First of all, welcome to my second fanfic. For this fanfic, I will take in characters from the games that I've played and the animes and cartoons that I've watched(although more anime than cartoon). And since there will be a ton of characters here and there, please bear with me. I hope I got all the characters right. I mean, in the way of their personality and such. And about this fanfic, even though it says "Hyperdimension Neptunia & X-overs", there are actually two mains. The "Tales of" series and the "Hyperdimension Neptunia" series. All right then, enough chit-chat. Let's get this fanfic started.

Update : I've recently found the BGM that I've always wanted to find. Now that I've found it, I've updated the song name, which still has no name, but hey, at least it's available on Youtube. Oh yeah, this chapter is now the first chapter instead of prologue chapter.


In a galaxy far, far away, there existed a system that housed a few worlds. These worlds have been thriving in peace for as long as they existed. But one day, the center of the system is said to be inactive for a short while. But within that time, there was a tragedy. As the center of the system is inactive, the balance of the system has shattered. And so, all the worlds housed in it collided with each other. It was until the center became active again, the balance was restored. But the worlds all have changed. Instead of being destroyed however, those worlds have seemingly merged with each other thus, creating an all new world altogether.

And this is a story of how the world works just after colliding, where the balance of nature is imbalanced. Since this world is a result of the merge of many worlds, the properties are all messed up. And now, the story begins at a random forest where we can see a man lying there, unconscious.


{Chapter 1 : The Lower Quarter Boy and The Genki Game Girl}

"Ugh... Ow..." On the forest floor, there is a man lying on the ground, unconscious. The man has long, black hair. He wears a black, long-sleeved shirt where the chest part is left loose we can barely see his chests. He also have a golden bracelet with a red gem in it in his left hand and in his right, an iron fist. He is now waking up.

"Ow... What...happened?" He takes a look around him to see trees stretching out to God-knows-where. "Where...am I? Argh, ow... My head... My body..." He gets up (with a little difficulty) and saw a sheathed katana lying beside him. He picks up the katana, but rather than putting it around his back, he merely holds the straps on the sheath and lets the sword hang freely. "Now let's see if I can get my bearing..." he said as he shields his eyes from the sunrays.

He walks around for a short distance until he saw an unconscious person lying not far from where he is. "Hey, you're all right there? Not dead, are you?" he called out rather flatly. He walks up to the person to find out it was a girl, who looks about 14. She has purple hair, wears white hoodies with USB strings, a pair of headphones on her neck, short purple skirt, long stockings with purple and white stripes and white shoes. She is lying inside a crater. (Man, can't this girl at least wear pants?) thought the man who shields his eyes after accidentally looked at the girl's visible undies. But that's not what he's concerned about. He's concerned about her safety.

"Hey, girl. Wake up! You're not seriously dead, are you? Hey, wake up!" the man's tone now shows concern over the little girl.

"Ugh... Argh...zzzZZZ"

"Phew. I thought you were dead." said the man in relief. "Hey, can you get up?"

"Aw... Just...five more minutes... ZZZZZZ"

(Even here she asks for five more minutes?) thought the man. "Hey, come on. Get up. We're in the wilderness for God's sake. This is no time to be playing around."

"Aw... All right, all right. This better be important." said the girl, who is finally waking up.

(Finally she wakes up.) thought the man while he sweatdropped.

{1}The girl, upon waking up, is surprised to see the man in front of him. "Whoa, how did a stranger get into my house? An intruder?"

"Wait, what? This is your house!?"

"What do you mean, of course this is my-" She stopped as she looked around to see that she is now in a forest. "...Where... Where are we?" asked the little girl, now looking afraid.

"So you don't know either... I figured so..."

"Wait, you're telling me you don't know either!? Wha- Ho- Whe- How did I get here? I was in my house, sleeping. No. Have I been sleepwalking?"

"Hey, hey, hey! You can't just sleepwalk into the depths of a forest like that. That's ridiculous." said the man as he facepalmed himself. "But same here. I was in an inn yesterday." He was holding his forehead as his head still hurts. "Man, there's gotta be some explanation to this..."

"Aw, crackers! This sucks." said the girl, looking rather annoyed at their current situation. But then the man just walks away in a random direction, leaving the girl behind. "Hey, where you going? D-Don't leave me here."

"Well, what does it look like? I'm gonna go walk a random direction until we find a way out of here. You should come with me. Unless you have a better idea, miss?"

"Come with you? I don't even know you. So, how should I trust you?"

"Now, now, I can assure you, I'm a good guy, kid. Anyway, my name is Yuri. Yuri Lowell. You?"

"I'm Neptune. So, uh... I guess staying here won't do any good, right? Okay, I think I'll go with you for now."

(Well, that escalated quickly...) thought Yuri as he sweatdropped again. "All right then, stick together. I don't want to have to drag someone's butt along on the way out."

"If there is a way out." Neptune continued Yuri's words.

"Thank you, Neptune, for the discouragement." he said rather sarcastically.

"Oh, come on. It's just a peasy-weasy forest. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

*rustlings of branches in nearby bushes*

"That."

"O...kay... This is getting a little bit cliched now..."

*rustlings of branches in nearby bushes*

"You better stay back. I don't want you to get hurt or get in my way." Yuri said in a serious tone as he reached for the hilt of the sword he's carrying. He swings it in such a way that the sword slides out of its sheath and the sheath is thrown to his side, then he lifts it and places the dull-edged side of the sword on his shoulder, getting into his battle stance. "Don't worry, just stay out of the way."

"Hey, don't treat me like I'm a kid!"

"But you are one, you know."

"Maybe, but I can handle myself just fine, you know." Neptune said, a little upset. She then reaches behind herself and magically a broadsword appears in her hand. She brings it forward, uses both hands to balance the weight of the sword, entering her battle stance. "I may not look much, but I'm a AP(Attack Power)-Tank, you know."

"Sure, sure. Hope you know what you're doing." said Yuri while questioning in his minds, (What the hell was she talking about? I wonder if people from where she's from say things like that? But if she says she's a tank, if she really is, then I guess she's all right then?) As he looks around for a possible encounter, more rustlings from bushes are heard. And then, there is this.

*roar*

{2}"Woah, what's that? Some monsters?"

"Yeah, I bet it's a tiger, judging from the roar just now."

And while he's close, he was not far from guessing it correctly as it was a roar, a roar that came from a lion, which then appears in front of them, looking ready to attack.

"Wow, I was close. It's a lion, it seems." he said as he lowers his body a bit.

"Well then, it's time for action."

Neptune is seen standing beside Yuri while there are standing in front of the lion. They are waiting for the lion to make the first move. But the lion is also waiting for Yuri and Neptune to make the first move. So they are kinda in a standstill for now.

"Oh god, when is the lion going to make the first move?" thought Yuri.

"Oh man, when will I get to beat the crap out of this thing?" thought Neptune.

"RAAAWWWRRR!(When will these humans make the first move?)" thought the lion.

As they are taking their time, they are getting impatient. So impatient that all of them just went on attacking at the same time. I mean, literally, all start attacking at the same instant. Yuri jumped over the lion and lands behind it, while Neptune, who didn't notice the lion was coming right at her, can only parry its attacks. She then pushed the lion away. Neptune then lands a slash on the lion at its leg, but it still moves as if the attack missed. As fast as lightning, Yuri lands a cut on the lion's body by slashing forward. The lion is now a bit hurt, but is still able to attack ferociously. It was about to pounce Neptune when...

"Oh no, you don't. Azure Edge!" Yuri charges his energy into his sword which turns to green, then launches a green projectile that comes out of the tip of his sword towards the lion. The lion roars in pain.

"Nepu~. Thanks, buddy. Good eye you got there."

"No problem. Be careful next time."

"Sure." But seeing the lion is dazed, Neptune seizes this moment to land an attack on the lion. "Here I come. Dual Edge!" She swings her sword to the left then quickly makes a spin slash. The lion roars in more pain. Seeing it is losing, the lion was about to move away when...

"Hah! Now you're finished! Wolf Strike!" He stabs the lion up front, then charges his right fist into the lion's chest, knocking it a distance away from him. The lion is still alive, but weak. But that's when Neptune finishes it with a last attack.

"You're not getting away. Oh, not on my watch, buddeh!" She then reaches her left hand to her left waist and then a gun magically appears in her hands. "Bye-bye, sucker. Flare Shot!" She shoots out a ball of fire from the gun, thus killing the lion.

Yuri walks up to the lion, checks its heartbeat, and even though he feels none, he just goes on giving the dead lion a few more slashes just to make sure it's really dead. "Well, it's dead now." he said after giving the dead lion a last kick to the stomach. He then walks towards Neptune. "Say, Nep. I didn't know you had a gun."

