Neptunian Theory: Return of The Phantom

by xnobody13

REPOSTED: During the twilight years past the ASIC incident, a strange being emerges with an entire landmass, planning on hurting Gamindustri unless the heroines can successfully prove their worth. What they experience on the landmass, however, will haunt

1. Summary of Things 1

Hello everyone, Xnobody here. You must understand that this story is dead. Dead and forgotten. However, I felt that the longer I kept the remnants of the plot within my mind, the closer I was to a psychological breakdown. Thus, I quickly wrote out the plot to the entire story right here, including the main plot, the Ghost sections, and the 5pb. sections. Everything that I never wrote was placed here. It is a long and arduous read, but I hope that anyone that actually gave a damn for this story will at least be somewhat satisfied. The first chapter here will be covering the main plot, while the second chapter will cover the Ghost and 5pb. parts. Chapter 3 will be me rambling about what went wrong. Chapter 4 and beyond is the actual story. I hope you can enjoy and possibly forgive me for my stupidity and shallow writing skills. Thank you for your time. Sorry for the gigantic walls of Text in advance.

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The Heroines of Gamindustri get into their first fight with the wicked hydra-like beast, with the Goddesses forcing themselves to transform, even in a state of pain and panic. It was a hefty fight, but eventually Neptune allowed herself to be swallowed by one of the heads (specifically the one that devoured Linda), slicing through its throat and escaping with the underling. The creature will then escape into the forest, thus ending the first huge confrontation the girls will experience on Lan16. Linda eventually recovers, and still attempts to fight off her rescuers, but Compa manages to calm her down. Though hesitant at first, the group allows the Underling to follow them after she heartfully explains her dilemma. Thus, Pete the belt and Linda join the cast.

Archival soon contacts Mattel, pleased to see the connection has been reastablished. In order to thank them, the man sends one of his blacksmiths to go with them back to Corporatol, as well as giving them transportation in some nice horse-drawn carts. As they are being brought back to Corporatol, Nepgear asks Peter who he really is, in which he explains that, a long time ago, he served The Phantom long before he transformed into the bizarre being he is now. He explains that, during his service, the two of them were human, but eventually The Phantom grew more insane by the day, and Peter found himself engulfed in his twisted schemes, leading to his death and eventual revival into the belt (he was supposed to have a body, but apparently it was never built). He also states that the Beastmaster (Who was amused to hear Peter's voice after all those years) was also a human back in the day, but went out just like the two of them.

At Corporatol, the gang gets their next mission; up in the HuCard Mountains, another radio station is currently offline. If the group could get them back on the network, the three major bases of the Anti-Phantom coalition will be reunited, and thus they would stand a fighting chance against the Dark Man and his army. However, before disembarking on this quest, the Heroines begin to explore the city as well as parts of the Landmass, in order to train and move some of the plot along.

This includes, of course, another nightmare scenario, where Uni is once more fighting that strange, unknown creature. However, unlike last time, she manages to speak more coherently to him, and discovers that this man was once a psychologist, who sacrificed his life for another, and somehow got trapped in this nexus between life and death. His twisted mind still wants to help people, but in horrific ways; for Uni, in order to escape his clutches, she had to prove that, in the end, her depression will be subdued, and if she had to end her life, it would be for the benefit of another, rather than out of cowardice. Uni is once more awakened by Nepgear before anything bad could occur, and she finds herself hanging out with the other candidate, growing increasingly worried as the night dawns upon them.

On the other side of the spectrum, Nisa will soon find herself resuming her role as both a Heroine of Justice and a classical police officer once a few citizens of Corporatol begin feeling injustice. Nisa is proud to help everyone out, but on special case, Nisa is raiding a home of a potential criminal when out of nowhere, none other than The Beastmaster greets her, almost successfully choking her out, though sparring her out of spite. He tells her not to tell anyone that he was there, and that the only reason for his presence there on that particular day was to inform her that the murders from back home had something to do with him. Nisa feels threatened, but decides not to tell anyone about him (for fear of a potential negative outcome). Once he slips away unnoticed, Nisa immediately warns Joe Whelps, and begins to investigate.

A week passes before the group determines that they're ready. With that, Mattel warns them about the harsh, wintery conditions of the mountains, and advises them to be bundled up to the extreme. The majority of the party hates this idea, but decide it's better to live than hate survival. Ram and Rom are told to hang back along with Compa (who decided to help some of the sick instead of traveling) while the rest embark on the dangerous voyage. While the walk to the mountains from Corporatol would've normally taken an average person about 2 weeks to reach, a teleporter is spotted along the main path, with the words "Come now, children. Don't be shy" written all over it. Peter informs the Heroines that the print is reminiscent of Lady Dpah, one of the Two Devils of Lan16. Cautiously, the group takes the teleporter, bringing them about 3 miles from the mountain range.

The group via walky-talky are informed that the base looks like a gigantic turtle, and are advised to keep their eyes protected in case of a "White out." The group questions how the landmass could grow cold after experiencing burning temperatures, but the closer they walked up to the mountain range, the colder it soon become. The orange-and-black color dominance was soon replaced by a light blue-and-purple scheme, and snow began to trickle down, with the ground soon becoming covered in the thick white stuff. Blanc told everyone it was nothing to fret about, but the closer they got, the harder it was for her to mean what she said. Once they passed by a mountainous path, the entire world was engulfed in a high, ferocious wind, and the entire atmosphere became white with envy.

The group did their best to move forward, but had to constantly stop to make a fire, for fear of suffering from hypothermia. Eventually, nightfall plagued the land, and everyone made camp as quickly as possible; the only positive thing about the situation was that, thanks to the cold, none of the zombified creatures roamed this far, allowing them some time to rest. While huddled about, Peter tells about Lady Dpah, often called the Serpent Queen due to her robotic structure resembling that of a scheming snake. She is known for spreading the zombie virus around the island, as well as the harsh "experiments" she does on people, both in her current form, and back in the day when she was just human. Currently, from what Peter has heard in the warehouse, she is trying to prove that the "CPU " exists, and will stop at nothing to prove herself, even when the people she tests on have nothing to do with the CPU in the first place. The Goddesses and two candidates feel unnerved, but press on through the night.

After another Uni night-terror, she awakens herself to see Nepgear being dragged away into the snow. The Lastation candidate attempts to save her, but is dragged off as well. Both are knocked out, and when awakened to the sound of beeping, they find themselves strapped in chairs in a circular dome, looking like it came out of a classic sci-fi flick. A disturbing lady soon appears before them, proclaiming herself as Lady Dpah. She explains to them exactly what Peter had described, and begins to shock Uni with a Taser. Nepgear begs her to stop, but the serpent refuses; she states that the " " will only activate via extreme anger, and since she believes Nepgear to be the harbinger of this special power, tortures Uni in order to generate that rage.

Unfortunately for the Lady, her own contraptions proved to be her downfall, as Uni's chair breaks, allowing her to break away from the Taser and punch the woman away. She risks her neck by freeing Nepgear, and the two of them quickly run for it, unaware that their wintery protection is gone and weapons nowhere to be found. Lady Dpah is not finished, however, as she snatches the two of the them in her snakelike tail, nearly choking Uni specifically, but the two of them were able to fight out of it. A few Phantom followers attempted to subdue them, but once the Candidates made it outside, they quickly retreated back. Lady Dpah was not amused.

The two of them quickly feel the effects of the cold, and the weakened Uni was just ready to collapse, but luckily Nepgear was there. Despite the pain, she managed to change into her CPU form, using her Godly radiation to keep her friend warm; it wouldn't last long, but it was better than anything. The two then begin talking, and out of the blue, Uni brings up the nightmares, and hugs Nepgear even harder. The Planeptune Candidate is horrified at her situation, and reassures her that, no matter what, she won't let anything bad happen to her. Uni is relieved, if a bit tsunderish.

As soon as her power runs out, they make it back to the group, who are surrounded by snowy wolves. The Candidates manage to distract them with there presence, allowing the rest of the Heroines to finish them off. Neptune and Noire scold the two of them (in whatever way Neptune could actually scold), and quickly bundle them up. Nepgear talks about the horrors she went through with Lady Dpah, with Peter (who is being worn by IF, in case you wanted to know) remarking that if they were able to escape, that probably means she beginning to mess with them. The group continues on in fear.

As the second nightfall comes to them, they notice a turtle-like dome building in the distance, which appeared to be up in flames. Against all odds, all of the girls quickly run to assist the burning people, only to be greeted by Lady Dpah once more, who appeared unaffected by the intense conditions. The group attempts to fight, but the cold refutes their muscles, causing the twisted woman to laugh, and snatch Uni away with her serpent-like tail. Nepgear screams at her, and uses the last of her energy to transform. Dpah believed that this would be the Mk. III form, but was disappointed when the Candidate collapsed out of exhaustion. This caused Neptune and Noire to transform, and the two of them sliced at the tail, causing Lady Dpah to shriek and flee, leaving Uni even more injured than before.

As the Godly sisters check on their little ones, the Makers and Blanc quickly head over to the burning base, where people are constantly shooting water to no avail (it keeps freezing). The girls do whatever they can to help, but are unfortunately met with Lady Orange Heart once more, who appears to be the cause of the fire. A horrifying battle takes place that nearly leads to the death of Gust, but Nisa manages to jump in front of her, taking a hefty blow. Before she could finish them off, the zombified Goddess smirks before vanishing into the darkening sky.

Gust continuously calls Nisa a "baka" as the others talk to the base commanders. Lady Orange Heart came out of nowhere and nearly killed them all, and if the Heroines didn't show up, only ash would greet the snow. The fire rages on, burning half of the base, surprisingly avoiding the radio commissions tower, which was quickly reactivated (Their excuse was that maintenance was being performed on it, and the zombie CPU attacked before they could finally turn it on). With that, they contact Mattel, who warns them that The Beastmaster was making his rounds, and could possibly be a danger to the Heroines of Gamindustri.

Nevertheless, the group within the base tells them to spend a night there, since it would be dangerous to head out in the cold at this point. Everyone is annoyed by this, but end up complying anyways, taking shelter in the remnants of the base. During this time, Noire and Uni resume their bickering, with Noire calling her little sister out that, if she wasn't an idiot, Lady Dpah would never have captured her, and more than likely Lady Orange Heart wouldn't have attacked the base. The Candidate would've probably said something, as she often did, but this time, much to the sadness of Nepgear, all Uni did was lay down and begin to cry, her injuries and the constant yelling not helping her already weak mind. Nepgear begs Noire to cease, which she eventually does. Neptune shrugged towards her sister, not sure what to do.

By the time Nepgear fell asleep next to Uni, the Lastation Candidate was already fast asleep. Unfortunately, this meant yet another nightmare scenario, where the little girl found herself strapped to a long chair. The unknown being circled her, knowing that Uni was once more slipping into "suicidal" territory, and that if this continued, he would probably off her himself. The Candidate, surprisingly, yelled right back at him, saying that she won't do that, knowing that she promised Nepgear that those days are behind her. The man laughed, questioning Uni on whether or not she had anything to live for. The Candidate thinks for a moment, and though she didn't want to admit it, Nepgear kept crossing her mind. Sure, she had her nation and her sister and Oracle, but right now, and most important, she had that very significant soul in her life, and as long as she could see her, she would survive. She shouts her name at the man, who laughs a disgusting laugh, showing Nepgear now being choked by Lady Dpah. Uni shrieks, breaking out of the restraints, but before she could do anything, she woke up.

Nepgear, of course, was the one that awoke her, and before she could ask what's up, Uni immediately embraces her, crying in her shoulder. The Planeptune CPU discovered that her friend had yet another ghostly encounter in her dream, and returned the hug, trying her best to calm her down.

