DISCLAIMER: There will be some light mentioning on the topics of autism and bisexuality. Nothing major or meant to be portrayed in a negative light (I am autistic myself), I just thought to give a heads up in case some readers get the wrong message. It's very brief and hardly the main focus, though, so I personally wouldn't worry about it. This chapter is not meant to be propaganda for political correctness or anything like that, it's simply about a character in-universe venting out their angst. Happy reading!

"Alright, BB-Bob," I sighed wearily at the head BuilderBot in charge of the excavation team. "I want you to supervise the units digging out that funky mural over on the east wing. I'd like to get that wall knocked down before midnight if possible. The sooner we get started on constructing my second evil lair, the better. Understood?"

"Loud and clear, boss. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the developments should anything come up!" The bot chirped all too pleasantly, before heading off to oversee his men/brothers and leaving me to pace to dark halls of the dungeon that the girls and I had retreated to. Things were...w-well, things were tense, to be frank.

Now I know what you're thinking, dear future minion: Why is Jack Spicer – Evil Teen Genius – and his evil posse hiding out in a crummy old dungeon building a second lair when there's already a perfectly fine one back at home? Well, in case you missed the memo, this crummy old dungeon is our new home now apparently. Yeah. Not exactly the real estate I wanted nor expected, but it was free. And on such short notice too.

All joking aside, we were here due to a set of circumstances that, once again, weren't entirely my fault...sorta. Granted, none of this would even be happening if a certain gaggle of assholes didn't guilt me into playing the "less-than-bad guy". What had I gotten for my efforts, you may ask? Well, a visit from the royal prosecutor...and her armored goons...along with an order to arrest me for the core of the Destroyer going off in Belzerg's capital.

So, yeah. Things weren't exactly steered in my favor...

"Look, Sena was it?" I asked as smoothly as possible in spite of my underlying anxiety. Maybe there was still enough wiggle room for me to weasel my way out of this. "I think you and the princess are just making a mountain out of a molehill. Think about it: I didn't die, nobody at the capital died, only a single building blew up – and those things are replaceable! So, really, aren't we all winners at the end of the day?"

Sena didn't even bother to acknowledge my attempts verbally, instead scowling and gesturing to her armored soldiers to either skewer me or cuff me. Honestly, I wasn't too sure which was more terrifying. Death was bad, like really bad, sure. But prison? I couldn't even imagine what it'd be like to get locked up in a regular prison, let alone a medieval one!

"Now wait just a moment, prosecutor!" Darkness interjected, stepping in front of me in a genuinely unexpected show of sudden loyalty, her expression resembling the stoic knight that stared down the Destroyer yesterday. "Surely, there must be exigent circumstances here! Jack meant no harm to the capital, nor anyone else! Unscrupulous though he may be, a terrorist he is most certainly not! This is all a gross misunderstanding!"

"Uh…Y-yeah, what she said!" I added while confidently stepping behind my new favorite crusader. "I ain't no terrorist, I'm an un-scrub-u-whatever that word she used means! Tell her off, Dark!"

"Darkness is right, what happened in the capital isn't Jack's fault!" Megumin chimed in, stepping up alongside her crusader ally in defense of me, though she was admittedly less intimidating by comparison. "If the core hadn't been teleported away, Axel would've suffered the same damages and perhaps casualties! We had no idea that it'd end up where it did!"

Surprisingly, the prosecutor held out her arm to call off her henchmen. Holy crap, did that mean this was actually working? Was I about to get away scot-free!? I hope so, 'cuz right now, I wanted nothing more than to go back to my room and scream into my pillow until I passed out. I just want to put everything about today and yesterday behind me for good at this point.

"Regardless of his intentions, Mr. Spicer's actions resulted in the hospitalization of hundreds along with a fair amount of property damage to the capital city," Sena insisted with a firm tone, leveling another cold look past my friends and straight at me. "That cannot be excused, regardless of circumstances. Nor can it go unpunished."

Surprises kept rolling in because, before I knew it, Yunyun had stepped forward from the sea of adventurers to add her two cents with an uncharacteristic amount of bravado (must've picked that up from her partner). "This is outrageous! I was there when Jack gave the order to teleport the Coronatite; he was talking pure math! He broke down why it would be highly unlikely for it to land in a densely populated area using statistics. He made a sound, logical argument! At worst, he's neutral in all this!"

"I hate to admit it, but Jack and his team are in the right here. Without them, we probably would've ended up getting blown to kingdom come," Satou chimed in from the far side of the crowd, sparing the prosecutor and her soldiers a look of disapproval. "And if you want to play the blame game here, where the hell was Belzerg's army during all of this, huh? How did the Destroyer even manage to get this far, come so close to killing us all? You and your precious princess gotta share some of the blame for not doing enough!"

The weeb's words sparked a chain reaction in the guild hall. Pretty soon every adventurer was jumping to my defense while calling Sena out. Even my very own detractors were taking my side in this! That's right, those haters who've been calling me rude things like "Jack Whiner" and "Ghoul Boy" were also taking a stand for me! As baffling and illogical as it all was...I certainly wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth either.

