Chapter 4: Fighting Techniques
"...And now, it is my great pleasure, to introduce our great nation's newest goddess, and my new little sister, Venus!" a mature, female voice said. ...Through a video recording.
Neptune was sitting behind her computer, rewatching the announcement from yesterday. So that's it, then, she thought, Nepgear is in the past now, right? It's time for Venus to take her place.
It didn't sound right to her. Neptune didn't want to forget about Nepgear, just because of Venus. But... she couldn't ignore Venus, either. That wasn't fair to her.
Neptune screamed in frustration. She wanted Nepgear back so badly, but would Venus...
Then she stopped. Venus would never meet Nepgear. So... Neptune should keep her mourning to herself, and just let Venus be her little sister. Neptune had to make sure she was there for her little sister, and to be her big sister, but nothing more.
At that moment, IF walked in. "You okay, Nep? I heard you scream."
Neptune looked over. "Yeah, just... caught up in my thoughts. What'cha doing here, Iffy?"
"Venus invited me up," IF explained. "She has her heart set on the both of us teaching her how to fight."
"Oh, yeah. That was today, wasn't it?"
"Neptune..." IF started, "I... I think I already know the answer, but I need to ask, why didn't you let me and Compa visit you until now?"
"I..." Neptune looked away, but ashamed and saddened. "Nothing's the same without Nepgear. I couldn't bring myself to drag anyone else down with me."
"So you didn't want me and Compa, your friends, to be there for you? To comfort you in your time of need?"
Neptune was silent. She didn't have an answer for IF.
"Neptune... have you ever visited any of your friends? The other Makers?"
"No..."
"What about the other goddesses?"
"Noire visits me."
"Of her own volition, and both she and Histoire told me that you don't give her the time of day. And again, what about the other goddesses?" IF said more firmly.
"I... haven't seen them for a year, until Venus's reveal, at least."
"What about your friends in the Ultradimension? I haven't been there, but I know you close to a lot of people there?"
"...I haven't seen them since the search was called off."
"Okay, what about Uzume?"
"Okay, in my defense, Uzume and big me haven't come back since they left for their new interdimensional trip! Which they left for before Nepgear disappeared. And no, I still don't know why they haven't come back yet! It's so frustrating, I could've really used their help finding Nepgear... and..." Neptune started crying.
"Sorry, I wasn't aware they were still gone," IF replied. "But still, we wanted to help you through what you're feeling now. Seriously, why didn't you let us help you? It's not like you."
Neptune thought for a moment, before saying, "...it's my fault Nepgear is gone. I didn't want you to go away, too..."
"And how is any of that your fault?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Neptune screamed. "I don't know... I know I must have pushed her away somehow, but I don't know what I did wrong..."
"Nep... you idiot..." IF didn't know what to say. She knew Neptune was wrong, but she didn't know how to convince her of that.
Luckily, they didn't have to worry about that, as Venus came in at that moment. "Hey, Iffy, you're here!" she cried out, pulling IF into a hug. "What are you guys talking about?"
"N- nothing important," Neptune quickly said.
Venus pouted. "Okay..." the newborn Candidate replied, before perking up. "Well then, let's go! I want to learn some cool fighting technos!"
"That's 'fighting techniques', Venus," IF corrected.
"Yeah, that!"
IF sighed. "Anyways, she's right, we should go. Compa's waiting for us in the lobby."
"I don't-" Neptune started, but Venus interrupted by hugging her older sister.
"Come on, I want you to come," Venus complained. "I want to see how cool you are when you fight! So, I can know how I can be cool when fighting! Plus, Nora says you need to go out more. And now is a great time!"
IF glared at Neptune, wordlessly expressing her opinion on this matter. That was enough to convince Neptune to join, though after what Venus said, she was already considering going anyways, despite her reluctance. Not because of what she said about Noire (or Nora, that was still kind of funny), because Neptune had already decided she needed to be there for Venus, and showing her the ropes of fighting was a good way to do it.
But again, Neptune was reluctant. What would her citizens think of her, having been out of the public eye for so long? There was little backlash when she made the announcement about Venus's birth. Heck, there was lots of excitement to the new candidate's reveal. But Neptune herself hadn't been as outgoing as she used to be. So, what would they think of HER?
"Well?" IF asked Neptune. "What are you waiting for?"
"Okay, just give me a moment to get ready," Neptune said.
Venus cheered, but IF just looked away solemnly.
This is not going to be easy, she thought, Neptune's pushed us away for too long. She's not used to being around others anymore.
Joined by Compa, the group was now traveling through the capital city of Planeptune. And seeing as this was Venus's first time seeing her city from ground level and close-up and personal, she was enjoying every second of it.
She kept running from place to place, causing everyone else to have to keep up with her, and excitedly asking her sister several questions, to which, Neptune provided the best answer she could.
"Wow, Ve-Ve sure is enjoying being outside," Compa said, as Venus pointed out some random restraint to her sister.
"Well, it's her first time outside," IF explained. "Remember, she's not even a week old yet, so this is all new to her."
"Yeah, I know. But I'm just happy to be hanging out with Nep-Nep and her sister again! ...Even though it's a different sister."
"Yeah, I know. Just don't say that when Neptune is listening," IF noted, grateful that Neptune was a short distance away, focusing more on her sister's excited exploration, and probably couldn't hear them over the bustle of the city's population.
