Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer-ception.

AN: IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

…Wait, that's your line, isn't it? ^^;

…Happy Valentine's Day, by the way. Here's some chocolates for ya. ^^

Some Random Tosser: responded via PM.

Hydrocity3: Don't we all support Red? …Well, I guess some people don't, but no one cares about them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some heathens to brainwash - I mean – wait, yeah, heathens to brainwash. Soon they shall learn to worship Red… MWAHAHAHAHA!

The Hexagonal Donut: Thanks, dood. :)

G.N. Over-Kite: Thanks, dood! :)

Psycho-Pass: (Nep: No! Iffy's my snarky best bud! ;p) Also, Red's returning in Re;Birth2. All aboard the hype train. ^^

NeptuniaWolfV: responded via PM.

Ghostdominion6: Ouch, how'd I take so long to update this…? Ummm… Let's say I was traveling around space killing Metroids with Ellen Ripley… wait, that doesn't sound right. XD Seriously though, a late review is better than none. And in the case of my sporadic-as-hell updates, actually still quite early anyway… thanks in any case. :)

…Goddess damn, I feel like I'm talking through a time machine or something…

…Just a warning, lots of monster screentime in this chap rather than Goddess and/or human screentime. *sees half of readership get up and start to walk away* GET BACK HERE AND READ THE DAMN CHAPTER YA PUSSIES! Have a little faith in my writing if not my (nonexistent) update schedule, eh?!

-XO[]/\-

Level 12 – Monster Party (Hold the Fried Shrimp)

-XO[]/\-

Linda groaned as she flopped onto the holey covers of her what could generously be called a bed, tossing off her hoodie and letting it lay… somewhere. The grunt had attempted to rob a bank in Lowee earlier in the day (hey, she needed the money! …And probably always will!), only to be thwarted by a combination of Nisa, a Lowee Soldier whose foot Linda had accidentally stepped on while making her escape (said Soldier was, naturally, not too happy about that), and a particularly nefarious skateboard. The grunt was lucky to escape, really. Too bad she has nothing to show for the effort. Ugh….

And seriously, how the hell did that justice freak keep finding her?! It's f-cking creepy! Is she some kinda stalker?!

Anyways, after this failed heist, Underling had returned to the shack she called home - well, actually, she had some other 'bases' elsewhere in the nations as well, but this one was probably her favorite, so yeah - ready to throw in the towel for the night. It was a kind of run-down, and yet oddly homey, small wooden place in the middle of a forest somewhere near the border of Planeptune and Lowee (on the Lowee side, somewhere around LAN Castle's lake; it's always good to have a water source nearby). It had just enough stuff in it to get by, and a few luxuries in the form of severely old furniture, like the bed she was currently lying on. The only thing in there that was even remotely up-to-date was her TV, which, surprisingly, was a widescreen HD one attached to a wall; she'd gotten it from one of her actually-successful (don't laugh! It happens! …Sometimes …occasionally…) robberies. Its reception was pretty crappy, though. And yet despite that, it was probably the reason why this particular shack was her favorite, that TV being both a symbol of success and an actually-modern piece of furniture….

But I digress.

"You look like crap, chump," came the not-terribly-desired-at-the-moment voice of Pirachu, who had not participated in Underling's earlier heist, peeking out of a (rather typical other than its size) mouse hole in the wall. Evidently he's Linda's annoying (well, to her) roommate.

"Go suck a mousetrap, rat, I'm not in the mood," grumbled Underling.

"Whatever. I'm heading out," replied said rat as he did so.

Linda watched her partner-in-crime as he left. She'd noticed that he'd go out somewhere every now and then, always early at night, and always returning early in the morning, while it was still dark out. And sometimes distinctly and unarguably plastered beyond all belief. She generally never bothered asking, and didn't really care that much, either – the rat could go wherever and do whatever the hell he wanted - and yet… she couldn't help but be at least a little curious. And given that the place he seemed to like to visit was probably a bar (where else would you get extremely drunk?), and that Linda had had a rather bad day today…

Eh, what the hell. Screw it. "Hey rat, where ya goin'?"

