Fate of The World Session 25

Here you were getting ready for your date with Holly. You had *no* idea what you were going to do. Whenever you called Holly to ask she would react in...a certain way.

-Earlier in the week when Hiro called Holly-

"So uh...hey Holly, where should we go for our date?"

"HADINGAGROFERMAKAHDO!"

*Click*

-Back to the present-

So it had been slow-going on *what* you were going to do. Thankfully(?) Renee had given you some pointers

"Take her to dinner. And not some crappy place. Upper class! You've got the money for that right?"

That's what she had said to you and you *did* have the cash for it, but you were just unsure as to why Renee was egging you on with this. And she was making sure that you didn't flake on her or anything. Whenever you asked, she just gave you a look and the cold shoulder.

You really didn't get women.

"Holly will be here any minute! Go meet her!" Renee said as she made shooing motions at you

>Go meet Holly
>Go to the Velvet Room
>Other/Write-in

>Go to the Velvet Room

Before you go, you quickly step into your closet(That still will never sit right with you) into the velvet room and you're greeted by your favorite  attendant.

"Welcome my friend. How may I help you?"

>Go see Hanekoma
>Go see Mirei

>Recall(Miku and Hathor)

"Ah...so you wish to bring back some allies. Very well." Mirei says with a small laugh "This will be much easier to do. Having called on them before, we have an easier idea of what to look for."

"Great, I did make a few promises to Miku and Hathor...well, she's nice enough I guess."

"Teehee, I see. Now then...to recall them will cost you...$30,000."

"WHY?!"

"I don't make the rules sadly. Take it or leave it."

>Recall them
>Leave for now

>Recall them

You fork over the cash, grumbling all the while as Mirei tucks it into her chest pocket. "Thank you for your patronage!"

"Yeah yeah, just get on with it." You grumble

Opening a blue book, Mirei flips the pages for a moment before pouring her power into it. "Now then, return to us! Lend us your power once more!" She exclaims as two figures appear once the bright lights die down.

"Hey again Hiro! Let's do our best together okay?" Miku said with a smile

"You've some nerve doing that to me. But what is a mother if not forgiving? Our pact is renewed, let us go forth and defeat our enemies." Hathor says in that same haughty tone.

"Nice to see you again too Hathor." you say with a roll of your eyes

The two fly into your COMP, taking their place inside it, leaving you and Mirei alone.

"Well, shall there be anything else?" she asks

>Summon Allies
>Power up Allies
>Recall Allies
>Archive Allies
>Leave

>Leave

"That's all for now." You say turning to leave

"Very well. Don't hesitate to stop by whenever you wish~!"

With that, you leave the Velvet Room and head downstairs to the front of your apartment complex to meet Holly who is looking...pretty nice. She's definitely cleaned herself up and appears ready for a night out on the town.

"U-U-U-Um...H-H-H-H-H-Hi! Do I look good?"

You also notice that she's a shivering wreck. She's got a deer in the headlights look going on as she waits for you to say something.

>Looking Great
>Holly. Breathe.
>Where do you want to go first?
>Other/Write-in

>Holly. Breathe.

"Holly, before anything. Breathe." You say calmly

You watch as Holly takes a deep breathe and begins panting, which makes you realize that she really *was* not breathing for that entire time, which makes you wonder how she pulled that off, but you push that question aside for now.

"You look great Holly. Really."

"O-oh? U-uncle Karl helped me pick it out! It's a little tight around the chest though..."

Don'tlookDon'tlookDon'tlookDon'tlookDon'tlookDon'tlook

You cough to get your mind out of the gutter and to steer the conversation in another direction.

"So, what do you want to do first?"

"O-oh! Um...uh...I don't...I um...w-well, whatever you want to do!"

Oh boy, it's gonna be one of *these* moments isn't it?

>What will you do? You've still got that suggestion from Renee to fall back on

>Go see a movie

"How about a movie first?"

"Oh! Um, okay! Sure! I'm fine with that!"

And you notice she's still pretty nervous still...

You both get into your car and you head to the nearest movie theater. At first, you think that Holly would probably like soe romantic comeday movie(As far as you know, most girls do) but she instead asked to watch the latest slasher flick. Not being one to deny her, you agreed and...boy what the hell is this movie?

