-@VitaVitaAR (GLD) & @PKMNB0Y (STRI & TMA)-

"Oh, do you intend to kill Goldibanne if that girl doesn't back away? Fufufu~ You've made a terrible, wonderful, horrible, delicious mistake, Underling-chaaaaaan~. Goldibanne wonders if you'll let go before you make another mistake~ Oh, well, it doesn't matter~ I'll get to have fun either way~"

"W-What the hell?!" The one called Underling was terrified by Goldibanne's glare, grin and head twist, making her release Goldibanne and back away. "And Underling's not my name! It's Linda! Don't let that purple thief carry you away!" She yelled.

"In any case, I recommend you drop the weapon and leave whatever you stole where it is. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety... Or your sanity."

"Hey no! I didn't steal anything!" Linda protested. "It's Nepgear who's been doing the stealing! What, just because Arfoire is gone doesn't mean you can go stealing her s***." She explained.

"Arfoire's factory is a dungeon. As per dungeon rules, anything the protagonists takes from there is considered loot and not private property." Nepgear replied.

Meanwhile, Linda provided no such defense to having her mind prodded, allowing Satori to peer into her mind and memories without difficulty. "H-Hey, what the hell is with that creepy eye?" Linda remarked. Satori could see that this girl had known the purple-haired Nepgear for quite a long time. Not that they were friends, it was the opposite actually.

This Linda has fought Nepgear and her allies numerous times. It should be noted that Linda was no slouch in a fight. However, there was not much embarrassment or trauma hidden in her memories. There was one time when she overslept and missed her chance to disrupt an election but other than that, her losses and withdrawals from Nepgear's party would form the bulk of Linda's 'traumas'.

-@ACHTUNG-

"Mr. Entertainer, We will leave this little one in your care to provide instant and direct communications with you"

"Uhhhh... no." The Entertainer bluntly declined . "I don't want one more alarm blaring at me at my office. I already have enough of those already. And that's assuming she can maintain good communications across universes."

"If you have anything to report, you can report to the operatives in the outpost you emerge in. That reminds me..." He then snapped his fingers and suddenly you feel something in your wrists. Looking at it, it appeared to be a watch of sorts. "IDEC has at least one outpost on each world and thus, one portal gate. Those watches will give you the general direction of that outpost so if you need to exit a universe or get lost or something, you have that." He explained. "Don't lose it."

"Well, it seems you're all set..."

-----

After entering the portal gate, you found yourselves emerging into a large chamber similar to the IDEC hangar where you came from. "Huh, there's more?" A soldier immediately approached you. "Well, the more the merrier I guess."

"Follow me." The soldier lead you outside of the chamber into a corridor then to a pair of elevators. Ascending to the top on one of them, you emerge into a rocky cave. A fresh breeze of wind washes upon your face as the soldier continued to lead you.

Soon you emerge into a beautiful clearing in the middle of the day. On your left was a quite large river and in the distance was a city. "Welcome to Gamindustri." The soldier said. "That city over there is Lastation. North of here should be the city of Lowee. On the opposite side of here and over the mountains should be Planeptune. While south of here is Leanbox but there's a sea you have to cross so you have to either fly with your abilities or take a ship from Lastation." He gave the lay of the land.

"There are already people like you who came here. One of them is a Japanese teenage male, one's a purple-haired girl with weird strings on her and the last one looks like a doll of sorts." The soldier said. "If you want to rendezvous with them, they already went to Lastation. Though if I were you, I'd go somewhere else to cover more ground."

"So, good luck. If you need anything, fell free to come to the outpost at any time." The soldier continued. "Oh and, please don't cause too much of a ruckus or reveal our existence, okay? Don't be afraid to ask the locals questions too. Just don't be blatant or suspicious about it." He added. "Also, I advise splitting up to cover more ground. Then again, it's better to be together when s*** hits the fan."

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU)-

The blonde girl pulled out another dagger to block Roukanken but the sharpness of the long blade effortlessly cuts through the metal, making the girl stagger back and allowing Hakurouken to hit its mark. "Argh!" The girl yelled in pain.

But the fight was not over, the blonde girl materialized a dagger from purple light on one of her hands and threw it at you. The dagger was not hard to evade but that was just a distraction for the girl to lunge at you, her mouth bared to bite into you.

