Chapter 12: The Land of Purple Progress
It was a quiet and less than cheerful mood that festered between Mars, Black Sister and Black Heart as they made their way towards Planeptune, passing the eastern border between the countries of Planeptune and Lastation. Grassy plains littered the landscape below the group as they flew through the sky, in the distance towards the southwest there were the shapes of a mountain range and a large, dense, green forest surrounding it to its eastern direction. A large and long river that led from the centre of Gamindustri down to the sea flowed directly below the group; the water in the river came from the snowy mountain peaks of the Snowy Mountains, the tallest mountain range in all of Gamindustri, and it was located directly in the centre of the continent.
Mars was being carried Black Sister as they and Black Heart flew through the bright afternoon sky, however, the senior CPU of Lastation was far from happy about the notion of her younger sister carrying the young man, let along being even in direct contact with him. After the incident earlier in the morning the group had returned to Lastation City where Noire had a video call with Histoire, explaining the whole situation to the tome fairy of Planeptune. Uni was recovering properly in her room while Mars was detained in his room, waiting for Noire's verdict, he hoped that it would not be harsh since the young man had no idea how his power - when active around his body - could even disrupt the flow of energy and life of a CPU. When he was told by Kei that Histoire thought it was time to finally meet him face to face Mars decided to go along with the idea.
The young man glanced over to his right and saw Black Heart staring sternly ahead of her, but when she turned her head around to face him all that Mars could see was abject distrust and possibly even a hint of hatred. Mars looked away and glared at whatever was in front of him, his anger beginning to grow, a slight growl escaped his mouth. Black Sister, who still trusted Mars to an extent, looked down at the young man she was carrying. "You alright there? I thought I heard you growl just before," she asked him, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her.
"Hmm? Nah, I'm fine. At least, I would be completely fine if Noire wasn't a complete bitch towards me," Mars replied venomously.
Black Sister sighed in response. "Don't be harsh with Noire, she's just looking out for me is all, plus you are a handful you know."
"I get that, but does she have to be a complete ass towards me? I don't deal well with people who think highly of themselves and shatter other people's minds, arrogance is something I hate, and if your sister keeps this kind of anger filled attitude towards me then things may not end well between us." Mars then let out a depressing sigh and continued to glare at everything before him, ignoring the fact that Black Heart could hear their conversation.
"I can hear you," Black Heart informed Mars, her tone indicating how displeased she was with Mars.
"And I don't care, you stuck up bitch."
The haughty CPU of Lastation growled and swiftly flew ahead in a quickened pace in order to get further away from Mars, she did not take kindly to being called a 'stuck up bitch'. As Black Heart got further ahead the young man heard the Lastation Candidate sigh in a less than amused tone. "Mars, why did you have to go and say that?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes at the young man. "You shouldn't speak to Noire like that, whether I am around or not."
"I cannot help it, Uni, your sister has been a complete pain and thorn in my side ever since the incident, especially when we got back to the Basilicom. She's damn too protective towards you, hell, she wouldn't even let me go near you until you made her relent that decision."
Unknown to Mars, due to his lack of vision behind him, Black Sister's expression became depressed, as if she was uncertain about some things or believed in something that was making her feel saddened. "You think that, but I doubt that's the case at all. Like that would ever happen."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Mars asked, wondering why the Lastation Candidate was sounding more depressed than usual.
"N-Nothing, just ignore my banter."
The young man would have attempted to press more information out of the CPU Candidate, but he decided not to go ahead with that idea, instead he opted to remain silent for the rest of the journey to Planeptune. As they moved forward through the cool sky he thought that his decision not to press the conversation any further was a good idea, it seemed that Black Sister was not in a mood to talk due to whatever the young man had said just a bit earlier, either that or she was getting angry at him for arguing with Black Heart and calling the senior CPU a bitch. Under normal circumstances he would usually just let the whole matter go and forget about it, but it was different this time. This time Mars did not feel like letting the matter with Noire dry up and be forgotten, he now felt an absolute hatred for the patron CPU of Lastation, at least he thought that.
