A/N: Wow. I didn't expect my story to have this many followers that quick. Seriously guys, thanks for supporting my story and giving reviews to me. I really like and appreciate it. Sorry for the wait, too. I've been working like the devil on my drawings for my deviantart account and then there was finals that I wrapped up not too long ago. This chapter, we see everyone's favorite foul-mouthed rebel Ragna go up against the Guard Vermin with Nu's powers! Will he be able to make an opening for Neptune?! Find out in this chapter of Hyperdimension Neptunia: Azure Chapter! The Wheel of Fate is turning...

Rebel 2, ACTION!

UPDATE 5/28/17: I added an opening sequence, which will be in all subsequent chapter releases as well.

"Compa, you need to take that bastard's eye out when he looks at you! You'll only have a fraction of a second to do so, so prepare yourself!" Ragna exclaimed with authority.

"U-um…okay Mr. Ragna! I won't let you down!" Compa replied with determination in her eyes.

Ragna couldn't help but a crack a small smile at Compa's response, "Hmph...you're not a coward, I can respect that. Be proud of yourself." Ragna said.

Compa felt her cheeks turn slightly red at the compliment, but managed to stay composed enough to focus on the enemy.

"Now then..." Ragna said, punching his palm with his fist, "You know what you're doing right, Neptune?"

"Of course." Purple Heart's reply was almost instant.

Ragna didn't need any more words than that as he glared in the direction of the Guard Vermin, "Yukō! Anata no ki no tokudai shiroari! (Let's go! You damn oversized termite!)"

At that moment, Ragna continued to walk, then he started walking faster, and faster, until he broke out into a full-on sprint towards the beast.

"HAAAAAAAAH!"

(Insert Paradisus-Paradoxum by MYTH & ROID)

(Chorus)The camera shows a blue sky, then slowly pans down to Ragna, who's currently laying under the shade of a tree.

(Now let me open the scar) Ragna quickly opens his eyes as both eyes flash their respective colors.

(Tokeatta Virus niji ni kuro wo sashi tobitatsu) The camera pans to the side showing the rest of the party running over to him. The camera then pans up to show the title.

(Akai hana no mitsu nurete kakureta NOIZU) The scene changes to Ragna and IF sheathing their weapons as Neptune and Compa run over to them with excited expressions, still holding their weapons.

(Mune ni haiyoru no "UMAREKAWARITAI NO DESHOU?") The camera changes to a scene of Histoire shedding a single tear in a darkened room. A close up of Arfoire's smile quickly shown.

(Eien nemutteita PARADAIMU) Quick camera shots show Noire in her office, Blanc on the floor reading a book, Vert playing on her computer, a hooded figure freezing a monster, and Neptune running ahead of the party.

(Shin wo kutte shinshoku shiteita) The scene changes to a dungeon, with Ragna standing in front of the party facing off against a Guard Vermin. The camera then quickly zooms in to Ragna as he glares at the screen.

(Now let me open the scar) Ragna is shown charging toward the Guard Vermin, with Compa and IF following close behind him.

(Tokeatta Virus furete arawa ni naru honnou) Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart fly in and quickly close in on Neptune, who brings out her katana. She begins an intense duel with the three goddesses.

(Grew up in the loneliness) Neptune changes to HDD and clashes with Black Heart once more as IF and Compa begin to flank the Guard Vermin whilst attacking it.

(Kowareta Reality niji ni kuro wo sashi tobitatsu) Ragna holds his right hand in front of his face as he activates the BlazBlue. He switches his Bloodscythe to its scythe form as he runs for the head.

(Imasugu nukedashite shouki no meiro) Ragna lets out a battle cry, jumping as his scythe clashes with the Guard Vermin's arm. Everyone unleashes their special moves, as all their impacts create a blinding white light.

(Hanten shita KONTORASUTO) The scene changes to Celestia, where a single butterfly knife is seen in the center of the room as the song ends.

Ragna gave a fierce battle cry, and dealt a diagonal slash towards the Guard Vermin's torso, which didn't do much at first, until he had 3 Murakumo blades from above stab into the same spot he cut.

Giving a pained screech, the Guard Vermin took small steps backwards, not expecting this new development. The blades that dug into its skin quickly retracted and returned behind Ragna.

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Ragna said with a small smirk, "But I'm not done with you yet, so stay put!"

Ragna ran off without a warning, then jumped overhead, watching the monster look up at him, "Just as planned." Ragna thought, "This is for screwing with me! Belial Edge!"

Ragna soared through the air at breakneck speeds as he aimed his sword straight at the beast's eyes, black flames following his form.

Seeing what Ragna was targeting, the Guard Vermin leaned its head back just enough so that Ragna only grazed its chin. Ragna smirked as he saw that everything was going exactly as planned, "You fell for it, you dumbass!"

Obviously it couldn't understand human speech, but he saw that after Ragna tried going for its eyes, he stabbed his chin alright, but he simply stayed there, as if he was waiting for something…

Suddenly remembering that there were 2 other people that were supposed to be in the room, it looked to the left just in time to see Compa shoot something out of her syringe, straight into the eye that gazed upon her form.

"GWAAAH!" The Guard Vermin gave a guttural roar, as the vision in its left eye was left with a black, searing pain.

"Was that what you wanted me to do, Mr. Ragna?!" Compa called out to Ragna, who was still on the chin of the Guard Vermin.

"Yeah! That was right on the money!" Ragna called back as he watched the Guard Vermin use one of its hands to hold its blinded left eye.

The Guard Vermin raised its other hand to strike at Compa, however, Ragna reacted fast, "Oh hell no you don't!"

Ragna quickly jumped off the Guard Vermin chin, and leaped in front of Compa before she even knew what was going on, "Mr. Ragna-!"

"GAUNTLET-…" Ragna started, using his leg to slam the Guard Vermin's arm on the ground, away from Compa, "-HADES!" He then used his drive to materialize a demonic looking foot with red talons as he kicked the arm upwards, staggering the Guard Vermin, effectively making it unbalanced.

Ragna took a glance behind him to see Compa okay, and the Murakumo blades following close behind him.

