"Alright, will group F4 please head towards column B, booth 12." The voice echoed out over the speakers, and Uzume turned to the others.
"That's us."
"Alright, we finally get to play!" Ram was the most excited of the group, but even so, Uni of all people was a close second, as evident by her failing to uphold any sense of restraint as she verbally agreed.
"Let's get a move on then, we don't want to be late!"
And just like that the pair were off, leaving behind Ram and Nepgear who were much more reserved in their chipper moods.
"I didn't know miss Uni would be so happy." The quiet sister said, wonder sparkling to life in her eyes. "She's usually so, um... what's that word, the one you use for people who are like Noire?"
"Uptight?" Uzume threw in, holding back a laugh as the little one smiled.
"Yeah, uptight."
"Um, Rom?" Nepgear slipped in sheepishly. "I believe the proper term is 'direct', or perhaps 'intense' would be a better way to put it."
"Hmm..." The little girl appeared to think on it a bit, and shook her head, all the while Uzume bore the cheapest smirk imaginable. "No, I think 'uptight' sounds better."
"Good choice!" Uzume praised, watching amused as the small blue wisp began her chase after the others. Nepgear had a much less approving look, but it bordered along the lines of worry more than it did any actual form of anger.
"I... don't think Blanc will approve of us teaching her little sisters improper language."
"It'll be fine, Gearsy." Uzume brushed off her friend's worries, presenting a more light-hearted smile this time. "She'll assume Ram was the one who taught her anyway. Besides, it's not like they're completely safe even if we try to keep it so; Blanc herself usually makes sure of that on a daily basis."
"I suppose..."
While Uzume knew the girls were still mostly innocent, she just so happened to bribe a bit of... shall we say 'risqué' information out of Nepsy many moons ago. Apparently, Vert had gotten into a bit of heat with the Lowee Goddess, when it was found out she'd been showing some partially 'naughty' manga to the pair of twins. While it wasn't anything too explicit, it did feature a good many men who lacked any form of clothing.
Thank shares the pair were too young to understand what 'certain features' were used for.
"Let's go." Uzume tossed as she took Nepgear by the hand. "We're catching flies just standing here, and I don't think the others will be all too happy if we keep them waiting any longer."
"Right, okay."
The pair wandered down the hall, and all the way Uzume allowed her amazement to run wild. This was an arcade, so there wasn't any shame in letting her inner gamer show. Several areas were sectioned off, separated by mostly thin walls and with windows stretching all around to allow people to look in. For example, Uzume peered in one particular room to the right, literally a single room away from the column B, at which point booth's 7 to 12 would await, with each sectioned off booth holding five machines each. This room in particular was important because it showed five players strapped in, most likely already playing.
One of them was Uzume.
"Huh?" She stopped fully, and leaned in closer to the glass. Right at that moment, the machines looked to open up, with the equipment mechanically dislodging the patrons, who were now opening their eyes. The other Uzume saw her, and the excitement on her face was... strong.
"What is it Uzu-EEK!" Nepgear nearly fell over, and Uzume couldn't say she blamed her. The sight of the other girl pasted over the glass separating them was not only creepy, but even a little gross looking. For a second she might have guessed the girl was the same imposter who broke into Planeptower, but her recent action made such an assumption unlikely - she looked a little too giddy to pull off deception like that. Luckily the staff didn't need to peel her off the glass, as she dropped to the floor on her own, very quickly running around and out of the room to stand before her.
"Uh... hey there." Uzume tried, offering a small wave and a sheepish smile. "How's it hanging?"
"Y-you're Uzume, y-yes?" Shakey voice, probably not a good sign, but hey, Uzume wasn't about to put someone down just because they seemed weird... and a little bit stalker-ish.
"Yep... that's me. Coolest gal in the city, Uzume Tennouboshi, in the flesh."
"Cool..." Her eyes were wide, and for a second Uzume began to wonder if the kid was having a stroke.
She was almost an exact carbon copy of herself, only her tie was a bit squish, and her clothes were a bit ruffled. The girl also looked a little bit shorter than the real Uzume, by about a half inch or so. Either way, Uzume did her best to be friendly.
"So... you got a name?"
"O-oh!" The girl seemed to realize she was staring, and quickly caved in on herself, shaking her head rapidly before taking a deep breath. She straightened herself, and offered up probably the most accurate copy of Uzume's own signature pose; credit where it's due, super-fan knew her stuff.
"FU joins the battle!"
"F...U?" Uzume took a second to process it, but it seemed miss FU was quicker on the draw. "Faker Uzume, at your service." Her eyes were starry again. "And like, totally your biggest fan ever!"
