Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Davids and Goliath


The destruction of the warehouse complex shook all of Gamindustri. While it wasn't visible on the streets, a quick look on the Internep forums or NepTube would show countless threads and videos about it. The event was so big that even other nations got interested, and pressed Histoire for information.

So now Planeptune's Oracle hovered on the podium in front of thousands of gamindustrians. In the crowd hid more than a few ASIC grunts as well.

In light of the press conference, rather than take credit themselves, Spy suggested taking advantage of it to reveal the fact that Nepgear was rescued from the ASIC and bluff that it was the Candidate who defeated CFW Judge. The mercs only needed the money afterall, while the Candidate could use the Shares.

"Thank you for coming here today, everyone." Histoire's voice boomed from the loudspeakers. Camera flashes blinded her blue eyes, but they readjusted quickly.

"I'm sure the destruction of the warehouse complex near the western entrance of Planeptune surprised us all." She continued. "The Guild's report has been made public, so if anyone's interested they may read it later."

In addition to complete destruction of the warehouse complex, CFW Judge's self-destruct also managed to damage the city's barrier, letting some monsters into the city until some Guild agents and adventurers dealt with them. The monsters still managed to damage a few buildings and injure civilians, some of them with only minor injuries, others still fighting for their lives in the hospitals…

Shrapnel was raining down for almost ten minutes after the event, the furthest recorded one landing over 2 miles away, conveniently embedding itself in an Ancient Dragon's wing, taking it out of the air and crashing it in deeper parts of the Virtua Forest. Until it's taken out, the area is restricted to only people who've completed at least a C-Rank Guild extermination quest.

In addition, the flaming fragments damaged or destroyed multiple buildings in the outskirts of Planeptune, and the Virtua Forest was hit by them as well. The firefighters couldn't control the fires completely, so they had to sacrifice part of the forest in order to save the rest.

The crater created by the explosion is now entirely filled with water. Histoire's been thinking about building a lakeside resort next to the newly-created lake, using the burnt down ground to place the fundaments, or at the very least make it a nice place to spend time. It will require some work, but the Oracle couldn't leave that place as it is.

"As some of you pointed out on the Internep forums, and yes we're reading them," The fairy admitted, and now some people will spam the forums with threads like 'Hi Histoire! Notice me senpai!' and generally make the moderators' lives harder, "there wasn't anything in the report about the cause of the explosion, and there was actually a reason for this." Histoire briefly saw a red dot in her peripheral vision. It belonged to Sniper's rifle.

Yes, the mercenaries were at the conference as well. Sniper was watching the crowd with Scout watching over him. Medic and Heavy were behind the scenes to protect the Oracle in case of attempted assassination. In addition, Spy was cloaked right in front of the podium so if anyone tries, it will be him who takes the bullet. And finally, Engineer monitors the main entrance.

With them and the usual security, the Oracle actually felt pretty safe despite knowing there's enemy agents among the audience.

The rest of the team continued supporting Nepgear in collecting Shares, just as planned.

Histoire took a deep breath. What she's about to say could be interpreted as an actual declaration of war against the ASIC.

"Everyone. Our CPU Candidate, Lady Nepgear, has returned, and the destruction of the warehouse complex is the aftermath of her and her friends fighting against one of the leaders of the ASIC, CFW Judge."

As expected, the public went crazy. Everyone spoke at once, especially the media who bombarded Histoire with so many questions it was an incoherent mess. For a minute Histoire simply stayed silent, knowing anything she said would just be drowned out, until the uproar calmed down enough for her to regain control.

"I'm sure you all have many questions, and I'd be happy to answer a few of them before moving on. One at a time, please."

One of the reporters immediately put her microphone to the fairy's face. "Lady Histoire, will we be able to see Lady Nepgear after all these years?" She asked. To everyone's disappointment the Oracle shook her tiny head.

"You will, but not immediately I'm afraid. Lady Purple Sister is currently in the Virtua Forrest, hunting down the Ancient Dragon who's rampaging near the city."


"Clear!" Soldier yelled, both him and his Equalizer covered in the blood of various monsters.

Nepgear, her friends and the assigned mercenaries were searching through the depths of Virtua Forest. The group was let in because of IF's S-Rank status, and the Guild even gave her the Quest to finish off the Ancient Dragon lurking around.

"I also can't see anything else. How about you, Compa?" IF asked, the Guild agent turning around to see the nurse healing Pyro with the Quick Fix. (Which Soldier stole from Medic without him knowing, then bluffed to the girl that he gave him his consent.) The Pyromaniac nodded in appreciation and picked up his Degreaser, a makeshift-looking flamethrower that is comprised of a gas pump, a car muffler, an exhaust pipe, a red fire extinguisher, and a stove top burner.

This and the Beggar's Bazooka, a crude rocket launcher made from pipes, mismatched handles, and a filter held together with bolts, electrical tape, and various straps and belts, plus a funnel attached to the end as a makeshift exhaust port, made IF and Nepgear wonder about the mercenaries' crafting skills. There's no Mann Co. tag on them and they look home-made, so does that mean the mercs are able to craft complicated weapons out of trash and random parts?

"Nope." Came a quick reply from her childhood friend.

"Maybe it's somewhere deeper?" Nepgear suggested. "Actually, what else do we have to do?"

Hearing Nepgear's request and with no threats around, the Guild agent opened her N-Gear and checked the list. "Let's see… a Dogoo extermination." The brunette looked around. "Which is basically done. A Pixelvader extermination and a fetch quest for some Herbs and Fungus Spores."

