A New Life Chapter 6
AN: Words can't describe how—
Neptune: Skip the introduction man, you're being way too cliche.
AN: *ahem Well, another month has passed by since I last update this fanfic, and trust me, it's been a busy month, I've been—
Neptune: Watching Mob Psycho 100? Or was it Youjo Senki? C'mon dude, just admit that you're lazy.
AN: Well I'll admit that my motive is dropping as Summer slowly comes closer *sigh
And somehow I managed to gather enough enthusiasm to finish this chapter, and while I'm here I think I should answer some of your questions.
Which is obviously about Nisa and Gust, well to be honest, I wasn't planning on including them into the story, mainly because I don't see how they would contribute to the plot, but now that you guys requested it, I might write an omake for both of them, it depends on my enthusiasm, which is at the verge of extinguishing.
Anyway without further ado, here's the long awaited not so exciting chapter, you have been warned.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia nor Dragon Ball Z, they belong to Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama
Chapter 6
"Say Gohan..." IF said as the group slowly advanced towards the Land of Black Regality, with their main goal of finding the Key Fragment.
The hybrid Saiyan turned his head, facing the guild agent " Is there a problem?" " Why are we walking again? I mean, we didn't learn how to fly for nothing." IF said.
" Iffy, this might not concern you but..." The nurse in training looks down at her red skirt, grabbing the rim of it with her palm, slightly flushed.
" Oh." IF simply muttered as she recalled some early unfortunate yet fortunate event.
" Well, I think having four people flying through a nation is enough to trigger the nation's securities... As far as I've seen, I don't think flying is a common thing in Gamindustri so it would be better if we avoid that in the city." Gohan explains, while the girls just nodded in agreement as they continued their way.
" Urgh, how much longer do we have to walk? I think I'm diagnosed with boredom." Neptune grumbled, " I'm not really sure, but if I remembered correctly, it's down this path." IF replied.
Neptune frowned " What do you mean not really sure, are you sure that we're at the right path?" " Hey, it's been a while since I came, okay?" IF sighed.
" Guys, don't argue over the small details, I sense a person's Ki nearby, so let's just ask that person instead." Gohan suggested as the group moved closer to said person.
She had orange eyes and long brown-red hair that's tied up into a ponytail with a white ribbon.
She wears a red-sleeved white shirt with a grey undershirt underneath that exposes her midriff, a short red pants with gold-white stripes down the side of her thighs, buckled with a brown belt and a red boot with a white stripe down the middle.
On her right leg is an orange belt like purse object, altogether with a green scarf and brown fingerless gloves, like her pants, it has cotton covering the rim of the clothes.
" Hey-! You with the red hair—" Gohan quickly chop Neptune right on the head, causing a lump on her head.
" Ow ow ow! Ouch! Hey, what was that for!? Ouch, I think I bit my tongue..." The lilac hair girl crouched on the ground while holding her head in a dramatic way.
" You deserved that." Both IF and Compa said in unison while Gohan approaches the red-haired girl who's chuckling at the scene in front of her.
" I'm really sorry for the sudden rudeness, my name is Gohan, and this is Neptune, IF and Compa." Gohan said with an apologetic tone.
" No it's fine, it's fine." The girl replied, waving her hand in denial " Is your friend over there gonna be alright?" She asked while gesturing towards Neptune, who are now whining about how she was humiliated in front of a newbie while holding her head with tears in her eyes, anyone could tell that she was acting over dramatically so that she could gain some sympathy from her friends.
Which somehow seems to be working as Compa patted Neptune in the head like what a caring mother would to her newborn baby.
Gohan deadpanned before turning back at the red-haired girl " You don't say... By the way, can you tell me your name, miss?" " Sure thing. My name is Falcom, I'm a newbie adventure." Falcom replied, " If you're in a pickle and you need help, just give me a holler."
" Speaking of which, since you called me out, is there something you need from me?" Falcom asked, " Well actually, we arrived here at Lastation not too long ago, and we're trying to get to the Basilicom, but it seems that we're lost." Gohan explained while scratching the back of his head.
" Oh! Well, just head down this path, take a right, and you'll find the Basilicom." Falcom said while gesturing the direction with her hands.
" Thank you, Falcom, and sorry for the sudden interruption." Gohan said, slightly bowing towards the newbie adventure.
