Just a heads up: from here on out, we're approaching uncharted territory. It's going to still follow the main plot, but little things are going to change. Expect surprises in the near future.

Wow. 8 reviews in four days! That's a new record. Thanks all!

LordOfTee: I do not mean to offend with my personal opinions towards certain characters. It's just, some personalities do not mesh well together.

KRKing: I'm just going to say this now: He's not getting an EXE drive before the Graveyard. And as for the guns: would you be able to fire those things? Because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to. He's not a super-soldier: he's some random dude who's making do with whatever he's got.

Admiral Crow: Ooor, I could take your suggestion you mentioned offhandedly in Discord, and convert it into something extremely similar, but also different! Let's do that.

Ligoya: In Neptunia, there is no mentions of canon characters bleeding.

To Broach Or To Put Up: Such is the curse of being a righteous pervert.

A.S. M.F.: Here's to hoping I continue to live up to expectations.

Guest: Mamamia. Here we go!

RedBurningDragon: Hahahaha no.

The Draconic Ancient of Chaos: Welcome to the madness.

None of the girls recognise the two children, garbed in blue and pink, that are standing in front of us.

I don't blame them. If I didn't possess the outside-context information that I do, I'd not know who they were, either.

However, being the only person able to really understand just how bad of a situation we're now in, I can't help but try and go over the facts.

One. This is a horrible, horrible time to run into Rom and Ram.

Two. We're currently sitting right beside a pile of what obviously is ASIC goods.

Three. I look like I'm from Lastation, and Nepgear looks like she's from Planeptune. I'm not sure whether or not this'll help or hurt us, but absolutely none of us look like we're natives to Lowee.

Also, we're possibly going to be fighting not one, but TWO Candidates here. And these twins are definitely no pushovers. I'm not sure if a regular human like me would even be able to take a single attack. Honestly, I don't want to find out.

"Surrender and come peacefully!" shouts the pink Candidate, her magic staff at the ready. "Or don't, that's fine too."

"It'd be nice if you surrendered…" adds the blue.

Are we going to surrender? I mean, we don't really lose anything if we do.

"Wait!" shouts Nepgear, who springs to her feet. "Stop, we're not ASIC! We're on your side!"

Ram snorts at us. "So now you're liars too? You're obviously bad guys!"

"Yeah, yeah!" echoes Rom.

IF calmly puts down her sandwich (although I can definitely see her giving it a final, sorrowful look), before making a concealed gesture towards me. My sandwich, on the other hand, is re-bagged and stuffed into my pocket for later. Flanking positions time. Carefully, I shift to a position behind Ram.

"Please! You have to listen!" shouts our Candidate, but she's forced into a messy dodge by an incoming icicle projectile. It doesn't hit, thankfully, but it does nearly graze her.

"Stop talking, dummy, and fight!"

I'm not sure which of the two sisters launched that, but I don't care. They want to attack first, then they're dealing with all of us.

I close the distance in seconds, and sweep Ram's legs out from below her. I attempt to grab her staff as she falls, but even surprised, her grip is iron.

"WHAAA?" screams the pink-clad girl, as she falls backwards into the soft snow below. "NO FAIR! YOU'RE CHEATING! BIG MEANIE! BIG STUPID MEANIE POO HEAD!"

IF closes on Rom, but meets with a bit less success. Rather than open with a leg sweep, she merely attempts to grab the girl's staff.

Okay, it's not just me, then. IF can't get a solid grip on it either.

"Wait!" shouts Nepgear from the sidelines. "Why are we fighting?"

Compa and RED, on the other hand, are pretty much watching this go down. Not because they don't want to help, of course, but because there's really not much they can do. I mean, I guess they could help IF try and grab Rom's staff, but that's probably not going to work. RED is still eating her sandwich, too.

IF's voice is annoyed as she struggles to keep a grip on Rom's staff. "We're fighting because these two attacked you! LET GO!"

"No!" shouts… loudly murmurs Rom, as she pulls her staff back towards herself, causing IF to stumble forwards. "You let go!"

