Chapter 15: Eyes on the Top

IF drifted into a deep sleep, thanks to Compa's Sleep Syringe. Everyone in the room observed as IF slipped into Compa's arms. R cleared her throat.

"Interesting. According to the intelligence gained from Planeptune's guild, DanDan's prisoners were being forced to create sports equipment", she said.

The room fell silent, as everyone put two and two together in their heads.

"That's it! The missing link!", Nisa blurted out.

"Is this enough proof for the Oracle's?", Compa asked.

R nodded. "The evidence seems pretty decisive. I shall present it to the Oracle personally. I'll keep you updated. Now, if you'll excuse me..." R bowed before leading everyone outside of the interrogation room. She took out her phone and dialed a number as she exited the guild.

Compa carried IF over her shoulder, leading the way back to the guild's lobby. The party took a seat at one of the benches. The nurse set IF down so that she was sitting with her head on the table.

"Now what are we supposed to do?", Compa asked.

"Good question. I guess all we can do now is wait for some results", Nisa replied.

"Aww. That sounds boring!", RED sighed.

"Well, we do have some time to kill. Why don't we go look around Leanbox?", Nisa smirked.

"Yay! Time to look for some wifeys!", RED cheered.

"I'll patrol the streets and make sure Justice is being met!", Nisa winked.

"U-umm… what about Iffy? She's still asleep!", Compa said.

"Can't we just wake her up?", RED asked.

"I don't have the antidote for this solution…", Compa muttered.

"No worries! We'll just go buy one from a shop", Nisa replied.

"Sorry, we're all out", the store clerk said.

"What? Come on, you have to have at least one lying around!", Nisa said.

"Some guy bought a whole bunch. Said something about gaming for several weeks straight. I haven't had the time to restock", the clerk shrugged.

"Isn't there anywhere else where we could find the antidote?", Compa asked, holding IF bridal style.

The clerk eyed the party up and down. He moved in closely and lowered his voice. "There is… one place. But I can't promise they'll help you. They're usually in Lowee." The man took out a piece of paper and hastily wrote down an address and some instructions. He inspected the note twice over before handing it over to Nisa. "Now, you didn't hear this from me, alright?"

The group thanked the clerk and exited the shop, headed straight for the address he wrote down. The note directed them to go to a certain mall, and into a certain store. According to the letter, they had to get a few specific items and bring it to the register.

The cashier smiled at the party. "Did you find everything you're looking for?"

Nisa looked down at the note once more before answering. "Why, yes! We need a… er… cauldron?"

The cashier looked around the store before pressing several buttons on the cash register. The entrance of the store locked itself, and an entrance opened up behind the cash register.

The cashier smiled at them and beckoned the group. "Please, step this way."

Everyone looked at each other before stepping forth into the revealed passageway. It closed once they all walked through it. Surprisingly, it was quite spacious for a secret passageway. At the end of the concealed hallway, they found a door to another room. Nisa stepped forth and knocked on it a few times.

After a few moments, the door was opened by a little brunette sporting a blue dress, an apron and a bunny ear hat.

"Hello! Pleasure to meet you!", the girl said, "My name's Gust. How may I help you?"

"Huh? A child?", Nisa gasped. She paused for a moment and looked into the room behind Gust. "Where are your parents?"

"There's no need to worry about stuff like that", Gust smiled, "Now, why have you come here?"

Compa stepped forward, carrying IF in her arms. "Um… we need an antidote to wake up our sleeping friend."

"I see. How did this happen to her?", Gust replied.

"I hit her with my sleep syringe to calm her down. But I don't have the antidote with me!", Compa explained frantically.

"I see. I'll cook something up in a jiffy!", Gust smiled and invited everyone into the room. There were shelves everywhere with all kinds of ingredients, and a cauldron in the middle. Gust started zooming around the room, climbing up ladders to reach the ingredients she needed from each shelf. She would pick them out and throw them over her shoulder into the cauldron.

