"Well, this ought to be interesting," Leo remarked.

They had gathered in Leo's lab, a clean, technological fortress fo sorts confined to one large room. Hugo waited patiently on the lab table as Leo brought up some information on his monitor.

"A quick job is possible," Leo said. "But I probably won't be able to install any safeguards, among other things. The G-Stone usually needs to expel energy to divert power throughout the Brave Robots, as well as protect them. If we're going to set up a workaround, I'm going to need you to tell me everything I need to know."

"No problem," Hugo said.

"So that means I'm going to need total concentration if I'm going to get this completed," Leo said, casting a look at the group.

"Wait a moment," R.D. said, holding a hand up to stall the doctor. "You said that the G-Stone has to expel the energy, right? I think I can help you there with something."

He hoped it'd work. Hugo would also benefit from it in other methods. Hugo had once ducked behind him when Core Genesis exploded, as his Dragon King Armor was superior to his helmet.

"What do you have?" Leo asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I can rework the metals in my armor to fashion a new helmet for Hugo," he explained. "The metal that makes up the armor is extremely conductive for energy being channeled into it. You can link it up to the G-Stone and let it help with the energy distribution. Plus, it'll give him better protection than what his current helmet provides."

"Can you do that?" Matt asked.

"If it works, I'm all for it," Hugo said.

Leo nodded. "Fine. You stay here too, R.D.."

"Well, we'll bail and let you get to work," Matt said, backing toward the door. "We might as well pick up something quick to eat. You hungry, Helena?"

"Sure," Helena said. "What about you, Ileyna?"

Ileyna nodded rapidly in reply. "Yes!"

R.D. took the satchel off of his shoulder and handed it to Matt, as it had most of their food supplies in it. "Just don't lose anything important," he said as he relinquished it.

Turning back to the professor, he clapped his hands once. "Alright, let's get started, shall we?"

Time passed. Matt chose to stay as far away from news about the situation as possible. They hit the cafeteria, sparsely populated by GGG crewmembers, and ate what was avaliable on them.

"Let's just ask for food or something," Helena said.

"We don't need to," Matt said. "We brought something. Besides, we're not crewmembers."

Helena sighed, entertaining her sandwich.

"Hey, YOU can ask if you want to."

"Nah, I'm fine."

Ileyna seemed to toy with her food for a bit. "The core's still being moved," she said with a frown. "I can feel it being moved."

"Hopefully they can get together a hack job, then," Matt said. "Otherwise Hugo can't tag along, and he hates it when he can't shoot things."

"How'd you meet up with Hugo, anyway?" Helena asked. "Was it in another world you travelled to?"

"Pretty much. He travelled with me mostly because he wanted some new experiences, and he pretty much hates his family. Well, not ALL of his family, but still."

She smirked. "I don't know he can put up with you sometimes."

"Being crazy helps," Matt said. "Or angry. Hugo is angry."

"Why is Hugo always like that?" Ileyna asked, cocking her head slightly. Her beret once again slipped, and she pushed it back up without batting an eyelash.

"Eh, it's just how he's always been," Matt said. And if there was a reason, Hugo sure never told him. "Then again, I'm sure enough time with me can make any robot abrasive. You know what that word means, right?" She was how old? Had to make sure.

"... not really," the young girl said, shaking her head slowly.

"Ah ha!" Bit dramatic for effect. "'Abrasive' means to be angry and stuff."

"No it doesn't," Helena said. "When something's rough or wears you down, it's abrasive."

"You know what I mean."

"Matt, if you don't use the right words, you're just going to come off as someone who isn't intelligent."

Matt humphed. "Maybe I want to be that way."

"Why?"

"It's the perfect defense. Throw someone off-guard, and when they turn around, BAM! Punch to the kidneys."

Helena sighed.

Ileyna could only look back and forth between Matt and Helena as they got into yet another spat.

"Funny you should talk about that," a voice said from behind them. Ileyna craned her neck around and saw R.D. approaching them. "It seemed to work pretty well for Destroyman earlier today."

