Hi guys, second update of the day!
Anyways, if you have played the games, you'd agree with me when I say that Noire's disguise, along with Vert and Blanc's, sucks ass. Avenir was still able to recognise them in the end thanks to how Ganache knew about her when he trapped them, and while I get it was a humorous tool I still feel that disguises should be taken seriously. Obviously, Nico would be the one to do this by giving her a Mask to wear, another reference to the same Manga if you can guess what it is. As he said back in the last chapter, there were multiple factors that tied into outfitting Noire's disguise like time, location and urgency. The reason why Nico didn't do anything beforehand was simple, he didn't know, otherwise he would have gone and taken Noire to get a better disguise.
Anyways, enough of that stuff, lets get started with the chapter.
Chapter 23 - The Frenzy Virus
The Party left the meeting area and began heading through the forest out to the Dungeon that they were going to be fighting in. From the request details sent to IF's phone, its name was 'Thelad Sanctuary' according to the data on Nico's holographic Bracers. The male had a list of Monsters that were recorded in that Dungeon in Hologram form, and the only one he could see that had the potential to cause so much trouble for Avenir would be the 'Phoenix' or the 'Slash Dog'.
A beeping came from his other Bracer as they ran through the Forest, one that he made sure only he could hear. Pressing a few keys on the Interface, Nico brought up a Screen that he looked at while running, dodging trees and obstacles like he could sense them. What he did was place a small Recon Drone, which looked like those circular Bit robots one would see in Lastation, but the size of a human finger, by a Bush and had it listen to the two men without them realising. This Technology was new, and he had been waiting for a ripe moment to test it for the Planeptune Guild's WDD.
Data from the conversation appeared, with text being written by itself like one was playing a Visual Novel, with a portrait of the person speaking and their name above the text, both the first and the last ones in white bold writing. Nico sweat dropped at this, technology may be improving but the theme of gameplay was still apparent, it seemed. 'Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, like they say.' The male thought as he looked at the screen:
Ganache: Sir President, about those Mask-wearing duo…
Singe: Did you notice, too?
Ganache: Yes. For being a cosplay, she looked very similar. However, she's too prideful to wear a Mask, and that boy with her… if he's the same as the one from before…
Singe: She has been missing for the past few days, and reports said a black wearing individual stirred trouble prior to her disappearance, right?
Ganache: Yes, so it is quite possible that those two are who we think they are. What shall we do?
Singe: Nothing. We can't do anything without positive proof. But be sure you keep watch of them…
Nico saw the data stop transmitting and the 'Return' icon flashed at the corner of the screen. The male sighed as he typed in orders for the Recon Drone to return without anyone detecting its presence. 'So, it appears that even with my efforts they still have their suspicions about Noire… I fi ad known about that pathetic disguise beforehand I could have done more. However, them talking about me worries me slightly… what could they be planning should they figure out what I did at the Basilicom? Why am I on their radar to begin with? Something tells me this goes far before my little outburst…'
"Nicky! Yo, Gamindustri to Nicky!" Neptune shouted into his ear, getting a startled yelp as Nico, so distracted by her shouting, lost his balance and fell towards the ground. instincts saved him however as he slammed his hand onto the ground and propelled himself into a front flip, landing on the ground, rolling forwards before getting to his feet and running along once more, like he hadn't even been affected.
The male turned and gave her a glare to show his dissatisfaction with that stunt. "What is it, Neptune?" he asked her irritably. He vowed to get her back later, he thought in his mind, resisting the urge to chuckle darkly.
While shivering for some unknown reason, though she had an idea as to what, Neptune nonetheless answered with a concerned look on her face. "You looked like you were thinking pretty hard there, Nicky. So, what's going around that noggin o'yours anywho?" she asked him.
The male thought about answering her, but eventually decided against it for now. He didn't know if there were Scouts in the Forest planted by Avenir, this was info best shared in private. "Don't worry about it, just focus on the mission." He told her.
However, like a whiny little brat, Neptune didn't relent on her game of questions as she slid slowly closer to him while they ran. "Awwww, now I'm dying to know! C'mon, you can tell littl' ol' Nep, surely…"
"Neptune, you will stop right there or I will take away all your Pudding for a month."