Pirachu turned around. "…Huh? Now you ask, chump?" He queried questioningly, "Ya never asked before."

"Yeah, well now I am," Underling said pointedly, shifting position to sit on the side of her bed. "You usually come back drunk off your ass, and I could use a drink or two right now." More like a few dozen.

Pirachu paused for a moment. "You can't come, chump," he said plainly.

"What?!" Linda shouted, annoyed, "Why the hell not?!"

"The place I go's a monster-only bar, chump. No humans allowed," the monster mouse explained.

"Preeetty sure I could pass as a monster, rat," Linda deadpanned as she indicated her purple skin and pointy ears. Why does she look like that? A genetic quirk, maybe…?

Pirachu paused again, considering his partner's admittedly valid argument, before closing his eyes and nodding sagely. "…Put on some fake bat wings and something to make ya smell different – ya know, not like a human - and I guess you can tag along, chump."

Linda's eye twitched at the 'tag along' part. Damn rat, acting all superior… She made a note to give the rat a good smack or something later, before grabbing her hoodie and grudgingly getting dressed to her partner-in-crime's specifications, letting out a grumble here and there all the while.

-XO[]/\-

After having traveled for a while, Linda found that her mousey cohort had taken her to a location somewhere in the mountains south of Lowee, on the border between it and Lastation; the ASIC grunt wasn't entirely sure, but she had an inkling that it was more towards the latter than the former. The duo reached their destination rather quickly, all things considered, but then, they both had a lot of experience with traveling around the nations. And scurrying, running, retreating, and generally getting the hell out of dodge, too, of course. Can't forget those.

"We're almost there, chump," Pirachu began, "We just gotta meet up with some monster pals of mine first."

Linda skeptically raised an eyebrow. "You have friends? No friggin' way."

Her companion gave her an annoyed look. "Unlike you, yeah, I do. It comes with being charming, chump. You should try it sometime." The mouse said whilst adopting a self-important air.

Linda's eye twitched. "What'd you say, rat…?" The grunt said menacingly, taking out her trusty pipe and raising it threateningly.

"You goin' deaf, chump?" Pirachu glared back, sparking slightly with electricity.

"Duuuude! Pirachu! Over here, maaaan!" A distinctly… uh… you know what, there's no way around it; the voice sounded really, really stoned. This voice interrupted the vitriolic pals' squabble-to-be and brought to their attention a small group of monsters waiting not too far away.

Said pals gave one last glare to each other before dropping the issue, at least for now. You could practically taste the formulating zany revenge schemes emanating from 'em as they made their way to the monsters, though.

The group was made up of – and these will accompanied by brief descriptions for those in need of a quick refresher - a Mushroom (child-sized mushroom with arms, legs and a face under a large cap), a Balancer (little toddler-esque things that look like various animals; always seen on or with some round object or another), a Screenshot (2d screen a few feet tall with a person on it and a smaller 2d text box in front of that), and a Veggie (child-sized vegetables with arms and legs). The Mushroom was waving, so it would seem he was the one called over Linda and Pirachu.

" 'Suuup, maaaan?" Ayup, the 'Shroom – a rather bog-standard cannon fodder red and white one - was the one who did that. "Whooooa… like, who's the chick, dude…?" He airily asked, seeing Linda. Am I the only one annoyed by his manner of speech already?

"Just some broad that wanted to come with." Pirachu shrugged nonchalantly. Underling resisted the urge to boot him into a boulder.

"Name's Linda," she said in a strained fashion, containing her irritation with her partner-in-crime as best she could at the moment; she didn't want to chance pissing off the monsters in front of her. Sure, they weren't particularly dangerous types of monsters, but hey, just in case. " 'Sup?"