Soon enough the capital of Planeptune came into sight, from a it looked rather wondrous with all of its bright and colourful buildings, streets and its overall setting. It had not been the first time Mars visited Planeptune, in fact over the last two years the young man had constantly stopped off at the capital of the most laidback country in all of Gamindustri, mainly for cheap supplies and because the weather happened to be more to his liking, although the young man would always return to Lastation at some point. The closer they got to the city the more skyscrapers, convenience stores, apartments and houses could be seen. The city was alive and bustling with people as they roamed down the many streets, cars, buses and motorbikes drove down roads and the restaurants were filled to the brim with people as they ate away, enjoying their afternoon tea. Overall things seemed peaceful enough.
As the group passed over the city and headed towards the Planeptune Basilicom Mars could feel the confused and intense stares from the people below, the young man glanced downward and saw several Planeptunian citizens looking up at him with wonder, it was obvious that they were not used to seeing other CPUs carrying humans around from place to place. Mars did not seem to care, instead opting to look back at the large and tall building that was known as the Planeptune Basilicom. It was tall, incredibly tall, even for a Basilicom. A light purple, white and creamy large building with many levels and rooms, several small balconies were placed around the building with one big balcony higher up in front of a big glass door; that was where the group seemed to be heading for. Down below on the ground around the base of the Basilicom there appeared to be a garden of sorts.
As Mars, Black Sister and Black Heart flew up to the large balcony they all saw Neptune run out alongside Nepgear onto the white balcony, their bright and happy gazes directed towards the group as they neared. As they landed and reverted back to their human forms - Uni and Noire respectively - the Planeptune sisters approached them, although Neptune decided to jump at Noire, catching her in a tight hug that sent both crashing down onto the bright, white stone. However, as Neptune tackled Noire the raven haired tsundere let out a girlish cry as she landed on her back with the purple goddess beside her, giggling away like a hyperactive little kid.
Whoa, that noise from Noire was actually kinda cute. I like it. Mars thought, his eyes widening with surprise, he also failed to notice his cheeks were burning up in a blush. Uni looked over at the young man and narrowed her eyes at him, not liking how he stared at her older sister.
"Wh-Wh-What the hell, Neptune?! Wh-Why did you just tackle me out of nowhere?!" Noire exclaimed in a frustrated tone.
"Cause it's fun to see you go all tsun, my dear Nowa," Neptune replied, laughing as she got onto her knees, tears almost forming in the corners of her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, pain starting to grow due to the laughter.
"My name is not 'Nowa', I keep telling you that for crying out loud! Why don't you ever remember that?!" Noire growled as she got back onto her feet, dusting off any particles from her dress.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that, don't worry about it all." Neptune stood up and grinned brightly at the Lastation CPU. "Now then, come on inside. We've got a whole lot of hours of gameplay to get started on!"
As the group entered the Basilicom proper Nepgear chuckled nervously. "Um, Neptune, I don't think that is what Uni, Noire and Mars are here for. Wouldn't it be better for them to see Histoire first with whatever they have to see her for before they stay for a while playing games?"
Noire nodded, agreeing with Nepgear. "That is completely correct, Nepgear, we are here to see Histoire and not to play games. So, Neptune, is Histoire in her office? I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible, and I need her to advice me about some matters."
"Hmph. As in 'advice on some matters' you mean whether Histoire thinks it's a good idea to kick me out of your Basilicom," Mars muttered, glaring at the patron CPU of Lastation.
Before Noire could respond with some sort of angry reply Uni butted in and knocked Mars on the head with one of her tightly clenched fists, giving the young man a vicious look that made him shut up. Neptune, who was walking just ahead and happened to watch Mars and Uni, chuckled and stared at them with a cheeky look. "Hehehehe, I guess I now know who owns the man pants in your relationship," Neptune chuckled, giving Uni a wink.
Mars and Uni looked at Neptune, confused at first before they both caught her meaning. The young man sighed and facepalmed while Uni blushed madly, waving her hands around while stammering in an attempt to reason with the purple goddess. Noire, meanwhile, was almost fuming. "What the hell are you implying, Neptune?!" Noire exclaimed, her arms crossed in front of her as she berated the sniggering goddess before her. "Like hell I would let Uni be in a relationship this is guy!"
"E-E-Exactly! I-I-I would n-never be in a relationship with Mars! That would be completely stupid!" Uni agreed with Noire adamantly.
"How nice, getting what's left of my confidence and throwing it into the trash," Mars said in a depressed tone, almost saying it sarcastically. Despite Mars saying it sarcastically his words pierced Uni and made the Candidate feel a little guilty for apparently crushing the last vestiges of Mars' self confidence, she glanced away and sighed depressingly.
