Chapter 6: The Ultimate Combo, Part 2

Warm and cozy. That's how IF felt as she bathed in the warmth of the sun around her. Her only regret was that she couldn't get into her bed before going to sleep. She could just barely hear the noises of life around her in her sleep. She felt the warmth envelop her, and could smell the distinctive odor of gas as two people talked nearby.

The voices were muffled, but close enough to get IF to begin to drift out of her sleep. She tried to rub her eyes, but her arms wouldn't move. IF tried to pull them up, but realized that she was stuck in something hot and sticky. She opened her eyes and realized she couldn't see anything around her. The young brunette realized that the warmth she was feeling was coming from underneath her and started to wiggle around in place, hoping it would get her free.

The voices started getting louder. IF was able to finally recognize one of them- the cute and distinctive voice of her friend Compa. She sounded like she was upset for some reason. Suddenly, IF heard the other voice, which sounded much closer than Compa's.

"Is it ready? I'm STARVING!", the voice said.

Suddenly, the ceiling above IF rose into the air and light flashed into her face. She could see a flying saucer being lifted into the air, held by some sort of long object. After processing what she was looking at, IF understood what was going on. What she saw was no "flying saucer"- it was the lid of a cooking pan, and she was in the pan. When she looked down, she saw that the warm and sticky stuff that she was stuck in was… pudding. Compa's pudding. A cup of Compa's pudding, sitting in a pan with several other cups being cooked.

"No, wait! It's not ready yet!", Compa's voice called out to the other person.

"Aw, come on! Just one bite!", the other voice said.

A hand reached down and picked up the cup IF was in. As IF was lifted into the air, she stared in shock at who was looking back at her.

"I can't WAIT to see what you taste like!", the devilish DanDan grinned. Her evil smile grew wider as her mouth opened up, bringing the pudding cup closer into it.

"W-waaaaah! C-Compa, help! I'm inside the pudding!", IF cried out, trying to wiggle out frantically.

Compa walked towards RanRan and looked down at the cup of pudding.

"Well… if you burn your tongue, I guess it would be a chance for me to test out my new syringe!", Compa smiled.

IF could do nothing but scream as her cries for help fell on death ears. With each passing second, she was brought closer and closer towards DanDan's vicious maw.

"No…. NOOOOOOOO!", IF cried out as she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable.

"IF…!"

"Wake up, IF!"

"HEY!"

IF was jolted awake when she felt a string on her cheek. The first thing she saw was Nisa looking back at her.

"What the hell did you do that for?!", IF complained as she wiped her cheek.

"You were moaning in your sleep and wouldn't wake up. I must have saved you from quite the nightmare!", Nisa responded, "I'm surprised I found you passed out on your bike like this. I hope you weren't out partying instead of training!".

IF stood up straight and wiped some sweat off of her forehead. She looked around and got a good look of where she was. All she could do was sigh in relief that she wasn't actually going to be eaten alive.

"Listen, I really wanted to train yesterday and all, but I found this weird stuffed pig and the next thing I knew, I was out cold. I woke up in this abandoned factory and some crazy pig chick made us play this stupid game where we had to turn each other into pigs!", IF explained.

"That sounds pretty bizarre. Are you sure you didn't just dream the whole thing up?", Nisa asked.

"Hell no. I even ran into that rich kid, Elsa, there too. I'm sure you could ask her about it if we ever run into her again.", IF said as she crossed her arms.

"You can tell me more about it later. Right now, I need your help on a super high priority mission!", Nisa smiled as she pointed towards IF.

"Now you're talkin' my language!", IF smiled eagerly, "What have you got for us this time? Exploring a forbidden temple? Sealing a gateway to hell? Oh, I know! We have to convince a phantom not to-"

"We're going to rescue Lid!", Nisa interrupted, "We already have an idea of where she is, too. We tried to get there yesterday, but we ran into a problem.".

"Wait, who's 'we'?", IF asked.

"I enlisted the aid of two friends of mine to help! They're waiting at the noodle shop right now.", Nisa said as she pointed behind her.

