Good morning, y'all!
Okay, I did NOT expect to see my story leap from just under 490 views to nearly 590 overnight. Holy crap, that was insane! I guess you guys really liked the action sequence, or at least I did something right. Its good to see, since chapter 6 and 7 are going to be uploaded today, ad you should know King Carlos, that I am good with my word. For those of you who don't know, this is a reference to a PM discussion me and this guy/girl had.
Anywho, more reviews! Now to answer them.
Jeitron - Thanks for the review and honesty, there. Don't worry, you'll be seeing plenty of characteristics from Nico that'll change your opinion of him. I'd rather not make him too... single-minded I suppose, if he was all like 'all about the mission, all about the mission', I bet it would get boring real fast. Hopefully with what I have planned, you'll change your views on him.
King Carlos - Don't worry its not overwork, I simply have wrote a LOT, like over 50 Chapters, of this story ahead of time. Like I said in the last AN, I've been writing for a long time, ever since I started high school. Since I'm in my second college, that's like... wow, lots of story writing.
Now then, let's get this party started!
Chapter 6 -HDD time!
Neptune floated in the air before Compa as she looked herself over. Histoire had just told her that this form she was in, which was both different in terms of power and appearance, was what she really looked like, as if her other form was merely a disguise, a fragment that she could discard easily. Now that she thought about it, this form did have a distinct 'feel' to it that her other form didn't have.
"Huh… Nep-Nep, is that you? Whoa, your glowing!"
Turning her gaze towards Compa, the purple haired woman smiled at her. "Yes, it is me Compa. I apologise for not being able to get here sooner." She told the Nurse in Training, who just shook her head while standing on her feet, as she had fallen onto her backside when Neptune had started her surprise attack. "A certain someone told me that this is my true self, what I really am. I don't know everything that's going on right now, but I promise, we'll find Nicky and get out of here together, as a party of 3."
The Banshee made to attack them while in this conversation, but Neptune didn't make the same mistake twice. She turned her head and glared at it with the same steel she had before. "That won't work." She said simply, flexing her left arm towards the Banshee. From the airspace to her left, multiple purple coloured blades made from pure energy manifested from nothingness. They shot forth faster than bullets fired from the fastest rifle, impaling and pinning the monster to a wall, much to its anger. As it tried to break free, the swords dug deeper, only worsening its suffering.
"Compa." Neptune spoke without looking to her friend as she threw her left arm towards her. The girl eeped when she saw a purple energy barrier form around her, the ground she stood on being covered with a large digital panel. The barrier crackled with energy on the outside, not harming the cargo it contained on the inside. "You stay in that barrier for now. I do not wish to worry about you throughout this fight."
As she listened to that request, Compa made to protest when she saw the look in Neptune's eyes. Maybe it was the new form she was in, but her personality seemed to be a lot different than before. Before, she seemed like an air-headed childish girl with jokes and memes always coming out her mouth. Now though, that personality had changed into that of a seasoned warrior, wanting to limit the casualties of battle. It made her want to follow this woman's orders no matter what they were.
Charisma. That's what it was.
"O-Okay, Nep-Nep! Beat that meanie monster really good, okay?!" Compa yelled out as she sat down in the Barrier, dismissing her Syringe back into her Inventory. She wouldn't be needing it anytime soon, something told her.
Neptune smiled in gratitude, feeling like a weight was pulled off her shoulders. "thank you. I am grateful. Now leave this one to me." She said, turning to the Banshee which was using its Tentacles to pull the blades out, but with considerable difficulty. The area of the Tentacles that were touching the blades seemed to be burning, like just the touch alone was painful and could harm the Banshee. That was noted inside the warrior Queen's mind as she held her sword, going into a Kendo stance. "get ready!"
She then thrusted her blade forwards, sending a massive purple energy arrowhead flying towards the Banshee. Said creature hissed as it finally pulled the Swords out and rolled out the way, its wings too damaged for sustained flight now. Regeneration started to kick in, but to its dismay it was a lot slower than before, which Neptune noticed. "Looks like your healing isn't as good when I use my energy blades. I shall capitalise on your weakness, monster! CROSS COMBINATION!"
