Today was supposed to be a sunny day in Leanbox with a light breeze rolling around sometime in the afternoon and a 10 percent chance of a light drizzle. However, the weather forecast said nothing about mysterious young girls traveling through wormholes from different dimension. Perhaps an event such as that wasn't exactly unheard of in Gamindustri, but Vert can't say she'd expected something like that while she was trying to enjoy a nice, relaxing picnic with her friends and loved ones.

The group had initially been taken aback by the sudden turn of events, none more so than little Verna, but after they'd all calmed down they had taken the enigmatic young girl that had passed out and brought her to one of the Leanbox basilicom's guest rooms for her to recover. The girl didn't seem to have been injured, but the hop between dimensions had taken its toll on her.

It had been three hours since they'd brought her to Vert's guest room, but the girl still hadn't woken up yet. They all had so many questions for her, but when it became apparent the girl would take a while to finally wake up the group decided to find ways to while away the time. Vert had opted to stay behind to look after the girl while Neptune took Verna out to play, though the little girl poked her head in every so often to check on the two. Lastly, Chika decided to head to the kitchen to go whip up some food since their picnic from before had been interrupted so spectacularly, while Cave decided to follow and keep an eye on the green oracle.

With all that said and done, Vert was currently busy replacing the wet towel on the sleeping girl's forehead and trying to make sure she was comfortable. It was much easier said than done, though. Most people tended to feel at ease when they slept, but this girl kept squirming around in bed and grumbling to herself before calming down a little, only for the process to start all over again.

Vert may not have known who this girl was, or where she came from, but if there was one thing she could tell, it was that this girl was scared of something. Perhaps that was why she'd traveled through dimensions, to seek help in banishing some sort of great evil. Normally, Vert might actually look forward to getting her own chance in the limelight to save a world from a terrifying evil, but… something about the way the girl in bed was whimpering made her feel a sense of dread.

Vert didn't know if there was anything she could do for the poor girl; all she could think to do was hold her hand.

"Please don't leave me, Vert..."

Vert almost stumbled backwards at the mention of her name, eyes widening in surprise. The girl seemed to calm down a little after that, leaving Vert to wonder how this girl knew her. Something about this girl was just so… familiar.

In the time she'd been watching over her, Vert had gotten a very close look at the girl, and it only served to make that sense of familiarity grow.

She was a tall, young girl, most likely in her late teens, early adult years. with long blonde hair that reached down to her waist and a pair of dark blue eyes. She had been wearing a long-sleeved, green overcoat with golden trims and cuffs, as well as two red lightning bolts along the sides with a matching, knee-length cape attached to a belt along her waist. They had gotten in the way when looking the girl over, so they'd been taken off and placed on a nearby table. Aside from that, the girl wore a small red ribbon around her neck, held in place by a green star ornament, as well as a simple brown tank top and short shorts, both with golden trims. She also had a pair of knee-high brown boots that were settled by the foot of her bed of the same color as her shirt and shorts.

By all accounts, Vert shouldn't know this girl at all, but she looked just like…

"Nnngh..." The CPU's thought were pushed back as the girl started squirming around again. She wasn't looking forward to hearing any more of that scared whimpering and mumbling, but… It never came. Instead, the young blonde began to stir, her eyes fluttering open, adjusting to the light bleeding into the room. Her body slowly began to rise from the bed until the mystery girl was sitting up. " Ugh… Where…?"

"Oh, good. I was wondering when you'd finally wake up," Vert started began calmly, careful to try and not surprise the girl too much and put her on edge. The blonde swerved her head very slowly to look at the busty blonde, her eyes widening in shock. "I trust that you are feeling better now?"

The girl remained silent for a good few moments; her eyes were practically glued to the Leanbox CPU with disbelief written all over her face. Her mouth occasionally fell open and closed several times, as if she was trying to find her voice, but it wasn't until at least a minute had past that she finally spoke. "...Vert…?"

Once more the girl had spoken the CPU's name, to which Vert silently nodded, giving her a warm smile. Though, Vert immediately began to wonder if that had been a wise move as tears began to form near the corners of her mystery guest's eyes. This left Vert in an odd predicament in which she had no idea on what to do, but then came the sound of a door opening from behind her and she breathed an inward sigh of relief as more familiar voices flooded the room.

"Lady Vert, are you still… Oh, it seems our guest is finally awake," said the voice that was obviously Cave.

"It's about time," Chika grumbled only to receive a light bop on the head from the SMD warrior.

