All's Well That Ends Well Chapter 5: YBR 4: Ignition, a hyperdimension neptunia fanfic

"Vert!? L-Lady Vert!?"

"S-She's not moving!"

"They're closing in... We can't hold them off forever! We must do something, fast!"

"V-Vert! I-It's me, Vert! Head towards your sister's loving voice!"

"P-Please wake up! Compa, why isn't she waking up!?"

"I-I don't know! Does anyone have any water!?"

"Come on, don't do this!"

"S-She needs water!"

"Wake UP!"

...

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Yellow Storm Ver.2

"Look, everyone! We've made it to the top!" Lady Vert called as she used her hand as a visor to block out the glaring sun.

The group of CPUs had finally made it to the highest standable point on the mountain. Sure, there had been a few 'deadly traps' on the way up here, and one had claimed a named-asshole's life, but for the most part, it had been smooth sailing. Even the voices of the hundreds/thousands of peasants could no longer be heard; were they even being chased anymore? Oh well, they had arrived at their destination... That's all that mattered.

"Woah... Hey, uh, guys... What is that?" Neptune pointed towards the obvious rock-made structure standing right before them. "It looks like a platform to board a Ferris wheel! Sorry Blawney; looks like us shorties are gonna have to sit this one out."

"Shut up."

Noire's eyebrow raised, and she cautiously took a step onto the peculiar construction. "Huh... It doesn't look or feel very professional at all... Do you think it was made recently? Look, stones are even sticking out!"

Chika followed suit, though she added a bit more flair to her movements by leaping right up. "If I had to guess, I'd say this is some type of... altar? These guys are preaching about some fake goddess, right? This could be where they worship, maybe..." After another moment, her eyes were drawn to the small pillar in the center. "Ah! And this must be the offering shrine, Bible and everything! I have one just like it for Vert back home..."

"Hmm, interesting... Mina, let's investigate that book. I sense... something off about it." Histoire whispered, looking up at her friend.

The scholarly oracle, holding the tome fairy in her hands, looked at her curiously. "'Something?' You are usually more specific than that." Despite the vague conversation, the two journeyed over to the shrine, where 'The Crucial Codes' was indeed just sitting there. "... Well, anything? It looks like a glorified cheat code book... More dense than one of the children's', though."

The small oracle clutched her chin thoughtfully with her left hand as she delicately ran her right one over the mysterious book. "I can sense a strange energy emanating from within... but I can't pinpoint it exactly. It almost feels... alive. So foreign, yet so familiar..." Her small head looked up. "One thing I can ascertain, however: through whatever means, this is most likely responsible for the boys' magic abilities. I'd need about three days to be absolutely sure, but it seems pretty obvious."

IF spoke next, walking up to the two women to also get a better look. "... They've been using a cheat book? Huh... And I thought everybody used computers nowadays."

Vert nodded, squinting at the tome on the altar. "To think that this could be the one book that convinced all these people to resort to rebellion... I'm in awe, quite frankly." It was all rather hard to swallow. If what Histoire was saying were true, then these three boys had taken control of several small Planeptune cities simply with the help of this book... Could Gamindustri really be this fickle?

"Heh, how pathetic; these guys aren't magicians at all!" Blanc chuckled, swinging her hammer at the air. "They've been lying to a bunch of suckers! How dumb are these people?" Thanks for repeating Green Heart's inner thoughts, Blawney-Bla-

"Even after all this, you still insult the citizens of Gamindustri." Huh? Who said that!?

Everyone else seems to be with me... Where did that voice come fro-

"... A-Aidrey! Now I know it's you for sure!" Neptune shouted, being the first to spot the familiar boy... hovering from the sky down towards the group!? "We don't wanna hurt ya, Aidrey! So, hows about you give up and show us where Compa is, and we can all be as chirp as a horsebird in mating season?"

The brown-haired young man chuckled darkly, his eyes giving off the visage of a raging flame. "It's good to see you again, Neptune... But sorry; I can't give up. I refuse to surrender to you fools." Another twisted chuckle; clearly, this boy was no longer... 'sane.' "Hm... But before we get started, let me fetch my tome..."

As Neptune's shoulders slightly sank, Vert instantly reached for her spear. "We can not allow such a thing! You are the fool here. Grab it, Mina!"

The scholarly oracle instantly nodded, taking the 'Crucial Codes' in one hand and quickly snatching Histy back with the other. She made a mad dash back to the group.

"Oh no, you don't!" Adrian instantly took out his magical orb and waved it, and a major gust of wind from the heavens above flew right into Mina's back. The woman was sent crashing down, and both the magic book and Planeptune's fairy went soaring. "Heh, pathetic." As if tied to a string, the cheat code manual retracted right into his open hand.

"Histy, no!" Neptune fortunately made one save, diving to grab her falling oracle. "Y-You okay, Histy?"

"Y-Yes, I believe I'm fine... B-But Mina...!"

The scholarly women sat up, rubbing her back. "I-I'm also fine... That's not the worst fall I've ever taken..."

All eyes were now on the leader of the Yellow Bandanas, his eyes still burning. "As you can see, ladies, I do not need this tome to use all my abilities... No, I just don't want your dirty hands soiling Pale Heart's legacy!"

Cave scowled. "We're not afraid. The more you incessantly prattle on, the longer you delay the inevitable."

"Tough words... Okay, fine: Kill me!" The boy stretched out his hands. "If you want to end this, then strike me down right here! You'll never take me alive, so prove to the citizens of Gamindustri how bloodthirsty you tyrants really are!"

Without flinching, the SMD warrior took out her... twin pistol scissor blades? That's what I'm callin' them now... and fired two shots at the base of the villain's feet. Wait, so how do those even work in the first place? How can black scissors shoot at all? Does she channel her inner energy and project it out of basic household objects? Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out as we go along.

"S-Shit!" With a somewhat-childish yelp, the boy fell back on his ass.

Noire grinned at the brown-haired young man she had grown to detest nearly a year ago. "Hey, how'd you like that, you freak?"

Even Chika joined in on the gloating. "That look suits you well!"

Adrian, still sitting, hid his red face from the teasing girls. They... were laughing at him. Here he was, the leader of a rebel group, holding the most power he ever had... and the enemy was picking on him like a schoolyard bully.

... Well, that stopped now. Time for these horrible women to die.

"... Go to hell, all of you!" Jumping up with as much energy as he could muster, the boy closed his eyes and gripped the tome and the orb tighter than ever before.

Cave scowled even further and shot another energy blast, using her blade as a makeshift pistol. The projectile seemingly bounced off an invisible barrier surrounding the boy; is the orb and tome protecting him? Guess he learned from that headshot earlier.