With the usage of her first Skill, Neptune flew forwards, her wings making her go much faster than she would have in her human form, and she closed the distance between them in seconds. Her sword came down upon the enemy in a black and purple blur, with the Banshee parrying each strike with its claws. Well, each ground strike anyways, when Neptune managed to send it into the air, she flew up after it and sliced through its back multiple times, earning a shriek of agony for each one before she ended the attack by slamming it down to the ground.
In her human form, Neptune would have assumed the fight was over by now and lowered her guard. But in this form, that was not the case as her instincts told her. A powerful adversary like this one wouldn't be killed by just one Skill. Her purple aura swelled around her body, coating her along with this ethereal white glow which originated from her skin, while she landed before the smoke generated from the Banshee's impact. She floated into a combat ready stance, holding her sword in two hands while pointing it at the location of her enemy.
Said enemy indeed had a few more tricks up its sleeve, proven when from the ground below her, a series of large spikes made from dead flesh erupted, threatening to impale her multiple times over. Neptune acted on instinct, twisting and slashing at the Spikes so they wouldn't enclose her like the Tentacles had done to her friend earlier. The Spikes were sharp and relentless, causing Neptune to suffer more than a few injuries in the form of gashes on her stomach, arms and one on her cheek.
Then, they stopped as the Banshee flew towards her, its wings having regenerated to a point where flight was possible, but they looked damaged still. The Banshee roared as it swung its right claw at her head, only for Neptune to block it with her sword. She did so with the next few slashes, the two trading blows like they did earlier at the beginning of the chapter.
SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG!
They traded blows every millisecond, at least that was what it looked like in Compa's eyes, but in truth they were going way faster. The two circled around each other like lions in a territory fight or a dispute for whoever got the opportunity to lead the pack, until Neptune clashed with the Banshee, sword vs Claws, and then smirked. "I think I'll borrow this from that one orange haired black wearing reaper…" she muttered before energy began rolling off her sword in a large mass.
The Banshee couldn't react in time and was hit with an explosive energy attack, shrieking as it was sent flying backwards to the ground. it landed on its back with a massive thud that echoed throughout the Cave, screeching and cawing as it struggled to regain its bearings for a second. It then flapped its wings to shoot back and planted its limbs into the walls, shifting its body so its back was facing Neptune, who was readying her own attack.
"This is the end, monster!" she bellowed while raising her sword to the skies. The weapon once again was coated in flaming purple energy, roaring like a furnace newly fuelled by the emotions coursing through her body. "Haaah!" she yelled, bringing the sword down and releasing it as a powerful energy wave towards the enemy, the attack leaving a destructive trail through the ground in its wake.
As the attack neared its target, the Banshee… barely dodged it in time by jumping into the air from its perch on the wall, swooping down on her like a falcon and raising its claws for a double slash. These attacks were blocked, but that was proven to be a costly error when it flared its wings to release a dozen thin Tendrils that lunged at her from all sides.
Neptune's eyes widened in surprise at the offense, and when she tried to move her sword to destroy them, she found that it had been caught within the creature's claws, leaving her unable to pull it free in time to destroy the Tendrils. 'Oh shoot! I've been cornered!' the woman thought, letting go of her sword's hilt and taking to the air above them to get out of the situation.
This left her without a means of attack, and the enemy could tell. It threw the sword away, the weapon clattering against the ground when it impacted. It then flared its wings and lunched its Tendrils at her, coming at her from multiple angles which Neptune began to fly about in the skies to avoid them. However, the Tendrils didn't chase her mindlessly, they constantly slashed and stabbed, trying to goad her into a corner to finish her off. Fortunately for her, she had kept ahead of them, lest she become a humanoid pincushion.
'This is not good, I do not know how much longer I have with my power… it feels like its dwindling on me already. If I don't do something soon, I…' her thoughts were broken as she hurriedly dodged the lunge of a Tendril attacking from the front. She then did a full circle to avoid several more, before noticing that she was close to where her sword lay, anxious to return to its mistress. 'If I can just get to my sword…'
"Nep-Nep, look out!"
