Second Battle and Invaders

The third day of the Tournament Arc was finally upon us. We had two fights scheduled for the day—one in the morning and one in the evening. It was going to be a busy day.

To top it off, I was designated to go pick up snacks for today. Our match wouldn't start for another half an hour, so we had time to get something to eat.

"Maybe we should have someone get some snacks!" Shin-san had casually suggested. Then the debate started. Who would be the one to get the snacks?

Tanaka-san was the one who suggested a game to decide. We would show Shonen protagonists' silhouettes and guess who they were, a game clearly in his favor. Surprisingly though, the others went along with it.

Needless to say, I lost. Tanaka-san quickly got the lead in the competition. Shin-san and Osana-chan surprised me, though. I thought I would at least hold my own against them.

I let out a deep breath as I started my walk back to the pod. A cola for Tanaka-san, a fruit cup for Shin-san, a corn dog for Osana-chan, and so much more, they had bombarded me with their orders. It was to the point where I held two full bags in each hand as I struggled my way back to our spot.

In this state, I walked with shaky legs when a voice called out to me.

"Look out!" someone shouted. It was pointless, though. Seconds later, no milliseconds later, they crashed into me. I went tumbling to the floor. Everything went down with me. The snacks crashed into the floor. The drinks spilled all over it. I could only look at the mess with a helpless expression painted on my face.

"Oh no! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" the voice behind me said.

I turned around to see a crying waifu. Large tears were rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed.
Her head was covered with unkempt, messy hair.

"It's so tragic! All you were doing was walking there, and I ran into you! I'm sorry!" she cried.

"Um, don't worry about it. It was an accident." I wasn't sure what to say. I might have tried to chew her out under normal circumstances for not watching where she was going. With her sobbing like this, however, I didn't have any heart to yell at her. I looked away awkwardly and rubbed the back of my head.

"Don't get cocky, you bastard! I'm not sorry at all!" The waifu suddenly said.

Taken aback, I took a step back and turned to look at the waifu. Her tears had stopped. It looked like she had never been crying in the first place. Her arms were crossed, and she avoided looking directly at me.

This waifu had long, wavy brown hair. She wore a simple school uniform and had a bass strapped to her back. She made a sneer at me. I think my face made several expressions as I tried to comprehend the mood change.

"Well, I probably should go..." I slowly said. It would just be best to leave at this point.

"Wait! Don't go! I need to do something to make up for running into you!" Her demeanor suddenly changed as she reached out and grabbed my hand. It wasn't just her demeanor, though. Her expression changed so much that it was as if she had a new face altogether. Her wavy hair suddenly became tied into twintails, and I think she was now carrying drums on her back instead of a bass.

That last one had to be my imagination. I shook it off as I gently pulled out my hand from her unnecessarily firm grip.

"Thanks, but it's alright."

"No! It's not alright!" she exclaimed while back in tears.

"Just let me help you out, jerk." Now she was angry again.

I backed away as she flipped her mood a couple more times. She finally took a deep breath and smiled at me. Her hair appeared to now be straight. Her face had been emotional before, but now she seemed remarkably calm. On her back, it looked like she was carrying a guitar.

Either this waifu was a little off, or I just needed to get some sleep.

"I am sorry for knocking you over. If it's not too much trouble, I can give you the snack I got for myself in exchange." I just now noticed, but this waifu held a bag with what I presumed were snacks in it.

"Oh, I couldn't take your food. I'll just go back to the shop."

"Well, the match is about to start, and I think anyone selling stuff went to watch. You probably won't be able to get anything else without going all the way out of the shopping area. I don't mind at all!"

She didn't give me an option to refuse. Instead, she shoved the bag into my hands. I grabbed it hastily to avoid letting it fall on the floor as well.

"Thanks, I guess."

We stared at each other for a moment in awkward silence. As I stared at her more closely, I got the feeling I had seen her before.

"I'm sorry for being so reckless. You can head back; I'll get a staff member to come to clean this mess," she said with a polite bow. For some reason, that is what reminded me.

"You were singing a song yesterday!" I shouted a little louder than I had meant to.

She blushed and turned away.

"Yes, I am hoping to be an idol in the future... Thank you for watching my show..." she said with a shyness that seemed even more strange with the mood changes before.

