Welcome back to my little story here.

Conceited3: Yes, I have changed the ya to yeah. At first I had it as ya and when I realized it I was already on ch. 2 or 3 so I wanted to at least keep it uniform but that is the second review about that subject so I have changed it starting with this chapter. I might change past chapters if I have time, no promises.

blue555Nexus: I'm glad you're enjoying it. I would not consider Desmond a brother role to Nepgear at this point. They have known each other for a month before the CPU capture and for how ever long it has been since they got Nepgear. Unlike his relationship with the twins, due to the fact that he lived a good part of the three years in Lowee. But I might make it like that in the future.


The party made it back to the Basilicom and reported the situation back to Mina.

"I see. The Killachine is back." Mina responded.

"You ran because you were scared to fight it? Jeez, you're so…" Ram started but stopped when she saw Desmond's glare.

"No. We had to leave due to its high defense and I was running out of power. And it still annoys me to no end." Desmond stated.

"Are you okay…?" Rom asked Nepgear.

"Yes, I'm just fine. Thank you." Nepgear answered.

"Tell us about the Killachine. Our attacks could hardly dent it." IF questioned.

"Arfoire created it as a tool of destruction. Its power… Well, you saw that much firsthand." Mina responded.

"Yeah… It's got some good hardware." Desmond commented.

"Also, there are far more than one of them. Hundreds must be sealed away all over Lowee…" Mina continued.

"Hundreds? Oh, give me a break." IF stated.

"Pssh! Numbers are stupid. Just say the word, then me and Rom will blow 'em all away!" Ram stated.

"Ka-boom…" Rom added.

"I don't know if I want you two near those machines." Desmond said while crossing his arms.

"What!? Why!?" Ram shouted.

"Yeah… Why?" Rom added.

"Those things have great defensive armor and strong offensive abilities. And even though you both are CPU's, they might be too much for you two." Desmond answered.

"Now, now. I don't think it's as simple as blowing things up…" Compa spoke up.

"Such a course of action isn't realistic. That's why we used the Mascot to seal them away, but…" Mina started but paused.

"The disc shattered. The Mascot…" Nepgear hesitated.

"Still, this situation must be addressed. Fortunately, ASIC is not one to take hasty action." Mina stated.

"Which could also mean they're taking their time to make a thorough game plan." IF commented.

"Possibly… Hopefully they're just standing there doing nothing." Desmond added.

"But their hesitation does change the options available to us." Mina responded. "It is a selfish request, but may I ask for your aid in protecting the city and gathering information?"

"Of course, we will. You don't have to ask." Desmond stated.

"Thank you. I'm sure you're all tired after today's ordeal. Please rest here for the night." Mina said.

"Thanks Mina, that'll save me some money. I'll show them to the guest rooms." Desmond stated before taking the girls to the rooms.


Desmond laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling thinking over the events of the day, as a knock came from the door. "Yo." He called out.

"It's me IF." She said.

"Come in." he responded as he sat up. IF opened the door and walked in. "It's peaceful up here isn't it."

"That it is. Of course, besides all the stuff that's going on. The view is quite nice at night as well I must say." IF responded as she looked out the window.

"Is there a reason that you're here for, or did ya just wanna hang out?" Desmond asked just before IF sat next to him.

"How are you doing? Lowee is like another home for you now. And there's quite the possibly that hundreds of those machines at the ready to attack this place." She responded.

"I'm doing fine, sure it's annoying as all could be to know that it could happen at any moment. But that just means that we need to get up tomorrow and get this crap finished." He stated. "The sooner we get this done the faster the threat can get away from the twins."

"Yeah, you do seem quite protective of those two. Of course, it makes sense given how close you are to them." IF commented.

"Like I said, they're kinda like my sisters. So, Yeah. Anyways…" he pondered for a moment "I have an idea. You said you liked the view, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asked with a perplexed look on her face.