"Is Hugo finished being upgraded?" Ileyna asked as R.D. went to retrieve his satchel from Matt.

"Where is that bungler, anyway?" Matt asked. "I assume the authorities took care of him."

"They'd have better!" Helena said. "He was crazy."

"Especially running around in that kind of outfit."

R.D. reached in and grabbed a sandwich, quickly unwrapping it and tearing into it. He chewed a bit before swallowing, and nodded. "Hugo should've been completed by now. Professor Leo told me to come get you guys," R.D. said, before taking another bite. He felt ravenous, and that was only natural.

Manipulating the metals of his armor had been a lot harder than he thought. It took him quite a bit to get the helmet to match both Hugo and Leo's specifications and still retain its capabilities regarding energy.

Ileyna swung her legs up from the bench and turned, standing up. "Come on, let's go see Hugo," she said with a wave of her arms.

Matt spun himself off the bench and pushed off. "Well, that was pretty fast. Must've really been a hack job."

"I just hope it's enough to do the job," Helena said, jamming her curt novel into her sack.

"Same. Let's roll."

They made their way to the lab. Professor Leo must've turned around from his table, because he faced them as the door parted. "Ah! There you are." He looked pretty proud of himself. "Tell me what you think."

He stepped to the side to reveal Hugo, same as before. But, in the space previously occupied by a green cross, a octogonal stone of smooth material sat. It caught the light and fragmented across its surface-nothing blinding, but still polished and smooth. Recessed in the stone was a diamond-like shape, lines broken and rearranged to form a stylistic "G".

"I don't care if they don't like it," Hugo said, glancing at Leo. "I just hope it works."

"How does it work?" Ileyna asked, looking wide-eyed at the crystalline set into Hugo's cap, which she also noticed having a distinct shimmering look reminiscent of the silver-blue armor that R.D. had worn.

R.D. briefly considered answering, having already been informed by the professor of its capabilities, but he figured Leo could explain quicker and better than he could. So he kept silent.

The black-skinned young woman looked up at the diabolical appearing creature, it's four wings spread wider than she could with her arms. As his voice thundered, she closed her eyes as her ears suffered the sound of a entire army. She dug into her mind. She fluttered with her eyes against the wind and blinked at the being. She vaguely remembered reading something in a book about beings with many voices in one; perhaps this was one of those beings? "Are you, perhaps... Legion?" She spoke, recalling the name of one such being.

"Mercy has to go fulfill a role only he can fill," Alasea explained gently. "But the man who came with him warned me. There might be trouble coming this way."

She motioned for the girl to follow her, and the older girl led her over to a walk-in closet. There was a carpet-covered panel set into the floor, with a plastic string handle. She pulled it up, revealing a ladder leading down to a basement. "I need you to hide in here in case something happens, alright?" said the Daughter of Dawn. "If this place gets attacked by an enemy, I'll need you to come here and hide inside. There's light and food and a bed. I've set some wards and shields, too, so anything that tries to come after this will have a hard time getting through, and then they'll have to deal with me."

Maya looked at Alasea with confused eyes. "Are you going to abandon me?" She asked with a soft voice, fear stirred in her eyes and lurking in her posture as she shuffled back from the hole in the floor.

"Of course not," Alasea assured the girl, crouching down in front of the girl. "I'm not abandoning anyone. If the monsters come, I'm going to fight them. But it'll be easier for me if you're down here when that happens, because then I can fight without worrying about you getting hurt."

Maya held her arms around herself tightly, rubbing her upper arms with her hands as she stared with fear at the gaping hole in the floor. "I'm scawed of going dere... Aya says is caustofurobee-a." She said, staying close to the wall. "Can't the othuhs fight the monsties?"

Meta protected her head with her arms and braced herself as firm as she could on the ground as it shook and flashes of black flames soared past her as the being merely laughed, although it laughed loudly and harshly and long. She lowered her arms once it was done with its sudden outburst. Whoa. "Well then, who are you?" She asked the being, her eyes narrowing a little. "I don't recall seeing your picture before."