AN: Hey guys

Now, if any of you are concerned about the changes I made to Ganache, let me explain.

The character I turned him into, basing his skills off of, and Ganache himself seem like they were alike to me. They both are manipulative assholes, who want to do large scale genocide. One does it in the name of religion, and the other has a god complex that drives him. Now, these differences make them separate people, but if these were set aside, I can honestly see these people working together to achieve their goals. Or manipulate each other like the assholes they truly are.

Also, this stuff has been foreshadowed since the beginning of the Lastation arc, remember Chain explaining about Avenir and Umbrella? Since then, and it's been hinted at throughout the arc. So, it's not completely out of nowhere.

Just a heads up for you all.

Now then, let's go!


Chapter 34 - Wrath of the BOWs

Ever get the feeling that you were outmatched 10 to 1? Like you were a small platoon of soldiers trying to stop a bigger, more equipped army from levelling your town?

Well, that was what Nico and the others were feeling as they fought against Ganache. While he apparently wasn't using any flashy Skills like they were, Ganache was more than capable of keeping up with, and even outmanoeuvring, the Party even with the CPU of Lastation in her HDD form, plus Neptune's HDD self, assisting them.

"Come on! I thought you were going to 'deal' with me and my so called 'Contraption'!" Ganache mocked as he flipped over a slash from IF's Qatar, landed behind the female and grabbed her by the back of her head, flinging her towards Compa when she was prepping to use her COMPA LOVE HEART Skill. The two girls cried out when they collided, bouncing along the ground before stopping next to each other.

The man turned and caught a fist from Nico, using his other fist to backhand him, although that one was also blocked. Ganache launched several kicks with one leg, which were countered before he jumped and twisted into another kick, the twisting adding to the power behind it and forcing Nico to stumble back. Ganache jumped at him and double kicked him while he was off balance, sending Nico to the ground.

Ganache would have continued had he not sensed danger and leaned back to avoid a sword slash from Neptune, then ducked under a swing from Noire before grabbing the two' by their weapon arms and flipping them onto their backs. The girls gasped when they hit the ground, and Ganache made to do an aerial stomp on the two of them had they not managed to roll out of the way in time.

Noire got up first and rushed in, yelling "PARALYSE FENCER!" as her blade was coated in electricity. Noire thrusted repeatedly at Ganache who used his insane speed to dodge each one, before kicking Noire in the gut, forcing her to bend over with a gasp at how much strength he packed into the kick. Ganache then backhanded her, sending her flipping through the air to the ground with a SLAM!

Sensing danger behind him, Ganache stepped to the side, avoiding a slash made by Neptune, before he grabbed her by the arm that held the hilt of her Katana as he spun her around, making her good and dizzy so she couldn't defend against his next move. Once he was sure she was ready, Ganache jumped and pulled Neptune into a savage kick to her face, her motions making her body swing upwards into the air as she fell to the ground, gasping as she landed headfirst.

He reared a fist back to strike her down, before his senses told him to move as he dodged several bullet barrages, made by Nico who had drawn his Ebony and Ivory Pistols, running around him while trying to fill him full of holes. Ganache however had different plans as he dodged each bullet, plucking them out of the air and pocketing them. He did this for a few moments until Nico saw how his pockets looked slightly bigger than before, soon realising why as Ganache pulled out bullets faster than he could see them, flinging them at him like his arms were two machine guns. The male had to release some of his Demonic energy to enhance his body to both dodge and block the rounds from hitting him.

IF noticed a broken pipe on the ground next to her. She picked it up and threw it at him, hitting Ganache in the back of his head. Although that did little as he used the momentum to twist into a one-handed handstand, dodging another slash from Noire. He gripped her with his feet, having slammed them into both her stomach and her back, before flipping her overhead and slamming her headfirst into the ground. I was only through her CPU body that she managed to survive that one, but it still left her dazed.

The brunette cursed as she ran in, swinging her Qatars at his arms to try and cut his tendons. She hoped that without them Ganache would be easier to bring down than he would be with them, but those hopes were dashed when the brown-haired man swiftly ducked under her swings, planted one hand into the ground then kicked her, pushing his hand to propel himself upwards into the air with her as he kicked her down to the ground, flipping forwards to bring his heel down on her chest before she could react.

