The Hope Of Zero

Chapter 1: The Call To Action

Gamindustri… A place very much different than ours. There rules several individuals named goddesses to their land that they rule. They're also called CPUS to their people. The goddess Purple Heart rules over Planeptune… The goddess Black Heart rules over Lastation… The goddess White Heart rules over Lowee… And, the goddess Green Heart rules over Leanbox. After the dastardly ASIC was taken down and the ancient land of Tari was overthrown and destroyed… Gamindustri has gone into an era of peace. The Guardian of Gamindustri, 15 year old Bradley Phoenix, has disappeared after the battle with the Deity Of Sin, Arfoire. Now, a new story begins for Bradley Phoenix… As he returns to his home.

-Planeptune- Bradley laid in a flowery field as he looked around. He stood up and stretched his arms out.

"Wow… I'm back. Damn, 4 years take a toll on you," Bradley groaned as he cracked his back, "Gear… I wonder if you're still waiting on me." He transformed into Green Brother and flew off to the nearby city of Planeptune. He arrived a few minutes later and lands on a high balcony as he returned to his human form.

"Wait… How should I greet her? 4 years of my disappearance and I'm nervous of greeting her? Really, dude?" Bradley asked him as a bright light came from the inside.

"Huh?! What the?!" Bradley quickly raced inside and saw 2 lilac purple haired girls about the same height getting pulled into an orange whirlpool. He quickly raced towards them and grabbed the smaller one by her left wrist.

"Huh?! Bradley?! How?!" Neptune called.

"I gotcha! Nepgear, hang on!" Bradley called as he reached out his other hand.

"Bradley…" Nepgear sniveled as she saw him. She reached out her hand as Bradley was hit in the back of the head by something!

"Oww! That hurt! Was that a book?!" Bradley yelled as he looked behind him. Suddenly, a black sphere crashed into him and blew him off his feet. The 3 of them were sucked into the portal as a black shadow smirked evilly at them. It was pleased by what it did.

-Strange City; Later- "Hey, Neptune! Yo, Neppy!" a voice called to an unconscious Neptune. Neptune stirred as she slowly opened her eyes. Bradley was right in her face as she opens her eyes.

"EEK! What the Nep?!" she screamed as she smacked Bradley and crawled backwards away from him. Bradley rubbed his sore cheek and sighed.

"At least you're awake now," Bradley grumbled as he shook his head, "And, is that any way to treat a practical brother in law?"

"You and Nep Jr. aren't even married yet, buster!" Neptune told him.

"A guy can dream, can't he?" Bradley asked as he stood up. Nepgear was looking at her N-Gear the entire time Bradley and Neptune spoke to each other. Nepgear lets out a frustrated sigh and puts her N-Gear away in her right thigh pouch.

"Any good news?"

"No… My N-Gear isn't picking up a signal anywhere. That weird portal must've done something to it… I can't connect to the internet."

"Strange… My Vanity Bracelet's dead," Bradley said as he looked at his right wrist, "Our electronics are going on the fritz… What's going on?"

"Why is this happening?" Nepgear asked as she hugged Bradley. Bradley pets her long lilac purple hair and closed his eyes.

"I don't know… But, we always find a way through. First, let's point out our surroundings," Bradley told her. Neptune had already stood up and looked at the sky.

"This place is beyond creeptacular… The buildings, ground, and sky are all full of cracks and there are eyes looking from all of them," Neptune told them as she looked around. Nepgear lets go of Bradley and looked around as well.

"Something doesn't exactly sit right with me about this place… Why am I getting a sense of Déjà Vu?" Bradley asked. He then looked around and sighed.

"Well… How about we move around and see if we recognize anything?" Neptune asked as she nods her head.

"Good idea… Maybe this is our home in the future," Bradley said.

"Hey, buddy! Don't raise any death flags!" Neptune told him.

"But, now that I stop and look at this place… I don't recognize anything about this place. So, I'm guessing it's not Planeptune," Nepgear told them as she touched the side of a building.

"I wouldn't…" Bradley said as she lets out a pained cry and pulled her hand back. Her left hand was burned and smoke was coming from her hand. Bradley and Neptune went over to Nepgear and checked on her hand.

"How much does it hurt?"

"Mmm…" she whimpered as she looked at them.

"I bet it really hurts," Neptune told her. Nepgear nods her head and leaned her head onto Bradley's chest.

"Hold it up… I'll put some medicine on it," Bradley told her as he checked his pockets and pulled out a medkit from his jacket pocket. He opened the kit and pulled out the necessary meds for the job.

After 5 minutes, he wrapped gauze onto Nepgear's left hand and put the medkit back in his jacket pocket. He wiped his sweaty forehead and looked up at Nepgear.

"All done… How's that?" Bradley asked her.

"Good…" Nepgear smiled, "Um… How are you alive after all this time? You were taken down with the Deity of Sin, right?"

"To be honest… I did die then. But, I just came back today. How long was I dead?" Bradley asked her.

"4 years," Neptune answered him.

"What?! 4 years?!" Bradley panicked as he looked at them, "Man, how crazy is that?!" Bradley turned from them and walked a little ahead of them.

"Wait for us!" Neptune called as she and Nepgear raced after him.

-A Few Minutes Later- The 2 girls caught up with him and they told him everything that happened after his death. Bradley was astonished by their story.

"So, you met an alternate version of Vert, Blanc, Noire, IF, Compa, and Histy? On top of all that… There was a little girl that was forced into becoming a CPU?" Bradley told them.

