Surprise! I'm back again! You couldn't possibly believe I'd leave this thing sit on a party wipe, could you?

/+;[_];+\

Still in disbelief, Neptune quickly ventured into the depths of her inventory.

"Neptune, we've been at this for years, you are not getting lazy on us now!" Noire shouted to Neptune.

"Gimme just a second here Lonely Heart! I'mma fixin' something!"

Pulling out a GameWhale disc, she held it in front of her and shouted with vigor, "Let's rollback some damage! "

The disc shattered, her move completing with a blinding light that even sent Arfoir reeling.

"Now that you are finished, would you mind getting back to business?" asked Vert.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pantsu on," Neptune nonchalantly replied.

/+;[_];+\

A little while of walking through abandoned streets under the overcast skies, we arrived at the library of gray columns and steel struts. A shattered stained-glass depiction of Lady Black Heart watched over the barricaded front doors.

Aksys quickly neared the door, attempting to hear inside. "Guys, I think there are people inside!"

Raising a brow, Beth asked, "I don't think those are actual people. Doesn't sound right."

As Nepgear quickly started trying to console the survivors, I stood back and examined the rest of the building, peering around the corner to see if there were any other ways in, or even a glimpse of the survivors we heard. Something told me there would be someone getting away from the building there, a woman in black that I quickly took potshots at with Shredrix. I saw it trip, but still moved quickly away. There wouldn't be any catching her, but I could see that she dropped something, something very shiny.

I shot off in a dead sprint, eyes rapidly analyzing my environment in case of any straggling zombies. When I got to what the woman dropped, I saw that it was a very reflective crystal, glowing every color of the rainbow. I felt like I'd seen it before, but didn't waste time hiding it in my inventory. Nepgear was calling for me already, so I dashed back.

First thing I did was kneel down to a small hole in the barricade and aimed my rifle through it.

"We're a comin' in!" Aksys called.

I saw a hand ready to reach out for Aksys' leg, but I put two rounds in the zombie's braincase before it could get her. All the precognition started to bug me, leaving a strange feeling in my chest.

"Have we been to this library already?" Nepgear asked.

I started aiming far towards the skylight, trying to center my aim on a little black dot hanging from it. "Kinda feels that way, but how could we have been here and missed survivors?"

"I still say those aren't survivors," said Beth, crossing her arms, "Also, aim about three centimeters to the right."

I did as she asked and pulled the trigger. The cries for help inside stopped quickly. Nepgear asked for help moving the massive stone statue of a Dogoo out of the way. It almost fell and shattered to pieces, but Aksys moved in to stop it, gently resting it down on the ground.

"I swear we've been here before," said Aksys.

Didn't take us long to start piling into the darkened library with flashlights out and quickly flooding the inky interior.

"Everyone, turn on your phone's ringtones and fling them to the left and right backs," Beth commanded, using her RPGs flashlight to help her find her phone.

I did what she asked and let my loud metal ringtone go off and attract the zombies toward it. They were bunched up in such beautiful bundles, making easy killings for Beth and Aksys. Before Beth even pulled the trigger, an explosion behind us shoved me to the ground with a powerful force. Shards of shrapnel left stinging pains in my back, pain searing through my spine as I looked behind me to make sure Aksys was okay.

"I'm okay," said Aksys, "but I don't think we're going back out the way we came."

"Looks like a fight to the death it is," I replied.

"Everyone, move to the center where there's light!" Nepgear commanded.

I gave Aksys my hand and helped her up before fleeing to the dampened light, the four of us back to back, gathered in the center of the two-story library with a horde gathered around us. Using a three round burst, I tried my best to aim for the head through the inky darkness. It felt a lot easier to keep a steady stream of headshots going, spilling metallic smelling blood all over the tan tile flooring.

Even with our bizarre knowledge of our situation, we grew tired rather quick. There was only so much we could do with such a large horde. Nepgear did better keeping up with our healing, what few times we did actually get hit.

Even with our precognitive abilities, our energy grew dim. We'd need help, especially with the ground now rumbling in preparation of what was coming. Beth immediately aimed for the library's second foor walkway, letting loose a rocket that collapsed it and sent the debris atop the left Tri-Shrex. While that thing was pinned down, we started trying to focus on the other.

