Chapter 43 - Underling returns!
"You know something…?" A weak chuckle escaped from IF's lips, exasperated and annoyance mixed in as undertones. She didn't feel this way because the two Lowee CPU Candidates were here, if anything she'd felt immense gratitude. After all, they had already proven themselves when they rescued the Party from all those Ghouls the last time they were here. However, that was just it, even though they had been saved, IF had come back here thinking that she could dish out some form of payback on these assholes, not be saved a second time. She felt like one of those dainty damsel in distress type of girls, and THAT didn't sit well with her. "This the second time that those two have had to save our asses… honestly, I feel rather complex about that. First it was Vent back in the first few chapters, now it's a pair of kids…"
Compa, whom Nepgear had managed to rouse awake with what little skill she had at healing, glanced over towards her friend, her mouth set in a firm line whilst her eyes swam with concern and understanding. She could guess where her friend had been coming from, after all IF had stated numerous times that she didn't want to feel useless and weak like when the CPUs got captured, or as powerless as she had felt when they had tried to save them but only ended up rescuing Nepgear. She remembered how the following night, IF herself had almost thrown a frustrated fit about 'all their hard work going to waste' whilst also being close to tears with the horrible sense of defeat looming over her shoulders, though Compa had managed to calm her down enough for them to let fatigue take control and make them go to bed. Even so, she didn't say anything, but merely nodded her head in IF's direction because of this understanding between them.
After all, the only one whom could understand the frustration she had, aside from Histoire, would be herself. Then, the Nurse's gaze went across the battlefield to their enemy, and a slight positive perking came onto her eyes. At least in this situation they had managed to do something good, she couldn't help but think, they'd managed to hold off long enough for help to arrive so IF could think of this as a way to measure up against these Ghouls. Not to mention the fact that they had managed to successfully entrap one of the enemies they had been fighting as hard as they could, yet didn't even get much of a lead on beating. Nameless Ghouls, they could beat, no problem with their current levels, but Ghouls of Seidou's Calibre seemed to be out of their reach for the time being.
That didn't mean that couldn't change.
Speaking of said One Eyed Ghoul, Seidou growled and roared like a demented patient in an insane asylum, constantly rambling on about things that none of the girls could understand whilst ramming his head against the Panels. Each time his head collided with them, a loud BOOM sound resonated throughout the area, ripping through the silent air like the animal that had made the sounds in the first place. Countless mad profanities and insults were thrown the girls way, many of them making the girls flinch or downright cringe. Not to mention that he flailed his arms and legs madly in a frenzied mass of punches and kicks to try and escape the barrier, but to no avail thanks to Ram and Rom reinforcing the barrier with magic. Still didn't stop him from trying though, especially with that massive blade he had for an arm.
"Woooooooowwwwwwww… someone needs to give that meanie some soap to wash his mouth out…" IF couldn't help but remark dryly whilst holding one of her aching arms. This guy seemed to have an even fouler mouth than Blanc did, according to what they had seen of her before her capture alongside the other CPUs. Heh, even COMPA agreed with the rest of them, and if that happened then one KNEW that the person had a twisted mind. "He has an even worse temper than Blanc does when she gets all puffy faced, usually when Nep does something stupid or tries to tease her."
At this point, Compa weakly chuckled whilst Nepgear sweat dropped laughing nervously. "In all honesty, at this point it'd take a lot more than this to surprise me… the comparison to Blanc though fits so well that I don't know what to say to that." The cream haired girl commented, getting an amused, if a little exasperated, chuckle from her brunette best friend.
Nepgear though, she just shuddered when she saw his rantings get louder and his hits become more frenzied. If the guy could hear their comments about him right now she didn't know for sure, but if he did then she did NOT want to have to fight him right now. Especially since SHE had been on the front lines when dealing with this insane Ghoul. "Please guys, don't say things that'll make him even madder…" she meekly requested while shuddering in dreaded foreboding.