Unperturbed, Adrian's mind focused on finding each and every Yellow Bandana supporter on the mountain... Ah, he could sense them now! He could see the sea of yellow; could hear the voices of the men chatting amongst themselves; could feel their desire to defeat the enemy and achieve true freedom.

... In his mind's eye, he could see himself physically picking up the army of peasants, carrying them all with one hand as if he were a giant... no, a GOD. Now, all he had to do was drop them onto the altar, and...

"Er, do any of you guys feel that?" IF asked hesitantly, taking out her blades as the mountain began shaking yet again (again). Huh, well, I don't see anything moving, so it can't be an earthquake or a rock slide like last time... Hey, I know Adrian was just imagining moving all those people, but you don't suppose that he's actually... well, you know?

The leader began smiling like a true freak. "... You had your chance to kill me... Now lay down and die!" Straight out of a sci-fi movie, some kind of portal appeared where the pillar that held the tome once stood. A large white flash shone out, blinding everyone.

"Tch!" "The heck is that?" "It's like lookin' into Neptune's brain!" "Hey, I heard that!... Ooh, you're kinda right." "Close your eyes, idiots!"

Crap, even I can't see a thing going on... Luckily, this light isn't overtaking this booth I'm in like the one that launched the highschool world a while ago... Guess things could be worse.

The blinding flash soon faded, and our heroines were once more allowed to see more than a centimeter in front of them... Er, but the sight didn't please anybody.

"... Crap." IF and Noire blurted out, while everyone else simply stared in awe... For you see, Adrian didn't just imagine himself moving a bunch of peasants up here to this crowded mountain peak.

"Where are we?" "How did we...?" "I-It's a miracle!"

... He actually did bring a bunch of peasants up here. Only about a hundred out of the thousands, but still...

The leader tightened the yellow bandana around his head even further, grinning like a mad man. "Kill them, children! When all else fails... ATTACK!" And at once, all the confused peasants rose their weapons high and cheered, before dashing towards the small group.

The girls all exchanged understandable worried looks. "Guess we can't run past them all this time..." Lyrica whispered sadly, Cave instantly attempting to offer a comforting hand for her shoulder.

Vert grunted in response. "We can do this! Remember, no weapons! We can take them all non-lethally as we run for that tome!" Yeah, good luck with that.

Everyone nodded, though not too resolutely.

As earlier that day, countless amounts of villagers charged forth. Chika was the closest to the spawning enemies, so she wasted no time and ran straight for them. Several spears swung downwards, and she bobbed to the right and smacked one man with an uppercut before turning around and kicking another straight on his back. Basic stuff.

Noire leapt into the fray, not wanting to be left out like last time. Although she was unarmed, she stood as if she were holding a rapier and waited for any potential attack to come her way. Over the course of the day, the peasants hadn't gotten any better at strategy, so they politely approached the tsundere one-by-one. "Too easy! Hyah!" Yeah, they didn't stay standing for long.

As the CPU's group made a mockery of the massive herd of villagers, Adrian simply shook his head. "Dammit... I can't trust anybody... How am I supposed to kill these villains if my army is as effective as... well, nothing?" Still refusing to personally kill, huh? "Heh, well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve..."

His thoughts were interrupted by a surprise outburst. "Nep-Nep!" What the? Why, I know that innocent voice! "We've come to help, Nep-Nep!"

The purple-haired ditz's eyes immediately lit up from their dimmed state that Adrian had caused. "C-Compa!" Indeed; the other party had finally managed to regroup with the main one. Neptune ran over to greet the nurse-in-training at once.

"H-Huh? H-Holy crap!" IF, too, didn't take long before sprinting over to her best friend. "C-C-Compa!" Nearly breaking down in tears, the brunette hugged the pink-haired girl tighter than her sweater. "I-I was so freakin' worried!"

The medic hugged her two friends, her warmth a nice change of pace. "I-I was worried too! I-I'm so sorry..."

"N-No! Don't apologise! I'm just glad yer safe..."

"Yeah! You're my girl, Comps!"

"I-Iffy... N-N-Nep-Nep!" Such a touching scene... Almost makes you forget the battle 'raging' on in the background... Oh wait, that's just this horribly bland script. Come on, I could write more exciting scenes!

... Maybe I shou- No, never mind...

Noire knocked down yet another sweating peasant, and turned to look at the approaching Natalie Hail. "Oh, hey! Glad to see you all are safe."

The female soldier smiled lightly, the brightest she appeared all day. "Thanks, my Lady! We held the enemy off without any casualties... Er, well, the fat one from Leanbox is in serious condition, but that nurse girl has been keeping him stable."

"Ah, I... see... Well, if you have any fight left in you, we'd really appreciat-"

"Got it." The woman with the shaven head shot Cratus a thumbs up, and the bald man grunted in understanding.

"The leader is among this pathetic rabble. Let us claim his head by sundown!"

Femme shook his head and fastened his gloves around his hands. "Hmph, I don't need your approval to kick ass. Let's go!" And the seven bodyguards marched into the fight.

Oh, but that's not everyone, remember? "... So, do we, like, show ourselves? I don't really think I'm in any fighting shape right now..." Nepgeo whispered to the alchemist, whose eyes were half-lidded beneath her giant hat. The purple-haired imposter was left in charge of the passed out Hank East... because shit, they couldn't just keep him lying in the dirt.

"... Gust not sure. Would ruin moment if we interrupt... Also missing staff."

"This sucks, Chump." What great initiative, guys.

Well, at least it seems Nisa isn't intent on staying quiet. "Siiiiiiiiiiisssstttteeeeeeerrrr!" BAM! POW! BONK! A peasant who displayed an odd sense of initiative by sneaking up to the hugging girls was flung high into the air by a dramatic kick... How'd he get by everyone else? Question these plot holes, people!

Neptune was none the wiser, though the sound of the man crashing back into the earth snapped her to attention. "Hm? Oh, Nisa! How's mah favorite heroine hangin'?" At the ditz's ditzy words of ditzy-ness, IF likewise turned and smiled at the guest appearance.

The blue-haired symbol of justice shot her arm dramatically through the air. "I am most fine, my dear sister-in-arms! I am here to help!"

"Coolio! We could prolly use a couple of extra fighters... A thousand more would be much better, though." In the fray, Bimmy somehow found himself surrounded by three soldiers. Unarmed... er, un-egged, he could only back away in utter fright. "See? That there's my bodyguard." Uh... Is Neptune snarking?

Er, anyways... IF nodded in agreement. "Speakin' of which, we should probably get back in there before this gets too out of control." She lightly pat Compa's shoulder. "We'll handle this, Comps. Go find some place to rest. You've been through enough already."

But the nurse didn't take that sitting down. With a determined air about her, she shook her head. "No! I-I can fight too, Iffy! Please, I want to help!"

