In a dark and lonely corner of a dark and lonely restaurant, two figures sat at a table. Lonely as could be. Some might call them forgotten, but that wasn't the way it had meant to happen. It hadn't meant to be this way! They had been meant for so much more... But things had changed. Gamindustri had changed.
Justice had changed.
For in the darkest and loneliest corner of the darkest and loneliest restaurant, a familiar and once fearsome (... in a manner of speaking, anyway) pair found themselves at a loss. They didn't know what to do with themselves — were they even allowed to do anything with themselves anymore? Who was to say? Would they get a call from their agent(s) if they tried anything funny? Did they have agents now?! If they didn't, how could they get some?!
In unison, Nisa and Gust sighed wistfully, tearing their eyes away from the happy customers around them and returning their gazes to the sorry state they were in. Together, they took a long swig of their (non-alcoholic) drinks and slammed their flasks on the table as one... but even this sight of two pretty girls down in the dumps was not enough to make anyone look their way. Truly, they had hit rock bottom.
"Not paying this time."
Gust was the first of the two girls to speak. It was quickly becoming their routine. They would meet. They would greet. They would mope. They would drink. They would leave. It was all they really could do anymore. After all... After all...!
"It's just not right!" Slamming her fist on the table, causing the glasses on the table to shake as she did, Nisa cried out as she let her frustrations be heard. "We were good characters, weren't we? We were popular, weren't we? Why... Why did this have to happen to us...?! We don't even have a role in the story anymore! Is it because we're flat?! Is it because 5pb. and Cave are bustier?! Is that it...?! There's nothing wrong with us! There isn't!"
Sighing, Gust shook her head to herself as she watched her poor companion vent to no one in particular. The hero had always a habit of talking when no one was listening anyway, so it wasn't like her doing it now was a particularly strange thing to see, but the fact that what she was saying applied to her too was rather troublesome. There were no delusions of heroic grandeur here, no great claims to fame, nothing of the sort. What Nisa went on about now was nothing but a result of the cruel hand that fate had offered them.
Really, some might say that it was a great loss what had happened to the two of them. A Tari-gedy, even. Though Gust dare not speak these fears aloud, she often wondered if, one day, they would just cease to exist, cease to have ever existed. It would be as if everything they had ever said and done would be forgotten, and all of their friends would believe it had been someone else who had said and done those things.
But what kind of catastrophic event could cause such chaos? What sort of evil could do such a thing to such good and kind people like the two of them? Especially Gust?
It was quite simple, actually.
The two of them had been... retconned.
Shaking her head, Gust closed her eyes, thinking back to the good old days. Business had been so much better for her before... Now, though? Not so much. She still made a pretty penny off her various online stores, brilliant saleswoman that she was, but it just wasn't the same.
"Was inevitable. Real world events out of our control." Gust nodded sagely, as if the words she had spoken were of such damning importance that there was absolutely nothing she or Nisa could ever hope to do about their cruel fates. She wasn't sure if she was hoping to ease her own troubled heart or Nisa's, but perhaps she could at least reach one of them. "Just gonna have to suck it up. Move on. Pay the piper."
This odd little speech of Gust's, if it could be called a speech, did at least seem to draw Nisa out of her venting... but not to the effect Gust desired. The blue haired hero turned on the smaller girl, confusion and frustration evident.
"'Inevitable'? That's a word that doesn't exist in a hero's dictionary! You should know that too! And why should I pay a piper when I'm already paying your bill tonight?!" Nisa cried out indignantly, pointing at Gust accusingly. It was clear the poor heroine had been through the ringer given how upset she looked at the moment... well, that, or she was suffering from the fabled "getting drunk of off the atmosphere" ailment that appeared in anime so often. Perhaps it was a little of both. "You were supposed to be my sidekick... But then you left me for her!"
