Shortly after I uploaded the previous chapter my PC died, I had a 1-2 weeks of ZERO progress because my motherboard got fried.

So yeah…

At least that's behind us.

And a small announcement - I finally have an actual cover art for this story! I just needed to spend some of my hard-earned money to hire an artist.

But I think it was worth the money. Give me your thoughts.



Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Ready for Anything

Falcom wasn't sure how she should react.

She just saw Samantha getting abducted by CFW Magic while the CPU got brutally beat down by CFW Brave, before both CFWs simply left with two people and a defeated CPU… leaving hers and Angela's cells wide open.

Falcom had a good opportunity to break free but she was reluctant to take it, Angela also didn't seem in a rush to escape, she just sat on her chair and read a book. She didn't know if this was by Samantha's grand design or simply a stroke of luck, so she wasn't sure if she was supposed to leave or not.

The whole prison was very silent, as if the prisoners were afraid that the CFWs would come back at any moment.

Falcom waited for something to happen, something to confirm to her that this just happened and guide her on what she should be doing next… because she really had no idea. Her prayers were answered when the guards started to pour in, some of them dragging the CPU to some other part of the Basilicom, others assessing the damage and taking control of the situation. There was a squad of four guards, equipped in riot gear, that was pulling Falcom out of her cell. Another similarly equipped squad did the same with Angela.

They packed both of them into a new cell, made sure that nothing else was wrong, and left.

It's been 10 minutes since then and neither Falcom nor Angela said anything.

Last time they were together they ended up fighting to the death, with Falcom almost killing her. That memory made Falcom feel a bit awkward when both of them were locked in the same room. "Wow… that just happened." The adventurer said.

Angela hummed, nodding. It was like she waited for Falcom to break the ice, because once she spoke the Dark Magician snapped her book shut and placed it on the desk next to her, although she did bookmark her progress beforehand. "The CPU is going to be quite displeased, if she isn't already." Angela said, putting her knees to her chest.

It was Falcom's turn to "Mhm." and nod as they broke the metaphorical ice. "Why did you sell Samantha out?" She asked.

"Revenge." Angela stated plainly, lying on the bed. "How else could I react when he said he was the reason my life turned to hell?"

Falcom swallowed. When had Samantha revealed herself to them? A week ago? Angela had 7 days to cool off, but apparently all it did was turn the raging anger into calculated malice. "...Do you still hate CPUs?" The adventurer asked, at which the Dark Magician nodded.

"Yes, I do. Now I just have an additional target."

Falcom didn't know how she should respond to this, their life experiences were incompatible. Angela lost her entire family in the span of a few days, which flipped her life upside down. Falcom meanwhile enjoyed a life devoid of such tragedy, the only truly bad thing that happened to her was getting possessed by Gehaburn - and even that was mitigated by Samantha.

"I once asked you what happened between you and the Gehaburn." Angela asked. "Did you take it, or did you dispose of it somewhere?"

Falcom gave her a troubled look. "I… don't think I should tell you. Sorry." Best to keep a CPU killer out of the hands of someone who wants to kill the CPUs.

Angela sighed. "It was an attempt, at least." She murmured to herself. "Have you thought about what I said before?"

"Huh?" Falcom blinked.

"Following him will sooner or later ruin your life. Have you considered it?" Angela explained.

Falcom wasn't sure why she was asking her this, if this was a sincere warning or her attempt at placing doubt in her mind just to get under Samantha's skin. "If it's not me, then who else? She's working on making this world a better place, while all you're doing is making things harder." The blue-haired woman said. "You sold her out to a crime syndicate." She stressed.

"I fail to understand how getting locked in jail could be considered 'making the world a better place'." The brunette responded. "Although in her case… I think I do."

"So what are you doing? Trying to get me away from her so she'll be in this alone?" Falcom questioned.

"I'm trying to be nice and help you before your life gets ruined as well." Angela answered, her tone a bit less casual than before.

"Well… thanks. But no thanks." Was Falcom's reply.

