Ho-Hum and the Alien Visitation

A Hyperdimension Neptunia Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Chapter 18- A Nun and A New Recruit

*Lastation Basilicom, outside*

"Good morning, Lady Noire," A nun dressed in white with a light blue klobuk on her head resembling a mouse greeted the CPU as she exited the Basilicom.

"Oh, good morning, Sister Ciel," Noire responded. "How are you today?"

"I'm quite fine, milady," Ciel replied. Though she had just recently joined the religious order that helped keep the Basilicom running, the twin-tailed goddess had taken quite a liking to her, due to her gentle and cheery personality. "You haven't been overworked, have you?"

"No more than usual," Noire demurred. "I just needed to get some fresh air, that's all..." Suddenly an alarm sounded behind her, causing the two to turn toward the Basilicom... "Oh no, it's a virus alert! Someone's hacked our computers!"

"Oh dear, we should go see what the problem is!" Ciel suggested, Noire nodding as they rushed back inside...

*Basilicom Server Room*

"What's the situation?" Noire demanded as she and Ciel dashed into the room.

"Lady Noire! The virus came in and ate through our firewall like it was nothing!" a priest cried in panic. "All our countermeasures are useless! It's only a matter of time before all our data is completely corrupted!"

"Let me look!" Ciel grunted as she shoved another priest aside, looking closely at the monitor, seeing an image of a single-eyed purple blob... "What the... Kuramon?!"

"You know what that is, Sister Ciel?!" Noire gasped.

The nun bit her lip, as she thought quickly... "Lady Noire, allow me," she said, taking a few steps back, before abruptly dashing forward-

-and diving directly into the monitor, vanishing in a flash of blue pixels! "Huh?!" Noire and the priests cried in disbelief, the former having her eyes shrunk to white circles...

(Music- 'Standard Battle', Digimon ReArise)

Ciel righted herself and touched down inside the server's cyberspace, seeing several Kuramon feasting on the data files... "Just as I thought," she growled as a sheathed sword materialized in her hands, with a clover shape at the end of the hilt... "White Clover Horizontal Slash!" She drew and swung her sword with blinding speed, cutting two Kuramon in half, destroying them! Ciel then ran forward, striking down several more Kuramon with swift sword strikes!

"The... the corruption is slowing down!" an NPC priest cried as he observed events through the monitor. "Is Sister Ciel deleting the virus somehow?!"

"But... how could she do that?!" Noire wondered.

Back in cyberspace, the remaining Kuramon were flying away from Ciel, out of her sword's range... "You think you're safe at a distance?" the nun smirked. "Byakusai!" She flung two knives from her sleeves, piercing a few Kuramon and killing them! She then dashed forward with blinding speed, cutting down more of the blobs, the few remaining Kuramon fleeing for their lives through a data port! "And stay out, you vile data-munchers!" Ciel yelled as she slashed the port, disabling it.

"She did it!" the priest gasped. "The virus has been completely purged!"

"Can we restore from backup?" Noire inquired.

"We should be able to..." the NPC nodded. "But what about Sister Ciel?" His question has answered as the nun suddenly emerged from the monitor, landing gracefully on her feet.

"There. That should take care of the problem..." She looked up to see everyone staring at her in incredulity. "...I suppose I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

"You most certainly do!" Noire nodded firmly. "For starters, how did you just leap into cyberspace like that?! Even I can't do that without using Nepgear's Nepulus Rift!"

"Well, the simple answer is... I am not organic," Ciel answered. "My root origin is digital, in other words, I am composed of bits and bytes, like your computer programs and video games..."

"Y-you're a digital being?!" one of the priests gasped.

"The proper term is 'digital monster', or 'Digimon" for short," the nun clarified. "My full name is 'Sistermon Ciel', but I just happened to look human enough to pass for one... ordinarily, I would not be able to manifest myself in reality, but the nature of this 'Gamindustri' world allows me to do so."

"At the risk of sounding too much like Neptune, this IS a video game universe, so it's no surprise a digital being could substantiate under the right circumstances," Noire mused. "But why would you come here to begin with?"

