Arle's POV
*MEANWHILE, BACK IN PRIMP TOWN…*
"Hey! Quit dozing off and pay attention for real!"
"Ugh! Alright, alright! I'm up!" Peruvis whined after I had yelled at her to stay awake. "Geez…why are you so serious about this, Arle?"
"Because you're so close to failing that if you bomb this exam, you're pretty much screwed."
"We're just trying to help you pass, Peruvis." Ringo added.
"Why is it just me, though?! Witch is failing, too! Where the hell is she?!"
"Apparently, she tagged along with Amitie to take a "vacation" of sorts to Neptune's world. It also explains why Lidelle, Feli, and Julia aren't here, either."
"*sigh* I swear…those two get really carefree when they get together." I gained an exasperated sweatdrop.
With only 6 days left until the exam, Ringo and I decided to help out the failing students (which, due to certain events, is only Peruvis right now) study like there's no tomorrow. It's not the Final Exam…but this one can still make or break our chances of fully graduating.
In my case, though…it's the least I can do. After all, I can't take the exam because I've lost my power. Sultana stole it during the Halloween party a while back. And what's more insulting is that after all the traumatic crap she caused just to get it, it wasn't enough "Nova Power" or whatever she called it.
…
I call it crap…but to be honest, I'm still traumatized over the whole ordeal. Memories of that night come to mind at the most random times…and sleeping has been rather difficult as of late. I now fully understand how Ally feels whenever her PTSD takes over.
But even then, I'm not giving up! I've been on WAY WORSE adventures back home to let this bring me down! I'm gonna find Sultana and make her return my power! No matter what happens!
"Ugh! Studying sucks! Can't I just copy off of Klug and get it over with?!"
"No, Peruvis. We're doing this legitimately." Ringo said to her. "Being lazy isn't going to get you anywhere."
"Plus, Klug did say that he's never going to let you copy again after what happened last time." I added.
"He's still on about that? I didn't think Mandrake would mistake his notes for compost and eat them whole!"
She's a plant girl. She'll eat literally ANYTHING…
"Regardless…copying's no longer an option. So, we're doing it the normal from now on."
"Trust me, Peruvis. With my studying regiment, your brain will be stuffed full of knowledge that it'll be like Brain Damned was inflicted 10x over!"
"WH-WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT THAT, RINGO?!" Peruvis yelled in a panicked fit.
"You get way too giddy about studying…" I said with a huge sweatdrop.
We were about to get started (more like force Peruvis to do it) when at that moment…
"Huh…what's with the meteor shower in broad daylight?"
"Meteor shower?" Ringo asked after Phoenix had popped out and noticed the 4 strange objects falling from the sky. "I know that a meteor can fall during the day, but…an actual shower is just unheard of."
"Well, it's happening. And they're falling pretty fast, too."
As the rest of us looked up at the sky, the meteors had split away from each other and quickly crashed in different locations in town.
*BOOM*
One landed near Madoromi Garden…
*BOOM*
One landed close to Moguru Bay…
*BOOM*
One looked like it struck Nahe Forest somewhere…
*BOOM*
One definitely hit Arca Ruins…
And the 5th one…
…
…
…
W-Wait…where did the 5th one come from? A-AND WHY IS IT HEADING STRAIGHT FOR US?!
"D-DUCK AND COVER!" I shouted in absolute panic as the three of us ran for dear life away from the sudden landing site.
*BOOM*
Only missing it by just a few seconds.
"*cough* *cough* H-Holy crap…what the hell was that?!" Peruvis yelled.
"I don't know…" I said. "Was it really a meteor that fell or…"
Once the smoke cleared, we went to the crash site and saw something that was far from our expectations.
What fell from the sky…wasn't a meteor. Instead, it was a girl. She had bright blue eyes and blue hair tied into a side ponytail on the right with a yellow ribbon. Oddly enough, one single curved strand was sticking up on top.
But the biggest thing about her was the intense bruises all over her body.
"Woah…look at her injuries…" Ringo said.
