Well, I suppose the teasing had subsided at least. I was at the meeting with the four CPU's, and being the outcast serviceman that I was, I stood at attention beside Neptune, in a guardsmen stance. "Jeez, Anatoly... just sit down, you're making things awkward." Neptune said, using my whole name, instead of her cutesy nickname.
"Fine..." I mutter, my instincts screaming no as I sit next to Neptune. "Would you like some tea?" Blanc asked. "Sure, can you guys start this meeting now?" I ask as she pours a cup for me. "I suppose, but first, why do you feel so strongly about standing at attention?" Noire asked.
"Let's just say I had a hard ass drill instructor." I say as I pick up my glass. I take a look at Lowee from the from the balcony we were on. "I see. You must take your duties quite seriously." Vert said. "Of course. My nation was always at war. It was necessary." I say after I set my drink down. I take a look at my clothing. A black button up with a white undershirt and denim skinny jeans. Not something I'd normally wear to something like this. Still didn't understand why Neptune was so pushy about it.
"Oh quit looking at your clothes, you look fine." Neptune said to me. "You are from Planeptune, we aren't stuck up like Lastation."
"Hey!" Noire cried out indignantly. "Don't you have more important matters at hand, Lady Neptune?" I asked, partially annoyed with her lack of attention. "Jeez, Neptune, didn't you tell him this was really just a friendly lunch?" Noire asked. I shoot a glare at Neptune.
"For the love of... I should be training, Neptune!" I say, this time the one who's indignant. "Training, shmaining, you need to lighten up, Ana. You are probably one of the better fighters here, I bet not even Blanc pissed off could beat you." "What's that supposed to mean!" Blanc says, a scary look on her face.
"Chances are, I wouldn't come out too bad, hell, might even stand a chance against all of you, such is the power of the exo-suit. But keyword there, might. Just like how I MIGHT be able to fend off Byehliy." I reply.
"Oh yeah! You wanna go!" Blanc says, transforming. "A punk like you wouldn't stand a chance!"
I stand and look at her. "Name your rules, Lady Blanc." I reply smoothly, giving a sarcastic bow. "First to land a hit wins." She said, staring daggers.
"Let's go. Been a while since I've had a good sparing match." I say walking toward the balcony. I summon Angel and step on the railing, propelling myself into the air. "Well, that's new..." Noire said, also transforming, as did the other two. Perhaps they wanted a better view.
Then, without warning, Blanc charged me, giving me a millisecond to dodge. "So much for a go, huh?" I mutter, slightly shaken by the sheer power. "C'mon mister part god! Let's see you transform!" She says to me, maybe trying to agitate me. I watch her, my suit monitoring her in an attempt to see what her next move might be.
"Was that your best? I've fought dogoos with more finesse than that." I say, attempting to coerce a reaction. It worked when she charged yet again, only for me to dodge once again. As she flies by I whisper to her "Not quick enough." This angers her even more, so much I can see the veins in her neck pop out. "I'LL SHOW YOU NOT QUICK ENOUGH!" She shouts at me, only making me laugh. I back up a bit. "Your strikes, although powerful, are seen a mile away, and lack precision. See, only seconds into the fight, I know your strength, and your weakness." I tell her.
"LET'S SEE YOU HIT ME!" She shouts again. I unsummon Angel, and reply with amusement. "I think this is fun." She then, once again, charges, but I planned on stopping the battle this time.
She swings at me, and I dodge to side, wrapping my arm around her neck. "I win." I whisper as I tap her stomach with my hand. She looks shocked. "How did you..." She muttered as her weapon disappeared. I release her once she gained control of her flying again.
"You showed your anger too soon, I could easily hone in on your pride and exploit it. Haha, that was fun though, I was really afraid if you would have actually made contact." She just crossed her arms. "Whatever..." She muttered. "My turn!" I hear Neptune say as I push Blanc out of the way and dodge Neptune's strike.
"Thanks for the heads up." I tell her, crossing my arms with a smirk. Then my suit started beeping, showing someone approaching from behind. I move just in time for Noire to fly past. "I see, hey Blanc, think you are up for some two on two?"
She just glares. "I suppose not, oh well. Let's dance." I say, turning back to Neptune and Noire. "Rules?" I ask. "Treat us as a boss battle, bring us to the ground without us doing the same." Noire says,looking confident.
