Naruto: The Mega Gamer
Chapter 4: Unexpected Receptions

"I couldn't have imagined that the monsters came from the disc," said IF who was currently in the living room of Compa's home along with Compa herself, Naruto, Erismon and Neptune upon their return from the cave beneath Virtua Forest.

"I don't think anyone would have expected it, we're just lucky that we did and now know how to deal with them," said Naruto as Model X hovered next to him with Erismon looking at the Biometal in curiosity.

"But now we can beat the monsters by the source and they won't come out anymore, and that will help everybody," said Compa cheerfully.

"About the disc…how about we call it the 'Enemy Disc'?" said IF.

Compa tilted her head in mild confusion "Enemy Disc?"

"There's no doubt that there are more of them which means that there will be more monsters appearing as long as they're around,"

"That's not good…,"

"Don't worry about it Compa-chan, we'll find a way to get rid of all the monsters in due time," said Naruto with a foxy grin, causing the pinkette to smile as well.

"Mmm, pudding really hits the spot after a hard day's work! Um, do you have any more Compa?" Neptune was currently gorging herself on said confectionery and was obviously not paying attention to the conversation.

"…," everyone stared silently at the amnesiac girl who now noticed with a confused look on her face.

"Hm? What's the matter? Why so serious?"

"Are you kidding me…?" IF grumbled in disbelief.

"Um Iffy? Nep-Nep get tired after she changes, so can you let it go?" said Compa.

"She's got a point there, even I felt a bit drained when I megamerged with Model X," said Naruto.

"Now that you mention it, I was wondering just what it is and why it helped us," said IF as she stared at the floating Biometal.

"I did say that I would explain everything to you after the battle," said Model X "For starters, I am what you call a Biometal that is a mechanical artifact which houses a soul, usually of a legendary hero from a past era. I am not the only one as there are many others that contains souls of many other heroes. Us Biometals are better known for our ability to merge with a person who is a suitable biomatch, giving him/her incredible power; this ability is called Megamerge which was what we did earlier before,"

"I see, I'm guessing that Arfoire is the name of the witch since she was surprised to see you. I take it that you know each other?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Unfortunately the Biometals and I know her, there used to be a man whose name was Vent with his biomatch being special to the point that he could use more than one Biometal which made him very powerful and he served to protect Gamindustri with Arfoire being a companion of ours," Model X let out a sad sigh "But everything changed on the day we were betrayed, Arfoire deceptively separated us from Vent then found a way to seal us away and destroyed Vent before he could find a way to rescue us as she insured that we would be helpless without a biomatch. I somehow found a way to breach my sealing and escape but I couldn't do any more as I was unable to find someone I could Megamerge with until I met you,"

"So do you know where the others are?" asked Naruto.

"Unfortunately I do not as she had placed us in different hidden locations, it will be difficult to find them," said Model X.

"No worries, I'm sure we can find them during our search for the Key Fragments. Now let me relay what you told me to the others," said Naruto, then he went ahead to inform Neptune and the girls who were surprised to hear.

"Surprising to hear that someone like her has been around for a long time, I thought only the goddesses could live that long," said IF.

"And she's also collecting the Key Fragments too," said Erismon.

"Then we'll just have to get them before she does," said Neptune cheerfully.

"Yessy, let's get going right away," said Compa in agreement.

"Wanna come with us to look for the fragments too Iffy? It would be more fun and safer too,"

IF simply shrugged her shoulders "Sure, why not? Not like I have an agenda, so I might as well tag along for the ride and I'm not sure leaving you three alone would be a good idea,"

"Hey!" Naruto playfully glared as IF simply smirked in response.

[She definitely has your number on that one] said K-9 with a grin.

Naruto chose to ignore the AI "So the question is where do we go to next?"

"Hmmmm, how about we go to Lastation since it seems like a good place to start," IF suggested.

"Looks like we have a course set, now to blaze the trail!" said Neptune excitedly.

"Then we'll need to head to Planeptower to travel to the next destination,"

"Alright, let's go!" Neptune ran out of the room before anything more could be said.

"Nep-chan wait, I don't think you know where it is!" Naruto hopped off the sofa with Erismon jumping into his hood as he ran after her. IF and Compa looked at each other and sighed.

Naruto quickly caught up with a sheepish Neptune who had just realized that she doesn't know where Planeptower was located, though he had to admit that he too doesn't know where it is either despite having been exploring the place during his time here.

"Well if we don't know where it is, then we'll just have to ask someone who does know," said Neptune, she looked around before setting eyes upon a particular person "Like her!"

Naruto looked to recognize whom she was pointing at "Hey, I know her,"

"You do?"

"Yup, she helped me out the first time I came here," said Naruto as they approached the girl and he called out to her "Hey Broccoli-chan!"

Said girl turned round and immediately recognized the blonde but not the girl though "Oh it's Naruto nyu,"

"Broccoli? She looks more like a Puchiko to me with that cuteness," said Neptune.

"It's Broccoli, not Puchiko nyu,"

"Let's not split pears okay?"

Broccoli was now pouting at being ignored "You're terrible at listening nyu,"

"She's not wrong about that," said Model X.

"Now now you two, we came to ask Broccoli-chan for directions to Planeptower remember?"

Broccoli turned towards the blonde "Well nyu, just head down there and you'll see a sign for it nyu,"

"Sweet! Thank you, we've got to run now! Bye-bye!" Neptune grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him along.

