Chapter 43 - Back to Planeptune

"Huh, Nowa isn't coming with us?" Neptune asked, surprise and confusion in her tone as she looked at the blackette CPU before her. She, along with the rest of the Party and Team RAIL were standing by the entrance of Chian's Café, and Noire had just admitted that she wouldn't be joining them. IF had suggested they return to Planeptune for now, as the lack of work for them thanks to Avenir's little stunt had destroyed the prospect of job offers. There was little work to do in the first place aside from Abnormal monster hunting but at this point the girls were done with that for the time being.

It had been a couple days since Avenir's attack, and things were progressing smoothly. Noire had been helping people with repairs in both her human and her CPU forms, though she didn't let anyone know that the two forms were linked. The only exception had been Chian, and even then, the circumstances were… different at the time. At first, Chian had been unsure as to how to behave around her, but the blackette had been quick to assure her that she would rather be called Noire by her and her companions. She didn't want there to be formalities between them, especially after what they had gone through together.

Furthermore, IF and the girls had been, as implied earlier, hunting Abnormal Monsters that Nico had recommended for them. The Abnormals were tough, tougher than the usual versions they had been fighting, which had prompted Compa to deploy her Armour, something she hadn't done since arriving at Lastation, and Neptune to activate HDD before they would go out, so they could get an edge on the enemy. IF meanwhile, experimented with her new powers as a BOW, learning a lot about herself. She had been operating on her own for a long time now, ever since she was a young girl, so self-teaching was nothing new to her, which allowed her to progress further than Nico had done with his DPU powers. At least, before he had gained a mentor in them.

Speaking of which, Nico had been spending his time helping with the repairs, sometimes coming across Noire while working which lead to them talking a bit more. The Tsundere outing still had its imprint on their minds, especially their ending, which caused some manner of awkwardness between the two. Although they both agreed to keep up a mask of normality when Neptune and the others were around. It would be a pain to explain, and once they did Neptune was likely going to grill them with teasing. Teasing like that innuendo...

People would say that the girl was 'thirsty'.

Fortunately for them the awkwardness didn't last that long, as thanks to helping with the repairs and training they got a lot more instances to talk. Ever since, their relationship improved drastically, the two getting to talk like they were close acquaintances. Usually, when in public they didn't talk about anything personal, mostly just stuff about their plans for their next adventure. However, whenever they were alone Noire would talk to him about her secret hobby of Cosplaying, telling him about the various outfits she made through sewing ans crafting. Meanwhile, Nico would talk about his war stories and offering advice to certain situations. Though, he did express some interest in joining her for some Cosplay when this was all over, and the four CPUs were at peace.

In training, Nico was just as vicious and unrelenting with Noire as he was with Neptune and the other girls, perhaps even more so thanks to her being a Goddess. Before, Noire rarely joined their sparring sessions, since she felt like she wouldn't gain much of anything valuable, but none time when Nico whooped her ass during a time when Neptune and the others convinced her changed that pretty quickly. She didn't want her pride to be tarnished by the fact that she couldn't even beat one human. Thus, she joined every sparring session she could, while making time for other matters. Se refused to let the fact that he whooped her ass stand, not for long.

Though, she never did manage to beat Nico, though she was closer than the other girls.

As for his training with Biko, him and Nico would train for what the real world recognized as a couple hours, but it was really tens of hours in the male's inner world, improving on his existing abilities like his swordsmanship with Soul Edge, its shape-shifting abilities, as well as its other powers. By that, he meant that he'd found a way to use his mind to control the weapon and make it attack enemies on its own. It would serve him well if he wanted to attack one enemy while focusing on another, or keep multiple enemies off his back while using other abilities.

In addition to that, his Wings had been improved in their morphing abilities, becoming any weapon, he desired. Usually it was either Tendrils or massive clawed arms, but sometimes he would make them form weapons like claws, blades, drills or axes. As for the detaching and releasing of projectiles, Nico wasn't as confident at using them fully yet, but slowly he was getting there. Him and Biko predicted that in a couple more days he'd have that skill down pat, and then there would be training to refine it to a suitable level for usage in actual combat.

Last of his known abilities would be his Tail, which Nico had largely neglected most of the time he activated DDD. The Tail that was prehensile and could defend his rear flank when needed. It also had the ability to launch long, sharp talons from when it flicked itself in a certain direction, talons that would detonate on contact. In addition to that, when demonic energy was added to it, it could fire a constant stream of Talons, as the energy would replenish the cells it used to generate additional Talons after the old ones were fired from the spaces between the segments that made up the Tail.

