All rights are reserved to their respective owners. I own nothing in this piece of fiction with the exception of my OCs and the story itself.
"So... You and the nurse girl." AL brought up. The two of them were currently be walking towards the city of Planeptune in the afternoon sun.
They were walking in silence for the last 15 minutes in the windy plains, so the dark-skinned individual decided to start a conversation as their hair blew in the wind and their grassy footsteps sounded out in the serene atmosphere of Gamindustri's pleasant plains...
...By bugging the shit out of him with what had happened that night.
Nebula looked towards him with a raised brow.
"What about her?" He indulged.
A detrimental mistake to his neutral mood by the look of suggestive prying visible on AL's face.
A suggestive expression that only meant that something stupid was going to escape the taller male's lips.
"Didja smash? " He popped the fervent question in his mind.
"No comment." Nebula answered wisely.
"C'mon man, spill." AL looked at him with serious eyes.
"No way." The blue-haired adventurer responded, looking to a group of bouncing Dogoos as he broke eye contact with his friend.
"Dude, why not?" He asked with a slightly let down tone. He really did want to know, after all.
"Because any news is good news for you." Nebula explained. He'd been down this road with the afro airhorn mouth before.
"In what sense?" AL questioned as he looked back ahead. The city was in the distance as they conversed, albeit it was a bit far away still.
"If theoretically, I told you that I performed coitus, you would holler and have an aneurysm for every single monster to see and attack us and post on your Twatter or Nepgram that I am 'based' and boast me as the best male specimen to exist. If I said no, on the other hand, you'd call me a dense harem protagonist and that if I got any denser, my brain would collapse and form a black hole killing all of us and post a butthurt picture of me from 9th grade and ask every Nepgram model and single female friend on your account near us 'Let a mans smash, or his denseness will kill us all'. Did I get everything?" Nebula said as he looked at AL with a straight face as he said that new millennium lingo.
"This is why you've only managed to hit it once, which is a miracle in itself." AL sighed as he dragged his hand down his face.
"One time as a squeeze from a really close friend of ours, which is dimensions above your hand, but you'd know that, and to shut you up about me being a virgin retroactively. And her family was migrating to Leanbox anyway, so it was like a going-away present, technically." Nebula explained.
"And the present was her virginity and the end of the relationship. Damn. Seems like a cometragedy fairytale or one of those cliché hentai plots. At least you stopped your chronic masturbation over it." AL reminded as he stated the discontinued habit.
"We don't talk about those dark days, AL. Puberty was harsh." Nebula shivered.
"But you somehow managed to keep all those doujinshi of MILFs and big sisters and Rule 34 of Lady Purple Heart, Green Heart, Black Heart-" The afro man spilled, only to be interrupted.
"Look dude, they were hot, I was 14, and painfully horny, give me a break. I grew out of it, didn't I? Unlike you." Nebula defended his teenage self with a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as AL laughed.
"I know. Luckily my grandad beat the horny out you in one of our training sessions before you devolved into a closed-in socially awkward otaku stereotype that watches porn 24/7." AL remembered the day Nebula was caught in the act, as he was beaten to unconsciousness in a sparring match.
He then learned to do the act in secret, and after that night with the girl in question, he just stopped.
"But somehow he never punished you. I call favoritism." Nebula grimaced as AL shook his head.
"Nah, he left me alone 'cuz I was too far gone. And besides. You're the good boy. I'm the wild and rowdy grandson he has to bail out of every sticky situation I dragged you into." AL differentiated with a confident look on his face.
"And you're proud of that?!" Nebula held back a loud echoing laugh.
"You're damn right I am! If you don't break a few rules, you'll never truly live!" AL justified.
The both of them laughed heartily at that justification since it was basically true, in a sense.
"At least you became a thotslayer/local horndog and not an incel or Me forbid a simp." Nebula looked on the bright side of things.
"You got that right- ...Did you just say YOU forbid?" AL asked with a raised tone as he was caught off guard from the position of his faith, a raised brow to accompany the change of context in his religious belief.
"I guess? Since I'm a god and all, and now it feels kinda weird to call someone like Purple Heart who now basically is the same race as me something superior, I'll just call on myself. I mean it's not like she'd notice, she's tied up half-conscious, and I almost died for her sake." He justified his speaking.
"And you converting to yourself is totally not going to decrease her chances of survival." AL deadpanned.
"I'm going to help her friends save her and the rest of the Goddesses anyway, so it cancels itself out in my book. And you're the person I wanna hear selflessness from, AL." Nebula narrowed his eyes annoyingly as they walked.
"Fair enough." AL nodded in a touché manner as the conversation ended.
Silence became embodying once more.
"Wanna smoke some reefa-" AL quickly asked.
"Later." Nebula responded. The last thing he needed to be was high when he met the girls. He wasn't stressed enough to want to take a pull, anyway.
"Alright." AL accepted his response as he put his hands behind his head as he walked. The rest of the way would be in silence as the path was generally clear.
"I'll smoke myself." AL grinned as he pulled out a blunt.
"AL, no-"
The duo finally arrived in Planeptune once more as they head towards the Basilicom. The bloodstained shirt Nebula wore attracted some attention but was quickly brushed off as he reached the concerned onlookers that he was fine.
He still received one or two concerned looks from afar, however. Planeptunians was nice when it came to their own. He was just surprised no one pulled out a phone and tried to record him.
AL was bubbling in excitement about seeing some hot babes as Nebula lead him to the Basilicom.
"Are they hot?" AL asked, his eyes doing a lecherous glint.
"Yeah, you could say that. I find them more cute than hot, but it's there if you're into that." Nebula clarified his opinion as he answered his friend's question.
"NIIIIIIIIICE! Are they taken?" He pried for info.
