(These are coming out faster than my typing speed! Without further ado, here is the glorious Triple Date for Chapter 7!)
(Achievement: I can type a decent story length ALMOST as fast as Shaddy now. I feel so proud of myself :' Now then, one Raven, three dates?! Ermaigerd, Raven, you player...)
(Hai~ ouo / New author joining in on Code 404 here! :D I'M GOING TO UPDATE SOONER OR LATER OKAY. GIMME SOME TIME :'D Please enjoy~)
Code 404
Chapter 7: Triple Date
By - Shadistic Archdevil
Assistance from Sangelvii and Fuyukai Desu
Setting: Hamel Plaza
Time: 11:00 AM
Objectives:
Raven - Go on this "date" and not get killed by the others when he gets home.
Raven let out a deep breath as he was once again dragged into a mall by Rena and her friends, which consisted of Ara and Elsa. What was it with girls being attracted to malls?
He had already picked his own swimsuit out in a matter of 10 minutes, but the girls had been taking over half an hour just looking for theirs. He mildly amused himself by wondering how long it would take them to just pick out their swimwear.
He was leaning against a wall in the store when Rena came skipping out, consciously reaching up to touch one of the moonflowers nestled in her ponytail. She was dressed in a floral-themed swimsuit, her cleavage clearly exposed in the skimpy outfit. Flower patterns in the bursting colors of orange, pink, and yellow decorated her two-piece. The top looked like it could barely hold in her chest. He honestly didn't know whether or not to tell her to choose a more modest one, but he kept his mouth shut.
"S-So? Raven? What do you...think?"
"..." He contemplated about what to say. Usually he would have no problem about speaking his mind, but who knew what went on in the minds of women who weren't out in the midst of battle? So he went with the safer option. "You look pretty nice. The flowers suit you, especially your hair."
Raven silently prayed that he had said the right thing. He once overheard that the elf could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.
"O-Oh.." A light, rose pink color dusted her cheeks. "Thanks!"
He gave her a small smile. Phew. Clear. "No problem. So you're getting this one?"
"Oh, yeah! If you don't mind, could you give Ara and Elsa your opinion on theirs too?"
"Sure." The elf bounced happily away, back into the changing rooms. The grey curtains covering the entrance swayed after she went back in.
A few seconds later, Ara scampered out of the fitting room, her long, ebony hair pulled into a ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She was wearing a red and white one-piece that accentuated her curves quite nicely. He briefly pondered if this was flower season or something, because surely enough, Ara's swimsuit was sprouting with blossoms as well.
Her innocent face was expectant. He really only had one choice. "Cute," Raven said, and she thanked him before returning to the fitting room. What is this, some dating sim? He patiently awaited Elsa to come out from the changing room, yawning in the process.
Rena's second friend was quite the opposite from both Ara and Rena. Elsa had a nice body and she knew it. Smiling flirtatiously at the black-haired man, she leaned forward to show him her C-cup breasts, flaunting them.
Pay attention to the swimsuit, Raven. A black and white two-piece with barely anything to hold it together. "..." How should I put this...
"Well?" Elsa's smirk widened as the silence stretched. In the corner of his peripheral he saw a blonde elf and brunette stick their heads out of the changing rooms, as if hanging onto his next words.
"You, uh...look nice...the colors compliment your p-personality well."
"Is that all?" Elsa's smirk grew wider.
"Actually, no. The black represents your courage to show when the darkness succumbs to the others, while the white on you shows that you are not afraid of standing out."
Now it was Raven's turn to smirk as Elsa's jaw dropped and she ran back in, flustered from head to toe. After a bit more rustling and giggling, the three came back out with bags in their hands. Raven let out a deep sigh (as they shoved the bags into his hands) and smiled, since the day could finally begin.
"Let's get lunch since we're going to walk to the water park anyways!"
"Yeah, that sounds good!"
"I see no point in not doing that."
The three girls happily walked next to Raven as they discussed about the week and told Raven what he missed.
"You should stop missing school, it's going to put you behind in the future!"
"I know, I know…"
"Speaking of, why DOyou miss school? You're not sick."
Raven's eyes widened and he caught himself by coughing.
"I have some...family...issues going on right now."
"Really? Awwww I'm sorry…"
"It's not your fault. Not like you knew. Now, let's eat?"
"Hell yeah!"
They all grinned as they dug into their food. Ara had ordered traditional noodles and tofu, while Elsa ordered chicken. Rena decided on a nice salad, whereas Raven had decided to swing towards the hamburgers. After moments of food-munching, Rena initiated a conversation with Raven.