That shut her up faster than that one cartoon where there's a wolf trying to catch a bird that ran fast. Memories of how Nico put her Pudding stash in an incinerator plagued her mind, making her once again mourn her beloved dessert. It wasn't fair, not fair at all she says! With that, silence resumed as the Party made their way to the Dungeon with a strong desire to finish this mission.
The journey to the Dungeon was rather uneventful for the most part, save for a small debriefing Nico gave the others about what type of monsters they would likely be encountering, plus the ones that were most likely to be the ones causing Avenir trouble. While he did so, the girls thought to themselves how good it was that someone like him was on their Party. A non-perverted, helpful and independent guy who knew how to use his first head more than the second head. If he were not with them, things wouldn't go as smoothly as they would with him here.
Neptune even went all meta and thanked the author for making a unique OC with great use in a Party. Even if h has flaws like any other person did.
When they finally made it to the Dungeon, Nico saw that the entrance looked remarkably like that of the Virtua Forest, just with several differences. The male looked at the Holomap on his right Bracer, glancing up and down a few times, before deactivating the function and turning to the others. "Looks like this path is the one where Ganache said the Monster is apparently located." He said, pointing to the path on the left.
He then wondered if there were any Abnormals nearby. There didn't seem to be any before when he briefed them, but a fair amount of time has passed since then, and Abnormals were way too unpredictable to leave this to chance. It was how rookie Spec Ops Agents met their end before their careers could even skyrocket. Thus, the male raised his Bracer and activated the Holomap, a 3D Hologram of the Dungeon appearing above his Bracer. He looked it over, checking the routes carefully and with an owl-like gaze. Finally, his lone unmasked eye settled on something that made it narrow, changing from an owl's to a Hawk's. "Be warned everyone, looks like my Bracer's detected some Abnormal activity in the area."
The others nodded with grave seriousness. Abnormals were never a good sign, and now that Nico hadn't got his Armour, he was more likely to get injured or worse, killed, when fighting one. With the direction given, everyone began making their way inside, the chirps of the birds and the faint scurrying of animals. "Hmmm…" While they were walking, Neptune pouted and crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed as she displayed her disappointment. "I guess it isn't that easy to find out what Avenir is gonna exhibit." she mused, remembering the men from said company.
She had thought they would be assigned to guard something at some unknown, secret facility, so they could at least sneak a peak at what they were planning. Then, they could see their plans, report to Chian and presto! They'd make something truly able to contest with Avenir's weapons! It was a solid plan... at least in Neptune's mind. Plus they could have gotten lots of pudding as a reward! This sucks!
Already having an idea as to what she was thinking, Nico rolled his eyes at her logic. He felt some cold logic was in order here, and decided to spare no mercy in dishing it out. Then again, when was the last time he showed mercy? "Did you really think it would be that easy? We're a couple strangers, paid mercs at that. It's obvious they wouldn't trust us at first sight. In their eyes, we're likely just cannon fodder, pawns that can be tossed aside at the drop of a hat." He told the preteen who puffed her cheeks out some more, but didn't say anything to counter his point. It was the truth, she knew it, and it made sense. It would have been foolish if they did just say everything to the strangers they employ on their first assignments.
IF frowned as he told Neptune those words. "Still, it's too bad. Oh well," she then shrugged her shoulders, knowing that there was no point in moping about it, or crying over spilled milk as the saying went. Plus, there was a silver lining here that many had forgotten at this point in the game. "At least we get to test Chian's weapon out."
The preteen pulled the weapon out from her hoodie, beaming happily that she had managed to grab it before they left. "Got our weapon, right here!" she proclaimed, swinging it about like a child playing with a toy until Nico told her to stop as to avoid a potential accident. Afterwards, she turned her head towards the blackette of the party, as a question sparked in her mind. "Speaking of, Noire, you'll be fighting with us, right?"
Noire nodded in response, giving a haughty huff that... didn't fit with the Mask she was wearing. "Yes, that's right." she retorted rhetorically. It was obvious she intended to fight, they had already discussed this.