"The hell's Fugus Spore?" Demoman asked, sheathing his Half-Zatoichi, a samurai's katana.

"Not Fugus, FuNgus, pronounce the N." Compa corrected, a brief wave of irony washed over IF. "It's a material used in alchemy. You could create an Anti-Venom with it." She added.

"Not everyone has access to Medi-Guns or knows healing magic, so some adventurers have to rely on good old-fashioned items." IF gave her two cents.

"Ahh me see." Demo nodded.

After that, the party moved on, but not without some more small talk.


"Did anyone help Lady Purple Sister fight CFW Judge?" Another reporter asked.

"Our Lady wasn't fighting alone, she was aided by a group of people that will remain anonymous."

'Thank you for giving us some credit, Mademoiselle Histoire.' Spy thought while waving to the crowd despite them not seeing him. The flashes of the camera didn't hinder his eyes at all nor did anything to reveal his position.

The questions kept coming without end. More and more of them came, with Histoire patiently giving more and more answers.

"What about the bodies found in the forest, was this Our Lady's doing?"

"Lady Nepgear did not play a hand in such a gruesome act, I can assure you of this. With the Guild still investigating the murders though I'm still not ready to give an official statement."

"Is there any proof of Lady Nepgear fighting this CFW Judge?"

"The Guild has managed to retrieve several pieces of his armor, along with his broken weapon. Both of their photos are included in the Guild's report.

"What does the Basilicom along with Lady Nepgear plan to do with the rest of ASIC?"

"We plan to stop the ASIC's piracy and distribution of Arfoire chips that has been harming our nation for all these years."

"What about Lady Purple Heart? Did she come back too?"

"Lady Neptune is… still in the Gamindustri Graveyard. But we will rescue her as well as soon as we can. Now that Lady Nepgear has returned, it'll only be a matter of time."

"How will the Planeptune government deal with the crater on the western entrance of the city?"

"We do have a few ideas, but nothing to publish official-"

*B-BANG*

…Suddenly two gunshots rang out…


"Hey, Gear. How's your HDD?" IF slowed down so the CPU Candidate could catch up to her. "I mean, after the lesson Compa's asked for, Doc and Histoire locked you up in the Basilicom for the rest of the day. Did they find something?" The Nurse-in-training perked up upon hearing her name.

"T-There was something." The entire group stopped and looked at the lilac-haired girl, the attention making her quite uneasy. "I-It's nothing major." She began apprehensively. "I-It's just, when I transform, apparently no one can use magic around me, me included."

"Wait? For real?" IF's eyes widened in surprise. Out of curiosity she tried to cast something onto the bush next to her. "Demon Flames!" The Guild agent dramatically spun around, channeling her fiery mana to form the attack.

The bush exploded several times before it was consumed by a pillar of fire. The mercs watched with mild surprise before calming down. The Guild agent stared at Nepgear with her eyebrow raised. "I said when I transform." The CPU Candidate repeated, a drop of sweat running down her face. The brunette blinked, she didn't quite catch that part.

"…Oh."

"We found out when Histoire wanted to check my elemental affinities during HDD, but instead she found she couldn't cast anything at all! Same with my healing or Defensive Cheer." Nepgear explained. The Pyromaniac stared at her blankly.

"Dphmnve mmph?"

"I'm sorry Pyro, but I don't understand what you're saying." The Candidate admitted, tilting her head in confusion. The fire-loving mercenary's shoulders dropped as he mumbled something. It almost looked sad… but then,

"Incoming!" Demoman cried just in time for 3 Pixelvaders to suddenly appear. The creatures resembled 3D versions of the enemies from Space Invaders, with green blocky bodies as if made from pixels. However these 3 were different from the others the team has encountered thus far, with their purple glow and corrupted look.

This did not deter Soldier however, as he quickly pulled out his Cow Mangler 5000, a large, shoulder-fired, retro-futuristic ray gun, several portions of it colored red. Arcs of electricity appear periodically on the frontal nodes. The crazed American pulled the trigger, firing a hot blast of red plasma that hit the monsters mid-air and scattered them. To his surprise they all survived that, unlike their regular counterparts.

"Watch out, these monsters have gone Viral! Now they're a lot stronger and harder to kill, so don't underestimate them!" IF warned, casting her Demonic Flames spell onto one of them. It was launched airborne and headed towards Demoman, who grinned sadistically.

"Pyro!" The Demolition Man swung his katana like the Scout performing a Home Run and hit the Pixelvader head on, sending the viral monster flying towards the firebug.

The Pyromaniac pulled out its Powerjack, an antique automobile jack with a red colored car battery strapped to its base with heavy yellow rubber bands, and with the same motion Pyro sent the monster towards Soldier. "Sholder!" Then the patriot delivered it to Compa with a smack of his pickaxe. "Compa!" Who sent it towards IF, "Iffy!", and the Guild agent reflected it to Nepgear. "Gear!"

The CPU Candidate just barely managed to finish off the monster with an upward slash. "Hiiiyah!"

As the monster flew towards Gamindustri's stratosphere, the invisible audience cheered loudly. The group didn't question it and cheered and laughed as well. Even the remaining Pixelvaders joined them.

Then they remembered the two other monsters and resumed their slaughter.

Back at the press conference, a bored Scout suddenly felt a disturbance in the force. The young mercenary turned his head towards the Virtua Forest (a wall) and stared at it for a few moments. It was a weird feeling, like someone just did an amazing baseball feat without his knowledge.

He shrugged it off and went back to idly playing with his Sandman's baseball, all while Sniper's patience wore thin with him.


