Unfortunate title is extremely unfortunate.


Episode 10: The Proposal

On the first day after Neptune and Noire had made up their minds to propose to each other things were starting to take a weird turn.

Noire was currently holding an interview with the manager of a music label. The stout middle-aged man was covering up his balding head with a beret and wore sunglasses even inside the interview room. He sat on the couch on the opposite end of the table, looking at her application sheet.

"I read here that you are currently unemployed Miss… 'Onyx Heart'?" He was squinting while looking at her.

"That's correct." Noire smiled stiffly. She wasn't used to being under this much scrutiny. Her disguised adventures during conventions or concerts were usually organized with people that knew her true identity. She was wearing her red framed glasses and her blue wig right now, so she was basically unrecognizable, but it was still stressful.

"You are aware that we can't hire you if we don't know your real name?" He scratched his stubble.

"I… see. Must have slipped my mind during all the excitement." She laughed innocently.

"Your voice sounds really familiar actually. Haven't I seen your face before somewhere…?" His analyzing eyes were penetrating her!

"T-that's probably because I resemble Lady Black Heart a lot! My friends even call me Noire sometimes!" Her smile was shaky.

"You must feel blessed to resemble a goddess." The man leaned back and returned to reading the sheet. Apparently his curiosity was satisfied.

Actually it was really bad for her to look like that goddess right now! If she wanted to start a career right now she couldn't come out as her real self. The people were still not aware of the CPUs resignations. And they would keep quiet about it until Uzume was ready (or at least until it couldn't be postponed anymore).

No matter. For now she felt a strange excitement in her chest. This was different from the other times; right now she was really trying to start a new job! This job interview couldn't be compared to high level market deals or sending voice acting auditions.

Noire was humming a little in anticipation.

"Your bio is lacking in details, but your name is already well known in the underground scene. I happened to have been at one of your performances during a 5pb. concert." He adjusted his sunglasses with his middle finger and returned his gaze on Noire.

"Really?" Noire was positively surprised.

"That's the reason I wanted to interview you. You showed promise up on that stage. All those newbit idols don't even show half as much passion for music as you. It's all about the fame and fanboys. Every new act thinks she can become the next 5pb.! Vain people all around!" He snapped his hand to underline his statement.

"H-how sad." Noire did aspire to become her musical mentor's equal one day as well. But she should probably not mention that now.

"You seem down to earth. The kind of fans someone like you attracts should be the well-mannered and classy type. I'm sick of all these raging Otakus." His tone became even more arrogant and snobby. "Our label wants to create art, not popular trash! Do you have a musician's spirit Onyx Heart?! HM?!"

"Yes sir!" Noire straightened her back and responded loudly.

BANG!

The glass door to the office was thrown open forcefully and someone flamboyantly slid across the floor and into the room.

"Mai ho~ney Noire!" Neptune posed with one hand over her face and another stretched to the side. Her eyes were like sparkling diamonds, but their light was only shining on her target of affection.

"Who is this weirdo and how did she get past my secretary?" The corpulent manager rose from his couch and pointed at the purple haired intruder.

"Will you marry m-orgh!?" Mid-sentence a glass door was forcefully smashed into her face, comically flattening it.

"I'm sorry sir. This is just one of my… fans." Noire apologized with her back turned to the man.

"This freak is? I didn't expect you to have those kinds of followers…" He sounded disappointed.

Noire was facing Neptune through the glass door. Her face was covered in cold sweat and she was glaring at her girlfriend.

"No-wa." Neptune's squashed mouth formed the words again.

In an instant Noire pulled the door open and then smashed it back into Neptune's direction, sending her flying through the hallway.

"Why right now? Go home already you idiot…" Noire mumbled to herself anxiously.

"Does this happen often?" He asked while adjusting his sunglasses with two fingers.

"O-of course not. I've never even seen her before." Noire denied the question strongly.

"So they really do call you 'Noire'. That could get us into trouble with the CPU." He crossed his arms in deep thought.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind! It's not like I become her just because I have the same name." Noire tried to diffuse the bad mood. If necessary she would even write a note of support for herself under her goddess persona. Wait, wasn't Onyx Heart the persona? Her mind was getting so jumbled...

"Fine then let is discuss the terms of your employment." He sat down with a grunt and pulled up a few papers.

Noire sighed in relief. Everything would go fine after all as long as Neptune caught on to how important this was. How did she find her anyway?

Her eyes wandered over the room for a moment and got stuck on the window.

Where Neptune was currently climbing up to with a sign in her hand. Their eyes met. Neptune smiled and then pointed at the sign.

[Will you marry me?]

