Chapter 9: False Fronts
B-Sha joined Histoire in the Basilicom meeting room, where the others had phoned in via holographic video. The Oracles, Gold Third, and Court members sat side-by-side from their respective factions with Affimojas and Steamax phoning in from another feed. "The emergency national conference will now commence." Histoire announced. "Now, are there any questions?"
"Just one." Chika spoke up. "Why exactly are the perv-bots in this meeting again?"
"For your information, Oracle, do not forget who put a vast investment into Leanbox's products on behalf of your Lady Vert." Affimojas replied.
"Because 'muh busty blondes' bla bla bla, bla bla bla. Nobody is taking Lady Vert from me! Especially now that after I've been gone for at least two whole entries!" Chika huffed.
"Nobody's interested in your lesbian tendencies, Chika." S-Sha replied.
"What the-… I do NOT have! Urgh! You see what she puts me through?" Chika pointed dramatically at S-Sha, whose eyes turned green in a moment's blink as she looked down sadly. "Ah, hey! Don't give me that junk again, E-Sha! Ya see! I'm serious this time! Ya see what she puts me though?! Her and E-Sha's personalities have begun to mold as of late!"
"Can we just please get on with it?" Yvoire sighed, placing a hand across his face.
"As usual, Leanbox has it together." Kei chuckled through a mild smirk.
"Indeed." Ganache added. "They really know how to turn up the heat."
"You say something, Lastation Head Manager?" Yvoire raised an eyebrow at Ganache.
"Heehee! Don't worry, Chika. I know how you feel about Vert." K-Sha giggled, folding her hands. "It's the same with me and Noire."
"No, it really isn't." B-Sha's face dripped with unamusement.
"Everyone. Please! This is not the time for idle bickering when we have an international crisis on our hands." Histoire tried to redirect the topic back to the issue at hand. "And Affimojas has been most helpful in lending us resource support. So we thank you, Affimojas and Steamax, for your contribution. But let us stay on the topic at hand. Mina, C-Sha, Financier; could you fill us in on your status?"
Mina nodded, "Since last contact with the CPUs, we have determined that the light which illuminated the Atari Area occurred about 1.8 hours ago."
Chika let out an extended 'okay' and B-Sha folded her arms "Like what exactly does that tell us?"
"I am not finished!" Mina scolded in a manner similar to Histoire. "Anyways, the truth of the matter is… … … It appears that Donkong Ruins has… disappeared."
"Disappeared?! Just what does that even mean?" K-Sha asked.
"It means just what it means. It vanished. As in it is no longer at its prior location." Kei stated plainly.
"That doesn't make any sense. Ruins don't just vanish." Affimojas replied.
"We don't exactly understand it either, but it's true." C-Sha explained, "I summoned the local guild to go scout out the area and they confirmed the reports. All that remains is some kind of hole floating on a primordial sea.
"Ooh! Maybe if we go down below the clouds and into the ocean we'll find a forgotten city with a big, metal papa in a diving suit!" B-Sha grinned.
"I had forgotten B-Sha spent a lot of her time with Neptune prior to the incident." Histoire sighed. "What else did the scouts find, C-Sha?"
"Not a thing. It was pretty bizarre. It's as if something just came and took a bite out of the very land itself. I truly have no other words for what we saw there." C-Sha responded.
"Might you have any pictures you can send?" S-Sha asked. "This has actually gotten very interesting."
"Yes, we do. I will transfer them to you now." Financier replied, proceeding to mail the unsettling photos to the other nations. The others looked upon the photos completely stupefied. What they saw was like a crater, dipping down slowly from the level ground it drove into. Only the further it sloped, the less ground there was until all that could be seen was a vast, wide-open sea of star-like nebula.
"Wh-what has happened? Are they dead? Is my Noire gone for good?!" K-Sha's voice trembled. The others reacted in their own ways.
"Please. Let us remain calm, everyone. We are still investigating the situation. I am sure the CPUs and all their friends have survived. This isn't the first time something like this has happened." Histoire tried to keep everyone together.
"Only this time, it was more than just Neptune dimension hopping." Ganache added. "With these circumstances, it would spell chaos for Gamindustri should they not return soon."
"Oh no! My darling Vert out there all alone!" Chika sweatdropped heavily.
