A/N: This... I regret writing an tournament arc. It won't take up the entire chapter, but writing three seperate fights in a row, trying to make them unique in their own way... Literally I managed to write the rest of this chapter in 2 days once I got past that.
Aside from that and Yazuka 0... and GTA 5 when that went free.. And... God I have really bad ADD.
TheEnderThief: It's a cool concept but execution wise would be a lot harder. VII's plot is a lot more complicated than a simple romance novel. Oh I beat that too. Four times. Stupid fucking True Ending requirements...
Ryan4ever2016: Yup, I hope I can get more than one chapter a month out but we'll see.
AngelTheDragon1992: Here at Hclegend, we take Neptunia's absurdity and crank it up to 11. Sometimes. Don't look at Compa's Blood Drive. That's a side project that I wrote in my funk.
and now for whiplash, because I am a fair author.
DeafLeaf: Honestly, my humor is really dumb. You'd know this from the previous fic where among other things, Starbucks is just there. For no reason other than a jab at it being everywhere, even in a fictional world like Gamindustri. I'm not going to try and justify it, but I'm not going to apologise for it either.
(Though I could do with less fucks. That is a good point at least. Humor's subjective, saying fuck every other sentence is not.)
Back to it~
The competition had advanced significantly throughout the afternoon, a lot of contestants coming and going from the locker room. As expected, the Planeptune Special Forces all made it to the quarter finals, but not without some struggles along the way.
Speaking of, our heroes were resting, IF having just returned from her latest fight, sweat dripping from her brow as she pulled her jacket in to cover herself up and avoid embarrassment.
"These contenders bring all sorts, huh?" Koei wiped his brow as he chugged his upteempth Nep Bull of the day to regain his strength after another brutal duel, this time against a busty ninja named MarvelousAQL.
"Surprised we all made it to the quarter finals." Uzume contemplated aloud. "Though on the plus side, I've started to get the hang of this battleaxe in the meantime." She tapped the handle of the currently upside down weapon leaning against her leg.
"Yeah." IF agreed. "The fact we've all made it so far is a surprise to me. Looking at the brackets, Koei's fighting Million Arthur next, I'm fighting NISA and Uzume gets… RED. Good luck with that one." She sighed as repressed memories unrepressed themselves. "If all goes well, then…" She chuckled darkly as she got up to leave for her next fight.
"What do you think she meant by that?" Koei was slightly dumbfounded by the sudden sinister mood.
Uzume was understandably confused by the sudden turn. "I think I saw her chatting with Nepsy earlier, so it might involve her too…"
Koei finished his Nep Bull nervously after hearing that fact. "Involving Nep, huh? That can't be good…"
Uzume nodded in response. "I haven't seen Nepsy that much, but she does have a knack for planning for everything. I'd keep an eye out, Kosy."
Koei nodded back, finishing it and tossing it into a bin, rather impressive considering the distance. "Do you think I need a fashion change?" He pondered aloud.
"What makes you ask?" Uzume raised a purple eyebrow. "Don't tell me you suddenly want to wear IF's panties?"
Koei paused, before fishing in his inventory for a Beer and throwing it at Uzume, who caught it with a wry grin. "Thanks!" She said before cracking it open and drinking away.
Koei sighed. "You know you're more than likely fighting me after this… RED chick, right?" He shrugged. "Ehh, your funeral."
"Says the guy who already died once." Uzume shot back with a cheeky grin. "Speaking of…"
"I got hit by a truck and saw my mangled body fly down the street while I literally stood there in shock for a few moments before blacking out. I sincerely doubt that's how death works." Koei sighed, remembering his earliest memories under his pseudonym turned actual name.
"Huh." Uzume took a long drink of her Beer while contemplating what Koei just described. "I guess if you didn't have much time, you couldn't really describe the out of body experience like I could, then?"
Koei shook his head as he turned to the screen to see IF swiftly dodging a barrage of knives from NISA. "Mine lasted a mere moment, yours lasted two decades. Mind if I just watch the fight, Uzume? Don't want these thoughts cluttering my mind when I've already been struggling to keep up, you know?"
