Chapter 15 – Space-Time's Rescue Request
Ringo's POV
With the four of us in tow, we began our search through a dark apocalyptic-looking Primp Town for the mischief-making Space-Time Traveler known as Ecolo. Hoping he'll help us out in this mess we've all gotten into.
I'm still a bit uneasy about asking Ecolo for help, knowing him and his behavior. But Akuma did have a good point in saying that his power could be enough to get Am back home.
The fact that she survived such an ordeal is a huge relief on its own…
"Hmm…we sure came a long way so far." Lemres said as we ended up in Nahe Forest while still looking for Ecolo.
"Yeah, true…" I said. "…I'm just grateful we haven't run into these monsters yet. It could mean that the others are handling them just fine."
"Hey, guys. I've been wondering…" Noire said to us. "…you said before that you would have to fight these monsters if you did encounter them, right? How exactly would you've done it?"
"Do you guys have special weapons or something like that?" Uni asked.
"Well…no. We actually use magical spells and emotional rainbow-colored jelly blobs."
"Wh-What?" Both sisters gained a confused look on their faces.
"Allow me to explain." Lemres said. "In this world, we all play a game referred to as Puyo Puyo. In which, you stack them up and clear them in groups of four. This concept is used for Puyo battles, where we compete against each other for a variety of reasons."
"A variety of reasons?" Uni asked.
"L-Let's just say…" I spoke. "…while this game is mostly played for fun, there were times in which a Puyo battle was the ultimate choice between life and death. Amongst other things."
"I-I see…"
"It's like the stuff we deal with in Gamindustri…but instead of fancy combo attacks, it's rainbow jelly blobs that determine our fate." Noire said with a huge sweatdrop.
"Yeah…pretty much." Was all I said.
"Well…as weird and dangerous as this game sounds, it would help us a lot if we learned how to play it."
"Huh? Seriously?"
"What do you mean, Noire?" Uni asked.
"Think about it, Uni. With the way Lastation is now…it's near impossible to receive Share Energy and transform. If we're going to fight our way through this mess, we'll need a new source of power."
…
…
…
"Y-Yeah…you do have a point." Uni said after thinking about it. "I-It's just…thinking of what happened to Lastation…our home…and the people who lived there and cherished everything about it…*sniff* I-It's just so hard to comprehend! What kind of heartless psychopath would do this evil shit just for the hell of it?! It makes no fucking sense! Waaaa!"
"Uni…" Was all Noire could say as she tried to comfort her little sister, who had broken down completely. Crying real hard tears of traumatic sadness as she is reminded of the worst day of her life.
"Such a young innocent mind…traumatized by an apocalyptic nightmare." Lemres said to me.
"Yeah, no kidding." I went silent for a bit. "Hey, guys…I may not fully know or understand why all of this is happening…but since both of our words have been dragged into it, I wanna do as much as I can to help you get your home back. And stop Ridel from causing any more destruction."
"*sniff* R-Ringo…" Uni said softly.
"You really want to help us? To that extent?" Noire asked.
"Of course. I mean…we are friends, right?"
"Fr-Friends?!"
"And friends help each other during dire times. No matter what the situation." Lemres added.
"Y-Y-Yes, but…" Noire went dead silent as the blush on her face grew brighter by the minute. Then, after calming down, she gained a small smile. "*sigh* Yeah…you guys are right. We're friends and friends help each other out. I can't thank you all enough for helping us thus far. We truly owe you big for this."
"Y-Yeah…w-we really do." Uni added after she had stopped crying.
"Don't mention it, you guys." I said with a thumbs up.
"The pleasure's all mine, as well." Lemres added with a tip of his hat.
"So, to start off repaying you guys, we'll work even harder to help find this Ecolo guy."
"Thanks, Noire." I said. "But…that's no longer necessary."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Well…"
They are gonna be SO pissed once they realize this…
I turned around behind me, took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of my lungs:
"Ecolo! Quit spying on us already!"