"My Noire!" K-Sha whined.
"Quick, K-Sha. Virtual hug time, girlfriend!" Chika sent a quick hug emoticon to K-Sha, to which K-Sha texted back the favor. Yvoire sighed, rolling his eyes.
"A-actually. I did a bit of scouting on my own and found something." Steamax said.
"What!? You never told me you went scouting!" Affimojas exclaimed.
"Because you were the one who told me to go scouting, General!" Steamax blurted.
"NO I DI-… oh wait… yeah… I forgot." Affimojas replied awkwardly. One after the other, Steamax, Histoire and B-Sha, and then everyone else facepalmed simultaneously as if to reference an old movie meme. "What? A guy can have his off days."
"Robots can have off days? Pfft." Chika moaned.
S-Sha sighed "What did you find, Steamax?" A couple of bots brought in a thick, glass container with a dogoo in it, which frantically bounced around the container in a rampage. The Dogoo's gel-like body was a deep red with blackened tails and ears, and a set of yellow eyes. At one point it snapped at Steamax with sharp teeth, startling him onto the ground.
"Goodness. I have never seen a dogoo act like that before." Mina replied.
"And what to make of that palette swap? Like it's supposed to say? Hey, I'm evil or… edgier than the original." B-Sha wiggled her fingers in the air theatrically.
"No records of such a dogoo exists." Histoire then sighed sadly "I feel almost saddened for it. It looks to be in pain."
"Okay, but that still doesn't tell us anything about what happened." S-Sha folded her arms, not amused at the find.
"I recovered it from the scene of the incident." Steamax replied. "Clearly there was something more going on than just the disappearing ruins."
"A red dogoo. filled with rage like a surge of murderous intent." C-Sha mumbled to herself. The meeting soon drew to a close as they all came to the conclusion that they would continue the investigation. Steamax and Affimojas would arrive in Lowee with the delivery of the dogoo for further studies on Mina's part, who was then tasked with updating the others.
"Hey, hurry up old man! Those girls are gaining on us!" Linda's nervous breath spouted as she looked back with Iffy, Red, and Blanc pursuing their steps.
"I say we just leave him. He can distract the broads while we run away, chu!" Warechu scoffed as Mr. Badd caught up.
"You will do no such thing. You do and I'll send you off to a pet shop, Rat!" Mr. Badd growled.
"Just try and keep up, Mr. Moneybags." Linda laughed.
"At least I work hard for my moneybags. Hmph. Kids these days!" Badd grumbled.
"They're up ahead! Come on, Ladies!" Blanc shouted as IF followed closely behind her with Red panting and trailing after Iffy.
"H… Hold up, Iffy. I can't… go as fast on this terrain. There's a lot more… woods and rocks…" Red puffed up her cheeks, frowning, a loose tear on her eye.
"This is why you should have travelled around more on your wifey hunting sessions, Red." Iffy shook her head.
"Oh, come on!" Red grumbled. "You're supposed to look at me with warm, passionate eyes and be like 'oh poor Red, dear. You're so tired from all that harsh walking. Here, allow me.' Run your hand gently across my cheek and then pick me up in your arms and carry me across the threshold of this dangerous forest." Red's tone wandered off into a blissful daydream.
"Well excuse me, princess. You keep that up and I may just start running faster." Iffy's eyes sent an irritated glance Red's direction.
"Hey! What's the holdup?!" Blanc yelled. When Red complained that Iffy was leaving her behind and Iffy protested, agitation boiled to Blanc's face. "Is that so… then maybe…" the area of Blanc's eyes grew dark as a single red light emerged from her left eye. Blanc lifted her hammer, "I should help you along LOWEE SPORTS GOLF STYLE!"
"H-hey! Save it for the enemy, Lady Blanc! I'm coming!" Iffy began to sweatdrop.
Red gulped "I was just joking, hehe. I'm not that tired! So… let's chase those baddies!" Linda, Warechu, and Mr. Badd ran until they reached a red gate with a slanted roof which stood before a long stairway. The group hesitated, a chill running up Linda's spine when she looked back to see the girls in the distance.
