Hello once again fellow readers and I welcome you all back to Stand Up, the LRIG! after a long wait. Things have now been settled for the remainder of the Peeping Analyze sub-arc as well as the transition into the final stages of the third arc, so I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long. Without further ado, let the day's chapter... begin.


The White Room

Meanwhile in the area where the Selector Battles were born from, Remember slammed a closed fist into the wall of the window where she and Mayu had been previously observing the battle. Her expression was twisted with both annoyance and anger, feeling utterly foolish from not noticing Piruluk's last ditch attempt to 'rewrite' Amika's wish sooner and now the outcome in regards to the Selector's mother would not turn out as she would anticipate it. Or at least, how it would turn out without any possible interference.

"Damn you Kiyoi!" she growled "Do you really think I will let you escape your despair that easily?!"

(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Raul Serra Theme)

As if on cue, one of the various gates surrounding a window of the White Room opened up as a strong gale threw an uninterested Piruluk to the floor before it immediately closed up. She absent-mindedly gazed towards Remember who turned around and stormed over to the blue LRIG, only to be held back by the wave of a hand from Mayu, who had appeared behind her. Reluctantly, the former LRIG stepped back in compliance as the mastermind of the Selector Battles walked until the two were at a short distance from one another.

"To be bluntly honest, I can't tell whether I should be angry or happy right now," she muttered with somewhat of a forced smile "Certainly, I never expected you to develop a new power to the height of Kuro and Shiro. But managing to rewrite an entire Selector's wish... is something I cannot simply accept on a whim."

"I simply followed the rules you laid out for me," Piruluk replied in her usual monotone "If something like that was unexpected to you or your forces, then it is your own mistake that allowed this to happen."

"Indeed, perhaps enhancing the mental powers you received with those lenses may have been a miscalculation on Photon's part," Mayu continued "You truly have become an LRIG whose existence has now proven to be most dangerous to my game. And as for you... consider yourself fortunate that Miyako has not witnessed your latest blunder."

She then glared back towards Remember, presumably as a sign in that she was unhappy with her 'subordinate's' careless oversight in how things had really unfolded before Kamui had challenged the reversed Piruluk and that she was somewhat lucky in that she did not have Miyako present in the White Room to witness the battle herself, less the former LRIG faced the unrelenting wrath of Ruko's former mother. Remember frowned for a moment before recovering her composure, giggling to herself much to the displeasure of the blue LRIG in front of her, who did everything within her own power to not act recklessly in attempting to throw a blind eye to caution if it had meant not being restrained again in her current scenario.

A cold air then filled the area of the White Room as Photon entered the premises once more, briefly glancing at Piruluk who returned a wordless glare in response as the Cyberoid approached Mayu and Remember. Following the commander whilst being watched closely by the two Radons that trailed behind it was a figure that was unfamiliar to the blue LRIG as she immediately assumed from what details she could see that the new arrival was from the Planet Cray. It appeared to be some kind of humanoid skeleton covered in dark blue and purple coloured robes with lighter blue and dull yellow highlights and patterns present. A single black ring bound its wrists together, restraining it from using any of its powers in retaliation.

"I assume it's finished, right?" Remember asked musingly.

"The preparations are complete," Photon answered, holding out a single card in his free hand "Do not fail us."

"But of course," she replied as she took it from him in one swift motion "I have the perfect subject to test your little toy on and if he's heading there as Kiyoi kindly informed him, then everything is falling into place."

Piruluk tensed in her expression, realizing that Remember now knew that Kamui was heading for the hospital room that held Amika's mother on life support, in almost the exact same circumstances that Sakaguchi was in at that time. The skeletal figure attempted to move towards the group, only to have both of the Radons turn their beam rifles upon it, much to its annoyance as evidenced by a low growl from beneath its teeth, obscured by the drape in front of its face.

"Now then, Cocytus," Remember spoke, addressing the Granblue unit by its name "You've proven to be most useful to our cause. Perhaps you should remain with Kiyoi-chan and watch the efforts of your 'cooperation' unfold. But... I would ill advise spoiling the surprise I have... for her sake."