"Gust was never your sidekick." Gust pointed out nonchalantly, hoping to use that conversation, one they had had time and time again, to divert the issue away from the "her" Nisa had mentioned. They didn't need to start getting into original character territory here, no matter how fitting it might have been for the situation. "Gust think you need some air. Maybe we should..."
"You can't silence justice!" Standing up from her seat, Nisa crossed her arms. Once, her scarf would have started to start fluttering about dramatically, even if there wasn't any wind. Instead, it just... folded over from one side to the other. Dramatically, though! Raising a clenched fist to the sky, Nisa turned to Gust, beginning a speech she had given to the other girl many times. "I'm going to fight back, Gust! Our roles aren't finished yet! Our adventure is only just beginning! Even if we're going to make it an adventure looking for a place to die-" "Gust fine not dying." "-then that will still be our adventure!"
Before Nisa could get any further than that, a familiar voice interrupted her adventure plans.
"Okay, okay, I think that's about enough. You shouldn't joke about dying. Now why don't I take you to the back and get you cleaned up?"
As if the room, or at least the pair's dark and lonely corner of doom and gloom, brightened instantly, Nisa deflated as she looked at the speaker while Gust took a sip of her drink. It was none other than the ever busty ninja, MarvelousAQL, who had interrupted Nisa. She was decked out in traditional barmaid attire and looking like quite the catch, but after giving the shinobi a look up and down, Nisa seemed even more troubled.
"How come she's the one who comes to settle me down? Couldn't it have been Lady Blanc? Or... Or Lady Uni?" Looking like she was simply pouting now, Nisa cast a disapproving look in MarvelousAQL's direction... or rather, in the direction of her chest. "I was looking forward to getting someone to talk to that wouldn't abandon me..." Nisa pointedly looked at Gust as she made this comment, to which the alchemist replied with a shrug. "... but they send... you?"
MarvelousAQL tilted her head. Pausing to consider her next words, as she thought them over, she fixed the future narration to recognize her recent change in name to Marvelous!, exclamation point and all, in a manner that wasn't at all added during the creation of this scene because it hadn't been known to those filming it beforehand, and finally decided to place an arm on Nisa's shoulder.
"No one 'sent' me. At least not for you, Nisa. I'm here because I need to meet someone in this bar this evening, and I saw two of my good friends looking like they could use a hand." Offering a cheerful smile, Marvelous! tilted her head towards the back, as if beckoning Nisa to come with her. "I've got some delicious rolls I just made in the back that we can share. They'll definitely make you feel better!"
For a moment, Nisa seemed to be thinking about this as a legitimate option to take. It wasn't like the other options she had right now seemed particularly appealing at the moment, and she didn't mind the sound of fresh food at all. Better than gum that someone had chewed by someone else or rooster blood or monster guts, which was all she ever got these days sticking around demons and their ilk... Letting out a sigh, the heroine of justice lowered her hand to her side and nodded.
"Right... This must be my obligatory 'moment where the hero is faced with a bad situation and has to choose between running away in the face of it or standing up and conquering all the challenges that stand in the way of her delivering justice' episode...! I can't give up here! I'm more than a passing through heroine!" Nisa crossed her arms and nodded to herself, smiling half-heartedly. Her scarf even managed a little more dramatic fluttering this time.
Removing her arm from the smaller girl's shoulder, Marvelous! clapped her hands together and proceeded to loop an arm in one of Nisa's, much to her surprise.
"That's the spirit! Now let's go get some of that futomaki!"
As Nisa began to struggle and to try to escape the ever busty shinobi's grasp, things seemed like they were returning to normal. Sure, she might wind up back here tomorrow with Gust to lament their ever decreasing roles, but for today, she could enjoy herself like she used to without worrying about things like the relevance of her existence and crazy things like that. What kind of hero spent time worrying instead of dishing out justice?
"Look on bright side, Nisa. Better written out than walking, talking plot device like her."
... but then Gust just had to go and open her mouth.
Marvelous! and Nisa both stopped walking, surprised by the sudden words from the small alchemist. Gust, for her part, didn't seem to pay them any mind, as she was now munching on something that she had gotten from who knows where.
