Last Chapter - Noire, Rouge, and Plutia set out to the Zeca Ruins in search of the CPU Memories!
This chapter is a little bit longer than the others. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! I'd like to thank everyone that supports me and this story, you guys are the best!
Level 3 - CPU Memory!
Narrator's POV
The Zeca Ruins. This was one of the battlefields of the First Console War. Though many forget the First Console War, they are constantly reminded by the remains of the once great city of Zeca. Eventually, the ruined city became an area of a Memory Core, the spawn point of the CPU Memory.
Our heroines, Noire, Rouge, and Plutia soon arrive at the Ruins. All of the anger Noire was holding in from Rouge and Plutia's antics slowly transitioned into hopes. Although, she does feel a few stressed hairs standing up on her head from the girl who suddenly came in between her and her friend. She can't wait for Rouge to go home. Noire doesn't hate the girl, some of the things she says are actually pretty amusing. Noire's favorite is when Rouge gives her praise and power, she can never say no to her after that. However, no matter how much reassurance Rouge grants her, Noire can't ignore the doubt in the back of her mind. Meanwhile, Rouge and Plutia are bubbling out. In Rouge's head, she wants the CPU Memory as soon as possible and in Plutia's, she is just happy to help her friends in need. New friend or not, Plutia wants to please her guest until it is time for her to go home. The question is, does Plutia want that time to come?
The group came across a lot of monsters but at the end of every battle, they were victorious. Noire was in quite the good mood from the extermination, letting these victories go to her head, but needless to say, that didn't last too long.
Rouge's POV
"I'm beginning to regret letting you two come along with me." Noire finally brings her attention to us. Call me desperate, but I was trying to bug her to get her attention from the start. I can't say I'm upset that I finally received it, though.
"Aww... I'm sorry, Noire... I promise we'll be gooood..." Plutia says with an upset demeanor. I pat the sorrowful CPU's back and grin, "Don't worry, Noire doesn't mean anything she's saying. She would've been an utter wreck if we weren't here, especially you, Plutes." After hearing this, Noire blushes and hastily steps back, away from Plutia. Fidgeting in place, she lowers her head and mumbles what sounds like, "That's not necessarily true..." I let out a laugh and she grows more and more embarrassed while Plutia enjoys our little interaction.
"Getting back on topic, let's find these CPU Memories and get out of here!" Replacing Noire, I take the lead in roaming the ruins.
Noire takes a hold my hood, stopping me in tracks. She shakes her head and says, "It won't be that easy, Rouge. The CPU Memories spawn at the Memory Core once in every few centuries. The interval is inconsistent, so it's impossible to know when they'll spawn."
"Eh?! That's so nutty! In my dimension, it was so much more convenient." So what she's saying is that I might not become a CPU at all? I thought this would merely be a walk in the park...
"Listen, I still don't want to believe that you are a being of a whole other dimension. If it's true then, gosh, from what you've been saying, your dimension sounds like the laziest place ever, but I digress."
Ow-Ouch! This dimension's Noire speaks words so thorn-like...! "N-Noire! Y-You demon! Histoire believes me, and I'm sure Plutes does too! Why are you so cruel?!"
"I said I digress, so just drop it. Hm? Oh, that seems to be it just up ahead." Before I can look over her shoulder, Noire begins to dash towards whatever "it" is. Kicking up dust, she leaves both Plutia and me behind. That's the last straw. This twin-tailed devil has been one-upping me ever since I arrived as a guest in this dimension. I refused to allow this woman to constantly belittle me and make me look bad in front of her friend. Monster or not, whatever is up there is going to be mine and mine alone, damn it!
"H-Hey! Wait up!" I become so fixated on doing better than Noire that I forget about the slow Plutia, leaving her in the dust.
Once I catch up, I look at the future CPU. I intentionally bump into her to put the icing on the cake. Obviously irritated from that, Noire seems to be having as just as much "fun" as I am. She begins to furiously shift in place. Dismissing her childish act, I look to my left and I see some suspicious figures.