"I'm not sure what the gist of these new powers are, but it's time for a little test drive." Ragna thought as he stared upon the form of critically injured Guard Vermin.

Ragna took a moment to think about what to do with the blades, but nothing immediately came to mind.

"Shit...I got a new set of powers and I have no freakin' clue as to what to do with em'." Ragna said under his breath.

"Hey Ragna!" Nu exclaimed in his head, "I bet you're wondering what to do with Nu's powers, right?"

"...What of it?" Ragna grumbled back in his head.

"Well..." Ragna felt himself lose whatever control he had over his body, "You can do this-!"

Ragna felt himself rocket off towards the form of the Guard Vermin at breakneck speeds, then he swung his left arm downward as if swinging a sword down. The Murakumo blades followed in suit and swung around in an arc, slashing the Guard Vermin's arm several times.

"And this!"

Ragna brought both of his arms back, then swung them forward, making the blades follow his motions once more. The blades made sickening crunch sounds as they completely cut off the arm that had been attacking them prior.

"Holy crap-" Ragna started to say, however right as he said that, he noticed the control over his body has finally shifted back to him.

Nu giggled as she began to speak once more, "And those are the basics."

Ragna narrowed his eyes as he glared at the image of Nu holding up a peace sign in his head, "Goddammit, Nu! I thought I told you to never do that again!"

"I had to, silly. Or else you might've been really hurt back there." Nu replied with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Argh..." Ragna face palmed himself, "Just leave the fighting to me, will you?"

"Whatever you say Ragna!" Nu said as she cut the connection in their head.

Ragna rolled his eyes as he got himself in a stance. He watched the Guard Vermin began to stand up, seemingly on its last limb.

"This is annoying...what the?" Ragna stared at his hands, "I don't know why, but I feel like I know everything."

Ragna swung his right hand upward, and a black sword with some sort of red outer layer appeared above the Guard Vermin and struck it.

"No point in questioning this now!" Ragna thought as he began to swing both of her arms in concentrated motions towards different directions. Blades kept appearing and striking the Guard Vermin multiple times; Up, down, left, right, diagonally, there was literally no escape.

Looking at the heavily injured Guard Vermin, Ragna briefly closed his eyes, then opened them once more,"I believe this is the last part of the plan..." Ragna thought, "Here I come! CARNAGE..."

Ragna brought his sword back as he dashed at the Guard Vermin at ungodly speeds, "SCISSORS!"

With the swing of a sword, not only was one of the legs cut clean off, the Guard Vermin was sent barreling toward the wall behind it, "Neptune, I think this is your cue!"

As the Guard Vermin glared at Ragna with its remaining eye, it didn't notice Purple Heart come flying in at nearly the same speed Ragna had been going at.

Entering the monster's blind spot, she quickly launched her attack at the Guard Vermin. Suddenly feeling the air in front of it move, The Guard Vermin raised its now damaged sword to counter Neptune's.

"Too weak." Purple Heart said.

While both swords clashed, the Guard Vermin's sword instantly shattered into hundreds of smaller pieces against Purple Heart's superior strength, and she continued on to strike the Guard Vermin in its neck. In the blink of an eye, Neptune cut the monster in half, effectively finishing it off.

The monster exploded in a mass of pixels as it completely disappeared from the world.

"Great, we won!"

Compa began to jump for joy, while Ragna continued to breathe heavily, "Finally...that was too damn exhausting."

Neptune walked over to Ragna and knelt down to looked into his eyes, giving a small smile, "You certainly don't mind being reckless."

The Grim Reaper stood up to his full length, trying to fight through the pain, "Shut it, pig-tails."

Ragna coughed a little bit before dusting himself off, "…I must be getting rusty if it took me that long to take care of a son of a bitch like that…"

Neptune reverted back to her preteen self, giving Ragna a pouty face as she looked up at him, "C'mon, Ragna. You can't keep making us worry like that! You gotta learn when to fall back, because there be monsters that're waaaaay stronger than you. That's why we got that eject button, you know." Neptune said in a surprisingly honest manner.

Ragna looked down to meet Neptune's half-lidded stare, "Just shut it, will you? You know nothing about me. After all the shit I've been through, giving up is not an option for me. If I can't bother rescuing 2 damn people, then there's no way I track down him and my sister."

Neptune's ears perked up at that last part, "Huh? Sister? Did you just say sister?" Neptune asked.

Ragna released an inward groan, "Goddammit, I just HAD to run my mouth again…"

Changing the subject, Ragna looked at Neptune as he began to speak,"Anyways, I didn't really think much of this when I first heard this, but I heard a voice talk to me. Before I came to this place, I heard the words 'Please save Neptune.'" Ragna said, "Have any idea what that was all about?"

"My request was asking you to assist Neptune in any way you can." Another voice in Ragna's head that wasn't Nu's nearly made him jump, "My apologies if all this seems sudden to you. I couldn't help but sense a powerful presence coming from a dimensional rift in this world."

"...Dimensional rift? Assisting Neptune? Who the hell are you? Don't just go talking inside my head and asking favors when I have no idea who the hell you are!" Ragna exclaimed.

"My apologies. My name is Histoire. I couldn't help but salvage your body from whatever deleterious place you were drifting around in. While I do not wish to sound so unprofessional, I am desperate for help. Gamindustri will be doomed if we don't stop her."

"Her? Who the hell are you talking about? What's going on? Can you start from the beginning and explain yourself properly?" Ragna said, annoyance clear in his tone.

"Anyways, your name is Ragna, yes? I'm going to connect you to Neptune's mindscape so you can both hear me at the same time." Histoire said.

"Hey, just wait a goddamn minute-!" Ragna started to say.

"Neptune, Ragna, can you hear me? This is Histoire." Histoire asked.

Neptune returned to smiling as she looked up at absolutely nothing, "Histy! Yeah, we can hear you loud and clear! Thanks for that awesome tutorial. What's up?"

Compa looked at Neptune with half open eyes, "Histy? Nep-Nep, who're you talking to? Um… nobody is here except you, me and Mr. Ragna."