"Likewise. I didn't know you had a sword until you place it on your shoulder."

"I was carrying it the whole time." Yuri said while his eyes becomes a bit smaller, showing disbelief and annoyance, and sweatdropped. "You never noticed it?"

"Nope, I thought you were carrying a cricket bat or something." replied Neptune with a normal tone.

(Why do I have to be stuck with a girl this stupid!? Man, just how stupid is she?) Yuri thought as he keeps hitting his head to a nearby tree.

"Can't you, like, take a joke or something? Hehe... I was only joking..." said Neptune, worried that Yuri might have gone too far. Now it was Neptune's turn to sweatdrop.

[Loading...]

They have been walking for a few hours and still hasn't even found a clue to a way out. It seems that this forest is infinitely stretching out to God-knows-where.

"Can we stop walking please? I'm hungry..." said Neptune as she holds her growling stomach.

"Well, about time. I was wondering when you will bring that up. Not that I'm that much tired myself or anything." said Yuri with a sarcastic tone.

{3}"Wait. You were waiting for me to tell you to stop and rest this whole time!? But you're the leader. I thought you would be angry if I bring that up..." she said as she stopped walking to talk, looking sad.

"Now, now. I never said anything about not stopping until you drop." he said as he too stopped walking.

"But you said don't rest until you said so."

"What? Oh, yeah. Right. "So"."

"Huh? "So" what?"

""So". Come on, you said it yourself that you can't rest until I say "so", so I say "so". Get it?" Yuri said with a big smile on his face. Clapping his hands once, he said, "All right, you may rest for now."

"But that's not what I- Argh... Fine. Whatever. You win." Neptune gives in. "You're such a troll, Yuri."

"Problem?" said Yuri while trying to impersonate an old man's voice.

And so, they sit down nearby some bushes and lucky for them, there are blueberries on the bushes. So Yuri plucked them and "feed" them to Neptune...

"What do you mean, "feed" me? I'M NOT A PET!"

...But it still wasn't enough for our little gobbler here. So Yuri goes on walking into some area and starts to collect anything edible that he can find. He then returns with plenty of food, in which 80% of them are gobbled up by Neptune. But at least that's enough for now, right? Well, I hope.

"Say, Yuri."

"Huh? What?"

"You found me lying in the forest, right?"

"Right..."

"And was I beside you?"

"No. You were a few walks away from me."

"And when I was still unconscious..."

"Go on."

"Did something happen to me? Like, anything at all?"

"Nope, except for talking in your sleep, I guess."

{1}"You sure you didn't do anything to me? You weren't having it your way on me, were you?"

"Just... what are you talking about?" said Yuri, looking rather surprised by the subject brought up by Neptune.

"So were you?"

"Just what do you mean?" said Yuri as he blushes.

"Aha! I knew it. You did have it your way on me."

"Ju- Calm down."

"Aaaahhh! So that means I can't marry anyone else now. No! I've lost my virginity." said Neptune as she begins to cry.

"Wha- Who taught you that?"

"I can't believe you, jerk. You... used me for your... pleasure!"

"You know what, that's enough!" Yuri said as he commanded Neptune to stop talking. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I didn't do it. Serious! Now who would have their way on some little girl anyway? Man, you're parents must be some kind of jerks themselves, raising a spoiled brat like this"

"But I don't have any parents."

"Then, whoever that raised you."

"Nope, don't remember anyone raising me. I forgot much about my background already, having lost my memories some time ago."

"Whatever." replied Yuri. (I can go insane if I have to hang around with her for a little longer. I mean, where did she learn all those things? This has got to be a nightmare...) he thought while holding his forehead.

"Hello, Earth to Yuri. Can you hear me?" called out Neptune to Yuri, but he didn't reply. "Hmm... I wonder of his ears are switched on?" she said as she leans closer to Yuri and starts pulling and stretching both of Yuri's ears.

"Ow, ow, ow, OW! Hey, stop it. What was that for?" shouted Yuri while he slaps Neptune's hands off of his ears.

"Yep, they're on." said Neptune, putting her hands on her hips.

"Man, I swear if I ever have to stay with you even for just a little while longer I'm gonna go insane..."

[Loading...]

"Argh! Does this forest ever ends?" shouted a tired and frustrated Yuri, while outside the forest, birds can be seen flying away in all directions.

"Nepu~. I dunno. But... we're not getting out of here anytime soon. I want my pillow again..." said a tired Neptune.

"Man, if only we have some lead to getting out of this forest..."

"Nepu~. I don't wanna die in the forest. At least, let me die somewhere nicer like at a carnival or something..."

Then they both sighed at unison.

"Man, I still can't believe we've walked all the way until dusk and yet, we have encountered nothing so far."

"It's already been that long? *sigh* If only we had a compass or something..."

"I don't think a compass will help in this situation we're in, Neptune..."

"Aw, crackers!" Then Neptune's stomach lets out a growl. "I'm hungry..." she said while holding her stomach.

"Yeah, me too." Yuri's stomach seems to be growling too. "How about we rest here for a while? I'll go look around for food."

"Sure. Hurry back..." Neptune said weakly.

"Don't go anywhere, okay? I'll be back in a while." said Yuri before he left.

"Sure. I'll just stay here, in this deep, dark forest, where you're exposed to danger everywhere you go. Don't worry, it's only for a little while, right? Hehe..." Neptune said to herself.

Meanwhile, at where Yuri is now... He's collecting anything edible he can find. Berries, apples, mushrooms, etc.. While he is collecting stuff to eat, he heard some slashing sounds. He then hears something fall. "Tch... Not now." He goes to a nearby bush and enters it. He then spies the things on the other side. He sees nothing but a dead boar. (Man, whoever hunted this, he or she must be really strong. And I'd love to get my hands on that boar. It could provide just enough food for me and Neptune.) thought Yuri. He then exits the bush in the direction of where he came from. He is just about to go there when he heard more rustlings nearby.

He readies his sword, places it on his front, looking in all direction to try to spot where the noise come from. Hearing the noise is getting louder, he backs away slowly to find the noise-maker. He backs and backs away until his back bumps into something. He slowly turns around to see... another man who is holding two swords, a green one in his left and a black one in his right. Both, surprised to see each other, jumps away from each other. The man has short, black hair, wears a black-colored jacket with some grey clothing underneath it, black pants and black shoes.

"So, another one of those bandits, I see." said the man in black.

"Who, me? Nah, just some passerby, looking for some food." Turning his attention to the dead boar beside him, he asked, "Hey, were you the one who killed that boar over there?" he said as he points his finger to the dead boar.

"Yeah, I killed it. What about it?"

"About that... Can I have some of it? We haven't eaten anything since this afternoon. And we have been walking for, I don't know, from afternoon until now. How long is that?"

"You've been walking that long!?" said the man in black, surprised. "Wait, what do you mean "we"? I only see you here. Where's your friends?"

"What? Oh damn. I forgot. I left her behind, telling her to not to go anywhere while I'm gone. I really hope she doesn't go anywhere when I'm gone. She's just an energetic girl."

"So you got a girl in your care? And you left her behind to look for some food? Is the place safe?"

"Pretty safe if you ask me. But yeah, since this is a forest, who knows what might creep up on you." Looking as if he had realized something, he facepamled himself. "Oh, man. Why did I leave her there? I mean, she can fight, but can she really defend herself in that state? Why haven't I thought of that before?"

"Uh, sir? You looked troubled. Are you okay?"

"Uh... Look I need to check up on her now. I don't know if she's alright or not now."

Looking concerned for Yuri, the man in black offered his help. "Hey, how about this? I'll go with you. You can go meeting up to your girl while I bring food there? Oh, my name's Kirito by the way."

"So you're gonna help? Thanks. I'm Yuri."

"All right, Yuri. You better get going now. She's waiting."

"Right."

"So which way is it?" asked Kirito as he seems worried that Yuri might not be able to return to where this girl's waiting.

"Don't worry, it's a good thing I've marked the path with cuts on the trees. I'll lead you there, Kirito."

"Sure."

[Loading...]

{4}A few minutes has passed until Yuri and Kirito reaches the said destination, where the girl(Neptune) was waiting. But she's not there.

"Oh no. Am I too late?"

"Are you sure she's here?"

"Yes I'm sure." Yuri then saw an object not far from him. Pointing at the object, he continued, "Look, over there. That's her... shoes."

"What? No..." Kirito said in shock.

"Dammit, I knew it was wrong to leave her there all alone." Yuri said, feeling guilty for leaving her behind.

