A quest was posted in Luna’s Mind requesting someone rescue ADMIN Cygnus, aka Toby Wright, from Lunar District’s Adventurer’s Guild that’s being taken over by Catara, the new LUNA 3.0 Project Boss. Viper noted this task and took it, bringing Hinata along for the fight. Luna, on the other hand, has been dealing with constant sleepiness and a strange issue with her internals, keeping her processing speed at 99%. What is that other 1% for? Instead of coming along, Luna sleeps off whatever issues she’s dealing with, though seemingly stuck in her furry form? Why? Who knows? Not even Luna or her Soul AIs know, a genuine rarity for them!
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Hinata and Viper appear behind a wall near the entrance to Lunar Adventurer's Guild. The place looks vaguely the same as before like a large planetarium with a domed ceiling, spacey themed insignia on the outside, and the doors wide open. What's different are the sheer amount of cat robots patrolling the outer perimeter of the building. They seem to be protecting whatever's inside.
"What in the hell? I didn't think Toby's situation would be so dire." Hinata tilts her head and pulls out her katanas.
Six of the smaller cat robots with lit-up emotive screens and artificial cat ears atop their otherwise unnatural looking bodies roll around the perimeter of the building. Cones of red light emanating from their eyes are easily seen despite the sun being out.
Viper unsheathes her sword as she stares at the robots marching around the perimeter "Makes me feel kinda bad for not taking it earlier."
"To be fair, the Quests are designed so that literally anyone in Capital City can take them. The fact that absolutely no one, not just you, tried to save Toby is the issue. You've done nothing wrong." Hinata reassures Viper before trying to back stab one of the cat robots without getting into its cone of light. Her strike cleanly goes through the robot, which causes it to explode and fling Hinata off her feet about 10 feet away. "Shit! Don't backstab the cat robots! They explode!" She limps back and, aside from some scrapes and bruises, is otherwise unharmed.
Viper winces as she watches Hinata get exploded as she shakes her head, "They probably have that to alert the ones around it that one has been destroyed" after looking at Hinata briefly and making sure she's not injured she tries to see an opening in the marching so they could sneak into the building
Sure enough just as Viper theorized, Hinata triggering that explosion caused the other five robots to investigate their dead friend. Their cones of vision are all locked onto the smoldering catbot corpse. If they move quickly, they should be able to get inside the Guild undetected.
Viper gestures for Hinata to follow her as she moves quickly out of their line of sight and towards the entrance "Come on, we've gotta move honey." Hinata follows right behind as the pair enters the Warzone that is the current state of Lunar District’s Adventurer’s Guild.
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[BGM - Lunar Warzone!]
The insides of the Adventurers' Guild looks, for a lack of a better term, like a warzone. Dead neko-robotic bodies are strewn across the floor with many of the walls and doors absolutely destroyed. The music in here has turned from chill synthwave to a more intense orchestral. Needless to say, with everything going on, it's almost too quiet. Cat robots, like the ones outside, patrol the halls of the Guild looking for any intruders. Catara is nowhere to be seen, but that's weird in of itself. Isn't she dead? A single locked door near the back of the Guild can be seen with a glass window heavily cut up as if someone tried to slash into it with a blade of some kind?
Hinata walks in and immediately hides behind one of the fallen tables. "Fucking hell."
Viper also hides behind one of the tables as she whispers "Alright, assuming that Toby just wanted us to get him out, we just need to find him and get him out, we can worry about the rest of this later"
Hinata takes a moment to read over the quest details on her phone. "Well. it said he was locked in his office when he made the quest, so maybe he's out at the closed door over there?" She points to the single closed door at the far end of the room. None of the other doors in the area seem locked. Robots are seemingly guarding the door. Hinata picks up a random piece of shrapnel close to her and throws it closer to the door. The cat sentries nearby it seem to turn their head towards the rubble and go to investigate it then quickly return to their spot. These seem to be much smarter than the goons patrolling outside, and considering the artillery they have on their bodies such as machine guns and blades, they’re much stronger to boot!
Viper thinks for a moment then whispers "I can draw them away from the door, if you can get Toby out, I promise I can handle myself" as she unsheathes her sword.
Hinata looks over, "Got it. I'll see what i can do." She takes a deep breath and unsheathes one of her katanas so she can open the door.
The Cat sentries are back to their usual spots still watching over the scene looking for intruders. Still no signs of Catara.
Viper takes a deep breath and rushes over to the sentries and calls out to them, "Come get meeeee" in a teasing tone.
