CHAPTER 8: THE TERRIFYING TRICKSTER TWINS OF LOWEE
It seems as if the group has been running for hours, not just following Underling, but the man who they just met running after her like a madman. The group was already tired, and starting to feel the sting of the icy cold reputation of Lowee.
Ayden figures that Video Game logic doesn't apply to any situation anymore, since when they first entered Lowee they didn't feel a bit cold, but now it was like thousands of thin sharp needles piercing their skin and…
"Okay we get it! It's cold and we are suffering the consequences," yells Ayden as he looks up to the sky, still persistently following Rados and the girls.
"Ayden, who are you yelling at," asks Compa looking around while IF pulls her along by the hand.
"O-Oh nobody, just venting my frustration to the sky," responds Ayden with a nervous laugh.
"Whatever just don't do it anymore. You are grabbing the attention of the citizens," says an annoyed IF.
"And this doesn't," asks Nisa as the group continues to pursue after the Underling.
Everyone decides that it is best to continue on the chase and to shut up in the process, before they get off course and lose Underling's trails.
"Rados…slow….down," says an exhausted sounding Ayden in-between breath a few minutes after the chase starts to come towards its end. Ayden knew that he was not the fittest person, even though his friends back home refer to him as "stick boy" for being quite skinny.
"I am running slow Shorty. You should see me on my better days," responds Rados as he continues to keep a constant pace behind Underling.
"'Shorty'?! What," yells Ayden after hearing what Rados had called him. He isn't really short, but compared to Rados, I guess he can live up to that nickname.
"Please don't call Ayden that. It seems to annoy him," says Nepgear after looking back to see Ayden pouting like a kid who didn't get the toy he wanted from the store.
"Why do you care Gear," asks IF.
"…."
"Sorry Gears, I tend to nickname people that I've just met, but I drop it once I get to know you better," responds Rados as he starts to observe his surroundings.
"We're here," says Rados after a minute of silent observations.
"And where exactly are we," asks IF in the sort of confused manner that is Compa's trademark. This could be due to the fact that Compa and IF are always hanging out together.
"Well we are at Lowee's Expo Center of course. You'll never find a crazier hive of fan girls and otakus. Be sure not to make any references," responds Rados with a grin.
"References to what exactly," asks Nisa curiously.
"Why did that sound pretty ominous," asks Compa in response to Rados's statement.
"References don't matter right now. If the expo center is a 'crazy hive of fan girls and otakus', then we will never find Underling and her hostage at all with those types of crowds," explains Ayden with a hint of defeat in his voice.
"Not to worry Shorty. Just remember what I said, no references, and you will be just fine," says Rados as he puts his hand on Ayden's shoulder.
"Stop calling me shorty," yells Ayden as he forces Rados's hand off his shoulder.
"Why does the nickname bother you? Everyone has a nickname that fits either their personality or a play on their name. Yours is Shorty and Nepgear's is Gears," explains Rados.
"I even have a nickname? What is it," asks Nisa in awe. The fires of anxiousness and pure excitement burn in her eyes as she now does her heroine stance, waiting for Rados to tell her what her nickname is.
"Yes you do. Your nickname is Nissan," laughs Rados with a smile.
"I like it! It screams out 'heroine of Gamindustri '," says Nisa with pure happiness while she continues to do her heroine stance.
"That means you have nicknames for Compa and I as well," says IF, looking at Rados with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. Compa's nickname is Compy and yours is Grumpy," says Rados with a mischievous smile, to which a hardy laugh follows.
"I am not grumpy," yells IF, understanding Ayden for once in sharing the mutual hatred for their nicknames.
"I like mines," says Compa with a smile.
"But nicknames aren't the concerns here. We need to find that ASIC grunt that took that little girl," says Rados as he forces open the door to the Expo Center, and stood back in amazement to see it completely empty.
Ayden and the others look inside the building and share the same amount of amazement to see the amount of stands and aisles within the building. Each stand/ booth had a different product for sale or display in which each features a different anime or video game.
The surprising part is the fact that nobody was in the building and it is infested with a variety of monsters, ranging from Fenrirs to Blocks that reminds of a simpler time in gaming where one had to stack the block on each other.
"Hey I thought this was going to be filled with fan-girls and otakus," says Ayden after a moment of silence.
"Well apparently I got the wrong crowd," responds Rados in a snarky attitude.