"Damn…all those bruise AND she fell from the sky? Wouldn't be surprised if she kicked the bucket already." Phoenix said.
"Phoenix, what the hell?" Peruvis asked. Mildly disturbed by what her attached companion just said.
"What? It makes sense. I mean, look at her."
"Ma…shi…ro…"
"Huh? Wait, is she still kicking it?"
"Ma…Ma…shiro…"
"Who the hell is Marshmallow?"
"What a weird name." Peruvis said. "Wonder what her parents were on when they named her."
"L-Look! Guys! Her name's not important right now!" I yelled. "We gotta get her medical help quick!"
"Let's take her to our place." Ringo said. "I've got a first-aid kit we can use on her."
"Good idea, Ringo!"
"Welp…you guys got this covered." Peruvis said. "I'm gonna go see what Sig's up to. See ya."
"Oh, no you don't!" I yelled as I grabbed Peruvis' arm. "Once we finish with her, we're going right back to studying!"
"Son of a BITCH! I can't escape~!"
As we each grabbed a part of the girl and carried her over to our house as fast as possible…something in the back of my mind was worried as hell. Whether or not this was foreshadowing some crazy and dark events in the near future.
Just what are we getting into now?
Chapter 5 – A Quest With Power-Fusing
Neptune's POV
The grand tour around Planeptune was already off to a great start. With me as their guide, I've shown Amitie and the others only the TOP places to go to in Planeptune. And without a single doubt, they've been impressed with every…
"Nep, stop with the cocky showboating already."
"Wh-Wha?! Iffy! What's with the bold claim?!"
"Bold claim? This "tour" has been a questionable dud from the very start."
"A DUD?! As if! I'm showing everyone the important places!"
"Arcades and retro game stores don't really count as "important places", Nep Nep…" Compa said with a huge sweatdrop.
"It isn't too bad, honestly." Lidelle said. "An entire world this dedicated to video games is rather interesting. Naoko would totally be into something like this."
"If Naoko were here, she would think she died and went to Heaven…" Feli gained a sweatdrop.
"*groan* Fine." I said in agitation. "If you two think you can do SO much better, than you decide our next destination."
"Huh? W-Wait, that's not what we…"
"Gladly." Iffy interrupted Compa as she grew a confident (or rather cocky) smile of her own. "Alright, ladies. Time for this grand tour to finally get interesting."
"Aw, geez…IF's getting full of herself again." Nepgear said.
"It's too late to stop her now…so, let's just go with it." Compa added.
With Iffy now in charge, we ended up going to the most predictable place she could possibly take us—and one place I did NOT want to go to.
I'll give you a guess as to what it is…
"This here is Planeptune's Guild. Where we gather information about the world's current events and oftentimes take on quests made by citizens."
See? Predictable.
"Quests? You mean like an RPG? Those are actually real?" The other-worldly Famitsu asked.
"Totally real. And they vary depending on the category. Whether it be collecting items in dungeons or fighting against hordes of monsters."
"Fighting monsters, you say?" Rivitie asked. "*chuckle* Finally…something here that peaks my interest." She then made her way to the quest board in front of Iffy and started messing around with it on her own.
"You know about fighting monsters?"
"I may not look like it…but I'm a bounty hunter back home. Chasing after evil demons and annihilating them is part of my daily life. Who would've thought Planeptune would have something similar…"
"A demon bounty hunter?!" Iffy asked as she gained a huge bright sparkle in her eyes. "S-So you hunt down and fight ACTUAL demons?!"
"Yep. And I show them no mercy, too. Those worthless pitiful creatures of Hell…they all wallow in their own fear once I show my face to them. Poorly making one last plea of forgiveness before I eradicated them from existence. It's a satisfying reaction that I enjoy every damn time~. *creepy giggle*"
"W-Woah…"
Th-That's dark as hell!
"…That's so freaking cool, Rivitie!"
And of course, Iffy the adult chuunibyou enjoyed every minute of that…
"I think your sister's forgotten that I'm also a demon…" Lidelle said to Amitie with a huge sweatdrop.
