AN - Okay, It seems this story is growing faster than I expected, with up to 3K views when it had only recently hit 2K. This story must be doing something right here.

Now, in my reviews I noticed one person named Zergface, an author I admire, critiqued this story and showed me a few things. I'll no go into detail, but I am nonetheless thankful to him, since it gives me the inspiration to ask you all: What do you think of Nico as a Character? Is there anything you could think of to improve him? This is my first time publishing my stories onto the internet, and I'd like to make them at least decent.

Thanks once again, Zergface, for your review. Maybe when this story is near completion, I'll take a look back to Chapters 1-3 with your considerations in mind.

Now that that's out the way, let's get started, shall we?


Chapter 20- Revelations

It was late at night when the food was prepared. It hadn't taken long, but they did spend most of the afternoon walking Noire around Lastation to see if anything sparked her memories before coming to Passé. Unfortunately, nothing happened, much to their displeasure.

But all that was thrown out of their minds once they noticed all the food that Chian brought to one of the Tables, laying it all out across the table like a five-star full-course meal. Dozens of foods were laid out before the party, whom could only watch in amazement. They were seated around it with Compa and Neptune on one side, with Noire and IF on the other.

Neptune made the most noise as she scarfed down everything she could in a hurry, eager to fulfil the needs of her stomach. "Urmghbrug! Sof Derifosh! #GULP#... ah, Chian, this burger is jaw-dropping!" she praised the mechanic after swallowing her load as she had taken a big mouthful of the burger in her hands, which were now covered in juicy liquids from the bite she had taken from it.

Her sentiment was shared by Compa, who had just sipped some of the soup that she had decided to have. The spoon left her lips as a pleasured moan followed suit, like two children running off together, laughing merrily when they were let out of school for the holidays. "The soup is so tasty! I feel all warm inside."

The mechanic grinned in praise from another table, having taken a small bit of food and some coffee with some papers in her free hand. "It's my mother's home menu! Happy to know your all enjoying it." she commented before taking a sip of her Coffee as she looked over the papers in her hand.

There was only one person who wasn't eating, and that was Noire. She looked like she was fidgeting in her seat while doing her best to not look at the food around them. "It's really lavish, but are you sure I can join in as well?" she asked the woman in concern. She wasn't part of the group yet Chian had made a portion for her as well. She was thus, a little reluctant to accept the charity. Chain waved off her concerns with the hand holding her papers as she crossed one leg over the other. "Just dig in and enjoy. After all, food tastes better with more people." she urged, smiling happily before looking back down at the papers.

IF smirked in amusement at the expressions on Noire's face. She could tell this girl didn't have much experience with eating and socialising like this. "Yes, enjoy it. Oh, but it doesn't come with a "Pillow Fight" though." She told the girl, her smirk widening slightly at the sight of Neptune deflating slightly over the fact that there would be no pillow fighting.

Looking around, Compa made to ask a question, when it died in her throat when she saw no sign of the one she wanted to ask the question to. "Um… where's Ni-Ni, Miss Chian? I thought he was still with us." She questioned the mechanic, frowning in concern.

At this, the woman waved off her concern once again, before she explained. "Don't worry about it. DEATHSTROKE said he'd be away for a bit, said he had some stuff to investigate regarding Avenir." After explaining that, Compa nodded as she once again dug into her meal. This made her unaware of how Chian's smile morphed into a sad frown, though. 'Poor kid, looks like he still hasn't told them yet. I'll respect his decision, but still, it's not right to keep something this big all to himself. Sooner or later, the cat's gonna be out of the bag…' she thought to herself, worry creeping up inside her about Nico's fate. After all, what she said wasn't a lie, but there was more to it than that. So much more…

Unaware of the topic just discussed, Noire looked down at the food once again, taking a small gulp as she hesitantly began to dig in. "Th-That's Neptune's fault. It's not like I want to do anything to her." She mumbled at the end, before she stabbed a fork into some sausages and took a bite. Her eyes widened as a delicious mix of flavours rolled down her tongue. "Wow, this is good…" she mumbled, now agreeing with the previous two about the cooked meal before them.

"Sure, whatever you say, I understand." IF remarked with her usual snarkiness.

Later on, Neptune discovered something that, to the surprise of many, she DIDN'T like and instead abhorred with a passion. Her face twisted to one of disgust as she pulled out the offending food from her plate. "Bleh… who added these Eggplants? They deserve to die!" she proclaimed to the heavens.

Compa looked over to the preteen with concern on her face. "Nep-Nep, do you not like Eggplants?" she asked her. If that was the case then she had to make note of it whenever she would make dinner for the Party in the future. She was a Nurse-In-Training after all, and thus it was her job to cater for her patients.

Neptune turned to her and looked like she was gagging, before she hung er tongue out and pressed her teeth against it, shaking her head in revulsion. "Not like? More like hate! How can you eat these purple husks, Compa?!" she shrieked while trying to pass them onto Compa's plate. Then, she had another idea involving the blackette of the party. "I know! Food can sometimes help jog memories, right? Let's have Noire eat it!"

