Chapter 127 - Demonic Invasion PT4

With the elimination of that Portal, the Party quickly left the room and began making their way to the other Portal Neptune had sensed. Fortunately, there was only 1 left, meaning that once it was gone they should be able to clear this floor of Demons. It had been discussed amongst the three (well… mainly IF, as the other two didn't get it as much when she talked to them) that the Portals may be the biggest reason why the Demons have such large numbers. There had been greater numbers protecting them than the ones they fought throughout the rest of the floor, not to mention the types of defenses put around them made it so that they could very well be like mini-fortresses in their own right. While it was likely that the Dungeon had the main Portal, there were bound to be smaller portals opened up down below the floors, opened likely by whatever came out of the main portal. Odds were, that the Portals would be in greater numbers the deeper they progressed…

It almost felt like they were progressing down a Dungeon, rather than a holy place.

Honestly, seeing stuff like this happening to the home of the CPU she put her faith in REALLY grinded the Spec Ops Candidate's gears. To see the place that housed the CPU she confided in, the CPU she trusted and worshiped tarnished so horribly… it fueled her inner rage against those Demonic assholes, gave her purpose and a desire to exact vengeance for her CPU. The thought of Vert fighting on the front lines to retake her home from these Demons though, helped her focus on the tasks at hand, however. Hopefully, after this the Nobility would at least see that the CPU wasn't someone who'd cower away when her home was threatened, otherwise, she may not be able to hold herself back from unleashing her inner beast on their asses.

She had once read up on the 'inner beast' of a person, actually, when she had been bored, thus went surfing the web one day. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help but look into it back then and had assumed it to be a personal whim of hers. Not something that had any particular meaning, but something nonetheless. According to her research at the time, an inner beast was basically like a 'rage mode' for people who get very angry or upset for whatever reason. It is a sub-dermal and abstract concept used to describe someone who becomes increasingly aggressive after being angered. One person even commented 'Don't awaken someone's inner beast if you don't know how to tame it', which she felt like a lot of people don't really take to heart.

Especially those who commit criminal acts and deliberately provoke victims, like Ganache.

Still, during their journey to the next portal, which according to Neptune was located at the opposite side of the floor, they had come across more than a few packs of stray Demons, Khornate Berserkers and World Eater soldiers. They had fallen quite easily, especially to IF, who couldn't help but note how her body's new… physical state allowed her to fight on even ground with them. It felt like her body had been imbued with the experience, martial prowess, and raw power that these guys commanded, allowing her to use their own power against them… not something she minded since it made dealing with them much easier for her.

During those fights though, IF had discovered that she had gained further Mutations, developing some new tricks that she could use to fight her enemies. One of which, she called the 'Ryokugan', translated as 'Green Eyes' which she had found that it had been developed when she Assimilated those Khornate Berserkers and their Leader. The RYOKUGAN gives her a near 360º diameter field of vision, with one blind spot at the back of the neck above the first thoracic vertebra. She'd have to watch out for that part, then, but at least her regeneration could take care of it if it got damaged.

IF found that with it, she could see up to 80 meters in all directions, like she was housing a set of internal binoculars. Its vision can penetrate through any solid objects or obstructions, and likewise remains unaffected by blinding interference, though certain Spells/SP Skill Attacks/Demonic Wards/Magic Weapons may distort the RYOKUGAN's perception (she learned this when she tried to find the Portal, only for her vision to get blurry the closer she got to it).

Through her battles with it, she found that the RYOKUGAN is able to follow high-speed movements, which allows the wielder to analyze their opponent's actions, and allows the user to predict and better react to them. Prolonged use of the RYOKUGAN caused severe but temporary eye-strain, however, leaving wielders unable to properly perceive targets. When activated, IF's found that her eyes became a light green with pupilless eyes, veins crawling across the sides of her face.

Aside from that Mutation, there was also a Mutation she liked to call 'Viral Overdrive', something she had learned her body had developed from some of the 'gifts' Khorne had bestowed on some of the Khornate Berserkers who had pleased him. It functioned completely like a Drive Skill from her world, only in their case, it took its toll on degrading their mental faculties in exchange for boosting their body's physical abilities beyond even their limits. The thought that even the bodies of such warriors having limits both relieved and scared her, like all hell. It LITERALLY sent chills down her spine. If they had limits, then that meant that they could get stronger than they already were, and with a Drive Skill they could potentially do this…

In any case, she found herself glad to have got this now. This VIRAL OVERDRIVE, named as such so it could be attributed to her own abilities, did the same as the other Drive Skills that she knew of. Neptune's PLANEPTUNE DRIVE, Nico's DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, and lastly the Drive Skills belonging to Team RAIL. Hers, however, felt more on the lines of Nico's DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, as the potency of her Drive Skill felt much greater, and subsequently more draining, than those that didn't use Demonic Power.

She had once heard a couple Agents comment on the use of their Drive Skills allowing them to punch through a rock the size of a 3 story Building with no effort… When she asked Nico about it one time, he showed her how his OWN Drive Skill allowed him to utterly OBLITERATE a rock the size of a 6-story building… along with the surrounding area. Thus, the difference between Nico's Drive Skill and that of normal ones was as obvious as night and day… which made her feel a bit apprehensive about having one of her own.

Aside from mutations, IF had also taken the liberty of calling the other Groups on one of her Phones, letting them know of the situation about the Portals as well as the defenses surrounding them. They had, in turn, told her that they had managed to evacuate what survivors they could from the majority of the floor and were now holding up within the Main Hall to help the guardsmen defend it from impending Demon attacks. Apparently, after the disabling of the first portal, the invading Demons had gone into a mass panic, making more and more small-scale attacks instead of the larger ones they had been using before. That must have meant they had caused some form of disruption in their organization methods, cutting off one of the heads sorts to speak.

This information soothed some of her worries at least. If this was true, then chances were that they had managed to rescue the majority of the survivors on this floor. Chances were that the Demons had killed off the ones on the lower floors as much as she didn't like pursuing that train of thought. But, even so, she couldn't help but do exactly that. Still, if the other Groups were back at the Main Hall, then they would likely be remaining there until they were sure that this floor would be cleared of Demons, before they progress to the next floor. Their original plan would still be followed, just with a few slight adjustments due to this new information.

A common occurrence on the field of battle.

"Hey um, guys?" Neptune began as they journeyed over to the Portal by going through corridor after corridor. "This place is pretty big… kinda like a Maze. Is every Basilicom like this?" she wondered, her eyes having that pondering glint to them. After all, the last few Basilicoms they had gone into, Planeptune and Lastation's seemed fairly simple in comparison to this one.

IF turned her head in Neptune's direction, momentarily annoyed at her until she remembered that the preteen was an amnesiac. That fact made her sorta guilty, as it kind of slipped past her mind that, even with everything they've learned about her Neptune was still an amnesiac. As such, there were still things that she didn't know about, not to mention the fact that they never really explored the Basilicoms like this. "Kind of, we never really explored the Basilicoms at large since our last few visits… didn't exactly turn out well." She responded, sweat dropping when she remembered the LAST few times they met the Basilicom staff of Lastation and Planeptune.

One was full of pedophiles and the other was downright hostile, nearly slapping Neptune had Nico not intervened…

"Yeah… Basilicoms are usually pretty big…" Compa stated, sweat dropping whilst remembering the same things that IF had. She remembered feeling well, slightly weirded out when that one staff member in Planeptune acted rather strangely around Neptune. The way that the Lastation Staff acted didn't even need to be talked about, even someone like her knew that wouldn't be how they would normally act. Now that she thought about it, there hadn't been much of a normal experience with the Basilicom… weird.

After hearing their responses, Neptune hummed thoughtfully, putting a hand on her chin, "Wow, that sure is something… Maybe every Basilicom is full of weirdos, then….?" she queried, getting shrugs of the shoulders from her friends. She made to say something again when she suddenly sensed a spike in Demonic Energy in front of them. "Huh, looks like we've got company…" she stated, quickly drawing Soul Calibur. The moment she drew it from her back, the preteen felt its power start to rise, spiraling around its blade whilst she pointed it towards her enemy. She could feel her Blade's eagerness to sink itself into the flesh of her enemies, to bathe in the enemy's blood and tear through them with practiced ease. Looking there, she saw a second later how several small portals appeared, like the ones that appeared when herself, Noire and Vert had been happily chatting back in that room. From those Portals, came a legion of Bloodletters escorted by a bunch of Juggernauts. A sigh escaped her lips at the sight. "Aw man, I was SO hoping we'd get to the portal WITHOUT having to take on fodder enemies…!" she whined.

"Better not count your chickens before they hatch, Nep." IF warned, just in time too since behind them, more portals appeared on the ground to spawn more Demons, blocking off their escape route. Her body's BOW power activated, her inner beast 'waking up' as it were when she caught sight of the foes which dared desecrate her patron Goddess's home. In seconds, her Armour formed over her being, momentarily catching the Demons off guard with how alike it looked to the Khornate Berserkers before she snarled with her right arm now her Blade. In the next moment, it ignited into flames as she got into a combat stance, her eyes casting a predatory gaze over them. She'll make them pay for this… with their LIVES!

Both IF and Neptune then charged into the enemy ranks, bursting into mad sprints that left them as blurs to the naked eye. As the bloodshed and carnage stopped, none of them noticed it…

But a flash of sadness and jealousy briefly appeared on Compa's face before it vanished the next second.


How long had it been like this?

How many times had it been now?

Just how many times will this be happening, both now AND in the near future?

Those thoughts passed through the mind of one certain young girl, as she walked along with her friends who had, once again, dove straight into the battlefield and, through their superhuman abilities, emerged from the conflict nigh unscathed. It was always like this, those two usually kept fighting battle after battle, skirmish after skirmish, and whenever they did so, they wouldn't usually need as much healing as they would in previous battles. At first, their group had been fully reliant on heals, especially during the beginning of their adventures when they hadn't had much of the danger they had now. During that time, she couldn't help but feel proud of herself, proud that she was needed and happy that she had a place in the Party. She wasn't someone who was a primary fighter, she was a support and healer. That was simply her nature, her nature as someone who didn't like to see others hurt.

It was always like this, ever since she was a young girl. She had been the witness to her grandfather's decaying health, she had grown up without the love of a mother and a father, and she had grown up a meek, shy little girl who couldn't do much on her own. Back then, she remembered how so many kids her age took to bullying her because of her meekness, that same meekness being responsible for her inability to make proper friends. Because of them, she had grown up mostly alone, unable to do much for herself. And yet…

Even though the bullying…

Even though the loneliness and sadness…

She didn't want to hurt anyone.

Never had the thought of standing up to them crossed her mind. Not even once. She had only wanted to help people, mostly so that they could not feel the same loneliness she did while growing up. She didn't show it very much, heck she only showed it briefly during all that business in Lastation, but she dealt with a great loneliness. A loneliness that she had not asked for, yet was forced to grow up with, a loneliness that only came when a crying child lost their parents, never to know what it would feel like to have a mother hold on to them, or to experience the pride of a father as they watched her succeed in life.

In the end, all that pain, sadness and heartache caused her to have the mentality of a Nurse or a Medical Professional, in that she didn't like seeing others hurt, and moreover didn't want to hurt others herself. That was her shtick, her thing, she would never want to hurt someone else, not on her life for it would be like her being like her parents' killers. She would be like the monsters that murdered them. That wasn't what she wanted, nope, no way no how. She wanted to help people, she didn't want to hurt people.

Sill, watching her friends fighting, ending up in constant battle after battle… It happened a lot in Lastation, and the longer they spent there the more intense those battles became. She didn't like it, but still, she had been content with her role of support and healing people. It made her feel useful, glad to be part of something bigger after so long of being alone. Isolated even, especially when her sole friend Nico left on his own path. She had been the Party's backbone for whenever they got into a tough scuffle, she was the one to pick them up when they fell down. However, near the end of their days in Lastation, she began to notice it. She began to notice that, ever so gradually, her role became more and more minor.

First, Neptune's status as a CPU got revealed, and because of it, she grew more and more daring with her fights. She took bigger risks, sometimes getting battered pretty bad only to heal over in a matter of hours. CPUs had a better healing factor than humans, it was common sense since they were warriors as well as natural leaders, people who fought both on the front lines and behind a Desk for their subordinates. They were physically superior to humans in every way, much like these Demons, DPUs, and these Monsters that wander across Gamindustri.

She had been fine with Neptune not needing help as much, but then IF became a BOW, though not by her own will. She became one against her will when she was infected by Ganache, forcing Nico to intervene by pumping a strain of the same Virus with his power and giving it to her, resulting in her ascension whilst still retaining her mental faculties and intelligence. Ever since then though, IF had begun training in her new powers with her childhood friend, discovering what she could do now, as well as her elevated status. She could only imagine what that must be like, coming to terms with the fact that she was no longer human, that she at her core, was just like the very monsters that she fought for a living. But, even so, her powers allowed her to perform the same type of feats as Neptune, they allowed her to do things she couldn't have done before thanks to her being human back then. Arguably, she could go even further, since as long as she had the Biomass, next to nothing could truly kill her. Her body's regenerative abilities were just that potent.

Throughout the following battles, she had seen it become more and more apparent, especially against the Demonic scourge that threatened Leanbox. More and more she began to see it, even someone as ditsy as she is began to see the truth become visible to her, the curtains of illusion drawing back to show her the ugly truth that they had hid for so long. That, the more that they fought, the more of a liability she would become.

After all, out of the entire Party, she alone was the sole human of the group. She alone was the human in a den filled with non-human beings. She didn't want to say Monsters, but some part of her did feel like that was a good way to describe her situation as much as she loathed the word. There were few things that she held a burning hatred for and calling her friends that word was one of them. But even so, she couldn't help it. That fit her situation so well that it hurt. She was the weakest link, she was the one who had the most limits. It was a fact that she had long since realized, in fact, she had partially realized it not long after they had left Lastation. Partially realized, and had subsequently buried a moment or two later, not wanting to think about it.

She had only fully realized it when she had fought alongside Neptune back when they first encountered a Demon Prince, where she had to be protected from the onslaught of Bloodletters and other nefarious creatures following that battle. It made her fully realize the ugly truth of her own weakness, a weakness stemming from her own humanity. A humanity that had been the source of her compassion, of her desire to help people, to forget the loneliness that she held deep inside.

These thoughts, these desires, insecurities and everything else… all of this made up the thoughts of one Compa, as the trio of girls continued their journey to the sole remaining Portal. Two of them remain unaware of what the other was thinking.


Finally, after fighting countless bouts against a mix of Bloodletters and Juggernauts (something that, true to her earlier predictions, IF found much easier to accomplish), they found themselves before a similar entrance to the one they had used before. Odds were, the interior of the room behind the door would be the same as well. However, that thought didn't really register in the trios' minds whilst they jogged up to the entrance with a bout of blue crystal behind them, signaling that they had just emerged from a tough battle.