However, you were faster. You should be able to evade or directly respond to the attack.

-@Hammerman-

"Fight, you f***ing coward!" Rielle screamed at you, annoyed that you were but water and would be ready to evade should she send another spell at you.

Noticing the fight with Youmu, she smirked. "Fine, be that way!" She said before making movements with her hands again. Lightning began crackling around her arms and hands. You get a feeling she was going to shoot a bolt of electricity at your half-ghost friend who was too busy being bitten hard by the blonde girl.

You will need to be fast with your decisions.

-@TheFake-

"Not a teacher, no. I'm an investigator from overseas looking into a criminal organization that might be operating in the area. Maybe you've heard something that might be useful to me."

"Criminal organization?" The girl repeated. She was silent for a moment before resuming. "Might you be talking about the Drexler Institute? If so, then you will not be finding any information about them here." She said. "Though, I know of someone who knows more about them."

"But if it's not them, then I am afraid I know nothing of these criminals you pursue." She declared. "But I will look out for any suspicious activity, Mister..." The girl indirectly asked your name.

---

"Going in separate directions would be more efficient but I would like to check up on the other people that came through the portal first."

"The man said they went to Lastation, Which from one glance looks like it's still in the industrial revolution..."

"Each place seems to have a theme to them... I doubt the people living in them actually are limited to what timeperiod the city they live in is themed after."

Haruna looks down at herself and then to Krishima... Examining their clothing if they'd stand out or not, aside from slightly lacking in the vibrant colors, it's passable.

"It looks like our clothing should be inconspicuous enough... Let's go..."

And at that the two FOG Mental models trudged on into the city...

"So are we just going to check up on them?"

"And we're going to give them a means to communicate with us, information is vital when searching any place and sharing it would be an advantage"

---

"Tamas. Field... Inspector Tamas."

That was almost a slip up. At least he hoped that his confident tone would be convincing enough.

"I would appreciate it if you came to me with anything you might find. I don't think that it would be too had, I'm afraid that I stand out a bit. So who is this friend that might know something about the Drexler Institute? I'd like to speak to them if possible."

_@PaulHaynek

Goldibanne turned entirely to face the girl when she was released, her smile growing considerably more warm as she cocked her head lightly to one side, clapping her hands together.

"Good girl, Linda-chan~" she said, brightly, "Goldibanne is glad she didn't have to ruin such a pretty face. And Goldibanne is sure you're glad too, aren't you?"

The living doll let out a light giggle. Ah, she would have regretted bathing her attacker in molten gold, she had to be honest. But she also wouldn't have hesitated for a second. It wasn't the taking of a life that bothered her, rather the fact that her assailant was fairly cute. It really would have been a shame to kill someone like that, wouldn't it?

"In any case, it's nice to meet the both of you," Goldibanne continued, sticking her tongue out and winking as she curtsied, "Goldibanne's name is Goldibanne. That's Kamijou Touma-san, Othinus-san, and Komeiji Satori-san."

---

Youmu was quick to step to the side the moment the dagger came out, and when it was throne she darted in and used Hakuroken, swung in an arc, to send it skittering off across the ground. However, to her surprise, the blonde woman that was her opponent proceeded to follow up by lunging in and attempting to bite her?! The shock wasn't enough to make such an obvious, frontal attack successful, however, and Youmu was quick to dart backwards and interpose the silvery length of Roukanken between herself and her enemy. Why was her first instinct to bite?! Surely that wasn't a very effective method of attack in such a duel, was it?

Youmu tried to consider the possibilities behind such an attack. There was a natural assumption that this enemy was not human, but what did that imply? Some sort of yokai? As far as she knew, scant few yokai in Gensokyo ate humans any longer, and even some that claimed to met with no actual success in that avenue. But this was hardly Gensokyo. Was her enemy a vampire? She didn't exhibit any of the traits Youmu recognized as vampiric, but it couldn't be denied that she attempted to bite her.

Regardless, Youmu felt she had the edge here. While for the moment this was a duel with blades, she could easily take to the air and utilize more ranged capabilities if she needed to. An honorable duel did not mean she would not use everything at her disposal.

