Beta'd by Shattersoul

In a wide open grass field, just outside the boundaries of Planeptune, stood IF and Neptune. Compa stood on the sidelines, watching the two old friends square up, each a fair distance away from the other.

IF let out a sigh, as she relaxed herself slightly. "Nep. Are you sure about this? I'm not sure you're even in the best condition to spar right now. You don't want to overdo it and hurt yourself."

Neptune nodded, but couldn't help but pause before speaking. "Yes IF. I'm sure about this. What better way to get myself back in the groove than to take on the guild's best agent? Besides, if we don't start soon, I might actually back out, and that'd be no good!"

IF shook her head at the purplette in annoyance. "Right, that's fair. If you're really sure, let's begin, then."

IF drew a single short sword, and in a moment was in motion. Closing the distance in seconds, she dashed towards Neptune, blade at the ready to make the first strike.

Neptune's senses hadn't dulled from her inactivity, but who's reaction time had definitely suffered. Still, delay or not, she still was able to materialize her katana, just in time to redirect the incoming strike upwards and away from herself. Following the sloppy block with a quick hop to the side, Neptune broke contact to regain her breath.

IF paused, worried look quickly crossing her face. "Nep, you're already panting. I think we should stop… This won't be good for you if you start out like this right aw-..."

IF's complaint was interrupted by Neptune, who had seized the opening to dash at the momentarily distracted agent. With a grunt of effort, the ex-CPU swung her katana towards the agent, aiming for her exposed off-hand. Confronted with an attack she simply could not block without leaving herself open, the agent ducked and slid under the the blade.

Neptune didn't stop there, despite the internal protests of her own body and her more-than-audible heavy breathing, followed up the sideswipe with a heavy overhead swing, towards where IF had been on the ground but a moment ago.

Unfortunately for Neptune, IF had recovered quickly, and countered the follow-up slash by stepping in and parrying outwards. Unable to keep a solid grip on her weapon, Neptune's deflected katana flew out of the purplette's hands, continuing onwards just long enough to plant its blade deeply into the ground behind the duo.

"Neptune, stop, this isn't-..." IF instinctively stepped backwards out of an incoming punch, buying just enough time for Neptune to bring out her backup katana. Wasting not even a second, Neptune continued her assault.

But she was definitely at her limit, IF could hear it, plain as day. Amidst the girl's frantic attacks, the shallow, desperate breaths more than told the true story: Neptune was mere moments from falling over. Still, despite this, Neptune still managed to gasp out, "Cross… Combination…!"

The three slashes were sloppy. The combo, usually quick and precise, were harried and weak, and by the time she had finished, she had left herself entirely open.

Every instinct reported the same thing to IF: Neptune was a sitting duck.

With only a tinge of pity, IF seized the opening, swinging her blade quickly, to beat back the exposed girl, who lacked the energy to even attempt to defend herself.

Even as slash after slash struck Neptune, the girl did not falter. She stood panting - practically gasping for air. But the will to fight never failed. IF could feel it, plain as day.

But IF could also feel something else. Something almost alien to the girl before her: anger.

'What was there to be angry about?' thought IF, as she continued her assault. Neptune had held her own, despite her own troubles. 'Is she really this frustrated with her weakness?'

IF didn't have time to think. In moments, a dark mist surrounded Neptune, and out of the mist stumbled out something familiar. Something the agent hadn't seen in years. Something no one had seen in years.

Familiar, but incredibly disturbing. Similar in form, but opposite, recognisable, but invariably wrong. If what she had once fought alongside with all those years ago was a Goddess… Then this? This was a Devil.

Baffled at the sudden change unfolding before her, IF barely could react before the facsimile of Purple Heart charged towards her, katana at the ready.

This time, it was IF who barely parried the strike, the power of the Goddess before her just as real as the original. Grunting with effort, IF broke distance, just long enough to get a glance at the face of her friend. But rather than focus, or anger, or anything, she saw nothing. No emotion, only a lifeless void. It was the face of someone asleep, empty.

Desperate to figure out what exactly was going on, IF countered the next slash with a solid kick to the gut, sending… Neptune flying backwards into a nearby tree. IF winced as the crunch of a body colliding with solid wood resounded, but at least the transformation faded as the girl fell from her impromptu landing pad.

IF sprinted up to the unconscious ex-CPU. "What was that?" she muttered to herself. Compa was by her side in moments, bandages at the ready.

