Chapter 22 New member and new equipment.
Disclaimer: I don't own Konosuba or Kamen Rider.
Chapter 22 New member and new equipment.
(Morning.)
(At the mansion.)
"Really?! Can I really be part of your group?" Yunyun asks in surprise at Haruka's request.
"Why not? You were more than useful in the fight against Isabelle, and your magic would be very useful for our future missions!" Haruka said, sounding excited.
"But if you don't want to join us, that's fine!" Kazuma says, trying to ease the tension.
Yunyun looks down a little thoughtfully. Megumin intervened, stepping into the middle of the conversation.
"Just accept it, Yunyun." Megumin said, approaching the girl.
"Are you... are you sure?!" Yunyun asks in surprise at Megumin's request.
"Look, I don't really like the idea, but I must admit..." Megumin looks at Haruka. "Haruka's mostly right."
Haruka taps Megumin on the shoulder and nods.
"Well... In that case, I accept!" Yunyun speaks excitedly.
[...]
"Right... And this will be your room!" Darkness opens a door, causing a small cloud of dust to rise from the room.
"*Cough* *Cough* I think..." Yunyun covers his nose. "I think it's a bit dusty."
"I'm sorry about that!" Darkness apologized to Yunyun. "It's just that this was a spare room and the only one free, but we'll help you clean up."
"Don't worry..." Yunyun enters the room and leaves her bags on the floor. "I can clean up after myself."
"Are you sure?" Darkness asked, looking confused.
"Yes, don't worry." Yunyun opens her suitcase and takes out a cloth with a cute teddy bear print. She ties the cloth around her mouth and nose and gets ready to start.
"All right, if you need anything, just call..." Darkness, still looking confused, decides to let her do whatever she wants.
[...]
"Do you really think so?" Kazuma says as he leans on the dining table.
"I don't know, but if she was investigating us, who's to say the demon king isn't watching us?" Haruka says worriedly as he sits down in a chair.
"That's really worrying... But tell me, how did you get Hannibal?" Kazuma says, trying to change the subject.
"Well... I don't really know how to explain it..." Haruka thinks. "I just felt my chest get warmer and then out of nowhere the stone Keele gave me glowed and Hannibal appeared."
"Wait... The stone Keele gave you?" Kazuma says, realizing something.
"É. Even..." Haruka picks up her stone and a small miniature of Hannibal appears and the stone disappears. "He looks like he's the stone."
"No..." Kazuma mutters, seeing the mini Hannibal on the table. "Wait, if he is that stone, then..." Kazuma picks up his stone and looks at it. "Can I summon an Aragami too?!"
"Maybe, give it a try!" Haruka says excitedly as he watches Kazuma.
"Right..." Kazuma concentrates and starts to push, letting out a few angry groans as he gives up. "Ahh what the hell!"
"Are you pushing to get your pants dirty?" Aqua asks, entering the room.
"No, I was trying to summon a cool dragon like Haruka..." Kazuma drops his stone on the table and lays his head down, lamenting his current state.
"Don't worry, you'll manage... One day, maybe!" Aqua shrugs her shoulders, but she notices the small dragon on the table. "Is that Hannibal?"
"Yes, I can summon a miniature version of him." Haruka stretches out his arm and Hannibal climbs onto it, resting on the boy's shoulder.
"You never cease to amaze me, do you?" Aqua laughs lightly as he picks up a glass of water and drinks it.
"Come on..." Kazuma groans in frustration.
"Stop complaining, Kazuma!" Aqua says, sounding a little annoyed.
[...]
"Hello beautiful people!" Vanir enters the house with her air of joy and glamor.
"Ah, hi Vanir." Haruka greets Vanir, who has just entered the house.
"You... you're that demon who was blown up together with Haruka, aren't you?" Yunyun asks while looking at Vanir.
"That's right, correct, ma'am!" Vanir notices Yunyun's presence. "Ohh... And as I can see, it looks like your group is growing, my dear Haruka."
"Yeah, right, and did you just come here to say hi or did you come for something else?" Haruka asks as she approaches him.
"Actually, I came here to deliver tests of your last order!" Vanir says, pulling a box out of thin air.
"Wait, those are the..." Haruka tries to speak, but is interrupted by Kazuma and Aqua.