"So, Raven," She cleared her throat, "since you work with my sister, what do you guys do exactly? I always ask Chloe, but she refuses to tell me."
"Oh..well just the usual..."
"Usual?"
"...It's a secret."
"Aww! C'mon, tell me~!" Rena frowned, purposely leaning forward and emphasizing her cleavage.
"We're curious too Raven!" Ara and Elsa mimicked the same gesture as Rena.
Raven shook his head, being as smooth as ever. "Shh girls, it's a secret~"
Instead of his expectation that they'd move onto another topic, all three girls closed in on him and begged him to tell them.
Elsa tried the blackmail technique. "Raven, if you don't tell us I-I'll...!"
"You'll what?"
"I'll start stripping!"
Raven dropped his coffee. Rena dropped her tea. Ara spit out her drink. Elsa smirked.
"That's right! If you don't tell us, I'll strip naked!"
"...You'll only make a fool of yourself…"
"I'm serious!"
"You wouldn't really..."
Elsa started taking off her tank top. Rena covered her's and Ara's eyes while Raven had his hand on his forehead. "Good god...she's actually doing it..."
"You better tell us Raven or more comes off!"
"...No. I'm sticking to my word."
"Rena, is Raven being a pervert or just not telling us?"
"Not sure. Elsa, keep going!"
"Of course."
Elsa slid off her shorts. Raven looked away, only for Elsa to laugh triumphantly. He turned back and she was wearing her swimwear underneath, so it wasn't that crazy of a sight.
"Oh good, you had me worried for a bit."
"T-Tell us now Raven!"
"Nah. You can keep trying, but I've already seen things beyond this point."
That was it. That was the trump card. A brief second of silence washed over the girls as Raven leaned back and smirked, and in the next second he was knocked back by three hands.
"KYAAAA~!"
"OH DEAR GOD-"
Raven fell over, both laughing and slowly dying. He got up and wiped a tear from his eye while the three girls quietly walked towards the park after finishing their food. Raven quickly caught up to them and laughed. His plan to outlast them and defeat them in one sentence had worked.
"H-How do you even…"
"Calculated."
All three girls stared at him. They couldn't decide whether to be amazed at his extremely accurate calculations or angry for what he did. Of course, their expressions were easily readable.
"You guys had it coming for not respecting my stance."
The girls looked down and played with their fingers. Raven grinned in victory.
"WAAAATTTEEEERRR PAAAARRRKKKK!"
"I wanna go on the slide!"
"I'm gonna go diving!"
Rena, Ara, and Elsa squealed happily. Rena somersaulted in the air and dove into the water. Ara ran quickly, seeming as if she was flying, and plummeted straight into the pool. Elsa back flipped and landed in the swimming pool on her back, with all of them splashing Raven with a wave of water from their unique dives. Raven sighed with an annoyed face as he knelt down. Rena swam over and reached towards him to poke his cheek.
"Why don't you join us? It's fun!"
"...It seems very childish."
"There's nothing childish about just having fun!"
"..."
Raven let out another sigh and jumped into the pool, making a bigger splash than Rena, Ara, and Elsa combined. His head rose to the surface of the pool, like a hippo peeking over the water.
"Is that a challenge?"
"Challenge? I'm simply demonstrating my skills."
Both Rena and Raven looked at each other full of competition, then laughed.
"See? There's nothing childish about just having fun."
Raven smiled. "Yeah."
Raven and his "triple date" enjoyed the whole water park. There were times when Ara accidentally drowned from going to the deep side of the pool or Elsa getting carried away with the water guns. Rena and Raven both had a scorekeeper in their minds, going against each other to see who was the better one.
"Huwa...it's getting late so we should head home now." Rena noticed the time when she ruffled her towel through her hair.
"We should get dinner first. I'm starving!" Elsa remarked and Ara nodded.
"Any place in mind?"
"Maybe we could stay in a hotel for today?"
Everyone else nodded in agreement. "So then it's settled."
The four sat together in a hotel restaurant. Ara ordered some fried rice with vegetables and green tea, Elsa called for spaghetti along with soda, Rena requested another salad and lemon tea, and Raven ordered steak and water. When the meal got to the table, everyone dug in.
"Ahh, I'm stuffed..." Elsa rested her head on the table.
Ara nodded. "I don't think I could eat another bite.."
Rena yawned and stretched her arms. "Yep, we're definitely staying in a room."
"Alright. I'll go make reservations."
Raven stood up from his seat and left the three. When they saw his last strand of hair disappear out the door, they all grinned at one another.
"Yes!" They all said in sync as they high-fived each other.
Later
"Why am I even doing this...If the others find out...ugh."
