Soft Reset Chapter 10: Sword Fights on Motorcycles!, a rwby fanfic

...two. One. Zero. Soshite, toki wa ugokidasu. Go get 'em, champ.

...thanks. I'll try my best.

At the words of my quote-unquote 'guardian angel,' time decided to get off its lazy ass and start working properly again. The world suddenly regained color and resumed its normal speed as if nothing had happened.

I had also taken measures to finalize preparations for the upcoming fight.

Headgear "Target Scouter" equipped.

I remembered that I had left Reid's earlier question unanswered. Deciding that it would be in bad taste for it to remain in that state, I moved to rectify that.

"Sure, I'll take you on. I've never been a fan of corrupt businesses, and despite looking like you just stepped off the set of The Matrix, you don't actually seem all that strong. Not to mention that you give off a serious 'dick with a big mouth' vibe, and there are few things I enjoy more than shutting one of your kind up."

Believe it or not, he actually looked insulted at that. Or at least tried to - I could already tell he was a little too shameless to let a roast as cold as that get the better of him.

Reid

"Ouch, man. Not gonna lie, that kinda stung. But lemme tell ya somethin' - me and my buddies here? We don't exactly tolerate bein' taken for fools. You just lost yer chance to get outta here without a fight. So if ya find us as more than yer able to handle, well… just remember that we gave ya fair warning. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

I pulled out Ruby's gift to me from behind my back at his words.

Weapon "Crimson Violet" equipped.

"With pleasure."

ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE

Track Cue: Combat (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)

Reid and Crisset were still moving to grab their weapons when my first attack landed.

[Bullrush+]

-479 HP

Reid HP: 3,298/3,777

Status effect "Blowdown" inflicted.

Blowdown

No relation whatsoever to sea shanties of any kind. Sends the victim flying off in the direction opposite of where the attack came from and cancels whatever skill they were using.

-350 HP

Crisset HP: 2,130/2,480

Status effect "Knockback" inflicted.

-350 HP

Rudger HP: 4,742/5,092

Status effect "Knockback" inflicted.

Luckily for me, all three of them were caught in the charge's area of effect. Reid went flying back with a cry of surprised pain, while Rudger and Crisset were sent stumbling backwards with matching grunts. They recovered about as fast as I expected them to - which was pretty damn fast, mind you.

[Shoulder Check]

Rudger dashed forward a little too fast for me to dodge, and we collided with his side out front.

-134 HP

Zeiss HP: 866/1,000

Status effect "Break" inflicted.

He immediately jumped back so Crisset could follow up.

[Snowball]

While her weapon was flying towards me, I noticed that it appeared to be coated with a sheen of frosty whitish-blue, and looked slightly sharper. That didn't stop me from trying, and failing, to avoid it, disoriented as I was from the Break affliction.

-119 HP

Zeiss HP: 747/1,000

By that point, Reid had landed back on the ground, and was looking for some sweet revenge.

[Cattle Prod]

If the way the end of his rod was sparking was any indication, that attack had a very high chance of triggering Stun.

MISS!

Thankfully, the only thing it hit was the concrete floor. I decided I needed some space, so I went with what had become one of my favorite crowd-control moves in recent weeks.

[Spray-n-Pray+]

I pointed the business end of my sword towards my opponents, then held down the trigger on the rifle portion for a few hot seconds. A stream of death flew out, accompanied by the loud sound typical of the caliber. Since this was one of the few skills I had that didn't have a sizable focus on accuracy, I just had to make sure it went in the general direction of my foes. I did take care to avoid the poor professor, though - it wouldn't do anyone any favors to have him end up dead.

MISS!

5 HITS

-625 HP

Reid HP: 2,673/3,777

MISS!

6 HITS

CRITICAL!

-1000 HP

Rudger HP: 3,742/5,092

MISS!

4 HITS

-500 HP

Crisset HP: 1,630/2,480

With all the debris that kicked up, it was depressingly easy to lose track of one of them. I paid dearly for that when I was blindsided by Reid.

[Spy Brutality]

A timely Sixth Sense trigger allowed me to escape the two leading staff swipes, but it was unable to do so for the dual kicks - one to the face, the other sweeping my legs - that left me on the floor.

MISS!

2 HITS

-104 HP

Zeiss HP: 643/1,000

Status effect "Topple" inflicted.

Topple

DADDY SAKURAI, WHY?! Leaves the victim helpless on the ground for as long as the effect lasts and renders them vulnerable to Launch.

As you'd expect, the other two capitalized hard on this golden opportunity.

[Blizzara]

[Blazing Edge]

I was hit with a one-two combo consisting of a giant icicle falling right on top of me followed up with a big flaming shuriken.

-40 HP

Zeiss HP: 603/1,000

-130 HP

Zeiss HP: 473/1,000

Skill [Resolve] triggered. STR multiplied by 1.25. DEX/AGI multiplied by 1.5.

Funnily enough, the smaller object ended up hitting much harder than the huge stalactite. I chalked that up to Rudger's INT being the lowest of the three.

