So today I had my room undergoing a bit of renovations, and because of that I wasn't able to get onto my computer to write for a few days.

Also this chapter's author's note is important, make sure to read it because it will explain why the next chapter will come out much, much later.


Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Rest a Little


The journey to Lastation was over, and the group entered the Basilicom tired and dropping from exhaustion. What should've been an easy stroll, was rather a nightmarish battle for consciousness - as adrenaline wore off a long time ago and now the group felt the effects.

Noire was at the head of the group, being one of the few that, despite being exhausted after fighting for so long, had experience at dealing with exhaustion and tiredness. After years of hard work as a CPU, she was prepared to at least feign awakeness. The receptionist's eyes widened at the sheer amount of people entering, but her eyes quickly fell upon Noire.

The woman immediately bolted out of her seat to give her the news. "L-Lady Noire!"

Noire raised her arms to stop the worked up receptionist. "If it's about Kei… I already know she's dead." The CPU said. "Has her body been found?"

The receptionist was silent, staring at Noire with a frown and confused gaze. This only threw a monkey wrench into Noire's thought process, as she expected her own staff to at least know about Kei's demise.

Unless...

"She… What?" The Receptionist said, agape and surprised. Noire raised her eyebrow and glanced at Samantha. Her face was blank. "I-I don't know. We had some intruders here. Mister Gray Mann left half-an-hour ago, not saying where he was going. We tried to stop him just like Kei ordered, but..." The receptionist paused, looking down at the floor. Noire placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. Her face was full of scorn as she finished reporting. "His robots shot those that tried to stop him, and he just walked away without flinching."

Uni and Nisa were distraught, hearing that someone they trusted suddenly turned on them. Noire at the same time closed her eyes and contemplated how exhausting this day was. One bad news after another. With so little time in between. "How are they?" The CPU asked.

"They've been taken to a hospital. Some are in critical condition, others are stable."

Noire nodded, grateful at least for their survival. Even so, now they needed to hunt down Gray Mann too. He may have been through an assassination attempt, but that was no excuse to shoot her own staff.

"I see. Hopefully they'll make a full recovery, their insurance will cover the medical bills." One of the perks of working with her was a quite generous insurance plan. It covered a wide array of accidents and even monster or terrorist related injuries and deaths. Noire knew her employees just needed to rest and recover, without any fear about going into debt.

…But why were they even trying to stop him in the first place? Were those Kei's orders? Did she order him to never leave the Basilicom and had her staff try to stop him when he did so? Noire really wanted to get out and find him now, but she could feel her body dropping. She needed to finally get to her bed, the effect it will have on her natural clock be damned.

Noire motioned to the small army behind her, Neptune especially seemed enthusiastic and cheerful - offering smiles and waves to anyone she caught looking. "Anyway, I'll need to prepare guest rooms for these people, and a highest security cell for a new criminal we caught." Noire motioned at Miss Pauling carried by Fay on her back. "We found who was responsible for taking over Gray Mann's robots and sending them to Planeptune."

The receptionist looked at Miss Pauling, her mind thinking something but she didn't say anything. Samantha sensed an opportunity to squeeze into the dialogue, and that's what she did. "You know what, change of plans. Me and Fay will look for Gray Mann."

The few CPUs were already glaring at the brunette, knowing what was on her mind. She brushed off Vert's and Blanc's glares and instead continued to look at Noire. "He already shot a few people. Who knows what he'll do next." She tried to give a reason to her actions.

Noire knew if Samantha got her hands on Gray Mann, it wouldn't be pretty for him. "Just don't kill him, okay? I want him here." Even so, she needed to let Samantha know that she didn't want him dead.

Samantha did not like that response, and Noire didn't like how bloodthirsty the girl seemed. The more they interacted, the less Noire believed Leanbox was really a 'there was no other choice' thing.

"...Fine." Samantha relented. "I'll try." She turned around and walked away, parting the group like the red sea as she passed. "Come on Fay!"

The blonde fairy placed Miss Pauling on the ground and offered them a curtsy bow, before following after her partner. The two of them left and suddenly the whole atmosphere became less tense, like that one rude coworker finally walking away.

Miss Pauling continued to be as silent as a mouse, still under the influence of the Truth Serum. The eight hours still haven't passed, meaning the Truth Serum still worked, and the right hand of the Administrator looked the same as before - Dazed, wasted and lifeless. Like a broken doll.

Noire looked back at the receptionist. "So anyway, we need guest rooms for these people and a highest security cell for that woman. Highest. Can it be done?"

The receptionist nodded and went back to her desk, already calling the staff to prepare the sleeping places and a place to lock Miss Pauling in. She wanted to feel pity for this woman, but she has done too much to deserve it. A lot of people died because of her orders. Now she will rot in her cell until a trial was ready to give this woman her sentence.

Demoman just fell over, creating a rather loud sound as his whole body just planked down onto the floor. It caught the attention of others, and they saw an opened, empty bottle roll away from his hand… while quiet snoozing could be heard from his direction.

Spy kicked his side, confirming the merc was in deep slumber. "We can leave him as he is." The French said. "He will wake up on his own, he's just drunk."

Noire frowned and shook her head. "Just carry him to a guest room." She didn't want someone just lying on the floor in her own reception, and neither would her staff.

Heavy walked over and picked Demoman up, carrying him like a sack of potatoes. The bottle that once contained alcohol was also taken away. Noire wasn't in the mood to tell them how to gently pick up a person, but at the very least they listened. "Let me show you to the guest rooms. Get some sleep then get out."

"Roger that!" Soldier saluted for reasons Noire was unsure. "We shall wake up at zero-four hours!"

Considering it was already later than four in the morning, Soldier was lying or wanted to give his team an almost full twenty four hours of sleep. Even so his words were met with hateful glares from his team, glares that screamed for him to just shut up for once.

