Book 9: Blasting Through the Stars

by Fir100

Gaius and his team return to the Blaster Master world for a mission alongside Jason Frudnick and Eve to defeat the mutants hiding amongst the stars. With their gears upgraded, along with Gaia-SOPHIA and the Gaia System, will the heroes be able to eliminate the new mutant threat along with some unexpected surprises on the horizon?

5. Planet Stranga

Book 9: Blasting Through the Stars

Chapter 5: Planet Stranga

---

Space Sector E

After coming out of the dimensional tunnel, G-Byakko and the Time Mazine arrived at Space Sector E with Planet Stranga in their sights.

"There's Planet Stranga up ahead." Copen informed from inside G-Byakko.

"I wonder if there's any planetoids in this sector?" Lola pondered.

"Probably." Geiz replied from inside the Time Mazine. "Unfortunately, we don't have any planetoid map data."

"Then perhaps some of them might be in Planet Stranga?" Charlotte assumed.

"Most likely." Bronya answered.

"You okay in there, Az?" Grey asked. "This is going to be your first field mission without your brother."

"A little nervous, actually." Az replied. "I'll try not to slow you guys down."

"Don't worry. Just follow the orders of our team leaders and you'll do just fine." Laura assured.

"Thanks, guys. I won't let you down."

"That's the spirit!" Volnutt cheered.

"Alright, team. We're entering Planet Stranga now!" Geiz declared as the vehicles boosted towards the planet.

---

Planet Stranga

(Play BGM: Stranga: Bewildering Flora - Blaster Master Zero 2 OST)

Upon reaching the planet's atmosphere and nearing a Launch Point, G-Byakko took a hard landing to absorb the Gaia particles for energy while the Time Mazine took a softer landing.

"I know the MA has to keep doing that to gain energy, but I worry about its hydraulics." Geiz remarked.

"Don't worry, Jason and Eve made sure that the Gaia MAs can withstand hard landings due to how sturdy their hydraulics are." Copen assured.

"So this is Planet Stranga…" Charlotte mused as the team looked at their surroundings on the vehicles' main screen. The landscape turned out to be completely covered in strange flowers and plants.

"Is it just me, or does this planet look and feel strange as heck?" Lola questioned. "Not to mention the gravity. It's like we're on the moon."

"I'm starting to realise why this planet earned its namesake." Geiz remarked.

"Gimme a sec to get some info." Copen said, using the MA's database for the planet's information. "I was able to get an analysis of the local plant life, and it looks like many of the plants here are poisonous to mutants. Since the planet is overflowing with plants, it's as if the planet itself is poisonous to them. The poison affects their nerves, and in some cases, their genes."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Az asked.

"In other words, their evolutions and behavior are out of whack." Lola clarified.

"I think it's better if we all stay inside the vehicles unless we need to go into any of this planet's domains." Geiz advised. "But if we do need to go outside in certain situations, wear battlesuits and space helmets for safety."

"Does the plant life affect Carbons and Reploids?" Volnutt pondered.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. But just to be safe, Volnutt, let's not go near those plants." Grey answered.

"Gotcha."

"Alright, time to get to work and find this planet's map data." Geiz declared as the vehicles moved ahead.

As the vehicles ventured the planet, they came across more hostile mutants, including a walker mutant that's larger than the one on Planet Flosante. But despite its large size, it was still weak and was quickly destroyed by the vehicles. The same fate applies for the other mutants as they moved on, leaping up the tree trunks due to the planet's gravity giving them a boost until they reached the top. They soon saw a pair of tunnels made of vines at a distance, one on top and the other below, and were about to approach them, until large plants sprouted behind and in front of them, trapping them inside. In addition, airborne multi-colored bug mutants appeared from the wormholes as an ambush.

"Great, an ambush already." Lola muttered. "Looks like we'll have to clear out those bugs so we can move on."

"Charl, Laura, get your IS frames and space helmets on and start the extermination. We'll back you up." Copen ordered.

"Roger!" The two IS pilots complied, leaving the vehicles as they donned their IS frames with space helmets on and immediately attacked the bug swarm with Laura's twin railguns and Charlotte's heavy assault rifle with micro-missiles along with the G-Rifle's Splasher Shot. The vehicles provided support fire with the Time Mazine's homing missiles and beam vulcans and G-Byakko's Hexa Missiles along with the support bits unleashing the Wide Circuit Ex-Weapon.

A few minutes later, the swarm was exterminated and the plants retracted back into the ground. "Good, now we can move on." Laura said.

"Should we go back inside the vehicles?" Charlotte spoke to the drivers.

"How are you two feeling?" Geiz asked.

The IS pilots looked at themselves for a moment before Laura answered. "We're fine, nothing happening so far. Good thing we're in our IS frames with helmets on."

"Then it's better if you two stay outside until further notice." Bronya answered back. "But remember not to touch the plants here."

"Mm." The IS pilots nodded before the team moved on until they reached the entrance tunnels.

"Two tunnels…" Az observed. "Should we split up to cover more ground?"

"That would be an option, but we don't have the map data yet. We'd better stick together for now." Grey answered.

"Then let's try… the lower tunnel." Volnutt decided.

After the team enters the lower tunnel, they find themselves in a cavern where they see a hole below with bodies of water suspended in mid-air. In addition, there's also another Mother Brain. But for some reason, it had a flower on its brain and did not attack the team on sight.

"It's… not attacking us?" Laura questioned as she was about to attack the mutant.

"That's weird… I thought the mutants would attack us without question… Hm?" Charlotte then noticed the flower on the brain. "A flower? Why did it have that?"

"Hmm… So this is what happens to the mutants if they touch the strange plants. They're completely harmless." Copen mused.

"Wait, harmless mutants?" Grey questioned. "You do realise they're our enemies, right?"

"True." Copen answered. "But if they have flowers on their heads, then they won't do anything to us. We can use this to our advantage to save ammo and energy."

"But if there's mutants that don't have that flower, shoot them on sight." Lola added.

"A non-hostile mutant because of this planet's plant life. Interesting…" Bronya mused.

"Anyway, back to exploring the planet. And we'll use the bodies of water to navigate our next path." Geiz declared as the team went into the water and moved deeper into the hole while ignoring the mutants with flowers.

When they reached the bottom, they saw another entrance tunnel along with another large walker mutant that didn't have a flower, so it was quickly destroyed by the team.

"What next? The tunnel or the water?"Charlotte asked, looking at the tunnel nearby and the bodies of water ahead.

"Let's try the tunnel again. If we run into a dead end, we'll come back here." Volnutt decided.

"Actually, let's go for the water instead. The MA's sensor is detecting an item in this area." Lola insisted.

"Understood." Copen noted as the team went inside the water ahead and followed its path while shooting down the rainbow flies as the path led them upwards until they reached a small opening above that not even the vehicles can go through, prompting them to land at a small spot that's near the water with a docile walker mutant nearby.

"Guess this is as far as our vehicles could go." Geiz said. "Charl, Laura, you two are gonna have to go up and find that item. We'll wait over here."

"Roger." Laura replied as she and Charlotte nodded.

"We'll be back soon!" Charlotte also replied as the two IS pilots went back into the water and moved into the small opening above. Fortunately, their IS frames have hydro jets for underwater movement. Eventually, the water path led them to a domain entrance filled with pink flowers, so they flew out of the water and went inside.

(BGM End)

---

(Play BGM: Stranga: Trippy Planet - Blaster Master Zero 2 OST)

Once the duo went inside, they heard noises of sword slashing and explosions coming from the next area ahead.

"What was that?" Charlotte asked as they looked at the entryway ahead.

"Judging from those sounds, it seems someone else is here." Laura answered with her hand on her chin. "An enemy perhaps?"

"I'm not so sure about that, but let's take a closer look." Charlotte answered back before the duo went to the next area. And what they saw ahead was a pair of destroyed cross turrets and a large glowing rock that was being slashed by someone else delivering blue electro slashes, but the rock remained unscathed.

"That's not a mutant, that's a human girl!" Laura gasped.

"Hmm… no good. Not even my electro element is enough to scratch it." The girl with short white hair spoke in a monotone emotionless voice with her hand on her chin after holstering her single-edged blade behind her waist. "But, why is the rock red? Do I need a fire element to break it? If so, then perhaps Billy Kid can break them. But unfortunately, he's nowhere to be found after he, Nekomata and I were suddenly warped by that unknown quake while we're chasing down the gold and silver Bangboos inside a Hollow. Where did that quake come from, I wonder?"

"Warped by an unknown quake…" Charlotte repeated. "Laura, that girl is…"

"Mm." Laura nodded. "Another Dimensional Quake victim. And after hearing her monologue, she's not the only one."

"Hm? Who's there?!" The white haired girl asked after hearing whispers from behind and turned around with her hand on the sword's handle, which made Charlotte and Laura feel tense once she saw them. "Humans… in strange battlesuits?"

The duo had a better look at the white haired girl that's revealed to have amber eyes and wearing black headphones. Her attire is a high-tech green and black jacket with a white singlet underneath, fingerless black gloves and skirt with a belt, and green, black and white sneakers with black knee-high socks underneath. She's also wearing some kind of battery pack on her back with the numbers in white font, 1, 2 and 3.

"Relax, we're not here to fight. We just got here." Charlotte answered to the girl with her hands raised.

"My name is Laura Bodewig, and this is Charlotte Dunois. We're from Xross Drive Rebellion."

"Xross Drive Rebellion…" The girl repeated. "Is that the name of your faction?"

"Yes." Laura nodded. "And you are?"

"Anby. Anby Demara of Gentle House, also known as the Cunning Hares."

Anby Demara

Electro Element

Cunning Hares

"Nice to meet you." Charlotte greeted with her hands down. "Just move your hand away from your sword so we can talk peacefully. Besides, we happened to hear something about an unknown quake that warped you and your friends from your world to this planet."

"This planet?" Anby repeated, moving her hand away from her sword. "This isn't New Eridu?"

"New Eridu… must be the world she and her friends came from." Laura thought before she answered by shaking her head. "Unfortunately not, and we happened to know what that unknown quake was. That was a Dimensional Quake."

"A Dimensional Quake…" Anby repeated.

"I know you have a lot of questions to ask, but let's focus on navigating this domain for now in search of an item." Charlotte stated. "We can talk after we leave."

"And by looking at your attire and weapon, and how you dealt with those turrets when Charl and I entered this area, you're a pretty skilled fighter." Laura added. "You should have no trouble fighting the mutants ahead."

"Mutants… so they really do exist beyond movies and TV shows." Anby mused.

"It's the multiverse. Anything can happen." Charlotte replied before taking a closer look at the glowing red rock. "So you said that you need something explosive to blow this rock away, correct?"

"Mm." Anby nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't have any grenades or explosive weaponry to deal with that."

"Fortunately for you…" Charlotte armed a round on her pile bunker. "I happen to have something to break that." With one explosive round of her pile bunker, the glowing red rock shattered, revealing a path ahead.

"What kind of battlesuit is that?" Anby asked.

"Infinite Stratos, also known as an IS." Laura answered. "Charlotte has Rafale Revive Custom II while mine is Schwarzer Regen."

"Interesting names. Anyway, let's move on. Maybe my friends are somewhere in this domain."

"You're talking about Billy Kid and Nekomata, right?" Charlotte asked.

"Mm." Anby nodded. "Though Nekomata's full name is Nekomiya Mana. Billy's a battle android with white hair and a red jacket with twin revolvers, while Nekomata is a cat Thiren with twin blades."

"Thiren?" Laura repeated.

"Humanoids with animal features."

"Oh, another term for demi-humans. I see." Charlotte noted.

"Alright, let's move." Laura declared as the trio head for the next area.

From there, they're standing on a pink flower bed as they move ahead. "A flower bed, in a place like this? How strange." Anby remarked.

"Indeed." Charlotte agreed. "But expect the unexpected."

"Hm?" Laura then noticed a large shadow slowly coming closer to where they're standing. "Mutant detected, get ready."

"Any ideas on how to deal with that?" Charlotte asked as they prepared their weapons.

"Wait for it to strike first. And after we dodge, eliminate it." Laura replied.

