Omnidimension Neptunia: Infinite Memes Chapter 11: 11 - Stubborn Mascots and Shoujo Hitmen!, a hyperdimension neptunia fanfic

All rights are reserved to their respective owners. I own nothing in this piece of fiction except my OCs and the story itself.

Nebula quickly returned to the group, making up the excuse that he had to go use the bathroom somewhere private, which made AL ask if he pissed in the ocean.

"So." The friend began.

"So?" The CPU entertained.

"Didja whiz with the fishes?" He put together with a cheeky grin.

''Dude. Of course, I did. The Zombie Fish that I threw died from it." Nebula responded, getting a wheeze from AL, and slight disgust from the girls.

"Ew." Compa voiced.

"That's gross, you guys." Nepgear cringed.

"TMI, you two." IF shook her head.

"Oh, piss off.'' AL shooed.

"Piss off." Nebula repeated.

...

"HA!-"

They soon returned to Lastation's Basilicom for the information on the Mascot as they were face to face with Kei once again. The businesswoman was expectant of their arrival as she had her arms crossed.

"It seems you have returned. And you have procured the items that I had requested." Kei noted.

"Big Brother is watching us, huh?" IF wisecracked. The saying was rather old but still gold.

"You have no idea," AL muttered as he looked around. There were multiple cameras present that made him uncomfortable for no reason. Then again, this was Kei, so what did he really expect from such a professional individual.

"Miss Kei, we've collected the items you asked for," Nepgear informed as she handed them over to a waiting Lastation guard.

He then nodded in a way of saying thanks before going off with the items like a good boy.

"Could you kindly tell us where to find the Mascots now? It's been really long and we need to hurry..." Nepgear pleaded.

"If it's been that long, then what're a few more moments? It probably won't change the situation too much." Kei explained, derailing Nepgear. "Firstly, I'd like you to tell me what happened three years ago in the Gamindustri Graveyard." The Oracle stated, interested in the information they had.

Nebula gripped his fist in excitement for Uni keeping her solid. He then relaxed it before anyone noticed as Nepgear told Kei what had occurred through a really precise and informed jump cut-

After the explanation...

"So Noire is alive... That removes a weight off of my chest." Kei sighed in relief. She felt a world of worry be lifted from her shoulders as she sighed.

"If you were that worried, then why didn't you act a tad bit more cooperative?" IF asked, as AL and Nebula nodded in agreement.

"We have different ways in ensuring the safety of our CPUs, and besides. I needed the items that you had brought for me for my project." She explained, returning to her standard demeanor.

"Now it's my turn to fill in my end of the deal. I've written down the last recorded whereabouts of the Mascot." Kei further explained as she would take out a piece of paper and hand Nepgear.

"Thank you very much, Miss Kei. We can finally-" She was cut off, however.

"But I must warn you. Your offer will more than likely be denied outright." Kei told the group.

"Huh?" Nisa tilted her head.

"You'll find out soon enough. I wish you luck with your next negotiation." Kei left them with that as she exited the room.

"How sincere." IF sarcastically quipped with a smirk before the group left.

"I just hope it's not with you. But knowing our luck, that's exactly what's gonna happen." AL murmured as they walked out the door.

They were back on the industrial city streets of Lastation as IF turned towards Nepgear.

"Mind showing me that paper, Gear?" IF asked as Nepgear handed her the document.

"Sure, IF." Nepgear handed the brunette the paper. IF looked at the paper before she facepalmed

"What's the matter, Iffy?" Compa asked as the Guild Agent sighed.

"The Mascot was at Septent the whole time!" IF blurted.

"And we didn't see it one time?" Nebula raised a brow. "Like, not even an off glance? That's surprisingly convoluted for this franchise- I mean, Kei good buisnesswahmen stonks." He continued.

"Guess you need directions to notice it or something." AL explained.

"Well, even if we didn't have the way before, we have it now! Onward!" Nisa cheered as she pointed towards a direction.

"Septent is in that direction-" Nebula pointed in the opposite direction.

"Let her have the moment." AL cut his godly friend off as they watched Nisa pose valiantly as she walked towards the opposite direction.

...Backtracking, Backtracking, Yeah that's me...

The group returned to Septent Resort as they now followed the directions of the paper.

"Oh, Mister or Miss Mascot! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Compa would yell as she would search for the Mascot.

"We followed the directions, and they seem legit. The Mascot should be somewhere here, and the Oracle wouldn't lie..." IF said as she looked around.

"I doubt Kei would give us false information." Nebula came to an optimistic conclusion as he thought.

"She made us go on a long errand just for this. But I agree with you, for the most part. It seemed she was more talking about what happens when we find the Mascot rather than the location of it." AL wondered.

"Oh, look everyone! I found an area that resembles where Planeptune's Mascot was found!" Nepgear alerted as the others approached the area she was talking about.

"There! I think that's the Mascot. Excuse me, Lastation's... Mascot...?" Nepgear asked, unsure that it would respond.

The Mascot would then respond to Nepgear almost immediately.

"Planeptune's CPU?... No... The CPU Candidate..." It identified.

"This one's wide awake!" Compa noted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Nebula would ask, as he was unfamiliar in terms of how the Mascots functioned.

"It means that the situation in terms of Shares is far worse in Lastation than what we originally thought. Worse than Planeptune's, that's for sure." IF explained.

"Then that's bad." AL answered, realizing the situation.

"Um, so basically... We would like you to come with us!" Nepgear told the floating sphere of energy.

"How sudden. Do you really believe that I would just come along with you without knowing your intentions?" It asked.

"Point." Nebula thought about it.

"The CPUs are all held captive in the Gamindustri Graveyard, and we need your help to save them all!" Nepgear explained.

"I see. I sensed unusual fluctuations, but hearing that all the CPUs being held captive is a shock." The Mascot told the CPU Candidate. "And if true, it only strengthens my argument not to accompany you."

"What? Why not?!" Nisa questioned with comical circles in her eyes.

"Leaving now would only cause the nation to lose all the divine protection that is remaining, and that is unallowable, due to the pact we Mascots made with the true Goddess. My mission is to act as the CPU's proxy in case of her absence. Not to instigate a rescue attempt." The Mascot finished explaining the reason for her declination.

"So basically what you're saying is that it's fine to let the CPUs stay captured?" IF questioned the Mascot.

But before any more conversation could be made, the sound of a mouse was heard.

"Oh, my sweet Compa. I've been thinking about her so much that I've actually started to hallucinate. Wait! That's no hallucination! That IS Compa! My angel, chu!" He squeaked at the sight of the Nurse-In-Training.

"Oh! Is that Mister Mouse?" Compa identified ask as she saw the mouse.

"Why is he running to nothing?" AL had a questioning tone as he neared a barrier.

SLAM!

"Because he's totally not a hallucination of Compa, is a hallucination." Nebula snickered with an amused smirk as he had hearts in his eyes as he slammed into the barrier.

Everyone hissed at the impact. The mouse had stars orbiting around his head before shaking them off and looking around.

"Huh, chu? That was an actual hallucination? Just my luck. I don't think I'll be able to-!" The mouse cut himself off as he gasped at Compa.

"Compa, chu!!!" He sang to the heavens as he flew towards her at top speed. He rapidly approached and stopped when he was right by the group.

"Hello, Mister Mouse!" Compa greeted again, laughing at his antics as his heart fluttered.

"You remember me? That makes me so happy, chu!" He said as he twirled around, love-struck.

"Not now. We're in the middle of something." IF shooed the mouse.

"You shut up! There's nothing more important to me in this world than Compa!" The mouse snapped at IF as the males raised their brows in surprise.