"I know. Nep-Nep must still really miss Ge-Ge," Compa replied, "Ge-Ge" being Compa's old nickname for Nepgear.
"Hey, guys! Look!" Venus called out, pointing up to a large video billboard, which was showing an advertisement using Purple Heart's image.
"Wow," Neptune said as IF and Compa caught up, "I can't believe they're still using Purple Heart to push products."
"Don't you have to approve these?" IF asked.
"Yes, I do, but I haven't personally had any pictures taken in a long time. That's an old image."
"Of course you didn't."
"So, do you know who that is?" Venus asked.
"The h***, you're saying that you DON'T know who that is?" IF replied in surprise.
"No. Should I?"
"Okay, I don't understand, you need to explain to me a little more." IF saw the announcement, which was live. She saw Venus standing next to Purple Heart. How could she NOT know who she was?
"Well, I saw her when I got announced, and she was really pretty... but when it was done, I ran inside to find big sis," Venus explained, before turning to her sister. "You never told me where you went, by the way. You just said you were there the whole time, which you clearly weren't!"
"Oh... that's what you meant..." Neptune sheepishly replied.
"Neptune, please explain," IF demanded.
"Uh, so, me and Histoire, when we were doing Venus's announcement, told her to wait inside until she was called out. I used HDD as I walked out, so maybe Venus wasn't paying attention. And once we were done, Venus ran inside first, and when I got inside and turned back, Venus was already gone, having ran further into the Basilicom," Neptune explained, referring to how she was, in fact, Purple Heart.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I went looking for you!" Venus responded.
IF facepalmed. Since first meeting Venus, IF realized that she wasn't the brightest. But to not even realize that Neptune and Purple Heart were the same person? Sure, Neptune became a completely different person in HDD, but her own sister should know who Purple Heart was, at the very least.
"Sorry, I guess I never got around to telling you," Neptune replied, again sheepishly.
IF sighed. "You should really show her, Nep."
"I know, just... not here. We'll attract too much attention. Let's wait until we get out in the fields."
"Fair point," IF agreed. Neptune transforming here and now would attract a lot of unnecessary attention. Though it wasn't as if they weren't already attracting attention anyways. The people knew what Neptune looked like, even in her human form, and seeing her in public was a rare sight nowadays (unfortunately). And seeing the fresh new face of Planeptune was bound to catch their attention as well, probably of the "oh look, our goddess is showing her new sister around, isn't that great" variety, IF assumed. Heck, people probably would've tried to approach Venus, if she wasn't already excitedly bounding from one place to the next.
"I'm so confused," Venus complained. "Just tell me!"
"I'll show you later," Neptune replied.
"Trust me, Ve-Ve," Compa said, "you'll love it! I was so surprised when I first saw it!"
"But I don't want a surprise, I just want you to tell me!" Venus continued.
"Don't worry about that for now. First, let's get you equipped," IF told the frustrated Candidate.
"...Equipped?"
"Yeah. Neptune told me we needed to get you some weapons before we go to the Guild and start training you up."
"Yep!" Neptune said. "If we're going to teach you how to fight, then you need a weapon. Well... you could go in bare-handed, punching and maybe kicking the baddies. I know a few people who do that, among both humans and goddesses. But you should really try out a few things and see what you like before you start really trying to get into it."
"Wow, that sounds awesome," Venus said, trying to think of the possibilities. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything.
"Well, I believe that's our destination," IF said, pointing to a nearby shop. "Highest quality weapons in Planeptune!"
Entering the shop, Venus was impressed by the selection of fighting tools. The shop was a big, long room, with weapons set up on walls and ample space to swing them around without knocking anything over.
The new Candidate began to excitedly roam around the shop, checking out everything she could see. This, of course, caught the attention of the shopkeeper, a bulky, gruff man, who immediately set out to greet his new customers.
"Well, if it isn't Lady Neptune and her new Candidate!" he greeted. "So, what can I do ya for?"
"Well, my sister needs a new weapon before she starts learning to fight," Neptune explained. "We were hoping you could hook us up."
"Welp, feel free to pull them off and test them out," the shopkeeper called to Venus.
"Really? Cool!" the excited Candidate pulled out a medium-sized battle ax, and, failing to realize Compa was behind her, swung it around and almost hit her, while also knocking over several other weapons.
"Woah, sis!" Neptune called out. "Firstly, watch where you're swinging these things. You almost hurt Compa! Secondly, maybe walk out into the more open area, so that you don't knock anything over. And last of all... seriously, don't hit Compa!"
"Sorry..."
"It's okay," Compa said, dusting off her skirt, "just be more careful next time, okay. Now, use it properly and I'll clean up for you!"
"Alright." Venus then walked out into the open area of the room, and while Compa picked up the dropped weapons. Venus began swinging the heavy weapon, and somehow managed to get horizontal swing into a spin, and then into a vertical slam, cleaving the floor and getting the weapon stuck there.
"Ooh! Sorry about your floor," Neptune apologized on behalf of her sister.
"Hey, I have that space so people can swing things around and see what feels right. This happens more than you think," the shopkeeper replied.
"Well, I would say... Venus might do well with that if she learned how to control the weight," IF commented.
"I don't like it!" Venus announced.
"Huh?" Neptune and IF replied at the same time.