"Let us continue forward. We need to find the little girl before Underling harms her," says Nepgear with determination in her voice.
The group runs into the Expo Center and is automatically hit with a wall of icy pain.
"Damn, it must be colder in here than outside," says IF as she starts to shiver. Compa hugs IF in order to help some heat return in her body, but IF blushes and wiggles out of Compa's grasp.
"It must have frozen over during the snow storm that occurred last week," says Rados as he breathes into his hand to see his own breath.
"Well nothing warms the blood more than fighting the peons of evil," laughs Nisa as she runs full on into a group of monsters.
"Nissan does have a point. Get the blood pumping by fighting, and bam, we will be warm," says Rados as he follows after Nisa.
"Don't forget why we are here though," says Compa as she and IF follows behind Rados.
Ayden turns his head and looks at Nepgear who was looking back at him; both in agreement, they nod and follow after the rest of the group, getting out their weapons and preparing to fight.
"South Eagle Talon Punch," yells Rados as his gauntlets glow a vivid blue and gold color, and then he rams his fists into a Fenrir, causing it to fly back and smash a group of smaller monsters. Before everyone realized it, all monsters were defeated.
"Wow! That was amazing Rados, you terminated a gang of monsters within a minute," yells Ayden in awe of what he just witnessed.
"Yeah, it was one of the techniques that my grandfather taught me when I was boy. I took it upon myself to make it my signature move," responds Rados as he stands tall, proud of what he just accomplished.
"Pretty lengthy title, don't you think," asks IF as she puts her pair of Qatar away.
"I think it is fine. Some other skills I was taught have way longer titles than that," says Rados as he scratches his head.
"I think the length gives it character," says Nepgear with a smile.
"Thanks Gears," laughs Rados.
The group continues forward into the Expo Center, everyone keeping silent. After about a minute of silence, Ayden breaks the barrier of silence.
"Hey Rados, I have a question."
"Well shoot Shorty."
"Stop calling me shorty! Anyways, that dual combo attack that we performed against Zero, what was it?"
Rados stops in his tracks a bit and crosses his arms, trying to remember exactly what happened, though it occurred only maybe an hour or so before.
"Oh, you mean Twin Fangs: Cobra Strike? It was technique created by my grandfather in his really early years. He told me he once used it with another hero he traveled with on his journey. Though he never told me who that hero was," explains Rados still keeping his arms crossed, and closing his eyes.
"I just wonder how I knew it. I mean we were in complete synchronization and yet I never heard of this technique," responds Ayden with a puzzled look on his face.
"It was an amazing technique. I mean if you both did not perform the technique at all, then… you could have ended up…," says Nepgear looking at the ground, trying to fight back the sound of distress breaking through her voice.
"Yeah," replies Ayden as he now looks down at the ground. He closes his eyes to see the devastating scene again in his mind and hearing Zero's voice say, "You…and I are now enemies completely. The next time we meet, I will make sure that I kill you right on the spot."
"Ayden," says Nepgear as Ayden reopens his eyes and looks up to meet eyes with Nepgear.
"Let's go. The longer we stall, the more time Underling has to get away," responds Ayden, cloaking his pain with a smile. The group agrees and once again forges forward into the icy wasteland that is the Expo Center.
After mowing down more monsters and trying to find their way around, the group finally finds their way only mere meters away from Underling and her hostage.
The group decides that now is the best time to plan out their strategy, trying to find ways for it to benefit them in stopping Underling without her hurting the hostage. They can hear Underling yelling at the girl from their distance.
"Shut the hell up! Or else I will slam this pipe down on that pretty little neck of yours and smash your vocal cords," yells Underling.
"R-Ram…," says Rom as she starts to bawl her eyes out.
"I think we should with a sneak attack," says IF as she turns to the group to get their feedback.
"I agree. With an ambush approach we can…," says Rados but he doesn't finish his sentence due to him starting to lightly sway in a dazed motion, "I feel light-hearted…and my shirt feels wet."
"What's wrong with you Rados," asks Ayden becoming a bit panicked by how Rados is acting.
"The heroine of Gamindustri suspects that he may be high at the moment," says Nisa after observing Rados.
Rados feels his chest under his shirt only to lift it out and see blood on his hand; he then collapses to the ground and coughs up a blob of blood.
"Oh god, Rados," says Ayden as everyone rushes to see why Rados collapsed.