Who knows, maybe it really is a good thing to have my soon-to-be slaves both fear and respect me. The two do go together like chocolate and peanut butter, after all. Great, now I made myself hungry...Did I actually eat anything at all yesterday?

"You know, it could be said that any of Mr. Spicer's supporters could be tied into this particular incident as accomplices," Sena managed, calm despite the storm of noise around her, which ended sharply after she spoke. Suddenly, the guild hall was silent enough that you could hear a pin drop. "So, does anyone have any other grievances? Anything else they'd like to get off their chests? No?"

I take it back, I'd rather they just fear me. Fear keeps traitors in line.

Wait a minute…this was it, wasn't it? The ultimatum that Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness needed before they could deem me no longer worth the trouble of keeping around. I wasn't hearing anything coming from them after Sena spoke, and I certainly didn't need to look at their faces to know they were weighing their options as we speak. Oh, I should've known this whole "posse" thing wasn't going to work out in the long-run; the girls were never truly bad guys to begin with. And even if they were? They'd still throw me under the bus. It's how it always goes, nothing ever changes.

...

Do. Not. Cry. Jack. You've been bracing yourself for this day to come. So now's the time to ready that smoke bomb you've been saving for your Mk II NinjaBots and be ready to cheese it. Deep breaths now…'kay, I'm ready. Bring on the betrayal, ladies.

"Well, with that all quite finished, I believe it's time for me to fulfil my duties," Sena hummed, obviously chuffed over the fact she managed to scare my would-be defenders into line. Of course, the last thing she expected - hell, the last thing I expected at this point - was to turn back to find Darkness, Megumin, and even Aqua still holding their ground, forming a protective semi-circle around me and brandishing their respective weapons.

"..what is the meaning of this?"

Yeah, ain't that the question of the fucking hour. What really is the meaning of this?

"You're not going anywhere with our Jack," Aqua replied, grasping her staff and staring down the prosecutor with an unflappable scowl. "A party looks after each other, and we know Jack did the best he could. So you're not gonna arrest him, or execute him for that matter. We won't let you."

She...she didn't really mean that, did she?

Oh, wait, that's right, of course! How could I forget? Aqua is actually clinically retarded, she has the "intelligence" stat to prove it! She must be having one of her random, psychotic, idiotic episodes right now. That makes much more sense. Still wasn't sure what Darkness and Megumin's game were though.

"You are making a grave mistake here, priestess," Sena warned, holding up her hand once more as her escort raised their respective swords. "I will give you one last chance to make a smarter choice. You have till the count of five to step away from Spicer, and I will forgive your indiscretion as misplaced loyalty. Otherwise, you will all be coming with me."

"I can assure you, it'd be much easier to skip straight to zero, prosecutor," Darkness replied with little pause, drawing her blade in preparation and making me startle slightly as I caught the damn near ferocious gleam in her eyes. "We've made our choice. I implore you to make yours."

Uh…o-okay then...I wanna say that's the masochism talking there. After all, Darkness is the kind of freak who could probably make jail time sound like fun time. I got that much, I think. But what about Megumin? What was her excuse?

"You guys are gonna wish you left us alone," The diminutive mage threatened, brandishing her own staff and pointing it at the guards. "Prepare to face your darkest demons, for my friends and I shall hold nothing back! Pray to Eris for mercy, for you shall receive none from US!"

...yeah, I got nothing.

Hang on…these chicks weren't being serious here, now were they? This had to be a prank at my expense. I mean, they all saw that my first instinct was to leave them all out to dry when the going gets too tough (even though they were the ones who wouldn't listen to reason). So wouldn't it make sense for them to give me a false sense of security as a sort of payback for what happened yesterday?

…wouldn't it?

A sharp spike of panic ran through me as I realized that it was not only likely that they were serious about protecting me, but that even if that was the case, we were all still definitely going to jail. So, in a split second decision, I chose to take a course of action that, to be frank, usually worked out well enough for me back home: running like hell.

"SMOKE BOMB!"

I had just enough time to see Sena's stunned expression when I threw the metal orb at her feet before it exploded. As smoke lingered in the air and guards were stumbling over each other in the ensuing chaos, I speed-dialed the three Secret Service Bots that I had following me during this morning's trip (ever since that goblin quest, I've always had a few JackBots tag along in the shadows just in case). Thankfully, we were close enough to the doors for the well-dressed robots to see us through all the smoke and promptly lift my party members up by their shoulders while I activated the HeliBot and got us out of there.

All I could think at that moment was...Thank evil I had the bots pack our stuff in advance!

It wasn't five minutes later that I managed to force the girls into the flying limo prototype I'd been toying around with in my hanger bay, activating all of my bots in the process and sending out an executive follow order. It was officially time to jump ship, and all I could focus on in that moment was being proud that I at least had a plan in place for the inevitable...

