Chapter 96: Training Ends, 32 Day Sign-In, Full Dive VR Pods, And Return.

Rewinding the clock thirty minutes before Guldrin, Shiro, and Alisa emerged from the mirror dimension, the scene was set for chaos, blood, and revelations.

Inside the warped dimension, the air crackled with energy as Guldrin and Shiro were locked in brutal combat with their respective opponents: Guldrin facing the relentlessly precise and unyielding Yoshimitsu, and Shiro dueling the hulking jaguar juggernaut, King. 

Each clash of their weapons, fists, or anything else they could think of to even the battlefield, sent shockwaves through the dimension, splintering the ground beneath them. Sweat poured, muscles strained, and blood spilled as they fought like their lives depended on it, because they did.

Their countless deaths had punctuated this fact.

It had been a grueling two weeks since this insane training began, but only a fraction of that had passed outside, Letty and Mia should be returning any day now.

 Guldrin and Shiro's bodies bore the phantom scars of countless battles, their spirits frayed but unbroken. 

Neither Guldrin nor Shiro had achieved the ultimate prize of wings, the sign of their mastery, at least to them, the lack of wings was more important, but that didn't deter them. 

Instead, they pushed harder, their determination fueled by the thought of surpassing their limits.

And surpass they did. To give a reference, both Guldrin and Shiro could most likely one-shot the hulking zombie that nearly killed Guldrin in the past.

Death brought them many boons, they just hadn't realized it yet, due to fighting forces that could toy with them like children.

Despite their countless defeats, Guldrin and Shiro had begun to show signs of progress, a faint glimmer of hope in an otherwise soul-crushing training regimen. After what felt like an eternity of being pounded into the dirt, they'd finally managed to inflict a fraction of real damage on their opponents.

Yoshimitsu, the mechanical terror with a penchant for theatrics, now moved with a sluggishness that suggested some of his parts were due for an oil change. 

Dents marred his once-pristine armor, and sparks shot out with each jerky movement. 

King, the towering beast of a man, wasn't faring much better. 

His muscular frame bore deep bruises, and the faint but unmistakable marks of Shiro's claws etched across his chest made it clear he'd been on the receiving end of some feral fury.

Unlike Guldrin and Shiro who died and reset each time, King and Yoshimitsu had been fighting with any accumulated damage they had received.

From her safe vantage point, Alisa watched the unfolding chaos with a grin that could only be described as devilish. 

Her expression was equal parts prideful and the giddy amusement of someone who'd set up a particularly cruel prank. 

Guldrin gritted his teeth, every muscle in his body screaming as he lunged forward, his blade finding its mark with a sickening crunch. Yoshimitsu's mechanical leg buckled under the impact, and the cyborg toppled to the ground with a metallic clang, sparks flying as his circuits protested the abuse. Somewhere behind him, Shiro was a blur of motion, her claws catching King in a perfectly executed counter that sent the massive wrestler crashing to the ground in a heap of snarls and fury.

For the briefest moment, there was silence, save for the ragged breathing of the two young fighters. Then came the slow clap, deliberate and mocking, echoing across the battlefield. Alisa stood perched on a rock like a sadistic cheerleader, her face alight with gleeful malice.

"Well done, little master and little mistress," she announced, her tone as sweet and insincere as poisoned honey. "You've successfully completed the first step of my grand plan to make you slightly less embarrassing to be around."

Guldrin barely had the energy to glare at her. His vision blurred as he stumbled back, his knife slipping from his grasp and embedding itself in the ground. Blood dripped from a deep gash on his forehead, mixing with the sweat pouring down his face. His arms hung limp at his sides, and every breath felt like dragging shards of glass through his chest.

Shiro, though still standing, looked just as battered. Her usually flawless coordination was faltering, her movements jerky and unsteady. One of her arms hung at an awkward angle, and dark stains spread across the tattered remains of her outfit where King's brutal strikes had landed.

They exchanged a glance, desperation meeting defiance. There was no time for relief, no time to bask in their small victories. Their opponents were already stirring. Yoshimitsu's mechanical joints whirred ominously as he rose, his glowing eyes locking onto Guldrin. King let out a low growl, shaking off the debris from his fall, his predatory gaze fixed on Shiro.