"We're here!" Kazuma and Aqua say at the same time.
"Man, today's shopping was hard!" Kazuma complains as he puts the shopping bags on a table.
"Yeah, but at least we got some good stuff!" Aqua says, putting some more shopping bags on the table.
"Oh, Vanir's here?..." Kazuma looks at Vanir and realizes what's happened. "Wait, you mean..."
"That's right!" Vanir says to the four onlookers as he raises the box high in the air.
PAUSE
Kazuma opens the box and sees two hearing aids inside.
"Wow, you really finished the communicators!" Kazuma picks up the devices and looks at them.
"Let's just say they're almost done. These are just prototypes, and they're the reason I came here." Vanir explains to the four of them.
"What do you mean?" Yunyun asks.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Aqua asks, looking much more confused.
"I came here to ask you to use them at a mass to test them." Vanir says, picking up the communicators.
"So you want us to take a mission and test the communicators in practice?" Haruka asks with a hand on her chin, already understanding Vanir's request.
"That's right!" Vanir says with a huge smile on his face. "Because there's nothing better for testing than live guinea pigs!"
"Hf!..." Yunyun swallows dryly as he listens to Vanir's statement.
"Woh, you're scaring the girl." Kazuma said, approaching Vanir and picking up the communicators. "So we just need to run the tests and let you know what goes wrong, right?"
"Yes, as these are prototypes I can compare them with the final version for improvements and bug fixes!" Vanir speaks with conviction in his tone.
"All right, we'll do the tests." Haruka gets up from the sofa and walks over to Vanir.
"That's what I like." Vanir smiles slightly as he shakes Haruka's hand.
PAUSE
"So that's why we're going on a mission today?" Megumin asks, watching Kazuma choose a mission from the guild's four missions.
"Yes, we're doing it to test the communicators." Kazuma says, looking at the four missions.
"I still don't understand..." Darkness said, approaching Kazuma while looking at the communicators in his hands. "What do these... Communicators do?"
"In short: They're used to talk from a distance." Kazuma picks up a mission and looks at it.
"What do you mean?" Megumin asks in confusion.
"Haruka!" Kazuma gestures with his hand for Haruka. "Do me a favor and explain it to them." Kazuma says while continuing to look at the missions.
"Right..." Haruka gets up from the guild table and walks over to Megumin and Darkness.
Aqua and Yunyun get up too and follow Haruka to listen to the explanation.
"Well, they're for talking to people from a distance." Haruka goes over to Darkness and she hands him the communicators. "The communicators are connected, so two people will each use one of them, and they can talk to each other normally even if they're far away."
"Like a letter?" Megumin asks, still confused.
"I'd better demonstrate it in practice." Haruka walks up to Megumin and ruffles her hair. "Excuse me..." Haruka touches Megumin's ear and puts the communicator in her right ear.
"And what does that do?" Megumin asks a little nervously.
"Walk to the other side of the guild and you'll see." Haruka says, pointing to the other side of the guild.
Megumin obeys and starts walking to the other side of the guild, Haruka walks a little while adjusting the communicator in her ear. Megumin reaches the other side and waves to Haruka.
"What now?" Darkness asks as he watches Megumin.
"Now just do it..." Haruka taps her communicator and looks at Megumin. "Can you hear me, Megumin?"
Megumin is startled to hear Haruka's voice in his ear. "Haruka! You... You're talking to me!" Megumin asks, startled and impressed.
"Yes, that's right!" Haruka celebrates internally. He walks over to Darkness and puts the communicator to his ear. "Darkness, talk to Megumin."
"W-What?!" Darkness asks frightened, but hears Megumin's voice in his ear.
"Darkness, are you listening to me!" Megumin asks with a huge smile on her face.
"Ohh Megumin, I can hear you even from far away!" Darkness says in surprise.
"Hey, I want to play with the communicator too!" Aqua says excitedly as she walks up to Darkness and tries to take the communicator from his ear.
Yunyun tries to calm Aqua down while Darkness tries to loosen his grip on the Goddess.
"So, have you found a good mission yet?" Haruka asks, approaching Kazuma.
"Not yet. Most of them are for killing slightly stronger monsters." Kazuma says, returning one of the posters to the board.
"Ah, we won't have any problems with that. Our group is pretty strong." Haruka looks back at the girls.