"Roger." Anby noted as they waited for the shadow to come. And once the shadow reached their feet… "Now!" The trio jumped away in time to evade the large mutant emerging from the flowers to eat them. Afterwards, Charlotte and Laura fired their weapons at it while Anby delivered a double upward electro spin slash to finish it off. "Target eliminated.

"Nicely done." Charlotte praised.

"Those movements…" Laura thought while observing Anby's performance. "They're akin to a super soldier… Is she also like me?"

"Is there something wrong?" Anby asked, making Laura snap out of her thoughts.

"Apologies. Just thinking about that mutant from earlier." Laura answered with a small lie. "Let's keep moving."

As the trio moved on, they discovered another glowing red rock after destroying more mutants and a cross turret. Charlotte then used her pile bunker to shatter the rock, allowing the trio to enter the next area.

From there, they saw more hostile turrets, mutants and spike pits along with another glowing red rock at the far distance. After the enemy targets were eliminated, which also included Anby deflecting small energy projectiles with her sword, they navigated past the spike pits and the rock was blown up by Charlotte's pile bunker, allowing them to enter another area.

From there, they saw another planetoid map data to which Laura scanned it with her Zikan Phone after retrieving it. "Map data for Planetoid 'E-1', which is from the sector we're currently in."

"Guess we'll have a look after we're done on Planet Stranga." Charlotte said. "Sorry, but I think your friends are not in this domain. But perhaps they're in the other domains."

"If that's the case, then allow me to join you. I'll have better chances of finding them with a group." Anby said.

"Then welcome to the Rebellion, Anby Demara." Laura smiled before using her phone to create a wormhole nearby which surprised the agent.

"Did you just create a wormhole out of nowhere?" Anby asked.

"You can thank Copen for creating that feature for our Zikan Phones. Don't worry, the wormhole will lead us directly back to our teammates." Charlotte replied.

"So there are others beside you two." Anby mused before nodding. "Very well, let's go."

(BGM End)

---

Soon after, the trio appeared before the two vehicles via wormhole. "We're back, but the only map data we've found in that domain was for a planetoid for this sector." Laura informed.

"I see." Copen noted. "At least it's better than nothing. We'll have a look at that planetoid later."

"Wait." Geiz noticed the newcomer. "Who's that with you?"

"Another victim of the Dimensional Quakes." Charlotte gestured to the agent. "Her name is Anby Demara from a world called New Eridu. Her friends, Billy Kid and Nekomata were also struck by the quake. Unfortunately, she's the only one we've found from the domain earlier. We'll have to search somewhere else for them."

"Understood." Bronya noted. "Nice to meet you, Anby."

"Likewise." Anby nodded before observing the vehicles. "A battletank and a large flying vehicle?"

"That battletank is called a Metal Attacker. Its name is G-Byakko." Grey explained. "As for the red and yellow vehicle, that's the Time Mazine."

"Interesting…" Anby mused.

"As much as we want to explain about us and know about your world, we now have a job to do thanks to you, and that's finding your missing partners." Geiz stated.

"I appreciate the help." Anby replied. "How much will the commission cost?"

"Wait, commission?" Az repeated. "We don't need your money! We're doing this to help people, that's all."

"...Oh."

"Come on board G-Byakko, Anby. Charlotte and Laura can stay outside unless they need to take a rest." Copen said.

"You two don't mind?" Anby asked the IS pilots.

"It's no trouble at all. Take a break unless you want to explore the domain." Charlotte replied with Laura nodding.

"As you wish." Anby nodded before boarding the white MA. "Hm, so this is what the inside of an MA looks like. Plenty more room than I thought."

"Okay, time to head for the tunnel we skipped earlier." Geiz declared as the team made their way back to the previous tunnel and went inside once they arrived while also introducing themselves to Anby.

From there, they saw plenty of mutants with hostile mutants which surprised them. "I'm really tempted to shoot them if it weren't for the flowers on their heads." Geiz muttered.

"Easy there, Geiz. Remember what Copen said, just ignore them and move on. It's the ones without the flowers that we need to shoot." Az reminded.

"Right. Sorry, Az." Geiz apologized as the team moved on and ignored the harmless mutants.

"Are you sure it's alright to leave them alone?" Anby questioned.

"As long as we don't shoot them, then it's fine. Like Az and Copen said, it's the mutants without those flowers that we need to shoot." Grey replied.

"I'll keep that in mind."

They eventually reached an entryway with a Recharge Point nearby. And after going inside, they were met with a new person along with a pink vehicle that's the shape of a Metal Attacker. The rabbit-shaped MA has two small wheels in front, and two large wheels in the back attached to a pair of high-powered 'legs', red tinted cockpit with yellow metallic rabbit ears pulled back, and rabbit tail-shaped mufflers on the back.

As for the driver, it was a female humanoid plant with a large chest size, a brown plant pot for a head with eyes and mouth along with the green plants acting as hair, wears a light green, black and peach bodysuit with a peach tail sticking out on the back, black and white gloves, and black and pink long boots with white and green knee pads.

"What the…" Laura responded in shock with the others reacting the same way.

"Sacre Bleu… A humanoid… plant…?" Charlotte also responded in shock.

"A Thiren I've never seen or heard of before?" Anby pondered.

"What's a Thiren?" Volnutt asked.

"Humanoids with animal features."

"Ah, another word for demi-humans. Got it." Geiz noted. "Though this girl has more plants than animal features."

"Hey, is that a pink Metal Attacker?!" Lola gasped. "And why does it look like a rabbit?!"

"So this girl must be the pilot." Copen mused.

"Um…" Geiz spoke up. "Excuse m-"

"Flower!" The humanoid plant girl cheerfully interrupted.

"...Eh?" The team responded in confusion.

"Umm…? Can you not heaaar me?" The plant girl blinked. "Here we go! One more time, nice 'n loud! Reaaady? Floooooweeeer!" She cheered… which made the team completely clueless.

"...Who the frick is this chick with the large melons yelling 'Flower' out of the blue?!" Geiz mentally exclaimed.

"Miss Kanna, demanding a 'flower' from someone you don't know is quite rude." A male voice spoke inside the pink MA.

"Ugh… you're a maaajor buzzkill, Kenwood…" The humanoid plant girl named Kanna groaned at the one inside the pink MA before facing the others. Most notably, G-Byakko. "I totally saw you~ You guys, like, fell from space, right?~"

"Oh. Yes, ma'am." Copen replied. "We're here t-"

"I can't believe you came to attack us again~ Totally lame~"

"Excuse me?!" Lola exclaimed. "We just got h-"

"Yeah, like… in that silver… purplish… super fast… ship!"

"Um, ma'am? This is a battletank that can fly. Not a ship. Also, it's white and red, not silver and purple." Charlotte pointed out, gesturing to the white MA. "I think you're mistaken w-"

"Like, totally, no way~ So totally~ You know~"

"I'm not sure these kind visitors know, Miss Kanna." Kenwood pointed out… until Kanna went inside her pink MA and took control. "Miss Kanna?"

"I'm so awesome at beating up losers like you~!" Kanna said as her pink MA leaped several steps back like a rabbit.

"Whoa, that MA can really jump high." Az remarked.

"Could you at least listen to us for just a few seconds?!" Laura shouted.

"There's no point in reasoning with her, Laura. We'll have to fight." Grey stated.

"No other choice then." Volnutt said.

"Everyone, stay back. It's my MA she's after." Copen said. "If she wants a fight, I'll give her one. Don't worry, I'll only disable her MA so we can talk afterwards."

"Understood, Ix. Be careful." Geiz replied as the others moved back while G-Byakko moved forward.

"Judging from how that pink MA moves, it has rabbit-like traits. So expect a lot of jumping involved." Bronya pointed out.

"Thanks for the tip!" Lola replied as the two MAs were about to square off.

=WARNING=

THE HOSTILITY OF

"NORA MA-06"

=EIR=

(Play BGM: Boss Battle - MegaMan 8 OST)

EIR immediately made the first move with a rush attack, but G-Byakko countered with a Burn Spark which damaged the pink MA. But then EIR fired a spiked sphere from the rear as a counter, prompting G-Byakko to jump over to evade as it exploded on a wall.

"A weapon to deal with targets from behind… Not bad." Anby remarked before G-Byakko retaliated with G-Crusher Shots, only for the pink MA to evade with a high jump.

Afterwards, EIR's bottom hull revealed a drill and performed a plunging drill attack, causing G-Byakko to evade as it drilled the ground, causing rocks to shoot out. G-Byakko then fired Hexa Missiles and G-Crusher Shots to destroy the rocks and damage the pink MA. EIR then performed another high jump and delivered the same attack to G-Byakko, but the white MA evaded the attack by jumping back and fired more missiles and cannon shots onto the oncoming rocks and the pink MA.

"I think we're almost done, just a little more!" Lola informed.

"Last chance to surrender, Kanna! I don't want to damage your MA even further!" Copen demanded.

"Like, no way~ I'm not done yet~" Kanna refused as EIR performed another high jump, but instead of using the plunging drill onto G-Byakko, it went for the screw-shaped flower on the center of the room, causing numerous heart-shaped flowers to grow around the room after screwing it down.

"What the?!" Grey exclaimed. "Where did these things come from?!"

"I think she screwed down that strange flower in the center of the room, causing… these things to show up!" Lola answered.

"Tch… it'll be hard to see that pink MA with these flowers around." Copen muttered, looking at his MA's main screen that's filled with those flowers. "Lola, take control of G-Byakko's sensors. I'll handle the weapons and driving."

"Roger!" Lola complied, coming out of Copen's relic pendant and went inside the MA's systems. "Heads up! Kanna's about to do something else!"

EIR went for another high jump and fired energy bulbs from the front, heading towards G-Byakko.

"Reverse!" Lola ordered, prompting the white MA to move back to avoid the oncoming energy bulbs, letting out a large blooming explosion after making contact with the ground. But then it was attacked by EIR's rushing attacks at different angles.

"Gh! We're taking damage!" Grey exclaimed. "These flowers are in the way!"

"Then maybe we should cut them down first." Anby advised.

"My thoughts exactly!" Copen answered as the support bits flew out of the white MA and materialized the Hailstorm Blade Ex-Weapon, slashing through the flowers while also freezing the ground. This made EIR's traction slippery as it's having trouble with its maneuvers due to the icy floors.

"Wha?! When can you do that~?!" Kanna panicked.

"Don't underestimate this scientist!" Copen answered, firing Hexa Missiles and charged Laser Shots at EIR in clear view since the flowers were sliced off, dealing even more damage. G-Byakko then performed a Burning Spark to finish it off. EIR fired another energy bulb as a desperation attack, but it proved ineffective as the Burning Spark punched through the bulb until landing a hit on the pink MA straight into a wall, causing it to crackle with electricity as the white MA moved back and the ice floors melted.

"Fight's over, Kanna! Your MA can't take any more punishment!" Lola declared as she returned to Copen's pendant.

(BGM End)

"Now stand down! We're not here to fight, we just want to talk." Copen said.

"...Nah."

"OH, COME ON!" Team XDR exclaimed at Kanna's answer. She still wants to fight despite her MA's condition?!

"Hmm… What determination." Anby remarked.

"Anby, that's not determination. That's a sore loser." Lola deadpanned.

"Nope. Nope! Nooope~! I'm not a loser!" Kanna complained.

"Miss Kanna, please calm down. You're making a scene." Kenwood insisted.

"Cooome oooon~!" Kanna pouted.

"...Oh my, ever the handful, she is." Kenwood sighed. "My humblest apologies to all of you."

"Finally! Someone to negotiate with!" Lola said in relief. "Your name is Kenwood, right?"

"That is correct, madam. At your service. I'm a support droid for this young lady Kanna, piloting NORA MA-6 'EIR'. And on my shoulder is a charming support animal in the form of a rabbit named Yacopu."

"A robot rabbit? Cool!" Lola remarked. "I think Fred the frog drone will get along with Yacopu."

"Fufu, indeed they will." Kenwood chuckled. "Now then, it's quite the coincidence that we've crossed paths. May I enquire as to what brought you here?

"Of course." Geiz answered as the Time Mazine, Charlotte and Laura approached EIR. "You see…"

---

Moments later…

As time passed, the team introduced themselves to Kanna and Kenwood as they gave them a proper explanation as to why they arrived at Planet Stranga while Copen and Charlotte repaired EIR.

