Chapter 11: Loli Pervert!
-Leanbox (6:00 A.M.)-
Morning had come quickly and the song of the birds rang across the nation. The group awoke from their sleep, some of them having springs in their step. Chika also kindly let them stay for breakfast before they left for Planeptune. The breakfast wasn't anything too special, it was very simple really. The breakfast consisted of three different types of pancakes, which were chocolate, blueberry, and buttermilk. There are also plates consisting of bacon, eggs, vermont maple sausage, with a glass of milk or orange juice. Everyone ate and when it came to the Saiyans, Chika, 5pb., and Cave (Who stayed the night) were in awe at seeing a Saiyans appetite for the first time. After they finished up, they said their goodbyes and headed for the docks.
"Man, our stay here was surely something." Aiden stretched, getting rid of any tight knots in his muscles with Nepgear walking next to him, closely. Some of the group noticed how close Nepgear was to Aiden, but decided to ignore it for now.
"Yeah, this visit went from a mystery, to attending a concert, to a chase, to a rescue mission, to a fight, to attending another concert, and now we're here." Jason said it plainly, putting their visit here in a nutshell. A faint ringing was heard, and the source of it was coming from Nepgear. Nepgear digs through her pockets and takes out her N-Gear as the source.
"Oh, it's histoire!" Nepgear answers the call.
"Hello?"
"Greetings, Nepgear. Where are you currently?" The Planeptune Fairy Oracle asked the Candidate.
"Leanbox. We got the Mascot's help, and we were about to come back to Planeptune." She told the Oracle.
"I see. Please forgive me for asking you to change your plans, but can you take a trip elsewhere?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"The island off the west coast of Planeptune is under siege by ASIC forces." IF sweat dropped and was a little confused on why the ASIC would attack a small island.
"That tiny island, why would they attack there?" She asked.
"Is there some super-secret facility, a secret weapon, or something?" Red also asked.
"It is merely my assumption, but I believe that they are planning to build a new base of operations there. If they succeed, it will become a threat to Planeptune and our shares." Historie informed them. Broccoli groaned.
"How typical, nyu." Broccoli wore a deadpan expression.
"I have dispatched someone to defend the island from their attacks, but I would like you to aid her." The group nodded to each other.
"You got it, Historie!" Aiden said, pumping his fist in the air.
-Island on the West Coast of Planeptune (7:30 A.M.)-
"Ah! I missed the smell of the simple fresh air of the forest that's untouched by too much technology." Isabelle stretched, breathing in the aroma of the forest.
"Agreed, it's been awhile since I've smelled fresh air." Noah commented, brushing his hand on some plants.
"According to Historie, there should be a village nearby…" Nepgear said to the group. They kept on walking through the thick of the forest, sunlight shining through the leaves. A glare of something reflecting the sunlight was shimmering in front of the group, they quickly made their way towards it and found a village.
"I think that's it! I see houses and town-y things!" Red points at the village.
"Then, let's check it out." Aiden led the way, but was stopped immediately by a girl with red-short hair and wielding a sword that had a shape of a dragon with wings for it's guard.
"So you're back for more, are we!? I'm gonna make sure that the words "Nobody gets past me" gets jammed in those thick skulls of yours!" She yelled out and readied herself for a fight. Aiden reacts quickly and draws the Brave Sword. Yes… He named the sword he got from Kei…
"What the goodness!?" Nepgear jumped at the sudden appearance of the girl. Isabelle ignited her hands with fire, followed by the other warriors getting into their stances.
"I'm not gonna let you guys get off easily! Just blame your bad luck for running into me!" The girl smirked with confidence. 5pb ran in front of the group and apologized to the girl.
"W-W-W-Wait! We're sorry, please forgive us!" 5pb panicked, even Nepgear as well.
"N-No! We're your back up! Histoire told us to come, so-"
"Historie, huh? Oooh, wait a second… You're the group I met back in Lastation…" The girl lowered her sword.
"Ooooh yeah, you're Falcom." Aiden returned Brave Sword onto his back. Everyone else sweatdropped at Falcom for forgetting them, well it's been about a few weeks.
"Whoops. My bad! I didn't know that you'd be my backup. Completely caught me off-guard, haha!" Falcom laughed.
"So how have your travels been treating you? I hope you guys weren't in a quick rush or-"
"Um, Falcom… Could you at least not point your sword at us now?" Nepgear shakely interrupted. Falcom tilted her head in confusion, until letting out a quick "Oh!" and lowered her sword.
"My bad. With all the recent attacks, it has become sort of a bad habit." Falcom scratched the back of her head and gave a sheepish chuckle.
"You were fighting off the enemy by yourself, right? Isn't there anyone else here that is responsible for protecting the village, if so… Where are they?" Rhyel noted the lack of any force that could oppose the invading forces of the ASIC.
"This place is my home, They just happened to attack here when I was visiting some friends." Falcom said casually, like it was a common thing.
"That's amazing… Protecting an entire island by yourself… You must be a very strong girl…" 5pb exclaimed her shock. Were there many strong individuals across the word that can pull off feats such as this? The warriors themselves were an example that proved that fact to 5pb.
"I never thought of it like that. I just beat up things that threaten the things I love." Aiden smiles, relating to what Falcom said. Now that he and a certain Candidate of Planeptune are now a couple, he'll do his best to fight for and protect her.
"To be honest, If you guys didn't get here, it would only be a matter of time before my home falls under the control of the ASIC." Falcom admitted.
"Does that mean that there's hope now?" IF asked Falcom, who nodded.
"Yep. I found where the ASIC is setting up their headquarters. If we nip them in the bud, we'll be able to stop their invasion attempt for sure."
"I like simple, nyu." Broccoli liked the idea.
"Still, I gotta protect this village, just in case they come back with more force. So, do you mind helping me out by hitting their HQ?" The group agreed to Falcom's request without a second thought.
"Leave that to us. You helped us the last time, so now it's our turn to return the favor." Nepgear told Falcom. Satisfied with that answer, Falcom gave a map to Nepgear, a large red circle on the map that showed an area where the HQ is located. Annoyingly, the HQ was located within a dungeon. Without wasting any time, the group immediately went on their way to the location.
-Severed Dimension (8:40 A.M.)-
The monsters in this dungeon were much more peculiar than the other ones. Some looked like scribbles, some looked like Fenrirs, while others were… questionable. Though that wouldn't stop them, it was the same song and dance of slaying monsters. As they got closer to the location that is on the map, they heard distant yelling where the HQ would be located. The group made their way towards the source and hid behind some crates that were laying around.
"Ugh! This is seriously infuriating! How hard is it to smash up a simple, dinky, backwater village!" Most of the group groaned, realizing who it was and how annoying it's been running into her.
"I'm glad I got the chance to lead minions of my own, but these guys are total idiots!" Underling threw her pipe on the ground and kicked over a crate, trying to vent her anger.
"Well well well, if it isn't you again. Honestly, this is really getting old." The group stepped out of hiding and stood behind the angry minion. She turns around and groans at the sight of them
"Oh come on, not you idiots! Can you guys quit stalking me!"
"Hey, we ain't stalking you. Just blame your bad luck for running into us." Noah told Underling.
"Miss Underling, did you get promoted? Congratulations!" Compa clapped her hands.
"I can't tell if that was sarcasm or if she was actually being serious…" Jason said quietly as he sweatdropped. Red let out an "Oooh…" and pouted in disappointment.
"That stinks. If she got promoted, we can't keep calling her Underling…" Broccoli went and patted Red on the shoulder.
"But that's her name, so this would make for some good irony, nyu." The group chuckled at the small jab of a joke. However, Underling wasn't laughing and her face was glowing red in either embarrassment or pure fury.
"But what would her own underlings call her? Underlord… Empress Underling… Captain Underling… Underleader…?" Aiden laughed as he came up with those names. Underling finally snaps and throws a fit.
"CAN YOU LOT STOP JOKING WITH ME!!!! You guys know how to piss me off so much, this won't go the same way as last time!" Underling takes out a Monster disc and slams it on the ground. The disc glowed brightly and slowly took form, as the light died out, a Dragon stood before them and let out a mighty roar. A purple aura began to emanate and then burst, transforming the Dragon into a Viral Dragon.
"Oh great, just what we needed!" Jason complained and transformed into a Super Saiyan 2. Noah and Austin followed and turned Super Saiyan 2 themselves, with Aiden immediately going Super Saiyan 3.
"Let's make this one quick, guys." The rest of the group readied themselves and entered a fight against the Viral Dragon. The sounds of slashes, explosions, roars, yelling, and music (Obviously from 5pb) rang throughout the HQ and Dungeon. It took ten minutes to finally put down the violent, viral beast. The Viral Dragon hit the ground and shattered into data and hexagon like shapes before dissipating.
