Sorry for the delay. I had issues to deal with in real life.

Maynard Nine, Storycrafteer, Lord Sylph, Smashgunner, Brokenlifecycle, Crying guy: Seamus. Seamus will return. He will be the hero the slimes deserve, the one that they never knew they needed. He shall be eternal. He shall be Dogood.

Lord Sylph, Arcrais: The ship is fundamentally flawed. Neither of them have realized their feelings yet, and when they do, that fact that one is mortal and the other is not will be a rather major point.

Alfamega20000: Good catch. Don't worry, it'll come into play eventually, as a final ace.

And whoah. 200 follows. This is insane. Thank you, all of you.

The Gamindustri Graveyard. I'm finally here.

I expected hell when I stepped through the swirling, multi-colored portal that Histoire opened for us. I just didn't expect the sheer desolation I've found myself in. Walls of dirt intermixed with shards of broken stone form a dark, foreboding labyrinth, at which we only sit at the entrance of. Scattered across the ground without pattern or care are countless broken consoles and devices, ranging from mere cosmetic damage, to near complete destruction. Is this place a dump? Or is this just where the unwanted and the broken go? Even more devices are embedded in the walls, crackling and sparking occasionally, yet giving off no light.

Visibility is almost nothing. Beyond a few meters ahead, I can hardly see the walls in front of me, only twisting shapes, swirling darkness, and the occasional set of glowing eyes. This haze seems to recede as we draw closer, and reform behind us nearly as quickly. I'm not sure how much of our working vision is due to the magic of this place, and how much of it is the shining light of the round, foot-wide Sharicite held aloft in Nepgear's hands. I've already tried to walk beyond the orb's light, and the air quickly turns sour and unpleasant.

The sun, despite being clearly visible overhead, is almost a non-factor. Its rays are all but intercepted by the strange forces pervading this place, dispersed and banished to the wind.

With all of this in mind, it is understandable that the rest of the group is feeling at least half of the unease I am. As I stated before, we're clustered on the outskirts of the maze, taking cover against one of the walls. I can't help but wonder just how much money in salvageable copper is lying here, forgotten. Perhaps some brave scavengers have already tried, although I doubt the profit of the trip would justify willingly coming to this place.

Beside me, Uni shudders, as she leans against one of the many piles of broken electronics, frantically calibrating her rifle. She hasn't said much since we have arrived, save for a very quiet, "I don't like this place."

A wind whistling through the stone is eerie and unwanted, much like how I feel standing here.

"Ugh! Shut up already!" shouts Ram into the maze's opening. Rom walks up behind her sister, and rubs her softly on the back. No one responds, so distracted they are in their own worlds.

"Huh?" I ask, glancing at the suddenly-rowdy twin in confusion. "What's wrong, Ram?"

Uni chimes in from behind me. "You can't hear it? The incessant droning? It's coming from everywhere. Every time I think I've figured out where it's coming from, it changes direction."

I shake my head. "I can't… I can hear the crackling and buzzing, and the wind… But…"

Uni frowns. "You can't hear it, can you?"

"No…" I reply, craning my neck to make sure.

Ram pouts, and places her hands upon her hips. "Of course the deaf dumb dummy can't hear it! Eugh! It's so annoying!"

"So it's just a drone?" I ask, staring forwards, trying to listen.

Uni nods slowly. "It's probably nothing. Yuck, this place sucks already…"

I shake my head clear, and glance into the maze in front of us.

We arrived not even ten minutes ago, and already I can feel our confidences beginning to wane as we breathe in this air. If we don't get moving soon, we'll lose our nerve and our chance.

"We need to get moving. The CPUs need to be rescued as soon as possible." I say, more to reassure myself than anything else. Still, it seems to do the job.

Shakily, Nepgear rises back to her feet, and nods back. "R-Right. We made it this far. We're almost there. Stay close everyone… We don't know what's up ahead."

Together we march, weapons ready, through the twisting labyrinth. Several times, monsters rise from the ground to intercept us, ranging from the familiar to the absolutely horrifying. Twice, we're ambushed by humanoid creatures resembling Shades, but possessing claws, slavering jaws, and misshapen limbs. They're given no mercy, and are pounded to dust before they get the chance to reach us.

MAGES. attempts to make the travel more obvious by marking the walls we pass with a pen, but the moment the pen makes contact with the walls, it's immediately enveloped and pulled inside. Needless to say, none of us are willing to get near the walls after that.