I got a chunk of concrete hurled at me, dodging it for the most part. Some shards of it bruised my ankle, but I was fine. It was the acid it spat next that started leaving a searing pain on my chest.

Aksys screamed as a pair of zombies started chewing into her ankle, quickly being bisected by her vicious scythe. Aiming her gaze back at the Tri-Shrex, she let loose a Heltic Nova and sent a good chunk of undead away from us.

Converting Shredrix to Grindrix, I started up Shieldspin and limped forward, arcing it into a killer buzzsaw to help protect Aksys and Nepgear. It wasn't until I looked to Beth that I realized I'd put preference on the wrong people at the wrong time.

She was swatted aside by the Tri-Shrex quickly approaching, leaving behind her RPG that still barely illuminated the feet of approaching zombies with its meager flashlight.

Nepgear, in an act of desperation, dove for the RPG and tried to aim it quickly at the Tri-Shrex. Her leg was bitten into just as she pulled the trigger, aiming too low and letting loose an explosion that knocked all of us to the floor. Grindrix slid away, slowing its spin to a halt and quickly being lost under shuffling feet.

"Son of a bitch, not again!" I shouted.

We had a hole in the horde by now, with not many zombies left, but the Tri-Shrex was still pissed off and now all of us were disarmed. Another blast of sound left us reeling as we scrambled to our feet, this time being from the glass skylight above shattering loudly. As glass scattered all along the floor, and putting a few zombies out of commission, I saw a pair of bodies hit the ground with a loud thud.

Looking over, I was shocked to see who it was. Valve lay limp atop a fallen Lady Black Heart.

"Uni!" Nepgear shouted, quickly rushing to the two.

"Valve, thank the goddess! We need help!" Beth exclaimed.

It was like some kind of miracle just happened. That was the best way I could describe it. Didn't have the time to revel in our Celestia-sent angels of war. I quickly shoved past the encroaching horde and aimed for Grindrix, earning a few scratches and bruises in the process. The harsh bruising pain in my ribs made it hard to move, but with faded breath, I grabbed Grindrix by the lower end of the shaft and swung in circles as quick as I could, carving up the masses that swarmed me.

When the coast was clear, I had made enough of a lead for Aksys to grab her scythe.

"Heltic Nova!" she shouted, giving me room to breathe and settle down.

With wobbly step, I wandered forward, hardly able to keep my balance, and my ankles still in pain from the acid that was cast on them earlier.

"Here, I got some Healing Grass," said Aksys, "It's no Compa's First Aid, but you need it right now."

While Aksys applied the Healing Grass to my wounds and gradually restored my HP, Nepgear casted multiple healing spells on Uni and Valve while graciously carving up any undead that neared them. It didn't take long before Uni and Valve were back up and ready to fight.

Valve immediately turned on her underbarrel flashlight on her assault rifle, carefully, but rapidly picking off zombies that neared us. Her light was certainly better than the one on Beth's RPG.

Meanwhile, Uni wasted no time to bark orders at us.

"Code, Aksys, take front lines and keep the Tri-Shrex busy! Nepgear, use Stark Vita with me on the Tri-Shrex! Everyone else suppress the horde!"

Nobody had objections. I moved with Aksys, the both of us running together through the mess of zombies still remaining. I saw the mini Tri-Shrex throw another wad of debris, the both of us dodging from it. The zombies it took down with it got back up moments later, but at least it bought us time.

"Heltic Nova!" shouted Aksys, casting a mass of dark matter to distract it and make it reel back.

While it was distracted, I hopped up far into the air and slammed down Grindrix, letting the spin cycle take in and quickly rip apart the beast's armor. The rush of wind through my hair felt refreshing, and, for once, didn't smell entirely like rotting flesh. With body parts and concrete strung around the tile flooring, my move drew to an end, Aksys already working on cleaning up the stragglers near the aggravated Tri-Shrex.

The duo of Nepgear and Uni approached with the intent of finally finishing off our armored foe.

"Stark Vita!"

None of us could give the duo their recognition for slaying the beast. A sudden rumbling from the left got our immediate attention, the second Tri-Shrex now emerging from it's coffin of wreckage.