While IF cried out at the injury, Ganache rolled to the side and noticed Neptune flying at him with her sword glowing. "CRITICAL EDGE!" She brought her sword down and Ganache crossed his arms to block, jumping back to avoid her second slash and then dashing forth, ramming an arm into her face like a lariat. Neptune's body spun though the air several times like a wheel before she fell to the ground with a THUD!

'This is insane!' Nico roared in his mind, swiftly summoning Rebellion in place of Ebony and Ivory as he rushed towards Ganache. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he yelled, swinging down on him. Ganache however, decided not to block but instead vanish, making his Skill useless since the energy hit nothing but air. He spun around and blocked a punch to the face from his adversary, who had that little upturning on the corner of his lips this entire fight. 'How the hell is Ganache doing this? His Profile said he never did any Guild Work or Quests, so how is it that he's this good?!'

The two broke away, and the two opposing sides stared each other down. A long silence passed by them, before Black Heart decided she couldn't take this one-sided beatdown and shouted while pointing her massive sword at the Avenir founder. "Okay, what is going on here, Ganache?! How do you move with such speed, you're just a normal human!" she yelled in absolute fury and confusion.

"Noire… I don't think having slitted red eyes like a demon is considered normal…" Compa muttered weakly, pain coursing through her as her wounds ached like no tomorrow. With a quick healing Skill though she was able to speak better and stand straighter as she stared at the man that was responsible for them.

Ganache chuckled mockingly at them, he loved their expressions of confusion and frustration, though it looked like only Nico was sporting a look of slight comprehension. "Well, I'm not like a cliché villain who explains everything, but I will say this: There was a specialised virus strain meant for people like me, and it made us able to go toe to toe with even the CPUs theoretically when we practiced in simulations. Judging from our recent pow-wow, I'd say those predictions were correct." Ganache replied, smirking in amusement at their frustrated and puzzled faces. He made sure his gloves fit comfortably on his hands, before slowly walking forwards towards them, a confident, borderline godly, air about them.

'Wait, back at the factory there was something about controlled BOWs...' Nico thought, his eyes wide with realisation after a few moments of pondering. 'That's right! Though, I didn't check to see if they had any successes or not, shit should have looked into that. I guess not even I can make things go completely according to plan...' It was a difficult pill to swallow, but Nico could only blame himself for not realising this possibility in his calculations. If he knew this was a thing, then the male would have made some revisions to his tactics, so that they wouldn't be caught off guard.

The man then stopped talking and began to attack once more, blurring forwards and going for the injured Compa. Nico barely got there in time to aerial roundhouse kick Ganache in the face, stopping him from hurting the Nurse-In-Training as Ganache stumbled back, holding his face in what seemed to be pain.

This made hope bloom in the group, thinking that they had a chance to win now. Noire and Neptune flew at him from opposite angles, their blades filled with their energy as they both activated their own Skills.

"CROSS COMBINATION/LACE RIBBON DANCE!"

When they were within striking range however, Ganache lowered his hands slightly, exposing the two-glowing red demonic eyes he possessed, making Nico realise that it was a fake-out. Before he could warn the girls, though it wouldn't have worked regardless as their Skills were already activated, Ganache constantly tilted his body to avoid their strikes, jumping back to get out of that spot then dash forwards, grabbing them by the necks with his hands and jumping into the air, landing back first and dragging them down with them.

As Ganache got up, the man swiftly made to deal with Black Heart first, but then he sensed danger and sidestepped to avoid a PHANTOM WAVE from Nico. The male gritted his teeth behind his Mask and made several kicking motions, launching multiple PHANTOM WAVE's at the man.

Said man grinned as he sidestepped the second, twisted around the third, then flipped over the fourth before jumping at him and grabbing him by the shoulders, using Nico to do a handstand before he flipped off him and kicked him in the forehead. "Guh!" Nico cringed, feeling dazed from the hit as he held a hand over his face. A pair of leather-bound hands grabbed him by under the arms and a knee slammed into his gut, making him gasp once more, before an elbow strike slammed into his back then an uppercut rammed into his jaw, sending Nico flying into the air.

