All rights are reserved to their respective owners. I own nothing in this piece of fiction except my OCs and the story itself.
POINT!
"Oh wow. Look, guys. It's him. I totally didn't see that one coming." Gris flatly exclaimed as he pointed to the posed CPU Candidate.
"Are you the one they call Future Heart?" Nepgear asked, her eyes staring into his.
"So you're this Nepgear lass I've been hearing about. Worked up quite the reputation, haven't we?" A brow raised as an entertained snort was made from the green god.
"O-Oh, I'm not that famous. I'm just doing what needs to be done to save our sisters." Planeptune's CPU Candidate affirmed her humility and mission simultaneously.
"Get down from there! You'll fall off, you dumbass!" An engineer yelled as they came to the ship, fearing for his safety.
SLIDE!...
...FLOAT!
"Oi! Relax." He said as he laterally floated off of the ship's surface area, into the air as gasps from the people on the ground, sans the knowledgable as the staff began shouting in disbelief.
"He's flying!"
"How?!"
"Bwoi ain't no way, bwoi."
"He can fly without processors? What kind of CPU is he?!" Uni was surprised, her eyes looking at his muscular back, devoid of any flight processors.
"One that's built different." Future Heart folded his arms as he closed his eyes.
"Built stupid more like." Nebula commented.
"That's OP as hell, I call hax." He complained.
"You literally have the superior manipulation compared to me. You tell Sir Issac Newton to piss off and never come back. If I'm hacking, you're exploiting." Reminded the flying deity.
"Hate to say it, but he's got you beat there." AL shrugged in agreement.
"Nerf Nebula!" Domio went along with the jist of the decision.
"Hey! I need to be at full capacity! The weaker I get, the more screwed we are. I'm a powerhouse, you know." His thumb pointed to his face.
"But you don't look like a house or strong." Ram squinted her eyes at him with a small smirk.
'THE FUCK YOU JUST SAY TO ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT, I'M BUILT LIKE A BRICK SHITHOUSE- She's a child... Let it go... You are above reacting to her.' Nebula's mind raved before simmering down, as he looked at her sister.
"I don't think youre supposed to take it that literally, Ram..." Rom pondered.
"Why not? He's just a dummy, anyway-"
ドドドド!
SHINE...!
A singular orange glow from the blue CPU's darkened eye shined as he stared down at the rambunctious child.
"T-T-That's not gonna work a second time, y'know! Big sis is way scarier than a dummy like-"
TWITCH!
GRAVITY!
RIPPLE!...
ゴゴゴゴ!
Gravity became present around his hand, rippling the air as his fingers twitched akin to a certain metal hand from a person Kars knew.
This put the fear of the True Goddess into the outgoing twin, the effects unfortunately even stretching to Rom as it was a truly traumatic experience for the two.
"Hey, Neb. Put the appendage down. They've already been traumatized enough the last time." Nepgear lowered the CPU's hand.
"Fine. But talk crap to my face again and you're going on the gyrotational merry-go-round." A final warning was distributed before his face returned to normal as he looked back to the 'new' CPU.
"Anyways, what brings you here, Future? I'm sure nothing's going on right now, so why choose to reveal yourself?" AL went with the predisposed characteristics of Vergo's façade.
"Yeah, what gives?" Blinx asked, genuinely curious.
"I have to run damage control on Leanbox. Even though the battle was won, there's no doubt in my mind it has casualties, property damage and the national budget alone isn't gonna be able to cover all of the resulting problems from the fight." Explained the eerily similar to Green Heart deity.
"Is that so? It sounds like you're the candidate with how much thought you put into Leanbox's condition." Uni raised a brow, not buying the unaffiliated status that the CPU gave.
"His appearance is strikingly similar to Lady Green Heart. It would be more peculiar if he wasn't related in some fashion." Cave also shared the mini tsundere's sentiment.
"How could he not be? He's the spitting image!" Lady Wac found it odd as she proclaimed the identical appearance.
Future Heart began to internally sweat, his alibi being questioned based on his appearance, the one thing he was trying to avoid.
LAND...!
"The resemblance is indeed uncanny, but I am not related to her." He lied, trying to reinforce his position.
"To be fair, you do look like an R63 version of her." Mister Chief raised his sign.
"Bloody 'ell." Facepalmed the CPU Candidate.
"Tell us one reason why we should believe that." Uni folded her arms, her eyes narrowing. The way the guys reacted on the ship was conspicuous enough, even though they provided sufficient evidence to be alleviated of suspicion. But she wanted a valid response that was better than on the ship to at least let herself believe the entire spiel.
'Uni, you're really busting my bullocks here. But I'll give you a reason alright...!' The time traveler became exasperated at the tenacity of the refusal to believe his story but had something that would be irrefutable.
"My eyes." He answered.
"Your...Eyes?" Domio was lost. He understood the premise, but not the connection.
"What do your eyes have to do with you not being related to Lady Green Heart?" 343 also became miffed with the reasoning.
"All CPUs and CPU Candidates have power signals for eyes. This is common knowledge for all Gamindustrimen, is it not?" Future Heart asked.
"Yes." Nebula answered.
"Correct." Gris agreed.
"That's right," Nepgear affirmed.
"Uh-huh." Rom nodded.
"Yeah, and?" Ram saw his point but was still mostly unmoved.
"Your point?" Uni pressed, in agreement but still not convinced.
"My point being the one thing that separates a CPU from a Candidate, even without having to prove that they are the leader of a nation." Eluded the god.
"This works for my argument extremely well as my nation was unfortunately destroyed, even if that alone should be enough to confirm my identity." He technically told the truth, as Leanbox alongside all of Future Gamindustri had been wiped.
"What was the name of your nation?" 343 inquired.
"It was... The name of it was..." Future Heart struggled to come up with a name, knowing he'd sell himself out if he actually gave away the name of his home.
"..." So he put on a melancholy face, remembering the events that led up to his departure from the future.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I can't bring myself to say its name. It brings up bad memories even thinking about it and reminds me that I'm a failure to my people. It's the reason I protect Leanbox after all." He digressed.
"Oh..." Moru took his words at face value.
"Sorry for bringing it up." Nepgear's face became said, alongside Rom's.
"Why Leanbox, though?" Cave was curious, albeit her face stayed neutral.
"I don't want this country to suffer the same fate as it, just like it almost did just mere hours ago. It also reminds me of its appearance, so I find it natural that I'd make a sort of unconscious attachment to it."
Future Heart explained, not lying about that insert at all.
"How noble." Grid sniggered.
"It warms the heart." AL mockingly phrased.
"You want a tissue, Future?" A crumpled-up tissue was offered to the sad CPU.
SMACK...!
"Piss off!" Comical anger was present on the green god's face as the adventurer has one of comical surprise as his tissue was slapped to the side.
"Where were we?... Right. Their eyes. More specifically, their pupils." A finger was raised in explanation.
"The power signal pupils?" Questioned AL. "What about them?" This show of ignorance was true, as he was as interested as he was out of the loop.
"I'll need a CPU Candidate to transform to have a live representation describe the difference. Can one of you do so?" He asked of the CPU Candidates.
"I'll do it-" Nepgear, being the person she was, volunteered to step up.
"No, Nepgear. Let me." Uni, surprisingly enough, also put herself in the position.
"Both of you wanna do it...?" Poona observed."
"How do we decide?" Ram looked to the group before her sister voiced her piece.
"We can't have both of them transform, right? That would be too much." Pointed out the blue twin as she inquired.
"It wouldn't, Rom." Future Heart replied, the girl being called by her name causing her to look to him with her sister.
"This way, they can both see what I'm referring to since if only one of them transformed, that person wouldn't be able to see the point I'm trying to make." Elaborated the god.
"Alright." Nepgear was on board.
"Sure." Uni was also with the program.
"Access!"
TRANSFORM!
TRANSFORM!
Pillars of light shot up from the goddesses as their CPU fos graced the area.
"There. We did it." Purple Sister notified the seemingly elder CPU.