"Huh?!"
"Aw~. You figured it out again, Ringie. You're so smart~."
"Can it, you!"
"W-W-Wait a minute! Hold on! THIS is Ecolo?!" Noire yelled once the drooling shadowy blob appeared in front of us.
"Yep. The Wanderer of Worlds. And I'm pretty sure he's been following us in secret ever since we entered the forest. Isn't that right, Ecolo?"
"Yep. Pretty much*giggle*. Spying on you on normal days is already fun enough…but on a day like this, it was really interesting. Hahahaha!"
"*sigh* Unbelievable…" I facepalmed.
"Still as mischievous as usual." Lemres said with a sweatdrop.
"I…I'm not sure how to feel about this." Uni said. "I mean…I want to shoot this damn thing for watching me cry just now! But we need his help, don't we?"
"That's pretty much the case."
"Don't worry, Uni." Ecolo said. "I won't tell anyone about your precious crying. Seeing your angry face is way too much fun to spill it out. *giggle*"
"Sh-Shut up! Screw you!" Uni's face was beyond red at this point.
"Hey, so…as much as I want to bash this guy in the head too…can we just get this over with?" Noire asked.
"Oh, right." I said before clearing my throat. "Listen, Ecolo. This is a huge problem. So, please TRY to be serious about it."
"Ooh~! A HUGE problem! This is going to be SUPER fun! *giggle*"
"Seriously, Ringo. How do you deal with this guy?" Uni asked me.
"It's an everyday struggle, Uni. You just get used to it." I answered with a huge sweatdrop.
Noire's POV
*ONE EXPLANATION LATER…*
"Oh…So, Amitie's stuck in this other world, which is the same world Noire and Uni came from, and you want me to get her back. Is that it?"
"Yeah. That's it." Ringo said after telling Ecolo what was going on.
"Akuma figured that since these worlds are starting to fuse together, you would have an easier time getting to her." Lemres added. "Think you can do it?"
"Well, duh! Of course, I can! They don't call me the Wander of Worlds for nothing you know! *giggle*"
Why are you wandering in other worlds, to begin with?
"Well, alright then. Let's head back to the museum and…"
"Hey, hold on now. Who said I was doing this for free?"
"Huh?"
"A-Are you kidding me?! You're seriously charging us?!" I yelled.
"Yep! But not with money. Instead, I got a little request."
"Request?"
"What are you going on about, Ecolo?" Ringo asked.
"Well…before I started spying on you guys…"
"So, you're admitting to spying on us without a care in the world…" Uni said to herself in a pissed-off tone.
"…I had the pleasure of running into our loveable spacy girl Cheri."
"Ch-Cheri?!" Ringo asked. "Wh-Why is she out here by herself?!"
"Wait, who's Cheri?" I asked.
"W-Well…y-you see, she's…uh…"
"Let's just say that she's a special girl." Lemres said.
"Special?"
"It's…best that you saw her for yourselves." Was all Ringo said about the matter.
"Uh…"
Whoever this girl is, Ringo sure seems to care deeply about her…
"A-Anyway, Ecolo…what's Cheri doing out here with the world looking like this?"
"She isn't. I last saw her with this other girl earlier. And it was an interesting sight to behold. I even tried to mess with them a little…but the new girl pushed me off. So, I gave up and left. But it HAS been a while since I've seen them both, so…"
"So, you want us to go look for them?" Lemres asked. "What does this other girl look like?"
"Oh, you know…a teenage girl with turquoise eyes and kinda long grey hair. Wearing this red & dark grey dress that kinda looked like a school uniform…"
Wait…why does this description sound familiar?
"…and she had A LOT of K's on her. Must be her favorite letter."
N-No way! It's HER?!
"A-A lot of K's?!" Uni yelled out. "Noire! That description! You don't think it's…"
"Yeah…no doubt about it, Uni! That's K-Sha!"