"This is fine," Guldrin rasped, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Totally fine. We've got this."

"We're going to die again," Shiro muttered, her voice tight with exhaustion.

"Yeah," Guldrin agreed, wiping his face with a trembling hand. "But maybe we'll annoy them a little first."

Yoshimitsu didn't give him a chance to follow through on that thought. 

With a burst of inhuman speed, the cyborg was on him, his blade slicing through the air with a whistle that sent chills down Guldrin's spine. He barely managed to raise his own knife in time, the impact jolting through his arms like an electric shock. The force drove him back, his boots skidding across the bloodstained ground.

Shiro fared no better. King came at her like a freight train, his massive arms swinging in brutal arcs that left no room for error. She ducked under one swing, only to catch a vicious knee to her side that sent her sprawling. Pain exploded through her ribs, and she tasted blood as she hit the ground hard.

Guldrin was locked in a desperate dance with Yoshimitsu, his sword a blur as he parried strike after strike. Each clash sent shocks of pain through his battered body, and his movements grew slower with each passing second. Yoshimitsu, in contrast, seemed almost amused, his mechanical limbs moving with eerie precision despite their damage.

"You fight well for someone so fragile," the cyborg taunted, his voice distorted and metallic. "But you cannot win."

"Yeah, well," Guldrin panted, his grip tightening on his knife. "I'm too stupid to quit."

With a roar, he lunged, feinting left before driving his blade toward Yoshimitsu's core. It was a move born of desperation, and for a split second, he thought it might work. But Yoshimitsu was faster. His counter was brutal and efficient, his blade slicing through Guldrin's side in a spray of crimson.

Guldrin staggered, clutching at the wound, his knees buckling. He tried to raise his knife again, but his strength was gone. Yoshimitsu loomed over him, the glow of his eyes piercing through the haze of pain.

"You die well," the cyborg said, almost reverently, before driving his blade through Guldrin's chest.

Shiro's scream tore through the air as she watched Guldrin fall, but she had no time to grieve. King was on her again, his massive hands closing around her arm like a vice. With a sickening crack, he twisted, dislocating her shoulder before slamming her into the ground. The impact drove the air from her lungs, and black spots danced in her vision.

King growled, lifting her limp form effortlessly. 

With a roar, he hurled her across the battlefield. She hit the ground with a thud, rolling to a stop in a broken heap. For a moment, she lay still, her body refusing to respond to her desperate pleas to move.

"Get up," she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible. "Get up, damn it."

But it was too late. King's shadow loomed over her, and she felt the sharp sting of his fist as they impacted down on her chest. The world blurred, pain consuming her until there was nothing left but darkness.

The pair groaned in unison, their voices echoing through the broken dimension, as Alisa's laughter rang out like a bell of doom.

Both of them looked up at Alisa as they reappeared in the waiting zone, their expressions hovering somewhere between cautious hope and the kind of weary skepticism reserved for people who tell you they're "almost done" with your food order after making you wait an hour.

"Does this mean…" Guldrin croaked, his voice hoarse and weak, "we can stop now?"

"Maybe heal?" Shiro added, her voice only slightly more composed. "Or... eat? A snack would be great."

"Yeah, a snack, I need food, my stomach feels emptier than ever before."

Alisa's smile widened into something truly sinister, the kind of smile that sent shivers down your spine and made you instinctively check for hidden knives. She didn't answer right away, letting the tension build as she began to pace dramatically, her hands clasped behind her back like a cartoon villain giving a monologue.

"Stop? Heal? Snack?" she finally repeated, her voice dripping with mock incredulity. "Oh, my sweet, naive little dragons. You think this was the end? No, no, no. This was merely... an appetizer."

Both Guldrin and Shiro groaned in unison, the sound a mix of exasperation and pure despair. Guldrin flopped onto his back, staring up at the featureless sky of the mirror dimension. "Of course it's not over," he muttered. "Why would it be? That would make too much sense. And we don't do sense here. Only pain, pain, pain, and maybe… More pain?"

