Following the destruction of QA-1ML, Connor, Chai, Hilda and Lysithea followed 808 through some dark tunnels towards wherever the operator was located.
"Our contact could've been done with more lighting," Connor said. "You doing okay, Lysithea?"
"Of course I am. I-It's not like I am afraid of the dark… I am used to this… I AM used to this…" Lysithea remarked, as she tried to keep her voice level to avoid betraying any sense of nervousness.
They soon made their way through a door and came into a separate room.
"Uh, Hello? Cat-bot?" Chai asked before he accidentally got snagged by a rope snare on the ground and was hung upside down, a spotlight coming down on him and the others.
Soon, walking out from the shadows was a new face. It was a tanned-skin girl with a pink robotic prosthetic leg. She had side-shaved hair, with blue highlights at the end. She also has green eyes with her right eyebrow being trimmed. She appeared in an outfit consisting of a short blue jacket and a white crop top, donning fingerless brown gloves and white wristbands. She also wore blue denim shorts and a white thigh-high for her organic leg. She also has a buckle containing golden tools and a strap with a long, black belt. In her left hand, she had a custom-designed energy pistol.
Chai looked up and saw his trap. "A rope snare? What are you, a cartoon character?"
The girl's interest was then focused on the music player cybernetically embedded in Chai's chest, exposed for Connor, Hilda and Lysithea to see for the first time.
"So that's where the magic happens, huh?" she asked, petting 808 as she came by.
"I'm guessing you must be our contact?" Connor asked.
"That's right. Great to finally meet you in person. My name is Peppermint." the girl introduced.
"Wait, that voice…" Chai gasped. "You're the cat!"
"808 is my eyes and ears out there. But it looks like she's taken a liking to you." Peppermint said before aiming her pistol in Chai's direction.
"Waitwaitwait, okay, she's yours, she's yours–!" Chai waved in fear of being shot before Peppermint shot the rope hanging him, freeing the rockstar as he flopped to the ground.
"Get up, slacker. We've got work to do." Peppermint said as the lights came on to reveal the hideout. After Chai recovered, Connor joined in for Peppermint's info.
"So, 808 said YOU said you were gonna help me get outta here," Chai said.
"I am. Riiight after you help me, the cowboy and his friends look into SPECTRA." Peppermint said.
"I don't even know what that is." Chai replied.
"Neither do we, genius." Hilda said.
"Didn't expect any of you to. This is whistleblower level!" Peppermint said.
"So…bad..?" Chai asked.
"Yes. And I'm working with a team to expose them. We're small, but—" Peppermint started.
"'Small' meaning… just you, your cat, a cowboy, and his female sidekicks? I'm bigger than this!" Chai said.
"Says "rockstar" here. Do you even actually play guitar?" Peppermint asked in return.
"I..uh...Well…" Chai tried to reply.
"Figures. All talk." Peppermint confirmed.
"Look man, you got lucky back there because we ended up together. Who knows how lost you would've gotten if you didn't have us backing you up." Connor said. "Help us out, and we'll make sure you get off this island. Sound good?"
"Fine, whatever I guess…" Chai accepted as he went to take a breather.
"Well, at least you guys aren't like him," Peppermint said to Connor.
"Hey, you're the one who called us out here. And from what you told us in that letter of yours, it seems like my suspicions about Vandelay were right." Connor said.
"You have no idea. I'm glad you didn't think twice about this whole thing." Peppermint said.
"Well, we weren't just gonna ignore something Connor has a connection to." Hilda said.
"If you don't mind, we'd like you to tell us the plan for uncovering whatever this 'SPECTRA' is," Lysithea said.
"Alright, check this out," Peppermint said. "Mission Report! So, this SPECTRA program is, like I said, top secret, and only the top brass of the company have info on it."
"Vandelay's not about to let their hand be played too early, huh?" Connor asked.
"Why are you guys so worried? 'SPECTRA' Could be anything." Chai piped in.
"Let's just say someone on the inside gave me a hot tip," Peppermint explained.
"Sure, whatever," Chai said.
"Aaanyway, we're gonna go back up to the Production facility," Peppermint ran down. "Using my skills, and all of your powers, we break into the Production head's office."
"That wouldn't happen to be the big, burly woman who talks in the third person, would it?" Hilda asked. "She makes Baltie look tame."
"Yup, that's Rekka. And with our luck, she's busy cleaning up your mess at QA and won't be there. We access her computer, steal the files on SPECTRA, and get out." Peppermint explained.