"Coolio! Does that mean we can finally talk to her?" Neptune chimed in, pushing her way forward past the other two. The teen blonde shifted her gaze to the group as soon as they had entered and her eyes widened upon seeing their full group. By the time they'd all begun to settle into the room, the tears began to streak down the girl's eyes as if a dam had been burst. "Wha? Is she crying?! Verty, what did you do to her?!"

"E-Excuse me! I didn't do anything!" Vert defended. "She only started crying the moment you all came in! And wait a minute, where is Verna?!" Vert didn't notice, but the mystery blonde seemed to show a slight reaction to hearing that name. This did not go unnoticed by Cave, however, but she decided not to comment on it.

"Ah, she got kind of tired, so she's taking a nap in the living room right now," Neptune answered.

"I'm surprised that you're still awake after all that," Chika once more chimed in. "Kids are supposed to have a lot of energy, but I don't understand how you were able to keep up with her like that."

"Chika, this is Neptune, we're talking about," Vert added. "Regardless of the dimension she's as wild and unpredictable as a wild Fenrir hyped up on coffee."

"Hey, now… That's actually kind of a neat mental image. Maybe I should try that with Mini Me sometime."

"I fear that I may have just incited an unforeseeable travesty for the near future."

"Don't worry, my beloved. I will take care of anyone who could potentially pin anything on us."

"Chika, my dear, those almost sound like the words of a serial killer."

"Looks like Chika's finally gone full on yandere."

"I am not a yandere!"

"That's exactly what a yandere would say!"

Cave sighed to herself as the rest of the group had gone off on a massive tangent. It was hard to tell how long this would go on, or if anyone other than Cave even remembered about the blonde girl sitting in bed, but they all came to a halt as the sound of giggling caught their ears. Their mystery guest was laughing at the group. She'd started with a silent chuckle, but it had evolved into full-fledged laughter by the end, bringing everyone's focus back to her as she continued to laugh her heart out.

"Hahah… Ha… You guys have always been so weird..." She finally spoke after she had calmed down. Vert blinked a few times before offering the girl a smile, calmly eyeing the girl as she wiped a tear from her eye. Whether it was a tear of joy or something else had yet to be seen.

"I'm glad you seem to be doing better now," Vert began. "If you don't mind, we have a lot of questions we'd like to ask you, if that's alright with you." The group all walked closer to the teen blonde, eyes all filled with different emotions, but each carrying a sparkle of curiosity. "Of course, we don't want to assault you with too many questions right away, so what I'd like to know is… Who are you?"

The young teen went silent again. She recoiled in surprise for a second from the question, almost as if she hadn't expected it, but after she blinked a few times she seemed to collect herself easily enough. "I… I guess I should have expected you wouldn't actually know me… It...was stupid of me to get my hopes up like that."

"What are you…?" Vert stopped herself mid-sentence. She glanced to her friends; they were just as lost as she was, but with a glance to Cave, the redheaded soldier gave her a silent nod, like she'd read Vert's mind and was offering confirmation to what was going on in her head. "Are you..."

"I suppose I should introduce myself properly..." The teen girl cut Vert off before she could finish that thought. She adjusted herself on the bed and offered a calm look to the crowd of four staring at her, introducing herself with a polite bow. "My name is Verna. I have come from the future in search of help from the past… Gamindustri… Is on the verge of collapse where I am from."

"...Huh…?"

"...The brat...?"

"...C-Collapse?"

"...Future…?"

"HHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

Message From The Future

"...Well I'll be damned..." IF stood there, jaw slack and eyes wide with disbelief. There was a slight breeze passing by through the room, a large, square lab with a giant white circle drawn into the center. There were at least a dozen other girls standing around the room wearing the same dumbfounded expression as IF herself. Some were wearing lab coats and standing near computers or other machines, while some were dressed in military-style clothes, but all had their eyes focused on the center of the room, or to be more precise, the floor on which their creation once stood.

It had been a long-shot to begin with, but it had finally worked. There was a lone girl who walked forward closer to the circle, crouching down where she put her hand on the ground to make sense of the situation. It wasn't until she looked up and her expression grew into a relieved smile that the room that the room finally came back to life.

Cheers erupted from all over, some individuals even threw their heats into the air out of excitement, and some had even started to pull out some alcohol. Hell, even IF felt herself starting to get a little caught up in the group's cheerful mood. Even so, she had an image to maintain, so instead of joining in on everyone's festivities, she quietly made her way to the exit with a relieved smirk on her face all the while.

Everyone tried to get her to stay, but she politely declined as she made her way out of there. It was funny, even after she'd left the room she could still hear them loud and clear through the dreary concrete and cement walls. Even the sound of a train blaring its horn would pale in comparison to the room full of excited scientist and soldiers.

