Crewman Horndog screws his way through the Schwartzwelt
by Cyberchao X
Disclaimer: The Shin Megami Tensei series is property of Atlus.
Chapter 4: A Mall Problem
The rest of the trip through Sector Bootes was relatively uneventful. Gu Huo Niao leveled up and also took on a new skill, Watchful, that allowed her to gain experience even when not in the party. This was fortunate for her, because she'd been lacking in skills as it was and as such no longer had any place in the party, and Horndog happily returned Lilim to her rightful place at his side. With space at a premium, the now-obsolete Katakirauwa and Angel were combined to form an equally obsolete Heqet. Many female demons were spared, although upon coming across a pair of Apsaras at the full moon, Horndog gleefully let Lilim loose to beat them up like she so desperately wanted to. Upon activating the elevator and finding Mitra's room, however…
"You're returning me to stock?" Lilim asked dejectedly.
"Just for this fight. Moh's Garula will be more useful here, and she can team with the other demons, hopefully get them lots of experience so I can get back to having you and Leanan in the party."
"Well…okay."
Mitra barely caused any trouble at all, with Daphne strengthening the party's defenses while Apsaras weakened Mitra's attack with Fang Breaker and Moh Shuvuu and Horndog wailing away on Mitra's weakness to wind with Garula and Storm Shot, respectively. The only one who actually leveled up was Horndog, although Daphne came close. "Nice work, everyone. Time to set out."
"I've got to say…you're awfully bold, fielding a party of lawful demons like that," Moh Shuvuu said.
"You were the best ones for the job. We absolutely kicked ass out there."
"Yeah, well…you're going to regret it some day, I'm sure."
More fights ensued on board the ship—between Zelenin and Jimenez, and then between Jiminez and Arthur. The good news was that the Elve may have been found in the new sector, codenamed Carina. Before that, though, there was unfinished business in Bootes. After getting Daphne's source, he switched Lilim back into the party and went after the Fiend called…David. "Wait, 'David'? That's your name? That's not a very fiendish name."
David proved much more difficult than Mitra—Lilim got sent back into the stock at one point thanks to the Staredown's fear effect, and Moh Shuvuu actually got taken out—but in the end, Horndog managed to prevail over the skeletal violinist. He then entered Carina, fused together a High Pixie (resummoning Lilim, of course) and a Dzelarhons, and also doing some experimentation to get an Okiku-Mushi. It didn't take long to get a source from the latter, as well as from Heqet. He also ran into Mastema again. The angel asked if Horndog trusted him yet.
"You're definitely different from those demons," Horndog replied, since "trust" was not exactly the way he felt about the angel. Something about him just unnerved Horndog—probably the way his chaos-aligned demons seemed afraid of him. He talked to Lilim about it afterwards.
"Yeah, those angels really bother me. You've heard what that Mastema is saying about demons, right?"
"Well, my unit was sent here to stop the threat that the Schwartzwelt was posing to our world…"
"But you don't really want to do that, do you, Randy?"
"…I'm not sure. I don't really understand this place. The way they describe it, it sounds like the Schwarzwelt itself is alive, and I like my world too much to let it just take it over. But if the only way to stop it is to eradicate it completely…I don't really want that either. This place is nice too, and the demons here aren't really all that different from humans."
"Yeah. You humans aren't so bad. Those angels…I really want to knock them off their high horses. Corrupt them…" Lilim was licking her lips.
"You're still thinking about the lesser angels we met back in Antlia, aren't you?"
"All of them, actually. I know you'd be more than willing to help with the lowest of them, but the others…"
"It figures. All good girls want bad boys and bad girls want good boys."
"I want you, though…"
"…Now?"
"Sure."
Lilim returned to the party after High Pixie leveled up, and Horndog brought Moh Shuvuu back into the party when Dzelarhons did as well. "Persistent, aren't you? Do you really want me that badly?"
"Why would he want your little mosquito bites when he's got these?" Lilim asked, thrusting out her chest, "Or these?"
