To those who missed or skipped my 'Update' chapter. I've made a poll whenever or not I should release this chapter now, and the rest once everything was finished.
The votes for 'release now' outnumbered the votes for 'wait' so here it is.
Also, in this chapter I'm introducing Custom Weapons for our non-mercenary characters. You can see their description, owner and stats at the bottom of the chapter.
Let me know what do you think of these.
Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Magic Spells
The roar of thunder shook the window of the Basilicom, interrupting the quiet morning. The guards stationed on one of the top floors were blinded and deafened by this phenomenon, while Samantha made a mad dash towards Chika's office. In her hand she clutched a white envelope signed to Chika Hakozaki and Vert, sealed in actual wax and some scribbles.
The Oracle's office was just a few meters away, mere steps ahead. The Overseer's eyes widened as a Robo-Scout turned around the corner and spotted her. The machine took aim at the intruder while Samantha threw herself to the ground, however bullets still struck her chest. Samantha grit her teeth from pain, letting go of the envelope and teleporting away - a second thunder taking her away just as a second wave of lead struck the place she was before.
Samantha was there for no more than 10 seconds. Just as the nearby guards were recovering from the blinding flash and thunderclap, the second thunder stunned them again. More guards and robots were being drawn by the gunfire and flooded the hallway. Chika heard the guns firing off and hid herself under the desk, staying there until a guard came in saying it was safe.
After that, things got lively in the Basilicom.
Back in True Celestia Samantha kept her hand on her chest, trying to calm her beating heart and to soothe her aching ribs. Apparently Vert wasn't taking any prisoners. That thing shot to kill. Samantha's life was saved by her kevlar jacket and the Scattergun's damage fall-off. A possibly-fatal wound turned into a few bruises.
But no matter how much bullet resistance Samantha was stacking, getting shot at still fucking hurt.
"Aaah..." Samantha gasped and massaged her breast. At the very least Vert took her security very seriously. If Vert started to employ Gray Mann's machines to act as additional security then she can consider 5pb to be relatively safe, especially once Vert or Chika read the letter.
The Overseer groaned and stood up. The muscles in her body protested, but the brunette ignored their cries. She pulled out a cigarette case and opened it, only to find it devoid of any death sticks.
"Of course." Samantha sighed. Machias didn't smoke so he didn't need cigarettes, instead she found a picture of his family. They looked happy. Samantha ignored the picture and the feelings it brewed inside her and pressed a button.
"Why am I getting more emotional?" Samantha wondered as smoke engulfed her. When it disappeared Samantha became Machias. She had his voice and looks, all she needed was to act like him until she finds Miss Pauling.
She took a deep breath and went back to Gamindustri.
CFW Brave looked at the clear sky, scanning for signs. He already saw two thunderstrikes around the Basilicom and awaited the third one, which could happen anywhere Samantha wished. With him was Falcom, who was swinging her new sword in silence, and Magic who was taking a nap.
They were hidden on a rooftop of some skyscraper. The Basilicom towered around them, but CFW Brave had a good view on the majority of the skies. It was a good vantage point.
The adventurer moved her limbs to get her body accustomed to the new outfit and weapon. After getting her equipment confiscated Samantha got to assemble her an entire loadout, from weapons and armor to even items. Now she was wearing a more 'tactical' gear, with ballistic armor on her limbs, a vest with pouches to protect her core and give her inventory slots, and light blue pants and jacket to protect whatever gaps in the armor remained. The fact that she looked similar to Samantha wasn't lost on her.
But now she had space to take healing and utility items into the frontline, she won't have to rely on her Tear skill anymore. And also Samantha took a random sword and upgraded it for her. The Overseer went crazy when she learned that the ASIC had access to a wide array of materials, workbench and enchanting table. Yes, Samantha can craft, upgrade and enchant weapons.
She wasn't kidding when she said she was a woman of many talents.
Her new sword had a pastel blue blade, and a light-pink hilt. It looked like a childish toy, but it was a real weapon. And this weapon also had a weird fragrance to it, Falcom sniffed it and she already felt tired. Samantha named it Lullaby Song and apparently it will put to sleep anyone she can hit with it.
Maybe this was why CFW Magic was sleeping.
"Third thunder." CFW Brave said. "It's starting."
Falcom nodded and sheathed her blade, while CFW Magic opened her eyes and yawned. "Finally." The Leader of ASIC said while stretching. "Hop on." She said to Falcom, turning her back towards her. The adventurer meekly walked over to the Leader and wrapped her arms and legs around her. She blushed as she felt herself rubbing over Magic's bare skin, but the CFW showed no embarrassment over the skin contact. Once she was secure both CFWs started to lifted off, flying high above Leanbox.
As they flew above the clouds, the air around them turned cold and thin, and Falcom started to not feel so good. She started to shiver and her vision got blurry, and she had a hard time keeping herself conscious. The CFWs stopped to let her rest and get used to the change in oxygen levels, before they got a bit higher again.
Now they were too high for anyone to bother, even a CPU. Even if they were detected by Miss Pauling's men, they most likely won't raise an alarm. Falcom would admire the view if she wasn't struggling to stay warm. She was wearing a jacket and pants and even still she was freezing, while Magic was wearing almost nothing and didn't even seem to get goosebumps.
What kind of heating system did she have to stay warm? It wasn't fair.
The adventurer hugged Magic tighter, bringing herself closer to the sole heat source in the cold sky. If Falcom cuddling Magic bothered the CFW at all, she didn't show it.
"Do you see her?" CFW Brave asked.
"Yes." CFW Magic nodded, keeping her eye glued to a small tan blob that was Samantha. It was the size of an atom from that distance, but no matter where she was the Leader of ASIC would always pick her out of the crowd.
Falcom looked over Magic's shoulder but all she saw was Leanbox, even when Magic was pointing at some spot on the city Falcom couldn't see Samantha from so high above. Either Magic was bullshitting them, or she had god-like vision. Or maybe it was some kind of magic. That's literally her name, after all.
Inside enemy territory, surrounded by enemies, a paper mask her sole protection. It was time to face the music and her head was filled with a thousand thoughts, all blanketed in unshakeable dread. Is she moving properly? Was there something she missed? Did Machias forget some crucial detail? One wrong move could tip them off that she wasn't someone they expected, and the deeper she went the more she thought that someone would shoot her at any moment.
Was it really paranoia if they're really out to get you?
She followed the instructions she got from Machias's memories to the best of her abilities, but there wasn't any certainly that these instructions were correct. After all, these were human memories and it has been proven time and again that human memory can be faulty.
She was afraid to look around, thinking this might be some sort of code. She was afraid to not look around, thinking this also could be some sort of code. She worked for Miss Pauling before so she knew how ridiculously subtle some of the signs can be. Getting off the bed on the wrong foot could be a sign to nuke the entire world to her.
There were many people around her, and each of them could notice something was wrong. They could walk around the corner and raise an alarm, they could alert Miss Pauling, they could even just go ahead and plant a knife in her back. And Samantha wouldn't notice any of these things until it was too late.
It wasn't Planeptune-level of packed, but there were still people all around her.
The weapons she wielded felt heavy, not because of their actual weight but because of her consciousness. Every time she bumped into someone, everytime her shoulders brushed past another's, she felt like they could see through her disguise, and were simply leading her deeper into her own doom.
In her holster she had her Pistol Sword, but now an upgraded version. She took some fire-elemental materials and used it to give her shots fire attributes, and so the Firecracker was born.
Attached to her back she also has another weapon - a black rifle with a wide frame and a glowing red cylinder inside. It fired lasers from the cylinder, not lasers like C.A.P.P.E.R. or the Righteous Bison, but a solid beam of light that instantly traveled to its target. Samantha put a lot of various materials into it, which gave it a lot of chaotic attributes.