Ram is attempting to get to her feet, but I push her over again with my foot. She lets out a frustrated whine which probably would translate into profanity as she once more hits the snow. I'd feel pity, or shame, or something, but then again, I am fighting a glass cannon mage Goddess who could probably annihilate me in a moment's effort. Shame will happen after I am out of this dangerous situation.

This is potentially the world's dumbest boss fight. And I've played a lot of different types of video games.

I'd put a foot on top of Ram to hold her down, but I'm worried about how open that leaves me. If I did that, it'd be pretty easy for her to go for a nut shot. As is, I can only wait for her to get back on her feet, and hope that she doesn't just blast me with a spell.

"Grrr…" murmurs Ram, as she scoops up a handful of snow and throws it at me. I turn away and manage to keep it out of my eyes, but it's enough an opening for her to get back up to her feet. "Rom, this isn't working. We're going to have to transform to beat these dummies!"

"Wait, transform?" utters pretty much everyone else, as the familiar blinding light fills the air.

Welp, we're screwed. I'm forced to avert my eyes, lest they become burned from their sockets.

The transformation finishes in a final flash of light, allowing me to open my eyes once more.

The twin Sisters immediately take to the air, staves at the ready. "Prepare yourselves, scum!" shouts Ram, eyes set off into the distance, with the familiar CPU symbol in plain sight. "We show no mercy to meanies like you!"

"Yeah! No… mercy!"

IF at least was able to let go of Rom before the latter took off, so instead of being dragged along for the ride, she's merely thrown backwards by the rapid acceleration, face frozen in shock.

Crap. So what do we do? We've got two mages out of range of three quarters of our party. Even worse, they're pretty much demigods too, so it's not like we can take them down with a lucky shot.

I sigh as I draw my revolver. My knives probably won't reach them, and would probably be more dangerous to us when falling back down than to my targets, anyway.

A blast of ice from one of the twins' staves jars all of us into motion. Compa and RED, both lacking real ranged weapons, rush to take cover behind one of the nearby lockers. IF, having recovered long enough to regain her wits, barely manages to utter, "They're the CPUs?"

I still haven't fired a single bullet, but the two can definitely see me carrying a firearm. As the current largest threat, they launch twin spears of ice in my general direction.

Either that, or Ram's still mad at me. Either of those two things probably could've caused this.

The spears are both too close and far too pointy for me to risk a graze, so I fully commit to my dive roll, starting and ending especially low to reduce my chances at being struck. The spear closest to me sticks an inch into the ground, before dissolving.

"You ASIC meanies think you can just push us around!" shouts the Pink Sister, but I'm sort of busy, what with the next batch of fast, but relatively small projectiles soaring towards me.

I weave left, and counter with a single shot towards Rom. It's stopped with a hastily summoned shield of ice. That's no good.

"We're not ASIC!" shouts Nepgear, but she's finally taken in the situation. She's moving now, although she hasn't yet transformed.

Three more bursts of ice, one towards me, two towards IF. The agent is forced back, unable to get close enough to properly retaliate with her own magic.

"Gear, we really need some help out here!" shouts IF, as she goes wide with her retaliating blast of fire.

With a deep breath, Nepgear activates her own transformation.

The twins blink in shock at the blinding light, although again, their eyes do not move.

There's silence all around, as the transformation fades, revealing the form of Purple Sister. Who is wearing her usual outfit, which looks both incredibly uncomfortable, and incredibly cold.

There's silence from the twin Candidates, as they take in the situation.

"THE MEANIE CPU TEAMED UP WITH ASIC TO STEAL OUR SHARES!" screams the Pink Candidate, staff ablaze in azure energy.

Yeah, so much for diplomacy.

Nepgear takes to the sky, and attempts to land a solid shot with her beam launcher, but is harried down by the magical attacks of the Lowee Sisters. I attempt to use the distraction to make a couple of shots, but again, they splash harmlessly against icy barriers.