"Don't be scared, my wifey Goddess!" RED proclaimed, suddenly appearing right behind the said Candidate with so many wounds on her, that it was a miracle that she hadn't passed out yet. Blood patches littered over her skin whilst she had various bits and pieces of debris lodged into her body. Not to mention so many blood trails coming out from atop her head that her skin should have looked paler than it was… as well as the fact that she should have conked out. Thus, it combined with her sudden surprise entry into the conversation, caused Nepgear to squeak in fright as she jumped away from the feminine redhead. "You're loyal RED will protect your purity with her lifey, so relax!" she proclaimed with a thumbs up whilst sticking out her tongue and winking at the lilac haired leader.
Broccoli, whom had managed to stay out of the conflict so far, then bounced over to them whilst her catty ride held the Mascot Disk in it's tail. If it had a body though, then the Mascot would have definitely gone green from all the shaking that Gemma unintentionally did to it. "RED has the 'break tension' perk, Nyu." She announced with her usual sassy yet child-like tone of voice. Much to RED's surprise as she stumbled backwards and fell onto her backside in a Compa-like manner.
All of a sudden, their usual (if not daily to the point that it could be seen as routine) ramblings received an uninvited guest, as a familiar annoyed pink haired transformed CPU Candidate quickly saw to it that they were reminded of their mission. "Hey, quit dawdling, you guys!" Yelled Ram, holding her Staff out which constantly glowed in a pink light. That alone, showed that she had still been funnelling Magic into the Barrier to keep the rampaging Seidou at bay. "We'll make sure this guy doesn't bother you, so get those dainty legs of yours moving!"
Thankfully before RED could lose it with the annoyance she felt towards the small Ram, another certain CPU Candidate intervened. "We can take it from here…" the shy yet serious HDD form of Rom commented, having casted several Healing spells to rejuvenate the rest of the Party, bringing them back to full health and with restored stamina. Although, with that combined with how she had been aiding her twin sister in keeping the Barrier up her voice had a mild indent of someone who was suffering under heavy strain. If it were just her, Rom doubted that she would be able to talk whilst maintaining the barrier, partly to do with her magic reserves and the prey she was trapping being leagues above her abilities. "You all go on ahead."
In response to the rudeness that quickly stretched through her patience, IF made to make one of her snarky comments towards the obnoxious pinkette, but then Nepgear's quickly made pleading expression gave her pause. For a moment, the brunette studied that look and quickly figured out what she wanted, but it didn't make what she wanted any easier for her. Even so, IF gave a reluctant sigh as she held her tongue, as no matter how much she argued against it, the fact of the matter was that the twins had arrived just seconds before they could suffer a bad end, restored their strength to it's optimal condition, and trapped their enemy so they could move on. Not to mention how they still had the matter of retaking the seal for the Mascot. With a low groan, IF turned away from the CPU Candidates and addressed the rest of the party. "Alright, let's get a move on, ladies. This seal won't retake itself. Let's move!"
"Right!"
"Um, do your best, you two!"
"Ugh, come on, Gear, stop dillydallying!"
With that, after Nepgear hurriedly wished them luck before being grabbed by the wrist and dragged away by IF, the Party of girls each ran off deeper into the Dungeon with the Mascot in tow, leaving the two twin Candidates behind.
"So… judging from those mad ravings, it looks like those broads got passed Seidou Sensei, and are now heading down here…"
In front of the seal, a certain Ghoul lay in wait for the Party to arrive. The Ghoul sat on the ground in the fatal position, arms wrapped around her knees so that they were tucked into her chest. Her head hung low, so thanks to her hair and hoodie, her expression remained unseen. The glowing light from the weakening seal behind her, once a bright vibrant radiance, now looked much duller, with much of its radiance lost thanks to the power source being taken away from it for so long. However, that was none of the Ghoul's concern.
No longer would she be like how she was before. No longer would she be a weakling who can't do anything right. Her human life had been one filed with sucking up towards others, just for either a place to stay, food to eat, and some form of companionship. Looking back on it, she could admit to herself that this lifestyle had been one of the most pathetic existences one could ever walk on. No wonder everybody always made fun of her, they must have all thought her mere presence was all the worst descriptions possible. She remembered the looks of distain, scorn and jeering she got from her peers, how sometimes they would beat on her just for mild things like brushing past them. She remembered how they treated her like her life didn't matter, like she was nothing more than an ant to be stomped under their boots.
