Hello guys here we go again for the 5th chapter of the story.
I hope you'll enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.
Chapter 5: Another dimension?! (Part 2)
Previously…
Getting the chance to repay him for earlier, Neptune and Nepgear stood up and rushed over to the blonde, quickly helping him back to his feet. The blonde then re-drew Greed from its sheathe while Nepgear rushed over to pluck her Beam Sabre out of the ground and Neptune summoned her Katana from her Inventory.
Once all these had happened, the trio looked upwards once more trying to find the source behind this attack… which soon revealed itself circling the airspace above the ship. They couldn't make much out of it due to the storm clouds and the creature's black body providing some sort of camouflage, but soon enough the creature stopped in mid-air, floating in place while flapping its wings continuously.
None of them got the chance to say anything though, for the creature only spent a second in this position before diving down towards the main deck where they occupied, a roar soon flooding the seas.
Now…
BOOM!
A loud thud came with the beast's slamming into the Cruise Liner's main deck, sending the trio back, with each of them sliding across the ground from the shockwaves it generated. Once they stopped by anchoring their respective weapons into the ground, Neptune and Nepgear raised their heads first to catch a look at their attacker… and holy shit they did NOT expect to see what they saw.
"Holy macaroni! What the Nep?!"
"Another monster… that we've never seen before…!"
Both Planeptune CPUs gawked at the sight before them, for in front of the trio stood what could only be described as a winged monstrosity made from pure darkness itself, as edgy as that sounded. Speaking of edges, the creature looked to be wreathed in black scales and ridges, standing on all fours because it was a quadrupedal-shaped beast, sporting clawed talons on its front and hind legs. Two massive wings that looked like they could envelop entire cars clung to its frame, sporting claws of their own in the shape of hands with opposable thumbs that currently held the creature's front shoulders so its wings resembled a cloak of sorts, like that of a vampire. Lastly was the long ass tail swishing behind it, its mood being indicated by how it seemed to move rather laxly like it wasn't near anything threatening.
That sort of irked the trio, even Neptune who wanted to complain about being messed with, when the creature reared itself back and let out a roar to the heavens, causing them to hiss and cover their ears while holding their weapons as best as they could. Once they stopped hearing the sound, the three lowered their arms and quickly got back into their respective stances as they immediately broke into a mad sprint to charge at the beast from three different angles. Neptune came from the front, Nepgear came from the right and Naruto came from the left with their respective weapons poised to strike in a furious festival of slashes.
"Nep Jr, go for its right side, Naru Kun go for the left! We're gonna bash this meanie for interrupting or vay-cay!"
""On it!""
But the monster, after hearing those words, did not feel like making things easy for them as normal monsters did usually, so it raised its long neck and flung its head to either side, spitting out two large black balls of pure darkness that sped along the ground faster than most Olympic runners. It then flicked its neck downward to launch a third in front of it, which Neptune saw a bit too late. as, unlike Naruto and Nepgear who managed to get outta the way by leaping sideways, and rolling across the ground, Neptune gasped before quickly raising her Katana to block it.
Unfortunately for her, the blast exploded into a cloud of darkness right before impact, sending her flying across the main deck.
"Neptune!"
Naruto and Nepgear cried out their companion's name in alarm, which gave the beast the chance it needed to counter the two. It hopped into the air, turned itself so its rear end could face the fallen girl and swung its tail to smack at them both. Unlike Naruto who managed to hop back right in the nick of time, Nepgear shrieked when the Tail smashed into her gut and sent her tumbling across the ground.
"Nepgear!"
Growling, Naruto readied Greed as he tried to dash towards the beast and go for a quick draw slice akin to those who practice the Iodo style of swordsmanship, aiming for its right arm since he judged the face to be too dangerous thanks to that breath attack it did before. However, the creature took advantage of its bigger size. It slammed right into the blonde via a shoulder tackle which sent the blonde flying across the main deck and into some superstructure, causing him to cough up saliva upon impact.
Quickly recovering, Naruto stabbed Greed into the ground and got to his feet just in time for the creature to unfurl its large wings and take to the skies, hovering right next to the main deck's air space. He didn't wait to see what it'd do upon noticing Neptune's form shuddering on the floor like she were naked in the cold, so Naruto quickly dashed forth and reflexively leapt into the air to avoid another breath attack from the beast, rolling across the floor before sliding to a stop next to Neptune's form. "Neptune! Neptune you alright?!"
"Ugh…. ugh… I need… a lot of Pudding…!"
Whilst the purplette moaned stuff she probably would do normally, it became clear to the blonde when he kneeled next to her so he could lift her head onto his thigh that Neptune wasn't doing so hot. Her face looked to be twisted in discomfort and pain while black veins started crawling up the side of her neck. Not to mention the way black smoke seemed to rise from several body parts that spawned those veins in the first place, making him go pale at the sight. 'These veins…!'
Memories of the Zinogre came back to him upon seeing this, or rather, of something he'd briefly noticed about the creature before going into the unconscious land thanks to getting manhandled. He didn't remember clearly but he SWORE he started seeing these things start to crop up on the Zinogre's body for a short moment, nothing like this but it seemed to start with it.
Could this thing be the cause of this issue? And maybe the new monsters as well?
Anger surged through the male at the thought, anger at the monstrosity for ruining his first true quest with companions he cherished so dearly, no longer afraid to express such a thing thanks to Nepgear. Naruto gripped Greed's hilt tightly at the way his friend seemed to be in burning pain right now yet he could do nothing to help, he didn't know what the hell this even was let alone if there was a possible cure. His anger burned inside of him like a furnace, only getting bigger by the second like it had a will of its own. The flames threatened to swallow his very consciousness as the image of Neptune's wounded form burned itself into his mind like a slave being marked for life with a hot iron.
While Naruto may not have noticed, a faint flicker of red started making its way into his irises as his pupils started to elongate the more he thought about his rage.
[...Virus…]
"Huh?"
Just then, Naruto blinked (those changes abruptly vanishing alongside his anger) and looked around, trying to find out if they were the only ones on the main deck cause he just heard a voice. It had been faint, almost distant too like its owner stood on the other side of the world, but he heard it. Instead of the answer to that, all he saw was Nepgear hurriedly accessing HDD and turning into her alter ego, Purple Sister (PS), to then take off after the beast which spewed additional breath blasts at her. She dodged them, but it soon ascended rapidly with a single stroke of its large wings when she'd been close enough to strike, forcing her to turn and shoot up like a jet aircraft after it.
[...Frenzy Virus… Passing time… damage recieved… worsens infection…must fight… adrenaline… helps overcome…]
Once more he heard the voice, a bit clearer but still significantly distant. However, it was enough for him to categorize it as a male gender, and that it bore a sense of power. Lots of it.
Instinctively he glanced down at Greed in his hand, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he began to wonder about it, remembering the words said about it to him by the shopkeeper back at Planeptune. 'Ugh, no time for that right now! Gotta help Neptune!' his inner voice shouted mentally as he hurriedly shook the girl awake with his free hand, hearing the sounds of laser fire above mixed with war cries and roars. "Neptune, wake the fuck up! Get up, ya lazy bones, this ain't the time to be napping on the job!" he yelled, yelling the second sentence right into her ear like he were a loony toon enlarging said body part so she could hear him properly.
"Mmmmm… I'm up, I'm up Histy, don't need to yell in the morning…!"
Eyes slowly blinked open after tightening before, Neptune slowly returned to the land of the living. She shifted her gaze up towards Naruto and if she were in any other situation she would have teased the living daylights out of him since she felt her head resting on his thigh. But the moment she saw her sister's gunblade's energy blasts in the air she quickly recalled what had happened and shot up to her feet. "Oh Neppit, I got sandbagged! That's a blow to the main character right… there… ugh!"
Having shot up too fast, Neptune stumbled forward whilst a head-splitting headache rampaged through her skull like a Demon seeking out her soul. Fortunately, Naruto got up just as fast and managed to catch her with his free arm, which wrapped around her shoulders so he could steady her. "Whoa there, Nep, easy does it…" he urged. "Looks like whatever that thing hit you with did a number on you. Pretty sure some good ol' slugging will brighten your day."
Now THIS Neptune liked, she had some itches to sate and this Katana needed some payback. An impish grin spread across her face even as she remained slightly slouched, the effects of the attack still dominating her body. "Yeah… that sounds like a gooden there, Naru Kun… anyways lemme transform and…" she began to say, calling forth the power of the CPU within her so she could show that beast what's up. Show it why pissing off Planeptune's ruler was a bad idea… when nothing happened.
No that wasn't quite right, the moment she tried to transform her headache skyrocketed in intensity to the point she felt like a lava-like hand had a vice grip on her brain, causing her to wince and hold the side of her head. "Ugh… guess whatever that guy juiced me with… is keeping my body from… doing too much… I'mma gonna be limping for a while ain't I?"
"Weirdly sexual innuendo aside…" Naruto started, suppressing the blush on his face as he looked up to see Purple Sister and the beast flying at one another. "That isn't good, we can only rely on Nepgear to"
Before he could finish, Naruto and Neptune's eyes widened when they saw how the beast strafed ut the way of Nepgear's reverse horizontal slash, a look of horror forming on her face as it reared itself back before diving forward. Its right wing opened its claw wide and grasped onto Purple Sister's abdomen, knocking the wind out of her as it divebombed towards the main deck. Purple Sister gave a loud pained wail of agony when this happened, but it didn't last long since the beast roared after sliding along the floor for a minute and then smashed her into the floor, knocking the wind out of her. To finish things, it then tossed her away like a sack of used tissues, launching her through the air and into the same superstructure that Naruto's back had an intimate meeting with.