At hearing her name and the context it was applied too, the said blackette's head shot up faster than a bullet before glaring at Neptune. "What?!" she shrieked, but the girl tried to pawn her Eggplants over to her anyways, leading to a small scuffle between the two.

IF sighed at the preteen's childish desire to not have her Eggplants as well as her antics towards Noire. "Nep, you're not a small kid." She sternly lectured as she proceeded to help Noire's side win the mighty Eggplant war! "Stop being picky and eat!"

Stunned by her actions, Neptune hurried to refute her, she was not losing the Eggplant war by her pride as a mighty freedom fighter against the tyrannical Eggplant menace! "What are you saying, Iffy?! Forcing food can sometimes be dangerous! If my delicate body ate these…" Neptune fell off her seat and wriggled along the ground, holding herself while imagining various scenarios in her mind, scaring her all the more. "Oh, the horrors, the HORRORS!"

A tick mark formed on her forehead as IF's patience wore thin with the purple haired Amnesiac. She had just about had it up to here with her whining, so with a sadistic gleam in her eyes, IF grabbed one of the remaining Eggplants. "Well, you shouldn't be giving them to others, then! Now, just EAT!"

WHAM!

"Um?! I-Iffy… st-sto… Urm!"

"Hey, maybe the food will jog your memory, too?"

"Urghmurgh! I-Iffy, please… st…op…"

Noire could only watch in silence as IF, with eyes growing increasingly sadistic each second as she tormented the poor girl by stuffing an Eggplant into Neptune's mouth, the said preteen's eyes tightly shut while she was forced to swallow it, her arms flailing wildly as she tried to stop the brunette's actions only to get her insidious cackles as a reward for her efforts. She literally had no words to say on the sight, looking utterly bewildered.

Compa noticed the silent blackette and felt that she needed to say something. She didn't want her to have a bad impression on the group with their antics, plus she knew that not all people liked the antics that they got into. "I hope we're not being too loud here." She said cheerfully, yet with an undertone of nervousness, to which Noire looked to her and shook her head.

"Not at all." She assured with a small but polite smile as she returned her gaze to the spectacle. At this point Neptune was flailing on the ground like a fish, her limbs nothing but blurs of motion with the merciless IF paying no heed to them as she forced Neptune to eat more of the food that she didn't like. "It's just that I never had such a lively dinner before, so…"

At this, the Nurse-In-Training hummed in thoughtfulness. Noire did seem like the type to not have much experience socialising with others, at least in her mind. "Is that so? Well, you're going to be with us, so this won't be your last."

Noire looked at the cream haired girl, frowning as she realised something. These girls, plus the absent Nico, had done a lot for her, and she had yet to repay them. She couldn't allow that, her pride refused to. "About that, could I help you with anything?" she questioned. Hearing her words, Compa blinked owlishly in confusion. "Noire? Help us?" she repeated in a simplistic manner, making sure she got what she heard right.

They hadn't thought of that honestly, it sounded a bit too surreal to them, having someone they just found in a Dungeon, all beat up no less, help them with their work. Needless to say, many shared concerned thoughts about the idea of Noire helping them. Nothing bad towards her, but wit what they had seen, it was a bit... risqué to have her along if she had been damaged that badly while in a Dungeon full of NORMAL monsters. If she fought an Abnormal Monster, what would happen then?

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who heard as Neptune, whom had managed to break free after IF had enough of tormenting her for now, bounded over to them to be part of the conversation once she heard about Noire joining them. "Aah! So, is Noire going to fight with us, too?" Though unlike them, Neptune looked like she was all for her joining them. Perhaps it was due to her desire to make lots of friends, or she saw something within the blackette. Who knows?

IF, who had walked over to them as well, also added in her two cents to the idea. "Okay. We'd be happy, too, if you could help us." She said with a small glance over at the blackette, checking her out in her mind to see if she had any fighting experience. When she saw how Noire reacted to her sudden declaration of agreement, IF made to explain with a tired, lopsided smirk. "I'm getting a bit tired of holding off the randomness these two generate. Nico would say the same thing, and he's done it for a lot longer than I have." Glancing towards the two girls Neptune and Compa, Noire released a breath as she got an idea of what that meant. "I kind of know what you mean…"

Ignoring those last few remarks, Neptune hopped up and down like an excited girl on a sugar rush. "A party of 5 already? Well, we're in a lot of chapters already and we're still on the Lastation arc, so I guess it's to be expected." She remarked thoughtfully.

Chian then stood up, noticing that everyone had finished their food as she walked over to them with her papers in hand. "Well, if you're having a decent start, mind doing one more job for me?" she asked them. "Can you use my weapon that I'm going to exhibit at the Technology Expo?"

