Stage 2B

"By the way, what kind of ritual is that?" Kuonji points at the gathering of people in white and red garments with the leading priest seemingly bestow a blessing on a little girl in the form of handing over a faintly glowing object in the shape of a cube-like stone.

"Oh that? It's not really a ritual, rather a play imitating the Inheritance of the Watatsumi." Amagi informed the boy as they stare at the ongoing practice performance being conducted at the town's Main Shrine, "The stage play that they're going to do is a replication of the ritual that decides on who will be the succeeding guardian of our Sacred Relic, the Watatsumi, and becoming the center of power and authority within the Sakura Empire Nation."

"Watatsumi? A ritual choosing a nation's representative?"

"It means that she will be the leader of the Sakura Empire's powerful navy and will be our nation's representative." Seeing their guest visibly confused Akagi interjects her elder sister with a smug fox face, "Only the most renowned Sakura Empire Kansen would be given the opportunity of holding this privilege within our Nation."

"Ufufu, that's right~" Amagi was amused by her little sister's sudden interjection and proceeds to head pat her.

"Ehehe, pat me more~" The red little fox girl was delighted from the head pat, while her white counterpart shows a pouting face expressing jealousy towards her red rival.

"Huh, I see..." Staring at the stone from a distance the boy then thought, "It looked like a melted ice cube decorated with some rope and several charms tied to it..." And then he thought, "Maybe it was similar in some ways to the Wisdom Cubes that Cerea was talking about..."

"Come on! There're more confectionery shops over there!" Akagi tugs on Kuonji's left sleeve, "I will give you the honor of accompanying me all night sampling these delicious treats with me!"

"Never mind that!" At the same time Kaga then tugs on his right side, "There's plenty of games that we can compete on that area, come with me!"

"Hold up! I only have a single body!" Kuonji was helpless from the two child fox girls that were pulling both his arms in two different directions, "Can't we just do this by taking turns?"

"Me first!"

"No! Me first!"

"Ufufu, it seems like both of them took a liking of you rather quickly~" The elder Fox girl Kansen then covers her mouth with her left hand as she's amused on how the two young fox girls interact with their guest.

"Please stop joking and help me out here, miss Amagi!" The boy was dragged by the two smaller fox girls further into the crowd, visiting every stand that they see on the way.

After a few stop-ins and strolling the three fox girls found out that they've lost their guest in the middle of a heavy crowd. After all the mishaps and quick inquiry on most of the populace at the festival Kuonji was found by the three fox girls in an embarrassing manner, acting like a lost puppy and absent-mindedly walking in circles on his own for a moment. After apologizing for the inconvenience, he agreed to treat them to a Dango stand where all three demanded a Deluxe-sized order. Luckily for Kuonji his current GBN credits on hand can be converted to this world's currency, and he had enough to feed him and his new friends in this festival. And amidst their leisurely walk Kuonji initiated a conversation by casually asking about ship girls, with Amagi answering every question he can give regarding them.

"Huh, so you're saying these Sirens just came out of nowhere, attacked anyone they can find near or within any bodies of water, and in response the KAN-SENs, like you, were called to protect this world from them?" Kuonji gave Amagi a raised eyebrow as she describes the KAN-SENs in detail, having a hard time taking in all the information dump he was given just now, "And there are many more just like you all over this world?"

"Indeed." Amagi answered with a proud but subtle smirk, "Conceived from the Wisdom Cubes, our purpose is to defeat the Sirens that kept invading our waters, using the Riggings bestowed upon us on birth as our weapons against them." She then continued with, "And as you've seen before, our Riggings are the very ships that we have materialized as Ship girls. By our will we ship girls can transform those as our weapons in order to fight against the Sirens."

"I see... conceived from the Wisdom Cubes, huh?" Kuonji asks with an innocent face whilst feeding on some Dango, "So you girls have gone into something like a ritual in order to become a Kansen similar to the one we saw earlier?"

"...Let's say some of us were born as humans with unique traits called 'Blessed Child', we grew up into adults and trained to become fully-fledged KAN-SEN, while some were 'created' with an adult body and then further honed in time by constant training. There were also stories that the first KANSENs were once actual human females that have high compatibility with Wisdom Cubes and was able to use Riggings derived from old Warships..." Raising her index finger as a correcting gesture the adult foxgirl then clarifies his assumption, "The point is, there are Several factors that creates different methods of creating Kansens, you see. Some are similar in process, while others are unique to their own Faction's tradition and level of technological advancement." and she ended with, "Also, the Watatsumi we saw earlier is a special stone that can only be used through certain conditions. I do not know yet the details myself but, I heard that it's a special key used to create KAN-SENs that were supposed to be 'Non-Existent', that is a ship girl that did not have any historical origin..."