"If that's the case, Iffy…"
The moment she saw the face Neptune was making, the brunette gave an irritated, weary groan from deep within her throat. IF knew that look, it was the look Neptune got when she was going to pull off one of her practical jokes. Ones that usually end with Neptune getting bonked on the head by either her or Nico. Though, even with this fate it was foolish to try and stop her, the only thing one can do is watch the fireworks. While mentally preparing herself for what was going to happen, IF responded. "What is it, Nep?"
If anything, Neptune's grin widened even more to the point where it rivalled a Cheshire cat's, which was added with a snicker while her fingertips were over her teeth, her expression practically screaming 'I'm a mischievous gremlin, please spank me!'. "There's some monsters here, so let's fight one to see how good Noire it." That… sounded like a good idea. For a moment, IF feared the worst there, she thought Neptune was going to throw Noire to the wolves or something. It would make sense considering the teasing comments that Neptune played on her in the past.
At that moment, several monsters jumped out of the wilderness and barred them from going any further. Looking up the Guild's Bestiary and going to the Thelad Sanctuary section, Nico saw that they were 4 'Spiders' and a pair of 'Boss Lizards'. The Spiders looked like 3 to 4-foot-tall white armoured Spiders, while the Boss Lizards looked humanoid with obese-looking armour, an axe and shield, a pair of small dragon wings that hardly looked big enough for flight, and a small tail. They had dark green skin and beady red eyes.
Noire overlooked them all and huffed, already having judged them in her mind as weak, before summoning her Weapon from her Inventory: a sword with a straight and narrow blade: A Rapier, and getting into a battle stance. "You underestimate me, but fine…" she remarked, huffing to once again to display her haughty nature. "Take a good look with those eyes of yours." In her mind, Noire added with a smug smirk. 'These things are nothing compared to the Abnormals...'
'Hmm, so Neptune and Noire are going to be at the forefront while we follow from behind, eh?' Nico thought as he reached down to his hips. He already had summoned the weapons he wanted, and from his holsters, he pulled out Ebony and Ivory. Nico once considered switching to another weapon, but decided to stick with what he had. Hopefully Avenir had not gotten much intel on him and Noire.
While IF and Compa readied their own weapons, Neptune decided to raise the stakes with her grin now in the massive category. "Hey, to make things fun, why not bet our Puddings? Winner takes all!"
Noire rolled her eyes behind her Mask at the preteen's fixation on the sweet desert, but couldn't help but let her competitive streak take over. "You're on. Not much of a bet though, since I'll win." She remarked with a hidden grin.
Neptune's grin never faltered, and was it just him, or did Nico detect a brash of devious in her eyes? It probably wasn't if the dismayed groan from their resident Brunette was any indication. "I dunno. I'm not planning to lose, you know? Transform!" in an instant, Neptune turned herself into her HDD form, her wide grin now replaced by a confident smirk. And was it just him again, or did Nico hear her whisper something like 'and not in front of him' before? This time, judging by the lack of reactions from the others, Nico thought that it was the former. "Time to get serious…"
Seeing this, Noire nearly lost her balance as she did a double take at the tactic that the preteen had used. "What the?! That's not fair! No transforming!" she screeched, stomping her foot onto the ground and pointing an accusing finger at Neptune.
Said woman just retained her smirk. "Well then, why don't you transform, too?"
"Wha-?!"
Nico's eyes widened when he heard that. 'Hey, am I hearing things? Did Neptune just call Noire out on her amnesia bullshit? Seriously?' he shrieked in his mind, but a part of him hoped that was the case. Neptune WAS smarter in her HDD form, so it made a lot of sense for her to call Noire out on her amnesia lie, but still this was Neptune. Though another logical side of him said that with the possibility of Avenir watching, talking about this subject wouldn't be the best move.
Unfortunately, Compa unknowingly shot down his hopes and dreams with her words, as she sternly scolded the transformed girl while waving a finger. "Nep-Nep, a normal person can't transform like you."
IF sighed while rolling her eyes, though she did have a small smirk on her features. "Random as usual…"
Back to the blackette. Noire heaved a sigh as she once again regained her composure and looked back to the monsters. Though her thought couldn't help but be centred around what just happened. 'Th-That surprised me… I thought for a second she found out who I am.' she thought in relief, and she pretended not to notice the pointed glare that Nico sent her way.
