Crossover 4
Even in the Netherworld people went to sleep at night. The castle of the former King Krichevskoy, now Laharl, was perfectly ordinary in that regard. There were some demons that didn't need to sleep and were employed as nightwatch. The Zombies leaped immediately to mind. A decent pair of Spectacles and their IQ was high enough to serve as a guard. The intelligence boosting had the side effect of giving them a good sense of humor. Which is why the Zombies could appreciate what was happening before their eyes.
"Hee hee hee...Nin nin! All I have to do is assassinate Prince Laharl! Why kill him though? I know he's a demon but he can't be all bad..." A cute little blonde girl with blue eyes skipped past them. Her pristine white dress, white hair ribbons, and stockings stood out like a sore thumb against the black halls. She had a small pair of fluffy white wings that twitched with excitement. One of the Zombies 'shambled' nearby to keep her under watch, but made no effort to stop her. If Laharl died to this airhead he deserved the humiliation.
The Dragon grumped as the unstealthiest ninja continued her attempt at 'sneaking.' She was just gabbing away to herself in a voice just shy of normal volume. If the Angel bothered to look around she would have noticed the number of Zombies following her. More from boredom than any actual desire to do their jobs. The perky blonde 'stealthily' crept into the Prince's chamber with a giggled 'Nin nin!'
"They're so adorable at that age," one Zombie said to the other.
"I know. She's really too young to be out by herself," the other Zombie remarked.
"I swear what is wrong with Celestia these days? In my day they wouldn't think of sending an Angel of less than four wings to the Netherworld. Standards have sure fallen," the Dragon lamented.
The Angel froze as she crossed the threshold into the Prince's room. Seated on a red beanbag chair was her mission objective. Beside him was a girl on a dark purple beanbag chair. Laying between them was a red haired demoness, her spade-shaped tail twirling lazily. The three were sitting in front of a TV with a game system. It was some sort of racing game. The Prince was using his whole body trying to steer the on screen vehicle, while the girl he was playing against did the same.
"That looks like fun. Can I join?" The Angel blurted out. She covered her mouth with a look of mortification. This wasn't why she was here! She was here to assassinate the Prince! The Prince's car crashed letting his companion's car shoot across the finish line unopposed.
"Ah man!" The Prince hung his head.
"Kyahahahaha! That's great!" His friend laughed delightedly.
"Talk about bad timing, huh Laharl?" The redheaded demoness teased.
"I am so so so sorry! I didn't mean to distract you!" The Angel bowed repeatedly.
"That's fine I was losing anyway...wait a minute! Who are you!?" Laharl jumped to his feet in shock. His purple haired friend jumped up as well.
"You have guts coming into the home of a True Goddess and an Overlord," she declared.
The redhead just kind of lie there watching the trainwreck with the popcorn.
"Ah! Terribly sorry! My name is Flonne, an Angel Trainee from Celestia, and I'm here to assassinate Prince Laharl," Flonne smiled and bowed.
"You have found the home of Laharl future the True Goddess of the Netherworld," Laharl pointed dramatically at the sky.
"Uhhh...True...Goddess…? I thought that was a Celestian thing…" Flonne tapped her lip with a big question mark over her head.
"I am Neptune! Future Overlord and destined Ruler of Gamindustri!" Neptune stabbed the air with her finger.
"The only Neptune I know of is a Goddess...What is going on here…?" Flonne's eyes started to swirl in confusion as one question mark turned into three, then six, and finally nine.
"Wait. You're not just a random moe but actually know something? Laharl! We have to keep her! It doesn't matter if she's a total ditz! She actually has relevant information!" Etna leaped to her feet and pointed at a suddenly sweating Flonne.
"Uhhh…" Flonne backed up.
"Wait wait wait...Easy does it Etna...Moe like her tend to startle easily…" Laharl spoke in a soft voice to his companions.
"Ehhh…?" Flonne backed towards the door slowly.
"Geez! Just invite her to play the game. We can pump her for information over popcorn and soda. It wouldn't take much," Neptune folded her arms.
"Oooh...Master Lamington didn't say anything about this! Waaaaah!" Just like that Flonne broke and fled from the chamber trailing tears of confusion.
"Look what you did!" Laharl, Etna, and Neptune pointed at one another accusingly.
