Problem Spawner 68 - A Blue Archive Wiki Warrior story

[KuletXCore]

Huge thank you to the A Father's Love discord for the help!

Inspired by @Alexander's Blue Randomizer.

---

"Gehenna?" Aru asked in complete confusion. "You want us to steal a genuine Millennium artifact from Gehenna?"

The robotic man on the other side of the call didn't stutter. His voice was distorted, filtered through so many layers that made him sound even more robotic than he already has.

"Not steal, exactly. This is a Strategic Transfer of Equipment to an Alternative Location," he corrected smoothly. Aru didn't catch the acronym, but she thought it sounded hard-boiled with a confident nod. "You'll be well-compensated when you deliver the package back to Millennium in one piece."

"How did some delinquents from Gehenna even get the artifact in the first place, and what even is the object you're hiring us for?" She asks, holding the phone closer to her ears.

"That, Miss Aru, is highly classified information. All I know is that it's a stolen artifact from the Millennium Ruins. The researchers wanted it back to their possession, hence, the job. I will be paying..."

The rather self-proclaimed outlaw widened her eyes as she heard the astronomical amounts of credits they could potentially get with the job's completion. A wide smile appeared on her face, and she loudly proclaimed that Problem Solver 68 will accept the job.

Mutsuki was already grinning, the gears in her head already churning.

"A-Aru-sama, are you sure? An absolute nobody like me doesn't deserve that much money..." The purple-haired Haruka muttered, overhearing the amount of credits from her employer.

"We can pull this job off. I believe in us, Haruka."

"If that's what you think, then I shall do it!"

"Boss, we should prepare our gear for tomorrow's job." The reliable Section Chief Kayoko said, moving towards the weapon lockers to retrieve her silenced pistol, ammunition and the tools needed for weapon maintenance.

"This job could land us into the Major Leagues, Section Chief Kayoko!" Aru proclaimed, grabbing her own sniper rifle. "Let's give it our all, everyone!"

---

"Mission 'Retrieve the Supercube' is a go, ladies!" Aru declared on the day of the heist. She and her squad mates were currently in the provided taxi service. A robotic male citizen was driving them towards the Gehenna district, and Aru was on the passenger seat.

Mutsuki, Haruka and Kayoko were in the back seat, figuring out a plan. Haruka was a nervous wreck in her old school uniform, while Kayoko was reminiscing about her time as an intelligence officer.

"Thank you for choosing the Delamain Service." The robotic driver greeted, unlocking the taxi's doors. "I shall be waiting in the parking lot for your return. Please retrieve your weapons in the trunk."

Aru thanked the driver and grabbed Wine-red Admire from the trunk alongside her friend's weapons.

As soon as they were completely geared up, Kayoko tapped the closed trunk with a thumbs up, and watched as the taxi drove off.

Haruka was clutching her shotgun as tight as she could, with Mutsuki grinning in excitement.

"Okay, team. We go in, retrieve the Supercube and then walk out." Aru said, recalling the initial plan.

"Roger, boss," Kayoko nodded with a quick reply.

"Yes, Aru-sama!" Haruka saluted, slinging her shotgun on her back.

"OK, Aru-chan!" Mutsuki replied with a thumbs up.

Done convening as a group, the four entered the reception room and gave their IDs to the booth. The cat employee nodded, granting entry towards Gehenna's lecture hall.

The speaker, or at least the recorded (or was it streamed live?) guest speaker, was of a Millennium student who talked extensively about Parallel Worlds. Theories about alternate dimensions and timelines that would usually bore a student. But how the speaker presented it was so interesting that Aru almost forgot about their mission!

"Ahem… Boss…" Kayoko whispered, snapping Aru out of her enraptured state with a bump of her shoulder.

"Eh-uh–wha?!" Aru shifted her attention to her Section Chief.

"Aru-chan is somehow so interested in the topic! I wonder why that is…" Mutsuki said, her infectious smile beaming. "Do you think there are other versions of us out there?"

"Uh, I just think other worlds are cool, that's all! I saw a movie about it…" Aru muttered.

"If Aru-sama thinks it's cool, then it is cool to me too!" Haruka chimed in.

"Right, Right… Kayoko, have you done a recon sweep?" Aru fell back to her 'Boss of the Problem Solvers' mode, her demeanor serious.

"Yes, boss," Kayoko nodded. "The prize is kept in a hidden compartment somewhere in an abandoned room, within the lecture hall's premises."

"Right. How do we get in that room without anyone noticing?" Aru asked, to which Mutsuki dropped her black "LOVE & VIOLENCE"-branded bag and revealed its contents for the day to her friends.