"Duuuude," The Shroom began, "I'm, like, Gus, maaan…"

"Don't mind Gus," said the Veggie, a fairly vanilla Radisher other than the cowboy hat he was inexplicably wearing, "He was grown in a bad patch of land. I'm Bob, by the way." Wow. What an incredibly boring name – no offense to any real life Bobs that may be among the readers. Please don't sue us.

The Screenshot, a Tokimeki Sister whose only notable features were English text on her text box rather than the normal Japanese and the lack of a yellow hair band in her red hair, introduced herself next, text forming in the aforementioned textbox… complete with voice acting! I wonder if she has more voiced lines than mk2 and V's English versions did? …Not that that's hard to do. (Zing!)

[Shiori]

[Nice to meet you, Linda! I'm Shiori! Though I suppose my name tag probably already told you that…] Such was the text that formed, accompanied by a rather sweet-sounding voice, which turned a bit sheepish towards the end.

"*Hic*… And I'm… I'm… uuu…" Sobbed the Balancer, who was specifically one of the Rabbit variety. He appeared to be missing the soccer ball his species of Balancer is always seen with, however.

"That's Hop, chump. Just ignore him; he's been bawling like that ever since someone stole his ball a while back." Pirachu explained, confirming what you probably all already guessed; ie for Balancers no ball = lots of bawl. And if you didn't guess that, then you clearly need to study biology more. Go dissect a frog or something, you boors.

"But you don't understaaaand!" Hop cried, veritable waterfalls pouring from his eyes, "It's only a matter of time! I was keeping it sealed! IT'LL REGAIN-"

SMACK! "Ah, shaddap, ya loony git." Said an annoyed Bob, hitting his friend over the head, "It's been weeks since ya started bawling your brains out about some great evil gettin' loose or somethin' and I ain't seen nothin' yet! Get over it and just find another ball, will ya?"

"*Hic* Uuu…" whimpered the poor little bunny thing.

[Shiori]

[Be nice! Geez!] The Screenshot huffed, before turning to Underling. [Anyway, Linda, what kind of monster are you? I've never seen one like you before…]

"Yeah. Ain't never seen somethin' like you around before," added Bob, who, based on his dialogue so far, I'm guessing is going to have a Western/cowboy schtick. Because why not?

…Must be from Leanbox…

"Uhhh…" The grunt paused, trying to think something up.

"She's an Underling, chump," Pirachu answered bluntly, Linda face-faulting at his response. "Nothing special as far as monsters go. Just cannon fodder." Linda twitched.

"Awright. Must be some dern rare cannon fodder, though," said Bob, the rest of the group seeming to accept the answer as well. Though it was admittedly a bit hard to tell with Gus and Hop, given the latter was curled up in the fetal position crying and the former's mind appeared to be on another planet.

[Shiori] (…I'm gonna make a note to snip this part from her future lines… it's sort of annoying…)

[Anyways, c'mon, let's go, guys!] Shiori displayed eagerly, bouncing around.

After some general (or perhaps generic would be more apropos?) chorusing of agreement, the group of cannon fodder monsters left, Pirachu and Linda at the back.

A few moments passed, and then…

BOOT! "Chuuuu!" SMACK!

Linda punted her mousey cohort right into a boulder, leaving quite a nice crack in it. Ahhh, vengeance…

[Huh?! Pirachu, are you okay?!] Shiori asked worriedly, her and the others turning back to face the two partners in crime. [What happened?!]

"Far ouuuuut!" commented one stoned Shroom on the side.

"He tripped. Yup." Linda answered, barely managing to hide the shit-eating grin that so desperately wanted to break out on her face. The boulder, which heretofore had merely been spiderweb-cracked with Pirachu in the middle of said crack, promptly crumbled into rubble. Not even missing a beat, the grunt turned towards her vitriolic friend. "Ain't that right, rat?" She asked ever-so-sickly-sweetly.

