An Alternate Chapter 2: Untitled
Rom sighed as she finished her drawing of Blanc and Ram in the dirt around Neptune's house. The lavender haired girl had locked the door on the way out. Rom had a habit of losing items in her pocket, so she didn't have a set on her. As she looked down the path, she hoped that Histoire was okay. She had left rather quickly earlier and didn't leave a reason why.
The girl paused for a moment and looked back at her picture, wondering what else to add to it. There wasn't many places to hang around while waiting for someone, especially the lavender haired CPU. Plus, after what happened this morning with the Ancient Dragon, the brunette Candidate wasn't very excited to go out on patrol today. She was tempted to tell Neptune that she wanted to just stay inside for the rest of the day. And more than likely, the other CPU would have gone with it too. Everyone knew that Neptune wasn't a fan of doing patrols (or any kind of work). However, despite that fact, she still joined Rom in walking around parts of the inner perimeter of Celestia.
While Histoire had an excellent track record of keeping the CPUs safe for years, the last breach had forced them to adapt to the new changes. Well, mainly two of them. Rom had a feeling Neptune had only participated in the patrols because the brunette did. Nepgear had a few little robots in the southern part of the land, but never really did one herself. And Noire, she was the most ambitious of the bunch and ended up traveling the most (doing almost a full circle of the inner section of the land). Neptune was concerned that she would eventually overwork herself, but she could never deter the raven haired CPU from her task.
Rom got up from her place on the ground and dusted the dirt off her blue parka that she wore. Even in nice weather, she had never felt very hot in it and it worked great in the cold, especially when it snowed!
The small brunette CPU looked down and stared at the drawings she had made. It wasn't a bad doddle...but it was still pretty crude. She sighed to herself. Ram was always better than her at doing doodles. Rom, on the other hand, had been much more content with just listening to Blanc's readings of various books that she had written. Although, her big sister wasn't extremely good at doing said task. No one had ever bother to critique her...award winning fanfiction, mainly because they were too afraid of the hammer she possessed. However, despite the amount of cringing she had to keep hidden, Rom had always loved to listen to Blanc read to her because she knew just how much passion she had put into her work.
The rustling of someone emerging from the trees, grabbed Rom's attention. As she turned her head, she smiled, "Miss Neptune!" Rom said excitedly, as she stepped forward.
However, as she saw the figure step out from the forest, she stopped dead in her tracks. It was a human...or she thought it was a human. It looked like one but there was something different about this one. Rom moved back as she felt fear take over; she could feel her body beginning to tremble. Even from this distance, she could feel the person's overwhelming aura. It radiated darkly, scaring the brunette down to her very core. Or was that just her fear exaggerating everything?
The figure noticed the brunette CPU and smirked darkly. She moved forward at an eerie pace, "Oh? What's the matter CPU? Are you scared?" She seemed to laugh for a moment as if something was funny, "But what would you be afraid of, little one? Death? Torture? Or maybe something else?" She asked, her eyes completely giving away her intentions.
She was going to kill her.
Rom shivered, her feet not moving anymore, "I-I-I'm no-o-t afr-r-aid!" She said, pulling her staff in front of her. She tried to fight back her inner voice. She couldn't run now. Blanc wouldn't run. She'd challenge this newcomer head on without fear. She would be a good CPU and protect everyone! However, this wasn't enough. Her hands trembled, unable to keep her weapon pointed properly at the enemy.
The person laughed once again, "Tell you what CPU. I'll give you a special reward if you just stand there like a good little girl." Wisps of orange energy seemed to wrap around the her arm. They started to connect together, spinning faster and faster. It formed into a drill of sorts.
The presence of the weapon seemed to get her body's true intentions to take over. Rom fell back on her butt as she suddenly moved backwards quickly in an effort to get away. She crawled backwards hurriedly. She couldn't fight this. She was scared. She was so scared. She was terrified. Rom could fell the tears coming to her eyes as she looked back.
Where was Neptune?
Where was Ram?
Where was Blanc?
Bang. Bang. Bang.
She could hear the shots again. Rom looked around widely, waiting for more humans to appear. Just like last time. She felt the same fear as she did those short years ago when those humans had appeared up. They brandished a flag of an unknown nation. And as soon as they stepped foot on the Goddess's ground, they fired wildly at them.
Rom shook her head, watching as the figure pulled some item from her belt. Everything in Rom's body told her to leave. She needed to get away. She didn't want to die. She needed to go. She needed to RUN. SHE NEEDED TO GO!
Almost instinctually, Rom scrambled to her feet and slammed her staff into the ground, "Ice Coffin!" She yelled as and ice spiked up from the ground. The red haired girl barely managed to roll away as the brunette unleashed a volley of attacks.
She yelled as she was slammed by Rom's attacks and sent sprawling onto the ground. Ice covered the area.