Uzume stayed silent, but simply nodded and stayed silent for the remainder of the match, contemplating on what Koei said, chewing over his mullings as he watched IF give it her all.
Despite IF returning victorious, Koei still remained silent, eyes closed and lightly breathing in a calm manner, betraying his silent worry.
"Why would Neptune lump me with this Hero role anyway? Is it just to acknowledge my achievement officially? I was already popular around Planeptune before this and now people are going to hold me to a higher standard. One that I might not be able to live up to… I wonder if she did this on purpose, knowing that I'd want a rematch in front of a large crowd…"
A light poke to his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts as Nepgear once again was there. "Your match is…" Was all she got out before he got up silently and headed to the arena for his quarter final match. "About to start?" She finished with a puzzled look on her face, the oddly serious look on Koei's face worrying her slightly.
As Koei climbed the steps to the main arena, he met Million Arthur's determined glare and finally properly snapped out of his funk, mentally preparing himself for his next fight.
"Sir Koei." Arthur stated simply, unsheathing her blade and pointing it to the Hero-class adventurer. "May we fight not as adventurers, but as Knights of the Round Table."
Koei gave a curt nod before grabbing Serenity from his inventory and staring the knight down.
This lasted for a mere moment as Arthur suddenly charged towards him, her eyes seeming to glint menacingly as she attempted a two-handed strike, but Koei saw it coming and rolled out of the way before casting a Frostbolt at where he was, nailing the sword as the ice grew to stick the sword to the ground.
Taking a moment to catch his breath at the initial maneuver, Arthur gave a wry grin. "Well struck. But I've freed this sword from a stone before!" She suddenly shattered the ice by sheer arm strength alone and forced Koei on the defensive as blades clashed and Koei was pushed back.
"Damn!" Vert gripped the commentator's table so hard it almost cracked in excitement. "Not ten seconds in and already the tides of battle are swinging hard."
"Indeed." Blanc commented simply. "Arthur came out swinging and was punished, but Koei should have taken the advantage while he had it."
Koei managed to force the knight's blade away, allowing him to Airshot back to give some breathing room. Arthur was caught off guard, but quickly regained composure, advancing slowly, pulling a card out of her pocket. "Sir Koei, wish to see a card trick?" She threw it in the air before slicing it, setting her sword aflame with a grin before a series of slashes kept Koei on the defensive before finishing off with a stylish spin followed up by a two handed slash, knocking Koei back and even to the edge of the arena.
"Koei's in a dilemma now…" Vert announced worridley. "The favorite to win is mere inches from being eliminated! He needs to go on the offensive, now!"
As if Vert was indirectly supporting him, Koei took a deep breath and gripped Serenity with both hands before pointing it at Arthur, who was now approaching rapidly.
"Okay. I can do this. I just need to get her on the defensive again. I work best when they don't have a chance to attack. So…"
Serenity glowed green as the knight prepared a finishing blow. Time seemed to slow for everyone in the arena as the pair stared each other down.
Less than half a second before Arthur's blade could win the match, a particularly powerful Airbolt was cast, hitting her perfectly in the stomach, feeling more like a full on punch to the gut than air.
Despite her armor weighing her down, Arthur was still knocked back well over the centre of the circular arena, but kept an iron grip on her sword as she slid like she was on an ice rink.
As expected, the crowd went wild as the pair took a moment to recompose themselves.
"Incredible! Against the odds, Koei has managed to gain some breathing room! His indomable spirit shines in adversity!"
"Heh." Blanc uttered simply. "Couldn't have put it better myself. You're becoming pretty verbose, Vert."
Vert's face blushed at the compliment. "Well, you encouraged me to pick up some light novels rather than the manga I used to read…"
"It seems that Koei has recovered." Blanc focused on the match at hand. "Million Arthur is recovering too, but we'll see if she can hold off his counterattack."
As if on cue, Arthur barely deflected Koei's next strike with her gauntlet clad arm before attempting to push Koei back with it. Unfortunately for her, Koei started to use both hands to push Serenity down on her sword wielding arm. Eventually, two arms beat one as she was forced to the ground, her sword slipping out of her hand by the sudden jolt.