"I'm... sorry for your loss, Yuri." Kirito gives Yuri a pat on his shoulder.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

*rustlings of branches*

"Uh-oh. Watch out! There might be something nearby." said Kirito as he heard the rustlings. More and more rustlings are heard until...

"Hey, guys! Hey! Over here!" said an unknown voice, coming from an unknown direction.

"Wh-Who's there?" said Kirito.

"Show yourself!" shouted Yuri.

"Hey, Yuri! I'm up here!"

Yuri stops looking for a while as he recognized that voice. "Wait, that voice..."

"Yuri? Something wrong?"

"Hey, up here, you dunderheads! Up on this tree!"

"Neptune!? Is that you?" Yuri shouted to confirm the voice.

"Yes, it's me. Now turn around and help me!"

{3}Both boys turns around to see a pantless girl in white hoodies with short, purple skirt sitting on a tree branch, high above the ground. And both boys cover their eyes from her visible undies.

"Oh, for God's sake, Neptune. Wear some pants or something." shouted Yuri.

"Na-ah! Pants are so not my style." Neptune said while covering her undies. "And stop staring, you perverts!"

"So, that's the girl you've been talking about, Yuri?"

"Yeah, that's her all right." He then turns his attention towards Neptune. "Hey, Neptune? How did you get up there?"

"What do you mean? I climbed, of course." she replied.

"But seriously, that high? How did you manage to climb that high anyway?" Kirito asked Neptune just after he dumped the boar beside her.

"Well, initially I was just hiding from a pack of wolves that came by just now. But fearing they might get to me at my current height just now, which is a few branches below where I am now, I climbed up higher until I reached where I'm sitting now."

"Well, that's reassuring, hearing that from someone who was about to collapse a few minutes ago." said Yuri with a sarcastic tone.

"But now, I can't get down. Can someone help me, please? I'm already friggin' tired, you know. Even more tired when those wolves almost got me. And I'm hungry... Nepu~." said Neptune while a stream of tears come out of her eyes.

{5}(You know, now that I think about it, it might not be a bad idea to leave Neptune behind. She has been a nuisance from minute one. Hehe... I'll just leave her then.) thought Yuri as a wide grin begins to appear in his face. "Well, this is goodbye, Neptune. It's been fun travelling with ya. Oh, and this here will be my new travelling partner."

"Wait. What are you talking about? Yuri?" said Neptune as she sees Yuri starting to leave her behind.

"Well, goodbye, Neptune. I hope we cross paths again sometime soon." said Yuri with a smirk while he starts to walk away with Kirito.

"Hey, Yuri. Don't you think you're being too harsh to her?" whispered Kirito.

"Nah, I've actually been waiting to abandon her. Trust me, you don't know her more than I do." Yuri whispered back.

"But she's been waiting for you."

"See if I care."

"Then if you really wanna abandon her so bad, why come back?"

"..."

"Uh... Yuri?"

"..."

There was a long, awkward silence after that(even the music has stopped), until they heard a branch snapped, and a scream. "NEPUUUUU~~~~~~!"

"*sigh* Why do I even-" Before Yuri even finishes his words, he dashed towards the tree where Neptune was, only to see Neptune falling to the ground. Yuri then jumped forward, dropping his sword, so he has free hands to catch Neptune. But he doesn't seem to be able to make it when suddenly a shadowy figure snatches Neptune away just moments before Yuri is able to grab her. Yuri is shocked to see Neptune disappeared within a flash. He looks around to see where Neptune is being taken to, and who kidnapped her. It was until later Kirito comes out of the bushes behind him, holding Neptune in his arms in a "bridal grab" way.

"Kirito? How did you manage to find Neptune? Have you caught the one who snatched her just now?" asked Yuri. He is relieved to see Neptune is safe.

"The one who snatched her?" asked Kirito.

"Hey, hey. This guy right here, uh-huh, right here, *points her fingers to Kirito*(and if that's not enough, there are a few arrows floating around Kirito, all pointing directly at him, and if THAT's not enough, there's even a sign with an arrow pointing downwards above Kirito saying, "Yeah, that's right. This guy right here. The one I'm pointing at. Yes, this guy!), yeah, right here, this guy is the one who saved me from falling just now FYI." Neptune pouted as she crosses her arms. "This guy is the real hero here. A true knight who protects those in need. Haaaa~~." Neptune said while blushing as she hugs Kirito's arm. Yuri flinches upon hearing the word "Knight". Maybe he didn't like knights? I dunno. Turning her attention back to Yuri, "And to think I would have to depend on you, Yuri!"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It was only meant to be a joke."

"Well, jokes on you. I would've died if I've fallen down this- Wait, I don't think I would, actually."

"Huh? What's with the change of subject?" asked Yuri and Kirito in unison.

"Well... Hey, you can let go now." said Neptune as she tries to get down from Kirito's "bridal grab".

"Oh, sorry." Kirito blushed as he forgot he was carrying a girl.

"So, uh... What do you mean, you won't die if you fall? That height is just enough to kill a person." said Yuri.

"And that's about three floors high! Maybe four, for God's sake." continued Kirito.

"Well, I don't know if you'll believe this or not. But believe me, it sounds crazy. But, Yuri. You found me lying somewhere, right? Was I in a crater?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. You were in a crater." said Yuri who begins remembering what he saw when he first met Neptune. "Wait. Don't tell me-"

"Yeah, that's right. I do remember a bit that I was falling from the sky, into the forest a while back. But I thought I was just dreaming. No wonder the pain felt all too real."

"And there are no trees above where she was lying this morning. And you looked pretty energetic back then for someone who has fallen from the sky straight to the ground." said Yuri rather flatly. (Maybe that happened to me too? If so, no wonder my body hurts like hell upon waking up.)

"Amazing." Kirito finally said something after being silent for a while. "Even a girl like you can survive that kind of fall." He sweatdropped.

*growl*

"Sorry, it was me. I haven't eaten anything in a while." said Neptune, embarrassed by her growling stomach.

"That was one loud growl."

"But you got most of the food we collected earlier."

"And that was a few hours ago. Man, I usually need 6 to 8 meals a day."

"8 meals!?" both Kirito and Yuri shouted in surprised. "You've got to be kidding me!" both said simultaneously, their mouths gape wide open.

"I... shouldn't have said that, should I?" said Neptune as she scratches her head.

[Loading...]

Ah, a beautiful day in a city. The crowded streets, the crowded marketplaces, everywhere is pretty much crowded. Wow, just how much people currently living in such a small city? Wait, I did say "day", right? So wherever this is, it must be in the opposite side of the forest those three are in. Anyway, our main focus here is not the crowded streets, not the marketplaces, and not the huge castle that stands magnificently in the middle of the city. Well, close. But right now, we're here for this particular person that's roaming about near the castle.

"Hey, can you help me dood?" said a rather squeaky voice. "Hey, anyone here. Can you guys help me dood? I need help, dood." Maybe it's because of his small stature, he was outright ignored. "Hey, I'm talking here, dood!" The voice came from a small purple-colored penguin who has pegs as legs, has miniature bat wings on his back, wears a red scarf around his neck, carries a big bag and has stitches next to his mouth.

"Well, hello there, little guy. Need a help?" said a castle guard as he approaches the penguin.

"Oh, thank goodness." said that uh, person in relief. "Hey, can you help me, dood?"

"Whatever it may be, little man."

"Well, it's like this. Do you know what place is this? I'm kinda lost right now dood. Strange, I don't even remember coming here, dood."

"You... lost? So... where are you from?"

"I'm... I don't remember actually... Why?"

"Huh? What are you lollygagging? Why bother coming here when you don't even remember where you came from, huh?"

"W-W-W-What? I haven't gagged any lolis. (Though that would be fun.) And what's that? Of course I would come here. I mean, you guys can help, right?"

"Well, no. Just what do you think, claiming yourself to have come from a non-existent place that you don't even remember where would make us give you a free home? Well, tell you what. That ain't gonna work." said the guard in an angry tone, starting to get angry.

"But I'm serious! I'm lost! Can you at least get me a place for me to stay?" said the penguin in a serious tone.

"Well, let me think about it... Yea... Nope. No way!"

"Oh, come on!" the penguin said as he stomped his feet to the ground which, surprisingly, creates a few holes here and there. Maybe it's because of his pegged legs that exerts great amount of pressure onto the ground when he stomped, or maybe it's because he's plain heavy... "Hey, cut your physics nonsense, will ya dood? And I'm not fat!" ...Or a combination of both. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Oi, you!" called out the other guard.

{4}"Who? Me?"

"Yeah, you! What do you think you're doing, huh? Destroying city properties and stuff."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Look down, below you." said the first guard.