"K-Sha? You two know this girl?" Ringo asked.
"She's a girl we know from our world!"
"S-Seriously?!"
"*giggle*Figured so." Ecolo said. "She definitely stood out. Even had that "other-worldly scent" around her."
"The hell kind of scent is that?" Ringo gained a sweatdrop.
Th-This is insane! I-I truly thought everyone in Lastation had perished during that apocalyptic hell! To know that K-Sha survived such an ordeal…and that she ended up in this world, too…she's definitely tougher than she looks.
But that's beside the point! Right now…
"So, that's my request." Ecolo said. "If you managed to find those girls and bring them back to town, then maybe I'll help you get Amitie back. Don't let me down now, Ringie~! *giggle*" And then, soon after that, the shadowy drooling nosey-as-hell blob disappeared from in front of us in a huge hurry. As if he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
"H-Hey, wait! Ecolo!" Ringo yelled. "*sigh* He didn't even tell us were they went from here."
"So, K-Sha is here…" I said to myself. "…H-Hey, guys. Sorry for the sudden detour, but can we go after K-Sha for now? I really want to see if it's really her."
"Well, since this K-Sha girl seems to be with Cheri, I want to see if she's alright, too. Is this okay for now, Lemres?"
"I'll admit. This was not part of the plan." Lemres said. "But the more people allied with us in this crisis the better. So, let's see if we can find them."
"Thanks, Lemres." I said with a grateful smile.
*BOOM*
"Wh-What was that?!"
"It sounds like it came from over there." Uni said as she pointed up ahead. "Is there someplace important close by, Lemres?"
"In that direction…that's the Arca Ruins. That place has been a central hotspot for the monsters as of late."
"Ah, geez. Cheri…" Ringo grew a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry, Ringo. Noire and I will take those monsters down. We won't let a single one hurt our friends. Right, Noire?"
"Uni's right. Just leave it to us." I added.
"*sigh* Thanks, you guys. You know, I feel kinda guilty leaving all the work to you two. With you being from a different world and the injuries you're recovering from…"
"Well, as you said, Ringo. Friends help each other during dire times. No matter what the situation. And we're gonna take that life lesson to heart!"
…
…
…
"Well, alright then! I'm counting on you both!" Ringo cheered with a huge smile on her face.
"So am I." Lemres added. "But…"
"Huh? But what?"
"You did say before that you both barely have any power due to the events in your world, correct?"
"O…O-Oh, yeah. That is the case." I said as we both grew disgruntled sweatdrops.
"Well, I can help you out with that problem. Until you gain back your original powers, that is."
"Huh? You can?"
"And how exactly can you do that?" Uni asked.
"Well…you both can just borrow these for the time being." Lemres then pulled from his pocket two very shiny crystals. With the colors reminding me of outer space, for some reason.
"Woah…"
"What kind of crystals are these?" I asked.
"W-Wait, are those…L-Lemres! H-How did you get those?!" Ringo asked with a panicked look on her face.
"I just made a simple trade-off with a friend of mine. She should be enjoying some deliciously sweet chocolate éclairs nowadays. *chuckle*"
"Y-You cannot be serious…" Ringo gained a huge sweatdrop.
Meanwhile, Uni and I kept staring at the crystals in Lemres' hand. They truly were pretty…but I can easily tell that they contain some serious power.
Mainly because…I just realized what these things were.
This is definitely the peak of other-worldly chaos right here…
3rd Person POV
Sometime later, the group of four were nearing the Arca Ruins. The source of the explosion from earlier and where Ringo hopes is where Cheri is right now.
As for the Lastation Sisters, their main goal was to see if the Gold Third member K-Sha really was here in this world. Neither one of them believed that anyone survived the nation being torn and crumbled apart. So, the fact that a mere schoolgirl did…despite knowing how powerful K-Sha really is, it was still a huge shock to them.
They were closing into the entrance of the ruins when they all gained sight of…
"Sweeping Fire!"