Although the sun hasn't changed its position, my watch reports that we've already spent two hours navigating this place, although it hardly feels like we've spent a half-hour. Great. So either this place messes with our perception of time too, or we're really, utterly lost.

Finally though, we find a break in the maze, and we step out into wide, empty field. A distant, flickering glow stands out from the gloom, ringed by several mountains of waste, a beacon in the miasma permeating this place. It seems we have found the center of the Graveyard.

"What's that?" whispers Rom, pointing forward. Our group halts immediately, unsure of whether to progress further.

"This better not be a fake!" replies Ram, frowning. "I'm sick of this… stupid dumb gross place already!"

Nepgear seems thoughtful, before she finally makes a connection. "Could it be the our sisters? I remember being in a field like this before I escaped…"

The group breaks into hushed whispers as they consider what to do.

"Isn't this… too easy?" asks IF, who raises an eyebrow and turns to face as many of us as she can. "We make it all this way, and all we run into are regular monsters? We haven't even run into that massive metal guy yet. Isn't this supposed to be ASIC's fortress?"

MAGES. nods, but also looks doubtful. "I am unsure about whether the average monster would even be able to survive in this place… It feels unlike any other place I have surveyed in Gamindustri."

RED chimes in next. "So if it's not a bad guy… Maybe it's one of the good guys!~ Why are we waiting around?"

I shake my head. "If it's a trap, then we don't really have any other options, do we?"

With exchanged sighs, we rise once more and continue our approach. Step by step, the glow grows brighter. In the distance, four humanoid shapes become ever more distinct. I still can't make out their exact details, but I definitely can see dark shapes interlacing them, attached to the ground.

"That's… That's Noire!" whispers Uni, forcing us all to a grinding halt.

"Blanc!" shout Rom and Ram together. The two glance towards each other, before nodding excitedly.

"Sis…?" asks Nepgear. She stares at the glow for a moment, but then shakes her head and turns back towards us. "Compa. Hold onto the Sharicite… Something feels wrong… They don't feel like they did last time…"

"What are you dummies standing around for?" complains Ram, pointing ahead, right at the bound figure now identified as White Heart. "Big sis is right there and we're not rescuing them!"

At our lack of verbal response, the young Candidate only growls, and then she begins to run forward towards the glow. Rom calls for her younger sister to stop, but moments later, both twins sprinting directly ahead heedless of danger.

"Oh no…" murmurs Marvy, and soon the rest of us are right behind the twins, running full tilt towards the light.

Finally, we draw close enough that I can properly see them with my non-augmented human vision. The four CPUs, wrapped in their black bindings… Wait. Where are their floaty things? The processors? And why are their clothes undamaged?

Before I can speak, Ram makes a final jump, and throws herself at the figure of White Heart.

Only for her hands to sweep right through the CPU. An illusion.

"Huh?" utters Ram, who stumbles backward, as the shapes wink out of existence. "What… Hey? No fair!"

Booming laughter echoes around us.

"FOOLS." explodes the voice, loud enough to rattle the devices around us. "THERE ARE NO CPUS FOR YOU TO RESCUE HERE… ALL THAT AWAITS YOU IN THE GAMINDUSTRI GRAVEYARD… IS! YOUR! DOOOOOOM!"

The ground begins to quake hard enough to hurt my knees, and we frantically look around for the source of the voice. Around us, the Candidates transform one by one and rise to the air, preparing for battle.

With a deafening crunch, one of the mountains of waste is just... obliterated, as a titanic being clad in black armor passes through it as if it were only tissue paper. Holy shit. I thought Brave was massive, but Judge here… He looks like something straight out of Pacific Rim. Bits and pieces of stuff rain down around us, shattering into data as they impact the ground.

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" bellows the Felon, who swings his telephone-pole-handled axe through the remains of the mountain, crushing it flat, "THERE IS NO ESCAPE. NO! ESCAPE! FROM! JUUUDGE!"

Just like with Trick, that final statement is punctuated by the image of an axe impacting a stone, blade engraved with glowing letters:

Avatar of Sin

CFW Judge

Gee thanks, overlay. Like I didn't already know his name from the way he is screaming it. If he was any louder, then he'd probably be just as dangerous to listen to than to get hit by.

Were I anywhere else, I'd probably find this entrance funny, or overdone.

Unfortunately… I can see him. And well, it's actually kind of terrifying.

"Oh fuck." I utter, as the Felon slams his fist into the ground with an echoing thud. The ground below quivers for a moment, solid slabs of stone surge upwards. Between the mountains of garbage, and the solid pillars, we're trapped. Nepgear slashes at one of the pillars furtively, but her blade merely bounces off of its surface, not even leaving a dent. Even if the CPUs were able to fly over the mounds, they'd have to leave us humans behind. We're trapped.