Everyone panicked, the crowd immediately crouched down and held their heads, screaming. While the security separating them tried to keep them away from the stage, Medic and Heavy, the former deploying the Electro-Shield and the latter spinning up his minigun, along with several Basilicom workers flooded the scene and escorted the Oracle behind the scenes.

While the frightened crowd was evacuating, mostly by pushing each other out of the way towards the main entrance, another gunshot rang out. It was from Sniper's sniper rifle. The mercenary chuckled as he reloaded.

Surprised, the Spy looked down; there was a bullet wound in his foot, but the pain was overridden by his surprise. 'What the hell just happened?' The cloaked mercenary looked behind him, no bullet holes nor blood.

Histoire was unharmed at least.

He looked around for a few more seconds, ignoring the horrified and panicked crowd in front of him, until he found a second bullet hole inside one of the chairs. The Frenchie spook tried to predict the trajectory and his eyes landed on Sniper's window. The Australian mercenary seemed to be laughing, but his voice was drowned out by the half-evacuated crowd.

'Crétin…'

Meanwhile Sniper was indeed very amused, after shooting down the assailant (amateur, his rifle poked out of the window.) "Wave goodbye to your head, wanker!" He shouted to his victim, not caring that the would-be assassin wouldn't hear him over the crowd.

"Oi snipes, what's up?" Scout asked, feeling pretty confused by his teammate sudden amusement. Snipes chuckled evilly before responding.

"I just- I just reflected that wanker's bullet!" He tried to catch his breath. The Bostonian was still clueless.

"What?"

"I. Just. Intercepted. A. Bullet. With. My. Bullet. Capiche?" Australian hissed, his left hand pointing at Scout, but he quickly got his amusement back. Sniper howled towards the sun, not caring about the audience watching him.

"I am the king of Australia!"


"Wot are we searchin' for anyway? There's nothin' but pixels and goo here!" Demoman complained, as if to demonstrate his point another Dogoo jumped at him. The Scottish mercenary effortlessly sliced the slime in two.

"Well, the Guild said there's an injured Ancient Dragon rampaging in this area. You know, just a dragon. Tall as a building, brown scales and fangs big as half a human, also breathes fire." IF described, it was enough for the mercs to get a mental picture of it. "We need to take him out quickly, injured or not, if that thing gets into Planeptune then countless civilians might get injured or even die!" She added with a raised voice.

"So that overgrown lizard is endangering civilians, huh? Mwhehehe!" Soldier chuckled, suddenly rocket jumping onto a tree. The patriot looked around the area for a bit.

'Why haven't we thought of it earlier?' IF killed another Dogoo who tried to attack her. "Hey! Soldier! Do you see something!?" The Guild agent shouted, the rest of the party gathering near her and also waited as one of their powerhouses scouts the area.

Soldier spotted their target, though it was too far for him to see what the beast's doing. The dragon was most definitely big though. "Affirmative!" The Cow Mangling mercenary jumped off the tree and landed in front of Nepgear, spooking her a little but it was no concern for the American. "Half a mile that way!" The loud merc pointed out the way before storming off, his party following him.


"Photon Blade!" A red-haired adventurer slammed her shining-with-power sword into the ground. The power inside the blade flew towards the beast and cut right into its chest, making the beast flinch but unable to penetrate its thick and hard scales.

The adventurer's blue-haired ally followed up with her own attack. "Justice Kick!" She jumped high with her strong legs and performed a drop kick to the same spot a previous attack struck! The beast fell onto its backside, and the blue-haired girl landed safely next to the adventurer.

The beast they were fighting was an overgrown lizard called an 'Ancient Dragon'. It was an enormous creature with brown scales everywhere beside its belly and chest, where they were creamy-white. 2 pairs of horns grew from its head with a pair of yellowish malevolent eyes focusing on its enemies. It was standing on two legs and his arms could use an entire tree as a club, with his legs being even thicker. The smallest claw was the size of a fully-grown human leg, and its strong tail could knock someone unconscious with one swing.

Usually the Ancient Dragons had a pair of great wings on their back, big and strong enough to carry them at great altitudes, but this individual was lacking the entire right wing, in its place a gaping wound on his back.

The dragon got onto its legs rather quickly. There were signs of damage here and there but the lizard was more or less fine. The same went with its enemies who were just getting fired up.

"Hmph! A persistent monster, but no force of evil can stand long against Gamindustri's heroine of justice, Nisa!" The blue-haired girl introducing herself as Nisa posed heroically. Next to her the red-haired adventurer silently chuckled with amusement.

"Then I, the great adventurer Falcom, shall aid you in defeating this villain!" The adventurer tried to mimic Nisa's speech and accent, earning a chuckle from the heroine.

"C'mon! Let's show that monster the true power of bravery and justice!"


The Basilicom's doctor was checking the Oracle for injuries, even after Medic's and Histoire's assurances that she's fine. "I knew there'd be enemy agents there, but I never really believed someone would actually try to assassinate me…" She sighed. 'If not for the mercenaries, who knows what would have happened.' "What about the public, did they evacuate safely?" The Oracle asked, her voice filled with concern. To dispel her worries, Spy decloaked, a cigarette in his mouth.

"Last I checked there were no other injuries, and Engineer is confirming that as we speak, you can rest assured. That was quite the show though, I suppose this event will be the talk of the town soon enough." He exhaled some smoke, even though Histoire wasn't even close to the fumes she still coughed as if it was choking her.

"Spy, could you please not smoke near me?" She asked, but the Frenchie simply pointed his index finger as he walked across the room, still smoking.