"I don't believe so. Might have to ask them yourself." Nebula answered honestly.
"Hm. I see..." AL registered.
"They might be into girls from how they act, though." Nebula muttered offhandedly as he had observed many interactions between Compa and IF during those 6 months.
"Excuse moi?" A brow was raised from AL.
AL gave the god a 'you serious' look, as they neared the Basilicom. Nebula ignored him as the afro-wielding male awkwardly looked away before looking forward. Well, that dampened things.
As they neared the entrance, they were noticed by two guards, a man, and a woman.
The guards looked and realize that the male that happened to be walking by was their helpful homie Nebula. They called out the adventurer as he entered.
"Nebula, is that you?" The male guard asked. His face lightened in recognition of the male.
The blue boi turned around and look at the guard.
"Yo, Planeptune Guard #577." Nebula bid hello as he stuck out his fist. The guard followed up with a fist bump as AL looked at the other guard in a gaze that asked 'is this normal?' that showed amusement and intrigue.
The other guard simply replied with a curt nod as she closed her eyes with a wide smile. The guard was the very same worker Nebula met earlier that day as he had switched to security shift.
"You were gone for quite some time, Nebula." The guard would note. "What happened?" He asked, concerned.
"Stalled for time for the rest of the people on the mission could get away. The Graveyard is an unforgiving place, that's for sure." He said as he folded his arms with a look that was reminiscent of a war flashback. The guard would be shocked that he managed to fight off whatever was in that place for so long.
"So that explains the bloodstain behind the back." The female guard would point out as she looked at his back.
"Mhm." Nebula said as he turned around to show them.
TURN!
"Anyways, I brought a friend here. His name is AL, and he's gonna be following me around for a while. Say hi, AL." The blue-haired man ushered.
"Hello. My name is AL. I am 21 years old. My house is located in the southwestern plains near Planeptune, where all the monsters are, and I am not in a relationship. I am currently unemployed but used to work at NepDonalds as a front counter, and I get home by at least 11 PM every night at the earliest. I smoke and I drink. I am in bed by 1 AM and barely get any sleep, four hours tops. After watching anime and beating the weekly baloney, I have no problems sleeping until morning. Like a wrapped-up baby. I wake up with minor back problems, but that's because I'm told I sleep like someone who fell from the 7th floor of a building. I was also told I have surprisingly no problems at my last check-up." AL greeted nonchalantly as his voice became monotone and stared into the eyes of the two guards, switching between them every sentence.
"...Good day, AL." Both of the guards spoke. Unnerved by how someone just dropped their entire lifestyle in one minute.
"Now that that's settled..." Nebula said as he lowered his head, bangs covering his eyes. Shadows would fall over them as he emanated a menacing energy.
ドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドドド!!!
"Are Compa and IF back yet with that CPU?" He raised his head with a perplexed expression.
...
...
...
"Oh. Those three returned a while ago." The female guard would clarify, slightly terrified.
"But they left a little later on. So you're gonna have to wait for them." The male guard added, sweating from the wave of uncertainty that washed over him after what happened with Nebula.
"I see. Alright. Thanks for the info, you two. Let's go, AL." Nebula told as he walked inside the building, with AL behind him.
As they walked inside, they went to the audience chamber, where Histoire could possibly be. 2 rows of 3 chairs would be lined from either side around two bent tables on an elevated floor.
The pathway was lowered as green strobe lights would light a direction straight ahead to two thrones resting on the top. The tome was currently be working as Nebula called out to her.
"Histoire?" His voice echoed as he called out for the tome.
"N-Nebula?!" The Oracle of Planeptune responded, quite startled.
Histoire stopped her work and floated to him immediately as she confirmed his presence. She presumed he was dead after some time passed when the trio of girls had returned without him, with IF explaining what happened.
"Histoire! Heya." He put up his hand in greeting as he let a small smile take form on his face.
"Thank goodness you are alright! I assumed you had... Passed away." She said as her voice lead down at the last part.
"Me? Dead? Psshaw. I might have gotten nicked in the back-" He turned around and showed Histoire his bloodstain which had dried up by now, which she widened her eyes at.
TURN!
"But hey, I'm standing here right now. That's all that really matters in the end." He finished.
TURN!
"From whom did you get such a grievous wound?" She asked, concerned.
"A person named CFW Magic. She's a whole lot stronger than any of us are. I'm not sure we can do this on our own. I had to transform just to beat the guardian of that place, CFW Judge. And he was knocking around IF and taking Nepgear's attacks like nobody's business." Nebula recalled as AL looked at his serious expression with one of his own.
"The same woman who had defeated the goddesses." Histoire reiterated as Nebula grew silent.
...
...
...
"So how strong are talking here?" AL asked the tome. He needed a gauge if he wanted to know how effective his help would really be.
"She defeated all the CPUs single-handedly. Why, who are you?" Histoire now realized that a new face had arrived with Nebula, with him staying silent the whole time.
"Name's AL. And she did WHAT!? "
ECHO!
Echo...!
Echo!...
echo...
AL yelled, his voice echoing across the meeting room at the statement Histoire had just said.
"Dude." Nebula deadpanned, as his voice had caused the tome to cover her ears in surprise.
"Please refrain from shouting so loudly in the future, AL," Histy told the man as he coughed into his fist in apology.
"Sorry, but it's not every day some random lady just walks in and one-shots all the goddess damn CPUs!" He exaggerated at a less intense volume. "And she's a big bad?! Oh boy." AL sweated. He might be in for a ride if her power measured up to their statements.
"And that is precisely why we need to gather the aid of the other nations." Histoire would say as AL quieted down.
"If we can manage to take away enough Shares from ASIC, their forces should significantly weaken as a result." The tome relayed to them.