"Oh my, his wound may have either reopened or never closed," explains Compa as she kneels down next to Rados. "I'll have him all patched up in a jiffy."
"He will be fine, right," asks Nepgear.
"He will be. He stressed his body out when he jumped back into combat and that caused his wound to react and start bleeding again. He just needs to take it easy. The rest of you should just go and stop Underling before she escapes," replies Compa as she pulls out a professional looking First Aid kit.
Everyone agrees to the notion and readies their weapons; the group then makes a mad dash towards Underling.
"Damn it kid, cut the crying crap and shut up for once," yells Underling as she turns to see Nepgear and the others rush towards her.
"Eep," mutters Rom as she pulls her arm away from Underling and hides behind one of the booths.
"You Bitches must really have a death wish if you pursued me all the way here," yells Underling as twirls her Metal pipe in the air.
"And you must be pretty pathetic to hide behind a little girl instead of standing your ground and facing what you deserve," laughs IF as she points her Qatar right in Underling's face.
"Get those dirty knives out of my face," says Underling as she swings her pipe at IF.
IF jumps back and gets into battle stance and yells, "I'll implant them in your face right now!"
Underling laughs and gets into battle stance, and that is the cue for battle to beginning. Everyone gets out their weapons and run into the battlefield. Just like every battle against Underling, it ends so fast that the author takes a break around this time usually.
"Damn it! Why can't I ever win against you skanks and the tool," says Underling as she lies on the floor.
"Well because it wouldn't be right for a low class villain like you to win against strong heroes like us. I mean if you ever take a look at the entire draft of this story, you never win against us," says Ayden with a smile.
"And there he goes again, breaking the fourth wall," says IF while she rolls her eyes.
"I've gotten quite use to it," responds Nepgear as she puts her beam saber away.
"Anyways…Low class peon of evil, taste the wrath of Nisa, the heroine of Gamindustri," says Nisa as she stands over Underling and does her heroine stance.
Underling then trips Nisa by interlocking her foot in-between Nisa's legs and get back up. She then walks over to her pipe, picks it up, and gets back into battle stance.
"I won't give up just yet. Get ready for a round two skanks, because I'm not giving up that easily. At least, until I find the mascot disc," says Underling with hatred piercing through her voice.
Just then a voice of a young girl came from behind the group saying, "Rom? Rom, are you here?"
Everyone then turns their attention to the young girl who is floating in the air in an HDD form. She was wielding a staff that looks to be almost the same length of her body.
"Crap! I'm out; I'll just find the mascot disc another way and somewhere else," yells Underling as she dashes past everyone and is soon out of sight.
"Ram," says Rom as she pokes her head out from behind the booth. She then runs past the group and runs up to the young girl cladded in her HDD form.
"Rom, you have to make sure never to talk to a stranger, that's how kids like us get kidnapped," says Ram as she ruffles Rom's hat.
"I'm sorry," says Rom as she hugs Ram.
"Umm," says Ayden to catch both Rom and Ram's attention.
"Oh, thank you for saving my sister. I'm CPU candidate of Lowee, White Sister Ram," responds White Sister Ram with a proud and boastful tone in her voice.
"I'm Rom. I am also a CPU candidate," mutters Rom as she takes shelter behind Ram.
"Very nice to meet you, I'm Ayden White," says Ayden and he decides to introduce everyone, which everyone found to be pretty annoying since they wanted to introduce themselves.
"Well it's nice to meet you all," says White Sister Ram as she bows to the group and Rom follows along after.
"Rom and Ram, do you know where the mascot disc is positioned at," asks Nepgear after Rom and Ram stand back up straight.
"How do you know about the mascot disc," asks White Sister Ram in a curious manner.
"Well she is Planeptune's CPU candidate," responds IF as she walks back from checking up on Rados and Compa.
"Is he doing alright," asks Ayden.
"Yeah, he's stable. Compa says that he needs to stay out of combat for a while and he will make it," replies IF with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Again, how do you know about the mascot disc," asks White Sister Ram. This time, she has a hint of suspiciousness and annoyance as well.
"Oh, well I am the CPU candidate of Planeptune," says Nepgear, hoping that would give them a reason to give the location.
"Even if we knew the location…we wouldn't give it to the Evil Goddess," yells White Sister Ram.
"Evil Goddess…," says Rom as she comes out from behind her sister and stands next to her.