"This is bad. If she gets hurt it would get blamed on us," Laharl sighed.
"She just admitted to being here to assassinate you, Laharl," Etna reminded him.
"Yeah, but Celestia could just say 'it was a joke gone wrong' or something. If we don't give them a chance to punish her themselves we'll be held responsible," Laharl said.
"Those goody two-shoes lie?" Etna looked disbelieving.
"It's what I would do if my assassin was captured," Neptune said.
"Same here," Laharl said.
"Phew. I was afraid you were turning into a boy scout, Laharl," Etna sighed with relief.
The Zombie guards pointed out where the Angel Trainee had gone. She fled right by them without seeing the demons and headed for the portal. Did she go back to Celestia? It was possible, but highly unlikely, as Celestia didn't like connecting to the Netherworld and vice versa. As the seekers reached the Dark Assembly area one of Laharl's servants ran up. The Red Mage giggled and curtseyed.
"Eee hee hee...Ah Prince Laharl! We completed our leveling to thirty. Hope you don't mind but we're keeping the Hel for ourselves. Union wages and all that," the Red Mage said.
"Yeah whatever. You buy your own gear though. If you want something from the Dark Assembly it comes out of your own Mana. No making Pupils unless you clear it with me," Laharl said.
"...Deal," the Red Mage pouted. She was clearly expecting to get more of a rise out of him.
"Great! If I have any problems with your performance I will punish you first," Laharl grinned.
"Wait! Why me!?" She seemed taken aback.
"You spoke up first, duh," Laharl shrugged.
"Oooh...First to speak...First to die...Sucks to be you," Neptune shook her head.
"Eh heh heh...Oops," the Red Mage giggled nervously.
"Come on! We have an Angel Trainee to save from herself," Laharl cried.
"Let's make some more troops first. I didn't get a chance to yet," Neptune said.
"Fine. Hurry up! Chop chop!" Etna clapped her hands.
"I swear the Oracle just gets more uppity…" Neptune grumbled as she checked the available units.
What she found was an expanded roster of units. The future Overlord decided to make a Ninja, a Samurai, a couple Knights, an Archer, a Scout, and a Thief. She was trying to get one Knight of each Element (gotta collect 'em all!). The Knights were armed with Staves. Turns out their magic and physical stuff actually sucks. The Thief was given a gun while the Archer had a bow (duh!). Of course you would give a Samurai a sword. Scouts were very good with guns. Neptune was so tempted to take the Promotion Exam, but she knew the others would complain. Whatever. She got a Bill passed for increased Bonus Gauge.
"You guys go grind in Mid Boss' 'Hall of Caresses.' Take some spray paint and make it purple and black," Neptune ordered her troops to cause mayhem.
"Aye!" The Thief saluted with a grin. Her troops left through the portal. Without being prompted, Laharl's troops wandered through the portal after them. A stunned Laharl watched in shock as his servants left.
"Where are they going!?" Laharl gawked.
"Probably to grind some more," Etna remarked.
"But I didn't tell them to!" He argued.
"You didn't tell them not to, either," she smirked.
"Oh blast…" He slumped dejectedly.
"No help for it. We have to go without them," Neptune said.
"This is not what I was expecting from having servants," Laharl grumbled.
"We're still here, dood!" One of the Prinnies reminded him. Laharl chuckled while resting a hand on the loyal(?) Prinny's head.
"That you are, friend. That you are," Laharl acknowledged.
"Okay, stop confusing the Prinnies. They're not used to gratitude," Etna said dryly.
The Gatekeeper looked perplexed as they approached.
"Why was there a crying Angel heading for the Frozen River? What depraved things did you do to her?" The Gatekeeper asked.
"We invited her to play Mario Kart," Laharl said.
"Did you at least use a Blue Shell on her?" The Gatekeeper tilted their head.
"She ran out before we got a chance," Neptune shook her head.
"I swear. Demon standards are really slipping since your father died," the Gatekeeper tutted softly.
Etna was muttering to herself as she wrote in a notebook, "The infection seems to be spreading. Either that or I didn't know demons as well as I thought. So far I show no signs of contamination. Only time will tell…"
The Eccentric Trio appeared at the Frozen River. Good thing they weren't humans or the absolute cold could have killed them. Etna was especially lucky as important bits could have frozen off. She was flat enough as it is…(Hey!)
