"You can't be serious!" Linda Stomped hatefully, her eyes locked on the graffiti across the couch. "Assholes didn't even wait until we got home!"

"No... but they messed up."

"Hell yeah, when they picked a fight with us!" Linda was about to run out, however Kurome took her by the arm halfway through the turn. The girl was not much amused by this, made evident by her glare. "What?"

"Do you even know where they are." The goth asked, watching as the fires in her partner's eyes looked to dull.

"No." Linda ripped her arm away, seething as she grumbled. "But we'll find them."

"Yes." Kurome, in a rare instance of complete agreement matched the street rat's tone. "Yes we will. Hand me your phone."

Linda eyed her questioningly, nevertheless provided the small tool.

"What are you thinking?"

"Do we have the boss' number?"

"Which one? Chuko or-"

"The second." She corrected, and Linda froze momentarily as a bite-sized amount of intimidation filled her voice.

"Woah, let's hold on a second. I don't think the boss will-"

"The number?" Kurome left no room for arguments, and Linda relented carefully.

"It's 'Big B'... he's at the bottom of the contacts list." And with that the determined young woman scrolled through said list as her friend tried to reason with her. "Look, he told us only to call if it's an emergency."

"And this isn't?" Kurome shot, right before a smirk ripped across her face.

Bingo.

"He meant business emergencies." Linda once more tried to slow the midnight tinted girl. "You know... like when somebody's-"

"Starting crap on his turf?" Kurome sent another look, and Linda thought over her words for a second.

"Okay, I get how it seems, but we don't know if he'll even see this as a problem involving him."

"Shut up." Kurome threw out evenly, holding the phone to her ear. Linda did just that, and after a few short rings a disgruntled voice came out, followed by orchestral music."

"Whatever this is better be important girl, for your sake especially."

"Depends..." Kurome started casually. "Do you consider kidnappings by rival gangs to be important?"

There was a small hum, and then the boss spoke again.

"You have my attention, now make it worthwhile."

"Warechu's been taken, our apartment is trashed, and they left a tag on our couch; three blue triangles." Kurome didn't feel even the faintest bit of fear; either he cared enough to help them, or she'd deal with this all herself. If he threatened them, she had no qualms taking him down, even if Linda had to see her darker side.

"The Lerulians... I'd heard they were expanding, although I never expected them to act so quickly." His voice was inquisitive, but not overly hostile. "Have you any experience with them?"

"They opened fire before, but I messed up their flag and they pulled off."

"So this is a revenge scheme..." He hummed from the other side. "But even so, why believe I would help you?"

Linda's face visibly fell, but Kurome tightened her grit.

"They're messing with your crew, on your territory; I was under the impression it was rather obvious."

"Correct; you're turning out to be quite the clever little rarity. Yes, I will help you, and seeing as you were bright enough to understand my question I'll not beat around the bush either; clearly you don't need to be babied, which is more than I can say for some... others within my employ. Meet me at the bar in three hours, and do try to stay out of trouble until then; I'd like to finish watching my wife's theater performance in peace."

"Understood." Kurome hung up, and watched with a bit of amusement as Linda released the breath she was holding.

"Where the hell did you get those nerves of steel? You act like he's not even a threat."

Nothing ever is. Kurome pushed back the swell of recollection nostalgically beating rhythmically; plunged deep within the darkest corners of her mind. How little Linda knew of her was ultimately a blessing, but with how dangerous her power could be, she wasn't sure how long this would last. Years of solitude, while frightening, were pared with comfort in the understanding that her misfortune could harm others no longer. While freedom ultimately felt nice, it carried the risk of falling back into the painful pattern she'd since left behind.

It was only a matter of when.

"We have our time, as well as some to spare..." Kurome handed the phone back to Linda, spying another one peeking from under the couch, and reaching down she took it up.

"That's Warechu's old flipper." The grassy haired girl stated. "Huh... why didn't they take it?"

