Chapter 133 - The Big Boss PT 1
Slowly, the power to process their surroundings began to return to them, as their brains proceeded to recover from being practically blindsided in every sense of the word. Blindsided by that eruption of power which had filled the room of the Dungeon like an igniting flame.
"Ugh… owwieeeeee… My head, it feels like a pile of consoles fell on top of it."
Neptune groaned in pain to herself, a twisted face marring her lips with a hand hovering over her head to rub it and sooth the thumping headache she sported. Whilst she tried to nurse her head, the preteen slowly opened her eyes. At that point, her vision became blurry at first, but eventually it recovered enough for her to notice a couple things. One of them was that she no longer was donning her Armour, which prompted her to glance downwards to notice that she lay stomach first on the ground.
Strength returning to her, Neptune groaned as she stood upwards, looking down at her chest to notice how she still had her Armour Module beneath her hoodie, which brought a sigh of relief to the preteen CPU. More relief than she would ever like to admit to herself, or anyone who asked either. The preteen even raised her hands to feel her chest where the Armour Module was to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, then her mind registered how it's spider-like legs clung to her chest like it normally did which put the final nail in the coffin for her. She didn't want to think about what could have happened if she had lost that part of her, it WAS something her beloved hubby had gotten for her after all.
That was when Neptune recalled what she had said out of the blue regarding the headache she now felt slowly ebbing away, a sheepish expression forming on her featured with a sweat drop forming on her forehead. "Though, I guess that could probably kill someone, now that I think about it. I mean, so many consoles to the noggin could hurt the head bones in there or something, I don't know I'm no bone expert… wait!" Her eyes widened when she remembered the situation that had taken place, the dungeon, the disturbing ritual site, the body, Maghda, and lastly that surge of energy that temporarily knocked her out… as well as slammed her into the ground it seemed. "I don't have time to monologue in huge paragraphs like this! I gotta find the others!"
"Ugh, calm your jets Neptune, we're all here."
Several groans accompanied an annoyed tsundere Voice which grumbled in irritation (seriously if Noire heard that I called her that I'm pretty sure shell try to gut me with her HF blade '-_-). Upon hearing that female voice, Neptune's own eyes widened as she whirled around faster than a Kangaroo to find Noire, Vert and Lucy nearby, all sprawled on the ground in various positions... very risque positions at that, she might add. Something that caught Neptune's attention and, since she sometimes said what she thought without thinking like someone with ADHD (again, sometimes when I played the canon rebirth series, I think this is a disorder she has, though nowhere near a certain Son of Poseidon from a certain book series). "Uhhhh, author? Was it really necessary to put us in fanservicey positions, cause the tone for this story is kinda…"
"Neptune, please do not break the fourth wall right now." Vert requested politely, although if one looked they would be able to see the slight annoyance behind her calm gaze as she stood up, holding her head with her right gloved hand whilst a frown formed on her lips. "What matters now is to disconcert where we are and why we are here… this certainly does not seem like the Dungeon we were in."
"Eh?"
Neptune blinked owlishly at that, she did it several times actually. For a moment, that response went in one ear and out the other with her like 80% of the things she heard about anyways, until a few seconds later when her mind literally skidded to a halt, a 'huh, wait what?' demeanor about it as it quickly reprocessed what Vert just told it. At that point, Neptune looked around in confusion, expecting them to still be in the Dungeon like they were before… only, they weren't. "Nepu?! What the heck?!"
Indeed, whilst Neptune shrieked like that, shocked surprise filling her tone, it became apparent to her for the first time that they were NOT in the Dungeons of MICROSOFT's Basilicom, nor anywhere near the capital city for that matter. Instead, the preteen and the others (once they too all recovered from their headaches) found themselves in a large, grassy plain that expanded across every direction as far as the eye could see. However, it didn't take them long to realize that this place was anything BUT normal.
Their reasoning would be made immediately apparent. The clouds above them, all of them spiraled inwards towards a centre, sort of like a whirlpool but above them in the skies instead of in the ocean. That would be the first oddity in their new surroundings, and would not be the last either, something the girls all found out when they each felt a strange, unique feeling energy permeating throughout the atmosphere. None of the girls could make heads or tails of what this energy was or its unique origins, but judging by the feel it had, all of them got a strange, yet not unwelcome mystical feel from it. Not to mention the sight of their surroundings, no matter how weird they looked, felt like a welcome change compared to what they had been exposed to throughout the last couple hours.
Yeah, a plain like this beat skulls, spikes and brutalized corpses any day.