"Just come on." He said as he grabbed her wrist and moved toward the door. As the left his room he moved through the hallways and up through the basilicom. As the two reached the top of the building Desmond opened the door and they were on the roof. It wasn't too big but there was a rail that went across the sides and it was all covered in snow. As the two walked over to the edge overlooking the city. They could see the lights through the city, the snow reflecting the light causing the area to look brighter as more snow fell. Beyond the city they could see the multitude of hills and valleys that moved off into the horizon.

"It's amazing!" IF said in awe.

"Yeah, it looks majestic. It is a place deserving of its name "the land of white serenity."" Desmond stated. "Thought you'd might like to see something nice before the craziness starts back up."

"Thanks, it's nice to take a break every now and then." She said as she smiled.

"I'd come up here when I needed to just take a moment and destress." He stated. The two stood there for a while longer, not talking just enjoying the scenery. "Are you ready to go back inside? We need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, I'm ready. Thanks for showing this to me." She said with a warm smile.

The two walked back into the building, brushed the snow off of themselves and went back to their rooms for the night.


The morning was mostly uneventful, they got ready for the day and tried to formulate a plan to protect the city from the Killachines, but couldn't come up with much. After the party left the basilicom, they tried to find out if ASIC had tried to do anything between the time they left the dungeon that housed the now broken white disc and now.

"Well, this sucks. We can protect the city all we want, but the enemy's shown no sign of movement." IF said in an annoyed tone.

"Even if the Mister Killachines do come, I don't think we're enough to protect the whole city…" Compa commented looking a bit worried.

"And the Mascot is gone. What're we going to do…?" Nepgear questioned.

"It is quite the conundrum isn't it. An army of highly defensive robots out there and the only thing that has held them back for who knows how long is broken." Desmond stated as he crossed his arms.

"Egh, I hate thinking. Why not glue the disc back together? If my wifeys and wifey magnet join forces, anything's possible." Red stated.

"Wifey magnet? Whatever." Desmond questioned but brushed it off. It was Red saying that.

"As if it would be that easy." IF criticized.

"Still that's our only real option at this point. Let's try to find a way to piece it back together." Nepgear stated. "I mean, we need the Mascot to seal the machines away again, and we need its help for the CPUs…"

"Yeah, but who know how to fix a broken disc? Not like we'll happen upon such a convenient person." IF spoke up.

"It can be fixed, nyu." A mysterious voice spoke up.

"See? If we just stumbled upon someone like her, then maybe it would be possible." IF continued without paying any attention to the voice.

Desmond nudged her shoulder to get her attention then pointed to the source of the voice as it spoke up again. "I said, it can be fixed, nyu."

"Huh? Uh, who are you?" IF asked while giving a puzzled look.

"Broccoli, nyu." The small girl answered.

"So, you're named after a vegetable?" Desmond asked but got no response.

"Hello, um… Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly, but can you really fix this disc?" Nepgear asked.

"Well, GAMERS magazine had an article about fixing discs a while back, so sure, nyu." Broccoli answered.

"Of course, it would be that convenient wouldn't it. All well, at least it makes our job easier." Desmond stated.

"Don't think about it too hard. Anyway, you can fix your disc with the right materials, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Okay. What do we need to gather?" Nepgear asked.

"Two things. Rare Metal and Datanium, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Do you know where we can get those items?" Desmond questioned.

"The Lowee International Exhibit has some interesting monsters, if you get what Broccoli is saying, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"You heard her, let's go everyone!" Desmond commanded.

"I will wait here. Good luck out there, nyu." Broccoli said as the party left the area.


After making their way to the Lowee International Exhibit, the party fought their way into the dungeon for a bit before killing a monster that dropped the item. Then they left and found out that the other item was in the dungeon called the World Labyrinth. After entering the place, it wasn't long before they found and destroyed the monster that held the item.

"And with that, we have the items Broccoli said we needed. We should hurry back to the city." Nepgear stated.

"I hope we can resuscitate the Mascot!" Compa commented.

"More like we have to bring it back. Time's running out, and there's no telling when the enemy will strike." IF said with haste.