"Guh!"
"Gear/Nep Jr!"
"I-I'm alright…" Purple Sister stammered out, groggily lifting herself into a seated position before getting back to her feet and into a floating position. She then lifted her head and saw her sister back on her feet whilst using Naruto's arm for support. Briefly feeling a pang of… something in her heart, Purple Sister frowned when she sussed out the situation from the visual cues she got. "...sis can't transform, can she?"
Naruto and Neptune merely shook their heads.
"Not good… you'll pay for hurting my sister! SLASH WAVE!"
Anger gripping her heart, Nepgear performed an upward slash that released an energy line that raced along the floor towards the beast. She ignored how it darted to the side to avoid the blow and raced towards it with a loud war cry, a look of blazing vengeance in her eyes.
Glancing at each other, Naruto and Neptune nodded in unison before they raced towards the monster after Purple Sister. Even with her current condition Neptune managed to make it to the beast before Naruto did and unleash one of her skills. "CROSS COMBINATION!" She bellowed, leaping forth and unleashing a wave of overhead slashes like she were wielding two wheels in either hand, her slashes so fast that the waves they emitted struggled to keep up. She made to kick the entity into the air, but it leapt backwards before that kick could land so she leapt after it and tried to smack its head.
This worked, and her Katana left… not even a scratch on the beast as it writhed on the ground in a brief moment of panic before it stood on all fours again as the purplette landed. This did not raise Neptune's happiness meter any higher as she groaned in annoyance. "Ugh, now that's a bummer… minus 20 points for not dying Buster!" she bellowed, getting to her feet. But soon enough she DID notice one change to her condition. "Huh… I do feel a bit lighter, whaddya know?"
'So it's true… that voice was telling the truth, or at least on to something…' Naruto thought to himself as he darted past his companion with Nepgear rising to the skies above.
She aimed her gun blade down at it and pulled the trigger, shooting a few laser rounds at the creature's wings in an attempt to ground it since she'd seen and heard what Neptune had said. Her rounds did land on it, and the beast roared in fury and a bit of pain each time they did.
Seeing his chance, Naruto leapt at the beast and powerslid underneath its body, swinging Greed in a rapid set of diagonal cuts as fast as humanly possible. Like with the Zinogre, he noticed how the blade cut through the defensive skin that this beast had, unlike Neptune's Katana which he suspected would need replacing soon. It sounded like it would, and if he was right Neptune hadn't maintained her weapon very well hence why it wasn't working the way it should. That's a disadvantage to non-energy weapons, the maintenance was much more needed than Purple Sister's Beam Sabre or Gunblade which got maintained by her power anyway, just like Neptune's weapons in CPU Form.
Once he halted, Naruto saw the beast's tail about to slam down on him so he rolled like a sausage out of the way before using the momentum to go into a sausage flip into the air, all to avoid the second tail swing that it did to try and smack him. Landing on all fours, Naruto lifted his head and glowered at the enemy, breaking into a sprint towards its unguarded side as Purple Sister dove down towards it after cutting the power to her Gunblade, ceasing her laser barrage upon noticing him and Neptune closing in to get their licks in.
Upon seeing them, the beast growled as it rushed to charge at them. Seconds before the collision Neptune and Naruto rolled to the side though, getting back to their feet to strike at the exposed sides. Neptune even managed another CROSS COMBINATION on its side, kicking it into the air and striking it back down to the main deck.
Once she landed though, she sensed that another change occurred within her body, and when she looked down at herself she saw none of the smoke and veins she'd woken up to causing her to widen her eyes. "Huh, that's cool…" she remarked before a wide smile formed on her lips when she felt a power she didn't even realise was there started gushing forth through her system. "Hey, I feel pretty good right now!"
[Her body's…overcome… Frenzy…]
Again Naruto heard the distant yer powerful male voice, but this time he grew certain that the voice came from his sword. He knew cause it seemed to come from the same side as Greed itself. Nonetheless, that didn't matter right now, what the voice said was. 'Neptune's overcome the virus and grew stronger from it…?' he wondered, arching a brow for a moment. It couldn't have been that easy could it? She just hit it several times, though it did say that the key to managing it was adrenaline. If anything he suspected the effect to be temporary though in the meantime they should just use it to dish out the pain onto this thing.
And yet…
Right when Neptune and Purple Sister surged forth to try and dish out said pain, the beast released a large roar as it flared its wings, blowing them back with the shockwave generated by the roar. Its wings then took a single stroke, carrying it into the air. With a quick blast towards Nepgear, the beast grabbed onto her with its right wing and threw her down to the Cruiser's main deck. But instead of fighting further, the beast turned and shot towards the distance, its form rapidly vanishing into the distance…
They didn't know if it was a coincidence, but the storm overhead rapidly dispersed with its departure…
Yet on the main deck, slightly battered and bruised but otherwise fine, Neptune and Purple Sister regrouped with the blonde who (ignoring his self-loathing for not being able to do much yet again) quickly gave Neptune a quick check-up. "You alright Neptune…?"
"I'm good… still feel like I got a bit sandbagged, but that's nothing new," Neptune replied dismissively, though Naruto winced knowing what those words meant. This entire outing had consisted mostly of them getting their backsides whooped by various monsters, once was bad enough but twice was a cause for concern. Naruto could only imagine the way the other Goddesses would react to this information. She briefly narrowed her eyes as she tried to transform again, but again nothing happened. "Drats, looks like I still can't transform…" she noted, before her eyes widened in a panic. "Holy Neppers you don't think I'll ever transform again, do you?! My sexy mature body, it can't be gone!"
Nepgear, having just returned to human form and recovered from how she barely avoided that beast's blast earlier, shook her head in response. "Um… I don't think so, Neptune…" she stated. "I sensed that whatever you got hit with was temporary. don't ask me how I know this, it just feels like that's the case."
Her words, intending to try and brighten Neptune's mood, failed to do just that as evidenced by the way the girl slumped onto her backside. "Man, this blows. What kind of plot is this? The game's cannon said this would be a quick trip to the other nations, What with all these deviations?"
'Fourth wall breaking aside, Neptune does have a point…' Naruto thought worriedly, looking up to the skies where the beast once could be seen. Even Nepgear was sweatdropping at her sister's behaviour, though out of the three of them, she seemed to be the worst off with the way she held her right arm by its bicep, her Beam Sabre now back in her inventory. 'Things have been happening we can't explain… ugh, this is annoying…!' It was not long before Naruto couldn't think anymore, the blonde rummaging his hands through his hair without sheathing Greed just yet. He wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, even though he liked reading books, but he just couldn't put his mind to what the hell was going on here.
Honestly, nobody could tell… nor would they tell that this was to be only the beginning.
Later - Lowee
The rest of the ride back to Lowee had been spent in relative grim silence. With how the appearance of a new monster that threatened to destroy the ship if the girls and Naruto hadn't been there to repel it, nobody had the mood set to celebrate almost fucking dying. Thus there wasn't much of a celebration or feast from the passengers or anything like that, and everyone stayed the way they were for the remainder of the trip back to Lowee.
Once Naruto had questioned the ship's captain as to why the people had been so depressed that not even a Goddess saving them could rouse their spirits, the captain sighed and explained that this had been happening with increasing regularity in the last few years. New monsters nobody had ever seen before were cropping up and making a ruckus for everyone with an increasing death toll. This split them apart from the monsters they were familiar with since they were more of the cartoony, non-threatening variety but now the monsters had started earning their namesake. Convoys have been attacked, and towns and villages have been reduced to rubble, amongst other atrocities that have been brewing under the surface. This cruise had been designed specifically for those who had been victimised by these newer monsters, to try getting their minds taken away from those troubles. But now, now that they know those things don't just strike on land but air and sea as well, which meant there's no way for them to hide or run.
So how could they not be depressed?
This had naturally caused a wave of concern and anxiety to swell over the rest of the trio upon hearing this, with Neptune trying and failing to light up the mood with a joke or two but nobody got cheered up by her antics. Naturally, this depressed the girl, as she got forced to deal with a reality that she never had before… that the time for laughs had ended for these people.
By the time the cruise liner had neared Loweee's main port city, Nepgear and Neptune transformed into their CPU forms (the latter's having returned since the effects from that black smoke had vanished soon after the battle's ending to Neptune's joy), before carrying an embarrassed Naruto off to the Lowee Basilicom. Since the Basilicom rested within the main Capital city which was located further inward, they had a bit of a flight trip on their hands with Naruto noticing how Nepgear and her sister held onto him a little firmer than necessary.
He didn't want to think about the reason though.
Before long the trio arrived at Lowee's capital city and thus, landed outside of it before powering down to their human forms. Thus they walked into the town.
"Phew, we made it…" Neptune's human form heaved, wiping some sweat off her brow that she wished was imaginary. But combined with everything they'd gone through this whole time, she felt justified in calling it real. "Last Nation, last chance to take a break before Histy gets pisty again. Hopefully nothing ba…nah, not touching that, don't wanna jinx me."
Nepgear nodded her head, she had been about to do just what Neptune had almost done but she'd managed to stop herself. She didn't want the kids to see something so horrific either, as much as she knew their skills to be competent she just didn't want that kind of fate to occur in Lowee… with what has happened on that cruiser anything could happen now, and she didn't like it. "Yeah… still, I have to stay in script but, is it alright for us to be here? We've been taking breaks longer than we've been working."
