Not quite two weeks, but I'll take it…

Hey peeps. Just wanted to take this time to say that we did it! We hit 50 favs… and then some! Man, the story boomed in popularity of that break.

Anyway, I did promise I'd do something special once we hit the big number… but I didn't expect to hit it for another… 8 chapters… err…

So, for now, I did do something 'special'. I went back and cleaned up a few old chapters. Considering the course of the story started to change and I write this fic to be read twice to have two whole different experiences, it had to be done. I also wrote something else for those devote Ruination fans. It's here for a limited time, so enjoy it while you can.

For the real 50 favs special, there's a poll on my profile…. Pick your favourite OC, peeps. Let's say something special will happen to them at some point.

MrShrimppaste: That's a bunch of reviews you wrote… Whew. I responded to most of them in the PM I gave you, but for the public, here's one I can acknowledge. Neither Geoffrey nor Toby are the main characters.

Far0z: One of the best in the fandom. Whew. That's a pretty high bar to set. Thank you very much for your kind words, though. Hearing someone like the story this much feels pretty good. Heck, hearing someone like our Aubergine-man feels great as well... Before I devolve to some sort of broken record, let's end that bit.

Rei's interactions with Toby? Well, you are about to find out. Hope I live up to your expectations.

Chapter 22: A Cute Psycho

After the brief exchange at Planeptune's Basilicom, Toby carried his friend Lithyum back to her apartment, where she almost immediately fell back asleep again… Sure, it was rather late in the afternoon, but it was still far too early to be hitting the hay for the night. Oddly enough, she managed to sleep through the entire night and morning.

When she awoke, Toby had to explain what had transpired between him and the others. Consider he had to take her with him, he was hoping she would oblige… He was met with a surprising response, however.

"But I don't want to go to Tari again!" Lithyum cried with teary eyes, gazing up at Toby. He shook his head with his hands on his sides. Taking a deep breath, he responded. "Look, we'll just go over there, see what the problem is and get out again. It won't take long. I promise."

Lithyum grabbed her fluffy twintails and pulled them over her ears. "But I don't want to go to Tari again!"

"Lithyum, please… I don't want to go alone either. C'mon. Do it for your best buddy. The Orange Outplay!"

"But I don't want to go to Tari again~!" she repeated sadly.

Folding his arms and tilting his head slightly, Toby gazed down at the small girl in question. "Any reason you don't want to tag along?"

"Guhh… I just don't wanna… I ran into creepy people last time I went there…"

Toby groaned loudly. With the way she was dressed, of course some creepy lolicons would try and take advantage of her. "Alright, alright, I get it. I guess I'll go all by myself while you stay home where there are no psychopaths that might try to kill you." The tone in his voice was a mixture of condescending and annoyance.

"Guhhh… I reaaaally—"

"—Don't wanna go to Tari," Toby finished. "It's fine, Lithyum. It really is."

The teen got up from his seat and headed to the front door of Lithyum's apartment. "Well… I guess I'll head off all by my lonesome self then… I'll catch you later, Lithyum."

With the door closed behind him, the teen put his hands in his pockets and climbed down the stairs. "Jeesh. How the hell am I supposed to deal with this stuff on my own?" He thought. "If this is a trap, I'm straight up screwed. As if I'd put my trust into Nep and the bunch of them… I mean, at this point I don't dislike them, but I can't say I'm entirely confident in them either."

He stepped outside and sighed loudly, looking up at the rising morning sun on the horizon. "I was gonna treat Lithyum to breakfast on the way there too… Guess I'm gonna have to get some on my own then…"

His eyes moved over to his left and he began walking into the same direction. After two steps, the sound of someone clearing their throat caused him to turn around.

There, leaning back against her bike, stood IF. It seemed like she had been waiting on him.

Toby's frown lightened up when he saw her. "Oh. IF. Good, uhh… Good morning."

In response, the brunette nodded once and got up. "Morning, Toby," she greeted as she walked to him. "I heard Nep and the others are sending you to Tari to investigate a problem regarding its CPU."