Nepgear, who noticed how Uni was feeling, patted her back to make her feel a little more better. However, Noire did not seem to care about whether her younger sister was feeling guilty about apparently trashing the self confidence of Mars, instead the senior CPU seemed to revel in Mars' words, believing that she was now on top again. Noire chuckled and grinned at the young man. "Well then, at least you now know how we all feel about you," Noire gleefully said. "Know your place, Mars."
Mars, however, glanced at Noire with a wicked look in his eyes, his voice filled with a sarcastic tone. "Is that so? And here I thought you were being all nice to me, you big ol' tsun."
The raven haired CPU glared at Mars, almost fuming with anger as she gripped her fists, baring her clenched teeth at the young man. Uni could not help but slightly chuckle as quiet as she could, finding the teasing and cheeky attitude of Mars to be amusing. Nepgear chuckled and scratched her head while her older sister, Neptune, merely laughed, unable to control herself as she fell to the floor, pointing and laughing at the raven haired goddess. "Hahahahaha! You just got wrecked! Hahahahaha!" Neptune laughed uncontrollably, almost crying.
Noire, meanwhile, was clearly not amused with either Mars or Neptune, most specifically the young man. "Dammit, Mars! Why do you always have to annoy me for no apparent reason?!"
"Because it's fun, oh, and you deserve it sometimes," Mars replied with a serious tone, clearly not amused with Noire along with her past actions and words.
The raven haired tsundere turned away and sat down on the light purple couch that was situated nearby in front of a large TV screen with a Planeptunian console on the ground, four controllers laid side by side and a bin was in the corner with many empty pudding cups deposited inside. Noire sat down on the couch, crossed her arms and pouted with a glaring look across her face, her day had only gone bad to worse in her opinion. The Lastation CPU would occasionally glance at Mars and glare at him, it was plainly obvious to him that she completely and utterly did not trust him after the incident earlier that day concerning his red energy and Uni.
As Noire sulked to herself on the couch Neptune managed to get back onto her feet and looked over at Mars, a faint smile was on her face as she stared at the young man. "Whoa, you must have pissed Noire off immensely if you managed to get her like this. Whatcha do?" Neptune asked, nearing the brown haired man with bright, wide eyes and a curious smile.
Mars, unwilling to talk about the situation that occurred, rubbed the back of his head nervously and glanced away towards Uni, looking to see if she was paying attention to their conversation. The Lastation Candidate was indeed paying close attention to Mars' and Neptune's conversation, she looked at the young man and glanced away, thus not giving him a clear indication on whether or not to answer truthfully to Neptune's question. In the end Mars gave an answer. "Well, it doesn't really matter right now, Neptune, but I would rather talk to Histoire first it it is all the same to you," the blue eyed man replied, not giving the answer to the purple goddess.
Neptune seemed to be unhappy that the young man did not give her a good answer, but she cast it all aside with a carefree shrug. "Meh, whatever. Doesn't matter to me right now. So, how 'bout a few rounds of gaming to calm everyone down? We only have four controllers so one of us will have to sit out," Neptune said, relaxing her muscles and backing off slightly. She then looked over at Noire and smirked at her, the troll face activating. "Guess that means you're out, Noire."
"Why me?! Why not Mars or yourself?!" Noire retorted, her anger and dejectedness merely rising.
Before either Neptune or Mars could respond to the angry, raven haired goddess the group was interrupted by a lone figure who floated into the living room, her voice was full of wisdom yet her tone at that moment was one filled with annoyance. "Just what is going on out here?! Neptune! Explain yourself!"
The voice belonged to a small figure atop an open tome, the book itself was of a dark blue colour with gold lining and the words written on the pages could not be read by anyone save the young looking woman in question herself. The woman had blonde and blue eye girl, she was wearing a wide white hat with a purple N in the centre, light blue and purple pieces were attached to the sides, two blue and white tips on a set of wings were attached to her back; whether she was actually able to fly was another matter altogether. She was also wearing a purple dress with gold and blue lining, white stockings, white shoes with a black and blue circle on them and white cuffs on the sleeves, what looked like a light blue tie was hanging down from her neck. As soon as she saw Noire, Uni and Mars the young looking woman appeared to calm down and regain her posture.