Every time an ingredient was dropped into the cauldron, it would create a smoke cloud. Sometimes it even sparked up, threatening anyone who was too close to it. After tossing in all the ingredients, Gust walked over to the cauldron and stirred it with a large ladle.

"Is this… alchemy?", Nisa muttered.

"Mhm! I can make just about anything! A simple potion is no problem for the likes of me!", Gust replied.

"Wow, that's amazing!", Compa cheered.

RED crossed her arms. "Could you also make a… love potion?"

Gust nodded. "Of course! But let's do everything one at a time, shall we?" After a few moments, a puff of smoke arose from the cauldron. Gust let go of the ladle and nodded at her work. "All done!" She took out an empty bottle and scooped up some of the potion up with it.

The little girl moved over to Compa, who was still holding IF. She brought the potion up to IF's lips and poured it into her mouth. After a few moments, IF coughed a little and opened her eyes.

The first person IF saw was Compa. "...Hm? ...C-Compa?!", she blurted out. She squirmed nervously in Compa's arms and fell onto the ground.

"Iffy? You're awake!", Compa cheered.

IF rubbed the back of her head and looked around. "Where… are we?"

"We're at an alchemist's lab. We had to get a potion to wake you up after Compa hit you with her syringe", Nisa explained.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. When we found out about DanDan", IF muttered.

Nisa nodded. "Glad that that's over with." She turned to face Gust. "How much do we owe you?"

Gust smiled. "You seem like a promising party… don't worry about paying me for now. I'll have you repay the favor someday!" Nisa gulped. She probably should've asked about payment first.

"N-never mind about that love potion. I'll just get wifeys the old fashioned way", RED smiled nervously.

"Thank you for helping us, Ms. Gust!", Compa bowed. The party left the room and traveled through the passageway back to the store at the front. They waved at the cashier as they made their way outside.

"So, what now?", IF asked.

"R said that she was going to show all the evidence to the Oracle. She'll let us know what their decision it", Nisa explained .

"Figures. Guess we've got some time to kill, now", IF shrugged.

RED gasped. "Wait, do you mean it?"

"Great to see you learned the value of free time!", Nisa grinned.

"Not like I could go for a ride on my bike or anything. Sure, let's cut loose", IF shrugged.

Meanwhile at AE, a meeting was underway in a conference room. Elsa sat at the head of a table with her arms crossed. Also at the table was Wyn, Ai, a lightly armored figure, and Underling.

Elsa leaned onto the table. "...Battlefront. Underling. Status report."

The armored person replied first. "A half dozen missions complete, just like the simulations."

Underling nodded. "Well I got that broad's bike, just like you asked. Took the engine out and everything", she shrugged, "I dunno what your beef with her is, but I guess it's none of my business to know."

"Yes, well, my bike got ruined by a bunch of dogoos. I'm just taking my rightful payment", Elsa replied. "...Ai? How about you?"

Ai grumbled to herself. "That IF and her party got in the way of our music! It ruined our plan completely."

"Hmph. How do I keep running into her?", Elsa thought to herself. She looked up towards Ai. "Such a terrible waste. Oh well. Guess I have to just recruit some more people..."

Leanbox Basilicom

R stood before the Leanbox Oracle, Chika Hakozaki, and a holographic screen of Planeptune's Oracle, Histoire. She had just finished presenting all of the evidence gained by the nation's efforts.

"These findings are, indeed, troublesome", Histoire responded.

"To think somebody from the fabulous city of Leanbox would commit such atrocities…", Chika muttered.

R nodded. "It' looks like they've…", she began to take off her shades, "...struck out."

Histoire stared at R with a blank expression. "Um… excuse me?"

Chika clapped. "How stylish!"

Histoire shook her head. "A-anyway. Your request for a warrant has been granted."

R put her shades back on and nodded. "I will have a party mobilize as soon as possible." She bowed before turning around and taking her leave.