The blue LRIG raised an eyebrow in confusion, wanting to question her former compatriot in what she meant, but a gate from a single window in the White Room opened up, causing a gale to sweep her off her feet and transport her back into the outside world. Piruluk looked up to the window Remember had disappeared through and sighed inwardly in relief, seeing that it did not transport her directly to the hospital. But now, the situation had escalated into a race between the former LRIG and Kamui to determine the fate of Amika's mother and she had no idea if the Nova Grappler user was anywhere near the building and from what she had just said earlier, it would appear that even if he had gotten there before her, there would still be one final confrontation at hand.

"I heard your final words to him by the way," Mayu spoke, breaking her out of her trail of thought "I thought you despised him, given his carefree nature. I wonder why you chose to have faith in him, given your past, present and your low opinion of him. Unlike Sendou, Soryu or Suzugamori, perhaps even Kai, he does possess not any kind of power that they may have."

Piruluk turned around to face both the mastermind and Photon, having not expected either of the two to question her intent on entrusting the safety of Amika's mother to Kamui of all people, given the scrapes that the two of them had been involved with whenever he and the now former Selector encountered each other. Sighing inwardly for an instance, not that neither of her hosts could notice, she finally had an answer she could tell them.

"I never liked Katsuragi for his carefree and immature behaviour," the blue LRIG replied "Such mannerisms have reminded me all too much of naive Selectors I had both served and encountered in the Selector Battles. Under those conditions, he shouldn't have even made it this far."

"Yet, you believe he is not like them?" Photon murmured.

"That's correct," she answered "As much as it even pains me to admit it... I can tell both of us have learned much from each other. Whilst he understands the dire circumstances of how deep one can be driven to their intent within these battles, I've also learned that perhaps I was too quick to judge him on his outlook alone. Even if he isn't the most intelligent person I know in this game, his sense of justice and his loyalty to his companions and friends is something I can respect. That's why... I'm betting everything on him now."

"I wouldn't be too certain," Cocytus spoke from under its cold breath "If he really does not possess any power like those 'otherworldly' humans I've heard about... he is as good as finished."

(End Music)

Piruluk glanced towards the Granblue unit, noting its opinion on the current scenario whilst also stirring another question in the back of her mind. What was so important to her to the point that Remember ordered it to remain silent about until the right time? As she pondered on this, Mayu turned over to Photon.

"Go and fetch Tatsunagi," she spoke "I believe this will be of most intrigue to his presence."

The Cyberoid commander silently nodded before leaping into an open gap of the White Room and disappeared, presumably to head to the Pit and recover the Cray Being to bring into their presence. The air remained a cold silent as Mayu gazed out to one of the windows, her gaze turning stern as she kept an eye on Remember who calmly walked towards the hospital.

Do not disappoint me again Remember. Or else...


City Hospital

As Kamui approached the entrance of the hospital, panting to catch whatever breath he had lost on the mad rush to the building for a brief instance, he took the time to recall what else that Piruluk had whispered into his ear before the battlefield had closed. The pain from the earlier injury he sustained in the previous battle stung him much harder because of the fact that he had ran the entire distance from where Amika was now currently resting, but he ignored it and approached the doors to the building, running those words that the blue LRIG had told him before she had been recalled to the White Room.

Amika's mother is hooked up onto life support for the time being from what I heard. Her room should be number 25 on the fourth floor of the building. Whatever you do, do not touch any of the equipment, even if she shows signs of recovering, but focus on defending both it and her from Remember if she appears.

"Right... 25..." he murmured to himself, repeating the number in his head so he wouldn't forget which room he had to go to.

The Nova Grappler user got closer and closer to the entrance gates, preparing to step foot inside of the premises and hoping that he would reach the room that held Amika's mother before Remember could carry out her 'other' plans that she had in mind for the Selector's ill parent. As he passed the open gates, just a few hundred meters from the front doors, an unfamiliar voice yelled out towards him.

"Hold it right there Katsuragi!"

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Run!)

