A/N: With our heroes reestablished, let's set them into a scenario. Why am I saying basic tenets of writing?

DeafLeaf: You came to the wrong fic, fool! (JK any loyal fan is welcome.)

TheEnderThief: Ahh, converging timelines. See, there was this concept I was writing that was My Next Life As A Villainess (Google it, it's a good manga and the anime is even better.) and I wanted to apply it to Kurome. So you have this version of Kurome who wants to do good, but her plot is already in motion. Yadah yadah complications, she befriends Neptune and helps out during the Gold Third arc before she's found out…

Anyway, just a concept. For a final chapter, I wanted it to crossover with SWaS, with the PSF just finding her through a rift. Cue shenanigans.

So with that juicy idea ripe to a better author, on with the carnage!

The very next morning, things were almost as usual in the Tech household. Uzume was complaining about being woken at "this Goddesses forsaken hour", Koei was silently enjoying his morning tea and IF was cooking breakfast. Normally this would be seen as pretty odd considering the type of girl IF was, but after the last time Koei tried to cook…

IF was still finding chunks of egg in random nooks around the apartment. One of many things he was now forbidden to do around the apartment.

Living with Koei was at the very least exciting, if not easy. "Alright, food's ready. How much bacon do you two want?" IF started to plate up her own food. "Oh and Koei if you say "ALL OF IT!" you can make your own."

"Bah." Koei crossed his arms as he started to think of a new way to annoy IF as Uzume got up to get her own share.

"I'll get my own, Ifsy. You always put tomatoes on my portion of the Full English." The tomboy rolled her eyes and started to plate up exclusively meat products. Bacon, sausage… Yeah, Uzume had her tastes alright.

"At least get some mushrooms. Fiber is important, as Compa would say." IF chided as Uzume made a show of grabbing said fried mushrooms and dumping them on her plate. Repeating the process with some baked beans, she had what could be charitably called a "breakfast".

Heading back to the sofa, Uzume sat down with a smile. "Thanks for the meal!" She stated before chowing down. With a sigh, Koei got up and headed to IF.

"I'll take what's left… Aside from the tomatoes." He said as IF rolled her eyes.

"You like tomato sauce, baked beans and pizza but you don't like the fruit?" IF shook her head. "Whatever, I'll have the extra tomatoes."

Koei sat down himself and started to happily chow down on his balanced meal, complete with black pudding and some toast on the side too. IF soon joined them to reunite the trio once more as the morning news played in the background.

"... And with an overnight shift at Planeptune General Hospital, the virus has been contained thanks to the efforts of Compa and every single staff member there. Thank you for your efforts! This has been Famitsu, back to you at the office!"

"Nobody says that." The newscaster sighed as she regained her professional composure. "Finally, we have an exclusive from Lady Neptune herself!" An image of a poster appeared with very small text, it clearly needed to be re ad in person. "For the fun of it, she will be hosting a combat tournament in the Planepark. Entry to the tournament is free and the prize is the pride of being Planeptune's strongest fighter and the chance to duel Lady Neptune herself in a no holds barred beatdown in front of a roaring crowd! Better be quick though, the tourney is tonight!"

Koei nearly choked on his food. "TONIGHT!?"

IF sighed into her food. "Dammit, Nep. Could at least plan for a week in advance at least."

Koei turned to IF. "You know I need to enter this."

IF rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. You're both tied in terms of wins still, right?"

Koei nodded in response. "A tiebreaker in front of a crowd? That'd be great."

Uzume got up to put her plate in the sink. "I could use some practice with my new armament of choice."

IF rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'll join. Let's finish this food off and get to Planepark."

Some minutes later, the trio were ready to leave, all dressed in casual clothing. Koei in his "No Pain, No Game" T-shirt he immediately bought upon seeing and featured a controller in the tight grip of a hand, all in various shades of purple, of course.

IF opted for her usual outfit, sans her navy jacket and as for Uzume…

"Uzume, you can't just keep wearing the same outfit." IF sighed as the tomboy crossed her arms in a defiant manner. "Surely you can change your outfit?"

Uzume rolled her eyes. "You got any spare shirts or jeans? 'Cus I don't have the Credits to fashion up."