"Yeah… They didn't wanna risk themselves, so I'll be the Joan of Arc of Gamindustri…"

The joke went right over IF's head. "Right… Are you leaving alone? I figured Lithyum would come and join you."

"Lithyum's response was 'I don't wanna go to Tari' so I'm basically going on my own." He turned his head and side-eyed IF. For a moment, he thought she was going to offer to tag along in her stead. But that couldn't be it, right?

The Guild agent offered a broken smile. "Can't have you going alone, now can we? Want me to come with?"

And just like that, Toby's expectations were proven right. Even if he was but a little skeptical about her intentions. "Wait. So… You're tagging along for me or…?"

The reason why he felt so unsure about her coming along was because he thought that she might be doing it because she doesn't trust him to handle the issue on his own. But on the other hand, he knew that perhaps his distrust in IF was misplaced. After all, she already told him he has earned her recognition. In the end, this might have been a case of just wanting to hear her say it once more.

"You want to face a CPU as crazy as Rei on your own?" she asked in a light tone. "Not to mention the crazy Oracle and his underling. Like hell you are going there by yourself. Even I wouldn't want to go there alone."

A short silence followed before Toby ultimately spoke. "Thank you, IF."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Let's get going, alright?" She rose her hand up. "Put 'em there, Toby."

IF stood ready to receive a high five from Toby. When he tried to return the gesture something rather odd happened. Rather than slap her hand, Toby proceeded to ball a fist and fistbump the palm of her hand. It looked just as awkward as it sounds.

"Ah-…"

"Err…"

Slowly, IF's fingers curled around Toby's fist while she kept eye contact with him. A thousand questions were being asked with that single look. Only one of them was vocalised.

"Why?" IF asked.

The teen drew his hand back out of embarrassment and impulsively tried coming up with an excuse. "W-Well I thought-... You were gonna give me a fist bump, I thought!"

"My hand is-... it's up here! That's a high five. I even had my hand open."

"Yeah, but fist bumps are just-... They're hip with the kids, okay!? Everyone's doing them nowadays, so I thought—"

"Toby, you're not a kid anymore."

"I'm seventeen! Shut it, old timer! I'm still young!"

The two of them mounted IF's bike and continued their heated argument. "Old timer? What the hell are you even going on about!? I'm only a couple months older than you!"

"Then you should've known that fist bumps are the big trend nowadays!"

"As if high fives are so lame… Heck, what's wrong with high fives anyway?"

Even as IF revved her engine and started to ride down the street, the two of them continued to argue about high fives and fist bumps… Neither of them really understood why they were trying so hard to defend their standpoint, but here they were… In a heated argument about fist bumps and high fives that would last perhaps a little too long.

"Alright, alright," Toby began. "Follow my train of thought. Scissors beats paper. Rock beats paper. And considering paper lost to scissor, that means that rock also wins against papers. Which means fist bump is greater than high five."

The brunette's prolonged silence gave Toby a sense of victory. But her silence wasn't one of defeat. It was one of complete confusion. "That doesn't even make sense! Paper beats rock in that game!"

"Yeah, but… Can we just pretend this sounded right?"

IF sighed loudly. "Forget it. We're here."

The bike came to a stop before what Toby presumed to be Tari's Basilicom… Emphasis on presumed. It was nothing like Planeptune's, to say the least.

The building before them stood out from its surroundings like a sore thumb. While the nation's usual buildings were square in shape and had many neon lights attached to them, the building before them was a large, dark and creepy castle with at least four massive towers. Through the iron gate, Toby could see a few of the lead stained windows, which were massive in size and portrayed something or someone, though he wasn't sure what exactly, given his point of view.

The teen got off the bike and took a few steps to the gate. "This place… It's…"

"Yeah. It's dumb," IF finished. "A castle in the middle of a neon city? Whoever came up with that idea's an idiot."

Toby chuckled. "Don't say it too loud. If someone like Rei hears you… Do I even need to finish that sentence?"