"Welp, I'm not waiting around to get caught!" Linda began running up the stairs, Warechu and Badd following close behind. Upon reaching the top, they were met by two girls around some kind of shrine. One with short, orange hair and another with off-brown pigtails, they both wore traditional red and white temple dresses. A black waist belt was tied around with a rope, which looped around in the shape of a flower. As they dusted around the shrine, their attention was now directed at the strangers in their midst.
The one with pigtails narrowed her eyes "You know, the polite thing to do is to walk up the stairs on the right side. Not force your way up here like a disorganized herd of stampeding animals. Now is there something you want?"
"Yeah for you bimbos to get out of our way!" Linda spewed the words through gritted teeth.
"Linda, sweetheart. That is no way to talk to strangers. Where are those manners I taught you?" Badd said, turning to Linda.
"What the hell? 'sweetheart'?!" Linda's eyes widened in a WTF manner. Luckily for them, another girl came around who distracted the other two from their little farce.
"Kafuru. What is going on here?" A slightly taller girl with similar attire, light brown hair, and twin tails came around to where the others were.
"Oh, Kafu was just giving people smack, as usual." The orange haired girl laughed.
"Shut it, Hanabi." Kafuru turned to the other girl, "These strangers came stampeding up here and then threatened us!"
The taller girl turned towards the group but before she could answer, "Please, forgive our rudeness. But we have been fleeing from some crazed corporate whack jobs who want to experiment on my daughter!" Mr. Badd interrupted, Warechu and Linda exchanging awkward looks in silence.
Hanabi raised an eyebrow "She doesn't look like your daughter."
"That's just it! All her life, she's suffered from a rare skin condition that causes her to look so gravely."
"WHAT!?" Linda's eyes seemed to pop in offense, the shrine maidens reacting in confusion. Warechu gave Linda a light kick in the back of the leg, prompting her to improvise. "I mean what do you think you're doing telling people about that, f-father!?"
"Now now, sugar muffin. I have a good feeling we can trust these girls."
"Sugar Muffin?! Kyuhuhuhuhu, chu!" Warechu chuckled at Mr. Badd's comment but Linda gave him a brief glare and slight head shake.
"Renka, did that mouse just… talk?" Hanabi looked over at the taller girl, "but mice don't talk, right?"
"You're hearing things, Hanabi! And you're right, so don't think about it. You know what happens when you go thinking too hard." Renka told her.
"There you are! Now come along quietly you freakin' bastards!" came the aggressive voice of Blanc.
"Ah! They're here!" Badd cried, grabbing Linda by the hand and running behind the Mikaguras.
Linda held Warechu in her arms as though he were a pet. "Please don't take my rat! He's all I have left in this world!"
"Yowch! I'm getting squashed, chu!" Warechu uttered.
"What the-… Enough games! Come quietly and I MIGHT make your beating less severe!" Blanc growled, shaking her fist.
Renka held out her hand. "You will do no such thing. You are trespassing on sacred ground against those who only seek refuge. I will not allow violence on our shrine."
"Then do us a favor and step aside!" Blanc raised a giant white hammer.
"Are you threatening us? The Mikagura sisters don't take kindly to threats." Renka folded her arms.
"Yeah, especially when you wanna use suffering girls in experiments!" Hanabi shouted.
IF sighed "Let me guess. They appealed to your sense of kindness, told ya some crazy story about bein a family and tried to act all innocent. Believe us. They're hardened criminals."
Linda pretended to cry into Badd's arms "Don't let them take me away!"
"Maybe we should take them with us too." Red grinned "They would all make for cute wifeys!"
"Not helping, Red." Iffy muttered.
"Ugh!" Kafuru shuttered "Why would we believe you? You come here throwing tantrums like children, making threats on sacred ground, and then undressing us with your eyes. And you expect us to just hand over terrified people when we've no idea what you'll do to them?"
"To hell with that! Hand them over and you will avoid violence on your precious sacred place or whatnot. Those little punks are responsible for landing us in this whole mess!" Blanc yelled.
"Well aren't you quite short." Kafuru said, folding her arms.
"Wipe that smirk off your face!" Blanc growled. "Just what do ya mean by that!?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Kafuru scoffed, "Short temper, short in stature, short on intelligence and quite… top-lacking. You're the whole package. Kinda reminds me this other girl I know." IF and Red gulped at Kafuru's comment.