After that, it was as simple as cruising through the skies with my bots while looking for a new base to set up shop in. Thankfully, I was smart enough to make the guest seats in the back of the flying limo soundproof, so I could think clearly and focus on not crashing us when the snow storm started to hit. Did not need the girls' screeches distracting me when that little snafu happened, no siree.

Eventually, we settled for a dungeon that seemed far enough away (at least on foot) and began unloading. Once Attack Squad Sigma cleared the first couple floors for any remaining kobolds that didn't get picked cleaned by past adventurers, I ordered my BuilderBots to get to work excavating so I could get started on constructing my new secret lab. And here we are now.

On the farthest side of the room, Aqua and Megumin were sitting next to each other, glaring dare I say mutinously in my direction. Apparently, they weren't feeling particularly grateful tonight. Darkness didn't fare much better, as she was instead pacing a storm up and down the adjoining hall, muttering to herself in a near delirious fashion. My entire party was at their wit's end it seemed, and it looked like I was the only one who wanted to keep things moving.

Without saying a word to anybody, I walked over to a rock with a flat-ish surface and sprawled out the floor plans for the new lair, along with some small equipment and that high-tech crossbow I was working on. I kept my eyes glued to the paper and kept my brain preoccupied with equations and calculations on what the length, width, and height of my second lab was going to be (along with a bunch of other technical stuff that'd go right over your head). However, no matter how buried I kept my nose in my work, I couldn't shake off those writhing glares from my first two party members alongside the insane mutterings of the third.

Eventually, the outside stimulus was simply too much for me to handle all at once.

I snapped my head in Aqua/Megumin's direction and glared back at them, waving a hand in front of my face while demanding, "What is this face you two are making right now!?"

"It's the face of deciding whether or not we should smite you off the face of this world, Spicer," Aqua hissed dangerously, a surprising change considering her stance she'd taken in the guild. "Why the hell did you drag us here against our will!? Do you have any idea how screwed we are right now because of you?"

"How is this MY fault!?" I half-screamed, confused and frustrated at the same time. "I got us out of a bad situation before shit could hit the fan and this is the thanks I get for it? I couldn't afford to land us in jail, Aqua, do – do you have any idea what they do to evil geniuses in there!?"

"Jack, you turned a bad situation into a WORSE one!" Megumin screeched, throwing up her arms and flailing wildly with reckless abandon for the goddess beside her, nearly whacking her several times. "We're fugitives now! Sena's probably gonna call in more of the Royal Guard to try and track us down! You didn't just make things worse for yourself: you roped us all into this mess!"

"Only because you decided to stick around!" I challenged right back. "You had your golden opportunity to ditch me when it was on your best interest, and you blew it for some stupid reason. So don't come at me with that 'you roped us into this' crap! I'm not having it!"

Refusing to look at either ladies, I held up my hand and took a deep breath through my nostrils in an attempt to compose myself. "Look, whatever, it's a moot point anyway. Once I take over the world, we won't have to worry about running from the law anymore because by then I'll be the one making it- -"

"Oh, for the love of ME, just fucking stop, will you!?" Aqua shouted, cutting me off mid-sentence and bringing a short silence with her outburst. "I've had enough of your 'bUt-MuH-eViL' shit, Jack! It was fine at first, I recognize everyone has their quirks, but you've taken whatever this obsession is too damn far! No one is buying it, so will you just cut it the fuck out already!?"

"It is NOT an obsession!" I argued while slamming my fist hard against the surface of the rock, regretting it almost immediately. "It's been my life's dream ever since Second-Goddamn-Grade! Also, I KNEW you didn't really believe in it! That's right, I overheard you guys talking after the cabbage harvest; heard you talking about how you were going to 'smile and nod' at the 'chuuni boy'. Only reason I didn't say anything about it was because I wanted to feel like I was being vindicated for once, even if I knew it was staged!"

"We wouldn't even have to lie to you if you just recognized how absolutely nuts you sound!" Aqua fired back with barely any hesitation, her patience having clearly worn out as she stormed up to me and jabbed me roughly in the chest, legitimate anger flashing in her eyes. "I never thought your stupid little fantasy would get us thrown out of town or arrested! None of us did! We thought we'd indulge you a little here and there, you'd learn that your 'dream' is as loud as it is nonsensical, and you'd wise up to the world around you! Instead, you managed to royally screw us in a way we can't possibly hope to reverse!"

I pointed furiously over at Megumin. "Oh, what? And that one over there gets a pass exclusively using Explosion magic just because she isn't a megalomaniac? Nice to see where your priorities lie, you washed-up old hag!"

Aqua's eyes practically glowed with thinly veiled fury, and Megumin had risen from her seat and was now ranting at me as well, prompting me to tune the pair out and turn in the direction of our crusader, who was continuing to pace behind us to the degree that I swore she was starting to imprint into the stone floor.

"Dark, what is up with you already? You've been like that ever since we landed."

