Chapter 13 - A series of unfortunate events.
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"I've located several of those 'bulbs' and I know the shortest route to get from one to the next without being detected."
Simon nodded. "Have to admit you've surpassed my expectations."
"Did you throw any other useless boss at them while I was away?"
The 'boy' smiled at that. "I am getting ready for something special. Thanks to the scrolls my master left me, and your help, I am ready to summon the Two Moons."
"... Okay. And what are they?"
"Two armies of strong creatures. They're known as the Pumpkin Moon and the Frost Moon. Its strongest warriors are as dangerous, or more, than the three mechanical bosses."
"Those bimbos already beat the mechs, tho."
"I know, but imagine having to fight several of them, while also keeping a horde of weaker enemies at bay?"
Razor chuckled. "I'm starting to like this idea. So, which one will you use first?"
Simon shrugged. "I couldn't decide which one to use first."
"So?"
Simon let a few moments pass, to let his 'ally' come to the craziest, yet most simple solution to that problem. "Exactly."
"Know what, I'm starting to actually respect you, Simon."
-----
Dawn saw Lunette leaning on the base's front wall as she walked out. "Oh, I didn't think anyone would be out here today."
"It's a bit colder than usual," Lunette admitted, "but I don't mind cold."
"Same here," Dawn said. "Say, you probably know Bunny better than anyone here-"
The Dryad smiled. "I know what you're going to ask, if she's said anything about you."
"You- Eh, am I that easy to read?"
"Not quite. Bunny said she's not sure what to think of you, since whenever she tries to figure you out, you just get in a bad mood and leave."
"Guess I do that a lot. But does that mean she likes me?"
"She hasn't given me a straight answer either," Lunette noted. "Have you tried asking her?"
"I... Didn't want things to get weird between us if I'm wrong."
"We're talking about a Party Girl here. 'Weird' is their normal."
"Hmph, she can be quite cool too, you know?"
The Dryad gave her friend a grin that was one sound effect away from a chuckle. "I know, I just wanted to see your reaction."
"Eehh... Screw you."
"Bunny wouldn't like us doing that."
Dawn let out a long sigh. "Seriously, Lune, sometimes you're too snarky for your own good."
"Right, sorry. Honestly, though, you should ask her."
"I'll think about it."
-----
Hope was admittedly not one for socializing, but she still wanted to be useful to the group. Saving the world was, after all, a pretty good reason to be part of any group. "The reason I called you all here was that I wanted to show you my latest invention."
Lune saw the artifact Hope was standing next to and her eyes widened. "Those look like wings. Tell me they're wings. Wings would be quite cool."
Hope couldn't help but chuckle. "You sound like Bunny. But yes, these are wings. Our performance against the three mech bosses would have been a lot better if we could dodge in three dimensions rather than just two."
"That may be true, but wouldn't it be hard to put them on once a boss shows up?" Calvin asked.
To answer to that question, Hope pressed a button concealed in her suit, and a pair of wings spread out behind her back. "I've adapted them so they can be integrated into our backpacks."
Bunny was looking at the wings, clearly not that thrilled about them. "Flight sounds cool and all, but those things look kinda... Ugly."
"They can be painted to any color you like," Hope noted.
"Oh. Then it's fine, it will be awesome to fly around with green wings behind my back," Bunny said, keeping a straight face. She let the others stare in shock at her for a few seconds before laughing. "Just kidding, of course I'll want pink wings."
Lune turned to Garret. "So, what should we be doing next?"
"There are evils you must face in the Jungle, the Dungeon and the Ocean. Once those are dealt with, we can summon the Two Moons and finally restore balance. The Dungeon one needs you to defeat the Jungle bosses first, though."
"To the Jungle again, huh? Sounds like fun," Bunny said. "Wonder if there's bigger bees to ride now."
"Wings, tho."
Bunny looked at Dawn. "You say that because you've never flew on a bee's back."
-----
A few hours later, Bunny was on the base's roof, watching the sunset. She heard a noise behind her and knew the one other person who usually came to watch the sunset was there. "You're almost late."
"Huh? I've never seen you here before."
"I've seen you up here a couple times, so I knew I would find you here."
"... You need something?"
Bunny sighed. "I need you to stop pretending you don't like me." Dawn just stood there, looking at her with shock in her face, so Bunny smiled. "I'm not as naive as I seem, Dawn."
"Never expected you to be so blunt about this, though," Dawn admitted. "I... Yeah, I've been thinking about it, and I just wanted to find the perfect chance to tell you." She looked at the sun, now a semi-circle in the horizon. "The chance found itself, I guess. Bunny, I like you, and I'll still feel the same even if you don't li-" She stopped as Bunny kissed her. "Heh. You're so damn blunt."
"It's one of my best qualities," Bunny joked.
Dawn let out a long sigh, but then smiled. "Should we tell Lune to make us a room?"
"Our rooms are next to each other," Bunny noted, "I'll just pwnhammer the wall down."
"... Sounds like a plan. And I should have expected that."
Bunny giggled. "Darn it, I'm so happy I could jump off the roof!" And she did just that.