Moving right along.
The three were surrounded from the moment they arrived. Zombies were bad enough as they didn't respond even to lethal blows. Archers created a significant problem as they were perched on the hills out of melee range. To make matters even worse were the Clerics armed with bows. Healing and ranged? What madness was this?
"Too bad we don't have the Red Mage. This would be right up her alley," Laharl said.
"My Fire Knight would have been great here," Neptune grumbled.
The denizens of the Forsaken Land grinned evilly.
"Oh suck it up! Didn't you gain a technique for channeling your burning aura?" Etna reminded Neptune before turning to Laharl, "And you have a Fire Slash."
True Goddess and Overlord perked up. Laharl's sword ignited with brilliant red flames as his grin widened. Neptune cocked a gun with an evil smirk as her aura blazed higher.
The residents of the Frozen River backed up apprehensively.
The first area was cleared in short order as they were overleveled and properly equipped. A mere nine Zombies tried to stop them as they strolled through the Icy Breath of the River. More Zombies were joined by Imps and a Gremlin in the Eternal Winter region. Too bad they weren't resistant to fire and bullets. The Prinny Squad kept enemies from flanking them, but really there wasn't anything for them to do.
Laharl, Neptune, Etna, and the Prinnies continued slogging through the snow. The curve of the Frozen River meandered through the land to which it gave its name. Laharl's expression grew more tense. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of the lost Angel Trainee. With all of this white her body could be laying in the snow somewhere.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Forgive me!" Flonne's voice echoed from up ahead.
"You shouldn't have failed," a woman's voice drifted back on the wind. Neptune stumbled to a halt, pupils narrowed to pinpricks. Her breathing grew more rapid as the voice triggered something inside.
"W-Would Master Lamington want this…?" Flonne asked with tears in her voice.
"He works for us and never the other way around. Remember your place," the woman's voice took on a threatening edge.
"Damn it! Someone else from Celestia? Come on guys! I won't let an invader screw around with me!" Laharl charged ahead with his sword held high.
"Laharl! Wait up…!" Etna started to run forward only to stop. She turned back to Neptune, "What's gotten into you? Come on! We can't let Laharl go on ahead alone." The redhead was stunned at how pale Neptune became.
"Th-that voice...It can't be…I know that voice…" Neptune gripped her head in pain.
"Leave her alone!" Laharl shouted furiously from up ahead.
"Hmph. The dead king's idiot son. Thank you for delivering yourself to me," the woman said.
"Damn it! If he dies here...Wouldn't I be free then…?" Etna frowned pensively. The only other person who could help was having a mental breakdown. She turned to the Prinnies only to see the damned souls charge over the hill.
"More maggots…? You won't survive! Victory Slash!" The woman shouted. Cries of pain and disbelief echoed on the wind.
"P-Prinnies…! You jerk…! No one hurts my subjects and gets away with it!" Laharl's voice started out shaky with pain before gaining strength.
"Nnn...W-Why did you do that…? Why was I tasked...with killing the Prince…?" Flonne's voice was tinged with agony.
Etna closed her eyes briefly with indecision before suddenly opening them. There was no hesitation in her gaze. She turned to Neptune and smacked her across the face.
"Huh…? E-Etna…?" Neptune sounded much softer. The purple haired Overlord stared back at Etna in surprise.
"Suck it up, Neptune. Some Celestian is about to kill Laharl and that Angel. Would you be able to forgive yourself if they died?" Etna snapped. Without waiting for a reply she rushed on ahead with her spear at the ready.
"Damn it...What was I doing? I was going to let my friends down...again…" Neptune blinked. When did she let her friends down? She quickly shook her head clear. This wasn't the time to think. It was the time to act! The purple haired girl sprinted forward and leaped well over the hill. She took in the scene down below at a glance.
There was a beautiful purple haired woman with a pair of long braids down below. Her appearance was a harmonious fusion of high tech and divine. Neptune felt like she knew this person as their Processor vaguely resembled Laharl's. Was this a Goddess? There was nothing lovely about the look on her face. Etna was performing zig-zagging runs to savage the woman's flank. All it would take was for the Goddess to hit her once. Flonne was trying to shield Laharl while healing him. The True Goddess wanted to leap back into the fray, but he wasn't strong enough yet.