Compa had a dumb look on her face, the unknown terminology going right over her head. "Technolo-what? Is it a like a festival thingy?" she questioned. This earned her a nod from the blue-haired woman as she proceeded to explain it to them. "The Expo is held in Lastation, with companies showcasing their tech. There's also a tournament where the winner can get a trophy from the CPU!"

Compa's eyes brightened as she heard the word 'trophy' come out of Chian's mouth. "A trophy? What an achievement!" she exclaimed to show her amazement. "So, can we take down Avenir with a Trophy?"

Chian chuckled at the question, and the innocence asked behind it as she shook her head. "No. We'll go for the win, and meet the Lady to tell her what is going on!" Chian explained with a passion burning bright in her eyes. She truly believed that it was a good idea, to use the Expo as a means of getting contact with the CPU to inform her of Avenir's wrongdoings.

"I see." Compa said, nodding in understanding. She then made to ask another question linked to the first one. "So that's why you're going to participate?"

The Mechanic nodded her head in conformation, answering the cream haired girl's question. "Right. That's why I need you to test out my weapon I'm going to exhibit." Neptune bounced up and down eagerly, this seemed like an easy task for them to do! And a crucial one at that! Killing two birds with one stone! "Easy-peasy! But what exactly do you need us to do?"

With that question, Chian walked to the Bar and reached over the Counter. This was for several moments before she pulled something out of a hidden compartment, a hilt of some sort, before closing the compartment and walking back to the girls, the object in hand. "Just use this weapon and give me feedback." She instructed, handing Neptune the weapon.

The weapon's bladeless hilt soon ignited when Neptune examined the weapon, a beam of energy shooting out and stabilising with a SCHING! Sound coming from it the moment the blade was deployed. "Ooooh! This thing looks like one of Nicky's Plasma Claw thingies!" Neptune remarked, noticing an uncanny resemblance to Nico's Plasma Claws that were a part of his armour. She then turned her head back to the blunette, beaming happily as she deactivated the blade. "Is that it? Sounds simple enough."

"We can do this with other Quests too!" Compa added on.

It was when they were almost finished, when she looked to Chian. "Oh, by the way Chian, I know why you would hate Avenir, but why would Nico hate them more? I mean, sure he's taken missions outside of Planeptune, but it's still hard to imagine why he would have so much hate for them." It always bothered her how extreme Nico's reaction had been to the revelations Chian had made to them before they had set off for West Wind Valley, but she never got the chance to ask him. For one, he wasn't here due to reasons she had overheard the mechanic say to Compa, and for another, things had been too hectic for her to get a chance to ask him. The fact that it seemed oddly… personal, to him, also was a factor.

Chian paused for a bit at IF's question, and that was enough to draw everyone else's curiosity, especially Noire and Neptune's. 'Nico went crazy when he learned about Avenir? Why? It's not like he has been here long like the average citizen, right? So, what made him flip his lid like that?' Noire wondered, her interest piqued at this new information about the male.

"I had a feeling this was going to come up. I didn't want to have to explain it with DEATHSTROKE around, so I guess this is a good a time as any." The woman mused, before placing her cup, papers and plate down on the Table beside her and shifting in her seat so she was facing towards them. "Well, for starters, I should tell you that Avenir's hold on Lastation, it hasn't been this way for long, only about 5 years or so."


Nico himself, was frowning. The male had arrived at an abandoned factory, one far in the southern regions that were part of Lastation's continent. It looked like it had been abandoned for a long length of time with how rusted the metal was and how there were no signs of power being channelled through the building. Also, it looked like there had been a major battle here, for pieces of the factory lay across the ground, large holes only formed by explosions dotting its frame. When he said he had some business to take care of, Nico hadn't just done this as an excuse to get away from having to eat, no, he had a few suspicions in mind, and for the first time in a while, he donned his professional demeanour as a Spec Ops Agent. Whenever one had suspicions, it was best to clarify them in case they were right. I they weren't, then good, he could continue his day normally. But if he was right...

The male used his Motion Tracker to see if he had any company, but fortunately for him there was nothing to be concerned about. There was no Monster signatures here, or anywhere near here in fact. This didn't calm his nerves at all, though, instead it only made his instincts sharper than before in caser of an ambush attack. Like he had said before, the gear he had was of the prototype variety, so there were bound to be bugs in them at some point.

After closing the functions down, Nico stood from his kneeling position atop a fallen pillar that overlooked the abandoned factory. He then jumped down from it, landing in a crouch before making his way inside, having summoned Rebellion into one of his back's straps, but didn't draw it just yet. It was a precaution in case of an ambush, for the previously stated reasons. He stuck to the darker areas though, as his training taught him that staying out in the open was always a bad idea. One could perfectly snipe him from afar if he wasn't careful, plus this factory also brought some... irritation-inducing memories back to him.