Unfortunately, Neptune's moment of pondering would cost her greatly, an eruption of Tendrils had burst out the ground, shooting towards her in all their twisted splendour. Before she could move to dodge them, Neptune was caught hen the Tendrils grabbed her by twisting and coiling around her feet, slithering up till they reached her thighs. "Ugh, get off me!" she yelled, anger and embarrassment overtaking her. Neptune raised a fist, empowering it with her energy before bringing it down on one of the Tentacles. It shivered and unwrapped itself, only for several more to get her arms, holding them out with her legs making her look like a star.
The situation had shifted dramatically back into the Banshee's favour, and it knew it. The girls however, had no clue of just what it planned on doing to them, an act that would be worse than anything that any pervert, murderer or rapist could do. It was a fate that not even a dog deserved, and that was barely scraping the iceberg to what horrors it would unleash.
As she struggled in vain to break free from this situation, the Banshee snorted at her, and the woman got the feeling she was being insulted somehow. She gained a tick mark over her forehead as she aimed a glare at the Banshee, struggling even more thanks to the adrenaline her rage provided her. "Your insulting me just now, weren't you?! Don't try to deny it, I know you did!" she yelled, only for a snort from the creature to confirm her thoughts by doing its imitation of a chortle and pissing her off even more. "Just you wait, once I get out of here, I'll-!"
Before she could finish though, Neptune suddenly gasped when her body began to glow an ominous purple colour. She cried out as the glow went down the Tendrils and into the Banshee's wings, making it howl with delight as it hungrily sped up whatever process it was doing. Neptune's cries were ignored as it did its thing, and the glow began to get brighter on the Tentacles. Soon, it became apparent that Neptune was weakening, as her efforts to break free began to dim.
"Nep-Nep, you have to get outta there! The Banshees have a Leeching ability that steals the energy of their prey! they use it to immobilise then capture!" Compa cried upon seeing the ability at work. She remembered Nico telling her about it one time during their talk about the subject over the phone, when he had said he'd found a settlement overrun with a Banshee infestation. The horrors he had seen there weren't fully disclosed to her, but what she had heard was enough.
With this knowledge, Neptune once again resumed her struggles to break free, her energy being leeched off her continuously by the Banshee. It saw how she was attempting to resist and growled, its many eyes darting about in a frantic manner as it increased the suction rate of its ability. This continued for a while, before Neptune began to feel her consciousness slipping away, her energy draining too fast for her to do anything as her movements began to slow.
'N-No… this can't be happening… we're the heroes, we're supposed to have an easy victory…'
With her weakening body, Neptune felt the energy get sucked out of her at last, and in a bright swirling light her body was back to its preteen self, and because the transformation was stronger than her human body, Neptune felt the effects of the leeching even greater than before, making the battle to remain awake that much harder. "U-Urrgh… no fair… what is with… this crazy monster…?" she muttered under her breath as the Banshee, sensing its victory nearing pulling her towards it. She couldn't see what it was doing and thanks to the Tendrils neither could Compa, which made her impending death that much more terrifying. Worse was, she had no energy left to resist her inevitable fate, a fact that made frustration well up inside her. "I-Its… the author's fault… for making this scene so different… from the original rebirth series…"
Compa could only watch as she saw her friend near her end, her eyes wide with horror and dread, a deep pit of nothingness invading her stomach as she placed her hands on the barrier. With the weakening of Neptune, I had grown unstable given the amount of areas of it that were growing static. It was like how small pieces of a serpent's old skin fall off when shredding. She tried banging on the barrier to break through and help her, but despite its state the barrier had remained strong enough to keep her inside. "No, this can't be it, the story can't end this way! We barely got started on our adventure together! We have so many people to meet, monsters to fight! We can't end it like this… NEP-NEP!" she cried out, tears falling down her cheeks like waterfalls, and she didn't bother stopping them. Her mind was in chaos as she watched her friend about to get eaten by the Banshee.
She was always an optimistic person, it was her nature to be so. She had been raised with the belief that in the end, everything would work out, that things would be fine. Many called her weak for thinking that way, that she was too soft-hearted to think like that and it would only get her killed. Back then she didn't care, she didn't care what people thought of her as she would just smile and wave it off. Even though there was someone good like Nico whom had been there to support her when insults really hurt and people started getting physical on her. But now, for the first time in her life, Compa had no idea how this could work out.