Upon hearing the voice and another sound that sounded like something was being shot out from behind him, Kamui instinctively jumped to his left. He caught a brief glance of what almost caught one of his arms as the cuff he saw was attached to a red and black cable before being reeled back. Landing back on the ground and wincing briefly from his earlier injury, he turned around to see that it was Ayumu who had attempted to attack him, though the cardfighter had not seen him before having only heard mention of him and his intentions before.

"Hey! Who are you?!" the Nova Grappler user demanded.

"Who I am is not of your concern!" Ayumu replied harshly "Now in the name of my mother, you shall disappear!"

"Mother...?" Kamui murmured in confusion before suddenly piecing everything he had previously heard together "Wait... you're not Ruko's older brother, aren't you?!"

"You catch on quick," he spat as the cable reeled back into the device on his arm "Your 'ally' may have defeated me once, but I can assure you that she won't succeed in her evil ways again. My next target for reclaiming mother's love as I have found now is you!"

"I don't have time to deal with you now!" the cardfighter yelled as he began to turn around and run towards the entrance "There's someone here I gotta protect from...!"

"You think that excuse will save you?!" Ayumu roared as he aimed the cuff towards him.

Kamui gasped for an instance as he began to run for the cover of the hospital doors, just as the cuff launched at a high speed from the cable that was reeled to his arm bound device. As it appeared that the Nova Grappler user was about to be reeled into a forced battle, panic ran through his mind knowing that if he was to be held back now, Remember would surely take advantage of the situation and kill Amika's mother right on the spot. Then, from atop the entrance wall to his right, he could see a tall girl jump down into the front entrance and leap forwards between the two of them just in time to catch the cuff in mid-flight with her right hand.

"You bitch...!" Ayumu growled "Who are you to get in the way?!"

Kamui simply gazed at the tall girl, not knowing from the brown coat as well as her eyes and hair colour that it was this particular Selector, otherwise known to many as 'Queen' who had chosen to intervene at this very moment. But why exactly she was seemingly helping him was a mystery that not even he could think of.

"I can assume 'she's' given you my name," she spoke in her low harsh tone "But it seems you don't remember me, Kominato Ayumu."

"You know who I am?!" he muttered in shock, confused as to how she even knew his name.

Noriko did not answer for the moment, simply taking her time to observe the cuff that was caught in her hand and inspect it along with the cable and the device that it was connected to.

"So this is that stuck-up woman's toy..." Kaen's voice echoed, her card still inside of the brown coat "It's rather crude, even for her design."

"Hey... who are you?!" called Kamui, bringing the Selector's attention to him.

"I am Noriko," she spoke vexedly "More importantly, didn't you say you had someone to protect here?"

The Nova Grappler user briefly gasped to himself, realizing in his distraction that he had nearly forgotten that he needed to be at the hospital room of Amika's mother and quickly.

"Ah, that's right...!" he exclaimed "Um... thanks for the save!"

Noriko remained silent as Kamui continued on his was through the doors to the hospital, his mission now taking full priority once more. There was many questions racing through his head, now seeing that this was the same Selector that defeated Kai earlier in the day, but he knew there was more pressing concerns for him to be dealing with right now and that finding those answers was something he could worry about later. Ayumu glared in the direction of the closed doors before resuming his attention on the 'Queen'.

"I believe I should be the one asking the questions," she spoke harshly "What is Miyako planning? And why now after those six years?"

"I see no reason to tell you," Ayumu spat "Anyone who opposes my mother's will is my enemy!"

"Very well then," Noriko muttered with a sigh to follow. She then held up the cuff before placing it over her right wrist, triggering its function to trap her. "If this is responsible for the Wixoss factors Kaen sees around you, then through this I might pry those answers from you."

"Noriko, huh... I see now. The one my mother calls the 'traitor' Queen has decided to play her hand?" he mused, having regained part of his composure "Interesting, I shall deal with you first."

The Selector remained silent with only a silent but noticeable huff under her breath, gazing directly upon Ruko's older brother as the two of them prepared for battle. Little did either of them know was that a certain person had been gazing from around the front right corner of the hospital gate, waiting patiently to make her move as evidenced by her smile.