"H-hey take it easy Nep-chan!" Naruto stumbled a bit, though he couldn't help but blush a bit since a girl had actually taken the initiative to touch him, unlike the ones back home that wouldn't hesitate to punch him for little to no good reason whatsoever.

The duo found their way to their destination and went inside to find themselves at the edge of the land with a large gateway of sorts where they found IF and Compa waiting for them much to their mild embarrassment, though Neptune's attention was easily taken by the scenery.

"The ground, it's split open! This must be where the ancient battle ensued! A battle where a goddess and an evil god seal each other into their weapons!" said Neptune in a dramatic manner.

"What is she talking about?" asked IF with a quirked eyebrow.

"Nep-Nep says a lot of random things, but you'll get used to it," said Compa.

"If you say so. But still, for losing her memory, Nep sure knows a lot…,"

"Which kinda remains me if they have delivered the new game which I had preordered before coming here, the trailer was awesome when I saw its story and gameplay," said Naruto thoughtfully "So what is this place anyways?"

"This is a Sky Harbor, it's where we go to get to the other lands. The lands aren't connected so we need to go through here," Compa explained.

Neptune tilted her head in confusion "Uh how do we get across? Oh I know! Jumping right? While saying 'Wahoo!',"

"I can't help but think of a moustache and a plumber's outfit upon hearing that," said Naruto.

"She's quite eccentric, isn't she?" said Model X.

"Of course not, we need to go to the Basilicom to fill in the papers and gain the approval to cross over to Lastation," said IF.

The group headed over to said place which seems to be resemblance to that of a cathedral where they met the head of staff dressed like a staff, there they filled in the required forms although there was a slight mishap concerning Neptune's name constantly being mispronounced. The group wanted to meet with the goddess but were told that she has been absent for some time now so they left the Basilicom and went to cross the Sky Harbor.

"Wow, this place is all steampunky! Iffy, what's this place called again?"

The group had finally arrived at their destination after crossing the Sky Harbor. Like Neptune had said earlier, the city's theme is based on steampunk with the numerous factories and industries while being rather dark and smoky.

"This place is called Lastation which is ruled by CPU Black Heart, it's obscured by various industries," said IF.

Erismon popped his head out of the hood to look around "I don't really like this place so much,"

"The pollution here is quite much, I doubt it's healthy for the residents here," said Model X.

"So, um, does the theme of the Land match with that of the goddess preferences?" asked Neptune.

"No, the CPUs are here to protect us. It's us humans that shape the land," IF explained.

"Aw that's realistic, what do you think of this place Compa?" asked Neptune.

"The factories and chimneys remind me of an industrial revolution, I'm not really into this kind of thing," said Compa, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Well now that we're here, let's head over to this Land's Basilicom and meet with the CPU to get some clues on where the Key Fragment could be," said Naruto.

"Alright then, let's go," said Neptune.

The group then set out towards their next destination, but after ten minutes of walking with no sign of the building. It's easy to conclude that they're somehow lost, which they haven't realized it just yet. It didn't help that Naruto's G-Pad doesn't contain a detailed map of the place since he only has one of Gamindustri and another of Planeptune.

"Hey Iffy, are we there yet?" asked Neptune…for the thirteenth time.

"That's odd…I was pretty sure that the Basilicom was in this direction…," said IF confusedly.

"Don't tell me we're lost,"

"I hope not, but it's been a while since I came here. Let's ask someone,"

[I think you should have done that from the very beginning] said K-9 sarcastically.

"Well, how about that I'm-going-on-an-adventure-looking person over there?" said Neptune while pointing at someone ahead.

Everyone looked to see a girl with long red hair which is tied into a ponytail with a white ribbon. She wears a black short shirt with sleeves above the elbow under a white tank top held with a brown belt near the bottom. On top of it is a short opened red and white jacket with gold lining with a pair of matching denim short-shorts with a thick brown and gold belt, she also wears matching shoes, an orange and white pouch strapped to her right upper legs, a blue scarf, and a pair of black fingerless gloves with thick white cuffs.

"Helloooo, you with the red hair!" Neptune called out as she approached with the others following her.

"Huh?" the girl turned towards them with a look of confusion "What is it?"

"We want to meet Lady Black Heart, but can you tell us where to go so we can meet her?" asked Neptune.

"Lady Black Heart? Oh you mean Lady Noire. Just head down that path, take a right and you'll see the Basilicom," said the girl.

"Looks like the general direction was correct after all, thank you," said IF gratefully.

The girl smiled in response "Got to help each other in need right?"

"Well since we've meet, do you mind if I ask you your name?" asked Neptune "My name is Neptune, and this here is Compa, Iffy and Naruto with his little friend Erismon,"

"My name is Falcom, I'm a newbie adventurer. If you're in a pickle and you need help, just give me a holler,"

"That's nice of you, let's hope that we meet again for a quest or something else. See you later," said Naruto with a foxy grin as they went on their way with the direction given to them.

Falcom watched the group leave and smiled to herself "I never expected to see them in this dimension, although the boy is a new addition…he looks cute too with those whisker marks,"

The group arrived at the Lastation Basilicom and went inside where they met with one of the staff members of the place then Neptune spoke up.

"Excuse me, we came to see Lady Black Heart, is she around?" asked Neptune.

The staff member frowned in response "Who are you kids? This isn't a playground, now scram!"

"Hey, that's no way to treat your guests!"

"We really need to meet with the CPU, we're trying to get Nep-Nep's memory back," said Compa politely.

"I don't care about you reasons for being here, now leave!" said the staff member.

