Harem Hero

The Fix

The armour hangs loose from a pair of metal forks against the back wall of the garage. A deep gash, surrounded by black charring, makes it clear that you had a pretty nasty brush with danger just a few moments earlier. Faust could be serious, it seems. Lala hangs from the front plate like a mischievous animal, poking at the hole with her finger.

"That's a big hole," she concludes.

"I noticed. Faust cut right through the plate using some kind of energy sword."

Mitsuru taps away at her touchscreen tablet, bringing up sheets of numbers and graphs; "Hm. I took readings of it, and our sensors managed to recover some data about the weapon he used. Hot, high energy, and lightweight too. I'm afraid the conclusion is fairly simple. We don't have the technology on earth to construct a usable material that can resist these forces."

"It's lucky that I managed to get out of the way then," you sigh.

"I feared that this would be the case. The fact of the matter is that for all of my immense genius, there are many things that cannot be done alone. Creating a new alloy would required billions of dollars in research and manufactories."

This is coming from the mouth of a girl that made a dimension hopping gun. Does she mean to imply that the cross-dimensional material was all she needed? The rest of the mechanism must be built from components that she can purchase on Earth.

"So, what can we do?"

Mitsuru adjusts her glasses, "Then we must merely change our battlefield strategy. We must do everything we can to tilt the odds in our favour when brute force will not suffice. I've already started working on something new, a module that allows us to modify the composition and function of the armour. Increasing attack, mobility or defence as and when the situation demands. If combined with a diverse group of harem members - we can handle any threat."

Lala jumps up and down on the balls of her feet, "Oh, oh! Form change!"

"Form change?" you repeat.

"Every good superhero changes form!" Lala explains, "At least they do in Japan..."

"According to my research and discussions with our summonees, our fictional, parallel selves created several 'power ups' that took inspiration from the media they crossed over with. I've already drafted some designs in line with that practice. It will provide a very profitab- I mean, powerful selection of alternate forms for you to use."

Mitsuru's intentions are incredibly transparent.

You give a world-weary sigh, "If that's what you think we need to win."

"Lala, can you patch this up for me?"

Lala salutes to Mitsuru, "Roger boss!" She dives into a nearby box of junk and begins digging through them to find what she needs to fix the huge slash running across the front plate. You hope that Mitsuru isn't working the poor girl too hard in the lab when you're away.

"By the way Mitsuru, have you been taking advice from Venelana?"

She smirks, "Of course – why would I not take advantage of such a brilliant mind for business? She's the one who helped me launder- I mean procure the money we earned from the merchandising line, all without leaving a messy paper trail."

"You've been spending more time with her than I have..."

"She is the leader of a gigantic noble family. She's a busy woman. Though that doesn't stop her from asking about you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I would suggest fulfilling your earlier promise of a fine dining date soon, lest you incur her wrath."