As the blade flew out of the arena, silence reigned over the stadium as Koei held Serenity to Arthur's neck with a glare.
"Alright…" Arthur finally admitted with a sigh. "You got me. Well fought, Sir Koei."
With a curt nod, Koei put away Serenity and held out a hand to help her up. "Good fight."
Applause echoed through the arena as the pair walked out of the arena, Arthur grabbing her sword from outside the arena and slipping it back into the scabbard.
"Fast, brutal and exciting." Blanc finally said as the pair headed for the locker room. "Good work for both combatants and that puts two of the Planeptune Special Forces in the semifinals. Can Uzume make a hat trick? Find out, after the break." She turned to Vert with a look of disgust. "I hope she loses." She stated simply, the microphones being muted to avoid any sort of bias being broadcast.
Vert sighed, clearly sick of having this conversation. "Blanc, I know that Uzume got off easy in your eyes-"
"She tried to use me to kill my sisters." Blanc gave her a look "Getting off easy? She's lucky I didn't skewer her like a pig after what she pulled." Barely contained fury emanated from the flat CPU as Vert put her head in her hands.
"Wonder what Vert and Blanc are talking about?" Koei asked himself as he headed fully into the locker room.
"Well folks, we're down to just four combatants!" Vert announced, Blanc having stormed off to grab a drink after a heated discussion about if Uzume got off easy or not. "And even better, they're all Hero-class! If you're just tuning in from home, Koei Tech, IF, Falcom and Uzume have fended off their opposition to make it to the top four! Starting off our semi-finals, it's Cold Steel Falcom! Versuuuuuus! Hell Raven IF!"
"So… It's come to this." Koei sat across from Uzume, hands clasped and underneath his chin as he leant on the hands. "You and me in the next match, huh?"
Despite the fight going on in the background, neither of them were paying attention. "Yup. You gettin' cold feet?" Uzume asked with a cheeky grin while polishing her battleaxe with a purple cloth and a spray bottle of metal polish. "Not my fault that RED chick tied herself up with the yoyo… Oh and I'm really getting into this whole two-handed style. You should try it sometime, pick up a sledgehammer and go ham!"
"With my noodle arms? You know when I first arrived here, I was assigned the spellblade class because… Using a staff would have been detrimental due to the weight."
Uzume stopped cleaning her axe. "Now that's comedy. I assume you got stronger over time though, right? How else would you have… You know, done anything?"
"Combination of learning how to use my weapon and finding out that you don't have to yell your spell's name, just shout it in your mind, I guess?" Koei shrugged. "Look, I don't pretend to know these things."
"That and then some, heh." Uzume responded with a polite chuckle. "Telegraphing your spells is important when you're in a party, though. Considering that we'll be fighting together in the future, best to keep that in mind."
"Sage words from the former goddess." Koei nodded as IF and Falcom walked into the locker room.
"Did you see that fight?" IF was showing an unusual amount of excitement, practically shaking with the hype. "I got to fight my hero and she didn't hold back!"
Falcom beamed at the praise, not even hiding her glee as she did so. "You're not too bad yourself, IF. Seems you took that advice to heart."
IF rubbed the back of her head with a blush of her own. "T-thanks… This is a dream come true. Anyway, you did see that fight, yes?"
Considering the gleam in her eyes, Koei couldn't exactly break her heart by admitting the truth, right? "I… Diiiid?"
The pause tipped IF off as her face fell. "Oh… Guess you had to prepare?"
"No, he's just a sack of nerves." Uzume got up and dusted herself off with a smile. "Come along Kosy, you have a fight to lose."
"Fuck that noise." Koei stated with determination in his voice, charging forward towards the arena, passing Uzume easily along the way.
"Heh, that'll get him out of his funk. Time for a real fight." Uzume smiled to herself as she followed, ready for the rematch while slipping a familiar platinum ring onto her right ring finger. "Ready or not Koei, I'm bringing my A game."
"Alright folks, second semi-final time!" Vert continued to commentate solo as Blanc was nowhere to be found. "We got a spicy one here, as former enemies face off once again! Koei Tech, the Saviour of Planeptune! And the Revived Goddess herself, Uzume Tennoboushiiiii!"