"Technically untrue, Gear." an equally exhausted Naruto stated, bemused about the whole thing. He just wanted this day to be over with already but he knew things to be just about to get worse, especially if and when Blanc heard of his… mature reaction to basically the birds and the bees, Ram and Rom would never let him live that down. "We didn't do much OFFICIALLY, but we HAVE been fighting monsters."
Nepgear made to say something, but she stopped herself and shuddered upon remembering that black beast. She would normally have sent a message to Histoire on her N gear about it, but she'd been a little preoccupied with the circumstances and getting here to do so. "...right…"
Naruto winced, not liking the fact that he reminded her of the way that thing manhandled her during their fight. She didn't have much of a choice either, the moment that thing hit Neptune and halted her transformation, they couldn't do much. He cursed himself for not being able to fly like the girls, then he might have been able to make a difference. 'I'm… still so freaking weak…'
"Hey, don't be worrywarting about all that mambo jumbo!" Her prior comedic self returning, Neptune hurriedly appeared between the two and locked arms around their necks to bring their faces closer to hers. The way her face beamed contrasted greatly with how stunned the two became at the unexpected lack of distance, but Neptune didn't pay this much heed as she instead moved forward, grabbing their hands before rushing them ahead to the Basilicom ignoring the civilians going about their daily lives.
Before long, the two finally reached the Basilicom's entrance, with the two helpless flags known as Naruto and Nepgear recovering from being winded by Neptune's energy whilst said CPU kicked the door open. "Heya Blanc! We wanna hang out, so come hang!"
Upon entering the Basilicom, Naruto's first instinct was to jump to the side to avoid a flying book being launched at his face like a missile. Unfortunately, while he mentally celebrated that Mina wasn't here (as much as that made him ridden with guilt and shame since he didn't get to apologise to her) Naruto didn't see the next book coming their way. Good thing it wasn't aimed at him and even if it was, his instincts would have come in clutch anyway.
Instead, the book slammed into Neptune's gut.
"Nepu!"
A sharp cry of alarm rather than any actual pain left her lips as Neptune fell onto her back, swirls replacing her eyes while stars danced around her head.
"What the goodness?" Nepgear exclaimed in a bout of startled panic much like a rabbit, bouncing away from her sister. She would have gone and then checked to see if she was okay considering the way she'd seen her sister go through the wringer today, but she soon heard a child's playful cackle from nearby.
A very FAMILIAR cackle to be exact.
"Yay, I got Naruto and Nepgear…!" From one hidden entrance built into a pillar, out came a certain small girl wearing a pink coat. Well, to be more specific she jumped out from her hiding place with a grin so wide it'd be fitting for a gremlin. The girl's pink hat bopped up and down atop her head thanks to her movements., but soon enough that girl's grin fell upside down when she looked more closely and saw the 'results' of her little prank. "Awww, man I got the wrong one and Naruto's nowhere to be seen…!"
"Cause I'm right behind you, you little gremlin…"
"Kyaaa, no don't noogie meeee!"
Naruto, clad in tick marks like he was collecting medals, seemingly hovered behind the now sweating Ram known as the most prankster of the twin sisters of Lowee. Before the trembling girl could fully look around, Ram suffered the fate any smaller sibling had from their bigger sibling even though technically it was her who was the oldest out of the two of them. Naruto grinned like a demon as he caught her head in a headlock and held her close to his chest, then used his other hand to drill into her scalp in the old noogie style. Poor Ram flailed around like a helpless chicken, her arms moving rapidly as she struggled to break the headlock that Naruto had firmly trapped her in.
"Too late now ya little midget, taste my fists of love for the next 3 hours, mwahahahaha!"
"Noooooooooo, Big sis Nepgear save meeeeeeeee!"
Nepgear sweat dropped at the sight, and normally she would have indeed gone to help the poor girl… but she didn't have the energy and she felt a bit vindictive thanks to everything with this prank culminating in her being annoyed a bit.
"Nep Jr, methinks you should be worried about something else…"
Just then she was reminded of the fact that her sister had just been hit in the stomach with an oversized book, one as big as Neptune's head. With a look of urgency, Nepgear raced on over to her fallen sister. "Oh, that's right! I-I'm sorry, Neptune!" she hurriedly exclaimed, helping her sister to her feet before starting to fuss over her like a mother hen. "How's your stomach, any bruises? Can you eat still?"
Neptune, after taking a few deep breaths to stifle the irritation in her gut, nodded her head assuringly to her sister before aiming a displeased gaze in Ram's direction. "Alrighty young lady, your pranks have been getting a bit too crude for my taste…buds… pft hahaha!" she seemed sceptical at first, but the Planeptune CPU soon trailed off when she noticed the way Ram was being manhandled, before bursting into loud laughter. "Ahahaha, ahahaha, ha serves ya right you little brat! Taste the ultimate noogie from hell!"
"Meanie, help save me already!"
"Nuh Uh! No way ho zay!"
"Hey Neptune, wanna double-team Ram with me?"
"Christmas has come early!"
"No, not a double team!"
Alright, now Nepgear started to feel a bit bad for poor Ram. Naruto was one thing but Neptune had a LOT of experience giving noogies. Especially to Noire when she got the chance. She made to say something…
"What's going on? You're being loud."
"Eep!"
When a certain temperamental CPU's cold voice suddenly rang across the entrance to the Basilicom. The moment it was acknowledged all action ceased with the sheer demanding presence it oozed. Yet, Neptune and Nepgear started sweating a bit since this voice, while one they knew of for many years, felt much different at the same time. The user may have seemed calm, but they could tell as clearly as staring into a mirror…
That she was pissed.
Standing by a doorway was one Blanc, Lowee's CPU… and she did NOT look happy.
The moment she saw who was causing such a ruckus in her Basilicom, her already sour mood took a further nosedive into the danger zone, her features further darkening considerably upon seeing the trio… or specifically the way they looked a little bruised up. ESPECIALLY Naruto's body with said blonde rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin, trying to play his condition off like something trivial. "Ah, heya there big sis, how's it going?" he queried while walking up to his sister.
"Stand aside, Naruto."
"...Hai."
Just a single sentence drove home that futility for the blonde, who slumped his shoulders and sighed before strolling off to the side. He had the decency to wave a white flag of surrender when he did so, much to Neptune's horror.
"Traitor! Don't leave us before Blanny's rage, Naru kun! My poor frail maiden body won't be able to handle it!" The purplette wailed like a woman begging her husband to stay with her instead of leaving for his mistress.
Naruto wiped away some faked tears in response, totally fake tears. "I apologise my fellow soldiers, but the wrath of big sis is not what I would subject my body to. My training is nothing compared to her mighty titanic fist, oh woe is me!"
Before Neptune could respond to that, a hand filled with veins grabbed onto her skull from behind. that hand belonged to a certain pissed-off sister, whose features had been completely devoured by the darkness that now concealed her face within its embrace. Only a single red eye could be seen from within that dark abyss of nothingness, which caused the captured CPU to pale like a ghost.
"Come. With. Me. I want to know EXACTLY what happened, why my little brother got hurt so much."
Naruto wanted to say he was fine, if only a few tears on his clothing but wisely kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to incur his sister's wrath any longer than necessary, Blanc was like an ogre when she was mad and he already knew he would be in for it soon enough.
As Neptune got dragged kicking and screaming like a victim in a horror movie, Nepgear noticed someone else come into the scene through a nearby doorway who created a smile on her face just from being seen. A certain girl with shorter hair than Ram soon emerged from the doorway and sported a wide smile upon seeing Nepgear and Naruto again, a sight which the two returned with the latter acting like what happened before hadn't happened at all. "It's Miss Nepgear, and Naruto your back!" she exclaimed, rushing over and throwing her arms around the taller blonde's waist.
Naruto himself chuckled as he playfully ruffled the smaller girl's hair, the said girl giggling at the feeling while Nepgear herself walked up to her and bent her knees slightly. "Hi Rom." she greeted, holding her hand out to which Rom immediately smacked it with hers in a hi-five motion, something Naruto turned his head away to hide his massive grin and urge to gush at how cute that was. "What were you and Blanc up to?"
Rom finally stepped back a couple of times, putting her hands behind her back and shuffling nervously on the spot. "Blanc was… reading a picture book with me," she replied slowly, but considering that was her default way of speaking since she was a naturally shy girl when not with her twin Ram, they didn't mind it.
Now THIS threw Naruto for a loop, his eyes almost flying out of his sockets but settled for the white circles that all gamindustri folk seemed to be able to do. He didn't know how he managed to pull it off, but he figured it had to do with nurture rather than nature. "Wait?" He exclaimed, getting a nod from the girl. Naruto then rubbed the back of his head, perplexed. "What the hell… that's rare, usually Blanc's nearly as much a workaholic as Noire…"
"Really?"
This time, it was Ram who nodded her head in agreement with her sibling's opinion, bounding up to her twin. "Uh huh, Blanc's been busy being all boring and adult-like, but it's been really bad this time. She won't even let us play outside anymore, not even in the backyard!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and pouting in dissatisfaction. "It sucks!"
In the face of this childish tantrum, though one couldn't call it a tantrum but a small rant, Nepgear corrected herself as she tried to placate the small girls. "Blanc must be truly worried about something, she just wants you to be safe…" she tried to explain, but the twins weren't having it.
"But who protects Blanc?" Rom asked innocently, catching Nepgear and even Naruto off guard a bit even as they could hear the sounds of arguing coming from nearby. The voices belonged to Neptune and Blanc, the former defending herself against some accusations made by the latter. Pretty soon the sounds of things crashing or being destroyed filled the air, making the group look over to the direction they came from with varying degrees of concern on their faces.
So much so that they forgot how to answer Rom's question.
