All rights are reserved to their respective owners. I own nothing in this piece of fiction except for my OCs and the story itself.
"Taleia?!" The group members repeated incredulously the woman nodded.
She had biscotti yellow orbs and raven black hair tied in a ponytail with her hair, as her left side would have some hair down as the other wouldn't. The woman's ears were pointed at the ends but not elongated, meaning that she was descended from elves possibly. Her body had very appealing curves and possessed an alluring appearance to most eyes. Taleia's garbs consisted of a dark grey top that covered most of her neck and stopped to reveal her flawless midsection.
There was a light cyan line that went from the top of her neck hole to the base of the mouth of the top that then went around the end of the clothing piece. She wore a biscotti-colored band around her waist right under her breasts. Speaking of which, her E cups were within a light grey section of the top that also had the same cyan highlights on the edges separating the greys as they pressed themselves into Nebula.
uWu-
Her sleeves were a faded white as there were some aegean blue bands on her biceps as her gloves were dark grey that would go up to her palms but only cover her middle fingers with aegean cuffs.
Taleia's waist was tied with an aegean sash that had some fabric with cyan accents that went down to her ankles, and also held two futuristic waist guards that held onto her sides, although they reduced the midriff. Her legs were fitted with the same dark grey skin-tight fabric with the same accents with some sections of her pants being light grey which led to her shoes that would be flat for maximum mobility. She also had two pairs of biscotti-colored bands on her upper and lower thighs.
Man, that was a long-ass description-
"Yes. That's me. Isn't that right, Nebby?" She snuggled into him.
"Leia, it's been a while! You sure look different."
HUG!
Nebula, now filled with some newfound happiness with a pang of nostalgia hugged back his friend.
"Eeeeeee!"
Taleia squealed in delight from the action as Gris looked on in a flabbergasted state.
"This is Taleia? She's an elf?" Domio raised a brow as he was amazed by her appearance. "They're real?!" He gushed, the fantasy appeal blowing his mind.
"Yep. Technically half-elf, but it's not too uncommon to mistake her for one by being distracted by her abnormal beauty." AL explained as Domio nodded to his elder party member.
"This is the woman that could hold her own against me. Pfft. Rose-tinted glasses need some wiping." Gris laughed at her demeanor towards his former target as she snuggled.
'Taleia looks different in the past, bloody hell...' Vergo looked at the woman with retrospective eyes as she let go of her friend.
"It's been so long since I last saw you! You got taller! Didja miss me?" She looked him up and down, staying almost a bit too long in a certain area as her eyes half-lidded at his crotch before gaining some red on her cheeks as she reestablished eye contact, brushing her hair to the side a bit with mild embarrassment.
"Of course! Three years is a long time. You look different too. More womanly... And more serious. What happened after you moved to Leanbox?" The blue god asked.
Taleia responded to his question almost immediately.
"After I left Planeptune with my mother, we settled down here. Then the goddesses disappeared about a week after we migrated. Things really went downhill from there with how crime steadily rose, and my mom wasn't really much of a combatant." She gave context to what happened after she left.
"So to keep her safe and deal with all these bad things happening, I joined the Leanbox Army. I picked up the way of the sword and quickly rose through the ranks. Before I knew it, I became a part of the elite RRoD." The lady explained as her mellow expression dropped for something more serious.
"Why the army?" AL asked. "Couldn't you have just joined the police?" He gave an alternative.
"They're corrupt to an extent. Especially over a few hours ago. I don't understand why they're so rowdy now." Was the reasoning his childhood friend gave him with a slight grimace.
"Oh." AL responded.
"R-RRoD? What does that stand for?" Domio asked with a confused head tilt. He got another glare from Gris as the assassin himself answered his question.
"The Regal Regiment of Defense for the Leanbox Special Missions Team." Gris stated.
"You got it word for word..." Taleia acknowledged the assassin as he folded his arms and hummed like the edgelord he was.
"Hmph." The stock sound effect escaped his mouth.
"I feel like there's a joke with the acronym being a reference to red rings of death in Leanbox consoles, but I'll ignore it for the lingering irony. Sample text." Nebula told the group which got him a dull glare from Vergo.
"Anyways, you guys caught me on break. You had a question, didn't you?" She looked towards Vergo.
"I did. It was about where the Basilicom was." The blonde reminded.
"The Basilicom? Just go down the road and take a left, then a right. I can show you if you want." Taleia offered.
She also wanted to tag along to catch up with her friends as well as get acquainted with their newer ones, so guiding them there was favorable.
"It would be appreciated." The CPU Candidate smiled. He got to talk with his sensei's past friend again, and his impromptu mother figure besides Future Histoire in some instances.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" She hooked her arm around Nebula's, a chummy gesture.
She then began to walk as the CPU kept up with her pace.
GRAB!
"Oop. I thought arm locking was uncool." The adventurer poked.
"Oh, be quiet. I was going through a phase." She brushed it off.
"Let's go, guys." She looked back and told the others as they followed their friend and his apparent first love.
They began to move. The six kept pace with one another as no individual went too far ahead, simultaneously with no one person dragging too far back as the group remained in tandem, walking through the streets of Leanbox.
Obvious exposition is obvious.
"So. What are your names, you four?" She asked as the 6 moved on the sidewalk.
"Vergo." The blonde time traveler answered.
"Domio." The preteen responded.
"Gris." The assassin spat.
"AL." The afro-wielding warrior mentioned.
"AL?!" Taleia became surprised.
"The one and only." The afro head sniggered.
"The only man whose STD story lived longer than time itself," Gris smirked in contempt.
"You shut the hell up!" The dark-skinned fighter snapped.
"AL got syphilis!?" Taleia widened her eyes.
"I ALMOST got it." He specified.
"You're almost telling the truth." Poked the hitman.
"This is almost dumb! Can we not do this?" Asked Vergo, a tired look on his features as he already had to deal with this in the forest.
"Can you almost shut up?" Gris chattered.
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Pointed out the adventurer, angry that he wasn't the one to say it. Of course, he wouldn't give Gris the satisfaction of knowing that.
"It almost did." A profound look of pride painted itself on the Lastationite's face, to the Leanboxian's ire.
"It did not. You're taking the piss!" An exasperated look mixed with slight frustration ebbed off of the time traveler as he deadpanned to the hired killer.
"Perhaps." Answered the silver-haired party member, his face mimicking that of a certain cow.
"Uh-oh." Meeped Domio, standing a bit closer to his foster father, sensing the impending argument.
"Oh boy." Nebula gained a slight grin as they had much to cover as they walked, knowing that it would spiral into a conversation.
"Is this normal for you guys?" Inquired Taleia, unsure of their team chemistry.
"Ever since the group got this big, yeah." Verified the CPU.
'Speaking of which, mind skipping over this one, narrator? I don't think I have the brain cells for this.' He mentally pleaded.
'Thanks...' Sighed the meta deity.
Internally of course.
Taleia learned much in those short twenty minutes.
She learned that AL slept around like a master key and almost caught an STD that made him commit to abstinence, for now.
But on the bright side, he gained the power to become a human matchstick and joined an adventure with Nebula across Gamindustri to gather something called Mascots, and that Leanbox was the last place to look.
Domio was the nephew of an abusive and powerful gang leader in Lowee and had suffered many forms of abuse, suffering from trauma that they were currently being roundabout to fix, but was somehow marginally reducing in severity like his active attempt to suppress his stuttering.
He also was unofficially adopted by Nebula, making him his common-law son.
Somehow. Still taking that one in.
Gris, on the other hand, had tried to kill Nebula only a few days ago and only spared him because they had an apparent common enemy, evil destroyer deities called VPUs that rival, if not surpass the CPUs in power are planning to invade and have invaded at some point, the group meeting them on different occasions.
Then there was the fact that Vergo was a time-traveling CPU Candidate from a destroyed Leanbox, from a ruined Gamindustri twenty years in the future, and came back to sharpen up his skills to be able to help the present when the VPUs fully invaded.
