Sorry about the massive delay here, I got sidetracked by a lot of things and this is a shorter chapter than I wanted, but I wanted to make sure I could get this out while I had the chance to finish writing this. I'll try to keep the time between chapters a lot shorter than this, but there can be pretty significant dead spells in my writing inspiration. Anyways, please enjoy this short chapter.
The tattered robe went back on, while her lovely dress was disheveled, it was still too intact and got a lot of attention. The robe Crystal wore around her body was the only reprieve she got, and the only reason anyone ever thought she needed help. Still the walk through Lastation was long, and it was pretty quiet, Linda didn't seem to have fully warmed up to her yet. They got some stares, but less and less as they reached a slum-like area near an edge of the land, and eventually Linda stopped at a bridge that was broken. It didn't lead anywhere, the other half having collapsed, and it was completely unassuming.
Which lead to Crystal's surprise when Linda announced, "This is the place." when she started walking forward with a simple command of "Over here." They made their way over some rubble which Linda grumbled as she pushed aside, "Wish he didn't do this every time I left." She sighed and managed to reveal a door that was hidden in the side of the bridge, and pulled it open, "Come on." She said heading in first. Left without much choice, Crystal followed her in and shut the door behind them.
Inside the remains of the bridge was a veritable tech center, with a black furred mouse with big ears like Linda's hoodie sitting at a computer desk typing away at a keyboard. The place was well lit and for being in the slums they had some nice stuff, a few hammocks, a fridge and some kitchen stuff, and even a ratty sofa propped against a wall with a TV across it sitting on a wooden box. Overall the place felt kinda cozy, even if super poor and villainous. "Warechu, I'm back." Linda announced as she walked over towards his chair.
"Yeah? What kept ya?" He asked in a rushed tone, still typing away and not looking up, which apparently upset Linda enough that she just sarcastically responded with "Made a friend." Though that was a bit much, as that actually got Warechu to stop, "Are my headphones stuck I my ears again or did you just say you 'made a friend'?" He spun the chair around to turn to Linda, but noticed Crystal, who waved at him weakly, standing by the door awkwardly. Warechu went wide eyed and looked at Linda, "You let a girl in here! And a pretty one at that?!" Linda huffed, "In-case you forgot, I'm a girl too!" She bonked him over the head before sighing, "And besides, shes a street rat too. I've seen her begging for a bit over two months now. Probably some disgraced Lastation Noble." Warechu still didn't look happy.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? We're already without a support network, you can't just go dragging strangers back to our base without asking me, what happened to your earpiece anyways? I tried ringing you." Warechu demanded, and Linda just sighed, "Lost it in a scuffle with the guards. Really dumb too." "No shit sherlock." "Hey!" They jabbered away like that for a while before Crystal finally decided to step forward, "So, I can't stay?" She asked, and Warechu responded near instantly, "No way no how, sister." And then leaning forward Crystal asked, "Not even if I earn it?" Which caused Warechu's eyes to light up, "Explai-" However before he could even finish, the jewelry came spilling out of her cleavage onto the floor thanks to her lean, getting Warechu's undivided attention.
Linda couldn't help but laugh at Crystal's embarrassment as she leaned back and covered up her cleavage window once she was done and explained for her, "She was a distraction and then we got mugged by Black Sister on the way out, except she only though to take what I was carrying, not what she had stuffed on her person." "So what you're saying is she succeeded where you failed." "Hey! I was the one who even recruited her!"
Crystal gave pause at that, "Uhm … recruited?" and Warechu gave Linda a side glance, "You didn't tell her?" and Linda looked at the roof, "I was getting there, but getting away from that brat was more pressing." She rubbed the back of her head then pulled down her hoodie. "We used to be pirates, but now we're a resistance group without much support. We … had a falling out with our old leader, but we don't like the so called Goddesses either. So we're trying to stir the pot."
Warechu nods, "That's the gist of it, ya got it? If you're not okay with that, just scram and forget you ever saw us." It took some thinking but after a bit, Crystal shrugged. "Alright. I'm in." "Yeah so don't come bac- Wait what?!" Warechu cut themselves off, and Linda looked surprised, "You're not just gonna get info and bail on us, are you?" She asked, and Crystal shrugged before flopping down onto the tattered sofa.
