[Chapter posted 6/28/2014]
"MRRRRFFF! MRRPFFF!" SLAM!
A hooded green-haired girl with oddly colored skin slammed a large wooden door shut, locking several familiar tied-up girls inside. She laced her fingers together and brought her hands to her mouth, perhaps contemplating some serious concern. After a minute, though, she shook her head.
"... This better be worth it, Judge." Ugh...
... Anyways, Underling swiped her hands across each other as she walked down the regal halls of Lowee's Basilicom, the portraits of White Heart and her sisters seemingly staring into the villain's soul. She just had to do this one thing, and Magic would finally, FINALLY be back in her life. A little kidnapping to do just that never hurt anybody.
... At least, that's what she kept telling herself.
"... How the hell will those brats get Magic back?... Though, it did feel good finally getting to see those two kids get their comeuppance for the hell they dragged us through on Christmas... even if Judge and that creepy guy did all the work." A turn here, a turn there, step step step, another turn... and viola, Linda found herself in the Basilicom's central lobby, where... ugh, HE stood at the ready.
The large... stupid-looking and not-at-all-cool black robot mech thing nodded at seeing his ally step in. "You've returned at last! Surely the incapacitated Candidates didn't present you with any problems?"
The girl shook her head. "H-Heh, nope, no trouble for me, sir! The black-haired brat started to wake up, but I doubt she even knew it was me... heh heh..." Not a lot of confidence there.
"I see... Great, then!" CFW... Judge cheered, his neon-blue eyes... er, not able to show joy or any emotion at all besides rage, really. "It pains me to abduct these girls, it really does... but if all goes to plan, we will get Magic back, and they will make it out unharmed as well!" Well, good for you... freak.
Underling nodded her hooded head; that mouse hoodie has done more in this fic series than Pirachu has. "A-Aye aye, CFW Judge, sir!... But, er, if you don't mind me asking... um, what is the game plan exactly? Who the hell s that Gan... Ganacheese creep? And, why did we need to tie up the Candidates, besides how fun it was? What's our end goal? How does this help Magic? How do we know if we won?" Frankly, I'm 157% with her on this; what the hell IS... Judge's plan?
The mech-like being stared at the much-smaller villain, his orbs of light analyzing her face. "... Dearest Linda, you ask too many questions. Trust me, that's all I can ask of you. Let me follow my grand design, and you shall soon see the bigger picture..." He paused for a moment, bringing a metallic hand to his over-sized chin area... Oh geez, he looks so dumb. "... Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky. Gives us free scope; only doth backward pull our slow designs when we ourselves are dull."
... Uh, what? "Uh, what?" See, I know her. Our dearest green-haired broad could only scratch her head in confusion... as is the case for I, quite frankly.
Judge made a sound which I can only presume is supposed to be laughter. "Just trust in me, dearest Linda! The way forward may be unclear and may seem completely impossible to grasp... but I know what it is that I am doing. Believe in my vision." Did... that explain anything of what he said before?
But, Underling is a smart-enough girl; she knew that was the most she'd ever get out of... her higher-up. "... Understood, CFW Judge, sir... I'll be walkin' around, I guess... Call me when I'm needed, or something..." With an awkward bow, the villain turned back into the hallway.
... Man, right about now, she seriously missed Nepgeo... Hell, she flippin' missed Nisa and Gust! "... Never thought I'd want to watch anime featuring girls with no pants so badly... Just gotta get through this, ya idiot. Do whatever this is, then Magic's free, then we'll join back up with Geo, and then... I don't know, we teach Magic how to seductively put clothes on other girls... Dear goddess, Nepgeo's made me into a pervert..." The girl continued to muse on down the hall, passing a door that she failed to notice was slightly open. Hmm... Ah, why the heck not? Let's see what's happenin' in here...
"You mentioned my NAME!?" Jade shouted... in a whispering tone... Just take my word for it, okay? "How dumb are you!?"
The boy the aristocrat was screaming at, none other than Ganache, nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Heh heh... Er, sorry?"
"Sorry won't cut it! No one can know I helped those... things in... I'm "entirely" on the side of the CPUs, remember?"
The glasses-wearing young man wore a dumb-looking expression on his face. "Uh, y-yeah, right, I know! I just... er, well, y'know..."
Had Jade had the powers of a CPU, he could've struck down his insolent colleague in one blow... But, until Singe finished that weapon he requested, such power would not be with him. He had to put up with this useless prick. "... Idiot, how the hell are you even an Avenir employee?..." Ganache raised his finger to speak. "No, no, don't... don't answer that... Just, don't screw anything up, okay? I promised you could deal with Blanc's girlfriend yourself when the time came... Be patient, and I'll make sure you get what you want."
The dark-brown-haired boy thought for a moment before nodding and flashing a thumbs up sign. "You can count on me, then! Oh, and I wouldn't worry too much, Jade; that purple-gray skinned chick barely remembers my name! I'm sure she's forgotten yours!"
"... You better be right." The aristocrat refused to take too many chances, though... When the game plan went into full swing, he'd just have to make sure to stay out of sight when Underling became a factor. "... Well, head on back out there. I'll be waiting in here for... the THING to send word."
"You got it... boss..." Hmm... I sense resentment not only coming from Jade, but also from Ganache. They seem like worse allies than Adrian, Almaz, and Alex. And you know, in that situation, one went insane, one betrayed said insane brother, and the third brother went AWOL.
... Well, whatever the case, this sure is weird. Jade said something about Ganache "dealing with Blanc's girlfriend"... Can't get more cryptic than that... Only, you can, by several degrees.
... And wait: Jade also said that no one can know he helped those "things" inside the castle... Things being Judge and Linda? That's not very nice; Linda's a woman, albeit one without human-looking skin. That... Judge thing can be called a, well, thing, but "things?"
... Hm, there's not... someone else here... is there?
...
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Now then... where were we? Oh yeah...
The scene atop the mountain could not be any more hectic. Enough zombies had spawned to make the whole area look like a grey lake if you just happened to be a passing bird. Worse yet, even with our brilliant and invincible protagonists, what with their explosives and their machine guns and their breasts of varying shapes and sizes, no one could stop these undead fiends. Bullet sponge zombies to the infinite power... Lovely. All the group could do was mass-fire at the things to hopefully slow down their movements towards the edge of the cliff.