" No, it's fine, it's not like I was doing anything anyway, just some daily routine around the city." Falcom explained.
" Well, we're in a hurry, so we'll be going now, thanks again." " You're welcome, let's hope we'll meet again in the future." Falcon waved as the group proceeded towards the Basilicom.
" Phew... What a surprise, I didn't expect to meet them in this realm..." Falcom muttered to herself " And that boy, he's a new one... Well, he seems to be a good guy, so it should be fine."
Almost upon entering the Basilicom " Um, 'scuse me! I came to meet Lady Black Heart, But is she around?" Neptune declared her arrival, earning a few frowns from the Basilicom staff.
" Who are you, kids? This isn't a playground. Scram!" One of the staff protest as a tick mark formed on Neptune's head.
" Hey! That's no way to treat your guests!" Neptune exclaimed, but was ignored by the majority of the people who's too busy sorting out papers and moving things around.
" We really need to meet the CPU. We're trying to get Nep-Nep's memory back." Compa explained, hoping that the staff would understand the group's intention.
" Oh! I know! This must be an event flag where I just have to name myself first." Neptune said to herself before walking forward, puffing her chest.
" My name is Neptune, the protagonist of protagonists, and this here is Gohan, Compa and Iffy." Neptune said in confidence, expecting to gain some recognition, however " Stop rambling! I don't care who or what you are. Now, get out of here!" The staff yelled in annoyance.
" Wow, so much for civility from the Basilicom..." IF remarked, " They say clothes make the man, but I guess the CPU isn't all that great."
" Say what you want. I couldn't care less what Black Heart is being called." The staff retorted while Gohan raised his eyebrows.
There was a moment of silence as the group doesn't know what to say about the comment, while Gohan is just caught up in his own sea of thoughts.
" Hey, you got a group of cute girls minus Gohan here pleading. C'mon, let us meet her!" Neptune's stubbornness pressed on as she tried to convince the more or less irritated staff.
In fact, he was so pissed that he swung his hand towards the lilac hair girl, which was stopped by Gohan as he suddenly flashed in front of Neptune, holding the staff's hand, glaring right into his shocked eyes.
The staff composed himself as he tried to break free of Gohan's grip but soon realized that he was out powered by a kid.
Slightly smirking, Gohan swiped the staff member of his legs and let gravity pulls him on the ground.
The girls flinched as they saw the staff hit the ground with the side of his head, luckily, there was no crack sound to be heard.
The staff regained his conscious a few seconds later, he sits up and yelled " Guard, what are you doing!? Go get him—" Gohan glared down at him again, stunning the staff as he stopped what he was doing " Tch... I'll let you off the hook this time, but if you dare step into the Basilicom again, I'll list you all as fugitives!"
Gohan turned his back towards the staff as he walked towards the exit " Let's go." He simply said, " Yeah, we're just wasting time here." IF nodded in agreement.
" Wait, we are just gonna leave? We can't give up! It'll be game over the moment we give up!" Neptune protest but it was futile as the group ended up leaving the Basilicom anyway.
" I'm so mad! The Basilicom is one, but you guys is another! Why'd we leave!?" Neptune whined as the group now made their way into the city.
" Nep, you were this close to being bitch slapped, if it wasn't for Gohan, you'll be facing humiliation larger than earlier." IF said while holding her thumb and index out, with a little gap in between indicating how much of a close call it was.
" Not to mention, it's obvious that all the staff members in the Basilicom are backstabbing their goddess." Gohan added.
" Why do you say that?" Neptune asked " Didn't you notice? They didn't treat their CPU with respect at all." IF stated " Yeah, he didn't treat the goddess' name with respect, that's weird..." Compa nodded in agreement.
" What's so weird, maybe they're like buddy-buddy and talk super casual." Neptune suggested.
" That's not possible, you could almost hear the venom behind when he mentioned their goddess, and the look of his eyes when he addressed their goddess
Say what you want. I couldn't care less what Black Heart is being called.
They hold some grudge with their goddess, at least I think." Gohan concluded.
" Iffy, you were traveling all over the world, right? Do you know something?" Compa asked.
" Sorry, Compa. But I mostly stayed in Planeptune, so I don't have any info now." IF answered.
" So much for the 'Adventuring' character, eh, Iffy?" Neptune commented on IF's 'busted' resume.
