2-

"I guess we still need to find the Oracle Key," Sasagawa said. She was so thrilled to be reunited with Karigari, the mission had slipped her mind. "But… do we have to give it to Mantid?"

"We don't even have to go back to Mantid," Karigari replied. "But, if our plan is to expose his secrets, it may be best to feign ignorance and continue being Buguese and Aqune. At least until we have a clear advantage."

"You're probably right," said Sasagawa. Of course he was right. He was a genius.

"In that case, it's your turn, Miss. Just, try not to plunge to your death this time. I'd hate to have to track you down again in another world."

"We could take the transport down," Sasagawa said, flustered.


"Go! Snailclone Interceptor!"

Sasagawa had named it just as soon as they'd gotten back in.

"Hmm… I'm not sure that name will work," Karigari said.

"Why not?" Sasagawa tilted her head.

"It doesn't even look like a Drive Head," Karigari replied. "Not to mention, Interceptor was named for its hyper-fast speed, so that it could intercept a cyclone. We still haven't even made it to the ground."

"But it sounds cool." Sasagawa was pouting.

"Then Snailclone Interceptor it is," Karigari replied. He didn't particularly want to insult Miss. It sounded cute anyway.


Sasagawa made her way to the Key's alleged location, Karigari following behind. It was quite bizarre to be able to sense it, but definitely helpful. It was like having a superpower. But wasn't that how the Isekai genre worked? She didn't really watch anime often, but knew these were quite popular. Someone ordinary traveled to another world and became super powerful. And usually had a big harem. Though, she'd yet to encounter any handsome men. Only Buguese, who turned out to actually be Karigari.

"Do you see it?" Karigari asked. He had to just trust her. Which wasn't hard, when Miss was the person he trusted most in the world. But as a scientist, it was hard to believe in the supernatural. He wanted to analyze for himself how she could simply sense it, and replicate that ability. Well, another time. He didn't have access to his hideout or any of his own devices, and wasn't aware of what sort of technology existed in this world. The desire to learn more unhindered (even though his engineering was surely superior anyway) was one other reason he hoped to stay on Mantid's good side for the time being.

"I think it might have been buried when the cliff fell before," Sasagawa said.

The feeling was strongest beneath that pile of rock.

"Sadly, heavy lifting is not my strong suit," Karigari replied. If only his two idiots were with him. He'd have them try.

Karigari did feel sorry for Yusuke and Akira. They were likely worried sick, wondering what happened to him. When they found out he was dead, would they be able to successfully hide from the Mobile Rescue Police forever without him? Another thing that now was not the time to worry about. He sighed to himself.

"I think Buguese might be carrying some supplies."

He hadn't the chance to investigate, but he might as well now that they'd reached a dead end. He wasn't going to make Miss try and lift the rocks.

"Look!"

Sasagawa, however, had lifted one of medium size and tossed it aside. "I guess Aqune has some muscle," she said.

"Miss, you needn't push yourself!" Karigari was dumbfounded. "Even if Aqune can lift rocks, that doesn't mean you should be breaking your back. Or Aqune's back. Either way, I'd hate for that to happen."

"Then, do you have a plan?" she asked. It was a bit heavy, and some of the rocks were much bigger.

"Let's see," replied Karigari. He pulled out the first item, which appeared to be some sort of red and white mask. "It looks nowhere near as flattering as the one I used to wear, and definitely won't be practical." He tossed it aside, noting to himself that he did appreciate having sight in both eyes again.

The next item he pulled resembled the hilt of a sword. But why just a hilt?

'There appears to be a small switch,' he noticed. Hitting it, a crimson blade emerged from the base.

"That's really cool!" Sasagawa wanted to get a closer look. But she was a bit intimidated, having watched a blade shoot out from nowhere. "Maybe it's like the Guide Light Saber!"

"It seems to be an ordinary sword," Karigari replied. "If I had the Guide Light Saber, I could slice through these rocks. But lifting them might be faster than using a blade like this."

Karigari swung it anyway, to get a feel for it. It might be worth keeping, even if it wouldn't help here. He hasn't expected for a blast of energy to fire, carving another small hole in a nearby cliff.