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
"Precision Fire!"
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"Tch! There's too many of them! I'm missing most of my shots!" Yelled out a girl with long gray hair as she was firing at the horde of monsters with two handguns. "How you doing over there?!"
"Sweet Cherry."
*BOOM*
"Bowooooooze…!"
"Neiiiiiigh…!"
…
…
…
…
…
"Pretty good." Replied a girl who looked quite similar to Ringo. The only differences were the clothes, the red markings all over her body, and the fact that she was floating.
…
There's a good explanation for that. But at a later time.
"You know…I really wish you would stop with these long pauses. They're so uncomfortable to sit through." The girl gained a sweatdrop.
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"You're kidding me…more showed up?!"
"We're getting surrounded. Are we going to die?"
"Not on my watch! I'll shoot them all down before that ever happens!" The girl readied her guns to shoot at the horde of monsters once more.
But…
*CLICK*
"Huh?!"
*CLICK*
…
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
…
*CLICK*
"N-No way…out of ammo?!"
"Huh. So, we are going to die. Wish I had some cherries."
"This is our final moments alive and all you can think about are CHERRIES?!"
"I like cherries. They're delicious."
"*sigh* You are something else…" The girl facepalmed.
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
The monsters were beginning to attack. The two girls were helpless and defenseless…honestly from the very start. They were pretty much ambushed by these monsters while they were trying to find a way out of the forest. And now, their path…seems to end here.
…
Or…so they thought. Because literally just a few feet away…
Noire's POV
"Infinite Slash!"
*SLASHING SOUND x12*
"RAAAWWWGgghhh…"
…
"H…Huh?"
"They're gone."
"Well…that was a close one. Are you alright, K-Sha?"
"N…Noire?! Oh, my Gosh! It really is you!" K-Sha cheered greatly as she rushed over and hugged me as tight as she could. Which, knowing her strength, was a whole damn lot.
"Noire! My precious Noire! I'm so happy to see you again! Seeing you here makes me feel really really REALLY fuzzy inside! *giggle*"
"G-Geez, K-Sha! I'm happy to see you, too! But can you PLEASE let go of me already?! You're squeezing too tight!"
"Oops. Sorry, Noire." K-Sha said as she had finally let go of me. Though, still having a huge smile on her face.
"Sheesh, K-Sha." Uni said. "You were so focused on Noire that you didn't even notice that was standing right next to her."
"Oh, Uni! I'm happy to see you too, you know!"
"Yeah…but clearly not as much as you are for Noire."
"Ringo…"
"Cheri! Thank God you're safe! Why were you out here with all these monsters out and around?!"
"Looking for cherries. Then I got lost."
"Seriously? You came out here, knowing how dangerous it is, just for some cherries?"
"I like cherries. They're delicious."
"*sigh* Yeah, yeah. I know." Ringo gained a huge sweatdrop from talking to…a girl that looks near identical to her?
What the hell…
"Hey, Noire. Uni. Who are these two people with you?" K-Sha asked.
"Their names are Ringo and Lemres." I replied. "They're residents of this world and they've helped us navigate through this forest."
"I see…"
"Guys, this is K-Sha. The girl we mentioned about." Uni said to the two residents. "She can be your average teenage schoolgirl…until she picks up a gun. Then she's a completely different person."
"Yeah, I saw that first-hand not too long ago." Ringo said with a sweatdrop. "Nonetheless…nice to meet you, K-Sha."
"A pleasure to meet you as well, K-Sha." Lemres said with a tip of his hat.
"Nice to meet you both, too." K-Sha said. Then she went silent as she kept staring between the oddly identical two Ringos in front of us. "S-So…Ringo…are you and Cheri related? Cause you both look near-identical to each other."
"Yeah, it's like she's a clone of you or something." I added.
"Well…that's because she is."
…
…
…
"What?" Uni, K-Sha and I grew confused looks.