"Yeeeah…" Pirachu moaned loopily from beneath the wreckage, "Tripped… chuuu…"

[Uhhh… if you say so…?] said a weirded out Shiori.

"Musta been one helluva trip." Added Bob, sweatdropping.

"We're all gonna dieeee…" sniffed Hop, who is starting to kind of disturb me.

"Welp, c'mon y'all," sighed Bob, "Let's dig 'im up so we can get to the derned saloon already. I want me some fire water, dag nabbit!"

-XO[]/\-

Deep within a hidden crystal cave system in the mountain, and on a path beyond a Waist-High Insurmountable Fence (or rather crystal) or two, the ragtag bunch of monsters (plus one Linda) had reached the rather well-concealed entrance of a bar-slash-restaurant that, given the neon sign above it, was evidently called 'The Random Encounter.' For those wondering how the hell something with a neon sign denoting its location can be well-hidden, bear in mind that this place is hidden away in a hidden dungeon (need I remind you of how much the Scout system sucks?) hidden some ways past the areas where adventurers would go dungeon crawling. Which, as this dungeon is hidden in the first place, isn't all that often anyway. Its hidden-ness level is probably just about maxed out, in other words.

And for the (un)lucky human or two who might actually manage to stumble upon this establishment, there was also the matter of the Giant Lizardman acting as its bouncer, whom Linda, Pirachu, and the cannon fodder quartet now found themselves in front of. For those who may not remember, Lizardmen are the fat winged fellows from V who wield axes and shields and kinda look like miniature CFW Tricks (seriously, take a close look at one and tell me it doesn't look like the pedo). Giant Lizardmen are just larger versions of them; whereas the standard variety is roughly the size of a somewhat short adult human, their Giant cousins probably clock in at roughly two-three times that. They're also Risky-class foes, while their smaller brethren are high-tier cannon fodder class.

And if that isn't enough to jog your memory… the Gargoyle. Yeah, that thing in the Suaho Mountain Range on Hello Continent in V that probably handed you your ass the first (several) time(s) you fought it in a most likely hilariously futile attempt to clear that one quest? Giant Lizardman. Albeit a red one, while our bouncer here is of the yellow variety. Other than a scar over his right eye and the stylish bowtie around his neck he otherwise seemed like any other yellow Giant Lizardman, though, albeit he wielded a large scimitar instead of an axe.

"Hey Moe. How's it goin', chump?" greeted Pirachu in a decidedly blasé fashion not exactly befitting of a mouse talking to a rather large dragon.

The Giant Lizardman, apparently named Moe, just growled a little, glanced over the motley group before him, and stepped aside to let them through.

"As talkative as ever, ain't he?" said Bob.

"Yeah. Whatever, c'mon chumps, let's party!" Pirachu announced, earning a cheer from his party members before they made their way into the bar… or they would've, except Moe's scimitar suddenly blocked their path.

Sweating slightly, Pirachu asked, "Uhhh… what's up, chump?"

Moe growled slightly again, before leaning over Linda and glaring at her.

"W-What are you lookin' at?" The grunt asked nervously. In the background, her partner-in-crime began to sweat just a bit more.

A few heavy seconds passed, Pirachu's monster buddies wondering what was up. Except Gus and Hop that is. Those two were staring into space and angsting in an over-the-top fashion, respectively.

Finally, Moe sniffed Linda a few times, his heavy intakes of breath buffeting the poor girl. And then…

"CHOO!" Moe sneezed. "CHOO! CHOO! CHOO!" And again and again and again. Shaking his head, and apparently satisfied with whatever he was investigating (which I'm sure you all can guess quite easily), the reptilian bouncer let out another low growl and lifted his scimitar, allowing Pirachu and Linda's group passage.

"…Well that was close." Linda said quietly to Pirachu once they were out of earshot.

"Yep," responded Pirachu.

A few moments passed.

"…I'm covered in dragon snot, aren't I?"

"Yep, chump."

