A/N:
Celestial: Hello everyone, tis I, the CelestialSkyDragon. It has been quite a long time since I have updated this story. A lot of things have happened in that time, a lot of stories have been written, and a lot of awesome things have happened. For one, Kingdom Hearts 3 finally fucking released! Woohoo! With this, it has given me a spark that I needed, one that I needed to continue this story.
However, I will be working on some other things alongside this story. So expect slow updates. Don't kill me haha. With this update, I will say that I will be exanding on the Kingdom Hearts half of this story. I have been planning on adding more worlds to this story for awhile. Now, I finally get to expand on the story a bit. Not just Hyperdimension, but also on the Kingdom Hearts lore of the story. I'm not gonna connect it to Kingdom Hearts, but it will use some lore from the series, mostly the Keyblade War, the Foretellers and that junk. I might even tie it into Kingdom Hearts 3, maybe, I haven't decided.
For now, I'm using this chapter to see if there's an interest in this story. I know a few of you are asking me to continue, or were wondering if this was dropped. It wasn't, I just burned out for a long ass time haha. But I will continue this for now while the spark is alive, so I do hope you enjoy what I come up with. Until then, see you later.
Neptune: Hey, let out!
Celestial: Quiet Neptune! I'll let you out next chapter!
Hyperdimension Neptunia Hearts
Chapter 20
Flamboyant Peeping Toms
Akira was fuming. The fact that someone had the balls to sneak into Noire's office was enough to piss him off. He was walking down the streets of Lastation, following the general direction of the IP Address Phosphorous had located. Shortly behind him was Vista, who was looking at her tablet intently, scanning the nearby buildings with a small scanning device that had been attached to the headphone jack. Phosphorous was aiding her search radius, making the incoming signals much stronger. Nepgear, Uni, the twins and Peashy were following closely behind, all of them lost in conversation.
Uni was in much the same state as Akira, completely and utterly pissed. When the boy had told her that someone had planted a camera within the room, she had admitted to placing one of Nepgear's cams on a shelf, to find out what her sister had been doing. But when he said that someone else had done it, she had gotten extremely angry. It took her quite a lot not to shoot into the sky, trying to find the source of it. She glanced over at Nepgear, who was looking at a device she was holding in her hand.
"Hey Nepgear, what's that in your hand?"
"Oh this? It's a portable signal locator...all growing girls should carry one of these around. I built it from some spare parts I had lying around, I didn't think I would have to use it." she said. She twisted the knob on the bottom of it, glancing back at the screen.
"You sound like those stuffy old men selling stuff to people at 3 am. Although, I'm sure something like this would come quite in handy." Uni said.
"I still can't believe some dummy put a camera in Noire's room. They must be a pervert, especially if they did it to spy on her!" Ram said.
"Yeah, they're gross and creepy. They probably wanted to see pictures of her in the shower." Rom added.
"Ew gross! Meanie perverts need to die!" Peashy cried, earning a few chirps from Cratchie, who was cradled firmly in her hands.
"I agree with you there kiddo...When I find the fucker that did this and I'm snapping his neck in half. No one peeps on my girl and gets away with it."
"Whoa, Akira is pissed...I don't think I want to get in his path right now." Nepgear said, shuddering a bit.
"I think I'll help him." Uni added.
Akira stopped mid stride, looking up into the sky. He cupped his hands over his eyes to block all of the light around him. He caught the familiar blue wings belonging to his girlfriend. He smiled a bit, seeing her along with the other CPUs. She glanced down at him, giving him a wave before disappearing behind some buildings.
"Looks like we're not the only ones looking. Come on, they went this way." Akira said, breaking into a sprint up a side street.
"Wait...how do you know they're even looking for the same person we are?" Vista cried, only to see the boy disappear.
"Man, he's really fast. Vert told me the story of how he ran off after Underling when she stole Lyrica's guitar, but I didn't think he was that fast." Nepgear said.
"Oh yeah, Shujin Stride is fierce with that one." Uni said, following after the boy.