Aside from training in those four things, Nico would spar with Biko in DPU or human form, putting his skills to the test. Now he knew what the girls felt when they couldn't get a hit on him, as Biko would always guard against his attacks no matter what he tried. Nico supposed that the man got stronger as well by training, which would explain how he would keep up with him. It didn't help that Biko was just as brutal, if not more so, than he was, though thankfully their training in his inner world didn't affect his real body too much, as he only returned to a body with minor aches, and even then hiss regeneration took care of it.

Through their training and breaks, Nico discovered that the demonic personification shared many traits to his DPU form's personality, strong willed, serious, determined, calm with a hidden sense of bloodlust. In addition to that, he had a great amount of knowledge and wisdom, born likely from the fragmented memories that he possessed. Biko and Nico also regularly conversed through their mind link, either about topics coming up in the male's daily life, or theories on topics like the DPUs. One such theory revolved around Ganache and how he managed to look so young while being the founder, which meant he was over 50 years old. Biko suggested that the virus in Ganache's system was the cause, as it stopped him from aging, or at least slowed it down to a snail's pace.

It was a decent theory, one that they were willing to follow for now till they could ask.

"Don't call me Nowa! It's Noire!" the blackette yelled in response, shaking a fist towards the purplette.

Said purplette was unperturbed by the hostility being emitted from the blackette as she waved her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes at her. "Oh, come on. You can call me Neppy, if you'd like." It didn't really bother her what she was called, be it her normal name or a cute nickname, although she did like the latter. Thus, she pressed on with the goal of making Noire cave in, although the gleam in her eyes showed that she was just messing with her. Like she said, Noire was fun to tease.

Huffing, Noire crossed her arms and turned away in a classic classy manner. "No, I won't…! No wait, why would I?!" she then shouted towards the now chuckling Neptune while everyone else just stayed silent and watched.

'And we get a daily dose of the Nep-oire drama commercial…' Nico thought to himself, rolling his eyes with an amused smile spreading across his features. This had been happening for so long now that he was used to seeing her tease the blackette. Plus, with how much work Noire had done he figured she could use the teasing to lighten her up.

'Indeed, I can sense that her tension has decreased every time the CPU of Planeptune has tried to tease her. On the other hand, she may wish to tone it down for a while, if she does not wish to deter their friendship back into hatred.' Biko commented, and Nico could hear the contemplative frown that he was sporting. While he could agree with Biko there, the male felt that Neptune would be aware of that, despite what her appearance might suggest. The reason he thought this was simple: that night she cried in his arms. It showed him that, just like everyone else, Neptune had problems that she had trouble expressing.

Now that he had completed his first visit to his inner world, Biko took to conversing with him mentally on different subjects. Most of them pertained to things like Quests, daily life, and his training, but he didn't speak too much. While he could hear him, the girls could not. Which made sense, but it did make him look less sane than he really was.

Shame Biko couldn't stop his nightmares, which began happening more often now.

'Apologies, it appears your mental state isn't as healthy as a normal person's.' Biko commented within his mind. He didn't sound too apologetic though, but Nico didn't blame him for that. He was simply stating a fact, one that Nico was all too aware of for a long time. He always knew his sanity... wasn't as stable as a normal person's, just look at how brutal he was with training the girls. 'In addition, I have observed these 'nightmares' of yours, and I do believe they have a heavy implication on your mind. I will need to commit more research before I am certain.'

'You do that, Biko...'

It was unlikely that Biko would find anything that Nico didn't already know, since his amnesia wasn't like normal amnesia. He had been tested and the doctors said that his mind was suppressing the memories by force, like it refused to accept them within his psyche. These nightmares, they were more of a coping mechanism to deal with them, as well as a means of helping his m ind recover from whatever drove him to suppress those memories.

While taking a breath to calm down, Noire remained oblivious to the male's thoughts as she gave a small smile towards the purplette, knowing what she was doing. "Well, you were sleeping when the others found out, but… I still got things to do here." It was left unsaid that she would make sure to keep Avenir from causing another tragedy like this again. The people of Lastation would be seeing more of her, much more now that she had a mission to do.

Still didn't stop Neptune from being disappointed though. She looked down in disappointment, slouching with her shoulders dropped and her arms hanging before her. "Awwww…. And here I thought we were going to be best buddies…" she whined. She wanted to not be the only CPU in their Party, as the loneliness would be there. While she was a playful prankster girl, Neptune did have feelings as well. Something Nico had seen fit to bring into the light.

She still couldn't get the thought of that night by the hill out of her head. Its seemed on the surface like a textbook romance scene in a visual novel. However, if one looked a little deeper, one would find there to be much more hidden meaning behind it. There was so much about her that she had always kept hidden for her fun-loving personality. She hid away her pain, her sorrows, her loneliness, everything. for a while, nobody had realized it, her mask had fooled practically everybody. They didn't eve notice how conflicted she had been when she discovered her identity as a CPU.