Leanan Sidhe was surprised to find Lilim opening up her dress. "Stop that!" She blushed.
Horndog laughed. "Calm down, Lilim. Your position isn't in any danger."
"I know, but…you do seem to have an odd fondness for that little bird."
"She…amuses me. That attitude of hers…delightful."
Lilim thought about this for awhile. "…it's just a shame that that nymph is here as well." As usual, Apsaras wasn't even paying attention to these proceedings; when there wasn't anything to battle, Horndog and the majority of his demons might as well not even be there—though she had made friends with fellow weapons enthusiast Gu Huo Niao. "With another ally, I could fix her up…"
Horndog smiled. "I don't think that's necessary. Remember the battle with Macabre?"
"Remember the battle with David?" Moh Shuvuu shot back. "I'll admit, I'm grateful for the concern you displayed for me in that battle, but you're still far from earning my respect."
"…Fair enough."
It was around the same time that Horndog first met Horkos, and not long after that, he recruited Nekomata—yet another munitions enthusiast. (They're everywhere.) He spoke to Mastema and found out that he needed a Megami and a Wilder; he resummoned Hathor and fused Nekomata with Okiku-Mushi to create Raiju. Mastema did some ritual that he said humans couldn't be allowed to see, and created the Shibboleth. Zelenin also received an angel for protection. Horndog then quickly leveled Moh Shuvuu up and fused Lilim to Dzelarhons, adding in the Dzelarhons' Source so that the resulting Yuki Jyorou would be resistant to Fire. He brought Yuki Jyorou and Nekomata into the party.
"Hiya boss! You ready to use me to my fullest?" Nekomata asked excitedly.
"I'd…like that. You know, I bet you'd get along well with Apsaras over there. She's into weapons as well."
"Really? Okay!" The excitable cat-demon went over to engage the nymph in conversation, to minimal effect, while Horndog returned to the Red Sprite and got the Horkos Buster. In almost no time, Nekomata's source was obtained and Moh Shuvuu was back in the party. (This is all going somewhere, I promise.) They then fired the Horkos Buster, but Jimenez's overconfidence allowed Horkos to escape. Horkos then appeared in the room where Mastema had been, and Horndog and his crew followed quickly. Jimenez acted as a decoy while Zelenin provided cover fire and Horndog fired the Horkos Buster. Findite was obtained. In a rare show of graciousness towards his own gender, Horndog expressed willingness to allow a Karasu Tengu that had asked to be in his party join, but it turned out to be a trick anyway. With a little bit of teamwork, the lawful Apsaras and the chaotic Yuki Jyorou actually discovered that they made a good combo (though they needed to work on their timing), with Apsaras having the all-enemy effecting Lullaby which would set up for Yuki's Eternal Rest. In this same battle, Moh Shuvuu leveled up again…
"This is for you! It's like a present, since I'm a little more grown-up from getting a level." It was a Magaru Stone. Oh, well, maybe next time, Horndog thought. They fought a "god of the toilets" and went back to work in Carina. They found Horkos again, and he escaped, but not very far at all. Success! The Elve was freed. Radio back to base…
No way…
After the meeting with the heads of the joint project ended, a strange, beautiful girl appeared. "Ah, I apologize for the intrusion. My, my…this is a grand ship. Even the ark that withstood the flood couldn't compare."
"Is that so? Well wanna stick around for awhile? I'm—"
"Hm…? Your name is known to them, Randy Horndog."
"Wait, how did you know my name? Who are 'they'?"
"I am Louisa Ferre. Please, call me Louisa."
Horndog considered the name. "…Didn't think I'd be meeting you this soon, Louisa. Or that you'd be female, though I suppose that would make for an ironic hell. W-well met, I guess."
"I suppose humans brought this danger on themselves, and are hastening to destruction… But I am only putting into words the destiny you've carried since you were created."
"So, these demons are your creation, are they? Nice work; I approve."
"There is no cause for concern. Yet you are still allowed a bit of power… Perhaps you may be able to control where the pendulum stops swinging."