"But who would want to believe in the CPUs now? 80% of Gamindustri probably believes in those jerk-offs." AL asked a logical question.
"Then we shall ask for assistance from the Mascots of each presiding nation. They were created by the True Goddess to oversee the balance of each nation passively. They remain neutral to all other matters and concerns. But at times like these, they would rise with their fellow CPUs and unite to vanquish their influence." She explained to the two, AL being enlightened as Nebula got a refresher on some Gamindustri history.
"Except the goddesses are all trapped right now." Nebula interjected.
"Indeed. You will go and aid Nepgear and the others in retrieving these Mascots once they return to free the goddesses and remove ASIC from the face of the world once and for all." Histoire instructed as Nebula and AL nodded in unison.
"Sounds like a plan. I don't have any qualms about these conditions. Right, AL?" Nebula agreed as he asked his best buddy.
"Seems legit." AL was also agreeing with the proposed course of action.
"Well then. I leave you to your devices. I will be looking for some information on the mascots if you request my assistance." Histoire told the two males.
"Right. Well, I'm gonna go explore this place a bit. See ya." AL said as he put his hands in his pockets and moved away. He walked down a random hallway, disappearing into obscurity as he felt like exploring a bit.
"Just come back in time for when they return, hothead. Now, for my clothes..." Nebula would say as he looked back at his shirt.
"One last thing," The tome said, causing the god to turn around.
"It is good to have you as well as Nepgear back. The assistance of not one, but two CPUs right away will aid our cause significantly." She brought it up as she smiled at him.
He grinned with his eyes closed in a jolly fashion with a thumbs up in her direction.
"I appreciate it. Gamindustri's gonna be just fine. As long as she's here, we'll stop ASIC and their plans. We're the main characters after all." Nebula reassured as he walked to his guest room.
"I'll come back when the others return with the Mascot. Call me when they do." He said as he walked.
"Of course, Nebula." Histoire would hear him and respond as she went back to work. The last line he gave her had an odd sense of deja vú to it though...
Nebula was back to his peacock blue long-sleeved shirt with grey jeans and some orange white-tipped shoes as his trademark scarf and armor.
He smelled of aloe vera and mint after using somebody wash he found in the shower. His bandages would be gone as most of his light wounds had healed already. The only one that had remained was the large scar on his back as it wouldn't hurt so much as it did before, but contact would still cause an odd feeling.
He asked a random health worker within the guild to reapply the bandages to his back area for the injury, which they did so merrily as his positive reputation had gotten him some liberties, in a way.
PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH!!!
KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK KICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICKKICK!!!
The CPU was currently in his room, practicing his basic attacks.
Nebula had blindfolded himself with his scarf, as he shadowboxed the air. He was practicing attacking mental enemies, as a way to pass the time as well as improve his visualization and coordination.
He figured that any more intense training would make him too tired to journey with the girls once they returned, so this would have to do.
SHUFFLE!
SKID!-
SLIDE!
His feet shuffled and slid as his hands furiously zipped through the air and ground alike as he assaulted his invisible enemy. His punches and kicks were getting more intense as he mixed some in other moves during the session.
PUNCHKICKPUNCHKICKPUNCH PUNCHKICKKICKKICKPUNCHCHOP ELBOWUPPERCUTKNEESPINKICK!
He also started to radiate a thin layer of his aura as he trained, signifying that he was growing slightly stronger from the process.
But then his friend AL would walk in on his training session.
"Yo Neb, You got games on your phone-" AL would begin, only to narrowly block an incoming spin kick.
BLOCK!!!
"Holy shit!" The afro friend cross guarded.
REVERBERATE!!
The force of Nebula's attack put together with the strength of AL's block caused the room to vibrate a little.
Nebula quickly took off his blindfold to see a spooked AL blocking his blow, causing him to sigh in relief.
"What the hell, why are you sighing?! You could've sent me flying!" He raised some good points as he yelled at his best friend
"My bad. I was just glad you blocked it and I didn't accidentally kick Histoire in the jaw and sent her flying instead." Nebula said as he looked away awkwardly and concerned as he imagined the scenario.
...
"Oh. OH. Yeah, that would fucking suck." AL replied as he would cringe at the scene. The tome couldn't take such a hard hit out of the blue.
"Are the girls back yet?" Nebula questioned.
"Not yet. What, you got a thing for them or something?" AL teased as he leaned on the doorframe and gave Nebula an amused look.
...
...
...
"...Yeah." Nebula smiled, the look of a troll etched onto his features.
"Wait, really? Wow." AL raised his brows in interest as he did not expect his answer.
"I mean, platonically of course. No need to ruin the relationship by making it weird." Nebula continued nonchalantly with a shrug as AL grimaced. Which soon turned into a knowing smirk.
"..You big freaking troll. You know that wasn't what I meant." The taller male deadpanned.
"You're just mad I didn't furiously deny it, like 'N-No! I don't like them at all! We're just friends! Come on, man!' " Nebula mimicked a flustered beta protagonist as AL chuckled at his jab.
"Heh, I kinda wanted you to sound like that, but since you're so emotionally intelligent, tell me how to keep a woman." AL would test.
"C'mon AL, I might be a god, but even I don't know some things. Especially when it comes to you and romance." Nebula responded as he tied his scarf back onto his neck.
"Worth a shot. I'm gonna go by Histy again. Comin'?" The romantically inept friend asked.
"You omnipotent bastard-" AL shook his fist at the ceiling as he muttered those words softly for only the author to hear-
"Well, since you asked, sure." Nebula responded.
"Ight." The taller male walked out of the room, with the blue-haired adventurer deity close behind.
And the two went to see the tome. And when they arrived at the audience chamber,
lo and behold, Nepgear, IF and Compa were all present with our tiny tome.
The two males walked into the large room as the girls would turn around and see who had entered as the door opened.