Before he could go too far though, Ganache grabbed his boot in one hand and slammed him into the ground, using him like a hammer and bashing him repeatedly against it before flinging him at an approaching Neptune. The two flew backwards, and a foot belonging to IF landed on their sides to allow the brunette to jump higher into the air as she landed in front of the man. "CHAOS EDGE!" She yelled, doing a back flip to kick Ganache in the Jaw, then spun into a double slash that he managed to parry, then did a front flip to bring her heel on top of Ganache's head that he leaned back to dodge, before finally bringing both Qatars down on Ganache's exposed stomach.

She thought she had him with her CHAOS EDGE, however she was proven wrong when Ganache used the momentum to proceed into a back flip, kicking her Qatars out of her hands before rushing in and grabbing the back of her head, pulling it into a rising knee. She gasped as blood squirted out her nostrils from the attack, before Ganache lifted her into the air by her head and slammed her into the ground repeatedly like he had done with Nico.

Glancing to the side, Ganache swung IF into a charging Noire, sending them both toppling to the ground as Neptune flew overhead. "Take some of this, Ganache!" she yelled, making an overhead slice that released a barrage pf purple homing rays. Momentarily, Ganache was caught by surprise by the attack, and that was enough for the attack to land successfully, every homing ray hitting and causing an eruption of purple energy that concealed the man from view.

"Yes, you scored the first direct hit, Neptune!" Nico cheered, grinning behind his Mask as his lone eye lit up in glee. Before, IF had thrown a pipe to hit him, but it had only helped Ganache out, so that didn't count as a direct hit. Plus, none of their attacks had worked so far thanks to Ganache's superhuman agility. This was the first real hit that they had landed on the man throughout this whole fight, and it felt better than it probably should have.

Neptune smirked as she took in the praise, landing beside Noire as they all peered into the smoke, expecting to see the man's charred remains. They thought they had made progress, they thought they had been ready.

However, they were soon proven wrong.

"Not bad, not bad at all, I see." Everyone's eyes became saucers as Ganache casually strolled out of the smoke, his boots stomping against the ground as he adjusted his gloves fitness on his hand and adjusted the collar of his Trench Coat. He looked like he had taken no damage from that hit at all, not even a scratch was on his features. Even his shades, which he had retrieved shortly after throwing them at the start of the bout. "Unfortunately, it was not enough."

'Im-Impossible…!' Noire shrieked in her mind, her irises shaking and her power button symbol having dilated to the size of a dot. That attack was the same one that Nico had used in DDD, and its power was enough to heavily damage a CPU, she should know since she WAS that CPU! If a CPU were to use it, surely it should have had the same effect on a human like Ganache, even if he had something empowering him!

'How…?! How did he… wait! Could it be that…?!'

Neptune gasped when Ganache appeared before her in a blur, grabbing her by the neck and pinning her against a wall, kicking Noire away so she couldn't intervene. The man peered into her half-open eyes as she grippes his hand with both of hers, trying to pry it from her neck however it was a tigh grip, making her efforts useless. "I was surprised that you used such an attack, but you should have realised that it wouldn't have been as effective as if you knew its name."

Nico felt like slapping himself after those words were said. He had forgotten a simple fact about Skills, and it had costed them dearly. Skills had their own names, and usually they said them out loud as they performed them. The reason why this was, was because names have power, and if one knows the name of a Skill, its power is doubled. While Neptune had copied one of his DPU form's attacks, it was next to useless in comparison to the real thing, for only by transforming would Nico have learned the name of that skill. And the last time he had transformed, Nico had lost control over himself, so learning the name of those Skills was impossible back then. Ever since he had not transformed, so he never learned the names of his Skills. 'Shit! We've been had! If I had only learned to control this power already, then we wouldn't have had this issue! Now Neptune has a Skill she doesn't know the name of, which is akin to having a pebble thrown at a rock wall.'

"While that is true for Neptune…"

Black Heart's voice made Ganache glance behind him, only to be hit with a backflip that sent him into the air. Mid flip, Noire righted herself and reared her massive sword back. "That is not the same for me! DROP CRUSH!" with that, Noire swung downwards, sending Ganache crashing down.

