...
Ah, the ruins in the outskirts of Millennium...
"Oh, wow, this place still sucks." I say dryly, as the four gamer girls and I stand before the grey, dreary ruins.
"Sensei! Get down!" Momoi shouts.
Suddenly, an explosion rings out, knocking us all to our feet. A small horde of robots have appeared from out of nowhere, again. "What was that?!" I shout as the five of us huddle behind some rubble.
"Some kinda grenade!" The pink twin says.
"Is everyone okay?" Yuzu asks, frantic.
"I'm good." Momoi says.
"I'm fine. Are you okay, Sensei?" Midori asks.
"Just fine." I say, peeking over the rubble.
"If the robots keep coming like this, then...!" The red haired girl says, frantic.
"Don't worry, Yuzu." I say, hoping to calm the poor girl. "Look around, we're in an alley." I point out, causing the girls to realize the space we're in is quite narrow. "Aris." I say, causing our robot friend to turn to face me. "It's your time to shine." I say with a grin.
Aris nods her head with a determined face. "Today Aris' role is... light-type AOE DPS..." She says, standing up as she pulls switches and presses buttons on her railgun, after slinging from her back. "Targeting front line threats." The railgun emits a reddish light after a moment... "Blinding Light!"
With that declaration, a massive 'beam of light' plows through the robots, tearing a hole clean through those that don't get completely destroyed in that instant.
"I-It worked!" The pink twin cheers.
"That was amazing!" The green twin adds.
"C-Cancel the victory animation, they're still coming!" The red haired girl alerts, as, sure enough, more robots are marching towards us.
"There's more...?" Midori asks with wide eyes. "We should run away or Sensei will be in danger..."
"There's only one way forward, and they're blocking it." I point out. "Plus, you girls haven't seen me put in much effort yet." I say as I stand up and crack my knuckles.
"Sensei's right." Momoi says, surprisingly. "We can't keep running away. We have to break through."
"What are you saying?!" Midori shouts.
"If we retreat here, we'll never get another chance. Now that the battle's begun, the robots will never stop coming." Momoi explains, serious. "This is our only chance to get into the factory and go to where the G.BIBLE should be."
"B-But, Momoi..." Midori tries to argue.
"We can do it." Aris says, with a soft smile.
"Huh? But how?!" Midori asks, frantic.
"As a team of four, we have explored twenty-seven dungeons and carried out one hundred and thirty-nine successful raids." Aris begins. How many games did they play last night?! "If we are together, there is nothing we cannot do."
"You think we can win a gun fight because we're good at an MMO?!" Midori shouts.
"It's risky, but I-I won't give up here." Yuzu adds with a nervous, yet determined expression.
"But what about Sensei? We might be okay, but Sensei could be in a lot of danger!" Midori asks.
"Hmph. If anything, those bastards are the ones in danger." I say, before looking straight at Midori. "I wasn't expecting so many of 'em last time, but now? Now, I'm ready." I say with a savage grin, pulling my rifle from my back.
"Sensei's right. Do not worry. Aris will protect Sensei no matter what happens." Aris declares.
I stare at her, a bit surprised for a moment, before chuckling at bit and reaching over the pat the robot girl's head. She pushes her head into my hand with a happy expression. "Sensei, are you with us?" She asks.
I pull my hand away. "Of course! We're a party, ain't we?" I ask with a smile.
Suddenly, a great big smile breaks out on Aris's face. "Bum bum bum! Sensei has joined the party!"
The green twin sighs. "Fine, fine! I get it already! Prepare to breach their ranks!"
The twins pull out their rifles while Yuzu pulls out her grenade launcher.
"All right, girls... Let's kick some ass!" I order with a grin. "Midori, Momoi. Stick close-ish to me. Yuzu, pelt them from mid-range. Aris, blast 'em from way back."
The four girls nod as they take in my orders.
The robots see us as we all rush at them from behind the rubble. They begin to fire their rifles at us, but I move.
Faster than they can see, I run right into their fire, dodging all bullets. Just before the edge of the alleyway, I hop and plant my feet against the wall and run along it, gaining some height, before I kick off of the wall, and slam my rifle's butt against one of their heads, knocking them to the ground and caving in its head with a sickening metallic crack. Two next to me get shot in the head by the twins, downing them for me to shoot them both again.