"Whoooooaaaaa… what the Nep is this place?" Neptune wondered, tilting her head to the side whilst placing an index finger over her chin. Confusion filled her lilac orbs, yet beneath it there was a serenity about it that came from the calm, serene nature of the place that they were in. "Well, whatever it is, sure beats that nasty stuff we've been seeing all nepping day. I'd take all this scenery over all that dreadful, boring stuff any-day. Now, if only Compa were here, then we'd be able to have a cool picnic…" the Planeptune CPU mused as she lost herself to her imagination. A bit of drool fell down the left side of her lips whilst she daydreamed about all the delights that the Nurse-In-Training could whip up. She definitely had a strong hand when it cam to cooking, something Neptune absolutely adored about her friend.
Lucy chuckled at the innocent cuteness Neptune showed just now, she couldn't help but find her strangely adorable even with her quirks. She may have a thing for the man that had the D Lucy wanted, but the redhead also found herself enjoying the quirky personality the CPU had. 'Even so, it doesn't excuse the fact that she has the same mistakes on her shoulders that the rest of the CPUs have…' one part of her, a cynical part who'd grown sick and tired of the way the CPUs acted in Celestia, commented snidely within her thoughts. Something that the redhead woman also agreed with, even as another part of her counteracted the thoughts with the following. 'But she doesn't even remember what that was like, and even then, she's trying to do something about it by befriending the other CPUs and helping save the world by freeing Histoire with the Key Fragments. Its because of her and Nicky-Dear that the CPUs are slowly beginning to change from their war-like ways towards one another.' Thus, it resulted in a rather… complicated feeling inside her chest, regarding the amnesiac. "Well, perhaps if we get out of here and reunite with her, we can have that sometime. But for now," she began to say, before her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she glanced around their surroundings. "I'd say we should focus on where we are first."
"(I shall reiterate what I said before, I believe I can help you there, Mrs VERONICA.)"
This time, when they heard the voice of the Mad Magician known as MAGES. echo throughout the scenery, the girls didn't react nearly as visibly as they did before. Though, that was mostly thanks to them having prior knowledge that MAGES. could be capable of such a thing in the first place. Not to mention that she was their ally, and jumping in surprise at every time a voice interrupted their conversations would get old real fast. "Oh, MAGES.!" Vert remarked, looking upwards. She didn't know if the Mad Magician was up there, but it felt like the best way to communicate with her for now. "Is it right to assume that this place is your doing?"
"(Your assumptions would be correct, Goddess of Green. This is a special sub dimension I created when I set up my Spells in case of an emergency. I had hoped that I wouldn't have had to use it regardless though, but with the situation you all found yourselves in, I had little other option.)"
"Huh? Whadya mean? What happened back there?" Neptune queried, looking up as well with the rest of the girls following suit. It would likely become a gag, everyone communicating with voices echoing like this or voices that spoke through their minds by looking upwards. "All I can recall is this strange WHOOSH feeling and then, well… I dunno, but it felt like we were slammed into a bus or some weights or something."
"(That would not be far from the truth, yet also a gracious understatement, lost Goddess of Purple. Unfortunately, you do not have enough time, you all need to transform immediately. I would say why, but my calculations tell me you only have 2 minutes before a battle of survival will begin. If I hadn't sucked you all in here including the incoming threat you're about to face, then the entire Basilicom would have been razed to the ground from the inferno that would have followed.)"
Noire blinked, her mind quickly registering the slight urgency behind the tone that the Mad Magician used. It… perplexed her, hearing the blunette woman say something with such a tone. Normally, MAGES. would be all calm, composed with a side of chuuni (something she knew first-hand thanks to meeting her in Lastation with Nico, Neptune and the Party). But, hearing her try to tell them to transform whilst trying to keep her cool as if something unsettled even her DEFINITELY rung alarm bells in the Lastation CPU's mind. "What? What are you-?"
"(Shoot, here it comes!)"
Before she could finish her words, MAGES. yelled those words out, and despite her questions Noire and the other CPUs followed their instincts. Several bright pillars formed around Neptune, Noire and Vert as they each turned into their HDD forms, pillars that disappeared to reveal the three girls seconds later. Though, each of them had different weapons out and ready for combat right now. First of all, Neptune brandished her CPU form's Katana instead of Soul Calibur, Noire had quickly summoned Balmung in place of her CPU sword, and Vert…
Vert had taken on her HDD form for the first time since she had returned from Celestia.
The woman's form hovered above the ground like the other CPUs, bathed in a brilliant and glittering white aura that could only come from Share Energy itself. Her hair had changed from it's golden blonde color, to a mint green. It consisted of many bangs that framed her even more mature face than the one her human form possessed. It was almost as if her face passed into the divine realms in terms of maturity, something which her voluptuous figure also followed suit in since it gained an hourglass shape that would make the prettiest of supermodels go green (ironic, huh?) with envy. Her hair was styled in a single ponytail, one that fell down to her knees in terms of length, held in place by a white band. Her eyes, instead of a sad deep blue color, now became a bright amethyst color, complete with the signature white power button symbols that came with being a CPU.