"Huh? *looks down* Wah!? How? What happened?" He is surprised to see many drilled holes on the ground where he's standing.

"Don't try to fool us, penguin! You were trying to destroy this city, weren't you?" the second guard blames the penguin.

"But I didn't-"

"Guards! Sieze him!" called out both guards.

And not soon after that, a dozen guards come rushing towards the scene. Upon seeing the holes on the ground, they quickly assumed that the penguin did it. So they charged at him.

"B-But wait. It wasn't me, dood!"

But just as he is about to run away, one of his pegged legs got stuck into one of the holes and he tripped. But what he's not expecting is a few bombs come out of his bag, and caused the guards to scamper around for a bit. A few were hurt, one was killed and a large crater with a few small ones around it were formed. After that, the unhurt ones come charging at the penguin with weapons.

{6}"Get him!" said a guard.

"He's hostile!" said another guard.

"We can't let someone like him wander around the city any longer." said a third guard.

"He'll destroy the city if we let him be." said a fourth one.

"And he just killed one of our members too!" said a fifth one.

All the other guards let out a gasp. Then they turn their attention back to the penguin.

"And he even poisoned our water supply, burned down all of our crops and killed all of our living stocks!" added a sixth one.

*record scratch* "HE DID!?/I DID!?" exclaimed the other guards along with the penguin.

"NO! But what I'm saying is he's dangerous and any of those things might happen any day if we let him free!" said that sixth guard.

"Well, whatever the case, he caused damage to the city and killed one of our members."

"So, let's get him and punish him accordingly!"

And all of the remaining guards(excluding the hurt ones) charge towards the penguin.

"Oh, shit." said the penguin as he freezes in place, shocked at what has just happened just now. Even more shocked to see a half a dozen guards charging right towards him with weapons. The penguin just slowly prays that he won't be killed by the guards.

And from afar, two figures(silhouettes) are seen standing on top of a roof of a building not far from the scene. One big and tall, and one shorter and a bit smaller than the other. They are watching the scene at the castle.

"Man, things just get weirder and weirder by the minute, don't you think?" said a male voice, coming from the bigger figure.

"Yeah, I know." said a female voice, coming from the smaller figure. "But I kinda feel sorry for that penguin though."

"Hey, hey, hey. Just because you like animals and cute things and you find that penguin cute doesn't mean that animals, especially the cute ones, are harmless and innocent." said the male voice. "And besides, that penguin just killed one of the castle guards. WITH BOMBS. Heh, not so cute and innocent-looking now, eh Al-"

But before the male voice could finish his sentence, the male figure covered his mouth with her hand. "Sssshhhhhh..."

"Just what the hell is your problem?" said the male voice, showing anger in his tone.

"You almost left the readers out there a spoiler. We won't debut until next chapter, remember?" said the female voice, scolding the male.

"What? Oh, right... I forgot." said the male voice. "Man, this sucks."

"Well, anyways, now that we've done our part here, let's keep the story going."

"Yeah. I can't wait to appear in the next chapter."

[Loading...]

"...And so, that's pretty much what has happened so far." said Neptune as she takes a big bite out of the boar meat she's holding right now. It was already dark at night. The sounds of nature can be heard. The chirping crickets, the screeching bats and such. "Wow, this is sooo good!"

"So, you two didn't know each other, and yet, you travel as a party?" said Kirito as he throws a stick at the fire to keep the fire going. "You must be lucky that you're not paired with some bad guy or something."

"Oi, oi. Why is everyone saying I'm a bad guy here?" Yuri said, looking annoyed, almost dropping his portion of the boar.

"Who ever said about you being a bad guy?"

"Yeah. Sure you may have that sarcastic side on you, but you can be a pretty good guy if you try."

"Just what do you mean with "if I try"?" said Yuri in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, you know... *munch* iv you stoffed beim sujja jerb, ahrm surb peobrel-"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Geez."

"Neptune, please don't talk with your mouth full. Don't you have any manners towards the elders?" said Kirito, in a fatherly tone.

After swallowing her food, she blushed while replied, "Sure thing, hero." while doing the salute thing.

"I'm not that old, Kirito. And so are you." Yuri whispered to Kirito.

"It's just an advice, Yuri. She's just a kid. We need to teach her some manners." Kirito whispered back to Yuri.

"I agree with you though. Although I feel that she would only listen to you and not to me."

"Just try to be nice to her. She will listen."

"Well, good luck trying to convince her with your advice."

"Hey, you two. Done with all your chit-chats?" called out Neptune to both guys.

"Yeah, we're just about done." they said simultaneously. Then they turn around to face Neptune, only to see... "OH MY GOD! NEPTUNE! WHAT HAVE YOU-"

"Wha- I'm so sorry. Can you get another one for yourselves? I was super hungry just now." Neptune said as she uses a bone to pick her teeth. She had just finished the rest of the boar herself. Yuri and Kirito suddenly turn themselves upside-down.

"Neptune... Why you!" Yuri slowly approaches Neptune with fire in his eyes.

"Uh... Yuri...? Hero, a little help here..." said Neptune as she slowly backs away from Yuri.

"Yuri..." said Kirito as he pats Yuri on the shoulder.

"What is it?" asked Yuri.

Kirito just shakes his head as if trying to tell him something. "Remember what we just talked about before."

Yuri remembered it and let out a sigh. "Oh, really now? Fine..." said Yuri in defeat.

"Good." As he walks away, he warned the other two. "Hey, I'm gonna go out hunting. You two stay here and take care of this camp."

"Okay. Be careful out there, hero."

"It's Kirito."

"Whatever. Be careful."

"You too." said Kirito before he leaves the two alone.

While alone, Yuri just lie down near the fire and gazes at the stars above. "Man, it's such a pretty night here."

"Yeah, I know." said Neptune as she goes on lying down beside Yuri to gaze at the stars. "I used to watch the stars all the time with my lil sister when we were kids. *sigh* Good times."

"Neptune? Oh, so you enjoy watching the stars too?" asked Yuri, surprised to see Neptune lying beside him.

"Who wouldn't? It's just that, I missed my home, wherever it is." she said as tears comes out of her eyes.

"Yeah... That's weird. You don't even remember your home."

"Well, do you?"

"Well... Wait, where did I originate?"

"Hah, see? Even you forgot your home."

"That's weird... If we don't have a home, then why am I remembering flashbacks of me during the time I was a knight, serving for this... kingdom and Argh! I can't remember anything..."

"Yeah... I can't even remember about my home too. The only thing I faintly remember is this giant, dark, building thing. I wonder if I lived there though?"

"But, maybe... Just maybe... We're both from different worlds or something?"

"I dunno... But the only thing we remembered are our names and our families, I guess. I mean, I still remember about my sister."

"Yeah, good luck for me. I got no siblings or parents whatsoever." Meanwhile in Yuri's mind, he is thinking whether to let out his anger about the boar just now. But seeing Neptune in such a good and peaceful mood, he couldn't bring himself to do it. "But still, is it just me or do I happen to hate children?"

"So you don't like little kids?"

"I dunno. They're annoying, I guess. And I hate knights too. But I wonder why?"

"Probably still some leftover memories, huh?

Then, Neptune brings herself closer to Yuri. He blushes, seeing Neptune so close to him. Well, just close enough for her right arm to touch his left arm. "Uh... Neptune?"

{7}"Hey, Yuri."

"Yeah, Nep?" (Man, she's still in such a good mood. I can't bring myself to scold her. But to get her to be nice, I have to be nice to her too. So how should I start? Apologize to her, maybe? I mean, I was treating her pretty harshly back then. Maybe I should try that. Man, this is so awkward...) thought Yuri.

"Well, look. I'm sorry for all the stuff I did back then, Yuri. I guess I just didn't know about your problems. You looked like you were having a pretty rough time, though."

"Yeah, you bet I am!" ...was what Yuri was going to say to Neptune, but seeing her so honest to him now, he couldn't. He just couldn't. So instead he said, "Yeah, thanks for your concern." Seeing the situation he is in is rather awkward, he is out of idea of what to say. So, he just says what he has had in his mind. "Well, that's a surprise to see you apologizing." But having realized what he had said just now, he quickly covered his mouth. (How could I say that to her? Dammit, brain.)

"Yeah, it's weird for me to be seen apologizing, huh?" said Neptune, looking rather sad. "Yeah, I know. I'm not the apologizing type, I guess." She looks like she was about to cry when...

"No, Neptune. I'm the one who should apologize. I mean, with the way I'm treating you and such, you can say I was being a bad guy." said Yuri. "I mean, you were just a little kid. And I treated you like something that needs to be disposed the instant it is found." said Yuri, in a guilty tone. "Man, this is awkward. I'm not good at this type of thing..." he said as he scratches his head, having out of ideas of what to say.