"May I help you, sir?"
"You have any spare rooms for the night?"
"I'm afraid the only room we have is a one-bed, one-bath room."
"...I'll take it."
"Here is your key, That will be 3,000 ED. Upstairs on the 4th floor and two doors down on your right. Enjoy your stay, sir!"
Raven sighed as he headed back towards the door to the restaurant. The three girls had been kind enough to pay the bill before waving at him, patiently waiting for the news.
"I got us a room, but uh…..how do I put this…"
"Anyway you like! It can't be that bad, right?"
"Well, it's a one-bed one-bath, so we gotta share."
The girls' minds exploded into erotic fantasies of Raven, but Rena managed to keep her cool and be the only one to respond.
"I'm sure we'll be fine! Right, girls?"
"Of course!"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"That's a relief. Then, let's go?"
The four of them walked up the stairs. Raven wasn't sure if it was okay, but it was too late to head back without being attacked, which, although he was prepared for, he did not want to ruin the others' day. He sighed and smiled. It would be for the benefit of others, as the Prince always told him.
"Well, here we are. Let's check this room out."
Raven heard a click as the door unlocked. His arm scanned the wall for a light switch, and immediately flicked one as soon as it got a grip. The room was astonishing for a price of 3k ED. A beautiful white, king-sized bed. A glass bathroom that was visible from the room, a small TV, fridge, and coffee table, along with an astonishing balcony view of the nightlife.
"...So much for a one person room…"
"Wow...It's so pretty…"
"I'm tired~"
Raven yawned as if on cue and noticed Ara had already plopped onto the small sofa and fallen asleep. He smiled a bit and took a blanket from the closet and draped her over with it. Rena and Elsa had other plans, however. He was about to speak until he turned around.
"So what about slee- GAH! WARN ME!"
"Hmmm~?"
"Awww~ He doesn't like our figures~"
"N-no! It's not that, just...please…"
"Please what? Please you? It'd be my pleasure."
Raven practically leaped into the bed covers to hide his eyes from such a dirty sight. He breathed slowly and counted to 10 loudly, as if signaling for the other two to put on their clothes. After he hit 10, he opened his eyes and flipped over, only to be met with two chests. His face immediately turned red as he backed up against the post of the bed.
"W-what's the meaning of this?!"
"We just want to spend some 'special' time with you, Raven."
"Yeah~"
Everything became hazy as Rena kissed him. His eyelids closed and he fell asleep almost instantly.
~The Next Morning~
Brilliant rays of sunlight flashed directly into Eve's eyes. They fluttered open and glistened with their golden, yellow-orange color.
"Good morning Eve!"
"Good morning Eve."
Chloe just came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush stuffed into her mouth. Seris was still lying in her bed, leaning upright on a pillow while being tucked in her blanket. Eve got up and noticed her wounds all healed and better along with glancing at the others to find that they have almost completely healed, too. Eve rubbed her eyes, let out a great big yawn, and slipped out of the soft bed in her nightgown. She still felt dazed even after all the rest she had, but shrugged it off enough to keep her awake for the morning.
"Good morning Chloe and Seris. Has Raven returned from his date yet?"
"No, sorry. He hasn't been here since yesterday."
"I wonder why..."
"What if...he got KIDNAPPED?!" Chloe jokingly said.
Eve took it literally, and suddenly turned pale.
"E-eve...I was kidding..."
"...But there is that possibility..." Eve quietly murmured.
Chloe could see the worry in Eve's eyes and felt guilty for teasing her.
"Hello girls!"
Everyone turned to the door knowing exactly who it was. The Prince walked into the room with his two maids, Ariel and Luriel, by his sides.
"Good morning, your highness."
The three bowed in his presence.
"I see you all have gotten significantly better."
Eve, Chloe, and Seris all nodded in synchronization.
"Well then, that's great news."
Chung saw Eve's face plagued with concern.
"Oh, Eve? What's wrong?"
"..."
"Are you perhaps thinking of Raven?"
Eve gave the Prince a critical stare.
He smirked. "Heh, knew it. Well, he's just on a small vacation for now. He needs it after all his rank climbing in only a short amount of time. A high position like that bears a lot of burden, pressure, and stress."
Eve looked down, even more worried than before. "I fear something bad will happen to him..."
She frowned as she thought of all the negative options that could happen to Raven to the point where her eyes started to water at the idea of it all.
Seris got out of her bed, walked towards Eve, and embraced her from behind.
She whispered into Eve's ear in reassurance. "Don't fret, Eve. Raven is strong and won't allow anyone to lay a single hair on him. Let alone would he die to the likes of the people who he can easily kill. Have some faith in him. Raven will be alright no matter what comes in his way."