Her outfit, much like the other CPUs, followed the swimsuit theme, only her's seemed considerably more revealing than the previous two CPUs. So much so that it almost seemed sinful to look at her. Her swimsuit had the white and green color scheme her Nation seemed to follow, taking on the shape of a two-piece bikini rather than anything else. The upper portion covered her chest whilst exposing some of her under-boob, whilst the lower portion barely covered the essentials, a stark contrast to the culture that women followed in Leanbox where they wore conservative dresses.
White and green Armour covered her arms up to the biceps, her forearms being encased in futuristic-looking gauntlets of similar colors and her hands having clawed fingers. Each finger was covered in black Armour, same for the hands themselves, whilst each finger ended in clawed white tips. Several black pieces jutted out the back of her forearm gauntlets, giving them a rather wild appearance. More white and green Armour went over her legs, going above the knee to just beneath her thighs whilst they ended in mechanical-looking futuristic stiletto heeled feet. From behind her, a series of pink, petal-like wings protruded out of her back, each of them flared outwards while various Armour Pieces floated over her shoulders, head, waist and feet.
Thus, Vert found herself looking over her HDD form for the first time since she came to Celestia. A slightly awed look formed on her face whilst she stared downwards at the sight, as when she trained with Gungnir she'd never really gotten a good look at herself. No, she had been more focused on the other issues back then combined with how relieved she had been to be able to transform once again at all… even though it didn't completely rid her of her problem.
"You can admire yourself in a mirror like a giant narcissist later, Vert! We got company!"
Instantly after Black Heart yelled that out, Vert AKA Green Heart sharply turned her head to look in the direction that the other CPUs, plus Lucy, looked in with their weapons raised.
WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!
It was a good thing, too, cause the moment they did the group got bombarded with a HUGE source of heat from a TITANIC pillar of orangish red fire suddenly shot out of the ground, roaring like a demented lion of absolute carnage as it hit the skies above. The moment it did, the entire landscape began to change as fiery trails erupted from the base of the pillar, racing across the landscape and affecting it down to the smallest atom. The skies themselves changed, changed from a clear glistening blue to a charred red, orange and black similar to the remains of an atomic bomb going off. Dark, murky clouds formed from the smoke generated by the flames that scorched them, leaving their mark for all of eternity.
Whilst the sky couldn't escape the hellish touch of those flames, the ground could arguably be seen as going through an even worse transformation. Everywhere the flames touched, life got turned into sizzling ash. The grass turned into layers of charcoal, the once fertile ground became desolate and rock hard, whilst everything around it changed from what could have been referred to as a paradise, to a desolate, barren nightmare thanks to the flames released upon it. From the flames, smoke was born, filling the air itself with its taint and burning even that too. Nothing escaped their touch, like a village being set ablaze with the screaming villagers inside it, nothing would remain unscarred by the time the flames were done.
Watching what they did, the CPUs could only feel dark, twisted terror gripping their hearts like a vice.
"Thi-This…" Noire began, her eyes wide and trembling horribly whilst she did all she could to keep it cool. It didn't work though, as she kept on sweating profusely whilst trying to keep the rising pit of dark despair inside of her stomach from swallowing them whole. "Th-This is j-j-j-j-just disgusting…" she muttered, her lips trembling and her voice stuttering. None of her previous confidence survived the horror that she felt inside at seeing such a beautiful landscape being utterly decimated before her very eyes. Part of her tried to take solace in that this was only a sub dimension where life would not flourish, but it didn't make her feel any better. This reminded her way too much of what Avenir had been doing to her Nation's landscapes whilst she was away, and it caused her to feel a sharp stinging pain deep within her being.
Gripping her Sword, Purple Heart gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, furious anger flourishing within her eyes like the wilderness that died around them. "I agree, Noire…" she responded under her breath, though Lastation's CPU still heard it. Both of them had to manually keep their breathing under control, though one had more success than the other, to avoid coughing from the soot and ash dominated oxygen in the atmosphere generated by the flames, it was THAT bad.
One can imagine how Vert could feel as she watched this, having visions and flashbacks of what she had seen whenever she went out to exercise Demons and the other Demonic Forces threatening to destroy her Nation. "Unforgivable… totally, utterly unforgivable…!" she mumbled under her breath whilst she too kept her breathing even. Her form trembled, rocking back and forth as unspeakable anger raced through her like a certain cartoonish devil in a show full of cartoon characters. Now, by no means was Vert like a druid or anything like that. She was a warrior and a goddess; therefore, she knew that destruction as a vital part of the circle of life. However, when she saw the state the land was changing into, she couldn't help but imagine all the devastation and suffering her people had been going through without her being able to help them. They passed through her mind like a slideshow, the looks of horror and fear almost taunting her, mocking her for not being able to do anything. Moreover, she remembered the uselessness she felt when it happened, something which only incited her rage further. Whatever was trying to break into this realm, transforming it from the beautiful paradise it once was would pay DEARLY for this.