"Yes, so, let's all hurry and get back." Desmond stated.


"We got the items, Broccoli!" Nepgear shouted as she approached the small girl.

"Well done, nyu. All right, so… Give it your best, Nepgear." Broccoli stated.

"What the goodness!? Me?" Nepgear questioned.

"You can do it. Just believe in yourself, nyu." Broccoli responded.

"Okay… I guess I can try…" Nepgear stated.

"Shouldn't be that hard, so go ahead Gear." Desmond commented.

"Let's borrow a room in the Basilicom. It might be good to have the Oracle around if the Mascot recovers." IF pointed out.

The party moved to another room and Nepgear started to work on bringing the Mascot back. While they were doing so Mina came in. "I see. You plan to bring the Mascot back by creating a replica disc with the materials gathered."

"Broccoli was kind enough to appear at the most convenient time and tell us about this method." Nepgear stated.

"Let's save the praise until after we manage to pull this off." IF commented.

"Agreed." Desmond added.

"Whoa! This is so rad! Lowee's Mascot is gonna come back and be fine, right?" Ram asked.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh…" Rom agreed.

Desmond pulled the twins back by the back of their coats "Hey, don't get too close you two. We don't need it accidently broken before it's fixed."

The two looked back up at him and nodded "Fine." The three then turned their attention back to Nepgear.

"And now I put this doodad in with that thingamajig, and… Yay, I did it!" Nepgear exclaimed.

The disc shone and started to move upward as it came back to life. "Hmm? Where… is this…?"

"Score! The Mascot's back!" Red exclaimed.

"Good job Gear!" Desmond stated as he walked over to her and patted her on the head.

"T-Thanks." Nepgear said with a smile as Desmond pulled back his hand.

"Yes. It's wonderful to see you again. Do you remember who I am?" Mina asked.

"Lowee's Oracle… What's going on here? I was… destroyed, and yet…" White disc started.

"We repaired you and brought you back." Nepgear interjected.

"To be more specific, Gear fixed the disc up." Desmond pointed out.

"I see… Thank you. But then, what of the seal?" The disc questioned.

"It has been broken. We need to seal the Killachines away again as soon as possible." Mina answered. "It pains me to treat you as nothing more than a tool, but…"

"No need to feel that way. Time is of the essence. Knowing this… Sister of Neptune, I need to ask a favor of you." The disc of white stated.

"Yes? What is it?" Nepgear asked.

"As you have noticed, fighting is not my forte. I am unable to return to where I must reactivate the seal. Though it may burden you, may I ask that you escort me to my destination?" White Disc answered.

"Of course! You didn't even need to ask." Nepgear responded with a smile.

"I'm going too, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Why, Miss Broccoli? We're going to a very scary, dangerous dungeon." Compa asked.

"Can you even fight Broccoli?" Desmond questioned.

"There's strength in numbers. I can be very helpful, nyu." Broccoli answered.

"No need to bite the hand offering to feed us, right?" IF commented.

"That's right, welcome to the party Broccoli." Desmond stated.

"We're really grateful for your help." Nepgear said cheerfully before asking. "Um… It would be really nice if Rom and Ram came with us, too. They'd be a big help."

"Okay, I wanna…" Rom started before Ram interrupted.

"N-No! Stupid Rom, we can't go!" she shouted while flinging her arms around.

"Why not…?" Rom asked.

"Um, 'cuz… we're Lowee's CPU Candidates, so we gotta stay here and protect the city, duh!" Ram responded.

"But…" Rom tried to argue.

"As much fun, it would be to have them with us, Ram is not completely wrong with that statement. And we can't force them to go with us. But Ram, you do not call you sister stupid. I don't want that kind of attitude coming from you. Got it?" Demsond stated as he walked over to Ram and knelt so they were looking eye to eye.

"Fine. But I'm not going with you while she's around." Ram stated with a pout.

Desmond sighed "You, need to get over this grudge with Gear. She's done nothing wrong. Anyway, I'll see you two later." He hugged both of them. "Bye."

"Bye!" Ram responded.