Noire's sister moved beside her, already going deeper into the Basilicom. "Good night sis, I'm..." Uni yawned. "I'm going to bed." Nisa followed her closely, saying her own goodbyes.

Noire didn't know the expression Uni was making, but the death of Kei must've affected her greatly. It was best that she slept on it.

...Noire meanwhile had to lead this group into the guest rooms. By herself because of nothing else but her pride and wanting to make sure they don't wander off and break something. Her fears were justified as exactly five seconds after they entered deeper into her Basilicom, Noire heard something shatter. The CPU whipped around and saw a broken vase, scattered dirt and ceramics, and one surprised Heavy.

"Oops." The merc said, readjusting his grip on Demoman so that wouldn't happen again.

Noire glared at the russian. "You will pay for that." She crossed her arms. "It was expensive."

Heavy sighed and nodded, reaching out for his wallet. "Will a million credits do?"

A million what?

Noire was once again surprised by the fact someone was casually giving her a large amount of money. A million credits. For a broken vase. Not even that expensive one. A small part of her was curious how far she could take this, but the more rational part yelled to just grab the money and forget about everything. A million credits will pay for the vase and a whole lot more.

And Heavy already had the cash in his hand. A huge stack of bills for her to take.

Despite the extraordinarily tiring day, Noire became a whole lot richer. It was a rather nice equalizer to the bad things that happened.

"Sure." Noire grabbed the fat stack of cash, her mind yet again agape at how heavy all of this money was, and turned around to continue being their tour guide. As they made progress though, Noire soon realized why she was given a million credits from the get go.

It wasn't just for the vase. It was prepayment.

Noire wasn't the type to swear, but good goodness she has had enough of it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

The group had stopped at the sound of the glass breaking. The cause of that was none other than Soldier. "I saw a bug." He said. "I failed to squash it."

Noire closed her eyes in an exasperated attempt to not strangle his neck, made hard by the fact this particular mercenary was testing her patience and Blanc was already getting handsy with them - meaning she wasn't afraid to beat some sense into them.

A soft buzzing reached her ears and indeed, there was the world's tiniest bug floating around her. Nothing much but a small, barely noticeable speck of black living thing.

"There he is!" Soldier shouted and pointed at Noire. "I'll get him!"

He charged at Noire and threw his fist right at her face, being not even remotely close to the bug he was hunting. The CPU, even in her exhausted form, still had enough reflexes and speed left in her to weave to the side and avoid a right hook to the face. The mercenary must've put all of his strength into that one punch. Once there was nothing to stop his fist Soldier's punch carried him to the point the merc spun around, lost his balance, and smashed his face against the door. The door's hinges didn't survive and they broke, letting the doors fall with Soldier.

As the loud slam has woken everyone up from their tiredness, Noire's patience ran thin.

"That's it, you're all sleeping outside."


The mercs quickly found themselves outside. Just the mercenaries. Everyone else was allowed to stay, as even Neptune wasn't half as annoying as Soldier. Noire's boot retracted back into the Basilicom before the doors were slammed shut, never to be open for them. Soldier rubbed his aching backside before turning around and throwing himself at the glass doors of the reception.

"Let me in! Let me in you black haired wench!" The man yelled as he tried to wrestle the automatic doors open, trying to squeeze his fingers in between the doors to pry them open. He found little success. After a while of struggle, Soldier finally gave up and glared at his own hand. "Damn you nails! You're a disgrace to the rest of my body!"

His ugly and chewed up nails didn't say anything back, as they lacked a mouth or intellectual capacity to speak or communicate. At the same time, Soldier lacked the brain to understand that fact. "Speak up, pal! These ears cannot hear you…" Soldier jabbed his index finger into his ear and waited. For something.

Spy had enough shenanigans so he turned towards his more intelligent teammates. "Well, now what?"

"We... sleep?" Sniper suggested.

Yes. Sleep. A great suggestion. Magnificent. "Yes, where?" Spy turned towards Sniper.

The merc shrugged. "Back at our hotel?" His voice was unsure of what the big deal was, they already had a place to sleep. It didn't mean that much.

Spy accepted this, but there was one problem. "Okay. But where would we place the teleporter? Right here in front of the doors?"

Spy was sarcastic when he said this, but Engineer did just as he said - place the teleporter right in front of the doors. Spy's shoulder dropped and the mercenaries watched as it slowly reassembled itself, the sound of Soldier still being pissed off at his own fingers becoming white noise to him.

Once the teleporter was done, the mercenaries slowly returned back to their base. One place they could call home in this world.

There was already someone else in there.

Wearing a trench coat and a fedora, the stranger was seated by a table with an opened bottle of beer - not targeted by the Sentry Gun at all. He turned towards them with a confused gaze, before recognition sparked them.

"Huh? Oh, it's you!"

The stranger was met with lots of guns pointed at him. The man freaked out and threw his hands up in the air. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't shoot! I'm friendly!" He rambled at a rapid pace.

Soldier shot him just because he was friendly. While the bullets from his shotgun didn't hit him, merely breaking the panels beneath his feet, the dude still jumped back with his hands raised. "Don't shoot! Please, I just had a really horrible day!"

"Who are you?" Heavy asked.

"I'm with 5pb! Machias! You know… That guy Histoire told you to hook up to your Re;Spawn!"

It seemed as if that was a poor choice of words, for whatever reason, as with a loud yell Soldier fired again. The bullets yet again hit the floor panels, perhaps intentionally, as Soldier was getting a great amount of glee each time Machias jumped away in fright. The former goon thought he would die at their hands when Engineer stepped in between them, finally recognizing the guy. "Ah, false alarm fellas! He's good." The texan said, placing his hand on Soldier's shotgun.

