Hello, everyone! I had this story idea in the back of my head for a while now, and I wanted to bring it out for the Halloween ahead. Enjoy!
Nepuween Special: The Nepest Night!
A distant howl could be heard off into the dark, spooky night. But this tale will not concern that howl or any beastly creature that roams the night. In fact, this spooky tale is about the most ghoulish of creatures that dare makes the night its playground. This is the tale… of the Neptune.
In Planeptune's Basilicom, Nepgear stared at her bedroom mirror, inspecting herself. "I think I did a good job," she said with a sunny smile, unaware that she wasn't the only presence in the room.
She did a graceful twirl when the windows of her room burst open, letting in a gust of wind. "What the goodness!" She ran to the windows, and closed them shut, letting out a long breath. "That was so scary."
"You can say that again, my darling." A deep voice resonated from behind her making her turn around violently. What she saw was a face that chilled her to the very bone. It was a ghost face with a wide demonic grin and bloodshot eyes that held no life in them.
"Ahhhh!' She screamed and fell on her butt as she moved closer to the window in an attempt to find some distance from this demon. She quickly closed her eyes willing to shut out the world to make it all end.
"Nep Jr! Nep Jr."
Nepgear opened her eyes again, this time finding a connection to the voice she was hearing. "N-Neptune?" It all happened so sudden that when she opened her eyes again, she saw her sister holding a flashlight underneath her.
"Oh, sorry if I scared you, but your door was open," came the voice of Nepgear's older sister and the CPU of the nation of Planeptune. "You look amazing, Nep Jr."
Nepgear was still a little stun but got up from the floor slowly. "I can say the same for you, too." Upon inspection, she could see that Neptune had more than just a flashlight. Neptune was dressed in a vampire outfit, as far as Nepgear could conclude.
Neptune had on black shoes, black stockings, a black skirt, a red vest with a white dress shirt underneath it that started where her collar bones were, and a red cape with a tall collar. On her face, she had white makeup that explained what Nepgear saw and dark markup around the eyes that gave off an undead like appearance. Lastly, there was a trickle of fake blood dripped on the side of Neptune's mouth.
"How do I look?" said Neptune who extended her cape to make herself seem bigger.
"Very… scary."
"Yes, I'm a VampNep tonight- DracuNep….?" Neptune quickly started to lose herself in her own thought process. "Hmm, it sounds better in my head. Well anyway, I really like your costume, Nep Jr."
Nepgear was dressed as a robot, having the parts like the legs and arms molded out of some plastic that she used, and painted to make her outfit stand out in color. It was a complete set, minus the face mask. She also had movable joint space to give her maximum mobility. "Thanks, Neptune. I can't wait to head out for trick or treating with all the others."
A small sinister smirk formed on Neptune's face. "Yes, it's the time of year for treats, but mostly tricks. And my true darling, my true pray awaits." Neptune connected her fingers evilly because she couldn't wait until Noire showed up so that they could all start the night.
"You shouldn't let, Histoire catch you saying that, or else she might ground you for the night."
"Oh, don't be like that, Nep Jr. I'm just trying to have fun."
"You're always having fun," said Nepgear with a sigh.
"That's just my character, I can't help it," stated Neptune.
"Girls! Can you give us some help?" A loud shout pierced their ears as it came through the hallway.
"I think Histy is back," said Neptune.
The Planeptune sisters lost no time in getting to the living room to see Compa, IF, and Histoire carrying bags that looked like they were overflowing with stuff.
They quickly intervened and placed all the bags on the table. "Thanks so much, you two," said Compa in a sweet voice.
"Gosh, I'm surprised that we didn't drop anything on our way back," said IF who walked over to the couch and dropped onto it.
"Indeed, but it's all worth it for tonight," said Histoire.
"Oh, oh! I actually forgot that we are having a Nepuween party tonight." Neptune spun around playfully letting her cape flutter in the wind.
IF made a sour face at Neptune's title for their party. "Don't you mean Hallo-"
"No, my dear friend, Iffy. Nepuween is what you call it in Planeptune." Like the creature of the night she was playing as she snuck up on IF from behind the couch.
"Since when?!" Said an angry IF.
"Since forever!" Shouted Neptune cheerfully jumping over the couch, and landing on the seat next to her brown-haired friend.
IF sighed deeply with closed eyes. "If you say so, but that name is nowhere as scary as the original." It was at this point that IF got a full view of both Neptune and Nepgear's outfits. "Hey, Nepgear, did you make that outfit yourself?"
"Yes, actually. It took a while to get it right so it wouldn't restrict my movements." Nepgear moved around being able to touch her toes, and twist her waist."
"Pretty nice."
Neptune started to pout because IF hadn't even bothered to comment on her outfit. "What about me, what about me?!" Cried Neptune for IF's attention.
"You… what are you suppose to be? A witch? An undead magician?" Asked IF trying to pin down the outfit.
Neptune puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "This is the cute and adorable vampire outfit that I made!" She sounded like she wanted to shed a tear from the fact that IF couldn't tell what she was.
"Oh, oh, it looks good too, Nep," she said kindly.
"Hmph, where's your outfit?" Remarked Neptune.
The brown haired girl looked at her longtime friend with an unenthusiastic frown. "I've outgrown that whole, going to people's houses and asking for candy. I would have thought that you would do the same."
"What?!" You're never too old for candy, Iffy."
"Eh…" Was all that IF had to say. Luckily, Compa came over with her sunny and sweet smile. "Iffy has never had much of a sweet tooth, really." Compa placed a delicate hand on IF's shoulder that caused IF to blush lightly.
"Well, what about you?" Said Neptune.