Around the same time, Nisa's transceiver begins to ring, with the ID matching her partner, Joe Whelps. She rushes out of the room (which was hard to do thanks to her badly injured leg) and quickly picks it up, only to discover The Beastmaster on the other line. The Heroine of Justice yells at him, about to wake everyone up, but the Master reassures her that if she were to do that, he would cause the murderer in Gamindustri to spike up once more, and possibly even target the Oracles. This cause Nisa to freeze in her tracks. "Besides," The Beastmaster grinned, "you don't want anything bad to happen to little ol' Gusty, right?" This made the Heroine cry tears of rage, and she nearly snapped the transceiver in half as the man laughed at her. She immediately ended the call and contacted her partner, warning him that the killings may get worse, to which he freaks out about. Once that call ends, Nisa returns to her bed worried, looking at the sleeping Gust as she falls asleep.

Linda, scared for Pirachu's life and for her own, grows paranoid by the dark, and quickly rushes to the closest person and cuddles with her, who happens to be Nisa. The Heroine of Justice is shocked by this, much like Underling, but the two say nothing, both feeling their own personal demons overwhelming them.

The next day, the group walks out of the fallen base and notice that the snow had finally cleared up, a blue sky greeting them (the group marvels at this, having not seen the blue sky in nearly two weeks). It was also surprisingly warm, and the group was able to make it pretty far, when they noticed The Beastmaster riding towards them with a whole army of beasts and Phantom Followers. Nisa, already annoyed by the man, quickly attempts to kick his head off, but her injured leg gives out, and she is quickly thrown to the ground. After that distraction, the Beastmaster states that enough is enough, and he was just going to kill them all now, against the wishes of The Phantom. The group once more gets prepared to fight, but Lady Dpah also brought her army, comprised of some zombies and some Followers as well. This leads to a "turf war," as the two armies begin bickering (Lady Dpah states that The Beastmaster can't kill them on her land. Besides, she needed Uni and Nepgear alive). The group uses this distraction to escape.

Peter comments how the two of them haven't changed as the group reaches the teleporter surprisingly fast. Soon, they found themselves back in Corporatol, with Mattel congratulating them on a job well done. Neptune asks what on Gamindustri they were supposed to do now, with Mattel telling them to wait patiently, as a conference will eventually be called amongst the three big bases and the smaller ones found everywhere else. With that, the group takes the moment to relax, relieved that they managed to survive that. IF is still worried for 5pb., slowly losing hope, but Compa reassures her, knowing that somehow and in someway, the idol managed to make it out.

Uni is once more greeted by the nightmare man, who admitted that he was impressed that she wasn't dead yet. At this point, Uni put her foot down, telling him that by the end of all this, she'll probably be even worse off thanks to him. The Unknown man chuckled, feeling the same way, telling her that it all really depends on how she uses his lessons. Confused by what those lessons are, Uni wakes up, Nepgear once more making sure she was okay. In a surprising swerve, Uni smiles at her friend, and it seemed that things were looking up.

Nisa, on the other hand, was still researching the city after The Beastmaster called her once more, informing her that the murderer came from Lan16, and was actually probably still there. Thus, she searched for clues, but constantly came up cold. Additionally, on the homefront, Whelps informs her that the case ran cold as well, for a few more murders have occurred, but no evidence was found at any of them. He was fearing that they were just going in circles. Nisa grows frustrated, causing Gust to grow alarmed. Nisa reassures her, but in the end, this prevailing problem irked her.

After about five days, the meeting was finally called, but a terrible travesty was occurring; near where Archival found his home, The Beastmaster and Lady Dpah were suddenly invading, bringing in an army of possibly 10,000 supporters. This freaks Mattel out, but before he could give the Heroines their mission, they were already gone. The big war had finally begun.

The Heroines found the Phantom Army in an open plain just a few miles from the warehouse, all armed to the teeth. The two Devils were still bickering amongst themselves, but somehow still succeeded at making a collective unit. Archival's miniscule army was fighting a losing effort, but once the Gamindustri ladies appeared, the tides have turned. The Hyrdra-like beast from before came for revenge, but Linda redeemed herself as she sliced another head off, forcing it away. The rest of the battle went well, all things considered, at least until Lady Orange Heart reappeared.

The twisted Goddess immediately struck not at the other Goddesses, but at the Makers instead, taking out those that had nary the defense against this beast of a woman. Even with the sizeable advantage, she was still too much of a pain to fight, and nearly drove all the Makers to their fiery grave. As the party was desperately seeking solance from their pain, the dead CPU looked towards IF, who was still trying to fight, and readied her final charge against the brunette. The veteran prepared for the end, but Linda, still weak from the Hydra-like fight, managed to get to her quicker, stabbing Orange Heart in the stomach. This didn't cause the exact reaction that the Underling wanted, but it did halt the undead woman, who immediately fled soon after.

The two devils were surprised by this twist of fate, and as they snickered to both Nepgear and Nisa, they ordered the call to retreat. The army vanished within the darkening forest, and the Anti-Phantom Coalition cheered over their first major victory in over a decade. Before the bells tolled, signifying the zombie outbreak, the group along with the army made it back to wherever they hailed from.

Since the Phantom Followers will probably be silent for some time, Mattel orders a celebration for the victory. Apparently, Lan16 has the custom that after a major battle has been won, a huge ball would be held in whatever city square they found themselves in. In three days, the big dance was to be held, and though the CPU's were concerned that this was enough time for the enemy to counterattack, Mattel reassured them. Peter was also reluctant by this, feeling as though something terrible was blooming over the horizon, but decided that it was just needless paranoia.

Thus, the world seems to be okay for once. They were making great time, and hope and morale was rising through the roof. Unfortunately, as soon as they got back into that hotel they were staying in, specifically the dining room area, things quickly spiraled out of control. Noire suddenly lashes out at Uni again, believing that her little sister almost intentionally tried killing her during the big fight (during the battle, 20 soldiers rushed her, and Uni didn't help out. She was busy fighting on her own, but Lastation's CPU did not see this). Unlike before, however, Uni yelled right back, getting close and personal with her sister as the two had a violent exchange of words. Compa tried to step in, but everyone held her back.

The fight was brutal, and the two were nearly in tears the farther it went. Eventually, as the fight got even more violent, Noire said one thing that would forever haunt her:

"Dammit, Uni, sometimes I wish you were never born!"

Uni looks shocked and hurt by that statement, as does Noire, who immediately regrets saying that. Before she could say that she was sorry, Uni ran out of the room, arm over her eyes to block the tears. Lastation's CPU looks on with a shell-shocked expression as Nepgear questions why she would ever say that. Planeptune's Candidate immediately runs after her friend, but finds the door to her room shut, with Uni yelling for no one to come in. Nepgear begs her to come out, but the other Candidate relents. She tries for a few hours, but to no avail, and eventually Nepgear snaps at her, punching the door as she runs down the hall. Uni feels terrible about this, but keeps to herself, keeping the door locked at all times.

On the other side of the spectrum, Nisa is still busy looking for clues about the murders, but is slowly losing hope, finding nothing about this so-called murderer. All she found out was that, for some strange reason, Lan16's Oracle has never been found after 'his' disappearance; though the fact that there was a male Oracle at any point is shocking, Nisa failed to see how that even connected with the case at hand. She tries to communicate with Whelps, but oddly enough she couldn't reach him; only static answered her call. With that, she decided to join the festivities, hoping something would appear during the ball.

IF is relieved that the battle was won, but she still feels bad that they were celebrating without finding Lyrica first. She begins to cry, which leads to a random bystander to walk up to her (looking for a date, which IF quickly denies). He asks her what's wrong, and she mentions the loss of her blue-haired beauty. The man is shocked, recalling that on his bootlegged radio from the east, he heard about a lady with the exact description and name fighting in a tournament. IF is confused by this, and worried for her safety, but at the same time was relieved to find that, perhaps, her friend was alive. She thanked the man for restoring hope into her, but she still refused the date, instead going with Compa (in fact, all the girls of Gamindustri either went with one another, or no one at all).

As the days pass on, Nepgear continues to worry about her friend, who barely left her room over the next two days, only departing whenever needing to anything that was necessary. Noire tried to talk to her, but Uni only responded with a cold shoulder. On the night before the dance, Planeptune's CPU urges her little sister to try and speak with her friend, and though the Candidate is frightened, she still feels that it would be necessary to do; in the end, she felt that it would cheer Uni up if she was asked to dance the next day.

After mulling it over, Nepgear began walking over to Uni's room, and mysteriously found the door ajar. Feeling that she was out of the room for the time being, Planeptune's CPU Candidate thought it would be cute if she surprised her, and decided to wait within the supposedly empty room. However, terror struck her when she thought she heard the sound of a gun clicking. She immediately dashed into Uni's room, and found her friend with a gun almost in her mouth. Before the trigger could be pulled, Planeptune's Candidate jumped on her friend and threw the gun away. Uni wrestled underneath her, trying to break free, but after a minute, she ended up going limp, crying now at her failed attempt.

Nepgear, in an odd twist of fate, slapped Lastation's Candidate across the face, repeatedly asking her why she would ever do such a thing. Uni remained quiet at first, but eventually spat everything out, telling Nepgear that she was simply a waste of space and time, and that Noire was right; she should have never been born. She goes on to say that she was a detriment to everyone, right from the very beginning in Lastation all the way to the previous big battle. Planeptune's Candidate is horrified that this was the conclusion Uni found, and begins to yell at her, telling Uni that everything she just said was completely wrong. The two then begin a verbal fight.

Eventually, as Uni breaks further and further into crying, she asks Nepgear why she should still live, for she knew that even if the trigger wasn't pulled, that Noire and possibly even Kei would still hate her, and she knew that the rest of the group probably held some sort of grudge with her (whatever those grudges could possibly be). In the end, she "outlived her usefulness" and merely wanted to die before everything got worse. Nepgear was silent for a moment, then blurted out:

"Goodness, Uni, no one hates you! I know Noire was being harsh, but you and I know that she worries about you every night and day! Besides, everyone is worried about you…I'm worried about you…"

Uni spits at her, telling her that she was lying, and that they all wouldn't mind "one less problem." This made Nepgear look right at her friend, and yelled "Uni, you were never a problem…I…goodness, Uni, if you die, I have to die, too!"

This made Lastation's Candidate offguard. "Why?" she would ask. Nepgear states that Uni was big part of her life, and that many of her favorite memories are with her. She said that Uni was really the only reason why she was still sane and unafraid of what was out there; Lastation's Candidate was essentially her guardian angel. Uni couldn't even speak as Nepgear continued to pour her heart out, crying herself as she said everything she had always wanted to say. In the end, she said that she not only cared for her like everyone else, but that she also probably cared just a tad bit more than the others.

"W-What do you mean? Please, just stop this!"

Nepgear, cleaning the tears off of her face, looked at her friend straight in the eyes. The most heartfelt and truthful words escaped from those lips. "Uni…I love you."

Lastation's Candidate froze, her breath became stilted and her face grew a rosy red. Nepgear did not let out any other emotion, nor showed any sign that this was all just a setup; Uni knew her for a long time, and when Nepgear meant something, she meant it. She attempted to accuse her, but she just couldn't do it. It was as if time froze for a moment.

"You…you really mean that, Nepgear?"

Nepgear was expecting a tsunderish response, as was the usual with Uni, but nevertheless, Planeptune's Candidate made a warm smile, nodding kindly to her. This made Uni react even more, as she ended up sitting back down on the bed, shocked that this had occurred. She asked her friend how long had she liked her, and Nepgear responded that, for the most part, around the time they started hanging out last year; she was just afraid of ever saying it. Uni nodded at this, and Nepgear wrapped an arm around her, making Lastation's Candidate flinch. She said that, even if she didn't return the feelings, Nepgear will still always care for her, no matter what.