"So, how was my song!" she suddenly yelled with wavy hair.

"I took a step back in surprise."

"Oh, it was good."

"Really! That's awesome!" Now her hair was back in twintails.

"Well, I probably should be going. I have hungry friends and all." I said while taking a step away.

"No problem! It was great to meet you... uh..." She seemed to want to address me by name, but I did not want to give my name to such a strange waifu.

"Main." I quickly replied.

"Main. What a lovely name." Her hair was straight again.

"It sounds a little weird to me!" Then her hair was back to being wavy.

"Ah! Main! I'm sorry for running into you!" Now it was messy again, and tears rolled down her face.

"Anyway, I'm Muse!" Her hair was back in twintails. She gave her name with a cheerful smile.

"Well, see you," I said before quickly walking away. That was a strange exchange, to be sure.

I took a look into the bag she had forced into my hands while I ran. It contained four onigiri in plastic. Not quite what everyone wanted, but considering everything else was spilled, I guess it would be okay.

I got back into the pod as a loud buzzer went off.

"Juyo-san! Get over here; the match is about to start!"

I had not realized I had taken so long to get the snacks. I set the bag of onigiri down and ran over to look out the window. Sure enough, the match had begun. Raphine was leading the first round today. Her opponent was a large waifu. She had thick, square arms and legs and wore a hat that looked like a square safety hat.

The opponents began their fight. Raphine quickly summoned her golden bow and shot several arrows at the square waifu. Before the arrows could hit, a large chunk of the arena suddenly rose between the two waifus. It kept going until it resembled a short building. The arrows exploded into an array of elements as they hit the wall.

Raphine was unfazed. She broke off in a sprint to run around the large structure that had appeared between her and her opponent.

"Raphine, wait!" Tanaka-san yelled.

"Don't worry, Otaku; I won't lose to a waifu like this!"

Raphine came around the raised building, only to be blocked by another structure. The battlefield continued to morph in this manner until it resembled the main street of a city. Raphine did all she could to avoid getting knocked away by the shifting landscape.

The square waifu finally finished the landscape, and everything settled into place. Raphine found herself on top of one of the 'rooftops' looking down at her opponent. She drew an arrow and fired it. A streak of fire exploded as the square waifu sunk in the ground.

Raphine began to look hastily around at the arena. Her opponent came flying out of the ground from behind her. The square waifu had a band of stoned arranged around her hand like brass knuckles. Raphine was barely able to leap out of the way before the stone hand came smashing into the top of the building around her.

As Raphine flew through the air, she fired a series of arrows at her opponent. The raccoon waifu landed gracefully onto the ground as the square waifu sunk into the stone rooftop where Raphine had just been.

A fist came from the side of the 'buildings' and flew towards Raphine. Or it might be more accurate to say the side of the building turned into a giant fist that was being punched at Raphine. Raphine leaped into the air as the fist flew under her. She landed and began to run down the stony arm to the building.

Her opponent emerged from the arm behind Raphine and tried to strike her in the back. Raphine, however, was ready for the attack and ducked below the strike. Raphine immediately turned her duck into a handstand and grabbed her opponent with her legs. With a simple motion, the square waifu was thrust into the air above Raphine.

Raphine drew her bow and aimed it at her opponent. The square waifu was helplessly flailing around as she tried to get her bearing in the air. The raccoon waifu shot her arrows.

Before the arrows could land, the square waifu was suddenly teleported out. In her place, a short waifu with black hair and a white scarf appeared. She wore what looked like a giant can of tuna on her back. The faces of the tuna were oriented so that they were facing the waifu's side.

"Not good!" Tanaka-san said.

The can on the waifu's back seemed to open up on each side, and two mechanical devices wrapped around her arms from within the can. From there, a cable shot out from one arm, and the waifu was pulled rapidly to one of the buildings. All this happened in the instant before the arrows should have hit, and instead, they just crashed and exploded into the barrier at the top of the arena.

The rest happened equally as fast. The scarf waifu used her cables to propel around the building that had been raised in the arena.

