Ch 24: The End?
The smell of blood was noticeable even before Vert opened the door. The sickening, cloying scent hung heavily in the air as the Leanbox goddess reached forward with a shaking hand to grasp the doorknob. Hoping against all hope that this was simply the result of some innocent prank, she turned the handle and pushed open the door.
It wasn't a prank.
It was a nightmare.
Blood was everywhere. Nearly every corner of the twin's room was covered with it. The walls, the ceiling, the furniture; splatters of red covered it all. Even more disturbing though were the... parts scattered across the ground. Vert tried not to look too closely at them but her horrified eyes still managed to register what appeared to be a dismembered leg along with several fingers lying nearby.
The pinnacle of this hellish sight, however, lay at the far end of the room. A mutilated body was pinned against the wall by several bloody icicles. There was no question that this body was the source of all the blood and severed body parts. Impossibly, the body... no, the boy, still appeared to be somehow alive as he stirred feebly.
"Please..." he chocked out, coughing up blood. "Just let me die already..."
Vert's horrified eyes turned to the two figures standing in front of the boy. Ram - covered in blood and giving a cold smile - raised a bloodied hammer made of ice as she stepped towards her victim. However, her twin abruptly halted her with a raised hand. Ram gave an angry huff at this but obediently moved back to allow her twin to approach the brutalized boy.
"You shouldn't have lied to us big bro," Rom whispered. The temperature in the room became glacial as she tightened her grip on the blood-stained katana in her hands. "You promised to only be with us forever. But then you flirted with all those other girls during your ceremony."
"I... I..."
Rom ignored him as she raised her sword.
"You're a liar big bro. And liars..."
A chilling, sadistic smile appeared on her face as her victim squirmed in terror.
"... need to be punished!"
The blade came down and the world became dyed in red.
"Nepu! Hey, this story's only rated T! There's no way something this dark and gory can be the real ending! And besides, the twins love the little harem lord! They wouldn't kill him for something like that... right? Ah, whatever. I bet this stupid piece of junk is just malfunctioning. Guess I better give it a little tune-up!"
SMACK!
Vert could not help but smile as Sync and Nepgear exited the giant Nepgeardam to a chorus of cheers and applause. It had taken ten long years but the Lootbox Empire was finally no more. Thanks to Sync and Nepgear's brave actions, the evil CEO emperor had been slain and his death fleet destroyed. Now, the people of the United Gamindustri Alliance celebrated as they greeted their two heroes.
"Sis!"
Catching sight of her, Sync immediately teleported over and gave her a tight hug. Not caring about the attention that was being placed on them, she smiled warmly and returned the embrace.
"I knew you could do it," she told him proudly.
"Heh. Well, I did have one heck of a co-pilot."
Nepgear managed to make her way over to them as she gave a small smirk.
"I'm pretty sure I was the main pilot," she corrected. "Though I will say that you made for a decent side-kick."
Sync simply responded with a laugh as he pulled away from his sister. Vert then turned towards Nepgear as she gave her a hug as well.
"I'm sure Neptune would've been very proud of you," Vert said.
Nepgear gave a somber smile as she welcomed the embrace.
"I know."
The touching moment did not last long as Sync turned to face the crowd.
"Well? Should we get started with the biggest party in all of Gamindustri's history?"
The crowd gave a resounding cheer to this as Vert and Nepgear pulled apart with matching smiles.
"Bring out the pudding we've been saving!" the young Planeptune CPU declared.
"Plus the cheese!" Sync added. "Oh, and also the wine! I know sis has been hiding a stash behind the eggplants!"
Vert gave a mock pout at this as the crowd gave another cheer.
Mentally though, she could not help but laugh. It was hard to believe all of this had begun that fateful day when Sync had accidentally warped into her room. True, she had never fully uncovered the mysteries surrounding the boy thanks to the sudden invasion of the Lootbox Empire but it didn't matter to her. The two had survived the last decade by supporting and caring for each other. Even if he was a CPU Candidate from another dimension or even some alternate-reality prince, it didn't change the fact that Vert now saw him as family.