This made Uni pull off an uncharacteristic move; she moved in and kissed Nepgear on the cheek, before shying away. In a low mumble, she stated that of course she returned them, before calling her a dummy. It was Nepgear's turn to feel offguard, though she quickly recovered as she continued to hug her apparent-girlfriend. Uni rested her head on Nepgear's shoulder, tears not of sadness, but rather happiness began to fall. Eventually, the two of them looked at one another once more, and in the blink of an eternity, the two kissed, holding one another close, never wanting to be seperated. Once they broke the kiss, Uni thanked her, and promised that she would never do anything so horrible again. Nepgear forgave her for doing that, before the two of them entered into another kiss.

As it was late, Nepgear was about to go back to her room, but Uni quickly pulled at her sleeve, asking if she could, just for this night, stay with her. Planeptune's Candidate was more than excited by that prospect, and kindly accepted the offer. The two soon embraced in bed, keeping one another close as the night progressed. I guess it's easy to say that, since this is M-rated, it is implied that…you know.

The next morning, the two now-lovers embraced one more time, even in the, well, nude (yeah, even Uni didn't mind). The two were about to leave, but Nepgear quickly remembered why she came into the room in the first place. She asked Uni if she wanted to dance, to which she immediately accepted; she knew she was going to be embarrassed, but after hearing that everyone was essentially dancing with people of the same sex, it shouldn't be out-of-place, at least she hoped. However, due to her hiding in her room, she never picked out a nice dress, though Nepgear told her not to worry, having been offerred two dresses by Mattel (for some reason, he thought it was necessary). Thus, the two of them came downstairs, and though Uni was reluctant, it was actually her that announced the relationship. Strangely, only Noire reacted (Spitting out her drink), while everyone else "saw it coming." It confused the two of them, but they were relieved that everything worked out.

Before the dance, each "couple" got a picture taken of them. The fateful one between Uni and Nepgear was taken at this point. In order to impress Uni at the dance, Nepgear decided to find some flowers to give her. During a trek through an alleyway (Escorted by two guards), she was attacked by a zombified creature, who somehow broke through the city walls. The guards took it out, and after they surveyed the Candidate, they determined she was okay. It seemed that no one else was aware of it, and a recently made hole in the outer walls of the city allowed it in, thus prompting the guards to seal it. While they should have done so anyways, they did not inform Mattel or anyone else, for fear of destroying the mood. Nepgear got her flowers, and thought nothing of it, though she did feel an itchy feeling around her ankle.

At the grand ball in the center of the city, nearly everyone was there, all having the time of there lives. It was like, for a split moment, Lan16 was back to the way things were before that damn Phantom entered their lives. Not even the paranoid felt anything but peace, as even the orange atmosphere appeared colorful. The Heroines of Gamindustri, though shy to dance with another, still took part in the festivities, and all was good.

Uni and Nepgear had great chemistry on the dance floor, looking like they practiced for weeks before this great event. Planeptune's Candidate never saw Uni happier than now, and she swore in her mind that, no matter what the cost, she'll guarantee that she'll always be happy.

Then Nepgear coughed up blood.

The guards on site were instructed that, in the case of coughing blood or any other "sickly behavior being addressed, that person must be brought to the cells under the doctor's office immediately. Thus, Nepgear was immediately grabbed and dragged away, while leaving a confused Uni trying to demand what was going on, much like the rest of the party. Mattel quickly brought them over to said location, where they saw the guards locking Nepgear in a cell, her leg chained to the wall. On that leg, though hard to see, was a small peck from that zombie earlier, a bad sign for the poor Candidate. Neptune and Uni begged them to let her go, but Nepgear said it was fine. That was the last thing she said before suddenly growling. Just like that, Nepgear was becoming one of those things.

The group is horrified by this, and Neptune and Uni, along with IF and Compa, beg Mattel on how they could fix this; they were not losing Nepgear in such a dark way. Mattel had no idea, but Peter began to explain the situation. He says she is infected with the "Phantom Virus" (which was introduced in the Ghost segments), which is what caused the zombie outbreak. Apparently, The Phantom, through his twisted-but-sadly brilliant mind, was trying to find a way to make Lan16 the dominant nation long before Lan16 was even seperated from Gamindustri. No one knows how he did it, but apparently, Lady Dpah helped him with the formula, which had a deadly reaction.

If, say, a Planeptune man was infected, he could potentially infect everyone on his nation, but if he were to kill someone from, say, Lowee, he would be automatically cured, and that Loweean will now be infected; in other words, the only way to be cured was to infect another soul from a different landmass, given that the infection was done within three days (if the infected is cured after this, they die due to their body rotting away). The infection takes over about three hours after being bitten, so all of this is under the pretense that the infected are already zombies. It was meant to create chaos and confusion amongst the other nations, so that Lan16 could get the advantage; The Phantom was busy making a cure when the landmass was seperated. The virus never reached Gamindustri, but Lady Dpah released it onto Lan16 long ago.

This horrifies the group, fearing the answer on how to get her back to normal. The only way, according to Peter, to cure her would be to have her kill someone, and obviously no one wanted to do that. Neptune grows increasingly furious, something uncommon for her, and begins trying to bring everyone on a quest to find a cure. Compa, however, tells her that something like that could be impossible, and even if they did find something, they had to make sure to get it to Nepgear within three days, which is a very unlikely scenario. Neptune snaps, and nearly chokes Compa out, telling her to find a cure (She was a doctor now, after all), but Compa once said that she along with the doctors in the city have been doing that for a long time, with no results in sight. Finally, after being restrained by the party, Neptune breaks down.

There was no time for rest. A soldier runs up to them, informing them that guards they stationed 20 miles to the north have returned to them, bloodied and beaten. Lady Dpah just suddenly charged them, bringing with her yet another army of nearly 10,000 Phantom Followers (The Beastmaster was not present this time). Her destination is Corporatol City, and she looks ready to completely wipe them out. Mattel is dumbfounded that she was able to retaliate this quickly, and tells the Goddesses and Makers that, for now, they had to focus on taking Lady Dpah down before anyone could focus on Nepgear. Uni quickly states that she wanted to be with the little twins from Lowee here in the City, so she could watch over the infected Candidate. Noire tells her that she had to come (She still had yet to apologize to her sister), but surprisingly Neptune tells her to stay; she wanted to stay with her sister, but right now, knowing Lady Dpah was responsible for those horrible creatures, she wanted to personally take her out. The group decided not to complain, and soon all (With the exception of Uni, Compa, and Ram and Rom) headed out, ready to defeat this bitch.

The group didn't have to travel far, as Lady Dpah was pretty damn close with her army. Archival's army was right there at the scene, and unfortunately, he went down fighting, sticking a middle finger up at the twisted woman. This made the Heroines even angrier, and they quickly went after the army. Lady Orange Heart made another appearance, Attacking the Anti-Phantom Coalition, but unlike the other moments, The CPU's managed to transform, and circled-and-attacked the undead woman. Though she was barely fazed, the zombified Goddess retreated, leaving just the Phantom Followers. Unfortunately, the group found themselves losing to the impressive numbers of the enemy.

Back at the City, Uni watched on in a depressed state as Nepgear tried to attack her from the cell; her girlfriend, her love, was now becoming one of those creatures; she truly never felt any more powerless. Banging on the cell, she herself broke down, questioning the True Goddess why this had to happen to her friend, and not her. As she cried, she was suddenly brought into the dark world of her nightmares. The Unknown man soon appeared before her, though unlike the other times, he looked unfrightening. Uni yells at him to leave, not wanting to be a part of this anymore, to which the man holds his hand up.

He states that, even after nearly killing herself, Uni found a newfound reason to live, and even in that short time, she appeared to be away from her depressed thoughts. The Candidate scorns him, telling him that it was all her fault that this happened, and now she had to watch her friend die. The man then looks at her directly in the eye, telling her that he knew what she was thinking; she knew about how to cure this disease, and right now, Uni felt like she was the cure.

She immediately reacted to this, saying it was nothing at all like that, but the man was no fool. Normally, he would be angry about the suicidal thought, but unlike the other thoughts, Uni was not going to do this out of sadness, but out of saving the one she loved, which to him was quite powerful in nature. Uni truly found a reason to live, and that was to see Nepgear alive and well, and to be as happy as Nepgear was making her; if dying was the only way to get Nepgear back to normal, then so be it. Thus, he reassured her, telling her that, in the end, if she really felt there was no other option, then it was her destiny to go with it. He wished there was another way, but he wouldn't fault her, calling this sacrifice one of the most selfless he had ever seen. With that, he wishes Uni luck, telling her to think it over before coming to such a final conclusion. In the end, he finally leaves, presumbaly from both her mind and the land around her. She was brought back to the physical world.

It was true; she was thinking about allowing Nepgear to kill her, just so she could have her girlfriend be happy, and continue on with the life she had. After all this, the Candidate finally realized that, even after multiple attempts at suicide, she was actually scared of death, and as she wandered the city, she felt completely torn. She wanted Nepgear to live, but she didn't want to die. After living this long and taking out Arfoire and ASIC, as well as meeting all of her friends and restoring peace to the land, she didn't want it all to just end. She fell on her bed back in the hotel, banging her fists repeatedly on the pillow, trying to find out what to do.

Back on the battlefield, Lady Dpah's army was unfortunately winning, with the Makers and CPU's growing increasingly tired as it dragged on. It had been roughly an hour now, with no end in sight. The Twisted woman was slithering around, when she heard Peter's voice, who begged her to stop. She was surprised to hear his voice after all those long years, but told him that she had an experiment to run, and was busy trying to find Nepgear. Neptune soon confronted her, and the two dueled it out, but sadly Neptune was weak by this point, and was quickly defeated, thrown to the ground badly injured. It wasn't looking well.

Back in Corporatol, after yelling at herself in the mirror multiple times, Uni finally came to the decision; though she wanted to live herself, she knew that she would regret having not saved her lover. She wanted Nepgear to go on in life, and even though she couldn't be by her side any longer, she knew that she'll always still be with her. Thus, she decided with all her might to sacrifice herself in order to save the one she loved.

Before she left, she wrote a note to everyone in her party, apologizing that she was leaving on such an early note, especially writing to her sister and Oracle. She hoped the best for them, and said that she did this for Nepgear, not out of sadness. With tears in her eyes, she grabbed a gun and ran back to the cells. Ram and Rom spotted her and tried to ask what was going on, but all Uni said was "I'm saving someone." The two were confused by this, but didn't persue her.

In the cells, Nepgear continued to growl, scratching at the wall as Uni entered the hallway, managing to steal the key from a sleeping guard. She unlocked the door, thankful that Nepgear couldn't reach that far. If she had to die, she wanted to die by gunfire, not by being clawed and bit to death. Thus, tears still in her eyes but a bright smile on her face, she threw the gun towards the Planeptune Candidate. Nepgear was still allowed to think like herself, and once she saw what was going on, she internally screamed for Uni to run, but her cries were unheard. Uni told her lover that everything was going to be all right, and held her arms out, as if she was going to embrace her. Nepgear's zombified form was eventually able to find the trigger, and against Nepgear's protests her body was prepared to fire. Before the bullets came out, Uni said "I love you, Nepgear. Thank you."

Uni died that day. Her lasts thoughts were saying "I love you" to Nepgear during that magical night, and seeing her sister proud of her after the end of Arfoire.

Nepgear was quickly cured of her zombified state, returning to her normal state. At first relieved that she had control again, she soon grew horrified, quickly running to her fallen lover (the chain managed to break after a successful tug; that is not a good thing). She begged Uni to open her eyes, and called out for help. Compa ran in, and nearly passed out by the sight of Uni's body slowly disappearing. Though many bullets puctured her, Uni went out smiling.