Always double tap. I've taken that to heart.
I crouch on the ground and shout "Aris! Yuzu!" After a moment, a grenade slams into a group of robots about to fire on me and explodes, destroying a few few of them. Almost immediately after, I hold my body to the ground as a strong gust of wind pushes my entire body forward, but because of my strength, I hold myself to the ground as my air and clothes flutter forwards. The projectile from Aris' railgun sails over my head harmlessly and drills another hole into the horde of robots.
"Midori, Momoi! Crowd control!" I shout, getting to my feet and stepping back. The twins step forward and ready their guns. Momoi fires a barrage of pink blasts, downing a number of robots and leaving burn marks on them. Midori uses more precision, firing green blasts from her sniper rifle, one at a time, taking down five more robots with precise headshots.
Looking around quickly, I remember the way to the factory we're going to this time. It's pretty much dead ahead. The one where we found Aris is way off to the left. Abruptly, even more robots pour out from the buildings. Like a lot.
"Whoa!" Momoi says.
"Oh crap." Midori says.
"Eek!" Yuzu squeals in fright.
"...Aris?" I ask.
"Yes, Sensei?" Aris asks back.
"Put yer gun on full power. I want a hole through them and the next few buildings." I say, serious as can be.
"Huh?!" Momoi shouts.
"Might wanna step back a bit~!" I say with a laughing tone, causing the twins and Yuzu to scramble behind Aris. I take a step back as I see Aris rotate a particular dial. The one used to regulate its max power, as the Engineering Club girls and explained.
Aris pulls the dial as fas as can go, the railgun begins to hum, just like it did when she first fired it into the roof of that the Engineering Club's building.
After a moment, the humming increases in volume and power, as I begin to feel it in by chest, like a super loud truck driving by. The other three girls take a few more steps back, but I stay put.
The railgun begins to glow an eerie red. A vibrant red, as opposed to the usual orange-red color.
Then-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
-she pulls the trigger.
"AAAH!" The other three girls scream as one while I hold myself still as can be, not taking any chances with the blowback.
A massive wave of red tears through the entire crowd of approaching robots, completely disintegrating them. The blast tears a hole straight through a few buildings. Fortunately, Aris fired away from Milennium, so we won't hit anything. A full row of buildings collapse under their own weight, most of the bottom-most floors now non-existent.
Powerful wind, caused by the gun firing, pushes against me, threatening to knock me down, but for only a moment.
A great cloud of smoke appears in front of us as the buildings disappear. Aris dials back the power on the railgun. Looking down, I see her shoes digging into the concrete and a small trail dug into said concrete where she stopped herself from flying backwards after firing.
Looking back, I see the other three girls, laid on the ground, wide-eyed, but unharmed.
I walk to the trio with a chuckle. "You three alright?"
"Yeah..." Midori breathes.
"..." Yuzu nods in affirmation.
"That was..." Momoi lets out.
"Aris didn't know the Sword of Light was so powerful...!" The robot girl says in awe.
"Aris. Don't ever use that thing at max again unless I tell ya. Got it?" I ask with seriousness. The robotic girl nods, equally serious.
"Good. Now c'mon, let's go find that bible." I say, holding out my hand to help the trip up.
"B-But, won't we, uh, get in trouble for that?" The pink twin asks, pointing at the collapsed buildings.
"We? We were never here. The buildings here are old and worn down. It's only natural they'd collapse and maybe even take others down with them." I say, cracking a smile. "We had nothin' to do with that. Nothin' at all." I say, holding my hands in the air in faux surrender.
The girls share a chuckle, some attempting to hide it.
—————
The five of us then jogged through the courtyard, now devoid of robots, to another factory. One that, when inside, I notice looks similarly to the one where we found Aris.
Hmm... I think I'm starting to like that name more than 'Alice'...
As we come to a stop within the building, Midori exhales in relief. "Did we make it?"
"Entry successful. Objective complete." Aris happily informs.
"Wow! We're actually, like, crazy strong! If we tried we could probably even take on C&C or some of those ace squads from the other academies!" Momoi declares, proudly.
"Pride cometh before the fall, y'know." I say, deadpan.