"Huh, Okay..." Nodding in response Kuonji was fascinated to these newly discovered facts about the KAN-SEN, especially the 'Non-Existent ship girls" that was mentioned earlier, "Can you tell me more?"

With a delighted smile Amagi replied, "I'd love to~"

During their walk Amagi further elaborates the events pertaining to emergence of their enemy, the Sirens, their initial hostile contact with them and later on the first deployment of the said 'Gunplas' against the KAN-SENs. And at that cue Kuonji was asked about the machine that he was riding, AKA Gunpla, and the three fox girl Kansens gave their whole attention directed at the boy as they take a break on a pagoda-like mini-house.

"So, this Cerea girl invited you to this world, and on her request she had you explore around and gave you a mission on helping the Kansens?" Amagi demands a clarification, crossing her arms and her fox ears twitching once as she had a hard time believing the initial part of his story.

"...Something like that." Kuonji answered in a rather calm tone, seemingly forgetting the mysterious secretive character trope that he's been roleplaying, "She uses some kind of a glowing cube in a box to get us here, and she tries to 'encourage' me to complete the Mission objectives for her. Well, it does sound she's exploiting me but I do get something in return by doing it solo, and I plan to see through this Mission till the end..." but at the back of his mind he thought, "Well, She was kinda SUS and obvious that she's hiding something, but I don't mind that much since I've gotten used to dealing with this kind of situations...and I kinda feel bad ignoring a cute Diver in need..."

"Shining Cube in a box..." With her left hand on her chin Amagi then tries to decipher what he meant by this phrase, "Did he mean a Wisdom Cube?" she thought.

"So those machines that you're riding..." Akagi was the next one to ask a question, this time having a curious expression on her face, "Gunpla, was it? Could you tell us what kind of vehicle those are?"

"Gunplas, yes." Kuonji then tries to convert every knowledge he had in the Gundam and Gunpla Franchise in an easy-to-understand statement to the three fox girl Kansens, "They are... machines that we Builders create and ride to participate in Gunpla Battles. We gather parts from several other machines and assemble them into our own unique Gunpla to compete with each other in terms of appearance or capabilities in a battle tournament." As he explains all of this the boy had been holding off one thing in his mind, "Guess I'll just leave out the part that they're based on an anime that showcases Hi-tech toy-looking robots mixed with war and politics..."

"A machine that you can build and customize into your own accordance...?" Amagi had her eyes narrowed slightly as she thought of his machine can be used in multiple purposes other than directly attacking enemy units. There are many concepts popping up in her mind, from leading Kansens to conducting large operations with only itself and a single support unit.

"A competition of both strength, beauty and creativity, huh..." Kaga had her eyes sparkled in response to Kuonji's simplified description of Gunpla Battles, excited from the imagined sight of humanoid machines duking it out on an arena.

"Huh, I thought they were similar to those Shikigami planes that our Carriers use, it seems I was wrong..." The young Akagi goes on a monologue debunking into her mind that there's a similarity to the Gunplas and the equipment she's been practicing with.

"So how do you fire that giant red light at the enemy? How can your machine fly into the air? And how did you manage to change from a palm-sized toy when you were helping Amagi and turn into giant-size armed vehicle after the battle?" It's Kaga's turn to ask a question, getting a bit more curious about the capabilities of Kuonji's Gunpla.

"Err, it's going to be a, uh... complicated lore as to how those weapons on my machine's weaponry works but as for the changes in size...I dunno myself." Answering the little white fox girl Kuonji just crossed his arms pondering, "I just enter the Battlefield Boundary and it just happens, shrinking my machine's proportions along with me inside it. I don't feel any different though other than being dumbfounded by the sudden scale differences."

"Battlefield... Boundary? You mean the Mirror Sea?" Inferred by Amagi, having been confused by the term the boy used to describe the unusal phenomenon caused by the Sirens.

"Ah, so you call those Battlefield Boundary Domes the Mirror Sea..." The boy scratches the back of his head in realization that not every single term that he knows about GBN applies here in this Mission, "I guess there are things called differently in my place compared to this world..."

"...Just for the convenience of understanding, let me ask...Do you think that your Gunpla, is in a way, similar to the ones used by the Sirens?" With an incredulous expression Amagi interjected, trying to make out a connection between his arrival and the Siren's deployment of these machines.

"Judging by the way I fought them, they're pretty much the same as mine. They do function the same way as those NPDs I always encounter in Daily Missions." The boy replies to her with another question, "Did you know where they have been getting those Gunplas?"

"Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing..." Amagi then rebounds back the same question to the boy, "Can you tell me where you obtain these kinds of machines?"

"Uhh, okay, but it's not that rare of a sight in my case..." Kuonji then scratches the back of head as he replies with, "I mean, in my place we can just buy one on a local toy store and-"

"You mean in your place you can get those machines like buying a candy in a Dagashi-ya(Sweets Store)!? Can you tell me more?" Interrupting him Akagi had her eyes widen and jumps repeatedly in front of the boy in response, curious as to what kind of shop would sell these types of machines that's way different from their own Shikigami planes.

"Err, wait, calm down..." Trying to diffuse Akagi's excitement Kuonji tries to calm down the energetic red fox girl by holding on to both her shoulders, "I'm still trying to explain several things to your big sister, so we'll get to that later..."

"...I see. It seems that our understanding of things are different yet similar in aspects..." Amagi places her left hand to her chin, thinking that there's a need to clarify these terms especially on the Siren's capabilities, "Would you mind conversing a little bit more as we explore the festival, Kuonji? We might be able to help out each other if we exchange information about certain details of our worlds..."

With a matching hesitant face Kuonji retorts with, "Ermm, fine then. But I'll make my own explanation as simple as possible..."

"That would be great~" Amagi replied with a serene smile right after his answer, "And while at it, let's enjoy some Taiyaki over there."

"Oh, sure."

And in that pattern Kuonji tries his best to explain the world of GBN, and how did he manage to create his Gunpla and obtain parts for its assembly. The three foxgirls were bewildered from how easy it is to obtain these machines and amazed by the mechanics of his world, with Amagi find it quite intriguing of the girl who gave him this mission and how easily he agreed on this arrangement. During this conversation the four of them left the Pagoda Mini-House and continue on walking towards the Town's central area. This conversation continues on until they've entered a slightly less crowded area and pass by on a stall that seemingly had a random arrangement of toys and candies for display.

"Come on, come all! We've got the best goods in this Island!" A man accompanied by an anthropomorphic female cat that's sitting beside her on a stool were doing a really flashy way of calling out customers, using several props such as reflective signs and flares decorating his stall.

"Nyah!" The small cat girl wearing a green-themed Yukata interjected with a feline voice, giving an effort of adding more flair to the stall owner's stand by holding a banner with the words written in Katakana reads, 'Limited Edition! Get it now! NYA!'.

""Ah! it's Yamada-Jiisan!"" Akagi and Kaga simultaneously exclaimed, somewhat delighted to see the Stall-owner as they walk towards him.

"As usual, having the oddest items to your store, huh?" Amagi does a somewhat exasperated smile at the store owner, observing his odd selection of Items displayed on his stand.

"Oh, Amagi!" The man had a squinting expression as he saw the fox girl walking towards his stall, "Good to see ya doing well these days! Hope yer not pushing yerself too hard..."

"No need to worry. I'm not that reckless as to strain my body at breaking point." With a wry smile Amagi retorts in a pouting tone, "Besides, I'm not that frail, you know..."

"Ahahahah, yer right 'bout that..." Tapping his head in response the elderly storeowner retracts his last line about her health and makes it up with a wide grin.

"Nyaaah~!" The young cat girl continued to yawn and lick her 'paws' like a real feline as she comes over at the store owner's side to listen at the conversation.

"Hmmm..." Meanwhile Kuonji walks towards on the stall and takes a good look on the Items that was on sale as if inspecting them. One particular Item caught his attention was a purple sphere sitting at the center among the offered items. Further narrowing his eyes Kuonji brings his face closer and correctly recognizes its identity.

"What in the... a Haro!?" Kuonji exclaimed in response the moment he focuses his sight at a certain Item. He then goes poking on it, a supposedly GBN main terminal-exclusive Item, to confirm its authenticity, "Shouldn't these Items available only in the Main Terminal Item Shops?"

"Wanna buy it, kid? I'll fetch ya a good discount just fer this time..." With movements faster than a pick pocketer the storeowner goes beside the boy and tries his hand on luring the boy on purchasing the said Item, "I don't usually offer discounts but since yer a good-lookin' foreigner I'll happily give you one. How about it?"

"Uhh, no. I mean, I was just curious about this, and-" The boy meekly brushes off his offer, but...

"No need to be so reserve, young lad. I got more Items at the storage, if ya want I can get ya anything..." Going for a friendly hand gesture the stall-owner persists on his sales talk at the boy, still pushing him for a purchase, "What do ya say?"

"Uhhh..."

