"I think it's best if we just attack now." Nepgear decided to choose the quick but risky approach. "If what you said is true about them... then I don't see them posing much of a threat." She was almost confident in their abilities, and given her history with her partner, it's safe to say that they had dealt with much worse foes, so this should be a breeze, to say the least.

"Besides... we're both completely broken when we're paired together." IF was super fast on her feet, while Nepgear could act both as offense and support. Combining the two girl's abilities is a recipe for disaster, in a good way, of course.

"Heh, true to that." The agent let out a chuckle before she wiped her katars, which were tucked under her sleeves. She also modified her sharp weapons, and by modify, I mean that she filled the tips with poison. It's strong enough that it can take down a large monster. "I'm totally onboard with going loud; those bastards won't know what hit 'em."

"Alright, here's how we're going to do this..." The agent began forming their next course of action. "I'll head down there and try to lure the guards at the top into one place where you can easily take them out with your gun from here." She signaled between her and the warehouse.

"Okay, that sounds good." A white light flashed for a few seconds before it slowly faded as Nepgear appeared yet again in her CPU form while wielding her trusty Gunblade. "I will do my best; just be careful down there."

"Don't worry about me; I can handle it." Both exchanged acknowledgement looks before Nepgear watched her friend make her way down the cliff with her Gunblade ready. She followed the girl's movements until she got close to the warehouse. "Alright, I'm in position. Try not to miss if you can." She heard her friend's voice transmitted over her N-gear.

"This is the special agent force; you're all under arrest!" She heard her friend yell out, and a group of four people quickly rushed out and aimed their guns at the agent. They wore green helmets and armor vests with military weapons, although they were still a militia group, which meant they still lacked some training and experience compared to a professional soldier.

"Shit, it's one of those agents!"

"Come out with your hands up! If you surrender peacefully, we'll take you alive."

" Ha! There are four of us here and even more inside. So why don't you... turn around before you get killed, shortie." They all shared a laugh, big mistake.

"Well... I guess we're doing it the hard way." Although she couldn't see it, Nepgear could tell that a smirk had formed on her face by her tone.

Nepgear took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and took aim at the four guards while her finger rested on the trigger. Everything slowed down for Nepgear as she focused on her targets. She felt the wind on her face. In a swift motion, she fired four rapid shots. The four easily went down, as they barely had time to react.

"Good shooting. Now meet me down there quickly."

"I'll be there as soon as possible." Nepgear wasted no time and quickly flew down before she landed beside the brunette.

"Shortie, huh?" IF repeated the insult back at the now deceased enemy, she then faced her. "They must have heard the shots, and now everyone inside is armed and expecting us to bust in."

"There's no going back now."

"Yeah, let's crash this party." IF took cover next by the front entrance with her katars already out. "I'll take the front; you take the back, so that we can catch them from both sides." Nepgear nodded and moved to the back, positioning herself by the back entrance as her friend had instructed, and she is now waiting for the girl's signal.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, on my signal... NOW! "

Nepgear wasted no time and slammed the door down before rushing in. Instantly, all eyes were set on her, with their weapons already up and ready to fire. Soon a lot of shots were fired as it was raining bullets everywhere—a bullet hell, if you will.

"Shit! It's the G-Goddess! The Goddess is here!"

Nepgear's reflexes quickly kicked in as she aimed her Gunblade at the ground and fired a shot that launched her way up in the air. She then quickly dove down towards a group of armed enemies, and before they could react, she knocked them all in the air before quickly aiming her gun up and shooting them mid-air. They soon dropped dead like ducks. She then quickly flew up as the bullets were still raining, effortlessly and gracefully dodging them as if she were dancing in the air. She then used M.P.B.L. to blast a line-up of enemies. She took a moment to adjust herself to the blast's force.

