Hey guys, new chapter
This one's going to take a break from all the action and stuff, to showcase what other people are doing/thinking while Nico and the other Spec Ops Agents are up in Mojang Village kicking ass. It'll also give some backstory elements, but for whom I won't say. You'll have to read the chapter to find out, won't you?
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 68 - A small breather (phew...)
If things were complicated before, then right now she would say that they were damn near puzzling, almost as much as that one game about portals and solving countless puzzles. She couldn't remember the last time she had exercised her brain so thoroughly in having to understand how each puzzle worked, how to solve them, as well as the plot line.
Those thoughts were what occupied the mind of one CPU of Leanbox, AKA Green Heart or Vert, as she pondered the news that one of her Spec Ops Agents had reported to her through… private means.
All was silent in the Gaming Goddess' bedroom. No sounds came from the monitors which would be normally used to play her many games. MMO's, visual novels, yaoi fanfictions, none of those were on her mind at the moment.
She sat on her bed, her hands on her lap while one leg was crossed over the other. She glanced down, a headset on her head while a troubled from was etched onto her lips. She had a matching expression in her eyes at the moment, as well, all from the news that she had received.
Despite not making any appearances herself, it didn't mean she used other forms of communication. She had other Workers do her daily blog entries, telling the citizens where to avoid Monsters, both normal and Abnormal, while also informing about political decisions made by the governing powers in Leanbox. Her private journal was only written in by herself, of course.
Meanwhile, she communicated via her special headset to a select few people who she could trust to be competent enough to do what she asked and not ask any questions. True, she hated the fact that she had to hide like this, but she didn't really have much of a choice. That's what she kept telling herself, anyways. It helped make this a little easier for her and helped her sleep… when she slept, that is.
In recent times, one Spec Ops Staff Member had reported her something… troubling.
The news had been both puzzling, and deeply troubling for her. It had been a report about the recent missions undertaken by the Spec Ops Community in Leanbox within the last few months. One such mission had a roster filled with Agents from another Nation, something that bothered the woman more than she'd like to admit.
But what REALLY caught her attention was the fact that one of the Agents was her beloved Nico.
Ever since she returned from Celestia, Vert had heard much about the Spec Ops Program, and not a lot of it was good. At first, she had been confused and slightly worried about the Program, for it would empower humanity to fight for itself without the guidance of the CPUs. This directly contradicted how Gamindustri was supposed to be run, and she feared that this might lead to disastrous events in the future.
However, when she did the proper research on the Program, how it started and how it had affected humanity, Vert couldn't help but feel her doubts get mixed with her appreciation for the Program. If what she learned about how it ended up saving humanity from these Abnormal Monsters was true, then the program had did a lot for the world already, showing more positive impacts than negative.
Her intrigue with the Program only grew further, the more she researched into it and the more she learned. The Program provided a means, a sense of protection, for the citizens of Gamindustri by Producing Overpowered Agents capable of going toe to toe with some of the more powerful monsters, monsters that even the CPUs would have a hard time against. That was the payoff of the Program, but the consequence of such was that there was a rising group of humans who would not fight in the name of any Goddess, but for their own ideals.
That alone sounded dangerous, and if what these reports told her about this 'Coalition' had been true…
Vert shook her head as she put those thoughts aside for the time being. She stood from her bed and turned on her heels, heading towards her bedroom's window which was beside her bed. She peered out, her eyes becoming witness to the view of her Nation as it thrived. Well, on the surface anyways, she had a gut feeling that things would be far more complicated if she went outside.
Oh, how she would love to have gone out there to help those Agents, to show them that Leanbox's CPU was not someone who would just cower away while her Nation was being torn apart by the Abnormals…. But, this was the only way for her to do anything. Especially with what happened.
She felt like a disgusting waste of space, useless, like a game that could no longer be playable on her Console due to extreme overuse. It had been a stark contrast to the centuries she spent up in Celestia, where she had been at the pinnacle of her power. Heh, she wondered how her past self would have felt if she saw what she was like now, once on the top of the world, now brought down low and forced to hide away in her gaming paradise.
But for now, this was all she could do.
The buxom CPU of Leanbox sighed wistfully, a picture of Nico entering her mind. A soft, fond smile wormed its way onto her facial features, replacing the frown that had previously been there. Even with the looming problems she faced, Vert found that recalling the face of the one man she had gained an interest in to be oddly calming. Since calm was something she would need a lot of in the future, the woman took solace in this.