Status effect "Topple" has worn off.

With the help of the Resolve boost, I jumped back to my feet just in time to avoid being whacked by Reid's rod again.

MISS!

I return, I let rip with one of my current deadliest single-target moves.

[Sword Flurry+]

Since he was still recovering from his whiff, and my newfound DEX buff, he was left unable to dodge any of the 8 blindingly fast stabs.

8 HITS

CRITICAL!

-4,445 HP

Reid HP: 0/3,777

Status effect "Bleed" inflicted x2.

That actually ended up taking him out completely. Though his aura only shattered after I delivered the finishing touch, so the Bleed trigger was rendered moot.

However, just because one of them attacked didn't mean the other two were idle.

[Bolt Toss]

Agni made a flashy return, covered in bright yellow sparks.

-109 HP

Zeiss HP: 364/1,000

I actually lucked out, considering I wasn't afflicted by the dreaded Stun effect. But the attack did end up leaving me in hitstun long enough for Rudger to deck me in the schnoz.

-86 HP

Zeiss HP: 278/1,000

I inwardly grimaced. I may have taken out one, but if this fight dragged on too much, I would likely lose the rest of my HP if I restricted myself from healing. I didn't want to attract attention, so I would wait until Iron Will triggered to pull a last resort Imbue.

I needed to force Rudger off since he was at his best when he was up in my face, so I went with old reliable.

[Powerslash+]

CRITICAL!

-934 HP

Rudger HP: 2,808/5,092

Status effect "Knockback" inflicted.

With him stumbling back, I directed my attention to the resident ranged supporter.

[Primer Repeat+]

Three bullets left the barrel of my rifle-gunsword. One missed, the other two didn't.

MISS!

2 HITS

-538 HP

Crisset HP: 1,092/2,480

And I threw in another skill for good measure. It wasn't exactly powerful, but it could do some decent damage and served as a way to snag a long-range melee hit.

[Blade Beam]

The crescent arc of energy that flew at my female opponent was actually a nice shade of red. I suspected that it would shift to purple once I unlocked its upgrade, but that's neither here nor there.

Oh, and it was also decently fast. Not as fast as a bullet, but still pretty quick. If I had to guess, I'd say it timed in at around eighty, maybe ninety miles per hour. It had also gotten noticeably faster since I had obtained it, so that was something.

That said, you can probably guess that it was a direct hit.

-267 HP

Crisset HP: 825/2,480

In the heat of the moment, I briefly lost my visual of Rudger. As you'd expect, that came back to bite me.

[Thundara]

While Sixth Sense did end up activating, it wasn't enough to avoid the stream of bright yellow electric energy that slammed into my side.

-31 HP

Zeiss HP: 247/1,000

The attack itself didn't actually do all that much damage, but it did catch me off guard, and thus opened me up to more pain.

[Shoulder Check]

Rudger once again smashed his left side into me.

-134 HP

Zeiss HP: 113/1,000

Status effect "Break" inflicted.

But it didn't end there. Instead of simply jumping back like he had last time, he actually grabbed me and threw me right in the direction of the resident ginger.

[Snowball]

That led to Crisset delivering an Ice-infused uppercut swipe with her oversized shuriken, which blasted me up into the air.

-119 HP

Skill [Iron Will] activated.

Zeiss HP: 57/1,000

Status effect "Invincibility" inflicted.

Invincibility

Side-effects may include: rainbow bioluminescence, flickering in and out of existence, and inability to receive medical shots. Renders the victim unable to lose HP for as long as the effect lasts.

Status effect "Launch" forcibly inflicted.

Launch

What R. Kelly wishes he could be hit with. Leaves the victim suspended in mid-air and unable to move for as long as the effect lasts, and leaves them vulnerable to Smash.

Believe it or not, Rudger still wasn't finished with me yet. The next thing I knew, he was right up in the air next to me, with his fist cocked back.

By time I realized what was going to happen, I was torn between re-enacting the timeless Wombo Combo soundbite, and letting out a scream of pure unadulterated rage.

[Forward Aerial]

Right before the move hit, I noticed that flames were engulfing his hand. I deduced that the madman had actually gone as far as to enhance it with a quick Fira cast.

It didn't actually do anything noteworthy, seeing as I was immune to losing HP, but that doesn't mean it didn't feel like every cell in my stomach was spontaneously combusting.

INVINCIBLE!

-0 HP

Zeiss HP: 57/1,000

Status effect "Smash" inflicted.

Smash

COME ON AND SLAM, AND WELCOME TO THE JAM! The victim is sent plummeting to the ground, suffering massive damage upon impact.

Needless to say, hitting the ground at terminal velocity wasn't exactly my idea of a fun time.

INVINCIBLE!

-0 HP

Zeiss HP: 57/1,000

However, there was actually a bit of a silver lining.

Since I had barreled into the floor at such a high speed, it was only natural that a large cloud of dust would be formed.

Status effect "Invincibility" has worn off.