IF gave a grin. "Let me head to Compa's and get some old duds of mine. Long as you don't mind my old fashion sense." With that, she left to grab some of her old clothes, leaving Uzume and Koei to wait for her.

Uzume leaned back, putting her hands behind her head. "So… When do I tell her she wears the same vest/short combo daily?"

Koei sighed. "Her wardrobe is filled with the same outfit. Girl certainly has her style."

Uzume chuckled. "Sounds like you know her wardrobe well. So, what colour are her panties?"

Uzume was rewarded with a slap to the face. "Pervert!" Koei yelled, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Light blue. Girl really should stop asking me to handle her clothes…"

Before Uzume could inquire further, IF returned with a suitcase covered in stickers of the Nation's flags. "Compa's been bugging me to get rid of these for ages." IF grunted as she placed the suitcase on the wooden table. "Here's some of my old duds for ya."

Uzume lifted the suitcase and headed to the bedroom with a simple "thanks" to change, leaving the remaining members to their own devices.

After a moment of silence, Koei spoke up. "You just wanted to get those clothes out of Compa's place, didn't you?"

IF smugly grinned. "Yup."

"Jeez Ifsy, this is a lot of black." Was Uzume's first thought after sifting through most of the clothing in the tightly packed case. At the very least there were some blue jeans she could wear and some choices for a shirt.

Still, she had to check one thing. Making sure the door behind her was shut tightly, she looked around for a… Private drawer. Looking through a few contenders for panties, she came up short and started to lose hope until she opened a seemingly random drawer and… Bingo.

"Goddesses above, she really does have light blue panties." Uzume noted to herself before shutting the drawer forcefully. She was meant to be changing, not peeping.

Turning back to the pile of clothes, Uzume sighed. She was spoilt for choice of course… But which shirt to wear? This blue shirt with a simple "i" on it is nice, but it was definitely an IF thing more than an Uzume one. Maybe if it was a "u" instead… No, no.

Digging to the bottom of the neatly folded pile, Uzume tugged at a shirt that seemed to call to her. Getting it out and unfolding it, she gained a slasher's smile.

"Oh this… This is perfect."

It had been about 10 minutes since Uzume entered the bedroom and the other two thirds of the Planeptune Special Forces were twiddling their thumbs in awkward silence.

"You told her about my pantes, didn't you?" IF said finally.

Koeii shifted his eyes around. "What? Nooo." He crossed his arms with a pout. "Maybe don't wear the same outfit all the time, or even better, stop making me do the damn laundry!"

"Why do I entrust you with the simplest things and yet you continue to fail me each and every time!" IF put her head in her hands with an anguished scream.

"Hey, at least I'm not the one raidng the drawers?" He offered to which IF headed to the nearest wall and started beating her head against it.

"One of these days she'll learn." Koei thought to himself with a sigh. "In anything but heroism, I'm incapable."

Interrupting IF's love making session with the wall, Uzume returned from the bedroom, all decked out in a simple pair of jeans and a purple T-Shirt that had an image of Planeptune at night with "I 3 Planeptune!" on the top and bottom of the image.

Looking her up and down the newly dressed Uzume with a whistle, Koei was impressed to say the least. "Damn Uzume. If I wasn't taken already I'd-"

"You'd… what?" IF was now next to Koei, with an icy glare that could freeze Hell over.

"Nothing, Iffy dearest." Koei meekly replied as Uzume chuckled.

"Appreciate it, Kosy." Uzume smiled back, happy with her choice of clothing. "Nice and snug too."

"Never was a fan of denim, but whatever works for you." He shrugged in response before spinning on his heel. "Come on ladies, we're burning daylight here!"

Uzume and IF took one look at each other and thought the exact same thing before following Koei out into the daylight.

"Man, Planepark never ceases to be fuckin' maze-like." Koei sighed in frustration as the trio wandered the halls of the aforementioned arena.

"Nep really should put up some signs…" IF agreed, before pointing in a seemingly random direction. "Maybe we should try the arena?"

Walking off, IF now led the group towards the center of Planepark.

Putting a hand to his chin, Koei contemplated something. "Say, if this whole tourney thing is 1v1's… We might end up fighting each other."

Uzume gave a simple "huh" to that. "Oh yeah. If we're going to be entering this, we might end up fighting each other."