"Cool, cool… I wasn't listening, but sounds quick and easy." Chai said.
"Great. While you're all away, I can sync up with Chai's tech through 808. Might figure out some new tricks for him." Peppermint said.
"Wait, you're not coming?" Connor asked.
"On a mission this dangerous? I'm not that stupid. I'll leave that to Chai and you all." Peppermint said.
"Not one to be dishonest, are you?" Lysithea asked. "You sound like Hilda."
"Hey!" Hilda called.
"Alright alright, no need for an argument. We got our mission. Let's get to work." Connor said.
"Alright! Wait, was Peppermint implying-?" Chai started to ask.
(Cue: Production Destruction - Hi-Fi Rush OST)
A little later, on the surface of the production department, Chai, Connor, Hilda, and Lysithea burst out of a manhole and into the air stylishly, before rhythmically landing one by one.
"We're here, baby!" Chai announced.
"Probably should've saved that line for a crowd," Connor noted, seeing as there wasn't anybody around.
"Just head to Rekka's office. You all can see it up there." Peppermint spoke through 808, directing them to a building up above.
"Kind of a way up there," Hilda said. "How do we get there?"
"You'll have to head through the main production building, I'll be your guide." Peppermint said. "And make sure Chai keeps a low profile," she added as 808 transformed into speaker mode.
The quartet then got moving as they headed inside the Production building. After a bit, they found a statue of Kale with another woman.
"Hey, there's Kale! And that's… what's her name… the old Vandelay boss.." Chai noticed.
"Roxanne Vandelay. The Previous CEO of the company who built it up from the bottom to where it is today." Lysithea piped in.
"Wow, someone sure knows their history," Peppermint said with impressment.
"That's Lysithea for you," Hilda said.
The group continued onwards before entering a room corridor, accidentally tripping a hidden sensor as an alarm went off.
"Uh oh…" Chai said as Security bots came into the corridor, starting with a duo of SBR-001s and one BA-B00. It didn't prove much of a challenge for them though, even with GNR-020 reinforcements later on, as all the bots were sent to the scrap heap.
"So much for a low profile, again," Hilda said.
"Come on, this is more fun! And as long as REKKA doesn't f-" Chai started to say before he was suddenly jinxed by Rekka herself appearing on the nearby screens.
"Attention! REKKA here. Those DEFECTS were spotted in MY BUILDING! I'm half hopin' none of you chump security get them, so I can rip them apart PIECE by PIECE." Rekka said before the transmission ended.
"Ooh, sounds juicy!" Peppermint piped in.
"I thought you said she wouldn't be here!" Chai said.
"And we thought YOU said this would be more fun," Lysithea replied.
"Ouch." Connor winced.
The group continued on through the production facility, along the way finding out Chai's robotic arm could do more than allow him to make a weapon. With his magnetic abilities, he could even grapple to specific points and shoot himself forward. He could even grapple himself toward enemy robots to get in combos on them.
"So, Peppermint. What do you know about this whole 'SPECTRA' stuff?" Hilda said.
"Our informant sent me code that it's an AI. Apparently, hidden in all of Vandelay's Project Armstrong robotic parts." Peppermint explained.
"And what makes you so worried?" Chai asked.
"My source said that Vandelay never kept a project under wraps like that before. There's red flags all over this." Peppermint explained.
"What?! You have us running around on some dark-web hunch?" Chai asked.
"I trust my sources!" Peppermint retorted.
"You're sounding even more suspicious than Vandelay!" Chai countered.
"Hey, if it's any consolation, Pep, we trust you," Connor said.
"Glad someone does," Peppermint said.
"You know what? Don't care. I'm outta here after this, anyway." Chai said.
The group continued to fight and move their way up the production building until they reached a room that trapped them inside, noting that Rekka had laid a trap for them.
"THERE you are, you little PUNKS! You're not getting out of here. You're all on LOCKDOWN and getting the SMACKDOWN!" the Head of Production declared as the lights turned red and bots filed in.
"Pretty cramped in here, not much space for Lysithea and me to blast stuff!" Connor said.
"Leave it to me!" Hilda said as she started swinging Freikugel and scrapping bots left and right. Chai joined in as well, as together they crashed and bashed robots to the beat of the music, before they finished off the ES-101 leading the charge with a combo special attack.
