Chapter 2: New Enemies…

The all familiar disclaimer of every fanfiction ever: I, writer of this fanfiction does not own the Neptunia franchise and the characters inside it except for the original characters. Neptunia belongs to Idea Factory.

Author's notes: Warning! There may be some out of characterish moments for the original characters as I am not sure how to properly portray them. I wish to apologize if you find it weird. Also if you have any idea on how to improve it, please tell me in the comments section. Thank you.

Italic is as usual for thoughts.

Bold are for attacks (though may be shout out or not)

Underline are for author's notes.

(Third POV)

(Within the depths of the Monster Cave)

As they destroyed another horde of monsters, Ray and IF pulled out a notebook and started recorded something on it respectively which they had been doing for a while since they formed a party.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Neptune's curiosity got the better of her and she decided to sate it by asking directly.

Ray looked up and answered "Ain't it obvious? We're recording our observations and our guesses about the monsters in this cave to complete our quest."

"We're also keeping track of the paths we take to map this dungeon in order to get lost and fulfilling the quest as well." IF said.

"So what have you guys recorded?" Compa joined in on the conversation too.

"Well, mainly the species of the monsters, their appearances, what sorts of attacks do they use, their probable weakness and our guesses on their levels." IF answered the question.

"As of our battles, we have fought against some vader type monsters, some ghost type monsters and I guess is a beast… type monster?" Ray's voice was confident at first but slowly loses his confidence when he came to the last type of monster that they had encountered. The monster's appearance was like an otaku, complete with the thick glasses and a plump body size coupled with a bad odor [This is not me being wearing colored glasses, I'm just describing the characteristics that I think would appear on the monster based on the monster's appearance]. This was the first time the silver haired teen had met a humanoid monster, so he was unsure where to categorize said monster.

The same uncertainty was shared by IF. "Well, I think you're right to categorize it under the beast category. For now, that is."

It was at this moment that Neptune saw something peculiar and decided to pick it up.

"Hey, Iffy, Ray. I picked this up, but…" Neptune inspected the item and decided to ask the other more experienced members of the party.

The two of them looked up and saw the said item, it was a disc that looked like any other.

"It looks like a disc… Nep, where'd you pick that up from?" IF asked Neptune.

"Wait, I noticed just now, but is Nep… me?" It seems that Neptune's focus was on the wrong topic.

IF answered in a 'of course' manner "You named me Iffy, so why not I give you a nickname as well? Going back to the topic at hand, where'd you get the disc from?"

Neptune just answered the question nonchalantly and pointed to a nearby wall "I dunno. It was just hanging on that wall over there."

"Hanging on that wall?" IF looked in the direction that Neptune had shown her. Her tone was completely laced with skeptical "This disc? You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

"Nepu? What?! Iffy, you don't believe me?" Neptune's face was truly a crestfallen one. It was evident that her tears were going to leak. "After all that we've been through…"

'Neptune's acting…. This was nostalgic…' Ray mused at the scene that was unravelling between the girls.

However, it seems Compa had fallen for Neptune's acting as she started to speak up. "Iffy, you're so horrible, not believing in Nep-Nep."

Neptune continued her act, pretending to be furious "I know that your name makes you question everything, but show me some love here!"

"That's not what my name means." IF just sighed in exasperation, then continued "Besides, we only met a short while ago."

Neptune's eyes started to sparkle after hearing IF's words, "Iffy…"

After another sigh, IF could only try to appease the girl "Okay, okay. I got it. I believe you."

Upon hearing those words, Neptune said happily and teased IF "Now that's my Iffy! The word 'Iffy' has got to mean 'I Feel For You!' That definitely had to be love!"

Compa joined in on the teasing as well "How about we call you 'AI' instead? Since 'Iffy' is basically Ai-chan in Japanese, it could also be said as 'Love' in Japanese as well!"

Neptune continued with the third combo "Why not spell it in lower case, like 'ai'? It's cuter, too!"

[Author's notes: Seriously, I have no idea what part of making it lower case makes it cuter, but this is Neptunia and we don't really care about logic here, so just roll with it.]

