*clang* *clang* *clang* *clang*
'Here goes nothing...!"
Forcing even more strength and a bit of mana into her legs, IF jumps over a tulip monster easily enough, her boots hitting the floor with a metallic "thud" before instantly moving to propel her forward. Behind, yet another yelp sounds, coupled with the noises of a few energy shots, but she doesn't even think about turning around and assisting her friend.
Even though it sounds like she's in trouble, that girl hasn't fallen behind a single meter for a while now.
Which is great considering the current situation.
"...!"
Without hesitation, IF brings up her silver handgun and shoots at the red carnivorous plant coming from a green pipe in her way, hitting it head-on and causing it to flinch long enough for both girls to circumvent it without issues.
It's funny how, just minutes ago, the plan seemed pretty simple: get rid of the viral monsters, make as much noise as they can to take some possible heat away from a certain roach and, if worst came to pass, run off with lots of enemies hot on their trail.
Granted, the everything but the first part was something that the brunette added on a whim, figuring it'd be nothing but helpful for the mission, but Compa caught on soon enough. In the end, everything was fine.
Or at least it was supposed to be.
Then, just a bit after finishing the first objective, reality set in.
For all the noisy chaos they caused, not a single monster aside from the viral tulips joined the fray. Of course, that's not really all that weird; IF is pretty sure they just sat back and watched, figuring it wouldn't be a good idea to get involved in somebody else's fight.
It just so happens they didn't attract any ASIC members either.
"Compa!" "On it!"
*Ta* *Ta* *Ta* *Ta* "Lip?!" "Tulip!"
In a single moment, a barrage of yellow bullets comes from behind, hitting a bunch of tulips ahead and sending them tumbling into the water beneath before they can even attack.
One could argue that an enemy might have decided to do the same as the monsters and just watch, sure, but that's a bit... far-fetched, to say the least. They'd literally have no reason not to attack a bunch of Basilicom agents—and, really, what else would they be, being in this dungeon in the first place?—who are busy fighting viral monsters near the entrance; if anything, that's the perfect setup for an ambush!
In other words, they really didn't catch the attention of any ASIC goon. And that might mean two things, basically.
Either there are no or few enemy forces in this place, which might be far too optimistic or just plain bad news depending on whether you believe in a quality x quantity ratio...
"Iffy, there!" "Got it!" *BANG*
... or ASIC already found Nepgear.
That's really bad.
Which is why the brunette forces her legs to continue running even as a burning sensation comes, following the trail of agitated monsters with the nurse right behind her. In the best case they're rushing for nothing; in the worst case they're saving that idiot's life several times over.
And, for once, IF actually finds herself hoping that all this effort is for nothing.
'Dammit, Gear, you better not have screwed it up this time...!'
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*Chapter 7*
Messenger of Sin
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Nepgear screwed it up.
Like, really bad.
Which is fitting, because the situation she got herself in is also bad.
No, not bad, horrible.
That might even be too little; this is surely terrible.
Then again, those might be synonymous, so the lilac-haired girl would use disastrous.
Because this is pretty much the worst thing that could have happened to her.
Well, not literally, but it sure ranks very high up in her official "Stuff That Leaves Me Irrevocably Screwed" list.
After all, how else can she classify the hooded, gray-skinned, green-haired elf wearing baggy pants and a somewhat skimpy top under her jacket standing about eight meters away, shooting the Candidate a stare as stunned as her own?
"..."
"..."
Only utter and complete shock prevents Nepgear from shifting uncomfortably, or, heck, maybe screaming. As the greenette's wide scarlet eyes stare straight into amethyst, the girl goes as far as to feel the slightest impulse to just get her sword, dash forward and go crazy right here and now.
Although that last bit may have to do with some memories of a certain other elf. And that may make the Planeptunian Candidate a textbook racist.
... Which is something that she'd rather think about later, preferably when there is no incipient fight right in front of her.
"..."
"..."
Fortunately, this new girl seems about as lost as Nepgear.
Unfortunately, that doesn't change how she's a dangerous ASIC member, the lilac-haired girl quickly notes.
After all, if the energy of a CPU or something of the sort is necessary to enter this place, and the only ones with access to that, as far as she's aware, are the Basilicom crew and ASIC, and her party is the only one from the former group tasked with securing the Mascot, then the Candidate can say for sure that, unless that disc right there decided to order some pizza, this elf here isn't exactly a friend.
And that brings us back to the earlier point.
"..."
"..."
This is a freaking disaster right here.
'Should I... attack? Is that even a good idea? There must be a reason for her to be alone here... A scout? A member of a team which split up to search for the Mascot?... A one-girl army?!'
At that last though, the Candidate pales, sweat dripping down her cheek.
That right there is the one biggest issue with fighting in general: you just can't know whether is an amateur or an ancient God of destruction until the first attack comes.
It's not exactly pleasant when it turns out to be the latter.
Which is exactly why the Candidate feels like freaking out right now.
"..."
"..."
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the elf moves to speak.
Except Nepgear does it first.
"A-Are you a Basilicom goon?!" she screeches in a panicked voice that comes embarrassingly easily, forcing a glare at her enemy and assuming a pose as if to draw a weapon from inside her cloak. "D-Depending on your answer, I might have to beat you up real bad!"
"..."
As the ASIC member stares at her like she's an escaped mental patient, the silence which follows is deafening.
Just like that, the Candidate's brave expression falters.
In retrospect, maybe that wasn't the brightest idea she ever had...
"... Who the hell are you?" the greenette finally asks, obviously unamused.
"T-That's none of your business, you scammy government pet!" the lilac-haired girl shoots back, doing her best impression of a nervous person on the verge of losing it.
Except she wishes that was just an act, and that her mind wasn't actually screaming at her to shut up and run the heck away.
"..."
"..."
She also wishes this girl stopped staring at her like that already. Her current levels of several less than helpful emotions are already pretty high as is!
Still, Nepgear notes, she has to be doing something right if a fight hasn't begun just yet... Maybe if she keeps this up until help arrives—
"'Government pet?' Really? That's all you got?" the enemy girl replies, narrowing her scarlet eyes as her posture becomes straighter. "I mean, I figured you people were morons, but this would be a riot if it wasn't so freakin' sad."
And that's when the Candidate's blood runs cold.
'Darn, darn, darn, darn, darn, goodness...!'
She's onto her.
This elf is totally onto her.
But, really, what else did Nepgear expect?! This is what happens when she starts blabbering like an idiot! She's done for!
'No, if I can just summon my sword while she's still glaring—'
"You ASIC dumbasses really are pitiful, aren't you?" the violet-skinned girl suddenly speaks, smirking as she does so.
'... Eh.'
And, just like that, Nepgear's mind almost crashes.
"I'd suggest you get away from the Mascot. I don't really care for your stupid 'terrorist wannabe' act," the enemy girl continues as she starts walking forward, her lips twisting into a small grin as she stops just two meters away from the lilac-haired girl. "I'm not lettin' Lady Kei down just because some overclothed broad who wants to talk tough thinks she can stop me."
'Wait... What... She...'
The Candidate blinks several times, unable to understand what she just heard. Is this girl actually...
'No, I gotta snap out of it! She's just trying to throw me off balance!'
That's right, it's literally impossible for there to be anyone else with the Basilicom here! After all, Histoire...
Wait, did she say Lady Kei?
Is that another nation's Oracle?!
'Stop that line of thought! You're not falling for that, you failure of a CPU Candidate!'
If Nepgear lets herself be tricked by her own trick so easily, then she doesn't even deserve to save the CPUs...!