Soldier became visibly sad that he wasn't allowed to kill him, but he holstered his gun. "Roger that! I'm going to sleep!" He announced before going to sleep, right there. In that exact location he was. This ended up with his knees giving up and him falling onto the floor. Bum up, head down, and soft snoozes could be heard from his sleeping form.

It took Engineer just a second to recover from the sudden collapse of his teammate. "Well, Machias. We kinda had a heavy time out there, so we will do like our friend here and go to sleep, alright?"

Machias was stumped for a bit longer, as other mercenaries decided to not waste any more time to go to sleep. "Oh, uh… Sure." He walked up to his seat and went back to drinking his beer, glancing back at Soldier ever so often.

Well, if their guest would just sit here and enjoy their beverages, that was fine for Engineer. The merc left him alone and went back to his own room, took a quick shower and finally got into his bed. Sleep was very quick to take him in.

When Engineer woke up, which was a few hours later, Machias was still there. The difference was the lack of beer, instead he had some kind of Leanbox's tablet. One of those N-Gears Engineer saw the girls using, but a Leanbox made. The Texan walked up to him, intentionally making his steps louder than usual. "Hello, partner." Engineer greeted.

Machias looked up from the screen and at the Engineer. "Oh, afternoon." He reached out for a handshake.

Engineer glanced at the clock as he grabbed Machias's hand, finding out that it was well past the afternoon. "How are you?" Engineer asked.

Last time they returned, they saw their home trashed and him gone. Now he was here again. "I had to bolt the moment Miss Pauling's men arrived. I think they weren't here for me because I actually got away from them."

They must've not expected to find Machias here, otherwise there wouldn't be a place for him to run. All exits would be covered and the fact he had a cloak was a non-issue. They knew how to find him despite that. "They trashed Re;Spawn, huh?"

Engineer sighed and took a seat. "Yeah. I'll have to get on it." The faster he repaired it, the better. Just existing without that safety net made Engineer wary, as each death carried a big risk of not getting back from. "They sent Histoire to Admin too." And then there was that little problem.

They'll have to go back.

They spent around a month in Gamindustri. A very chaotic and eventful month. And now it seemed like the Administrator wanted all of them back, lest they never see Histoire ever again. The nice blonde fairy that was a good friend and employer to them. She didn't deserve this.

There was not only an obvious problem of how they could go back to Earth, but what will happen once they arrive. Helen had influence everywhere in the world. The moment they came back she will know, and she will be able to force them to do anything she wanted.

Machias was shocked and he had no words for a moment. "Well… shit." He forced himself to say after a moment of silence. "That's pretty bad." Machias didn't know Histoire much, but she seemed nice when they talked, and she was the one that allowed him to stay here.

He was not safe here.

5pb was not safe here.

Machias knew that sending him here was a bad idea. It would be just a moment of time for Miss Pauling's men to find them here. It was barely even a day and they already took away all of the illusion of protection this place had. In fact Machias felt even more in danger here than anywhere else. It seemed as if trouble sought this place.

The moment 5pb comes back, they will leave this place.

"Yeah." Engineer agreed with the goon's sentiment. "But… Did you hear? We bagged Miss Pauling."

Machias looked at the merc with skeptical gaze. "Her? Really? This is probably a trap, or she has a plan."

"Nah. CFW Magic - one of the ASIC leaders got the whole base and their Re;Spawn out, she also managed to nab Miss Pauling on her way out."

Well, who would've thought. That bitch actually did it in the end. That might actually keep them off of Machias's back - the survivors would have much bigger problems to deal with than one traitor inside a well protected base.

"Should've seen her after that uhh… Sam girl took out the Truth Serum, some nasty stuff that was."

Okay, what the fuck does she not have?


Noire woke up a few hours later, tired, groggy… yearning to sleep more. However the sun, the cause of the interruption, was shining right at her face. She turned to the side to somewhat block it out, but she felt foregin resistance upon movement. A sensation of being touched that shouldn't be there. Worse, there was a certain heat she hadn't realized in her still-asleep mind.

Noire peered under covers and saw Neptune sleeping with her hands wrapped around her waist. The black haired CPU blinked three times and tried to remember how that girl even got here. Even then the answers never came out. Noire knew she hadn't drunk any alcohol, nor had she received any hits to the head… Did- Did Neptune simply sneak in when she was asleep? Without managing to wake Noire up?

Just how tired was she?

Noire threw out the questions about hows and whys, as they wouldn't be answered until the other girl woke up. Now Noire had a choice to make: try to get some more shut eye with Neptune clinging to her, or kick the girl out of her bed.

Really, why her? Why here?

Noire didn't know, but Neptune's grip suddenly tightened up. Like she didn't want to let go of her. Neptune murmured something and a hurt, pained expression flashed across her features. Noire frowned as she observed the smaller girl seemingly experience a nightmare. Despite the pinkette's normally cheery disposition, considering what happened... Noire couldn't really be surprised.

So, just for today, Noire pulled the covers and fell asleep - letting Neptune clutch her waist for at least the small amount of comfort it gave her. She let her eyes close and tried to go back to sleep, now that the sunlight was hitting her back instead of right in her face. Noire, perhaps involuntarily, found herself hugging Neptune closer as the CPU was on the brink of slumber. The CPU of Lastation was too tired to notice and Neptune wasn't complaining - as she was still asleep.

And yes, Neptune's head was under the covers. That wasn't Noire's problem.

Few hours later Noire woke up again, this time feeling better than before. While she didn't feel totally refreshed, the bags underneath her eyes felt lighter, the fog clouding her mind was clearer and she was more alert than before. While it wasn't the best, it was something Noire could work with.

And a brief check underneath her covers revealed that Neptune was awake as well.

The CPU of Planeptune froze up as she was found out. Neptune continued to wrap her hands around Noire's waist, and stuff her face into her belly. Noire could even see Neptune's eyes widen up and shift around. The question of 'What do I do now?' was all but visible from Neptune's mannerism.