Meanwhile, Naruto had an answer but he kept it in his mind for now. 'Usually, it would've been Mina who helped Blanc out directly, as she was an adult woman who knew a lot of magic attacks so she would be more fitting than a pair of kids. Pretty sure Lowee has strict laws banning child labour in any form…' He thought to himself., frowning thoughtfully at the mention of the woman who opened his eyes to these weird sensations he got when looking at women… Mina is one of them.
The fact that she wasn't with them right now, her visit before being temporary (it seemed like Mina hadn't seen the kids so he decided to tell them about it later), must be grating on Blanc's nerves. Considering that she had just emitted sounds implying she had transformed with Neptune quickly doing the same to defend herself, things must be pretty bad… and she had noticed the remains of the injuries he had once taken from fighting the Zinogre and that black beast…
Oh boy, only hard times are going to be a result of this.
In the meantime, Naruto decided to take charge of the situation with the first order of business being to address Nepgear. "Sorry for this Nepgear, but big sis seems to have a lot of pent-up stress so your sister's gonna be a bit occupied for a moment. Wanna stay and play a bit with us?" he offered, a hopeful yet pleading smile on his lips with the twins eagerly wishing that the Planeptune candidate
For a moment Nepgear tried to say something, but she wilted at the thought of the pleading looks the twins gave her. 'Naruto learning the puppy-dog eyes technique makes so much sense right now…' she thought to herself with a weak expression and a sweat drop. Seems like Naruto was part of the Lowee family.
Yet as they all went somewhere else to play, Naruto got a text on his N Gear, a gift he got from Nepgear for his birthday. Plucking it out of his pocket, he opened the message up and turned ghostly pale at the result.
"I haven't forgotten about you, Naruto. We'll 'talk' after I've disciplined this bratty goddess."
'How the hell does she do this even while fighting Neptune… well, this IS big sis and Neptune IS Neptune after all…' Naruto couldn't help but think, shuddering at whatever Blanc had planned for him. Whenever his sis set her mind to it he had a hard ass time trying to escape it, especially after the first few times she managed to catch him. She'd gotten even better at matching up with him, the king of pranks, so this felt like those times. Seeing that he had no choice, Naruto internally sighed. No, helping it then, he just had to mentally prepare himself, not much point in drawing it out needlessly.
But for now, he had some playing with the girls to get to!
…Why did that sound so weird in his head?
Planeptune - Guild Building
"Hm? What is with this quest? Disband Citizens' Rights group protests?"
It became mid-afternoon by the time that Nepgear and one brutalized-looking Neptune (by brutalized, she just had a huge bump on her head the size of a soccer ball and crocodile tears) returned to their home nation.
The ride home had been just as brutal as it had been long, mostly because her sister got the beating of a lifetime thanks to Blanc's going Hulk mode on her for getting her brother injured. Sheesh, the girl had more of a protective streak than any parent ever could, the 'battle' between them which seemed more like a one-sided struggle for survival, had luckily been contained to Blanc's office but Neptune had never seen her so furious that she'd attack her so viciously. Perhaps it had something to do with her concerns with the thought of Naruto being in danger like that.
Speaking of said blonde, Naruto hadn't come back with them cause the moment Blanc (still in her HDD form) had taken him away for his colossal scolding Neptune had hurriedly taken the chance to get her sister and her booty out of Lowee ASAP. She did NOT want to stick around the beserker of their little group, and also she wanted some payback for being thrown to the wolves earlier… not like she admitted that when Nepgear asked her about it. Also, CPUs normally healed from their injuries when they transformed, but Neptune's comically sized bump remained even when she became Purple Heart with Nepgear to fly back to Planeptune.
Guess the wrath of overprotective as-heck sister Blanc surpassed the laws of physics.
Never gonna make THAT mistake again.
Neither of them wanted to be in Naruto's position right now though, but enough of that. Why Nepgear said this had to do with the way they had noticed a quest on the quest board when they got into the Guild Building. Let it not be said that they would let something as minor as a beating stop them from avoiding Histoire's wrath. Nepgear and Neptune now stood before the quest board examining the quest itself, confusion written all over their features.
Soon enough realisation dawned on the Planeptune CPU like a light bulb switching on, memories coming back to her from this morning. "Oh, that thing. Yeah, History was all like "Citizens Rights Group" during her little lecture." she mused, shuddering a bit when recalling that instance. She could still hear the Oracle's nagging voice like an annoying echo in her head, one that refused to go away causing her to pout in discomfort.
"Oh, did she…?"
"Are you saying I listened HARDER than you did…? Well, you WERE muttering to yourself a lot during our time offscreen…" Upon seeing the befuddled look on her sister's face, Neptune realised she had done something rare in that she'd gotten something done that her sister couldn't. It sent a wave of pride through her as the older sibling, and it showed with the way she grinned with her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest like she was thrusting it into someone's face.
"Th-That was just your imagination! More importantly, tell me about this group."
Neptune snickered at the way Nepgear panicked and tried to defend herself, denying the possibility of her being just as wacky as the rest of the main cast. "If I must…" the girl groaned in a fake 'what can you do?' tone while making the arm-shrugging gesture. "Leave your higher education to Professor Nep-Nep!" Ignoring the way that Nepgear looked at her like she was gazing at a foreign object not of this world, Neptune tried to bring back what she knew of this group they were discussing. "I heard they were a group who wanna see us CPUs resign so humans can enact their laws or something."
"Oh, I think I did hear about the last time I went out to do some work I think…" Nepgear blinked, her sister's explanation bringing back some foreign memories to her mind's eye. However, she soon found herself frowning at the mention of them, comparing their desire to a certain OTHER continent out there. "I guess they don't know about the Elemental Nations, huh…? A land without CPUs to govern them, where humans made their laws…" she commented, trailing off into silence.
Neptune got quiet too as she thought about that place. She remembered the uproar it caused the girls and her when they first found Minato and Kushina stranded upon one of Leanbox's beaches, wounded but very much alive. The emergence of a people who had not only no Goddesses, but none of their blessings nor functions had been something that threw all who knew into a mass panic, though back then thanks to the efforts of a small terrorist group called ASIC, a group who later showed their TRUE power the CPUs so arrogantly believed didn't exist, that Minato and Kushina's presence in their lands didn't raise too many eyebrows.
However, the thought of a continent run by humans had been an alien one indeed to them, a society was something that got forged through the formation and worship of a CPU, who in turn protected and ruled the lands themselves guiding the people into making choices that benefited said society. The Goddesses took this duty seriously, for the most part as there had been outliers such as Neptune herself. To them, the idea of a bunch of humans becoming rulers of their nations had been unfathomable, and thanks to the Oracles this information got classified beyond top secret as, thanks to ASIC's actions, many societal issues got brought to the surface which even now threaten to divide the Nations. People like this citizen's rights group had been crawling out of the woodwork, spurned on by ASICs overthrowing the world order.
It had thus led to a top-secret expedition consisting of the CPUs themselves shortly before their defeat at ASIC's hands to the Elemental Nations to see what things were like there… and let's just say they left GLAD that things had worked out the way they did on their home continent.
Nepgear at the time had never seen her sister so torn about something in her entire life.
"It's led by this person called Rei Ryghts, isn't it?"
"Oh, is it? I'll come out and admit and say I was winging that explanation, cause I hardly listened to Histy's lecture."
Nepgear smiled weakly at her sister's admission, though she didn't become surprised by her sister's lack of an attention span. She was like a child, paying attention only to things that interested her. But her smile soon faded when she thought back to this group of protestors. "Last I heard it didn't seem like they were causing any trouble. But since the Guild's issued a quest, maybe they're becoming more active…"
"Such Hijinks, I say! Who can survive without us CPUs?!"
'I'm pretty sure the Elemental Nations could sis…' Planeptune's Candidate thought to herself with a weak sweat drop like she believed her sister had erased such a place from her memory for this entire bit. She wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, though she did recall how Minato treated her like a little sister type and often pranked her as any big sibling would so she probably can't forget COMPLETELY…
"But things have been fine. Even with all of us slacking off, so that's a real toughie to answer…" Nepgear mused, trailing off as she thought about the lack of problems they had. That was before the CPU Candidate thought about the recent appearance of newer monsters that have been increasingly aggressive and didn't fit in with Gamindustri's themes.
Neptune had no such thoughts however though, in fact, she had no such negative thoughts in her mind at all. "Nep Jr, still wet behind the nose I see…" she playfully chided her sister, stepping back before twirling on one leg and spreading out her arms. "The most important thing is that everyone feels safe with a CPU around. Whether we toil our butts off or laze about for eternity is a non-issue. Work doesn't matter!"
"I wouldn't go that far…" Nepgear remarked, shuddering at the thought of what Histoire would say to that or do to Neptune. If anything the words 'lecture' may taste like heaven for them, and THAT wasn't something that she liked thinking about. "But your right. I can't be second-guessing a CPU's purpose when I'll be becoming one myself. Thanks."
Neptune beamed at her sister, patting her on the shoulder a couple of times. "As long as you understand my enlightened little sis," she stated before turning on her shoes and turning to leave the building. "Anyways, let's get this protesting their protest thing over with, I wanna go home and slack off all day."
Nepgear would have commented about that with a dry remark, but right now she agreed with her sister. This had been one exhausting day and she just wanted it over with. "Right!"
Protest - Summary
In the end, the protesting didn't go so well for the protestors… or protestors since the only one doing it, a woman with blue hair and matching eyes wearing a business suit of sorts, had been the sole protestor with nobody listening to what she had to say. She eventually fled from the CPUs once she had learned of their identity, which made them question Histoire's judgement on this issue. Seemed like so far nobody believed in the woman's words, which seemed like a good sign in their books, if anything those new monsters were more of a concern to the two as they strolled back towards their Basilicom home.