"Why would they?" Kurome countered, flipping it open and powering it on. "It's an old hunk of junk to most people. If anything they probably haven't even seen a flip-phone before." She smirked to herself as navigation of the tool came quickly - Big Nep once had one of these, as antique more than anything. "We've got something useful at least."

"How?" Linda questioned, only to quirk her eyebrow as the woman pointed to the small circular spot in the top corner.

"It has a camera." Kurome aimed for the couch, and with a flash the image was captured. "Still functions too. Now we're getting somewhere." She faced her friend and gave out a simple order. "Snap as many angles as you can, we might be able to find something afterwards, and the boss might be able to catch anything we miss."

Linda smiled a little and nodded.

"Got it!"

.

.

"Woah!" Neptune spewed from her little sister's side. "This place is huge!"

"Just like before." Indeed it was, and like before there was this... 'strange' sort of feeling in the air. Despite this though, Uzume wasn't exactly too fond of the sight.

Don't get it twisted, the ruins were cool and all with their arching stone pillars and colored crystal flowers, but she couldn't forget the emptiness the place granted her - said emptiness flaring up as she took in the scenery. Noire chose to spark conversation with a question - her curiosity painted clearly across her face.

"What do you remember from this place, Uzume?"

"Not much really, then again not much happened last time either. We were speaking with some frog girl who told us about a cool set of ruins; she was the goddess of that dimension's Lowee. So, with nothing better to do we grabbed some take-out and went to check it out."

"Take-out?" Noire asked as her excitement began to fade into conflicted disappointment, only for Nepgear to shush her. Noire complied with a sigh and waved for Uzume to continue. "Alright, so what happened next?"

"Well... We walked in, thought it looked cool, and then I went and took the relic from the central alter."

"You what!" Noire nearly screamed. "You see something ancient like that and the first thing you think is 'I should take this.'"

"Hey!" Uzume didn't like how trashy the Lastation Goddess made it sound. "Cut us some slack, it looked cool and nobody else was around to complain; there weren't even any monsters guarding it." Uzume bit back a flinch. Yep, that made it sound worse; a fact she tried to immediately mitigate. "Come on, Big Nepsy and I hop between new dimensions every other day; some souvenirs from time to time can't hurt."

"Souven-" Noire's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Are you saying this is a regular occurrence for you?!"

Nepgear chose then to try her hand at putting the responsible one's worries to rest.

"It's okay Noire, there isn't even a relic here for them to take this time." Right as she finished the twin-tailed fury spun her focus and intensity towards the younger CPU Candidate.

"That does not make it better! They shouldn't have been doing it in the fir- wait..." Noire's fury stunted. "No relic?"

Turning her attention forward, Noire was privy to that fact, and saw it then; there was indeed no relic upon the alter ahead. The dark hared woman was - understandably - flabbergasted.

"That's impossible..." Taking a few steps ahead of the others Noire gazed upon the empty alter with a disturbing silence. "Nobody's been here in ages... right?"

There weren't any signs of wear or rummaging back at the entrance of the ruins; heck, the fight - if you could even call it that - with the paintings should have been a sign of how empty and abandoned the ancient decayed structure was. So where was the relic? Nepgear took a spot beside her and attempted to apply an answer.

"Maybe it got moved before the ruins was abandoned."

"Impossible." Noire corrected, recalling her research. "This place was constructed to house the relic, so the failure and danger of its previous construction would never be forgotten; a shadow of the past."

"Chill out lonely-heart~" Neptune butt in with a grin. "It was a video game addon, not an end of the world weapon; worst it could do was mess up consoles if you were stupid enough to try and use it."

"I don't quite think that's the problem mini-me." Big Nep said from behind, walking up to the rest of the group as Uzume wandered off to the side; her focus unknowingly stolen from the group. "Thing is, when Uzume and I landed in that last dimension the relic was still there... and then we took it."

