Chapter 60 - Vert? More like PERVert

Silence dominated the room as Nico stared at the woman he knew as Vert, who just called herself the CPU of Leanbox. If he had no proof, then he wouldn't have believed her outrageous claim. However, his instincts told him she was telling the truth, and during that previous moment her eyes flashed faintly. He had to squint to see it, but he did see power button symbols temporarily replace her eyes before they vanished.

... Did he have some form of luck curse or something he didn't know of? Seriously, he's met over three of the fur Goddesses at this point. One of them fell from the skies near his childhood friend's house. The second tried to kill his comrade, who was also that same Goddess, and now he was within the third Goddess's room. This must be some sort of twisted joke, seriously if other fanatics found out about his... fortune(?) he didn't want to think about what they'd do.

"This is…" Nico tried to say, however the words refused to form in his throat. Eventually, he gave up his current train of thought and released a confused snort through his nostrils, holding one hand over the bridge of his nose and the other on his hip. "I have so many questions, but right now all I want to know is what the heck is going on here?"

The woman known as Green Heart, CPU of Leanbox, chuckled in amusement, a hand over her lips in a ladylike manner as she cast er gaze over him. "Oh my, you look so adorable when your flustered. Maybe I should save it for use later." She purred, the male's eyes widening as a blush formed on his face, making her almost squeal in delight. Great, now she's one of the many older women who liked to get reactions out of him. Maybe he had an older woman complex or something. First Neptune, then the girls from Team RAIL, and now Vert. How many more would there be?

For some reason, the male got chills down his spine.

Vert eyed the piece of man meat before her. Already she could imagine him doing things for her that would be classified as NSFW according to Disboard forums. However, she stopped herself as she decided to answer his question. "Anyways, you asked me a question, yes? How about we talk over my tea? It should be ready soon enough."

Nico nodded wordlessly, his face still frozen as he tried to process that he was in fact, talking to the CPU of a Nation within her quarters. Something like this was something that fans would Kill their families for a chance to, especially for a CPU known as the 'bustiest in all of Gamindustri'. Yet, someone like him got the chance all through coincidence, a happy chance. He was sure IF would never forgive him for this, he knew how much this CPU meant to her, and he got a chance to see her before she could.

'Calm down, Nico. Take deep breaths, slow your heart rate. Its getting awfully loud in here.' Biko requested/commanded of the male with a firm, mentor-like voice. His words seeped into Nico's mind like a waterfall, making his nerves die down like a cold splash. Once again, Nico mentally thanked him for helping keep him calm, seriously the dude was a life saver... in more ways than one. 'Do not forget that she likely has no intention of hurting you. If she did, your nerves would have activated a Trigger Event and you would be saved from harm.'

His words were enough, for Nico managed to calm his mind and sit down on the bed, which was at the back-right corner of the room with a square-shaped window looming over it. 'Thanks, Biko. I needed that, honestly…' the male thought, sighing in relief as he looked about, placing his hands on either side of him on the bed. As he took deep breaths to calm his nerves, the sounds of a kettle reaching the boiling point were heard. Looking up, he noticed that Vert had a section of her room as a mini kitchen, with a sink, fridge, and cupboards. "That's… useful. I didn't expect you to have a mini kitchen in your room, Lady Green Heart."

Looking up as she poured the water from the kettle into some cups, Vert gave him a reproachful frown. "Please, call me Vert. You did help me earlier, so you shouldn't feel threatened by me." She told him, before sighing sadly. "Oh, I see… you must be intimidated by me, huh? I guess its to be expected, since I am a CPU-"

He stopped her before that thought pattern could be explored further. "No, to the no, and hell to the no. I'm not scared of you, just bewildered. I mean, how often is it that someone is kidnapped by the CPU and taken to their room?" That… sounded weird, better in his head. Nevertheless, it got his point across, if his determined gaze wasn't enough to convince her.

She gave him a smirk, as if telling him she knew what he was thinking. "Oh my… but to be fair, it was you who suggested to walk me home, so I don't think it's a kidnapping, per say." She remarked thoughtfully, finishing the first cup and moving onto the second.

"True enough, but I only thought it would be till we reached the Basilicom, not you figuratively dragging me all the way here. Anyways, like I said, I have a ton of questions, hopefully you can answer them." Nico responded as Vert finished the tea and picked the cups up, putting them on a tray and walking over to him.