"No… not like this… anything but this… someone, anyone… please… NEP-NEP! NI-NI!"
Her cry caught the Banshee's attention as it paused whatever it was doing to Neptune. The Banshee noticed that her defence had been weakened considerably, and launched several more Tendrils from the Wings, ones which quickly smashed through the barrier and grabbed her by the neck, wrists, waist and legs. Compa cried out in horror and fear, trying to resist it but it just raised her into the air, letting her feet dangle over the ground, before bringing her over to itself, right alongside Neptune.
The Tendrils then began to squeeze them by their necks, cutting off vital air supply for the two as it cackled evilly, a sick, twisted grin forming from its fanged maw, or as best as it could with how its head was built. Because it was grinning, more blood could be seen pouring from its maw, making it look like the Banshee was drooling a waterfall of blood. slowly, it leaned forwards, its maw now open wide to expose the interior of its mouth to the two horrified girls, how there looked to be rows upon rows of long, sharp teeth just waiting to tear into their flesh and rip it asunder.
'Th-This is… this is it… we're going to die here…' Compa thought, a lone tear sliding down her cheek as the maw neared the flesh of her right shoulder, Neptune struggling to break free so she could stop it to no avail. She tried to call out to her, to warn her only for a Tendril to shove itself into her mouth like a gag, making her attempts as moot as someone being unable to speak without their vocal chords.
Just before she could lose her consciousness however, what could be considered as… monstrous intervention happened. It could have been considered as divine intervention, but the only thing that threw that off was the appearance and nature of what happened next. A loud roar sounded throughout the cave, and only seconds later did the Banshee detect something heading its way.
WHAM!
Something slammed into the Banshee just after it detected its presence with a frenzied roar, which also sounded like a mix between a roar and a scream. The two girls fell abruptly down to the ground, the Tendrils holding them in the air having been sliced to bits by unknown means. Well, they would have hit the ground had they not been suddenly caught by something, something cold and metallic, like armour.
The girls recognised the feeling of armour as they attributed it, despite their weary, weakened states, to the armour belonging to their mystery comrade. Both weakly raised their heads using what little strength they had left in them still, hoping to find out if it were Nico who had saved them, but their eyesight became blurry just now where they could have seen the face of whoever had rescued them.
"U-ugh… h-h-how careless of me… the main character… to… ha…ve… lost, so… eas…ily."
"Nep…Nep… we aren't… in a… ga…me…"
Both girls fell unconscious at last, with the hope that whatever had saved them wouldn't eat them alive. But the last thing they had heard before they fell, was the loud roar of the creature that had saved them as it charged at the now scared Banshee.
Now, there were few things that terrified Histoire more than anything.
One of those was the deaths of the CPUs, and the resulting fall of Gamindustri. She would do whatever it took to defend the home and people she loved from people who wanted to see the world burn just for their own amusement. Even if those people happened to be people she had once knew. Her general role was to record the History of Gamindustri, but there was nothing that said she couldn't develop goals of her own. Histoire was fortunate that her goals weren't so sinister with this freedom of development, something that her creator, the former Goddess of this world, had given her. Even with this freedom, she was not all powerful, as her creator had put limits on her so the information she possessed wouldn't be misused.
But what she had just recorded happening in the Monster Cave was something that sent constant chills of raw, primal and unrestrained TERROR through the spine of her book self. Not only did Neptune and her friend Compa lose their fight with the Banshee, even with Neptune rediscovering her power to transform, but they had almost been forced into a fate that she would never wish on anyone, not even the worst of the worse amongst both humanity and non-humans.
Yet, it was WHAT had saved them that scared her senseless.
It was a creature that had long since been erased from history, a being that could very well be the darkness to the light of the CPUs. The CPUs may be non-human, but they were brought about by the natural faith of those of the lands they oversee. Demonic entities had not been seen IN Gamindustri, but they did once exist before time. What happened to them was a mystery not even she knew of, as their time was long before she was even brought into being.
This creature, though… was something else, a foul force of nature that was the result of corruption yet with intentions for good, created during a time of great hardship and tragedy, only to become something horrifically twisted and brutal, a monster that Gamindustri would NEVER be ready for, not in several thousand millennia. The last time this being existed, what happened could not even begun to be described with words, it was that bad. What that boy had done was bestow upon himself an even worse fate than what he had already, and if someone didn't do anything he would soon fall to madness.