Noire stopped from reading it as soon as her eyes hit the first syllable of 'marry'. She purposely looked away.

Neptune looked displeased. She fiddled with the handle of the window and started opening it!

"For now you need to write down any previous qualifications you acquired." The manager pointed at the paper in grasp and handed a ball pen to Noire.

Noire grabbed the pen, but her eyes were stuck to Neptune trying to enter the room!

In a panic she took the pen and threw it at Neptune's head.

"NEPPU?!" Neptune's eyes turned to Xs and she fell backwards straight out the window. This was the third floor. Her scream was a lot longer than expected before the usual 'thud'.

"…"

"…"

The manager and Noire exchanged a long look.

"That was my favorite pen." He said dryly.

"My hand slipped teehee~" Noire pushed out her tongue cutely.

"Fufufu… you thought you ended me? You know only bad game sales can do that!" Neptune crawled up the window sill again while talking ominously. She had managed to hold on to the window frame! The sign was the reason for the impact noise.

Noire had been tricked. And now Neptune was already jumping into the office!

"Accidents happen…" The man adjusted his sunglasses with his entire hand. "Then for now just read the section about your commitments and requirement of confidentiality. There are trade secrets we cannot expose and we need you to be compliant with our-"

"NOIRE! BE MY WI-!" Neptune jumped up from behind the manager's couch! In her hand, she held a sparkling beautiful ring!

"AS IF I WOULD JUST LET YOU!" Noire flipped the table into the air and hit Neptune mid-jump.

Unfortunately the table also hit the unsuspecting manager in the face.

"Ka-powie!" Nep exclaimed as she was knocked against the floor and stayed buried below the wooden table.

"….."

"….."

This time the staredown was especially painful.

The manager adjusted his broken sunglasses with both his hands. His beret was flipped onto the couch revealing his balding head plate in all its sparkling shame.

"If you didn't like the terms you could have just said so verbally you kno-"

"I'm sorry! I was so excited I accidentally threw the table! TEE-HEE!"

"That's way beyond a cutesy mistake!" He retorted with a pulsing vein. "I didn't think you would be so violent! There is no refinement in your actions at all! Then there was that lunatic fan… I think I have misjudged you." He growled.

"I'm just having a bad day, this isn't how it usually-"

"That's not an excuse. An idol must always be perfect! For how we act reflects on our music as well. And music is the absolute that is not allowed to be tainted… Begone from my sight." He turned away with a raised nose.

Noire quietly stood up and left the room with a shadow covered face.

"What didja say to my girl just now you sheep-shorn background character?" From behind the manager a dreadful monster rose, pushing the broken table off her back like it was nothing.

"Sacrebleu!" His yelp echoed throughout the entire building.


This was all Neptune's fault!

Noire clenched her fists with dismay. To assault her during an interview. That girl had no common sense! Because of her constant attacks she had to move three times already. Not made better by the fact that she was interfering with her job search.

This was the last straw. It was time to set her final defense into motion. She would call her reinforcements for the sake of her dream!

And once she was finished with all that stuff she would make Neptune submit to her and turn her into a splendid wife!

"Kukuku… Haha… ahahahaha!" Noire laughed with outstretched arms like the final boss in an RPG.


"She's pretty fast even though I've never seen her sprint even once. Must preserve the image at all costs or whatever." Neptune rubbed her cramped arms. Climbing buildings was a lot more straining than she remembered.

Since the moment she had told Iffy that she was going to wife Noire, she had not once considered resting. She was like a stalker, but one that doesn't hide and just jumps at the person of their affection. A groupie?

"Marry me Onyx Heart~~" She playfully acted out the scene in her head. At first it was funny, but then she suddenly felt a weird oppressive emotion. She kinda didn't want that to happen with other people. Real groupies could be attacking Noire every day off-screen! Her career choice sure was heart-pounding for many reasons.

But then Neptune put both hands on her waist and laughed. As if some faceless non-character could ever get into a risqué scene with Noire. That would be a total failure of a story.

She stopped in the middle of an intersection to look around. Why did she end up here again?

"My tsundere sense is tingling and it tells me she weeeeent that'a way!" Her curved index fingers were imitating antennas that pointed to the secret apartment. A series of lucky guesses had given her the chance to raid Noire's dungeons, but she kept fleeing at the last second. Which left Neptune with no loot, exp or fiancé.

Something about her approach was probably wrong. She just couldn't tell what it was.