"Ah. Now I understand why." Kenwood noted. "You were only here to explore this planet in case of a mutant attack led by a boss mutant. But during your exploration, you noticed that the plant life poisoned the mutants, causing them to be docile and harmless."

"You're not bothered by that?" Bronya asked.

"No, not at all." Kenwood replied. "In fact, it does make this planet more lively. Although the ones that were not docile can be quite the nuisance."

"We can help you exterminate them, if you want." Laura offered.

"Of course, that would be helpful."

"Do you know where we could find some items on this planet? Maybe map data or any of Anby's missing friends?" Lola asked.

"Just keep moving to the right and follow the path laid before you. It should take you to a few domains that should have what you're looking for. However, there will be large rocks in your way, so allow me to give you something to deal with that problem as compensation for the earlier misunderstanding." Kenwood replied, sending a spare blue data chip onto G-Byakko via wireless link.

DRILL SMASHER:

Unleash a drill for a drop attack in mid-air. Capable of destroying hard rocks.

"Drill Smasher?" Grey repeated after reading the received MA data. "Isn't that the same ability EIR uses?"

"Correct." Kenwood confirmed. "However, it can only be used in mid-air and not on the ground, so keep that in mind."

"Understood. We'll put it to good use." Copen noted as he and Charlotte finished up the repairs on the pink MA. "Okay, repairs are done. So no more attacking us or our friends, Kanna. Got it?"

"No promises~" Kanna replied.

"Sacre bleu…" Charlotte facepalmed.

"Speaking of which, you said something about a silver and purple ship that attacked you. Could you explain about that?" Laura asked.

"That flying MA was, like, totally rude attacking me for no reason. If you ever see that jerk, feel free to give him a good spanking for me~" Kanna replied.

"We'll keep that in mind." Az noted, until she heard a phone ring. "Geiz, was that your phone?"

"Ah, sorry. Let me answer that real quick." Geiz replied as he answered his Zikan Phone. "Huh, a text message from GV's team. Let's see what's up." After reading the message for a moment, his face grew serious. "Guys, there's been some good news and bad news for our teams on Planet Montoj. Good news is that they've formed an alliance with Gonbei and Tae, the inhabitants of that planet. In addition, they've also found Serval and Lynx."

"That's great news!" Volnutt remarked. "But why did you mention the bad news?"

"Because Lynx somehow gained an unknown illness after landing on Montoj from the Dimensional Quake."

"WHAT?!" The others exclaimed.

"Lynx is already back on the immigration ship and being treated by the doctors at the Medical Bay. It should stabilise the illness for a while until a cure is found. And so we got ourselves another reason to explore Stranga. To find a possible cure for that illness."

"I see." Copen noted. "Kanna, does this planet have some kind of antidote for that unknown illness?"

"Well~ Usually I won't tell you because of what happened and how stubborn I can be. But since you're kind enough to repair my dear MA, I think I'll help you out." Kanna answered. "Oh, Kenwood~"

"Of course, Miss Kanna." Kenwood replied. "In order to create a medicine for that illness, you need to find three kinds of fruit and bring them to Miss Kanna. She'll take care of the rest."

"Gotcha." Geiz noted. "Thanks for the help."

"And sorry about damaging EIR." Copen added as he returned to G-Byakko.

"It's no trouble at all. And best of luck to you, Xross Drive Rebellion." Kenwood replied.

"And remember~ Flower~!" Kanna added.

"Flower~!" Lola cheerfully replied… which earned questionable looks from the others. "What? It's fun to say!"

"Like, totally~" Kanna agreed.

"Hmm…" Anby pondered. "I wonder if-"

"Anby, please don't." Laura sweatdropped.

"...Let's just go." Az also sweatdropped as the team moved to the next area.

---

From there, they saw several large rocks blocking their path. "These must be the rocks Kenwood mentioned and where the Drill Smasher will be used for." Laura said.

"Y'know, I just realised that G-Byakko can use the Twintail Bunker for drilling stuff in all directions, even when stationary." Lola remembered.

"Now that you mention it, you're right." Charlotte replied.

"But the Ex-Weapons feature is only exclusive to G-Byakko because of Lola and myself." Copen stated. "Besides, I think I'll give the Drill Smasher a test run."

"Well then, you go first, Ix." Bronya insisted.

G-Byakko then went airborne as its bottom hull revealed a drill and broke the rocks ahead and below with a drill plunge. The others followed the G-Byakko that's clearing the path below until they encountered a blue energy capsule for the vehicles… before blasting it to oblivion when it grew legs and attacked them.

"Oh great! Now those energy capsules have a chance to become Mimics!" Geiz complained.

"Just like the treasure chest Mimics in video games." Bronya said. "In that case, better shoot at them first. If it takes damage, then that's a Mimic."

"Noted." Grey replied as the team continued onwards.

Eventually, they reached a path split with the hole leading to more rocks to break with the Drill Smasher and the upper path.

"Two paths now." Volnutt observed. "Where should we go first? Up or down?"

"Since there's rocks below, no doubt G-Byakko will go and break them down." Geiz said. "But I still think splitting up is a bad idea since we don't have the map data of this planet."

"So I guess we'll have to decide with a coin flip and find out which way we're taking first." Grey deduced.

"Up." Anby spoke up.

"I didn't even use the coin yet, Anby."

"Go up. Call it a gut feeling." Anby insisted.

"Uh…" Grey said with a clueless expression. "What now?"

"Let's go with Anby's choice. Who knows? Maybe we'll find what we're looking for." Laura suggested.

"Alright, we go up." Copen declared as the team hovered to the upper path where they saw another tunnel ahead and large flowers above them.

"Those are some really large flowers." Az observed. "I wonder if they can hold a vehicle or two?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but G-Byakko's detecting another item in a domain above us." Lola informed. "Looks like we'll be using those flower platforms after all."

"Or some of us can just fly up till we reach the domain to save time." Geiz said. "The Time Mazine can easily fly up to the domain anyway."

"In that case, we'll stay here and wait. Be careful up there." Copen replied.

"And if you see any of my friends, tell them I'm with you guys, safe and sound." Anby added.

"Will do." Az replied as the Time Mazine flew up while ignoring the Mother Brains with flowers on them which made them docile.

"And we're here." Geiz said as the vehicle landed near the domain entrance. "Alright Az, let's get to work."

"I'm going with you this time? Got it." Az replied.

"In that case, the Bronya will stay here." Bronya deduced. "And remember about the glowing colored rocks and the flower beds that contained large mutants hiding under them."

"Copy that. We'll see you soon." Geiz replied as the duo left the vehicle with Az wearing her helmet and armed with a G-Rifle, and entered the domain while Bronya stayed inside the vehicle.

---

Once the duo was inside, they began traversing through the domain, clearing out any obstacles in their path with ranged attacks including more mutant extermination. When they reached a glowing red rock, Geiz attached the Wizard Ridewatch onto his Zikan Zax Ono Mode and shattered it with one flame strike, allowing them to move on.

From there, they cleared out more mutants ahead that appeared from the wormholes and avoided the spike pits until they reached another glowing rock, but in yellow. "A yellow rock this time." Geiz observed. "We need to use another element that can break it, and the only element I can think of that's yellow is electro."

"Hold on." Az checked her G-Rifle. "I think my rifle can use the Striker Shot to shatter it."

"Then go for it." Geiz insisted as Az set her rifle to Striker Shot and fired electro spheres at the glowing rock, shattering it after landing a few shots.

"Phew, it worked." Az said with relief. "This rifle is a lot more useful than I thought."

"You can thank Jason and Eve for creating that weapon. Okay, moving on." Geiz replied as the duo moved to another area.

They then saw a large flower bed, reminding them of Bronya's warning about large mutants hiding beneath the flowers. "Az, if you see a large shadow, let it approach us and dodge it at the right moment before blasting it to bits." Geiz advised, switching his Zikan Zax to Yumi Mode.

"Mm." Az nodded as they traversed through the large flower bed, clearing out more mutants and avoiding more spike pits. As they were about to reach the end, they saw a large shadow moving slowly towards them. "There it is!"

"Okay, wait for my signal." Geiz said as they prepared themselves while watching the shadow moving closer. And once the shadow reached their feet… "Move!" The duo jumped away in time to avoid the emerging mutant trying to eat them, then countered with charged shots from their weapons to destroy it.

"That… was scary." Az remarked. "Thanks for the advice, Geiz."

"No problem. Though you should probably thank Charl, Laura and Anby for encountering that obstacle first. Moving on." Geiz replied as they moved on until they reached a glowing red rock guarded by two shield drones. "These guys, huh?"

"Any ideas?" Az asked.

"Just one. Legion!" Geiz used his Zikan Phone to materialize the Legatus onto his wrist and summoned the Arrow Legion to perform a chain bind with the astral chain. Once the drones are stunned with their shields down, the Legion destroys the drones with multiple energy arrows from its crossbow arms.

"What is that?" Az pointed at the Legion.

"That's the Arrow Legion. A chimera born from the Astral Plane." Geiz answered. "Don't worry, he's my partner. It won't hurt you."

"If you say so."

"Now then…" Geiz said as they faced the glowing red rock and with a pyro arrow fired from the Rider's weapon, the rock shattered which allowed them to move on.

The next area has the flower bed again along with more mutants, hostile turrets and spike pits. The trio were able to conquer the obstacles and destroy the enemies, including the large mutant hiding in the flower bed by performing the same tactic as earlier. They soon reach another glowing yellow rock, prompting Az to fire Striker Shots at it to shatter it and allow them to move to the next area. But right when they're about to go inside, they suddenly heard gunshots coming from inside.

"Gunshots?" Az gasped. "Is someone else fighting the mutants?"

"Probably. Maybe it's one of Anby's missing friends." Geiz replied.

"Then let's hurry!" Az replied back as the trio ran inside.

In the next area, someone was indeed fighting the mutants with gunshots from the twin revolvers. The person was actually a male battle android with spiky white hair, a black face with glowing yellow optics but without a mouth and nose, and wearing an open long sleeved red leather jacket with a logo on the back, a black machine body, leather jeans and boots.

"Oh man, things went south really really bad!" The android panicked, looking at his revolvers. "It was supposed to be a simple commission from the boss. Capture the gold and silver Bangboos inside the Hollow and sell them for a lot of Dennies. But then that quake appeared from out of nowhere, and then here I am in some weird cave with mutants everywhere! And not only that Anby and Nekomata are nowhere to be found, and I'm about to run out of ammo soon!"

Soon enough, more mutants appeared from the wormholes, which annoyed the android. "Come on! Can you give a Starlight Knight a break here?!" He sighed. "Well, looks like I'm gonna miss this week's episode if I'm about to die here. I had a good run though." But right before the mutants attacked the ammoless android, the mutants were exterminated by an energy arrow storm from above, followed by a chain lightning blast after an electro sphere made contact with another mutant. "Huh? I'm saved?" The android blinked before looking at the direction to where the sphere was fired.

"Phew, that was close." Az said with relief as she, Geiz and the Legion arrived.

"Are you alright there, buddy?" Geiz asked the android. "Nice revolvers, by the way."

"Finally! People!" The android cheered, before blinking when looking at the Rider. "Wait, that suit… Are you a Starlight Knight?"

"...Who?" Geiz tilted his head.

"Starlight Knights! The heroes of justice! Duh!"

"...Oh. Actually, I'm a Kamen Rider. But just like the Starlight Knights, they also fight for justice, protecting the weak that cannot protect themselves, their hopes, their dreams, and their smiles."

"For real?!" The android gasped.

"Yes, for real." Geiz nodded and smiled… until more mutants showed up from the wormholes.

"Hey! I'm trying to have a nice conversation with a Kamen Rider over here!" The android scolded the mutants as the team prepared themselves. "I'd fight too, but I'm kinda low on ammo at the moment. You got any revolver rounds?"

"No, but I have an alternative." Geiz replied, materialising a pair of X-Baton Blasters to his hand using his Zikan Phone. "Will these work?"

"Usually I won't accept other guns." The android holstered his revolvers and took the blasters before twirling them with style and aimed at the mutants. "But hey, beggars can't be too picky."