"Or not!" Sasagawa exclaimed. "Now I know this is really cool!"

Karigari grinned. "Certainly worth keeping. Now, I'll just have to be careful not to disintegrate the Key."

Karigari fired a test shot in front of the rocks.

"The… the ground below us is hollow!" Sasagawa was left gaping when Karigari opened a large hole in the ground.

"Then the Key must be even further below than expected." Karigari was more amused than anything. What a discovery he'd just made.

"Yes, but it's still in the direction of that crevice," said Sasagawa. "It can't be far!"

Given that Sasagawa took the initiative to jump down first, giving Karigari a near stroke though it wasn't that far to fall, he went down after her in the same way. They appeared to have found themselves in some sort of underground temple, buried for reasons unknown. There was a carving on the wall of what appeared to be some sort of goddess, and a large altar in the direction Sasagawa headed.

"There should be a key right over here!" said Sasagawa. She spotted it in a glass enclosure, similar to the one Mantid possessed. "But… I wonder how it opens."

Sasagawa put her hand against the glass. To her surprise, her hand phased right through it. Perhaps it wasn't glass at all. Still, she pulled out the Oracle Key easily.

"Now we merely have to hope that wasn't the trigger for a death trap," Karigari mused out loud.

"Huh?" Sasagawa glanced to him, worriedly.

"It seems to be safe so far," said Karigari. "Now, if only we could climb up." He would have thought of a plan for returning before going down. But Miss was Miss. Even in another life, she was always doing reckless things.

Sasagawa jumped up towards the light. "You know, I can jump a little higher in this body."

'Some bugs can jump quite high,' Karigari thought to himself. Well, it was worth a try.

To Karigari's shock, he was able to jump up through the hole and back onto the surface.

"No fair!" Sasagawa exclaimed.

"Relax, I'm not going to leave you there, Miss." He leapt back down to her side. Of course, Karigari realized that the only way to bring her back would be to carry her. And even though they had technically gone on a fraction of a date… that didn't make his face any less red at the moment.

"Dr. Karigari… will you carry me up?"

Sasagawa was the one to put his thoughts into words. But to her, it sounded like the single most romantic thing. Well, it would be up there with being carried by a Drive Head. Or riding in a Drive Head. She was already sort of technically carried by Karigari's Drive Head once, though she was in her helicopter at the time. She would have been more excited about that if her life wasn't in danger, not to mention Karigari's. But now they weren't in danger. At least not apparent danger. This would be far more romantic.

"If you'll allow it, Miss," said Karigari.

"Please!"

Karigari carefully lifted her into his arms. He wasn't at all in shape, not that this had anything to do with the reason he was nervous. But apparently, Buguese was. Or Aqune was lightweight.

Sasagawa squealed, wishing she had some means of getting a recording. She was actually being carried in a man's arms. And it was Karigari's… technically.

Karigari leaped up, carefully putting her down when they reached the ground. Something Sasagawa almost wanted to protest. But they didn't have time to play now. They had to get back to Snailclone Interceptor. And maybe she'd have the chance for it to happen again.


"I've returned with your Oracle Key, sir," Karigari said. Yes, he'd tossed around the idea even further of keeping it from Mantid, saying they hadn't found it. Who knew what nefarious purpose the man wanted it for? But for the time being, he'd know roughly where it was, and had both his genius mind and Miss' newfound powers on his side. He wasn't that worried.

"Excellent work, Buguese." Mantid took it into his hand. "Fortunately, the Spider Riders did not interfere."

'Spider Riders?' Karigari almost turned to Miss, who likely had just as little a clue what that meant as he did. But he didn't. He'd pretend to know.

"I can't imagine something like that would be a threat to me," he said. "You're quite fortunate to have come across such an unparalleled minion."

"Buguese, you might want to watch your ego," Mantid said. "Such overconfidence is unfitting of you. You would not want to be like Grasshop."

Karigari frowned. He wasn't overconfident, he simply knew he was better than everyone. But if Buguese wasn't the type to revel in his own brilliance (and what a boring person he must have been), Karigari would have to be a bit more careful. For now.

"I assure you that won't happen," he said.