'Now, if I remember correctly...' Nico thought as he went through a corridor. He then checked his Holomap, looking over the schematics that once showed where everything was in the factory... at least, if it was still in working condition. With it's current state, the male doubted they'd be as accurate as they would normally. With the lack of power going through, there would be problems getting to the areas he wanted to get to, but thanks to that he could just blast through it al without much care... though not much considering he didn't want the place falling down on his head.

Making his way through the corridors like a silent wraith, Nico finally found himself before a door, one that had the sign 'TOP SECRET - Authorized personal only' with the capitals in blood red colouring. The male slowly, cautiously, reached for the handle and felt it was unlocked, before opening the door and stepping inside. The area was dark thanks to there being a lack of light, and the night sky was of little help. However, his eyes had adjusted to the dark, so he could still make out the things inside.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the room that he had found himself in. It looked like he was right after all, which left a deep pit of darkness inside his stomach, as he gripped his fists tightly while struggling to keep his instincts under control. Perhaps he should think about wearing his armour less once he got it back, so he could train himself to control these instincts better. Nevertheless, what he had confirmed still had top priority in his mind, as it carried worrisome, as well as ominous, premonitions about the future. 'This is not good... not good at all. From the looks of things, I can safely guess what Avenir is planning... and if I don't do something soon, THAT will once again happen and Lastation will likely fall, especially with the military being what it is.' he thought, stepping deeper into the room to continue his investigation.


Compa frowned at this information. "5 Years? I remember a time 5 years ago when Ni-Ni wouldn't call me for a long time. I was worried something had happened to him, but when I got a call from him at last he sounded normal. Did something happen back then?" she asked the older woman. The thought of her childhood friend not calling her for that long without giving an explanation hurt deeply, but something had told her it was best not to pry at the time. His messages lacked the warmth they usually did, which had meant at the time that Nico wasn't himself. She had always wondered why, and now she was about to learn why. It was a bit nerve-wracking to be honest.

"You bet your ass something happened. You see, for 50 years, there were two top Corporations in Lastation, both suppressing each other from growing too big to where they would be a threat to the Goddess. They were Avenir, whom you all are aware of, and the other one was called Umbrella, a major international player in many markets; including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. They would keep each other stable, if one tried to rise to power the other would intervene and bring them back down. It was a stable balance." Chian explained, sighing as she remembered those times.

Noire furrowed her brows at the mention of this 'Umbrella' corporation. 'I distinctly remember hearing that name a few times when I went out to keep the peace from several citizens, and all of them sounded slightly bad.' She thought, feeling a sense of dread seep into her being. The things she had heard about that corporation were vague and sketchy at best, however none of them were friendly. If what Chian was about to tell them, plus her facial expression, was any indication, then this Umbrella Corporation was possibly even worse than Avenir ever could be.

Soon, her feelings were unfortunately confirmed, as Chian continued with an even graver tone. "You could say that they were two-faced bastards. One of them was a benevolent side that operated by selling various products like cosmetics and foods. The other side was a much more malevolent one, experimenting and researching top-secret operations utilizing genetic engineering and biological weaponry. Basically, they were making viruses and diseases into weapons."

That got a response from the girls.

"WHAT?!" a collective shout came from the girls, but out of all of them, Noire and IF's were the largest. "Are you kidding me?!" IF shrieked in anger, growling as she thought of all the laws that broke. That was, in a sense, way worse than what Avenir was doing. She could only imagine the types of things that Umbrella had been doing. "What kind of assholes would do something like that?!"

Compa looked like she had seen her worst nightmares come to life. "That's so horrible…" she murmured, shaking like a leaf. Neptune was no better, her eyes were wide with shock, fear and outrage. "That's a load of no-no!" she proclaimed, her brows furrowed as she angrily shook her fists. "Why the heck would someone do that?!"

Chian nodded her head, completely agreeing with them on this front. "Yeah, I hear ya, girls. Things only got worse though, when one of their projects, called the T virus, was accidentally released and it reached one of Lastation's medium sized cities: Racoon City. The outbreak that followed… well, one could consider it a nightmare come to life. Most of the populace were infected and killed by the virus, but worse… they didn't stay dead. They rose up, some as Zombies, others as… more grotesque monsters that attacked the civilians."

Unable to stop herself, Chian shuddered, which gave the girls a clear indication of how bad things must have been back then. "The morning after, the Lastation Basilicom had the city limits bordered off using the military, whilst they began an investigation into the matter. However, if that wasn't enough, Umbrella saw this as an opportunity, or rather a 'testing ground' for them to send in their other projects, known as BOW's, which is an abbreviation for Bio Organic Weapon, into the city to attack civilians and soldiers alike, to test their 'Combat efficiency'. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) was sent in to evacuate civilians, whilst "Monitors" installed within the four Delta Platoons gathered the combat data, sacrificing their comrades to save their own lives, where they would receive a very generous sum for their data."