"Hey, now... Don't go scamming our guest right off the bat..." Amagi scolds the storeowner for doing his usual business tactic to his potential customers, taking the stall-owner away from the boy by grabbing his collar and separates him from Kuonji.

"Ny-nyaah..." The green cat girl quickly hid herself on a nearby tree while her master is being held by Amagi, saving herself from the Fox girl Kansen's scolding.

"I-I ain't scammin'! I sell genuine items made by our own countrymen! I swear in this hammer and screwdriver o' mine!" Still dangling on Amagi's arm the storeowner insists on doing legal business, showing a proud raised fist gesture while holding a wooden hammer and screwdriver.

"But you're still forcing him to buy something..." Amagi's 'Smiling Glare' further darkened and fully focused on the stall-owner giving him a warning not to go any further on his merchandising tactic.

"Well, that's..." The stall owner seemingly shrinks down from Amagi's facial expression, intimidated by the Kansen's deadly glare and unable to utter anything comprehensive. All of this was happening on the background as Kuonji goes back into investigating the purple ball by constantly poking at it.

"What are you doing?" Akagi with Kaga in tow then comes over beside Kuonji, and also goes on to observe that particular spherical purple object that he's been poking all this time.

"Hmmm..."

"..."

"Hmm..."

"..."

A few moments of poking the Item in question it then suddenly moves in an erratic pattern that evidently astonishes Kuonji and the two foxgirls as they back away from the stall, with the purple Haro starts bouncing around all over the place. Now hiding behind Kuonji the two young fox girls had their defenses up against the now sentient toy for any weird movements it would do.

"Heyyo kid, wazzup?" Stopping in front of Kuonji the purple robotic sphere spoke while bouncing and rolling all around, scaring everyone except the boy who just blankly stared at it, "Looks like this is going to be your lucky day~"

""Whoah!? It spoke!?"" The Stall owner had his face distorted in a comically drawn 70's style face design as he witnesses the purple toy merchandise becomes sentient and moving and bouncing on its own.

"...You mean you had no idea what is that thing either?" Still holding him by the collar Amagi had her eyebrow raised at the Stall Owner, "Shouldn't you be a bit more knowledgeable about the things that you sell!?"

"W-Well, that's..."

"...N-Nyaah..." Still hiding at the tree, the green Catgirl takes a peek as she carefully observes the sentient Haro at a safe distance.

"Oh!? So, we're in a middle of an upcoming festival, huh? Damn, a perfect timing to be bouncing around~"

"..." Kuonji felt something ominous after seeing the Haro Unit, expecting there was some kind of a trap set up somewhere as he never encountered anything as lively as this one.

"Now don't be too afraid, it's not like I have something to hurt anyone here~" The Haro, who already had a friendly tone towards Kuonji showcases a smile as he makes eye contact with it, "...So you're my partner from now on, huh? Not bad. Let's get along together, will ya?"

"..."

A moment of silence can be observed as Kuonji stares blankly at the purple Haro unit, still being cautious of the sentient Item that kept wobbling and circling around him.

"Hey, aren't you going to say something?" Tilting its round body, the purple Haro wasn't amused from the stone-cold reaction he's getting from the boy, as he's been poking him nonstop before revealing himself to be sentient and later on shifts to a dumbfounded look, "You were curious about me up until now, and then you go zoning out afterwards?"

"..."

"Heey, you still with us? Yoohoo~"

And after staring at it for a considerable amount of time, "...Let's visit other shops, Miss Amagi." Kuonji makes a face of disinterest whilst turning away from the said Item and faces the bewildered Ship girl, "Guess I got too excited after seeing a familiar item from my own world."

"...Eh?" And with that Amagi gave Kuonji a dumbfounded look as if it was natural for him to easily ignore the sentient purple toy that suddenly moved on its own, even though it's a very eye-catching situation for everyone else.

"A-Ah, wait! wait! You can't just walk away like that after revealing myself!" Jumping and bouncing erratically the Haro unit calls out to the boy as an attempt to get his attention, "Aren't you curious about me being ending up here?"

Turning his head sideways for a moment, "...No, not really..." the boy just responds with a deadpan face and continues to look at the other available items on the stall.

"Oh, come on! Can you at least listen to me for a bit?" In a pleading tone the Blue Haro Unit kept wobbling in its position, doing a mock sobbing with matching holographic tears, "I promise I can be useful to you, in one way or another..."

"Not interested..." The boy flatly refuses to give in to the Haro's offer, not even flinching from the Haro's bizarre gestures.

"Please...?"

"..."

"Uhh..."

"Hmmm..."

"Uhhh.."

"Hmmm..."

"Uhhhh..."

1250 Credits later...

A notification screen then pops out on Kuonji's face, and what was written on it confirms the contents of Items that he bought at the stall.

