Chapter 7
"And now, we finally get started on the next part of this arc. Man, that part was much longer than the original rebirth series, huh guys? Oh wait, I forgot Nicky here isn't in the original, since this is a fanfiction. My bad, sorry-dorry." Neptune commented while sitting on the side of Compa's bed, kicking the air with her legs.
It had been a few minutes since Nico had asked Compa to remove herself from him, pointing out how despite the bandages were there, he still was topless. Compa had, at that moment, realised what she was doing to him and blushed bright crimson, quickly detaching herself from him and repeatedly apologising for her conduct while bowing. Nico was quick to assure her it was okay as the crimson faced girl went to get his upper body clothes: his Trench Coat, Polo shirt and holsters. She had also retrieved his boots, since it was unhygienic to sleep with them on in bed. One could get dirt on the bed, and as a Nurse, albeit one in training, Compa couldn't allow that.
As a result, both her and Neptune had their shoes and boots removed too, leaving their individual stockings on.
"Nep-Nep, what are you talking about?" said Nurse-In-Training asked her while Nico had just finished putting on his Trench Coat after his polo shirt, and was now strapping on his Holsters. He was also listening to their conversation, and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at Neptune's comments. Really, she was so much like THAT guy it was crazy. He wondered how it would turn out if her and THAT guy were to meet. It would be likely an entertaining, yet mentally taxing, show at least.
Said fourth wall breaker merely waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Compa poo. Just letting the readers know that the next part of this arc is the last before the next arc begins! Yaay!" Neptune responded, raising her arms into the air and jumping to her feet, repeatedly jumping on the spot. Her energetic self was enough to make both Compa and Nick smile and chuckle at her antics.
Once he had gotten his Holsters back into proper place, Nico looked at them both, remaining silent for a moment, debating on whether to ask this or not. Since they needed answers though, he decided to do so. "So, uh… any idea on how the hell we got here? Last thing I recall is when we were in that new Dungeon." He asked them both while stretching his arms above his head, groaning in satisfaction as he felt the weariness leave his arms. He lowered them right after, letting them swing idly from front to back before they settled at his sides.
"Uh, we don't have much of a clue either, Nicky." Neptune replied for both her and their resident Nurse-In-Training. "When we woke up a couple days ago, we just found ourselves here. You weren't waking up though, and you had lots of injuries on your person, way more than what me and Compa had, heck you were even worse than I was when I fell from the skies." She told him, huffing with her cheeks puffed in annoyance. "So not fair…"
Compa shook her head while smiling weakly at Neptune's admittance of being jealous that Nico got a more realistic amount of injuries while she didn't. "Nep-Nep, its not like Ni-Ni wanted these injuries, you know. Nep-Nep's weirdness aside, it's just like she says Ni-Ni. We don't know who or why, but when we came too we were back in my room. I checked the time when you were asleep, and according to my calculations… along with the use of your bracer, it had been about 3 hours since we went to the Dungeon in total." At the end, she gave an apologetic bow to the male. "I'm sorry we used your equipment without your permission, please forgive us."
The male waved her off, not minding really, especially in these circumstances. "No worries, Compa, I'm impressed that you thought to use it at all." He said, complimenting her idea. He was telling the truth there, if it were someone else he'd likely be pissed off and try to spear them with a Plasma Claw, but Compa was someone he trusted, hell, he'd likely trust Neptune a little with it, just not with the Plasma Claws. "Moreover, this just confirms that one: I was out longer than you two, and with these injuries, in which case…" the male paused as he quickly ruffled under his clothes, gripping the bandages around them and pulling them off him. "Looks like they've healed already."
"Eh?!" Compa cried out in surprise. What happened next caught even Neptune off guard as she walked to him and lifted his shirt up, ignoring the exclamation and embarrassed shouting of the male she was forcibly undressing. She looked at where she had wrapped the bandages around his body, and found her breath being stolen from her when pure, unblemished skin was what she saw as a reward. "Huh…? Why have they healed so quickly? You would have had to be in bed for a week at least with the injuries you sustained!" she exclaimed, before realising what she was doing after a few moments.