The moment the stressed out knight stopped dead in her tracks was the moment I realized I may have dug my own grave. She slowly and deliberately turned to look at me and by JESUS she could probably make Chase Young cower in fear with that stare. Her practically stomping her way towards me didn't make things feel any more safe for me.

I instinctively backed away with my arms raised to show that I wasn't a threat to the bigger animal. Darkness may have been garbage when it came to swinging her sword, but I didn't know how well that inaccuracy translated with her fists.

"Uh, was it s-something I said…?"

Before a single word leaves her mouth, Darkness first-thrusted something in my face in what I first assumed to be a punch. After giving myself a moment to brush off the girly scream that heart attack prompted, I actually realized what she was trying to show me was an ornate gold pendant of some kind, a distinct crest carved into its center. After a second or two of careful staring, she started to speak, her volume steadily rising as she did so.

"This is my family crest, one that is of the utmost importance to my family's name. I may go by Darkness, but my real name is Lalatina Dustiness Ford, and thanks to you, my family may be in jeopardy," She stated, her eyes sharpening dangerously as she leaned in slightly, her voice rising and getting more agitated. "Sena is going to look into me as a conspirator against the kingdom, and that means she will also be looking into my real identity. My family's reputation could be permanently disgraced because of your actions, Jack! This is not something that we can fix with any of your machines, nor your absurd notion of ruling the world – do you hear me? You've made a horrible mistake and, for once, I shall not cut you any slack for it!"

It admittedly took a while for me to stop shaking inside the collar of my trench coat like a scared little turtle. What eventually made me stop was the nanosecond Darkness' words fully registered in my rapid-fire mind. And when it finally hit me? You better believe that cowardice melted away into renewed anger.

"Hang on…hold the phone – hold the fuck!" I demanded accusingly as I popped my head out of my shell – err, collar! Darkness didn't look at all impressed by my fury, but I didn't care and continued regardless. "You mean to tell me...that all this time...not only were you a rich kid like me...but it didn't occur to you to abuse your status WHEN WE COULD'VE USED IT THE MOST!?"

"Good Eris, do you ever think of anyone other than yourself? Of course I never considered abusing my status, Jack! I would never misuse my power in such a way!" Darkness refuted with an angry scowl, shoving me backwards with an irritated scoff as she stared down at me with remarkable disdain. "We had options, dammit! We could have found a way to keep you from being arrested without having to expose my identity or put my whole family at risk! You're the one who ruined that plan, not us! All of this is your fault, so why can't you just own up to it for once!?"

"No, no, do not spin the blame back around on me!" I cried angrily, cringing at the ill-timed voice crack. "It's all you guys' fault! Know why? Because you had your chance to save your own skins, and you blew it! Instead, you made the conscious decision to stand by the guy who was being accused of premeditated terrorism; you thought to yourselves, 'Yes, this is the smart thing to do!' Look, I'll come clean, I've made some pretty dumb calls back in my day, but holy shit, what you did takes the cake and then some!"

"You seriously just expected us to abandon you like that? After everything we've been through, you thought it'd be that easy for us?" Megumin interjected, frowning intensely at me as I turned to face her with an expression that radiated equal parts concern and anger. "What the hell is it gonna take for you to trust us, man? Hell, to trust anybody? Why are you so afraid to get close to people!?"

Oh god, with this again! I had a feeling this would come up, but, at this point? I was too angry, scared, and hungry to think of a clever distraction. I was so high-strung that I did what Jack does when he's in a mood of the ages: vent/rant incoherently.

"Oh, you wanna know why? You wanna know why I can't bring myself to trust you, or Aqua, or Darkness, or anyone that isn't a robot I made? You wanna know my sob story that badly!? Alright, fine, sure. I'll cut open my fuckin' stomach and spill my guts out for ya, right here and now! Then, once I'm done, feel free to stomp on my still beating heart till your own damn heart's content!"

I proceeded to shoot up a finger for both emphasis and to begin the long list of things wrong with my life. "Since pre-school, I was automatically deemed subhuman simply by virtue of having a genetic disorder and for being 'eccentric', which is a polite codeword teachers used in place of the word autistic. I did everything in my power to try and socialize, but virtually no one wanted to be friends with the weird kid who looked like a zombie. Hell, even letting slip that I was the son of the wealthiest people alive wasn't enough for those ingrates! Yes, you heard that right, not even money was enough to buy me friendship! Second Grade rolls around, and I discover my life's passion for world domination. Everyone laughs at me for it, the teacher gives me detention, and I run into the bathroom stalls to cry for an hour, a habit I've still yet to kick to this day. Literally, the only reason any of my classmates would want to be with me was so they could mooch off of my hard work for something like a group project, which ultimately didn't amount to jack-shit anyway because the education system is laughable!"

Suddenly, the situation I was in felt dangerously similar to my last visit to Chase Young, where I called the lizard out on all his crap before he sicced his jungle cats on me. Part of me wanted to stop, but I've been holding in for so long, and I was so hangry that I just kept going, pacing around the rock as I continued to froth at the mouth.