She placed it on the bed and sat opposite him, taking one cup and offering him the other. Nico nodded in thanks, taking the cup and raising it to his lips. He blew on the tea to make it less hot, before taking a sip. His eyes widened in surprise at how good it tasted. It was like his taste buds screamed an orgasm in relief at having to taste something great instead pf the usual garage he forced himself to eat whenever he wasn't out there... doing his thing. "You must be pretty good at brewing if you can make Coffee like this..." he remarked with an impressed tone, lowering the cup to his lap and gazing into the Liquid.

Vert chuckled in pride at the praise of her skills. She took a small sip of her tea herself, moaning in delight, before lowering it back to her lap. "Why of course I am, what Goddess would I be if I cannot brew tea for my day? Why, I spend weeks on end grinding with this level of coffee-brewing!" she proclaimed, grinning while pumping a fist in front of her.

'Pretty sure that's not something to be praised about…' Nico thought with a sweat dropping. Her bed did look like it had been made with care, but with how it looked brand new still, it indicated that she hadn't used it very much, if at all. Kind of ironic considering how worn the chair next to her Desk that had her PC standing on looked. It became pretty clear that this Goddess hadn't been joking about her gaming prowess one bit. "Uh huh…" he remarked slowly and dryly, before deciding to start conversation already. He didn't want to lose the conversation to the whims of the Goddess, not now when he had so many things to talk to her about. "So anyways, why did you bring me into your room like this, La-I mean, Vert?"

While she glanced at him with the look any woman gives when they don't like you saying something, the infamous 'woman glare', the male had changed his address at the last second, earning a pleased hum from the woman. "Better. As for your question, I just wanted to meet the infamous DEATHSTROKE whose reputation proceeds him." Vert replied. She took another sip of her tea elegantly, before placing it back on the plate she'd put it on which rested on her lap.

"Meet me?" Nico reiterated, pointing to himself while frowning in confusion. Meet him? Why the hell would she want to meet him of all people? Did she know something he wasn't aware of? Nico hoped not, he didn't want to be ousted from Leanbox for daring to kill their CPU. "I'm not even that popular than many other Spec Ops Agents, so why would you want to meet me?"

Despite his accomplishments, Nico had tried to remain as off the radar as he possibly could, for reasons that only he, and a select few like his adoptive mother, knew about. He didn't try to stick his neck out too much, kept within the crowd to make himself look as boring as possible. Not to mention there were other, more well known Spec Ops Agents out there that would deserve this much more than him. So, the fact that Vert wanted to meet HIM instead of them was... perplexing.

At this, Vert raised a finger and pointed it at him. "You've been getting quite the name for yourself, ever since the diabolical in Lastation." She explained, frowning in contemplation. "While Avenir did try to suppress the information, along with your superiors from Planeptune, they couldn't stop it from getting out completely thanks to the number of people involved. It was just too big. Many were visitors from other Nations, well, visitors from Planeptune and Leanbox anyways. Lowee remained out of the conflict, though I have a few ideas why." Vert explained, cupping her chin at the end.

So, he was getting popular, was he? The male's breath hitched at this revelation. That wasn't good, not at all. Nico had gone through so much trouble just to keep his accomplishments hidden. The truth of many missions he'd done was twisted in a way that made him have the least amount of recognition. It was all to keep his secret hidden from the world, and while his adoptive mother tried to convince him against this course of action, she eventually agreed and helped him keep out of the spotlight.

Looked like he couldn't keep that going now, though.

"I see… Well, I guess people are going to talk, no matter what, huh?" Nico remarked, humming as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms under his chest, attempting to keep his conflicting emotions bottled up within him. He guessed it was inevitable that he got popular, then. If he'd realized this earlier, Nico might have conducted himself a little more reservedly, made the girls more of the heroes than him. Nevertheless, there was nothing that could be done about it now.

The woman had the decency to nod in confirmation. "Very much so." She hummed in thought for a moment, before deciding to move on. "Now that I have you here, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind of course." She questioned politely.

'Well, I have to admit, she's at least polite about it.' Nico remarked in his mind. 'Plus, she's a CPU, so if I refuse it's going to be regarded as rude. I'll have to make sure to answer based off the question she asks of me, so I don't give too much away.' He thought to himself. With those thoughts cycling in his mind, Nico responded with a calm, even tone that contrasted with the storm of emotions warring inside his gut. "I don't, but my answers depend on what you ask."

