Karl's knuckles steamed as he gripped the Ignition dial. The magic circle pulsed slowly on the left side of the Drive Regulator, almost as if it were breathing.
"Well… here goes nothing," he muttered, slamming the dial forward.
VWROOOOM.
A surge of energy ran through him. The pulsating hum of the Erevos Frame vibrated through every joint and panel, blue flame trailing from vents in arcs. Karl expected the air around him to warp, a second manifestation of Azure Overbeetle Mode, something catastrophic, something beyond his control—but nothing happened.
Instead, the exoskeletal plating dissolved in a flash of cobalt light. The beetle-shaped armor shrieked as molten segments collapsed inward. The arm-mounted gauntlets dissipated. The stag beetle silhouette flickered and imploded.
The Erevos Frame's systems whirred as they disengaged, retreating back into the Drive Regulator with mechanical precision. Within moments, Karl was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the Pampanito's metal floor, still radiating heat but now fully human, sweat and steam hissing off him.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 25%
Agnes hovered above him, cyan glow steady, hands on her hips. Her voice carried that sharp, teasing lilt Karl had been missing for months.
"Well? That's… anti-climactic, isn't it?" she said, smirking. "…You revved the dial thinking the magic circle would… I dunno… turn you into some ultimate flame beetle again?"
Karl groaned, wiping sweat from his brow. "…So that's it? That's the magic circle?"
Agnes's cyan glow flickered, then brightened, her tone rolling back fully into her confident, cheeky personality. "…Yup. Nothing more, nothing less. It's just an indicator. It tells you: 'Hey, Karl, you hit 50 percent Vythra—here's your window for Azure Overbeetle Mode.' Too low? You rev it, and… poof. Back to human."
Karl pinched the bridge of his nose, steam hissing off his shoulders. "So all that anticipation… all that 'waiting for something to happen'… just… untransforming me?"
"Exactly," Agnes replied, hovering closer. "…And congratulations, mister, you burned half your Vythra doing it." Her voice had that sly undertone, teasing but informative. "…You're officially at 25 percent. That's the limit. No more beetle armor until you recharge."
Karl let out a low growl, leaning against the wall, feeling the residual heat from his battle melt away slowly. "…Perfect. Just perfect."
Agnes tilted her holographic head, floating to his side. "…Hey… don't look so miserable. You survived a tidal wave of demons, melted half the bridge, and still didn't burn down the Pampanito. That's… impressive."
Karl's lips twitched, a reluctant smirk forming. "…You're rubbing it in, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," Agnes replied, rolling her shoulders like a general surveying the battlefield. "…But don't worry. Next time, keep your Vythra above 50 percent before revving. The magic circle will work properly, and maybe you'll finally get your blue beetle show again."
Karl chuckled dryly, allowing himself to relax against the wall. "…Fine. I'll remember that. For now… we survive. And you, you stop teasing me before I roast you in real fire."
Agnes laughed, fully back to her confident tone, the shy, nostalgic girl nowhere to be seen. "…Oh Karl… you say that like I'm not already immune to the Royal Azure flames."
The hum of the Pampanito filled the room. Steam hissed around them. The blue motes from the previous battle floated lazily in the air, like tiny stars.
The spinning magic circle remained faintly visible on the Drive Regulator, slowly pulsing, a quiet reminder that next time, Karl could unlock it fully—but only if he managed his Vythra better.
And for the first time since the bridge meltdown, both Karl and Agnes allowed themselves a moment to breathe, the tension of battle slowly settling around the still-steaming, scorched metal walls of the USS Pampanito.
Karl stared at the interior port hallway… then past it… then through the reinforced glass window on the opposite wall…
And froze.
Completely froze.
"…no way."
Agnes blinked beside him. "Karl? What's wrong—"
"No. No way. NO. WAY."
He staggered forward, hands slamming against the window.
There it was.
The USS Pampanito.
Pristine. Intact. Floating in its drydock like history's proud old man refusing to die.
Karl's jaw dropped open with a tiny, squeaky inhale.
"Agnes," he whispered. "Agnes… do you know… what this is…?"
Agnes hovered awkwardly. "…A submarine? A place? A rusting metal tube that almost became modern art thanks to your fire—?"
"It's a WWII Balao-class submarine museum, Agnes."
His voice trembled like he'd just found God.
"It's BEAUTIFUL."
Steam curled off his clothes as he pressed his face against the glass like a starving orphan at a bakery.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my GOD— Agnes—AGNES—"
He spun around, grabbing her shoulders though she had no shoulders.
"TAKE A PICTURE OF ME."
Agnes blinked. "…excuse me?"
"With the visor camera! The HUD lens! The auto-framing selfie mode! The—THE MEMORY ARCHIVE!"
Agnes hovered back, flustered by the sudden intensity. "K-Karl— you're at twenty-five percent Vythra— you shouldn't—"
"Ksshhhhh—EXCUSES!" he hissed, waving her off.
"This is HISTORY. This is AMERICA. This is—"
He pointed dramatically.
"—A museum I never got to visit before the world went to SHIT! Agnes, do you HEAR ME? This is my ONE CHANCE."