"I'm Cheri Ando. Ringo's clone. Nice to meet you."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" And then our confused looks turned to utter shock.
"I had a feeling they would react like that."
"Lemres…you're not helping." Ringo retorted with a sweatdrop.
*ONE EXPLANATION ABOUT CHERI'S EXISTENCE LATER…*
"W-Wow…th-that's crazy." K-Sha said.
"S-So, Amitie's sister made clones of you, Arle, and two others as a way to kill you guys…but since then, all but one have gone good?" Uni asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Ringo said. "And one big note about them is that they act like the complete opposite from us. So because of that, I've been taking care of Cheri personally. Mainly because…she isn't all that…smart, aware, emotional…she's just blank most of the time."
"Yeah…I kinda experienced that first-hand." K-Sha said with a sweatdrop.
Oh, yeah…that kinda reminds me of something…
"Hey, K-Sha…are you aware that this is a different world?" I asked.
"Huh? Well…yeah, I kinda figured so. None of the surrounding areas looked familiar at all to me."
"I see…"
This is going to be tough as hell to ask…
"S-So, then…how did you…"
"Survive the crumbling and destruction of Lastation?" K-Sha then asked with a sad look on her face. "H-Honestly, Noire…I think it was pure luck."
"Luck? Wait, what do you by that?"
"Well…" And right when K-Sha was about to answer…
"Cherry Bomb."
*BOOM*
"*cough* *cough*Ch-Cheri…what you do that for?" Ringo asked her clone (that's so weird to say) after she blasted a sphere-shaped bomb in front of us all.
"Someone fired a laser at us. It was going to be bad…I think."
You think?
"What? But who would fire a laser at us in the middle of these ruins?"
"Turn around and you'll find your answer."
"Huh?"
Wait a minute…that voice…no way it could be…
As we turned around to the direction of the sudden voice, we saw the source of it slowly walking towards us. And it confirmed my thoughts and pissed me the hell off.
"Hahahahaha! To think I would run into YOU two here! Quite the interesting development, don't you think?"
"You've got to be kidding me…Arfoire?!"
"The hell are you doing here?!" Uni yelled.
"You two know this woman?" Lemres asked.
"This is Arfoire." I said. "She's been the cause of multiple incidents back our world and we always have to beat her ass to stop her. But for some reason, she keeps coming back."
"I see…" Ringo said. "…the most common trope of a cliché villain."
"EXCUSE me?!" Arfoire yelled in a pissed-off tone. "Who the hell are you calling cliché?!"
"Well… based on the TV shows and manga that are in my world, the concept of the villain returning every time to face-off against the protagonist is the most cliché trope to ever exist. Nothing original ever happens with it and from what Noire said about you, you seem to follow that unoriginal, tired-out, bland-as-hell trope to the T. It's truly pathetic."
"What?!"
"Damn! Tell her, Ringo!"
"Make her see how annoyingly cliché she is!*giggle*" Uni and K-Sha were clearly enjoying this. It's not every day you get to tell the main villain how unoriginal they are right to their face. Not even Neptune did such a thing.
Which is shocking considering how much she breaks the 4th wall…
"Grr…damn disrespectful brats are all over this world! Makes me almost have a reason for trying to kill that blonde brat back in Planeptune! If only she wasn't the freaking Light Soul…"
"Light Soul? Are you perhaps talking about Amitie?" Lemres asked.
"Hmph. Well, don't you have a strong sense of hearing…yes, I am. In fact, I met her shortly after the sky changed in Planeptune. I'm pretty sure it and the other nations are already crumbled up to pieces by now. Hahahahaha!"
"Wh-What?!" Most of us shouted in shock (the exception being Cheri. Man, she has zero emotions whatsoever).
"Oh? Did I not say that already? My mistake." Arfoire taunted us with little to no remorse.
"So…you are involved. You're involved in pieces of Gamindustri tearing apart and becoming floating landmasses in that void! My nation is in pieces…and most of its citizens are dead…all because of you damn psychos! JUST WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!"