"Did you see that, Compa? That was Purple Heart, or at least, I think it was. It seems like Nep didn't mean to do that, too. But there was something wrong about it, at the same time."

Compa nodded. "Yeah, that was really weird, seeing that dark mist, and then seeing Nep-Nep's CPU form… I've never seen Nep-Nep transform like that, even way back when, so I got pretty scared when she kept attacking you."

IF glanced down to the unconscious Neptune. "We should take her back to rest at our place. Having her lay here isn't helping anyone."

"I'll take Nep-Nep then. Can you grab her katana for her? I'm sure she'll want us to bring it back for her."

At IF and Compa's house, Neptune was asleep. It wasn't just that she was tired: in fact, her entire body was practically screaming in exhaustion and pain. No, she was asleep to purge whatever the heck had come over her during the battle from her system.

So with no conscious main character to focus on, the camera instead shifted to IF, the next most relevant character.

At the time, IF was with Compa, both currently located within their master bedroom. Both were fully clothed, and both were lost in thought regarding the surprise that had greeted them but a few hours ago.

IF was particularly torn as she reflected upon the events.

On one hand, despite her obvious weakness, Neptune had held her own for a remarkable amount of time, even lasting long enough to pull of one of her own combos. With luck, she'd recover in time, perhaps enough to once again surpass the agent at direct combat.

On the other, more disturbing hand, was the… transformation that had overcome the girl. It wasn't Purple Heart, or at least no form of Purple Heart either of the two had ever seen before. It didn't feel familiar, or divine. Every moment she stood near that form sent her senses into a panicked overdrive, each and every one screaming of danger and darkness.

If sighed, as she turned towards her wife, who was wearing a frown of her own. In a moment, IF embraced the girl beside her. "Hey, don't worry. This is Nep we're talking about. She'll be perfectly fine when she wakes up. She always is."

Compa's frown lessened slightly as she returned the hug. "I guess so… But I still can't help but worry. It's just… even after all of my training, I don't know what to do about this… I thought I'd stop feeling helpless after I became a real surgeon, you know?"

IF patted her lover's head. "She'll be fine, Compa. You're just worrying too much."

A brisk knock on the door spurred the two girls apart.

"I should go get that." murmured IF, as she reluctantly left the bed.

Of course, IF had hardly even began to open the door, before it was practically kicked in by a frantic Nepgear.

"Where is Sis? Please IF, you need to tell me where Neptune is!" all-but-demanded the ex-Candidate, even as she stepped inside, "It was wrong… it was the same feeling I felt yesterday."

IF blinked at the sudden intrusion of her old friend, who she hadn't seen in years. She wasn't acting like usual. "Are you alright? Is everything okay, Gear? And what do you mean by wrong?"

"It… I wouldn't say it's evil…" began the Candidate, as she quickly kicked off her shoes, "It's… unnatural. Wrong. A perversion. I just don't know how to explain it. Even worse, I could feel it all the way from home. I really, really wish I had a better way to describe it, but…"

"I'll take you to Neptune." answered IF, as she quickly lead the girl to the room acting as her sister's resting area. "How did you manage to find your way over here, anyway? We haven't seen each other in years."

Nepgear blinked, pausing before the door. "I don't actually know. All I knew was that Neptune was in trouble, and I followed that feeling all the way here."

Without another word, the purple-haired Candidate stepped into the room, and walked up to the slumbering Neptune.

"Sis… the heck happened to you?" murmured Nepgear, as she poked the sleeping girl once, wincing back in pain after a moment's contact. "Sis seems to be charged with… something. I'm pretty sure she's doing her best at purging it from her body right now. I can definitely feel it from here. It's familiar, but I can't quite remember what exactly it is. All I know, is this stuff's nasty."

IF turned towards Nepgear, and gave her a confused look. "Compa's tests just showed that she was out cold. You're telling me she's actually poisoned with something?"

"Not… poisoned." began Nepgear, as she attempted to come up with the right words, "It's more, she's using the wrong kind of energy, and is doing her best to get rid of it. Sort of like if you put the wrong kind of fuel in a car, actually. You need to get rid of all of it, before you can put the right fuel back into it, otherwise you run into real problems."

"Right." IF crossed her arms. "So, what are you working on then, Nepgear? Because along with Neptune here, you haven't been answering our Chirpers or texts. Also, what's with this whole fight you've got going between the two of you?"