Without missing a beat, the small CPU ran for it, yelling for help into the woods.
She needed to get someone's help! Anyone's would do! Miss Noire should be close by if she wasn't out patrolling the western region by now and hopefully Miss Neptune was on her way back! Maybe Histoire was close by!
However, one thing was for certain in her mind, she had to warn everyone.
Uzume woke up in a haze. She was lying on the dark floor. Her entire body felt sore. As she slowly got up, she began to look around. She wasn't in Celestia anymore. This new space was complete black. She couldn't even see the floor underneath her. Everything was just perpetual darkness. The red haired girl was, for lack of a better term, utterly confused.
"Hello?" Uzume asked the eternal nothingness.
After a few moment, she sighed. It wasn't like she expected an answer from it. As she continued to explore her limited surroundings, she heard something being said in the darkness. It's her fault. It's her fault. It's her fault. It's her fault... It continued over and over again. After some time, Uzume put her hands over her ears to try and block out the mantra. But she couldn't. It just continued. It was practically hypnotic.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
Uzume saw something in the distance. A person? The figure grew closer.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
Uzume gasped, moving back. As the person came closer, she noticed her face. It was a very familiar one. It was hers.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
But something was much different. Her uniform was drowned out of its normal colors of red, white, and orange. Now it was merely black, dark blue, and grey. Her hair was a dark blue and her eyes a dark whirlpool of chaos.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
It's her fault.
Uzume stepped back as she came closer. The doppleganger grabbed the red haired girl by the throat. She could feel her grip tightening on her windpipe. She tried to fight back, but all of her attacks merely went through her, as if she wasn't really there.
The figure grinned darkly, "And I will make them pay. All of them that did this me. They knew...She knew what as going on and didn't stop it! I'll kill them. I'll kill them all! I'll send them into a work of delusion just like they tried to do me. And you little human are just my tool. Like you should be..."
Neptune yawned as she rubbed her eyes. 'What time is it?' She thought while she stretched and got up from her place on the ground. Neptune looked up to the sky and noted the sun's position, stared back at the ground for a moment while her mind was catching up, and froze. She was late for patrol with Rom. The poor girl had probably been waiting by her house for who knew how long? Well, at least she hadn't locked the...door...oops.
As she sprinted back to her home, she just hoped that the brunette hadn't gone to find Noire and Histy. Otherwise it would be lectures for the rest of the day and no Nep ever wanted to be lectured! It was among the top worse things that could ever happen to a person, among other activities such as eating eggplants (vile things).
Luckily, it had only taken her a few minutes to get there. Several years of perfect nap spot picking had given her the ability to chose locations far enough away to never be spotted but close enough to get back at a moment's notice! Though Noire would tell her this was a rather useless skill, Neptune chose to put in all her points into things that really mattered.
"Sorry Rom! Totally didn't mean to be late, let's go out for a lap around the forest!" Neptune said cheerfully, trying not to sound as if she was forcing herself to get pumped up for such an activity. Neptune had never found the comfort in patrolling that everyone else did. However, if it was what made them happy, she'd endure it.
She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the area in front of her.
The ground was still coated with ice. Neptune looked around, "What the heck happened here?" She asked to no one in particular. Rom wouldn't have just fired ice out of boredom. The tyke was accustomed more so to draw pictures of...Blanc and Ram on the off chance that Neptune was dozing off somewhere else instead of being on time. Something was wrong and Neptune did not like where this was going.
She looked around quickly. If Rom was in trouble where would she run off to? Nepgear was pretty far off and who knew where Noire was at this time of day. She had a bad habit of doing morning patrol in different spots. Histy would be the one closest to them. She'd probably be towards the north by now. The lavender haired girl ran for into the forest, hoping to find sign of someone.
It had taken her about twenty minutes before she found Histy. However, seeing her, she almost wished she never had.
Neptune stared at the fairy like girl's body, a gapping hole in her chest. The blood was somewhat dried but still a little wet, "N-n-no way..." She said, her body going numb. Histy couldn't be gone. She...she could defeat any human right? She wasn't dead, right? This was just a joke right? A poorly written gaff, probably by whatever crazy author who decided to try his hand at fanfiction right? She turned her head, looking around, "If this is some kind of joke, this isn't fun!"
She didn't hear an answer, which ironically enough provided all the response she needed for her question.
Neptune fell to her knees, "No...no...Histy..." She choked out as sobs began to rack her body.
Histoire couldn't be dead. Not another one.
"Neptune! I was wondering where everyone was. Is she...," Croire asked as she approached the sobbing CPU.
"Croire?" Neptune said tearfull, somehow able to get her name out without a cry to interrupt.