(End Music)


...

Kamui opened the doors to the hospital entrance and hurried inside, much to the confusion of some of the workers present who simply stood still and watched him as he searched for the nearest stairs he could take to the fourth floor. He knew there was no telling where Remember could be at this very instance and that he had very little time to waste in ensuring Amika's mother was still safe. Finally catching the sight of some stairs, he yelled out loud and made a mad run towards the floor he needed to be at. Feeling the pain of his earlier injury getting to him once again, he clutched his abdomen with one hand and heaved himself quickly up the steps with the use of the rail to his left.

Luckily for him, little to no people appeared to be present on the way up or at the fourth floor as he saw the sign up ahead and ran out into the corridor before him. Looking to his left as he continued onwards whilst clutching his abdomen, he kept an eye on the room numbers labelled on each door he passed until he skidded to a stop in front of room 25, panting to catch his breath as he did so.

"This is it..." he said "Please don't be here already...!"

Reaching out for the knob, Kamui turned it to the right and opened out the door in front of him. Entering the small room that he had arrived at, he could see that a woman with the same hair colour as Amika was lying motionless in her bed. Now he could see why Piruluk had said that she was in almost a similar state to Sakaguchi, in that much like the LRIG's friend, she was also hooked up to a life support machine through the mask and breathing tube that were over her face. The machine emitted steady blips in a series of slow bleeps, almost unnerving him from the fact that he had seen what Remember had done through Piruluk's memories during their battle. He quickly peeked around the room, trying to see if the former LRIG was hiding in the shadows, but to his relief, it appeared that wasn't the case.

"Phew... that was a close one," he sighed.

Kamui then took out a nearby chair from the room itself and went back to the side of the bed, returning back to the task at hand of keeping guard over Amika's mother until she would hopefully overcome her illness and awaken from her precarious state. As he kept a close eye over her motionless form before him, he clasped his hands together tightly, recalling everything he had witnessed through Piruluk's memories of 'that' day. What angered him more than the fact that Mayu had claimed that the unethical method was a legitimate way for Remember to grant the blue LRIG's wish was the fact that she not only smiled throughout the whole scene but also clearly did not have a care in the world for what she had done.

Then there was the possibility of what Piruluk also told him, now that she had managed to buy Amika's mother some time for the moment which only made him feel even more infuriated with the fact that her former companion had no issue in carrying out the exact same actions to said mother in her current state in the same way she did to Sakaguchi then.

"She think she's got the right to take someone's life because of Amika's wish not being tainted the way she wanted...?!" he growled to himself "There's no way I'm letting her do that!"

"Who tell?"

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Negativity)

Upon hearing the voice that address him, Kamui immediately jumped up from his seat and turned around to see that Remember was now at the doorway to the hospital room, her calm and collected sneer having returned back to her expression after her initial disbelief from earlier in the White Room. As she took a step forward, the Nova Grappler user moved in front of the side of the bed, holding out his arms spread wide, preparing to do anything he could to defend Amika's mother from harm.

"Remember...!" he muttered.

"I see you haven't changed a bit since we last met, Katsuragi Kamui," the former LRIG spoke musingly as she took another step forward "And here you are, playing slave to Kiyoi-chan who seems a little unhealthy with her grudge."

"There's a lot of things you gotta answer for!" he yelled as he pointed a finger from his marked right hand towards her "First you kill Kiyoi's friend, then you come to my world and steal my Raizer units, throw this mark on my hand which still stings like hell, then you go ahead and Reverse Amika and now this?!"

Remember simply smirked in response, unfazed by his addressing of the 'crime' that she committed with Kiyoi's wish, using her body no less to achieve that means under the guise of her wish which Chaos Breaker Dragon had previously stated was to "end Sakaguchi's suffering."

"I don't see why you're bothering to do this anyway," she said "After all, Amika will outlive her sooner or later, that is if this world even lasts that long. More to the point, I believe protecting her mother isn't the only reason you're planning to see me."

"You've got that right!" Kamui replied as he brought out Ethics Buster's card from his jacket.