Now Noire couldn't stay silent any longer. "The NERVE!" she shouted, she was absolutely livid that something like this had been going on while she was none the wiser. It was a major blow to her pride, hearing that one of Lastation's cities was affected in such a horrible manner. "Those bastards! When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna…"

"No need for that, Noire." Chian said, and when Noire levelled a glare at her, Chian made to explain. "A group of Agents from Planeptune were sent in to neutralise any major threats within Racoon city, and to help evac the citizens. Those agents soon got more than they bargained for when they faced onslaught after onslaught by various BOW's. One of which was an experimental "Tyrant" codename THANATOS, was sent outside to kill UBCS personnel attempting to claim it. Then there was other BOW's, like the other Tyrants and Hunters. In the end though, Racoon City was proven to be unsalvageable and had to be blown off the map by nuclear warheads."


His investigation hadn't gleaned much information beyond confirming his suspicions about 50%, but that was all Nico needed. He had a good idea of what Avenir had done, and what it was about to do, based off both assumptions and previous experiences. It would be bad to act on just those alone though, he needed some good solid evidence to subject them to his suspicions. Nevertheless, this trip had not been a waste, either, in fact it had almost been a trip down memory lane, considering what happened.

He could imagine it now, how horrible it had been back then. For a moment, his surroundings changed as he remembered what Racoon City was once like, a once quiet and peaceful city with good security and decent people. Then, it became wrought with the infection, buildings had holes in them that were bathed in flames, smoke rising into the heavens while sounds of civilians fleeing in terror from the abominations that they once called friend filled the streets. The military came when they were called and alerted of the situation, but at that point the situation was nearly unsalvageable. When Nico and several other Agents were called in from Planeptune for assistance, they had very nearly given up on the city itself. He could remember how it felt back then, the frantic action, the dread and horror as he saw people getting eaten alive, seeing some of his comrades being slaughtered by those abominations, all these memories came back to him in a flash.

As he exited the factory, Nico walked towards the nearby hills, intending to get back to the others. He had already documented his research and finings back inside the abandoned factory, so he had to make sure to get this information to Chian so she could help prepare for the potential calamity that would soon befall Lastation. History is doomed to repeat itself if people don't learn from it, that was a lesson he had learned the hard way, back during his rookie days as a Guild Member.

After the tragedy had come to pass, all Planeptune Spec Ops Agents were sworn to secrecy, not to talk about what happened to anyone. He couldn't even tell Compa, which had torn away at his heart strings whenever she had left him a message or seen her missed calls. It had taken him almost 5 days to work up the courage to call her and let her know he was alright, that he had 'just returned from a long mission' though he didn't say anything else. It was best to lie based off the truth, right? Well, lying at all was something that left a sour taste in his mouth, he hated lying with a passion. Yet, he understood the necessity for it, especially with things this big. Right now, the four nations were in a tense, uneasy truce with each other due to the threat of the Monsters and the Abnormals, so they wouldn't be striking each other like they did in the Console Wars. However, if secrets had been spread from one country to another, it could be considered grounds for more war, which was not what they needed at this point.

There was little doubt in his mind that Chian would tell his comrades about all this, unlike the Spec Ops she wasn't sworn to secrecy about it, she wasn't too dangerous that they had to, honestly. Unlike them, she was a resident of Lastation, so her talking about the events was well within her rights as a native to the nation that suffered this tragedy in the first place. Still though, he had hoped this stuff had been out behind them back with Racoon City, looked like he was wrong.

History would repeat itself, but he'd be damned if he didn't do something about it.


Silence reigned supreme after Chian finished explaining the gruesome tale. A Tale that very few knew of or paid attention to nowadays as they were so caught up on their own suffering and placing their faith away from Lady Black Heart. The girls had no idea that something so horrific had happened to this Nation right under their noses. If the CPU was here then she'd be furious at how horrid those people were, and have made measure to utterly disband them for crimes against humanity.

"Something so terrible… no wonder Ni-Ni never spoke of it…" Compa whispered, lowering her head in sadness. She had remembered asking him why he hadn't called her for so long during that time, only for Nico to give her the cold shoulder by saying it was 'Classified'. She had felt hurt that he didn't tell her, but from his tone decided not to press the subject. Now that she knew however, she felt bad for prying into it, something like this… there was no way someone could explain the horrors they would have witnessed in that nightmare.

IF frowned and crossed her arms, thinking over this new information. She knew that there had been something wrong, the whole Planeptune Guild could feel it back then. None of them knew why, save for a select few Spec Ops Agents, but they had been sworn to secrecy on the subject. However. one point eluded her. "You said that Planeptune Agents were dispatched to Lastation to help evac the civilians during the Outbreak, right? Does that mean that…"

Chian nodded, sipping some more of her coffee, though she wished it were liquor. She hadn't gone with a more alcoholic drink because she had extra work to do tonight which would likely lead to an all-nighter. "Yeah, your friend DEATHSROKE was one of the agents that was sent there. He saw things that no human should ever see, he fought BOW's, Zombies, saw his fellow Agents get massacred before his eyes, and despite all that deduced that Umbrella had somehow got a connection to it and managed to gather the evidence needed for them to be disbanded by orders of the Lastation Government." She explained, groaning when she realised that she had finished the last of her coffee.