She named it like it was, a Bloody Mess of stats. Its hook was dragging her collar back and the weapon was uncontrollably leaking water. Her back was entirely wet and she was leaving a literal trail. She wasn't sure if the water was showing on her disguise, but if it did then she'll need to explain why.
Her target location was about 500 meters away from her. Normally it would take only a few minutes to get there, but in her current mental state it felt it would take a few hours. She could even see its logo from where she was standing, a medium-sized locale named 'Crummy's Burgers'.
It surprised her that they were actually using a company's name from Earth. No one in Gamindustri would've ever heard of such a restaurant, but now they had local branches in Planeptune and Leanbox. Once this was all over, she would need to ask to investigate those branches.
And yes, Samantha was taking her mind off the heavy stuff. It was her way of protecting herself from this world shattering revelation Falcom just hit her with yesterday.
But because she just thought about it, her brain couldn't stop thinking about. Because Falcom knew, she knew what she said to Machias, she heard something that was supposedly censored to anyone else. Not even Fay could do it and she had the same thing as her and Samantha. So what the hell made her so different?
The Overseer refused to ponder on these thoughts now, she had an important mission that she couldn't fuck up. Swallowing her saliva the disguised woman pushed the doors open, and entered Crummy's Burgers.
The whole building was packed with people, groups of friends gathered in there to drink, eat and watch sports - making the place noisy and filling it with an atmosphere not unlike those on stadiums during championships.
But when Samantha looked deeper, she saw more than one pair of eyes turning towards her - observing and noting her behavior. This was it, the Test that Miss Pauling put there to flush out intruders. She just needed to pass their tests and Miss Pauling would arrive.
Samantha walked up to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee: Only half of the cup, with milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar. That was Samantha saying that she was an informant and had information to give for Miss Pauling.
The woman behind the counter nodded and wrote it on paper. Samantha paid for her order and walked away.
She wasn't into coffee with milk and sugar, but fortunately Samantha didn't need to drink it - just to order it. She looked around for an empty table, her eyes looking through the crowd she was surrounded by. They seemed to ignore her, but once in a while she saw a few people looking back at her.
And among those people there was a single table without anyone sitting there, a lone bastion where she could seat without anyone next to her. And of course it was in the middle of the burger joint, where everyone else could see her.
She sat down and waited. After waiting exactly 4 seconds she started tapping her fingers in rhythm of some song back on Earth - another sign that she was on their side.
She just now realized that with all of these subtle signs and passcodes, it would be almost impossible to sell the narrative that Machias was captured. He was right when he said that the moment she shot Miss Pauling they would know that someone talked and betrayed them.
Even if someone did betray the Administrator, the hoops someone would have to jump through just to have a chance to talk with someone in high places was enormous. Were they just fucking with Machias, or do all informants actually have to go through with this sort of thing?
Even so, she couldn't just not do it. The risk was too high.
People started to cheer and Samantha looked at the TV on the wall, some team just scored in the game of football. Alcohol started flowing in as the patrons cheered the victory of their team. It made Samantha silently panic as she had no idea what this meant, nothing she got from Machias told her what a party meant for them.
She almost pulled out her gun when someone wrapped his hand around her shoulder and raised his mug, shouting into her ear. "Go, Badlands Brawlers!" He put his mug to his lips and drank the bitter beverage, spilling half of it onto his shirt and Samantha's hair.
Now feeling rather uncomfortable and annoyed, the Overseer pushed him off. The drunken man almost collapsed onto the floor, but regained his balance at the last moment. "Sorry, sorry!" He apologized before going back to his table. His friends laughed at his antics and her for getting wet.
Samantha scoffed and tapped her fingers on the table, trying to ignore the smell of beer on her. She glared at the drunken idiot and completely missed Miss Pauling pulling out a chair and sitting across her.
"Hey." The Right Hand of the Administrator said. "Good to see you back."
Samantha was taken off-guard.
Not because she didn't notice Miss Pauling coming close to her, but because of how well that actually went. Now she was eye-to-eye with the woman ruling this operation. She barely changed ever since Samantha last saw her.
"Hey." The brunette nodded to her. She saw the Spellbook Magazine poking out of Miss Pauling's back pocket, this meant that she didn't come unarmed. However with Machias's disguise she shouldn't notice anything until it was too late. She just needed to pull out her gun and make a shot.
A gun was faster than a spell.
Miss Pauling put her head forward, sniffed and then grimaced. "Did you drink before coming here? Why do you smell of alcohol?"
"Because some idiot spilled it on my head." Samantha deadpanned. She leaned back and started tapping in a different rhythm. Miss Pauling noticed this and she snorted, before taking a sip of the Cola she ordered. "I-I see, and you're also still doing that. You… do realize that they were messing with you with all these signs?"
Samantha froze.
"...wat."
She looked at the black-haired woman in front of her. Miss Pauling was hiding a smirk behind the glass, but Samantha still saw it. Miss Pauling just smirked at her. Samantha was worrying her ass off that she was exposing herself, and that bitch knew all of that was bullshit?
"You're telling me… that all of that was bullshit?"
For the first time Samantha was sure she did a perfect Machias impression. Because there was no way he would've reacted in any other way. She lost hours of sleep trying to memorize each sign and the subtle meanings, while also beating them into her subconsciousness, making sure she picked the right words by reflex alone.
And all of that was for nothing!?
"Yeah." Miss Pauling said. "Our technology gives us perfect disguises. There's no need to do all of that crap… unless you're compromised, that is."
Samantha's heart hitched and her eyes widened. She caught me. In one swift, but desperate, motion the Overseer pulled out her gun and shot Miss Pauling. Twice. Right in the head.
The entire local went silent as Miss Pauling's body fell onto the floor. The patrons stared at the brown-haired, dark-blue-clad woman who definitely wasn't there before. Before anyone could react Samantha turned around and shot the nearest guy in the head, and then she shot another before aiming for the next person. She systematically started gunning down nearby people, her right hand holding Firecracker, her left reaching out to grab Bloody Mess.
Once the third body hit the floor someone else pulled out his own gun. Before he could fire a bright light blinded him, as Samantha disappeared and reappeared in front of the armed person. She jammed Firecracker's blade into the person's throat and fired, while sweeping the crowd with Bloody Mess's red beam of light.
The person stabbed and shot with Firecracker fell onto the floor, dead and on fire. The red beam of light sprung chaos among the crowd; anyone who was caught by it fell into a confused frenzy, lashing out at anyone nearby while tripping due to their lowered gravity and decreased Luck.
In a few seconds the chaotic yet pleasant eatery turned into a free for all deathmatch. Those who Samantha missed were engaged by their own friends. The patrons stabbed, shot and smashed each other with whatever they had on themselves, or could grab.
Samantha deflected a punch from one of the berserked patrons, letting it fly away from her head. Then she elbowed his chin and punched his chest with Bloody Mess, pushing him away from her and into another person.
Then Samantha heard the sound of something she didn't want to hear.
A Dead Ringer's uncloak sound.
"Deus invictus!"
Samantha turned around, only to be hit in the face with a ball made out of bats. The magic spell caused her and few other unlucky people to fly into the ceiling, crash into it and then fall onto the floor. Miss Pauling wasted no time sprinting towards the front doors, screaming for help.
Samantha swung her Firecracker at Miss Pauling's leg, only to hit empty air as the Secretary jumped above her swing. Miss Pauling ran outside the local and threw another Ball O' Bats at Samantha. The Overseer teleported out of the way while Miss Pauling started running away.
Outside of the local, people heard the gunfire and started gearing up. Samantha reappeared next to the window of Chummy Burgers, and then ducked behind the wall. An absolute hail of bullets coming from several people started to chew at her cover. The Bloody Mess's effects started to wear out too, and the confused locals started to snap out of their little brawl.