Right out of the gate there was a beheading of a random woman, then within the next 10 minutes a man was mulched. Then after that, the hero's mother was put into a meat grinder. The deaths kept getting more outlandish and bloody and yet, the entire time Holly was watching with eagle-eyed attention. She was really into the movie, not flinching from the next kill, not reacting to any jumpscares or moments of eerie silence. In fact, she had a smile on her face, as if she were a kid in a candy store almost.

"Isn't this great?" Holly whispered to you

>Yeah...great.
>Say nothing, simply stare
>Vomit
>Other/Write-in

>Yeah...great

"Yeah...great. Those effects are definitely something." You say trying to keep your voice level

"They're okay. Not as good as the previous film. The kills are a lot more tame too..."

This is tame?! you think as you watch a friend of the protagonist get literally bisected by a large saw that the killer had. Holly is still watching it like it's nothing. Does she have nerves of steel or something?!

You watch as several people leave the theater, unable to handle the violence on screen. You can't really blame them and you can feel yourself reaching the limit. You've got to distract yourself somehow. Any way will do, especially after you see the protagonist drive a screwdriver into the killer's eye-socket...

You've got to act fast...

>Go to the bathroom
>Hold Holly's hand
>Put your arm around Holly
>Attempt to hold vomit. Vomit anyway.
>Other/Write-in

>Hold Holly's hand

Okay, you normally wouldn't do this, but dammit you need the reassuarance! Without a second thought you grab Holly's hand. You feel her entire body jolt. It's as if her entire body has gone into shock as Holly looks at your hand and where it is.

Directly wrapped around hers.

Was this a bad thing...?

Well, she's definitely blushing. In fact, her entire face slowly but surely turns red and you're sure she's lighting up the entire movie theater at this point.

"Holly, are you okay?"

"H-Hand..." She murmurs

"Yeah, I was um...kinda scared? I hope you don't mind."

"No! It's okay! I-I can handle this!"

She just continues holding your hand the entire time and she's staring at it, she isn't even watching the final act of the movie as the protagonist's loses a leg, but not before leading the killer into a trap that has him ending up crushed alive.

With the movie over, you and Holly leave the theater and head to lobby. She's still focused on your hand

"So...should we grab something to eat?" you ask

"HandHandHandHe'sholdingmyhand..." Holly murmured

>Dinner it is then
>Let her hand go
>Holly.Breathe.
>Other/Write-in

>Holly.Breathe.

Once again Holly is a yammering mess and so for the second time today you have to tell her to breathe.

"R-right. Breathe..." Holly muttered in response taking a few deep breathes.

"So then...dinner next?"

"Y-yes! Let's go! I'll go wherever you want!"

Well, that makes things kind of easy. You take out your phone and see if you can find a restaurant that's better than most. Not too fancy, but just fancy enough to whoo Holly. Despite what Renee may think, you aren't made of money. You still gotta be frugal when you can. It only takes a few minutes before you find a place that specializes in Italian food, which is perfect. Even better is that they allow walk-ins and you don't have to reserve a spot.

You call for an Uber and soon you both are on your way there. It takes a total of 25 minutes before you arrive at the place in question in which you are quickly seated.

The overall atmosphere of the place is generally nice, with some calming Italian themed music playing to help with things. You're given menus upon which Holly's eyes go wide.

"Er...i-isn't this a bit expensive?" Holly asked

"Don't worry about it Holly, order whatever you like." You say with a smile

Though god please don't order too much...

Ultimately, Holly decides to just order meatballs. Only meatballs. Not spaghetti.

You won't question it, and instead you look to order yourself. A garlic bread meatball sub, it sounds pretty good. As you both are brought water, you realize that you're here with Holly and she's nervously stealing glances at you.

>So, having fun?
>I hope things have been okay so far
>You've really never been on a date before have you?
>Other/Write-in

>I hope things have been okay so far

"I hope things have been okay so far." You say in an attempt to strike up conversation

"Huh? Oh! It's been great! Really good! I really enjoyed the movie!"

You definitely didn't, but you won't let her know that though...

"That's good, I did as well. I hope the food is to your liking."

"Well, I've had meatballs before but never authentic ones from an actual Italian place you know?"

"Ah, yeah, I get it. Nothing beats the real deal no matter what."

"Yeah, exactly!" she replies with a smile "I...never thought I'd get to do something like this. So...um, I know it's probably weird to say, but...thank you. I really mean it."