"Plot device?" Marvelous! was the first to speak. She was frowning now, her smile having faded and her arm having dropped Nisa's. Gust had definitely been referring to her with that remark, but...
"You know..." Nisa was holding her chin, striking a pose that was not only heroic, but told any onlooker that she was deep in thought. She stepped away from Marvelous! and looked the shinobi up and down, humming thoughtfully as she considered Gust's remark. As the pieces began to fall together, Nisa's eyes widened and she now, once again, was pointing at someone dramatically — but this time, it was Marvelous!. "It's true! How did I never notice this before...!?"
"Nisa got brawn, Gust got brains and beauty and more brawn. Not hard." Another helpful comment from the alchemist, who had put aside her snack and turned in her seat to watch the unfolding reactions. They were even starting to catch the attention of some of the other patrons at this point... Should she consider selling tickets?
"W-What are you two talking about?" her arms at her side, the shinobi was feeling significantly less interesting in helping out her friends now that they were talking about her like this. She was not a plot device! "I'm just as much of a developed character as either of you are! Ask anyone!"
"That's not true. Nisa not nearly as developed as you." Once again, Gust was more than happy to supply the most helpful and appropriate commentary for the occasion. At Nisa spinning around to glare at the her accusingly, Gust smirked at the heroine and shrugged her shoulders, as if she were dismissing the unspoken accusation that she was being a bit hypocritical. "Still haven't had growth spurt yet."
Marvelous! puffed her cheeks out in frustration as the hero and alchemist began bickering amongst themselves, as if they had forgotten about her completely now. It was turning into one of those cliche argument scenes, with Nisa getting right in Gust's face and little lightning bolts sparking between them and everything. Now that wasn't fair at all! And it was certainly no way for friends to act!
"Stop it, you two! I want to know what you meant...!" Protesting once more, Marvelous! stepped in-between the two in the hopes that she could settle them down — well, mostly settle Nisa down, really, but she still wanted to pacify the situation and get back to the conversation that it was almost like they were purposely avoiding...
... however, as fate would have it, due to the proximity of the two other girls, when Marvelous! stepped forward, both of them each got a face full of her "character development."
At least that stopped the argument.
"Y-You monster!" Her cheeks burning bright red, Nisa flew back almost instantly, pointing accusingly at Marvelous!, who seemed a lot less bothered than one would think she should be given what had just occurred. "Using those... those things as weapons like that! That's so... That's so..."
"Typical of a plot device?" Unlike Nisa, Gust seemed to be taking what had just happened in at least a little more stride, though it appeared as though even she hadn't quite expected that sort of intervention.
"That's it, yeah! That's so typical of a plot device!" Snapping her fingers, Nisa nodded in agreement with Gust's assessment before turning back to Marvelous! with an expression that made it look as though she was forgiving a child that had made a mistake. "It's not your fault that you did that, it's just who you are. It has nothing to do with whether or not you have a heart of justice burning in your ch... I mean, if you have a heart of justice!"
Nodding to herself, as if the matter was now dealt with, Nisa sat down on her seat and reached for her drink as though everything was all hunky dory. Gust looked disappointed now, for she couldn't sell tickets to the cross-appeal event of the... well, the day, at the very least, but she too looked like she had stopped caring.
Well, if that was how they wanted to play it... Fine. Marvelous! still wasn't sure what they had meant, but she could play that game. She was a trained warrior, after all, and sometimes, for the sake of justice, that meant getting her hands dirty!
"I guess it's too much to expect for characters that couldn't even last more than two appearances in the series to be able to explain themselves..." Sighing wistfully, Marvelous! purposefully crossed her arms under her chest — Nisa openly flinched at the "added" size she saw, and even Gust looked a little bothered. "I shouldn't have tried talking to you two... I might end up written out of the games too if I'm not careful... Bye guys..."