Pinned down and flanked, Samantha did the only logical thing to do. She left the restaurant with a crash of thunderbolt and reappeared outside of it. The stunning effect gave her a head start to chase after Miss Pauling.
She turned around the corner and saw her target getting into a car.
Samantha shot the tires with Firecracker and aimed Bloody Mess at Miss Pauling.
The secretary ducked before Samantha even aimed her gun. The beam hit nothing but the driver's seat. Miss Pauling slammed the gas pedal and car shot forward, swaying heavily to the right. Samantha cursed as several other people fired at Samantha. She felt bullets striking her gut and chest before she ducked behind a wall.
Kevlar saves lives.
Samantha hissed from pain and teleported to the roof. From there she saw Miss Pauling's car, and a projectile made out of smoke that she threw out of the window. The projectile hit the ground and Miss Pauling appeared where the projectile hit, the car crashing into some shop. Miss Pauling threw the same thing into an alley and disappeared.
That must've been a teleportation spell. She used it twice so that means she was out of teleports and bats.
Samantha looked at the alley Miss Pauling ran into, and teleported there as well. She shot a guy that was standing there with Firecracker, while Miss Pauling used another spell and jumped into a window, 3 floors above the ground. Samantha teleported over there and then teleported right back, white as a sheet.
An instant later the window exploded. Yellow chunks flew out of the window and splashed onto the ground, while Samantha gave herself a second to contemplate that in her mad dash towards Miss Pauling, she almost died because of the Pumpkin MIRV spell.
When Samantha teleported back to the window, Miss Pauling was already gone.
"It has begun." Brave noted.
Falcom tightened her grip on Magic as both CFW descended. Brave, not carrying any fragile package, descended as fast as he could, reaching beyond terminal velocity in less than a second. He soon crashed into the ground - cracking concrete, creating an earthquake and catching the attention of everyone around him. Nearby people fell once he cratered, but they soon got up - their guns on him. The brightly colored behemoth towered above them.
People were on the ground, in the buildings and even on the roofs. Samantha was lucky to have gotten out of the area before those soldiers fully mobilized. But now that the advantage of surprise was gone, it was time to bring the big guns.
The Administrator's men fired, millions of bullets flying towards the CFW - only to crash against a pink barrier. None of the slugs even reached Brave's metal as CFW Magic shielded him from the damage.
The men realized that they were doing no damage and aimed their gun upwards, right onto CFW Magic and Falcom. The adventurer yelped and hid behind the CFW as the first bullets started to fly towards them, though Magic simply tanked every hit.
Not even a second later the slots in Brave's armor opened. Then everyone was dead.
Running inside some building, Samantha felt the world tremble and she wondered what kind of hell Brave just unleashed upon Leanbox. Falcom didn't have to wonder that. With wide eyes she watched as the entire area just exploded, CFW Brave unleashing a barrage of rockets that wiped out everything around him.
Buildings were devastated, debris flew even higher than where CFW Magic and Falcom were, and they crashed down onto the city, dealing even more damage. Things were on fire, cars toppled over with alarms blaring, the few survivors screaming as they burned and bled.
In an instant, everything around the CFW was reduced to rubble. That scene would be forever burned into Falcom's memory.
CFW Brave unsheathed his swords and nodded towards CFW Magic. The reaper nodded back and left the area, tightly holding the shell-shocked adventurer. They heard more gunfire and screams, as Miss Pauling's men tried to stop the behemoth from slaughtering them all. Despite the carnage of the massacre that just happened and was still happening, once Magic flew a few blocks away from the scene, the war torn city looked like new again, as if it was just another peaceful day.
"Focus." Falcom almost didn't realize Magic was speaking to her. The blue-haired woman blinked and looked down to see that Magic was looking at her.
"Samantha will need your help, so snap out of it and focus on the objective. You can always cry later."
Falcom just saw an entire area burst into flames, an area filled with people, it was something that no one sane should ever recover from, much less get over it in a few minutes. The adventurer said nothing though as Magic landed, Falcom hopping off by reflex alone. There were people preparing at the building in front of them. They were surprised by Magic and Falcom's appearance, but they quickly aimed their guns at them.
Magic reached out a palm and created a barrier that protected them both. Then she raised her other hand and tendrils left her hand, wrapping themselves around their weapons. While the men struggled against the tentacles that tried to disarm them, Magic simply charged forward and crushed the entire team between the building and her barrier.
Magic nodded towards Falcom while the adventurer stared at the bodies.
"They're bleeding." She said.
"Yes." Magic deadpanned. "And?"
"They're weren't supposed to."
The mercenaries never bled when they were injured, no matter how badly. Sure their blood might splatter out on impact, and they clearly have blood, but their injuries never really leak blood. In most cases their bionic enhancements prevented them from bleeding. But these people, who were working for a woman who was also the mercs employer, for some reason they didn't seem to have any of those enhancements.
Why? Machias had them, so Miss Pauling's men in general should have those enhancements, right? Were these people locals?
Falcom couldn't give those thoughts more time as, by luck or something that Magic did, the doors burst open and a person ran out of the building. She almost crashed into CFW Magic, as the CFW smiled at her and put her scythe onto her shoulder.
"Hi." Magic said to Miss Pauling.
Miss Pauling's eyes widened only for her head to snap forward, a bullet struck her skull from behind. The CFW gave no reaction as the dead body bumped into her and slid down. Falcom looked into the building and saw Samantha running towards them.
"She's not dead!" The Overseer exclaimed. "She has Dead Ringer! Magic, your turn!"
The CFW gave her a two-fingered salute and took to the air. Now that Samantha has officially tagged out of the chase, the Overseer put her hands on her knees, panting from exhaustion. Once Falcom saw the injuries she was sporting and the grime she was covered in, she couldn't help but to ask "Are you okay?"
"I'm tired… and low on ammo for Firecracker." The brunette replied. "But so is she."
Samantha wasn't sure about Miss Pauling's stamina, but if she felt tired then a Secretary should also be. And even if she somehow had more energy than the Overseer, she was about to face a CFW who had plenty of rest, could fly, and was an army all on her own.
Samantha felt comfortable leaving Magic to chase after their target.
"C'mon, let's help Brave." The brunette said.
Her words were followed by an another explosion. Their ears started to ring and the earth shook from the shockwave. They saw a building in front of them explode, the people that were hiding inside flung in all direction… sometimes in pieces.
"Also, I was wondering how many rockets CFW Brave has! And if he could stop already!?" Samantha shouted, covering her ears. However that didn't stop her from hearing the screams of the injured, or the gunshots of the desperate. It was like both of them were in the middle of a warzone, and judging by who was helping them that wouldn't be too far from the truth.
"A lot?! I dunno!" Falcom replied.
...Well, that's just great. At this rate Vert is going to come here. Samantha thought to herself. The CPU of Leanbox surely saw, or at least got report of the destruction that they were doing here. A one-man-army versus a guerrilla force, this fight will have countless casualties and no self-respecting CPU would ignore something like that.
Though it wasn't something they didn't account for.
Hidden away from the public's eye, an asleep woman softly murmured from her slumber. In the same room were two other men, one of them wearing a lab coat and the other his assistant. They froze once they realized that their patient was emitting noise.
"D-Did she-?" The assistant asked, only to be silenced.
"Shh!"
The Doctor came closer as his assistant took a notepad and a pen, readying himself to write at a moment's notice. The doctor put his hand under Noire's nose and waited a moment, registering a soft breeze on his fingers.
"Her breathing is steady, slightly higher than normal though." The doctor said as he took his hand away. He looked at the monitor and blinked after he saw the readings shown on the screen. "Her brain activity rose up. I think she's waking up!"
"Holy shit!" The assistant exclaimed. His hand became a blur as it poured every bit of information onto paper. After several days of nothing, they finally hit a breakthrough! The doctor turned on the Medi-Gun attached to the ceiling, hoping that this will somehow accelerate the progress.