But this, this was NOTHING compared to what Lucy felt and looked like…
If she were a demon in disguise, the look on her face right now would surely shred her disguise to pieces.
Finally, from the pillar of flames, a creature began stepping forth, emerging from the pillar that split apart like a pair of curtains. First, came a cloven foot which, at the moment of touching the ground, erupted into even more flames that coated it, protecting it from view. Following that, came a reverse jointed leg that looked to be a mix of skin, fur and Armour. It's skin was the deep red of encrusted blood, the fur being the colour of dried up blood having been spilled centuries ago yet some areas looked like they were more recently spilled. The reverse-jointed leg looked to also be covered in bloody red, brass and spiked armour to protect everything but the joints. Another foot came out, matching the first one before the rest of the creature emerged from the flames.
If the Demons before looked gnarly, then this thing surpassed them by a wide margin in terms of being nightmare fuel. It's gore-flecked hide was covered by the same bloodied fur that covered its legs, as well as showed some skin in certain areas. Its body had pieces of crimson brass, ornamented armour over it's form, with spiked bracelets and anklets adorning it's four limbs. From its back, sprouted a pair of gigantic, membranous, bat-like wings that looked like they could make it capable of flight, a prospect none of the CPUs liked to consider. Most hideous of all was its face though, which was shaped like a canine with two massive horns curving forwards that would make the Juggernauts red with jealousy. Its maw, which currently got set into a twisted lipless snarl, showed off its fangs the size of mortal swords. It certainly won in the size department, for it stood over 20 meters tall, whilst sporting two weapons for combat: a huge double bladed, brass made spiked Battleaxe with the shaft at least about 12 feet in length with a matching sized set of blades. As for it's second weapon, it was a long, barbed whip that just screamed danger. Aside from them, it had a pair of razor-sharp claws that looked like they could tear through anything with ease.
The moment that the impossibly muscled creature stomped out of the pillar, each step creating fiery explosions about 5 meters in height, the pillar vanished as it glared hatefully at them, spreading it's wings out which released a wave of smoke into the air. It's snarling maw released a constant drool of boiling saliva, saliva that seemed to almost melt through the charred ground as if it were the lava that existed within volcanoes. The creature finally stopped when it was a couple steps away from the hovering CPUs, whom glared at it which it returned tenfold. Even so, it saw the slight fear building in their eyes, though their rage held it at bay. Something which confirmed to it that an epic battle would be imminent. The beast licked it's fangs with it's forked tongue, white pupiless eyes bearing down on it's opponents with a snort of savage anticipation.
"(Everyone… meet a Greater Demon of Khorne… a Bloodthirster)"
"Huff… Huff…"
"Iffy… are you alright?"
IF leaned forwards, placing her hands on her bent legs at the kneecaps for support, as she heaved and heaved like she had not taken a breath in years. Thanks to her BOW powers, she didn't really sweat, and it wasn't that long before IF stood straight once again as her Armour Form receded into her, her Blades returning to human arms. All around her, there were various scorch marks that were what remained of the Khornate Demons that had been attacking them for the past 30 minutes or so. They'd come at them in large droves, droves bigger than anything that they had ever fought against before. Not to mention that she got a whole load of Biomass by assimilating a large portion of the invading force.
Looking up to her friend Compa, who floated in the air above her as well as the rest who stayed behind, IF gave her a smile and a thumbs up, prompting a relieved sigh from the young Nurse-In-Training. Even after all this time, she still worried about her, worried about her health, if she were injured in a way that IF couldn't regenerate from, amongst the works. She WAS after all the mom of the group. It honestly made her smile in happiness, it felt… nice, to have someone be a pseudo parent for her for once.
After all, since her birth mother didn't want anything to do with her…
Turning her head around, Compa looked to the rest of their group, eyes shining with concern, or was it because of her white Pupils? She didn't know, nor could she tell at the angle she looked at the Nurse-In-Training with. "Um, anyone else need some healies?" she questioned nervously as Gabriel, in the form of several pipes coming out of small portals around her, pulsed with power.
IF frowned at the sight. She still had no idea on what the heck had happened to the young girl, something that frustrated the brunette the more she tried to ponder on it. Whilst it didn't seem too harmful towards Compa, nor did she seem to mind her new state very much (actually, she looked like she enjoyed it more than she probably should, if that made any sense), IF still would like to know what the heck happened to her friend. What, how, when and why. Perhaps it was because of her BOW nature, but IF found herself somewhat having a slight obsession with knowing how something worked, it felt like something of an instinctual need to know in order to survive. Like, something she should focus on finding out in case Compa were to turn on her.
But that was just silly, Compa wouldn't really turn on her friends. Nope, that didn't seem like her at all.