Shaking her head, Neptune hummed as she readied her sword. "Well, a bet is a bet. I won't let you go easily." She taunted, her smirk widening into a competitive grin. It was a grin that matched Noire's as the two faced off against the monsters.
Compa sweated slightly as she saw this sight before her, and couldn't help but comment on the obvious. "Nep-Nep gets so serious when pudding is on the line…" nobody answered to her comment though as the battle began.
The Party charged forth, Noire and Neptune leading them. Those two neared the Spiders who lunged at them, before together they jumped on top of them, using the Spiders as springboards to jump towards the Boss Lizards. Nico and the others went and fought against the Spiders, keeping their attention off the two competing girls as they fought their main enemy.
To Nico's slight disappointment, the fight didn't last long, especially since IF and Compa worked together to get the Spiders close together before peppering them with DEMON FLAMES, forcing Nico to follow suit with PHANTOM BLADES. It took care of the Spiders easily enough, plus these WERE normal monsters, so they turned to look at how Noire and Neptune were doing.
They were just in time to see the two deal with their own opponents. "Take this!" Neptune called out as she and Noire dealt the final blow to their foes… at the same time. As the Boss Lizards screeched their last dying screech before vanishing out of existence, Neptune hummed in pleased satisfaction, heaving her sword on top of her shoulder like it was a baseball bat. "I won." She declared.
That did not stand with their resident blackette though as she turned to glare at Neptune behind her Mask. "What are you saying?" I won first." She roared, pointing her Rapier at where her defeated enemy once lay.
However, Neptune shook her head in denial, lifting her sword from her shoulder before pointing at the spot where her own enemy lay before it disappeared like every other monster here. "No, I was 10 frames ahead of you." Even in her transformed state, Neptune still had her fourth wall breaking streak, it seemed.
Nico however, had discreetly recorded the fighting with his Recon Drone, only showing it as if it were a video instead of a bunch of Text on his left Bracer's interface, and saw that the 10 frames comment actually applied to Noire. 'Should I let them know? Hmm… that's a negative.' He thought, wanting this to be over with quickly so they could move on.
Apparently, IF shared his sentiment as she stepped forwards and grabbed the two by their shoulders, pushing them aside. "Okay, stop it. You both dealt the final blow at once. So, it's a tie, okay?" she told them, glaring at the two to get her point across. Really, it's like she's seeing a pair of toddlers fighting over a stuffed animal not mercenaries.
Sadly, these two were still heads up in their competition, too deep in fact that IF's words brought instant refusal to their minds.
"No way!"
"That's right! No way I could be even with Neptune!"
Both shouted at once to the brunette, refusing to back down towards each other. They then glared at each other, sparks flying between their eyes. IF looked at them and face palmed, an irritated growl escaping her throat. Really, did these two lose all their senses when in competition? Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ah, you two are so stubborn!"
"YIKES!"
Both Neptune and Noire stopped their glaring and jumped in synch at IF's loud voice. It even left their ears ringing a bit as they stared fearfully at the brunette, who had an aura of rage behind her accompanied by her stern glare. Her eyes shone with suppressed anger at the two as she clenched her shaking fists.
Worse still, Compa joined in the fight, looking just as annoyed as IF was, and that didn't happen often. "If the ref says it's a tie, it's a tie." She commented with a firm, no backtalk kind of voice. Her eyes reflected the tone she was using as well. "If you don't like it, me, Ni-Ni, and Iffy will take the puddings away."
Now THAT snuffed out their fighting spirits, replacing them with the horrid sensations of dread from the pits of their stomachs. "Please, no!" they cried in unison. Nico watched in surprise at their reaction, sure he expected Neptune to be like that towards pudding but Noire too? Maybe pudding is a favourite for every girl, just like chocolate.
'Iffy and Compa look like a pair of parents and the others are the scolded children right now…'
Compa instantly lost her stern face and returned to her normal self. With a bright smile once again, she stated. "Well then, you have to be friends." Though her face was back to normal, the tone she used plus her eyes told them both to accept it or something bad may happen. Both nodded at the same time, tears in the corners of their eyes. Both now knew, that an angry Compa was a scary Compa. It was always the nice ones that turn out to be the scariest.