He was also the sister of Lady Green Heart and technically her superior at that, which made her have some mixed feelings about a mysterious handsome curly-haired blonde being the one to inherit the country. Especially since the goddess of her current nation was renowned for having no siblings.
Could have been worse.
Leanbox could have ended up with no Candidate, so at least there's someone.
And that Nebula had been transformed into a CPU alongside Gris as the first two male CPUs in Gamindustrian history as they were helping the CPU Candidate of Planeptune free the trapped CPUs in the infamous Gamindustri Graveyard to rid the world of the influence of ASIC and stop the revival of a powerful being called the Deity of Sin.
"You... You guys have a lot on your plate."
Taleia was at a loss for words as she was walking alongside the presence of three gods, one being her childhood friend, the other her future foster son, and the other a hired killer that trained her future foster son, as well as a boy that Future Nebula adopted, and her childhood friend AL that had managed to dodge himself a case of syphilis which was the least jarring thing about the entire conversation.
"Tell me about it. At least seeing you again was nice. Could you say the same about me?" Nebula grinned as he unintentionally flirted.
"Oh, you. Of course I'm happy to see you. You think I just pressed myself up against you like that for no reason?" Taleia swatted him away with a gesture as she gained some pink on her cheeks before giving him some a coy glance.
"Talk about lovebirds. You guys have barely been around each other and are already acting like you've been dating for months." AL jabbed.
"At least he had somebody to be in a relationship with. Where's your girlfriend?" Gris jabbed in return. Taleia blushed at the implications, reminiscing.
"I don't need no whamen to make me happy. I'm a strong, independent, self-sufficient man who has slayed dem guts time and time again. This is just an extended refractory period." AL clarified with a confident tone.
"Keep telling yourself that," the godly trio said in sync, a look that could only be described as the love child of smugness and snide.
"All of you can go suck a pixelated pocky. And you don't have any room to talk, ya virgin." AL grumbled as he turned to Vergo.
Vergo raised a brow.
...
...
...
"No." AL could not believe it.
"I'm kidding. Being jailbait is immoral." The blonde waved off.
"So why do you want to get to the Basilicom?" The raven-haired swordswoman asked the blue god with a questioning tone as the blush faded away.
"It's for Vergo. He wants to link with the Sharicite to see if that will return his ability to transform." Nebula informed Taleia.
"I see. But I don't think Chika will just accept that a random person claims to be the CPU Candidate, who's male on top of that, to get in contact, let alone view something as heavily protected and sacred as the Sharicite without dire reasoning." The female elite soldier told the CPU in return.
"We have ways of making her comply." Gris darkly attempted to convince the woman.
"I don't like what Mr. Gris is implying," Domio told the group.
"Me neither." AL seconded.
All parties stared at the assassin with uncomfortable or suspicious eyes before he responded to their gazes.
"...We're just going to transform in front of her. What did you people think I was going to do?" Gris raised a brow.
"Torture." AL gave an option.
"Murder." Vergo blurted. That got a concerned look from Taleia and a dull glare from Gris.
He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't gonna DO it.
Just think about it.
"Telling her that she looks like if soprano, brat, and sister complex decided to ball itself up into a person." Domio opted.
"Pfft!-"
Nebula had to stifle a laugh with that one.
His son was beginning to take after him.
Taleia was disturbed by what her acquaintances thought that the hitman would do to her Oracle as she instinctively fingered her katana while making eye contact with Nebula to not seem suspicious to the assassin.
Too bad he saw the gesture anyway as he put his hand on his hidden gun. He was shooting the woman a suspicious glare as she looked back at him.
...!
...!
"I sense some tension between you two." Vergo pointed out as he tried to prevent animosity between two people that were important to him in the future.
"Like the sexual tension between you and Ch-" AL was cut off.
"I swear to Celestia." Vergo instantly cut off the comparison.
"To who?" Taleia asked.
"To no one. It's not a person. It's a place." Vergo clarified.
"Oh. Where is it?" The RRoD member asked.
Vergo simply pointed up.
"So it's the afterlife?" AL asked.
"In a sense. Think more of an actual place than the afterlife, although I heard spirits go there." Sculptured Vergo as he explained it to the swordswoman.
"It's a place where the original goddesses used to wage the Console Wars before coming down for a more grounded approach. It's also an option for them to go when they retire, and an entirely separate dimension. I'm pretty sure everything up there is exalted, most likely, since I've heard a lot of holy, flying, and soul-based objects since some souls hang out there too." The green god explained.
"So it's more like the aether?" Nebula gave a similar realm.
"I believe that's what Histoire told me was similar to it. Except floating landmasses and rainbow walkways and a big heavenly castle somewhere up there, alongside some other things from what I've been told. Maybe after we beat the Deity of Sin, we'll take a peek up there somehow." Vergo cupped his chin as he looked up.
"Sure." Gris mouthed, not convinced.
"But besides the exposition dump of foreshadowing, shouldn't we be near the Basilicom by now?" Nebula asked the long-time lady friend clinging onto his shoulder.
"We are here." Taleia giggled. "Didn't you notice that we stopped?"
"W-Wait- AHEM... Wait, wha?" Domio questioned.
The boys looked to their side and saw the building that was their interest.
It was a similar interior to past Basilicoms they've seen before, except the exterior was in the form of a very pristine building, akin to a mansion.
Its appearance was familiar to Vergo, and even the path to get there seemed like something to reminisce about, but because twenty years was a long time for things to change, he was unsure.
"We've been talking when we were in front of the building the whole time?" AL questioned. "What the hell, narrator?!" The afro man yelled.
I got carried away with foreshadowing. My bad.
(; ~_~)
"Moving on from the fourth wall break. Shall we?'' Gris motioned as they entered the building as they were greeted by some Basilicom staff members.
"Good day to you all." The doorman greeted.
"Sup." Nebula greeted.
"Yo." AL acknowledged.
"I like turtles." Domio blurted.
"Good day." Gris monotoned.
"Hello!'' Vergo pleasantly greeted.
"Salutations." Taleia curtly nodded to a familiar.
The doorman was confused about why the woman was holding on to a random man's arm, but it wasn't his business so he went back to being the useful NPC he was.
They then see a person who was standing around that looked near-identical to how Vergo described Future Chika, except much younger, likely in her early 20s.
She was nervously looking around as she tried to act natural.
"I-Is ahem- Is that Chika?" Domio asked as he pointed.
"Yep." Vergo and Taleia answered. "And don't point, Domio. It's rude." She told the boy.
"Oops." He realized and lowered his hand.
"Chika!" Taleia called out to the Oracle as she jumped at the call of her name.
She quickly turned to whoever had called her as her eyes rested upon the group of 6.
Her eyes widened as she saw the party members present that were AL, Domio, Gris, and Nebula, but coughed into her fist as she tried to show a calm posture.
"Hey, Chika. How are you doing today?" The soldier greeted her Oracle. Taleia finally latched off of Nebula's arm as her tone became more refined and professional.
LET GO!
"I-I'm doing well. What brings you here?" Chika stuttered as she closed her eyes and gave a smile that looked very forced.
"We came here for some clearance to view the Sharicite. It's for an important purpose." Vergo explained to the greenette as she would open her eyes and looked at him.
"Important? W-What kind of important purpose?" She stuttered for a second time as Gris' eyes began to slightly narrow as she responded. Her mannerisms became suspicious to the hitman.
"It's for the safety of Gamindustri as a whole. We need your permission to view it to be able to help Leanbox in its state of crime. Please, Chika!" Vergo pleaded as he bowed.
"U-Uhm..." 'Chika' was stuck. She wouldn't have foreseen the friends of those broads to arrive before them.
But it was expected since they passed them in the raft. And on top of that, she didn't know where the Sharicite was to show it to them as she was simultaneously attracting the suspicion of the one guy that wanted to kill her in Lowee.
She was sweating as she struggled to come up with a response.
"Hm." Gris hummed. The group turned to him upon his voice being heard.
"Taleia, Vergo. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does Chika stutter every sentence, akin to Domio?" The assassin asked as 'Chika's' eyes shrinked.
"Hey!... But that is suspicious..."