Shiro, ever the more composed of the two, managed to remain standing, barely. "Appetizer for what?" she asked, though the dread in her voice suggested she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

Alisa's smirk widened. "Sadly, I must now show you what true despair looks like."

Alisa stopped her pacing and turned to face them, her grin now so wide it threatened to split her face in half. With a dramatic flourish, she raised her hand, her fingers glowing with an ominous crimson light. 

The ground beneath them began to tremble, and a deep, guttural growl echoed from the shadows. Slowly, a monstrous figure began to take shape, a creature so massive and horrifying that even the absurdity of the situation couldn't dull its impact.

It was a copy of Vritra, the legendary beast that Alisa and Jin had once fought and barely managed to kill. Its scales gleamed like obsidian, its eyes burned with a fiery intensity, and its maw, filled with rows of jagged teeth, opened wide to let out a roar that shook the very fabric of the dimension.

"For now, you must face that. Don't worry, Yoshimitsu and King are done for a while." She waved her hand, and the phantasmal images dispersed and melted into the fabric of the mirror dimension. 

Guldrin sat up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "You've got to be kidding me."

Shiro, for once, looked genuinely alarmed. "Alisa, this is-"

"Cruel?" Alisa interrupted, her tone gleeful. "Inhumane? An absolute violation of your trust and well-being?"

"Yes!" Shiro snapped.

"Good," Alisa replied, her smile never wavering. "Now, fight."

Before either of them could protest, the beast lunged, its massive claws carving through the air with the speed and precision of a guillotine. Guldrin barely managed to roll out of the way, the claws missing him by inches but leaving deep, smoking gashes in the ground. Shiro darted to the side, her movements swift, but not swift enough to avoid the blast of heat radiating from the creature's snarling maw.

"What the hell, Alisa?!" Guldrin shouted, scrambling to his feet. "This thing is insane!"

"Insanely educational," Alisa corrected, conjuring an ethereal teacup from nowhere and sipping from it delicately. "You're welcome. This is what true despair looks like, stare it in the eye and conquer it, or die? It serves the same purpose."

The battle was a massacre from the start. Vritra's sheer size and overwhelming power made their previous opponents look like warm-up acts at a children's birthday party. 

Its tail swung like a wrecking ball, sending Guldrin flying across the battlefield like a particularly unlucky rag doll. He crashed into a jagged outcrop with a sickening crunch, sliding down to the ground in a heap.

Shiro fared only marginally better. She managed to evade the beast's initial strikes, her agility keeping her one step ahead of its claws and teeth. But even she couldn't dodge forever. A swipe of its tail caught her mid-leap, slamming her into the ground with bone-crushing force. She coughed violently, blood speckling her lips as she struggled to push herself up.

"This is... fine," Guldrin wheezed, his voice barely audible. "Totally fine. We've got this."

"Define 'this,'" Shiro rasped, clutching her side where a rib was almost certainly broken.

"Survival?" Guldrin offered weakly, dragging himself upright.

Despite the overwhelming odds, they refused to back down. 

What was another death?

Their movements, though shaky and desperate, were still synchronized, but still pointless when confronting such an insurmountable foe. 

Together, they launched a counterattack, their strikes finding brief purchase in the beast's scales. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though they might actually stand a chance.

Then Vritra, clearly unimpressed, let out another earth-shattering roar and unleashed a torrent of black flames. The searing heat engulfed them, and the world dissolved into pain and darkness.

Guldrin screamed as the fire engulfed him, the heat so intense that it melted the ground around him. When the flames began to subside, he stood there, his body charred but somehow still moving. His regeneration was working overtime, his skin knitting itself back together in grotesque patterns.

When the flames finally ended, Guldrin and Shiro were left standing, barely. Their clothes were singed, their skin charred, and their bodies trembling with exhaustion. And yet, somehow, they were still alive, barely.

"That's it?" Guldrin spat, his voice hoarse. "I've had hotter chili."

Alisa nearly choked on her tea, laughing so hard she fell to her knees. "Oh, you're priceless, little master!"

Shiro, dragging herself upright, joined Guldrin. "We're not winning this."

"Nope."

"So why are we still standing?"

"Stubbornness?"