"I don't feel like I can move my arms when I hold it," Venus explained. "Do I have to use both hands?"
"Well, if you are strong enough, you could use it effectively in one hand," the shopkeeper answered. "But even so, I'd still recommend using both hands, so you can take advantage of the leverage."
"Lev- level- levage-" Venus stomped her foot. "It sounds too complicated!"
"Well, not really, once you get it in motion," IF said, "though, I think I get what you're saying. Having to use both hands for one weapon might be too restrictive to you, and you'd rather the freedom of movement."
"Uh, yeah, what you said!"
"Maybe you'd prefer a light one weapon. Want to try out something like my katars?"
"Um, yeah, whatever those are!"
"There push-daggers," IF explained, while she looked for weapons similar to her own. Once she found a pair, she handed them to Venus. They were short blades made to be held vertically with the arm. "Try these."
"Okay." Venus grabbed the blades, went to a safe distance away, and began swinging them around. She seemed to enjoy swinging them around and twirling in place.
"Seems like you like them," Neptune commented.
"Yeah," Venus said and she stood still, "but they still don't feel right. They feel too... similar."
"Too similar!"
IF sighed, "I guess dual-wielding isn't her thing. I guess that's okay, it's one of the most difficult combat styles to master."
"Maybe let's try a normal sword." Neptune went over and picked out a long sword, showing it off to her sister. "How about this?"
"Hm, it looks too big," Venus said.
"Too long," Neptune repeated, partially correcting her sister, "Got it." She put the sword back, and then pulled out a short sword. "How about this? Does this look better?"
"Um, yeah!" Neptune handed her sister the sword, and she stepped back and began swinging it. "Woah, this feels really good!"
"Awesome!"
"But it's missing something. My other hand feels empty," Venus added.
"You're kidding me," IF replied exasperated. "You didn't like either two-handed weapons or dual-wielding, and you want freedom of movement, but you still need both hands full? What the heck do you want!?"
"Hey, what about that!" Venus pointed to something behind the shopkeeper's counter.
It was a round, frisbee-like shield with the nation's rounded, purple N-symbol on it, hanging on the wall with a pair of decorative rapiers crossed below it.
"A shield?" Neptune asked. "You want a shield?"
"Um, this shield here is only meant to be decorative," the shopkeeper explained. "And I don't sell others. It's more of an armor thing, and I sell exclusively weapons."
"Well, does it work?" IF asked.
"I mean, it does have the proper straps, it's properly padded, and it's pretty durable. I mean, I don't think it would last long against one of the larger monsters out there, but it'll probably hold up very well against the more common breeds."
"Can I try it?" Venus asked. "It looks really fun."
"Well... I suppose, if it's for my goddess." The shopkeeper pulled the shield off of the wall and handed it to the young goddess.
IF showed Venus how to strap it onto her arm, and then she stepped back, admiring the metal, curved disc, and its very soft inner-side.
"So? Do you like it?" Compa asked.
Venus held up the shield and short sword. "Yeah!"
"Are you sure the shield doesn't limit your movement?" IF asked, concerned it might have a similar effect to the battle ax from earlier.
In response, Venus made a shield bash maneuver, swinging the flat side of the shield outward from in front of her. Then she followed up with an upward-diagonal swing with her sword, and then a forward punch with her shield, and finishing with spin, swinging her sword behind her, and then into a forward swing. "I really like these."
"The standard sword-and-shield combo," Neptune said. "Well, if that's what you want, sis, then okay." She turned to the shopkeeper. "So, how much?"
"Welp, the shield isn't supposed to be for sale, but if my goddesses want it, then I'll add it for free along with the sale of the sword. As for the sword's price, that'll be..." the shopkeeper pulled out a list, and began looking for the cost of the sword Neptune picked out for Venus. Once that was done, Venus was handed a sheath for her sword, and was informed by the shopkeeper, "remember, that shield is strong, but it's not the best out there, so it'll likely break sooner rather than later. So if you continue to want to use it, you should consider investing in a better quality shield."
"Thanks for the advice," Neptune said in place of her sister. "I think I know a few places where we could get a new shield for later."
"Thank you," Venus said.
"I'd say I'd hope those work out for you, Lady Venus, but I have faith in my goddesses, so I know they'll do you well."
With everything said and done for, the girls left the shop, heading for the Guild.
"Now, don't swing those around in public," IF said. "You might hit someone by accident, and you'll definitely scare some people."
"I know," Venus said as she admired her now-sheathed blade. "I can't wait to try them out on some baddies!"
"Well, hold back on that until we can go out into the fields."
A few hours later, the girls were on the edge of Virtua Forest, and walking before an open plain. Since this was Venus's first quest, they picked an easy one for her to start with, and get the hang of things. They were tasked with clearing out a large group of Dogoos that have gathered near a small town.
"Okay, the Dogoos should be about a mile out," IF said.
"Iffy, can we stop here?" Neptune asked.
"Really, you want to take a break now?"
"No, I want to show Venus some important things."
"Oh, that... makes sense."
Neptune turned to Venus. "Remember how Compa showed you how to summon and desummon your weapons?"
"Yeah," Venus replied.
"Could you do that now?"
Venus nodded, and blue pixels formed in her hands, soon taking the form of her new sword and shield. Neptune did the same, summoning her katana.