Oh... And can't forget that Lady Green Heart was caught by an errant cheat code and has since been rendered... well, lifeless. The crying IF and Chika could attest to that.
And in this carnage, one boy stood back up, amazed at all he was responsible for. Victory was almost at hand... However, Adrian had one thing left over from the last chapter to do: Use the Infinite Fury cheat once again to restore his mock-HDD state, which had apparently left him after Vert struck his hand in her last moments of life.
"Here we go..." He needed to make this as dramatic as possible, though; you know, relish in the turning tides. "... You will all be like poor little Green Heart in a matter of minutes, everyone! I grant you one last chance to surrender before I deal the finishing blow!"
The boy's cocky words caused to two despairing girls to slowly turn their heads, death literally oozing from their eyes. Chika was the first to stand, and she began storming towards the murderer. "You... You ki... What did you do to MY VERT!?"
A monstrous grin from ear to ear. "You can't say it? Well, let me help you with that: I- KILLED- her. I killed your precious little Vert. She's D-E-A-D! Next... Here, I'll be kind; Hows about I let you join her right away?"
Chika didn't even reply; she clenched both her fists, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, lunged at the evil villain. Her right fist flew towards his face, but he hopped backwards, and the devastated oracle stumbled to her knees. He was simply toying with her; insolent humans like her could never hope to lay a solitary dirty digit on his holy being!
"C-Chika!" IF shouted, still busy shaking Vert like a bottle of chocolate milk. Compa beside her was busy panicking, trying to remember all that she learned in nurse school. I bet you none of her lessons would've covered a Level Select cheat code straight to the brain.
Adrian chuckled at the brunette's cries, then turned to look at the crowd of girls busy blasting away at the zombies. Cave was looking straight at him, but she couldn't just stop shooting to attack him, as her powerful blasts were one of the few things slowing down the invincible daemons. She could only stare bloody death towards the rebel leader.
However, one girl did begin heading in his direction: a blank-eyed Neptune.
The brown-haired young man shook his head, a light smirk on his lips that seemed to call the purple-haired goddess a full-blown idiot. "Neptune, come to surrender? Even you can't be this dumb." Chika took this moment to reach for Adrian's leg, but he kicked her in the face half-heartedly. The oracle grabbed her nose, and sobbed into her hand.
Neptune looked at Chika for a second, then slowly lifted her head up to her target. "Aidrey... W-"
"No, actually, don't say anything! I don't want to deal with any stupidity right now!"
In the crowd, the ever-annoyed Femme Sandiego stopped his fire for a second, and turned to take a potshot at the villain. The bullet hit yet another invisible barrier surrounding the boy. "... Yeah." Yeah.
Adrian ran a hand through his dirty-looking hair. "I win, Neptune. Plain and simple. In the end, justice always finds a way to win." With grand flourish, he lifted the tome in his left hand high above his head, twirling it in a circular motion, before bringing it before his face. "Now... before we conclude this pathetic game, I'd like to end it with some kind of bang! I'll show my only instance of kindness for you tyrants: I can win without my HDD, but to not hurt your egos too bad, I'll reclaim my rightful power as an heir to Pale Heart! Rest well knowing that you were all killed not by a mere human, but by a GOD!" Button press, button press, button press. Now for the confirmation button, and... "Revel in my divinity!"
Ignition mk2- BZZRT!
... Huh? Wait... Huh?
Adrian's grin remained, but his eyes began darting from left to right in sheer confusion. "Um... I'll try again... Submit!"
Ignition m- BZZRT!
IF, her eyes as blank as Neptune's, stared at the boy with her head cocked to the side. Chika, likewise, stared as she stood back up, wiping her mouth in the process.
"What's...? Come on... Again!"
Ignit- BZZRT!
Another press.
Ignit- BZZRT!
Another.
BZZRT!
Another.
BZZRT!
Neptune curiously tilted her head much like IF, and opened her mouth as if to say something.
BZZRT!
No longer did the brown-haired young man carry his look of confidence. "W-What are you doing!? Work, dammit! Do what I TELL YOU TO!"
BZZRT! BZZRT! BZZRT! BZ-... And then, an eerie silence overcame the whole mountaintop. The invincible zombies stopped moving, as if their software had completely frozen. The book made no more buzzing sounds, despite Adrian continuing to jam on the START button. Everyone, and everything, stopped making a single noise; it was as if the 'Crucial Codes' had sucked in all sounds.
Silence, silence, sil- BOOM!
With a deafening roar that could have pierced the heavens, all the noise in the universe seemingly erupted from the book, almost as if a mini-nuke had gone off in Adrian's hands. A wave of mysterious blue dust filled the air, reaching far enough to hit even Gust, Nepgeo, Hank, and the rat, who were hiding out of sight. Like a powerful shock-wave, everyone was knocked off-balance, even sending Cave to her knees. The three remaining CPUs, however, fared the worst; a searing pain resonated throughout their chests, and they promptly collapsed one-by-one, Neptune falling first possibly due to her close proximity to the tome. Holy shit, what's... happening? The blue dust is filling the air like a freakin' sandstorm! I can't see a thing... Can't see a damn thi-
...
... Oh... the dust is... gone...? It just... vanished?
The air became clear in just as much time as it took for it to fill with that weird... stuff. The confusing event done, Adrian slowly opened his eyes, finding himself flat on his stomach, and the cheat tome just an arm's-length away. With a strained effort, he clawed his way over to it.
A fair bit away, Cave unshielded her eyes and looked up, everything back to normal. Her first instinct was to look over to where 5pb. had stood just a few moments before. "Lyrica... Are you alright? You are not harmed, correct?"
The blunette pushed herself up and smiled lightly at the SMD Warrior. "Y-Yeah, I think I'm okay... Ow, head kind of hurts, but other than that...!" An uncharacteristic tight hug silenced the pop idol.
"Thank goddess..." A moment of relief passed by, but a sudden thought quickly rushed Cave back into reality. "W-Wait, the zombies! What are..." A confused Fivey watched as her friend jumped up and again armed herself, taking aim at... nothing. "... They're... gone?" Indeed they were, apparently. Not a single mass of rotting flesh remained... Did the book's magic... literally explode? Was I right last time when I guessed that the tome was overheating?
Everyone slowly stood, and promptly came to the same observation as the elegant warrior. "T-They're... g-g-g-gone?" Bimmy Hatchet sputtered, holding onto Saturn Shiro for support. "We... won?"