"Now tell us what's so different between you and us." Black Sister wanted to get to the bottom of it as quick as possible as she glared up at him.
"The power signal of a CPU's pupils is a dead giveaway that they are one, regardless of their nationality or status, where sister or leader." The future deity began.
"But what might not be as noticeable upon first glance, is the fact that a Candidate's eyes are incomplete." Future Heart revealed.
"Incomplete?" Nebula turned his head to the side with that tidbit.
"What do you mean by that?" Cave wanted a more elaborate response.
POINT!
"The curve underneath the vertical line in the middle of the iris. CPUs such as myself usually have the complete curve, since we were either born as such or matured to that state due to inheriting the nation, or some other means." The divine male explained, leaving the last part unknown for his ambiguity. He even pointed to his eye to prove his point.
"He's right!" Ram exclaimed with widened eyes upon further inspection.
"Yeah...!" Rom was equally shocked as the two stared.
"That's really cool, now that I look at it." Domio looked at the pupils of his friend.
"And what about the Candidates?" Blinx brought it up.
"CPU Candidates, however, have incomplete power signals with the arch being only half done. If I were the CPU Candidate of Leanbox, my power signal would be incomplete and I'd probably be frail with how much death and destruction would be present not to mention already being here." Finished the future god as the transformed goddesses looked at each other.
"...!" Nepgear and Uni's eyes widened with surprise as what he said was true. Their power signals were indeed incomplete.
"He's got you best there, Uni." AL pointed out as he was convinced, although already being on the time traveler's side, to begin with.
"My word. How analytical." Lady Wac was impressed with the ability to pinpoint a usually overlooked characteristic in the CPUs.
"Do you believe him now, Unicycle?" A trolling expression befell the face of Nebula as he grinned at the Lastation CPU Candidate.
"...Shut up, Nebula." She refused to look at him, her gaze breaking from Nepgear as she folded her arms with an embarrassing blush, not willing to react.
"Heheheh." Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the pseudo protagonist looked proud of his attempt.
"Well, since that's said and done, why don't we get to an area more suited for the discussion of what our next action will be with the fate of Leanbox." Yvoire, who had been silent for the entire time, made his voice known.
REVERT!
"Yes, we'll get to it immediately!" Nepgear showed a determined face as she reverted from her goddess state.
REVERT!
"Fine." Uni was compliant as the group walked to the hanger exit.
"Didn't illicit a reaction from the tsundere with that nickname. I will admit, that was impressive." Gris showed a hint of respect in his voice.
"What can I say? Their archetype isn't convoluted, just tiresome." Snickered the fellow CPU.
"Let's see if you can provide the same level of productivity in the upcoming discussion." Kars challenged, his tone condescending.
"Oh, please. Black Sister and paperwork are both flat, white, and have been encountered before. It's not like I'm burning through brain cells or anything." Compared the adventurer.
"That was wild-" AL stifled a laugh as his eyes bugged.
"I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU BIG JERK!" Noire's sister fumed as she yelled, her face even redder with a mix of anger and embarrassment as a laugh was her response.
"After an extensive scan, numerous eye reports, and satellite footage, more than 80% of Leanbox has been directly impacted by the battle, with 40% of the damages being beyond repair, with numerous important structures having to be completely rebuilt from the ground up." A military informant gave the collateral damage scale behind the screen as the briefing room was filled up even more.
"Eighty percent!? That's basically destroyed, besides the odd office building." AL voiced, his face losing some color as he stared at the pictures being shown on the projected picture alongside everyone else.
"Maybe if you all moved the battlefield out of the country, then the numbers wouldn't be so high." Chika, who was now in the room as healing magic was performed on her and the military personally transported their Oracle to HQ, now sat beside the flame user as her legs were crossed, glaring at him whilst pointing an accusing finger.
"We did! You try moving someone who can stop time and just go back, Chika. Coming from the woman who fainted halfway through the fight." AL defended his friends as he called out the greenette.
"Hey! I was stressed!" She stressed.
"WE ALL ALMOST DIED!-"
"Relax, AL." Mr. Mūten, on a phone call on speaker from his grandson's phone, spoke as his voice was a bit robotic.
"Yes, old man." Sighed the fighter as he let the briefer continue.
"What about the casualties?" Gris wanted to know, as having even an estimated kill count made the scale of damage clearer. His person was sat as he was situated to the back.
"We're still unsure as it is assumed that most were in the buildings as the battle raged, but from the destroyed debris and unaccounted for hospital records in the safe zones, it could potentially be in the millions." A serious tone came from the briefer.
"Millions... He said m-millions..." Yvoire's will wavered at the potential death toll.
Future Heart's eyes darted to the old man before back to the briefer. He stood as his person was near Cave.
"How long is the estimated time until Leanbox is in a somewhat recovered state?" The CPU's question was not left unanswered.
"Even if we were to factor potential funds from other nations, the rebuilding process may still take a decade to complete at the very least. If we are to return to his things were the day before, possibly even another."
"20 freaking years! By the time Leanbox is up and running again, I'll be in a mid-life crisis...!" Grimaced a sitting Nebula as Domio spoke next.
"Isn't there any way we can speed up the process? ASIC might not wait before doing something crazy while you guys are trying to rebuild." The juvenile Loweean gave a very valid point.
"We already have some of their underlings in custody, so I do see the young one's point." Cave was also in agreement with the ice mage's view.
"Our communication systems were compromised due to the power plant being destroyed during the DIO Disaster. The only reason the base even has power is due to our auxiliary generators." Explained the briefer as Future Heart, AL, and Nebula all sent a dull glare to Gris, who closed his eyes in apathy.
"How unfortunate." Voiced the assassin as the looks were placed off of him as he looked back to the screen, unmoved in an apathetic tone.
"So, that means that we to wait until communications are back online before we even start the rebuilding process? Wait, how much does the rebuilding cost?" Nepgear asked, wanting to know the price that had to be paid.
"As of now, with numerous financial advisors' educated speculations, we clock in just shy of 1 quadrillion Credits."
"ONE WHAT!" Blinx nearly fell off his chair at the ludicrous price. "I can't even count that high!" His face was in monetary despair.
"How many zeros does 1,000,000,000,000 have, Rom?" Ram, unaware of the value asked her sister.
"... I don't think you want to know the answer to that question," AL told the child.
"C'mon, it can't be that big. Tell me!" Persisted the pink twin. AL had to endure not snickering in front of the child, as did Nebula.
"It's 12, Ram." Domio, in a surprising show of mathematical literacy, answered the younger child's question.
"Not your age, the number dummy!" Laughed the pink twin.
"Uh, Ram. That's not his just his age." Rom clarified.
"Hahahaha...Wait... You serious?" The youngest Lowee sister asked after her laughing calmed down.
"There's gotta be a more cost-efficient and less time-consuming way to repair Leanbox." Poona wanted to believe in a better way to fix the country.
"I don't think we can shortcut our way out of this one." Uni shook her head.
"I just wanted some help to find the Mascot. Now I'll need some help paying off all the national debt from this catastrophe." Groaned Chika, still trying to digest the enormous monetary cost.
"May the gods of finance have mercy on our souls." Yvoire's voice wavered as his hands cradled his head.
"Oh, come on. Isn't there any way we can speed this up?" Pouted the adventurer. "I refuse to believe the plot would leave us high and dry!" A fist flew into the air, as a meta beckoning was at hand.
"You can't just ask the story to get us out of this situation." Denied Gris as he looked up from his phone. "We need wit, luck, and plot convenience, not whatever Deux Ex Bullshit you're trying to pull." Explained the silver-haired warrior.
"Not too much though. Or that would be a major asspull. Like I'm talking narrative wedgie action, here." AL gestured.
"Can you two stop being meta for 2 minutes? No amount of out-of-character behavior will aid our cause." 343 deadpanned.
"Right. So, uh... Not to be that guy but I might have a way we can save Leanbox from both financial and collateral ruin." Blinx raised his hand as all turned to him.