"Hey, sis! I'm gonna drink all your wine if you don't hurry up!"
Vert looked up to find the boy giving her his trademark mischievous grin. The familiar sight elicited a smile of her own as she shook her head in mock exasperation.
"Geez. What a troublesome little brother you are."
And with that, Vert headed off to join her family.
SMACK!
Vert blinked in confusion. One moment she had been in her room playing her MMO, the next she found herself floating about in an empty white void.
As she looked around, she found that she was not alone. Chika and Sync were both floating about a few meters away from her. The two seemed to take notice of her as well as they somehow seemed to levitate over to her.
"Darling? What's going on?" Chika asked.
Vert quickly looked towards the most likely suspect of their current predicament and gave him a glare. Her suspicions seemed to be on point as the boy gave a rather sheepish laugh.
"Eheheh. Um... I think one of the workers might've accidentally unplugged the inter-dimensional toaster I made," he explained, rubbing the back of his head. "My best guess is that the space-time continuum was destroyed as a result."
Chika immediately lunged for the boy - which he easily avoided by teleporting away - while Vert gave a massive facepalm.
"Please tell me you have a way to get us out of this mess," she mumbled.
Sync gave a nervous laugh as he continued to avoid Chika's attempts to maul him.
"Sorry but I don't have anything that can fix reality." A mischievous smirk appeared on his face as he avoided another lunge from Chika. "On the bright side though, I do have some entertainment."
He reached into his inventory and pulled out a large black-and-white box.
"So... who's ready to play Monopoly for the rest of eternity?"
SMACK!
Vert readied her spear as she and the rest of the CPU and CPU Candidates faced down the newly resurrected Arfoire.
"AHAHAHA! Foolish goddesses!" the purple witch cackled. "Did you truly believe you had gotten rid of me for good?!"
"Sheesh, you again?" Neptune complained, completely breaking the tense atmosphere. "Can't we get a new villain for a change?"
Arfoire responded by chucking an eggplant straight into Neptune's mouth.
"Quiet you!" she snarled. "As the most iconic villain of the series, of course I'd be called upon whenever the writers can't think of anything else!"
"How did you manage to come back this time anyways?" Vert asked, deciding to ignore Arfoire's bit of fourth-wall breaking.
The eggplant witch smiled. "That's something you'll just have to figure out for yourselves."
"Now that's a lazy explanation if I've ever heard one," Blanc muttered.
"Silence!" Arfoire brandished her staff as a mass of storm clouds gathered above. "This time I'll slay you meddling goddesses for sure!"
"And just how are you planning to do that?' Noire asked, crossing her arms in an unimpressed manner.
"Ahahaha! That's because I have a secret weapon this time! A weapon that all of you foolishly allowed to infiltrate your ranks!"
"Blech! What are you talking about?" Neptune asked, finally dislodging the cursed vegetable from her mouth.
Arfoire gave a wicked grin as she pointed her staff towards Sync.
"Huh? What?" the boy remarked.
"Sync," Arfoire paused a bit for dramatic effect, "you... are my grandson!"
SMACK!
"Sis... it's time."
Vert shook her head as if trying to deny the reality of the situation.
Sync – his body half-transparent as bits of share energy floated off of him – gave her a sad smile before turning to take one final look at the rest of his friends.
"Big bro, will we see each other again?" Rom asked, tears forming in her eyes as she tightly clutched Ram's hand.
Sync did not respond as he instead turned around and headed towards the edge of the Leanbox Basilicom's balcony.
The dam of emotion that Vert had been holding back finally broke as she ran towards him.
"Vert!" Noire called out.
The Leanbox CPU ignored her as she desperately reached out to grab onto Sync. However, it was not to be as she fell right through his fading body and collapsed onto the floor. The other CPUs let out worried gasps at this but she did not hear them over the thoughts racing through her head.
It was her fault. If only she had realized the truth sooner. She could have done things differently. Been a better sister to him. But now...
