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"I need you to activate the new Oracle Key's power, Aqune," Mantid said. "I expected you would have done so already."

"I'm sorry," Sasagawa replied. But how was she supposed to know that? He could have just told her (even if it would've interrupted her time with Karigari.)

At least she didn't have to wonder where the Key was. It was placed in the orb, alongside the first Key.

'But how do I activate its power?' The ability to sense the Oracle Keys simply came to her. So maybe this would be the same?

Sasagawa knelt down in front of the orb. That was what she believed was right. She also remembered how she was kneeling there when she first found herself in this world.

Karigari was taken aback, when a foreign chant came from Sasagawa's mouth.

'I didn't know Miss could speak Latin,' he thought to himself. Rather, she likely couldn't. But like Buguese could speak Chirplish, it was Aqune who knew the meaning to these words.

There was a glow around the Oracle Key, both of them, and soon that glow extended to the space around them. Lights appeared around the castle that were never there before.

"Fascinating," Karigari thought aloud. He imagined even Buguese would be shocked, so it wouldn't blow his cover to react.

"This is Spirit Oracle's power," Mantid said. "Now a greater light will shine in our Insector land cursed in darkness. But it is not enough. I must hold the last two Keys in my hands."

"Where are the other Oracle Keys?" Karigari asked. The information he'd just acquired was of mild interest. It was some sort of curse that made it dark here even in the day? Or was this another deception of Mantid's? At least he knew how many Oracle Keys he'd be forced to dig up total.

"As you should already know, at least one is located in Nuuma. Stags was sent across the sea to acquire it. As for the other, well I'll be relying on Aqune to find out. But it may very well also be in a distant place like Nuuma.

"Then I guess we'll be waiting for now." Karigari wasn't bothered at all. At last, he'd have some time to work on his remodeling project.


Mantid had left the room, leaving Karigari and Sasagawa there by themselves.

"We should hurry along too, Miss," said Karigari. "Once I install my personal driving system in one of Mantid's outdated machines, I hope you'll look forward to taking a ride with me."

"I…" Sasagawa paused. She looked quite hesitant to Karigari, to his surprise.

"I'd love to go for a ride with you, Dr. Karigari," she continued. "That isn't the problem. But… do you think it's true that this place can only have light if I'm… if Aqune is here praying? That's what she was doing when I found myself here."

"Miss, you're surprisingly perceptive," Karigari said. "Or not so surprisingly. You always were. I'd been wondering about the correlation myself. But as you can see, all your powers did now is turn a few lights on. The sky outside is still pitch black. Aqune's prayers may help, but the difference they make seems quite minimal."

"But it does make a difference." Sasagawa was sure of that. "There must be people here who aren't evil. People who are in trouble, and counting on a hero to save the day. Just like in our world. Team Drive Head may not be able to come, but it would be wrong to ignore them, just because I'm not Aqune. I want to stay here for a little while longer."

"You're heroic as ever, Miss," Karigari said. "Even when you're not wearing Drive Head colors. I'd hate to see you push yourself, but I won't argue when your mind's been made up."

Karigari knelt down beside her, cupping her face in his hand. He drew her head closer to him, taking her lips.

"I'll definitely take a break to ride in your cool new robot!" Her cheeks warm, Sasagawa smiled at him.


"I've got my work cut out for me." It didn't take too long for Karigari to take the unused machine apart. But there was indeed no cockpit, or even room for one. "It's almost like an organic creature." Karigari sadly couldn't say he knew much about Insector biology. And from what he could find, the bug was indeed mechanical, having components of metal, gears and wires. But some of its features were quite life-like. "Well, I'd best begin." It was a shame he didn't have his subordinates to help him with menial things like bringing him tools and parts. His only regret was still not knowing how they were doing.


Karigari found himself working on the project well into the middle of the night. He was used to going without sleeping. The only thing stopping him was Miss appearing, asking him if he intended to get any rest. Sasagawa was quite taken aback by the progress Karigari seemed to be making, but she knew what he was capable of after all.

"I suppose I can continue tomorrow," Karigari said. "Mantid must be suspicious as to why I holed myself up in here all day. It's a shame I couldn't guess what Buguese's actual hobbies are."

"Besides pining over Aqune?" Sasagawa asked, teasingly. She remembered Grasshop's comment from the day before.

"Well, if that's one of them, I won't have much trouble," Karigari said. "My hobby back on earth was pining over you. I'd even rank that a bit higher than plotting revenge on Kurumada, and I can assure you the latter brought me hours of delight. But perhaps I indulged in the latter so often because I realized pining for you was futile."

"But it wasn't!" Sasagawa declared. "Aren't you supposed to be a genius?"

"A genius knows the value of cynicism, especially when the stakes are as high as being able to ensure your happiness."

"I guess I can understand," Sasagawa said. "Never in a million years would I have guessed you actually spent your days pining over me. Not until you finally confessed." She'd thought herself the hopeless one for pining over him. "But I wanted it. In that life and the next."