And speak of the devil. Just as Toby was done talking, he noticed the non-HDD form of the CPU of Tari was walking straight at the both of them on the other side of the gate—Two Valkyries followed closely behind her. Eyes narrowed and arms folded, she didn't look happy in the least.

"... Err. IF." He turned to face the girl. "She knew we were coming, right?"

IF gazed over towards Rei. "She-... knew to look out for a guy in orange… That's all…"

The woman gave off a menacing aura. She walked gracefully, as if she were walking on eggshells, yet every step she took felt powerful. And with fury dominating her expression, Toby began having second thoughts.

His face drained of blood, he had a sudden realisation. "Why do I keep accepting life-threatening mission so easily? Why don't I think twice about this stuff? Toby, you nearly died at Anarchy Arena. You should've at least realised that Rei here might very well kill you on the spot for something as small as not calling her Lord Rei… Is it too late to run away!?"

The menacing CPU came closer and closer while Toby stood frozen in her gaze, watching her with much uncertainty. It was far too late to go back now.

"So…" IF cleared her throat. "I'm just gonna park my bike. You'll be fine on your own for a bit, right?"

"Uhh… No? Help! Please!" was what Toby wanted to say. Instead, he just nodded and waved her off without saying a word. He was a little too afraid to say anything, as Rei might've heard him if he did.

"Alright then. I'll see you in a bit," IF spoke, revving her engine once. "Oh. And Toby…"

"Hm?"

The teen turned to face IF, which was holding her fist up. "Put 'em there."

He blinked twice before balling a fist. "Oh. Uhh… Sure."

His fist but an inch away from her hand, IF quickly opened her hand up and instead let him fist bump the palm of her hand again, much like before. Her smirk grew twice in size when she let go of his hand. "Don't get killed, Orange."

Toby watched IF drive off with a big smile. "God… damn it, IF…" he chuckled.

That little prank did help ease his mind a little. Something he desperately needed, because Rei finally stood close to the other side of the gate. "Hey! You!" she called. "Are you the orange runt the inferior CPUs were sending over to help me out?"

Toby took a breath and responded. "Y-Yeah. That's me. Tobias Karston."

Even if there were iron bars between the two of them, which he was extremely thankful for, it had to be said that her glare was enough to burn a hole through his chest. With that same glare, she examined him from head to toe. "Hey… I know you! You're that orange loser from Anarchy Arena!"

"T-That'd be me, yeah…" For once, he decided it'd be better not to bark back at the sleeping bear. "It's an, uhh, honour to be here, Lady Cyan Heart."

As unimpressed as she was, Rei tisked dismissively. "Oh, what the hell… Is this a joke? Am I a joke to them!? Why would they send me someone as incompetent as… w-whatever you are! Get out of here. Before I crush you like the orange ant you are!"

"H-... Hey now… At least give me a chance, Lady Cyan Heart. The CPUs of the other nations trusted me to handle this problem for you, so… Uh… Please give me a chance?"

"And what if I refuse?" she snarled back. "Then what, hmmm?"

Wasn't it obvious what would happen if she refused? "Then… you… uh… don't have anyone to help you solve whatever problem you have?" he slowly answered. "I mean, if it's something I can't handle, I can always just… go back and get someone that can help you…"

The two of them silently stared at each other. Toby was already mentally writing his will. The way Rei was looking at him spelt death for him. Much to his surprise, she dropped her frown and sighed. "Very well…"

"Eh?"

With a snap of her fingers, the iron gate rose. "Follow me," the CPU commanded. I don't want anyone listening in on us."

That went surprisingly well. Today is just one surprise after the other.

The interior of the castle is much like you expect it to be. Dark… With a bit of a taste for an old European castle from medieval times. Walls of stone accompanied by a cyan carpet. A truly (not at all) welcoming place. It should be mentioned that, contrary to the castle-esq design, there is a crazy amount of steel, wires and lights of various machines just scattered across the entire Basilicom. The place felt like it belonged to some mad scientist.

It should also be mentioned that the number of Valkyries, each looking like Lilith Belrose, is through the roof. Guards. Gardener. Cooks. Cleaners. The entire staff had been replaced with the robotic forces.