Nico watched this and couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. He knew how scary Compa could be, having seen it several times in moments where Compa aimed bursts of confidence from seeing him do something. Anyone she got angry at instantly shrivelled with terror, for it was like a demon possessed her body to install the feeling of death into their souls. 'Never make Compa mad, kids, it's extremely dangerous…' he thought, turning to the child-like readers of the audience before going back into the story. 'Oh wait… goddess damnit, I'm becoming more like Neptune! It's her and THAT GUY's fault, they're corrupting me! All my sympathy for her has gone now…' his narrowed gaze sent chills up the transformed girl's spine. However, before they could move, his Motion tracker detected something heading their way, something… different.
It was nearly instantaneous, but something came flying down at them from above. Nico quickly acted, grabbing Compa and IF's hands before jumping back. Neptune and Noire barely got out the way as their newest visitor crashed into the space that they once occupied, sending them flying back. 'Holy shit, what was that?!'
The Party landed in separate spaces, the dust from the explosion swiped away by their visitor. It turned out to be something that Nico tensed at, his eye widening to the size of dinner plates while sweat rolled down his forehead. 'Oh shit… not now, not now! it's one of them!'
It looked at them, growling and groaning at its missed surprise attack. its form looked like a large Panther, with a pair of wings protruding from its arms which ended in clawed paws. The wings were sharp, and looked like they could either be used as blades or as a means of gliding or limited flight. It had a long tail protruding from its tail bone, with many flattened spikes around it needle-like chitinous tip. Its eyes glowed a deep purple, with a faint Smokey aura around it of matching colour.
The creature glared at them, hunger and bloodlust in its eyes as the Party all reeled in surprise at the creature's appearance. But none more so than Nico himself, his horror was reaching new heights as he knew EXACTLY what this creature was.
'It's an Abnormal!'
A tap on his shoulders made Nico break out his thoughts as he turned to Compa, finding her to be blushing slightly. "Um, could you, um, let go of our hands?" Looking down, Nico saw that he was indeed holding their hands still. With a quick stuttering of apology, he let go of them.
The brunette, who was a little pink herself at the gesture, waved it off. "Don't worry about it and focus on our new guest here." She commented as they all regarded the creature with caution. There was something strange about this creature, it didn't look like anything on the Guild Bestiary that Nico had brought to their attention either.
"This is a new one." Neptune commented, before she too came to the same conclusion as Nico did when she glanced at him and saw his state. Her eyes narrowed as she held her sword in a defensive stance. "It appears we have an Abnormal Monster on our hands." She remarked, getting everyone on the defensive.
IF frowned as she readied her Qatars as she scanned the creature. "Looks like one. you think that this will be the thing that's causing Avenir so much trouble?" she asked the others. However, she never got a response as the creature's Tail suddenly whipped in her direction, sending a series of Spikes her way. IF let out a quick "Crap!" before rolling to the side to avoid the Spikes. "Okay, definitely an Abnormal. Attacking while we're in our dialogue moment confirms it."
The others quickly assumed defensive positions as the creature turned its attention towards them. It let out a panther's roar before rushing towards them at surprising speeds. It first went after Compa, swiping one of its claws at her for Compa to roll underneath it and emerge at the base of its right hind leg. When she turned to stab it in the butt with her Syringe, the creature twisted its body to slam its tail into her, sending her flying across the area they were in.
"Compa!" Neptune shrieked as she and Noire charged at it from multiple flanks. It growled and jumped back to avoid Noire's slash and sent a series of Spikes with a whip of its tail towards Neptune's direction. With her mobility advantage, Neptune was able to dodge it and close the distance between them. She swung at its head and it blocked with one arm, this defence repeating itself for the next few slashes until she kicked it in the chin.
Spinning around, Neptune made for a reverse horizontal slash, only for the creature to lunge forwards faster than she could react and knock her down to the ground. It wasted no time pinning her arms to the ground with its paws before leaning down to bite her head off. Unfortunately for it, a hailstorm of bullets was introduced to its face, curtesy of a pissed off Nico.