"Not this year Nep-Nep. Iffy and I are going to help out Histoire set up the party decorations for when you girls get back."
"Yes, speaking of which, when are Rom, Ram, and the others going to come?" Said Histoire as she pulled out some party decorations for the spooky theme of the night.
"Goodness, I'll give Uni a call, and see where she and Noire are." Said Nepgear.
"Oh, so is Noire really going to join us on a spooky night out on the town?" Said Neptune.
"Umm… not sure," said Nepgear who was waiting for the other line to pick up.
Neptune turned away from the others as a dark shadow clouded her face. She connected her fingers together sporting a mischievous grin. "My darling Noire is coming, like an open cup pudding she is going to be my victim." She laughed softly with dark undertones that could be heard from her voice.
"What was that?" Said IF, cluelessly about Neptune's plan.
Neptune turned around with a sweet smile that no longer contained any traces of dark and mischievous intent. "Nothing at all."
Break! What's this? An Author's note in the middle of the story?! No, well… maybe… more like a neat transition… BUT anyway, this is your ghoulish narrator trying out something more… interactive. While we see what little Neptune is scheming, let's take a look at what the Lastation sisters are doing.
Uni received a call on her phone. "Hey, Nepgear," she paused for a second letting Nepgear talk. "No, yeah, we are actually almost to the Basilicom. We should be arriving in like ten minutes. Yeah, I'll see you there shortly." She hung up looking at her phone with a dreamy look that did not go unnoticed by Noire.
"Was that, Nepgear?" Asked Noire.
"Yeah, everyone is waiting for us, so its best to hurry."
"Everyone?! R-Right," said Noire who looked at her costume for the eighth time.
"Noire, I think you look very cool," said Uni trying to make her sister feel more confident than she was feeling. They were on the dark streets of Planeptune with just ten minutes away from reaching the Basilicom, but Noire was having trouble keeping herself together.
"T-Thanks, Uni. I probably should have picked something else out to wear rather than this." She tugged on the clothing that she had bought- more like on the outfit that she made, along with the other cosplaying outfits she had made in the past. Her costume was that of a maid's uniform composed of a black dress, pink trims, a pink bow tie, with a full skirt around the knee length. A white half apron with ruffles at the bottom. Lastly, a white ruffle headpiece.
"Hey, at least you managed to buy a costume in time. Say, where did you buy that costume?"
Noire swallowed hard because she didn't actually buy the outfit, more like she made it, but Uni didn't know that much.
"I'm actually surprised there were any outfits left especially this close to Hall- !"
The last part of Uni's sentence was drowned out by a loud car whooshing past them at a fast speed. This irritated Uni who gnashed at her teeth in frustration. "Hey, there's a speed limit, you idiot!" shouted Uni at the top of her lungs. Noire, on the other hand, was relieved that she was saved in time before she was forced to come up with another lie; one lie was already bad enough.
Uni calmed down and began to walk again.
"What about your outfit, Uni?" Said Noire trying to find a way to stay clear of her sister getting back to the original topic.
Uni turned around with a smile and a wink at Noire. "This is actually something that I threw together after finding all the pieces I needed." Uni's costume resembled something akin to a drifter or wasteland wanderer. She had goggles resting on her forehead, a light brown open jacket with a red scarf, a black shirt, and a black skirt with black stockings. She also had dark brown boots. The last thing that Noire could see was a holster on Uni's waist with a handgun- she wondered if it was loaded.
"Now, you look really good," said Noire.
"Thanks, big sis. Now let's get to Nepgear's place. You wouldn't want to keep that bloody murder cake away from Neptune?" laughed Uni who started to sprint away.
Noire's eyes widened when she looked down at her hands. That's right, she was so distracted by her outfit, that she forgot that she made a spooky cake for the party that everyone would have later. The cake in her hands was a white frosted cake with red frosting covering the top. There was also some dripping on the sides of the cake with the red frosting to simulate blood. The main attraction of the design of the cake was that there was a prop knife made of plastic that was placed on top of the cake. It was only half a knife that had a thin long tip to bury it into the cake and simulate as if the cake was stabbed brutally. This was all placed in a clear transport box that had room at the top to compensate for the prop knife. Noire then blushed at the fact that when she made it, she was thinking about, Neptune… in a none violent way, she might add. "W-Wait! Uni!" shouted Noire after her sister.
They sprinted into the Basilicom and eventually reached the door of the housing unit. Music could be heard on the other side as they got closer. "Be ready, Noire. There's a chance that Neptune might be the one to open that door. I bet she's going to flip when she sees that killer cake that she might actually hug you," said Uni playfully.
While it was supposed to come out playful, those words started to make Noire's hands sweat. Her blush grew at the mental image of Neptune hugging her, and that was a situation that she could not allow her poor heart to handle. "Y-You have a point! Here, you made the cake." Noire rapidly placed the cake in Uni's hands making her little sister stagger from the weight. "Hey, w-why are you giving me this?"
She didn't get her response when the door opened to reveal Nepgear. "You both made it," said Nepgear with a warm smile completely unaware of the two stunned black haired girls. It was bad enough for Uni that Noire was standing behind her like a shield as she held onto the cake.
"Wow! That cake looks so cool and terrifying, did you make it, Uni?"
"I… I…" Uni could not seem to make any coherent words to retaliate on the topic. She was literally, like a deer caught in headlights.
"Aw, this is very sweet, and you shouldn't have done this, Uni. Thank you."
"Yeah, Uni. You shouldn't have," said Noire with a relaxed smile as she started to fall into her tsundere habits.