"Do you like BL?"

Now THAT wasn't a question he expected. Nico had taken a sip of his coffee before and during the question, before nearly spitting it out when he completely processed it. Swallowing the liquid, he coughed several times while slamming his fist into his chest. Once he had regained his composure, the male sat straight and gave her a look that portrayed his feelings clearly on the matter. "While I don't mind BL, I'd rather read about straight relationships. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I see. That's fine, I guess I wouldn't be able to get you into one of my butler outfits then." Huh? Butler Outfits? Vert stood up and walked to a wardrobe he hadn't seen yet, and when she pulled out an outfit the male suddenly felt INSANELY glad that he had escaped such a fate.

'By the Goddesses… what an abomination…!'

'AHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EYES! MY POOR EYES!'

Both beings in his mind were quick to voice their complaints also, their loud volumes however gave Nico one hell of a headache. Fortunately for him, he was used to it by now, so he didn't show any outward reaction.

Yet, somehow it appeared that his nonchalant expression didn't even matter, for the woman gave a small sigh of discontent while putting the outfit back. "My apologies, for making you uncomfortable. Not many share my opinion of BL anyways, so I was hoping if you had similar interests." she explained to him, and it wasn't hard to detect the longing in her tone.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Nico quickly said, putting his coffee to the side before standing up and walking over to her. He had seen that crestfallen look to her, and didn't like it one bit. "I'm pretty sure there's a whole community of BL lovers out there. The internet is a vast place you know, I'm sure you can find something," he said trying to cheer her up. It was true what he said though, the internet was vast. He blushed slightly as he remembered what Neptune said when she almost 'did the deed' with him that night.

'Note to self: keep Neptune away from pornography… it'll be safer for my heart.'

Vert didn't notice his blush as she made the 'oh, right' expression on her face, the tips of her fingers over her mouth. "Oh, right, I almost forgot about those!" she exclaimed, making the male sweat drop with an awkward chuckle. how the hell can one forget a community based off that? He'd never get the answer, and even more he didn't want to. "I must thank you for reminding me about such an important tool of the Internet! Thus, I shall regal you, the tales of BL for your viewing pleasure!"

'Dear Goddess no...' Nico gulped, fear slowly rising in his gut as Vert went on a tangent, explaining in vivid, graphic detail about various forms of BL she had seen and read. Throughout the entire thing, her face devolved from the mature womanly CPU he had been accustomed to this whole time, to a deranged dopey grin with a trail of saliva hanging out of the corner of her mouth. There was also a slight nosebleed running down her mouth as she lost herself in her own fantasies. Fortunately, Nico managed to block the stuff out while he, Biko and IT each had one unified thought.

'Lady Vert? More like Lady PERVERT...'


After about 10 minutes of nothing but brain bleach for the male, Vert finally managed to calm herself down. He'd played the respectful guest roll and made it look like he was listening raptly to her, nodding several times when he thought she wanted him to, when in reality he was trying to block it all out. "Anyways, since you're here, about we get to know each other better? I don't have that many people to talk to as friends, most of the Staff here are crusty old beards who do nothing but whine and whine all day. It is aggravating to say the least."

Now THAT was something that elected an amused chuckle from the Spec Ops Agent. He wholeheartedly agreed with her on that one, and it took all his willpower not to make a snide comment about that.

Shame a certain voice in his head had NO such restrictions.

'OHOHOHOHOHO! I LIKE THIS ONE, SHE'S FINE… IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES!' Nico mentally grimaced when he heard IT speaking through his mind, as well as IT's maniacal laughter echoing until it faded out of existence.

'I did not notice earlier thanks to that abominable outfit, however... It appears IT has regained enough strength to speak telepathically once more. A shame, I rather enjoyed the silence this brought.' Biko spoke, a deep sigh escaping his voice. Nico had no qualms with believing that at that moment, the demonic personification was face palming right now.

"I get the feeling… now that I think about it, I didn't see any female workers here…" Nico mused to himself, an irritated scowl on his lips. That sounded oddly like sexism right there, and that was something he couldn't stand. 'Though I'm an OC in a fanfiction about a franchise based off an all-girls universe with hints of yuri and loads of fanservice, so by existing, am I sexist too?' he wondered.