"Sensei's right, Sis. You're nuts, we'd never beat C&C... but you're right. We're pretty good." Midori admits. "Maybe it's because Sensei was leading us!"
"Oh, now I wouldn't say that." I disagree.
"I get what you mean, Midori. Having Sensei around definitely makes a difference." Yuzu says, agreeing.
"Nah, this time it was mostly y'all." I argue.
"C'mon, Sensei, you're super tough! Midori and I saw how you took down those robots yesterday." Momoi argues.
"Yeah, you're crazy fast and strong. I've never seen someone run through gunfire and not get hit at all." Midori adds.
"You smashed that robot's head in like it was paper." Yuzu adds.
"Sensei is the Legendary Warrior, after all! The one who trains us and shares his knowledge of combat!" Aris says.
"...I wouldn't go that far, but... I suppose I am pretty tough." I admit. "Enough with that, how're y'all running on ammo?"
"Aris' battery is... blinking? Is her MP low?" The robot girl asks, worried.
"Well, that big shot certainly drained it. Try not to use yer 'sword' too much until we can recharge it, Aris." I advise.
"I'm doing fine, Aris did most of the work last time." The red haired girl says.
"Same here." Midori says, with a nod from her sister.
"Good. Still, let's not rush into any battles." I say.
Aris looks around the place with curiosity in her eyes. "This place is...? Oh."
"This place looks similar to the place where we found ya. Remember?" I ask.
"Hmm..." Aris hums in thought. "Yes, Aris remembers, but..."
"But...?" Momoi asks.
"Aris is... not sure. Something feels familiar." Aris says, before looking down a hallway. "We have to go this way."
"Huh?" Midori asks, as Aris begins to walk away.
"Let's follow her." I say. After a moment, we catch up with the girl, who's walking at a brisk pace.
"There is no data of this place in my memory, but... my body knows it." Aris mutters. "It is like playing a game you last played many years ago. Even without a tutorial or explanation you still have a sense of where to go."
"Good analogy." I compliment.
"Sensei's right... This place does look kinda similar to where we found Aris in the first place." The pink twin comments.
"Like that computer over there?" The green twin asks, pointing to a monitor, which Aris walks right up to.
"It's... already on?" Momoi asks.
The monitor then lets out a beep.
Welcome to the Divi:Sion System. Please enter the item you need help with.
'"Divi:Sion? The hell's that?" I mutter, low enough no-one, aside Aris, can hear me. Aris has good hearing, but still looks as confused as I.
Momoi, on the other hand, pays all of this no mind. "Wow, this'll be easier than I thought! Should I type in 'G.BIBLE'?"
"Uhhh... Isn't this kind of suspicious?" Midori asks, being cautious. "What's the Divi:Sion System, anyway? Could that refer to this munitions factory?"
"Whatever it is, we shouldn't fuck with it. Let's just get the thing and go." I order, wary of this place.
Aris takes the opportunity to pick up a nearby keyboard and plug it in. "Keyboard obtained. Searching for G.BIBLE." The keyboard makes click and clack sounds as Aris types swiftly.
"Oh! Something popped up!" Momoi says.
On the screen, a random string of symbols appear. Well, it's in random order, but it's all stuff you'd get by pressing Shift and one of the number keys.
"I-Is it broken?! Aris! What did you do?!" Momoi shouts in worry.
"Calm down, dummy." I say.
"B-But... Aris did not press enter." Aris admits.
"Wait, what?" I ask, eyes widening.
Identity check: Are you AL-1S?
"Huh?!" Momoi shouts upon seeing the words on screen.
"Whoa!" Midori lets out.
"Hmm?" Aris asks.
Yuzu takes a careful step back.
My eyes narrow at this. Is this thing aware...?
"No. I am... me. I am 'Aris'." Our robot pal says.
"W-Wait!" Midori shouts. "Something's weird about this. I don't think you should hit enter, Aris."
Voice recognition confirmed. Access granted. Welcome back, AL-1S.
"Welp." I say, popping the p.
"Why even have a keyboard?!" The green twin shouts.
"Why does it think Aris' name is AL-1S?" Yuzu asks.
" 'Cause it's on the back of her neck." I explain.
"My name is actually...?" Aris mutters.
"Aris. Your name is Aris." I correct, looking right into Aris' electric blue eyes, elicitng a smile from her.