"Y-yeah." Uzume rubbed the back of her head. "That's great, h-heh. Say, um, have you ever thought about using a different pair of initials for your name?"
"Huh, why?" The girl tilted her head, having apparently gotten over her stutter fit.
"Well..." No, bad Uzume, let her keep her innocence! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell her what most people associated the phrase 'f u" with, but the girl looked so happy shouting the title aloud, so Uzume was having a bit of a hard time breaking the cold hard truth to her. "I... well, because..." She paused, shook her head, and made up her mind. "You know what, forget it. It's great to meet you FU."
"Y-you too, Uzume!" She stuttered for a bit, but seemed to get over it when she looked to Uzume's outstretched hand. Taking it, she shook alongside the handshake, and Uzume herself had to withhold a giggle at the kid's antics. To be honest, it felt a little weird having a super-fan, especially one who looked to appreciate her so completely - even if a little creepily.
Uzume was more familiar with hatred and fear, rather than adoration.
"So, uh, how's it hanging?" The girl attempted, her voice still a little shaky, but otherwise she kept her cool well.
"Pretty good." Uzume answered, keeping her tone more relaxed, mostly with the hopes she wouldn't frighten the girl. "Just playing some games, like everyone else."
"That's great!" The girl paused afterwards, and for a bit, a mildly uncomfortable silence permeated the air. FU appeared frozen on the spot, locked in time as bits of sweat rolled down the side of her face. It was at this point Uzume realized the girl didn't know how to carry on the conversation.
It was kind of a pitiful state she was in, and it remained that way because Uzume was kind of stuck too. She didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, but she wasn't exactly all that appreciative of just how disturbing this level of fandom was. She didn't know the kid personally, but she didn't hate the kid either; it was a strange situation.
"Miss F?" One of the staff tapped her on the shoulder, startling the girl back to life.
"Y-yes?"
"You're required to move along."
"O-oh... um." She stilled, looking a little squeamish. "Right, sorry about that. So, uh, where am I supposed to go next?"
"Booth 13." The man corrected, looking worse for wear - Uzume assumed this was a standard state of affairs for the staff, considering his demeanor towards the girl's question.
"Right! T-thank you." She offered softly, and the man just walked away.
"S-sorry for wasting your time, Uzume."
"Huh?" Uzume shook her head; apparently she herself got a little dazed from the waiting. "No worries, you didn't do anything wrong. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, take care."
"Yeah, y-you too." The girl took off down the halls, and Uzume heard Nepgear whisper up to her.
"We're only a booth away, you know."
"Yeah, I know." Uzume took a breath. "But hey, she wasn't all that bad."
"Neptune would call her a max level creep, and I'm certain Uni wouldn't approve of her type of fandom either, but otherwise I can agree. She's certainly the least insane stalker I've seen in Planeptune."
"Least insa-" Uzume shot a curious look towards Nepgear. "Gearsy, just how many stalkers have you seen?"
"I'd rather not say." Nepgear started off down the hall, not even bothering to look back. "Let's go catch up with the others now."
"Y-yeah... let's."
Putting Nepgear's concerning familiarity with the more dangerous dregs of society aside, they found themselves quickly at their destination, where a certain someone was surrounded by Uni and the twins. She seemed a little lost for words, especially with Ram laying the smackdown of the interrogation.
"Come on Uzume, why won't you tell us where Nepgear went?" Ram shouted loudly, backed up by Rom's softer, almost tear ridden voice.
"What happened to Miss Nepgear?"
"I-I..." The girl was very visibly overwhelmed, and Uni didn't seem to be making it any easier.
"What's up with you Uzume? You're never this slow?"
"Ahem!" Nepgear's interruption had all of them stop, and the absolute state of relief to cross FU's face was honestly sad. The trio turned, spotting the pair, and what followed next was a series of quick glances back and forth between the identical duo of crimsonettes.
"Wha-" Uni spat before raising her tone in exasperation. "Hold on! Why are there two Uzume?!"
"Sup." Uzume the original threw in with a grin, doing nothing to hide her amusement. FU simply let out a sigh of relief and spoke up.
"I was trying to tell you I wasn't Uzume, but you never gave me a chance to speak."
"HUH!?" Rom screeched, turning with a face of complete betrayal. "YOU'RE A FAKE!?"
"Imposter." The shy twin followed up, only for Uni to hid a blush.
"I... well." The twin-tailed girl huffed, crossing her arms as she looked away, no different than Noire would have done - her sisterhood was showing. "A-anybody would have thought the same. You two look completely identical."