The two competitors faced each other down. "So. Uzume." Koei stated simply. "Don't hold back, yeah?"
Uzume simply chuckled darkly before spinning on her heel and putting some distance between them as music started to echo in the arena.
"Ohhh, I forgot! Our next two fights will have music composed by none other than Helena! From her new solo album: Trinity! Pick it up after the finals right here in Planepark! Anyway, this is the song she composed for Uzume: Kobito of the Shining Needle!"
"Who comes up with these titles? Pledge of Demon? Kobito of the Shining Needle… Koei's theme I can't even read… Bad End? The hell does that mean?" Vert pondered as she finally gave her vocal chords a rest, letting the music do the work for her.
Uzume twirled her axe around as the music started to pick up a little. "Mmm, I like it." Finally done with her show of twirling, she hefted her battleaxe onto her shoulder with a single arm. Without another word, she charged headfirst towards Koei, leaping and preparing a two handed strike.
REVIVED GODDESS
UZUME TENNOBOUSHI
Instinctively putting up Serenity in defense, Koei was pushed back hard by the first strike of the match.
"Okay I know she has a battleaxe, but damn did that hit harder than expected…" Koei thought to himself, seeming to ignore Uzume's attempt at a followup with a lazy horizontal strike, to which he ducked under quite easily and responded with a swift gut punch.
Taking the stun to his advantage, he quickly took hold of Uzume's shirt before opting to headbutt her, which at least stunned her for long enough for him to recover from the recoil of that attack.
"Ow…" Was the only thought on Koei's mind as the ache dulled and his composure returned, naturally focusing on his spellblade. "Right, magic sword."
Before he could use his magic sword for anything but defending, Uzume charged forward, intending for another vertical strike, forcing Koei to dodge again. This time however, it put him at the edge of the arena.
"On the back foot again, huh? Well…" Koei thought to himself as he pointed Serenity downwards.
As Uzume charged, intending to end the fight entirely with one decisive blow, an Airbolt shot Koei up and over Uzume, allowing for a swift strike to her exposed back. Reacting to said strike, Uzume spun around with a surprisingly fast axe strike, once again forcing Koei on the defensive as he was knocked to the middle of the circular arena, shoes squealing as he slid.
"Alright, time to release the power of my Artifact!" Uzume thought to herself with a determined grin as energy coursed through her veins, causing her axe to start sparking, arcs of purple lightning jumping all over the royal purple metal.
Koei was understandably surprised by this development, but quickly set his eyes on Progression, glinting under the lights of the arena. "Cheeky bitch." He thought to himself as he formulated a counterplan accordingly, using his own strength to enchant his blade with energy before charging towards Uzume, opting to go on the offensive before she could strike back.
Uzume defended as expected, but surprisingly wasn't knocked back as she stood her ground, not moving an inch as she did before countering with a two handed spin, smacking Koei across the arena, Serenity sliding to the other edge.
Getting back up, Koei dusted himself off before dodging the follow-up strikes, rolling underneath an attempted horizontal strike before grabbing Serenity and firing a quick Frostball, freezing Uzume's leg allowing for him to get back up safely.
Using her axe as a pickaxe, Uzume shattered the ice covering her leg, shaking it free with a smile. Looking back at Koei, he was about to swing Serenity upwards.
Blades clashed as the pair stared each other down, both putting all their strength into attempting to disarm the other.
"Okay, she has the advantage in terms of raw power... " Koei thought to himself as he thought on his feet. "So I need another way to disarm her… Aha!"
As if on cue, Serenity burst into flame, surprising Uzume as her axe heated up from contact. As the heat spread down the metal axe, Uzume was feeling the heat, beginning to sweat from both the force she was putting in and the heat.
Seconds passed by and the heat built up in Uzume's axe as she started to gain ground on Koei…
But she wasn't gaining fast enough, as the heat was now too much for Uzume and had to throw her axe away or risk a burn, leaving her defenseless as Koei had his blazing hot blade to her throat.
Uzume attempted to reach for Koei's sword wielding arm, but a swift kick to the knee forced her to kneel, leaving her unable to counterattack.