"Mademoiselle Histoire, I have an illness, remember?"

"Herr Spy, you're simply an addict." Medic (who's talking over the phone) spat.

"Whatever." Spy rolled his eyes. "More importantly, ASIC or not, we can be certain now that someone wants your head. Do you think it safe for you to go out anymore?"

The Oracle very seriously considered the merc's question. 'He may be right, that assassin was solid proof that someone's after me. Even if someone must address the people's worries, perhaps I should stay quiet for a few days.'

The Oracle's train of thoughts was interrupted by Medic handing the phone back to the Basilicom worker. "I have contacted Herr Engineer. All civilians are out and unharmed, in addition zhe-" His eyes noticed something above, and the German's head snapped upward while his hand went towards the Blutsauger, a modified Syringe Gun.

Medic pulled out the weapon and started firing the syringes at the catwalks above the stage. "Above!"


This fight is going pear-shaped fast.

Nisa and Falcom dodged constant swipes from the creature. Both of them were running out of stamina and it wasn't helping that their supplies were running out as well!

It was going pretty smoothly at first. Nisa and Falcom worked together pretty well, covering each other, following-up each other's attacks and hitting at just the right places to penetrate the dragon's thick armor.

But just as they were about to finish it off, the impossible happened.

A sudden Viral Pixelvader fell from the sky and crashed right into him, shattering one of the horns on its head but making it go Viral as well. The Pixelvader died upon landing, its body shattering into data.

The heroine of justice and adventurer backed away slowly. One of the most dangerous monsters in Gamindustri just received a second wind and a huge buff in power and defense. The girls may be brave and strong, but they're definitely NOT suicidal.

The mighty dragon roared into the sky, the branches on the trees and even a few trees themselves nearby broke down and fell to the ground, blocking their escape routes. Its once brown scales had turned a dark shade of purple, its muscles more tense and visible, the damaged tissue partially regenerated, the gap in its back closed along with numerous other smaller wounds, leaving numerous new scars across its body. The viral Ancient Dragon ripped an entire freakin tree and held it like a club with one hand, its red murderous eyes glaring down at its two foes.

Both of them shared a glance, and gulped at the same time.

There's nowhere to run…

They may not leave this fight alive…

But they sure won't go down without a fight.

The dragon raised its club high into the air before swinging it down at the girls. Both of them were agile enough to dodge the attack, Nisa with a jump and Falcom with a roll. The adventurer retaliated by slashing the dragon's wrist, but the attack did little to the buffed monster. There were flames dripping off the Ancient Dragon's mouth, not a good sign for Falcom…

"Justice Kick!" Nisa kicked the dragon's jaw, tilting it slightly but just enough to throw off its aim. The flames it spewed missed the adventurer, in exchange lighting up the area nearby. The heroine followed up by jumping back and throwing knives at the dragon as she flew; most of the blades were reflected by its corrupted scales, but some managed to embed themselves between its scales, some even opening the once-regenerated scars!

Falcom nodded to Nisa, grateful for the cover, and used one of her skills. "Magic blade, Sorcerian!" The redhead's sword glowed with ice energy as she swung it in the dragon's direction; icicles burst forth from the sword, the ice pelting the monster before exploding into a giant pillar of light.

The dragon staggered back but kept its balance. It swung the tree in a sweeping motion at Falcom, the redhead avoiding it by ducking under the club that passed harmlessly above her. In exchange it hit Nisa instead. "Justice Ki- GAH!"

The keeper of justice attempted another Justice Kick at the lizard's face, but the dragon's club kept going and smacked her out of the sky. The bluenette crashed straight into a pile of wood at the edge of the battlefield. "Nisa!" Falcom shouted alarmingly. The adventurer tried to reach and help her friend-in-arms, but between them stood the Viral Ancient Dragon.

"I-I'm alright!" Nisa clambered out of the pile of wood and sticks. She tried to stand on both legs and nearly immediately fell onto her right knee.

She was definitely not alright…

Her right leg is broken…

And she ran out of healing items…

Even though not even Nep Bull would heal an injury that bad…

The viral monster roared again, completely ignoring the adventurer to finish off the keeper of justice, not even another Photon Blade to its back could shift its attention. It grabbed Nisa (she squealed in pain) with its right hand, a claw around her neck, and squeezed, breaking her wind pipe and preventing her from breathing.

Nisa panicked, her eyes widening as she tried to escape the beast's grasp, but it was futile. The dragon was far stronger physically, and it didn't help that she was starting to get weaker and weaker as she choked on her own blood and her increased heartbeat accelerated her need for oxygen.

Just before Nisa's bones gave way entirely, something crashed and exploded on the dragon's left forearm. The force of the explosion along with the electricity briefly coursing through its hand and paralyzed it and caused the dragon drop the heroine. She landed onto the ground below shoulder-first, painfully dislocating it.


"CHUUUUUUUUU!" Pirachu yelped, running away for his life on all fours away. The syringes embedded themselves in the catwalks or missed it completely, narrowly missing the mouse. Spy immediately pulled out his revolver and aimed at the catwalks, but he couldn't see anyone on them, nor could the Heavy who jumped in front of the Oracle with his minigun spun up and aimed at the catwalks as well.

There were a few seconds of silence, disturbed only by Heavy's spinning minigun, as everyone looked everywhere in search of the threat. Eventually Histoire decided the area was clear and safe.

"M-Medic?" She began, still white as a sheet as she peeked over the Russian's shoulder. "Was someone up there?" She asked.