"Alright, time's up," Alisa announced, snapping her fingers. The beast froze mid-attack, then dissolved into black smoke, leaving the battlefield eerily silent.

Guldrin groaned dramatically as he collapsed onto his back, his body screaming in protest as the phantom pain of his most recent death lingered. The charred remnants of his previous ordeal clung to him like a bad memory, but the corners of his mouth still quirked up in a grin, his twisted sense of humor somehow finding the silver lining in his misery.

"I hate you so much," he rasped, his voice barely audible but laced with mock indignation.

"Love you too, little master," Alisa replied cheerfully, her tone so sickeningly sweet it could curdle milk. 

She loomed over him with her hands on her hips, looking for all the world like a proud parent whose child had just survived their first trip through a meat grinder. "Congratulations! You've learned… something, probably. Now, let's get you cleaned up for Phase Two!"

"Phase Two?" Guldrin's voice cracked as he bolted upright, immediately regretting the motion as pain ricocheted through his battered body. "Please, no. Haven't we suffered enough? I can't even feel my legs, or my soul. Wait… Is it normal to feel your soul?"

"No…" Shiro, ever the picture of composure even in the face of madness, sat cross-legged nearby, cradling her aching arm, and well, everything. Her voice was quiet, almost resigned, though a slight quiver betrayed her dread. "Absolutely not."

Seeing their identical expressions of horror, Alisa let out a laugh that was somewhere between an amused giggle and the cackle of a woman who enjoyed chaos just a bit too much.

"Okay, okay," she said, waving a dismissive hand, though her mischievous grin didn't waver. "I'm kidding. You're done for now. You need time to rest, accumulate your progress, and, who knows, maybe figure out how to suck a little less. We'll be returning to reality in ten minutes. Use this time wisely, center yourselves, stretch a little, maybe rethink your life choices."

Guldrin flopped back down with a groan, closing his eyes. "Center ourselves, she says. As if I wasn't already centered, directly in the path of every sword and fist aimed my way."

Shiro let out a soft chuckle despite herself, leaning back against a boulder. "At least we're alive. Sort of. Temporarily. What is death anyway?"

Silence fell between them for a moment, broken only by the faint hum of the simulated world around them. Guldrin stared up at the artificial sky, his mind wandering until a familiar chime rang in his ears. His eyes snapped open, and his HUD flickered to life in his vision.

"Oh," he muttered, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. "It's sign-in time."

Shiro perked up slightly, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "What is it today? Another useless trinket? Or maybe a sword that breaks after one swing?"

"Funny," Guldrin shot back, smirking as he navigated the system menus. "You'll eat those words when I sign in and get something incredible."

The system's holographic interface shimmered to life before Guldrin, its smooth, futuristic panels radiating an aura of significance. The cheerful, slightly overzealous voice of Emily chimed with the kind of enthusiasm reserved for winning lottery tickets or surprise birthday parties:

"Congratulations on accumulating 32 days and signing in! Today's advanced reward: (Critical Hit!) Two Advanced Full Dive VR Pods from The Legendary Mechanic World!"

For a moment, Guldrin froze, his mind struggling to bridge the gap between what he'd just heard and what it meant. His brain caught up like a slow-loading webpage, and then, bam! 

His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and he shot upright with such fervor that his back cracked ominously.

"Did you hear that?!" he practically yelled, his voice echoing with a mix of disbelief and overwhelming joy. "Advanced VR pods! From the Legendary Mechanic World! Do you even understand what this means?! I mean, I don't know what that world is, but it is VR! REAL FULL Dive VR!"

Alisa, standing nearby and observing his sudden outburst, tilted her head quizzically, her synthetic circuits sparking with curiosity. For a being designed to process and calculate with inhuman precision, even she faltered. 

A noticeable tremor ran through her as the air around them seemed to ripple, and then, bam!, two enormous, sleek, futuristic pods materialized right in the middle of the mirror dimension, as though reality itself had hiccupped and decided to spit out gifts.

"What… Where… How…?" Alisa stammered, her usual calm demeanor shattered. Her voice was filled with something close to awe, or maybe dread, as she scanned the pods, her internal sensors picking up faint traces of dimensional distortions. "The fabric of reality was fractionally torn for a microsecond… This… Little master, where… how? I can't even begin to understand…"

Alisa's bewilderment didn't faze Guldrin one bit. He was far too busy staring at the VR pods like a kid who'd just walked into a candy store with unlimited credit. 