"Only clicking on now, eh?" IF smirked as she turned towards us. "Come on, it's not like we haven't fought before."

Koei rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but those were… Circumstances. This is something different entirely."

IF took the time to put a hand on Koei's shoulder. "They are. It's just a friendly spar, isn't it?"

Koei considered for a moment before pulling IF into a hug. "As long as we still care for each other after the fight, I don't care how hard you spar."

Letting go with a blush, IF nodded before silently getting back on track with her walk, the other two following suit silently.

"Man, a lot of people want to fight today, huh?" Koei noted as the trio noticed the rather large queue to the sign-up desk.

"I mean it's a day out, right?" Uzume reasoned with a shrug.

Koei looked around and as his eyes scanned over some observers, they seemed to look away, not wanting to be seen looking at him. "Say, any reason people are looking at me?"

IF sighed. "Seriously? You're the Hero of Planeptune for Goddesses sake. Course people are shocked you are here."

Koei put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I suppose. But I'm not really a celebrity or anything… Right?"

Before he could even take a breath in, a young girl approached the trio, looking at Koei in particular. "E-excuse me…" She almost broke down when Koei turned to her. "Are… You Koei?"

Big brother instinct kicked in as Koei kneeled down to meet the girl's eyes. "Aye, I am. What can I do for ya, you adorable little scamp?"

This compliment made the girl even more flustered as she shoved a phone into his face. "P-please take a picture with me! All the other girls at school make fun of me for having a crush on you, but you saved Planeptune, right?"

Koei chuckled. "Course I did. Hope you didn't see the fight though, that is not for a young lady like you." He joked before sitting next to the girl and taking a picture using the phone's camera.

The girl finally free of her paralysis, looked at her photo album and saw the picture Koei just took and her eyes shined so hard it could blind someone. "THANK YOU SO MUCH KOEI!" Was all she said before running off.

Koei got back up with a very crimson blush on his face as IF patted him on the back. "I'm surprised that you handled that so well, Kopey."

Koei turned to IF with a smile on his still burning face. "Well, people think of me as a hero, right? If I can think of the interaction as a battle, I can get into that mindset that made me so famous…"

IF stared for a moment before regaining her composure. "I suppose if you can keep up the facade…"

"It's not a facade if I am the frigging hero!" Koei replied with a pout. "Besides, good PR is like the second most important part of being a hero next to being the hero, you know?"

IF sighed. "Yeah. Sure. Just try not to screw it up like everything else you do." She gave a smile as she said so. "Last thing Planeptune needs is a second useless hero."

Koei's pout intensified as he huffed, but before he could retort, Uzume waved her hand in front of the pair. "Hey, lovebirds. We're next in the queue."

The pair turned to see that the queue had indeed thinned to the point where they could actually see the table, simply marked with "Sign Up Here!" with some doodles or other on it. Presiding at the table were none other than Neptune and Nepgear, personally overseeing registration.

"Ah, Kopey! Uzume! Iffy!" Neptune warmly greeted. "Thought you'd three would come down. So, which one of you is registering?"

Koei put a hand on the table and flashed a vicious grin. "We all are."

Neptune blinked. "Yeah sure, whatever. Sign the form." She grabbed three copies of the form and handed them to the PSF. "Next!"

Deftly delegating themselves to a nearby table, the trio examined each of their identical forms.

"Hold up." Koei lifted up a finger of his free hand. "No Inhuman feats (I.E: Transformations, power boosting, literal demons inside you, etc.)"?

"Also no firearms." IF noted, taking a glance at the very peeved CPU Candidate of Lastation, polishing her rifle and muttering something about "bias" and "gonna sue the shit out of them."

"Makes sense." Uzume reasoned, mostly to herself. "Think about it, there's going to be normal people around. Adventurers are a hardy bunch, but a few bullets, even from lower calibur weapons can put some serious hurt on someone. And despite what you think, I believe that Neptune is not trying to get anyone killed."

Koei shrugged. "Fair enough." With that out of the way, he took a look around the crowd at the table. Lots of adventurer types, of course. Swordswomen, martial artists… Furries.

"Man, lot of variety in adventurers, huh?" Koei commented, to which a familiar face made herself know.