"It's no big deal." You reply

>You should really thank Renee
>If I'm taking a girl out, it only makes sense to treat her right
>Other/Renee

>If I'm taking a girl out, it only makes sense to treat her right

"Well, if I'm taking a girl out, it only makes sense to treat her right."

"I guess, but well...I've never really had an experience like this for...obvious reasons. Uncle Karl was pretty happy, but then again, he did keep muttering something about Ol' Bessie."

You have an idea of what that is, and you make a mental note to avoid Holly's house for now.

The two of you chat for a bit longer before your food finally arrives.

And damn does it look good.

You and Holly give each other a knowing look before happily digging into your food.

God is it good...

As you finish up though, you feel a sudden pain on your hand. It's for a moment, but the pain is extremely searing. Almost as if it's literally being written on.

"O-ow..." Holly mutters "My hand...I think something bit me?"

You look at your hand and see...a timer?

"Oh shit."

Before you can do anything else you receive a text on your phone. "Get to Reedwater Park. You have 35 minutes."

>Holly. We have to go. Now.
>Call Hanekoma
>Other/Write-in

>Holly. We have to go. Now.

"Holly, we have to go. Now." You say in a serious tone

"H-huh? What's going on?"

"Your hand...take a look at it."

Looking at her palm, Holly quickly lets out a small squeak of fear.

"H-Hiro, these are-!"

"I know. Come on, we gotta get to Reedwater Park."

You quickly pay for your meal and getting another Uber, you get to the park...with only 2 minutes to spare. You didn't realize that it was basically on the other side of town! Friggin' Konishi was trying to get you killed!

Once you enter the park, you get another text to your phone.

`Defeat the enemies strewn through Reedwater park. You have 10 minutes.`

"TEN MINUTES?!" You and Holly exclaim in unison

"H-Hiro what do we do?!"

>Split up and take them down
>Stay together and find them!

>Stay together and find them!
>Rolled an 18

You and Holly decide to stick together. Splitting up probably wouldn't be the wisest idea. The problem here is that the park is pretty spacious and you aren't entirely sure where the enemy is located. Looking at your hand, the timer is still ticking down, which is really putting the pressure on. Your words are cut short when you look behind you, only to see Holly knocked to the side from something.

Looking at what hit her, you see...Noise. And suddenly you realize you're surrounded as more creep up from the shadows.



"Shit! Holly are you okay?"

"Ugh, I'm fine..." Holly muttered getting to her feet. Her dress wasn't tattered, but it definitely had some dirt on it. "I'll be okay...w-we need to get rid of these things! And fast!"

>Holly lost 20 HP
>You've been ambushed. The enemy will always act first!
>Choose your team

>Hiro - Brute Force X2 (Nyaruko)
>Holly - Wonder Wall
>Nyaruko - Blessing of the Old Ones
>Y'shtola - Protect
>Patch - Classical Elements (Ambiefox)

You and Holly quickly called forth your summons as you got into a defensive formation. The Noise were on the offensive, attacking from all sorts of directions. One of them managed to nick Nyaruko causing you all to tighten up even more, deflecting what other attacks came your way, you quickly went on the offensive. Casting your magic on Nyaruko.

"Holly!"

"On it!" She replied buffing your defenses

"You too Nyaruko!"

"Of course Hiro!" Nyaruko giggled as she uttered something. You don't know what it was, only that it made your skin crawl hearing it

Y'shtola followed suit, buffing your party's defense as well

Trait Activated: Immovable Library

"There's...no discernable weaknesses among them. Hit hard and fast. We're running out of time." Patchouli said before blasting the Ambifox with a mixture of fire,ice, and lighting magic all at once.




>Hiro:HP:153/153 MP:76/96(ATK(+2),DEF(-6)(RES(-2),MAG(+2),AGI(+2))
>Holly:HP:202/222 MP:101/106(ATK(+2),DEF(-6)(RES(-2),MAG(+2),AGI(+2))
>Nyaruko:HP:101/127 MP:90/105(ATK UP(+6),DEF(-6)(RES(-2),MAG(+2),AGI(+2))
>Y'shtola:HP:109/109 MP:142/147(ATK(+2),DEF(-6)(RES(-2),MAG(+2),AGI(+2))
>Patchouli:HP:94/94 MP:167/192(ATK(+2),DEF(-6)(RES(-2),MAG(+2),AGI(+2))

>Electro Popguin:295/295
>Ambiefox:291/320
>Metal Corehog:325/325

>Hiro - Ruthless Barrage X2(71,78)
>Holly - Princess Undine(93)
>Nyaruko - Blessings of the Old Ones
>Y'shtola - Protect
>Patch - Royal Flare(72)

The fight rages on, with  you swinging your blade multiple times at the group of noise, managing to get a few decent hits off as you strike them, while expertly dodging any attacks that come your way.