"Nope… we're good!" A response came from Ivan, who stood tall after having taken a moment to rest by sitting on his backside. His Bionic Arm shifted from it's Blade Mode to it's Whip Mode, whilst the teen put his Knife back in one of his sheaths whilst going over to help Aiden. Said body currently stood on all fours, panting heavily. With the amount of sweat forming on his brows, it looked clear that the boy had been fighting hard, harder than he had in a while. Not to mention that he had fought within a combat field he wasn't used to, since he specialized in aerial combat. "You alright dude? Need a lift?"
In response to that, Aiden slowly raised his head to notice his companion's approaching presence and gave a shaky nod. "That would be very much appreciated." He replied, allowing Aiden to grasp him by his left arm and pull him to his feet. "I believe… I know what I will have to do for my training." He remarked to himself, getting a slight chuckle from his companion.
"Dude, this is stuff that even us Spec Ops could never have been fully trained for. Shit like this, its nearly out of our league."
On her end, Raven stood tall, sheathing her Odachi after performing some circular motions with it, similar to how a Samurai would sheath their blades in their waist-mounted scabbards. With a quiet CLINK, the Odachi slid back into place within it's sheath, allowing her to look around at the destruction wrought upon their surroundings. 'It seems that the Demons have stopped attacking us for the time being. However, the time frame between this attack and the next one is an unknown. Therefore, caution is best to be advised…' the woman thought to herself, narrowing her eyes behind her white and red Mask.
At another section of the battlefield, Guts and Isaac were tending to their own wounds, minding their own business and not saying anything. To them, there was no need to, not when they knew each other's thoughts due to fighting together for so long. Warriors who fought side by side for a long time understood each other on such a level, it was something that many Leanbox natives believed.
IF observed all of this, before she sighed to herself.
Assimilating so many Demons had been something she had gotten used to, it was something that she found gave her a lot of Biomass to work with, sometimes she felt like she would explode from 'eating' too much. However, like always her body would adapt to containing so much Biomass and thus, she could still fight with no issue whatsoever. With how many Demons she had assimilated, IF doubted she would ever haver to worry about injuries ever again. Her Biomass levels had reached that kind of level, but even so…
She couldn't help but think back, think back to that moment when Compa was thrown inside of that portal.
When she was thrown in, IF couldn't recall exactly what had happened with perfect clarity. However, she did recall the feeling of her rage making her entire body undergo a large-scale metamorphosis into something that could be considered an 'eldritch abomination'. The brunette shuddered, as images stained with blood flashed through her mind of Tendrils slicing through flesh, mouths gorging themselves on helpless Demons that tried to escape them to no avail, of bombarding her enemies with mortar-like shots…
Shaking her head, the brunette cleared those thoughts from her mind. She didn't need to be reminded of the things she felt in… whatever form she had taken back then. Her mind may not recall it, but her body however was a completely different matter. Ever since that moment, she had been wondering if she could repeat the process… only, to control it better and maybe make a new form for her to use. Perhaps a form that could be considered like a boosted form in which her body would be able to channel more Biomass through her system than even her modified human form, where she could augment herself even further to break into a new classification of strength. Perhaps maybe then, she could learn to fight on par with higher level enemies, like the Goddesses or even perhaps match Nico to a standstill…
Speaking of which, she had to wonder how the others were doing. Hopefully they were all ok…
'Well, they ARE Goddesses, and Lucy's quite capable in her own right. They should be fine down there…'
(Play Persona 3 OST – battle for everyone's souls)
'A Bloodthirster, huh…?' The CPU of Leanbox, Green Heart, thought as she glared at her opponent, quickly sliding to the side to avoid a large Whip which left a large crater upon impact. No, crater would be too much of an understatement in describing the sheer ferocity that strike contained. Not only did it create like a miniature earthquake (something Lucy could attest to since she was the only one of them standing on solid ground, though she never lost balance somehow), but it also made a fissure that created cracks which extended well over 40 meters in all directions.
Not to mention the sheer strength put into that blow would be enough to destroy entire skyscrapers in one fell swoop.
'This being certainly has earned it's nickname…' The greenette woman added on after barely dodging that attack in time, something that didn't sit well with her if she were to be honest. Green Heart scowled as she twirled Gungnir and made to charge up a throw towards her opponent. However, just before she could throw it, the Bloodthirster let out a loud howl, creating a shockwave with it's voice alone. Green Heart's eyes widened when she saw the attack coming, and crossed her arms to try and block it, also erecting a defensive Panel in front of her. However, the result ended up being that the attack sent her flying backwards faster than a bullet in a bullet hell game.
In mid-air, the CPU recovered and landed on a Panel, sliding to a halt as Black Heart flew past her, coming in low for a ground-to-air upward slash with Balmung coursing with her Energy. She didn't use anything like the TWILIGHT WAVE though, that attack needed more time and energy to be used at it's maximum potential. Nevertheless, Black Heart gave a mighty war cry as she landed between its fiery cloven feet and shot upwards, bringing Balmung into her intended slash. A whole arc's worth of energy got released from the blade that hit the Bloodthirster dead through it's middle…
Only, it did absolutely jack shit.
'WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!' the white-haired CPU thought in dismay, feeling the unbridled fury Balmung emitted towards this being for shrugging off it's attack like that. Sure, Black Heart had been able to control the energy a bit better for a more concentrated attack, but Balmung WASN'T a weak sword, plus it had a strong affinity for killing Demons! What in the living hell made this thing so different?! Her thoughts got silenced when the Bloodthirster swung it's Battleaxe in her direction, mirroring her swing from before. Whilst the CPU managed to avoid it by strafing away, taking advantage of her ability to fly whilst her enemy remained on the ground, the winds and shockwaves erupting from the swing still caught her, thus like a fly she got swatted away.
Regaining her balance in the air, Black Heart reflexively swung Balmung in an attempt to parry a lashing barbed whip from cutting her in half horizontally. The white-haired CPU gritted her teeth when the full force of her enemy's attack slammed into her with no restraint. Then again, knowing the deity that this thing served restraint probably wasn't even in its dictionary. She barely managed to push it back by pumping Balmung with more energy, before she held her right hand out and called out for a specific item. "Raijin!" she bellowed.
Instantly the item appeared, coiling around her arm and digging it's tail into her. That was fine by her, Black Heart thought as she applied ELECTRO CHARGE to the item, then had the electricity funnel into Balmung. Since the sword could store and channel electricity as well as any form of energy due to one of it's traits, Black Heart decided to try a little experiment that, if it worked, would probably lead to her developing a new attack with this item. Therefore, she put the Lighting of both Raijin AND her ELECTRO CHARGE into the sword, and then watched for what would happen next.
In that moment, her sword's jewel began to glow as it absorbed the energy that she had sent to it, however to Black Heart's slight frustration the blade seemed to be absorbing it at a slower rate than normal. 'Tch, I guess it can only absorb one energy type at a time… Well, I guess not everything can go my way all the time, as much as it pains me to admit that…' she thought to herself, before looking up when a shadow darkened her surroundings to see the Whip coming down on her.
Just before she could dodge it though, a large hand made out of pure crystal attached to an arm suddenly shot forth from Black Heart's rear flank, grasping onto the Whip and stopping it from achieving it's target. Lastation's CPU glanced towards the direction it came from and saw Purple Heart dashing through the air with her CPU sword brimming with purple energy. 'She must have generated the arm to save me!' Black Heart thought, before faint sparks drew her attention back to Balmung. It looked to be about 75% complete if she were to guess, but that would not be enough. 'Tch, I don't think moving will be a good idea, either since Balmung will likely absorb the energy even slower! Come on, Balmung!' she thought, almost trying to urge the sword to move faster.
Meanwhile, Purple Heart scowled at her enemy as she charged at it, the Bloodthirster roaring as it yanked it's Whip free from the arm's grip after a couple seconds, before swinging it's Battleaxe towards her. Purple Heart however, tilted her body sideways, so that when the Battleaxe came down her body would be parallel to the side of the two blades. Afterwards, she finally closed the distance between them and started going for the unarmoured areas on it's body. "CROSS COMBINATION!" she bellowed, quickly erupting into a series of slashes with her CPU sword.
When she tried to kick it into the air however, Purple Heart found that the creature didn't even flinch, it just snorted with it's maw trying to mimic a mocking grin. That pissed her off, as evident by the visibly twitching brow that Planeptune's CPU sported as she quickly flung herself to the side, avoiding another Battleaxe swing before she responded with a CRITICAL EDGE.
Unfortunately, when she turned around to look at her handiwork, the Bloodthirster remained unaffected much like with their previous attacks.
'This is not good, most of our attacks are not working on it… its all we can do to survive at this point…' Purple Heart thought as she raised her hand to the air and called down a barrage of house sized Crystal shards from above to try and pin the creature down. Now that she thought about it, looking down the CPU noticed that it had not moved from that spot one bit. That spot it had been in since the start of the battle. They had just been attacking it, wailing on it like there was no tomorrow and in a sense, that would actually be the case if it's attacks hit them.
"SHYLET SPEAR!"
After her Crystal Shards got utterly deflected or destroyed by the Bloodthirster's Whip, Purple Heart noticed Green Heart launch one of her energy Spears towards the Bloodthirster's chest area. The Aim seemed to have been on point, however the massive Demon simply smashed it with it's Battleaxe before launching a vicious barrage of lashes with it's Whip, forcing both CPUs to fly about erratically lest they wanted to be bisected without mercy.
"Tch, this guy's not making it easy on us!"
"It would seem like that's the case, Neptune!"
