Snyderverse Neptunia Snippets

by Derald Snyder

Snippet 62- Sniper and Crusader 2

Timeline- After Snippet 59.

"I didn't think we'd be working together again so soon," Uni commented as she rode beside Brian Duane in the latter's souped-up custom car. Unlike last time, however, Duane was already fully suited-up as Batman, cowl and all. "So what's the threat level this time?"

"Only Orange-level at the moment," Batman replied. "That's usually for rapists and murderers. See, we had another agent looking into this one chemist that seemed to be experimenting on something shady. But we lost contact with her two nights ago... Worst case scenario, she was found out and killed. Thing is, she's quite athletic, especially compared to the suspect, so she should have been able to escape..."

"Unless this chemist's experiment caught her instead," Uni finished.

"Right. But we have no idea if that's the case..." Batman made a hard turn, forcing Uni to brace herself against the car's frame. "Depending on what he was working on, it could bloom into a potential Pineapple-level threat- on the level of a natural disaster, which would be beyond our capabilities..."

"Which is why you called me in again," Uni realized.

"Exactly, not to mention we worked pretty well together last time," Batman nodded.

"Yeah... at this rate, I might have to ask Noire to make me a Robin costume or something," Uni chuckled.

"Wouldn't that be a sight," Batman couldn't help but crack a smile...

*And so...*

The black car came to a halt in an alley, Batman and Uni quietly getting out. "So just in case, what does your fellow agent look like?" the CPU Candidate asked quietly.

"Like I said, she's athletic," Batman began. "Short black hair, green eyes, fair skin, full lips. Usually dresses in dark gray or black. She goes by the codename..." He hesitated. "...Catwoman."

"Oh really," Uni gave the Caped Crusader a look of disbelief.

"She took on that name after I took up the Batman moniker," he raised his hands. "And before you ask, our relationship is purely professional."

"Suuuure it is," Uni gave a knowing smirk. She was so going to gossip with K-Sha about this later.

"In all seriousness, we have no idea what to expect," Batman said sternly. "I need you to watch my back just in case. Hopefully it's not as bad as we fear, but..."

"Right, I understand," Uni sobered up, promptly summoning her sniper rifle. "Nothing will get past my sniper's eye."

"That's what I'm counting on," Batman nodded, quickly striding off, Uni jogging to catch up. Soon they arrived at a nondescript door with no windows nearby. "...Locked, as I expected. Can you shoot it out?"

"No problem," Uni assented, waving her gun to get Batman to back off a ways. That done, she aimed her rifle at the deadbolt... one shot caused the lock to shatter, a loud report echoing through the alleyway. "Crud, I think I just killed any chance of sneaking in undetected..."

"Then we'll have to be ready for anything," Batman affirmed, before kicking the door open. "No lights, but that doesn't mean nobody's home. You got a light on that gun?"

"Yeah, just a sec," Uni grunted as she fiddled with her gun, a light turning on above the barrel, which she promptly pointed inside. "I don't see anything..."

"All right, we're going in," Batman said, the duo swiftly entering the room, checking every which way... finding a light switch, he clicked it on, revealing the room to be a living room with an old easy chair and TV, and a small couch. "Clear," he said.

"Clear," Uni concurred. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here..."

"Let's move to the next room," Batman suggested, Uni following him into what seemed to be the kitchen, turning the lights on so they could see clearly... "Wait. The sink is still wet... and it looks like a chair was shoved aside," he pointed to said chair which was out of place compared to the others around the dinner table. "Someone was here recently."

"They must've come out that door," Uni indicated a door by the chair that was slightly ajar. "Whoever it was must've taken a drink from the sink then left..."

"But how? The door was locked from the inside..." Batman pondered, looking around... "Wait, that window is slightly open. Whoever it was must have escaped that way and tried to close the window behind them..."

"Well, it can't be the chemist, 'cause he would just go out the front door, right?" Uni deduced. "Maybe it was your missing agent...?"

"No, that doesn't make sense... unless she was cut off from the door trying to escape..." Batman muttered with a hand to his chin. "There's no sign of any struggle..."

"Maybe our answers lie beyond that door," Uni suggested. "How about I go first this time, and you watch my back?"

"All right," Batman agreed, opening the door to reveal a stairwell leading down, letting Uni descend first while he kept a watchful eye, cautiously following after...

"It's dark down here," Uni grunted as she turned on her gun's light again, eventually coming to a door that was cracked open like the previous one. Controlling her breathing, Uni slowly pushed the door open with her rifle's barrel, shining its light into the darkness beyond... "I don't see anything," she whispered, pushing the door all the way open, looking to the left- "KYAAAAA!"

"What? What is it?!" Batman said as he pushed past Uni, pulling out a Batarang.