"Right into a pit, I should hope."
"Where do you belong? A steadfast soldier of the law, or an agent of chaos?"
"Chaos."
"Hm…? It seems you have guests again. I had hoped to sit and talk with you longer, but I am left with little choice. Excuse me please."
"The last woman who looked like that said something similar when she left me. She was just a regular human, though." He sighed, summoning up Lilim. "I just had a discussion with a woman who called herself Louisa Ferre, who looked oddly like one of my human ex-girlfriends. Why would the devil appear before me in such a form, and…what's up with the demons leaving the Schwarzwelt and invading Earth?"
"Wait, they're actually doing that now? That was just theoretical…it wasn't thought to be a legitimate possibility!"
"You knew?"
"I'd heard that some of the more radical demons wanted to. Most of us thought it would be more trouble than it would be worth."
"Ah…speaking of things that might be more trouble than they're worth, I've been looking into Primes. You may go through some unpleasant intermediate stages…but if I'm not mistaken, you should never have to worry about your spot on my team after this." And he turned her into a Succubus.
"…I don't like it. Change me back." The other result of priming had been to turn Leanan Sidhe into Clotho; he combined his new Succubus and Clotho into a Hariti, then returned Lilim to her original state. "Ah, much better. I can't stand blondes."
"I can't really agree outright…but you're absolutely right; it was a horrible idea and you're much more beautiful just the way you are."
"Mmm…yeah, you know it…"
The new party of Apsaras, Yuki Jyorou, and Hariti worked especially well, as Hariti had the same Lullaby skill as Apsaras. (CCX: No surprise there—I used a Hariti source to get the Apsaras with Lullaby, specifically to use as a setup for demons with Eternal Rest.) Horndog also recruited a Silky into the party. The high-level party ripped through Sector Carina, although when the party grew low on MP, Horndog successfully negotiated with a Halphas, earning a Bead. However, when it was time to take Horkos down once and for all, it was back to the old standby—Yuki Jyorou and Hariti out, and Lilim and Moh Shuvuu back in, in order to capitalize on weaknesses. (Admittedly, since the damage that he himself did on combination attacks was far greater than any of his demons', he would've probably been served just as well with the massively underleveled Pele as with the two lawful demons. Lilim and Moh Shuvuu both leveled up twice over as a result of the battle, with Horndog himself coming close. Moh Shuvuu's Dia became Shibaboo, and…"P-perhaps I was wrong about you. Here. It's what you want, right?"
Horndog looked at the now-naked raptor. "Moh…"
"Just…be gentle with me, okay? It's my first time…"
"I promise I'll be a complete gentleman."
"Hey, I'm not asking you to be something you're not!"
"…Always the cynic, aren't you?"
"Just do it before I change my mind."
"Why do guys go crazy for that tsundere act?" Lilim asked, incensed.
"Feel free to…never mind." With most demons, he'd gladly try to make it a threesome or more, but he'd earned Moh's trust, and he didn't want to ruin that.
"So? We gonna do this?"
"I can't be out of my Demonica outside of the ship, remember? But once we get this delivered, there should be some downtime. I promise you, tonight will be your night and yours alone."
CCX: About freaking time. It wasn't until after I'd finished writing that dialogue in Sector Bootes that I remembered that among the level-up rewards are the assist forma associated with that demon…and that Moh Shuvuu is one of the ones whose associated forma is clothing, specifically her dress. (Apsaras is another, by the way, although given how long it'll take to get even one level-up for this overleveled demon, we won't be extending that one this long.)
After his tryst with Moh Shuvuu, Crewman Horndog talked to Jimenez about Louisa Ferre. Jimenez didn't seem to think that she existed. Then Jimenez brought Bugaboo back out, earning another lecture from Zelenin. "I suppose it's a good thing she doesn't know what I do with my demon companions," Horndog said after Zelenin had left.
"Yeah, that's…a little weird," Jimenez said.
"Hey, we both treat the demons as though they're no different from humans, right?"
"…Yeah. Good point, Randy."