Agnes bit her lip, turning her glow aside.
"…Karl, you're… you're literally melting the floor while talking."
Karl looked down.
"…I'll stand still for the picture."
Agnes exhaled through her metaphorical nose, re-centering herself.
"Okay. Fine. I'll… I'll deploy the visor."
Karl lit up.
"YES."
"Except…"
Her glow flickered.
"…uh… you can't."
"…come again?"
"There's no partial summon for the Frames."
She held up two glowing fingers.
"It's either:
A) Rider Frame, full transformation, armor out, HUD available
or
B) Human form, no armor, no HUD, only nanite manipulation."
Karl stared.
"You're telling me… I can't just… visor-only transform? Like just the head? Like a hat?"
"No."
"What about helmet? Just helmet?"
"No."
"Eyepiece? Monocle??"
"NO."
"AGNES. PLEASE. I NEED THIS. I need a photo with this submarine."
Agnes finally snapped, voice slipping fully back into her regular tone — direct, crisp, 0% shy.
"Karl.
You are inside a damaged port.
You are steaming like a volcanic geyser.
And your Vythra is at twenty-five percent.
If you transform again, you'll drain even faster, and you already can't maintain Azure Overbeetle Mode… and you could collapse!"
Karl absorbed all of it.
Nodded.
Then said:
"So, if I transform super quick, like three seconds, we can take a really fast selfie—"
"KARL."
"I'll pose FAST—"
"KARL."
"Three seconds Agnes I SWEAR—"
"K A R L."
He pointed at the Pampanito again, tears forming in the corners of his steam-dried eyes.
"Agnes… please… let me have this."
Agnes groaned.
The sound of a woman who realized she is spiritually married to a disaster.
"Fine…" she whispered.
"But only ONE transformation. And if your Vythra drops below twenty percent I'm forcibly ejecting the frame."
Karl clenched his fist.
"YES. LET'S GO. TOURISM MODE."
Agnes hovered, muttering.
"…I swear to the Primordials… you are going to die one day not because of demons… but because you wanted a picture next to a goddamn museum…"
Karl ignored her, spreading his stance.
"Erevos Frame—!"
"WAIT—" Agnes squeaked. "AT LEAST MOVE AWAY FROM THE—"
FWOOM—!!!
A burst of blue flame shot upward as Karl transformed right next to the corridor wall, blowing a perfect silhouette of his pose into the metal plating like Looney Tunes.
Agnes shrieked. "KARL!!!"
Karl, now fully suited in Rider Frame with visor glowing, posed with a thumbs-up.
"OKAY—PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE—GO GO GO—TAKE IT—!!"
Agnes snapped it instantly through the HUD.
The visor beeped.
PHOTO SAVED TO MEMORY ARCHIVE — SUBMARINE MUSEUM TOUR #1
Karl pumped his fist.
"YESSS!! WORTH EVERY DROP OF VYTHRA BABY!!"
Agnes checked his readout.
"…you dropped to twenty-four percent in eight seconds."
Karl froze.
"…ah."
The armor immediately began auto-retraction.
WHSHHHHHHH—
Metal plates folded back, the blue flame extinguished, and Karl dropped back into human form — exhausted, ragged, and now clutching his ribs.
Agnes sighed, drifting beside him.
"…Are you happy?"
Karl, sweating, steaming, and nearly collapsing, whispered:
"Agnes…
my beloved nanite wife…
I have never…
been happier in my entire life."
Karl mumbled it half-dead from heat exhaustion, leaning on the melted bulkhead
"Agnes… c'mon… help me out… you're my beloved nanite wife…"
Agnes froze.
Her entire hologram blinked cyan → white → cyan, like a computer experiencing emotional lag.
"W-W-W-WIFE!??!?!"
She clapped both glowing hands over her face.
"KA—KA—KARL!! You— you can't just— just SAY THAT OUT LOUD!!"
Karl blinked slowly.
"What? You're literally in my bloodstream. That's basically marriage."
"THAT IS NOT HOW RELATIONSHIPS WORK, YOU— YOU HEAT-STROKED AUTOMOTIVE GREMLIN!!"
She was trembling so hard her hologram fuzzed at the edges.
"I—we—we're— we're dating!! Not— not— wife level!! You can't just SKIP EXPANSION PACKS!!"
Karl shrugged, still steaming like a dying kettle.
"Slip of the tongue. Or subconscious desire. Who knows."
Agnes stopped breathing—if AIs could even breathe.
"…S‑Subconscious… desire…?"
Her glow softened into a shy, fluttery shimmer.
"Karl… you can't just say things like that… you'll make my data crystallize…"
He leaned his head back against the wall, eyes half‑closed.
"Is that a yes or no?"
"NO—!! I MEAN— YES—!! I MEAN— DON'T ASK ME THAT WHEN YOU'RE MELTING—!!"
She covered her face again, glowing like a blushing lantern.
"Come on, tourist boy. Let's get inside before you actually pass out."
Karl nodded weakly.
And together they limped farther into the Pampanito base — one exhausted engineer, one exasperated nanite girl, and one priceless submarine selfie stored forever in the visor archives.