The woman walked back to the bed, smoothening her the skirt of her dress before sitting down. With one leg crossed over the other, she sat beside him before asking her next question. "You do a lot of good work, Nico, can I call you that?" she asked him, pausing mid sentence. She didn't know what type of person he was, so she wanted to see for herself. When she got an approving nod from him, the woman beamed happily, almost like Compa would, as she clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! I was curious on what you do during your down time. You do so much work, I admittingly worry that you might exhaust yourself."

"That won't be a problem, I take my breaks during missions, so I don't get tired. Its basic survival 101, never be too tired on the field otherwise you get sloppy, make bad calls that could get your team killed." Nico responded like a professor. He could feel her gaze on him as he continued to explain his point. "As DEATHSTROKE, I like to work solo, but when I'm not working I play some RTS and MMORPGG Games like StarCraft and stuff. They're great games, highly recommend them."

DOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNG!

...Why did he just hear the sound of a Gong just now?

Hearing the word 'StarCraft' really got Vert's blood pumping, it seemed. Her eyes were like searchlights as she beamed at him, her fists held in front of her in the typical fangirl pose. "Really? My goodness, that is most excellent! Truly gamer-worthy words you have there, Nico!" she exclaimed, holding his hands in hers while crying crocodile tears.

Needless to say, the poor guy got dumbfounded by her display.

'Whoa, where did all this energy come from?!'

Unaware of how taken aback Nico looked with her, or she just didn't care, he didn't know which, Vert continued as she looked up at the ceiling, putting her hands together as if to prey with hearts in her eyes. "Ahhh, the wonderful world of Gaming! A world where you can freely express your opinions, talk to people you couldn't IRL, it makes life all the more fulfilling, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uhhhh..."

"I mean, you can...


For 2 hours, Vert rambled on and on about her games, to the point where Nico had to bite back the urge to groan in exasperation. Upon looking to the male at last, Vert finally noticed the bewildered expression the male was sporting as he slowly leaned away from her during her rant. "My, whatever is the matter? Do you have a fever?" she asked him with worry. It took a moment, but her eyes widened in realization as she face palmed herself. "Oh right, I do apologize, I am a pure otaku, so I sometimes get a little carried away."

"O-Oh, it's okay, no need to worry…" The male replied with a dismissive wave. Internally, he was giving it to Neptune, her instincts were spot on. 'Looks like IF has lost the bet. I bet she'll not like hearing this.' He thought to himself, though he managed to keep his internal musing off his face, so Vert didn't catch on. "It seems as though you're really into that stuff, way more than the average person."

Vert hummed in acknowledgement, grasping raising her cup to her lips. "But of course." She replied a little more calmly as she took another sip, before putting the cup back on its plate. "Games are my livelihood. If I could not play games, it would be akin to a death sentence for me."

The male nodded his head, although he mentally wondered how she managed her Nation if she played so many games. 'It's a wonder how the Overlord Worship hasn't completely consumed the Nation already. I guess her fan clubs are harder to sway than the average person.' He thought to himself. Ironic, one of the things he hated most about his gender was actually being a lifeline to the Nation. Nico was no fool, he had researched deep into this Overlord Momus character that had been cropping up ever since he had first heard of it from Neptune and the others. That was what he spent the majority of his morning away from the girls doing at Leanbox's Library. It paled in comparison to Lowee's, but it had the materials he needed.

'Why do you not ask her why she has a 'hole' where her energy should be? It seems she is in a talkative mood, Nico.' Biko questioned suddenly, breaking the male from his thoughts while his mind processed his words.

The teen nonetheless managed to form a quick reply for the demonic personification. 'Because, we just met and if my hunch is correct, she's likely trying to keep that a secret from everyone. Remember when we first met her at the alleyway? She had a weapon, and being a Goddess she should have been able to completely destroy those gangsters with ease. This hole in her must prevent her from doing that, so imagine what would happen if she realised someone else already saw through her facade. There'd be panic, fear, and caution, which would lead to me having to explain some of my secrets in return. Not something I'd like to do, Biko.'

Biko hummed in his mind, processing his words before finally answering. 'I see. That does make sense. I also sense that you have an idea as to what this hole is, ever since she revealed herself to be a Goddess. Care to share it with me?'

