Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Doomed Doom of Doomsday

"Here, this will take us to Lowee."

Blanc presented everyone their new form of transport, a big carriage led by a… pack of red-nosed reindeers. What was really surprising about this carriage was not the reference to a certain tale, but the fact this thing actually flew here. Soldier and Engineer even saw it with their own eyes.

Speaking of Engineer, Blanc noticed his not-dead state. "I see you're alive. That's good."

"Yeah, ma'am! I'm good as new!" Then his right arm fell off. "Almost." He picked his limb and tried to reattach it, but it fell to the ground again.

Blanc looked at Compa. "You can fix this, right?"

"Mhm, once Mr. Engineer fixes the Quick-Fix he's going to make a full recovery!"

Blanc doubted he'll be able to fix anything with just one arm, but she took the Nurse's word for it. After all she actually brought him back from the dead. "I see. Pack your things guys, I found a job for you after you guys get settled."

No more needed to be said, the mercs spent little time getting their stuff ready. Their plan was to go there, build a teleporter and then transport their stuff, therefore all the mercs needed to grab were their bare essentials. But even with that, everyone felt a bit skeptical if they'll even fit into the carriage. It looked so small after all.

But they were proven wrong in a surprising way.

Spy looked into the carriage, and then at its exterior. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him but that wasn't the case.

"Wow! Check it out, guys!" Scout called out.

There was much more space inside the carriage than it appeared to be. The cart looked like it will have trouble taking them all in, but actually it had enough space to take their entire team and more. Blanc was quick on the explanation before somebody asked. "Lowee is known for our magic and magicians, we've a lot of experience with it and altering space is just one of Lowee's features you'll be seeing during your stay here."

"Aaaaah!" Soldier fell to his knees, screaming. "A land full of Magic, and Merasmus! It's a Merasland! Nooo!" People watched him bury his face into the snow, and pummel the ground like a baby throwing a fit.

"Then, why this?" Spy pointed at the wreck of a plane, ignoring his teammate throwing a tantrum.

Blanc redirected the question at Mina. "Yes, why?"

"Damnit, Merasmus!" Soldier continued to cry, before Blanc hefted him on her shoulder. "Please put me down, ma'am." He pled with a calm voice.

"Just shut up and get in there!" The CPU shoved the merc into the cart and dusted off her hands.

Mina caught the look her Goddess was giving her, and took this as a sign to start. "A plane is faster and safer than a carriage. Those we use to travel mostly within the nation while we use different means for international transport."

"There." Blanc finished for her.

Spy nodded.

"Alright boys and girls, get in and buckle up. We'll depart on the CPU's orders!" The pilot (of the carriage, not the plane) said.

The mercs already noted the carriage was more designed for comfort and luxury than the plane they previously traveled in. The seats were more comfortable, and it was warm there, so warm that Sniper finally felt comfortable after the painful chapters of misery and cold.

"Aye! Where's Heavy?" Demoman asked.

"He and my sisters are already waiting in your new base. We'll meet up with him, get your home ready however you like and then you'll do this job I have for you."

"What is this job?"

"I'll tell you once we're flying. Is everyone ready?" Blanc looked around, and was satisfied with the outcome "Okay. Pilot, we're ready to move."

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. In fact the mercs all felt like they were staying still until a quickly glance outside showed they were already very high in the sky. Magic, you see.

"So. When I got to the Basilicom, the receptionist stationed there told me that the ASIC managed to get their hands on the Killachines." Blanc looked at her Oracle. "Isn't it kind of your job to keep me informed on the state of the nation? You never told me about that."

"In my defense, I didn't have a good opportunity to alert you about this, and the things we learned in Planeptune seemed to be of greater concern at the moment."

"True." Blanc nodded. "I'm still punishing you for this later though."

"...Yes, my lady." Mina accepted the punishment with grace. Then the CPU turned back towards the mercs.

"So once you're ready, I'll be sending you to the World Labyrinth. Lowee's Mascot should be there waiting, and I want you to help her either seal or destroy the Killachines. Any questions?"

"Yes." Spy raised his hand. "A bit more information on these 'Killachines' would be nice. What do we know about them?"

"Arfoire created them, and they're such a pain in the ass that we sealed them away, until they got broken out anyway. In short, they're big piss-off killer robots with lots of armor. They don't have ranged weapons though, and they're specifically designed against CPUs, so they won't be at their full potential against you guys, which isn't to say they'll be pushovers. I don't know how many the ASIC got their hands on, but be prepared to fight an army of them."