Angela huffed and walked away from the adventurer, ending the discussion. Falcom watched her lie on her bed and cover herself with a blanket. Falcom shrugged her off and took a random comic to read.

"Hey." The adventurer heard someone say something. She didn't know if it was towards her or someone else, but she didn't care. The comic she was reading was too interesting.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Falcom!"

"Goddamnit…"

A pebble hit Falcom on the side of her head, shattering her focus and ending her reading session. "What?" Falcom hissed, annoyed at the interruption.

Samantha stood on the other side. Falcom's eyes widened as she saw the bandages wrapped around her face, and the bloodstains covering her jacket. Angela, wrapped in the blanket, turned around and stared at the Overseer, her expression blank.

"What happened to your face?!" Falcom yelped.

"You again?" Angela murmured sleepily.

Samantha ignored Angela as she waved for Falcom to get closer. "Don't worry about it. Come, quick. We're leaving."

Falcom blinked and pocketed the comic. "Now? You found help?" She was captured by the ASIC, what kind of help could she possibly-

Wait.

She didn't, did she?

Samantha's wide grin told Falcom everything she needed. "Oh boy, you bet I did." Samantha said.

You absolute madwoman! Falcom thought while staring at her wide-eyed. Angela took this moment to interrupt. "Remember what I said before, Falcom." The Dark Magician said, her head facing the wall and her eyes closed.

"C'mon, we don't have much time." Urged the Overseer. A moment later they heard a muffled explosion and the whole cell started to shake a moment later. Falcom started to think if they were assaulting the Basilicom. "Grab my hand." Samantha reached out to her.

"Did you just blow up the Basilicom!?" Falcom shouted as she grabbed Samantha's hand.

"Not me, I have no idea what they're doing!" The Overseer shouted back, raised her hand. "To Celestia I ascend!"

…

White.

Falcom saw white… before the landscape turned into a single tree on top of a small hill. The adventurer looked around but she saw nothing, nothing but a clear blue sky and an endless sea of grass spanning towards the horizon.

They were back in True Celestia.

...Or at least she was back in True Celestia.

Falcom scratched her head as she tried to find the Overseer, but apparently she left her here alone. There was a wooden sign nailed onto the tree, with some text written on it.

Falcom.

Wait here until I gather the others.

Don't tell them we're in True Celestia, okay? I don't want more people to think I'm some kind of god, or something.

Soon I'll change the scenery, so don't be surprised.

Also yes, I did just recruit the CFWs onto our side.

I'll say it again I GOT THE ASIC'S SUPPORT

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ha.

- Samantha Neikan

So that's why she was alone, Falcom nodded and covered her face with her hand. She didn't want to imagine how she managed to make not one, but two CFWs to change sides. The adventurer kicked those thoughts out of her head and sat against the tree, closing her eyes. However falling asleep was hard when she could feel something shifting underneath her.

Falcom cracked her eye open and saw a wall, a wall made out of dark wooden planks. The windows were small and divided into sections by a wooden grid. Falcom couldn't see much outside as there was a thick fog outside, but she could see some trees outside.

Inside this small room was a stack of wooden boxes and chests - one of which Falcom was currently sitting on. On the wall she saw a rack full of swords, axes and spears - all of them poorly maintained. At the centre was a long table with 6 chairs around it and to Falcom's right a lit fireplace, filling the room with warmth. Samantha even hung a head of Fenrir above the fireplace.

She was warned about the scenery change in advance, but that didn't change how surreal it felt. Falcom stood up and looked more closely at her surroundings. The whole thing looked and felt old; Falcom felt as if she'll get splinters by just running her fingers across the table, the glass in some windows was broken, the boxes and chests were filled with some old junk and on the outside she could see a forest with no end in sight.

Someone opened the doors, which knocked the bell and it rang loudly. Falcom turned around to see who entered the shack… and found herself staring at CFW Magic and CFW Brave.

Despite being forewarned about this, Falcom still felt her blood turn cold once Magic's gaze fell upon her. She took an involuntary step back when the ASIC leaders stepped inside. Brave examined the shack while Magic focused her attention on Falcom. "Nervous?" She asked, before blinking. "Oh, you were there with her."