She remembered how she first met the Spec Ops Agent online, though at the time she couldn't really tell who he was. What she told IF was true, he was one of the sole gamers who could keep up and beat her in MMO's, even beat her at PVP. She remembered feeling so upset at her first true defeat at this player's hand that she had immediately asked him to become part of her guild so she could learn more about him and where he or she had come from.
Shame she hadn't even gotten THAT down yet.
Part of her hoped it would have been one of her buffed-up butlers like in her Yaoi manga's, she wasn't going to lie.
Though, that didn't mean that the real thing was any disappointment, either. Vert had found herself one of the more secretive, yet potentially one of the strongest Spec Ops Agents Planeptune had to offer, and that was something to be treasured. If things worked out for her in the future, if Nico proved that the reports and rumours about his exploits, how he was as a person, and the like were true, then maybe, just maybe….
Nico could possibly help her with her problem.
Yvoire felt his breath catching in his throat. His hands trembled slightly while he gazed down at an object in his hands, full of apprehension and intensity. Intensity that shined in his eyes like two molten pools of magma.
Her stood within an isolated area in the main hall, holding a vial given to him recently by a Messenger, a messenger from Conversation as he called himself. The vial was an exact copy of the poison meant to be used on Nico when a special party would be held in a few months.
Right now, invitations were being sent out to every prestigious noble family in the Nation, recommending that they attend the party. Parties held in the Basilicom were great ways for the Nobles engaged in politics to converse and share ideas, but mostly to socialise. To form bonds, make friends with other families, and possibly set things up so that Leanbox's future remained as bright as it had ever been.
With the Abnormals gradually pushing their forces back, taking territory that the Spec Ops Agents (he forced himself not to scowl in disgust at that thought) had taken for humanity, back for themselves, hope was something that everyone would be needing. This party would be important, yes…
But it would also be the place where Nico would go down for good.
The messenger who'd handed him the Potion, saw fit to tell him that thanks to IF's efforts, Conversation was unable to provide a second batch of the poison meant to kill Neptune. She had said that the ingredients were rare to come by in Leanbox and Lowee, thus that was the only vial she had on her.
In all honesty, Yvoire could care less about killing Neptune. She was just a brat in his eyes, he could dispose of her himself whenever he pleased. Who he REALLY wanted to be silenced was Nico, that heretic. That heretic who dared try to imitate the divine Goddesses by trying to attain a power he cannot hope to control. A twisted mockery of the Goddesses ascension into their true divine forms.
However, there was something about this that irked him, despite the benefits he would be getting from the plan.
Why did she not come herself?
For what purpose could Conversation be sending a Messenger to deliver this poison to him, when she had been conducting their meetings herself?
Their meetings had always been private, just the two of them. The less that people knew, the better. There were no shortage of enemies that would want to see him dead, Yvoire knew this for a fact. People like him, who were in charge of delegating laws and government, were bound to make some people unhappy with his decisions. Thus, he could understand the need for secrecy, if word got out of what he had been intending to do, then there would no doubt be harsh punishment.
Which was why this recent change of plans only baffled him.
The man couldn't make heads or tails of it, and for the first time since their business began, Yvoire began to suspect there to be some foul purpose behind Conversation's actions. It was like she didn't see fit to address him personally anymore, like his role in this had become increasingly insignificant.
He forgot the fact that he had hired a Ninja assassin to spy on IF earlier when she went out of Vert's room.
'But that's just preposterous!' Yvoire thought as he carefully pocketed the poison vial within his robes, intent on bribing one of the chefs to insert it into the food when the time came. The action didn't derail his thoughts from the topic at hand, however, and his denial only made it worse. 'I'm one of the senior nobility in Leanbox! I oversee Leanbox's military, I have a seat in the governing Council! There's no way she would treat me as if I'm some form of tool for her amusement!'
No matter how much Yvoire tried to convince himself that the woman wouldn't be using him as a means to an end, doubt clawed away at the back of his mind. Like a demon trying to devour all rational thought and replace it with paranoia, distrust, which would lead to eventual madness and insanity.