"I guess now we can afford to take it easy for a little while," she said to no in particular. "I guess I'd better go tell everyone the good news, then. Compa did say she wanted to make something special in celebration for today." IF couldn't help but smile thanks to the image of the peach-haired nurse popping into mind. "Better not keep her waiting."

"We wouldn't want that, now would we?" A voice from behind asked IF.

IF glanced over her shoulder, her cheeks practically glowing red. Not far behind her was a lone girl garbed in the same military outfit as everyone else, smiling deviously at the hardened brunette's brief moment of weakness. "Wh-why aren't you with the others?!" the brunette sputtered out.

"What can I say? Parties just aren't my thing," the girl responded, walking forward by IF's side. "I hardly know anyone here to begin with anyway, so there's no use in sticking around. I kind of envy you a bit; you and this Compa must be pretty close, huh, Ms. IF?"

"W-well, we have known each other since we've been kids," IF explained, trying to regain her composure in front of the nameless soldier.

"It's no wonder you like her so much, then."

"Did you just follow me so you tease me or what?!" IF snapped. Her follower only chuckled in response to the brunette's little outbursts. Even so, IF was sure to collect herself before going on once more. "Ahem… S-sorry about that. I didn't mean for that to come out so loud."

"No, it's fine," the soldier assured, "It just means you really do care about her if you're getting so embarrassed about me talking about her. Compa's a really lucky lady to have a friend like you, Ms. IF."

"I'd say I'm the real lucky one. She's always having to patch me up when I get hurt and even has to put up with me when I'm at my worst," IF grumbled, her shoulders almost slacking as she spoke. She shook her head free of those thoughts, knowing that her self-deprecation wasn't helping anybody. "A-anyway… I'm going to go make a call and let her and the others know that the device worked. I'm sure we could all use some good news right now."

"Then, if you don't mind, can I come with you?" the soldier asked. "I'll get out of your hair if you want, but I'm not really sure what else to do right now."

"I don't really mind. Just stop it with all the teasing, alright?"

"I can only promise to try."

"...That's the best I'm getting out of you, isn't it?"

"'Fraid so."

"Tsk… Well, I'm in a pretty good mood right now, so I guess it's not a big deal," said IF, "Do as you please."

"I plan to."

"Heh. You sure are an interesting one," IF noted aloud. "I don't remember seeing you around before? You new here?"

"Yes, actually," the girl answered. "I only showed up relatively recently, so hardly anyone really knows me yet."

"Is that so…?" IF eyed the girl for a good few seconds while they walked together. She'd been so caught up in her elation from before that she hadn't really thought about it, but now that she stopped to think about it… Something about this girl just seemed… off somehow. More importantly, she couldn't remember seeing this girl in the room with everyone else before she'd left… "When'd you transfer over here, if you don't mind my asking?"

"One of the personnel from the group passed away recently, right? I was sent over to act as a replacement for her," she explained. While it might have been true that they did lose someone not too long ago, that only answered the why, not the when.

"I see..." IF mumbled. "Then, if you don't mind my asking, what's your name?" The duo were beginning to make their way out of the underground tunnel. They were so close to the light of the outside world, and yet…

"Stella."

So far…

IF's blood ran cold as soon as she heard that name. She instinctively jumped back, reaching for her gun holster, but before she could do anything with it, she tripped up and fell over face-first on the ground, a stinging pain shooting up through her legs. A crimson pool began forming under the brunette's body, staining her clothes and oversized jacket, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear and panic rising in the pit of her stomach at the sight of the grim reaper staring down at her, bloodied scythe in hand. "Y-You… How did you find us?" IF asked through shaky breaths. "There's no way..."

"Maybe because I was the one who killed that personnel I was talking about," the girl's cold voice answered. "It was a giant pain to find you guys, I'll admit. I didn't think you'd be betting your luck on a time machine, of all things. Props to you, I suppose."

"Y-You!" IF reached for her gun one more time, but her assailant was quicker to act, stabbing the scythe's blade into her bicep. "AAAAARRRRGHH!"

"You really shouldn't test your luck like that, Ms. IF," the girl said, retracting her blade from IF's arm. "Now, let's see… If I counted correctly, there were about 37 people in that room with you."

IF's eyes widened in fear of her friends' lives. "Y-you wouldn't!"

"Well, that all depends on you," the girl replied. "What was that machine and why was it so special? I'm afraid I showed up a bit late, so I didn't have enough time to get many of the fine details from anyone."

"I'll…never tell you!" IF spat out through gritted teeth.

"Well, that's a shame."

"Why…?"

"Come again?"

"Why are you doing all of this?"