-XO[]/\-

The inside of The Random Encounter was quite a rowdy place, to say the least. Monsters of all shapes and sizes - most of which you dear readers probably didn't even remember existed, because come on, they're just big sacks of EXP, items, and Credits to y'all I'm sure (you monsters) - were partying and having fun. From the littlest Pixelvader vomiting up weird green pixelly stuff in a potted plant in a corner to the biggest Regal (Ancient, if you recall) Dragon doing a kegstand on a truly massive barrel of booze, these monsters were undoubtedly having the time of their lives. Granted, for some it'd come back to bite them in the morning in the form of a nasty hangover, but I digress.

…Well now, I don't suppose that actually described what the bar looks like, did it? Well… it looks like a bar. Just with monsters instead of humans. Yeah. That's all there is to it, really.

Underling (who had quickly cleaned herself up), Pirachu, and co made their way through this jolly place, looking for a place to sit, the males of the group – other than Pirachu anyway; evidently he's quite faithful to his sweet Compa - ogling the monster girls that served as waitresses (complete with sexy uniform!), the prospect of boobs apparently sobering up Gus and Hop for the moment.

Linda, taking in the sights of the bar, really had to admit this place was pretty cool. Maybe she should join the rat on these nights out more often…

"Hey babe, can I buy ya a drink?" a clearly drunk Delinquent Cat (the little squirrel-like things with helmets and gauntlets) asked the ASIC grunt, attempting to flirt with her.

Linda gave it a flat look. Okay, so maybe she shouldn't join the rat on these nights out more often. She didn't exactly fancy being hit on by monsters. That in mind,

BOOT! "AAAAAAAH!" SMACK!

She punted the cat-squirrel thing into a nearby dartboard adorned with pictures of the CPUs' human forms, burying him smack in the middle of Noire's cleavage headfirst. This caused his buddies, a bunch of other decidedly drunk Delinquent Cats, to start laughing their asses off even as their friend started trying to pull his head out of the spot it was lodged in.

"Hehehehe! Bullseye! GAHAHAHAHA!"

"Right in the tsundere bitch's boobage!"

"Sucks ta be you, Frank!"

"Generic drunken ribbing!"

"Dude, I think ya watch too much TV…"

Linda shook her head, a deadpan expression on her face. "Geez…" the grunt grumbled, before returning to her current party, who had made their way to a counter at the back of the establishment, manned by a regular-sized yellow Lizardman in a stylish bowtie. Judging by how he's cleaning a mug with a cloth in the most clichéd manner possible, he's evidently the barkeep.

"'Sup, Joe?" Pirachu greeted the Lizardman.

"Well if it ain't Pirachu!" The winged reptile apparently named Joe replied heartily, "Back for more, eh?"

"Yep. There anyplace left ta sit, chump? The place's packed," said Pirachu, Linda coming up behind the gathered group.

"Hang on a sec." Turning to his right, Joe yelled "Yo, Macaroon! There any tables left?"

"Hm, just one moment please, let me check…" chirped a cute brunette with shoulder-length hair - save for one long strand on either side that stuck out much farther in a manner not dissimilar to an ahoge – who had brown eyes and wore a poofy blue dress with a white apron over it with a big ribbon in the back, as well as a headband with large cat ear-like things on it. She had white stockings and blue shoes. You might recognize her from Trinity Universe… and if not from there, then maybe from the first Neptunia game, where she cameoed as a boss monster. Several times. In various outfits.

"Beep… Beep… Beeeeep! Yup, looks like we have one open!" She informed everyone, before turning to another waitress – if I had to guess, Macaroon's head waitress around here – and saying, "Petunia, take them there, would you?"

The waitress in question, who was a standard-issue Alraune (quick refresher: humanoid monsters sporting twintails made up of flowers, with a large flower around their waist and legs that are something like a cross between a root and a human leg) with no notable features other than her sexy waitress uniform, replied, "Yes, ma'am," bowed to Linda and Pirachu's group, and led them to a table.