Oh good, they knew her. These were people who could kill the mercs several times over, take on all of the CPUs at once, and they knew about her.

"Y-Yeah…" Falcom has found herself saying. There was something heavy within her stomach. It wasn't the usual feeling of the Gehaburn trying to wrench the controls but something else, the blue haired woman regarded it as fear for her own life. "Nice weather isn't it?"

Falcom felt herself dying after saying this.

Magic snorted and sat on a chair. She leaned back and stretched, showing Falcom just how enormous her chest was, and how little she was wearing. She was almost nude with only a black bikini and thigh-highs covering her. Did she purposely wear so little to distract her enemies? Something to help her gain public appeal? Her own tastes?

Was CFW Magic a lewd woman?

Falcom purged those indecent thoughts as she joined Magic, sitting about 2 chairs away from her. CFW Brave finished his search and turned towards them. "There's nothing but trees surrounding us, and I don't recognize any of those." He informed them.

"That's because she pulled us into a separate dimension." Magic stated plainly, surprising Falcom at how quickly she deduced it. The Leader of ASIC turned her eye towards the adventurer. "Am I right…?" She drew on, waiting for Falcom to give her name.

"F-Falcom."

"Magic." The CFW put the hand to her chest, before pointing at the robot standing next to the table. "Brave. Nice to meet you."

"N-Nice to meet you too." Falcom responded. Thinking how lucky, or unlucky she was to be acquainted with two leaders of the biggest crime syndicate in Gamindustri.

Wait. Didn't Samuel say that they will need to kill these two? That was one of the things he said during their first encounter. Was Samantha so desperate as to side with someone she would have to betray later, or has she figured something else out?

The doors opened again and Falcom didn't need to turn around to hear Samantha's voice. "You boys and girls finished introducing yourselves? If so then let's get started!"

Samantha kicked the doors open and stepped in, Machias following her. The spy spotted the two CFWs already waiting inside and his expression turned into one of fear, but his body still followed Samantha's every step - as if led by a string.

"L-Let me go, you bitch!" Machias shouted, his breath growing rapid while Magic looked at Samantha, her eyebrow raised.

Samantha rolled her eyes and did something - what he did they couldn't see but they saw Machias tap his wrist before jumping towards the window. The old glass and wood held and Machias fell towards the floor.

Falcom watched it unfold with her eyes wide. Magic covered a smirk when Machias's body bounced off the wall, Brave left no comments on everything that happened.

Samantha nodded at the prone man.

"Good effort, but we can still see you."

Machias pulled out his gun and fired at the Overseer.

Before Falcom could blink Brave brandished his swords and Magic reached out to Samantha. A purple barrier appeared between her and Machias, but that was unnecessary as the Revolver clicked - its chamber empty. Machias tried three more times before he threw his gun at Samantha. The gun bounced off Magic's barrier and fell onto the ground.

The barrier disappeared and Samantha walked around Machias's body, she opened her palm and dropped the bullets at the floor, Revolver's bullets.

"How?" Machias asked, standing up, Brave and Magic's cold gazes never leaving him.

"I stole your ammunition and disabled your watch and disguise kit." Samantha explained. "You can't attack me nor hide anywhere. Next time you try something these two" She nodded towards the CFWs. "won't be so docile. Now sit, it's important."

Machias was seated between Brave and Magic, right across Samantha who had Falcom on her left. The Overseer cleared her throat and fell silent, where everyone expected her to say something to start, Samantha just looked a bit troubled.

"...You know, I had a whole speech prepared and I just forgot it." Samantha said, scratching the back of her ear. She really did have… something prepared for this meeting but she forgot it when she was looking for the others.

"You moved us into a separate dimension, correct?" Brave asked.

Samantha froze, blinking. "Huh, I didn't think you would catch onto that. Yeah I did."

Brave nodded, humming. Machias frowned at the information while Falcom shrugged it off, because she knew that already.