An eternity seemed to pass before she slowly managed to pick herself up. As she stared up at the mockingly clear sky, she heard faint footsteps approaching from behind her. There was a hesitant pause before she saw Sync's translucent arms wrap around her waist.
"Goodbye sis," he whispered, his embrace and words feeling like a passing breeze.
Vert closed her eyes as tears fell down her face.
"I'm sorry Sync."
She opened her eyes just in time to catch the glimpse of a faint smile as his incorporeal form passed through her. He paused a few steps away as he slowly raised his hand to give a final wave goodbye. And then, just like that, he was gone. All that remained where he had been standing a second ago were a few shining motes of share energy before they too slowly floated into the sky and vanished.
Vert continued to stare at the patch of sky where the last remnants of her family had disappeared for a long while after.
"Goodbye... my little brother."
SMACK!
The four CPUs were standing in the middle of a lively seaport as they all stared open-mouthed at Sync.
"Wait, wait, wait," Neptune said, flapping her arms about comically. "Let me get this straight. So what you're saying is that you're actually a naval commander from another dimension who came to our world to look for help?"
"Yup," Sync said. "Sorry about the deception. I needed to know if all of you were trustworthy so I decided to get to know all of you first by acting like a CPU Candidate. Of course, I tried not to get too involved in your world but... well..." He gave a helpless shrug.
"Wait, that still doesn't explain everything though," Vert said, more than a little shocked by the sudden revelation. "What about our share connection? Your looks? Your spatial powers? Your weird gadgets?"
Sync gave a small laugh. "Oh, it's actually just coincidence we look somewhat similar. It's the reason why I decided to choose you to be my pretend-sister. I had to dye my hair blonde to complete the look but I'd say my disguise held up pretty well." He smirked at the gob-smacked look Vert was giving him before continuing. "As for the other stuff, it's all thanks to experimental technology that my... ahem... associate provided me."
Right as he said that, a green-haired cat-girl suddenly walked by.
"Oh you're finally back Commander. That'll be eighty nine million gems for all the supplies you bought, nya."
Sync, or at least the person the CPUs had known as Sync, gave a groan.
"I'll pay you back later. I'm a bit busy at the moment." After shooing away the strange cat-girl, he gave an annoyed grumble. "Damn scam-cat..."
Shaking his head, he turned back to the group of stunned CPUs.
"So... would you be willing to help save my world?"
The four CPUs shared a look with each other before giving a collective sigh and shrug.
"Meh. Why not?" Noire let out. "It's not like this is the first alternate dimension that's asked for our help."
"Great! I'll give you all a tour and then get you equipped with some spare rigging. I'm sure there's a few that'll-"
Right at that moment, an alarm began to blare out over the base. An instant later, a buxom white-haired maid rushed up to Sync.
"Master, our scouts have spotted a Siren fleet approaching the base from the north-east!"
Sync gave a quick nod before turning back to the CPUs.
"Sorry but it looks like our tour will have to wait."
"What exactly is going on?" Vert asked in confusion.
Sync gave her a wide grin. "Oh, just another typical day in my home world."
The maid from before offered him a commander's hat which he put on with a dramatic flourish.
"Welcome to the fleet ladies."
SMACK!
Vert opened her eyes with a groan. The last thing she remembered was Chika approaching her with something hidden behind her back. After that everything had descended into a hazy fog.
Did Chika knock me out? She suddenly became wide awake as she realized the implications this held. Oh no. She better not have removed all my clothes again!
She quickly realized to her relief that all of her clothes were still intact. However, that was when she made the disturbing discovery that her arms were chained above her against the wall.
"What?!" she cried out in shock. She quickly looked around and saw that she was in some sort of large underground chamber. As her eyes roamed the unfamiliar location, she suddenly spotted something that froze her completely.
