*Earlier that day*

"So this is where Trick is hiding out?" I looked up at the abandoned building. Calling it a building was a bit of an understatement. It had more in common with an abandoned industrial zone. It looked as if it had been left to rot for years, rust settling in deep into the structure's walls, even as snow flittered in through the air.

It certainly looked imposing no matter how you cut it. Of course, a metal building with busted windows and parts of the wall falling off wasn't what I could consider to be the best place to set up shop. Even without Lowee's cold, this place was far from ideal as a command center. Sure, nobody was going to come to bother you unless you knew they were there. But did you want your soldiers and equipment to be exposed to the elements that much?

Unless they were in the basement, which still wasn't going to be ideal when it came to a hiding spot.

But it wasn't as if they could just get a much better place to hide out within city limits, either. That was part of what made the ASIC so annoying to deal with. They preyed on vulnerable people, then skulked on the outskirts of society, inducing more decay and bringing more hardship onto areas already struggling from other issues. This area differently looked as if it had been abandoned wholesale.

The isolation at least was good for our purposes. If we needed to break out the big guns, we'd be able to do so without much fear of collateral damage. Which had always been one of my bigger concerns about the ASIC. There was an ever-present chance of crossfire when it came to dealing with them, so I'd rather have that distance. Fewer people getting hurt that way.

"Some people we had keeping an eye on the place have said so," Ram said, smiling. I chuckled slightly. The move was smart. Using law enforcement to scope out the area was always a smart idea, as was doing a stakeout. Intelligence was critical in conflicts like these, and the side with the most knowledge tended to be the side that won.

"That's, pretty clever, actually," I heard IF say. Rom and Ram grinned, smiling between themselves.

"Very smart. Good idea, you two," I praised. A bit rudimentary, but there was something to be said about keeping a plan simple. Ideally, this would scratch one of the Lieutenants of the ASIC from the board. Sure, it wasn't Judge, a thorn in my side I'd love nothing more than to pitch into a volcano.

But it was a start. Even if Trick were the weakest of the bunch, arresting or defeating him would prove to be a solid swing in momentum, especially in Lowee, which has had many problems with the ASIC in the past. Removing one of the ASIC's central leaders from the board was going to throw the local branch into chaos. Putting our enemy on the back foot was always an advantage for us.

Stepping inside revealed one thing. Plenty of monsters. Well, if nothing else, that was to be expected.

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"So the trap was a bit obvious in hindsight," IF muttered, ducking behind cover as a monster went flying.

"MY LEG!"

That hadn't been Trick's voice, though Nepgear wasn't sure whose it was. It didn't sound like anyone she was familiar with. Hinum on the other hand, seemed to be a few steps removed from frothing at the mouth.

"WHARH!" CLANG! Now that was likely Trick. Hinum hitting his head, that was. Nepgear wasn't sure if Hinum had run out of arrows, or was simply too angry to even attempt to use them, as weird as such a thought was.

Then again, given how angry she was, clubbing everything that seemed to come into arms reach might have been a blessing in disguise.

"What even is the FBI thing anyway?" Compa peaked over the rubble.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with law enforcement from her world?" Nepgear guessed. Hinum made several remarks that led her to believe that.

"At least if she thinks the whole Candidate thing is something that is supposed to be kept under wraps, she hasn't revealed that yet!" IF shouted, and while the statement was true, it was also one that caused concern for Nepgear.

Hinum had the idea that the two were separate, or at least, were meant to be. While this was true to an extent, Hinum took it to a completely different level. And from what she had seen, the cover should have broken from the start. Hinum had issues transforming, or, at the very least, remaining in control when her emotions were running high. They'd all seen it.

This? This was a little more than just high emotions.

Hinum was enraged. Not annoyed. Not even angry. She was clearly beyond that point. Nepgear peaked up at the sound of a loud crack, Trick's round body crashing into one of the walls. He was nearly embedded into it as Hinum drove the weapon into his chin, greenish lightning crackling around her.

Was she able to hold it off? Or was this something new?

Trick's tongue suddenly lashed out, wrapping its way around Hinum's bow. With a roar, Hinum pulled, using the weapon to swing Trick into the air and through a piece of cover, shattering it completely.

Still, that wasn't what she was looking for. She was looking for Rom and Ram. Despite their brainwashed state, even they seemed to get out of there the moment Hinum started laying into Trick.

Even despite Trick's orders that they help him.

In all honesty, that was yet another error on his part. Ordering children to act as his living shields? Hinum was already on the cusp of losing it. Giving that type of order? Even if Rom and Ram hadn't been scared off, it wouldn't have helped Trick much anyway. It wasn't likely Hinum would have hurt the two. Even in a blind rage, that just wasn't the type of person she was.