"You do?" Moru was most intrigued with the fellow feline's idea.
"I do. The only problem is, I can't do it by myself." The cat presented the problem.
"Well let's hear the part you can do by yourself," Cave spoke to the bipedal cat.
"I have this Time Crystal here, it's the Rewind Crystal." He started as he pulled out the orange stone.
It retained its shape, but it suffered a large crack thay went towards its center as it glowed.
"It can rewind time by twenty seconds. But it has a crack. I don't know the exact effects of a cracked Time Crystal, but it's been said that they can get a bit wonky." The temporal feline stated.
"Describe wonky." Gris was very aware of what time could do if left unchecked with his own experience with it, so he focused on the importance of understanding the potential hiccups.
"Based on what I've heard, the radius becomes pretty random, going from a few feet to a few megaparsecs."
"The heck is that?" Ram was once again ignorant.
"You're better off not knowing." Nebula told the CPU Candidate.
"It also affects how long it can go back to. I can try to control the radius, but I don't have much control over it once it goes off. That's where you guys come in." Blinx looked to the group.
"What do you want us to do?" Uni, ever skeptical, asked the Time Sweeper.
"I don't think anyone here is capable of sealing the crack but since you guys are all basically gods and goddesses amongst men, we can compensate for that." The cat eluded.
"Mind telling us how?" Future Heart wanted something more tangible.
"Theoretically, if you channel enough of your share energy to fill the crack, it should stabilize the influx of temporal energy and safely rewind the continuum. But we have to put enough energy so that the timeline doesn't revert by a few seconds, rather than some hours, and also make sure not to reverse the events too far, as excess energy may send us back further than necessary." In a show of striking intellect, the temporal cat explained what needed to be done.
"Not to be rude, but repeating yourself in English might let us have a better understanding of what you just said." Mister Chief raised the sign, in courtesy of the not theoretical scientifically literate, as well as the younger members present.
"Oh, uh, sorry. Forgot you guys aren't with the Sweepers." A sweatshop with a smile was given as compensation from the feline.
"I understood, so I'll tell you lesser intelligent beings." Kars, who was also standing walked forward, confidence oozing from his tone of voice.
"You're acting like you're the only one that understood." Future Heart sent a dull glare. Figures he'd get the memo since he'd dabbled in time travel himself.
"Since I can explain it to the rest of you, it doesn't matter if you registered the words or not since my words will enlighten all of your puny minds." Condescendance radiated from the Ulitmate Life Form.
"Puny?! Take that back, you big dummy!" Ram was insulted, shock becoming infuriation.
"That was mean..." Rom's mood plummeted, as a consoling back rub from Domio was the only thing preventing her from tearing up.
"Then go ahead and tell us, since you're so smart, then." Uni also glared at the alien warrior.
"Grace us with your mighty nigh-omniscience, o transcendental one." Even Cave managed to make fun of the alien life form as her serious tone had developed a taste of sarcasm, even her straight face not hiding it.
"The pussycat desires for all with divine blood to channel their energy into the stone. Not too little as to render the effects irrelevant, but not too much as to send you to a different period." Explained the alien.
"So, we have to find the exact amount in one attempt, not knowing how far that'll take us back, how big the radius will be, as well as only having one shot before something happens to the crystal?" 343 laid down the requirements and restrictions.
"You heard me, didn't you? Or are your ears filled with wax?" Eyerolled the alien as the general growled at him.
"At least you made it even simpler to understand, 343." AL gave her the bright side of her perceived ignorance to the Ultimate Life Form's explanation.
"Where should we even do this? If we do it here, the effects may be disastrous, as well as rewinding the only intact sector of Leanbox into the 2D Age or something, including all of us with it." Lady Wac speculated as she wanted to minimize the things that could go wrong.
"True, we should probably move this to a place that can most impact the worst affected areas of the nation," Chika suggested.
"That would definitely put the strain off of the finances if it manages to succeed," Yvoire spoke. "But we cannot undermine the risks of such an action." He reminded the others.
"I don't wanna do anything drastic either, but do we really have another alternative? It seems like it's too good to be true, but I can't think of any other ways that have such a high payoff, even if it is incredibly dangerous." Nepgear wanted an alternative with at least comparable effect but struggled to think of one.
"Can't we just use magic to fix Leanbox?" Domio asked.
"I've studied the texts and scriptures, but to my knowledge, there isn't a spell that exists capable of reversing the damage of this extent. At least, without serious consequence." Kars told the fellow magic user.
"Consequences such as?" Mr. Mūten's voice questioned.
"Oh that's rather simple, the revival of the dead into the undead via necromancy, the fixed buildings gaining sentience and attacking akin to enraged golems through extremely advanced geomancy, and the structural removal of all the craters while reshaping the entire island through a widespread incantation, I could go on." Listed the Ultimate Life Form.
"Yeah, magic might get us into a bigger pit." Nebula crossed out the option.
"Hey!" Rom and Ram, while understanding why it wasn't used, was still somewhat offended at their main utility being thrown out the window.
"So it's really up to a weathered temporal mineral crystal to get us out of this mess... Only in Gamindustri." Gris sighed before cracking his fingers.
"Didn't you absorb one of them?" Future Heart raised a brow.
"I never said it wouldn't work, just that it's what we're expecting to work." A finger of clarification was raised from the hired killer.
"Ain't that the truth." Mister Chief raised his sign in earnest.
"So how about this." The pseudo protagonist proposed an idea. "We go to the intersecting point between Southern, Eastern, and Western Leanbox and activate the stone there." He spoke.
"In that instance, when the area of effect expands, all affected structures are rewinded back to their former glory if the rewinding process goes back far enough and we're the furthest from Northern Leanbox while still being the closest to the other sectors for the damages to be repairs. The CPU continued, getting some to look at each other in pondering.
"And since time is the medium being used, all the bodies we haven't found are revived and returned to where they were before DIO emerged. Sure, they'll be ignorant of what happened, but I'm sure some filling in wouldn't be too much trouble via public service announcement." Constructed a plan, the god did.
"But what about the officials? They would be none the wiser if they were left out of the loop if time rewinded, and might even outright deny our efforts to save Leanbox even if it does work." AL brought up.
"Then we bring them too. Just have everyone needed to be brought to the place that time will be rewinding from. I'm sure there's some kind of measure put in place to leave us out of the effect, right?" He, alongside everyone else, looked to Blinx.
"I mean, not conventionally. If someone who could manipulate time erected a shield that was able to block out the effects within a set radius to omit everyone within it from the Crystal, that could work." Offered the cat.
"Done," Gris stated, getting everyone to look to him instead.
"Wait... Really?" Even Blinx was taken aback.
"I can slow the effects of time, speed up the effects of time, STOP time, and you think putting up a barrier that stops the effects of time is too much? How insulting." A small smirk graced his lips as general astonishment was present in the room.
"In that case, I suggest we just round up the higher-ups, the soldiers involved in the disaster, able-bodied civilians, and Basilicom staff to the proposed rendezvous point before we start the operation," Cave added to the blue CPU's plan.
"Seems legit." Domio was ok with the plan.
"When will we enact this course of action?" The briefer queried.
"Anyone got the time?-"
"8:30 AM." Mr. Mūten's voice announced the time as Moru's question was answered.
"Then midday should be sufficient to find all the remaining surviving civilians, and gather the necessary personnel for the event at hand." Yvoire decided as he got up.
"I'll search for survivors." Future Heart volunteered, as he would use his energy-sensing capabilities to pinpoint and rescue any trapped or otherwise compromised civilians.
"I'll help!" Domio offered.
"Me too! Me too!" Moru eagerly accepted the prospect of tracking down citizens with her senses.
"I will also offer my assistance." Cave lent her aid to the green CPU Candidate.
"Getting everyone to the necessary area will be my job." Chika gave herself the task.
"I'll be happy to help with that. I'll help you, Miss Chika." Nepgear was happy to help.
"Yeah, we'll help out with that, too!" Ram excitedly accepted.