"Neptune, get out of there, I'll distract it!" he yelled, unloading on it with Ebony and Ivory. The monster stumbled back, trying to cover its face from the barrage while Neptune rolled back into a flip, getting some distance between them as she landed close to the ground and slid to a halt. She then formed a Panel behind her, using it as a spring board to launch herself forwards at it with her Skill activating. "CROSS COMBINATION!"
When Neptune's skill landed, the creature blocked every slash on the ground with its paws, before catching her leg in its mouth and holding tightly, causing her to grit her teeth in pain as it shook its head around like a dog when it caught its prey.
It then hurled her in the direction of a charging IF, who managed to flip out of the way and get in close without looking behind her as Neptune bounced several times before coming to a stop. "Take this you oversized brute!" she yelled while slashing several times at its face. These attacks did nothing but anger it though, as it bashed her with a head but then swiped its right paw down at her from above. IF barely rolled out the way in time, slashing at the paw to leave her mark.
Noire took charge this time, and saw that Nico was coming in from another flank. She quickly closed the distance, dodging a wave of Spikes hurled her way as she made several rapid thrusts and swings of her sword. Her Rapier started to glow a slight silvery colour, an indication she was going to activate a Skill. "LACE RIBBON DANCE!" she called out, making a slight jog towards it while it was stunned by her previous attacks. When she was close enough, Noire backflipped, her foot kicking it in the chin as she landed into a crouch. She then jumped again and double kicked it before bouncing into the air again with a horizonal slash that left an energy slash mark over its body.
The Skill apparently did moderate damage to it, as the Abnormal let out a shriek before it jumped back to get some distance. Now it was pissed, as its purple eyes glowed even brighter while its fur covered body gained a slight purplish tint to it. When it let out a panther's roar, it instantly leapt forwards at speeds that were significantly higher than before, startling the group slightly but it lasted only a millisecond.
Its wings were uncurled as it used them like elbow-mounted blades, swinging them wildly with ferocious tendencies, something only an animal or a being with intense bloodlust could match. Its target was Noire who flipped back and forth, sliding a few times to dodge them. "Guys, a little help here!" she called out, gritting her teeth as she slid under another slash. This one just barely missed the tip of her nose as the Abnormal sailed overhead, landing behind her.
Its Tail swayed 4 times, releasing 4 waves of Spikes in their direction that the Party avoided. With its speed and ferocity, this Abnormal's spikes were easy to dodge. That was what they all thought when a squeal from Noire caused heads to turn. Although, Nico turned away as soon as he could while thanking the Goddesses (ironic, right?) that his Mask hid his burning cheeks.
The reason why Noire squealed? Because several spikes tore at her clothes. Her skirt was missing several pieces to show two bands belonging to her panties, the white material on her boobs had been shredded to where only the nipple was covered, the middle of her outfit was gone, her arm sleeves now only covered her forearms, and lastly various rips were present over what was left. Her undergarments were the least damaged fortunately, as were her stockings and heeled boots, but that did nothing to quell the embarrassment and humiliation she was feeling.
Instantly, her face went red as she fell to her knees, curling into a ball while holding her arms, teas in the corners of her eyes. She forgot nobody could see behind her Mask, but it may as well have been off with how transparent she was being, in that they could tell what her expressions were. All the while, she was screaming 'Don't look, don't look!' over and over to try and preserve her modesty. The monster tried to attack once again, however Nico managed to hit it with a PHANTOM WAVE to temporarily stun it.
"Ufufufu…" Neptune chuckled at the sight, finding amusement while Noire turned and glared at her. "I see, so it appears that Noire likes to have fanservice shots of her in battle. Who knew!"
The blackette stood up, forgetting about her current state of dress as she glared angrily at the purplette. "Shut up you! I will so hit you!" she shrieked, before squeaking when she felt a draft where she shouldn't have felt it, quickly receding back to her previous curled state. She looked up and glared again at Neptune, who was still struggling not to laugh while everyone else bar Nico who was trying to remain the gentleman by not looking, gave her looks of sympathy. "This is no fun for me at all, who would find something so perverted fun?!"