Nepgear took the cake from Uni's hands and what she did next, made Uni freeze up. She felt hands wrap around her as Nepgear gave her a warm hug. This caused Uni's blush to intensify to take on the color of a shiny red apple.
"I hope you're all ready for the fun night ahead of us," said Nepgear with a smile as she let them through the door.
"That was close, right?" Said Noire close to Uni's ear.
"What was that back there?" Asked Uni after regaining some of her senses.
"You were right. Neptune might have been the one to open that door. Luckily, you were there to take the fall. Too much responsibility for me, really."
"That's so mean. It's not like I'm strong enough to take Nepgear's hugs without blushing." She said that last sentence rather quietly almost as if she was talking to herself.
When the Lastation sisters reached the living room, they saw Histoire, Compa, and IF setting up decorations all over the place. There were bags full of treats, chips, and sodas resting on the table, with a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen.
Near the couches, Noire immediately noticed Vert, Blanc, Ram, and Rom. Ram was dressed in a red shirt, with blue overalls, along with a red hat that had an M on it. Rom was a mirror image of Ram's costume, but with a green shirt, and blue overalls, along with a green hat.
Vert and Blanc, on the other hand, looked to be dressed in their regular outfits. This only proceeded in making Noire turn red.
"Uni!" Shouted the twins who ran towards her at full speed. "Ah, hold on, hold on! I'm holding a cake." Uni sprinted around to get to the table where she planted the cake with all the other things. She had just enough time to turn around and see the twins ram into her. She lost most of the wind in her as she fell on the ground.
"Hey! Cut it out or you guys can forget about going out for treats!" Said Blanc at the top of her voice. She sounded worn out with her eyes looking tired, and her voice sounding groggy.
"That's mean, Blanc. We haven't seen, Uni in a while," said Rom with a small shy voice.
"Yeah, cut us some slack," said Ram with a more projected voice full of energy.
"That doesn't matter, You girls need to learn how to properly greet people, instead of running into them!"
"It's fine… always good to see these two. Now, could you two get off of me? Having trouble breathing." Said Uni.
"Sure we can." They both said cheerfully. Once Uni was back up on her feet, she gave the twins both a big hug.
"You two look pretty cool with your matching costumes."
"Well dah, we are the greatest plumbers in all of Lowee! We wish we could have brought the princess tonight, but she's feeling a little under the weather." Ram pointed at Blanc who had her forehead on the couch while Vert padded her on the back.
"I heard that! Ugh, must have been something I ate, and you two better stop with the cheap shots. I already feel bad for not going, but at least thank me for bringing you here, and spending the whole day at that spooky theme park you two wanted to go." Blanc shifted around the couch to get comfortable.
"We are, Blanc. It's okay, just relax for the night. We'll make sure to bring you back lots of candy," said Rom.
"So, who's going out tonight?" Said Uni.
"I'm going to stay here with Blanc to keep her company, and also help out Histoire with the preparations for the party," said Vert.
"W-Wait, you're not coming, Vert?!" Said Noire, now biting her lip for even dressing up for tonight.
"How can I? When my adorable, Blanc is feeling so under the weather." Vert started to pat Blanc on the head which earned her a beaming red-eye from Blanc. Of course, Blanc did not seem to further object to Vert's company.
"Shoot, why did I even bother to dress up?" Said Noire.
"What?! You can't ditch us, too. We need someone old to take us. It's pretty dark out there!" shouted Ram.
"Please, Miss Noire, don't leave us, too." Said Rom with a puppy-dog expression.
Noire stomped her foot on the ground frustrated with herself. Oh, what about, Neptune? She can take them."
"What about, Neptune?" Said IF mockingly. "She can look after them, but we need someone to look after her while she does that. It's the time of treats, but also tricks and Neptune is a little prankster when she wants to be," said IF with a sigh.
Histoire floated towards Noire with pleading eyes. 'Noire, it would mean so much to me if you would take the candidates out for the night. The neighborhoods around here are fairly calm, but who knows what lurks in the dark. When they get their fill of candy, then you can come back for the party. We are still making the food, and have yet to decide on which horror movies we want to see. Besides…"
She leaned in very closely so that only her and Noire could hear. "Don't you think this is a great opportunity to spend some time with Neptune?" Histoire remained smiling to make sure that her words were not misinterpreted.
Noire looked away slightly to blush and reflect on Histoire's words. She knew that Histoire was very preceptive, and Noire knew that she knew about certain feelings that she had for the purple haired CPU of Planeptune. "Okay, fine. I'll do it, but only because of Uni, Histoire." She gave her a stern expression to make sure that Histoire would not think otherwise.
Histoire merely smiled at Noire. If she wanted to justify it like that with using her sister as the main reason, then that was just fine. "Very well, Noire, but… I think you tagging along is going to make Neptune very happy, regardless." She gave her a wink causing the black-haired girl to blush once again.
"Speaking of Neptune, where is she?"
As soon as she said that, she felt two hands rest on her shoulders sending a jolt through her body. She had failed to sense the presence that had entered the room. "So glad you came tonight, my darling, and with such a delightful outfit." Said a voice that sounded like someone was trying to do their best Dracula impression. Noire had no time to react when she felt someone's mouth close around her neck, after that, she could feel plastic pointy things press against her skin.
"AHH!" She shouted wildly as she moved forward to get away from the attacker. She turned around to see Neptune who was hopping on the balls of her feet excitedly with her hand waving at Noire.
"What's wrong with you? Cried Noire who could feel little marks on her neck from the pressure of Neptune's fake vampire teeth.
"I'm a vampire, my darling." Neptune gave her a playful wink that did not help Noire's blush at all.
"I can see that. Y-You do that again, and I'll slug you!"