And wouldn't you know it, said dust cloud was actually very helpful for obscuring the shine of healing spells and items.

[Imbue]

-29 MP

Zeiss MP: 701/730

CRITICAL!

+408 HP

Zeiss HP: 465/1,000

[Hi-Potion]

+500 HP

Zeiss HP: 965/1,000

Skill [Resolve] deactivated.

...not sure whether or not I should call that crit-heal overkill, but whatever. One way or another, these fuckers are screwed.

My brain absently noted that my hood had fallen off, revealing my head for my opponents to see, but I was a little preoccupied with the current situation.

The obscuring screen was beginning to fade away, so I cut the break short with another skill.

[Scope Shot+]

The Target Scouter was invaluable for this one, as it let me land a perfect between-the-eyes headshot on Crisset from the remaining cover of the dust by using the "foe outline" feature as a reference point.

CRITICAL!

-904 HP

Crisset HP: 0/2,480

Status effect "Unconscious" inflicted.

Unconscious

"Because killing would be an unforgivable sin, and we can't have that." - every single DC superhero. The victim is knocked out and unable to do anything for as long as the effect lasts.

The concussive force of the bullet striking her in the face led her to perform an impressive-looking involuntary backflip and face-plant the ground a few feet away before her aura shattered. Agni was knocked out of her hands, and stabbed itself into the ground next to her after spinning around in the air for a short second.

Rudger was briefly left in shock at the sight of his other coworker being taken out in such an exaggerated manner, but quickly returned his eyes to my position, just in time to catch me running at him before delivering another brutal attack.

[Brave Sally]

Bashing his face with the pommel of my weapon left him open to three more strikes, completing the four-hit combo.

4 HITS

-900 HP

Rudger HP: 1,908/5,092

The favor was returned with a sucker punch to the gut.

-86 HP

Zeiss HP: 879/1,000

The whirlwind of movement that followed could only be described as a "standard Monty Oum fight."

FEVER TRIGGERED!

For the next fifteen or so seconds, my only thoughts were "block, dodge, counter, slash, block, use sword as swingpole for spinning kick, dodge, dodge, counter," not necessarily in that order. Resolve ended up activating again somewhere in the middle of everything.

FEVER END!

5 HITS

-1,575 HP

Rudger HP: 333/5,092

8 HITS

CRITICAL!

-774 HP

Zeiss HP: 105/1,000

By the time it was over, we were both on our last legs. Both of us could take two more hits from the other before hitting zero HP. If either of us got a critical, that would be it.

Then…

[Smith Light]

[Sixth Sense] triggered.

I jerked to the left, avoiding a sparking ball of concentrated lightning. Left unchecked, it continued on its path.

Right into Rudger.

-125 HP

Rudger HP: 208/5,092

That was when I saw my chance. So, like any good opportunist would, I dashed forward and took advantage of it.

A quick sliding trip that segued into an uppercut slash left him helpless in the air. But his aura still wasn't broken yet. I presumed that it would wait before I finished my combo, so I could rack up those sweet overkill style points.

-294 HP

Rudger HP: 0/5,092

Status effect "Launch" forcibly inflicted.

When I leapt up after the brawler, I turned around and sighted my mark.

Locking onto a tired, battle-damaged Reid, I hefted Crimson Violet...

"Have fun getting your pay docked."

...and swung.

WHANG!

-294 HP

Status effect "Smash" inflicted.

The flat of the blade collided with my last opponent, sending him careening towards the red-haired corporate spy much too fast for him to dodge.

BOOOOOOOM!

Status effect "Unconscious" inflicted x2.

Let me tell you, Ground Zero was definitely a sight to see.

I was left slightly amazed as to how Reid wasn't dead. I chalked it up to a tiny bit of his aura regenerating at the last second and keeping him from getting gibbed.

Reid (Lv. 19) Defeated!

Rudger (Lv. 20) Defeated!

Crisset (Lv. 18) Defeated!

+3,000 EXP

+1,500L

LEVEL UP!

VIT: 100 +5

STR: 95 +5

INT: 73 +4

DEX: 132 +5

AGI: 133 +5

RES: 61 +3

LUK: 44 +2

CHR: 44 +2

Track Cue: Victory! Cloud (Super Smash Bros. 4)

YOU WON!

Battle Rewards:

x1 Glitch Hunter set

Replacing my blade on my back and letting it disappear into my inventory, I checked the sole battle reward…

The Glitch Hunter

A set of formal business clothes fit for a company executive. Features a dress shirt, pants, and shoes, complete with a button-up undershirt and a tie to complete the appearance. Probably not the best outfit for dodging bullets while keeping your feet planted, but damn if you won't look stylish while doing it.

Ooh. If I end up infiltrating a fancy party with this, it now must be done under the alias of "Mister Anderson." I could do no less. Though I might have to grab whatever passes for a Deagle here if somebody gets uppity about getting their damn phone call.

Gewehr

"Er… sir?"