Dawn rushed to the edge in shock, but then saw Bunny was floating a few meters below, using a pair of pink metal wings. "
, Bunny, you scared me!"
The Party Girl flew back up to the roof, and saw Dawn was quite upset. "Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad."
"I'm not mad," Dawn said, "just... Promise me you won't do something crazy like that again."
"I'll promise I will try to do as few crazy things as possible."
Dawn stared at her friend for a few seconds before chuckling. "Close enough."
Bunny saw the sun had already disappeared in the horizon, but saw something else. "Uh, is that a cloud?"
Dawn followed her line of sight and frowned. "No, that's... I'm not sure what it is, but it's fast. We should go warn the others."
Bunny smiled. "No need, cover your ears." As Dawn did as told, Bunny took a deep breath. "HEY GUYS COME OUTSIDE A BUNCH OF EVIL THINGS ARE HEADING THIS WAY!"
Dawn saw the others all rush out of the base, and uncovered her hears. "
, that's some lung power you have there."
Lunette saw the 'cloud' coming their way. It looked like trouble. Like several hundred troubles, actually. "Garret?"
"This is impossible," Garret said.
"What?"
"That- Those are the Two Moons. But the legend said they couldn't be summoned at the same time!"
"Well, it's not like the legend never failed before. Anyhow, guys, I guess it's gonna be one of those nights..."
Amy looked at Garret. "So, how do we defeat these creatures?"
"We don't. If we survive until dawn, they'll leave."
"Won't they come back?"
"No."
"Why?"
"... I don't know, that's what the books said. It could be wrong."
Amy smiled. "We're not blaming you for the lack of accuracy of a bunch of books written by someone who probably died centuries ago."
"Duter Letthadeny, that's the name of the author."
"Well, whoever that was, they're most likely dead by now."
Hope and Tony had been sniping the incoming crowd, but it was obvious they would need faster guns. They nodded at each other before pulling out two Megasharks each, and kept on shooting at the now dangerously close swarm of enemies.
Bunny pulled out a pink megashark and a pink sword. "I'm here to kick some bubblegum and chew on their asses."
Dawn had finally caved in and got weaponry better than her wrench - a pair of white discs, sharp enough to cut through rock. She stood besides Bunny and nodded. "Let's get those creeps."
"Wait, do those things look like Christmas elves?" Xanos asked.
"Yeah, they're almost too cute to kill. Almost."
-----
The whole battle was a royal clusterf- Ahem, I meant to say, a mess. Lunette was, as usual, able to keep an eye on her friends while fighting, but it was harder to do it than ever. As she punched through a nutcracker's chest with her spear, she saw five of the fast, dog-like monster heading for Amy. She pulled out her latest work - a one-handed gun which could shoot rather accurately, and used explosive hallowed rounds - and shoot two of them down, which also helped alert Amy of the danger. The Nurse had been trying to shoot down one of the giant dead trees, but those were quite tough opponents.
Amy saw the dogs and leapt over them. These creatures were either not smart, or not good at stopping, as they slammed head-first into the tree. Amy aimed at them and shot her lava gun, taking out the smaller foes, but the bigger one was much tougher than it looked. The Nurse prepared to dodge again, but then a section of the tree's side was sent flying away. "What the-" She saw the Gunbot was standing right behind the tree, and it stared at her briefly before shooting, tearing the tree apart.
Bunny flew by right above their heads just then, chased by a pack of elf copters. She smiled and threw a few small grenades up, gravity making them fall at the perfect place as both the 'prey' and her chasers flew. The elves had enough time to realize there were a few metal spheres right in the middle of their formation before the explosion blasted them all to shrapnel.
Still, even the Party Girl was worried. There were too many creeps around, and while their base's new metalic exterior had proven enough to stop their attacks, her group was in the losing side. She saw Hope dragging Tony into the base (he was knocked out, perhaps- No, he was a tough guy) and sighed. "This looks bad."
Dawn came flying to her, and she could only agree, she had dealt with one creepy-looking monster but it had been a tough fight as she had to watch out for weaker creatures as well. "This really is tough, and we're not even at midnight yet."
"We can't give up, though, we just- Hey, look at that thing!"
Dawn saw what Bunny meant and gasped. "Is it just me, or does that tank look like santa?"
The tank noticed them and looked up. "I'm going to fill you with Ho Ho Holes!"
Bunny grimaced. "After that joke, I don't care how it looks, it will look like molten metal once I'm done with it."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Amy and Lunette had decided to team up against their foes, and thus far that had been a good choice. As Lunette speared through a christmas tree, she heard Amy gasp, and turned to see a large, icy creature which looked like quite human despite its size and its color. Also, it looked female. "An ice queen, huh?"
"Where's Sailor Moon when you need her?"
"Who?"
"Just... Something I read about," Amy said, "let's just take care of this creep."
"Agreed." Lunette shot at the creature, but it moved much faster than something that large should. Also, Lunette and Amy had to dodge fast as the creature started shooting large ice spikes at them. "Wow, she's giving us the cold shoulder."
Amy shot a barrage of lava at the creature, but it dodged. "Damn it!"