"Thank you!" Noire nearly screamed, paused, and then sighed; forgoing the irritation of improper handling of historical artifacts. She was more exasperated with how little Neptune seemed to grasp the problem, and continued thusly. "It should be here, so the fact that it isn't means someone else has it."

"But who'd take it?" Nepgear asked, trying to fathom the potential reasons; ignorant to how Uzume was dusting around a nearby bush. "I can't think of a reason why someone would go through all the trouble."

"Black market; museum; private collectors." The shorter Neptune counted on her fingers. "People have all sorts of reasons to take old junk, Nep-junior. You're just not thinking big enough."

"Hey guys..." Everyone turned their attention over to Uzume, who stood from her kneeling position and spoke with her back turned. "I think I know who took the relic."

"Really, who?" Noire was the first to ask, and when the crimsonette turned to face them her expression twisted in confusion as the girl held up a crumpled paper soda cup. Naturally Noire had some questions, but they were overshadowed by Big Nep who pointed out a rather confounding bit of information.

"Hey... didn't we share a couple sodas at the other set of ruins too?"

"Yeah..." Uzume said, looking to Nepgear. "Hey Gearsy, can you shift around that dip in the sand over there?"

Nepgear was a little lost, but following Uzume's pointed finger she did as told, and after brushing away a bit of dust slipped on a mask of confoundment. She reached in, and picked up the clearly out of place cup; the similarity was blatant.

"It's... the same as-"

"Mine." Uzume finished, shaking a little. "It's mine." She wiggled the crumpled cup in her hand. "I... I think we were the ones who took the relic."

.

.

"Two women... one black and blue, and the other Grey and green. Come with me." Kurome remained silent as the bouncer addressed and beckoned them. Linda whispered in her ear as they followed the guy into the small hallway at the back end of the club.

"He's expecting us."

That should have been blatantly obvious, but Linda was shaking a little, so Kurome chalked it up to nerves; she'd be lying if she claimed to be any better. The vengeful vixen however wasn't shaking from fear, but rather she was holding back a repressed rage. Someone was going to pay today, and while that thought made it easier to haul in her emotional overdrive, she was more worried for what could happen as a result.

Linda already seen her slip up once, and Kurome would rather she didn't allow that side out again; this would be an intense test of control, and these bozos would soon learn not to steal from her.

The hallway made a few twists and turns, with nothing but solid black doors breaking up the path; who's contents would go unknown to the pair. Eventually they ended up outside, in what looked like a courted off section of the property. Flowers and general flora were neatly cared for lining the stone tiled path. At the center of it all was a simple looking table, round and made of a brighter looking wood.

There sat the boss, and he smiled with his fingers linked in his usual manner.

"Ah, you two have arrived. Now we can begin." He motioned them to their seats, and as they sat he snapped his fingers. All but two of his men left, and from what Kurome could see it was the same two he normally kept; at least she assumed they were, otherwise why would he send the others away?

"We've taken as many photos as we could." Kurome said, whipping out Warechu's phone and handing it over.

The boss took it, and after what felt like ages of observation he handed it back. Linda presented hers next, and the same thing carried out. Once the toxic-shaded of the two got her phone again, they watched as the Boss held his hand out. The goon on his left handed him a tablet, and he went to work on it, handing it back afterwards and snapping the fingers of his other hand. The one on the right pulled out an envelope, slipping out three photos and displaying them across the table.

"Unfortunately the photos you've so kindly provided won't be much help. The Lerulians, while prominent in their native home of Lowee, haven't been around long enough for me to solidify any telling evidence. However, on the bright side we have been keeping track of them since the start of their expansion." He explained as he sent a glance over to Linda. "Tell me, do any of these look familiar?"

Linda appeared to focus on the photos for less than a second before she blurted out a cry.

"These were the places!" She faced the boss with shock. "You had us snooping on them?!"

"Naturally." Boss leaned back in his booster seat. "I keep tabs on any new competition who arrive, peacefully of course."