"#PANT#, #PANT#... whew, looks like we made it, huh…?" Neptune breathed, feeling slightly winded from their constant combat. She raised her left arm to wipe the small beads of sweat from her brow, a low and slow exhale escaping her lips. In contrast, Soul Calibur rattled in her grasp, constantly churning joyful feelings through their link which was the source of the satisfied smile on the preteen's lips, despite her current state. The sentient weapon truly felt blessed right now, to be unleashed in such a manner, to such an extent as this. Not to mention, if this was what they would be doing for the foreseeable future, then it would no doubt be probable that they would be fighting together again and again! The Sentient weapon couldn't contain its ELATION!

IF nodded her head in agreement, in contrast to the preteen's mildly winded state, felt better than she had in a long time. In fact, she couldn't help but shudder in a similar level of satisfaction to Neptune's Soul Calibur, though she had schooled her features to hide it. Not out of shame, but out of appropriate manners. It wouldn't do to show just how much she found herself deep within her BOW powers right now, maybe when she was alone with her friends, but not now. "Yeah, you're right, Nep…" she replied before she closed her eyes and then opened them a second later. The difference there though, was that her RYOKUGAN had activated, allowing her to see through the walls and identify what was inside. She would have used her ZEN SHIYA to get information, however not only was this eye power a bit less risky to use, but it was easier to defend as well as less draining on her Reserves. Not that they were small, as thanks to her Assimilating so many Demonic beings she had a crap ton of Biomass to spare. She just wanted to save it for her battles.

Thanks to her RYOKUGAN being able to see through walls, IF managed to look into the room itself. Now, thanks to this Eye Mutation's ability, the brunette would be able to look through the walls into the room, but if she were to directly look at the portal then her ability to see would suffer. That was something she had learned shortly after investigating this new Mutation, so IF made sure to keep her eyes from looking at the Portal undoubtedly within the center of the room. Instead, she looked at the floors, and soon enough she saw the feet of their opponents. Judging by their shape, she assumed they were Bloodletters, and not the Khornate Berserkers she had expected, something she frowned at in her mind. 'Odd… why are there Bloodletters here and not those red guys? That doesn't make sense, the Bloodletters are indeed weaker than Khornate Berserkers…' she thought.

"Whelp, what's the verdict, Iffy? What do we have to chase outta this Basilicom?"

Turning to face her friends, IF pursed her lips while placing her hands in her coat pockets. It still felt… well, weird, to her. Being this tall, and all. She was just too used to being petite and… well, plain (much to her irritation), to suddenly be 100% competent with her new body. Fortunately, she had ample means to get used to it in the form of battle, and if she got damaged (which happened way more times now than when she had her original body) then her ample Biomass reserves would allow her regeneration to take care of it. She could afford a few injuries, not that she was being arrogant there. She just stated a simple truth, a fact. It would be easy to misunderstand this for arrogance, she would readily admit to herself. "Well, we've got a whole load of Bloodletters… at least a couple hundred." She replied. Perhaps their numbers were why? Meh, she'd wait and see for herself what would happen.

Hearing the numbers, a thoughtful expression appeared on Neptune's lips. "Hmmm, a couple hundred eh…?" she mused thoughtfully, pondering on it for a moment. Though, this was only for a moment before she dismissively waved her hand to the side, an uncaring expression on her face. "Meh, no problem, really. Let's just beat em up like we have done, then move on to beat up the rest of the Demons!" she excitedly chirped, uncaring if the Bloodletters on the other side of the room heard her, much to IF's annoyance and dark amusement. "With our Skills, something like this will be a cinch!"

"Heh-Heh, well if this were any other circumstance, I would scold you Nep…" IF responded after a small, mirthful chuckle escaped her lips. She then pulled her hands out, her Armour forming over her body. The menacing, imposing appearance her Armour now possessed didn't fail to send chills down the preteen's spine, though she did her best to hide it. It may as well have been laid bare before the knowing look behind IF's piercing gaze. She hadn't looked into it very much, but the brunette found that whenever she placed this Armour on, her eyes would light up like verdant green flames, lighting up in a way that was not so unlike the way Roghrax's eyes seemed to be all the time.

Meh, food for thought later.

Just as she made to turn around, IF noted that Compa seemed to be remarkably silent, she hadn't once said any of her usual blank, innocent and random comments. She didn't look any different, but even so, a tinge of concern nevertheless entered the brunette's gut. It wasn't like her to be so silent, especially during something like this. "You doing okay, Compa? Not getting cold feet, are you?" she asked, trying to sound jokey right now. Though inside she felt like kicking herself the instant she opened her mouth, the brunette was never someone who was quite good at comforting people. She attributed this to her not having some good social capacity, even traveling with these quirky characters and their sexy guy member.

At first, Compa didn't respond, but after a moment or two, she finally registered the fact that someone had asked her a question, and quickly jumped to attention. "U-Uh, y-yessie, I'm good! I'm super good, yup-yup! Ready for a super win, yes sir!" she replied hastily, making an excited smile while doing the military salute she had seen a few times. She even carried her MPCS like an assault rifle over her shoulder, adding on to her cute/soldier mix odemeanornour.

Although, it didn't fool the brunette any. Something was wrong, but they didn't have the time, nor the circumstances needed to question her further. With an uncertain nod, IF turned towards the entrance. "Alright, guys let's do this. Even if-"

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

However, before IF could finish her sentence, a familiar white and lilac blur suddenly burst through the door with unparalleled speed, wisps of clear energy being left in her wake as she jumped into the soon-to-be-battlefield. A loud chorus of frenzied, furious and surprised roars followed suit, all of them coming from the surprised Bloodletters. One could sense the abundance of Demonic Power suddenly released into the air, either by the Bloodletters or the demonic sword Soul Calibur, it would be impossible to tell. Nevertheless, the fact that a whole load of energy just got released into the air more than prevailed in the thoughts of the two girls.

"Ugh, goddammit, Nep! Just wait for once, don't you know what the word 'wait' means?!"

That was yelled out by the irritated Guild Agent turned Spec Ops Candidate, her brow twitching while the fires within her eyes almost blazed in response to her surge of annoyance. If she were a Khornate Berserker, it would not be unfamiliar to her, actually. The brunette took a moment to breathe out an exhale, while feeling a migraine coming on. At this point, she shouldn't be confused as much now, since Neptune was the epitome of randomness. Even situations like these wouldn't dampen her spirit, she thought with a sigh. Whelp, time to play the straight girl, hopefully, Neptune would leave some Bloodletters for her to 'vent' her frustration on.

It was with these thoughts that IF had running through her mind, before she too jumped in, the sounds of combat intensifying as she did so. Most likely the Bloodletters were going to be meeting some… formidable opponents.

Though, to one Nurse-In-Training, she only saw what she had been seeing for a long time.

'Again… they're doing it again, jumping into battle, and I can't help but remain behind…'

Compa thought this with a sense of dejection, something she had hidden from her friends. Briefly, she raised an arm as if to reach out to them, however, she pulled it back before anyone could notice. Not that there was anyone around TO notice, anyways. Everyone she cared about was already in the thick of battle… a level of combat she would not be able to survive in, and if she were dragged in, she would only require their protection to even survive. Even if she had her Armour and MPCS, she could only do so much against these guys. Most of the attack power came from her friends, after all.

However, unbeknownst to her, something… interesting, had its eye on her… like a coiled serpent ready to strike.


Inside the room, there was only chaos (pun intended).

Unlike before, Neptune chose to forgo having her Constructs aid her in battle opting to have various Crystal formations around her at all times which she used for ranged attacks, or defense if she needed it. Aside from that, she used one of Soul Calibur's abilities: PURIFIER, every time she defeated a Demon. Heck, it wasn't like she actually chose to use that ability, it just sort of automatically kicked in every time she defeated a foe. Whenever it did so, she found that the weapon would absorb the Soul of its defeated opponents, using them to get stronger. This ability originally came from her weapon being a pure Devil Arm in origins, only purified (again, pun intended) by her own energy. The more Souls Soul Calibur absorbed, the greater its power became, just like Soul Edge. Unlike Soul Edge however, the souls within Soul Calibur weren't tortured, but rather put in a blissful slumber which in turn fuels her sword's power.

Something else Neptune had discovered not long after manifesting Soul Calibur for the first time, was that she now possessed a 'Core' in her body, a Core which supplied her with Demonic Power, the same kind of power that Nico used for his abilities. It wasn't very active per say, but it did let her use Demonic Power like he could, to a smaller extent. Then again, that wouldn't be very surprising, as Demonic Power isn't something a Goddess normally possesses. It is a chaotic, volatile energy that is only used by Demons and anything associated with them. It is considerably more powerful, more potent, gives access to more abilities like demonic elements, among the standard benefits that Share Energy possesses.

However, it is significantly harder to control, like taming a wild bull on a blood rage. It takes a strong mind, body, and soul, as well as an exceptional willpower to control such a power. Neptune originally had no demonic power due to her being a divine entity. However, thanks to receiving a Fraction of Soul Edge from Nico, Neptune had gained her own reserves of Demonic power as well as a purified Devil Arm of her own. Instead of it being competitive with her original energy, however, Neptune is able to have those energies co-exist within her body, forming a symbiotic relationship between them. Her Demonic Power stimulates her Share Energy's growth so that she doesn't rely solely on the power of other people's faith, while Share Energy purifies and tames the Demonic Energy, making it easier to control. Even she had no clue just what kind of direction her body could take after this, but it definitely succeeded in exciting the preteen.

Right now, however, Neptune found herself limited to just using it as a booster to her body, either through healing or other more offensive means.

On the other side of the battle, IF tore through her Bloodletter opponents with a mix of dual Blades, their Biomass ignited, and her Tendrils which spewed Acid everywhere she went. No movement was wasted, and not a single detail got overlooked by the Spec Ops Candidate, her instincts set onto overdrive, same with the Skill VIRAL OVERDRIVE she had activated early on in the battle. As a result, she had this dark green aura cloaking her form, flickering like a flame whilst she felt her reserves constantly being chowed on by the Skill's draining nature. Still, IF didn't show much worry, as thanks to the potency of her Biomass, the brunette theorized she could go a couple hours with this Skill at max, and that wasn't counting if she didn't get extra Biomass from her defeated enemies.

In the end, IF utilized every combat instinct she had honed over the years, every muscle, every fiber of her new being, to emulate the combat ability she had witnessed from the Khornate Berserkers, applying it to her new body. Something which her new body found surprisingly easy to adapt to her ever-growing fighting style, to the Spec Ops Candidate's joy. She became this swirling vortex of fire, blades, appendages, and burning acid, which tore right through everything in her path. Bloodletters that got too close suffered these fates: boiled alive by acid, sliced to pieces by a fiery blade, immolated by a hot fire, or a combination of the previously stated fates. More often than not, it was the last alternative to these.

Not only that, but she had activated her RYOKUGAN in the midst of this battle, though thanks to her eyes being what they were, it would be nigh impossible to tell. The best way one could would be to observe her movements, how they became even more calculated, more precise, and extra effective in holding her enemies at bay. With such brutal combat prowess, it could only stand to reason that she had some special help in keeping track of the enemy. She became aware of everything around her, all the while successfully predicting her foes' attacks by simply gazing at them.

It had felt weird at first, having the ability to see practically everywhere at once and thus, promptly react in time to sudden threats. Thankfully, that weirdness soon passed as she got used to the Mutation. She had to, after all, she would be constantly fighting for the foreseeable future, so she had to get used to this power, and fast if she wanted to survive longer. She paid special attention to her weak spot, but thanks to her Armour shielding them she didn't have as much worry. It was more like she had multiple means to resort to, should her RYOKUGAN's weakness be found out and exploited. Even then though, she had other ways of protecting herself, and thanks to her VIRAL OVERDRIVE Skill, it would be harder for them to land that many hits on her.

Even so, part of her couldn't help but get this feeling… like something wasn't quite finished with her just yet. Like there would be more to come in the foreseeable future.

With the current experience both girls had, alongside their combat abilities, it would stand to reason why they had more and more confidence in fighting the Bloodletters. They'd fought, killed and PURIFIED/Assimilated so many at this point, that they themselves couldn't help but feel cocky. That cockiness only grew as the fight went on as they fought and fought, killed and killed more Bloodletters. The more that fell to their weapons, the more their blood flowed, the more excited the two girls became. The revelation of them being able to handle this type of combat, this type of thrilling fighting, only made itself clearer and clearer to them…

And what a THRILLING feeling this sensation was!

Just as they reached the peak of their respective highs…

"YYYYEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS! It is TIME! The ENEMY has FINALLY graced US with their PRESENCE!"

It was like a suction of sound, not letting anything within the current vicinity escape its reach. Its near-instant appearance helped it take all the sounds through the room by storm, utterly blindsiding it like a rhino ramming through a wooden castle door. All action on the battlefield stopped, both the Bloodletters and the two girls fighting them ceasing their fighting when that low, genderless, demonic voice erupted from within the portal. Said portal almost seemed to tremble, as if the mere presence of the source of that voice caused it to go into a panic attack. The portal spasmed like it was having a spas attack, spraying the area around it with sparks of chaotic electrical energy, gas, and mass. Some of these chaotic sparks even disintegrated a few Bloodletters on impact, a warning to NOT get hit by those things, to not even get SCRATCHED by them or suffer a fate similar to them. Even if they were raging lunatics, no Bloodletter wanted to die this early in the battle, for it would disgrace the name of Khorne, and they'd rather NOT do something like that to the Blood God.

In response to these events, both IF and Neptune glanced at each other, sharing confused looks between each other first. Then, a second later they each jumped backward, landing beside each other and getting into their combat stances. Something about that voice cut through their previous cocky demeanors like wrecking ball destroying a house in one movement. Not only did it sound like the origin of a Demon, but the raw electrical POWER int that voice felt like nothing to scoff at. If they were to make a comparison, it would be above these normal Bloodletters, but equal to that of a Khornate Berserker… although, the inhuman, crazed feel the energy had definitely told them the owner would be as far from human as they came.

Soon enough, its shadow appeared from within the portal, and from there, the source soon came out of it, stomping its way into the room with its form's shadow looming over the rest of them. At first, it held no distinct shape, being no more than a formless silhouette to indicate just how far away from the portal on the other side it had been. With just a few steps though, its form became more and more visible, to the point where the girls found its appearance to be that of a Bloodletter. They would have assumed it to be the same as its brethren… had IF not realized the similarities it had to the shape of an enemy she had fought once before.

'Oh shit… its one of THEM…!'

Just as well, too, because the moment it stepped out of the portal, a massive swing of its infernal Hellblade happened, the swing being so powerful that it generated a shockwave strong enough to rip through the air itself, tearing through the ground beneath their feet and sending the girls flying into a wall. A pair of loud THUDs accompanied their impacts, as well as a few pained groans whilst the girls each pushed themselves out after a few seconds, landing on the ground in crouches before they looked up towards the enemy. The recent experience of being blown away by a mere Hellblade swing burning itself into their minds with untold heat, malice, and wariness filling their souls.

