TerraDimension Neptunia: Gray Advent/ Prologue- Part 1

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"Haa... Haa... Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Within a large, square room made up almost entirely of blue, digital blocks, stood three figures; two teenaged girls who look to be sisters on one side looking none the worse for wear, and one young adult man in the other looking incredibly exhausted, the room filled with nothing but the sound of his breathing.

The man in question crouched on one knee, clenching a cybernetic gray scythe with neon blue details in his right hand in a reverse grip as he stared down his opponents. Standing at 5 feet 10 inches and sporting a thin yet muscular build, he has unruly gray hair worn in a single thigh-length braid, sky blue eyes with bright, glowing power symbols in the middle and has a scar along the left side of his jaw. He wears a pitch black, skintight plugsuit divided into two halves; the top half which covers his chest, arms and neck, and the bottom half which covered everything from his waste to his ankles, leaving his abdominal muscles exposed. He is also adorned with armored gauntlets and greaves, as well as a pauldron that cover his shoulders and the upper part of his chest, all colored a gunmetal gray with neon blue details.

The girls before him just glared back at him. The first, who wielded a black and purple katana, has long, dark lilac hair worn in twinbraids with two small black circular pieces with glowing blue x's in them and long bangs that frame her face. She has a mature/curvy figure in a black skintight leotard with purple segments and silver pieces along it as well as gloves and boot/leg armor that runs above her knees and forearms respectively.

The other, who is smaller and less stacked than the first, wielding a black and pink gunblade pointed straight at the man, has long, bright lilac-pinkish purple hair that reach her knees in length with few loose strands of long hair curling down with a round black accessory with a blue center in it. Her attire consists of a black bikini-esque outfit with parts of purple and smaller blue glowing pieces. The top/chest part is connected around the neck while her gloves and boots are above elbow and knee length.

As the main tried to catch his breath, his eyes were directed at two things in particular. He was looking at the severe scars on the girls chests, right where their hearts should be, as he narrowed his eyes at them in a mixture of regret and despair.

The other thing that caught his attention were their own eyes. The whites in their eyes were a dark grey, their iris' were dull in color, and the power symbols in their eyes were pitch black. Above all else, those eyes were filled with a heavy storm of emotions.

Anger. Contempt. Disgust. Malice... Hatred.

...And it's all directed towards him.

The elder of the two stepped forward scowling at the man and asked "What's the matter? Are we finished already?"

"Haa... Haa... Hehehehe..." The man chuckled. "Me? Naw..." The man staggered onto his feet and hunched forward, a slasher smile now present on his features. "...I'm just getting started!"

*BOOOM*

"What!?" Both sisters gasped as he shot himself forward like a bullet, scythe at the ready.

"Ypu won't get away!"

*BANG**BANG**BANG*

The younger sister attempted to shoot him down before he could get too close, but the gray man deftly dodged the first two shots and deflected the third one with ease as he closed into the elder sister.

"Too slow!" The instant he was within striking range, she swung down at him with all her might.

*WOOOSH*

"HUH!?" Only to slash at thin air as he seemingly disappeared.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Hearing a battle-cry from above, they directed their gaze upwards and saw him directly on top of them, scythe reeled back and ready to strike. Without a moments hesitation, he swung his scythe straight down at Purple Heart before she can retaliate... or so he thought.

"Tch! Predictable."

*CLANG*

"GAAAAAHHH!"

In an instant, she tightened her grip, twisted her swords edge upwards and parried the on-coming attack with ease, sending the man flying high into the air before crashing down on his back, with his scythe planted firmly on the grown above his head soon after.

The elder one swiped her weapon to her side with her eyes close, as if she merely swatted a fly.

The mans clenched his eyes and teeth in pain as he struggled to get back up. As soon as he attempted to lean his body forward, a harsh stomp forced him back down. He yelled in pain as a sharp heel began to dig into his right shoulder. Cracking one eye open, his vision was at first obscured, but soon cleared as he gazes upon Purple-haired katana wielder, standing right on top of his, gazing back with eyes clouded by hate.

He clicked his tongue in frustration, but soon after, his face turned to one of calm acceptance. One of a man embracing his imminent demise.

She snorted as she wielded her katana in a reverse grip and upraised it, preparing to stab him in the heart as he closed his eyes.

"... You had this coming."

Dawn/Zonic Apartment Complex/Planeptune/Present

"AHH!" A loud scream echoed throughout the small bedroom as a young man shot up from his bed and woke up in a cold sweat. The man has thick, unkempt, dirty blonde hair which is somewhat parted with his bangs brushed down, light gray eyes and currently wears nothing but a pair of royal purple boxers, exposing most of his well-toned, yet moderately thin frame for all to see.