Linda couldn't help but give another glance at Macaroon as she followed the group. Was that girl really a monster…? She looked like she was just a human with a cat ear headband… "Heck, I look more like a monster than her…" Linda mumbled.

Beat.

"Not that there's anything wrong with the way I look…!" She muttered to herself grumpily, blushing just a bit. Seriously, why does she have purple skin and pointy ears?

The bar patrons didn't seem to hear her (it is pretty loud in there), or otherwise didn't really care. If one listened closely Pirachu could be heard snickering, though.

-XO[]/\-

"Sir?" Petunia asked a snoozing Metal Shell (black blobs with yellow eyes situated between a pair of metal rock things lined with teeth-like crystals that sport a pair of floating hands), prodding it with her hand.

"Zzzz…" The Shell snored.

"Sir!" Petunia prodded harder. She does know physical attacks aren't very effective against Metal Shells, right?

"Zzzz…"

"…Sir, you paid your bill over an hour ago. Please wake up and leave; there are customers in need of a table." The waitress prodded yet again, starting to get annoyed.

"Zzzz…"

"…" Petunia gave the Shell a flat look.

"Zz-" BOOT! SMASH!

"GET LOST, YOU BUM!" The angry Alraune yelled, punting the Shell away and causing it to smash into a nearby wall.

"Zzzz…" It continued sleeping despite being lodged in a wall, Petunia nursing her throbbing foot.

"Ouch…" She said, annoyed, before switching to a more cheerful tone, "Well, uh, anyway, here's your table!" she said to Pirachu, Linda, and co, "Sorry about that; it was supposed to be long since empty, but that guy apparently decided to nap instead of leave after he paid his bill, heh."

Underling snickered at the poor schmuck as she joined her party at the table, Petunia leaving to allow them to decide on orders.

-XO[]/\-

"So didja hear the rumors?"

"You mean the ones about the mutant monsters? Yeah. What's up with that?"

Went a conversation going on at the next table over between some Pixelvaders (if you don't remember what these guys look like… you dare call yourself a Neptunia fan, heathen?), which Linda was eavesdropping on out of boredom. Her group hadn't been talking about anything particularly interesting anyway, and Gus and Hop were getting on her nerves… so here she is.

But now that she had an intriguing topic of conversation… "Hey, you guys hear anything about mutant monsters or somethin' lately?" she asked her table.

[Hm?] Shiori was the first to respond. [Oh yeah! I've heard about those – ah, just a sec…] She paused as Petunia had come back to take their orders.

"So what'll you guys be having tonight?" she asked.

[I'll just have a few KBs worth of data. I'm on a diet.] The Screenshot answered cheerfully.

"Hic… I'll have some arsenic-" SMACK. Started Hop. And then Bob punched him.

"He'll have some liquor, strongest ya got." Said the Radisher. "Myself, I'll have sumthin' with a lil' less kick."

"Duuuude… like…" Gus started.

"Get him sumthin' nice an' strong, too." Bob quickly said, gaze half-lidded.

"Gimme some cheese spiked with something good, chump." Said Pirachu.

"I'll have somethin' strong, too." Said Linda.

…Fun fact: the author knows very little about alcoholic beverages. He does enjoy pina colatas, however.

Anyway, after Petunia left to get what the group ordered, Shiori continued what she had been displaying earlier. Which I'm guessing is plot relevant or something. Pay attention and take notes, class; while you will not be quizzed, the author will point and laugh at you if you don't understand what is going on later. He's an asshole like that.

[Where was I? Oh, right.] The Tokimeki Sister began. [There have been a lot of sightings of freaky monsters lately. From what I've heard, some are like messed-up mishmashes of other monsters, and then there are some that're just plain abominations.]

"Ayup," Bob chimed in, "I hear some Fenrirs got a good whiff of the scent a' one a' them things. They say the smell was just… wrong."