"I promise nothing!" Happily said Neptune in her normal voice.
"Neptune, that is very inappropriate of you to do!" Said Histoire.
"Jeez, Nep. If you want to act like a vampire so much, I'll bring a stake and see if that calms you down," said IF.
"You know what can really calm me down? Some candy."
"That's not going to calm you down." Stated IF with tired grumpy eyes.
"Fine, I'll play nice… for now," said Neptune with the last part of that being low in volume.
"Hey, the nights not getting any younger here. When are we going to head out?" Said Ram with a pout.
"It is about that time, we should get our baskets, and head out." Agreed Nepgear.
"Check on that! Mine's right here." Neptune lifted a candy basket that had the face and shape of a Dogoo. Rom and Ram both pulled out their candy baskets from a bag that was resting on the couch. Their baskets were the same color as their costume, and they resembled, more or less that of a famous mushroom design from Lowee.
"Uni, did you bring one?" Asked Nepgear.
"Oh, I actually forgot mine. We were running late as it was, and left it behind."
"Well, here. I ended up buying a second because I no longer liked my old one from last year." Nepgear pulled out a basket that resembled that of a baby bug's face. She also pulled out her old one from last year, and Uni could immediately see why she disliked it.
"This is your old one?"
Nepgear nodded with a smile. Uni tried to make a smile, too, but she couldn't. The basket that she had was an overly scared face with white eyes and dark circles. In short, it was the face of Nepgya. "Umm… I can see why you got another one." Stated Uni flatly causing Nepgear to sink a little low into the ground.
"You're not the first one to point that out."
Over where Noire was, Neptune was looking at her with that cheeky expression that she had whenever she had a plan. "What is, Neptune?" Asked Noire still annoyed from Neptune's previous act.
"Where's yours?"
"I didn't bring one. I'm only here for Uni's enjoyment."
"Don't be so bitter my sweet darling. You'll taste even better with candy in you," said Neptune right next to Noire's ear.
"S-Stop it! You're the older sister, yet you still go out for candy!" Noire had backed away from Neptune to give herself that space, and to let her poor heart calm down."
"You're never too old for candy, my darling. But that's okay, I know you won't agree for me to give you a basket, but I'll just have to give you some of mine," said Neptune with a confident face.
Noire folded her arms in disapproval, however, she didn't verbally object to that offer.
Looks like Noire is going to play along without a fuss, but the night is long, and the Neptune is nothing but energy. She needs to be sharp, and focus for you never know when the Neptune sinks her fangs.
It had only been ten minutes since, Ram, Rom, Nepgear, Uni, Noire, and Neptune had left the Basilicom for the adventure that awaited.
"Nepgear, can you see in that helmet of yours?" Asked Uni with interest and worry.
Nepgear had dawn her helmet that went with her costume. The helmet resembled that of a robot. "I can see just fine, Uni." And just like that, Nepgear's face hit something metal. Everyone stood in shock as Nepgear fell backward. Luckily, Uni grabbed her before she could hit the ground. They removed the helmet that looked like it actually absorbed the blow leaving Nepgear without any damage.
Both Uni and Neptune kneeled down to inspect Nepgear's condition with Uni using her lap as a resting spot. "And crash goes the robot. Are you okay, Nep Jr?" Asked Neptune.
"I take it that that's a no on the field of view?" Said Uni.
"What did I hit?" Asked Nepgear with stars circling her head.
They all looked ahead of the sidewalk to see a stop sign where Nepgear had made her collision.
"Yeah, no more face masks for you," said Neptune.
Once they got her back on her own feet, they resumed walking to the nearby neighborhood. They soon started to see more people walking about with colorful costumes.
"Wow, look at all the people dressed up," said Rom with a giddy smile.
They could see houses lined up, and decorated with spooky themes, and many different kids running around with costumes that referenced their favorite superhero, supernatural entity, villain, animal, or other.
"Looks like this is the first stop of the candy plunder." Stated Neptune with a hand pointing into the sky.
"Plunder? I thought you were a vampire, not a pirate." Mocked Noire with a smirk.
Neptune froze realizing that Noire had caught her with her guard down, and now she looked really silly in her eyes. She quickly came up with a good counter response. "Oh, but I am my darling. I can show you again." She had managed to get behind Noire to prepare herself for another shot at Noire's neck. This time, however, Noire spun around and halted Neptune from doing what she was going to do. "Yeah, no. I'm not going to tell you again to cut that out."
Neptune pouted but nodded as she moved away from her pray. "You will not be able to resist my allure, my darling. The night… is still young."
Noire rolled her eyes wishing that Neptune could stop acting like this. She never had a major problem with Neptune's behavior- heck, that was one of the things she liked about her, but this was a whole different beast.
"Neptune, I need you to get a hold of yourself. This night is for our sisters, so can you help me out here, and try to be a little responsible?" Noire extended her hand out to point at the spot that the candidates were, but when her eyes followed her hand, the candidates had vanished. "Huh, w-where did they go?"
Both CPUs looked around in a panic seeing many different kids with costumes, but not their sisters at all.
"Over here, Noire!"
Noire turned her head sharply to the right to see Uni waving at her from the front door of a house.
"Looks like they started while we were talking. Well, I won't be outdone. Watch out candy, Neptune's coming." Neptune bolted out of the street and made her way to the first house that the candidates were at.
"Ugh, wait for me," said Noire.
The night had gone off without a hitch. In time, the candidates' baskets had filled up to the very brim with all different kinds of sweets.
"Noire, you want a lick of my share pop?" Said Neptune holding up a ruby red lollipop with the brand of Gamindustri's symbol on it. Noire's heart started to beat faster.