He briefly winced in pain from having to bend over to his right from the earlier injury, but pressed on with the fact that what he did next would determine everything that was currently around him. Unbeknownst to him as he was getting out the card, Remember briefly glanced at the spot where his injury had happened as evidenced by a small tear in his jacket and shirt caused by the ice, sneering deeply as she did so.

My... he really must have made Kiyoi-chan mad... she mused to herself Perhaps this won't take as long as I thought.

"Very well then. But before we begin, I believe we should recount what's at stake here."

"I already know that!" Kamui interrupted "It's not just my Raizers on the line, but Amika's mom as well!"

"I wasn't just talking about just them."

The Nova Grappler user briefly blinked in confusion before witnessing the former LRIG pick out one card from her pocket and turning it around to face him. He gasped in shock as he soon realized how it was that both Piruluk and Amika were reversed in the first place. The card that Remember displayed to him was Star-vader, Venom Dancer, the final trump card she had used to defeat her opponents previously.

"So you've got a Link Joker deck...?!" he muttered in annoyance "That's gotta be why Kai's dealing with those reversed Selectors!"

"I may have had a few 'sacrifices' to test the deck in its previous state," she replied as she turned the card around, showing she was prepared for battle "But... even Kiyoi doesn't know about my true ace. At least, not yet."

"Bring it, Remember!" Kamui called as he turned around Ethics Buster's card to face her.

"OPEN!"

Upon declaration, the dark red aura of Reverse enveloped them both, bringing them to the 'stage' that would act as their battlefield to determine the fate of Amika's mother. As the aura grew even larger, the door to the hospital room suddenly slammed shut with the sound of a click and the motionless form of the woman almost seemingly stirred for a brief instance.

(End Music)


Link Joker Fight Field

Upon returning to the all too familiar battleground that he was more than acquainted with in previous fights as evidenced by the appearance of the deepest reaches of space that seemingly was painted as its background, Kamui chose not to comment on his surroundings or the situation he was in as he stared right at both Remember and Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn who stood at the ready for battle. Beast Deity, White Tiger growled under its jaw as it tensed up upon recognizing the Link Joker unit at the far end of the battlefield.

"To think we'd have to deal with these accursed demons again...!" the Battleroid muttered.

"You tell me...!" Kamui interjected as he gathered together the cards that formed his starting hand "But there's more than just getting Reversed we've gotta be worried about!"

"Yeah," White Tiger replied "We heard everything when boss bot was trading blows with that reversed girl. Back us up and we'll do the same for you."

The Nova Grappler user nodded in confirmation and agreement as he looked over the cards he currently held, his eyes widening in slight horror as he discovered what he had drawn. From everything he could see, he did not hold a single Level 1 SIGNI to help with either offence or defence in the opening few turns and he knew that this wasn't good news in the slightest. Much to his further discomfort, Remember had noticed his panic and sneered deeply in response.

"Oh? A terrible hand I see?" she mused "It's unfortunate that the rule of a mulligan in Wixoss is completely forbidden in the Selector Battles. Or is that something you couldn't even wrap your head around when Amika taught you everything?"

"Let's just get this thing over with!" Kamui growled in response as he raised his right fist, before wincing briefly from his injury.

As if on cue, the giant roulette wheel appeared above their heads bearing both the silver and dark grey colours in each of its various slots as it spun around and around until it slowly came to a stop. Much to the cardfighter's relief, it had landed on a silver slot as he began considering his current options given the terrible state of his hand at the moment. Before he could contemplate on this, Remember giggled quietly enough to catch his attention.

"I hope you are prepared," she spoke as her eyes glowed a cyan blue "For yet another misfortune!"

(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Link Joker Theme)

Kamui could only remain still everything went white around him once again, changing the very appearance of the field around him until it faded out to reveal a battered and damaged Ethics Buster standing in front of him. He could only gaze up at the unit in shock, realizing that this was the exact same tactic that Remember had pulled on him during his cardfight against her and back then, the misfortune he would suffer from that vision turned out to be true. Looking up at the tall shadow in front of the Beast Deity, Kamui gasped as he looked across the features that it sported. From appearance alone, the metal giant in front of the two of them was definitely the Battleroid that resembled Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare from the armour placement and similar shape alone, but something was different about it.