This train of thought wasn't helping him get his doubts sorted, so Yvoire pushed it all to the back of his mind. He'd think of it all later, right now he had to focus on his duties. The duties that he had been partially neglecting for this secretive business with the assassination of Nico and Neptune. Although, it seems that he will only be getting one victim instead of the other two.
With that in his mind, Yvoire turned on his feet and began walking down the main hallway, heading for the council chamber. He had a few things to say to them, and a meeting was soon to be taking place. His eyes hardened to two orbs of steel, his past conflicts erased from his mind for another day.
Conversation could wait till he next saw her…
Whenever that may be…
"Do you THINK it WISE... to ENTRUST such a TASK to one MORTAL..."
The deity pondered this question that it had asked Arfoire, the two being located within a monster infested dungeon... or rather, what was ONCE an infested monster Dungeon. The Deity had pretty much consumed every monster in the area, cleansing it of their influence. It could already feel its power returning to it after so long. It wouldn't be long now till it could take on its true form, and this chaotic state it was in to finally be settled. Nevertheless, it didn't like the thought of using humans, even though to it they were nothing but cattle, for tasks that could undermine their plans.
It had already provided her one copy of the toxin that she had made using some of its power before, so it wanted assurances things would go smoothly.
Sitting atop a rock, looking up at the night Sky, Arfoire hummed in silent thought, before she answered the Deity's question. "Yes, it was a decent move. That guy will not betray us, as he is a follower of the religion I told you of."
"Paaaaah!" The deity scoffed, waving a Tentacle to the side. "That OVERLORD bullshit... truly, it is a MOCKERY of our once powerful ERA...!"
The deity held no signs of anything but discontent for the notion that there was such a thing as an 'Overlord Momus'. To it, that was nothing but a load of bullshit, as it do aptly put it. And it had already made its notions clear to Arfoire on that line. When she told it her original design for the beast, the Deity had practically frothed at its non-existent mouth for how POOR and UNAPPEALING the monster's design looked. It just HAD to make some suggestions to her, to make the Overlord as menacing as possible. This included a total revamp of its original appearance, with powers that would befit its name.
"Call it what you like..." Arfoire began, before looking up to the stars. The silent wind blew through the area they occupied, brushing her hair while the deity's mass-like form just shuddered from it. "But it was my plan way before you came along. I will not stop just because you made it SLIGHTLY better."
While she would have liked taking full credit for Overlord Momus's creation, Arfoire would never say it out loud, but she knew that the deities suggestions for its design were magnificent. It wouldn't look anything like the original design, but with the powers it would posses, it would cause more fear and chaos than its old form ever could have. And it wasn't like the old design was tossed out completely, there were a few ideas that even made her grimace that it had suggested, to make the Overlord as intimidating as possible.
Those DPUs certainly knew their monster genetics, she will say that.
"Pft. You would NOT know SCARY even if it SLAPPED you in your FACE...!"
A heavy sigh escaped Noire's lips.
She had been doing that a lot recently, maybe she needed to see someone about some mental health tablets...
Nah, that would probably make things harder for her in the long run.
Right now, she was in her bed within the Basilicom, taking a short break from having to fight so many Abnormal Monsters recently. The packs were getting larger and larger by the day, to the point where Noire had to enlist the help of other Spec Ops Agents to help her fight them off.
From medium to large packs with one leader, there were now extra-large packs with multiple leaders. How the hell could humans have lasted this long without the Goddesses holding back the monster tide?
Oh right, the Spec Ops.
These Agents, they held more respect from Noire than she'd care to admit. Ever since she first fought alongside Nico and Team RAIL when her city was under attack from the C Virus, Noire had practically immersed herself with the Agents belonging to the program, learning their ways and how they operated.
She wanted to know EVERYTHING about the program and is efficiency in Lastation. Once she retook the Land from Avenir, she would be commending those Agents immediately, they had more than earned such an honor.
It also turned out that some of them had already figured out that she was the CPU without her having to transform to show them, much to Noire's stunned shock.
When she had asked them how the heck they could have figured it out, they pointed out the same facts that Nico had once pointed out to her making it practically a piece of cake for them. The Blackette once again had to admit to herself that the Spec Ops were a competent bunch. If it weren't for them, then humanity would have long since perished.
Thankfully, no new Abnormal Dungeons had been created as of yet. The Carnival of Horrors hadn't been too active since Nico and Team RAIL went to defeat its boss, something that she was beyond grateful for.