"Woah, calm down Mister Mouse. Don't pull out the 9!" Nebula snarked as AL mockingly raised his hands in a nonconfrontational manner.

But then the mouse looked toward the Mascot as he was surprised by it, telling from the anxious sweat that came from his floating rodent body.

"Holy crap! I-I-Is that the Mascot?!" Mister Mouse asked He then continued, once internally realizing that it was indeed the floating item of worth.

"How lucky I am, to stumble upon both my angelic Compa and the Mascot!" Mister Mouse shouted in surprise.

"Didn't he complain about being unlucky a minute ago?" AL raised a brow.

"Poggers." Was Nebula's memetic response.

"You know about the Mascots, Mister Mouse?" Compa asked, interested in the mouse's response.

"Uh-huh! And I have a great idea on what to do with it. Let's beat up and smash the Mascot together!" He opted, to the shock of the party members.

"Beat it up?!" AL repeated incredulously.

"Tear that thang up-" The male CPU put a twist in the rat's words, only to be cut off.

"Neb, be quiet." IF shushed. A hurt look was etched across the meme lord's face.

"His brain must have as many holes in it as the Swiss cheese he eats." AL burned the rodent as he got a fist bump from Nebula as the both of them said "Nice."

"Smash it? Why would you want to do that?" Compa questioned the mouse's motives.

IF then got suspicious as she asked the mouse a question.

"Hey, rat... You're not...?" She paused as her suspicions grew the more Mister Mouse talked.

"And if you help, you'll join ASIC and become a special VIP member, my dear Compa!" Mister Mouse would say.

"I KNEW IT!" AL would yell, causing everyone to turn to him.

KICK!

SPLOOSH!

"Nobody just has that color palette for no reason! Man, I should have bet money." The afro warrior grumbled as he kicked a random stone into the ocean.

"Ya snooze ya lose, AL." Nebula commented as he folded his arms.

"Don't do something mean like that to the Mascot, Mister Mouse! If you do, all of Gamindustri will..." Compa tried to explain.

"Be one step closer to total domination under ASIC! Exactly! And with no CPUs or anyone to believe in 'em, Gamindustri will totally under ASIC's control!" Mister Mouse revealed.

"Alright, ya little punk, time to shut up-" AL walked forward before being interrupted by Compa.

"Bad Mister Mouse!" She yelled at the mouse.

"What?! C-Compa..." Mister Mouse looked slightly disappointed and surprised. He then made cinematic sounds as he responded after she spoke.

"I've been traveling with my bestest friends to help save the CPUs, so... T-That makes us enemies!" Compa told the mouse.

"Enemies?... So are you telling me you never liked me in that way?!" Mister Mouse asked as he sounded on the verge of a meltdown.

"That's right! I hate bad people, bad monsters, and anyone who makes Gamindustri a terrible place to live in!" Compa shouted as the rat made more dramatic sounds before lamenting in his crush's revealed hatred.

"H-Hate!? You hate me, chu?! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-chu!"

SPIN!

THUD!

TWIST!

TWIRL!

He cried as he fell on the ground and began to spin like a top.

"Whoa! He's gone berserk!" Nisa yelled out in surprise as the mouse rolled around in heartbroken agony.

SPIN!

TOPPLE!

CRASH!

ROTATE!

"Looks like he let it rip!" Nebula yelled in amusement as AL stared wide-eyed at the actions of thr mouse. Mister Mouse would continue to spin as he twirled some more.

"Now he's just imitating a spin cycle." AL snorted as Mister Mouse got up, after his episode.

"My tender heart is shattering into a million pieces! All my love will go to my job, chu...!" He stated as he got up and started to float again.

"That being said, I'll get rid of you all in the name of ASIC, chu! If my name isn't Warechu!" The newly named Warechu then dramatically posed.

"If he's with Underling, I can only imagine how much of a disappointment this is gonna be. Wanna play a quick match to see who has to deal with his sorry ass?" AL asked as Nebula shook his head.

JUMP!

FLIP! FLIP! FLIP! FLIP! FLIP! FLIP! FLIP!

LAND!

"Nah. I'll go. Might as well knock him out so that he can forget about his job and his failed love life. Never knew I could feel pity for a rat...!" Nebula finished before jumping in the air and somersaulting numerous times into the front.

"Glad that delusional drama is over. Let's go, Gear!" IF called to a spaced-out Nepgear. She then snapped back to reality as she would then have her eyes become comical white circles.

"What the goodness?! When did an enemy appear?!" Nepgear asked with a shocked tone as IF, AL, and Nebula would sweat.

"Jeez, you really get tunnel vision when you're focused. Come on, it's about to charge! Get in gear, Gear" IF rallied her up.

"Chuuuuuuuu!" Warechu would charge as a monster appeared from the disc as he threw it down. Where he got it, you may ask? You don't wanna know.

The monster that came forth was a large wolf. A Cerberus, to be more specific as it towered over even the males as it would be about twice their size in height and three times in length. A fitting specimen of the word monster.

"That's one big dog!" AL commented as he sat cross-legged with his fist supporting his chin.

"Woof!"

"SNARL! GROWL! ROAR!"

Nebula barked. It snarled and growled in retaliation.

"Woof, woof, bitch! Woof woof woof woof woof WOOF WOOF!" Nebula yelled at the Cerberus before it lunged at the god.

LUNGE!

DIVE!

TWIST!

He dived to the side as he dodged the initial attack as the monster changed direction as it was locked onto Nebula due to aggravated bloodlust.

"What did you say to it?!" AL asked incredulously as he was on the verge of laughing.

"I dunno, I don't speak dog!" Nebula shouted back as he took his palm, generated a KI blast, and spun on his heel. He then saw the monster opening his jaw for a crunch when Nebula stuck the blast in its mouth.

"Shut up!"

BLAST!

EXPLOSION!

HACK!

He shouted at it as the blast detonated within its mouth, making smoke emit from its snout and jaws as it coughed and hacked.

The wolf coughing in pain was a good time for Nebula to jump on top of its back and directly attack it from on top. He repeatedly beat down on the Cerberus' spine as it whined and barked in pain as the god wasted no time barraging it.

"Rapid Rapture!"

BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST

BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST!!!

"ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF! ARF!"

"Daaaaaamn!" AL hollered from the back as Nebula ragged on the Cerberus as it struggled to get up from the absolute beating it was receiving. The adventurer then pressed both of his hands into its beaten back and yelled out his SP Skill.

The Cerberus let out an agonizing whine as it was barraged relentlessly by the god. It wouldn't even be given the chance to get up as Nebula somehow found another way to make it stay down.

JUMP!

360!

STYLISH!

The blue-haired god jumped into the air, pushing off of the monster, making it hit the ground again with a crash as he did a quick acrobatic maneuver within the air.

"Repulsion: Gatling Gun!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!... GRATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!!

RIPPLE!!!

He then stuck out his hands in the shape of finger guns before rapidly firing compressed paths of gravity through them as he yelled his SP Skill.

"Holy shit! It's already dead, Neb! You can stop!" AL yelled out as the Cerberus would have pixelated a while ago, and all Nebula really did was fire at the ground, kicking up dust, and making the ground and surrounding water rumble from the gravitational force.

LAND!

Nebula ceased fire as he then descended from the air as he landed on the ground.

The girls, AL, hell even Warechu was shocked to see how the CPU had absolutely decimated that poor Cerberus. Nebula just blew his fingers as the impromptu pistols used them as he then stuck his hands in his pockets.

"When the hell did you learn that?!" AL asked, flabbergasted.

"Six months is a long time, dude. Now, then. It's just Warechu now." Nebula turned his attention to the remaining opponent as the girls would look at the ASIC member's state as he stared at the downed Warechu.