"You mean it?"

{8}"Yeah, I guess we could start over, if you want..."

"Really? Wow, thanks buddy!" Neptune then hugs Yuri form the front.

Yuri, on the other hand, shows no effort to break the hug whatsoever. He instead just let her hug him some more.

"Apology accepted, Yuri." She then lays down beside Yuri. "*yawn* Man, I'm sleepy. Well, can you watch over me while I sleep? I don't want to get attacked by anything, you know."

"Sure. Just lay down and close those heavy eyes, Neptune. And I don't want you to get your skin covered in bruises or anything."

"Hehe... You know I'm keeping my skin pretty for my potential husband, right?"

"Either way, I still need to wait for Kirito to come back. So, I'll stay up longer."

"Thanks. I can see that you're actually a good guy. *yawn* Well, good night."

"Sleep tight."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite." And then she dozes off to her dream world.

Yuri sits on a log nearby and watches as Neptune goes to sleep. (Wow. Even after all she's been through, she can still sleep peacefully. She's kinda cute when she sleeps too.) thought Yuri. Then he flashes back at what had happened during his whole journey. He still can't believe he actually have to party up with Neptune. He then smiles at the flashbacks. And that's when Kirito returns.

"So, did I miss anything?" asked Kirito.

"Ssshhh..." whispered Yuri while he puts his index finger on his lips, telling Kirito to lower his voice. "She's sleeping."

"Oh, okay." Kirito whispered back. "And look. I got another boar. But it's a lot smaller than the one before though."

"That's okay. That should be enough for both of us."

And so, after putting Neptune somewhere a distance away from the fire and after putting some leaf-covered branches as a blanket for her, they continue to cook the boar. Still sitting and eating by the fire, they are now discussing about their plans for tomorrow while eating their boar-chop.

{9}"So, uh... What's the plan for tomorrow? Any ideas?" asked Yuri before he takes a bite out of his portion of the boar-chop.

"I don't know. But I think I might have some pretty decent ideas." said Kirito just after he swallows the part of the boar-chop he has bitten. "But, yeah... I don't know if it'll work though. I mean, if we're just sitting ducks here, we won't be getting anywhere."

"Who says we will be sitting ducks? We have to keep moving to get out of this forest." said Yuri in a serious tone.

"Yeah, I know. But it'll be amazing if we manage to survive here for a few days and finally come out of the forest safely."

"Yeah, you tell me. This forest is such a pain."

"But what I'm more worried of is her." Kirito said before he points his finger towards Neptune, who is sleeping peacefully. "I mean, will she really be able to survive in such conditions?"

"Man, I hate to admit, but I believe she got what it takes to survive. The only problem though is her excessive hunger. I mean, she'll get weak within 2 hours or so without food." said Yuri in disappointment.

"Well then, I guess we should collect as much food as possible for our next day of journeying. I don't want anyone in our party to get left behind or killed or anything. Or rather, as long as I am alive, I will not let any of my party members die." said Kirito, his voice suddenly changes into a serious tone. (No, not like what had happened to her. I won't let that happen.) thought Kirito as he clenches his fists so tightly that the big bone in his hand breaks into half.

"Hey Kirito, you all right?" Yuri called out to him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he replied, "Wha- Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that... Well... (Should I really tell him?)" Kirito was unsure what to answer.

"Heh, don't worry too much about it though. I know, we probably have a lot going on in our minds. But there's this scene between me and Neptune that I seem to can't forget no matter how many times I've tried to forget it."

"Huh? What scene?"

"A rather embarrassing one. But... Seeing as she's sleeping right now, I'll just tell you right away."

"Okay, then."

Suddenly, Neptune's ear twitched. But they didn't notice that.

{1}"Okay, I'm not really sure if I really should tell you this one, but oh well. I'll just tell you just to kill some time."

"Go on."

"Well, I did told you that I met Neptune unconscious somewhere in the forest, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I don't know where she got it, but suddenly dirty thoughts started coming in her thoughts."

"Dirty thoughts? Like what?"

"Like when I told her that I found her lying on the ground, unconscious, she suddenly said, "Hey, you sure you're not having me your way while I was unconscious?""

"Having her... your way?"

"But that's not all of it. Then she just gets the wrong idea and said things like, "Oh no. What have you done? I've lost my virginity." and "Now that I've lost my virginity, I'll never be able to marry anyone but, but him."(all while making a high-pitched voice, trying to mimic Neptune's) or something like that."

"Really!?" Kirito shouted in surprise. Yuri then just shushed him off. "Where did she actually learn those words? If you tell me, she seems to be like most kids from my place. Even at the age of 14 they already started consuming alcohol drinks and some even take in drugs at such age."

"Wow, that's even worse than Neptune, I guess."

"But really, "having her your way"? What was she thinking? And what kind of thing did she thought you did to her actually?"

"Oh, you know. The thing that makes babies and stuff. Something like that. Why?" said a female voice from behind them.

"UWAH!?" both boys screamed in surprise before turning around to see Neptune standing behind them.

"So, go on. I wanna hear more of it." Neptune said, but in that tone of voice, we can't tell if she's serious or being sarcastic right now.

"So, uh... You didn't hear what we said just now, did you?" said Yuri.

"Every word of it. I thought I told you to keep it to ourselves, Yuri." said Neptune as she bends forwards and places her hands on her hips.

"Sorry..." said Yuri, sweatdropping at the same time. "And weren't you supposed to be sleeping right now?"

"Nope. Somehow I can't get some sleep. But now that I think about that scene, that WAS pretty embarrassing if you ask me. I feel embarrassed and ashamed at the same time thinking about it." said Neptune, blushing at that memory.

"But, seriously. Who taught you those things? I mean, you're too young to know all that." asked Kirito.

Neptune, not wanting to answer that, quickly changes the subject. "Well... Anyways, do we have any plans for tomorrow? I mean, we do NOT want to aimlessly wander in the forest and die, right?"

"Wow. I can't believe I'm saying this, but... For the first time, what you said did have a point there." said Yuri in disbelief.

"So, unless we can find any good leads that might lead us out of here or to any village whatsoever, we'll be stuck here." said Kirito.

"Forever?"

"Forever."

"So, what do we do?"

"I say, we go out the first thing in the morning. Is that okay with you guys?"

"Not until we have breakfast." said Neptune.

"Sure, sure. After breakfast. Shut your stomach up for once, will you?"

"Although I have to agree with Yuri, we must find a good source of food and drink first and gather as much of them as we can before moving out. That way, we won't be unprepared. And that we would have enough food for a day at the very least." said Kirito.

"Well, that is if Neptune decides to leave the food alone." Yuri said as he gives Neptune a glare.

"Fine, fine. Eating is not the only thing I do, you know."

"Alright, then. Now that we have a plan, let's go to sleep."

"But one of us should stay up in turns to keep watch over us."

"Well, then. I'll stay up first. I don't feel that much sleepy anyway."

Yuri and Kirito are now worried about themselves, fearing that Neptune couldn't do the job properly. "Well, good luck with that..." both said nervously.

"What? Don't tell me you don't trust me with this job?"

"What? But of course we trust you." Both Yuri and Kirito just had to lie to not let Neptune worry. "Just... don't forget to wake any of us up if you start to feel sleepy."

"Sure thing, boss."

And then both boys take their own sleeping spots and start to doze off. Neptune, on the other hand, looks up at the clear, blue, starry sky and lets out a sigh. She starts to wonder, when will she actually be able to get out of the forest and/or get home. But she just looks up into the sky and sees a shooting star. She then closes her eyes, put her hands on her chest and whispered, making a wish. "I wish, sooner or later, we will all get out of this forest safely. And let the place where we come out have lots of food waiting for us."

But then, as she started to try to locate her MP3 player in her hoodie pocket, she discovered something in both pockets. "Huh? What's this?" She takes out the item in her left pocket and realizes it is her MP3 player. "Oh boy, my music player. But what's this in my other pocket though?" She is curious to see what's in her right pocket. She slips her hand on and grabs out whatever that's in there. She is surprised to see that the item is a disk. But not an ordinary one though.

"Oh my! This has been here this whole time?" she shouted, but she was careful enough to not let the boys wake up. "If only I had realized this earlier, this could have saved our butts from going through all this mess. But at least we managed to to do it, even without this thing."

Tapping the disk, a menu opened. She then messes with the menu for a while until she gets what she wanted. A Bubble Shield. What does it do? Well, basically you set an area or radius on the thing and it will generate a kind-of force field that shields whoever that is inside that set radius or area. And so, she decides to cover the whole camp with the shield and after that she goes to sleep.