"N-Noire…" Uni said silently as everyone saw that I was near the brink of tears. Now knowing that this nuisance woman had some involvement in Lastation being nothing more than pieces in this sky and the people suffering such horrible deaths…the sheer trauma that now haunts my mind due to being a witness to it all…the fact that I'll mentally suffer from this for all eternity…all because of her…
"Are those tears I see? You're seriously going to cry over your petty nation being eradicated from existence…who's the pathetic one now, CPU Black Heart? Hahahahaha!"
"Shut up…"
"Huh?"
"Shut up…Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UUUUUUUUUUUP!"
*CRACK*
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Then out of nowhere…I felt some intense power rushing through my body. A rush of energy overtaking me as if I'm being possessed by an evil spirit.
But for some reason…it felt good. It felt really good, to be honest. As if I've been reborn anew and my powers as a CPU have been completely powered up to the freaking max!
I wasn't sure what was causing it at first…but then I realized something from earlier…
Is this…the power? The true power…of the Crystal Shard?
I soon felt myself being released from the huge ball of light that I was engulfed in before. And as I looked at myself, I realized that I had transformed.
But…not in the normal way.
"W-Woah…d-did Noire just transform?!" K-Sha asked.
"I-I think she did…" Uni said. "…B-But she looks WAY different from how she normally looks!"
"Uh…normally looks?! What exactly is going on?!" Ringo asked in pure utter confusion.
Uni and K-Sha were right, though. How I transformed was different from normal. My eyes turned cyan and my hair turned pure white…but I still had my human body. Which was now covered with cyan-colored markings and surrounded by sparks of electricity of the same color.
Whatever this Crystal Shard is doing…I think I might like it.
"Y-You're kidding…THIS one changed too?!" Arfoire yelled in shock over what I had become.
"Hey, you demented cliché pain-in-the-ass bitch! You and I are going to fight right here right now! I'm gonna make you PAY for what you did! I'll avenge ALL of Lastation for the nightmarish final shit you put them all through!"
"W-Woah…" Uni and K-Sha said in disbelief.
"Noire's totally pissed…cool."
"Cheri, how is this, in any sort of way, "cool"?" Ringo asked her clone with a sweatdrop.
Meanwhile, Lemres still hasn't said a word about any of this. So far, I've known him to be rather calm and mature about what's been going on. But to be this calm…at a moment like this…
"So, you wish to fight me, huh?" Arfoire asked with a smirk on her face. "Fine. I'll accept your challenge. But let's make things interesting while we're here, shall we?"
"Interesting?"
"We're in a different world…so, we'll battle with THEIR way of fighting. Prepare to have rainbow jellies be the cause of your demise!"
She means…Puyo Puyo, right?
"Fine! Whatever! Whether it be with sharp swords or rainbow jellies, I'll take you down and make you pay! Bring it, bitch!"
"Tch! Annoyingly arrogant as always! I'll put you in your place once and for all! Let's…"
"PUYO BATTLE!" We both shouted at the top of our lungs. Preparing to initiate my first ever Puyo Puyo battle. And with an insanely new feeling of power, too.
Crystal Shard, don't fail me now!
Author's Note: Meeting Ecolo, reuniting with K-Sha, and running into Arfoire. These events had led to Noire gaining an abnormal new power. But is it really because of those? Or does the Crystal Shard in her possession carry a bigger purpose than a temporary power source?
Like I said in the last chapter, my Puyo Puyo X Kirby story (titled Puyo Puyo: Dream Land Invasion) is going to have a great amount of involvement in this story. It's not a sequel of any kind…but I highly suggest that you read it to fully understand where Amitie's powers came from, the concept of the 4 clones, and why Crystal Shards are so important here. Trust me, it will help.
Next chapter will contain…a new group of characters, a new POV, and a new location. Separate from the worlds of Puyo Puyo and Neptunia.
Thanks for reading. Later.