"Ta-da! Janitor uniforms and our usual clothes! We wear the Janitor uniform disguise to enter the room without anyone suspecting, and once we grab the Supercube, we stuff it in, wear our usual clothes and head towards the parking lot without anyone noticing!" Mutsuki proposed, resting both hands on her hips.

"That, is a genius idea! We should head to the bathroom first."

---

A change of clothes later, Aru and the rest of the Problem Solvers were now donning the Janitor uniforms and making their way to the abandoned room, where a helmeted delinquent was keeping watch. Kayoko aimed with her pistol and fired at the delinquent's head, causing it to snap backwards from the impact and knocking the girl out cold, her halo disappearing.

"Good thing I didn't infuse the bullet with the fear aura I usually use…" She then dragged the helmet gangster and dumped her in a nearby closet. The rest of the group arrived, their weapons stashed in Mutsuki's black bag for the time being except for Demon's Roar.

Kayoko then opened the door and looked around, putting the skills she had as an Intel officer to work before declaring, "Clear! No one is inside." She then opened the door and unloaded her pistol before giving it to Mutsuki, which she promptly placed both the spare magazine and the pistol itself inside her bag before zipping it back shut.

Kayoko stepped into the room alongside the rest of the team. Aru took off the face mask that was part of the janitor disguise and observed the abandoned room. A high-tech metallic cube that had ancient-looking carvings onto it. Aru honestly had no idea what it is, but it looked important.

"Ladies, I think we found the jackpot." She said, holding on to the cube. "Major Leagues, here we–!" Aru's celebration was cut short when she and her friends heard footsteps heading towards their direction. "We got company! Quick, find something to hide!" Aru said in a hushed voice. She grabbed the artifact from the Millennium Ruins with her and locked herself in a locker. She saw a student come in that wasn't wearing a Gehenna Uniform. She had a plain white jacket on top of her uniform that caught the light from the outside.

"I left it here a minute ago…! Where is it…" She then scanned the rooms, and the delinquent stared at Aru's locker. The poor girl was shaking in her boots. Well, her borrowed Janitorial boots, but still. Another girl then came in, this time with a bright crimson jacket, and the two girls had a rather serious sounding conversation.

"Are you sure the artifact was here?" The new girl asks, in which the lost delinquent answers with, "Yeah, I left it right here in this spot! Unless the Janitors inspected this room somehow and took it…"

"First of all, that is impossible. There is no way that the janitors cleaned this place. It's abandoned for a reason! Second of all, our boss is gonna kill us for not delivering the Supercube to them!" Aru was holding on to the cube for dear life, and she saw a hand poke out of one of the storage containers through the slits of the locker. "They cannot kill us! We have Halos, for crying out loud!" She saw White Jacket scream out, before the pistol was fired and the distinct feeling of Dread washed over the occupants of the room. The two students panicked, and screamed.

"I told you this room was abandoned for a reason!" Red Jacket said, before whipping out a walkie-talkie of some kind. "Put the whole hall on lockdown! There are literal ghosts loose inside this building, Over!"

"What are you, my boss?" The girl from the other side of the call answered back. "No. That would be Your Mother!" Red Jacket answered with an annoyed look on her face. "Now initiate the lockdown sequence, Over!"

"Lockdown initiated. Stay frosty. Out." The girl said, before the lights shut off.

"Let's get out of here before the ghosts–" Another bang, and the two girls scrambled out of the room due to the Dreadful Atmosphere returning.

Aru got out of the locker, and saw Kayoko give her pistol to Mutsuki. "That was amazing, Kayoko-chan!" The elven-eared gremlin said. "Problem is, this place is now on lockdown. The only way to get out is through the parking lot. We should reach our taxi in time without alerting anyone else." She said with a finger on her chin.

Haruka then suggested something reckless, and muttered that she's going to smash everyone who stood in Aru-sama's path to the taxi. Aru immediately told her no, and that they should take this low and slow using Stealth Tactics. "O-Okay…" Haruka said.

Aru then took a long look at Haruka's face, and sighed. "Fine, if anyone fires at us, feel free to return fire. It'll be… Self-defense." The purple-haired girl's expression seemed to brighten, and held on to her boss' hand. "Thank you, Aru-sama! I won't let you down!"

The four students then hid inside another room to get a change of clothes. A moment later, they were now wearing their usual outfits, ditching their disguises. The girls rearmed themselves, and the Supercube was tucked safely inside Mutsuki's duffel bag.