'You're a part of me, right? Can't you read my thoughts? You should know exactly what I know at this point, Biko. I'm surprised you're asking that.' The male responded, conveying his surprise at his mentor-figure though their mental link. He would have thought that Biko already knew his theories since he was a part of him, or perhaps this was a test of some sorts.

'I do, however I would rather you say it yourself, you are entitled to your own privacy as far as human laws are concerned. While I myself care little about them, I do not wish for you to distrust me so I refrain from prying into your private thoughts.' Biko replied evenly and logically, just like he always did.

Now Nico could understand that, and he made sure Biko understood his feelings as well by conveying thoughts of understanding through their link. 'I get it, and thank you, Biko. It's always good to have someone I can confide with like this.' He mused, mentally chuckling in relief, amusement and happiness.

Trust was something so fickle. It was hard to gain, yet so easy to destroy. Yet, people seek those they can trust to feel some form of safety, of security in this sick, twisted world. Thing was, Nico was no exception, he was just lucky enough to have found people that actually fit his standards. He knew that there were those out there that didn't get that luxury, of which he mentally shuddered. Just how long could he have lasted if he had been alone with nobody to trust like them?

With what he had seen, done and knew, not long.

Before he could continue their conversation though, Nico blinked when he saw Vert's face literally in front of his own. "Wh-Wha-?!" he exclaimed, shooting backwards and nearly falling off his seat had he not stopped himself in time. "What the heck, was that?!"

"I was calling out to you 10 times, but you wouldn't answer. You seemed lost in thought, so I wondered what was happening in that head of yours." Vert replied, straightening herself before giving a sigh. "Apologies for startling you, as a Spec Ops I guess you're pretty busy, what with the rise in Abnormal activity."

At the end of that sentence, Nico gaped when he saw how dejected Vert looked. Her eyes were darker than before, sadness filling them like water poured into a glass. Quickly, the male made to rectify this by standing up from the bed and walking over to her. "No, no, its nothing, really. I was just thinking about how much you enjoy games, how it makes you more connected to your people. Even if you don't see them IRL, you're talking to them virtually, something that I respect in you." He spoke firmly, hands on her shoulders to make her look into his eyes. He stared into her own intensely, conveying just how serious he was about his words.

"N-Nico…" the woman muttered in shock, blinking several times like an owl as she processed his words. When her brain finally rebooted, she let out a sheepish giggle as she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers. "My, my, how popular you must be with the ladies, Nico dear." Vert remarked, her lips forming a teasing smile. "To be so bold as to touch my shoulders like this, you don't have any weird fetishes, do you?"

Blinking like she did a moment ago, Nico wondered what she meant until he looked down, and noticed that he had his hands on her shoulders still. His face went red as he pulled away from her, stammering apologies left and right with Vert giggling all the way. It took him 10 minutes to calm down as Vert assured him that she was only teasing him, to which the male had to mumble under his breath. "Damn older women, always so teasing… its almost universal…" he then shook his head and decided to touch upon one of the subjects he'd been debating in his mind. "Anyways, during that rant of yours I noticed that you had made particular references to the game that only its players would know. Do you play StarCraft, Vert?"

At his question, the woman nodded in excitement, forgoing sitting on the bed for the time being as the energy rush going through her body was still in effect. "Of course, it is one of the best RTS's I've ever played. Normally my forte lies in MMO's, but…" she then paused her speech, her eyes widening temporarily before she began frantically searching the room, moving her head left and right like an animal watching for a persistent hunter.

Once she was… 'satisfied', Vert stood before him and leaned close, whispering into his ear with a hand around it, so only he could hear. "Don't tell anyone, but there's a player online whom I've considered my equal since we've first met. His gaming record nearly rivals my own, and his skills match his gaming time. To date. I have never EVER beaten him in PVP, and he's almost inhuman at questing. It's like he takes questing as seriously as real-time battles."

Nico listened to the woman's words, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. She assumed that he had been in awe that a player managed to keep up and rival the gaming Goddess. There were many factors that he had noted to draw that conclusion: one, the coffee machine was well supplied with Coffee Beans, high quality ones too, plus it looked to be the most used aside from the controllers, keyboards and consoles. That meant she used these frequently, and given by her fixation plus her deep love for otaku culture, she likely used them a whole hell lot, possibly pulling all-nighters. It would make sense with how much Caffeine she possessed.