Just then a man walked in, another member of the staff if his shirt was anything to go off of.
"Alright, settle down. Is everybody ready?" Everyone stayed quiet, all aside from FU, who spoke accordingly.
"S-sorry, but I'm not with them. Can you point me towards booth 13 please? I couldn't find it initially."
"Ooh." The man hissed a little, cringing his face before speaking up. "Sorry kid, but booth 13 is out of commission for the moment."
"Huh." Her eyes grew wide. "W-why?"
"Not safe right now. Something's busted in the hardware, so we can't let anyone use it right yet; too dangerous."
"B-but..." FU's expression fell drastically, but even so she looked to hold on to a little bit of hope. "What do I do then?"
The man, in response, threw on a calmer smile.
"Don't worry about that. We're just going to have you take turns here in booth 12. Sure, it'll be on a game by game basis, but we'll just swap you out with whoever has the lowest score at the end of each round. It's a little inconvenient, but rounds usually last about ten minutes, maybe fifteen at max, so you won't be waiting too long."
"Oh, okay." FU seemed to pick up her mood a little, and wandered over about to sit on one of the few stools against the wall.
"You can go first if you want."
The statement came from Nepgear, and naturally, was a shock to all.
"Huh?" Uzume the goddess let out almost entirely on instinct.
"Wha?" FU bore a more... panicked look, and shook her hands rapidly before her. "N-no, that's fine. Y-you can go first. B-besides, I already got to play earlier in the other booth."
"She's right." Uzume threw in, turning to face the younger nep. "That's nice and all of you Gearsy, but you don't need to give up your place. We'll all get to play, remember?"
"It's alright, really." Nepgear insisted... and then Uzume heard it, a tiny rumble coming from the girl. She focused her hearing, and once more a gurgle bubbled up from below. Uzume was confused as to what the sound was, until Nepgear opened her mouth again. "Besides, I need to take a quick trip to the washroom anyway, so it's only right to let her go first. This way you won't need to hold up the game."
Oh... oh no~ Uzume had to stifle a laugh, several times as a matter of fact. It seemed she herself wasn't the only one prone to certain private issues, and from how Nepgear began to sweat, she felt herself nearly roll her eyes.
"Whatever." Uzume spoke coolly. "Your loss." She then moseyed up to FU, offering a smirk. "It's your lucky day kid, seems like we get to have a game together sooner than expected."
"I love you."
"What?"
"What?" FU returned in tune, and Uzume just decided to ignore that first bit.
"Right..." She shrugged. "Whelp, no use standing around. Let's game!"
.
.
Kurome wasn't sure exactly what she was expecting, but a black box filled with luminescent webs trailing along the floors and walls like veins hadn't been what she had in mind. Granted, she wasn't the one to design the virtual reality arcade, but damn if she didn't have a sublime hatred of certain stereotypes.
Did her anger have any basis in reality or sense, no, but did it need to? The answer was also no.
And so she followed along behind Chuko as they took their trip through the entrance, right towards the front desk off on the side. Chuko stopped Kurome a few feet away; quite the thing really, considering how her vision was mostly blocked by the crate in her arms.
"Wait here." The little boss told her, and had she a hand free, Kurome would have offered a salute. Instead, she merely sat the crate down on the floor, and then sat herself atop it. She waited diligently for all of five minutes, ignoring the few glances she'd accumulated in that short span of time, and gave a tiny wave to the returning Chuko.
"So where are we headed?"
"Booth 13, column B; just follow me."
"Will do." Kurome stood, taking the box once more, and trailed along after Chuko, guided only by her excellent sense of hearing - Chuko was grumbling incoherently the entire way.
Kurome may have been blind to what was right in front of her, but the left and right sides were clear, and so the woman took the time to swap between checking both. In all honesty, even though it was more so she didn't bump into anyone from a corner or door, she'd been drawn to how the gamers of the arcade went about their day. Seeing as this was a virtual reality arcade - something which didn't exist in her time - she was interested in how the players were set up in their booths.
Most of it was what she expected, probably due to all the science fiction movies she used to watch back when Planeptune belonged to her, but even so she'd still found it interesting how securely they were all strapped in. If you didn't know any better, you'd think they were being experimented on... if you ignored everything else about the arcade anyway.
And then she saw Uzume.
To say her heart skipped a beat would probably be satisfactory enough, but the more accurate answer would be to say it shriveled up and died. It took the willpower of the goddesses to keep from dropping the crate, which was fine because she had experience with working as divinity. Kurome did come to a halt though, with her eyes welded to the woman. A little extreme of a reaction, but what could anyone expect when the one person you'd been searching for over the last few days is lying there in a pod...