"Alright. Let's find a way to not mess up." Aru said, initiating the impromptu team meeting. "Kayoko, can you give us an optimal path?"

Kayoko nodded, and explained the stealth path to the parking lot where their rented taxi is parked. Aru, meanwhile, is internally freaking out.

"This is so exciting! I can finally do the thing from Mission: Improbable where we all sneak behind enemy lines without anyone noticing!" Aru's internal dialogue was broken when her section chief called her out. "Oi, boss."

"Wha–?! Right… Do what Kayoko says and stuff. Lead the way, Section Chief." She stammered for a bit before regaining her composure and she let Kayoko guide the three of them. They stopped when she told them to stop and communicated using hand signals to not give their positions away.

They were near the cab, and Aru noticed that Haruka had an uneasy look on her face, fidgeting and her eyes darting around the parking lot. "What's wrong?" Aru asks, "Can I go loud now?" Her subordinate asked, her hands trembling on her phone… Wait a minute, is that a detonator?! "Haruka, No–!"

With a click, a loud boom can be heard within the Hall. The guards pointed at them and they opened fire after one of them shouted. Haruka was wailing apologies and cried about how useless she was, blowing their cover.

The four immediately ran towards the cab and boarded, with their weapons on them to shoot back at. The driver greeted the four with a warm voice, "Welcome back! With Delamain, you leave your problems at the door–"

"We're gonna have more problems if you don't drive!" Aru shouted, panicking.

The robotic driver, whose nametag read 'Delamain,' stepped on the gas pedal, zooming out of the parking lot.

"This is fun!" Mutsuki said, enjoying the speed.

"Client feedback noted." Delamain said, the emote on his football-shaped head displaying a smiley face. "Unfortunately, we are being pursued." A bat-winged student then blindsided the driver and the rest of the problem solvers by physically slamming into it with her shoulder, the passengers screaming in surprise.

The car steered to the side, and the student in question was now in direct view in front of the car. The student had white hair, horns on her head and…!

"It's the Head Prefect! Let's get out of here!" Aru terrifyingly pointed, "Did you know she's in the area?!"

"I didn't know! My plans didn't account for Hina!" Kayoko protested, before Delamain cut both of them off by pushing a button on the dashboard. Haruka shrunk in her seat, shaking in fear.

"Combat Mode is now activated, please remain calm." Aru seemed to snap out of the imminent danger of the Head Prefect arresting them and turned to the driver. "This car has a COMBAT MODE?!" Her eyes seemed to sparkle with the mention of a weaponized vehicle straight out of a James Stock movie, "Was this taxi made in Millennium?!"

"Yes, I serve only the best for our clients." Delamain said, pushing another set of buttons. A mounted machine gun appeared besides the front lights and a rocket launcher appeared on the trunk. The robotic driver then backed up and drifted towards the open road, activating the missiles to launch towards anyone chasing them.

Once the danger of the Prefect Team's Hina came to pass, the girls breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Del." Aru said, her excitement of the weaponized vehicle wearing off.

"It was a pleasure serving you. Where should I drop you off?" Delamain asks, looking at the rest of the girls through the rear view mirror.

"Please take us to our office first. We need to inspect the package before we send it over." Kayoko said, and the driver lead them to the Black Market district.

A moment later, the squad was now back to their home and the driver unlocked the passenger doors. "Thank you for choosing the Delamain Service. Please be mindful of your belongings before disembarking." The taxi driver says. The passengers stepped out of the taxi, with Mutsuki being the last one to go out, carrying her bag. "Goodbye!" Delamain said with a wave, and Aru responded with a quick "See 'ya!", waving back.

The taxi then drove off and the Problem Solvers navigated through the building and into their office.

"Home Sweet Home!" Aru proclaimed, sitting at the chair. "Mutsuki, if you please…"

Mutsuki placed her bag on a nearby table, and dug through its contents. She fished out the Supercube their client was asking for, and put it on Aru's table. Aru picked up the mysterious relic and inspected it. "With this cube… We will be hitting the Major Leagues! Everyone will acknowledge us as legitimate!"

"I'm sorry I blew our cover. I'm such an insignificant rat and all I do is mess up mission after mi–" Haruka kneeled and Aru stopped her with a firm voice. "Haruka. It's okay. We all get nervous sometimes, especially if the Major Leagues were on the line. If it wasn't for Hina suddenly showing up, I wouldn't know that the Taxi we rode on had a combat mode!" Haruka approached Aru and hugged her tight. "Thank you, Aru-sama…" Aru patted her back, before breaking off and refocusing on The Relic.