Judge spins his axe around in a gigantic circle, before slowly approaching us, murder in his helmet-covered eyes. But before we can properly get our bearings, the Felon screams out in fury, and rushes at Nepgear like a freight train. He arrives a moment later, plunging his axe at least two meters into the ground. It seems she was fast enough to react, throwing herself to the side and tumbling away from the impact that is enough to shake the ground under our feet. We're left blinking at an axe blade the size of a minivan half-sticking out of the ground.

"DO NOT THINK I HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR LITTLE TRICK, WORM! YOU WILL DIE FIRST!"

Nepgear, even in HDD, audibly gulps and pauses to look very, very nervous. "Errr… I'm sorry?" she murmurs, not really expecting a affirmative response. Instead, she gets another primal scream from the Felon, as the axe is slowly lifted back up to a striking position.

Uni is already pelting him with her cannon, MAGES. is blasting him with magic, and so are the Twins, yet he doesn't seem to have even noticed yet. We aren't going to be able to take this foe down easily. Definitely not without putting ourselves at risk.

He charges after Nepgear again, who banishes her sword in a desperate attempt to improve mobility. He readies his axe, and the massive guillotine descends…

Again, the axe impacts the ground with a massive thud. Its rectangular shaft…

I wonder if his head is well-protected?

But there's no way I'll be able to run up the axe fast enough. It's time to go get help.

"What do you want, dummy? We're busy here!" hisses Ram, as I sprint towards the hovering girls. The two are launching bolt after bolt of ice magic at the juggernaut, but it seems to be doing nothing besides lightly frost his armor.

"Do you two think you can freeze his axe when it hits the ground? I have an idea." I state, voice low, in case the Felon can hear me.

Ram gives me a look that makes me feel like something she scraped off of her boot, but nods. Her sister does too. "We can try."

"Thank you." I whisper, tensing up to move again. "You can call me a dummy later if this doesn't work."

"I AM YOUR JUDGE. JURY, EXECUTIONER!"

Again the axe descends. This time, however, the force of impact is enough to knock Nepgear out of the sky, forcing the Candidate prone. Fortunately, before he can pry the axe loose, two interlocked bolts of blue magic impact it. A sheet of frost creeps along its surface, fusing the metal weapon into the ground below. The Felon roars in anger, unable to pull his axe from the frozen ground.

"YOU CANNOT STOP ME. I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL TO DUST!"

"Marvy! RED! Follow me!" I shout, charging directly at the two-story tall metal monster. I don't pause to see whether or not they follow me. I also don't pause to see if they give me a look like I'm crazy.

Somewhat shakily, I slide across the frozen ground, and then hop onto the massive axe's handle. I catch myself twice as I sprint over the slippery surface, but Judge is far too busy screaming in anger and glaring at the twins to notice me climbing his weapon. Soon enough, I reach the end of the handle, and then one jump later I'm on his arms, and then on his shoulders, and then on his head.

Up here, his armor looks just as sturdy as the plating down below. No weaknesses are apparent… Besides his glowing, robotic eyes, which are both now staring at me in hatred.

Hmmm… What shall I do.

With a hearty lunge, I sink a knife directly into his left eye. Once I've reached too far in to safely go further, I throw my entire weight into pulling it to the side.

Once again, Judge screams, but this time it's in pain, rather than, or perhaps in addition to, fury. Strangely enough though, his voice of pain is quieter than when he was just shouting before. Both of his arms surge up, axe forgotten. Massive metal gauntlets close the distance towards me, like a rapidly closing cage.

… Crap.

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, I banish my knife, draw my heavy-loaded pistol, point it at the Felon's eye, and squeeze the trigger twice. The first bullet throws my aim way off, but it's not accuracy that I'm aiming for. The kickback's enough for me to speed me up as I throw myself sideways away from his hands, to freedom. Now free of being crushed to death, I instead find the ground rushing to meet me. I really need to start thinking through my plans before I do them. I start preparing for a improvised roll, but I know that either way it'll suck.

Fortunately, I'm caught a few feet from the ground by Nepgear, who seems to have recovered her bearings. Thank heavens for that.I slot my revolver back into its holster, not even bothering to try to reload the thing.

"Got you!" states Nepgear, who breaks my fall, before lowering me enough to let me drop. "Good idea, Derek. But I think you just made him mad!"