"Ungh!" She walked into someone by accident and snapped out of her thoughts. "Fate made our shoulders collide, but our minds keep our fists from doing the same, right?" Nep joked with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine… Neptune." A very quiet voice answered. It belonged to a girl that for all intents and purposes would have passed as either a homeless person or a gravure model. Or both. The state of her clothing was either beyond repairable or nigh non-existent. Wearing that in public was almost a crime.

It was Tekken!

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite arcade punch meister! Are you cruisin' the world in search for new opponents? Wait wrong franchise." Nep crossed her arms and corrected herself.

"Er… actually, yes." Tekken replied with creased brows and raised her fists. She was wearing those red fingerless gloves with spikes on top… everything was legal in a street fight, huh? Wait wrong franch-

"Must be tough being a martial arts gal. You gotta show me a cool combo sometime, but now I gotta scram! Me and this little guy here have an appointment with a flustered maiden." Nep spun the ring on top of her finger and then clasped it in her hand.

"Why don't I show it to you right now?" Tekken replied ominously. Her quiet voice made the statement just more unnerving. Well it would have, if Neptune was paying attention.

"Is it really cool?"

"I hope so." She nodded.

"….alrighty! Just for a little bit." Nep gave her thumbs up and waited expectantly.

"You are really going to wait and watch?" Tekken was flabbergasted.

"Sure?" Nep was completely trusting.

"Ouuuh… that's why I didn't want to do this…" Tekken let her head sink, looking like she was close to tears. "I don't want to deceive you."

"Eh?! You were trying to deceive me?" She was actually shocked.

"Miss Noire asked me to distract you long enough so she can get somewhere you won't find." She admitted it flat out!

"Waaait a minute! So we were gonna have a brawl? Right here? Right on this street?"

"Huh? N-no I didn't intend to fight you… I just wanted to show you a combo that is really long-"

"What do I look like some kind of street fighter to you?"

"No…"

"Since I'm human now my body doesn't take kindly to volcanoes either, so that part is out of the question too."

"I would never throw you into a volcano…."

"The protagonist doesn't run from a fight though. So bring it on! I won't be the one eating knuckle sandwiches today." Especially because these particular ones were sharp like needles.

"Nnngh…!" Tekken pressed her eyes shut unhappily and raised her arms in a defensive stance. "H-hit me until you are satisfied!"

"What now?" Nep lowered her fists while her eyes turned into lines.

"I don't want to hurt my friends… s-so I will just take your beating until you give up." She declared with a serious (albeit almost inaudible) voice.

"It's pretty much obvious to everyone already, but you really are from that side, huh?" Nep lost almost all will to fight on the spot.

"N-not truuuue!" Her defiant yell was not more than a whisper. She hid her blushing face behind her fists.

"Well nothing ventured, nothing unjustly acquired as they say. Here goes nothiiiing…" Her voice lacked any kind of motivation as she very weakly jabbed at Tekken's arms.

"Ahn!" She moaned on impact.

"Nope. This isn't happening." Neptune waved her arm in denial.

"You are sparing me?" Tekken looked up with tear filled eyes.

"I'm sparing myself from awakening to something weird. So let's call it even." She shrugged and patted Tekken's round head.

"But I can't let you pass until you've defeated me. I owe that to Miss Noire." She was in a real dilemma of interests.

Neptune went into her thinking pose for a few moments and then she flicked her fingers. Without a word she suddenly snatched away the fabric belt from Tekken's waist, proving once and for all that those ripped pants were only held up by basic decency and prayers.

"M-my beeelt!" She squealed. No attempt to hold up her pants though. So she knew it was just an accessory.

"Belts are like really important for martial artists. So if I sport this sucker on my hips, even Noire can't deny that I defeated you completely." Neptune winked while wrapping the belt around her shoulder and waist like an old timey military sash.

"Forgive me…" Tekken was already using the standard lines of a defeated fighter.

"Nice battling it out with you! I really need to run now!" She picked up the pace and sprinted off towards the last signal she got from Noire's dishonesty waves.

"Please be careful Neptune. There will be more like me." Tekken called after the purple haired sprinter, but her voice was too quiet to be heard over that distance.


"Tsk. She got away." Neptune was at a loss. Noire had actually managed to get away in the time it took her to increase her friendship points with Tekken.

But that wasn't a big deal. She already knew Noire's next stop. After breaking i- paying Noire's last apartment a visit, she had taken notes of all her interview locations and coming plans. That was the secret to her pinpointed attacks!

Next was over there…

"Why does this designer brand have a huge garden party?!" Neptune was marveling at the grand opening ceremony in front of the headquarters of the local clothing brand.

It was well visited and the people around here looked like they could afford to buy pretty much any brand product they laid eyes upon. Maybe it was a little too fancy for her tastes, but the snacks were super tasty.