"Not the one I know," Vergo responded as he thought back to the time he unwillingly spent with Chika.
"Not really," Taleia answered as she then looked back to Chika, who looked at her quickly before looking to Gris with some fear in her eyes.
"And does she jump when you call out to her, like a shy girl archetype in one of those dating sims?" The assassin further questioned.
"Definitely not." Vergo and Taleia responded in sync.
"Are you implying that this Chika is an imposter?" AL raised a brow.
"Imply means I don't have evidence," Gris responded.
"Then show us your evidence." Nebula challenged. "You can't just jump to conclusions so quickly." The blue god deadpanned.
"I can, and with the right incentive, will. And gladly." Gris obliged as the Basilicom staff was now interested in the conversation.
"Chika, an imposter?" A staff member gasped.
"It can't be!" A butler reeled.
"Impossible! Don't you dare speak of our Oracle in such a pretentious manner!" A maid denied it.
'Chika' was looking around very nervously as she answered the CPU deity.
"T-That's preposterous." She stuttered once more.
"Is it? Is it really? Then do you remember that you called Nepgear and her friends over to Leanbox?!" Gris pointed an accusing finger toward her.
"I what- I mean, Yes! I totally remember calling her. How could I forget?" She smiled as she tried to reassure the group.
"Riiiiiiight. Let's say, hypothetically, that you remember, 'Chika'. Do you remember what you called her here for?" Gris moved on to the next question, pulling some papers out of his pocket, hitting them as he looked up, mimicking a certain lawyer.
"Come on, Gris. You're just making a-" The adventurer tried to make the hitman see reason.
But instead, he saw the hand.
"I-I... I called her here... F-For a monster-slaying quest! There's a really annoying monster around here somewhere and I wanted her to slay it." 'Chika' reasoned.
"And pray tell, why, would you want someone as important and on an important quest nonetheless, as the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, to come all the way to Leanbox, for a simple monster-slaying quest that could be done by one of your soldiers-" Gris gestured to Taleia, "-Or one of the adventurers in the guild, as a simple issuing of a quest, could have done the trick." Gris gave valid alternatives as he pointed to the blue CPU.
"Uh--" She faltered, as the assassin continued. Her lack of response gave the man the means to capitalize on her fumbling.
"But let's play into your narrative, 'Chika'. Do you know the monster in particular? Do you know its location? Do you have a reward for its defeat? An accurate idea of its combat capabilities? These are very simple prerequisites that any person would have thought up before issuing a quest. Do you know these things for your particular monster? Far less someone of your stature, who should have been experienced in this regard for quite some time." Gris pressured, his eyes cold and calculating.
The group became deathly quiet as they awaited an answer from the Oracle. Their eyes, alongside the Bascilicom members, were all focused on her.
The same effect was mirrored over the Basilicom staff.
"...I-It was... It was a... Er..." She stagnated. Her mind couldn't come up with the necessary answers in a format, not a timespan that would seem even remotely plausible for the assassin.
"...Well?" Gris raised a brow.
"Uhm... It was a... Ah... It was a..." The Oracle was struggling to come up with the monster she had in mind from the assassin's intimidating glare.
The hired killer gave her a few more seconds to attempt to come up with a flimsy explanation before moving on.
"Well, it appears you cannot come up with the most basic of requirements for your quest, 'Chika'. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I have been told my gaze strikes fear into the hearts of men. Women included. Equality, as they proclaim." Gris hyperboled, which got a groan from Nebula and AL.
"To you all who have made an audience," The hitman turned around as he looked at all the Basilicom members.
"Is there anything noteworthy that Chika has done in the past few hours?" He asked as a receptionist answered him.
"She... She passed a law uplifting the ban for worshipping ASIC." The woman told Gris.
"Oh, really now?" Gris turned back towards the on-edge Oracle. "Why would an Oracle, someone who serves the motherfucking CPU of all people, would lift a ban that actively goes with the one organization that seeks the downfall and is directly responsible for the disappearance of your beloved CPU." Gris asked the crowd.
"Responsible?!" The staff members, including Taleia, reeled as they absorbed the information, letting the word echo about the halls of the Basilicom.
"ASIC is responsible for the disappearance of our CPU?" The doorman asked.
"My word!" The maid was in disbelief.
"AMOGUS-"
The room of staff members went into a bustle of murmurs as Gris let them speak as he stared at the mortified 'Chika'.
"H-How did they not know?" AL questioned.
"Because they don't wander into the most dangerous place in Gamindustri, AL." Nebula deadpanned.
"You've been to the Graveyard?!" Taleia squeaked at the two.
"Yeah." The males responded.
"I-... Well, I guess my friends are gods amongst men." Taleia sighed.
"Well, actually-" Nebula began with a trolling smirk.
"Shush, you," Taleia said with a roll of her eyes. Vergo stifled a chortle.
"But wait!" Gris silenced the crowd. "There's more.'' Gris darkly grinned as he flicked the paper with his palm.
"What more could there possibly be?!" Vergo asked as he was basically convinced as Gris looked towards him.
"Sense her energy." He told the KI users.
"Huh?" Taleia questioned.
"Dew it. I know who it is, but I want group confirmation so that you can revel in the truth." Gris told the trio. He wanted to see the surprised faces of the non-believers as they proved him right.
"Alright." AL obliged as he squinted his eyes at Chika. His eyes widened as he felt familiar energy.
"Please don't tell me that it's..." Nebula would sense as he then facepalmed.
"Damn it!" He yelled as Gris sniggered.
"It doesn't feel like Chika. Who is it?" Vergo asked as Taleia gave a questioning glare to the man as well.
"That woman is not Chika."
SLAM!
POINT!
The assassin closed his eyes. He walked to the receptionist desk, before putting down the papers as he slammed his hand onto it, pointing at 'Chika' as he yelled with a shit-eating grin that had so much certainty you were sure he ate shit.
"YOU'RE UNDERLING! Gris roared as he pointed as his voice echoed through the Basilicom floor.
"I thought her name was Linda," Domio asked.
"Who in the four nations calls her that, anyway? Underling is funnier." AL corrected.
"You damn bastard!" Underling yelled out at her name's misconception about being more popular. She immediately covered her mouth as she had just sold herself out, her voice change being a dead ringer.
"And I rest my case." Gris finished up as he folded his arms and plastered a satisfied look, taking back the papers and putting them back in his pocket.
"You imposter!"
UNSHEATH!!!
Taleia shouted out as she gripped the upper sword handle as she unsheathed it.
It had a dark blue hilt wrap with a cerulean diamond pattern with a spruce blue pommel, circular hilt, and blade collar as the blade itself was an ocean blue with a darker blue back for the blade.
The edge pattern was akin to a wave as it glistened in the light.
"I find it highly ironic that when I give Chika a chance, she's an imposter."
EXTEND!
Vergo pointed out as he pulled out his bo staff.
"You have nowhere to run, faker!" Nebula shook off the feeling of being wrong as he focused on the new plot point.
"Faker? She's not even good enough to be her faker!" AL continued as he got ready to chase the underling.
"I'll make you eat those words!'' Vergo finished the reference with an obnoxious shout as he grinned.
"Grr! I'm outta here!" Underling bolted deeper into the Basilicom as she was chased by the six.
"Underling was the Imposter!" AL yelled as he went to chase the ASIC grunt, as the body and voice-changing technology faltered.
"She's getting away!" Domio yelled.
"After her! I need my KD to rise!" Gris took the lead as he dashed after her.
Underling was now be evading pursuit as the group ran after her. They ran after the imposter Oracle as she shoved unknowing staff members who did not know of her true purpose as their downed persons would be a clear indicator of where she went.
"Why is she so fast?!" Taleia asked the group of males as they ran after her.
"Because thats all she does. Running is her EXE Drive." Nebula joked as he got a laugh from AL and Gris.
"That's sad," Vergo admitted.
"It's true. She and her buddy, Warechu just run with their pumped-up kicks. There she is!" Domio pointed as he saw the ASIC grunt take a hard left as her hair flapped in the wind behind her.