"Score, we did it! Now let's… wait…. Where'd Underling go?" Red walked and looked around for now, not present, Underling. Austin drops to base form and crosses his arms.
"She probably got away when we were busy with that Dragon…"
"Ugh… typical of her…" IF groaned, putting away her Qatars
"I guess that promotion only gave her a quick boost in her agility." Everyone had a small laugh as IF said that.
"Well, the island should be safe now since we dealt with Underling. Let's go check on Falcom." Austin said and everyone was starting to leave.
"Wait, gotta do something first." Aiden turned back to look at the base and fired ki blasts at it. Don't want any of those ASIC guys coming back to this place.
-The Village (10:00 A.M.)
"So you guys actually pulled it off?" Everyone nodded, making Falcom smile.
"Yep, they won't be coming back for a good while." Aiden put a fist against his chest, saying it proudly.
"That's great news. Thanks for helping me out." Falcom said.
"No problem. We just did what needed to be done." Nepgear smiled.
"What will you do now, Miss Falcom?" Companies asked Falcom. The adventurous red-head put her index finger and thumb against her chin, closed her eyes and thought out loud about what she will do now.
"Let's see… I can wander around and go on a normal adventure? Although, this is probably not the best time to do that…" She glances back at the village.
"It's best that I stay here and help with the repairs." The group understands the reason and nods.
"We Understand, Falcom. Hope we run into each other again." Aiden gives out his hand for a shake. Falcom smiles and shakes his hand, she and the group said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
-Planeptune Basilicom (11:30 A.M.)-
"Welcome back, everyone. That must have been quite the adventure for you." Histoire greeted the group. Most of the group who never visited Planeptune were looking around the nation's Basilicom.
"It's good to be back Histoire." Aiden said with a grin.
"So this is Planeptune's Basilicom? It looks so much cooler than the other ones!" Red ran around the white and purple futuristic interior of the Basilicom. Even 5pb was taking a liking to the Planeptune Basilicom.
"I wonder how many people can fit in here, if I held a concert here." Some who heard 5pb chuckled nervously at the idea of that.
"You two should stop staring around the place, you're making yourselves look like country bumpkins, nyu." Broccoli told the two.
"Anyways, we did as you asked. We've gained the help from the other nation's mascots." IF reported and received a nod from Histoire.
"So I can sense. Also, the Shares that you have regained. We've been able to create a new Sharicite."
"So, once that's made…"
"Yes, we will be able to attempt a rescue of the CPUs again." Histoire answering IF's realization.
"Yippee-skippee!" Compa jumped in place happily, hearing the news that they got another shot at saving the CPUs.
"We're going to save the Older CPUs? Sweet! I can't wait to see my more mature wifeys!" Some chuckled, some facepalmed, and some just sweat dropped at Red's enthusiasm.
"I might have a chance to perform in front of the four CPUs…" 5pb too was enthusiastic.
"One small step for us, one slightly bigger step towards world peace, nyu." Broccoli added her comment about saving the CPUs.
"This time, we won't fail." IF was determined to do this rescue right. Nepgear however had a more depressed look on her, which didn't go unnoticed by Aiden. Aiden walked over to Nepgear and held her hand, which caught her off guard, but brought her to have her smile return to her face.
'I hope this is enough… I wasn't able to do anything back then, not even the CPUs were strong enough…' Her expression changed again, doubt clouding her mind.
'I did become stronger, but still…' Nepgear shook her head.
'No! I can't think like that, I know we can do this! Besides… We have new friends that are willing to help us and I have him.' Nepgear looked up to Aiden and smiled, in turn making Aiden tilt his head in confusion.
"Even though we did get the aid from the Mascots, shouldn't we also get the aid from the CPU Candidates?" Histoire looks over to Austin.
"Was that not part of the original plan?"
"That's the problem, they all refused. It was either from being too prideful or from an overprotective Oracle." Isabella summed up their interactions with the other Candidates.The ringing of a phone broke the group from their conversation.
"Oh. Sorry, that's me." IF pulled out one of her phones, the phone that she took out was a pink one. IF flips her phone open and raises a brow.
"Intelligence Bureau Cutie is calling me." She answers the call. The others wondered why someone would name someone "Intelligence Bureau Cutie". Then again, they've met other people that have very strange names.
"Hey, what's up?" She listens to her fellow guild agent on the phone. IF's eyes widened, something bad must've happened if IF reacted like that.
"What!? You're kidding! Okay. Okay, sounds good. You be careful, too. Bye." The call ended, IF put away her phone and looked at everyone with a grim expression.
"What's wrong, Iffy?" Compa asked, worried why her friend had this grim expression on her.
"The ASIC in Lowee has exploded. 90 percent of Lowee's shares were stolen." Everyone's eyes widened, not only worried about what's happening in Lowee, but also Rom and Ram.
"That many!? Absurd…. What could have happened there?" Histoire said.
"She didn't have much intel. It must've happened out of the blue." IF guessed.
"Do you know if Rom and Ram are okay?" Nepgear asked this time.
"Like I said before, the Guild hardly has any info yet." IF bluntly replied.
"I cannot be certain, but if so many Shares were taken, the CPUs will present some serious side effects." Nepgear growled more worried after what Histoire just told her.
"Oh, no…" Nepgear clenched her hand over her chest, worrying about what the side effects are and how it's affecting the two CPU Candidates of Lowee.
"This is a priority, despite it being a different nation. It may overall impact our strategy. Creating the Sharicite will take some time, so ask that you all investigate the incident."
"We will Histoire." Austin Said.
"I just hope that Rom and Ram are okay…" Nepgear said.
"Me too." Aiden was also worried for the two Candidates.
-Lowee Basilicom (12:00 P.M.)-
Aiden used Instant transmission to get the group to Lowee Instantaneously, so they don't risk wasting time and letting Lowee's Shares drop more.
"Hello?" Nepgear called out, and was immediately greeted with the sound of someone slowly down from running. It came from Lowee's Oracle, Mina who had a wet towel and a metal bucket that was filled with water.
"Oh, if it isn't all of you. What brings you back to Lowee?" Mina asked, with a tired expression and her hair being a mess, along with her clothes being uneven.
"What's the deal? You look like crap, nyu." Broccoli stated the obvious.
"I do? My apologies, I haven't been able to have proper sleep these past few days." Mina readjust her glasses.
"So, it's that bad…" Isabella muttered to herself.
"What about Rom and Ram, are they okay?" Nepgear got straight to the point. Before Mina could answer, Ram slowly walked into view, with a look of sickness on her face.
"No… we're not… dummy…" Ram took heavy breaths between words, her legs wobbled, threatening to fail and make her fall. She looked extremely pale and her eyes were close to shutting, boarding on losing consciousness.
"Oh dear, she looks sick…" 5pb gasped, looking at Ram with worry.
"Ram, where's your sister?" Nepgear asked the sick Candidate.
"Sleeping. She's asleep... More than she's awake, ever since that day." Ram replied, surprisingly not being as stubborn as she is whenever she talked to Nepgear or Aiden.
"What do you mean by "That day"?" Noah asked this time.
"And what's been going on here?" Jason followed up with his own question.
"We're unsure, ourselves. We only know that we suddenly lost a great deal of Shares, leading to this…" Mina solemnly answered.
"Damn…" IF bit on her thumbnail, unsatisfied that even the Oracle doesn't know the cause.
"Than we should investigate the cause first, and then-"
"Please slow down, IF. Rom and Ram's health comes first." Nepgear interpreted IF. Ram was taken back by what Nepgear said.
"Huh?" Was the only word that came out of Ram.
"How do we help sick CPUs?" Red asked Nepgear.
"By getting back their Shares. If we do that, I'm certain that the two of them will get better. I think…" Nepgear was uncertain, but she believed that this was the good course of action to help the twin Candidates to recover.
"Well, get ready to keep repeating this a lot, if the ASIC pulls fast ones on us." Jason replied.
"I know, but…. Hmm, Miss Mina? Do you have the equipment to craft a Sharicite here?" Mina nods.
"Y-Yes, all Basilicoms have the requirements for creating a Sharicite. Why do you ask?" Nepgear gave Mina a determined expression.
"If we recover some Shares, can you make it into a Sharicite immediately? Is it possible in small amounts?" Nepgear asked, not completely answering Mina's question. IF rolled her eyes and sighed, not even going to try and convince her that there were more important things to be worrying about. She knew that Nepgear was too stubborn when the Planeptune CPU Candidate set her mind on something.
"Fine… Not like you'd change your mind, anyway…" Ram walked up to Nepgear, uncertain about how to feel about the situation right now.
"C-Can you really save, Rom…?"
"Not only her, but you as well. We'll help you out in any way we can, okay?" Aiden said this time, kneeling in front of Ram.