I empty the clip of my revolver into their shields, but it's not enough. And it's not like I'll be able to reload on the run. Sighing, I slot it back into my holster.

We can't win like this. We just can't.

I glance around for an escape. The tarp, and everything on it, we'll have to leave behind. Our lives are worth more than a little bit of scrap. Or… well… maybe not our lives, but I'd prefer not to have my ass handed to me, or be impaled by icicles.

I gaze about, before looking upwards. The glass. That's our way out.

Carefully, I withdraw another bottle of Dogoo Jelly, and my sheet of remaining fabric. As quickly as I can, I tear loose enough fabric to make a double length fuse, before beginning to prep myself another bomb. My fingers are cold, and my breath is frantic. I nearly drop the bottle, but I manage to grab it midair.

"COMPA! IF! RED! REPOSITION TO ME! GEAR, BUY US SOME TIME!" I shout, hoping that the enemy Candidates are still distracted enough to not hear me. Plus, I don't think they even know what those words mean.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Nepgear nod towards us, before launching a few blasts of her own.

It takes several seconds for the other girls to close towards my position. It's several panicked seconds as our Candidate circles the two mages, hoping to break through their solid defense. All the while, I'm laying low, doing my best to ensure the fuse doesn't cross itself, and that it doesn't fall out.

Nepgear's strategy doesn't work. She once again is struck by ice magic, and is forced back into a wall with an audible crunch.

"What's the plan?" breathes IF, just as I finish my bomb. "How do you plan on getting us out of here?"

I reach into my pocket, and withdraw the Eject Button I picked up, all the way back in Planeptune.

I gesture to the Eject Button. "I think I can get the five of us out with this, but we need to do this perfectly. If we just use this without cover, they'll be able to follow us."

"Okay… I trust you." answers the agent. "What do you need me to do?"

I hand her the button. "When I say, push the button."

Carefully, I light the fuse on my bomb, and begin counting, as the fire slowly climbs up the fabric. One… Two…

On three, I hurl the flask skywards, directly towards the roof. Good, neither of the two saw it - they're too busy blocking Nepgear's attacks.

"NEPGEAR! PREPARE FOR EVAC!" I shout, much louder than before. Please hear us… I don't want to have to leave you behind...

Our Candidate pauses, before diving directly towards us, Rom and Ram in direct pursuit a mere moment behind her.

Four… Five… The bomb's nearly halfway there.

"Everyone, hold hands." I utter, as I grab Compa's right hand. Compa grabs RED, and RED grabs IF.

Six… Seven… A blast of ice magic nearly hits Compa, but we pull her out of the way. She stumbles at the sudden jolt, but lets out a sigh of relief.

"IF… Get ready to push that button!" I murmur, just as Nepgear comes within jumping distance of me.

I lunge upwards, and just barely manage to grasp Nepgear's extended hand. In a moment of swirling disorientation, we're back at the entrance to the Expo, with the twins still moving towards where we were before.

EIGHT.

With a massive, resounding bang, the bomb explodes, entirely shattering the glass roof. The rush of falling snow fills the air, as god knows how much snow caves into the Expo, all but burying the Candidates in a deluge of rapidly descending snow.

Said deluge of snow makes an extremely satisfying WHUMPH as it rushes into the building, and equalizes itself in a flowing tide. I can't help but pump my arms in triumph. Still, we're not out just yet.

"Let's get out of here!" I shout, as I sprint towards the Embassy, the others close behind.

We don't stop running until the Embassy is in clear sight.

Luckily for us, the Embassy is neutral ground. No matter how angry we might've made the Lowee Candidates, they can't touch us here, or anywhere within ten minutes of the Embassy itself, without getting hit with all sorts of penalties from all four nations, including their own. No matter how powerful a CPU might be, even they fear the crushing power of bureaucracy.

It gives us enough breathing room to figure out what exactly just happened. Right now, we're all sitting on various beds, finally breathing at a reasonable rate. I'm probably the calmest of everyone here, which is rather disturbing, truth be told.