"What's your name?" Az asked. "We kinda forgot to ask."

"Oh, me? Heh." The android chuckled. "The name's Billy Kid. Member of the Cunning Hares and a Starlight Knight!"

Billy Kid

Physical Element

Cunning Hares

"Wait, you're Billy?!" Geiz gawked. "Do you know a Anby Demara?"

"Wait, you know her too?!" Billy gasped. "Where is she?"

"She's with our other teammates outside." Az replied. "But let's take care of what's around us first. Oh, my name is Az Sainklaus, and this is Kamen Rider Geiz. And the floating blue creature is his partner, the Arrow Legion."

"Nice to meet ya, Billy." Geiz smirked.

"Alright, mutant scum! Let's go for Round 2!" Billy declared and fired the blasters at the surrounding mutants like a skilled gunslinger.

"Whoa, look at him go!" Az remarked as Billy went airborne and fired while spinning upside down before landing and fired a double charged shot at the mutant behind him.

"Holy crap, he has Dante's gunslinger style! Chris, Connor and Kiana's got some competition." Geiz thought in awe before shrugging off his thoughts with a head shake. "Let's not let him do all the work, Az! We're going, too!"

"Roger!" Az complied as they joined Billy with the mutant extermination.

The extermination lasted for a few minutes until one group of mutants remained. "Starlight…!" Billy twirled the blasters charging to full power. "Shine bright!" Then he fired at the mutants, moving around them with incredible speed before finishing off the last mutant with a double shot. "Haha! That's what you get!" He smirked before holstering the blasters. "Thanks for loaning your blasters for a while, Geiz. I'll return them once I get more revolver rounds."

"Nah, you can keep them." Geiz replied.

"Seriously? Just like that? No payment needed?" Billy questioned.

"It's fine. We can make more anyway."

"You're one generous hero, you know that?"

"I know."

"So, can you take me to see Anby?" Billy asked.

"Of course." Az nodded before staring at another entryway. "But let's see what's in the next area first. We came to this domain for any important items. Hopefully it's a map data chip."

"A map, huh? Fair enough. Getting lost kinda sucks. Especially when it involves splitting up."

"Don't worry, we never split up until we have a map." Geiz assured as they head for the entryway.

From there, they saw another flower bed followed by a glowing yellow rock to their left. "Oh great, this again." Az muttered, looking at the flower bed. "Billy, a large mutant is hiding under those flowers. Let it come to us, and after we dodge, shoot it till it dies."

"Thanks for the heads up." Billy noted before noticing the approaching large shadow ahead. "And here comes that shadow now."

"On my signal…" Geiz said as they prepared themselves. And once the shadow reached their feet… "Go!" The team jumped away in time, avoiding the emerging mutant attempting to eat them. Instead, the mutant was exterminated by charged ranged shots from the team until it exploded.

"Could've sworn I've seen this moment in a movie once." Billy said. "Only difference is that we killed the attacker."

"Huh, is that so?" Az replied before facing the yellow rock and shattered it with Striker Shots.

And from beyond the shattered rock was a LIFE-UP… which was being held by a short and stout robot wearing a silver bunny suit, with short arms and legs, and a black screen for a face with green circular optics.

"Hey, that's the Bangboo me and my pals were looking for!" Billy pointed at the small robot rabbit.

"So this is a Bangboo." Geiz mused.

"Yup, but this one is silver. Which means plenty of Dennies for us!"

"Dennies?" Az repeated.

"You know, money for New Eridu." Billy clarified.

"Oh, that."

"Though why is it holding a LIFE-UP?" Geiz pointed at what the Bangboo was holding. "Hey, little guy? I kinda need that to upgrade my friend's MA."

However, the Bangboo was shuddering in fright. "I think it's scared." Az observed before holstering her rifle. "Put your guns away, guys. Let's not frighten it."

"Right." Geiz replied as he and Billy holstered their weapons while the Legion returned to the Legatus. "Now what?"

"Let me handle this." Az replied back, slowly approaching the scared Bangboo and went down on her knees with her hand forward. "Easy there, little guy. We're not here to hurt you. Come right over, okay?"

The Bangboo was a little scared at first, but after seeing Az's kindness, it slowly approached her and touched her hand.

"There you go." Az smiled as she gently picked up the Bangboo.

"Huh, this is the first time I've ever seen someone capture a Bangboo peacefully." Billy remarked. "Usually we'd just beat the crap out of it till it faints."

"That's too harsh." Az scolded. "This robot has feelings too, you know."

"Hey, I have feelings, too!"

"Name one commission that does not involve hurting a Bangboo."

Billy tried to come up with an answer, but eventually fell short. "Okay, you got me there. To be fair, my boss Nicole is more ruthless when it comes to money."

"She loves money, doesn't she?" Geiz deadpanned.

"Yeeep!"

"God gacking dammit." Geiz facepalmed.

"So Nicole's the name of your boss." Az mused.

"Mhm." Billy nodded. "Nicole Demara, the leader and founder of Gentle House. Though she liked the name Cunning Hares better."

"Demara?" Geiz repeated. "She and Anby are sisters?"

"Not by blood, actually. She adopted Anby a long time ago when she found her near the ruins of an old capital in New Eridu." Billy explained. "And after seeing her amazing skills firsthand, Nicole took her into the Cunning Hares as their first member. Though her past is kind of a mystery and she can't remember much of it, not even her own name. That's why Nicole gave her the name Anby Demara."

"An amnesiac, huh?" Geiz thought.

"I see." Az noted. "At least she has friends that she can be with."

"Yep, and that's fine with me." Billy agreed. "Though her common sense really needs some work. Nicole's spending habits didn't help either."

"Oh boy." Geiz sweatdropped as he pulled out his Zikan Phone in Blaster Mode. "Anyway, we reached the end of the domain, so let's get out of here." He then created a wormhole before the group after pushing the button which surprised them.

"What the?! Did you just use your phone to create a wormhole?!" Billy asked.

"Yup, it's a special kind of phone." Geiz replied. "Don't worry, it'll safely take us back to my vehicle waiting outside."

"Oh, so it's basically like using a teleportation spell back to the beginning of a dungeon!"

"Exactly." Geiz confirmed to Billy with a nod.

"Then let's go, because none of us want to take the long way back." Az said.

"You said it." Billy agreed as the team went inside the wormhole.

---

Soon after, the team appeared before the Time Mazine. "Welcome back." Bronya greeted. "Did you find the map data?"

"No, just a LIFE-UP for the MAs and Jason's suit." Geiz replied.

"But we did find a couple of robots inside." Az added before looking at the Bangboo she's holding on her arms. "This little guy is a Bangboo." She then turned to Billy who posed dramatically. "And over here is Billy Kid, one of Anby's missing friends from the Cunning Hares."

"What's up?" Billy waved.

"Mm." Bronya replied.

"Seriously? That's how you say hello?" Billy questioned. "Though your tone of voice kinda reminds me of Anby in a way. Speaking of Anby, is she in that vehicle?"

"Actually, she's with our other team down below. Come inside so we can take you there."

"This vehicle, the Time Mazine, happens to be mine, by the way." Geiz said.

"This ride's yours?! Sweet!" Billy remarked in awe as they went inside the vehicle before taking off to rejoin Copen's team.

"Hey, Anby! You in there?" Billy called out as the Time Mazine landed near G-Byakko.

"You guys found Billy. Great work." Anby replied. "And it's good to hear that you're safe, Billy."

"You too, Anby. I didn't find Nekomata in that domain, but I did find the silver Bangboo that we're looking for. Az is taking care of it."

"Good to know. And don't worry, we'll find her in another domain."

"By the way, Geiz, did you find the map data for Stranga?" Lola asked.

"No. But we did find a LIFE-UP for the MAs and Jason's suit." Geiz replied.

"Dang it."

"No matter. It's better than nothing, especially now that Billy and the Bangboo were found." Copen stated. "Geiz, transfer the LIFE-UP using the Zikan Phone."

"Already on it, Ix." Geiz replied, using his phone to store and transfer the LIFE-UP to Copen's phone before it was installed onto G-Byakko.

"Did anything happen while we're gone?" Bronya asked.

"Not much. The mutants with flowers on them didn't even try to attack us while we waited." Volnutt answered.

"Interesting. To think the flower's effects can last that long."

"We also got to learn more about New Eridu from Anby." Grey said. "And well… I think we'll save that explanation once all of us are back on the immigration ship."

"That bad, huh?" Geiz guessed.

"A lot more than you think." Copen answered.

"And probably worse than the chimeras and the Astral Plane." Lola added.

"...Oh." Geiz noted. "I get the feeling I'm not gonna like New Eridu's threat."

"Okay, time to see what's beyond that tunnel." Volnutt declared as the team went inside the nearby tunnel while introducing themselves to Billy.

From there, they traversed through another area, clearing out caterpillar mutants that did not have a flower until they reached the bottom of the area where they saw bodies of floating water with a small opening above that only people can fit through, but there's another upper opening ahead that's large enough for the vehicles to go through. There's also a pair of large closed white flowers near a dark grey flower bed which is where the vehicles are currently on.

"Is it just me, or does those white flowers scream 'danger' in my mind?" Billy asked.

"Then we'd better not get close to them and move on." Copen replied as the vehicles use their Wall Climb to go up the wall ahead and through the floating water until they saw an upper path with more floating water, and an entryway ahead. In addition, there's also a small entryway on the upper path.

"Okay, which path should we take next?" Lola asked.

"Let's try the upper path. I did see a small entryway, but since it's too small for the vehicles to fit through, we'll have to go around it." Anby replied.

"Or… Charl and I will go through that small entryway instead. We should be able to fit through." Laura said.

"Then Laura and Charl will go and check that entryway while the rest of us will wait here." Bronya said.

"Sorry that you'll be doing more domain exploring on this planet." Az said.

"It's alright, we're used to it." Charlotte replied. "We'll be back soon!" Afterwards, the IS girls flew up and went through the small upper entryway until they saw a domain entrance ahead.

---

After the girls went inside the domain, they found themselves standing on a flower bed. "Sacre bleu, not this again." Charlotte sighed.

"I've already expected this as we explore the domains here, so we know what we're dealing with and how to counter it." Laura stated.

"True. For now, let's get going." Charlotte replied as the duo moved to the next area. Fortunately, there's no large mutant hiding in the flower bed, but they did encounter more hostile turrets and mutants which were quickly disposed of until they reached another glowing red rock. A pile bunker round from Charlotte was enough to shatter the rock, allowing the duo to move onto the next area.

They then discovered three routes to take; east, west and north. "Hmm… so there's three paths to take this time." Laura said, looking at the paths.

"It would be easy to know which path to take with the map data, which unfortunately we still didn't have. Looks like we'll have to… Huh?" Charlotte stopped her sentence when she saw cat paw prints leading to the west path. "Cat paw prints? What are those doing in a domain like this?"

"There's no way a cat could appear here… unless…" Laura began to realize. "I think Anby mentioned a cat Thiren named Nekomata since she's also one of the Dimensional Quake victims."

"So you think Nekomata is in this domain?" Charlotte asked.

"Considering the cat paw prints we saw, there's no doubt about it. So let's follow the trail until we find her." Laura replied as the duo followed the trail heading west. They continued to follow the trail, making a right turn to another area and reaching another flower bed where they saw not one, but two large shadows. Despite the numbers, they followed the same tactic by avoiding their chomps at the last moment and then countered with ranged fire to destroy them. With the threats eliminated, they continued following the trail and made a right turn, leading to a new area.

"Hey, I think that's her!" Charlotte gasped as the duo entered the area and noticed the cat Thiren that has two tails with black fur on her butt. "Excuse me, are you Nekomata of the Cunning Hares?"

"Meow?" The Thiren responded and turned around before gasping in surprise. "How did you know my name and my current faction?"

Nekomiya Mana

Physical Element

Cunning Hares

Nekomiya Mana, or Nekomata, has light brown skin and brown eyes with human hands and cat legs, black hair with a red headband and a ribbon tied to the back of her hair, a barcode on her forehead, black cat ears with red and fluffy white on the inside, a white, black and red outfit with black shorts, red and black elbow sleeves with white strings that are tied, a bronze cat bell on her neck, and lastly red and black armored leg guards with thigh high socks underneath.