The doctor reached out towards his assistant, barking an order. "Neptulium!"
"On it!"
The assistant opened a drawer and took a silver bar from it. He wasted no time giving it to the doctor, and he held it near Noire's face. He waited a moment, trying to find any signs of it working, but Noire's face didn't show anything of such.
"Wake up." The doctor ordered.
Noire's eyes remained closed. Her face didn't even twitch.
"Wake up."
"..."
"...Neptulium still shows no signs of effect." The doctor sighed and scratched his nose. "Either we need her to be fully conscious, or that intel was a bust."
"Or she's immune to it." The assistant supplied.
"...Which means the intel was a bust." The doctor replied.
"Yeah. But finally we have something, right? That's progress!" His assistant said.
"But now we'll have to figure out what caused it, if something caused it." The doctor said, already thinking of several theories and hypotheses. "According to chief, she needs 'Shares' to wake up. Now, we haven't done anything to her, so it can't be because of us. One theory is that her sister did something to raise shares-"
"-But her sister is in Lastation, a whole ocean away." The assistant pointed out.
"Yes. So maybe something has happened in Leanbox. Vert has returned, so it is possible that she may have done something. Or maybe some third party-"
The whole room suddenly started to shake. The doctor and his assistant paused as small chunks of the ceiling fell due to the vibrations. Objects on the desk, and even the desk itself, clattered against the ground and emitted noise. The assistant almost fell down while the doctor sat on a chair.
As quickly as it happened the earth stopped shaking, the room was silent after it ceased. "What the hell?" The assistant spoke out. "An earthquake?"
The doctor stared at the ceiling for a moment, frowning. Then all of a sudden an emergency phone started to ring. His heart was filled with dread as the doctor picked up the phone. "Yes?"
"Are you okay down there?" The person on the other side asked.
"Yes, what's going on?"
"We just got hit with a huge explosion! We're being attacked by two CFWs! Code black!"
His heart stopped, and his face turned pale by the news.
Code black.
They have been compromised.
Someone has betrayed them.
"...I see." The doctor said, if only to say something. His mind refused to think what will happen with that poor guy once Miss Pauling got her hands on him. "God be with you."
He put the phone down and sighed heavily, feeling more weary with each passing moment. No one said a thing as the doctor struggled to find the motivation to just move. It was as if this call just drained all of his energy away.
Finally he stood up and looked at his assistant.
"We're leaving. It's Code Black."
The assistant's eyes widened. He sprung to action immediately, unlocking all containers before grabbing a can of gasoline and some matches. The protocol said to destroy all evidence during a rapid extraction, and the only thing they had was fire.
'Leave her if necessary.' Miss Pauling once said to them, but they knew what she really meant. While the CPU wouldn't burn down, they had to somehow erase the evidence of her existence here. And there was sizeable area of water nearby, with the water so dirty no one would say a thing.
Attach some weights to her body before dumping her into the water. No one would ever find her again.
But then… the CPU opened her eyes.
Despite being relatively safe and hidden away from the assassins, Miss Pauling knew to not let her guard down. While any other person would think they got away, Miss Pauling knew better.
You were never truly safe, not when one of the CFW was chasing you.
A fist burst through the floor, centimeters away from the Secretary's foot. It went for her ankle just as Miss Pauling moved her leg away. A moment later the hand was replaced by CFW Magic's face. "Found you." Her hunter said, her voice devoid of emotion.
Miss Pauling ran towards the window just as the floor exploded, opening up a huge hole for Magic to fly through. Miss Pauling ran over the plank connecting two buildings together and closed the doors. A short moment later Magic's tentacles crashed against the wood.
Magic kicked the doors open. Miss Pauling ran towards the stairs, between her and Magic were 3 other people eager to slow the CFW down. They lives bought Miss Pauling exactly zero seconds. Magic simply covered herself in a barrier and smashed her way through.
She was right behind Miss Pauling, her scythe poised to strike. Time seemed to freeze in that crucial moment as both women knew it was about to be over.
"Paidum celeris!"
Magic missed. Miss Pauling was much smaller now.
Thanks to the increased speed that came with the Minify spell Miss Pauling started to run faster than CFW Magic, putting more ground between her and the reaper. And because of a much smaller body and the ability to air-jump infinitely, the CFW had a very hard time hitting her. The Leader of ASIC swung her scythe several times at her, but each strike hit either nothing or one of the walls.
Then Magic blocked the open window Miss Pauling was about to jump through. The pink barrier held off Miss Pauling attempt at jumping through, and suddenly all that ground Miss Pauling had gained was vanishing fast.
The Secretary bounced off the barrier and ran towards CFW Magic. Magic's eyes briefly widened in confusion before she raised her scythe, and then swung it.
The Minify Spell ran out and Miss Pauling returned to her original height. Instead of her face, Magic was about to slash her stomach, however it wouldn't make much difference. In the end, both injures would be damning.
"Barpo kabalto!"
Miss Pauling's body flashed purple just as the scythe hit her stomach. The blow sent Miss Pauling away, unharmed, and it also pushed Magic one step back. Now unharmed and reinvigorated Miss Pauling pointed at CFW Magic and unleashed one more spell.
"Imputum fulumenus!"
An orb of lighting left her fingertips and flew towards the CFW. Due to the tight corridor, the CFW had no room to dodge and no other choice but to get caught by the orb. The spell sucked her inside and kept her there, slowly dragging her further and further away from Miss Pauling - who jumped out of the window the moment she used her spell.
Magic broke free from the Ball O' Lightning and ran towards the window. When she got there, the sticky bombs placed around the window exploded. The explosion didn't damage Magic that much, but it bought Miss Pauling some very valuable time and ground. The purple-clad woman ran across the street, bypassing squads of people aiming their guns at the CFW, and disappeared into another alley.
There the Secretary found an entrance to the sewers, and another group of people. Miss Pauling tapped her forehead before jumping into the sewers. Her goons quickly sealed and locked the manhole, before pulling out their disguise kits.
The smoke engulfed their bodies and once it dissipated, a dozen fake Miss Paulings were surrounding the entrance to the sewers. Those decoys ran away in all directions, while the real one took an underground passage.
With Brave hogging all the attention, it was much easier for Samantha and Falcom to move around. While the giant death machine was wreaking havoc in the district, killing anyone and destroying anything he could find, the girls used this distraction to sprew even more chaos among the enemy's ranks. Samantha disabled groups of enemies with Bloody Mess and then Falcom gave them a good whack with her Lullaby Song - ensuring they would stay down for a long time.
One by one they've been taking out groups of Miss Pauling's men and clearing out the buildings. They were disorganized, scared, and had no idea what to do. It was either facing a giant doom machine, or go against a woman with a madness-inducing laser gun. The red beam turned a strong defense into chaos with a single sweep, making the people fight against themselves in a confused frenzy.
Bloody Mess was also very hard and annoying to hold. She got used to the water running down her fingers and falling onto her pants, but her chest felt tight as her now-too-small bra mercilessly squished it. And that came with the minor balance and comfort issues.
Suddenly increased breast size wasn't something you want to have unprepared.
Falcom charged at a confused person and whacked him twice with her sword. He fell to the floor and went unconscious. The adventurer looked around to look for more targets, but the area seemed clear to her. Behind her Samantha smashed her stock into a person's head, giving him a hefty skull fracture and putting him out of the fight.
In the background the gunfire, explosions and screams didn't stop, but they were far enough to allow a conversation to take place.
"You know, I don't really see any of them using weapons like the mercs in Planeptune were using." Falcom noted. Those guys went into a fight with rocket launchers, miniguns and even flame throwers. But the people they were fighting had submachine guns, shotguns and pistols, with an occasional sniper rifle.