"Received a Miscellaneous Item: Haro (Tentative Name)."

"Aaaahhh... feels so good being held by someone for after so long~"

"..."

Being held by Kuonji with his two hands the purple Haro had a blissful expression as it joins the four on their leisurely walk into the Central Town. The purple Haro's weird gestures pays off as the storeowner manages to convince Amagi to buy off the Purple Haro from him with the condition of adding some treats for her sister and herself, in which they now take along with them during the festival. As for Kuonji's case he was quite unamused from how the situation unfolds, as the sentient toy interacts with the little fox girls and having fun while he himself has just gone mute and docile whilst observing the HARO in a seemingly static stance.

"...Hm? Why so quiet, partner?" The Blue Haro unit wobbles around and then jump into Kuonji's hands and looks at him eye to eye as if it was trying to console him, "Don't ya worry, I can guarantee that would be a great asset to your adventures!"

"...Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me..." Kuonji retorts in an exasperated tone of voice, "I wasted a fortune on this weird Item..."

"Aww, don't be like that. By the way, give me a good name bro." The Haro immediately makes a request to the boy, "And a Cool one, if you would."

"Don't give me a reason to throw you away..." After giving a hissing warning to the HARO Kuonji then directed his glum face to the elder Fox girl, "Miss Amagi, please tell you did not make me do this just to make fun of me..."

"I believe there is a chance of something good will happen if you'll be on his side, and I want to see it~" Amagi smiled at the boy as an assurance of his decision of bringing the Haro with him.

"See? Even Mama fox here agrees that buying me is the right choice~" The purple Haro points out, flapping his ears in joy of having Amagi taking his side.

"Shut it..." The boy now had comically large veins on his head as he's constantly annoyed by the Purple Haro's quick retorts against him.

"..." The two other fox girls that accompany him observes their conversation with various expressions and looks. One might say that Kuonji had been the oddball since he acts like purposely dissing the purple HARO for some time.

"Ugh..." In a grumbling voice the boy garbled, "I don't like this one bit. Not one bit at all..."

"Aww, isn't it fine?" The purple Haro wobbles around the boy's hands and flaps its ears again, "We'll be together from now on, so give me a name, as a sign of our partnership~"

"Hhrmmm..."

Kuonji was about to comically lash out at the purple Haro, but he was able to suppress his temper for a while. And after a few seconds of thinking while staring at the sentient Haro Kuonji finally uttered a name for it as way to stop bugging him, but in an uninspired tone.

"...Blue ball."

"...Seriously?" The purple Haro gets really annoyed the way he simply spouts out random names for him, "That's the first thing that comes into your mind? And I'm purple, mind you!"

And with that, "Harold, then." the boy then quickly gives another suggestion, albeit in an absent-mindedly tone of voice.

"...You're just trolling me, aren't you?" The purple Haro argued with an enraged and hi-pitched voice at the boy glaring at him, "WOULD YOU KINDLY GIVE ME A DECENT NAME!?"

"The nerve of this thing..." He thought, "Then ask someone else. I don't want to be bothered by a talking ball of annoyance all the time." Kuonji flatly retorted at the Haro Unit with a sour face showcasing his outright perplexed expression.

"Come on now, we're partners at this point, right?" The purple Haro whined like an infant trying to get its parent's attention, "It shouldn't be hard for you to give me a cool name, right? Right? Riiight~?"

"I will send you to god if you don't shut up!" Kuonji suddenly draws out a sandal from his Inventory and holds it like he was about to slap the Haro Unit with full force.

"Uuuhhhh..."

"Hmph..."

"Mmmhhhnnn..."

"..."

After a few seconds of staring at it the boy then inspects the Haro as he's finally thinking of a decent name for it. Looking for any hints on its body as reference, he stumbled on a writing printed on its mid-section that had several letters (or numbers) evidently erased by scratching and friction.

"...Okay." After Kuonji finishes examining the Haro he then slowly utters another name, "An... An... Ious? A... An-Xous..."

"""What?"""

"AN-XOUS. That's going to be your name." The boy finally gave a definitive name to the haro unit, "That's fine, right?"

""...""

A Moment of silence can be observed between the two as Kuonji and Haro had a stare showdown after their exchange about the latter's name.

"Hmmm...Right. I'm An-Xous then. Pleased to meet ya." The Haro unit seemingly hums in agreement, satisfied from the name given to him by Kuonji, "Once again, nice to meet ya, Partner."

A notification holo panel then suddenly pops up right in front of Kuonji, reminding him of his newly acquired Misc. Item.