"Boss, should we submit the Supercube to our client today?" Kayoko asked, and Aru shrugged. "I think we should rest for the day, take a break for now and submit it tomorrow. We got spooked by Hina today and it took a lot to grab this thing from the delinquents. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

What Aru didn't know was that she accidentally uttered the exact sequence of words required to activate The Relic from the Millennium Ruins. No researcher, nor delinquent could figure it out, and a self-proclaimed "crime boss" just said it by complete chance. The runes lit itself up and started floating in front of the horned student, revealing its otherworldly nature. The inside of the cube was a tesseract of some kind, folding and unfolding in impossible ways while the metal shell remained intact.

A robotic voice then rang out from the cube, its main panel pointed at Aru. "[DEVICE PRIMED, SCANNING SUBJECT]"

Mutsuki laughed, and found the situation to be hilarious. "Aru-chan just jinxed herself! Kufufu~!"

The tesseract reacted, and its voice rang through the room once more. "[IMPRINT DATA RECORDED. SUBJECT 'RIKUHACHIMA ARU' CONFIRMED. ESTABLISHING CONNECTION...]"

A flash of light, and it looked like the device blew up on Aru's face.

"Aru-samaa!!" "Boss!" "Aru-chan!"

Kayoko caught Aru's now unconscious body, her halo nowhere in sight. She called in her friends to carry their boss into a nearby bed. They took watch of Aru with Haruka carefully placing the pillow on her neck, taking consideration of her horns. Kayoko picked up the now-inert Supercube, and sighed.

Aru's mind, however, landed elsewhere.

---

THRONE OF NARAM-SIN, ARK OF ATRAHASIS

Reality KV-S23

August 22, XX23

When Aru first awoke after the relic blew up in her face, she found herself in an empty expanse of some kind. She was far away from the center of the platform, and she could only watch the scene unfolding before her very eyes.

She saw… herself, standing behind an adult woman whose features were obscured by her luscious black locks. On the other side of the platform, an armored silhouette was in front of them fishing for something in their… coat? Armor?

A girl in an ornate black jacket stepped forward to face both herself and the Adult, and declared herself as Chroma's Herald.

Who is she? Some kind of Mercurial Wave-Rider? Her skin isn't even shiny or reflective!

"Mutsuki. Kayoko. Haruka. Sensei." The Herald said, and that is when Aru truly noticed who the girl was. The pink hair. The chipped horns. The broken halo. She had a version of Wine-red Admire with inverted colors.

"It was I, who killed them all." The Herald, or Aru's alternate self, declared. Both Aru and the girl behind the adult stared in shock. Her? Killing her friends by shattering their haloes? That wasn't right…

"And I only stopped when I ended the world and glassed it to oblivion. This world too shall suffer the same fate, and I will shatter it into pieces just the same."

She then moved closer to the terrified Aru, and caressed her face. "After all, that's what villains do, right?"

Actually maybe she was the Mercurial Wave-rider and the Eater of Worlds is coming to consume them all. The armored figure then pointed at Aru's location, her location, and the Herald faced her direction and walked up to her. "You weren't supposed to be here." She had a red outfit underneath the dark jacket, her coat fluttering behind her. "You remind me of another version of me. From another timeline I ravaged who had a lit cigarette in her mouth. Pathetic."

The Herald was aiming at her when her other self shot the herald in the back. "Don't touch her! It is me you want!" She screamed, her false bravado having a hint of fear in her voice.

"Very well." The Herald accepted her other self's challenge, and she felt herself getting pulled out from behind.

---

Planeptune

IO Division's Office

Aru sat up from her slumber and looked around. She smiled in relief as she recognized the familiar sight of the Problem Solver 68 office and her friends. "Oh, thank the goddess! You're back!" Kayoko hugged her and pulled away after a moment.

"Wha–what happened?" Aru asked, and Mutsuki told her the situation. At least, that was what Aru thought. "We were on a commission from the guild when we encountered a horde of Dogoos! You were blasting them like you were Lady Black Sister when another monster hit your head and you were knocked out!"

Dogoos? Lady Black Sister? What was she talking about? "Mutsuki, that's not what happened… We–"

"Boss, I think your memories got scrambled." Kayoko said, "What?"

"Are you okay, IOD-sama?" Haruka asks, not recognizing the name that came out of her mouth. "Who's IOD?"

"IO Division. That is your name." Kayoko answered, "You said to call you IOD because calling you IO would confuse you and IO Interactive when you two eventually meet for a mission."

"I'm… IO Division?" Aru, or IO Division in this case, pointed at herself.