"Oh dear, Evil Goddess," asks Nepgear in a surprising manner, and cups her hands over her mouth.
"We must deal with the Evil Goddess, and all those who worship her," says White Sister Ram as she gets into battle stance.
Just then Rom transforms into her HDD Form, and goes into her battle stance which is exactly the same as her sister's but only inversed.
"Come on Rom, let's do this," says White Sister Ram with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Yeah, we won't lose," says White Sister Rom with a serious expression on her face.
The groups take a few steps back, prepare their weapons and get into stance. Just then Ayden looks up at the roof and says, "Am I the only one who hears that music?"
White Sisters Rom and Ram start to look up at the ceiling, along with everyone else.
"What is he talking about," asks White Sister Ram.
"No one ever knows. He always breaks the fourth wall and confuses everyone around him," says IF still in battle stance.
"Well I guess you can say that he bought us some time," says Nisa as she looks back at White Sisters Rom and Ram who are still confused.
Nepgear then transforms into HDD form: Purple Sister and says with a serious face, "I'm sorry. I don't want to do this but, you put me and my friends in a tough spot. I promise I won't go all out."
White Sisters Rom and Ram giggle viciously and fly towards the group, staffs in hand, ready to fight.
"Man, they remind me of those small, evil dogs that constantly bark at everything," says Ayden, rapier in hand, as he runs with everyone else to fend off against the White Sisters.
The White Sisters open up the battle by using Ice Coffin, which is directed towards Purple Sister. Ayden knew that Rom and Ram excel in magic and one hit may cause some major damage to anyone.
"Nepgear," yells Ayden as he pushes Purple Sister out of the way of the spell, and to everyone's surprise, suddenly becomes a Human Popsicle in the midst of the battlefield.
IF rushes over to help Purple Sister up, but Purple Sister gets back up on her own and trembles as she gazes at the frozen Ayden.
Nisa and IF start to dodge every spell that the White Sisters were throwing at them, but they too get caught in Ice Coffins, becoming Human Popsicles alongside Ayden.
"This is actually pretty fun," giggles White Sister Ram as she puts down her staff to admire her and her sister's work.
"Yeah," agrees White Sister Rom with a light smile.
"I will not allow you to do this to my friends. Again I am sorry that I have to fight against you," says Purple Sister in a complete monotone voice.
Purple Sister then points her weapon to the sky and says, "Mirage Dance."
A fury of slashes shatter the stillness of the air, and in a moment, both White Sisters land on the frozen floor, rubbing their heads and groaning.
"Owwie! You are an Evil Goddess," says Ram as she descends back into her human form. Rom also descends back into her human form and starts to cry.
Ram rushes over to Rom and starts to hug and comfort her hurt sister.
"You big meanies! All of you are big meanies. I hope you don't mess with us again, or else we won't just toy with you again, but actually fight," yells Ram and she helps Rom to her feet and walks away with her sister leaning on her.
Nepgear descends back into her human form and looks at IF, Nisa, and Ayden who are still incased in ice. Nepgear then pulls out her beam saber and in one swing, she frees all her friends out of their icy graves, without harming them, which takes some serious skills.
Ayden, IF, and Nisa all lost consciousness while frozen, and that is enough to scare Nepgear into thinking that they are dead, but just as soon as they were freed, Compa and Rados came walking up to the scene.
"Oh my. Are they…," says Compa looking at the three on the floor. Nepgear looks away, trying to fight back tears but she couldn't.
"Rados please help me check them," says Compa as she rushes to Nisa to check her pulse.
"No problem," says Rados as he rushes to IF to check up on her.
Nepgear walks over to Ayden and starts cry even more as she notices that his skin is a slight hint of blue. Regardless, she crouches down and checks his pulse.
"I'm so sorry, it ended this way. I should have been the one to have taken that hit, but you sacrificed your life to let me live," mutters Nepgear as tears continue to flow onto her already tear-stained cheeks and onto the floor.
But to her surprise, Ayden starts to breathe a bit more, and then she notices the light pulse of his heart. She then exhales in relief to find that Ayden is still hanging on there.
"Grumpy is alright, and Compy says that Nissan has a pulse too. Is Shorty alright," questions Rados as he walks over to Nepgear.
"Ye-Yeah, he's lightly breathing, but he's alive," says Nepgear while she wipes the tears out of her eyes and off her cheeks before Rados can see her face.