"Gah! Ai shoumnt bwe dwadwing! (Ah I shouldn't be dawdling!)" She swallowed the pastries she had been stuffing her face with and searched for Noire's elusive blue wig.

Just as she was about to give up she saw just the edge of a pigtail move around the corner of a huge hedge. Not wasting time on announcing her find, Nep ran after her. As she turned the corner with outstretched hands, she was shocked to grab nothing. Along the hedge there was a path and to the right she saw the pigtail move the corner again.

No problem. Neptune had trained her legs quite a bit the last few days, she could outrun a cheetah!

Whiff! When she turned the corner she once again grabbed just cool air. More hedges. This was actually kind of confusing…

"Oh neppers. This is a maze, isn't it?" Predictable scenario, highly effective.

"That's it, nyu." A familiar jaded voice tickled Neptune's ears from above.

She looked up and saw Broccoli sitting on her yellow ball buddy, which was placed on top of the tall hedge. In her hand she held a fishing rod… only the bait wasn't a slimy worm.

"You fell for the oldest trick in the book, nyu. Like a kid." Broccoli looked slightly disappointed as she pulled up the blue wig with her line.

"Puchiko! You tricked me!" Neptune exclaimed dramatically.

"I just said that. And it's Broccoli, not Puchiko."

"How could you? And more importantly, why would you?" Nep pointed at her in confusion.

"…Broccoli owes Lady Noire a favor. So she is going to keep you away." The tiny girl sighed and hopped over the hedge. "Good luck finding the exit, nyu."

"Grrr! Playing with a pure heart is the sign of a spoiled character!" She puffed her cheeks. "Too bad for you that I am actually the maze master." Her eyes glinted.

She traced her steps back. For once she had actually been paying attention which turns she took. The image of the fluttering pigtail was burned into her mind. According to the direction of its flow she would be easily able to find her way back!

"That's one hell of a growth spurt." She commended dryly as she met the former entrance that was now tightly overgrown with vines. She couldn't help but blame this one on the cat-eared girl in hiding.

"Like it would be that easy, nyu." Her voice echoed across the maze.

"Time for the easy solution then." The former CPU shrugged.

Mazes were actually really easy to deal with! She just needed one item to beat all of it.

"Time to slice 'n' dice!" She pulled a sword out of her hammer space and cut straight through the closest hedge. It was slowly turned into a nice salad and behind it shone a bright light of promised freedom!

"Bzzt. You chose wrong." Broccoli stood behind the new exit and made a buzzer sound. This wasn't the outside. It was just another path inside the maze.

"Ehhh? But I was so sure this was it." Neptune felt cheated.

"The hedges shift according to my will, nyu. Just be quiet and wait until the party is over." She was lazily resting on Gema and picking her big cat ear with an oversized Q-tip.

"Why you…!" Neptune threw her sword away (it got stuck in some random hedge) and jumped on top of Broccoli.

"Let go, nyuu! I am against violence!"

"I got a violent case of frustrationitis doctor Puchiko, so deal with it!" She grabbed on to the small girl's shoulders and then wrestled the fishing rod out of her grip.

This gave her an idea. She rotated the rod a few times and the threw out the line. It got stuck in a close-by hedge.

"Prepare for take-off." Nep grinned and then used her weight to bounce on Gema a few times.

"This is a bad idea…." Broccoli already knew what was coming next.

Gema bounced on top of the sword stuck into the hedge next to them and then Neptune reeled in the line. Mid-bounce she pulled the three of them across the maze. This was by no means an accurate science or sane for that matter, so they sailed straight into the party grounds behind the maze. In collision course with the fountain.

All hairs on Broccoli's body stood up at the thought of getting splashed into that cold water. In response her eyes turned red and with a ZOOM sound lasers shot from them, straight into the fountain. They vaporized the liquid completely.

Gema hit the dry marble fountain now and bounced with the momentum of a small rocket. Neptune handed the rod to the unprepared Broccoli. She saluted for one last time before they got separated. Broccoli was sent flying back into the maze and Neptune landed on her butt inside the empty fountain.

As a last present for her victory she felt the blue wig fall on top of her head.

Before the water could start flowing again she jumped out of the pond and scanned the environment for any signs of pretty black haired marriage candidates. She spotted a woman that looked extra fancy and important and unintentionally listened in on her conversation.

"Who was that girl? She was wearing a wondrous dress." A mustached gentleman inquired.

"Are you jesting Gerard? That country bumpkin has no sense of fashion! Did you see the amount of frills on her design? 27!"

"Oh how very unfortunate. Not too shabby for an amateur, but no cigar."