"As for why I did it; we'll need some privacy as we're going to make some plans… to kill Miss Pauling." Samantha said, placing her hands on the table. Corners of Magic's mouth turned upwards while Falcom swallowed. The planning phase has officially started.

"What?! How the fuck- oh no." Machias, a person who is currently working for that very person they want to kill, just realized why he was dragged here. "No. Fuck no." He shook his head and stood up, but Magic placed her hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place and threatening to break his shoulder.

"Fuck yes." Samantha said back. "To make this work, we'll need your help. Sorry, but you can't say no. You're crucial for this. Don't worry, I'll help you mitigate any risk of-"

"Mitigate the risk?!" Machias cut her off. "You want me to kill Miss Pauling. Don't you know how many people already tried that?! A lot! And all of them are dead!" The black-haired man roared at the Overseer's face. Falcom flinched at the ferocity of his words but Samantha simply shook her head.

"Not you." She responded calmly. "I'll do it, or Magic or Brave or Falcom. You just need to give us info on where we can find her, when and where your next meeting will be. The rest we'll do ourselves while you hide somewhere."

"They'll kill you… and then they'll come for me." Was his answer. "I don't want to have anything to do with that."

Samantha looked at Machias, staring down at him long and hard. Machias matched her gaze. The brunette saw fear deeply embedded inside his eyes. He truly believed that they wouldn't manage do it and they'll die instead.

Samantha didn't blame him for thinking that way. She sighed and shook her head, relenting first. "I told you you can't say no, we're on a time limit and you're our only chance." She looked into Machias's eyes again. "Give me your watch and Disguise Kit."

Without hesitation the black-haired reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a cigarette case. He placed it onto the table, before he relinquished his Invis Watch as well. It was only after Samantha took both objects that Machias realized what he has done, or rather he was freed from Samantha's influence.

It was the first time Falcom saw Samantha using this on someone else… it was a weird experience. There were no light effects or hand gestures, she just released an order and he did it. Simple as that.

"H-Hey! W-What the hell did you do?!" Machias yelped. He reach out to take his stuff back, but Brave grabbed his hand and slammed it against the table - the furniture holding out of mere fact that Samantha didn't want it to break.

Machias grunted in pain as Brave squeezed tighter, to the point where he could crush his bones. Machias tried to force his hand out of Brave's grip, but he couldn't

"Stop." Samantha ordered and CFW Brave let go immediately.

Machias nursed his hurt arm, staring fearfully at everyone. The only one who didn't attack him yet was Falcom, who felt a little bit of pity towards Machias. He was scared but they needed his help. At least Samantha didn't approve what Brave was doing, as shown by her shaking her head towards the CFW.

"I can make sure that if anything happens, they won't know anything about your betrayal." The Overseer said.

"How?" Growled Machias.

"By making you look like you were ambushed."

Machias blinked, and Samantha continued.

"It's very rare for the Administrator to execute failures, usually she just doesn't bother giving them any important assignments. We could make it look like I captured you and you were held captive, then-"

"They would still know I betrayed them." Machias retorted. "It won't work, the moment you find Pauling they'll know someone talked. No one easier to point out than a captive, I'm not doing this."

It was a tightrope they were marching on and Samantha understood this. A small misstep could doom them to their deaths or, in Machias's case, something even worse. While Samantha and Falcom would be dead and forgotten, Machias and everyone close to him would be hunted down forever.

The Administrator was very thoughtful when catching traitors, and Miss Pauling had a lot of experience in tracking down her targets.

If Samantha wanted to chase after Miss Pauling, she would need to put Machias's life on the line, and maybe even 5pb's as well. But not doing so would ruin her chances of getting a happy ending. The best case scenario would be to eliminate everyone who belonged to the Administrator, or at least those loyal to her faction. But that was impossible because they had access to perfect disguises and invisibility watches.

"We could-" Samantha said.

"No." Machias interrupted her.

"You-"

"No."

"Just-"

"No! Leave me out of it!" He shouted. "If you want to die, fine. I don't care! But don't you dare involve me or 5pb in your suicide attempt!"