"Move out of the way!" Beth shouted. All of us moved quickly out of her way as she started charging up her RPG, crying out fiercely, "Inferno Barrage!"

"Beth, no!" shouted Valve.

She let loose eight fire-infused rockets all right in a row. The sheer force knocked her backwards as she fired, her shot going farther and farther up through the ceiling, sending massive cracks through the wooden ceiling. Her ass was planted and her special move was done, with the cracks and small holes in the ceiling illuminating our battlefield.

"Beth, what did I tell you about using that?!" Valve shouted, still focused on aiming down her rifle and ripping apart the few remaining zombies.

Before any of us could even speak, the ceiling caved in quickly, pouring inside and flooding the area with hefty, chunky debris. Aksys and I moved out of the way, the nearly dead mini Tri-Shrex being finished off by a layer of fractured wood.

That cracked, chunky debris had also completely buried Valve.

"Valve!" Uni shouted. She wasted no time rushing to her aid, furiously digging through debris.

With all of us there helping, we quickly moved the debris off of her. I strained my back and fell flat on my ass, still trying to gather up my strength again. My head felt so weary that I could hardly move at that point. Every joint in my body ached, and I felt no motivation to keep going at that point.

Beth helped pull out Valve, Valve's arms and legs bent at weird angles. Worst of all, her left foot was barely held on by any flesh. The look of despair in Beth's eyes quickly turned into tears and sobbing.

"Valve. Wake up Valve. Don't do this Valve. Wake up!"

Uni quickly joined Beth, looming over her and examining the damage.

"If anyone can heal, do it now!" Uni barked.

Nepgear wasted every last bit of her MP on healing Valve, putting together her more grevious wounds, but despite all the help and healing, she was still very broken and just starting to starting to breathe again.

The first thing Valve did was writhe in pain, barely able to twitch and biting her lip so hard it bled. And all the while, Beth apologized over and over again.

"Beth, calm down! You're just going to freak her out even more," said Uni.

"We need to get her to medical attention immediately," said Nepgear.

"We're gonna need a vehicle, no way we can haul her there safely with how far we are from the Basilicom," said Aksys.

While they were tending to Valve, I heard my phone go off. It was from Lyrica, I could tell from that weird techno ringtone she set on it long ago.

"And I know it's my time to go...calling you, and the search is a mystery...standing on my feet...it's so hard when I try to be me..."

Jogging shakily over to my phone, I picked it up and slid it open.

"Hey, I saw Lastation's shares go back up to the yellow. You guys doing good work over there? I need something to report for the radio station."

I was ecstatic to see Lastation's shares rising, but I had quite a question as to why. We hadn't even rescued anyone at the library. Hell, we were lucky we lived coming to the place to begin with. I gave Lyrica an update as to what was going on, then resumed a mission I had brought into mind earlier. I examined the walls and bookshelves closely, seeking a long green light from a very familiar piece of machinery.

Row by row, I searched up and down, even Aksys wandering over to question what the hell I was doing. I wasn't about to involve her, she wouldn't know at all what to look for. Finally, I saw it.

"Aksys, I need you to give me a boost," I told her.

She blushed and said,"Y-Yeah, coming right up..."

"Don't get all perverted with this," I replied.

Aksys kneeled down and held her hand out for me to step up on. I was cautious not to put all my weight on her, lest she drop me. My hands wandered around for the edges, gripping the dirty plastic and pulling. It came out, and Aksys dropped me back down.

Of course, her first question was, "What's that weird thing?"

I held it up to her and said gravely, "Proof that this was a trap. A trap that intended to kill us all."

Our second miracle of the day had arrived. The news chopper from before was growing near, visible from the opened ceiling. Its powerful rotors scattered dust and moved small books around as it neared us.

The first of us to wave at it, Nepgear, shouted up to it, "Please, we need transport! As soon as possible!"

"Is the area clear?" boomed the helicopter's loudspeaker.

"Yes! Everything is clear down here!"

The newscasters started to lower a winch with a small platform attached. Thing was probably meant to haul up newscasting equipment, so I imagined it'd be able to hold our weight. First up of course was Uni, getting Valve secured onto the platform.