Blanc paused and let the mercs process the information. She was somewhat surprised to see smiles and chuckles instead of frowns and concerned stares, like they're certain it's no big threat to them, but knowing their accomplishments in Gamindustri she should probably have expected it.

"What's the pay?" Sniper asked.

Blanc gave it some thought, before stating her price. "50000 Credits for each Killachine that stops being a problem. And also a penalty of 20000 Credits for each person killed, ASIC or not. I'll send someone to go with you and watch you work."

"Ma'am, is there a Merasmus in Merasland?" Soldier asked.

"No Soldier, there is no Merasmus in Merasland." Spy answered.

Blanc just sighed.

"Come on, do something!"

Medic watched the scene in boredom. After that attempt at his Sentry Guns with the bottle of petrol, the mob's progress just stopped. The fire they created pathetically died down, leaving black smudges on the floor and walls, but failed to do anything productive. They tried throwing more things at him but those didn't do anything neither.

They were still there though. But-

"If you can't destroy even a single Sentry Gun, you are all failures, dummkopfs!" Medic snapped at them. They were so incompetent! It wasn't even funny anymore, none of these guys knew what to do next.

"Shut up! Just come out here, bastard!" A stranger called to him.

"Nein! You come here, that's how it vorks!"

"Piss off!"

They spent those last 20 minutes arguing back and forth through the small gap in the shutters. Those were the most disappointing 20 minutes of Medic's life, he couldn't relax anymore as there was too much noise coming through that gap, and the performance shown by this mob left a lot to be desired. They didn't try to poison him, they didn't bring any siege machines nor did they try to use any of his creations against him. The only interesting thing they did was that poor attempt at burning the building.

"In my mad scientist's opinion, all of you should have your angry mob licenses revoked. I am very disappointed vith your performance."

"What the hell are you even talking about!?"

"I mean, you've all been standing here for an entire hour already, und none of you have even entered zhe lobby! Back in my father's day, a mob of zhis size would be done vith him vithin half an hour. Zhis is just pathetic!"

"...What the hell are we supposed to do then?! You have goddamn turrets in there!"

Now this man spoke sense. Medic smiled and drank the last of his coffee; it was time to teach these fools a lesson. "Vell, I have never seen you guys use toxic gas anyvhere. Nor did any of you try to get through the chimney, which, on that note - I would advise against zhat, it's booby trapped. But if you were to block zhe air supply and let in some toxic gas, now that vould a good start."

"..." The man stayed silent, but Medic hoped that he was just busy taking notes. After a few minutes he finally got a response. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Medic blinked, this wasn't an answer he expected but it also wasn't a bad answer. "Vell, no. I am just a man of science, und I'm trying to help you help me fulfil my family tradition. That's all there is to it."

Far, far away from Planeptune, Samuel was watching the exchange going on, and he wondered what was going through Medic's head. If there were even any sensible thoughts going through that suicidal brain of his. The overseer was dumbfounded by Medic's choice to help the people who wanted to kill him and destroy their hotel.

"...Right." Came an unsure and a bit disturbed answer from the stranger. "And what about these doors?"

"You vill have better chances of breaching zhe wall than zhese shutters. In fact, if you placed your charges next to zhis entrance, instead of on it, then you would already have broken through, and have zhe Sentry Guns to vorry about next."

"I see. And how do we take out those?"

"Hmm…" Medic was about to answer that as well, but Samuel decided it was time to stop and he did his thing. It helped that the merc was already wondering whether to say it or not. "Vell, isn't zhat a question people vant answered?" Medic replied with a shit-eating grin. "Zhis vouldn't be fun if I gave you all the answers."

And also their victory would feel cheap, if he just switched sides and helped them defeat his defenses and get to him. What knowledge he already passed onto them should be enough to jumpstart their progress.

"Okay." Medic heard the stranger pat himself off, hopefully to use that intel in good cause and breach these walls. "Well I'm going home. You- you're obviously not right in the head."

Wait… what?

His answer surprised the mercenary. It threw him off the loop and forced him to reprocess what he just heard. "Vait, vat?" Medic said. He just let them know how they can proceed, why give up now?

The footsteps were going away, and Medic realized the man was really going home, along with a good portion of the rest of the mob. "No! Come back!" The doctor banged against the shutters, crying for his archenemy to come back. "You didn't even break through zhis vall! You're not done yet!"

"Yeah, my point exactly." The stranger said to him and left.

His family tradition hasn't been fulfilled yet, this could hardly be called a siege at all! Medic kept banging onto the shutters in the hopes of someone answering, but silence was his answer.

"Nooo-" A brick fell on Medic's head, cutting his wail short.