Noire doesn't seem to catch these figures however and she starts running her mouth, "Ouch! What the hell was that for! Gosh, you're so annoy-" The figures look this way and I feel my heart skip a beat. I pin the ravenette down behind the remains of a wall with my body. The unexpected act causes me to land on top of her and brings a faint blush to her cheeks.
Noire begins shouting, "W-What the hell?! W-Why are you so close?!" I hate to admit it, but the redness of her face and her bashful expression is somewhat cute. How peculiar, all I'm doing is lying on top of her and yet she's got so embarrassed. This only confirms that Noire is simply a dog with a lot of bark but no bite. Of course, this brings a cocky smile to my face.
"Don't just sit and stare! Answer m-!" I silence her by placing a slim finger on her lip, causing the redness to spread from her cheeks to her entire face. With my other hand over her chest, I can feel her heartbeat increasing. Her eyes also begin to close as if she were expecting something. I get off of her and signal her to quietly look over the wall. Getting off of her caused her to show signs of disappointment, but she tries her best to hide it. She peeks over the wall and sees the figures.
It's a woman and a...mouse? They seem to be conversing about something important based on the looks on their faces. Surely they heard Noire and me, but they must have dismissed the noise when they found no one here. It would be hard to hide in such a short amount of time too, so it was to be expected.
"This is strange... The mouse is new, but the woman looks familiar or...does she?" I whisper to Noire. Surely if I were feeling as if I knew her, I couldn't be too wrong considering that this dimension is full of clones from my dimension. It's been years, though. I rule an entire populated nation, I just can't single out someone's face so easily.
Noire raises a brow, "Y-You aren't being clear, so do you know them or not?" That's what I'm trying to figure out. My thinking is interrupted when the two of them stop talking and pull out these purplish, rhombus-shaped crystals, seemingly from nowhere.
The ravenette's eyes widen, "That's...!"
"Stop... leaving me... behind..." I turn to the source of the huffing and I find a distressed Plutia catching her breath. I almost forgot about her, maybe this whole "one-upping Noire" thing isn't what's best for redness.
I nudge the girl, "L-Listen. I'm sorry for being a bit rude. I was just overthinking things and it was a bad move on my part." Noire nods, "I guess I'm... s-sorry, too. I might have been acting out of line..." Close enough.
Plutia claps, "Yaaaay...! Now my friend Rougey and my friend Noire are getting along...!"
I shift my attention back on Noire, "You scared me for a second. What are those crystals?" She answers with passion, "Those are the CPU Memories...! I... I won't let them have them!"
She hops over the wall and sprints towards the woman and the mouse. There she goes again, leaving me behind so she can shine like the star she desires to be. Plutia tugs on my hoodie, "I wanna go play with the rat tooooo." I sigh and I run after Noire, carrying Plutia with me this time so she isn't left hanging again.
"Stop right there!" Noire roars, grabbing the attention of the mouse and the woman. I feel a bad aura coming from these two. They're two menacing figures and they seem to be serious business compared to the monsters around here.
"Who the hell are you?" The woman asks. Her voice rings through my head. It sounds so familiar, but it's so distant. I just can't remember. Noire places her hands on her hips and shouts, "That doesn't matter! Just hand over those memories peacefully and we won't have any problems!"
"Whoa. You must be after these memories too, chu," The rat says, holding the memory close to his body. This is not good. It feels as if there is something wrong here... but I don't know what. Despite my pride, I want to attempt to avoid fighting these two, so I better help her.
"Hand over the memories, please! We don't want to have to take them forcefully!"
"Um, yeah we do! Just give us the memories you hag!" Noire shouts. Shit. Noire's fiery attitude won't stop her from letting her pride get the best of her. That doesn't seem to rub the woman the right way and she suddenly grows more serious. I feel like I can feel fire coming from her breath when she speaks.
"Rat. Take these and go. I'll eliminate these twerps." Crap! That exact opposite of what I want to happen is happening...! Maybe we can change their minds and just have them properly hand us the memories without having to fight.
"Huh? You cool with that, chu?" The mouse seems as shocked as I am at the moment. Then, in an instant, it begins to scurry off, taking the woman's CPU Memory along with his own.