He hyperventilated as he patted his chest to calm the rapid beating of his heart. As soon as his heart slowed down, he took a few deep breaths and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Haa... Haa... Haa... Man. What the hell wa-?"

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP*

"HOLY SH-!" The man cursed as he tumbled out of his bed in a panic and fell face first onto the carpeted floor "Aah! Sonuva-!" He rolled around as he held his face with both hands as the loud incessant noise continued. Staggering his way onto his feet, he scanned the room with a sneer to find out just what the hell is making that racket!?

A minute later, he spots the source of his rude awakening; a small, black, rectangular digital clock that says [6:01 AM] with bright, purple numbers, situated on top of a wooden dresser straight across the room.

"Oh right... My alarm clock." The man yawned as he scratched the back of his head and made his way to his surprisingly loud alarm. As soon as he approaches his dresser, he reaches to the back of the alarm and simply flipped a switch, turning it off and is immediately blessed with the sweet sound of silence.

"*Sigh* Seriously, with how often it manages to wake me up, I'm shocked that I never get any noise complaints from the neighbors." He muses to himself, quickly looking left and right with his eyes and gave his dresser a good knock. He turns on his heel and looks around the room.

It's a small, compact room containing the bare essentials and them some, including a twin-sized bed with a wooden headboard, a closet containing most of his cloths, a desk with a computer and monitor, the aforementioned dresser and alarm clock along with several consoles, games and a small flat screen TV all neatly organized, a few anime posters scattered along the walls, and an entire wall covered with racks of swords, ranging from you're standard wooden kendo sword to actual weapons one would use in battle.

Quickly popping his neck and shoulders, the young man gave himself a few stretches to fully wake up before heading out of the bedroom and head straight to the bathroom next door. Hitting on the lights and turning on the faucet with cold water, he cupped his hands under the running water and proceeded to give his face a quick scrub.

Soon turning off the faucet and wiping off excess water, he looked at himself in the mirror for any blemishes that need to be taken care of, and much to his delight, there is none... except for the obvious and unsightly cowlick he has on the back of his head.

"Welp, not the worst case of bed head I've had... least I don't like some spiky-haired emo punk." He turns around to the shower behind him, reached down, turned on both nobs and wait for a bit as the water ran through the shower head. A minute later, he put his hand under the running shower water and smirked as he felt the water fall at just the right temperature. With that, he quickly took off his boxers, made his way into the shower and closed the curtains on his way in.

He hummed a cheery tune to himself as he thoroughly washed his body from head to toe, and making sure that cow-lick has been taken care of. Looking down to his nether regions, he smiled proudly to see no hair there whatsoever. After about a few minutes, he turns both nobs off, grabs a towel from a nearby rack and rubs his body and hair dry before wrapping it around his waist and stepping out. Making sure to grab his discarded boxers off the floor along the way, he quickly made his way back to his bedroom.

Wasting no time, he threw both his towel and boxers into a nearby hamper, opened his dresser, grabbed a pair of fresh stone grey underwear and a pure white tank top and put them both on. As soon as he was done, he made his way back out and walked down the narrow hallway of his apartment. He soon found himself in a decently sized living room, completely with a small TV/VHR/DVD set, coffee table, a loveseat couch, and a bean bag chair, with a small kitchen space nearby the front door, separated by a counter.

Making his way across the living room, he pulls back the curtains from his window and sees a good morning view of Planeptune as the sun slowly rises up on the horizon, transforming the dark blue night sky into purple and then orange in color. Turning back, he grabs the TV remote and turns on the news as he walks to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

["Hello, everyone in Gameindustri! This is Nepstation, bringing you news and updates from around the globe and beyond the fourth-wall!"]

The man overhears the television as he sits down on the couch, resting a bowl of cereal, a plate of peanut butter toast and a tall glass of fruit punch onto the coffee table. For a good few minutes, he quietly watches the news as he enjoys his breakfast, all the while being very mindful not to make a mess. After all, he did just vacuum the rug yesterday, so better to keep it clean.

("Hmm, looks like there's a chance it's gonna rain. Better bring a coat when I go to the Guild today... and it's looks like shares across all nations are rock bottom. Real shocker. Man, it's practically been that way since-")

["In other news, today marks the XXth anniversary of the founding of our very own Land of Purple Progress, Planeptune. We at Nepstation encourage everyone to please pray for our beloved CPU and CPU Candidate, Lady Purple Heart and Lady Purple Sister, who have sadly disappeared alongside the other CPUs of Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox nearly 3 years ago. We also encourage the other nations to pray for their goddess today, pray that they all may soon return. That's all for now! This is Nepstation, signi-"]

*CLICK*

The young man turned off the television as he gulped down the last of his drink with an irritated look.