"I see. Anyway, what makes you think she needs to be rescued? She looked pretty confident when she said she would be able to get away.", IF crossed her arms.

"Come on IF, you don't really think she could outrun a giant robot like that, do you? Besides, we ran into someone guarding the area. That HAS to be bad news!", Nisa explained.

"If you say so... Okay then, let's go meet these friends of yours so we can get going.", IF answered.

As the duo entered the noodle shop, the bells above the door jingled and they were given a hearty "Welcome!" by the staff. One of the waitresses came to ask them where they wanted to be seated and Nisa pointed over to B-Sha and CC2's table. The waitress graciously led them over to their contacts and bowed before leaving to help another table.

"Oh, ith thish Ah-Efffff? Vith go meet nou!", CC2 greeted with her mouth full.

"Don't mind CC2 over here. It's hard for her to control herself around ramen.", B-Sha shrugged, "My name's B-Sha. Nice to meet you!".

"The name's IF! I'm a Gust of Wind who flows through Gamindustri!", IF said proudly.

Nisa quickly took a seat next to B-Sha, leaving IF to have to take a seat next to CC2 and her pile of bowls. She made sure to keep her distance to avoid having the broth from CC2's ramen splash onto jacket. CC2 slurped up some noodles and swallowed them before turning to IF.

"Sorry about that. Gotta keep my energy up, you know? So IF, what do you do?", CC2 asked with a friendly grin.

"What do I do? Well, I'm a pretty average member of the Guild…", IF started to talk.

"No, not that. I mean how you fight! B-Sha here uses a bazooka and a robot, while I prefer to get up close and personal with my daggers!", the blonde thief elaborated.

"Hey, I use daggers too!", IF smiled.

CC2 eyed up the brunette for a moment. "Daggers? With those sleeves? Nisa, did you really let her fight like that?", she asked.

"Er, well! She seemed to know what she was doing, so I didn't say anything…", Nisa smiled awkwardly.

"Do you know any better weapons I could use, CC2?", IF asked.

"Yeah! You're gonna need something a bit longer if you don't want your sleeves to make things hard for you. Let's stop by a shop later so we can find you something better!", CC2 said with a hearty grin.

"Enough about that! Let's talk about how we're going to bring C-Sha back! Oh, and your other friend too, Nisa.", B-Sha butted in.

"C-Sha?", IF repeated.

"Oh, let me explain. That 'problem' we ran into was B-Sha's friend, C-Sha. She took out all three of us and we had to retreat… strategically, of course!", Nisa explained.

"Wait a minute. If you're friends, then why did she beat you up?", IF asked.

"That's what I wanna know! She called us viruses or something and then attacked us! Something's totally wrong with her!", B-Sha blurted out, standing up from her seat and slamming her hands onto the table.

Other customers glanced towards them and a waitress came over to serve them tea.

"I-Is something the matter?", the waitress asked.

"Oh, sorry about that…", B-Sha said as she sunk back into her seat.

The waitress smiled and bowed before walking away from the table. CC2 resumed her slurping and IF leaned forward onto the table, facing B-Sha.

"Viruses? What a weird choice of words.", the brunette muttered.

"I felt a strange aura emanating from her. Perhaps she is possessed!", Nisa responded.

"Hey, if that's the case, maybe we can break the spell somehow. Maybe a magic word or a memory or something. Hey B-Sha, do you know anything that would fit something like that?", IF said.

"Huh? I don't follow.", the tiny blonde responded.

"You know, like something really important to C-Sha that would make her come to her senses!", IF said enthusiastically.

"Now that you mention it… C-Sha LOVES food. Especially meat. Hey, do you think bringing her some of the meat they serve here would work?", B-Sha asked.

"It's worth a shot!", CC2 said as she finished another bowl.

"Don't get too excited CyberCon, this stuff won't be for you.", Nisa butted in.

"Aw… Oh well, I'm full anyway!", CC2 shrugged.

"We'll go ahead and order the meat. Why don't you and IF go ahead and get her some new weapons in the mean time?", Nisa suggested.

"Oh hey, that's a great idea! Come on, IF!", CC2 smiled.