Next was her ranting. While it was admittingly extreme, it was also a good indicator of how deep she was into otaku culture, demonstrating her great knowledge with it. If she applied it to real-time combat, then she would be dangerous. Otaku watch many kinds of media, like Shounen, Seinen etc. Thus, they had vast levels of knowledge in various fields like psychology, action, adventure they could use to their advantage on the battlefield, and in real life. For an Otaku that could match her prowess could exist was simply amazing. They could potentially be insanely dangerous if they apply their knowledge correctly.

However, Nico was NOT thinking about anything like that.

'Lady Green Heart… LadyGH… oh, I see… now this is going to be awkward…' the male thought, sweat dropping as he tried to stave off his sudden awkwardness while scratching his chin nervously. The male connected the dots in his mind, the username, Vert's CPU Identity, and her gaming prowess, leading him to conclude that the very… obsessed player he met in 4GO, then on StarCraft, and the woman before him who was an Otaku to the core, were the same person.

Awkward… doesn't even begin to describe it.

"And what was his name?" he asked her sheepishly, while also trying to make his voice as calm as possible so she didn't suspect anything. He had to approach this calmly and professionally, he was literally meeting one of the most obsessed players he'd ever encountered, you know.

"I do believe it was BlackDEATH675."

There, that was it. Any doubts he would have had before, completely tossed out the window now. There was no mistaking it, this was the woman who he'd been gaming with for so long. Now, what should he do about it? It wouldn't be fair to keep her in the dark about it, she seemed to hold his online persona in high regard. Plus, she was a CPU, they had been unknowingly gaming together for so long that she thought of him as a friend.

But, that was just it, that was their GAMING life, their virtual lives. How much of that stuff was real? How different was she compared to real life? Those were the questions rolling around his noggin that made the boy hesitate to ask her. He feared that, unlike her gaming self, Vert may be someone he absolutely wouldn't get along with at all, maybe even end up fighting in the near future. He juts, didn't know, and that bothered him greatly.

In the past, he had always had some manner of preparation in place in case things went awry. In Lastation, he had played the part of being fooled by Avenir to get them to feel a false sense of security. In Planeptune, he had been the one to equip and advise strategies against the Banshee Infestation back at the Monster Cave, which had taken many lives and ruined many more. it was no surprise there that Nico usually had plans in mind.

However, in this case he didn't, and that was the thing. Nico had been caught off guard, with his figurative pants down. He didn't expect this situation to develop when he and the others arrived in Leanbox, hell he had planned little out for this trip thanks to other factors like the Hellgates and the possibility of his secret getting out to distract him. Usually, he would plan something in advance, but this situation had threw him off completely.

'I suggest we tell her the truth, Nico.' Biko interjected, and if he could, Nico would have had the Goddesses bless him for his timely intervention before the teen could lose it in front of her. 'It is only polite we let her know. From what I have seen, it appears that like humans, CPUs crave interaction with others, they just go about it their own way. For example, Noire's a Tsundere but she really wants to make friends, she's just emotionally insecure, especially about her hobbies. Neptune's an overly affectionate fourth-wall breaker, and somehow, she's got it into her head that you're her Hubby. Vert here is just another who craves social conversations… she just goes about it differently compared to others.'

'True, I guess...'

'Also, think of it like this. You'll be qualifying yourself as someone she could trust, trust enough to share her secret as to whys he has a 'hole' in her energy reserves. If I am interpreting this correctly, Vert here is looking for someone to help her with her 'problem' but doesn't know someone with both the strength as well as the qualities that she requires for the task. Us showing that she has known us for a significant time frame fulfills many of these quotas. Lastly, it wouldn't hurt to have more allies in the battle against our foes.'

Listening to Biko's words, Nico felt an odd sense of relief flood his system, his nerves settling down now that he had something that could help him through this situation. It just goes to show that even though he had many good points, Nico was still flawed like anyone else out there. Mentally, the teen noted to himself to train himself to be more flexible, to be on point. But that was for the later, right now however…

"You say you like this online player, right?" the male began calmly, and with a level voice. He needed to make sure to do it right, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to do something like this again. This person was about to upgrade from acquaintance to something higher, and every instinct he had was screaming at him to not do this, to keep it a secret like he did with his own. However, he had to do this, he just had to. While keeping his secret was indeed important to him, one thing trumped even that in his eyes: Making sure to keep the people he gave a damn about smiling.