Raphine wasn't able to react. She tried to point her drawn-back arrow at her new opponent, but the waifu swung around the set-up buildings with ease and grace. Raphine began to look all over the arena frantically. Before she realized it, the cable waifu was behind her with a long blade.

Raphine just managed to duck as the waifu swung a sword. The blade passed slightly above Raphine's ears as the cable waifu sped past.

Raphine was teleported out of the arena, and in her place, Junkers appeared. I looked around the room of the pod. Shin-san had called for the switch, with Tanaka-san nodding in agreement.

Junkers immediately took to the sky and started to rain bullets down on her opponent. The cable waifu seemed to be unfazed as she continued to swing all around the arena. In a matter of seconds, the cable waifu was behind Junkers and ready to strike.

Junkers flew across the arena to get away from her opponent. She spun around in the air and fired another barrage at her opponent.

"She has speed, but will that be enough?" I asked.

"Don't worry; Junkers can win this for sure!" Shin-san happily responded.

Junkers flew around the outside of the arena. Then she made a pass over the constructed buildings and released two bombs. They exploded on the stone town underneath.

That should have done it, but the cable waifu came flying up in the sky at Junkers instead. I guess that she used the explosion to thrust herself at Junkers. The plane waifu was unable to respond as her opponent smashed a sword into her side. If Junkers had been an average person, she would have been severely cut. Since she was a waifu, the blow probably wouldn't even leave a mark. Instead, she was thrown across the arena.

Junkers slammed into the invisible barrier. A ripple effect appeared in the air around her as she bounced off and crashed into the ground. She tried to push herself off the ground but ended up falling flat. She was out cold.

The crowd cheered as Junkers was teleported out of the arena. I turned to the group. Tanaka-san was biting his lower lip while Shin-san was rubbing his hands through his hair. Osana-chan looked back and forth between the two before settling on looking my way.

"I'll send out Trash-chan next," I said. I wasn't sure if that was the best plan, but we were limited to who we could send next anyway.

Trash-chan appeared on the field. To my surprise, they did not teleport the cable waifu out of the battle. Junker's bomb had damaged the prebuilt structures, but there was still enough intact. The cable waifu latched onto these buildings and propelled herself back into the air. Trash-chan closely watched the waifu as she swung around.

Then, the cable waifu tried to make an attack; she came flying from one of the buildings at Trash-chan with her sword ready to strike. Trash-chan gracefully leaned back and let the blade harmlessly pass over her as the waifu sped past.

The waifu didn't give up. She continued to swing around for a moment before attempting to strike Trash-chan again. The trash-tier waifu dodged it again. Everyone was quiet as this exchange went on several more times.

"Trash-chan," I finally said, "do you have a plan?"

"Of course, Main-kun," I heard her voice come through the earpiece, "I will take her down with the next strike.

"Perhaps the cable waifu heard her claim. Instead of coming in for another strike, she stopped and landed on a damaged block. They stared at each other for a moment.

The cable waifu shot two more cables, except this time, they were not pointed at a building. They were directed at Trash-chan.

Without flinching, Trash-chan spun and let the cables zip past her body. Before the wires could hit anything, she grabbed onto them and gave them a strong pull. Her opponent was now pulled into Trash-chan's direction as well. Although, it seemed like the cable waifu had wanted such an event to occur.

She was not thrown off balance or unprepared. Instead, she was poised to strike the trash-tier waifu.

Trash-chan was similarly ready to face her opponent. In each hand, a Trash-Whip appeared. She snapped the whips forward, and they wrapped around her opponent's arms. With a tug, Trash-chan pulled herself into the air and flew over the cable waifu.

The cable waifu went crashing into the ground. She was unprepared to hit it, which made her stumble on the landing. Meanwhile, Trash-chan came flying in from overhead. She delivered a kick to her opponent. The cable waifu was down and out.

We all let out a sigh of relief. We had won one round in this match, but we only had Estouls left in reserve at this point.

The cable waifu was teleported out, and in her place, a large waifu was teleported in. She might as well have been a tank. She had a giant figure with a wide and muscular build. In one hand, she held a sizeable two-handed ax, and in the other hand, she held a round shield. Her face had a broad smile as she glared down at Trash-chan.

The large opponent smashed the ax into the ground. It was meant to hit Trash-chan, but she leaped out of the way before contact was made. The ground cracked under the force of the blow, and the arena shook.