'… He hasn't been texting me recently…' the CPU thought to herself, a worried frown on her lips. Since she was alone right now, Noire saw no need to hide her true feelings from anyone. Here, she could be herself, and right now she couldn't help but feel worry for her… friend.
By the Goddesses it still felt weird to her...
Ever since Nico had given her the phone numbers of himself and the Party, she had been keeping in touch with both him and IF. They kept giving her updates on their progress, or to just chat. Although that was more on Nico's end than IF's, since the two didn't really get to talk that much during their time together. Those two were the more competent ones in her eyes, while Compa and Neptune were just… there, she guessed.
She didn't know what to talk about with the Nurse-In-Training. Aside from what Nico had told her about this girl, Noire judged her character to be a clumsy, ditzy nurse who is accident prone. Someone that Nico constantly worries over, though he never outright said that. She found it honestly adorable that he would worry about her so much…. With an uncertain pang of something in her chest accompanying that feeling.
Neptune was… well, Neptune. She'd probably tease her relentlessly over text messages. The fact that she hadn't meant that she likely wasn't aware of this little thing going on.
That suited her just fine, honestly.
Out of the two of them though, it was the male Spec Ops Agent she was in contact with the most. Every morning, he would send her a morning and evening text, as well as asking how she was doing or if there was anything she wanted to talk to him about. Every time he asked her this, Noire would talk to him about what she would be going through and what happened because of it. Because of this, she didn't know how, but it seemed that she was becoming… closer, to the boy.
Was this what Neptune and Compa felt for the Spec Ops Agent? Was this…?
'No, no-no-no!' Noire screeched in her mind, halting that process before it could even begin to settle in her mind. 'There's no way you're attracted to him, you're Black Heart! Your primary duty is to protect and preserve Lastation! You owe it to your people to do your best! To regain their trust!'
Noire couldn't let herself get too deep into that debacle, no matter how much her girlish instincts wanted her to. She wasn't some ordinary girl who had more class than others normally did. She was a political leader, the heart of an entire Nation. Such a job took effort to maintain, and she'd sworn to do her utmost to regaining the trust she had lost from her people. The potential scandals that would come from her being involved in a romantic relationship, one with a resident from another Nation at that, wouldn't do her already damaged image any favours. She could see it in her mind, all the scandalous papers trying to tarnish her damaged name even more, garnering an advantage for Avenir. She couldn't allow that, no matter what.
As a CPU, as a Goddess, she had to make sure to do her best for her people. She owed them that much for ditching them to fight in the stupid Console War for so many centuries.
Any possibilities for a relationship had to be quashed for the sake of her nation. No matter how saddening it was for her, Lastation deserved only her best.
Even if these pangs in her chest refused to stop, she shouldn't give in!
She... she shouldn't...
Yet, no matter how much she had tried to deny it, Noire couldn't help herself. Chian had teased her about it whenever she caught the CPU getting a little pink on the cheeks, but maybe…
No, she couldn't think on that just now.
She had to think of something else, anything else!
Shame nothing else came to mind, as the CPU found her rest to be as vain as her attempts to change the topic her mind wanted to focus on.
"Good, looks like business is done for the night…"
Helen grinned to herself, stretching her arms up to the ceiling to take out the stress that had been building up in them from a hard day's work. The former Spec Ops Agent had been going over research notes on various projects, some known to the public while others were… not so well known. Other reports were about how some projects were doing out in the field. How effective they were, and recommendations for future improvements.
She had also been preparing for the Spec Ops exam that will be coming soon, devising the plans for the stages that the Candidates would take before their final test. Being one of them was about more than just being a badass and getting access to some dangerous toys, it was so much more than that. Ideals were a big part of their community, and while it was frowned upon, any residue faith they had towards the CPUs wasn't discouraged either. It was one of the few reasons why the Program hadn't been shut down by some of the more… fanatical of the higher-ups in Gamindustri.
Just thinking about those old codgers up top though, gave a nasty aftertaste to Helen's mouth. The woman had to repress the urge to go on a bloodlust-fuelled rampage, because if she did there would be no DEATHSTROKE or any other Spec Ops that could stop her. Only two people could stop her when she got like that, and those were her husband and adoptive son. Though, she wished that he was her real son at times. As much as it pained her to admit, she had been jealous of his parents when they first showed her their beloved child.
