Eyes closed, face down, ass up, a fuzzy voice fell on Neptune found herself in quite the position. 'Bro... What in the heck was that damned catgirl, anyway?' was her most major thought, broken by a voice landing on her now-ringing ears.
"You look like you just got your ass kicked." It was none other than Iris Heart herself—arms folded, cocky smile on her face as she held a riding crop in her off hand.
Slowly, the face-planted goddess opened her eyes. A soft smile formed as the details of a familiar face—or rather, legs—fuzzed their way into her view for the main character.
"You're one to talk~" Purple Heart's human form scoffed before her legs unceremoniously plopped flat on the floor, a soft thud filling the air from her legs relaxing.
Looking down at her ally, Sadie merely chuckled darkly at her friend's words—the taunt drawing more amusement than anger, despite how loaded those words were.
Looking up at her ally, Neppy tried getting to her feet. She stumbled at first but managed to reach her knees with relatively little trouble. Before she could rise further, the goddess from another dimension reached out and helped her up.
It turned out that even a sadist didn't posses a heart of pure ice.
"Who was that woman anyway?" Iris Heart asked, as if the foe had already been felled.
Over with Neptune, she was fishing for a response. Not because she had none on hand, but because the goddess was busy searching for the proper wording for her next few sentences.
"No clue who she is, but we gotta go back before she wrecks havoc on Gamindustri, believe it,"
answered a still-winded Neptune.
Plutia, the name of the other Planeptunian Goddess's human state, nodded in agreement, humming to add emphasis as the primary main character rose to her feet. Only for her to pause physically, her mind racing to catch up with the words hitting her ears. 'Neppy didn't beat her yet?'
"The heck you mean go back? I thought you already whooped her?" Sadie asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow to emphasize the feeling.
"Do I look like I whooped her?" Neptune asked half-heartedly as she nonchalauntly dusted off her parka.
That was a good question. Face down feet up doesn't really scream "I won" to Plutia. And to be fair it doesn't really say that to anyone rubbing more than one brain cell together either.
"Alright, alright," Iris Heart shook her head dismissively. "Something told me we weren't winning by ourselves, so I called in our friends. And of course dear little Nepgear~"
With an almost teasing tone at the end of her last sentence, Sadie winked as she revealed her off page actions with a smirk. It turns out she was quite busy while she wasn't facing the reheaded antagonist herself.
"Good, cuz no, we weren't. There's something off about this woman." Neptune shook her head, most likely to regain her focus on the task at hand. "Especially since she can somehow manage to force me out of HDD and keep me out of it..."
Almost as if embarrassed to admit it, Purple Heart reveals the fact that she is currently out of her transformed state due to no fault of her own, and her mental attempts to re-enter the fabled state bore no fruit. With the form sealed due to some kind of ability the lioness possessed. Whether innate or gained from experience.
"Yeah, when I got that weird red lightning on me it ripped me out of HDD, made transforming back impossible for a bit after too." Sadie pointed out, her eyes searching her surroundings for signs of the aforementioned Sin of Pride while she spoke.
"That sounds like some old bull bull..." Neptune observed, a finger on her chin in thought before it was suddenly broken by a boisterous calling of her name.
It was cocky, attention grabbing, and oh so familiar. The words spoken belonged to none other than Black Heart herself, Purple Heart's best friend and the Goddess of Lastation.
"Neptune~ Even if she can seal HDDs, this new antagonist can't be too tough for us all if we work together." Noire, the name given to Black Heart's base form stated casually, announcing the arrival of the none-Planeptunian Goddesses. The sight of the other three Console Patron Units felt like a lifeline, not just for the civilians, but for Neptune and Plutia too.
Vert (Green Heart) stood on the right and Blanc (White Heart) on the left. . In the middle stood Black Heart herself. Who was flo-
Ayo since when do you fly upside down? Who you tryna aura farm for-?
"Your job description says 'narrates the plot' not 'scrutinizes and edits it'." Noire stated casually, interrupting my question without answering. "And since we're on the topic, can we please get somebody to sign up for that role? Literally anybody would do at this point, as long as it speeds up the chapter release process."
The other three goddesses exchanged looks as Black Heart yapped—torn between shutting her down immediately and morbidly curious where this rant was headed.
Vert eventually raised an elegant eyebrow. "That raid clutch in Four Goddesses Online got you feeling yourself no masturbation, huh?"
"..." Collectively, everyone there was at a lost for words at Green Heart's words. Their minds caught off guard by the sheer randomness that escaped the gamer's lips.
"…Vert," Blanc finally said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "that sentence made about as much sense as a homeless man makes dollars on a daily."