For one thing, black rings surrounded each of the leg and arm joints along with a larger one that hovered behind its back. Secondly, the seemingly reversed Raizer had now sported colours of white, black and dark red in opposition to its original red, gold and white colours along with a menacing dark red glint to its eyes. Finally, what was noteworthy of the corrupted unit's appearance was the cockpit canopy window, where they would not doubt be someone or something piloting the mechanical giant. For some reason, the glass appeared to be smashed as a shadow was visible from amongst the damaged window, but Kamui couldn't make it out from both the distance he was away from it and the darkness obscuring it. A creaking sound was heard as the corrupted Raizer then aimed both of its new cannons towards both him and Ethics Buster before charging them up.

As everything began to go white once more, Kamui kept his gaze on the cockpit area of the unit to see red sparks flying across the visible silhouette before a strange scream or shrill noise of some kind filled the air. As the vision came to an end as evidenced by his foresight bringing both Dust Tail Unicorn and Remember back into view, he wasn't just angry with what he had just witnessed, but furious at what she had seemingly done to his ace Raizer unit from amongst the cards she had taken from him. Before he could unleash his explosive temper in a rant at the former LRIG, she opened her eyes and chose to speak up.

"Well, there you have it!" she announced in a triumphant fashion "My Future Sight has given you the first part of my surprise... Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer!"

"Necro Raizer...?!" he gasped "You guys defaced Ultimate Raizer... and turned it into that?!"

"But more to the point, there's a reason why I chose to allow you to reach that room before me," she spoke.

"You allowed me...?" Kamui murmured in confusion.

"But of course," Remember replied with a playful shrug of some kind "I don't feel like doing the deed just yet, at least, not when I can still have some fun with you. Second, it is more fitting this way given the fact you know what part of the surprise is in my 'Future Sight', the fortune I have planned for you this time. And finally... with what said surprise also contains will be most befitting as Kiyoi's final greatest failure."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded.

"Think about it," she continued "She's in the exact same situation as before. And I have no further use for the body after it's done, so Kiyoi can have it back. For all the good it will do her when she returns to said room."

Kamui ran the current situation through his head once again, knowing that Remember seemingly had to have known the ins and outs of the Selector Battles herself before stealing his Raizer units and deceiving Piruluk when she was still known as Kiyoi. Then, recalling he had opened the battlefield in the room where Amika's mother slept and how Remember said she no longer needed the blue LRIG's real body, a terrifying thought had just crossed his mind, knowing that becoming Reversed was now the least of his worries.

"You're planning to kill Amika's mom to grab everyone's attention, throw Kiyoi back into her body in the room and have her framed for it?!" he exclaimed.

"My, it seems you weren't as minuscule in your intelligence as Photon's initial records suggest," Remember replied "Now then, I believe you were going to decide the order?"

"I usually go second, but I'll make an exception this time!" Kamui called as he drew his single card. Glancing at it, he could only scowl in response as it was Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake before placing it into his hand.

Where the heck are all my Level 1's?! he groaned in his thoughts Remember's definitely going to go all in on the next turn and I thought I had just had Lock to deal with!

Ignoring Remember's sneer for the time being, he picked out the one card he needed from his LRIG deck and placed it on top of White Tiger's.

"Grow!" he called "Tough Boy!"

As White Tiger vanished from the space in blinding white glow, the mostly dull grey coloured Battleroid landed on its feet as it stared at Dust Tail Unicorn, also feeling unnerved by the Link Joker unit's presence. Remember drew her two cards to begin her turn as she too immediately performed the same action as Kamui, causing Unicorn to vanish in a dark red haze and Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star to appear on the field in its place. To the left and right spaces in front of the Cyberoid appeared Star-vader, Nebula Captor and Mana-shot Star-vader, Neon who took up offensive stances in preparation for their coming attacks. Kamui gritted his teeth in response, knowing that he was already off to a bad start and that things would only get even more rough for him if Link Joker's capabilities of Lock had not escaped his mind from the few times he saw it in person.