On an unrelated note, the gardeners seem to be struggling with an infestation of flowers all around the Basilicom. Toby wondered for a moment why there were so many flowers in Gamindustri, anyway, but paid it not much mind beyond that… Though, he did make a mental note of the fact that nearly all of Tari was suffering from the same problem. Infestation at its finest, perhaps?

"We're here," Rei called. She waved her hand, signalling the two Valkyries that had been following her to open the massive double doors that lead to her room. As expected, her room alone was at least thrice as big as Toby's entire apartment. Even the bed with its lush cyan covers may very well as big as his entire apartment.

The CPU silently walked into the room, allowing Toby to follow her… after admiring the behemoth of a room that was her bedroom, of course. "I'm not envious… I'm not!" he thought.

As Rei sat down on the foot-end of her bed, the double doors came to a close with a loud thud behind Toby. It made him wince slightly, but not noticeably so. Because neither Valkyrie chose to follow them into the room, he and Rei were all alone now. There were no visible prying eyes, so the woman could finally state what the pressing issue had been all this time.

A prolonged silence… Rei simply sat on her bed with her arms folded, glaring at Toby angrily. He was sure she would speak up eventually, because his mother always taught him not to speak unless spoken to… But after nearly ten minutes had passed, maybe she was waiting for him to engage.

"E-... Err… Lady Cya—"

"Silence!" She cried.

"O-o-okay…"

Another five minutes passed before Toby felt like trying again. The second he even opened his mouth, the woman's eyebrows rose threateningly, which caused him to just swallow whatever he was going to say. This process repeated itself four times before Toby finally built the courage to say something, regardless of Rei's reaction. "So why am I here?"

A silent glare… Something Toby was getting accustomed to by now.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you, kid."

"Yeah, that's… I've been standing here waiting for you to kill me for too long now," he thought with an apathetic expression. "That's not gonna get me anymore."

Rather than respond to her threat, he chose to say something a little more productive. "... Monster infestation? Big loss in shares? Internal conflict?"

With each option, Rei shook her head slowly. "It's… something a little more personal…"

"Personal...? How personal are we talking? Like… 'Someone stole your bike for the money' personal or 'someone stole your bike because it's your bike' personal?"

"... The latter…"

"O-oh…. I see… Well…" He rubbed his arm and looked the other way. "Man, she's awkward to talk to," he silently complained before clearing his throat. "Go on…"

The woman bit the corners of her mouth and gazed up at Toby angrily. "It's-… I need help."

"That you do…" Toby bluntly commented.

"..."

"..."

"I really… need help…"

"Yep… You-... You told me already…"

Even if he was still a little nervous, all of Toby's fears had faded like snow to the sun. He had a gut feeling this Rei was all bark and no bite.

Finally, after what Toby presumed was a long argument with herself, Rei spoke up and began explaining the situation… Sort of. "I need help… with-...Err… Well…"

Another pause… and that was the final drop. "Just… Say it." Toby groaned, but quickly remembered his place. "Please. I truly… wish to help you, Lady Cyan Heart… But I need to know—"

"S-Shut up! I'm-... This is hard, okay!"

"... No it isn't… All you have to do is say it. Here. "Tobias. My problem is…" He gestured for her to finish his sentence.

"T-Tsk… Don't you tell me what to do!"

Another sigh escaped Rei's lips before she nodded once, looking Toby dead in the eyes.

T-Tobias… My-... problem isss… err… that… I, uh..." Lowering her voice to nearly inaudible tones, she finally spilled the beans. "I don't know how to talk to the people around here."

A long, uneasy silence followed. The teen just gazed at her unflinchingly. It took his brain a few seconds to process the rather simple issue. Finally, Toby narrowed his eyes and spoke his mind. "...What?"

"I-... I said I have no idea how to talk to the people around me…"

And thus, Toby sagged his shoulders, blinked twice and realised he had nothing to fear anymore. "You have no idea how to talk to the people around you? How does that… even work...?"