"Alright, let's see what you've got. Perhaps now would be the time to mention it, I WAS on the anti goddess team in my nation. Let's see what I've retained." I say, preparing my plan, summoning Angel. But then I noticed something. "Hey wait... hold on a second. I didn't need to overclock to beat Blanc...my fight against Neptun... I had too..." I mutter. "You calling me weak!" She shouted. "No... no.. I think... instead of my suit giving me abilities... I'm bringing it further..." I reply.
"Hmm..." I then look at my HUD, noticing my hours weren't cut down. "I explained this to IF and Nepgear, but when I use my exo-suit, any shares I have only last half as long... this isn't the case now..." I say aloud. "Meh, enough of me wondering about that now, I got a sparring match don't I?" I say throwing my sword arm to the side.
"Let's go robot boy!" Noire says, a smirk. I charge the white haired CPU expecting Neptune to take advantage of my blatant opening. No such attack came however and I instead dropped under her. Then I hear some words. "Assault Combo!"
I initiate a backflip, a blade missing by inches. I then see another coming, which I block with my own blade, and a third strike, blocking that too. One clips me, and I dodge the fifth one. I block two more strikes and dodge the eight. I then look up at Noire, who was now grinning at me. "Reaver's Strike!" I exclaim. Within milliseconds I was on the other side of her. I swipe my blade to the left and hear her grunt.
"Lucky hit, won't happen again." She called out to me. Neptune had decided to attack, but I was expecting it. I quickly spin around to face her, her sword bouncing off mine. I land a martial arts kick to her stomach, finishing with a barrel roll as I dodge her blade jab. I retaliate with a back flip kick, giving me some space from her. But, as I was focusing on Neptune, Noire returned with vengeance. She slammed her blade into my shoulder, sending me plummeting to the ground. I quickly begin to rise again, mere feet from the ground.
"Haha, nice one... shoulda been expecting that." I call out to her. "Go Noire!" I hear Uni shout. I shoot back up to where the fight was. "Get him, Sis!" I hear Nepgear call out. I was floating opposite of the CPU's, staring them down. Then a wave of nausea hit me. Angel disappeared as I puked everything in my stomach up. I look up to see Neptune's face looking concerned, even Noire wasn't looking at me with a fighting look in her face.
"Wh...what?" I ask to no-one in particular. Then I felt my boots shut down. And I was in no position to restart them. Instead, I felt myself falling back first toward the ground. I feel someone manage to catch me. That person had been none other than Nepgear. I instinctively toss my arm around her neck, my vision fading.
I then feel myself being set on the ground. "He-he's not breathing!" Nepgear said. 'I'm not breathing?' I think to myself. I then feel my exo-suit removed from my body. And then a mask placed over my mouth. Forcing me to breathe. Next thing I know my vision returns and I see the faces of two very concerned CPU's and one candidate looking at me.
"Is his sharicite low?" Neptune asks. "No, he said he has like twenty five days worth." Nepgear responded. I could see snow starting to fall. But I was unable to move. "Mina! Call Histoire! We need her and hour ago!" I hear Blanc say. My eyes move to Nepgear, and I see tears on her face. 'Crying? Why are you crying? I'm no one to cry over...' I think to myself. 'Why does it sound like I'm underwater.'
"C'mon, Anasickly, you can't die, you're the hero of the story!" I hear Neptune say. 'What?' I ask myself confused. 'Dying? I was just... sparing, how did I go from that to dying?' I wondered. "I'm...not...dying..." I manage to get out. But then I see several more degrees of despair from everyone. 'Did I forget to say not?' I asked myself.
I then feel someone grasp my hand, the one next the Nepgear. I feel my eyes widen. I then hear the little book fairy. 'Wow... she got here quick." I think to myself. "His eyes are dilating properly, he seems coherent. But he just out of nowhere vomited and stopped breathing." I hear Noire relay to Histoire.
"He's not dying, Histoire... you know he's not." I hear Toma, Histoire seemed to hear it too. No one else though. "How do I help him!" Histoire, seemingly shouted, but no one else reacted. "He's still connected to our world. Break his connection, empty his sharicite." Toma responded.
My eyes widen yet again. I look at Histoire, trying to shake my head. Everyone else takes notice. "Why is he shaking his head?" Nepgear asked. "I have to remove all of his sharicite." Histoire replies.
I felt the color drain from my face. "Won't that kill him!?" Neptune asked quite loudly.
"I hope not." She replies as she closes her eyes. "N-no..! D-don't wanna... die!" I manage to get out. I felt a hand squeeze mine. Then a flash of light, and I felt myself growing weaker. I could feel my heart beat quickening.