"W-Wait a moment, please! I appreciate your kindness, but we couldn't possibly ask for your help again…" That took everyone by surprise, except for the few that know how affairs between nations play out.
"But we want to help." Nepgear wanted to persuade Mina, but she would reject the offer.
"Someone not from Lowee helping in our affairs puts us at a global disadvantage, and-"
"So are you saying we should sit back and watch Rom and Ram suffer!?" Nepgear didn't enjoy that Mina was putting the affairs of the nation over receiving aid from someone who wants to help. Aiden too hated what Mina was saying, but kept himself calm, not wanting to make the situation worse.
"N-No, I'd love your help, really, I do… But as the Oracle, I must consider the political implications, so…"
"Stop forcing your kindness Nepgear, it's obvious that she's going to refuse. No matter how many times you keep trying." Austin put the back and forth conversation to a stop.
"But what choice do we have?" She asked.
"Simple, negotiate on what both parties can be satisfied with." Austin said simply.
"Negotiate?" Nepgear echoed.
"I agree with that, you can compromise and negotiate on what is suitable for both parties, nyu." Broccoli agreed to Austin's idea.
"Negotiate… Okay, I get it! Miss Mina, we'd like to help Rom and Ram…" Nepgear said softly now, hoping that this method will work.
"But in turn, I ask that both Rom and Ram assist us during our journey." Mina thought about the deal, but realized that all the benefits were all in her favor.
"Is that a good deal for you? It sounds like I'd be the only one to benefit from it."
"Just accept it! C'mon, stop talking and help Rom! Please!" Ram encouraged Mina to accept the offer, impatiently. This in turn, made Ram cough and stumbled. Mina ran over to Ram and helped her keep balance.
"Ram, please do not push yourself. You mustn't agree on what us adults discuss." Mina said softly, as she dabbed a bit of water on Ram's forehead with the towel.
"I guess it's a deal, then. We'll get some Shares, like Gearsy promised." Aiden put a hand on Nepgear's shoulder, with the girl blushing a bit. Mina thought it over, and eventually sighed.
"I agree to your terms." Nepgear, Aiden, even Ram smiled that Mina had agreed. Saying their farewells, the two left the Basilicom.
"*Sighs* Perhaps I'm not fit for being an Oracle." Mina said to herself.
"Nepgear has definitely gotten stronger. But her and Aiden act too big for their britches." IF said.
"No kidding." Rhyel agreed.
-Lowee Streets (12:40 A.M.)-
The group of heroes/adventurers have managed to gather Shares, though it was quite difficult due to some of the residents being a bit hostile. The requests they did to gain Shares ranged from simple fetch quests, monster slaying, delivering game tech, and quests that were outright weird. The group were now meeting up at a fountain after finishing their quests.
"I hope this will be enough." Nepgear said to Aiden, who was with her. They had just finished reporting that they finished a monster quest, as the other members of the group arrived at the fountain.
"I'm sure it'll be enough. If it isn't, we'll just gather more if we lose them, Gearsy." Aiden gave Nepgear a reassuring smile, as he ruffled the girl's lilac hair. The girl blushed,but returned a giggle.
"Speaking of losing them, we still don't know how it happened, do we?" 5pb sighed, a little bummed that they didn't find the cause when they asked the guild or the people they received the quests from.
"Something bad like could've been caused by someone bad!" Red said, as if she spotted a possible culprit. Everyone in the group gave the red head a look of confusion, until the sound of high squeaking entered their ears.
"Wait, isn't that…" Jason didn't need to say anything else, as the culprit walked into view.
"Ch-Chu, Chiggity Chu…" Came the singing (or sneezing) from a certain mouse/rat, depending on what they thought of the little one.
"It is…" Jason was dumbfounded.
"Yeah... I'm impressed that he's moving, after the beating he got from Aiden yesterday." Noah scratched the back of his head. Before anyone could say anything else, they watched Warechu walking to an alleyway. The group didn't need to say anything to each other as they followed him.
"Thanks for the wait, bub! Here's the uber-popular, supreme emulator chip that you asked for, chu!" Warechu passed a small black, red, and gold chip to a guy with a hoodie that had a picture of what could be an anime show and wore a hat in a backwards style.
"Oh yes! Do you have more?" The guy asked.
"Of course I do! You're not the only customer, Chu!" Warechu gave two more chips to the guy. Said guy left, after paying Warechu. More people started to show up, wanting to buy whatever Warechu was selling.
"Hey, hey. No pushing guys. We got plenty for everyone, chu." Warechu kept on passing out what he had on him to his eager customers.
"Make sure you tell all your friends that don't have any of this cool stuff to come over to me, chu." The crowd of customers then dispersed, not being able to hold in their excitement to try out the stuff that was developed by the ASIC.
"Now we have reason on how this happened." IF said, as the group were hiding behind a corner.
"Those items must've been spread far and wide across Lowee…" 5pb added. Red slammed a tiny fist right to her palm.
"Let's bust 'em before they take away more Shares!" The group nodded in agreement and came out of the corner.
"Stop right there! Bad Mister Mouse!" Compa yelled, starting towards Warechu.
"Huh? Whooooooa, it's my sweet Compa!" Immediately recognizing Compa, muttering about his fantasies… Out Loud…
"A-Am I dreaming? Has my Angelic Compa come here to buy some equipment from little ol' me?" Warechu squealed like a little child, jumping around the alley.
"Absolutely, posolutely not!" Compa shot down the idea, immediately.
"I'm gonna stomp them and break them and stuff!" She fumed, grabbing a bag's worth of the stuff that Warechu was selling.
"Y-You'll what!? I can't allow you to do that! But-But if it makes my sweet Compa happy… then…" Warechu shook away his personal feelings, focusing on his job and the effects on what Compa's actions would do to the ASIC.
"N-No! These were a real pain to manufacture. I can't let that happen, even for you, chu!" He pointed at his crush, determined to not allow the merchandise to be destroyed. Warechu grabbed the merchandise and ran, all in one swift move.
"Hey! Get back here!" Red shouted, chasing after the runaway mouse. Everyone else looked at each other and nodded, knowing what they had to do without saying anything. Nepgear immediately turned HDD and took to the skys, followed by the warriors. Isabella transformed into her neko form and took to the roof tops, while the others followed Red in her chase. Hopefully with them splitting up, they'll find a way to cut off Warechu from any path for escape.
-Iris Field (1:20 P.M.)-
"Huff… Huff… Huff… I can't believe they chased me all the way out here, chu…" Warechu let out long breaths, feeling the fatigue of running from the Lowee streets and into an open green field. The only things that could be seen in the open field were rundown wooden fences, a few boulders and trees, a wooden bridge, and a watermill that was withered and slightly covered in leaves and moss.
"Please give us those items, Mister Mouse!" Compa demanded. Warechu had hesitant thoughts, but shook them off and his fatigue, putting his game face on.
"I'm sorry, my dear… I cannot do that, chu…" Warechu held the items close to him as the rest of the group arrived, either from running or flying. Compa didn't take Warechu's rejection to hand over the items, kindly.
"Then I'm going to take my syringe and poke you with it and take it by force!" Warechu paled as Compa pulled out the giant syringe of health or death. However, the mouse still kept his grip on the merchandise as he was shaking.
"I-I'd rather not raise a hand against my beloved angel, b-but my work is my life, chu…" Warechu then shook off his fear and got serious again.
"If my angelic Compa won't love me, then… I'll love my work more than anything and anyone else, chu!" Warechu threw away the items and readied himself for a fight. It wouldn't go in the mouse's favor… The poor mouse didn't stand a chance, he was beaten, slashed, and shot at relentlessly. He was now lying on the ground, face looking towards the sky, his body now covered in all kinds of wounds.
"I-I lost my love, and my work, chu…"
"Is he still on about that crap?" Jason poked the downed mouse.
"Y'know Compa, if you acted a bit more seductive, you could've gotten that rat to change teams." Everyone one looked at IF, questioning why she suggested that.
"Huh? You want me to do something sexy? Does that mean I should do a lot of kissy faces, or…?"
"You know what, just forget about it… Let's just smash up those items instead, okay?"
"Cool! I call dibs on breaking the discs!" Aiden rushed over and grabbed some discs before slamming them onto the ground. Immediately after that action, Aiden began stomping the discs one by one, with each stomp being stronger than the last.
"Cout me in!" Red smashed in some circuit boards and hard drives with her yo-yo.
"Crunch, nyu." Broccoli too joined in on the action, but with a scarier glem. Everyone else chuckled or giggled at the scene, especially with Nepgear giggling at Aiden acting with a child-like innocence.
"Welp, that should prevent Lowee from losing anymore Shares now." Aiden shook off some disc shards that stuck onto his boot.
"Yeah, let's get back to the basilicom and ask the Oracle to make a Sharicite." IF said.