IF soon came busting down from the other side, and the others were so occupied with shooting the CPU that they didn't notice her until it was too late. IF managed to get the jump on three enemies from behind. the first one, she swiftly slashed them with her Kartars from behind. The second one tried to aim her gun at her, but she managed to grab the gun and disarm it. She then quickly took hold of them before knocking, and she sliced her rapidly with her Katars. The last guy was about to fire his shot, but due to IF's quick reflexes, she threw a dragger at the guy's throat before he could fire a shot. The poor bastard never stood a chance, as he fell like a sack on the ground while choking on his blood.

All of this happened in a fraction of a second, before anyone could blink. She could feel the adrenaline rush through her body, but this battle was far from over, as there was another armed person across the room who was about to fire. Thankfully, Nepgear came to the rescue by using a nearby wall and shooting her Gunblade to launch herself before crashing down with her blade on him.

"Thanks for that." Before she could respond, there were shots fired from above them. IF ran super fast and easily evaded every shot that was thrown at her while also firing back at them with her hidden gun at the enemies located on the second floor before she got behind some barrels as a cover from the bullets.

"Above us!" IF shouted to her friend, Nepgear quickly launched herself yet again at the enemies above. Once she was up, she did a complete spin and fired at every target in all directions with pinpoint accuracy. Soon, the enemies number began decreasing as the two girls had an easy time talking them down one by one despite their odds. They weren't all that tough against a CPU and a special agent. Soon the sound of the battle began dying down before coming to a stop, and the place was scattered with bodies all over it.

There was, however, one person who was limping on the floor, trying to get away. A foot struck him in the head, which knocked them out. "It seems that's the last of 'em bastards." The agent did a quick scan to double check, and soon she took a breath after verifying but still kept her guard up just in case.

"That went as well as I expected; they weren't all that strong like I predicted." IF her holstered weapons while still keeping her guard up. She went to retrieve her dragger that she threw earlier at the baddie. "Come on, let's search this dump and see if we can find anything that could be useful. Maybe those who create have something." She first took out her phone and took a couple of pictures of the place from various angles.

"Okay." Nepgear transformed back to her human form before letting out a tired sigh.

"Just like old times, eh, Nepgear?"

"Yeah, I guess... I've missed this a lot. You, me, and Compa are fighting the bad guys together." She began reminiscing about the old days when it was just the three of them on a mission to save their world and their sisters... Look how that turned out in the end. While they succeeded in that, the costs were so great that she wondered if it was all worth it in the end.

"We make quite a team, don't we?" Nepgear paused for a moment. "Speaking of Compa... How is she doing, anyway? It's been a while since I last saw her." She noticed IF began shifting uncomfortably when she asked, which wasn't a very good sign.

"Compa... she..." IF began stuttering, unable to find the words, before she let out a sigh. "Well... she's not doing too well, that's for sure. Lately, there've been a lot of cases that she's not used to seeing, like missing body parts, mangled bodies, blown parts, etc. I can tell that it really messed up from witnessing all of it, but she tried her best to ignore it since she's now an official nurse. I just wish I could've been there more to help her, but after becoming a special agent, I barely have time myself." IF swore under her breath.

" Oh, Poor Compa... " Nepgear whispered. "Well, I was thinking... maybe after things calm down, the three of us could hopefully have a nice dinner together in my Basilicom like we used to and have a chance to catch up." Ever since their departure, no one really had the time to properly take a break. It was all work after work, so a nice break with friends is just what they need.

"Maybe that could also help take things off Compa's mind, even for a little bit."

"That would be nice..." IF muttered blissfully. "I missed Compa's cooking a lot. I'll try contacting Compa later so we can arrange our schedules." The two then continued searching the place, and IF began checking every single crate with Nepgear as well; they were all filled with ammos.

"Found anything yet?" Nepgear checked to see if her partner had any luck.

"Nope, so far it's just been filled with ammunition." IF closed the lid of the crate and took a peak in. "It seems like they are using this place to offload supplies; these are all ammos."

"What are we going to do about them?"

"I'll send a squad to come take away their ammo supplies. Without them, it should slow them down a bit. We're still a long way from reclaiming Leanbox, but that's a start."