Meanwhile, Rei had her fists clenched and was gnashing her teeth. "Grrrr…. See! I told you! I told you that you were going to laugh at me!" Summoning her sceptre, she aimed it at Toby, firing an energy attack that missed his head by a hair."

"Ah! Jesus!" Toby exclaimed a second after it hit the wall behind him. "No! Rei! For the love-... Chill! Calm down!"

"Then stop laughing! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"

"I'm not laughing at you! Heck, I'm not even laughing, man! Here. I'll just… I'll prove it to you, Lady Cyan Heart." Toby got on one knee, gazed up at Rei with his hands clasped together and spoke in the most humble tone he could put up. "Lady Cyan Heart, I hereby promise to help you befriend everyone in the Basilicom." He raised one hand and put the other on his heart. "You have my word as an honourable man."

It was a bit of a shot in the dark, and it really put a bad taste in his mouth—Toby has never been one to act humble, after all—but this was the only way to get through to someone as psychotic as Rei. Giving them an extra dose of sympathy and a promise that you're going to help them.

Or so he hoped. Toby gazed at Rei with the most serious face he could make. Did it work?

Still pointing her weapon forward, her expression seemed to somewhat lighten up a little. At least she wasn't frowning anymore. "Y-... You're not looking down on me for… this?"

"Not at all. If anything, I'm looking up to you for opening up on something like this. Truly admirable!" He quietly added sarcastically. "And I don't want to vomit because of all the false praise I've got to give."

Her eyes finally seemed to have lost all forms of rage. That psychotic gaze was finally replaced with something akin to a slight grimace. "I-... see…. Then… Could you please help me?"

"It would be my pleasure…" Toby said as he stood back up. "So? Who exactly are you trying to impress here?"

"Well… First of all, my Oracle. Then my little sister and the mouse-girl with—"

"Wait, sister?" Toby interrupted. He gave Rei a questioning look, which she replied to with a slow nod.

"Yes. As of late, I've got a sister… I'm… not too sure if I'm happy with her. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's trying to kill me."

Deadpanning as he spoke, Toby disagreed. "Wha-? No. Just… No. Why would your own newborn sister try to-... Ah. Forget it…"

"We'll work on that as we go," he thought. "But dang… Tari has a CPU Candidate now… That's so cool! Heck! I'm getting excited just thinking about that one… Not just excited. Pumped! This feeling… Man, I'm feeling just as pumped as back when I would first meet Neptune… What a disappointment that one was..."

After loudly clearing his throat, Toby continued. "Alright, Lady Cyan Heart. If you're trying to impress those people, then what's the main problem? Do you know how to approach them?"

She shook her with a sad frown.

"Do you know anything you could talk about with them?"

She echoed her last response.

"Okay. Please tell me you at least know their names," he said in a condescending tone. While this was mostly a joke, Toby didn't expect her to shake her head yet again.

"I don't… Is that… bad?"

"Yes," was what Toby wanted to say. His mouth already open, he bit his tongue and cleared his throat. "There's…our first step then. You may have already known them for a year… but better late than never."

At least now he had something to work with. Toby felt incredibly unsure about being able to help at first. This, however, seemed like something he could handle…

Breathing in through his nose, the teen mustered the most neutral smile he could. "Alright, Lady Cyan Heart. I'll help you." He walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You have to promise me one little thing though."

"A promise? What is it?"

"Whatever I say or do, I'm just trying to help"—He bit the side of his mouth—"so don't angry and try to kill me, okay?"

"Eh? Ehhh!? How dare you! How dare you talk to me like that, you piece of worthless—"

Toby held his hand out to her, silently gesturing 'this is exactly what I meant.' After proving his point, Rei laid her hands on her lap and lowered her head in a docile manner. "I understand…"

"And that is how Tobias Karston tamed Rei Ryghts," the smirking teen thought before wiping that dumb grin off his face. Rather than laugh at his success alone, he held his hand out in Rei's vision. The woman was slow to notice. A questioning look clouded her face as she gazed up.