"I guess I could explain it to you, but…" The girl stared at her own reflection from her scythe. There was an almost contemplative look on her face, as if she was thinking about something. What that was, IF would not know, nor would she ever find out, because after a short moment, the girl raised up her scythe... "You wouldn't actually care. No one ever has."

And the scythe came down.

"I'm sorry, Compa."

Message From The Future

"I… I'm afraid I don't understand this situation at all," Vert said to the mysterious blonde claiming to be her sister from the future. "This is all so… so sudden. I'm not even sure what to say."

"I understand," the teen Verna replied. "I guess it is kind of unbelievable. Hearing that your little sister came back in time and all..."

"Can't say I was expecting that, but I guess it does make a bit of sense." The group all turned their attention to Croire – still trapped inside Neptune's book – as if waiting for an explanation.

"What do you mean, Crostie?" Neptune asked, voicing the group's collective thoughts.

"I didn't think much of it at first, but I knew there was something different about what happened back there. I have the power to warp between dimension, but whatever she did was something different. I wasn't sure what, but it makes sense if it really was some sort of time travel."

"S-so, then she did travel through time?"

"You doubting me, Thunder Tits?!"

"Wha! I only want to be sure! Where did you even hear that nickname?! And would everyone stop giggling already?!"

"I ain't saying I'm a hundred percent sure, I'm just throwing it out there… And I heard it from Flatty McGee, by the way. She didn't say who she was talking about, but you were the only one who fit the bill."

"Is that so? I suppose I'll have to repay her in kind for this."

"Um… S-sis…?" Verna hesitantly interrupted, raising a weary hand to her sister. She was spooked a bit when Vert suddenly snapped her head at her, but big Verna's reaction seemed to sober her up from the little outburst.

"Ah… My apologies..."

"It… It's alright," Verna assured, flashing a warm, if a bit awkward smiled.

"We seem to be getting off track," Cave interjected. "I don't mean to pry, but could you please explain your situation? You mentioned that Gamindustri is on the verge of collapsing? What exactly happened in your time?"

"Ah… R-right… I just… got so carried away seeing all of you again..."

"Again?" Neptune repeated. "Did… Did something happen to all of us in the future?"

"..."

"Verny?" Seeing the teen blonde suddenly go silent from the question, Neptune placed a hand on top of Verna's to help her feel at ease. "It's alright. We're right here for you." The teen Verna was taken aback by the gesture, but she smiled, thankful to the purplette. Neither of them noticed Vert's jealous pout either, but that's beside the point.

"Thanks, big sis Nep." Vert could be seen pouting once more. "I guess… I should start from the beginning."

With that being said, everyone fell quiet once again, waiting patiently for Verna's explanation.

"You see, in the future where I come from, Gamindustri has become a desolate place. The skies have turned grey, most of the major cities have been destroyed, if not completely wiped out, and even the total population has dwindled. Gamindustri has become a shadow of what it once was… And it's all thanks to one woman… The killer who calls herself Stella."

Vert's eyes widened in shock, mirroring the rest of her friends in the room. It was almost unbelievable to hear that such a thing could befall Gamindustri, but that's not the part that really got to Vert. No… That name… Vert heard Verna whispering the name under her breath while she was still asleep. She hadn't thought much of it at first, she just assumed it was someone else she was close to but now… "What happened, Verna?" Vert hesitantly asked.

The teen Verna scowled at the unpleasant memories. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself before she continued on. "It all happened on that day. I don't really remember much from back then, but… I remember thinking it was just going to be like any other day. But when I went to go see my sister… We'd found her dead in her room, killed by a lone human."

The group stumbled back in disbelief. Cave had to hold Chika up to keep the stunned oracle from falling over out of shock. "Th-there's no way..." Chika mumbled weakly. "That can't be right! There's no way that a human can kill a Goddess! My darling would never lose to a mere-"

"Chika, calm yourself!" Vert cut in, stopping Chika in her tracks. "I'm sorry about that," she said, directed at Verna. "I know it must be hard to believe, but I want to know exactly what happened. Please, tell us what you know, Verna." With that, Chika quieted down, taking a seat next to Vert, wanting to be closer to the CPU. "Is there more we need to know?"

"Actually, yes," confirmed Verna. "It had started off small at first, but during the weeks leading up to Vert's death, we'd been losing shares. Almost like sand being squeezed through an hourglass, if that makes sense." All of a sudden, Vert's death made far more sense with that. "I later found out that the reason we'd been losing shares was because that woman… She'd been causing a lot of trouble in small villages and towns on the outskirts of Leanbox… She was slowly killing people to weaken the two of us."