"Yup!" Smiled Rom, as she closed her eyes in excitement.
"I guess to strengthen the bonds between nations, I could help out with that, as well." Uni also gave her assistance to the cause.
"I'll go get IF, Compa and Nisa. I think they should be here, for the very least." Nebula opted as he got up and stretched.
"I gotta get our stuff too, so I'll be tagging along." AL also decided to travel with the adventurer god.
"I have to sharpen the duration, radius, and effectiveness of this shield. I'll use my Electromagnetic Barrier as a basis and go from there." Devised Gris as he got up.
'Witnessing that training session may give me ideas for my abilities. But also knowing more about the hierarchy of the nation may aid me in my in-depth integration into Gamindustri...' Kars picked up as he was thinking about what to do.
"I'll announce the news to the soldiers." 343 told the group.
"I'll help you group them." Poona offered.
"Same here." Lady Wac was ready to assist. "Just put some sweet baskets with my payroll." She reminded.
"I'll be in the intersection, waiting." Blinx gave them his location.
"I'll provide security for the little guy." Raised the sign as Mister Chief was ready to throw bullets at any aggressors.
DEACTIVATE!
"That about settles it." The briefer stated as they turned off the holographic projector.
"Be off to your tasks, while I contact the officials that they're being transported," Yvoire told the group as it was split as persons left the room.
As the characters left, the security guards conversed with one another.
"This sounds risky." The one on the left spoke to his colleague.
"...Yeah." The guard agreed as she looked around, making sure that no one except the guard was focused on her. "It's not guaranteed to work either."
"Still better than nothing, though." The left guard admitted.
"True. My shift's over, so I'll be going now." The woman told her colleague as he nodded.
"Make sure you're by the intersection, alright." He told her before she nodded, eyes meeting before they looked away.
Unbeknownst to him, she wasn't coming back.
As the last person being Lady Wac excited the room, so did the guard as she tailed the Commander before it closed behind her.
The guard trailed the group, walking past a Nebula that was checking up on a wounded Taleia alongside AL, Cave, and Domio, A bickering Future Heart and Chika with something to do with his eerie resemblance to her goddess, Mister Chief and Blinx discussing the Rewind Crystal.
Also whilst on her way out of HQ were the CPU Candidates trying ro get her to stop attacking him, as well as the Commanders having their discussion about the events leading up so far. And Kars and Gris bantered about the technique that was now in development for the deadline.
STORE!
Her path brought her to the changing rooms of the barracks, where she got an extra uniform, smaller than her usual one as she also got a leash as she stored the items in her inventory.
And before anyone knew, she found herself in the holding chambers of the imprisonment sector.
She tipped her hat, so as to hide her eyes from the prison officer before her eyes were barely visible as she approached the fellow service member.
"Salutations, officer." The guard greeted her prison counterpart.
"Good day. What brings you here?" Asked the prison guard as she was curious, and needed to record all proceedings.
"I'm here to interrogate the ASIC suspects found at the Basilicom near the time of the incident. The higher-ups want their intentions and plan to prevent another occurrence of this, as DIO's intervention was the event that jump-started it." The security guard explained.
POINT!
"I see. You can use the room over there." The prison guard pointed.
It was a secure interview room, which was currently empty.
"Thank you." The guard gave her gratitude as she walked through the cell corridor.
The prisoners on her isle noticed her presence before eying her, glaring or starting generously as she passed their cell.
She paid no mind to them, as they whistled, swore, and made a commotion as she moved towards her goal.
"Why don't you come closer, babe? Open these bars and we could have a fun time~..."
"I'LL FUCKING KILL ALL OF YOU, GOVERNMENT BASTARDS!-"
"I-I'm innocent, I-I-I swear! Please let me out!"
"Hey, you wanna get me out of here?! I got some can't to bribe you with if you do...?!"
SLAM!
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
These cries fell on deaf ears, as she reached the first cell that she desired, the fellow guards quieting them down by banging their batons in the rails, yelling at them.
"...What the hell do you want?" A beaten-up Underling growled, looking the woman up and down as she had no business speaking to anyone affiliated with the CPUs.
"Yeah, make it quick. I gotta get back to finding a way to get back to seeing my lovely Compa..." Snarked the rat as its effect died down due to his stature.
"And after all the trouble I went to see you. Maybe I should leave you guys in here to rot, like the screw-ups you two are." Spat the security guard with a smirk.
"Shut the hell up! Why do you care about some underling like me?" Shouted Linda as her voice had an edge to it.
"We ain't telling you nothing, you hear, chu! Consider these beans airtight." Warechu's will stayed strong.
"Really? Not even to..."
GRIP!
REVEAL!
"Me?"
The two grunts eyes slowly widened, expecting a big reveal.
"...Who the hell are you supposed to be?" The green-haired grunt's suspension of disbelief died in her eyes as she saw the person before in her life.
"You're off your rocker lady." Dismissed the rat as he gave a dull look.
"Ack! You really don't remember who I am?!" Taken aback by the reactions, the guard had comical saucers for eyes, and her jaw dropped.
"I don't even know who the fuck you are." Underling threw the expletive to highlight her ignorance.
"You gonna leave?" Warechu asked, disregarding the look on her face.
GLOW!
DIM!...
Light came from her person as her features morphed, shifting into a different appearance as her clothes remained the same as Underling and Warechu shielded their eyes.
It dimmed after she looked completely different from before, the woman now waiting for the reactions of the two.
"No wonder you two are in this shithole." A smirk grew on her lips as she reveled in the surprised faces of the imprisoned pair as they looked at her once again.
"Wait... You, chu...?!..." The oversized rat was shellshocked at the person before him.
"What the... Why the fuck are you here?!" The green-haired girl was truly at a loss, the presence before her not making any sense.
Standing at 5'9", was a curvaceous woman with light greyish skin and pointed ears that mirrored the incarcerated goon, with long bright green hair that ran down to her waist before spiking up at the ends. Her red eyes looked between the two as she folded her arms around her D cup physics stress testing bust line.
She wore a dark green security guard hat with the badge on the front of it, a white shirt with the appropriate badge that looked rather tight around her large chest, the button threatening to burst, with a black belt and matching dark green work pants. She wore some black work boots as a pistol and some handcuffs, alongside some keys were present on her waist.
"It's you!" Linda pointed, her eyes widened with shock and apprehension.
"And?..." A look of interest washed upon the lady's face.
"You bitch!" She swore, pointing a finger at her face.
"I'm your big sister, you twat! Show me some respect!" She barked back into the cell, giving off an equal amount of offense.
"Holy smokes! You told me about her, but... I'm not gonna lie, she's kind of hot, chu." Warechu stated his honest opinion.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted that a rodent told me that I look good, so I'll save myself the headache by ignoring that." Her eyes turned back to the younger sibling.
"!" Warechu's heart sank, before sulking in the corner as his compliment was made completely irrelevant.
"You still haven't answered my question, bitch." A mean look with a coarse referral got the older sister to respond in turn.
"Maybe if you stopped being a brat and realize you're in no position to even curse at me from your bad girl box, then I'll be more compliant." Her gaze narrowed as her sharp teeth were bared to her in a grimace.
"Whatever, Linette. You just came here to gloat at me? If you did, kindly piss off." Underling looked away as she revealed the name of her sister.
"I'm starting to think you want to stay in here." She facepalmed before continuing the conversation. "I didn't just come to point out your flaws, Linda. Although from what I've heard, you've been going through that a lot lately." She closed her eyes, a humored smile growing.
"What would you know about that, anyway?!" Underling snarled.
"Do you really want me to answer that question? Because we'll be here until lights out." She deadpanned.
"Just leave already!" The younger sister shooed her sibling.
"Afraid I can't do that, sis." Lynette shook her head before looking at Warechu.
"Why? Is it because you guys are family or some mushy stuff like that, chu?" Mocked the rat mascot.
"No. Because something big is about to happen, and I found enough mercy in my heart to let my flesh and blood and her colleagues be spared." Her tone became somewhat serious.