Sitting on a large golden throne several meters away from her was none other than Sync. However, the thing that really got her attention was the group of girls in maid outfits gathered around him. To her complete bewilderment and shock, she realized that the girls fawning over him were none other than the other CPU and CPU Candidates. Noire was currently wrapped around his right arm while Uni stood near his left feeding him a bunch of grapes. Blanc and Nepgear, meanwhile, were on the floor serving as his footrest while Rom and Ram were fanning him with what appeared to be enormous peacock feathers. Even Chika was there as she appeared to be massaging his feet with a blissful smile on her face.
"I warned you!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled out.
Vert turned her head only to find Neptune standing completely naked in an enormous vat of pudding. Thankfully, all her lewd bits were being obscured by a couple of Mysterious Light Beams as she reluctantly danced within her favorite snack.
"I told you he was a harem lord out to enslave us all!" Neptune shouted at Vert.
"Less talking, more dancing," Sync drawled. As Vert watched with an open mouth, he brought in Noire closer to him causing her to heavily blush.
"It seems today's entertainment is a bit lacking," he told the Lastation CPU. "What do you say my dear Waifu #4? Shall we move to my bedroom for something a bit more... exciting?"
Seeing Noire give a girlish giggle caused something to snap in Vert's head as she let out a horrified scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Neptune what's wrong?!" Nepgear rushed into her lab at the sound of her sister's sudden screaming.
"I was right!" Neptune shouted, pointing a shaking finger at what appeared to be an old, boxy computer screen with a blue wig on top. "The Harem Lord is going to drag us all to a bad end and make us into his trophy wives!"
Nepgear gave her a confused look before realizing what Neptune was gesturing at.
"Oh for-" Nepgear's worried look turned into an exasperated one as she walked over towards the machine. "Neptune, why were you messing around with my Random Ending Machine? I thought I told you not to touch anything in here without my supervision."
"I was just trying to figure out what the little Harem Lord was planning! And it turns out that-"
"It's called the Random Ending Machine for a reason," Nepgear cut off with a sigh. "The chances of an ending shown here actually happening is roughly one in fourteen million." Her frown deepened as she suddenly noticed the large dent on the side of the machine. "Neptune, what did you do to my invention?"
Neptune's expression suddenly became a tad sheepish. "Um... well... The first ending I saw looked really, really unlikely even to me so I thought I'd give it the good ol' Neptune fix-up."
It was only thanks to years of experience in dealing with her sister that Nepgear managed to not scream in frustration. Even so, she could not stop herself from chiding Neptune loudly.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to smack around delicate machinery?!"
Neptune simply responded with a nervous laugh as she avoided making eye-contact with her sister. Thankfully, Nepgear seemed to reign in her annoyance with a deep breath.
"It's fine. Everything's fine," she muttered to herself. "I'll just fix this up later." Composing herself, she turned back to face her sister. "Anyways, Histoire told me to come get you."
"Huh? Is something going on?"
"Apparently Sync's debut impacted Gamindustri's share distribution far more than Histoire anticipated. She's worried that this might negatively affect Planeptune and-"
"AAAAAAAHHHHH! I told you! He's going to conquer the world first and then-"
Nepgear's patience finally seemed to run out as she roughly grabbed the hood of Neptune's parka and began to silently drag her away.
"H... hey! You're going to stretch out my favorite outfit!" Neptune's complaints faded away when she caught sight of the barely restrained ire on her sister's face. "Um... Nep Jr.? Are you still mad about me breaking your invention? Cuz I promise not to do it again. Nep Jr.?"
The door to the lab closed behind them as the sound of Neptune's increasingly frantic apologies faded off into the distance For a moment, only the idle sounds of the various machinery could be heard before a loud sigh suddenly came from behind one of the deactivated Nepgeardams.
A one in fourteen million chance huh? Knowing their luck though, those idiots are bound to run into one of those endings for sure. Ugh. Looks like I'll need to step in personally again.
There was a tired groan and a brief flash of green before the lab became silent once more.
Kept you waiting, huh? Here's to hoping that this latest necromancy spell manages to hold up for a few more chapters.