[Loading...]

It was morning in the forest. The birds are singing, the morning crickets are chirping, the frogs are croaking... The Bubble Shield that has protected the camp is still doing its job. The three adventurers are sleeping inside the shield.

Yuri, who is used to waking up real early, wakes up. But he finds out he can't get up. One look to his side got him surprised. {5}"What the!?" he shouted as she sees Neptune hugging him tightly. He then tries to pry her hands off of him, which he did but her hands just seem to be stubborn as they planted themselves back onto Yuri. Yuri pushed her hands off of him again and her hands just doesn't seem to know when to give up as they re-plant themselves again onto Yuri. "Man, looks like you just can't sleep without having to hug someone out of their wills, huh?" he said quietly to the sleeping Neptune. He then sees Kirito waking up, so he calls out to him. "Hey, Kirito. A little help here?"

Kirito, who just woke up, barely hears Yuri called him. "Huh, Yuri? What's the problem?" He then sees Neptune hugging Yuri who seems to be struggling to get out of her hugging. "Well, well. Looks like someone is having fun here."

"Kirito, this is not funny. I'm suffocating here you know!"

"Hehe... I'm just joking, Yuri. Now let me help you outta there."

Kirito then proceeds to pull Yuri out of her hugging. He managed to do so, but suddenly Neptune's hands plant themselves onto Kirito. And now it is Kirito who is pinned to the ground with Neptune.

"Oh, now I see why you're having trouble with her. And man, look at how much force she uses in hugging." said Kirito as he struggles to breathe. "I can't... breathe..."

"Alright, just hang in there." He then grabs both of Neptune's hands. "Ready, when I pull these away, you just roll out. Got it?"

"Okay, got you loud and clear."

He then proceeds to pull away Neptune's hands. "Okay. Ready? One... Two... Three!"

Kirito then rolls out. Both boys then back away from Neptune's "deadly" hug. But like I said, she just needs to hug someone while sleeping. So, since Kirito is not in her grasps anymore, somehow automatically and in one quick move, Neptune's disappears and reappears next to the nearest log and hugs it, almost causing the log itself to break apart. Both boys sweatdropped.

(Man, just how bad does she need to hug someone while she sleeps? Maybe she likes to hug people?) thought Yuri.

(Man, just how bad does she need to hug someone while she sleeps? Maybe she likes to hug people?) Thought Kirito.

Wow, it looks like even their minds are syncing in unison now.

But seeing Neptune is sleeping, Kirito suddenly realizes something. "Wait a minute!"

"Huh? Kirito? What is it?"

"Can't you see it, Yuri?"

"See what?"

"There. If she's sleeping right now, then who's been keeping watch over us?"

"What? Oh no. And we even told her to wake any of us up if she's starting to feel slee-" Yuri then notices a weird generator-like object lying in the middle of their camp. "Hey, what's that?"

"Woah. What's this thing doing here?"

"I dunno. But something tells me this is not a good thing."

"But wait, maybe this is the thing that somehow keeps the monsters away?"

"You think so?"

"You bet it is." said Neptune from behind them.

"Whoa!" both boys jumped back, surprised to see Neptune is already awake.

{10}"Seriously, Neptune. Don't surprise us like that again." said Kirito.

"You just know when to catch people off guard, don't you Neptune?"

"Well, sorry. But this is the thing that keeps us safe the entire night."

"Well, what is that thing anyway?"

"It's a Bubble Shield. It repels everything that tries to come inside. The shield, however, is not bubble by the way." Neptune explained the thing to Yuri and Kirito.

"Uh-huh." Both nodded, completely having no idea what Neptune just said, but pretended to understand what she said.

"This shield repels everything that tries to enter the shielded area from outside, except if you apply a Shield-off Spray on yourself. Then, you can enter from outside. Oh, and you can, however, exit the shield from the inside, but like I said, without the Shield-off Spray, you won't be able to enter." Neptune continues explaining.

"So let me get this straight. You were saying that, we need that Shield-Spray-thing to enter the shield from outside?" asked Yuri.

"Yep. Boy, you're catching on fast."

"But doesn't this thing run on batteries or something?" asked Kirito.

"Why, yes of course. This thing runs on batteries. It can go on non-stop for around 24 hours at least. But yeah, it needs recharging now."

"Well, that's too bad. Considering you don't have the spare batteries." said Yuri.

"Have no fear. It's actually a good thing that this thing recharges on its own, but at a slow rate at around 20% per hour. But the other good thing is it can be recharged with solar power. That way, it'll recharge at a faster rate." said Neptune with a happy tone.

"Well, that's good to hear."

"Well then, time to turn off this baby." she said as she presses a few buttons here and there on the machine and in less in a minute, the shield turns off. {3}"So, what's for breakfast?"

"Well, we just woke up, so..."

"There's no breakfast as of now."

"Aw... But I'm hungry..."

"Says the one who finished the whole boar herself yesterday." said Yuri with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, it's not my fault I have such a big tummy."

"Or you just have a black hole as a tummy." Yuri joked.

"Hey, now. Now's not the time to fight. Now's the time for us to be hunting breakfast." said Kirito, feeling a bit left out.

"You know, Mr. Hero is right. We won't get anything just by sitting ducks." said Neptune.

"You do have a point there, Neptune."

"Well then, let's go."

And so, they leave their camp and start to go where as planned. They will be mocing out to try to find a way out of this forest, all while searching for enough food for the trip for the day.

"All right. Now that we have found a rather safe place to rest, this will be our meeting spot." explained Kirito.

"Meeting spot?" asked Neptune.

"Yeah. We're gonna split up and search for food. You stay here and guard this place. Is it okay with you, Neptune?"

"Sure thing. I'll just sit here and wait for you guys to bring me some food. I mean, I have no hunting skills whatsoever." said Neptune, her face begins to show some signs of sadness.

"Okay then." said Yuri. "Well, just guard this place until we return. Then you can switch places with me."

"Wait, you serious?"

"Really? Won't I be a burden to you?"

"Nah. I'm sure you can at least differentiate what animals are safe to eat and not safe to eat. Come on, you can't be that dumb, can you?"

"You're right. I'm such a dummy, even hunting seems impossible to me. Is that what you were trying to say, Yuri?" said Neptune, her head is covered with black shades as she feels hurt at Yuri's comment while a dark aura surrounds her.

"I never said such things, Neptune." said Yuri, trying to reassure Neptune that he means good.

"Okay. I'll wait here then." said Neptune.

[Loading...]

"Well, that's all I can find, Kirito." said Yuri after dumping whatever he has collected onto the ground.

"I think that should be enough." said Kirito while sorting out the food they've collected for the past 20 minutes.

"Hmm... But I wonder, what's taking that girl so goddamn long?" said Yuri, showing some impatience.

"I don't know, but I wonder if she's okay though?" said a worried Kirito.

"Well, we better hope she doesn't end up eating all that she has caught before returning here and asks us for our portion of the food. Trust me, she ate 4 times as much as I did before I met you."

"I... see..." said Kirito as he sweatdrops. "But still where could she be?"

*Meanwhile...*

Somewhere in the forest, it seems that a lot of mushrooms grow at this particular part. But something is missing here. Who or what are we supposed to observe here.

"HYAH!"

What was that? I thought I heard some noises.

"Take this!" *slash, thump*

"RRRAAAWWWRRRGGGHHH!"

Okay, seriously what was that? But judging from the sounds I heard, it could be a battle. Oh look, there's a girl fighting a big bear over there.

{11}"You're not gonna get me this time. HHHRRAAAHHHH!" the girl said as she charges towards the bear.

The bear then slash his claws in midair and created an 'X'-shaped wind-slash thingy that moves towards the girl. The attack hits the girl dead center at her chest.

"Ow!" she said as she clutches her chest, trying to get her breathing right. "Hehehe... I'm not gonna lose, you know. Even if your level is twice as much as mine, I'mma still beat you."

The girl then charges towards the bear and got knocked back by the bear's claws.

"Rargh! Don't think, you can beat me, Neptune, the greatest warrior there is." So this is where Neptune is... Anyway, as she sees the bear charging towards her, she places her sword forward, ready to block the bear's attack anytime.

But even before the bear manages to get close to Neptune, another girl, green-haired, green-eyed, pointy-eared, height about the same as Neptune, dressed in white dress, jumps in front of Neptune and gives the bear a kick to the stomach. This caught both Neptune and the bear off guard. The mystery girl then dashes towards the bear, beating up the bear in any way possible such that within only seconds, the bear already drops dead. Neptune then starts to back away from the girl when the girl reached out her hand to Neptune. Neptune, thinking that this girl is probably offering some help, grabs her hand and stands up. Neptune then thanks the girl for saving her.