"Medic! For the love of god! Just shut the fuck up!" Samuel yelled at the merc, despite him not being able to hear it.

Compared to Planeptune, Lowee was a rather weird nation. Instead of a giant futuristic city more advanced than Australia, Lowee was more akin to an oversized village buried in snow. While Lowee spanned as far as the horizon went, just like Planeptune, the buildings were quite small and sometimes even didn't resemble a proper building at all. Some houses were oversized vegetables, fruits and mushrooms!

This difference made it fascinating, and the mercs couldn't shift their gaze away from it.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to Lowee. The Land of White Serenity." Mina told them. Most of them were impressed by the unorthodox buildings, but Sniper wished they would go to a different nation that was less freezing cold.

"Whoowie, this looks more like a village than a proper city." Engie pointed out.

"That's because we don't have any need to build big buildings, at least ones big from the outside. The biggest one we have is the Basilicom, and that's only because we needed a landmark." Blanc explained.

"Magic opens up a lot of creative architectural options." Mina added.

Speaking of magic, there was something the mercenaries had to get out of the way.

"We won't have to deal with any wizards pokin and trying to turn our heads into birds or bombs, right?" Sniper asked.

"Or trying to steal our souls?" Scout added.

"Or tryin to blow us up with magic bombs! Or take our eyes?" Demoman spread his arms.

"Or trying to become our roommate!" Soldier yelled at Blanc's face.

"Or do anything else to us with their magic?" Spy finished.

The CPU blinked, processing their words and using her sleeve to subconsciously wipe off Soldier's disgusting saliva from her face. Mina also grimaced at them, and tried to imagine what kind of experience these men had with magic, while Blanc was a few seconds away from beating Soldier's skull in for spitting at her.

"No?" The CPU answered. "In fact, I would like you to not show yourself in Lowee unless it's necessary."

"Fine by me." Sniper remarked.

"How do you want us to do that, ma'am? And why?" Engineer asked.

"Simple. You'll live outside the Capital city, and if you need anything you can just teleport back to Planeptune, or contact someone in my Basilicom. I'll have you - Engineer - put up one of your teleporters inside so we can have quick access. As for why…" She stopped to grab some air.

"Frankly, after seeing what happened in Planeptune, I don't trust you to be among the general public. Some of you are completely crazy, and besides that I don't want to risk anyone recognizing you from Planeptune."

If Soldier or Pyro had an episode and pulled some innocent bystander into their antics, Blanc feared what they would do to them. Soldier could think that they are one of those 'communist' people and attack them, and Pyro is a threat to… everything, really. It- He is very effective at burning things, and Blanc didn't want to lose her nation to a delusional pyromaniac.

The rest of them were a threat to Lowee in their own way, but their infamy was the biggest problem. If anyone recognized them as the mass killers of Planeptune and realized they're now under her employ… Well, the consequences won't be pretty.

Blanc was planning ahead here: if they were to first earn some positive reputation among Lowee's citizens (for example, by defeating the Killachines), then not only would Blanc gain Shares, but it would at least offset some of the fallout if their history in Planeptune catches up to them here, and she could potentially let them walk Lowee's streets with ease… under supervision of course.

The problem was getting that positive reputation. Killachines were - and still are - a serious problem to Lowee. The mercs are going to have a hell of a fight in a few days.

Oh, and now Blanc just noticed that they had already passed Lowee and had landed next to the merc's new home. The mercs had already left to see their new home.

It was a 2 story high gingerbread house. Colorful candy decorated the roof, porch and stairs leading to the porch. The doors and windows were outlined with frosting, which also kept tiles on the roof. It was also decorated with christmas decorations and there was a small garden surrounding the building.

"Look at that lads, it's Smissmas time!" Demoman quipped.

"Man, I can't wait to eat this building. It looks delicious!" Scout rubbed his arms and licked his lips in anticipation.

"Please don't try to eat it. It's not really edible." Mina placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to stop him, but her warning fell on deaf ears, as Scout was already biting a candy rock in front of the house, and Soldier was trying to eat one of the gingerbread pillars supporting the porch's roof. The Oracle could only sigh dejectedly as Engineer walked towards Scout and asked.

"How does that taste, boy?"

"Ich bad, anh am stuch. Halp." Scout tongue was stuck to the 'candy', and he couldn't get it free. Pyro wanted to help the poor boy, and it grabbed its axe. "No no no no." Scout shook his head rapidly. "I'm fhine."

Pyro mumbled dejectedly.

Meanwhile Soldier actually managed to bite off a small chuck of the 'gingerbread' pilar, and he swallowed the piece with a grimace. "Men, I think this is NOT a true gingerbread house! This is brick, and I ate it!"