Sumas scowled, an impatient hand on her hip. "Well, that was... anticlimactic."
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Nisa called out, trying to rub away the headache the explosion left her with. "It is discouraging to not be able to dish out the ultimate justice, but at least we are all o-"
"Nisey!"
"W-Woah!" Interrupting the heroine were two groups of arms, one from a girl her size, and one from a much smaller figure.
"Nisey, I was so scared!" Nepgeo cried, her eyes cartoonishly spouting off tears. "Those creepy zombies things started to look at us! B-But I kept little Gusty safe, no matter what!"
The small alchemist's eyes grew exceptionally narrow. "Like hell you did." Still, even the stubborn business-girl (woman?) felt an immense amount of relief that her best friend was alive and well. Heh heh, if only Gust and Geo actually did something to help. Oh, and I guess the rat is still watching over Hank around the bend.
Anyways, basic gist is, the invincible monsters were no longer a problem to face... which just left the weak crawling boy who had killed Lady Green Heart.
Adrian had made it to the tome and was trying every single cheat he could. "Level Select!?" Bzzrt! "Big Head Mode!?" Bzzrt! "Mirror World!? Spontaneous Human Combustion!? Easy Money!? No, no, no!" His whole world came crashing down, and he didn't even know why. What had he done wrong? Victory was nearly upon him!
In his woes, the CPUs managed to rise to their feet. "Crap... Feels like I kicked my own ass..." Blanc muttered, her chest burning inside, but otherwise feeling fine. "The hell...?... W-Wait!" The foul-mouthed goddess darted her eyes around the battlefield, searching for one specific person... There! "Shit... So... Thunder Tits really..."
Clear for all to see, Lady Green Heart still remained on her back, eyes shut and chest still. It... well, doesn't look good.
Noire was next to stand, and she reached to pick Neptune up. "Crap... How'd this happen? I... can't believe it..."
Even the purple-haired ditz was in shock, the pain in her chest little more than an after-thought. A whole swarm of emotions she rarely ever felt were swimming around in her head, to the point of being nearly suffocating. All she could do was avoid looking at Vert, and instead walk back over to Adrian. Honestly, that's all anyone could do, so the whole party soon found themselves crowded around the pathetic leader of the Yellow Bandanas.
"Work, work! Dammit, listen to ME!" the now-sitting brown-haired young man hollered at the lifeless tome. "Work, work, work, workworkworkworkworkworkworkwork!"
Neptune finally spoke once again. "Aidrey..."
His clouded eyes drifted upwards. "What!? Leave me alone! I'm Pale Heart! This is my destiny! I AM STRONGER! THAN! YO-" Slap! Bam, dang! The ditz's hand smacked the brown-haired young lunatic's cheek so hard that the sound echoed across the still-dead air, and Adrian could only sit wide-eyed in response. "... You...?"
The purple-haired goddess frowned. "You... You're the tyrant, Aidrey! Yer just a... a meanie! A monster! A villain!" A spiteful cross of the arms. "... You're not my friend anymore!" Crap, I've never seen her act like this! Her happy-go-lucky attitude must've died with Vert.
The boy was about to speak, still clutching the tome for dear life, when another voice reached his ears. "... It's over, bro. Please, give up already..." It was Almaz, who was holding the hurt Rei in his arms. "... This isn't what we wanted. You told me and Alex that you planned to bring hope to the people, and fight injustice... But Neptune's right, bro; you're the biggest monster here."
Adrian was speechless. His own pathetic younger brother, too much of a coward to walk down the street alone, was telling him off. Was insulting not only him, but his very mission! That familiar rage built up inside again... No, it couldn't end like this! Everyone needed to die!
Out of sight of the party, who were busy surrounding the rebel leader, a dead set of fingers began to twitch. Twitch, twitch, twitch, twitch, bend, bend... The dead hand was now a fist.
Flipping the unresponsive tome to the very first page, Adrian laughed inside as he saw the glowing number shining from the book: 1. Level One. The Level 50 tome had now regressed back to the very point it had been nearly a year ago, when Arfoire gave the three brothers the damn thing in the first place.
"..." Speechless. That solitary digit seemed to mock the brown-haired crazed boy, almost as if it were a rather unflattering hand gesture. How insulting... Why had Pale Heart allowed this to happen? Why was Pale Heart mocking HIM!?
... So, what could he do now? His magic tome was practically useless. Here he was, surrounded by an army, sitting on his knees. Groveling on his knees.
"... I hate you. I hate all of you. You, Neptune. You, Noire. You, Blanc. You, all of their mindless lackeys. You, Almaz. You, Rei." The boy looked back up into Neptune's darkened face for a second, grinning to himself, before moving to look at the downtrodden Chika and IF. "... And can't forget you two, and that pathetic dead sack of waste you seem to care so much about. All of you can rot like her. You'd be more useful as worm feed."
The oracle's eyes flared with unmitigated rage, but Cave appeared behind to restrain her... despite wanting more than anything to let the woman loose.
Kei took this moment to step forward, Histoire in tow. After clearing her throat, she spoke. "Adrian... well, no last name... You're hereby under arrest. You've caused enough harm for a lifetime; I figure you should be stored away for an equal amount of time to compensate."
Adrian smirked up at the boyish woman, shaking his head. "Go to hell, freak. Why, get me one on one in a room with you, and I'll twist your fat little neck in so many different ways, they won't be able to tell it was ever attached in the first place."
"That is quite enough!" Huh? Who said tha- W-Wait, hold on!?
All eyes turned at the sound of the stunning voice, and immediately, screams and gasps filled the sky, soaring high enough to reach the next galaxy over.
A set of wobbly legs stumbled over to the insane boy, coming to a stop a mere spear-length away from him. Adrian could only cock his head, his mind dead to the world. "... No... Screw you! You're dead! I killed you! I killed you!"
The figure standing tall before him was none other than the dead CPU, Lady Vert. The whole cast stood slack-jawed, quite frankly... Hell, if I had a proper mouth, I'm sure I would look just the same. She's been lifeless the entire scene so far! How...? Is this a miracle?
Chika slapped herself twice before opening her mouth to speak, but the goddess raised a finger to keep her silent. She reached for Gungnir and pointed it at the last remaining remnant of the Yellow Bandanas, her eyes doing all the talking for her.