Akira jumped over some fallen trash cans, following the road ahead of him as it went down hill. Lastation's Industrial District was one that he always tried to avoid. It was the dirtiest area in the otherwise beautiful city. It was littered with large facilities belonging to different factories. All around him, tall smokestacks rose into the air, some billowing out black smoke from the fossil fuels they had been burning. A light smog always lingered in this area, making the visibility rather obscure in this area.
There were some abandoned buildings as well, brick and mortar buildings from when Lastation was still in its Industrial Period. Most of the abandoned factories had been taken over by homeless, vagrants and other questionable people, but they mostly shied away. Noire had done her best to situate everyone in a proper home or shelter, but somehow they always ended up back in this place. If he had to compare this area of Lastation to anything, he would compare it to Philadelphia back in the early 20th Century, when Iron and Steel were becoming the norm in America.
He reached the end of the street, looking around for a few seconds, glancing down the other side of the street. He saw a faint flash not far from where he saw, and started moving toward it. In front of him was abandoned factory, the large scale building was left in a state of disarray, the windows had been completely shattered and broken, glass having fallen all over the place. The tall smokestacks had been knocked down, only the iron rebar stuck out, marking the area where they once stood. There was a pair of rusted iron gates in front of him, blocking him from going inside.
"Creepy...as far as abandoned places go, this one gets a six. There's a faint trace of share energy here, so this is definitely the place." he muttered. He tested the gates, seeing they were firmly locked. He stepped back, summoning his keyblade.
Taking aim at it, the lock flashed brightly as a small golden beam flew into it. The light pulsed through the lock, spinning in a circle as it unlocked the gates. He allowed the weapon to disappear as he pushed the gates open, the loud creak of the rusted gate filling his ears.
"Man, this gate needs to be oiled...sheesh." he said, taking a few steps into the lot. He glanced around, not seeing any cameras in the area.
He didn't feel safe however, feeling as if he was being watched. He pressed himself against the wall, creeping up the wall, using the shadows to his advantage. He looked around for something to use, spotting a cardboard box not that far from his reach. He smirked, walking over to it.
xxx
"Are you sure this is where the signal told us to come?" Neptune asked, glancing around the building.
"Of course, Vista's technology is the best in all of Leanbox." Vert said, reassuringly.
"Still, I can't believe someone would actually go that far. Hacking Lastation's satellites? What purpose do you think they have?" Blanc asked, earning a low growl from Noire, who had remained quiet the entire time.
"I'm not sure, but when I find the little creep, I'm going to give them a thrashing they won't soon forget!"
"Hey wait a darn minute. There's something not right here!" the Planeptune goddess said, causing the three to stop.
"What are you talking about?"
"That...right there." she said, pointing to a nearby stack of boxes. All of them were stacked neatly, except one that was obviously jutting out. Blanc, Noire and Vert just shared a look, not at all knowing what to say.
"Those are boxes."
"Well no duh they're boxes! I just saw one of them move!" the purplette cried, pointing toward the stack.
"Are you sure you aren't just hallucinating? I mean, you did skip eating a cup of pudding."
"Blanc, just ignore her. Neptune is just trying to derail our search, we've got too much to worry about." Noire said, retaking the lead of the group. Vert shrugged, deciding to follow after her fellow goddess. Blanc however couldn't help but stare at the boxes, a low hum leaving her lips.
"You know...something tells me there's someone or something underneath this box. However, I haven't the time to investigate it. Come along Neptune."
"I'll get you next time box." she muttered, wagging her finger at the box before she left. Once gone, the box let out a sigh.
"That was far too close for comfort. I know Noire wants to take this bastard out by herself, but I've got to find him before she does." Akira said softly. He pulled the box over his head, glancing around for a moment before dashing forward. He heard the Goddesses' voices coming from the right, so he decided to take a left instead.
He reached a stairwell and he started climbing up toward the next floor. He paused when he reached the top, avoiding the lasers that were shining in all directions. He growled, kneeling down using the box as a cover. He looked through the tiny slat, noticing the bots that were currently floating around.
They were blue in color, looking a bit bigger than the red scandroids he was used to taking out. These had a ring spinning around their bodies, unlike the Zwerg Scandroids who had diamond shaped hoops around them.