"Whoa! Hold you horses, both of you! You're running way off track!" IF frantically tried to stop their teasing but was unable to. She turned and looked for help and saw Ray who was stifling his laughter at the sight of IF being driven into a corner by the duo. "Ray, don't just stand there! Help me out, won't ya!"

"Awwwww, Iffy, are you blushing or are you blushing?" Neptune's face was a complete trolling one as she continued her combos on IF. [Please check out the infamous Neptune troll face for this part]

"All right now, stop it, you two." Finally had his fill of laugh, Ray stepped in to stop the teasing and preventing the duo from getting overboard. "Anyway, Neptune, let me have a look-" Ray tried to steer the conversation back on topic but was cut off short when the disc suddenly emitted a bright light.

After the bright light had died down, the group looked around them and say that they were surrounded by a group of monsters.

"Nep! Where did the monsters come from?" Neptune exclaimed in surprise.

"No time for that! They are coming!" IF said as she prepares herself for the upcoming onslaught.

The monsters came charging in at the group from all directions.

"Watch out and watch each other's backs!" Shouted Ray as he blocked the attack from one of the monsters that had charged in his direction.

"Right!" "Okie-dokie!" "Yessiree" replied the other 3 girls as the stayed close to each other and fended the wave of monsters.

(15minutes of fighting a huge group of mob monsters) [A/N: Am not writing how the mob fights went down…]

After the last monster exploded into bits of data, the group finally are able to catch a breather.

"That was a surprise. You two should've told me that monsters came from discs." Neptune complained as she plopped herself onto the ground.

"How should we have known?" IF countered. "I mean no one knows where the monsters come fro…" IF's voice trailed off as she realized what Neptune had just said.

"Iffy? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Neptune asked as IF didn't finished her words.

"So this is where the monsters come from… This is amazing!" IF exclaimed as she realized the importance of the events just now.

"Yessy! I think this is a super discovery!" said Compa happily.

"That's right, this is one that we must report to the guild ASAP." Commented Ray as he started to jot down the information.

It was at this moment.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!!!"

An unfamiliar voice erupted into laughter near the group.

"I came to see what happened to my guardian, but I didn't expect to meet you here, Neptune!" The owner of the voice walked out from the shadows of the cave and revealed herself. The voice's owner's appearance was of a gothic witch, dressed in black with hints of purple. With a grayish-white skin, and a witch hat to top off her outfit, it could be said that she was not a friendly character based on first impressions.

"Who are you? What's with that old, melodramatic laugh…?" Neptune asked and managed to get off topic again as she stood up with her weapon in hand. The other three also had their weapons at the ready since the witch was emitting a dangerous aura.

The witch snapped angrily "Who are you calling old?! Mocking people as usual. You've not changed a bit."

"Is this a friend of yours?" Compa whispered to Neptune, curious of the relationship between Neptune and the newcomer.

"Of course not. I don't know any old lady wearing this much goth makeup." Neptune replied casually.

Compa let out a sigh "That's good to hear. I was about to doubt your choice of people."

IF also said in a sassy manner to try and lighten the tension "Yeah. If you were friend with her, I would've put in my resignation."

"Girls, try to be more serious in this situation, will ya?" butted in Ray as he still had his eyes trained on the witch.

"Sooooo, who are you, Missus?" Neptune forwarded the question to the witch.

The witch was getting more furious after hearing the exchange of conversation and does not hesitate the show her evidence of anger. "How dare you! Saying what you want in front of me… I'll kill you all!" At this point, the witch manifested her weapon—a spear with four large blades as the head—out of nowhere.

"Get Ready!!!" shouted Ray as the witch began charging towards the group.

All right, this is the end of this chapter. Please RR and give any suggestions in the comments. Thanks in advance for reading my fanfiction! Also, if you guys will, please visit my blogspot which I will be updating parts of any chapter weekly on Mondays. The website is h t t p s : / / blogwithray. blogspot . my / without the spaces within.