But then, when she was at her lowest that night, Nico came.

She hid away the blush that threatened to form on her face as she remembered that night. That night, she could understand a little better what he always said about Mass and reflection. He showed her that it was alright to wear a mask, to make people think your happy when your not, to make people think your easy going when your stressed. But, when the time comes, one must remove the Mask to show their real selves. People can't grow too attached to their Masks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and they'd become their Masks. But Nico, he managed to see past it and give her the comfort she needed, not wanted, NEEDED.

How could she NOT want to thank him the way she did?

Just before Noire could respond to that statement, Compa walked over and patted Neptune on the back, as if to say 'there-there' to her. "Now, now Nep-Nep. Let's not bother Noire." She then thought of a way to cheer the girl up, knowing that she would be like this for a while yet. "We still have to find the Key Fragment in Lastation, so we can come back."

IF nodded her head in agreement with the Nurse-in-Training. She had her phone out as she was checking the times for their trip back to Planeptune. It wouldn't do if they made it to the Sky Harbor but couldn't travel there for hours upon end. "It's true. We'll be back here." she stated, blunt and direct, just the way she liked it, before resuming her research.

Nico then jumped into the conversation, deciding to say something to help cheer the girl up. "They're right, Neptune. Seriously you think we'll be gone forever? We still have things to do, we're taking a break, is all." he reminded her. They still had to find the Key Fragment here, and kick Avenir's ass for what they've done to the blackette CPU's home. Why wouldn't they return? Even if they couldn't at the moment, eventually the cry for vengeance shall be answered.

Finally, the last one was Noire who smiled as she spoke, her tone indicating pleasantries, but the more observant members of the party noted that she too seemed reluctant to see them go. "I'll be sure to greet you all with open arms, then."

Their combined words, thankfully, managed to lift the preteen's spirits, as her eyes brightened and regained their energetic glee. "Aww geez, you guys are the bestest of friendsies for worrying about littl' old Nep. #SNIFF# #SNIFF# I'm so proud…" she responded, making fake sobbing and sneezing sounds, while dramatically rubbing them away, though it didn't fool the others.

While watching the preteen, Noire rolled her eyes before she remembered something she wanted to say to Neptune for a while now. her eyes narrowed as her posture took on a rigid, serious position. "Before I forget, Neptune? Don't go around saying you're a CPU, you hear? I'm not sure about the other lands, but each has their own problems."

"Huh?"

"Noire has a good point, Neptune." Nico agreed with the blackette CPU, already his mind and that of Biko's were forming theories and plans for research on the other Nations. Even if they didn't have their own issues, which was highly unlikely if assholes like Avenir have control over Lastation, it wouldn't be good to proclaim you're a CPU in enemy territory. That would just be like screaming that you want to have a target painted on your back.

Unknoingly, IF summarized what the two were thinking in a nutshell as she spoke, drawing Neptune's attention when she formed a confused expression, not getting the danger that her identity could bring when in a foreign nation. "That's right. If they find out, who knows what might come our way."

Now that they explained what they had meant, Neptune hummed in acknowledgement, before grinning with confidence as she planted a fist on her chest and another hand on her hip. "Oh, I'm not that dumb, Y'know." She proclaimed with her head held high. "Don't wanna trouble anyone like that, it'd give me a bad end…" she then aimed a teasing grin towards Nico, something that Compa frowned at, knowing she was about to tease him again. "If that happened I'd never get a chance with little Nicky jr."

The male paled when she said that, quickly covering his groin while glaring at her with KI flaring all around him. "Hey, stop that Neptune!" he yelled but his angry blush didn't help him much.

Compa nodded her head, pouting in annoyance. "Ni-Ni's right Nep-Nep!" she proclaimed fiercely, fiercer than usual thanks to having gained confidence from her confession of her feelings for Nico. The male gave her a hopeful glance, thinking she was about to save him from the embarrassment known as Neptune's teasing. "We need to get a few dates out of him before getting Ni-Ni's jr!"

Only to face fault with red spreading across his features when Compa unknowingly made the situation even worse for him. Slowly getting to his feet, Nico held his red face behind his right hand, groaning in embarrassment. "Ugh, goddamnit, Neptune…" he bemoaned, glaring through his hand at the preteen. "Now look at what you've done…" his eye caught Noire's slight smirk of amusement at his plight, and his glare increased tenfold. "Not another word from you, Queen of the Tsunderes."

"Q-Queen of the Tsunderes?!" Noire's amusement quickly became replaced by a shocked and embarrassed face as she glared at the male, just as red-faced as he was. The male merely smirked back at her as if to say, 'feels bad, doesn't it?'