@PaulHaynek@PKMNB0Y

---

Victoria smiled smugly (internally of course since she was a puddle of water now) when she saw Rielle getting all angry and flustered.

However, that smile soon turned into a frown when she saw the lady charging a bolt of electricity aimed at Youmu, who was busy with her own fight against the lady's blonde friend. If the spell were to hit, she could tell it would deal significant damage to her. However, she couldn't very well protect the half-ghost and block the spell herself, as she was made of water, and thunder spells would be really effective against her.

She only had one choice then. She had to disturb the lady from ever casting the spell. But how she would do it when she had a spell protecting her as well?

She had no choice. She had to use her stronger ability. She hated using it as it easily drained her energy.

She gathered her watery self to the air, forming a large water bubble above the lady. And quickly, the bubble's temperature dropped, turning it into a giant round ice ball. And then, without any hesitation, she crashed herself in that form against the lady. Her mass wasn't just her normal body mass, but she had also gathered moisture around her and added it to the thickness and toughness of the ice ball. This was why it was tiring for her to do, as manipulating an outside water source and freezing it were a far different matter than just manipulating her own body. She predicted her weight should be around one ton now and there was no way Rielle would be able to withstand her attack without flinching, thus cancelling her spell.
@PaulHaynek

-@ACHTUNG-

The two of you began walking towards the city the IDEC solider referred to as 'Lastation'. Nothing much were to be seen besides the green pastures and a wide river that flowed towards the industrial city.

That is until you see someone hauling himself out of the river. Your sharp eyes could see that he was bleeding. No, you did not see his wounds rather, you saw a red patch in the river where he once was that was quickly washed away by the current.

"Ugggghhhh..." The male person moaned as he crawled away from the river. Spotting you, he mustered what strength he had and spoke. "Pleeaaaassee... He... he mustn't... reach Lastation..." He coughed a bit before resuming. "He's... coming... from the river..."

From his appearance, it seemed he was a military soldier resembling that of IDEC's forces. He could be IDEC but you could not be sure until you hear it from his mouth. "He... he mustn't... reach... Lastation." He muttered again. "...He... can't... there's... too much... to lose..."

It was up to you what to do with this dying soldier and his request.

-@TheFake-

"I would appreciate it if you came to me with anything you might find. I don't think that it would be too had, I'm afraid that I stand out a bit. So who is this friend that might know something about the Drexler Institute? I'd like to speak to them if possible."

"That would be Miss Petra Lagerkvist. Of the Celestial Union." The girls answered. "I believe she is currently at Rosenberg. If not, there are other people there you can talk about Drexler Institute." She added before pointing at a direction. "I would love to accompany you, Inspector, but I have classes to attend to. I wish you luck, Inspector Tamas."

The girl went about her way and into the Academy, leaving you alone but at least with a lead. But before you could do anything, someone had decided to approach you. "She's is a little young, is she not?" The male voice spoke with a (Russian) accent. "I know the laws here are different but come on, man."

He then let out a hearty laugh, clearly enjoying the accusation jokes. Though, it was up to you how to feel about that.

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU)-

"Oh? I was just going to give you a kiss." The blonde girl remarked at your evasion. "I, Annabelle Orlov, give the finest kisses in all of Arcadia." She boasted. A clear lie to you after seeing what she attempted.

She materialized a pair of daggers on her hands and assumed a stance but before either of you could do anything, a pillar of light appeared in the middle of the battlefield that is the alleyway.

-@Hammerman-

Rielle was about to fire her lightning attack until she noticed you forming above her. She immediately cancelled her spell to roll out of the way before you dropped unto the stone pavement of the alleyway.

But before either of you could do anything else, a pillar of light appeared in the middle of the battlefield that is the alleyway.

-@VitaVitaAR (YMU) & @Hammerman-

The pillar of light that caught everyone's attention soon dissipated, revealing a woman who was clearly not a commoner. "What is the meaning of this?! What's going on here?!" Spotting Rielle, her attention went to the magician. "Miss Rielle? What are you doing here? Should you not be at the tournament?" She quickly asked.

"What am I doing here?" Rielle repeated the question. "Why don't you ask those dips***s over there? The girl with the katana and the oversized snowball."