"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you." Laura assured as she and Charlotte lowered their weapons. "As for how we know about you, it was because of Anby Demara."

"You know her?!" Nekomata gasped.

"Mhm." Charlotte replied as she and Laura nodded. "She's with our other teammates outside of this domain. Billy Kid is also with them."

"Anby and Billy were with you?!" Nekomata gasped again.

"More like we rescued them in other domains." Laura replied. "You're the last of the Cunning Hares we need to find, and we're glad you're safe."

"Thank goodness!" Nekomata smiled… and pounced onto Laura. "Thanks for saving them, and me!"

"Y-Yes, you're welcome." Laura sweatdropped. "Now can you please get off me?"

"O-Oh, right. Sorry." Nekomata replied, jumping away from the German. "As much as I want to leave this place, I can't do that right now because I'm closing in on that gold Bangboo. I still have a commission to complete for Nicole."

"I see. In that case, maybe we-" Before Charlotte could finish her sentence, the entryways on all four sides closed and mutants appeared from the wormholes which surrounded them. "An ambush?!" She gasped as they prepared themselves.

"Tch… we got careless. Guess we'll have to fight our way out." Laura muttered, materializing energy blades on her arms. "Nekomata, can you fight?"

"Obviously." Nekomata grinned, pulling out her twin blades from her leg guards and twirled them before holding them in reverse grip. "I'm quite the dangerous cat, you know."

"Then let's get them!" Charlotte pulled out her heavy assault rifle and G-Rifle, with her sub-arms wielding more assault rifles, and fired at the mutants while Laura and Nekomata attacked them in close range.

As Laura slashed a few mutants along with firing her wires on her IS frame's shoulders plus the shoulder railguns, she noticed Nekomata's style of fighting with her blades against another mutant group. Fast, agile, and deadly, with acrobatic reflexes like a cat. "She's really good… I think she might give Catra from the Color-Verse a challenge." Laura thought.

A few minutes later, all of the mutants have been eliminated, causing all of the doors to open. "Phew, we did it." Nekomata said. "You girls are pretty good as Agents."

"Well, we're not really Agents, but we're pretty good in a fight." Charlotte replied.

"Now then, about that gold Bangboo that you're closing in on, you know where to find it?" Laura asked the Thiren.

"Hmm…" Nekomata looked around until she saw small footprints on the north entryway. "Right there! I know a Bangboo's footprint when I see one!" She pointed at the north.

"Then lead the way, we'll cover you." Charlotte replied as the trio went north with Nekomata taking the lead.

Hostile turrets and shield drones were in their way, but they were disposed of with the IS girls shooting down the turrets and Nekomata attacking the drones from behind with her speed. After making a left turn, they ran into a cracked wall which was quickly destroyed by Charlotte's pile bunker, but were then ambushed by spinning star mutants. After those were destroyed, they saw another glowing blue rock on their right, to which Charlotte destroyed it with her pile bunker again, allowing them to move on.

"There's the gold Bangboo!" Nekomata spotted the gold Bangboo after entering the area, and it was holding a blue data chip.

"A blue data chip for the MAs? Why is it holding it?" Charlotte questioned.

"It must think the chip is valuable." Laura replied, using her Zikan Phone to scan the data chip the Bangboo is holding.

REPULSION UPPER:

Fires a repulsion jack that launches anything that touches it directly upward.

"A repulsion jack?" Charlotte repeated.

"I think it's a spring weapon." Laura replied. "We can use it to launch ourselves to higher places. And considering it's a sub-weapon for the MAs, even vehicles can use them."

"Wow." Nekomata remarked. "I wonder how high we can jump using that spring?"

"We can test it out after we give the chip to Copen." Laura replied. "Now to subdue the Bangboo."

"Oh, I can handle that." Nekomata said as she was about to reach for her blades.

"Non non non! We are not going for the violence route!" Charlotte scolded the Thiren and waved her finger. "If Az can peacefully capture the silver Bangboo, then maybe I can do the same for the gold one." The French dispersed her weapons and slowly approached the scared Bangboo. "Bonjour, little one. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"?" The Bangboo responded.

"You wish to find a way out of this scary domain, no?" Charlotte asked, earning a nod from the Bangboo after some pondering. "Then come with us, we'll protect you and help you leave this place. My name is Charlotte Dunois, and these are my friends, Laura Bodewig and Nekomata." She gestured to the others, responding with a nod with their weapons dispersed. "Ready to go?" Charlotte offered a hand, to which the gold Bangboo took it before being carried by the French. "There, all done."

"Wow, you're so kind, Charlotte." Nekomata said. "The Bangboo opened up to you."

"Sometimes violence is never the answer." Charlotte smiled. "Also, feel free to call me Charl."

"Okay, Charl it is!" Nekomata smiled back.

"Shame there's no map data of Planet Stranga, but nevertheless, Nekomata and the gold Bangboo were found and we obtained a new MA chip. Time to head back." Laura said, using her Zikan Phone to create a wormhole nearby which surprised Nekomata.

"Meow?!" Nekomata gasped. "You create a wormhole with your phone?!"

"It's a special kind of phone. Alright, let's go." Charlotte said as the group went through the wormhole.

---

Soon after, the girls and Bangboo appeared before the vehicles via wormhole. "Hey, Anby! Billy! You two in there?!" Nekomata waved.

"Sweet, you found Nekomata! Good going, ladies!" Billy noticed.

"With this, all of the Cunning Hares are present, except for Nicole since she's currently in New Eridu." Anby said.

"Not only that, we also found the gold Bangboo who's holding an MA data chip." Charlotte said, looking at the Bangboo on her harms.

"The data chip contains the Repulsion Upper, creating a spring which will allow us, and even vehicles, to leap to higher areas." Laura added.

"Still no map data, huh?" Geiz sighed. "Well, at least the new MA sub-weapon will prove useful in certain situations."

"Charl, give the chip to me so I can install it onto G-Byakko." Copen said.

"Understood." Charlotte nodded as she dispersed her IS and boarded the white MA with the gold Bangboo and gave the chip to Copen who began installing the chip onto the MA.

"Do you wish to take a break inside the Time Mazine, Laura?" Bronya asked.

"Of course. I've been out here for quite a long while." Laura replied. "Nekomata, come with me."

"Okay, sounds good!" Nekomata cheerfully replied as the two boarded the Time Mazine.

Afterwards, the two entered the next area ahead where they saw a strange looking tree trunk with the top part being brown while the lower part being green wrapped around a rope with some kind of hose sticking out. There's also a brown flower screw nearby.

"What kind of tree are we looking at right now?" Grey asked.

"I have absolutely no idea." Volnutt replied.

"Sure as heck that a tree like this never existed in New Eridu." Billy said.

"Hey, look! A flower screw like the one we saw where G-Byakko fought EIR!" Lola noticed. "If EIR used the Drill Smasher on the screw to create numerous flowers, I wonder what would happen if G-Byakko screws this one?"

"Well… nothing ventured, nothing gained." Copen said as G-Byakko leaped above the screw and used the Drill Smasher to screw the flower down, causing the rope on the tree to tighten until a seed popped out of the hose.

"That's what the screw does?!" Nekomata gawked.

"It really defies logic." Laura said.

"I think there's no such thing as logic the moment we landed on this planet." Charlotte sweatdropped.

"Excuse me." Anby said, jumping out of the MA to retrieve the seed before going back inside. "Are we supposed to plant this seed somewhere?"

"Let's look around the area first, we'll find our answer soon enough." Az replied as the vehicles moved on.

As they leaped and hovered to the higher area while also clearing out more rainbow bees, they saw a flower pot, a blue flower screw ahead, and a large water balloon above the pot tied to a rope.

"Another flower screw, but in blue." Copen observed. "Not only that, there's also a water balloon above the flower pot tied to a rope."

"Gonna take a wild guess that water will shoot out the moment G-Byakko go Drill Smasher on that screw." Lola assumed.

"Considering what happened to that tree earlier, it should be possible." Grey replied.

"Anby, plant the seed in the pot. Ix, get your MA in position near the screw." Geiz instructed.

"Roger." Anby and Copen replied as the former left the MA to plant the seed while the latter drove the MA to the flower screw.

"...Ready when you are." Anby informed after planting the seed in the pot and took several steps back.

"Here goes." Copen said as the MA performed the Drill Smasher onto the screw, causing the rope to squeeze the water balloon and shoot a torrent of water onto the plant pot until it stopped a few seconds later. A few more seconds later, the seed quickly grew into a tree and revealed a yellow fruit, prompting Anby to grab the fruit.

"I think this must be one of the three fruits we need to give Kanna for the medicine." Anby looked at the fruit on her hands.

"Sure looks like it." Charlotte said.

"One fruit down, two more to go." Laura said.

"Come back inside, Anby. We're heading back to take the route and go to the other path." Copen said.

"Understood." Anby replied, jumping back inside the white MA with the fruit in hand before the two vehicles left the area.

---

Several minutes of backtracking later, they arrived at the previous area with the large yellow flower platforms above them. And once the vehicles went to the bottom path, they saw numerous large rocks below. Seeing the rocks, G-Byakko performed the Drill Smasher onto the rocks until it landed near a tunnel beside a Recharge Point.

"Another tunnel, but without the vines this time." Geiz noticed as the Time Mazine landed near the MA. "Should we go in?"

"Actually, wait here. Charlotte and I will have a look." Laura replied as she and Charlotte left the vehicles, donned their IS frames and took a quick look inside the tunnel before coming back seconds later. "It's a shortcut back to where EIR is located."

"That's good to know. Shortcuts are always nice to have." Az replied.

"Okay, back to the drilling!" Lola declared as G-Byakko performed the Drill Smasher onto the rocks below once more until it landed into the water with the Time Mazine following behind.

"The Bronya sees an entryway to the next area." Bronya noticed said entryway on their right that's out of the water. "Should we go together?"

"Ah, wait a sec." Lola interrupted. "The MA's detecting an item in this area. Geiz, you and your team go ahead and explore the next area while the others check around this area for the item. Come and find us when you're done."

"Gotcha. See ya in a bit." Geiz replied, driving the Time Mazine towards the next area while G-Byakko and the IS girls stayed at the current area to search for the detected item.

After the Time Mazine went through the entryway, they saw an area filled with poisonous substances, docile Mother Brains due to the flowers on their heads, and large rocks ahead.

"Okay, those things definitely look like bad news." Billy noticed the poisonous substance on the ceilings and flowers. "Instead of the floors and ceilings being lava, it's… these."

"Ugh… looking at these things is sick to my stomach." Nekomata said in disgust.

"Good thing the Time Mazine can fly." Geiz said, flying the vehicle across the area without touching the poison and ignoring the docile mutants until reaching the large rocks. "More of those rocks. Bronya?"

"Calling forth Bunny now." Bronya complied as her personal robot Bunny appeared near the rocks with its drill arm equipped and smashed through the rocks until the way was open.

"You have your very own robot, Bronya?! That's amazing!" Billy remarked in awe.

"You'd be surprised at what Team XDR are capable of." Bronya smirked as the Time Mazine and Bunny flew ahead.

After dealing with more flying mutants which included the capsule mimics, they flew up an opening and moved left where they saw grapes being guarded by mutants with flowers on them, including a large walker mutant that didn't have a flower.

"There's the next fruit, but we got hostiles ahead." Az observed. "Well, only a large one since the others are docile thanks to the flowers."

"In that case, mind if I have some fun with the big guy?" Billy asked.

"By all means." Geiz approved.

"I'll just snatch that fruit from under their noses. Billy can handle the rest, unless he needs help." Nekomata said.

"Heh." Billy chuckled as he and Nekomata left the vehicle with the former twirling his X-Baton Blasters. "Don't worry, he may be big, but he won't stand a chance against a Starlight Knight!" He immediately fired at the large walker, landing several hits which earned its attention and went after the robot.

With the fruit out of the mutant's sight, Nekomata quickly dashed towards the fruit with fast cat-like speed, retrieved the grapes while ignoring the docile mutants, and retreated back into the Time Mazine.