Noire points at the mouse and turns her head towards Plutia, "Go after him, Plutia!" Plutia looks completely lost, "'Kaayyy." Plutia begins to slowly run towards the mouse and I offer to go with her. If I can go with Plutia, I can avoid fighting this scary woman. It's a win for me!
Noire grabs my hood for the second time and makes me fall onto the ground. A devilish grin taints her lips, "Where do you think you're going, Rouge? You're going to stay here and fight with me. Consider this payback for not taking me... I mean... pinning me down onto the ground." Ah! This girl is nuts! How could she let something so trivial bug her to the point where she is making me risk my life?! Karma's a bitch!
"How cute. Then by request, I, Arfoire of the Seven Sages, shall send you to your graves!" Noire tenses, "Seven Sages...?"
"Why does that name sound so familiar...?" I ask myself.
Plutia and the mouse are long gone. Now the only thing that stands between us and the CPU Memories is this woman. The woman called Arfoire turns her palms towards Noire and I and takes on a powerful stance. Noire and I stand on guard, keeping our recently drawn weapons close to us. With a menacing laugh that sounds oddly similar to a hum, she hisses the words, "My final gift to you..."
She is then consumed by a violet-colored light that is just bursting with energy. Once the light dissipates, in the place of Arfoire is a scantily dressed woman with gray skin and processor units similar to that of a CPU. Her weapon of choice, a double-sided spear that's as black as the aura she emits. Noire and I dash towards the newly transformed woman and we prepare to strike...!
Narrator's POV
The mouse eventually comes to a stop. Despite being a mouse, running for so long without preparation is a little much. The important thing is that he was able to get away and securely bring the CPU Memories with him. Now all he needs to do is get back to the base of the Seven Sages, without causing an uproar.
"Damn that woman. She can be a little much at times. Even I can't do everything, chu." The mouse wipes his forehead of the sweat. Good thing those kids didn't follow me. Otherwise, that'd be bad.
In the distance, he could hear the echo of a gentle voice. For Pirachu, it was a little hard for him to understand what the echo was saying but he could hear it getting closer. No one lives in this city, chu. The mouse just dismisses the sound, blaming it on his imagination.
"There you are Mister Rat. Phew, I finally caught up... Awwwww, you look even cuter up close." The girl, who seemingly came out of nowhere, claps her hands. "Mister Rat" jumps out of his position and faces the girl. Her eyes open, revealing her magenta-colored irises. The mouse blushes from the unexpected compliment.
"Me? Cute?"
"Yeeeeep... And your fur looks soooo cuddly..." The girl, Plutia, seems like she would love to take a nap on "Mister Rat's" fur.
The mouse chuckles, "You've got good eyes, kiddo. However, I am not a rat. You may call me...Pirachu!" Plutia then frowns, "Pee-raw-chew? Gross... That name is not cute..."
"Wh-What?" Pirachu exclaims. Plutia ignores the mouse's exclamation and her eyes begin to scan Pirachu. She walks around the mouse, looking at all corners of his body. "Ummmm... Mister Rat?"
"It's Pirachu! W-Why are you staring at me?" Pirachu didn't say anything, but just by looking at him you can tell that he's uneasy about being under the young CPU's gaze. It takes her a while, but she eventually answers Pirachu's question, "I was looking for your outfit's zipper but I can't find it... Where is it?"
Pirachu looks proud to answer her question, "This ain't no outfit, and there ain't no zipper! I'm the real deal. Ain't nobody in my skin but me, chu!" Plutia then replies with an "oh". Afterward, she has this disgusted look on her face. "Are you saying that... you're a real rat...?" Pirachu nods pridefully and Plutia's disgust increases. She wasn't expecting this. "Then that is a biiiiiig problem... A stuffed animal rat is cute but real rats are icky and gross..." Pirachu gasps.
"I-Icky?! I'll have you know that among my peers, I bathe around three times as often!" For some odd reason, Pirachu became desperate to defend himself. He even realizes this himself and he turns his back towards Plutia. "I don't know why I'm arguing with this broad, I'm very busy, chu!" He begins to walk off and the curious Plutia sees something that catches her eye and causes her to follow him.