Despite one knee, unarmed and with a blazing hot blade to her throat, Uzume seriously considered continuing the fight, knowing that even if she died, she died on her feet, defiant to the very end.
…
…
"Oh right… This isn't meant to be a fight to the death." Uzume realized awkwardly, averting her eyes as she put her hands up in a surrendering pose, leaving Koei to put away Serenity wordlessly as the arena was in silence, the music having faded when Uzume was disarmed.
Uzume got up in silence and left the arena, leaving Koei with a buzzing crowd and no announcer before the lights fell, leaving only the arena lit as atmospheric music started, a single guitar playing quietly as the sound of clomping boots came from the other side of the arena.
"No rest for the wicked, huh?" Koei sighed to himself as his final opponent approached as the intensity of the song built up before stopping just at the edge of the lights, seeming to wait for the music to catch up to them before entering the light.
It was IF, of course. She took several more steps, not saying a word as she glared at Koei the entire time as the music kept picking up. After a few steps she stopped, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before grabbing her navy jacket and throwing it out of the arena before preparing her katars, still silent with that glint in her eyes matching her blades as she seemed to teleport to Koei.
HELLFIRE RAVEN
IF
Koei was caught off guard of course, as the music kicked into high gear, deflecting a combination of strikes before IF did a backflip, casting a fire spell to nip a counterattack attempt in the bud, death in her eyes.
"Jesus." Koei thought to himself, scarcely dodging the blaze as he went for another angle of attack, opting to strike where the smoke concealed him, getting in a good few slashes before IF started blocking again.
"He's getting better." IF thought to herself, looking for an opening to strike while igniting her katars. "But even Uzume gave him trouble… If I don't hold back-"
IF felt a slash to her back as she spun around with a swift counter strike, the sound of metal clashing indicating that she nailed Koei's blade, stopping further attacks as the duo struggled to fend the other off, death in their eyes as their blades danced beautifully. A spin from IF, a counter by Koei, the advantage flowed from fighter to fighter, both equally matching each other like rivals.
"Goddesses above." Koei through to himself as a two handed strike gave him a moment to wipe his brow as he started to pant from exhaustion. "Two fights in a row with no Protagonist Aura or my guns…"
His train of thought was interrupted by a slash aimed at his face, which he scarcely dodged. "I haven't felt this exhausted since the fight for Planeptune… This tired feeling… Panting, sweating…"
He caught IF's arm mid-strike, allowing him to kick her in the gut, stunning her for a moment. "Holy hell… I feel alive."
Suppressing his Aura to prevent a disqualification, Koei took a deep breath to steady himself before staring down his opponent, breathing heavily and shaking as he did so. He felt alive, but he was fast approaching his limit, the strain of two consecutive fights finally started to catch up to him as he momentarily collapsed to a single knee before getting back up, exhausted to his core, but his determination overrode his fatigue as he got back up again.
"He's certainly not going down without a fight." IF smiled, despite her own tiredness. "The drive of a true Hero… Nep… You glorious idiot."
Koei walked… No he trudged towards IF, each forced step being a struggle as ragged and shallow breaths escaped his mouth, struggling to lift Serenity for one last strike. Tension built, as IF simply stood there, smiling genuinely as if to encourage this.
Swinging Serenity downward weakly, IF simply caught the blade in one hand, tossing it over her shoulder out of the arena, before sweeping Koei's leg, inelegantly falling onto his back before IF's boot was firmly on his chest, stopping him from trying to get back up.
"Good fight." She said simply as Koei tried to get himself back up, ultimately giving up with a sigh.
"Good fight." Koei replied, holding out an arm for Koei to help him up, as the music faded away, leaving the arena in silence.
"That… Was incredible." Vert surmised. "A dance of blades from dancers of equal skill, even when Koei on the back foot, he fought until he couldn't fight anymore. Was there any doubt, ladies and gentlemen, of that being the best fight of the day?"
Intense cheers and applause came from the crowd, deafening the arena as Koei and IF headed back to the locker room.
"No hard feelings, k?" IF patted Koei on the back as they returned to the locker room, the crowd's cheering fading away as they entered the locker room.