Narrowing her eyes, she forces herself to shoot a glare at the elf. "'Lady Kei,' you say? What are you even doing in Planeptune? I didn't know that woman was this nosy!"
It's only after speaking that she realizes.
This girl never said that this "Kei" is another Oracle.
That might as well be the name of some Planeptunian general.
Instantly, fear and apprehension grip Nepgear's entire being as she waits for a response, her full attention on the smug girl who may be just a moment away from calling her out on a stupid yet critical blunder, and two from attacking her viciously.
"... That's none of your business," the greenette replies just a moment later instead, unknowingly unleashing a wave of relief towards the lilac-haired girl. "What is your business, though, is how you're about to turn tail and flee before I decide to just smash your head in."
It takes a lot of effort for the Candidate not to let out a big relieved sigh right then and there, giving herself away. It looks like she's still safe...
... Might as well keep it going.
"What makes you think I'll give up that easily?" Nepgear shoots back, her earlier nervousness mostly gone—at least outwardly—for the time being. "I'm not eager to fail Lady Magic either!"
It's then that the other girl's grin disappears.
"You sure don't know when to give up, do you?" she complains, scowling at the Candidate as she shoves both hands in her pants' pockets. "So annoying..."
"Not as much as you, though," the lilac-haired girl retorts, smiling under her scarf despite herself. "Honestly, wagging your tail for your masters so much must be pretty tiring."
As expected, that earns her several daggers of a glare. Even so, the elf doesn't attack immediately, despite obviously wanting to.
Exactly as Nepgear predicted.
At this point, this is pretty much a game; neither of them can be completely sure the other isn't actually an ally, and whoever messes up first will have the honor of receiving the first hit.
Except that's a lie, and this game was rigged from the very start.
After all, the Planeptunian Candidate knows this is an enemy, and she's just waiting for the cavalry to arrive.
... Still, she can't help but wonder if this elf is the same. That'd be seriously bad.
"Yeah, I bet you'd know what being a dog is like," the greenette says through gritted teeth. "You're just some terrorist, after all."
"Funny that you're talking about terror," Nepgear begins in a haughty voice, searching in her memory for any lines from comics that she can use. "Your fashion sense is exactly what I'd call an act of terrorism."
Somehow, that the elf's eye twitches noticeably feels like a victory. "Interesting words coming from somebody dressed in freaking bed sheets. What, did you wash your clothes and forget to leave a spare?"
"As if you'd know anything about washing things. A lowly underling like you probably runs around in the same outfit for weeks."
"... 'Underling'?" the violet-skinned girl slowly repeats, her voice dangerously low.
In response, the Candidate does her best to inject as much mockery as possible in her tone. "What, isn't that what you are, Miss Underling?"
"..."
A reply doesn't come immediately, said underling just shooting Nepgear a stunned, disbelieving stare.
At first, the lilac-haired girl doesn't think much of it.
'... Ah.'
It's a moment later that she realizes she might have just pushed too far, and promptly starts screaming curses at herself in her mind as she eyes the other girl.
And then...
The elf takes a deep breath.
"... Alright, let's stop this crap, okay?" she begins, taking her hands out of the pockets and folding them with a frown. "I wouldn't touch the government with a thousand-feet pole; these are a bunch of selfish dumbasses who only care about themselves. I'm from ASIC, alright?"
"R-Really?!" the lilac-haired girl lets out in fake surprise, her eyes widening considerably as her mind works overtime to figure out where this is heading. "You... You're not trying to trick me, are you? I didn't hear anything about someone else besides me going after this Mascot!"
"Oh, for the love of—I'm not tricking you, moron! It's not my fault that the mission management is horrible nowadays!" the ASIC underling shouts back impatiently, glaring at the Candidate. "You know what? Instead of this stupid comedy routine, why don't you just do it already?"
"... 'Do it'?" Nepgear echoes, raising an eyebrow. "Do what?"
It's then that the greenette smirks.
"Smash the Mascot to pieces."
"...?!"
Smash them...? As in, destroy them?
ASIC isn't trying to capture the Mascots, just make sure they're not in the way?!
'Goodness, this is bad...!'
It's not that surprising, really... but it still makes everything far more complicated. There are so many more ways of obtaining an item when both parties want it whole that this is a tactical disaster in its own right!
And to think Nepgear was so sure that ASIC wanted to harness their power, what with their enormous potential...
As such, it's not exactly surprising that a lightly shocked look takes over the Candidate's exposed features at her enemy's words.
Just then, the elf's smirk turns into a grin.
"...?!"
That's when the Candidate realizes.
Now she did. Now she really did it.
'Nepgear the ASIC member' just looked surprised.
At her own mission, even.
Instantly, the Candidate's entire body tenses up, her own emotions threatening to go into overdrive any moment.
She messed up.
She messed up.
She messed up.
'Calm down, you idiot, you'll only end up getting yourself killed at this rate...!'
That's easier thought than done, however, especially when the elf just stares at her with that accursed grin rather than doing—or just saying—anything.
A second passes, the fake sun on the horizon shining upon them from over the fog.
Two seconds pass, only the sounds of water and the occasional distant cries from monsters breaking the silence.
Three seconds pass, the unrealistically clean air of this dungeon not doing anything to ease the lilac-haired girl's nerves.
The ASIC underling two meters away chuckles.
A metallic "thud" comes from beneath.
Then she's centimeters away.
"?!"
It's only her heightened reflexes as a CPU that allow the girl to move to her right just in time, a fist just barely grazing her cheek.
As fate would have it, however, her right foot just so happens to get caught in her own cloak, sending her tumbling down.
She can only thank the True Goddess, though, when a metallic object sails past the spot her head once was.
Nepgear hits the floor with her shoulder before rolling into a crouch, eyeing her opponent. The elf, standing between the Candidate and the Mascot, is now holding a metal pipe in her right hand, its body noticeably dented near the outer edge and an orange color adorning the end which her palm touches, substituting gray as if to pinpoint the object's "handle."
One more thing to note is how the greenette doesn't look exactly happy that the lilac-haired girl evaded the attack.
"Pretty fast, ain't ya?" she grumbles with an impatient glare, pointing the pipe at her enemy just three meters away. "Well, not like that's nowhere near enough to keep up with me."
As she raises to her feet, Nepgear almost feels like agreeing. How did this girl move so impossibly fast back there...?!
"!"
Her thoughts are interrupted as the underling does it once more, turning three hundred centimeters into fifty in a matter of instants. Her boot hits metal loudly as she forces herself to stop, but the same can't be said for the pipe, which continues to swing single-handedly with far more momentum than it should have.
Except, this time, the lilac-haired girl is ready for it.
Ducking under the weapon at the last instant, Nepgear brings the sword she had already summoned from under her cloak in a stabbing motion, lighting it up during the movement itself—
'Wha—?!'
Only to be caught off-guard as the elf somehow reaches for her swinging pipe with her free hand at an impossible speed, forces it to descend and turns the attack into an upwards strike.
Surprised by the complete disregard of physics, the Candidate is forced to twist her sword unnaturally in order to hit the pipe's right side, knocking it off its original trajectory as the weapon misses her jaw by several centimeters.
Even so, the ASIC girl seems to have thought ahead, as her attack wasn't as incredibly fast nor strong as to disrupt her rythm. As such, it's quite easy for her to make the pipe descend once more in a diagonal motion, even as her left hand lets go of it.