Naruto stepped before Neptune and Compa with a glare "What's your problem? We just want to meet with the CPU and you're being so rude to us!"

"You all don't belong here and no one cares about your reasons for meeting her, now get out!" hearing that irritated Naruto to the point that his eyes turned red and his canines were slowly poking through his lips, K-9 was quick to notice and frowned in worry.

"Please calm down Naruto," said Model X in an attempt to placate his new friend.

"Wow, so much for civility from the Basilicom…," said IF with a small frown "They say clothes make the man, but I guess the CPU isn't all that great,"

"Say what you want. I could care less what Black Heart is called," the staff member retorted.

"…"

"Hey! You got a group of cute girls and a cool guy here pleading. C'mon, let us meet her!" Neptune whined.

"Let's go Nep, Naruto. We're wasting our time here," said IF.

"Iffy, are you giving up already? It's game over if you do!"

"Let's just go,"

IF grabbed hold of Neptune and Naruto and proceeded to drag them out with Compa following after them, her action snapped Naruto out of his anger as his eyes reverted to blue and the canines shrunk back to normal size. Soon they were out of the Basilicom and on the main streets of Lastation but Neptune and Naruto weren't happy with what happened back there and the former was more audible about it.

"I'm so mad! The Basilicom is one thing, but Iffy, you're another! Why did we leave?" asked Neptune with a pout.

"Didn't you notice? He didn't show any respect to their CPU at all," IF pointed out to them.

Compa nodded in affirmation "Oh…yes, he didn't treat the goddess' name with respect. That's weird…,"

"How so?" asked Erismon with Naruto listening.

"Are they just being buddy-buddy?" asked Neptune confusedly.

"Well, there's no way the people of the Land would call their CPU by name. Remember the person at the Planeptune Basilicom? Despite his quirks, he still treated the goddess by addressing her properly. But here, they're treating their CPU with scorn which is rather strange,"

"I see what you mean, it might that there's something else going on here," said Naruto, looking much calmer which made K-9 sigh with relief.

"Do you know anything since you've traveled around the world Iffy?" asked Compa.

"Sorry Compa, I mostly stayed at Planeptune so I don't have much info," said IF.

"So much for the 'adventuring' character, eh Iffy? But don't worry, we won't kick you out just because you faked your resume," said Neptune with an innocent smile.

"Kind of ironic this is coming from someone who lost their memory, eh?" said IF, Neptune chuckled sheepishly while Naruto smiled in amusement.

"So what's our next step from here?" asked Naruto curiously.

"I propose that we do some quests while we're still here,"

"We still have money right? So why do we need to do any quests…unless of course you had used up all your funds for your own pleasures?!" said Neptune.

"We still have money, it's not like I sneak out to buy pudding like you Nep," said IF looking straight at said person who took a step back in shock.

Wha-? Y-y-y-you knew?!" Neptune was flabbergasted.

"Dead obvious, you thought that I didn't notice?" she glanced sideways to see Naruto snickering "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you Naruto, I know that you've also been secretly eating cup ramen when you thought that no one was looking," now it was Naruto's turn to be shocked, are his skills of stealth getting rusty? He needs to fix this!

"…Anyways, if you recall that we found a Key Fragment over at Planeptune, we might be able to find one over here at Lastation,"

"Sounds like a good idea Iffy-chan, let's start looking," said Naruto.

"It's currently the best plan so far," said Model X before floating into his pocket.

Sometime later, the group had gone to the guild and had accepted a request and now are currently searching for the person who has issued the request. Compa seems to have found the person as she called out to the others.

"Is that her? The person who wants us to fight monsters?" said the pinkette as she pointed for them to see who it is.

She is a woman with short blue hair and wearing a pair of goggles on her forehead with a bandage patch on the left cheek. Her outfit consists of a deep pink open jacket with multiple pockets and buttons, a black tube top underneath and exposing her midriff, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck.

"She's kinda small…I was thinking more of a large burly man or something," said Neptune.

"That's stereotyping Nep-chan, it isn't always like that," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

"She staring this way…and now she's waving at us…I think she's the right person," said Compa cheerfully.

"Guess she came to the same conclusion like we did," said IF as the woman approached them.

"So it's you four? You're gonna take the work I ordered? Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked the woman, apparently a bit skeptic.

"More than okay, nice to meet you. I'm IF. This is Compa, Neptune, Naruto and his pet Erismon," IF introduced herself and the others.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't have come if you weren't okay. My name is Chian and I run a small factory called Passé," the woman introduced herself "No point standing around here, follow me,"

They followed after the woman till she beckoned them into a small building which they came to discover it to be a cafeteria, mildly surprising them.

"Didn't you say you ran a factory, this place looks more like a cafeteria," IF pointed out.

"My parents run the cafeteria, the factory is next door. You'd rather speak at a cleaner place right? Take a seat," Chian explained.

"Dibs on the barstool!" Neptune excitedly scampered over to sit on one of the barstools and spun herself around a couple of times "With this cafeteria, you can order a heckloads of parfaits and puddings!"

"That's not gonna create revenue you know? The factory isn't enough, so we make do with the cafeteria too," said Chian.

"Sorry to intrude, but could you tell us the details to the work?" asked IF while seated on the barstool with the rest, even Erismon went to sit on one and Naruto playfully spun him around whilst listening in.