"What do you mean by that?" Suspicion grew on the oversized rodent's face.
"I'll tell you more on the way out, but first you'll have to put these on."
TOSS!
GRAB!
Underling caught the glowing clothing through the bars.
SMACK!
"Ouch!- The heck, chu?" Warechu stretched out his small hands for some clothes but ended up getting his face smacked with a glowing collar and leash.
"Are these... Clothes?" The ASIC grunt looked at the garbs.
"What the...?! A collar? And a leash?! What kind of BDSM are you into, lady!? I AM NOT A SUB, CHU!..." Reeled the rodent as he DID NOT like the implications of the items that were given to him.
"Well, I mean. There's still the masochist part-"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT EITHER! Why did you even give us these clothes?... Why didn't you give me ANY clothes?!" Warechu asked some questions.
"You don't even wear clothes, rat." A dull glare from Underling made the rodent mascot look at his comrade before his 'accessories' in despair.
"I'm gonna bust you two and your associates outta the dog pound and fill you in on what's happening. But the more you spend arguing about your fetishes, the less time we have." Linette got the two back on track.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Can you at least give me some privacy?" Underling asked of her sisters. "I don't trust those guys on the opposite side of the prison." She pointed as the older sister looked in that direction.
"I haven't seen a naked girl in 5 years... Please pop a tit for me, I'll give you all of my mortal possessions!"
"SHOW ME YO TITTIES BITCH!"
"Ah yes, I humbly request only a small glance at your bountiful mammaries."
"Look man, I'm horny and I need something to beat my-"
"Ok, I see your point." She didn't let the prisoner complete his sentence. "I'll just put up something real quick."
BRIGHTEN...!
LIGHT WALL!
SHINE...!
A wall of light was erected around the three of them spanning a couple of feet from the wall and around the cell bars.
From the outside, it seemed as if a normal conversation was occurring, to both the cameras, the prisoners, and the guards.
DIM..!
Underling's clothes dimmed to reveal a prison guard uniform, previously being a security guard variant that had been tweaked by her sister to mimic the one she saw minutes ago.
Warechu's collar and leash dimmed to reveal... A scuffed collar and leash, that smelled like it had been through some dog water. The rat's reaction to its smell was not pleasant.
"Urk! I think I'm gonna hurl...!" The rat admitted. "Do I really have to wear this?" He questioned the course of action.
"Do you want to get out or not?" Linette replied to the question with another question.
"Fine... This is one of the few times in my life I wanna take a bath after a mission." Groaned the rat as he went to put the collar on his neck.
"You better not look at me while I'm changing, damn rat." Underling warned she took off her hoodie, revealing the back of her ASIC-colored theme bra. It clung tightly, despite there being not much to hold onto, im retrospect.
"You say that like you have anything to look at, broad. I'd probably get more aroused looking at the cell wall, chu." Warechu responded, his eyes closed as he felt for the most comfortable size.
"Shut up!"
KICK!-
DUCK!
"Hey, watch it, chu!" Yelled the rat as he used his large ears to hear the rushing sound of Underling's foot before crouching to avoid the strike.
"Just ignore him. He has a point, anyway." Snorted Linette as her younger sister took off her pants halfway, revealing black boyshorts with the same heart scheme as her top, except the hearts were together, before yelling at her older sister.
"What's that supposed to mean, huh? Leave your big tits outta this, Linette!" She assumed as she held her chest alongside her hurt ego.
"I didn't say anything about them, Linda. You just focused on them because you know that I got all the good genes in the family." She flaunted, motioning to her breast.
"Screw you!" Underling barked, as her sister puffed out her chest.
RIP!-
WOOSH!
"!" The ASIC grunt's eyes widened, alongside Warechu's as the two glanced at the now partially exposed chest of Linette, a sports bra now for the duo to see as her face slowly became redder as a result.
"Oh my, chu." The rat voice dropped uncharacteristically low as a familiar meme was revived.
"You get what your fucking deserve! Bahahaha!" Underling cackled as a half-naked sister had something to laugh about.
GLOW!
REATTACH!
"Quiet, you! Just put on the clothes and hurry up already." The elder sibling lit up the tip of her finger and formed a small disc before pulling her shirt together and inserting it in the groove, buttoning back her shirt as it faded into a new button.
After a short amount of time, Underling was now fitted with a prison guard uniform, still retaining her tomboyish vibe due to several reasons, most notably being her personality as her frame did not help.
"You ready to go, rat? Or should I say, 'Biggie Cheeze' " Underling held back a chuckle as she held the leash that was tied to the rat's neck.
"Not a word, broad. Not. A. Word." Warechu growled, a scowl on his face as he now had a black collar with a dog paw with a barcode under his name, which they found with the aforementioned name, accompanied by a long and secure leash.
"C'mon. I think it's kind of cute." Linette put a hand by her mouth, to hide her amusement from the mouth as she looked at his discomfort with a humorous gaze.
"Cute?! I look like I belong in a kennel, you busty broad!" Comical anger was displayed as he continued his tirade. "Why do I even need a disguise? I still look like me, anyway." The rat became confused.
POINT!
"Almost forgot." She pointed two fingers at him.
PEW!
SHINE!
DIM...!
"Pfft!" Underling struggled to keep it together, as Warechu now had the color scheme of a beagle, down to some of his features shooting from chibi sewer rat to chibi canine familiaris.
"I hate both of you, chu." The now dog-disguised Warechu sent a heated glare that shifted between the two sisters.
"Now how are you gonna get us out of here?" Underling crossed her arms, as she leaned on her foot a bit, tapping the other.
Linette said nothing before inspecting the lock. The keys on her waistband were most likely not going to work with the keyhole before her.
GLOW!
...CLICK!
So she shined a light within the lock, a translucent key forming as it shifted into a key that was able to push the pins within the lock before it made a clicking noise.
"There. It should be able to open." The elder sister assured.
CREAK...!
"Sweet!" Warechu cheered.
"Now what's going on?" Underling asked her sister, her tone making it seem more like an interrogation.
"They're gonna do something that's gonna affect all of Leanbox," Linette replied. "I gotta get you guys out of here before it occurs so that we aren't subject to whatever effects it has." She continued.
"What is it?" The disguised rat asked.
"Something to do with reversing time."
"WHAT?!" Both grunts shouted.
"The main people in the operation aren't even sure if it'll work or not. Leanbox is in shambles and potentially ours for the taking. But the off chance it doesn't work and the entire island is wiped off the face of Gamindustri, I'd rather my only family not get sent back a few centuries." Elaborated the older sister as the dog-like rat closed the gate behind him.
"How are we even gonna get outta here, let alone off of the island, then?" Underling asked her sister.
"Just leave that part to me."
PULSE...!
The taller sibling looked around through her translucent barrier before pinpointing all of the lights in the room as a photo kinetic pulse was sent from her person, unbeknownst to the two beside her.
RAISE!...
GLOW!...
Her hand raised as she focused on her SP. The ceiling, cell, and stairwell lights all glowed slightly brighter. This effect was spread throughout
SNAP!-
DISSIPATE!
BLACKOUT!
ABSORB!
And with a snap of Linette's fingers, the entire facility experienced a severe blackout as her shield dissipated simultaneously as to not give away their position. The dispersed light was instead directed and absorbed into the sister as she dimmed.
"Who turned out the lights!"
"The fuck's going on!"
"What's going on, here!"
"fnaf march of the toreadors-"
"OH SHIT, AUGH-!"
"We got a power outage!"
SLAM!
"Everybody shut up and remain calm!"
GLOW!...
"Come on! we have to get to the other members!" The busty imposter motioned as her pupils glowed.
DEACTIVATE!
The jail cell's locks deactivated as the prisoners were free to roam about, as the guards quickly tried to deter them.
"...! Do NOT leave your cells or we will-" The prison guard was cut off.
"RIOT!"
STAMPEDE!
SCREAMS!