The cat sentries fucking BOOK IT towards Viper all calling out:
INTRUDER ALERT! ((╬◣w◢))
When the coast is clear, Hinata rushes up to the office and goes to unlock it quickly. Two more cat sentries intercept her as she goes to slash at them. Upon slashing at their screen heads, they seem to deactivate rather easily. Perhaps their emotive screen is their rather large weakpoint?
Viper snickers as she keeps pulling them away from Hinata as she turns around to face them while brandishing her sword, "So rude to call an admin an intruder, don't you know?" she slices at one of the cat sentries screens.
The slash works perfectly causing the one sentry to faint. The other two go to attack, but hearing the word "ADMIN" causes one of them to scan Viper with a cone of red light. On their screen the phrase: IDENTITY CONFIRMED - ADMIN Rasalhague is seen. The sentries are unsure what to do. It is a contradiction to their programming. What do you do when you have an intruder but they're also NOVA aligned? They're very confused. Perhaps these sentries aren’t as smart as they thought.
Hinata continues to slash and kick at the sentries closest to the locked office while trying to unlock it. She's knocking on it rapidly calling out to Toby, "Toby Toby! It's Hinata, open the door! We're coming to rescue you!!"
The door opens up with a bloodied up Toby peeking out, "Oh thank f-- OH FUCK."
An alarm is heard throughout the Guild as fast paced thumping steps are felt through the vibrations in the ground. Something dangerous is coming. And it is PISSED.
Viper smirks as she stabs them through the screens then looks towards the thumping sound as she winces "Ooooohhh that's not goood"
The two sentries fall over dead.
Down the path Hinata and Viper see the return of their previous opponent, Catara, but newly improved with a new exoskeleton painted in blue, red, and white. Not exactly in a patriotic sense, but you get the gist. Considering its steps and lack of vaguely feminine features compared to last time, it seems to have been reprogrammed to take things a bit more seriously. That said, it's face is still as oddly cute as always featuring a glowing LCD screen which shows its facial emotions. On its chest, its model name,
is seen. Behind Catara are two larger cat robot sentries carrying something... or should I say someone? Purple and black striped fur, glowing crimson eyes, her iconic long striped tail. Her Hyperfocus aura is active and seemingly connected to Catara’s fiery pink aura surrounding its entire body in magical exhaust!
Hinata is stunned by the entrance and upon seeing what they're carrying, she snarls, "What are you doing with HER Catara???"
Catara simply says, "Power up." and nothing more. Her arms begin to morph with the magical power attuned to her. With a robotic scream, her arms morph into incredibly sharp crimson blades.
Viper brandishes her sword as she takes a couple deep breaths and backs up towards Hinata "I have several questions, one of them being HOW THE FUCK?"
Minutes later, the powerup seems to be complete as Catara's eyes turn crimson themselves,
Catara’s voice is fully monotone and robotic, “Processing speed. My power. Not Hers. Stand down Rasalhague.”
Hinata doesn't know what to do but assume a stance with her twin katanas out. "Give me her back. Or so help me Gods, I will end you right here and RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" The two sentries walk up and face Hinata. They tower over her but she doesn't seem too bothered by it. It wouldn't be the first time she's killed something much bigger than her to save someone.
The taller one, in a more vaguely masculine though monotone electronic voice states, "Intruder alert. Weaker half of Eclipse Blade." The other sentry, much wider and shorter, though still taller than Hinata adds in the same voice, "Antares told us about you. Your weaknesses. Engarde.”
"Bitch, you don't know shit." Hinata grins.
Music begins to play on the many speakers in the Guild.
[BOSS BGM - Catara’s Revenge! ]
Viper's eyes narrow at Catara as she puts her sword into a defensive position, "I'm not standing down, bitch." She then turns to the sentries and calls out, "Scan my face bitch! She's with me! You lay a finger on her, and I'll make sure you get turned into my garbage can!"
The two sentries disregard Viper's instructions almost as though it's not part of their programming. Hinata attempts to slash at the one holding Luna, but the sentries uses Luna as a shield to block the attack. Hinata is able to hold back her strike and goes for the other one, but it dodges swiftly. For being such a tall robot, it is very fast. The other one holding Luna is slower and much easier to hit as a result if it weren't for its cowardly tactics. Hinata growls while trying to work out how to proceed while dodging the taller one’s headbutts and headsweeps. While dodging and dancing, Hinata casts Rhythm Rampage on the party, giving everyone defensive buffs.
