Mon Mon Nepu Nepu 17

"Nepgear..."

"Nnnnm...just a few more...patches..."

"Wake up Nepgear."

Who could be trying to wake me up at this hour of the night?  I felt a pair of small hands land on my shoulder and try to rock me back and forth gently.  Whatever they want I'm sure it could wait another couple of minutes...or hours...  "I had hoped this was the first habit you broke when you started maturing.  I suppose I have no choice but to turn the lights on..."

"Waah!  No I'll get up!"  I  pry open an eye and see Histoire fluttering about impatiently as I do my best to actually get out of bed, but the most I can manage in my groggy state is sitting at the edge of my bed and rubbing my eyes a bit.  I turned to check on Uni but the other side of my bed has been neatly made with her no where in sight.  "Hm?  Where'd Uni go?"

"Uni had no trouble waking up.  I've been trying to wake you for the past three minutes."  Histoire said with little flip as she started flying towards the door.  "Please try to make it to the conference room in a timely manner, we have urgent matters to discuss recent happenings."

With a stretch I hop out of bed and regrettably leave the comfort of my bed.  All the lights in the hallway are dimly lit and everything is so quiet...what time is it?  I take a quick look outside through one of the windows in here and it's so dark I can barely see anything.  "Good-" A yawn escapes my mouth as I continue down the hall drowsily.  "-ness.  How early did she wake us up?  I don't even think the sun has started rising yet."  A few more doors down the hallway and I see a brightly lit room with a little commotion going inside.  "Histoire?"  I poked my head inside and was greeted not by her, but by a very cheery Compa.

"Ge-Ge!  You look so adorable when you're all sleepy and stuff."  Hm...going clockwise I'd say Compa was the one facing directly towards me with a sleepy IF leaning on the table at her side, followed by Noire with a somewhat sad looking Uni, and finally Neptune with an empty seat next to her.  I seated myself as Histoire flew in and landed on the center of the table.

"Alright, I'll try to keep this meeting short as the Lastation sisters have business to attend to back home."

"What!?  No!"  Noire and Uni both stood and shouted as they slapped the table.  Everyone turned to look at them...followed by an awkward silence filled the room as they took their seats.  Uni laid her head down on the table and Noire simply closed her eyes and started tugging at her neck ribbon again.

"...As I was saying, the Lastation sisters are needed back home.  Kei didn't give me the details, but it's obviously serious if she can't handle the workload by herself."  Histoire continued with her speech as she hovered and brought up a map under her with the wave of a finger.  "Everything seems to have slowed down in the areas near Lastation and Kei can only handle so many places at once."  As she zoomed in to the Lastation area it became more obvious that Gamindustri has gotten much bigger...a trip from here to the other CPU's cities seems like it could take an extra day or so of almost non-stop traveling.

"I guess we should head back after all.  Our trip has been a little longer than usual and it's not like we were having a blast, right Uni?"  Noire's ribbon was nearly undone at this point but she managed to speak up without sounding flustered or anything.

"Yeah...right..."  Uni sighed but started following her sister's lead.  "I mean, I could hardly rest knowing that these two were...were trying to steal our thunder by trying to outdo us during missions!"  They both stood up as she continued to put on a show.  "I feel as if I've been slacking being paired up with Nepgear anyway."  As they started to leave Uni stopped when she got to me and put something small in my hand.  It was too big to be an earring though...  "D-Don't think of this as a gift or anything like that.  This AzureFang is a special device that will let us communicate together...so I can make sure that you're ok...for the sake of competition of course.  Your choker is convenient place for it and when I call you just put it on your ear.  I mean when you want to call, no, when-

Noire placed a hand on Uni's back and guided her out while looking back at us.  "Next time we do missions for the guild Neptune don't hog the big stuff.  Come on Uni."

"Now we'll move onto business around these parts."  Histoire panned the map back towards Planeptune and pointed at Haneda.  "Neptune, I'll have you deliver the N-Gear with the supplies back here in Nepgear's stead."

"Aww, that's no f-"

"Ah ah!  It's not a matter of fun or eating goodies.  You're the Matriarch of this region and it's your job to make sure things don't go south.  We can't end up like Leanbox."  She slid the map over to the island that Leanbox resided on and it had several bridges connecting it to the shores near Lastation and Planeptune.  "I've heard rumors from Chika that there seems to be some kind of trouble brewing in the nearby cities and resorts.  Lady Vert hasn't been doing much to find out what the problem is herself and the people are growing restless.  It's not a Planeptune affair so we mustn't interfere unless they send for us or the situation gets worse."