"Go inside! You'll be safe there!" Renka said to Mr. Badd and Linda, who quickly left the scene alongside Warechu. Renka then turned back towards the girls "You come here. Threaten them and us, disrespect our shrine, and take such a tone with us. I will give you one chance to leave right now."
Red and Iffy sweatdropped as Blanc looked down. Her voice, normal for a split second before going full circle. "Never… talk about a girl's bust like that… IF YA KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA! I'll kill you, bitch!" revealing one red eye, Blanc screamed through sharpened teeth as she leapt forward in a vertical swinging motion towards Kafuru.
Blanc's hammer was parried, sending her backwards a bit. She looked up to see Hanabi with her giant, iron mallet. "So that's how you wanna play, is it?" Renka said. "Very well. We are the Mikagura Sisters! And we will not let you defile this place, ya bunch o' ruffians!"
"Damn it! I guess we have no choice now." Iffy attached her Qatars from under her coat. The battle erupted as the two parties charged. Well actually, Blanc recklessly charged and Iffy and Red followed after to back her up, the other two Mikaguras drawing their weapons.
"Drumsticks huh?" Blanc smirked, "Why don't you play us a dirge. It'll go good with your FUNERAL!" Blanc brought down her hammer to which Renka leapt back, ready to counter with her own attack. Chaos ensued as Iffy jumped up to attack Renka only to get smacked back by Hanabi who had jumped onto Blanc's grounded hammer. From here, Hanabi lost her balance as she had intended to attack Blanc. Hanabi fell on top of a charging Red, only for both to get blasted by Kafuru's high-pressure water guns and splashing both Blanc and Renka in the process.
"Damn it! You just had to get in my way, didn't you?!" Kafuru whined.
"Watch where you're shootin' next time, sis!" Renka complained. A gasp left Renka's mouth as she just barely dodged another hammer strike, the impact knocking her off her feet.
"HAHAHAHA, It's your fault for gabbing in the midst of a battle! Now hold still so I can play Whack-a-Bitch!" Blanc shouted. Renka's eyes widened, rolling to one side and then another as Blanc kept trying to hit her. Blanc then heard Iffy call out to her. Turning around, Blanc directed her hammer strike to counter Hanabi's. Iffy had gotten to her feet and was trying to sneak up on Hanabi from behind.
"Oh no, you don't." Kafuru took aim when she suddenly got tackled to the ground.
"Gotcha!" Red called looking down at Kafuru. "Wow, you're cute. If you weren't an enemy, I'd call you my gripey wifey!"
"G-get off, you lecherous dumbass!" Kafuru stuttered as she began wrestling with Red. Iffy ran up behind Hanabi, ready to strike when she traded blows with Renka. Iffy and Renka parried and and swung, jabbed and blocked a fiery determination in both of their eyes.
Locked in a hammer chokehold, Hanabi looked at Blanc with pleading eyes "Why are you doing this?!"
"Are you truly that naïve? That man, woman, and mouse you're housing have contributed to the chaos that ensued and will continue to ensue across Gamindustri!" Blanc shouted.
"G-Game Industry!? What game industry!? Something tells me we shouldn't be fighting!" Hanabi let loose from the hammerlock as she jumped back, dropping a small firework bomb, prompting Blanc to leap backwards from it.
"Aw, did we just have a misunderstanding? Let's be friends." Blanc beamed, tilting her head.
"Really?" A confused Hanabi asked.
Suddenly Blanc revealed a red eye as she shouted through sharp teeth, "Did ya really think I was gonna say that, ya little idiot!? Getter Ravine!" Blanc ran forward and leapt up ready to bring her hammer down. Hanabi gulped, quickly placing her hammer on the ground, allowing the face to open as it unleashed a Super Mega Bomber, shooting fireworks out with Blanc taking the full blast.
Blanc screamed, the bottom half of her dress ripping to reveal her spotted blue and white panties with a few spots on her upper dress tearing, including one of her spaghetti straps snapping to expose her shoulder. As she landed on the floor, Hanabi sighed, wiping her arm across her forehead, but Blanc slowly got back on her feet.
Renka gradually began to push Iffy back due to her height, but Iffy used it to her advantage. Moving aside, Iffy forced Renka to regain her balance and used the opportunity to strike. "Soul Combination!" Iffy struck Renka several times, though not making any lethal strikes, Renka's outfit shredded as she began to bleed from her cuts, the Shrine maiden staggering backwards onto the ground.