The young man stared for but a moment more before breaking out into a fit of disjointed giggles. "Ha hahaha! HAHA!" With a lightning-fast motion, he hopped up off his knees and back onto his feet for the first time since the tome's magic exploded. Cave took out her scissors, but Vert made a similar hand motion to halt her in her tracks as well. This only served to make the boy... laugh more? "... What's this? The little dead girl comes back to life and wants me to kill her again? HA! This is too good!"
Green Heart's spear rose higher. "... Well? If you want to kill me, then face me!"
"He heh heh... Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm all out of ammo, so you'll have to kill yourself today. Unless you want to strike down an innocent bystander? But, where's the fun in that?"
Vert glared at the unarmed boy. "... You're right... Someone, give him a weapon."
IF yelled first. "W-What!? T-The hell would we... No! What's gotten into y-"
"... Here." Neptune interrupted, pulling out her stock sword and tossing it to Adrian's feet, the blade clanging against the rock. "Now you can kick his patootie, Verty-Berty!" Crap Nep Nep... Er, is it alright if I call her that?
The brown-haired young man smiled to himself, realizing how easy it would be to pick up this sword and slash straight through one of these pathetic human beings' delicate necks before getting struck down by everyone else... but he didn't do that. No, instead, he bent down to pick up the blade and held it firmly in his right hand, the 'Crucial Codes' held tight in his left. She wanted a duel, he'd give her one. The rest of the party backed away, giving the two fighters space.
"... Alright... I'm ready, tyrant." Chhhiiing! I love the sound a blade makes!... E-Er, sorry. "Give me your best sh-" Before he could finish talking, Lady Green Heart rushed both her arms downwards in some stock powering up pose, and she disappeared in an all-too familiar flash of light. When the blinding transformation ended, Lady Green Heart was now in her very-revealing HDD form, and her Gungnir was replaced with a drill lance capable of making any masculine man envious. O-Oh boy.
... And wait... Did anyone else notice that? When she transformed, there was... I don't know, something looked... different? Like, when she engaged HDD, I coulda swore I saw a faint hint of that blue dust that the tome let out, almost like she released some of it... Hm, maybe it was just caught in her clothes...?
Adrian completely caught off-guard, Vert swung the drill upwards, knocking Neptune's sword straight out of his hands. Chhhiiing! Hell yeah! Before he could even move a single limb, the CPU followed through with a swift left kick straight to the boy's left hand, causing the cheat tome to fly out of reach and make contact with the dirty ground. All of this happened in a matter of seconds; a few short, short seconds spelled the end.
"I didn't say I wanted a fair duel." Vert boasted, her smile returning to her once-pale face. One right kick to the chest later, and Adrian found himself lying face-up on the ground, a stone digging into his back. He was defeated, completely helpless and powerless. A mere mortal struck down by the powers of HDD.
...
Yet another familiar dramatic silence filled the group for but a moment... before erupting into pure insanity!
"V-Verty! W-W-Waaaaah!" "L-L-Lady Vert! I-I-I-I..." "Welcome back to the land of the living, Verty-Berty! It wouldn'ta been the same without you!" "... Idiot. Don't scare us like that." "Geez, I'm the only one who can kill ya Thunder Tits." "Group hug, my fair sisters!"
The newly revived Lady Green Heart, still in her glorious HDD state, was clearly overwhelmed by all this unusual attention. "M-My... I'm quite alright, but thank you, everyone! Did you honestly think an uncouth teenager like him could really put me down?" Before anyone else could reply, she turned her attention back to the seething boy whose eyes were closed shut. "... Look at me! What you've done is, to put it bluntly, an affront to everything us CPUs stand for. Men have died today, you've held innocent women hostage, you've used cheat codes to brainwash countless amounts of people, and, last I've heard, your 'supporters' have taken control of a few Planeptune cities. In less than three weeks, you've caused the most trouble we've seen since ASIC... Oh, and let us not forget that everyone apparently says you killed me. I... take personal offense to that..." The goddess flipped her sea-foam green ponytail like a sophisticated cheerleader. "With all of this, no one would bat an eyelash if I struck you down for good... In fact, I'm sure there'd be cheers if I do that."
Adrian rolled his weakened eyes and squinted up at the victorious dictator. "... Then do it. Kill me, Green Heart. Show the world how violent you really are. How bloodthirsty that drill of yours is. KILL. ME."
Histoire rose her small finger to speak, but this time Mina shook her head; this was Vert's moment, it seemed. All eyes were on her.
"... No. Kill you and make you a martyr for any other lunatics out there? I'm sorry, but that is simply out of the question. So, I need to determine a proper punishment for you that still involves keeping your head on your shoulders..." An inquisitive hand to her chin, perhaps simply intended to make a mockery of the brown-haired young man. "... Ah, yes! In exchange for all the inconvenience, treason, and disaster you've wrought... perhaps an emotional type of torture would be the best option." T-Torture? Vert's kinda scaring me with this tone, guys... W-Well, I guess I'd be pissed too if someone killed me.
The boy looked into the crowd and caught a glimpse of Almaz's concerned face, but he turned back to the CPU. "Torture me? Typical tyrant."
Vert nodded at Chika, and the oracle nodded back and whispered something to Kei. As the two conversed about... something(?), she continued. "Join my army. You fail to grasp all that it takes to be a leader of a nation, and what I must do to keep everything running... so perhaps a few years as a Leanbox guard will set you straight. Who knows; maybe you'll eventually qualify for a desk job. Maybe in five years' time, you can be Noire's secretary, even."
Noire's eye twitched. "Hey! I'd never have a secretary like him!" Is this the issue at hand, really?
"Yeahzers! No Aidrey in our flower garden! Noire would only ever hire cute chickadees as secretaries, anyways!" Thank you, Neptune... Hey, at least the light is returning to her eyes. Maybe seeing the villain get knocked on his ass multiple times served as some form of mental relief.
Vert smiled knowingly to herself. "Whatever the case, I do believe that this'd be a most delicious punishment, wouldn't you agree? Help the CPUs run the world? Help the so-called 'tyrants?'"
The former leader of the Yellow Bandanas could only stare up at the horrible women, his eyes filled with pure malice and literally at the brink of exploding like a hydrogen bomb. He replied in the best way he could: A massive spit wad to her face. Green Heart wiped the disgusting liquid off her forehead, no emotion on her features.
"... I take it that is your answer?"