"Indeed. If it had been 28 she might have gotten far. I redirected her to one of our subsidiaries."

"Feathers should become popular soon, is it true?"

"Most definitely."

"How perceptive of her then. The feather on the sash was a beautiful detail."

"Are you falling for an amateur's design work?!"

"No milady, your dresses are the only ones I would wear."

"You better not lie to me. I will make sure to test that devotion of yours… in private." She gave him the bedroom eyes.

So Noire was rejected by those snobs. Neptune felt bad for her, but on the other hand… It was those people. Clearly she would be better off making cosplay for people who appreciated it.

Noire's departure put her into a tough spot though. There were no more appointments today and Neptune hadn't sniffed out her new hiding place yet. In other words, she was forced to wait until the next event tomorrow.


In the following days Neptune was forced to face many old friends in mortal combat (not really). To pass by them she stepped over many corpses, but was always one step shy of grasping Noire's hand.

These harsh battles had changed her. At this point she was almost unrecognizable. It was as if she was a different person.

"Who is this new DLC character!?" She yelled in shock while looking at her reflection in some shopping window.

Neptune was wearing the sash from Tekken, the blue wig from Puchiko, the crown from Million Arthur, the boots she took from an overheating Nepgya, the blue jacket that Falcom handed to her after they had a fishing contest and finally the oversized bracelet from God Eater after defeating Abbadon in an eating contest.

This assortment of items had turned her into a new person. She wondered if Noire would even recognize her at this point…

Also what were those fights about anyway? None of her opponents were actually trying to stop her in a conventional way. At some point she might have even just been fooling around.

"Does everyone in Gamindustri owe Nowa a favor or what?" Her list of henchwomen seemed unending. As long as she kept throwing people at her, Neptune was unable to close in.

Maybe that was the answer! She was always fighting them in their domain. She was helpless in their traps, their distance. There must have been other ways to make Noire listen to her proposal.

She looked up into the sky for any clue and was rewarded with a grand idea.


Noire sacked down on a chair inside the dressing room. She was completely beat. Right now she could probably not sing another note.

For the sake of getting scouted she held a concert today. The attending audience actually exceeded five thousand! That was a lot for an underground act like her as the main event. She was confident that this was her best performance yet. This time certainly…

"That was so wonderful! You sang perfectly and your dance moves were beautiful!" K-sha came in with a huge smile and more energy than a nuclear battery. She always came to Noire's concerts, no matter what time or day it happened.

"Obviously, it was my concert." She replied more confidently than she felt.

"I will preserve this forever." K-sha said with a flushed face while looking at her camera. Her pupils were actually shaking in excitement.

Noire laughed dryly at her friend's exaggerated gestures. She had expected something to go wrong again, but this time everything seemed to have worked out fine. There had been no sign of Neptune either.

Maybe she had finally given up?

"Oh my. You need to look at this Noire." K-sha said with a mildly curious voice.

Noire cursed herself for setting up those punchlines every time.

With a disgruntled and wary expression she looked at K-sha's camera recordings. In the background of the stage she could see something slowly creeping into the scene. Above the open air concert stage…

"Is that real?" She asked with a shaking lip.

"I'm afraid so." K-sha nodded.

"She has lost her mind." Noire buried her face in her hands.

"Miss Neptune is really amazing." K-sha praised her wholeheartedly.

"Please… I don't care how, just please stop this." She threw all her pride away and begged of the high school girl earnestly.

K-sha was moved by Noire's trust in her. Her heart wanted to explode!

"I think you should give Miss Neptune a chance, but… I can't refuse a request from Noire." She said with determination.

"…thanks." That was the face of someone who was feeling guilty.


Neptune was enjoying the view from up here. She had even been able to watch the end of the concert like this. Noire was really mesmerizing when she was on stage. Maybe they could sing together again next time.

For now she would be focusing on forcing her girlfriend to accept her proposal though!

She stood up from her seat and grabbed the controls of the zeppelin. With today's technology the entire blimp could be controlled by just one person. The modern world sure was convenient to those who had money!

"Nep-Nep away!" She sang as she turned the steering wheel. It was completely unnecessary, but it felt way better than pressing a button.

Buying this thing was the best idea she ever had. It actually put a dent into her ridiculous mountain of credits that she had gained from her quests a week back, but if this was the final piece to make Noire hers then it would be worth every penny.

It was time to sent the message.

[Yo, can you read this Noire?]

The display on the side of the blimp was showing a glowing red message. K-sha watched it with amusement.

[Doesn't really matter. Everybody else can see it, so you can't run!]