The group of 6 continued their chase scene as they did not let up as Underling led deeper and deeper into the building.
She was cornering herself as she descended the floors, having little to no grasp of the building's inner workings.
She did not stop until she ran into a room. It was a dead end, which was not good for her, but she stumbled upon an important item that would have been glowing a bright light green light.
"Damn!.. Wait a minute, this is-!" She realized right as the group of OCs cornered her as they busted through the door.
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Vergo halted as he gripped his staff.
"We have you surrounded!" Taleia yelled as she got in an offensive stance.
"FAKER!" Nebula yelled.
"..." Gris kept quiet he looked around the room.
"...What is this place?" Domio asked as he looked around the cybernetic-looking room.
"STOP RESISTING! STOP RESISTING!" AL blared out as his voice echoed in the room.
"I'm not even resisting!" Underling yelled back at him.
"But you are impersonating an important figurehead, as well as resisting arrest. Now, where's the real Chika?!" Taleia interrogated.
"Like I'd tell you!" Underling spat.
Gris then took out his glock as he aimed it at 'Chika'.
"Start talking or I'll start blasting." Was the ultimatum for the ASIC grunt.
"Whoa! When did you pack heat?!" Underling widened her eyes as she didn't have her weapon on her.
"I kill for a living. Speak your truth, before my gun speaks its own!" The assassin pressured as Underling backed up some more.
ATTRACT!
Too bad she was dragged forward instead by Nebula as he outstretched his hand and used Attraction to pull her towards the group
"Woah!" Underling yelled as she was pulled towards them.
"SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK," Gris said in a throaty voice as he cooked his gun as she approached.
GLEAM!
Taleia's blade menacingly glistened as her eyes narrowed.
ABLAZE!
AL's fist caught ablaze.
GUST!
Vergo tapped his pole on the ground as a force of wind came from the floor.
CLENCH!
Domio had his fists up in a non-threatening manner, but he still tried as he angrily pouted.
"We have ways of making you talk." The adventurer grinned, ready to unleash another gravitational torture mechanic.
ゴゴゴゴ!
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Underling cracked as she suddenly stopped moving.
"Talk." All of the members sans Domio said in a synchronized tone.
"We took the Oracle and put her south from Leanbox. It's in the Underverse!" She spilled the beans as she closed her eyes in terror.
"Good to know."
DROP!
GRAVITY!!!
SMASH!
The assassin responded as Nebula dropped her on her behind. She was then held to the ground, unable to stand up as he increased her gravity to the point that she found solace in a show about people who weighed 600 lbs.
"Ack!" Underling yelled. She winced as she landed flat on her ass before looking up at the group, straining.
"Now what do we do?" Domio asked.
"We detain her and put her under custody. If she is apart of ASIC, whatever information she holds will be valuable to us." Taleia explained as she pointed a blade near her jugular as Underling was now held at gun and swordpoint.
Vergo then walked past the group as he then put his hand on the large green crystal with a power signal in the middle.
"This is the Sharicite Room! Now I can link with the Sharicite!" The blonde gushed as he looked towards the crystal.
"Neat. How to plot convenient." Nebula nodded.
"Hey. No meta. This is an important moment." AL stopped the CPU from breaking the fourth wall anymore. It was cracked as it already stands.
TOUCH!
Vergo then placed his hand on the Sharicite.
The giant crystal seemed to react to his touch as it fluctuated in brightness. It landed and dimmed as the Sharicite that Nebula used all those chapters ago had.
SHINE!!!
The pulses became more rapid ad time passed, and before any of the 7 persons in the room knew it, it would be enveloped in a blinding light.
"!!!" Everyone reacted as they shielded their eyes.
CEASE...!
ROLL!
DASH!
Underling was facing away from the light, which gave her enough time to roll back before sprinting off. Added in the fact with a moment of weakness from Nebula granted her a moment of opportunity, she used it to escape.
"She's getting away- DAMMIT!" Gris yelled as he shut his eyes. He'd fire some shots in rage, but all that did was waste energy and cause unnecessary noise.
The light subsided as the group of six would open their eyes.
The room still remained the same cybernetic green as it was before the event.
Vergo still had his hand on the Sharicite as he faced towards it.
"Well, that flare let her get away. Fuckin' hell." Vergo stated as he sighed. "Sorry about that one, lads and lass. Let's track her down, mates." The CPU Candidate continued as his voice became much more accented.
"Vergo? You sound different." Nebula told the god.
"Like you stick your pinkie out when you drink tea." Taleia referenced.
"And you eat crumpets and biscuits and enjoy classical." Gris put away his pistol.
"Piss off, you two. bloody hell." The blonde turned around as they reacted. The half-elf raised her brows at the nickname.
She'd point it out, but...
"Y-Your eyes!" AL pointed out.
Vergo blinked upon the mention of his eyes. Instead of his normal dark blue hue, they were identical to his HDD self, with the glowing power signal pupils within his purple irises all but present.
His hair was slightly spiked, vaguely reminiscent of his HDD state, but his hair was still golden blonde. His muscles also bulged a bit.
"Hot damn! That looks sick!" Nebula complimented.
"It's like a hybrid state of some sort. He's not a full CPU, but he's not 100% mortal either. Don't tell me it's something like you couldn't like with the damn crystal properly." Gris stated.
"Hm..." Vergo looked up in thought. "I feel a connection to the Sharicite, but it's not secure and constant like how I felt my sister's. It's like I'm in a Nepdonalds bathroom..." He compared the connectivity of the line he had with the crystal.
"Sorry Gris, mate. But your theory might be on the money." The CPU Candidate clarified.
"So you're some kind of... Demigod right now?" Taleia asked.
"I'd like to think this is what I am, rather than the term 'Incomplete Sharicite Bond'," Vergo responded to the RRoD soldier.
"So now we have a CPU demigod and the location of the Oracle. Let's go get the actual Oracle. Maybe beat up Underling on the way back." AL planned as the others agreed.
"Wait,'' Nebula halted the group.
"If Vergo leaves like that, it'll be a Lowee situation all over again." The blue god remembered. "And this one is arguably worse since he looks strikingly similar to Vert.
"Oh yeah," AL remembered alongside the trio that had been there.
"I'm still wondering why we thought it was a good idea to do that." The martial artist had a wary look.
"PIS." Nebula coughed.
"What?" Gris raised a brow.
"What?" The adventurer asked back.
"What?" Vergo, Taleia, and Domio were truly lost as they questioned the response.
"Heh. Bathroom joke." Snickered the fire user.
"Anyway, does anyone have sunglasses?" Gris asked. The group looked at Nebula, who shook his head.
"I'm using these, though. You'll have to ask someone else." He told the blonde.
"Why don't we use my goggles?" Domio asked.
"Too small." Was the response from his foster father as he patted his head.
"Oh. Ok." At least the boy tried.
"I have some shades." AL fished the black Rule of Cool spectacles from his pocket.
"Thanks, bruv." Vergo took the shades as he put them on.
"You look like a lifeguard." Observed the adventurer.
"A whistle, lose the shirt and some sunscreen with a slight tan and you'd make a good extra for Baywatch." Commented the swordswoman.
"I don't know which one's worse, that fact that the movie isn't a parody, or that you're right." A neural tone provides from the CPU Candidate's lips.
"Let's blow this joint." Nebula told the group.
"Last time I did that, Gris almost killed me." AL laughed.
"Puff puff, pussy boi." Was the edge lord's response.
"Go fuck yourself!"
The group reached outside of the nation as they would be running towards the cave that Underling mentioned. They were making ground, but the sun was close to setting.
"It's going to get dark soon...!" Taleia told herself as she sprang in a zig-zag pattern to cover more ground with her superhuman speed.
"You don't say, lass?" Sarcasm would be dripping from Vergo's voice as his HDD personality bled into his human state. He floated with his aerokinesis.
"The uncut sarcasm is strong in this one." Nebula commented as he flew near the ground with his gravity manipulation.
"Coming from you, that's ironic." AL pointed out.
"How so?"