Taking a step back, Nepgear manages to dodge the attack, leaning forward and slashing horizontally at her enemy only for her to do the same. The weapons clash before separating, the recoil affecting both but not dissuading either girl from attempting again.
A diagonal blow goes upward and the Candidate's leans back easily enough, returning the favor with a thrust, only for the greenette to sidestep at the last second. Holding onto the pipe with both hands, the ASIC girl suddenly dashes forward despite being not even a meter away from her enemy, forcing Nepgear to retreat step by step as each attack comes.
One slash from the right, the lilac-haired girl hits it with the side of her blade, leading the pipe to her left rather than simply deflecting. Just as it seems like the elf is about to have her stance broken from the momentum, she simply goes along with it, spinning 180 degrees before shooting a straight backwards kick at Nepgear right in the stomach.
With a pained grunt, the Candidate recoils a few steps, which, as expected, her enemy takes advantage of, dashing yet again and stabbing forward. Even though still a bit unfocused, it's easy enough for the lilac-haired girl to hit and deflect the attack, hitting its side and throwing the pipe to the ASIC member's right.
What is not exactly easy, however, is leaning back to dodge the instant horizontal slash that comes, as if momentum isn't a thing anymore. As if that wasn't enough, the greenette takes a step forward and the pipe comes back as fast as it went, forcing the lilac-haired girl to block it reflexively.
For several seconds, as both combatants push at each other, Nepgear attempts to rationalize what just happened. How is this girl doing those things...?! It's like she's modifying physics in order to suit the situation!
"... Heh."
"?!"
Her thoughts are cut short as the ASIC underling suddenly pushes her pipe upwards against the sword and lets go, making it rotate around the laser blade before grabbing onto the dented end. Before the lilac-haired girl can react, the elf pulls her sword down before immediately—instantly, even—following up with an upwards swing, hitting the Candidate's jaw and forcing her to recoil, letting go of her weapon.
As if that wasn't enough, her foot once again gets caught up on the cloak, sending the girl down but not before she feels yet another attack connect as the pipe's edge hits her stomach.
Instinctively closing her eyes, Nepgear hits the ground loudly and keeps going, letting out a yelp as her back hits the low guardrail around the platform. As she immediately brings both hands to the spot hit, she can't help but marvel at how much that actually hurt a lot.
Heck, if she didn't have the stats of a low-quality yet still genuine CPU and her level had been just a bit lower, she'd be unconscious by now! Her mana already took 40% damage from that alone! Even more worrying, there was definitely something wrong with that attack!
It was as if physics stopped working properly.
What's going on here?!
After a long instant, the Candidate manages to open her eyes—
Blood.
Oozing from the large gash in her torso is pure, scarlet blood, painting the floor red in its wake.
Her breathing quickens. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
The blood isn't stopping. It's coming out and it isn't slowing down at all.
She'll die. She'll die. It hurts. She'll die. It hurts.
It hurts.
She'll die.
IT HURTS—
*BANG*
Nepgear gasps as a boot enters her view, putting her thoughts to a stop before reflexively roll backwards, going straight into a crouch as the pipe, held much like a baseball bat, hits and breaks her skull dents the guardrail. Immediately after, it skips yet another essential step of any attack and somehow shoots towards the crouching girl, forcing her to die once more pour mana into her legs and jump backwards to dodge, flipping around from the momentum alone and landing on her feet near the platform's edge.
She doesn't waste time thinking about her incoming demise the somewhat impressive move she just pulled off, instead grabbing onto her cloak, undoing the clasp around her neck and throwing it at her enemy before she can follow up with another attack, being left only with the scarf afterwards. The Candidate hadn't noticed it against Nepugia, what with not doing many precise movements back there, but it's surprisingly easy to trip and die on the darn thing...
It's only a liability at this point.
Well, except if used like this.
The ASIC underling lets out a surprised grunt as the cloth falls on her, blocking her vision completely. Not missing a single beat, the Candidate summons and flings several grenades at once in a single movement before looking away just as the explosions come.
Following that, in a single motion, her right hand strokes her stomach in a line, searching for something there.
On her palm, she can feel the overflowing liquid as a sharp pain—
... It finds absolutely nothing wrong.
Shaking her head to try and stop all these weird thoughts, Nepgear starts running straight towards the Mascot while calling the cloak back to her inventory. Her task here isn't to be murdered by fight an ASIC member, much less somebody with an effective ability like this elf; if she can just transform and grab the disc—
*CLANG* "GKH?!"
Seemingly out of nowhere, something metallic hits the side of Nepgear's head hard, going right through her head throwing the girl off-balance and sending her to the ground. Doing the same maneuver as before, she manages to break her neck roll into a crouch rather than crash on the metallic floor before turning towards the direction the hit came, just in time to see the pipe somehow burrow itself deep into her heart spin back to her enemy's raised hand, as if manipulated into doing so.
Well, that and said enemy standing in the same spot as before, looking more eager to murder her annoyed than anything, even as her eyes seem a bit unfocused.
Facts don't lie, though, and the lilac-haired girl can clearly feel that her stunt unfortunately didn't kill took out around 25% of her future killer the elf's HP.
However, as Nepgear carefully raises to her feet, hastily summoning a pair of laser daggers to her hands, that doesn't stop her from being finished off gulping at the glare she's now receiving. It's great that she did some damage, but to have several point-blank fragbang explosions not murder cause 25% damage and seemingly no side-effects isn't exactly encouraging.
If anything, that's way too worrying...
It means she'll probably die here.
'No, no, NO! STOP IT!'
The lilac-haired girl grits her teeth, willing these distractions to go away. Her mind can't just up and fail her because she got a little bit hurt, not now...!
"... You're really startin' to annoy me, pinkie," the underling grumbles, wincing slightly at her own voice before resting the pipeon her shoulder. "Last chance, you either scram or I'll really kill you five-freaking-fourths to death."
Which means her body won't even be recognizable, the Candidate notes as she resists the urge to gulp yet again.
All things considered, this situation might be a little bit worse than she thought... Her HP is at 47%, her enemy is still at 75% and going strong, her party is nowhere to be seen, she's pretty much cornered right now and any attempts to run will end with her only chance to save Neptune and the other CPUs gone.
There's no clear way of doing this anymore.
What does that leave her to do, then?
Does this mean she has to die again, letting IF and Compa down despite all her big talk, and yet coming back to retry all the same? She'll experience death once more, feeling unbelievable pain before being led to a moment of peace, only to return and go through this game of suffering all over again?
At the mere thought, cold sweat trails down the lilac-haired girl's cheek, several memories resurfacing in her mind. She can't pinpoint how exactly she feels about the prospect of going through that right here, but it's not a good feeling. Even if it'd be "effective" to just thrust a knife into her own heart whenever things look bad and come back with the upper hand, that doesn't change one little thing.
Nepgear doesn't want to die.
The girl knows that almost anyone aware of her ability would chastise her for not taking advantage of it, of course she does. But they don't understand the feeling of having your life fade away as you find yourself unable to do anything about it, struggling for just a chance to live when there's none, or worse, attempting to accept that everything is over and yet being unable to.
It's true that Nepgear can meet her end too fast for the horror to set in, yes; but what if that doesn't happen? What if shooting herself in the head actually results in a single instant of endless torture? What if she panics and freaks out horribly after stabbing her own heart with a laser blade, instinctively willing her mana into action and preventing her nerves from being burned off before the pain?
What if she doesn't actually come back after committing suicide?