He hated, no he really LOATHED it when his comrades were sad or depressed or any other negative emotion. He didn't know exactly why he had such an adverse loathing for it, he just did. Maybe it was to do with his partial amnesia, who knows? Nevertheless, Nico refused to keep Vert in the dark about this a second longer. He would have just blurted it out that he was the player she was talking about, but it was likely she wouldn't believe him. Good thing he had proof in his Void Storage.

Unaware of his thoughts and feelings right now, Vert leaned back so she was straight, giving him a curious look as she nodded. "Why, but of course. I want him to be my in-game husband after all, but he's so hard to get its frustrating. It's like every game we play is like a battlefield to him." She explained, an annoyed pout on her lips.

Nico nodded as he raised his Bracer and opened his Void Storage, moving his hand over the holographic screen as he searched through the items to get what he wanted. In seconds, he found it, making a small smirk tug at his lips which had a tiny, almost impossible to see, nervous twitch. "I see, well then I may have something to say about that."

Pressing the item's icon, it manifested on his lap, revealing itself to be his Laptop. He opened it up, switched the power on and logged in. When the main screen showed up, Nico went onto his account, the site that most blizzard Games were focused on, and showed her his username by turning the laptop around so she could see from where she was standing.

Vert leaned forward as she examined the screen, only to gasp when she saw the username… the exact same one she just said a few seconds ago, the name of the player that she had been trying to get as her in-game husband for months! "Wha….?! How, when…?!" She shrieked, trying to maintain her composure.

The teen shrugged his shoulders as he responded. "Small world, eh? Who knew that I was literally playing with the CPU of Leanbox? Though in hindsight, I probably should have realised it sooner but then again, many people like to imitate you, so it wouldn't be right of me to assume your true identity." He mused, chuckling softly at the end. "Well then, let's start over. Name's Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE and BlackDEATH675. Nice to meet ya." He greeted with a friendly wave, a small smile and an upright posture as he stood on his feet, putting his laptop aside for the moment.

At first, she was as silent as a gust of wind. She said nothing, she did nothing, she practically personified the word 'nothing'. Nico watched her, waiting for her response while shuffling awkwardly on occasion. 'Ugh, why isn't she doing anything? Don't tell me I-' he began to think…

"AIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

… Before Vert let out a frenzied, girly shriek as she pounced on him, pinning him to the bed while straddling him and hugging the life out of the stunned Spec Ops Agent. 'Whoa, what the heck?!' he shrieked in his mind, reflexively placing his hands on her bare shoulders as he tried to push her off. However, much to his surprise she was very strong, her grip as tough as iron. "Wh-What the hell?!"

"Oh, it's so good to finally meet you, dearie!" Vert exclaimed, lifting her head so she could look down at him and show him the absolute bliss that was invading her features. Her eyes shone like searchlights as she had an admittingly cute grin on her face. "I've been wanting to meet you IRL for so long now! You haven't been online for a while, so I was afraid of what may have happened to you. You could have been killed, or worse defiled by another woman!'

That last one… almost happened with Neptune. Somehow, Nico got the feeling that in… that kind of lewd action he'd be the submissive one if the Goddesses were all like Neptune. "Th-Th-That's great, I'm happy for you and all that stuff, but could you maybe get off me already? You're pinning me down, and it's really uncomfortable with how you're looking like a rapist right now!"

Vert merely giggled a giggle that made the male pale like a ghost as he felt chills crawl up his spine. "Oh my, why would I want to do that? There is so much I want to do with you, Nico. No, how about I call you Nicky instead." He was about to say that name was already taken by a certain fourth-wall breaking Goddess, but Vert shushed him with a gloved finger on his lips. "Hush now, just remain silent while I teach you… everything you need to know about me, honey." She said, lowering her voice to a mere whisper that made the teen under her shudder as if he was in the winter.

'It appears… we may have reached the finish line. Goodbye, Nico. It was nice knowing you.'

'We're not dead yet, you know! Oh shit, I'm pinned! Someone help me! NOOOOOOOOOO!'


"What a Geezer. He really didn't give me any other choice, back there…"

IF grumbled to herself as she walked through the corridors of the Basilicom. Judging by the pensive aura around her, as well as her dismayed mutterings about a certain Basilicom Elder, it was clear that she wasn't in the best of moods. In fact, one could say she was in a terrible mood, and who wouldn't be after being politely forced to use some poison to kill not one, but TWO of her closest friends.