'Tch, looks like this guy will be stronger than the one I fought back at the Hellverse Dungeon…' IF thought to herself, grimacing as she got into her battle stance. Though, considering the recent event, part of her couldn't help but feel like it would be a vain attempt in the eyes of their approaching enemy. If it was what she thought it was, and she had a pretty solid foundation to go off of, then they'd be in BIG trouble. The two of them may have defeated a whole load of Bloodletters and Juggernauts before, but that was nothing much in the grand scheme of things. According to her research, they were on the lower tier of Demons in the service of Khorne…

A shiver of both primal anticipation and nervousness traveled down her spine as her eyes gazed with trepidation towards that infernal Hellblade, which looked like it glowed so bright that she feared that it would implode into a raging furnace any second. Looks like they got a big fish, this time, cause right now, they would be facing someone slightly higher on the pecking order.


"I have a question for you..."

Outside of MICROSOFT, Arfoire stood on top a hill, watching the city and analyzing the Magic Circles that surrounded the Basilicom. She knew at first glance what they were, and their purpose, which meant that someone was trying to isolate the hordes of Chaos their 'puppet' had summoned into the Basilicom. It was hardly surprising, yet futile in the end, especially when the Chaos forces REALLY kick into gear. "Why is it that you had me use that pawn to summon the forces of Chaos inside the Basilicom? Cut off their heads before they cut off ours is a sound strategy, but if we want to make an impact shouldn't we raze their entire city to the ground?"

Beside her, the shadowy being cloaked in darkness to hide its appearance, responded with what the woman could only assume to be a huff. "FOOLISH MORTAL, you do not SEE? THIS... is WARFARE tactics, ONCE the ENEMY is LEADERLESS, their mortal armies will NOT be able to COUNTER us as EFFECTIVELY as they WOULD have if they STILL had their LEADERS! The tides of CHAOS shall sweep this PATHETIC Nation UNDER its THUMB by the SUNSET!"

Arfoire hid a snort of derision from the being, knowing that if she showed any disrespect then this being would have no qualms doing to her what it had done to the other unfortunate souls. She wasn't one who understood warfare in the way this being did. but she guessed that was to be expected from a being born from carnage itself.

Still, she thought as she looked towards the Basilicom. It mattered not whether she understood, for the only thing important to her would be that those pathetic CPUs saw that the incoming storm would not be something that they could stand against. The forces of Chaos shall sweep across this awful world, purging it of all its weakness and reverting it back to what it should always have been. A state this world should have remained if it weren't for those pesky Goddesses emerging onto this land.

And amidst the chaos (she almost regretted the pun she made there) Arfoire herself would become ruler of this torn planet, the sole True Goddess of the reborn Gamindustri. The weak shall be purged, the strongest shall thrive, and finally, the world will know the true meaning of unstoppable warfare.


Back in the Basilicom, IF scowled as they saw their opponent.

This was bad...

Seriously, this was very, very bad.

It was just as she thought, a Herald of Khorne had graced them with its presence, she thought sarcastically of course. There would NEVER be a time where she would welcome one of these guys to her presence, nope, no way in hell. Seriously bad news were what these guys were, thanks to the powers that they possessed. Not to mention the last time she fought one, she had a holy element wielder on her side. Stefan Von Kessel's Ashbringer had the holy element similar to Share Energy imbued within it, which helped them finish their enemy Herald off back then.

However, right now there was no Stefan.

There was no Ashbringer.

There was CERTAINLY no holy element they could use here.

One could say that they would be FUCKED if they didn't think of something they could use to their advantage soon. Neptune may not know it since she hadn't fought one before (plus she still had Soul Calibur boosting her confidence with its calming, serene yet bestial aura), but a Herald of Khorne had way more power than a normal Bloodletter, IF had realized. She had realized it the moment she fought one and made a comparison between their fighting prowess afterward. A Herald of Khorne was an elite Bloodletter, after all, said to be chosen by Khorne himself, imbued with the energies of their defeated fellow aspiring Heralds and their Hellblades infused with untold hate, malice, and sinister desire. Meant to lead the devilish Legions of his forces in his name on every bloody conquest they embarked on.

Just by being in its presence, IF could sense that there was a whole load of power within that being, way more than the Herald that she had fought back in the Hellverse. It made her think that this one held a lot more experience in combat, which meant its prowess would be much greater. She knew this by the infernal red aura rolling off it in waves, it's Hellblade burning brightly with the rage, malice, and howls of those that the Hellblade had slain through centuries of combat. Its beady black eyes narrowed darkly towards them, its eyes showing nothing but unrelenting, endless hatred and a desire for mass slaughter.

There was only one thing she had forgotten, however, something just as important as the rest of what she had learned about the Heralds of Khorne. That something, soon became apparent as the Herald raised its infernal Hellblade, the fierce-looking weapon almost roaring alongside its wielder whilst words escaped its maw. Words that would send chills down the spines of any mortal, not just the girls in the room.

"HEED me, WRETCHES, for thy DOOM cometh! ALL who PASS before MY gaze shall DIE in offering to KHORNE! BUT, before the SLAUGHTER begins, I, KZAR'TARK, Bloodmaster of the CRIMSON COHORT, bid thee ALL to FIGHT! to STRAIN thine UTMOST against US in GLORIOUS COMBAT! While ALL thy SKULLS shall be TAKEN for the ALMIGHTY, those who DIE on their FEET may yet FIND the BLOOD GOD'S favor! THOU may THINK the MANNER in which thy LIFEBLOOD runs out MEANINGLESS, but I can ASSURE thee that a COWARD'S suffering shall NEVER end – NEVER! So, raise whatever WEAPONS thou can MUSTER and HOPE that thy FEEBLE offering is WORTHY! I relish the CARNAGE that shall be… NOW! My CRIMSON COHORT, begin! Let the BLOOD flow! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKUUUUUUUUUULLS FOR THE SKULL THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!"

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

At the call of their Leader, the Bloodmaster Kzar'tark (weird name, Neptune muttered under her breath), every Bloodletter howled into the air with their unified war cry, their bodies enveloped by an aura of malice much like that of the Bloodmaster, whatever title that was. In any case, the girls each shivered, that title more than foreboding what would be happening next.

With the war cry of their Leader filling their heartless beings, each Bloodletter began stampeding towards the girls, sounding more and more like an earthquake each second. Neptune and IF gave each other uncertain looks in response to this, momentarily stunned by this new change, before they became beset by the Bloodletters, and for the first time in a long while, they became pushed onto the defensive.


While she watched from the entrance, Compa's heart thundered against her ribcage, her ears ringing from the unified warcry even while her Armour had been deployed. Her hands gripped the sides of the entrance hard enough to make miniature cracks appear where her hands were, not that she noticed, her lower lip almost bleeding beneath her helmet with how hard she was biting it. She would have run in to help her friends out, but her previous thoughts combined with the way things were going paralyzed her. Therefore preventing her from moving to assist, lest she suffers a fate she had feared would eventually happen like she had told her childhood friend back in Planeptune. It disgusted her that she was behaving in this way, yet no matter how much her mind screamed at her, her body just wouldn't respond to her commands. Horror filled her creamy orbs when she saw her friends, whom so far had shown themselves to be fighting with ease against beings that normal humans would be trampled by, be pushed onto the defensive. It looked almost like a nightmare to her, seeing her comrades whom she had always seen fighting supernatural enemies like these with unlimited ease, now having the complete opposite scenario happening.

It was because of their Leader, she assumed. It felt like it had used some form of buffing ability like Neptune did with her DEMONIC BLESSING and KARMA REFLECTOR on her Crystal Constructs. She figured that because of A: Their auras being suddenly overtaken by that of the Herald's, B: They only now acted more aggressively, if that was even possible with their violent, savage natures and C: their attack power seemed to have gone up exponentially like some form of buffing ability. Normally Compa wouldn't have seen something like this happening and understood it, but she HAD been learning under two experienced Spec Ops Agents, so she would be bound to pick up on things quicker than she used to.

Still, though, this did NOT help her unease in the slightest.

Slowly but surely, her image of them being super powerful, nigh unbeatable with their past records of combat, began to burn away before her very eyes. Neptune wisely chose to summon her Crystal knight Constructs, numbering about the same as the Bloodletters, but before she could enhance them with KARMA REFLECTOR, she got thwacked by a Bloodletter's blade, sending her spiraling into a wall. The preteen landed in a sitting position, stars twirling around her head until the last second where she had to roll out the way of another fierce slash that would have sliced her vertically in two. The resulting slash dug deep into the room's structure, more than enough to cut through a ZEN SHIYA that IF could have placed in here for recon's purposes.

Speaking of the Spec Ops Candidate, IF fared slightly better than Neptune (who whined and whined whilst barely dodging the ferocious attacks the Bloodletters were launching at her), though her situation by no means had any less peril. Thanks to her having her new build, she fared a bit better thanks to its improved instincts, physical abilities, reaction times etc, but even so IF still found herself on a defensive style of combat like Neptune did. She blocked one Hellblade that was swung upwards, using the momentum to flip over another one aimed at her legs, before she twirled into a double slash towards the first Bloodletter. She had to pull back though when 4 more tried to smash her with their Hellblades when she almost got close to her prey. Sliding to a halt, IF would quickly cross block a Bloodletter's infernal Hellblade, only to get smacked to the ground by another whom managed to blindside her. Well, not completely, she had her RYOKUGAN on (of which she thanked it numerous times in her mind since it was what allowed her to escape a multitude of brutal injuries). She didn't stay down for long though, as she sausage flipped over the heads of several other Bloodletters, landing on the ground a couple meters away with her left Blade now her Bio Cannon, something she aimed towards her opponents and let loose.

A method that the Bloodletters howled at while charging at her like lions thundering across large plains.

Yet, all of this, all of this brought back her darkened thoughts from earlier. That revelation slowly caused her eye to drop, darkening with sadness and shame, her demeanor getting worse and worse the more this combat went on. They brought back the self-deprecating thoughts of weakness and inadequacy that plagued her mind ever since this entire invasion began. Compa's lower lip trembled despite it being a bloody mess behind her Helmet, her lone uncovered eye brimming with frustrated tears as she furiously tried to get her body to move. However, it would end up in vain, her body too paralyzed by the fear of not being protected by her comrades to do anything. After all, in their battles so far Compa had to be protected since she was their healer, but the stronger her friends got, the less important her role in the Party seemed. Those thoughts constantly nagged at her until she couldn't ignore them anymore.

'They... They'll be fine, right? They'll be alright without me, right...? I mean, even if it looks bad now, maybe they'll pull through somehow.'

That was what she thought, and by the Goddesses, she hoped it would be true.

After all, Neptune and IF were the strong ones, they were the ones who kicked the most booty in their quests... she would just be dead weight to them if she got involved, right?

Yeah, that's right, what kind of place did a human like her have amongst a group of super-humans like the current Party?

Yes... that's right, she was useless to them now, even if they were being pushed back, what else could she do?

Nothing...

She could only do nothing.

Just then, one of the Bloodletters jogging towards IF's position, intending to slice her in half from her flank right through her middle, glanced sideways and noticed Compa at the entrance. Seeing her there, it tensed its muscles, before letting loose a mighty howl, roaring at her before breaking into a mad sprint with its Hellblade held high. Its beady black eyes blazed with uncontrollable rage and malice as it closed in on its new prey, electing a frightened squeak from Compa whom quickly aimed her MPCS which had its ammo set to 'BOMB', meaning explosive.

In the next instance, she unloaded a round of explosives right into the Bloodletter's face, catching it by surprise. The moment it hit its target, the ensuing explosion rocketed the creature backward a couple meters, forcing it to stab its feet into the floor to halt its motion. Fortunately for Compa, the other Bloodletters were so into their fights with Neptune and IF that they didn't notice this change or the fact that one of their own imploded from the shot which had hit it in just the right angle to pierce through its head.

A sigh of relief escaped the cream haired Nurse-In-Training, her eye closing as some of her tension escaped her body which slumped its shoulders. That one had been a close call, throughout their past battles, Compa usually got protected in some manner by either Neptune or IF due to her being their weakest link. She didn't have much combat ability, nor did she have any good talent for it. Thus, she had to be protected from the enemy on the front lines, that had been their thought process. However, seeing that Bloodletter charge at her when she was without any protection from her companions made her heart skip more than a few beats. She could only be glad that none of the Bloodletters had noticed one of their own had died like that, otherwise, they would have been on her like Donkey Kong.

However, something much worse did.

"OH? A mortal SUCH as YOURSELF...?"

The moment that she heard that voice, that dark, deadly and distorted voice that sounded like multiple voices talking at once. Compa couldn't count the number of chills that went down her spine or measure the amount of bone-chilling dread that pooled within her gut. The only thing she could think of on that front was that if it were possible, she could have died from hypothermia. Slowly looking to the source, Compa found herself face to face...

With the Herald, Kzar'tark, itself, furiously burning Hellblade and all.

Its immense size of 9 feet tall, along with a similarly long Hellblade, wispy crimson aura and ferocious looking glare combined together created one hell of an intimidating figure. A figure that stood RIGHT THERE in front of her, looking like her worst nightmares come to life. She'd never told anyone this, much like a lot of her darkening thoughts, but she'd lost count the numbers of nightmares she'd had of these creatures, starting from that time she got dragged with Neptune and Nico into the Demon Prince's realm. Compa's eye looked like an eye of one who'd seen a ghost, her form couldn't stop shaking like a leaf, even with her being covered in her Armour, that was just how much this thing frightened her. A being which even her friends didn't take too lightly would be able to snap her neck like a toothpick. With so much ease that it would be almost laughable if she were capable of such.

She couldn't speak, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly inside her Helmet. She tried to say something, anything, she even tried to let out a scream or a shriek, but no sound wanted to escape her mouth, her survival instincts telling her to stay silent otherwise she may end up ticking it off even more and thus suffer a fate she did NOT want to befall her. She no longer had any control over her own body, no matter how much her brain tried to control it with the electronic signals it sent to her nerve system, none of them got the desired result. Compa, as a result, looked completely paralyzed, frozen with fear and unbridled terror. Especially with what this creature had in mind for her.

Its words from earlier rang through her mind, about how it seemingly taunted them, all but confirming to itself and the Bloodletters they commanded that they would fight in vain.

"Hmmm...! It APPEARS that YOU are NOT fighting... THAT must CHANGE! Like I said BEFORE brat, COWARDICE will NOT be TOLERATED by KHORNE! Now, FACE your DAMNATION like a WARRIOR! Or DIE like the PATHETIC coward YOU make YOURSELF to BE!"

Apparently, Kzar'tark didn't want to wait for Compa to figure out how to breathe properly when around it or the rest of its kind, and thus as quick as lightning, it swooped in and grabbed her by the head in its free claw. Compa gasped and grunted as she was held just above the ground, legs flailing about helplessly like fish plucked out of a pond or an ocean. Just by feeling its large hand on her head, of which she desperately clawed at whilst her MPCS vanished into her Inventory, Compa could feel its strength, its ability to crush her head to paste right this moment. It could have done so, too, it would have been easy. After all, the power to do so lay at its fingertips, and she'd be helplessly at its mercy (hah, like a Bloodletter would have mercy, part of her scoffed despite everything)

"Now, COME!"