"Hey, thanks for saving me, girl. You really saved me there. And just when I thought I had it too..." said Neptune, looking upset over her loss.

"Don't worry, you're safe. And that's what is important now." said the girl while she heals Neptune for a while. "Hey, you should get out of this forest while you can. This forest is getting dangerous by the minute."

"Well, sure. But there's just one problem. We even have no idea where we are now. So how do you propose we get out of here? Oh, are you telling me you are an inhabitant of this forest?"

"Well actually, yes. I am the Forest Fairy of this particular part of the forest by the way." said the girl.

"Woah, really?" Neptune had stars in her eyes now. "So, can you, like, tell me how to get out of here then? Like, which direction should I be heading or something like that?"

"Well, from here you need to head southwest. Just a day of walking and there you have it. You're out of here." she said as she points her finger to a direction which we could assume is southwest.

"Really? Oh, thank you. Well, I have a party waiting for me not far in that direction." Neptune said as she points her finger to a direction(which seems to be east from where she's at).

"So in that case, be careful. But do not tell your friends about you meeting me here. But you can tell them that you got some lead to get out of this forest." said the girl before leaping onto a nearby tree branch.

"Hey, where are you going? Your help will be very much needed." Neptune shouted to the girl.

"I told you before, I am a Forest Fairy. I can't let monsters lurking out like this. I have to protect Master Jomon."

"Master Jomon? He's you master, right?"

"Yeah... I guess you can put it that way... Anyways, this is goodbye. I hope we cross paths again someday." said the girl before she leaps and mysteriously vanished into the thin air.

"But wait, I don't even get to know your name yet!" shouted Neptune towards the tree branch where the girl was at before. "Oh well, I better get going. I don't want them to get worried over me."

[Loading...]

"Oh, so there you are. I thought you were a goner, Neptune." said Yuri sarcastically.

"Neptune, what happened to you?" Kirito said while he reaches for some first-aid kit in his pocket, looking concerned. "You look... terrible."

"Woah! What in the hell... Neptune!?" said Yuri in surprise. "What happened?"

Neptune arrives while limping, her left leg and left arm hurt, her body covered in cuts and bruises and her mouth bleeding while carrying some food and the bear that the other girl has slain for her. She is still smiling as if nothing happened. "Whassup? I'm not late, am I?"

"Neptune. What has happened to you? You're bleeding all over." said Kirito while reaching for his bandages.

"Yeah, seriously. What happened?" said Yuri, now showing some concern for Neptune.

"Hey, I'm fine. Really. Hmm... About that, it's a long story. Well, not really. But I rather not talk about it."

"Come on, you can just tell us. We're a party, remember?"

"Yeah. Just tell us. No need to be afraid."

Neptune shrugs her shoulders before continuing. "Okay, if you insist."

*later*

"...And that's pretty much what happened."

"So that bear attacked you and you were losing." said Kirito.

"But somehow you won?" said Yuri.

"Yeah, I know. I just couldn't believe it. I've actually wo- Ow ow ow! Careful! It hurts!" Neptune said as she flinches from the bandages that are being applied on her. And she's trying her best not to involve the fairy girl in her conversation as told by the fairy girl herself.

"Sorry, Neptune. But if you let the cuts and bruises be, they will get infected. Then YOU will get infected. I have to bandage it." said Kirito while applying bandages to Neptune. (Well good luck, me. Try to bandage her with my non-existent knowledge of healing of any kind whatsoever.) Kirito scolded himself in his thoughts.

"But, man are you lucky. Miracles don't come often, you know." said Yuri.

"But... Ow ow ouch!"

"Sorry..."

"Anyways, I think I might have a lead to where to go to get out of this forest." said Neptune as she puts her finger to her chin.

"You think? 'Cause all I know, this place stretches forever!" shouted Yuri, scaring a few birds away.

"Yuri, give the girl a chance to talk okay?" Kirito then turns his attention towards Neptune. "So what is it that you were saying?"

"Well, I climbed a tree, a tall one. Then I see something that looks like plains. Oh, you know, something like a clearing with no trees and such."

"Well, you better not be joking."

"I dunno if I was seeing things I shouldn't or something, but I saw it. I think was over at that direction, I think." said Neptune as she pointed to where the fairy girl pointed as southwest.

"Really? Oh come on now." said Yuri.

"Wait, I'll have to confirm it first if the information she brings is true of fake." said Kirito before he disappears into the trees.

"Well, looks like someone is buying your stories, Neptune." said Yuri with a smirk.

"I'm telling the truth. Serious."

"Hehe. We'll see about that."

A few minutes have passed and Kirito still hasn't returned yet. This got Neptune and Yuri worried.

"Well, he sure is taking his time, eh?"

"Do you think Mr. Hero got up so high on the trees he can't get down?"

"What do you think he is? A cat?"

"Sorry..."

It was a few moments later then Kirito returns with some news.

"Well, guys. I think that our little girl here is right." said Kirito, bringing up the news.

"Wha- Really!?" shouted Yuri in surprise.

{12}"Yeah. There really was a way out. We just need to walk in this direction and we'll get out of there, if I have to guess, by nightfall."

"Wow! Now that's some really great news." said Yuri in delight.

"Now we can get out of this damn forest! Yay!" Neptune jumps in joy upon hearing the news.

"But unfortunately we have to cross a river on the way there." said Kirito.

Both Neptune and Yuri freeze in place hearing the news. "Well, we can always find a way to cross the river, right?"

"So what are we waiting for? After breakfast, we take off." She then pumped her fist in the air while letting out a 'Yeah!'.

"My, my. She's pretty energetic today."

[Loading...]

"Are you really sure about this, Kirito?" asked Yuri.

"Yes, I'm sure. I've seen it myself too." answered Kirito.

They have been walking for an hour or so after breakfast. Yuri is still not convinced that Kirito and Neptune had actually found a way out. But Yuri decided to tag along anyway, knowing that staying in the forest means suicide.

"Oh, come on Yuri. Don't you wanna get out of this forest? Unless you have a better idea, mister?" teased Neptune.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to see where this leads to."

"But at least we have a lead."

"Sure, but-"

Suddenly they heard rustlings of branches from nearby bushes. There are a few bushes to their left and right, so it can be from any of them. They look around cautiously to see where it will come out.

"Watch out. Stay on your guards."

"Right."

"Got your back."

Kirito draws out his two swords then positions his left-hand swords to his front while his right-hand sword to his right, Yuri draws out his katana and flings it over his left shoulder while Neptune draws out her broadsword and holds it the her front. They look around for more rustlings until Kirito catches a glimpse of the rustlings.

"Take this." Kirito puts one of his swords onto the ground and slashes the ground, creating a shockwave that hits the bush in front of him.

"Huh?" Yuri then saw some rustlings near him. "You won't get away. Azure Edge." He shoots out a green projectile to that bush. Then he saw another rustling beside the bush he just destroyed before. "Here's another!" He shoots out another green projectile towards that said bush.

Neptune, seeing Yuri and Kirito starts smashing the bushes, joins in the fun. "Hey, don't start without me." She then pulls out her gun. "Oh yeah? Take this. Aiyayayayaya!" She shoots all the remaining bushes until one is left.

Kirito then tells Neptune and Yuri to back away for a little bit. He then slowly approaches that last bush and slashes the bush, completely smashing it. But seeing nothing is behind it, he withdraws his swords. "Well, guys. I guess there's nothing to be feared of. I guess that was probably just some squirrels or something."

"Sure. All these just for some squirrels." said Yuri sarcastically.

But then, out of nowhere, a shadow emerged from behind a tree. It jumps so fast around them no one is able to get a visual of that shadowy figure. The shadow then lands a hit on Kirito. Kirito somehow managed to block it. Then it starts circling around them and hit everyone else.

"Hey, if you wanna fight, then go on. You think we scared?" Neptune shouted.

"Hey, Neptune. What do you think you're doing?" Yuri scolded Neptune.

"Calling out the enemy to face us, duh!" pouted Neptune.

The shadow, currently hiding behind a tree, said in a low voice, "So that little brat is not afraid to die, eh? She's too cocky even for a kid like her."

The shadow then starts circling around the three.

"Oh, come on! Not this again!" Neptune then fired a random shot and, miraculously, she hit it. "Woo. Lucky shot!" They watched as the shadow fell into that one bush that they still hadn't cut yet.

Kirito then stands in front of the the other two and calls out to the shadow. "Alright then, come out! Whoever you are!"

The shadow then jumps out of the bush and lands behind them. It is revealed to be a girl with medium-sized breasts in a black clad suit that looks like a swimsuit. She has silver hair, silver eyes, wears black gloves and boots that match her suit. She then pulls out her katana from her sheath at her side.