In an unknown space,
"I'm trying my hardest? Even when I'm just human? Even though I'm powerless?"
"You guys act the same way. When I first saw this one, I laughed so hard I puked."
"We may act the same way, but she's giving it her all. I hesitate to even give it a try…"
"Uh, yeahh. If you don't entertain me soon, I'mma die of boredom. Maybe I should visit that other continent, it sounds quite familiar actually."
"...um, that info aside, I have a request. Would you listen to it?"
"Huh? What is it?"
"My power… there isn't much of it left, but could you please transfer it over to her for me?"
"I don't mind. Why the heck do you want to do this?"
"It may sound odd coming from me… but I want to cheer her on."
"Heh…"
"Is that not a good reason? Am I being too demanding?"
"Eh, whatever. I'll make an exception, just this once. 'Sides, things in this world seem to be changing interestingly."
"Th-Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
"Yeah, you better be grateful. I'll get the ball rolling now."
"Yes please!"
PCHEEEWWWW!
"...Maybe I'll give it one last shot too…"
"Hehe, things are gonna get REAL spicey up in here… that blondie will be mostly fun to watch…"
Planeptune - Basilicom
"You think we should head back home now, Neptune?"
"You bet! Since we worked like hogs today, Histy is sure to have calmed down."
This brief back and forth between the sisters Nepgear and Neptune had been their prelude to finally arriving at their Basilicom, their home. It wasn't often that Neptune believed she saw paradise, but after the day she had the poor girl really felt like the place took on that role for her. Almost like it were a warm wife welcoming home her tired husband who had to work later than his regular 9 to 5-hour job. Better yet Nepgear completely agreed with her sister on this one, after the day they had with those new monsters and Neptune being sandbagged by Blanc, she didn't want to think about work for the rest of the day.
Unlike before and with an almost unusual reverence, Neptune took point and pushed the doors to the Basilicom open with a mighty spring in her step, rejuvenated by the familiar smells of her home like someone gave a dehydrated soul water. "We're home!" she called out in a sing-song voice, not expecting anyone to reply.
She didn't jump, just blinked, when she heard a pair of voices respond to her anyway.
"Welcome home, Nep-Nep! Welcome home, Ge-Ge!"
"Wow, so the rumour about you two getting to work was true. Maybe it'll rain milk tomorrow."
Neptune and Nepgear's expressions turned positively glowing when they heard these voices. They looked to their sources to see two girls standing further down the hallway, having just finished talking about something.
The one on the right took the form of a girl with fair skin tones, dark brown hair that fell to her waist and green eyes, a small leafy bow in her hair. A black choker clung to her neck. She wore a dark blue coat several sizes too big for her, though apparently, that had been intentional on her part for reasons nobody tried asking when she once mentioned how the last one wasn't 'complete' these days. The sleeves thus, had to be bunched up so the cuffs could show her hands, whereas beneath the jacket had been a black crop top with matching shorts, a set of white lines running down the side. Atop her legs, a pair of blue oversized boots and black socks adorned themselves, whereas her jacket sported a bunch of different coloured phones like they were prizes mounted on a wall or something. She had a small smirk on her face when saying that bit about raining milk, the kind of smirk an auntie would have when talking about some troublesome kids.
Considering how Neptune and Nepgear were, that made sense.
As for the other girl who stood beside the brunette, she possessed a similar skin complexion with creamy pink hair that reached her mid back in length, ending in curls while sporting bangs that were being held back by a black headband with a cream-coloured C logo. She had eyes that matched her hair colour too. For clothes, she wore a creamy-coloured sweater with detached sleeves, the sleeves having their back ends rolled back above her biceps like the cuffs over her hands. Beneath the sweater was a black choker like her companion, but hers had a pink love heart with a black outline on it. Around her waist, a single hip purse that's primarily black and a checkered short skirt could be seen that barely reached her thighs, exposing the black thigh-high stockings she wore that ended with pink lace trims. These stockings went into a pair of woolly boots with low heels, their material and colour being the same as her sweater. Judging by the mild amount of sweat on her brow, it looked like she'd been through some physical activity for a while.
Nepgear bounded up to the two girls, stopping within an arm's reach while her sister casually strolled up with her hands behind her head. "Hello IF. I didn't expect that you and Compa would be back." she greeted the brunette, who smirked when she received a hug from the smaller girl which she gladly returned.
Off to the side, Neptune glanced between the two girls as Nepgear pulled away from the brunette and gave another hug to Compa who returned it with noticeably more enthusiasm. "It's rare for you two to get back from work before us," she remarked, a light bead of sweat rolling down her cheek as her features screamed how puzzled she felt inside.
Compa and IF, two childhood friends of the CPU candidate Nepgear… though she had been born as her current self so calling herself a 'child' at any point wasn't completely accurate.
The former of the two worked as a Nurse in Training at some point but before the events of ASIC where Nepgear got captured, she had become an official Nurse at one of Planeptune's top hospitals located close to the Basilicom. She'd become an instant hit with the populace… especially middle-aged and elderly men who dote on the girl in a sometimes creepy manner. Like that one who swore he would never wash his hand that shook hers again. She had this doting big sister energy, though sometimes she could be like a mom instead with how she cared for both her patients and her friends. Of course, occasionally she would face some sort of difficulty, such as when her superiors got jelly whenever she was praised more than them or some of her coworkers could sometimes get on her nerves, but other than that she did pretty well for herself. She ESPECIALLY liked Naruto a lot from his younger years to his current self, she just found him adorable and got along with him quite well. Nepgear remembered fondly when she first gave the boy version of him his own nickname 'Ru-Ru' something which didn't sit well with him initially since it wasn't 'cool-sounding' to him, but he got over it pretty quickly. Though one of her favourite things had been that he'd called her pretty practically the first time they had met, an exclusive list very few got into.
As for IF, another childhood friend, she had gone down the mercenary path, joining the Guild at a young age and climbing her way to the top. As more of a tomboy compared to Compa's girly femininity, IF saw herself more as a fighter than a lover hence why she chose the path that she did. Apparently, it was also something her family did for generations so she's practically following in their footsteps compared to Compa whose parents before they passed had been simple tailors and department store owners. Her grandfather had been a doctor though, and when he had taken her in when her parents died she was influenced by him saving someone's life through surgery hence how she chose her path. IF meanwhile chose to follow her family's footsteps cause she grew up around tails of great adventurer heroics that inspired her. As such she's become a high-ranking agent of the Guild, becoming Gamindustri's 'Windwalker' based on her high speed and severe cutting strength with her weapons. Her relationship with Naruto had similar levels of aunt energy to that he had with Compa, though their initial meeting hadn't been the best as someone had ruined one of her phones… one of her few pride and joy sources outside her job. She… may have been a bit of a bitch to him, to her companion's annoyance. But that soon fell to the wayside when Naruto managed to find someone who could repair the damaged phone for her, turning him into one of the few males whom IF actively enjoyed hanging around.
She also MAY have been someone who inspired Naruto to be an adventurer.
"It's more like you two just laze about all day, so you don't know our schedules." the brunette commented with a hand pressing itself on her hip as she put more weight on one leg. Both Neptune and Nepgear chuckled nervously, the former more than the latter since it was like those scenarios where parents implied to their mischievous children that they already knew what their plans were but wouldn't confirm it. "Compa and I have careers to go to every single day, unlike you two."
"Ouch, your words sting us like a cactus…"
Compa decided to ignore the way Neptune looked like she'd been stabbed with multiple knives at once like some knife-throwing straw practice dummy. "You can scold them later, iffy," she stated, playing the pacifier for her friends with an ease that pretty much confirmed the way she'd grown used to it after so many years. She had seen this many times especially whenever Naruto got involved, he was one of the few who could get under IF's skin due to his prior childhood innocence of not controlling his motor mouth. But for now, she decided not to question them on where Naruto was right now, and instead changed the topic to something far more pleasant. "Dinner's almost ready, so I have to ask you to go wash those hands."
Like a chemical reaction becoming explosive, the Nep sisters' moods skyrocketed when they heard the word Dinner come from the Nurse. Neptune practically leapt into the air with a fist raised to the heavens like she won the lottery. "Score! Compa's delightful dinner!" she cheered happily, with Nepgear beaming in pure radiant joy.
Later - CPU's personal quarters
Dinner came and went with everyone having seated themselves at a futuristic-looking table. No expenses could be enough to add to the CPU's personal room, or so Histoire said for reasons neither sister could understand. Once Neptune had tried to buy a bunch of beanbags and replace the furniture with them, but the Oracle had caught wind of this through some reliable sources and put a stop to such nonsense before giving the girl an entire morning's worth of scolding. Nepgear hadn't been around at the time but she had learned this lesson when she'd tried doing something similar, turning her quarters into a robot production line.
Planeptune CPUs were weird like that.
Right now though the oldest was displaying some appalling table manners by leaning back on her chair, her belly comically expanded like a balloon with a hand over it as her feet placed themselves on the table's edge. "Be still my aching stomach! Compa, your cooking gets better with every bite…!" she praised in an almost drowsy state, the day's events combined with eating so much taking a toll on her stamina.
Off to the side, while holding a circular plate, Compa beamed at the praise like she was only paying attention to that, Nepgear having helped her with putting the dishes into the dishwasher a while ago. "I do this just to see your happy reactions, Nep-Nep!" she proclaimed joyfully.