"Okay… So, those two were somehow the CPU Candidates of Lowee." murmurs IF, face in her hands. "I can't believe I didn't recognise them! I swear, I must be the worst agent ever."

Compa places a hand on her friend's back and rubs it slowly. "Iffy, it's all right. They just surprised us, that's all."

My time to speak up. "It's not your fault. CPUs or not, those two were tough customers. They didn't want to listen to a single word any of us said. We're just lucky to have gotten out in one piece."

IF looks up at us, sighs one last time, and then regains her posture. "Still, I feel like it's my job to know this stuff, right?"

Nepgear smiles at her friend. "There's always next time, right?"

IF chuckles quietly, before leaning back all the way, bracing her arms against the wall behind her. "Good plan back there, Derek."

I nod. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I didn't know if I'd even be able to make the throw. Still, it got us out, and that's what matters."

"This is so messed up." adds Compa. "How are we supposed to find out where the Mascot is, if the CPU Candidates think we're members of ASIC?"

IF snorts. "It's even worse than that. They think Planeptune is working with ASIC. I hate to say this Gear, but I think transforming might've actually made it worse for ourselves."

We can't go talk to Mina, then. How are we going to…

"Okay." I state, thinking aloud. "We can't go to the Oracle to figure out where this Mascot is. We do, however, know that ASIC is definitely active in this area. After all, the Expo info panned out, didn't it?"

"Right." replies IF. There's a moment of thought, before she continues. "With luck, those two will get rid of the chips for us, so at least they're out of circulation, regardless of who does it."

"So why don't we just keep looking into ASIC activity? If we can't get a lead from 'our' side, why not check out the other one? You did say your agent was looking closer into what's happening, right?" I reply. It makes sense. In the games, the Lowee Oracle does pretty much less than nothing. They get all their information following Linda around.

IF looks puzzled for a moment, before she nods. "I haven't heard back from her though. Usually she reports back within a few hours, but it's been over six since I've heard from her."

Compa looks concerned. "Wait, did something happen to Miss Agent, then? Should we go look for her?"

IF shakes her head. "It's probably nothing. She's been a reliable agent for all of the years I've known her, and I don't think she'd get in trouble that easily. Still, we should probably wait until she gets back to us before moving out."

So all we can do is wait, huh?

"We should probably just lay low for a while then." I advise. "I don't know how long those two will be looking for us, but being caught now won't help us at all."

"I'll start cooking dinner." offers Compa, "Everyone fine with having an early dinner?"

There's nods all around.

We eat a small, quiet meal in the Embassy. The Embassy apparently has a small kitchen area, just large enough for Compa to whip up a pot of soup. It seems to consist of diced chicken, with lentils, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

A warm soup is definitely warranted after our panic out in the snow.

Nepgear's strangely quiet as we eat, a troubled expression plastered across her face.

"What's up, Gear?" I ask, hoping to be let in, just a little, "Still worried about all the doodads we had to leave behind? Or maybe it's about IF's missing sandwich?"

Nepgear shakes her head, but cracks a smile back at my joke. "No, it's not that. But… Well… Those two."

IF just rolls her eyes back at me, but smiles nonetheless.

"The two CPUs?" asks Compa, as she fills her bowl from the pot.

Nepgear nods. "Yeah. I can't help but wonder. Did it really have to go this way? Why did they have to act like that? Aren't we all supposed to be on the same side?"

There's silence all around.

I can't tell her directly that, no, even if they had met differently, there still would have been a fight. But Nepgear's never known real conflict, has she?

I hope I keep most of the bitterness out of my voice as I reply. "Gear, I learned an important lesson a long time ago. Sometimes, people just don't like you. Sometimes, people are just foolish. Sometimes, even when you're on the same side, it seems like you're not. Those times? You need to keep going, regardless of what they say or do."

IF raises an eyebrow at me. "Speaking from experience?"

I meet her gaze just long enough to affirm her statement, before turning back to my soup. It's delicious, as it always is.

"But…" continues Nepgear, "Will they even want to talk to us after that?"