And mad he is. Damaged eye flickering like a faulty light bulb, Judge slams the handle of his axe, dislodging not only the axe, but a large portion of the ground as well. A sinister red glow shines up from below, and I can hear hissing where the lower layers of the Graveyard are now exposed. The ground around the fissure seems to liquify for a moment, before it flows over itself. In an instant, the ground is level again.

Judge swings his axe to the side, and the frozen section attached to it collides with one of the walls of the arena. On impact, countless shards of frozen earth rain down, leaving the axe free.

With a mighty roar, he lifts his axe, points it towards Nepgear… And then begins to turn towards me instead.

Oh shit.

I throw myself to the side, but the axe is too close. It's only due to the timely intervention of a sudden gust of wind that I'm thrown clear. Still, I ragdoll head over heels, and land hard on the packed ground.

As I lie on my back, I can feel the ground freeze beneath me, and then out of the corner of my eye, I can see RED and IF charge up the shaft of the axe. The axe which is not even a meter away from me. It's not quite close enough to give me a haircut, but damn, it's trying.

"Go for the eyes RED! For the eyes!" I shout, still loopy from the impact.

A roar of pain echoes from far above, followed by another a moment later. Soon, I feel the ground rising beneath me, forcing me to roll sideways before I'm too high to get safely down.

"PITIFUL WORMS! I WILL DESTROY YOU! I WILL ANNIHILATE YOU! I WILL KILL YOU! SO DECREES JUDGE!"

World finally no longer spinning, I land on my feet.

Sprinting away from the rapidly-rising axe, I turn away, finding MAGES., tipping her hat in my direction. I suppose that explains how I got away.

"Thanks for the save, MAGES.!" I shout back, even as the Felon once more frees his axe.

A sudden earthquake causes me to stumble. The ground rumbles from below Judge, as he stomps.

"HUH?" blurts the Felon, who stops what he's doing.

Glancing up, I can see Marvy sitting right in front of Judge's visor. Uni is floating above, and is rotating down to catch her. Rom and Ram are carrying RED and IF.

Marvy waves at the Felon, and then backflips off of him into Uni's waiting grasp. There's a moment of nothing, before a massive cloud of smoke shoots out of his eyes.

The Felon grunts, and swings his axe twice, hitting nothing, although it's enough to force us all backwards. He prepares for a longer strike, and another flash of light heralds the icing of his handle this time… And his axe slips free of his grip, colliding with the far pile of garbage, and just sticking there, blade buried deep inside.

"ENOUGH TRICKS! I WILL CRUSH YOU, AND I WILL CRUSH GAMINDUSTRI!" bellows Judge, as he reaches for his helmet. With a shriek of grinding metal, the helmet is pulled free and slung towards us, impacting the ground with a massive crunch. The smoke is gone now, and now a massive metal skull glares down at us. His head looks like a skinless terminator, except with a massive angry monobrow. His eyes are both twitching erratically, but whether it is from fury, or from pain, I cannot tell.

"YOU DARE HIDE BEHIND PITIFUL GAMES?" he bellows, pointing at us humans on the ground.

"No." states Nepgear's voice from above. "No more games."

All four Candidates are flying above, carrying Judge's axe. Nepgear and Uni are holding the handle, and the twins are beside the blade. Compared to the weapon they are holding together, the Candidates are mere insects, yet, they approach in formation.

"Let's see how you like it!" yells Uni, and the four fly closer. Judge recoils, as if knowing what is about to happen.

"COWARDS! RETURN MY WEAPON!" screams Judge, who jumps and fails to grab the floating weapon, his landing shaking the ground below.

"Certainly." smirks Uni. "Ready everyone?"

Nepgear smiles back. "Ready."

"Ready." "Let's show this dummy what real power is!"

Nepgear and Uni descend rapidly, as the twins shoot upwards, until suddenly they reverse directions, launching the axe's blade at a blinding pace towards the metal menace. Judge's eyes shoot open, but he can't get out of the way in time.

The Felon's arms rush to cover his head, but it's not enough. The massive axe tears through the armor coating them like paper, and they fall to the ground with a thud. Sparks erupt from the ends of them, as their fingers twitch.

"NO. NO. NO! I WILL NOT… I WILL NOT DIE!" bellows Judge, but for the first time, I can hear fear on his voice. "I REFUSE TO GIVE YOU THE SATISFACTION!"

Once more, the axe is raised, and with no arms to protect himself, Judge's final act is to scream down at us in defiance, "GAMINDUSTRI SHALL FALL. I SHALL RETURN, AND SEEK MY VENGEANCE!"