"Misc. Unit Haro An-Xous has been set as an Exclusive Item."

"Finally, I've linked with a human again..." The purple Haro can be seen pleased from being held by Kuonji's hands as it wiggles and wobbles into it.

"Seriously, stop that..." The boy had an exasperated expression from the purple Haro's reaction from being rubbed on its sides "Anyways, let's see what kind of an Item you are..."

"It's that thing again..." Amagi's eyes then narrowed down on Kuonji's Holo-panel and keenly observes it, "Hard to believe everyone in his world can use something convenient like that..."

"You're an Exclusive Item, huh?" Kuonji noted to himself as he inspects his Holo-panel, "Back then during the GBN Opening Event I didn't bother getting myself one of these, so I don't know how do to use one. Hmph, guess I'll be keeping at least this one in my Inventory..."

"Oi, don't treat me like some kind of cheap copies that you can buy-Oh!?" AN-XOUS was about to lash out at the boy until he gets distracted by the Item list of his Inventory, "Hey, you've got some interesting Items here. Lemme have a look~"

And while his Inventory Holo-panel active An-Xous literally dives into Kuonji's Holo-panel, like a fish dipping into a pool.

"Oi, don't just rummage through my Storage without my consent!" Kuonji shrieked as AN-XOUS suddenly dives into his Inventory Window all of a sudden. He attempts to scoop the sentient Haro out by plunging his arm into his Inventory Window, but he can no longer reach his round body.

"..."

A few minutes later An-Xous suddenly pops out of the Inventory Holo panel with a glowing cube on his mouth and starts to chomp on it.

"...Whoah, Whoah! You got something interesting here~" The purple Haro then targets a certain Item on Kuonji's Inventory that it then picks up using its mouth.

"H-Hey, what are you-!?" Kuonji grabs onto the Haro Unit trying to prevent it from messing around with his Inventory Window along with its contents. He then pulls the HARO out for him to discover that it picked up the gray cube along from his Storage.

"Har har, I got me some treasure~" An-Xous was bouncing erratically right after jumping out of Kuonji's Holopanel and nibbling at his gray cube.

"Hey, give it back!"

"Don't wanna~"

While chasing An-Xous the cube grew in size as the Haro bites it halfway before it could get swallowed, with the circuit lines glowing in neon light effects while still being chomped by An-Xous.

"Ack! Agh...Gah..."

"The hell are you doing with my Item!?" Kuonji quickly grabs the glowing gray cube from the Haro's mouth and tries to pull it out at full strength. It took some serious effort and awkward moments, but he managed to retrieve his gray cube from An-Xous' grasp and secure it to his hands firmly.

After a few gasps and coughs, "What? I just unlocked that G-Cube Builder for you. I figured that you had no idea how to use nor activate that thing on your own." An-Xous answers boy with a dumbfounded expression, "Where did you get that, by the way?"

"...G-Cube Builder?" He then looks at the now glowing cube with a renewed curiosity on his mind. He was still hesitant on touching the cube since it came out of AN-XOUS' mouth in a very disgusting way but now that the cube is glowing with blue lines, "This is the Cube's name?"

"...You mean you didn't know?" AN-XOUS then begins to read the details encrypted to the Cube, "Let me recite the description for you; 'An item that lets you convert any data into any kind of item or restore an item to its prime condition. You can also alter an Item's properties to your own custom parameters, regardless of the settings it was given by the system itself." He then further elaborates to the boy with, "Having this into your hand means that you're roughly have the same level of authority as the GM/Administrator itself... (Or more precisely, a "Creator" of this world...)"

"Wow, so it was that valuable..." Kuonji then remembers the previous Diver who examined the Cube first, "Did that bird Diver knew all about this...?"

"...Seriously, you don't know that either!?" The purple Haro had himself confused from the boy's reply, unable to process in its mind that he no idea how omnipotent the cube that he was holding, "You've been holding that thing all this time and you had no clue how to unlock it?"

"Uuuh, yeah..." Replied Kuonji as he scratches the back of his head, "I just somehow managed to get this thing from a side quest in Stage 1. Some girl that looked like a small fairy gave it to me along with some candies after I helped her beating a bunch of Siren ships..."

"I... see..." The HARO unit then mumbled to himself as he looks downward seemingly in deep thoughts, "So that's why 'they' were attacking the Royal Navy at that time..."

"..." Amagi had a stern expression from witnessing the Haro's expression and upon the story which Kuonji obtained the mysterious gray cube.

"Well, you seem to know something more about this cube than I do." Kuonji then gave a keen stare at the purple HARO, "Given that you blurted that to us, you don't mind explaining things right now, do you?"