Find a way to get them out of the fight? That was a different story.

But if they could just break the brainwashing, then that would at least solve part of the problem. And maybe help Hinum calm down just a bit.

Crash!

The tiniest of bits. But it was a matter of finding the two in the den of utter chaos as Hinum's rampage against Trick continued unabated.

What was most alarming was the sudden loud thump right next to her. Nepgear turned her head, half-expecting some forlorn body part that had been divorced from its owner's body.

Instead, it was something considerably worse.

"You!"

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"You!"

The desired effect of my words was for her to turn around and face us. Instead, Linda decided to bolt. I couldn't exactly blame her, as she was seriously overmatched by a lot of people. It wasn't like the monsters up top had done them much good anyway. They were hardly worth the warm-up, and that was me being nice about it.

"After her!" Ram and RED shouted, taking off in impatient pursuit, a sentiment I mirrored. While by this point I figured Linda was too much of a problem to be easily contained, putting in the effort to make sure she was stalled for time was often worth it. Jail may not have been able to hold her, but it slowed her down, and that was more than enough for my needs.

One of these days, I was going to have to find a way to make sure she stayed put after being arrested. But sadly, that was probably going to have to wait until after the ASIC was defeated for good. Without those resources, I'd imagine she'd have a lot harder a time.

Or better yet, just give up the life of crime altogether. It did nothing but hurt herself long-term, and if she just gave it up, then it would take a load off my plate as well.

But that was a pipe dream. I imagined that even if the ASIC was done and dusted, Linda would still find her way into trouble. If it didn't exist, then maybe. But as things stand now? She was going to be a troublemaker. What she might do may be small without the ASIC backing her up, but I had a feeling she was never going to let that grudge go.

But in the meantime, might as well incapacitate her. Linda could be tough and spiteful enough to be a problem. Against everyone, I wouldn't consider it the biggest of problems. But if she combined her efforts with one of the ASIC's heavy hitters? Then things could compound into something that resembled an issue. Combining their powers, even with us as we are right now, could be problematic.

Plus, we were on their turf. Never discount home-field advantage. It could account for a lot. Might as well try to stack the deck as much in our favor as possible. The ASIC would certainly be doing the same. I'd be disappointed otherwise.

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"You!"

The hostility went both ways in this case. Nepgear's finger pointed at none other than Underling herself, who seemed even less amused by the current turn of events.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Underling shouted. "Why did you bring that with you!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"You're the one working with the ASIC! And Trick!" Nepgear shouted back.

"I have nothing to do with him shoving his foot in his mouth and continuing to swallow!" Underling responded. "I'm trying to survive here!"

That was true. They were all trying to survive here. Hinum was not happy, even if she could probably tell friend from foe if pushed.

"I want nothing to do with her when she's pissed off like that!" Underling continued to complain, gesturing over to the chaos as Trick was once again sent flying with all the grace of a dogoo being used as a skipping stone. A groan of pain was only met with a primal scream as Hinum came down from above, driving her elbow into his stomach as deep as it could go.

Given what Hinum was doing right now, that wasn't the most unreasonable concern. But.

"You're working for the people who caused this in the first place!" IF shouted from the other end of the room. That. That more or less covered everything about why Underling was whining. Because she was hardly innocent in all this. Sure, she doubted anyone could have seen this one coming. Hinum could get angry, and even then, it seemed like it would take a lot of push for her. And she had gone well past that point by now.

"How was I supposed to know it would result in this!" Underling snapped."I've been fighting her for years! She normally doesn't act like this!"

Which was obvious. Hinum treated Underling as a joke, and Judge with seemingly more seriousness. She had a run-in with Brave that didn't go well, and this was the first time she had run into Trick.

Which put things at someone Hinum didn't consider enough of a problem, at least, to Underling's face, to even get worked up over her in the first place.

Still, so long as Underling was staying out of things and not trying to swing the fight in favor of her boss, then Nepgear certainly wasn't going to encourage her to act differently. Maybe they could convince her to surrender peacefully after this. They needed to make sure Trick was defeated, certainly.

But it needed to be isolated. Letting Hinum be seen like this? Wasn't going to be good. Even without her transforming, which was still by no means certain, it could cause issues. At least, Nepgear was sure Hinum would think so if she was a bit more rational at the moment.

She put a lot of care into maintaining an image. Or Hinum would be concerned about the political ramifications of all this. Especially if Rom or Ram got hurt. Or both. Hinum would not forgive herself for that and would be keenly aware that something like that would cause issues. Or if it got out that the ASIC managed to brainwash both, which was an alarming prospect by itself.

Hinum would probably be very concerned about that once she snapped out of it.