Nepgear's not some old woman who lived a fulfilling life, now surrounded by family and friends as these last moments feel like the peaceful end of a long tale; she's a young girl filled with regrets and wishes, the sort of which no one can just forget in a second, and if there's something the CPU Candidate has despite all her uselessness, it's the will to live.
No matter how many times Nepgear dies, as long as she cares and a minuscule part of her mind still wonders whether another reset will even happen, she'll never lose that.
If her current life comes to an end, it won't be by her own blade.
The so-called Planeptunian Candidate is far too cowardly for that.
Which is why she has to look for a way out, no matter how impossible it seems...!
Instinctively, the girl glances at the Mascot disc, floating just a meter to her right. Transforming right now would be suicide; her enemy would just hit her, cancel the transformation and then hit her some more. Still, the disc is right there... Should she risk it and just run? Maybe attempt some sort of diversion first—
"Eyes are right here!"
"?!"
Suddenly, her enemy appears once more right in front of Nepgear, the pipe held overhead by only her right hand and ready to descend.
Good thing that trick is old.
The girl takes a step back, letting the pipe descend far faster than it should where she once was. Even so, the elf suddenly reaches for the weapon with her other hand, somehow making it change directions at the height of her chest.
Left without choice, Nepgear spins both dagger forward to hold them in reverse and blocks the incoming pipe, a loud "clang" sounding as it hits the mana blades, smoke rising as the thin fields around the energy rip, tear and regenerate endlessly. This time the Candidate doesn't stop after stopping the attack, instead pushing the pipe upwards despite fully expecting yet another change of direction.
It just so happens, however, that the weapon does go up without an unrealistic amount of resistance, alongside both of the underling's hands holding onto it.
'A chance...!'
Taking note of what just happened, Nepgear proceeds to twist her right dagger back to a normal grip, taking a stab at her enemy—
"?!"
Only to be forced to stop and dodge to the side an unexpected upwards kick, its speed abnormal despite the elf's broken stance. Immediately after, as impossible as it should be, her other leg raises, missing the Candidate by several centimeters and yet somehow propelling the underling back, instantly sending her into a backflip. Her left hand lets go of the pipe before her head can hit the floor, reaching for the metallic ground in an attempt to complete the movement.
Which she probably would have.
Had Nepgear not thrown her right dagger at the greenette's free hand, that is.
Rather than some sort of elegant recover, she instead falls facefirst on the ground with a grunt and a loud "bang," a sight which would be rather comical if the Candidate's life wasn't sort of on the line right now. As expected, it's not long until she seemingly begins a roll backward, no doubt in an attempt to go into a crouch.
Unfortunately, she doesn't even notice the several fragbangs flying at her.
*BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM*
Just like before, the grenades explode one after another as the lilac-haired girl diverts her sight. Unlike before, however, Nepgear instantly follows up by directing her sight back to the spot the elf is—
*Splash*
"Huh?"
Except she's not there anymore. And the sound which just came makes it quite obvious she's not even on the platform anymore.
And the lilac-haired girl can only blink at that.
What just happened...? First her enemy does a literally impossible movement, then fails to avoid an attack which essentially did nothing but make her mad earlier?
Why did this end differently? How did the elf girl even propel herself just now? Why did a previously failed stunt become much more effective this time? Does she have rockets on her legs or something to pull off that backflip?!
Can somebody please explain her ability already?!
*Splash*
'What the—'
Her line of thought suddenly grinds to a halt as the metal pipe suddenly comes back from the water, spinning vertically as it goes straight for the Candidate. It's easy enough to sidestep it, letting the weapon hit the ground quite noisily on the spot she once was before bouncing back up in an unnatural manner.
It's not that easy, however, to rationalize the fact that the underling is now right behind said spot, completely drenched and not looking exactly happy with that.
'What the—?!'
The greenette takes hold of her pipe easily enough before swinging it far too fast towards Nepgear, who attempts to block it with her remaining dagger. It's nowhere nearly enough, though, and the weapon flies from her grasp as the pipe hits her stomach, sending the girl lurching forward with a gasp. Immediately after, the pipe recoils and then somehow accelerates to her head, sending the lilac-haired girl tumbling and rolling on the ground until hitting the guardrail yet again, except head first this time.
For a moment, Nepgear can only writhe in pain at her latest 40% of damage, her HP now dangerously low.
At the same time, the gashes all over her skin begin to—
*BANG*
Suddenly, a loud impact sounds right in front of her fallen body.
"!"
Realizing the familiar situation, and how she can't possibly survive move as fast as before with her body feeling like this, the Candidate dies does the first thing she can think of.
Namely, being killed once more throwing a grenade straight upwards.
"That's—?!" the elf's surprised voice sounds just as the lilac-haired girl stabs right through takes a glance at her.
It's in that moment that Nepgear sees it.
A deathly panicked expression whilst looking at the explosive, something akin to horrified recognition in scarlet eyes, the hand holding the metal pipe raised and yet not descending out of fear and surprise alone.
Just like that, it's as if the floodgates in her mind open. Suddenly, the Candidate sees thousands of brutal, efficient possibilities, most of which her mind would never think of in any other situation. Alongside them, the girl feels something else, a sensation which should scare her, and yet which shines so brightly she feels inclined to embrace it.
If Nepgear doesn't do anything right now, she'll die. That much is beyond obvious.
And so, for just an instant, she actually attempts to reach for the unsettling light in her mind. In a single, fleeting moment, it's as if the shackles placed around her very being threaten to shatter.
Yet, she doesn't stop it.
At this moment, no doubt as to what is this which is right in front of her.
An opening.
She can end this.
Taking her chance, letting all her restraint disappear in the wind, the Candidate hastily takes off her scarf and swings it at her enemy's neck, making the underling's stunned gaze descend from the grenade on the air and onto the fallen girl just as the cloth makes contact.
Unfortunately for her, a look is not enough to stop Nepgear from grabbing the other end of the scarf as it comes back as fast as it went, neither from crossing both ends and cutting off her enemy's air before pulling as forcefully as possible. With a gasp, the elf is sent falling towards the Candidate, only for a pair of legs to push against her stomach.
Taking in consideration her sheltered life, it's not much of a surprise that the lilac-haired girl never had any formal training aside from some sword lessons from several Basilicom adventurers. Of course, that means no fancy martial arts were ever inserted into her mind, and neither her moveset for that matter.
And yet, as she hurriedly disengages her scarf from strangling her enemy's neck and proceeds to lead her body with both legs, sending the greenette flying high off the platform from the momentum alone, Nepgear almost feels like she studied judo for a long time.
Still, she doesn't waste time thinking about it, pouring mana into her muscles before taking advantage of her position and quite literally jumping back to her feet just as a splash sounds from behind her.
"Kgh!"
A moment later, Nepgear falls to her knees as her exhausted body burns, ragged breaths starting at about the same time as the grenade she threw instants before hits the floor right next to her .
That doesn't change how that stunt saved her, though.
Even if it felt too brutal for her.
'... No, that's not important. I need to win, and as long as it raises my chances, anything goes.'
That's right... No matter how dirty it feels.
Inwardly thanking her semi-constant training back in the Basilicom and the many action movies she watched through her life—because, honestly, the usual giant robot stories wouldn't have help there—the lilac-haired girl puts the scarf back on before glancing at the spot where she threw her enemy, if only not to let the elf out of her sight.
Her jaw almost drops at what she sees.
Rather than submerged and possibly about to receive a surprise grenade, the violet girl is instead on the water, down on all fours like a beast as the liquid beneath ripples but doesn't give out.
