Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's a quiet, restless night outside the inn.

The trio is fast asleep on the bed in one of the rooms.

IF, only wearing her black tanks and shorts, tucks herself further into the covers and shifts into a more comfortable position. She tries to get some good and peaceful sleep after traveling to Leanbox with her new party that she's been forced into. A nurse-in-training and her amnesic patient.

How did she end up at the worst party, again? 

Oh, yeah, she couldn't leave the fate of the worlds in the hands of those two airheads.

Her beauty sleep is then interrupted by a loud noise beside her. The brunette's face shifts for a bit before she slowly opens her eyelids and looks around for the source of the noise, before she sees Compa loudly snoring with her mouth open. She is wearing a white nightdress and is hugging a green stuffed doll.

She lets out a grumble before she covers her ears with her pillow. She tries to block the noise and returns to her slumber. Next time, she would bring a pair of plugs for her ears and another huge plug to block the nurse-in-training's mouth.

Suddenly, she feels the covers being pulled off of her.

The tomboy's body shivers as the cold air slams her body. She turns and glares at the purple-haired girl who hogs the blanket to herself as she mumbles incoherently. IF grabs the blanket from her and forces it under her. IF tries her best not to let it get to her and simply wants to escape from this depressing reality into dreamland.

"Hehe... tuna mayo... mmm."

IF feels something nibbling on her hair.

"Huh? Ew, get off me, Nep!" She pushes Neptune's face away from her face and feels a bit of her drooling before the idiot grabs hold of her arms and nuzzles closer to it. "Mmm.. so warm and comfy~"

"Hey, my arm isn't a damn pillow." The guild member girl growls and uses all of her strength to shake the brain-dead girl off her arm. After managing to free herself, IF breathes heavily and grits her teeth at the sight of the clueless purple girl.

It takes most of her willpower not to choke her out with her pillow.

After taking a deep breath, she settles down and tries to drift to sleep for the umpteenth time. However, it doesn't last as the brunette feels something hard slam on her stomach.

"Ack! What the—" IF feels the air force out of her lungs before she sits up and sees Nep's foot on her stomach. She feels her eyes twitch; this is the last straw for her.

"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!" The brunette shouts as her face turns red.

"GET OUT! OUT!" She then kicks both girls out of the room. She shoves Compa out of the door, and soon after, she kicks Neptune's bum out of the door, resulting in her getting her face planted on the floor.

"You two are the worst roommates I've had. Go and find another room! I'm not putting up with this anymore." With that, IF violently slams the door shut in front of their faces.

Compa's brain is still registering the situation as her body begins to wobble up and down. Neptune then picks herself up from the ground and rubs her backside. "Jeez, what's her problem?"

"I don't... know." The clumsy nurse mumbles as she lets out a yawn and places her head on the stuffed doll in her hand. "So tired and sleepy..."

"Ugh, whatever. Come on, let's leave Miss Grumpy Face to herself." The purple-haired girl lets out a huff and grabs hold of her friend's arm before she drags her along. Compa lets herself be dragged as she doesn't have the energy to move with her body sliding on the floor.

(N)

The next morning comes.

IF grabs her hanging coat and wears it before she makes her way to the room where Nep and Compa are. Despite having a good night's sleep, she still feels a bit bad for lashing out at the two and kicking them out and wants to apologize.

The brunette lets out a sigh and scratches her cheek with her fingernail as she thinks about what to say to them.

She finds the room they're staying in and opens the door without bothering to knock. "Hey, you two. I'm sorry for yelling at you and kicking you out. Maybe we could try again later—"

IF suddenly stops in her tracks.

Compa let out a yelp and froze. Neptune is currently hugging her from behind and buries her face into her soft hair as she mumbles and slowly drifts to La-la land.

The brunette says nothing for a while and has a flat expression on her face in front of her. She then slowly closes the door with the same neutral expression on her face.

"W-Wait! This isn't what it looks like." Compa yells out, but it is too late as the girl is already long gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Yes, I'm copying Nanya's fanfic idea. However, mine will be mainly focused on the adventure of the trio outside the main story.