"Hehhehhehheh…" Amitie gained a sweatdrop of her own.
*NOTIFICATION SOUND*
"Well, now…perfect timing." Iffy said. "A new quest just came in. Now you guys get to see this system in action."
"Ugh! You mean now I have to WORK?! This totally nepping blows~!" I whined in despair.
"What happened to that "productive jackass" additude from before?" Iffy grew exasperated before looking back at the quest board. "Aw, geez…again?"
"What is it?" Nepgear asked.
"It's that same quest again. The one with a bunch of Dogoos showing up out nowhere."
"*whine* And it's the Dogoo one, too?!" I complained some more. "Just kill me now…"
"Get a grip, Nep…" Iffy gained an agitated sweatdrop.
"Uh…so, what's a Dogoo?" Amitie asked.
"Well…" Nepgear said. "...It's a slime monster with a dog's face."
"It may sound weird, but they're a serious threat." Uni added. "Especially in groups."
"I see…"
"*creepy giggle* So, now it's time to aniliate monsters, right? I can get behind that." Rivitie said with the most excitement I've EVER seen on her. "Let's show these pitiful creatures no mercy~. You in, IF?"
"Hell yeah, I am." Iffy said with a confident smile. "Killing dogoos with a bounty hunter is a dream come true for me."
"What a weird-ass dream…"
*POW*
"Ow!" Ram ended up getting hit again for secretly whispering another swear word.
…
But she is right…it is a weird-ass dream…
And so, with the unexpected (and honestly unwanted) quest in our hands, we made our way to the location listed. Being an open field near Virtua Forest.
"Dogoo!"
"Dogoo!"
"Dogoo!"
And it didn't take us long to find the large group of Dogoos piling on each other and multiplying more and more as I'm sitting here explaining this to you.
"W-Wow…that's alot of…Dogoos." Rom said.
"*sigh* This has been an issue for quite a while." Famitsu said. "I've done articles about people being evacuated from their homes due to the impending threat of being overrun by dogoos. You can't help but feel sad about all this."
"And nobody knows what's causing this?" Lidelle asked.
"We've gotten a few leads…but they've all gone nowhere." Iffy said. "We're just stuck on damage control until something comes out of it."
"Huh. Well, that sucks." Rivitie said. "But now it makes it all the more interesting to annililate all of these blob things, right? I call dibs on the group on the left!"
"R-Rivitie! Wait…!" Nepgear yelled.
"Blizzard!"
*BOOM*
"Dogoo~…"
But it was too late as Rivitie fired off an ice spell at the group and insta-killed them all…
…
…Only for that group to be multiplied back into existence just seconds later.
"Th-The hell?! How?!"
"*sigh* That's what I was trying to tell you." Nepgear said. "Blasting them all random like isn't going to work. We have to find the one Dogoo that's doing the multiplying."
"You serious?! In all of THAT?! How the hell are we supposed to find the damn thing?!"
"Dogoo!"
"Dogoo!"
"Dogoo!"
"Dogoo!"
"DOGOO!"
"Well, there's no time to figure that out now. They're heading this way!" Uni yelled as we saw the massive group of Dogoos charging at us.
"And they look PISSED AS HELL!" Ram added.
"Alright, everyone…get ready." Iffy said as she took out her two daggers. "Do all you can to protect Amitie and her friends."
"Ugh! I never wanted to do this…but now I don't have a choice." I complained once more before taking out my trusty wooden sword. Forcing myself to be ready to fight these…
"Neptune, what's with the stick?"
"Wh-What?! This isn't a stick!" I yelled at Amitie. "It's clearly a sword! It's just made out of wood!"
"But it looks old, worn-out, and completely useless. Where'd you find that thing, anyway?"
"Uh…i-in a dumpster…" I said with an embarrassed look.
"Well, that explains it…" Amitie gained a sweatdrop.
"Guys, I don't think you have time to argue over whether or not that's a stick." Feli said as she pointed over to Rivitie, Iffy, Compa, Nepgear, and the other candidates fighting against the Dogoo mob without me.