Watching their interaction, the perpetrator laughed as the two had their silent glaring contest, holding her belly. "ehehehe, something tells mwa that the teasing material won't go away any time soon. Better prepare your body, Nicky, cause it's in for a wild ride!" she bellowed, before looking towards Noire and ignoring the male's glare. "And anywho, don't worry Noire, I just have to reveal my identity at the last scene, right?"

Compa beamed as she made a comparison between Neptune's words and somethings he had seen in the past. "Just like in a theatre! Oh, then I want to come out at the encore call!" she bellowed with excitement, excitement at something that most likely would not happen in this lifetime.

"Oooh! Good, good Compa! And we'll have Iffy and Nicky pull curtains backstage!"

As they watched the two girls bicker merrily about the 'theatre' they were imagining in their heads, Noire gave a tired sigh, already feeling her head start to ache at the preteen's antics, as well as how gullible Compa was. She held her head with her left hand, before lowering it, shaking her head, and giving the two other members of the Party a stare that had a mix of fatigue and sympathy. "IF… Nico…? Are you sure you're going to be fine…?"

'I believe you and I will be alright, as we can talk to each other, however I am unsure as to IF's predicament…'

'On that, we can agree. Say, you can sense diseases, right? You told me once after a sparring session. Can you see what IF's body's like?

'If you're wondering if she'll get a tenant like me, do not be alarmed, her body's mutations won't allow that to happen. At best, her mind will form some barriers against mind-control based abilities.'

'Got it, thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

While unaware of the mental communication between the two demonic energy beings, IF released a tired sigh just like Noire did, looking like she was 30 years older than she was in truth. She then aimed a smirk at the blackette CPU, brimming with confidence. "I'm fine, I have Nico with me to keep my sanity… though even him might not be enough." She glanced to the girls, and saw how they were now acting out a certain tragic love tale, with Neptune on the ground and Compa beside her reciting lines in an archaic fashion. she groaned and held her head with a hand. "I'm already getting a headache."

Sweat dropping at the site as well, Nico walked up to her and offered a bottle of water. "Here, IF, maybe this might help." He suggested while also offering one to Noire as well. "They're ice cold. So, they'll stem the headache a bit…" he advised, watching the two and their antics. This was the CPU of a Nation, and an aspiring Nurse-In-Training... He was beginning to fear for Planeptune's safety.

"Thanks, Nico." Both girls said at the same time, taking the bottles and pressing them on their foreheads, quickly moaning in pleasure at the cool sensations they experienced. Those bottles came from his Void Storage, so they were extra cold thanks to the lack of heat in there. Nico never really minded the heat, but the cold never really bothered him anyways.

… why the hell did he feel like he made a reference right there?

Unfortunately for them, trouble arrived when their moans attracted the attention from the two acting girls, whom quickly dropped what they were previously doing in favour of becoming annoyed at receiving Nico's attention when they weren't looking. Both quickly stood up and stormed over to them, angry pouting faces on full blast. "Heeeeey! No fair, are you guys trying to be Nicky-hogs or something? Not cool, Iffy, not cool!" Neptune exclaimed as she pulled on IF's sleeve to get her attention. Like her annoying mannerisms wouldn't be enough.

Compa also had an angry pout on her face as she too pulled on someone's sleeve, and that person happened to be Noire. "Nep-Nep's right, Ni-Ni's ours, stop trying to hog him all to yourselves!" she whined.

This caused the other two girls to step back, taken aback by the sheer intensity of the two girls stares. "Wh-Wh-What are you saying?!" Noire shrieked, finding her voice first as her face reddened in embarrassment. "I hardly even know the guy, we only spoke a few times after we beat Avenir's Killachines! There's NO way that we'd be l-l-lovers!" she stammered, trying to look convincing however the girls didn't buy it.

Nico would have intervened on the girl's behalf; however...

'DOES NOT COMPUTE! DOES NOT COMPUTE! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN IMMINENT!'

His face was that of a microwave oven right now and his mind had blue-screened, forcing Biko to begin restarting his mind with demonic energy.

Seeing as she was the only one who could make coherent sentences, IF cleared her throat and levelled an annoyed glare at the two girls. "Now cool your jets, kids. Nobody's trying to 'hog' Nico here, he was just giving us some water, it's not like he mean's anything by it. Look, you've knocked him out." She scolded, gesturing to the motionless male.

Both girls looked to where she had gestured, and when they saw what Nico had been reduced too, they both freaked out. "Oh no, our Nicky's malfunctioned! Quick, someone get the defibrillator thingy! We gotta restart his heart for us!"