There was a stunned silence following that. Such tactics were far more heinous than any enemies from the past had ever employed. Not even Kurome had ever stooped to such tactics.

Verna continued on with her story. "We'd tried to figure out who was behind it all, but it was too late to do anything by the time She had chosen to act. To make matters worse, Vert's death led to an even greater decline in shares. Goddesses have the power to protect small villages through their divine protection, but with Vert's death our nation fell into disrepair. I probably would have died from it, if not for Cave and Chika's tireless efforts to restore everyone's faith.

"But even so… She didn't stop with just Leanbox. Planeptune, Lastation, and even Lowee all suffered the same fate, losing shares until their CPUs were killed by that demon. Noire, Uni, Blanc, Rom, Ram, and even Ms. Neptune were all killed and their nations all started falling apart. Monsters flooded all of the cities and drastically reduced the total population… It was all like something out of a nightmare. I...I didn't know what to do… I was so scared that I wasn't even sure we could rebuild after all of that..."

"Verna..." Vert tried to conjure up anything she could say to help this new Verna feel better, but looking at her shaking hands, balled into fists, any words she could come up with died in her throat before they could escape. She felt somewhat ashamed that, even now, she didn't know what to do for her beloved little sister. "V-Verna… I am… I'm sorry to hear that."

"I still can't believe it worked… We spent so long building the time machine, that I wasn't sure we'd ever really succeed." The green CPU shut up, silently cursing her terrible instincts as an older sister. "And that's why I've come here today."

All of a sudden, Verna's voice became deadly serious. She took a deep breath, eyeing everyone in the room and placed her hands on her knees, sitting into a seiza position.

"I've come from the future to ask for your help." The party all went slack-jawed as the teen girl bowed her head to the group. "We've tried so many times to stop that monster, but we've failed every time. We can't do this alone, not with our meager powers. I know this is a lot to ask of you all, but...I want to make Gamindustri a brighter place again! Please help me!"

… … … … … … … … …

Nobody said anything after that. Vert glanced around the room, first to Chika, then to Cave, then Neptune, before going back to Verna and repeating the cycle over again. No words needed to be said for them to know their thoughts were travelling along parallel wavelengths. It was obvious what their answer would be.

"Of course we will help you, my dear Verna."

The teen's head snapped up, her eyes wide with disbelief. Vert...

"Don't get the wrong idea though. I don't like the idea of someone causing harm to my beloved sister. Future timeline or not, I'm not letting something like this slide. And...more importantly, I'm the only one who's allowed to berate you for anything."

Chika…

"But of course. I suppose I have become far more sentimental since I met you, little one… Though, I suppose I cannot call you 'little' now. Regardless, I would never forgive myself if I were to turn a blind eye to a close friend in need."

Cave…

"Me too! I'm with you all the way, bigger Verny! We're gonna make this 'Stella' person pay for what they've done."

Neptune…

"Everyone..." And just like that, a fire had been lit in Verna's heart. The girl was practically on the verge of bawling her eyes out from relief and joy. She just felt so good that she needed to get it out somehow, and without thinking… "Thank you all so much!" She practically leaped from her spot and tackled Vert to the ground, wrapping her arms around the surprised CPU. "Thank you… Thank you..."

The girl just stayed there for the longest time, crying tears of joy in her sister's embrace. Vert had been so taken aback by the action that it took a while for what was happening to sink in, but once it finally did a tinge of pink spread along her cheeks. "N-no need to thank us. We could never say no to our little Verna, future timeline or not."

"Thank you… So much!"

Such a heart-warming moment… Shame it had to be ruined by the ever so elegant sound of Verna's stomach growling louder than a hungry Fenrir on the prowl. Needless to say, but Verna's face burned a great, beet red with embarrassment as she tried ever so desperately to hide her face with a pillow.

"Y-You didn't hear anything! That didn't just happen, okay?!"

Everyone had to fight to suppress a chuckle, not only at the sudden mood change, but also to spare Verna any further embarrassment in front of her older sister. "Ah… V-Verna, would you by any chance like to join us for dinner?" Vert asked delicately. "We haven't had much chance to eat ourselves yet, so you're welcome to join us, if you'd like."

"S-Sure, I'd...love to."

Who would have thought that a Verna from such a desolate future could still hold on to her more girlish side… In a way, Vert was kind of relieved to see that. Even living in such terrible conditions, the girl never lost sense of who she really was, despite all the hardships. And, even as the group made their way way out to the dining area...Verna never did let go of Vert's hand on the way there.

"An apocalyptic future, huh…? Now that sounds interesting. Stella… I'll be sure to remember that name."