"You can take your job and shove it right up your disease-ridden ass. I will never help you, any of you. Better just kill me; I'd rather leap off this mountain than serve you. Working for you wouldn't be torture; it'd be idiotic. You can't trust me, and you never will be able to trust me. At the first chance I get, I'll have a knife to your jugular. That's a fact."
Chika looked back over to her darling 'sister.' "He's right, Vert. I would never let him step anywhere close to our castle, let alone in our army!"
The CPU nodded. "... I suppose you are right... Oh well, it was worth a shot!" In a blink of an eye, the drill weapon rose high in the air, the tip directed for the boy's blank left eye... Oh goddess, she's not really gonna...!? T-This isn't that kind of fic!
Adrian, unlike me, could only grin. "Yes, yes! Kill me! Destroy me! Leave nothing of me behind! Release me from this awful planet! Do it!"
With a loud boom, the drill came crashing down... into the rocks, just a few inches from the boy's head. The villain was serious; he hadn't even flinched. No perspiration adorned his face... He was calmer than ever before.
"... No, I said I will not kill you... But, where else are prisoners to go? Why, to jail, of course!" On cue, Chika and Kei walked up, holding high-security handcuffs. The sassy oracle kicked the boy so now his face was back in the dirt, and the boyish woman calmly snapped the chains around his hands, firmly restraining him... Great, more chains. "I gave you a chance to keep your freedom, but you quite soundly talked me out of it. You leave me no other choice but to lock you away from the world." Another elegant ponytail flip; is she... having fun with this? "A 'tyrant' would not have been this kind... Remember that, Adrian."
The brown-haired young man was hoisted up by his conjoined wrists, resigned to his fate. To be taken prisoner by a CPU... How insulting. He could instead be smashed against the ground at the foot of the mountain right now, his blood becoming one with the soil... Oh, if only. Being a prisoner was the worst fate imaginable. But, like a good insane boy, he remained as silent as the stones the party were standing on. No use fighting now.
The group was quiet as well, not sure how to react, and they all looked to Kei and Histoire for some type of confirmation or guidance. Lastation's oracle glanced over at Blanc for a second before opening her mouth to deliver a potential mission directive... when Vert spoke out again, startling everyone (heh, again). "... Histoire! I want you and Mina to take that tome. Do with it as you wish: study it, destroy it, lock it away from the universe, what have you. Whatever the case, it mustn't be allowed to fall in the hands of any more troublemakers ever again, understand?" The book fairy and Lowee's scholar nodded at once, already figuring to do just that anyways. Eyeing Adrian cautiously, the bespectacled woman bent down and picked the 'Crucial Codes' up as delicately as possible, almost as if it were a potent atom bomb... Have I used an excess of bomb comparisons lately?
The transformed Lady Green Heart made some sort of semi-sarcastic bow towards Kei, signaling that it was her turn to speak. "... Ah, ahum... Well, first things first: let's get off this mountain already. I never thought I'd miss the smog of the cities this much..." the boyish woman announced, and everyone nodded in response before... er, quietly turning to walk away... Wow... Something about this is... real lackluster, wouldn't you say? I mean, come on, guys: you won! Why aren't... they cheering? Vert lived, the zombies vanished, Adrian was defeated... What's with all the solemn faces?
Huh... I... I don't understand people, really... No surprise, right? I'm far from human... B-But, you know what? I... kinda don't feel like celebrating this victory either. I... think I get why they're sad... They stopped the villain, but, in some form or another, even the happy-go-lucky Neptune saw and heard things today that... well, made her rethink herself. Why had Adrian turned into this twisted shell of the boy he once appeared to be? Were the... CPUs to blame? Was everything he accused them of... that far off from the truth?
... Well, whatever the case, the party finally began to head down, Chika and Vert escorting Adrian at the end of the group. The brown-haired young man never stopped looking ahead, his eyes tearing into the skull of his former brother Almaz. After a long while of nothing, the leader's horrid voice screamed out, startling everybody.
"... Almaz... You got what you wanted, Almaz!" The timid brother kept walking forward, clutching Rei's arm tight. "You got what you wanted all along!" Tighter. "All along, Almaz!" Tighter. "You and Alex never cared! But that's alright, bro! I understand." Tighter. "I understand... What, no apology? No pathetic stuttering? So, you choose to shut yer ass now?" Tighter; he was practically squeezing the silver-haired girl's arm now. "Almaz, look at me! I just want to talk, brother!"
A lone tear dropped from the younger brown-haired boy, but he never looked back at the monster calling out for him. Could never look back.
"Almaz! ALMAZ!"
...
Maybe it was because everyone was worried about getting ambushed on the way, just in case the rebels had one more trick up their sleeves, but no one said a word to each other the whole way down. Sure, Nat Hail and Nepgeo muttered under their breaths about having to carry the recovering Hank, Gust mumbled about searching the crash site for her staff, Chika glomped her darling Vert, Mina flipped through a few pages of her new tome, and Neptune was starting to get her standard ditzy groove back... but it was all muted and self-contained. Hmm... Let's just assume this is what heading back from a tough mission is always like, and we just never get to see it...
...
Anyways, at long last, the unthinkable finally happened: by God everyone, we are no longer on this crappy mountain! The last of the cast touched down onto the flat earth, and now, dear readers, we find ourselves back where the beginning of Chapter 1 took place! Oh man, I thought we'd never get past all those crappy climbing sections of the script! Hold on, let me muster it... Here we go: WOOHOO! Yeah! Screw what I said before; I feel like freakin' celebrating! I may still be chained down, but it feels like some veil over me has been lifted at the very least! It's done!
"... H-Hey... W-We made it!" Bimmy Hatchet cried out again, his cautious eyes glancing every which way. "W-We actually lived! Holy crap!" And, with the egg-boy's declaration, a similar veil seemed to have been lifted from the party as well! Roars of applause, cheers, whoops, yippees, hoe-rays- er, wait, typo-, guffaws, yo's, and even hurrahs and yaoi's rang out! Throughout this whole crappy day (and these whole crappy five chapters), only Chip had fallen! Everyone else, albeit a few with some bruises, was alive and well! Astounding, wasn't it?