"Zwerg Scandroids? No...those bots don't have lasers like these. They're blue in color, and have small mounted guns on them. Joy." he thought, trying to find a way out. Among them, he noticed some Poxyvaders as well. They were similar to Pixelvaders, only these were riddled with toxins.
"Alright, I gotta avoid being seen by those Droids. I've also gotta watch those Poxy's, the last thing I need is to die of sickness. This box should be plenty of cover for me." he thought to himself. He waited for the Droid nearest him to pass him, before he started moving. He slowly scurried forward, making sure not to drag the box along. He stopped, noticing one of the Droids had turned around. He waited for it to pass by him, before slowly moving forward.
It didn't take him long, but he made it unscathed to the end of the hallway. There he found another stairwell, which he took up stairs. He came to another stop when he saw a large R4i-SDHC Unit at the end of the hall, it's cannon trained toward the entrance. He frowned, pressing himself against the stairwell's wall, a pensive look on his face.
"If I fight that thing, the sounds could attract Noire. The last thing I need is her finding out I'm here. Especially when she tasked me to keep watch over the Basilicom. However, if that thing is sitting there, that means the one behind this is nearby. I suppose I'll have to bite the bullet." he thought, taking a deep breath. He lowered himself to the ground, using the box as cover. He slowly started moving forward, the R4i not even taking notice of him. Once he was close, he threw the box at the mech, taking it by surprise. He summoned his keyblade, bringing it down on the machine, a loud clang echoing through the empty hallway.
"Now we're talking. And let's keep this chain going, Thundara!" he chanted, aiming his keyblade upward. Several medium sized bolts rained down on the mech, causing it to spark a bit. It slowly moved forward, attempting to slam into the young man. He dodged the attack, firing a couple Blizzara spells at it. The ice struck its side, turning into icicles as it spread across its metal body. He jumped into the air, his keyblade glowing crimson as he activated his attack.
"Drop Crush!" he chanted, bringing the keyblade down full force. The R4i groaned a bit as the metal dented from the attack. Fire burst from the ground, doing some heavy damage to it. Akira backed away, smirking a bit as the mech struggled to move.
"Another attack should end it."
He was about to charge forward when the R4i suddenly turned around. Akira stopped mid stride, stunned by the machine's sudden burst of speed. It flew forward, slamming into him rather hard. He flew back, rolling across the ground, keyblade falling out his hand. He groaned a bit from the sudden attack, clutching his chest tightly. He ducked to the side, avoiding another attack from the mech, who continued flying at him.
"I can't even grab my keyblade, and if I try to summon it, it might attack me again. Ugh dammit...so much for me not making any noise." he thought to himself. He reached for his gun, about to let out a few quick shots when the mech stopped entirely. He noticed a glowing clock had appeared before it.
"What the...Stop magic?"
"Sheesh, leave you alone for a day and you get your ass handed to you?" the familiar voice of Ann said.
"Sis? What are you doing here?" the boy asked, as his sister joined him. She had taken a hold of his keyblade, gripping it tightly in her hand, Angelic Estria was glowing slightly in the dark.
"Bailing you out of a sticky situation. Now to finish this thing off with style." she said, giggling as she moved forward. She spun on her heel, driving both blades into the mech, in a horizontal slash. She held Angelic Estria above her head, spinning it around before bringing it down hard on the mech. She jumped back, crossing the keyblades before her. With a cry, she ran forward, finishing the mech off with a cross-slash. The R4i burst into pixels, which slowly disappeared from existence.
"Gee...thanks for showing off sis." Akira said, a look of disappointment on his face. She rolled her eyes, tossing his keyblade forward, which he caught with ease.
"You're very welcome little brother. Still, what exactly are you doing in this abandoned place?" the blonde asked, glancing around for a few moments. Akira allowed his keyblade to disappear, seeing as there wasn't a threat in the area.
"Vista found a signal in Noire's office, which was tied to a hidden camera. Thanks to Phosphorus, we were able to track it down to this building. I'm looking for the bastard who did it so I can kick his ass."
"You wanna kick his ass, yet you are being tossed around by a low level mech?" she asked, brow quirked.