Nepgear blinked back. "What fight? I've just been working on my healing drone. It's really, really close to being done, but whenever I try and finish it, it always goes haywire and I need to start back from square one. It's going to be really, really cool when I get it done, though!"

As the two left the sleeping girl's room, IF asked another question. "So you two can sense each other? You said that was how you found your way over here."

"Yeah, I guess I always could. I guess it's something to do with once being a CPU Candidate." admitted Nepgear. "Even if I always had it, I don't think I've ever needed to use it. But it wasn't like I was actively searching for her… it was more like whatever that energy was, it was forcing its way into our bond, or something. It made it really, really easy to follow her to here"

IF nodded, content with the answers Nepgear gave her. "You want to go see Compa? I'm sure she'd love to see you again."

"I'd love to," Nepgear turned around to face IF, finally smiling as she did so. "Oh man, I can't believe I forgot!" she gave IF a hug, "It's been a long time IF."

IF chuckled and patted Nepgear on the head, "It's good to see you too." she said, as she led Nepgear to the master bedroom, "Compa, look who's here-..."

IF was cut off by a leaping Compa all-but-tackling Nepgear to the ground with a hug, "Ge-Ge!" the nurse shouted, "It's been so long! Are you alright? You're eating right? Because Nep-..."

"Yes, yes, Compa I've been eating." Nepgear quickly interjected, knowing full well what her old friend would ask her, "I do bathe, take breaks and all that, it's just I normally do that when Sis isn't available, as funny as it is. I mean, it might've started out that I was purposefully avoiding Sis, but now it's pretty much just force of habit…" Nepgear rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Compa puffed her cheeks out, while IF frowned, but both of them crossed their arms in response to Nepgear's admission. "Why would you want to purposefully want to avoid Neptune?" asked IF.

"What's there about Nep-Nep to hate?" added Compa.

"I… I just wasn't feeling like I wanted to listen to Sis." murmured Nepgear. "Having to hear her voice, having to listen to what she asked me to do... even though she was very lenient with the jobs she gave me, just in general anything to do with Neptune I avoided for about a month or so. I just… didn't know how to deal with it, so I avoided it."

IF bonked Nepgear in the head in response, "Gear, you shouldn't have done that! Now Nep feels ultra guilty about how she treated you in the past. She feels like she doesn't know you anymore!"

Nepgear frowned, "I-I kind of figured as much…" she muttered, "Even when I spoke with her earlier this morning, she didn't seem peppy at all and just kind of… depressed, and mopey about a lot of things."

"Mopey about what things?" asked a sleepy voice at the door, a voice belonging to Neptune.

A loud snapping noise filled the air as the perspective shifted back towards its rightful possessor, although none alive were capable of perceiving the noise.

In a moment, the fabric of reality stabilized.

"I know I'm mopey, but I'm not mopey about a lot of things…" continued the purplette.

Neptune stared at her two friends and her younger sister with a confused look, having just walked walked into a conversation she had no idea about. So bewildered was she, that she failed to even to register her sister's presence. She could feel the awkward gazes of two of the three girls, before she was finally snapped out of her funk by the incoming hug of her sister.

"Oh thank goodness!" Nepgear shouted in relief as she held her older sister in a vice-like grip, "I was so anxious, I felt that same feeling I felt last time and I tracked you down here, I was and still am extremely worried…"

Neptune, unaware of the incoming missile headed towards her position, was caught off guard by her sister. With a glomp as powerful and unexpected as the one she had just received, she was practically blasted off of her feet, landing once more upon her bum, wincing in pain. "Heh… did I worry you that much, Junior?" murmured Neptune, as she played with her younger sister's hair. "I didn't want you to worry, let alone about me…"

"Stop that. Stop that right now, Neptune. That is definitely not you." IF interjected before Neptune could say any more, "I will not believe that that is how you think now. I don't think any of us will believe that. Wake up, Neptune. You're just being melodramatic."

Neptune sighed, "Yeah, yeah, can we not go through this right now? I just woke up and all..."

IF sighed in return, but Neptune continued to speak, "Right, so… what happened? Last I remember is being attacked by IF and then I don't remember anything after that. Did I black out?"

IF blinked, "You don't remember? Nothing at all?"

Neptune simply nodded with a sheepish smile. "Was I supposed to?"