"S-s-s-skull...!" Uni squeaked out. Despite her shaking with fear, causing her gun's light to vibrate wildly, Batman could easily discern the skull laying back on the floor- as well as the ribcage it was attached to.

"It doesn't appear to be moving," Batman pointed out. Feeling around the door frame, he found a switch and turned on the lights, revealing a full skeleton laying on its back.

"Oh... I guess it's not a monster, " Uni lowered her gun, heaving a sigh of relief. "That's gotta be a model; there's no sign of blood or anything..."

"Look over there," Batman pointed to a table nearby, which had an assortment of beakers and test tubes, and other apparatus.

"This must be the chemist's lab," Uni realized. "But... everything's empty. Weird..."

"Hmmm..." Batman mused as he kneeled by the skeleton. "Shape of the pelvis indicates it's a male..." He gently pulled at one of the hands, which suddenly popped off. "Whoops." He lifted the hand to his face, taking a deep sniff. "...it smells almost like blood. This skeleton isn't a model- it's organic."

"It is?!" Uni gasped. "Does that mean... it's our shady chemist?!"

"Possibly. But we'd have to run dental records to be sure..." Laying the hand down, he took another look around... "I sure wish I was as smart as the Batman from the comics, because I have no idea what happened here..."

"What about that?" Uni pointed to a monitor nearby. "I'll betcha the chemist has all his research on there!"

"Worth a try," Batman agreed as he stood and went over to said monitor, finding a keyboard and mouse nearby. Tapping a button on said keyboard caused the monitor to light up... "So it was left on sleep mode..."

"Uh-oh, it needs a password," Uni observed. "Now what?"

"That's what this is for," Batman pulled out what appeared to be a memory stick from his utility belt. "Password cracker, courtesy of the Guild's cyber unit." He promptly plugged the stick into the side of the monitor. "Depending on what kind of password he used, this could either take only a minute or two to almost an hour..."

"Let's hope he used a simple password then," Uni said grimly. Not a minute later, however, the main GUI appeared on the monitor. "Oh, it worked!"

"Good. Now let's see what we've got," Batman muttered as he moved the mouse to double-click the 'Research Files' folder.

"Hydrocarbons, carbon life form..." Uni read off. "Um, isn't hydrocarbon like oil or something?"

"Right, petroleum and natural gas," Batman nodded as he opened the "Carbon Life Form' folder, then opened the most recent file.

"...Ugh, I can't make heads or tails of this!" Uni shook her head. "Can you?"

"I can try. Give me a minute; go watch the door for a bit," Batman suggested.

"Oh, was I a bit too close for comfort?" Uni surmised as she stepped away, heading back to the door and looking up the stairs. "Don't see or hear anything..."

"Let me know if that changes," Batman said as he pored over the file... "Strange... it seems to just cut off, like he was interrupted while writing... it must have auto-saved. Seems like he was on the verge of a breakthrough... let me check the previous files." So he clicked out before opening another document... "Ah, he's got a hypothesis here."

"Can you read it?" Uni inquired.

"Yeah, it's in plain language. It begins: 'As every organic chemist knows, the element carbon is the building block of all life on this planet. And we also know that petroleum-based products have hydrocarbons as their base. Therefore, it should be possible to conceive a hydrocarbonic-based life form'..."

"Wait, so he was trying to create an oil monster?!" Uni said incredulously.

"Or a tar monster, like in that live-action Scooby-Doo film," Batman surmised.

"Ugh, I remember that movie! That thing was terrifying!" Uni shuddered. "...wait. You don't think..." Her gaze drifted to the skeleton on the floor.

"That the creature he created slipped its containment and killed him, consuming him to the bone..." Batman finished for her.

"Maybe that's why all the chemicals are gone, it ate those too!" Uni theorized. "Then it went up the stairs and got water from the sink before slithering out the window!"

"If that's true, then it's likely already larger than a full-grown man," Batman said with clear concern. "But that doesn't explain what happened to Agent Kylie... wait. That chair there," he pointed. "There's some rope laying around it. Like it was used to restrain someone..."

"Your missing agent," Uni deduced. "I guess she managed to get free before the monster ate her, because otherwise her skeleton would be here too..."

"So she was captured by our chemist and restrained, but somehow escaped while the tar monster was devouring its creator?" Batman pondered.

"Well, if you think you're about to die, and get an adrenaline rush..." Uni suggested.

"But it doesn't make sense. Even if she was panicked, Serena would still have enough sense of mind to escape through the door..."

"Unless the tar monster cut her off, so she had to go through the window instead," Uni countered. "And then she tried to shut it behind her to hinder the monster..."

"...Maybe," Batman allowed. "All right, let me save these files to the memory stick for evidence, and then we'll continue our search outside."

"Sounds good," Uni nodded...

*To be continued...*

*Snippet 62- End*