Wha-oh, right. Heh, forgot he was there for a second.

"Yeah?"

Gewehr

"Uh… thank you. If you hadn't showed up, I imagine they would have done something drastic. As much as I hate to admit it, at the moment I am still a bit of a VIP."

I turned to look back in the direction of the door-bot. I figured it had probably seen the whole fight.

That meant that whoever was watching the feed was more than likely freaking out and alerting their superiors about the unexpected turn the operation had taken.

Which, in turn, meant that speed would be key.

"Well, they might still end up doing so. C'mon. We need to get away from that glorified security camera over there before we do anything else."

Gewehr

"Ah, right, sorry! Follow me!"

Quest Alert!

Indy & Mutt 2.0

You've just saved Professor Eisenberg from a trio of ill-intentioned agents. Unfortunately, whoever was behind all this also saw the outcome of the fight, and is now running contingency plans to salvage the operation. Follow Eisenberg's directions and prevent the mysterious orchestrator from getting those codes - because if there's one thing you're sure of, it's that letting a MacGuffin fall into the hands of a villain is never a good idea.

Objectives:

Follow Eisenberg.

Rewards:

-1,000 EXP

-3,000 Lien

We ran down to the end of the alleyway, stepping onto the sidewalk of 45th street.

"Okay, I think that's far enough. Now, I wanna help you out a little, but at the moment, I'm a little short on details. What exactly were those guys after? I heard you mention something about codes, but something tells me that's not the full story."

Gewehr

"Apologies, but that's a bit of a lengthy tale, and we're short on time. I can tell you everything once we make sure that my family's safe."

My eyebrows raised themselves in surprise. Though I suppose that was to be expected, since Observing him hadn't really crossed my mind while I was preparing to fight the Turk expies, so I hadn't gotten the chance to read his bio yet.

"All right. Where we headed?"

He quickly rattled off an address. The speed at which he did so spoke of how ingrained in his mind it was.

Objectives Updated:

Reach Eisenberg's home and secure his family.

Cross-referencing it with the minimap, I discovered it was a bit distant. Too far to make getting there on-foot feasible.

"Hmm. Without a vehicle, it would take at least an hour of straight-up running to reach that point. I don't know about you, but that seems a little too long for my tastes."

Then I remembered something I won from a special ID a while ago.

"Hold on. I've got just the thing. C'mon, in here."

I ducked into another alleyway, the prof following close behind.

Vehicle "Grid Rider" removed from inventory.

From behind my back, I pulled out a small, black rod about the length of my forearm, and jumped backward about ten meters.

"Stand clear. Things are about to get crazy."

Track Cue: The Game Has Changed (Daft Punk)

With that, I began to run forward.

Once I got some momentum going, I jumped up in the air and assumed what could be called a superhero flying pose, then pulled the little rod apart.

The frame of my item's true form was created first - a good few inches longer than I was tall, sleek and futuristic.

Then came the inner workings - the engine, what passed for a gearbox, and other little machine guts.

After that, the outer frame and cover - pitch black, which somehow still managed to give off a metallic shine.

True to its source material, the purple-lined Light Cycle finished materializing right before I hit the ground with it. I quickly killed my forward motion, then glanced at Eisenberg's utterly dumbfounded expression.

"Well? Get on. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Meanwhile, miles away...

"Sir, we've got a problem. Smith operatives Electromag, Gauntlet, and Shuriken were taken down by an unknown vigilante. He's made off with the professor, and seems to be heading towards the Eisenberg residence."

"Hm… that is indeed a problem. Tell me, what is being done to fix this?"

"We already have employees both after the vigilante and on their way to the professor's home. If all goes well, we should have him within the hour, and if not, we'll still have his wife and daughter hostage. The girl may be a combat school student, but she won't be able to handle the sheer numbers we have at our disposal - not to mention that she won't know they're coming."

"Good. See that this issue is solved properly, and that Eisenberg gives us those access codes."

"Yes, sir!"

With the Protagonist…

As we sped down 34th street, I noticed that the roads were starting to become empty. That was both fortunate and unsettling - the less obstacles there were on the road, the faster we could go without risk of crashing, but in a city as big as this, there was bound to be at least a few cars driving around any given strip of asphalt at all times. If there weren't, that meant something was happening. And I didn't like the implications of that one bit.

Gewehr

"...and if all else fails, fall back to the panic room and lock it. You and your mother should be safe in there. Good luck, daughter, and fight well. I love you."

"Thanks, dad. You too. See you soon."

BEEP!

My passenger slipped his scroll back into one of his pockets.

"Your little girl a huntress?"

Gewehr

"Not quite. At the moment, she's a third-year student at Compass Combat School. I'll admit that I didn't fully approve of her decision initially, but she can make quite the compelling argument when she wants to."

"Huh. Suppose that means we're the same age, then."

Gewehr

"Wait, you-you're that young?! But… someone that age could never beat three Smiths at once, much less come out of it as well-off as you did!"

"Yeah, well, let's just say that my semblance is bullshit and leave it at that."