" But don't worry. We won't kick you out just because you faked your resume!" Neptune continues with her attempt on cheering the guild agent up, who's doesn't seem to be depressed by her comments anyway.
" Even if your level is low, we'll be together into the next sequel." Neptune finished while Gohan sweatdropped.
' Does she realize that she's basically hurting her more than comforting her... or is she doing this on purpose...'
The image of a sarcastic Neptune sent shivers down Gohan's spine. He wonders do having Saiyan genetics means being weak in front of intimidating women, or it's just specifically to the girl they fall in love with.
" Kind of ironic this is coming from someone who lost their memory, eh?" IF said with a bit of irritation.
Gohan shook his head as he gets rid of all previous thoughts ' Well, it doesn't seem like anyone is taking things seriously, so it should be fine.'
" Ahahahaha, sorry." Neptune replied, " Anyway back on the subject, I propose we do some quest, but how about it?" IF suggest.
" Oh right, I forgot how we blew our paycheque the last time we went into the restaurant." Neptune said while the girls stared at the hybrid Saiyan as he scratched the back of his head with sweat forming on him vigorously.
" I mean, I was really hungry after that long training session, so I might have eaten a bit more than usual..." Gohan tried his best in explaining.
" It's not a bit! The amount you ate is lashings!" IF yelled, " Gohan I know how nutrients are important to you at your age, but still, eating a full table of meat for a week straight is way off the mark!" Compa lectured.
While Gohan is drowned in dread of the sudden shift of attitudes the girls hold ' Girls... are scary...' Gohan made a mental note on avoiding angering any woman she met at all course.
" ...Anyway, remember how the Key Fragment was with the disc in Planeptune?" IF said, " Don't you think it could be the same in Lastation?"
" You're genius, Iffy! I'm sorry to have thought you were useless earlier!" Neptune praised.
" Um, Nep-Nep, I don't think you needed to bring up that last part..." Compa sweatdropped.
" But that means we might meet Arfoire near the Key Fragment again." Gohan said as the girls frowned, memories of her dramatic laugh replayed through their minds.
" I mean, isn't that why we trained? We're most definitely going to kick her ass next time we see her!" Neptune exclaimed, returning the easy-going mood within the group.
A while later, the group found themselves facing a blue-haired woman standing in a shop a few meters away.
" Is that her? The person who wants us to fight monsters?" Compa whispered, " She's kinda small, I was thinking like, a big burly man or something." Neptune commented.
" She's staring at us... Now she's waving... I think she's the right person." Compa replied.
" I suppose she's come to the same conclusion about us." IF said as they approach the shop.
" So it's you guys? You're gonna take the work I ordered?" The women said as she scanned the group with her bright gold eyes.
She's wearing a deep pink jacket with multiple pockets and buttons, a black tube top, and a white scarf with a pair of goggles and a bandage patch on her left cheek.
" Are you sure you'll be okay?" The women questioned " More than okay. Nice to meet you, I'm IF, and this is Compa and that's Neptune and Gohan." IF introduced themselves with a warm smile.
" Well, I guess you wouldn't have come if you weren't okay." The women let her thought out loud " My name is Chian. I run a small factory called Passe. Now, no use standing around here. Follow me." Chian said as she leads the group into her shop.
Which doesn't reassemble a factory at all, in fact " This place looks more like a cafeteria than factory." IF commented.
" The factory isn't enough, so we make do with the cafeteria, the factory is right next door." Chian explained.
" Sorry to intrude, but can you tell us the details of the work? " IF asked.
" Sure, I need you to take care of the monster around the trade route. It used to be safe, but recently, a large monster appeared from nowhere. With the trade unsafe, all trade has halted." Chian explained the situation while all the group can think of is one thing.
' It must be the work of the disc!'
" Bingo. This is the job we're looking for. We'll take that order." IF replied happily.
" Good, with Avenir killing the market, we don't need any more problems." Chian said as Gohan raised an eyebrow.
" Chian? Chian? What's this 'Avenir' ?" Compa asked " Wait, you don't know Avenir?" Chian stated in surprise.
" Well, we only arrived at Lastation earlier today, so we haven't heard of Avenir yet, though I wonder, how is Avenir killing the market?" Gohan asked with his head tilted.