The three were surprised that Nebula would have returned from a seemingly hopeless battle, looking as if he had barely been hurt at all.
Nepgear would be especially surprised as this was only her second time seeing him.
"Nebula!'' IF gasped.
"Neb-Neb!" Compa squealed.
"It's you again!" Nepgear said in surprise.
Their responses varied as he would walk towards them, to greet them. AL followed suit.
"Phew. I see you all got out alive. Good job!" Nebula praised the three as he gave a thumbs up. AL nodded his head in a very memeable fashion behind him as Compa and IF smiled from the praise. Nepgear just looked at him and AL curiously, taking in their appearances.
"It would have gone south if it weren't for your help." IF thanked the adventurer.
"Thanks, Neb-Neb! You were a big help." Compa thanked back as he scratched his head from the returned gratitude.
"It was all worth it to give the world that I just so happen to live in, a chance." He waved off.
"How's your shoulder?" The Guild Agent asked.
"It got healed." He simply replied. He even patted his shoulder for good measure.
"And that big robot that attacked you and Iffy?" The Nurse-In-Training brought up.
"Scrap metal." The blatant truth that escaped the blue-haired adventurer's lips. The girls widened their eyes at that one.
He then turned to Nepgear.
"And you. Nepgear, right?" He pointed with a questioning look.
"Uhm, yes, That's me. Who are you?" The girl introduced herself albeit nervously. She was no longer be in her goddess form, but in her human form instead as she was not currently battling anyone.
She had long lilac hair that ran down to her mid-back, a single D-pad hairclip on the left side of her hair, and her violet eyes would be looking up at Nebula as he unsurprisingly towered over the girl, slightly intimidating her.
She wore a white button-up sailor uniform with purple designs and a yellow ribbon being held together by the N emblem on her chest. She also had on thigh-high socks with pink and white stripes and some medium-sized boots that matched her uniform's color scheme, also having a white compartment bag around her thigh to store her items. Her assets were in-between IF and Compa's at a comfortable C cup as they were within her sailor suit. He then shook the thought as he put her image in his memory bank as a new friend, as well as a CPU peer.
This was Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune.
"I'm Nebula, local world-saving adventurer. Well, it's a good thing you got out of there safe and sound, NepG. I basically risked my life for you." He reminded her as Nepgear looked away from him, a bit embarrassed that she was put on the spot like that. He even gave her a nickname right off the bat, just to try to be friendly towards her.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that..." She apologized, dejectedly.
"What? Don't apologize. If you weren't worth it, I wouldn't have done it. It's that simple." Nebula dismissed her apology, as it wasn't needed for someone like him.
"You're gonna save Gamindustri after all, so someone as nice as you could never fail." He told the goddess, as he put her hand on her shoulder which caused her to look at him with some red on her cheeks.
AL gave him a look.
So would the narrator, somehow, both saying:
Smooth~
'I swear, I will crush both of you into atoms. We're not going down that route. Damn.' Nebula internally deadpanned as IF raises a brow with a smirk.
"I see you have a way with words, Neb." She pointed out.
"Yeah, that was smooth, dude," AL added.
"I'm just telling the truth. I'd do the same for any of you." He looked towards them after genuinely telling them the truth, unintentionally activating Harem Master/Gary-Stu visual novel mode as he did.
This caused them to grow red in the cheeks as well as they processed what he said, as AL was stifling a laugh in the background.
"Heh-!.." AL would let out a chuckle.
"AL, shut up." Nebula warned as his male friend would be struggling with all his might not to die of laughter on the spot.
"Hrrnk!.." He struggled to curb his amusement.
"It's not what you're thinking, it's-" Nebula tried to justify.
"Pfft!..."
"Come on." Nebula pleaded.
"..."
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"...You know what, get it out your system-" The god was cut off.
"AAAAHahahahahahahahahahahahaha!... HAAhahahahahhaha!...Hahahahahahaha-" The afro man cackled wildly as Nebula would not make eye contact with him out of imminent embarrassment as all three girls stared at the laughing warrior.
Nebula moved his hand from Nepgear's shoulder as he just stood there, looking at his watch that he definitely had before. The man was off on a laughing spree for a few minutes.
"Huehuehuehuehuehuehue...Wooooo...Hehehe..." He finally calmed down after laughing to the point of some tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
"Are you done?" Nebula asked, unamused. Al took a deep breath before answering.
"Y-Yeah... It's just that you chatting up women is hilarious to me." He explained.
"I didn't even do it on purpose! And yet you try to get me laid." Nebula defended himself.
"That's different." AL specified.
Nebula rolled his eyes before looking at the ladies, who were staring at AL for the short laughing fit he just experienced. The god noticed this and take the time to introduce his friend.
"And this is AL. He's pretty cool, once he stops laughing at me. Don't let him near your single friends, though." He deadpanned as AL gave a charming smile with a finger gun towards them.
They just awkwardly waved back at him, as he then realized that he made himself look a bit crazy just now.
...
...
...
"How does it feel to look bad, AL?" Nebula took advantage of the new situation.
"Can we just move on?" AL asked Histoire meekly as the blue-haired god held back a laugh of his own.
"Yes. Now that we have our introductions and reunions out of the way, let us get back to a more serious topic." Histoire ended the spontaneous mood shift as she finally spoke after the afro man asked her to end it.
"It appears you three have successfully secured Planeptune's mascot. However..." The tome trailed off.
"We also know that ASIC and its cronies are aware of its existence too." IF finished.
"Miss Underling said something about going to Lastation next." Compa reminded. This 'Underling' person rose some questions from AL.
"Who?" AL asked, unfamiliar with the underwhelming nickname.
"Nobody important. Just an underling, probably." Nebula snickered as they grew back quiet.