Megumin is doing a little dance on the other side of the guild, Darkness is lying on the floor with Aqua sitting on her back while she tries to use the communicator, while Yunyun is trying to get Aqua off Darkness.
"...Or almost." Haruka says, turning her attention back to the mission board.
"How about this one?" Kazuma picks up a poster and hands it to Haruka.
"Let me see..." Haruka takes the poster and begins to read it. "I'm having problems with my harvest. A large humanoid spider is invading my crops and killing my animals. The reward for eliminating it is 800,000 eris."
"Look, a giant humanoid spider. I think you already know what this is about." Kazuma says, crossing his arms.
"É... It's definitely an Amazon." Haruka says as she shakes the sign. "So, shall we accept it?"
"Sure, huh? This Amazon will be easy to deal with!" Kazuma mocks a little as he walks up to the girls. "Hey, girls!" Kazuma says, drawing everyone's attention. "We've found a mission, let's log it."
[...]
"And with that we're all set!" Luna says with a smile on her face. "The mission has been registered and payment will be made after you bring proof that you've completed the work."
"All right!" Kazuma stretches a little. "Let's finish this soon, I want to test the communicators!"
"Oh, you're in such a hurry!" Aqua says, following Kazuma.
"Well, thanks, Luna! See you later!" Darkness says goodbye to the receptionist and follows the rest of the group.
Kazuma, Aqua and Darkness walk to the table where the rest of the group is waiting.
"Please, Haruka!" Megumin says as she clasps her hands together imploring him.
"Megumin, we're not going with Hannibal." Haruka says as she looks at the explosive mage.
"Why? He's a dragon and everyone will be impressed and respect us!" Megumin says excitedly as she punches the air.
"It's just that having a gigantic dragon appear in the middle of the city is a bit... Desperate for the locals." Haruka says, trying to explain it to her.
"Why, he's so nice and cool and... He's a dragon, boxa!" Megumin quips as she looks away.
"Still, the answer is no." Haruka says to the little mage. "And besides, letting him free could be dangerous."
"Come on..." Megumin lays her head on the table in frustration.
"Megumin, listen to him. People could create chaos because of Hannibal." Yunyun said, trying to explain to her.
"Boring..." Megumin mutters a little angrily.
"Are you guys getting all worked up?" Darkness said as he approached them.
"Darkness, tell Haruka to summon Hannibal!" Megumin looks at Darkness with a pleading look.
"Sorry, Megumin. It's his summoning, there's nothing I can do." Darkness says apologetically to Megumin.
"Ahh..." Megumin gives a frustrated groan as he lays his head on the table again.
"Come off it! We have to solve the mission soon!" Aqua says, patting Megumin lightly on the head.
"Right, everyone. Everybody ready?" Kazuma asks and most of the group nods. "All right! Let's go!"
(Mission started.)
(Eliminate the Giant Humanoid Spider on the farm.)
PAUSE
"Right... This is it." Omega says as he stares at a small forest.
"Are you sure this is it?" Aqua asks, a little frightened by the forest.
"According to the report..." Neo says as he takes the lead. "The giant spider usually comes out at night. And when people enter the forest, it hunts them down and devours them."
"And why hasn't anyone come here to solve it?" Darkness says, looking worried.
"Afraid of dying?" Megumin says.
"Is the spider too strong?" Yunyun.
"Or arachnophobia!" Neo scoffs a little as he looks at the forest.
"But anyway, do you have any training plans?" Yunyun asks looking at the boys.
"Oh, yeah!" Omega picks up the communicators and hands them over. One for Megumin and the other for Yunyun. "You'll be our communicators, we'll make two teams and cover a larger area in the forest."
"But can't you sense the Amazons?" Aqua asks confused.
"Yes, but only when they pose a threat." Neo explains. "As long as they're hidden, we won't be able to detect them."
"Ohhh!" Aqua is impressed by the explanation.
"Right guys!" Omega says, drawing everyone's attention. "Team 1: Kazuma, Yunyun and Darkness. Team 2: Megumin, Aqua and me."
"Why do I need to take Darkness?" Neo questions the formation.
"If something bad happens, you can use her as a human shield." Omega suggests as he begins to enter the forest.