"Oh. He's... Already been defeated. Aw, man! And I wanted to end his misery." Nebula would say as Warechu would squeak in fear at the god.

"Please don't hurt me, chu!" Warechu would say as he would run away. "I've already lost at my love life and my job, so just let me live!" The mouse begged as he scrambled away.

"And now I can't throw him across the ocean like Underling." He said, super bummed.

"I think what you did to that monster more than makes up for that loss." IF said, slightly uncomfortably as she looked away, reminded of the whines of the monster. She never thought she could feel sorry for a beast but there was a first for everything.

"Agreed." Nisa agreed, wary of the CPU's destructive power.

"That was way too far, Neb-Neb." Compa shivered as she chastised the god for his unnecessary output.

"Take it a little easier next time, Nebula," Nepgear told her friend nicely.

"Man, you people get scared when I show some of my power. How boorish." Nebula said with a pooped vibe as he then looked to the Mascot.

"See what that rat was going to do to you? And he even knows where you are now." Nebula explained as AL and the others would nod in agreement.

"So it seems. So that is one of the evils plaguing Gamindustri." The Mascot would say. "Perhaps it is indeed wise if I go into hiding for the time being." It continued.

"If you're going to go do that, then why don't you come with us?" Nepgear asked. "We can keep you safe and hidden!" She would assure.

"I have already said that a request of that manner cannot be granted." The Mascot brought back up. This got Nepgear to become downtrodden.

"How stubborn. All of Gamindustri crawls with rats just like him. Do you only care about your land and nothing more?!" Nisa asked. The Mascot grew silent.

...

"So... No matter how hard one may try, some things simply cannot be done alone. CPU Candidate..." The orb faced Nepgear.

"Have you decided to join us?" Nepgear had hope in her eyes.

"No-" AL blurted.

"I'm afraid I cannot leave this place. I cannot break the pact that was made with the True Goddess." The Mascot declined.

"Then there's nothing else that we can say to convince you?" Nepgear lost that hope rather quickly. The Mascot then continued her statement.

"However, what I can do is offer up a small portion of my power while my physical self remains here." It compromised as a white flash of light appeared as Nepgear became surprised.

"Huh? Goodness!" Nepgear shouted as she absorbed the energy.

"Looks like somebody got buffed." Nebula commented.

"Look who's talking-" AL was cut off.

"Shaddap." Nebula silenced him.

"Heh." The afro fighter chuckled.

"Though I cannot offer much, I ask you to help the CPUs and all of Gamindustri." The Mascot of Lastation said before Nepgear thanked her.

"Thank you so very much! We'll make sure to save everyone!" She gave her gratitude before they moved out.

"Okay, so we've wrapped up pretty much all of our business in Lastation but..." IF stopped.

"We couldn't get the CPU Candidate to help us... What will we do?" Compa continued.

"If I had to protect two frail goddesses from the clutches of darkness, that would provide an even greater thrill." Nisa smiled.

"Uni..." Nepgear moped even more for her non recruited friend, like a kicked puppy.

"Well, I wouldn't say she won't help us." Nebula closed his eyes as AL looked at him.

"Really? What makes you say that?" The flame user raised a brow.

"Just a hunch." Nebula responded as he smiled to himself as IF squinted in suspicion.

"No use just standing here. Let's go back to the Basilicom and hand in our report." IF told thr group as they would then travel to the building.

They entered the main room of the Basilicom but would walk further within until they reached the audience chamber. Nebula and AL sensed a quick movement right before they had entered and the latter scrunched his face in confusion as the former would snort in amusement.

"Well done. I'm surprised that such a stubborn Mascot decided to give you some of its power." Kei congratulated.

"Nothing is impossible." Nebula wooped as he put his hands behind his head in a lax manner.

"We came here to deliver the report. It would be really great if you didn't do it for us." IF said with a sigh as she was getting tired of Kei being one step ahead of her in everything when it came to information.

"Chillax, IF. Less work, less stress." AL tried to cheer up the Guild Agent as he cracked his elbows.

POP!

"Our next destination is Lowee. But before that, could we see Uni one more time?'' Nepgear asked.

"Hmm? That's really up to her since she dramatically dove underneath my desk the moment you all arrived." She revealed as Nebula laughed as AL made a sound as he stifled a laugh.

"Don't be a stool pigeon, Kei! And stop laughing at me, Nebula!" Uni popped up with a displeased look as she revealed herself once again.

"Oh, hi Uni! I'm so glad I get to see you again!" Nepgear greeted in an upbeat manner as the dying down laughter of Nebula could be heard in the background

"Hey, Nepgear..." Uni responded as she began to speak to her friend as the hall became quiet once more.

"I know I've asked already... But will you come with us and help save our sisters?" Nepgear aksed. She was about to decline harshly when Nebula shot her a look of expectation. She then looked at Nepgear and sighed, before telling her the truth.

"I really want to, Nepgear. But I have to get strong enough to help you and all of your friends." Uni explained as she would look at the Planeptunian CPU Candidate. "So I'm sorry. I can't join you right now." She declined.

"..." The look of marginal disappointment from Nebula.

"..." The silence that was present with Uni.

"Sniff... Sob... Hic..." And thee pitiful sobs of Nepgear.

"Huh?!" Uni took a step back as Nebula raised both his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why are you crying?" She frantically asked as her eyes turned into white circles with black rings on the outside in a comedic fashion.

"B-Because we became good friends, and now all we do is argue and fight, and now we'll never be BFFs, and..." Nepgear went on a depressing tangent as she sobbed and sniffled at the reasoning. But Uni squashed that belief as she cut her off.

"W-Wait a minute! Our spat has nothing to do with that. Hang on! You're talking like we'll never see each other again!" Uni tried to calm down Nepgear as she stopped crying.

"Sniff... Huh? So... Do you wanna hang out later?" Nepgear asked, her mood slightly increasing.

"W-Well, maybe when I feel like it, maybe I'll... think about it, y'know, a little. Maybe." Uni would give an unclear answer. Nepgear would take that as a yes anyway.

"Really?! For really reals? It's a promise, ok?" Nepgear responded with a hyper mood, her real self shining through once again.

"I said if I feel like it!... Ugh, fine, fine... I promise, ok?" Uni gave in, in front of the face of Nepgear's overpowering optimism. Nebula walked away and towards AL as they would make their quick inputs.

"Yuri undertones, amiright?" AL jabbed.

"That might not be as much of a stretch as you think." Nebula responded.

"What?" He asked. AL didn't actually expect any agreement with his tease.

"You'll see." Nebula left his friend with that as he would walk away. AL was left to his own devices as he theorized if they were putting something in the water to make all the women like each other or something.

"Quite the character, aren't we? I'd never thought I'd see the day that Uni would look so... Happy." Kei commented as the two CPU Candidates would continue to talk.

"Even if they're tsunderes, they have to genuinely smile someday." Nebula replied as he ran his hand through his hair. This comment earned the ire of Uni as she snapped around to confront them.

"Wipe that stupid smirk off of your face right now, Kei! And shut up, Nebula! I am not a tsundere!" Uni snapped as AL would be snapped back to reality at Uni's yelling.

"My ears may have been deceived. What did Uni just say?" AL looked to Nebula.

"That's she's one big, fat, undeniable, blatant, carbon copy of her s-"

"SHUT UP!" Uni screamed as she punched his arm.

BIFF!

"Physical harm! Yet another trait of the tsun!" Nebula cackled as Uni growled as she walked away.

"At least she has the foresight to not hit you again to prove your point." AL noticed as he pulled up his brother from another mother.

PULL!