The brunette was about to completely shoot down the determined girl... but the look in her eyes clearly showed how much she wanted this. And if there's one thing IF could never do, it was deny Compa what she desired. "... Crap, fine... But, don't strain yourself, okay?"

"Tee hee, I'll be fine!"

This sudden development brought a wide smile to the purple-haired ditz's face. "Awesomesauce!" There it is. "This is, like, the ultimate reunion of the original three, yo! Hey, Noire!"

The tsundere knocked yet another idiot down, and she turned to look at her fiancée. "Huh? Yeah?"

"You're my waifu! Join us, babe!"

"Er, I'm a little busy here! Why don't you join ME over HERE!?"

The three friends looked at each other. "Ooh, good idea! Let's go, ladies!"

"Alright Nep-Nep!"

"Heh, let's do this."

Trio the Beryl

At once, the three friends of Planeptune split off and dashed head-long into battle, yadda yadda ya. A full-on clash was well underway... A one-sided clash, that is. The peasants were simply no match.

"Yup, oop, tally ho!" Neptune danced around a few incoming peasants, spewing out random quotes that wouldn't be caught dead in her list of dubbed battle lines. "Woo-hoo, how's your sister!?"

A few peasants clumped together, horrified at the ditz's actions; they must think she's summoning some evil voodoo magic or something. "O-Oh nooooo! W-What do we do!?"

"I-I don't know... S-Swing at heeeeeeerrrrrrrr!" And swing they did; the horrified men swung their rusty swords in every direction, hoping to score a hit. That's quite the dangerous sentence.

"Woah dudes, that's no way to treat a lady!" Neptune gloated as she duck and slid out-of-the-way of each strike. Coming from anyone else, you'd think she was mocking them... but this is Neptune; she's probably being fully sincere. "Can't we all be friends?" Swoosh! Duck. "I'm not a bad girl!"

The peasants, in all their fright, still refused to let up on their supposed ideals. "S-S-Silence, you... you tyrant!" The "T" word halted Neptune's joyful skipping, and a dejected look took up her innocent face, pretty much like a puppy who couldn't get that snack. "T-This is all your fault! M-My family has nothing to eat because of you!"

"Y-Yeah! I-I've been living in the dirt!"

"My village's well has dried up! We have no water!"

The barrage of comments blindsided the purple-haired ditz. Now, she meant no malice in the slightest, as I'm sure you could guess with her happy-go-lucky attitude... but, hearing all these negative things... well, frankly she couldn't even imagine anything of the sorts. The thought of people starving, hurting, desperate for aid... well, it was an alien concept to this girl, who up until recently had only thought of Noire, food, and having fun. People... blamed her? For being a bad goddess? For not offering any aid in times of need?

For being a tyrant, thirsty to appease only herself?

"Nep, watch out!" The brunette's call from somewhere snapped Purple Heart's mind back to the action, where three spears were jutting right for her eyes. The girl had just enough time to lean her head back and stumble a few inches backwards, the weapons missing their targets... mostly. One lucky spear grazed the girl's neck, drawing a slight spec of blood.

"O-Ow!" the ditz yelped, instantly reaching for her neck. "W-What was that for? C-Can't we all just be... friends?"

The bold peasants, among the first to actually draw blood from the enemy, readied their weapons for a more decisive blow. "Why? So you can further destroy our lives? Die, monster!" The spears thrusted towards our designated heroine, causing poor Neptune to trip over her own ankles and fall flat on her butt. "Kill her!" The three men leapt up, gravity directing their weapons straight for the tyrant's heart.

"Oh no ya don't!" Wham! A blur of a dark blue jacket flew across Neptune's gaze and collided with the bloodthirsty men, sending them crashing hard on the rocky ground. Rubbing out any creases that formed on her clothes, IF dashed over to her friend and reached her hand out. "What the hell were you doing, Nep? They were gonna kill you!"

Neptune's eyes displayed a peculiar look of uncertainty that rarely, if ever, surfaced, and she looked up into the brunette's eyes. "Am I... bad, Iffy? I thought I was the main character! Main characters aren't... supposed to be... b-bad."

The battle-hardened veteran crossed her long-sleeved arms. "The heck is this coming from? Look, these guys are brainwashed by that Adrian guy; you can't take everything they say to heart... Now c'mon, stand up! Compa's kicking more ass than us right now."

Indeed she was. The two directed their attention to a little over to the left, where the nurse-in-training was swinging her enormous syringe. "I'm sorry!" Whack! "P-P-Please forgive me!" Thwack! "D-Don't try this at home!" Slam! "M-Milk leads to strong, healthy bones!" Pow!

"Heh... Y-You're right, Iffy... L-Let's get back into this whole shebang!"

"Just don't say things like shebang, and you got it!" Back into the fray... Well, what was left of it. You see, those three spear-users showed astounding initiative, which sorta rose the peasants' morale. However, seeing them get disposed of rather quickly by a single kick kinda buried their positive attitudes.

"Yep, we're doomed." "But we can't just give up!" "Why won't Pale Heart help us?" "Why won't Lord ADRIAN help us?"

A bunch of the Yellow Bandana soldiers embraced the full-on 'abandon ship' mentality... and started running past the CPUs and down the mountain. Guess I can't blame them really.

... Standing way in back, trying their best to blend into the crowd of heroes, were of course Almaz and Rei, looking like the most awkward wallflowers you could ever see. They narrowly avoided being pushed by the retreaters, and being Yellow Bandanas themselves up until a few minutes ago, seeing all the cowardice sure was striking. "G-Guess we made the right choice after all, Rei."

The glasses-wearing girl nodded, but with a sad twinkle in her eye. "I just wish we could help them... M-Master Adrian said he'd help everybody, but now... who will?"

"... I..." But Almaz had no answer. Was there an answer? All the two could do was sit and watch their former allies get humiliated by the "heroes."

...

Er, at the same time, Mina and Histoire watched the boatload of men flee in terror as well. "Wow... this sure is going rather smoothly. I take it we shouldn't prosecute the supporters?"

The tome clutched her chin thoughtfully. "No, the peasants aren't to blame... But, this is going too smoothly for my comfort zone. We need to get to that Adrian fast."

"On it," Cave replied from off to the side, tossing a man off the scaffold back to the dirt of the mountainside. Unarmed as most everybody else, the SMD Warrior cracked her knuckles and looked straight ahead. Beyond the mass of peasants that still had yet to flee, she could see the brown-haired young man of interest, standing as still as a statue. Just needed to clear out a few more Yellow Bandanas, and the leader would have nothing separating the two parties... unless he summoned up his followers again, but they'd most likely just flee again anyways.