"Hey!" Darkness says, a little indignant and embarrassed.
"All right then!" Neo shrugged and started walking into the forest.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Darkness shouts with his face red with embarrassment.
[...]
(With Team 2)
"Have you found anything?" Omega asks while looking inside some bushes.
"Not yet..." Aqua says looking around the forest.
"Gee... it seems pretty dark in here..." Megumin says, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh, it is! You can't see in the dark." Omega said, walking over to the mage. "Hannibal, go with her."
Omega picks up his stone and it glows, and a small dragon jumps out of the stone and lands on the explosive mage's shoulder.
"Oh, hi Hannibal!" Megumin takes the little dragon in her arms and starts stroking it.
"If you get into trouble, he'll protect you." Omega says, pulling away a little.
"He really likes Megumin." Aqua approaches them both and strokes the little dragon's head.
"Well, he's a bit... Sticky." Omega says, scratching the back of his head. "Megumin, talk to Yunyun to see if they've found anything?"
"Right!" Megumin hands Hannibal to Aqua and clicks the communicator. "Yunyun, did you find anything?"
"Actually, yes!" Yunyun whispers into the communicator.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Megumin asks worriedly.
(With Team 1)
"What do we do?" Yunyun whispers nervously, watching the thousands of baby spiders scurry across the ground as she stands on the branch of a tree.
"For now, let's just wait for Haruka." Neo says while leaning on the branch of a tree.
"Are their poisons too strong?" Darkness mutters as he looks at the chicks.
"Do you want to go down there and test it out?" Neo mocked the woman while giving her a gentle shove on the back.
"Kazuma, don't knock me down!" Darkness whispers angrily as she holds onto the branch.
"Megumin, can you get to our location?" Yunyun asks as she looks at the spiders that seem to have changed their direction.
(With Team 2)
"We'll be there in no time!" Megumin says through the communicator.
"What's up?" Aqua asks while holding Hannibal.
"They're in trouble, let's go!" Megumin says, looking at Omega.
"You don't have to speak twice!" In the blink of an eye, Omega takes Aqua and Megumin in his arms and starts running through the forest.
(With Team 1)
"Do you think they're going to the nest?" Yunyun asks, looking at the young spiders.
"Probably, if they're all going in one direction..." Neo puts his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Look, they're decreasing in number!" Darkness said, pointing at the chicks.
Neo and Yunyun look over to see that the number of spiders is decreasing.
"I think it's time we followed them..." Neo says, taking Yunyun and Darkness by the shoulders.
"Ahh that's shameful!" Yunyun said, covering her face.
"Ah, I don't mind too much." Darkness shrugged.
Neo starts jumping through the branches following the spiders. He reaches the branch of a tree near a cave, he looks at the entrance to the cave and sees the spiders entering it.
"Yunyun, contact Megumin and tell her we found the nest." Neo leaving the two girls on the branch.
"Right." Yunyun put her hand to her ear and activated the communicator. "Megumin, I'm reporting that we found the nest. Are you around yet?"
"Good for you, we're having a bit of trouble here!" Megumin says while sounding breathless.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Yunyun asks with concern in his voice.
Yunyun tries to speak, but she hears a buzz from the communicator and the call is terminated.
"Are they coming?" Darkness asks.
"No. She told me they're in trouble." Yunyun says, sounding worried.
"Then it's just the three of us." Neo says, jumping down from the branch and starting to walk towards the cave.
"Right!" The girls agree and jump together.
(With Team 2)
"Aqua! Get off me!" Omega says, trying to get the Goddess who is clinging to his back firmly off his back.
"No!" Aqua cries out whimpering. "There are thousands of these monstrosities!" Aqua cries.
"I know! But I can't fight properly if you're stuck to me!" Omega says, before seeing a cub approaching and him stepping on the spider.
"Stop crying, Aqua!" Megumin says, mocking a little.
"You're only calm because Hannibal is protecting you!" Aqua shouts indignantly.
Hannibal leaps across the floor while slashing and burning the spiders. The little dragon fires a fireball at the spiders, managing to kill a few.
"Aqua, they're not going to kill you. Then let me go!" Omega, already looking a little annoyed.
"Please! Don't let those things get on me!" Aqua pleads as she clings tighter to Omega.