Medic's only response was a nod and reloading his vampiric syringe gun (since the Blutsauger heals the user upon successful hits). "Zhere definitely vas someone up on zhe catwalks." The German stated simply.

"It sounded like a mouse, but if it concerned our Docteur then perhaps it's best to investigate." Spy gave no room for debate as he cloaked out of sight. Medic looked at his Russian comrade, using their psychic connection to give him a few orders before running off as well.

Heavy Weapons Guy nodded and turned to the Oracle. "Tiny fairy and other little men stay here, tell Engineer to close ways out." He ordered, donning his Gloves of Running Urgently (or GRU) for short, a pair of large red boxing gloves with flame decals. After wearing the gloves a symbol of a white skull and crossbones appeared above his head. "We will find and crush little intruder." And the giant Russian ran off as well, leaving the Oracle alone with a handful of Basilicom workers.

"Good luck." She said to no one in particular. 'These mercenaries are really putting their all into it…' She thought, feeling pretty glad for their diligence. It's saved her today and it may save her again if that really was an intruder. '…But it really sounded like just a mouse.'

"What are we going to do? Lady Histoire?" One of the Basilicom workers asked.

"Obey Heavy's command, contact the Engineer and tell him to block all possible ways out. No one is leaving or entering until the mercenaries say so. Also update the Sniper and Scout on the situation, get them to start looking as well."


Soldier cranked the lever on his Cow Mangler 5000 as Demoman and Pyro rushed in to gain the monster's attention. The former used the Splendid Screen, a rounded iron shield splattered with dried blood, and the Demo launched himself into the air by using the fallen tree as a stepping stone and using the shield's charge ability ("Get 'am, boyos!" he screamed as he flew ). The Demolition Man then delivered a Critical overhead slash to the beast's neck, the blow stunning the giant for a short amount of time, enough for Pyro to burn through the blockade with its weapon, destroying the wood and making the entire tree crumble into dust shortly later.

"Woah!" Falcom breathed out in amazement, limping a little away from the burning tree. She can feel the heat even from there.

"IF!" Soldier began, finishing the reloading. "That thing was brown earlier, why's it purple now?" He asked, turning around to face the shocked brunette.

"A Viral Ancient Dragon!? It can level an entire nation even with wounds like this! W-When did it-" She paled, and Soldier placed a hand on her shoulder and shook it roughly.

"Focus, sissy! They need you out there!" He shouted in her ear. The Guild agent winced and held it painfully.

"I know that already! I'm not chickening out, I was just surprised. The reports said it should be a normal Ancient Dragon, and you confirmed it yourself earlier. It just happened to turn Viral at a time like this, huh, just our luck…"

IF withdrew her Katars and glanced at the nervous CPU Candidate. "Gear, now might be a good time to transform, ya know."

Nepgear looked at the brunette's determined face and quickly made her mind up. "Processor unit, set!"

While the CPU was going HDD, the rocket launcher-wielding mercenary took the nurse for a short ride. "Let's go, greenhorn! We got an injured to save!" Soldier rocket-jumped with Compa ("Weeeeeee!" she cried joyfully) towards Nisa, who's still in agony and on the brink of death.

"Processor unit, complete!" The now-transformed Purple Sister took to the air and flew around the dragon, irritating it enough for Pyro to get close enough and try lighting it on fire with its flame thrower, but the fire-proof scales were having none of it. The firebug had to eventually retreat unless it wished to get stomped.

When the nurse landed from the brief flight, the first thing she did was sprint towards the fallen heroine with her drill sergeant providing cover fire. 'Good, she's still alive!' The nurse-in-training noted. The heroine of justice was still coughing blood and generally fought desperately for breath while getting weaker with each passing second. Her once proud and confident blue eyes were scared and bloodshot. The keeper of justice weakly and pathetically gripped Compa's foot, pleading her to save her. It's a miracle she's still conscious by this point!

Compa did not waste any time activating the Quick Fix. The healing beam began fixing the broken bones and destroyed windpipe, setting her shoulder properly as well. The moment she was able to breathe again, Nisa took the deepest and longest breath in her life. She looked at her now healed body in surprise, that girl had managed to heal all of her wounds faster than any healing spell she knew and even fixed her outfit too! The keeper of justice gave Compa a bone-crushing bear hug. "Th-Thank you! I don't know how you did it, but I am eternally in your debt! Tell me your name, my savior!" Nisa broke the hug, beaming at the miracle worker.

"It's Compa, oh and it's no biggy, this was my teacher's creation!" She proudly displayed the Quick Fix to the bluenette.

"Then send my gratitude to that wonderful inventor. My name is Nisa, and I am Gamindustri's heroine of justice! Now then, let's defeat that monstrosity this time!" Nisa cracked her knuckles.

"Yessy!" With the introductions over with, the two girls ran or jumped into the frontlines and rejoined the fight.


Pirachu peeked over the corner, his head paranoidly darting left and right. No one in sight. The rodent allowed himself to release a quick and quiet sigh of relief before tip-toeing across the hallway, his mind going crazy. 'Th-There was nothing about the new Basilicom staff being armed to the teeth, chu! That was even a minigun on one, chu!'

The rodent had spent over 20 minutes playing hide-and-seek with the mercenaries. There was a moment where while hiding inside a suit of decorative armor, Pirachu saw Medic passing him by, carrying the Amputator (a bonesaw with particularly pronounced angular edges and a more decorated red handle) in one hand and the Blutsauger in the other. "Come out, come out! Zhe sooner you come out, zhe sooner ve can take great care of you!" He called out. The cheerfulness in his voice made him all the more frightening.