IF shook her head, "Right… you wouldn't remember. It didn't look like you meant to do that anyways…" she muttered to herself, which in turn garnered confused gazes from both Neptune and Nepgear, "Okay so umm… How do I put this…?" murmured the agent.

IF sighed once more, "Neptune." She started simply, "You transformed into Purple Heart. Well… not exactly the Purple Heart, but something that definitely looked, and fought, like Purple Heart."

Neptune let out a light laugh at IF. She had somehow had transformed into Purple Heart? It just wasn't possible. She hadn't been able to transform into Purple Heart for the longest time, and here was, IF telling her that she did just that? Iffy was definitely pulling an elaborate joke, just like the old days! ...Right?

"You're joking, right, IF?" Neptune said, still laughing a little bit, "There's no way I could've transformed into Purple Heart."

Compa only frowned when Neptune had started to laugh and act as if it was a joke, shaking her head at the ex-CPU and elaborating in place of her partner, who was visibly getting angry, "Nep-Nep." Compa said sternly, "Iffy and I are being completely serious when we tell you that you transformed into Purple Heart."

"I refuse to believe so." Neptune shot back, "I do not have the shares close enough to even sustain my transformation for a second. And I would be conscious for it too, so I refuse to believe so."

Neptune would feel a bonk on her head after she spoke, that bonk coming from Nepgear ad she crossed her arms with a frown at Neptune, "Sis. You are not in a position to be saying anything. At all, right now."

"But, Junior, do you not hear how ridiculous that sounds?"

Nepgear nodded at her sister and interjected before she could speak anymore, "It sounds ridiculous to you, but it doesn't to me. If you'd just let me explain, then I can prove that they're telling the truth."

Neptune sighed, "Fine, show me what you've got."

Nepgear smirked, "You're gonna eat your words, Sis." she said as she stood up to walk to IF, "Alright, so IF, you said that Sis transformed into Purple Heart, yes?"

IF nodded, crossing her arms and staring down Neptune angrily as Nepgear continued her dribble, "At that exact moment, I felt a surge of a negative energy of some sorts. Not exactly negative, but just… chaotic if that makes any sense."

Nepgear pointed to Neptune, "Sis, even though you were unconscious that entire time after you transformed, you could feel that you were purging from your body right?"

Neptune bit her lip as she slowly nodded, "Yes…" she muttered begrudgingly. "What were you purging?"

"Chaos Energy." Neptune replied indifferently, "We're always purging Chaos Energy though, Junior."

Everyone that wasn't Neptune blinked at her response, "Say that again?" IF asked out of the trio, "I want to make sure I heard that correct."

"I was purging Chaos Energy that I had stored up."

"Hmm… so that's why it felt familiar…" Nepgear muttered. She turned her gaze back to IF once more, "When Sis transformed, did you feel anything from it? Like a sort of trigger or something?"

"Well…" IF's eyes widened, "I felt… anger." Her gaze instantly returned to Neptune, "Say, Neptune. Why were you angry anyways?"

"Oh, that?" Neptune rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I was getting fed up at how tired I was getting so easily. Even more so when I barely managed to execute Cross Combination and then I was genuinely out of breath after it."

Nepgear crouched down to her older sister, and rolled up her sleeve, revealing a watch-like device. In the center of it, was a crystal resembling one of the Share Crystals Neptune had retrieved, but rather than the familiar sign of the CPUs, its contained nothing but a swirling, dark mist.

Shuddering slightly, Nepgear undid her device, and carefully unslotted the focus from it. Then, she placed the device on Neptune.

"Oh, and Sis, sorry bout this."

With a swift motion, Nepgear placed the focus in backwards.

Neptune couldn't help but let out a small cry of pain as the energy stored within the crystal discharged into her. Slowly, her own charge built up, until finally she shifted into the warped form of Purple Heart.

"Wait… what's going…" began Neptune, voice monotone and emotionless.

She barely had enough time to regain her balance, before the stored energy was fully depleted, and she once more returned to her natural form.

Neptune returned to everyone, dizzy and drained of energy as she wobbled in place before Nepgear caught her and steadied her. She frowned, "So I did transform into Purple Heart, huh…? Eugh… that didn't feel good..."

IF nodded, "I told you so!" shouted the agent, before her eyes widened, "Whoops…" she covered her mouth for a second before she spoke again, "But yes, you believe the three of us now right?"