Nepgear began to cry as Compa ran for some assistance. At the same time, a guard was telling another that Lady Dpah was apparently winning the fight, and that full evacuation of Corporatol was iminent. Nepgear soon broke out of her sadness, and quickly charged the man, forcing him to tell her where the fight was. With that, Nepgear found her sword and took it, transforming against all odds and flying north. The twins were confused and Compa was scarred.

As Lady Dpah was about to kill the fallen Neptune (for getting in her way), Nepgear suddenly charged in and slashed her, throwing the serpent to the ground. Neptune and Noire (the only other goddess at that particular area; Vert and Blanc were losing elsewhere) were surprised to see Nepgear alive, though their pain made any attempt at moving impossible. Nepgear, remembering everything while zombified, blamed the woman for Uni's death. These words made Noire's eyes grow wide, and she stood up, dashing towards the woman. Unfortunately, Lady Dpah struck Lastation's goddess right in the abdomen, throwing the saddened CPU on the ground. She tried to get up again, but exhaustion was not helping, and though she wanted this woman dead as well, there was nothing she could do.

The woman chuckled, telling her that the whole "bitten by a zombie" ordeal was deliberately planned by her. Really, Uni was supposed to be bitten, which would cause Nepgear to freak, bringing her to this battle and thus transforming into , the form that may or may not exist; she wasn't saddened by these turn of events, however. After hearing that, in basic terms, Uni was killed because of a freaking "Experiment" (As Dpah would put it), Nepgear became unhinged. She began seething, her eyes grew bloodshot, and her body grew disturbingly limp. Neptune wanted to comfort her, but Peter said that it would be best to actually get far away from them; he started to have yet another horrible feeling about this. Thus, Neptune dragged the equally-angry Noire as far away as she could.

The wind picked up, and the world was surrounded by a loud humming sound, like whenever Lady Orange Heart appeared. Lady Dpah was surprised by this, and slowly backed up herself. Eventually, Nepgear screamed as loud as she could, her entire body being engulfed in a blue flame. The light was blinding, and the heat grew even more intense. Once the flame died out, Nepgear was seen with a pure blue body; her clothes were gone, as were any distinguishable characteristic beside her eyes and hair, with the hair also being blue and the irises being a sickening red. Nepgear achieved the form.

Lady Dpah was excited as her followers ran for their lives. Anyone around her was getting burned, the energy being that significantly high. "It does exist! I knew it! It does exist!" Dpah cried, before pulling out a "laser tether," which in theory should wrap around anything; she said it would be able to capture Nepgear even in this form, and thus her power was now with The Phantom. However, once the tether was shot, it was immediately disintegrated. Lady Dpah was stunned by this, and grew afraid as Nepgear walked towards her, slowly but disturbingly. Some soldiers tried to attack her, but they were disintegrated as well. Eventually, she grabbed Dpah, whose metallic body began to melt. As the twisted woman screamed, Nepgear pounded her head and chest repeatedly, destroying the mad woman. Eventually, the form died out, and Nepgear was reduced to her normal (if slightly injured) self, still beating down the melted woman. The Phantom Followers retreated as Neptune and IF tried to restrain Nepgear, who wouldn't stop beating on the now-dead woman.

Finally, after another minute, Nepgear finally broke down again, crying one of the most sickening cries ever made. Neptune comforted her while the others were immensely shocked. Noire was also shocked, never breaking because of Uni, but that didn't mean she didn't care. She just had no emotion on that face.

The group eventually returned to Corporatol, where Compa explained the whole situation. No one could believe what had transpired, with some either looking down in sorrow and others growing into a fit of rage. Nepgear, though still teary eyed, was beginning to lose her mind. As nightfall approached, the group went back to the hotel, most quiet as they contemplated what they should do next; one of the Devils was eliminated, leaving only The Beastmaster and The Phantom himself to deal with. If his words were correct, they had about a month or so before he destroyes Gamindustri. They noted that a few Phantom Followers defected to Corporatol shortly after the fight, and wondered if the enemy would have an enemy in the coming weeks.

Suddenly, one of IF's phones randomly begins to ring. She picks it up, only to hear The Phantom on the other side, who sounded quite ecstatic. The Brunette demanded from him what exactly he wanted, telling him in detail how Lady Dpah perished. He was silent for a moment, but eventually he said it was no great loss, and that they still had work to do before they could even attempt to fight him. Out of nowhere, though, Nepgear snatches the phone from IF, fuming from the mouth as she suddenly mouths the dark man off. He's understandably caught off guard, but he reassures her that "in due time, any revenge you want could be achieved." Nepgear then begins to repeatedly say that she'll personally kill him, before hanging up abruptly. The group grows concerned for the Candidate, as well as the still-shocked Lastation CPU, but nevertheless, they all partake to their beds, ready to sleep the night away.

As a loss in the group occurred, a return happened as well. Lyrica stumbled into the hotel, hoping her group was still there. She saw one door with the label "IF" and quickly grew relaxed. Her partners, Quantic and Princess Zyng, were surprised by how the west side of Lan16 was compared to the hell that was the east, to which Lyrica stated that, as far as her memory serves, this side wasn't better off. Quietly, the three snuck into the room, and the idol slipped right next to the brunette, wrapping an arm around her. The partners chuckled silently as IF awoke, turning slowly to see what was around her. When she Lyrica's face, there was a slight delay in emotion, but eventually she hugged her lost friend, hugged her as tightly as possible. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and when she proved it, continued to hug her, yelling at Lyree to never do that to her again. Tears came out of IF's eyes as 5pb. consoled her, telling her that she wasn't going anywhere.

She then introduces her friends, those that fought valiantly with her in that awful tournament. IF thanks them for keeping her friend safe, before growing embarrassed that she was literally crying her eyes out. However, seeing that her idol friend was crying as well, she slowly relaxed. Zyng and Quantic told them that they were going to find a room to stay in, wanting the two to have some privacy. Well, let's just say it should only be implied what happened in IF's room that night.

The next day, Nisa still couldn't get a hold of Whelps or any Oracle for that matter, and began to grow worried. She asked Mattel (who was still grieving over the loss of Archival) if something was wrong with the communications on the island, to which he said there was no problem to report. This made the Heroine of Justice annoyed, and when she began to freak out, she noticed Gust watching her. Nisa immediately says to ignore what just happened, but Gust quickly changes the subject, wanting to talk about "that day." The blue-haired heroine grew downtrodded, wishing never to bring that up, but started to say that she didn't mean to do what she did, and wished that if she could repeat that day, she would've changed it for the better. Before Gust could reply, a group of former Phantom Followers told them that a friend of their's was trapped, and needed some help. The Alchemist and Heroine of Justice decide to persue the case.

Out in the forest, they begin to grow suspicious, seeing as how the soldiers weren't exactly afraid or even concerned about the friend outside of Corporatol. Unfortunately, their suspicions didn't register in time, for as soon as they entered a clearing, Both soldiers shouted "long live The Phantom!" and threw smoke bombs all around. Nisa fought them off, but sadly both were able to flee. When the smoke cleared, she noticed that not only were they missing, but so was Gust. This got on Nisa's nerves, and soon went deeper into the jungle-like terrain, hoping to catch the guys before it was too late.

Back in Corporatol, Nepgear was antsy, wearing Peter now as she prepared to head out and find The Beastmaster. He said that it was okay to have a plan to take him down, but the main problem was that they had no clue where he could be. Nepgear, however, didn't care about this, and only focused on his death; she wanted The Phantom dead more, but taking out both Devils would help. Noire was next to be outside, still looking shocked. Nepgear broke out of her rage and began to look worried; she started to fear that Noire didn't forgive her for the death of Uni, even if it was beyond her control. She tried to speak to the CPU, but Noire gave her the cold shoulder.

The rest of the group eventually woke up, all happy to see Lyrica again, as well as welcoming the two newcomers. However, the mood was destroyed when Cave announced that both Nisa and Gust were missing. The group was surprised, and they quickly reported the case to Mattel, who said that he remembered two soldiers asking for a favor. The group quickly heads out into the forest to find the duo.

Nisa is busy searching as well, though very often she receives a few calls from The Beastmaster, telling her to beware of the Oracle. Growing angry that he keeps mentioning an Oracle, the Heroine of Justice chooses to ignore him over time and continue her search.

Gust, meanwhile, was captured and placed into a durlap bag, feeling the adrenaline of being teleported as she soon found herself thrown onto the floor of the Basilicom, with The Phantom looking right at her. The dark man yells at the soldiers, saying he wanted a Goddess, not one of the makers; due to his apparent rage, he decided that the best course of action was to simply kill Gust, and send out the troops again. The Alchemist quickly begs for her life, telling him to spare her so that she could give him a sweet deal on her products (She wasn't thinking straight). The Phantom cared not for her pleas, and was about to end her, when she suddenly demanded to know why he was doing this in the first place. This caught the Dark Man off guard, and he soon lowered his weapon. Eventually, the two found themselves engaged in a heartfelt conversation.

The Phantom explains how he read (And finished) the book "Neptunian Theory," and how its contents drastically affected his state of mind. It talked about how Celestia, the land above the stars, was merely manipulating Gamindustri to move in the way it wanted, and that they were essentially slaves and pawns for a greater purpose. He described the day he wandered into the "Universal Room" up in the Celestian Castle, and saw the billions of universes that were born off of one another, and realized how small and trivial he truly was. He was pissed that Celestia made this universe, and yet there were billions more just like it; he was not unique in the slightest. Thus, he started to develop the robotic machines Gust sees today, the machines that could essentially serve as the next life for a person that passed away; Everyone in Phantom's old group turn into these robots after they started to grow insane (he didn't elaborate on this), and unfortunately he never developed the bodies past the alpha stage, hence why none of them really look human (The Phantom was probably the closest to it).

He built thousands of weapons and devices, and tried to revolutionalize the world, hoping that Celestia would take notice and eventually make their universe the sole survivor in the end of days. Along with this, his extreme devotion for Lan16 was also part of his growing disdain and insanity, as he often thought that if he was to be the most unique individual, then Lady Turbo and her land would join him, while the rest of Gamindustri would fry. However, When he finally displayed these creations to the Goddess, he was sadly rejected, and was nearly sent to his death (for essentially becoming a terrorist) until he killed Lady Turbo, a lady he so adamently admired. This, he admitted, made him insane completely, and he soon fought off pretty much the entire Lan16 army, though his old body eventually perished thanks to the combined efforts of the other Goddesses. It was them that cursed him, thus forever labeling him as "The Phantom." He mentions how his past name was Ghost, and how haunted he is that he let everything just get out of hand so quickly.

When he made Lan16 vanish, he rose the land on his own, against the wishes of pretty much every citizen alive. During the first decade of his rule, he made a device that granted him the power to travel between other worlds, often studying them, as well as seeing if there were many more universes like it, which happened to be so for almost all of them. This made him even more angry, as it meant that no universe was unique; everything was the same, useless garbage, all being played with by Celestia herself, just like the Neptunian Theory stated. Eventually, the island grew that rusty atmospheric color thanks to The Beastmaster, and the zombies were unleashed by Lady Dpah; one of his former colleagues, Sir FPS, was banished to the east thanks to a power struggle, thus rendering him the runner of the horrible tournament. He soon attempted the skill to revive, taking nearly 3 decades before he mastered it. The whole ruse with "The world will end unless stopped by him" that was done way back in the early chapters was probably true, according to him, though it was really just to get Lady Orange Heart to kill the other Goddesses for him.

As to why he wanted the Goddesses dead in the first place, it was because his heavily diluted mind made it appear that the other CPU's killed Lady Turbo rather than him, and though he sometimes achieved rational thought, it still was not enough to put him at ease.