"Before we go fight some baddies, there are some things I want to teach you. To start, you need to know about Skills," Neptune told her sister.
"Skills?" Venus repeated.
"Yes. Now... something to test it on." Neptune began looking around for something to test her skills on.
"Test it on me," IF then said, summoning her katars and hold them up for a block.
"Are you sure?"
"I can take it. And if I get hurt, Compa can heal me," IF assured her friend. "As long as it shows the newbie the ropes."
"Okay," Neptune ready her sword. "Cross Combination!" After announcing her attack, Neptune dashed forward, before making several slashes, eventually knocking IF into the air, where Neptune jumped up and made a downward vertical slash, slamming IF back into the ground.
"Woah..." Venus sounded.
IF got up and dusted herself off. "That... didn't hurt as much as I thought it would."
"Ugh, I must be out of practice," Neptune complained. "It's been so long since I fought anything, so I must have dropped back down to Level 1."
Venus was confused by Neptune's statement, but IF and Compa were happy to see Neptune acting a little more like her rather oddball self, even if she was a little more serious now than she normally would be.
Venus got over her confusion to say, "that was so cool, sis! You think I could do something like that!?"
"I'm hoping you do," Neptune explained, "you should come up with Skills of your own. Learn how to focus your attacks into special maneuvers to enhance their power. That's fighting 101."
"Wow."
"And, on top of that, you should learn how to use magic."
"Really. You want me to become a wizard?"
"Well, no, not unless you changed your mind with the sword and shield. Blanc's sisters are mages, so they cast spells as attacks and Skills, but I'm not a spell-caster. One of my Skills is a magic attack that's like casting a spell."
"Can you show me?"
"Okay, step back." Everyone did so, and Neptune raised her hand to the sky, calling out, "32-Bit Mega Blade!" Suddenly, pixels formed a sword of magical energy. Then it shot down, striking the ground and bursting into an explosive pillar of light.
"That's so cool..." Venus sounded.
"Now that's one of my more advanced magic Skills. What you're going to want to start with, as a swordswoman, is to practice channeling magical energy into your weapon, to empower your attacks. This is one of my lesser Skills, and I usually use it to finish up attack combos." Neptune quickly pulled her sword behind her, and yelled, "Blaze Break!" The blade was encased in flames, and Neptune swung it down vertically. When it hit the ground, the flames burst out in an explosion of fire.
"Awesome!"
"Nep-Nep, why does Ve-Ve need to learn magic?" Compa asked.
"Good question, Compa!" Neptune responded. "You see, Histy explained it to me when I was first learning to fight. Learning how to use magic, even just a little bit, helps with learning how to use Share energy."
"You mean our source of power?" Venus asked.
"Yep."
"I guess using the two would be very similar," IF noted, "but I wouldn't really know, since I'm not a goddess."
"So learning how to use magic will help me learn to use our goddess powers?" Venus asked for clarification.
"Basically," Neptune answered. "So, what I want you to do is try to channel magic into your sword. Just focus on your sword, and imagine magic flowing into it."
Venus nodded and focused intently on her sword. After a minute of nothing, IF was about to ask Neptune if she should stop, when her sword suddenly started glowing a deep blue color.
Venus opened her eyes, and saw her successful channeling of magic. "I did it!" she cried out, before her sword stopped glowing. "Aw..."
"Hey, you got it the first time," Neptune said. "That's good. Just take the time to come up with some Skills. Use magic in them if you want to, or don't, but start figuring out how to best master your combat style."
"Hm, could I use my shield?" Venus asked.
"It's more of a defensive tool," IF said.
"Well, you saw her earlier. If she wants to try to attack with both her sword AND her shield, then let her try it," Neptune countered.
"Okay, I want to try something!" Venus announced. Everyone nodded and gave her some space. Venus closed her eyes, trying to focus her magic onto her shield. She raised her shield up, as it began to glow, this time an orangish-red.
"Blaze Break!" she shouted, and she slammed the shield into the ground, as it got covered in flames, and of course, as it hit the ground, a large burst of flames was released. However, unlike Neptune's move, this caused a bigger explosion, the shield protecting Venus, and even cracked the ground.
"Woah!" Compa replied in shock.
"Geez," IF replied.
"Wow, sis," Neptune said. "That was great. ...But, um, why did you copy me?"
"What... was I not supposed to do that?" Venus asked.
"Well, no. I want you to come up with your own moves. I mean, if you get some inspiration from me, sure, but please don't just flat out steal from me."
"Sorry, sis..."
"It's okay. You know, you used your shield instead of your sword, so it's already kind of different, so just give it a new name."
"Uh, what do I call it?" Venus asked her sister.
"How about... 'Blaze Impact'?" Neptune suggested.
"'Blaze Impact'? Yeah, that sounds cool!"
"Yeah, but man... look at what she did with that move," IF said, pointing out the cracked ground.
"How much magic do you use?" Compa added.
"Hm, I'm not sure it was her magic that caused that," Neptune said.
"Wait, do you think that was Venus's ACTUAL strength?" IF replied.
"Well, us goddesses are a bit stronger, physically, than most humans. Not 'lift a car over our heads' kind of strong, but definitely 'bend a metal rod with ease' kind of strong. But some goddesses, like Blanc, P-Ko, and Uzume, are the 'lift a car over their heads' strong."