"Because sarcasm is just an extension of irony, and since you trained him in the future, it is indeed ironic." The afro warrior clarified as he boosted with his flames.
"Well said, matchstick. I didn't think you had the IQ for intellectual humor." Gris complimented as his white aura boosted his regular speed stat as he zoomed ahead.
"Go slip on an oil slick, Grease." Was AL's rebuttal.
"Why am I slower than everyone?" Domio asked as he lagged with his ice skating.
"Because the author hasn't developed your skillset- AHEM!... I mean, because you still have some room to grow, Domio." Nebula explained to the child as he nodded.
"..." Domio stayed quiet.
"We won't cover enough ground at this rate." Taleia made glance at the quiet boy as she then turned to the next person that spoke.
"Then let's transform. I hoped we could have saved some energy, but..." Nebula stopped mid-air as he saw that the group did the same.
"Night monsters are the equivalent of nightmare mode. Right." AL finished for his best friend.
"Are they?" Asked the Loweean.
"Oh yeah. Even a pack of Dogoos could become a problem for a mid-tier adventurer of they catch you in the dead of night. Mosters lose their wariness of humans since they can use the reduced population density of adventures to roam." Nebula explained, having experience in this field due to his occupation.
"Not to mention monsters that don't usually roam around those parts may or may not show up, depending on the circumstances. May the goddesses save you if you encounter something like a Ancient Dragon or a Phoenix." He spoke as he remembered such encounters and barely escaped with his life.
"Wow. So, we're transforming." Vergo's decision was instant and unanimous, not wanting to risk a ballsy worldboss encountering them when they could barely see and may or may not even be alone.
"Bet your ass we are."
ABLAZE!
AL agreed as he went into his Burning Fever state.
"So this is the Burning Fever you've been talking about. Spicy." Taleia commented with an appropriate adjective.
"Like a red hot chilli pepper." AL rubbed under his nose.
"Points for the pun. Well if you think that's cool, then check it!" Nebula told the woman as he gave a quick glance to Gris. The assassin rolled his eyes before both of them yelled out the phrase.
"Access!"
PILLARS!
TRANSFORM!!!
White pillars with green digital numbers circling them appeared. When they returned, they were Brave Heart and Edge Heart.
"Yare yare daze. It's ya boi. Check it, dawg my kit is fly, ya'll. You'll ain't got shit on me, I'll fold yo asses on the spot." The blue god talked in lingo.
"Your ebonics can use some sharpening, but yes, we are in the presence of you all." The edgy CPU spoke in his deep, regal tone.
"Gris really did have more hair in the past. He even has his extra bang!" Vergo pointed out.
"I would truly appreciate it if you did not speak of my future hair problems, Vergo." Edge Heart chided through gritted teeth.
"Look on the bright side. At least your hairline didn't recede like somebody's 45-year-old dad." Brave Heart told his fellow god.
"You are not helping, Nebula. Not one bit." The gravity defying hair deity grumbled.
"So this is what your CPU forms look like! They're so..." Taleia looked on in awe and slight arousal as she looked at their more powerful and attractive forms.
"Cool? Yeah, that happens. If the goddesses get more attractive when they do it, then I guess we look buit and more aesthetically pleasing when we do it." Brave Heart explained. "Or at least I think that's how it works. Isn't really anyone to compare it to, so I'm just taking it in as I go along." He told her.
"Well, there is another difference but it's not important to the situation we're in. So, who is going to carry Domio and Taleia as we fly?" The scythe deity asked.
"Nah, mate. I like flying unhindered if I could help it."
SUMMON!
Vergo told the group as he summoned his flight processors. Even he was taken aback by their presence, not expecting them to manifest themselves.
"Cheerio. Looks like my processors are here." The green demigod was occupied with looking at his wings.
"I'll have to agree with Vergo on that one. Plus I might burn someone with my hands." AL gave a poor excuse as he really just wanted to use his hands to fly faster.
"Huh. Well, Gris, you feel like carrying Ta-" Brave Heart was cut short.
"Hah. No." The edge lord CPU responded.
"Then it's-" Once again, he was cut off.
"Nah man, what the fuck?" The computing man told the meme lord.
"Then what was the point of you transforming?!" The blue god asked.
"To make you assume you were going to get assistance, only to let you carry everyone." AL revealed another reason.
''Dude, that's foul." Brave Heart grimaced as he looked away.
"Also so that you could eat my dust." Edge Heart offered a different reason.
"You're not helping Gris. Not one bit." The long haired god responded with a facepalm. The regal god gave a satisfied smirk.
"I can just run there. If it's too much trouble-" Taleia tried to play mediator.
"Then us transforming had no purpose, and we've been wasting time making arrangements. C'mere." The CPU told his friend.
"Uh... Ok...?" The RRoD member raised a brow as she approached him.
CARRY!
He then scooped her up into a princess carry as she reacted accordingly.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" She asked. Her face reddened a bit from the action. She held onto his neck as he then crouched.
"Carrying the squad. Hop on, Domio."
KNEEL...!
JUMP!
Nebula told the boy as he hopped onto the back of the deity that knelt for him.
"Beam me up, Scotty!" The boy referenced as he jumped on the back of his foster father.
Brave Heart then stood as he was under the weight of two persons.
"Y'know out of all the things I imagined myself becoming, a family can surprisingly wasn't one of them." The CPU monolouged as he stood tall.
SUMMON!
LEVITATE!
He then summoned his flight processors ad he began to levitate.
Taleia instinctively held on tighter, mimicking Domio as the trio raised off the ground.
"It went from lovey-dovey to family road trip."
BOOST!
AL chuckled as he levitate with his flames.
SUMMON!
And Edge Heart followed suit as his flight processors manifested as he summoned them and began to lift off the ground as well.
FLY!
"Squadala! We are off!" Brave Heart yelled as he flew up as Taleia warily looked down as the ground became further and further away.
"Promise you won't drop me?" She asked sincerely as she looked back at him. Her eyes showed a crack of fear and uncertainty.
All she got in response is a troll face.
"You bastard-"
FLY!!!
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"
BOOST!!!
ZOOM!!!
FLY!!!
She screamed as Domio held on as tightly as he could as the others zoomed after them.
The group of six approached the Underverse in record time as the sun had just set when they had reached the entrance by Vergo sensing the Oracle's energy when they were near the area that Underling told them she was held captive.
"There's the entrance!" Vergo yelled as he descended.
ZOOM!
CRASH!
Edge Heart shot past him and crashed onto the ground first before he raised as the first person to reach the hideout entrance.
CUSHION!
FLIP!
LAND!
Vergo landed with some air cushions as he then flipped into a crouch. He stood up as he landed next to the white winged god.
BOOST!
THRUST!!!
LAND!
AL shot down before using his thrusters to dramatically slow the fall before plopping down as his feet touched the floor.
FLOAT...!
And finally, Brave Heart slowly descended, purposefully being shaky with Taleia like the troll he was, making her both fearful and annoyed as she held onto to him tighter, a -flushed- face ever present mixed with blatant annoyance.
"C'mon Nebula, everyone's waiting on us!" The boy told his foster father as he stopped playing around with the paranoid soldier.
"And stop trying to drop me already!" Taleia screamed as she did all but look directly down.
"Fine, fine."
VANISH!
REAPPEAR!
Brave Heart complied as he vanished before reappearing at the ground with the two on his person.
Domio let go from his foster father's neck as he dropped to the ground and walked to the group.
Taleia was placed down as she then hopped up and attempted to slam down her fist on his head.
HOP!
SWING!
BLOCK!
His instincts took over, and he blocked the slow attack to his perception.
"Hey! You can't block that!" She complained.
"Why not?" Brave Heart asked.
"It's a trope! And you deserve it."
LAND!
She justified as she landed.
"Well, you had your chance. You can just hit me twice the next time I do something stupid. If you can." The god shrugged as he let out a taunting remark.
"You're even more of an ass in this form." She sighed.
"Well, I noticed that his troll personality magnifies in that state, so you'll have to bear with it," AL told the woman as she looked towards him.