"Got to give her that much. Although I might not have been so lucky with her sister." Nebula said as he remembered clearly of the tsundere aura that rolled off Noire when she was free and not in bondage.

"Although necessary, I do apologize for keeping you so long. Best of luck with your travels." Kei said something genuinely nice for a change.

"Stop it. You creep me out when you say anything remotely selfless." IF felt uncomfortable as she looked pleasantly weirded out.

"You say that, but I'd take the selfless Oracle over the calculative businesswoman any day," AL admitted to the Guild Agent.

"Thank you, but I'm wishing you luck because of the projected difficulty I see with Lowee's CPU Candidates," Kei explained as Nebula and Nepgear would be surprised.

"Candidates? Plural?" Nepgear asked.

"Plural. Well, that's new." Nebula commented as he turned to the group.

"We should go to Lowee. But first things first. We have to split up.'' The god told them.

Split up? Why do you say that?" IF asked, concerned.

"Remember how AL almost died to that assassin hired by ASIC? Well, I'm going to have to fight that guy later tonight. He doesn't know about the rest of you, so I think it's safe to say that you guys should get out of dodge while you still can." Nebula explained as Nepgear would then turn to him.

"But we can't just leave you here! What about saving Gamindustri!?" Nepgear asked.

"Hey. I never said I was quitting. I'll find you, girls, in Lowee by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. And don't worry about me, cuz AL's gonna hang around too, so worry about him. He has some business to attend to as well." Nebula elaborated as AL cracked his knuckles.

CRACK!

"I've been meaning to show that guy a thing or two for what he did," AL said menacingly, shadows forming over his flaming eyes for some payback.

ゴゴゴゴ!!!

"That act doesn't work if you haven't trained after he already defeated you." Nebula deadpanned.

"Damnit." AL slumped, losing his menacing aura.

"You sure you'll be alright without us, Neb-Neb?" Compa questioned, concerned.

"I'll be fine. I have HDD, my best buddy, and plot armor. What's the worst that can happen?" Nebula tried to reassure the Nurse-In-Training as he shrugged his shoulders with a reassuring grin.

"Don't jinx it." AL deadpanned back as he had a flat expression.

"Your help has been appreciated! Until we meet in Lowee, valiant warriors!" Nisa bid farewell as she accepted that this was something between them and the assassin.

"Will do." AL saluted.

"I'll do my best, Nisa." Nebula nodded.

"Well, at least we have Uni and Kei to bug." AL looked on the bright side as the girls waved goodbye to them as they all left.

All who were present in the Basilicom now were Uni, Kei, Nebula, him, and the Lastation Guard that they saw before.

"So what now?" The guard asked the two.

"We're gonna wait until nightfall. Find something to do. Just until midnight." Nebula explained.

CLENCH!

"Then we show that silver-haired sucker who he's messing with." Nebula explained as he clenched his fist before he looked at it.

"Hm. Do you even know the full capabilities of this assassin?" Kei asked.

"Nope, but I have seen some of his skills. They flopped, but he was injured. He won't be as sloppy the next time around." Nebula answered. "And I have the perfect place in mind for us to fight." He plotted.

"Where?" Uni would be the next one to ask question.

"In an abandoned warehouse." Nebula informed.

"Why?" The guard raised a brow. "Wouldn't you want an open area so that you don't get cornered?" He asked.

"Nope. He wants a closed space so that the assassin can't easily escape, and so that no one else that isn't involved can get hurt. A true one-on-one match. And besides, I'll be outside of the warehouse, looking out for any intruders while the fight is happening." AL told the guard.

"You guys are talking like this is some run-of-the-mill street fight when you're fighting someone affiliated with ASIC." Uni would interject. "Don't you think you can take it a bit more seriously? And who even is this assassin, anyway?" She popped off questions left and right.

"Even if we told you, he said his name wouldn't be traced. And as much as I wanna prove him wrong, I doubt he's stupid enough to actually drop his government name, which would just be us wasting time to check." Nebula sighed as he then looked to the side in a very inconspicuous manner before saying.

"Also it sounds kind of weird, so I don't know how to spell it." Nebula sweatdropped as he weakly grinned.

"Wow. That's disappointing." Uni replied with an unimpressed expression.

"Like you still not going with Nepgear isn't!" Nebula perked up defensively as he jabbed her weak spot.

"H-Hey!" She also got defensive. "Shut up about that!" She yelled at him.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. AL, do you know-" The god was cut off.

"G-R-I-S." The friend would effortlessly spell. "Easy."

"That's the difficult name?" The guard asked under his breath, a sweat drop on his head.

"I dunno, it sounds like baguette language, and I have some difficulty at that." Nebula admitted as AL shook his head in disappointment before moving on.

"So yeah. That's his name. Gris. AL thought he could win until he slipped on some Gris, huh." Nebula experimented with a joke which made him chuckle. AL grimaced before looking away.

"That sucked." Uni looked away as she smirked.

"But you're still smiling." AL pointed out as his scowl faded.

"Shush." She sent a glare his way.

"Truly, I have never seen Uni so talkative and friendly amongst those she's never seen before." Kei pointed out once again.

"Not a word from you." Uni silenced the Oracle as she left.

"Bye, Unicycle!" Nebula waved with a smile as Kei held in a laugh as she hid it with her fist. AL cackled and hollered as even the guard would have to try to keep a straight face for the sake of his job.

"SHUT UP, NEBULA!" Uni screeched from the other side of the room as she left.

"I'm out. We'll meet up at the warehouse, Neb." AL was thr next one to leave as he walked out of the audience chamber

"I'm gonna go walk around for a bit. See you, people, later." Nebula followed suit at the others' lead as he went outside.

"And I have some business to run, so I'll be busy," Kei told thr guard as she sat down and did some work.

"Guess I'll go patrol somewhere else then." The guard muttered as he exited as well.

Nebula was currently walking around the shops of Lastation as he burned sometimes.

He was texting Stella, as she had sent him a text yesterday or so. They were having a good conversation that consisted of memes and stickers that were sent on both sides.

The conversation was very eccentric as he had just sent a screaming goat to her in response to a frog puppet falling down a building.

GRAZE!

BUMP!

He would be walking in the park when he then bumped into someone's shoulder by accident.

"Sorry-" The voice apologized.

"My bad-" Nebula apologized as well.

The man that had bumped into Nebula both apologized before engaging in eye contact. It would be Gris.

"Gris?!" The adventurer exclaimed.

"Nebula!" The assassin guttered.

Immediately after, they recognized each other.

''So we meet again." Gris said as he sniggered.

He was currently wearing a black shirt with a figure that was doing a bizzare pose with a checkered pattern as it had a smaller face on its forehead that mimicked the expression on the base face. They were both angry.

Their eyes were green as it was the only color on the entire shirt. He also had on an expensive watch that did not make much sound as it ticked. His other wrist sported a few black bracelets that were silver as they glistened.

His pants were dark grey as they were ripped up near the knees. And his shoes were that of black high tops with white midsole and a X mark on the outside of both shoes with matching white lacens.

"So it seems. Didn't know you actually had a life other than your night job. And the fact that you look like you walked straight out of Cold Topic after you visited the nearest FeetLocker." Nebula told him with a cocky smirk.

"Oh, please. It's morally incorrect, but it pays the bills nicely. I would say that you wouldn't be able to do the same, but judging from your wardrobe it looks like you at least have enough money to not look like you crawled out of a trash can. You just crawled out of the newest InstantGram hypebeast post." Gris responded.

"I'm going to ignore that backhanded compliment and ask this. You still up for the match?" Nebula raised a brow. The silver-eyed opponent simply folded his arms.