Her face flushed even more as Compa backed away, letting Nico straighten out his clothes with a noticeable blush of embarrassment on his cheeks. "S-Sorry! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear! I was just checking your injuries!" she exclaimed, trying to push down her blush but the images of what she saw were burned into her mind. Compa had been to the beach several times in her lifetime, and thus she had seen naked men, or at least partially naked and topless men, before to the point where she didn't mind it all that much.
However, compared to the build that Nico had, those men were like ugly sacks of flesh to her. Thanks to his training to be a Spec Ops Agent, Nico's body was like a sharpened blade, each muscle, each cell, was geared towards nothing but battle. she wouldn't be surprised if it was apparent that they could grate cheese on his abs or something of similar proportions. It wasn't meant to make him look attractive, no, it was more on the practical side. it was the type of body that got the job done as efficiently as possible.
"Aw, the Comco ship's starting to sail already!"
"Nep-Nep/Neptune!"
Both teens screamed the name of the one that had teased them with an evil snigger, her face that of what would be known in the future as her 'troll face' which would appear whenever she would be joking about at the expense of others. And right now, Compa and Nico were her unfortunate victims. Jeez, where was that lack haired tsundere when you need her?
In another land, a black-haired girl suddenly sneezed, though she had no idea why.
Back to the main cast, after they recovered from Neptune's teasing, they made to continue their discussion, when suddenly they were joined by an unexpected visitor.
'Perhaps I could be of assistance.'
"What ho?!" Nico shouted in disbelief, stumbling back in shock as he looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice, however his eyes didn't play tricks on him for there was nobody about "Whose there?! Show yourself!" he exclaimed, activating his Bracer's radar only for it to register only Neptune, Compa and himself in the immediate vicinity, which baffled him even more.
The same could not be said for the two girls however. Neptune beamed happily at the voice with a gleam of recognition in her eye, "Heeeeey, hey, hey! Its Histy again, how ya doing? Thanks for that awesome tip on how to use my super special HDD ability." She thanked the disembodied voice, giggling happily, "helped me save my friend Compa when I needed it."
Compa nodded her head, smiling brightly while having her eyes closed as she greeted the voice for real this time, since the last time they heard it Nico was MIA and they were fighting for their lives. The young teen couldn't imagine a better time for the voice to have spoken to them, than being almost near a bad end. "It's really nice to meet you, Histoire. Can I call you Histy too? It's a bit of a mouthful for me…"
'It is very nice to meet you for real, Compa. Yes, you may call me Histy, for it is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. As for you, it is nice to meet a Spec-Ops agent, young Nico.'
Nico's mind rebooted from the temporary bluescreening it had done when it registered the fact that Compa and Neptune had known the identity of this strange voice while he was left in the dark. Perhaps they learned of this feminine voice while they were separated? It was the only plausible explanation, but with how Neptune was acting it was likely she was the first one to know of this voice while Compa was a close second. If he had to guess, he'd say this was the third time Neptune and 'Histoire' had communicated, with Compa on her second experience and him experiencing this for the first time.
'…Ufufufu, its always interesting to record what you are thinking, young Nico. You have observation sills and detective ability unseen in many a man in Gamindustri.'
Nico blanched at the voice's words. How the fuck did she know what he was thinking? And recording them even? Nico had a lot of questions about this situation, perhaps too many for this type of talk, but for now he had to start with the basics. He took a few deep breaths, calming his nerves and his instincts which were telling him to do… a lot of bad things to the area around him. But this was Compa's house, so he resisted the urge. "I have so many questions, but let's start off with the important stuff first, who are you and what is it you're doing here?"
'Agreed, this is not the time to be idle, especially with what you three have uncovered at that Monster Cave. For now, Nico, call me Histoire, I am the Tome that records all Gamindustri's history, there is next to nothing that I do not know. As to why I am here, it's to ask you three a favour or two.'
"Uh, is this something to do with that dream I had where you asked me if I could save you?" Neptune piped into the conversation between them, drawing Nico's interest immediately when he heard the last bit. Histoire asked Neptune to save her? Did that mean that she was in danger and had to ask for help to get out of whatever it was? That was suspicious, if it was something like getting out of a drug ring, then…
'I assure you Nico, it is not a drug ring. I am sealed away in an unknown location. This has been so for several centuries, which have caused radical changes to form throughout Gamindustri. For my first favour, Neptune and Compa found a small object in the Monster Cave yes?'