"Hi." Neptune greeted.

Her attempt at playing it off like normal was… Unsuccessful. "Hello. Why are you in my bed?" Noire asked.

Neptune raised her face to look at Noire, smiling widely at the black-haired CPU. "A sleepover?" Noire still hasn't moved an inch to push her away, which Neptune took as an invitation to continue her snuggles.

The fact Noire wasn't physically wrestling away Neptune didn't mean a thing though. "Get out." Noire demanded, giving Neptune a cold look.

"Oh, don't be like that~"

"Get. Out." Noire sighed as she finally started to move, prompting Neptune to finally move as well. Neptune let her go, and the two of them get out of the bed. "We need to find Kei, or at least her body."

Neptune was still in her parka... Or rather a copy of it given to them by Fay, which replaced Planeptune's purple colors with Lastation's black. Noire was also in her own outfit, but in Leanbox's green and yellow.

Neptune gave her a cheerful mock salute. "Okay, then to Kei's office we go!" She turned around to leave the room, only to stop right in front of it. The CPU of Planeptune turned back with a sheepish look on her face. "Where was it again?"

Noire rolled her eyes and led them to Kei's office.

The moment she entered, she already saw the signs of someone being here before her. No it wasn't the intruders, the crime scene was just blocked behind the tape as some Guild members and Basilicom workers were investigating the room. Each piece of evidence was marked and secured, no stone was left unturned as they sought every little hint of where Kei could be.

Neptune looked around, not touching anything but closely following Noire. Noire walked up to the nearest detective and started asking questions.

"We've confirmed that Kei is missing, but we haven't found her anywhere." The woman shook her head. "Witnesses say that they saw her walking towards Gray Mann's room, and nothing else after that." She pointed at the blood by Kei's desk. "We have no idea how that appeared, but we're analyzing it."

"Maybe it was Kei's blood?" Neptune suggested. "I mean, Samantha did say she died."

"Then where is the body?" The detective said. "While I'm not counting out the fact she was dead, we still need to see the body."

The detective was from the Guild, so she probably wasn't aware of them yet.

"There are… terrorists who can perfectly disguise themselves as other people." Noire explained. "The person who alerted me that Kei died said that one of them killed her, and the Kei people saw going to Gray Mann was probably an impostor. Many of those terrorists are still at large, but at least we captured their leader."

"Ah, Miss Pauling was it?" ...Or she was well aware of them. "I already went to interrogate her. She looked sick but she was… surprisingly helpful."

Probably Samantha's Truth Serum at work. "I was surprised as well." Noire sighed. They really need to start thinking ways on how to deal with Samantha Neikan. "Do we know where Gray Mann is?" Noire continued to ask. That woman was supposedly chasing after him, so perhaps she already caught him.

The woman shook her head. "No, we don't. A quest to arrest him was already placed for A rank adventurers."

This answer didn't make Noire happy, and not for the fact Gray Mann wasn't found. Because considering the amount of power and competency Samantha displayed, Noire didn't believe that Samantha simply didn't find Gray Mann yet. She was more likely to believe that she did find him, but she killed him and disappeared without a trace.

Yeah, she had trust issues towards that girl.

"I see, thank you." Noire nodded and politely left the room. Once they were away from the others' eyes and ears, Noire came up to a wall and smashed her hand on it. The CPU had enough sense to hold back and not completely obliterate the wall, but she was still mad.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

In her own fucking Basilicom. One of the people she held dear. Just gone like that.

"Wanna talk about it?" Neptune offered.

Noire glanced at her.

It would feel weird venting to her, as she lost even more. But despite that Neptune was still smiling to her. Was still… a goof. "You're still smiling." Noire noted. "How can you still smile after all that happened?"

"Because why wouldn't I?" Neptune shrugged. "I am sad. But what good would it do if I just rolled over and cried?"

There was some truth in her words, however Noire wasn't in the mood.

"Yeah it's… Kinda sad without Nep Jr. or Histy, but I know I'll get them back before this story is over."

Noire sighed. "Okay."

Neptune walked up to Noire, and gave her a small gift. In her hand was a small cup of custard pudding, with a small spoon prepared for eating. Noire looked at the snack for two seconds before looking back at Neptune's face, the CPU was giving her a smile. "To cheer you up a bit."

That girl… Noire took the pudding and a spoon and together they sought a place to sit. They went all the way back to Noire's room, where the two of them sat on Noire's bed and enjoyed some pudding delicacy.

"You know." Neptune began. "I'm… scared. A bit. Like, I thought I wouldn't wake up again once I go to sleep."

And so Neptune snuck into Noire's bed. Out of fear for her own safety. This reason made Noire pause, as Neptune never actually showed a sign she was afraid of something. The CPU of Lastation frowned and looked at Neptune. Her bright smile now took a more somber look. It was more forced than before. Noire put the spoonful of pudding into her mouth and waited for the lilac-haired girl to continue.

"Back in Planeptune I… I actually met the woman that did it. That stabbed Nep Jr. and sucked her brain out and stuff."

Noire still wasn't aware of who did it, and she didn't know if asking this now would be a good idea. Even so, there was someone strong enough to storm the Basilicom, take out a CPU and simply leave. That alone was worrying, especially when Neptune apparently met that person again. Being a good host, Noire hummed to Neptune to show that she was listening - so Neptune continued to voice her worries without fear.

After everything that happened Neptune might need it, even if she didn't look like she did. People deal with trauma differently, some don't even show it - like the girl here. Noire was genuinely surprised to hear there was someone that terrified Neptune, as she seemed mostly unaffected by even her nation being invaded.