"In this life, I'll be sure to make up for my lack of transparency," said Karigari. He took her hands in his. He still felt that air of nervousness every time they merely touched. But that just assured him that no one else but her could ever be the right one for him.


"Buguese…"

Mantid called Karigari into his chambers a few days later, who came along with Sasagawa.

"What seems to be the problem?" Mantid wore an ominous expression. Karigari was far from frightened, but he did hope whatever the problem was wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. He had just about finished his machine, and planned to go on his promised flight with Miss. And maybe start some updates he had planned for Snailclone Interceptor.

"According to Stags' reports, Nuuma castle was levitated into the sky, with one of the Oracle Keys inside. As for the final Key, a page fled Nuuma with it, and arrived on Arachnan shore. It is now in the possession of the Spider Riders, thanks to Grasshop's failure. But I'd like you and Aqune to retrieve it for me.

"Why would you rely on Grasshop first when you had me all along?" Karigari sighed. True talent was never properly recognized.

"Because I wanted to complete a secret weapon for you to bring first. Look at this!"

Mantid unveiled from behind a curtain another giant robotic bug.

"This Machine-Sector was created with the power of two Oracle Keys. It should give you ample strength to crush the Spider Riders and their mere one."

"Hmm…" Karigari tilted his head from side to side, taking in the "Machine-Sector" as Mantid called it. "I doubt any number of Oracle Keys could compare to my engineering. I think we'll take the Machine-Sector I designed instead."

"That you designed?" Mantid seemed startled. It was actually rather amusing to Karigari to watch him lose his composure.

"What else do you think I do in my free time when I'm not pining over Aqune?" Karigari answered. "It's true that I modified one of your inferior machines as the base, but now that it's installed with my cutting edge Hyper Master Slave System, it's bound to be the greatest Machine-Sector this world has ever seen."

"I haven't seen it in action yet, but Buguese is amazing," said Sasagawa. "Your Machine-Sector looks really impressive too, Mantid-sama, but I'd have to choose his!"

Mantid stared at the two for a moment.

"Do what you must. Just return with the Oracle Key."

"Of course we will!" said Sasagawa.


"We're flying!"

Sasagawa was ecstatic from the moment Karigari's Machine-Sector took off. Karigari had removed the admittedly-quite-ugly head from the life-like bug and constructed a replica Viper, which rode on top. As with the Drive Head he used to have, the machine copied the movements of his body.

"I'm sure Mantid can't believe it either." If Sasagawa was thrilled, Karigari was thrilled. But the added 'win' of sorts he'd gotten over Mantid already boosted his mood even further. "Now, it's still up to you to find out exactly where the Key is located, Miss. Then, we'll have to wriggle it out of the legs of a couple spiders I suppose.

"It's this way," Sasagawa said, pointing ahead and towards the left. "But, the presence I sense is much stronger than usual."

"Perhaps because of the power these mysterious Spider Riders possess," said Karigari. He still wasn't worried. They'd likely be less of a match for him than even the Mobile Rescue Police.

"Wait…" Sasagawa's eyes widened, when she saw up ahead a few figures. "Are… are these seriously the Spider Riders?!"

She'd been expecting, well… spiders. The normal kind of spiders. Not the giant, colorful monstrosities she spotted up ahead. Of course, how could one possibly ride a normal spider? It was all her fault for not thinking too hard about it.

"The Riders themselves appear to be teenagers," Karigari noted. Maybe they were a step above the Mobile Rescue Police and their 10-year-olds. Though, Karigari prided himself on having only rivals fit for him. Fit for him to ultimately humiliate, but still. These kids weren't even on his radar.

"That's a huge Machine-Sector!" A boy with reddish hair, who rode atop the blue spider shouted.

"Is it a Machine-Sector?" The blonde girl, her spider pink, was skeptical.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely an enemy," said the brown haired one. He appeared to be the oldest of the three, and his spider was green.

"They came for the Oracle Key I bet, Hunter," said the girl.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen of the Spider Riders," Karigari said, hovering his machine lower to the ground, but not quite landing.

"That's… Buguese's voice!" said Hunter.

"I never imagined your spiders would be so cool!" Sasagawa exclaimed. "Are they real living things?! Are they machines? Oh, I'd love to get an interview with you later!"

"Is… is that Aqune?" It was the blue spider which spoke this time.

"They can talk too?!" She looked to Karigari. "Did you know that?"

"I'm just as surprised as you Miss," he answered. "Though it isn't too surprising, given I can talk."

"What kind of brainwashing have you done to Aqune now?" The green Rider asked. "She doesn't remember Portia?!"

"Portia?" Sasagawa blinked. Was that someone she was supposed to know? It certainly hadn't come up.

"Why would I want to brainwash Aqune?" Karigari replied. "I may be The Number One Genius Scientist in All Universes, capable of virtually anything, but that doesn't mean I won't try to win the heart of the woman I love the old fashioned way."

Sasagawa was blushing, but smiling radiantly.