"Like I'd ever take back something I say while getting paid for doing it. Midnight on the dot, at any place you choose. Just remember our little agreement, and you'll be looking your best to bite the bullet." The assassin continued.

"Tough talk coming from a fella who looks like a dating sim route." The adventurer said as Gris got ticked off.

"How many times do I have to tell you people, I do not look like a bloody shoujo character!" Gris snapped.

"At least you don't have the exaggerated swagger of an emo that thinks he's better than everyone because he's edgy." Nebula compared as he laughed at his opponent's antics.

"Hm. Oddly nice coming from someone I'm supposed to kill. How about AL on the uh... swag scale?..." The hired killer asked.

"Nah, he surpassed your level in your category a long time ago. He has the exaggerated swagger of a MusicCloud rapper." The god joked as Gris chuckled.

"No wonder he could still laugh even when he was bleeding from his entire body." Gris was shown the answers as his eyes widened.

"It used to surprise me too until I accepted with it." Nebula shrugged.

"That's normal?" The grey-haired hitman asked.

"Concerning. But yes, it's normal." The CPU answered.

...

"This is an oddly pleasant conversation." Gris pointed out.

"I expected a lot more arguing between you and me." Nebula inputted.

"..." Gris remained silent as he crossed his arms.

"You almost make me feel bad for killing you later. Almost." The hitman slowly made his neutral face grow into a small upturn.

"Hm... I still feel like decking you in the schnoz later." Nebula honestly answered.

"Me too." Gris agreed.

"Where did you learn that fighting style?" Nebula asked as he had a questioning tone. It had to be powerful if it left AL in such a state.

"My father. He had it passed down to him from my grandfather, great grandfather, and so forth through 2,000 years of tireless practice and ingenious innovation. It still stands as one of the most feared and iconic styles of Gamindustri history." Gris explained as the wind suddenly blew dramatically between the two of them.

WOOSH!...

"Oh. My style was taught rather than passed down to me, but from what my master told me, the art had withstood the test of time for 2,000 years through strong teachings and resolve. It's also known as one of the most powerful styles of Gamindustri." The god told the assassin as his eyes squinted, suspense-building between the two.

"Pray tell, what is your style?" Gris asked, intrigued in his answer.

"It's an Ansatsuken." Nebula specified. Gris' eyebrows widened at the fact, due to his style being one as well. This only furthered his investment of the answer that Nebula had in store for him.

"You have me hooked, now. Spit it out." The assassin prayed for an answer as Nebula uttered the words.

"It's Shotokan." Nebula revealed.

"Hokuto no Shinken," Gris responded as he revealed his style as well.

"!!!"

Surprise evident on both fighters' faces, they were now aware of each other's main style.

"H-Hokuto no Shinken?! You're the next in line to inherit the art?!" The god took a step back. Such a fearsome martial art was in the hands of his opponent. This could only spell trouble for the two of them.

"..." The assassin said nothing as he gave a wide smirk, slowly widening to a grin.

"No wonder you beat AL. I've been bantering with a martial art superpower..!" Nebula realized the situation as Gris began to speak once more.

"Well, the art was meant for assassination, so why not put it to good use. I've benefited greatly from its uses, and only kill those I've been assigned to. Father never did like my line of work, but as long as I didn't kill any 'innocents', " He air quoted, "He left me to my devices. And did I hear Shotokan from you, Nebula?" Gris questioned.

"You did. Even though I took some liberties and made some of my own moves, I still know the original moveset of the style itself. So we both practice very old styles... This is food for thought." Nebula's face had become serious and unreadable.

"Hm. It almost seems if our battle was fated. The victor not only decides the fate of our styles but the fate of the world. Isn't it adrenaline pumping?" The hired killer laughed as he was slowly attracting the attention of others with that last line.

"What did he say?" A bystander commented. He paused as he thought he heard something contrary.

"The fate of the world?..." A small child repeated. A concerned look was scribbled on his face.

"Victor?" A reporter perked. News coverage was imminent.

GRAB!-

VANISH!!!

Nebula soon realized the commotion that was being made and grabbed Gris' shoulder before vanishing, startling the crowd.

"They disappeared!" The guard from before reacted as he looked around for the two muscular adversaries.

REAPPEAR...!!!

The two reappeared on the rooftop that they had met on originally as the conversation continued.

"First off, even if I die- which I totally won't-, AL would still continue it as a direct descendant to an original practitioner, and secondly, you don't just blurt things like that out in public!" Nebula snapped as Gris laughed.

"The wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep. And they are none the wiser of our actual reason of conflict. It means nothing if you'll die by the end of our fight. They'll simply mourn your death before moving on." Gris explained as Nebula let go of his shoulder.

"I don't think an assassin should talk like that when it concerns the classification of his targets." Nebula raised a brow.

"Dead men tell no tales." The hitman ominously quoted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nebula raised a brow.

AURA!!!

VANISH!!!

"You'll understand at midnight." Gris left him with that tibit before vanishing with his aura as he disappeared.

'Holy hentai he's fast! He's that much faster after healing? Is he a vegetable alien from that one show?' The adventurer thought as he jumped down from the apartment roof to the door to watch said show.

JUMP DOWN!

'And what he said about the fate of our styles... I can't believe he managed to make me take this seriously in the span of 5 minutes!' The god mentally sounded gobsmacked as he opened the apartment door.

Meanwhile, the hitman was dashing from building to building as he muttered quietly to himself.

LEAP!

DASH!

SPRING!!!

BLOCK!...

"I hope he picked a goddess and prayed, because when the sun goes down...!" He said as he ran up the side of a building and leaped off the roof as his person literally blocked the sun as he had his hands raised and cocked back as his knees were bent

VANISH!

"So will his chances of victory!" Gris shouted before vanishing as his foreboding message to no one, in particular, was left as he disappeared.

... 7 hours left...

BUTTON MASH!

HALF CIRCLE!

QUATER CIRCLE!

AL was chilling out by an arcade as he played some video games. He would be playing Road Brawler 2: 3rd Wave. He was in the midst of battle against a hard AI as he was inputting all types of different combinations.

The match was close. AL and the opponent were neck and neck in terms of health, and the opponent was no joke. One mess up, and it costed him the match and the game.

He had reached the point where he was one hit away when the enemy suddenly did some over-the-top super move at the last second with its broken AI.

"K.O.!"

"YOU LOSE!"

"What the fuck!?" He cursed.

"Man, that was rigged. No way he just zoned into an infinite combo followed by an ultimate. AND HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO TAUNT! WHY THAT LITTLE-"

SLAM!

AL was about to blow as he slammed his fists down on the machine

He fumed for a bit before sighing. "Stupid machine. Has more asspulls than a shonen protagonist." AL insulted as he left. But not before being challenged to a game as he heard someone place two tokens on the corner of the screen.

"A match. You and me. I see you got to the boss, so you're somewhat decent." The voice would say. It was the silver-haired hitman, unbeknownst to AL.

"Decent? I'm awesome. It's just that the AI is busted. Let's go and I'll show you why they call me the ALmighty." AL would say as he walked with some swagger back to the machine to challenge the person who had challenged him.

Gris slowly understood what Nebula meant about exaggerated swagger.

'Oh boy. Looks like the Grisly Bear has to make a short comeback... Man, I hate whoever gave me that nickname.' He deadpanned as he prepared himself.

...5 hours remaining...

Nebula found himself in an abandoned warehouse that would be wide and was currently observing the interior.

It had rubble and dust from worn materials in most places and was very rusted with peeling paint and years of decommissioning present.