That is, if anyone could help him at all…
He was lost, there was no way around it. it was also the only thing he could use to describe the situation he was in. Nico looked around at his surroundings, watching the endless black void that he floated within endlessly, his body apparently being bathed in some sort of white paint that illuminated the area around him, not that it did much. The darkness seemed to devour all forms of light around him, not letting even a spark reach him. Hell, his light was the only source of light there was.
"What the hell…?"
Nico knew where he was however, he'd been here more times in the past than he could remember, starting from the first day after he had been taken in by the Planeptune Government to be put into Compa's grandfather's care. Currently, only one person knew about these instances, and that person was…
His eyes widened when the whole setting shifted, and he was submerged under a red lake, his breath stolen from him as he tried to swim to the surface. However, it was fruitless, a heavy weight formed on top of his shoulders, which began to burn with the stress the were under. Something was slowly pushing against him, keeping him submerged, but he fought against it, his eyes wide with fear and dread as the sinister presence he felt below had noticed him. He needed to leave, he had to get outta here, before-
Just before he could get to the surface, something shot forth past him and grabbed the hand that was just about to grace the tip of the surface water, beginning to drag it back down despite his resistance. Soon more of that something grabbed his other hand and his feet, turning him so that instead of the escape known as the surface he was facing the abyssal depths of the ocean below.
And that was way worse.
Because of the lack of light, he was unable to see what was holding him, but Nico didn't need to, he had an instinctual feeling of what they were, and that information did nothing to aid his emotional state right now as he frantically tried to break free, bubbles escaping in large groups from his mouth as he gasped, only for water instead of air to shoot down his throat. He couldn't even cover his mouth with his hands anymore, and yet, the burning pain assaulting his body refused to let him fall unconscious, it kept him alive like a patient in a torture chamber.
Then, glanced down into the depths… and saw something that, no matter how many times he witnessed it, shook him to the core, stripped him of all his bravery and fearlessness and left him with a shell of fear and anxiety. A pair of large eyes opened in the darkness below, eyes so full of predatory rage, desire, of HUNGER and INSANITY mixed together to form one of the cruellest, bone-numbing gazes ever created by… well, anything. When he had first saw that stare, Nico realised that nothing else would come close to scaring the living daylights out of him more than this stare.
His eyes widened in sheer dread when whatever had grabbed him began pulling the male down even harder towards the pair of eyes, a jagged, twisted maw slowly becoming visible while he was pulled closer and closer, bit by bit. The maw was illuminated by a red interior, steam being released from within to show how hot it must be within there as it slowly opened, a searing heat penetrating the coldness of the lake and right onto his body. it felt like as though he was being burned alive by the fiery heat of the sun itself, but he managed to suppress his desire to scream at the sensation. It wasn't like he had any other choice, water would go down his throat otherwise.
"YOU... CANNOT...ESCAPE...YOUR FATE!"
A dark, murderous and sinister voice whispered both into his ear and through his mind, like it came from outside and inside respectfully. Nico tried to resist its words, refusing to believe them even though he knew deep down that it was telling the truth. It, along with the Guild, had proven its point to him many times before, that his body's condition was permanent, that there was no way for him to go back to being a normal human.
He was doomed to be this way… doomed to walk a path not even a dog deserved. The path of the monster.
Nico's eyes shot open with a startled gasp, quickly shooting up so his upper body was straight. His eyes were wider than saucers while the irises were no larger than dots. The male panted heavily, a hand clutching his chest while sweat trailed down his forehead. His heart pounded rapidly from the adrenaline surging through his system while his breaths came out as shaken gasps.
'That dream… no, that was no dream, I know EXACTLY what that was…'
The male tried to calm his pounding heart, his heart that was currently about to burst from his chest with how erratically it was beating. But despite his efforts the images of the dream he had plagued his mind, constantly making his efforts useless. Still, he tried hard to regain his composure, to regain some sense of normalcy which he so desperately desired. 'But… if I had that dream, then something must have happened… something that made me drift from my path…'
Instead of forcibly calming down, a moment later he decided to think on the reason why he had that nightmare. It did seem to work however, as he felt his breathing steady, his heart rate calming down to a steady rhythm while his eyes returned to normal. After he took a few breaths, Nico closed his eyes as he pressed an index finger and thumb to his forehead as he tried to recall what had happened to him. The last thing he could remember was touching that strange crystal, and then… blank, he couldn't recall anything after that.