"That's good to hear." Her gaze went to the second floor. "Hmm... Let's check upstairs; we haven't looked there yet."

"Good idea; we might be able to find something in one of the rooms there." The duo made their way to the second floor while avoiding most of the bodies on the floor before they stumbled on a door with the words 'Server Room' at the top. IF took out her hidden gun before she slowly cracked the door open. She rushed in and quickly scanned the room with her gun while Nepgear was right behind her, equally ready at the first sign of trouble.

After a moment, she lowered her gun after verifying that there weren't any threats present. Nepgear followed right behind her.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot." The agent went and examined one of the computers that had a lot of screens. "Hmm... Seems to be working. There's gotta be some valuable intel stored in there we could use." The agent turned to her friend and asked, "Can you hack it?"

"I'm not too sure... My knowledge field doesn't extend to this kind of stuff." Nepgear was more of a hardware type. Software? Not so much. "But thankfully, I might have something with me that should do the job." She rummaged through her pockets and took out a small pink USB that was provided to her by Kei for this kind of situation. She inserted it into the computer before she sat down and began typing on the keyboard. "Let's see… Using the software that's installed on this USB, we can hopefully bypass their security, but it will take some time."

"Good, then I'll go and take a look around to make sure there aren't any more surprises." Nepgear waited until the software she installed cracked the system's security while the agent was scouting the room. After a while, the software was done breaking into the system. "Got it! We're in." She instantly began copying the data that was stored on the machine. Unfortunately, the progress bar was moving ever so slowly, so all they could do was wait.

"Hey, uh, Nepgear..." She snapped her attention to her friend. "Come take a look at this..."

"Hm? What is it? Did you find something?"

"Yeah, it's best if you come here and see for yourself. " What her friend said puzzled Nepgear. She got up from her seat and went over to her friend, whom she saw holding a square-shaped object in her hand that looked like...

"What the...?" Nepgear couldn't contain her disbelief. "Is that a game console? What's it doing here?" Of all the things she expected to find, this certainly was not one of them.

"Hell if I know." IF just shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you are. It seems so random and out of place, like did these morons feel bored or somethin'?" Doubtful, but could be possible. The sight of the bizarre object drew Nepgear in.

"Can I... see it?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." The agent handed her the game console, and Nepgear began humming while examining it. Upon closer inspection, the console was white with a logo of an orange swirl on the top, and it had four control slots on the front. "Strange... It seems rather old and not any kind of game console I've seen before, that's for sure."

"So what are you planning to do with this piece of junk? I doubt it has any uses or value."

"Hmm... I'm taking it with me." She pocketed the device in her space inventory. "I'll have a look at it more once we get back and do some research on it. I might also ask Histoire; she might know something about it."

"Are you... sure?"

"Yeah, I can still use it's components, you know."

"Fine, let's just check back on the intel, shall we?" Both girls return to the computer, and it seems it was about to finish with the copying operation. Suddenly, the screen fades to black. "What?! Did it just turn off?" IF began mashing the power button multiple times, but when it yielded no results, she banged her fist on it. "Damn thing! Of all time!"

"Maybe the power went off?" Nepgear suggested calmly. "I will have a look and see if I can fix the issue." But before she could do anything, the screen suddenly switched to an unfamiliar person wearing a green cloak with a silver mask with two black holes and a stitched mouth, which gave it both an ominous and sinister look. The two girls were caught off guard.

"What the...?"

"Greetings, I've been expecting you, Nepgear... or should I call you the CPU of whole Gamindustari? Hmhmhm." The mysterious individual spoke in a deep voice; it was probably done so the person wouldn't get recognized if she had to guess, which made it weird since all of the villains they came across never hid their identity, which was new to her.

"Who the hell are you?" IF was the first to recover and immediately began demanding.

"Who am I? Hmm... I guess you can say that I'm the puppeteer who's pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"So you're the mastermind responsible for taking over Leanbox and the one who's leading this group?" Nepgear was the one who asked this time after connecting the two together. She couldn't hide her shock

"Hmhmhmhm, bingo."