At that moment, the Herald of Khorne did something that may very well have been a death sentence for the young girl... tossed her RIGHT INTO THE PORTAL. Her screams filled the air as she was sucked in, the Herald quickly giving chase with a howl of glee. Whilst she fell in, her cries finally managed to alert her friends, rousing them from their individual fights. Once they realized what was going on, their faces and bodies lost any semblance of color they once had, terror gripping their beings as they each cried out in the union:

"COMPA!"


Screams filled her ears, most of them not even her own, as Compa crashed into what she thought was hard earth. She couldn't get a better picture cause she'd bounced across it multiple times until she slid to a halt on what she thought was the tenth time, ending up a sprawled heap on the ground. At least when her senses began to recover, she noted that it was INDEED ground. She had almost thought it wasn't.

Pained groans escaped her lips, as Compa slowly but surely got onto her hands and knees. Dust fell off her while tiny pieces of ground rolled off her back while she moved, and hen she was on her hands and knees in a steady, table manner, she looked up and around her to see where she had ended up That WAS after all, the basic response a body should have when thrown into a new environment. Who would have thought that, in her case, it would be more literal than most? Plus, her senses still had some of that dizziness from bouncing about so many times.

Only, when she saw where she was... Compa's senses instantly became on high alert, her eyes becoming dots as her feelings of dread swooped back in with a vengeance.

'No... this is...!'

All around her was a ground shaped by millions if not BILLIONS of skulls, human and non-human alike. All of them looked to be frozen in expressions (or of what she thought were expressions) of agony and horror. Some of them almost looked like they were looking dead at her as if trying to pierce her soul with their gazes and drag her into the depths of despair. Well, if they were, they were doing a damn fine job of it, especially with how some of them seemed to have their mouths open as if to emulate screaming.

Then, when she looked down, Compa saw that she had her hands clutching the space within several sockets and moths from the Skulls her hands were touching. A frightened "Eep!" escaped her lips, similar to that of a frightened mouse, as she quickly stumbled backward, landing on her backside which elected a sharp wince from her. "O-Owwie... my bum...!" she moaned painfully, rubbing her backside which she landed on incorrectly, panic having riddled her senses to allow this to happen.

Looking around again, she saw that aside from the scary floor of skulls, there were dozens upon dozen of spike-like formations, made from (much to her horror) mountains upon mountains of fresh/rotting corpses, all of them burning up under the immense heat radiating through the air. The air itself felt heavy and like ash, making breathing an exceedingly difficult task. in the distance, Compa could see countless fires. ranged from big and small, which pretty much scarred the skies above, turning them into a murky reddish color.

She recognized this scenery, she recognized it very well.

"YEEESSSSSSS! This IS my MASTER'S land! HIS territory! HIS passionate DESIRE for CHAOS!"

The same demonic voice of the Herald reached her ears, causing an unimaginable number of tremors to rock her spine like oceans crashing into a headland. Slowly, she turned around, her eyes falling upon the Demon's large form as it stepped out of the portal it had thrown her in, staying close behind it so that she didn't think of escaping. Its beady black eyes bore down on her, the usual malice and hate burning within them having a tinge of other emotions to it as well. Those were frustration, vengeance, and bloodlust. as it clutched it's Hellblade so tightly that she could hear the cries of numerous souls within the weapon. "My MASTER... is INDISPOSED... for a TIME! Because OF that ONE mortal... As an OFFERING to the MASTER... I shall FIND this MORTAL... and BRING him to my MASTER for PUNISHMENT!"

Hearing this, Compa's eyes widened when she had a revelation on what the Demon was saying. This Demon, it served not just Khorne, but also that Demon Prince that Nico had defeated before going to the Hellverse. She knew this because of how it spoke, how it said 'indisposed' like it meant something greater than that. It was a trait she had [picked up somewhat from Lucy and Raven when they rained her, something she felt glad about since she could be less of a clueless ditz than she originally was. She didn't know the full details, only what Nico had told her, but from what was said she guessed that this Demon Prince wasn't as dead as Nico had said he was. THAT thought caused her to shudder with ever the more dread if that was even possible right now. Memories of being tossed aside to the whims of many Bloodletters, the first time she had ever encountered them, filled her mind, and Compa could not repress the urge to tremble. It was at least better than screaming, in her eyes.

"BUT! For NOW... you WILL be FIRST! As the ONE who AIDED in my MASTER'S demise! I will BE your DOOM! Your SKULL will GO to KHORNE!"

After saying that last piece while shaking off its desires for vengeance, at last for the moment, Kzar'tark stepped forwards, it's Hellblade alight with flames of hatred and malice as its footstep created a resounding sound that echoed through the entire realm. Then another came, and another, and another, until finally, it broke into a mad sprint in her direction, its speed so great that it nearly destroyed the sound barrier.

Quickly, and in a moment of her body reacting to the threat in the best way she knew how, Compa dove to the side, avoiding the monster's Hellblade as it was used for an upward ground-to-air slash. The slash created a huge pillar of flames, easily the size of the entire Leanbox Basilicom, that sent Compa flying just from the shockwaves it generated, causing her to cry out and land on her side, sliding across the skull-covered ground to a halt. Her teeth gnashed together, pain shooting up her spine from the impact until she halted, her body quickly getting to its feet.

Good thing it did, cause the moment she did Compa saw that the Herald was already on her, coming in with a wide, one-handed horizontal slash. The fierce flames radiating from the blade made it look all the more menacing, almost like a fiery beast that was about to take a chunk out of her flesh. For a split second, Compa froze up, terror filling her eyes before, in her panic, she dropped down to dodge the slash. It would only be a temporary relief though, as while she managed to dodge the Hellblade, flames and the following shockwaves, she couldn't dodge the following kick that went straight into her gut, causing the girl to gasp loudly and almost feel like she would cough up her guts along with it, before she got sent flying across the landscape.

BOOM!

Her impact created this huge dust cloud upon it happening, and within it, Compa felt like she was dying. That kick felt like it had knocked her guts out of place, tearing through her organs and shattering the bones within through sheer brute force. Barely, she managed to get a COMPA'S FIRST AID KIT Skill out, replenishing her body's vitality somewhat. It was a Skill meant more for Group heals but at this point the greater the healing the greater the chance she had to survive the next attack. Her pain had been what caused her to think of Skills rather than Items, pain can make people forget about things, just like anguish, rage, and hatred!

The exact second the Skill completed itself, Compa saw the ominous shadow of Kzar'tark looming over her, Hellblade raised for an overhead slash which she rolled aside to dodge. Her heart hammered like a machine gun in her chest, almost opening the wounds she could heel with that last Healing Skill, but the shockwaves that followed the Herald's last attack quickly reminded her brain that there were more important matters to attend to than her own pain. Landing on all fours, Compa remembered some of the moves Nico had pulled at one point, and dug all four limbs into the ground (despite the ground looking like dozens of moaning and groaning skulls), sliding to a halt.

Getting to her feet, Compa quickly raised her Arm cannons to bear upon the fast approaching Bloodletter, quickly unloading a series of long Plasma Needles on her opponent. The Plasma Needles flew true, like many tiny daggers that cut through the air as they sailed towards their intended target, only for them to dissipate harmlessly when coming into contact with the Demon's hide. Even so, up to the point where the Bloodmaster-type Bloodletter got up close enough to once again swing its vile Hellblade, Compa still retained the shots.

Unfortunately for her, this leads to the Hellblade cutting her right across the torso, slicing right through the Armour Module forming it. The Hellblade's power did allow it to cut through mortal weapons and Armour, which was the category her Armour fell into. Thus, the moment it cut through her Armour Module, it shattered and took her Armour with it. "Eek!" she cried, horror and shock filling her as she stumbled backward, feeling the heat of the surroundings in a much greater quantity thanks to the lack of protection.

Even so, a part of her couldn't help but take over, making her stomp her foot on the ground while throwing her arms downwards and adopting a puffy cheek face. "Bad mister scary demon thingy, that was a precious gift from my friend!" She didn't say that said friend was also her crush since it didn't need to know that, not that it would care either way.

"Hmph! WORTHLESS!"

Kzar'tark yelled that out as it knocked that huffiness right out of her by smacking her right in the side of the temple with its Hellblade's pommel, knocking her down to the ground. Compa cried out at this but quickly forced herself to recover and roll to the side, stopping the fate of being stomped on by the Bloodmaster's clawed foot from befalling her. Getting to her feet Compa quickly summoned her MPCS from her Inventory, raising it and smacking it dab in the chest with a couple explosive rounds.

This made the Bloodletter stumble backward slightly at the impact of multiple rounds hitting it instead of one like before, but not by much, instead, it just roared before swinging its Hellblade sideways, unleashing another shockwave in her direction. Compa, now that she had no protection anymore, didn't want to risk getting sliced to pieces (she still had so much left to live for after all), so she unintentionally did the splits to dodge it. Good thing she had trained to do such a thing with Lucy and Raven otherwise that would have hurt.

Even so, though, this didn't stop the Demon from rushing forward as she slid back upwards to her feet, delivering a fierce backhanded swing to knock Compa flying into the air like a spiraling sausage. A loud "Kyaaaaaa!" resounded throughout the landscape as Compa felt the pain of the Hellblade digging deep into the very core of her being, taking parts of her life in ways that no other mortal could comprehend. Her form would have landed onto the ground below her, had Kzar'tark not appeared there first and swung with all its might to cleave her in half.

In a mad frenzy to defend herself from the burning demonic weapon, Compa quickly twirled around and raised her MPCS to defend itself, hoping beyond all hope that it would endure enough that she would be able to use it still. Briefly, just before the two weapons met, a strange bright glimmer overtook her weapon, disappearing before anyone could see it though. Still, whatever it did, it apparently did well, for the moment that the two weapons met Compa was sent flying in the opposite direction she was knocked towards, instead of her weapon breaking and getting cleaved in two like the Bloodletter had intended.

'Huh...?' Blinking curiously, Compa looked down at her weapon, wondering why it didn't break. However, she didn't get an answer in time, for she slammed into multiple fleshy rocks with great force, breaking through them and establishing Compa shaped holes in their structure.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Finally, after the fifth one, Compa slammed into the ground, leaving a Compa-shaped fissure in her wake until she finally stopped. Pain wracked her body, pain so great that it practically demanded her full attention aside from the beast that would inevitably be coming for her soon, the same beast that brought her to the place where everything about her despair began, the place where she fully realized how weak she truly was. Greater than most other things, as well...

But... there was one thing greater than this pain coursing through her like blood. One thing that caused her to give pause as it pounded away at her mind, pushing the pain to the side for a brief moment.

Why?

Why was she fighting?

Why was she continuing on when she obviously wouldn't win in the end?

Why was she struggling so hard to just keep on going?

On the ground, Compa's hands clutched whatever it could, her eyes gazing upwards at the murky red sky. Wasn't it a pointless struggle? After all, this thing clearly had the edge on her in pretty much everything. Strength, speed, agility, reflexes, the works. She couldn't land any successful hits on it that would leave much of an impact, just look at when she tried to attack it with her Armour's Arm cannons. Look at where that got her, her Armour Module that she got from Nico so long ago, gone. No more protection from that against the Herald known as Kzar'tark. Again, a silly name, but she wouldn't be questioning it. Never before had she felt so outclassed than in this moment, not even when she had her comrades beside her, protecting her due to her being the weakest link, did she feel this deep in helplessness.

She was... worthless.

She... was weak, pathetic and frail.

So why? Why was she so adamant about winning?

Why did she struggle harder than she had ever struggled before?

Before she could think further, Compa saw a faint shadow, barely visible thanks to the strange orange light it carried, descending down upon her. Her eyes widened, immediately piecing it together in her mind as she barely got up and dove out the way. Her efforts bore fruit, as she managed to just BARELY dodge the incoming Kzar'tark as it slammed into the ground where she once stood, creating a crater on the impact that would rival the space the entire Leanbox Basilicom took. Again though, her questions persisted, constantly appearing in her mind like flashing lights as the Demon charged at her, unleashing a relenting barrage of blows which she barely parried with her MPCS.

Why?

Why was she fighting, again?

What did she have to gain in a struggle that would end in vain?

What was the answer?

When did things become so wretched, so awful and lonely?

"Pft."


"Eh?"

Compa blinked, just as she had avoided a Hellblade slash to the head, everything around her froze up, like time itself ad seemingly paused like it was a TV show and the remote's pause button had been pressed. Then, everything grew distorted waving about as if something was changing, and something DID change. The entire surroundings changed from abyssal red and black to a pure white void. There was nothing harmful or negative around her, there was just pure white bliss. Bliss from everything that would dare cause her strife.

It was...

It was a nice feeling.

Still though, as Compa closed her eyes and took in this blissful environment (who could blame her?), she couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on. How did she get here? Where was here? So many times she had questioned her situation, it was beginning to make her Compa brain hurt. Part of her just didn't want to even think anymore!

"Yay, she's here at laaaast!"

"Geez, took her long enough, she was starting to get a little too emo at the end there."

"Now now, don't be too rude, it is understood her reasoning, you two."

"Unimportant. She's here now."

"Yes! Finally, it is time to get things started, gang!"

"It has been too long though, so I understand the others and their frustrations."

'Huh?' Once again, Compa opened her eyes and blinked owlishly, 6 voices ringing out from her side, at a fair distance she assumed. Each of them sounded like they had their own personality to them, yet she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity to them. Slowly, Compa turned to face the source of the voices, or rather SOURCES since there were multiple of them. When she fully faced them, Compa took the sight of... well, 6 young girls standing in a semicircle opposite her, floor rather they floated opposite her.

What caught her attention the most, however, was the fact that they all looked like her, at least in terms of hair and eye color.

The first one had her hair tied back with a black colored ribbon of sorts, which let her hair flow downwards in a straightforward manner. She wore, unlike Comp herself, a cream-colored dress, with a set of cream and black plated armor which adorned her shoulders and waist. The Dress looked to be open at the back and made up into a black corset (which exposed a part of her generous cleavage, similar in size to Compa's bust) and a two-layered, knee-length almost ethereal looking skirt which had a pink-to-white gradient. Her hair was tied back using a butterfly-shaped hair accessory. She also wore a pair of gauntlets which have petal-like cuffs, both sharing the same color scheme as her attire, as well as a pair of armored boots. On her forehead, was a broadsword symbol colored with a glittering gold.

Next, was a girl with two cream ribbons with black outlines, much like the first one's color scheme. Aside from that, she wore a full creamy kimono, one that had a black sash around the middle and a white veil floating around her. The kimono opened at the torso so it exposed her shoulders plus most of the space above her cleavage (which was covered by this fluffy flower petal-shaped part) as well as below the waist, allowing the bareness of her legs to be shown. She didn't have any footwear on her feet and had a pair of horns sticking out from her ribbons. The ribbons also had golden flower patterns on them. On her forehead, was a symbol shaped like a Halberd with a copy of the golden glittery theme.