"Nep-Nep, he's not dead we just have to take him with us! C'mon, we gotta hurry back to Planeptune, the scenery will jog his system back up!"

Both Compa and Neptune quickly ran towards the direction of the Basilicom, carrying a frozen Nico like a log of wood. IF watched them for a moment, sweat dropping at their handling of the male, before she turned to Noire and gave a small smirk. "Whelp, there they go. I gotta go catch those idiots before they end the poor guy. Feel sorry for him already. Anyways, see you later, Noire." She spoke, extending a hand.

Noire looked at it for a moment, calming herself down before smiling pleasantly as she took the hand, the two hand-shaking firmly. "You too, IF. Good luck keeping those two in line." She remarked with amusement.

The brunette nodded her head, knowing what the blackette CPU was referring to. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't kill the poor guy. Hey, you idiots! Get back here!" With that, IF ran off to chase them down, Noire watching them as they left for the Basilicom.


"So… there they go…" Noire mumbled to herself, the light in her eyes dimming slightly as she watched the lively Party go. Now that they were gone, the CPU of Lastation was alone in the streets. Team RAIL had to return to Planeptune ahead of them, seeing as they were needed for multiple Abnormal Monster hunts. Planeptune Abnormals were rising in numbers, Raven had said, so their group was usually very busy. They couldn't afford to be in another nation for too long.

Even so, now that they were gone, she began to realize… she kind of liked the excitement that group brought. Neptune's antics, Nico and IF trying to keep the peace only to fall victim to her randomness, and even Compa's gullibility which led to Neptune's antics getting all the more uncontrollable. She just now realised that, with their absence, how much she had gotten used to it.

Now that it was gone...

Shaking her head, Noire made to leave the area. There was still lots to do for repairs, and things would have to change thanks to the information she had learned. Just when she turned though, she heard the crinkling of paper, and looked down to see that a piece of paper had fallen out the pocket of her Skirt. It landed on the ground harmlessly, the winds almost kicking it up and carrying it away.

Curiosity got the better of her though and stopped that from happening, as she grasped the paper gently, to avoid damaging it, before she brought it to her eye level. "Huh? what's this? I never put something in my Skirt there…" she wondered, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "Was this Neptune's doing? Ugh, that girl, seriously… she always knows how to grind my-"

She stopped mid speech when she opened the piece of paper, revealing it to contain a list, a list of numbers. But Noire quickly realised that they were not a list of random numbers, but a list of PHONE numbers. Each one had a chibi face next to it, ones she recognised as members of the Party she had just been with. "Eh? What is this…? Wait, there's a note down at the bottom."

Noire looked down in surprise at the note, and when she got to the bottom she would never admit it, but her cheeks had gained a slight hue to them:

"These are for you, Noire.

Just in case you wanted to talk to us, they're our phone numbers so you don't have to worry about networks. No, this is not Neptune's idea, but my own. Hope this brings you comfort.

Your companion, Nico DEATHSTROKE."

PS: now you can say you're no longer 'Lonely Heart' as Neptune put it ?

Below, there was a drawing of a Chibi Nico giving her a thumbs-up and a happy smile. Noire stared at the drawing for a bit, her eyes mystified by what she was holding. "Did that guy seriously… give me everyone's Phone Number…?" she wondered, shocked in her system. She remembered one of their conversations where, while she told him she'd castrate him if he told anyone it, but she would miss them when they were gone. He'd said he'd do something about it, and while Noire knew that Nico valued his word highly, a part of her still suspected he would forget… To think, that he remembered and fulfilled his promise…

The blackette CPU stood there in the middle of the streets, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, until someone came up to her from behind, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, Noire, what are you standing out here for?"

At the voice's sudden presence, Noire almost squealed in fright as she jumped, twirling around and just barely stopping herself from summoning her HF Blade. She soon relaxed when she saw that it was Chian, who looked surprised at her panicked response, before she leveled an indignant gaze at the mechanic. "Chian, what did you do that for?!"

"You were standing here in the street, smiling widely for some reason. Honestly reminded me of a schoolgirl getting asked out by her crush." Chian replied honestly, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes widened in realization and a smug smirk formed on her features. "Lemme guess, someone caught your fancy and he asked you out, girl? Do I have to get the dresses out?"

At the woman's implications, Noire blushed bright red as she hurriedly declined them. "Wh-Wha-?! N-No! That's not it at all, there's no way I'm happy at all or anything! Nope, not one bit!" she stammered, flailing her arms up and down so fast that they were like blurs.

It didn't do a good job of convincing the mechanic, if the expression of doubt on her features mixed with a knowing one was any indication. "Riiiight…" she drawled. She then decided to inquire onto something else, knowing she wouldn't get a straight answer if she asked directly. "So, what got you in such a good mood there, Noire?"