Just to the left of herself.
What? No wait... what?
Kurome would have done a double take, but that would require an excess amount of motion, and with the crate in her arms she'd be likely to hit someone if she tried. So she settled for staring, her brain restarting itself in an attempt to process just what the hell she was seeing. Once that failed it went into overdrive, reprograming itself with the necessary applications to decrypt and read the image in her vision. After way too long a pause - really it was about twenty seconds, but it was too much for her - she came to grips with what she saw, and subsequently swore in her head.
Damnit! Why couldn't it have been the real deal?!
Apparently, her disturbing amount of knowledge in regards to the Neptune Fan Club had its uses after all, besides knowing to avoid the creeps. If she was being truthful here, she really shouldn't have been surprised to know her other half Uzume had a fan club of her own; all the other goddesses had one, so logically speaking it was all but guaranteed. People only knew Uzume as the red-haired variant, and Kurome was damn certain the only ones who knew of her own existence as a separate entity were the four goddesses and their sisters.
Yes, some unlucky citizens had the fortune of seeing her own unique colors back when total annihilation was the only thing on her mind, but Kurome remembered clearly the effect Uzume prompted when they merged together. Her powers were tied to delusion, whereas Uzume was fueled by shares, and once the source of an energy is cut off, all the processes it ran then stop functioning altogether. The form her physical body took as it appeared before certain key witnesses was born of that delusion, and once the power was gone so too was it. Kurome's visage was erased from the world, both in body and mind, which was a roundabout way of saying even the memories of said illusion were erased.
Only the ones witness to her true physical body would retain any recollection of her, and the only ones who'd faced Kurome in such a state were the pesky goddesses and their sisters.
Great, now I'm turning into Linda. With a sigh she decided it best to move on, as nothing would come from letting the creepier fans see her - they'd probably bitch about how her outfit was the wrong color for an hour. Fortunately she didn't have to go very far, because Chuko's voice just so happened to pick up at that exact moment.
"You done standing around yet?"
"Sorry." Kurome said blankly. "Sidetracked."
"Just bring the box over, we're already here."
Kurome followed those instructions, and soon enough she was positioned right behind Chuko in the small sectioned off room, watching as the mouse worked away. The windows of this particular area were covered up, and the 'out of order' sign on the door would ensure their work remained undisturbed. Mainly this was a benefit meant for them, but with Chuko's sour mood, Kurome counted the customers as the lucky ones instead.
Unlike the customers however, it seemed Kurome was in for the long haul, but at least she was getting some technical advice out of the deal, as Chuko went on to not only explain how most of the equipment worked, but also had the goth herself take part in fixing the machine. Beneficial, yes, but damn if it wasn't irritating.
She almost wished she could switch places with the two idiots over in Leanbox; whatever they were doing couldn't be nearly as grating as hearing Chuko whine about everything.
.
.
"Hey pipsqueak, chu?"
"Shut it rat." Linda didn't have the energy, nor time to really refute her partner's insult, not because of a lack of energy... wait, that was exactly what it was.
"Be pissy all you want, chu, but at this rate we're not going nowhere anytime soon."
Warechu was, much to both their disappointment, correct with that statement. Who knew they'd be captured almost the exact second they'd touched down in Leanbox. Then again, who could have expected that the first taxi they got was out kidnapping young women, and in this strange set of circumstance, Warechu as well.
As to why young women were being captured via means of taxi had yet to be determined, but then again, there weren't many options when it came to those regards. Linda, being the wisecracking little knucklehead she was, had immediately started shouting upon her wake, much to what she hoped was the annoyance of their abductors. Hell, the only reason she knew young women were being taken was because of the other women in the room with them. Speaking of which, the one ahead of the pair then cleared her throat.
"Please." The slightly frail looking gal spoke. "Do not fight. We must save our energy if we have any hopes of escape."
"Really?" Linda teased a smirk, rolling her eyes with the maturity of a middle schooler. "Why? I was just starting to get cozy."
The woman just sighed, apparently having given up already on stopping the duo's ruckus. This barely mattered in the end however as the door at the end of the room opened up, and a fairly cocky looking bitch walked in. She sported the exact outfit you'd expect from this particular type of thug: leather boots, jean jacket, and a fur scarf along with a pair of ripped jean shorts; jorts, if you will. The scheming duo so badly wanted to cringe, but the girl didn't give them the chance.
"Big haul this time." Her smirk widened. "And from the looks of it, another stuffed toy as well.