Then I felt something lulling me to sleep. I try to fight it to no avail. Then darkness.
I slowly open my eyes, feeling a strange relief. Strange though, given my current surroundings were somewhere I had never been. "You're awake..." I hear Blanc say. "Wh-wha? Where am I?" I ask, looking at the ceiling. "Lowee's basilicom. You Almost died, but Histoire managed to save your life." She replied. "Why am I not in planeptune?" I ask. "You were simply to sickly to move. You've been out for about three days now. We were beginning to think you were never going to wake." She told me.
"You also have a bit of explaining to do to Neptune. Her sister seems rather infatuated with you." She continues. "With me?" I wonder.
"I'm going to notify planeptune about your awakening." Blanc said, standing and leaving the room. 'Wait, why was there a computer in here? And it seemed like a bedroom. Was this...Blanc's room?' I ask myself. "Yeah, it is. Why are you stealing my sisters bed?" A girl told me harshly. I hadn't realized I spoke it aloud. "You must be Ram... and I'm not stealing it, I didn't crawl into her bed." I reply cooly.
"Ram... he's sick..." Another girl said. "And you must be Rom, huh?" I ask. "Yeah..." She replies shyly. "Okay, Neptune and Nepgear are on their way over. Think you can stand?" Blanc asks, returning to the room. "I suppose I'll have to try won't I?" I mutter pulling the blanket off my body and moving my legs over to the side. My feet touch the floor and I take a deep breath.
I slowly stand until I'm on my feet, and gravity began to win out. Luckily Blanc was there to stop my fall. She sits me back on the bed. "You aren't going to be standing long if you knock yourself out." She tells me.
"Why was I in your bed?" I ask after she sat down. "Simple, you need rest and someone to watch you around the clock. I slept on the couch." She replies as if it wasn't a big deal. "Um... thanks I guess." I say, not really sure how to react to that. "Don't worry about it... feels as though it were helping a long time friend." She replied. 'Huh? Long time friend. Didn't Vert...' "Vert said something very similar when I fell on the metal when we first met..." I reply, deep in thought.
I too, then started feeling like I had known them forever. "Hmm... strange, indeed." Blanc replies. 'Wonder what it could mean.' I ask myself. Then a knock and Neptune and Nepgear walk in. "Ana!" Neptune exclaims. "Agh!" I mutter as she wraps me in a hug. "Crushing... me!" I get out and she stops. "Hah, sorry..." She says.
"Neptune, does it feel like you have known me a lot longer than a couple days?" I ask. "I... I was talking about this with Nepgear actually... we both do. But neither of us remember anything about you, meaning it's impossible we've met, especially considering I don't forget people." She responded with a cocky smile. 'Nepgear... why would she possibly be interested in me?' I ask myself. "Here." Blanc says, handing me my shoes and exo-suit.
"Strange..." I mutter. "Thanks Blanc... I'll find someway to repay you in the future." I tell her as I put the shoes on. Neptune then helps me up. I feel a sense of vertigo, but I clears pretty quickly. "Don't worry about it. Let's just say your battle tips cover it." She responded. I nod as Neptune, Nepgear, and I walk to the entrance of the building. After we made it outside Neptune laid into me. "So, trying to steal my sister from me are you, Ana?" She asked in an accusatory tone. "Neptune... haha... what are you doing..." Nepgear. "Laying down the law." She replied.
"Can this wait? I still feel very weak." I reply, the snow making it difficult to move my feet. "I'm just messing with ya, Ana, I feel like she could much worse than you." Neptune whispered in my ear. "Whoah... hey Nep jr., maybe you need to come get him, I'm starting to feel weak as well." Neptune says, obviously acting, but enough for me to almost fall.
Within a second Nepgear had hold of me. "I swear..." She mutters. I then see a flash. I look up to see Neptune had taken a picture of us. "Aw, Histy'll love this." She said walking forward again. "I swear to all that is holy, I'm going to kill you in your sleep." I say to her, causing her to laugh a little.
It had taken a little, but we had eventually made it back to the planeptune basilicom. It seemed a lot longer due to Neptune's teasing about a relationship I had no idea I was in.
I soon found myself in the med-bay area of the tower, with Histoire looking me over. "Do you know what set this off?" I say, laying back on the white sheets. "About all I can guess, is your old world wasn't completely destroyed until the other day. But, as strange as it sounds, shares aren't sustaining your life anymore. You have no more right now." She says.