"Ahhh my god!" Omega sighs as he gives up on freeing himself.
"What do we do?" Megumin asks as she approaches Omega.
"For now, we'll just eliminate these cubs. If one stays alive, they can breed again." Omega says, walking over to where Hannibal was standing.
Omega pulls the right lever of his Driver, pulling out his Amazon Whip.
"If you're going to hang around me, at least don't get in my way." Omega starts running while swinging his whip.
He hits several spiders along the way, splitting them in half with his attacks and making them melt into black goo.
"I'm going!" Megumin starts running as Hannibal climbs onto her shoulder.
[...]
(With Team 1)
"Oh my God! It won't end!" Neo screams in rage. He fires a fireball at the horde of cubs that was chasing him.
"Kazuma! The mother seems to be over there!" Yunyun says pointing towards the back of the cave.
They see a kind of spider woman, with pink armor all over her body, big purple eyes on her face, purple hair and, of course, spider legs on her back.
"At last!" Neo celebrates at the sight of the spider.
"But there's no way we can get close to it with all these babies!" Darkness says, kicking a few spiders to get them away from her.
"I'll sort it out!" Neo says before squeezing the syringe of his Driver.
"Spike Loading!" The Driver speaks in a robotic voice. Neo's arm opens and his spike shooter emerges.
He raises his arm, pointing it at the spider woman and starts firing his spikes.
Yunyun doesn't stay behind and helps Neo by shooting a few fireballs at the cubs.
"Don't worry!" Darkness kicks some chicks that were nearby. "I'll protect you like a human shield."
"Nothing more than your duty!" Neo says, firing the spikes in the spider's direction.
"Hey!" Darkness says a little embarrassed.
"Let me try something..." Neo looks at his thorn shooter and aims it again. "Flame!"
Neo fires a flaming thorn at Amazon, managing to hit her right in the arm. Amazon groans in pain as she feels the pain of the fiery thorn.
"Yunyun, back me up!" Neo runs towards Amazon.
"Right!" Yunyun says as she continues firing fireballs in the spider's direction.
Darkness sighs as he runs alongside Neo. Neo leaps over the walls, slashing at the cubs with his free arm as he continues firing at the spider.
The Amazon growls and shoots a web in Neo's direction.
Neo dodges the web, dropping to his knees as he slides to the ground. Neo squeezes the syringe of his Driver.
"Blade Loading!" The Driver speaks in a robotic voice, the thorn trigger is sucked away, making room for Neo's sword to emerge.
Neo spins his body around, managing to slice into the Amazon's belly. The spider groans in pain and kicks Neo, knocking him into a wall.
"Damn... I didn't think she'd be so strong..." Neo groans in pain, getting off the wall he hit.
"I'm the enemy!" Darkness speaks, she tries to hit Amazon's back, but she hits the wall and traps her aram.
"Useless girl." Neo says, he kicks Amazon. He manages to throw her into another wall.
"Flame Ball!" Yunyun shouts, firing at Amazon.
She manages to hit Amazon and make her burn a little. Neo takes advantage of Amazon's distraction and hits her in the chest with his sword.
The Amazon moans in pain, it shakes a little and starts to turn into black goo, leaving only the Amazon Register.
"Ahh God..." Neo sighs, calming down a little.
"Is it over?" Yunyun asks looking at the black goop.
"Good." Darkness said, taking his sword from the wall.
"And you, as usual, didn't help at all!" Neo said a little annoyed.
"Hey! I'm not that useless!" Darkness says a little embarrassed.
"Really? Missing prey targets isn't useless?" Neo mocked a little.
"Hmmm..." Darkness puffs out her cheeks in annoyance. "But I did help Haruka fight Isabelle a lot..."
"Yeah, I believe that!" Neo scoffs at the argument, he starts walking out of the cave.
"Hey! It's true! Yunyun, tell him!" Darkness says, pointing at Yunyun.
"É... Well, it's just..." Yunyun tries to wriggle out of it nervously.
"Enough of that. Let's go soon!" Neo says as he continues walking.
(With Team 2)
"AQUA! LET ME GO!" Omega says as he staggers across the floor.
"No! I don't want to be bitten by spiders!" Aqua says frightened as she climbs onto Omega's shoulders.
"Can't you two stop it?" Megumin asks quietly as she hums a little.