"You talking about me?!" Warechu tossed on a mask of irritation. "You better not be talking about me!"
"Complain all you want, Mr. mouse, but it won't stop me from making you the perfectly obedient plaything for my collection."
"Collection of what?" Linda tilted her head; her eyes half-lidded. "Dirty woodland animals?"
"Oh ho ho. Laugh it up all you want, but that won't stop me. Unlike you worthless plebeians, I have a level of power unheard of to you~"
"Really?" Linda threw back. "And what type of power is that; mommy's credit card?"
The girl smirked.
"Seems you aren't so stupid after all."
"Ayo~ what?!" Warechu blanked, and then slowly, ever so delicately, his thoughts returned. "No way you're serious, chu."
The girl responded by whipping out the offending bit of plastic.
"Read it and weep suckers." She slipped the card back in the small purse at her side. "I've already bought the perfectly sized dollhouse for all of you, so don't worry too much; I'm very gentle when I play~"
Twenty-two distinct shivers shot through both patron's spines, and Warechu merely looked to Linda the exact second the girl left laughing, shutting the door behind her.
"I really hope she isn't who we need to get."
"I-" Linda's phone dinged. "Hold on."
With a bit of wriggling, Linda was back on solid ground, free of her restraints. She pulled out her phone, and her face soured.
"Bad news." She showed the text, and accompanying photo. "An exact match."
"Rats." Warechu sighed, wiggling a little himself and joining his partner on the floor. "So we doing this the hard way or?"
"Meh, whatever ends up being easiest I suppose, chu."
"Great." The little dude slumped on the spot. "We better be getting some serious pay for this; I am not a babysitter, and I especially hate dealing with spoiled brats."
"Complain about it later." Linda stretched a little, prepping herself for whatever lied beyond the door. "Right now, we have a child who needs a firm seat in the time-out corner."
"Um, excuse me?" The pair turned to face the owner of the voice. The woman shook herself a little bit. "Could you please help me down from here?"
"Uh..." The pair locked eyes with each other, and figuring it couldn't hurt, Linda turned back and slowly made her way over. "Yeah, sure, just hold on a second."
Some technical 'know-how' later and the woman was steadying herself. Realistically speaking here, this was probably the easiest series of restraints Linda had the displeasure of escaping; the things weren't even locked, just wrapped weirdly to make them hard to untangle. But being a master at escape - due entirely to necessity from how often opponents captured her - Linda had no issues finding the trick to freeing them.
"Thank you."
"Save it for later." Warechu shoved in, cutting the woman off from saying anything else. "Look, you're free now, so why don't you cut the crap and run off already?"
"I wish I could, but there are still other women trapped here."
"We're not liable for their safety, chu. Heck, you should be grateful the dingus even freed you at all." Warechu ignored the ignoble face of Linda.
"I am, truthfully, but I cannot just leave knowing many other innocents are still imprisoned."
"Chill." Linda clapped her hands, restoring her snarky mask, and looked to the woman. "How about this, since you seem to be stubborn enough, why not come with us?"
"Truly?"
"Yeah." Linda wrapped an arm around the lady. "You'll be able to keep an eye out for any other captured women, and once everyone's free and we skip this joint, you can contact the authorities to come raid the place; sound good?"
"I suppose..."
"Great!" Linda pointed towards the door. "Now go wait over there, I need to get myself ready. On our signal, you open it up and stick close; we'll keep you safe."
"Um, very well; thank you."
Once the woman took her spot over yonder, Warechu leaned in to Linda and whispered.
"So... why are we really taking her along, chu?"
"We need someone to tie a story to this place. The punk who caught us probably has lots of dirty secrets, and if we're removing her and her little posse from the equation, we'll need the police busy with something else, right? What better distraction than the prospect of rescuing beautiful maidens from an evil dollhouse?"
Warechu smirked, clapping lowly.
"That's probably the only decent idea I've heard you come up with."
"Yeah, well whatever, let's just go already."
"Roger that." Warechu settled his devious smirk into a scheming smile. "Let's ice this popsicle stand."
Author's note
...
Ooh, just missed her!
Unfortunately, no, our tale doesn't end here, and neither do the pair meet, yet. Uzume now has a super-fan, someone so obsessed to the point it rivals Neptune's own fan club. Is this a good sign, or does this spell disaster for our scarlet heroine.
Honestly, I haven't got a clue, all I know is FU exists now, and we all get to suffer together.
Linda and Warechu are up to no good again... well, in this case they're kind of up to good, to an extend. A spoiled little girl and her dollhouse; what could possibly go wrong?
Anyway, catch you next time.