'Just what kind of sick psychos did Histoire hire, chu?!'

After the close brush with death, the rat had taken temporary shelter in the storage room, and he was in absolute panic mode.

The room was illuminated by a fluorescent lamp attached to the ceiling, and on the floor were shelves nearly reaching the ceiling, with various things on them like toilet paper, tools, tape, props etc. A bucket with a mop leaned against one of the shelves. There was a pile of cardboard boxes in the corner, all taped so the contents were unknown, and above them was a vent grate screwed shut. On the wall opposite the vent was a window, but it was out of reach and locked.

Suddenly something fell onto the floor, making Pirachu jump and yelp as he spun around. No one was there, only a can of green paint which fell down and spilled.

The rodent gave a small sigh of relief. "[This isn't good for my heart, chu.]" He muttered, before realizing something.

The rodent slowly raised his head upwards, eyes kept on one of the shelves. On top of it he spotted a white bird with a red splotch on it. Archimedes the Dove, Medic's favorite dove.

The dove cooed when the rat spotted him, as if to say "Hi", tilting its head curiously as it stared at the giant mouse. 'Stupid bird, spooking me like that, chu.' Pirachu thought disgruntledly. 'Wait, why does it have a red stain on it? That looks like- NO, it has to be paint! It has to be, right, chu!?'

Then the rat heard footsteps.

His heart stopped.

His entire body froze.

Archimedes cooed again.

The rat's panic intensified.

His red eyes panickedly darted across the storage room, bad idea in hindsight considering it's a near dead end. Only the vents seemed like a viable escape, but they were screwed shut and he had no means of opening the grate. This will be his literal DEAD end if the rodent doesn't find anywhere to hide RIGHT this instant.

…The footsteps…

…Are getting…

…Closer…


Falcom, while glad for the reinforcements, didn't want to be outdone. The Demoman, IF and Nepgear were holding their ground very well and the adventurer was still able to cast a few spells, so Falcom decided she could at least be the ranged support and provide additional DPS and cover. The adventurer braced her sword for another ranged magic attack. "Photon Blade!"

But nothing happened…

"Huh?" Her eyes widen from surprise and shock. Her hand instinctively went for the SP Charger. Weird, she could have sworn she had enough SP…

"You can't use magic with transformed Gear around!" IF explained, somersaulting over the Dragon's hand which tried to sweep IF away. "Tch! It's too tough. Gear! Tackle it from behind!" The Guild agent ordered.

"Yes!-AHH!" The CPU Candidate was smacked down by the Dragon's tail, crashing through two trees and getting stuck inside a third. "Gear!" "Ge-Ge!" IF and Compa cried out in alarm as the Ancient Dragon forgot about everyone else to finish off the injured.

Before the dragon could take a one step towards the CPU, it was hit by another charged energy blast from Soldier! "You reptilian maggot! I'm gonna rip and tear out all your guts! And you're huge! That means you have huge guts!"

While the knockback from the explosion caused the dragon to stagger towards Nepgear, it allowed Falcom and Demoman to climb onto its back. "Hey! Yer that lassie from the pub! Falcom was it?" The scot grinned to the adventurer as he stabbed the monster's wing socket, trying to rip it out.

"Hmm? Have we met somewhere?" Falcom blinked, genuinely confused as she slashed open the healed scar from the shrapnel.

"Aye! You and me had a drinking competition, yesterday!" Demo jumped down, the dragon roaring in pain as he did so.

"Ah, so that's why most of my credits were missing. Tell me… I wasn't doing anything… embarrassing, was I?" The adventurer blushed slightly as she jumped down as well. For good measure the Demolition Man pulled out the Grenade Launcher and shot two grenades into its tail, blowing it to shreds! "Wow! I never thought about using explosives against dragons! Amazing!"

"Less talk! More fight!" Soldier barked, firing a blast of energy into the dragon's head.


Pirachu's mind went into overdrive. Whoever that person is they MUST come here, this is the only room in the back hallway, with the doors being at the end of it.

Each step meant he had less and less time. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The methodical sound of footsteps, this person wasn't in a rush, but he wasn't crawling either…

The window was not an option, it was beyond his reach and even then he doubted he could open it. So Pirachu had two options; 1) Try to unlock the vent. Sure it will buy him a few seconds, assuming he succeeds, but there's no way for him to screw the grate back in, so they'll quickly figure out where he is. Or 2), hide in the box pile. That might work to hide from the person coming in, but there's a chance of that person searching this room thoroughly, and this is the sole hiding place. If that person bothered to search it he would be found in seconds.

Boxes…?

Vents…?

So little time…

Such a hard choice…

"[Screw it.]" Pirachu moved and squeezed in the small space between the boxes and the wall, to make his half-assed attempt slightly better he moved one of the boxes in front of him. Archimedes as if to damn him to hell flew on top of the pile and cooed at Pirachu, annoying the rat. He put his finger to his mouth and shushed.

Which he quickly cut off because he could hear the doors being opened…

His heart pounded so hard that the rodent feared that the person could hear it. The atmosphere was eerie and quiet. Pirachu even thought that the person left, he couldn't hear anything over his thumping heart, but then.

"Zhere you are!"

Pirachu froze, he was sure he had a heart attack right then and there…


Even against 8 people, the Viral Ancient Dragon stood tall, but the wounds eventually wore it down, and with its tail gone the lizard tripped more often and much easier, until it adapted quickly and fought on all fours, swiping its arms, chomping down on people or even breathing fire!