"Ow! Quit shoving!", IF complained.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?! You still have to pay for these!", B-Sha called out to IF and CC2 as they made their way outside the noodle shop.

CC2 looked back just before she was about to go through the front door.

"You've got a lot of cash, right? Thanks, B-Sha!".

After running a few blocks away from the noodle shop, CC2 and IF started to make their way towards the weapon shop. At this point, having a conversation was inevitable.

"So how long have you known Nisa?", CC2 asked.

"It hasn't even been a week yet…", IF sighed.

"Whoa, seriously? She talked about you as if you knew each other for ages!", CC2 said surprised.

"She does seem like the type to overdo everything.", IF shrugged.

"That much energy's great, though! It makes her pretty reliable.", CC2 said as she stretched out her arms.

"What about you and B-Sha?", IF asked, "It's hard to imagine how a thief and a girl with a bazooka could work together.".

"It works out pretty well, actually! We've completed tons of missions with each other! We're so in sync, we could probably read each other's minds! Well, maybe just her. I'm not too good with complicated stuff like that. I am better when it comes to getting up close and personal, though!", CC2 answered.

"I think I can relate. Nisa and I were able to back each other up pretty well in our previous mission.", IF smiled.

"That's great! You can do some pretty awesome stuff if you and your partner's bond is strong enough. You can trust each other to do pretty crazy stuff, you know?", CC2 added.

The two girls were now across the street from the shop. However, there was a crowd of people protesting in front of it.

"Give us the weapons!", one man shouted.

"Yeah, you can't tell us what we can't buy!", a teenager called out.

"That guy's wrong, but I agree!", one woman yelled.

A Basilicom official standing in front of the store stepped up towards the crowd.

"For the time being, only people registered for the guild will be able to purchase weapons! On behalf of Lady Purple Heart, I thank you for your understanding and cooperation!", the official said through a megaphone.

"Lady Purple Heart?! Give me a break!", a protester complained.

The guards urged the crowd to disperse and reassured them that they would be able to buy whatever weapons they wanted in due time. IF sighed at the sight and waited for the area to be clear before crossing the street.

"Hey, don't worry! The Grand Prix will get people believe in the Goddesses again! Just like it always does!", CC2 said as she gave the brunette a reassuring smile.

"I hope you're right.", IF responded.

They crossed the street and entered the shop, heading straight to the clerk. Luckily for them, the commotion outside made it less busy than usual.

"Welcome! How may I help you?", the clerk greeted.

"We're here to get her some new weapons. She uses daggers right now, but we need something a little big longer so her sleeves don't get in the way. Do you have any sort of daggers with a longer grip to them or something?", CC2 explained.

"Longer, huh? I think I have just the thing!", the clerk said with a nod. He retreated into the room behind the counter for a few minutes and returned with a dusty box. He placed it onto the counter in front of the two girls and opened it up, revealing a pair of katars to them.

"Some busty ninja girl left these here a while ago. She hasn't come back for them in a long time, so I guess you could have 'em.", the clerk said.

"Whoa, seriously? Well, if you insist! Try 'em out, IF!", CC2 responded.

After questioning the clerk's business practices in her head, IF picked up the weapons and backed away from the counter before giving them a few swings.

"Yeah… I can get used to this. Everything feels so natural. These weapons flow gently through the air with every movement!", IF said enthusiastically, "I'll take 'em!".

"Really? I'll give it to you cheap, since I've been trying to get rid of them for a while.", the clerk yawned.

"Awesome! Looks like today's our lucky day!", CC2 smiled.

"I hope you didn't just jinx it.", IF smirked.

After leaving the store, IF called Nisa to let them know they were ready. The group agreed to meet up at the edge of Planeptune City before heading off to the Digital Dungeon Pass once more. IF grumbled along the way about not being able to bring her bike. When they arrived at the entrance, they went over their strategy.

"C-Sha's as strong as a mech at melee range, and apparently long range now, too.", B-Sha explained, "Oh, and she can teleport while in there, too. Watch out for when she beams away so she doesn't surprise you.".