As Nepgear gapes at the sight, her enemy slowly raises to her feet, obviously struggling to do so. In the end, she can only remain with her back arched forward, as if a massive weight is on her shoulders.
Even more telling is the exhausted expression on her face, the girl taking quick breaths as she glares intently at the Candidate.
That doesn't make sense at all... The one who took the most damage and is on the verge of being defeated is Nepgear, not the ASIC underling! Furthermore, how is she stepping on the water?! Why isn't gravity pulling her down?!
"...!"
In that instant, realization crosses the Candidate's face. Can it be...?
"Alright..." the enemy girl begins, panting. "... I'm definitely killing you now."
*SPLASH*
Suddenly, the elf shoots upwards, the water on which she stood shaking and rippling violently at the movement. Her speed dies down just as she reaches about three meters above the platform's height, scarlet eyes still focused on the lilac-haired girl.
Half a second later, a black boot is twenty centimeters away.
"!"
Using reflexes no human would have, Nepgear moves out of the way at the last instant, the dropkick grazing her cheek before the underling hits the platform not even a meter away.
In that moment, it's as if time slows down.
As she takes a step back, the Candidate eyes the enemy right before her, obviously tired and slouched after the landing.
Then she notices the greenette's right fist near her waist, discreetly pointing at its target.
It shoots forward at an impossible speed, aiming for the head.
The lilac-haired girl's own hand already moved, however.
A loud smack sounds as the Candidate quite literally slaps the fist away with her right hand, the attack only barely touching her hair. The most important part, however, is how her enemy loses her balance, falling forward with an utterly surprised expression as her punch sails past.
Nepgear was waiting for this.
She knew it. Everything makes sense now. This girl, somehow, can affect gravity itself, at the cost of tiring herself out and possibly inflicting pain on her own limbs for a while. That explains the abnormal accelerations she used before, their limitations and the cooldowns, not to mention her exhaustion.
It just so happens, though, that it also reveals a weakness.
Her speed raises. Her reflexes don't.
Without hesitation, she delivers an uppercut to the underling's jaw, stopping her dead in her tracks. Not willing to stop just yet, she follows up with a punch to the stomach as revenge from before, forcing the elf to lurch forward with a gasp, before grabbing her by the jacket and headbutting her face, sending her falling backwards.
But that's not enough.
It's not nearly enough.
Just as her enemy touches the ground, Nepgear doesn't waste time in shooting forward to her spot. Before the greenette has the chance to try and get up, the Candidate jams a foot against her windpipe.
"?!"
Instantly, the underling gasps in pain, automatically reaching for Nepgear's leg. She's not fast enough, however, and the lilac-haired girl takes several steps back before her enemy can pull off some sort of gravity trick. That has the side-effect of allowing her to roll to a crouch and raise to her feet, though.
But that's no problem.
Not when she already flung a grenade.
*Bang* *Cling* *Cling* *Cling*
... Which her enemy swatted away, alongside neutering the mana on it.
Oh, well.
No doubt accelerating her legs, the violet girl shoots forward, attempting yet another punch. As expected, Nepgear dodges it to the side, only for the underling to actually have some good sense and stomp at the ground, stopping herself. Without delay, she throws an enhanced right hook at the Candidate, only for the latter to duck backwards and slash upwards at the arm with a laser knife she had already summoned, eliciting a grunt from her enemy.
Reversing its grip overhead, the lilac-haired girl brings the weapon down on the underling's upper arm, only for her to rotate in place and throw an accelerated roundhouse kick, hitting Nepgear's hand and yanking the knife from her grasp. The Candidate doesn't allow herself to as much as flinch at that, instead using the momentum to unleash her own roundhouse kick, hitting the violet girl on her back and sending her to the platform's floor easily enough.
The underling hits the ground loudly, rolling a few times before coming to a stop, writhing on the floor with her back turned towards Nepgear.
For several seconds, the Candidate waits for the girl to raise from there and start fighting again. After a full minute passes, however, nothing happens, and the violet girl is still on the floor, panting and squirming in pain.
Such a sight brings a wide smirk to the Planeptunian Candidate's face.
She won.
At first, only the glee of having the upper hand was occupying her mind. Now, however?
The bliss of victory is all hers.
... Wait, no. It's not over just yet.
Summoning a pair of daggers to her hands, the lilac-hared girl starts walking towards her fallen enemy.
It's not over until she's out cold.
Anything else would be dangerous. As long as the elf is conscious, she can always try to pull something off.
Nepgear won't take the risk.
"You know, this is pretty funny," the Candidate muses as she comes to a stop just three meters away from the violet girl, her smirk only widening. "You were the one talking big, but look who's still standing."
That's right. For all of Nepgear's uselessness, if she puts her mind into it, she's very hard to kill.
Just like a roach.
Bringing a single fragbang from the inventory to her grasp, the lilac-haired girl raises her hand, preparing to deal the finishing blow.
"Hey..." the underling suddenly mutters from her spot on the floor, giving Nepgear some pause. "Do you know... what's really funny...?"
"Hm?" The Candidate can only raise a quizzical eyebrow at that. What is she going on about—
"How you fell for this!"
"?!"
It all happens too fast.
In a single movement, the elf turns around, flinging something at her. Out of nowhere, a burning sensation hits the lilac-haired girl's hand, forcing her to drop her own grenade.
A single glance answers many questions.
Her own sword is falling to the ground after having hit its target.
Amethyst eyes widen as much as possible. In a single instant, focus returns to Nepgear's mind, alongside a multitude of curses prompted by her own idiocy.
She lost herself amidst the battle.
Again.
A "clang" sounds, and just as the Candidate looks forward once again, the elf is right in front of her, ready to swing her resummoned pipe.
In that instant, a gasp threatens to escape her lips as she attempts to move, sidestep, duck, anything.
Just then, her enemy's right boot touches her own, prompting it to accelerate and slide on the ground.
"?!"
That's when Nepgear realizes. It's literally impossible for her to dodge anymore.
Her HP is now a measly 5%. The elf will manage to hit her at full power.
It's over.
"...!"
And then it happens.
Out of nowhere, something hits her right side and pushes her to the ground.
Blue coat. Long brown hair.
The pipe connects to somebody else's side.
A sickening crunch sounds.
The lilac-haired girl falls on her side, still looking at the scene.
And IF hits the ground nearby face-down, lying still soon after.
"..."
Nepgear stares.
As the underling girl seems utterly stunned at what just happened, Nepgear stares.
A familiar voice shouts the brunette's name in panic, and Nepgear stares.
The nurse runs up to her childhood friend, falling on the ground right before placing her syringe down and panickedly inspecting the downed girl, all the while Nepgear stares.
And then it hits her.
IF.
IF.
IF.
She's hurt. No matter how you look at it, she's hurt.
Compa carefully turns her around, not even batting an eye at the enemy present, who still seems shocked.
IF still doesn't move.
Bleeding. She's bleeding all over.
She'll die. She'll die any moment now.
She's hurt.
IF took a hit for Nepgear.
She's hurt. She'd definitely hurt.
As she lies on the ground, being checked up by the nervous peach-haired nurse, she's hurt.
IF is hurt.
She's hurt.
Blood. There's blood all around now.
IF's blood. Scattered on the floor.
But there is not a single drop.
But IF is still hurt.
Because she took a hit for Nepgear, she's hurt.
This is her fault.
This is all her fault.
There is a gash on her side. Her arm is visibly shattered. Bloody cuts are all over her body.
She'll die. She'll definitely die.
Even if there is no blood, it's her fault.
Her fault.
Her fault.
Her fault.