Neptune, nearly defeated mentally just a few long minutes ago, now looked as if nothing troubled her. Noire, likewise, barely showed any signs of getting blasted in the chest with a fireball. Chika, Compa, IF, and Lyrica all embraced each other in some odd mutation of a hug, the brunette clearly showing signs of unease and embarrassment. Cave would've liked to join in on the hug... but there were public images to uphold, you must understand. Gust and Nisa flocked to the site of where their airship crashed, hoping to reclaim the alchemist's beloved staff. Nepgeo celebrated alone, staring at her orange-haired anime girl necklace longingly. This day had its ups and downs... Hopefully Linda's day was going better. It had to be, right?
The bodyguards celebrated in their own unique way, of course; they were outsiders to both you readers and the main cast still. However, that didn't stop them all from trying to fit in. "Whaddya say we all grab some beers on the way back and really party?" Nat Hail laughed, wrapping a suspicious arm around Lady Blanc.
"... Get offa me!" The quiet-yet-possibly-always-angry godess was too tired to push her off, though, so it was Sumas' duty to pry the Lastation soldier off of her leader.
"H-Hey! I was just getting friendly with her!"
"..."
You know, I'm still not sold on the point of giving these random bodyguards screen time. I mean, what's their purpose? Don't we have enough characters? Ah, whatever; maybe we should just "trust the Author" and have faith that this is all following some planned grand design, and we shouldn't ask too many questions... That is what 'Judge' said earlier, correct?
Let's just get moving... Hmm, maybe I can "tell" and not "show" some more, allowing us to rush on back home!
So, as most of the party cheered and all those other colorful terms I used earlier, a few specific key players split off to do their own things. Gust and Nisa raced to the other side of the mountain, for starters.
"Somewhere around here... Come on... There! Crashed ship!" the alchemist shouted to the following Nisa, her giant gloved finger indeed pointing at a similar crash site as the one we saw in the first chapter, albeit with only one downed vessel instead of several.
The blue-haired heroine nodded in response, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "Truly amazing how we made it out of that alive! Hmmmm... I reckon it isn't salvageable, dear sidekick?"
Gust was way ahead of her friend, already inside the ship, which was no longer burning (if we assume it was in the first place). Hell, even all possible smoke was gone... Is that how it works? "Gust is not sidekick!" Rummage rummage rummage bonk! rummage rummage. "... No way ship will fly again. Need other way home." Yeah, the fact that she's in the decapitated cockpit kinda made that obvious.
"Rats! Oh well, I'm sure the others must have a plan." Don't hold your breath. "Any sign of your staff, then?"
"Looking!" the (deceptively?) young girl shouted from within the dead aircraft. "Mmhmm... Mmmhhmmm..." Mmmmhhhmmmm? "... Aha! Gust found it!" Well, that was beyond easy. Triumphant in some small regard, the short girl dashed out of the safety hazard, her trusty staff in giant gloved hand. "Now just need to get back to cauld- Huh?"
The business-savvy alchemist once again found herself wrapped in a pair of familiar strong arms, and felt a soft presence resting against the top of her humongous hat. "I'm glad you're safe, Gust... I truly am..." Nisa whispered softly, showing a tender side she only broke out when no one else was looking. "After today, I feel like we can take on the world together, my dear friend!"
The girl, despite intending to complain at being bear-hugged for the second time the past hour, could only smile. "Nisa is so sappy. Of course Gust is fine!" she sighed, reaching around to hug her best friend back. "... Gust glad Nisa is safe too..." Daaaah, isn't this cute?... Hm, do these two have this exact same scene a lot? Or at least more than once? What's with this fanfic series and extremely repetitive scenes and words? Unoriginality, or running gag/ artistic license?... Ah, who cares; if you like or hate these scripts, you'll decide for yourself.
The two took a moment to finish their (more-than-friends?) hug, and it was back to business. "Alright, let us join back with our allies, dear Gusty! Can't have them move on without us!"
"Ahuhmm!"
...
Back with the main group that the two "lovebirds" were returning to, Mina and Histoire were having an interesting time looking at the 'Crucial Codes,' ignoring the stares of Adrian in the distance.
"Most intriguing..." Histy thought aloud, gripping her tiny chin. "There's even a cluttered game controller that is interactive... A cheat book capable of twisting reality..."
The scholar's glasses seemed to shine. "Where did three boys get such a powerful item?" This was a peculiar artifact indeed... and a dangerous one at that. But... something about it ignited a certain spark within her otherwise-depressed soul. The thought of actually learning its secrets was... exciting.
The tome fairy, likewise, had a similar opinion... Though, she was more concerned than thrilled. "Why does this feel so familiar? I've never seen such a thing in my life, and yet... I sense..." Planeptune's oracle paused, collecting her scattered thoughts. Could it be? "... myself." Yeah, how abou- Wait, huh? What does that mean?
A confusing concept, isn't it? At least, I assume it is. Since when has Histoire been confused?
However, Mina was too wrapped up in investigating to grow worried at her friend's comment. "... Amazing... Level 1? Why, this book sounds like a skill tree in one of the childrens' games..."
"How goes the investigating, you two? Find out what makes that mystical book work?" Vert's voice pierced the oracles' ears yet again... Something about her tone was always startling ever since she 'revived.'
Histoire's head snapped upwards first, and she immediately nodded. "A-Ah, not yet!" Hand back to her chin again; will this be her standard pose from now on? "This will require in-depth studying before we know anything for sure. Once we're back at the Basilicom, I can properly run some tests."
Lady Green Heart nodded, her eyes closed and her mouth in the shape of some unidentifiable grin. "I see... Well, I believe Kei has already procured a way home, so now it's just a matter of waiting." The transformed goddess gazed over at the tied-up Adrian, his eyes clearly trying to stab her. "He will be taking a separate transport unit straight to the highest-security prison on Leanbox, so don't worry about him. In any case, I doubt he'd ever reveal any secrets of this tome... if he even knows much of anything at all."
"That seems to be the best course of action," the tome fairy agreed. "... And what about those other two? The other boy and that girl with him? They're the only rebels that surrendered to us apparently. No sign of the third boy either, now that I think about it..."
"Heh... I will handle that as soon as the ships get here. Sure, they surrendered, but they still committed crimes against the CPUs..." A... dark smile? Vert's kinda freakin' me out. "... Perhaps they will take the offer that Adrian refused." Is she saying that... she's going to recruit Almaz and Rei Ryghts to her army? Huh... I wonder how that'd play out? Probably a lot of wacky hijinks I'd bet.