While he got to his feet, Nico saw his opening and took it, dashing towards him with Rebellion poised for a reverse horizontal slash as the blade began to glow purple. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he called out, slicing across Ganache's back. The energy within the slash erupted seconds later, sending him into a stagger.

They wouldn't let him recover though as Neptune closed in and performed a CROSS COMBINATION, one that actually succeeded in hitting the man as he was knocked into the air again and then slammed into the ground.

IF went next, summoning her DEMON FLAMES and then a LA DELPHINUS. The explosions cut off any access to escape routes while keeping Ganache off balance before the pillar of flames rose upwards, encasing him in fire. The second attack came right after, so Ganache never had time to breathe as he was hit with a pillar of light akin to the light of an HDD.

Compa, while not usually one to get even with someone in a violent manner, opted to make an exception for Ganache and made sure to get payback for her friends, herself, and everyone Ganache had hurt in his desire for power by hitting him with a COMPA LOVE HEART to the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

Finally, it was Nico's turn, and boy was he going to make this last. He ran up and kicked Ganache in the side, sending him into the air before slashing with another PHANTOM EDGE, which used its explosion of energy to send Ganache higher into the air, before he turned around and kicked sideways, launching a PHANTOM WAVE at him. It hit, sending Ganache crashing into a wall which he used to pin him there with a PHANTOM BLADES Skill.

The barrage was over at last, and Ganache fell from the wall like he was peeled from it, crashing to the ground with a THUD, making a light circle of smoke from his landing. Nico and the others watched, their breath baited while their weapons were ready. Ganache had likely taken lots more damage than he did with Neptune's nameless attack, which likely meant that he would show some form of injury from all those Skill attacks.

A low chuckle came from Ganache's motionless body, that chuckle soon increasing to a volume where everyone could hear it. It pissed them off and confused them at the same time. "What's so funny, Ganache?! Afraid that we're gonna beat you or something?! You should be!" Noire yelled at him, but the man just shook his head as he got up. But it wasn't in the normal manner, not at all, for it looked like some invisible force had pushed him up and Ganache had completely surrendered to it.

When he stood straight it was shown that he… had taken no damage... again.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shrieked as they became stunned with shock and horror at the sight of Ganache having taken no damage from that barrage of Skill attacks, named ones too. The man was dusting off his Trench Coat by patting it down with his hands, totally nonchalant about the recent beating he took like it was all a bunch of children's slaps to him.

Once he was done, Ganache looked up at them, his glowing eyes visible through his Shades as he adopted a businessman-like posture. "It appears that your combined might isn't enough to overcome me. A pity, I was hoping to test my body a bit more, however if this is the limits of your capabilities then I will have no more use for you." The man remarked, before he noticed the brunette and an idea popped into his mind, a sick one as well. "Actually, forget I said that…"

He suddenly blurred forwards, grabbed IF by the neck before she could react, and reappeared back at the wall where he had been slammed into before. Everyone gaped at the speed Ganache had shown just now, they couldn't follow with their eyes or their senses, he was just that fast. Had he been holding back this entire time? While cliché for the villain not to take this seriously, it was still no less aggravating to them.

"You, I still have use for."

Nico glared hatefully at the man as he held IF by her neck, the brunette struggling to break free. She could have kicked him, or cut him even but she had lost her Qatars when she had been grabbed and Ganache's body was too tough to be affected by a kick in this situation. Nico couldn't make any sudden moves, just like the others, or risk their companion's life, and that irritated him immensely, his instincts screaming at him to be let loose on this guy. "Put her down, Ganache, IF has no value to you!"

Ganache looked at him like an idiot for once, in response to his words as he raised a hand and waved his index finger from side to side. "Tut, tut, tut, how little you understand, boy." He began, before reaching into the interior of his Trench Coat. "Yes, I will admit that Avenir has been in close cahoots with Umbrella for a while, now. We have since made plenty interesting discoveries for these viruses, but the C Virus is special in that it's creations can retain intelligence more so than the average monster. The J'avo are a direct example of this."

