Nep A Live

Chapter 7: Gear Score


Leanbox Basilcom

"Figures Chika's out when we could use her help looking around this place. Why the hell do all these rooms look alike?!" groaned a frustrated Blanc

It was roughly eight in the morning as Blanc wandered the halls of the Leanbox Basilicom, this could only mean one thing: Vert was finally about to finish up last night's gaming session in her computer room. Blanc had chosen this time since it tended to be that sweet spot when dealing with Vert that was between her being full of energy and the lack of sleep finally catching up with her. It meant the Leanbox CPU would be still conscious without being overly annoying or energetic towards visitors.

Behind Blanc prodded the ever innocent Yoshino and her hero Yoshinon, looking in awe at all the green and white Basilicom had to offer. They had been told each nation and their goddesses stuck to different styles but it was still so odd to see how different the Leanbox Basilicom was from the Lowee and Planeptune ones she had in so far. The regal halls and elegant furniture reminded Yoshino of what little she had ever seen of the inside of Miku's home, further adding credence to what Blanc had told her about this "Vert" being this world's version of the idol.

"And finally here it is; the den of any MMO junkie" sighed Blanc as she walked up to Vert's computer room and saw a light coming from under the door

(*Knock Knock*)

No answer…

"Maybe she just left her computer on after going to bed?" suggested Yoshinon

Never the one to back down from a simple challenge Blanc didn't bother knocking again and simply threw the door open. Inside the darkened room was a vast sea of emerald colored plastic bottles surrounding the island of Vert's computer where the CPU in question sat with a pair of expensive looking headphones on.

"You idiot! At least turn on some lights if you're going to be looking at a screen for eighteen hours straight!"

As much as the idea of Vert going totally blind thanks to her stupidity amuses her Blanc knew she couldn't just let the Leanbox CPU destroy her eyes like this.

Vert continued to simply stare at her monitor in the darkness without responding, forcing Blanc to navigate the pile of discarded soda bottles to reach the room's control panel. Simply going over and touching Vert would have worked but the damn pile of garbage was even thicker around her and wading through any more of this crap than she had too repulsed Blanc.

"Is she possessed or something?" Yoshinon pondered when it noticed Vert didn't seem to be blinking

Blanc gave a frustrated grunt "No, 4 Goddesses dropped a content update last night...at 2 A.M." she revealed.

Normally Vert stayed up that late anyway but since this was the game's biggest update in four months she had been particularly annoying to anyone subscribed to her social media feed last night. The servers had been brought down but the update had been delayed from it's scheduled 8 P.M. launch to past midnight meaning Blanc's computer was bombarded by stupid forum post alerts and tweets from the Blonde complaining about the delay along with every other idiot online she subbed to. When it finally launched Vert must have spent the whole night downloading the massive patch and playing the hell out of the new content.

"It pisses me off she can neglect this much sleep and still look this good but the second I stay up past one in the morning I look like crap the next day!" admitted Blanc openly since she knew Vert wouldn't be able to hear her and mock her for it.

Once the Lowee CPU reached the control panel and light filled the room again Vert's attention was finally directed off of her screen-

"Yoshino-san!"

-And right onto Yoshino…

The humble ice spirit bunched up in a panic, she knew how this would go already after so many run ins with Miku! The blonde would rush her and wrap her in a giant boobie faceplant hug while calling her pet names!

"Hold it right there Thunder Tits!" shouted Blanc as she stepped in Vert's path before she could commence her cuddling/personal space invasion

Yoshino stood in awe at the way Blanc confidently deflected Vert's overtures without flinching. How could someone be that strong?

'Blanc's so amazing' she thought while wishing she could put her own foot down with Miku like Blanc had just done with Vert

That strength, Yoshino wanted it so badly. She wanted to be able to finally have her voice heard without being held back by fear. For months now Yoshino had wanted to speak openly with Miku about the feelings she had left over from her brainwashing rampage where they had met but found herself unable to confront the idol on even terms. Miku had apologized but...well...Yoshino just found herself unable to let go after finding out what exactly she had made her do later from Origami.