Before Trash-chan was able to get far enough away, her opponent swung the ax again. This time Trash-chan leaped above it and let it pass under her feet. Her opponent was ready for such a move and smashed her shield into the trash tier waifu.

Trash-chan went flying across the field and crashed into one of the makeshift structures set up at the beginning. The building crumbled as Trash-chan fell to the ground. She pushed herself to her feet, but she was shaky after that blow.

It was an obvious choice to make a switch. Estouls appeared on the field in the weakened Trash-chan's place. He quickly took to the sky on his griffin.

The tank of a waifu stared up at Estouls. She whipped her shield in the air. The griffin suddenly struggled to stay up as a large gust of wind shook all around Estouls.

Estouls leaped off the griffin and began to fall toward the waifu with his lance pointed her way. She blocked the blow with her shield, and the whole arena seemed to shake. Estouls pushed himself off the shield back into the air and was caught by his griffin.

They flew higher and began to circle the waifu from the sky. She tried to hit them with another gust of wind, but they avoided the attacks as they circled.

Finally, the giant waifu leaped up in the air. She had her ax back, ready to strike Estouls. The griffin disappeared from under him, and the big ax flew over his head. At that moment, he grabbed the waifu's arm and pulled himself up in the air over her. With a steady strike, he delivered a blow to her, and the two began to plummet.

Estouls landed gracefully on his feet while his opponent crashed into the ground. The match was over, and the crowd cheered.

We all gave a sigh of relief at the finale of the match. It was as exhausting to watch as I am sure it was to fight in it. For now, though, we won. I could relax a little.

I found myself grabbing one of the onigiri I had gotten from the waifu Muse earlier. I sat down on the couch and took a bite. It wasn't rice.

My face scrunched up as I looked at what I had just eaten. It had looked like an onigiri, but upon closer inspection, it was not. Someone had made a jelly-filled doughnut look like a rice ball. What sick person would do that? Was that intentional? Did Muse order these on purpose? I sighed as I examined the other onigiri; sure enough, they were all doughnuts. Was this some prank?

 Trash-chan burst into our pod and let out a large sigh. She walked over to the couch and slumped down on it. The others followed in after her.

"Good fight, everyone!" Osana-chan said.

We had some time before the next fight, so our group had all come back together into our pod.

"It was such a close victory!" Estouls said while taking a seat on the couch. He rubbed his chin as if he was thinking about something.

Everyone seemed to be exhausted from the last fight. I suppose I couldn't blame them. I had not wanted to, but they quickly found out about the bet with my mother—mainly due to Trash-chan.

They, of course, had let it weigh in the back of their minds the whole time as the fight had gone on. I could try to tell them not to worry too much, but I know they wouldn't listen to me. At least it was nice to know they supported me with this bet.

"What should we do now?" Shin-san asked while leaning back into the couch. Since we had several hours of free time between our last match and the next, there was plenty we could do.

"I think I'll go out to the shopping area again! There are still lots of booths to look at!" Osana-chan said.

"I'll go with you. I heard there is some booth selling waifu items," Raphine added.

"Ooh, I wonder what interesting things they might have!" Trash-chan said while suddenly sitting up from the couch.

"You all can go on ahead; I'm going to watch some more matches," Tanaka-san said as he stared out the window to the field. The officials were beginning to flatten it back to the original state after the battle we had just had.

"I'll stay with Tanaka-kun; I want to watch some matches too," Estouls said. He quit rubbing his chin and locked his hands together as he stared out of the field.

Shin-san looked around the room and shrugged.

"I think I'll go spend some time with my family."

"Oh, I'll go vith you Shin-kun!"

Everyone divided up in that manner, and we went our separate ways. I decided to head down a random hallway and walk around.

We had won that last battle, but it had been close. Based on Estouls' attitude, he must have struggled more than I had realized in that previous fight. Or perhaps he was just worried about the bet. It was hard to say without asking him.

After this whole ordeal, I need to do something to thank everyone. They were all parties to this bet whether they wanted to be or not, and I had not given them much of a chance to weigh in on it. I should not even participate in the first place, but here I was.