Finally finding what he was looking for, Nico and others gulped as Ganache pulled out a Syringe. When it was fully revealed to them, their faces lost all colour when they saw the liquid inside of it, the same liquid that they had discovered back in the Abandoned Factory. "No… no, don't do it Ganache!" Nico yelled, no, pleaded for the first time in a long while. Fear gripped his heart as deep down, he knew what was going to happen next. "Don't do what I think you're gonna do…!"

The man merely smirked while IF's struggling increased, clearly, she could tell what Ganache planned on doing with her. "I see you're aware of what this is, DEATHSTROKE. Yes, this is an enhanced C Virus Formula, developed by Avenir with the express purpose of turning a test subject into a BOW capable of annihilating entire cities, infecting them with their virus. IF here has been shown to have remarkable affinity with the virus, something we predicted when you were fighting those Abnormals for us. So, let's see what happens…" The man plunged the Syringe into IF's neck without warning, injecting the virus into her. The liquid sunk down, flowing trough the tip and into IF's body, soon completely entering her bloodstream through the artery that Ganache had hit.

"Gyaaaaaa!"

The brunette screamed in pure agony, flailing about in Ganache's grip like a fish before the man let her fall to the ground. The brunette rolled from side to side in agony, feeling the virus flooding her bloodstream like a raging furnace in her gut. She held a hand on the injury she had received from the Syringe, thin green cracks travelling out the space her hand had covered. Ganache chuckled in amusement at her state of distress, before kicking her in the side, sending IF tumbling across the ground to the rest of her friends.

"IF/IFFY!" Everyone cried as they rushed to her side, kneeling around them while Ganache stayed back and watched the show. 'Fools, now that the C Virus is in her system she will undergo a chrysalid state and emerged as a mutated monstrosity. I'll use my powers to control her, and she will kill the very friends she fought beside.' The man thought with his smirk ever the more sinister.

Compa held IF's hand as the brunette writhed in agony below her. "Iffy, iffy, are you alright, please speak to me!" she cried, tears building in the corners of her eyes as she saw her friend screaming in pain. There was nothing she could think of to settle the pain or treat the wound. The virus had already spread into her system, so it would not be long before the mutation takes hold of her.

"How do you THINK she's feeling, she is so FAR from okay!" Black Heart shouted, gritting her teeth as she kneeled oat the opposite side. She, like the others, could sense that the virus was fast-acting, spreading through her system like a bottle of water spilling out onto the floor. She didn't want to admit it, but this would be it. The virus had no cure to their knowledge, and if there was Avenir would have likely destroyed it by now. Plus, there would be no time for them to get it, for the virus would mutate her before they could get to it.

"Oh, I should probably mention…"

Everyone looked to Ganache with livid expressions, even the normally timid Compa had enough rage in her eyes to kill a person. She wanted to tear him open, spread his organs across the floor and watch the life bleed from his eyes. Thanks to her mental state she didn't care about her previous morals as a Nurse-In-Training, all she wanted was Ganache's head on a pike. "There's no antidote conceived when we made this little beauty. We wouldn't want anyone developing a cure from it. Now watch, as your friend's life is diminished from her eyes as she becomes a mindless animal! Hahahaha-!"

Nico appeared before him and spin kicked him in the chest, sending him into a nearby building. He couldn't take any more of that man's bullshit for today, or ever after what he had done, and it felt majorly satisfying to kick him like that. But there were bigger things to worry about as he turned and ran back to their friend, kneeling beside her head and grasping her other hand in his. No longer did he care about the fact that he was holding a girl's hand, his comrade needed the comfort of her friends, her comrades-in-arms, her family.

"It-it's gonna be alright IF, Ganache could be lying, I mean he's seriously an asshole, so it's something he would-" he began to say, but IF shook her head while groaning, getting his attention and easing his rambling. Her body had already started to turn a slight greyish colour, starting from the injury to her neck, before starting to go down her chest.

When she felt she could speak a little, the brunette looked up at him. "D-Doubt it, do you remember back at the Factory? We never saw anything about an Antidote there, and even if there was I doubt Ganache would let us leave to look for it. Al-" she coughed up some blood which fell onto her top. the greying skin had took over her chest, and her arms were starting to follow suit. She took the time to clear her throat before she continued. "Also, it seems this bastard in me won't lemme make it very far. It-it's all I can do to slow it down."