Noire stuttered, her face red as she tried formulating a response. However, her mind was too preoccupied with… other thoughts to entertain the notion. Eventually, she just gave up and huffed. "Hmph! Like I need a reason to be in a good mood! Coma along, Chian, Lastation won't run itself you know!" she demanded, quickly strolling past the blunette woman while crossing her arms behind her back… having folded the paper back up and hidden it in her hands.

Her thoughts went to the one that did that: the redhead male member of Neptune's party, and her previous smile slowly came back to her face, along with a pink hue on her cheeks. 'That guy… he's really nice… When he gets back, I'll make sure to thank him by having Lastation better than ever, for sure!'


Neptune flopped onto the back of the bed of Compa's room. The party had returned to the cream haired girl's house, Nico and Compa having commenced the cleaning. Since nobody had been around for a while. Nobody had been able to properly maintain the house. At first Compa had been insistent on doing it herself, but Nico eventually wore her down to the point where she accepted his help. "Whew." She heaved a relieving sigh, feeling her body relax on the bed. "This place really is "home"."

When they had returned to Planeptune, the familiar scenery really did serve the purpose of knocking Nico out of his stupor and bringing him back to reality. He'd been flustered like nobody's business when he learned what they had did, carrying him like a sack of potatoes the entire journey back. The thought of so many people seeing him like that, giving them, weird or disbelieving looks made Nico want to disappear into the cold yet isolated hands of oblivion. It had taken a major portion of his pride as a male, and took the entire journey back to Compa's house to get him back to normal.

"The bed is comfy, games all over, and pudding's stocked in the fridge!"

Now that she said that IF, who was looking at her phone while sitting on a chair at the Desk, one leg crossed over the other, glanced up with annoyance clearly visible in her eyes as she regarded the purplette. "Great way to start the next segment of this Chapter, slacking off and all." She remarked with heavy sarcasm, one of her arms resting on top of the chair's back thanks to her sitting sideways on it.

Neptune responded to IF's comment by rolling so she was on her side and facing the brunette, an equally annoyed expression on her features with one arm lifting her head off the bed with the other sprawled out across it. "You're so serious, Iffy. We did a lot at Lastation, so give me a break." she whined, before flopping back down onto the bed back first.

Once again, IF had to roll her eyes at the laziness that the purplette CPU was displaying as she made her second snarky comment. "Give you a break? Well maybe if the break wasn't over a week already." It had been a week, like IF had said, since they returned from Lastation, and at first, they were all for taking a well-deserved break from the craziness that happened there. From Avenir to the many crazy occurrences with Noire/Black Heart, plus the viral outbreak that occurred, some rest and recovery was definitely in order. The only problem was that Neptune's definition of a 'break'… didn't exactly fit with IF's version, though the brunette partially expected this due to Neptune's laziness.

"C'mon, now's my only chance to get cosy with the puddings, you dig? Whose gonna kick back now? It's me, yo!"

"…Really? SHE's the CPU for Planeptune?"

The door opened before the conversation could go any further down that topic, and destroy what remains of IF's patience. The cause was revealed to be a beaming Compa, who was also carrying a large bowl of pudding with a single spoon in hand. "Nep-Nep…" she called out in a long, drawn out voice as she walked into the room. "I made some tasty-tasty milk pudding!"

Like a bloodhound attracted to a scent of meat, Neptune's head shot up as she flipped off the bed and made a beeline for the Pudding in Compa's arms, which she put on a small table in the middle of the room. "Yay! Pudding! Milk Pudding! Milky-milk pudding!" she cheered merrily, also sounding like she was singing a national anthem as she grasped the spoon which had been left sticking out the side of the bowl and began digging in.

Seeing this didn't elevate IF's irritated mood in the least, in fact it only made her more exasperated as she levelled her gaze towards the cream haired Nurse-in-training. Neptune may be lazy, but what Compa was doing only seemed to promote it, and IF made sure that she knew this. "Compa, you really should stop treating Nep like a Queen." A certain male would have wisely cracked that it should have been Goddess, and not Queen, but that male wasn't present at the moment.

The girl turned to her, her eyes glistening with joy that remained after watching Neptune wolf down the treat she so loved with her being. "I know," she spoke with a tone that indicated she was aware of why IF was saying what she did, before she took the pose a schoolgirl would when eyeing something adorable. "But seeing Nep-Nep melt away with my pudding is just so cute!"

IF had little to argue with on that front, as Neptune finished off the pudding with a look of ecstasy on her features. "Compa! This pudding is the BOMB! Can I get more of these morsels?!" she exclaimed, shooting to her feet and handing the bowl over to their gracious hostess. Her eyes shined with an intensity that wasn't there earlier, due to having some pudding stored within her system.