This time, it was Compa's turn to respond, as her eyes widened in realisation as she pulled the object from within her purse, having put it there for safe keeping. "Oh! Do you mean this Histy?" the girl asked her, presenting the object to the space In-between the three people.
'Yes, you have found what is called a 'Key Fragment.' Only one is not enough, but if all four are gathered together, they become a key to release me from my seal. There is one in each Nation, so if you chose to accept this request, then you will have to travel between all four nations. This is my first request, can you please free me?'
His eyes narrowed at this while Neptune gave a frown of her own, memories of the Banshee resurfacing in her mind that gave her the chills. "But, if we do, we'll have to fight monsters, right? Isn't that… dangerous?" she asked the voice. If they could see her right now, they bet that Histoire would be frowning at the question.
'… Unfortunately, yes. Your life will be in danger, especially with how the monsters have been evolving to more dangerous forms. However, I am certain you three will be able to handle it. We have Neptune, who has her HDD to fall back on when situations become dire. We have Compa, a medic who has an arsenal of healing skills. Even if her bandage fetish is a bit weird. And finally, we have Nico, the Spec-Ops agent who has a variety of experience and knowledge to contribute to the team.'
While the trio flushed red at the mention of Compa and her usage of bandages, they did admit that Histoire had a good point, the three of them alone had some unique skillsets and abilities, so if they partied up they would likely stand a chance against the monsters, both the new and the old ones. If they were to encounter the stronger, scarier ones, they had the OP Spec-Ops agent and HDD wielding Neptune to deal with them while Compa remained at the rear. And it wasn't like Gamindustri was void of other talent, their party would probably grow in number as their journey went on, something that Nico partially dreaded for reasons.
'I understand that, despite this I am asking a lot of you three, to trust someone you haven't even met yet. To face the new horrors that are plaguing our world and threaten to reduce Gamindustri to ruin. However, I shall offer something to the three of you in return. I will restore your memories, Neptune, Nico, for that is within my power.'
Now THAT caught their attention, especially Nico and Neptune. 'Whoa, whoa, is she serious?!' the male shouted within his mind in shock, his eyes wide with surprise at what Histoire was offering. 'She's literally offering us the one thing I want more than anything, the returning of my memories! I'll have the answers both myself and the Guild have been seeking for the last four years!' let nobody say that wasn't a tempting offer. And if these girls accept this quest then he would be going too, no matter how much it may make him regret it, because he'd feel even more of a jackass by letting a pair of girls go around the world without him. Plus, this sounded like it would be quite interesting.
"Really?!" Neptune cried out, her face exactly like what his feelings were right now: happy, hopeful with a brief instance of surprise. It must have dawned on her as well, the implications of what Histoire was offering them. Nico had to admit, Neptune may be more logical than people give her credit for.
'Really, really. And anyways, I really do need you to get your memories back, Neptune, as well as yours Nico, for you were correct to assume that they hold the answers to many questions.'
The male felt a stab of pride flow through him at being told he had been on the right track, by the literal embodiment of Gamindustri's history no less. It was after that thought though, that he realised something about this situation, something that most likely wouldn't even consider, "uh, hey Histoire? If you're the tome that records all our history then couldn't you just tell us what we need to know?"
'I expected you to ask that. Unfortunately, both your tales are long, too long for me to explain with what time I have left. In addition, I may be the tome of Gamindustri, but with my current state I am unable to access every piece of my knowledge. Neptune's memories are an exception, but yours are not, so I feel it unfair to you if I did that. Lastly, like I hinted at earlier I have a time limit, which I am slowly reaching right now, so I'll hurry and ask the second favour: I want you to go back to the Monster Cave.'
At this, the two gaped at the space above their heads, their eyes white and circular even Nico's were like that. A small silence passed, and when their brains rebooted, they gave a collective shout that may as well have startled half of Planeptune, "EEEEEHHHHHHHHH!?"
'E-Eek! That was one surprising outcry. Let me explain before you jump to conclusions. Nico, you would agree with this when I tell you that there's a Banshee infestation there that threatens to destroy Planeptune.'
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Nico screamed like the monster that had been named, his eyes now filled with even more horror and dread than he felt before when she told them to go back. That name, it sparked a LOT of memories, memories of his previous encounters with those twisted abominations. They were worse than the normal kind of monsters he hunted either alone or with fellow Spec-Ops agents! Just hearing their names sent even the toughest of generals into a cold sweat for goddess's sakes! "ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!"
'Sad to say, but it is true. I wish it weren't but that is not the case. Worse still, is that since you were unconscious and Neptune and Compa were taking care of you, they have had ample time to become a threat. The Guild have recognised that there's a threat there, but never got any details of what that threat was, therefore…'
Oh gods, things were worse than he thought, if what Histoire says was true… Nico quickly activated his Bracer and checked the news section of the Guild's website, which showed little of what they were doing at certain times. One such article caught his attention, and when he skimmed through it, his face reddened with frustration Nico had couldn't resist the urge to curse. "Son of a bitch! damnit, this is bad! This is very bad!"
After he deactivated his Bracer, Nico looked up at the ceiling again. "Alright Histoire, you got yourself a deal. I'll take out the Banshee infestation and get these fragments for ya. Those bastards in the Guild have no idea what they've done, sending normal agents into that hellhole, it's like lambs to the slaughter!" he bellowed, officially signing himself up for this quest. It would be the longest one he had yet, but Nico didn't care about that. All he could think about was destroying the Banshee infestation in the Monster Cave. Everything else was secondary in comparison.
"Hold the phone you guys!" Nico and Histoire, after being so deep in their bone chilling conversation, remembered that there were 2 others in the room. Both gave the speaker, who turned out to be a seriously annoyed Neptune and a pouting Compa, as the former spoke again. "You're leaving us outta this, and that's mean! Please explain so we and the readers can understand!" she cried, Compa nodding in agreement.
'The Banshees are an infernal race, you girls. They are an unholy mutation born from two other monster species, with a Hivemind mentality and ability to drain energy from their foes, effectively paralysing them. But that is not what makes them so terrifying that they are rated higher than S class monsters, a rating where only Spec-Ops or the CPUs themselves would be able to fight them.'
Nico soon followed suit from where Histoire left off, his face set into a grim scowl as he raised his hands to his face and clenched them, unclenching them as well as a form of distraction from the horrific truth he was about to reveal to them. "What's most terrifying is how they breed." He told them, lowering his hands with resignation. "When they breed, they… do it differently than normal. They're an all-female race so they can produce eggs internally, and they fertilise each other. This is shown when they drool blood, its meant to show that they have been fertilised by another Banshee. When fertilised, they find a third host. They leech their energy till they can't move, drag them to a secluded area, then…"
The teen took a slow, shaky breath, his body shuddering at the thought of saying what he would say next, but he had no choice. The girls were paying rapt attention now, but nothing would prepare them for what he said next. "Implant their eggs inside the host. They hatch into larvae that eat away at the weakened host, muscles first, vital organs last."
A pair of mortified gasps rang out in the room, the source being 2 thoroughly fear-filled girls. "NEPU! That's messed up, and totally sick! Why the heck is a monster like that in this normally goofy, funny franchise!" Neptune exclaimed, trying not to show how sick that knowledge made her feel. Her efforts may as well have been in vain though, for her face nearly turned a lizard green colour at the images in her head. "This is really dark and depressing territory we're getting into here!"
Compa could hardly make any words come out of her mouth. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out as she closed it again. She was rendered speechless at the horror she had just been told. She remembered when she had asked him about Banshees over the phone, and recalled how hesitant he had been about doing so before changing the subject. Now she knew why, and all her curiosity about them had evaporated faster than liquids exposed before the sun's surface.
The male looked at them sadly for a moment, depressed that he had to tell them that. He felt like a real jerk, scaring them like this, but it had to be said so they knew the scope of what they were getting into. "I get that your scared, so I won't hold it against you. My first time wasn't so either, so I understand if you don't want to-"
"We'll do it!"
When he heard that, Nico gasped, completely caught by surprise when he heard Neptune proclaim that she would help, along with Compa nodding. Both looked scared, but there was a strong determination in them. In that moment, he saw that despite their fears, they were willing to do this, including releasing Histoire from her seal. "Alright, then. Looks like you got yourselves 3 rescuers, Histoire."
'Are you certain? I am aware that Nico would have no problems with accepting my requests, but…'
Both Neptune and Compa nodded their heads, looks of powerful determination burning in their eyes. It was a seriousness that was rarely showed by either of them Nico noticed, which made seeing it more inspiring. "Nep yeah, those meanie monsters tried to use us to breed the last time we met, remember Compa?" Neptune asked while turning on the bed to her friend, who nodded strongly. The fear was more evident in her eyes than in Neptunes, but still she put on a brave face. Nico mentally applauded her for her noble actions, but waited for them to finish while trying not to have a heart attack at what they just admitted. "We gotta stop them fast, swat those bugs with a bug swatter, as payback!"
The two girls made a unified cheer, inspiring morale within each other which put a small smirk onto Nico's face as he pressed a hand on his chest, deploying his Armour. Clenching his fists, he deployed his Plasma Claws, their light illuminating his Masked face as he spoke. "Well girls, I'd try to stop you, but with the way you are, and this rage burning inside me I'm not gonna bother. Now then, let's go on a bug hunt, ladies."
"Yeah!"
'I wish you three the best of luck. May I advise that you make quick preparations before heading out, as while Neptune may have her HDD, her human weapon is… not very practical for this kind of work. plus, it was destroyed during that previous battle, rendering it useless.'
Nico nodded his head in agreement with Histoire's words. First, they would have to pay a visit to a weapons shop to get the preteen amnesiac a proper set of equipment for this kind of work. Spec-Ops work and regular Guild Agent work had major differences in difficulty levels, so things had to be more serious in the former's line of work. Fortunately, he had a few more options than to just go to the shop and waste time deciding what to buy.
"No need, I have that covered." He told Histoire, piquing her, Compa and Neptune's intrigue as he pressed several keys on his Bracer. Which opened what looked like an Inventory Screen. While most would rely on their Inventory, which was native to all Gamindustrimen, Nico himself preferred the large storage capacity of his Armour, which allowed him to place many items such as weapons and armour modules inside. He called it 'Void Storage'
He pressed a few more keys as he searched for the weapon he had in mind for the girl, keeping in mind her fighting style and skills. She focused more on fast and powerful attacks, with decent defence, with her evasion being her weakest area, though that wasn't much of an issue with her endurance. 'Hmmm… let's see, I know it's here somewhere… aha!' his eyes widened with a grin slowly forming on his face. "Finally, I found you…" he muttered, his grin widening.
Neptune pouted while puffing her cheeks out in annoyance, she didn't like waiting long and was beginning to get Impatient. "Oh come already Nicky! Don't keep me in the dark here!" she whined, only for the male to give her a raised brow as if to say, 'hold your horses' girl, I'm getting there.' He then pressed several more keys before stretching his hand out, a flurry of particles manifesting above his hand.
They soon gathered together and formed the weapon he wanted to give to the girl: which was what looked like a mechanical Katana. Its sheath contained a rifle mechanism with a magazine loaded and a trigger located below the sword's hilt. Neptune's eyes widened as she began ogling the weapon before her with a look of awe and wonder. "Ooooh, what is this classy looking sword?" she asked as he grasped it by the sheath below the rifle mechanism.
"This my friend, is an experimental High Frequency blade called 'Murasama'. HF technology allows electric currents to pass through the blade continuously so when they slash, the weaken molecular bonds, potentially allowing them to slice through anything. This bad boy was given to me by the Guild as a reward for a Quest long ago, and I think it's the ideal weapon for someone like you." He explained as he handed the sword over to her.
Grasping the Katana in its sheath, Neptune once again ogled the weapon in her hands. She was amazed at how detailed it looked, and how it seemed to fit in her small hands. She so wanted to take it out, and when she sent a questioning glance at him, he responded with a smile and a nod. "Draw it, but slowly, and see what happens." He said, gesturing to the blade's hilt.
With his permission, Neptune eagerly grasped the handle as she held it out in front of her, taking a stance with her legs spread apart. Slowly, she began to grip the blade's hilt, before pulling it out at an agonisingly slow pace. It was worth it though to see the small arcs of electricity arcing from the blade itself, the whining sounds made by it. The electricity illuminated her face when it crackled close to it, and combined with her expression that was comparable to a child opening a present on Christmas day to gasp in awe and joy at the contents, made his smile widen even further.
Usually Nico wouldn't do this, usually he would test the weapons himself before reporting to the WDD about it for them to make the necessary adjustments before shipping the final designs for mass production. However, in his eyes this was like killing 2 birds with one stone, HF Technology was one of the newer technology but the potential it had was staggering. It came from one of the companies in Lastation, MG something or whatever, but it was scrapped early on due to the developer's having a lack of experience with sword gameplay. On one scouting mission in the last war with Lastation, that technology was found and adopted by Planeptune engineers, and since has shown lots of potential for another technological revolution.
Shame Lastation didn't know what it missed…
Back to the topic at hand, Neptune held the Katana as she examined the blade from multiple angles, marvelling at the crimson blade that crackled with electricity. "I have a feeling that a certain tsundere in the future will go ballistic when she sees this…" Neptune had to remark that and, if she were near a certain black-haired girl she would be doing that.
"Now that we're all equipped with weapons…" Nico brought them back to attention again, Neptune swiftly sheathing the Katana while Compa looked on with envy. She felt jealous that Neptune had a super techno gadget like that Katana and she didn't, but didn't fault Nico for it. heck, it felt like he wasn't finished prepping yet judging by how he was rummaging through his Bracer's void storage. "Time to give you girls some armour."
Both girls went wide eyed at that, their mouths hanging open as they looked at him. "A-Armour? But, um, isn't armour…" Compa tried to say, but stopped when she realised that her sentence would have sounded rude no matter how she tried to word it, and she didn't want to be rude to her childhood friend, plus he was only looking out for her.
However, Neptune had none of the restraint her friend had shown as she blabbed her thoughts out before her brain could process them, "um, buddy we don't need armour, I mean it's so stiff and tight! We'd be sweating before we'd even get to the dungeon, and I like the windy feeling I get under my hoodie dress." She admitted with no shame whatsoever.
The cream haired girl flushed crimson at the implications, while Nico had a tinge of pink on his cheeks as he tried to get the… stimulating images out of his mind. "Believe me, if these were ordinary monsters then I'd agree that you wouldn't need it. no comment on the last part though. But don't worry about sweating, what I have in mind will solve that issue… aha! Here it is!"
Pressing on the image of the item in his Void storage, Nico held his hand out as 2 objects appeared in his hand. The objects formed from the same manner as the Murasama did, and when they looked at the objects the two girls saw that one looked like a dark purple circular lense inside a black metallic piece with many legs jutting off it, sort of like a spider. The other object was similar, only it was varying shades of cream colours.
After he grasped the two, Nico handed them to the girls, purple one gong to Neptune while the other went to Compa. "The Guild has been thinking of ways to solve the 'weight problem' that armour possesses so that more will use armour for protection, and so these two are their first successes. They're both form fitting and light weight, but can pack a wallop in the defence stat. Go ahead, put them on your chests and you'll see." He told them, gesturing to their chest areas, or at least the area above the chest.
Neptune beamed as she went all, "okay, I'll trust ya, buddy. Feel grateful that this Nep likes you so." Before doing what, he said and pressing the device onto her chest within her hoodie, Nico turning away out of respect for her modesty. She didn't notice the look that Compa had sent her as the device activated as it latched onto her chest, digging its legs into her skin which made her wince a bit. However, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, in fact it was only there for a second before vanishing.
Instantly afterwards she was encased in a cocoon of Datastreams from the device's purple piece, just like Nico's armour. It lasted a good 1 second, before it vanished to reveal Neptune's new look.
"W-whoa, Nep-Nep! You look… so cool!" Compa gasped in shock as she held a hand over her mouth while her eyes widened at the sight before her. What she was seeing certainly looked beautiful and cool, yet there was a tone of intimidation with it, womanly intimidation. Nico was right in that it fit her frame to a T, covered everything about her at least.
The armour's colours were black and purple like her HDD form, but with no blue. The helmet covered Neptune's head with black armour, with 2 elongated ears extending behind her head that had purple plating on the interior. The faceplate consisted of 2 purple plates aligned forwards in an angular appearance, with 2 lenses within that showed where her eyes were. Her main body was had black slim armour over it with bits of purple where the fractions were to outline parts of her body, like the breasts. On top her shoulders were a pair of large engines with purple glowing interiors, extending behind her, while her arms were covered in black armour down to the hands, which had purple knuckles and nails, while the elbow joints were larger metallic structures that functioned both as joints and… something else. Around her waist was a black 'skirt' made from long spike extensions, while the legs were black armour with purple at the joints, with the kneecaps being the same as the elbows and the feet were shaped like Neptune's shoes.