Whilst the two dodged like their lives depended on it, Lucy ran about with her POLLEN DRIVE Skill in full effect, enhancing her body beyond it's natural limits whilst she slashed away at her opponent's legs, trying to get through it's brass Armour to get at the legs beneath them. Unfortunately for her, even with her Cleavers enhanced by her Drive Skill they still failed to dig very deep into the Bloodthirster's Armour, proving that the Armour it wore wasn't just for show. She also had to avoid the flames that burned around it's cloven feet too, as they also had dangers of their own when small spouts of flames burst from them and tried to reduce her to a smoldering pile of ashes.
'This isn't good...' the redhead woman thought during her struggles, a pit of frustration welling up inside her stomach like a disease trying to invade her body. However, she repressed that feeling in order to focus more on the fight itself. Though, the Bloodthirster seemed content to just ignore her which stung at her pride more than she would care to admit. 'My Cleavers aren't doing as much as I want them to. Even if I use my POLLEN DRIVE Skill, it's barely putting a dent in this thing's Armour. Plus, thanks to the nature around here being mostly desolate and life being pretty much gone, my powers won't work as well.' That was true, no matter how much Lucy tried to deny it.
Her powers were of the Nature Manipulation variety. Basically, she could control multiple aspects of nature itself, for example she could manipulate flora, create toxins inside her body that she can attack her enemies with, create seeds she could use to grow whatever she wished, she could do quite a lot of things with nature, and that was simply due to her true self. However, this usually relied on there being life around her for her to use for her abilities, hence why the more underground they went back at MICROSOFT's Basilicom, the easier it had been for her to use her powers. However, thanks to those flames that this Bloodthirster used, the life in this pocket dimension had been basically burnt to a crisp, making her powers near impossible to use to their fullest extent. At least, if she didn't do THAT, but...
Shifting over to the CPUs, they finally managed to get far enough away so that they were out of the Whip's reach, allowing them to launch more Energy Spears and Energy Blades (in Purple Heart's case) towards it like a meteor shower. Each projectile flew true, mimicking the rate of fire that a Gattling Gun possessed whilst they flew through the foggy air towards their target, only for the Bloodthirster to ruthlessly bat them away with it's Battleaxe and Whip, resulting in none of them hitting it. Not something the other CPUs liked, but hey, this thing wasn't here to make friends, it was here to KILL.
"Everyone take cover!"
The sudden outcry coming from Black Heart drew everyone's gazes towards her, showing that the white-haired CPU of Lastation was now flying straight towards the Bloodthirster… with a gargantuan sized sword made entirely out of pure white, violently crackling lightning. Even the Bloodthirster took a second look towards her when it saw that large sword that looked to be half it's size. Thus, it decided to see if this woman could actually damage it with that puny toothpick she called a sword before. It sensed that the sword had amplified energy that was stored inside of it, allowing it's attack power to be greater, thus it wanted to test this ability out.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
With a mighty war cry, Black Heart raised the electrified Balmung above her head, and then brought the sword down on top of her opponent, only mildly noticing how it didn't even try to block it this time…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The moment that the blade touched the Bloodthirster's flesh, the entire landscape was bathed in a brilliant white light, a light that also released gargantuan sparks of pure white Lightning in all directions which ended up scarring the already scarred landscape even more. So bright was the explosion, that even as the two CPUs shielded their eyes with their arms (and heavily reinforced Panels) they still could feel the heat that the explosion emitted. Even so, the intensity that came along with the explosion shook the two of them to their cores, to the point where Purple Heart could only shout out her confusion towards the only other person who could have heard her. "What the heck did Noire just do?!"
Without returning the purple haired CPU's gaze, Green Heart gritted her teeth whilst her hair blew backwards behind her thanks to the wind. "She must have fused her own energy with that of Raijin's, then sent it into her sword! That thing has amplification powers, if my deduction is correct!" She answered, having to respond quite loudly so she could be heard over the winds, all whilst keeping one eye closed thanks to said currents. Hey, even with their defensive measures, it had happened as a reflex, so no judging!
Still though, she had to admit to herself that this level of energy Black Heart had unleashed was both impressive... and a little concerning. It impressed her that Black Heart could generate this much power even with the faith in her not being even a fraction of what it had once been. She remembered how during the Console War, Black Heart had been at the pinnacle of her power, and the energy she released now was NOTHING compared to back then. That wasn't the impressive thing though, the impressive feats stemmed from her being able to harness such destructive powers even with this little amount of faith she had in comparison to back then. If she were to make an analogy, then Black Heart's power would be considered a single leg compared to the whole body that it once was, but the fact that she could harness two legs worth of power regardless impressed the CPU slightly.