"You think a CPU Candidate can be that strong?"
"I don't know, but maybe..." Neptune mused, before deciding on what to do next. "Okay, Venus, I want you to hit me as hard as you can!"
"What- Are you sure, Nep-Nep!?" Compa responded, worried.
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to Peashy nailing me all the time, I can take this!"
"I'm not so sure..." IF commented, knowing that Neptune wasn't as strong as before, considering her last test attack dealt on her.
"Just... think of it like a game," Neptune assured them.
"A game? Okay!" Venus responded, as she bounded over to her sister, wound up, and then swung her shield arm into her sister's stomach.
And what a punch it was. Neptune was sent flying a short distance, landing flat on the ground.
"Yep..." she groaned. "Just as strong... as P-Ko..."
"Yay! That was fun! Who's next? Who's next!?" Venus cheered.
"Huh, 'who's next'?" Compa asked.
"Okay. Get ready!"
"Huh, what, no, that's not what I meant-" unfortunately for Compa, she never got to explain, as Venus walloped her and sent her flying into the trees."
"Compa!" IF cried, before turning to Venus. "Why did you do that!?"
"I thought we were playing a game?" Venus asked innocently.
IF just groaned.
"I... did a bad thing, didn't I?" Venus said, realizing her mistake.
"Yes, you did. And didn't Nep tell you to NOT hit Compa?"
"Hey, it's okay," Neptune said as she got back up. "She made a mistake, I'm sure she'll learn from it. And Compa will probably be fine and not too mad. So let's just go find her, and make sure she's okay."
"Thanks, sis. From now on, I promise, I'll only hit things if they are mean, or if they specialty ask me to!"
"'Specifically', not 'specialty'," IF corrected.
"Yeah, that!"
"Well, I guess we can't question Venus's strength anymore."
They went out, found Compa, and after healing everyone's injuries from the combat testing and the "strength game", they went back to their mission to hunt for Dogoos.
About 20 minutes later, they reached the field where the Dogoos were. ...And they seemed to count into the hundreds.
"That's a lot of Dogoos," Compa commented.
"Aw, they look so cute!" Venus exclaimed. Each Dogoo was a light blue, teardrop-shaped slime with a dog's face, ears, and tails. "Are you sure their baddies?"
"Definitely," IF told her. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with this many Dogoos. Years ago, me, Compa, and... yeah, we got ambushed by lots of Dogoos while we were chasing down ASIC. The little perverts swarmed us, tried to worm their way into our clothes, and got us all covered in slime." IF caught herself in the middle of her explanation, because she almost mentioned that Nepgear was a part of that event as well. She didn't know if Nepgear told her sister about it after the fact, but she felt it would be better not to remind Neptune of that.
"Yeah, it was really yucky!" Compa said, fortunately failing to notice IF's little mistake. "I don't know if I want to go through that again."
"Well, we signed up to take all of these bastards," IF replied as she summoned her katars.
"Okie-dokie!" Compa said, trying to sound upbeat about the situation, and summoning a MASSIVE syringe as a weapon, basically acting a medical spear of sorts.
Neptune summoned her katana. "Alright, game time, sis! Follow my lead!"
"Okay!" Venus replied, summoning her sword and shield.
Neptune then charged towards the army of Dogoos, with Venus immediately following behind her, followed by IF and Compa. "Cross Combination!" Neptune then performed a series of slashes, tearing into several Dogoos at once. Venus immediately jumped in after her sister, beginning her onslaught.
While Venus wasn't yet as skilled as her sister, she still managed to hold her own. She effortlessly cut through Dogoos left and right. If one of the monsters tried to blindside her, she'd either knock it away with her shield (often into other Dogoos, damaging them both) or smash them into the ground. Watching her sister fight while making sure to keep the monsters from overwhelming her, Venus seemed to be enjoying herself. Even as she started to get covered in the slime from the defeated monsters, it didn't seem to before. She even had fun letting her now slime-covered, side-ponytailed hair whip around.
"Blaze Impact!" Venus shouted as she performed her new move from earlier, slamming her shield into the ground and releasing a large explosion in front of her, blasting away several Dogoos.
IF was impressed. Despite being so new to fighting, Venus was progressing quickly. But she couldn't focus on her, as the Guild Agent was getting surrounded. "Flame Soul Slice!" IF shouted as her katars were lit on fire, IF performing several flaming slashes, before unleashing fire pillar burst, defeating several Dogoos.
Even Compa was fighting, stabbing Dogoos with her giant syringe. She managed to perform a downward stab on one, injected the syringes toxins into the poor creature while Compa smiled.
Unfortunately, the Dogoos had caught on to what was happening and began to rally. Soon they began to gather around their attackers and swarm and overwhelm them.
They continuously leaped on top of the girls, and doing... basically what IF said they would.
"No, not again!" Compa complained, as they covered her in slime and tried to get under her sweater.
"Get off me, you creeps!" IF shouted, as the Dogoos piled onto her.
Neptune and Venus weren't much better off, as the blue dog-slimes began licking every single exposed part of skin they had, causing them to giggle uncontrollably.
"Nep! Venus!" IF angrily called out when she noticed. "Get it together already!"
But Neptune simply replied in a giggle fit, "b-b-but they're s-so t-t-tickli-i-ish, ha-ha-ha-ha! I-I-I c-can't st-stop!" And then she laughed out loud again.