Neptune looked slightly surprised, "You can't hear her? Histy, can you talk to Compa, too?"

"I apologize, but at this time you and Ragna are the only ones I can speak with. Please pass my words on to your friend when I am though. Also, I do not think I am comfortable with the name 'Histy.'"

Neptune faced Compa with her usual smile, "Sorry Compa, Raggy and I are the only ones who can hear Histy, I'll just tell you what she says later. Anyway, Histy, I found something weird and shiny just now!"

There was a brief pause for a moment and Ragna looked at Neptune, "Did you just say 'weird and shiny'?"

Without waiting for a response, Ragna shrugged his shoulders and waited for Histoire to explain further, "You refer to the Key Fragment, I assume. That is an important item needed to release me from this seal."

Neptune put a hand to her chin as she addressed Histoire's statement, "Seal? Where you at, anyway?"

"I am uncertain. Somebody had locked me away in this world. Please, please… release this seal and safe me! In each land, you will find a Key Fragment. First, please collect these items."

Ragna remembered what Compa had said early about there being three more landmasses along with Planeptune, "So you're saying that we need these Key Fragments things to free you...that honestly sounds like a gigantic pain in the ass if they're scattered about like you say they are."

"If we do this fetch quest, we can save you, right? So where are they?" Neptune asked.

"Unfortunately, I have little information on that. I only know there is one on each landmass. You have collected one already. Each piece is guarded by a strong adversary. Find the fragments by defeating these foes." Histoire explained.

Ragna noticed a look of uncertainty make its way onto Neptune's face, "So, I get that we hafta save you, but should we really do all this for someone we don't even know?"

Ragna raised an eyebrow at Neptune's surprisingly logical retort, "It is only natural to feel that way. Others do not trust me, either."

Ragna then remembered how Histoire reached out to him with her plea for help, albeit it being very brief, "So you tried contacting others? You seem pretty damn desperate. AND shady."

"Yes, however, you two are my last and only hope. Please do this and save me."

Neptune returned to her smile, "Hmm, it's tough for me to say no, but finding all these thingies sounds like a real bore-chore."

"Are you concerned? There is no need. I am certain you can do this." Histoire said with mild confidence in her tone.

Neptune shook her head, "No, I mean, we're gonna do all this stuff to save one person… Can't it be like, to save the world?"

Ragna gave a side glance to Neptune as she continued talking to Histoire, "She's starting to remind me a bit of that Platinum brat..."

"How honest. As I said, I am the world's everything and the world is mine. Saving me is tantamount to saving the world." Histoire said.

Compa looked very left out, while Neptune's excitement was skyrocketing, "Huh? Really? Oh, well, okay then! Don't stop there. Pump me up some more!"

"By defeating the various monsters in order to obtain the pieces, you will save countless lives all across the world." Histoire continued.

Neptune's excitement seemed ready to explode, "Killing two birds with one stone. I like it! Anything else to boost my drive?"

"I really wanna go home. Well, not really." Ragna thought, "Can you two hurry up with the conversation? I'm getting real impatient here."

Ignoring Ragna's comment, Histoire continued her train of thought, "I wish I could add a million credits to your saving… but that is a little beyond my control."

Fortunately, Neptune's excitement was not raised any higher than it already was, "That's so much! I better get my stomp on!"

Compa made her presence known after Neptune and Ragna had spoken with Histoire over a prolonged period of time, "…Mr. Ragna… Nep-Nep, why are you so excited? I can't hear anything… I don't hear this person's voice… What are you three talking about? I… I want to be included too… Nep-Nep…"

THE NEXT DAY

It was the day after the party went into the Tutorial Dungeon and found one of four Key Fragments that would be required to free Histoire. It was also the same day that Ragna had become a part of Neptune's party, and partially awakened the powers of a Murakumo Unit.

In the back of Ragna's mind, he couldn't help but feel that when he gained Nu's powers, that something about it just felt...incomplete. Not in the sense that they weren't at full power, but that he was missing one more factor...an unknown variable in the fusion between him and Nu.

Right now, the party was currently resting in a forest close to the capital city of Planeptune, Ragna and Compa were sitting next to a tree near a lake and the nurse-in-training was examining the injury he had received the previous day.

Or rather she was TRYING to examine it, as she was having difficulty looking at the injury since she was also having to look at Ragna's 8-pack, "You say that you're a nurse-in-training, but is the only thing you do is use a shit-ton of bandages?"

Compa frantically shook her head, "O-Of course! I-I'm just… uh…"

As Compa tried to find the right words, Ragna was thinking to himself as he looked at his right arm.

He could just tough out the pain and let the Azure Grimoire do the work for him, but he couldn't also help but feel a sense of deja vu, for he remembered how his first experience with the doctor of Orient Town, Litchi Faye Ling, went, "Might I ask, what the hell are you looking at?"

"N-Nothing! Although this is weird, because your wound is healing up really fast, and it's almost as if the wound was never there." Compa said.

"..." Ragna simply stared at Compa, knowing the inevitable question was about to come up.

"Besides, I've been meaning to ask you, but why is your right arm black? It doesn't look like it's burnt or wounded or anything, but it doesn't seem very...normal either."

"No shit, Sherlock. Do you see anyone else here with black limbs?" Ragna narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"O-oh, sorry Mr. Ragna! I didn't mean to offend you or anything!" Compa started bowing her head repeatedly.

Ragna slipped his black undershirt back on and looked at his right arm, "This world doesn't seem like it utilizes Ars Magus or Nox Nyctores, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell her some backstory." He then sighed and greeted Compa with a stern look, "Alright Nurse, I'm gonna give you a little history lesson on my right arm, got it? I'm only saying this stuff once, so pay attention."

"Okay! I have my ears wide open!" Compa said, attempting to stretch her ears for emphasis, which only made a sweatdrop go down Ragna's head.

However, at that moment, Neptune came around the corner to be greeted with the awkward sight, "Uh...what are you two doing? And why the grim face, Raggy?"

Ragna stood up to his full length, "Nothing too important. I'll tell you guys about it later."