Karigari soon learned that 'Grasshop' was one of the two people in the room he'd yet to identify. The creature who had been scowling in the corner. He didn't seem so unhappy anymore, when he approached Buguese.

"Careful Buguese, or you might slip up the next time you look for an Oracle Key. I can only imagine your face if the Spider Riders pull it right out of your hands."

"Fortunately for me, that's not going to happen."

'So there are more Oracle Keys.' Sasagawa's interests were perked by that comment. She glanced at Karigari, who smiled to her. He must have realized the same thing.

"Buguese got the Oracle Key because he has talent. Unlike a certain someone."

It was a woman who approached Karigari this time. Unlike Grasshop and Buguese, she wasn't wearing a cape. Maybe it would get in the way of her giant wings, Sasagawa thought. Sasagawa also took notice of the fact that she got up quite close to 'Buguese.' She glared at the woman, and took Karigari's hand in hers.

"M-Miss…?" He wasn't going to argue, bit was taken aback.

"Buguese, let's go and talk. In your room."

"I'll have to find one of those chirping bugs for directions, in that case," Karigari replied, grinning. Well, Miss was in love with him after all. There was perhaps nothing he was more smug about.

"Buguese is acting strangely," Sasagawa heard the woman say. "And so is Aqune."

"Sorry Beerain, I think Buguese always had a thing for Aqune," Grasshop replied.

"I didn't mean like that!"


Karigari did find one of those chirping bugs, as they seemed to fly around the area a lot.

His room, it turned out, was a decently sized one. Well, he was a high-ranking minion, after all. Perhaps Mantid was more generous than he was. He always gave himself the nicest space in the hideout, and if there wasn't room, his subordinates had to sleep on a floor. Here, he had a bed, closet, desk. The room would make for a decently livable hideout, if only there was space and equipment to service a Walker Vehicle. Not that he had a Walker Vehicle anymore, and there was a separate hangar for Snailclone Interceptor, which he hoped to investigate more thoroughly later.

"So, Dr. Karigari…"

Now that they were alone together, Sasagawa thought they should at least make up for their interrupted date. "I really do think the cape looks cool, but why don't we take off that armor for a bit?"

"I didn't know you were the jealous type, Miss." Smiling, Karigari lifted the armor over his head, which the cape was attached to.

"Well… I know being sent to another world means having a harem. But when I get mine, I hope you'll be jealous too."

Karigari agreed, but he'd taken Miss' statement for granted, until early the next day when the two did go to investigate the hangar room. It was larger than it had first appeared, and was full of a wide array of insect-themed giant robots.

"Ahhhh! This is a dream come true!"

'It seems Miss found her harem.' Karigari could only watch as she ran from robot to robot, studying them, touching them, or as much as she could reach.

"It's hard to be jealous when she looks so radiant."

Aqune may have looked different than Sasagawa. But when she was excited, Karigari could see the same glimmer in her eyes.

"Dr. Karigari, do you think you can drive them? Do they operate like Walker Vehicles?!"

"I'm not even certain where the cockpit would be," Karigari replied. "There's clearly no room for a Viper. There's something quite foreign about these machines."

He definitely hoped for the chance to take one apart. If there wasn't a cockpit, he'd install one, just to take Miss for a ride.

"You're right," said Sasagawa. "Maybe because they belong to the villains! I'd like to see an epic face off between one of them and my Cyclone Interceptor! Of course, Cyclone will win!"

"So you're certain Mantid is the ultimate villain of this world?" Karigari questioned.

"I'm positive," she replied. "That's why you're a mutant bug and I'm dressed in black instead of Team Drive Head colors. We live in a world that's dark even in the morning! We're the villains too. Mantid will never expect us to turn against him. Because evil can't comprehend good."

"I don't think it's that simple, but I'm glad to have become the hero in your equation, Miss," Karigari replied. "Even in our world, I was a wanted criminal."

"You're still the hero in our world," she replied.

"If you insist. But for now, I'm going to use my villain position to hijack and dissect this robot."

He pointed to a random one.

Karigari, however, didn't get the chance. A chirping bug appeared in the room.

"What did it say?" Sasagawa asked.

"Mantid has a new assignment for you," Karigari replied.