As I clamp the AzureFang onto my choker I can only hope that Vert is able make her people happy before it's too late.  I just hope she isn't...no, Vert wouldn't be crazy enough to try to get other people in on her little scheme.  "So if Neptune is going to return the supplies to Haneda, does that also mean she's going to make sure Butterbean and his group are staying true to their word?"

Histoire nodded and smiled as she hovered over to me.  "Correct.  As for you Nepgear, I assume that you're wanting to find out what this Underling is up to."

I perked up after hearing that...a chance to chase down Underling and find out what's going on?  I can't pass this up.  "O-of course!  I can't let her get away with what she's done to Falcom and Haneda."

"Ah, my little sister's urge to beat the snot outta bad guys has finally surfaced!"  Neptune leaned over and gave me a loud glopping huge and nuzzled her cheeks with mine.  "I can't wait to hear more stories of your adventures!"

I took a quick glance at Compa and she was looking at us with a huge smile and a hint of jealousy in her eye.  "Aw, they're so adorable Iffy!  I want to have a little kid to hold and hug and-"

IF, who was doing her best to stay awake, shot up and nearly fell out of her chair.  "Wh-wh-what!?  W-we talked about this last ni-"  She froze as all the attention in the room had shifted focus towards her.  "Ahem, I mean we talked about this a while ago and-"

"I...was thinking we could secretly adopt Ge-Ge or one of Lady Blanc's sisters or something.  What are you talking about Iffy?"  IF looked like she was about to cry and put her head down on the desk with a thud.  She's pretty cute when she isn't being strict with guild related things.

"Now now, let's settle down.  Nepgear, you must attend to some business with Guildie and then you are to head to Heimdall Forest after Underling.  You'll be without your N-Gear due to Neptune and the assignment I've given her, so you may be taking care of things by yourself for a while.  You'll also have to make do with the less spacious Neportable."  Histoire closed up the map, conjured up a small device that was about as big as she was, and left the room.  "IF, Compa, please continue to enjoy your down time.  I may have to call on you two next if my girls don't come back in a timely manner."

"Well, you heard her Ge-Ge.  We'll be rooting for you!"  Compa waved good bye as I got out of my sister's gooey hug...hm?  She didn't leave any slime on me or anything.  IF muttered something also as I left the room, but I couldn't understand exactly what she was saying.

As I get near the exit a panicked Falcom approaches from behind.  "Oh good, I caught you before you left.  I've been running all over looking for Lady Histoire, have you seen her?"  I pointed in the direction of the conference room.  "Aaah I was just over there!  Thanks, and good morning!"  She went bolting back towards where I saw Histoire last and I headed to the guild alone.

"Gooooood morning Miss Nepgear.  Flying solo this morning I see."  Guildie wasn't going nearly as fast as she was the last time I saw her.  Maybe she's winding down from the night shift?  "What can I help you with?"

"Oh, um, I'm here to discuss the Slime extermination near Haneda.  IF said I should-"

"Say no more, I've got all the necessary info pulled up.  Let's see here...ah, there we go.  One extermination quest, requested by Mrs. IF...issued to a Nepgear and Uni.  Ah right, Uni isn't here so you'll have to accept her portion of the reward on her behalf."  She crouched down below the counter and made a lot of noise as she moved some things around.  "Your reward is..."  She came back up with two tiny flasks of blue liquid.  "...Puni Juice!  Oh, a nice chunk of credits as well."

"What's a Puni?"

"I suppose I can spare a minute for a quick explanation.  Think of a Slime, although more...simple and less resilient.  You get one in the palms of your hands and-"  She clasps both her hands together above the little containers of monster juice.

"Goodness!"  Her clap was much louder than I expected as it echoed throughout the empty Guild halls.  I grabbed the flasks and put them away in the N-Portable and headed towards the outskirts of Planeptune, waving good bye to Guildie and anyone I passed by.

After a few minutes I had reached the border of the city and looked ahead to see if I could my destination.  "Hm...it shouldn't take too long if I keep up a decent pace.  I'll be there a little past noon if the trip is uneventful if my guess is correct."  I shrug a little and check my supplies again to make sure I have all that I need.  Some Puni Juice, a couple of bottles of Nep-Bull, and some credits...wish I had some normal food but I guess I'll have to find some myself.  "Things will be pretty boring without Uni around..."

"Lady Nepgear!"  It was as if stepping out of the city summoned a voice.  I turned and was greeted by Falcom, carrying a brand new guitar-shaped case and looking very refreshed even though she was catching her breath.  "Phew...caught up with you finally.  I've been given permission to join you in your pursuit of Underling.  I hope you don't mind too much."

We went and headed northwest out of the city, smiling at each other as the sun rose over the horizon.  "I don't mind at all!"