"I'll pass," she said with a disappointed face that was directed mostly to herself.
She wasn't the only one disappointed, because of Neptune making a pout as she shoved the lollipop in her mouth. She was not going to go down without a fight and began to rummage through her basket. "Want a CPU chocolate bar?"
"No," said Noire.
"How about some dogoo gummies?"
"No! I'm fine, Neptune." She started to walk faster, in order to catch up with the candidates, all the while, feeling bad about being rude to Neptune.
"Hmm, my Nowa is being a little sour. Maybe I should have given her that sour particle powder." She held up a little bag with a picture of someone making a sour face.
They soon hit a few more houses until they reached the last one on the block. "Finally," said Noire. She was starting to grow tired of the night, and she desperately wanted to get back to the Basilicom and rest her feet.
The candidates ran up to the last house after a group of kids had just left. They could see an elderly lady sitting in a chair with her dog resting next to her, and another chair next to her with a dummy skeleton sitting on it. "Hello, young ones. Come for some candy today?" Said the elderly lady.
"You betcha, grandma," said Neptune with a smile and a wink.
"Well then, help yourself to some." She pointed over to the skeleton who came alive, as it scanned the front doorstep. "Oh! We got some more tonight. We got two plumbers, one robot, one vampire, one maid, and one… road warrior!" The skeleton started to laugh wickedly.
"W-Well, it is close, so I won't correct you," said Uni with a smile actually liking that title.
"That's a cool animatronic you have," said Nepgear.
"Oh, Skelly? He's no animatronic, my dear," said the elderly lady.
"Nonsense, don't listen to this old gal, had one too many potions from the cauldron if you get what I'm saying." The skeleton laughed hysterically and extended out its arms to present them with the candy that was in a bucket.
The candidates found the interaction between the two to be weird but said nothing as they grabbed their portion of candy. Noire stood in silence, close to the front porch, but far enough so the porch light wouldn't reach her. She was content in standing there when Neptune tickled her out of nowhere.
"Noire, this is the last house. At least get some candy before we head back," said Neptune as she continued to tickle her from behind. Noire didn't even know how Neptune managed to stealth her way behind her.
"S-Stop! I already told you, I don't want any," said Noire.
"Ugh, the lack of sweet tooth is for real with you," said Neptune with a sigh.
Once the little sisters had their turn, Neptune danced her way forward. "What kind of goodies do you have, Granma?"
"Just ask Skelly. He's the one with the candy and knows the type that's in there."
Neptune looked over at the skeleton who bowed sightly to her. "Well, well, well, Lady Purple Heart… or more like, Lady Candy Heart for tonight."
"You bet your pearly whites that I'm here for candy," said Neptune.
The skeleton handed her a big portion of lollipops, chocolate bars, and other sugary delights.
"Thanks a bunch, you two, and have a happy Nepuween!" Shouted Neptune who ran past Noire to gather with the candidates at the street as they took inventory of all the candy they had collected.
"Nepuween?" Asked Skelly. If he had eyebrows or attachable skin, he would be making an expression of confusion.
"Oh, that, our Lady likes to brand many things with her name. That's how things are in Planeptune," said the elderly lady with a chuckle.
"Sounds weird, and this is coming from me- a skeleton!" Laughed Skelly with wild outbursts.
The elderly lady playfully shook her head as her eyes landed on Noire. "Would you like some candy, my dear?"
Noire had overheard the conversation but paid no mind to it. "Huh, no, no, I'm fine ma'am. I should actually be heading out."
"Lonely Heart! Better pick up the pace before we leave you all alone!" Shouted Neptune as she hopped in place.
Noire balled up her hands into fists trying to suppress her anger. There was only so much Noire could take from Neptune's rude, and teasing attitude. No doubt that Neptune was pushing her buttons because of how hyperactive she was being with all that candy.
"Sounds like that small one is really rustling your jimmies, why do you let her do that?" Asked Skelly.
"She's not always like this, I think she's too hyperactive from that candy to think logically about my feelings," said Noire.
"Still, bite back, little missy. If she's playfully playing around with you, and she won't stop, then bite back. Show her to respect you or get on her level."
"I… I… I don't even know if I could get on her level."
The elderly lady looked over at Neptune who started to play around with Ram as they started to skip around in the street.
"Lady Neptune can be a handful. Say… she's dressed as a vampire?" An idea quickly formed in her head as she got up from her chair. "I got it." She went into the house for a few seconds and soon came back. "Lady Neptune can be very child-like at times, but luckily, we know her garlic weakness. The elderly lady handed Noire something in the cover of the dark that made Noire gasp.
Even Skelly leaned in to see what she had given the Lastation goddess. "Oh, smart thinking there, granny."
The elderly lady continued to smile at Noire. "If you won't take our candy, then please, take this to show lady Neptune that she needs to behave more."
Noire gazed at the object that was given to her with a wide eye. She had no room to think about it more when Neptune started up again. "Noire! Come on slow poke! We need to get going!"
Noire could hear the other candidates telling Neptune to stop her yelling, however, that was the last straw for the twin-tailed maid. "Thanks, hopefully, I don't have to use it." She bid farewell to the elderly lady and dashed off to where the rest of the party was.
The group soon started to make their way back to the Basilicom, since it was starting to get darker and most of the parents had taken their kids off the street. Noire had hidden the object in one of her pockets wondering why she even accepted it in the first place. Her question was soon answered when Neptune lightly bit her shoulder.
"N-Neptune! I said cut it out!" Said Noire who had stopped walking to confront Neptune.
"But my darling, for being just a sour candy, you taste the sweetest of all the delights I had tonight," said Neptune who bore her fake fangs and bad impression of Dracula.