Neptune nodded begrudgingly, "I do I do…" And… she passed out again.

The air once more filled with the ethereal, imperceptible sound, although this time, it sounded quite a bit more like a cameraman sighing.

Nepgear gingerly removed the device from her unconscious sister, before flipping the focus the correct way. Once that was done, she slipped it back onto her own wrist. "Now that's the crystal dumped… that's interesting actually..." she muttered scratching her chin, "I didn't know we had access to a form like that…" she stood up to face IF and Compa, who were both giving her confused and somewhat angry stares.

"The heck was that, Nepgear?" IF immediately asked, "What even is that thing?"

Nepgear blinked, "I thought you didn't need to know because I thought it probably wouldn't concern you."

The Ex-Candidate shrugged, folding up her sleeve again, revealing the now-pure crystal encased within her device. She pointed towards it, "This, is the Chaos Capacitor. I made it one day, because all of the Chaos Energy everywhere was giving me headaches. I took one of the Share Crystals that Sis had found for the two of us, and then prepared it in a solution and other things so that it could store Chaos Energy and discharge it. Basically, it holds Chaos Energy so we can get rid of it later."

"Get rid of it?" questioned the agent, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. I made it so that I could build up ambient energy during the day, and dunk the crystal in a discharger fluid during the night. It's still a prototype though, so it's not working as well as it could be." admitted Nepgear. "I didn't even know if doing that to Sis would work, either: I just haven't put in a safety against doing that yet. Honestly though, if anything, I'd just make it easier to invert it if necessary."

"What about the forms then?" Compa asked next.

"Well… you know how us Candidates and CPUs used to have HDD?" Compa and IF nodded, "Well, Sis must've went into a form similar like that, only this time its triggered by Chaos Energy instead of Shares. We can't really control Chaos Energy though, so like what you saw with Neptune, it would be abrupt and hard to control. Though… What do we call this new form?"

"Chaos Form.* Compa immediately suggested, "Because it's a transformation triggered by Chaos Energy right? So why not call it Chaos Form?"

IF patted Compa on the head and gave her a hug, "That's my girl! But there's another thing. Neptune seemed to still be in control that time. What do you think changed?"

"Probably because the intake of energy was controlled that time." answered Nepgear. "I mean, I definitely could feel it from here, but it wasn't as bad."

IF frowned, "I suppose you'll be taking Neptune home then?"

Nepgear nodded, "Yeah. I still have to run the shop since Sis is unconscious, and it would be better for her to rest at our place. Sorry for barging in like that, IF, Compa." Nepgear bowed apologetically, "I guess we'll keep in touch more now?"

"Yeah. You two better answer your texts and Chirpers now then." IF smiled, as she waved goodbye to her friend.

As the two purple-haired girls left the house, the conscious one's mind was ablaze with thought.

"Mmm… maybe I should try and contact the other CPUs and Candidates…" Nepgear murmured to herself.

She blinked and then shook her head, "Nah, Sis wouldn't like that. She already worries about too much, adding another thing to worry about wouldn't help her…"

"What I do know, is that I need to make another one of these capacitors. As soon as I can." Nepgear couldn't help but flash a smile though. "Of course, after I finish tweaking mine, first."

Addendum:

Woo! 4000 words! That's a record for me man! And I got this chapter out in relative time too? Last chapter was actually really different than the one you guys got actually now that I think about it.

It's for the better though, don't worry. So! Those bracelets! Freshly revealed and you already understand how they basically work, but isn't that interesting? Leave a review if you think so, or have any criticisms to offer either me or Shatter.

Those bracelets are all Shatter's idea so full props go to him, because otherwise the way Neptune transformed would've made no sense contextually or as a plot point anyways. I'll leave the rest of this for Shatter and whatever he has to say. See ya!

The Capacitors.

Ahh, lemme tell ya, they originally started as a half-assed attempt to try and justify Nepgear being able to transform Neptune, otherwise we'd need to go through a pointless arc where Neptune would be in denial and yadda yadda.

To be honest, I put no effort into designing them at first, since I was doing something else at the time. But the longer we worked on what they were and what they did, the more they made sense. All in all, I'm glad I came with the idea, although I do definitely need to give Craze some credit for this stuff too.

All I can say, is that be glad that they don't run on Phazon. Because… well…

*Smiles viciously*

Shatter out!