Back then, she couldn't help it, she had no choice but to silently endure the constant abuse, and when she joined ASIC she had felt like the faith she had in the CFW's would help make life better. Her faith didn't take long to blind her, and it did. She recalled her time before now, and couldn't find much different in comparison to before she joined ASIC. She still got treated like shit, she still found herself nothing but a small mere rat, unable to do anything herself. Hell, many people in ASIC found out about her little 'nickname' those broads and their sweet little boy toy had taken to call her, and now they would say that nickname behind her back. When she had been human, she likely wouldn't have been able to hear it, but now however…
Even so, all that would be put behind her.
No more, she would quite her life of being human. If being human made it so that everyone would always treat her like shit and walk all over her, then she would give up all her humanity, and embrace the monster inside of her. Her teacher told her that it doesn't matter if you are second, that only being the best at what you can be truly matters in this world. He'd told her this whilst pounding her face in with more than a dozen Kagune tentacles, pounded into her being with no regards to mercy. Her teacher had literally hammered it into her what she need to do from now on, she needed to get stronger, she needed to train…
She…
She must become…
The very…
Very….
Very, very, very,
STRONGEST!
But for now, she would wait. She would wait for those miserable brats until they would arrive, and then she would take more pleasure than she probably should in killing them. Oh, how she would RELISH in their blood on her hands, their flesh sliding down her throat and quenching her thirst for vengeance and… other fluids. She'd like it even more if she could eat the one they called Vent too, but if he didn't show then it wouldn't be a big deal.
Not to mention that at least her present 'company' showed himself to be more 'civil' than the rest of them… once she beat some sense into him when he had tried to claim her as one of his 'lovers'. He went pretty crazy after that, even unleashed his Kagune and then made to go further, however she had finished him off before he could.
The others said he had been one of the weaker of their kind, but nonetheless, it felt GRAND to be able to fight against them at all at this point.
'Alright, ya broads…!' Underling sneered, her lone Kakugan eye activating whilst she gazed hungrily towards the entrance to the room where the Seal would be located. She licked her lips as the thought of sinking her teeth into the necks of those annoyances. 'Come out of the frying pan, and into the fire…! I'll be waiting…'
Fight…
Fight…
Ghoul…
Fight… fight… fight…
Ghoul, strong, Ghoul almost invincible…
Must fight… must fight on…
Must keep going… must keep fighting…
No…
Not just fight…
Ghoul don't matter…
Not just fight…
…Kill.
Yeeeeeessss…
Kill…
KILL…
KILL!
KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL-
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"Runnin' in the 90's is a new way I like to be! I'm just runnin' in the 90's! Come on, baby, run to me! We are runnin' in the 90's, it's a new way to set me free-"
"Oh, stop that, RED!" IF yelled behind her as the group ran their way through the Dungeon, making their way through to it's depths. Aside from the occasional encounter with Ghouls, none of them ran into any monsters, normal or otherwise. Of course, in any other situation they would have found this odd, but in this case they could easily find out the culprit. Even so, their resident RED at the rear lines just HAD to start with some terrible singing. Something which got on IF's nerves big time, hence the reason why she yelled back. Not to mention… "You'll get us copyright strikes if you blabber!"
"But this is fanfiction, it shouldn't matter!"
"Quit it!"
"You guys, please stop fighting!" Nepgear begged, the said CPU Candidate running up in front of the group . Their composition was as followed: Nepgear up in front, IF and Compa behind her, Broccoli in the middle (how that short girl could keep up with them would be anyone's guess) with Gemma bouncing along beside her whilst carrying the Mascot with it's Tail, and RED chugging along behind them whilst brandishing her Gunhammer.
RED had REALLY taken to that Gunhammer of hers, as more than a few times when they encountered Ghouls, did she manage to send them packing with a combination of golf-club swings from her Gunhammer. The image of RED with a golfer's outfit whacking away Ghouls like they were the small balls in said activity could never leave Nepgear's mind, and part of her didn't want it to since it looked so amusing. Heck, even IF had a small smirk when it happened, whilst Compa and Broccoli suppressed their amused giggles.