"I'm not y-your d-darling, get that through your head! And I want you to stop making fun of me!"
"But it's fun," said Neptune in a whining pout.
"Well, it's not for me!" Shouted Noire.
The candidates looked around to see if those two had drawn attention to them. Luckily, the remaining kids and parents that were still walking the streets had all congregated near a big, spooky house with lights all over.
"What…? Everyone look, it's a haunted house attraction!" Shouted Ram.
"Let's check it out, Ram," said Rom who looked equally excited to go and check it out.
Uni and Nepgear gave each other nervous looks as they kept focus attention at their sisters' arguing.
"That's because you don't know how to have fun, Nowa. Why even dress up if you weren't going to get candy?"
"Because… because… I don't have to tell you!"
Both the candidates wedged themselves in between their sisters to hopefully stop the shouting match. "You two, come on, stop shouting at each other in the dead of night. Neptune, if my sister doesn't want to get candy, then that's her choice. I would very much like it if you stopped poking her about it," said Uni.
"Yeah sis, she's just wanted to tag along, and she hasn't complained about all the candy you've been eating," said Nepgear.
"Hmph, no doubt that's the reason why you're so hyperactive tonight. Maybe when you calm down on the sugar, you might actually consider my feelings," said Noire.
Neptune unwrapped a chocolate bar and took a big bite while she thought about what Noire had said. "Don't blame the candy, girl."
"You're right since you're nothing more than a spoiled brat!" Shouted Noire.
She could see Neptune choke up on her candy bar when Noire said that. Even Noire felt bad as soon as she said that.
"W-Where's Rom and Ram?" Said Nepgear, finally noticing that they weren't around.
"I think they went into that haunted house," said Uni.
"What?! No, no. That thing's a maze and they're going to get lost!" Noire ran at full speed to the now thinning line of people that were making their way into the building's attraction. She could see that it was quite the attraction with spooky ghost decorations set up in the yard, and cobwebs attached to broken picket fences. She could even see a few open coffins that had animatronic zombies popping out of them in a set time frame.
Noire reached the front that had a man sitting on a chair, safeguarding the entrance to the haunted house.
The man bid farewell to a few more people when they went in.
"Excuse me, did two small girls with matching red, and green outfits went in?"
"Matching outfits? Yeah, they just went in about two minutes ago. They're the house's problem now," said the man, lacking any sort of care.
"This is you're haunted house attraction, so that makes it your problem," Pointed Noire angrily.
"Listen, lady, trying to be a little spooky to go with the theme of the night. Your friends are safe, just taking the last tour for the night and they should make it to the end of the other exit in no time."
"Hmm, then I'll guess we'll have to wait on the other side." She felt someone scoot pass her with purple hair. "Neptune, what are you doing?"
"You heard the man, last tour before he closes up. Rom and Ram are already in there, so might as well see if we can catch up to them." Neptune didn't have a smile on her face while she said that. Most likely, she was still mad at Noire from that comment earlier.
"There's no point in doing that, just wait until they get out," said Noire with her hands on her hips.
"Umm… I wouldn't mind going in, too. What about you, Uni?" Said Nepgear.
"M-Me? I… have a feeling that you might scream in fear, so I'll tag along… f-for your sake," said Uni with a smile on her face. Of course, it was hidden with her prideful expression of her act of selfishness.
"See Noire? Looks like you're all alone on that idea." Neptune quickly went inside before she could feel Noire's wrath once again.
"Come on, sis. Could be fun." Uni and Nepgear stepped inside leaving Noire all alone.
"So miss, are you in or out? Because I need to close this side of the haunted house and turn off all the spooky lights and traps that are part of the event once they get out."
"Fine, I'll go in." Noire could see fog coming out of the bottom of the entrance. She had now just realized that the entrance of the house had an image of a monster opening its mouth, and the mouth was the doorway.
She took a few steps in when black cloth blinded her for a few seconds. After that ordeal, she came face to face with a long red hallway. In the air, sounds of ominous music echoed causing her great discomfort. "Its just part of the experience…" She allowed herself to move through the house wondering where the other three had gone. "There's a lot of doors here. Could they have gone through one of these?" She tried to open one but found out it was locked. She tired again, and again, still, no door opened. "I guess I'm not supposed to go in any of these."
A door slowly opened by itself at the far end of the hallway. Noire swallowed nervously as she approached it. When she got close, she could see that the inside was pitch black. That was until a pair of glowing red eyes stared back at her. Noire held still not knowing what to do.
Noire's heart kicked into overdrive when the door to the opposite side that she was at burst opened. "BOO!"
Noire screamed frantically as she fell on her bottom.
The creature that had scared her was Neptune who started to laugh while she held a flashlight under her. "The look on your face. Sorry buddy for taking your job," said Neptune to a spooky looking mad scientist animatronic that was supposed to be the one to pop out. Instead, Neptune made sure to cancel its jump out activation.
Noire looked petrified beyond belief that she looked at the glowing red eyes since she had fallen into the dark room.
Neptune shined her flashlight at the darkroom to show that the red eyes were actually two red lights mounted on some cardboard cutout.
"Nothing spooky in here but me, my darling."
Noire was more angry than scared now. "You not only mess with me but also the property of this attraction. You've gone too far!"
"Then catch me if you can, Noire." Neptune ran up some stairs that resided at the end of the hallway causing Noire to give chase. After the stairs, Noire came into another room that had a sea of hanging corpses.
"W-What?! N-NO, they're just dummies," reassured Noire to herself.
"Are you sure about that?" Said Neptune's voice from all over.
"Neptune, this isn't funny. I'm really going to beat you if you keep this up."