His eyes roamed over the shiny, metallic exteriors, which gleamed under the dim overhead lights. Each pod looked like it belonged in a sci-fi epic, complete with smooth curves, glowing panels, and an intimidating number of buttons. If the pods could talk, they'd probably say, 

"Welcome to the future, peasant. Bask in my ultimate GLORY!"

Shiro, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot, her wide, golden eyes fixed on the pods. Her initial shock gave way to an entirely different emotion, an excitement so pure and unfiltered it made her cheeks flush. 

For anyone who knew Shiro, this was practically an earthquake of expression. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, her fingers trembling slightly.

"This…" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "This is from that novel."

Guldrin snapped his attention toward her, confused. "What novel?"

Shiro turned to him, her expression as close to childlike wonder as he'd ever seen. "I read about these. Back in my world. It was one of the retro novels, a classic. The Legendary Mechanic was the ultimate tech paradise, where everything was designed to push the boundaries of human potential. These pods… They're iconic, they allowed the users to input themselves into the game world. They let you experience simulations so real you forget you're in a simulation. It's like living a thousand lives in one."

Guldrin blinked, his grin widening as her excitement fed into his own. "Oh, really? I don't know this novel but a tech world? Holy! This is going to be amazing!"

Alisa, however, was still trying to process what she'd just witnessed. "Amazing? Amazing?! Little master, reality just hiccupped and burped these monstrosities into existence! You do realize the implications of that, don't you? The dimensional fabric isn't supposed to bend for things like-"

"VR pods!" Guldrin interrupted, throwing his arms wide as if presenting the answer to the universe's greatest mystery. "Beautiful, glorious VR pods. I don't care if reality hiccupped, coughed, or sneezed them into existence. They're here. And they're ours. Besides, this isn't the first time I have been given items from nowhere."

"Technically," Alisa muttered, folding her arms, "They didn't come from nowhere, and it's a miracle these didn't summon some kind of interdimensional debt collector. Do you have any idea how much energy something like this costs to materialize?"

"Nope," Guldrin replied with the unshakable confidence of someone who had long since abandoned caution as a survival strategy. 

His grin widened as he circled the pods like a curious predator, his steps light with anticipation. "And you know what? I don't care. What matters is that we've got these bad boys, and now we get to find out just what they're made of."

Shiro folded her arms, her expression a mix of apprehension and intrigue. "Are we sure they're… safe? I mean, these were built for another universe. They might not even work here. What if they, I don't know, explode or trap us in some weird limbo?"

"Safe?" Guldrin scoffed, dismissing the notion with a dramatic wave of his hand. "What's the worst that could happen? We die? Oh wait, been there, done that. Multiple times, even. And guess what? Still standing! Call it character development?"

Alisa, ever the picture of exasperated reason, sighed, though for her android frame, it was more of a calculated vocalization of synthetic frustration. 

"Little master," she began, her tone teetering on the edge of a lecture, "your boundless optimism would be admirable if it weren't paired with your alarming disregard for basic safety protocols. The only reason you aren't dead from fighting your opponents is due to them being whispers of the past and not the real fighters. These pods are alien technology, disconnected from their intended network, and functioning in an entirely different dimensional plane. The probability of catastrophic failure is—"

"Shush!" Guldrin cut her off, raising a finger dramatically. "You're ruining the moment, Alisa. Just sit back and watch?"

Ignoring the android's robotic equivalent of pinching the bridge of her nose, Guldrin flipped open the hatch of the nearest pod. The interior lit up with an ethereal glow, revealing a sleek cockpit-like design. The chair seemed to mold itself to his form as he climbed in, the soft hum of activation filling the air. "Oh, yeah," he muttered, his eyes gleaming. "This is what I'm talking about."

Shiro, though more reserved, couldn't entirely suppress her excitement. With a mixture of curiosity and trepidation, she approached the second pod, running her fingers along its smooth surface before climbing in. As soon as she settled into the seat, the pod's interior came alive. Holographic panels flickered to life, their soft blue light casting an otherworldly glow across her face. "Okay, this is… kind of amazing," she admitted, her skepticism momentarily forgotten.