His eyes widened at this revelation, 'okay, something about that crystal must have sparked a divergence, if it was able to make my nightmare return to me. The gap in my memory worries me, but it's not like my amnesia, no it feels like the memories are there, it's just… argh, yep like I thought. Looks like something was stressing me out at the time to the point where my mind blocked the experience, including my memories, out. That must be the divergence. ' He thought, analysing every bit of information he could gather from his experience.
The male then felt a chill come over his body, a shudder being its natural response. Looking to the left Nico saw why: a window was open, which had let in the breeze that caused him to shudder. This led to the next question that popped into his head: where the hell was he? His eyes glanced around as he examined his surrounding at last, and found that to his surprise and relief, that he was inside Compa's bedroom. At least the settings were familiar to him.
'Though how I got here is a mystery I'd like to have solved. I best go and… wait, Compa and Nep! Where are they?! I hope to god they're alright! If someone has hurt them, I swear to the Goddesses I'll rip them to pieces!' Nico shouted in anger through his mind, his eyes filling with a mounting fury. If anyone had touched those girls that he had sworn to protect the smiles of, then they would face his wrath.
Before he could go down that route any further, something white and purple below him, just out the bottom of his vision, distracted Nico from thoughts of bodies hitting the floor in mangled messes, and when he looked down, Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar hoodie dress wearing female appear in his vision. 'Whew, so Neptune's right here… that's a fucking relief, I can imagine the hell I'd have unleashed if something bad had happened to this innocent soul…' he thought while a smile of relief formed on his lips as he ran his hand over her head, ruffling her hair in a cute manner.
It earned him a happy moan of pleasure from the girl, whom leaned into his touch unconsciously making his smile widen. She was so adorable, that was something he had learned about her from the first time he'd seen her, though at the time Nico was focused on other matters to notice, like pulling her dirt-covered self out the ground she had impaled.
As he stared down at her sleeping form, another question popped into his head, one that replaced his relief with a mounting terror once again. 'Wait, why the hell is she in bed with me? Ooh gods, did I do anything while I was sleeping?!' his eyes widened to their previous state when he woke up, the horror of that realisation sinking in faster than ice scream exposed to the heat of the sun.
The male's fears became more founded when he noticed that his upper torso was bare, exposing his thoroughly-trained soldier body. His body had the appeal of a six pack, maybe an eight, but it was usually covered by his clothes, as well as his armour when he deployed it. It was also because of his 'condition' that he had this body, heavy, intense training had transformed his body from what it once was, a thin, scrawny stick-like body, to his slim but powerful build. 'Oh gods, please tell me nothing happened! I don't want to be responsible for hurting her like that! I'll kill myself, consequences be damned if that happened to her without her consent!'
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how one viewed it, Neptune chose this moment to wake up from her beauty sleep on top of the male's lap. She sat up while stretching her arms with a 'munya' sound from her mouth, making her look even more adorable than she already was. "Ahhhh, man that was a great nap. This Nep's Nep-gauge has been recharged to full for the rest of the day." She mused to herself with a happy smile as she lowered her arms to her side, then raised one to her mouth to stifle a yawn.
Afterwards she opened her eyes to the sight of Nico staring with disbelief at her, and for a moment the two stared at each other. That is until the still groggy preteen gave a sleepy smile and tilted her head with a weak wave of her hand. "Hey there, Nicky, g'morning." She greeted with less than her usual energy output. It made sense considering how she had just woke up.
"Uh… good morning Neptune… but um, how are you so sure its morning?" Nico hesitantly asked her, trying his best to keep his face as calm as possible. He didn't want to show how nervous he really was about the situation he was in. Nico in his spare time, usually after being forced to by his fellow Spec-Ops agents, had watched a few playthroughs of some romance based Visual Novels, like the one about where the player is a young man in debt with the mafia, but saves a young girl with red hair and white uniform which results in him being accepted into an all girl's school that's choosing whether to go co-ed.