The dragon bit down hard onto the charging Demoman's neck, taking his right hand in the process as well. The merc screamed in pain as he tried to stab the dragon from the inside, which only made the monster wriggle its head and kill him. Conveniently the Reanimator landed within Compa's reach. Both Soldier and IF announced their ally's demise at the same time.

"Demo down!"

"Demoman's dead, Compa you know what to do!"

A brief cold wave of uncontrollable fear washed over the Guild agent as she had brief flashbacks of her own death, but the dragon's roar helped her push these thoughts away and refocus back on the battle.

If the Nurse remembered correctly she just needs to heal the hologram with the Quick Fix in order to revive the person, and then heal them a few moments more after it due to them having only half of their health.

Both Nisa and Falcom grew paler at the mangled dead body, but both of them also took note that the rest of them paid much less mind to someone's death than normal people would, especially when the victim was supposed to be a friend.

However both of them had to push these thoughts away. With the others so calm, both of them found it easy to believe there really was nothing to worry about. They had both experienced the power of the Quick Fix afterall, Nisa when she was on the verge of death, Falcom when Compa found time to heal her fatigue and minor wounds within seconds. If anything could fix the dead, it's that miracle gun. Sure enough, they could hear him again not long after.

"I'm back lads!" Demoman announced, fresh from the Re:Spawn. The Scot thumbed up to the Nurse before charging off with a battle cry, his sword scraping the dragon's throat right before the monster breathed another stream of fire at him.

"We can't fight it all day! We need to finish this now!" IF yelled, dropping onto one knee and panting. Pyro extinguished the burning Demoman (which the Scot was very grateful for) with its Manmelter, a grey, retro-futuristic laser pistol, with a small vial that contains red liquid. The pistol somehow sucked the flames right off of the Scotsman and glowed with red critical energy before Pyro pulled the trigger and launching a flaming critical bolt at the beast.

The flare shot out the dragon's right eye in the one-in-a-million shot. Everyone stopped as the monster stood on its hind legs, clutching its face with its gigantic arms. The Viral Ancient Dragon unleashed a deafening bellow of pain as it fell onto its back and started thrashing wildly, breaking the already damaged areas and its wing, but it didn't care, the eye hurt even more than that.

The humans below ran the fuck away from that thing, getting caught by such irregular movement would grant certain loss of life.

The overgrown lizard finally met its demise when it managed to impale a giant tree trunk into its back wound, the wood severing most of the veins attached to the heart and the splinters blocked the rest. Everyone watched as one of the fiercest monsters of Gamindustri was finally felled... by a tree…

"Well…" IF began. "That was kind of anti-climatic…" She fell onto her knees, then dropped onto the partially burnt grass, too tired to move. Nisa and Falcom followed suit with Compa a little later.

"Hmph…" Soldier murmured, his hand stroking his chin, then shrugged. "I guess the kill goes to you, Pyro! Outstanding shot!" The crazed patriot walked towards the firebug and gave him a pat on the shoulder and a high-five.


"Archimedes, how did you get here?" Pirachu resisted the urge to release a massive sigh of relief, then quickly shifted back into panic as he realized the saw-wielding syringe-shooting psycho had entered the room. Archimedes turned towards the man and cooed, flying onto his waiting left hand and chirping pleasantly as the German stroked the bird with his index and middle finger.

Pirachu watched Medic spoil the bird for a moment longer before placing it onto his shoulder. "Come on, Archimedes. Ve need to catch zhe intruder." Medic stepped back towards the door. Just when Pirachu thought he was safe though, Medic took his Blutsauger and fired a shot at the box pile, right in front of Pirachu. The rat jumped slightly from surprise and stared at the syringe filled with transparent liquid.

"You thought I vouldn't notice? I have seen herr Heavy sneaking better zhan you. Now step out of zhere." The German ordered, keeping his syringe gun pointed at the box pile.

Slowly and reluctantly, the mouse left his hiding place, his arms raised. "I-I-I surrender, chu!" He stuttered. To his relief, he got to live another day.


The ASIC rodent found himself in front of Planeptune's Oracle, surrounded by the mercenaries and Basilicom staff from all sides, also with his hands tied. "So it is la souris afterall…" Spy commented, earning a confused look from the Oracle, the rat and a few Basilicom workers.

"La souris?" The fairy slowly repeated, tasting the new language on her tongue.

"French, not important." Spy waved his hand dismissively.

"Can I go home? I'm kinda scared of the big guy, and the one in the lab coat with the saw." Pirachu pleaded, earning a sigh from the Oracle.

"After you answer a few questions. First is your name."

"My name? I am the best mascot in Gamindustri, Pirachu! Chu." He proudly announced.

"[Mascot?]" Heavy Weapons Guy looked at Doctor, who only shrugged.

"Second is, what do you know about the assassination attempt?" Spy asked impatiently, blowing some of the cigarette's smoke out of his mouth and giving Histoire a coughing fit (concerning the Basilicom's doctor) despite not being in close proximity to her at all.

"Spy, please, go smoke outside." She pleaded nicely. The Frenchie rolled his eyes and stepped outside, leaning against the doorframe with his back turned towards the rest of the group. Histoire mouthed a weak "Thank you." before recomposing herself.

"I-I dunno anything about it. The ASIC may be bad guys, but we never went so far as to deliberately kill anyone!" Pirachu shrugged.

'Hmm… I know a liar when I see one, and he seems to be telling the truth, so who was behind it then?' Histoire noted.