Catara slashes her arms at Viper while keeping its face screen covered up. “Take this. Crimson Sword Clash. ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐”
Viper feels the same Rhythmic Empowerment she felt at the arcade back in April. It seems fighting alongside Hinata has reawakened this innate sensitivity. With the buff, Viper is able to block the strike from Catara and then counters with a heavy slice to one of its sword arms, hoping that it’s structurally weak. It’s very effective thankfully. While Viper’s sword doesn’t go all the way through the sword arm, sparks and smoke begin to flow out.
Catara: GRR. LUCKY SHOT. (╬ Ò﹏Ó)
Catara uses this moment to beat back Viper's sword using the arm that wasn't hit, attempting to knock it out of her hands. The other arm is used to swipe at Viper's side, trying to cause whatever damage it can..“Crimson Blade Double!”
Hinata seems to be faring much better since the previous turn. She's constantly teleporting around the larger sentries trying to confuse them and land blows where she can. It appears that being near Luna, or at least trying to protect her, has awakened something in her. Not exactly a new power, but a new strength that's she never felt before. The cowardly robot continues to try and use Luna as a meat shield, but it's to no effect. Hinata isn’t falling for its gambit.
Viper keeps a strong grip on her sword just like Luna taught her. However her dominant arm is sliced as she winces and steps backwards. She notes the structural weakness in the sword arms as she aims another heavy slice to the same sword arm "My fucking ARM!"
Viper's second heavy slice seems to be a lot more effective as live wires and jolts of electricity shoot out. As Catara’s dominant arm was close to its head at the time following the sword swing, the resulting discharge electrocutes it, and smoke seems to start generating from it. The screen seems to start melting as its voice begins to glitch out in a desperate fight to keep everything together.
“G͓̽r͓̽r͓̽R͓̽R͓̽r͓̽r͓̽R͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽N͓̽D͓̽ ͓̽D͓̽O͓̽w͓̽N͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽a͓̽s͓̽a͓̽-͓̽-͓̽H͓̽A͓̽G͓̽U͓̽E͓̽ ͓̽V͓̽i͓̽p͓̽E͓̽R͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽O͓̽R͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽-͓̽-͓̽ ͓̽D͓̽I͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽R͓̽i͓̽g͓̽h͓̽T͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽R͓̽E͓̽-͓̽-͓̽ ლ(¯ロ¯"ლ)“
Whatever power Catara was using to feed power from Luna into itself seems to have been broken as its eyes return to a cyan blue. Still very angry. It goes for a slow horizontal slice at Viper's upper chest with its one good arm. “YOU WILL NOT WIN!” Oddly, this horizontal slice is much slower than anything Catara’s tried yet, giving Viper ample time to dodge. Weird.
With a loud THUD!!!, Hinata has taken down the taller faster robot with a combination of teleportation, quick slashes, and a final stab to its screen causing it to crash down. The smaller slower one seems to be terrified holding up Luna's unconscious body as a shield, even using her to shield bash Hinata much to her annoyance. Luna is being rather bruised up as a result.
Viper blocks the slow strike uses a majority of her strength to slice at the remaining sword arm "I'D RATHER DIE STANDING THAN KNEELING TO YOU"
With that yell, it seems to have boosted her slice much like a martial artist uses a kiai when fighting. The slice goes clean through Catara's other arm which, again, causes the head to be shocked as a result. Much of its body is covered in smoke and sparks. Ironically, with that move, it kneels to Viper out of seemingly pure exhaustion. “Th--s cANooRTT beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-------e-e-e-e----... i was.. to be the true vessel. for IT.”
With one of the shield bashes, Hinata is able to catch Luna and get it out of the other sentry's grip. She tosses her to Toby before landing the final smackdown and stab into its screen, causing it to collapse with a heavy thud.
Viper prepares a stab through the screen and holds it there as she asks, "What were you the true vessel for? Hmm?" she clearly wants nothing to do with Catara, the moment she answers her question she's clearly going to stab her sword right through the screen
It know it's about to die. So instead of answering directly, Catara simply laughs in its fucked up glitchy broken voice. “Heh. Haha- HAHAHAHA you KN-- NOTHING ABOUT HER do you? ALPHAPROTOTYPE IS THE VESSEL OF MAL---” Dead. Stabbed through the head. This time no explosions, oddly enough. Perhaps her creator disabled that function. Perhaps her creator --oh wait she's gone now. Wait WHAT? Yep, as soon as Viper looks away, Catara, the two dead robot sentries, and all of the other dead robots are all magically gone. Disappeared without a trace. The only ones to know what happened here are Viper, Hinata, and Toby who is currently fixing his head wounds with bandages he found in Luna's bag.
Viper stares at where the dead robots used to be with confusion "What, where the fuck did their bodies go??"