I suddenly felt very cold. "Is that why Blanc thought I'd never wake up?" I reply. "Likely." She says as Neptune wandered in. "Well, Nep jr.'s happy he's alive." She says. "Why me... We don't know each other..." I mutter. "I dunno, but you seem to make her happy, so keep at it, buster." She said, a slightly teasing tone to her voice.
"I don't think your sister has ever actually cared for anyone like she does him... it is strange." Histoire says. "So, am I good to go? I'd rather not spend anymore time in bed." I ask. "Yes. Well, if you can walk anyway." Histoire tells me as I pull myself to my feet. I feel somewhat unsteady at first, but I slowly regain my balance. "Just don't overdo yourself." She responds, leaving the room to return to her duties.
"Alright, listen, Ana, your lily rank with my sister is higher than I have ever seen her with anyone, heck, mine is in the only-" "Lily rank?" I question, cutting her off. "Her level of trust and love for you. Your's with her is a 4, the max is 5." She tells me. "I see..." I reply.
"Wait, why are you being so serious, it's weird." I say to her. "Because this is about my kid sister. Don't hurt her or I'll kill you." She continues. "You know I don't really want to be in a relationship with her, especially considering I may not make it out of this alive. Not to mention, we barely know each other." I Replied. "Well, I'm giving you my blessing anyway." She said.
""Hey, wait a second, don't you have duties to attend to as well?" I ask Neptune. "Agh... you're as bad as Iffy and Histoire." She said, looking defeated. "Well, the world is on the verge of war, you realize this right." I reply as we walk into the hall. "Well, kinda..." She says.
I can't help but face palm. "What ever... Do you guys have a shooting range? I really want to pop some shots off." I ask her. "Oh just come play some video games with me and Nep jr." Is her only reply, while grabbing my wrist and directing me toward her room. "You just want to tease us some more don't you..." I mutter. "You bet!" She replied.
When we make it in I see tea and pudding out. "More pudding... always more pudding..." I mutter, surprised at how she could love it so much. "Oh... um... hi... Anatoly..." Nepgear replies shyly.
"Why are you so shy now? Jeez girl... I'm not gonna bite your head off." I tell her, taking a seat on the couch. "Bet you wanna bite her a little bit though." Neptune replies, a smirk on her face. Nepgear blushes a deep crimson as I grab a pillow, and without looking nail Neptune in the face. She looks at me completely shocked. "I don't find you as amusing as you do." I say nonchalantly. "Now what are we going to be playing?" I ask as she hands me a controller.
"The newly released Purple ops 3!" She replied excitedly. "Isn't that a first person shooter? I think I've played it a while back." I mutter. Again, Neptune looks shocked. "It was released yesterday!" She said angrily. "Maybe here, bit not in my dimension." I respond. "I also happen to love games like this." I say looking the controller over. "Hmm, not my custom controller I used to have, but it'll do." I say as the system boots up.
Half an hour later, I had beaten Neptune three times, but Nepgear won once. "Good game." I say as I pull the trigger, landing a headshot on Neptune, signaling the end of the game, and my fourth win. I had won with thirty kills, Nepgear at twenty two, and Neptune at a measly twelve.
"Jeez girl, when did you get so good at this?" Neptune asked her sister, and slight annoyance to her voice. "Neptune! Did you make your checks!" I hear Histoire shout. "Crap! Histy's gonna be mad at me! Gotta go!" Neptune said quickly leaving the room.
"Well, that was unexpected." I say quietly. "Y-yeah... she doesn't really like working..." Nepgear replies. "I can tell." I state simply. I notice the sun going down over the city. "So, what do you want to do?" I ask the fidgeting girl next to me. I stand and pat her on the head, causing her to jump. "You need to calm down. I'm gonna go get some water." I say as I head for the kitchen. I fill a glass with water and take a long drink as I stare out the window.
"Oh, hey Uni." "Hi, Nepgear." 'Uni's here? Does that mean Noire is?' I wonder as I rinse the glass out and set it next to the sink. I then hear excited whispering. I sigh as I guess what it's probably related to. I then go to get something to eat and catch my right arm on a nail or something. "Ouch..." I mutter, thinking nothing of it, until I see blood.
I didn't want food anymore. "What the..." I mutter as I look at the blood dripping from my arm. My supposedly mechanical arm. "Nepgear, can you call Histoire in here?" I call back into the living room.