Afterwards, she continued since there was more to tell. "His disbanding of Umbrella, would later serve to be a double-edged sword. Because the CPU still wasn't around, people looked to its rival Company Avenir, who had donated massive amounts of supplies to the soldiers to help fight the Outbreak. They began to put their faith in it, and it didn't take long for Avenir to become able to usurp its rule across Lastation. In a way, we were better off with Umbrella than without." She finished grimly, walking to the Bar counter and grabbing a glass to poor out some red wine.

"That's… wow, I can't even form any comments on that…" Neptune muttered, completely dumbstruck that she couldn't form any response to what she learned. The fact that Nico, one of her friends, was indirectly responsible for Avenir's new monarchy over the Nation fizzled her brain out to no end. She knew it wasn't his fault as Nico wouldn't have been able to foresee something like this, even with how careful he was. There were just some things one can't predict. Then, she blinked as something else came to mind. "Wait, how come you know a lot about this, Chian? I don't think an Engineer would be privy to this stuff."

Said Engineer nodded as she took a sip of her Wine while putting her papers on the table. "You'd be right, and it also ties into why I recognised DEATHSTROKE. I wouldn't have known any other Agent, but him, because he saved me during that time." Chian explained, and once again the girls were stunned from the implications their brains were telling them.

"Then, you mean…"

The older woman nodded in confirmation. she gripped the handle of her coffee cup as memories came back to her, memories that were obviously hard for her if the way she shook was any indication. "Yeah, like him I too am a Racoon City survivor. Few survived the Outbreak and those that did paid real close attention to what would be the aftermath, hence why I know a lot." She told them, shifting uncomfortably. The girls noticed this and decided to not pry for any more details. The woman looked downtrodden enough as it was.

The sound of the door opening made them turn to see Nico entering the room, closing the door behind him. His head was hanging down, but when he looked up and saw the girls and their expressions, his eyes hardened as he glanced to Chian. "So, they know then?" he asked her softly, his eyes softening slightly as he saw the woman nod.

Compa looked at him with teary eyes as she barely managed to speak without choking. "I'm, sorry I tried to pry that day, Ni-Ni, I didn't realise it would be so bad." She whimpered, a whole new wave of guilt crashing down on her.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled Compa into what felt like a masculine chest. Her tear-filled eyes widened as she looked up and saw a caring expression on Nico's face. His eyes had lost some of that hardness she had expected from a soldier, softening into the eyes she had known and loved. He raised a hand and wiped the tears from her eyes, his smile as comforting as she remembered it from when they were young. "You have nothing to be sorry about. That information was kept strictly classified by the Planeptune Guild so even if I wanted to I wouldn't have been able to talk about it." he whispered soothingly, stroking her back with his free hand till Compa began feeling slightly better about the situation.

He then looked up and saw the others. "Now you know why I'm willing to do anything to take down Avenir. If I had foreseen this happening, I would have planned something ahead of time. This is my sin, my mistake, so I'll correct it no matter what." He stated with resolution. His eyes burned with determination, which was so bright they would have mistaken it for the eyes of his DPU form.

Noire however, shook herself out of their combined stupor first. "It's not your fault, Nico. Nobody's perfect, even you. EVEN SO," she glared at him when he made to refute her statement. Seeing her glare, Nico wisely shut his gob, knowing how stubborn that this blackette could be even if he had only known her for a short time. "We do have to work together in this. Avenir can't be allowed this kind of dominance over Lastation, or the Nation will come to ruin."

Everyone nodded in agreement at that. They couldn't allow Nico to handle all the problems that they faced, they had to have some of it too. They were a party, and like it or not, Nico and they would have to work together. He wasn't a Solo Agent like he once was, something that he had mixed feelings about.

"But what can we do?" Compa asked them, bringing their attention back to her. "What can we do to beat those meanies? Nep-Nep's stealth plan is out of the window by popular opinion, so what now?" she asked them all. It was all well and good that they had a goal in mind, but without a method to act upon it might as well be fruitless.

It was a small silence that followed them as the party tried to think of an idea to employ. They couldn't afford to be reckless, Avenir had a large number of cards to play, so they would have to act fast. If someone found out what they were doing, then their plans here would be grinded to a halt real-fast.

Eventually, Noire got an idea that she hoped wouldn't blow too many people away, as well as set Nico off. She had a good idea of what happened when Nico got truly angry, she thought, shivering as images of that other form he took entered her mind. "Well then…" she began, getting everyone's attention as they all looked at her expectantly. "How about doing some work for Avenir?"

