And now... the rest of the story! ;-p
Neptunia Guild Files: Fate/book one
A Hyperdimension Neptunia Fan Fiction
by Derald Snyder
Section 39: Daring Rescue
*The Bullpen*
"Wow, so Archer literally swiped you out of the bad guy's clutches?!" Tamamo gasped in amazement.
"Honestly, that was terrifying," Archer spoke up. "I mean, that was the first time I'd confronted a mob boss face-to-face... you have to understand, I wasn't part of the Guild yet..."
"And yet, you saved Sharon like a knight in shining armor!" Nero exclaimed.
"I thought I was the knight around here," Saber deadpanned.
"Well, he managed to get me out of the restaurant, but we still had to escape Gil's goons..." Rider began to narrate again...
*Flashback*
Sharon and Archer quickly ran down the front steps into the parking lot... "Get on the bike," Archer ordered.
"Bike...?!" Sharon looked around- then she spotted it. (A motorcycle! An honest-to-goodness motorcycle!) Quickly following Archer's lead, she mounted the seat behind him as several thugs began pouring out of the building...
"Grab me around the ribcage, not too hard... good. Alright, here we go!" With that, Archer started up the motorcycle and gunned the engine, tearing out of the parking lot and onto the street! However, Gil's mooks quickly got into their cars and sped off to catch up, several of them firing their guns!
(This is like an actual superhero film or something!) Sharon thought to herself in shock. All that was missing was the dramatic music...
(Music- 'Theme of Batman', Batman(1989 film))
Archer's motorcycle turned onto a busy street, the mob's cars in hot pursuit! With the goons constantly firing on their pursuer, it wasn't long before a few police cars joined the chase as well!
Sharon screamed as she felt a bullet narrowly miss her head, zipping through some hair! "Hold on, I'm making a hard turn!" Archer yelled, Sharon tightening her grip as he did just that, making a hard left, tires screeching as the cars tried to follow, only for inertia to cause them to crash into several other cars, as well as a semi truck! One car managed to avoid the pile-up, however...
"Are there any cars chasing us now?" Archer yelled to Sharon, who looked behind her...
"Just one!" she called back.
"One too many! Hold on!" Archer made another hard turn into an alley... "Gonna try and lose them in the backstreets!"
"Hope you know what you're doing!" Sharon yelled back as the cycle weaved through tight corners, the car still in hot pursuit! Making another hard turn to the right, causing the mooks' car to zip past them, Archer was forced to hit the brakes before they collided with a dead end! "You idiot! You've killed us!"
Looking around frantically, Archer glimpsed a walkway far above... "Maybe not. How much do you weigh?"
"Uh... about 55 kg, I think..."
"Alright. Trace on!" Archer projected a bow and arrow with a string attaching to the end, then fired upward, the arrow embedding itself into the walkway from below by the edge! On the other end of the string was a reel which the redhead attached to his belt. "Hold on," he ordered, dismissing his bow, Sharon briefly facepalming before doing as told.
And not too soon, as the thugs' car suddenly drove into the alley, only to see the duo rise into the air, causing them to stop and start yelling and shouting in bewilderment! But when Archer and Sharon were halfway up, they suddenly stopped! "W-why'd we stop?" Sharon gasped in fear.
Archer could only grimace at his miscalculation- hanging in midair up here, they were sitting ducks! "Okay, see that thing on my belt, grab it and don't let go!" This Sharon did, screaming in shock as she was abruptly pulled up the rest of the way to the walkway, while Archer fell back down, using reinforcement magic to keep his legs from breaking as he hit the ground! The mooks were swiftly on him, Archer managing to kick one away, only to get cold-cocked by another, then getting shot twice in the chest!
Fortunately for Sharon, she'd managed to pull herself onto the walkway above with no issue. She then turned and looked down, seeing her savior's prone body surrounded by the black-jacketed thugs...
"No blood!" "Who is this guy...?" "Check his wallet!" She saw one of them kneel down... "Wait a minute... what is that?!" "Some kinda body armor. He's human, after all." "Take off the mask." The thug who'd kneeled slowly pulled the black mask off, revealing a youthful face and fair skin. "What the... he's just a kid!" "You seen him before?" "No, no idea..."
But Sharon had seen that face before... even if had been three years or so since she'd last seen him. "SHIROOOOUUU!" she screamed.