"Uhm, that's..." An-Xous obviously shows a stern face, suddenly avoiding eye contact to anyone.

"Hhhmmm..." Meanwhile Kuonji was quite intrigued by the Haro's expression after sensing some hesitation from its words.

*BOOOMM!*

Suddenly a loud bang bursts out from one of the Main Island's outskirts, somewhere near the shore. The source can be traced back into the shorelines near where Kuonji and the three Fox girls met, and also quite close to the very location they encountered the Elite Siren Tester earlier.

"An explosion!?"

"Kyaa! F-Fire! T-There's fire everywhere! Everything's burning!"

"It's coming from over there!"

Sensing danger the four then quickly responds to go over the source of the explosion and witness a horrifying sight in front of them. Burning buildings, fires everywhere, people running about and taking cover avoiding the deadly shells and fiery projectiles that's heading towards them. When they arrived Most of the Sakura Empire populace were running around as fires and explosions were erupting on the shorelines spreading into houses and buildings, as a result of bombardments caused by the Siren units that have now warping the beach side's landscape into a wasted pile of debris and building materials. It doesn't even help that a Battlefield Boundary (or Mirror Sea) has been set up in the area.

"Tch, they're here already?" Kuonji thought to himself, seeing the black ships appearing from circular portals and pouring out their salvos against the infrastructures and people alike near the beach area, creating chaos and confusion, " And they're more aggressive than the previous ones..."

"Nee-san, this is..."

"Akagi, Kaga, stay close to me no matter what..."

"...What was that!?" One of the local residents then spotted an unusual figure among the mass-produced Sirens, spotting it easily as it had a humanoid appearance and is floating in midair.

"Tester..."

A female in a leather-like clothing can be seen floating on the water surface, accompanied by several black ships on her side unleashing several deadly shots of beam and solid projectiles at the Main Island's beachside. Accompanied by them are Gunplas on a comparable scale due to the Mirror Sea's Scaling Effect.

"As promised, I came back~" Tester publicly declared, having a sinister grin as she open fires at the local defense unit using her Rigging's cannons. "Now where are my guinea pigs~?"

"I-It's that Siren again!" Akagi cried out in panic, visibly frightened from the sight of Tester as she hides behind her sister's back.

At the same time, a Holo-panel Pop-up appears in front of Kuonji that prompts him to do the one thing he came in this place with a Gunpla.

"Phase Two has started. Enemy Siren Units have appeared. Please prepare to sortie."

"So, this is the next phase, huh?" Kuonji mutters to himself, confirming that the same enemies had come back for another battle and reminding him why did he stay at the island, "I better go now!"

Leaving the Fox girls Kuonji then sprint towards his mech at a vigorous running speed, and then arrives to his destination in just five minutes of full sprint. He then accesses his Holo-panel, lifts up its cover and jumps into the cockpit, activating its systems and prepping to move out. In response, the white Gundam's optics glowed in green hue signifying its activation.

"Please wait for a bit."

As soon as he starts up the Gundam's systems, Kuonji was stopped by Amagi as she stands in front of his machine. Using his radio comm he then asks-

"Oi, what are you-"

"Please hear me out. I want to try something, so trust me on this." Amagi stated with a stern tone while standing at his machine's clavicle area, "There's something that I want to discuss with you..."

"But the Sirens are attacking right now..." Kuonji was about to argue with her, but...

"Rushing towards a battle without a plan is nothing more than a foolish feat for a soldier." The Fox girl Kansen then goes on convincing Kuonji away from brashly charging head-on, "This might be a bit too sudden for you, but I have a good strategy in mind to try with you as one of its key components. Please, lend me your attention for a while."

"..."

At the vicinity where the Sirens are going on a full assault artillery spree against the Island's defenses, wrecking everything on their cannon's rage with heavy beams, solid projectiles and missiles. Observing silently Tester had a slightly disappointed expression as 'she' probes the Area.

"I know you lot are still here...Come out, come out, wherever you are~" The Elite Siren intentionally broadcast her taunt as an attempt to lure out Kuonji and the Kansens themselves.

An additional number of mass-produced Siren Ships began appearing more and more on the beachside, firing upon the security details of the Island in the form of mass-produced ships and turret installations surrounding the Island. And as the last defensive measures are about to fall...

*BLAAAMM!*

The Saviour (+) then begins its attack with a pair of dark reddish Gerobi shots at the mass of Siren jets and black Gunpla units, slightly reducing their air superiority as its beam sweeps through the flying enemy units. At steady flight the white machine then goes straight towards the Elite Siren and fires another round of heavy beam shots at it, targeting her head and chest respectively. The Humanoid Siren then defends herself using her large back mounted Rigging, folding in a way that it functions as a shield.