Shaking her head, Marvelous! turned to go, dabbing at her eyes to pretend to wipe a tear away. She knew she was being painfully obvious, but it didn't matter how obvious she was being — it would still have the desired effect and all three of them knew it.
"W-Wait a minute! We'll tell you, we'll tell you!" Nisa was once again on her feet, and not a moment later she had grabbed Marvelous!'s wrist and dragged her back to the table. Clearly, perhaps thanks to her origins (Marvelous! couldn't quite remember that girl's name... Usagi...? Asaki...?), the subject of being written out of her rightful role was something of a sensitive subject to Nisa. "We're sorry! Right Gust?"
After giving it a moment of thought, Gust nodded to show her agreement.
"Sorry Nisa is such a doofus. She can explain." It was a backhanded apology, but the two other girls supposed it was the best one could expect out of Gust's type when it was a minor offense like this.
Smiling inwardly, Marvelous! resisted the urge to give Nisa a big hug as the heroine even pulled a chair over for her and "forced" (of course, one couldn't really force her into something she didn't want to do) her into it before returning to her own seat. Now she could get to the bottom of this, then she'd bring her futomaki out for all three of them to share. That would be fun, right?
"So? What did you mean before?" The fact that Marvelous!'s mood had done a 180 from the mood she had been projecting only a moment earlier did not go unnoticed by Gust and Nisa, but now that they weren't kidding around or trying to make themselves feel better about their situation, they realized that this was not exactly the conversation they really wanted to be having. "It sounded pretty rude, but I bet I misunderstood... right?"
There was something in Marvelous!'s voice that made Nisa and Gust feel just a little nervous. It was still peppy and cheerful, but it was lined with something else — something that reminded them that they were dealing with someone who, despite their claims to justice, typically dealt their version of it from the shadows.
And she could even fight while naked! Even with all that bouncing! Or so the stories went, anyway. Imagine the mental fortitude she must have!
What had the two of them gotten themselves into...?!
"So, uh... Don't take this the wrong way, but..." Coughing into a gloved hand, Nisa tugged at her scarf awkwardly. She looked to Gust for assistance, but the alchemist was pointedly inspecting a vial that she had pulled out of a pocket or something. "Just, y'know... Look at how you are in the story. Even right now, in this scene, you're just here to move things along. In the story it was for Cave so she could pass along your feelings to Lady Neptune, and now here, you're making me and Gust feel better. Your 'plot devices' even got a role and helped stop our argument too..."
As Nisa trailed off, torn between feeling incredibly ashamed of herself as a heroine and as a human being or glad that she wasn't in Marvelous!'s position, much as she wasn't enjoying the one she herself was in either, the shinobi simply blinked as she processed this information.
That was... true, wasn't it?
She really hadn't noticed it before, but it was true. While it certainly could also be said about other characters, they at least had had roles and purposes outside of pushing things along... She had pushed Cave along, and while that had ultimately led to pushing Neptune along, Cave and 5pb. had still gotten a fair amount of attention on their own, and might even get to have a little more along the way, weren't they?
"Well, I'd better get that futomaki then...!" Her words coming out much less enthusiastic than she had intended, Marvelous! stood up from her seat and began to head for the kitchen. She'd get the food and come back with a smile on her face, just like she had had when she arrived. Keeping emotions in check was another skill that shinobi were supposed to be masters of, after all! And it wasn't like she should feel disappointed about something like this, should she? It wasn't like she hadn't been doing other things during all of that time... It just hadn't been seen.
Maybe this was how Nisa and Gust felt about being written out?
Shaking her head — she couldn't let it get her down! — the busty shinobi started towards the kitchen. Nisa looked from Gust, who looked genuinely conflicted for once, and Marvelous!, who seemed to be "okay" despite how she obviously was not, before finally deciding to stand up.
What kind of hero would let a damsel in distress go off alone?!
As that bit of narration went by, as if struck by lightning, Gust stood up in her seat. It didn't clatter to the floor, as she was so tiny that she was literally standing on her seat, but it did catch the attention of Nisa and the retreating Marvelous!.