"Why... Why are you doing this?! What could you possibly gain by doing this, huh?" Nepgear was going through all sorts of emotions all at once when she heard the revelations. The most prominent was anger.

"I'm afraid I can't say that. It would be spoilers, you see." The figure began taunting them. "And no one likes spoilers."

"DAMN IT! Stop toying with us and just answer the damn question!" IF slammed her hand against the desk, her teeth were gritted.

"So impatient... Soon, Leanbox would not be the only nation free from CPU. We will rise soon; it's only a matter of time."

"What do you mean by that?" Nepgear pressed once more to get more information from the figure.

"Uh, uh, ah... now where's the fun in that if I just tell you? It would spoil the surprise that I have spent time preparing. For now, enjoy this little gift that I have made... just for you, hmhmhmhm." The screen went black once again, and smoke began.

"Shit! Get down!" Nepgear quickly grabbed the flashdrive before the two ran before the computer behind them exploded, knocking the two off the ground and leaving a large crater of smoke behind. The two were coughing after the smoke cleared. Nepgear turned her gaze to her friend and asked, "Cough, cough... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just about... cough."

"Who was that?"

"I don't know, ugh... who knew that they had a leader operating in the shadows?" IF managed to get up on her feet and offer a hand to her friend. "We need to gather as much information about them as soon as possible. They seem to be a big threat, so we need to act accordingly and take them out, speaking of which..."

"Please tell me that the USB is still in tact."

"Yeah, I managed to save the USB from being destroyed, but we still need to decrypt the data; it might take a while." Nepgear handed IF the flash drive, who pocketed it safely. "Sadly, I don't think we grabbed all of the data before they blew the computer. But let's hope there's at least something useful in there." They both made their way out of the building while they talked.

"Well, at least we didn't come empty-handed; I'll give it to Kei once I see her. There's no doubt that she'll call me soon to send me on a mission involving finding more information about our new mysterious friend here." IF stretched her body. "I'm going back to rest my body before that time comes."

"Speaking of Kei... I better report our discoveries to Kei once I get back, so I must take my leave now."

"Yeah, sure." She put her hand on her shoulder and patted it. "Take care of yourself out there, CPU of Gamindustari. " She grinned sheepishly.

Nepgear grinned back at her friend. "Thanks; the same goes for you as well, Special Agent. " Both exchanged chuckles before Nepgear transformed into her HDD form. "Farewell, IF." The agent waved as she saw her friend take off. Nepgear made her way towards Planeptune; the sun was about to set as the sea color turned red. By the time she reached Planeptune, it was already dark...

AN: That took a long time to write since this is my first time writing a fighting scene ever, so I hope it's good. It took me a lot of time to come up with and brainstorm it. What do you think of this addition to the split, two-choice chapters? This won't be a choose your own adventure type of story, don't worry. It's more like a branching path that returns to its own original course. The next chapter would be normal, and it won't be affected by the last two chapters, nor will the story; the two chapters end the same way, but both had a bit of change to make each one unique, so you can check the other chapter if you want and try to spot the differences. This is experimental, and I've yet to see a story do it; feel free to correct me. I won't be doing them as much since they don't add to the story, but they could be a nice change once in a while. I got the idea from video games, where some games often give you the choice of how you want to approach an object, but no matter what you choose, the object is still the same.

As for the game, I'm almost about to finish the game, I'm reached the 200 hours playtime. The game becomes so much easier when you level your characters above level 99, which makes you defend all kinds of powerful enemies. While the chapter may take a long time to write, at least during this time a lot of unique ideas and inspiration come to me, which motivates me to write. If I forced myself to write, I would miss out on a lot of ideas, and the quality of the chapter wouldn't be as good.

Oh yeah, one last thing: since I've yet to play MK2, I'm basing my knowledge on Victory since I don't know if they have the same skills from the two games or not. Once I play MK2, I'll change any inconsistencies, and for the time being, don't mind if the characters feel a bit out off.