Neptune gripped her friend's shoulder, trying her best to hold back the wave of tears that were threatening to spill from her eye sockets. Sorrow swelled within her as their times together flashed before her very eyes. "I-Iffy…" she choked, her shoulder shaking slightly as she sorrowfully stared into the brunette's dying eyes. "It's been an h-honor fighting by your side. I only wish we had spent more time together…"

The Guild Agent smiled weakly, but still it was a smile, and that was a fact that they all desperately clung to for dear life. "B-believe me nep, you're one handful of migraines…" she began, chuckling weakly as she remembered all the antics Neptune got into in the time that they had spent together. "There were times where I just wanted to strangle you for your idiocy… but it was interesting while it lasted, at least you never made things boring."

At this point the virus had already neared the halfway point, IF's skin started to gain a greenish tint to it while her breathing became laboured, her eyes heavy and her voice weaker as if she were choking on air. Still, she had one last thing to ask, and she could only ask of one person here, one person out of this whole group. "N-Nico… could you come here…?" she requested of him, no longer able to form complete sentences without pausing to take a breather.

"S-Sure, IF, whatever you say…" he muttered, the guilt and sorrow in his gut making it difficult to speak. Is throat tightened to a level he had only felt when he was truly sad, and that was something he had a lot of experience with. Lowering his head, Nico tilted it so she could whisper into his ear. Placing her hand on the closest shoulder to her head, IF whispered something into his ear, something that made the colour drain from his face as he looked down at her in horror. "No, you don't mean to tell me…!"

IF nodded her head in confirmation. Her eyes were slowly going unfocused thanks to the virus, but she still held her determination. "Y-you're the only one... I can trust to ask of this... Ni...co. Nep and... the... the others… I doubt they'd... be able to do it... so I can only... look to you." She told him, shifting her head to look to the skies above. Only a second later the pain intensified and IF had to bite back a groan, closing her eyes tightly and gritting her teeth as she tried to dull it, to no avail.

Nico watched his friend as she slowly began showing signs of undergoing a chrysalid state, 'She…IF… IF told me that if I don't act now, she'll become a BOW, then I'd have to… No, I won't let this happen! I won't!' he wouldn't let this happen, he wouldn't lose another comrade to them, especially a piece of shit like Ganache!

While his mind said this, there was still one problem that stopped him. Nico couldn't think of anything, he was stumped on what to do to prevent this! If things were to progress like this, then the male would have to oblige IF's last request, which was… to kill her before she could mutate into a BOW monster, something he didn't want to do until there was no other option. After all, who would want to do such a thing? SIF knew that he had killed BOW's before, some of them trustworthy Guild Agents, but Nico never took pleasure for it. However, upon pondering the situation, he realised that there were barely any suitable options besides that.

It was almost mind-breaking to bear, until…

'Perhaps I could be of assistance?'

A familiar soft, feminine voice spoke from within the recesses of Nico's mind grinding his thoughts to a halt. He swore he heard the sound of tyres suddenly screeching to a stop in his mind, but paid that little heed as he was focused on the bigger issue here.

'H-Histoire?! Is that you?!' Nico exclaimed. Quickly, his eyes darted around to the others, who were too absorbed in their own sorrows to notice, making him realise that it was indeed Histoire that was contacting him, and that nobody else would hear them. 'Wh-what are you doing here?!'

'Recent events have been recorded in History, however this incident was not expected, so I came to lend my aid. I have a suggestion, and it may be the only way to save IF's life… in a manner.'

Nico's heart thrummed with hope at the thought of a method that was possibly able to save his comrade's life that didn't involve killing her. 'Histoire you are a godsend! Please, tell me what I have to do! Anything to make sure IF gets to live her life!' he pleaded with the tome. It may sound pathetic, but right now he didn't care. He'd seen too many fine soldiers perish at the hands of the Viruses engineered by Umbrella and Avenir, and didn't want to see another victim he had known be added to the kill count.