The large walker mutant tried to shoot down Billy, but he was quick on his feet and fired rapid and charged shots with his blasters. "And here's one more for the road!" And with a final double charge shot from the android gunslinger, the large mutant was defeated as the robot holstered his blasters after stylishly twirling them. "And that's how it's done! Nekomata, got the grapes?"

"Got 'em with me, Billy!" Nekomata confirmed. "Come back inside, we're leaving!"

"On my way!" Billy replied as he boarded the Time Mazine. "Alright, two down and one to go!"

"Mhm. Let's head back to Copen's team." Geiz replied back, driving the vehicle back to the previous area.

Upon arrival, the vehicle flew into the water and past the docile Mother Brains until they saw G-Byakko, Charlotte and Laura waiting near another entryway on the left. "We're back. And we're able to obtain the second fruit from that area we explored." Grey informed.

"Good going. Only one more fruit left." Copen replied.

"As for us, we found a map data. But it's for Planetoid 'E-2'." Lola added. "Okay seriously, we only have one more fruit to find, and still no map data of this planet?! Do I have to make our own map instead?!"

"Lola, there's no point arguing. We've already made a lot of progress and I think we're nearly done with this planet." Anby stated.

"Anby does have a point there." Bronya agreed. "In addition, we already know our way back to the beginning without the need of the map, and there's also the shortcut back to where EIR is located."

"...Sometimes I hate it when you girls are right." Lola muttered.

"Okay, that's enough talking. Let's explore this next area." Laura said as the group went inside the entryway where they saw a blocked path. The only opening left is a small hole above them leading to a water path.

"Looks like this is where we come in again." Charlotte said as Laura nodded. "Please wait here, everyone."

"Sure, we can wait." Billy replied before the IS girls flew into the water hole above. "Anyway, you guys wanna hear my story of how I joined the Cunning Hares?"

"That's fine." Grey replied back. "Though you're pretty unique for a robot."

"Battle android, actually. Well, that's because I'm made with lost technology."

"Lost technology. Heh, reminds me of Galaxy Angel when I heard that. Though those kinds of lost technology in that world are… weird as heck for the most part." Geiz thought.

"Though in Nicole's case…" Billy continued. "She was like, "Lost technology? That's a good one! More like 'high maintenance costs'!""

"...Oh." Everyone, minus Anby, sweatdropped.

"Y'know, Nicole wasn't my first boss. According to my memory bank, I used to live in New Eridu's Outer Ring, serving a man with lofty ambitions. He bought me from a group of drifters, named me Billy Kid, and gave me a mission."

"What was the mission?" Bronya asked.

"I was supposed to stick to the Outer Ring, but some things went down, my first home fell apart and I became an aimless combat weapon once again. I had a long talk with the people who were following my old boss, and in the end, they decided to let me go."

"And eventually during your taste of freedom, you encountered Nicole Demara and became a member of the Cunning Hares." Copen said.

"Yup." Billy replied. "New Eridu's my new home now, and I got my revolvers from an old friend as a gift."

"And you're also a huge fan of the Starlight Knights as heroes of justice." Geiz said.

"Yup, that too! And I have no regrets!" Billy replied.

"Wow." Grey remarked. "So what's your story, Nekomata?"

"Oh, me?" Nekomata responded. "Well… mine's pretty long compared to Anby and Billy's."

"That's alright, we have plenty of time." Volnutt said.

"Actually Nekomata, we'll listen to your story later. Charl and Laura are coming back." Az noticed the IS girls coming out of the water hole above with Charlotte holding an item that looks like a LIFE-UP, but in blue.

"Wait a sec. I don't remember LIFE-UPs being blue." Lola observed.

"That's because it's not a LIFE-UP. It's actually an SP-UP to increase the MAs' energy." Laura explained. "I did a quick scan with the Zikan Phone earlier."

"SP-UP, huh?" Copen mused. "Well, an energy extension is nice to have. Give it to me so I can install it to the MA."

"Mm." Charlotte nodded as she flew over to the white MA and gave Copen the SP-UP, allowing him to install it onto the MA.

"By the way, that previous area also has another entryway just above the one we just entered." Lola mentioned.

"Then let's have a look." Geiz replied as the team left the area until they reached the previous area and took the upper path where they saw the aforementioned entryway after hovering upwards.

After going inside, they saw a similar tree trunk that had a green bottom tied to a rope and a hose, but the trunk this time was large. In addition, the hose was positioned near the poisonous substance Geiz's team saw in another previous area. Plus, there's also a brown flower screw on one of the large tree branches.

"This tree trunk again, meaning it's seed planting time again." Az deduced.

"Only problem is that the seed dispenser will drop the seed onto that poisonous substance the moment that trunk is squeezed after the MA performs a Drill Smasher onto that screw." Lola pointed out.

"In that case…" Geiz began. "Ix, get in position near the flower screw while the rest of us will fly next to the seed dispenser. Wait for my signal, okay?"

"Copy that." Copen replied as G-Byakko hovered near the flower screw while the IS girls and the Time Mazine flew over the tree trunk and floated near the hose without touching the poison below.

"Okay Ix, we're ready!" Charlotte shouted. "Do it now!"

"Right!" Copen complied as G-Byakko performed a Drill Smasher onto the screw, causing the rope to tighten the tree trunk and popped out the seed which landed on Laura's hand.

"We have the seed!" Laura informed Copen's team. "Wait here until we come back with the last fruit!"

"Take your time!" Volnutt replied as the Time Mazine and the IS girls flew ahead in search of the pot to plant the seed.

The Time Mazine and the IS girls soon ran into more large rocks which were quickly drilled through by Bronya calling forth Bunny to break them. And after disposing of more capsule mimics, they saw a flower pot with a water balloon above it tied to a rope, and a blue flower screw on the other side of the area.

"Hmm… How are we going to screw down that flower without the Drill Smasher?" Charlotte pondered.

Laura then looked at Bunny's drill arm. "Perhaps Bronya's robot will work as an alternative. Bronya, can I borrow your robot for a while to screw down the flower for the water balloon to pour out?"

"Go right ahead." Bronya replied, allowing Laura to escort Bunny to the flower screw after giving the seed to Charlotte who flew over to the pot, planted the seed and moved a few steps back.

"Ready when you are, Laura!" Charlotte shouted.

"Bunny, screw that flower down!" Laura commanded Bronya's robot to screw down the flower with its drill arm, causing the rope to tighten the water balloon that shot out water onto the pot.

Seconds later, the seed quickly grew into a tree, revealing a red fruit that was then retrieved by Charlotte. "I've got the fruit, Laura!" Charlotte shouted.

"Then our job here is done. Let's regroup with G-Byakko and return to Kanna's location so we can give her the three fruits for the medicine." Laura replied as the IS girls and Bunny returned to the Time Mazine with Laura going inside the vehicle to rest.

Afterwards, the team flew back and regrouped with G-Byakko waiting at the entryway leading to the previous area. "You guys got the last fruit?" Grey asked.

"I have it right here." Charlotte replied, holding onto the red fruit. "Now let's hurry back to Kanna so she can prepare the medicine."

"And we'll use that shortcut we discovered earlier to return quickly." Laura added.

"Alright, time to head back." Copen declared as the group left the area.

---

A few minutes later, they reached the shortcut in the previous area and went inside, landing them near the entryway where Kanna was fought.

After taking the entryway, they saw Kanna playing with her rabbit drone Yacopu with EIR nearby. Kenwood was also with them, having short white hair with bull horns and wearing a butler outfit.

"So this is what Kenwood looks like. A bull Thiren." Anby noticed.

"Who also happens to be an android, by the way." Lola pointed out.

"Wait, he's both a Thiren and an android?!" Nekomata gasped. "That's very rare! And we're not even in New Eridu!"

"Ah, you have returned." Kenwood greeted after noticing the team's arrival.

"Hey guys~!" Kanna waved. "And I see you got the fruits~"

"It took a while, but we got 'em." Geiz replied, coming out of the Time Mazine with the grapes in hand as he and Charlotte approached the plant girl.

"Here are the fruits, Kanna. You can handle the rest from here." Charlotte said as she and Geiz offered the three fruits.

"Cool your jets~!" Kanna raised her hand. "Let me do something first~" She took a deep breath and grunted in concentration. "Here… we… go…! Aaand… Pop!" Several seconds later, a flower sprouted on top of her head.

"HUH?!" Team XDR exclaimed.

Next, Kanna took the fruits and the flower on her head. "Come and get it, Yacopu~" She then shoved the items onto her rabbit drone's mouth.

"Are you kidding me?!" Billy gawked. "We worked our ass off to get those fruits, and it's all for rabbit food?!"

"Yacopu is, like, super special~! He can mix all the goodies that he eats, then he can, like, make medicine from it~!" Kanna explained… much to the bewilderment of the team.

"...Do I need to see a doctor after we leave this planet? And I don't even drink alcohol for Archon's sake!" Geiz mentally questioned.

Moments later, Yacopu created the medicine… that came out of his butt… in a shape of a small brown ball.

"...That's the medicine, isn't it?" Az observed the… medicine… being picked up by Kanna.

"I… think so…?" Volnutt answered with uncertainty.

"Hmm…" Anby mused.

"Anby, don't eat that. Nicole will kill us if anything happens to you." Nekomata warned.

"I think I understand why Ashe doesn't want to come to this planet." Grey thought. "Her mind won't take it."

"Well, here's the medicine for your sick friend~!" Kanna offered the medicine.

"Erm…" Geiz and Charlotte stared at each other, wondering who will take the medicine.

"I'll… uh… I'll just take it." Charlotte pulled out her Zikan Phone and stored the medicine inside. "I'm planning to go back to the ship to see Ichika's recovery process anyway after giving Lynx the medicine."

"...Yeah, you do that." Geiz nodded. "But do me a favour and don't tell anyone how this medicine was actually made."

"My lips are sealed." Charlotte replied before returning to G-Byakko.

"Anyway Kanna, Kenwood, we really need to… huh?" Geiz's sentence was interrupted when he noticed Yacopu approaching him and sniffed at him. "Why is the rabbit sniffing at me?"

"Perhaps he sensed something inside your pocket. Probably a herb." Kenwood assumed.

"A herb?" Geiz repeated before pulling out the Nu-Nasae Herb he found on Planet Flosante. "Are you talking about this one?"

"Like, oh my gosh! That's the herb I'm looking for!" Kanna gasped.

"You know about this herb?" Geiz asked.

"Allow me to explain." Kenwood spoke up. "The Nu-Nasae Herb is an extremely rare specimen that unfortunately no longer exists on this planet."

"We totally found some before, but I bet it blasted off from here~ Like, BOOM~! That stuff is super fast!"

"This plant… blasted off… into space…?" Geiz stared at the herb he's holding.

"It's just something that happens on this planet, I'm afraid." Kenwood clarified. "That being said, where did you find it?"

"Planet Flosante in Space Sector A."

"Ah, that's where that plant blasted off to. It's a stroke of luck that you're able to find it."

"Can I have it, pretty please~?" Kanna asked with her hands forward.

"Well… if this plant is very important to you, then who am I to judge?" Geiz shrugged and gave the herb to Kanna. "Here you go."

"Awesome! Like, seriously awesome!" Kanna took the herb… and stuck it on top of her head. "So, how do I look, Yacopu? Totally fabulous, right?" She smiled at her rabbit while Geiz comically facefaulted to the ground.

"...Seriously? You used a very rare herb… for a fashion accessory…?" Nekomata questioned.

"Yup." Kanna confirmed.

"You know what… never mind…" Geiz said after getting back on his feet. "You do you."

"To be fair, a lady must follow the dress code to the best of her ability." Kenwood stated.

"Here, let me give you a couple of gifts for helping a girl out." Kanna took out a planetoid map data and an emblem that resembled EIR, her MA.

"A planetoid map data and an emblem resembling your MA." Geiz observed before taking the two gifts. "I'll have a look at the planetoid later, but the emblem, did you make this?"

"Nope, not really. I just like, found it layin' around." Kanna replied.

"Huh, how odd. Maybe I'll give that to Eve to analyse it later." Geiz pocketed the emblem and scanned the planetoid data with his Zikan Phone. "'E-3'. Alright then." He then pocketed the planetoid data. "Well it's been fun, but there's other planets that need our help. Kanna, Redwood, and you too Yacopu, thanks for the… uh… hospitality."