Though, this largely had to be because it allowed them, especially RED, to vent her frustration with their own lacking of being able to fight against Seidou back there. That Ghoul had been the strongest, aside from Tatara, that they had ever faced, there was a whole world of difference between him and normal Ghouls. The difference had been so large that it wasn't even able to be joked about, something that ingrained itself deep into the minds of everyone in the Party.
Another reason why RED joked about too.
Even so, Compa didn't look like she was thinking about their recent fleeing from the captured Seidou, although the subject she DID think about did have some correlation towards it. "I hope those two will be alright…" she mumbled under her breath, though the rest of them easily heard her. It didn't take a genius to realize whom she was talking about either, the twin CPU Candidates of Lowee whom had arrived to lend them a hand in getting to their target destination.
The moment she said those words, what Vent had told them about Ghouls came to mind. Or rather, to be more specific the ones that he told the twins back when they were at the Basilicom. Broccoli furrowed her brows when she noticed a rise in tension from the other girls, something the Mascot also noticed. "Um, Broccoli is confused, Nyu. Why does everyone seem so much tenser now, Nyu?"
"Oh, its nothing…" Nepgear shakily replied, faking a smile when she looked back to the smaller girl. "Just something that happened a while back." She assured, though it didn't look like Broccoli believed her.
"Sounds like something serious, Nyu."
"That meanie Vent nearly scarred those twin CPU wifeys to death!" RED suddenly exclaimed, pouting with puffed cheeks and an angry look in her eyes. It looked like even though they had that talk with Vent, RED still held some animosity for the male's actions. Even the training that followed didn't seem to quell her emotions regarding that little… incident.
Looking over to her, Compa made to try the redhead down. Now wasn't the time for something like this, especially since they were in the middle of foreign territory like the Dungeon. "Now-now, RED. Ven-Ven did tell us his side of things, so can you really blame him?" she asked gently and in a pacifistic manner. "I know what Ven-Ven said may have been a big meanie streak, but he wasn't exactly wrong either."
Whilst RED looked at Compa with a face one only made when they were kicked whilst they were still recovering from a previous attack, IF gave a low groan as she too said her piece. "Look, we can all agree to disagree on this, even if we don't like what Vent said, it still doesn't change the fact that if he hadn't said it, those kids would have rushed ahead and then got themselves killed. They're kids after all, they're headstrong and think they know better when that's CLEARLY not the case."
"I must apologize as well, then." The Mascot said suddenly, causing the girls to temporarily stop their running and look to it. Heck, Gemma even lifted it upwards with it's tail so they could get a better view. "It looks like what myself and the young man known as Vent spoke back then has greatly damaged the bonds between you all. Whilst I do not regret what I said back then, I do apologize for the effect it has caused. It seems that the boy apologised before, as well."
At that, each party member looked at each other (aside from Broccoli and the Mascot) and began to nervously chuckle. "Well… it was less of an apology and more of him stating his reasoning…" Compa stated, lightly sweat dropping whilst scratching the side of her jaw.
"V-Vent isn't exactly the type to apologize when it came to things like keeping people aware of the dangers." Nepgear weakly added, putting her fingers together. She had honestly expected this talk to happen in the future back when Vent told them his reasoning, the talk back then had felt incomplete as they had to get started on training for this mission. The young Candidate had recalled what he had said a number of times, and found nothing that indicated that he had been sorry about what he had said. It meant that, unlike normal people, Vent didn't just say all of that without thinking, instead had intentionally said it regardless of how they would think about it. A lot of people who saw horrible things in the world did that, because their experiences had hardened them to the point of lacking empathy or restraint. That only brought up the question, did Vent still have any restraint left? "He's not the type to apologize for his actions, either."
Broccoli then hummed in agreement, crossing her small arms in front of her tiny body. "Broccoli agrees, Vent's a realistic and pragmatic person, Nyu." She spoke whilst nodding her disproportionately large head.
It was then, that the Mascot started to release sounds akin to a chuckle, various energy fluctuations indicating that had been the case, drawing confused looks from the other girls. "It appears that you all have a deep connection to each other, if you are able to tell that about a person." It remarked, before it's tone turned serious for what it said next. "Nonetheless, RED you need to understand that not everyone see's things the same way as you do, or as any of you girls do. Some of you view things in a way that Vent wouldn't agree with, just like the way you viewed his methods."