The conversation sank into silence.

About a minute later, Sixth Sense pinged again.

Looks like we have company. You've got what appears to be a reconnaissance bullhead tailing you, along with a few cars. There's also a bunch of guys on motorbikes. Something tells me we've got a minigame on our hands.

I could already begin to hear the roaring of engines besides mine.

Huh. You thinking what I'm thinking?

Way ahead of you.

Track Cue: Crazy Motorcycle Chase (FINAL FANTASY VII)

Bonus Objectives updated: Reach a score of 20,000 or higher at the conclusion of the chase.

That was when I saw the bikers. They were coated in gray, and weren't actually carrying any weapons. I'd assume that to be counterproductive, but considering that they were trying not to kill the professor, it did end up making sense. Speaking of whom…

"Brace yourself, we've got incoming. Hold on tight and try your best not to fall off, otherwise we're both screwed."

Gewehr

"I-I'll try."

Two bars appeared at the center of my vision, then quickly moved themselves to the upper left corner of the HUD. One filled itself up with red, and was marked with a heart icon. The other hosted purple, and was indicated with a little picture of a light trail of the same color being left by the back wheel of my cycle. My health bar was already full, and the light trail bar was slowly filling up.

I realized that I probably should have taken out my weapon by now. So, just like a certain blonde spiky-haired hero would, I pulled out my huge slab of metal and let it drag along on the road beside me, leaving behind sparks as it hit the asphalt - or whatever passed for it, anyway.

(I cringed at the possible damage that was being done, but resolved to ignore it on account of how badass it looked. Personal Weapons wouldn't break due to something as trivial and unimportant to the plot as this, anyway.)

THE RACE IS ON!

GET READY…

GO!

Two of the bikes started things off by trying to flank me from the sides. I educated them on the folly of their decision with liberal application of sharpened metal and blunt force.

Another two tried the tactic again, only this time from the front and back. This was also a mistake they paid dearly for. A little ultra-super-late braking caused the bike behind me to actually flip end over end, and land right on top of the guy in front, as unbelievable as that may seem. I concluded that the Rule of Cool was still in full effect, as it should be. The fact that it shaved off a small sliver of my HP was irrelevant.

Right. Probably shouldn't do that with reckless abandon. I value this beauty a little too much to lose her to these punks.

Drifting around a corner, one tried to unbalance me by smacking into my back wheel, chipping off a bit of the covering in a flashy display that could almost be likened to shattering a piece of glowing glass. Surprisingly, the attempt was rendered fruitless, and instead caused him to spin out and crash. I figured that was likely due to my vehicle's larger frame, especially the huge wheels. But I did notice that my health bar had taken a not-insignificant hit, so I resolved to try and not let that happen again.

Seeing as we had a bit of a longer road ahead of us, I deemed it safe to take a few potshots at some of our pursuers. Lifting Crimson Violet, I took aim the best I could and squeezed off a couple rounds before returning my attention to the road. I would repeat the process every five seconds, taking out one or two at a time. After the fifth volley, they backed off a bit, likely realizing that they weren't getting very far by simply trying to ram me. But they couldn't exactly start blasting away either, or they might hit my passenger.

So, like any good determined pursuers, they tried a different tactic. Turning onto the next road revealed I had a new tail - a pair of humvee rip-offs with the standard Atlas paint job. Looking through the windshield, I could see that two goons were in each car, though that was just the two front seats. The guys in the passenger seats were carrying the standard-issue rifle for Atlesian Army Infantry. As you can no doubt guess, that did not mean good things for me.

The added stability offered by the safety of the windows let them blast away at my wheels with impunity and without fear or accidentally killing their objective. I tried shooting back, but my aim was a little too shaky for direct hits and only succeeded in providing suppressive fire, scaring them off for a moment before they poked their heads back out and resumed slowly taking apart my sweet ride.

I was still at a loss on what to do by the point that my health bar had been reduced to three quarters full. But I was soon offered a different solution. At that moment, the purple bar on my hud finally finished filling up, and began flashing.

LIGHT TRAIL READY.

RIGHT TRIGGER TO DEPLOY.

Wasting no time, I swerved left to the sidewalk gutter, flipped the switch, then turned right and swept the competition.

"Eat my 64-bit dust, you Shinra wannabes."

CHFF-FEEISHT!

The light show that followed still remains on my "Top 10 Coolest Moments in Remnant" list.

The entire lower halves of both the cars exploded into cubes, shattering upon contact with the ground. What remained of the windows and roof - as well as the men inside - was left to skid along and come to a stop.

I also ended up unintentionally taking out a few more bikes. They were derezzed entirely, leaving the riders to get sent flying forward, only to crash headfirst into the road.

Gewehr

"Whoa… incredible…"

"Couldn't agree more... I'll be damned if that wasn't one of the most beautiful things I ever did see."