I sighed as I continued my walk. I had found myself down a random hallway somewhere in the arena. I think I had ended up going down several flights of stairs, and I had no way to know how deep under the arena I was. It was long and empty, probably something far enough away from the high traffic area's that no one usually came this way.

"This seems like a nice place to relax for a while," I said aloud as I stopped walking to lean back against a wall.

"I don't know; it's empty here."

"That's what is nice about it. I have time to gather my thoughts," I replied before I realized someone else was already there.

I stumbled to the middle of the hallway and began to look in all directions. It was just as empty as it had been a moment ago. I slowly began to walk backward away from where I had thought the voice had come from.

Suddenly there was laughing behind me. I quickly spun around.

A form was slowly floating to me. It was shaped somewhat like a person with their hands behind held out in front of them.

"A curse on you," the ghostly figure said through several chuckles.

The hair on my neck seemed to stand up as the figure continued to get close to me. I shook my head and turned around.

"Well, nice to meet you, but I really should get going."

"Ah, wait!" In a flash, the specter was in front of me. She was suddenly more visible than only moments before and held her hands out as if to halt me. I stopped and crossed my arms.

"Okay, what do you want?"

The figure was a ghost waifu. She had long, white hair tied into a ponytail and a long brown dress. Around the waist of her dress, she had a black belt, and on her head, she had a small brown fedora that sat slightly off to the side. She wasn't wearing any shoes as she floated all around me.

"Hmm, hmm," the ghost muttered as she floated in a circle around me. She finally settled in front of my face. The specter leaned in close and stared at me with large, round purple eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked in a gruff voice as I tried to push her away. My hand only passed through harmlessly.

"Might you be Jupiter Juyo's son?"

I stepped back slightly. The name was one I was very familiar with; it belonged to my deadbeat father.

"What if I am?" I answered cautiously.

"Oh good! I have been looking for you!" she tied to grab my hand for a handshake, but her hands only phased through.

"Should I presume you are the messenger Trash-chan told me about?"

"Oh, Trash-chan! How has she been? I haven't seen her in so long."

"She's fine. She went shopping earlier."

"That sounds so fun. Maybe she can find a real treasure in all those booths!"

We stood, or rather I stood, and she floated in silence for a moment.

"Don't you have a message or something to deliver?"

"Oh right! I do!" she replied as if she was shocked. "Well, let's see where should I begin?"

"Just tell me what is the most relevant information first."

"Okay, let's see. Well, I guess I should tell you about the danger you're in right now!"

I stared blankly at her while she waited for me to react.

"Don't just stop there. If it is so important, give some more details."

"Ugh, you really are your father's son, she mumbled.

I could comment on that comparison, but I decided to let it go.

"Elaborate on the danger if there is any. I already have enough trouble with my mother."

She didn't get a chance to reply, however. The sounds of someone's footsteps were echoing down the hall.

"Ah, I shouldn't be seen! I'll stay close by; just call for me when it's safe next," she said as she began to fade away.

"Wait, you can't just make a vague statement about danger and leave so soon. What is the danger?" I snapped back.

"There is a team of waifus looking to cause trouble. Watch out for them; they should have a vampire and angel on their team." The ghost girl said as she finally faded out of view. About that moment, the source of the footsteps finally came close.

"I told you we should have taken a left turn!" one voice said.

"You've said that over and over. Let's just put energy into getting back."

Two waifus were now in my view. A bunny girl with white fur covered in black and brown spots and a familiar purple waifu that had been with Amplifier only the day prior. They stopped talking and walking when they noticed me. We awkwardly stared at each other for a moment.

"Hey, Antidoton, isn't that the guy who..." the bunny girl asked.

"Yes, Button, it is," the purple waifu replied.

"Wow! It is nice to meet you!" The bunny girl, Button, suddenly took my hand and began to shake it. "I couldn't believe it when I heard someone made a bet like that!"

"Button, don't praise him," Antidoton said while shaking her head disappointedly.

"Ah, don't be like that, Antidoton. Hey, if you win and we have to leave Mr. S, can I be your waifu too!"

"No," I quickly replied.

"You know Amplifier would never let you do that," the purple waifu added while shaking her head.

Button was unfazed by both of our replies.