"Computer, do you know about AL-1S?" Aris asks the machine.
A series of three dots appear on screen for a long moment.
"It's really taking it's time..." Midori mutters.
"The screen's getting all blurry. What's wrong with it?" Momoi asks.
It makes a sound as though it's trying to say 'Yes', but before it finishes it's word, it lets out a metallic screech, followed by more symbols.
"H-Huh? What was it saying?" Midori asks.
"It was saying 'Yes'." I say, with narrowed eyes.
That's...
...
An emergency situation has occurred.
Power down imminent. All data will be lost in power down. Fifty-one seconds remain.
"Shit." I say.
"What?! N-No! Don't die! We have to find the G.BIBLE!" Momoi shouts, in fright.
Seeking query 'G.BIBLE'. Found. Commence load? [YES/NO]
"Really?!" Momoi asks, hope filling her eyes.
"Yes!" Midori shouts.
G.BIBLE verify complete. Game code identified. For human comprehension and reference, data at registry one-nine-three will be discarded. Thirty-five seconds remain...
"Don't go throwing parts away!" The pink twin roars. "It's a treasure among game developers, no, the entire world!"
Suggestion: If you wish to acquire the G.BIBLE, connect a storage device to receive transfer data.
I'm not lettin' Arona near this thing.
"What? Do you know where the G.BIBLE is?" Momoi asks.
Yes, and so do you.
You've already found it.
"Wh-What?!" Momoi shouts.
To be precise, I contain the G.BIBLE. However, my current form will not last much longer. Please move me to a new storage device.
"Hmm... What do we have that could work...? Oh! Can we use this Game Girl SP memory card?" The pink eyed twin asks.
*sigh.mp3* That's fine, I guess...
"Don't be so picky." I chastise the computer.
"Wh-Why does it seem so unhappy all of a sudden...?" Momoi asks, pulling out a Game Girl SP, which just looks like a red and green Nintendo Switch.
"Let me plug in the link cable." Yuzu says, grabbing the cord. "There!"
Initiating transfer. Insufficient storage space detected. Deleting existing data. Nine seconds remain.
"You what?! What do you think you're doing?!" Momoi shouts in rage.
As I said, 'Insufficient storage space'.
"Find some more room somewhere else! Please! Anything but my save files! I worked so hard to get that equipment!" Momoi whines.
Sorry, file deletion complete.
"Aaaaaah! Nooooo!" Momoi wails.
"Calm down, you can get that stuff again. If it was fun last time, it'll be fun this time, right?" I ask.
"I... I suppose you're right." Momoi admits, sadly. The Game Girl then shuts off.
"Huh? Did it run out of power?" Midori asks, before it clicks back on.
Suddenly a progress bar appears with the words 'Transfer complete'.
"What now?" I ask.
New data confirmed. G.BIBLE.exe.
"I-It's really here!" Yuzu says, with a small smile.
"If we have it, we might as well make sure it's the real deal!" Momoi says. "Exe go!" She says, pressing a button. "Oh, there's a pop-up. It wants a password?! Are you kidding me?!"
"I-If the password isn't too complicated... then Veritas can figure it out!" Midori suggests. Yuzu nods in agreement.
"And if we do that...!" The pink twin begins.
"We can actually make Tales Saga Chronicle Two... fun..." The green twin finishes.
"We can do it! Yes!" Momoi says with a happy laugh. "Watch out, Millennium Prize, no, all the Kivotos game awards! Our new game will shake the Kivotos gaming industry to it's core!"
"Hush, we don't want any more attention, Momoi." I warn.
As I say that, a robot wielding a rifle comes around a corner.
"Whoops!" Momoi says, as it lets out an angry screech. It looks more pissed of than any of the other ones.
"Wh-Why does it seem so mad?!" Yuzu asks in fright.
It trains it's gun on us.
"BOOK IT!" I shout, prompting the girls to break into a sprint as the machine fires at us. Momoi rips the cable from the computer in fright, then pocketing the console with a cord dangling from it.
—————
Once the five of us got back to Millennium, out of breath, we headed straight for Veritas' club room.
It's a small room, dark and filled with blue screens, computers and the like.
"Nice hideout." I comment idly.