Samantha could let him go, but that would be a slap to the face for everyone else who died. There were already thousand of casualties because of the mercenaries she sent here, Angela was still giving her shit over letting her parents die.

Cave died, and she would've been one of Nepgear's friends. Someone who was needed for Magnavox's true ending.

Samantha raised her hand, her palm open. Machias tensed.

She wouldn't back out now, not when she was already this deep into it. Machias… his life held no weight to her. They knew each other for days and even then she barely trusted him. He wasn't known by any CPU, his life wasn't even in the Hyper Dimension's history, he was just another person who came to Gamindustri at the Administrator's order.

"Show me your secrets." Samantha said and placed her hand on top of Machias's head.

The moment her hand made contact with his skin images flooded her vision, showing his memories and thoughts. Samantha tried to ignore parts of his private life as she searched for more helpful stuff, but some tidbits still leaked through.

He was married but the wife divorced him, their love just ran out and they decided it would be better this way. He had 3 kids that he was regularly visiting, surprisingly enough the oldest one looked like 5pb. He worked for the Administrator to earn money for them.

He didn't kill. He outright told his superior that he wouldn't kill anyone. They nodded and worked around that - making him steal, threaten and intimidate anyone they wanted. Even when he pointed his gun at Samantha, he didn't want to shoot her - even less when it was revealed that she didn't have any enhancements to survive a bullet.

He has 2 assignments; collect intel from a number of people in the Basilicom and to become Cave. He was a middle men between Miss Pauling and her informants, and also he had to make sure her death wouldn't raise any questions. Once he saw how similar 5pb was to one of his daughters, the guilt of his constantly lying to her started to wear him out… until he revealed himself to her.

"You idiot… you were already planning to betray her." Samantha said. If Miss Pauling learned about this and wanted 5pb dead, then Machias would escape to Lowee with her. The Overseer sighed and moved her hand away. "I know where we can find her." She said, and Machias's world began crumbling. "We got the rest of the day to prepare."

Miss Pauling's HQ wasn't just a single building, it was an entire district. She had thousands of people living there just to act as the locals, making it effectively impossible for the law to notice something was wrong.

They will have to kill the Queen inside her own nest, surrounded by an endless army where anyone could raise an alarm if something was amiss. Their only advantage were Machias's memories, Samantha could disguise herself as Cave and Miss Pauling would be none the wiser… provided Samantha could keep up her act.

If not then they'll lose their only chance.

Other problems were the gear and Machias's safety. Samantha only had one of her pistols and the rest was confiscated by the Basilicom, and Falcom was unarmed. If their plan failed then Miss Pauling would go after Machias, then 5pb if they couldn't find him.

And if all else fails, his family back on Earth.

Fortunately Magic and Brave were invaluable here. They could borrow some gear from ASIC's armory and hide Machias and 5pb inside their stronghold in the Gamindustri Graveyard. An alternative for 5pb was to alert Vert that Miss Pauling may make a hit on the idol, and let her handle the security.

After having her home invaded twice in a row she most likely won't allow a third.

As bleak as it was, this plan has a decent chance of success. Samantha doubted that Miss Pauling expected an assassination attempt, which gives them an advantage of stealth. The hardest part was figuring out what to do after they kill Miss Pauling.

As much of a threat she was, she also kept her people in check. Her death could mean a sharp rise in crime because there was no one to keep things hidden. Worse is that a lot of them are experienced criminals with access to invisibility, law enforcement will have a very hard time catching those people.

And let's not forget about the gigantic power vacuum that would appear once the secretary of the most powerful woman in the world suddenly dies.

But the most immediate problem they would face was being inside a bee nest full of angry wasps. The moment their cover was blown they would have to fight their way out of there.

With every second it seemed that keeping Miss Pauling alive was a better alternative. But her being alive brought its own share of problems. Overall it was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

They spent hours planning this heist, making sure that they'll have an answer for every variable they could think of. Samantha knew Miss Pauling had access to Magic Spells, but she couldn't use it when she was dead. And if she was alive then Magic and Brave could tank dozens of meteor showers, ball o' lightings or monoculuses, at the very least.