"Smash!" Hilda called, hammering the ES-101 with a multitude of overhead strikes before Chai tagged in.
"Power Chord!" Chai followed up with a spinning slash that rapidly battered the bot before it was junked with a finishing blow.
"Locked in here, Peppermint. See any way outta here?" Connor asked.
"Yeah, see that door?" Peppermint asked as they came to a corridor with a door to their right. "Might be able to pass through security on that one. It's a rough route though, lotta stairs."
"You know what? I like EXCITING." Chai said, seeing an overhead rail line in the center path. "This looks like more fun," he said, grappling to it and taking off.
"Hey, wait for us!" Hilda said as she, Connor, and Lysithea got some grappels and cables and hooked onto the rail as they grinded after the aspiring rockstar.
"CHAI! You don't even know where this rail goes!" Peppermint scolded.
"Chill out! it'll be fine!" Chai replied.
"Oh yeah? Well, look ahead!" Peppermint said.
In the next couple of minutes, the four of them were dodging debris and switching paths at a rapid pace. Soon enough, they came out of the smoke into another area as Chai was enjoying himself.
"Admit it Peppermint, you wish you were doing this!" Chai said.
"Actually, no. Also, it looks like you guys have been spotted." Peppermint said through 808 as a security bot carrying a bomb was flying by.
"That's as far as you go, PUNKS!" Rekka cut in, causing the bot to drop its payload in surprise as it detonated the rail line.
"Uh oh…!" Hilda said.
"Tuck and roll, guys." Peppermint advised.
"What?!" Chai asked as they were derailed, and headed straight for a window. Connor thought fast as she shot the glass with one of his revolvers and Hilda smashed her way through it, making Chai only fall flat on his face.
(Music Shift: Some People Call This Teamwork- Hi-FI Rush OST)
"Where are we?" Hilda asked.
"Ugh… well, we're…somewhere…?" Chai recovered.
"We're…actually pretty close to Rekkas office now." Peppermint noted.
"See? Told you guys it would work out." Chai exuded.
The group advanced forward, but their path was suddenly blocked by a barrier of some sort.
"What are these?" Chai asked.
"It appears to be some sort of electrically produced shield." Lysithea said. "We'll have to destroy it to progress."
"How can we do that? I don't think Hilda or Chai can bust it down, and my guns and your spells probably won't do a thing to it either." Connor said.
"Thought this might come in handy. You ready for this, guys?" Peppermint asked.
Connor then got an alert on his communicator's HUD, before looking at the Barrier at a specific point. He had an idea, and then tried something out.
"C'mon, Peppermint!" Connor called, as Peppermint instantly warped to their side in a blue flash of light.
"Let's go!" Peppermint replied, rapidly blasting the barrier to make it shatter before she disappeared just as fast.
"Whoa! How did you…?" Chai asked.
"Just a bit of temporal displacement. Kinda complicated; probably not some of your lingos, but one of 808s hidden features." Peppermint replied.
"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Chai asked, although with not much of a raised voice.
"Didn't think you needed me, Mr. Confident." Peppermint replied smugly.
The group then headed into a darkened area of the production facility, where there was a gap ahead of them.
"Doesn't look like any of you can make that jump. But see that switch?" peppermint asked, directing their attention to a big blue button that had "Shoot!" inscribe on it.
"Ah, I see what you're getting at…" Connor nodded in understanding.
"Yup, call me in! I can activate those for you." Peppermint acknowledged.
"Ugh, you sound like a video game tutorial…" Chai mumbled.
Using Peppermint's sharpshooting, the group was able to progress while also powering the area back on. Along the way, they had to contend with BA-B00s now using the same type of energy shield that blocked their path before. But luckily, Peppermint was able to assist in battle as well, overloading every BA-B00s shield so they could destroy them. Eventually, the group was able to make their way up to Rekkas office, as they headed inside.
(song fade)
The room was dark, and the group could barely make anything out inside.
"Pretty quiet… not suspicious at all," Chai noted.
"Introducing…REKKAAAAA!" Rekka's hype man suddenly announced as a titan tron came on, and above it, the Head of Production herself leaped into view, accompanied by another blast of pyrotechnics. She cheered, doing a bit of wrestling showmanship before the pyro died down, focusing her attention on the quartet.
"You wanna be successful? You wanna be productive?" Rekka asked the group, not waiting for a reply. "Then you gotta be… AGGRESSIVE!" she said, pounding her fists.