Chika turned to face the holographic display of Histoire. "We should let our counterparts in Lowee and Lastation know about this, too. AE has a huge sphere of influence across Gamindustri."

"Y-yes, of course…", Histoire replied.

IF's party was having a girl's night out, complete with shopping, eating, and visiting tourist attractions. They eventually ran into a blocked off street in the middle of the city. Nisa went up to ask what was going on.

"We're filming a movie, ma'am!", an officer said.

"Whoa, seriously? I wonder who's in it", IF said.

RED's eyes glew. A celebrity wifey? Such a thought was completely irresistible to the short redhead. She shoved her way through the crowd to the front to get a better look.

A blonde woman stood before an ancient dragon with a large blade in hand. The monster roared at her, and flew in to tackle her. At the last possible second, the woman dashed behind the dragon and dispatched it with a single strike. The dragon fell flat on the ground, lifeless. The blonde stylishly sheathed her weapon before delivering her single line: "Heh. Too easy."

"Aaaand cut!", someone shouted.

A bunch of people shuffled around to take care of different things. The blonde woman took a deep breath and walked off towards the sidelines.

RED looked around. "Yowza! Who's that cool lady?"

"Do you live under a rock? That's S-Sha! One of the best adventurers in all of Gamindustri!", a stranger replied.

RED's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Even BETTER!", she said. She climbed over the barricades and ran onto the set, running right for S-Sha. The blonde turned around and noticed the redhead approach her.

"Hm? Who're you?", S-Sha muttered.

"My name's RED! And you're my wifey candidate!", the short girl blurted out.

S-Sha eyed RED up. "Oh, I see. You're a fan."

"S-Sha!", someone else called out. Both S-Sha and RED turned to see who it was. There were three women. One had brown hair and blue armor, along with a dogoo-shaped shield. The next one was blonde with a bikini-top and skirt. The last one, had silver hair and black and white outfit made up of a vest, a skirt and boots.

The girl with the shield spoke up. "Your performance was legendary!", she said.

The blonde nodded. "It was a spectacle that roared fiercely into the hearts of the viewers. Bravo."

The silver haired girl gave a shy smile. "G-great job…"

S-Sha nodded at them. "Thanks, everyone. One second- this fan wants my autograph."

RED was even happier than before. Not just one, but four wifey candidates were before her. She froze in place before S-Sha and her party.

"E-Sha, could you give me a note to write on?", S-Sha said.

The silver-haired woman nodded and took a paper and pen out of her… somewhere… and handed it to S-Sha. S-Sha scribbled her name onto it and looked up to look at RED. "So, who do I make this out to? RED?"

"Yup!", the redhead said gleefully.

S-Sha smiled at her and scribbled her name onto the paper. She handed it over to RED with a nod. "Stay safe now, okay?" And with that, S-Sha and her party walked off somewhere.

RED was ecstatic- this autograph was clearly a proclamation of love! With her head in the clouds, she somehow made her way back to her party spectating on the sidelines.

"RED! Did you meet the movie star? What was she like?", Nisa asked.

"She gave me a note proclaiming her love to me!", RED replied.

"I doubt that's what happened", IF said bluntly.

"Ohhh. Don't tell me- you're jealous?", RED said with a smirk.

IF sighed. "Yeah, no."

RED giggled. "Anyway, her name's S-Sha! Some guy told me she's one of the best adventurers in Gamindustri! She also has her own party who came to see her!"

IF's expression changed immediately. Now she was jealous.

"Wow. I've never seen a movie being filmed before!", Compa commented.

"Indeed. I look forward to seeing what sort of justice will be displayed on the big screen!", Nisa said with a thumbs up.

"W-whatever. Let's keep going", IF stuttered.

As they walked away from the film set, IF thought to herself. She didn't care about being a movie-star, but she couldn't help but feel envy towards the clearly superior adventurer. One day, she vowed, one day she'd be the one who people will look to as a shining example of an adventurer.

CHAPTER 15… EYES ON THE TOP.. END.