"Bye…" Rom responded.

The twins ran off to go play, Mina walked up "They're still just kids, after all. I'm truly sorry to task you with such a burden when it should be dealt with by Lowee authorities…"

Desmond put a hand on her shoulder "It's fine, it's not a burden at all. And anyway, I'm kind of like an unofficial Lowee authority."

The party then left after that to go back to the World Labyrinth where the Killachines where being housed.


The party moved into the dungeon, it wasn't long before they found Killachines moving about the area.

"Wowzers, look at them all! They're everywhere!" Red shouted.

"We struggled so much against one, but against so many…" Nepgear commented.

"Don't worry too much about those things. I have an idea of how to take them down. Or at least a few." Desmond stated.

"There is no alternative. To reactivate the seal, I must be taken to this dungeon's depths." White Disc stated.

"Iffy, don't you have some kind of super cool secret agent plan?" Compa asked.

"Yeah, secret agent Iffy, secret agent Iffy…" Desmond started to tease her before taking a punch to the back of the head by the girl in question.

"Now that I can think. Well… We can bank on them not being fully operational yet. So if we sneak around them, then…" IF said as she held a hand to her chin.

"Do you want to try doing that? Standing here isn't gonna get anything done, you know!" Compa commented.

"And if they start moving, we just gotta smack 'em around until they stop. Simple!" Red stated.

"I'm tossing Red's idea right into the trash. Anyway, let's go. It's our only choice for now." IF responded.

"Come on, it's not that bad. But you're still right, so let's get to it." Desmond added.

"Good, they aren't moving… If we just keep quiet, then maybe… Just maybe…" Nepgear said quietly.

One of the Killachines made a loud noise as it started to move "Hey, watch out everyone, some of them are whirring to life." Desmond whispered.

"Too late, nyu." Broccoli commented.

"Yikes! It's starting to move…" Compa stated.

"Your plan totally failed, nyu." Broccoli said.

"Then… we have to do what we must! And we must fight!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Or I could just do this…" Desmond stated, as he brought out his hand blade. He then moved over to the machine and quickly sliced off the arms and head of the Killachine. After doing that it fell destroyed. "Much better. Should've done that the first time."

"Well you made short work of that one huh." IF stated.

Alarms started going off "Uh-oh, what'd we do this time?" Compa questioned.

"Bad news. It's activating the other machines, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"Crap, that's annoying." Desmond said with annoyance.

"Goodness! They're all starting to move…!" Nepgear pointed out.

"Great. Worst day ever." IF commented.

"Jeez, what're you dummies standing around for!?" Ram as White Sister asked as she popped in out of nowhere.

"Rom! And you too, Ram?" Nepgear questioned a bit shocked by their appearance.

"We made it… Hurry up and seal them away…" Rom as White Sister stated.

"B-But, isn't it dangerous for you two to go it alone?" Nepgear asked.

"What do we look like to you…" Ram started before getting cut off.

"Yes, it is dangerous… but I know they can take care of themselves when they're together. Freeze their joints and then break them off from the main body. Shouldn't be too hard for you two, right." Desmond cut in as he spoke in a matter of fact way, having fought with them here and there over the last three years.

"You heard him, we can take care of ourselves. And we'll do what you said Desmond." Ram stated.

"We'll be fine… Are you sure you can't fight with us big brother?" Rom asked.

"No, sorry. As much as I would like to make sure you two are fine, we got to get the Mascot back to its place. So, take care." Desmond responded before the party hurried their way to the dungeon depths.

After reaching the area that they found the Mascot they saw Underling talking aloud to herself. "Wow. This last one is taking forever to activate. Maybe I hit the spawn cap? Man, waiting around sucks… Screw this! I got plenty to burn Lowee to the ground."

"We won't let that happen!" Nepgear yelled.

"Oh great, you idiots again! How the hell did you get here? What happened to the Killachines?" Underling questioned.

"Lowee's CPU Candidates are taking care of your scrap problem. It's over once we reactivate the seal!" IF stated.

