virto hit his fist against the wall behind him, making the mines shake around them. Lao held his hands out for support, seeing his friend stare at him with fire in his eyes. "I'm not some nerdy kid anymore Lalu, I thought you of all people would understand that!"

"Well sorry that I care! You sure as hell don't look any different," Lao vehemently said.

"That's not all that there is to character development dumbass. I can't believe I thought it was even a good idea to bring you along, I should have known." Virto got up, brushing himself off. "I should have known you still thought of me as some kid. I'm going in that hole, whether you want me to or not."

Lao turned around, folding his arms and tapping his feet impatiently. "Fine, be a dumbass. I don't give a fuck."

"Fine," he heard Virto say before getting on his stomach and crawling through the hole. He waited a bit before he turned back with worry stricken on his face. He crept closer and squatted down, starting to panic when Virto's feet weren't moving. "Ohnonono, I knew it…" he uttered, pulling on the shoes until they came out of the hole…by themselves?

"Oh, the shoes must have been too big to get to the other side," Lao said, sitting by the hole. "Maybe I was…wrong."

As if the earth wanted a say, another tremble shook the cave. This time however, he heard something break off and fall, followed by a shriek that was all too familiar. "Virto!" Lao called out, but he didn't get an answer. He put down the pickaxe and took out his second gun, cocking it towards the wall. "Hold on bud, I gotcha!" He shot and covered his eyes, bits and debris flying around him. He ran into the newly created hole.

The tremors started again, and this time it didn't stop. He hurried in and tossed chuck after chuck of the wall off Virto. He stared in disbelief when he picked up, seeing him cough once there was finally no pressure on his lungs.

"Come on bruh, wake up…" Lao urged, pinching his cheeks a few times. His hand was grabbed, pushed away. Virto's green hue eyes opened once again, his chest heaving with newfound life.

"I was always fine, just, wheeze, winded." He opened his lab coat, showing a nanite mesh that had formed along the inside contours of the coat. "This caught the weight and slowly went back down like an airbag, but I wasn't able to get all the rocks off before I got squished. Why is the..." Virto looked around Lao, seeing the blasted hole behind him. "You..."

"Look man, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier," Lao said pulling him up. "You had it all handled…I guess I didn't want to let you go again."

"That's sweet Lao, but can we do this after we get out?" Virto said, jumping further into Lao's arms as a boulder fell beside them, breaking a hole in the floor. "Preferably not crushed!"

"Don't worry, for once I got this," the knight proclaimed, tossing Virto on his back. A glow reverberated around his body, and before you know it, he was speeding off out of the mine, outrunning each and every boulder that tried to drop on them. He leaped out of the mine without a second to spare, the dust off the fallout close behind as it was shot up by the final cascade of rocks closing the mine completely.

Lao slowed down, falling onto his knees once the light under his feet had passed. He placed Virto on the ground, then rolled onto his butt beside him. They watched the last of the dust settle, seeing the mine totally shut in for good. "Well, there goes our Mananodium forever…" Lao said. "Sorry again man, I should have just trusted you from the start, instead of doing all that stuff…"

"Oh, it's alright. There are plenty of other caves in Zipangu," Virto said, pulling himself upright with Lao's body. "Besides, I'm sorry for getting angry at you too. I really do need space, but I still should also be open to help. Hug?"

"Ahh, what the heck." They hugged it out and got up, chuckling at each other while they looked back at the cave. There was always other chances, Lao said, patting his side. His patting got more frantic as he didn't feel the iron at his waist, darting his eyes down to see both his revolvers gone from his hip. "My guns!"

"Oh, at least we know where they are," Virto said as the situation slowly hit him. "They're right there, under...all the rock."

"V-Virto!"

"Don't worry, there is a perfectly rational solution to this."

"I don't know why you both didn't do the rational thing and just call me in the first place," Geo said while his worker ants moved all the rock behind them. "I would have said yes, I want more screen time god dangit."

"Sorry Geo," they said together.

"You should be! I didn't have time to prepare my good side." The Omnibus snapped his fingers, his face being enveloped momentarily in a cloud of pink gas. When he was visible again, he looked like he had gone through a beauty salon. "There, better."

"The idiot doesn't even know his face didn't change at all," Lao whispered into Virto's ear. He soon felt a hand wrap around his head like a football. "Do you wish to repeat that louder?" Geo asked behind him. "You may have gotten your memory back, but remember I can just as easily take it away~"

"Of course not sir!" Geo nodded and went away, walking towards the supervisor of the ants. Lao then turned back to Virto, continuing on with the slander. "Whew, you see that Virto? That is how you pull a fast one on a king."

"Of course," Virto agreed, looking over his shoulder. "Although, I think you might want to start running."

"He's coming back isn't he?" Lao asked. Almost immediately he broke into a run, Geo not far behind as he yelled unpleasantries at him all the way back to the kingdom.