"Attack."

Upon hearing Remember's command, Neon aimed its gauntlet blaster at Tough Boy who took up a defensive stance in response. The Cyberoid fired several black coloured arcs shaped like boomerangs which crashed right into its opponent whilst a stray one missed the grey Battleroid and came hurtling straight towards Kamui who immediately weaved to his left. He didn't move far enough however as a significant portion of the projectile grazed against the area where his injury was present, causing him to cry out in pain whilst Tough Boy was struck by even more projectiles from Nebula Captor's own attack. Looking to his Ener Zone, he could only growl at the fact his first two Life Cloths were both Beast Deity, Max Beat, neither of which had any Life Bursts to aid him in this situation.

"Next!" Remember declared with glee as Binary Star then dashed across the battlefield towards the defenceless Tough Boy who braced itself for the impact at hand.

"Guard!" Kamui called as Servant T appeared in front of the Nova Grappler unit, just in time to catch the Cyberoid's blades with ease.

After the Guard SIGNI vanished, Binary Star then disappeared in a flash of dark red before reappearing in front of Remember's table at the opposite end of the space, the latter having not lost her smile even if her third attack was easily blocked.

"My, your pain really does touch me," she said musingly "I wonder if you annoyed 'her' more than I was ever capable of."

"It's gonna take more than a bash of ice to keep me down...!" the Nova Grappler user declared as he clutched the spot where the pain of his now worsened injury had finally caught up with him.

Remember simply kept her sneer, feeling amused at Kamui's struggle to contend with not just the bad start he had to the battle, but the injury that was now inflicted upon him as she previously witnessed.

Ah... if only she realized it sooner. Fight back so that my little surprise for Kiyoi-chan won't be for naught... before I crush the two of your wills with 'her'.

(End Music)


The White Room

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Silent Fear)

Meanwhile back in the White Room, Mayu sat calmly in her throne as the window in front of her, Cocytus and Piruluk as well as the two Radons guarding over the Granblue necromancer displayed the battle between both Kamui and Remember before their very eyes. Everyone was more than somewhat eager to see what would unfold in the coming turns. The blue LRIG knew that she was now betting everything, on the guaranteed safety of Amika's mother and her very life on the Nova Grappler user in the struggle that he now faced before him. At the same time, this had brought up her own concern of Amika, now that her Selector rights had disappeared, praying that Kamui had left her with someone he could trust so she could eventually recover on her own.

But the thought of her former Selector was the least of her concerns as she saw clearly from Remember's sneer and where exactly her gaze was directed upon. She had always been one to accept her fate as it was, as she had previously declared when she tried to save Sakaguchi with her wish, but being framed for the murder of Amika's mother after Remember did the exact same deed as before was something she could not accept and for a fact, neither would Kamui. As the view of the window changed to his side of the field, just as Beast Deity, Damned Leo appeared in the place of Tough Boy, she stared at where he had previously been clutching at with his right hand, the hole in his jumper and shirt being much larger thanks to Neon's earlier attack, now making the gash on his abdomen visible to everyone that was watching.

"When did he...?" she murmured to herself.

"It would appear your 'final bet' was somehow injured..." Mayu interrupted "I wonder if he will even fight it through to the end, even if it should get... worse."

"When did this happen?" Piruluk muttered, turning around to face the mastermind "How did Remember...?"

Thinking back over the course of what she had just witnessed, she paused mid-sentence as she immediately realized what had happened for this gash to appear on Kamui in the first place. Her mind suddenly flashed back to when he had rushed over to her at the end of their previous battle, soon recalling that he had limped, albeit briefly, on his way over to the other side of the field. Then, further back into the battle whilst she was still reversed, she recalled a loud cry of pain from him after one of her SIGNI's previous attacks had damaged Ethics Buster. That was when the blue LRIG finally realized what exactly she had done.

"Don't tell me..." she breathed before turning back to the window to see Kamui declaring his attack with Damned Leo. Did I actually wound him then?!