The windows were also letting some outside light into the building, making it seem stagnant and motionless, akin to its decommissioned status

The support pillars from the inside holding it up in an organized manner as it would only be seen clearly from the outside since it would have a light source from the doors and the tall windows. There also was a second level as well accessible via some very aged and rusty stairs, closer to the top as it would be rickety and somewhat unstable.

Hazard? Yes. Deathmatch setting? Also yes.

"Perfect!" Nebula yelled as his voice would reverb around the lonely warehouse.

"I just have to remember where this place is, and we're golden." Nebula reminded himself as he took out his phone and recorded the location on the GPS app.

"Ok. So warehouse, check. Assassin, definitely check. AL knowing about this place... I'll get there. Supplies in case shit goes south which it won't, check. Far enough away so that civilians won't get hurt, definitely check." Nebula listed and approved as he patted on his other pocket where some Healing Pods were that he got from AL's bag.

"All I have to do now is wait till the time. I'll look for AL in the meanwhile." Nebula noted as he exited the building.

...3 hours...

AL was walking back to the apartment with a spooked look on his face after just barely beating the guy who had challenged him at the arcade.

He had to go neck and neck, being pushed even more so than the AI in the match prior.

That guy turned out to be Gris, which gave him the scare of his life.

He was an assassin, could kill you with a tap AND beat you in Road Brawler!? He questioned him being human as he walked back to the apartment.

"Man, he's just not right. It's as if he's a god or something!" AL shivered. He then looked up to see that the sky had many stars as it was now rather dark.

The night came upon him quicker than he had expected, and he would be anxious for the battle that Nebula and Gris were waiting for. He still didn't know where, but he was getting interested as he checked his watch.

"9, huh. Today sure went by fast. But why do I feel as if something horrible is going to happen...?" AL asked as he was feeling an off vibe.

"Where's Neb? Swore that he would be back to tell me where he picked by now. Maybe he's still looking." AL scratched his chin as entered the apartment complex.

He took a quick look at the side of the building where he and Gris had fought.

There was some police tape present as the scene was under investigation. The damage had all kinds of police numbers signs present as they tried to figure out what happened.

"Heh. Maybe I should've moved the fight somewhere else..." AL sweatdropped as he would also remember how doing that ended up.

"...Or just moved out of the city altogether for the fight. Speaking of which, Nebula says that he's gonna do it in an abandoned warehouse.

That can only go well." AL gained a concerned face as he walked forward, then up the stairs and through the door that the group had originally paid for.

"This is our last night here. Better start packing up before the fight." AL said as he began to compile his and Nebula's stuff back into the bag.

He wouldn't remember why, but for some conspicuous plot device, it took him two hours.

Two whole hours. HOW DOES IT TAKE YOU TWO FUCKING HOURS, AL-

...1 hour...

Nebula arrived and filled in AL on the whereabouts of the warehouse. They then secured their belongings and left them at the Basilicom, as they had asked the guard from earlier today to watch their stuff after giving him a little financial incentive. (Because tips make people listen to your problems.)

Afterward, they traveled to the warehouse as AL lay on the rooftop, watching the stars.

"Just one hour left. The sky sure is pretty tonight." AL noted as he watched the distant balls of burning gas, ironically being his friend's namesake.

"There's supposed to be billions and trillions of them up there. Maybe even infinite according to string and M theory. But one thing everyone can agree on is that it looks nice." AL theorized as he stared.

And he was right, because there were no clouds out tonight, and that even the light pollution from Lastation did little to outshine the celestial bodies as they were radiant in the night sky. They were big and small, depending on their distance from the planet as AL stared.

"And to think that Nebula's namesake. Maybe it's because he's full of hot air. Or maybe it's because just like the infinite amount of them that might be out there, is the same amount of potential he has..." AL thought aloud.

"Not that he could outshine me... But even so, he became a CPU. Something that should be impossible, since I heard they're all born AND women." AL continued. "But then again, he has a habit to do the impossible, so who am I to talk." AL closed his eyes.

"But that still doesn't shake off this weird feeling I have. Maybe I ate something bad. Please don't let it be some spoiled pudding or expired Nep Bull. " AL wondered as he got up. He walked to the edge of the roof before sitting down and looking down at his waiting friend.

"Yo!" AL shouted from above.

"Sup!" Nebula answered back.

"Me!" AL yelled with a smile.

"Ha!" Nebula laughed.

"But for real, you good down there?!" He screamed back down.

"Yeah!... I'm just waiting. Nerves are getting to me though!" He shouted back up.

"At least I know it's not just me! Hang tight, it's just another hour! Take deep breaths or something!" AL gave some advice as he yelled back down.

"Will do!" Nebula shouted back up before inhaling and exhaling the same as AL walked back to the center of the roof.

"It's almost time..." AL reminded himself.

"I hope I'm ready from this. I know he won't bring anyone else from how he talked about the fate of our styles, and if he has any pride as a warrior, he'll keep it between us. But this is gonna drive me crazy...!" Nebula spoke in between breaths.

...The Hour Has Arrived!...

DASH!

Gris used his aura to dash from street to street, the wind blowing past his face as he approached the location that both Nebula and AL were present at.

DASH!

He was dressed in a light grey fedora that had a black band around it with a matching business trench coat with his signature black turtleneck long sleeve and matching grey pants as he leaped from building to building in his combat boots.

"En route to two signatures. ETA 30 seconds." Atley chirped from his watch. It was cracked in the explosion with AL but he managed to get it fixed in time for the fight. Money can do many things, but rush electronic art, it could not, unfortunately.

JUMP!

SONIC BOOM!

DASH!

DASH!!

DASH!!!

"Right. The time has come...!" Gris readied himself for the confrontation as he dashed from street to street. He was covering ground quickly as he neared the signals that his nanobots were emitting. He placed some on AL during their fight, and later Nebula after their skirmish on the roof also.

LEAP!

LAND!

DASH!

Gris jumped from the ground onto a building as he then leapt from building to building at supersonic speeds.

He made a beeline to the area where the signature was as he zoomed through the air like a skipping stone strapped with a missile engine. The ETA changed from 27 seconds to 5 as he locked onto the signatures.

"28..."

"27-"

"CALCULATING...-"

"5..."

"4..."

VANISH!

The assassin disappeared as he stopped leaping just to increase his speed.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

The hitman saw the warehouse where the two of them would be situated. AL on the roof and Nebula by the door.

VANISH!

FWOOSH!

REAPPEAR!

SWIRL!!!

Gris' expression changed from a neutral look to a smirk as he appeared before Nebula in a blur and push back of dust.

Gris then rose from his crouched position as he sent a look at Nebula, who would be leaning on the doors of the warehouse.

"So you did pick a place," Gris said as he put his hands in his pockets. "And here I thought you were going to hide in your apartment like a coward." The hired killer mocked as Nebula responded.

"Me? Oh, please. If I hid in my apartment, that would only make it easier for me to win, since I'd have the home-field advantage. Here it's fair, with distractions far and few." Nebula rebutted

"Speaking of distractions..." Gris said say as he looked up. "Didn't I tell you to come alone?" He reminded.

"And technically speaking, I did. You already beat AL, so what's the big deal. He's just out here to make sure nobody else interferes with our match, like the authorities or your allies." Nebula explained furthermore as they then heard AL snap his fingers before saying "Hey, baby!".

"Hmph." Gris huffed as he looked up. Then he brought his gaze down to the adventurer.

"I see. I assume we'll be fighting inside?" Gris questioned as Nebula nodded.

KICK!!!

BOOM!

OPEN!

SLIDE!...

"Where else, Grease." Nebula made a play on words with a snigger before being kicked into the warehouse with a powerful kick mixed with his speed/fighting aura.

The warrior then slid on his feet as he tanked the blow. His Repulsion coating came in handy as most of the attack was reflected, although it did sting.