"Yes." Kayoko said. "My name is Embark, and the shy girl is MX…"

"Hello…" Haruka, scratch that, MX greeted. Embark continued, pointing at Mutsuki, "And that's RX."

"Kufufu~, Seeing IOD vulnerable like this is kinda refreshing! You were this cool boss that wanted to meet IOI because you thought that you were Agent material!" RX cheered.

The phone in the office rang, and Embark excused herself. She picked up the phone and talked to their potential client. Embark's eyes widened for a bit, and she nodded at the client. A moment passes, and she places the phone down.

"Everyone, Lady Neptune has assigned a job for us, Handyman 68." Embark announced, and both RX and MX cheered.

"Who's Lady Neptune...? And Handyman 68? Aren't we called the 'Problem Solver 68'?" IOD asked, and RX cheerfully answered, "You don't know? You came up with the name yourself!" RX pointed at IOD, much to the latter's confusion. "To answer your other question, Lady Neptune is just the goddess of Planeptune, the land we are currently on! You know, Lady Purple Heart…"

"Pla…nep…tune?" IOD mulled the name on her mouth. "Yes! Have you checked the window lately?" The white-haired elf asked, and IO Division stood up from her bed. She walked into the office's window and raised the blinds. What she saw was nothing short of remarkable.

They were in a futuristic city, and she noticed that her vantage point was elevated, and she realized that the office was in a high-rise building. She saw a bright purple tower in the distance, acting as both a shining beacon and the crown jewel of the city.

"Guys… I think I'm gonna faint…" IO Division said before collapsing on the floor, her eyes rolling back.

---

Non-descript Overwatch facility

OWX-01 Slipstream Test Day

This was the best day of Rikuhachima Aru's life. She was personally selected by Overwatch themselves to fly an experimental jet that can change the future of flight and aerial warfare due to her exceptional flying skills as a pilot.

She was given the callsign "Tracer" by her friends at the British Royal Air Force due to her incredible skill at such a young age. She was currently donning her jumpsuit which consisted of mostly blue uniform and a yellow vest, which had the "RIKUHACHIMA" nametag on her right chest. She then wore a pair of blue gauntlets that pair well with her suit, a pair of brown boots and a white scarf she always wears. She was on a holo call, and she was assuring Igusa Haruka, her long-time girlfriend, that she will be fine.

"I'm kinda nervous, luv. Me? Flying a cutting edge aircraft?" Aru said, donning her gloves. "You deserve it, Aru. I know how much you wanted to join Overwatch since it was established." Haruka said, assuring the pilot. "You're right. This is my time to shine, and I'll prove why I'm the best damn pilot in the RAF! Thanks, Haruka. Love you!"

"Love you too, luv!" Haruka said, before the call was cut off.

Aru took a few breaths, and came out of the locker room and into the airstrip, helmet in hand. The plane slowly emerged from her field of view, parked on the strip. It was a high-tech plane, boasting a striking, predatory silhouette that seemed to cut through the air even while completely stationary. A pristine, polar-white armor plating dominated its sleek chassis, sharply contrasted by aggressive dark grey trim lining the underbelly and the edges of its sweeping wings. These main wings curved dramatically downward like the pinions of a hunting bird, giving the aircraft an organic, menacing posture on the tarmac. The Overwatch logo can be seen stamped near the cockpit itself.

Near the nose, an elongated, vibrant amber-orange canopy shielded the cockpit, flanked by sharp, minimal canards designed for extreme maneuverability. At the rear, a brilliant sky-blue vertical stabilizer sliced upward, hinting at the machine's incredible speed. Perfect for a pilot of Aru's caliber.

A reporter then captured images of her, and embraced the hero that she will eventually become by posing with the ship for posterity purposes, her helmet on her left arm. Once the interview was done, she faced the Overwatch officer and they briefed her on the plane and its characteristics, including the highly experimental onboard teleportation matrix.

Aru nodded and wore her helmet, fastened it and hopped on the Slipstream's cockpit with a ladder. She is then strapped in, connecting the mask to the tube and helmet to ensure her safety. She then does the standard flight checks which include batteries, fuel switches and so on. The jet roared to life as Aru starts the vehicle, with blue cpncentric circles appearing appearing on the bottom and the main thrusters of the jet itself.

Aru takes off and she loops the Slipstream around the local airspace, showing off her skills.

"Tracer to ground control, can you hear me?" She asks via the onboard radio, staring at the teleportation matrix in front of her.

"Loud and Clear." Was the answer on her helmet's reciever. "Feel free to engage the Teleportation Matrix, over."