"In the future, the bloke's personalities become more indistinguishable from each other," Vergo added to the conversation.
"I would not be surprised in the slightest." Edge Heart commented.
"Could we all stop talking shit about my mannerisms and save the captured political figurehead already?" Brave Heart deadpanned as he gave the group an annoyed look.
"And you shut up with your future balding." The CPU pointed at Edge Heart.
"It was one bang!" The edgy deity said.
If only he knew he had nape-length hair.
REVERT!
REVERT!
EXTINGUISH!
The group entered the facility after the transformed persons sans Vergo reverted, as he simply put away his flight processors with a thought, and ran inside.
It was grey with green outlines as there were some wide areas as monsters lurked around as they squandered the area.
The group halted as they were confronted.
They were some Red Babyvaders as they were in groups of 3 or 4, wandering around the hideout.
Their appearance was a reddish-pink and possessed yellow antennae as their faces would be hollow and rectangular as they all had neutral expressions.
"Let's clear out the area." Taleia directed as she unsheathed her blue blade.
"Already ahead of ya, lass." Vergo took out his pole as it lengthened to his staff.
"A-Alright! Ahem- Let's do this!" Domio yelled as he materialized his gauntlets.
"Been a while since I decked some monsters!" Nebula earnestly stated.
"Bullets go brrrrrr." Gris memed unironically.
After saying their sample text, the fighters got the jump on the mobs, executing a Symbol Attack.
The battle began with Gris enhancing his gun as it glowed white he then fired some shots at the nearby enemies.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Bullets from his gun were enhanced to move at speeds rivaling his maximum speed, so one could only calculate how hard those bullets hit those monsters, moving tens of times the speed of sound.
The shots flew as they sounded more like explosions than gunshots.
PIXELATE!
PIXELATE!
PIXELATE!
It was safe to say that those Babyvaders had been one-shotted into oblivion as the bullets connected, their remains pixelating immediately after.
THWACK!!!
Next was Vergo who twirled his bo staff before striking an incoming Babyvader with a swift side sweep.
GESTURE!
YANK!
RAM!!!
THROW!
He continued as he used his free hand to pull back the mob by pulling back his index and middle fingers as the mob was yanked towards him. He then rammed his staff into the monster before sending him up.
CRASH!
IMPALE!!!
PIXELATE!
He then hurled his bo staff as he used the air around it to make it fly faster before the weapon impaled the enemy as it shortly pixelated thereafter.
GLARE!
WINDWAVE!!!
CRASH!
ZOOM!
IMPALE!!!
PIXELATE!
Another enemy tried to ambush the green god, but he turned around just in time to send a glare that knocked the enemy into a wall, only to then use his aerokinesis to yank down his weapon to impale it as well, insta-killing it.
MINI TORNADO!
"Gallant Gale!"
GUST!!!
PUSH!!!
The other two Babyvaders sent mini-tornadoes at the CPU Candidate but were canceled out as he pulled out an SP Skill.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The strong winds were ejected from his staff as it rotated incredibly quickly, canceling out and overpowering the opposing winds as the monsters were blown away as Gris shot the other two that were blown into the air.
"Oi! Get ya own mobs, fockin' bellend!" Vergo yelled as he reached out for his staff and grabbed the approaching item as it rushed towards him.
"Psshaw." Was the assassin's response.
Moving on to Taleia, as she sprinted towards an enemy as her grip on her blade tightened as her other hand was in front of her steadying her movement as her index and middle fingers were rigid.
SLASH!
SLASH!
STAB!
COUNTER SLASH!
ASCENDING SLASH!
She then slashed at a nearby Babyvader her blade left a watery and foamy trail as she attacked.
The foe was knocked back as she continued her assault as her eyes narrowed.
Her attacks flowed as she made one attack lead into the other in one constant movement, and kept the mob from attack as her attacks were graceful, yet crashing like a powerful river.
"Crescent Waterfall!"
She finished off the Babyvader as she let down her blade as she yelled out a roar as she called out her SP Skill.
SLICE!!!
PIXELATE!
The blade then glowed a soft cerulean blue as the trail of water that came forth from her blade as her katana would slam into the monster as she sliced into the body of the mob as it was sliced in half as the sound of a crashing waterfall could be heard.
KICK!!!
DASH!
SLICE!
COUNTER SLASH!
PIERCING STAB!
The monster pixelated as the soldier then turned to her flank just in time to side kick another Babyvader as she would then spring towards the kicked opponent before laterally slicing the mob as it would then be counter slashed before being stabbed into the wall as it cracked from the pressure.
SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE SLICESLICESLICESLICESLICESLICE!
IMPLAE!!!
PIXELATE!
The mob was further cut with a flurry of slashes before it was run through with the katana as it is pixelated shortly after as the raven-haired swordswoman moved on.
"Crashing Waves!"
The swordswoman leaped into the air as she twirled before descending upon the final enemy as she yelled out another SP Skill as she swung her blade hand.
STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!! STAB! STAB! STAB!
SPLASH!!!!!!
Taleia then repeatedly stabbed in the direction of the Red Babyvader as blue blades of water that were projected from her sword and rained down upon the enemy as it was hit repeatedly by the aquatic attack as it was caught by surprise.
STAB!!!
The sword user then finished off the monster as she landed on the mob, clasping both hands on the blade before stabbing into it as she landed.
SPLASH!
PIXELATE!
A large splash of water could be seen coming from the impact as she ended the monster.
DROP KICK!
Nebula ran past his childhood friend as he leaped into the air before dropkicking the nearest Babyvader as it was knocked back.
CRUSH!!!
PIXELATE!
The male then outstretched his hand towards another Pixelmator as he moved his palm down the mob would be crushed under a tremendous force of gravity as it would pixelate almost instantly.
BACK STEP!
BLAST!
SLAM!!!
EXPLOSION!!!
PIXELATE!
The blue adventurer immediately back stepped after the dispatching of the enemy to avoid a charge from the Babyvader he kicked prior as he countered with a KI attack, slamming the blast into its flank before it exploded in a bright explosion.
Nebula then vanished as he reappeared next to another adjacent Babyvader as he had his first cooked back.
PHASE!-
PUNCH!
PHASE!-
KICK!
PHASE!-
ELBOW!
PHASE!-
HEADBUTT!
PHASE!-
KNEE!
LEAP!
SLEDGEHAMMER!!!
CRASH!
PIXELATE!
He then coated his fist in gravity and clocked the mob as he then vanished and reappeared and delivered a gravity kick, and repeated the process with a gravity elbow, gravity headbutt, then into a gravity knee before jumping into the air and clasping his arms before smashing it into the ground as it pixelated shortly after.
SKID!!!
Dust shot up from the ground as AL burst forth from the puffy cloud as he skidded from a group of Red Babyvaders as they decided to attack him as a group.
BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST!!!
The flame user stuck his arms out as he fired flame-enhanced KI blasts at the group of monsters.
EXPLOSIONS!
They exploded in some of the monsters as the smoke cloud was spread out as the fight continued.
GRAVITY!!!
CRUSH!
DEPRESS!
Nebula looked down from his position as he saw his friend dealing with the mobs as he would lend his aid. He outstretched his arm he then lowered his palm to the monsters that were restrained as they sank into the ground, the ground itself depressing with them.
"Flaring Blazer!"
BLAST!!!
EXPLOSION!!!
AL smiled as an opportunity opened up for him as he then manifested a large fireball blast as he yelled out his SP Skill before firing it.
"Overheated Assault!"
DOUBLE FLARE!
DOUBLE BURN!
He fired the blast as it then exploded upon the group of mobs before throwing another skill to finish the job with certainty that the group of enemies had fallen.
KA-BOOM!
The streaks of flames landed on the initial blast zone, before blowing up as the monsters finally pixelated, and would fist pump in success.
"Yes!" AL rejoiced as he fist-pumped in the direction of his friend, who gave him a thumbs up in return.
BLOCK!
PUNCH!
BLOCK!
ROLL!
LUNGE!
LEFT HOOK!