Thirdly, there was an older-looking girl compared to the previous two. The first looked to be 15 or so, while the second looked like she was 14. This one looked to have been 18, though. This one had her hair unimpeded by ribbons unlike the last two, with a voluptuous figure and smooth skin that looked like it had never missed maintenance. The 18-year-old girl looked to be wearing a what looked like an extravagant cream and white colored ballet dress, one that reached down to her thighs and exposed a fair bit of cleavage. The dress had large, puffy shoulders, and her hands were covered by white forearm length gloves. On her waist, she had a white large bow that had its ends hanging downwards. Beneath the dress, she wore white leggings that ended in creamy high heels with matching ankle bands. In her hair, was a flowery hair-clip, similar looking flower patterns adorning various places on her dress. On her forehead was a glittering golden symbol of a musical Organ.

Not the vital-to-life kind, something that relieved Compa somewhat.

After her, was a girl about the same age as the first one. She had her hair, unlike the others, about chin length whereas the previous girls had waist length hair. Her eyes though, they held little to no emotion in them, like they were nothing but blank slates. She wore what looked to have been a wedding dress-

(Flashback)

"Grandpa, grandpa, look what I found!"

"Ooh! That's a Magazine, my dear Compa. Has anything in the Magazine got your fancy, my little girl?"

"Yessie! Look here!"

"... A wedding dress?"

"Hm! It looks so cute! I wanna be a bride someday!"

"Well, as long as you don't become one too early. I'd hate to have to bring out my favored "right hook" on the groom for getting you pregnant."

"Um, grandpa? What does being pregnant mean?"

"... I'll tell you when you're older, Compa."

(Flashback end)

'... Huh? Why did I think of that memory just now?' Compa blinked momentarily, surprise and confusion etched onto her features, before she pushed it aside to continue evaluating the girls she saw. The girl with the wedding dress, she wore a golden crown over her head with a white veil attached to it. When Compa looked to her neck, she saw that the girl had a white bow with a gem attached there. Additionally, there were gold extensions attached to both her hips and forearms. The edges of the skirt folded together like flower petals, while the tips of her skirt were also gold in color. On her legs, were a pair of white stockings with creamy shoes. On her forehead, was a Symbol shaped like a set of pillars around a crown.

For the fifth girl, she had the appearance of a preteen. Nonetheless, she looked to be a beautiful young girl with a voluptuous figure, with flowing long hair that reached down to her knees, even if she looked to have braided it. She looked to have her hair together in a partial Odango hairstyle, in addition to creamy and black hair extensions which, oddly enough, resembled bunny ears. For clothes, she wore a creamy and white Astral Dress. The ends of her skirt, which were adorned with constellation patterns, were divided at the edge. Additionally, she wore transparent white gloves that were also engraved with constellation patterns. Lastly, she wore high heel shoes that were attached to metallic greaves, resembling the leg armor used by medieval knights. On her forehead, was a Symbol shaped like a Key, golden and glittering too.

Finally, the last girl looked to be the oldest of the six, looking like she was in her early twenties. Or rather, a version of herself at that age. She had this sultry smirk on her lips, whilst her hair only reached her mid back. Her form looked like an hourglass in terms of the figure (part of her even wolf whistled at how good she looked, but she ignored that for the time being). In terms of clothing, the womanly Compa wore a creamy semi-transparent suit with star patterns all over it. A belt was hung around her waist, and some articles of cloth were attached to it. She wore a white cape and a cute witch hat with a pair of bat wings and a belt with a gemstone attached to its front. Overall, her appearance resembled that of a flashy witch. On her forehead, was a golden glittering broom symbol.

All of them looked at Compa with varying expressions on their faces, so much so that the Nurse-In-Training got the impression that despite looking like her, these 6 girls had their own very distinctive personalities.

Still, though, she had to wonder what they were doing here and who they were. Before she could ask though, one of them stepped forward. "Thanks for coming at last, Compa. We were kinda getting bored playing puzzle games till you came to us." she thanked her, chuckling sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head. She was the first girl, the one with the broadsword symbol on her forehead.

"Tch, she could have come a lot sooner..." the girl with the Halberd symbol scoffed, crossing her arms to the sides while looking sideways. "I get that she hasn't gotten much info about us, but she could at least try to get in here as quick as possible so the situation outside doesn't happen." The way she spoke in such a hot, cynical tone reminded Compa of flames, flames hot as the sun and it caused her to grimace as if she were burned from those words alone.

A hand from the oldest looking one fell onto the halberd symbol sporting girl's shoulder, drawing her attention to the oldest girl in the group. "Don't be like that, young Compa is already confused enough as it is, and like it or not, we don't have much time." she told her, getting a bit more serious than nurturing like she was at the beginning of her sentence.

The rest of them nodded in agreement, frowns forming on their lips whilst Compa herself only tilted her head sideways. "Um, what's going on? I'm one really confused Compa right now...?" she asked, looking like she was having a headache. Seeing so many girls who looked like herself would do that to a person's mind, she figured.

"We don't have time unfortunately for such questions." the girl with the organ symbol on her forehead replied, her frown remaining as she stepped towards Compa before stopping right when she was within talking distance. For some reason, the Nurse-In-Training found herself looking at her like she was looking at an idol, or someone who had good vocal prowess. It kinda made her feel a little more awkward than normal, something that the older girl noticed but ignored. Not important right now in comparison to what REALLY needed to happen. "Let's begin with this, Compa. Why do you do it?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you hesitate?"

"Why do I...?" Compa made to repeat the question she was asked, but instead, the words died in her throat. Memories of what had been happening passed through her mind, from prior and during the battle with the Demons and their Herald, Kzar'tark. She remembered her moments of weakness, where she questioned whether or not she should stay with the Party considering her own weakness, her own mortality. Those emotions crossed onto her features, making them darken and lose the light that they once possessed.

Seeing that she had difficulty forming the appropriate, and right, answer, the girl who had the Broom symbol stepped forwards, her expression equally as serious as the girl with the Organ symbol. "You doubt yourself, you think yourself weak. You don't feel like you have the capacity to hurt others, only to heal and support. You feel like you're dead weight, that you hold everyone back."

Those words felt like knives stabbing right into Compa's gut, each one being spoken with a calmness that made them feel all too real. The way they were spoken, with such utter clarity and statement-like, made Compa look down to the ground. Her mind processed those words for a second or two, though it felt way longer to her, and she nodded in response. "I... I'm scared. I don't want to be holding the others back..." she admitted, her lip trembling. "I mean, it's not like I can do the same things they can, I'm not a fighter, I'm not someone who can do a lot of damage like the rest of them..." she stated, sighing sadly. It frustrated her, but that was the truth. She couldn't be nearly as strong as the other girls, nor could she be nearly as courageous as Nico could. The guy practically walked along the path of life and death every day like its no big deal. Not something a fraidy cat like her could do.

The girl with the Crown symbol floated forwards, speaking for the first time in this conversation after the previous girl floated backward, allowing her space to get her own words in. "You believe in the saying: best to help others instead of hurting them. You think you have to be better to help people, that healing and support are the only ways you know how to be useful." she stated blankly, getting a tense but firm nod from the Nurse-In-Training.

"Oh, shut up with that bullshit!"

"Eek!"

The moment she finished speaking, the horned girl with the Halberd symbol growled before shouting out that one line. It caused a frightened squeak to escape Compa's lips as the same girl stormed over, looking a mix of annoyed, frustrated and angry with her, although she didn't know what she had said that pissed her off. Though, the horned girl had no problem speaking her mind seconds later. "You keep thinking of yourself like this frail little girl who can't do anything, this sickening goody-two-shoes who thinks she is hot stuff! Well, get over it!" she snarled, pointing a finger at Compa. "You're nothing like that, you get me?!"

"E-EH?!" Compa squeaked, shocked from what the horned girl told her. It didn't last for long, however, as a small flame of anger ignited within her chest. It was small, but it was there, especially when she was called a 'goody two shoes', though the frail little girl part hit way too close to home for her. Especially with these thoughts, she had been recently going through.

Before she could say more though, the girl with the Organ symbol and the one with the broom grasped her by the shoulder and pulled her back, much to her annoyance with them. Though, she did nothing but huff as the one with the Key symbol strode forwards. "What our friend here means to say..." she began, gesturing to the horned girl, before continuing. "Is that every heart has a tinge of darkness to it. Its the law of nature, where there is light, you will also find shadow. To put it into perspective every radiant light casts a shadow. This is what's holding you back, Compa, keeping you from reaching the power you crave. Allow us to show you some examples."


All the girls then parted ways, 3 going to the left and the other 3 going to the right. The entire white void, seconds later, then began to distort and change, like color, shame, and stuff was slowly being painted onto it. Compa couldn't stand it, so she covered her eyes till the shimmering was done. She felt it finish from deep within her being, somehow. She didn't know how she felt that, but she did, and when that happened, Compa opened her eyes and lowered her raised arms, allowing her to see what had happened.

She did NOT expect to see what followed.

Everything around her had changed into... well, the interior of her home. She recognized it instantly the painting on the walls, the ceiling, the tiles making PAT sounds whenever she made a step. Everything became familiar to her, the sights, sounds, smells etc. Looking around, Compa figured that it was dark when she looked out a nearby window, soon realizing that she was in her kitchen. None of the girls were around however, she couldn't see them anywhere yet part of her still KNEW that they were nearby. Don't question it Compa, just focus on what was going on, she chided herself, starting to make her way to her corridor.

Before she could question what was happening, however, Compa heard sounds of talking nearby, a silent conversation perhaps? Whatever it was, she found herself curious. Slowly, Compa crept her way through the kitchen towards the corridor, being careful to not make a sound. Tracking down the source, she found herself at the door to the Living room, where she could hear the faint movements on the Couch. She found that the door was only slightly open, so she gently bent over, leaning forwards till she could peek with one eye to see what was happening on the other side.

When she saw what she did, her form froze, and an icy cold feeling gripped her heart.

The scenery looked like it was late in the evening, with lamps scattered throughout the living room is the only source of light. It created this calm, homey feeling throughout the entire atmosphere, and the only occupants of the room were two people: An old looking man in his mid 50's, leaning back on a sofa with a young preteen girl cuddling up to him. The man had a picture book open, with him and the young girl reading it happily together. The air between them would be an air that only those who had strong familial ties could have to achieve, a sense of softness and fondness radiating from both of them.

Compa recognized this scenery, she recognized it fairly well. Part of her found itself stunned at seeing something like this, for it reminded her of one of the good times she had when Nico had moved out to follow his own path. Looking at the old man, it became pretty obvious that he was wrestling with something deep down, yet hid it from the girl cuddling him like a child would to its parent. "This... This is... when Grandpa..."

"Yes, this is the moment where you first found out. The truth about your parents..."

Spinning a complete 180 degrees, Compa found one of the six girls she had met before, standing right behind her with her arms crossed behind her back. It was the one with the Broadsword Symbol on her forehead, and more noticeably her demeanor seemed like a complete opposite of her previous one. Her face looked like a passive one, but if one looked deep enough into her eyes, then they would see the fondness burning as bright as the sun. "You were so happy back then, to be spending time with your grandfather, the only person left that was a constant in your life, ever since Ni-Ni left to find his own path..." she stated, frowning at the end as the fond flame died out, leaving nothing but hollow emptiness in its wake. For what reasons, however, Compa didn't know, however, something about that feeling resonated with her somehow, like she had seen that feeling before from somewhere. "But then, he brought up the topic of your parents, telling you the truth about them which he had kept from you for a very long time. Do you remember?"

"Yessie... I do." Compa solemnly replied, her eyes darkening with sadness when she remembered. She remembered her grandfather getting her attention, her noticing something was wrong and went to ask what it was, only for him to tell her the truth behind why she didn't have parents. Something that many kids mocked and bullied her for when she was younger. "Grandpa looked so withered and... broken, when he told me, and afterward I broke down into mountains of tears. I cried, cried and cried for as much as my small heart would allow me, constantly wailing about the loss of my mamma and papa, for the first time. I had hoped to at least meet them, learn what they looked like and ask if they even cared for me... but I never would, not from their mouths at least. Grandpa comforted me the best that he could, but in the end, I wouldn't come out of my sadness for an entire week. It took me months to recover from that truth, yet even today the scars still remain."

It had been a dream of hers, something she had wanted to do for a long time. This wasn't something she told many people, heck only Nico and her grandfather knew this, she hadn't even told Neptune or her other friends yet, but one of her dreams in the past was to one day meet her parents. Growing up with only her grandfather at her side was a pretty lonely, hollow experience as a matter of fact, which could be considered ironic. Many times she got bullied by other kids who had complete families, mocking her for her own lack of one. There were some who said kids were cruel, and at some points, she actually wondered if that was truly the case. Even though she tried not to think about it. But, the moment that her grandfather told her the truth, had become the moment where she realized that dream would never be realized, that one of her many hopes for the future had been irrevocably crushed without mercy.

Sometimes, fate can be one of the cruelest beings in the world, even beyond Demonic beings.

The other girl nodded, solemnly. Just as much as Compa felt deep inside. "That's right, however, there was more." she stated, getting a confused look from the Nurse-In-Training, prompting the girl to continue. "Think hard. What else did you feel? What else besides the anguish and despair that filled your soul for your parents was present in your mind? What else did your human-self think about, even if for a brief moment?" She questioned further. However, it seemed that Compa didn't understand where she was coming from, or rather, something blocked her from doing so. This became apparent to the girl the more she stared into Compa's eyes, which prompted a resigned sigh from her. 'Looks like I have to...' she thought to herself, frowning in both guilt and grim determination. "I see, so your mental lock is greater than expected. I really didn't want to do this, but looks like there's no other option..."

"Huh? What do you mean...?" Compa began, when all of a sudden she found herself turning back to the two other room occupants. Unlike before, the scenery had changed to one of sorrow and despair, with the young girl who looked exactly like a preteen version of Compa herself, cried her eyes out while hugging her grandfather. The old man, whom she had been reading a story with, looked down at her with supreme sadness darkening his eyes like an unforgiving abyss, his arms wrapping around her in comfort as he did his best to console the sobbing girl, a girl whom would never ever meet the parents she had been so curious about. Her heart clenched tightly, painfully, at the sight, feeling wetness welling up inside her own eyes too. However, just before that happened...

'Who... who was it?!'

'Who took them from me?!'

'Who hurt my mamma and papa?!'

'I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!'

A loud gasp tore from Compa's lips when she heard thoughts, thoughts that came directly from that little girl's mind. Thoughts that sounded so alien to her, and yet also strangely... familiar to her, at the same time. Thoughts of... anger, resentment, and rage, filled her mind, thoughts that felt like they should be recognizable to the young woman, yet not at the same time. "Wh...What...?!"