"Waaaaiiiiit... Those thingies that you're carrying... What are they called again...? Those are the things that Rougey and Noire really wanted..." Pirachu's irritation grows. He was able to get away, but this girl was being so persistent. He'll never make it back to the base with her following him. He needs to shake her and fast. An idea came to him.
"What? Those two? They're probably dead by now, so why should it matter?" If he could inform her about how beaten up her friends were, that would get her off his back for sure. Plutia tilts her head, "Whaaa?" Pirachu smirks, "They're probably dead or well enough close to it. They caught the old hag at a bad time. Sucks to be them, chu."
Pirachu begins to walk off again until Plutia grabs hold of his tail. "Are you saying that something bad happened to my friends...?" Pirachu tries to get free, "Hey! What're you doing?! Let go of me you broad!"
"If something bad happened to them, I might get angryyyy..." Plutia says, her grip on the mouse's tail tightening. Pirachu becomes more frantic in his attempt to get Plutia to let go, "Ugh! My patience is at its limit! I usually don't smack broads around but if you don't let go, I'll have to make exceptions...!" Pirachu's wiggling turns into struggling and at that exact moment the CPU of Planeptune is enveloped by a white light. A light so bright, that it causes Pirachu to look away.
His jaw nearly drops when he sees who emerges from the bright light. "Drat! Don't tell me that that girl is a CPU...!" The woman who just emerged from the light frowns, "A CPU? Who gave you permission to label me as such?" At the end of that sentence, her expression turns into a sadistic grin. "You will call me Her Ladyship, scum!"
The woman swings her arm upwards, lifting Pirachu into the air. Swiftly, she brings her arm down and crashes the poor mouse into the dirt below...!
Rouge's POV
"Urgh... Are we gonna... lose?" Noire mutters after she is driven into the ground. Trembling, I'm able to get to my feet again. I ready my tanto and I look at Noire, "Don't be stupid, Noire. We aren't done yet. Listen, I'll create an opening, be prepared to attack!" I feel a burst of energy in my feet and I run towards Arfoire. I exert a tremendous force on my tanto in her direction but she hops out of the way, avoiding the attack. I quietly curse to myself as she takes her spear and lodges it in my direction and yells, "Die!" I use what little strength I have to turn my body around so the attack won't prove fatal. Instead of my throat, the spear pierces a hole in my stomach and I'm knocked onto the ground. My hoodie gets covered in blood coughed up by yours truly. Arfoire only watches and laughs maniacally, giving off that evil vibe I felt earlier.
"Rouge...!" Noire screams my name out of concern. She attempts to get to her feet but her injuries get the best of her and she drops like a rock. She pounds her fist into the dirt, "No... If only I were a CPU, we would have never lost...!"
I writhe in agony as I touch the bleeding wound on my torso, "Argh! Damn it, this sucks!"
I scream in pain once Arfoire forcibly pulls the blade out of my stomach, staining the dirt (and my new hoodie) with my blood. She raises her spear wielding hand above her head and frowns, "I'm sick of hearing you, Red. Time to die!"
I look over and I see Noire's hand trying to reach for me, "No...!" She brings the spear down and I close my eyes, preparing for the worst to come.
CLING!
I open my eyes when the sound of metals colliding makes my ears ring. I'm face to face with the (appealing) backside of a woman who is clad in a black and magenta dominatrix outfit. She protected me from Arfoire's attack and currently her weapon, a broad bladed katana, is clashing with Arfoire's spear. With a swipe of her sword, the woman knocks back Arfoire. She then crouches down and sits me upright, studying my wound.
"My... That's a pretty bad wound you have there. However... It'll make punishing this ugly tramp all the more satisfying..." Her voice is so smooth and alluring. Like that of a jazz singer. I can barely keep my eyes open but from what I can tell, her face is rather beautiful.
"Who the hell are you?!" Arfoire yells, her eyes fixated on the dominatrix.
"Why did you transform, Plutia!?" Noire smacks her forehead with her palm and drags it down.
So this woman is Plutia... What a drastic change...
Next Time - What Will You Give Me?