The warrior next looked over to 5pb., who couldn't really find a place to help out. IF, Compa, and Neptune were doing pretty well on their own, Noire was just messing with people at this point, and the bodyguards, Blanc, Vert, Nisa, and Chika were holding a contest to see who could knock over more soldiers. The pop idol felt like a third wheel, frankly... Hm, well, maybe more like 100th wheel. However, she sensed a prickling sensation on her neck, and turned to find Cave looking right at her. "O-Oh, Cave! How are you holding up?"

The red-head smiled. "I've faced warp pipes stronger than this whole army... You?"

"H-Hehe, I-I'm fine! I just wish I could help more..."

Help more... A most delicious idea struck Cave at that moment. IF was busy fighting with her friends over there... A perfect opportunity to spend time with Lyrica (no matter the length or context) had arrived! "Hmm... Well, I was just planning to send these last rebels packing and end this useless debacle... Would you care to join me?" A smooth hand reached out to the blue-haired girl, who promptly blushed.

"Y-You trust me to help fight with you? I-I'm not the best at this you know..."

Another smile on the warrior's serious face. "Of course I trust you, Lyrica. There's no one I'd rather have on my side than you." Damn, where is this coming from? Trying to pull off the whole smooth criminal façade?

Well, whatever the case, 5pb. sure seemed flattered. "C-Cave... Okay! Then... let's do it!"

"Yes, let's... Alright, stick close!" With a single nod of her head, the two were off, dashing straight into the crowd of remaining peasants. Even with a pathetic army, this would be suicide if anyone but Cave was leading this charge.

The crowd noticed the speeding SMD Warrior and began panicking. "O-Oh crap!" "W-Who is that!? S-She's as fast as a CPU!" "W-Well... she's not a CPU! J-Just one of their bastard friends!" "Then... k-kill her! Before she gets us!" Pleasant peasants... Yeah, I won't do that again, don't worry.

Into the final flood of armed soldiers. A group of swords sliced towards the sophisticated warrior, but such pathetic attacks could not stop her; Cave contorted out of the swords' reach, and reached her right hand out to grab one of the weapons. Hand firmly gripped around the blade, she leapt a small inch off the ground and spun a clean 180 degrees to the right, taking the weapon (and its user) for an unexpected trip. Right before her feet touched the ground, Cave released the weapon from her amazing clutches, and the peasant went flying into a few other men.

Lyrica was always enthralled by seeing her friend in action, but she knew she couldn't just gawk all day. While the peasants were distracted, she took out her guitar, kissed the body, and swung it like a baseball bat. "I-I apologize! Please don't act up like this!" she called as she FWACKED! an unsuspecting spear-user clean off his feet. Holy... that guitar may be stronger than my freakin' halberd... Nah, probably not. This thing is heavy... Not that I can hold it right now, though...

W-Wait, who's saying anything about a halberd!? N-Not me, that's for sure!

...

C-Cave smirked at Fivey's success, and continued to rain havoc on the last of the rebels. Her attacks were beginning to resemble ballroom dancing more and more, with her taking her opponents' hands and flipping them over or tossing them through the air like a congratulatory rose from the crowd. "Hyaaah! Hrgh!" Another second, another body flying through the air. Huh... so Cave is what you'd call a 'tank.' "Who's next?"

Like lamb to the slaughter, another rebel rubbed his sword's blade with the yellow piece of cloth around his head before rearing it back and charging. "I-It's no use! T-T-Take this!" The sword lunged forward, perhaps looking threatening to a small child. However, the red-head smirked at such a feeble strike! As the man grew closer, she took a small side-step to the left, raising her right foot in the process. The assaulter had no chance to react; his stomach crashed into her fashionable white boot, taking all the air straight out of his lungs. Defeated, he collapsed, and Cave cracked her knuckles again.

"Is that all?"

The last few men remaining at this point could barely find the strength to stand; some even dropped their weapons, the steel banging against the rocks. "S-She's a monster!"

The SMD Warrior's right eyebrow raised slightly. "Monster?"

The peasants nodded, sweat dripping down their foreheads. "M-Monster! Y-You're not human!"

"She's the devil!" "She'll kill us all! Hell, I bet she'll enjoy every second too." "Bitches like you don't deserve anything!" "It's no use; a beast like her doesn't give a shit about us."

Much like Neptune earlier, something inside Cave... well, resonated I guess with those words. Something certainly struck a sour chord.

"... Mon... ster?" The warrior was so dazed that she didn't notice the remaining peasants take their leave of this ill-fated rebellion, nor did she notice her friends all step forward. 'Monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, monster, mon-'

"You have nowhere to run now, villain!" Nisa shouted, a pointed finger piercing through the dry air. "It's just you against all my sisters!" Femme's gruff voice grunted somewhere behind her. "... Er, and my not-sisters... G-Give up now, and we may just forgive these atrocious actions!"

Lady Green Heart took the spot next to the heroine. "Nisa is right. There is no reason to fight any longer; we can and will defeat any and all dangers you throw at us. You can only benefit by surrendering, so please, be rational here."

Adrian, still standing as still as a monument, began chuckling. "So, you've come this far, and still you understand nothing!" The boy shook his head. "What have you proved today? That you can beat up innocent, starving citizens of Gamindustri? That with your strength and 'bonds,' you can bully anyone that speaks their mind and says something that YOU don't like? Well, congrats! You've proved I was right all along... That all of us were right all along!"

Blanc gripped her massive hammer, and with a snarl, said "Say what you want jackass; you're the ones who attacked us first."

Noire nodded. "An Arfoire-created monster accusing US of being in the wrong? Please."

The brown-haired young man's laughter still grew, seemingly unaffected by the goddesses' infuriating words.

Neptune stepped up next, her eyes locked on her shoelaces. "Aidrey... Why? Can't we be, like, two-pea-cans-in-a-pod again? Hows about we drop this whole 'tyrant' business, kay, and skip on off this mountain and get a big pretze-"

"SILENCE!" the leader of the Yellow Bandanas suddenly shouted, his voice echoing for miles around. "Just, for once, please stop acting like a stupid total piece of shit! Don't give me your idiotic babble! You're the worst of them all, Neptune! At least the other bitches are simply incompetent at helping out the people! You, however... you are a disgrace who is a liability to every single being around her! How you remember to breathe is beyond me. The fact that Arfoire created me to seduce YOU? It makes me sick. Whoever decided you should be a goddess deserves to rot in the deepest pits of Hell... Well, maybe not the deepest; that's reserved solely for you."

The ditz's jaw simply dropped, and Noire stepped in front of her with her sword drawn, as if to protect her fiancée. "I always knew you were a monster... One last warning, freak! Surrender, and I won't be able to kill you."

The brown-haired young man nodded his head, chuckling to nobody but himself. "You do know that I have a tome of unlimited magic in my hands, right? I can do whatever I want! I could even reduce this mountain to rubble!"

"Then do it." Vert hissed, her arms crossed. "... Well? We're waiting."