Everyone became taken into bewilderment with what Noire had said, especially Nico and Neptune. Noire just suggested that they help their enemy advance towards their goals, and if they weren't sure about her head being alright, they definitely thought she had some screws loose now. It was the preteen who spoke first however, and her facial expressions plus her words soon proved she did not like that idea. "What?! They're the bad guys! No way, no how am I going to work with them!" she proclaimed, refusing to entertain even the notion of the idea.

Everyone else had similar reactions, however, one of them was the exception to the rule. "Wait… that's a great idea…" IF mumbled as she thought it over in her mind. This drew the heat towards her instead of Noire, much to her relief. She felt their gazes were a bit too intense for her liking at that moment. The brunette didn't mind the stares, hell she was practically ignoring them as the idea ran through her mind, causing her gaze to lower as she cupped her chin.

Seeing her face, Nico at first thought that IF had finally lost it, her sanity after having to deal with Neptune too much. But the more that he thought about it, the more that Nico's rational brain kicked in, and he began to realise just what the brunette was thinking about. "Now that I think about it, a covert operation seems like a good approach." He stated, humming thoughtfully getting an agreeing nod from IF and Noire. Though Neptune sent him a stunned look as if she couldn't believe he was going along with this.

"What do you mean, Ni-Ni? Iffy?" Compa asked, confused, what were those two thinking about? It got her curious and judging by their states it was natural for her to assume that they had an agenda that they could discuss with the rest of the party.

That agenda soon came to light, when IF brought herself out of her musings and turned to look at them. "Avenir must have had problems getting materials like Chian, too." She began. Nico glanced to the woman for confirmation on her words, getting a nod from her to signify that her words rang truth.

"In addition, that means that they will be looking to hire people from the Guild to take care of the Monsters, which would mean getting close to them and possibly, depending on the client, an inside look." Nico further explained the topic, and soon the light of comprehension appeared in Compa's eyes. However, Neptune remained unconvinced of the method behind this madness, even though she usually generated this madness with her antics, sometimes dragging the Nurse-in-Training into it.

This allowed Noire to smirk as she continued their explanation. "So, depending on the work, we might find out what they are going to exhibit." She explained to the party. Her face turned thoughtful, while in her mind, she expressed an opinion she would rather keep to herself, her other motive for suggesting this idea. 'And I'll use this to find out what the Basilicom knows of Avenir…'

"Hmm… Still, it doesn't feel right…" Neptune remarked with reluctance. It looked like she was in turmoil over what she wanted to do. On one side, she knew that Avenir was a group that did terrible things to the market, thus causing the people of Lastation to suffer needlessly. However, on the other side she was starting to see why they would think that working with them would give them insights as to what they were going to exhibit for the Expo. That knowledge would be invaluable in the right hands.

IF nodded her head, she could understand her reluctance on the matter. "Well, I don't like Avenir either, but it's good to know who we're up against." She admitted while showing her hidden distaste for the idea. True she could see the benefits of the idea, but it didn't mean that she had to like it.

"In battle, it's either one rises or falls. Especially against monsters." Nico added while leaning against a wall, his eyes turning melancholic as he remembered past battles. "One has to be willing to do things they wouldn't normally do to gain an advantage over the enemy. In our case, it's getting close to the enemy to learn their tactics." Unlike the girls, Nico had little qualms with the idea of infiltrating Avenir this way. Learning about the enemy was a certainty to gaining the ability to defeat them, brain over brawn. Logic over emotion. That wasn't to say he didn't like the idea, but he was more willing to do so because he did it in various forms every day when fighting in foreign territories, evading enemy organisations, and sometimes infiltrating them to bring them down from the inside.

A Spec Ops' path was not an easy one.

"Let's bear with it, Nep-Nep." Compa suggested with a consoling smile as she placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She could tell that the preteen was in war with herself, and it was getting close to deciding a victor when she heard IF and Nico's joint words. They were both saying, in their own way, that they would have to do this in order to get intel to use on Avenir in the future. It wasn't an easy concept for anyone, especially anyone of Neptune's level of maturity.

In the end, the preteen gave a defeated sigh, knowing she would have to accept this task no matter how much she disliked it. "Hmm… Well, if you say so, Compa."

"Sure, just ignore me." Both IF and Nico muttered under their breaths as they glared at the sorrow-stricken preteen who wasn't even acknowledging them. In a way, it was her own childishness that was acting up, but it still didn't make it any easier to handle.

Noire regarded them both with a pitying smile spreading across her face. She had to admit this to them both while they still had the time. "You have it rough…"

Both turned to her in unison, the suddenness of the gesture being enough to make Noire jump slightly as both spoke like drones, devoid of any emotion. "You have no idea…" the way they spoke made them sound more like robots than people, which sort of worried the blackette. She feared for their mental health at this rate.

After they had their plan, the Party decided to retire for the night. Chian had offered to let them stay in the upstairs floors of her parents' Café for the night, as the room that Nico had booked them was for a single night only and with the addition of one more Party Member, they would have had to look for another Hotel anyways. It was already late enough, so the group all agreed to the idea.