His fellow Spec-Ops Agents, when not in the field, could be either humorous or very annoying, for example how they would
And in those Novels, this situation had the potential to spiral out of control VERY easily. Though, what he learned from those Novels was how NOT to act in certain situations, how to think, plan, calculate and showcase one's cunning. He didn't learn any emotional lessons from it like what his fellow agents wanted or teased him about, hell Nico sometimes doubted he had any emotions left. At least… positive ones.
At those moments, he thinks of Compa's smile, one of the few things he has in this horrid twisted world.
"Huh? Of course, its morning, what else would it be? I mean, I wake up, the sun is shining, the day is bright and…" the male watched as Neptune went on about how one could tell it was morning, chuckling at her antics. She may be a bit slow in the uptake, but he didn't hate her for it. In fact, it reinforced Nico's desire to keep Neptune safe from any harm that comes to her. Even though he had only known her a short time, Neptune had shown him that she was quite like Compa, and that alone put her in his good books. Good people like Compa… they had to be protected, if their future were to be a bright one.
Soon, Neptune's little speech came to an end, "… and that's why pudding gods are real!" the male had to raise a brow at that, an amused action, but an action nonetheless. Since when did their conversation spiral down to the debate of pudding gods being real? Nico shook his head at her childish antics. Though they did do the job of making him forget about his previous problem for the time being.
It was then that Neptune's brain finally began to catch on to something as her expressions became ones of confusion, "… Huh? Nicky?" she muttered, before looking at him. Nico stared back, knowing what was about to happen and bracing himself for the inevitable. Neptune's eyes widened… before her body slammed into him with her arms wrapped around his back, her head buried into his chest, "Nicky, your awake!"
"Ufufufu, little slow there, aren't we Neptune?" Nico asked her with a smirk, amused at how she had taken more than a few seconds to realise that he was awake and talking to her. He almost gave in to the urge to laugh, but didn't. A: it seemed mean in his head to laugh at the girl for somethings he likely had little control over, a part of her personality, and B: with the way, she was holding him right now told him that she had been worried about something, so laughing at her right now would be like a slap to the face.
Looking up at him, the male's theory was confirmed when he saw her face. Nico had to admit it pulled at his heartstrings, seeing those small tears building at the corners of her eyes as she glared at him. "Don't ever worry me like that again, buster! You have some nerve, scaring this pure maiden when you threw us away from that crater!" she chided him, pounding his chest with a fist.
The male let her do that as payment for making her worry. He was surprised though that she cared that much despite not knowing him very well. Perhaps it was because he was close to Compa that she saw him as an extension? While that did hurt a little, Nico could understand that logic. Nico rubbed the back of his head nervously, not meeting Neptune's gaze right now. "Yeah well, you girls didn't notice it until it was too late, and I was worried so…" he tried to say, but for some reason he felt worse for trying to defend his actions.
Nevertheless, Neptune stopped pounding him with her fist. With his build and endurance, it didn't hurt him in the slightest, but still the look on her face reminded him of a kicked puppy, which made him feel all the guiltier. "I was worried you know… you and Compa are the only friends I have right now. No memories are in my brain, for whatever reason, so you guys are the only thing I have, to stop me from being lonely. So, promise me that you won't do that stuff again, ya hear!"
Seeing the look on the preteen's face get even more depressed and lonely made Nico want to rip his heart out and stab it for making Neptune feel like this. In a way though, he could see where she was coming from, both him and Compa were the first 2 people to ever show her any kindness after her amnesia, they didn't throw her aside like some others would, they stuck by her even through her antics when other people would have given up on being around her. So, the thought of losing one of her friends must have been hard for her to take.
Looks like the joker has a soft side after all…
"I… can't do that Neptune." He replied sadly, this time facing her gaze directly while rubbing the tears out her eyes while he continued. "It's part of the Spec-Ops code for me to do what I did. there's several rules we follow: protect the interests of the government. Make sure the city is safe from any threat against its walls. And number 1, most important: PROTECT the civilians whenever you can. I was doing my duty as an Agent, there isn't anything wrong with that."