IF will be gone first. Compa will be done in next.
And she'll be the last one.
They'll all die. She'll retry. But they'll all die.
It's all her fault.
Definitely her fault.
Her fault.
Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault—
"Iffy, wake up!"
Nepgear gasps.
Suddenly, reality surrounds her once more.
IF is still fallen. Compa is still inspecting her injuries.
Their enemy is still standing there, staring at the fallen brunette.
And she'll kill them. If the Candidate doesn't do anything, she'll kill them.
The elf will surely kill each one of them.
At once, Nepgear finds her breathing hasten. What should she do? What can she do?
What will she do?!
In panic, the lilac-haired girl waves her head around. There has to be something, anything which can help her. If she were to throw a grenade, only for it to be ineffective and break the ASIC underling out of her stupor, all it'd do is trigger the whole party's demise!
To march towards certain death is one thing, but to have others die because of her?!
She can't accept it.
She won't accept it.
And yet, the world itself isn't helping her in the slightest. No matter where violet eyes focus, only water, roots and small monsters amidst them are visible. There's no way she can use those... There's no way she can just control roots or monsters!
"...!"
Unless there is.
Hastily, amethyst eyes snap towards the grenette. Even after half a minute, she's still standing there, stunned.
Perfect.
As fast as possible, Nepgear summons a certain thing to her right hand before taking a deep breath, concentrating as much as possible. Right then, a dim green light covers her body as the weak Heal spell she finally has a chance to use takes effect, recovering her HP to a somewhat less dangerous level. Following that, without delay, much like she did long ago against that halberd-wielding CFW, the girl attempts to bury all her hesitation and fears, even if only for an instant.
A moment later, she shoots forward, a bright light blocking her sight and creating a white pillar all around her.
"A CPU?! Are you kid—?!"
Hearing the surprised voice is all Nepgear needs in order to know she's been spotted.
Not that it matters at this point.
As the light fades, the sight which greets azure eyes adorned by power symbols is a surprised elf, holding her pipe like a baseball bat and about to swing it horizontally. Despite the soreness of her entire body after all her effort and damage taken, Purple Sister still manages to duck under the weapon with her enhanced reflexes, stomping both feet on the ground in order to come to a stop and shoving her open right palm towards her enemy's stomach. The attack manages to connect, eliciting a gasp from the ASIC underling as she's sent flying backwards by the unexpected force behind it.
Unsurprisingly, just as her back touches the ground, the greenette manages to roll into a crouch, raising to her feet soon after. Glaring at the CPU Candidate, she actually goes into a fighting stance for the first time in the fight, holding her pipe forward with both hands like a sword. Unhesitantingly, no doubt emboldened by the lilac-haired girl's low HP, she prepares to advance despite knowing the true nature of her enemy, taking a step towards her—
"Stop," Nepgear suddenly commands amidst heavy breathing, pointing straight at the elf with her empty right hand.
Be it for curiosity, or just being far too wrapped up in the atmosphere, the underling actually halts in her spot, confusion all over her tired face as she holds the pipe in front of her.
... Huh.
Hope might be useless, but it looks like good things still happen.
Not wasting the chance, the Candidate continues. "Can't you notice anything weird, Miss Underling?"
"'Anything weird'?" the elf repeats in disbelief, her glare becoming even harsher. "What are you, a moron? Expectin' me to look behind me next—"
It's then that she stops.
Slowly, scarlet eyes descend to the spot Nepgear hit her.
An unbelievably strong smell. There's no doubt that's what she just noticed. The Candidate can clearly feel it from here, but there's no telling just how more pronounced it is for her enemy.
After all, smeared all over her stomach is something akin to a light brown paste.
"... The hell is this," the greenette asks flatly, bringing her furious gaze back to the lilac-haired girl. "First you show you're a goddamn CPU, then you start mockin' me? Just because you can wear a stupid swimsuit out of nowhere doesn't mean you can do crap on your last legs—"
"Grrr..." "Dogoo!" "Grawr!" "Lip!"
The violet girl freezes just then. Slowly, not even caring about Nepgear attacking her, she actually does look behind her.
What greets her is the sight of innumerable monsters, from pipe plants climbing up the platform from the water before to dogoos and tulips moving closer, be it through the metallic pathways or the roots above. Even more interesting, however, is the ancient dragon far into the distance, clearly staring at the underling.
"..." As expected, to say the greenette is gobsmacked would be a massive understatement.
And, even as she finds her mind mostly unclouded by the success of her stunt for once, Nepgear can't keep a small smirk off her face.
Thank goodness she voluntereed to carry Compa's failed experiment.
"It's true that you can win easily if I'm this hurt," the Candidate comments, letting quite a bit of pride seep into her voice. "If you only fight me."
"Wha—" the underling snaps her head towards her enemy, shock almost surgically attached to her face at this point. "How?!"
"Isn't it obvious? A bait," the lilac-haired girl explains, perhaps too happily despite her ragged breathing, letting her hand fall to her side. "The smell attracts monsters... and the noise brings in even more! You might be able to beat me up and down without issues if you attack me right now," she admits, "but can you do that when the entire dungeon is against you? Can you?!"
Just then, her smirk grows tenfold.
"Underling?!"
At the nickname, the elf grits her teeth, completely aware of the approaching sounds of hungry plants and hopping slimes. "W-Why, you...! My name is Linda, dammit!"
"I see." Nepgear nods. "I'll make sure to forget it."
"You... bitch!" The violet girl's shouts back, her entire expression twisting in anger.
Even so, she doesn't waste time in turning around, the cracked heart symbol on her back clear to see as she shoots off at abnormally high speeds, sidestepping any monsters in her path. Of course, all the creatures move to follow her, even the carnivorous pipe plants which just managed to get on the platform.
She's in for an adventure, that's for sure.
"I'LL STILL GET YOU DAMN BROADS FOR THIS!"
"... Good luck with that," Nepgear finds herself muttering a line from a comic as the shout comes, probably feeling far more pleased with herself than she should as she reaches down to grab her fallen sword off the floor, turning it off.
With the elf's trick exposed, there's nothing much she can do with the element of surprise.
Not anymore.
As fast as it came, the smirk on her face disappears as amethyst eyes gaze at the bladeless handle in her grasp. It wasn't just losing herself in the fight like a lunatic, forgetting about the weapon she let go of was also a horrible mistake...
It led to this, after all.
Feeling even more pain flaring up all around her body as the adrenaline fades, Nepgear turns towards her party, not even caring about her sore muscles.
Any remaints of cheer she still had evaporate in an instant.
IF is still unconscious, fallen on the platform's floor with pain written all over her face. Compa, meanwhile, is just seated next to her, worry clear on her features as she observes the brunette's chest slowly rising and falling as each second passes.
And this, of course, is the so-called CPU Candidate's fault.
All because the lilac-haired girl just felt the need to taunt her opponent, throwing all caution to the wind. All because she couldn't help but lose focus amidst the utter joy of actually succeeding at something. All because she became drunk on the rush of actually affecting an obviously stronger enemy with no qualms against killing her.
All because Nepgear loved the feeling of dominance and happily embraced it, just like she did against Nepugia.
It was all the same as that time, the lilac-haired girl realizes as she makes her way towards the other two. Back then, she didn't actually lose her mind as she tricked herself into thinking. Just like now, she convinced herself that she had to do something merciless or just plain insane in order to survive. Then, when it worked, the idiotic girl felt absolute ecstasy at the prospect of success after so many horrifying failures, seeking it more and more up until the point she messed everything up.