"Roger. Engaging teleportation matrix…"

Aru sighs as she flips the switch, hoping for the best. She pushes the button, and instead of a smooth flash, sparks start to emit out of the onboard weapons system alongside the already active circles, zapping the pilot. Aru immediately removed her left hand from one of the controllers and saw it flicker before her eyes, like a living ghost. "Ground control, this is Tracer! I lost control! I'm fading!" The zapping continued until every cell and molecule that made up Aru rapidly desynchronize from the normal flow of time.

"I'm sorry, Haruka… I love you." She says, before finally disappearing from the jet's cockpit.

---

Reality 266

Golden Coast

Aru arrived through a crack in the sky. She had her Chronal Accelerator strapped onto her torso anchoring her to the present after Winton built and refined it over the years, and she was currently free-falling from the sky. She couldn't scream in the air nor use her abilities, but there was an instinctual urge to pull something from her nonexistent pockets. A tug pulled from behind, Mercy's wings popped out from the aether to guide her descent. "Nice of Dr. Aomori to lend her wings for me. I couldn't blink nor recall for now, and I need to get my pistols back! Good thing I have my pulse knives so I can smash through walls, floors and roofs…"

She landed at a hotel near the King's Row clocktower, reminiscing of better days as an agent. Her bright orange leggings, her fitted bomber jacket and her signature Black Air-Force 1s were only going to go so far. She smashes through the roof to land at the top floor, and finds a shield pot. She drank one, found another shield pot and drank another to fully protect herself.

She roamed around the hotel, looking for a treasure chest or a loot box and found nothing but opened ones. She got out of the building and found a weapon just lying on the floor. Decked in a purple sheen was her signature Pulse Pistols, just waiting to be claimed.

She instantly grabbed her weapons, and felt her connection towards time return to her. It felt right on her gloved hands, and she was ecstatic! Someone shot at her, and she blinked towards safety.

Holding a shotgun was Kivotos' own virtual superstar Hatsune Miku! Although she was wearing a different set of clothes and a cat-eared beret, she was chasing her due to the fact that a contract was issued to hunt her down personally. She retaliated with a spray of bullets with her pulse pistols, which chipped a bit of Miku's shield. She reloaded, and Miku equipped some kind of power gloves. She knocked Aru up in the air, and shot her with the shotgun! She used her Recall to restore her lost health, and went back to where she was ten seconds ago. A few well-placed headshots by Miku later, Aru disappeared in a pile of shiny blue voxels, ranking her at 67th place.

The next time she returned to the map, she found herself in a grand castle made of stone, ice and snow. The Ice King was on his throne, and he was talking to an orange hologram.

She looked down and saw that she wore a formal outfit consisting of a choker, a long-sleeved shirt, a pencil skirt, a pair of gloves and high platform heels. All of which were in a metallic pearlescent sheen reflecting all the various colors from the light. She was wearing a pair of purple glasses, and a pair of hoop earrings. She explored the castle and she eventually hit an invisible wall. "Hmm…" she thought, trying her best to climb to the top of the castle like the Ice King challenged his subjects to. Once she reached the top, a weapon encased in ice revealed itself. It was a Snowball Launcher, a type of grenade launcher which launches explosive snowballs. She looked beyond the castle and saw a cracked orb in the distance and a piece of it just floating near the castle. She heard the Ice King's voice once more, and decided to jump down to watch him retrieve his sword named the Infinity Blade. She was surrounded by various characters, including a purple-haired woman with a red sword on her hand. She reminded her of herself, and she would probably fangirl if she met the woman in Kivotos.

The King is going to war for this Zero Point Shard, huh? Aru thinks her current state isn't enough for the fight ahead. She closed her eyes, and drew on the wellspring of power she had. When she opened her eyes, it had changed from its usual amber to a bright green. She let her hot boiling irradiated blood take hold of her as she screamed, her strength increasing a hundredfold as her bones cracked, her muscles rippled and her skin changed its color. She slammed her fist on the ground, and her clothes have fully changed into a skin-tight sleeveless bodysuit with the same metallic material as her old outfit. A pair of rugged boots with the same platform heels fit her now larger feet, her fingerless gloves were a bit more solid compared to her "human form", and her pink hair lengthened and darkened into a sleek dark green sheen to go with her tougher emerald skin.

She watched as The Ice King raised his sword in the sky, charging it. An orb-shaped ship came in through a portal after the voice announced its arrival, and captured the shard within its frame through a tractor beam. The King explained that the other faction would spring their trap, and proudly declared that they were prepared for whatever The Foundation throws at them. He commanded her and the people around her to rise, and a jetpack appeared on her back so she and the others can fly alongside the giant ship and the King.