But, to everyone's surprise, the last person they expected ended up taking the initiative.
"I-I l-love how you're g-giving me your doggie love," Venus cried out, managing to get her giggling under control. "B-but you're still b-baddies, and I need to take you out!"
She then swung out her shield, slamming the flat face onto a Dogoo, smushing it flat into the ground. She then managed to use the shield to twist into the air, keeping her shield on the ground, then using it to kick off the ground, spinning on her shield and delivering a whirling kick attack, knocking away the Dogoos around her, giving her some room, and getting back on her feet.
"Now let me show you what I've come up with!" Venus shouted, and she held her sword out to the side, challenging magic into it. It glowed with a deep blue color, like before. But this time, it glowed even more brightly, becoming an aura that surrounded Venus.
"Here I GO!" And then Venus pulled her sword back, and thrust it forward with such force, she launched forward in a dashing attack. With the magic infusal, she was like a blue comet, blasting away any Dogoo that was unfortunate enough to be caught in the path of the charging attack. Then, Venus stomped her foot on the ground, forcing her momentum into a twirl, and when she spun back around, she swung her sword in a huge arc. The magic on the sword extended its slicing reach, allowing Venus to horizontally cleaving several Dogoos in half!
No way, she probably took out almost a hundred Dogoos with that attack, thought IF as she managed to witness the maneuver. Was that supposed to be a Skill? She basically mixed magic with a physical attack! And she JUST started learning how to fight!
As it so happened, Venus stopped near where her sister when her new attack was finished. She quickly cut her way to her sister, cleared the Dogoos of her, and helped her sister up. "These doggies are being really mean, sis! They kept tickling us!"
"Yeah, you could say that again," Neptune replied to her sister, catching her breath. Looking around, they thinned out the Dogoos quite a bit, but there were still quite a few of them, all of whom were closing in on the sisters. "Okay, I'm going to finish them all off in one fell swoop."
"How are you going to do that?" Venus asked.
"By using the most powerful kind of Skill. The EXE Skill!"
"EXE Skill?"
"Yep." Neptune raised her sword above her head. "Behold my EXE Skill! Neptune Break!"
Suddenly, Neptune dashed forward, slicing through a long line of Dogoos, before kicking off the ground, and rapidly dashing and slicing through Dogoos at speeds Venus couldn't even follow. Several remaining Dogoos were launched into the air by the force of her impacts, when Neptune stopped, did one more kick off the ground, and then took all of the air-born Dogoos out in one slash.
"...And despite being 'Level 1', Neptune still managed to pull THAT off," IF commented in the distance.
"Woah... That... was... AWESOME!" Venus cried out.
Now, Neptune didn't take out all of the Dogoos, but now there were only a few remained clumps, all of which was very manageable. IF and Compa immediately set out to finish off the remnants of the massive force of monsters, while Neptune went over to check on her sister.
"That was so cool. I want to know how to do that!" Venus exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, that usually takes a lot out of me," Neptune explained, "You need to have a full EXE Drive to use one of those Skills."
"Huh?" Venus tilted her head.
"Oh, you'll find out what I mean sometime later. It'll be a while before you create your own EXE Skill. They are the more powerful, but complex Skills you can learn. No one learns one quickly."
"Oh... Okay." Venus was disappointed, but that just meant she had to keep getting stronger, so she could come up with one in the future.
"And... then there are Formation Skills, EXE Skills where you team up with someone else. Those require everyone involved in the attack to completely trust and coordinate with each other, but they are truly the most powerful of Skills!"
"Wow, so I have to just people to trust me?"
"Yeah, and the best way to do that is to make friends," Neptune told her sister. Though, as soon as she said it, Neptune realized that she pushed all of her friends away. So... did any of her friends trust her anymore? Could Neptune even coordinate with them anymore? It wasn't a big deal, since Neptune could still fight on her own fairly well, but she wouldn't be able to showcase how those worked to her sister if that was the case.
"Hey sis, are you okay?" Venus asked. "You're being really quiet..."
"Oh, sorry! Just was lost in thought for a bit," Neptune explained. She rubbed the back of her head, and was about to check on IF and Compa, when she and Venus heard a sound.
"What was that!?" Venus exclaimed as she turned towards the sound. It seemed to be coming from the trees. Venus raised her shield and began to approach the tree line.
"Uh, sis, maybe you shouldn't-" Neptune started, but then whatever was hidden in the trees made its move.
A large wolf with dark purple fur and metallic claws jumped and rushed towards Venus. Completely surprised by this beast, Venus raised her shield to protect herself, and the beast slashed its claws at her. Thankfully, her shield blocked the attack, keeping Venus from taking serious damage. Unfortunately, her shield was ripped to shreds.
"VENUS!" Neptune yelled, as she dashed forward and slashed at the beast. The large monster leaped back, avoiding the attack, but it gave Neptune time to check on her sister. "Are you okay!?"
Venus looked at her arm, which now had a wrecked shield and was slightly bleeding. "My arm hurts."
Neptune turned back to the beast. "Okay, Mr. Fenris Wolf, you hurt my sister! And I'm going to make you pay for that!"
Suddenly, Neptune was surrounded by purple light. When it died down, Venus stared in shock.