"Indeed, it would appear that was the case," Mayu spoke, causing Piruluk to wonder if she had somehow knew about this from the very beginning "Just as your 'hyper-loner' persona as Remember described to me brought Sakaguchi into the way she eventually ended up, you've sabotaged your own chances again by injuring Kamui before you even warned him."

Feeling her frustration starting to get the better of her, the blue LRIG turned back around and walked closer towards the window displaying the battle, the view of which still remained on Kamui as he tried desperately to ignore the pain of the gash that was inflicted upon him, now worsened by Neon's earlier attack. She knew deep down as the battle would go on, if her previous experience against his opponent was anything to go by, the attacks coming his way would more often than not be more deadlier than the last, making her wonder if even Ethics Buster could at least shield him from the impact of Dark Zodiac and Venom Dancer to prevent his injury from getting any worse.

Piruluk for the first time in a long while, couldn't help but feel absolutely gutted that someone she had been willing to trust had been hurt by her own actions once again and now Kamui was starting to suffer for it. And she knew that if he couldn't overcome this very obstacle that stood in his way, not only was all hope of saving the Raizer units and their crew for naught, but Amika's mother would then perish by Remember's hands and the blue LRIG would be forced back into her body just to be framed for the murder.

"I sense desperation..." Cocytus muttered under its breath as it stared at her, quietly enough so no one else would hear.

I hate it... Piruluk muttered in her thoughts, closing her eyes as she did so This feeling of helplessness... the same feeling from 'that' time... I hate it! And yet, there's nothing more I can do to stop Remember!

Opening her eyes once more, she heard the roar of Mobius Breath Dragon on the battlefield displayed before her as its attack came closer towards Damned Leo, with Plume Wall Angel stepping in to save Kamui this time. As Brutal Jack, God Eater, a second Plume Wall Angel, Rescue Bunny and Max Beat appeared to join the defence, the barrier formed was enough to shield Damned Leo and the Nova Grappler user as the beam ricochetted off into the distance, detonating a long way behind them. Seeing that he had managed to prevent a Lock from hindering him for now, the blue LRIG had a rare instance of sharing a hidden sigh of relief, seeing that Kamui was not as wary of Link Joker's powers as she had initially believed.

But right now... he's only one I can count on!

(End Music)


And there we go! Kamui succeeds in reaching the hospital room of Amika's mother, barely dodging an ambush by Ayumu who is challenged by Noriko for answers about Miyako. Remember quickly catches up to him and intends to 'properly' taint the former Selector's wish, by doing to her what she did to Sakaguchi. Kamui challenges her to a battle to rescue his captured Raizer units and defend Amika's mother, but receives a vision from her 'Future Sight' once again, this time depicting what appears to be a corrupted version of his Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare. To make matters worse, his injury from earlier is beginning to take its toll on him with every hit his units take.

Can Kamui save the Raizer units and the crew as well as Amika's mother from Remember's hands? Will his injury do him in before he can finish the battle? What answers does Noriko seek to gain from Ayumu? And what is Ice Prison Necromancer, Cocytus' role in all of this? Find out next time on Stand Up, the LRIG! as the Peeping Analyze sub-arc draws to its penultimate chapter. Please share your thoughts and criticisms in the reviews and I'll see you all next time!

Before I go however, I'm sure you've noticed the change in cover design along with the custom logo. I have on my deviantart a separate image of said custom logo which is an interpretation of what it would look like in Japanese. I'm planning to also develop an English version as well to use with a different custom cover I plan to do in the future for this story, so to those who are interested in the least, could you please leave some feedback for the design? I would very much appreciate it for the long run. My deviantart credentials are at the top of my profile page so it's easier to find me and the logo design. Other than that, hope you've enjoyed the story so far and I'll see you on the next chapter!


Cards of the Chapter:

Beast Deity, Damned Leo

Level 2

Colour: Silver

Grow Cost: 1 Silver

Limit: 5

LRIG Type: Nova Grappler

Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer

Colour: Grey

Remaining stats to be revealed...