As Gust listened to him poor his soul out, she started to think of Nisa, and began to feel bad for ignoring her after that incident. Apparently, the incident was way back when Nisa was still the widely-cheered Heroine of Justice, with Gust as her lacky. They were chasing a notorious criminal, when out of nowhere he managed to trick the police into thinking the fabulous duo was at fault, and the two found themselves surrounded. Gust tried to rationalize with the police, but Nisa, possibly out of fear over such a strange scene, quickly fled, leaving the poor Alchemist to fend for herself. In the end, the Heroine of Justice faced bigger problems, but Gust's reputation was still badly damaged from all that. Still, she knew that Nisa was hurting inside, and wished to make up with her. The Phantom's words randomly brought this to her, and she suddenly began asking him if he was willing to redeem himself; this whole act of death would help him not in the future, and based on his voice, he was clearly sorry for the chaos he had committed.

The Phantom mulled over it for a few moments, and before he could give her an answer, he told two guards to safely escort her back to her party. The soldiers were surprised at this, but decided to follow it nonetheless. When Gust asked why, he only said that he changed his mind, and wished her luck, knowing that they'll eventually fight one another. Soon, Gust was brought back into the bag, and was miraculously brought back to the group (everyone was ready to take down the men, but Gust told them to spare the two). After telling them what she had witnessed, Peter grew relieved, feeling that his master still had some "human" left in him, and hoped that he could find retribution for these terrible crimes. Nepgear, however, was unamused, and merely told the Alchemist that Nisa was still MIA. This alerted her, and soon they continued searching, though the tolling of the bells prevented them from moving for some time.

Nisa, meanwhile, was still searching through the brush when out of nowhere, the bells rang. She soon found herself being chased by the mutated monstrosities, and though she made some distance, she found herself thrown onto an old road, her leg cramping up. She tried to crawl, but the monsters were right on her. She would've been zombie-chow if it weren't for Joe Whelps suddenly driving in, bashing some of the zombies away. Shaken at first, Nisa quickly enters the car, and the two quickly drive off. Nisa is understandably confused, and asked why he was here. Joe stated that he felt a bad premonition, and could've sworn a voice told him to go. He wanted to contact Nisa, but his communicator went dead. Though still confused, the Heroine of Justice was relieved, buying it for all its worth.

The case back home was still going, with more and more murders being found all across Lastation, though one victim did survive, describing the assailant as a middle-aged man wearing a fedora and looking old-fashioned. Nisa joked that it perfectly described Whelps, to which he only grumbled. However, as he grumbled, they didn't notice that a building was strangely built over the road, thus causing them to collide with it head-on. The car smashed through the wall, and both detectives were dazed, though they eventually recovered thanks to the laugh from one Beastmaster. They found his lair.

Nisa warns Whelps that this was the man that had been taunting her for some time, and Whelps quickly aimed his trademark pistol, ready to bring the man down. The Beastmaster only laughed, however, and started to explain how much the animal kingdom was superior to that of the Maker one. One day, according to him, Monsters will rule over all, and he will be their king. However, he stated that a long, long time ago, even before Lady Orange Heart was murdered, He kidnapped Lan16's Oracle and made "him" his first human-test subject. Nisa and Whelps were surprised that there was even a Male Oracle at any point in history, and the Master laughs again. He simply points at Whelps, and states in a serious tone, "How are you doing, Oracle of Lan16?"

Whelps is shocked by this, asking what he meant, to which the Master replied that Joe Whelps was the first and only Male Oracle to have ever existed. It was that quality that attracted The Beastmaster, and he felt that if he were test on a human (to see if they still had a horrific primal rage still hiding within, thus making them easily controllable), it should be him. Nisa asks Whelps if this is true, to which he says that he doesn't know; then again, he suddenly realizes how much he doesn't know about his life. For all anyone knew, he only existed for a few years, as his only records was his Police Badge and Police Documents. The Beastmaster laughs once more, saying that he sent Whelps (who was cyrogenetically sleeping for nearly 50 years) over to Gamindustri (by boat) to find if he truly did have that monstrous side to him; it only took him that long because he wanted to send him to Gamindustri, and it took a long time to find the accurate coordinates.

Once there, he was surprised how he still had control, and saw that he could easily control his mind, much like he could with all the monsters he had worked with (like the Hydra-like being and his custom horse), and was able to make him become a ravenous beast even when 10,000 or so miles away. Thanks to a mishap from Lady Dpah and the Phantom Virus, however, Whelps was slightly infected by the disease, though surprisingly he somewhat immune; this meant that his ravenous side was more zombie-like in nature. The Beastmaster was annoyed by this, but rolled with it, wondering when he should test his "murderous" side. When he heard of the anniversary of Lady Orange Heart's death, he decided to cause Whelps to murder plenty of people, and loved how he was able to get away with it. When Nisa came into the picture, he felt attached to her since she was the closest to Whelps, and began to mess with her, wondering if she should be his second human subject. Thus, he led to confrontation by making a loud signal only Whelps could hear, drawing him back Lan16 (the whole act of both Nisa and Whelps bumping into one another and crashing into the lair was improvised, of course).

Whelps is horrified to find himself as the murderer, and begins to have a crisis. Nisa tries to reassure him that it was beyond his control, and she snapped at the twisted man, calling him the most vile creatures on the planet. The Beastmaster merely shrugged, and suddenly announced that Whelps proved himself more than enough, and now he wanted Nisa to become the second one. However, he wanted to see if a standard, strong human like herself could survive his primal side, and he quickly took over his mind, making Whelps the creature once more. Nisa tried to help him, but she soon found herself being pounced on, the normally quiet and relaxed detective now acting like a feral beast. The Beastmaster laughed as the two began to fight.

Outside, the group was still surrounded by the zombies, hoping the hours would dwindle away, but eventually loud screams were heard nearby, and Gust was able to accurately identify them as Nisa's. She quickly lit a nearby stick on fire and quickly ran in the direction of the screams, regardless of what the rest of the party did. Nepgear, still filled to the brim with rage, quickly charged after her, Noire following close behind. Reluctantly, the rest of the group tried their best to stay away from the zombies (Cave luckily used her gatling gun and blasted the majority of them away).

They reached a huge building, where a terrorfying beast, the injured Hydra-like monster, awaited them. The group quickly attempted to fight him off, unable to help Nisa inside. The Heroine of Justice, meanwhile, tried not to attack, instead opting to try and break Whelps out of it, but no matter what she did (from shouting to knocking The Beastmaster over), Whelps was trapped in that horrible state, and if she didn't do anything soon, she would be a goner. Eventually, she started to fight, but the primal instincts unleashed by Whelps made him too powerful, and she often found herself being grabbed and thrown all over the place. At one point, though, Whelps got on top of her, about to bite her head off, but it seemed that old form of his was breaking through. "Kill me," he repeatedly said, "don't let me survive like this!"

Nisa began to feel conflicted and scared. Her partner was once more in his animal side, and she had the choice of either trying to snap him back, or kill him and end this horrible twist of fate. Crying now, she continued to fight as The Beastmaster laughed his head off. Whelps still managed to scream "kill me" as he attacked violently, barely getting tired as he grew further and further into madness. He screamed horrendously, and charged Nisa to the wall, making her dizzy. The Detective had no control anymore, and grabbed a sharp pole from the other side of the room, ready to charge and stab the Heroine of Justice.

As he ran, Nisa looked at the wall she was planted on, and also saw a pole of her own, loose and ready to be used as a weapon. With tears staining her eyes, she knew what had to be done. "Sorry, partner," she cried as she grabbed the pole and quickly rolled herself out of the way, positioning the pole so that Whelps would run right through it. A sickening sound is made as he crashed into it, and his growls ceased. The Heroine of Justice told him multiple times that she couldn't do anything, and apologized profusely. Whelps, with the last bit of his humanity, looked over at her and said:

"Don't…don't let him get you, Nis…forgive me….for the murders…"

And with that, the Oracle of Lan16 passed away. Nisa began to bawl as The Beastmaster applauded, glad to see his new test subject was worth it after all. The Heroine of Justice, now feeling emotion brewing within her, clenched her teeth and felt her fists getting pumped. As The Beastmaster began another of his monologues, she quickly kicked him across the face, and the two began to fight there way up to the roof.

Outside, the Hydra-like being was difficult, but in its weakened state, it was no match for the Heroines. After it bit and injured Neptune, Nepgear unleashed hell, almost transforming into the again, though instead she only continuously stabbed the beast, even after it fell to the ground, deader than disco. As the monster was out of the way, everyone noticed that thousands of crows began to fly around in the sky around the building. Nisa and The Beastmaster were clearly visible on the roof, with the Heroine of Justice quickly failing the fight. Gust called out on this, and quickly found herself running into the building as the rest of the team fought off any remaining zombie.

On the roof, Nisa was at her limit, having already survived killing her partner. The Beastmaster taunted her, telling her that she would enjoy being "one of the monsters," and pulled out a gun-like machine, telling her that he'll simply shoot her and rid of that human mind. However, before he could pull the trigger, Gust throws her staff at him, allowing Nisa to turn the tides. She repeatedly kicks him, all the way to the edge of the building, and with the combined strength of the duo, launch him high into the air. As if the world was engulfed into a slowmo effect, Nisa grabbed the Prinneh off of her back (A monster The Beastmaster always claimed he made, even though that is so damn false), and threw it right at him, screaming "Whelps!" at the top of her lungs. The Beastmaster shrieked as his body was obliterated, his metallic remains landing on the ground, where the birds picked at him.

With the battle won, Nisa and Gust embrace, tears in both of their eyes; both Devils have been defeated, and with that, the zombies around the party began to jerk about. Everywhere on the island, the zombies began to die off, crumbling into dust, while the ones that could still be cured being cured. The group is amazed (if downright confused by this strange cliché of happiness) as the zombies all vanish from the island, their souls now able to rest in the ground like they were intended. The Orange-and-black of the island, once prevalent for nearly half a century, quickly faded away, the original color finally returning. The group admires how beautiful the world looks as the morning sun comes up, and even in that instant, both Noire and Nepgear couldn't have been more happier.

Within the fortress, a tiny rodent poked its head out of a tiny hole; apparently, Pirachu had been found. Linda immediately scooped him up and hugged him, only to slap him silly immediately afterword. The mouse noticed who she was hanging out with, and was ready to fight, but Linda surprisingly told him to hold himself down; who knows about the future, but for now, they were allies. Pirachu at first was confused by this, but after being reassured by Compa that they mean no harm, he immediately accepted the news, and joined the heroes as well. The reason why Pirachu was brought here in the first place, it seems, was that The Beastmaster initially heard about ASIC, and thought that Whelps was in it (before he found out he was working for the exact opposite approach to the law), meaning Linda to him was Nisa. Thus, he somehow (never explained) ratnapped Pirachu, making Underling go after him, and thus turn her into his next experiment. Luckily, that didn't happen, and she even made some friends this time.

However, Nepgear quickly grew quiet once the walk back to Corporatol City commenced. Peter (who was still around Nepgear's waist) noticed that her heartbeat was growing steadily, and he warned her that if she didn't calm down, it could have adverse effects on her health. Nepgear, in an alarming display of OOC, told him to "fuck off." Neptune heard this, and yelled at her to apologize, to which the Candidate merely ignored her. Noire shrugged, walking on in silence as well. Even though the landmass got its color again, and it appeared that the heat was finally going to normal levels, there was still animosity within the foundations of the group. They were lucky Gust and Nisa were able to bury the hatchet, but it didn't seem like Nepgear was going to calm down anytime soon, and who could honestly blame her?

When they arrived, Corporatol was packed, with many Phantom Followers (legitely) surrendering to the Anti-Phantom Coalition, essentially spelling the doom for the enemy army. Mattel congratulated the heroes on their benefits to the movement, saying that only The Phantom stood in their way of peace. Everyone was relieved that they made it this far, knowing that it had probably been almost two months since they saw the beauty that was the blue sky above. Before they went and took on The Phantom again, the group decided to take a small break, knowing they had some time to kill.