"You will have to find me first."
Against her better judgment, Noire made her way through the sea of dangling bodies that were covered in white sheets, had blood spots all over, and had a noose around their necks. The room was dark with only faint amounts of light coming from scarce places.
Noire started to hear swinging motions and realized that the bodies were swinging back and forth. "Neptune, stop swinging them!" Shouted Noire.
"But why? I'm trying to help you find me!"
Noire got hit by one of the bodies causing her to stagger. At this point, all the bodies were swinging. It was also in this moment that Neptune jumped out of the shadows to playfully bite Noire's neck once again.
"Neptune!" Noire finally got a hold of her by holding onto her cape with an iron grip.
"Yikes!" Neptune thought quickly and detached her cape to make a dash back into the darkness.
"That was the last straw!" She reached into her pocket to pull out the object that the elderly lady had given her. "Time for you to have a taste of your own medicine." The object that she had in her hands revealed itself to be an eggplant.
"Is that what I think it is?!" Said Neptune from the darkness.
"It is, and I'm going to enjoy shoving this eggplant down your throat!" Said a hysterical Noire who had been pushed too far.
"N-Noire, let's just talk this out, okay? There's no need to pull out the purple stuff."
Now that she had Neptune panicking, she could hear her make subtle mistakes in her movements giving her a better read on where she was. It took a few seconds of walking around before she felt Neptune's presence was nearby. "I got you now!" Noire materialized her short sword and slashed the body in front of her. It spilled hay that it contained revealing Neptune on the other side. "Okay, that was kind of dangerous!" Said Neptune.
"Not as dangerous as this eggplant seeing the inside of your mouth!"
Neptune laughed nervously before screaming and making a run for the door. After that, the rest of the haunted house was left forgotten as both of them ran through as if they were running from the dead.
Outside, Rom, Ram, Nepgear, and Uni stood waiting for the two to come out. "How long do we have to wait?!" Said Ram.
"I don't know what's taking them so long. Neptune went in before us, and that old guy said that Noire had gone inside," said Uni.
They all flinched when they heard a piercing scream coming from the exit. Neptune emerged like a bat out of hell flailing her arms around like crazy. Not too far behind, Noire emerged with the eggplant in hand dawning a murderous look in her eyes.
"What in the world?!" Said all four candidates.
Neptune and Noire ran around the yard until they stopped near some open coffins. Neptune couldn't escape anymore because she had found herself trapped between Noire and a coffin. It was bad enough that Neptune had to use both her hands to hold off Noire causing her to drop her candy in the process.
"Noire, please, please, please! Don't make me eat it!" The eggplant was getting close to Neptune's face, and with each passing inch, Neptune's heart accelerated.
How did that saying go? A cornered animal is the most dangerous? Well, to avoid any part of that eggplant, Neptune did the unthinkable to throw off Noire.
"Rape! Rape!" She shouted into the dark, silent night.
Before that second one even came out, Uni and Nepgear had covered the ears of both Ram and Rom.
"Oh, Neptune," said Nepgear with a long sigh and looking disappointed.
"Jeez, what's wrong with her saying something like that?!" Said Uni.
"What did she say? I don't get it!" Shouted Ram. She looked over to her sister who shrugged.
Back to where Noire and Neptune were, Noire's face grew incredibly red, and her emotions flared. "W-What's wrong with you?! S-She doesn't know what she's saying!" Said Noire randomly into the dark night. She moved forward a few inches causing her to trip on a rock and fall forward on Neptune. Both of them fell into the open coffin as it closed right after they went it.
"Not good!" yelled both Uni and Nepgear who dashed to help out their sisters.
They grabbed on to the lid, but it proved difficult to open. They struggled for a few more seconds until it finally opened.
"AHHH!" The candidates stood motionlessly at seeing their older sisters locking lips with each other. Turns out, Noire had fallen lips first onto Neptune, yet there was no pulling away with both of them having their eyes closed.
Whatever frozen time that they felt they were in had quickly vanished as they opened their eyes to see the other.
"Ahh!" Said Noire who jumped out of the coffin to walk some distance, and hopefully control her blush. Neptune, on the other hand, had a goofy smile that would not stop. "Nep Jr, I could die happy right now, so it's okay to close the coffin now."
"Neptune, that isn't funny!" Said Nepgear.
"You're right." She grabbed the discarded eggplant and threw it out of the coffin. "Now, I can rest easy."
"That's still not what I meant, get out of there!"
The walk back to the Basilicom was a dead silence with no one trying to strike up a conversation. They finally got back to the Basilicom in which they were greeted by Histoire, and all the others.
"You girls were out longer than expected," said Histoire who had a cup of juice in her hands and a witches hat. She looked over at the clock that read close to the witching hour, which was midnight.
"We got sidetracked by some haunted house attraction, we're sorry," Said Nepgear.
"That's all good. We actually thought that Neptune had been the one to hold you up," Said IF who also had a drink in her hands.
"Wow, blame it all on me, Iffy," pouted Neptune.
Histoire had downed the drink in one big gulp and let out a sigh of relief. "Now that we are all here, we can start the Hall-
"Nepuween horror flicks!" Cried, Neptune wildly.
"Damn it, Neptune!" Said Blanc who was startled awake by the loud shout.
"Yes… the horror flicks, we picked two scary movies that are just perfect for the chills. Oh, don't worry, Blanc. They're scary, but not bloody in any way. Pretty much off-screen," said Histoire.
Blanc had shifted around the couch with her movements still sluggish. "That's okay, these kids play violent games behind my back anyway."
"Wait, you know?" Said Ram.