'This guy's strong when he's all healed up... I'll have to be careful.' Nebula observed to himself as he stood back up as Gris walked through the doors.

"So you finally came up with a comeback, Noobula." He retorted as he entered the building and flipped on the light switch that was conveniently there.

FLIP!

BRIGHTEN!

The lights flipped on as they would flicker a bit before becoming stable, then flickering every so often.

STANCE!

"Guess I did... But talk is cheap. Time for an ass-kicking!" Nebula quipped as he got in an offensive stance.

SWOOSH!

GLEAM!

"This hour will be your last! For you and the Shotokan!" Gris yelled as he would take out his sickle, and twirl it skillfully before slashing it to the side, which made some wind blow away.

"Let's go!" Both of them yelled as they dashed towards each other before Nebula's forearm and the blade of Gris' sickle clashed, blowing back all of the debris and dust.

DASH!

CLASH!!!

SHOCKWAVE!

It even bumped AL who was on the roof.

SWEEP KICK!

HOP!

SLASH!

WEAVE!

The fighting went to exchange many blows. Nebula went for a sweep kick that was evaded by Gris as he hopped, then went for a lateral swing that was weaved by the god.

ROLL!

STRAIGHT!!!

BLOCK!

CLANG!!!

LAUNCH!

Nebula then rolled underneath the assassin before raising as he went for a straight that was blocked by the flat side of Gris' sickle. The impact sent him into the air a bit as he blocked the strike.

VANISH!

REAPPEAR!

Gris vanished mid-air and went for an overhead slash that was narrowly backstepped by Nebula as he cut through the concrete like butter.

OVERHEAD SLASH!!!

BACKSTEP!

CRASH!!!

DUCK!

SLICE!!!

RUMBLE!

"Damnit!" The assassin cursed as he yanked his blade out and followed the fleeting god. Gris activated his aura as he zoomed towards Nebula who ducked right before he sliced clean through a stability pillar.

"Whoa!" The adventurer yelped as he ducked under the path of the sickle.

SLIDE!!!

BLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!

Nebula then slid off to the side as he fired multiple KI blasts at the assassin.

BOOM!

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!!

The assassin narrowed his eyes as he dodged the blasts while his aura was active, and ended up making the blasts hit the wall and some of the pillars as the building rumbled from the damage.

Gris wasted no time in returning fire as he used one of his own techniques to counterattack the KI blast attacks.

"Hokuto: Gosha Ha!"

BLAST!

He outstretched his hands with his palms as he gripped the kusarigama sickle into his mouth like a certain swordsman, facing Nebula as he yelled out the SP Skill.

The concentrated energy of Toki, a variation of KI, was expelled from the hitman's palms as the white energy blasts raced towards the adventurer.

BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST!!!

BOOM!

FLASH!!!

Nebula's eyes widened as he saw the blasts of energy head in his direction. He quickly reacted by blasting his own back at them, causing them to clash and ultimately cancel out as they exploded in a bright light.

The resulting clashes shook the warehouse a bit as the fight continued.

"Hadōken!!!"

BLAST!!!

Nebula went for a stronger variation of his KI blasts, even stronger than his Bakuhatsu,

so he cupped his hands to the side as a blue ball of energy was generated from the action in between his hands, and threw them forward as it escaped in a blast of blue wave energy as he yelled out the technique.

"Hokuto: Gosha Ha!"

BLAST!!!

Gris raised a brow as he decided to challenge the signature technique with the previous one he used. White energy escaped his hands once again as it raced towards the blue blast.

CLASH!

WINDWAVE!

BOOM!

FLASH!

RUMBLE!!!...

The energy blasts quickly collided as they caused the debris to blow back even further upon contact, as the building simultaneously rumbled as they once again canceled each other out in a bright flash of light.

GRAB!

REEL!

DASH!!!

Gris took his sickle back into his hand as he decided to go for a more hand-to-hand situation as he reeled back his weapon and dashed.

GRAVITY!

ZOOM!!!

Nebula quickly realized that Gris was going for an exchange of blows and coated his fist in gravity as he rushed the assassin.

SHOCKWAVE!

RUMBLE!

They clashed once more as a shockwave emitted from the collision of fist and blade.

The two fighters then took it up a notch as they began to rapidly exchange blows as Gris would swing his sickle with the speed and ferocity of a monster. But that wasn't to say that Nebula wasn't going to throw punches like a gatling gun as they slugged and slashed for dominance.

The two threw attacks at the speed of sound, increasing in pace as every punch that the god threw was intercepted by Gris' sickle, and every slice that the assassin threw would be contested by Nebula's fist.

They refused to tire as the two desperately sought to find an opening within their opponent's moves. But neither showed that opening as they continued to roll with the punches and slide under the sickles.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

Nebula and Gris shouted fiercely as they continued to exchange blows as they showed no weakness.

The ground rumbled from the tremendous force that the two were inputting into their punches as the white glow of Gris and the orange spiked aura of Nebula came into being as the two continued to push forward with their assaults.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!!

AURA!

BURST!

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!!!

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!!

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 BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK-BAK!!!

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!!

The debris and pebbles buried in the dust rose from the energetic pressure the two were emitting when the two powerhouses fought. If one looked closely enough, one could even see that the very sweat that was coming from the fighters was levitating after it dropped from their bodies.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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!!!

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!"

"ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA TATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!"

Their respective weapons finally began to wear down as Nebula's fists were beginning to bleed, and Gris' sickle was doing the unfathomable in the assassin's mind.

It was beginning to crack.

CRACK!

But they struggled for a bit longer before going for a full-power strike as Nebula coated his bloody fist in KI. His face was one of bubbling anger as he swung.

REEL!!!

"EAT THIS!" The adventurer yelled as he cocked his fist.

And Gris channeled all of his aura into his scythe as it would swing at the god at newfound speeds. His expression was one of murderous intent as he swung down upon the adventurer.

SWING!

PUNCH!!!

SLASH!!!

COLLIDE!!

"RAH!" The assassin growled as he swung back as his blade glowed.

BOOOOOOOOM!

SHOCKWAVE!

SHATTER!

Their collision caused the intact windows of the warehouse to instantly shatter as they were pushed back and staggered from their clash. The shards flew about as they both catapulted within and outside of the warehouse from the sheep pressure of the clash.

SLIDE!!!

The doors were blown open as the air pressure rushed out.

AL was bumped up from the roof as he would be launched into the air before landing down hard on the roof.

DENT!

"Son of a bitch!"

The warriors below looked up, with Nebula hiding a smirk and Gris looking with a raised brow before looking back down.

VANISH!

Nebula gave the assassin a 'come hither motion with his bloody knuckles, which in turn made the hitman narrow his eyes as he vanished.

SENSE...

Nebula used his KI sense as he closed his eyes, to be able to perceive Gris' movements.

SLASH!

DODGE!

VANISH!

The assassin went for a slash to the back of his neck, which was ducked as the grey-eyed assassin vanished again.

Then Gris followed up for a downward slash from the front as it would be narrowly sidestepped as a strand of hair was cut from Nebula's head.

SLICE!

WEAVE!

CUT...!

VANISH!

He vanished once more after the near miss.

SWIPE!

HOP!

VANISH!

After, he reappeared for a lateral slice near the kneecap which was avoided as Nebula would hop out of the way. Gris disappeared again as he was avoided by the adventurer.

"Tch!" The assassin growled.

But the fourth time that Gris appeared, he was caught off guard as something happened which he didn't expect the closed-eyed fighter to do.

PHASE!

Nebula vanished as well.

"What?!" The assassin yelled.

VANISH!