'Is this petty? Am I being a bad girl for still being mad about this?' she always wondered

Yoshinon told her time and time again that she just wanted Miku to properly apologize and that, quote "When you think about it, making you try to kill your lover and abandon your best friend to be captured is really messed up!" so she shouldn't have any regrets over feeling this way.

'Maybe Miss Blanc can really help me be more assertive like Yoshinon wants me to be? I'd really like that...as long as I don't end up too mean of course!'

While Yoshino contemplated her own motives for joining her this morning Blanc explained to Vert that she wanted Yoshino to build up strength and that (sadly) there truly was no better power leveler in all of Gamindustri . Vert was almost infamous for her grinding techniques in both the real world and virtual ones. There had yet to be an EXP bar that she couldn't make cry in agony some people claimed and Yoshino needed help fast.

Before leaving that morning Mina had advised Blanc to help Yoshino build up her strength and have her start questing for shares quickly. The reason they hadn't detected the twins before Yoshino was linked to the crystal was that she had acted a router of sorts connecting back to the world she came from due to her still being linked to the boy Shido by their kiss. With Rom and Ram in Yoshino's world and still connected to the Lowee crystal they had forged one link between the worlds so Yoshino's had doubled the strength of the connection when it was formed. Both Mina and Histoire wanted to see if the connection could be made even stronger if Yoshino bonded more deeply with the Sharacite by gathering her own shares. A stronger connection meant they might be able to communicate with the twins at some point or even hasten the speed at which they figured out which world they were in so they could be brought home.

In short: More levels and power for Yoshino meant she could gather more shares, more shares meant a stronger connection, a stronger connection meant everyone got back where they belonged sooner.

Of course while asking Vert for help made sense with her grinding skills the CPU gave a most sickening smirk in response to Blanc admittance that only fueled her desire to clock Vert in the face "So little Yoshino-san needs help getting stronger in order to keep her own power from overwhelming her?" she repeated before giving the blue haired girl an almost predatory look and stating "Don't worry bout a thing! She'll be very safe in my hands while we commence our training!"

"Not a chance in hell I'm leaving her in your hands, I'm coming with her Thunder Tits" warned Blanc to shoot down Vert's plan before she could go any further

Vert smirked again and challenged Blanc with "This could take a while and I'm sure you must be needed back in Lowee with the twins gone. I can handle this while you deal with matters of your nation"

'She reeeeally thinks I'm dumb enough to leave her alone with Yoshino? I'd come back to find her burying her face in those jugs on the couch like she always does with Nepgear' realized Blanc while preparing the sucker punch she had been saving since she left home this morning

'Oh she's going to hate this part!' Blanc thought with a devilish grin as she remembered one little detail she had left out while explaining this to Vert

"You see Vert, Yoshino is now a matter pertaining to Lowee as a nation" stated Blanc matter of factly with a faux cheery smile that unnerved the other CPU

"Since when?" asked Vert, more than a little disturbed by the fact that Blanc seemed to be making a very Iris Heart type face right now

"As of last night when Yoshino's crystal was linked with Lowee's Sharacite. Yoshino is now officially a CPU candidate of Lowee…"

(Sound of record scratching)

"..."

"Um. Did we break her?"


Planeptune Basilicom

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As Nepgear worked on her broken P.L.O.T Device in her lab she was roused from her focus by what sounded like unholy screaming which forced the candidate to scan the lab to make sure Neptune hadn't snuck in again and got her hand hurt on the particle beam saw like that time she wanted to see how well a laser cooked Poptarts.

"What the goodness?! What was that?!" she asked upon noticing no one was in the lab with her

There was a soft hiss of mechanical door sliding open to reveal Neptune pale, shaking and spasming as she ran over to hug her sister in relief.