The woman frowned to herself as she stood up from her Desk, brushing her hair back as she walked around her Desk towards the door, intending to leave the Guild Building to return home to her loving husband. Helen couldn't help the pang of romantic love that swelled within her chest by thinking of him, a big smile slowly etching itself onto her features.
While most of her wanted Nico to have a family soon so she could have grand kids, there was more to it than that. Some of it revolved around his past, the past that he couldn't remember, and some of her own insecurities. She worried for Nico on multiple fronts, fronts that came not just from motherly concern, but her insecurities as well.
There were many times where she would have thought back on how she had raised the child of two of her closest friends as her own, where she would think to herself 'How would it have gone if I acted this or that way?' In essence, she wondered if she could have been a better mother to him and not a Spec Ops instructor. True she was a sadist when training fresh meat, and that thought caused her to chuckle sheepishly as she remembered some of the… less fortunate recruits that got her as a teacher.
Yet, there was little she could actually do to change anything, that was something that always stuck inside Helen's mind. That no matter how much she wished for it, she couldn't rewrite the past as much as she'd like to. If she could, she'd make sure his parents never suffered, so that they could raise their son the way they intended. She knew that they wouldn't have approved of him being a Spec Ops Agent mostly because they were well devoted to the CPU Purple Heart.
But this wasn't the Gamindustri they knew, not anymore. No, not after what happened.
That one incident cost her not only her Spec Ops Career, but the total shattering of her adoptive son's family. They showed their true colours for what they did back then, and they had appalled her with how cruel they truly were. Them, and a combination of horrors that incident brought about, resulted in a totally destroyed faith in any CPU for her, no matter how much of a front she put on. She would always personally despise those who believed in those Goddesses so fanatically.
If they had lived, then they would have agreed with her.
His father, Joseph Jackson, was a man of grit and character. He had been a natural prankster back in his day, as well as a source for intimidation thanks to his giant posture. The man had been a whopping 7-foot-tall Spartan-class warrior, with the attitude to match when he got angry. Most of the time though, he liked to trick people and prank the hell out of them. Those pranks usually got worse if they had done something to piss him off, or hurt his grandmother, whom had raised him as her own after his parents were killed shortly after he was born.
He also had a bit of a flirty attitude to him as well, as he liked to appreciate some of the women he had seen in his life. Though, because of his intimidating stature, he never really got the chance to ask any of them out, much to his disappointment. The lovable oaf had been willing to spend his life alone thanks to his appearance, giving his life to his jobs a Soldier for Planeptune, until his mother had come along.
On the other hand, he also had a strong moral compass, a sense of macho honor that shined through mostly when he was in a fight or when a woman wasn't being treated the way she should. If he had been any less intimidating, Helen was sure that he would have become a ladies man just from that alone.
Nico had some of his father's personality alright, his macho honor and prankster attitude.
Most of all though, Joseph LOVED his grandmother, almost more than his mother, for how she raised him when he had nobody else to turn to. She had told him how his parents died when he came of age, but by then he didn't really care about them as much as he did his grandmother. It may come off as cold sometimes, but he never even knew them in the first place, so he couldn't feel too attached to them.
Although, she had heard a few times when him, her and their friends would hang out try to repress sorrowful tears when he thought he was alone. Showed that he did miss them, in some way, but kept solace that he still had his grandmother.
Then there was Nico's mom, Marina. Now she had been once a resident of Leanbox, more importantly she had been a Noblewoman, a daughter of a wealthy noble who had also access to a seat on Leanbox's governing council. She had practically everything she could have wanted, a luxurious house, servants for her whims, and generally people liked her. Well, at least for her standing, anyways.
However, she had been anything but noblewoman in terms of personality. Marina had grown up seeing how her father liked to have several wives and concubines, using them to satisfy his sexual needs. What's more, was that he never even paid attention to his true wife, who ended up taking her frustration out on the other servants. Sometimes she didn't even notice that her daughter would be watching her, shaking in fear of her mother's ire.
Because of that upbringing, while she remained relatively kind and caring, she also gained two other things: a monotone coldness, almost beastly like demeanour that showed mostly when she was angered, and an intense, and Helen meant INTENSE, hate for the male gender. To her, the male gender was like what most women of today's society thought of them, and it didn't help that the noblemen sons who tried their hands at courting her had similar agendas in mind. Marina always had an eye for that sort of thing. It reached the point where if one tried to approach her she would take out a hidden knife and try to castrate them.
