Chapter 25: Crummy Craving Cards

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, blame Neptune, then fix it. If it's fixed, take credit and eat a bagel.

None of this has anything to do with the current chapter. Always be like Neptune.

Off topic.

"Aww rats! Those dogoos escaped right under our noses!" Neptune said in disappointment as she was trying to explore the nearby bushes. "And they aren't even hiding in bushes anymore! This is terrible!" she falsely cried out.

"Oh hold your horses Neptune, at least we showed them the superior fighters around these parts," Noire said as she put away her weapon. "Such a shame though, completion of the quest will probably have to wait."

"Do you think the dogoos are going to come back?" I asked as I scratched my head. The forest area was awkwardly silent when the dogoos retreated.

"Probably, I heard those dragon baddies are still out here. It would be logical for them to return for their monstrous pets," Uni explained as I saw her give me grin.

"Hey, what's that smile for?" I asked skeptically as she was giggling afterward.

"O-Oh, nothing nothing! Something funny came up in my head, is all," she explained before showing an even wider grin. "You always give off such girly screams," she remarked with a chuckle.

"What? No I don't," I asserted as I tried to put on a serious expression. "I never scream a-at anytime," I said as I lied through my teeth.

"Mikey!"

"AH!" A girly scream was let out for my mouth as I was surprised to see Nepgear was already behind me. "I-I mean, what is it Nepgear?"

"Are you ok?" she worriedly asked as she started inspecting my arms first for any glaring injuries.

"Yeah, I don't feel anything wr-EE!" Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on the elbow of my right arm. Looking at it, there was a long vertical cut along the forearm reaching to the elbow. "How in the world did that get there?"

"Oh my goodness, that wound can get infected at any moment!" Nepgear warned as she took my arm and examined it closely. "We gotta get you back and disinfect it asap!" she urgently said.

"Wait, disinfect it? How are you going to do that?"

We all ran back to the Leanbox's Basilicom. Vert wasn't there, so all of us made ourselves comfortable as we rested from our recent skirmish. I wish I could say the same for me because right now I'm being tormented by endless amounts of healing pain.

"It stings!" I flinched in pain as I felt a sharp burning sting on my cut as I felt something wet go over it.

"Don't worry Mikey, this is only temporary," Nepgear assured before I saw her get out more first aid kits. "You'll be fine in no time."

"T-Thanks Gear. I appreciate it," I said to her with a slight smile as I immediately flinched once again when I felt a moist sensation rubbing against my wound.

"Oh no problem. Caring for you is just one byproduct of being with someone like you," she teased before I felt some bandages being wrapped around my arm. In less than a minute or so, the process was done, letting my arm move normally without all that stingy annoying pain to bug me anymore.

When I finally got a good look around at the four of us, I've noticed that the five of us was just idly sitting around, not doing anything at the moment. Looking at the nearby rooms, I could make out computers, game boxes, and posters.

"Hey Neptune, is Vert a gamer?" I curiously asked.

"Well, if you consider an MMO as a game, then sure! She spends way too many times on those types of games. She probably won't let you on her computer after what I did," she said before putting on a ditzy smile.

"What did you do Neptune?" Uni asked.

"While I was over here for a visit, Vert had to leave for something. What she didn't realize was that she left her computer logged into her favorite MMORPG game. I, being the curious Nepper I was, decided to go on there and sell everything she had," she ended with a mischievous smile.

"What?! That's hella cruel!" I called out.

"Hey, that snake Vert got it coming when she deleted my one hundred percent save on PaperNep!" she refuted.

"Such a cutthroat environment in the gamer world," Noire remarked before seeing Neptune rummage through some miscellaneous boxes. "Neptune, what are you doing?"

"Well I'm bored, so I gotta find some game to play," she replied before pulling out a small black box. On the lid, a colorful logo was inscribed on top of it. It has words on it, which read: Nep-Nee-Yo!

"Nep-Nee-Yo? What you got there Neppy?" Nepgear pointed out.

"Oooh, it's that card game that's been trending recently! Does Vert have a card box?" Uni asked, eager to know. Neptune opened the box, revealing an enormous stack of cards with the backs face up.