"Nepgear! Thank Nepjesus you're still here!"

Nepgear gave her sister a confused look "Big sis? What was that? Why do you look pale?!"

"That, my dear Nep Jr, was the birth of a terrible demon! O-Cupz The Taken Queen is coming! She has been denied a little sister once more and will soon descend upon all cute girls in the land in an effort to build her great army of taken little sisters!"

Without warning Neptune lifted Nepgear into the air with unnatural strength and carried her to the door

"Agh! Big Sis! What are you doing?!"

"There's no time Nep Jr! She'll be in the great Red Rings of Jupiter with her dreadnaught soon and once she's there Neptune, i.e. ME!, is not far away! We must make for Lastation and find the Guardians of fate if we are to stop her from taking every little sister she can! Only the great Nolan-bot can tell us what to do!"

With that Neptune spirited her yelling sister out of her lab and off to do whatever the heck she was planning.


Vert's Computer Room

"I see you are taking this well" said Blanc, her voice dripping with smug sarcasm as Vert continued to lose her shit

"THREE! YOU HAVE THREE NOW!? I CAN'T HAVE ONE LITTLE SISTER TO MYSELF BUT YOU GET THREE?!"

"I assure you that it was all in the interest of Yoshino's wellbeing" replied Blanc

Vert stamped her foot "She could have been joined to Leanbox's Sharacite! I would have finally had a little sister all to my own!"

"Too bad!" Blanc replied with a smile that betrayed how much she was enjoying Vert's misery

"A brand new little sister candidate falls into our world and you snatch her up in less than a day!" Vert accused while pointing at Blanc "Is it not enough to already have the twins?! You HAD to take my chance at little sister love too?!"

"Maybe more spirits will fall into this world at some point?" suggested Yoshinon as his head popped up between the two CPU's faces

This was enough to get Vert thinking about that possibility. Blanc had proven with Yoshino that, at some level at least, Spirits and CPU's could be compatible and even be introduced into a nation's Sharacite Crystal. If that was true that meant all these other cute spirits might be possible candidates for being added to Leanbox's power, thus, becoming Vert's little sister or even, dare she imagine, little sisters

'If I can get to this other world I can begin my search there. I just need to figure out how' schemed the busty blonde

"Yoshino, are all the spirits as cute as you?" Vert asked

After turning red because of the cute comment the little bluenette managed to squeak out "W-W-Well...y-yes! There isn't a spirit I would call u-u-ugly!"

"We have a very well rounded stock of cute spirits!" advertised Yoshinon like a car dealer on a TV commercial "We got big boobied older-sister type's, proud little sisters with twintails, playful gluttons like that Neptune girl, a possibly insane stalker who likes stealing underwear, a certainly insane Yandere who might try and eat you, one very depressed shapeshifter with self-image issues, and two twins who don't know the meaning of the word normal!"

You could just see Vert's eyes start to shine on that last bit "Twins you say?!"

"Ummm, yeah...Kaguya and Yuzuru...They treat me and everyone nice but can act a little weird… also they kinda get scary when it comes to winning at things" explained Yoshino

"Plus they wear really revealing clothes in battle and use wind powers"

"Wind powers!? Revealing clothes!?" barked Vert in excitement before listing how well they matched while Blanc muttered counter arguments under her breath.

"I have wind magic!"

(So do Rom and Ram and any party member who uses magic for rush attacks)

"I love to win!"

(To the point of utter psychosis)

"And I dare anyone to find me someone who is more suited to exposing skin in combat! "

(*Cough*Iris Heart*Cough*)

"These two sound absolutely perfect! I must find a way to reach this other world!" Even as Vert was declaring her intentions Yoshino felt like she had just done something really bad to Kaguya and Yuzuru even if she couldn't figure out exactly what it was yet.

"Whatever, can we get on with the training?" Blanc asked impatiently

"Certainly! Just let me make my daily offering and we shall go!"