"Sure. I need you to take care of the monster around the trade route. It used to be safe, but recently, a large monster appeared from out of nowhere. With the route unsafe, all trade has halted,"

"That sounds right up our alley, we'll be sure to take out that monster so you can resume with your business," said Naruto with determination.

"Good to know, with Avenir killing the market, we don't need any more problems," said Chian.

"Chian, Chian, what's this 'Avenir'?" asked Compa curiously.

Chian looked at them in disbelief "Wait, you don't know Avenir?"

"This is our first time coming here, so we don't really know about Avenir, ooooh," said Erismon, looking rather dizzy and almost fell off when Naruto caught the little Digimon and placed him on his lap.

"Avenir is a major company that is pretty much ruling Lastation. They make everything from goods to weapons, and is controlling the market. People like can't compete with them, so our products don't sell well," said Chian with a frown "And it's not like they create work either, I know a few who closed shop already.

"That's terrible, it goes against antitrust laws!" said Compa with a frown.

"Not to mention that I don't see any sort of equality here," said Naruto with a frown, he had seen Shikamaru play a couple of games themed on business tycoons and got a few bits of info from them to get an idea of what Chian was talking about.

"So much has changed since the Biometals and I were gone, what has happened to the peace we fought to protect?" asked Model X.

"Didn't you talk with the CPU? It's hard to believe that she would let something like this go," said IF.

"Myself and others have tried, but Lady Black Heart was gone too long…Avenir placed their goons in the Basilicom, now they pretty much own it," Chian responded "Such a waste, since Lady Black Heart has just returned from Celestia. Avenir won't let us near the Lady at all,"

"That explains the rude reception when we went there earlier before, they know that she would definitely try to resolve all this and that would disrupt their position of power," said Naruto.

[Got it in one go kit] said K-9 in approval.

"I got an idea! What say we sneak into where CPU Black Hearth lives and meet her face to face? We can gain info on the Key Fragment and help Chian at the same time. It's quite the bargain!" said Neptune.

"Okay Nep-Nep, let's go stealth mode and wait at lady Black Hearth's room!" said Compa in agreement.

[I was expecting that idea to come from you] said K-9 with a smirk.

"Shut up or I'll turn you off," Naruto grumbled in reply.

"Lady Black H-e-a-r-t, not Lady Black Hearth. But if you don't know where the Lady is, the guards would just spot you," said Chian.

"Well we have to try right?" said Neptune with determination "I'm more the type to try and fail than not try all," Naruto smiled fondly at that as he too tends to do that a lot.

"Not this time Nep. If we play this wrong, we'll never meet the Lady. And if that happens, we'll be harming Chian and folks more than they need," IF pointed out to them "Let's take care of Chian's orders first, let's take it in steps, okay?"

"Alright Iffy-chan, we'll follow your advice in the meantime. So where is it that we're to go to find the monster?" asked Naruto.

"You can find it over at West Wind Valley, I advise that you four be careful," said Chian.

"Will do, let's go team!" said Neptune excitedly.

"Sure thing Nep-chan," said Naruto fondly as Erismon jumped back into his hood.

The group left the cafeteria and set out of the city with K-9 serving as their navigator thanks to Naruto having the mindset to upload a map of Lastation into the G-Pad to avoid getting themselves along the way for the second time with Naruto occupying himself by using the plans and materials to make a couple more Healing Pods but made sure to reserve some materials for other plans. Soon enough they arrived at their marked destination.

"We're here! So where is this monster thingy going to appear?" asked Neptune excitedly.

"*Huff huff* Nep-Nep, Naru wait…I'm so tired," Compa leant on her knees and panting in slight fatigue.

"*Sigh* with those two this pumped up, they'll lose their spunk when we need it," said IF.

"Who needs a last-gen yellow stamina bar? I got infinite stamina!" said Neptune with gusto.

"Ditto over here, I'm not one for getting tired so easily," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

[It would have been unbelievable save for the fact that it's true] said K-9 in a deadpanned expression.

"Now let's go wipe out the monsters in the area and report back to Chian!" said Neptune while moving on ahead with the others following after her.

The group set out and began encountering monsters which were different from the ones they're familiar with back at Planeptune like Cardbird, Sunflower, Pal Shell, Alraune and more. They were able to take them out and acquire drops after the battles, Erismon was being especially helpful with his treasure hunting skill which has upgraded to level 2 as he brought back treasures like STR Booster, Paralaxin, a Fight Lv 1 idea chip and even a Snow Bonbon accessory. The team rose up a couple of levels past 15 along the way but had to avoid the more dangerous monsters as they weren't strong enough yet to face them down.

"*huff huff* Iff…y w…ait…so…tired," Neptune was practically running on fumes after the long trek.

"You've got to be kidding me, I thought you had infinite stamina!" said IF with a roll of her eyes.

"Well yeah, but…there's too many slants and slopes here," Neptune whined in complaint.

"I don't see what that big deal is, I'm yet to get winded," Naruto crossed his arms in confusion, Erismon was all tuckered out in his hood.

"You're a case of your own Naruto, after all those battles you still look like you're ready for more," said IF.

"She speaks the truth, you definitely possess a lot of stamina and durability," said Model X having attested to that.

"My tooties hurt, I can't take another step. Let's take a rest Naru," Compa looked at Naruto with teary eyes, causing the blonde's heart to immediately give in to her though it's not like he was going to say no anyways.

"Ok Compa-chan, let's take a ten minute break," said Naruto, he looked at IF to get an affirmation which she provided with a nod.