"Well, I know you would be lucky to have an amazing waifu like me, but you need to win the bet, you know."

I leaned to my side so that I could see the purple waifu behind Button. She just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Juyo-san, she has good hearing but never listens."

"I see."

"Come on, Button. We need to find our way back." Antidoton grabbed the bunny waifu by her shirt's collar and started to pull her away from me.

"Wait! Maybe he can help us find our way!"

"Juyo-san, do you know the way back?" Antidoton asked me without slowing down.

"Not at all," I replied. They continued to walk away.

Now that I thought about it, I really did not know how to find my way back to the main venues. I suppose I should find my way back before our next fight. I sighed and started to walk along with them.

"Yay, are you going to join us?" Button asked.

"We just happen to be going the same way," I replied.

As it would turn out, we were very far from getting back to the crowds. The waifu arena had apparently been built like a maze with a series of chambers and halls littered throughout it. Had I been paying attention earlier, I don't think I would have wandered as far down as where I currently was. It still struck me as odd that the two waifu's I ran into had gotten so lost.

We walked through a doorway into a room that split into three other directions.

"Left," Button said.

"Right," Antidoton said.

"Straight," I said.

We all looked at each other. This was the fifth time we had come across a split and had this debate.

"Should we do the usual?" I asked.

"That was my plan," Antidoton confirmed.

"We should go left!" Button tried to yell.

Antidoton reached into her pocket and pulled out a 3-sided die. She tossed it on the floor. The die bounced a couple of times before coming up reading 'Juyo' on one of the sides.

"Straight it is," she confirmed.

We continued like this until we finally found ourselves going up a long staircase. At the top of the stairs was a large, metal door. It took all three of us, but we managed to push it open and exited out into the shopping area outside the arena.

The door suddenly slammed behind us, and the stone outside of the arena appeared to grow to cover it.

"We made it!" Button yelled as she embraced Antidoton with a hug.

"Button, Antidoton! Where have you been?" a voice yelled out. Unfortunately, it was one I was familiar with.

"Seems I have bad luck today," I muttered as a man walked over to us. He was dressed in a black suit with a red tie and had his hair slicked back. The hair on his face was shaved into a goatee that looked like an upside-down 'T' with two swirls on the side. When he took notice of me, he made a sneer.

"Sorry, sir!" Antidoton said, "We got a little lost."

"Never mind that, I see you brought an interesting fellow with you."

I didn't say anything and just began to walk away.

"You have been giving your mother a lot of trouble, young Juyo," he said. I didn't bother to reply. I imagine he was glaring at me now. I could practically feel the daggers in my back.

The man was known by many names, but the one he introduced himself to my family with was Mr. Stage. He was an infamous character among those that knew him.

He would go around and advertise himself as a Waifu War Coordinator. He would find waifus with the potential to grow in the Wars and introduce himself to the people that had partnered with them. He claimed that he would get a waifu to grow at least one tier or give money back.

He certainly helped a waifu grow, but it was with fixed fights and making deals that would benefit him the most. If he saw potential in a waifu, he would make offers for that waifu to partner with him. He would make sweet offers about living in a mansion and living like royalty. In some cases, he would even offer for a waifu and partner pair to join him together. Although, he never took in men or husbandos. Apparently, he wanted to build his harem or something.

Unfortunately for us, we would find out everything about Mr. Stage after my mother had left. To be honest, I don't know how my dad was able to find out that much information.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see Antidoton.

"Sorry, Juyo-san, he would like a word with you." She seemed apologetic enough. I shook off her hand and continued walking away.

Then, I was suddenly face down on the ground with my arm being twisted behind my back and a hand pushing my head down.

"Mr. S would like to speak with you," a calm metallic voice said to me. I didn't have to turn around to see who it was. A waifu named Hally 9K. She was a robot that always accompanied Mr. Stage wherever he went.

"Let go, Hally," I said firmly.

"I'm sorry, Juyo-kun. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Mr. Stage walked over and crouched down in front of me. If Hally didn't have her hand on my head, I might have looked up at him, but all I could see was a freshly polished shoe.

"You are such a difficult person to deal with; has anyone ever told you that," he said in a mocking tone.