"Gust... Gust has the answer!" Pointing towards Marvelous! in a fashion more dramatic than most were used to from the little alchemist ("That's my sidekick!"), Gust made her brilliant plan known. "You. Start the Nisa route. Trigger some flags here and there and you'll have to be more than plot device. It'll be easy."
Nisa and Marvelous! could only stare at the alchemist. Was she... seriously... suggesting that... the two of them...?!
"Where did that come from!? We've never even talked, at least not as far as I remember!" Nisa was the first to take action, being the ever boisterous heroine that she was. The fact that Gust was suggesting she be paired with such a... such a... such a balloon animal was... It was a betrayal! Not that Nisa would ever allow herself to be paired with anyone other than justice, mind, but that was still totally out of line! "That wouldn't make sense! Who would want to read a story that doesn't make sense? I've never even heard of a story like that!"
"R-Right!" Marvelous!'s response was less than a little enthusiastic. Her enthusiasm was continuing to drop the more this conversation went on, in fact. Truth be told, she actually had no problems with Nisa's company one way or the other, and while she wasn't sure about being paired with her (or anyone — or not being paired with her or anyone, for that matter!), her mind was still too stuck on the hero's earlier comments to be as invested in this conversation as the blue haired vigilante was.
Gust seemed nonplussed.
"So? There things in this story that don't make sense. IF, Lady Blanc, the fact Nisa and Gust even are still around after retcon... Gust could go on."
Nisa could only gape at Gust as the little alchemist tilted her head innocently. What kind of villainous accusation was Gust throwing out now? Worse, was she trying to get herself killed...?! It was one thing to complain about their role, but to complain about... that?
Just as Nisa was about to warn Gust that she was treading on dangerously thin ice, once again, the growing group of secondary characters was interrupted by the voice of a newcomer.
"That's where you're wrong, Gust."
"Speak of the Overlord..." Nisa commented under her breath, though inwardly, she was actually very, very relieved that her trusty sidekick and sort-of friend wouldn't be facing divine punishment any time soon.
For it was none other than IF herself who had arrived on the scene.
"If it's me you want to talk about, then you must mean how I'm still from Leanbox in the story, right?" Placing a hand on her hip, IF stepped up to stand between the table that Nisa and Gust were seated at and the one where Marvelous! was. "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that if you think about it. It applies all of that stuff — everything you didn't mention too."
"Gust doesn't follow." Despite her blunt words, for the first time since the scene had started, the alchemist finally actually seemed genuinely interested in what someone else among them was saying. She had turned to face IF and was clearly waiting for her to explain.
IF sighed. Well, she supposed if someone had to do it...
"It's simple. It's not like we ever specified that we were going to follow one 'canon' by the book, right?" Crossing her arms, IF surveyed the three young women before her, waiting for them to catch on. Marvelous! seemed to be the first, followed by Gust... Unfortunately, given how something like "canon" meant significantly less to Nisa, it was understandable it took her just a moment more to get her gears going. "Everything like that, like my being from Leanbox, was covered by an explanation in the story, wasn't it? It's not like we just decided to pick some random character and introduce such an important element to them for no reason, right?"
"That's true..." Nisa, finally having caught on fully, nodded thoughtfully as she considered IF's words. It was true! They hadn't just up and said IF worshiped Lady Vert for no reason, she had gotten a whole backstory to both include that while still being able to be Compa's childhood friend, like she was supposed to be. How... heroic! "But what about how Lady Blanc's feelings for Neptune? Or some of the other stuff?"
IF rubbed her temples. Really, Nisa...? Oh well. Considering what she was a walking parody of and what she was born from, maybe she needed certain things spelled out to make sense, in a way the main story just wouldn't be able to cover.