"We should chase her now, or she'll get ahead of us again." Nepgear asserted for once.
"...I see your vigor has returned, Nepgear," Histoire commented surprised, as Nepgear responded to her.
"I'm still shaking off some fear, but I'm fine for now." She answered.
"Excellent. Then you should do what I said and head over to Lastation next." Histoire told the group of 5.
"...Lamestation," AL whispered next to Nebula.
"PFFT!" The god had to struggle to stifle a laugh.
This action would garner the attention of the others, which caused him to cough and hit his chest.
"I-"
COUGH!
"Just swallowed-"
COUGH!
HACK!
"Some saliva." Nebula sounded as he patted his chest a bit. "Go on." He encouraged Histoire to continue.
"Right. Head over to Lastation to gain Shares and seek out the mascots. And lastly, I would like to give you some important advice, all of you." The tome paused.
"What is it?" Compa asked.
"CPU Candidates exist within both Lastation and Lowee. I recommend you seek their assistance as well." Histoire informed.
"That would make them... Noire and Blanc's younger sisters... Surprising, since I didn't know they existed until now." Nebula recited with intrigue, as he would be seeing them later on.
"CPU Candidates... Other girls like me..." Nepgear pondered.
"Each nation has their problems to attend to due to the disappearance of the CPUs, and may refuse initially, but contact is vital. After all, I am certain they share your desire to save their sisters." Histoire finished as IF began to speak once more.
"Sounds like we have our plan. Off to Lastation!" IF said to the others, determined.
"Right!" Nepgear nodded.
"Yeah!" The boys would chant. Fist pumps included.
"Yessy!" Compa would chirp.
The now five party members left the Basilicom, with AL lugging his large bag behind him.
"Wait up!" AL yelled as he ran behind the four, his big bag in tow.
"Slow down, people! I got all my shit in here!" The afro-haired man yelled as he quickly jogged outside to follow them.
"Those monsters in the mountains were something else, huh?" Nebula asked the group as they all walked on a dirt path that lead away from some mountains, to liven up the mood.
They crossed the treacherous terrain while fighting off some monsters that would have ambushed them every interval, which would be very taxing.
Hours would have passed since they left the Basilicom, and their initial supplies would be running low as they had to account for 5 people instead of three.
The proof would be in the proverbial pudding if one would look at their states.
First off, we have le pseudo protagonist, Nebula. His sleeves were ripped, showing his scratched and bare arms and shoulders from using his KI arsenal intervals. Compa healed any small injuries he might have had. He was in the front of the party. After all, he was a main character-
Next was AL. His vest was half torn with some tears on his pants as well as him having some scratches, usually from jumping into an attack in Burning Fever, then absorbing the power. He looked damaged but felt fine. Mostly, anyway. He refused any healing from Compa since it would reset his boost from the form. He was situated at the flank of the party to check their 6 with his KI sense. His bag was also damaged, which put him in a sour mood.
Moving on to Nepgear, le protagonist, would be mostly fine, as any situation arising that would be too tough for them to handle or would put them in a tight space, she whipped out her HDD transformation and take care of the problem with a bit of encouragement from her allies. The goddess had some cuts that would have been treated by Compa. She was also at the front, as this was her mission.
IF was lightly damaged from attacks from cutting up foes and flanking enemies, her jacket having some dust and scratches with slight tears, but her injuries would be treated by Compa as well. She was just slightly fatigued for the most part. Her position in the party would be the middle left row, looking around for any ambushes from the side.
And lastly, Compa appeared to be roughed up, but she would be doing alright, with some scratches and rips on her clothes. She had some bruises and small injuries that she took care of while they had been resting in between traveling, as she did with the others. The nurse was on the middle right, carefully observing for any items that they could collect.
What a productive party, amiright?
After Nebula asked the question about the monsters, a grimacing AL would respond.
"You're telling me; They ripped up my bag. Igneous bastards." AL talked shit as they moved along. The Crystal Golems and Metal Golems that had attacked them did a number on his bag, but usually, it being the thing that spared him a gem punch to the spine, he couldn't be too angry.
"Well, no one told you to bring your entire house on your back like an oversized turtle, AL." IF pointed out as she kept an alert gaze around her front.
"Just like a turtle," Compa added.
"I like turtles-" Nebula would joke.
"All of y'all can shut up. Especially you, Nebula." AL said with a huff as he looked away. The blue-haired adventurer laughed in response.
"Don't be like that, AL." Nepgear looked behind at him. "Look on the bright side, we're all getting stronger from fighting enemies." She offered.
"Yeah man," Nebula would interject as he flexed his arms. "I might have lost my sleeves, but at least I can do this now." He said as he flexed his arms, veins, and muscles.
FLEX!
ドドドド!!!
The girls would be taken aback by the flex as AL rolled his eyes as he told his friend a tibid of info.
"Some of your stuff is in this bag too, y'know." He enlightened the god.
"Wut." Was the bland response.
The god's face fell into a deadpan as AL looked ahead.
"I packed for you too. That's why my bag is stupidly big. So when some of my stuff gets damaged, so does yours." He explained with a shift of the bag as they continued to walk.
"But...But how... Did you-" Nebula struggled for words.
"I just put all of your leftover clothes and things from Mr. Mūten's house and put them in here." AL sniggered.
"Oh. Oh no." Nebula looked down in concern.
Nebula awkwardly fell silent as AL said nothing in return as they trod. AL decided to move the topic.
"So anyway, have any of you been to Lastation before?" The bag holder asked. But before anyone would answer, the god would speak.
"Yes." Nebula blurted out.
"I know, Neb," AL responded.
"It's cool." He continued.
"I know, Neb." AL nodded.
"And my dad lives there!" He said as his eyes closed in a cherry fashion.