"Age thirteen, I meet Wuya. That naggy bitch of a ghost I told you about? Yeah, she promises I could be at her side when I help her take over the Earth. I remember thinking at the time: 'Oh my god. I actually made a like-minded friend. This is the best day ever!' Not a few weeks later and she tries to leave me for someone she viewed as more worthwhile! Should I have known double-crossing was something villains do with their allies? Yeah, maybe, but I was desperate for companionship, okay!? I love my robots, don't get it twisted, but sometimes…I-I-I don't know, m-maybe it's because I'm a human and humans are inherently social creatures? So maybe a part of me kept crawling back in the hopes of turning our partnership into something more, like friendship. Well, that dream died when Witch Bitch got her body and powers back, making me less than nothing in her eyes! Gah – I should've known better than to try and make friends with someone who calls my only friends 'mindless machines'! THEY HAVE EMOTION CHIPS FOR A REASON, YOU CUNT!"

I vaguely remembered knocking something over off the rock as I continuously worked myself up more and more, my vision getting blurry with the tears I was trying my damnedest to hold back. I really couldn't stop myself now even if I desperately wanted to.

"And of course, the one man I used to hold in the highest regards: my role model, my evil hero, the man who stole my breath and my heart, the guy who inspired my whole damn career! What did he do when I tried to win his affections? He belittled me, called me a worm not worthy of soiling his boot, hit me, tricked me, took me on as his pity apprentice, even left me to almost get eaten by a dinosaur – DON'T ASK, it's a long story! Point is, he hated my very existence, and you wanna know what he said when I let slip that I loved him? He said, and I quote, 'I know.' Then he followed it up by commanding his jungle cats to maul me half to death! Again, immortal bad guy, I'm aware of that. BUT STILL, MAN! I just wanted so badly to get close to another human being, even if they were cursed to live forever and lost sight of their humanity! I couldn't control myself, I was young and in love and stupid! But now I know better. I know now to never trust humans or immortals because they're all rotten, rat-fink, pieces of shit that'll stab you in the back when you no longer have value to them. Or if they just need a good fucking laugh!"

Eventually, I finally felt myself losing some steam as I nearly collapsed atop the rock table I've been pacing around and panted like crazy. When I lazily gazed up at the girls, they looked…floored, to say the least. Should've expected as much, I suppose.

"Oh, right, and in case you missed it in all that, I'm also bisexual. There, my secret's out. You may now raise your torches and pitch forks at me for going against 'God's way' or whatever dumb, backwards, medieval bullshit you cavemen buy into these days…I don't care anymore…"

The silence that followed was crushing, heavy beyond belief. It was better than the anger, the yelling, all the chaos I'd instigated...but not by much. I dropped my gaze back to the floor once I finished speaking, so I hadn't the slightest idea what show of emotions played out on each of the girl's faces. Disgust? Irritation? There was always the possibility that they simply didn't care. Plenty of people don't.

"..wow." Aqua practically whispers after about half a minute of silence, her tone completely unreadable. No anger or sarcasm from what I could pick up on, but that didn't mean those emotions probably weren't there. "I...I don't even know what to say. To any of that, really. Jack...how long has it been since you've actually talked to someone about this stuff?"

I scoffed, but decided to humor the braindead goddess anyway because why not? "I've already confided in the bots about this a long time ago, they're more than well aware by now. They're practically my family, which is more than I can say for my actual family, who thought it was okay to leave a toddler to survive on his own during their oh-so-important business trips..."

Another bout of silence, followed by a long, dejected whistle from Megumin. She slowly fell back into a sitting position on the very rock she'd been perched on minutes ago, a bewildered and potentially sympathetic look on her face. No, scratch that, just bewildered. Ain't no way these clowns know sympathy.

"Holy shit, man. I...I'm sorry." She muttered quietly, the fighting spirit seemingly having dissipated from her entirely (keyword being seemingly) as she shook her head slightly. "I mean, I'm still pissed at you, but I never could have imagined you went through so much! You really couldn't trust anyone but your bots, huh?"

"Oh for fuck's sake – yes! That's what these are for!" I groaned in exasperation as I pulled out one of the loose emotion chips still stashed in my pocket. "I figured if humans and everything else in between were colder than robots, then I'd make my own bots more emotional and empathetic to compensate. Besides, they're easier to understand than people; if there's something wrong with them, I can fix it. There's no fixing humans..."

Darkness, Megumin, and Aqua all looked away from me at this point, glancing at each other as if they were having some silent form of conversation. Whatever they were doing, it didn't last particularly long, as Aqua soon split off from their little game and approached me, keeping a respectful distance from the table I was still sprawled out upon.