-Lowee Basilicom (3:38 P.M.)-
"The ASIC produced more of these Arfoire branded products? So that was the cause…" Mina bit on the nail on her right thumb, deep in thought about how simple products can easily change a person's views and opinions to favor the enemy.
"Don't sweat it! We stomped on all of them until they turned into an electronic dust pile!" Red proudly said with a big grin on her face, even the dragon that was always wrapped around seemed to show a proud expression of its own.
"We think that your shares are safe now." Compa added, but one problem still stood out. Where were those items being made from and what will happen if a huge boom of shares going to the ASIC will happen again, and how will it affect the other nations if the same thing happens to them.
"Yeah, okay, but what about Rom? What's going to happen to her?" Ram asked impatiently, still worried about the health of her twin. Ram herself was looking a little better now, her face had regained color and she was not as weak as she was hours ago.
"Calm Down Ram." Mina said gently to the impatient girl that stood to her right.
"Albeit small, I am able to create a piece of a Sharicite to treat her with this amount." Ram's expression changed to a hopeful smile.
"So… She's gonna get better?" Relief began to shine in Ram's eyes that Rom will get better.
"Yep, I'm sure she'll be alright." Nepgear reassured Ram, who was satisfied with that answer.
-Rom and Ram's Room / Same Time-
Rom was in her pajamas, the same color as her normal clothing. She laid in her light blue bed, her face completely pale and void of color, Sweat ran down her face as she was burning up, The wet towel on her head failed to put the young Candidate at ease. She tossed and turned, crumpling the blanket that covered her as she tried to find some comfort.
"Oooh…" She groaned. As Rom continued to find comfort in her feverish moment, the room's window was slowly opened, making sure that there were no creaks that would alarm the sick Candidate. When the window had fully opened, a figure slowly stepped into the room cautiously as they gently placed one foot down, following with the second. The figure looked around the room to spot anything that would rat them out, alas, there was nothing.
"Tactical espionage entrance is a success! All clear, Boss!" She called out to her "Boss" who was waiting outside. The figure had familiar neon-green hair, a gray outfit that had the shape of
a mouse (or rat) for a hood, and with an additional iron pipe. It was none other than Underling… Again…
Clapping of hands was heard with a very disgusting giggle of excitement, followed with noise of wet clicking and a loud splash hitting the ground.
"Good!" Underling's "Boss" yelled with a high and yet low voice as he proceeded to climb through the window. However, to the "Bosses" misfortune, he got stuck in the window's frame.
"H-Hrrmm! Oh… I seem to be stuck, I… don't think I can… fit…" Underling's "Boss" stated as he turned, pulled, and wiggled, trying to get his body through the window. Underling moved her left hand and ruffled her hair, annoyed that she forgot the small fact that her "Boss" was "huge".
"Oh yeah… I forgot that you're a big dude. Actually, why'd you want to tag along this time, anyway?" Her boss lets out his creepy laugh again.
"Bwahahahaha… It's obvious, ain't it?" Underling raises an eyebrow, out of confusion and disgust of guessing what he was thinking about.
"I heard the snoring of a gorgeous young girl sleeping in this room!" She knew it. Her feelings of disgust were made worse as her "Boss" let out a slobbering wet noise as he licked his tongue against his lips as he let out another laugh that was now more pervy.
"Well, there is a kid sleeping here… But…"
"Ooooooh! I simply must see her, I must see her sleeping face! Why must I get stuck now!?" Underling cursed herself, she really shouldn't have said anything. Her "Boss" now wiggled more violently to try and get himself out, determined to stare at the face of a sleeping Rom.
"This probably ain't your type of job, Boss…"
"No, this is my type of job! It's this foolish window! I shall dole out an appropriate punishment for this!" The "Boss" wiggled and tugged far more violently now, causing the wall to bend, creak, and make very loud snapping from within. It didn't go unnoticed as Rom turned back and forth, uncomfortable from the noise.
"H-Hey! Boss, you're making too much noise!"
-Back with the Group / Same Time-
"C'mon, Hurry up, Mina! You're as slow as a Grandma!" Ram stomped impatiently
"Now, now. This process cannot be rushed, Ram." Mina said as she sat at a workbench, with something blue shining against her face.
"Juuuuuuuuuuuuuust about, done." Mina removed her hands from the workbench and cleaned her head from sweat on her head with a towel. Ram made a 180 from her impatient attitude to jumping around the room, gleefully.
"Hooray! Finally!" The Sharicite was a shining blue gem that was in the shape of an emerald, however it was small enough to fit in the palms of anyone in the main hall of the Basilicom.
"It's very small, are we sure that this is enough?" Aiden asked the Oracle.
"Yes. Even with the small amount that was collected, I do believe that this is enough to help Rom recover." Mina pushed up her glasses.
"Let's go to Rom's side, and-" A loud noise of a wall being torn apart had echoed throughout the Basilicom, cutting off Nepgear.
"Did anyone else just hear a loud collapsing noise?" Jason asked and immediately received a reply.
"Yeah, we all heard it…" The response came from Noah.
"It sounded like it came from me and Rom's room..." Ram began to worry about her Sister even more.
"I know that sound… That's the sound of a wall being torn apart!" 5pb stated, receiving looks from everyone else. They questioned how she even knew that, 5pb looked down and was flustered from the stares. Before anyone could say anything more, Ram had rushed through the group and towards her and Rom's room, the fear of her Sister being hurt grew in her mind.
"Ram, wait up!" Aiden yelled as he followed Ram, and soon with the others and Mina.
-Back in Rom and Ram's Room-
"What the actual hell, Boss!? Those idiots are going to find out that we're here now!" Underling yelled, pointing her Iron pipe at her "Bosses" face. Her "Boss" only shrugged in response as he walked around the small room, stepping on the debris that he caused.
"It's nothing but a small price to pay for me to leer at this beautiful young fruit… My She's so lovely…!" He squeezed and pervertedly laughed as he drooled even more, as he walked over and stood above Rom.
"Can I carry her out of here? Maybe even message the cowlick from her bedhead?" He started to act like a child as he asked Underling.
"Quit it, Boss! This ain't no time for you to be living in your fantasies! We need to do the thing and bounce!"
"True… How rude of me. No matter, I shall attend to her adorable messy hair later~." Underling's "Boss" then picked up Rom, this notion causing the sick Candidate to wake up from her slumber.
"H-Huh….? A stranger…." Rom wanted to scream and run, but couldn't do the strangers' strength and the fact that she was weak in her sick state.
"Heeheehee~... Oh, don't be scared, my little princess. Just look deep into my eyes. Ever… So… Deep…" Rom began to hyperventilate and squirm, trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"N-Nooooooooo…! Waaaaaah…!" As much as she tried, Rom was unable to keep her gaze away from the strangers eyes. When her eyes met with his, her room and the world around her began to warp, fade, and slowly lose its color. The world seemed to get smaller and smaller, and she felt like she was falling into darkness. She kept falling and falling, the world becoming smaller, far from her grasp. It kept getting smaller, she felt like she was falling forever, even the colors black and white were starting to fade, until…
...Nothing…
"Good, good." The Boss said, satisfied with his work as he stood up straight to the best of his ability.
"Now then, be sure to treat this angel well while in your care. She is my very special guest, after all~." Underling would've said something, if it weren't for the fact that her "Boss" had now entered her personal space.
"Understood!? You are not to lay or let a single finger lay on this cutie pie! If you do, you'll face my full wrath!" His eyes glowed an unsettled green hue. Underling nodded and that had served as a good enough answer for her "Boss". Her "Boss" then jumped out where the wall used to be and disappeared into the distance. Underling sighed as she rolled her eyes in disappointment.
"Man… He'd be an actual cool Boss if it wasn't for his… screwed up feteish." She mumbled under her breath, making sure it wouldn't be heard. The Bedroom door then burst open, nearly coming off of its hinges. The one who caused it and is now staying in the door frame, was none other than Ram, followed by the rest of the group and Mina.
"Rom! Are you okay?" Ram asked her sister. Rom (who was now standing up) didn't say anything as she wasn't facing her. Ram and crew stepped into the room, ready to fight the ASIC intruder.
"Great, it's this brat along with the patrol of morons. Fricki' fantastic…" Underling complained to herself.
"Why are you here? Get away from Rom, now!" Nepgear demanded as she summoned her beam saber, followed by the Gamindustri natives pulling out their weapons and Aiden pulling out the Brave Sword.
"Heh, okay. Then feel free to convince her to leave my side, chumps." Underling said with her confident tone and had a smile that fit it. Rom then turned to face the group, but something was very off with her. Rom's usual blue eyes had been replaced with a soulless yellowish-orange color. Rom walked over to Underling and gave her a hug.
"Hug." She said, with no trace of emotion in her voice. Even the way she stood and moved had no emotion in it.