Adrian's near-soulless eyes bore deep into Lady Green Heart's skull, and an aggravated response slowly worked its way up his throat... but was halted as soon as he spotted a most unexpected sight way behind the busty goddess. A glimpse of familiar brown hair. "... Almaz?"

At once, everyone turned. Way in back, the timid brother and Rei instantly recoiled. "W-Wah!?"

Cold eyes, losing even more light. "Almaz?... Here to help, my dear brother? Here to make up for all the shit you've dragged in from outside?"

"... B-Bro! Um, I-I-I was... Er, Rei and I were-"

The leader's face remained frozen the entire time, his voice calmer than the dead wind. "Let me guess: the mean bad army took you hostage? You were too afraid to run with the other followers? Worried that... these awful women would hunt you down. Torture you? Kill you?"

Almaz exchanged the usual quick glance with Rei, and rubbed the back of his head. "Y-Y-Yeah! TTTTTThat's exactly right! R-Rei and I were cccccaptured, bbbbbbbro!"

More nodding. "Is that so? Okay... But, Almaz... there's something bothering me."

"Y-Y-Yes!? W-W-What!?"

"I don't see you in cuffs, brother."

As Adrian continued to stare ahead as empty and far as a war-scarred veteran, Almaz's heart sank. "Er... A-A-Adrian, I can exp-"

The leader of the Yellow Bandanas raised his right hand, pointing a finger straight at his brother's friend. "You... You did this, swine."

"W-Wha!?" Rei yelped, bringing a horrified hand to her horrified mouth.

"I knew we should never have accepted you, you wench. Such a worthless pile of crap... All of this is your fault! And now, you've turned my own brother against me!" The pointed finger turned into a tightly clenched fist. "You floozy harlot! I'm going to destroy you! Die! DIE! DIE!" A quick mumble under his breath, and a burning-red ball of fire shot from the boy's fist and right towards the frightened silver-haired girl. Helpless, she could only look on towards her impending fiery demise, but fortunately, Nisa dived straight into her to make the save. All eyes were greatly distracted, and Adrian began floating during the mass surprise, a purple barrier forming around him.

Cave, by now, had overcome the initial shock of the 'monster' title. "S-stand tall. Be prepared, everyone!"

"W-What's he doing now?" Noire muttered, taking a quick step back. The rest of the party did the same, everyone already clutching their weapons.

Kei sighed. "Why does this always happen? We never take the initiative to stop the impending boss fight. At least I have an excuse, but the rest of you are fighters." No response to the oracle's incredibly sane words.

Unconcerned with such trivial stupidity, Adrian closed his eyes and brought the "Crucial Codes' directly to his face. "Infinite... Fury!" Ding! The sound of a correct code being entered rang out, sounding much like a kitchen bell... I've said that before, certainly. "Heh heh heh... Eat this, scum! Hyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaah!"

A bright white light overtook the mountaintop yet again... only this time, a portal to lord knows where didn't show up. No, something different, if not worse, happened instead.

"What the!?" "So the report was true!?" "You mean he can actually...?" "... Damn."

The boy was now no longer the same in appearance as well as sanity. His purple eyes had transformed into a brilliant yellow, brighter than the likes you'd see on a neon billboard in the big city! His short brown hair was also a thing of the past, now a softer shade of brown, and reaching far below his shoulders while being spinier than a hedgehog's back up top. Finally, a brand new set of fashionable dark orange robes adorned the leader's person, giving him the appropriate visage of a wise religious sage.

The left corner of Adrian's lips curved upwards. "Surprised?"

IGNITION

At long last, Adrian's "HDD" form had finally graced the mountainside with its holy splendor! Our heroes could only look on, amazed beyond mere words!

The boy laughed, crazed beyond compare. "You like it? I am now a CPU! But, unlike you failures, I am graced with Pale Heart's strength... So, I'm ten times stronger than all of you put together! Hahaha!" A slight tug of his long right sleeve. "... Now, time to kill off a useless harpy. Then, the rest of you."

The two parties next found themselves in a stare down; one transformed insane rebel staring down a mass group of CPUs, their warrior friends, gun-wielding bodyguards, and generally just a lot of people who'd enjoy seeing him dead. Stare, stare, stare, sta-

"GRRYAAH!" Flash! Adrian's right fist suddenly found itself encircled around the delicate neck of Rei Ryghts, the poor girl too stunned to attempt a surprised cry. Almaz's instincts kicked in, and he brought back his right fist to attempt an uppercut he saw a hero on TV use once. Charging, charging, go! The heroic fist shot upwards, straight into Adrian's now-extended left hand. He clutched Almaz's fist tight and tossed him to the side like an empty wine bottle, sending him straight into Bimmy Hatchet.

The light in Rei's eyes began to dim, and the grinning boy's face before her started to blur. "Unhand her, villain!" Nisa arrived (again! Go, Nisa!) next to aid the former villains, leaping up and delivering a beautiful kick of holy justice directly to the fake CPU's back. It did little to harm him, but it did cause his head to turn and look at the heroine.

"You expect to save her like that?! Useless shi—" Adrian was abruptly cut off by a spear whacking him across the back of his head like a club. In a flash, his grip on Rei was ripped away as he smashed into the ground. The young woman immediately reached for her throat, perhaps to make sure it was still there, and then quickly ran over to the downed Almaz.

The leader, meanwhile, leapt right up and found himself face-to-face with Vert. The goddess spoke. "We are not afraid of you."

"Well... You should be." The boy made a karate-chop motion with his right hand, and Vert's legendary spear Gungnir was struck by an unseen blade, sliding her back a few feet. This time his left hand chopped the air, and the CPU had the good fortune to duck while also raising her weapon, the invisible blade narrowly missing her scalp.

"Fighting unfairly, I see." A swing of the spear met a nonexistent wall. "Still relying on tricks... Pathetic." Vert now pushed her spear against whatever it was that the enemy was using... A dramatic weapon clash scene where I can't see what exactly is clashing. Perfect.

Adrian grimaced, pushing his right hand forward, applying pressure to the hold. "I only care about getting what the people want. Break a few rules? No problem." Clink! "As if you've never done the same."

The untransformed Green Heart's scowl slowly morphed into a light grin. "... You're right: I don't play fair either." And on cue, Noire sliced forth with her rapier, catching Adrian's shoulder before he could slide out of harm's way. Blood seeped forth from the wound; no matter what he thought, the leader was far from unstoppable.

But the heroes didn't stop there; they had spent all day just standing around, after all. Blanc gladly took out her mallet, and with a bloodthirsty malice to her smile, heaved the heavy blunt instrument into the boy's side, sending him through the air like a missile. He flew right to where Saturn Shiro and IF stood at the ready.

"Ready... NOW!" the man of few words spouted, and on cue, he and the battle-hardened veteran launched a punch straight into the incoming rebel's face... O-Ow, geez. Surely that hurt them just as much as it did him?

Adrian bounced on the stone ground, taking a rather nasty fall on his back. Fortunately for him, his transformed state kept his bones from being reduced completely to dust, but man, would he feel this in the morning.

... If he lived to see tomorrow morning.

The downed boy blinked a few times, taking in what he figured to be his last glimpses of sunlight from outside of a coffin. Blood seeped from his nose and slowly inched its way into his partially open mouth. The faint taste of iron... So invigorating. So... inspiring.

With a quick wipe of his finger across the blood, which promptly began sizzling, Adrian sat up... and found himself looking into the concerned eyes of Neptune. "Aidrey, please don't do this! C-Can't we be coolio again? This can't be what you want?" An almost-uncharacteristic helping hand. "Come on Aidrey! Pwease~?"

An enticing thought, being friends with Neptune... The ditz failed to realize two things, though: his whole original intended purpose for existing was to seduce her and then suck out her soul. More than that now, however... Adrian no longer gave a shit.

"... Screw you!" Sching! The blood on his finger shot off like a bullet, now a red icicle. Noire and Nat Hail made the save just in time, knocking the shocked Purple Heart to the ground. Adrian leapt back up to his two feet. "You don't get it... Did you not hear me before? You tyrants deserve to burn, burn, burn!" His right fist became a literal fire-ball, and he punched towards the empty space above the group of three.

The twintailed goddess was the first to stand up after the save, and was met with a chestful of flames. With a grunting "Ooomph!", the tsundere was shot to the ground.

"N-Noire!" Adrian ignored Neptune's cries and shot another fireball in her direction. A quick roll to the left thanks to Nat perhaps saved the ditz's face. The rebel leader wouldn't stop there, though; he had to humiliate everyone who had humiliated him!

A snap of the fingers later, and he was behind the battle-hardened veteran, grabbing her by her long brown hair. "S-Shit! Get offa me!" IF retracted a blade from her long sleeve and jabbed it behind her head repeatedly. One swoosh, miss. Second swoosh! Miss. Third swoosh! Miss. Fourth swoosh!

"Gah!" A graze of the neck, and the rebel leader let go, delivering a quick kick with his left foot into Shiro's shin before snapping his fingers again. "You bitches are so annoying, all of you!" A punch to the air, sending forth yet another flaming projectile, this time towards Chika. However, Lady Green Heart leapt forward and swat her spear, hitting a home run with the flame and deflecting it right back to the boy. Adrian himself smacked it off to the left, the missile dispersing as soon as it hit the ground.

Vert nodded resolutely. "We haven't even engaged HDD yet, and we can outmatch you in every regard. It is foolish to continue this awful joke." Yeah, please kid; this chapter is getting worse and so, SO much longer by the second.

The leader of the Yellow Bandanas wanted to speak, but could find no words. These cocky, arrogant assholes... were right. He didn't stand a chance one-on-one, let alone against everybody at once. They were stronger, and they absolutely knew it. And, like the tyrants they were, they would rub that fact in his face until it became embedded in his skull.

... But wait, the "Crucial Codes" has more than just simple things like fire and ice attacks, right? It has much more than basic offensive maneuvers which merely cause pain...

If he got creative... perhaps he could use something wholly unexpected to hurt these witches? But first, he'd need a distraction; everyone was staring at him, unsure of where he might teleport to next. If he began reading from his book for more than just the time it took to enter a high-powered cheat, they would presumably jump him... if they had any brains at all.

He needed an army again, if just for a few moments. 'The ghost soldiers... I used the lite version earlier, and that did jackshit, but maybe the full version...'

"Well? No response at all?" Lady Vert egged on, her spear showing no fear.

Blanc joined in on the gloating with pleasure. "What a big bad rebel you turned out to be."

Neptune (along with Compa) was too busy making sure Noire was alright to say anything, but I doubt she'd be able to say much anyways. Her eyes didn't look as chirp or bubbly as they always do.

All Adrian could do was smirk, tighten the cloth around his head further, and laugh. "Fine, you're not content with me? Then, here, have some more toys to play with!" A masterful instant turn to the controller page of the tome, and a few button presses later, that familiar DING! rang out again.

Cave sighed. "What now?" She firmly clutched her scissors, with her free hand held out as if to block Lyrica behind her from any incoming danger.

"He heh heh... You've already tormented the living. Now try the DEAD!" Expecting more phantoms to pop up from nowhere like they had last time, the brown-haired young man was thoroughly disappointed when... well, absolutely nothing happened. "... Er, anytime now, guys." Man, this is turning into a bad comedy sketch.

IF aimed her sleeves at the enemy. "That all you got? Book ran outta juice, huh?" It was then that the brunette's right ankle was forcefully clenched by something from below. "W-What the!? S-Something's got me! Crap, get off!"

Everyone gathered around the brunette, examining her feet. "U-Um, t-there's a hand gripping you, I-IF!" Lyrica cried, the grayish hand emerging from the rocks obviously having a negative effect on her psyche. "S-Stand still!" And, lacking any time to think, the pop idol proceeded to kick the hand.

"Y-Yow!"

"I-I'm sorry, Iffy!" Well, this is certainly... pragmatic?

A few well-placed kicks, and the hand eased its grip, allowing the brunette to slip free. Wow, how pathetic.

Blanc leaned in to look at the extremity. "The hell? It kinda looks like a zombie hand... He can summon zombies now, too?" I don't know, I think even I'd be screaming at the TOP OF MY LUNGS if a zombie hand emerged from the rocks. These girls sure are calm... Or just fools.

Way out of sight, the recovering Hank East sighed, as if the "z" word affected him subconsciously, but Nepgeo and Gust ignored him, instead watching the peculiar fight unfolding. Wow, these two really aren't going to do anything productive in this chapter, huh? Why are they even here again?

Er, anyways, the arm was unexpected, but it had given Adrian exactly what he needed: a distraction. All it took was a mere fortunate turn to one of the earliest pages to develop a most devious thought. ''Level Select'... Hmm... Up til now, the lite version of this code has allowed us to instantly travel around the globe... But, in games, is Level Select merely used for quick travel? No... No, in a way, it works sorta like time travel...'

Time travel?... Yeah, I guess he has a point. I mean, you go back to a previous point in the story, switching not only locations, but the time period as well. But, what does that... Wait?

The chuckling transformed boy flipped over to Page 42 (second nature by this point), where that glorious physics-defying game controller photo was proudly displayed. "Let's see here... This version goes like 'Right, Left, Down, Up'..." Dingidy-ding-ding! I can make it a song. "... Then I hold B... and finally..." A prepared finger hovered over the Select button on the horribly confusing and cluttered controller... huh, a perfect description for this chapter, actually...

In our crowd of heroines, however, more than just a hand had begun to form while the rebel read the cheat tome. "N-Noirey? T-Those are..."

"... A-A lot of zombies, yeah."

"This isn't good. I guess it goes without saying at this point, but weapons-free now, guys! Unload on 'em!"

Oh dear... Did this fic just say zombies!? Are we really so starved for ideas already that we've succumbed to the most tired thing in all forms of media?

... Huh, well, I guess zombies are still zombies; aka, scary things that bite. Not family friendly.

Adrian looked on, pure pleasure plastered on his face. "Oh my, this cheat is turning out better than I expected! Ghost Soldiers can produce freakin' undead corpses! Ha, try to beat that!"

Everyone watched the rising mounds of rotted flesh. Femme was the first to stop giving a crap; he took out his machine gun and began spraying the things with bullets... which promptly did absolutely nothing to slow them down... This was becoming quite the familiar sight for the Leanbox soldier. "... They're tough little buggers, eh? Today sucks." Up until now, he's never met a creature he couldn't blast to oblivion.

The same was true for everyone else. Noire would stab the things with her rapier like a mad women; Blanc would beat 'em like rotting, stinking pinatas; Cave would blast them with whatever the hell you want to call her scissors; Bimmy would wake up, look at the new enemies, and promptly pass out again; and even Lyrica and Compa would wail away on the things, using their peculiar weapons as lethal banging devices... Er, there had to be a better way for me to say that.

In sum... these zombies weren't going down. They were essentially the same as the ghost soldiers, except these actually gave the illusion that you could hurt them. Raising hope just to slash it back down. If it bleeds, you can kill it... and these things weren't bleeding.

Just about all eyes were somewhat-understandably on the fiends, giving Adrian all the time he needed. 'I'm not one for changing the past... but these bitches don't deserve to pick on me. If I can just go back a few minutes and summon these zombies from the start... Maybe then I can-' Slam! A forceful swing knocked the 'Crucial Codes' straight out of his powerful hands, the book flying through the air. It would be blasphemous for the hallowed, sacred tome- a holy object worth more than all human life on not only the planet, but several other unknown planets out there- to touch the dirty, filthy rocks on the ground, so the leader stumbled about like a surprised doofus to reach out for it. With another embarrassing fall, he caught it before it touched ground, but at the cost of landing on his face.

But who was the one who smacked the book silly, you ask? Go on, guess... I'll wait for yo- "I am not as easily distracted as the other CPUs. I can not allow you to pull off anymore schemes." Never mind, Vert's ruined my schtick. Man, just when you try to catch a little break and finally have some fun...

Adrian squinted his eyes, snarling at the untransformed Lady Green Heart, her Gungnir drawn and ready to dish out whatever it would take to win. In the background, the girls and side characters could only back away as more and more invincible corpses rose from nowhere, but they were the least of the boy's concerns right now. Here the goddess was, eyeing his every move and preparing to lash out the moment he did anything. All he had to do was press the Select button on the page-based "Ghost" controller, and he could send himself back to a mere few minutes ago, where none of this humiliation would happen...

... But where was the fun in that? You must understand, Adrian was... well, not in the right state of mind anymore, be it because of the "Infinite Fury" cheat (which if you remember from the last story, grants you immense strength, but at the risk of reducing your brain to that of a deranged sociopathic psychopath... Well, something like that, at least), or just from pure anger at his brothers failing him... or himself failing Isara.

But getting to the point... sure, he could try to send himself back and summon forth invincible monsters from the start... but then, this gloating version of Vert standing right here would never face her retribution. Sure, in his timeline, she'd cease to exist... but he wanted to destroy her. Not a Vert of the past, not the rest of the CPUs of the past, not the rest of all the horrible monstrous tyrants of the past... Adrian wanted to destroy the imbeciles right here, right now.

... He still had an idea in mind that would use the Level Select cheat, however.

A common image today, Adrian began chuckling like the maddest man of them all. And believe me, I know mad. "Lady Vert... I admit, you may just be the smartest goddess of the four. Incredibly lazy, but the most promising by far..." A cocky wag of his outstretched finger. "... I can't have that; that makes it worse, in fact! So much potential... yet you choose to be a pure monster to the people. A neglectful parent who tosses their child aside for booze or self-fulfillment."

Green Heart was not intimidated, maintaining her full composure while also raising her weapon a tad more. "Talk all you want. Who's the real monster here? You tried choking out an innocent woman; you speak nothing but empty words and vows. You're a fraud."

"... Guess I was wrong; you're an idiot," the leader laughed. His finger still hovered over the SELECT button, and his breathing was calmer than ever. "... I can't have idiots in this world... MY world... And you know what? This tome... gives me all the strength in the universe! I can get rid of anyone, in any way I want! I just have to get creative, heh heh..."

Now it was time for Vert's eyes to narrow. "What are you going on about? Do you want to fight, or shall I strike that book out of your hands again?"

The left side of Adrian's lips grew into yet another sly grin. "I don't want to erase you from this world entirely; no, we must learn from the worst figures of history. From the mistakes of the past..." Where is he going with this? "... But maybe in another world, you don't have to exist. Maybe... there's a world where you were... never born."

Green Heart glared for a moment, unsure of what to say... so she instead dashed forth with her spear on the forefront. The villain dissipated in the air right as the pointed tip reached his stomach. He appeared instantly behind her.

"No no no, haven't you learned a thing?" What a cocky sunova bitch. "I guess words won't sink into your dense skull... Maybe THIS will!" Ding! Staring daggers straight at the tyrant, Adrian finally pressed the SELECT button, and his right arm began to glow a peculiar neon-blue color, and a static effect I can't identify resonated around his odd limb. If I had to hazard a guess... electricity? "Take that!" Bzzrt! I was right! Straight from his palm shot out a neon-blue lightning bolt, tearing through the dead air.

"Ha!" Green Heart taunted, flashing to the side in a green mirage-like variation of Adrian's previous move. Outmatched, buddy boy... Come on, can someone just slap somebody already!? I am getting tired of this stalling and crap! "Much too slow!" Agreed!

The brown-haired young man wasted little time and blasted out another bolt, and another, and another! Vert is fortunately on her game you must admit, considering the crappy evening she had last night. The goddess met the bolts with a few more simple instant teleportations; the beams shot through the air and into the horizon, the complete opposite side from where the rest of the party was, for the record. Oh, speaking of them, Cave and Cratus had now taken to blowing up the zombies, but that did nothing to stall the magic bodies. They're clearly not doing nearly as well as the goddess here.

Adrian was losing patience. "Stand still, bitch!" Zap! Another bolt, another miss. "DIE!" Zrp, nothing.

"You'll have to try better than that!" Vert's... not the most original with her taunts and gloating, dear readers. I apologize.

But in any case, this was getting him nowhere fast. "... That's it..." Thus, in desperation, the boy switched tactics on the fly: he abandoned the safe distance between himself and the woman, and instead dashed right towards her with his right hand in front, and the tome lagging behind in his left. "I'll send you back to before you were EVEN BORN!"

Vert's eyes widened as the boy's hand grew ever closer to her face, and the neon-blue beam of death began to flow from his open palm, aiming straight for her eyes. On instinct, she raised her spear and swatted upwards, catching the glowing hand and knocking it off target... right as the lightning bolt Level Select blast of doom fired out, coiling itself around Gungnir. Green Heart had little time to react, for the lightning worked as expected: it flowed along the spear like the world's fastest snake and rode all the way into her awaiting fist... W-Wait, oh shit! What!?

The CPU's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her grip refused to loosen... H-Huh, w-what's happening? Not only to Vert, but... m-my head! W-What's happenin-

A sea of searing red flames, turning night into day. The fleet of ships are lit up with the intensity of a Thousand Suns. MY fleet.

Fire fire fire fire fire fire firefirefirefirefirefirefirefirefirefire

Chi-... Dearest Chika!? Is that...? "They've turned on us, Vert. All of them... they want us out of the picture. If we... If we stay like this... then all of us will die."

Smoke... Smokesmokesmokesmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmokefiresmoke

"You villain! I'll... I'll never forgive you!" N-Nisa!? How did this...

Hazy... Everything's hazy. I can't see a thing... IF? Chika!? W-Where have you go-

"So, you've come this far, and still you understand nothing! What have you proved today? That you can beat up innocent, starving citizens of Gamindustri? That with your strength and 'bonds,' you can bully anyone that speaks their mind and says something that YOU don't like? Well, congrats! You've proved I was right all along... That ALL of us were right all along!"

Foolish boy... Everything I do, I do in the best interests of everyone. You wouldn't understand... No, no one will understand. No one CAN understand.

"I'm... scared, Lady Vert... I need to make sure Lyree is safe."

Always with the unnecessary formalities... Stay with me, dearest IF, and you both will be in good, good hands.

"... Thank you, Lady Vert."

running where am i going i cant see a thing im scared too so scared help me someone please i cant do this help help home want to go home need to go home

"Even if the whole world turns against you... I will always remain by your side."

Even if the whole world burns, Chika? My dearest sister... What then?

liar liar liar get out of my head i can see you feel you no go away leave me alone no

Everything I do... is to help. I don't need people to understand... As long as I believe in my mission, then I can do anything. If need be... I will MAKE everyone understand me. Appreciate all I do for them. Help me build a better world.

"You can't do this!" But I can.

imfallingcantstandcantbreathedrowninggaspingchokingdyingdyingdyin-

A tombstone... IF. A tombstone... Chika. Why? Why did this...? Everyone betrayed me. Neptune, Noire, Blanc... My enemies. They turned on me; threw me out the window and to the curb. IF, Chika... I-I'm sorry. I couldn't... I couldn't save you...

... No, but I CAN save you, can't I?

The future... This is the future. This isn't a dream...

It's a vision.

The whole world, people I thought were my friends... They'll turn on me. Destroy everything I love.

soaringflyingsprintingdashingrunningwalkingcrawlingkneeling

A tombstone... Green Heart, savage. Beast. Monster. Dictator. Tyrant. Overlord. Devil.

... No! No no no no no no no no no no no no! I won't let that happen! I can't let that happen!

Stronger! I'll need to become stronger! Only then can I protect the ones I love.

From the world the universe the heavens the gods my fate my destiny

...

The sea of flames... In a way, it's kinda soothing.

...

...? Huh... Whew, the hell? Oh well... I think I'm back in my... bulky, humongous body.

... Okay, let's see here... O-Oh yeah, Adrian semi-blasted Vert with that Level Select lightning bolt, and...

Adrian, now back to his normal, human form, sat back with his right knee up, looking on with the biggest delighted wide-eyed expression he had ever worn. "Ha... hehaha...? Ha, I... I did it! I... I killed her!" Oh... Oh dear.

The crowd of girls eyeing the now-hundreds of zombies turned their heads at the brown-haired young man's arrogant laughter... and morale dropped faster than a lead weight.

IF and Chika, understandably, were the first to react. "L-Lady Vert!" "Verty!" Without any hesitation, the two ran right for the downed goddess, her eyes closed shut and her body still.

The brunette, shocked tears in her eyes, began to shake her dear friend's shoulders. "C-Compa! P-Please hurry!"

The medic wasn't far behind, halfway to IF when she called out. "I-I'm here! Let me take a look... N-N-Nobody panic!"

Cave blasted the zombies again to no avail, and tightly closed her eyes, trying to block out her own thoughts of her fallen friend. Neptune, likewise, couldn't even think of something to say for the second time that day. Vert... dead?

But no matter what, they couldn't focus on that now; there were still countless amounts of rising invincible dead things, and more spawning by the second. A clean escape would be impossible at this point, as they were blocking the way down. Only Gust, Nepgeo, the rat, and Hank could make it away at this rate, but they were too worried about Nisa especially to just abandon them all. Now, maybe the group could run through these things... but, seeing as they looked like zombies, no one wanted to risk getting bit, especially by magic zombies. Rock-hard magic zombies that mass-multiply and could probably withstand a nuke... this day turned south fast. Better than Adrian could have ever hoped.

So, the summit was becoming more crowded by the second, soon to risk overflowing off the entire mountainside... The girls need to figure out something, fast! Dammit, if only... I could... do... something... Oh, who am I kidding?

Adrian continued to chuckle at all the chaos that HE himself had started... but then, he noticed something important. "... Hm? That bitch must've caused me to de-transform when she slapped my damn hand. Hold on... Can't win without my HDD form engaged..." He reached for the cheat tome, which was no doubt stressed beyond belief by now. Surely all those zombies would wear on the book, wouldn't you think? Like, you can't constantly keep opening new web pages on your computer without closing a few, right?

...

But to the three girls screaming at the lifeless goddess, none of this mattered anymore. "No... Please, no... No! Vert!? L-Lady Vert!?" the brunette sobbed, refusing to let go of the CPU's shoulders.

The flames of disaster were ignited.

Tears streamed down Chika's face, her mind and body numb to everything. This was a dream, right? "S-She's not moving!"

Cave's heart skipped a beat, hearing her friend yell out with so much emotion... However, this way of thinking would get them nowhere. They would all end up like Vert if these things continued to corner them. "They're closing in... We can't hold them off forever! We must do something, fast!"

Things were dire; beyond repair, it seemed. They'd need a miracle to make it out alive.