The woman went over to Youmu, seeing as Victoria did not look like in a talking form. "Young woman, do you mind elaborating as to what is happening here?"

Satori stood off to the side as Goldibanne managed to scare off the "assailant" (who, as it turned out, was actually far less competent than any of them had assumed). Sighing, the youkai shook her head and pulled her focus away from that problem, and now instead focusing on the one whose bag was stolen. She didn't quite understand the context of the situation, but this was...

"Oi, what'd you just say just now? A dungeon? This some kinda game world or something?" Touma interjected, breaking Satori's train of thought as he stepped forward to try and take control of the conversation. "I mean, I don't really like the idea of stealing anyways, but, like... Is this one of those weird places that runs off of those rules? I only really played the really old classic RPGs as a kid, but, uh... What was it called again? 'Grinding' or something? I'm not saying you're in the right or whatever, but... Y'know, there's a difference between that and stealing. Can you... I dunno, explain what's going on here a bit more? Like, objectively speaking or whatever."

With a nervous smile, the young man rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, waiting for a response from the young girl in front of them. Different worlds worked off of different rules, or so he had assumed... But even with all the context that he had just been given, to think that there would be one that worked off of game mechanics...

And so soon, too. That was just strange...

---

"Oi Oi... Take it easy man..."

Kirishima heads up towards the person clambering out of the water.

"Careful Kirishima, we shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves or meddle with the world's events too much."

Haruna says with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I know... But he could be related to this incident we're in..."

Kirishima kneels next to the man...

"Hey, there... Let's start with who you are, and who this person you're talking about is."

And this is one thing Kirishima doesn't do often... Being gentle...

---

@PaulHaynek

-@PKMNB0Y (STRI & TMA) and @VitaVitaAR (GLD)-

"In any case, it's nice to meet the both of you, Goldibanne's name is Goldibanne. That's Kamijou Touma-san, Othinus-san, and Komeiji Satori-san."

"What? I don't give a flying damn who you are, you freak!" Linda rudely replied.

"Oi, what'd you just say just now? A dungeon? This some kinda game world or something? I mean, I don't really like the idea of stealing anyways, but, like... Is this one of those weird places that runs off of those rules? I only really played the really old classic RPGs as a kid, but, uh... What was it called again? 'Grinding' or something? I'm not saying you're in the right or whatever, but... Y'know, there's a difference between that and stealing. Can you... I dunno, explain what's going on here a bit more? Like, objectively speaking or whatever."

"Huh? Oh, yes this is indeed a game world. More specifically it's--" Nepgear stopped when she made a key realization. "Wait, your questions imply you're not from here. Who are--"

The girl named Linda suddenly bolted, using the opportunity to try and escape. However, the purple-haired girl was suddenly enveloped in a pillar of light for about a second before dissipating, revealing the girl in another, more regal and advanced appearance.

She then shot up to the sky and landed in front of the fleeing Linda, knocking the latter to the ground. "Do not try my patience." She said, her tone stern and serious.

"Tsk! You give me no choice!" Linda then produced a small aqua blue ball and threw it at the ground between her and Nepgear. The ball rapidly grew in size until it became a giant slime with dog-like features that completely blocked off Nepgear.

"A Giant Dogoo?! Really?!"

"Hey, don't blame me the writer couldn't find a Golem image!" Linda retorted before turning around and facing the three of you. "Now then, out of my way you scamps! This got nothing to do with you and if you're smart, you'll continue having nothing to do with this!"

-@ACHTUNG-

"Hey, there... Let's start with who you are, and who this person you're talking about is."

The soldier answered neither of your questions and just pointed to the upstream river. "Please, just stop him..." He trailed off as he succumbed to his wounds. If you inspect his body, you see he was riddled with holes due to a high amount of bullets.

Regardless, you soon see a raft heading towards you from upstream with a figure standing on it. With your above average eyesight, you see a humanoid figure wearing a gray coat over some black overalls. However, his most notable feature was his head: It was just a skull without a jaw. A plain human skull with no jaw. There was not a single trace of flesh on the bone.

Based from that, it was safe to assume that this figure was probably an animated skeleton. An oddity to you perhaps but either way, he was on his way and there was no way to tell if he had already saw you since there was only darkness behind his eye sockets.

(sorry..a bug)