It was silence that was his response for a moment, before a sigh from wherever Histoire was located informed him that she was still there. 'Very well, I shall tell you. However, be warned, for IF's humanity may not survive this procedure, for it is very dangerous. It could kill her faster than the C virus could.'

When she received no response, Histoire sighed once more, realising that Nico would do anything to make sure IF got to live her life. 'Alright. This requires 2 things: the use of your DPU energy, and the Vial that you appropriated from that abandoned Factory.' She told him, making Nico blink several times in befuddlement, before he quickly nodded and made to bring the necessary item out of his Void Storage. He didn't know what Histoire was planning, but he wouldn't question her when his companion's life was on the line.

His movements however, drew the attention of the girls enough to snap them out of their depressed stupor's. "Hey, Nicky, what are you doing?" Neptune asked him, barely stopping herself from choking back on the tears she had been fighting so desperately to keep from falling from her cheeks.

"Hopefully something that may save IF's life." Was his simple reply as he followed Histoire's instructions to the later, pumping the Vial full of demonic energy. Histoire had warned him that using so much of it would result in a forced transformation, as his human form wasn't meant to handle such large quantities of demonic energy, thus it would activate DDD as a safety measure, but Nico had his response for that.

'I don't give a fuck if I lose control again, right now! one of my comrades who I've shed blood, sweat and tears with is lying before me, dying because of a virus that I could have stopped if I had only been a little smarter. Therefore, if this method of yours is able to let me save IF's life, then I'll gladly take that risk!'

Histoire remained silent, and if she could be seen right now, they would she how stunned she was by his resolve at that point, and could only remain silent as Nico poured reddish orange energy into the Vial, trails of it erupting from his shoulder and spiralling down his arm before reaching the Vial and entering it, going for the liquid within. Nico's breath became laboured as he struggled to control the energy, gritting his teeth as he felt a slight heat inside his gut, the premonition to his ascension into his DPU form beginning to activate... though he fought against it with everything he had.

Let it be said that Nico did NOT go down without a fight.

Emerging from the rubble that he had been kicked into, Ganache stumbled out while holding onto one of the pieces of debris while he caught his breathe. Once he was composed and relaxed again, Ganache looked up and saw the spectacle of Nico channelling energy into the Syringe that contained the C Virus he had appropriated. 'Hah, what does he plan on doing, injecting her with more of the thing that's killing her?' the man thought with a scoff. 'Pathetic, that would only result in the virus spreading quicker.'

"You won't succeed you know." The man spoke as he approached the group while Nico raised his arm, the arm holding the Syringe. "All you'll be doing is making the virus spread faster though your comrades' body. Believe me, I'm aware of its affects since I was one of the people who supervised the project."

His words hardly reached them as the girls awaited what would happen with baited breath. Their minds told them that this was futile and that they would likely have to watch as one of their companions bit the dust early, but in their hearts, they were hoping that, by some stroke of luck, that the boy that had become part of their lives would be able to pull something off without killing the brunette. Although faint glimpses of worry flashed through their eyes when they felt the heat and the oppressive nature of DDD slowly manifest, even while Nico attempted to retain control while also doing whatever it was that he was doing.

In moments, Nico's eyes had changed to that of his DPU form's, with his body constantly pulsating with the power of said form. He looked like he was one second away from fully transforming, when Histoire's words broke through his concentration. 'That is enough, Nico! The process is finished! Quickly, daw your energy in and inject IF with the virus!'

'…Histy?!' Neptune shrieked in her mind, while everyone else was blinking in confusion between her and the male, wondering what the heck was going on. Only the dying IF and Compa knew what was happening, the brunette looking like she was seconds away from entering her chrysalid phase.

Not minding, or even noticing the stares, Nico slammed the tip of the syringe inside the opposite side of IF's neck, injecting the demon energy enhanced virus into her bloodstream. The brunette cringed, unable to hold herself back as the pain in her body suddenly intensified by the thousands. It felt like she was constantly getting daggers stabbed through her body yet she was unable to pass on into the next life.

That was when it happened, a hellish burning sensation that topped the one she had been feeling this entire time overwhelmed her entire body, not leaving anything untouched. No cell was unaffected, her bones screamed in protest while her muscles ached like no tomorrow. With a loud cry, IF suddenly burst into flames, knocking everyone back as her body was forced onto all fours. The flames spread quickly, covering her body from view. This lasted several seconds, before this dark greenish substance completely covered her body, pouring out from her back, neck, calves and feet, completely freezing IF in place.

Silence reigned supreme once this process finished, everyone stared in momentary shock and horror at the state that had taken over their friend. That silence was broken by Ganache's laughter as the man doubled over, clutching the sides of his stomach at the sight before him. "Hahahahahaha Ahahahaha! Now this is golden! See, what did I tell you? Your efforts only served to make your friend turn faster, you literally doomed her to the life of a BOW!"

While he laughed hysterically, falling onto his backside before rolling across the ground, everyone stared at the cocoon, which housed their friend. What would happen now, now that Nico's method had apparently failed. The male in question looked to have gone into shellshock as he stared at the chrysalis that had taken his comrade from him. 'I… I failed… I couldn't save her in time… I failed, I failed…' he repeatedly chanted the words I failed over and over as he stared at the chrysalis, his arm falling to his side while his transformation reverted back to human with the lack of Demonic Energy being drawn from within and dropping the syringe to the ground. The sound it made when colliding with the ground seemed to almost be louder than it really was, though they still didn't notice or care as it rolled away somewhere, forgotten.

IF, their comrade, their friend, one of the people who helped keep Neptune in line when Nico would end up falling into her antics at times… was gone, completely gone.

'Y-you're wrong, it DID work! Look!'

Histoire's voice suddenly broke him out of his musings, alongside the audible cracks that formed on top of the chrysalis's back, cracks that spread like something was pushing against it. Sounds of something tearing and groans could be heard within as… whatever would come out of their friend's remains.

In an instant, something did come out… or rather, it burst out by jumping high into the air, high enough to reach the sun which blinded them from seeing what it was, before landing on the ground on all fours. When it did, the group plus Ganache, whom had stood back up and dusted himself off in a rather classy manner, looked to what had come out… and felt themselves stiffen.

What came out… looked like an exact identical IF: hair colour was the same, with a greyish green skin tone and her eyes being unseen thanks to her hair shadowing them. There was also the fact that she was naked, something which Nico quickly took notice of and tried to stare at her hair instead of the rest of her body.

Slowly, she stood up, looking at Ganache and allowing her eyes to be shown. They were eyeless sockets, so her emotions couldn't be seen from them, but Ganache wasn't worried though, instead he felt ecstatic, "Ufufufu…" the man laughed as he stepped towards the differently skinned IF, slowly reaching for her hair. At the moment, he had completely forgotten the rest of them, as he made to examine the creature that IF had become, the creature he would use to kill off her former friends. "I must admit, this is a bit surprising, seeing that you retained your human appearance, though that is of no consequence. We can just give you a few tweaks when we take you back with us to our labs-"

"Who said…?"

"Hm?"

POW!

Ganache's eyes flew open from their sockets behind his shades, when a fist flew into the side of his face, the force and impact sending him flying through the air faster than a bullet train into the ruins of Chian's destroyed factory. The man collided with some debris, causing a large eruption of smoke to form at his location.

The cause for his sudden flight had a steaming fist, some cuts having appeared on the knuckles and fingers although they closed up in a second or two, thin Tendrils layering themselves over her wounds and letting new sin cover them. Bringing her fist to her face, the brunette noticed the healing ability she had, but she didn't pay attention to it for long. The mutated IF looked like she was glaring with her now returned green eyes, though the scarlea had turned slightly grey. Her teeth were clenched, and her body seemed to almost… morph, in a way with a new skin tone, one that was reminiscent of her original tone, swiftly layering itself onto her from her chest to the rest of her body.

When it was complete, IF looked like she did before her infection, completely human. Save for the lack of clothes, though she didn't seem to notice yet. throughout this process, all IF had done was stare at the place where she had punched Ganache with cold fury in her eyes, clenching her fist and shaking it in his direction, veins pulsing beneath the skin. "Who says you could touch me, fucking retard?!"