"Disappeared... Yeah, right." He scoffed. "Anyone with a good head on their shoulders know that they were beaten by ASIC and have been held captive since." He at least understood why the media does things like this; the Oracles of each nation most likely withheld that information to ease peoples fears and to try and keep faith in the CPUs running strong. Although that didn't stop any hackers with too much time on their hands from digging up that and leaking it out on the web. Most people thought it to be trolls, but he knew it to be the truth, otherwise ASIC wouldn't be where it is to this day.

With a sigh, he got up from the couch and brought his dishes back to the kitchen, washing them all thoroughly before placing them neatly in the dishwasher.

*RING**RING**RING**RING*

As soon as he was finished, the ringing of a cellphone pierced the silence as he turned to the source. Seeing a blue, clam-shell phone ringing and vibrating on the counter, he promptly swiped it off the counter and flipped it open to check the caller ID, which reads [Miki]. Recognizing the call almost immediately, he pressed on a button and brought the phone to his ear.

"Morning, Miki."

{"Good morning, Haru! How are you doing? Did you just wake up?"} The man, now identified as Haru, glances at a nearby clock and it reads [6:37 AM]

"Nope. Woke up about a half-hour ago. Already took a shower and ate breakfast." He answered as he casually leaned onto the counter. "So, what's up? Any new jobs down at the Guild today?"

{"Yes actually! We just got quite a few new quests down here at the Guild... some of them I know you might like~!"} Miki said in a sing-song tone.

"Ohh, I like the sound of that." He replied coolly. "Alright, I just need to grab my cloths and gear and I'll be out. See ya in a few... oh, and tell your boyfriend I said 'hey'."

{"Will do. See ya then!"}

"See ya."

*BEEP*

Closing his phone and placing it back onto the counter and made his way back to his bedroom. Once there, Haru went straight to his closet to pick out his choice of clothing: a pair of black jeans, a moss green, sleeveless vest, a metal belt with a tiger buckle, and...

"Hmm, let's see. What kinda jacket should I wear?"

He sees a black trench-coat with gray lining going down the sleeves.

"Naw, too cliche."

Then a long, red coat with two tails, zippers on the sleeves and a buckle around the waist.

"Pretty stylish, but no."

Then another trench-coat, colored white with blue lines/edges and a fur collar, giving it sort of a modern lordly look to it.

"Yeah, last time I checked, my blood isn't blue."

Then a tan parka jacket with a fur hood.

"Eh, this will do." He pulls the jacket out of the closet, grabbed a pair of fingerless gloves from his dresser and made his way to his bed. "That reminds me, when I get the chance, I'm gonna have to ask Miki if that new coat I got off Nepazon is in yet." He reminds himself as he gets dressed.

Putting on his attire as well as a pair of black military-style boots, he stood up and made his way to his wall of weapons to grab his weapon of choice; a stylized twin-blade with a brown leather grip and the blades themselves are wide, double-edged blades that have a metallic silver color. Putting the weapon into his hammer-space, Haru made his way out of his room and to the kitchen counter, making sure to grab his cellphone, wallet and keys before heading out the door.

As soon as he was there, he turned his head to his right and spotted a small metal object, no bigger than his palm, hanging off a hook in the wall; a locket with a tiny amethyst gem in the middle, complete with chain. He picked it off the hook and brought it close to his face. He smiled softly to it and gave it a quick kiss before stuffing it into his coat pocket and made his way out, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Early Morning/ Planeptune Guild

After about an hour of walking from his apartment, Haru managed to get to the front steps of the Planeptune branch of the Guild, which is considered to be it's main branch as well as the Guild headquarters. Though this should come to no surprise to anyone since the head of the Guild also happens to be the Oracle and unofficial leader of Planeptune, Histoire.

Haru looked up to the clock above the main entrance, which reads [7:32 AM]. He'd probably would've gotten here a lot faster had he taken one of the tubes that run around all of Planeptune or at least called a taxi, but he figured walking would be a bit more interesting. Taking a deep breath and putting on a smile, he casually walked to the front door of the Guild and as soon as he stepped a foot in front of it, the door opened smoothly for him as he stepped inside. Taking a look around, he sees the Guild hall, colored a metallic light-yellow and sporting several columns with holograms on them, showcasing various quests, with dozens of people inside, ranging from Adventurers/Mercenaries like Haru to respected Guild Agents.

His eyes settled onto the desk at the far back, spotting the clerk typing onto her laptop. The clerk was a young, well-stacked woman in her 20's with long, blue hair and matching eyes, wearing a white dress shirt with a purple tie, a blue skirt that goes down to her knees, white knee-high socks and brown loafers. At the front of her desk was a small sign that read [Miki Makushiba], and underneath it in smaller letters [Voiced by: Carrie Savage (ENG)/ Rei Matsuzaki (JAP)]. Casually walking up to her, he rang the bell right next to her to gain her attention.