"Mou! I know that already, Venny told us that!" RED exclaimed as she threw her hands up above her head in frustration. Although, this only lasted about a few seconds, since she really couldn't help but lose the frustration bubbling inside of her like water on the boil. Her cheeks puffed out as she let her arms drop down to the ground, an audible pair of SMACK sounds emitting from her when her hands lightly slapped her knees from the movement. At that point, she gave a tired sigh, quite possibly the first one which had left her mouth since she began this adventuring with them. "Anyways, wouldn't it be better if he at least had a bit more tact? I mean I get that he's as blunt as a hammer, but he could be at least a little softer about what he says. Any softer all would be nice, and make him way more popular with the ladies."
At this, the other girls hummed to themselves as they thought of Vent without as much of his usual blunt, sharp remarks that had the 'no-nonsense' vibe to them. Pretty soon however, IF shook her head in denial, hands pocketed inside her trench coat. "Nah, I honestly can't imagine him any other way. If a certain someone I know were still here, then she'd say something like Vent's main selling point being his lack of holding anything back. He's blunt, but he gets results faster than a lot of us can." She remarked, and if she were honest, IF found this behaviour oddly refreshing, being the only sane person in a group of colourful characters like these girls would definitely give her a load of grey hairs. Therefore, she felt glad that she wasn't the only one, and had someone else to have a proper conversation with. Even if she had some reservations towards his way of doing things, it didn't mean she was blind to their results. Vent may be blunt and direct, a no-bullshit kind of person, but his methods DID produce favourable results, like Rom being saved from Underling's hand before she could even experience what being a hostage was like.
"Yup-yup." Came an agreeing nod from the ever so chirpy Compa, who just bounced on her step as she thought of the brown haired youth. She then frowned, turning a complete 180 as she recalled the last time they had seen the said youth: back when they had left him to fight against that man he had called Noro. "I only hope that he's alright… that guy back there seemed to be really tough…" she remarked with worry, all the while restraining the urge to look behind them at the path they had travelled along. Almost as if that would allow her to see the shrinking forms of the two mentioned males… even though they had already been long gone by this point.
Nepgear nodded her head, but didn't say anything in favour of the silence. Even if that guy back there had an immeasurable amount of strength, possibly way more than Seidou had in comparison, Nepgear felt like Vent wouldn't be losing that easily. His prior combat record stood on its own, but that wasn't the only thing. He had enough strength in his own right, not to mention an extensive knowledge of the enemy to use to his advantage, so he wouldn't lose against that guy as quickly as they would whenever fighting against Seidou. That… implied that she thought he'd lose, that wasn't exactly what she thought, instead Nepgear feared that he might not win, instead…
Moving on, before she dragged things down even more.
Determination filled her being like an organism sucking up ait as she acted. With a quick jog to the front of the Party, Nepgear twirled around to face them as she pointed to the direction they had been running towards before the whole conversation even began. "Anyways guys, we should hurry. The seal's not too far now, so if we make a mad sprint we can get there in a jiffy." She urged them.
"Ge-Ge's right." Compa spoke afterwards, nodding her head in agreement as she heard the sounds of explosions behind them, which likely meant that either Ghouls or other Monsters, normal or Abnormal, were returning to the Dungeon. "We don't have far to go now, guys. We're nearly at the end of this long-awaited chapter the Author's been working on in brief periods for weeks now!"
At the proclamation the young Nurse made, IF and the rest of them could only sweat drop. "Did Compa just…" the brunette began, only to get confirming nods from the others. Whilst she tried to get over the fact that her friend had broken the fourth wall much like how a certain Planeptune CPU did (something she'd likely try to scold Compa for if she got the chance… BIG if there though), she couldn't help but mutter something under her breath, something along the lines of "Good thing Nep isn't here, I'm not gonna open that can of worms around her…" before finally pushing that to the back of her mind and adopting a serious façade. "Alright ladies, you heard the leader. Let's go!"
Finally...