With a final solid crunch, the axe falls and cleaves apart the Felon's skull. His still-attached elbows shoot upwards, desperately trying to remove the blade, but it isn't enough. The glow of his eyes slowly dims, and then fades to nothing. The colossal form lays still for a moment, finally at peace, before tendrils of darkness surge up from below. Within a breath, no trace of him remains. The pillars surrounding us, having served their purpose, fall back to earth. The graveyard returns to stillness.

Even Judge's arms are gone, having been consumed by the Graveyard.

The Candidates descend downwards, whooping in joy, even as the axe fades away in their grasp.

"We totally whupped that baddie's butt!" cheers Ram, to which Rom happily echoes, "We sure did!"

Nepgear and Uni descend next. "Nice job, everyone." smiles Nepgear. "I wasn't sure if that would work, but it did! We won…"

"Ge-ge! You did it!" chirps Compa, who rushes forwards to congratulate her friend. I move beside Uni, and throw her a thumbs up.

"No." grins Nepgear, turning to all of us. "We did it. I couldn't have done this without you. All of you."

IF returns the Candidate's expression twofold. "Careful there, Gear, you're almost making us think that you prepared a speech!"

Uni's smile slowly fades. "We did beat him… But where are our sisters?"

The group looks around. We can't see anything resembling a captured CPU…

Compa stares down at the Sharicite in her hands. She moves it forwards, and then back. She spins slowly, before stopping, facing a pile of scrap.

"The Sharicite… Huh. It seems to be pulling me towards that pile over there…" states Compa.

Everyone's eyebrows shoot up.

"Wait, you're telling me Sis is buried in garbage?" sputters Uni, eyes as wide as they'll go.

Rom and Ram exchange glances, and rush towards the pile, before rapidly pulling away the crap on the upper layer. I need to duck under a thrown DVD reader, so frantically they're digging.

It doesn't take even a minute for the rest of us to join them. Device by terrible useless device, we clear a path, until we're a foot down. A pale light is freed from the bowels of the pile,

"I see something!" I shout, redoubling my efforts. I only pause once I recognise a useless piece of plastic as a CDI, and thus I must destroy it with a grenade before I can continue. It's the only way to be sure.

Beneath another few layers of garbage, we find the source of the light.

I pause. Yup, it's the CPUs all right… Although I definitely shake strange thoughts from my head once I see the state of their clothing… or lack thereof. What was probably once maybe a proud uniform, now resembles nothing more than a ragged cloth garment held together by bits of metal and hope. Dark tentacles encircle them, lacing around their limbs and locking them down tight. A dark, murky fluid has risen to the hips of the entrapped CPUs. I don't like that fluid at all.

Seeing this, Uni reaches into the crevasse, and grabs Black Heart by the shoulders. She pulls twice, but finds herself unable to pull free her sister. Fortunately, the tendrils don't attempt to grasp her.

"Noire's stuck!" shouts Uni. who pulls again, to just as much success.

Rom and Ram join Uni at trying to extract the CPU, to again, no effect.

Ram pouts. "This isn't fair! We're supposed to be able to save them! This is… this is cheating!"

Nepgear turns to her nurse companion. "Compa. The Sharicite."

Compa nods, and walks up to the crevasse, and carefully lowers the Sharicite towards the CPUs. As the light fills the chamber, the tendrils begin to smoke and burn, unable to handle the crystal's light. With unearthly shrieks of pain, they retreat into the ooze, leaving the CPUs unbound.

"Everyone!" shouts Uni, rushing past Compa and grabbing ahold of Black Heart. "Grab a CPU and pull! We're getting them out of here!"

Nepgear and IF grab ahold of Purple Heart, Rom and RED grab White Heart, Ram, MAGES., and Marvy grab Green Heart, leaving me and Uni to grab Noire. There's a minor resistance from the muck as we unstick her, but it finally gives, releasing the CPU with a sickening squelch. Three more squelches signify the others being freed as well.

Just in time, as the disturbance is enough for the garbage to cave in on the cavity, sealing it and the dark fluid beneath a landslide of filth.

Nepgear grabs a hold of Purple Heart, and wraps her in a tight embrace. As I glance at them, I finally realize the extent of clothing damage that they've incurred. I excuse myself, and turn away, face red.

Uni shoots me a strange look, but pauses as a shaky voice draws everyone's attention.

"N-Nepgear?" murmurs Purple Heart, eyes open half-lidded.