"It's our pleasure." Kenwood bowed. "Best of luck on your journey, Xross Drive Rebellion. And you're always welcome if you wish to visit Stranga someday."

"And remember… Flower~!" Kanna cheered while Yacopu hopped happily.

"Heh. Flower~!" Geiz cheered with his fist raised and headed back to the Time Mazine before the two vehicles made their way back to the Launch Point while Kanna and Kenwood waved farewell.

---

Moments later, the vehicles returned to the Launch Point. "Anby, Billy, Nekomata, before we leave this planet, is this your first time going into space?"

"Definitely. Traveling through space sounds really cool!" Billy answered. "Though you need to wear a space suit with plenty of oxygen or else… well you get the idea. Androids like me have no issue with that problem."

"I mostly saw space travel in movies and TV shows. Actually traveling through space in person is very new to me, so it will be an interesting experience." Anby also replied.

"Well I never give space travel a thought, but this should be a very fun first experience!" Nekomata also replied.

"Ix, Lynx's recovery is top priority at the moment, so you and your team need to head back to the ship and deliver the medicine." Geiz said.

"Understood." Copen replied.

"Geiz, I need to return to the ship to see how Ichika is doing. Anby can take my place in the Time Mazine." Laura requested.

"Any objections, Anby?" Geiz asked.

"No objections needed." Anby replied. "Laura, go and see your friend. I'll take over from here."

"Thank you." Laura smiled before she and Anby left the vehicles and swapped places with Laura boarding G-Byakko and Anby boarding the Time Mazine.

"Good luck with the planetoids! And if you need help, give us a call!" Lola said.

"Understood. Have a safe trip back!" Az replied as G-Byakko used the Launch Point to blast off into space.

"Alright Geiz, which planetoid should we go first?" Billy asked.

"Let's start with 'E-1'. Now hang on to something, we're blasting off!" Geiz replied as the Time Mazine used the Launch Point to blast off into space.

---

Space Sector E, Planetoid 'E-1'

Upon landing on the planetoid, they saw a domain entrance nearby. "Looks like we'll be exploring a domain this time." Bronya noticed on the main monitor.

"Geiz, who will you pick for the expedition?" Az asked.

"I'll go, and I'm taking all three members of the Cunning Hares with me. I wanna see how they work as a team." Geiz replied.

"Oho, piqued your interest of our faction, eh Kamen Rider?" Billy mused.

"We will not disappoint you, Geiz." Anby said.

"I wonder what kind of treasure we'll find in there?" Nekomata pondered.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Geiz smirked. "Let's move out, Cunning Hares!"

"Alright, showtime!" Billy replied as Geiz and the Cunning Hares left the vehicle and entered the domain.

"Hm, the Bronya realised something." Bronya noticed the silver Bangboo on Az's arms. "The gold Bangboo is inside G-Byakko, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that one." Az replied. "Since Charlotte was the one who befriended it, she should be taking care of it."

"The Bronya wonders what the Bangboos can do?"

"Maybe we'll find out from the Cunning Hares after exploring the planetoids of this sector and back on the ship."

"Alright, fearless leader, where do we go first?" Billy asked as the team did some stretching.

"Obviously we can't split up without the map data, so follow my lead and stick together." Geiz replied.

"Understood." Anby replied back. "It's good that you're the cautious type instead of the reckless one."

"Heh, if I were reckless, we'd all be dead." Geiz quipped.

"Please don't joke about that." Nekomata sweatdropped. "I may be a cat Thiren, but I don't have nine lives."

"Don't worry, we'll survive without any lives lost. Now let's go!" Geiz declared as the team ventured deep into the domain as the floor was covered with shallow blue water.

During the exploration, they noticed large shadows approaching the team. "These guys again, huh?" Billy noticed as they prepared their weapons. "Unfortunately for them, we know how to kick their asses! Wait for them to come, guys!"

Once the shadows reached the team, they quickly jumped away as the large mutants emerged to bite them, but were instead destroyed by the team with Geiz and Billy destroying one mutant with ranged fire while Anby and Nekomata exterminated the other in close range with the former adding an electro touch with her slashes. Once the threat was gone, they noticed two paths, one in the north and one in the west.

"Which way do we go?" Anby asked.

"Hmm…" Nekomata did a quick sniff on both paths before looking at the west. "I'm sensing an item in that direction. Mind if Anby and I have a quick look?"

"Sure, we'll wait here." Geiz replied as he and Billy nodded.

"Let's go, Anby!" Nekomata ran to the west.

"Right behind you." Anby quickly went after the cat Thiren.

"So… are there other Kamen Riders besides you, Geiz?" Billy asked. "I also wanna ask who's behind the mask, but if it's a secret identity thing, I'll skip the question."

"It's alright, I think I can trust you on knowing my identity." Geiz replied. "My name is Gaius Cornell, one of the leaders and founders of Xross Drive Rebellion. The other two founders are Zeo Naotora AKA Kamen Rider Zi-O, and her sister Akira Naotora AKA Cure Starlight the magical girl."

"Wait, magical girls exist?!" Billy gasped.

"Yep." Geiz nodded. "Anything can happen in the multiverse, or as Zeo names this multiverse the Xross-Verse."

"Wow, I wonder how Nicole will react when meeting you guys."

"We'll have to wait and see when we find a way back to New Eridu." Geiz replied as Anby and Nekomata returned. "Hey, girls. What did you find?"

"Planetoid map data." Anby replied, looking at Nekomata holding the chip.

"'B-2'. Huh, the same sector Jason and GV's team are currently in." Geiz said after checking the data using his Zikan Phone.

"Can I get a phone like yours?" Nekomata asked as Geiz took the chip.

"Sure." Geiz replied. "Not just for you, but also for Billy and Anby. And maybe for Nicole."

"Remember to make the phone pink and black. Nicole likes those colours." Anby said.

"I'll remember that. Okay, moving on." Geiz replied as the team took the north path.

From there, they saw the electro wires walls, to which Geiz retaliated by placing the Wizard Ridewatch onto his Zikan Zax in Ono Mode and delivered pyro slashes on the wires to permanently burn them, allowing the team to move on. They soon reached an entryway on their left, but Anby and Nekomata stared at the breakable rocks on the north instead.

"What's up, you two?" Billy asked as all eyes were on Anby and Nekomata.

Nekomata took a sniff at the rocks. "I'm sensing another item beyond those rocks."

"I'll go have a quick look. Stay here, everyone." Anby said before effortlessly breaking the rocks with her blade and ran north. After taking a right turn, she saw a LIFE-UP laying on the ground. She was about to approach it, but then stopped in a defensive stance after noticing a large shadow heading for her feet. Once the shadow reached her, she jumped away to avoid the emerging mutant biting her. "Neutralize!" She quickly retaliated with a triple upwards electro spin slash onto the mutant, followed by a powerful downward strike with thunderbolts raining down before the mutant exploded. After holstering her blade, she retrieved the LIFE-UP and rejoined the others that were waiting at the entryway. "This is what I found."

"Another LIFE-UP for the MAs. Nice find." Geiz noted, taking the item and storing it inside the Zikan Phone.

Afterwards, the team moved to the next area… until the entryway behind them closed up upon stepping foot inside, causing more mutants and hostile drones to appear via wormholes. There's also a couple of large glowing rocks in their way.

"An ambush!" Nekomata gasped as everyone prepared themselves.

"Why am I not surprised?" Geiz muttered before looking at the large rocks. "Better get rid of those first for more breathing room." He quickly summoned the Arm Legion with his Legatus and ordered it to break the rocks with its large fists.

"Where'd this guy come from?!" Billy exclaimed.

"He's my partner, the Arm Legion. A chimera. Don't worry, he's on our side." Geiz replied. "Anyway, since we're stuck here with the mutants, pick your targets and exterminate them!"

"Roger, beginning the attack." Anby complied and ran left.

"I got dibs on these guys over there!" Nekomata said, heading right.

"I'm gonna stick with you and your pal, if that's okay." Billy said to the Rider as they faced their targets on the front with their ranged weapons ready.

"Be my guest, Starlight Knight." Geiz replied.

"Don't worry, fellas. Everyone will get their share!" Billy shouted at the mutants before he, Geiz and the Arm Legion dashed ahead, rapidly shooting down their targets without a second thought.

Anby evaded the attacks from the mutants and turrets while also deflecting the projectiles before countering with electro slashes that destroyed her targets. Nekomata's speed made her targets difficult to land a hit in before being eliminated with her blade slashes. As for Billy and the Arm Legion, they spun around while shooting down their targets around them, leaving only one mutant left. It was about to retaliate, but was quickly destroyed by Billy and Geiz's combined blaster and arrow shot.

"I think that's all of them." Anby said as the team regrouped and holstered their weapons while the Legion returned to the Legatus.

"Ah… that was a good workout." Nekomata stretched her arms.

"Heh, business as usual whether it's mutants or Ethereals." Billy said.

"Ethereals?" Geiz repeated.

"Monsters made of Ether inside dark dimensional spheres called Hollows." Anby explained. "And if you stay inside a Hollow for too long without a high Ether Aptitude or any Anti-Ether Corruption equipment, you'll be corrupted into an Ethereal."

"?!" Geiz's eyes widened in shock. "Just like the Astral Plane with the chimeras and Red Matter…"

"Also, the Hollow is like an ever-changing maze depending on its location. So trying to find a way out is difficult if you don't have a Bangboo containing a Carrot, a program that can help you escape the Hollow." Nekomata mentioned.

"So the Bangboo are essential for Hollow exploration." Geiz noted. "The Rebellion needs to remember this when we get to New Eridu to deal with the Hollows. Is there a way to get rid of them though?"

"One way is by eliminating a large amount of Ethereals to shrink the Hollow. More than a thousand, by my calculations." Anby answered.

"And the other way is defeating an elite or boss Ethereal. Only boss Ethereal I can think of is the Dead End Butcher which Anby, Nicole and I fought, and won… after ramming the Butcher with a train filled with Ether explosives and blew it to kingdom come." Billy recalled. "Long story, by the way."

"Hmm… at least there's a solution." Geiz mused.

Nekomata then noticed a data chip nearby. "Oh, an item!" She quickly retrieved the chip and showed it to the team. "Another data chip, but in green."

"...What the frick…" Geiz muttered with his eyebrow twitching. "Of all the places to look for the map data for Planet Stranga, it was in a planetoid this whole time?!"

"Well that's odd." Anby remarked.

"Uhh… expect the unexpected?" Billy also remarked with a shrug.

"...Y'know what, forget it." Geiz said, taking the map data and created a wormhole nearby with his Zikan Phone. "I've already seen way too much strange nonsense in this sector. Let's just move on."

"Umm… okay." Nekomata replied as Geiz went inside first. "He's pissed, isn't he?"

"Mhm./Yep, definitely pissed." Anby and Billy nodded.

"At least it's not us." Nekomata replied before the trio went after Geiz.

---

After the team returned to the Time Mazine, it left the planetoid and flew towards Planetoid 'E-2' next. Once the vehicle landed on the planetoid, it moved ahead to explore until stopping near large rocks. In response, Bronya called forth Bunny once more to break them with its drill arm, allowing the vehicle to continue its descent. As they're near the entryway to the next area below, the saw a Recharge Point nearby… until it was revealed to be a large worm mimic instead which surprised them.

"Seriously?! Even the Recharge Points can be Mimics too?!" Geiz exclaimed before the Time Mazine and Bunny obliterated the mimic with a lot of missiles.

"At this rate, I'm staying away from this space sector for god knows how long." Billy said.

"Me too, it's too much for me to handle." Nekomata agreed.

"To think movie tropes such as this can happen here. Interesting." Anby mused.

"Interesting for you, maybe." Az sweatdropped before the vehicles went down and entered the next area ahead.

Inside, there's a small hole ahead that's enough for a person to squeeze through. "Well, looks like some of us need to go on foot to go in that hole." Billy observed.

"I'll go in and check." Az volunteered.

"You know what, I'd better go with you to watch your back. Safety in numbers." Geiz said.

"Are you sure, Geiz?" Anby asked. "Because I feel like you're getting more annoyed with everything that's happened in this space sector."