Unable to do much else, the two oracles continued to nod like the unoriginal script called for, finding it hard to come up with an appropriate response that amounted to more than 'Okay.' However, Green Heart continued to look at them, certainly creating a most uncomfortable mood. The tome fairy quickly reached her small hand out for the save, placing it softly against the CPU's left shoulder. "... I'm... W-We're glad you are okay, Vert. As oracles, it was our duty to make sure the situation didn't escalate to such a dangerous level... We failed, and let ourselves get too comfortable in what was a highly risky setting, with a threat we were not prepared for... For that, I am sorry. Everyone would be devastated if you had... well..."
The transformed Lady Vert smiled, a bit more heartwarming than terrifying this particular time fortunately. "Why, there's no need to apologize, but thank you regardless. I was too confident and egotistical... I could have ended the battle instantly, but..." Her glowing brows furrowed. "... I opted instead to showboat, and I very nearly paid the ultimate price... I assure you, that will never happen again. I refuse to let it!"
Histoire smiled back, but something made her slowly recede her arm away from the woman's exposed shoulder. Huh, it almost looked as if her hand was slowly heating up. Mina, meanwhile, had one eyebrow raised, and opened her mouth to spea- "Verty, this creep is... er, creeping me out! Can I kick him?" Lady Chika called from behind, her eyes trying hard to avoid Adrian's thousand-yard stare. The goddess chuckled to herself.
"Coming, Chika! Don't humor him; he's just trying to get a reaction!" She turned to look at the two oracles one last time. "Good luck with the cheat tome. Here's hoping that the new airships get here fast, right?" And with that (cheerful?) statement, the CPU ran off to her 'sister.'
The two friends continued staring for a few seconds before turning to each other. Mina managed to say what was on her mind first. "Histoire... Why is Vert still... well, you know? HDD is tiring, and the battle's over... Blanc doesn't even stay transformed for long when she's having a fit."
The tome fairy shook her head. "Yes, something about her is... off indeed. Even more than that, though..." Her eyes gazed at her hand, further concern clearly growing behind those large orbs... Ah, and there we go with the 'orbs' again. "... Perhaps it was just the cheat tome affecting my judgement, but..."
"... But what?"
Staaaaaaaare. "... I felt the same sensation from Vert."
...
Hm... what does that mean?... Oh well; almost done! Let's see here... Now we're to check in on Noire, for... something.
"Noirey~!" Neptune began, perhaps sensing that the focus was now on them... Er, wait, ignore that. "This is sooooo boring!" Biting my tongue. "How's about you call up your sis or Nep Jr. or sumthin'?"
The tsundere looked at her fiancée questioningly. "Weren't you just going through an emotional crisis like 10 minutes ago?... Huh, but fine; should probably call and tell them we're all alive."
"Ooh, and ask them to order pizza!"
"No!" With that, Lady Black Heart flipped out her cell phone and, before anything else, checked her text message app that all the cool and hip kids use nowadays. Not me; I barely have what you could call fingers. "... Well, that's odd... Uni hasn't read my message yet. Ugh, I told her to keep her phone on her at all times! Maybe she's taking a long bath or something..."
"A long bath with Nep Jr? Ooh, scandalous!"
"... I'd hope not in the same bath that Ram and Rom use daily." This conversation is getting weird. "Okay, dialing her now. Bath or no bath, if she hears me calling, she knows better than to ignore me."
And so the phone rang. One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings, and perhaps even a fifth ring (I can't tell from in here, okay? Don't fret the small stuff, geez)... but basic gist of things is, it eventually went straight to voice-mail.
"... She better not be ignoring me." Noire, slight annoyance vein prevalent on her forehead, tried one more futile attempt at reaching her little sister. Same result: no one answered. Surely someone in Lowee's Basilicom, whether Uni was able to or not, would respond to an annoying ringing phone? "... Kei!"
The boyish oracle, busy chatting with Blanc and Sumas oddly enough, professionally turned at the call of Lastation's goddess. "Yes? What is it?"
As Neptune looked on with her mouth in the shape of a confused 'O,' the tsundere scrunched her lips. "Uni's not answering... I texted her way back when we were resting in that small cave, and it says she hasn't even read it."
A realization dawned on the purple-haired ditz. "You're worrying yer panties off! Oh, you're such a good sister, Noire!"
"I-I am NOT worried!" A rosy tint now adorned the goddess' cheeks as she tried to regain composure. "I-I just think that maybe we should call that Jade guy. He should answer, right?"
Kei, face expressionless as always, looked at her CPU for a silent moment before subtly moving her head ever so downwards; one half of a short nod? "... Alright, I was going to call him in a few moments regardless." Yep, more calling... isn't this fun? Reading me read/watch a scene where the characters take out their phones, call someone on their speed-dial lists, and then stand there for the few seconds it takes for the phone to ring the set amount of times before it is inevitably directed to the answering machine? Please, I can't handle all of this artistic writing!
If you couldn't guess what the result of this phone call was, then you clearly haven't been reading... not that I really blame you. Kei attempted three more times, with no different outcome. Not only was Uni not picking up... but neither was Jade, the one guarding the CPU Candidates, and whose sole purpose was to keep in touch with the main party.
The boyish woman looked up, her expression still blank. "... Okay, no one panic..." she trailed off.
Noire put her hand to her own forehead, that cartoonish vein in her forehead pulsing even more now. "... But...?"
"... No one panic, but... we may have another situation on our hands..."
...
What's with this chapter especially with having someone say a somewhat-dramatic line, and then having ellipses and cutting to another scene? It's like it's constantly teasing the end of the chapter, but keeps going... Ugh, I could structure a better chapter, dammit!
But perhaps that was the last one for now. One last thing here, it seems...
So yeah, this turn of events was rather alarming, of course. Why wasn't Jade answering? Hell, no one was answering the general Basilicom phone either! Surely even Ram or Rom would pick it up after a while!
Blanc, understandably, was not taking this well at all. "I knew that asshole would screw things up! He was only interested in smelling my bed, wasn't he? Dammit, I'll kill him!"
"If he's not dead already," Femme laughed. "Figures that Lowee would be a shitty hiding spot. The Candidates would've been safer in a ditch in Leanbox than anywhere over there."