In her sisters, was a tall woman with long purple, darker than shade Venus and her sister, which was styled into long twin braids. She had two spherical hairclips in the front of her hair, with blue crosses on them. She had blue eyes, which had power button symbols shining in them, which Venus remembered Histoire explaining that it was the symbol of a CPU.
She wore a black swimsuit-like bodysuit which had long sleeves along with black gloves with metal armor cuffs, and had blue and purple outlines. This suit also left cleavage of the woman's massive chest exposed (though Venus, because she was Venus, failed to notice), and had transparent, purple-colored mesh revealing her armpits and the front of her torso. The suit also had the Planeptune N on the butt. Finally, she wore thigh-high boots of a similar style.
In her hand was a long, black katana with a purple edge, and the woman had light-purple, cyber-techno-style wings on her back.
"Critical Edge!" the woman called out, as she flew forward, slashed twice at the Fenris Wolf, finishing with one final dashing slice, which felled the beast. The woman then desummoned her sword, and looked back at Venus with concern.
"You're... the woman... from before..." Venus said in shock.
The purple-haired woman smiled. "That's right, I did promise to show you my transformation. I almost forgot, to be honest."
"You were there at my announcement!"
"Of course, I did tell you I was at your side the whole time, right, little sister?"
"You... you're Neptune!?" Venus exclaimed, finally getting an idea of what was going on.
"Of course." The matured Neptune summoned a can, and tossed it to her sister. "Drink this. It's called a Nepbull. It's doesn't taste good, but it'll heal your wounds and restore your energy."
Venus nodded, opening up the can, and drinking the whole thing. Neptune was right, it tasted awful, but her arm began to feel better.
"In this form, I am known as Purple Heart," the goddess explained, "though feel free to keep calling me Neptune or big sister, I don't mind. I may be very different in this form, but I am still the same person. This form is known as HDD, or Hard Drive Divinity. More simply, this is our true goddess form. The smaller form of mine that you're more used to is merely my human form."
"So... is this another thing I could do?" Venus asked.
"Of course. All goddesses have an HDD, even CPU Candidates. Though, as a Candidate, it will be a long while before you can use yours, unfortunately. But once you master using share energy, it'll be within your reach."
Venus nodded, before running to Purple Heart, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry! I thought you left me when I was being announced! I didn't know you were in this cool form the whole time!" Venus then wrapped her sister in a hug, which she returned in kind.
"Venus, I would never abandon you. I promise I'll always be at your side," Purple Heart said softly. And she meant, she never would abandon her little sister again.
"We heard yelling!? Is everyone okay!?" Looking over, it was IF calling out. Both her and Compa were running over to check on them.
"IF! Compa!" Purple Heart called back. "You two weren't that far away, why did it take you this long to get here?"
"Those meanie Dogoos kept getting in the way!" Compa complained. "So we had to get rid of them!"
"Well, at least that's why we're here," IF commented, before taking in the situation. "Well, at least that problem is settled, I hope. So what happened?"
"A Fenris Wolf attacked Venus," Purple Heart explained.
"What!? Venus, let me check your boo-boos," Compa cried out, as she ran over to inspect Venus's injuries.
"A Fenris Wolf? Here?" IF asked.
"Yes, but it has been dealt with. We shouldn't have to worry anymore," Purple Heart stated.
"Aw, man, Venus's new shield is broken," Compa mentioned as she helped get the broken equipment off of Venus's arm.
"Yeah, and I really, really liked it," Venus added.
"Well, the shopkeeper did say it would break sooner or later," IF replied. "Sucks it only lasted one mission, though."
"Don't worry, I already know where we can get a much better shield," Purple Heart said.
"Really! Where!?" Venus responded in excitement.
Purple Heart smiled. "Well, I'll need to make a call tonight, but in a few days, we'll go to Lowee. You'll also get the chance to see Blanc and her sisters again."
"Yay! That sounds awesome! Thank you, sis!"
"Anything for you, sis."
Author's Note: Wooh, that was a long chapter! And also, no, this is not the end of Neptune and Venus's individual character arcs. It's only the beginning. That last scene with Purple Heart and Venus... just felt like the right way to write it.
Now that I've said that, I have a lot to talk about for this chapter. So to start, this chapter, or rather the second half of this chapter (minus the Fenris Wolf part) was inspired by the Dogoo scene in the first episode of the anime. Though, since I'm using the game canon, I chose to reference the event that the anime episode was based on (which didn't actually take place in a field in Re;Birth 2, oddly enough). This does not mean this story is going to use the whole anime plot as a basis. I would rather (and in fact, have) make an original plot in anything I write (the one exception being my Undertale story, "Fallen Determination", which does follow the plot of that game, but even then, it's rewritten under the conditions of the AU I made). Yes, the next chapter will take place in Lowee, but I'm not using the amusement park kidnapping plot. If anything, I'm pulling something from the manga instead.
(I did have to put in the part from the anime where Compa downs a Dogoo, injecting it with whatever is in her syringe, while smiling. It's cute, and when you stop to think about it, highly disturbing. Don't mess with Compa. The point is, it was a fun moment, and I felt I had to put it in here!)
I should say that this is the last of the "setup" chapters. The prologue and the first two chapters set up the background for the story and also introduced you to the new character, Venus. Chapter 3 helped flesh her out more, and gave us her final design. And now this chapter showed us her skills (in fighting), and taught her some important concepts she needs to know. Next chapter will start to (subtly) add the conflicts to the story.