Samantha wiped off the blood from her rifle. For the first time the water spilling out of it was becoming useful, as it helped the brunette to clean her gun. "It's not that weird. Not that many mercs are actually using Mann Co.'s weapons." She answered. "And these guys are more of a bunch of thugs and assassins than military. It's not that weird they don't have anything heavy."
Samantha looked over the bodies of the people they just fought. Not all of them were dead, but there were a few who were killed by friendly fire. There was even one guy who had his stomach blown open by a shotgun. What was amazing about him was that he was still alive.
"This guy isn't bleeding." Samantha pointed at him. He was unconscious but clearly alive. Falcom rushed over to Samantha and looked for herself.
"Yeah, you're right!"
Normally you would bleed out very quickly with a hole in the stomach. But here there was nothing preventing Samantha and Falcom from seeing his damaged and destroyed organs. There were only small puddles of blood around him - much less than what it would be for a normal person.
Which meant that among those people they've been fighting, there were Miss Pauling's men. So either not all of them had the enhancements, or they were fighting actual locals. In any case they were too deep to stop now. They had to hold out until CFW Magic sends a signal that she either killed Miss Pauling, or the woman escaped.
"I'm surprised Re;Spawn didn't take him in yet." Samantha said.
"Maybe they don't have it?" Falcom theorized.
Miss Pauling failing to set up a Re;Spawn System. Samantha doubted that was plausible.
Samantha kicked the guy and rolled him onto his stomach, then she crouched down and pulled out her Firecracker. The overseer ran her fingers on the back of his neck, trying to find that small bump of the Re;Spawn Chip.
She found it and destroyed it.
The guy underneath her died instantly, but his body didn't disappear.
"Huh?" Samantha blinked.
For some reason Miss Pauling didn't set up a Re;Spawn system inside her own HQ. Everyone who died defending this area won't come back. The question was why? Having one of those things would ensure that Vert could never truly chase them out of Leanbox. Maybe she did it to cut the costs, or they ran out of parts or time to set it up? Miss Pauling was here a week and a half at most, not a lot of time in a grand scale of things.
Samantha was surprised to learn this but this, as morbid as it sounded, was actually good and bad news for them.
Good: They won't have to worry about being overwhelmed by an undying army of cannon fodder.
Bad: This means that people will start evacuating sooner than later, as they knew that this place had no Re;Spawn protection.
In any case, this information was useful. Samantha doubted they'll actually manage to kill everyone loyal to Miss Pauling, and now she had even less reason to believe it. She would have to find some more permanent hideout for Machias and 5pb until the problem with the Administrator has been dealt with.
She was thinking Planeptune. Under Histoire's care to be more specific.
Armed with new intel, Samantha and Falcom continued their search and destroy mission as Leanbox looked more and more like a war-torn city. At least Brave kept the damage somewhat restricted to Miss Pauling's district, and took care to avoid the areas they were actively working on.
An obnoxious smell filled Miss Pauling's nose. She jogged through the sewers, her route visible thanks to the glow sticks. While the decoys were usually a bit of an overkill against regular assassins, this assassin was anything but a regular. Miss Pauling trusted the manhole more than her own fakes.
And she was proven correct. CFW Magic ignored the fake Miss Paulings and went straight to the sewers. However the reaper had a surprisingly hard time getting the sealed manhole out of her way, as if Miss Pauling reinforced it exactly for this occurrence.
And with every second Miss Pauling was getting nearer to the lab, and by extension, the boats that they had. Once she has that she should be relatively home-free. Her boat had a Cloak and Dagger stored there, which would be invaluable in avoiding the danger.
They've already proven that the CFWs can't see cloaked enemies.
She could hear voices from in front of her, which made Miss Pauling stop. The lab was so close, just around the corner. No one should be here after she sounded the alarm. Were those her people? Or an ambush?
Her Dead Ringer was ready to use, and she still had Stealth and Fireball spells.
If they were hostile, she could buy herself some time and make a run for the boat. Worst case scenario she could to take a shot with the Dead Ringer.
With something of a plan Miss Pauling peeked around the corner. She saw the doctor's airboat lazily swimming in the swamp, and her own fishing boat right next to it. There was also the doctor in question and his assistant, the latter adding fuel to the gigantic fire inside their lab. And the Doctor… the Doctor was talking to Noire?! When did she-
A loud crash signified that she didn't have much time. Miss Pauling turned back and saw Magic looking at her. She ran out of her hiding spot and towards the people in front of her, their eyes immediately on the Secretary.
"What was-" Noire asked, only to get cut off by Miss Pauling.
"Hey! You were supposed to leave yesterday! There's a CFW right on my heels, get the boat ready! Fuck everything else."
The Doctor and an assistant ran to the boat without a question. Doctor checked their vehicle while the assistant started up the engine.
"A CFW?!" Noire shrieked. The Doctor took her hand and dragged her onto the vehicle. The CPU didn't resist and sat down, staring at Miss Pauling with wide, confused eyes. The Secretary ran towards her own boat, grabbed the Cloak and Dagger and disappeared.
Her sudden disappearance didn't help Noire's confusion. However she realized she must've woken up in a dangerous situation, especially when there was a CFW chasing them. She looked at Magic and saw her readying her weapon. "Look out!" Noire dragged the assistant out of his seat, just as Magic threw her scythe. The weapon cut through the whole boat, separating it into 2 even parts. It was a miracle that everyone came out of it unscratched.
Both parts started to turn and sink in the waste, so they quickly jumped onto solid ground as Magic flew towards them. Her eye focused on the CPU.
"Oh my, Noire? How are you?" The CFW said.
"I'll be feeling better once you're gone." Noire spat back.
Magic chuckled and summoned a trio of tentacles. She sent them forward, but those tendrils weren't aimed at any of them… but rather at the empty space to their left. The tendrils crashed against the ground and they heard a woman's shriek. Miss Pauling uncloaked as she fell, blood staining her neck, side and a leg. Everyone but Magic showed surprise at how easily the Leader of ASIC found Miss Pauling.
"Your invisibility doesn't work on me anymore." The Reaper stated, almost smug. She already has a lock on Miss Pauling. She could see her through the walls, distinguish her from a crowd of fake Miss Paulings and know her location even if the entire Gamindustri was between them.
There was no escape for her.
"Invokum MONOCULUS..."
A transparent purple eyeball appeared in the middle of the sewer, floating lazily in front of the group. CFW Magic raised her brow at the summon as it faced her. Once it locked on her target, the MONOCULUS fired a volley of magical rockets at the CFW.
She dodged the first rocket, the second one hit her in the face and she blocked the third. Despite the onslaught the CFW kept advancing forward, but the MONOCULUS's aim was ridiculous. Its rockets, while doing next to nothing in terms of damage, were perfectly aimed into where Magic would be and packed enough knockback to make her stagger and slow her down.
Seeing that Magic was distracted, Noire helped Miss Pauling to her feet and to the second boat. Doctor and the assistant were already waiting for them with the engine ready. Once everyone were aboard, they didn't waste any time to move.
While the MONOCULUS did slow Magic down, it didn't stop her completely. Once she passed the gigantic eye-sentry nothing stopped Magic from chasing after them. She flew after the boat, gaining speed despite the twists and turns they've taken to shake her down. Miss Pauling and the Doctor fired upon the CFW, the former a Shotgun and the latter with a Stickybomb Launcher.
Magic materialized a barrier in front of herself, negating the bullets and explosions coming at her. She summoned her tendrils and sent them after the boat, only for Noire to cut them off with a Kukri.
Once cut the tentacles disappeared, and Noire sent Magic a smug smirk. Magic sent another batch of tentacles. This time the boat took a left turn to avoid them, Magic followed and crashed through a pipe that was going through the sewers. This left a nasty green smudge on her barrier, which blocked her vision.