As I stood next to Nepgear, she noticed the green device in my hand, asking me, "Is that a Colosseum Boundary Marker?"

I gave a slow, grim nod, telling her, "If we would've gotten KO'd, it would've been game over. Somebody had all the intention to have us killed."

"Who the hell would have that much time to run all the way to the Lastation Colosseum and back here during a zombie apocalypse just to set up a trap?" asked Beth, waiting patiently for the cargo lift to slowly come back down.

"Someone that wanted us to die very, very, very badly," replied Aksys, "So probably the dictator lady from Leanbox."

Giving a shrug, I said, "Yeah, that'd sound about right. But this level of foresight? I dunno, just makes me wonder if there's someone above her head giving her directions."

"Who could say, at this point?" asked Nepgear, "It's not like we have a lot of leads to go off of right now."

I couldn't argue with her, but it still disturbed me nonetheless. This was almost beyond a simple trap, this had serious intent to assure that we went down and stayed down. While I dwelled on that, we slowly but surely made our way up to the helicopter, one by one on the cargo platform.

As I stepped on to the cargo platform, I started to rise high into the air. The wind from the rotors tossed my hair around and blew away the stench of a library coated in rotting flesh. Once I was near the top, I took in a breath of fresh air, adjusted my headphones, and hopped aboard the cramped helicopter. Once the doors were close, the sound of the rotors faded, still slightly audible as the pilot made haste for the Basilicom.

Nepgear gave the reporter a kind bow and said, "Thank you so much for retrieving us...uh..."

"Dengekiko's the name! Just figure I'd give you guys a hand. Certainly puts some interesting stuff on the news report."

The reporter took one look at what I held in my hands and immediately went for her microphone.

I took one look at her, tossed the Colosseum Border Marker over to Nepgear and said, "Party leader can explain."

"What the goodness?"

"CPU of Planeptune, would you be able to explain where you got something as powerful and unique as a Colosseum Border Marker? And would you have any comments of where you found it?"

"We-well we found, er, Code actually found it over in the library. I d-don't even know what the name of the library, but, uh, our party guardian, Code would be able to explain all of this better than I would..."

Dengekiko turned her gaze back to me and moved the microphone in position.

"Dammit!" I thought to myself. Normally I would've tossed it to Uni, but she was still tending to the writhing Valve alongside Beth. That left either me or Aksys to explain. One of those I preferred over the other by default.

"Could you fill us in on the finer details, party guardian?"

I couldn't deny at that point. I gave a swift sigh and said, "It was found in the downtown public library. It'd been set up as part of a trap to get all of us killed, prohibiting the use of Life Fragments and other restoration items. The creator of this trap is still unknown. We'll continue investigation once we're not under zombie attack."

Dengekiko faced the interior mounted camera attached to a swivel and said with vigor, but also with a hint of mystery, "Yet another mystery builds up around the zombie attack of Lastation, folks of Gamindustri. What determined soul would venture through zombie-filled streets to create a trap, not for the hordes of undead, but for fair warriors of Lastation and the CPU of Planeptune itself? Stay tuned citizens of Gamindustri, and if you have any leads as to who could've made such a devious trap, feel free to put it on our Chirper page!"

The On-Air light mounted above the camera went dim, and Dengekiko faced Nepgear once more, saying firmly, "Thank you for the wonderful news update. It's been a real struggle to get something other than moans and groans down there."

"It's been rough down there, but we're doing all we can to get the citizens of Lastation to safety."

"We've been trying to hoist up who we can as well. Hard to do sometimes, not enough room or too many zombies."

"Dengekiko?" asked Uni.

"What's up?"

"I have a favor to ask."

Dengekiko raised her brow.

"I would like to send out a message. For anyone in this world to listen. Just to be clear, I'm not gonna beg for help! But...I need to ask for a little faith right now. Too much has gone too wrong."

Wearing a more serious expression, Dengekiko replied, "Not the first time I've done a PSA, but it seems a bit out of character for you to be calling out for help."

Uni gave a sigh and said, "I don't need to keep pretending things are okay when they aren't. I need someone, anyone to give me all the faith they can if I'm going to put this right."

"I guess out-of-character really is serious business. Well, we'll set it up here in a few once we get your friend there some medical help."