"Yeah, pretty much. Although, P-Ko was still a little warrior when we needed her the most," Neptune told him.

"This Plutia… I heard that name from somewhere. But, I can't exactly remember where," Bradley thought as he folds his arms.

"Anyway… Why were you being poorly treated, Gear?" Bradley asked her.

"I don't want to talk about it…" Nepgear sighed as she rubbed her bandaged hand. Neptune sighed and looked at Nepgear.

"Well… I get it. But, I won't poke around," Bradley said as he looked ahead and stopped. A large monster hovered nearby and spotted the 3 CPUS. It roared and raced towards them.

"Uh oh! I got this!" Bradley told them as he summoned a rainbow Claymore to his side.

"With the holy blade of Celestia, I will smite thee! Break Limit: Elemental Judgement!" He leaped into the air and came down onto the giant bug like creature, slashing it down the middle with a hexagonal pattern. The beast fell back and crawled around on its large spidery legs.

"What the hell is this thing?" Neptune asked as she summoned a samurai katana to her side. Nepgear summoned a beam saber with an N symbol engraved on both sides of the handle to her right hand and held it in front of her.

"Whatever this thing is, it doesn't know who it's messing with! Let's transform and defeat it one fell swoop!"

"Good idea! Here we go!"

"Behold my power!"

"Processor Unit, set!"

"Come to me, Uranus! Let's fight together!" A few seconds passed… But, nothing happened.

"Uh… What?"

"Nothing happened?! What?!"

"Goodness… What should we do?!"

"Hey… Let's figure this out later! Let's take out the trash!"

"Yeah!"

"I'm with you!" The 3 CPUS charged into battle with the creature.

"Cross Combination!" Neptune called as she slashed the monster 7 times and knocked it to a wrecked building.

"Slash Wave!" Nepgear called as she stuck her blade into the ground and swung it hard and fast, creating a purple blast that crashed into the beast.

"Hyper X Slash!" Bradley called as he slashed the beast in an x shape and knocked it down. The beast rose up and smacked one of its legs down onto Bradley's head. He crashed down to the ground and got back up.

"Are you okay?" Nepgear asked him as she rushed up to him. He shook his head and looked at the beast.

"I'm not exactly at 100% right now… Coming back to life takes a lot of energy," Bradley sighed as sweat trailed down his forehead, "We may be in a pinch."

"Hyah!" Neptune called as she slashed the beast in the chest and kicked it backwards. She slid to a stop in front of Nepgear and Bradley and looked back at them.

"Drat… Not even a scratch," Neptune said as she snapped her fingers.

"Only way to beat it is if I can use my Sayain power… But, I can't activate it," Bradley told them, "It's like the power is locked up inside me."

"This is bad…" Neptune said as she looked ahead.

"Even so… We have to keep fighting. It's the only way to move on with the story," Neptune told Bradley.

"Neppy…" Bradley said as he looked at her.

"Besides… It's our turn to protect you," Nepgear told him as she stood up and went beside Neptune, "Let's do this, Neptune!"

"Yeah! Prepare yourself, foul beast!" Neptune called as she and Nepgear charged at the creature. Bradley looked back down at his hands and clenched his fists.

"I can't let them do this alone… I have to use what little power I have to help," Bradley said as he slowly stood up. A golden aura slowly began to build up in his clenched fists as he lowered his head. His hair began to glow an orange color as his eyes became white and veins grew on the sides of his face. Then, the energy expands on his body as he raised his head and lets out a cry of anger. Finally, the energy explodes outward and he underwent a peculiar change. His hair was bright orange, he had no pupils in his eyes, he had gained some muscle to the point to where his shirt ripped open, and his body had visible veins on it. Neptune and Nepgear stopped their attacks and saw Bradley's strange transformation. He charged past them and head-butts the creature in the chest. It lets out a pained screech and tried to swipe at Bradley. He grabbed the incoming swiping leg and broke it in half onto his knee. It screamed painfully as Bradley grabbed the broken off leg and flung it at the creature's head. The amputated leg collided with the creature's skull and knocked it off balance. Bradley then delivered several punches to the creature's body and blasted a large purple blast to its chest! The creature's chest exploded and its internal organs blew outward. The green blood splattered all over the ground… And, all over the CPUS.

"Eww! Gross!" Neptune gagged as she shook her arms off. Nepgear wrung the green blood from her hair as she continued to look at Bradley in worry. Bradley hadn't said a word as he transformed into this peculiar form. It was nothing like she ever seen before out of Bradley… It was almost like he turned into a wild animal. Nepgear walked over to him and touched his green bloody shoulder. He perked his head up with an unintelligible grunt. His eyes became green again as he looked back at Nepgear.

"Bradley? What happened to you?" Nepgear asked him seriously. Bradley blinked as he looked at her.

"I… I have no idea," he said as he held his head, "But, my head is killing me for some reason. Let's get out of here, please."

"Dude! Your hair! Look!" Neptune called to Bradley as she points to his hair. His hair was still a bright orange color!

"What?! My black hair!" Bradley said as he touched his head, "I loved that black hair! How did this happen?!"

"I don't know… But, you're right. We should keep moving," Nepgear said, "We'll ponder what happened to you in the meantime." Bradley sighed as he took Nepgear's hand and walked beside her as she and Neptune walked ahead.

-End Chapter 1-