Hearing that, Compa sat on the a grassy area with a look of relief on her face and Neptune was quick to join her "Finally…rest…yay,"

"Oooh, since we're resting, let's have a snack! I got pudding!" Neptune took out the pudding with a look of glee "I bet the pudding would taste perfect in this wilderness around us!"

Suddenly they heard a loud screech and looked up to see a large birdlike monster hovering above their heads and looking down at them with eyes full of hostility, Naruto then realized that it looked similar to the picture which Chian had shown them concerning the identity of the monster.

"Iffy-chan, isn't that the monster Chian told us about?" asked Naruto to confirm the target.

"Yeah, which means that this must be the place where it appears often," said IF while equipping her weapons.

"Oh come on you two, you'd think I would fall for your tricks?" said Neptune in an act of denial.

"Mr. Monster, can you wait please? We were trying to take a break here…," said Compa.

"And just when I was about to bite into this tasty pudding…" Neptune suddenly transformed into her HDD form with a look of anger as she brandished her katana "You shall pay! Feel the wrath and agony worthy of tainting pudding time!"

"Nep-Nep's really angry now, and it's worse now that she's transformed!" said Compa worriedly.

"It looks like anything pudding related is enough to jolt her. Good, she's ready," said IF in approval.

[You can get the same effect with this kid only that it's ramen related] said K-9 with a smirk.

"Well pudding doesn't make me ready, I'm still tired…," said Compa.

"Don't worry Compa-chan, this fight won't take long," Naruto summoned Kanshou and Bakuya to his hands and took a stance for the upcoming battle.

"Stop talking and let's beat this monster up already!" said Neptune in a commanding manner.

"Alright alright,"

Music Start: Kingdom Hearts II OST; Working Together
Naruto had K-9 identify the monster to be a Hraesvelgr before dashing towards the monster and using Charger to unleash a barrage of slashes upon the monster, however the attack missed as the monster bird flew backwards to get out of the range of the attack and was about to retaliate when IF vaulted off Naruto's shoulder to launch herself at it to strike several times with her newly acquired claws before flipping away to land back on the ground next to Naruto.

The Hraesvelgr screeched on anger and swooped towards the duo in an attempt to shred them with its sharp talons when a purple blur intercepted which turned out to be Neptune "Cross Combo!" Neptune rushed at the monster and slashed up to 5 hits with the sixth launching it into the air then flying after it with the final slash to drive it to the ground. "Charger!" Naruto activated the skill once more and this time was able to land several strikes before the monster flew away from them. "Lightning Fur!" Erismon jumped out of Naruto's hood to launch a barrage of quills coated in electricity to attack the Hraesvelgr as it retreated.

"Demon Flames!" IF activated her skill to trigger multiple explosions of flames erupted around the monster before combining to create one large final fiery explosion for maximum damage. The Hraesvelgr suddenly switched targets to Compa who was taken by surprise and wasn't able to put up a defense, the monster drew close to strike when something appeared before it and impacted with a metallic clang then slowed down to stop, revealing to be Naruto who had moved to defend Compa but suffered a bit of damage.

"Don't even think for a second that we weren't paying attention featherbrain! Here's payback, X-ecution!" Naruto pushed the Hraesvelgr back before performing a strong cross slash to inflict a lot of damage then Neptune flew past and slashed it several times before knocking back with a roundhouse kick.

"Thank you Naru-kun, now let me heal you," said Compa before activating her First Aid skill on Naruto while Neptune and IF held the Hraesvelgr at bay.

"Thanks for the healing Compa-chan, just a little more and this bird is plucked," said Naruto "Blade Raid!" he threw the shortswords towards the monster to hit it and caught them as he ran forward before rolling out of the way to avoid a slash attack from its talons "Erismon, prep up for a fastball special!" Naruto stretched a hand out for the Digimon to jump onto it "Here we go!" he spun round before throwing Erismon with great strength "Kenzan Dive!" Erismon curled up into a spiny ball and spun rapidly before slamming into the Hraesvelgr then bounced away.

"Here I go, Critical Edge!" Neptune dashed forward to slash the monster then followed up with an uppercut to launch it into the air then slashed once more with great speed.

"It's on its last legs, let's take it down once and for all Iffy-chan!" Naruto called out.

"Right!" IF responded in affirmation.

The duo stood at opposite sides of the Hraesvelgr then charged forward with great speed in a pincer formation then unleashed a double slash with their weapons in a cross pattern and landing at opposite sides as the monster let out a final screech before dispersing into pixels, signaling its defeat.

Music End

"Whew…that was some fight," said Neptune.

"Really? It was rather quick because of you, Nep-Nep," said Compa.

"Tell me about it, but we finally got the job done and I even unlocked some new moves and a rare drop to go with it," said Naruto as he and K-9 were checking out his stats on the G-Pad.

"And you are growing more in experience from the battles as well, it will definitely come in handy as you face stronger monsters along the way," said Model X.

"Can we go back now? I'm getting kinda hungry," said Erismon, back in his usual seat of Naruto's hood.

"Hey, wouldn't it have been faster if Nep in TRANS-AM mode flew us here?" asked IF.

Neptune shook her head in response "No, there's no way I could you all here. This is quite tiring you know?"

"How about being our taxi for one pudding each direction?" said Compa "This isn't any ordinary pudding, I'm talking about the super-premium one!"

Neptune twitched for a moment but remain sturdy "Ah…t-that's enticing, but I think I'll pass,"

"Aw…that's too bad. It would have been so easy if we just flew instead,"

[Seems more to me like a waste of energy over something trivial] said K-9 with a quirked eyebrow which Naruto choose to ignore.