Gris turned to the side to see a flying kick directed towards his face. Right before it hit him and his surprised mug, he disappeared as well.

"Whoops!"

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!

PHASE!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!

PHASE!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANSIH!!!

PHASE!!!

VANISH!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!

VANISH!!!!

PHASE!!!!!

VANISH!!!!!

The game switched up from hit the blind kid to cat and mouse as the two fighters constantly tried to outspeed each other as they phased and vanished, trying to get a successful strike at each other as they blitzed around, chasing after afterimages and near missing.

CROSS COUNTER!!!

"Urk!"

"Argh!"

The contest was put to an end when the two warriors ended up cross countering with the fist of Nebula driving itself into Gris' jaw in a powerful boom, as the combat shoe of Gris had rocketed its existence right into the cheek of Nebula with a sickening crash.

THUD!-

HANDSTAND!

PUSH!

LAND!

PRESS!

THROW!!!

Their faces were wrenched in pain as Nebula shut one eye in pain as the other looked back at Gris with a fiercely pissed look as Gris only narrowed one eye as the both of them looked at each other with a mix of bloodlust and agitation. Blood and spit escaped their noses and grit teeth as they were hit simultaneously.

PUSH!

LAND!

PRESS!

THROW!!!

The fighters were knocked back as Nebula twirled in the air and Gris spiraled. They landed on the ground again as Gris got back up by landing on his back, pushing off of his hands and hand standing onto his feet after pushing off the ground, throwing his kusarigama towards Nebula as the chain flew towards its intended target.

CRASH!

The adventurer also landed and was cut as the blade hit his shoulder as he lowered it in an attempt to dodge. It then got stuck in another pillar as Nebula rolled away from the pillar as Gris yanked the blade out and brought it down on where Nebula's head would have been had he stayed.

GLOW!

The fighter then moved to use the pillars as a defensive barrier as Gris pulled out a gun from his coat. It was a Smith and Wesson .500 as it was fully loaded and ready to blast as Gris' aura extended to the object as it glowed white.

BOOM!

He stood, aimed, and fired as the gun's loud reverberation of sound echoed through the room as the bullet sailed through the air at altered speeds due to the aura coming off of the gun, and the bullet as well.

DASH!

SMASH!

Nebula quickly dashed to the side as the bullet blew the concrete pillar to pieces as the assassin aimed for another shot for the target.

The bullet's speed was influenced by the aura as well, leading Nebula to presume that he not only had infinite ammo, but also increased the firing speed, and ultimately bang that each bullet had for its buck.

BANG!

ROLL!

SLIDE!

DASH!

The adventurer was now in a mad dash as the hired killer fired repeatedly at him, the bullets sailing through the air at thousands of meters per second as Nebula tried his hardest to dodge, but was grazed every once in a while as he slid, sidestepped and rolled out of their path of flight.

YANK!

SWING!

And to make matters even more death-defying, Gris managed to yank out his kusarigama blade from the pillar it was stuck on as he then swung it at the god as well.

DASH!-

CRASH!

Nebula rushed to the side as a nearby pillar exploded from the sheer force the kusarigama blade crashed into it.

BOOM!

PHASE!

SLAM

CRASH!!!

It soon sailed towards him as he slid under and vanished right before Gris brought it down as he fired more shots at the adventurer.

"Bakuhatsu!"

BLAST!

He reappeared as he fired his Bakuhatsu at pint blank as he outstretched a single hand.

BOOM!

CRACK!

RUMBLE!...

The orb of energy neared Gris as the hitman lost his hat as he ducked the explosion encased in a ball. It sent his hat flushed the doors and exploded, causing the doors to be violently ripped off their hinges and blown away as the frame became cracked with the ground rumbling slightly.

"My hat! Goddessdammit, Nebula!" Gris roared as he yanked on the chain as the blade flew towards the god.

"Does that count as a hit!?" The god asked with a trolling grin.

"A hit to my bank account! That shit cost me 40,000 Credits!"

SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The hitman bickered, continuing the fight as he picekd up the pace as he wildly slashed at the god as he fired, making him basically dance around as the pillars were subject to abject torture as they were either sliced to pieces or blown to pieces.

Nebula just barely avoided each strike thanks to his Repulsion shield that would slightly misguide any hits that would graze him and bullets that neared him.

He then took both of his hands, summoned a large Bakuhatsu in each of them, and phased.

PHASE!

"!" The assassin reacted as he tried to see where he had gone as he retracted his kusarigama. He blinked, as the CPU was upon him with two Bakuhatsu blasts in his hands as he yelled out the SP Skill.

"Bakuhatsu: Twin Terrors!"

He quickly combined the two energy blasts as Gris brought his arms together in a blocking manner as his aura flared and used his sickle as an additional shield.

AURA!!!-

EXPLOSION!

The attack covered the area in a bright orange light as Nebula let tha attack loose. Gris would be engulfed as his kusarigama absorbed the unbelievable heat from the explosion yield, causing the cracks to become molten hot as the heat escaped to those areas.

The warehouse shook as the explosion rung out and was felt about around the neighboring warehouses. This made AL wary of what was happening down there.

"What the hell are those two doing?! They're gonna alert the whole town at this rate if their attacks keep getting stronger and stronger!" He yelled as he wobbled on the roof.

Meanwhile, the explosion would have subsided within the warehouse as the lights flickered on and off like a rave party from the last attack.

When the smoke and dust cleared, it was apparent that Gris' favorite weapon, his prized kusarigama sickle, had been shattered. Being nothing more than a sad half-burnt pole. He himself would be damaged, with his trench coat and pants being ripped and torn and his skin suffering minor scratches. His gun was somewhat burnt by the handle, but still functional.

Nebula had gone back a few feet, looking at the results of his move. He would be lightly panting as he would internally cheer on getting the lead.

But what he wouldn't be cheering for came soon after.

"You fucking broke it... First, you're actively not a bloody mess on the floor, then you blow up my 40,000 Credit hat, and now you broke this...!" Gris hissed as he looked at his former weapon.

His hand shook with wrath as he gripped the worn handle.

"Yeah? So what? You tried to kill my friend with it." Nebula deadpanned. But then his unimpressed face changed, concerned as he looked at Gris.

The assassin clenched his other fist tightly as he would feel the anger coursing through his veins. His eyes were constrained and his teeth would grit as he faced Nebula. His breath became hagged and hitched as he furiously breathed in and out.

"Woah there, uh, it's just a weapon. Not unless you picked it up since you were 5 and snuggled next to it, then uh... My bad?" Nebula tried to compensate for the loss of his opponent's weapon. But it fell on deaf ears.

"And now..." He began as he pressed another button, as some small scratch bombs would fall from the compartment on the busted stick as he jumped into the air.

"!!!" Nebula reacted as he looked up.

"I'll break you." Gris threatened as the bombs exploded, exponentially more powerful than what they let on to be, causing the doors and windows of the lower floor to bleed out the explosion yield as the ground shook once more as he fired rounds at the surprised fighter.

KA-BOOM!!!!!!

BOOM!

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.

The foreshadowed fight begins!

I dealt with all the plot-related things first before moving on to this match to make sure that nothing was still pending before the Lowee arc. Still kind of sucked to get rid of them for the fight.

I also put some character interactions between Gris and the boys to showcase him when he's not being edgy, but rather just an ass. Better to make him bearable than a bad OC that doesn't fit in this franchise.

Hokuto Shinken and SF Shotokan, the reason I went with those styles are for the memes, and Rule of Cool. Why do you think Gris has a gun in the match besides being a hitman in a martial arts fight?

The fight can only heat up in the next chapter, so stay tuned!

Arrivederci.

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