"It's dodging. That means we can kill it."
"Not while it's dodging."
Lunette smiled and extended her wings. "Exactly."
"Wait, what are you-"
"Something stupid," Lunette said and flew up. "Hey you, ice creep!"
The Ice Queen growned and flew straight at Lunette. The Dryad, however, didn't dodge, instead using her spear to stab through the Queen's chest, and then fired a round of bullets at point blank. The end result was the Queen exploded into a shower of ice, but also, Lunette was knocked out of the sky.
Amy caught her friend and sighed. "That was insane. Effective, but insane."
Lunette smiled. "At least I killed that thing."
Amy looked up and saw a dozen ice queens appear. "Oh screw me."
"After we're done here, perhaps," Lunette joked.
"Lune! Get serious!"
"I know, sorry..." Lunette looked up. "Wonder if I can be stupid that many times in a row?"
Amy shook her head. "We should ask the others for help."
Lunette pointed south. "They're all busy right now." As Amy looked in that direction, she saw what looked like a dozen giant, flying pumpkins with capes, all shooting huge scythes of light around.
"How long until sunrise?"
Lunette looked at the moon. "Too damn long. We're not going to make it."
Amy saw her friend was just looking up at their foes. "Lune, snap out of it."
"I... What's the point?"
"What?"
"We'll respawn anyways. And these bastards will be gone by sunrise. Why bother-" She stopped as Amy slapped her. "... Amy?"
"What's the point? Who are you?"
"What?"
"The Lunette I fell in love with is not like this. Not a coward. Not someone who will just run and leave her friends to die. You... Just stay here and do nothing if you want, miss Dryad!"
Lunette saw Amy fly up and sighed. She understood her reaction, but really... What was the point in fighting these- Her train of thoughts was stopped dead as she saw a single image in her mind. Amy, lying in a pool of her own blood. Dead.
Amy was, meanwhile, regretting her outburst. But she had no time to think about that now, there were a dozen creatures here strong enough to give even Lunette trouble ("even Lunette?" Amy cringed mentally at that. She was as good as fighter as the Dryad.) No, she wouldn't give up, she had to find a way to win this, and then go help her friends.
Lunette was still looking up. It had been a while since she saw Amy use a sword, but there it was, a hallowed sword, its blade surrounded by white flame. Perhaps there was still a chance to win? She saw Amy focus on one of the Queens, and did enough damage with her gun to let her close in for the kill. However, the other queens weren't just going to stand there and watch, so they all shot at her as one.
Amy. Dead. Those words had kept repeating themselves in the Dryad's mind for the last minute, and she could feel something inside her, a sensation like her very soul was burning. "NO!"
Amy turned to the shout, and saw the projectiles heading her way. Then she noticed a wave of green light coming from below, and saw the projectiles - and the ice queens - be obliterated by it, but that same wave did nothing to her as it passed. She also noticed the evil creatures in the battlefield were all gone, and as she looked down, she saw Lunette kneeling on the ground looking at her own hands. "Lune?"
"What... What did I just do?"
Amy saw her friend was scared. "You saved us all, that's what you did."
"But what was that attack? I don't know how-"
The rest of the group was walking to them now. "Lune, that was awesome!"
Lunette flinched at Bunny's praise. "Was it? I don't even know how I did it."
"Oh? We thought it was some new weapon you had crafted," Xanos admitted.
"No, this..." Lunette looked at Amy and then hugged her. "Amy, I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
"Me too," Amy said, returning the hug.
Lunette broke the hug and looked at the others. "I- I sort of thought about giving up for a moment there, and Amy got mad - and she was right - but then as she went up to fight those ice queens I saw that damn dream in my mind again, its images repeating over and over. I saw the enemies preparing to attack Amy and something... I don't know. I just felt my rage fueling something inside me, and then that green wave was shooting out of me in all directions."
Garret noticed all looks were on him now. "What? No, I have no idea about what she did."
"Can you do it again?"
Lunette looked at Pearl. "Honestly, I hope I never do it again."
"Why, because it scares you?"
"No, because of what triggered it." She looked at Amy. "I swear I'll never give up again, Amy. I will not be the coward you hate anymore."
Amy shook her head, but then smiled. "I can't stay mad at you, can I?" She looked at the horizon and saw the sun was rising. She knew what that meant, the Moons were finally gone. And hopefully, they wouldn't come back.
-----
Razor was staring at Simon in disbelief. "How the
did she do that?"
"I don't know."
"We both know you're lying, you brat."
Simon stared at Razor. "Quit your conspiracy theories, Chosen One. I'm growing tired of you, and at this point in time, you're almost a liability. If you want to return home, behave, or I'll make sure you stay here forever."
Razor was about to throttle the 'kid' but then managed to control himself. "Right. So, what's next?"
"Now that the Dryad's caught a glimpse of
that, she'll surely go to the Jungle again. And that's when you will go and unleash Plantera."
"So, you do know what that wave was about, then," Razor noted.
Simon shrugged. "Yes, I do know. But if I told you, I would have to kill you."
"When will this whole mess end, anyhow?"
"Soon, Chosen One, soon..."