"Let's not make this longer than we have to. All we have to do is show her the meat we bought and she'll snap out of it!", IF butted in.

"Shouldn't we have a backup plan just in case that doesn't work?", B-Sha replied.

"B-Sha is right. We can't just rely on IF's plan. If it doesn't work, then we're going to have to knock C-Sha out and ask questions later.", Nisa said with her arms crossed.

"What's wrong with my plan?", IF sighed.

"We can't put all our eggs in one basket, you know?", CC2 reassured the brunette.

"Good point.", IF shrugged, "Wait. You told me that you had trouble with her last time. What makes you think you stand a chance now?".

"We have you, of course!", Nisa nodded.

"Yeah, you're obviously the most level-headed person here! That's bound to give us an edge!", B-Sha added.

"I mean, there's no way we would be weaker with another head in the party!", CC2 grinned.

"Geez, way to pile the pressure onto me guys...", IF replied with an embarrassed smile.

"We're gonna need everyone to do their part if we wanna win. We're not only fighting C-Sha here. We're gonna probably get to fight that giant robot after that!", B-Sha nodded.

"Oh yeah! That's gonna be awesome!", CC2 said.

"One step at a time, ladies.", Nisa smirked, "Don't forget the plan."

Nisa and CC2 had their goggles over their eyes as they ran through the epileptic nightmare of a dungeon. IF and B-Sha were several paces behind, trying to cover their eyes as they kept up. The goggle girls up front cut down any enemies in their path as they approached their destination, stopping just short of the ledge where they encountered C-Sha last time. B-Sha and IF caught up to them shortly.

"This is where you ran into her, right? What makes you think she's still here?", IF asked.

"She didn't want us crossing this point at all. I believe she will be return to this spot to defend it!", Nisa replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!", CC2 butted in. She ran up and was nearly blasted at her feet. When she looked up, C-Sha was standing up on the ledge, blaster at the ready.

"Back for more, huh? Don't say I didn't warn you.", C-Sha called out to them. She vanished into a beam and promptly reappeared in front of the group. CC2's allies moved up next to her to face the busty fighter.

"Let's see here… some sort of wolf-fox, a penguin, a yellow ball thing and… what is that supposed to be? A gust of wind carrying a leaf?", C-Sha muttered to herself, "Oh well, who cares. Monsters are monsters. I needed to relieve some stress, anyways.".

"Looks like she's still not still not seeing straight.", B-Sha sighed.

"B-Sha! Show her the meat!", Nisa said.

As B-Sha reached for the package, C-Sha dashed right for her. IF intervened and blocked C-Sha's strike, only to be caught off guard when the street fighter rapidly followed up her attack by leaping into the air and kicking IF right in the forehead. IF fell backwards and saw stars along with what she swore were the letters "K" and "O".

B-Sha stumbled backwards to get away from C-Sha and IF's scuffle. Nisa and CC2 attacked C-Sha from her sides at the same time, leaving the brawler no choice but to use both of her arms to block their attacks. B-Sha used this opening to blast C-Sha directly. Nisa and CC2 jumped backwards just in time to evade the blast. C-Sha wasn't so lucky.

C-Sha spun around several times as she flew backwards. After hitting the ground, she quickly pushed herself up and vanished into a beam once more. IF pulled out a healing pod from one of her pouches and used it before getting back onto her feet. She looked around with her katars at the ready. She noticed a brief, distinctive blue flash appear behind CC2.

"CyberCon! Behind you!", IF called out.

The thief instinctively turned around and blocked, catching C-Sha's attack before it landed. IF saw C-Sha position herself to kick again and called out once more.

"Watch out for her leg!", IF warned.

CC2 flipped backwards, out of the way of C-Sha's kick and used the brief opening to slash at her opponent. She was able to hit her, but not without taking a hit herself. Both fighters skipped backwards away from each other. C-Sha looked at CC2, then squinted to look further behind her for IF. When CC2 realized where she was looking, she desperately tried to reach C-Sha before the could beam away again. She only managed to cover half the distance before C-Sha vanished once more.