Neptune raised an eyebrow at Ragna's response, "Okay...?" she then turned to Compa frozen mid-action, "And why are you stretching your ears like that, Compa? You trying to be a rabbit?"

Compa's face reddened ever so slightly in embarrassment, "No reason! I was just trying to make a point to Mr. Ragna."

Ragna's face noticeably cringed in disgust at the word 'rabbit', but raised an eyebrow at Neptune in confusion nonetheless, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Ragna paused for a second, then continued, "On second thought, you know what? I don't really give a damn anymore. But still, we need to get our asses in gear, because doing favors for people I barely know really pisses me off. Especially when I have no idea what the hell they look like.", Ragna said, his thoughts briefly shifting to Hakumen.

At that moment, Nu made her presence known to Ragna, "...Hey Ragna, what going on out there? Nu's glad we're fused and all, but I can't really see what's going on unless I take control of your body."

"Ignoring you, and nothing that concerns you." Ragna quickly replied.

"Raggy's right Compa, no more dilly-dallying!" Neptune exclaimed.

Compa had calmed herself after her moment of embarrassment, "No need to rush. This place is still threatened by monsters. We can't just leave the townspeople like this."

Neptune seemed slightly irked, "Well… fine… Let's go clobber some monsters."

Ragna could only groan as he held his forehead, "I'd rather deal with those NOL bastards than shit like this." Ragna turned to look at the two females in the eye, "Just follow me, and you two're gonna survive."

Neptune grinned as she flashed Ragna a thumbs-up, "You got it, partner!"

Inside his head, he felt Nu's flames of jealousy flare up, "Ragna...why is she calling you 'partner'?"

"Don't ask, just roll with it for now..." Ragna replied in his head.

"But we're supposed to be partners, not that shriveled up kid!" Nu exclaimed.

"Calm down, damn it. She's just being herself. At least, I hope she is..." Ragna replied, not sure of what to think.

Ragna cleared his throat as he began to speak once more, "Speaking of which, you two need better gear. If we were to go out again, you two would probably get your asses handed to you in 2 seconds."

The purple haired preteen tilted her head, "Why? Our stuff is just fine right now. We don't have to worry about that do we?"

"Hell no. I'm gonna be straight with you, kid. What you currently have is by far the worst excuse for a lethal weapon I have ever seen in my life since the Rabbit's frog." Ragna shuddered slightly, remembering Rachel's George XIII that's been used to shock him multiple times in the past whenever they fought.

Ragna continued speaking, trying to ignore the thought, "To be blunt kid, you need a better sword so that you can really kick some ass."

"In other words, I need something harder?"

"Yeah. Something that's harder, longer and thicker. Maybe something along the lines of a greatsword, considering the fact that you have enough strength to lift up a huge-ass hammer." Ragna said.

"You're bad at sexual innuendos, Raggy." Neptune replied.

"Shut up. Also, speaking of your hammer, where the hell do you keep that thing? You can't possibly just whip that thing out of nowhere every time we go inside a dun-"

Before Ragna had even finished talking, Neptune had reached behind her back and pulled out the same hammer she claimed at the Tutorial Dungeon and presented it before Ragna.

"-geon..." Ragna simply stared at it before placing his hand on his forehead and turning the other way, "...I'm gonna try to ignore everything that just happened in the past 5 minutes and move on..." Ragna said, beginning to walk away.

Neptune began to run after him, as well as Compa, "Wait for us, Raggy!"

30 minutes later...

The party of three were walking down the busy streets of Planeptune looking for a equipment store of some sort. However, their efforts turned up absolutely nothing. The party was currently seated on a bench in one of the parks located around the city, Neptune looked bored out of her mind, "We've been searching for hours now and we haven't found any kind of equipment shop…"

Ragna himself was not feeling too hot about the way they just wasted their time, "Goddammit…we're on a wild goose chase just for one freakin' sword. Life is really being a bitch right now..."

Compa was in deep contemplation, when her eyes widened in realization, "Oh! I just remembered something that might help. I wish I had thought of it earlier."

Both Ragna and Neptune looked over at the nurse-in-training, "I wouldn't expect Mr. Ragna to know because he's from another world, but do you know the internet site 'AMAZOO'? It's a big online shopping site that sells just about everything! We should be able to find what we're looking for there."

While Ragna wanted to know why Compa did not think of the idea sooner, he was thankful that the idea came to mind at all, "Of course, we'll need to use a computer to get on AMAZOO, and by now all of the public computers are already being used."

"If Kokonoe were here, she'd be able to do all of this in a heartbeat..." Ragna thought.

"I bet you got some kind of nifty gadget that can help us out, right Raggy?" Neptune said, popping up behind Ragna.

"No, but..." Ragna looked at a person leaving a computer. He was beginning to walk towards it until yet again...another person seemingly came out of nowhere and was already at the chair with a cup of coffee.

"Sigh...I really don't wanna do this, but we're running low on time, and I'm friggin' pissed." Ragna thought, but he made up his mind and continued walking toward the unfortunate soul that had no idea what was coming to him.

Finally making his way to the chair, Ragna placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder. Upon feeling contact from an unknown source, the man whipped around to see Ragna with his hand gently gripped on his shoulder, "Oi! What the fuck do you want with me?"

Ragna's eyes slowly turned into a deathly glare, complete with a not-so-friendly smile, "...Just a passerby who's on the edge of exasperation." He said in a distrurbingly calm manner.

EVENING

The party arrived at their destination, the inside of a cave. There were stalagmites and stalactites growing around the cave, though they were not growing along the path, so they would not impede the progress of any who traveled along it. The cave had some lighting, though that would have to be due to the fluorescent crystals scattered around the cave.

Neptune spoke up as she examined her new equipment, likewise with Compa, "Ok, so I'm glad we got our new goodies and all..." Neptune started.

"...But did you really have to go that far?" Compa finished her question.

"Like I said, I don't like doing favors for people I don't know. And that guy was pissing me off with his attitude." Ragna replied with his hands behind his neck.

"But everyone started running away, screaming 'Devil!' Grim Reaper!' 'Satan's Spawn!'" Compa said, while making strange hand motions.