"As for seeing this Portia lately, there may have been some oversight," Karigari continued, wanting to stop himself from feeling so flustered. "Mantid's been keeping the both of us busy with menial tasks. He seems to have quite the power high, and wants to flaunt his authority over us lowly underlings. And Aqune herself has simply been trying to keep the dismal-looking Insector world from dying out. I'm sure heroes like you can understand."

"All I understand is that you're lying!" answered the boy who'd accused them in the first place. "How can there be an oversight when Portia is in the manacle you're wearing, Aqune?!"

"The manacle?" Sasagawa glanced over at her wrist. She whispered over to Karigari. "Is that what that is?" She'd assumed it was some strange piece of jewelry, like the distractingly long pair of earrings Aqune also wore.

"If someone is inside the manacle, someone whom based on context I can only deduct is an actual spider like the ones we're facing, it must contain some sort of shrinking device," Karigari answered back. He'd shut off the speakers for the time being, so only Sasagawa would hear him.

"I have a spider?!" He was glad he'd done as much, as Sasagawa's answer came out as an excited scream. "How do I get it out, then?"

"We'll have to figure that out another time," said Karigari. "I fear her sheer size might break the Viper."

"I suppose," she said, though she was clearly disappointed.

Karigari then switched back on the speakers.

"Oversight resolved. It appears Portia is with us after all. Now, as I was saying, we require the Oracle Key in order to spruce up our home. I imagine you won't give it to us, which is a shame because we already have two and a flying castle will be little deterrent for both my Machine-Sector and Miss' Snailclone Interceptor, whichever we choose to take. We'll likely have three by the end of the day, leaving only the one you stubbornly want to play with."

"What Buguese means is, the Insector world got put under an evil curse so it's dark during the day, but if I activate the Oracle Keys, I can make it bright again. And Mantid is evil. Buguese thinks he's actually a human. So we're going to expose that and defeat him! Just like Team Drive Head would."

Karigari had a hand over his face. Miss had said way too much. Though, perhaps she was onto something. He'd already learned the hard way the dangers of not being transparent.

"Wait!" said Hunter. "Mantid is a human?!"

"Well he's certainly hiding something," Karigari replied. "And that is the most likely conclusion. In case you didn't know, not taking my word rarely works out for anyone. Kurumada thought my driving system was too dangerous, until I was the only one with a Drive Head capable of saving the world."

"You know, Hunter…" spoke the girl. "It might not be Aqune who's brainwashed but… Buguese."

"Corona's right!" Hunter said. "Aqune's acting weird too, but what's gotten into you, Buguese?!"

"You're right in noticing that I'm not quite myself these days," said Karigari. "You could say Aqune and I have been reborn. But as it stands, nothing we've said is a lie, nor something we were forced to say under coercion. Now, I realize you won't give up the Key, because you look to be as stubborn as the Mobile Rescue Police, or at least Kurumada. So I think the two of us will go fetch the one in the flying castle and come back for yours later. Miss… I mean Aqune can sense your location, so there's nowhere to hide."


"Nuuma is across the sea according to what Mantid said," Karigari mused. "Well, I guess we'll just have to look for an ocean. This will give the Spider Riders time to re-examine what we told them."

"Do you really think the Spider Riders will give up the Oracle Key, Dr. Karigari?" Sasagawa asked.

"They're starting to cave already," said Karigari. We took them off guard just as easily as we did Mantid."

"I'm not so sure," said Sasagawa. She didn't want to doubt Karigari, but… "That boy who told us about Portia. Do you think we… Buguese and Aqune did something to hurt him?"

"We probably did," said Karigari. "Personally, I'm quite curious about the brainwashing thing. We must have had a complicated relationship."

"I think, whatever may have happened, Aqune and Buguese were supposed to be together," Sasagawa said. "It sounds really romantic, for a girl who prays to save a dying world to fall in love with a terrifying inhuman foe."

"Like for a girl who cheers on Team Drive Head to save people in trouble with all her might to fall in love with a terrifyingly intelligent wanted criminal, perhaps," said Karigari. "I do agree."

Sasagawa smiled. "Maybe I can ask Portia what she thinks."

She stared down at the manacle. Meeting her own spider partner was bound to be so cool!

"Hey Portia, sorry for keeping you cooped up in there. Dr. Karigari will figure out how to get you out later."

"Aqune…"

Suddenly, she heard a voice from within the manacle.

"Portia, you… you can talk from in there?"

There wasn't any response.

"Looks like Portia is the quiet type," said Karigari. "Well you must be used to it with that cameraman of yours. It seems no matter which world we're in, you have some silent companion who gets to spend more time next to you than me."

"Dr. Karigari, are you jealous?" Sasagawa smirked. "The cameraman isn't my type at all. And Portia is a spider."

"I'd like to remind you that we're no longer the same species either, and that hasn't stopped you. Still, I suppose even someone as smart as me is prone to jealousy when you're concerned."

"Then we're finally even." Sasagawa smiled, being reminded of that Beerain woman she didn't like.