"Hmm?" Koei asked tiredly, absolutely knackered after the day's events. "Whadya mean, Iffy?"
"About the fight. You were on the back foot, there. No Awakening form, no Peace or Tranquility… But you still fought to the bitter end, even when the outcome was inevitable in a friendly spar." IF explained, continuing to rub Koei's back as she did so.
"Ah." Koei said simply, unable to really think about anything logical at this point. "I'm a bit… Unable to process bugger all at the moment. And unlike the last time I felt like this I didn't have a get out of jail free card like being in a delusional former goddess' mindscape fantasy hellhole… What am I even saying." Koei used his single remaining brain cell to process the words that came out of his mouth for once.
"Things that I'd rather forget and yet you two constantly bring it up." Uzume noted, sighing in frustration as the pair turned to the new speaker in their conversation, already two Beers down and with several more to go throughout the late afternoon. "You two by the way… by the Goddesses you two fought like sworn enemies! I know this feeling, because I fought Koei like that, heh." Uzume's face fell as she thought on times gone by. "Even over a month later… I can't just forgive myself."
"That's just called a rivalry, Uzume." IF quickly and calmly defused the situation before it got any more painful for all three parties. "Though I think ours is more than friendly…" She gave Koei a look that caused Koei to melt into a blushing, mumbling mess.
"Still don't know how to handle affection?" Uzume laughed politely as she got up to leave. "Then I'll leave you two be. Maybe catch that Seven Hels concert they're setting up now." She started to walk away, waving her hand as she did so. "You know where I'll be!"
As the former goddess left the odd couple behind, IF handed her darling a Beer. "Here. You earned it." She simply said, before cracking open her own Beer. "Consider your "debt" for what happened yesterday wiped clean. You put in a really good day's work of fighting, Koei. That's the man I love."
Koei's cheeks could roast marshmallows with the heat they were exuding. "T-t-thanks Iffy, but these were just practice spars…"
"Oh please, that look you got when you were reaching your limit, you knew you was enjoying the hell out of our fight." She lavished further praise as if it was on discount.
"Okay, okay. Mayyyybe I enjoyed it a tad." Koei blew the praise off with a hearty eye roll, but internally…
"I'm not really worth all this praise." Koei thought to himself, attempting to internalize all the praise the usually more serious-minded IF was lumping onto him. "Sure, I'm a hero! But it's been over a month now and nothing's happened since then. People have this image of me that really doesn't exist outside of one or two specific scenarios…"
Koei shook his head before taking a drink of Beer. "Bah, it's been a long day. I should just let this slide for today and enjoy some Seven Hels and quality time."
"A bit more than a tad." He finally admitted. "Wanna go see that concert? I'd like to get a copy of that Trinity album, see what my theme would be?"
IF smiled, happy to see some energy back in him. "Ah, go on then. Sounds like a good way to wrap up today."
"... And it just feels like people in Planeptune treat me with kindness only because I used to be a CPU." Uzume poured out her heart as Jill poured out a drink for her. "In other Nations, people give me a wide berth when I do escort missions… Even the CPUs seem distant from me."
"You possessed us, forced us to attack our Nations, severely injured both Koei and IF, and had the audacity to boast about how you were going to kill him live on the air." Blanc explained, filled with alcohol. "Frankly… If Koei didn't vouch for you, you would be straight up dead right now." Despite her blush from the alcohol, her tone was still deadly serious. "Vert might think you're willing to change, but a cold hearted bitch like you… You'll never change."
"Wow, really glad I get to hear that straight from your drunk-ass mouth." Uzume snarked back with a frustrated sigh. "Unlike you Blanc, my heart isn't as frozen as your Nation. I was a passionate leader for Planeptune in my time, not drinking my sorrows away in a rival Nation's bar because you and your also CPU girlfriend had a disagreement over someone who ultimately should not matter to you."