Aksys asked, "Don't you carry first aid in here or something?"

"She keeps using them!" said the pilot, "Can't keep them in here for more than one day.

Earning an uneasy smile, Dengekiko sheepishly replied, "I...tend to wander to places I shouldn't for a good story..."

"Have you ever considered hiring an escort?" asked Nepgear.

Beth gave a nod to Valve and said, "Take a wild guess as to who usually escorts her."

"This poor bastard," wheezed Valve, raising a weak hand.

Everyone neared Valve quickly.

"You gonna make it soldier?" I asked.

"Hey, good news, you aren't dead yet!" exclaimed Aksys.

"Do you need me to heal you some more?" asked Nepgear.

"Everyone, back off!" Uni fiercely shouted, "Geez, give the girl some space. She just regained consciousness, she doesn't need you all hovering over her like a pack of vultures."

The only one that wouldn't budge was Beth. Staring down her friend, watching her softened, grey eyes, Beth looked almost like she was watching her dearest lover on a hospital bed.

"I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I can't-"

Valve raised her hand to stop Beth, saying with a weak voice, "You're a pain in my ass. But you're my pain in the ass. Don't get bent outta shape over it."

That was what it took to get Beth to start crying. She gripped onto her friend in a tender hug, Valve trying her best to reciprocate.

"We're here!" announced the pilot.

The helicopter neared the Basilicom's helipad mounted on the central tower, landing with a soft thud.

"I'm gonna wait here for you guys, so don't take too long!" said Dengekiko.

We were already departing and heading for the door before the engines even turned off, anxious to get Valve to medical attention.

Taking one last whiff of cold, fresh air, I looked back over the cityscape of Lastation. I couldn't help but wonder what it would take to clean the city up after such a battle. Shares were apparently going up, so something good was happening, and while I didn't know what it was, I hoped that it would keep doing what it's doing.

"Code? You coming?" asked Beth, still wiping away a few tears.

"Yeah, sorry."

Descending into the heart of the Basilicom, we were greeted by a thick silence. For all the survivors gathered in the foyer, it was far too quiet.

"Welcome back Uni and friends," said Kei, "I see you brought home another casualty."

IF and Compa came into the foyer from the hallways.

"Finally, some noise makers. I could almost kinda hear myself think in here," said IF.

"Oh no! What happened to Valvie?"

Beth sheepishly replied, "Let's not concern ourselves with the hows and whys and just fix the problem."

With a faded voice, Valve replied, "Beth got trigger happy with a rocket launcher."

Hanging her head in shame, Beth averted her gaze from Compa and Valve as she helped hand the broken girl over.

"Oh, come on Beth. Knock it off with the sad crap. Be a sarcastic asshole like I am," said Valve, "You better be back to your old self when I get back."

As Compa walked off the injured soldier to the medical bay, I saw Beth half smiling, half trying-not-to-cry.

"You two have quite a bond," I told her.

"You should see the two in their prime," Uni added, "They bicker like a married couple."

Finally, Beth started to laugh. It was a bit weak and faded, but she had her full smile back.

"She'll be up and at 'em in no time. It'll take much more than a few broken bones to keep her down," said Beth.

IF gave a concerned expression, telling her, "I don't like being the bearer of bad news, but with how mangled she was, I don't know that all of that's gonna heal right. She may walk out with a few prosthetics."

"Well, she kept saying she wouldn't mind being a cyborg," said Beth, "Guess she'll be getting what she wants."

I couldn't tell if what she was saying was sheerly insensitive or if that literally was just how she was toward Valve. I thought to myself, "Far be it for me to judge."

Approaching Uni with a thick tome in hand, Kei said, "I got what you requested. I still have to advise against trying something so risky, but if you're that convinced to try it, I'll start preparations."

"We need to do something Kei. I'll try anything at this point," Uni replied.

"I'll begin preparations then."

I raised a brow, and more than likely had the same questions everyone else did.

"Uh, what're you gonna do that sounds so damn ominous?" asked IF.

Aksys asked, "Yeah, are you gonna, like, nuke the whole city and rebuild it when the dust settles?"

Earning an expression of concern, Nepgear said, "Uni, I don't know what it is you're going to be doing here, but we are all here for you. We want to help you in every way we can. So please, let us help."