However, Green Heart also believed that this could cause Black Heart some problems. She likely had been pushing herself to use that much power in the first place, kind of like when one pushed themselves over the edge to keep awake to write a chapter in a fanfiction (AN: believe me, this is something I have experience with). Whilst Black Heart showed great destructive capabilities, how long did she have before she would burn herself out, then become a liability to them? Green Heart liked to think she knew her fellow CPU, and how prideful she could be. Therefore, she didn't doubt that being considered a liability and thus, having to be protected like a wallflower all the time would no doubt be something she may not be able to handle.
A pitiful level for someone so prideful to fall to.
Though, Green Heart felt that this level of power was only possible due to the items in Black Heart's possession, like the sword Balmung and the item known as Raijin. If she didn't have them, then Green Heart doubted that Black Heart could have achieved a feat like this with her current power level. One of them stored energy and electricity inside of i to be used for large scale attacks, whilst the other generated electricity and enhanced it's own power by connecting to the user and draining them of their power. Judging by the nature of the energies in the air she felt, Green Heart wondered how much power Black Heart would have let by the time everything blew over. Not much, she felt.
The explosion rang on for about 8 minutes, before finally beginning to die down until it became nothing but a huge cloud of dust. The cloud looked quite thick, and thanks to the gas in the air, the poor vision the CPUs had before reduced itself even more. Even so, neither of them wanted to assume the worst about their companion, and neither did Lucy whom had managed to retreat with the speed of her Drive Skill below. Now, she stood below them, narrowing her eyes at the cloud. Peering into the smoke, Green Heart and Purple Heart searched endlessly for their missing CPU, soon locating her below them on the ground sprawled over. There was no time to be relieved though, the safest place for the downed Black Heart would be up in the air with them. The CPU looked like she had taken a marathon through a desert even if she still looked to be retaining her HDD form, the two women noted as they quickly descended downwards and picked her up, bringing her back into the air with them.
"Wow, you sure seem to like being all dramatic, Noire." Purple Heart commented with a small smirk on the corners of her lips, whilst holding Black Heart's left bicep in her right hand. Although, if one looked closely into her eyes, they would see the concern she had for her fellow CPU rummaging through her mind like an electric current.
On her opposite end, holding her right bicep in her left hand whilst making sure to keep her clawed fingers from puncturing Black Heart's flesh, Green Heart smiled at her fellow CPU. Thinly veiled amusement danced behind her eyes, though the concern showed itself a bit more than Purple Heart's. "That was a rather impressive explosion you just pulled, if a little dramatic. What, were you trying to compensate for something?" she teased.
"Sh-Shut up!" Black Heart retorted, her face becoming tinged red with what the Leanbox CPU commented about. She felt exhausted, tired, and so ready to end this day already, she did NOT have the patience to listen to some of Green Heart's dirty innuendos. Not to mention Balmung had receded inside her Soul for the time being. That little test told her there was still much about that sword she needed to learn, especially with the way it used it's traits. She had a LOT of training to do for the future, but this experiment opened up possibilities regardless. "Did we get him?" Black Heart tiredly whispered beneath her breath, more than a little winded from using up so much energy to power Balmung and Raijin didn't help much, so she dismissed the item.
The other Two CPUs glanced at each other, frowns on their lips whilst they peered at the smoke. "I am not sure... I mean, I can't sense any Demonic Power, but thanks to that explosion my senses are all messed up." Purple Heart admitted, scowling. Judging by the look on Green Heart's face, she too found herself on the same boat. Though, something about this battle sparked itself in Purple Heart's mind, something she had noticed a bit throughout the battle. It had somewhat been apparent when she fought in human form, but Gungnir compensated for it so she didn't think too much on it. Plus she was in her human form, enough said. "Now that we have a moment, Vert what s up with your power level? Why did my attacks do more to it than yours did? We should be equal, but..."
"I do believe that discussion should be best made AFTER we have saved my Basilicom, Neptune."
With that in mind, the trio slowly descended down to where Lucy was, allowing Black Heart to hover on her own when she felt herself able to do so. When they were joined back up with the redhead woman, the four then peered into the smoke, trying to see if they could locate their enemy. Black Heart assumed that the attack worked, as she had put a LOT of energy into that experimental attack just now, enough so that even other Goddesses would still feel it down to their bones if they were to get hit by it. Thus, she felt greatly confident that she had been able to at least damage the damned thing...
Only to see the unharmed Bloodthirster brush the smoke away with it's Whip and Battleaxe, a look on its features basically screaming: 'nope, surprise bitch!'
"OH YOU HAVE GOTTA BE ******** ME! AND STOP CENSORING MY CURSING, GODDESS DAMNIT!"
Chapter end!
Alright, here's the next chapter. Sorry that it's not as long as the ones previously, but I wanna make it so that this boss fight is more memorable, and to do that I'm going to be splitting it into parts. To separate it from other boss battles, at least. Plus, it'll give me a chance to figure out how the secrets I wanna reveal in this battle will play out.
Next chapter will involve much more action, mostly around the Bloodthirster fight, so look forward to that.
Peace out, my dudes! :)