At long last…
The girls stopped their jogging as they arrived at the place where the Seal was located, and once they did immediately they could feel the difference from their last visit. Even the Non-CPUs could feel it, which went to show just how bad things had become. Heck, the very SECOND that they stepped into the general area, each of them got hit with a wave of suppressed energy, energy that came from the VERY unstable seal. The moment that it felt this, the Lowee Mascot, if it had a body, would have lost all colour and looked like a corpse on the verge of decomposing. "No…!"
Everywhere within the general vicinity, one could see a faint white fog condensing around it, not enough to hamper any vision, but just enough to be noticeable. In addition, the air itself felt almost suffocating thick, dense and heavy, like every molecule in it had become geared solely for the purpose of crushing everything inside it. One could attribute it to being constantly hit by falling skyscrapers and be forced to carry that weight for their duration within the thin smoke itself.
"W-Wha…?" IF became the first to speak, although just by listening to her voice one could tell just how strained she had to have been for her to do so. The brunette's brows constantly twitched and her form trembled, sweat rolling down the sides of her forehead at the feeling she was getting from this pressure. IF would not be one of those people inexperienced with Share Energy, after all she had been friends with multiple users of it in the form of the Goddesses. However, with all that experience, it took all her willpower just to keep herself conscious from the oppressive nature this energy had. "What the hell…?"
If someone like IF had that much problem, one could only imagine how bad the others took it. Heck, lets take a look at RED and… oh boy. "Whooooo… I dunno whyyyy, but I feel kinda sleeeeepyyyyyyy…" the redhead muttered in a drowsy voice, her eyelids feeling almost unbearably heavy for her. She felt like those people whom had reached the very breaking point of their struggles to remain awake, that one moment when their consciousness suddenly caves in an d they fall into slumber. Heck, the redhead even started swaying from side to side to showcase this situation she'd found herself in.
"Whoa, RED! Keep it together, same for all you guys!" Nepgear, in a moment of flustered embarrassment when RED fell onto her, tried to exclaim as she flailed her arms about in a panic. Out of all of them (Compa already looking like she was fighting a losing battle to remain awake with RED following close behind, now that she looked at her), she and IF seemed to be affected the least amount, herself more so than her brunette friend. What the heck was going on? That was the question that filled her mind right now, as she quickly looked over to the Mascot which began emitting a pale blue aura, an aura which coincidentally covered Broccoli along with her feline ride. "Um, Mrs Mascot? What's happening here, what's happing to my friends?" She asked with no small amount of worry.
Worry which got worse when she got her answer from the glowing Disk in Broccoli's confused grasp. "This is worse than I initially expected… the Seal seems to have been damaged to the point where the energy within it is leaking out into the atmosphere. This has resulted in the area surrounding the Seal to be covered with this oppressive smoke, and due to the nature of the Seal itself, the Share Energy has become a lot more oppressive. Instead of the gentle divinity that it should possess, likely from having to contain the evil within. Such an energy is not meant to affect common mortals like your friends, thus we must hurry unless we want them to suffer crippling injuries!"
At that point, panic began to fill Nepgear's mind with the speed of a cheetah, causing her heart rate to speed up to over 10 beats per second as she quickly jogged towards the Seal with Broccoli close behind, protected from the fog by the Lowee Mascot. Her form soon glowed brightly, and with a flash she had taken on her HDD self, never losing that look of pure urgency. The thought of having her friends, friends she had fought alongside for so long, be crippled in such a way left Nepgear with a horrible feeling in her gut which created an unbearably uncomfortable sensation.
All the while, even in their current states the girls all heard the Mascot's explanation regarding what was happening to them. "O-Oh no…! Iffy…!" Compa called out to her friend as she soon felt her consciousness near the final stages of slipping into blissful sleep. It was proven when she had her eyelids ¾ of the way to closing, something which the brunette noticed all too quickly.
"Tch, don't worry Compa!" The brunette exclaimed, pulling out… a folding fan from her Inventory and whacking her upside the head with it. That caused the Nurse to both reawaken completely, as well as yelp as a red bump formed on top of her head. "Sorry, but that was the only thing I could do!" IF yelled, proceeding to do the same to RED whom had already fallen asleep. Once the redhead girl got her consciousness back, IF quickly turned to Nepgear, her eyes shining with urgency as she yelled out. "Gear, you go on ahead! We'll keep out of the fog's general area till things are good!"