It all changed when she met his father though, when one of her family' trips to Planeptune was in place. He was one of the soldiers meant to escort her family in their carriage to Planeptune's main city: SEGA. It was a rare occurrence, thanks to the Console War, to have citizens in other nations pay visits like this, but it was one of those business trips with her father's older business contractors.
They didn't really socialise all that well, considering she found him to be like the many men she had encountered over the years, but through her father's business ventures to Planeptune and the knowledge that someone like Joseph kept unwanted visitors away, the two saw a lot of each other that way. They eventually began to talk, and to Josephs surprise, she warmed up to him.
She even popped the question of them going out in secret, not caring much about his large imposing demeanour in the slightest.
Poor guy, who had been used to the role of the flirt for most of his life, had been gaping like a fish with his face atomic red.
From his mother, Helen knew he had inherited her cold demeanour along with his natural distrust in others.
Helen had been a friend of his mother's for many years, and it was through her that she met Joseph. At first, Helen had no clue what Marina had seen in him, but as time passed, she had gradually come to like his company. He was a good jokester, with a decent sense of humour, and his imposing form kept many annoying guys from getting near her.
The woman had watched the two progress through their secret relationship, to their hidden marriage and disappearance over to Planeptune. Her family situation had been deteriorating fore a while into their secret relationship, and for a while Joseph could only console his girlfriend while she vented her suppressed emotions to him. Helen figured that it must be in the genes though, that Joseph and Nico both held a certain… preference for women who had cold demeanours.
Eventually he had suggested they vanish and move over to Planeptune to live near his grandmother, and in her sorrowful state Marina had agreed. She didn't want to be around her family any longer, and thus the two vanished to live their new life together.
To this day, nobody knew where Marina had vanished off to, but her father only declared her KIA when 5 months had passed, since he had a son already to carry on his name. Her mother had been furious about his callousness, though, to the point where they had a big fight which ended up with him beating her mother to death, and consequently getting arrested for it. She had last heard he had been executed for the crime of murder, but didn't pay much attention to that.
Things got brighter for the pair, and Marina quickly found she enjoyed the common life way more than that of a stuck-up noblewoman any day. They eventually got married, she fell pregnant and out popped Nico. She had been there when Nico was born, invited by the parents of course, and even got the honor of holding him. It had been a major happy point for her, especially with her own relationship issues.
Helen could almost see their faces in her mind, at the height of their happiness while holding a baby Nico in a soft embrace.
Shaking her head, the woman pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she left the room and began making her way to the exit back home. She wanted to get some cuddles from her loving, faithful husband to stave off the sorrowful feelings welling up in her gut.
The woman had been so happy when Nico was born… but also secretly jealous of the two. She herself couldn't have any kids of her own, due to being infertile. Not only that, but her husband had problems with his seed, so they wouldn't have been able to conceive even if they tried. So, to see her friend have the happiness of a family like that while she couldn't… well, it was only natural that Helen got jealous.
She had expected her marriage to break apart when they found out the truth of why they couldn't have a child, but contrary to her thoughts her husband remained by her side, helping and comforting her when she needed it most. To him, Helen had been the only woman he registered, he'd said that to her face. One could only imagine the amount of passionate sex that lead to for him.
Nevertheless, she couldn't help but shed a tear for Nico's parents. They were great people, they had a happy future together… so what happened to make them leave their son's life forever?
Chapter end!
Well, there you go. Some romantic development for Noire, and some backstory from... Nico's parents in Helen's POV! Now, that stuff there is important, as it will relate to the plot in several ways. One of which will be to do with Count Mott, who won't be seen for a few chapters yet. No, that's not a Spoiler either, don't get me wrong.
With the whole Noire thing, I figured it would make sense for her character to be concerned with her image when pondering her rising feelings towards our harem protagonist. She's someone who takes great pride in her appearance, in her image, so something like a Relationship, given her position, would cause quite th commotion. She's afraid of that, which is why she's trying to fight her feelings.
Trying to make a decent Harem fic isn't easy, people!
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and tell me what you think! Laters!
Special Event - Classes
A chibi Nico walks into a classroom, clad in a formal dress shirt,pants and shoes while his Mask is on. He walks to the front desk, and turns to the audience.