"Hark! 'Tis that the voice of the British Hero King himself?" Million Arthur strolled into view, before taking a knee in front of Koei. "My liege, truly we are blessed by your presence here today."

Koei blinked, before turning to IF. "You have any idea the fuck she's saying?"

IF shrugged before Arthur got up with a huff. "Fucking plebians." She stated plainly in her natural voice. "Nobody was actually expecting the Planeptune Special Forces to turn up. Are you here on guard duty?"

Koei tilted his head. "Why the fuck would we all- No, we're competing too."

The room fell into stunned silence at that revelation. "You mean… Three Hero level Guild members are competing?" Arthur asked cautiously, not even trying to mask her awe.

Koei sighed. "Okay, having the civilian populace be in awe? Makes sense, I punched a god in the face. But you guys are adventurers! We're of the same ilk!"

Before Koei could continue his tirade, IF put a hand on his shoulder. "Koei's from another dimension, he doesn't quite get everything." She assured the crowd of adventurers before turning to Koei with a pained look on her face. "I wanted to keep this on the down-low, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

"The what." He stated simply.

"You didn't read the news, Kosy?" Uzume scratched her head. "Nepsy officially designated us as Hero-class adventurers this morning. Front page news, everyone's on about it."

Koei processed this before putting his head in his hands. "Oh Goddesses above, I'm popular." After a moment of silent rage he looked at IF again. "The hell's a Hero-class adventurer?"

IF leaned back on a nearby wall. "Well, it just recognizes us as very high level fighters on an official, CPU-endorsed level. Oh and you get a title. I got "Hellfire Raven", you got "Saviour of Planeptune" and Uzume got… "Revived Goddess". She's not happy with that one.

Uzume pouted while looking away. "Not even "Goddess of Dreams". Does she just hate me…"

Koei took the time to scratch the back of his head. "So, my official title is Koei, Saviour of Planeptune?"

IF rolled her hand. "Kinda. You can put the title before or after your name and most people wouldn't have a problem."

Koei shot a thumbs up as conversation started up again and a red-headed camerawoman wandered around, looking for her next big scoop. Newbie reporter for the Gamindustri News Network, Famitsu.

Spotting the trio of newly crowned heroes, you could practically see her eyes gleam with excitement at the talk of Gamindustri just milling around. Without a moment's hesitation she was already up in Koei's grill. "Koei Tech, Saviour of Planeptune! Care to answer a few questions for the Gamindustri News Network?"

Koei was obviously shocked at the sudden presence, but quickly pushed the reporter away. "Yeah, yeah. Just uh, can you get out of my face?" He said as politely as possible.

The reporter shot to attention. "Sorry, sorry. Just exciting to see the Koei Tech in the flesh, you know? Anyway…" She shuffled through her notes as quickly as she could before a reassuring hand squeezed her shoulder.

"Look, relax a bit, will ya?" Koei asked in a caring tone. "I'm not entirely used to this "global hero" thing either, just treat me as you would any other adventurer, because that's what I am when you get down to it."

Famitsu took a moment to compose herself before calmly finding the first page of her compiled notes. "Thank you." She cleared her throat before getting back into her persona. "Okay! So with the unparalleled announcement of three new Heroes being dropped just this morning, you are obviously the buzz to all of Gamindustri. How do you feel about this?"

Koei scratched his chin. "Honestly, it's a little sudden. I mean, I saved Planeptune well over a month ago, right? Been quiet since then and aside from becoming a local celebrity, I thought it'd end there, you know?"

IF sighed. "Yeah, you kinda punched a god in the face and lived. That doesn't exactly go away."

Koei crossed his arms with a playful pout. "Should have gone with "God Puncher". Point is, please don't mob me in the street if you see me? Is that a good enough answer?"

Famitsu giggled. "Sure, sure. I'd like to ask Hellfire Raven IF about her new title too, if she doesn't mind."

"Stick to IF. The title's cool and all but I adopted IF over Idea Factory for a reason." IF said before contemplating her answer. "I was already pretty legendary around the Guild scene, I guess. Even more so once Koei started to get involved and then there's the whole romance thing…"

"But what do you think about your Hero status and title?" Famitsu interrupted, steering the interview back on track.