Prisoners of all shapes and sizes burst through the gates as they ran amok through the pathways and corridors, causing a facility-wide prison riot that alerted the entire building.
"Go! Go! Go!" Linette yelled as they began to run towards the end of the aisle.
STEP!
Linette, Underling, and Warechu rushed to the stairwell, but not before they were stopped by a towering prisoner. He stood in their way as the conversation was made.
"Where do you think you guys are going!?
You're gonna miss out on the fun!"
BIFF!
"I don't get paid enough for this shiiiiiit!"
He told them, as he sent a lanky guard over the rails as he screamed/complained about his salary-to-duty ratio.
"We don't care, let us through!" Warechu yelled.
"Shaddap, you mangy mutt! I'm gonna enjoy beating the shit outta people, even if I gotta start with some guy's puny pup like you!" Roared the brolic prisoner.
"I'm a girl, you asshole!" The undercover grunt shouted at him.
"Say that to my face, you musclehead!" The disguised rat mascot did not take that insult lying down, putting his now paws up.
VEIN!
SWING!"That's it, you two are gonna get a couple of knuckle sandwiches-"
KICK!
"My twigs and berries-"
SLAP!
FLASH!-
CRASH!
He balled up and threw his fist towards the closest person to it, being Underling as she put up her arms in a defensive position knowing thay she was going to be feeling the blow in the morning.
But a well-aimed kick to the sack by Linette stunned the occupied prisoner completely as he held the damaged good before receiving a slap that acted like a flashbang before it sent him through the rails, breaking them as he plummeted.
"Woah!" Warechu was surprised by the takedown.
"Let's go!" The elder sibling motioned as they continued to run, reaching the stairs.
They ran down the stairwell as the ASIC grunt asked something.
"Do you even know where the others are?" She questioned her sister.
"I know the floor, not the exact cell placement. I'm not going to hope you know where they are, though. That usually doesn't end well." Linette descended the stairs.
"Hey! I know where they are... Somewhere!"
"On the B2 floor, right-wing, chu." Warechu rattled out.
"How did you-" Both sisters were pleasantly surprised, as he explained the reasoning for the knowledge he had.
"I heard some guards talking about it as they were passing by while this screw-up was taking a nap." The disguised dog enlightened the others.
"Did you really have to make me look that bad, stupid dog- I mean, damn rat." She corrected herself, unknowingly referencing a certain cartoon.
"We at least know where they are. Gather them and get back to the stairwell. I'll buy you time." Linette told them as they ran out of the door and split up, Underling and Warechu going in one direction as she did the other.
The two ASIC rooms attempted to locate the other members as they ran through the chaos.
"Where are you guys?! Can you hear me!?" Linda yelled through the screams of the prisoners and guards alike, her voice barely loud enough to be heard by them.
"We're over here, Linda!" A voice familiar to her yelled, as she barely heard it.
"Where?!" The ASIC grunt yelled.
"Over there!-"
DODGE!
SLAM!
Warechu pointed, before sidestepping out of the way of a collapsed prisoner as his back almost smushed him.
"Yikes!" He yelled, before pointing his paw again as Underling looked at saw them.
They were all huddled, not wanting to leave any of their own to the elements of the riot as their expressions were fear mixed with surprise as they saw the peer.
RUN!
"We gotta get out of here! C'mon!" She motioned as she approached them, stepping on the knocked bodies of the people that were beaten unconscious.
"We can't! There are too many guards down there for us to leave!" They told her as they looked and motioned upwards, for the two to see the guards fortifying the exit with their numbers.
"GET IN YOUR CELLS NOW OR WE WILL SHOOT WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!" Screamed the head guard.
They all had firearms-loaded with rubber bullets, red dots, and night scopes as they were running low on mods due to the DIO Disaster.
"Don't worry about it! We got someone to help us!" Warechu revealed to the group.
"Who?" They all yelled.
FLASH!
"Argh!" Crowds of prisoners dispersed as Linette used her ability and caused a flash of light to expand and caused a photokinetic explosion.
"There!" The guard pointed before her position was filled with red dots.
"Shit!"
DIVE!
GUNFIRE!
She barely managed to dive and dodge the rain of rubber pellets that hit the other guards, sending them to the floor in pain as she ran under the cover of darkness once more.
And up the stairs, she went, back to the ground floor as Underling called the group.
"Come on! This is our chance!" She yelled.
STAMPEDE!
And with that, the other ASIC members ran as a swarm, trampling over the others as Warechu had to keep ahead of them to avoid being stomped under them as well as he and the ASIC grunt rushed up the stairs as well.
"Don't let them get up those stairs!" Shouted the head guard. "Block their exit point, NOW!" He roared as a portion of the guards grouped by the exit, guns at the ready.
GLOW!
Linette found her way up as she quickly glowed, her outfit changing to the prison guard variant.
"Stop right there, criminal sc- Apologies, I thought you were a criminal." A guard misidentified as he saw the get-up of the older sister.
"No worries, just let me help fortify the stairwell, they got at least 50 people on the other stairs." She told him.
"No need to ask me, they need as much help as they can get." He pointed with his thumb before she ran past him.
The disguised guard stopped by the barricade and pulled out her firearm as she aimed down the barrel, hearing the voices of her sister and her allies.
"We're almost there!" Underling's voice was heard, as she neared the top.
"I can taste the freedom, chu!" Warechu shouted as he floated up the stairs with his disguised partner in arms.
"Yeah!" The ASIC goons shouted as they followed closely behind the two, almost at the top of the stairwell.
"AIM!..." The head guard shouted as the cocking of guns was heard as they concentrated on the darkness in the stairwell, only their red dots illuminated the corridor before them.
CLAP!
FLASH!
SMACK!
THWACK!
But before they could fire, Linette slammed her hands together, creating another large flash as the group of guards were blindsided figuratively and literally, she then took the baton on her waist as the gun dropped to the floor before it glowed, slamming the stunned personnel with a light construct baton.
"My eyes!-" They screamed.
"CHARGE!" Underling yelled as she shouldered her way through the disabled wall of blinded security, Warechu sliding under the spaces between their legs as the group of goonies rammed through the rest as Linette just barely got to where the two in front were before she was sucked in the stampede.
"NO! THEY BROKE THROUGH!" The guard the elder sister spoke to yelled.
"FIRE-!"
MORPH!
SLICE!
"Urk!"
PLUMMET!
The head guard was cut off (quite literally) as his chest exploded in blood before he was sent down into the depths, over the railings as he was silenced.
"What-" The assuming guard saw the flash of light in the once perceived friendly take down their leader as his eyes were full with shock and betrayal.
SMASH!
"Gotcha!" Underling yelled as she had taken the railing from before and smacked the guard upside the head, giving him a concussion as he crumpled to the floor.
PUSH!
"The door's open, chu!" Warechu yelled as he pushed open the doors to the exit of the ward.
"We can't let them escape!-"
MORPH!
SLAM!
"Wilhelm scream meme-"
CRASH!
Another guard was dispatched with a light hammer as he was punted to the other side of the prison ward before he was never seen, only a graphic thud sounding from his landing with some bars screeching and echoing.
Soon enough, all the guards were defeated as the three regrouped.
"Did we do it?" Underling was unsure.
"We're not out of the woods, yet. We still have to leave the prison and get to the edge of the island, so that I can call for an escape vehicle." Linette reminded.
"And it does seem really suspicious with two guards leaving with fifty prisoners, chu." Warechu looked at it from an outsider's perspective.
Murmurs of agreement and speculation were heard from behind them as the mob was also thinking of ways to get out.
"What if we just pretend we're all getting transported to a different prison and instead of driving there, we just drive to the edge of Leanbox then get back to HQ?" A voice penetrated the ears of all.
"Who said that?" Linette looked in the group to see who gave them that idea.
STEP ASIDE!
"I did." A hand raised in confirmation. It was a girl with long lilac hair, that went down to her back as a broken red and yellow heart clip on the right side of her hair. Her bangs covered her eyes and she had a sinister smile on her lips as she raised her hand.