"Greetings everyone, call me Mr DEATHSTROKE. This lesson will be focusing on Abnormals, or rather, their classes. Classifications for Abnormals have been varied, as shown in this Urgent Quest's briefing."
In the audience, which was a class full of chibified characters that have and have not appeared yet in the main story-line save for the Spec Ops Agents, a Chibi Neptune waved a hand frantically, trying to get his attention.
"Yes, Mrs Neptune?"
"Hey, Lover! I was wondering, what's this system like? I mean, since there's a problem with fan-fiction right now, so the author can't post anything till its solved, so..."
A chibi author in the fatal position next to a laptop with a cloud of depression over his forehead could be seen at the end of the classroom. He mumbled about things like 'stupid fan-fiction error' and 'need to edit next chapter' while rubbing an index finger on the ground dejectedly.
"... Well, while the Author has his depressing moment, I shall explain the classifications for Abnormals."
Nico steps away from the Desk as he fumbles with his barely visible Bracer. A holographic screen the size of one classroom wall appeared in front of the Desk, showing a pyramid like diagram.
"Now, classification of Abnormals is difficult, due to their varied appearances, powers, abilities and behavior. Some are more radical than others, which leads to difficulty in choosing specific Spec Ops Agents to handle them. That's why we have varied skill-sets, so we can be prepared for anything that they throw at us."
A chibi Compa raised her hand, getting Nico's attention.
"Yes, Mrs Compa?"
"Um, I was wondering, if dealing with them is so hard, how have so many Agents returned alive?"
"Excellent question, see we Spec Ops always have a supply of specialized Eject Buttons, ones that return us to the closest city to recharge fer a failed Abnormal Monster Hunt. Unfortunately it is limited to one use per day, and considering how threatening the Abnormals are, its not really feasible to use it daily."
Chibi Neptune slumped, just when she was going to ask why Nico never used that handy gadget in the main story-line.
"Thus, instead of classifying them by types like we do normal monsters, we Spec Ops Agents classify Abnormals based off how powerful they are. Each Abnormal emits this special electronic signal, an 'aura' as it would, that we've figured out how to detect and use to get a reading on their power. That's why we have the Ranks system. It starts from F: the lowest on the power scale, up to the X rank, which is like ultimate tier godly power where EVERY single Spec Ops Agent available is sent at it with the hopes that the thing will go down before any damage is caused to the cities... and even then, its guaranteed that 80% of us will have been dead, while 20% will be heavily injured and won't be able to fight for a while, some even can be crippled."
Shudders ran through the class at the information being handed to them. Before, they never really understood just how perilous the Spec Ops job could be, since they thought it was just fighting above average monsters. Looked like that wasn't the case at all, it was more of a job where every day was a fight for survival for them, if they went up against beings like that.
"That's why..."
Upon hearing a new voice, the audience looks to the side to see Raven, clad in a dress shirt, knee length dark blue skirt and heels with a clipboard and gasses, walk into the classroom to stand beside Nico, who stepped back to allow her to take the reins.
"That's why when joining the Spec Ops Program, you are basically signing yourself up to die, thus your strength has to be at a significantly higher level than most Guild Agents, to the point where even the Goddesses here..."
She glanced at the CPUs in the room with a waried, annoyed gaze.
"can have trouble fighting you."
The arrival of a hot new Chibi teacher made many males in the audience swoon with several giving perverse stares at her. This only lasted a second before a harsh, cold glare from Raven sent them into trembling fits.
"Aw, no need to scare the poor dears, leader."
another teacher walked in, revealing it to be Lucy, who wore a much more... revealing outfit than compared to Raven. Her dress shirt was unbuttoned so that her cleavage was more visible, while her skirt went to her thighs to showcase her Nylon stockings and polished black high heels. She too carried a clipboard, and gave a sultry wink to the audience, making every guy in it leer at her with dog ears and tails wagging, literally.
"I mean, as long as you train hard, fight well, you can basically live life free of cares. Plus, you'll get all the attention from the ladies, aren't I right boys?"
Cue several nosebleeds, which irritated both Raven and Nico when they saw the redhead's antics.
"How is she an Agent again?"
"Remember, its explained in the future, Raven, no spoilers."
"True..."
"Anyways, the lesson shall resume... in another chapter!"