We were getting closer to our objective with each passing second. It wouldn't be long until we arrived our destination. Even if I didn't have the minimap, I'd probably still be able to tell thanks to how desperate our enemies were getting. They were coming faster and more often, in larger numbers. So much so that they managed to whittle down my health bar to around five-eighths full.

I still wasn't really concerned. I'd fought them all off so far, and at this rate, we'd be completely fine.

That sense of security was dashed on the rocks of the info I received next.

Uh-oh. Looks like they're congregating their forces at a chokepoint up ahead. Seems like they're preparing a huge roadblock. Going around risks the family's safety too much, but I'm kinda at a loss as to how you're gonna break through. Then again, I don't keep track of every item in your inventory or every single one of your skills, so… get crackin'.

A counter appeared at the top of my vision, displaying how long I had left until I hit the mass of red dots on my map.

Shit. What now…?

I racked my brain, thinking of all the various toys I had come to possess thus far.

None of my ranged skills are inherently explosive. Melee is too great of a risk, and standard pin grenades aren't reliable enough. Damn it… come on, you stupid intelligence stat, work with me here!

My body was left on autopilot, absently lifting my rifle-gunsword on its own and slicing through another opposing motorcycle. That's when it hit me.

Wait… rifle-gunsword… rifle...

Mother of god, that's right! I still have that…

But… do I really want to use it? I'd lose a lot of respect from the readers…

Fuck it. Who cares about those assholes, anyway? Heh heh… oh boy, this is gonna be awesome.

My decision set, I decided to speed up a little while mentally navigating through my inventory towards the item I desired.

Wait, wait, what? You want to use this? I mean, I can understand why, but… still, isn't that a bit of a dick move? What about your reputation?

Right now, the only reputation I have that matters is the one with whatever corrupt branch of the Atlesian government sent these clowns after me. Excuse me for being a little hard-pressed to care about people that aren't actively trying to put me six feet under.

...all right. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Down, down, down the counter ticked. Until…

Whoa… oh, jeez. You really weren't kidding when you said 'huge.'

The entrance to the gated community that Eisenberg lived in was filled to the brim with all manner of vehicles. Cars, bikes, pickups... there was even a hulking 18-wheeler sitting at the back.

I returned Crimson Violet to my back, taking care not to cut my passenger.

Heh. Well, sucks to be them. Even the mightiest of foes are helpless against this puppy.

I couldn't stop a malicious, bloodthirsty, and downright evil smile from stretching across my face when I pulled out the weapon that instilled fear and rage into the hearts of all who heard the sound of its discharge.

Weapon "Noob Tube" removed from inventory.

The almighty M79 - better known as a "Thumper" - in my hand still looked as pristine and blemish-free as it did when I had first received it from a very special ID. I had always held off from using it, seeing it as a sort of gag to poke fun at how infamous it was in the series it was mainly identified with for being so unfairly broken. I was willing to bear with most everything I came across to get ahead in life, but as shocking as it may seem, even someone like me still had standards. That being said… well, there was a time and place for everything, and I couldn't really think of any other feasible options.

Mwehehehahaha… Shepherd never gave two shits about a silly thing like "danger close," so why should I?

Gewehr

"W-Wait, what are you doing?! You're not seriously-"

"Can it, prof. Trust me - you're not gonna want to miss this."

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for.

BTUK!

The world almost seemed to slow down as the small, unassuming-looking projectile arced its way towards the cars in front.

What happened next… oh, man. If you thought the light trail activation was awesome, well… you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The instant the grenade hit, the largest chain reaction I had ever seen began without hesitation.

It started with the two in front. Which spread to the bikes next to them. Which in turn caused some of the bigger models to go up in flames, and so on and so forth… until the explosion reached the massive truck.

All I'm gonna say, is that there's no way something flammable wasn't being carried inside the container that the metal monster was hooked to.

I had no doubts that the resulting fireball was visible from outside the city.

And just so you know, this all happened in the span of a few seconds. The part of my brain that prided itself on logic was screaming "what the fuck" and "no way" over and over in utter confusion and disbelief as to how this could possibly happen, while the other parts were simply kicking back and enjoying the show.

(Well, one lone part was concerned with how this would affect the general public, as well as all the property damage, but it was shushed by the simple hand-wave of "government cover-up" and quickly tuned out.)

Then I remembered that we'd still have to drive through the flaming wreckage.

Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit-!

Reloading as fast as I could, I imbued the next round with a bit of a gale and pulled the trigger.

-5 BP

BP: 115/120

BTUK!

BWOOF!

Exactly as I'd hoped, the blast blew away most of the flames, smoke and debris that had been flying around. We motored right on through, while the rest of the bikes that had been tailing us tried to squeeze through the opening. Some succeeded, others failed.

I also noticed that the plume of smoke that resulted from the explosion forced the bullhead that was following us to pull back. One less camera to worry about, I supposed.

It didn't look like I'd need the little devil again anytime soon, so back it went into the inventory. Our pursuers then proceeded to eat standard dust ammunition for the remainder of the trip. They pulled off when we were about a block away from our destination. The cessation of hostilities also triggered the end of the minigame.

FINISH!

Enemies: 51 +5,100

Derezz Bonus: +2,500

Blockade Destroyed: +5,000

HP Bonus: 60% x1.6

Final Score: 20,160

NEW HIGH SCORE!

Huh. Does that mean I can replay this at my leisure?

Technically, yes, but… you're gonna have to wait for that. For quite a while, in fact. You won't be getting your gameroom until you receive your Beacon dorm number.

Ouch... actually, considering how far removed the Gold Saucer is from Midgar, I can see how that would make sense.

Bonus Objective complete: Reach a score of 20,000 or higher at the conclusion of the chase.

Coming up on the location that the dear professor called home, I'm pretty sure I heard his heart catch in his throat. Not that I could blame him - even just the front lawn of the place looked like a no-man's-land. The ground leading up to the front door and the wall facing the road was completely torn up, pock-marked with hundreds of bullet holes. A number of troop transports were parked outside, doors left open and not a soul inside.

The lawn also happened to be populated by a bunch of unresponsive grunts. Looking closely, I could see that every single one had been hit with some kind of dart - tranquilizers, no doubt.

Eisenberg was already rushing towards the house. I joined him after I deconstructed my light cycle and replaced the handheld black rod inside my inventory.

The inner side of the place looked just as bad as the outer. Various trinkets and such were shattered, destroyed, and otherwise obliterated. Slash marks scarred the larger rooms and hallways. Flashbang shrapnel was scattered everywhere, and small blackened craters could be occasionally seen. The ceiling was somewhat obscured by a faint layer of gray, and there was a muted beeping sound echoing from one of the upper floors - a smoke alarm, most likely. Accordingly, many of the rooms were also drenched. A quick glance upward showcased the various safety sprinklers whose caps had been blown off by water pressure.

And, of course, I couldn't forget all the bodies. Many still sported tranq needles, but others smelled faintly of electrified flesh. I reasoned that the defender had probably ran out of darts at some point and most likely switched to some kind of shock baton, if the accompanying bruises were anything to go by.

Eventually, following the professor left me staring at a large, chrome-colored door. What looked like the barrel of a deactivated auto-defense turret poked out of the wall adjacent to the panic room entrance and was pointed diagonally down towards the floor.

Must've run out of ammo.

My escort banged on the door a few times. A small part sunk in and slid to the side, revealing a camera. Exactly one second later, the camera covered itself and the door emitted a loud hissing noise, accompanied by a ticking sound that reminded me of a bank vault door opening. After a moment, it began turning outward.

But apparently, the regulated rate wasn't enough for the professor's daughter.

WHAM!

A few steps to the left, and I would've had to take action in order to prevent my body from being flattened against the wall like a Saturday morning cartoon character. The gunmetal-gray-haired teen was in her father's arms before I even had a chance to blink.

"DAD!"

Petra von Eisenberg

Iron Girl

Engineer

Lv. 15

She looked like she was on the verge of tears. No surprise there - if it weren't for Gamer's Mind, I'd probably be freaking out too if I had to fight an army with nothing but a glorified dart gun and a stun bat. Warriors-in-training we may be, but Solid Snakes we are not.

Petra

"Oh, thank god you're okay! I know you said that you had a protector, but I couldn't stop thinking about how you could be shot or captured or tortured… a-and then those men arrived, and the shooting started, and I thought I was gonna die for a while, and i-it was just…"

Gewehr

"Hey, hey hey, Petra, everything's okay, daddy's here. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be all right. Nobody is dying. You did great, my sweet little Iron Girl…"

Petra

"Awhhh, dad… you- -sniff- you know how embarrassing that nickname is…"

"Gewehr? Dear, is that you?"

From deeper inside the safe room walked out a woman who seemed to be a little younger than the professor.

Titania von Eisenberg

Steel Trap

Civilian

Lv. 3

Gewehr

"Ah, Titania, come on! Join the family embrace!"

The mother didn't respond, moving immediately to entangle herself in the group hug.

I absently found myself comparing their hair colors. Gewehr's had that sheen that you'd normally only see on things like aluminum or bars of silver, and was really, really shiny for some reason. Petra was pretty much the opposite. She had a really dark hue, the kind you'd see on military firearms, like rifles. Titania was somewhere in the middle. Not as bright or shiny as Gewehr, but not as dark or dull as Petra, and I caught a few glimpses of green and purple streaks on hers. All told, they lived up to their names.

That being said… well, they were so caught up in enjoying the moment that I ended up awkwardly standing off to the side, staring at the admittedly heartwarming reunion.

Petra

"Heh… the one time you're both home at once, and it's because we're being hunted down… is it wrong for me to wish that we could be like this forever?"

Oh, no. That's not a good indicator at all. You can't tell me this family doesn't have a serious problem after hearing a comment like that.

Gewehr

"On some levels, yes, but… no on so many more. You're never in the wrong for wanting to spend time with your family."