"Wow. *whistle* Say, girl. What's with that suit? Were you going swimming?" Yuri mocks the girl about her suit.

The girl, feeling hurt, in a swift motion, places the tip of her katana inches away from Yuri's neck. "You want to die fast?"

Yuri is caught way off guard at the girl's speed. He then surrenders. "N-No..."

"Then don't make fun of me!" she said before pushing Yuri away from her, causing him to fall down.

"And that's why you don't make fun of girls, Yuri." Kirito playfully teases Yuri.

"Oh, come on now. Is that supposed to be an insult or an advice?" said Yuri with an annoyed look on his face.

"Say, you're pretty good with your gun, little girl. But I'm sure it was just a lucky shot." the girl said to Neptune.

"Oh, stop it. You're making me blush." Neptune said while she lowers her head that's turning crimson red. "Wait, hold on. I did shot you, didn't I? Does it hurt somewhere?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "Not really. While this might not look much, it's actually an armor. So regular pistol bullets can't penetrate them."

"Oh, I see... That's a relief." Then Neptune notices her big breasts. "Aw, I wanna have big boobies like yours." Neptune said out loud. "Can I have them." she said while making her famous puppy eyes and starts to grope them.

"What are you-" the girl said, startled. She then pushes Neptune away.

"So she's interested in that too..."

"Anyway, I heard that you've found a way out of this forest, right?" said the girl, turning her attention to the others.

"Yeah. What about it?" asked Kirito.

"Well, it's just that... I've been lost here since yesterday."

"Oh, oh, what happened? Do you found yourself waking up here in the forest?" asked Neptune.

"So, that happened to you too, huh?" she said, looking down.

"Happened to all of us, actually." said Yuri, after being silent for a while.

"So it did, didn't it?" said the girl. Turning her attention to Kirito, she asked, "So where's the way out?"

Kirito then points out the direction they were heading before. "Over that direction." Seeing that he might have another new member in his party, he then makes an offer to the girl. "But... considering we all here have the same goal, why don't you join us?"

{13}"Join you?" the girl asked.

"Yeah. I mean, the more, the merrier. Come on, it'll be fun." convinced Neptune.

"Oi, oi. Are you serious about this?" whispered Yuri to Kirito.

"Hey, we're gonna get all the help we can find, okay?"

"Sure... I trust you on this one, Kirito." Turning his attention back to the girl, he then asked her for confirmation. "So, do you wanna join?"

"Seeing that you guys are the first group of people I've seen since yesterday... *sigh* What other choices do I have? Alright, I'll join for now."

"For now?"

"Yes. When I get out of this forest, I want to search for my friends. And my Master."

"Your master? So you're a servant or something?" said Yuri bluntly. He then receives a smack to the head from Kirito. "What?"

"Anyway, my name is Strarf. It'll be a pleasure working with you." the girl introduces herself.

"Nice to meetchu, Strafie. I'm Neptune."

"My name is Strarf, not Strafie." said the girl while her face is blushing.

"Strarf, huh? But your suit says "Hina"."

"Hina? Only Master can call me that. For everyone else, it's Strarf."

"Okay, okay. I get it. By the way, the name's Yuri Lowell." he said before he lends out a hand towards Strarf.

"What are you doing?" asked Strarf.

"It's a handshake. Come on, I'm sorry for before."

"Tch..." She proceeds to shake his hands anyway.

"And this guy, our leader, here is Kirito."

"Hi. I'm Kirito. Nice to meet you."

"And with Strafie in-"

"It's STRARF!"

"-now we have made ourselves a party." shouted Neptune happily.

"But we were already a party from the start." said Yuri.

"Nope. We were trios before. We need at least 4 person to make a party. Come on, you didn't know? It's a common sense." replied Neptune.

"Well, she is right at some point though..." Kirito said.

Yuri sighed.

"So when are we gonna get moving?" Strarf asked.

"Actually, we were on our way when you attacked."

"It was YOU who attacked me, remember?"

"Can't argue with that one though."

[Loading...]

"Well, here we are. The river that we have to cross." said Kirito after reaching a certain spot, which for this case, a river. Or so it seems.

"Is this really a river?" Yuri said nervously when he looks down to reveal that this so-called "river" is really deep. And he sees an actual river down at the bottom of that, uhh..., crack. "This isn't a river. It's a ravine!"

"Whoops. This must have been the wrong river... Hehe..." Kirito said nervously.

"So how do you propose we cross this ravine?"

"Well, first try to look for a bridge. Then, if a bridge is found or not, we'll figure something out."

"Does that mean we have to split up?" asked Neptune.

"If it comes to that, yes."

{14}"Wait, someone's here." Strarf said, already holding her katana in her hands.

"She's right. We're being spied." said Kirito.

"Really? I don't hear anything." said Neptune.

"All right. Whoever it is there, come out or else." Strarf shouted.

"Or else what?" said a voice coming from one of the trees behind them.

"Or else I'll shoot." she said before pulling out a gun from her gun holster on her left.

"Sweet. You have a gun too?" Neptune said before pulling out her gun and sword. "Hah! Take that, boys! Only girls are cool enough to dual-wield a gun and a sword at the same time." she boasted.

"Nobody cares!" Yuri shouted back sarcastically.

"So you know where I'm hiding, eh? Good tracking skills. Well, no point in hiding anymore. Alright, I'll come out."

And from the shadows, a woman which seems to be in her twenties, emerges.

"*gasp* No way. You're..." Neptune said nervously, looking surprised.

The woman has blue eyes, long purple hair with braids tied at the ends, two crosses that look like Xbox's logo. She wears a black armor suit, shaped like a swimsuit, black gloves, black leggings and black boots that match her suit. And of course, her noticable big breasts.

"Huh? What the!? You!? It can't be..." the woman said, looking surprised while pointing her finger towards Neptune.

"Huh? Do you know her, Neptune?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah. She..."

But while they are talking, Yuri already had a lot going on in his minds. (No way. It can't be. It can't be... HER!? This has got to be a nightmare...) he thought while rubbing his forehead.


{15}Just who is this woman that appears in front of the party? Is she a friend? Or is she a foe? Is she someone Neptune knows of? And what will be waiting ahead in their adventures? Find out next time on Tales of the Hyper-crossed Dimensions.


Neptune : Wow. It's only the first chapter and we already have a cliffhanger.

Myst. Woman : You just had to say it, don't you?

Neptune : Hehe... And you didn't even get an introduction in this chapter.

Myst. Woman : But in the next one, I will. Why? *puts left hand on hip and points right hand to the sky* Because my popularity says so! *sun shining behind her*

Yuri : Hey, hey. Just how long are you two going to end up filling the extra time we had here?

Kirito : Yeah. We barely even got a few lines to speak right now.

Strarf : Not that I care or anything.

Yuri : *looks at watch* Well then, everyone. I think it's time.

Everyone : *waves at us* See you in the next chapter!

Myst. male and female : How could they? They ended it without us... *tears flowing down from their eyes*


{Next time - Chapter 2 : The Might of Demacia}


Well, how was that for a first chapter? Yeah, I know. First chapter and it's already too long. Well, sorry for me to have such a lot of ideas going on in my head at that time. But like I said, this is my second fanfiction. If there are mistakes or grammatical errors anywhere, just tell me about it in a review or something. Thanks for your support.


Feel free to listen to these BGM's if you want.

{1} Gamindustri's Comic Relief(Note : Can't find original theme. This is the only video in Youtube with that theme, so search this name on Youtube) - Hyperdimension Neptunia

{2} Furnace of War - Tales of Vesperia

{3} The Daily Routines of a Selfish Young Man - Tales of Vesperia

{4} Keeps Me Alive - Hyperdimension Neptunia

{5} Pleasantness - Tales of the Abyss

{6} Hurry! - Tales of Eternia

{7} Sweet Memories - Tales of Eternia

{8} Main Theme - Naruto(skip the first few seconds until the flute part starts playing)

{9} A Vow of Unity - Tales of Vesperia

{10} Easygoing - Tales of Eternia

{11} The Rising Fighting Spirit - Naruto

{12} Farah - Tales of Eternia

{13} $100 - Hyperdimension Neptunia mk-2

{14} Glued State/Bad Situation - Naruto(pick any one of them, they both fit the scene)

{15} Mainstream Theme - Sword Art Online(only play the first choir part)


Characters' Origins(I like to see you try guessing who comes from what) :

Tales of Vesperia

Hyperdimension Neptunia

Sword Art Online

Disgaea

Fairy Bloom Freesia

Busou Shinki