"One of the CFWs saved me back there but… I don't think she'll stop. I don't think we'll be safe - me, you, Blanc and Vert. She's very strong and she seems… angry at me. Not like Histoire when she gets mad, but she was following me to have another chance to murder me too."

So this wasn't just Neptune talking about her trauma, but also warning Noire. There was someone who took away her sister, now chasing after Neptune's own life.

There were 5 CPUs in this Basilicom; her, Neptune, Vert, Blanc and Uni. If that person were to strike again… This place would be a perfect target. Best case scenario they would go hide and wait… or they might decide that this would be too good of an opportunity to attack.

Noire now had one hell of a decision to make, and her heart beat stronger the more she thought about it. She could give Neptune more comfort and show that Noire was a good friend to her, just like she helped Noire when everyone else was against her… But wouldn't that go a bit too far?

The CPU of Lastation gripped with her own emotions until they burst out, and with a very powerful thought of 'Fuck it', Noire put a hand on Neptune's shoulder… and pulled the smaller girl into an embrace.

Neptune was surprised when Noire roughly pulled her into her chest, but she didn't complain and instead allowed herself to sink into it. Noire at the same time found out that the girl smelled pretty sweet, like candy.

"They won't catch you here. Lastation is far away from Planeptune."

Neptune shook her head. "No. I think I saw her before, back in the forest. She was watching us, me specifically."

Did she cross the teleporter just like they did? Or is she just that fast and powerful? Noire couldn't tell, she didn't know who it was. "I'm sure that was someone else." She told her. There was no point feeding her fear.

"And Samantha also apparently wants her killed."

"Let's not speak of her." Noire sighed, immediately cutting off any and all talks about the overpowered OC whose objective was to play some sort of an anti-hero.

"Thanks Noire." Neptune smiled and pushed herself closer into Noire's embrace.

The other side of Noire started to come out. "Jeez, what's up with you? First you're smiling like an idiot and now this."

"Well, I always have to play the role of a comedic relief." Neptune reached into her pocket and took out even more pudding. This time chocolate-flavored. "Wanna more pudding?" The CPU said, lifting the plastic cup for Noire to see.

Noire released Neptune and accepted the pudding. "Thanks." Noire said. "Where did you even get that?"

"Oh! I got it due to plot convenience!" Neptune said, before eating her own portion. It was like this conversation never existed. As if Neptune never showed Noire that she was afraid for her life. One moment the girl was happy, the next moment she was fearful… Now she jumped back into happiness. Nothing could keep her down.

"The Author called. They want you to stop breaking the 4th wall." Noire deadpanned, Neptune just chuckled evilly at the prospect of pissing off the person who just wrote this sentence.

Neptune was laughing a lot less when a brick from absolutely nowhere suddenly dropped onto her toe. The pain was worse than simply stubbing it, and Neptune's boots did nothing to protect her from the spontaneous brick.

"Aaaaah!" The pudding was put aside as the CPU of Planeptune curled up from pain, tears welling up "I need a medic bag!" She cried, reaching out to Noire who was trying to figure out where this brick came from.

"Let's uhh… Let's move you to the infirmary."

She wrapped a hand around the smaller girl, letting Neptune put her weight against Noire. Neptune put her own hand on Noire's shoulder, and the two of them walked to the infirmary. Neptune, with tears in her eyes, laughed and cried at her own pain. The latter because having a brick smash your toe hurts, even if you're a CPU. The former because obviously it was the Author doing this as some sort of revenge.

But the Author had an even more cruel trick in store for her. One which was already in effect, as Neptune and Noire took a mere two steps before Neptune's worst fears manifested, and gradually their vision became unusually dark. Like someone slowly reducing the brightness of a phone. This darkness wasn't caused by the lights flicking out, or some kind of injury Neptune sustained. It was caused by the same person Neptune was afraid of.

Suddenly Noire couldn't feel Neptune anymore. "Neptune?" Noire called out, trying to reach out and find a wall - perhaps even a light switch. Something to help her navigate the darkness. But a moment later she, Neptune, and everyone else in the Basilicom were transported somewhere else. Somewhere they will be fighting for their lives.

Black Heart steeled herself as she heard the voice, coming from the darkness.

"Let's end this."


Feeling exhaustion and tiredness at the mere thought of it, Blanc did what her body did not want to do and woke up. It was not by her own decision, rather it was one of those moments where the body wanted to sleep a bit more, yet the mind decided it had enough and wouldn't fall asleep anymore.

Another reason for her waking up was her phone buzzing. Someone sent her a message and the CPU forgot to turn down the volume.

Groggily turning around, Blanc reached out towards the desk and grabbed her phone. She turned it on and saw that Ram sent her a message.

Hey sis, you okay over there? Are you still fighting?

The CPU of Lowee stared at the message, debating if she should go back to sleep or answer her and probably get pulled into a conversation. If she were in a better state, she would've answered without hesitation but currently Blanc's body was fighting a battle to get her eyes closed once more.

Her head fell onto a pillow, her hand - which was still clutching the phone - went limp as the CPU of Lowee closed her eyes and went to sleep.

...For about three minutes before her phone buzzed once more.

As Blanc wasn't really asleep at that time, when she opened her eyes once more she felt much more awake than the last time. Blanc turned on the phone once more and checked what kind of message she got now.

Rom is getting worried that you might be hurt, but you're okay. Right?

A feeling of warmth appeared in her chest, as Blanc felt a rare feeling of pride of being a big sister. She unlocked her phone and started typing a response.

Yes, we finished fighting and I'm fine. We're currently in Lastation.

It was nice of Noire to let them stay in her place. Of course, the CPU of Lowee wasn't planning on taking advantage of a rival's hospitality forever. Between wrapping things up dealing with Pauling and resuming on the rest of their seemingly neverending list of problems, it'd be nice to go back and spend some time with her sisters. The twins could be annoying at times, but all this death lately made her unusually appreciative of those still around her. Besides, if she doesn't go back to check on them soon, they might start getting ideas. Ideas like-

Oh, cool. Then me and Rom will go there!