Seris seemed so motherly and mature, Eve couldn't help but wish that they were actually family. Eve nodded her head and Seris smiled. "Good girl."
"I apologize to interrupt..."
Eve and Seris turned to Chung. "Since you're healed enough, it's time for your upgrade, Eve."
"Understood."
Eve couldn't help but feel nervous. However, it was for the sake of getting stronger. A new and stronger power given to her for which she can use to her advantage. Who wouldn't want that?
Eve got dressed in her proper attire and followed Chung into the laboratory chamber. The entrance opened, with the inside deprived of oxygen. Eve entered the capsule, falling asleep almost instantly.
A few minutes later, Eve awoke to feel plasma running through her veins alongside her blood. She walked out of the chamber and stretched her arms and legs, and Chung approached her once more.
"Ah, good news, 404. The upgrade did work."
"There was a chance of failure?"
"A 30% chance to be exact."
"Interesting...so what did my upgrade give me?"
"Ah yes. Well, let's begin with your defenses. You may now use your drones to summon a shield that can take heavy damage. However, you may only use it on one ally for a limited time. Be wary of this. Your basic defenses have also been upgraded to take more damage and you can now regenerate your health for a short time using your mana, a sort-of reversal on what you can normally do."
"And offense…?"
"This is where you need to pay attention. Due to the virus, which we have named the '404 Virus' for now, we could not give you proper upgrades. So I had the scientists put together a new system in you. We call it the S.I.D.E. system."
"What does it stand for and what does it do?"
"Search, Interrogate, Destroy, Evaluate. This nifty new system allows you to focus one being in a fight and mark a shield on them. Once that shield has been put up, any sort of attack on that person with amplify and the explosions will only stay inside the shield. After killing someone, the system will pick up traces of useful code for us to evaluate and so that we can use it to further enhance your abilities."
"Anything else?"
"You can go practice in the training room with Chloe and Seris. They have their new upgrades as well. Find out for yourself; it's more fun that way, right?"
"I'd assume so. Thank you, Prince. I will be on my way now."
"Enjoy your vacation!"
That's right, she was on vacation. They didn't have to train, but with Raven gone, she could possibly train hard enough for her to surpass Raven, especially with her new system. Eve elegantly floated towards the training facility, where she could hear battle cries from Chloe and words from Seris.
"Good morning, Eve!"
Seris seemed very cheerful as she avoided Chloe's attacks. Chloe was flat out frustrated that Seris was avoiding so easily. Eve simply smiled and waved as Chloe lunged once more with another dagger.
"Hold still Sera!"
"You'll have to tie me down to do that!"
It seemed as if Seris' agility had increased significantly, while Chloe just seemed to be doing the same thing she had always been doing. Eve sat down on the bench while watching the two, quickly bringing out her laptop and scanning her system for new files and abilities.
"Ferdinand, give me a complete list."
"Yes, mi'lady."
"SYSTEM: 5 NEW FILES FOUND. UNABLE TO RECOGNIZE."
"That's just great. Only one way to find out I suppose. Equipt these abilities into my fingers, Ferdinand."
"As you wish."
Just as the abilities finished processing, the door to the facility swung open. There stood the man clad in black armor and a robotic arm.
"Raven!"
"Ah, home sweet home. I missed this place even though I've only been gone for a night."
"Ah, speaking of, where were you?"
"Waterpark, restaurant, spent the night at a hotel, no biggie."
Raven crossed his fingers and prayed that the information he provided would be sufficient enough to let him go spot-free with the girls. Fortunately, it did.
"I see. Well, we still have to test out our new abilities, care to join us for a 2v2?"
"Teams?"
Chloe spoke up.
"Sera and I vs. you and Eve."
"I see no point in not doing it."
"Alright, I'll re-calibrate the facility."
"Actually, let's make things a bit more interesting…"
Another voice spoke from the distance. It was the Prince, accompanied by his two maids. Raven smirked and greeted the Prince with a firm handshake as Chung chuckled whilst whispering something into Code 200's ear.
"I like it. Alright guys, here's what we're going to do. Losing team has to do something for winning team. State your bargains."
"Hmmm...aha! If Sera and I prevail, then you have to be my servant for one, and Eve has to serve Sera."
"...Eve?"
"As long as they can get Rena off of you if we win."
"Sounds like a deal."
Raven and Chloe shook hands and went to their starting positions. Chung went into the spectator box and Ariel and Luriel followed him.
"Then...on my mark. Ready? Get set…"
The two teams clenched their weapons and applied their new abilities.