IF saw the blue flash but couldn't react in time to block C-Sha's attack. The tall woman attacked quickly and relentlessly, not giving the shorter brunette a chance to stop her at all. The young gust forced her way into an opening by shoving her way forward towards C-Sha rather than away from her and slammed her head into her.

C-Sha's natural protection lessened the impact of IF's headbutt. After IF's head bounced off of C-Sha, she brought her katars up and slashed at C-Sha before flipping away from her. Nisa suddenly followed up on the attack with a kick directly into C-Sha's back.

The outnumbered brawler turned around and grabbed the heroine before throwing her right into IF. Nisa crashed right into IF and the two of them tumbled onto the ground. C-Sha heard a blast go off behind her and instinctively skipped aside before turning around to face the direction it came from. She saw B-Sha standing there, with smoke coming out of her bazooka.

"Huh? I didn't even have to move for that one...", C-Sha taunted.

Suddenly, a dagger struck C-Sha from behind, catching her completely by surprise. She staggered forward and turned around, only to find that the missile B-Sha had launched was carrying a sneaky thief on board. The woman grit her teeth and used her blaster to shoot at the missile.

CC2 leapt off of the missile before C-Sha was able to blow it up. She tumbled on the ground and regained her footing before starting to make her way towards C-Sha, who continued to fire rapidly at her.

"Now!", CC2 shouted.

Before C-Sha could figure out what was going on, it was too late. She was surrounded, and all four girls were rapidly approaching her. The first one to reach her was IF.

"Flame Soul Slice!", IF shouted as her attacked C-Sha with her fiery weapons. Because she was focusing on shooting CC2, the best she could do was block only one of IF's twin katars.

"Laser Cannon, Bandam!", B-Sha called out. Her faithful companion flew in and disassembled itself in mid air, allowing its pieces to combine with B-Sha's bazooka, becoming a much larger gun. B-Sha leapt into the air and posed before aiming the weapon towards her enemy.

"IF, move!", B-Sha shouted.

As soon as IF jumped out of the way, a violent yellow laser was unleashed from B-Sha's weapon and blasted C-Sha. She was able to block this time, but was starting to show visible fatigue.

"Absolute Wind!", CC2 growled as she dashed up towards C-Sha. Thanks to the hotheaded announcement, C-Sha was able to respond to the girl's attack and caught her arms before the daggers reached her. Before C-Sha could follow up with another attack, a blast of wind arose from beneath them and sent both girls up into the air.

C-Sha held onto CC2 and threw her into one of the walls while in mid-air, which Nisa was waiting for. She leapt into the air and brought her fist up towards C-Sha's face.

"Taste the truth!", Nisa shouted as she unleashed her attack. C-Sha easily caught her fist, but didn't expect the package Nisa had been holding to smack into her face.

Nisa landed with a pose next to her awaiting allies, who were also posing next to her.

"This is the fruit of our friendship!", Nisa announced, "The F.L.A.T. Combo!".

After Nisa announced the name of their attack, C-Sha hit the ground behind them accompanied with a completely unnecessary explosion.

After the explosion cleared, C-Sha sniffed the package on her face and smelled the undeniable scent of meat. She sat up, tore open the package and devoured its contents in no more than a few seconds.

"Hey, I recognize this pork. It's from that ramen place in Planeptune!", the woman muttered. The silver ring around her eyes dissipated and she noticed the four girls posing next to her. "Oh, hey B-Sha. What's up? Are we filming one of those kid's TV shows?".

"C-Sha! You're alright!", B-Sha replied joyfully.

"It worked!", CC2 said surprised.

"Good plan, IF! We should have just done this from the start!", Nisa smiled.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to do this big team attack thing first", IF sighed, "Though I have to admit, that was pretty cool.".

"Still waiting…", C-Sha butted in.

"Yeah, come on guys!", B-Sha added, "Do you remember anything happening before this?".

C-Sha stood up and began to think back to the last thing she was doing before she ended up in the dungeon with them. After a few moments, she shook her head. "Sorry, my head's a bit hazy right now. I'll get back to you when I remember something.", she said with a shrug.

"Come on, there has to be something you remember!", B-Sha pushed.