(Cue: Free Radicals by the Flaming Lips [Covered by Elsinore])
The sound of Rekka pounding her fists together twice caused Chai's MP3 to act up.
"And when a couple of DEFECT punks like you wanna run outta here, you're just ASKIN' for it!" Rekka said.
"Asking for what, exactly?" Chai asked.
"You disrespecting me? That's it!" Rekka declared, rolling her sleeves up and loosening her tie. "The GLOVES are coming off."
Rekka then started carefully taking the gloves around her arms off, finger by finger.
"We can see that…" Hilda said before everyone caught eye that Rekka's right arm was revealed to be cybernetic, as pistons popped out of it, the same with her left, as additional pistons came out of the bottom of her arms after both gloves were off.
"What was your plan for this, Peppermint?" Chai asked.
"I dunno… fight?" Peppermint responded through 808, as Rekka threw one of her gloves smack dab right into Chai's face.
"You're paying us double for this…" Chai grumbled.
"But I'm not paying any of you anything," Peppermint replied.
"HEY! I'm the main show here!" Rekka declared, before jumping off her platform and slamming down into the combat zone. "So let's get ready to crumble!" she pounded her cybernetic arms together again, confidently ready for a fight. "Whoo! Come on!" she called.
At this, everyone brought their weapons out and prepared to throw down.
VS. Rekka
FIGHT!
Rekka immediately started strong right out of the gate, charging forward and trying to nail any target in her line of sight with her cybernetic arms.
"Peppermint, could use some help!" Hilda called as Peppermint warped in.
"Light em' up!" Peppermint reacted as she stylishly hit Rekka with some rapid-fire dual energy blast, distracting her long enough for Hilda to clash Freikugel with her metal fists.
"Take this!" Lysithea called, casting Swarm Zeta and giving Rekka a blast of dark magic.
Connor followed it up by shooting Rekka from afar with his rifle, the Production head blocking the shots with her arms, but that gave Chai an opening to hit her in the back, which Connor followed up by stunning Rekka with a running drop kick, and Hilda nailing Rekka in the chest.
Rekka skidded back across the floor before stopping herself.
"Not bad…for a couple of DEFECTS!" Rekka said before leaping into the air and drop-kicking down onto the group.
"Do you always consider people who don't have cybernetics from your company defects?" Lysithea asked.
"From the way she's about to crash into us, I think so!" Hilda said as everyone evaded, Rekka slammed into a panel on the floor and dislodged it as it read 'DANGER' on all three sides. She caught it in midair and threw it at the group, Chai barely able to deflect it as it was launched into the ceiling.
Rekka then grabbed a power line from the spot on the floor and started pulling on it.
"Hey! The sign said danger for a reason, are you trying to electrocute yourself?!" Hilda aksed.
"Rekka could use…some…JUICE!" Rekka said as she pulled it apart and electricity surged around her fists.
"It's too dangerous to get close to her right now." Lysithea said.
"Well lucky for you and me, we don't need to get close to hit her," Connor smirked.
Lysithea smiled as she and Connor attacked Rekka from opposite sides, blasting her with magic and bullets as they stayed far away from the supercharged Company head. She then leaped into the air as electricity gathered around one of her fists as she prepared to slam it back down.
"Jump!" Connor called as everyone did so, avoiding the electricity conducting itself across the metal floor as pyrotechnics sparked. After this massive attack, Rekka was exhausted, giving the group the perfect opening to wail at her. After back-to-back attacks from Chai, Connor, and Lysithea, Hilda rapidly battered Rekka with a Weak Point Smash, swinging her axe everywhere before knocking her back again.
"You all ain't gonna ruin this company's rep!" Rekka said before lifting a part of the wall up and grabbing a pipe before turning to the group as she snapped it in half and tossed the two pieces into the air. "You're all going out with the trash." she said as she caught them and began tossing them at the group.
The group dodged the pipes one after the other alongside the beat's timing. After she tossed out as many as she could, Rekka took two broken pipes and used them as close-range weapons, trying to smack them.
"You've made me mad! Apocalyptic Flame!" Hilda called, unleashing Freikugel's Combat Art as Rekka was engulfed in a powerful pillar of fire before being sent across the floor as she weakly pushed herself up on her arms and looked up at the group in exhaustion.
"Looks like we've got you beat for a 3 count." Connor said.