"Sorry, but we're not about to let anyone stand in our way." Iffy swung her arms in a spell-like manner. "LA DELPHINUS!" a bright light appeared beneath Renka before engulfing her. Renka screamed, falling down on her back, her outfit next to nothing but threads now.
"You… think I'm finished?" Renka groaned, panting from her injuries. "Shinobi… Transformation." Iffy watched as Renka gained a brownish-red and white two-piece outfit, struggling to her feet.
"Even if you change outfits, it makes no difference. So just give in already. There's no point in further fighting." IF folded her arms.
"Let your guard down." Renka quickly summoned a set of Taiko drums, beating on them. Before IF knew it, she was engulfed in a purple sphere which electrocuted her. "VIOLET LIGHTNING!" Renka beat faster on the drums before letting out one final drum, blasting Iffy backwards towards the top of the stairs, tearing apart her coat and ripping parts of her black, skin-tight strapless dress.
Meanwhile Red continued to battle it out with Kafuru, the two rolling in the dirt as they wrestled. "Oooh. Hehehe. You're soft and squishy, but not so big that you're all jiggly and such." Red giggled, nestling her face against Kafuru's bosom.
"AAAAAHHH! GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF!" Kafuru kicked Red off of her, rolling to the side before getting up. "Now you're gonna get it!" Kafuru took shot after shot, with Red running behind bushes, trees, and small statues as Kafuru's high-pressured shots blasted bark off the trees and putting small cracks into the stone statues.
"Ooh, now you're trying to make me wet. Hehe. You naughty naughty girl, Kafuru." Red laughed as Kafuru continued to yell before she leapt out, slinging yoyos at Kafuru and binding her arms, forcing Kafuru's arms up. "Aw, don't be a mad wittle girl."
"Says the one using toys to fight with!" Kafuru grunted.
"You're fighting with toys as well." Red frowned.
"I am not! These are magical, high-pressure water guns!" Kafuru protested.
"They still look like toys." Red commented, unamused, despite Kafuru's shouts of agony. "But whatcha gonna do now that I have you all bound?"
"Heheh. You think you've won just cause you stopped my main weapon? You're stupider than you look and even more than you sound." Kafuru grabbed her whistle in her mouth and blew. "Luka! Come to me!"
Red watched as a strange looking dolphin with bandages and a crown on it's head was summoned. "Let's go, Luka! Storm Jet Rider!" Kafuru performed a small jump, the strange dolphin sliding under her before they rammed straight into Red, Red's outfit tearing at the ends as they forced her back. Loosening her grip on Kafuru, Red was sent bouncing down the long stairway from the Shrine with an 'ow ow ow'.
A loud crash could be heard. Renka and Kafuru looked over to see Hanabi smashed against the back wall of the shrine, groaning with squiggle eyes, the latter crying out her middle sister's name. Blanc standing where Hanabi once stood. "H-h-han… abi…" Renka barely called out, still injured from her fight with IF.
Blanc looked back at Renka, who struggle to stand up, and then turned her hammer at Kafuru who now had both guns pointed at Blanc. "Lady Blanc…" Iffy groaned, still on the ground. "I am… beaten… Red is down."
"What!? I don't see her!" Blanc exclaimed.
"Literally. She's down." Iffy motioned slightly with her head as Blanc rushed over to her and then looked down the stairway.
"I'm okay… I think." Red called back up before Blanc turned back to IF.
"Iffy! Let's get you out of here!" Blanc turned to the Mikagura sisters as she held on tightly to Iffy. "This isn't over! I'll have you all put behind bars." Making her way down to the bottom of the stairs, Blanc found a dizzy and bruised Red. "Red! Help me with Iffy!" Putting her arms around IF, Red and Blanc helped a limping Iffy to retreat from the Shrine.
Kafuru looked down, making sure that they had left before turning back to see Renka limping towards her, reaching her hand out. Renka breathed deep and heavy, "Kafuru… See to it that… Hanabi is… safe…" Renka's vision faded to black as she fell down.
"RENKA NOOOO!" Kafuru's voice thundered as she watched her sister fall.