"Still simple. With Lady Blanc, it's a combination of a few things. The easiest one is that, because this is a story outside of the games, there's some artist liberty being taken, because this story's main 'canon' is the story itsel...f..." IF wondered briefly if it was okay for her to start explaining everything like this. Technically even she wasn't supposed to know all of this under normal circumstances, but since she had stepped this far out of the wall's reach, she might as well finish... It wasn't like it would matter once the scene ended anyway. "It's also meant to be referencing some 'real world' relationships between the 'real' Lowee and Planeptune. Plus, since the other Lady Blanc seems to feel something towards that Lady Plutia character, since she's not really all that different from our Lady Blanc, maybe our Lady Blanc actually has feelings for Nep too. You could even infer it a little from the remake... Or so I hear, anyway..."
IF wasn't done just yet, though.
"However! Since Nep and Lady Plutia are. well... Well they're clearly different people, our Lady Blanc might show her feelings differently, or just not be as aware of them, since..."
IF paused. Her audience was on the edge of their seats, but... She didn't really want to say anything that could "risk" the wrath of a certain Iris Heart.
"... s-since the people they're interested in are different!" Deciding on the safest answer she could think of, IF nodded to herself, shooting a quick glance around the room to make sure she hadn't spoken about anyone who had been secretly hiding in wait. No Blancs, no Neps, no Plutias... Whew. "Anyway, as for that last part? Like I've said, we're drawing from a few sources. Mostly the games, but, and it'll be a little more obvious in Part 3, there are a couple of things the anime did for characterization and relationships between characters that were used as inspiration for some things in the story, though from what I remember, that's mostly Lady Vert and Nepg... Er... What are you all looking at?"
For some reason, that last thing she had said seemed to have caught them far more off guard than IF had expected it to.
"We... We have an anime?!"
"Gust demands royalties."
Oh. Right, since none of them had been able to be in it, no wonder that they didn't know about it...
"A-Anyway, the point is, everything in the story either has basis somewhere, or it's being built up through the story itself!" Hoping she could distract the two starstruck girls at the table on one side, IF cast a look towards the bustier girl at the table on the other. While she had certainly been enthralled by IF's explanations while they had been coming, now that they were over, she was starting to look down again. "More importantly, I want to talk to..."
"That was soooooo informative, Wifey Number One! You should be the one writing this story — no! You should write our story!"
Before IF could speak any more, she found herself getting tackled from behind as some sort of small and... overly affectionate creature latched onto her from behind. IF didn't even have guess to know who had arrived based on these things — she knew full well who the culprit was.
"R-RED?! What are you doing here...?! How long have you..." Doing her best to not fall over as the creature, otherwise known as RED, gave IF a just-for-Iffy greeting, IF finally managed to get the redheaded girl off of her without too much damage. "Listen, RED, I've told you, I'm not..."
The girl seemed to not be bothered at all by IF's protesting — in fact, she was already walking past the brunette, much to her surprise. Maybe... she was finally getting the hint? IF was glad she hadn't had to hurt the girl's feelings to get it through to her that she had a girlfriend, but... Maybe she had figured it out during that scene earlier when she and Compa had been dancing?
"That's fine, I'm not here for you today, Iffy...! We'll always have Las Retcas." Smiling cheerfully despite the confused look on IF's face ("So much for getting thie hint..."), RED turned on the other girls of the group, giving them all appreciative looks before her sparkling eyes finally settled on the blue haired heroine. Her heart beating away in her chest, RED clasped her hands together and took a step closer towards the washboard wonder. "Today, I'm here for my role mate."
For a moment, the other girls could only stare blankly at the redhead... except for Nisa, who was muttering something under her breath that sounded strangely like she was reliving a horrible past memory ("T-That expression... That body language... This... This is just like that time that succubus thought I was a boy...! N-No, Lord Laharl, please don't send me out there...! Heroes aren't supposed to be involved in things rated that high...!").
"Excuse me, RED?" It was Marvelous! who spoke up, for the first time in quite some time at that, to address the odd choice of words that RED had used. "Don't you mean 'soul' mate? I've never heard of anything like a 'role' mate before."