The armored man on the rooftop called The Foundation screamed out, calling the King's name. He seemed to be alone, but the King's benefactor warned that his team was hidden. The man on the rooftop summoned his helmet and aimed his weapon at the ship. He pulled the trigger, and instead of firing a powerful blast at the ship, the weapon zapped the man, his metallic armor working against him. The king laughed, and commanded his champions to open fire. The cloaked individuals disengaged their cloaking tech and a pair of gauntlets appeared on her hands. She and the rest of her team immediately hurled snowballs at the other team's squad using the seemingly magical artifact. The Foundation's mercenaries, which strangely included a purple-haired pop star and an actual cartoon character, fired rockets at the ship and disabled its shield. They kept firing, and the Shard dropped from the tractor beam and landed on the floor. The pulse from the shard made the jetpack and the gauntlets disappear, disarming everyone in the vicinity. From this point, Aru could only watch the ensuing battle of the two titans in front of her.

A short trash talk between the monarch and the man occurred before both of them started blasting each other. The Ice King used his magic to freeze his opponent, while The Foundation used his armored augments to escape the cold blasts, leaving icicles in its wake.

The two had a back and forth, flying in front of the building until The Foundation got pinned on an icy structure.

The Ice King taunts, raising his blade to finish the armored man off. Said man broke free from the icy clutches with a shockwave blast and he began using his technology to levitate the shard around.

It worked, and he uses the shard as a wrecking ball, smashing nearby buildings in the process. The Foundation then successfully hits The Ice King twice, sending him flying.

The Ice King recovered, and the two were locked in an aerial duel. The King uses his sword while The Leader uses the shard as a shield, parrying and blocking the sword.

The two eventually were locked into a stalemate, and the Zero Point energy from the shard fueled the sword's power, encasing the blade into a giant beam of light before the king slams it down, slicing through the island's landmass like a certain electric goddess.

The Ice King charged at the Foundation to stab him with the sword, and the latter blocked just in time as the sword impaled itself within the shard. They both went into freefall and had a rough landing, with the shard bouncing on the floor. The sword that impaled it disappeared into a sea of bright butterflies, before it pulsed for a moment.

Aru's soul was ejected from the woman's body, causing the green-skinned woman to fall to the floor. Aru was herself again, pink hair, horns and all before she felt her soul getting pulled somewhere. More specifically, she inhabited the Ice King's body, and she had no time to panic. The king immediately charged at the armored man, with Aru subtly influencing the monarch's actions as he punched, pummeled and fought his way.

During the fight, The Foundation tossed a truck towards the Ice King, and Aru's soul were both confused and terrified. She saw a banana on the truck's dashboard, seemingly waving and behind her was a gigantic cavern that the Ice King carved. She decided to let the king jump up from the truck and watched as the truck exploded below, letting The Foundation have an opening to punch the king to a stone wall. The king retaliated by repeatedly slamming the man on another stone wall and skidding him up to the sky. The king charged again through another building, with both landing on the floor. The Ice King landed a nasty elbow shot to The Foundation, shattering his helmet. The armored man tried to fight back and grab his crown, only for the Ice King to freeze his foot. The Foundation went for another punch, and the King froze him again.

The king stepped back and reveled in his handiwork, watching as his power grew. The man was still not giving up, but the king placed his hand on The Foundation's throat and truly froze him solid.

The Ice King then faced his benefactor, and told him the deed has been done and the Foundation has been disposed of. The Dark Voyager, however, had other plans.

His benefactor dug into his body, and absorbed his essence onto himself by turning the Ice King into tiny golden cubes. Aru could only watch the event unfold as she found herself back in the green-skinned woman's body, the irradiated blood flowing through her veins again.

"Whoa…! I'm… her again!" Aru thought to herself, before she was pulled up to the sky thanks to the Zero Point reforming under the ship's beam. The orb spun faster and faster as the ship's laser beam became thicker. She was then flung into the sky and saw the island distort before her very eyes, cycling through multiple versions of the same island.

Throughout the chaos, she heard a voice echoing through.

"The Zero Point… It knows me…" A female voice said, followed by a sinister laugh. "RUN!" The woman said. A bright butterfly flew towards Aru's direction, and she reached out to it, letting it rest on her gloved hand. "Come find me."

The butterfly transformed into the Ice King's blade, and she held it out towards the sky, just like what the king did earlier. She held it out and charged it, before diving towards the ship. She used her gamma-enhanced strength and the charged blade to cleave the ship clean in half. She turned around and saw a brand new day for the reformed island, the sun shining once more. The Infinity Blade dissolved into bright butterflies, and one of the orb's tendrils brushed towards Aru's green form, sending her mind elsewhere.