"Hic… I bet they're-" Hop began, and…

"No," Bob stopped him again, "they are not the spawn of some evil god that you were keeping sealed or whatever, or harbingers of the apocalypse, or people that swallowed – what did you call 'em? CPU Memories or somethin' like that? – and became monsters because they weren't worthy, or whatever other loony thing ya can come up with, pardner… probably, anyway."

"Huh… well that's kinda freaky," Linda said. Mutant monsters, eh? As if she didn't have enough problems… she added them to her mental list of things to run the hell away from, right under Nisa, the CPUS, Nisa, good guys, Nisa, and authority figures in general. And did I mention Nisa?

[No one knows where they're coming from either… scary, isn't it?] Shiori shivered. Her on-screen avatar did, that is.

"Maybe they're like, aliens, maaaan," Gus chimed in. Everyone ignored him.

"Eh, not our problem, chump. Let the CPU broads take care of 'em," Pirachu said nonchalantly, "More importantly, our orders are here. Let's booze it up, chump!"

-XO[]/\-

Some time later…

"My word, look at you all! Gibbering about on the ground, inebriated beyond all belief! Shameful! Positively shameful!" said Gus- wait, what?!

…Okay, I know Gus here is an OC – or rather an OC Stand-In, since his design is far from original, simply being that of a monster from the games, but I digress – and that as such few to none of you probably give anything resembling a rat's ass about him and are probably yelling at your screens that the author is Satan for using OCs and that you'll brutally murder him with a flaming stapler for his heretical actions. However, regardless of whether or not you particularly care for him, I would assume you all paid at least enough attention to get that Gus' basic personality trait was that he was stoned. That said, what the f-ck?

"What… What the… What the hell's up wit'… wit' 'im…?" asked a decidedly drunk Linda. Yes, what is up? And where'd he get the monocle from, for that matter? …'Cause Gus is wearing one now. And if not for fanfic being a non-visual medium, you'd already know that.

"Chuuu… heehhgdygsh… chump…" a decidedly drunk Pirachu… uhhh… 'said' probably isn't quite the right word… groaned, maybe? …Or mayhaps gargled?

[What Pirachu means,] began Shiori, who was the only member of the group who was still sober, [is that when Gus gets drunk, he, um… gets sober.]

"Oooh…" Linda said, not actually grasping what she'd been told due to her alcohol-addled mind, "That's… uhhh… that's… what's the word… uh, weird. Yeah."

Okay, so Gus becomes sober when he's drunk. How oxymoronic. And also normal moronic. So if that's what happens to him, then what happens to the other member of this party that has a screw loose – that is to say, Hop – when he gets drunk? Let's see…

"HAPPYHAPPYSUNSHINERAINBOWSFUNTIMEAHHHHHH" Hop screamed in a highly disturbing manner that now makes me regret having asked. And which also seems more like he had a couple dozen doses of PCP or something rather than some booze.

…Yeeeah, let's move on to something else. Let's see how Bob's doing, eh? 'Cause I'm sure you all totally care.

"Zzzz…" He's… sleeping. Well… that's kinda boring. But at least he isn't screaming like a psycho. So there's that.

…Yeeeah, I don't think we're gonna get much more outta this, so if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna timeskip…

-XO[]/\-

The next morning…

"Zzz… hmmm… ah… huh?" Linda went as she slowly awakened. "Mmm- GAH! Dammit!" And then she raised a hand to her head when her hangover caught up to her. Quickly sitting up, she found that she was in her bed back at the shack from the beginning of the chapter. "Ugh… what happened…?" she groaned as she looked around. She could hear quiet snoring coming from inside Pirachu's mouse hole, so evidently he was still asleep.

The grunt scratched her head a bit. "Hm… I remember getting drunk, and then…" she thought for a minute. "…nope. Nuthin' after that." She paused a minute. "Ah, screw it. Whatever. Head's hurtin' too much ta think…" she grumbled, adjusting her position underneath her bedsheets, having decided to go back to sleep.