"Of course I do," said a now, wide awake Blanc. She did look a lot better than how she looked earlier on that afternoon.
Histoire had retreated to the table to make sure that all the food was in order along with the drinks. "Noire, could you go to the kitchen and take out your cake from the fridge. I ended up putting it there to keep it cold."
"Oh, sure, Histoire." Noire walked past everyone and went into the kitchen. She found herself growing calmer from the solitude that was granted to her. Once she got her break, she retrieved the cake from the fridge.
"It's a lovely cake."
When Noire had taken out the cake, her gaze was directed to it from the very moment she took it out. It was this act that caused her to not notice Neptune's presence when she entered the room.
"Hey, Noire," said Neptune with her joyful smile as always.
"Neptune, what do you want?" Noire's tone was cold. If anything, Neptune could have sworn that the kitchen had gotten colder.
"Oh, did you make that cake?" Said Neptune hoping that a deviation into another topic might help melt some of this tsun ice she was feeling.
"N-No, U-Uni made it."
Neptune perked up at Noire's stutter. It was irrefutable proof that she had hit something very warm from that question. "I see, never pictured Uni to be the little baker."
"W-Well, she is. And stop trying to make small talk, I don't want to hear from you at the moment."
"Why's that?" Said Neptune with a frown.
"Why? Are actually asking me why? This whole night, you've been nothing but rude, hyperactive, and you even invaded my personal space!"
"I just wanted to make you smile, Noire. And it was hard because you didn't want to eat candy."
"That doesn't matter! I didn't have a problem with the candy. I just wanted to be a part of this night. Tagging along was good enough for me, In fact, the only reason I even dressed up was that I thought everyone was going to go including Vert and Blanc." Noire had set the cake on the counter to gaze off longingly at the situation that she had hoped the night would have gone.
"Oh…" Neptune was lost for words. The fact that Noire had been honest with her at that moment meant that she was extremely sad.
"You hurt my feelings you know that?"
Neptune tapped the floor with her shoes to find some sort of distraction from what she was feeling. This guilt could not be pushed away, and if she did try, then she would be no better than Noire's cold attitude that she uses as a defense mechanism. "You hurt my feelings, too. I'm sorry, Noire. It's just… I love this time of year, and when I found out you were coming I got all excited."
Noire's face softened greatly from Neptune's apology. She let out a sigh knowing that she needed to step up. "I'm sorry for saying what I said, too."
A weight of worry was lifted up from Neptune. At that moment, she felt light and full of energy, that was until something inside her started to make its presence known. "Oh, my stomach…"
Noire looked on with confusion. Neptune had gone weak in the knees as well as become paler in complexion. "Sounds like the candy is rising from the dead," she said with a small laugh.
Neptune puffed her cheeks looking like she was trying to keep something in. After a few grunts of protest, she let out a large breath. "That's funny, Noire, but I'll be okay," she said with a sluggish reply.
"That's what you get for stuffing yourself with all that candy. Jeez, you were more hyperactive tonight because of that."
"No… I take full responsibility, Noire."
Noire smiled at the purple haired girl. In the end, could she ever really be mad at her? "Then I'll forgive you."
Neptune looked happy from that, however, a punch landed on her right arm causing her to stagger. "Ouch! What was that for?"
"I forgave you for the biting, the tricks, the insults, but you're not going to get off that easily with what you said earlier."
Neptune smiled nervously from remembering that. "Oh, that thing I said?"
"Yes, that! How dare you direct such a horrible word towards me!?"
"B- But… you were going to make me eat eggplant!"
"And I rather you eat a whole cart of them instead of saying that. I won't forgive you if you do that again. Of all the things you could have said, you said that."
"Won't happen again. Say… while we are still talking about that… what about that thing that happened inside the coffin…?" Neptune had slowly advanced on Noire with a sheepish smile.
It was Noire's time to blush like a tomato as she tried to gain distance by moving back. "I don't know what you are talking about, and you better hush with what you think happened because nothing happened." Noire had reached the counter causing her to be trapped.
"I see, I see." Neptune leaned forward as if wanting to do a further action.
"What are you doing?"
"I would like to kiss you on the cheek… as an apology, and I'm asking for permission this time, my darling," said Neptune sweetly
"L-Like I care." Probably not the best response to say, but her heart betrayed her mind, and for that one second, she allowed herself to give a small "uncaring" window for Neptune to get through.
Neptune's warm lips connected with Noire's hot cheek. The black haired girl had her eyes closed looking awfully uncaring but underneath that, her body temperature could rival a furnace.
Time soon moved forward, and Neptune moved away. "You know, Noire, that tsun wall of yours has to come down eventually… but I'll just wait patiently for that time."
Noire did indeed look drained seeming to look like she was having an internal battle. Her storm of thoughts was silenced when a large rumble came from Neptune's stomach. Oh, excuse me. I need to ask Compa if she has any of that pink stuff in her bag for tummy aches."
When Neptune had left, Noire let out a huge breath feeling weak all over. She touched the spot that Neptune had kissed her and a small involuntary smile appeared. She found this as invaluable proof of Neptune's confirmation of love. Now all she had to do was overcome herself and meet Neptune halfway. That would have to be a story for another time. She picked up the cake and left the kitchen wondering if Neptune would still eat her killer cake in the end.
So, what did you all think of the story? Had it floating around my head at the beginning of October and decided on making it for the upcoming Halloween. I know, not really that scary, but more on the sweet side, and hey… Halloween is the time for sweet stuff. Anyways, my main story is still being worked on with the next chapter being close to done. Hopefully, I can get it out sometime the first week of November. But, yeah, stay safe out there for anyone planning on doing any Halloween plans and have a fun one.