The next reassurance comes from an unlikely source this time: RED.

"Even if they don't think so right now, we just need to show them that we're actually cool, right?~ We just need to prove that we're good guys, even if they don't believe us right now.~" states the redhead. "Actions speak louder than words, right?~"

Nepgear sighs, before lifting her empty bowl and beginning her walk towards the dishwasher. "I hope you're right…"

I finish about a minute later, and excuse myself.

It's barely six, after everything's said and done. I'm not quite yet tired, so I guess I'll find a way to pass the time.

I'm sitting inside the room, with IF reading to my left, and Nepgear fiddling with a clock to my right. Everyone's engaged in their own little tasks, killing time until we all fall asleep, I guess.

I can't risk going outside, what with the chance of horribly icicle-y death and all, and there's no space to set up a range for my knives. What can I do?

I sit myself down, and rifle through my inventory pouch, laying what is within before me.

Eighteen bottles of Dogoo Jelly. Several feet square of fabric. Knitting needles, thread, and the leftover waterproof cloth. A can of tuna. Roll of duct tape. The Rare Metal. Crowbar. A few of those weird polyhedron ball things. Emergency bar of soap that I stole from the Lastation Embassy.

Emergency roll of toilet paper. Also stolen from the Lastation Embassy.

It was a miracle that I was able to make that long-fuse bomb while under fire. If I had been a second off, or, even worse, it had botched, we'd have either buried ourselves in the snow, or we'd have flat-out missed our chance to escape.

Carefully, I synch my carving knives back up to my gloves, before I cut identical strips of fabric out of my sheet. Soon, I have a pile of fifty ribbons of cloth, all ready for use. I also cut a dozen double-length strips - who knows when I'll need to hit something far away.

From the eighteen bottles, I prepare twelve bombs, with two of them being double-fused. I can't help but feel that I've saved myself a lot of suffering in the long run, preparing these things before I need them.

Finally, my task complete, I return my supplies back to my inventory and swap back to my primary knives. I'm good to go.

I let out a sigh. Well, at least that's over and done with. What else can I do?

Did I ever reload my handgun?

I pull it from my holster, and flip open the cartridge. Empty. Damn, nearly forgot to reload it.

I could at least practice reloading this thing. After all, not being able to reload definitely didn't help me against the Twins.

Carefully, I load the gun, before once more tipping out the bullets.

One two three… rotate, one two three… mount, unmount, unload… one two three… It's repetitive, mindless, and it lets me zone out.

Eventually, I lose myself in the physical motion, and let my mind blank itself.

I blink twice, as I bring myself back to the physical world. My hands are still unloading and loading the gun, long since abandoned anything resembling mental input, in favor of simple muscle memory. My reload speed is still bad, but at fifteen seconds for six bullets, it's still half the time it took before.

My watch reports I've been doing this for fifteen minutes. Can't imagine what the girls thought about it, but no one said anything, or at least I'm not aware of them having done so, so I guess they just let me be.

I load the gun one final time, and holster it, before getting up to my feet.

I guess I'll turn in early tonight.

I wander back into the room, garbed in my nightclothes. None of the girls are dressed for sleep yet, but I do not let that dissuade me.

I deposit my important belongings in my jacket, and hang it up on the post beside my bed.

After one final look around, I let sleep claim me.

I awaken to being shaken.

My eyes snap open, and I barely manage to stop myself from lunging forward towards the thing in front of me, teeth bared and mind blank. I throw a punch at it, but I miss.

There's a face in front of me. Why am I being shaken awake.

I hate being shaken awake.

My vision finally comes back into focus, revealing a familiar face. It's IF. She looks confused and slightly scared.

I blink twice at the agent, before truly understanding what's going on. She's trying wake me up. Why is she trying to wake me up?

"Whuh…?" I murmur, but it sounds closer to a sleepy gurgle. I try to blink the sleep from my eyes. "Don't do that…"

IF coughs once, before she states, in a worried tone.

"We need to get moving. My agent's in serious trouble."