"Stand still pest! Critical Edge!" The purple haired intruder suddenly appeared in Etna's path with her massive nodachi already in motion. Etna futilely tried to raise her spear, but it was too little, too late. She seemed resigned.
"Overlord's Demon Rage Cannon!" Neptune funneled her immense fiery rage into the gun she held. The gun started to grow and warp as her power caused it to shift. In moments she was holding a double barreled cannon with 'N' on either side. The intruder turned to look and stared with wide eyes as a star appeared over the Frozen Lake.
"Stat Multiplier!" The Goddess tried to bolster her resistance. Too bad for her she wasn't watching her other foes. Her first clue that the tables had turned came from Etna descending, speartip first, on her head. The purple haired woman stumbled back right into Laharl's path. A trio of blisteringly hot slashes crossed her back and sides. She swung out her nodachi to ward them off only for a staff to crack down on the woman's forearm, the sword fell from nerveless fingers. Flonne appeared shocked that she actually struck the woman.
"Sorry Lady Purple Heart!" Flonne squeaked.
"You foolish brats! You will all die…!" Purple Heart yelled. She appeared puzzled as Laharl cleared his throat and pointed to the sky. The Goddess sweated as she somehow managed to forget the hovering Overlord.
"Might want to stand over here…" Etna casually pulled Flonne out of the splash zone.
Neptune's eyes glowed like the pits of Damnation as her aura continued to funnel into the cannon. A slasher smile spread over her face accompanied by maniacal laughter. She squeezed the trigger and was promptly sent tumbling backwards in midair from the recoil. A binary star of purplish/white energy screamed down at the ground. Purple Heart tried to back away only to trip on a Prinny dagger.
"Noooo....!" She cried out in disbelief as the blazing anomaly consumed her utterly. A powerful explosion of light and sound erased her from existence. Snow and ice were blasted clear away from the impact crater in a spray of steam.
Neptune landed and immediately fell to her knees. Purple Heart looked too much like her for comfort. Seeing someone with your face die, even if she looked older, caused a well of nausea to swell up. A jacket fell across her shoulders. The warmth felt good. More than the physical comfort there was something about it that eased her heart. She looked up to see Laharl, without his parka, rubbing her back.
"Easy there...You were really out of it…" Laharl murmured.
"Y-Yeah...she...she looked like me…" Neptune swallowed heavily.
"Maybe, but you wouldn't try to kill someone for messing up," he reminded her.
"...Maybe…" Neptune glanced away with a faint blush at being complimented.
A short distance away Etna watched the scene with a complicated expression. The redheaded demoness tried to be aloof, but her actions kept coming back. She might have hesitated a bit, but still ran in to save Laharl. Standing beside her was the Angel Trainee who caused all of this inadvertently.
The blonde stared at where Purple Heart fell with a miserable look. She looked even sadder when taking in the sight of the Prince with the Overlord. Flonne was sent down to assassinate Laharl. How could she kill someone who invited her to play games and even came out here to save her life? Master Lamington was wrong.
"Don't let it get to you. Take things on a case by case basis. The ones who don't screw you over are worth keeping," Etna said while staring straight ahead.
"Yeah…" Flonne couldn't help thinking that Etna was so cool. For some reason the redhead shivered, but not from cold.
She wasn't sure what to make of that...at all…
(Cue Dramatic Music)
White Heart was vanquished!
"Plot and Backstory trump Justice," Chibi Green Heart proclaimed.
"Get outta here Thunder Tits!" Chibi Black Heart dive kicked the Goddess by surprise.
Chibi Green Heart flaps her arms rapidly but falls anyway.
Recycling old Omakes!
"That's right! Mock my chest? Taste my wrath Black Heart!" Chibi Vert grins as she plays 4 Goddess Online PvP Mode.
"Excuse me, Lady Vert? You have a visitor!" Random Guard #1 declares.
"Vert! I need your help!" Chibi Blanc bursts in sending the guard out a window.
An Unlikely Alliance!
"Go away, Flatty," Chibi Vert waved her off.
"You &^% Model for a Wonderbra!" Chibi Blanc screamed.
Really Unlikely…
"We have to save Gamindustri!" Chibi Blanc flailed her arms.
"Sure sure...Lemme finish this Boss Raid…" Chibi Vert said.
Gamindustri is doomed…