"The seal? How dumb are you? The Mascot's gone! Kaput! Hell, I'd like to see you try!" Underling exclaimed.

"As you wish." White Disc spoke.

"Hehe, yeah, go ahead and try, you stupid Masco—Hey! What!? How the hell is the Mascot here!?" Underling asked shocked.

"Whatever you break, I can fix, nyu." Broccoli stated.

"You fixed it!? That's so cheap! Dammit, you're ruining everything!" Underling said annoyed.

"So how about you shut up and get out of here." Desmond stated as he started to walk forward.

"Gaaaaah! Killachine! Fight these dumb broads and buy me some time!" Underling yelled at the machine behind her. "I've got to find an escape rou—Er, find reinforcements!"

Two machines moved forward, one a regular Killachine the other was a bit bigger. "I'll take the big one the rest of you take out that Killachine." Desmond commanded as the rest nodded in agreement. He made his way to the machine.

The machine moved forward toward Desmond and started to bring its two swords down on him. Desmond quickly moved out of the way, dodging to its right. The machine moved toward the rest of the group ignoring Desmond. He couldn't let that happen, he materialized his two pistols and fired a barrage at the machine. While not doing much damage, Desmond got its attention. Desmond formed his hand blade and dashed toward the creature and sliced at the arm of the machine. But the armor was too thick and durable to cut in one go, but did leave a large gash in the machine. It attacked Desmond with its other arm, missing him as Desmond jumped back. Desmond then thought of something he could try, so he focused in on his power and extended the length of his hand blade and caused it to move more freely like a whip. He threw it around both of the machine's arms as it tried another attack, as he held the arm whip on the machine he pulled it and a few seconds later pulling the arms of it off. Desmond then grabbed the midsection of the machine with the whip cutting it in half. He then changed the whip back to an extended arm blade and shoved it through the machine's head. By the time he was done the rest of the party took out the Killachine.

"Return to scrapyard heaven, junk! Anyone see where Underling went!" Red asked.

"She ran off. Then again, she's the least of our worries now…" IF stated.

"Exactly, let's just get the Mascot back to its place." Desmond said.

"We need to hurry up and get the Killachines sealed away!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"Of course. One moment." The disc of white stated, a few moments later a few machines in the distance started to shut down.

"We good?" IF questioned.

"It seems so. All Killachines have been deactivated. As long as I am here, they will never return." White Disc responded.

"Phew! We're in the clear!" Compa said with relief.

"Lowee is safe, thanks to you. No words can accurately express my level of gratitude." White Disc stated.

"We only did what was right. But… that means you can't come with us, doesn't it?" Nepgear asked.

"No, it cannot in its physical form. But in Lastation their Mascot gave us some of its power, could you possibly do that." Desmond questioned.

"Unfortunately, I lack the proper technique to perform such a… huh?" White Disc started as a bright light shone and another White Disc was seen. "This? This is me? How did this happen?"

The other one spoke up "I wish I could tell you, me. So you don't know, either?"

"I'm soooo confused right now!" Compa stated.

"Patchwork with generic materials may cause some glitches in the disc, but this glitch is cool, nyu." Broccoli explained.

"So, like… The Mascot made a clone of itself just in case its physical body got destroyed?" IF asked.

"Sounds good enough to me." Desmond commented as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Ironic, considering our efforts to bring it back to life. All's well that ends well, I guess." IF stated.

"U-Um, so, in this case…?" Nepgear questioned.

"Yes, yes. I can now heed your request. I will stay behind and maintain this seal." One of the discs stated.

"And I will join you to assist in whatever way possible." The other disc said.

"Come on, are you done yet? I'm so bored! Let's go home!" Ram yelled.

"Thank you, Miss Nepgear…" Rom said happily.

"I should be thanking you two. We couldn't have done this without your help, after all." Nepgear stated.

Rom giggled a bit at Nepgear's words

"Yeah we could have. But it would've been more difficult. We don't need Ram getting such a big head from all the praise. But you two did do well, are you hurt at all?" Desmond asked as he walked over to the twins

"I'm fine!" Ram exclaimed.