After making that rather bizarre statement Vert scuttled past her mound of empty MT Dew bottles and proceeded to hit a button located on the room's control panel. Without explanation a wall pulled away for reveal what looked like a shrine with an offering plate surrounded by burning candles and printed out screenshots from many different MMOs. Upon the offering plate sat a very thin lock of yellow hair that was clearly from Vert next to a pile of ashes and a lighter.

"What the hell is this?!" asked a utterly confused Blanc

Vert actually looked proud as she turned and explained "This is my shrine to the most mighty of gods; the vengeful and unknowable Rngesus!"

"A god prays to another god!? How strong is this other guy?!" asked Yoshinon while Blanc gave Vert a look that made it seem like her head was going to explode

There was no way Vert was this insane she thought, this had to be a big joke at her expense or something to confuse Yoshino who knew little about this world...right?

"Praise be to the high lord of loot and master of criticals, may the greens be kept at bay and the legendaries bountiful with daily offering!"

Oh dear Rngesus she was actually praying to this stupid thing!

"What is this anyway?" asked Yoshino with curiosity as she lifted up the tiny lock of hair Vert was preparing to burn

"That? When I was thinking about offerings I could use I eventually caught on to the old Lowee custom of making good luck charms out of the pubic hair of a virgin-" Yoshino dropped the lock so fast you'd of thought it bit her "We need hand sanitizer stat!" shouted Yoshinon as his owner ran around the room with her arms flailing wildly

Vert paid her no mind and finished explaining "-I care about my personal grooming and needed an offering that was cheap to acquire. I killed two birds with one stone and so far they seem to work rather swimmingly!"

"How the hell can you tell!?" screamed Blanc, utterly baffled by this insanity

"I just can" replied Vert with a wink

"There's no possible way this could actually work you moron!"

With a hand to her chest in the traditional "Well excuse me!" pose Vert replied by telling Blanc of all her various bounties since she installed the shrine.

"I'll have you know that since I started doing this my luck with the random number generator has been flawless!"

"Like how?" challenged the skeptical Blanc

"Behold! A screenshot of my Time Lost Proto Drake!"

"Never heard of it…"

"Google it and you shall be impressed! And this! My Scindo Prime who's blade I acquired on the first run!"

"Drawing a blank again…"

"Surely you realize what an accomplishment it is to have such a collection of rare CS: GO skins?"

Blanc took one of the the pictures that was held up and scoffed "It just looks like a bloody knife…"

"That's one of three with StatTrak I had, I sold it for 5400 credits and found another the next day" revealed Vert to Blanc's annoyance

"Who the hell buys this crap!? What kind of con-man sets up a game to make money with skins this rare?!"

After hearing Blanc mention the word con-man Vert gave Yoshino a quick head to toe look and thought of something.

"Blanc? Is this really what Yoshino is going to be wearing for our leveling spree? She seems very under equipped"

Considering Yoshino was only wearing a basic sailor uniform with no magic enchantments the CPU in white found it hard to argue with her and explained "We were going to get geared up at the nearest item shop before we left. Yoshino doesn't have any armor or weapons"

"There's no need" said Vert with a grin as she had already thought of something "I know exactly where we need to go for her equipment. All we're going to need is some shovels…"


Gamindustri Graveyard

About an hour later Vert, Blanc, and a terrified Yoshino&Yoshinon were making their way a blasted hellscape of endless wires, barren ground, and a bright red sky full of random flashes of lighting. While the CPU's (sadly) were too familiar with the place Yoshino was left quaking in her shoes as the three made their procession past piles of broken junk and what looked like dead bodies!

"What is this place, a graveyard or a junkyard?! I can't tell!" shouted Yoshinon as they passed yet another unmoving body.