With that, Chian showed them to their room, unfortunately they would have to all share a room considering there was only one room available. Every other room had been taken by the workers at Chian's Factory, much to Nico's dismay. He would have tried to find somewhere else to sleep and Noire would have agreed that he should him being a guy and all, however Neptune and the others, even IF much to the blackette's shock, agreed that Nico should stay in the same room as them.

Noire nearly lost control over his gob, which had fallen open, at this decision, and upon asking why they had admitted that Nico had been much of a gentleman to them already, making sure that they got their privacy and never once tried to do anything perverted to them. He looked at them like they were people, not as objects to be desired. In addition, if someone as innocent as Compa still retained it even after they slept in the same bed together as kids, then the male's restraint had to be considerable, and thus his points with them, according to Neptune, raised even higher.

Of course, the blackette's doubts were finally erased when she saw how Nico became adamant about refusing and sleeping somewhere else, even opted to take out some Camping equipment from his Void Storage as proof that he had his own sleeping arrangements. Though this was shot down by the girls with Compa and Neptune as the spearheads, reasoning that Nico deserved as much rest as the rest of them did.

Eventually, he lost the battle and finally adhered to their desires, although he did bring out some parts of a Tent to act as makeshift Dividers so they still had their own privacy which the girls agreed with. Though if Nico was any saner, he would have sworn he had seen something flash through Neptune and Compa's eyes… disappointment? Maybe? Whatever it was, it was gone faster than Nico could confirm it, so the male put it to the back of his mind.

Right now, the male had started getting changed into his PJ's, the pieces of the Tent he had enough to cover the bed and a small space around it, making it as though the bed had been swallowed by the Tent. He Glanced outside when he heard showering sounds, and realised that the girls were taking a shower, likely one at a time. 'I'll calculate how many times the showers are turned on and off, along with how many times the doors are opened and closed to judge the safest time to wash.' He thought to himself.

Moments later, Nico concluded that everyone had finished getting dressed and was now in bed, though he doubted they would be asleep still as he could see the lights were still on. Before he could leave the Tent, someone came up and lightly patted it with their knuckles. "Hey, Nico, you go in the shower next?" IF asked, waiting outside for his answer.

"Yeah, I'll be heading in soon, wanted to wait till everyone's done."

After that, IF gave a confirmation to him and relayed it to the others. Nico then left the Tent and headed into the attached shower room, which he used to shower himself off, brushing his teeth and doing his evening routine. By the time he was done, Nico had finished washing himself, drying himself, and had changed his clothes to his PJ's. he returned to his Tent, making sure to not attract too much attention, before entering his Tent and closing the Zip.

When he did that, Nico turned to head into bed, when his eyes caught sight of something that made him nearly have a heart attack. "Whoa, what the hell?!" he exclaimed in silent shock, so he didn't rouse any attention. Though, with what was in front of him, Nico knew that he never would want this to be brought to light. In his bed, Neptune herself, clad in white and purple PJ's with some shorts instead of long bottoms like him and Compa's, was sitting on his bed, grinning like a Cheshire cat while kicking her legs in the air. "Neptune, what are you-?!"

"Shhh!" the preteen shushed him by placing a hand on his mouth while making the shushing gesture with her other hand. "Don't want to get caught, now do we? Anyways, we're sleeping together!" she proclaimed quietly, her grin widening as she tried to resist laughing at the white, gobsmacked look on the boy's face. "No, not like that, silly boy! I just wanna cuddle you like you did with Compa. She told me about how good your hugs are so I wanna see what it's like for myself." She explained, and she was glad that the Tent had little light to show her slight rosy cheeks.

Nico quickly shut his gob, and when he tried to speak again Neptune stopped him by pulling him into the bed, her strength catching him off guard. She may be stronger than Compa, and that was no small feat considering how Compa can carry multiple bodies worth of weight. "Don't worry 'bout the others, Nicky. I'll take care of it, just leave it to good ol' Nep-Nep." Feeling like he had no other choice in the matter, that and Neptune would likely cause a commotion that would result in a drop in his reputation, Nico gave a resigned sigh as Neptune cuddled into him and fell into slumber.


Chapter end!

There, now this Chapter took some work to edit. There were things I needed to add in, but overall I like this particular chapter.

Chapter 21 will come later tonight, my schedule shall remain 2 chapters a day, so I can keep giving you guys quality content. (Or at least, I Hope so)

Anyways, if you haven't already realised it from Neptune's fourth-wall breaking, I do plan on making this a series, and unlike a lot of Neptunia fanfics I intend to complete this goal. While I understand why people don't update, you know life and stuff, it's frustrating as a read to see good stories no longer get updated. Then again, the wait makes each chapter that does come a welcome sight, something I will happily admit.

Anyways, leave a like, comment, review or any of the previous ones! See ya'll in the next chapter!

Peace out!