Gently taking the Bowl and spoon from her hands, Compa giggled at the cuteness that her friend was showing. "I'm happy you like them, Nep-Nep! More coming right up!" she chirped happily, turning on her stocking clad heels and making for the door. Since she had her hands full, Compa closed the door behind her with her feet while on her way to the kitchen to get more of the Pudding that Neptune wanted.

Once again, IF watched this spectacle which had become a common sight this last week, rolling her eyes as usual. A sigh escaped her lips at the hopelessness she felt with those two. "#SIGH# these two…" she muttered shaking her head with a palm on her forehead. She then lowered it as she sat back in her original position on the chair, looking down at her phone to resume what she had been doing earlier. "Well, I guess it's better than being in peril. I supposed it isn't too bad to enjoy the moment. Whelp, let's pick up where we left off…"


Walking down the stairs to the Kitchen, Compa hummer merrily to herself as she went to get more pudding for the preteen. Even if they had acknowledged each other as love rivals, they could still be friends as well. After all, this was a world which was once a world full of cute girls and lots of ecchi scenes with hints of a Yuri fest, so it's good that the straight romance isn't taking anything from the main genre.

'There we go again, Nep-Nep's logic is rubbing off on me…' Compa thought, giggling again as she entered the Kitchen and began making another batch of pudding, using fresh utensils so Neptune wouldn't get any germs.

While cooking, Compa began to reflect on everything that had happened since she first met up with her friend/love rival plus her childhood friend/ love interest. So much had happened since those two had come into her life, filling it up and turning it into an energetic experience that left no time for feeling bored. Back before they came, Compa's life had been rather mundane and boring in routine: get up, morning ritual, breakfast, do chores, watch TV, play some games if she felt like it, make lunch, more TV, and then dinner before going to bed. She hadn't gotten the chance to go to Nursing School thanks to the Monsters, leading to her living a boring lifestyle.

Thus, she was ever grateful to Neptune and Nico for bringing some excitement into her life.

Now that she was filled with people she could call friends, she found her life to be much more enjoyable than before. she had friends to laugh with, her childhood crush had come along for the ride, and was the most respectable gentlemen plus a total sweetheart at that. He'd earned the trust of Iffy, someone she had learned was rather skeptical about guys due to their less than stellar reputation, whatever that meant. Her Ni-Ni was trustworthy, anyone who says otherwise would get their shots from her big Syringe.

Unbeknownst to her, many people suddenly cringed for no apparent reason.

Though, with her Ni-Ni's shyness, pure honesty and his innocence in the field of romance, it was only natural that he touches the hearts of other girls. He just had no idea of the effect his 'purity' had on other girls, which was commonly known as density. However, while unaware of romantic actions, the denser guys can be, then the better they are as boyfriends as they tend to be the most honest and trusting, looking at girls with sincerity and not lust, well, mostly.

When Neptune had proclaimed that Nico was her 'hubby' Compa had felt devastated and heartbroken, thinking that her chance had slipped by thanks to her reluctance to confess how she felt to the male. However, when she saw how Nico had reacted to the girl's words, a part of her realized that he meant it when he said that he didn't know what was going on with her, or why she said the things she did. It was typical Nico behavior, something that quelled the heartbreak in her being.

And when she kissed him right after, with some help from Iffy of course, she had literally taken the first step towards winning Nico's heart, the male having been reduced to a stuttering mess in the aftermath. It had only been made worse by Nep-Nep's kissing him on the lips as well as if to say, 'bring it, girl!'

Thus, the vying for his affections began.

She was sure that Nico was unaware of what was going on, even with those kisses on the lips they'd given him. This was to be expected, she had realized, since Nico had been a Spec Ops Agent for longer than he had been a teenager, and her grandfather never did manage to give him the birds and the bee's talk. Compa blushed crimson when he'd done that to her, give the 'talk' that is. It had been the most embarrassing thing she'd ever heard from him, even if it gave info on the feelings she had developed for her childhood friend at the time.

The point was, since he had spent more time with his job and little time socializing outside of it, Nico had become… somewhat socially inept. The way he became embarrassed or flustered when girls made moves on him was a good indicator, but he wasn't completely unable to socialise since he was able to exchange playful banter just like the rest of them. This though was mostly suppressed by his serious Spec Ops side, the side that was most dominant.

Again, not unexpected give what he had done for 4 years straight. While he may be the most experienced in the four lands out of all of them, even Iffy as much as she doesn't like admitting it, Nico was also sadly lacking in some social skills. He preferred to be around people he knew, and those he didn't Nico tended to revert to his DEATHSTROKE persona. He only let his guard down when around them, something that both flattered and saddened her at the same time.

