The broads are coming soon, and I've got to make a decision. Who do I hate more? The broads, or X-E-Cute?

Heh. We all know that she's much more hate-able than the broads could ever hope to be. It's in her nature to be a spiteful tasteless bitch. Girl gets born with massive magical powers and saunter around like she deserves praise for it. Fuckin'...

Hmm... Speakin' of magical powers, those rocks here are looking mighty shiny. I'm sure she's not gonna notice if I just... Yoink that one? Or the other... Yeah, black suits me a lot more than white.

The holographic... thing works well. I'm looking at a mirror, and I do look like the spitting image of that oracle, Chika.

I can't stop thinking, tho. There ain't no way I can do anything, now. I'm stuck with my ass between two chairs. Can't help Gyone escape, because then it'll be my ass that's on the burner. But I can't continue helping ASIC because he's got no part in it. He hates it.

Ah, I can't think 'bout any of that. The broads are approaching, I can see 'em.

Fuck it. It's showtime.

"Hello there! Are you miss, um... Chika Hakozaki?" the purple-haired broad ask.

I try to speak, but no words leave my mouth. I can't stop thinking about our prisoners- well, about the one, really.

Cutting my thinking, she speaks again, "Um... Miss Chika? Or... Am I wrong?"

I sigh. It's covered by the hologram, luckily, but with the way the red-haired bimbo looks at me, I'm pretty sure she noticed something's wrong. "Yes, sorry. I was... Preoccupied. Would you happen to be..." at that, I try my best not to reveal myself. "Nepgear?"

And I swear to fuck, I didn't expect literal stars to come out of her eyes. "Yes! My goodness, I didn't expect to have become so recognizable!"

Before any of us can say anything, however, an explosion rocks the building.

"What the fuck was that?" I scream, before remembering I had company- but said company didn't really seep preoccupied with my choice of words, and seems to care more about the second explosion that's rocking the building.

I took out my phone, and noticed I had received a message from X-E-Cute. 'The wildcard has escaped. Standing orders to capture him alive rescinded. Kill at sight.'

"Um... Miss Chika?" the purple broad started, before poking my arm. But I didn't really care.

So, that bitch thought she was good enough to be the one giving them orders, huh? She thinks she's above listening to the higher-ups. Alright then. I could do that too.

I disabled the holographic thing, and I heard the broads gasp behind me.

I turned to look at them, and they seemed ready to fight- which, fair enough, I'd be ready to fight too. Except I didn't want to.

I've got to do something humiliating, and at this point, it ain't like I care either way.

So I just look at them broads, and I see myself being forced to ask them for help. But before I can say a word, I hear a door opening behind me, and of course it's X-E-Cute that appears behind me.

"Well well well... If it isn't everyone's favourite, and must I say, unmasked, underling," she starts, her annoyingly high-pitched voice breaking everyone's ears. "Couldn't even keep such a perfect disguise up, could you?"

I grit my teeth, and take out my trusty ol' iron pipe. The broads understand that confrontation is inevitable, and take out their own weapons.

My heart ain't in it, and I think the blue-coat broad noticed it. X-E-Cute just stands there, preparing some kind of magical bullshit, before summoning a whole-ass thunderstorm inside the room. Half the broads dodge that, but the nurse and the bimbo get hit and fall down, prob'ly paralysed. Purple Hair starts running towards my bitch of a boss, while blue coat...

I start asking, "Where the hell is bl-" but I'm interrupted by something entering my side. Or, well, that's what it looks like. I make a show of falling down, clutching my side, just as X-E-cute blasts the fuck out of purple hair, sending her slam into a wall.

And then she just starts monologuing. Like, dead-ass just spouting out how cool and intelligent and strong she is, blablabla. All of that as she walks slowwwwwwwly towards Purple Hair, not a care in the world.

I slowly get up, as does bimbo and the nurse, and I can see everyone just looking at X-E-cute like she had a screw lose. Which, yeah, she's monologuing before actually going for the win what the hell?

I approach her, and she interrupts her monologue just to tell me to stand down, "to stay where I belong". Not even looking at me.

And so I slam my iron pipe at the back of her fucking head.

She falters in her step, and doesn't react fast enough before I slam my weapon again. And as she falls down, I kick her twice for good measure.

She moans in pain, but I don't give a fuck. With a final kick (to her face this time!), I start searching her pockets before finding... A green rainbowy crystal, seriously how many of them she got? Shoulda nabbed the white too, shit. There ain't nothing else, so I just pocket that and move on, approaching the broads brigade as they start getting up.

And I just tell them "I'm working with y'all now. Deal with it."

Nailed it.

Author's Footnote

Leanbox arc, people! At one point, it was to be a dual-focused Gyone and Linda arc, but I realised there's no point retreading the game's story, even if I add Linda in. The plot's been rewired, thrice. More than thrice really but I mean there's three massive changes that switched what the focus on the arc was gonna be. Like, at some point I was gonna have Gyone go on a berserk rage and try to destroy Leanbox (the city), and at another point, way, waaay before I even finished Lastation's arc, I was thinking of making some kind of mind-control plot where X-E-Cute managed to take over all the candidates' mind, aside from Nepgear. That plot may come back one day, but don't count on it.

Review Time~

IsekaiFanBoi: In this story, an Oracle is only below the Candidates, which are below the CPUs themselves. Chances are that she won't get punished too much.

Ace-of-Weeb: Little did you know, leaving alone was always their intended plan! Also, Trick already had his moment in Lowee. No, Leanbox' is gonna be for other villains. Or, well, one of them really. It's also mostly gonna be the resolution to the shards plotline.

DG2: You better believe it, because everyone being dumb allows me to plan things far more easily! Also, you may have to remember that although you may have foreknowledge, and I may have foreknowledge, and Warechu may have foreknowledge (who knows amirite?), Gyone doesn't. Which means that of course he didn't know not to believe the Chika-lookalike wasn't Chika.

AzuMazy : And I believe I'm late for this chapter by a year- wait, no, that's three years now- too, so no biggie. There never was (and it never was intended for it to be) a pro-Gyone faction, only a way to force a villain to work with the good guys through the power of *friendship*! Also, the power of "your boss is a fucking bitch and her boss was a fucking bitch and you know what the other big bosses also kinda suck please join the good side".