"Rom, what're you doing!? Don't hug our enemy, you dummy!" Ram yelled at her sister, but Rom didn't even react. Underling chuckled, still wearing her mad grin.
"Enemy, huh? Let's test her out… Hey, brat… You see those people over there, go ahead and beat the crap out of them, they're your enemy." She smugly told Rom.
"'Kay." Rom simply replied as she let go of Underling and made her way towards Ram. Once she reached Ram, she had whalloped her, clean in the face. Ram fell onto the floor, holding her left cheek in pain. Ram looked up to Rom, tears slowly streaking down her face.
"Ow! Stoppit Rom, don't hit me!" Underling burst out in laughter, seeing Rom deck her twin sister was quite amusing for the ASIC grunt.
"Hahahahaha! Seems like the twerp sees you lot as her enemy now!" Underling boasted. Aiden growled, his eyes turned yellow with a green aura steaming out. He was furious, and everyone else was too.
"What'd you do this time?" IF asked, holding out her Beretta towards Underling's face. Underling let out another chuckle before answering.
"Brainwashing, duh. The brat was so weak without any Shares, making it much better for us." Mina gasped.
"Brainwashing!? Committing such an act on a CPU is a capital offense!"
"Hell if I care! I'd love to boast all day, but I got to go and steal the rest of your stupid nation's shares. C'mon, brat!"
"'Kay." With that order, Rom returned to Underling and both of them jumped through the hole and disappeared.
"Wait! Rom! Roooooooom!" Ram ran towards the hole, but IF quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her by holding a tight grip.
"Lemme go! Lemme go!" Ram yelled at IF, struggling to get out of the guild members grip.
"And you can't just run after them! We won't be able to help her without a plan and there's the risk that you'll end up like her sister."
"Shut up! Just lemme go! I need to get Rom back!" Ram yelled back with a mix of sorrow, fear, and anger as she kept struggling to break free.
"I would act right now, but what IF brought up is a fair point… Underling's got Rom as an ally and a hostage, Ram can also easily become brainwashed because of the lack of shares, and if we chase after them, we'll just only make things more difficult." Aiden pinched his nose at all of the problems that were presenting themselves.
"I wouldn't have said it better myself… We can use instant transmission to catch up, but the real problem is how to nullify the events of brainwashing…" Austin stated.
"This is hurting my head…" Red muttered, holding both sides of her head. Even her dragon had it's eyes swirling around.
"Then what should we do? How are we going to get her back?" Nepgear turned to Mina if she had any answers. Unfortunately, she didn't have any.
"I'm uncertain… There's no record of a CPU being brainwashed…" Red regains herself and gives a… Unique answer on the subject.
"Maybe she needs a kiss from Prince Red, like from those old stories." Nobody didn't even reacted to that statement. However, Ram did and was yelling herself off on Red.
"No way! If you do anything icky like that to my sister, I will kick you!" Ram pointed at the wifey obsessed redhead.
"It's hard to express with words, but what if we were to awaken her from the soul, outward…" 5pb said. That option was just as unorthodox as Red's.
"Underling said it was easy to do because of the lack of Shares, nyu." Broccoli replied, it seemed like she was agreeing to 5pb's strange option.
"What does that mean for us?" Compa asked, confused on where this was going.
"Think the opposite. It'll be harder to keep her brainwashing in check if she gets a lot of Shares, nyu." The thought wasn't a bad idea at all, possibly the only idea that could be effective.
"Shares, huh? Do you think the Sharicite will work?" Nepgear asked.
"I wouldn't trust anything that idiot told us" IF let go of Ram to holster her Beretta and wore a frown.
"It's just a hypothesis, nyu."
"Yeah, but it's the only thing we got." Rhyel commented with a shrug.
"I have to agree, we have no other option at this time. It might be worth a shot." Ram nodded, satisfied with the answer Mina gave.
"Okay, then we're done talking! C'mon, let's hurry up and find her!" Ram was about to break for the hole again, but was again caught by IF.
"Jeez, chill out kid. It's already too late to chase them down. I'm sure they'll make their move soon, so let's gather up info. Alright?"
"I don't think we'll get the chance to gather up info…" Jason said, his eyes fixed on the hole.
"Why's that?" 5pb asked.
"Because I believe that Underling has already made her move..." Jason points out towards the hole. In the distance, columns of smoke rise into the air with giant Ice shards erupting from the ground. This sight was unfortunately coming from the city.
"She really didn't wait at all, nyu."
"Well, it does at least save us the trouble of finding her!" Aiden slammed his fist together, ready to beat a lot of sense into Underling's skull.
"Alright, then let's go get'em. Everyone ready?" Austin asked, with everyone nodding.
"Yeah, let's show that grunt whose boss!" Isabelle said as her hand ignited.
"I won't allow those dummies to get away with what they did to Rom! Never, ever!" Ram declared, having an angered grip on her pen wand.
-Lowee Streets (3:47 P.M.)-
The group had waited ten minutes for Aiden to even get a read on both Underling and Rom. Once he did, he told the crew (and Ram) to grab on and instantly teleported to see Rom in her HDD form, attacking buildings and people with her magic.
"Yeah, good girl! Destroy everything you see!" Underling cheered for the brainwashed CPU Candidate.
"Destroy…" Rom muttered as she swatted her wand towards a small building and destroyed it with raining ice shards.
"Hahaha, now this is awesome! Front row seats to see a CPU destroying their own nation is amazing!" Her fun however, was soon spoiled as Aiden and the crew appeared.
"Underling!" Aiden yelled out, his eyes glowing yellow with anger. Underling clicked her tongue and turned towards the group.
"Just as I'm enjoying myself… Can you read the atmosphere? I'm having fun over here!"
"And that's why we need to stop you!" Nepgear activated her beam saber, getting a nod of agreement from 5pb.
"Indeed! How could you say that you enjoy seeing this destruction?" 5pb disgustedly said.
"Gimme back Rom!" Ram pointed her pen wand at Underling. Underling had a smug look on her face and decided to mock the other CPU Candidate of Lowee. Maybe she can still have some fun.
"Give her back? Nah, I don't think so! If you want her back, then come over here and show me what you got. Unless you're too afraid to." Underling smirked with mocking confidence, pointing her pipe at Ram. Ram fell for the mockery and pointed her wand directly at Underling, ready to use a spell on her. As she was about to use it, Rom appeared right in front of Underling, acting as her shield. Ram immediately sent her spell upwards, exploding into a ball of ice shards before disintegrating.
"Hey! That's cheating! Fight us like the underling you are!" Red pulled out her yo-yo, ready to beat up Underling.
"Don't agitate her, Red. You ready Nepgear?" IF looked at Nepgear.
"Yes. Take this!" Nepgear pulled out the Sharicite from her left pocket and shined its light at the brainwashed Rom. When the light shined against Rom, she grabbed her head as the pain of a terrible headache came.
"Oh, waaaaaah…" Rom fell to her knees, the headache becoming worse.
"The hell? Oh… Don't tell me that puny gem weakened the brainwash!"
"Is it working?" Jason asked.
"Yes, but it needs one more push, nyu." Broccoli answered the Saiyan.
"Ram, now's your chance to talk to your sister!" Compa told Ram, which the young CPU Candidate nodded and walked towards her sister.
"Hey Rom! Rom! It's me, Rom! Your mega awesome twin sister, Ram! Say my name!" Rom's eyes changed back to it's pink color. Rom looked up to her twin sister, pain still rushing through her head.
"R-Ram…?" She muttered, struggling to say her sister's name.
"Oh crap… I-If she snaps out of it, the boss is gonna have my head for sure!" Underling shivered at the thought of her disgusting "Boss". Underling cleared her throat and barked an order to the Lowee Candidate.
"Hey brat! We're leaving, so hurry up!" Rom's mind was clouded with another wave of pain. The Candidate let out a few more cries of pain before her eyes changed back to the brainwashed yellowish-orange eyes.
"Kay…" Rom flew over to Underling and carried her out to the sky, flying away from the ruins of Lowee's streets.
"Noooooo! Rom, wait!" Ram called out to the vanishing figure of her twin.
"It's almost wearing off. We need to follow them!" IF said. Those who couldn't fly were carried by those who could and gave chase to both Rom and Underling.
-Atari Marsh (4:30 P.M.)-
"Crap… I can't believe those idiots found a way to reverse the effects so quickly..." Underling clicked her tongue as she was put down on a platform that sat within a swampy forest that strangely had resemblance to Virtua Forest Depths. As she was set down, Rom landed to her left and the Candidate held her head in pain again.
"Ahhh..." Rom groaned.
"Ugh! Stop with the cybaby antics, you good-for-nothing brat!" Underling yelled. She wanted to yell out her problems, but stopped that train of thought and smirked.