So that was her angle? K-sha folded her hands and smiled. That was a good plan. Noire would be forced to acknowledge it this way. It never had to be done in person or vocally. Although with Miss Neptune's radius she could probably get down here relatively fast after showing off the message to corner Noire even more.

"I'm sorry Miss Neptune. I support you wholeheartedly." She stretched her arms and then crouched down on the rooftop of the concert hall.

[Here I go then! Take my feelings straight from the skies!]

"I just support Noire a teeny bit more." She chuckled.

It was a mistake to put this much build-up into her proposal. Had she just displayed it immediately during the concert, Noire would have been unable to react in time. Even now she was still making a big deal out of it. Too bad.

K-sha aimed her sniper-rifle above with veteran movements.

[Noire, will you marry-]

The bullet hit the sign with perfect precision. The crack was big enough to destroy the entire last word of the display. Sparks were flying out of it.

With that she would have to give up.

But while looking through her scope she noticed something odd. A rolled up cloth was fastened to the side of the blimp. What was that?

And then she could see a tiny silhouette climb out the window at the front of the zeppelin. She was wearing all kinds of odd accessories, but K-sha recognized her as Neptune anyway.

She raised something that reflected the sunlight and blinded her… then the rope was cut and the banner rolled open in the wind.

"That was your plan B?!" She was surprised. The banner was overlapping with the electric display and spelled out the same message. Once it was rolled open completely there was nothing K-sha could do to prevent it from spreading the message across the area.

Almost instinctively she inserted a new bullet into her weapon. This was a bad idea… but she had promised Noire. She promised.

The trigger was pulled only roughly 0.7 seconds after the rope was cut. That was how fast K-sha's reaction time was. There was no way she could shoot the banner off and unlike the display; a single bullet wouldn't create enough damage to destroy the words.

In which case…

The banner went up in flames.

The silhouette hanging out the window panicked and went back inside. This was Miss Neptune's loss.

Using incendiary rounds was dangerous when shooting at a blimp, but it seemed to have gone off without a hitch. K-sha released the air from her lungs. She had kept her breath in for the entire duration of aiming.

"I knew you would appear in front of me eventually K-sharpshooter! Don't think I'm done just yet! The protagonist rises as many times as the plot demands it!" An extremely loud voice echoed across the entire empty concert area.

"Speakers?" She had underestimated Miss Neptune. Because of her initial approach she had assumed it was all about text. A cornered animal was the most dangerous. Especially a fox.

"Try to shoot my voice or whatever, but I'm going to say it now. Listen up Noire, I know you're somewhere down there!"

This was a real problem. She was right that K-sha couldn't shoot down sound waves. And there was no way she would shoot Miss Neptune…

"!" Of course she couldn't shoot her with live ammunition, but what about rubber rounds? She reloaded the rifle and gulped. This was a ridiculous trick shot. She could barely look into the control room's window. In fact she did only see the edge of the megaphone the purple haired girl used.

It had to hit. It just had to.

Her turquoise eye became more focused.

"I'm sorry." She said as she pulled the trigger. Would she really make a habit out of apologizing when shooting at Miss Neptune?

The rubber bullet broke the window and entered the control room. She could only imagine how it hit the megaphone or bounced off the walls. The sound coming from the speakers was pretty self-explanatory.

"Ouch! Ungh… what the nep is going onnnn-?!"

So she had missed the megaphone… K-sha pulled up her sniper-rifle again. Maybe she had enough time for another shot-

Swoosh!

The blimp turned sharply and lost altitude.

"Eh?" K-sha watched it while a single sweat drop ran down her face. The wind moved it down her cheek and made it drop on top of her trigger finger.

That blimp sure was descending fast.

And on fire.

"This is probably a bad time to say this, but how do you repair a flight control system?" Neptune's voice rang across the empty field below. "Also is it just me or does it smell like a factory furnace in here? I heard Lastation's air pollution was bad, but this is-"

BOOM!

The blimp was REALLY on fire now.

"I messed up." K-sha said with a gulp. Hopefully Noire was already out of the building, because the impact wouldn't be pretty.

"Ooooohh this is hoooot! Geh, I can't give up tho! Noire, it's me, your slightly roasted girlfriend! If you are hearing this, well for one, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! And secondly, if I survive this, will you marry-"

BOOM!

More explosions shook the zeppelin.

"Stop it already Miss Neptune!" She was really worried now. But even more than that, she was forced to shut her up! Some sort of fire had also taken hold of K-sha's heart. If this was the ex-CPUs determination, then she had to face it head on!

"-that was loud, woah. As I said, please marry-!" Neptune fell silent as she dodged another rubber bullet.