If by some insanely small chance Miss Pauling decided to hold her ground against a CFW, they were pretty set.

Samantha already had a note written for Vert, and locked onto a good entry point. Once they start she'll quickly teleport to the Basilicom, slip the note into Chika's office and teleport away before the security could mobilize.

The stronghold that Magic spoke of looked less like a stronghold and more like a hideout. Meaning it was very hard to find but it only had a skeleton crew. Samantha decided that Machias would hide in the trash pile right next to it, because who in their right mind would search through some trash when there was a building right next to it?

Samantha didn't check the armory yet, but Magic reassured them that they could find something for everyone. The Overseer felt confident on that front as she could use a wide array of weapons and longswords for Falcom weren't that hard to find - ASIC would certainly have some of them.

Once the plans were drawn and Machias was sent to a safe place Samantha sent everyone back to Gamindustri. Everyone except Falcom and herself.

Samantha groaned and leaned onto her chair. The scenery returning to the giant gree among grass. "Woo boy." She sighed. "Big day tomorrow, am I right?"

Falcom turned her head towards the Overseer. "Why so soon?" She asked.

"Because Cave is supposed to report on a weekly basis and tomorrow is that day. I'm not sure I could pull wool over Miss Pauling's eyes so while this has a lot of risk, it also has the most chance of success because she shouldn't expect it." Samantha responded. "Also less of a chance that someone might report that Machias got compromised."

Now that Samantha thought about it, CFWs weren't actually that necessary to the plan. Yes, they're reliable Plan B but Plan A was for Samantha to go alone, shoot Miss Pauling and then teleport away.

But obviously something will go wrong so having two demigods on their side will be invaluable.

Falcom nodded in understanding. "Also why did you recruit the CFWs? Didn't you say that we were supposed to kill all of them?"

Samantha laughed at this. "You know, it's really funny. Yes, I thought that killing them was the only way, but then they told me the reason why they were doing all of this - which neither Magnavox nor Histoire knew about."

"They don't know?" Falcom blinked. How could a True Goddess not know something? Samantha shared her view as she spoke with a big grin on her face.

"Yes! I already reported that to Histoire." The brunette released her and started chucking. "She didn't believe me at first, but then once she saw it… you should see her face. She looked like a caveman who just discovered fire." Samantha shook her head at the memory. "So if we're lucky we might actually have an alternative here; give them what they want, and they won't summon Arfoire."

"So what do they want? Is it dangerous?" Falcom asked.

"Nah, I think it's safe. Remember that Twintail girl from the LAN Castle?"

Wasn't it the one who accidently killed her subjects? Falcom does remember her. "The Landlord?"

"Yeah. Apparently they want to find her, and their only lead was the Deity of Sin. Until now."

"You?"

Samantha nodded at Falcom's words, looking proud of herself. "Yup. They will help us kill Miss Pauling, chase out Gray Mann and then dissolve ASIC, and I'll help them find her."

"And what if she turns out to not be so great?" The adventurer said.

"Then I kill all three of them." Samantha shrugged as if this wasn't an almost impossible task. "But I'm feeling optimistic about this as I know how that story went. So I think she'll be more of an ally than an enemy, but if the worst case scenario happens… then I'm confident that I'll be with Fay by then."

"So am I going to meet her soon?" Falcom asked. After hearing so much about her Falcom was growing curious.

"Well, it's been over 2 years and apparently Magnavox got first dibs on her. I'm confident she's almost done with her job." The brunette replied. "Once we reunite then things will really start looking nice. Oh… and by the way."

Judging from how her tone shifted Falcom thought this will be important. The Overseer looked right into her eyes, all of that cheerfulness she once had gone in an instant. "I'm giving you one last chance to back out, tomorrow we will have to kill people. There's no way around that, someone is going to die tomorrow. If you want to, I can let you hide with Machias."

Falcom gave her a long and annoyed look. "Really… after all that we've been through?"

Samantha nodded. "Just giving you an out, so it won't seem like I'm forcing you to do this."