"Good morning. Welcome to the Guild, how may I-" She greeted at first, but upon seeing Haru, her features brighten considerably and turned in her chair to full face him. "Oh, Haruto! Took you long enough."

"Yo, Miki." Haruto greeted with a smile and peace sign. "Sorry I took so long, but you know me."

"Yeah, I know." Miki raised an eyebrow. "So, what kept ya this time? Did you find another gang of thugs harassing a hot girl?" She teased.

"Nope, not today, although I did bump into a couple rats... a pair of loud, foul-mouthed ones, if you know what I mean." He said as he explained himself.

He did in fact run into rats on the way over; specifically a green-haired, pale-skinned teenager wearing a gray hoodie that looks like a rat, and a literal giant grey rat with bat-wings. Apparently they were selling illegal disks and emulator chips down at a public street corner before Haruto spotted them. When they tried to harass him, he took care of them both with relative ease... in the form of a rather one-sided beat-down. Though he did give them points for putting up a fight.

"... But they managed to give me the slip before the cops arrived." Haruto finished, with Miki leaning forward on her desk, both fascinated and somewhat disturbed with what she was told.

"Geez, selling that kind of stuff out in the open, and in broad daylight? *Whistles* ASIC is getting pretty bold these days." Miki commented. "You might wanna consider getting yourself some type of vehicle, ya know just in case you run into trouble even you can't handle."

"C'mon Miki, it's me. I can handle myself just fine... although, I am looking into getting myself some wheels when I have the time and money. 'Til then, it's walking for me. Besides, as long as you know where to avoid the bad neighborhoods, you'd be amazed with what else you can find."

"Hmm..." Miki hummed as she brought a hand to her chin. "Ya know, if I didn't have to wake up so early to go to work, I might actually take you up on your offer."

"Then go ahead and try it when you're not on morning shifts. Trust me, it's pretty good for your gluts."

"Hahaha. as if I already have enough butt to go around."

"True."

"Anyways, you know the drill," Miki turns in her chair, types in a few letters and a section of the desk opened up to reveal a scanner. "Just put your ID onto the scanner and we'll get ya going."

"Yes, ma'am." Haruto replied, pulling out an ID out of his wallet and places it onto the scanner. Seconds later, a holographic screen popped up in front of him showing him his bust shot as well as his identification. As his profile disappeared, several more screens popped up in its place, showing various quests from the Guild, ranging from fetch quests to extermination jobs to full-blown bounty hunts. Shifting through his choices, he spots two in particular: [Dogoo Extermination] and [Ancient Dragon Quest]. he presses on both choices, as well as a few fetch quests for good measure, and moved them to the left as they show up on Mikis monitor.

"Excellent choices, Haru!"

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've fought an Ancient Dragon, so it'd be perfect to brush up on my skills... that and someones gotta take care of those slim-balls roaming around."

"Definitely. Those things really have a nasty habit of playing with a girls purity... makes me kinda wonder how they reproduce."

"I'd rather not think about that, thank you very much." Haruto waves off as he sees another hologram appear, basically telling him that he has officially accepted the quests.

"Well, you're all set and ready to go!" Miki exclaims as she claps her hands. "... Oh right, you might wanna hurry on that dragon. A Guild agent and her friend came by this morning and accepted that same quest... I think one of them may be your type~."

Haruto raises an eyebrow in intrigue. "That so?" Miki nods to him as she shows the quest details to him. Underneath his profile are two bust-shots of teenaged girls; one is an A-Cup brunette with green eyes, a leafy bow in her hair, a black tank-top and a blue overcoat, and the other is a pinkette with a black hair-band, eyes that match the color of her hair, and a wool-styled tank top with a big neck and un-attached sleeves... and apparently she is an E-Cup. "... Can't say I don't see why you'd assume that."

"I know, right? Do you see that girl? Her boobs are even bigger than mine!" Miki pouts as she pressed her D-Cup breasts together.

"Well, breasts aren't everything." Haruto brings a hand to his hip. "You really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."

Miki giggles at his comment. "You're literally the only guy I know who says that, weirdo."

"It's the truth. Anyways, " Haruto trails off as he turned 180 degrees on his heel. "I better hit the trail. Try and have a nice one... and be sure to give any guy who give you the eye the usual." He says with a smirk.

"No need to tell me twice..." Miki replied as her right foot tapped onto the floor. "Also, be careful out there! It looks like it could storm any minute!" Haruto waves to her as he makes his exit and Miki goes back to work.