"Alright, just as planned. And now..."

The mass-produced Sirens respond accordingly by firing their main guns at the white Gundam, but in futile efforts. Evading every single projectile thrown at it Kuonji's machine continues its frontal assault against the Elite Siren Tester. Gliding at high speeds the Vent Saviour (+) steadily closes in at the Humanoid Elite Siren and aims its pair of beam cannons at her chest and head. The deadly shots then dart toward the Elite Siren only to be blocked by her huge Rigging.

"You ain't going anywhere!" Kuonji yelled, with the Vent Saviour (+) going on a charging assault towards Tester herself.

"Hoh~ Looks like you're not hesitating anymore-Hm!?"

Amagi can be seen doing support fire from behind as she aims her rigging's cannons at the enemy Siren Units, sniping down either cruiser or battleships on her line of sight.

"With this, they won't be attacking the shores anymore and will divert their attention towards Kuonji and me..." The Fox shipgirl thought to herself, "All I have to do now is fend off the mass-produced Sirens while Kuonji forces their commander into a one-on-one combat..."

"Alright, so far so good...!" Kuonji, at the controls of his machine, focuses solely on getting at melee range of the Elite Siren. On his cue he steers his machine at the Elite Siren's supposedly blind spot and fires a pair of reddish hi-energy beams at the Black Gunplas protecting its left side.

"Hoh, not bad~" Tester was impressed by how Kuonji outmaneuvers the two Black Gunplas and shooting them down with little difficulty.

Just before closing in again, the Vent Saviour (+) then fires a pair of smokescreen missiles in front of Tester's escort of Black Gunpla/Siren jet air group. What came out of the white smoke are a pair of flying objects similar in shape of the white transforming Gundam. When the Siren units open fire at the said objects were already burning, exploding within a few seconds upon visual contact.

"...!?" The two Siren machines were somewhat confused as their targets suddenly vanished from their sights, both stalling in midair. And in the meantime,...

"Haaah!"

The real Vent Saviour then suddenly appears at Tester's left flank, swiftly configuring itself into MS mode and attempts to shoot the Elite Siren with beam rifle splashes at its throat, only to be blocked by its armored forearms. The humanoid Siren then counters with a rapid cannon blast with two of her six turrets from her rigging followed by several SUMOs and Taurus unit beam rifle shot barrages from her six which causes the white Gundam to retreat to a good distance and waits for another chance of closing in.

"Ahahah.. That's good..." Tester noted after blocking the attack, smirking as she observes the attackers while deflecting their attacks with little effort.

"Take this!" The Fox girl KANSEN unleashes a deadly salvo against a MP Siren carrier, significantly reducing the enemy's air superiority.

With Amagi's strategy the overwhelming Siren forces were decimated slowly by their synchronized attack patterns and seemingly unpredictable targeting tactics with efficient accuracy. Thanks to Kuonji's experience in team battles he can follow Amagi's strategies with accurate procedure, allowing for a smooth execution of their attack formations.

"I was really hesitant on letting him fight alongside me and follow my lead, but I guess it's a good call to convince him as my ally after all." Amagi thought to herself, "For now, I'll focus on defending this area and leave the offensive to him."

"Hmmm~ So they've finally learned to coordinate their attacks already..." Observing how they coordinate their attacks against her the Elite Siren smirks in delight as she observes how they coordinate their attacks against her.

"Looks like our attack formation's quite effective so far..." Noted Kuonji, "Welp, lemme win some bonus!"

In MA mode, the Vent Saviour (+) was chasing around a pair of Taurus Gunplas for a while and later succeeds to shoot them down with heavy beam cannon shots.

As they are busy decimating mass-produced Sirens the Upper-class Siren then sends more on their way while she goes beside one of the Taurus Gunpla and makes an evil grin, summoning a small Holographic panel on her right hand similar to Kuonji's.

"Well then, let's start the provisional experiment~"

"What is she...?" As he was still re-adjusting his machine's balance from an explosion Kuonji gets a glimpse of the Elite Siren getting a bit too close on one of the Taurus units.

Forcing herself inside the Taurus' chest unit the Elite Siren eventually merged with the mech, with its square sensors lighten up in light yellow hue. The Taurus then somewhat materializes an additional equipment on its back, which is identical to Tester's Rigging. A huge appendage equipped with six cannons is now attached on its back and additional triple-barreled cannons at the waist, giving the Taurus a firepower enough to rival several artillery-oriented Gundams such as the Buster and Heavyarms.

"What in the... she fused herself with a Gunpla!?"

End Stage 2B