As everyone could finally enjoy the land for what it was, Noire found herself probing the hotel, before happening on her little sister's room, which left untouched since that fateful day (only a few flowers hanged outside the door). Growing sad, she decided to enter the room, finding it in the exact state as it was before. The closet was always open (she had a habit for doing that), the bedsheets were muddled, and the window had the blinds half-open. However, she noticed that on her pillow was a note, written by Uni herself. Neptune walked into the room at this time, wondering where her Noirey went, seeing her reading that note with the deepest intention. The Purple-haired goddess hugged the other CPU, though was surprised to see she wasn't shoved off. The two read the note in silence, and as soon as they did, Purple Heart realized that Noire was holding back her tears. With a smile, she hugged her friend, telling her to "let it all out. Don't be afraid." With that, she quietly left the room, holding back her own sense of sadness.

Noire still remained there, not sure how to process this. Her own little sister, a girl that had a promising life, had ended it to save another. "I have to do this. I will never be able to live with myself if I lost her without trying," she wrote, before going on about how Noire was. She expected to be hated, knowing full-well how horrible she was to her in the past year, but she was surprised to see that Uni forgave her, and near the end of the note, the part that made Noire want to break down forever, was the line: "I hope I've made you proud, sis. I'm sorry for being such a huge pain for so long. I love you."

With that, she finally let it all out, screaming as she collapsed to her knees, her fists clenched as she felt the world crumble around her. She didn't care if anyone heard, as the only thing on her mind was her little sister, as if she was with her right then and there, trying her best to comfort her. She was like that for the longest time, never crying so hard in her life. The letter was crinkled by her hand smooshing it, but eventually, with cloudy eyes, she looked at the text again. Uni told her to not blame Nepgear, as it was the Candidate's choice to give her life, not Nepgear's, and Uni felt it was the right thing to do.

This made Noire feel guilty, as she started to blame herself for making Nepgear angry, and thus transforming her into that "thing" back when she killed Lady Dpah. She felt like she should apologize to her, and with that, she readied herself, dried off the tears (though more continued to be made), and quickly dashed out of the room, hoping to find the Planeptune Candidate. Neptune shot her a thumbs up, even if Noire didn't notice.

She stumbled upon Nepgear in her room, who appeared to be busy doing some pushups. When she entered the room, the candidate yelled at her, a definite oddity for the usually-kind little girl. Noire didn't know what to say, and instead just showed Nepgear the note Uni left behind. Nepgear read it, and the farther she got down the paper, she found herself falling deeper and deeper into despair, before finally relinquishing her anger for a full-on sob. Noire quickly embraced her, patting her back as she still cried just a tad bit.

After a few, they broke the hold, and Nepgear said she was sorry she hurt Uni, to which Noire said she didn't fault her for it; she wished there was another way, but in the end, Uni made that choice, and though it was morbid, she couldn't have been more proud of her. To make such a decision, all at the expense of saving someone she loved…Noire didn't believe she could do the same thing; she was a powerful woman, but she knew that she wasn't mentally powerful enough to be so noble. She admired her sister for being powerful at that moment, and in the end, she thanked Nepgear for giving her happiness before it all ended, thanking her for giving Uni hope. She was aware of her depression for a long time, and though she always yelled at Uni for sneaking out, she was often relieved to see that smile return to her face. Nepgear could only stare, stunned.

Noire states that she wished that, if she had the power, she could go back in time and tell her sister how much she loved her, and help her during those dark days last year. It was one of her biggest regrets, and she believed that Uni downright hated her, making the CPU feel horribly downtrodded. Nepgear broke out of her trance and told Noire that she was wrong; they had their moments, but even at their darkest hour, Uni still cherished her sister, and always wanted to do whatever she could to better herself in her eyes. She knew that Noire was a great ruler, and would always be there to help her; she never got to say it, but Uni would always bring it up, regardless of whether or not she's mad at her.

Noire nodded to this, and hugged Nepgear. They soon sat on Nepgear's bed, simply talking about everything going on. Nepgear quickly asked that, if Uni were still with them, would she accept the two of them together. Noire shrugged at first, saying that she'll be increasingly defensive about it, being her older sister and all, but in the end, she would (and was) glad that it was Nepgear that ended up with her. This made the Candidate smile, to which Noire quickly asked, changing the subject, what did happen back in the battle with Lady Dpah; how did Nepgear transform into that "thing"? The Candidate was understandably hesitant to answer this question, really not wanting to remember it, but after asking such a personal question, she might as well answer one of her own.

She recalled how after Uni passed, she grew incredibely frustrated, and once she heard about Lady Dpah attacking close to Corporatol, she snapped, transformed into her form, and somehow got there faster than she ever could. She was of course irate, but when she learned that Lady Dpah made her infected all for the sake of an "Experiment," that anger suddenly exploded within her. She felt horrifying pain as her body became a humongous mass of energy, and she remembered how walking was the most painful thing in the world, and how horrifying it was to see the whole world burn about just because of her presence (she even felt like she was melting, when she was the one causing it). Dpah called that the mystical form, which both her and Noire never heard of until now. It made Nepgear frightened of herself, knowing that with the anger she was experiencing now, she might turn into it again, to which Noire said that she'll make sure to protect, and prevent that pain from ever happening again.

Technically, since she was about to date Uni, she was family. That made Nepgear smile.

(If story became part of trilogy)Peter, who was resting on a bureau, told the two of them that, back in the day, way before the current generation of Goddesses, there existed four forms of CPU; the highest, the Mk.U, was so deadly that anyone that turned into it practically vaporized the world. Only two reached this state: Arfoire, and a strange Goddess named Odyeosis. The was the closest to that, and The Phantom and Lady Dpah believed that Celestia supressed the gene that allowed this transformation to occur, in order to quell another cataclysm. Nepgear grew increasingly worried about this, but Peter said not to worry about it; while the form was indeed powerful, the rest of the backstory was most likely superstition anyways (he was wrong). (if not, this summary paragraph is null).

After talking for a few minutes more, IF and Lyrica (holding hands) came into the room, notifying the two CPU's that a meeting was being held at the Grand Hall. Noire and Nepgear nodded, and the two hugged once more; Nepgear felt relieved that a lot of the anger was gone now, though she still had to worry, not knowing when that rage will spike up, and she'll be forced into that form again. It was enough to keep her up all night. Still, with Noire now back on speaking terms with her, things appeared to be looking up…again.

The meeting, led by Mattel, had a serious tone to it. The only being that stood in their way was The Phantom himself, along with the revived Deity known as Orange Heart. The teleported that initially led them to it has been destroyed, leading to the group having to take the long road up. Peter warned them that, back in the day, the Basilicom was built on top of a cliff, with the only way getting to it was from a very narrow cement bridge; below it was about a 620 meter crevice; no one would survive the impact. Mattel goes on to say that even if the bridge remains sturdy, and even with plenty of Phantom Followers surrendering to the Coalition, there may still be some opposition; no matter how anyone looked at it, the road was going to be rough. They at least didn't have to worry about the zombies anymore.

The group had about three weeks left before The Phantom would supposedly destroy the world, and though it may be a long journey, Neptune was surprisingly confident, hugging her little sister as she proclaimed that by the end of this week, there will be no more Phantom to worry about. Mattel appreciates her enthusiasm, but warns her not to let her guard down; they lost to him last time, and they couldn't afford a second one on their mark; hell, that damned Revived Goddess was still out there, and this time, especially if The Phantom was growing angry, their next encounter will most certainly be their last. Gust reassures the group that everything will be all right, and that there may be a chance where The Phantom will surrender peacefully, a thought that delights Peter but annoys everyone else.

With that, the group makes their final rounds, gathering anything required for the perilious journey ahead. As the afternoon sun greeted them, they made what might be their last goodbyes for Corporatol, and set out for the north, hoping the wilderness wouldn't present them with any further problems.

During their walk, Quantic and Princess Zyng became further acquainted with the group, and Pirachu and Linda were actually being friendly, and not in that sarcastic, I'm-going-to-turn-on-you way. Gust and Nisa appeared to have buried whatever needed to be buried, and for once, the group appeared as they did back home: kindhearted, fun, and maybe a slight bit of rivalry at key points. It was enough to make Nepgear smile, feeling as though they could actually win this. The only thing missing, unfortunately, was the love of her life; all Nepgear and Noire could hope for was that she was looking upon them now.

At night, they set up camp, and Vert attempted to contact Chika to no avail; the other Goddesses were unfortunate in that regard as well, the signal apparently being jammed by something out in the world. As they waited, Peter began to speak about what they should expect once the fight with The Phantom commences once more. He says, in a quoted stance, "The Phantom's tough, but weak. From what I can remember from the unit, it has the power to essentially break your back in one punch, but one punch against him may be enough to end him." The only thing that stands between them and his defeat (besides the undead CPU) are his inventions, ranging from the teleporter to the device that killed Lady Orange Heart in the first place.

IF asked what else did he make, and after Peter mentioned the Neptunian Theory, she questioned the meaning of it. He says that the book was at first written by a fanatical man by the name Greggarious P. Neptunian, a famed philosopher from back in the day that, in his later years, truly despised the land of Celestia, after suffering a heart attack and believing the afterlife was nothing more than a glorified place for slaves. It's main purpose was to essentially bash the living hell out of the place (like many of his stories), but this one did have a twist, one that affected The Phantom in terrible ways. It detailed the formula for the end of the world, where Celestia, on the grounds that it has that one bad day, could just suddenly terminate their existence and rewrite over it, destroying all the history that had been made. The group tells them about their first time arriving here, to which he says that he may not be that far off; unless Celestia's problems are merely superstition, the world probably would've ended without his intervention.

(if story became part of trilogy) He then states that the method that how the world would've ended back in the early days of summer was unorthodox to how Neptunian described it. The end of the world was supposed to be slow and drawn out, like the end of the world many a milennia ago. You see, it will all begin with a calamity trigger, who's presence would cause Celestia to set off a chain of events. The first was the breaking out of one the worst Goddesses in existence, who would wreck havoc on the world. The second would be the loss of light in the world, and the third would be the ultimate destruction; a slow, painful laser-like death that essentially starved a poor soul into extinction. Along these three steps, the "three dragons from hell" would rise; one in the river between Lastation and Planeptune, one in Planeptune, and one in Leanbox. These three would destroy the world with the Goddess, and no matter what anyone did, nothing could be done to stop them. He says the trigger was none other than Nepgear, since the was the presence that was described in the book. Nepgear once more becomes afraid (Noire chastising him for bringing that up again), but he assures her that this is all speculation, and as far as he knew, nothing bad was going to happen. (if not part of trilogy, this paragraph is null).

The group continues onward, before finally reaching the bridge inbetween some parts of the HuCard mountains; the Basilicom was hidden within there somewhere. As it was evening, the bridge appeared to lead into a dark portal of despair, to which some of the group was afraid to proceed. Neptune once more got all bubbly, but immediately retracted her statement when a bullet wizzed by her. The group was suddenly being sniped at by Phantom Followers, all standing on rocks above the path; one slip, and they wouldn't survive the fall.

The group tried to fight, but when Cave announced that she ran out of bullets, the group panicked, knowing that they didn't have any real projectile attacks, and the CPU's were too weak to transform. It seemed that this road was even worse than they thought. The Followers cheered as it appeared they were winning, but eventually one screamed in shock. When some followers asked him what was wrong, he shouted "Helicopter!"

The group looked up at the sky, and indeed a helicopter whirled in the air, piloted by none other than Captain U.S. Les, leader of the R.E.D. army from Planeptune. Everyone was shocked that he survived the burning plains incident, but nevertheless cheered him on as he began firing at the Followers, allowing them to move forward.