"I'm trying not to make noise! Noire, Vert, Blanc and Neptune are here. I know Noire wants to do this herself, but I wanna do it before she does." he said, brushing past her.
"Aw, that's so cute! You're defending her honor."
"Damn straight I am. What are you doing here sis?"
"Oh, the quest I took lead me to this place. I've been taking out all of these enemies for their drops. My client needs some Memory Chips for some toys their making." she said, dismissing her keyblade. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, as she followed her brother along.
"Sounds interesting. Honestly, I just wanted to play Panzer Dragoon today, but nope. Someone just had to hack our satellites. It's freaking annoying." the young key holder said with a huff. Ann frowned, remaining silent for a moment.
"Hey Akira, do you ever wonder why we were brought here?" she asked, earning a shrug from the boy.
"I don't think I remember, but the CPU that brought me here...she told me that this world needed a Champion. Someone to protect it from falling into the darkness. I suppose that's why I got my Keyblade in the first place."
"Hmm...then why did I get chosen?"
"I uh...don't think I can answer that."
"Oh come on, you know more about the Keyblade than I do! You gotta throw me a bone here!" she cried.
"That's the thing though, I don't know much about the Keyblade. I only know what I read in the book Blanc found. A keyblade is a weapon that chooses those with strong hearts. My Starlight, and your Angelic Estria are both blades forged by our hearts."
"Forged? Wait a minute...you said the Keyblade chose us, but our heart forged it?"
"It's hard to explain okay? I'm still trying to understand it all. The book that I read...it was apparently written in the age of Fairytales. You see, keyblades were made in the image of the original X-blade, which was apparently a weapon that opened Kingdom Hearts. The heart of all worlds." Akira explained.
"Okay...now you are just confusing me again." Ann said, earning a chuckle from Akira.
"It would be easier if you read the book. However, I will summarize what I did read. Apparently, this world along with millions of others were one single world. But something happened, a great war took place. The world fell to darkness, but before it was swallowed whole, the light in the hearts of children saved it. That's why they are all apparently separated from each other."
"Hmm...I think I get it...but where do we fit in? We're from another universe. We weren't born in this place." she asked, causing Akira to stop. He remained silent, not taking a step forward. He held his hand out, summoning Starlight to it. He looked the blade over, seeing the name etched into the hilt, along with the Roman Numeral I.
"This keyblade...it looked different. It used to be silver in color, but after what happened with the goddesses, and their near death...it changed. My heart grew stronger, and so did my keyblade. It's as if they're intertwined, and yet I don't know why. Why would someone as ordinary as me, from a boring planet, get something like this?"
"That is a good question, you are just a boring normal boy after all." Ann said, earning a glare from him. She let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head.
"What I mean is, by normal standards, you are just a person. But your heart was able to connect to this world. You got a keyblade because this world needed a champion. Yet, it feels like that isn't it. Akira, let me ask you a question...back home, did you ever feel...unaccepted?" the blonde asked. He remained silent, not knowing how to answer. He lowered his blade, allowing it to disappear.
"It's hard to describe but...I did. My friends never felt genuine, even with Takumi. I felt like he was trying too hard to be my friend, and that he was tired of me all together. You already know what happened between me and Shiina. Even our own parents treated me like they didn't want me. It just felt...surreal."
"Mhmm...I feel the same way. In fact, until you disappeared, I felt like I wasn't loved at all. You vanished from my memory, as if you hadn't even existed. But then there was this spark, it was telling me to look for you. I was the only one searching, our parents didn't have a son, just a daughter. Your friends had no idea who you were...you were just gone. But something in my heart told me not to give up, that I would one day see you. I guess...my heart brought me to yours."
"Weird huh? How something as simple as that can bring two people together. I dunno how we fit into the grand scheme of things, but something tells me we're gonna find out sooner or later. Come on, before Noire gets ahead of us." he said, leading the girl toward the nearby stairwell.
They reached the final floor of the building, finding a long hallway that lead to another stairwell. Before they could say anything, Akira stopped, pulling Ann back. He noticed a single doorway ahead of them, being watched carefully by Noire and the others. He frowned, knowing they had been beaten. He shrugged it off, deciding to slowly make his way toward them, with Ann in tow. Vert and Blanc noticed him first, and he gave them a silent wave.