"Oh!" IF's facade broke for a moment before she cleared her throat and shook her head. "Right. Yeah. Uh, those are cool I guess and I'm glad my hard work has been recognized, but as a direct result of Koei? Didn't really help with that, did I?"

Koei rolled his eyes. "Uzume?"

"Yeah, like 90% of people Koei considers his friends have tried to kill him at some point, not really a shock that his closest friends and colleagues are also the ones who've come closest to ending his life, you know?" Uzume explained casually, leaning against a wall and not even looking at the reporter. "And before you ask, I'm not entirely happy with the notion of being classified as "Revived Goddess", but being recognized for my hard work in the PSF is enough of a reward, I guess. Means that my rehabilitation is going well." She gave a small smile at that statement.

"Thanks, Uzume." Koei shot a thumbs up and she gave one in response. "Still some time before the main event, you got some more burning questions for the hot name in Gamindustri… Apparently?"

Famitsu nodded. "Fantastic. Well, obviously with your popularity, there have been rumblings of Planeptune citizens directing their faith to not just you, but IF and Uzume as well. How do you feel about that?"

Koei processed the fact that people saw him on the same level as a CPU now. "Well, trade secret but Serenity here-" He pulled out his trademark blade and pointed to the gem in the handle. "Is partially powered by Share energy, so it's not going to waste and hey, if people put their faith in us more than the actual CPUs, it means I'm doing my job better than Neptune, DO YOU HEAR THAT NEPTUNE?" He raised his voice before swiftly dodging a thrown sword his way, before regaining his composure. "But yeah. If you like any of us more than the actual CPUs? You do you! I don't understand how the hell Share energy works, but if you put your faith in me, I think it might go to Planeptune? Maybe?" He shrugged. "Look I don't know how this shit works, but I kill things and do my taxes… Okay I don't do my taxes, but I kill things!"

"We know two things for sure. Share energy is a mystery and Koei… Koei is 100% Maximum No Chill incarnate." IF sighed as Famitsu approached the Guild agent turned Hero.

"Speaking of, what are your thoughts on the Hero of Planeptune? You are the closest person to him, after all." Famitsu was back on the case with the questioning and to someone who could probably give her some juicy gossip.

IF was caught off-guard by this, quite obviously. "Hmm." She put a hand to her chin. "Well he's quite easy to deduce as a nice guy. Despite his… Flagrant attitude, he does put in the work when the time comes. We've been on quite a few escort quests as the state of Gamindustri has been rather peaceful over the last… Month or so?"

Famitsu nodded, using her comically large gloved hands to jot down more notes. "The last month has been largely devoid of scoops, hence why I'm rather desper- excited to have the chance to interview you three, even beyond the latest news!" She finished jotting down notes and looked back up at IF. "As half of "KoeIffy", I must ask out of personal curiosity, this won't be in the article. Do you find him cute?"

IF's cheeks turned to crimson as she looked away. "He… Has his charm."

Koei rolled his eyes. "Famitsu, honey. You're not going to get an honest answer out of her." He leaned back with a smile. "Love isn't about that sort of thing. It's about liking each other, spending time together, having your back when you need it. Our relationship is love, don't get me wrong. It's just that we have a different definition of it."

The three other people present in the group were speechless. "Holy fuckaroni, you nailed it." IF said finally, her cheeks still burning bright. "I guess to summarize it…"

"Our worlds collided on eternal horizons?" Koei answered, to which IF gave the ghost of a smile.

"A wild ride, every turn is surprising." IF retorted, smile widening as Koei continued.

"We rip and tear until it's done!" Koei seemed really into it, as he had a wicked grin and had fis fist clenched.

"Then head home and have some fun." IF was still blushing, but also grinning like an idiot at Koei's enthusiasm.

This once again left everyone in silence. "You two are such lovey-dovey idiots." Uzume finally commented. "But you know, I like the openness of your dynamic."

Famitsu nodded in response. "It seems the citizenry likes it. KoeIffy is all the rage, along with VerBlanc and UniGear. Would say you're just behind UniGear in popularity, but that could change. Anyway, thank you for your time!" Famitsu quickly turned on her heel and left the trio with only one thought on her mind.

"I'll get that promotion for sure! Getting a scoop with the PSF in the flesh? So much better than I expected!"

"Alright, sign-ups are done!" Neptune announced. "Thank you all for turning up, but it seems we've hit our cap on contestants. Much faster than anticipated, too! Please make your way to the stands, as we'll be kicking things off ahead of schedule!"

Koei, who had been eyeing the competition, was not surprised by this. "Seems that word spread fast, huh?"

IF put her hands behind her head with a sigh. "Yeah, looks like some tough cookies around. Least we'll have some competition, right?"

Koei gave a determined grin, clenching his fist as he did so. "Hell yeah. Let's show Planeptune that our titles aren't just for show!"

He turned to Uzume and IF with said clenched fist now outstretched. "GO PLANEPTUNE SPECIAL FORCES!"

The pair rolled their eyes but mimicked his action anyway. "Go Planeptune Special Forces!" They shared at least some of his enthusiasm, at least.

Time had passed, mostly boring recapping of rules for the contestants and sorting of who would beat up who in the first round. The actual event was about to start and the assembled crowd was very excited.

"Hello and welcome to the… Uh… Well, Neptune didn't give it a name, so let's go with Planeptune's Strongest!" The CPU of Leanbox, Vert announced excitedly. "Not only are you blessed with my presence, but you are also joined by the CPU of Lowee, my precious girlfriend, it's Blanny, everybody!"

"Hello." Blanc stated simply. "I didn't want to be here, but Neptune and Vert decided I needed to make up a commentary duo."

Vert giggled politely in response. "Oh Blanny, you joker you. You asked to be here."

Blanc remained silent for a moment. "If I say yes, can we get this over with?"

Vert playfully rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. Commence the carnage!"

Silence reigned over the stadium as Blanc put her sleeved hands in her face. "Vert… You have the list of fighters. At least try to announce who's going up first."

"Oh… Yes." Vert blushed as she gathered her notes. "Our first fight is… Falcom Vs. Cyberconnect2!" She put a hand to her chin as she leaned back from her microphone. "Greeaaat, the same matchup as our inevitable finale." She muttered out of the mic's range as she swung back to her original position. "Alright, let the games begin!"

"Man, they're really going at it, huh?" Koei commented from one of the large locker rooms that served as a waiting room for the contestants as the trio watched Falcom and Cyberconnect2 duke it out via a flatscreen TV.

"Adventurers are a hardy bunch. Especially when facing each other. Don't think just because you're Hero-level that this will be a breeze, not even counting me or Uzume." IF warned while sipping on her coffee. "Lot of them have been adventuring for a hell of a lot longer than you, so they might just have the edge in a straight up fight. For instance, Falcom-" She stopped to point at the red-haired swordswoman currently struggling to hold off Cyberconnect2's EXE Drive. "Has been adventuring for… 15 odd years? She was probably one of the most renowned adventurers before you arrived, honestly. She's written books of her travels to Gamindustri and beyond, been a massive inspiration to anyone she meets and or saves and is honestly a really nice girl."

"Huh." Koei responded, before an evil thought came to mind. "Somebody likes Falcom a lot, then."

IF blushed and looked away. "S-shut up. I met her when I first started training with katars after… Well, you know. She had just finished a Quest and was wandering around when she saw me attacking a dummy. Turns out even when she started she had a lot of combat knowledge and gave me a few pieces of advice." She smiled sadly as she did so. "Ah, so much time has passed. But if I could go back, I'd do it all again… Including you know, our thing." She gave a wink.

"Annnd you two missed the fight." Uzume rolled her eyes and pointed to the screen which showed Falcom helping Cyberconnect2 up, seeming to have won the fight handily, even despite being forced on the defense earlier.

"What a comeback!" Vert announced excitedly. "Goes to show that even when things look bleak, if you believe in yourself, nothing can stop you!"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that." Blanc stoically stated. "But yes, both combatants did fight well. They should be proud."

"Hell of a first round, I can totally agree with that!" Vert was really into her role as a commentator, with her enthusiasm being through the roof, keeping the crowd buzzed between matches.

Back with our heroes, Koei noticed the two fighters that had just sparred chatting amicably as they returned to the locker room.

"... That move you pulled out of nowhere, Black Fang Soul, was it? Absolutely incredible!" Falcom praised the furry blonde. "You really had me on the ropes there."

"Heh, thanks." Cyberconnect2 grinned like a cat. "Having a Hero-class Guild member complement my skills is the highest honor, Cold Steel Falcom."

Koei processed the title in a nanosecond and got up rather suddenly. "Wait Falcom, you're a Hero-class Guild member too?"

The adventurer was caught by surprise. "Ah!" She took a moment to compose herself before looking Koei up and down. "That aside, you must be the Koei Tech I've heard so much about. Even outside of Gamindustri your name is mentioned. I'm Falcom, of course." She put her arm out to shake Koei's. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Koei completed the handshake. "Same to you, though I must be honest, I only learned about you today. Learning a lot today." He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Ahh, don't worry about it." Falcom dismissed his concerns as Cyberconnect2 looked around awkwardly before slipping away quietly. "I've been on the PC Continent for the last… Two months or so. Robot uprising, pretty normal for the scientists there so my name hasn't been in any papers recently. Still, three new Heroes? Hot damn, I must have missed a lot."

Koei fiddled through his inventory before pulling out a copy of Sociopath With a Spellblade and handing it to Falcom. "Here, my memoirs. From humble beginnings to god puncher, it's all there."

Falcom took the book gratefully, feeling the soft leather of the hardcover. "Oooh, nice. You write this yourself?"

Koei shook his head. "I'm a terrible writer and the first version… We do not speak of the first version."

Falcom nodded in understanding. "Yeah, my early work was rereleased when I became a better writer. Also got an editor just in case. This was back when I wasn't a Hero, now publishers are all over me every time I return home. "Cold Steel Falcom, can we write your next book?", damn parasites." She sighed, before looking at the publisher for Koei's book. "You got one of the good ones, though. MAGES. Publications always write high quality work. Probably because the CEO is a writer herself, but more academics and science rather than books about grand adventure and the like. It'll be nice reading about the rise of a Hero-class Guild member, at least."

Koei smiled. "Hey, from the sounds of things you're a really nice woman, Falcom. Good to know that there's other people out there, fighting the good fight, ya know?"

The redhead giggled in response. "Yeah, I'm just glad you're treating me like a normal person. Don't get me wrong, the Hero bit is great and all, but it's nice just to meet someone who doesn't immediately freak. Maybe I could get my publishers to tone down my future adventures so I don't look so grandiose…"

"Hey, Koei?" Nepgear popped her head into the locker room. "You're up next, so I'd suggest warming up, alright?" She disappeared as suddenly as she appeared.

"Ahh, dammit. Well, it was nice talking to you Falcom, maybe we'll clash blades later today!" Koei warmly waved to his fellow Hero before getting up to leave for the stadium.

After he left earshot range, Falcom sighed in content. "No wonder people put their faith in him, he reminds me of me in my younger years." She turned to IF, who was fiddling with her phone. "Speaking of, it's been a while IF."

IF put her phone away and smiled at Falcom. "Yeah, it has been. How've you been?" She asked as if Falcom was an old friend.

"Well… It's a bit of a story."

"Phew, Iffy was right." Koei thought to himself as he tiredly leant against a wall. "Even that first fight was rough. That Tekken girl has fists of fuckin' iron."

He made his way back to the locker/waiting room where Falcom and IF were still talking.

"And then, he has the gall to try and pull the wool over my eyes by saying "Oh babe I just need to go to the store"! It was old when I did- Oh, hey Koei." IF finally noticed the exhausted Koei mid-rant. "Uhhh, I was on about someone else, I swear."

"You're worse at lying than I am." Koei commented as he sat down to rest. "Stick to brutal truths, darling. I'll do the lying for the both of us."

IF blushed and looked away "You're just… Nevermind. How'd your fight with Tekken go? Too busy catching up with Falcom to really analyze it."

"Koei clearly underestimated his opponent and got punished hard early into the fight." Uzume stated simply, sipping at a Nep Bull as she did so. "But once he realized what he was up against, knuckled down-" She paused to let the pun sink in. "And beat the odds." She smirked and lowered her head. "When you think about it , that is Koei's style. You can beat him down, but as long as he has a heartbeat, he will get back up." Uzume sighed as she crossed her arms. "In hindsight, it's entirely obvious why I lost. I didn't have that sense of justice, I suppose. I was strong, but didn't have the resolve to keep fighting when I lost that strength."