"Look, we're still gonna have a long talk about everything that's happened today, but...you need to understand something first," She started, her tone surprisingly even and fair, considering the rollercoaster of emotions we were all enduring. "Even if we're mad at you, we still trust you. We know you'd never steer us wrong on purpose. But you need to show a little trust in us too in order to make this party thing work."

I remember staring long and hard at the goddess who said that in front of my face. I also faintly recall seeing her associates nodding solemnly(?) in agreement. For a while, I was at a loss for words…

Until I eventually found them.

"…are you kidding me?" I said faintly at first, which apparently was enough to make Aqua flinch ever so slightly. "After all the shit I pulled...you not believing I'm really evil...me basically ruining your lives – all of that! And you're over here preaching about how I should trust you while you trust me…? What is wrong with you people!? I literally just insulted you all not a moment ago by calling you cavemen, I didn't think you'd actually prove me right on that! I may have trouble reading the room, but holy hell are you guys socially inept!"

"Jack, we just want to help you! We're your friends, dammit, that's what friends do!" Megumin practically screamed, her expression visibly bothered by my flippant response. "They're there for one another when things get tough! And yeah, sure, we may fight from time to time, but that's part of being friends too! You have to let us in, Jack! It's not healthy to keep us at arm's length like this!"

"Back off, Patchworks! I don't need your pity!" I barked with newfound energy. "In fact, I don't need you or anyone else! My bots are the only friends I'll ever need! If I want, I can just replace you all with robot copies of yourselves! I've made a RoboJack before, I can sure as hell make a RoboMegumin, 'cept this one will be better than you since it'll be stuffed with more than one explosive device! Don't believe me? Just watch!"

I pulled up Sandbox Mode with little hesitation after that, scanning page after page of materials in preparation to make do on my promise and build me some better friends. However, I only managed to spawn a soldering iron, blowtorch, and a few sheets of metal before the screen disappeared, and I realized I'd already used up most of my mana. With an agitated growl, I pulled down my goggles and tried my best to work with what I had, only getting a few steps in before I burned my hand with the torch since I was rushing.

I scrambled down to my knees in a mad dash to pick up the tool and finish my work, but I was stopped when a hand held my wrist in place. The yellow-orange wrist guard on it gave me all the clues I needed to know who it belonged to without needing to look up. Of course it had to be herout of the three idiots I got stuck with!

"Jack, stop. You need to calm down and breathe. You're frazzled and not thinking straight," She stated in a firm tone, one that dripped with a condescension I'm not even sure she herself recognized. I tried to escape her grip, only to have my arm yanked upward, my body obviously following, and coming face to face with her unamused expression. "If nothing else can get through to you, answer me this: if you really could have built these 'robo' versions of us, of ALL of us...then why haven't you done so already?"

My mind went completely blank at that moment. I think I remember just staring at her dumbfounded for a few seconds before slowly pushing my googles back up to my forehead and responding with a confused, "Huh…?"

Darkness elaborated, "You said you could have made replacements for us whenever you wanted, yet you're only trying to do so now. And the reason why you haven't done so earlier, I think, is because you recognize us as your friends. Whether you're ready to admit it or not, on some level, you do trust us as we trust you."

As Darkness was talking, she passed my burned hand over to Aqua, who healed it in a jiffy while the crusader in front of me continued on with her speech. "We stood up for you at the guild for a reason, Jack. You're different, yes, in your own way – and positively brilliant to boot! But you're also a person who operates with the best of intentions. You may not ever admit it to yourself, but your heart is bigger than you let on."

"N-no it's not! It's greedy and black like my soul, you-you-you dumb perv!" I spat hastily, feeling the inexplicable urge to cry that was taking all my willpower to not let happen. "I'm not c-crying, YOU'RE crying! Guys aren't supposed to cry, damnit, let alone the bad ones!"

Suddenly, Megumin chimed in from nearby, the young mage offering me a far too kind expression before she began tearing down the walls I worked so hard to put up since coming to this world. "Jack, you're the only person I've ever met who's even bothered to entertain the notion of letting me join, even after I told you how I only use one spell. It's only fair that I do everything in my power to help you when you need it, which you certainly did back at the guild. Like Darkness said, there's a reason we stood up for you when everyone else backed down!"

"That…that didn't mean anything though!" I insisted, though a small voice in the back of my head was telling me otherwise. "The only reason I bothered to let you in was because I needed more bodies at the time! I-it was all purely for my immediate gain, so shut up!"

"Truthfully, I didn't have much confidence that I'd ever be accepted into your party either, or any party for that matter," Darkness admitted, only the slightest tinge of red in her cheeks as she somehow managed to keep her composure better than me. "Given my...err, faults, I fully expected to be shut out and turned down endlessly. Though reluctant at first, you accepted me nonetheless, and not once did you threaten to kick me out despite my obvious shortcomings. I am eternally thankful for that, you know."

"N-no…" I weakly challenged, the black rings surrounding my vision growing with each passing second. "I never threatened to kick you out because…because I knew you'd be into that! In fact, I think you once said you'd be fine with me abandoning you! J-just let me get back to my tools so I can replace you and fulfill that stupid fantasy – NO, WAIT, I don't want to give you the satisfaction! Fuck!"