"Nope, I definitely meant what I said, Marvy," RED's smile was a mile wide as she gave Marvelous! a wink before turning back to Nisa, slowly shifting back to the "blushing bride" version of her usual cheery self. Now what had gotten into her...? "In the second game's remake, I was the one who took over for her when she couldn't be there because she had to heroically go fight monsters and protect us all from evil, right?"
"Right!" IF fought the urge to smack her forehead as she watched Nisa perk right up at RED's usage of "the magic words." She had just been reliving some kind of horrible and traumatic memory, now she was like a puppy wagging her tail and eating right out of RED's hand!
"Well, since we both have the same role in the same story now..." RED took another step towards Nisa, holding out her hand with only her pointer finger and thumb extended as she was often prone to do. "... that makes us role mates! See?"
"Oh... Okay..." Slowly sitting up, Nisa straightened her scarf. That... didn't sound so bad. It was kind of like having a sidekick, wasn't it? Or... Or maybe some kind of fusion...? That could be pretty cool, now that she thought about it... She just needed to get a motorcycle and find a hat and a guy that could turn into a motorcycle and this could be the start of her heroic comeback! "I think that makes sense... Yeah, I guess we are 'role mates'!"
IF wanted very badly to shake her head and make "no! no! no!" motions with her hands now that RED couldn't see her, but... RED was her friend too, after all. Plus, if it meant RED would get off of her back a little more (literally and figuratively), then why not? Besides, Nisa had wanted an in back into the story, and knowing RED...
"I'm glad you understand! Because, in other words, it's like we've mated through our roles, so that makes us even closer than wifeys and soul mates combined! All we need to do now is the physical part to seal the deal!"
... something like that was coming.
"Wait wha-"
"Come to momma!"
"Wait, not until Gust gets out her camera..."
"Oh, that's a great idea! We should have pictures of our honeymoon! Let's pose!"
"W-W-W-What!? I don't want my honeymoon to be in a- Wait, who said I had even agreed to this?! Heroes can't have relationships! Y-You'll probably die, you know! The girl one always dies!"
"Then I'll just have to protect you! Don't worry, role mate, our bond is so special that it reaches across gaming platforms! I'd never let you die!"
"Nisa better stay extra close so she doesn't die. Just in case. No, no, little closer."
"Hold on a second, I don't count for that! And Gust, why are you agreeing with her...?!"
As RED tried to to start her honeymoon with the flailing heroine then and there (IF wanted to hope against hope that RED didn't know what really happened on a honeymoon, but considering the adult games that she somehow managed to keep getting a hold of, she couldn't be sure... though she could at least be sure she needed to give Vert and/or Chika a stern talking to about it later), IF rolled her eyes, glad for the distraction, for now she could finally approach, Marvelous!, who had gone from entering the scene and brightening it with her mere presence to sitting on the sidelines and looking... Well, about as far from that as the poor girl could.
"Anyway... Are you still thinking about what they were saying before?" The shinobi didn't need to reply for IF to know she was right on the money. It had been why she had come over in the first place, after all. "Hey, don't sweat things like this. If you think about it, this scene wasn't just to 'mourn' the 'loss' of those two at all. It was to give you and even RED over there a little time to shine too. Maybe it was also a... sort of apology?"
"Apology?" Marvelous! frowned. What did that mean? "What is there to apologize for?"
IF offered the shinobi a sheepish smile in response, casting a quick glance in the direction of the rambunctious group she had left to make sure she didn't need to interfere or cue a fade to black ("Whew! All clear. Guess she doesn't know after all... At least I hope not...") before returning her gaze to Marvelous!.
"For not being able to include you more... Or her, I guess." IF supposed it made sense that RED had appeared now of all times too — she really, for the most part, only had been in the same single scene Marvelous! had been in, occasional references by other characters aside.