From the top-down perspective, The Planeptune CPUs' quarters had a square-shaped structure with smaller rooms attached to its outside. The 'main section' had the living room with a stainless glass wall that let one look out into Planeptune proper, with a section devoted entirely to games. That section had a TV, Planeptune's signature console and a bunch of games stashed away atop a black multi-layered stand with grey metal pipes supporting them. Perpendicular to one another was a bunch of sofas for guests to sit on, specifically other CPUs who were the only ones who used this place. On the opposite side, lay a kitchen area built into the room with a small circular table and a mini kitchen section which had the most essential utilities like a fridge, freezer, oven, grill etc. As for the rooms that were attached to it, well those consisted of a bathroom, a couple of bedrooms and storage rooms for extra supplies like their items and the like… though they did have their Inventories and the like. They were more for those who didn't… like Naruto for example.
At this point, IF who had moved to one of the couches after finishing her meal, sitting with one leg crossed over the other, gestured towards the Planeptune sisters with a wave of her hand. "So, how did it feel to go out and get some actual work done?" she questioned, deciding to get to the crux of today's events. She had heard rumours that the two had been seen working and also had a certain blonde with him, but she realised from their states that the rumours had some validity to them. IF suspected Naruto was back in Lowee, though she didn't know what drove him to come here in the first place.
"We were a little rusty, but we didn't have too much trouble…" Nepgear tried to say, but she soon frowned and shuddered at the memories of those two major events. A response which caused the two girls IF and Compa to furrow their brows in concern. "Although, some strange monsters nearly wiped the floor with us…"
Compa widened her eyes at that, thinking back to her shift at work today. "Oh yeah, I heard of those. Some patients came in today with bite marks over their arms!" she proclaimed, shuddering at some of the horrific sights she had seen. It had been only her professionalism in keeping the patients calm that had helped her stay sane herself at such grievous wounds that normally only high-level monsters inflicted. "They said that some kind of blue monsters with blue scales and black stripes had appeared and ambushed their convoys…" she remarked, trying to remember more details though she did so in vain. There'd been way too many incidents like that to count for her.
IF nodded her head, suppressing her urge to go comfort her friend in favour of saying her own piece on the situation. "I've heard of em too… those ones we classified as Velicipray, a kind of monster like the ancient velociraptor-like monsters we heard in stories." she explained, the room growing in tension with each uttered syllable. "Real meat eaters those things are, they hunt in groups like a lot of adventurers have started doing, and seem to not care about environments cause they've been popping up everywhere from what the reports say." she also internally admitted to being ambushed by a few of them herself, and though she managed to kill them the way they coordinated themselves throughout the fight had been noteworthy for her. These were NO mere monsters, at least compared to the ones she'd known.
Histoire solemnly sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Yes, I am aware too. This has been happening for a long time, perhaps… no I shouldn't think that way…" she tried to say something which confused the girls cause Histoire didn't seem too willing to say so. But they knew better than to try prying cause it looked like Planeptune's Oracle was in the midst of verifying something… which usually took 3 days or something like that. Though they agreed that this had been happening for a while, years in fact with the aggression rate going out of whack being the first sign of the things to come. At least according to some Lowee Monster specialists… who were slowly being proven right.
It was a sobering thought indeed.
But then the scenario shifted again with Histoire shifting her gaze back to the Planeptune sisters, her eyes drowning in suspicious intent. Or rather, her suspicion meter had reached the 99% mark, like she already knew the answer to this upcoming question. "You two didn't try visiting other Nations as an excuse to slack off, did you?"
"Grk!"
"Wow…" IF muttered with no small amount of sarcasm at the look Neptune sported right now, totally giving away what she'd done. "Way to mask it all Nep." She honestly hadn't expected anything else from the biggest slacker she knew but still.
Even so, Nepgear still tried to defend her sister, she didn't think everyone was being that fair to her and herself when they didn't see what they had to go through for the day. "But we did our work properly! Aside from hunting two new monsters, we saved civilians and even met with that citizens rights group's representative," she exclaimed, trying not to think about the feeling of that thing slamming her headfirst into the ground like she was a used toy for it to play with.
That had been a horrible experience for her… though not the first.
IF meanwhile blinked in realisation once the last words left the younger candidate's mouth, a flashback occurring within her mind before she returned to reality. "Oh right, I've heard of them. Specifically their recent activities. They haven't been doing anything illegal though, just handing out fliers and preaching at street corners, but nobody pays attention to them right now." she casually explained like she was discussing the weather.
Yeah, Nepgear thought, additionally, when they met with the representative back when they returned, it seemed like she wasn't really into it either like the wind had been taken out of her sails or something.
Neptune, upon hearing this, immediately took this as a sign of Histoire overreacting things and quickly made her feelings known to all without really thinking. "Whatever!" she proclaimed, now done with this scenario. "Iffy said its fine, so it must be. Histy, you've been worrying about nothing again."
THAT would be a mistake however, as an angry aura swelled around the Tome who floated over to the purplette who turned pale as a Ghost. Even though their height difference was on Neptune's side of the court, poor girl felt like she were standing before a colossal giant. One which intended to deliver swift and painful admonishing upon her very soul. "THE EXISTENCE OF SUCH A GROUP AT ALL IS A PROBLEM, NEPTUNE!" Histoire roared, her voice sending out a wind which blew Neptune's hair back behind her. "THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR IMPROPER CONDUCT AS THIS NATION'S RULER!"
"YIKES!" Neptune wailed, holding her arms up in the air and looking like a flag being blown through by a powerful whirlwind. "DID I JUST STEP ON A LANDMINE?!"
This was bad, it looked like Histoire was going to be dishing out an even more severe lecture now than this morning. Each of the girls thought this in their minds, worryingly glancing at one another to pick the one who had to dive into that minefield and potentially die while trying to defuses the situation. Each of them valued their lives but they didn't want Histoire to go nuclear like that one time a planeptune official made the mistake of calling her a dwarf while poking her in the chest area.
Even BLANC of all people feared Histoire ever since that day. The quietest ones are the scariest.
In the end the sacrifice got chosen, and to everyone's dismay… it had been Compa. Said Nurse slowly gulped as she walked into the splash zone of Histoire's wrath, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "Now now, I'm sure that you want to lecture her some more Histy, but think you could save it for tomorrow? You can lecture her all morning if you want." she queried, sweating a little while ignoring the way everyone behind her somehow had military caps held to their chests like some kind of military funeral.
"...Fair enough." All parties heaved a huge sigh of relief, the girls shutting their caps they got for that skit away into their inventories, when Histoire finally relented and quietened the energy inside of her that should never be used in any form of aggression… Histoire may not be agoddesss, but blowing away a continent was an easy matter for her, just like breathing ait into her small lungs. While suddenly glaring at the fourth wall for some reason, Histoire eventually closed her eyes and heaved a huge sigh. "Please endeavor to continue your work tomorrow."
Neptune turned pale at that, or rather whether that had scared her senseless or the possibility of Histoire reminding her who the mommy was around here one couldn't properly tell. Still like the child she was, Neptune promptly protested to the idea of more work while flailing her arms around like fans. "Wait, tomorrow?!" she exclaimed. "But I worked my cute Nep but off today, so I thought I'd take a few days off…"
She didn't get the chance to finish that sentence though, thanks to Histoire opening her eyes into a beady glare reminiscent of earlier with her power starting to surge up once more. A visage started manifesting behind her, one that shaped itself into a horned humanoid with bat-like wings, eyes as hollow as holes that glowed a beady crimson, and hoofed feet like a religious depiction of the devil itself. One could call it her 'demonic visage'. "Did I ask a question…?"
The threat showing itself as clear as day, Neptune knew she could not win this argument. so with a sad girly sigh, she hung her head and slouched with her arms hanging in front of her, defeated. "...Roger."
That Night - Lowee
"Huh…? What the hell?"
Naruto Uzumaki, youngest brother to Blanc and her sisters, and one of the most beloved Lowee citizens aside from those aforementioned people, rarely found himself as befuddled about something as he did with the talk he received from Mina. He also never felt so nervous than when his sister scolded him for doing something wrong, like what he feared Blanc would do to him when he returned home from his trip across the world.
But right now he felt both of those things, thanks to standing in the midst of what he could only assume to be darkness itself.
Void would be a better description he would later think to himself, as only the ground beneath his feet remained visible due to the way it shone like a circle beneath him, as if it were a single light in this all-encompassing darkness. He couldn't help but be grateful to that light though, since could hardly make ou his hands even with its light and he couldn't see anywhere in this void.
Where the hell was this?
Where was he?
Was he still in Lowee? Oh man, Blanc was going to skin him alive for this…!
That talk with his sister… it hadn't been as bad as he had feared it would. Part of him felt this had been because she'd gotten all her anger out by venting on Neptune, of which he vowed to visit her tomorrow to see if she was doing alright. All she'd done was stay in HDD form of which he had feared for his life, since she had always been a foul mouthed monster in that form, before she simply… hugged him. She hugged him like he were her lifeline, whispering sweet nothings into his ear about how glad she was that he had been alright and that he hadn't gotten seriously injured. She didn't care that he had gone off when he did, Mina having told her everything before she left again so she apologised for not telling him sooner. She didn't even care that he had hurt himself during his vow of pain, the injury wasn't there anymore. She just felt glad that he was doing ok.
Those reactions… they stung him more than any lecture.
Just made his whole vow of pain much more important to him now, though.
But none of that explained where the hell he was, the last thing Naruto remembered had been changing into his pyjamas after all the day's events, putting on his night cap before slipping beneath his bed's covers and falling asleep faster than a certain blue hedgehog that collects rings. He didn't remember anything else that could result in something like this, so… it then occurred to him.