Blanc took a minute to finish her Beer. "I understand that in your day, you never met my counterpart CPU, so I can't comment on how relations were back then, but they're better now and that's thanks (albeit somewhat accidentally) to Koei's efforts. Ultimately I'm tolerating you as a favour to him, not to you." She motioned for Jill to refill her drink as she turned to Uzume. "Maybe I am being hostile towards you. But Rom and Ram mean the world to me, more than Vert… Hell, I'd let Lowee burn before they came to harm." Her stoic expression softened. "My sisters are the core of my being, Uzume. You made me experience my worst nightmare that day: Having to fight them. I wasn't in my right mind, sure… But when I came to and saw them injured as the memories came rushing back… I wanted to die."
The sound of a Beer mug being refilled was all there was in the bar for several moments. "I…" Uzume started, but couldn't find the words. Taking a deep breath, she muttered the only two words she could think of. "I'm sorry."
Barely audible, but it rang louder than a warcry as it echoed in Blanc's mind. "... I'm going to go now. Sorry for wasting a drink, Jill." She stated, no emotion on her face or in her voice as she got up and left.
Uzume bit her lip, lightly chewing it as panic ran through her mind. Tanking the rest of her Pile Driver, she got up to leave as well before a hand grabbed her shoulder.
"I believe it'd be best if you let her figure things out on her own." Jill suggested warmly, much unlike her usual stoicism filled self. "She's probably had one too many before you even entered the conversation. That and I don't think I've seen her so… Emotional before."
Uzume nodded before sitting back down, a fresh Beer awaiting her consumption. "You're the barkeep."
"Surprised you two didn't end up taking it outside. You're both pretty stubborn… As evidenced by the fact you never know when to stop drinking Pile Drivers." She grabbed Uzume's empty class and started to make yet another Pile Driver.
The sound of Celestia's door opening caught Uzume's attention. As expected, IF and Koei were talking amicably, but Million Arthur was following along silently, seeming to enjoy the pair's exchanges.
"... I mean what the hell does Kobito of the Shining Needle even mean? If I was Helena, I'd have named it something like Dream Goddesses' Awakening or something." Koei seemed to be on a tirade about something stupid, as usual.
"That's art for you." IF simply responded before sitting down, Koei obviously opted to sit between her and Uzume and Million Arthur taking the other free seat next to IF. "Our usual."
Jill smiled at her favourite customers as she finished serving Uzume's upteempth Pile Driver of the night. "Of course." Turning to Million Arthur. "Welcome to Celestia, what can I get you?"
The knight took an armoured hand to her chin, stroking it in thought. After some time examining the menu, she gave up and shrugged. "Whatever they're having."
The barkeep nodded. "Three Beers."
Koei, being the ever-perceptive person that he was, finally noticed their tagalong. "Wait, when did you get here?"
"Sir Koei, you were so diligent in your quest to acquire your CD that you missed me asking Lady IF if I could "hang out" as they say." Arthur leaned back and rolled her eyes. "I was going to explain, but you saw that title for Uzume's theme song and you went off on a tirade."
As the drinks were served, Koei had the decency to look embarrassed at least. "Ah. I get angry about the dumbest things sometimes."
"You mean like the time you went on a two hour rant about how shitty record producers are when they refused to use our likenesses for Trinity so we couldn't get any royalties?" Uzume recalled that evening. It ended with having to knock out Koei with a drinking contest to stop him from going on a drunken "Blitzkrieg" against the music industry.
"Exactly! I mean NO! We got screwed on thousands of Credits by that!" Koei stood his ground on that issue. "But I still wanted to support Helena so I bought the stupid thing anyway." He pouted rather adorably at having to support the leeches but Helena was his friend after all.
"I think the actual cover they used is cooler, honestly." IF pulled out said CD case. It was fairly abstract with a sword, a battleaxe and a katar filling the otherwise black void with the title in bold white text at the top.
Koei muttered something about "last minute hack job" as Uzume took a look at the CD case herself, flipping over to see the songlist. It was fairly decent in song number, with custom themes for Koei, IF and herself being the first three songs there, along with some of Seven Hel's back catalogue. "Seems fine to me, yeah." Uzume handed it back before taking a drink. "Weird that an album about a trio has songs performed by a duo, but marketing I guess."