"You think so?" Marvelous!'s frown softened. In a way, she felt bad — she didn't need to be apologized to! She was thrilled that her words had helped things between Cave and 5pb.! She just would have liked to... Actually, she wasn't really sure what she would have liked, now that she thought about it. RED clearly didn't mind, from the looks of things, and even Nisa and Gust seemed to be enjoying themselves now... in a manner of speaking. "Even though I'm just..."
IF held up a finger to silence the orange haired girl before her. She may not have been a trained... whatever Marvelous! was, but she did have a little more experience in these matters, if nothing else.
"So what if you're a plot device? I was totally one when I came in there to explain things earlier, wasn't I? Shoot, I was barely that, I was just here for exposition — you could have had a text box do the same thing!" Laughing dryly to herself, IF shook her head, sharing with the shinobi an understanding look. "But... Is that so bad?"
Offering Marvelous! a grin, IF jabbed her thumb behind her — to Marvelous!'s surprise, she realized that IF and RED hadn't been the only fellow members of the cast that had been eating here. There was Falcom, the other Falcom, Broccoli, Tekken, and so many more people...!
"Outside of the wedding scene that had everybody in it, look at all the people who haven't even been mentioned in the story up until now. With such a huge cast, it's crazy to think we'd all get a shot at screen time. Even if you just got to show up to be a plot device for a little while, it was still you who got chosen. You were the one person who could do what needed to be done. Don't forget that."
Feeling considerably better about things now, Marvelous! nodded at IF's words and hopped off of the seat she had plunked herself down on. Before IF could stop her, the shinobi gave the Guild member a big hug, one not unlike the one she would have given Nisa before things had gotten... Well, like they had. Though taken aback by the action, Marvelous! clearly meant no harm by it, so IF returned the hug and then stepped away, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. She wasn't as bad as Noire and Uni, but she definitely wasn't exactly the touchy feely type either...
It was at this point, now that things on their side had passed over, that the two noticed that things at the table they had stepped away from had grown oddly... quiet. Slowly turning their heads, in unison, both IF and Marvelous! found themselves going pale.
RED was looking straight at the two of them, but rather than looking jealous as one might expect from the lover of all things wifey, her eyes were sparkling, and... was that... blood coming out of her nose...?! What in the world was going on in her mind...?!
Nisa, on the other hand, was still in RED's iron wifey-loving grip, and it appeared as though even the great heroine of justice couldn't escape from the power of love. Unfortunately for her, RED had been in the process of smothering her with her "love" in the hopes of convincing Nisa that they truly were "one" and "meant to be" and that they should "go make it official" when she had caught sight of... well, whatever it was that she thought IF and Marvelous! were doing, leaving poor Nisa trapped in the legendary marshmallow hell.
And last but not least, Gust had been happily taking pictures of it all, knowing at least one of them would look great on a poster and would no doubt make her big bucks down the line. She was back in business!
"W...ell, Marvy, I'll leave this to you."
"H-Huh? But I don't-"
"Don't forget, you're supposed to be working here, remember? Bye!"
"Marvy... That was awesome! I know! Let's have a double wedding! I'll marry Nisa, then I'll marry you and Iffy!"
"Pwah! Finally! I can breathe agai... Wait, wedding?! I didn't hear about this!"
"You have now, wifey! What size dress would you like?"
"D... Don't question me!"
"Awww, look at you with those obscure references! C'mere!"
"Nooooo! Stooooop! I'm too young!"
As IF stepped out of the building, thoroughly pleased with herself for getting out of there before whatever she was hearing had gotten started, she caught sight of a familiar face across the way and waved to them. Seeing the bright reaction she got in response, IF found herself warming up inside as she crossed the street to meet them, already having forgotten the chaos she was leaving behind her.
Because while IF didn't mind being a secondary character or a plot device or even having to deal with the confusion of having backgrounds from different games mixed together to make a new one, as she was now, even if the her of another world or another life might have been perfectly happy with this person or that person, she definitely would have had a few things to say if she couldn't be with Compa.