"Princess Undine!" Holly shouts blasting all of the noise with ice magic, all while dodging out of the way as well,  covering Nyaruko at the same time as she buffs up your party again.

>All Stats Increased!

Y'shtola, once again raises your party's defense

>Defense is maxed out!

"Burn." Patchouli said calmly as she bombarded the enemy with her fire magic, scorching some of the nearby grass from doing so.


>Hiro:HP:126/153 MP:76/96(ATK(+4),DEF(-8)(RES(-4),MAG(+4),AGI(+4))
>Holly:HP:202/222 MP:81/106(ATK(+4),DEF(-8)(RES(-4),MAG(+4),AGI(+4))
>Nyaruko:HP:101/127 MP:75/105(ATK UP(+8),DEF(-8)(RES(-4),MAG(+4),AGI(+4))
>Y'shtola:HP:109/109 MP:137/147(ATK(+4),DEF(-8)(RES(-4),MAG(+4),AGI(+4))
>Patchouli:HP:94/94 MP:147/192(ATK(+4),DEF(-8)(RES(-4),MAG(+4),AGI(+4))

>Electro Popguin:199/295
>Ambiefox:195/320
>Metal Corehog:229/325

>Hiro - Ruthless Barrage X2(86,89)
>Holly - Princess Undine(88)
>Nyaruko - Blessing of the Old Ones
>Y'shtola - Medica
>Patch - Royal Flare(103)

You continue dancing among the noise, dodging their attacks, all the while pelting them with your own. Your blade slashing at them from several different angles. These guys are...surprisingly easy to deal with. A part of you doesn't like it, but it doesn't matter. For now, you've got to kill what is directly in front of you.

"Freeze!" Holly yelled pelting the enemy with ice magic "Y-you guys won't ruin my date!"

"Yeah, and this is my date too! I'll make you regret it!" Nyaruko said as she buffed you all again

"S-since when is it yours?!" Holly exclaimed in shout

"Uh...now?"

"Settle down you two, we're fighting them, not each other."  Y'shtola said as she healed your groups wounds.

"Children." Patchouli sighed "It makes me glad I don't have any."

She once again blasts the noise with fire, all the while rolling her eyes as she does.


>Hiro:HP:124/153 MP:76/96(ATK(+6),DEF(-8)(RES(-6),MAG(+6),AGI(+6))
>Holly:HP:222/222 MP:81/106(ATK(+6),DEF(-8)(RES(-6),MAG(+6),AGI(+6))
>Nyaruko:HP:101/127 MP:60/105(ATK(+8),DEF(-8)(RES(-6),MAG(+6),AGI(+6))
>Y'shtola:HP:109/109 MP:122/147(ATK(+6),DEF(-8)(RES(-6),MAG(+6),AGI(+6))
>Patchouli:HP:94/94 MP:127/192(ATK(+6),DEF(-8)(RES(-6),MAG(+6),AGI(+6))

>Electro Popguin:87/295
>Ambiefox:83/320
>Metal Corehog:117/325

>Hiro - Ruthless Barrage X2(96,72)
>Holly - Brutalize (Corehog)(66)
>Nyaruko - Manic Delight(110)
>Y'shtola - Medica
>Patch - Royal Flare(95)

The enemy continues being just plain awful at dodging your attacks you once again slice at all of them, siphoning off their life force and feeling it flow to your body.  Holly takes a swing with her bat, but the problem is that her dress isn't made for fighting. It's made for enjoying a nice night out. Because of that, she just barely misses her attack.

"MY TURN!" Nyaruko shouts loudly as she whips out her crowbar and goes to town, swirling around in a dervish dance hitting them all. So hard in fact, that all three noise go flying, splatting against the ground or a tree as Nyaruko turns around to face you, shooting you a victory sign.

"Easy as pie! Did I do good Hiro?"

"You did just fine Nyaruko." You say patting her head

"Teehee, praise me moooooore~!"

Before you can respond though, you receive another text:

Pay tribute to the master of the area. You have 25 minutes.