"Yes, it is." Blanc deadpanned. "The 'candy' is also just some colored ice that we hardened with magic. Now please, don't try to eat it again."

"Making a gingerbread house out of brick is a crime against humanity!" The american shouted and hefted his rocket launcher. Blanc's eyes widened and she rushed to stop him from destroying their base, but it was too late. He fired.

The rocket exploded against the wall, and left a black smudge on the brown clay. Then all of a sudden Soldier was encased in ice and Blanc heard Ram yelling.

"I got him!"

The doors were kicked open and Heavy jumped out of the house, his minigun revved up and aimed at Soldier. Rom was supporting him from behind with her support magic. The rest of the mercenaries aimed their own weapons at Heavy Weapons Guy, before everyone realized who they're actually aiming at. "Oh, is just you." The barrels of Heavy's minigun stopped spinning. "I thought we were under attack."

"That was… a pretty good response time." Blanc noted and looked up. Ram was looking at her from the window, the candidate opening it and waving at her.

"We were waiting, sis! Heavy told me to keep watch and shout!"

"I also told you to freeze anyone attacking." Heavy said to the pink-clad twin, who shrugged and pointed at the frozen Soldier.

"But he did!"

Heavy looked at Soldier, and then at the wall where the rocket struck, then back at Soldier, and he remembered hearing an explosion a moment ago. Heavy sighed. "...He did. Good job Ram."

Ram grinned and they entered the house, while Rom and Heavy thawed Soldier out.

Inside the house looked just like the outside, but the walls lacked the frosting so they were entirely dark brown. The furniture was also made out of fake gingerbread and frosting, and there was even a lit fireplace here. A christmas tree sat in the corner with presents underneath. Scout and Pyro tried to open them, but they were just empty boxes...

The kitchen was thankfully equipped with proper cooking equipment and the stairs led to a bedroom and a bathroom. This house was too small for a 9-man group, but that could be fixed with a teleporter leading to their hotel, which Engineer placed in the attic. Now the mercenaries and their allies had quick and easy access to both nations and finally it wouldn't be so cramped in their home back at Planeptune.

Once the teleporter was ready, the mercs went back to Planeptune, which Sniper very much appreciated.

Back in Planeptune they saw their Medic crying on the floor, a burnt lobby and a barricade prepared in front of the stairs, which was also burnt. The windows and entry doors were locked shut with shutters, and there was a hole in the shutter of the main entrance.

Mercs readied themselves for a fight, while Blanc approached the crying Medic. "Medic, what happened?"

The german looked up to her, and sniffed. "They came for me, but then they left me alone!" The merc told her before breaking down and crying again.

Though she pondered if she should know better, a crying man was still concerning for her, and Blanc crouched down next to him. "There, there." She soothed, patting his back. "Who were they and what did they want?" Was this ASIC looking for revenge?

Actually.

"You two." She pointed at Sniper and Demo. "Check on Nepgear, see if she's still there." They nodded and ran off. She doubted that Medic would allow anyone to take Nepgear, but she still had to make sure.

Speaking of Medic, he told her something more. "The-An angry mob. They came and left…"

An angry mob? That didn't sound good. Did they find out that the mercenaries live here and wanted revenge?

Soldier tapped her shoulder. "If I may, ma'am."

"Yes?"

"When we left for Lowee, Medic was fulfilling his family tradition of defending against an angry mob." He explained. "That mob dispersed and left after they couldn't get in."

This left Blanc concerned, surprised and confused. "Okay, and how do you know that?"

"I know my team, and what they're doing." He proudly replied.

...That didn't answer anything, but considering it was Soldier Blanc was speaking with she'll just let it go. "Then why he's crying?"

"Because he failed to uphold his family tradition. Everyone left after barely putting up a fight."

"So he's crying because the mob didn't siege him hard enough?"

"Yes."

…

Of course. "And I was actually worried about him." She sighed and stood up, leaving the german to his own devices. She should've realized that he was fine and there wasn't anything to be worried about. She was just wasting her empathy…

"Gear's safe, Blanc!" Demo shouted, Blanc let him know she listened with a wave of the hand. She was too bothered to answer verbally.

If days like these will continue for the foreseeable future, Blanc is certain she'll either commit a mass murder or become an alcoholic, and she has no clue which would be worse. She sat on a chair in the merc's lobby, holding her head while Medic cried over 'being unable to fulfil his family tradition'. That bastard just got attacked by a rioting mob, and he was sad his attackers didn't try hard enough. Can they act like normal people for a single day? Between losing Neptune and having these guys around, it's no wonder Histoire's going off the deep end.