"W-W-Why are none of these people buried!?" his owner added while looking at more of the unmoving "makers" as Blanc had called them

The taller CPU seemed unconcerned as she carried the three shovels she brought with her "Sadly we only managed to clear this place of monsters recently so there has been little time to get everything sorted out here. It should be fine like this for a little while since nothing rots here"

"M-Monsters?!" stuttered a white Yoshino

As if this place wasn't scary enough this place had actual monsters running around it at one point!?

"Watch your step"

While imagining what type of horrible monsters must of lived in a place like this Yoshino only barely managed to hear Blanc's warning in time to avoid falling into a giant pit someone had dug next to the path they were on. Looking down into it Yoshino thought it had to easily be twenty meters deep and wide, begging the question of what on earth was someone entombing in there?!

"S-So deep!"

"No kidding! What type of grave is this big!?"

Both the CPU's didn't pay much attention but Blanc took a wild guess of "Eh, it's probably just the mass grave reserved by EA's acquisitions department"

"Strange, I thought that was more towards the southern side of the graveyard" added Vert

Neither girl stopped as Yoshino stared down into the foreboding pit so when she finally noticed they were moving away both young spirit and puppet made a mad dash to catch up. After a couple more minutes of walking they reached a single gravestone which Vert insisted on stopping at without explanation.

Yoshinon read the gravestone's header "Here lies Gust: master alchemist, fearless warrior, brilliant entrepreneur, true friend. You two know this person?"

"Yes, she was a friend of ours" replied Vert as she dropped her payload of shovels onto the ground and stretched her aching back

"Still can't believe she's gone" commented Blanc sounding semi-sad as if she missed her but didn't feel too torn up about it

"Such a sad way to go, to be retconned out of existence" said Vert with much more emotion

Memories of Gust and her antics still rang in Blanc's head as she pointed out "In all fairness she probably had this coming. She never hung around your cities Vert but, trust me, Gust had a habit of getting into trouble all over Lowee with her potions. Heck, last I heard she was getting in with a bad crowd affiliated with the Lastation Black Market families"

"Still, to end up in a shallow grave so young is very cruel" Vert pointed out before making an emotional 180 "Oh well, at least with the grave being shallow this'll be easy!" Both Yoshino and Blanc went wide-eyed as Vert actually began to dig up Gust's grave like it was the most normal thing in the world!

"WHAT THE HELL VERT?!"

The CPU in question didn't even stop digging as Blanc screamed at her and simply explained "Last time I checked Gust had a lovely set of rabbit themed armor with plenty of enchanted protections that would look great on little Yoshino. It's not like she's going to be needing it anymore in this place"

"I'm not wearing a dead girl's outfit!" Yoshino screamed while ducking a patch of flying dirt from Vert's shovel

"Nothing rots here so it should be very sanitary I assure you!"

"That's not the fucking point here Thunder Tits!" roared Blanc

"What?" Vert replied innocently, as if this wasn't batshit insanity "Looting bodies for valuable gear is considering very acceptable in the lands of Skyrim and the Mojave Desert so why should it be not allowed here! I do this all the time in 4 Goddesses Online!"

Before Blanc could point how everything about what Vert had just said was wrong the morally bankrupt gravedigger flung the coffin containing the other morally bankrupt gravedigger out of the hole and propped it up.

"Oh...I believe I have made a terrible mistake here…" commented Vert after getting the coffin out of the ground

"Dig up the wrong one?" asked Yoshinon

"No…"

Blanc was the next to take a guess "You just realized this is a horrible thing to do?"

"No…"

Of course not...

"Then wha-"

"I forgot a crowbar to open the lid" sighed Vert as she realized she packed too many shovels for a one person job and neglected to bring a way to pry open the lid lock

"You are a TERRIBLE person…"

*Thud*

"D-D-Did the lid just open by itself…?" whispered Yoshino after the coffin door basically fell off it's hinges

From out of the box stumbled the familiar visage of a small girl with brown hair wearing a distinct set of blue bunny themed clothes. She said not a thing and only groaned as she took a few shambling steps towards the three with her head held low.

"ZOMBIE! Kill it with violence!"