"And you didn't think to tell us?!" Linda looked a little betrayed, beneath the constant mixture of intense breathing and twitching.

"It was of no concern to either you or your friend-"

"THEY TOOK HIM!" Linda screamed, only to pause and cover her mouth; backing away with a fearful look. "S-sorry, I shouldn't ha-"

The boss merely raised his hand to silence her, and she complied.

"No, it is only fair that you feel some betrayal. It is my own failing that you've lost your friend, and seeing as you've been faring well lately I am willing to take the blame. Our goals align, and so I see no issue in treating this as a business transaction, as I have every other job I've sent your way."

"Excuse me." Kurome was tired of being the only one in the dark. "Out of the loop here, so can you explain what's going on?"

"My apologies, I appear to have forgotten you're only fresh-blood." The boss turned to Linda. "Would you be so kind as to give her a quick rundown, seeing as this was your task we're speaking of?"

"Yeah, no problem." Linda looked at her with a plain face, but underneath a distinctly twitching worry still poked at the surface. "Remember where we first met?"

"Yes." How could she forget; the initial greeting was a not only a rude awakening, but also a risky venture on her own part. "You and Warechu were making that delivery."

"Yeah..." Linda rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, that wasn't all of it. You see, at first we were going to make the delivery, but then the boss hit me up. You don't exactly refuse the boss unless it's something major." Kurome flicked her eyes to said man, and saw an easy smile cross his lips. "So we said yes. He wanted us to take a few pictures of some places, and so we did it with no questions asked."

"No questions at all?" Kurome saw Linda cower a little under her gaze.

"Not really... I mean, it wasn't our business to begin with; we just did it." She picked herself up. "So anyway, we went out to get the pictures one by one of the three buildings, but it took us a little longer than expected. So I was calling up the shop with the excuse we were in a traffic jam, because we were for sure going to be late with the delivery and all, but then Warechu slammed on the brakes. So I'm there asking why he did that, and he hopped out saying he saw a light. So we get out and... well, you know the rest."

"Me." Okay, so it made a bit more sense; Kurome did find it a bit strange initially, but to be honest she never really gave it much thought.

"Yeah, and at that point we tailed it back to the city to do our day job." Linda let out a heavy breath. "Damn, that was a mouthful. But hey, you helped us do it so fast I didn't even need to give the other boss a call." Her eyes wandered over the pictures again. "So, we thinking the dudes who took Warechu are hung up in one of these joints?"

"Precisely." The current boss stated with a nod. "From what I've gathered, these are their current bases of operation, although which one has your friend I cannot say."

"Great..." Linda mumbled, downtrodden as she slumped forward. "We're probably gonna have to go through all three."

Kurome ignored her friend, allowing her own eyes to trail over the photos. She never got past the first one before her finger was on it. It depicted a factory hidden dense within the trees but that wasn't the focus. No, Kurome's eyes were instead drawn to the vehicle parked in front; specifically one amongst the line of many.

"This one." The divided soul stated with certainty. Linda in turn responded with a befuddled hum with a raised eyebrow, while the boss instead chose to speak.

"And how are you so sure?"

"This thing right here." She had her finger over the vehicle; one with a certain flag lifelessly still; it's symbol just barely visible. "It's the same one that shot at us on the streets; the one Warechu and I taught a lesson."

"I see... but how do you know this is the same one?"

Kurome smiled viciously as her eyes flickered to the ruined facing; the blue of the visible triangle was littered in dark spots.

"They couldn't get out the stains."

Author's note

...

Oh yeah, we back again.

Gang's finally made it to the ruin, but oh no, the relic is gone. Uzume however seems to have figured out who took it, but that brings up more questions than answers, especially with regards to dimension hopping.

Meanwhile Linda and Kurome are in motions to rescue Warechu, and considering how gangs usually operate, this will be no easy task.

Next time, we watch the chaos unfold.

See you later.