Somehow, the group found themselves on the other side of the bridge, the Followers all but jumping down and running for it, not wanting to get obliterated like this. U.S. Les told them to finish the job. When Neptune shouted how he made it out, he said that he got lucky, and he along with two remaining soldiers hijacked the only helicopter on the landmass. He would've came back earlier, but he got lost. Still, the group didn't mind, glad that they survived.

And then Lady Orange Heart flew into the sky, smashed into the Helicopter, and allowed the Heroines of Gamindustri to watch in horror as the machine exploded, plummeting down into the abyss below. The Undead CPU made a weird gesture towards the Heroines, before fleeing towards the Basilicom. Angered, the group was about to chase after her, when they noticed Vert and Blanc saluting towards the fallen soldiers; the guilt of making fun of them had reached its climax, and they were happy that they served their purpose. The rest of the group did the same before continuing on.

The Basilicom appeared just the same as it was when they appeared here all those days ago. The heavy doors seemed to taunt them, though the group was not falling for any more of this schlock; they were almost done, and dammit, they weren't going to delay any further.

The doors opened, and the first sight they came across was none other than the undead CPU, attempting to smirk at them. In an instant, she rushed at them, engaging the Heroines into another fight, though this one was clearly designed to be their last. Each attack was made as a finishing blow, and the intensity grew further and further. Even the Makers stood a chance against her, though many were sustaining intense injuries in the process.

Finally, Lady Orange Heart accidentally missed taking off Lady Purple Heart, allowing the Four Goddesses to sweep in and stab The Evil Goddess in the stomach; they wished it could've ended another way, but their lives were at risk, after all. She stumbled to the ground, and though she attempted to strike once more, she fell to the floor, looking as dead as she should. Everyone was worried that she was playing possum, but they soon saw her transform back to her rotting human form, though there was still one thing to mention; she was still alive.

The CPU's quickly ran to her, noticing that, unlike her CPU form, she appeared to be just as human as they were. She question what had happened, though she went unanswered, instead receiving a plethora of apologies from her fellow colleagues. Peter informs her that she was revived by Ghost, and she was rendered into a zombie as a result. She vaguely remembers this, and asked if she done anything wrong, to which the group recalls their confrontations with her, as well as what happened to Lan16 ever since she passed. She is horrified by all of this, though as the life within her leaves, she told them that, if they must kill Ghost (the group was confused by the repeated use of the name, so Peter reminded them that Ghost is The Phantom), do it mercifully. The group asks why, to which she says that, since she was the one that encouraged him before it all went south, it was all her fault, and wished that he was put to rest, and allow his horrid soul to finally find peace.

With that, she passed away, and began to vanish. In the other room, oblivious to the whole fight, The Phantom was still contemplating what Gust had mentioned; continue this charade and attempt to kill those he believed should be killed, or surrender, and finally seek the atonement the only sane part of his mind wanted. When the group performed the finishing blow on Lady Orange Heart, he came up with the answer; he knew the group was probably in the Basilicom as he thought (he had a premonition), so he'll begin to announce his surrender. He knew there would be opposition, but it is the least he could do. Finally, he defeated the psychotic part of his mind!

Unfortunately, when he opened the door into the main atrium, he came upon the sight of Lady Orange Heart passing away and vanishing into nothing. This triggered a horrible reaction, as that sane portion of his mind vanished along with her. The group looked at him, surprised that he made a sudden entrance. Peter was the first to react, realizing that this is the first time he actually spoke to his master in over five decades. He told The Phantom that it was over, and that he should surrender immediately.

The Phantom remarked about meeting Peter again, speaking in a monotone voice as he observed the boy, saddened that he was merely a belt, remembering that he never did finish that unit for him. Peter yells at him to not avoid the subject, and informed him that everyone is dead; if he was willing to surrender, then that would be it. The CPU's agreed, not wanting to cause any more bloodshot than what was already necessary (even Nepgear wanted this idea, even though she was itching to end him a few weeks back). The Phantom nodded, before questioning the whereabouts of Lady Orange Heart. It was at that exact instant that Gust and Peter realized that he was not in a sane mood.

Gust tried to talk to him, using his original name "Ghost" to persuade him to not do anything rash, but it was too late. He made a horrible grumble, his robotic eyes turned red, and he soon shouted towards the high-heavens. He began to attack the party, managing to hit quite a few of them before he retreated to the throne. Peter begged him to stop, but The Phantom was far off from listening now. He yelled at them, saying they took his Lady away from him twice now, before continuing on with incomprehensible babbles. A big battle soon occurred, leaving the Heroines helpless as he continuously teleported out of harms way. Eventually, Nepgear did hit him, slicing off a piece of his metallic arm. This made him extremely irate, and he suddenly inputted something on the throne.

All around them, loud explosions could be heard, and the landmass began to tremble before them. A few were knocked to their feet as he rose above the ground, proclaiming something that was incomprehensible as he shot something out of his hand towards the ceiling. A gigantic, spiraling vortex appeared, and with one last laugh of insanity, The Phantom vanished inside of it. The group looked around, dazed and confused on what they should do. Peter did not like this one bit, and suggested they follow, in case he was about to do something horrid. Linda soon shouted out "Oh crap!" while looking out a window. The group all watched on in horror as missles in the sky were spotted, all aimed towards presumebaly Gamindustri.

They tried contacting the Oracles one more time, but to no avail. With that, Nisa said that they must follow The Phantom, in the hopes that if they stop whatever he was about to do, the world wouldn't fry. The group was reluctant (with Princess Zyng saying that they didn't even know if that vortex would actually bring them anywhere) at first, but eventually, knowing that their home was about to be destroyed, they all hopped right in.

A white flash occurred around them, and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, they were standing on a lone, solidary platform floating above a rainbow-like sky. Peter gasped at the sight; the group has made it to Celestia. Millions of impossible sights stood before them, such as floating islands, gigantic clocks, rainbows with no sun nor rain, upside down rivers and waterfalls (or should I say waterup's?), and a heavenly spur that made everything feel all so magical. Peter remembered that this was the exact spot they went to back in the day, though he noted that everything felt more abandoned, though that was probably due to Celestia's disinvolvement from Gamindustri.

Before them was a gigantic Castle, one that was nearly three times the size of Planeptune's famous tower. Yet, the group noticed the entrance was merely the same size as them. Peter remarked that The Phantom would've probably entered this building, knowing that it was the Godly Forum, the building where former CPU's judged the laws of Gamindustri, and the same place that drove Ghost insane.

They quickly entered the castle, and the talking belt grew worried, noticing that there was not a single soul there; no former Goddesses greeted them, no soldiers escorting them out, nothing. The group noticed that everything was covered in dust, and only the footprints left by The Phantom saw to them; otherwise, it was like everyone just up and left for no reason, as there were still littered documents on a big table, indicating a meeting was taking place at some point.

(if story becomes part of trilogy) If she remembered correctly, Vert recalled that Histoire once said that, back in the day, long after Lan16 up and vanished, Celestia announced that they were scaling back involvement with Gamindustri, a move that also lead to the destruction of the "old, fuedal Gamindustri." However, when she said that, everyone suddenly had a disturbing thought; did any of them remember that? In fact, if they remember correctly, Histoire said all of this happened in Gamindustri's equivalent to 1983, and yet it appeard that only she knew about it; Vert recalled being alive for a very long time, but for some reason, could only remember things that happened after that date, like the other CPU's. It was a bizarre thought, but the Makers tried to get them back on the task, wanting to worry about that later. (if not part of trilogy, this paragraph is null).

They come to a broken door, a hole in it revealing The Phantom on the other side. The group quickly bashes through it and runs up to him, confronting him as he looks deep within the room. The room they were in was humongous, with thousands of circular domes that would've housed representatives from different Universes littered all about like a hive (I really have to say this? Okay, though I hate those films, if you want a clear visual of this room, think of that conference room in the Star Wars prequels. God, I hate myself). The Phantom didn't even turn, but he knew they were behind him. He told them that in this very dome, Lady Orange and the current CPU's predeccessors would stand in this exact spot, all questioning the laws of physics and the rules of the Universe. He couldn't believe how everything was just abandoned, as if his whole journey here was worthless. They didn't care for any universe, to the point that they were just willing to abandon it all.

No one had any idea what was going on, but Peter told him to surrender now; if no one was in Celestia, than the world wouldn't end, and that the Theory was wrong. The Phantom let out a sickening laugh, and told them he understood that completely. He soon pulled out a suspicious device, and Peter grew really concerned. Nepgear told him that they would give him a fair trial, but he just laughed over her. He explained that, once he pressed this button, the Godly Forum would collapse down, and if his calculations were correct, all universes created here, including the one holding the Neptunia-sphere,would be demolished. Gust lambasted him, saying that if he truly did that, then his entire point in life would be meaningless. The Phantom laughed once more, saying he didn't care anymore, and that even if they killed him, it wouldn't prevent anything. The button was then pressed.

He soon fled, and the group chased after him as fast as humanely and Godly possible. He repeatedly shot at them as they chased him up some stairs, climbing higher into the abandoned forum. What appeared to be long abandoned security drones soon awakened, and immediately attacked the Heroines of Gamindustri (The Phantom was attacked as well, but he just kept running). Only Nepgear, 5pb., and Nisa continued to chase him as the rest fended off the defense. The continued to make him flee, now entering an abandoned hall with gigantic, dusty bookshelfs, most likely containing the secrets of the universe.

5pb. was soon cornered by defense forces, and told the other two to keep going. Nisa was next, having to stop outside a huge foyer room as the robots ganged up on her. Nepgear was the last one, wearing Peter around her waist as he continued to shoot at her, laughing maniacally as he bashed his way into a big room. Nepgear followed, and jumped when she saw the door close behind her.

Peter looked on in horror at the room they ended up. It was none other than the "Galaxy hall," the room that saw the end of Ghost, and the beginning of The Phantom. They stood merely on the walkway, and all around them was a map of the universes, each filled with tiny dots that indicated a separate series. Occasionally, one would vanish, and more would take its place. Gamindustri, as well as everything based on Neptunia, was somewhere around that big cluster in the middle.

The Phantom looked on as well, barely moving or even laughing as he looked on, before making a shrill cry. Peter broke the silence and demanded him to stop at once. The Phantom then turned to them, and held out the device, opening it up and revealing that there was no wiring at all, indicating that, really, nothing bad was going to happen. When Nepgear asked why he would do this, he replied that he merely wanted to show just how insignificant they all were in the grand scheme of things.

Everything that went wrong began with his intense devotion to Lady Orange Heart and his strong devotion to the field of Medicine and Lan16. However, once he gained more power thanks to his successes, his twisted mind began to show through, as he demanded more and more knowledge as time went on, though for what reason, he never explained. Thanks to Neptunian, however, he started to focus a lot on Celestia, to the point that he wanted to travel there himself. When he did, and discovered this room, he knew that he was nothing at all; somewhere, in those universes, there were probably more of him, and they all were just like him; wanting to be something, when in reality they will never amount to anything in the grand ultraverse. He began to invent countless number of things, like the second bodies that his teammates and himself now wore, or the dozens of viruses and machines that would make him appear perfect; this, along with his devotion to Lan16, lead to the country's eventual downfall, as he killed both Peter (for trying to sabotage him when his plans got too far), and his great leader, after she tried to stop him.

He soon laughed, knowing that even with all of this; he still would've probably amounted to nothing. In the end, he truly had nothing left to live for. The last thing he had was Lady Turbo again, but now that she returned to being gone, and his former colleagues have finally expired like they should have eons ago, he was the only one left. He had nothing left to fight for, nothing left to give, for Lan16 never really wanted him, and everything would amount to the same solution; he would die, history will remember something about him, then promptly forget soon after. It was the inevitability of life, and though he accepted it, his twisted mind would never agree with it.