The pods' interfaces whirred and chimed, calibrating to their new users with an elegance that spoke of advanced design. But as the seconds stretched into an awkward silence, it became clear that something wasn't right. The soft hum of activation faltered, the glowing panels flickered, and then… Nothing.

"Well, that's anticlimactic," Guldrin muttered, pressing random buttons on the console. "Come on, do something! Fly me to the stars! Open a wormhole! I don't know, just work!"

Shiro frowned, tapping the controls in her pod with a bit more finesse. "Is it just me, or are these things… dead? Like, no signal, no connection, nada?"

From her spot nearby, Alisa stifled a laugh, her mechanical voice betraying just a hint of amusement. "Oh, dear. It seems the little master has overlooked a rather critical detail: nothing can establish a connection inside my mirror dimension. A small oversight, I'm sure."

Guldrin shot her a glare, his expression a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

"Of course," Alisa replied with a smug tilt of her head. "But where would the fun be in stopping you from learning the hard way? Your overconfidence is endlessly entertaining."

Shiro leaned out of her pod, her brows furrowed. "Wait, so you're saying these things can't function here? At all?"

"Precisely," Alisa confirmed, her tone as cheerful as it was condescending. "The mirror dimension is entirely self-contained. No external signals, no interference from outside forces. It's a fortress of isolation, if you will. Quite brilliant, really."

Guldrin groaned, leaning back in his seat with a defeated sigh. "Great. So we've got these amazing VR pods, and they're nothing more than glorified chairs. Perfect."

Shiro's lips twitched, her initial disappointment giving way to reluctant amusement. "Well, on the bright side, they are very comfortable chairs."

"Comfortable chairs aren't going to transport us to intergalactic adventures filled with tech," Guldrin grumbled, though he couldn't entirely suppress a small smile at the absurdity of the situation.

Alisa clasped her hands behind her back, her synthetic eyes gleaming with playful mischief. "If it's any consolation, little master, I'm sure the pods would function beautifully in the proper environment. Perhaps you could take them to the real world, assuming, of course, you don't mind the minor inconvenience of reestablishing their network connections."

Guldrin perked up at that, his mind already racing with possibilities. "You mean we could actually get these working? Like, really working? With all the features and everything?"

"Hypothetically, yes," Alisa said. "Though I imagine it would require a significant amount of technical expertise and resources to adapt them for use in this dimension. But knowing you, I'm sure you'll find a way."

Shiro tilted her head, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "If we can get them running… I mean, think about it. The possibilities are endless. Exploring new worlds, testing our skills, maybe even-"

"Becoming legends," Guldrin declared, his voice brimming with renewed enthusiasm. He sprang out of the pod with a flourish, his eyes alight with determination. His mind was already buzzing with a torrent of ideas, weaving together plans and possibilities like a master strategist on the brink of a grand campaign. 

"Alright, new mission: figure out how to make these bad boys work. We'll need tools, materials, and maybe some help from the shop… and a little bit of genius, luckily, I have plenty of that."

Shiro arched an eyebrow, her skepticism softened by the faintest hint of a smirk. "Right, because your 'genius' totally accounted for the pods being useless in the mirror dimension."

Guldrin waved her off with dramatic flair. "Details, details. The important thing is, now we know what we're up against. Step one: get these out of here. Step two: unleash their full potential."

"To do that, we need to leave this mirror dimension," Shiro pointed out, already standing next to her pod. Her movements were graceful, her fingers brushing the edge of the sleek machine before she expertly stored it in her inventory. The glowing artifact vanished in an instant, swallowed by her inventory feature.

Guldrin paused mid-motion, his hand hovering over the pod he had been about to store. "Show-off," he muttered under his breath, smirking as he watched her seamless efficiency. Not to be outdone, he quickly followed suit, touching the pod to store it inside his own inventory. The process was less fluid and more of a practiced chaos, but it worked nonetheless. 

"There! All set."