Rolling her eyes, Uni replied, "You don't have to sound so melodramatic about it. But...thank you Nepgear. And thanks to all of you."

Moving over to the foyer table, Uni opened a tome and flipped to where Kei's bookmark was.

Pointing a finger to a listing in arcanic runes, she said, "I'll be using this spell here called Horizon Zero. I don't know if any of the other nations have this or not, but it's more or less a reset button. No monsters, no negative emotions, just warmth and light. Thing is, how far it goes out depends on how much faith I have at the moment. With the way shares are, I don't even know if I'll be able to reset half of Lastation."

"So, instead of using MP, you use faith?" Aksys asked.

"Need faith and a share crystal. Thing is, I don't have a share crystal. It got snatched and nobody ever found it. Which means I'll need even more freakin' faith to get this to work."

I raised a brow and opened my inventory. Looking at the shiny object that I picked up at the library, I pulled it out and asked, "You mean this thing?"

"Where did you find that?!" Uni asked, eyes gleaming as she quickly snatched the crystal from my hand.

"Someone in a black cloak was running away from the library with a rifle in hand. Took some potshots at them and found the crystal laying on the ground."

Uni immediately called for Kei, who rushed in asking what was going on. Uni showed her the Share Crystal and Kei grew shocked. Kei announced that she'd take it up to the top of the Basilicom tower where the preparations were being made.

"Guess you're the hero of the day today," said Beth.

I gave a shrug and said, "Right man in the wrong place makes all the difference I guess."

"Alright everyone, lots of preparations to be done. I'm gonna need everyone's help for this!"

/+;[_];+\

"I'm sorry sir. I believe I lost the Share Crystal when that underdog brat took shots at me."

"No matter. Let them save Lastation. It makes no difference."

"Sir, you promised me this nation. I've done your dirty work, now I want what's to be expected."

"You will get what you want in due time. Be patient. There are much more grand plans in action here. Now, what's the status on the Faithbreakers?"

"I've got the dark-skinned brat and the smelly mouse fishing them out of Leanbox waters as we speak."

"Good, they'll be vital to our upcoming plans. Since there's nothing else for me to assign you on in Lastation, I'm going to request that you head over to Leanbox again to...eliminate some troublemakers while the group's still in Lastation."

With a heaving sigh as she ran through Lastation's streets, Restrict replied, "Yes sir. I'll be awaiting pickup at the west gate."

/+;[_];+\

The lot of us were crammed in the small elevator taking us to the Basilicom's helipad to meet with Dengekiko. The smell of B.O was unbearable, even to me. With how hard we'd been working, it was to be expected. Everyone was together for this, even Valve. Compa insisted that she rest, but she refused, saying she wanted to see the saving of her home nation for herself.

Once we arrived, the faint smell of rancid flesh and spilled blood wafting around with the gentle breeze. It was quiet outside, not a sound from the helicopter or any of the streets below. With night approaching, nobody wanted to be outside when the dead roamed. Before the show would begin, I sent a message out to Lyrica to let her know to tune in to the news. I wanted to relay what Uni was about to say as quick as she could.

"Finally good to go?" asked Dengekiko.

"Let's get this done and over with," said Uni.

Dengekiko started turning on her many cameras and microphones inside the helicopter. Once everything was ready, she gave the countdown.

"3...2...1...And we are live citizens of Gamindustri! Coming live from the Lastation Basilicom for a Public Service Announcement from Lastation's own Lady Black Heart. The mic's all yours, so let the people of Gamindustri know what you have to say."

Uni stood stiff and proper with rifle in hand. Nervousness spanned her face, but once Nepgear and I stood at her side, she started breathe normally again, letting herself relax more, but keeping her formal posture.

"People of Gamindustri, I stand here before you all not to beg and cry like some kind of a loser. No, I come simply to ask for a helping hand, just as I have been given before from my closest friends. From the people that believe in me. I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be. I've made my mistakes, and those mistakes should never have to come to hurt the people I care about, whether that be my friends, the citizens of my nation, or even the citizens of this whole world."