She wore a black-themed sailor uniform with purple accents and an N emblem with yellow ribbons. Also, wear pink and white thigh-high socks and black medium-sized boots. Underling and Warechu got a wave of deja vú as they looked at the girl before them.
"And who the hell are you?" The green-haired grunt asked as she became a bit defensive.
"Goodness, that's no way to talk to a friend." She put a hand on her chest, slightly hurt.
"Yeah, I haven't seen you at headquarters before." Warechu's eyes narrowed before. "Are you that CPU broad?" He interrogated.
"Ha!" She laughed. "You thought it was Nepgear, but it was me, Nepugia!" She raised her bangs, to reveal shrunken eyes as she laughed.
All gasped at the revelation.
"I was situated in Planeptune a while back, so that's why you haven't seen me. But I decided to help out in Leanbox before that weird vampire attacked and got thrown in the slammer. I saw you guys were busting out, so I took a chance and it paid off." She lowered her bands as she explained herself.
"So you're going to report back to HQ as well?" Linette asked the imposter member.
"Why yes, I am. Now let's get out of here." The purple poser told them.
"I call shotgun!" Underling called. Her sister was unopposed, so her decision was adhered to.
"Damnit, I wanted shotgun, chu!" Warechu complained.
"You can ride shotgun with me instead if you want." Nepugia offered.
"I would if I didn't have this chain on my neck." He pointed.
TOSS!
GRAB!
"Take him. Damn rat's annoying anyway." The disguised ASIC grunt dismissed as she gave the leash to the girl.
"Can you at least take me off the leash?" He proposed.
"Sure."
UNCLIP!
BOW!
"Thank you, you beautiful bastard." He bowed, free from the stench of dog water and canine sweat as she giggled at his show of gratitude.
"Let's get to the garage, people. I'll deal with the guards, you three make sure nobody gets separated." She pointed at the three named members.
"Alright...!" Nepugia understood as she smirked.
"You got it, chu!" Warechu floated as he adhered.
"Yeah, yeah." Underling waved, getting to the mission at hand.
"Yes, ma'am!" The rest of the group responded as the entire squad went through the doors.
The time had come.
After the three hours had gone by, civilians and public servants alike had gathered by the intersection by the thousands as they were standing in anticipation for what they had been gathered there for.
They were enclosed by multiple government personnel, of the Basilicom and the public authorities formed a perimeter around them as to not let anyone drift too far from the area that was designated for them.
And the government officials and aristocrats, being the high-ranking important persons they were, were situated in a VIP section, isolated from the general population in a section closed off with a clear private view of the announcement.
There had been a platform constructed there, for the occasion as it was accomplished in a short amount of time thanks to the efforts of the assassin making the movements of the construction team increase dramatically with his power.
Not without being handsomely paid for his actions, though.
He alongside the rest of the people behind the plan was on the side of the stand mingling as did the citizens.
"Why do you think we're here? A public service announcement?" One citizen asked as he scratched his head.
"Nah, I think it's more like a celebration for us all not dying last night." Another guess was spoken.
"It's probably about how they're gonna deal with all the damages. But why would they bring out the injured for it?..." A voice of questioning arose.
"I hope it's gonna be the announcement for 4GO2-" Wished a blissfully ignorant soul.
"Get real. All I know is, we won't know for sure until they come out and say it for themselves."
AUDIAL RING!...
An officer, part of the measures to control the crowd told the citizen as they heard the sensitivity of a microphone.
The archbishop, alongside the Oracle, had walked onto the stage platform before reaching a stand with a microphone as the elder tapped on it to test his sensitivity.
"Testing, testing... Sounds satisfactory... Citizens of Leanbox!" Yvoire shouted, his voice being projected and garnering the attention of all before him as they murmured about the appearance of the high-status apostles of their goddess.
"It's the Archbishop and the Oracle!" A civilian realized.
"Both of them are here today? This must be important." Another citizen voiced.
"I'm guessing this isn't about 4GO..." Moped the geek citizen.
"You're still on about that?" The guard sweatdropped.
"We are all gathered here for a very important occasion. I know you may have just been informed of what transpired during the past hours, as well as receiving the news about the state of Leanbox." The elderly man continued as he spoke.
"Many of you may have lost people close to you, may it be a friend, a family member, or a loved one. Your livelihoods, homes, and state of mind may have also been lost to the unpreventable circumstances that have been inflicted upon our great country, without our goddess no less." Reminded the archbishop.
"Lady Green Heart..." Someone looked down.
"But what about ASIC? Didn't Chika tell us to believe in them instead?" Somebody else questioned.
"Yeah, I remember that too." Another agreed.
"Was that not only a few days ago?" An official reminded.
"This country really is dwindling..." A politician sighed.
"But something that you may not have known is that ASIC did not only pose as my image to successfully turn you all away from the faith of Lady Vert, but was also only involved with their aid of this catastrophe, but has done nothing to help us in this time," Chika revealed gasps of shock that were heard around the crowds as she spoke near the mic.
"An imposter was among us?!" A flabbergasted local shouted.
"How sus." Another narrowed their eyes as he looked around.
"Impossible! They were able to impersonate our Oracle right under our noses?!..." A noble spoke to his fellow aristocrat.
"To be fair, they are a criminal organization. We kind of asked for it, when you think about it." The high-status citizen responded as they gave his colleague some food for thought.
"My actions the day before DIO had attacked we're not my own, and I make it a point to formally announce that fact. Anything that I may have changed or enforced is not legitimate and I hereby officially denounce any laws that promote the circulation of ASIC material and reinstate the ones that prohibit it starting immediately." Vert's Oracle made things right as she publicly addressed the situation.
"What..? There goes my hard-earned Credits," Groaned a swindled victim.
"Should've known DRM bypassing was too good to be true!" Scowled Leanbox Citizen #33,475.
"Tell the butler to throw the chips in the chimney fire." A noble whispered to his phone.
"What's that you're holding there, kid?" A police officer raised his brow at a child with an ASIC modded handheld.
"Uh... Drugs?" He hid it behind his back before the officer shook his head as he outstretched his hand, the kid forking it over.
"So since it has been stated that the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime is of no help to our current hardship, we will have to rely on ourselves to get us through this time of vulnerability." She spoke as her voice continued to be projected through the microphone.
"Which is why we have found a way to not only rectify the damage done, and restore our beautiful nation to its former glory, but to bring back our fallen loved ones, that being the reason we have gathered you here today." Enlightened the greenette as the voices raced through the crowd.
"A way? What kind of way?" Questions a citizen.
"How?! Are they gonna bring them back from the dead?" Surprise was filled on a child's face.
"First terrorism, now a zombie apocalypse? Aw, man. I'll never become a NepTuber." A teenager complained.
"I don't know about this." Apprehension was among the emotions shown by the crowds.
"Be not afraid. We would not propose this idea if it were not to work, for we value the safety of our people. I have made sure of it." Yvoire told the crowd to ease their nerves.
"For I dare not endanger the people our fair goddess has entrusted her life to protect, as it would simply be blasphemous beyond belief. So that is why I present to you, the way we shall rectify our current predicament."
WALK...!
SHINE!
He presented as Blinx walked onto the stage, with the Rewind Crystal shining brilliantly.
RAISE!
Fitted with a new pair of clothes, with some exceptions as it had a more formal look with a long-sleeved blue dress shirt and some long maroon work pants with his usual shoes and goggles, he stops beside the Oracle as he held up the glowing stone as it was marveled by the people.
"Shine bright like a diamond-" Someone sang.
"Ackshually, It's topaz, filthy casual." A stuck-up person retorted.
"NEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!" A voice screamed.
"Imagine correcting someone over a gemstone. Touch grass, man." Shook the head of an annoyed citizen.
"With this crystal, we will render the damage done to us, undone." Chika motioned her hand.
"So like, let's all believe in the power of our goddess, and we'll be able to get things back up and running." She characteristically cheered, for once as another person walked up with a headset.