"I know, Neb," AL said with a dumb look on his face.
"I'm sad sometimes." The god honestly answered.
"I know, Neb." AL frowned.
"Your dad?" IF asked with an interesting look.
"Mhm. He got a job there as a business executive some time ago, since he migrated. Haven't seen him in a while, though. He didn't go to the main city, but he's in Midgard, so yeah." He remembered as he had a conflicted look on his face.
"Really? Well, I hope you see him when you get there again." Nepgear commented.
"Thanks, NepG. Boring if you ask me, though. Sitting in an office and doing financial transactions at the top sounds complicated and soul-crushing." AL vouched for his friend.
"Yup. And all that dirty money might have germs on them." Compa added, shivering at all the germs on the money she would imagine.
"He doesn't actually-" Nebula would sigh before dismissing the comment. " Forget it. How about you, Compa?" Nebula asked as a distant city would be barely visible.
"I've been there once or twice with Nep-Nep Iffy." She would answer.
"Wow! What's it like over there?" The CPU Candidate would ask with some excitement in her eyes as the nurse thought.
"Hmm...It's really mechanical and robotic. A bunch of satellites and factories too." She responded.
"And the air's surprisingly clean for all those factories they have." IF recalled.
"And what about the CPU Candidate?" Nepgear asked the people who went before.
"I don't think it was international knowledge back then. Or even now. I mean, I didn't even know you existed until a couple of days ago." Nebula hypothesized as Nepgear thought about his point.
"You used to travel all over, though. Might have missed a thing or two." AL opted.
"Well, did you know NepG existed back then?" He asked.
"...No." AL monotoned.
"Exactly." Nebula said without even turning around.
But before anyone else could say anything, they would be confronted by a group of Delinquent Cats, Red Dogoos Baby Wolves. 10 of each species were cornering them completely as all of the party members tensed in response. AL Nebula immediately noticed as they jumped out thanks to their KI sense.
"Heads up!" AL yelled.
"Not again!" IF yelled.
"Eek!" Compa squealed.
"W o a h!" Nebula exclaimed.
"Goodness!" Nepgear shouted.
The enemies were encircling them, causing the party to huddle back to back as they closed all the openings to escape conventionally.
"And now we're surrounded. For the hundredth time." IF sighed. She was really peeved at how this situation had happened a total of 37 times throughout their trip.
"They look relatively weak, on the bright side. So it's not likely we'll get too banged up." Nebula replied as he sensed the number of enemies.
But AL beat him to the punch.
"And only... 30. Well, 6 a person. Who's gonna strike first?" He asked as the monsters edged nearer. In response, the gang would steady their weapons, from swords to syringes.
"I'll... I'll take you up on that offer, AL." Nepgear replied as she gripped her sword tightly.
"Go for it, Ge-Ge!" Compa encouraged as she too gripped her oversized syringe.
And then the Candidate charged.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Nepgear roared as she dashed at the nearest Baby Wolf.
The rest followed as they all split less than a second after and began to attack the swarm of monsters that surrounded them.
SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!SLASH!...
SLAM!
STAB!
Combat would initiate when Nepgear slashed at the canine repeatedly, before finishing it off with a downward slash that slammed it onto the ground and thrust through its underside.
PIXELATE!
It blew up into pixels as it hit the floor.
BLOCK!
She twisted around just in time to guard a crunch against another Baby Wolf.
SWING!
SLAM!
Nepgear then quickly jerked her sword arm to the side, sending the wolf a ways away as she was then preoccupied with the remaining four enemies.
STABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTAB!
Meanwhile, IF was rapidly stabbing some Red Dogoos, as gelatin was spilled as her blades stabbed and ripped out of the sentient jelly. The Dogoo would be full of holes by the time IF was done with her assault and was finished off with a simple sideswipe slash from the Guild Agent.
CLINGCLINGCLANGCLINGCLANG TWANGCLINGCLANGCLANGCLING CLINGTWANGCLINGCLINGCLANG CLINGCLANGTWANGCLINGCLANGCLANGCLINGCLINGTWANG!
She was then put in a trade of blows with a nearby Delinquent Cat, as her blades and its claws deflected each other's attacks in a battle of speed between the two combatants.
ZWANG!!!
IF soon found an opening within the cat's attacks and cause it to leave itself wide open by pushing hard on a certain clash.
"Take this!" She yelled.
IMPALE!
PIXELATE!
The enemy's arms were blown wide back as she rushed and impaled the Delinquent Cat before it exploded into pixels from the force of the stab IF inflicted upon it.
But she then had to narrowly roll out of the way of a slash from another Delinquent Cat as well as a chomp from a Baby Wolf.
"Hi-ya!"
SLASH!
CRASH!!!
She then swung a Qatar at Red Dogoo that tried to surprise attack her, sending it flying towards the two enemies.
DASH!
It knocked all three of them around as the Guild Agent went after the disoriented monsters.
"Time for your shots!"
BIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKI BIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKI BIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKIBIKI BIKIBIKI!!
Elsewhere, Compa was currently stabbing a mystery fluid into a Baby Wolf. The wolf would look dazed as the liquid was injected into it.
Compa took this chance to repeatedly stab the monster as it was currently being poisoned.
PIXELATE!
SLASH!
She then injected it once more, finally putting the wolf out of its misery, bursting into pixels. She then attacked another enemy, this time a Red Dogoo, but then a Delinquent Cat would slash her across the leg.
"Owie!" The nurse cried out as she staggered from the attack.
SLAM!!!
TUMBLE!
She was about to be scratched again when the flung wolf from Nepgear knocked the Delinquent Cat away along with it as she quickly sidestepped out of a lunge from the dogoo she tried to attack prior.
"Whoa!" The nurse shouted out in surprise.
STAB!
SWING!!!