A wave of resolve washed over her as she resumed making the Pudding with gusto, this time with thoughts of her childhood friend in mind. 'Ni-Ni's been working really hard to help us on our journey, and we've had a lot of close calls that he prevented…' flashbacks to their first Banshee, the Banshee Queen, that woman who attacked them afterwards, Avenir and the infected creatures popped into her mind as she thought this. 'It has to change, we won't be dragging him down like we have before! Nep-Nep and I may not be the smartest tools in the shed, but we're passionate when we put our minds to something! I'm sure Nep-Nep feels the same way.'

At this point, the pudding would be done in a few hours, so Compa left it alone as she went into the living room to watch some TV. The male she had been thinking about was at the Guild, the last time he'd texted her, saying he had business there. She had a sneaking suspicion that finally, after a whole arc, the part of him that Nico had lost before, would finally return to him. Something that was an integral part of who he was as a person. Something he lost when trying to fight for them back in their beginnings as a Party.

DEATHSTROKE would rise again.


Chapter end

Whelp, not much happening this chapter. I'm honestly thinking of making separate chapters that focus more on Neptune and Compa's relationships with Nico, since there's supposed to be a week-long timeskip. Maybe, not sure. But hopefully they won't be as long as that last point 5 tho.

Anywho, thanks for reading, fav, follow, review, etc. Maybe give me and Zergface's collab story a go. His storytelling meshing with my action-based styles, it'll be great!

peace out!


Special Event - Neptune's toothache

"Oooooooooohhhhhhhh...! Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh..."

"Alright, I'll bite." IF, whose brow was twitching rapidly as she glanced to the preteen. Said preteen was on the ground, sprawled over it like a murder case victim. She had a hand over her mouth, with tears in the corners of her eyes while her form trembled like she was the source of an earthquake. Nico and Compa were out right now, each doing their own thing, which left her to deal with this little bundle of irritation over here. "What the heck are ou doing, Nep?"

"I don't know, my mouth was fine at one point, but now it aches something fierce!"

That was what she thought Neptune had said, but it did come off as some form of inaudible babble. Or Morse code, whose to say? Nevertheless, the brunette walked across the bedroom to the quivering preteen as she kneeled down and gripped her chin in one hand. she forced Neptune to open her mouth, and got a look into her mouth. Her eyes narrowed after a few moments, the conclusion becoming apparent to her. "Looks like you've got yourself a toothache, girl. Looks like your pudding thing has finally shown its fangs to you."

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:

PUDDING HURTS THE TEETH!

"Huh?! Hey, that's not my gimmick in this game!" Neptune shouted, bolting upright as she waved away a text box that had appeared in her face. "That's someone else's who'll be in a future story!"

Ignoring the preteen, IF checked her phone for the time. Her eyes stared intently at the screen as she mumbled to herself. Eventually, she spoke clearly so that the preteen could hear her. "Well, looks like we have some time. I know a dentist nearby, they should be able to give you something for your toothache."

"But don't you have to go for an appointment, first?!"

"You do. I just guessed, with my powers, when a toothache was going to happen and booked one ahead of time." IF stated nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders as Neptune gave her a disbelieving stare. "What, manipulating Biology has its perks, you know."

"Yeah, I get that, but me thinks you were invading privacy a little there, girl..."

"What, and you don't whenever you try to et into Nico's bracers? He hasn't not noticed, he's going to get you back for that."

"Urk!"

The brunette smirked, finally some amusement. She wasn't lying either, which was the best part. Nico had known that Neptune had bee trying to get into his Bracers for some time now. Whatever the reasoning was, he planned on getting her back in the near future, and IF would be there laughing her ass off when it happened. Before then though... "Come on, we're going to be late as it is, and I have a feeling you don't want to have Nico see you like this."

"Bu-but-but-"

"No butts! Let's go!"


By the time Nico and Compa returned from their errands, the latter being to visit some people she went to school with while the former was a Quest that needed to be cleared, both came back to her house to find Neptune sitting at the table. All life looked to have been drained out of her, a depression cloud having formed over her head as she drunk from a large bowl of... was that milk?

Nico looked to the side, seeing IF sitting at a chair not far from the preteen. She had this expression on her face that clearly indicted that she liked what she was seeing. The male glanced to her, then to Neptune drinking milk, and a swear drop formed on his forehead. "Lemme guess, tooth ache?"

"Yep. Nep was prescribed some stuff, and recommended not to eat pudding for at least a week. So she's taken to drinking milk to speed the process up faster."

"I see..."

The teen couldn't help but think that Karma had finally paid Neptune's door a visit. That's what you get for eating so much of something.