Looking herself over, Neptune instantly had a similar reaction to it as her friend did. "Holy moly! What the heck is this, this can't be me, can it?!" she shrieked in shock, but no fear. She then did some shadow boxing, finding how well the armour moved on her skin as well as the mechanical whirring's within the armour sounding like music to her ears. "This is BEYOND cool! This reminds me of that one queen with 'Dark' in her name, who has such a delicate looking butterfly form while hiding away the sinister badass robot side of her for when she really needs it for deep plot reasons!
Nico watched this with a pleased expression on his face as he grinned and crossed his arms under his chest. He was pleased that the girl liked it so much, it really seemed to fit her… in a weird way, but meh. "Something you two should know, these armours are not only form fitting, but once it was deployed the first time they become ID locked to that person, so only he or she can remove them." The male explained while his grin remained on his face, watching Neptune began to do the hula dance on top Compa's bed. It made him laugh a bit inside seeing a dark, intimidating figure doing something so childish, so… Neptunish.
He had a feeling she would be developing a lot of names to do with 'Nep' in the future.
As she watched her friend play about with her armour, Compa looked at her own device, which rested in the palm of her hand. For some reason, she felt like… well, like it was meant to be with her, like it was calling her before she even put it on. Compa doubted Neptune would have noticed this with how she acted, but she got the feeling that this armour was mad e specifically for hr design. She gained a determined look on her face while placing it within her sweater and on her chest. "Right, if Nep-Nep and Ni-Ni can do it, then I can do it to! A Nurse must be at her best to help her patients! Let's go!"
Soon, she too was enveloped by a cocoon of Datastreams, and when it faded, Compa looked herself over to see what she looked like now. Her eyes widened when she did though, and her breath was stolen from her, not to be returned for a long time. Her armour had the colours of light cream, red and white, with the helmet covering her jaw in reddish armour, with the faceplate covering all but her left eye, shaped like a fattened creamy white 'C' with a bit of her face exposed. The helmet had the rest of the red armour extending backwards, making it look like it was elongated and cylindrical. 2 white 'horns' protruded from the sides and pointed forwards, level with her ears. Her main body had cream coloured armour with red fractions, a red 'H' emblem designed into the centre, and elongated white shoulder pauldrons that almost looked like Scythe blades. Her arms had various pieces of red down them, with the forearms having several fractions in that looked like compartments, while the hands were crimson red armour, clawed as well. Her upper arms had a pair of red spikes curving towards each other protruding out of them, making makeshift 'C's. Her waist had a red skirt that reminded her of her normal one, while her leg armour was cream coloured and her feet were reminiscent of red stiletto heels.
Both Neptune and Nico paused in what they were doing when they saw Compa's armour. "Ooooh, neato Compa!" the girl complimented, her voice deepened by her armour as she bounded over to her faster than the eye could blink, her new equipment not hindering her in the slightest. She began to look her over from different angles sometimes poking her in the red areas. "Wow, this thing feels like a darker, more battle-ready you. It's like I'm looking at 'Compa: Battle Mode!' or something, Hehehehehe." She remarked, giggling cutely into her hand.
The Nurse-In-Training beamed at the praise, before striking a pose. "Thank you, Nep-Nep! Leave it to me, I'll blow them away with my supper death beam!" she exclaimed, giggling like a high school girl while engaging with Neptune in some random antics, showing just how much, they liked their new armour.
Meanwhile, the male Spec-Ops Agent watched them fondly. He almost didn't want to break their moment of happiness and innocence with the grim news that they needed to get going quickly, but the male had no choice. The Banshee infestation had to be quelled before it could cause countless casualties, civilian lives were on the line here. He had to stop them, no matter what, then Nico would go about the four nations to find the rest of these 'Key Fragments'
"Alright you two, settle down now…" he finally spoke, stopping their hyperactivity by placing both his hands on their heads, applying just enough weight to stop them from bouncing up and down. "Remember we have to use these to stop those Banshees from harming the innocent, you didn't forget that, did you?"