"The way I see it, the Goddesses aren't exactly saints considering she roughed me up just for being there with you, and the world really could use some reform, I've experienced that first hand these past few months." She leans back her arms behind her head, "So … I'm in. What do you need of me?" Linda smirked and jerked a thumb over at Warechu "While he handles the finances of our loot, how about I show you the training room and the gear we've got? You've gotta wear something better than that robe after all if you wanna keep that dress in shape."
As it turns out, the training room was simply an empty area that was cleared out on the top of the remains of the bridge with a couple of scarecrow training dummies set up. As for the gear they had accumulated to offer to her ….
"You pull off the look nicely." "Why the hell do you have so many of these in every conceivable size?" Crystal was left asking as she wore a Warechu styled hoodie identical to Linda's, though hers was a bit more snug even though it was left open, it did indeed fit her assets. Linda just shrugged, "Warechu wanted to make it our uniform, and made a whole buncha them."
Aside from that, the weaponry Crystal had picked up was a reinforced bat that was 'Guaranteed to withstand even a Goddess' blade (though your strength might not)'. Considering she hadn't been given any kind of strength of skill before she had settled for a simple bat. There was some low quality blades and guns, but she didn't feel comfortable using any of them, the only thing she had combat experience with was a bat, and that was what she chose.
With the outfit and weapon squared away, Linda slapped the back of the training dummy, making it vibrate and sway at high speed, "Alright, give that new bat of yours a shot! Lets see how well you can rough this bad boy up." She said as she stepped aside. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to expect, Crystal had warned her that she couldn't be an adventurer, but she was skeptical as the girl clearly had a good head on her shoulders, and even if her strength sucked, she probably had some skill or even talent for magic, right? Still, that's what this measuring test was for. It was hooked up a device that would measure the output damage that it was impacted with.
The new girl stepped forward rolling her wrist smoothly to rotate the bat around as an idle warmup action. Following that, she moved in as she twisted to the side, pulling all of her power into that singular step. ringing forth her strength and maximizing the velocity she could swing the bat at with both hands giving it her all. The hoodie swayed slightly behind Crystal as she had moved forward, a testament to her speed, but the real kicker was the impact itself. The dummy shook and rattled from the impact, and there was a roaring crack sound.
The bat supposedly able to withstand the blade of a goddess had cracked and broken in half from that singular swing. And yet, when Linda glanced over to the damage meter, there was almost nothing there, it was in the high double digits, completely nothing remarkable at all for this world. It wasn't even enough to make a low rank adventurer think anything of it. And yet the bat had cracked, despite how little damage it dealt leaving Linda flabbergasted, the numbers just plain didn't add up at all.
Linda turned back to Crystal, a frown on her face as she stared at the broken reinforced bat in her hands, and the numbers flashed again in her mind. It was laughable. But after a moment she realized that the girl had something special about her, something neither of them understood yet, but she was determined just to find out. She sported a wide grin on her face as she asked the question plaguing her mind.
"Kid, just who the hell are you?"
Crystal had gotten a new bat of course, it was the same exact style (and promise) as the one she had broken, but right now, she was on patrol. Namely, she was looking for anyone who was a good mark. Linda didn't want her to pickpocket anyone just yet, but she had asked her to scout for stores or people that had flaws. Crystal was being honest in that she didn't have many applicable skills, but she had a sharp mind, and her perception was pretty incredible and they wanted to use that. So she was back in her tattered robes wandering Lastation, scouting for potential targets.
Honestly, she wasn't really sure what she was looking for so it was mostly taking in the sights. However, there was a scattered recognition she had of this world. She had seen it before, not in incredible depth, but it was a world she was familiar with … To be honest, she had always preferred Lowee, but beggars can't be choosers. Without some kind of pass or serious money it was impossible to cross between the two nations since Crystal wasn't an adventurer.
But Lastation wasn't bad. Still, she had a lingering resentment. She knew it was possible that the source had overblown it but … it was jarring to see how the Goddesses acted when it wasn't among people they respected and liked first hand. There was hints of it in the source material, that they were just assholes to anyone who was 'just' an NPC but she had expected better. Crystal shook her head to shake herself from her pondering. No, that was just further proof that siding with Linda was the right choice here. She wasn't a bad person at heart she felt, just down on her luck … and if she wanted to make this place better, to improve the attitude of those arrogant Goddesses …. She'd need to cause a Revolution.
AN: So, just to clarify, this is not a show of power. Crystal will never be particularly strong, she'll always be weak by Neptunia standards, but this is a side effect of her arrival. Props to anyone who can figure out what her 'ability' is, though to keep the suspense for anyone who can't figure it out, I wont confirm it.