"Enough on this already, I'm changing back," said Neptune.

IF suddenly frowned and quickly spoke up "Hold no Nep, don't undo your transformation just yet,"

"What's the matter Iffy? You won't be able to sway me with any more pudding,"

"That's not what she meant, there's someone watching us…from over there," said Naruto with a frown while looking at the same direction where IF was looking at.

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to notice, well done," someone walked out from behind the rocks and surprised everyone with her appearance.

It is a girl with snow white hair which goes down below her shoulders somewhat, with her fringe standing above her eyes and bangs caressing her face. She dons a black and white suit and a mechanical appearance which also exposes a mild amount of her cleavage. Her sleeves are pure black, with silver patches in the bicep and tricep area, her gauntlets are black with silver protrusions on the knuckle, and a pair of three-feathered cyan wings hovered behind to keep her afloat in the air.

"It's been a while Neptune, of course you probably don't remember me now...," said the girl.

"Iffy! Is she…?" asked Neptune.

"Yes…she does look like you in that form of yours," said IF.

"Which means that she's most likely to know who you are," said Naruto while looking at the girl though he blushed a bit upon staring at her cleavage for a moment before quickly looking away and ignoring the smirk that K-9 was throwing his way.

"Indeed, I know Neptune very well," said the girl.

Neptune blinked in surprised "Really? Then tell me, who am I?"

The girl laughed in amusement "Ahaha! Being asked for help by Neptune! Very well, I'll tell you…,"

"That's great Nep-Nep! We finally met someone who knows you!" said Compa happily.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one, the last person who knew Neptune tried to steal her power and destroy us," said Naruto with a small frown.

"It's best to be cautious," said Model X.

"You have a point there Naruto," said IF.

"…But there is one condition," said the girl with a smirk.

"Condition? What's that?" asked Neptune confusedly.

"Do you have to ask…?" the girl summoned a sword into her hand "Defeat me in battle!"

Music Start: BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle OST; Scraper Sky High (Hyde's Theme)

"I figured something like this would happen. I'll be needing your help on this one, no doubt she's just as strong as Nep-chan in her transformed state," said Naruto as the others armed themselves for battle.

"I'm always ready, let us begin!" said Model X before flying into Naruto's hand who held it before him.

"Megamerge!"

"Biolink established, M.E.G.A System online!" Naruto was engulfed in a dome light before fading away to reveal him in his Megaman X Form and stood at the ready.

"Don't think that will change anything!" the girl flew towards Neptune and swing her blade "Paralyze Fencer!" she jabbed rapidly with Neptune using the flat side of her katana to block the attack but got hit a couple of times before moving away. The girl wanted to press the offense but had turn round to block a strike from IF's claws before pushing her away.

"Demon Flames!" IF launched multiple explosions of flames erupted around the girl before combining to create one large final fiery explosion, but it didn't seem to had had any effect whatsoever. IF had to jump away from the girl's retaliation then deflect the barrage of slashes, Neptune swooped in to help by using Cross Combo to push the girl back.

"Back off!" Naruto dashed forward and launched a straight punch for the girl to block with her sword "Time to try that new feature of yours X, Shotgun Ice!" he transformed his right hand into the X-Buster and took aim before firing a shard of ice that struck the girl, knocking her back "Awesome!"

"Not bad, but let's see you handle this! Venom Fencer!" the girl rushed up to Naruto and jabbed him several times with her sword which was glowing purple before knocking him back to the ground. Naruto tried to get up but found that he couldn't move so well and that he felt sick.

[Kit, you've been poisoned! It must have been from that attack of hers!] K-9 called out in alert.

Naruto gritted his teeth at the pain inside his body "Darn it!"

"Naruto needs help!" Erismon called out to the others.

"Leave Naruto alone! Critical Edge!" Neptune flew at the girl with a slash which was blocked but she launched her into the air with an uppercut and slashed once more to inflict a decent amount of damage.

"Hang on Naru, I'll help you!" Compa ran over to Naruto then used one of her skills "Be cured!" she fused a white orb of energy into Naruto and he felt the pain fade away immediately afterwards.

"Thanks a lot Compa-chan!" said Naruto gratefully.

Compa smiled brightly "You're welcome!"

"Now it's time for some payback!" Naruto dashed towards the girl who saw him coming and swung her sword but he ducked low and slid along the ground whilst charging up his X-Buster till he was right in front of her while aiming at her torso "Take this, Charge Shot!" then he fired a powerful blast of green energy to send her flying "I'm not done just yet, Storm Tornado!" he followed up by firing a horizontal cyclone of air which struck her multiple times before she crashed to the ground.

"Most impressive Naruto, keep it up!" said Model X.

[Show 'em what for kit!] said K-9 excitedly.

The girl hovered from the ground to glare at Naruto "I'm not done just yet!"

"Yet being the keyword!" IF rushed up to the girl and attacked rapidly with her claws which the opponent managed to block most of the attacks while still being struck at several points before backing away and was then attacked by Neptune with a Cross Combo attack which forced her to defend yet again.

"Just a little more," said Erismon.