Neptune lifted a finger and spoke in an informative manner, akin to a secretary informing her boss about their daily quota. "But we managed to avoid those spikes, which are easy to dodge by the way." She explained, causing Noire to become speechless. She didn't have a counter to that which wouldn't lower her pride any more than it already did. this made Neptune smirk in victory as she won this argument.
Behind her Mask, Noire whimpered as she held herself. "I can't get married now…" she moaned in despair. The pure humiliation that Abnormal had put her through was immense. Bad enough her clothes were in tatters, but Neptune's teasing made it all the worse. Her shoulders shook as she tried to make herself look as small as possible, smaller than even ants.
Just then, something warm was draped over her shoulders, and her body stilled. Behind her Mask Noire gasped quietly when she felt the sensation, and her hands reflexively grasped onto it, feeling a soft leathery texture. Although there was something underneath it that's he didn't quite grasp the identity of, it mattered little to her. She soon realised it was a Trench coat, and her mind registered the fact that only 2 people had Trench Coats as part of their wardrobes: IF, and…
"N-Nico?" she stammered, looking up at him knowing the Mask would hide how red her face was and her embarrassed tears. Like she thought, Nico had taken off his Trench Coat, his various sheaths and Holsters having been tightened somehow to fit his form now that he didn't have one article of clothing. Said clothing had been draped over her, covering her from her neck downwards to conceal her body from view. She didn't dare to look at his body as without his Trench Coat, much of what was hidden was now in plain sight, even with the rest of his outfit covering it. "Wh-what are you…?"
The male silenced her when he spoke. "Keep that on, it'll have to do for now until the battle is over. In the meantime," Nico glared at where the Monster was located, having identified it in the Abnormal Monster bestiary during their moment of shock. It was a 'Nargacuga', a creature based off another Monster known to habit the mountains of Lowee called a 'Tigrex'. "I believe it's time we give this fucker the ol' what for, don't you think?"
Getting over her shock enough to stand, Noire saw how his Coat was large enough to be fastened over her frame and still offer unrestricted movement. She slid her hands unto the sleeves and felt it snugly fit onto her body without limiting her mobility. She almost opened her mouth in awe at ho good the coat felt, until she turned to the male to do something else instead. "Th-thanks…" she nodded to him, before turning to the Nargacuga with a glare only a scorned woman could achieve. "You'll freaking pay for that, those were my favourite clothes!"
"Yikes, Noire looks really mad." Compa stammered as she jumped at the sudden raising of her voice.
IF rolled her eyes as she commented on this development. "Well, I don't blame her. Those clothes looked expensive and this guy just shredded most of them. Good thing the Gates installed on each dungeon magically repairs damaged clothing." She remarked. It was a design upgrade that was introduced not long after the Gates creation, since the Guild Agents were more female than male. Often girls found that the Monsters, mostly the Dogoos and their variants would target their clothes, ruining them and making them buy more from shops to store away. The Guild changed this though so they didn't have to worry as much, installing a function in the gates that allows them to regenerate damaged clothing atoms, though the injuries are still retained for some reason.
Noire made a mighty battle cry as she charged forth at the Nargacuga, and instinctively everyone stepped back as the enraged girl went to town on the creature, which also didn't expect the girl to gain a sudden power boost. The way she fought and some of the things she did to the creature made them cringe slightly, others making them lose some of the colour in their faces.
"Okay, that was hardcore."
"I don't think a Rapier should be used that way."
"Is it just me, or is anyone else feeling a sense of doom here? Oh, so it's not just me."
"Noire re-really doesn't like losing her clothes, does she?"
"You said it, Compa. You hit the nail on the head."
Nico, Neptune, IF and Compa each commented on their opinion as they watched Noire brutally torment and maim the Nargacuga in ways that would make sadists orgasm. Seriously, she looked more like a psycho achieving his fix on an unfortunate victim right now and it was starting to unnerve even Nico.
By the time Noire was done venting her 'feminine fury' on the Nargacuga, it was barely recognisable, little more than a crumpled heap on the floor. Its body was littered with slashes, lacerations, stab wounds etc. it lost one of its hind legs, an eye, its wings were shredded down to their bones with bits of webbing torn off, and half its Tail was gone. Still though, the Abnormal was alive, though not for much longer as it gave a dying screech before vanishing out of existence in a flurry of particles, purplish black ones.