The CFW turned off her barrier and Miss Pauling shot her before she could turn it on again. The corner of the Secretary's mouth turned upwards as she scored a random critical hit… right into Magic's face.
The electricity that came with the crit made Magic's muscles twitch uncontrollably, but the CFW turned that into her advantage. She channeled all of that electricity into her tendrils and sent them towards the boat.
Obviously, Noire jumped to intercept.
The moment her kukri made contact with the crit-boosted tentacles, the CPU was blasted with the entirety of the critical power. She yelled in pain and fell back, stunned and in pain. With their line of defense gone, Magic sent another volley of tendrils towards them.
The Doctor aimed his sticky bombs to destroy those. He got two of them and the third was knocked off-course - it hit the waters next to them.
Noire tensed her muscles and stood up, slowly and hesitantly. Her legs shook with effort and electricity, but despite that she still rose to her feet. A sharp turn to the left made her fall once again. Magic got closer and attacked again. The Doctor was reloading and Noire was on the ground, so Miss Pauling took the job of shooting off the tentacles one by one.
But that was all part of Magic's plan.
There was a turn coming in and because they were all distracted trying to avoid Magic's assault, they didn't notice that she put up a barrier around the corner. The boat's driver took the turn and it was too late to go back. Magic would catch Miss Pauling with the same trick she tried before.
"Watch out!"
The assistant barely had any time to shout before the boat crashed into the barrier - and there was a ladder right behind it. The passengers flew out of the boat and crashed against the barrier as well.
Magic's eyes didn't see Miss Pauling anywhere, she must've used the Dead Ringer before the boat has crashed. Nonetheless, Magic raised her scythe and swung at Miss Pauling. The CFW felt her weapon cut through her flesh, but the injury wasn't enough. Miss Pauling escaped her death thanks to Dead Ringer's speed boost on activation.
Miss Pauling uncloaked, only for Magic's tentacles to wrap around her. One crushed her throat, another held her dominant arm and the last one stabbed her in the gut. Her eyes widened from pain and she gurgled out a scream. Miss Pauling started to panic, she grabbed the tentacle crushing her throat and tried to force it off her, but the tendril was too strong for her. Magic was walking towards her, her scythe poised to attack.
Straining, the Secretary pointed her left hand at Magic.
"Caputus... crepitus..."
No actual sound left her mouth, but just mouthing it off was enough for a fireball to fly at Magic. The CFW ducked underneath the ball of flames, letting it fly above her. Miss Pauling casted it again - this time on the tentacles.
The tendrils disappeared and Miss Pauling fell into the waste, free to breathe again. She inched away from the CFW as she raised her weapon. Miss Pauling closed her eyes… but no pain came out. She heard a pained yelp from in front of her and the Secretary opened her eyes.
She saw Noire on the ground, with CFW Magic looking down at her in confusion. Magic raised her scythe again but Noire blocked it with her Kukri, preventing it from moving. "Run! I'll buy you time!" Magic punched Noire in the face, but the CPU didn't stop throwing herself at Magic - hoping that each attempt will grant the others even a single second.
Miss Pauling breathed in and casted another spell, turning herself invisible. "Barpo invisium." It wasn't the invisibility she was after, but rather that small heal that it granted. This let her move again and she ran towards the exit.
The Doctor and his assistant weren't moving, no one knew if they were dead or unconscious. Miss Pauling didn't look back as she ran.
As her last goodbye, and an attempt to buy herself even more time, Miss Pauling casted the last spell she had available. "Mortis animataris!" This spell summoned a skull that left her finger tips. It crashed against the wall and fell onto the ground, where it exploded into three smaller skulls which in turn summoned a squad of purple skeletons to help Noire.
With her Spellbook Magazine temporarily expended Miss Pauling left the sewers, climbing the ladder towards her freedom.
That left Noire alone with CFW Magic, with only a few skeletons to support her. She was about to fight the monster who took on her and 3 other CPUs and won without taking a hit, and all she had was a Kukri.
Luckily, she didn't have to win, just buy that woman some time. If she was chasing her, then that woman is most likely an ally of Noire, or at least an enemy of ASIC. And as a CPU she has her duty to perform. Noire gripped her weapon tighter and charged, the skeletons following her steps.
This weapon might not be a rapier, but it has a sharp point to stab with.
CFW Magic blocked Noire's strike with her scythe. Then as their blades were crossed the CFW dropped her weapon and grabbed the CPU. Noire yelped in surprise as Magic wrapped her hands around her, before outright screaming as she was lifted up.
Magic turned around and threw the CPU out of her way. The black haired woman landed in the sewer waste. The CPU screamed as she flew, until she reached the waters. With one obstacle removed, CFW Magic picked up her scythe and-
-flew above the skeletons.
What looked like Noire's heroic sacrifice and last stand was completely skipped, because Magic was neither in the mood nor did she have time for this. The black haired CPU watched as her enemy continued to chase after the purple-clad woman. "Hey! Come back here!" Noire screamed, but it was no use. Magic was already leaving the sewers, bursting through the sewers' exit and destroying Miss Pauling's hopes of survival.
The exit led to an alley somewhere in Leanbox. Magic didn't know exactly where, but she hardly heard any gunshots or explosives. And Miss Pauling was right in front of her; injured and dirty, but still trying to run. There was a van waiting by the alley, and Miss Pauling's men were already getting off - their guns pointed at CFW Magic.
Magic put a barrier between them, locking Miss Pauling on her side of the blockade.
Now she was cornered.
Magic watched with sick satisfaction as Miss Pauling desperately tried to break through her barrier. The Secretary and her men hit the barrier with everything they got; they punched it, hit it with the stock of their weapons, even tried shooting it. None of that worked.
"No! No! No! No … damnit no!" Miss Pauling screamed as she kicked the barrier with her leg.
After all of this, this seems a bit anticlimactic. Miss Pauling used everything she had to survive, and yet… life can be cruel.
"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALE!"
Life was cruel.
CFW Magic was hit with a subtle sense of deja vu as Saxton Hale just crashed in the space between them. Crushing the concrete and destroying Magic's hopes of killing Miss Pauling.
The suddenness of this, and the shockwave that hit her caused Magic to lose her concentration and drop the barrier, allowing Miss Pauling to break free.
"The name's Saxton Hale! Australian! CEO of Mann Co.! And a mann who challenges you to a duel!" Saxton Hale roared, pointing his finger at CFW Magic.
Never before had Miss Pauling been so happy to see that brute of a man. With nothing obstructing her path, Miss Pauling and her men got into the van… and the van got destroyed. CFW Magic threw the scythe at the car to prevent their escape. Despite having a lethal weapon thrown centimeters away from him, Hale did nothing to avoid nor intercept it.
"Hale." Magic addressed. "I'm not interested."
That wasn't an answer Hale was expecting, as judged by his overly-exaggerated recoil. "Not interested?! Declined! I found you, you're powerful and hot, and I'm bored. The two of us are going to fight! C'mon!"
Powerful and hot. Magic would smile at the compliment if her target wasn't already running away. With the van destroyed, Miss Pauling and her men opted to run on foot. Magic sent her tendrils to chase after them, but they were caught by Saxton Hale. He grinned and flicked his wrist, Magic stumbling forward before she cut the connection and the tentacles disappeared.
"Fight me!" Saxton Hale shouted.
And as if that was bad enough, Noire climbed out of the sewers. Her red eyes glared holes into Magic's back.
"You!" The CPU growled
CFW Magic sighed. "Just give me a moment, please."
"Eh, okay." The australian shrugged. Noire however wasn't keen on giving Magic some peace and quiet. She charged at the CFW, her Kukri ready to strike. With one hand Magic grabbed Noire's wrist, keeping it in place while the other hand was raised towards the sky. The leader of ASIC summoned another group of her tentacles and sent them towards the sky.