"L-Look, even if I had another weapon to use, I don't have time to chage it." I said. "Plus…this sword's been with me since the very beginning. I can't just toss it out because it looks old."
"*sigh* Fine…" Amitie said. "...But at the very least let me power it up for you."
"Power it up? Like how?"
"*giggle* Hold your stick sword up high and I'll show you."
And while ignoring the fact that she called my sword a stick again, I raised it above my head towards the sky as Amitie stepped a few feet back away from me.
"Fire!"
Once she shouted that, her appearance changed on a dime. The wristband on her left arm had turned red while being engulfed in flames…the middle part of her hair was now one single flame…and her entire aura was as hot as the nepping sun. Maybe even hotter. I was sweating beyond compare and I wasn't even close to her.
Though, the fact that such a thing happened in the first place…is this the "Light Soul" power she was talking about?
"You ready, Neptune?!" Amitie yelled.
"Uh…I'm not sure what I'm getting ready for, but…let it rip." I replied with mild concern.
And with the "OK" seemingly in place, Amitie raised her arm out ahead of her as flames began to engulf the entire thing. Now I was REALLY worried about what she planned to do to my special wooden sword.
I hope I'm not regretting this…
"Come to me now…Sizzle!"
Once Amitie shouted that, a burst of fire blasted out of her hand and engulfed my sword in an instant. But instead of it burning to a crisp like you would expect it to, it actually began to fuse with it! Morphing its shape into a flame-shaped one, changing the color from brown to red, a burning flame covering the entire nepping thing…
…Though, oddly enough, it didn't burn me at all. Kinda like I was immune to the logic of it burning my hand off or something.
Then again, this series isn't known to follow logic, to begin with…
"Get real…I did it! I actually did it! It really truly worked!" Amitie cheered with so much glee.
"Uh…Amitie? What exactly did you do?" I asked.
"I'll explain later! Just go help the others!"
"I-I don't really get it, but…here goes!"
I then began rushing over to the others still fighting off the Dogoo mob. And with one single swing of my flame-engulfed morphed wooden sword…
"Beat Slash!"
*BOOM*
"Dogoo~…"
…A horizontal stream of fire released from the flame, collided with the Dogoo mob, and caused a huge explosion that wiped out a good chunk of them. Leaving a huge spot of burned grass as proof.
…
…
…
"W-Woah…" Was all I could muster from that.
"N-Neptune…y-your sword…" Nepgear said in disbelief.
"D-Damn, Nep…what kind of attack was that?" Iffy asked. Also in disbelief.
"Amitie upgraded my sword…I-I think…"
"So, you finally got that Friend Ability thing working, huh?" Rivitie asked Amitie.
"Yep! And I feel SUPER powerful!"
"Friend Ability?" I then looked at my flamed wooden sword again before gaining a huge smile. "I don't know what that is…but I think I nepping LOVE it!"
"D…D-Dogoooo~…"
"You're kidding…one's still kicking it after a blow THAT big?" Rivitie asked after seeing one lone Dogoo struggling to even hold itself up.
"That must be the Dogoo that's multiplying itself!" Uni said. "Now it's too weak to even do that!"
"*giggle* Alright, everyone! Leave this to me! I'll put it out of its misery!"
"Th-That's kinda morbid, Nep-Nep…" Compa said with a huge sweatdrop.
With this surge of confidence and excitement rushing through me, I charged at the dazed Dogoo and prepared my flaming sword for one last attack.
"Here we go! The final strike! Flame Beat!"
*BOOM*
"DOGOOOOOOooooooo~…"
That last blow was enough to fully defeat the Dogoo. As if began fading away from lack of life force…until nothing of its existence was left over.
"*pant* *pant* H…H-Ha! That should teach you to get in the way of my hospitality time! *pant* *pant* M-Man, I'm tired…" I then fell to the ground in exhaustion. With my sword losing its flames and weird shape and going back to its original form.