Also, as you already know, I will be writing the game and characters based on the original game and not the remake, since I hate it.

Chapter Text

The trio enters the basilicom and heads to the board before IF begins to scour for any available job that matches her new two party members.

"Alright, there is a hunting job where we need to collect 5 gelatin cells from dogoos." The brunette picks up a piece of paper. "We will be rewarded and ranked based on how quickly we finish the quest, so no slacking off, got it?"

"Hm, sounds easy enough." The purple-haired girl hums as she takes out her old wooden sword. "Alright, let's go, girls."

"Hold on, hold on, what the hell is that?" The tomboy points at the worn-out thing in her hands.

"It's my weapon, duh."

"What? This?" She scoffs. "It looks like you dove into a dumpster and picked it.

"Well... uh... I mean..." Neptune scratches her neck and averts her gaze.

"Oh, my gosh..." She runs her hand across her face. "Please don't tell me that you actually..."

"Look, I had no choice, okay! If I wanted to save the world, I needed some sort of a weapon."

"Oh, yeah? What're you gonna do with that? Use it as a back scratch on the monsters?" IF crosses her arm.

"It's okay, you two," Compa interjects. "We will use the money we earn to buy a new weapon for Nep-Nep."

"Aw... but I kinda like it. It grew on me."

"Absolutely not! That thing..." She points at the wooden stick. "...Is going back to the trash."

"Boo... meaniffy." Neptune sticks her tongue out in response, which makes the brunette growl at her childish behavior.

"Ugh, whatever. Anyway, what about you, Compa? What will you be using as your weapon?" IF turns to the nurse-in-training.

"This." She then takes out a comically large syringe with a proud look on her face. "It's a training syringe, but my Grandpa modified it so I can use it as a weapon, so I can have means to defend myself against monsters."

"Yeah, whatever. Good enough, I guess." The brunette shrugs before she turns back to the purple airhead girl. "Please tell me that you have anything besides that piece of garbage?"

"Rude! But yeah." She then takes out a pistol. "I have this gun, I guess."

"And do you even know how to use that?" IF crosses her arms.

"Psh, of course I know how to use a gun, Iffy, duh." She begins to spin the gun in her hand, which causes it to accidentally go off. Neptune lets out a yelp as the gun flies from her hand. She stumbles for a bit as she tries to catch the gun that is slipping from her grasp before finally catching it. She lets out a sigh and gives her sheepish smile as she rubs her neck.

She then facepalms and lets out a deep sigh. "Whatever, just be careful where you point this thing."

"S-Sure, thing." She puts the weapon away and does a salute.

"Let's just go before I get a headache." The brunette heads to one of the Scanified and hands him the piece of paper while the two follow suit. "Excuse me. We would like to take this quest."

"Oh, certainly." He nods as he examines the paper. "Name, please?"

"IF, Compa, and Neptune." The brunette leans on the table.

"Sorry. I meant the name of the party."

"Oh... Um... party name? Well... uh..." The brunette freezes as her eyes scan the floor.

"Oh, oh, how about team Neptune?"

"Wait, wait, wait. Why team Neptune?" IF turns around to face the purple-haired girl.

"Well, since I'm the leader, I get to pick the party name, of course." Neptune buffs her chest and places her hand on her chest.

"Since when were you the leader?" She pokes her in the chest with her finger.

"Hey, quit poking me! Besides, me and Compa are the ones who let you to our totally awesome party, right, Compa?"

"That's true." Compa nods with a smile. "We're a party for life now."

IF groans. "Whatever. There's no way in hell we're going by that name!"

Neptune waves her hand. "Hmph, you're just jealous of my name."

"Jealous!? Listen here, you little girl—"

"Little? It takes two to know one." The two little girls glare at each other and bump their foreheads together as if they are magnets.

"Please, you two..." Compa then rubs her chin for a moment before she snaps her finger. "I got! How about... Team Compiffytune?"

The two stop their staring contest and turn to look at the clumsy nurse.

"Team Compiffytune..." The purple-haired girl mutters it as if she's testing the sound of it."Hm... I like it!"

"What, no! That sounds even worse."

"Well, too bad. It's two against one, Iffy."

"Alright, team... Compiffytune." The Santified begins to scribble on a piece of paper and hands it out. "Here's your permit for entering the dungeon. Safe travel and may Purple Heart protect you in your quest."

IF her shoulder slumps before she takes the piece of paper. "Yeah... thanks."

The trio, now known as 'Compiffytune', heads out on the first of their many adventures.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Poor Iffy can't catch a break.

The name is taken from a reference made by Compa in the game, and I thought it would be funny to make it their party name.  Anyway, this is going to be a slight take on some of the events from the game, but there will be ones that are original.

Chapter Text

The two girls stop in front of the black market that is selling illegally copied 5pb CDs at a five-finger discount. "This is the place, according to the guild's network information."

"I thought black markets were called that since they took place at night. This is midday." The blue-haired idol mutters as the brunette begins to lockpick the door with a pair of clips.

"We're here to scour the area while people aren't around."

"But isn't that trespassing? A-Are we really going to break in?"

"Think of it as 'Killing a bee to save the hive.' I heard Compa say that when she burned my toast." The brunette hears a click before the door opens. "Alright, we're in."

The two enter the shop and take in the sight of the place. The shop is filled with many antique items, articles, weapons, and chests scattered all around as the idol admires. "Wow, this place has so much stuff."

"Focus. We're here to look around for those CDs and get out quickly before—"

Suddenly, they hear the sound of footsteps coming from behind, before a man comes and notices the girl. "Hey, what are you doing here, and most importantly, how did you get inside? The shop doesn't open until midnight unless you're some kind of a thief."

"Oh, that's so rich coming from you." IF crosses her arms and approaches the man. "Unfortunately for you, we're not customers. My friend here has something to say to you."

"What friend?" The man raises her eyebrow.

"The one standing behind—" IF turns around, but sees the girl nowhere to be seen. "What the—"

The brunette begins to look around until she spots the idol hiding under a table like a scared kitten. She groans and slaps her face with her hand. "Not again..."

She then forces the girl out of her hiding spot and gently pushes the blue-haired girl towards him, who instantly freezes on the spot and lets out an eep. "Come on, Lyrica. Go tell him."

"5pb, huh? So you've heard of us?"

She takes a moment to regain her courage and tries to muster a mean look. "S-Sure do! You copy my CDs and sell them for next to nothing without my permission."

The shop owner snorts. "So? I'm simply getting your music out to the people. You should be thanking me, now, more people will have access to your songs."

"Thanking you?" IF growls and points at him. "What you're doing harms the artist. It's blatant copyright infringement."

Before she can continue, she feels something touch her shoulder. "It's okay, IF. Let me try talking to him."

IF simply nods and takes a step back.

"Do you hate music?" She simply asks.

"Huh? I love music, duh."

"But you're abusing my songs."

"I just said, I'm helping spread your songs around the world by letting them access them at a low price. I'm a shining example of excellent customer service."

"Yeah, right." IF huffs. "Shining example, my bum. How selfish can you be when you're sacrificing the artist and abusing their product to make a profit out of it? It's unfair."

Lyrica nods her head. "Yeah. Musicians, like me, support ourselves by selling our music. If you continue this, then I won't have a choice but to quit entirely and be forced to flip burgers for a living."

"Oh, my heart is bleeding." The seller smirks, not looking fazed at the slightest. "You think you're so special. Don't cha? Well, I couldn't care less about you and your dumb career. So, if you two don't leave my store, I'll—"

"Hey!" IF steps towards him. "I'll watch that mouth if I were you."

The man snorts and leans closer. "Or what, shortie?"

He doesn't have to wait to find out as the shortie grabs him by the collar and throws his body across the room before it slams and lands behind the counter.

"Or that." The guild girl dusts her hands off.

"Um... Wasn't that a bit extreme?" The blue-haired girl asks from behind her.

"The guy had it coming. Come on, let's destroy those CDs and get outta here."

As the two girls start gathering the CDs, suddenly a bright light comes from where IF threw the man. A growling noise can be heard before a monster emerges from the man. Before them is a tall, skinny figure of a demon that has rotten flesh with bones sticking out. Its head is a skull of a wolf with large horns sticking out.

The idol lets out a squeak while IF mumbles under her breath. "Oh great..."

The monster lets out a deep laugh. "You should have walked when you had the chance, shortie. Now, I'm going to enjoy killing you both."

5pb's body is trembling before the brunette uses herself as a shield by standing between her and the monster.

"Lyrica, stay behind me!" She extends her arms out and unsheathes claws from under her sleeves

"Ah, how cute. Protecting your friend. I'll make sure to bury you two together."

The monster charges with a mighty roar before charging at her with his horns, but the girl easily dodges by rolling out of the way. The monster stumbles backward but then regains its footing. It then grabs one of the chairs and flings it in her direction. IF easily sidesteps as the chair shatters into pieces into the wall. The monster then lunges and swipes its sharp claws at the tomboy. IF quickly raises her arms in a cross shape to block the attack, which causes her to get knocked back a few feet.

Damn it.

She grits her teeth as she feels its sharp claws tear through her sleeves and leaving nasty scratches on her arms. She tries to ignore the burning sensation in her arms and tries to clear her mind so she can prepare for any upcoming attacks. Meanwhile, the idol feels her body frozen as she witnesses the fight in front while she hides herself behind a shelf to avoid confrontation.

"So weak." The demon raises at claws once again to attack. This time, IF ducks under to avoid the swipe attack as it misses her by a hair. She then uses this opportunity to attack by plunging her claws deep into the monster. The demon lets out a loud shriek before it smacks her with its arm and sends her flying across the room.

The girl's body slams into the wall behind her, which causes the air to rush out of her chest. She then drops the the floor and quickly picks herself up as she lets out a groan before she sees in the corner of her eyes the monster grabbing hold of the table across her.

She sees it push the table and rush towards her at the corner of her eye. She reacts quickly by jumping at the last second and landing on top of the table as it slams into the wall behind her before she gets sandwiched. She comes face to face with the monster, who turns to look at her. She quickly goes for a quick hit by punching it square in the nose, which does little to nothing but anger the demon as it lets out another roar and grabs hold of her leg.

IF's eyes widen as she lets out a curse. "Oh, shi—"

She isn't able to complete her sentence as the monster violently pulls her up and slams her down onto the table, resulting in it breaking in half along with her back. The monster, however, isn't done with her as it continues to grab hold of her body and begins to drag her across the room.  IF tries to struggle by placing her claws onto the floor, slowing the monster down and leaving behind a stretching claw mark on the floor as she is being dragged, followed by the screeching sound of the metal scratching against the wooden surface. 

The monster then lets go of her leg, which makes her drop the the floor. IF rolls on her back and tries to get her bearings back before she feels her arms being pinned to the floor. She sees the monster looming over her as it slowly opens its mouth wide, ready to take a huge bite at her. IF lets a gasp and moves her head to the side at the last moment before its mouth snapped close beside her neck.

"Stay. Still." The monster tries again this time, but IF quickly frees her arms and grabs both his upper jaw and lower jaw and keeping his mouth open as it begins gnawing to take a bite of her once more.

IF is grunting as she uses her full strength just to keep the monster's jaws open from devouring her, as in a deadlock, but she can't hold it out forever, as she feels her hands trembling and the monster is slowly but surely closing in on her.

Just before all hope is lost, she hears a voice of girl from behind. "Leave her alone!"

Then the monster's head gets smacked by a guitar before it gets smashed to pieces. The monster lets out a bellow and lets go of the girl, which the brunette uses as an opportunity to deliver a swift kick towards it and push herself away.

She then sees 5pb holding a broken guitar while her body is violently shaking like a leaf as the monster turns its attention towards her. "Now you've done it."

The blue-haired girl slowly backs away as the monster approaches her until she feels her back hit the cold wall. She begins to breathe uncontrollably, and she feels her heart is slamming against her chest as she realizes she is trapped and has nowhere to go.

"I'll make sure your face is beyond recognition."