It just so happens that "success" in a battle means causing pain.
Nepgear literally felt bliss at hurting somebody else.
And so, IF was hurt.
The worst part, the girl adds with a frown, is how she doesn't know if she can stop it from happening. The joy she gets from hurting others after being the suffering is just unbelievably addictive.
And that in itself is horrifying.
'I already knew I was a failure of a CPU... but this is just too much...'
To call it "messed up" would be a terrible understatement...
Finally, Nepgear stops before her fallen party member, a bright light enveloping her as she returns to her normal form. Guilt, disgust and anger at herself rage around her mind, and even more so when the realization that she could easily kill herself right now and prevent this comes.
Because she doesn't want to. And, even if she did, the girl is sure she wouldn't as much as be able to go through with it.
'I'm just... horrible.'
At least now there are no doubts about that...
"... I don't think it's that serious," Compa begins, looking up at her with tired eyes full of remorse. "But she was already shrugging off damage from the viral tulips... Iffy might have broken something, and I can't just put some bandage on it and make it alright..."
"Don't you have some skill that can heal her?" the Candidate asks quietly, even though she already expects an answer.
"Healing magic restores mana, not wounds... I already did everything I could," the nurse reveals what Nepgear already knew with a sigh, looking down at her friend. "It might speed up the recovery, but she's still hurt... even if it's not as bad as it could have been..."
At the answer, the lilac-haired girl inwardly berates herself for the question. Of course they wouldn't have made that sort of advancement in just three years. What the goodness was she thinking, hoping like that...? "I see... I'm sorry. Because I didn't take care, IF..."
"Stop it, Ge-Ge."
"Huh...?"
"Just... stop it," Compa repeats as she carefully raises to her feet, focusing on Nepgear with a look which can only be called kind. "Iffy is still alive. Not fine, but alive... and she decided to do that herself. Even if that Underling person hit you and broke something, Ge-Ge's a CPU, so you'd have healed every little thing real fast." At those words, a small, sad smile crosses her lips. "... But only if Ge-Ge survived it. I think Iffy didn't want to bet on it."
"... Oh."
So she bet her own life instead, the Candidate realizes.
This girl... doesn't she care about herself at all...?!
It's then that the nurse shakes her head, as if dismissing some thought. Following that, she reaches for her syringe on the floor, taking it in her hands much like a rifle, as always. "C'mon, Ge-Ge. We're here for a reason," she begins, nodding towards the Mascot floating right there on the center of the platform, just a few meters away. "I'll keep an eye out for any more baddies."
"... Got it." Nepgear nods, turning towards the large floating disc. Compa's right, they shouldn't be wasting time here.
Especially not after what happened.
The lilac-haired girl takes a last look at her unconscious... friend? An acquaintance wouldn't have gone this far... right?
She's not even sure anymore...
Following that, the Candidate makes her way to the Mascot, stopping right in front of it. The disc is hovering still, shining a purple light at its surroundings. It certainly looks the part of a magical artifact, she muses to herself.
Carefully, Nepgear reaches out for it...
"Hmm...? What's happening?"
"?!"
Instantly, her hand recoils, amethyst eyes widening.
That was... a feminine voice, right? A noticeably mature one, at that, although noticeably carefree... and strangely familiar too.
Still, from where did it come from? Was it...
"You don't need to act so frightened, young CPU," the Mascot without a mouth speaks, confirming Nepgear's hunch. Although still bewildered, the girl manages to keep herself from shooting out questions as the disc continues. "Now, why have you woken me—What the goodness happened here?! Is that girl alright?!"
The Candidate can't help but jump a bit at the sudden shouting. Did them... she, probably, only notice IF just now? Weird, she'd have pegged an ancient, mostly formless being to see everything in all directions...
Well, not that it really matters right now.
"Um, I think so..." Nepgear replies after a moment, being unable to keep some doubt from coming along with her words. "We were attacked by ASIC... I mean, the Deity of Sin's faction, I guess. They were trying to destroy you."
"Is... Is that so?" the disc speaks slowly, clearly processing the information. "I put myself into a slumber in order to conserve energy as Planeptune's state deteriorated, and even strengthened the seal to this dungeon... to think they were able to infiltrate it anyway..."
"Yes, ASIC is becoming stronger by the day..." the Candidate confirms, letting out a sad sigh. "I think it's pretty obvious by now, but I'll need your power to be able to do something about them and save my sister. If it's not a problem, I mean..."
It certainly wouldn't be good if this affected Planeptune's state any more, after all.
"That is... understandable, yes. I believe I can give you a fragment of my power."
At those words, the Mascot's glowing body suddenly shines bright, forcing Nepgear to shield her eyes. Just a moment later, the light fades away, prompting the girl uncover her violet orbs. Floating next to the Mascot is a purple orb of light, its size small enough to fit into a palm.
Somehow, the Candidate almost feels like calling it a fairy from its appearance alone, even if it's nothing like Histoire.
"This is all I can give you without plunging the nation into even more chaos," the Mascot explains in a soft voice, to which the orb slowly floats towards the lilac-haired girl. "It shall also function as my vessel should I ever attempt to contact you in case ASIC returns. Don't worry about your privacy, however; I can only see through it when it isn't stored away."
"I see," Nepgear mutters as the light grows closer, raising a palm for it to hover above. "It's pretty amazing how something so small and pretty holds so much power..."
It also raises some concerns about its fragility, but it's not like the Candidate will run around waving it around like a flashlight—
"You may also use it as a flashlight if necessary," the disc adds after a moment. "It's not as if it's fragile like glass."
"... I see," the lilac-haired girl echoes in a flat tone.
Well, at least that takes care of a worry.
"Thank you very much," Nepgear says honestly as her eyes focus on the disc, nodding at it... her? "This will help so much..."
"You needn't thank me, CPU Candidate," the Mascot replies, not a trace of selfishness in her voice. "It's simply my job to ensure Planeptune's, and even Gamindustri's, safety."
"As is mine..." the Candidate mutters back, her lips tugging slightly upwards. "... I believe so, at least."
"When it comes to what drives one forward, a belief is as good as the absolute truth. Just follow your heart and everything shall turn out fine," the glowing disc adds, and the lilac-haired girl can almost see a soft smile despite she having no face. "Now, I shall seek yet another area to hide myself. It would be anything but intelligent to stay here after knowing ASIC is aware of this location."
Nepgear nods at that. "Good luck."
"Shouldn't I be the one wishing you all luck? Compared to your group, I am just a disc playing hide-and-seek at all times." The Mascot lets out a quiet laugh as she says that. "In any case, I wish you all well... Especially the fallen girl. If it helps any, I feel her to be... somewhat fine. No lasting damages as far as I can see." Despite Compa having already told her that, the lilac-haired can't help but let out a sigh of relief at the confirmation. "And, most importantly, as long as you continue moving forward, I'm completely sure you'll be able to save your sister!"
"... Thank you," the Candidate repeats once again, a melancholic gaze falling to the ground. It might not be much, but to have someone like the Mascot encourage her like this... "Really, thank you for everything."
"Now you're just acting like I'm about to die," the disc replies with a chuckle. "... You truly are a good girl. To think Neptune is your sister..."
Nepgear can't help but let out a chuckle of her own at that.
"Once again, I wish you all luck," the Mascot repeats, its light slowly becoming brighter once more. "It's finally time for me to depart. Now would be a good time to cover your eyes."
It's almost impressive how fast the Candidate does just that with her free hand.
Even more impressive, however, is how she can notice the flash which comes even like that. It would have been bad if she hadn't covered her eyes—
"Argh! What the hell?!"