Oh dear. The brunette facepalmed, and began typing a hasty reply before her sisters set off.

Don't go anywhere, I should be back within the

Blanc blinked, looking around mid-message. Is everything getting darker? A glance back to her phone showed the signal had cut off without warning. The CPU of Lowee frowned at her phone, watching the signal bars suddenly drop to zero. The cause of her loss of signal quickly revealed itself, through the voice that seemed to echo from her very soul.

"Let's end this!"

White Heart gritted her teeth as she was being pulled elsewhere. It was her, wasn't it? Who else would attack this place while almost every CPU of Gamindustri was present? Fine then. Fine!

Let's fucking end this crap!


One by one, the mercenaries were waking up. Rested they weren't, but they were nonetheless ready to take on the day.

Or at least some of them.

The mercenaries gathered in front of Spy's room. Not all of them. One never rejoined them after following its fiery goddess, one was presumably still sleeping in the room in front of them, and another ventured inside to wake him up. That last one has yet to return. The rest of the group already waited twenty minutes in front of the room, waiting for either of their teammates to come back.

"Maybe he died." Demoman leaned towards Heavy, whispering his thoughts to him.

See, Spy learned from the last time Soldier woke him up way too early. His teammates didn't exactly know how he was prepared, but there was a clear sense of danger coming from his own room. This only got stronger with each minute their teammate was missing. No one else wanted to enter, especially with the destroyed Re;Spawn.

Eventually they heard footsteps, but they didn't come from the room. Rather they heard someone climbing up the stairs. Spy frowned when he saw the rest of his team waiting just outside his room. "...Dare I ask what is going on here?" He asked as he stepped in between them and his door.

The mercs were also confused. "Wait, you're not… there?" Scout's gaze snapped between Spy, his room, and the staircase Spy just entered from. His mind was trying to comprehend how the universe allowed this to happen. "Then what's Solly doing there for so long?"

Spy blinked, and put his hand on the doorknob - twisting it and opening the doors. The mercs peered inside and were dumbfounded by what they saw.

In the middle of a room was a giant cage. And inside that cage was Soldier, lying on the ground with a bunch of Dogoos on top of him. The merc was alive and screaming, but because of the soundproofed walls and doors, his team was unable to hear him until now. But now that they were staring right at him, Soldier knew it was his chance to be rescued.

"Help! They're licking me in uncomfortable places! Like my helmet!" The merc cried out as a blue creature was scrubbing his helmet with its tongue. Picking off grime, dirt… and conditioner. Don't ask how the conditioner got onto his helmet. "I didn't give him permission to clean it!"

Spy stared at Soldier for a brief moment, before a pleased smirk graced his lips. "...Oh, it worked."

Spy's bed was neatly made, very obvious that no one slept on it. Rather on top of the cage there was a sign with "Spy sleeps here" written on it, and an arrow that pointed inside the cage. A normal person wouldn't be caught in this trap. However… Soldier.

Demoman read the sign, feeling a bit amused at the sheer stupidity of it… and the fact it worked. "Aye, that would work."

Soldier however wasn't amused by his team's amusement and idleness. His hands wrapped themselves around the bars of the cage, and with his bare arms he shook the cage that contained him. This cage wasn't actually that heavy, and Soldier should've been able to lift it. Key word being should. "You bastards! It was a trap! I've been ambushed by the vile commies! Let me out before they start cleaning my boots!"

Prompted by his words, some of the Dogoos hopped onto his legs - pinning them to the ground. Another two Dogoos started to feverishly scrub the soles of Soldier's boots, much to the merc's horror. "NOOO!"

Soldier wriggled his boots to shake them off, but the Dogoos were relentless with their cleaning. Their tongues scrubbed the soles clean, making the boots shiny and smooth. A normal person would actually enjoy this sort of procedure, because they were getting free boot cleaning. Soldier however thought of this to be the most humiliating thing that happened to him in his life.

Engineer stared at the blue mobs for a long moment. "You know… I kinda haven't seen those things in a while." When was the last time he saw them? Last month? Engineer was actually starting to forget this place is full of strange creatures that you wouldn't be able to find on Earth.

His words brought a brief moment of reminiscence to Medic. "I remember zhat Pyro captured one, but I forgot vhat happened to it." They also had one of those Bread Monsters locked in a jar, before it escaped into the forests of Planeptune.

Medic turned to Spy and asked. "Herr Spy? Where did you even get those?"

The mercenary took a cigarette and lit it up. "Don't ask. Let's just go back to Lastation."

"Get me out of here, you smoking, french baguette!" Soldier yelled from his cage. "They cleaned my boots, and now are cleaning my shovel!"

Spy paused for a moment, before flicking a switch hidden between a drawer and a wall. Immediately the front of the cage was lifted, releasing the mercenary from his captivity. Spy then activated his Dead Ringer just in time for Soldier to charge at him and pin his decoy to his wall.

To his credit Soldier immediately saw through the illusion and dropped the fake body, gritting his teeth in anger. "Come on out here, crouton!" he shouted, stepping out of the room and joining with the rest of his team. Everyone listened to the iconic sound of the Dead Ringer. One second, two, five, they waited until they all knew the watch must've ended.

"He ran." Sniper said, after they've waited a whole ten seconds and no sound was heard.

Soldier scoffed. "That coward." He looked down at himself, and he was sparklingly clean. His clothes were giving out a faint shine from how clean they were, literally glowing like an unusual hat with the sunbeams effect. Especially his helmet. It looked like a hat sent from the heavens, given to him by the gods to spread the American ideology on the barbarian, savage masses.

Or trade it for an actual Unusual.