"I feel your pain, comrade. I would also be sad if I couldn't fulfil my duty as an American soldier." Soldier placed a firm hand on Medic's shoulder. "Let it all out, sister."

"Mmph. mmmhph mmph mmph." Pyro nodded and rubbed Medic's back.

Blanc was about to get a headache. At least Engineer was repairing the damage caused by those people - the sole bastion of normality for the CPU. She tried to focus all her attention on the texan mercenary as he repaired the shutter by… whacking it with a wrench. With each hit, the broken shutter magically becomes a little more unbroken - a phenomenon Blanc couldn't actually comprehend so she said it's magic and left it at that.

She decided that was enough. "Guys, as much as I would like to give you some time, we need to move Nepgear to Lowee ASAP. Medic." The CPU pointed at the doctor, hoping that some instruction will get him out of his weird depression. "In Lowee downstairs, there's a single bedroom. Can you prepare it for her?"

The German sniffed and blew his nose into Spy's handkerchief. "I would- I would like some more time to grief, please."

Blanc gave him a dull look. "Medic, you're grieving over not being attacked."

"Ma'am! This man is grieving over failing to uphold a sacred family tradition, this is serious!" Soldier argued.

"Mmph!" Pyro backed him up.

"The life of a CPU is also serious. Especially someone who's close to dying." Blanc argued back.

"But-"

"It's fine, Soldier."

Soldier looked back to see Medic standing tall and proud. He made a last sniff and wiped his nose before speaking again. "Zhe science can't vait. I've failed to uphold my family tradition, so I could at least continue my research."

Soldier stepped in front of the german and looked him in the eye. Then he gave him a firm nod. "Godspeed you magnificent bastard."

Blanc admitted that it was slightly heartwarming, but she couldn't just forget the fact that this man just wept over not being brutally pummeled by an angry mob.

Then Sniper came down, looking confused. "Uhh, Doc? There were a buncha weird drawings in your study. What are they?" The german grimaced. Because of the mob leaving him alone, Medic forgot about the ritual that he prepared.

"Ah, yes. I've forgotten. I need to stop zhe ritual before it finishes."

"Ritual?" The CPU blinked. "Medic? What did you do?" Something about this filled her with dread and she didn't know why, but she also didn't want to find out. It didn't help that the other mercs were confused as well.

"Doc? What did you do?" Scout pressed.

"Ahahaha." Medic laughed awkwardly. "Nothing big actually, zhis was just a simple ritual to enable zhe Halloween."

"Enable WHAT!?" Engineer yelled, and the other mercs became shocked.

"Anyway- bye!" Medic rushed up the stairs, but a loud sound of a gong played and signaled that he was too late. The sound stopped him in his tracks, and petrified everyone else. Blanc began hyperventilating and feeling a surge of uncontrollable fear which she couldn't understand where it came from. All she knew was that she and the others were scared beyond reason.

"I am scared, you maggots!" Said Soldier.

And after a tense moment of silence, someone appeared.

"Cower, fools! Merasmus is here!"

Then Merasmus looked around, confused. "Wait, wait, wait. What?" The wizard looked around the lobby. None of the stuff here made sense to him, not even his own senses. "Where are we?" He asked the mercenaries. "This isn't one of your bases on Earth, nor are these the depths of hell. Merasmus! Has no idea where he is..."

This weird fear effect casted on Blanc wore off, and she could finally bring herself to act. She didn't know this… person in a dress, but he seemed to know these mercenaries. "Who are you?" Was he a threat or not, Blanc wanted to know.

His gaze snapped to her. He tapped his cane on the floor and dramatically flourished his other hand. "I am Merasmus, the Great Magician. And who are you" He squinted his eyes and blinked. "Not-mortal?"

Not-mortal. So he knew she was a CPU, not an achievement under normal circumstances, but she guessed that Merasmus must've come from the merc's world, a world where CPUs don't exist. That means he must've been able to sense her power. The status effect that was on the mercs was wearing off too, so they were ready to act.

"You again Merasmus?! This is not halloween yet!"

"You are a FOOL, Soldier!" Merasmus pointed at the merc. "By performing the Ancient Ritual of Doom, you have moved Halloween! So I've come to collect your souls."

Collecting souls didn't sound good. Blanc pulled out her hammer and waited. At the same time, Soldier and other mercs groaned. "Nooo… Do we have to do this today?"

"Yes. Merasmus is quite busy escaping the Arabian mafia, so he would like to collect those souls right now."