Turning on her heels, Noire began walking back to the group, looking thoroughly relieved, with a happy smile on her features and a small skip in her step. Her smile turned to a confused frown when she saw the looks being directed at her. "Huh? What's wrong, you guys? You look like you've had nightmares." She asked them.
"Noire, you look like a serial killer right now." Nico answered bluntly, seeing as nobody else had the guts to say it after what they just saw. The blackette looked down at herself, noticing that indeed she had the look of a serial killer, with monster blood drenched over her and her hand twitching like it was holding a butcher knife. Only an insane grin would have completed it, and unbeknownst to her she had once got that smile onto her face when she was killing that monster, adding in some maniacal laughter as well.
The girl began to deflate in shame about going so wild with such a creature, and ruining Nico's Trench Coat. Her guilt doubled at that fact, especially when she remembered how caring he was when he gave it to her. She had noticed that when he gave her it, he had made sure not to look where he shouldn't be, respecting her privacy and whatever dignity as a woman she had left. Clutching the sleeves of his Trench Coat, Noire mumbled an apology. "S-Sorry about that, Nico. I-I got your coat drenched in that Abnormal's blood."
At this, Nico waved her apology off while swallowing some saliva in his mouth. "No biggies, just make sure to return my Coat when you have your clothes repaired. It's one of my favourites after all…" he didn't say that it was also the only Trench Coat he had. Like previously mentioned his Clothes in Void Storage are maintained so that when he equipped them they would feel like they hadn't been used before.
After that scene, the girls, after Neptune returned to human form again, made to continue their journey into the Dungeon, IF reasoning that the Nargacuga may not be the only threat or that it may not be the monster they were looking for. It seemed to have only just arrived at this Dungeon, from what the brunette could tell. However, Nico stopped them when he noticed that his Bracer beeped. "Hold it, I just got results from my scanning of the Abnormal." He told them.
"Huh? When did you get the time to do that, Nicky?" Neptune asked, voicing everyone's confusion on the matter. During that battle, there wasn't much time for even breathing properly let alone scanning the creature.
The male didn't answer until he finished reading, muttering something under his breath that they couldn't hear before looking up at them. "I did it before I gave Noire my Trench Coat. Anyways, it looks like my suspicions were confirmed. That Nargacuga, well you were right IF, it wasn't meant to be here, in fact it was drawn here and infected with what is commonly known as the Frenzy Virus. It's a special kind of virus that spread through the air, or through injuries. Fortunately, we didn't get any, also the host this time wasn't the original host otherwise we would have been affected just by breathing. In any case, it usually enhances the host's abilities but affects their mentality, making them go berserk, more so than normal. Usually the hosts don't last long as their bodies deteriorate faster as a side effect of the virus. As for humans, when it enters our bodies, unless we have a sufficient dose of adrenaline in our bodies by the time the virus settles into our bloodstream, it will severely weaken us and make us increasingly susceptible to elemental attacks. Should that condition be met though, it will strengthen us to superhuman levels."
"Huh, that doesn't sound so bad. But then again, I don't wanna get debuffed like that, so I'll pass on getting infected." Neptune remarked as the girls digested this information. It was surprising to take in, but slightly easy to comprehend. A boost for monsters at such a cost? With everything they've learned so far, something like this seemed almost fickle in comparison.
Nico nodded in agreement with the girl. As someone who had experienced the Frenzy virus himself multiple times, the male knew that if an Abnormal infected with the Frenzy Virus was here, then the cause must be somewhere nearby. Though he wouldn't be able to go after it since he hadn't received his armour yet, and he'd rather have it with him when he fought the cause. It did help him resist the Virus's effects after all. "Yeah, I can agree. I've experienced both sides of the virus, and let me tell you, the pain you go through with it on both accounts is horrendous enough that I wouldn't recommend it, even with the power boost it gives. Whatever made the Virus here must be nearby, but I don't think we should worry about it yet. It'll likely relocate for now, since it never stays around for long." he explained, knowing EXACTLY what caused this virus. "Now then, we should get moving. If one Monster's infected chances are that there are more. So, let's get to it, soldiers!"