"I'm not that scary. Just don't get on my bad side and you're fine." Ragna retorted, "But what the hell are you doing with your hands? That looks like something the kid would do, not you."

"Just for the dramatic effect." Compa quickly replied.

The group continued walking through the dungeon and of Ragna started his lookout for monsters, while Neptune decided to throw out a random comment, "Bad guys holed up in caves, but I wonder if it's kinda like where they do the thing and make babies."

"Oh god, I hope they don't..." Ragna said under his breath, realizing that that actually made mild sense, "Then again, those things don't have feelings, so no worries there."

Neptune continued talking as she turned her head in an attempt to look at Compa over her shoulder, "Sorry to intrude… Compa, it's dark, so watch your step. You never know when you'll h-aghh!"

Compa and Ragna looked down at Neptune, who had seemed to have collided with something, "Nep-Nep? Are you okay? You should be careful too, or you might fall onto some spikes and game over…"

"No, I ran into something. Wait, no again, something ran into me!"

Ragna's attention was now on what it was that Neptune had collided with, "Actually, that something is a someone, and both you and that someone ran into each other, kid."

"Ow… watch it, girl. This isn't the place for kindergarteners to have recess!"

Ragna felt his heart stop for an instant as he slowly turned to the face of the speaker, "That unique accent and condescending tone...it can't be..."

Neptune and Compa directed their attention to the person in front of them.

Sitting on the ground in front of them was a girl with waist length brunette hair, a black chocker, what looked to be a leaf tied into a bow that held some of her a ponytail to the side, and her eyes were the same shade of green as her leaf bow. She wore a black and silver tanktop, black shorts with a black belt and a silver buckle, a pair of black socks and what Ragna thought was a pair of blue combat boots. Perhaps what stood out the most was the big blue jacket she was wearing, which seemed to be a few sizes too big for her considering how the sleeves passed her arms and looked very trench-coat like. There were silver buttons that lined the center of the jacket with silver lining and red marks on the jacket arms that looked like thunderbolts.

Neptune eyed the new girl suspiciously, "Kindergarteners? Look who's talking. Who're you? Do you live in this icky cave?"

The brunette cocked an eyebrow, "Do I look like a ragged bum to you? I'm IF. I'm here to eliminate the monsters, as requested by the Basilicom. Who're YOU?"

Neptune and the girl now known as IF picked themselves up off the ground and dusted themselves off, "We're here because people are in danger. So, we're here for the same reason. My name is Neptune and this is Compa. The tall guy with the spiky hair is Ragna. He looks like one of those guys you'd see in a shonen manga, am I right?" Neptune finished with a wink.

Ragna narrowed his eyes at Neptune but retained his silence while IF looked over his unique attire. Compa gave a smile to IF, who seemed slightly irritated, "H-Hello. I enjoy arts and crafts, and I'm good at math. I know I don't look it, but it's something I'm quite proud of."

"Then Compa, you are now in charge of our item inventory. Anyway, why not help us conquer this dungeon?"

"What? Well, I guess the more help I get, the easier it'll be for me. Fine. We'll team up, but know that you're joining me!"

While IF seemed to want to keep things strictly business, Neptune's eyes began to gleam with excitement, "Oh, you'll do it? I'm so glad I asked. Compa, Raggy, Iffy said she'll join our party!"

IF maintained her serious attitude, "Whatever. Don't call me Iffy. That's not my name."

Ragna closed his eyes, "I don't care, as long as you don't try to pull anything funny. Know that I can kill you at any given moment in time."

Ragna paused for a second, and realized what he just said, "Strange. I'm starting to sound like that Masked Freak now. This world is really goddamn weird." He thought.

Compa clearly had no objections to having IF with the group either, in fact she was all for it, "Now we really look like a party! We'll be together forever. It's our pleasure to have you with us."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Wait, what? Forever? No, just for now. This dungeon."

Neptune would not accept IF attempting to leave even though they had just met, "Bzzzt! We're already a party, so you can't get away from us, even if you try. Abandoning your party is against the rules of this world. You got that, missy?"

Ragna could tell that IF didn't exactly get what Neptune said, "U-Um, no, but… It doesn't matter."

"I think has a Raggy has a sister-complex, so don't bring up the topic of siblings." Neptune whispered in IF's ear.

The brunette rolled her eyes, "I sincerely doubt that."

"You say something about me?" Ragna said raising an eyebrow. Neptune shot up as she looked back at Ragna and Compa, "Nope! All right people, we should split up so we can find the boss! I'll go with Ragna, and Compa, you can go with Iffy."

"But I wanna go with Ragna, Nep-Nep! I still want to get to know him better." Compa said.

"Yeah. But Ragna and I are a team, isn't that right?" Neptune asked, while (attempting to) nudge Ragna's shoulder with her elbow.

"Huh. You actually called me by my name. About damn time." Ragna said.

"Bitch!" Nu exclaimed in his head, "I'll kill you a hundred times over if you touch him again!"

"Take it easy, Nu." Ragna replied inside his head.

"Ragna, she's really annoying Nu. Can I at least stab her multiple times?" Nu asked, almost begging him to say yes.

"Not a chance in hell. She's not that bad of a kid." Ragna stated with a sigh.

Back in the real world, IF was giving Ragna a neutral stare, "What are you, some kind of player?"

"Hell no. Shut up." Came Ragna's blunt reply.

IF took a deep breath and exhaled, "The only way I see us making any progress is to stay in one group, but it will take longer to search the dungeon that way."

The other two girls of the party exchanged glances with one another, "If you say so."

With the problem now resolved, the group set about what they originally came to the dungeon to do, which was find the boss monster and eliminate it. Neptune lead the way, going down the left path, "We should totally check this room in case this is one of those dungeons where the boss is near the entrance!"

The group followed after Neptune, though Ragna and IF were farther behind since they chose to walk. Inside the room, it was circular in shape with crystals growing all over the place and a particularly large crystal was in the center of the room. Ragna and IF waited by the entrance, while Neptune and Compa searched the room for monsters and treasure, "Hey, I wanna ask you something."

Ragna glanced at IF out of the corner of his eye, "What?"