"You think I'll lose to PUNKS like you?" Rekka asked.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Chai said before dashing in while dragging his razorback across the floor as it looked like an actual instrument before he spun and swung it at Rekka as she gasped.
WHAM!
The head of Production was then sent into the air by a wicked knockout blow from Chai.
(End Song)
Streaks of light poured from Rekka before she was engulfed in a flash of light as she soon exploded. All that was left of her after that was her belt and an unusually big usb drive.
"Cool! Her personal pass key!" Peppermint said as she picked it up. "Great job, guys!"
Chai looked around in confusion wondering how she got there before he and the others followed her up to Rekka's desk.
"Alright. Lets see what weve got on SPECTRA. Can you get us into Rekkas files, Peppermint?" Connor asked.
"With her passkey, I can access the files easy." Peppermint said as she plugged it in and typed on the computer before finding something. "Huh? Wait… 'SPECTRA is designed to interface with user perception and reasoning?' This gives Vandelay direct access to people's minds!"
"Mind control? That's terrible!" Hilda said.
"Wait… what's this file?" Connor asked, clicking on a separate folder to reveal an image that made Connor's eyes widen.
"What is it Connor?" Lysithea asked.
"I don't believe it… where did Kale find this thing?" Connor asked. He didn't have any time to show Peppermint, Hilda or Lysithea because a call alert went off on Rekka's desk. "Could someone turn that off?! I'm lookin' at something big here!"
Chai then eyes a big red button and, without any second thoughts, pushed it as the lights went off.
"Chai, what did you push?" Hilda asked.
"Connor said to make it stop," Chai said.
Just then five different screens popped up on the monitor behind them, showing five people. Kale was immediately recognized by Connor, Hilda, and Lysithea in the center, and the four other people on both sides of him could only be the other Department Heads. Chai had accidentally answered a conference call.
"Rekka, please tell me you've dealt with the defec-" Kale said before stopping as he took notice of the quartet. "What in the hell am I looking at?"
"Wow, for the head of a company you're pretty rude." Hilda said.
"Hold on, aren't those three…" A Red haired woman asked with a scottish accent.
"I know one of those kids…" a dark-skinned old man said, looking at Connor. "Thats Connor Trav! From the wanted posters! He's worth just over a billion!"
"The one and only." Connor tipped his hat.
"Where's Rekka?" the red haired woman asked.
"Yeah, about that…" Connor said as Chai came into the picture and held up Rekka's belt.
"Better start looking for a new Production head!" Chai said.
"Is this some sort of joke?" Kale asked.
"Ohh, now this is a juicy meeting." a blonde-haired woman with a beauty mark next to Kale's monitor said. Meanwhile, on the farthest end to the right, a heavily modified man was reacting dramatically to the scene, as he tried to input his thoughts, but he didn't realize he was muted. "Zanzo, I think you're muted, honey." she said as the man known as Zanzo pressed the unmute.
"Ugh, I was going to say-" Zanzo started.
"Korsica, get your people to Production right away." Kale interrupted.
"Oh, uh, y-yes, sir." the red-haired woman said before leaving.
"So, you think you can just decide to off one of my staff and think you can take us on?" Kale asked Connor.
"I have a reason to now. Especially since now that I know youve got something I recognize as a big-time threat tucked away in your secret project." Connor said. "And I'm not gonna let you accidentally doom the entire multiverse if it takes over your whole device."
"Is he talking about that oversized golden trinket we're using to try and amplify SPECTRA?" the dark-skinned man asked.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Where in the Color Gods multicolored Multiverse did you find this thing?" Connor asked, revealing a large golden bracelet with a green gem in the center of it.
"That's for us to know, and you to never find out," Kale said.
"Fine by me if you don't tell me. Just know that I'm coming for it. I'm not letting you misuse Divine power in a machine that can control minds." Connor said.
"That's right!" Chai added. "Peppermint and us are gonna kick your ass with your own tech!"
"Hey! Don't mention her in this!" Hilda chided.
"Peppermint?" Kale asked.
"Wait…" Lysithea muttered as she looked between Kale and Peppermint's faces before her eyes widened. "(She and Kale couldn't be… could they?)"
Peppermint quickly slammed down on the button and ended the call before grabbing Rekka's access key and dragging Chai by the ear.
"Security's gonna swarm this place, we gotta go!" Connor said.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Peppermint said before opening a hatch in the floor and kicking Chai down it as the others followed with her being last as it closed.