Shiro stretched, her hands reaching toward the invisible ceiling of the pocket dimension. "Okay, I think I've seen enough of this place to last a lifetime," she groaned. "It's like being trapped inside a never-ending crystal ball. Cool the first time, headache-inducing after the fiftieth."

Floating nearby, Emily, the feline embodiment of sass and mischief, laughed, a soft giggle that echoed in the pristine stillness of the mirror dimension. Her sleek tail swayed lazily behind her as she observed the duo. 

"Yeah, I think I've memorized what both your insides look like at this point. Give me a toolbox and I could probably rebuild you from scratch."

Guldrin shot her a playful glare. "Har har, very funny. I'll have you know, I'm complex. You'd need an instruction manual for a genius to even attempt putting me back together."

Emily grinned, her feline eyes sparkling with amusement. "Oh, I'm sure there's a manual somewhere in your inventory, buried under all those random things you hoard."

Shiro chuckled, her initial exhaustion fading as the banter lightened the atmosphere. "If we're lucky, we'll get out of here without needing any of those random things. I'm ready to see the real world again, the non-reflective one."

Guldrin nodded, already moving toward the shimmering boundary of the mirror dimension, where Alisa was standing and waiting for them to exit. "Agreed. This place is cool and all, but it's like living inside a shattered screensaver. Time to stretch our legs and get back to reality."

Emily floated ahead, twisting and twirling in the air like a living wisp. "You say that now, but give it five minutes, and you'll be diving into another dangerous project. You two are magnetized to chaos."

"And you love every second of it," Guldrin shot back, grinning as he stepped toward the exit. The boundary shimmered, rippling like water as he reached out to touch it.

The transition out of the mirror dimension was so seamless, it felt almost like waking from a vivid dream. One moment, they were ensconced in a world of infinite reflections, where every move echoed into eternity. The next, they stepped through the shimmering boundary and found themselves back in their workshop, a place that, to them, had always been chaotic but comforting.

Or at least, that is what they excepted, but what they found was a nearly destroyed workshop and a grinning purple-haired woman who claimed to be Guldrin's adopted big sister, Revy.

The familiar cluttered sanctuary of tools, gadgets, and blueprints was… unrecognizable. What had once been a controlled chaos now teetered on the edge of outright destruction? Tables were overturned, and shattered bits of equipment were scattered across the floor like the remnants of a mechanical battlefield. Blueprints were ripped and crumpled, hanging limply from their corkboards, some barely clinging to their pins. The air, once tinged with the smell of oil and burnt circuits, now carried the acrid scent of scorched metal and ozone, as though something, or someone, had gone on a rampage.

They had, oh yes, they certainly had.

At the center of the carnage stood the source of their dismay. A woman with wild purple hair and an air of casual menace lounged against an overturned workbench, grinning as though she owned the place. Her sharp eyes gleamed with mischief, and a cigarette dangled lazily from her lips, adding a faint curl of smoke to the chaos she'd clearly caused.

And that is how we came to the present situation where Revy had taken Shiro's Dominator, and was holding it just out of her reach, enjoying her struggles to retrieve her weapon.

"It's mine," Shiro snapped, trying again to grab the weapon, only for Revy to sidestep her with the grace of someone who thrived on chaos.

Guldrin pinched the bridge of his nose, torn between annoyance and resignation. "Revy, I don't know how you got here, or why, but could you not antagonize my girlfriend? We've had a long day."

"Antagonize?" Revy feigned innocence, though the mischievous glint in her eyes betrayed her. "I'm just bonding with her. Isn't that what big sisters are supposed to do? Who told you to disappear and get yourself a girlfriend?"

Emily, floating nearby with her tail swishing in amusement, chimed in, "This is way more entertaining than I expected. I say let her keep the Dominator for a bit,"

Shiro shot Emily a withering glare before turning her attention back to Revy. "Last chance. Hand it over, or I'll make you regret it."

Revy smirked, clearly unfazed by the threat. "Oh, I like you. You've got spunk. Tell you what, if you can take it from me, it's yours."

Guldrin sighed, muttering under his breath, "This is going to be a long day…"

(Give me your POWER, Please, and Thank You! Leave reviews and comments, they motivate me to continue.)