" Avenir is a major company that's pretty much ruling Lastation. They make everything from goods to weapons and is controlling the market. People like me can't compete with them. So our product doesn't sell well. And it's not like they create work. I know a few who closed shop already." Chian explained.
" So, basically, Avenir is trying to become a monopoly company." Gohan concluded.
" Well, you're right, and with things going, they are not too far from achieving that." Chian nodded.
" Wait, monopoly? Isn't that the board game where you try not to go bankrupt? What does that have to do with this situation?" Neptune asked.
" No, not that Monopoly." Chian shook her head, confusing the lilac-haired girl even more.
" Well, to put it simple, normally in a market, there's a lot of companies selling the same types of products, competing against each other, we'd call that situation "Perfect competition" And due to the competitors, companies are needed to increase the quality of their products and also give a reasonable price, because if they don't, then the company will lose its customers to its competitors." Gohan explained while Chian nodded in agreement.
" But What Avenir is trying to achieve now is "Monopoly" Where there are absolutely no competitors in the market, which is bad because, without competitors, Avenir won't be worried over losing its customers, because there are no other choices on the market, so they can stop increasing the quality of their products and even set unreasonable price. And customers are forced to either buy it or not buy it." Gohan finished his explanation, impressing the owner of the factory.
" Not bad, kid. It's just like what Gohan said, Avenir right now is trying to eliminate all its competitors, and it's getting worse day by day." Chian said.
" That is terrible. It goes against antitrust laws!" Compa exclaimed " Didn't you talk with the CPU? It's hard to believe she would let this go." IF commented.
" Myself and others tried. But Lady Black Heart was away for too long..." Chian sighed " Avenir placed their goons in the Basilicom, now they pretty much own it."
" Such a waste, since Lady Black Heart just returned from Celestia..." Chian continued " Avenir won't let us near the Lady at all."
" I see... So that explains the treatment we got back at the Basilicom." IF muttered.
" So not only monopoly but corporatocracy too? This is more serious than it seems." Gohan commented.
" Corporatocracy? Okay, you're throwing way to much at me..." Neptune sweatdropped.
Gohan was about to start explaining when Chian decided to do the job instead " Well, a really simple explanation would be a society or system that is governed or controlled by corporations. Which is exactly what Avenir is doing right now, as they literally took over the Basilicom, meaning they have control over the political activity. Which will help them achieve monopoly as they can just set lots of regulations making people like me harder to compete with Avenir."
" Is it even possible to win against Avenir?" Compa asked with a bit of despair.
" If we managed to find Lady Black Heart and help her to regain her position, things should slowly turn back to the original status." Gohan concluded.
" But how do we do that?" IF Compa asked, " Well, we'll start by barging into where the CPU Lady Black Hearth lives!" Neptune suggested " We could get info on the Key Fragment AND help Chian. What a bargain!"
" Okay, Nep-Nep, let's go on stealth and stand by at Lady Black Hearth room." Compa exclaimed.
" Lady Black H-e-a-r-t. Not Lady Black Hearth." Chian corrected the duo " But If you don't know where the lady is, the guard will just spot you." Chian commented.
" Well, we have to try right?" Asked Neptune as she continued " I'm the type to try and fail instead not trying at all." Neptune exclaimed but was cut off by IF.
" Not this time, Nep. If we play this wrong, we'll never meet the Lady. And if that happens, we'll be harming Chian and folks more than they need." IF said " Let's take care of Chian's order first. Let's take it in steps, okay?" IF asked as the group has no choice but to nod in agreement.
And so, they now had arrived at West Wind Valley, determined to help Chian out on defeating Avenir, little did they know what awaits them in the next chapter.
AN: And that's where this chapter ends, and just as I told you, this chapter is really boring with no actions whatsoever in it.
Also sorry if I got the business/political stuff wrong in this chapter, as I myself is not very knowledgeable in that aspect, in fact, I don't think I'll learn that in school anytime soon.
Neptune: Then why did you even bothered writing that at all!?
AN: Huh, good question, I actually have no idea why I did that.
Anyway a thousand apologies for this really boring chapter, but worry not, because as I'm publishing this chapter right now, I'm already writing chapter 7 of this fanfic, and I'll try my absolute hardest on uploading this within this week.
So stay tuned, my friend.