K-sha kept shooting. The control room was now facing her directly, so her aim was way more accurate. She just needed to keep Miss Neptune busy until she finally jumped out of the blimp. If it descended much further she would be forced to eject!

"You got no chill!" Neptune complained as she ducked under another rubber round.

The huge blimp was coming down straight for the plaza in front of the stage. If the audience had still been here this really would have turned out ugly. Now it would just cause tons of property damage. It was sobering to consider that a positive.

Bang!

She hit the megaphone out of the crazy girl's hands. Maybe it was already too late now. The flying vehicle would crash soon.

"Noire!"

"Goodness…" K-sha's eyes widened. The voice that reached her ears was entirely natural. No amplifier needed. She was actually yelling loud enough to be heard from this distance?!

"No, K-shady!" She changed who she was addressing.

K-sha pulled her scope upwards to look at Miss Neptune, but she couldn't see her anywhere.

"I will admit defeat! Just this once you've beaten my plans!"

Nowhere to be found! The control room was empty. The zeppelin was already falling apart and burning rubble showered the earth.

"BUT! Even if you defeat my plans, you will never defeat me!"

'Where is she? Where is that voice coming from?' K-sha was panicked. No matter where she looked with her scope there was just no hint of… Her pupils shrank and she pulled her rifle away.

The second she looked ahead with her own sight she met with Neptune's rapidly incoming face.

"Surprise landing: Neptune style!" The smaller girl yelled and crashed straight into the sniper.

Their heads collided so hard that K-sha almost passed out! This was even worse than during their fight over Noire a while back.

And the momentum took them further, making them roll all over the rooftop while the blimp exploded in the background, sending a shockwave to blow them away additionally.

When they finally stopped spinning and shaking neither got up.

"We… cough… need to stop facing off over Noire… we always end up battered like one of Tekken's punching bags." Neptune said while looking at the blue sky. A smoke cloud was rising across it.

"Yesh…" K-sha was lying face down and agreed all too emphatically. Both of them were covered in bruises and soot.


Doo-bi-doo-bi-dee-doo.

"Hello and welcome back to Hi Five Radio Extra. With your hosts 5pb. and…"

"Cave." Cave added curtly.

"You are finally back." The idol said with a mix of joy and something else. She was leaning on her fluffy chair with some reservation.

"Is there something amiss?" Cave asked her co-host over the mic.

"How did that mission go? I heard those monsters were really tough." The blue-haired girl evaded.

"I only gave support to the real extermination party. They dealt with the threat swiftly."

"You didn't get hurt… right?"

"I assure you everything is as it should be." The red-head looked at her softly.

"That's a relief. I was a bit worried!"

"The same goes for me."

"You were worried as well?" 5pb. looked at her in surprise.

"Indeed. Just what kind of answer would everyone's idol give to the questions while I was not around?" Cave raised a finger while explaining.

"Hey! You are teasing me again!" She pouted in response.

"Haha." Cave in fact did just chuckle. Both 5pb. and Miss Manager stared at her as if she was an alien. Cave averted her gaze.

"Cave, did you know about this stuff on Chirper? T-the things people say about… uhm… us?" The songstress tapped her fingers together and finally gathered the courage to mention it.

"This is not the appropriate venue to discuss-"

"So you still hide things from me." 5pb. interrupted her with a sad expression.

"…!" Cave's mouth twitched. She appeared to be troubled by her reaction.

"…about those comments. What do you think-"

"Tata-ra-ta! Time for a surprise special guest!" Suddenly Neptune burst through the studio door with a triumphant smile.

"Lady Neptune?!" 5pb.'s eyes turned into sound spikes from shock.

"The one and only! Sorry for hijacking the flirt-sesh, but I got something to announce and you've got the mic that reaches her ears." She sauntered over to the desk and set down next to 5pb.

"Errhm… but… I mean…" Thrown off the normal course of the show, the idol had no way to recover. She was still bad with some social interaction even now.

"Don't worry, it's just for a bit~" Neptune calmed her down with a pat on the back. "What's up people on the other side of the speaker? Everyone's favorite protagonist has something to say as well. This time I ask the question to the one person who has been avoiding it this entire time." She had pulled over one of the microphones and started talking as if it was her birthright.

"Awawa… We have been taken over Cave." 5pb. watched Neptune with a wry smile. "This is somehow exiting, huh?" She turned to Cave who had been silent since Neptune appeared.

She was looking at her phone.

"So to that special someone out there, I know you are listening, because you always listen to this show. You're a fangirl and I think that's cute. Uh… I mean listen up! You know we need to propose eventually. So I'm just gonna do it with everyone in the world listening. That way you know, we fulfill that bet and get it over with in one fell swoop."