"I-I got a few scratches, but I'm okay…" Rom said quietly.

"Good." Desmond stated.

"Pssh. Okay, okay, whatever. Let's go home! I'm hungry!" Ram shouted.

"Man… kids… They have a point, though. Let's get back to the Oracle." IF commented.

"Yeah, let's get to it. And since I'm hungry as well I'll make something for everyone when we get back." Desmond stated.

"Yay!" The twins shouted as Ram jumped on Desmond's back and Rom hugged his side.

"Hey, don't knock me down now. I still gotta move." Desmond said as he smiled at the two.

'As angry he can get, I'm surprised to see him handle these kids so easily.' IF thought as she looked at the spectacle.


The party with twins in tow, made it back to the basilicom where Mina waited inside to greet them. "I am eternally grateful. You have saved Lowee from an incredible disaster."

"It's all good Mina, don't worry about it." Desmond said with a smile and a wave.

"He's right. Don't worry about it. We were able to get the Mascot's assistance by helping, after all." Nepgear added.

"Then, I am glad that your hard work bore fruit. Are you all planning to leave right away?" Mina asked.

"After we eat something. And with that I'm heading to the kitchen." Desmond stated as he walked away.

"Miss Nepgear… You're leaving?" Rom asked while Ram mostly ignored Nepgear as she stood back.

"Yes, but I'm sure we'll meet again. Please don't look sad. This is supposed to be a happy good-bye." Nepgear answered.

"Okay…" Rom responded.

"I'm sorry that we can be of no further assistance, but allow me to wish you luck on your journey." Mina stated.

"Thanks!" Nepgear responded.

"Okay, I'm hungry and Desmond has already started lunch! So, let's go eat!" Ram yelled as she made her way to the kitchen, as did the rest of the group.

After eating the party made their way to the front door ready to leave, until Desmond was grabbed from behind by two sets of arms. "Don't think you're getting away!" Ram yelled as she jumped on his back.

"Surprise attack…" Rom said quietly while hugging him.

"Oh no… Timber…" Desmond joked as he let himself fall, the three of them laughing all the way. "Okay, off." He stated before the twins stood up and so did he. "Take care of yourselves and don't give Mina too much trouble okay."

"Yes." The two responded.

"Now come here." Desmond stated as he hugged the twins "See you two later." He said with a smile as he stood back up and moved over to the party.

"Bye Desmond!" Ram exclaimed as she waived.

"See you, big bro…" Rom stated quietly with a smile. She then walked up to Nepgear "Bye Miss. Nepgear… take care…"

"You too, Rom. I hope we could see each other again soon." Nepgear responded as Rom nodded to Gear's words.

After that the party left the basilicom.

"Where to next?" Nepgear asked.

"Leanbox. There aren't any other CPU Candidates there, but they've got to have a Mascot." IF answered.

"Leanbox, huh, nyu?" Broccoli stated.

Nepgear's N-Gear rang "Oh! My N-Gear is ringing. I bet it's Histoire. Hello?" Nepgear answered. After a moment of listening to Histy "We secured the help of Lowee's Mascot and we were just about to head down to Leanbox." Another moment "Me? But why?" one more time "Okay, we're on our way." She ended the call. "So… did everyone hear that?" She asked.

"Hmm… What whould the Oracle want? I guess we'll find out after we arrive." IF questioned.

"I don't know… I haven't talked to her since before we got Gear back, so I guess we'll have to find out." Desmond stated with a hand to his chin.

"Yep. How do we get to Leanbox from here, though?" Nepgear asked.

"We could take one of the ships that go between Lastation and Leanbox. We'll get there in a jiffy!" Compa answered.

"Yeah, it'd be closer than trying to go to Leanbox from Lastation than Planeptune at least. Let's try to get to Leanbox before nightfall. So, let's go." Desmond stated as the party started to move toward Lastation.


Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review to let me know what you think. And have a good day.