The blue-haired adventurer rolled her eyes and sighed. "I already saw my share of blood when I was with the mercs. I wouldn't sign up for this if I knew I couldn't handle it."

Samantha smiled. "Then let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is. C'mon, let's go get some rest. We got a long and hard day tomorrow."

Falcom returned her smile as Samantha stood up, stretching her hands. The landscape began falling apart; green giving away to the pure white scenery. Falcom sat on her chair contemplating something, she was finally alone with Samantha where there couldn't be any witnesses. She could finally ask something that has intrigued her for the past few days.

"Hey, Samantha." The Adventurer called out, and the brunette looked behind at her.

"Hmm? Anything else to say?"

"I was just curious. When we were talking to Machias for the first time you said something about a Vile God. Who are they?"

A Vile God. This name sounded so ominous and important but at the same time no one said anything about it. At first Falcom thought Samantha will just shrug it off but her reaction seemed to differ. The Overseer looked like Falcom just gave her a world-changing revelation.

"Samantha?" Falcom repeated.

"..." If there was a sound of one's entire world coming to a screeching halt, Samantha was pretty sure it sounded like a heart thumping in one's chest. "Uh…" She said, staring at Falcom like a fish. Her head felt light and her mind could barely form any coherent thoughts.

Then as if she just rebooted herself she was back to normal.

"...You can't just drop this bombshell on me so suddenly, Falcom. Not… today." She said, turning around and taking a step away from her. The adventurer realized she must've touched a nerve as Samantha gripped her hair and loudly added "Not when we're about to go against Miss-fucking-Pauling. Damnit Falcom!"

"Sorry." Falcom said. "I guess it was pretty sudden."

"Yeah! Ask me after we're done." Samantha replied. And immediately after that Falcom was already being brought back to the Gamindustri, with Samantha at her side. The Overseer looked deep in her own thoughts but then she shook her head, she glanced at Falcom and the adventurer looked away.

They were on the Gapain Fields again, but this time a bit closer to Leanbox. Falcom was about to head to the city when suddenly Samantha grabbed her sleeve, the adventurer looked back and saw the brunette was pointing out at the horizon.

Falcom looked where she was pointing and her mind came to a halt.

"What?" The adventurer said.

On the west they could see an enormous shape covering the entirety of the horizon. It was so massive that it towered over the mountains, it has a round shape and orange color, with two googly eyes staring at something up north. Both of them realized what it was, but they didn't know what it really was or how did it happen.

Also Samantha could've sworn she saw Saxton Hale jumping towards it.

"My first thought." Samantha nodded.

"That's… a giant orange." Falcom said, dumbfounded.

"Yes, and I have no idea why it's out there." Samantha replied.

But Saxton Hale was already taking care of it, so perhaps she didn't need to worry about that neither.

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Ready for Anything

A bit short chapter this time around… because I ran out of ideas to what to put there that wasn't a useless filler.

So the next chapter you'll see Miss Pauling being finally hunted down… and unfortunately I must warn you that you'll have to wait quite a bit, so that you won't be left hanging with a big cliffhanger for month(s).

It would be pretty cruel of me.

By that I mean I'm not going to upload the next chapter when it's finished, I'm going to hold it until I finish the entire chase. And I have no idea how many chapter this is going to take.

Responses:

YORCHspartan117

I'm glad you liked the ending, but unfortunately you won't see Uzume in this fanfic. That plot-line is going to be in the sequel, if I ever decide to write one of those.

The messages hidden in morse were "YOU SUCK" and "AND U SWALLOW" respectively. I have no idea what's so weird about this.

Fun fact about the scene with Samantha flexing on Magic; I actually asked an artist (the same one who drew the cover art) to draw me this scene. Unfortunately she wanted about at least 150$ for it (tbh it was a really complex project that would cost her hours to draw, so I'm not really surprised nor mad about this absurd price.)

So yeah… In the end I dropped that idea.

Doom King of Latveria

Oh don't worry.

You're going to see it soon.

And how it will affect the Red team.

- Harmless Orange