ZOOM!!!
SPLAT!
She then stabbed the enemy in mid-air before sending it flying at high speed across the battlefield. It zoomed across before hitting a random rock in the distance and violently splattering its contents on the object.
PIXELATE!...
It, along with its spicy guts pixelated as Compa would have to fend off a couple more enemies.
HIGH KICK!
ROUNDHOUSE KICK!
PISTON KICK!
On the opposite side of the battlefield, AL was fending rather well, with him high kicking a Baby Wolf in the snout, followed up by them roundhouse-piston kicking it away as it tumbled across the field.
BLOCK!!
"Vulcan Knuckle!"
PUNCH!!!
PIXELATE!
He then barely blocked a ram from a Dogoo behind him thanks to his KI sense coming in clutch. He then pushed the gelatin monster off of him before engulfing his fist in fire and socking it.
His hand lit ablaze as he punched the Dogoo. It was knocked back in a burning mess and pixels as AL's hand would return to normal.
HOP!
DASH!
SWEEP!
JUMP!!!
AXE HANDLE!!!
CRASH!
PIXELATE!
He then hopped back as he evaded a slash from a random Delinquent Cat and would dash, slide and sweep kick it, launching it up as he jumped and followed it before axe handling it towards the ground.
The impact of the crash kicked up some dirt as the cat faded into pixels immediately after hitting the ground.
BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK!!!
As the fighter landed, he was immediately assaulted from all sides by the remaining 3 monsters as they attacked him from all sides. AL had decent difficulty blocking and countering their moves, but he was at least agile enough to not be dealt any significant damage.
He cross guarded a swipe against a Delinquent Cat, duck a lunge from a Red Dogoo and uppercut the bite of a Baby Wolf, then blocked another chomp with his leg, laterally chopped at a return swipe from the same cat, and then headbutted the dogoo that came back for more.
KICK!
FWOOSH!
AL felt the adrenaline as his reactions were being tested. He then decided to gain some space by roundhouse kicking with some KI within his leg to use the additional force to generate air pressure, creating distance.
SPIN KICK!
LUNGE!!!
The monsters were all be pushed back as AL completed the spin kick before engaging with the nearest enemy.
And finally, Nebula was in the middle of taking on all 6 of his enemies simultaneously. For what reason, you may ask? Well, he just happened to get the shitty end of the RNG stick.
"Detekuru: Bakuhatsu!"
BOOM!!!
He outstretched his hand and clenched it at the nearest monster, being a Baby Wolf, making it voom towards him. He then focused KI into his hand. It formed the signature orange aura right before the Baby Wolf slammed into him. He yelled out his move as he struck the monster.
PIXELATE!
SMOKE!
He threw his palm forward and smashed the orb into the Baby Wolf, causing it to explode in some pixels as smoke would be generated from the attack.
CHOMP!
"OW!"
He was then a bit on the leg by a Baby Wolf within the smoke.
JUMP!
SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN SPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN!!!
"Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku!"
VOOM!!!
"ARF!"
The god then used his free leg to hop high into the air, before spinning like a top and launching the wolf that was still clinging onto his leg far into the distance. It made a whining/surprised sound as it rocketed across the horizon at the speed of sound.
ATTRACTION!
WHOOSH!
Nebula then charged some Bakuhatsu KI orbs in his hands as he then pulled himself towards the ground with Attraction.
"Ni-bai Bakuhatsu!"
He aimed for the two nearest enemies as he fell, yelling out his attack when he was right above them.
BOOM!
BOOM!
PROPULSION!!!
FLIP!
LAND!
He then thre the two energy blasts at the monsters as they connected. Small explosions occurred as he then used the propulsion from them to push himself back into a mid-air backflip and landed in a crouch.
BOOM!-
JAB!
SKID!!!
He then snapped around for a back punch to a Red Dogoo that was going for an Explosion. It detonated as Nebula struck it, causing him to be pushed back as he skidded away.
"Away I go!" The adventurer yelled as he skidded from view.
"Panzer Blade!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!... SLASH!!!
PIXELATE!
Back with Nepgear, she was pushing back the enemies she was currently battling. She then used Panzer Blade to finish off the nearest monster.
"Slash Wave!"
WAVE!
SCHLINK!
PIXELATE!
The Delinquent Cat that was attacked would be slashed 5 times with her SP Skill before it pixelated from the force of her attack. She then ran towards the next enemy, and perform another SP Skill.
"Mirage Dance!"
Nepgear then vertically slashed the Red Dogoo in half as it pixelated behind her. She then dodged a bite from a Baby Wolf before using her last skill for her enemies.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!... SLASH!
PIXELATE!
After, the goddess would in a cute dance mind you, fluently slash and stab the wolf as it staggered back each time. She finished the Skill as she thwacked the Baby Wolf with the flat side of her sword, then slashing its snout, causing it to pixelate.
The girl headed to another area to help one of her allies after she dealt with the last enemy around her.
CLASH!
SLASH!
CLING!
STAB!
CLANG!
She ran across and saw IF currently preoccupied with the remainder of her enemies, slashing and stabbing at them as they either dodged or clashed with her Qatars.
SCRATCH!-
SHATTER!
The Guild Agent then pulled out some more power as she would perform a mighty blow at the remaining Delinquent Cat. It tried to challenge the increase of power from the different attack types, but its claws would be broken upon impact.
SLASH! SLASH!
KICK!
And IF took this opportunity to rush the opponent, slashing it twice before knocking it away.
And when it was knocked, it zoomed towards Nepgear, who swung her blade at the monster, cutting it in half as it pixelated shortly after.
ZOOM!
SLICE!
PIXELATE!
"Thanks, Gear." The Guild Agent told the CPU Candidate.
"No problem, IF!" The polite girl responded.