"Wait… I still have "those"... They'll be perfect for this scenario…" She chuckled to herself.
"I almost forgot about this, thanks to all that commotion. Now, how to use it at the right time…?"
"Freeze!" Underling cursed herself as she heard the yell of the brat with the oversized blue jacket. IF (who was being carried by Noah) dropped to the ground and landed perfectly on her feet; following up with pointing her Beretta at Underling.
"Damn! Already!?"
"Rom! Please snap out of it!" Ram landed, putting down Broccoli and Red.
"We're here to take you home." Nepgear added, putting down 5pb.
"Ram… Miss Nepgear…" Rom's voice quivered, trying to regain herself.
"Come on Rom, you have to break free." Aiden slowly walked over to Rom.
"No way that's happening! Brainwashing reinforcement go!" Underling slam down a small cylinder device on the ground. As it made contact with the ground, it opened up and dark purple with traces of silver energy burst out and fused itself with Rom.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Rom screamed in agony as her HDD form began to change, purple lightning crackling around her as steam emanated off of her skin and tears. Her sky blue hair turned into a navy blue, her skin changing to silver, eyes turning to a menacing crimson red, an evil purple and silver aura bursting around her like flames, along with an infinity symbol appearing upon her forehead and an upside down power symbol on her chest.
"Rom!" Ram screamed in worry.
"What's going on? She's in pain!"
"Tck! Whatever that device is, it was holding Dark Ki!" Noah got into his stance, already knowing that getting Rom back was going to be a hassle. The screams stopped and Rom brought her eyes towards the group, an emotionless expression on her face.
"Okay, listen up kid. Those guys over there are your enemies. Okay? En-e-mies, got it? We kill our enemies."
"Kill…" Rom muttered, pointing her wand at her "enemies".
"Leave my sister alone!" Ram flew towards her sister and pushed her out of the range of the Dark ki. However, fortune was not in Ram's favor. Instead of saving her sister from the Dark ki, she herself was also brainwashed and let out a painful scream. Her eyes went red and took the
same appearance as Rom, except her hair became a magenta like color. She had stopped screaming once the change was complete and floated next to her sister.
"Ha! That brat really thought she could save the other? Look where it got her, she ended up brainwashing herself!" To test that it actually worked on the other Candidate, she gave the two a command.
"Hey brats! Call me Boss Lady."
"Yes, Boss Lady…" The twins responded.
"Uh-oh! Did it affect both of them!?" Red yelled.
"This sucks, nyu."
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! This is priceless! That stupid brat practically brainwashed herself!" Underling laughed, angering the rest of the group.
"Man! I couldn't have asked for a better result than this! Now, kill them!" Underling ordered, as the brainwashed twins flew towards the group.
"And just for an extra measure!" Underling threw down three monster dics and eight Saibamen seeds. Four pairs from each disc appeared in viral form, along with eight Saibamen sprouting out of the ground.
"Wh-What do we do now?" Compa shivered at the mass of monsters accompanied with the Candidate twins.
"We have no choice but to beat them into submission! Clearing up their heads comes later!" IF puts away her Beretta and summons her Qatars.
"Agreed, we'll handle monsters and Saibamen! Jason, you better help out both Aiden and Nepgear against those twins!" Austin ordered Jason as he took his stance.
"Hmph, fine by me!" Jason got into his own stance with a red and orange aura flowing out of him. The aura burst around him as both his eyes and hair went red.
"Seriously, he also has that red form too!?" Underling was alarmed, but reassured herself.
"Heh, no matter… These monsters and those two brats are more than enough to handle you all!"
"Let's go!" Aiden immediately responded and went Super Saiyan God, starting the battle with his transformation.
"Kill 'em!" The twins waved their wands and sent a torrent of icicles towards their three adversaries. Nepgear and the two Saiyan Gods dodged, Nepgear taking to the sky and the Saiyan Gods flanking the twins on both sides. Both Saiyans fired off a barrage of red ki blasts at the twins, but were interrupted as Rom created a shield of ice. Nepgear took this moment to charge in from above them, but was forced to evade as she was nearly hit with a giant icicle from Ram.
"Ice coffin!" Both twins put their backs against each other and raised their wands into the air. In a manner of ten seconds, a giant ice heart was formed and flew right at Jason. Jason quickly created a burning barrier of ki, which melted through the combined attack and rushed towards the twins. Jason threw a left hook towards Ram's face, but was blocked by Rom. It was clear that Rom was focusing on defense and Ram on Offense. Jason was caught off guard with Ram doing something unexpected. Ram somehow created a dark ki ball and slammed it against his face. Jason's face was badly singed as his back slammed against the metal floor.
"Jason!" Aiden called out and was immediately attacked by ice shards from Rom, receiving cuts in his skin and clothing. Nepgear reacted by firing full auto shots from her gun-blade, destroying the shards and sending more volleys at Rom; who went back to focusing on defense.
"Man this stings…" Aiden sucked in a sharp breath, the stinging of the cuts running through his body. To help ease himself, the Saiyan took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Small flames emerged from his cuts and they began to disappear, as if the wounds had never happened.
"There." Now with the cuts gone, Aiden rushed back and fired off a barrage of ki to pin down Rom. Meanwhile, Jason's singed face also healed and went after Ram again. This time, avoiding any powerful ki attacks from the Candidate.
Nepgear flew over towards Aiden to help keep Rom from helping out Ram, but the use-to-be timid Candidate wasn't just good at defense. With a quick swing from Rom's wand, giant ice shards sprang from the ground and were aimed for Aiden. The Saiyan narrowly dodged and backed off as Nepgear took her turn. The Planeptune Candidate flew in between and sliced through the shards' swift elegance.
"Panzer Blade!" Nepgear yelled as she got in front of Rom, but the attack was countered as Rom used her staff. The two Candidates of their representative Nation traded blow after blow, with the occasional use of spell casting and gun fire.
"UGHFF!!!" Rom striked Nepger in the face, and followed with an explosion of ice shards to the Planeptune Candidate's abdomen. Nepgear flew back far and was about to collide with one of the huge trees. However, Aiden managed to save her, but unfortunately had to take the impact of colliding with the tree.
"Oww…" Aiden groaned.
"You okay, Nepgear?" The Candidate nodded. Aiden gave her a small smile and let her go, then pulled himself out of the tree.
"I hope you don't mind, but can you go help Jason deal with Ram?" Nepgear looked at Aiden, confused.
"Why?"
"Ram will probably become more problematic if this battle is prolonged. I'll handle Rom so she doesn't help defend Ram. Besides, Rom is also proving to be very problematic with her defense capabilities…" Nepgear wanted to protest the idea and wanted to help Rom snap out of her Brainwashed state, but also knew how dangerous Ram could be with her offensive abilities. She reluctantly nodded and flew over to Jason. Aiden returned his attention to Rom as she fired a magic ball of black and blue at him. Aiden quickly dropped to the ground, landing on his feet; letting the magic ball tear though the tree.
"Sorry Rom, I won't be holding back from now on…" Aiden stood up to his full height and looked up to Rom, who also was looking down at him.
'Here goes nothing!' Aiden crouched, brought both his arms to his side, clenching his fists, ready to charge up more power.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Aiden's godly aura flamed widely as he let out a powerful roar, the ground shook with the swampy water swirling from the force. The other fights that were going on temporarily came to a halt, both friend and foe bring their attention towards the Saiyan God. Those who were native to Gamindustri were shocked once again by the rise of power, especially Underling herself. Rom however, unknowingly twitched as she watched the Saiyan God power up.
"Here I go! KAIOKEN!!!" The crimson red aura of the Kaioken burst out of Aiden, layering on top of his God form with his hair becoming slightly spiky. Aiden glazed back up to Rom and instantly appeared right in front of her, catching the brainwashed Candidate off guard. Rom didn't have time to react as Aiden's left fist collided with her right cheek; the impact of his fist sent the Candidate skidding into the ground. Rom slowly brought herself up and cast another spell at Aiden.
"Southern Cross!" Four magical orbs connected by two strips of lightning appeared above Aiden and descended towards him at a fast rate. Aiden jumped backwards, as the attack slammed into the ground and left a T-shaped imprint. Rom wasn't done yet and cast another magic attack spell.
"Northern Cross! Western Cross! Eastern Cross!" The same T-shaped attacks appeared from above and on both sides of Aiden. To prevent himself from being hit from above and both sides,
the Saiyan God created a ki barrier. The barrier proved successful as the spell attacks were being repelled.
"Ha!" Rom put more power into the attack, making Aiden's barrier strain and shrink. Aiden added more power into the barrier and pushed the attacks back again.
"HRAAAAH!!!" With another roar, Aiden used his barrier to nullify the spell and glared at Rom. Aiden flared his godly aura with the Kaioken and flew towards Rom and punched her in the face.