The brunette glanced at Ragna for a brief second, "You seem like you have a good head on your shoulders, and unlike those two you seem to be a bit more mature and realistic. What I want to know is why you're babysitting them? You could save yourself a lot of trouble by just leaving them."

Ragna gave a sigh as he gave the path in front of him a half-lidded stare, "I know. But it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I were to just leave them without giving a reason. Besides, it's not like I have anywhere else to go to."

IF took a glance at Ragna, then looked back ahead, "You sound like you've had a rough life up till' now."

"Mm." Ragna only gave a grunt in response, as he didn't want to go around telling people he barely knew of his gruesome past, and what should've been his gruesome end.

Ragna and IF looked up upon seeing Neptune and Compa running back towards them, "We didn't find anything, but we leveled up again from fighting these really weird eye monster thingies."

IF pushed herself off the wall, "In short, this was a waste of time. That leaves only one other way to go."

The party left the room and went down the right path, which had a pair of monsters that looked like large eyeballs with wings and a single leg waiting right as they stepped around the corner, "Hey, those are the eyeball thingies that Compa and I fought!"

Ragna drew the Bloodscythe, then put it back as quickly as he brought it out, "I don't need to dirty my sword over these chumps." Ragna then took his fighting stance, which was basically him standing straight up giving the monsters a stern glare. The man saw IF standing next to him out of the corner of his eye, "I got this, tree-sprout."

The brunette pulled a pair of Katars out of her jacket sleeves, "Tree sprout? You should watch what you call me. I'm stronger than what you're thinking right now."

Both Ragna and IF entered into a full on sprint as the two monsters drew closer. Ragna gave one of the imps a point-blank lariat, (A/N: I know he's never done this, just roll with it.) which in turn, made it die instantly upon impact. IF on the other hand gave a 6-slice combo that diced the other imp into small, unrecognizable pieces, which disappeared shortly after.

IF put away her weapons and looked back at the Compa and Neptune, "Are you two just going to stand there or are you gonna get moving?"

"You're the ones who charged in like racehorses." Neptune retorted, "Also, holy crapperoni! You two can work together like bread and butter!"

IF scoffed before she looked over at Ragna, "For lugging around a giant sword like that, you can move like a snake. I'm impressed."

In another world, a certain green-haired man wearing a fedora sneezed.

"Um...are you catching a cold, Captain Hazama?" asked a blonde-haired girl wearing an NOL uniform.

"I'm quite fine, Lieutenant Vermillion. Now if you would excuse me..." The man known as "Hazama" said as he slowly started to walk away from the girl.

Hazama held his fedora as he looked to the sky, "I feel like someone just referenced me somewhere...could this be Takamagahara talking behind my back...? Oh well." Hazama shrugged his shoulders as he continued walking.

Ragna's face wrinkled in disgust at the mention of snake, "I don't know why hearing you say that pissed me off, but don't ever make that kind of comparison again. Other than that, you're not half-bad yourself."

IF nodded her head in response before asking, "By the way, what's up with the name, tree-sprout? Do I actually look like a piece of nature to you? Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing or anything."

"Your hair is long and brown, which looks like a tree trunk. The leaf inside said hair speaks for itself." Ragna replied as he watched Neptune and Compa walk up to them.

"Not exactly the kind of nickname I was expecting, but it'll do for now I guess." IF thought.

Once Neptune and Compa had caught up, the group continued down the rocky cave passage. After combing the area thoroughly, the group arrived at a curve and could see movement behind it, Neptune ran over to sneak a peek behind it and grinned, "You guys, there's the boss!"

Ragna, Compa and IF arrived at the edge of the curve and saw what Neptune was looking at and saying was the boss, the monster was a large worm with sharp teeth and a rather tough looking hide. Ragna cocked an eyebrow at the oversized insect, "What the actual hell is this thing?"

"It's probably been eating people. My job description says it's been causing a lot of damage and problems to the nearby towns, so it seems like a likely explanation."

Compa slowly turned her head to look at IF because she was violently shaking, "I-It eats p-p-people?"

"Huh. Kind of reminds me of that pile of crap that attacked me before. What was his name again...Arakune?" Ragna thought.

Neptune pulled out her wooden sword, a determined look on her face, "C'mon guys! We totally outnumber this thing 4-1! I call shotgun!"

The energetic preteen ran out from behind cover and straight at the monster, "What the hell-kono baka!" Ragna thought.

Neptune quickly swung her wooden sword at the top of the monster's head, which immediately broke upon impact. "Nani? My attack didn't do anything?! And my sword broke!"

IF looked over at Ragna, who was watching the battle with narrowed eyes, "So, what do we do? It seems like the only thing she's succeeded in doing is pissing that thing off."

Ragna balled his right hand into a fist and brought it up to his face, before swinging it to the side while simultaneously unballing his fist, "In situations like these, I usually like to do things solo, so try not to get in my way, got it?" Ragna said.

"Dame da. (No way.)" IF shook her head, "If we work together, we have a higher chance of beating this thing. Don't try to be the cool dude and do everything yourself."

IF pulled out her Katars while Compa hefted her syringe, "Besides, I can only imagine the crap you have to deal with on a day-to-day basis."

"I just met these two yesterday." Ragna replied.

The three other party members emerged from behind cover as Neptune turned around with a nervous sweatdrop, "Hey, Raggy...My sword kinda broke."

"Dumbass. You should've listened to me."

Neptune let a shit-eating grin spread across her face as she reached in her jacket pocket, "Well, you don't need to worry about that because I have this-!", she then proceeded to pull out a gun and waved it at Ragna, "See? You don't need to worry about me, Raggy! Unless you possibly...fell for me by any chance?"

Ragna felt a vein press against his forehead at that claim, "Shut up. I said nothing of the sort. Anyways..." Ragna then turned to face Compa and IF, "Since there's four of us, we can just flank the thing, because I doubt that giant pile of crap over there has much mobility."

"You sure about that? Monsters nowadays are unpredictable." IF stated.

Ragna had a small smirk form on his lips as he laid a single hand upon the Bloodscythe, "Heh. You never know until you try."