"I know!" Naruto ran up to the girl and attacked with a jump kick which was blocked with her sword but he fired a pointblank Buster Shot and used the recoil to backflip to a safe distance for IF to attack multiple times with her claws and jumped away from a retaliatory attack only Neptune to add her own attacks into the mix, this assault placed the girl's mind in a state of temporary confusion which gave Naruto enough time to prepare for a powerful attack as he charged up the X-Buster to its max "It's all over with this, Full Charged Shot!" he fired a large blue energy shot which is accompanied by two red energy torrents as they swirled around it and slammed into the target, knocking her down to the ground with scorch marks all over her body and armor.

Music End

The girl groaned as she slowly got up from the ground "Tch! Even if I was outnumbered…me, lose?! What's going on?! Or it this my power…? No…I won't believe it!"

Neptune approached the girl "Now that I've won, tell me what you know about me,"

"Don't think you have won it all by just downing me!" the girl retorted with a glare.

"I admit that we did outnumber you, but still, a win is a win,"

"Yeah, you didn't exactly set up any rules so don't try going back on our deal," said Naruto.

"That was the agreement made," said Model X with K-9 nodding in affirmation to the Biometal's statement.

The girl shook her head in denial "No…no…I refuse to accept this!" she suddenly got up and flew away before anyone could react.

"What the- hey come back here!" Naruto yelled in annoyance.

"'Go after her Nep!" said IF urgently.

"Right!" Neptune was about to fly after her when she suddenly reverted to her normal form much to everyone's surprise "Whoa, what?!"

"Nep! What are you doing changing form now?!"

"I'm so sorry Iffy, I used up all my juice already…I'm sooo tired,"

"No time to be tired, let's go! She's our chance to get info on you!" said IF.

"Then I'm going ahead, I should be able to catch up at least in this form!" Naruto turned to run when he felt something latch onto his back and looked to see that it was Neptune "Nep-chan, what are you doing?"

"Onwards my blue steed, the enemy is over yonder!" said Neptune pointing ahead of them.

"What do you mean by-oh forget it!" Naruto took off down the dirt path and kicking up dust with Neptune whooping like a cowgirl. The duo ran a fair bit of distance when they caught sight of someone hiding behind a large boulder "Look over there!"

"There's the target, launch me with your fastball special!" said Neptune.

"Right!" Naruto grabbed hold of Neptune then threw her at the target "…wait, what?"

"Gotcha!" Neptune wrapped her arms around their target and getting a yelp out of it "Gotta catch em all!"

"Wait! What? Why?" the voice spoke up in a panic.

"I'm not gonna let go till you spill everything you got!"

Naruto approached them and took note of something very important as he stood there in shock "Nep-chan…I don't think that's the girl we were chasing after,"

"What?" Neptune let go and took a few steps back to see who it is.

She is a girl with a slender figure, red eyes, and long black hair which is kept tied into two pigtails with blue ribbons and go down to her waist. Her fringe isn't kept parted and she has two bangs that go down to her chin. Her attire consists of a maid-like black top with golden trimmings and white frills around her upper arm and chest, and also reveals a certain portion of her cleavage. Her skirt is white with black trimming and is rather frilled compared to her top, and goes down to her lower-thigh.

"…looks like we got the wrong person," said Neptune blankly.

"W-why are you here?!" the girl took a step back in shock much to the confusion of Naruto and Erismon who was currently sitting on his shoulder after the wild ride.

"…Ummm, we were looking for a girl who might have come by here. She's black, shiny, and was flying. I figured she would be easy to spot,"

"That description reminds me of an insect pest," then the girl pointed in a direction "Well, there was someone going down that direction. Like really fast,"

"Oh shucks, she was our important hint and all. Iffy's not gonna like hearing that she got away," said Neptune, looking a bit depressed.

"Tell me about it, this is the second time that an opportunity to figure out your secret identity slipped through our fingers," said Naruto.

Erismon piped up "Don't give up, I'm sure we'll get another chance,"

"And we would have to fight for it too," Naruto reverted to his normal self as Model X floated next to him.

"…," the girl stared at them in silence, something the trio were quick to notice.

"Sorry about that, just talking to ourselves," said Neptune "By the way, what are you doing here…and you're all scraped up!"

"Huh?" the girl blinked in confusion before looking at herself to see that she was indeed covered in bruises.

"Maybe she was attacked by monsters," said Erismon.

"In that case, you have nothing to worry about as we're here now!" said Neptune confidently.

The girl mumbled "Right, you were the monsters…,"

"Do you say something?"

"Oh nothing! Plus these are just a few scratches, nothing to bawl over,"

"Few isn't exactly the best word to describe your current condition, we need to get someone to take a look at you," said Naruto with a look of concern.

"And we have the person suitable for the job, we can have her check on you!" said Neptune.

"…It's not really that big of a deal," said the girl, but they weren't convinced in the least.

"No worries, we won't charge you," said Neptune then she proceeded to call out to the others "Compa Where are you Compa ? Here Compa, come here!"

"Are you seriously calling Compa-chan that way?" asked Naruto with a sweatdrop.

[I believe she is} said K-9.

"I don't think calling as if calling for a dog will work…," said the girl skeptically.

"Did you call Nep-Nep?" asked Compa who appeared before them.

"You're kidding me…," her eyes were wide in disbelief.

"Are you surprised? I am, after all, the heroine! I have 108 skill styles, y'know?" said Neptune proudly.

"Stop lying Nep. We caught up right before you started yelling, and I don't need to be told that you two lost the girl we were supposed to chase after and found another one," said IF.

"Sorry about that Iffy-chan, we messed up," said Naruto apologetically.

"No worries, there's always next time,"

"By the way, was there something you need?" asked Compa.