"That Recharge Point Mimic didn't help make things better, but I'll manage." Geiz replied. "Still, thanks for your concern, Anby."

"You're welcome."

"Alright, Geiz and I are heading out. Take care of the vehicle and the Bangboo while we're gone." Az said before she and Geiz left the vehicle and went inside the hole by crawling.

"Hmm…" Nekomata stared at the silver Bangboo that's currently sleeping in a corner and being watched by Bronya. "At first, we're supposed to beat up the gold and silver Bangboos, take their Dennies, then sell the Bangboos for more cash to complete the commission. But after how Charlotte convinced the Bangboo with kindness, I'm having second thoughts."

"Yeah, me too." Billy agreed. "Especially how Az is taking good care of the silver Bangboo. Nicole's not gonna like it though if they have plans to keep them."

"Maybe Xross Drive Rebellion might be able to convince her otherwise." Anby said. "I get the feeling they have a lot more members than we thought. Geiz did mention others when he saw a text message from his phone."

"It's worth a shot." Nekomata said. "We were warped here by a Dimensional Quake and these guys are our best chance of finding a way back to New Eridu."

"Then it's official! We're joining the Rebellion!" Billy declared while looking at the X-Baton Blasters. "And besides, Geiz gave these to me as a gift. Sure, my revolvers make me look cool, but it's nice to have alternatives in case I ran out of bullets. Which reminds me, once we go to their ship, I need to ask them for more revolver ammo."

"You'll get your request in time." Bronya replied. "Just wait a while longer."

"Oh, sorry Bronya. Didn't know you're here." Billy replied back.

"It's fine."

"Ah, they're back!" Nekomata noticed Geiz and Az coming out of the hole… and soaking wet. "Wait, why are they wet? Did it involve water in there?"

"We'll find out soon enough." Anby replied as Geiz and Az boarded the vehicle.

"So… why do you guys look like you fell into a lake?" Billy asked.

"Because the item we're looking for is inside a deep pool." Az replied.

"And if that's not enough, the pool was swarming with capsule mimics like they're piranhas." Geiz added. "Thank the Archons I chose to go with Az."

Nekomata shuddered when water was on the topic. "Okay, glad that I chose to stay here instead of going with you guys. Cats and deep water don't mix very well."

"Yeah, I'm terrible at swimming in water, too." Billy said. "I'd definitely sink like a cinder block, and I don't like getting my clothes wet."

"So what was the item you found?" Anby asked.

"Planetoid data chip for 'C-4', which is the same space sector where the ship is." Geiz replied. "Anyway, time to leave. We got one more planetoid in this sector to explore."

---

Planetoid 'E-3'

After leaving Planetoid 'E-2' and a few minutes of space travel, the Time Mazine soon landed on Planetoid 'E-3' inside a large cavern with spikes on the ceilings.

"Okay, wasn't expecting a landing inside a cavern." Billy remarked. "I wonder what we'll find ahead?"

"Let's find out." Geiz replied as the vehicle moved ahead. Soon after, it stopped after the team saw something large before them. "Huh, long time no see. When did you grow a couple of extra heads?" He spoke at what was in front of him, revealing to be a large yellow skeleton mutant. The one that was fought in front of the mutant meteor on Earth months ago. Only this time, the skeleton mutant now has two more heads, one head in cyan and the other in grey.

"Wait, you fought this large mutant before?!" Nekomata gasped.

"Yup." Geiz nodded. "Though I wasn't expecting this variation to have two more heads, so this is gonna be a tough fight."

"I wonder if this mutant will grow more heads if one of them is chopped off?" Anby pondered.

"Uhh… I think that trait only applies to hydras. This skeleton is no hydra." Billy pointed out.

"Guys? This mutant is done waiting and wants to eat us!" Nekomata pointed at the three headed skeleton mutant on the main screen roaring.

"Alright then, let's step it up!" Geiz complied, activating the Time Mazine's transformation into a battle mech.

=BATTLE MODE!=

"...Holy crap. Your vehicle transforms into a battle robot?! That's so sick!" Billy exclaimed in awe after the transformation was complete.

"How can a vehicle be sick?" Anby questioned.

"Not like that, Anby!" Billy facepalmed. "I'm saying that the Time Mazine is amazing for its transformation."

"...Oh."

"I think you need to go out and socialise more." Nekomata sweatdropped while staring at Anby.

"That's something Laura did, and I'm glad she's learning." Geiz also sweatdropped before staring at the skeleton mutant with the mech preparing a combat stance. "C'mon you skeletal monstrosity, let's see if you can put up a better fight than your fallen comrades!"

=WARNING=

THE LAIR OF

"THE PLANET DESTROYER"

=CERBEBOSS=

(Play BGM: Boss Theme - Sonic Advance 2)

Cerbeboss made its first move by launching large spark spheres from the mouths of the three heads, prompting the battle mech to evade by hovering while firing beam vulcans and missiles from its arms and shoulders. After the three heads took damage from the vulcans and missiles, the cyan head launched large fireballs from its mouth, causing flame geysers to erupt after touching the ground.

"Look out!" Az shouted as the mech hovered away from the flame geysers while firing its weapons at the cyan head. After the head took too much damage, it reeled back while the grey head moved forward and unleashed lightning from its mouth.

"Incoming thunder!" Nekomata shouted as the mech flew above the thunder, but somehow, the lightning caused gravity to become lighter, making the mech flew higher than before, which doesn't help since there's also the ceiling spikes above.

"Whoa, careful with the hover! You do not want to crash onto those spikes above!" Billy warned as Geiz eased up the hovering on the mech until the lightning dispersed, allowing it to land safely.

"To be fair, I was only hovering the mech normally. Wasn't planning to go overboard on purpose." Geiz stated.

"Then maybe the lightning from the grey head somehow affected the gravity." Anby assumed.

"So that lightning is more than just an attack." Geiz noted while the heads of Cerbeboss slammed the ground so hard that rocks rained down from above. He manuevered the mech to evade the rocks before catching a large one and threw it at the yellow head, making the heads roar before they retaliated with spark spheres. "Oh geez!" He quickly moved the mech to evade the spheres while retaliating with beam vulcans and missiles.

"I'm a little worried that the three heads will use different attacks on us. Maybe we should retreat and call in Copen's team for help." Nekomata said.

"It's okay, I got this. Especially now that I know their attacks." Geiz assured before pulling out the Wizard Ridewatch, slotting it onto his Ziku Driver and pushed the tilt button.

"Geiz? What are you doing?" Billy asked.

"Making some magic." Geiz smirked, giving the belt a spin to trigger his armor change.

=ARMOR TIME!=

Geiz donned his WizardArmor after a magic circle above descended on him while the head of the Time Mazine changed into the Wizard Ridewatch. "Was that a transformation?! Man, you continue to be awesome everytime I see you pull off something unexpected!" Billy remarked in glee.

"Then you'll enjoy my next trick." Geiz replied, pushing the Wizard Ridewatch button.

=COPY! PLEASE!=

Magic circles appeared on both sides of the mech before rising, creating two clones of the mech. "Duplication?!" Anby gasped.

"Never underestimate magic." Geiz replied before the three mechs faced Cerbeboss. "Now then, it's showtime."

As the mutant roared, the three mechs went after each of the skeleton's heads with the main mech fighting against the yellow head. As the cyan head unleashed fireballs that caused flame pillars to erupt when making contact with the ground, the first clone mech hovered past them with ease while firing vulcans and missiles at the head. Once the mech got close to the cyan head, the latter tried to chomp on it but was held back by the mech as it fired more missiles and vulcans onto the cyan head's open mouth. Since the three mechs also have Kamen Rider Wizard's magic, the mech reeled back its magical fire fist and delivered a powerful punch onto the mouth before detonating into an explosion that destroyed the head.

Meanwhile, the second mech hovered over the grey head's lightning while taking caution of the increased gravity from the lightning. Once the mech got close, the grey head tried to slam into the mech. However, the mech countered with a powerful fire uppercut that sent the head crashing onto the ceiling spikes above, causing it to be stuck. The mech then followed up with another fire uppercut, causing the head to explode.

As the main mech continued to evade the yellow head's spark projectiles, the latter suddenly roared in anger when it felt something off. "Why does it look more pissed than usual?" Nekomata asked.

"I think I know. Its two heads were destroyed by the mech clones, leaving only this one left." Anby answered.

"It's on its last legs, just a bit more!" Az said.

"Then it's time to set up for the finisher!" Billy said.

"Not yet, Billy. I need to see what the mutant will do next." Geiz replied as the mutant slammed its head on the ground, causing rocks to fall from above. As the mech hovered ahead while avoiding the rocks, the mutant launched fireballs to the ground, causing flame pillars to erupt. It then followed up with a lightning blast to alter the gravity while trying to land a hit. When the mech was about to reach the head, the latter began charging up a spark sphere… until it was interrupted when its sides were flame punched by the mech clones.

"Now?" Billy asked.

"Now." Geiz replied, pushing the buttons on the Ridewatches, slammed the tilt button and gave the belt a spin while the mech clones hold the skull head's down to prevent movement.

=FINISH TIME! WIZARD!=

The mech made a quick landing and took a stance as a magic circle appeared below it with fire engulfing the right foot.

=STRIKE TIME BURST!=

The mech then leaped upwards with a spin jump before lunging its fire foot forward, delivering a decisive burning dive kick to finish off Cerbeboss. The boss mutant exploded while the Time Mazine leaped back to safety as Geiz and the mech reverted back to Base Form and the mech clones vanished.

(BGM End)

"Phew… and that's a wrap." Geiz sighed with relief.

"Haha! That's definitely a win for us!" Billy cheered.

"Even though Geiz did most of the work." Anby pointed with Bronya nodding.

"Do you really have to ruin the moment there?"

"Hm?" Nekomata then noticed a key in the remains of the boss mutant. "I think I see a key over there!"

"Could that be an access key to another space sector?" Az pondered.

"Only one way to find out." Bronya replied, calling forth Bunny once more to retrieve the key.

Geiz opened the cockpit as Bunny arrived to give the Rider the key before the robot vanished. "Sector F, huh?" He mused after scanning the key with his Zikan Phone.

"So I was right." Az said. "But let's save that trip for later. We're done for this sector, right?"

"Yup, we're all done here." Geiz replied, closing the cockpit and changed the Time Mazine back to Vehicle Mode. "Let's get outta here and back to the ship for some R&R."

"R&R?" Anby repeated.

"Rest and Relaxation." Billy deadpanned.

"Oh. Does the ship have burgers on board?"

"Mackerel, too?" Nekomata asked.

"There should have those on the menu in the ship's cafeteria." Az replied. "Mmm… now you're making me hungry."

Geiz chuckled. "Alright alright, let's hurry back so we can eat. Besides, I'm also hungry."

"What about the Bangboo?" Bronya stared at the sleeping silver Bangboo.

"I'll drop it off to the R&D Lab while also telling the scientists to be gentle with it. Same goes for the gold Bangboo." Az replied.

"Hey, before you do that, could you get the Dennies out of the Bangboos first if you're planning to do something with them?" Billy requested.

"No need. The Bronya already extracted all of the Dennies on the silver one using my Zikan Phone. And it's quite a large amount. Copen should be doing the same thing to the gold one." Bronya replied.

"That's good to know." Billy noted. "Okay, let's get out of here!"

"Already on it." Geiz replied, driving the Time Mazine back to the cavern entrance and took off into space as it heads back to the immigration ship to rest.

---

Chapter 5: Planet Stranga

End

(Anby Demara, Billy Kid and Nekomiya Mana has joined Xross Drive Rebellion)

---

Author's Note: Yup, I'm adding Zenless Zone Zero into the list of fanfics I wanna write. It may be a new game, but it's doing a great job so far. The combat is fun and the characters are great. I've already picked a few of my favourites, Anby and Billy are some of them.

But anyway, thanks to Kanna, Kenwood and Yacopu, the medicine for Lynx's was created and also obtained EIR's emblem which will come into play much later, just like Kuebiko's emblem.

If you're wondering about the silver and purple MA that fought Kanna, wait no further because that's coming up in the next chapter. Until then, stay safe and see you next time!