"Huh…so, I guess it's only temporary when used by other people." Amitie said as she and the others circled around me.
"Plus, it drains their energy." Lidelle said. "Probably not something that should be used quite often."
"Hey, Neptune." Witch called out to me. "I've got a very special potion that'll reload you with energy in 10 seconds flat. It'll just cost you 1,000 Credits."
"W-Witch *pant* *pant* …e-even if I *pant*...w-wasn't broke…I-I still wouldn't *pant* *pant*...b-buy that potion~..."
"Hmph! Your lost."
"So, what was that thing you mentioned when Neptune's sword changed?" Nepgear asked Amitie.
"Well…it's called a Friend Ability. I can use my powers to enhance a weapon to give it an elemental boost. Making them stronger than before."
"Wow, really? You can do that with a sword?"
"Swords, hammers, spears, whips, yo-yos…"
"Yo-yos?" Some of us gained sweatdrops.
"...Pretty much any weapon can be enhanced. At least I think it can…"
"Wow…" Iffy said. "...That's an interesting power to have, Amitie."
"One of the many, really…CR-CRAP!" Amitie then covered her mouth once she realized what she just said.
"Huh? What's that supposed to…"
"A-ANYWAY!" I quickly shot up from the ground in a peepy mood. "Let's continue with the tour shall we, ladies?!"
"You sure recovered quickly…" Iffy gained a sweatdrop.
"I've already got the next destination in mind! SO LET'S GET GOING!"
I then rushed on ahead in excitement as the others soon tagged along in my direction.
…
…
…
"Hehhehheh…thanks for bailing me out, Neptune." Amitie quietly whispered to me.
"You owe me for this. I want 5 extra puddings the next time I come visit your world."
"D-Deal…"
Later, that night, I was STILL exhausted. If it wasn't obvious before, I lied about recovering so fast because I was bailing Amitie out from her verbal blunder. Which is ironic since cut me off from it earlier in the day.
Right now, I was lying in one of the rooms at home trying to re-recover the energy I had lost today (if that's even a thing).
…
But I wasn't alone. Someone else was with me. And us two being in here together is one of the BIGGEST secrets I have.
Mainly because this person is…
"Woah…so, your cousins really are THAT powerful?"
"Yeah…they are. Which is why Amitie begged us to never tell anyone about it. She fears they'll get too much attention."
"I see…so, that's why you quickly changed the topic back there."
"*sigh* I didn't think she would be the one to slip up. Makes the whole thing look hypocritical."
"*giggle* You know, it's funny to see you annoyed at something that isn't video games or pudding. Makes you look reliable in a way."
"Hey. I AM reliable. Otherwise I wouldn't be ruling an entire nation much like your sister."
"Yeah, but…she's like in a league of her own. "You're just…well…"
"Just what?"
…
…
…
"...At least you're cute while doing it."
"Th-That's my ONLY redeeming quality?! Jerk!" I pouted as I looked away from the person talking to me.
"C-Come on, I'm serious." The person said as they wrapped their arms around me in a cuddling-like manner. "You really are cute. A-And strong, caring, funny to be around…in everything you do. Those facts about you will never change for me."
"Honest?"
"Honsest."
…
…
…
"*sigh* Alright…I believe you." I said after staying silent for a bit.
"*giggle* Great!" The person snuggled against me more. "You're the best, Neptune!"
"Glad you still think so…Uni."
…
O-Okay, so…I-I can explain! Uni and I…w-we're not exactly dating, but…a new common thing has made us get close recently. REAL close. Close enough that we could be interpreted as a couple if people were to see us together.
Point is…it would be REALLY bad if we were found out.
So, every so often, we seclude ourselves in one of the rooms and have our little "private time". This time being more convenient since Uni was here since this morning.
But there were moments when I just wanted to cuddle Uni with ultimate glee. I really gotta be careful…
"So, that power Amitie showed off before…she said it was called a Friend Ability?" Uni asked.