"Oh my, I apologise for my sudden outburst just now," the blonde woman apologised, bowing her head downwards. When the woman locked eyes with Mars she seemed to be confused. "My apologies for not knowing who you are, but what is your name?"
"Mars. My name is Mars," the young man responded. "I take it you are this Histoire that I have heard about?"
Histoire nodded. "Yes, that is correct. I must say, you do not look like how Noire described you, partially at least. You look more… sadder than I thought, as if you have been through some life changing events that have left a large impact on your state of mind. Something sad happened, and now your expression is a mix of sadness, anger and grief. Am I right?"
Mars felt uncomfortable about what Histoire had just said, the fact that the tome fairy had just figured out a large aspect of the young man's life was unsettling for him, and the looks he received from everyone else in the room was uncomfortable. Eventually Mars sighed and rubbed his temples before replying. "I'd rather talk about that another time, if it's all the same to you," Mars replied, his tone was full of mixed feelings.
"Well I would rather like to hear it," Noire said with an interested tone of voice. "Well, explain yourself already, Mars."
The young man looked over at Noire and glared at her. "My personal life is my own business, not yours, so stay out of it!" The young, brown haired man then returned his attention towards Histoire. "I understand that you want to talk about all of this to me today, but I do not feel like talking about it. If we must discuss about it then can it be another time? Today… isn't the best day for it, especially with what happened."
Histoire sighed and seemed to understand what Mars was talking about. "I understand, I had heard from Noire and Kei about what happened. While I would personally like to talk about it I can understand if you feel uncomfortable about discussing it right now, from what I heard it sounds as if even you do not know what caused such a thing to happen. If it makes you feel better we can talk about it tomorrow, a fresh mind will put a better perspective on the matter."
Neptune, who did not fully understand what Mars or Historie were talking about, was nonetheless delighted that Mars, Uni and Noire would be staying the night. She jumped in the air and pummeled her right fist upwards in a victory pose. "Yahoo! Finally, we can play games all night long! Let's-a-go!" The purple goddess grabbed Mars by the left wrist and dragged him over to the couch where Noire was, forcing him to sit down in the centre she then sat down to his left with the raven haired tsundere far to his right, grabbing two controllers beforehand. "Now then, let's play some games! Come on over, Nep Jr and mini Noire. Sorry, Noire but it looks like you're being left out this time"
As Noire pouted furiously to herself Mars felt as if had little room to argue, or to complain. As Uni and Nepgear walked over to the couch the voice of Histoire filled the room. "Not for you, Neptune. There are still many reports to fill out if you have forgotten, a whole lot of paperwork is waiting to be signed and I am not doing all of it. As a CPU it is your duty to rule your nation as a benevolent ruler, not a carefree gamer who couldn't give a toss about governing. Now come with me."
Neptune grumbled and pouted as she gripped her controller tightly, glancing at Histoire the purple goddess made her distaste for work clearly known. "Ah come on, Histy. Can't you just let me off this time? We have guests you know. Plus, I really don't like paperwork and all."
This did not go down well with the tome fairy. Histoire approached the group and stared sternly at Neptune, her expression turning into one full of anger. "You. Will. Sign. Paperwork. Now!" Histoire then grabbed Neptune by the wrist and dragged her off to the tome's office, the CPU of Planeptune protested the whole way without stop. She looked over at the group and pleaded for them to help her, but that was not forthcoming. Mars and Noire showed little interest in helping Neptune, Uni seemed exhausted just from Neptune's actions while Nepgear smiled nervously and waved goodbye. That was the last they saw of Neptune and Histoire that day.
Despite what had just happened things went on normally enough for the group as the afternoon died away. The sounds of fingers tapping against buttons on controllers, the stamping of feet and the occasional raised voices were all that could be heard throughout the entire Basilicom. Mars, Uni, Nepgear and Noire were all playing a first-person shooter game similar to the one Mars and Vert fought on. The game randomised the teams, to Mars' and Noire's disappointment they were placed into the same team while Uni and Nepgear were on the opposite team, after the two teams were placed onto a map filled with the ruins of a city the match started. Uni and Nepgear, who were used to working together due to their many years as friends, had the advantage when it came to teamwork and were prepared to thrash the opposite team.