"Got it! Thanks IF-"
"HAH! SORRY TWERPS, BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THAT FUCKING SEAL!"
The silence got shattered like a hammer through glass when a loud, feminine and psychotic-sounding voice ripped mercilessly through the atmosphere. Instantly, Nepgear and Broccoli reacted instinctively, jumping back just a millisecond before something crashed down from the space high above in front of them, creating a large dust cloud before the damaged Seal which had both the Mascot and IF curse under their breath. "Tch, and we were so close too! What the heck now?!" the Brunette exclaimed. All the while, the cloud concealed the figure from view, though… several somethings soon cleared the cloud to reveal the figure's identity.
The moment they saw that person's identity however...
"Wh-What the goodness?!"
"Huh?! No way!"
"Eh?!"
"Whoa, when did the evil Wifey get an upgrade?! Did she follow the same thing we did?"
"She definitely got a makeover, Nyu."
"This is not good...! Not good at all!"
Each of the girls plus the Mascot all had their own startled exclamations and reactions, though if one could blame them they wouldn't. Not when they saw what happened in front of them. Before the Party stood a certain green haired female Undering... only... she almost looked completely unrecognizable.
Standing in front of them, the figure had hunched over with her arms hanging in front of her. Her hair hung over her face so her eyes remained unseen, cloaked by darkness. However,, her entire getup had changed drastically, consisting of a Grey hooded closed trench coat, one that ended in 5 long jagged tails whist having large pockets on the stomach. The hood was over her head, but with no mouse ears or nose though, with leather black gloves covering her hands. Beneath her coat, were a pair of baggy black pants which were covered from the thighs to her knees in spiked black buckles, whilst her feet were partially covered by a similar set of footwear to a certain psychotic One-Eyed Ghoul that the twin CPU Candidates took off the parties' hands.
Lastly, the woman had a... rather grotesque, fleshy looking weapon on her back, which they could see thanks to her hunched position. It looked just longer than she was tall, thus, it revealed itself to be a large, spiked Baton. The shaft itself had long, sleak appearance, with the end being at least half the length of her own height. Not to mention being slightly larger than the shaft, with many 6 inch long, thick dark red spikes protruding out of its form as well as the tip. Not to mention how golden lightning seemed to arc and dance through the small gaps between the spikes as well as around the Baton.
So yeah... unrecognizable, Underling was.
"...!"
Standing before them, Underling leered at her opponents, the crimson glow from her Kakugan being the sole indication of her stare as a serpentine hiss broke free from her lips. In addition, the hiss she just made sounded much more intimidating when taking everything else into account, such as her posture, her mannerisms, her overall presence which filled the room with this ominous tension that felt tighter than being bound by rope. She looked more like a fetal breast than human, especially with her body radiating an aura filled with malice and bloodlust so thick one could cut it with a knife. Just one small movement looked like it would set her off, making each of them try not to move even the tiniest of muscle.
Meanwhile, the Party just stared at her, absolutely dumbfounded. Although it did help them forget the effects of the damaged seal, so that was something at least. "Huh... is that... Underling? Goodness..." Nepgear questioned, confusion and nervousness ripe within her tone. She didn't realize it until after it had happened, but ever since Underling became a Hybrid, she had gained this aura about her which demanded that it be taken seriously, like it was one second away from utterly going bonkers and killing a whole load of lives. Not something she wanted to think about, if she were honest.
"Mou... evil wifey just got a whole loada crazy juice in her now..." RED couldn't help but comment, though it was only them who heard her since she deliberately lowered her voice so Underling didn't hear her. The memories of what happened between Seidou and herself when she said something stupid, combined with how Underling now reminded her of that Ghoul, made her incredibly wary of what would happen if she pissed her off. So much so that she just HAD to think with her brain more than usual, not something she would like to do often as her brain hurt like hell doing this.