The wizard held out his hand, and Soldier's shoulders dropped. "Aww…" He reached for his pouch, and pulled out a small gargoyle. It looked weird and Blanc had no idea why he even had that. "Goodbye you BLU bastards." The merc said as he handed over the small statue to Merasmus.

"Thank you. Now with your souls collected, I leave you… to your doom!" The wizard laughed evilly and teleported out of Blanc's sight. She looked around in alarm and shouted.

"Where is he? Who is he?" Nepgear. Was she safe?!

Before Blanc could move from her spot, Merasmus came back. He was looking confused and lost. "Uh. Merasmus has forgot to ask, where are we? This isn't Earth."

"We are in Planeptune, in Gamindustri. A world different from Earth." Spy answered. Merasmus stroked his chin and considered his words. Blanc still kept her guard up, in case he tried something. The other mercs were relatively chill about his presence however.

"I see…" The wizard finally spoke. "Merasmus thanks you for your help, and promises to not kill you this time. Farewell!" And he was gone again.

Blanc waited a while, while the mercenaries returned to their own devices. There was silence in the lobby until the CPU decided to break it. "Okay, seriously, who was he?"

"That was Merasmus!" Soldier answered. "He comes around every Halloween and tries to kill us. He's also my former roommate!"

Fortunately he didn't try this time around. Blanc thought to herself. And of course it would be Soldier of all people who was acquaintanced with someone like that wizard. Blanc didn't want to imagine what sort of trouble Soldier had caused this guy. She actually felt a shred of pity for him, Soldier might even be the reason the wizard tries to kill them regularly. Finally she put away her weapon. "Anyway, we should move Nepgear to Lowee. Then we will move to the World Labyrinth and contact the Mascot, the sooner we do this the better."

A chorus of 'Yes, ma'am' followed her order. Some were enthusiastic, some were neutral and some (read Pyro) were completely unintelligible.

But there was progress, which Blanc liked.

Nepgear safely and comfortably tucked in a bedroom, check.

Hotel locked down and repaired, check.

Gingerbread house turned into a death trap, check.

Mercenaries prepared to fight an army of Killachines, in progress.

Blanc mentally crossed off objectives, despite the sudden wrench in her plans caused by an unruly group of people. They made a good amount of progress for a single day of work. They made contact with Lowee, and prepared the Merc's station within a single day. That put things a bit ahead of her schedule.

But unfortunately there was a big problem to be addressed. As always.

"Uh, ma'am. We got a big problem here." Engineer approached her, and Blanc clicked her tongue. Of course there would be something going wrong, because no plan survived the initial contact.

"Yes, what is it?"

"We won't be able to move our Re;Spawn System to Lowee. First, there ain't that much space in our Ginger House. But also this thing was made to stay, once setup it's hard to take 'im down." The texan explained.

Without that system of theirs, they won't be able to cheat death as much as they wanted. Which Blanc admitted was very problematic for them. As morbid as it was, most of their plans relied heavily on throwing themselves at danger until it or they died. Something they could do thanks to that safety net and already being used to dying.

...This was very tragic and dangerous. Being killed so many times that you stopped caring about your own life, because you knew you would just Re;Spawn. But once you took that away, you were left with a suicidal man without the ability to cheat death.

Blanc frowned, did she just find out their major weakness?

"I see, and do you have any ideas how to fix this problem?" She knew nothing about that system, so she couldn't do anything to help them with that. They were on their own.

"Well, we have two options. First we rely only on doc's Reanimators, but we don't have enough of 'em for Compa, IF and Nepgear. If they die, they die. And if both doc and Compa dies, that's it for us."

That sounded risky, as those Reanimators worked only on the front lines, so if they were forced to back off, or like Engineer said - their Medic and Compa died - then the rest of the team would lose their death-cheating ability as long as their bodies remained anywhere but in Planeptune. And Blanc knew the ASIC wouldn't be so willing to just hand over their bodies.

While Blanc was considering this option, Engineer continued.

"We could also use our Emergency Re;Spawn System, but its range isn't as good as the main one, and the Re;Spawn rate is horrible."

"But that's better than the alternative, yes?"

"Yeah." Engineer agreed, however Blanc sensed a 'but' in there- "But we would have to place it somewhere on the battlefield, which takes time and where it could be destroyed." There we go.

That also sounded risky, but still much safer than the first option. They could still hide the E.R.S.S somewhere and become a much needed safety net, for the mercs to throw themselves at their deaths… That wasn't something Blanc wanted to say, but Histoire told her to not worry about it. They didn't care apparently.

Wait.

"Can we just ask Saxton Hale for the parts necessary to construct another Re;Spawn System?" Blanc proposed.