"Well, back home, I was more of a traveling nun, wandering the Digital World, serving my fellow Digimon and punishing any troublemakers," the Sistermon explained. "But one day, I sensed a tear in the fabric of reality, inside which I sensed the unmistakable aura of a Demon Lord Digimon. So I entered the rift and followed it to this world... but by the time I had gotten my bearings, I learned that said Demon Lord had already been defeated, and in a different nation, to boot. Still, I decided to stay for awhile, just to be sure..."

"Well your caution was well founded then," the CPU stated. "That ex-Demon Lord, BlackGatomon, has been recruited into the terrorist group Ho-Hum to create expendable minions to fill out their ranks... and I'll bet that 'Kuramon' you deleted was her doing, as well..."

"A few of them escaped, actually," Ciel pointed out, "but yes, it was likely BlackGatomon's doing... in such case, I freely offer my blade to assist in your fight against this Ho-Hum group, Lady Noire..." She kneeled and bowed her head in deference.

"I gladly accept your help, Sistermon Ciel," Noire agreed. "First things first, let's go to my office so you can tell me more about your world and this Kuramon virus..."

*Ho-Hum HQ*

"So, you wish to recruit me to your cause?" a familiar blue-haired witch mused. "Well, if your goal is simply to challenge the CPUs without destroying them, I might consider it..."

"Your knowledge of mechanical engineering would be of great assistance to the House of Humiliation," Overlord Momus said. "Most of my other minions are competent enough in battle, but not much else..."

"And how would I be compensated for my assistance?" MAGES. pressed.

"Well... how about this, for starters?" the horned man held up a soda can, causing the bluenette to gasp in shock.

"Duck Tear Popper?! How did you know? And where did you find it?!"

"I have... connections, shall we say," Momus chortled, pulling the can away as MAGES. made a grab for it. "And I know where to get more..."

"Hnnnnngh..." the Mad Magician groaned, sweat visible on her forehead. "Y-you have made an offer I cannot refuse... very well, I'm in." Momus promptly brought the can of Duck P back within reach, the bluenette quickly grabbing and opening it, taking a long sip. "Oh yes... (ahem) Just so we're clear, the fact that your assassin was hiding in the corner had no bearing whatsoever on my decision..."

"What?!" Generic Ninja #25 gasped as he emerged from the darkness. "H-how did you...?!"

"I'm a scientist. I notice things. And you would have not been the first to try- and fail- to strike me down under cover of darkness! Fuahahahaha!" MAGES. laughed.

"Pea's back!" little Peashy cried as she dashed into the room. "Sowwy I was gone so long, but I had to make sure Ploot got home OK, after Haru-ni kicked her butt!"

"Ah, welcome back, Citrus," Overlord Momus acknowledged.

"Citrus? That is Peashy from the Ultradimension, unless I miss my guess," MAGES. commented. "Or is that a codename of sorts?"

"Correct," the Ho-Hum leader confirmed. "I was thinking of giving you the codename 'Dr. Pop.' What do you think?"

"Hmhmhmhmm... a codename derived from the nectar of the gods? Very well, I accept," the Mad Magician nodded. "Let us all drive the CPUs down the path of madness together! Fuahahahaha!"

"You're weird, Witch Lady," Peashy deadpanned. "Oh yeah, Pea heard somebody taking in a closet nearby! I think it was that black kitty, she was sayin' somethin' about viruses..."

"BlackGatomon? ...Lead the way, Citrus," Momus gently ordered. The five-year-old CPU nodded and led him and MAGES. to the closet in question. As they got close, they could hear someone complaining...

"...first the alien goddess, now a Sistermon foils me, meow?! What else could possibly go wrong?!" the closet door was opened, revealing BlackGatomon sitting in front of a laptop, the cat whirling around to see her master glaring down at her... "Uh... meow?" she grinned sheepishly.

"I believe the operative phrase is 'busted'," MAGES. said with an evil smirk.

*To be continued...*