"That's right, Compa..." the broadsword symbol sporting girl stated, getting her attention once more. The girl's eyes shone with an understanding of Compa's shock, befuddlement, confusion and, dare she say it, frustration that built itself within her creamy orbs. "The shock and pain lead you to avert your eyes, but do not think I am lying to you. No, none of us are lying to you. In time, you will see this for yourself, but my task for you is complete." she told her, raising her hand and clicking her fingers.

"H-Huh?! Wait, I-!"


Unfortunately, the scenery and the broadsword girl all shattered like glass, fragments of what had happened spiraling around her as black pieces in the white void. Compa could barely see anything as they swirled around her, however, and thus found herself covering her eyes again just like when the scenery changed. Barely, she noticed how the scenery outside the pieces began warping and distorting once more, the pieces spiraling around her dissipating into nothingness once again.

Once she found that the pieces were gone and it would be safe to do so, Compa lowered her arms and opened her eyes once again, expecting to see the white void. However, what she got was something else, something much more familiar to her. Instead of the white void, Compa found herself on the country street between her home and the main capital of Planeptune: SEGA. All around her, she could see the beautiful wilderness, the serene countryside that would accompany her whenever she would walk home either from groceries, trips with her grandfather, or from school. The scenery usually didn't fail to calm her down when she had a stressful time, and she DEFINITELY had a lot of those during her lifetime. But... there were exceptions...

This scenery seemed to be one of those times, she thought, for when she noticed a feminine figure in the distance and jogged over to it, she found that it was her younger self when she was about 5 she believed. The reason why her heart became cold once more, was the expression on her smaller self's face. The expression she saw, it was one of the worst ones she ever had while growing up, one of utter despair and sorrow that wouldn't be too unfitting if it were put on someone with suicidal tendencies. Her younger self, as she trudged along the country path home from school, looked like she would be approaching that type of mentality soon, with how utterly dejected she looked. Like the world had just sucked out all the joy from her life...

Seeing such a sight from an outsider's perspective, somewhat...

"This... This is...!"

"Heh, sure took ya long enough, fraidy cat!"

A disdainful frown etched itself onto the corners of Compa's lips, a surge of anger towards the boisterous, pompous voice calling out to her from behind. Really, so far from that girl, all Compa had gotten was insult after insult from her, it was both annoying and hurtful. Didn't she realize how mean she was being? No matter, Compa still turned to face her, the horned girl with the Halberd symbol on her forehead. And like she had assumed, she had that pissed off expression on her face, whilst her arms were placed on her hips, her posture that of a parent scolding a misbehaving child. Not to mention that she had a somewhat wispy white aura rolling off her form in waves, expressing just how much her agitation levels were rising. Heck, Compa even saw how her eyes had gained what she had thought were whitened pupils, pupils of eyes that were fiercely locked onto Compa's own like missiles homing in on their targets as she glared at her.

"You remember this, yeah? You remember what happened to make you like this?" she questioned, roughly pointing towards the downtrodden girl version of herself as she walked along the pathway. The sight was NOT something anyone would like to look at, if they did then they would have likely tried to console the distraught girl. If anything, her look only got more and more depressing as time went on. The way she clutched her bag mounted on her back, holding her head down so that her hair shadowed her eyes, shadowed the faint lines of tears rolling down her soft cheeks, marring that flesh for hours to come before dropping from her chin to the ground below, created an exquisitely heart-wrenching sight.

A sight that Compa found all too familiar. Her anger ebbed away, giving way to the depression that had been building inside ever since she first took part in the Gala. This depression made her look down, not unlike that of her younger self as her fists slowly unclenched, an aura of resignation about her as she answered. "Y-Yeah... this was one of the times before I met Ni-Ni... when some kids from school grouped up on me, mocked me and demeaned me in front of an entire playground. Everyone laughed at me, saying really mean things about my parents and how I was 'one of the unlucky ones'. They bullied me all day, and not one adult tried to help me..." she replied, looking towards her child-like self. A few tears fell down her face as she recalled those brutal times.

Seriously, Nico probably didn't even realize it, but he had made one HELL of an impact on her life when he was dropped off at her grandfather's door.

"Yeah, that about sums up MOST of it..." the horned girl commented, rolling her eyes as she made a dismissive gesture. She had watched Compa during her little monologue, and she could see it. There was more work to do, but her task would be nearing its completion soon enough. It may look like she was being mean, but there was a method to her madness. This became evident in the brief, as in a brief flash of sadness and empathy she showed behind her creamy orbs before it vanished and her previous cynical demeanor returned with a vengeance. "And by most, I mean ONE crucial aspect you didn't get."

At this, Compa raised her head, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion as she rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears building up inside them. Not to mention the fact that she only sensed a slightly less amount of hostility in the horned girl's tone. "Huh?" she began to say, before her eyes widened once again when thoughts, thoughts she both recognized and didn't recognize appeared in her mind:

'I hate those kids...'

'I wished they would all disappear!'

'They are so mean, why is it that people like making fun of me?'

'Maybe the monsters will come and hurt them for hurting me, let's see how they like it.'

'Perhaps I could go hurt them instead! See how they would like that!'

Thoughts like these filled her mind, shocking and confusing the young woman even more. She would not be hiding it, but a tinge of fear began to build in her gut as these thoughts began to accumulate within her mind, merging with the ones she thought on the first scene. "What... what is happening?!" She cried, crouching down and grasping her head as she tried to force those thoughts out. Tried to push them out of her brain so that they wouldn't bother her anymore. However, none of them left, in fact, they only seemed to get stronger and clearer the more she rejected them. It scared the hell out of her, to be perfectly honest. Although, part of her wondered why she was so scared in the first place...

Looking at this, the horned girl groaned to herself, putting a hand on her face. Her task was completed, that much she was certain just by looking at this wimpy girl. However, she already began losing hope that this girl would end up doing it like the others assumed she would. She looked like she would break apart any second now, something that both angered and concerned the young girl (though it'd be a cold day in hell before she would admit that). "Meh, I'd tell ya, but where would the fun in that be?" she responded, making a dismissive hand gesture. "After all, we gotta go through a whole load more shit for this all to be worth anything, so you might as well get going."


The moment Compa heard those words, she looked up just in time to see the world quickly break down like before, showing the white void amidst the black glass pieces. She quickly closed her eyes and buried her head in her knees again, and when she could finally sense that the scenery was stable again, Compa slowly looked up while pushing away the thoughts slowly building within her mind.

This time, the scenery took the form of something... bigger something that was much more powerful in a good way to her, than the last few scenes. In front of her, was her home but this time she was outside of it. She stood in the house's garden, the serenity of the atmosphere still is how she remembered it from back then. Not something she minded, for it helped her in keeping her mind off her troubled thoughts. Nonetheless, this wasn't what brought a small smile to Compa's lips, nope, it was only the second best thing about this scene before her.

What was the best part about it, you ask?

Well, look at the doorstep, and you'll see.

At the doorstep, several people in black expensive-looking suits appeared to be standing there, conversing with her Grandfather who looked a little younger than he did in his later years. Their conversation wasn't heard though, only faint whispers of sound coming from their lips, and yet their expressions told anyone listening that their topic of conversation was serious business. As in, super serious that they would be speaking in a hushed manner, even though their faces remained passive on the outside. The Nurse-In-Training could even see her previous younger-self hiding behind her grandfather's leg as if it were her only lifeline from these unknown strangers in her eyes.

Between the two men in black suits, though, was the one person whom would become Compa's salvation, the one person Compa would learn to trust above all others: Nico himself.

The11-year-oldd kid looked like he was thinking hard about something, if the thoughtful look on his face was any indication. Compa looked at the scene with a pensive look on her face as she tried to recall it herself. She didn't remember much about it, to be honest, this scene only served to kick-start her memory of the event that changed her life for the better. However, it was the first time she met the boy who would more often than not get lost in thought a lot of the time. So much so that he would lose track of his surroundings and completely close up from the outside world.

Compa remembered how she would sometimes admire that trait of his, his ability to cut the world off from himself so he could think about whatever he wanted. It seemed so... liberating to her, and even back then, this trait helped develop his already high level of maturity. She remembered how he had taken one look at her (prompting her to shyly hide away behind her grandpa's leg, to the man's amusement), and quickly sussed out that she had problems. Problems that he had tried to ask her a few times but she didn't tell him. She even remembered seeing him asking her grandfather what was wrong, expressing more worry for her than any kid her age had ever expressed for her. It had been... strange, since next to nobody aside from her grandfather did that for her.

"Yep, he's our knight in shining Armour, isn't he?"

This time, Compa smiled when she heard that childish, older voice that still carried that tint of wisdom that only came from being older than her. This voice, she didn't mind as much since she wasn't so mean like that horned girl was. She seemed more like Compa herself, which prompted a quicker liking towards her. Quickly turning to her left, the cream haired girl came face to face with the girl with the Organ symbol on her forehead. Said girl stood not 3 meters away, a big smile on her face with a hand on her hip while the other rested peacefully at her side. Her form practically oozed happiness and joy, a trait that was mostly possessed by an innocent child.

A statement that proved itself even more true when the older girl jumped at Compa and glomped her, not too unlike how Neptune would sometimes do so after she would return from training with Raven and Lucy. A surprised squeak escaped her lips when she did this, all the while she rubbed her cheek against hers. "Oh, how you look so cute and precious! How could such a cute girl be so sad?" she cooed, before breaking the hug (albeit reluctantly) and took a few steps backwards. "Your beloved Ni-Ni entered your life on this day, didn't he? #GIGGLE# He was such a sweetie, though you didn't see it that way at first, did you? Nope, instead you treated him like the kids you got bullied from, you kept away from him with the excuse of being shy. When in reality, you wanted to know if he would be like all the other kids in your school, if he would do all the mean things that they did to you." she stated, slowly walking up to Compa. Her creamy high heels clicked on the ground as she walked, till she stopped when she was right in front of the Nurse-In-Training.

Part of her honestly thought that she would get glomped again, but thankfully for her that didn't happen. Not to be rude or anything, but she had almost lost the ability to breathe when she glomped her with such strength that seemed almost beyond her body's physical limitations. Her rib-cage could have cried out for joy if it had sentience. With that out of the way, Compa let out a larger smile than the last one, her eyes filled with affection and happiness as she watched her and Nico#s first ever interaction. "Yes... I never realized it at that time, most of our beginning would be rocky at best. I found him to be a nosy boy who didn't know when to stay out of things. Its like he couldn't help himself back then, and even now he has that trait about him. But, looking back on it, I don't regret it one bit." Whilst that trait could generally be seen as annoying, in some means it could actually help things turn out for the better, and her situation with her bullies would count as one of those times. If Nico hadn't persevered and kept trying to talk to her, then he wouldn't have ended up as one of her most important treasures.

"Yup-Yup, he's your prince charming who came to rescue you when you were at your lowest!" the older girl chirped happily, bouncing over to Compa and hugging her properly this time. When she received it, Compa found that there was nothing but innocence and childish affection in this hug, so she quickly returned it with equal fervor. After all, hugs were great, best thing in the world (AN: Trust me, I agree with that statement, hugs are lush) and she loved hugs. It was partially to do with this tat Nico got his love of hugs, aside from his adoptive mother. Just then, the girl leaned towards Compa's ear, whispering in a soft voice that didn't seem all that different from her other one... if one didn't count the lower octaves and the slight darkness that creeped into it like a phantom in the night. "You forgot a few things though."

Once again, confusion made its way into her heart when she heard that, and the moment that the girl pulled away looking like how she had looked before, the Nurse-In-Training wondered if she had heard right. Soon enough though, she got her answer when her head felt like something 'pulsed' within it, causing a gasp to erupt from her mouth as she fell to her knees, holding her head once again as thoughts both recognizable and alien flowed through her mind.

'He's so mean, why does he not leave me alone?!'

'He' just like the others, always trying to find ways so he could hurt me! I hate him, I hate him!'

'Why did Grandpa take him in? He should know he's going to be like all the others!'

'Maybe he could be my meat shield, such up the damage so I can finish everything off and take all the credit?'

"St-Stop it... What are...?!" Compa tried to say, however, the skull-splitting pain rushing through her mind like blood in the circulatory system refused to allow that. She barely even got all that out, and by the time she did so the pain had intensified by 1000, if she were to pull a Neptune and use gaming logic. It became all she could do to not pass out from the sheer mental agony she found herself going through. Barely, she registered the sounds of chains bring broken, but from where that sound originated would not be possible to be tracked in her current state, that was what her screaming mind told her whilst the older girl before she just stood there, watching her with that ever-innocent smile on her face.

She even had her hands behind her back whilst leaning forward slightly. "Oh don't you worry, my dear. Believe me, everything will become clear. You're a good girl, you know, and you're well on your way to your ultimate realization. Till then though, I look forward to what will come. See ya lateeeeer!" She happily called out, waving merrily at her whilst everything around Compa broke down, including the pain she had been in.


By the time the scenery reformed, Compa looked about once more, trying to figure out where she was this time. Her pain had subsided thanks to that transition,, however it left her feeling more than a little pensive about what would happen next. The past couple scenes had been scenes of various moments in her past, moments that were more sad than happy. She feared what would be happening next, although another part of her had other thoughts in mind. That part of her wondered what was happening to her body outside, her body that should have been facing off against that Bloodmaster Demon. However, when she saw the scenery that she was in this time, those thoughts flew out of her mind like the speedy bird being chased by that ever-persistent cartoonish wolf.

"This...!"

Once again, shock filled her system like that dark-skinned superhero who 'became a human fuse box' after a little something called the 'boom infant incident'. Looking around, Compa found herself in the middle of a vast plain. One of many across the Land of Purple Progress. It had been so long now since she'd last been to one without the intent of fighting monsters that she almost forgot what they felt like. She could feel the soft caress of the gentle breeze blowing through her hair like the gentle touch of a loved one, the beautiful sights of nature spread around the vicinity, the grand flowers, the chips of bird and other wildlife, and the whole tranquility of it all. Yet, part of her couldn't help but be fretful of what would become of this scenery. This was the fourth one, she believed, so were there going to be more?

At the center of the plain, Compa saw a large tree, easily towering over a good 10 to 15 meters of land in diameter. Its tall, imposing form created a good amount of shade from the scorching sun, showing that this was one of those hotter days in Planeptune. Since Lowee and Leanbox were in an eternal spring and winter respectively. Planeptune had more of a summer feel to it, whilst Lastation had an Autumn-like feel to its nature, or what little nature there was left in that Landmass since their industry was taking up big chunks of nature at a time. Even so, none of those thoughts became relevant when she saw what lay beneath the tree, basking happily whilst remaining oblivious to their surroundings...

Compa herself when she was only 11, lying on a crimson blanket next to an equally sleepy Nico, curling up together while locked in deep slumber. The two of them faced each other, soft sounds of breathing filling the air as well as the faint motions of their torso's rising and falling. Heck, his right hand and her own right one ]were interconnected between them, like they had just sealed a promise and were now holding hands whilst in their joint sleep. Not to mention, that the girl's grandfather sat nearby, watching them with a small, but very much joyful, smile on his face. Slowly getting up from his previous position and dusting off the dust on his behind, the older man approached the two sleeping children and wrapped the blanket around them, shielding them from the elements while giving them the look of two newborn infants. In response to the new comfort, both kids moaned and shuffled closer together, snuggling into each other and forming peaceful smiles on their faces.