Hmm… what could the issue be? Nothing seems wrong from the outside, but… well, she said "both at once," so that should mean that one of them is always gone… why?

I then noticed something about Titania's outfit.

Wait… that's a lab coat, right? Gewehr's wearing one, too…

Does that mean they're both professors?

That train of thought was interrupted and left unfinished by my uncomfortable-ness tolerance meter hitting its breaking point.

"Ah… I don't want to ruin the moment, but… do you want me to… y'know… give you some privacy?"

All three snapped their gazes to me, and I knew that I had just failed that objective.

Damn it. There goes that source of warm fuzzies.

Objective complete: Reach Eisenberg's home and secure his family.

Quest complete!

Indy & Mutt 2.0

Rewards received:

1,000 EXP

3,000 Lien

Bonus Rewards:

500 EXP

1,500 Lien

Intermediate Driver's Guide to Street Racing

Not helping, game. The guide looks nice, though. My driving skill can always use a boost.

A/N: Everyone who's been gibbed by an M203, raise your hand. I'll admit that I've fallen prey to its siren song more than a few times, but I always justified it to myself by saying that I was only doing it for the Red Dot Sight (or whatever other attachment came after the grenade launcher). It still felt a little degrading, though.

So how 'bout that fight scene, eh? As for why our lovable player character came out on top, despite being technically outmatched... well, there's a number of factors behind that. First up, well, what's the primary job of the Turks? If you know them, you'll know that it's not actually combat - their main profession is espionage. And who are Zeiss's opponents expies of? That match was three spies versus one dedicated warrior. Not to mention, the mechanics now actually give whoever's on the main character's side an inherent advantage thanks to the removal of the mastery skill damage buff that's now applied to enemies. And that's not even counting the massive skill advantage Zeiss has over them, even if it was somewhat self-limited.

And we are now introduced to the Eisenberg family. My advice? Keep your eye on Petra - she's going to become very important sometime in the future. I've already dropped a couple of hints as to why. Leave a review if you think you've figured it out. Coming up with their names was a whole load of fun times, if you catch my meaning.

If you're wondering how Zeiss pulled two Deus Ex-Machina items out of his ass in a row, well... like he said when he was describing the Noob Tube, they're actually rewards from what pretty much amount to 'Event IDs' in Phoenix Champion terms. You know, those rare occasions where an ID becomes influenced by an outside force and produces a special crossover quest?

...all right, I'll come clean: it's blatant Author Appeal so I can have a quick on-hand excuse for stuff like Zeiss whipping out the Exalted Falchion and challenging Weiss to a rapier-only duel, or Ruby grabbing an Intervention and 360 no-scoping Cinder from across Beacon. Depending on how you look at it, it could also double as Fanservice of a sort, so there's that. Are you happy now that you have the truth?

By the way - I was originally thinking of justifying the absence of Zeiss' driving skill from the last chapter's skill list showcase by saying that I was only displaying skills related to combat so as to not clutter it up and artificially increase the word count, but... well, 'A Scout is Honest,' so I suppose I'll give y'all the real reason why: it's because I was lazy and unwilling to write down any more descriptions at the time, plus I didn't want to deal with how I was going to decide what the skill itself would cover. I could make it all-purpose, giving him proficiency with all vehicles, or I could just limit it to land vehicles so as to not make it too broken. Normally I'd go with the land-only variation for balancing purposes, but then I realized: how am I going to justify him being able to perform some of the later minigames without coming up with a cop-out explanation for why he doesn't have any problems controlling his craft? I'm pretty sure that you need a license to pilot a Bullhead, or any kind of aircraft for that matter, and those usually come with age restrictions, so... problem. I mean, sure, he could always try the black market, but be honest - would you really trust stolen and therefore likely modified tech to work without a hitch 100% of the time? Plus, Zeiss tends to avoid the criminal underworld sort of on principle (but mostly because pretty much all of their prices are complete rip-offs), so it's not like he'd go there anyway.

(Yes, he did communicate with them to get a fake ID, but that's one of the easier things to do, and doesn't cost as much. Likely because it's pretty low-risk.)

In any case, this is the last chapter I had in storage. Looks like it's back to the ol' typewriter for me. Which brings me to another subject - I'm not a time management wizard or anything. I have a life outside this site, you know, non-existent as it may seem. I have classes to go to, homework to do, meetings to attend, service projects to help out with, campouts to cook for. With that being said, expect further updates to be extremely sporadic. I usually continue this thing when it's late at night on weekdays, and whenever I have inspiration on weekends. Hell, this chapter alone took me a few weeks to finish. Admittedly, I could probably speed up production if I had a few hour-long writing sessions every other day or so, but I'm terrible with self-motiviation, so don't get your hopes up. Point is, I'll update this story whenever I feel like it, which can and will likely take a while.

Whoof. Man, look at that wall. I think this might be the longest Author's Note I've ever written.

I'd ponder on whether that's a good thing or not, but I've already dragged this on long enough as is.

So long, suckers!

[TRANSMISSION ENDED]