"Damn. I never thought she'd be the one to die. I didn't like her much, but still..." Croire shook her head as she floated back up, "Histoire must've been trying to get a human to leave. Though I guess she bit off more than she could chew this time."
Neptune's blood refroze. Human. Histy dead. Rom. Disjointed thoughts suddenly began to link together, "Rom. Where is Rom? I need to find her. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her! Where is she?!" She yelled, as she turned to Croire. She could barely keep herself from grabbing her and shaking her around to get answers, "Where?!" She asked frantically, practically screaming.
"I'm not sure. I thought I heard someone screaming from that direction, but I was looking for someone to help Histoire. I don't have any healing abilities, but she was still alive when I found her." Croire explained, though she backed up a bit. Probably to avoid being grabbed.
"Thanks," Neptune looked back at Histoire's body before turning to Croire, "Can you take care of her? We'll...we'll need to...you know..." Had Rom not been in danger, perhaps she would be more numb to the entire situation. However, she wasn't going to let Blanc down. Not again.
Croire nodded, "No problem. Though I would hurry before things get any worse."
Neptune turned back to Histoire as she gave Croire a weak thumbs up, "Bye Histy." The lavender haired CPU ran into the forest. She didn't have time to lose, "Rom! Rom, where are you?!"
Croire breathed a sigh of relief as the purple haired CPU ran off into the distance. She hadn't been expecting Neptune to find them. Still she had managed well enough to play the innocent.
The dark fairy smirked as she thought about the future.
Now things were getting pretty exciting.
"Help!" The CPU yelled once again. It was true that she needed backup, but didn't she realize that it was only making it easier to track her down? Maybe she really did want to die. She smirked as she raced after the CPU's voice. She wasn't too far by now. She was afraid that she would have lost control again to the human after that attack, but now she shouldn't have to worry about her again.
She raced through a trail, cutting all the corners she could. The girl's voice was much closer now. It wouldn't take much more for her to catch up now. She made a quick turn and ran through the trees. She could see her now.
The CPU made the mistake of turning around. Whether out of shock, fear, or clumsiness, she tripped. She fell face first onto the ground. She picked her head up, "Help! Someone! HELP!" She screamed noisly.
The red haired girl raced forward. As soon as she was in range, she slowed. The CPU tried to scramble away again, managing to quickly get back to her feet. However, the red haired girl grabbed the megaphone and directed it at the CPU, "So, we done playing coward yet?"
The brunette raised her staff, perhaps in an effort to block it, but she was prepared for it. Before it could hit the ground, Uzume launched herself into the air and slammed her feet into the small CPU's chest. She leapt up like she had jumped from a spring board brought the megaphone to her mouth, "ARRGGG!" She yelled, and her Dream Roar blasted the small CPU backwards. She grinned darkly as she saw the body crash into the trees.
"Owie..." The CPU said as she slowly got back up to her feet. The crunching of the red haired girl's shoes on the ground, destroying the leaves underneath, caused her head to snap into the real threat's direction.
She smiled as she saw the fear in the CPU's eyes return. Had this scenario happened before? Or was she really this intimidating? For her sake, she hoped that it was the latter.
The CPU once again tried to get away, "Ss-taa-ay...aaa-wwaa-y!" She said, trembling. Oh, that was funny. She actually was trying to sound brave that time. However, her emotions made her far less intimidating. She knew exactly what this little one was going through. The fear that spread through someone's soul when they knew that they looked death in the face. Only she was never granted that relief. In a way, her enemies should be grateful, she wasn't going to torture them.
She wasn't going to ignore them.
She would grant each the sweet death they deserved.
And she would laugh while they burned in hell.
"What's the matter little CPU? No one to call to? Or maybe everyone just realizes how pathetic you are and didn't even bother coming to your aid?" She snarled as she walked forward. Looking at her, she had a feeling the human's weapon wouldn't be able to do the job. She was wondering if it had been a fluke with the fairy earlier, but it was weak. Too weak., "But don't worry. I'll kill them too. Just like I will do to you."
She smirked, giving the small CPU a dark glare, "And if you're still lonely in their company, there will be plenty in hell to make friends with after I'm done!"
There was a pause. The CPU looked back into her eyes, tears in them. However, something else was there. Beyond the fear. Beyond the pain. Something else was coming out.
"No..." the CPU said. Her trembling had seem to calm, but only slightly. She took a quick breathe and but on the bravest face she probably could, "I said...I said I would be a good CPU... And I won't let you hurt anyone else. I...I promised!"
A bright light blinded her. As she got her vision back, the CPU's human form had been replaced. Instead of a small girl in a blue parka, now stood a blue haired girl in a white jumpsuit. She hovered back quickly and pointed her staff at the red haired girl, "I am CPU White Sister. And I won't let you beat me!"
Update: Wednesday - March 15 (hopefully...)
AN: ...
:)