Soldier took off his helmet and pushed it towards Medic, who was wearing a Team Captain... which was still on fire. "I will trade you this, for your hat."

Medic took one glance at the cleaned up helmet, staring back at him. "...No."

"Come on!"

"Nein."

"Please!"

"Nah."

"I will add-"

"Shut up!"

Well, Soldier tried. His clean helmet went back onto his head, and Soldier forgot he actually knew where Spy was. His ability to always know where his team was again used in action! "Spy's already in Lastation. We can catch up to him using the teleporter Engie placed!"

They already knew that, as Spy announced that they should go there. Nonetheless it was a good moment to finally move the plot and let the mercenaries see what was going on in Lastation and hopefully do something about it.

At one point Machias even took a peek on what was happening, and he saw Soldier leaving Spy's room with a Dogoo sitting on his shoulder, ignored by the merc himself. He had no idea what was going on, and he wanted to be no part of it. He disappeared before the mercs saw him, or at least that's what he thought. The mercenaries left without bothering him, they had bigger stuff to deal with.

Once they were in Lastation…

They were met with a blokade.

A swirling, unnatural darkness shrouded the building, attracting the stares of local populace. People already gathered around, snapping pictures and pointing while the Guild members were trying to keep them away from danger.

"What is that?"

"I don't know." Spy said.

It was obviously something magical, and as much as they were exposed to various kinds of arcade and mythical powers - many of them still had little idea about how it all worked or what they did.

Medic stepped closer to inspect it. "Hmm. Zhis gives me quite the goosebumps on my skin. O hoh, interesting." He almost touched it but held himself back. Even he had no idea what it was, so the safest option would be to observe until they receive some kind of clue.

"Hey you!"

And because they appeared from a mysterious construct placed right in front of the Basilicom, it was obvious that they were discovered quickly. One of the Guild members, a short, almost naked, petite woman with a sword bigger than her called out to them, glaring at what she thought was a group of onlookers trying to do something stupid.

She was partially right.

"It's dangerous here, please stay away from that thing and go back to behind the blockade! Don't make our job harder."

Spy briefly considered telling her off, however she actually looked official despite her scandalous outfit. He also didn't have time for arguments here, they had a job to do. "We're here to deal with it."

The woman frowned and looked at the rest of the team, noting that each mercenary was already carrying a weapon of their own. This satisfied her enough to not cause them enough trouble. "I see. Good luck out there!"

Spy gave her a smile. "Thank you! Good luck to you as well."

The woman nodded, returning the grin, and walked back to her stadium. After that no one else bothered them. The other Guild members most likely thought that since one member already allowed them in, then they were allowed to be here.

"Any ideas?" Spy asked his team. "What is this even?"

"We charge head first." Soldier proposed. "Kill everyone inside!"

"Frau Noire vill get mad if ve do zhat." Medic deadpanned. "Even if zhis is a magical ball, zhere are still people in zhere. Ve still have zhat penalty you know."

Soldier's shoulders slumped as he forgot that. "Oh. Right." For every civilian they kill, they will have to give back some of their hard earned money. Something that no person wants to do. "New idea, ask Magic! She's already coming to us!"

The merc raised his finger in a direction, and the rest of the team followed it. Flying in the air, leaving pink trails in the sky, was the same woman that tried to kill them a few chapters ago. The same woman that forced herself into their side just because she was with the right person. CFW Magic crossed the Lastation's airspace, not really bothering to hide herself from view as she descended right onto the mercenaries.

Or rather she crashed really close to them.

The concrete cracked as she hit the ground. Witnesses and Guild members were spooked by her sudden appearance. CFW Magic landed in a three-point landing, but not rising up to her feet. She kept her eyes closed and her fist clenched, while from her grasp Pyro's body and its Reanimator slid onto the ground.

She was injured. Cuts and lacerations stained her body. Blood was freely running down her leg and arm. Whatever happened back there got CFW Magic in a much worse shape than they could hope to manage. But there was only Pyro with her… where was IF?

The Guild agents were confused, not knowing if they should act or not. The mercenaries felt dread at the amount of hostility Magic was emitting, the same kind of hostility they felt when Medic kidnapped Samantha Neikan.

Given that they were already going to deal with the Basilicom, they couldn't afford to also fight someone they already knew they stood no chance against. But they had to admit it, when CFW Magic raised her fist and smashed it on the floor - creating a loud crash and destroying the floor even more - some of the mercenaries considered firing at her and praying it would finish her off.

"Hilda Gehaburn is in the forest, fighting IF." CFW Magic reported. Her voice showed thinly-veiled anger, waiting for a small spark to put it out of control. "She killed my friend and is now coming for the rest of the CPUs." Her head turned towards the Basilicom, looking at the dark sphere covering the Basilicom. "That is her doing." CFW Magic said. "She must've already got through IF."

Well, at the very least she wasn't angry at them again. Soldier turned his gaze from Magic and back onto the building, before going back to stare at the CFW - who was just now standing up. She hovered a bit off the ground, so that she could be higher than the mercenaries. Even now they had no idea if she was trying to display dominance, or if hovering was just natural for her.

"Samantha Neikan ordered me to kill her when I get a chance." Magic said. "So if you get a chance, kill her."

"Okay, but first… How do we deal with zhis?" Medic motioned at the Basilicom, or rather, the dome surrounding it. "Ve have no idea what it even is!"

They had no idea what it was doing, what its source was or even how to remove it. For all they know it could instantly kill whoever tries to touch it. "That's her EXE Drive. Her ultimate skill." CFW Magic explained. "It will move you to a different dimension where she can do anything she wants."

Some of the mercenaries nodded. Okay, so it will not instantly kill them if they touch it. That was genuinely good news, however one problem still remained. "Alright. So how do ve deal with zhat?"