It was... more than a little adorable to witness, and Compa had to restrain herself from squealing cutely and running over to hug the two lest she disturbs their slumber.

"You remember."

A blunt, if not blank, voice called out behind her, and when she turned around Compa came face to face with the girl with the Crown symbol on her forehead, as well as the one who triggered a flashback of her past with just her wedding dress. She stood there calmly, emotionless with her arms by her sides while looking at her dead in the eye. It... kind of unnerved her and made her feel nervous inside. She didn't know as much about this one as she did the previous ones, as the lack of well, anything on her features made identifying her personality rather difficult. Not to mention, the way she held herself, with almost military-like stature and a lack o revealing anything, sort of reminded her of what her teacher Raven was like during their training.

"Um... I remember?"

"This before you. You remember what this is. I know you do, I can see it inside your irises."

Blinking while trying not to show how weirded out she found herself, Compa slowly turned back to the scene she was witnessing along with this strange, emotionless girl. She took a moment, but she soon figured out what she was trying to say, her eyes lighting up with realization. "Oh! Y-Yessie, I remember...! this was when my school's half term started, grandpa looked super psyched that a lot of my bullies were learning not to mess with me any more thanks to Ni-Ni's interference. He even encouraged Nico top utterly break every bone in their bodies should they try anything funny with me, as in his eyes those kids wouldn't understand unless physical violence was applied." She replied, a bit awkward at first, until a soft fondness appeared in Compa's eyes. Memories of Nico rescuing and protecting her from bullies surfaced inside her mind, bringing a powerful warmth through her chest. It almost felt like the blossoming of a flower in the middle of summer, like it had been a late awaken-er only to turn out all the more beautiful from the power nap.

"Affirmative." The blank-faced girl commented, further reinforcing this military image that Compa found herself forming of her. Whatever it was that she was thinking right now, Compa wouldn't be able to figure it out. There was literally NOTHING on her features that could be a clue, it almost seemed like she wouldn't have any emotions at all. "He was your anchor, one of the few slices of heaven in an utterly hellish life. The care and affection that you have for him grew greatly the more you spent your time with him." she stated, and Compa didn't refute her, It was true after all, ever since Nico came into her life and showed himself as someone whom would be there for her when nobody else her age would, it was like her world got a little brighter. A world, which had been blackened and cursed to a state of despair and loneliness by the heartless, got a light that illuminated it in the form of that young boy. "Even so, this isn't all that happened."

... Alright, now Compa SHOULD have been prepared for the moment those words came, but even so, she wasn't. There was always another side to the coin as it were, and she had been the victim of this song and dance more than 3 times now. She should have guessed something like that would happen again, but she didn't. Therefore, when her head pulsed once again, and this time much more audibly than before with the 18 year old girl, she found herself regretting that mistake. "Argh!" she screamed, clutching her scalp like it would tear itself in half at any moment, though this time she only leaned forwards while struggling to maintain her balance.

'Ni-Ni is my light, nobody else's! Nobody-nobody-NOBODY WILL HAVE HIM!'

'Its fun watching him beat up those meanies who try to hurt me! I wanna do it alongside him!'

'They deserve it! Nobody will take Ni-Ni from me! I won't let them!'

'I won't let anyone take Ni-Ni away!'

Once again, the sound of chains being broken reverberated through her mind, only a little louder. Not only that but the pain that erupted from within her skull like a bomb going off intensified greatly in comparison to the previous times. Compa barely stopped herself from screaming to the high heavens as she held her scalp, and she SWORE she could feel something wet on her head, trailing down the side from how hard she gripped her scalp.

Nonetheless, Compa still managed to hear the other girl's voice as clear as crystal, both from within her head and from everywhere around her. "It is nearly time, Compa. You are close, close to your epiphany. I suggest you think it over, learn about yourself, realize what you really are. As well as what you will have to do to break through your current crisis." her voice told her, with a ghostly each as each word burned itself deep into her mind, like a mark being attached to her skin. Not to mention, each one felt like they were spikes, stabbing away at those 'chains' within her, as she could hear the cracking of metal echoing throughout her mind amidst the pain.


By the time the pain, as well as the blood and scenery, vanished Compa looked back up, not really wanting this cycle to continue. No., it would be more accurate to say that she definitely didn't want this cycle to continue, but the words refused to be formed in her mouth. Compa didn't know why, whenever she tried to speak, something prevented her, and she had no idea what it was... or perhaps, maybe she did? Compa didn't know, she didn't know a thing anymore.

In any case, when she looked up again, Compa found herself in what looked to be a large room. A room that looked to be the room of some form of lodging, but not one that she found too much familiarity. The room looked quite bare, with little signs of personal luggage being used to decorate the home. It was almost as if the one who owned this room, if there was an owner, didn't even bother decorating it. It gave off this... lonely feeling, and Compa didn't like it. Nope, no sir, she didn't like it at all. A frown marred her lips as she stood up, looking around to figure out where it was that she was located, exactly. So far though, she couldn't find anything of important note...

Until she saw the bed at the back of the room, next to an o open window with some lovely looking curtains.

The moment she found her gaze set upon it, a thunder-strike of realization hit her full force, especially when she saw the sole occupant of the bed, which looked to be for a single person anyways now that she got a look at it. The person that lay there on that bed, was an old man, a man who looked like he still had some form of fitness training and was now currently resting. There was a cold cloth over his head, to keep his temperature down whilst the hot sun outside shone at its apex, meaning that it was likely around lunch time. The man himself wore a gown of sorts, a gown one would wear when they were at the hospital or somewhere of similar medical purpose.

"This is... Grandpa?!" Compa exclaimed, shocked as she jogged over to her grandpa's side, surprise and confusion etched into her thoughts. For a moment, it stunned her,, seeing her grandfather again after so many months. Thanks to her going on that adventure with Neptune and Nico, she hadn't had many chances to visit the home her Grandfather resided in, her last visit being during the small break that they had inside Planeptune. Even then though, it didn't stick in her mind very much, as the visit had been both rather short and rather boring, if she were completely honest. Still, she had missed seeing her grandfather so much and when she saw him that time, Compa had to restrain herself from hugging the remaining life out of him.

Still, he embarrassed the life out of her when he began teasing her about the moments she shared with Nico. She didn't get to tell him much, but what little she did informed him plenty about how her current standing with him was. Even with her friends who also served as her love rivals, something that made her grandfather laugh when she told him. He had told her that he could see the kid getting a lot of women's affections during his travels, and had no doubts that the kid in his eyes had not done things like sleeping with those women. Little Nico had stuck by Compa's side more than any other person when he lived with them, after all. He did entertain the thought of other girls trying though.

"Yes, this is your grandfather, my dear."

"Eh?!" Slowly, Compa looked behind her (wow, this is really becoming a thing, huh?) to find the door to the room opening, revealing two people coming inside. One of them was Compa as her 14 year old self, looking positively radiant. This Compa rushed to her grandfather's side, said man having opened his eyes and smiling upon seeing her. Opening his arms, he allowed the girl to lovingly embrace him, loving her squeals of joy and happiness at seeing him once more. It was a rare thing for her back then, so she treasured what few moments she could spend with him. The ORIGINAL Compa on the other hand, couldn't help but be focused on the one who came after her, however... It was the witch-like girl with the golden Broom Symbol on her forehead.

She approached from the door, closing it behind her before walking up to Compa's side. She then pulled up a seat from... well, she didn't know where exactly, the space around her hand just distorted like ripples, and from those ripples she pulled out the chair. Pulling it up behind her, the woman sat down on it with one leg crossed over the other, a certain look of knowing on her face as she leaned forwards with her hands under her chin like a criminal mastermind. "My dear, do you remember this scene? Its of you when you came to tell your grandfather some interesting news, yes?" she questioned, a slight smirk on her lips while she used one hand to gesture towards the two hugging people before them.

Looking back to the scene, a soft, wistful smile formed on Compa's lips. A smile that betrayed the emotions boiling over inside her gut like a glass being overfilled with water. "Yeah..." she muttered under her breath while watching her 14 year old self begin talking to her grandfather. "This was when... I managed to convince the right people to let me stay on my own with the house. I had to use whatever funds I could get my hands on, as well as some contacts whom owed my grandfather a couple favors, but I managed to do it. I became the legal owner of my own house a a young age." she mused, remembering those times. There were more than a few moments where she wondered if she would even get tot hat stage, if she would be able to consider this her reality since everyone seemed dead set on taking her grandfather's house for themselves. After all, the legal age of living alone was 15 or older. However, since she was 14, she would have had a lot more trouble making it so that she could keep the house.

Honestly, the only reason she even won her rights was because of the contacts her grandfather gave her the numbers of. A lot of them were quite the influence in the business industry, and with those contacts Compa had been able to get permission to live with supervision until she reached 15, which then would allow her to live by herself. Afterwards, she was on her own, her supervisor being someone who knew her grandfather since they were children. When she was alone, that had been the moment where Compa felt like she had truly earned herself a victory, a victory all her own. It had been an amazing feeling, a feeling that she used as a means to spur on her desire to live independently, and to not let her new home fall victim to anything else.

Again, it was the best feeling.

"Yes... the thought of finally winning your uphill battle against the authorities wanting your grandfather's home was indeed a thrilling one, so much so that when you got the chance to, you quickly came to this care home to tell him all about it. He was so proud of you..." the woman remarked, smiling in nostalgia. It was almost as if she herself had been there, struggling to make ends meet, something which drew Compa's attention, though she didn't ask since she thought it would be rude to ask that of a stranger. Then, a frown etched itself onto her lips, her eyes darkening in seconds. "But then, THAT happened, didn't it?"

The darker tone she used, combined with what she was talking about, struck a chord in Compa. Her eyes became downcast, darkening with sadness when she remembered it. "Yes... that's..." she began, only to pause when she saw the door open again and a caretaker came inside. The caretaker for her grandfather looked to be a woman in her thirties, with a set of simple clothes along with a badge to state her occupation as a caretaker. Compa could only watch as the woman had a fake smile on her lips when she told her younger self that it was time to leave, that visiting hours had ended. Compa's smaller-self tried to protest, but a stern look from the caretaker shot her protests down. It looked to be clear that the woman didn't like brats, and she saw Compa as one the moment she saw her. "I couldn't stay long, cause apparently, grandpa's visiting hours had to be cut short for a time, due to his health taking a turn for the worse. Even though he looked s fine as he usually did. I felt so sad to not have thee chance to spend more time with him, I'd saved up what I could to get that chance after all, but..."

Compa didn't finish, but she didn't need to. After all, the woman looked like she knew already, she had just wanted her to say it herself for whatever reason. "That's right, those staffs were some of the stricter, meaner staff, but since your grandfather couldn't afford to stay anywhere else with his pension, he had to stay at one with such people. Not to mention that they all had very... negative opinions of you and made excuses as to why you couldn't see him when you wanted." she stated further. "You knew from that moment on that you weren't welcome here... and I think you knew your grandfather had a similar opinion as you did, but he couldn't fight against it." the woman said, a frown on her lips.

The Nurse-In-Training nodded in response, not saying anything. She remembered learning about the stuff that the staff members often said to her when she tried to go visit her grandfather, stuff that, upon starting medical school to become a Nurse, she learned were sicknesses that usually would warrant the victims going to the hospital. When she found out, Compa had all but demanded why they would lie to her like they did, but they never gave her any proper answer. It sounded like a crime to her, but since she was tight on money, to begin with at those times, she couldn't really sue them for their conduct.

"It happened then, too you know." The woman began, leaning back in her seat as she crossed her arms under her ample bosom. Her eyes gazed intently at the other occupant of the room, looking her up and down like she was searching for something. It looked like she found what she was looking for though because her lips twitched upwards. "My dear, you have to have noticed by now, yes? What's been happening to you?" she asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

Before Compa could answer, she gasped once more when pain assaulted her senses, with more of those unfamiliar yet familiar thoughts appearing in her mind.

'Those guys are so mean?! Not letting me stay with grandpa!"

'Why did he have to be put in such a place?! He should be staying with me! I can take care of him!'

'I'll become a Nurse, just so I can!

'I hate them! They should just go die!'

"Agh! Ugh... what are these... things, in my head...?!" Compa cried, holding her head whilst falling onto her knees once more. She lowered herself so her forehead touched the ground, tears brimming down her cheeks like waterfalls as more evil and darker thoughts assaulting her mind like a medieval army laying siege on a castle. Not to mention how her body itself became racked with so much pain that her tears eventually turned into tears of blood. Part of her noted that the thoughts she heard all came from the past scenes that were shown to her, thoughts that struck deep within her being. The more seconds passed, the louder that they came, to the point where her ears began screaming in protest just like her brain did, at the loud volumes that the thoughts had. It felt like they were each their own person, and they were constantly screaming at her from within. "Please... make them stop...!" she tearfully cried out, unable to move thanks to all the pain hammering away at her right now.

"You know of them, don't you...? You know what they are...?"

"...I...I..."

"You KNOW, don't you?!"

"I KNOW!"


Everything shattered around her the moment Compa screamed out those two words with all the emotion she felt boiling over inside of her. Like those two words blew away everything in existence. Everything around her became nothing but a black void, a void of nothing but pure darkness like it came from the primordial deity of darkness itself. There was no sound, no smell, no sight, nothing but darkness, but to her, that felt more like a welcome reprieve than anything. The pain inside her head, it settled down along with those thoughts. They still remained, but it felt more like bullies that showed genuine surprise over her fighting back, thus taking a few steps back to observe her. A constant reminder of their presence, though they didn't hurt or speak nearly as loud as they did before. This allowed Compa to stop clutching her head so tightly and to drop her arms to her sides, lifting her body into an upright Japanese sitting position while her head hung low.

"You know what those were... don't you? Have you finally figured it out?"

In front of her, manifested the last girl, the sixth one. The girl with the golden Key symbol on her forehead. Whilst it looked like Compa kneeled on some form of ground, the other girl floated above it like she was a CPU or something. There was this glowing white aura around her, her hair rustling constantly behind her like it was being constantly blown about by a cool breeze. The Key symbol-sporting girl looked down at the kneeling Compa, her eyes betraying no emotion while her hands remained at her sides.

No response came from Compa for a moment, a moment that seemed to stretch on forever. The girl remained silent herself, not speaking until she got an answer. She knew Compa had heard what she had said, so she just waited for her answer. An answer that finally escaped Compa's lips in the form of a broken, defeated whisper. "Yes... those were..." she began, before pausing to take a deep breath. She shuddered, barely able to get the following words out of her mouth. But still, she got them out, no, it felt like she HAD to get them out but something tried to stop them. Still, she got them out eventually. "My thoughts... thoughts that I... refused to acknowledge..."