Compa proceeded to aim her syringe directly at the Sand Worm's face, while Ragna, Neptune, and IF stood at the front lines.

"Ikuze!" Ragna exclaimed, charging straight at the Sand Worm with Neptune and IF following in suit.

Ragna coated his right hand in a black flame as he exclaimed, "Hell's…FANG!, then proceeded to launch the worm backwards, if slightly.

"Damn, that thing weighs a ton." Ragna said, shaking his hand to the side, "But compared to Master's training, this is nothing!"

As Ragna began to run towards the Sand Worm once more, he briefly closed his eyes as he thought, "Maybe I should use the Murakumo's power for this one. I still need to get the hang of things instead of letting Nu do all the work for me."

"What did she say again…? Oh wait, I remember." Ragna thought.

"Murakumo Unit, KIDO!" Ragna exclaimed, as he waited for the same sensation as back in the Tutorial Dungeon. He waited, and waited, and waited, and…

"What the hell?!" Ragna exclaimed, "Why isn't it working?!"

Nu decided to make herself known by clearing her throat, "Well, Ragna…I had a hunch about this…but I didn't think that it was for real..."

Ragna raised an eyebrow as he responded to Nu's cryptic comment, "…Hunch? About what?"

"Well…" Nu was trying to gather her thoughts and speak in a concise manner, "We didn't become one like I hoped. In fact the whole fusion process is incomplete."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Ragna said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, if want to use Nu's powers, then our minds need to be in sync with each other. Kinda like if we're deciding what restaurant we should go to for a honeymoon."

Ragna let the thought go through his head before talking in a slightly strained voice, "And you didn't think to tell me this before why…?"

"No particular reason." Nu responded instantly.

"Goddammit, Nu! Gah…"

Ragna calmed himself down before speaking again, "So I'm not completely in sync with you. What the hell are you even thinking about that's more important than helping me right now?

"Nothing, really. Nu's just enjoying the show from in here. Since you yourself isn't in danger, I honestly don't care what happens to those other girls." Nu explained.

"Especially that short-haired little girl." Nu said under her breath with venom seeping in her voice.

"You're really being a huge pain in the ass right now…" Ragna said as he sighed in frustration.

While Ragna was lost in his thoughts, IF went for the right side of the worm, while Neptune proceeded to shoot it multiple times in the left. Feeling its personal space threatened, it quickly struck IF with its tail, sending her into the wall on her back. Before she could fully recover from the attack, the Sand Worm was already upon her.

"Not so fast, wormy!" Neptune exclaimed as she jumped into the air in a dramatic fashion, "Rider…KICK!" then proceeded to land an epic kick to the Sand Worm's face that sent it barreling toward the other side of the room.

IF had a sweatdrop on her face as she watched Neptune pump her fist into the air exclaiming "Nailed it!"

"Um…wrong franchise Nep." IF pointed out.

"What? Doesn't this game pretty much revolve around breaking the 4th wall like that?" Neptune asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Never mind." IF said, returning her attention to the Sand Worm that was picking itself up after the brutal kick.

With alarming speed, the Sand Worm switched targets and lunged for Neptune, who was taken by surprise at both the speed and strength of the Sand Worm's body. With little to no time to move, she was knocked into the air almost effortlessly and was left wide open for attack.

IF saw Ragna standing in the middle of the space and wasted no time in yelling out to him, "Ragna, what are you doing?! Nep's in trouble!"

Ragna was quickly broke out of his thoughts as he looked up and saw Neptune airborne, and the Sand Worm making another lunge at her, "Damn it!"

Ragna sprinted for the wall that was ahead of him and made a quick glare at the Sand Worm, "Take this, you piece of shit!" Ragna quickly ran across the wall and dived straight for the Sand Worm, "BELIAL EDGE!"

As Ragna quickly closed in on the Sand Worm, IF swiftly rolled out of the way and out of range of Ragna's deadly aerial move.

"Oh snaps!" Neptune exclaimed as she proceeded to fall and land right atop of IF.

The moment the Bloodscythe made contact with the Sand Worm, it howled in pain as the blade quickly dug into its flesh, slowly draining its life away as it reached deeper into its insides.

"Nice one, Mr. Ragna!" Compa called out.

"Focus on your job, Comp- Whoa!" Ragna pulled the Bloodscythe out right as he dodged a swipe from the Sand Worm's tail, "Damn, that was close."

Neptune sat up after landing on IF, "Why'd you take your sword out, Raggy? If you'd left it in there, then you could've finished it off! Also, I'm pretty sure you could've just taken that one blow for the team!" Neptune exclaimed in confusion.

"One, I don't need to be disarmed…figuratively speaking. And two, I wouldn't have died from the attack, it just would've hurt like a bitch." Ragna clarified, "Also, don't make me take one for the team just because you had to. The Nurse isn't used to fighting on the front lines."

IF had an annoyed look on her face as she pushed Neptune off of her, "Don't ever use me as a landing pad again."

"Hey Nurse!" Ragna called out to Compa, "I'm gonna need you to fill that thing's mouth up with whatever you got in that syringe of yours, got it?!"

"Got it, Mr. Ragna!" Compa called back.

Compa took aim and quickly fired multiple shots in rapid sucession, which all hit the target. The Sand Worm began to flail around as the unknown liquid in its mouth began to burn away all of it teeth and whatever internal organs was stored in its head.

"CARNAGE…" Ragna started as he brought his sword back, "SCISSORS!" Ragna's second attack bisected the worm in two as it launched airborne, but not before…

"RAGNA, LOOK OUT!" Nu exclaimed in his head.

Ragna looked around before looking over head to see what Nu was yelling about, "What the-OH SHIT!"

What was falling toward Ragna, was stomach acid coming from the worm's mid-section, which looked like…glowing sand.

Ragna managed to evade most of the acid that fell down, but some of it managed to make contact with his left shoulder, "Gah!"

In his head, Nu was shaking with rage, "That pile of garbage…no one gets to kill Ragna but ME!"

Nu took control of Ragna's right hand and raised it toward the Sand Worm, "Hakai (Destroy.)" Ragna and Nu said at the same time.