"Oh my Nep, she has all these cards at her disposal!" Neptune observed as she was intrigued as she inspected the cards. "You know, all of these cards can probably make for an interesting game," she suggested.

"Probably? Let's make that a reality!" Uni said as she went over and took all the cards out of the box. "Man, there's enough to make like ten decks with these!"

"Really?" I went over to the box to look at the cards myself. Lo and behold, I saw something that was too similar to what I've seen before. Monster cards, spell cards, trap cards, all of these cards reminded me of a card game that I love to play at home. "Wow, these cards look amazing. And look at the effects of this one!" I eagerly said as I showed Neptune a card.

"Yoink! That card is going to be in my collection," she said as she snatched the card from my hand. It wasn't long before Noire and Nepgear joined in to see what all the fuss was about.

"You guys play with cards?" Noire asked in disbelief. "Aren't these games for children and such?"

"No! They're for ages eight and up and we happen to be eight and up!" Neptune denied as she got a little stack of cards.

"Come on sis, I remember you playing this a long time ago," Uni reminded her before showing her all the colorful card designs.

"Even if I do want to play, I'm not so sure if I can play these types of games though. I remember them having lots of rules," Noire said as Neptune happened to be going through every card that was taken out.

"Heh, so you're saying that I, Neptune the super amazing protagonist, can beat a self-proclaimed game master such as yourself?" Neptune asked as she taunted her with a gleaming smile.

"What? No. I didn't say that you assuming Nepper!" Noire replied defensively.

"I bet I can beat you with both my arms tied behind my back," the purple goddess claimed. Nobody believed her.

"There you go making those wild claims again. It's obvious though, isn't it? This game requires foresight and strategy. I happen to possess a hefty amount of both," Noire claimed as she took some cards.

"What are you saying? That I also have amazing foresight and strategy?"

"What? I didn't even say that! You know what Neptune? I challenge your pudding self to a duel!" the goddess challenged as she pointed straight at her. A duel huh? Such a cool sounding word for two playing card games against each other.

"W-What? A duel? Before we do that can I get a partner?"

"Nope, now it isduel orlose! Which one are you going to pickNepster?"

With my brief time being here, the CPUs have shown a lot about themselves. Goddesses or humans, I was wondering what their personality leaned more toward to. Were they humans who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, or were they godlike, where their goal is always to achieve the greater good.

If it's the latter, then I probably can't even fit in. The three of us were sitting in a different room, not wanting to interrupt the card game between Noire and Neptune.

"So Mikey, I heard you were from another world. Mind telling us a little bit about it?" Uni inquired as Nepgear was wanting to listen in on this too.

"A little bit about it? I guess I can tell you some differences I see between this world and my world," I started off. "How many continents does your world have?"

"Oh Gamindustri? We have four," answers Uni. "Are you saying your whole world is united by one continent?"

"More the opposite, we have seven continents that are sparsely spread out all over my world."

"Spread out? Hmm, are they ruled by some higher power like goddesses or something like that?"

"Well, our continents are divided up into little bits of land called countries, and I guess we have normal humans rule over those. All of us over there are just regular, powerless humans," I admitted.

"And your world is still functioning?"

"Yeah I suppose. We really are sort of resilient folk. Even if we don't have powers, I guess we can run a civilized world just fine."

"Interesting. I wanna see how that would work out," Uni mentioned.

"Wait wait! Do you guys have robots and advanced technology over there?" Nepgear quickly asked.

"I-I don't think we're as advanced as you guys, but we're making progress. Lots of progress. Back home, I guess we have the phone and such. We've come a long way to get where we are now," I explained.

"D-Do you guys still keep your old technology?"

"I guess we preserve them in museums. But I suppose we preserve lots of stuff in museums, like antique firearms."

"Antique firearms?" both of them asked in unison. "How old?" they asked in excitement.

"Back to the ages where you can fire only one bullet at a time."

"A musket! I've heard of those but I never saw one. My collection was most in need of a weapon like that," Uni commented.

"Such old technology, who knows about the wonders behind it that kickstarted the progress we have now?" Nepgear said with a star-struck look. "Your world sounds great. I hope we can visit it sometime," she said with a hopeful smile.