"Yes…?" Came an unsure response from the texan. "Actually, we might need somethin' to fill our Canteens too! But the hard part here is finding him, if he's creepin' on some yeti or dragon or somethin' else, we might not see him soon. And there's money."

Blanc closed her eyes, and suppressed a shudder. She had no time to check the treasury, so she's a bit unsure whether she could afford it or not. Maybe the mercs themselves could pitch in with their own funds. "He is going to charge a lot, isn't he?"

Engineer slowly nodded, making Blanc sigh.

After this conversation Blanc still decided to go to the World Labyrinth, but only to make contact with the Mascot. She needed to be informed of this after all. And the mercs could use this time to choose and prepare their battlefield.

Rom and Ram were at her side, never letting her go alone. At first Blanc didn't want them to go with her, but those pesky brats decided they'll sneak out and follow her anyway. So here they were.

The World Labyrinth was a bit of an unusual place, to outsiders at least. It never snowed here, and the area was made out of colorful blocks, lots of colorful blocks. To someone not from Lowee, this didn't look like a naturally-created place. But there were plenty of places like this, all naturally created.

Blanc didn't see any ASIC roaming around, but that didn't leave her at ease, instead it just made her more wary of an ambush. If the Killachines are active, then the ASIC must've been here. This was their resting place after all.

She still needed to find someone to observe the mercs.

The CPU groaned in frustration, it wasn't even a day and she already forgot about it. She couldn't go there herself, or the Killachines would power up. And she won't send Rom or Ram because of the same reason, and because they aren't ready for a fight like that.

So who should she send in her place?

Blanc made a very familiar turn, the memory of the path coming back to her. There was a well hidden shortcut underneath a wall with pink, yellow and blue blocks. This would take her to a tunnel leading straight into the Mascot's resting place.

She could contact the Guild for this. They will probably have an agent or two on standby who would be glad to help, especially with the Killachines. But would the mercs be strong enough to defeat not one, but an army of those things?

They all laughed when Blanc told them what she knew, but she still grew worried. Those things weren't to be trifled with. Maybe she should just order them to retreat if things went hairy. That could do the trick.

Rom and Ram were also strangely silent, but maybe they're just wary of any enemies.

They reached a dead end, but Blanc pushed the wall next to them. It moved and they were in the Mascot's chamber, with the Mascot waiting for them.

"...Welcome back to Lowee, my ladies." She greeted while Blanc closed the passage.

"Hello again!" Ram waved at her.

"...Hi!" Rom meekly greeted.

"Hello Mascot. I've come to check on you and the Killachines." Blanc said while observing the surrounding area, it looked… fine. Nothing seemed out of ordinary. The CPU heard the Mascot sigh.

"I must apologize for my failure. I've tried hard to keep the Killachines sealed, but I failed. If it wasn't for Rom and Ram, I would have been destroyed as well."

Blanc's eyes widened and she turned towards her sisters. She was shocked to learn that Rom and Ram - her little sisters - endangered themselves for the Mascot. And Ram was even proud of this, which she was eager to show. "Yeah, we whooped those ASIC butts!"

"Whoop! Whoop!" Rom cheered.

Blanc should've given them an earful, but saving a Mascot from danger was a big thing. So instead she just asked. "You weren't hurt, right?" Both girls looked fine now, but still.

"Nu-ope! Me and Rom were kicking butts and taking names!" Ram bragged.

"Both candidates displayed remarkable magicraft, and when their opponents started pushing back, both of them took me from my place and escaped to safety." The mascot supplied, making Ram's grin fall.

"You didn't have to tell her that." She said.

"I see." Blanc nodded and ruffled their heads. "Good job, girls." The praise and show of affection worked, and both of them brightened. With that out of the way, Blanc asked an important question. "So, how many Killachines escaped?"

"All of them."

...Oh.

"Oh." Ram said.

"Oh." Rom nodded.

"Damn." Blanc cursed, if only to break the combo. "This is worse than I thought." She scratched her nose. She hoped for a small group of them to escape, not an entire army of hundreds. The mercs will really have a hard battle ahead of them, maybe she should even scrap that plan-

No.

"Can we seal them again?" The CPU asked.

"I've tried, but unfortunately they developed countermeasures against it. Sealing them with the same method won't be possible."

"Damn. Good thing we have a plan B, then." Blanc said, catching the Mascot off guard.

"Oh? And what should I do?"

"When that plan is ready, could you teleport those Killachines to a specific location somewhere in Lowee?" This would make things much easier, as Blanc wouldn't need to travel across the entire nation in hopes of dragging those tin cans towards the mercs.