"Coming from you, I'd consider that a compliment," I said with a chuckle.

He stood up and pulled back his foot for a kick. It was bound to hit my head at this rate, but there was no way out of this.

"Wait, Sir!" Button yelled. He didn't listen but instead chuckled as he began his kick.

"Hey!" A new voice rang out.

Mr. Stage's foot was suddenly stopped. Perhaps that is an understatement. It was suddenly encased in a large block of ice. He let out a cry as he awkwardly fell on his back from the loss of balance.

"Mr. S!" Hally said in a voice that expressed as much concern as her mechanical voice could allow. She finally let go of me and rushed to the aid of her fallen partner. The mechanical waifu kneeled and put her hands over the block of ice. The palms began to glow red, and the ice slowly started to melt.

I pushed myself off the ground and looked over. Raphine was standing with another arrow ready to fire, Trash-chan had a Trash-whip pulled taut in her hands, and Osana-chan was smacking her palm with her fist.

"Are you okay, Main-kun?"

"Don't worry; I've been through worse," I answered as I walked over to them.

Hally had finished melting the ice off Mr. Stage. Her hand rapidly began to let off steam as she reached it out to him. Once he was pulled up, he began to brush himself off.

"Now, who went out of their way... way... what beauties!" Mr. Stage's whole demeanor changed as he looked our way. He suddenly scurried close to us. "Yes, yes, a raccoon girl that does archery, very lovely. And a green-haired girl with... is that a trash motif? Very nice. And lastly, we have another beautiful lady with-" he was interrupted as Osana-chan tried to punch him. She failed as Hally's hand suddenly appeared in front of them to block the blow.

"Ow, ow, that hurt." Osana-chan winced from the pain of punching a metal hand.

Mr. Stage coughed a little as he tried to regain his previous attitude.

"Well, I guess we will talk later, young Juyo. I'm sure I will see you again when we come to pick up your sister."

With that, he and his waifu's walked away. It looked like Antidoton may have looked back and mouthed 'sorry' as they walked away, but it was hard to tell.

"What was going on there?" Osana-chan asked me.

"It seems I have rotten luck with who I run into today."

"Well, what's done is done. Let's go shopping Main-kun! We already found this nice shield at one of the shops and-"

"Sorry, I think I'll head back to the pod now."

The others didn't argue. Instead, they forced a sizeable golden shield into my hands.

"Well, if you're going back, you should take this with you!" Trash-chan happily said.

"We were all tired of taking turns carrying it," Raphine added.

"Sorry, Tai-kun, I thought it would be a good gift for Estouls. Do you mind?"

I looked at the shield. It was a round, golden plated shield with decorative trimming around the edge and a gem in the center. The back had a strap so that it could be held or worn on the back. It was about the size of a maintenance hole cover and probably weighed as much as one.

"Sure," I said while trying not to show I was struggling to hold the heavy shield. I managed to get it on my back, at least.

I left the shopping trio and began my walk back to the pod. Now that I had made it outside, I needed to walk to the arena's entrance and back to the pod, which was up a couple of flights of stairs. Usually, this wouldn't be a problem, but the heavy shield made it more difficult.

At least the walk back inside was uneventful. I managed to get into the arena and started up a flight of stairs.

"Couldn't put it in Trash-chan's recycling bin; they had to give it to me," I grumbled as I climbed the stairs.

"You sure like to talk to yourself a lot. Does that just run in the family?" The ghost waifu had suddenly appeared next to me. It looked like she was lying on her back with her arms folded behind her head as she floated by my side.

"Why don't you help me carry this?"

"Can't. I am unable to touch anything or get touched by anything. Haven't you read the story I'm from?"

"No, but I'm sure I know someone who has."

"Well, now that we are alone again, I'd thought I'd reappear in front of you. A curse on you!"

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. I looked around, and sure enough, the stairs and hallways were empty. Shouts could be heard in the distance; another match had started.

"If you want, I can tell you all about that shield! Trash-chan sure found something good!"

"I don't care; I just want to get it back to the pod." I finished my ascent up the stairs and stopped to catch my breath. I still had to walk down the hallway and climb another set of stairs after this.

"Man, I didn't expect you to be this serious. You know, your dad knows how to have some fun." The ghost girl said as she crossed her arms.