"To our new collaboration," Toby clarified with a hospital smile to which the CPU reacted to with by shaking his hand rather meekly. "T-... To our new collaboration!"

With the sun set at noon and the thin clouds covering the skies, IF casually walked back to Tari's Basilicom with her phone in hand. Texting while walking is pretty dangerous, sure. But this is IF we're talking about… She'd risk walking into a lamppost if she could just use her phone for business.

Of course, because of how busy Tari's streets tend to be, she already bumped into someone about eight times by now. And yet she failed to learn her lesson.

She gazed up from her phone. The Basilicom was still about a block away. For a moment she wondered if Toby was alright… and that she should probably send him a text, just to be sure it's safe to go on and ring the bell.

As she wrote her message, a familiar voice caught her ear.

"—and then she called me 'Aubergine-man' and I totally made an obscure reference after that which no one will get! I'm such a genius, ain't I, #0001? Linda?"

The voice was one she recognised out of a thousand others. One that would send a shiver down her spine every time her eardrums would catch even but a whisper of it. She turned her head and there he was. Geoffrey Lucian Lance, sitting in the shade of an umbrella at a table of a café, accompanied by Underling and a woman IF wasn't familiar with.

She wanted to look away and move along before any of them would make eye contact and make things, but it was already too late. Geoffrey himself had glanced in her direction twice before realising it was her. And when the others on the table had caught on that he wasn't paying attention anymore, they would follow his gaze and also stare IF down.

"crud," IF thought. She wanted to walk away and pretend to not have seen any of them, but considering he was here and not in the Basilicom, awaiting their arrival, then perhaps this entire thing wasn't a trap. It would've been for the best to find out as soon as possible… or to at least get some clarity as for why their CPU wouldn't just ask for his help.

The man got up from his chair and reached under his hat, dropping his wallet on the table. "Here's some cash. There's a fifty in there," he said, pointing at Linda. "It better be still there when I get back. The drinks were no more than twelve bucks!"

The Underling just scoffed as she took his wallet and, in a form of mockery, the moment he turned his back on her, she took the fifty bill and pocketed it. IF could've sworn she muttered "dumbass."

"Why, hello there. Isa—"

She raised a hand and interrupted him. "Don't you dare. IF. My name is IF and you know it."

He narrowed his eyes and grinned, spreading his arms. "Come now. Should old friends truly be so formal to one and another? You can also call me by my full name, right?"

"Mock me while you can, Lance. We'll come out on top eventually."

"Those at the top fall the hardest when everything beneath them breaks," he spoke in a slow, deep tone. Every single word he spoke felt like a direct insult to her. As if he was trying to ridicule her just for the sake of it. Yet, when she thought it couldn't get any worse, his expression shifted to a more serious one, gazing down upon the girl with unspoken hatred.

"The hell you doing on my turf, IF?"

"What, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

A slow nod followed by a response. IF put a hand on her side as she spoke. "A friend and I are staying over in your Basilicom for some time. Your CPU has reached out to us for help."

"Help!? Rei? No way. You're joking. You gotta be! Rei would never consider the help of anyone but her perfectly fine Oracle: me!"

There was something so satisfying about that display of disbelieve to the Guild Agent. "And what if you're the problem?" she questioned with a confident grin.

"But that's—"

"Maybe you're not doing your job well enough. Ever thought of that?"

"I-... She-... G-...Gah!? Not funny, you nerd!" He nervously adjusted his hat. "Tsk! Well, consider yourself lucky I'm not going to be around for a few days tomorrow. Linda and I are gonna go on a vacation."

"A vacation? What, to where?"

He stomped forward and grabbed her by the shoulder. "You'll know soon enough..." he groaned threateningly before pushing her away. With one last glare as the icing on the cake, her turned back to the table with his companions… which were both already gone, so he was just left looking for them before shrugging and also walking off, back to Tari's Basilicom. Did Linda just steal his wallet?

"... What was that about?" IF murmured. A shake of the head and a shrug later and she decided not to think too hard about it. He's always planning something. And they're always on guard. But perhaps with this tip, they should stay extra vigilant.

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