"Pay tribute to the...what?" You say with a raised eyebrow "There's no 'master' of this park."

"Um...wait I think I might have an idea?" Holly said

>Defeated Ambifox,Electro Popguin and Metal Corehog
>Obtained 1 common summon crystal
>obtained 205 EXP!

After recalling all of your summoned allies you're led to the...park fountain?

"I don't get it." You say in a deadpan voice

"Well it's simple!" Holly chirps "The only thing you can really 'pay tribute to' is the fountain! You know, toss in a coin, see what happens?"

Oh you can't be serious...though, there is some logic to what she's saying.

>put in a small amount of money
>Put in a moderate amount of money
>Put in a large amount of money.
>Refuse to pay any money

You grumble and put it in a moderate amount of money. You aren't sure if it'll take bills, but even if the money is wet, it's still money regardless. you begrudgingly do as told and wait for something to happen.

To your surprise, something does happen. Through a burst of light you see several summon crystals float to the top of the fountain. You gingerly pick them up, looking around and expecting something to jump out and attack you. As you and Holly sit there perplexed you get another text.

Thank you for partaking in the trial run of the reaper's game. To think that all it took was sending the message, even if the important part was omitted

>You obtained 6 common summon crystals!
>You obtained 2 Rare Summon Crystals!

"Important part...?" You mutter

"What does it mean?" Holly asked

"Well...let me look at the text again." you say going back to it, you look at the most previous one that tells you to get to the park, you read it over several times and think back to what you'd seen in The World Ends With You whenever you the players got a message. It takes you several minutes before you get it.

There was no erasure warning...

"Wait...wait...do you mean we were never in danger of being killed?!" you angrily growl

"B-but we had the timer!"

"It must have  been a trick. Konishi...she was testing us. This was all a test to see if her makeshift UG worked. We got played..."

"Oh...um...s-sorry?"

Yeah, you definitely are...

>Let's just go home
>It's okay...
>Well, we're at the park, want to relax a while?

>Well, we're at the park, want to relax a while?

"Well we're at the park, want to just relax a while?" you say with a sigh

"I'm...I'm okay with that!"

And so you and Holly go about enjoying a walk together. It slightly eases your mood, but you're still pretty annoyed at all the money you literally just threw away.

"Man, all that money down the drain. Sorry about that Holly, but I'm not sure we can do much else."

"Oh no! It's okay! Just being with you is fine enough!"

"Come on, I'd think it'd be a terrible date if we had to fight monsters."

"Um...well, actually, I think it's a great thing! Not many people can say they got to do that while going out."

"You're too good to me Holly."

"O-oh! Um...I'm sorry?"

>Let's head home yeah?
>You're fine, don't worry about it
>I'll make sure to find more monsters next time.

>Let's head home yeah?

"Let's head home yeah?"

"Oh! That's fine with me...I don't mind at all!"

The two of you head for the exit, once there you see your car waiting for you with an note taped to the driver's side of the door:

`Hey there, thought I'd bring your ride here to you. Don't go leaving it behind like that, and don't worry, I'm gonna look into Konishi as well. That UG was different than usual and I intend to find out what it is exactly.

-from Hanekoma`

You slap your forehead. You really did forget your car. Well, it doesn't matter now, you pocket the note and open the passenger door for Holly. Once you're both inside, you drive her back to her house, the ride being uneventful(Thankfully). Though the ride was silent, it was a nice silence as you and Holly simply enjoyed one anothe's company.

Pulling up and letting her out of the driver's seat, you walked her towards the stairs leading to her house, when she turned around.

"I um...I-I wanted to say thank you Hiro. Tonight was fun...even the fighting."

"Come on, you don't need to lie."

"I'm not! It really was fun...I have a lot of fun when I'm around you."

"Come on now, you're making me blush." You joke

Holly giggled before clapping her hands together "Oh yes...I forgot something! C-could you close your eyes for a second?"

"Hm? Sure." You said closing your eyes

The next few minutes were silent as you stood there, waiting for something to happen.

"Uh Holly? What am I waiting for?"

"O-oh! Right! I've got it right here!" Holly said

What you felt next were too lips pressed against yours. It was quick and sweet and by the time your eyes shot open, Holly was already in the door to her house

"G-goodnightI'llcallyoulaterbye!"

You brought a finger to your lips. Yeah...tonight was great.