"But in the mean time~" An evil smirk took over Uni's face. "Let's talk about the situation between you guys."

"Between me and Mikey? I feel the situation is just great," she stated as I felt a blush coming on.

"What about you Mikey? How do you feel?" Uni asked me as she tried to contain her giggles.

"Well, I-I feel... that the situation between us is..." I paused to think of a random adjective. "Beautiful," I spat out.

Beautiful? Is that all you can come up with brain?! Or was it the author who put that word into my head?!

"Ha! Beautiful!" Uni laughed out.

"AHH! Somebody broke the fourth wall!" Neptune yelled out from the other room.

"Really Neptune you have to yell that out?" Noire said in an annoyed tone as she put down a card on the table.

"Whaaaat? I call it like I sense it," she nonchalantly said.

"And I call it like I see it, and I see that you've just lost the game," Noire said before giving off a smile in triumph.

"W-W-What?! Nepu! Impossible!" Neptune shouted out in utter awe. "Noire why you have to be so mean!"

"What, me being mean? I just defeated you that's all."

"You could've let me win," she complained before standing up. Her stomach was growling loudly. "Oh, I'm hungry! I need to get Mikey so he can cook me something!"

"Maybe you should try cooking something yourself," Noire suggested before realizing what a Neptune could do in a kitchen. "On second thought, you should go get Mikey."

"Okie dokie!" Neptune said before knocking on the door to the room where Mikey and the candidates were. Without a quick response, she immediately opened the door only to see something she thought she would never see.

"Oh my Nep, where did you get that pudding?" she pointed out as the three people were sitting next to each other, taking bites of pudding with their small spoons. She noticed Nepgear was leaning on Mikey.

"Found it," Mikey said as he took another spoonful.

"F-From where?" she asked.

"The box below our chair. It was open so the three of us helped ourselves," he explained. As Neptune quickly reached to grab a cup, she felt a piece of paper in the box. Grabbing it and pulling it out, she found a pudding coupon that makes all pudding purchases fifty percent cheaper.

"Looks like Neptune always wins in the end!" she said before putting her coupon in the air. "Looks like we're going out once again!"

Omake 11: He Moved

It was a nice and refreshing feeling. The feeling of serenity, the feeling of peace surrounding you where ever you go. You had no worries, no issues to be concerned about. All you need to know is what you're going to do today. In a paradise like this, only the present exists.

For Mikey, being alone was a new refreshing experience. A breath of fresh air. He was living in a quaint house near the outskirts of Leanbox, joyfully living a peaceful life.

Everyday he woke up, he cooked up his own hearty breakfast. In the afternoons, he would take long walks in the forests, admiring nature and befriending nearby monsters like dogoos. In the early evenings, he would go out to his porch and water his elegant plants. When the night begins to set in, he would just sit on his porch, admiring the horizon as the day goes down and the night comes up.

Before he goes to bed to end his day, he would always look at a mirror, only to find the same fulfilled smile he has seen for the past couple days he's been living here.

"I hope tomorrow brings me another swag-filled day," he happily remarked before heading off to bed.

"Historie! Where's Mikey? He's supposed to buy me that special edition pudding when I got back!" the purple goddess complained as she went up to the book fairy.

"What? Back from your gaming session? I recall that you're supposed to use your powers for good, not just for petty gaming," Historie advised with a disapproving look. "And besides, Mikey isn't even here right now."

"What?! What do you mean he's not here?" Neptune questioned as she started to worry.

"I mean, the boy got out couple days ago," Historie clarified.

"What?! Why on Nep would you let Mikey do that? You know he can't survive this world without giving me pudding," Neptune said as she glanced at the vacant couch.

"Well, he said he needed a break from all the crazy stuff happening recently. I don't think being with you is going to achieve that goal, so I sent him off to Leanbox to relax. Sort of like a vacation," Historie explained.

"Vacation? Everyone knows that you can't spell vacation without Neptune. I gotta go find and confront him!" Neptune announced as Historie started to have a worried look.

"Now Neptune, no need to be rash. He'll come back in a week," the book fairy assured.