"I'd... I'd say something witty about her like we usually do, but right now I don't want to end up underestimating her and getting my ass kicked." IF stated to herself, shuddering especially whens he aw that lightning. She didn't get why, but every instinct in her told her NOT to go near it at any cost. Not to mentions he couldn't anyways thanks to this fog, therefore it looked like Nepgear would be fighting Underling by herself, much to her frustration. "Anyways, what's with her? Something about her seems... off, and i'm NOT just talking about her change in wardrobe."
Compa nodded as she shook slightly, eyes shaking whilst she focused her gaze upon the silent, looming form of ASIC's lackey. Just looking at Underling right now, what with how she leered at them like they were sacks of meat, sent chills of terror down her spine, as well as gripped her heart in an icy cold vice. "Mrs Underling looks scary for some reason..."
After a moment of glaring at the girls, Underling Underling reached behind her, drawing her Baton (although where she had her Pipe nobody knew) as she leered at her opponents. "FINALLY... YOU BITCHES HAVE ARRIVED! TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH, NOW I GET TO POUND YOUR ASSES INTO THE GROUND!" She bellowed. her Kakugan trembling as she finally looked up.. and the girls nearly screamed in horror when they saw the maniacal grin on her lips. Underling's grin simply had the mix of a slasher, a shark, and a patient in a mental asylum mixed together... combined with a dose of Ghoul. The greenhead looked down again so only that smile could be seen, her shoulder trembling as she chuckled.. then exploded into full on laughter as she looked up to the heavens, looking like she had completely lost touch of sanity as her mismatched eyes almost bulged out her sockets. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! YES, YES-YES-YES! NOW I CAN DO IT! I CAN DO IT NOW-NOW-NOW! I'LL SHOW YOU, I'LL SHOW ALL OF YOU FUCKERS WHAT IT MEANS TO MESS WITH ME!"
"KYA!"
Each of the girls minus IF, squeaked in fright as they jumped from the sheer volume of Underling's voice. It practically echoed across the entire area like the sound of a siren's singing, only it sounded worse than a mediocre singer at a concert screaming their lungs off. Out of sheer reflex, each of them drew their weapons like they were their only lifeline, their instincts quickly telling them that they'd be needed if they wanted to SURVIVE this.
Soon enough, she got over her laughter, though the blossoming insanity never, NEVER left her aura. Underling cackled, and when she did it sounded QUITE reminiscent of a certain raving Hybrid Ghoul, before she got into a ready stance. Her Baton now crackling dangerously with electricity. Her smile widened, evolving into a nightmare-inducing grin as her Kakugan shined brightly like a demon in the night. "YOU ALL BETTER GET YOUR ASSES READY! I'MMA BEAT THEM WITH MY TRUSTY NEW TOY HERE! NOW THEN..."
"Uh oh! Here she comes, Nepgear!
"LETS FUCKING PLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Chapter End!
Another OEK chapter complete! Interesting stuff has been happening right now, for one Vent's fight with Noro, while not shown much, definitely seems to be heating up, if you know what I mean hehehehe... who knows what is going on over there besides myself of course. You'll just have to wait to find out...
Also, Underling seems to have gotten a powerup of some kind, whatever that is I'll likely reveal in the next chapter. But, you can bet your ass it has something to do with Monster Hunter, or rather a certain monster in that show. I'll let you guess on what it could be, but believe me once the answer comes in the next chapter, you'll DEFINITELY see just how much shit Nepgear and the others have fallen into.
That thing's a freaking asshole alone, let alone in a group!
Anyways, hope you enjoy the story, like, fav, review all that good stuff. Thank you to all the readers who actually read this stuff, I know its nowhere near as good as my other content, but I do try. Sometimes, I think that when people make crossovers with Neptunia, they know what they do with the canon storyline, but the other crossover franchise only exists as an add-on or something. Like with a lot of Kamen Rider/Neptunia crossover fanficts, not saying they're bad by the way, but if the series could be more intertwined with Neptunia it would be nice. Not to mention that for those fics, there are WAY too many. I mean, Crossing them over is fine, but one could stand to try the same with other franchises, which was the reason why I started writing this one. Tokyo Ghoul and Neptunia could be an awesome crossover if done right, the same could be said about other uncommon franchises. Give other ones a chance, they could surprise you all.
Anyways, thats enough out of me, and look forward to the end of the chapter!
Peace Out!