A few moments passed.

"…Shit. I'm naked." The purple-skinned girl (finally) realized, anger seeping into her voice, "Someone's gonna die for this later..."

And so Linda's next day was filled with many The Hangover-esque shenanigans. Like… I dunno, wrestling a transvestite dragon or something. Make something up, 'cause from what this humble narrator understands, the author intends on keeping it a noodle incident (read: he's lazy).

-XO[]/\-

Level 12 end

-XO[]/\-

~Easter Eggs~

Bars are lively places, and the events concerning Linda and Pirachu's party were hardly the only amusing things going on in there… let's see what some of the monsters in there were up to, shall we?

…What's that? You don't care about the monsters and want teh sexy and/or cute ladehs instead? Too bad. Plop your ass down in that chair and read, ya wusses. Now then…

1111

"Aw man!" complained a white-colored Skeleton (The, well, skeletons from Victory that had mohawks and sat on floating pillows) to his compatriots sitting around the table. "I can't believe you won again!" The Skeleton tossed his cards around in frustration. He appeared to be playing poker with his pals. "You've got one hell of a poker face, ya know that?" He grumbled.

"…Well duh." Deadpanned a male blue-colored Pac-Ghost (I really shouldn't have to remind you of what these things look like, should I?) that was having a guys' night out away from the missus. "He's a Crystal Golem. He doesn't have a face, you dolt!"

"…Oh yeah." The Skeleton, who may or may not have been at least a little drunk, replied sheepishly.

"Sometimes not having a face has its advantages, boys," said the light blue-colored Crystal Golem (I really hope you remember these guys from V…). "Now pay up!"

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"Hey bro! Got a drink for ya! Figured ya needed it!" called Joe to Moe. Moe gave a growl of acknowledgement to Joe, who was evidently his brother, before reaching down and grabbing a mug of beer so large it had to be held up by four different (visibly-straining) waitresses at once. The Giant Lizardman then proceeded to take a few hearty swigs from the mug.

"Grrrr," The bouncer growled happily.

"You're welcome, bro. Keep up the good work!" Joe replied before heading back into the bar.

Lizard brothers named Moe and Joe… hmmm… haven't I heard this somewhere before…

…

Nah. Must be imagining it…

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"C'mon, c'mon…" said an Ancient Dragon sporting an eyepatch over his left eye. He appeared to be playing pool. "Annnd… HAH!" And with a mighty CRACK his pool stick collided with the pool ball… and promptly sent it ricocheting all over the bar. "…Oops." The dragon said sheepishly, before shouting "FORE!"

Various other bar patrons dodged around the bouncing ball, before with a resounding SMACK its flight ended when it beaned a Delinquent Cat in the head, causing his friends to laugh.

"Hahahaha! Man Frank, this just isn't your night, eh?" Oh hey, so it hit the same one that Linda punted into the CPU dartboard earlier. You guys remember him? No? Didn't think so; he was pretty insignificant, after all.

"Sorry pal! My bad!" The eyepatch-sporting Ancient Dragon apologized, his sheepishness going up a level or two.

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…And I think that's enough for now. Now back to your regularly-scheduled boobs. Or in some cases lack thereof.

-XO[]/\-

AN: Nothin' much ta see here, just doin' some world building. Also the first signs of the next arc, though the arc in question won't come into full swing for a few more chapters.

Give yourself a cookie if you actually somehow managed to remember every single monster that popped up in the chap. :) Give yourself a second cookie if you know what Monster Party is. Give yourself a third one if you didn't spend half the chapter trying to strangle me through the computer screen either for the lack of Goddesses/Makers or for the ridiculously long time it took for this update to come about.

…Oh, and for those of you that happened to read Thirty N's and went 'WTF?' or something similar: yeah, that was kinda the point. XD What can I say? I was bored and felt like being spontaneous. Also I felt like ripping off the Harry Potter fic Thirty H's, because why not?