Next up, I need to talk about the HDD thing. Lots of people seem really excited to see Venus's goddess form, and of course, they should. But I need to let everyone know... It's going to be a while before her HDD is revealed. I'm using the anime rules for a Candidate's HDD with Venus, where a Candidate doesn't have HDD at first, and has to earn it by overcoming a block they put on themselves. For example, Nepgear didn't want to end up stronger than her sister, so she had to learn to stop holding herself back, and Uni kept doubting herself, so she had to start blocking all that out. I think it's the best way to write a new goddess. But then it would make sense that Venus's transforming for the first time would need to be a big event, right? Well, it will be a very big event, later in the story.
But I did realize that Venus should learn about HDD sooner rather than later, so I figured I should put it at the end of this chapter. And that's where I ran into a problem. You see, I wanted Venus to see Neptune in HDD for the first time at the end of this chapter, but then I realized... Neptune would be in HDD for Venus's public announcement, right? I mean, I could've just said that Neptune was in her human form for the announcement, but that didn't make sense to ME. First of all, we all know that Neptune would probably speak more clearly and be more authoritative in HDD, right? Second, when I realized this problem, I had already written the start of the chapter, where Neptune questions how the public would view her after not being seen for so long. But since Neptune had to have been seen during the public announcement, I figured it would make sense if she was talking about her human form, which led more credence to her being in HDD for the announcement. I solved this problem by realizing I could use Venus's stupidity and obliviousness to my advantage, claiming that she simply failed to notice the Neptune was also Purple Heart. With her character, I didn't think that would be a stretch, and it also led to how I wrote the ending.
And yes, I did skip over writing the public announcement, but I did that on purpose. You see, to me, the important event was Venus's private reveal to the other goddesses and Neptune's friends. And you all knew how the public announcement would've gone anyways, right? So, because of that, I didn't think it would be too important to add. Plus, I thought it would've been boring to write.
So, the last big thing (and then a couple small things): Venus's fighting style and equipment. So the idea I had was like a combination of Captain America from Avengers and Link from the Legend of Zelda. If you think that means that Venus will be throwing her shield... that won't happen any time soon. But shield bashing and parrying, like in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, of course! I love the shield parry in Zelda (even if I suck at using it in BotW). Plus I liked the idea of Venus using the shield to bash enemies. Venus's physical strength, and later her magical aptitude, were both later additions to her fighting abilities (and her use of magic shall remain as means to empower her weapons).
But the real reason is that I liked the idea of Venus having a round shield, because the Planeptune N would fit perfectly in it. It was for the aesthetics basically (and yes, when Venus gets her new shield next chapter, it will have the N). I also later realized that I could fit it into a console. See, all the goddesses represent a game console or console line, and the Planeptune goddesses represent Sega consoles. Well, when I made the OC, I didn't plan on basing it on any console, I didn't see it as necessary. But then I realized I could retroactively make Venus represent the Sega CD, and claim her shield represents the CD part. Which basically means that, yes, Venus represents the Sega CD, and when she finally does get her HDD, her frisbee-like shield will be flattened to look more like a large-scale CD.
And lastly, her fighting style. Now, I plan to reveal this in the story as a plot point later, but as an author, I'm going to tell you, the readers, now, so you can watch for it. Venus's real strength... is going with the flow. Basically, all of these characters probably spent a long time training and practicing their combat styles and coming up with Skills. But Venus, remember, is an idiot, and that is partly because she doesn't think deeply about anything. This extends to her fighting. She's basically not thinking about what she does in combat, and just does the first thing that comes to mind. But she is creative and does remember the things she comes up with. So, she can come up with things on the spot.
In fact, like IF said, she made a skill on the spot in this chapter, which was that flying sword thrust she did. That move does have a name, but Venus didn't use it... because she didn't have it at the time, because she came up with the move on the stop, and she's clearly bad with names. This will be a pattern with her, she'll come up with a new Skill, but won't name it until later. Also, the name of this first Skill is "Comet Drive".
So, a few minor things. One, I mentioned the Ultradimension, as well as Uzume and Adult Neptune. If this sounds like they'll appear later in the story... sorry, they won't. This was basically to say that, yes, they are still a part of the world, and here is what their involvement (or lack of involvement) was in the backstory. Heck, the Makers won't have a super big role, though that's because I actually don't think about them much. In fact, I almost forgot to add IF and Compa! But I do want to try to give some Makers at least a cameo in the story, you know, to flesh out the world. Also, if you read my reason for Uzume and Adult Neptune not being here, to explain, I've... already come up with a sequel for this. Now, of course, I'm going to write that sequel until I've finished this, but they are planned to at least have minor, but important roles in that. And, of course, you could go read "Ultradminesion: Big Nep and Smolgear" for some Adult Neptune and Uzume content, though these two stories are not connected.
And finally, as I keep writing for Venus, I'm starting to imagine her to be like Crossette, a DLC character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, you know, minus Venus's incredible stupidity. But Crossette is the happy-go-lucky kind of girl who always trying to improve herself, and has a role model, too. Sounds like perfect characterization for Venus, and honestly, I can't unsee it. As I go along, I'm starting to visualize (or, I guess, audioize?) Venus's voice as Crossette's.