"Shoot her!" the mooks quickly turned and opened fire, Sharon ducking behind the railing and curling up... But then, Shirou's eyes suddenly opened, jumping back to his feet! While the mooks were distracted, he reinforced his fist, punching one in the head and sending him over the car's trunk! Another thug was clocked in the nose, Archer then tossing him over the car roof into a trashcan!
Another mook realized what was happening, turning his gun on the redhead, only for him to trace a shield which deflected his shots! Shirou then projected two short swords, one with a white blade and one with a black blade, charging forward and slashing! The thug's hand was cut, forcing him to drop his weapon, Archer then stabbing him in the gut before kicking him into a pile of garbage!
Upon hearing the gunfire cease, Sharon popped her head over the railing again, watching as another mook emerged from the darkness, wielding a pair of katanas! Archer took a defensive stance as the thug charged, deflecting his cuts and slices with his own blades! He then tried to counterattack, but the butt of his blade hit the man in the chest, only knocking him back a bit. Undeterred, the thug screamed a battlecry as he flailed his swords wildly, charging in again-
-only for Archer to simply kick him in the face, knocking him to the ground as his swords flew out of his hands! He then gave the thug another kick to the head to ensure he was down for the count. One last mook rose up from behind some trashcans, Archer beckoning him... but instead the thug dropped his knife and fled into the night, Sharon heaving a sigh of relief with her hand over her chest. (He did it... he beat them all!)
"Hey, you can come down, it should be safe now!" Archer called up to the walkway.
"Right, I'll be right down!" Sharon called back, running to the end of the walkway and finding a ladder, promptly climbing down to the street.
By this time, the Red Archer had re-donned his mask, walking his motorcycle over to said ladder. "You know, you weigh a little more than 55 kg..."
"Oh really, Shirou?" Sharon snarked back with her hands on her hips.
"W-wait, you know who I am?!" the redhead recoiled in shock.
"It's me. Sharon. The one who ran you down on my bike, remember?!"
"Sharon?!" Shirou gasped in recognition. "Whoa... I had no idea it was you! You, uh, were a bit thinner last I saw you..." Shaking his head, he then said, "Anyway, let's get outta here before these guys wake up..."
"Fine," Sharon rolled her eyes as they mounted the motorcycle together, driving off into the night...
*End Flashback*
"So, after that, Shirou took me to his base of operations, so to speak, where I met Artoria again..." she gestured to Saber. "You should've seen the look on her face when she realized who I was! I think she was kinda jealous I filled out so well..."
"Part of me still is," Saber grumbled, crossing her arms over her relatively flat chest.
"That's one big difference between you and Nero..." Tamamo spoke up. "Uh, no offense meant."
"I'll let it slide this once," the blonde sighed.
"But what about your uncle and aunt?" Nero pressed.
"Well, I called them from Shirou's cell phone, and told them that I slapped the pervert and threw water in his face before storming out, and then I just happened to run into Shirou outside," Rider explained. "So he took me home in his civilian clothes, and met Uncle Clyde and Aunt Chrona for the first time... it was a little awkward, but things smoothed out with subsequent visits, though he had to tell Aunt Chrona multiple times that he was already spoken for..." She blushed a bit at the recollection.
"I don't think she stopped until I met her in person as well," Saber recalled.
"So I'm guessing you were inspired to become a hero of justice yourself, mikon?" Tamamo pondered.
"Kinda-sorta... it was more along the lines of not wanting to be helpless again," Rider admitted.
"Did your uncle and aunt ever find out about your endeavors?" Nero inquired.
"Eh, not until IF found us and recruited us into the Guild proper," Rider replied. "They weren't exactly happy about it, but knowing that both Shirou and Arty had my back eased their worries a bit."
"And the rest is history, mikon," Tamamo finished.
"Pretty much," Archer nodded. "On a side note, Sharon pretty much took over my motorcycle after she joined us, and rode that thing into the ground..."
"So I was a little rough with it, sue me!" Rider snapped back, causing chuckles from Saber and Tamamo.
"But, you said Archer was a redhead back then?" Nero asked quizzically, looking upon the man's pointed white hair.
"Yeah... that's another story altogether," Archer sighed. "It happened not long after we were recruited into the Guild..."
*To be continued...*
Next chapter, how Archer went from redhead to white-head! It'll be a bit different from Fate/stay night canon... Until then, review!