Was this… some kind of dream? It had to be there was simply no other explanation.
Looking around, Naruto tried to see if there's another way out of here. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to find anything, was he supposed to be trapped in this void forever, or until someone comes to rescue him? The thought revolted him to his core, Naruto fucking Uzumaki did NOT hide like some stupid damsel in distress! He had plenty strong female role models to look up to and none of them taugh him to be a wuss! He refused to play this game, he just refused!
{Heh, at least you didn't freak out.}
"?!"
All thoughts ground to a freaking halt when Naruto heard a voice echo from the darkness, sounding like it came from all around him. It boomed from all around him, giving off this omnipresent and oppressive feeling as a heavy and harsh weight abruptly slammed itself atop Naruto's shoulders through each letter in every word. As if just by speaking the male was being pressed into the void to be consumed forever.
Not something Naruto intended for himself, one could out on that as he raised his head and bit through his earlier trepidation about this voice. Face paler than a ghost he frantically gazed around for any sign of the voice's location, forgetting the fact that he couldn't see anything which only amused the voice… each chuckle making the weight on Naturo's shoulders twice as heavy. It felt like he had a goddamn truck on his back right now!
{As amusing as it is to watch you find me in vain, we haven't got long. Give me more blood and you'll be seeing me in the future. But for now, child of the elemental nations, lemme give you a hand with something…}
From the darkness a single tendril shot out, one far faster than anything Naruto had ever seen before. It quickly formed a massive hand the size of his entire head, grabbing onto said bodypart and forcing him to lean his head backwards. Only his right eye could be seen through the space between the fingers… and in the following moments Naruto felt something slide into him, igniting his entire body within this scorching hot sensation that enveloped his every fibre. Naruto wanted to scream, to howl, to roar out a demand for the entity to stop but his voice had been muffled and the pain robbed his ability to speak.
All while the entity chuckled in amusement at Naruto's situation.
{Don't worry, it'll be over soon… and when you wake, you'll be grateful, of that I am certain, child of the elemental nations…}
Whatever the voice said after that got lost on Naruto who blanked out, and knew only the sweet relief of oblivion's embrace.
Planeptune - following morning - Basilicom
Ugh, the morning…
Neptune thought this the moment she woke up this morning, her expression looking like a mix of an undead skeleton and a gremlin wanting to punish someone for ruining its fun. She usually woke up like a boundless ball of energy that refused to settle down till she got her hands on her beloved game console and immersed herself in the world of games created by the humans she ruled over.
If there was anything that was certain about her then it was that Neptune enjoyed life. She liked doing things that made her happy and didn't leave her feeling stressed or exhausted, though the latter's more on the circumstantial side of things since being exhausted from having fun wasn't the same as being exhausted so by doing tedious stuff that left her in a crappy mood. Her mets jokes, her playful jabs, even her fanservice moments were things that made her happy and validated by those around her, and that wasn't a problem for her.
But this morning? None of those happy feelings remained present for her.
Thinking about how she would have to do CPU work today made her want to throw a temper tantrum and game all day just to get away from it. She didn't want to work, she was the all play no work gal unlike ol' lonely heart. She made it a point not to say it out loud as much as she used to cause for some reason Naruto could tell whenever someone called her that from seemingly across the entire world, so he's appear by their side and kick their ass. She'd been a victim of it multiple times so in a fit of childish need to get back at him, she'd convinced her nation to call Noire lonely heart all over… That had been how the 'Great collapse' began.
Neptune shuddered at the mention of it, both Naruto AND Noire had emerged as blood crazed demons in the eyes of others at that time, making those words a forbidden pair for anyone other than herself. But even then Neptune didn't want to risk it very often.
Before long Neptune shook her head to get those thoughts out her mind when she entered her home's living room where she could see Nepgear all dressed and ready to deal with the day's activities. Relief flooded her in that she had her sister to help mitigate this annoyance with, which led into her saying the following comments. "So… Histy's probs still in a mood…" she began, shuddering as she felt the waves of power flowing through the Basilicom. She could tell they belonged to the Tome Fairy due to their signature, as if she were deliberately reminding the two that she wanted them to get to work and hadn't forgotten yesterday's events. "I'd rather sigh all day long, but we should get to work."
While saying this Neptune busied herself with getting ready to head out, something she REALLY didn't want to do as per mentioned by the author before. So caught up in her own issues though, that she didn't notice the conflicted look on her sister's face.
"...You've been sighing all morning. You really don't want to do this, do you Neptune?"
Not noticing the conflicted tone Nepgear was sporting, Neptune turned to her and gave a look that basically screamed how obvious that was. "You can tell? I worked my butt off yesterday…" she claimed, ignoring how they mostly goofed off yesterday whereas Nepgear and Naruto had been the ones doing most of the work. Even Naruto who got his ass beat by that Zinogre did more work than the Planeptune CPU, and that said something. "I just don't want my body to be all sore and all, is that so wrong?"
This lack of attention finally came back to bite Neptune in the ass, when finally Nepgear glanced down at the ground before standing up and facing her sister. "I say this as a person, not as a CPU Candidate. Neptune, I think your being childish." she stated, getting a stunned look from Neptune that she too didn't notice, sinking into her own thoughts. "Maybe I have spoiled you too much. At this rate, you'll… Okay. I got it."
"Wai-wai-wait! I have an awesome compromise! How about you work and tell me all about it later, Nep Jr?! As part of my rehab, its imperative that I slink into a few arcades and-"
"NO! BAD NEPTUNE!"
"Whoa!" Neptune gaped in shock, literally jumping on the spot when she heard her sister raise her voice. She never did that to her before and the volume she used nearly made her lose control of her bladder. "Wh-What's going on?! Is Nepgear angry at me, too?!" she exclaimed, trying to figure out what the heck had happened to result in this change.
Soon enough she got her answer though, and lets just say Nepgear could be vicious when she wanted to be. "At this rate you'll become a big fat failure as a CPU! One that'll put Naruto in danger!" Neither of them noticed it but Nepgear's tone gained an increasingly angry edge when it came to how the blonde got treated during his first quest. Whether it had been aimed at her sister or herself remained a mystery as the tone vanished moments later. "That's right, I must be more strict with you!"
"Huh?! Whoa, wait! time out! If you run me out like Histy, I'm not sure I will survi-"
"LA-LA-LA-LA-LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Nepgear proclaimed while covering her ears and turning away from her sister. "Go quest by yourself, I'm staying here!"
Neptune, horrified by the thought, tried to say something against that but the dictatorship known as Nepgear refused to let her get a word out. Just like in certain communist countries when people start protesting. Whatever she tried to say Nepgear just wasn't having it, leading to a sigh of resignation from Planeptune's ruler knowing that this was one of those things that Nepgear got really stubborn about especially when she was running high on emotions. So in the end with a defeated sigh, Neptune sulked as she left the room and later the Basilicom, leaving Nepgear alone in their room.
Planeptune - Virtua Forest
She didn't know how long it had been since she'd left the Basilicom, but a bunch of wandering aimlessly later and Neptune's brain suddenly rebooted, as if coming out from a state of autonomous movement. Thanks to this Neptune's eyes finally gained a bright light from her consciousness reasserting control, to which she found herself standing before the entrance to Virtua Forest. The sight of it made her blink owlishly in befuddlement.
"Huh… winding up at this place huh?" she mused, baffled by the coincidence. Normally she wouldn't have cared much since this was just another Dungeon, she'd been to many dungeons over her long life so it didn't faze her.
But right now proved to be a much different script Neptune soon felt that she did NOT like in the slightest, as her mind got bombarded by images like she were watching an AMV about this place, specifically memories of being whooped in the Kiester by that weird wolf monster even in HDD. What was its name again? Neptune forgot, but she couldn't forget the way it felt getting her ass handed to her in a mode which was supposed to be super duper invincible. She still thought that should be called hax, by the way, no monster should be able to beat a goddess 2v1 like that! What do those guys with different skin tones say… oh right, it's like reverse-jumping or something!
A disdainful pout stained her features like someone spilling an expensive whine on an equally expensive dress she owned, though that was more up Vert's alley since that happened to her once. Neptune nonetheless glowered at the forest with the stink eye, a very stinky eye like she was gazing up at the eye of that one dark lord who got a god complex and tried to tie himself to a ring of all things, taking 'till death do us part' WAY too literally.
"... You know what, maybe some beating up monster booty is what the doctor ordered. Alright, this is Neptune, storming in!"
In the following moments, Neptune stormed her way inside the Virtua forest, her face literally brimming with all kinds of negative emotions she never liked under any situation. Anger and frustration implied she took things seriously and she's no good with serious stuff! Its why she didn't take most things too seriously and made jokes all the time, it's the only thing she's truly good at never mind the terrible fanfic writers who don't know how to write humour or NEPTUNE-type humour properly.
Though some things became quickly apparent for the girl the more she rampaged throughout the forest like many monsters she had slain, and they had connections to the things she'd noticed. Namely that she didn't encounter any of the usual monsters she knew of which called this place their home, like those tulip things, those Dogoos, none of them. Instead, she encountered various types of monsters she had never seen before with some including a bull-like monster which wasn't that hard to dispose of in reality, and those things IF mentioned about before which hunted her in packs and often nearly caught her lacking due to setting up traps for her to fall into. Neptune may not have admitted it to anyone else, but she had to resort to HDD a few times to escape them. Killing those things proved to be a sufficiently annoyance considering their coordination and pack tactics, but she'd managed to pull it off eventually.
None of that did anything for her mood though, aside from making her even more annoyed and stuff.