"Selling it after playing it during the event… Genius marketing." Koei muttered to himself, his thoughts turning to how much work Neptune must put into not doing her job directly, but setting up events like this that benefit both parties. "Neptune, Your insanity is only matched by your work ethic. Well, anything but what Histoire asks her to do."
"Mmm." Uzume took a long drink of her Beer. "Maybe… Maybe I misjudged you, Nepsy." She muttered aloud.
"To be fair, I was shocked when I met Neptune. In general." Koei mused on times gone by. "First thing she did was burst out into a rant about how I took up all the screen time or something. I also passed out from a concussion not two minutes later, so I might be misremembering."
"Nah, sounds like Nep." IF confirmed, having known her for the longest of the group. "She probably figured that making the Planeptune Special Forces would also give us all a reason to work together…"
"Even though most of our assignments separate us for 3 different deliveries anyway." Koei pointed out logically. "Maybe once an actual job comes up?"
"You really don't need three Hero-class adventurers for cargo escort." IF agreed. "Hell, aside from Uzume getting her axe-"
"Which was a gift, not stolen." Uzume was quick to add.
"Yes, aside from that, nothing has happened that was out of the ordinary." IF finished, to which Koei started to tense up.
"I feel like we just screwed up." Koei muttered uncharacteristically seriously, the absolute fear in his voice completely knocking the tone of the bar off-kilter.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke a word. Hell, everyone in the room scarcely dared to breathe.
Koei was the first to break the silence, seeming to have adjusted back to his usual mood… Mostly. "Sorry, but I just felt a shiver in my spine at that point. I'm sure it was nothing."
Koei was wrong.
Four young women sailed on the ferry from the PC Continent to Gamindustri. Four heroes in their own right that never quite found the overnight success that Koei did.
"So… This ferry is taking a long time." The youngest of the four, a bouncy blonde with a wallet tighter than a vice grip announced rather suddenly.
"Well, if you didn't insist on taking the cheapest possible ferry to Planeptune, we might have enjoyed our trip here." The high-schooler of the group rolled her eyes at the only member of the four younger than her while polishing her firearm.
"Hey! If you don't save Credits where you can, how can you invest in future stocks?" The blonde snapped back, her naive view on the value of Credits threatened.
"By investing in things that make sense in our line of work! Silencers, blade sharpeners, I remember when you wouldn't let me buy ammo because you said and I quote, "You should just use a 10mm pistol, it uses less Credits since you don't spray bullets everywhere"! Sometimes you need to spray, not that you'd know that because you use a freakin' bazooka!"
"I swear…" A third figure entered the bickering, a white haired swordsman who could have come out of any generic RPG. "You two bicker like siblings. You know, if I ran Gold Third…"
Her dry musings caused her juniors to roll their eyes simultaneously. "You'd kick us both out without a second thought." They chanted on instinct, having heard the tirades of the swordswoman one too many times.
"It's a good thing she doesn't, then." The fourth and final member of Gold Third finally made her appearance, having heard the bickering from her cabin. "B-Sha, the cheapest ferry was your idea, but this is an overnight ferry. We'll hit the dock at around 10am and I already made arrangements for an escort party." She turned to the gun-wielding high-schooler. "K-Sha, if you want to upgrade your arsenal for… your other job." She pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, causing her beret and dark brown hair to move along with her action. "You use your cut for that. I convinced B-Sha to supply ammo because it's unreasonable to expect you to pay for your own ammo when B-Sha does it herself on our dime without informing me." A glare caused the blonde to quietly scootch away with muttered frantic apologies. "And S-Sha… I know you're wary of the new blood, but I adopted B-Sha for a reason and K-Sha wowed me with her gumanship. There's more to an adventurer than raw experience."
S-Sha stayed silent as she simply headed down to her cabin while K-Sha stood in stunned silence. "You always have a way with words, C-Sha."
"Eh, call it instinct. I'll be back in my cabin and I expect you two to not start bickering again, okay?" C-Sha chided in an almost motherly tone.
The pair nodded as C-Sha left the scene, leaving the two youngsters back where they were.
"Man, overnight? This is why I should have booked the ferry." B-Sha pouted.
"And been forced to wake up at 4am?"
"Hey, would have been cheaper…"