"Thank you." A girl says, causing me to turn and look at her, as well as the other two girls in the room with her.
The one who spoke is a girl with long, pale blonde hair reaching her lower back. Her purple eyes are framed by a pair of black glasses. Her bangs are held together in the middle with a black hairclip and on one side of her face is a small braid. She wears a white buttoned shirt, unbuttoned at the very top, and a long, sky blue tie and a pair of black headphones around her neck. On her waist is a thick, black belt with a pistol holster holding a white pistol and a white skirt. She also has on an oversized black jacket with orange-yellow insides. On her feet is a pair of tall, black boots with orange soles that reach almost to her knees and a small, black band above both boots, but below her knees. Her halo is a striking purple, the same color as her eyes, and is comprised to two rings. There's four small rectangles at each cardinal direction and four diamond shapes at each of the intermediate directions, with the two at 2 and 8 o'clock being larger. Overall, her halo looks like a compass, or perhaps a lock.
The next girl has grey-ish white, wavy hair tied into a high ponytail and a black hairclip on the side of her face, holding her long, wavy bangs that frame the sides of her face in place. She wears a black hoodie plus a white coat with a black and white assault rifle on her back. Her legs are bare, but her feet are covered with black tennis shoes with white soles and black ankle socks. Her halo's outside ring is a dark neon-green, unlike her eyes which are a darker shade of the same color. The outside ring is split in three, and within are three, smaller, black rings, each of a different size. Within the smaller rings are circles of the same color as the outer ring.
The third girl has short, red hair tied into two buns at the top of her head and bright blue eyes. She wears a white shirt covered by a grey vest, aside from the collar and ends and a sky blue bow tie around her neck. She also has on a short hoodie that's black and has big poofy sleeves decorated with strips of white and red. She has on a white skirt with a black stripe near the bottom. A massive machine gun rests next to her, decorated with bright, colorful decals. On her feet are white, large tennis shoes and black ankle socks that are a bit taller than the other girl's. Her halo is a dark red ring that's split in three by three, smaller rings, each containing another, smaller ring. In the middle of it all is a 3D pyramid that's black and pointing downwards.
"Oh, it's you girls again. What's up?" The red haired girl asks.
"We need you guys to get my saves back!" Momoi says, holding out her console.
Midori sighs at her twin's antics. "Look, we found the G.BIBLE, but it needs a password."
"What about my saves?!" Momoi shouts.
"Give it up, Momoi." I say with a sigh.
"So it really was in the ruins, after all..." The white haired girl mutters in surprise.
"Ruins? What ruins? We didn't go to any ruins." I say with a knowing grin, eliciting a smile from the white haired girl.
"Oh? Are you the Sensei Himari mentioned?" The blonde girl asks.
"That's me, Joshua of Schale." I introduce.
"Well, you already know we're Veritas, then. I'm Konuri Maki, nice to meetcha." The red haired girl, Maki, says with a grin.
"I'm Otose Kotama." The blonde girl, Kotama, says with a nod.
"Omagari Hare. Nice to meet you." The white haired girl, Hare, greets.
"Oh? Is Chihiro not here?" Midori asks.
"Chihiro?" I ask.
"Oh, she's our deputy director, but Himari placed her in charge for a while. Long story short, she's busy with a request from Gehenna. Something to do with their student council and a tank...?" Maki explains, trying to remember exactly what her friend is up to.
"You brought someone else? Is she the new member?" Hare asks.
"Yup! This here is Aris!" The pink twin happily says, hugging her robot friend.
"That's all for introductions, then. Can you three crack open that thing?" I ask, referring to the G.BIBLE.
"We'll try, Sensei." Kotama says.
—————
AN
Not a super lengthy chapter.
Also, FanFiction hates URLs, even fakes ones. I can't even type the GBIBLE with the period in it, as it deletes the whole word. But, if you're using the app, it doesn't do that, for some reason.
So, when I post a chapter, I HAVE to go back and scour for the words that need fixing. It's not so bad, I kinda have to do that when I post on Wattpad, anyway.
Also, this took longer to post on Wattpad due to error 1000 on the app. *shrugs*
Edit: January 5, 2023: Changed Aris referring to herself from 'I' to 'Aris', since she speaks in third person. The text in Global has her speak normally.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next!