"Good of you to join us...we needed a bit of back up."
"Duh...you actually think I'd let my lady handle this goon on her own? She doesn't deserve to sully her hands with such fowl drek." he said, taking Noire by surprise. She hissed, glaring at him.
"I told you to watch the basilicom!"
"Relax, everything is fine. However I call dibs on this dude, I wanna kick his ass." he said.
"What? No, he's mine!" she spat back. Akira smirked, pressing his lips against hers, taking her entirely by surprise. He took a hold of her shoulder, pushing her back slightly. He chuckled, dashing quickly through the door.
"Oh he's good. Yowza! I didn't expect him to do that." Neptune said silently.
"Grr...I'm going to get him back for that."
Akira remained silent as he strode forward. All around him was nothing but darkness, the room being lit up by a console with several monitors. He looked at them carefully, seeing several cameras on display. One of them being the one inside Noire's office/bedroom. The figure before him was sitting on what seemed to be a stool.
It was what looked like a giant pink robot. There were large mechanical wing looking areas behind its back. They were glowing brightly, a soft whirling sound coming from them. The light of the computer monitors before him reflected the brilliant pink paint job the mech had. The head section had two black antenna like parts attached to it. He was feverishly typing in the console before him, apparently not taking notice of the young man behind him.
"So, this is the fucker who planted cameras in Lastation's Basilicom? How the hell did we miss this? He's a freaking robot. The only time anyone like him could have snuck in would be when no one was paying attention. Even Kei would have told us about this." he thought to himself.
"So, are you going to say something or are you going to stand there staring? Because I charge by the hour honey."
"Eh? What?" Akira said, taken aback by the voice. The robot let out a giggle, glancing over his shoulder.
"Well look at you! I can just eat you up! Ah wait...I know you, you're the one who's dating my sweet Noire!"
"Your sweet Noire? Excuse you but she is off the market, I came here to tell you to back the fuck off. Don't you know planting cameras in someone's home is illegal? Not to mention it's disrespectful towards our Goddess." Akira snapped angrily.
"And don't you think what you are doing is also disrespectful to our goddess?" the bot asked, in a more serious voice.
"What am I doing?"
"Dating her of course. You are a fly, vying for the affections of our dear Goddess Noire. You are nothing but a disrespectful wretch. Look at you, you are nothing but a lowly human." he said firmly.
"I'm not vying for her affections! I'm in love with her!"
"How long will that last? She'll love you for now, because you are young and handsome. But you are just a human, you'll start aging, and eventually you'll become an old man. She'll remain beautiful and supple, while you die of old age in a hospital bed. You wanna know what's worse? If you have kids with her, they'll outlive you." he said. Akira remained silent, bowing his head slightly. What he was saying was true. Noire was an immortal goddess...she didn't age, she had been alive for hundreds of years before they met. She would be alive for far longer after he left as well. He took a shaky breath, his eyes flashing slightly.
"That may be true...but it doesn't matter. It's what I do with my life that matters. Yes, we'll have a short time together, but I'll make sure that time is well spent. I'll show her every ounce of love that I have for her. I'll defend her from creeps like you too!" he said, summoning forth his keyblade. The bot just laughed, as he turned to fully face Akira.
"You call me a creep, yet you're the one who's violating our goddess. You don't seem to understand this little boy. Sure, you'll make your short existence count. But how will that affect her? When you die, she'll be all by her lonesome. She'll suffer because you made a giant impact in her life, in her heart. Wouldn't it be better to just not risk hurting her?"
"I..." Akira frowned, the grip on his keyblade faltering a bit.
"You wouldn't want her to suffer for the rest of her immortal life would you? Imagine that...3 years down the line, she'll still be suffering your death, as if it were a fresh wound. 5 years, maybe 10 or 20, she'll start letting go of what she values. She'll worry her friends, eventually she might even let Lastation slip from her grasp. Is that what you want? To be the cause of Lastation's demise? The death of the greatest nation in Gamindustri, facing it's end because one boy couldn't keep it in his pants?"