Switch to Domio, with his gauntlets active as he was evenly matched with the Babyvader currently fighting him.
Domio punched, blocked, and rolled as he slowly learned from what he observed from his foster father, AL, and even what Gris told him.
DUCK!
He then ducked another lunge from the Babyvader as he would dodge the attack before rolling forward and got up before turning around.
"Yikes!" Domio ducked as he dodged another attack from the mob.
He repositioned himself as he fired an SP attack at the monster.
"Cold Bolt!"
ICE BOLT!
IMPACT!
The attack flew from his gauntlet as it smashed into the Pixelmator as it was knocked back. He knew that one wouldn't be enough from his experience with the Killachines, so he fired the other.
ICE BOLT!
IMPACT!
The bolt struck the Babyvader once more as he then saw that its movements would become slower as a side effect of his bolts hitting it.
MANIFEST!
ICE BOLT!
ICE BOLT!
MANIFEST!
ICE BOLT!
He manifested his gauntlets again before firing more ice bolts as it approached.
MANIFEST!
RUN!!!
UPPERCUT!
The Babyvader slowed down to an even greater extent as it neared the boy. He wouldn't want to be attacked as he summoned more ranged attacks, so he summoned his gauntlets and ran up to the Babyvader before clocking it with his gauntlet, the weapon shattering on impact as it recoiled.
DOUBLE ICE BOLT!
FREEZE!
Domio then fired Ice Bolts from both of his hands as the bolts combined, before they struck the Babyvader dead on, completely freezing it as it would be in a block of ice.
MANIFEST!
"Rah!" He yelled.
STRONG PUNCH!
SHATTER!
PIXELATE!
The boy manifested a single gauntlet, giving up a second one for a bigger size, before slamming the weapon into the ice block, shattering it and inadvertently the Babyvader as it pixelated into data shortly after.
"I-I... I did it!" Domio cheered. He had done it! He killed a monster! He smiled as he finally fended for himself.
He did not, however, notice another enemy that was sneaking up on him as he celebrated.
MINI TORNADO!
And was caught in a mini-tornado that send him flying up as he was caught off guard.
FLY!-
"W-Waugh!" Domio screamed as he was pelted into the air by the tornado, not being aware of the sneak attack as he was sent flying.
GRAB!
He was caught by a floating Nebula, however, as he was grabbed by the back of his vest.
"Got'cha!"
VANISH!
REAPPEAR!
LAND!
Nebula yelled as he caught his son. He then vanished with him before reappearing on the ground.
"You alright?" He asked the kid.
"Y-Yeah. Shaken, not stirred." Was Domio's response to his foster father.
"Good. You can't afford to drop your guard, Domio. If that was a Killachine, you'd be toast. Don't forget to always keep your guard up." The CPU told his adoptive son as he put him down.
"R-Right ahem- Right... Thanks, Nebula!"
LAND!
Domio took the advice to heart as he dropped.
He then ran towards the Babyvader that invaded him, his foster father close behind as he watched the boy's movements for any blindside attempts.
The ice boy then materialized both ice gauntlets as he decked the mob in its backside, before following up with a counter punch.
SHATTER!
SHATTER!
PUNCH!
PUNCH!
PUNCH!
PUNCH!
PUNCH!
PUNCH!
Both gauntlets shattered are Domio continue to punch the Babyvader as he was currently feeling the power of a father-son bond that had been totally established over a few days.
STRAIGHT!
TUMBLE!
"Left, right, left, right, left, right, STRAIGHT!" Nebula coached as Domio then piledrived his fist into the flank of the enemy as he sent it tumbling.
"Don't let up, it's still alive!"
ROUNDHOUSE KICK!
PIXELATE!
Nebula yelled before he roundhouse kicked a Babyvader that tried to attack him from behind. He enhanced his foot with gravity for a one-hit as it pixelated shortly after.
MANIFEST!
"Cold Bolt!"
ICE BOLT!
ICE BOLT!
Domio then blasted two Cold Bolts simultaneously as he yelled out the SP Skill, the dual bolts slamming into another monster, sending it tumbling further away.
The Babyvader was slammed into a wall as it would not be able to regain its bearings as the Loweean was relentless with his attack.
BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST BLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLASTBLAST!!!
Speaking of his attack, it was coming to an end as he repeatedly blasted some ice spells into the wall.
MANIFEST!
"Cold Bolt!"
MANIFEST!
"Cold Bolt!"
Ice spells were hurled in droves at the Babyvader as it would buckle under the intensity before Domio manifested a bigger ice gauntlet once more before firing another Cold Bolt that froze the monster solid before the ice was shattered by another ice spell, pixelating it.
"That was something, Domio. Now c'mon! We got some more enemies to fillet!" The blue-haired man told his son as they continued to battle through the corridors.
After slaughtering rounds of monsters, the group made it to a hole that was in the side of a wall.
Well, you could call it an alternative route, but a hole was still a hole. And that hole lead to their goal.
They carefully peered inside of the opening to see that it lead into a lava cave on the other side.
"They built their hideout in a lava cave?" Vergo asked.
"Seems so. I sense someone's energy within the depths though. Let's keep going." AL told the blonde as the group kept moving.
They quickly disposed of the mobs nearby as they approached the signal.
The party neared it and neared it until they saw a figure that was trapped in a cliché box cage. She was identical to the description that Vergo gave them on Chika with the exception that she was much younger, and was grabbing the bars as she had a tired expression on her face.
"There's a person inside that cage!" Domio yelled. He was still feeling the rush from fighting all those monsters.
"Is that... Chika?" Nebula asked. His question was automatically answered when he listened in on her murmurs.
"How could I... Let myself get captured... Like this..." She let out softly as she looked down, dejected.
"That's her, alright," Taleia confirmed for everyone there. She moved towards her as the rest of the group followed.
The Oracle turned her head towards the people coming towards her as she assumed it was that rat and green-haired punk again that put her there in the first place. But to her surprise, she instead saw 5 strangers and a familiar face.
"What...? Who are you, people?... Taleia?" She asked question after question in her confused state.
"This is Leanbox's Oracle? How pitiful." Gris looked at her state as he folded his arms.
"Well, she has been trapped here for a while. A few hours to a few days at most. I can't imagine her being here longer than that. She might be exhausted and famished from being captured for a few hours or suffering from Vitamin D deficit if it's a few days." Vergo guessed as he cupped his chin.
"How do you know medical terms?" AL asked.
"The Internep." Was the answer the fire user received.
"Anyways, are you alright Chika?" Taleia looked at the confined Oracle through her prison.
"Leave me... It's already too late for me... My only regret was not being able to see my darling Vert..." Chika croaked as she acted as if she were in her final moments, going into a premeditated coughing fit.
"Riiiiight..." Nebula accepted with a skeptical look. He knew what dying breaths looked like, and this wasn't it, chief.
Take it from him, with experience from all those fights he and AL were in when he almost died time and time again, Gris included.
Off-screen.
Well page technically, but who's going to care enough to say anything?
"Come on, Chika! We have to go!" The swordswoman tried to get the Oracle to get out of her 'melancholy', but she was committed to her act.
"You have... To go on...! Do it... For me..." The greenette motioned as she coughed and gagged some more.
"Well, mates. Looks like she's dying on us. Let's go back to Leanbox and tell the people the bad news." Vergo shrugged as he began to walk away from the cage.
"Bummer." Nebula obliged as he turned around, a trolling grin on his face.
"What a waste of time." Gris left as well. He had a hint of playfulness in his voice, although it was only noticeable to those who had been around him for a while.
"And here I thought she wanted to see if Vert was alive or not. We could have told her, but meh. At least she was hot." AL commented as he left with the boys.
"Is the lady gonna be alright?" Domio asked with naïve concern.
"Nope. She's a dead woman standing. Let her rest in peace. C'mon Taleia!" Nebula yelled as he turned back to her with a devilish smile.
Her face wass confused for a second before it clicked.
The agent's face morphed into one of playfulness as well as she sheathed her sword.
"Condolences, Chika." She solemnly lowered her head.
"WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! ALRIGHT!... I was kidding! Don't go!-'' Chika screamed at the group as they all stopped and give her an amused look, the green-haired Oracle reaching in desperation.
"So you don't wanna die?" AL asked.
"I... I was just kidding!" The Oracle justified.
"Knew it. Can't bullshit the bullshitter." Nebula rubbed the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes with a satisfied look. "You're such a drama queen." Snorted the adventurer.
"Can one of you let me out now?" She asked sincerely, albeit with some attitude for her dramatic tangent being called out.
"Already on it."
SLICE!
BREAK!
Taleia unsheathed her sword once again before slashing down the cage. It collapsed after one powerful strike.
Chika then walked out of the destroyed cage as she was free.
"Now let's get out of here. It's probable nightfall outside so we're gonna have to carry people." Nebula reminded.
"Great." Gris sighed.
"Carry?" Chika asked.
"They flew here carrying me and that child so that we didn't have to deal with the night monsters. Now we have to be carried back." Taleia explained to the Oracle.
"Fly?! These people can fly? And I have to get carried by one of them!?" Chika incredulously asked. She was happy that she had been freed, but she didn't want anyone besides her fair Lady Vert to carry her anywhere.
"Well, we could leave you here." Gris offered. "But that'll result in your recapture, hence redundancy. So yes, somebody is going to have to carry you. Not me~." The assassin finished with an ascending tone as he outed himself from carrying the dramatic woman.
Nebula spoke next.
"Well, I could-" The blue god spoke, rating a hand.
"Ew. No." Chika turned her head away with a dismissive tone.
"...Ouch." He whispered under his breath as he looked away, his hand contracting. He never knew instant rejection sting so much in a non-romantic setting.
"Hah. Guess it's up to ya boi-" The flame user stepped up to the plate.
"Gross." The Oracle told him.
'...Well, fuck you too, damn.' AL grimaced as he then looked to Domio. He hoped it wasn't because he was-
"I'll ride with you, Mister AL." Domio offered to cheer the elder up. He stopped his salty mull and looked down at the boy with an appreciative gaze.
"You're truly a ride or die, Domio." AL accepted.
"Well you have to pick someone," Taleia said to the Oracle as she gave her boss an exasperated look.
Chika then turned to her final option.
The man was tall, like her darling Vert. He wore green and had golden blonde hair, like her darling Vert.
His presence even felt similar to her idealized goddess.
So it was only a matter of time before she decided.
"You." She pointed to the blonde CPU Candidate.
"Me?" Vergo asked as he pointed at himself. His eyes slightly widened as he internally groaned at the prospect of carrying her.
"Yes, you," Chika repeated.
The CPU Candidate closed his eyes as he sighed. He tried to get the Oracle to not pick him up with an excuse.
"But I can't fly." He lied. He tried his best to make his voice monotone to hide his fib.
"Is that so?" She asked, slightly disappointed.
"He can fly." AL sold the blonde out, as the god sent a heated glare through his shades.
'You burning bastard...!' Vergo grumbled under his breath as the pyro warrior had successfully ousted the blonde bloke.
"Good. I can't believe you would lie to me like that." Chika folded her arms as Vergo groaned.
"Ugh... Let's just get this over with already." He told the Oracle as the group backtracked back to the entrance of the hideout, as they would go to carry the flightless from there.
"Brotem Pole!'' AL and Domio shouted together, as they were now ready to leave, the boy latching onto the tall man's back like his backpack.
"If you shake me while we're flying again, I'll tell your mother." Taleia pouted.
"Taleia, I'm a twenty-year-old man. What is my mom gonna do." The adventurer deadpanned.
"Something." She looked away as she pouted.
"You'll be doing something with all the turbulence you're gonna feel up there-"
BONK!
BONK!
"Got'cha! Now don't shake me." She tilted her head as Nebula had some steam coming from his head.
"Well played. Waited until I picked you up to execute an undodgeable. I'm proud of you." He smiled through the pain as he conceded, being aware of his lack of attention
"Aww..." The swordswoman cooed.
Vergo looked over to the two groups before looking at Chika.
She was waiting with a dull glare as she looked at the blonde with some expectancy as she tapped her foot. Her eyes were unfriendly, but he knew if she didn't want to deal with all the trouble of traveling on foot, she'd have to ride him.
"I suppose I'll just carry you?" He raised a brow.
"I suppose so." She glared back. Chika was very observant, watching to make sure the man that was transporting her didn't do anything odd.
CARRY!
Vergo internally groaned as he hoised up the Oracle as his face was marred with a scowl.
"And what's with that look. If you're going to carry me, at least do it with a pleasant face." Chika notices as she looked at the CPU Candidate.
Another internal groan, before Vergo, fixed his features to a more natural look.
SUMMON!
He then summoned his processors as the other CPUs outright transformed.
"Access."
PILLARS!
TRANSFORM!
The three winged CPUs then rose to the skies as Chika did a double take at what she was taking in.
"Did they just-"
"Transform?" AL asked as he enterd Burning Fever.
ABLAZE!
"Yes, that was what I asked." Chika continued.
"Well then the anwser is yes, lass. They're CPUs." Vergo dropped the ball. It almost made her fall as she loosened her grip from surprise.
"What?!" The Oracle reeled as she started to slip.
SLIP!-
GRAB!
But Vergo acted quickly, collecting her as he reeled a bit to let her hang back onto him, with a squeak from the greenette as she now had a look of shock and slight fright from nearly falling from an ascending height.
"Oi! Make sure you hold on. Last thing I want is to explain to the Basilicom why you're a bloody mess. Literally." The blonde-haired CPU Candidate explained as she held onto him again.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to fall anyway. You were going to drop me!" She passed the blame onto him.
"Ooo. Were you?" Brave Heart asked before giving a look that hid laughter.
"Premeditated murder is illegal." Edge Heart chided the CPU Candidate.
"You are the last person who should be telling me that, Gris. Nebula, shut up. And you, if I wanted to drop you, you'd be a splatter right now. Now can we just GO ALREADY, for fuck sake. Small talk is a problem with you people." The irritated Vergo asked as agreed, before vying to head back to Leanbox.
"Les go!" Brave Heart memed as the others flew.
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.
Chapter completed! And we did some ahead of time, Luke saving Chika and reaching Leanbox. So I guess that means I'll have to add in some confusion to stretch out the arc.
Joy.
But besides that, this chapter wasn't too bad to write, considering all things. We had the introduction of the childhood friend archetype actually smashing, even if it's by default due to being the ONLY interest he had. At least Nebula did the deed, so props.
Another fun little segment was Gris exposing Underling. Granted there were a few references here and there to a certain attorney, but who knows. Also, Underling withstanding 600 lbs is an accidental feat now that I think about it. Why do I keep upscaling her by proxy? And also, sus references. AMOGUS-
Also the incomplete Sharicite bond. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Hmm... Is it a plot? Is it a coincidence? Is it because I like giving my characters a hard time? Or is it because it could possibly be a new fo all CPUs can obtain? You'll be guessing for a while.
Finally, Chika being rescued. Well, that cuts a LOT of time out of canon, and paired with the fact that she now knows about the somewhat secret society that is the existence of Male CPUs, she'll hopefully be more understanding to the exalted fellows. And also talk about Vert for a bit.
Now onto some comments.
F14M3RZ - Nebula is rather busted from the start, I'll agree. Then again he DID defeat a Giant Dogoo that was 500 strong in base, after being spent from using the form. What does that tell you?
He when it comes to maintaining share energy is kind of wonky, considering he doesn't generate and gain it the regular way the other CPUs do. It IS explained in later chapters though, even later than this one for a better explanation, so not to worry, all will be explained.
As I said above, I think my iteration of Linda is being upscale just by constantly fighting my characters. And oh boy, Nebula is actually lacking compared to later villains, and gets chucked and screwed over multiple times so, don't expect a 12-episode-long isekai anime-type deal.
His, and hopefully everyone else will justifiably gain their power.
These people will suffer for superiority.
That's it for now.
Arrivederci.
Read and Review!