IF stared at Uzume for a minute. "Uzume, what did I say about going on monologues?"

Uzume flipped the bird. "Introspection is important in rehabilitation. Mulling on past mistakes is not." She stated flatly, rolling her eyes as she did so. "You know it's difficult to change from "I want to destroy a Nation and kill millions" to "I'm a good guy now!", right?

"Kinda agree on that." Falcom entered the conversation. "I've had a few run-ins with bandits in the past. The poor bastards had a shitty upbringing and it led to their twisted world view. This wasn't in Gamindustri mind, they couldn't just go to the Guild, get a licence and start murdering things for cash. Most of them were broke, even homeless. After a while I stopped trying to fight them and gave them a bag of gold if they explained why they were trying to rob me." She exposited with a grim look on her face.

"How'd that go?" Uzume asked curiously, enthralled by the stranger's woes.

"Ehhh a lot of them are just in it for some quick cash and I kick them to the curb and be on my way. No point donating to criminals, after all. But some actually take me up on the offer and explain why they turned to robbing people. Lot of them just got screwed by a loved one, mostly financially and want to find and wreak vengeance on them. Some of them just got unlucky in life and couldn't find anyone to help them when times got rough. A few of them even broke down crying in front of a stranger."

The tone of the conversation turned drastically as Falcom's look turned grimmer. "One guy had a sickly daughter on the verge of death and couldn't make rent that month, even showed me a picture of her, sweet little thing. I gave him enough to make rent for a year, on top of enough to save his daughter."

Koei nodded, still breathing heavily from the fight. "Sounds like a lot of cash to give to strangers, though."

"Well, it doesn't come with you when you die." Falcom shrugged. "Honestly, the book deals have made me rich enough to retire to a condo off Powerlevel Coast, but it's not about the money, it's about adventure, seeing sights few ever see, fighting beings thought to be extinct, saving people not because you want to be famous, but because they're in danger, dammit!" She clenched her fist as she continued her tirade. "I don't want your accolades our Hero status, I want the thrill of flying through the air before IMPALING A FUCKMOTHERING ANCIENT WYVERN, NOW SHUT UP AND LET ME DO MY FUCKING JOB!"

With that, Falcom finally started to calm down, panting heavily as she did so, leaving the entire room in silence. "Anyway… About rehabilitation?"

A quick "Which Koei sorely needs." muttered by IF and Falcom quickly recomposed herself. "Ah, right, right. I did check in on that one guy a year or so later to see how'd he been doing and well, he used that money to cure his daughter and kickstart a pharmaceutical company that prioritises getting people cured over profit." Falcom smiled. "Guy was obviously very grateful and his daughter fully recovered. He even wanted to give back the gold I gave him as thanks, but I just said to donate it to charity. Point is, people can change for the better, but it takes time and a good reason to in order to, you know?"

Uzume nodded in response. "Makes sense. Glad you agree with me on that and thanks for providing an anecdote, really helps sort my thoughts out. Even if I'm still confused, Kosy and Ifsy have my back."

Falcom crossed her arms with a content sigh. "Yup, there's that fuzzy feeling of a job well done. I'd say I hope you'll do great things, but I'm not about to patronize 3 Heroes, even if they're new to the title."

Nepgear once again popped her head out. "Hey, Uzume? You're up next." And like clockwork, she disappeared, leaving Uzume to get up.

"Well, my mind's a lot clearer now." She prepared her battleaxe. "But I haven't tested my new armament against another fighter yet. Monsters are easy enough, but as Koei so elegantly showed a human opponent is something else entirely."

"Well it's just for fun, isn't it?" Koei reasoned, finishing an SP Charger as he did so. "Obviously give it your all, but don't feel bad if you get knocked out on your first fight, yeah?"

Uzume considered for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, thanks Kosy."

With that she slung her new armament of choice over her shoulder before heading into the arena to face her first opponent of the day.

A/N: Sorry for the long delay followed by filler. I'm saving the juicy fights for the quarter/semi/final fights. All of them involve Koei, but will still be in this third person narration for consistency's sake.

"Why even write a tournament arc if you skip 90% of fights, then?"

… IDFK. But it's a good way to get a lot of characters together. Next time: Actual fights!