Mars and Noire, due to the complications between them, were not prepared to work together, no sense of teamwork emitted from the two of them nor could it seem possible. Noire refused to cooperate with the young man while Mars himself preferred to go it out alone, hoping that he could score a few kills before ultimately losing - he had come to the conclusion that defeat was inevitable due to the lack of teamwork. As the sun lowered in the western horizon the roof lights activated, lighting up the living room and the nearby kitchen. Meanwhile, a deadly duel between two snipers was ongoing as the match continued. Mars and Uni had encountered each other once more on the field of battle and now they were battling it out via long range rifles, both barely hitting their targets.
"Come on, come on," Mars muttered as he aimed down the scope from a ruined window, his target - Uni - was just on the other side in another building; the sounds of gunshots rang through the air as Noire and Nepgear met out in the open, firing their chosen weapons at each other. It was the only time that Uni and Nepgear had split off from each other during the entire game, and neither Mars or Noire were going to let it slide.
As Mars and Uni fought it out from long range the situation was very different for the other two combatants, Noire and Nepgear. The two CPUs, one patron and one Candidate, battled it out in the open for dominance of the battlefield, using their surroundings as cover while trying to get another kill. The raven haired goddess of Lastation was hiding her character behind a large, broken stone wall, she was holding an SMG and a grenade on standby, she was waiting for the right moment to attack Nepgear and score a kill point. Then the moment came. Noire launched out from behind her cover and ran into the open, which was a street with numerous small craters and collapsing buildings, at the other end was Nepgear who had also come out of hiding. The two locked eyes through their characters and began the attack, guns blazing and grenades blowing up.
"Time to win!" Noire exclaimed boastfully, firing her SMG at the running Nepgear, she managed to get a few hits and blood splatted onto the ground as Nepgear's character got behind cover. To the tsundere's shock her purple haired opponent had thrown a grenade at her, landing it just beside Noire. The Lastation CPU had little time to get her character out of the area before the grenade exploded, almost killing Noire's character while also sending dust everywhere, covering the screen.
"Sorry, Noire, but a game's a game," Nepgear apologised as she ran over and aimed her rifle at her opponent while she was dazed and confused. Bue the final shot never occurred, at least for her. A gunshot coming from one of the buildings rang through the speakers as Nepgear's character fell face first to the ground dead.
Noire looked up at the building where the bullet came from and saw Mars' character looking out towards her, sniper rifle in hand. Then another gunshot rang through the air and Mars fell from the building, a bullet through his head. The same quickly happened for Noire, ending the match and effectively the game. Mars' and Noire's team had lost with an affirmed thirty deaths and sixteen kills, Uni's and Nepgear's team had sixteen deaths and thirty kills. It was clear who had won and who had lost. Mars sighed in annoyance and threw his controller down beside him, the young man walked over to the kitchen and began to scrounge through the fridge without permission, not that he really needed it in the first place.
"Well, congratulations and all that crap," Mars said without a care. He was kneeling down on the ground as he rummaged through the Nep sister's fridge. "Now then, is there any damn Nepsi in here?"
Uni sighed and shook her head, a small smile had formed on her face. Nepgear chuckled and stood up, walking over to the young man she began to dig through the numerous puddings and Nep Bull in the fridge to find a large, unopened bottle of Nepsi. "I found one, Mars," Nepgear informed the young, blue eyed man as she emerged out of the fridge with the prize in her right hand.
"Thanks," was all Mars said as he gently took the fizzy drink and walked back to the couch, sitting down next to Uni on his left and where Nepgear sat on his right, he opened the plastic bottle and began to chug down the soft drink at an alarming rate. Nepgear soon returned with a bowl of chips which she placed down on the small coffee table in front of them before sitting back down.
As Noire and Mars leaned forward to grab some chips the young man saw the raven haired CPU whisper something to him. "Thank you for saving me during the last match," Noire whispered to him as quietly as she could. Mars nodded in response, the corners of his lips tried to form a smile but failed, although Noire understood what he was trying to do. Noire smiled as she leaned back with a handful of chips, the hatred that bubbled between her and Mars was slowly becoming void and empty.
