AN: :)
"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, to the fifth annual Lastation Technology Event! Today we have some very interesting contestants, however that is for the main event. Until then, please enjoy our stalls and free food!" a voice rang out from the speakers around the convention center. It was absolutely packed.
"FREE FOOD?!" Neptune yelled into my ear. It's a wonder how I'm not deaf yet.
"Well, this is where we part for now." Chian said, jogging in front of us. "I've got to go set up. Well, I'll see you guys later. Remember, the competition starts at four. Ok?"
"Yea, yea. Anyway, Arc, get me food!" Neptune grabbed onto my arm and began to shake it.
"You have legs, use em."
"But MOM!"
"You little!" I pinched both of Neptune's cheeks and pulled on them. "Jeez. So guys, what you wanna do?" I completely ignored Neptune's sporadic hand movements to make me let go of her.
"Ayayayaya!"
"I'm down for some ice cream." Iffy offered.
"Hmmm. I haven't had ice cream in a while. Sure, of course Neptune gets nothing."
"Na Far!" Neptune's slurred. I let got of her cheeks and she back away from me, rubbing her face. "How mean."
"Next time, please don't yell directly into my ear." Neptune punched me in the gut. "GUH!"
"Neptune. How childish can you be?" Nowa said.
"He started it."
"I have an idea. Why don't we all split up like last time. We'll get much more done this way." Before anyone could say a thing, Vert yanked Iffy away with her.
"MY ONLY CHANCE! LADY VERT!"
"Annnnnnnnnd she's gone. Wow. That sure was something." I rubbed my stomach. "So, who's with m-" before I could finish my last syllable, Nowa had moved over to my side and tugged on my sleeve. "Nowa it is."
"MAGES. I wanna ask you some questions about healing magic...can we go talk?"
"Of course, Compa. I, the great and powerful MAGES. shall teach you the greatness that is magic. After I get some nice tacos inside of my magical belly." MAGES. and Compa went off.
"...Can we switch, Arc?"
"No Blanc. I don't want die yet."
"I'm sure she won't hurt you that hard."
"Yea! I'll only break your legs! Yay!" Neptune's carefree smile made me think that she might.
"Nowa, let's go please."
"S-Sure." Nowa led the way, all the way to the edge of the convention floor. We were near some cosplayers. They were wearing some weirdly sexy robot cosplay. "..."
"You seem to be interested in this."
"I-I'm not!" Nowa's face was completely red. To think that the CPU of Lastation is interested in cosplay. Huh, that's kinda cute...
"I think you'd be cute in a cosplay." Nowa got redder, a way that I didn't really think that she could do.
"W-What are you saying you idiot?!" She turned around and crossed her arms. "To think that you'd say that to the most powerful person in all of this nation..."
"Doesn't change the fact that I'd think you'd be cute in that. But whatever, I was just tryin to make conversation." Nowa made a strange kind of grunt and moved back over to my side.
"You're an idiot, Darling..."
"Yeah, I get that a lot. So, ya hungry?" Nowa nodded and we headed out. Near the cosplay corner was a food stand. "Hmmmm. I could go for a burger. No tomatoes though."
"You're such a child. You should just shut up and eat your vegetables."
"No! Tomatoes are utter shit! They're sweet yet savory and are so juicy. Ugh. Just eating a slice makes me want to shoot myself in the leg."
"They're good for you."
"I don't care. I'd rather die young than live eating that crap." Another devil veggie appeared in my mind. "And fuck peppers. Ugh."
"How childish can you be?!"
"They're icky."
"*Sigh* And you're the man I call Darling..." Nowa went to the food stall and put in an order. Almost immediately she got what she ordered and pushed a burger to me. "Eat it. And don't you dare take out the tomato."
"Nowa please..." She glared at me. I knew I couldn't disobey her now. "Dammit..." I take a bite and the tomato juice fills my mouth. I cringed and convoluted in disgust. I force myself to swallow the bite. "Disgusting. Fuck this man. I'm sorry Nowa but I can't do this." I open the burger and drop the tomato into the garbage bin.
"*Sigh* Fine. I just wanted you to try it."
"Sorry..."
"It's fine. I'll make you love the taste one day." She giggled and took a bite of her own burger "...onions..."
"And you call me childish."
"S-Shut up!"
Nowa and I continued walking around the convention with no real intention. There was a ton of cool things that I would have loved to buy...If I had any cash."How much longer until we meet up with everyone?"
"About two hours. Why, are you bored?"
"A bit... Conventions are no fun when you don't have any cash."
"If you had your life out more, you wouldn't have this problem, D-Darling."
"Well, sorry, but I didn't expect to be sent on a an adventure spanning all four countries of the world and end up taking care of you goddesses."
"I can take care of myself very well, thank you very much." Nowa's genuine response to what was obviously a joke was pretty refreshing.
"You're pretty fun to talk to Nowa. At least you don't scream my ear off." Again she went red. Jeez, does this girl have allergies or what? "*Sigh* But there are so many things I wanna buyyyyyyy. God dammit."
"What are you saving money up for anyway?" Her question made me start to sweat.
"O-Oh? That? I-It's n-nothing. Don't worry about it." She was obviously very suspicious of me.
"Whatever. I don't want to pry. You can tell me if you want to or not." She hung her head low. "It's only natural that you wouldn't trust me yet..."
"Huh? I trust you completely." Her head shot up. "I mean sure, you sorta tried to kill me. But who hasn't?"
"I don't think that's a good thing..."
"My point is, that I don't hold a grudge against you or anything. Plus, you saved me against the Killachine that one time. I owe ya."
"..."
"I can't exactly stay mad at you. You're my friend after all."
"F-Friend?!"
"Huh? Yeah. A friend I can trust completely. I'm just a bit embarrassed about what it is I'm saving up for...I'll tell ya later. As long as you don't tell anyone else. K?"
"A secret that's only between you and me..."
"I guess you can call it that. Yeah." Nowa covered her face with her hands.
"O-Ok. I-I've gotta go to the bathroom real quick. Wait for me here." She ran off, hands still on her face.
"Be careful." As I said this, she bumped into a random person looking at a booth. "*Sigh* Why does everyone have to act so weird?"
"You're quite stupid, aren't you?" An aristocratic voice resounded from behind me.
"Aw come on. Why'd I have to meet you so early into this, Ganache." When I turned around, the young business man was wearing a carefree smile. "Oh great, he's happy."
"Of course I am. I finally have a chance to get rid of your annoying group. You've been causing quite a lot of trouble for us for a while."
"Huh? But we... you're responsible for what happened in Leanbox and Lowee aren't ya?" He nodded. "I'm guessing you guys are also the ones making the monster discs."
"You aren't as stupid as you seem." He chuckled maniacally.
"So I'm guessing the 'Partner' you mentioned the other day was Arfoire."
"Ah, you met the old hag? Yes. Her magic is quite useful." He took a step towards me.
"All of this just to get Nowa and the others out of power. You guys are really pieces of shit."
"It's simple politics. Should we assist the old hag, we get to ignore any and all environmental laws stopping us. Not to mention the use of Lastation." he looked at me up and down. "You truly are a useless human being, inside and out."
"You're fucking point?"
"I'll give you a deal. Should you follow my instructions and trap the goddesses, and that fake Lady White Heart, I will pay you off."
"Ah, let me think. How about you shove that deal all the way up your ass. Ah shit. I forgot, you've got your head stuck in there." He picked me up by the collar.
"Listen brat. I don't give a shit what I have to do. I will kill those damn goddesses. But not before I enjoy making your life a living hell. You do not want to make an enemy out of me."
"I couldn't give a flying fuck. After all, I may be useless, but those girls can and will smash you and your company to little tiny pieces. So how about you put me down and go run to little Arfoire. Dumb cunt." Ganache shoved me to the ground.
"I'll enjoy killing you later." He stomped away. Damn, how strong was that guy to be able to lift me up? I may have dug myself a hole that I can't get out of...
"What are you doing down there?" Nowa said from behind me. "You ok?"
"Ah, just kind tripped." I stood up and dusted my clothing off.
"You didn't break an arm or something did you?"
"How weak do you think I am?!" Nowa walked over to my side and patted my back.
"I'm just joking. But be more careful, ok? I don't want you getting hurt." Damn these girls. Always saying weird shit...
After two hours of wandering around the convention aimlessly, Nowa and I sat at the back of a giant auditorium, the meeting spot that we had all agreed on. It was where the competition was to be held, and yet we were the only ones from our group that was in the room. "Where are those girls?"
"Called for me?" Vert sang as she appeared behind me, Iffy arms length away from her.
"Holy shit! Don't scare me Vert."
"Sorry, Cutie. I just couldn't help myself." She giggled to herself and sat next to me. Putting me in the middle of her and Nowa. "So, how'd you like the convention?"
"It was boring." Nowa and I said.
"I must agree." Vert relaxed into her chair. "There was not as much BL things I could find as usual. Although I did get quite the haul." She pointed to the giant bag that Iffy held.
"I thought you didn't have any money...you didn't take Iffy's cash did you?!"
"Huh? Lady Vert had a lot. What are you talking about, Arc?" Iffy relaxed as well, putting the bag in front of her seat.
"You tried to trick me!"
"W-Well, that's not important Cutie. It's in the past."
"You cheap fuckin- Ugh." I looked outside the open door of the auditorium and could spot the rest of the group. Each with their own bags full of stuff. "Did all of you have money?!"
"..." Vert and Iffy stayed quite.
"I loathe you all."
"Sorry." Vert's head hung low.
"Heya playas. What's up?" As soon as Neptune saw Vert's depressed figure and my angry face, she began to take a couple steps back. "I-I've gotta.."
"Neptune!"
"NEPU!"
After an hour wait, the show had finally begun. "C-Can I at least get one?"
"No Neptune." Neptune audibly cried. After all, I had confiscated her bag of candy and pudding. "I can't believe you aren't fat with the amount of junk food you eat."
"Sexy lolis always stay sexy."
"Ugh." Her logic made absolutely no sense, so much so that it was stupid to even try to correct her. "Just shut up and watch the show." At first it was just some people showing their, honestly crappy home made technological inventions. No wonder Avneir had no competition. The only people here are just amateurs. Until the main event came up. An old man followed by Ganache went up the the stage.
"Good Afternoon residents of Lastation." The old man spoke into the mic, reviving a way of applause. More than any of the other contestants had gotten.
"Who's the old guy?" I asked, earning a slap on the back of my head by Nowa.
"It's the owner and CEO of Avneir. He's the reason my nation is so..." Nowa trailed off and tightened her grip on her skirt.
"Don't worry Nowa. Everything will be fine." I pat her head.
"..." she only nodded.
"I'd like to introduce you to our brand new robotic AI!" The curtains behind him and Ganache fell, revealing a giant silver robot. It was very human shaped, and even had some weapons attached to it's back. "This robot here specializes in fighting, meaning it would be perfect for protecting our precious nation from any and all unwanted monsters." So that's they're angle. Create weapons under the gauze of protecting Lastation when it's to help Arfoire. Honestly, it's pretty impressive for an evil company.
The old man handed the mic to Ganache. "There are a few people that I'd like to thank for assisting us in the creation of this Robot. My good friends, they were so nice as to assist me on gathering data for the perfect way to get rid of unwanted pests. If only our Lady Black Heart would help this Nation as much as we had."
"This rotten bastard."
"Nowa, he's just trying to provoke you." I whispered to her.
"I know but...I'm trying my best." She crossed her arms. "I'm doing my best." She whispered back.
"And it's going well. You know it's all their fault and we'll get them for it."
"..." She glanced over at me and gave me a sad smile.
"Now then!" Ganache yelled with conviction. He had a giant grin on his face, one that felt dangerous. "There are a couple great people here today that I'd like to personally give a great gift to." The robot began to make noises, signalling it's start up. "I truly love them." The robot's arm went and grabbed a sword on it's back. "So much so I CAN'T STAND IT!" The robot jumped up and landed on the convention floor. Literally a few inches from a couple people. This set people off.
"Dammit! He's gonna attack us here?!" Nowa ran first into the crowd. Every normal person in the room began to run out.
"Aw come on! I can't get through." I tried running into the battle but the crowd kept pushing me back. I looked back to my crew... but they weren't there. "Huh? HUH?" Everyone had already meet up with Nowa in the battle with the robot. "How?!" Am I really that slow? After forcing my way through, I ended up a couple meters away from everyone. "Jeez. That was really unnes-" As I walked to where the others were a giant axe lodged itself in my way. "You've gotta be kidding me." I looked up and sure enough, it was a killachine blocking my way. "Well then... Can I go through?"
"ROAR!" The machine's voice screeched and began swinging the axe around, attempting to hit me. Every time i dodged it was by a hair's margin.
"Agh! That dude really wants to kill me?!" This must be Ganache's doing!
"Arc! I'm-" Nowa yelled, trying to get to me when the machine she was busy with suddenly focused on her. "Dammit. Let me through!"
"I-I'll be fine guys!" I can do this on my own. I have to. The machine stopped swing at me and decided to instead strike me with it's tail, which was a successful hit. "God dammit!" I'm weak to getting hit! The attack threw me into the wall behind me. After getting struck by it, I was fell on the ground face first. "*Cough* Shit. Well that's unfortunate." I closed my eyes for a second.
00
"Jeez. That sure was quick, wasn't it?" The Goldman ridiculed with what I'm sure would be a stupid grin on his face.
"Oh shut up. Just let me go back now."
"No can do kiddo." For the first time since I met him, he stood up from his chair. "Ya see, this is the perfect chance to do this."
"But I've got to-"
"The world has stopped moving. Don't worry about it man."
"What?!"
"Time has stopped outside."
"How?!"
"Magic shit dude. Holy fuck! Can I talk?" I reluctantly nod. "Sheesh. Ok then. Time for the big reveal." The golden fog around Goldman began to fade away. As it did I was able to see all of him. He looked to be a man in his mid twenties. He had short golden hair and golden eyes. He wore a white T-shirt with about three golden necklaces around his neck. He wore some strange looking blue pants that sorta resembled jeans but not really. His appearance yelled aristocrat. But he did look like a nice guy.
"Oh. So you're some high ranking official from back in the day or something."
"Haha. Nah. I wish." He put a hand through his hair and smiled. "My name is Nes. I'm the man who saved Gamindustri and the former King of the world."
"...I'm so surprised."
"Aw come on."