"That's what she called it." I replied. "I've never heard of it, though. I mean, I knew that she can use Copy Abilites, but…"
"W-Wait, she can use Copy Abilites?!"
"Yeah. How else can you explain that form she took when she used that fire spell? She's just like Kirby, in a way."
"Th-That's…kinda insane."
"I can see why you think that…" I gained a sweatdrop. Remembering me having a hard time believing Amitie when she told me all of this the day we met.
"But still…that power…if it were fused with my rifle, would I become powerful like that? Powerful than Noire, even?"
"Well…" I went silent for a bit. "...I'd say the whole thing's still experimental. Considering how I handled the aftermath. But I'm sure it'll work for you. And maybe it will make you stronger than Noire."
"Y-You really think so?"
"Sure! And when that happens…"
I gained a small smirk as I grabbed Uni's hand and squeezed it as tight as I could.
"...When that happens, I call first dibs on going 1-on-1 with you!"
"N-Neptune…" Uni went silent for a bit as she soon gained the same smirk as me. "...Alright! You're on! I won't lose to you! No matter what!"
"*giggle* Right back at ya, Uni!"
"WE'RE BACK!"
"GAH!" We both then screamed in a panic after we heard the door slam right open and heard Amitie's voice.
"A-Amitie…I really wish you would knock~!" I whined.
"Geez, sorry. My hands were full with all of these snacks."
"And besides, how were we supposed to knock when these futuristic doors just swing open on their own whenever we get near them? There's like…no time to knock." The other-worldly Famitsu was with her, too. As both were about to join us for a little event planned in advance.
"*sigh* Then I should really get those doors modified…"
"Ah, lighten up." Amitie said as she sat in between us. "Don't get all pouty because I interrupted your flirting session with your girlfriend."
"W-WE WEREN'T FLIRTING! SH-SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Uni and I both grew huge blushes while aggressively denying Amitie's bold claims.
Even though they're somewhat true…
"Yeah, yeah…"
"*clears throat* Alright, ladies! The moment is finally upon us!" The other-worldly Famitsu cheered.
"S-So, you actually brought it?" I asked.
"It took some string-pulling…especially since it isn't due in my world for another 2 months…BUT HERE IT IS! THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON OF MAGICAL GIRL SWEETIE PIE MONICA'S HEART-BEATING MIRACLE CURE ON DVD! WITH BONUS FEATURES!"
"YES! FINALLY!" Uni and I cheered in extreme glee.
"You know, I'm still rather shocked that you two ended up being Miracle Cure fans, Neptune." Amitie said. "I let you borrow that DVD expecting to get a response of "What the hell is this?" or something like that."
"You kidding? It's the best anime I've ever seen! The action-packed scenes, the in-depth plotlines, the badass magical abilities that put all others to shame…!"
"I admit, I was pretty confused when I first watched it." Uni said. "But after a few more episodes, I was COMPLETELY hook! And by the end of the week, I had watched all 150 episodes of the first series! I totally craved more after that!"
"Hehhehheh…if only Mao were here to hear this. She would be blushing like crazy right now." Other-Worldly Famitsu said.
"Well then, ladies. Let's not waste any more time." I said as I placed disk 1 out of 4 inside the DVD player. "Episode 1 of Magical Girl Sweetie Pie Monica's Heart-Beating Miracle Cure…START!"
"Cutie!" The four of us cheered with peace signs in the air.
Author's Note: Day 1 of the other-worldly vacation is complete! And with 6 more days to go, there's still enough time for more insanity to ensue. It just takes a bit more time…
So, during the first part of this chapter…that was a bit of a sneak peek at the next story in this series. It's another crossover…and the series involved is…kinda obscure. I say "kinda" because I'm not sure how many people are into Magical Girl anime. Regardless, that's the only hint I'm giving right now.
In other news, I've started using Google Docs recently. Mainly because my Microsoft 360 account is currently off. It works pretty well…though, my only issue is that it saves after every single edit you make. That's kinda annoying, honestly. But it's only temporary until I can get Word back up again.
Thanks for reading. Later.