Both girls blinked as they remembered that titbit of information. Their eyes narrowed as they nodded in unison with determined stares on their faces. "Yeah, I remember! I'mma not letting those bugs get one step into this pudding land! I'll fight em all on my lonesome if I have to…" Neptune proclaimed, raising a hand to her face and clenching it into a fist with various clinking sounds made by her armour following the motions. Memories of the last time she had fought against those things she had her backside handed to her on a silver platter. She wanted to even the score with them.
Compa nodded in agreement with her hands raised to her chin with the same motions as Neptune, only with both her hands, remembering those same memories but from an outsider's POV, which was what she had been. She recalled how helpless she had been when she watched Neptune get hurt bad by the Banshee she had been fighting to rescue her as well. Compa didn't like that feeling, and wanted to dish out some good old payback for it. "That's right, those meanie monsters nearly hurt my friends. I can't forgive them for that!" she proclaimed, showing an uncharacteristic amount of anger towards the Banshees.
Although with what they learned, could anyone blame them?
With their opinions set, Nico gave them both a hard look, a hand resting on his hip as he judged their stares. None of them backed down, letting an intense staring competition take place between the three. A heavy atmosphere infested the room, dropping onto them like a 1000 KG weight. But neither of them let up on their staring, they all wished to showcase their resolve to do what they had to do, to make the necessary plays to save the lives of countless innocents.
That is… until Neptune sneezed. "Gosh Nepit, I blinked first!" she cried out, breaking down the atmosphere developed between them into pieces like she usually did. she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as the other two looked at her, making her feel the awkwardness beyond 99%. "Hehehe, looks like I uh, kind don't do well with serious stuff, huh?"
Compa shook her head, resisting the urge to giggle at Neptune's antics. "Oh Nep-Nep…" she muttered under her breath while holding a hand on her shaking head, "What are we gonna do with you…?" at this, she received nervous laughter from the purplette amnesiac, who felt the awkwardness increase to levels that were… OVER 9000!
…
…
…
Okay, let's stop with that.
While he was annoyed that the atmosphere was broken yet again by the preteen, Nico couldn't help the smile that emerged onto his lips as he pressed a hand on his chest and deployed his armour as well. It also served the purpose of hiding his smile from the two girls, much to his relief. "Yeah, kinda should have expected that, right? I mean, Neptune is Neptune after all." He remarked with an amused chuckle under the Mask of his armour.
"Yeah, you got it buster!" Neptune proclaimed with a thumbs-up directed at him while unsheathing her Katana and holding it like a stand. If she were in her unarmoured form right now, he had no doubt she'd be doing a girly wink as well, it was just in hr nature to be playful and make jokes and memes every chance she got. "I'mma the protag of protags and all! Even if the take of this take of the rebirth series is all dark and depressing, I still gotta keep on getting my game on. Who else can perfect the role of comic relief character other than mwah?"
'Goddamnit Neptune, stop breaking that poor fourth wall!' Nico cursed inside his head. 'It's bad enough I know one breaker of the fourth wall, I don't need another! #sigh# guess it can't be helped I guess. On the flipside, I guess she could be good for comic relief or breaking th ice, sometimes people need to have a little less tension in their lives. Now, if only Neptune learned the 'when' for her jokes then we'd be set.' Seriously, I this kept up he'd likely have a brain aneurysm from trying to understand what the heck Neptune was talking about. Perhaps if he just didn't question it whenever it came up, he could preserve some of his sanity? Seemed legit.
"Jokes aside, let's go get those Banshees, lets show em what happens when you mess with Planeptune!" he cheered while raising a fist to the air as he gave that moral inducing shout. Both girls cheered while doing the same as him, Compa with her right hand and Neptune with her left, making him smile. Their morale was good, they looked pumped and ready for action right now. It almost was like looking at 2 potential Spec-Ops agents from the other Agents at the Guild, ones he'd keep an eye on to see if they had potential to be great or not.
Putting those thought aside for now, Nico turned on his heels and made for the entrance to Compa's living room, with Neptune and said Nurse-In-Training following suit. Together, they left the safety of Compa's house and put themselves onto the path towards the Monster Cave infested by Banshees. Nothing could have prepared them for the horrors within, however.