"A week? I can't wait that Nepping long!"

As Neptune was continually complaining about the absence of her personal pudding fetched, Nepgear was just returning from an unbearably long quest. Being caught up with all the questing parts, she just stumbled upon the conversation between Neptune and Historie.

"H-Hey guys, what are you two talking about?" she asked both of them curiously.

"Nep Jr! Mikey ditched us!" Neptune announced out loud to her sister.

"Ditched us? Why would he ever do that?" Nepgear asked in disbelief.

"I have no clue, but I do know one thing. We gotta get him back here!" the goddess proclaimed. "You with me Gear?"

"Well, uhm, maybe we should check if he's here. Who knows, he might be dozing off or something," Nepgear suggested. Neptune shook her head.

"During this time of day, Mikey would be on that couch. But he isn't. Therefore he is not here," she deduced.

"That's what I've been telling you," Historie remarked before rolling her eyes. "He's going to come back in a week, so both of you shouldn't fret about this."

After that statement, the two sisters looked at each other, debating in their minds whether they should interrupt Mikey's vacation or just stay where they are. For Neptune, the choice was obvious.

"Let's go sis!"

Oh my, Neptune and Nepgear! What a pleasant surprise," Vert remarked as she saw the two strolling in Leanbox. She caught their attention, leading the sisters to follow her into a small cafe. They joined her in a table. "What brings you two here?" she asked.

"Oh, we're trying to find our Mikey," Nepgear started. "He seems to have left Planeptune."

"Yup! Historie says he's somewhere in Leanbox, so using my protagonist mind powers, I figured I would come to you for some info."

"Mikey huh? I recall somebody bringing him to the outskirts of Leanbox. I thought it was some questing matter, so I didn't look into it. It was weird though, I would expect Mikey to be accompanied by you two," Vert explained.

"That's right. Mind if you help us find his place?" Neptune asked.

"Sure, it would be nice for me to see Mikey again.

"Mmmm! As always my cooking prowess has not wavered one bit!" Mikey remarked as he finished up his lunch. As he prepared to water his plants, he noticed a couple of figures in the far distance.

"Huh, that hasn't been there before," he commented as he squinted his eyes to get a better look. As the figures got closer and closer, Mikey started to notice familiar features of people he knew. It wasn't long before he knew what was up.

"Neptune and Nepgear. When did those two get here?" he asked himself as he noticed Vert on the left of the sisters. When he blinked, the three girls were gone from his sight.

"Huh? Where did they go?" He looked around, only to find just plain green grass with no one on it. "Must've been just my imagination I suppose." He shrugged off before preparing to water his plants. Going to the front porch and watering his flowers, the boy glanced at a nearby cherry tree.

"Caught you green handed!" yelled out Neptune. The boy immediately looked to see who was on his front porch.

"Yeah, that's right! We're here to take you back!" she announced.

"And become a pudding assistant? No way!" Mikey denied as he gave off a cocky smile.

"Hmmmm! Well, then... what about my sister?" Neptune pointed out.

"What about Gear?" he asked.

"Did you leave because you didn't want to be with us?" Nepgear said before giving off a fake sob.

"What! No no no, it has nothing to do with you guys!" Mikey reassured.

"You're saying you want nothing to do with us? I never knew I fell in love with such a cruel man," the candidate solemnly said as she feigned tears.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" he asked, bewildered by how his words got twisted.

"It means," she said before transforming into Purple Heart, "you'll have to deal with me!"

Mikey immediately paused what he was doing.

"Uh oh."

I can now say that justice and order have been restored," Purple Heart remarked with a satisfied smile.

"But you accidentally knocked Mikey out..." IF pointed out as Mikey was laying in the bed, unconscious. "Don't think there's any justice there."

"Maybe having Mikey back restores all the order," Nepgear added as she put her hand on Mikey's forehead.

"And this is the part where I say I told you so," Historie remarked.

Author's Notes: Just a little bit of a relaxation chapter to ease the everything. I wanted to congratulate everyone on our milestone of reach 20k views. So many readers have been reading this, and I just want to express my gratitude to you all!

Have a beautiful time reading!

update: omake added

suggest some omake ideas don't you what