---

Chicago

Lincoln Park

Day ??

Aru took a deep breath, a tattered yet instinctive need to breathe breathe please let me breathe pushing her to inhale as much air as possible. She filled her lungs until they hurt, stubbornly keeping the sweet, sweet oxygen and nitrogen and argon and so many other beautiful atoms inside until her prison of flesh eventually yielded and forced Aru to release it all out.

She looked into the mirror, amber eyes staring back at her with a mix of longing, resentment, exhaustion and stubborn defiance all mixing together in an emotional storm hauntingly familiar. With her long pink hair, pale skin and exotic features from her mixed Japanese-American heritage she could be the perfect muse for a hundred painters and a thousand poets. She had been, once. Once.

"Enough. I need to get myself together." She was Arabelas of the Lammasu, who once weaved humanity's knowledge and potential when the universe was young. Rebel she may be, forsaken by her Creator, but she will never allow herself to forget her true nature. The truth was tarnished and concealed? Then she'd find it and polish it until it shined as brightly as it once did.

She had damaged Creation already enough. Now it was time to atone for her misdeeds. If she must do so as Rikuhachima Aru instead of Arabelas, then so be it.

Aru turned on the faucet, letting water fill the sink by one quarter. The Lore of Storms sang through the patterns of her soul, commanding the water to rise into the air and flow over the surface of her face. Avoiding her eyes, nostrils and mouth, creating the impression of a translucent mask, the cool liquid rubbed and cleaned her skin until it was spotless. It did the same to her hands, then Aru let the water go back into the sink.

The Lammasu adjusted her suit, making sure there were no stains or wrinkles, and finally left the bathroom. Rays from the afternoon sun filtered through the partially lowered shutters of her office, casting it under a tasteful semi-shade. Aru had spent a few weeks and the majority of her limited funds to give it a posh but professional appearance, going as far as to purchase the desk from an antique dealer. A necessary sacrifice, she reminded herself, no one took a group of young women working as private investigators seriously unless they proved to be exceptional and looked the part.

Kaolael was sitting on the couch below the window, resting her upper body in the shade while allowing only her legs and cellphone to be illuminated.

"Boss." The Halaku raised her head, black eyeliner making her naturally pale skin look even more ethereal. What did humans call it again, geth style or something? "Old man Thompson will die soon. Tonight or next morning."

"A pity. You want to keep him company?" A slight, wordless nod was the answer. Aru thought about it: they had no active cases at the moment, and while she was waiting for some of her contacts they weren't the type to call her during the night. "Alright, you can go, Kayoko. Just stay ready in case of an emergency."

The door opened, allowing Mutsumana and Haruka to walk inside. Like usual the Annunkai was in high spirits, grinning impishly as she waved the human forward before closing the door that led not to the corridor outside, but a remote alleyway on the other side of the city. "We're back Aru! Got the payment and all, let's buy ice-cream!"

"H-Here, Lady Aru. Everything you demanded is inside, I counted it f-five times to be sure." Haruka reverently held out a briefcase to Aru, keeping her gaze lowered but occasionally sneaking a brief glance as if doing something naughty. Her soul burned brightly with Faith, all of it devoted solely to Aru as if the Lammasu's mere presence immediately fixed everything wrong with this broken world.

It felt good, to have a mortal look at her like this once more. Aru ignored the small inner voice reminding her she already failed such expectations once and took the briefcase. "Good job Haruka. Yes Mutsuki, you can have ice-cream… after we set aside the money for the bills."

She forgot who among her siblings invented the concept of money, but she had some choice words for them in the case their paths happened to cross.

---

Aru sat up from her bed, slowly waking up from what seemed to be a very long nap. She looked around, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she was now back at the office.

She then felt a hug from behind, not knowing who it was.

"Aru's awake!" Kayoko was the first to notify everyone, holding on to her for dear life.

"Aru-samaaaa~!" Haruka rushed towards her, and hugged her tight. "You were the only one who came for me… I don't want to lose you…!" She sniffled, crying tears of joy. Mutsuki hugged Aru, joining the pile.

"Everything felt so real… It's like I lived through multiple versions of myself." Aru muttered, calming down and reveling in her friends' embraces. Everyone broke off, and let Aru breathe.

"What happened?" Aru asked, "The Supercube activated, and you fainted shortly after it blew up. It has been a day since you fell into a short coma." Kayoko declared.

"…What?!"