--
"Ha!!" Nepgear raised her gunblade over her head and swung it down on Ram, but Ram swiftly countered it and fired a ki blast point blank in the Planeptune Candidate's face. Nepgear skied across the ground, but stabbed her weapon in the ground and stopped herself. Keeping up the momentum, Ram created their giant ice boulders and threw them towards Nepgear. The attacks didn't meet their mark as Jason appeared in front of Nepgear and fired off huge ki orbs and destroyed the individual boulders.
"Meteor Buster!" Jason fires a baseball size ki blast from his right palm and flies towards Ram. Ram readied herself to swipe away the blast, but what came next surprised her. As the ki blast came a couple inches close to her, the blast suddenly expanded into the size of a Giant Dogoo. Ram wasn't able to dodge as the blast engulfed her, a few seconds passed before the ball exploded with a thunderous boom. The section of the platform that Jason and Nepgear floated above was covered in smoke and nearly destroyed. The smoke slowly cleared and the silhouette of Ram appeared, panting heavily and looked tired. The Dark aura that surrounded her was slowly fading, along with the symbols.
"That Dark aura… It's fading." Nepgear stated.
"Then let's keep it up!" Jason threw his arms and legs in a X stance and his aura exploded with a bright glow; Jason then let out a yell and flew towards Ram to keep up the assault.
--
Aiden didn't stop as he kicked and kicked and kicked at Rom. Rom couldn't even keep up with how fast Aiden was now. Aiden stopped his barrage of kicks and switched to punching Rom in all her vulnerable spots with quick and hard jabs. Rom gasped from the pain, the air being knocked out of her lungs and was quickly knocked down to the ground. Rom weakly staggered as she stood up, legs threatening to fail on her as she used her staff to help her stand up right. She slowly raised her head and her eyes widened as she saw Aiden was already right in front of her.
"Crimson Kamehameha!!" Aiden threw his arms forward, a crimson beam erupting from his palms. Rom stood frozen as she was engulfed by the crimson colored Kamehameha wave.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The brainwashed CPU Candidate cried out in pain as the crimson beam slowly dissipated into the depths of the Atari Marsh. Rom twitched in pain with steam flowing off of her skin; the dark aura then vanished and Rom suddenly reverted back into her human form, before collapsing onto the metal floor and slipping into unconsciousness. Aiden planted his feet back on the ground and dropped his God form and the Kaioken, returning to his base form. The saiyan winced in pain as both his arms twitched from the strain of Kaioken on top of Super Saiyan God. He looked over to Rom and muttered…
"Sorry." A somber expression presented itself on Aiden's face, he wished there was another way to help Rom; but it was sad knowing that this was the only option they had.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Aiden spun around and saw Ram crash next to her sister and returned to her human form as well. Jason and Nepgear landed next to Aiden on both sides and returned to their base forms. The three of them looked behind and watched as the rest of their friends finished off the Saibamen and Viral monsters.
"And that's that!" Red victoriously declared, puffing out her chest in pride. Their victory would be put on hold as both brainwashed Candidates regained consciousness and got back on their feet. IF faced towards Nepgear and yelled out to her.
"Nepgear! The Sharicite, now!" Nepgear nodded and summoned the Sharicite into her hands, with her weapon disappearing. She held the crystal in the air with both hands and let the light it emanated to shine on both Lowee Candidates. Both Candidates let out a loud screech, as a sharp sense of pain went through their minds before subsiding.
"Oooh… Urrghh… M-Miss Nepgear…? Mr. Aiden…?" Rom moaned, her eyes barely opened. Nepgear walked over to Rom and held her by her shoulders.
"Rom, do you recognize us?" Nepgear asked, earning a slow nod from Rom.
"Owwy… I know you guys had to stop us, but do you really have to be such a bully about it…?" Ram held her head, tears threatening to go do her face. Her question would earn whistling or just scratching the back of the head.
"Y-Yeah… But hey, at least you two are back to normal." Jason chuckled quietly, with 5bp. nodding in agreement.
"Yes, what a relief." Their celebration would have to wait, as a certain Underling was voicing her complaints.
"Damn, this sucks! None of the choices I got are very favorable… Do I stay here and pummeled to pieces or do I run away and get chewed to pieces…?" She was brought out of her thoughts as she was nearly hit by Red's yo-yo.
"Who are you talking to? Get ready to feel our wrath!" Steam blew out of the red heads nostrils, fuming with anger.
"You've made enough of a scene!" A booming voice interrupted; followed by something large landing in between Red and Underling. What lay before everyone was a strange and disgusting creature. The creature was large, had yellow armor for skin with red trimming. It had a lizard-like head with large green eyes and a round red colored nose. It had a large and wide mouth that was open with a long tongue covered in drool, along with rows of sharp teeth. It was strapped in three straps that are tied in a large ringlet on the middle of his chest, along with a scaled back and a long reptile tail with red scales, on his back rested a large disc encompassed inside an open casing with a large horned head-like design on the top and wore short brown boots.
"Yes, haha! You guys are gonna answer to sir CFW Trick! You're in for it now!" Underling boasted after CFW Trick's entrance.
"Ew! That thing is your boss!?" Aiden yelled out, pointing at the drooling creature.
"Hey!" Trick yelled, offended.
"Hey Nepgear, is this thing one of the four CFW's?" IF asked the Planeptune Candidate.
"Yes, he was among them when me and the other CPU's ventured into the Gamindustri Graveyard…" Underling approached her boss nervously, afraid of telling him about what transpired.
"S-So umm… Hey, boss… What happened here was, you know… It wasn't my fault, sooooo…" The ASIC grunt tried shifting the blame onto the Group, but it didn't convince Trick that well. The drooling giant glared at Underling with his green eyes, sending shivers through Underling's veins.
"I'll deal with your excuses later." He sharpley said, before returning his attention to the enemies that stood in front of him; their faces infuriating him. "There are more pressing matters that I must deal with." A venomous tone made itself known in his voice, making Underling chuckle nervously.
"Y-Yeah, definitely." Underling slowly hides her face within her hoodie. "Y-You're gonna clobber those morons, right?" Trick stomped his tiny boot and cracked the metal floor beneath him, clenching his right fist with hate.
"You haggard fiends! How dare you raise your wrinkly against these poor, defenseless cutie pies!?" That comment alone made the heroes confused.
"Cutie pies?" Compa tilted her head. Red pointed her finger at Trick and answered to his strange complaint.
"It's your fault for using that brain cleaner thingy!" Moans of pain interrupted the argument, all eyes focusing on Ram as she slowly approached Rom and Nepgear.
"R-Ram… It h-hurts…" Rom quietly muttered. However, CFW Trick would reply to the hurt Candidates' cry.
"Aw, my poor sweet little puppies… Here, let me lick your wounds…" Trick's tongue slithered towards the injured twins and wrapped itself around them, smacking Nepgear away from Rom at the same time.
"AHH!!!" Nepgear yelped as she hit the metal ground hard. Aiden responded quickly and helped her up. Aiden looked up to glare at Trick, but the glare disappeared as he was met with a… disturbing sight.
"UGH!!! What the hell!?" Jason's face represented everyone's disgust of what they were witnessing, even Underling was disturbed with what her boss was doing.
"Hehehehe!~" Trick giggled as he did what he said as he was licking both Rom and Ram of their wounds. His tongue curled around each part of their small frames, covering them in his saliva. If there were anyone who would be truly disgusted, it would rightfully be the twins.
"Eww, gross!" Ram struggled to pull out of Trick's grip, but his saliva made it hard for her to do so. The unfortunate thing could be said for Rom, as she was having a much harder time then Ram.
"Noooo…! Don't…!" Rom sniffled as Trick's tongue licked her face. Reaching her limit, IF's anger burst out.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO THEM!? YOU PSYCHO!!!" IF's hair turned white, the iris color of her eyes turning blazing red as her outfit turned a fiery red compared to her normal blue.
"Yeah boss! This is straight up disgusting!" Trick looked down at Underling, a satisfied smile on his face that only creeped Underling out.
"But isn't this how you mend wounds?" Trick made equally, if not worse slurping noises as he continued to "heal" the twins; forcing the twins to let out more cries of disgust.
"S-Stoppit, I'm gonna hurl…" Ram's face turned green as she was being tummy rubbed.
"So gross…" Rom shared the same green face her sister had.
"My eyes…" Isabella said to herself.
"Get your ridiculously large tongue off of them, nyu!" Broccoli was the first one to demand the disgusting creature before her. Although, she would regret it as Trick gave her the same perverted smile.
"Oh, is that another compact little cutie?~ Alas, I'm not enough of a man to take care of the three of you at once…" The comment alone was still enough to make Broccoli instinctively cover herself in fear.