As Blanc threatened to whack the soldier in the head, IF walked up to the oracles to speak her mind. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now! Gear could protect herself if trouble ever popped up, so I'm sure they're all fine. Getting roughed-up off-screen isn't their kind of thing... But, if there is any chance of danger, then we need to take action right away. Worrying about things won't get us anywhere..." She paused for a moment, before flipping out her phone. "Those S.R.A.T.S. ships still aren't here, though, so we need some outside help. Maybe we can send someone to check out the Basilicom? They can relay to us whatever they find."
It was Sumas who amazingly spoke next, perhaps speaking the most she's ever spoken before. "... And what if the Basilicom is overrun? If this was all a ruse for more rebels to take it over? A simple spy won't cut it."
The battled-hardened veteran placed her hand on her hip, her eyes gazing down at her phone still. "Well, in that case, we should send someone capable of sneaking around... Hmm, perhaps someone at the guild ca-"
"... Ugh, I know someone..." The space mercenary sighed, stopping IF's suggestion dead. "... He's a real brat, and I think he's kind of deranged... but if it's potential impromptu espionage we need, then he's the one for the job."
Silence filled the group, maybe because some Nobody they barely knew had suggested a possible plan involving some random tosser they also had no experience with. Still... it was something, right? The whole cast was stuck here until transportation arrived, so either way, some random bob that never received any screen time would have to investigate. Might as well be an alleged 'expert.'
Kei thought for a bit before sighing. She honestly just really wanted this day to be over. "... This person... He can get there fast?"
"Only met him in a crossover, but yeah, he's a professional. Give him a mission? Consider it done."
"... Then call him up. Our hands are tied." And so, it was decided; the group was to call up a complete stranger and tell him to investigate Lowee's Basilicom... y'know, which should've been protected by Jade and his massive Avenir army, as well as the impenetrable walls meant to keep even dragons out. Meanwhile, they'd be waiting for a ride over to Lowee themselves.
... Oh, alright: What could possibly go wrong?
...
While most of the group was concerned about the candidates, one girl in particular was worried about a completely different person.
"Lindy..." Nepgeo whimpered, her nervous eyes staring off into space. If she was paying attention, she would've seen Lady Vert talking to Almaz and Rei, inadvertently distracting them from hearing all the buzz about Jade, but she could frankly care less about people she had no association with at this time. All she could think about was her dear girlfriend, who had been asked by... the dead CFW Judge to head to Lowee. She could only look blindly ahead and twirl her prized necklace in her delicate fingers, trying more than anything to distract herself from the worry. "... Something's happening over there, Lindy... It's not... you, is it?"
But that dangling orange-haired anime girl on her necklace offered little solace.
Keeper of The Walls
Gee, this chapter was boring... Guess who else is currently bored, bored, bored!?
"Grr... Dang it, Judge!" Linda groaned, her hands pushing hard against her cheeks... and I mean her face. "What the heck are we standin' around for? It's been hours!" Has it? I can't tell with these stories ever.
The large mech robot thingy-mic-bobber turned his stupid head-esque thing that a baby could tell looked pathetic. "Patience, Linda! The time is almost upon us, just you wait!"
"Time for what!? Those brats are still tied up, we're the only ones here, and I've been pacing the halls of this tacky place for what feels like years! I'm all for waiting if that's what my task is, but how will any of this get Magic back? Maybe if I knew the battle-plan, I'd at least be more motivated!" Gee, someone's cranky.
"... Hmmmm... Fine, very well... I can show you something at least... though revealing the full plan is purely off-limits; please forgive me, faithful Linda. I can never trust who may be listening in on our conversations, after-all..." The CFW dumb-ass spoke, before turning to leave the central lobby of the Basilicom and begin walking towards a large pair of majestic doors. Hmm, if I was a betting man... er, thing, I'd say that these doors lead to some type of throne room... This is kinda a castle, after-all... Ergh, now I'm sounding like him...
The green-haired villain raised an eyebrow at her moving colleague, but she had literally nothing else to do, so she could only follow him. "Show me sumthin'? If you were that boy from earlier, I'd sock ya in the teeth." So trusting today.
Judge didn't reply to that, but instead pushed open the grand, possibly-wooden passageways into the next room. "We are not working alone, Linda."
Underling glanced into the dark room from behind her large teammate, not able to see anything at first. "Er... Yeah, kinda figured that... What the heck's in here? I can't see shit."
The Judge spoke as if she hadn't said anything. "You may not like it at first, but with his help, we shall get Magic back... You'll have to follow all of our orders, however. If he tells you to leap, you ask how high, and all those other trite clichés, understand?"
Linda, understandably, was apprehensive towards this unclear objective. "Er, who are we talkin' about here?"
"By doing everything we say, all will go according to plan. The script will stay on-track, and all the preordained events will go off without a hitch... It all comes down to your cooperation, though. Your faith, your understanding, your willingness to see this whole thing through to the end is the one factor that holds everything together. Without your support, this all will come to a premature end, and nothing will have been accomplished."
"Er, CFW Judge, sir?"
"Please, without you, this all will have been pointless from the very beginning. I beseech you, please!"
... What the hell? It's like he's going... er, I don't know. He's not exactly acting like "Narrator" from long ago... You remember? His bi-polar tendencies as he tried to fight himself? Wow, that feels like a lifetime ago, geez...
Underling's resolve was wavering pretty badly by this point. "J-Judge, yer kinda creeping me out... W-What's in this room? C-C'mon!"
The mech thing gazed into the darkness... and while Linda couldn't tell from where she was standing, his eyes slowly morphed from neon-blue... to red? Take warning? No, wait... it's like they're turning pure black...?
"Look, everyone... He's here! This should inspire some kind of interest back in all of you!"
"E-Everyone? Judge, what the hell are ya blabberi-" But a sudden shift of something in the darkness of the throne room caused her to completely freeze. "... W-What was...?"
"A most surprising guest indeed! Surely this will be a matter deserving of REVIEW, wouldn't you agree? Speak, old friend! Speak for all to hear!" ...? I got nothing.
Whatever was moving in the pitch-black room still hadn't made a single sound, and dear little Linda took a few frightened steps back. "W-Woah, what's in there, Judge? Yer soundin' like a crazy person... And I mean more than usu-"
But a piercing 'laugh' once again sent a paralyzing chill down her spine. "Akekekekekekekekekekekekeke!"
SHARES:
Planeptune- 17%
Lastation- 25%
Lowee- 14%?
Leanbox- 8%
(Yellow Bandanas)- 20%
?- 16%
NEXT TIME: They Drop In (To See What Condition Lowee's Condition Was In)