Dengekiko kept the mic trained closely on Uni, but wore a serious expression. I couldn't tell if she was that interested in what Uni had to say or was just interested in how much this would bolster ratings for her news channel.

"Despite these mistakes, I want nothing more than to put this right. All I've ever wanted was the best for my people. And while I couldn't always give that best, I won't stop trying. I may never live up to my sister, and I may never bring this nation to the light she once put on it, but I'll be damned if I ever give up trying. I wouldn't be here otherwise. I want to call out to all of you, any of you that could believe in me for just this day. Believe that no matter how dark the day, someone can be around to bring light back to it."

With that said, Nepgear stood closer to her friend and said, "Believe in our will to protect all of our nations, to keep them safe."

Even I felt the need to step up and say, "Believe in your fellow warriors, and respect their will to live and fight another day."

Dengekiko took the lead, aiming the camera back at herself to announce the end of the PSA. "A heartfelt message from the great ruler of Lastation. For what it's worth, I believe in her. All the best to your quest Lady Black Heart. This is Dengekiko, and stay tuned for more updates."

"Do you think it'll work?" asked Aksys.

"It'll have to," said Uni, "Besides, I actually put my heart into that! Someone's gotta be out there willing to put faith in me for the time being. I can't afford to screw this up."

"Now where to?" asked Valve.

Uni pointed up and said, "Peak of the tower. Only place we can use the skill."

"Well, in that case, I'm gonna get airborne for some shots of this and then head out for more recon. Pleasure meeting you all, and best of luck to you!" said Dengekiko, boarding her news chopper.

The helicopter's engines started up with a fierce whir, the rotors scattering the stagnant air. We amassed in the elevator where the only thing we could smell was B.O again, taking a short ride up to the peak.

"So how does this work?" asked IF.

"Gonna need four of us. Everyone'll need a gun. I put the Share Crystal on the pedestal, cast the spell, crystal goes in the air and all at once, we fire at it once it's at its peak."

Arriving at the peak, once everyone was out of the way, I summoned Shredrix and held her proudly in hand. Uni had already asked me to be one of the ones on the firing squad. Originally it was meant for the four CPUs to fire at the crystal, but coordinating that on such short notice wouldn't have worked, and the spell never specified that it had to be CPUs that did it.

Four pedestals etched with glyphs and markings surrounded a larger pedestal with a cushion on it, likely where the Share Crystal went. The open air high in the sky was refreshing, but the fact that only a few guardrails separated us from becoming street pizza made me a little uneasy.

"Do you feel anything at all?" Valve asked Uni.

Holding a soft hand to her heart, Uni was engulfed in a flash of light, her HDD activating and presenting us with the true Lady Black Heart.

"I feel more power in this one instance," Uni started, her voice shakey, "than I have since Noire was still around. I can't believe how many people I've reached. They really do believe in me."

Nepgear was next in line to activate HDD, making another bright flash of light and saying, "We all have Uni. From the very start. You just never called on us to show it."

I gave Uni a quick nod, holding Shredrix in hand. I told her firmly, "We will be by your side as long as you'll have us."

"I guess I don't mind fighting for you...just don't let it be zombies next time..." said Aksys.

IF and Compa both gave her a thumbs up.

"Just don't miss. That's all I ask."

"Do your best Uni!"

"We got your back, no doubt," said Beth, holding up a fragile Valve.

Still wrapped in bandages, Valve put all the energy in her voice she could and said, "Go on Uni. Light our darkest hour."

Four of us took up a pedestal. Nepgear, Uni, Valve, and I wielded our guns proudly. Uni went into her menu and selected Horizon Zero, looking to us all and giving a nod. We nodded in response, and she started to cast the spell.

Her wings grew the brightest light, so warm and pure. The colors of the rainbow flared from the share crystal as it started to levitate.

"By the power of Celestia, I will cast this nation into light!"

The crystal no longer ascended, prompting us to take aim.

"Let's fire a light into our future!"

An explosion of sound flooded the peak, a solemn ringing following as the crystal exploded. But instead of casting a shield of light around Lastation, it shot far, far out of sight, the light of Celestia itself rendering the sky a cloudy white.

"By the goddess..." I uttered, watching sparkles of light slowly descend to the ground.

"This is incredible! It's so pretty!" cheered Aksys.