"Alley-op," says Rados as he picks up Ayden in the bridal motion.
"But what about your injury? Aren't you going to reopen it," asks Nepgear in a bit of a panic.
"Nah, it's all good. Compy stitched me up pretty tightly, but I still shouldn't battle. This isn't overdoing it at all. In fact I use to lift up crates of booze up that weighed more than Shorty, so my body can handle this type of work," laughs Rados as he carries Ayden towards Compa's direction.
"Ge-Ge, can you pick up Nisa? I got Iffy," says Compa.
Nepgear picks up Nisa in bridal style too, which didn't bewilder Nepgear at all, since Nisa looks like she weighs as much as Styrofoam does.
"Let's get out of here. These three need to warm up and fast," says Compa as she picks up IF for a second time.
"I know a hotel in Lowee that has heated beds. We take them there," says Rados as he picks up Ayden again.
"What about your house," asks Nepgear while she holds Nisa in her arms.
"Well, it was destroyed along with my bar, since I had an apartment above the bar. So I don't have a home anymore. Besides, a heated bed sounds nice about now," laughs Rados.
Rados takes the lead to get to the hotel, while Nepgear and Compa follow behind him, carrying their cold friends with them.
Five hours must have passed by before Ayden finally opens his eyes, only to look around and see that he was not at the Expo Center anymore.
"Where am I," asks Ayden as he rubs his head, trying to remember what exactly went down, but before he can regroup his thoughts, Nepgear runs at him and throws her arms around him tightly.
"Ayden! You're awake," yells Nepgear excitedly as she continues to tighten her grip on Ayden.
"If you continue to hug me this tightly, I don't think I will be," says Ayden as he struggles to get words out.
Nepgear lets go of Ayden altogether, backs up and blushes.
"S-Sorry, I got over excited. I thought we lost you, IF, and Nisa back there, but you all made it," says Nepgear with a nervous smile.
"No need to apologize. I would get excited too if I woke back up from being frozen," says Ayden with his trademark smile.
Nepgear blushes a brighter shade of red and looks away, "Um, so you're feeling better?"
"Yeah, a little sore, but I feel good," says Ayden as he gets off the bed and starts to stretch.
"We are spending the night in this hotel. Tomorrow, we are going to talk to the Oracle of Lowee about the mascot disc," responds Nepgear in a bit of a serious tone.
"What about the Terror Twins," questions Ayden as he cracks his knuckles after finishing his stretches.
"I don't know yet. I know they will be at the Basilicom too, but hopefully the Oracle will listen to our side of the story," says Nepgear while she watches Ayden crack his knuckles.
"Well, I'll be prepared for anything," says Ayden as he grabs his rapier in its sheath and unsheathes it.
Nepgear giggles and nods. She then turns to the door and opens it, but just as she opens it, she turns back around and walks over to Ayden.
"That was the second time you saved my life. I can't thank you enough," says Nepgear as she and Ayden lock eyes with each other.
"I-I couldn't just let my friend take such a hit, besides you don't have to thank me. It's what I do," says Ayden after giving another smile.
Nepgear then quickly kisses his cheek and says, "It's the least I can do for you for putting yourself in harm's way, just to protect me." She smiles, then turns back to the door, opens it and exits the room.
Ayden stands there and puts his hand on the cheek that Nepgear just kissed, and felt how warm he was getting. He then starts to blush himself, and nearly faints after processing what just happened.
"W-Wow, just wait until I tell Luther when I get back home," says Ayden excitedly. He then sits on the bed and exhales.
"He probably won't believe me. Firstly that I was sucked into a video game and secondly, that a girl kissed me," says Ayden to himself after he bursts out in laughter.
"Actually, there's a better chance that he would believe that I was sucked into a video game, against the fact that a girl kissed me, even though they are both facts," states Ayden as he lies back onto the bed and stares at the ceiling.
"I wonder how mom and Manzel are doing. I hope that dog isn't give mom any trouble," sighs Ayden as he sits up once more.
He then starts to think about what that mysterious young man said earlier that day.
"What's more important to me huh," thinks Ayden as he hears that man's voice echo through his head. He figures that he better get some sleep, and lies back down on the bed and closes his eyes.
"I still can't say what's more important to me, because as far as I am concerned, this battle of the CPUs against ASIC is now my battle too…" thinks Ayden before he drifts off into a sound sleep.
CHAPTER 8 END.