"You only say that because Hannibal protects you!" Aqua says angrily as she tries to balance herself on Omega's shoulders.
"Ahh my God!" Omega groans in frustration as he tries to stand up. "I'll never team up with you again!"
[...]
(Mission complete)
(Eliminate the Giant Humanoid Spider on the farm.)
"That completes the mission. Please collect your reward!" Luna says, handing over a large bag of coins.
"Thanks, Luna!" Aqua says excitedly as she takes the coins and runs over to the table where her group was sitting.
"Did you get everything?" Kazuma says as he crosses his arms.
"Yes! Everyone, let's have a big dinner to celebrate!" Aqua says excitedly as she holds up the coins.
"É... Celebrating you crying and getting in my way all the time." Haruka says, sounding a little annoyed.
"What happened to you being like this?" Darkness asks, looking at the boy.
"Let's just say... She was dead weight." Haruka says looking at Aqua.
"Hey!" Aqua says angrily.
"See? Now you understand what I've been through." Kazuma says mockingly.
"Hey!" Aqua sounds more annoyed.
"Guys, stop it. Let's get something to eat." Megumin says looking tired.
"What about you, Megumin? How was dealing with the cubs?" Yunyun asks, looking at the magician.
"It was easy, I dealt with them in the most extravagant way possible." Megumin says as she boasts.
"She just stood by while Hannibal defended her." Aqua says, pointing at Megumin.
Megumin is embarrassed while Kazuma starts laughing. Megumin gets a little angry and jumps on Aqua, the two start fighting while Darkness tries to break up the fight while Kazuma continues laughing.
"What a crazy group this is." Yunyun says, looking at the fight.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Haruka says with a giggle.
PAUSE
(Dawn.)
Aqua was sitting on the sofa, she was watching the fire in the fireplace with a look that seemed... empty. The Goddess sighs and feels tired, she hears footsteps approaching and looks back.
"Have you lost any sleep?" Kazuma says, approaching the sofa.
"No, I'm just... I'm just thinking." Aqua says, looking at the fireplace again.
"Are you sad or something?" Kazuma says, sitting down on the sofa.
"It's just..." Aqua hesitates for a moment. "Am I really useless?"
"What?" Kazuma asks surprised by the question.
"Am I really useless? Do you really think I'm useless?" Aqua speaks while seeming to have a wistful look on his face.
"Look..." Kazuma thinks for a few seconds. "Let's say you're acceptable."
"What do you mean?" Aqua asks confused.
"Most of the time you're completely useless." Kazuma says and notices the sad look on Aqua's face. "But you do have your moments of glory. Remember the Destroyer?"
"A... Destroyer?" Aqua turns his attention to Kazuma.
"We only managed to break inside the Destroyer because of you. If you hadn't destroyed the barrier around it, we wouldn't have been able to teleport to its core." Kazuma says, pointing his finger upwards.
"Yeah, but you and Haruka ended up being framed in the end." Aqua settles down on the sofa, hugging her legs as she covers her face.
"That was partly my fault, but that's in the past!" Kazuma says, mocking a little. "What about the hot springs?"
"The hot springs?" Aqua turns his attention back to Kazuma.
"If you hadn't worked hard to purify the hot springs, the residents wouldn't be alive." Kazuma laughs.
"É... I guess so..." Aqua let out a sigh of relief.
"See, that's just to make it clear, you're useless, but you do have your moments of glory..." Kazuma stopped talking when he felt a touch on his cheek.
Kazuma shudders and widens his eyes as he feels his face being pulled and a gentle touch on his lips. Aqua keeps her eyes closed as she kisses Kazuma, with the boy only able to remain motionless for the moment.
Aqua slowly breaks off the kiss, she pulls away a little and gets up from the sofa. With a little smile, she speaks her last sentence of the night.
"This is your reward for motivating me!" Aqua smiles again and starts walking back to her room.
Kazuma, still in shock, looks in the direction Aqua has gone and touches his lip, tasting Aqua's lips.
"Sweet..." Kazuma mutters, still in shock.
End of chapter.
Note: Yes, Yunyun will be part of the group from now on, and yes, she will have a greater development for Haruka. In the future she'll be very important to what I'm planning, but anyway. The next chapter will be a game of Uno.