The two of them were now side by side as they both engaged with each of the remaining enemies.
STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!
SWING!
BOUNCE!
CLASH!!!
IF stabbed up a Baby Wolf while Nepgear clashed with yet another Red Dogoo.
"Mirage Dance!"
"Demon Slice!"
PIXELATE!
PIXELATE!
The two on two matchups was short-lived as the two girls would each cross attack at each other's foe while their enemies would only be solely focused on one girl. This caused them to be dispatched quite easily by each of their skills.
Each enemy was pixelated after each attack had ended. The two girls ran to Compa, who was having a moderately hard time with her batch of monsters.
She wouldn't be too banged up, which was good but was still be taking damage here and there, which was bad.
SMASH!
"Yeouch!"
The nurse had just been rammed by a Red Dogoo from behind as she twisted around and fired an injection from her shot at the enemy.
STAB!
PIXELATE!
It was pushed back from the attack far enough for IF to impale it on one of her Qatars as she ran towards her friend, pixelate soon after.
THWACK!
INJECT!...
...PIXELATE!
The nurse then jabbed at a Baby Wolf who seemed to be dodging her strikes. It was about to attack her when Nepgear took a wide slash at the canine right to Compa, who took her chance and injected her mystery fluid into the enemy, causing it to pixelate as soon as all went into it.
All that was be left would be the Delinquent Cat, which was hissing at the three of them.
TRIPLE STAB!
PIXELATE!
RUN!
The three girls look at each other and nodded before rushing the cat, all stabbing it simultaneously. It pixelated on contact from all three stabs at once very unceremoniously.
The three then moved towards the nearest brawler, which happened to be AL.
AL was dealing with a single Viral Delinquent Cat. IItspalette had changed to a more feral tone as it had been infected by the mystery glitch.
The fighter jumped and tornado kicked at the enemy, only for it to dodge the strike and slash at AL, who used his leg to block.
BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK!!!
He then chopped downwards at the cat, as it hopped to the side and dodged his attack. It sprung at the afro man, and screeched as it went for a frontal assault. AL engaged as the two traded consecutive attacks once more.
BIFF!
But AL finally found a slight within the cat's defenses and exploited it with a swift uppercut.
ELBOW!
ROLL!
KICK!!!
PIXELATE!
He followed up the attack by elbowing its solar plexus before clocking it with his other hand. It rolled towards Nebula who then football kicked it into pure pixels.
The god reassigned his focus with two viral monsters. A Dogoo and a Baby Wolf. He sidestepped ducked its attacks as he was countering their advances.
GRAB!
SLAM!!!
THROW!
He grabbed the wolf's jaw as it pounded, clenching it shut before slamming it onto the ground and flinging it at the Dogoo.
The Dogoo bounced to the side, dodging the wolf before lunging at him with an Explosion ready.
ROLL!
HEEL KICK!
"Tsk." Nebula wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, so he rolled back as it flew over him before double heel kicking its bottom layer, sending it flying.
BURST!
BLAST!
He then immediately generated a Bakuhatsu before taking it and launching it high into the air after the Dogoo.
BOOM!
It connected as a bright explosion resounded within the air from the explosive properties of his KI, its remnants pixelating.
"GRRROWL!"
The Baby Wolf came back for more as it growled and howled at him with froth in its mouth as it foamed.
"Yo, this wolf got rabies. Hell naw." AL cringed.
Nebula cringed alongside him before outstretching his hand and slightly clenching it, keeping the Dogoo in place.
CRUSH!!!
"ARFARF!"
PIXELATE!
He then widened his palm and brought it down, causing the Baby Wolf to be compressed into the ground with its body giving under the gravity. It soon compressed into pixels as it gave a dying bark before fading.
And the battle was won.
The five regrouped, with AL splitting off to see if he could scavenge any resources as they talked about the battle.
"That wasn't too bad." Nebula started.
"I got bit, though!" Compa brought up.
"Me too." The god rebutted. Not in a 'suck it up' way, but more 'we have the same animal injury!'.
"Doesn't it hurt?" Compa asked.
"Too much adrenaline. You can still tend to it if you want, but take care of your leg first." Nebula said as he jogged on the spot, still hyper from the fight.
IF then checked her phone.
"We gotta hurry before the sun sets on us, people! I don't want another midnight mountain situation!" The Guild Agent warned as AL came back from checking the items that he found.
"Got anything?" Nebula asked.
"Not anything important. Unless you want some Gang Masks and Orange Dogoo Jam." AL notified.
"We can use the jam." Nepgear proposed.
"But no one brought any bread." Nebula reminded.
"I have some bread-" AL opted.
"How the heck, did the bread not get squashed." Nebula deadpanned.
"... It did," AL said after checking the contents of his bag.
"Oh, brother." Nebula facepalmed.
"Well, Lastation-" IF began, but was interrupted.
"Lamestation-" AL corrected.
"Stop." Nebula cut him off. "You're gonna piss off someone in the nation when we get there if you keep saying that." The god continued.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," AL said with a dumb smirk on his face.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." His friend cautioned as he looked at his buddy nervously.
"Yeah, yeah." AL waved off.
"..." IF simply stared blankly between the two. She'd then huff for being interrupted by an offensive name as she continued on her way.
The five would then continue their journey, as they finally saw the faint view of the city after some more walking.
"I think I see it!" Nepgear said excitedly.
"You see Lamestation!?"
"Damnit AL!" Nebula and IF yelled at the tallest in the group.
"Got'eem!"
A/N:
Heya there, reader!
If you're seeing this, this is a rewrite of the chapter, just to correct some repetition, fix some spelling errors, and improve the spelling quality, especially in the earlier chapters.
So remember, italics and bold is going for gold.
Got'eem.
Arrivederci.
Read and Review!