With no concern whatsoever Vert looked over her pile of tools once again and sighed "And of course I forget my shotgun for any zombie situations. Egh! This is what happens when you don't pack properly for this type of work!"

"Waaaahhh! I don't want to have my brain eaten!" cried Yoshino as Blanc shoved the girl behind her for protection and drew her hammer

"You're early you know! I don't get my zombie themed spin off till next quarter!" Blanc declared

Right before she was about to bash the moving corpse back to whatever hell it came from Gust's body collapsed to the ground without much fanfare.

"Owwwww…."

"Wait a sec...did that zombie just say "ow"?" asked Yoshinon as he and (hesitantly) Yoshino peeked out from behind Blanc

"Finally….Someone came and got Gust out of that box…"

After giving Vert a subtle "what the hell?" look Blanc walked over to the body and flipped it over onto it's back to reveal a very much alive Gust looking up at her "Gust? You're alive?!"

She sounded dazed, confused, and (naturally) very relieved but Blanc could tell this girl was the real deal; this was Gust and not just some imposter "Yes, Gust is still among the living, although it may not have been like that for much longer if the CPUs Whiteheart and Greenheart didn't save her as they did"

"How are you still alive?! Even if you weren't dead before you were buried you must have been in that box since...since…" Blanc didn't want to admit she couldn't remember when Gust had "died" to her face. Forgetting a birthday was bad enough, imagine telling someone you forgot when they had died!

From the back Vert filled in the blanks "Let's see...It was between Mk 3 and Victory so...three to four years I'd guess?"

"That long!? I was only supposed to be under for one year!" she exclaimed

"You planned this?!" asked Blanc in disbelief

As she got back to her feet Gust explained the whole sordid affair that had lead her to fake her own death years before in order to avoid being stuffed into a coffin while being actually dead.

"As you know Gust has always been keen on all matters of profit so when she heard one day of a great investment deal in Lowee she was quick to jump at the chance to, quote "triple any and all investments within half a year" endquote"

"Sounds too good to be true" voiced Vert suspiciously

Gust sighed with agreement "It was. Gust should have known never to trust a market as volatile as real estate but the sales pitch was truly inspired even by my standards. I won't bore you with the details but the story ends with Gust deeply in debt to-" Gust looked panicked and dropped into a hushed whisper "That man!"

"Who?"

"Him! The most terrifying loan shark in all of Lowee!"

"Again I have to ask, who? I've never heard of any major loansharks in my nation" stated Blanc

"He is very good at avoiding detection and passing himself off as a legitimate businessman to official figures. In the underground world we know better though, tales of his dedication to getting back what he is owed are legendary!"

"Still not ringing any bells here…"

"Bells are the problem!" Gust shouted suddenly "I owe him 1.5 million bells!"

"Who do you owe so many bells?" asked Blanc feeling rather impatient at this point

"Mr. N! The terror of Lowee's real estate rackets and leader of the Racoon Dog mafia!" Gust finally explained

"Mr. N? Oh! You mean Mr. Tom Nook?" Blanc replied calmly as she finally realized who Gust was talking about and honestly found her fear a little silly "Mr. Nook is a legitimate businessman who has an impeccable record for paying his taxes to Lowee and even sponsored the recent Super Smash Sisters tournament through one of his own fighters. He's not dangerous to anyone Gust" she assured the young merchant

Rumors about him reached Blanc's ears all the time but she knew it had to all be a case of wild hearsay painting a successful individual in a negative light. No investigations had ever turned up anything and his history of giving to charities was frankly admirable in the CPU's eyes.

Gust was less naive and reacted in horror to what she had just been told "YOU LET THAT LUNATIC ENTER A FIGHTING TOURNAMENT!?"

"Yes, his bouts should be coming up soon actually"

"Gust must warn them! All those fighters are in serious danger! I've seen what Mr. Nook's enforcer can do with a butterfly net alone!"