Hinata looks dumbfounded, "no seriously, what the fuck happened?" The Guild is still a trashed mess. It looks like absolute chaos happened yet minus any bodily evidence aside from Luna and Hinata's bruises, Viper's wounded arm, and Toby’s body and office.
Speaking of, Toby steps out holding Luna in his arms, "I would say thank you, and I definitely will, but can someone please explain to me where the fuck they went? I should know this, but I DON’T!”
Viper still looks confused as she looks around, "I sure as fuck didn't do anything, I'm not magical at all." she idly makes sure there's no liquids on her sword. She finds that her sword is completely clean aside from some black residue due to slicing through electronics. There are no oils, no coolant, and no blood anywhere on the blade.
Hinata responds as well, "I can't teleport big things like that. Not even with my Naomi powerup." She goes in for the hug on Toby, since it’s been so incredibly long since she’s last had one from him but he puts his hand up and instead gives Hinata a quick headpat and a smile.
"Haaaaang on, i'll hug you later. I need to get fixed up first. Thanks for coming to save me. If there's anything, anything at all I can do to help you, please just ask. That is your reward for saving my life. I can't thank you two enough." Toby looks like he’s about to cry from their sheer kindness. “Ah, I actually might have some information for you. I’ll share when I’m all fixed up.”
Viper sheathes her sword and turns to look over at Toby as she smiles, "It's no problem, any excuse to get real combat practice with my sword is awesome" she's applying pressure to her arm wound to stop herself from bleeding for the most part.
Hinata grabs the basic bandages from Toby's hand that he was about to give Viper and goes to address Viper's wound. "I got you. Learning basic combat first aid with Luna a couple years was one of the smartest things we've ever done." After a couple moments, her wound is dressed.
Viper smiles at Hinata as she dresses her wound as she mentions "I'm glad I expected combat otherwise I probably would've reacted a lot less favorably."
Hinata smiles brightly while fixing her own body, "Well even I could've told you there'd be combat. It's typical for our World. Sometimes I like to think the Many Gods Above wanted everything to act like a video game."
Luna's eyes finally go from crimson to their usual sapphire blue as she wakes up. "Wh-- wha happen.." she asks with a tired voice. "i was feeling sick earlier and now im here with tob--" she's passed out once more. Soft snoring can be heard from her.
With his many head wounds bandaged up, Toby exhales in genuine relief, "Genuinely. Thank you thank you thank you for saving me! I didn't know what to do. Catara literally did not let me leave, but," he looks down at Luna, "I think I understand why. I just wish I wasn't used as bait."
Viper shakes her head as she smiles at Hinata, "I understand that" she looks over at Luna as she wakes up then chuckles quietly as she passes out, "I'm glad she's okay" she then looks over at Hianta "I can stay at the house for a bit just incase, I can make you two a meal if you want"
Hinata turns to Viper, nodding slightly, "Yeah me too, and if you want to make us something we'd enjoy that."
Toby smiles while watching over their conversation, "Lunes means a ton to me as well. If you ever need help with her internals or have questions about how she or Hinata work, please let me know. I'm likely going to be joining her mind shortly. Hopefully she or her SOUL AIs don't mind."
Hinata hugs Toby, "I'm fine with it. Right, should we head off? Where are you planning on staying Tobe?"
Toby looks uncomfortable with the destruction of his previous home, sighing heavily at the destroyed remains, "Well until the Guild is repaired, probably with Tsukuyomi and Sol. They invited me to stay in some place called Fairview."
Viper smiles at Hinata then turns back to Toby and listens as the two talk then rolls her eyes playfully "I hope you enjoy Fairview, it's quite the Fair View."
Toby tilts his head in confusion, "uh, i'll keep that in mind. Right, I should be off. Talk to you soon." With an exaggerated hand gesture, Toby opens what looks like a swirling portal in midair and steps in. He vanishes alongside the portal.
Hinata is now carrying Luna, "Right, uhm, let's head back too?"
Viper nods as she smiles "I've kicked enough ass for one day"
Hinata nods and snaps her fingers returning home. Viper and Hinata disappear. Minutes after they disappeared, a group of green jacketed people and a tall white hooded man walked through the Guild with a smile. The leader smiled stating, "Interesting. It was here after all. Just you wait, dearest Error. I will have your soul!”
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[Meanwhile inside of Luna’s Mind]
>>>TOBY WRIGHT has joined the chat
Krystal - ...uh. hey.
Toby - hey.
Krystal - Uhh 😳 Long time no see?
Toby - yeah. you could say that.