Neptune may have been a pain in the neck with her meta jokes, her random shenanigans and her insistent fawning over Nico, but she wasn't a bad person. This had been proven to her many times during their journey, and IF could safely say that she rather liked the preteen for her humour. It made for some interesting scenes to witness, if they were a little annoying. IF didn't see much wrong with her other than that, she was practically a 14-year-old kid stuck in the body of an immortal Goddess, so she would be like that for all eternity.

Then, there was Nico.

While initially she was apprehensive about working with a guy in a party full of girls, Nico had proven that he was indeed capable of holding his own… in more ways than one, if you know what I mean. In fact, she was impressed with his self-control, whenever Neptune or Compa tried to seduce him, at which point Neptune took the personality of a seductive succubus demon while Compa was the innocent angel, he never did it with either of them. She could tell that he cared for them deeply, or else he wouldn't go so far for them. What man would give them advanced armour and weapons in order to better protect themselves against adversaries that would otherwise rip them to shreds?

Add to the fact that he saved her life.

IF shuddered at the memory of her transformation. Now that she was a BOW, her life had taken a sudden turn for the dramatic, and she wasn't completely sure it was for the better. There were things she had to do now that she didn't have to worry about before, like restrain herself whenever she was mad, so she didn't accidentally impale someone with a Tendril or a weapon. She could however do things she could never have done as a human, like take on Abnormals by groups at a time on her own, using THEM as food sources to replenish her powers.

Nevertheless, she owed Nico either way. He had done a lot for her throughout this journey of theirs, sparring with her, helping her get stronger… he was the kind of man that her father was. She was constantly reminded of her father whenever she looked at him, both of them were strong-willed, both were skilled in combat, and both had, much to her eternal amusement, little luck with the ladies.

'Well, that's not technically true.' IF chided herself in her mind, temporarily forgetting about Yvoire and the poison business. 'Nico does have some luck with the ladies, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten so many girls' attention even if he doesn't realise it.' IF frowned at the last part, muttering to herself incoherently.

She was no fool, though. She knew it wasn't typical density that blocked him from realising the girls had affections for him. IF had thought that he was dense at first, but through the time she travelled with him, watching his movements and interactions with everyone, it became clear to her… that density was far from the truth. It stemmed to something far worse than density. It was… phycological repression.

When she learned of his past, or what his adoptive mother told them of it, she realised that through all that hell, all those crimes and criminals he caught only to find more prowling the streets, that Nico had gotten it into his head that he was unworthy of anyone, repressing his romantic feelings so he didn't have to worry about them. It was essentially 'I don't deserve these feelings, so I'll just repress them forever, therefore limiting my ability to realise it.'

With this fact, IF began seeing him in a whole new light. What he did with the girls was more tragic than awkward, what he did in his battles looked more like a small child crying tears of blood in a field of crimson flowers. Everything about him seemed to turn from cool and amazing, to sad and tragic. It made her begin to wonder: what happened? What drove him to repress his ability to feel romantically? She got the impression that seeing all those scumbags was only part of the true story, that the rest lay within his forgotten memories. Forgotten memories…

The jiggling of the vials in her coat was enough to snap her out of her thought process, making her frown as she pulled out from her coat, the two vials of poison that Yvoire had given her, nicely complimented with instructions on who to use them on. It was obvious that the purple one was for Neptune, and the other seemed to be for Nico. "These are all gooey and bubbly… these have got to be lethal…" she muttered, shuddering.

Not wanting to look at them anymore, IF quickly put them in her Inventory, shuddering when their forms left her hands, their weight no longer present. However, their presence lingered on in her mind, as well as the sinister gaze behind the polite façade Yvoire wore. With everything going on, her dreams of being a Leanbox Citizen and worshipping Lady Green Heart seemed to be like small pebbles in comparison.

One of her phones ringing, ironically the same phone that Nico had given her that time in Planeptune, brought her to her senses. Taking the phone out, IF checked the screen to see she had a message. It came from… Nico? What would he want right now? Opening the message, IF read it:

To: IF

Please come to these coordinates.

I believe you might like it, consider it a means of me paying you back for what happened with Neptune that night.

From: Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE