fandoms 27 & 28
27.
Title: All Your Dogbass
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth/Undertale
Rating: K+
Word Count: 629
Summary: Neptune meets a certain Annoying Dog, who has, as usual, been busy eating things he shouldn't.
"I'm a trainee nurse, Nep-Nep, not a vet."
Technically, Compa was a failed trainee nurse but she didn't feel she could own up to that in front of her companions, not after they had relied on her to save their lives in the middle of battle so often. After all, it had worked out okay so far and she knew that it would only lead to a loss of confidence in her that would distract her from healing them, or dissuade them from seeking her aid, when it was an emergency. Who needed a stupid qualification when you had real experience? Anyway, nobody would explain to her why Neptune was holding up a small white dog and asking her what kind of food had a purgative effect on dogs. The animal didn't look ill. It looked more pleased with itself than anything and clearly still had a lot of energy left, judging by the effort it was putting into wriggling out of the Goddess' arms.
"You're sure you had no idea? This an emergency! The stupid thing's eaten an enemy disc!" IF snapped, snatching the dog up before it could completely break free from Neptune's grasp, then shaking it. The dog let out a playful growl and began to bark at the top of its voice, an impressive volume for its small frame, before grabbing IF's ribbon and tugging at it.
"Iffy, you need to play more gently with Toby, you'll hurt the poor little thing!" protested Neptune.
"The dog's name is Toby?" asked Compa.
"That's what it says on his collar," said Neptune, "We have no idea where he came from, though."
"And he ate an enemy disc? How did he even manage that?" asked Compa, "What's going to happen now?"
"He didn't exactly eat it so much as absorb it somehow," said Neptune, frowning, "It was confusing. And a little gross. As for what's going to happen, I have no idea. I was hoping you'd know."
"How would I know that? You're the Goddess, you're supposed to know about discs!"
"Well, he doesn't look ill, and no enemies have come out of him so far," observed IF, dangling the dog out at arm's length by its front legs. It whined in protest. Neptune quickly took it off her again.
"Can you at least tell us somewhere we can take him, someone who knows how to look after a dog? We have no idea where to return him to. He just sort of showed up," said Neptune, "And I don't think he’s just a normal dog, so I don't want to let him go away again, even if we do get the disc back off him. His energy signature looks wrong. It's... kind of hard to describe."
"If it hasn't even eaten the disc normally, I really have no idea what to do," said Compa.
"Wait, I think I heard that if you feed them cake, they can throw up," said IF, "Can we try that?"
"We can't just feed him random things, Iffy, we might make him ill," said Compa, "And besides, the cake's all for me."
"You know what, I can take care of the dog for a while... assuming its like looking after a normal dog," said Compa, "It is, right?"
"No idea," admitted Neptunia, "He's acted like a normal dog so far, apart from absorbing a few things."
"Why, what else has he... you know what, I'm not sure I want to know," Compa sighed, "I'll make up a bed for him, you two go and buy some dog food."
Compa assumed that the two of them could buy dog food without anything happening but as they stepped out of the door, she suddenly wondered if it was a little too much to ask.
28.
Title: Fallen Down
Fandom: Contact/Undertale
Rating: T (spoilers - both for endgame Contact and genocide route Undertale)
Word Count: 849
Summary: Sans has been looking for someone with the power to defy them for a long time...
Terry woke up on the deserted isle again, except this time, he remembered exactly what had happened.
He had fallen... no, he had been pushed out of the spaceship, discarded like unwanted cargo. He remembered being so close to his home. He had been on his own planet, even at his own house. The girl had been there, the girl he had met time and time again. She had been working for the enemy, or at least, the organisation he had thought was the enemy, back when he still believed anything the Professor said. That was before he realised how much the scientist had manipulated him before betraying him and discarding him.
No, it hadn't been the Professor who truly manipulated him. He hadn't been the one whose hand had pulled the strings, who had quite literally controlled everything Terry had been able to do. That had been the other, the one who the Professor spoke to when he thought Terry was asleep. He claimed to be talking to Mochi, his dog, and he had certainly been playing with the dog while he spoke, but the words he used were clearly not aimed at Mochi. Besides, Terry saw it too, sometimes, when he really concentrated, that constant presence, a hand moving in the corner of his eye, somewhere sideways to anything it was possible to see or interact with.
They were still there, the other presence. Waiting for him to look away. Waiting for the chance to resume control. But the Professor wasn't there, now, to distract Terry. He could concentrate, could track the movement.
Could aim a punch...
He hit something glass. It hurt like setting his hand on fire, as though shards of glass had broken off and embedded themselves into his flesh, except that he hadn't been able to leave even a tiny crack. This didn't dissuade him from trying again and again. He punched until his vision was blurry from exhaustion and far more pain than was normal. He ignored the howling chaos he could hear from the void between the two worlds he was punching the border between, the nauseating sensation of wrongness. He didn't stop when everything went dark and he felt as though he was falling...
"They've wronged you two, huh?"
He opened his eyes and blinked. He was looking up at a grinning skeleton. One of its eye sockets was filled with the light of a brightly burning blue flame.
"You can't talk, can you? That always happens, when they take control of you. Poor kid. But it looks like they haven't taken away who you are quite yet," said the skeleton in a surprisingly cheerful voice. It reached out a hand to him, "I can tell what you're thinking from your expression. You're terrified of me. You're wondering if I'm the Grim Reaper, come for your soul. No, I'm not the one who takes souls around here, and in any case, you're not dead. You won't survive if you try and take them on by yourself, though. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time now. You're the first one I've met who's been under their control and has managed to break free. I think there's something special about you, kid, even if it's just that you're unusually strong. But they'll win in the end. They always do. They have all the time in the world and all the power. But we still can't give up. You know why? Because if we do, they'll still take away everything, no matter how much we try and reason with them. They don't see us as people, you see, we're just playthings to them. They slaughtered my entire race just to see what would happen."
"Hey, don't look at me like that, kid. It's not the end of the world," continued the skeleton, "I only said that they always win in the end, not that they can't bleed. I've seen another kid like you hurt them a lot. It just didn't count as a victory condition. All that means is that we're still not playing by the right rules. And trust me, you have to make your own when you're going up against them, because if you go by theirs, they'll be in control of everything, including you."
"Now, for a start, we're going to get you off this island, preferably without punching a big hole in the fabric of the Universe. Then, you've probably been renamed by them, and you've almost certainly lost your old name in the process, so you're gonna give yourself a new name..."
Terry shrugged and followed the skeleton along the shore, trying to keep up with his rant. He had already taken the bony hand, allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, and he was still alive, so he didn't think the skeleton was lying about not being the Grim Reaper. He supposed it didn't really matter all that much any more. He might as well take a chance that this impossibility was real.
In the end, he wordlessly vowed, I will find you.
Title: All Your Dogbass
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth/Undertale
Rating: K+
Word Count: 629
Summary: Neptune meets a certain Annoying Dog, who has, as usual, been busy eating things he shouldn't.
"I'm a trainee nurse, Nep-Nep, not a vet."
Technically, Compa was a failed trainee nurse but she didn't feel she could own up to that in front of her companions, not after they had relied on her to save their lives in the middle of battle so often. After all, it had worked out okay so far and she knew that it would only lead to a loss of confidence in her that would distract her from healing them, or dissuade them from seeking her aid, when it was an emergency. Who needed a stupid qualification when you had real experience? Anyway, nobody would explain to her why Neptune was holding up a small white dog and asking her what kind of food had a purgative effect on dogs. The animal didn't look ill. It looked more pleased with itself than anything and clearly still had a lot of energy left, judging by the effort it was putting into wriggling out of the Goddess' arms.
"You're sure you had no idea? This an emergency! The stupid thing's eaten an enemy disc!" IF snapped, snatching the dog up before it could completely break free from Neptune's grasp, then shaking it. The dog let out a playful growl and began to bark at the top of its voice, an impressive volume for its small frame, before grabbing IF's ribbon and tugging at it.
"Iffy, you need to play more gently with Toby, you'll hurt the poor little thing!" protested Neptune.
"The dog's name is Toby?" asked Compa.
"That's what it says on his collar," said Neptune, "We have no idea where he came from, though."
"And he ate an enemy disc? How did he even manage that?" asked Compa, "What's going to happen now?"
"He didn't exactly eat it so much as absorb it somehow," said Neptune, frowning, "It was confusing. And a little gross. As for what's going to happen, I have no idea. I was hoping you'd know."
"How would I know that? You're the Goddess, you're supposed to know about discs!"
"Well, he doesn't look ill, and no enemies have come out of him so far," observed IF, dangling the dog out at arm's length by its front legs. It whined in protest. Neptune quickly took it off her again.
"Can you at least tell us somewhere we can take him, someone who knows how to look after a dog? We have no idea where to return him to. He just sort of showed up," said Neptune, "And I don't think he’s just a normal dog, so I don't want to let him go away again, even if we do get the disc back off him. His energy signature looks wrong. It's... kind of hard to describe."
"If it hasn't even eaten the disc normally, I really have no idea what to do," said Compa.
"Wait, I think I heard that if you feed them cake, they can throw up," said IF, "Can we try that?"
"We can't just feed him random things, Iffy, we might make him ill," said Compa, "And besides, the cake's all for me."
"You know what, I can take care of the dog for a while... assuming its like looking after a normal dog," said Compa, "It is, right?"
"No idea," admitted Neptunia, "He's acted like a normal dog so far, apart from absorbing a few things."
"Why, what else has he... you know what, I'm not sure I want to know," Compa sighed, "I'll make up a bed for him, you two go and buy some dog food."
Compa assumed that the two of them could buy dog food without anything happening but as they stepped out of the door, she suddenly wondered if it was a little too much to ask.
28.
Title: Fallen Down
Fandom: Contact/Undertale
Rating: T (spoilers - both for endgame Contact and genocide route Undertale)
Word Count: 849
Summary: Sans has been looking for someone with the power to defy them for a long time...
Terry woke up on the deserted isle again, except this time, he remembered exactly what had happened.
He had fallen... no, he had been pushed out of the spaceship, discarded like unwanted cargo. He remembered being so close to his home. He had been on his own planet, even at his own house. The girl had been there, the girl he had met time and time again. She had been working for the enemy, or at least, the organisation he had thought was the enemy, back when he still believed anything the Professor said. That was before he realised how much the scientist had manipulated him before betraying him and discarding him.
No, it hadn't been the Professor who truly manipulated him. He hadn't been the one whose hand had pulled the strings, who had quite literally controlled everything Terry had been able to do. That had been the other, the one who the Professor spoke to when he thought Terry was asleep. He claimed to be talking to Mochi, his dog, and he had certainly been playing with the dog while he spoke, but the words he used were clearly not aimed at Mochi. Besides, Terry saw it too, sometimes, when he really concentrated, that constant presence, a hand moving in the corner of his eye, somewhere sideways to anything it was possible to see or interact with.
They were still there, the other presence. Waiting for him to look away. Waiting for the chance to resume control. But the Professor wasn't there, now, to distract Terry. He could concentrate, could track the movement.
Could aim a punch...
He hit something glass. It hurt like setting his hand on fire, as though shards of glass had broken off and embedded themselves into his flesh, except that he hadn't been able to leave even a tiny crack. This didn't dissuade him from trying again and again. He punched until his vision was blurry from exhaustion and far more pain than was normal. He ignored the howling chaos he could hear from the void between the two worlds he was punching the border between, the nauseating sensation of wrongness. He didn't stop when everything went dark and he felt as though he was falling...
"They've wronged you two, huh?"
He opened his eyes and blinked. He was looking up at a grinning skeleton. One of its eye sockets was filled with the light of a brightly burning blue flame.
"You can't talk, can you? That always happens, when they take control of you. Poor kid. But it looks like they haven't taken away who you are quite yet," said the skeleton in a surprisingly cheerful voice. It reached out a hand to him, "I can tell what you're thinking from your expression. You're terrified of me. You're wondering if I'm the Grim Reaper, come for your soul. No, I'm not the one who takes souls around here, and in any case, you're not dead. You won't survive if you try and take them on by yourself, though. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time now. You're the first one I've met who's been under their control and has managed to break free. I think there's something special about you, kid, even if it's just that you're unusually strong. But they'll win in the end. They always do. They have all the time in the world and all the power. But we still can't give up. You know why? Because if we do, they'll still take away everything, no matter how much we try and reason with them. They don't see us as people, you see, we're just playthings to them. They slaughtered my entire race just to see what would happen."
"Hey, don't look at me like that, kid. It's not the end of the world," continued the skeleton, "I only said that they always win in the end, not that they can't bleed. I've seen another kid like you hurt them a lot. It just didn't count as a victory condition. All that means is that we're still not playing by the right rules. And trust me, you have to make your own when you're going up against them, because if you go by theirs, they'll be in control of everything, including you."
"Now, for a start, we're going to get you off this island, preferably without punching a big hole in the fabric of the Universe. Then, you've probably been renamed by them, and you've almost certainly lost your old name in the process, so you're gonna give yourself a new name..."
Terry shrugged and followed the skeleton along the shore, trying to keep up with his rant. He had already taken the bony hand, allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, and he was still alive, so he didn't think the skeleton was lying about not being the Grim Reaper. He supposed it didn't really matter all that much any more. He might as well take a chance that this impossibility was real.
In the end, he wordlessly vowed, I will find you.