"Exactly, Ms. Hakozaki. Hello, citizens of Leanbox. I am Gris, and today we are going to be exploring the wondrous and illustrious workings of the science fiction- Well, in this case, it might as well be reality- underpaid work slave known as time travel." The hired killer announced his identity and intentions, as he made himself known.
Dressed in a crispy dark grey suit with a white undershirt, black and white cubism tie, shiny dress shoes, and a stylish unbuttoned jet black overcoat as he sauntered across the stage, his hair flowing in the wind like a magnificent mane as had a look of oozing confidence, bordering cockiness as he glanced over the crowd.
"Damn, he plug walking." One pointed with interest.
"He has the exaggerated swagger of a stage announcer!..."
"Who is this guy?!" A look of confusion.
"Yeah, why does he look like he belongs in a V-Shoujo?" A cocked brow was raised.
"Ignoring the last comment, I plan to alleviate the collateral damage, loss of life, and demoralization of this country's people," Gris told them. "And for completely free as well. How about that. Aren't I such a nice person?" He laughed to himself.
"All I ask in return is for you all to believe in Lady Green Heart once more, as well as refer to me as the Savior of Sauce and/or His Slattness. Today will be remembered as the day I pull Leanbox from the depths of ruin and place it back onto the prosperous plateau it once resided." Stated the hired killer as the crowd reacted attentively at this.
"He is such a role model for us citizens. On the plus side, he's pretty pleasant to look at." Smiled a young lady.
"His Slattness has spoken!" A kid shouted with a fist pump.
"Do it, Saucy Savior! Save us from financial ruin!" A salaryman roared.
"I need an internet connection to text, my boyfriend, hurry it up already Sauce Daddy!" A high schooler pleaded.
"SHOUT OUT TO THE PEARS! DON'T FORGET TO SHOUT OUT THE PEARS, OUR NEW SAUCE LORD!" A man dressed in a pear suit yelled.
Offstage, the others reacted to the hitman's shenanigans.
"He's really enjoying himself, isn't he?" Nebula looked at the scene before him, folding his arms as the edge lord hyped up the crowd.
"The crowd's eating this crap up more than he's even giving it to them." Al shook his head in amusement, facepalming as he did.
"Yeah, and what's with the sauce comments? Is he hungry or something?" Ram questioned the reason behind the epithet.
"It's making me hungry, too," Rom admitted.
"You wouldn't get it." Domio pretended to smoke a cigarette as he looked towards the scene.
"What is the 'drip', though?" Moru was once again, lost.
"It usually is associated with the slow and deliberate sound that a droplet of a liquid makes when it hits a surface," Kars explained.
"I think it has something to do with... Social standing?" The same thing could be said about Nepgear.
"It's about respecting clothes, Nepgear," Uni revealed to the techie.
"Respect the drip, Karen." Future Heart, now dressed in a formal forest green suit as he had both hands in his dark green pants pockets, rocking in his black dress shoes as he looked at the group.
"Exactly." The markswoman pointed, not taking her eyes off of the conference.
"Should he really be dragging it out for so long?" Mister Chief raised a sign in concern for the viability of the crystal.
"It is best to distract the public so that not many questions are asked since this entire shtick is basically a moment of truth mixed with an idea so crazy it might work." Lady Wac told the super-soldier.
"The less the people are nervous, the better the plan can work with their support since share energy is the medium being used to power the Rewind Crystal. If they're sure it'll work, then it'll a much higher of succeeding." Cave explained.
"That's... Actually really smart." Taleia, dressed in her work clothes nodded with an impressed tone as she stood beside the ice user. "Who thought of that one?"
"The same person who's acting just like the rear end of a donkey in front of basically half of the country." 343 snorted, now dressed in her formal military attire.
"Is that so?" A feminine voice made itself known, not particularly associated with any of the backstage group at first glance.
The group turned around to lay their eyes upon a young lady with light skin and a beauty mark under her right eye with a large black witch hat with white trimmings, straight long blue hair that went down to her lower back with cool blue eyes, as she wore an accented white overcoat with black trimmings and grey areas with a cog closing the coat as it hid a black uniform underneath with a red tie and a pleated skirt.
Her legwear consisted of some grey thigh-high socks and some ankle-high heels with white laces. She had a reasonable C-cup bust as she stood with her arms folded.
"I heard through a contact that something was happening in Leanbox so I decided to stop by, but what I found was more than just interesting." She continued as the CPU Candidate of the country was in shock.
"The Mad Magician, M-MAGES...!" He reeled in surprise as his eyes bulged.
"You know this chick?" Uni looked at him with some expectancy of an answer.
"Don't you mean MAGES?" Domio asked, his head tilting at the Leanboxian CPU Candidate.
"Nope. It's MAGES.," The mage responded as she corrected the child.
"MAGES, MAGES., whatever. How do you even have access back here? Did any of you let the wizard in?" Nebula added as he looked for any information.
But none was found as he got head shakes and denial of access.
"Then who in Neptune's pudding stash let you-" The pseudo protagonist was cut off.
"I-I-It w-was m-me."
SIDESTEP!
A hand shakily raised behind magic users the magic user stepped to the side, making her jump.
"Eep!"
The girl that was now exposed also had a beauty mark under her right eye as her hair was a light-skinned woman with deeper slightly longer blue hair and magenta eyes and a pair of headphones with embedded speakers in them. She wore a black stage top as her B cups comfortably fit within them, with pink accents on the sleeves woth a leather collar with a pink heart with an emblem on its front.
Her exposed midsection showed a treble clef tattoo with a pink heart attached to it. A pink and black belt was fastened around her waist as her black skirt had a box of fabric on the back, with some stockings that divided into thigh-high boots with white under soles.
"5bp.?!"
HIDE!
Comical saucers replaced the eyes of Future Heart, Nebula, and AL as they all recognized the girl before them, causing her to dive behind her sister before her eyes barely peeked out.
"Yes, she is the reason I am here today. Now let us watch the presentation reach its pinnacle." The Mad Magician nodded towards the stage as their questions would have to wait for the moment of truth was at hand.
"The stone, Blinx." Gris stretched his hand to the cat.
BESTOW!
And without hesitation, the Rewind Crystal was given to the dark-clad CPU.
"You wanna see something cool?" The silver-eyed party member asked the moralized crowd.
"YEAH!"
"Alright. Let's do this."
RAISE!...
His arm raised the Rewind Crystal, as it was now put in the air, its glow becoming brighter from a person of power holding it high.
"Tempus Expansion!"
EXPAND!
After shouting the SP Skill, a large glowing dome quickly projected from the assassin, as it spread to enclose the entire congregation of citizens and structured alike, just barely shy of coming into contact with any destroyed building.
From the inside, everything beyond the borders of the sphere was now completely blank, the outside being indistinguishable.
"Now that we're cooking with some gas here... Chrono Cross: Mandom!"
TIME REWINDS!
A/N:
Heya there, reader!
If you're seeing this, this is a rewrite of the chapter, just to correct some repetition, fix some spelling errors, and improve the spelling quality, especially in the earlier chapters.
So remember, italics and bold are going for gold
And finished. Quite the ending, wouldn't you say? No? Oh, ok then.
Anyways, I think that's enough writing for one chapter. I mean, I gave your guys not one, not two, not three, but FOUR FREAKING NEW CHARACTERS Talk about introduction fever.
But besides that, we have some interesting plot development going on, that's not derived from a bloodlusted battle to the death, for once. I know, I'm surprised I could actually go through with it but bear with me, readers.
From dealing with the aftermath of the previous arc to the development within the confines of one of Leanbox's prisons to literal fucking time travel (again), it's safe to say that things are moving along and not hanging off the teet of the plot.
For once I'm starting to believe I'm writing a fic that doesn't rely on canon like it's the law as much as I did when I first started.
But for now, I think I can leave this chapter with you guys to tell me what needs to improve, any ideas, and what you liked about the chapter as well as remind you to leave a review.
Arriverderci.
Read and Review!