"Calm down, we just broke her free. She needs time to get her head straight.", IF interrupted. She turned to face C-Sha. "You're probably really confused. In a nutshell, we came to rescue one of our friends. We ran into you along the way and you tried to stop us.", she began.

"Yeah, so we had to beat some sense into you!", CC2 added.

"Whoa, really? My bad, everyone!", C-Sha responded, "I didn't give you too much trouble, did I?".

"You put up a great fight! It took the four of us just to take your down!", CC2 smirked.

Nisa stepped forward so that she was standing in between everyone. "A good fight, indeed! But our friendship proved to be stronger!", she announced proudly, before turning to face C-Sha, "Can you still fight? We still need to save our other friend.".

"Nothing too serious. The lunch you brought me really helped me recover from all of that.", C-Sha smiled, "Sure, I'll come with you. I do owe you one for the food, after all!".

"The more the merrier!", Nisa rejoiced.

"Wait, hold on. Aren't the four of us already a crowd?", IF said.

"No way!", CC2 answered.

"I don't mind having more than four people.", B-Sha added.

"Come on IF, parties aren't limited to only four people!", Nisa said.

"Hey, I don't want to ruin your groove or anything. If you don't want me to join, it's no problem.", C-Sha said nonchalantly.

"No, that's not-", IF blurted out, "...I'm not used to being in a party this big, is all. I always went out by myself before I met Nisa.".

"Hey, no hard feelings. We've all gotta start out somewhere.", C-Sha said with a smile.

Nisa nodded in approval. "Now that that's settled, we can finally continue following Lid's trail!", she said triumphantly.

"Yeah! I can't wait to fight that giant robot!", CC2 smirked.

"I call dibs on the parts!", B-Sha winked.

"Whoa, you girls are gonna go fight a giant robot? Looks like today's my lucky day!", C-Sha said.

"And that's two flags today...", IF mumbled.

"Need I remind you all that this is a rescue mission?", Nisa spoke up, "If we're all rested up, then let's hurry! Every minute that passes is another minute where Lid is in danger!".

Somewhere within an unknown facility, Lid's arms and feet were being held by a machine. She stood with her head down in the dark room, trying to get what little rest she could. It was all she could do, as she was unable to escape without any of her equipment. A set of doors slid open and the lights turned on. Lid didn't respond, already aware of who had just entered the room.

"Have you had enough time to make up your mind?", K-Sha smirked.

Lid glanced up at the school girl with an exhausted, yet defiant look on her face. "You know just as well as I do that I was trained to withstand these sort of situations. You'll never convince me.", Lid muttered.

K-Sha shrugged nonchalantly and marched over to a machine covered in a blanket. She pulled it off swiftly, revealing a device with a large dial on it. It was currently in the "OFF" position all the way to the left. The other settings read "LOW, MID, HIGH", and finally, "MAX". The deviant yandere playfully placed her hand on the dial and looked back towards Lid with an endearing look on her face.

"Everyone has a breaking point! I should know. I reached mine when you betrayed me!", K-Sha said with a smile that betrayed all words.

In an instant, she cranked the dial all the way up to "MAX". Lid closed her eyes and braced herself for the impending shock, only to feel nothing but an odd ticklish sensation. She kept her eyes closed until she heard footsteps move in front of her, then slowly rose her head up to see K-Sha slowly wiggling her fingers playfully.

"Let's just see how long that conditioning of yours can last. Oh, we're going to have so much fun!", K-Sha smiled as she crept towards Lid. She brought her fingers up underneath Lid's armpits and began to tickle her. Lid tried her hardest to resist the irresistible sensation of laughter that K-Sha was making her feel. Yet, despite all of her efforts, she could just barely hold it.

"Tch… St-stofth… ahaha… No…", Lid blurted out.

"You won't be able to hold on forever…", K-Sha purred as she began to rub her head on Lid's chest. Lid knew she couldn't endure such bittersweet torture forever.

"Hehehe… Ahaha… AHAHAHAHAAA!".

CHAPTER 6… The Ultimate Combo, Part 2... END.