Chapter 11:

"And we're back" I said as we follow うずめ to a checkpoint she mentioned.

We only had about an hour of rest and recreation. It's surprising I know, I mean we're about to face what seems like the final boss and we only about an hour of rest. Veteran's would say that 8 hours of rest is still not enough. What's even more surprising is that the final boss hasn't made a move since. You would think that a being that can erase existence itself would erase our existence within that hour. Even molecules are no match for it.

"What a second…" I suddenly thought.

""What if we harness that power to solve our mold problems?"

"What are you thinking Big Brother?"

"A way to eradicate our molds in our bathhouse"

"Aren't we already doing that?"

"We are? Curse modern technology"

As we make our way, I noticed that the street is eerily quiet. There aren't any monsters growling in the background. They probably ran since the appearance of an alpha giant robot predator, for fear of being erased from existence. I share some sentiment to them, they're also living things trying to live and survive. Basic biology.

"Alright we're here" Uzume says as she turns towards us.

"Ooh, what a dingy looking wall. It has spikes made of wood and everything" my wife comments.

"All the effort I've put through really paid off when I found out it works so well"

"By yourself? That's amazing Uzume" Nepgear praised.

It's one of those barricades yo see when you watch a retelling of history types of movies. There are literal logs standing majestically, covering the other side. Its spikes are pointing straight up into the sky. There are also some logs with pointing at an angle from the ground. Serving both as a deterrent from would be climbers and support for the wall. It's pretty impressive to have done it alone. It probably took her 2 months to get it standing like this.

"Alright, what's the gameplan?" Neptune asked.

"So, basically, a horde of monsters will approach the city before the giant does… we gotta get rid of the horde first" she explains.

"Question, does this road lead to the evacuation site?" I mean if you're going to make a fortress it means that you're protecting something.

"Well, not directly. This road leads to our supply of food that's also being evacuated. We decided to move them out in a different route if for some reason they caught on with the smell of it" that's well thought out. If our creative-creatures caught the smell, it's bad news for the remaining survivors of talking monsters.

"Okay. So, all we gotta do is defeat any monsters that come here, right? Sounds simple enough"

"Right on, I'm countin' on ya. Nepsy"

"Nepsy!?"

"Nepth… Nep-whatever's too hard to pronounce. You're Nepsy, now" such authority over one's pronunciation of their name. Am I the only one here that can make the \tün\ sound here?

"And there it is, the usual and expected pattern of people I've just met being unable to pronounce my name..." it's probably because your name is too far off to be read. Get it? I made a space joke… Coz Neptune is a planet and it's really far… I'll stop now…

"...but it's totally fresh and adorable nickname, so I'm pumped!"

"By the way, you'll be Gearsy and Jarsy." Jarsy!?

"Gearsy?!" don't copy me, little Sister.

"Well you can't be both called Nepsy, right? And Jared is Jarsy already, so you'll be Geasy"

"...Gearsy, Gearsy, huh…? Hehe, this might be the first time I've been given such a cute nickname..."

"Good for you Little Sister"

"Welcome to the club, Nepgear"

"Thank you for having me" Nepgear plays along with this Welcome to the Club act.

"Well, if everyone is satisfied with their nicknames, all we have to do is wait for them"

"Wait? Wow, that giant-robot thing has a lot of time in its hands" hell, I can't even see it from here.

"Maybe it's one of those final bosses that doesn't care about us puny humans and then we'll suddenly sucker punch from under their noses"

"Underdog stories are the best"

"Then, there was this comic that I read from long long ago. I think it's about cooking some pastries I think..."

"Oh, I know that one, though I didn't exactly finish it" Nepgear said her disappointment. She obviously enjoyed it

"Why aren't you finishing it now though?" I asked.

"Well… I've been working and all so..."

"Don't tell me that Neptune has been..."

"Oh, it's nothing like that Big Brother. I just had so many projects to complete that's all… like..."

"Stop! If she suddenly starts talking about her 'projects' it won't end!"

"Oh crap, you're right" my wife's right.

"Why stop her? I'm sure she's about to say some pretty cool projects"

"Uzume, our 3 hours and counting friend, think of it like this, it's like a boulder coming down a mountain, and you're trying to stop it with a sti - OW!" dammit, who hit me?

"Geez, that's what you get for calling me a blabber, Big Brother"

"Ohoho, so far there's only one person, I guess 2 more counting Iffy and Compa, that's ever hit me and lived to tell the tale" this girl got some balls to hit me.

"Oh, Nepgear finally hits Jared huh… Who should I cheer on though?"

"What's with you guys?" うずめ asked in dumbfoundedness of our random conversations.

"Hm? Yeah, sorry. You must have felt out of place. It's just our usual banter when to relieve the stress of everyday grind"

"Mhm, I sometimes get into the flow of things. Don't think too hard about it" Nepgear supports.

"I'm not too bothered. In fact, it's like I'm enjoying a great show" うずめ said. A show, eh?

"Well, stick around since we have so many shows to show. Since I'm the mai-"

"Neptune being the straight man always gets us viewer counts" I said.

"-n. Nepu!?"

"Ask your little Sister"

"Is that true!?"

"Mhm, well, I did consult it with Kei and..."

"Nepu!? So people don't really see me as the main protagonist!?"

"Not really, they found you, what's the word, pleasing to watch. In fact, you're more like a comic relief than anything"

"I-I became a side character just for gags and giggles!" Neptune despairs.

"You should be proud, my dear wife. Without you, we wouldn't have gotten that ad revenue from doing our Nepstation every single day"

"R-really?"

"Ask your little Sister"

"It's true Sis, we wouldn't have gotten this far without you and I wouldn't have been able to check off some of my items in my bucket list"

"You have a bucket list?" Neptune and I asked at the same time.

"Hm? You didn't know. But I always have a notepad with me..."

"Really?" I mean, why would you need a bucket list. You don't age. I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to enjoy all that life could offer without the fear of missing out.

"Can I see, can I see?"

"It's a little embarrassing but okay"

Nepgear always had a small leg bag on her right thigh, she reaches to it and opens it with one hand. Puts her hand in, rummage inside it as though looking for something and then pulling out a small notebook. I swear to god I need to know how to do that.

"Hmmmm… Oh, it's here."

"Lemme see!"

With Neptune's giggly excitement, we take a look at the contents of the notebook.

"..."

"..."

This… is… utterly… like Nepgear. I mean, I don't have to explain to you guys what's written on her notebook right? You know Nepgear. You know personality and quirks. No need for me to reiterate what those are right?

*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*

"Nepu?"

The ground rumbles, like the growl of the king of the jungle as it shows its dominance. My instincts naturally flare up, counting the horde that we need to face. To be honest, I can already tell that they're small fries, but since I've already agreed to this, I really have no choice. Or maybe I could do some very, very low effort fighting and relay most of the wave to them.

"I wish that giant thing would come out already..." I really do. I need to work out.

"You could use them as warm up" my wife said. As a katana appears before me, I catch it before it starts to fall.

"Stop reading my mind, well, it is dangerous not to do warm-ups" in fact there has been a number of cases where people that do workouts injure themselves from not warming up. So remember kids, even if warmups looks so boring to do, please do them. It would save you the thousands of dollars of hospitalization fees.

*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!*

"Well then, looks like the first wave is approaching. C'mon, you three, let's get fired up!"