A small portal appeared in front of Ragna's hand, and from it, came dozens upon dozens of small swords, each piercing the Sand Worm, which ripped it into shreds in a matter of seconds.

Lowering his hand, Nu retreated into the recesses of Ragna's mind as Compa ran over to him.

"Are you okay, Ragna?! Let me check your injuries!" Compa exclaimed.

"That would be nice, right about now…" Ragna said as he held his left shoulder in pain.

NIGHT

After Compa had administered bandages and Healing Grass for Ragna's injury, the party left the dungeon and were now standing in a clearing with a large body of water nearby, "So basically, you're looking for Key Fragments for this… Histy person."

Neptune nodded her head as she hit her hand with her fist, "Ding-dong! Histy's sealed away somewhere in this world. She's like one of those secret optional characters."

IF crossed her arms and gathered her thoughts, "The different fragments are guarded by monsters. So, the source is really whoever the fragments to be guarded. That Histy character must have something to do with it, too. Saving the world, hmm? It could be a big fib."

"Ooh, Iffy, you're beyond keen. How can you possibly be so observant at such a tender, young age?"

Ragna was leaning against a tree until he heard Neptune's comment, which made him walk towards the group, "It's common sense, kid. If you trust a trickster when he says 'trust me' then I'm worried about your future."

IF uncrossed her arms and let one hand rest on her hip, "Precisely. If this is all true, however, leaving it to you two… will spell doom for all humanity."

Compa looked slightly confused, "You two? What do you mean Iffy? Ragna is with us and that makes three."

"I'm sure Ragna will be perfectly fine on his own, but the problem lies with you two. As I fathom it, Ragna is stuck with you two, which makes me wonder why he hasn't ditched you yet."

"Because we're partners, of course!" Neptune exclaimed as she slung an arm around his right arm.

"Grr…" Nu was gritting her teeth at the action once more.

IF sighed with slumped shoulders, before she looked up with a confident smile, "No choice! I'll help. You're traveling, right? You'll need someone with you who's been to a lot of different lands."

"True, I guess." Ragna said, scratching his head.

IF continued to speak as she looked at Neptune and Compa, "About those fragments… If they're guarded by monsters, it might be pretty easy to find them after all."

Compa had a hopeful look in her eyes, "R-Really? Then, I'm sure we'll save Histy in no time."

Ragna hummed as he raised a questioning eyebrow, "You got a game plan?"

IF nodded at the Grim Reaper, "Basilicoms around the world have been researching monsters. I think they'll have a good idea where they spawn."

Neptune closed her eyes, then opened them again while putting a finger to her cheek in confusion, "So, speaking of… what's a Basilicom again? I'm apparently an amnesiac, so I need you to explain stuff to me in a manner convenient for the readers to understand!"

Compa had an apologetic look on her face, "Be patient with her, Miss IF. She bumped her head on the ground and lost her memory. Sorry for my delayed explanation."

Compa then directed her gaze at Neptune, "Basilicoms are holy organizations run by those who serve the goddesses. There are two parts to a Basilicom: the Sanctuary where goddesses are cared for, and Parliament for political activities."

"Very different from Kagutsuchi and all the other Hierarchal cities." Ragna thought.

IF raised a hand at Compa, making a 'stop' motion, "Whoa, stop. Why not let the people at the Basilicom explain it? We're headed there anyway."

"To ask about monsters? But we don't need to do that until we go to another landmass." Compa said.

"Well, we'll need a permit from the Basilicom to travel anywhere. They manage the Sky Harbors, too." IF explained.

Compa seemed to understand easily enough, "Oh, I see. Then we'll continue this when we reach the Basilicom. Okay, Nep-Nep?"

Ragna looked up into the sky and noticed how dark it was, "I don't know about you guys, but we need to find some shelter for you girls, first. It's been a damn long day and we all need some rest."

The three girls also noticed that it was quite dark out, "Well, if you say so, Raggy. But where are you gonna sleep? Outside? Cause I just noticed that you said 'you girls'."

"As a matter of fact, I am. I'm used to Mother Nature, so I'll be just fine." Ragna said, waving his hand in front of his face.

"No, Ragna. There's a lot of icky bugs and germs outside, so you need to rest in a place that's nice and clean!" Compa reprimanded.

"And now I'm being treated a kid again…whoopty freaking doo…" Ragna said under his breath.

"Huh? Did you just say something, Ragna?" Compa asked.

"No. Not a word." Ragna said, as he started walking back to town, with the others following suit.

The Wheel of Fate is turning once more…The Red Rebel now has a team of young girls working together to hunt for the Key Fragments, scattered across the vast lands of Gamindustri. Where will the team of four head next? Find out in Rebel 3: Magiquone and the Grim Reaper!

A/N: And done! Phew, that took a while. I hope you guys liked this chapter of the Azure Chapter, because I tried putting alot into this one. Anyways, the real adventure begins next chapter, with Ragna and the others meeting Arfoire for the first time. Not much to say on that topic since I don't want to spoil anything.

Son Lucas, Me too. Someone had to take the intiative.

TheDarkTactician, Some parts are inspired by Uzuki's fic, yes. I wouldn't say it's a carbon copy though. Good chunks of dialogue from his fic and mine come straight from the game itself. You'll know if you've played the game or watched walkthoughs of it.

Purple guy and Guest#2, yes.

Shagot, Thanks! Glad you like it.

Touhou is Life, Maybe. I'll consider it in the future.

Guest#1, Cliffhangers are there for a reason, my friend. It seems it worked like a charm too.

Dread Alpha Prime, Thanks! That gave me a confidence boost.

shadowedge27, I appreciate the praise, and I hope this fic makes people like you check out the Neptunia games. Regarding Ragna's personality, I just realized that myself to be honest, but I'll try to make him stay in character as much as possible.

Guest#4, Patience is a virtue.

Someguy, Thanks man.

ARSLOTHES, I hope you liked today's chapter, then.

Angron, Oh geez. I never even considered that possibility...

Also, Happy Holidays, everyone. Have a Happy New Year when that time comes around as well.