"FIGHT!"
Raven immediately dashed for Seris. If their healer was done, then they could easily burst Chloe down thanks to his upgraded Harpoon Spear. Eve followed him as he dashed through the shadows, his speed amplified due to the room's effects. However, Seris knew she would be first targeted and stealthed, unseen to the other team. Chloe smirked and began to attack Eve.
"Chloe...I can buff you from here, keep going, I'll be fine."
"Got it."
Raven heard a small thump from behind him and saw that Chloe had already shot a few daggers into Eve's neck. he continued to search for Seris, but to no avail. She was completely out of sight, or so he thought.
"Cursed Weapon!"
Raven felt the flames on his sword become non-existent.
"So our healer has turned into a buffer? Heh, seems easy enough."
"Raven! Behind you!"
Raven immediately felt a pain in his neck as Eve yelled his name. Chloe had hit him with something much stronger than an ordinary dagger.
"Territory. Scan and Mark Seris. Stage Search!"
Seris immediately came into view, as she was marked by Eve's shield. Proceeding to light-speed over to her, Eve immediately shrunk the territory and shielded Raven while doing so.
If he can just keep Chloe busy…
"Skip Stage Interrogate! Stage Destroy!"
"You want to kill me that badly Eve? I'm flattered, but you forgot about our upgrades."
Seris immediately called out to a fairy guardian, Airelinna. The fairy began to heal Seris and shielded her from most of Eve's attacks. Eve huffed with a small groan and began to charge towards Seris.
Raven grabbed Chloe's hand and slammed her right onto the floor. She immediately got up and began to throw piercing daggers at him. He narrowly avoided them and Chloe took the chance to kick him in the shin, lowering his speed of running and then proceeding to kick him in the shoulder, rendering his human arm useless for a small time.
"Hmph. REVOLVER CANNON - HELLFIRE GATLING AMMO!"
"Wha-"
Chloe was immediately barraged with Hellfire Gatling, but the bullets hurt as much as the Revolver Cannon bullets, causing her to fall back. Raven smirked and walked over to her, examining her seemingly lifeless body.
"Eve? Chloe's down, get rid of Seris and we win the fight."
"Affirmative, but requesting backup. I can not burst her down fast enough before she heals."
"On my way."
Seris shouted as loud as she could to startle Eve, leaving Code 404 unable to move for a small duration. Seris teleported to where Chloe was and placed a hand on her forehead.
"Guardians. Heed my request. Revive my partner so we can rid the fight of these pests!"
"Ah, thanks Sera. But now your final ability is down, so we have to make sure to use stealth to our advantages."
"Territory Marked. Flagged down Code C."
"Beautiful job, Ferdinand. Let's win this."
Eve dashed towards Chloe, but was immediately stopped by Raven.
"Raven? Move! We can win this!"
"Eh? Eve, I'm over here? Where's Seris and Chloe?"
"Then that means…"
Chloe smirked as Eve realized what Code C was truly capable of. Chloe had summoned a phantom version of Raven and was now using it to fight,
"Territory changed. Marked Phantom Code 200. Initiated Thousand Star Stream."
Many bullets and lasers shot out of Eve's palm and shocked the Phantom. He was taken down very easily, but every time a ball had hit the phantom, Raven had coughed and screamed. Raven fell to the ground, dead with his Phantom.
"W-what?! Impossible!"
"Oh, you forgot that I am a Dark Elf leader. This is what my upgrade specializes in. Necromancy, but without the person being dead."
"N-no way…"
Eve dropped to the floor, with Seris and Chloe looming over her. She just used her final ability to kill her own teammate. Eve held up both hands, signaling a surrender. The inter-dimensional field switched back as Chung exited the spectating box. Raven got up weakly and limped over to the other three.
"What a breath-taking match. It seems you guys really are using your new abilities. Well, all except Raven over here."
"Hey! Like hell if I knew that it would-"
"So I believe Raven is my new personal slave, yes?"
"...Right...the bet…"
And just like that, Raven was stuck in another terrible situation. Chloe told him that it would begin the next day, as the whole day was spent fighting. He could only pray that he and Eve would be spared of embarrassment. Of course, he forgot to mention the Prince in his prayers, because lo and behold, Chung had lost a bet with Ariel and Luriel, causing him to lose his position for the next day.
"How…"
"Ariel and Luriel are Codes you know...they are just...the neutral ones, not the assassin types."
"So now we're stuck in the same boat, eh?"
"Haven't we always?"
Raven and Chung laughed as they headed for their rooms. The next day would one filled with hell.
But hey, at least Rena and Elsa were happy, right?