Peter told him that he understood how he felt, and that for the last time, he offered a peaceful surrender. However, as The Phantom stated, he had no reason to live, and opted instead to fight, wanting for some reason to fall down with a fighting spirit. Nepgear didn't understand why, but knowing that she was alone on a narrow platform, she truly had no other choice. The two soon engaged in a bout, both unable to land a perfect hit on one another. For some reason, though she was relatively calm throughout the whole ordeal, she soon felt anger growing from within, and with each attempted stab the anger grew worse and worse. Peter asked if she was okay, and she said "of course," though the belt wasn't fooled.

As they continued the fight, she recalled everything The Phantom had done to both her party and the people of Lan16. She knew all the hardships he had caused, and how his party had technically lead to the death of Uni. She did remember Lady Orange Heart telling her to end him peacefully, but her anger didn't make it seem like a possibility. It wasn't long before she began to feel sick. She quickly through Peter deep into the Universe room, with him rolling on the ground, possibility hitting some of the universes. He questioned what Nepgear was about to do, but once he felt the heat, he kind of figured what to expect.

She pushed The Phantom to the floor (for some reason, he refused to teleport now. Perhaps he was asking to die?), and in an instant, all the rage she had after Uni passed had finally reappeared and exploded from within, engulfing her in a gigantic blue flame. Once more, Nepgear had become the CPU. The Phantom stared in awe at her marvelous appearance, recalling how Neptunian remarked about her existence, as well as Lady Dpah's twisted schemes detailing her. To actually see it in person was quite magical. He slowly got up, feeling his unit melting away. In a strange move, he muttered "Finally. It's time."

He slowly moved toward her, melting with every step. Once he got close, Nepgear slashed and ripped off his left arm, before doing the same to the other one. He fell to the floor, but still stood, before she sliced off his left leg, and almost sliced off the right. He couldn't stand anymore, coughing within the unit as he laughed in a disgusting manner. He started to speak in gibberish, and before Nepgear ended him, she finally came back to her senses and detransformed back to her Maker form.

The Phantom was a bad man, no doubt about that. However, that was all he was; a bad man. Lady Turbo knew that, and even with the destruction he caused, he was just a man that wanted to be something, to prove that his existence, as well as the universe he lives in, was more than meaningless. His methods were bad and radical, but in the end, he did whatever he could. Hell, as far as she knew, all of his colleagues were probably okay people before becoming whatever the hell they were now, so it was hard to judge. The Phantom wasn't Arfoire or any other cosmetic enemy; he was just a man who knew too much, and fell apart accordingly. This didn't make him any less bad from them, but it did make her feel a slight tinge of pity for him; a man that could have been more, but instead demanded more than he could ever handle. What a waste.

"Forgive me, my lady," was the last word he said, before turning to Nepgear, "end it now, my CPU candidate. I went too far."

A tear came out of her eye, and as she stared at his melted-though-intact body, she raised her sword. She screamed as it came down upon his metallic head. The red lights on his eyes flickered constantly, and the frame shook, before the lights slowly pithered away into nothing.

Peter demanded Nepgear to get him back up there, in which she promptly did. She brought him to the fallen Phantom, his former master. He couldn't say anything on his behalf, instead only saying how he wished he could have done something more and prevented all this. Nepgear told him not to blame himself, and began to carry him out of the room. However, Peter told her to stop, and asked if she would kill him. This made the Candidate jump, demanded out of him a reason why. He said that everyone was now gone from his life; his family, his friends, his master, everything. He was now the only one that fully recalled his time with Ghost before the dark transformation, and felt that as long as he lived, this dark legacy would continue to haunt history. If he died, then it would finally end, and he could finally atone for the sins he had made in his life.

Nepgear asked if there was any other way, but he said no. He wanted to die near his Master, so that in the afterlife (Wherever that brought them), they would be judged equally, like a teacher and disciple. Nepgear began to cry, and laid him down on the floor. She told him "thank you for everything," and raised her sword. Peter said he wasn't afraid, and was ready. With that, she made a loud cry as the sword came down a second time, ending Peter's life. The Phantom's reign over history had finally concluded.

She was silent for a moment, but soon took the destroyed belt and wrapped it around The Phantom's waist (it was the only part that didn't have any noticeable melting going on). With strain on her shoulders, she picked them both up bridal style and slowly exited the room. The commotion outside had ended, and she saw the party looking for her when she got to the hall. They all looked on in shock as she carried him back out the foyer, not saying a word, even when her sister and the others asked what happened.

They were lucky to get out of Celestia. Before the group left the Basilicom possibly for good, Nepgear carried the two bodies over to a patch of dirt, and personally buried the two. No one bothered to ask why she did this. Instead, the group found themselves crying; the nightmare was over. Before they went down the pathway, Nepgear bowed to the makeshift grave, and gave out a weak smile.

The group walked on the pathway unscathed. Mattel was there to greet them on the other side, happy to see them alive and well. They were escorted back to Corporatol, where a whole party was there to greet them. The Phantom Followers, I presume, felt the presence that was once The Phantom pass on, and decided to finally declare their independence from his rule. The whole landmass celebrated, and the Heroines of Gamindustri were hailed as heroes. However, even though the evil had finally vanished, Nepgear was still completely quiet, unsure of how to make all of this. Noire saw her ailing in the corner, and wrapped a hand around her, not speaking as well, though smiling on her behalf.

Speaking of Noire, she finally managed to get in contact with the Oracles, who immediately chastised her for not calling earlier (both her and Neptune managed to clear that up). Everyone quickly asked what happened to Gamindustri, fearing that the missiles destroyed everything, but Mina reassured them all that missiles were indeed spotted, though the majority fell in the water. Only two hit Leanbox, and nothing came of it. An engineer checked both, and found nothing within. Apparently, The Phantom made an empty threat.

Noire then had to make the sad news that Uni had passed away (she was surprised and saddened that it had been nearly a month since that happened), but Kei already informed her that she knew, both by a terrible feeling, and because a few messengers from Lan16 came to tell her. She was surprised by this, but asked how the nation was doing, and discovered that the whole land was grieving for the loss. Histoire offered to help them with the share issues, and she kindly accepted; Kei was afraid that Noire would snap at her, but out of nowhere, she accepted that proposal, saying it would probably be good for now. She was caught off guard, but nevertheless, Kei accepted this change of pace.

When asked about funeral preparations, Kei said they were waiting for the Heroines to return home before going in-depth with it. Noire said to allow all four CPU's access to this sad occasion, and gave special mention about Nepgear; when Kei asked why, Noire said she'll tell her later. With that, the Oracles congratulated them on stopping The Phantom, and asked if they needed a boat. Neptune was about to announce to get a huge one with bright purple sails, but luckily Mattel offered to bring them over, wanting to use a ship of his own, apparently named after his late-wife, Hasbra. The Oracles understood, wanting Mattel himself to follow the Heroines back home in order to personally thank him. With that, the call ceased, and the Heroines continued to celebrate. Bittersweet, but relieving.

Being that it was their first time back on the beach, they saw the remains of their ship. Everyone remembered that they had a crew, and suddenly fear grew upon them again. However, they noticed graves on the beach, all dedicated to the fallen men. Neptune asked what happened, to which Mattel had no idea; he only buried them. Linda, luckily, remembered what had occurred, and told them that she remembered seeing The Beastmaster for the first time here, apologizing for not bringing it up earlier. Everyone turned to Nisa, the one most affected by that man, but she merely shook her head. She was glad they at least were buried by the sea, and everyone thanked them.

As they boarded the ship, the citizens of Lan16 waved at them. Everyone onboard waved back, happy to be leaving, but at the same time sad to see the landmass drifting away. Strangely, Nepgear, Nisa, and 5pb. could've sworn they saw the human forms of The Beastmaster, Lady Dpah, Peter, and The Phantom himself waving as well. They of course had no knowledge as to who they were, but they were distinct enough that it warranted an extra take.

Back on Gamindustri, the group received a heartfelt return; the nation's adoring their arrival. Everyone, including the CPU's, immediately passed out at the first chance they got. They had a lot of work to do, having to work extra hard to catch up after being gone for months, but for now, they could rest. The dark days were behind them, and everything was returning to normal. Lan16 had color now, so it didn't look like hell when you looked out towards the sea, and the share crisis over in Lastation was quickly recovering after the death of The Phantom.

Mattel appeared before the Oracles, and was pleased to see that his landmass was being reincorporated into Gamindustri; it'll probably never rejoin the conglomerated mess, but now that it was a less hostile environment, it was perfectly accessible by any means from Gamindustri. Mattel was the temporary leader, though he was always willing to step down for the next generation. Gamindustri finally had five nations again.

Nisa immediately arrived at Lastation's Police Department, telling them about the loss of Joe Whelps, giving the Commissioner his ID. When asked what did him in, she replied a very terrible man, though in the end, he lead to his death. The Police gave him full honors, and thanked Nisa for her duties at Lan16, to which she merely shied away from. She wanted everyone to remember that he was great at his job, and not whatever The Beastmaster made him. It was a painful fact, but she wanted everyone to remember the positives, not the negatives. With help from Gust, she was promoted, and eventually became an actual Heroine of Justice again.

5pb. and IF returned along with Princess Zyng and Quantic back to their home. Epica, their manager, was clearly not happy that they spent so long over there, but cried for their safety the first chance they got. Lyrica reassured her that they were okay, and she had the two newcomers to thank. Epica rapidly shook their hands, and said they were honorary friends of hers. Lyrica asked Zyng if she was ever going to return to Foreheadbook, to which she quickly said no. As far as she knew, her time was done with that terrible family, and she could finally be herself in Gamindustri. Quantic was the same way, and the two vowed to stay together. The Manager soon noticed that IF and Lyree appeared very close to one another, causing the new couple to react like two young kids in love for the first time.

About two days after they returned, the funeral was held in Lastation's Basilicom. All that were on Lan16 were there, all giving their final regards to the fallen Candidate. Nepgear was given special permission to stay longer than the others, a privilege that gave her the time she needed to properly say goodbye. The casket was closed, being that there was no body, but the Planeptune Candidate still felt that Uni was there, resting peacefully.

She finally notified Kei about her relationship with Uni, Noire standing by her the whole time. The Oracle understood, and in a twist of fate, she hugged Nepgear, patting her bag. Nepgear said she was sorry for the loss, which Kei replied with the same words. She didn't say much, but she did smile to the Candidate, a move not often seen. Noire was shocked that played out so well, but was relieved that it was accepted. Histoire also appeared to have accepted it, hugging Nepgear as tightly as a floating tome could.

Gust and Nisa soon had to leave, hugging Nepgear and Noire before they went off to fight crime. IF and Lyrica were next, wishing the two the best of luck, and that they'll do anything they can to keep Gamindustri afloat. One by one, everyone said their goodbyes, going on their own way and back to their normal lives. Linda and Pirachu, former ASIC workers, were the last to leave Neptune, Nepgear, and Noire, saying that they were sorry for the loss, and hoped they could help out. When asked if they were going to continue to be criminals, Linda shrugged, unsure of what to expect down the road. However, after the experiences on the island, she didn't feel like it anymore, and the two began to head towards the Police Department, looking for a job. A strange fate for Former Criminals.

Thus, three remained in the Basilicom, but eventually Neptune had to leave. She hugged her little sister as tightly as she could, telling her that she could stay as long as she wanted. Nepgear thanked her, and saw her off as rain began pouring outside. Lightning began to strike as the Candidate observed the complimentary video of the Former Candidate of Lastation, showing many pictures of her throughout her great life. She surprisingly remained stoic, but one image set her off into a barrage of tears.

The picture was the one from Lan16, where both Nepgear and Uni were clad in nice dresses, smiling so brightly that one had to wonder what was wrong over there. Seeing her happy one last time made her cry hard, and she placed a hand on the coffin as she tried to help herself up. Noire saw this, and quickly ran to her. When she saw the image, she immediately understood, placing her shoulder around the Candidate as she, too, began to cry.