I ignored her and kept walking. Maybe I would be faster after taking this heavy thing off like it was some sort of training. It was a silly thought. I shrugged it off and kept pushing forward.

"Do you have something important to tell me about my father or not?" I asked as I began to approach a corner in the hallway.

"Of course, he left you some written notes, and I need to help you get to them."

"Written notes? Tell me, why can't he meet in person?"

She didn't answer, but it made sense. As I was coming around the corner, two waifus happened to be standing there.

"Are you sure, once it starts, we won't be able to go back?" One waifu was saying to the other.

For once, I recognized the two waifu's that stood before me. The waifu that was speaking was Kaeru Gunner, the waifu that had been on the mug in Tanaka-san's apartment. She had some electric powers, from what I could tell before. The second waifu was Vicky Singer, a tall and vicious vampire. Coincidentally, her show is the one we binged while at Tanaka-san's house. I think I had a self-satisfied smile as I finally recognized two waifus on seeing them the first time.

It was only after a moment before I realized they had someone else standing in front of them—Marigold, who had her arms crossed.

"I already heard you two talking. Please explain what you meant." The two waifus ignored her and continued talking.

"It's too late now; we just have to take out any pests that get in our way," Vicky said to Kaeru.

"Surely we could just play this off as the agent miss hearing."

"Even if we could, she's still standing right there listening to all this. And don't call me Shirley."

"Excuse me, you two!" Marigold chimed back in.

They did not answer her. Instead, Vicky bent down and looked at Marigold in the eyes. In a matter of seconds, she fell over, and Kaeru caught her.

"We will lock her up somewhere in the labyrinth for a while," Vicky said. Then, she turned my way. Her eyes flashed a crimson red as she saw me. "There is another one."

Kaeru turned back to me and sighed.

"We are just so busy today," Kaeru groaned.

"Don't just stand there twiddling your thumbs. Run!" The ghost waifu suddenly yelled from wherever she was hiding. She didn't have to tell me twice. I turned around and broke out into a sprint. At least, that is what I tried to do. The heavy shield made it clear I could not run at full speed.

Even if I could, I don't think it would have mattered. Vicky quickly closed the distance. The ghost waifu yelled out for me to duck, but there was no use in trying. The vampire gave off such an overwhelming presence; I could practically feel like walls were closing in on me as she got closer. I felt her hand grab my shield and shoulder. Somehow I slipped out of the grip and continued running.

A cry came from behind me.

"What's wrong?" Kaeru shouted.

"Shield has divine energy. Damn thing burned me!"

That was great to hear. It made carrying around this heavy thing somewhat worth it. I continued to make my escape.

Kaeru had no plans to let that happen, though. A bolt of lightning suddenly zipped in front of me and turned to block my way. Out of the bolt, Kaeru's form appeared. She pointed a finger gun at me. The handshape was a dead giveaway. I started to pivot my body into a turn as she simply said:

"Bang."

A jolt of electricity hit the shield that I was sure of. The whole thing shook on my back from the force of the impact. Amazingly though, the metal disk absorbed the electricity, and no shock came my way. I had gotten lucky, but my luck quickly ran out.
Due to my sudden spin with the heavy object, I was thrown off balance. The shield may have blocked the attack, but I was helpless as I fell to the ground.

As I tried to push myself up, the shield was ripped off my back. I turned to see Kaeru effortlessly throw it down the hallway. It made a loud crash as it hit the floor.

"That bolt was only enough to stun you. It's not my fault if you hurt yourself trying to block it."

"Thanks for your concern."

I felt myself get lifted off the ground. Vicky had recovered, and now she glared at me with a twisted expression.

"Tai-kun?" A voice rang down the hallway. We all turned to look at who was standing there.

Estouls, who had two large bags in each of his hands, gave us a confused look.

"Tch, more trouble." Kaeru began to walk in Estouls' direction. He gently set down the bags he held and stepped forward. As Kaeru continued her approach, Estouls stopped to look down at the shield that had been thrown down the hall. He picked up the shield and strapped it to his left arm, and then his lance appeared in his other hand.

"Don't worry Tai-kun, on my pride as a butler, and as a soldier, I will take them down."