"...!"
That...
That was...
Faster than she even thought possible, Nepgear turns around to face the other two girls.
"C'mon...! With all the power that thing had, it couldn't tone down the freaking flash?!"
"..."
Just like that, a wide, outright stupid smile crosses her face.
Right under a visibly bewildered Compa is the one and only respectable party leader, writhing in pain as she rubs her eyes with a blue sleeve of hers.
"Of course it vanished with a flash, it's always a flash with magic things, god—" IF attemps to raise her arm from her face, only for shock to cross her face instantly, forcing it to descend right back to her eyes. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, the hell?! I can't even move an arm?!"
She's hurt. That much is beyond obvious. The brunette is so hurt that moving around is pretty much impossible without feeling pain.
Even worse, it's all Nepgear's fault.
And yet...
"... Ha... Hahahaha..."
For whatever reason, the sounds which come from the Candidate's lips mean anything
"Gear? Is that you? Hey, this isn't funny! It's not funny at all—Argh, can't even breathe hard?! What sort of joke is this?!"
"Hahahaha... hahahahahahahaha!"
"H-Hey, I wasn't serious about it being a joke! Stop that! I meant it, Gear, you stop that right now! Compa! Tell her to stop! Compa!"
As the laughter continues without pause, the lilac-haired girl going as far as holding her stomach with the hand not occupied by the hovering orb of light, the nurse just stares at her two friends, one of which is still covering her eyes for not being able to do otherwise while the other does the most out-of-character thing Compa saw from her.
Then, after just a moment...
"Compaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Pfft!"
She cracks.
"Hihihi... hehehehe..."
"What the—Not you too! What's even going on here?!"
"Hahahahahahaha!" "Hehehehe...!"
"Did you two go crazy or something?! Really, you're creeping me out right now!... Gear? Compa? Are you even listening to me?! Stop laughing! Stop it!"
And, as what can only be called vocalized relief exits the two girls nonstop, Nepgear realizes.
All things considered, today was seriously pretty close to a total disaster.
But it could have been worse.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Hehehehe... Hehehehe...!"
"Guys! I'm serious! You guys?! Yoooooouuuu guyyyyyyyyyys!"
As she continues to laugh, Nepgear closes her eyes to wipe off a tear.
When she opens them, the sight which greets her is the brunette's bloodied and lifeless body, skin torn in several places and dead emerald eyes focusing on her as red paints the metallic floor underneath. Compa is standing right next to the corpse, just staring, and staring, and staring with empty eyes devoid of anything besides grief.
A blink later and it's all gone, having never existed in the first place.
Instead, what's there are her two friends, alive, mostly well and making a scene as much as her.
"Hahaha... hahahaha!"
It really could have been way worse.
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Well, talk about being late. It took me a while to revise this chapter, especially with my class' pace kicking off as we reach the third month of the year.
In any case, here we have it! This was as much about Nepgear as it was about Linda!
Speaking about her, I sure hope people won't think the abilities I gave her are too out of the left field. I mean, it all started from the idea that "Underling runs fast enough for everybody to comment on it, packs a punch and shows no fancy light shows in her moves." In other words, canon stuff, even if the first two could easily be attributed to being buffed by the Deity of Sin.
It'd just be boring to have her be "generally strong because of Arfoire" and nothing more, after all.
So, that was a thing! How was it? Did I entertain? Did I disappoint? Did I make Nepgear's Sanity Meter decrease too much?
Because I do keep track of it. Just sayin'.
Well, in any case, I believe there's nothing more to say.
Until the next dream, y'all!
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"*pant*... *pant*... Dammit..."
Linda curses under her breath as she leans against the trunk of a tree in Virtua Forest, near one of the entrances to the Mascot's dungeon. It took a while and a long chase to wipe off that damned bait, whatever it actually was, dump it in some river and deal with the monsters which didn't give up on following her.
The fishes will probably thank her. Or die of food poisoning.
... She hopes a dangerous one bites the dust. It'd be a waste to kill a friendly fish.
Not that the greenette cares, of course.
Taking in several deep breaths, it's not long until her breathing starts to normalize. To think that baby-faced broad from before was a freaking CPU of all things...
She's totally the one who escaped from the Graveyard, ain't she? Well, not that Linda would remember how that one looked like, since it's not like she spent days staring at that chick, but she was the Planeptunian Candidate, right?
And it just so happens she's leading a party to look for the Mascots and get their power. Which means the Linda will be seeing them often.
Great.
Well, at least one's out of the game for now.
"..."
The greenette can't help but let a frown reach her lips at the thought. What was with that moron? As long as a CPU is alive and connected to a Sharicite, they can heal a goddamn whole limb back!
... Not that Linda would leave her alive, of course. She wouldn't.
Even if the greenette never actually killed anyone before. That'd be her first one. A CPU, to boot.
She's sure of it.
Still, who the hell is dumb enough to shield a CPU? Isn't it obvious they can survive way more than a normal person?
What a joke...
"La la la la~"
"?!"
At the sudden voice approaching, scarlet eyes widen as much as possible.
There's no doubt... That was...!
'Oh, goddammit! Can't I catch a break?!'
Hastily, Linda waves her head around, looking for anywhere good enough to hide. She could probably try and put up some illusion spell, but she could also get caught in the act and be officially screwed.
Which is bad.
Spotting a tall bush nearby, the girl outright jumps into it, ignoring the few thorns trying to sap her HP at a near negligible rate.
Just moments later, the greenette's jaw drops.
"La la la la~ Flower here, flower there~ Mushroom here, herb—Wait, that's rare! Lucky~!"
With her back turned towards the bush, reaching down to grab a plant on the grassy ground, is some girl completely identical to the CPU Candidate from before, at least from behind.
And by "identical" Linda means "it's somebody else entirely."
Wearing a black version of that broad's outfit, this gal puts the herb into the straw basket filled with plants held under her arm before straightening her back, humming to herself all along. It's quite obvious that she's on a quest, and her being close to the Mascot's dungeon certainly seems like a coincidence, but that doesn't explain why there's some chick cosplaying as that Candidate while questing.
It's about then that the girl turns around, eyeing her surroundings with a smile as her humming continues.
The greenette's jaw drops.
There's no way this is just cosplay; her facial structure is also the same!
Is this a second CPU Candidate?! Or just an incredibly stupid coincidence brought about by genetics bullshit?!
If it's the first, goddammit.
Still, as the doppelganger girl continues to wander around grabbing flowers and the like, that's not what really catches Linda's attention.
Instead, that honor goes to the hairclip on her head, bearing the exact same heart symbol as the one on the greenette's jacket and top.
That's not some sort of known icon, that's Linda's personal symbol! She literally got it from that rat!
So why the hell is there some girl she never met before who looks like that pinkie wearing it on her hair?!
"Flower picking, flower picking, la la la~"
Just like that, the greenette finds herself sweating quite a bit. This is just too weird... Should she attack the girl and ask her some questions?
Is that even safe?
As far as she knows, this might be some Twilight Area crap, and while Linda would usually laugh at such a stupid idea, there are only so many explanations for this nonsense.
She's legitimately freakin' the hell out right now.
"Herb here, flower there, mushroom here, weed there, and then there were none~"
It's not long until the doppelganger moves away with a spring in her step, spinning around and just generally acting like this is the best day of her life for no discernible reason.
And then, after several more seconds pass...
Linda lets out the breath she didn't even know she was holding.
"..."
Alright...
What.
Was.
That?!