"Before you go off to hassle totally legitimate businessman can i ask what your plan was here? How did you ever intend to get out of that hole?" Blanc interrupted

She couldn't have buried herself without help; someone had to been part of this plan so Blanc was wondering who it was and what went wrong.

"Gust was supposed to be dug up at a specific time and date! Her partner must of forgotten!" said Gust with a very noticeable hint of anger at the abandonment

"Who was it?"

"Well…"


Planeptune 2-3 Years Ago

"I still can't believe she talked me into this!" sighed Nepgear as she prepared the tools she would need to dig up Gust from her grave

Even she couldn't remember how the shrewd trader managed to rope her into this but begrudgingly got ready to fulfill her part of the deal.

"Oh Nep Jr!" her sister called from outside the room

"Yes sis?"

"I want to go shopping for some cute underwear and need someone to tell me if I look good in the ones I pick. Are you busy?" Neptune explained

There was a trail of fire leading out of Nepgear's door …


Gust raised a fist in the air "When Guest finds out why she left me Nepgear is going to pay with interest!!"

Feeling very tired from all the idiocy she had run into today Blanc finally decided to let Gust be on her way when Vert spoke up and asked about where to get clothes like hers for little Yoshino.

"I see! You want protection that is as stylish as Gust's for your new friend! I can't give you mine obviously but I do have a few spare sets in different styles...for a price of course!"

"But we just saved you from being buried alive!" argued Vert to which Gust countered by pointing out they had dug her up to loot her corpse "Besides, gratitude is not a tradable commodity and Gust will need funds to rebuild her business, punish Nepgear, and try and take on the Racoon Dog families of Lowee" said the young alchemist

Without further argument Blanc paid up when Gust produced a lovely set of armored clothes for Yoshino to equip. It was a cute ensemble comprised of a frilly green variation of Gust's outfit with a bunny symbol stitched into the chest over a large pouch, some knee high white shocks paired with a set of durable green traveling boots, and a much less oversized white bunny cap (Compared to Gust's) with floppy ears but no face on it. This was a very high quality set of adventuring gear obviously, paired with a good weapon and some more armor it would serve Yoshino well, however Blanc could already see a few ways to alter it to better fit the spirit. After running over her suggestions with both Vert and Yoshino the three left Gust and headed to Lastation to both get the outfit modified by Noire and head to a great shop Vert insisted would be perfect for Yoshino's first weapon.

Once they were gone Gust picked up one of the shovels Vert had left and made her way over to where she had buried most of her stock of potions and elixirs before she went under. Unfortunately once she got there all she found was a freshly dug hole only a day or two old and the case cracked open on the ground.

"And Gust has been robbed too?! Can this get any worse for my profit margin!?"

In a case of semi-mercy most of the potions were still in there with only a few missing; it was as if someone knew specifically what they wanted when they dug up the cache. It was what was missing from the case however that worried Gust since she made sure to only bury her most potent and valuable elixirs with her since she couldn't trust anyone else with them till she got back.

"Experimental 39: Check, Experimental 40: Still here, 41: Check, 42...Oh No! Experimental 42 is gone!"

Experimental 42 as it was dubbed wasn't just expensive to brew, costing close to 2 million in ingredients, it was also both absurdly unstable and it's components illegal. Mr Nook had commissioned it during their brief business period but after what he had done to her Gust decided to have it buried with her since it was just the thing to use as evidence against him should the need arise.

"This isn't good! Should Gust tell the CPUs? Gust fears being thrown in jail or having Mr. Nook find her but if that potion got into the wrong hands an angry raccoon will be the least of everyone's troubles!"

Gust packed up what was left and headed for civilization. She had to find that potion and fast! She could only hope no one had been dumb enough to use it yet!


Author Note: Moral of this story kids: Praise Rngesus for good drops and never fuck with Tom Nook. As always PLEASE leave a review if you like this story! Like Gust I am highly motivated by rewards!