Neptune made to respond to that, and judging by her face it would likely be accompanied by a raised octave, but he stopped her by continuing. "Still, since your worried that much I can promise you this: I will do all that I can to survive any crazy stunts I pull in the name of duty. I'll survive and make my way back to you guys. I swear on my pride as the Guild's DEATHSTROKE." The male told her with utter seriousness, interlocking the hand she had used to hit him with, using one of his own. There weren't many times where he could keep a promise, many times he had to tell people he couldn't keep any because of the nature of his duty. However, this one he had every intention of keeping no matter what. The fat that someone was worried, someone CARED enough to worry… well, that was something eh treasured deeply.
His words had softened the girl up, evident by the slight bashful look on her face as she drew her gaze to the side, "wow… that was quite romantic there, bud…" she muttered with uncharacteristic shyness. The male nearly blanched in surprise at that, "trying to pull the smooth moves over this pure maiden, are we? Hah, I see your plan my naïve little bro! this Neps route won't be achieved so easy, even if you have the makings for a harem protag!" she proclaimed with a fist pump.
An eyebrow twitched as Nico frowned while closing his eyes. While he was glad that Neptune had regained her usual personality, he was a bit insulted at some of her remarks. "I'll have you know, I have ZERO talent for a harem, seriously I'm usually awkward around girls in normal social norms, hell I have no charm whatsoever." He told her with finality, firmly believing in his words. He wasn't as well-known as other Spec-Ops agents so it was a given that girls would go after them and not him.
In a way, it was a relief, considering his condition…
Neptune however, remained unconvinced at his words. "Nah, that's not true." She waved him off as the male made to counter her again. However, she stopped him by continuing, "I mean, you already charmed one of us already, who knows maybe you'll charm more gals without even realising it! Man, a dense anime harem protag who doesn't look generic at all! I wonder how the author's gonna pair us all up with you. There's been many who've tried for us."
The male now had no clue as to what the girl was talking about, and this feeling of obliviousness he was feeling right now… 'She reminds me a lot of THAT guy, with her ability to break the fourth wall while spouting references and memes 24/7…' he thought to himself, chuckling at her antics. Still though, thanks to his… association with THAT guy, Nico had some idea of what Neptune was saying, stuff about charming one girl already. He wondered who he'd managed to charm without realising, so he could apologise for doing that to her and maybe steer her towards someone worthier. After all, someone like him had no chance with the ladies.
Before his thoughts could spiral any more into depressing territory, they both heard someone knock on the door. "Nep-Nep! Are you up yet? I'm coming in to change Ni-Ni's bandages!" called a familiar voice. Nico had only a second to register the fact that he had bandages on his upper body, which surprised him as usually his wounds would have been… dealt with, by now.
The door then opened, and in stepped a certain cream haired Nurse-In-Training, carrying a med kit filled with medical appliances for treating those who had been wounded in battle. When she looked at te bed and saw what was happening, her body froze as she dropped the med kit. "E-Eh…? Ni-Ni?" she gasped after a moment of silence. Then, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she blurred forwards faster than a certain blue hedgehog. "NI-NI!"
"Guh!"
Nico gasped, feeling the air getting knocked out of his lungs when the girl's body collided with his, her arms wrapped around his back as she buried her head into his chest. "Your awake, your awake, your awake! I'm so happy to see you up and about, Ni-Ni!" she exclaimed, her voice slightly inaudible thanks to her face being in his chest. Her grip was like iron, difficult to break free. Unlike what her frame suggested, Compa had experience transporting unconscious people from place to place, making her very physically fit and powerful, yet still retaining her femininity.
The male felt his cheeks heat up once again at the contact like they had when Neptune had done it. he wasn't used to physical contact like this, and had to speak his mind before this got any worse. "Uh, thanks Compa. Sorry for scaring you and Neptune, but could you get off me? I have to get dressed since I'm KINDA topless right now."
Chapter end!
Whew, what a doozy! I remember writing this from scratch so long ago, ahhh good times.
Anyways, before I go into full reminiscent mode, chapter 6 will be uploaded tonight, so make sure to keep an eye out, fellas!
This story's gonna be completed if it's the last thing I do!
see you next chapter (WAVING ARMS FRANTICALLY)