Aqua stepped up, crossing her arms as she spoke but getting the words out all the same. "Jack, I know you and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but the truth is...the fact that you've stayed by my side for so long considering how...temperamental I can be is really sweet of you. Honestly, you've been fairly patient with me in the grand scheme of things, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate it. I may not be the brightest torch in the room, but I appreciate that you're willing to work with me anyway. Thank you..."

Now that made me freeze completely. Aqua said that…Aqua, the scatterbrained demigod who – in spite of her low INT – should at least be smart enough to hate me forever…Aqua said that! I…I have no words…

It was at that moment that the girls did the last thing I could have possibly expected from them: the three of them huddled around me and, while offering me the first genuine embrace I'd felt in years, assured me with soft words that they would never abandon me like the people who came before. That they'd stay by my side through hell or highwater.

And just like that, the floodgates came a-bursting.

That's right, I ugly-cried for what had to be like the second(?) time since coming to this world, not counting the several dozen minor episodes I've had over the course of my journey thus far. So much for that personal vow I made back on Earth; looks as though I'm destined to be a crybaby through and through. But strangely enough, as disappointed as I was in myself at that realization…it actually felt kinda good in this one instance. Yeah, I know, it's weird for me to say, but for some reason this cry in particular felt…cathartic if that's the right word.

In fact, I think the only other time I had a cry this good was when the girls comforted me after the incident with...the...Winter Shogun…

…oh shit, this was what it was like to have real friends who support you, wasn't it? I mean, what the girls were doing right now was almost beat-for-beat what the JackBots would do whenever they sensed I was upset back home. So that must mean these ladies truly do care about me as though they were my bots, right? Like, they're not just idiots who don't know any better, they honestly give a rat's ass about Jack Spicer, right?

…

I returned the hug tenfold. To hell with the 3-second rule, it was a stupid one to begin with. I should be allowed to hug people and things I care about for as long as I want. Screw you if you think that's weird and creepy!

To my unending surprise, the girls didn't object to me hugging them back either. For that span of time, we really did just stand there, my teammates offering me more comfort than I probably deserved. At one point, Darkness handed me a handkerchief to blow my nose with, and once I finished, I kinda just...offered it back to her. She looked utterly confused, but Megumin and Aqua actually managed a few laughs over it, so it could have been worse.

After deciding that I'd just hold onto it for a bit, I ran over a hand over my red-hot face and groaned. "Oogh…why am I such a train wreck…? In fact, just why in general?"

"I don't think any one of us are properly equipped to answer either of those questions," Megumin chuckled lightly, before bumping my shoulder and offering me an encouraging smile. "If it's any consolation, though, you're really not that bad of a train wreck. More like a...semi-train wreck!"

"Really regret teaching you about locomotives now," I actually managed to chuckle, slowly but surely regaining a sense of my cool. However, that faltered slightly when I went to dry my hands and got black smudges on my fingertips. "…uh, does anybody have eyeliner on them? Girls carry makeup all the time, don't they?"

Darkness opened her mouth, potentially to refute the statement and its implications, before Aqua did just as I requested, handing me the eyeliner with little pause and offering the bewildered crusader a short shrug. "What? It pays to be prepared! Sometimes you need a bit of a touch up!"

I very quietly snorted at the girl's viewpoint on being prepared as I carefully redid the villainous cosmetic "scars" under my eyes with the HeliBot's extended mirror arm. Once I was satisfied enough with my handiwork, I retracted the mirror and handed the eyeliner back to Aqua, who nodded in thanks. I then took a breath and said what had to be on everyone's mind at the moment (or at least my mind).

"So…even though I'm a bisexual, evil teen genius who wants to rule the world with an army emotional robots with saw blades for fingers…you three still you want to be my friends? Like, you're seriously willing to overlook all of that just for me?"

"Of course we are, Jack! It doesn't matter who or what you are, we're in this together, all the way to the max!" Aqua assured me happily, before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially. "By the way, I wouldn't worry about the whole 'being bi' thing if I were you. People are actually pretty open about their sexualities in this world! Hell, I'm like seventy-five percent sure that Eris is bi...okay, maybe like sixty. Point is, you're not gonna be lynched, I promise."

"…wow, really?" I asked, truly stunned by the reveal that a medieval world like this one didn't frown upon LGBTQ. "That's…surprisingly progressive. I'd thought for sure this place wouldn't tolerate my tastes given my own world's history. Well, uh…y-yes, I like guys and girls. Have a slight preference for guys, but either is fair game. So…now you know."

"Now we know!" Aqua parroted pleasantly, coaxing a short burst of laughter from me. "And since we're all sharing, I like to think Megumin's type is someone with an 'explosive' personality, Darkness' is whoever or whatever can hit her the hardest, and mine is a mystery! So there, nice and fleshed-out guesses!"