The sky above glowed brighter and brighter, casting everything below it in a celestial shine before blinding us entirely. I closed my eyes tight and shielded them with my arm. When the light had vanished, the overcast lingering over Lastation was replaced with a starry sky. Nepgear and Uni went back to their normal forms.

"I think you did it Uni. I'm so happy for you!" said Nepgear, hugging onto her friend.

Uni returned the hug, and once their embrace ended, Uni looked at all of us and said, "Thank you everyone. Really. There...wasn't any way this could've happened without you guys being here."

"You don't have to thank us for caring about you, Lady Black Heart," I replied.

"When will you start calling me Uni?"

"Don't ask questions I can't answer."

It was just seconds later that Uni's phone went off. Then mine went off, then Nepgear's, and everyone that had a phone was now looking at it.

"You're kidding right?! Seriously?" IF shouted over the phone.

I answered mine to hear Lyrica on the other end.

"Code, you sh-should see this! E-every area a-around Lastation's been purified, w-we could see th-the light from Leanbox!"

"Now that's what I like to hear," I replied, "Keep me updated on anything your viewers report. If we're lucky, we'll have quite a chunk of Gamindustri purified with this."

From what people are hearing, that light went much farther than Lastation. Once the commotion died down, Uni gathered our attention, almost ready to start wiping tears from her eyes.

"Guys, this thing went all the way out to Ruination. The water's purified, no radiation, no monsters, soil's fertile again. Bulletheaven's cleared out, parts of Speed Haven are cleared out. This is nothing short of a miracle," Uni explained.

"Uni, you can start rebuilding out in Ruination again!" Nepgear exclaimed.

"I wouldn't get too excited yet," said IF, "underground areas are unconfirmed as of yet, and we still need to see where the exact border is where this effect ends."

Giving an expression of dismissal from Aksys, she replied casually, "Bah, don't be such a party pooper! Enjoy the good news! We don't get much of it!"

"I do think this calls for celebration," said Beth.

Nepgear was the first to motion for the elevator. I had enough of being loosely suspended miles in the sky, so I followed next, summoning Grindrix and then storing her on my back. Beth helped the limping Valve back on, then everyone else just piled in. After the quick descent down, we departed from the elevator, greeted by Kei and several of the citizens we rescued, cheering in delight.

"Well done Uni. I think we're going to be safe for a very long time thanks to you."

"No Kei, thanks to everyone. This wasn't just my doing. It was everyone's help that put this right."

With her friends gathered around, Uni wore the brightest smile we'd seen in a long time.

But with that said and done, all we'd done in the long, long day is save Lastation. There was still so much to do. We hadn't even had a lead if that secret island Chika mentioned was found yet. We didn't even know what would help purify that final spark. At the very least though, we knew we could count on Uni for help.

While everyone prepared for celebrations, I managed the few texts I got from Lyrica.

Nepgear got yet another call, answering quickly, "Hey, Ram! Good to hear from you...yeah, we're the ones that made that bright light...I thought Aksys kept you up to date on what was going on?"

Then I heard the response faintly from the phone.

"I didn't even know she had a phone!"

I looked around, then quickly asked, "Where's Aksys?"

/+;[_];+\

Restrict sat in the cold bed of a rusted truck, being moved from Lastation to Leanbox. Her phone plastered to her ear, she said firmly, "I understand. I'll call her now, she's still useful to us, taken she continues to leak information to us."

"Good. And do remember to use the voice modulator. Don't want her to wisen up to the charade."

"Understood."

Restrict hung up and immediately looked for the needed contact on her phone. Clicking the call button, she sat and waited for a few rings before hearing a warm greeting.

"Ram! You're never gonna guess what just happened!"

"Oh? Why don't you tell me all about it, Aksys?"

/+;[_];+\

Short but sweet little True Ending to the Lastation Zombie Attack. Just had to leave it at that cliffhanger last chapter, couldn't resist. I don't know when the next time will be that I update this thing honestly though guys. I gotta get to planning the next section, and hopefully make it as lighthearted and fun as I can. Been too serious lately. Be patient for me my friends. And I apologize for being away for so long. No matter how long it takes, I'll see this through to the end. I promise.