Meanwhile, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. Pirachu wondered if he said anything wrong when he noticed the faintest of smirks on Medic and Heavy. Spy also grinned, but it was quickly hidden when he blew some more of the toxic smoke out of his mouth. "So you're admitting you're working with the ASIC, hmm?" Frenchie asked with a tone of sadism.

Histoire blanched, she knew what was coming. "Mercenaries, stop! Let him talk." She ordered, for hers and the mouse's sake, knowing that these professional murderers would not hesitate to kill him here and now.

"I'm not doing anything, mademoiselle Histoire. I'm letting him talk, for now." Spy replied smugly, taking another cigarette out of his Disguise Kit, and taking Pirachu's data into the system.

"Y-Yes, I'm working for the ASIC, nothing big though I am just a simple underling, chu." The rat admitted, awkwardly nodding. He knew that there's no escaping it now but at least the Oracle was showing mercy and letting him live, bless her soul!

"What was the reason you climbed onto the catwalks above the stage?" Histoire inquired, this one her actual main concern. What was this rodent doing there?

Pirachu awkwardly laughed, he would scratch his neck if he could. "Good question, hehehe. I just wanted a good spot, that's all." His answer was met with blank stares from the Oracle and Spy.

"You wanted what?" The book fairy repeated.

"A good spot, to watch, chu." Rat innocently said again.

Spy facepalmed and hand-gestured for Engineer and Sniper to stop the blockage. Even if the Oracle did tell them to not kill him, he will eventually meet his demise a little later, just to be safe. Unless he quickly leaves the ASIC and disappears off the face of Gamindustri.


With the overgrown corrupted lizard dead and the party rested, it was time for the introductions and a little small talk. "Now that that's over, I think we should at least tell each other our names. I'm Falcom, adventurer and part-time musician, nice to meet you all!" The red-head beamed, sheathing her sword back into her violin case, which earning a confused look from IF, but she said nothing. Time spent with the mercenaries taught her to stop questioning weird little things like that…

"And I'm Nisa, Gamindustri's heroine of justice!" The heroine posed heroically, her red scarf heroically fluttering against imaginary wind. Then her deep blue eyes locked on Compa and Nisa slightly bowed. "As I said before, I'm indebted to you, Compa. If you ever need help with anything, I shall gladly lend you a hand." She said sincerely.

"That's fine! I'm Compa, a Nurse-in-training learning from a very skilled Medic!" The busty nurse chirped.

"The name's IF, I'm a Guild member stationed here in Planeptune. And these guys are Pyro, Soldier and Demoman." The brunette motioned to each merc before turning back to the girls. "Anyway. Nisa? I think there is something you could help us with."

"You ask, and I shall do it." Nisa perked up, Falcom did as well, also owing a few favors to the mercenaries.

"We're planning on stopping the ASIC, but we still need some help. Will you join us?" The Guild agent extended her hand to the heroine.

"I'm mostly fighting alone… but a promise is a promise. And the ASIC is a villainous organization which needs to be brought down. I shall gladly lend you my hand in defeating them!" Nisa placed her hand on top of IF's. Falcom did so too with determined look.

"I'll join too. The ASIC have defiled Gamindustri for too long. It's high time someone stepped in."

Compa did the same, and the girls raised their hands into the sky. The joy of having new teammates was quickly shot down however…

A pale (as pale as he can be) Demoman jogged towards the girls and asked, his voice worried. "Aye, IF! Have ya seen Nepgear!?" IF blanched, frantically looking around in hopes of finding the CPU Candidate.

"Gear? Hey, Gear!?" The Guild agent put her hands around her mouth and yelled, hoping the lilac-haired girl would hear.

"Ge-Ge? This is no time for hide-and-seek!" Compa joined it, followed by Falcom and Nisa.

IF's mind started to worry more with each passing second. The CPU Candidate has suddenly disappeared without any trace. The Guild agent's mind tried to remember when the last time she saw her was… She was hit by the Ancient Dragon, then she broke through several trees before-! "[Trees!]" IF suddenly sprinted towards the spot where Nepgear should be stuck in the tree, leaping over the dragon's gigantic hand, and managed to spot the human-sized indention in one of the trees…

…No one was there…

…She's gone…

…There's nothing there…

…Nepgear has disappeared


Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Davids and Goliath


And with that cliffhanger I'm going to be a dick and end the episode. Why Nepgear disappeared? Why I didn't show those new canteens at all? And how the two new addition to the team will cope with mercenaries' insanity? Y'all have to wait for new episode. Well everyone but me of course, I know how it will go. And I'm looking forward the next one.

I said it before and I'm gonna repeat it. I didn't see Nisa at all anywhere besides fanarts or fanfictions. So I'm completely relying on her wiki page so I'm sorry if she will appear OOC.

Responses:

- Jiffcef

I have many things inside my sleeve, a few friends of mine even named me the 'Idea Machine' :v

- BreadNotDead (I can call her my faithful reviewer now)

Yessy! The other makers don't get enough love as they should. And I love CC2, she's adorable and to be serious I also thought these ears and tail are real till she said they aren't. (well she still looks cute in them)

The crates are basically my way of giving mercs some cool new stuff. Also I would love to see Nepgear wearing a hat like Team Captain with Burning Flames unusual effect. (I might make her wear it if I decide to end this with Conquest Ending). And yes that was Nisa at the gym, I'm planning on making her spend time with more of powerhouses like Heavy or Soldier.

- Piggyslayer1235

That… is something I'm very uncertain of. As much as I loved his videos (bless his soul, shame he died). I'm not quite sure how I would write it without crossing the line and making a lolz-MEMES! Chapter.

- Harmless Orange