I looked over to the crusader and mage, both of whom appeared be equal parts embarrassed and confused. "This...this is what friends do, right? Guess each other's preferences? I mean, Dark, you're obviously comfortable enough with us to share your fantasies, so is this just standard protocol? M-Bomb?"

"I...can't say I've ever done this with my other friends, no." Megumin admitted quietly, scratching her cheek before snapping her fingers with an expression of realization. "Oh, but we have compared what spell is our favorite to cast, so maybe it's like that!"

"Well, I have no frame of reference, so let's go with that," I stated simply before swinging my hands idly as I thought about my next set of words. "Oookaaay, um…how about, for now, we put a pin in all of this, save for it for later, and think about what in the blue blazes we're going to do now. I'm still all in for making a hidden, underground lair in this abandoned dungeon. That should at least give us a place to hide until we can come up with a solid plan to get out out of this pickle."

"Actually, sir, I believe there is something we need to discuss before we continue the excavation efforts." BB-B0B intoned from behind me, prompting another girlish shriek out of me as I nearly jumped out of my boots before whipping around to face him. "Sorry 'bout that, sir. I didn't want to interrupt. You seemed...predisposed."

"Holy crap, dude, give me a bit of a warning next time! Yeesh!" I breathed while clutching my chest. Once the adrenaline rush wore off, however, I noticed something off about B0B. Something that wasn't there before when I last spoke with him. "I'm sorry...but is that Megumin's eyepatch you're wearing? Where'd you find that?"

"I retrieved it from the guild hall some days ago. I thought it would make for an excellent way to differentiate myself amongst my brothers," B0B supplied, before adding on after a short, almost awkward pause. "That...and one of my photoreceptors was damaged during the digging process...so yeah."

I stared down at the bot skeptically, like the doting father that I was to my boys. I had to admit, B0B did make it work, even if it did make him look somewhat like a pirate construction worker when combined with his yellow hardhat.

I glanced back over at the original owner of the eyepatch. "You cool with Bob burrowing it? At least until I get his eye repaired?"

"Honestly, he kinda rocks it. Besides, it's not like I was using it anymore." Megumin replied with a thumbs up and a small smile. "Lookin' good, Bob! If you ever want any more Crimson Demon garb, let me know! I may not be as good of a tailor as Chekera is back at the village, but I'm pretty sure I can stitch together some stuff of my own!"

"Thank you, ma'am! I think some of my brothers would love to take you up on that offer, actually!" B0B replied with a tip of his hardhat before going back to address me. "Anyway, like I was saying, we had to halt the excavation efforts for two reasons. The first being that the mural we were tearing down actually leads into an already built secret staircase downward. The second is…well, we found something down there after sending a scout to investigate the new area."

"You're being awfully mysterious about this, Bob, and you know I don't like mysteries. What exactly do you mean by 'something'?" I asked, genuinely confused by just what the bot could be referring to. "What did the scout report?"

"A fancy, ornate, unopened treasure chest sitting in an empty room all by itself," The BuilderBot reported diligently, though with slight hesitation in his vocal patterns. "It seemed off to me and the others, so we chose not to mess with it until we notified you first. What are your orders, sir?"

I frowned at the thought of an ancient mystery box, a subject that felt all too familiar, but as I glanced around and noticed the spark of curiosity on each of the girl's faces, I knew better than to try and argue. With a quiet huff, I motioned to Bob and nodded.

"Take us there, I guess."

Saluting, the automaton motioned for us to follow as he led the charge. As the girls and I kept up with B0B, we saw all the other BuilderBots hovering idly around the construction sites, just as confused as we were about the unexpected developments. Sure enough, the mural wall I ordered to be knocked down did reveal a previously hidden stairwell (so I guess that'll make building a second lab a lot easier on my end).

We descended the stairs, with the only sound of B0B's propulsion jet gliding him down the steps. After making it down without any complications for once, we found ourselves in a suspiciously wide open room with an even more suspicious fancy black and gold treasure chest sitting atop an altar at the far end of the hall.

I had a bad feeling about this…and not the good kind.

Yup, it's official, I'm going off the rails here. I'm a god dang maniac, somebody apprehend me!

So, yeah, I thought this would make for an interesting "Season 2 Premiere". Thought it was in-character enough for someone like Jack as well. As for the girls, well...I understand how some might view their reactions to his breakdown as a little OOC, but my reasoning is because Jack's been comparably more lax/lenient towards than Kazuma in Konosuba canon, then they would treat the situation with a little more reverence. I mean, we're what, 19 chapters into this story? I figured that was enough time for character growth to happen. Idk.

Overall, I think I'm satisfied with how this chapter came out. Jack's breakdown COULD be seen as melodramatic, but then again he is a melodramatic villain at heart, so maybe that's a boon. But that's just me, feel free to voice your thoughts in the reviews! Hope I'm not jumping the shark, and thanks yet again to Megapanda25 for lending his chops to my story!