Noire started punching her leg, but that was like a child throwing a tantrum. Magic's tendrils went higher than the skyscrapers, and even higher than the Basilicom - ensuring that everyone in Leanbox could see them.
Samantha knew that there was a big chance of failure, so they developed emergency measures. If something went wrong during the chase, she was to get her tentacles as high as possible so Samantha could see them. Then the Overseer will teleport to her position and reassess the situation.
It didn't take long for Samantha to appear next to her. The thunder that came with her teleportation not only revealed her, but also Falcom and CFW Brave as well. The reinforcements surprised Magic a little, but she didn't show it.
The Overseer looked at Noire, who Magic was still holding. "Oh?" She was genuinely surprised to see her there, but Samantha didn't feel like this warranted an emergency call. Magic grabbed her head and gently turned it towards Saxton Hale. "Oooh…" So that was why.
That's definitely going to be a problem.
The light blinded Noire's eyes, and the sound deafened her. The CPU of Lastation screamed and tried to took a step back. Magic used this opportunity to push her back into the sewers, the stunned CPU falling back into the hole almost too easily.
Saxton Hale still stood in front of them, completely unaffected by the thunder. He grinned at the appearance of new potential enemies to fight and cracked his knuckles. "Four on one? And is that you, Falcom? Alright, let's do this!"
"Oh… hey…" Falcom meekly greeted. She wasn't sure what was going on besides 'it's an emergency!'
Magic shook her. "No. Just three of us." The CFW responded while gently pushing Samantha forward. "Go after Miss Pauling, she went that way!"
That 'gentle' push made Samantha almost fall down. She stumbled forward, towards Saxton Hale, before teleporting away, leaving 3 of her allies to face against the Australian.
Samantha looked outside the window. She saw cars stop, people screaming and running away. Among them was a group of people in trench coats, they and some red-haired woman were running into an alley. The brunette followed the logic of Trench Coat = Miss Pauling and she aimed her Bloody Mess.
The beam connected with the redhead's head and she fell down onto the concrete. The men surrounding her stopped and one of them quickly checked upon her. His hand went through the woman and they continued running.
That must've been the fake corpse left by the Dead Ringer. Which means she has hit the jackpot. Bloody Mess may not be the most damaging weapon around, but even a scratch was enough to trigger the watch.
Samantha teleported into a different spot and then teleported again, appearing in front of the group. The first thing Miss Pauling saw as she uncloaked was the bolt of light, and then she felt pain as Samantha slashed her across the face with Firecracker. The Trench Coats jumped to her defense, but Samantha neutralized them with Bloody Mess.
Samantha kicked Miss Pauling in the stomach and raised her hand, the blade of the Firecracker shining brightly in the darkness.
Then she was struck from behind. The force was so powerful that it knocked her down and angered her already sore ribs. The Overseer groaned and sucked air with her teeth. "Aaah… shit." She looked who it was.
Vert, the CPU of Leanbox, was standing before her. She was in her HDD and had her spear in the post-swing posture.
"Seems like my hunch was right, just following the thunder." She said, her voice cold. As surprised as Samantha was by her appearance the only one in her mind was Miss Pauling, and Miss Pauling was already running away. The Overseer teleported behind the Secretary-
-and a spear struck her back.
Samantha yelped and fell down once more, her swing missing by a wide margin. All of that was happening in slow-motion; from the moment she teleported, to the part where she readied her strike… and then the pain exploding in her back, and the loss of balance caused by it. Even as she fell Samantha's gaze never escaped Miss Pauling's back.
She was lucky that Vert threw her weapon blunt end-first. Samantha could've died right there if Vert wanted it.
Miss Pauling turned on her Cloak and Dagger and disappeared, and Samantha could only watch as her plans turned to failure. As a last ditch effort the Overseer swept the area the Bloody Mess, firing blindly in front of her and hoping that she'll at least graze her.
No such luck.
After all of this… Miss Pauling ultimately escaped.
And Samantha was pissed.
She was this close, this close to killing Miss Pauling. She had her ambushed, with Dead Ringer on cooldown and there was no Re;Spawn System protecting her. And who saved her life if not fucking Vert.
Ironic. She just saved the life of her faction's enemy number one.
Samantha gathered whatever energy she had left into calming down, but she just couldn't. This was too much for her. That was the last straw. Samantha put her forehead on the ground. "You IDIOT!" She screamed, shutting her eyes and letting her head rest on the concrete. "This entire fucking plan! Everything that I- we have done! Are now for nothing!"
She stood up and faced the CPU fully. Her gaze solely focused on Vert, and feeling angier than ever before. Why Vert was here? Why did she stop her? Why she didn't go after those two goddamn CFWs that were few blocks away.
"I had one chance! One, single fucking chance to make this work… and it's ruined. Because you. Wanted. Wanted what? There are two CFWs fighting few blocks away, why the hell did you come to me?!"
Samantha was now close enough to punch Vert, and she actually might do it if Vert does something. It didn't matter that she could've easily kill Samantha - she wouldn't. Vert was too soft for this. The CPU stood silent through the whole event, silent but wary because the person in front of her wasn't in a normal mental state.
"My nation is ruined, and I'm asking who orchestrated it." Vert said, her voice even and calm. As if she was trying not to get too heated. "And I see a woman who knows Goodness knows what."
Billions of credits in damages, thousands of dead people, dozens of destroyed buildings. Leanbox right now was like a combination of Planeptune's Massacre and Lowee's Invasion. It would take years, maybe even decades to fix the damage that Samantha's plan has created.
"And you just couldn't wait 2 goddamn seconds." Samantha growled. "That woman you just allowed to escape, that was Miss Pauling. That same woman who your faction is hunting down, that same woman who turned an entire district into her HQ. That same woman who just escaped because you couldn't wait two. Goddamn. Seconds."
"How should I know it was her?" Vert demanded. "All I saw was you trying to kill a woman, and the men-" The CPU glanced back and the men in trenchcoats have disappeared, no sign of them was left.
"You could just scream 'Stop!' or 'Freeze!', but no… you whacked me away and threw a spear at me!"
"You were about to kill."
"Kill the boss of the mafia!" Samantha raised her hands to emphasize. "I doomed hundreds of people to make this work, and that blood is on my hands yes. But because of you it was all for nothing! They died, or will die, for nothing, because you just love ripping my plans apart!"
And it wasn't the first time she has done so either. It was like this woman instinctively knew what Samantha was planning to do, and acted to destroy these plans in the worst possible moment. She stopped her from snapping Falcom out of Gehaburn's control, she didn't want to run when Falcom was trying to kill her, and now she just saved Miss Pauling from her death.
Did she forget to say that the last one was really fucking ironic?
Her words struck Vert's nerve. "Don't you dare put this blame on me." She pointed her weapon at the Overseer. "And you said you had to 'doom' people, are you the mastermind? Explain yourself."
Samantha took a deep breath, and huffed it all out. "I had to sell out a friend for this. I forged an alliance with the CFWs to see this through. I had to endanger myself, my allies, and innocent people, all to destroy the greater evil. And at least I would have had something to show for it." The brunette sighed. "I sent you a letter, didn't I?" She said. "Before all of this started I broke into the Basilicom, and put a letter in front of Chika's office. Did you read it?"
"No. The security disposed of it." Vert answered with a shake of her head. "Next time you should send letters through official means."
Her blood was boiling again. "Fucking… of course. You had disposable robots to check it for traps and you STILL… Of FUCKING course." The Overseer sighed. Now she had to extract 5pb as well, and get them both to Planeptune. Hook them with Histoire and tell her that they're chased by Miss Pauling. Hopefully the mercs will protect them.
"I would tell you something, but it's no use now. It's all over." There wasn't any use to get angry at her, it wouldn't change the past. All Samantha needed to do was to regroup and reorganize.
Vert narrowed her eyes.
Samantha looked at Vert's face. There wasn't any anger left on her, just pure disappointment. A thunderbolt struck the Overseer's position, and Samantha was gone.
Vert looked up at the sky, neither the blinding light nor the deafening crash hindered her even a bit. The CPU twirled her spear into a throwing position, and waited. She saw another thunder about to strike her nation, and Vert threw her weapon where Samantha was about to reappear.
The brunette teleported where Vert has predicted, her spear was already flying towards her. The Goddess' toss struck true, and Samantha was pinned to a wall. Vert flew towards her, as Samantha struggled to break free. Eventually, Samantha managed to shed her coat and armor protecting her right arm.
She didn't have anything underneath, just a sport bra. "I see you have experience in undressing yourself." Vert teased. She must say that Samantha has a good figure, but the ugly scars on her face reduced her attractiveness.
"I don't want to hear it from a woman wearing nothing but a bikini." Samantha said. "I fear that you must be getting weird emails by the hundreds."
"All taken care of by spam filters and secretaries." Vert shrugged. "Also why should I hide this mature body of mine." The CPU added, moving her hand underneath her breast.
Samantha rolled her eyes and muttered something that the CPU didn't hear. Vert's attempts at getting a rise out of the Overseer won't work because she wasn't Blanc, and she didn't care about having those large melons on her chest.
What she cared about was how the hell Vert predicted where she'll appear. When that spear pinned her to a wall, her entire brain screamed 'Holy shit!' While they've been talking, Samantha tried to get her coat out. It wasn't an easy task because Vert's spear wouldn't budge, and Samantha wasn't strong enough to simply rip her coat out. After all, it was a jacket with kevlar woven into it.
"Are ye-uhh, are you going to take your spear any time soon? I would like to have my coat back." Samantha asked.
"I dunno, are you still willing to resist arrest?" Vert said.
"Are you willing to chase me without a weapon?"
Samantha was still armed. Losing a coat meant only that her hands and core weren't protected, she still has her weapons. Vert knew this and she sighed, flying closer to her spear. She yanked it out, Samantha took her coat and hightailed away, teleporting into True Celestia.
When she was back there was already a spear flying towards her.
The Overseer rolled to the side and not a moment too late Vert's spear impaled the spot she teleported to, sharp-end first. If Samantha didn't evade it then she could've die, or at least be critically injured.
At least now she had her coat on.
Also that was the second - third actually, time Vert just predicted where Samantha was about to teleport. That wasn't some freak coincidence, she somehow knows.
Once Vert was within hearing range, Samantha didn't spare any time voicing her displeasure.
"This could've killed me."
"You're resisting arrest." Vert replied and her hands crossed.
"And you're dooming all of Gamindustri to Miss Pauling. Just walk away, Vert. You've done enough."
"After you claimed responsibility for all that destruction and confessed to working with the CFWs? No."
The Overseer sighed. She has tried to run, tried to negotiate, none of that worked. She reloaded the Firecracker, and gripped the Bloody Mess tighter. Vert's spear was behind her and unless the CPU had some bullshit tricks she wasn't aware of, she was confident that she might hold out until something comes up.
Because there was no way Samantha will win this fight. Not by herself.
Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract
Magic Spells
INVENTORY:
Lullaby Song - A longsword with a pastel blue blade and light pink hilt. The blade is covered with a scent that makes Falcom feel tired after inhaling it. It looks like a toy but it works… somehow.
Stats:
On hit: Inflicts 'exhaustion'.
Exhaustion - Makes the affected tired, lowering their AGI, MOV and TEC.
When the target is exhausted, the next hit will inflict 'unconscious'.
Unconscious - The affected is KO'ed and won't be able to act until the end of battle.
Sometimes makes the user feel exhausted.
No random critical hits.
Firecracker - An upgraded version of Samantha Neikan's starting weapon. A pistol made out of white metal with parts glowing red. Underneath the barrel is a long blade and the grip was readjusted so it can be held like a dagger. Thanks to fire-type materials this weapon has been given fire attributes.
Stats:
This weapon deploys 50% faster.
Can be used as a melee and ranged weapon.
Ranged attacks will inflict 'afterburn'.
Afterburn - Deals damage over time.
+ 20% Fire Resistance.
No random critical hits.
Bloody Mess - An assault rifle made out of black metal with a glowing red cylinder inside it. Instead of projectiles it fires a red beam that immediately hits its target. It might not look like it, but this weapon is a total mess of stats due to the amount of materials forced into it. Only Samantha Neikan is brave enough to wield this abomination.
Stats:
Doesn't require ammo.
Doesn't require reloading.
Perfect accuracy.
Runs out of batteries if fired for too long. The battery fully recharges after 16 seconds.
Deals very low damage.
This weapon cannot be crit or mini-crit boosted.
Grants SP Regen on the user.
Constantly drains SP of the user.
On hit: Inflicts Berserk on the target.
Berserk - The affected will attack anyone nearby, friend or foe. Sharply boosts strength and restricts many abilities.
On hit: Confuses the target.
Confusion - The affected is disoriented and cannot differentiate between friends and foes. Restricts many abilities.
On Hit: Makes the target unable to get random crits.
On hit: Lowers target's Luck and Defense.
On hit: Lowers the gravity of the target.
Slightly lowers wearer's Defense.
Holding this weapon produces an endless stream of water from… somewhere.
Confers immunity to seduction.
Confers immunity to blindness.
Confers immunity to fire vulnerability.
Grants a massive bonus to all stats during the setup period. Bonus disappears after the setup period ends.
25% Ice vulnerability on wearer.
Taunts are 5% slower.
God cries when you hold it.
Increases breast size by 15%
No random critical hits.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
And this is the end of the 'Chase' part of Leanbox's climax. Miss Pauling ran away, and Samantha's group are in big trouble. Now you'll have to wait until I finish the rest of the chapters.
At least I'm making some rapid progress, aftermath I is already in editing phase. Hopefully the wait won't be too long.
I… tried to limit character's stupidity to minimum during this chapter, but obviously I had to make compromises or else this wouldn't be as engaging as it was. I also had to pull out a Diabolus Ex Machina because… because.
Seriously, how many people actually expected Miss Pauling to die so easily? No sir, I have an actual plans for her.
Big plans.
You're going to hate me for it.
And it's not why I'm making you guys wait. I have other things to show you.
I and II are going to be Vert and Saxton Hale fights. It's two chapters because I have a perfect cliffhanger material to put between those chapters.
So hang tight. Because once I finish them, it's gonna be a wild ride.
Responses:
- YORCHspartan117
My editor said that there should be some sort of background on the image, like a blurred office. Maybe that's why it feel empty. When I gave the artist instructions, I told them that I don't care about the background… so they just didn't do background.
Well, Angela had a rough life. She lost everything and everyone she loved. So when there's a guy who tells you he was the source of this, of course she'll get mad at him.
You're right that Machias is in for some rough days, and that there's going to be hell on Gamindustri. After all, we're close to the finale!
...I still can't believe I'm close to wrapping this story.
As for the Vile God… That's one of the reasons why I'm withholding the chapters.
- kerrowe
Yes. Under usual circumstances The Administrator, Miss Pauling and her goons would be pretty invincible. This is why Helen has such strong influence. Fortunately there weren't any Re;Spawn systems in Leanbox.
And yes, I'm basically forced to follow this plotline. The final arc will start with some big stuff, and if I don't show how it happened then people might accuse me of pulling crap out of my ass.
I'll do my best to keep it engaging.
- Doom King of Latveria
Well, if I wasn't spicing it up then this story would get boring after a while. I might over do it, but this is a reason why I have a prequel and sequel set up.
...If I decide to write those...
- AngelTheDragon1992
I'm glad you're enjoying it. And don't worry me and my editor are fully prepared to finish this story, you won't see a message 'I'm abandoning this story' from me.
- Harmless Orange