"Yes, that wouldn't be a problem. In fact this was how I kept the Killachines away from Lowee after they were freed." Blanc blinked, and then snorted. Now she has Plan C, in case the mercenaries fail to defeat the Killachines. Go figure.

"Good, I'll be back after we finish preparations."

If those guys actually defeat all of them, Blanc will drown them in credits. Figuratively of course.

Or maybe not, Blanc would see later.

The CPU was about to leave with her sisters, but she stopped just near the secret entrance. She felt a presence and turned around, her hammer ready. There was a being standing in the other - normal - entrance to the Mascot's chamber. It was tall, taller than Heavy and it resembled a mixture of a yellow pig and a lizard.

It also had a very long tongue.

"Y-You?!" Mascot cried fearfully.

"Oh my eyes must deceive me. A pair of cuties standing right before me." CFW Trick said.

"Rom, Ram." Blanc said calmly, taking a defensive stance. Her hammer ready to strike. "Grab the Mascot and run."

"But-!"

"No buts!" Blanc snapped, her eyes never leaving the CFW. "Grab it, and run the hell away!"

For a moment, Ram looked like she wouldn't heed her words and stubbornly hold her ground. However she reluctantly gulped and took a step towards the Mascot.

Squish! It happened faster than Ram could see. CFW's tongue lashed out at her, but Blanc parried it with her weapon. "Oh no no no no, cuties." CFW Trick said to them. He didn't react at all when his tongue was struck with all Blanc's might.

"I dunno how ya got past me, but this is even better! Now there's no escape."

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Doomed Doom of Doomsday

There. You saw it coming, I even said he'll appear and he did. One CFW Trick in Lowee, plus one Loweean CPU family, minus 1 band of mercenaries to help equals a perfect material for a cliffhanger. What do you think? And what do you think of the conclusion of Medic vs Angry Mob? I was starting to run out of ideas and the joke was (in my opinion) going for too long. And there was also canon time to consider so… yeah. Samuel intervention.

Next chapter will be quite interesting, I must say.

Responses:

Samdaman95:

I regret NOTHING.

DatMeeM:

We might never know, maybe this helmet actually possess some alien technology, maybe it's perfectly normal helmet and something is wrong with Soldier himself. All we know that it's a mystery!

Guests (3 of them):

Yes, Pyro provided snacks like heads marshmallows. He got them from the den of Fenrirs nice shop that the mercs conveniently landed nearby.

Heavy's journey with Blanc and her sisters went fine. Albeit Ram was a bit annoying to Heavy, he liked Rom though because she was quiet and didn't pestered him like her twin.

As for the last Guest…

That's a spoiler question. What Mercs will do with Pauling is scheduled to be revealed shortly after Lowee's arc.

YORCHspartan117:

Yes, time between Gamindustri and Badlands flow differently, I'm glad you noticed. 1 day in Gamindustri is 6.5 days on Earth. 7 Days = 45.5 days. and 14 days = 91 days. I don't think I'll do anything with it, at least not in this fic, but at the same time I might do something with it. I'm unsure.

Yes, Uni would die if it wasn't for Medic. Because of Lastation being allied with Gray Mann, this will evolve into what I think a bit ironic turn of events. And it also serves as a lesson that Saxton Hale doesn't like to be called a pervert.

As of now, I have no plans of including Merc's classing counterparts but that might change later.

Yes, Compa laughing like maniac would be more adorable than disturbing.

...I know I had plans of IF or Compa being uber during A FIRST CFW JUDGE FIGHT, but I couldn't find a good moment for it. Back then Medic thought that every other patient would be more effective than Neptunia girls and they're still the last on Medic's uber priority. Nepgear is a bit higher than them so, someday I might write her being ubered.

Yes, Miss Pauling's faction not only killed Cave, but they also replaced her without anyone knowing. I hope it shows how dangerous they can be.

RED is safe because I hate her, and replaced her with Nisa. So RED literally doesn't exist here (if she did, we would already see trying to get Nepgear to be her waifu.)

As for 5pb… no comment.

Even if Medic found their body, they would be dead for too long for even him to revive. Remember that being dead for at least 6 hours is 'very hard' for Medic. Even with Medi-Gun. Cave is dead for much longer than that.

Yes, I tried to write Magnavox as more goofy and perverted goddess, so I guess a comparison to Big Nep works. (Remember that Samuel required to touch Falcom's chest purely because of Magnavox.) And yes, thank you for reminding me about those troublesome canteens and giving me this very long review. I enjoyed reading it.

- Harmless Orange