But they still needed to find Rom and Ram, if only to retreat with the two to a safer distance. That was the least she could do until Hinum started to run out of steam. If that was even possible by this point. It had to be. Someone couldn't be angry forever, right?

Hinum was more than making a case for that though. Something drew Nepgear's eye from the corner of the corner of the room.

Was that? Rom and Ram? What were they doing?

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Being under mind control was a difficult thing to describe. Especially when one had to pretend to act as if they weren't under another's control. That was the most difficult part. So close to what you should be, and yet, far enough away that you can't do anything. Even when you knew something is wrong.

It was its form of madness, yet it was one they could do nothing to stop. Even as their friends went deeper and deeper into the trap. It wasn't all according to plan. Hinum was very good at making sure there weren't any monsters at their back. But it wasn't going to matter once they got to Trick.

That was what the twins had thought.

"Too old? I'm a maiden in the springtime of my …"

The way her voice trailed off, her face frozen as if contemplating something horrible. There was a familiarity to it. One they had seen before. They would watch it in slow time. The tightening of muscles. The shift in expression went from disgust and terror, to complete and utter rage.

They could tell, because they'd seen it before. So, so many times before. It was both comforting in its familiarity, but also terrifying. For the same reason.

Then the storm broke, and the tempest began. A lot of things broke at that moment. The tension, the worry, a portion of Trick's face. Their mind control was a big one, but that was only one thing of many.

One must understand. For the pair of young girls, Hinum could be scary. She was the one who walked up on stage, throwing the ASIC's methods out to where the public could see them. Seemingly uncaring about her losses or her lack of experience.

But at the same time, she was also brave. Immediately picking a fight with the ASIC when so much was on the line. To come in swinging, instead of trying to get as much power as possible. It was strange to watch from a distance. Green Sister didn't seem to play the game as their sister described it.

She never tried to reach beyond her borders, seemingly to focus on dealing with the ASIC, instead of getting shares from the others. It didn't make sense. And yet, it seemed to be working, as Leanbox managed to claw back Shares little by little.

So scary, and cool. In what amounts tended to vary between the twins and the day. Hinum's fights with Judge only cemented matters.

Then Nepgear came along. They were mad, of course, but she wanted to speak with Green Sister as well. For Leanbox's Mascot.

They always meant to go to Leanbox. That was one of their earlier ideas, and they needed to be there before Uni got to the place first. Then Green Sister showed up. Sure, they'd heard about her in passing, but beyond that? Her showing herself took them by surprise.

So they figured why not. They could lay low, and collect some shares while Nepgear found the Mascot.

Then they met her. While Uni and Nepgear could tell she was putting on an act of sorts, Rom and Ram didn't. While Hinum remained potentially scary, and she showed why that was the case, she was pretty nice. She seemed nice, if a bit shady and bossy.

Seeing her again was nice. But for all the reasons they found Hinum scary, it was always the one that tickled at the back of their minds. A subtle familiarity that rested just below the surface. One not intentionally concealed. But a quirk of personality, one brought out in extreme moments. When one had been pushed to the end of their fuse.

The twins were more than familiar with what happened when that fuse was gone.

And the bomb had nothing left to do but explode.

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"We have to do something," Rom whispered carefully, even if she didn't need to. With all the noise, anything she said would be smothered by the violence.

"I'm thinking!" Ram whisper shouted back, trying to come up with a plan. She wasn't sure how they were free now, either Hinum was so scary it undid Trick's control, or she had broken something important.

The reason could go either way. But they needed to beat Trick. They needed to take advantage of this opportunity. Hinum might well do it herself, given the utter beating she was giving him. But Ram would rather do it herself. For several reasons. She wanted payback! If simply for the sake of getting back at the disgusting toad.

And in that moment, an idea popped into her head. It wouldn't work quite like that. But it would let them win all the same.

"Okay, here's what we need to do."

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Nepgear watched Rom and Ram lift off the ground, magic building up in their staves. Trick and Hinum were far too busy to notice, as by this point Hinum was trying to beat his face in with whatever she could get her hands on. Mostly her fists, which were still surprisingly having an impact, if the numerous rents in Trick's armor were anything to go by.

A second later, Trick was blasted out of Hinum's hands, skipping across the concrete basement like a rock on a lake. For a high ranking member of the ASIC, the blow would have been nowhere near enough on its own. But it had not been delivered on its own. Rather, it truncated a one-sided beat down, one that almost seemed to be focused more on being cruel than anything else.

But that seemed to be enough. Trick being knocked aside by someone else, and no longer moving at that, seemed to be enough to bring Hinum to her senses. Her breathing was heavy as she came to a still, almost wincing for either pain, or exhaustion.

"What the hell happened?"