Those thoughts, she remembered them now. At first, she had no clue as to what they were, no, that wasn't quite right. Instead, she had known what they were deep down, from the very beginning. But, everything in her being refused to acknowledge them, and thus they were treated as foreign alien entities instead. She had refused to see them as her own thoughts, thoughts that she had possessed... for quite a long time. Little by little though, they managed to creep back into her mind, slowly forcing her to perceive those thoughts.

A nod came from the other girl, though Compa made no movement to indicate her having looked up to see it. "That's right... this is the side of you that you have repressed your entire life. Your lonely childhood, your miserable existence, they created a powerful psychological change within you. 'I want to be liked', 'I want to be loved by others', and 'if I am a good person, maybe things will get better'. Those were the thoughts you had. Thus, you sealed away all your negative desires, all those dark thoughts you held, all your resentment, rage, grief and sorrow. You sealed it all up inside, hoping that by appearing as an innocent little girl, you would eventually get a better life. And for a time, things didn't change until Nico came into the picture..."

Faintly, Compa shuffled, hearing the other girl talk. "After he assumed the position of your first ever friend, showing you that he was trustworthy, you opened up to him. You trusted that he would help you, and he never betrayed that trust. This acted as the first 'unlocking' of those desires, which scared you on a level you didn't even realize existed. Therefore, you formed a 'possessive' side to you that you didn't show, to act as a means of reinforcing that 'lock' on your desires. By the time that he had to leave to pursue his own path, you didn't need that possessiveness anymore, so you placed it within the 'lock' so you could keep up your good girl self..."

All this was said with little to no emotion, yet every word hit Compa like a lethal punch to the face, one intended to behead the victim. Yet, she made no movement to refute the girl as she continued. "By the time you reunited after being apart for so long, you had well and truly sunk into the idea of being the 'good girl', a shy, meek and timid girl who conformed to the needs of others before her own. Its what people are naturally drawn too, you assumed, and you were right. In no time at all, you got bullied less and less, you were treated better by the day due to the 'moe' factor you employed. By the time of your reunion, you had well and truly sunken into such a role."

That was when the girl's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. As in, an inch, so it wasn't even noticeable. "However, during the beginnings of your adventure, that began to change, change in ways so subtle that you didn't even realize it yourself, thus you didn't stop it. Your object of affections began getting other girls' affections, those girls were way more aggressive in their approaches than yourself, thus leaving you in the dust. You began to see it, that you were way outclassed compared to them, but you ignored it for the fleeting sense of purpose you felt you possessed..."

"Until my eyes were opened..." Compa stated, but it was so silent that, if this were not a soundless void, then they wouldn't have been heard.

The other girl continued, her words affirming what Compa had said. "Indeed. You began to see at last, that in your quest to be 'likable' you became weak. Weak in both will and strength. You became caring to the point where you didn't like seeing others hurt. You became this way so that people would like you, so they would stop bullying you, but the cost was that you became like a wallflower. Everyone got so much more powerful than yourself that you began to question your place with them. You even began thinking about these in the middle of a battle, which could have gotten yourself and your teammates killed."

Compa didn't respond to those words this time, but there was no need to. Both of them knew that she had hit the nail on the head if that expression were to be used for this situation. Growing up a bullied kid, Compa wanted it to end so badly. She wanted to be liked, she wanted to be cared for by the people around her. The loneliness inflicted by her parents' deaths had inflicted a terrible desire to be accepted by her peers on her heart. That scar had been what forced her to seal away any negative urges, like the urge to get back at those who wronged her, to insult, to shout, to fight back against any injustices done against her.

By the time she had met Nico for the first time, her negative desires had been completely suppressed, in their place a meek and shy little girl who would try her best to stay away from him as much as possible. At least, until he began helping her with her bullies, showing her that not only was he trustworthy, but he could also be used as an outlet for her suppressed negative desires. Those thoughts had been right, deep down a part of her sadistically enjoyed the violence that Nico would dish out on her bullies, their screams were like music to her ears. Who could blame her for enjoying them, either? he had been tormented by them for years at this point, so seeing someone stand up to them and give them a taste of their own medicine felt like therapy for her.

Everything else was just as the girl had said it, she had gotten into her head, the role that she had used as a means to seal away her negative desires. One could say that her 'Mask' no longer was a 'Mask' but an actual face. Something that warped her sense of reality. At this point, she had been too trapped behind her 'Mask' and thus she didn't know her desires began to surface throughout her adventures with the Party. It only TRULY started breaking, however, when she became explicitly aware of just how far she had fallen behind, how weak she truly was in comparison to the other girls... to Nico.

One could say that the 'Mask' finally shattered, and Compa found herself looking towards an ugly truth that she had been denying for so long now.

"... What do I... do now?" Compa began to say, her shoulders shaking as she placed her hands on the ground, each hand clenching into a fist as frustration began to build within her. Frustration in quantities she had never felt before now. Mostly because her 'Mask' had stopped it from such. Her eyes brimmed with tears that expressed a similar emotion, yet she still had the energy to glare heatedly at the ground, her teeth gnashing hard enough to crack them. "Even... Even if my 'Mask' is gone... how is this going to help me...? All you guys did... all this... this making me realize what I have been denying all this time... how is it supposed to help me? I'm still weak, I'm still unable to fight back...! It's frustrating, so frustrating that it makes me want to punch something!"

For a moment, the girl remained silent, just floating there and not saying a word. However, when Compa looked up to show how angry and frustrated her face looked, the girl finally responded before the Nurse-In-Training could say anything. "You have finally reached the point where you are 'Capable'..."

"Eh?"

Compa, upon hearing those words, blinked with confusion as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. She leaned back into a proper sitting position, even though she felt super emotionally drained at the moment. Even so, the girl continued. "To fight a Monster... you either need a monster of your own, or you become one yourself. These words hold special meaning, especially for you, Compa." the girl told her. "humans are not weak, but they are indeed frail creatures. Even so, this doesn't make them helpless. They have indeed lived with monsters and demons their entire lives, alone in a world filled with beings who could tear them apart with no mercy in their sleep. But, if that's the case, then how have they survived for so long? Their own ingenuity? Their own ability to train? No, it's not just those things. No, the fact of the matter is, that there are humans among them who have the 'will' to become 'monsters' to fight the other monsters. 'Those who can't sacrifice something can't change anything'. I believe that is the saying most appropriate here. In essence, that is what's been thrown at everyone's faces, the concept of human and monster is a very blurry line, there are monsters in human form and humans that can be just as monstrous as the beings they fight."

Listening to this, Compa remained silent, her eyes wide at what she was hearing. This information... it sparked something in her, something that urged her to continue listening. "In that case, I will ask you this: what is so bad about being a monster? In a world like this, those who have power get to live, those who don't are either treated as rats or killed. There is little to feel safe and secure in this world, both before and especially during these trying times with all these demonic entities returning. Humans are not weak but in comparison to the things that are coming they may as well be. Humans in comparison to everything else, are on the bottom of the food chain in comparison. Your friend, Neptune, and the rest of her Party have little humanity in them, save for you. You are the only human in a group filled with monsters. Before, you did not have the capability to 'change', due to your own mind weighing you down. However, with the 'Mask' now broken, that is no longer the case."

At the moment of saying this, the girl raised a hand, pointing it towards Compa who stared at her with shock, awe, and amazement. "Before, you never had that chance, but now the opportunity has presented itself before you. What will you choose? Will you remain on the path of being 'weak' like a human? Or will you shed your mortal coil and become 'strong' like a 'monster' like the rest of your friends? A monster whom will be able to stand alongside them, instead of beside them? A monster whom will be able to move forward, to fight for what she wants, to make it so that you can be as 'free' as you wish to be?"

Compa remained silent, her jaw hanging open whilst her eyes became as wide as saucers. Her breathing shook, her body trembled like it was hit by a megaton earthquake, and her palms began getting sweaty. The effects on her breathing became visibly apparent when her chest inhaled and exhaled more audibly, her eyes slowly shrinking inwards.

So, her choices were to either, remain human so that she could return to her previous life as a meek little girl who had to be protected all the time, or to accept whatever it was that this girl was offering, this 'monster' path and finally be of help to her friends? In that case, what was it that she really wanted? Wasn't it to become as strong as she could be? To be able to help her friends and not have to be protected by them all the time? So she could stop holding them back? Wasn't that the source of all her problems?

If she were her previous self, denial would have been her answer, as she wouldn't want to be a 'monster'.

Now, however...

Her hands began to shake before they clenched into fists. They shook a little before they became still as her breathing calmed down. Closing her eyes, Compa took a deep breath to steady her nerves. There would be no turning back from this choice, but she didn't care. She didn't need to think about her choice right now, all she wanted to do was help her friends, and to do that she needed to get back to them and help them fight. There was only one enemy, and only one of her, so what was there to be afraid of? And since this girl asked her... "I... I WANT TO FIGHT!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "I DON'T WANT TO BE USELESS ANYMORE IF I HAVE TO BE A MONSTER THAN I WILL ACCEPT IT! I HAVE FRIENDS WHO CARE FOR ME NOW, NOT LIKE BACK THEN! I WILL NEVER, EVER BE A BURDEN EVER AGAIN!"

Compa's shout shook the entire void, for it had been filled with all her rage, all her negative emotions that she had contained for so long, in addition to her resolve. Resolve, something she had seen Nico and her friends have a number of times. the resolve to fight the monsters nobody else could, the resolve to fight as monsters themselves. How could she do anything less than them, huh? They may not have had much of a choice in being what they were, especially Nico and IF, but they didn't let that get to them, they didn't let that stop them from fighting for what they believed in. She may be choosing to walk a similar path to them, but she had no right to do anything less than them.

That was her answer.

Her answer seemed to have been the right one, for the moment that the girl lowered her arm to her side, she began glowing brighter as the void became illuminated by her light. Pretty soon, the two found themselves back in that white void once more, with the five other females standing around Compa. Each of them had their own smiles or smirks on their lips, pride and eagerness filling their creamy orbs at the prospect of what would happen next.

"Yaaaay, you finally accepted yourself! This girl's super duper happy right now!"

"Heh, finally got it sunken in, huh? Well, it's about damn time."

"Hehehehehe, the complete you is so much cuter than your half you!"

"Good call. I'm proud of you."

"An excellent choice, my dear. You shall not regret your actions this day."

The five girls each spoke in the order that she had seen their scenes for, up until the girl with the golden Key symbol. Said girl simply walked forwards, up until she stood 2 steps away from the Nurse-In-Training to put her hand on her shoulder. The path before you has become one road, once again. Your true path has been chosen. Move forward, never doubt yourself again. Be confident, and remember you will always have us. It is now time for us to give you our powers, and our names, to turn you into something more than human. You may call me... Michael."

Compa blinked when she heard the girl say her name at last, confusion filling her. Wasn't Michael a guy's name? Even so, before she could ask, the girl's form turned into a white, spectral silhouette that quickly entered her body, making her gasp as she felt something 'change' within her.

Pretty soon after, the other girls followed suit, all placing their hands on her shoulders and giving Compa their names. All the while, their forms would do the same thing as Michael's, power slowly filling Compa's body and changing it from human, to... something else.

"Call me Haniel, my dear. I hope that you will find my power practical, especially for snagging your man ufufufufufu."

"I am Metatron. My light will destroy the enemy."

"Tee-Hee, call me Gabriel cutie pie! Let my songs lure your enemies in to finish them off! Maybe help your friends, too!"

"Hah, its FINA-FUCKING-LY time to kick some ass! my name's Camael, you scared cat, so better remember it!"

"Hehehehehe, this is going to be so much fun! I am Sandalphon, Compa! It's nice to finally meet you like this! Sorry, I didn't say so earlier, the others didn't let me!"

At once, as the last girl vanished inside Compa, she soon found her vision becoming white... but she didn't care.

She would be reborn as something else, shortly...


Chapter end!

OH. MY. GOD! Over 27K words! Longest chapter so far, shit! A new record!

This is probably one of my most character-oriented chapters yet, even more so than Lucy and Raven of Team RAIL. For those of you who don't get what's happening, it's like this:

Compa has grown up as a child who got bullied a lot and didn't have any friends. That sadness, plus the lack of a proper family, made her decide to seal up her negative desires deep within herself, in order to put on the 'mask' of a cute girl who was too innocent for her own good, so that people wouldn't hurt her anymore. Now, as someone who's experienced with bullying myself, I know for a FACT that something like this can change a person's view for the worse. In this case, it's Compa masking her true feelings so she could gain friends.

Throughout her life, however, cracks began to appear in the 'Mas' she wore, starting from when she met Nico as a child. She slowly felt her Mask beginning to break when she realized that Nico was someone she could trust, but due to how longs he had been bullied for, she got scared and 'reinforced' her 'Mask' by developing a strong attachment to Nico, a sort of possessiveness yet not at the same time. When he finally left, however, she cast that attachment into the 'Mask' since she didn't need it anymore.

By the time they reunited, Compa had well and truly sunk into her 'Mask' to the point where she forgot that it was just that, a Mask. Throughout the Party's adventures nonetheless, this began to change as Compa became more and more aware that she was the weakest link in the Party, the sole 'human' in a group of non-humans. Think about it, she's a normal girl with a Group of a Demon God, a Goddess, and a BOW. Plus, many of the people she knew weren't completely human anymore. It was only during their encounter with the Demon Prince, did Compa truly become aware of this fact however.

But because of that, she realized her weakness was holding everyone back because they had to protect her, something that would really mess with someone and make them feel terrible about themselves. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I can see Compa not saying these feelings and insecurities, just like how friends sometimes keep secrets. They just don't want to be judged harshly and they fear that they will by those closest to them. Its only through great trust that people share these kinds of emotional wounds, and more often than not people don't understand how dangerous it would be to dismiss these feelings.

To those who think this is OOC for Compa, maybe your right. But I will say that I'm portraying them as best as I can to their original personalities, but I just don't see someone like Compa not having darker secrets. I mean, seriously if you look on the wiki it says that she somewhat has a dark side, and I've played the first two rebirth games. So, I know she sometimes comes off as somewhat sadistic when she is fighting, case in point "I think I've found a good test subject..." Tell me others got chills when they heard that. What I'm doing is expanding on that side of her character and giving her a proper backstory.

At least, in this manner, I'm showing that Compa is much more than she appears, which I think is true for the average person. We all have our issues and problems that we have to deal with, some just handle it differently than others. More often than not they hide these problems behind smiles and such, and also, look at how Neptune is. Its true people use humor to disguise their feelings, and at least in this fic, I've taken that approach to her character. Its just been used in a more extreme case with Compa, which can be used as a means to further their friendship.

Please tell me what you think in the reviews or PM's, cause this chapter has so much content to it, psychological, philosophical, and intense themes that can be related to real life. Hell, it fits the overall theme of 'Masks and Reflection# where people hide things to go about their normal lives in society.

Once again, lemme know what you think, and see you in the next chapter!

Peace out!