"We can wait for it to end, but everyone inside will probably be dead at that point." Magic said. The mercenaries immediately knew that waiting wasn't an option. The CPUs were in danger, the mercenaries' friends were in danger, plus dozens of other innocent people that if Histoire were here she would chew their ass for not saving them. "Another option is to go there and fight Hilda on her own turf, but be ready. This will be a hard and dangerous battle."

"And fighting you wasn't?" Sniper raised his eyebrow.

"She will be worse." CFW Magic looked back at Sniper. "At least with me you knew from where and when I would attack. She won't even give you that."

"So an invisible enemy that can attack from any direction? Huh. Thanks for the heads up." It was much better to know that information in advance, instead of learning it first hand, and though their opponent would be on another level, the mercs had a surprising amount of experience dealing with invisibility.

Pyro cried out as Medic's Quick Fix finished reviving him. Compa still had the Medi-Gun on her, so Medic was stuck with the old prototype. It still did its job but now Medic started to wonder if it will be enough. At the very least CFW Magic could be counted on their side this time around - and she had the durability, strength and experience they would need.

CFW Magic raised her eyebrow as Medic pointed the Quick-Fix at her and pushed its lever - releasing the healing beam reached out to her. Soon the last of the felons was engulfed with a warm, fuzzy feeling that CFW Magic couldn't describe. "Huh. So that's how it feels like." She noted with intrigue as her injuries began to close. "Thanks."

"Ve can count on your help, ja?" Medic smiled.

"Of course." CFW Magic looked all over herself, finding a genuine amazement that her injuries weren't just healed but she was also cleaned as well. The blood that was outside her body seemed to be absorbed back into her, or evaporated into the air, or whatever else they did to remove it. For all her ungodly power, some things remained otherworldly even to her. "I want revenge on that bitch, and I intend to get it."

Spy raised his eyebrow, as this was the first time he actually heard her swear. She must've been genuinely mad, then. Good for them. "So how do we get in? We just walk into it?"

"Yeah, that should work."

CFW Magic demonstrated just how easy it was to get into Hilda's own little arena, by walking towards the Basilicom and reaching out towards the building. She hasn't touched it yet, as she had something more to say.

These men have been a thorn in her side ever since they appeared. Mysterious, psychotically lethal, suicidal yet undying. If it wasn't for them, Magic would've summoned Arfoire a long time ago, and either succeed in bringing apocalypse into this world… or fail and die. Yet here she is, about to fight alongside them against her truest foe, a battle that all of them might not survive. It wasn't all because of these otherworldly mercenaries, of course, their entry another ploy by the Overseer, but she wondered how things might've been without them, and decided she preferred their presence.

"I apologize for getting angry, back then."

Before anyone could react CFW Magic walked into the building, immediately her body disintegrated into particles. Dark dust that made up her body scattered itself into the air and disappeared. The mercenaries watched for a few moments, silently staring at the place CFW Magic once occupied.

"...Imagine if she was wrong about all of it and that just straight up killed her." Sniper said.

Some of the mercenaries snickered or scoffed at the mental image of this quite morbid twist.

"Anyway, who's going first?" The Australian continued.

Knowing that he will be one of the first picks, Heavy cracked the bones in his neck and stepped forward. "Next time we go into a suspicious portal, I'll throw you first." He told Sniper before doing the same thing CFW Magic did. The moment Heavy stepped into the building his body disintegrated and disappeared.

The person after him was Soldier. "Let's go, men! Into the unknown!" Unlike Heavy or Magic, Soldier ran into the building - getting further inside by simply moving faster than the previous people.

"Welp, been nice knowing ya." Demoman pulled out the Eyelander, already feeling the ghost starting to take over his body consciousness. "Let's drink afterwards, aye?" With the promise made, Demoman stepped in and disappeared.

Engineer crouched next to the teleporter exit and packed it up, hefting it onto his shoulder. "I guess I'm gonna go next. Don't take too long." And so, Engineer and his building left as well. Pyro followed quickly after him, chirping in words that not many people in this world could understand.

"Yooo!" Scout suddenly shouted and outright ran towards the building. "Let's freakin' go!" He jumped twice as he went inside, and he actually got even further than Soldier before he disintegrated.

Scout screaming grabbed the attention of a few onlookers, meaning the remaning mercs got a bit more attention on them than they would've liked. Seeing that a majority of his team already ventured out, Medic decided it was his turn now. "Alright zhen." The German breathed in and out, steeling himself for the upcoming battle. "See you on zhe other side, friends!"

Spy nodded and watched their doctor go into the unknown. It was now just him and Sniper. Spy pulled out a new cigarette and lit it up. "Hopefully you didn't jinx us, bushman. Remember that we don't have respawn yet."

Sniper's response was to laugh and jinx them even more, perhaps to cancel out his previous joke. "We died as we lived: Blindly charging into danger." Following his own words, Sniper blindly charged into danger. Another mercenary disintegrated into nothingness. And now Spy was alone.

The last of the mercenaries took his time, finishing what could be his last cigarette. The smoke dulled his mind a little, giving it the last dose of peace and pleasure before action and adrenaline took over. He was thinking nothing, just taking in the peaceful ambience of the air. And as the last bit of tobacco ran out, leaving only the filter, Spy stomped the finished cigarette into the ground and left.

It was time to end this.


Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Rest a Little


That was a long journey, but it's coming up to a close. The next few chapters will close up this chapter and I can move onto the epilogues.

When I went to write the finale of Leanbox, I decided to write the whole fight before uploading them. The same thing will happen now. I want to write the rest of the story before uploading it, finish the damn thing, upload it, and end it. There's a good chance I will put on the "Completed" tag by the first month of 2022, a bit later at most.

This isn't a hiatus, I'm just going to write the whole batch of chapters before uploading them.

That is all, see you in a few months.

- Harmless Orange