"Yeah, she…um, oh right. In all our excitement, we forgot to ask for her name," Neptune turned towards the girl "My name is Neptune, and these are my friends Compa, Iffy, Naruto and his friend Erismon,"

"That's IF, nice to meet you," IF was quick to correct.

"What's your name?" asked Neptune.

"…re," the girl muttered lowly.

"What?"

"Noire,"

"Noire, that's a fancy name. I bet you don't have any friends and stuff," said Neptune with a smile.

"Wha-?!" Noire looked like she had just been pinched before tick marks appeared on her head "Why you! Oh, is this how you greet someone you meet for the first time?!"

"Oh lighten up, it's just a joke. I was trying to be funny here,"

"Well your joke isn't exactly 'haha' material," Naruto turned towards Noire with a smile "It's nice to meet you Noire-chan, hope we can get along,"

"O-okay," Noire stammered in response.

"Didn't we hear that name from somewhere before?" Model X muttered to himself.

"Naruto has a point there Nep, can you help her Compa?" said IF.

"All righty, leave it to me!" said Compa cheerfully.

"Hey! Iffy! You took my line!" Neptune pouted with a complaint.

"Leave it to you and we'll never get anything done," said IF in a deadpanned expression.

Compa took out her first aid kit and proceeded to tend to Noire with Naruto handing out a couple of Healing Pods to help heal her before finishing up by bandaging the cuts and bruises, Naruto was quite impressed with her current level of medical skills despite being a nurse in training.

"Here you go! I just cleaned the cuts and bandaged them," said Compa happily.

Noire smiled at the pinkette gratefully "Thanks, this helps a lot. Um Compa, is it? Are you…Neptune's friend?"

"Yessy! We've been best friends ever since Naruto and I found her speared to the ground," said Compa, Naruto and K-9 snickered in remembrance.

"Hey, you didn't need to tell her that!" Neptune whined.

"Doesn't change the fact that seeing you staked to the ground was funny," Naruto chuckled in response, Noire giggled at the thought of it.

"By the way Noire, what were you doing in this dangerous place," asked IF with a small frown.

"And all scratched up," Compa added.

"This certainly is a place to avoid venturing solo," said Model X.

Noire looked rather hesitant to answer the question "I…,"

IF narrowed her eyes in suspicion "Something is fishy here,"

"Um, well…I'm not sure too, well…,"

Neptune then piped up "Oh I know! You must be…a fellow amnesiac!"

"Huh? Oh yes, that's right! Amnesia! I can't remember a single thing, it must have happened when I was attacked," said Noire.

"That's terrible," said Erismon with concern.

"You too huh, man we seem to be running into a lot of them," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

"Wait, are we actually believing her?" asked IF in disbelief.

"I doubt she has a reason to lie to us, especially since this is the first time we're meeting," said Naruto as a matter-of-factly.

"That's right, we fellow amnesiacs need to look out for each other!" said Neptune.

"So what can we do to help Noire? How do we get her home?" asked Compa with concern.

"Well…how about the Basilicom? They should keep her safe in custody," said IF, not noticing Noire flinch at the mention of the place.

Naruto frowned at the suggestion "Surely you haven't forgotten what those guys did to us when we went there, Iffy-chan? They'd kick Noire-chan out through the back door no sooner we pass through the front door,"

Erismon nodded in agreement "Those guys were total meanies,"

"Naru is right, they don't know how to treat their guests right," said Compa.

"I have a great idea, why not have her tag along with us until her memory returns?" said Neptune.

Noire looked relieved but then was taken by surprise "Wha-?! Tag along, as in together?!"

"You don't like it? But we are memory loss buddies so let's stay together," Neptune insisted.

"It's safer than being at the Basilicom and more fun with friends too," said Compa.

"Nep-chan and Compa-chan are right, it would be nice to have a cute girl like you with us too," said Naruto with a foxy grin, causing pink tinges to appear on Noire's cheeks.

"C-cute m-me…? W-well I guess I could come along if you want me to…," Noire stammered in response.

IF sighed before speaking up "Since you two are so insistent, I don't really have much of a choice but to go along with it,"

"Sweet!" Neptune smiled before turning to Noire "Again, it's nice to meet you Noire!"

"I guess so…," said Noire rather quietly.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto and co rested at Compa's place and learnt of Model X's origin before setting out for Lastation to meet with the CPU of the Land and find the next Key Fragment as well to free Histoire. The group took on a quest from the guild after being treated improperly at the Basilicom and denied an audience with the CPU Black Heart where they learnt of the company Avenir which has been causing issues in Lastation for a long time.

During the monster hunt quest, the group were approached by a girl who looked majorly similar to Neptune's transformed state and engaged her in battle before giving chase upon her defeat. Then they ran into another girl whom they helped recover then discovered that she had lost her memory just like Neptune in spite of her odd behavior and so decided to have party up with them until she remembers. Be sure to look forward to what will happen next.

There are two more additions to the harem with good points raised by those who suggested them:

Harem List:
Neptune
Nepgear
Compa
IF
Noire
Blanc
Vert
Uzume
Plutia
Chika
CyberConnect2
Falcom
MarvelousAQL
Mina Nishizawa
Tekken
Uni
5pb.
Cave
God Eater
S-sha
Lee-fi
Lid
Hatsumi Sega
Wyn
RED (Wouldn't mind making Naruto her first Hubby)
Hinata (A Closet Gaming Otaku with slight personality shifts to her RTN counterpart)

This is Hussbek from Ghana

Signing out