The more she remember how the trio, more particularly Naruto got their ass whipped by that monster, the more guilt and shame filled her mind. She couldn't help the nagging feeling that this was her fault in some way, not the new monsters coming to town for a little pow-wow, but the way that she had failed in being both a big sister and guardian figure to the blonde human they all so adored. Blanc had wasted no time expressing JUST how she felt when having learned this truth, Neptune had never seen her so goddess-darn mad before. The memories of each hit Naruto took, the injury he inflicted upon himself when he swore his oath, the latter having once filled her with an impressed feeling, now made her feel like a piece of dirt. The way Blanc lectured her while caving in her skull like some kind of vengeful wraith… Blanc truly earned her demonic moniker.
Neptune even did something she never thought possible. The Planeptune CPU wondered what Naruto even saw in her in the first place…
But before she think more about it, she heard a familiar voice calling for her coming not far behind her.
"Oi Neptune!" The voice cheerfully called out.
Breath briefly hitching, Neptune turned around to see a certain blonde boy calling out to her with a dumbass, wide-ass grin on his face… much to her surprise. With how she had exploded on her ass, Neptune expected that Blanc would keep Naruto in Lowee after the whole first quest, and the new monsters fiasco.
Nonetheless, she shook her head and pushed those thoughts to the side, so she could give him her usual smile. "hey hey, Naruto. I didn't expect you to come here. Did you sneak out from Lowee or something?" Neptune asked as she was of course teasing Naruto about sneaking out from Lowee.
The blonde briefly chuckled sheepishly since that had been exactly how he'd done managed to get to Lowee without Blanc realising. It helped that he knew Lowee like the back of his hands, his prankster ways rewarding him with good memories of good hiding spots. Perhaps he may have bribed a few people to look the other way too, but Neptune didn't need to know that. "Well…" Naruto nervously started to say more, but they were interrupted by a noise belonging to a woman.
"Ughhh…" Naruto and Neptune then turned to the source of the noise and found a blue-haired girl, and blue-green eyes framed with eyeglasses. Her colour scheme seemed mostly black with white and cyan-blue highlights. She wore black business attire, consisting of a blazer, and a white dress shirt with a black tie. Her lower half had a plait skirt which was split at the front to expose some short shorts, and a black pantyhose that sunk into some knee-high white boots. She wore a capulet on her shoulders while some black gloves adorned her hands. She also wore a white belt around her waist with some pouches strapped to it, the buckle being a skull or something. Atop her head, she wore a single horn-shaped device, white with blue highlights.
"Where… where am I?" The woman muttered.
"Hey, that's the same woman from yesterday!" Neptune shouted in realisation, pointing a finger rudely at her upon seeing the woman now getting up from the ground, apparently having been unconscious or something as she surveyed her surroundings with an almost childish confusion.
Naruto sent her a confused look. "You've met her Nep?" he questioned, did this happen after they had separated at Lowee? It must have, but he couldn't help but wonder where he had seen this woman before… then again he didn't think too much of it for now since he had a bunch of other things on his mind at the moment.
"Yeah, it was yesterday when we took a request when you were still in Lowee," Neptune explained, getting a nod from him as Naruto went to talk to the woman.
"Hey are you alright?"
"Kyah?!" The woman jolted from his voice, nearly falling onto her backside with a look of panic on her features, before noticing the distinctly human-looking Naruto tilting his head in confusion at her. "O-oh… Sorry for that. I'm saved…" She apologised, releasing a sigh of relief seeing there were no more monsters around. Especially when she heard about these strange monsters roaming around Gamindustri.
Naruto internally winced, understanding the woman's pain. Luckily she hadn't encountered them from what he could see, since she just looked a bit dirty and no other injuries could be seen. Then when he noticed her about to take a step forward, his eyes widened and he reached out for her. "Watch out?"
"Huh-eek!"
Before the woman could realise it, her foot got caught on a rock jutting out the grip tripping her off balance. She closed her eyes reflexively while vaguely hearing someone go on about 'cliches and whatnot' or something, only to feel weightless. Heck that same someone even went 'what the nep?!' so she opened her eyes to see what had happened… only to go redder than a tomato.
Turned out Naruto had managed to catch her fall, then hoisted her up like a princess with one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, hands grasping her thigh and shoulder respectively. The boy basically held her like either a princess or a bride… to which considering how shy this woman presented herself and yeah the script writes itself.
Looking down at the woman, Naruto made to ask her if she was okay. "Hey, you good?" Though when he did do so it also considered how her eyes turned into small whirlpools and how her face now looked to be steaming red. Urgency and concern shone in his eyes as he gazed down at the woman in his arms, unaware of the way he held her could be taken by the observer.
"Ah, the old princess carry trope. Not in the main game, but damn Naru Kun knows how to pull the moves… even if its on an old lady…" Neptune commented to herself, a dead-looking stare being aimed at the two. Though with their situation she remained in the background, initially wanting to beat the old lady up for trying to 'corrupt' their pure little Naruto, but refrained. Mostly cause she didn't seem like the type with the balls to take what she wanted, so she didn't feel threatening really, not even when she's trying to make the world CPUless.
Moments later when everyone came down from their respective highs…
"C-Can you help me? I've been l-l-llost since this morning…" The woman asked in a hopeful voice, albeit with a bit of a stutter as she looked to the ground nervously, shifting on the spot. She may be somewhat recovered, but she couldn't look Naruto in the eyes especially since in her eyes, he resembled those handsome princes she had fantasised about.
Before the blonde could answer though, Neptune finally got tired of being sidelined in her own franchise, even if she's in a crossover fanfic right now, so she spoke up as she walked forward with a casual laziness. "I remember you. You're that Citizens Group from yesterday." Neptune said as the said woman stared at Neptune, having not forgotten what happened yesterday.
"Huh…?" She then panicked "GAHHH! Th-Th-The CPU!" She yelled, stumbling backwards but this time not catching her boots on any rocks. Though that hardly presented itself as a comfort now of all times. Oh man if she is here to demand compassion from her disturbing the citizens of Planeptune she is pretty much screwed.
"What's wrong about that?" Naruto asked curiously, but he was ignored as she was about to run away again, but Neptune stopped her.
"No, no! Don't run away again! Honestly, i don't care who you are, we just need someone to hang with!" Neptune exclaimed, holding the woman back preventing her to escape.
"C-Choking… you're choking me!"
Unfortunately she had hastily grabbed the woman by her shirt collar and kinda sorta accidentally restricted her air pipe. Something the girl soon realised was happening based on her mildly panicked look. "Ah whoops" Neptune muttered, letting her go before nursing the said woman's neck.
"W-what's a CPU, and a child doing out there anyway?" The woman asked nervously while trying to ignore the way her neck stung from the girl's strength. This DEFINITELY was a CPU, no human had that kind of strength without looking like a mutant bodybuilder.
Meanwhile Neptune hopped on the spot while performing a salute in the girliest manner possible. "Well isn't it obvious? I'm working hard, like the dependable and exemplary CPU that i am!" Neptune cheerfully said.
"You say that, but i'm pretty sure you were napping around and Histy scolded you." a deadpan Naruto pointed out from the sidelines, not knowing that it was Nepgear who scolded Neptune.
"Nepu! N-Naruto? You're damaged my reputation there!" Neptune started to sweat nervously at Naruto's words. Althrough he wasn't completely wrong, considering yesterday how angry was Histy. And now Nepgear this morning.
"I-i have to agree with him though… Because if you were truly doing what you said… i wouldn't have formed my group…" The woman pointed out as Neptune just pouts childishly.
"Ugh…"
But then the woman suddenly turned much more serious, a complete 180 compared to her original personality.
"Not for me, i wouldn't be this way if it's not because of all of you CPUs." She said calmly earned a confused look from both Neptune, and Naruto.
"Eh?"
"Remember when i told you that CPUs shouldn't exist and we only need rules and guidelines yesterday?" The woman asked.
"...Yea. What's about it?" Naruto slowly and cautiously asked, not liking where this is going. His senses were telling him things were gonna spiral out of control fast, there was a massive amount of malice rapidl swelling inside the woman like a violent maelstrom, his namesake. It made him sick to think such a horrid malice had such a connection to his name, but he couldn't help the comparison.
The woman then smiled. Not that gentle smile one could see from someone all the time, no. This was a different smile.
An EVIL smile.
Suddenly, alarms began ringing loudly inside his mind, much like that time when they fought the Zinogre and got their asses whooped. Horror and dread chilled him to the core, which was probably why he didn't get the chance to react in time as the woman's eyes briefly turned a brighter blue compared to before… with something inside them he couldn't see since it vanished seconds later.
He never got the chance to wonder though, because from the airspace before them black smoke begin to rise from the ground and ensnared the pair in front of her, a portal forming before them by seemingly ripping through cracks in the air itself, like reality as a concept had been ripped open by a pair of infernal claws.
[Boy, RUN!]
Naruto briefly heard the voice from before screaming at him to run, but it became too late to do anything thanks to a massively powerful gravitational force applying itself to the both of them. In a panic, Naruto tried stabbing his sword into the ground to try and anchor himself, only for the force to yank him into the portal anyways, leaving a gaping hole in the earth. A faint scream left his lips as he fell inside like he were falling down a well.
"Naruto!" Neptune called out after Naruto was sucked first in the portal before she was sucked in seconds after Naruto, to which the portal suddenly disappeared.
To be continued…
Annnnd done ! I hope you liked this chapter. It took us time to do the chapter, but you won't be disappointed of the results.
The next chapter will be the start of the adventure in the Ultradimension.