"So, your boss is a perverted lolicon?" Rhyel asked Underling, who reluctantly nodded. Mustering all her strength to prevent herself from breaking down from the sight in front of her, she looked up at her boss again.
"B-Besides all of… this? But… Can you please hurry up and beat the snot out of our enemies!?" Trick only waved off Underling's complaint with his right hand.
"Yes, yes. I know I should, but as a refined gentleman I cannot watch these cuties writhe in pain." Trick let the twins down gently before returning his tongue to hang on the edge of his mouth. The twins shivered and flicked off some of the drool, but their wounds were gone as well.
"Ugh… I-I'm fine, I'm totally cool! The pain is the least of my worries now…" Ram grubbled, looking at her drool soaked clothes that were now sticking onto her skin. Rom herself almost broke down in tears as her pajamas stuck to her skin as well.
"Slobber everywhere… M-My pajamas are ruined… I think I'm mad…" Rom wiped away her tears as she glared at Trick.
"Right now I think I'm more impressed that Trick guy actually healed them…" Noah said in awe and disgust.
"Of course I did, it would be unfair to fight at a clear advantage. However, they would still be no match for me at full strength!" Trick boasted and only received sweat drops from his enemies.
"You know, we would be treating you seriously if you hadn't introduced yourself as the most grotesque person on the planet." Rhyel crossed his arms.
"Yeah. Acting like a pervert for little kids cancels any coolness, nyu."
"I gotta agree with you on that, but definitely don't let your guard down. Besides all of his weird deluded tendencies, his power is quite strong." Austin got into his stance as Trick stomped towards the group of heroes, readying himself.
"Playtime is over! Now I shall show my prowess to both my cutie pies and you old folk!" The fight started with Trick taking the offensive first by using his tongue. The heroes evaded and began their counter attacks with slashes of blades, magic, ki blasts, a strange cat ball thing, and a yo-yo. Trick surprisingly defended himself with his stubby arms and retaliated by using his tongue as a whip. Aiden quickly transformed to Super Saiyan God, skidding across the metal floor after dodging the first attack. As Trick's tongue came flying towards him, Aiden grabbed onto it and struggled to keep his grip. To get a better grip, Aiden wrapped Trick's tongue around his left forearm and secured his hold with both hands. Trick's eyes widened as he was lifted off the ground and was slowly being spun around by Aiden.
Aiden spun around in place, building up momentum with each spin and slamming Trick into the trees. Aiden then let go of Trick and let him fly through several more trees until he crashed into the water, creating a giant geyser.
"Uhhh…" Trick's eyes swirled around in different directions, dizzy and filled with the feeling of virgo. Trick quickly regained his senses as he felt incoming danger and looked up to see Jason already in his Super Saiyan God state. Surprisingly, Trick was able to dodge by jumping onto his feet and doing a backflip, avoiding a knee strike from Jason; which created another geyser. Quickly reacting, Jason flew out of the geyser and threw a punch at Trick. As Jason's fist got close to Trick, the perverted lizard creature managed to catch Jason's fist and toss him into several trees.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Trick turned around and saw Nepgear right in front of him, reading her gunblade for a slash. He was unable to dodge as the Planeptune Candidate swiftly slashed her weapon across his belly, staggering the giant creature. However, Nepgear was shocked as Trick easily recovered and smacked her away with his slimy tongue. As Nepgear was sent flying, Noah dashed right past her in his SSJ3 state and sent an elbow strike; directly into Trick's face. This time, Trick wasn't fazed at all and head butted Noah square in the face, sending the Saiyan into the water. Not stopping their assault on Trick, Rhyel floated above him and began firing pinkish red ki spheres at Trick, which the creature smacked away with his tongue. Red swung her yo-yo so she could hit him as he's distracted, but he caught her yo-yo with his little arms and threw her into Rhyel's line of fire.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Red cried, her skin being burned by the heat of the Ki spheres, before dropping onto the cold metal ground. Rhyel rushed over to check on her, but was smacked away by Trick's tongue before he could and also crashed into trees. The Lowee twins joined the attack and used Ice Coffin on Trick, which failed due to it not being as powerful as it was earlier.
"Hahahaha! No matter what you throw at me, it will fail all the same!" Trick boasted, holding onto his belly and laughing arrogantly.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Aiden and Austin flew towards and slam their fists into the creatures round belly. However, their fists bounced off and weren't give a time to react as they were quickly smacked down by Tricks tongue.
"Damn, for having the weirdest and creepiest fedish… He managed to change the direction of this entire fight very fast…" Isabella commented, already in her neko form and was prepared to join the fight.
"Yeah… I can't believe everyone is getting pummeled by that thing." IF added, sweat going down her face, seeing Trick's strength.
"Yeah, you go Boss! Beat'em into a pulp!" Underling cheered from the sidelines. Aiden then came sliding right towards the group and stopped nearly an inch in front of them, spotting plenty of bruises and floor burns on his arms.
"HAHAHA!!! The CPU's of your nations couldn't even hold a handle to Magic! So what makes you think that you guys are capable of going against me!" Those who had gone up against Trick were now flying/climbing back onto the metal platform or rising back onto their feet.
"Well… I do fortunately have an answer for ya." Aiden got back on his feet, the aura of his god form healing the burns and bruises he sustained. Trick was taken back by what he saw, but maintained his "Confident smile"?
"And what might that be?" Aiden chuckled as his eyes momentarily flashed a cyan color and his face returned to a more serious expression.
"I believe we are capable of defeating you because some of us are still holding back." Trick's eyes widened as Aiden was consumed by a blinding blue light that caused everyone on the field to cover their eyes. A second right blue light then shimmered behind him, emanating from Jason.
"I should've known that these guys had ANOTHER form up their sleeves! What the hell did those barbers do with these guys!?"
-Cue: Dragon Ball Super OST: Birth of a God-
The light soon died down and left the glowing blue shapes of both Aiden and Jason. The glow then shattered like ice and slowly evaporated from the form of the two saiyans, revealing themselves with cyan colored eyes and hair spiked to the shape when they are a Super Saiyan.
"Woah." Was the only word that escaped from Ram's mouth, memorized by the cyan colored flame that ignited around both Jason and Aiden. Even Rom found herself memorized by the aura.
-End: Dragon Ball Super OST: Birth of a God-
'W-What is this pressure I'm feeling!?' Trick asked himself, anxious from the two saiyans' newer appearance. Without a word, the fight started again as Aiden suddenly appeared in front of Trick and slammed his fist into the big creature's belly, causing damage now as Trick gasped. Trick went flying and his back slammed against another large tree, knocking the breath out of him even more. Trick fell back onto the platform with a loud thud and groaned, having a hard time breathing.
"W-What… hugh! Just… Kaff! H-Happened?" Trick wheezed in between his words, slowly regaining his breath, stumbling back on his feet. The only answer the CFW received was a kick to the back, which was delivered by Jason. Jason broke into a combination of heavy strikes before finishing his attack with a point blank ki blast to Trick's back and sent the CFW right towards Aiden. Aiden intercepted Trick midway and uppercutted him with a ki infused fist, sending him into the air.
"Nepgear!" Aiden yelled out to her and she nodded, already knowing what she had to do. The Planeptune CPU Candidate flew upwards and passed Trick at remarkable speeds and turned around to ready her attack. As Trick's body began to close in on Nepgear, she raised her Gunblade above her head and sliced it down on Trick's back as he finally reached her. She followed up with flurys of slashes, keeping Trick immobilized in mid-air and sent him back down with a quick burst from the barrel of his weapon. Having enough of sitting back, Isabelle rushed towards the falling CFW and jumped for him. As she reached him, she set her left hand on fire and grabbed Trick's face and shoved him forward, making them fall even faster. The metal platform rumbled and strained as the back of Trick's head was forcefully slammed against it. Isabelle jumped off of Trick and regrouped with the others as they starred at Trick.
"U-Ugh…" Trick groaned as he slowly sat up, his sight blurry from the impact that his head sustained. Underling was left with her mouth a gapped in shock and her eyes shaking in disbelief.
"I-I can't believe what I'm seeing! There's no way that the Boss is getting pushed back this badly!" Underling then screeched as Trick was threw over her head and smashed into the ground at least three feet behind her.
"W-What?" Trick's body shakes as he struggles to sit up, almost collapsing as his arms gave out on him.
"I can't believe this! What gives, Boss?" Underling yelled at Trick. Not even given a chance to reply, a mysterious man appeared wearing a torn up brown cloak with a hood that hid his face. Both Underling and Trick showed a face of surprise, as if they recognized who this person is.
"I-It's you what are you-" The cloaked man grabbed Underling by her hood and jumped over to grab on to Trick. Once he had a hold on both ASIC members, he vanished from sight with the both of them. Everyone was flabbergasted by what just happened.
"Who in the hell was that guy?" Jason asked the obvious.