"Haaah? Lady Neptune is going to propose?! Live on our show?" She squealed in excitement.

"You betcha! Here I go: Noire, because I can't imagine being with anyone but you for the rest of my life and because I want to…. I ask you, will you marry me?!" She yelled with all her might. This message would cross the world and finally reach the one she loved, no matter what!

She had poured all her emotions into that mic, so it must have worked!

That mic.

That…. Mic…?

Her eyes looked at the wrangled and twisted microphone. It sure didn't look like it could still transfer words, let alone sound waves anywhere.

"I should have known. So you are the last General." Neptune looked up with sharp eyes.

Cave lowered her white gloved hands that had so cruelly destroyed the mic. Her green eyes looked down on Neptune with a neutral glow.

"I owe Lady Noire a favor." She said simply.

"Where did I hear that line before?" Neptune's smile twisted.

"Wha-? Cave, how could you! That was so mean!" 5pb. was devastated.

"Please do not interfere. This is between me and Lady Neptune." Cave acted as unaffected as she could muster.

"Whoops!" Neptune swiftly grabbed another mic and put it to her mouth.

Fwish!

Cave's hand moved like a deadly snake and crushed the mic in Neptune's hands.

"S-stop! Stop destroying our equipment! Miss Manager will cry!" 5pb. jumped at Cave and held her back with her weak arms.

"Ngh…" The usually cool girl was now starting to crumble.

"Nice assist Beeps!" Neptune used that opening to grab hold of the third and last mic standing on the desk. It was the one 5pb. had used and it had a nice blue pattern with a speaker formed like a note.

Cave was in a bad spot. She could not shake 5pb. off without being rough. So instead she dragged herself towards Neptune while carrying her!

"Scary…" Neptune was stunned for a moment just by her penetrating glare. "W-woah! So as I was transmissioning to your ears! Noire, if you love me at all…"

"I have to break you." Cave said cold as ice.

Neptune froze up completely in fear.

Cave grabbed the mic out of her hands.

"This thing that is." She added with a normal aura.

"Are you sure?! Because that was one heck of a villainous line!" Nep wiped her cold sweat. Seeing the mic in Cave's hands she had basically lost. She was just gonna snap it-

"Cave no! Please… not that one…" 5pb. (who was still hanging on to Cave's back) suddenly whimpered. She was… crying.

The red-head stopped any movement and cramped up.

"You… you gave it to me… As a present. R-remember? I was so happy… You wouldn't just… break something so important….right?" Her words were more begging than certain.

"…." Cave's face contorted. Clearly she was at her limit as well.

"My chance!" Nep left her paralysis and aimed for the mic.

"Please…"

"!" Neptune stopped her hands.

"I beg of you Lady Neptune." It was Cave who was pleading. "Do not make me hurt her feelings." She was still holding the mic in a tight grip. If she applied any pressure it would snap. Right now Cave was split between her duty to Noire and her feelings for 5pb.

Neptune looked at them with realization.

"You're right." Neptune stumbled backwards. Her legs had no sensation. "What am I even doing?"

"Thank you." Cave's shaking hands set the microphone down.

Vrrrm.

Cave's cell phone vibrated once more. She uneasily picked it up and read the message. Then she pointed the screen towards Neptune.

[Let's settle this at that place. Just the two of us.]

Noire had heard every word said here. She must have felt the same way as Neptune.

"We're pretty dumb. Sorry for getting you mixed up in this." Neptune acted chipper and moved out of the studio with a smile, but she was walking rather stiffly.

"Yes, I knew about what the people were saying. And no, it does not bother me. My feelings are clear no matter what anyone has to say." Cave suddenly answered the question that the songstress had asked her at the beginning. She tenderly put her down on the chair where the sobbing girl could rest. "The strongest feeling I have is that I do never want to see you cry." She added with a pained expression.

The atmosphere had calmed down, but nothing seemed right.

"A question has been answered. Our work here is done. 5pb. is plugging out." She sat down next to 5pb. while music played.

"I… I'm fine already. Sorry for crying. I'm still such a baby." She wiped her face on a handkerchief and smiled while apologizing.

"The way you express your emotions so freely…. It is what I adore about you." Cave said quietly.

"Wha-?!" Her heart skipped a beat.

"I wanted to speak my mind as well it seems." Cave turned away and covered her mouth with one hand. Was she… flustered?

The Manager was standing in the back with a look that was stuck between a migraine and mental burnout. 'Every day with this show.' One could almost hear her say it.

(To be continued)