"5pb..." IF grits her teeth and gets up while still clutching her stomach, as she sees that her friend is in danger. She then sees a pot filled with sharp spears next to her. With a burst of adrenaline, the brunette quickly grabs one of the spears and rushes toward the monster. The spear pierces through the monster's body as it lets out a wail, as it stumbles and clutches its chest.

"Oh... You... Bitch."

IF doesn't take any chances and begins to twist the spear and impales it deeper, which frails and drops to the ground with a loud thump. Its body's movement slows down as it lets out a weak groan.

IF then lets go of the spear and begins to breathe heavily as her adrenaline rush runs out, and all the pain comes hitting her like a truck. "Agh...."

IF then sees the idol frozen in place, clearly shaken from that fight, as her knees finally give up on her.

She quickly rushes to her side and grabs hold of her shoulders. "Lyrica? Lyrica! Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine. T-That was terrifying. I thought that I was going to..."

"Hey, hey... It's okay." She gently grabs hold of her arms, in her voice drops to a soothing tone. "It's over now. You're safe now."

"I-I was useless. I just stood there frozen and did nothing." She lets out a sniff, and tears begin to form in her eyes. "You got hurt because of me."

IF shakes her head and stares straight into her eyes. "You weren't useless. If it weren't for you, I would be dead. You. Saved my life."

"R-Really...?" 5pb's voice is still shaky as she turns to look at IF. "I've never been in a fight before... I was just so scared but... I couldn't just stand there and watch you get hurt... I had to do something, and then my body acted by itself... I'm sorry! If I were as strong as you, then maybe I-"

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. You did great out there. You saved my butt back there and that's what matters."

"B-but... you're injured."

IF manages to give her a weak, wavering smile as she pushes herself up. She then offers her hand. "Don't worry, I've been through worse. I'll live."

"Okay..." She whispers as she accepts her hands as she helps her stand up.

"Woah." Lyrica staggers for a bit before she is caught by IF before she falls. "Easy, there. I got you."

 The idol grabs hold of her arms as a pillar of support before she slowly lets go. "I'm... okay. Thanks..."

"Yeah, no problem. Just take your time."

The two then direct their attention to the monster that is lying on the ground, which is still moving despite having a spear sticking out from its body. IF then approaches the demon monster before she switches to her interrogating self. "Alright, spill it. Why would a monster like you copy 5bp's CDs and sell them on the black market?"

"Screw you... I ain't telling you sqaut."

IF isn't impressed by his answer, which makes her stomp on the spear and plunge it deeper into its body, which causes the monster to let out a high-pitch screech. "Wanna try that again?"

The monster lets out a deep chuckle. "It doesn't matter. Overlord Momus will soon destroy this world. So go ahead. Kill me if you wish."

"Lord Momus, huh?"

"Yes, I used this money to fund Overlord Momus's war funds. I began advertising her songs at near five-finger discount, and took over that fool's body who answers my ads. All of you will die by the hands of our glorious leader, Overlord Momus."

"Alright, thanks. That's all I need to know." IF then takes out her gun and shoots the monster in the head, ending it instantly. She stares at the dead body of the monster and then the unconscious body of the man that the monster used.

She then lets out a sigh and holsters her gun. "Come on, let's get out of here. Let's leave this mess to White Heart and the Basilicom folks. That's enough excitement for one day."

"S-Sure..." She then follows behind IF before she picks up and stares at a few shards of her broken guitar as her face drops. "Aww... Mr. Guitar is broken."

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Don't worry, I'm sure we can probably find a place that can fix it." IF then picks a piece of her guitar and holds it in front of her face, and begins to mimic a high-pitched voice like she did before. "Don't you fret, dear Lyrica. Don't underestimate this guitar! I might be broken, but I'm still standing strong. So wipe that frown upside down."

The blue-haired girl's lips curve up into a smile, and she goes into a fit of giggles, a taint of blush appears on her cheeks. "Thank you... IF. For everything." 

"Yeah... It's no problem." She returns the smile.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

A nice little scene with IF and the popular idol, 5pb.

This scene is my interpretation of the DLC events from the game. IF you now fight the monster instead of beating him instantly in the game.

The next chapter will also be IF-centric with our favourite, wifey hunter, Royal Emperor Dragon, also known as RED.