Night had finally fallen over all of Gamindustri and the city of Planeptune was asleep, cars had stopped moving and people were fully asleep, it was quiet and peaceful in the city of pudding. Inside the Basilicom things were also quiet, for everyone was fast asleep, at least that was what it seemed like. Strolling through one of the darkly lit corridors of the Basilicom was the CPU Candidate of Lastation, Uni. The raven haired, red eyed CPU was walking down the corridor back towards the guest room that housed her for the night, a bottle of water was held in her left hand. She was wearing a black nightgown with several layers, black socks and a sleepy look was on her face, her hair was still tied up in two tails.
"Wish I brought a torch with me," Uni mumbled to herself as she turned a corner. "It's almost too dark to see, wasn't like this before, I think so. Maybe I'm just a little too sleepy and my sight is fading because of that. Huh? What's this?"
As Uni passed one of the guest room she noticed that one of the room lights was one, as the Candidate neared it she could hear the mumbling of some muffled words. It sounded like Mars. The raven haired Candidate pressed an ear against the door and attempted to listen to whatever the young man was rambling about. All she could hear was: "Sleep, I need sleep, yet I'm afraid of what would happen if I did."
What's Mars talking about? Is something wrong with him all of a sudden? Sleep… could it have something to do with the lack of sleep he mentioned earlier today? That would explain the quick remark about sleeping pills as well. Uni thought, pressing herself against the door in order to hear more of what he was saying. Eventually the Candidate heard the young man grumble loudly in annoyance. Uni grimaced and opened Mars' door, revealing the young man sitting on a bed with a leather bound book and pen. "Sorry, Mars, but I saw your light on and wondered what was wrong," Uni said to MArs, poking her head through the doorway.
Mars swiftly looked up at Uni and quickly closed the book he was writing in, a surprised expression adorned his face. The young man was wearing a shirt and light shorts that Histoire had bought for him. "Oh, er, h-hi, Uni. I wasn't expecting you out this late. Why were you out there?"
"Like I said, I was just passing by when I noticed your light was on, and I heard you mumbling to yourself. What's wrong?"
As Uni fully entered the room and slightly closed the door behind her Mars had hidden his book and pen somewhere, he then turned his full attention over to the Lastation Candidate. "I'm fine, Uni, really."
"If that was the case then why were you mumbling about getting some sleep?" Uni carefully sat down on Mars' bed, her feet hanging off the side while her arms were to her side, her hands were up against the bedsheets beneath her. "Just tell me what's wrong, n-not that I care or anything."
The young man looked dubiously at Uni before sighing in defeat. "Well, I suppose I can tell you this. I am having trouble getting to sleep, in fact I haven't slept for almost four days. It's getting troublesome, although sometimes I just don't want to sleep."
"Bad dreams?" Uni asked. The slight nod from Mars was enough of a reply for the Candidate. "Thought so. Do these bad dreams have something to do with this mysterious past of yours?"
Mars glanced away, his fingers tightening around his shorts. "I'd rather not talk about that, please. And before you ask, no, I do not want to talk to you about my past."
"Will you at some point?" Uni stared at Mars as she asked him, her fingers twiddling and a concerned expression on her face. When Mars shrugged the Candidate knew that was the only answer she would get out of him for a while. "Well anyway, I better leave you to it. Try to think of good and happy thoughts while attempting to go to sleep. Goodnight, Mars."
As Uni stood up and was about to leave the room Mars managed to chuckle, glancing over to her as she looked back at him. "Heh, I had no idea you were so caring towards me. You ol' mini tsun." The young man found the look he received from the Candidate made him smile on the inside.
"Th-Th-The h-hell, Mars?! D-D-Don't just say things like that out of the blue!" Uni quickly left Mars' room and closed the door behind her, but as she leaned up against the door she sighed and a small smile formed on her face. The Candidate began to walk away when she noticed Mars' room light turn off and the sounds of the bed slightly squeaking, indicating that the young man was now in bed. As Uni reached her room the smile on her face did not disappear, instead as she re-entered her bed the Lastation Candidate was secretly hoping that Mars would be alright. Goodnight, Mars. I hope you sleep well.
A/N: Took me a while to complete this chapter, I had other matters to deal with at first before I managed to get back to this. I'm still taking things slowly with the plot as well as the growing relationship between characters, especially Mars and Uni. Although, it seems that things between Mars and Noire appear to be brightening up, slightly at least. I do not know when the next chapter will be out, but once I get the next chapter completed for my main fanfic I will be sure to get the next one for this done as soon as I can. Anyway, if you have any suggestions them do please inform me and have a good day if you can.