"Silence!"
Akira jumped a bit when he heard Noire's voice. He turned around, seeing the raven haired beauty making her way into the room. The robot gasped a bit, a girlish giggle escaping him as she came to stand beside the key bearer. She looked absolutely pissed off, her pigtails shaking with every breath she took.
"How dare you say those hurtful things to my boyfriend? Who the hell do you think you are? You come to my nation, violate my privacy and then you insult the one that I hold dear? Tell me why I shouldn't kill you?!" she exclaimed, summoning her rapier to her hand.
"Oh Noire my dear! I didn't think you'd actually be here, I'm so embarrassed~"
"Huh...I wasn't expecting this turn of events." Vert said softly, as she joined Noire and Akira in the room, followed by Blanc and Neptune. Ann had stayed behind, deciding to keep an eye out just in case they weren't alone.
"All of the goddesses are here? It doesn't matter, my heart may be queer but I'm totally enamored by Lady Noire!"
"Yeow! A flaming robot! I didn't think this was even possible!" Neptune said, pointing an accusing finger at the bot.
"Enough! Don't just move on like nothing happened, we're not done here. You, I don't know what it is that you want, or why you are here, but I want you to leave my nation and never return. Anyone who insults my friends, and more importantly, insults my love, gets no mercy from me!"
"I was only speaking the truth. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings dear, but you and I both know it. Humans are fragile, you'll outlive him."
"What's it to you what Noire does with her life? It's her choice isn't it? It's as Akira said, what you do with your life matters. Even if he does die, we will never forget him. He's our friend, and we love him dearly." Vert said, earning a smile from the boy.
"Thanks Vert, I feel a little better now."
"I agree with Vert, before my sisters were born, all I had was myself. I know better than anyone, what it's like to see people come and go. All of the basilicom staff back home are descendants from the original staff. Back when Lowee was first formed. They're part of my family, and even though they've been gone for hundreds of years, I haven't forgotten a single one. They are forever etched into my heart." Blanc said firmly.
"Exactamundo! Akira is part of my life too, he's my super duper Protagonist friend. And Protagonists don't die, they are immortal. So say all you want, but he's not dying on us." Neptune said happily.
"Blanc, Neptune...thanks, I really appreciate your words. You have no idea how happy I am." Akira said, having regained his grin. Noire smiled warmly, having taking a hold of his hand.
"You say that I would outlive him, but you are wrong. I don't know if what's in my heart is true love, but I don't care. I feel something for Akira, and that's real. I would gladly give up my immortality to live among the humans with him."
"What? Noire are you insane? You can't do that." Akira said. She turned to face him, giving him a smile.
"Why not? You don't think Uni can run Lastation, is that it?"
"No, that isn't it. That isn't it at all, I don't want you to give up your CPU powers just to be with me."
"Akira, it's alright. That would be my choice, not yours." she said.
"Uh...you know there's an easier way right? Just turn Akira into a CPU, problem solved." Neptune said.
"You say that like it's something easy to do." Vert said, stifling a laugh.
"It is. Didn't you play Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory? All you have to do is fine a CPU memory and have Aki here swallow it. Boom, instant CPU." the Planeptune goddess said.
"Oh...something like that exists does it?" the pink robot said, almost absentmindedly. Noire turned to face him, aiming her sword at him.
"You. You're the one who broke into the Lastation satellites didn't you?" she asked firmly.
"It isn't just that, Phosphorous found a signal linking an IP Address to this location. The signal was coming from a hidden camera someone planted in your office. I'm assuming he's the one who's behind that as well." Akira said firmly.
"WHAT?"
"Oh man...does that mean this robot has the hots for Noire?" Neptune asked jokingly.
"Ha, sorry sister but I bat for the other team. However, I will admit that Noire is amazingly beautiful. She's the only woman who could steal my heart, the only one I'd be willing to be with."
"Tch...who the hell are you? I wanna know the name of the bastard who has the balls to fuck with my girl." Akira said, summoning forth his Keyblade. The robot chuckled, shaking his head.
"My name is Anonydeath, the man with a Fair Maiden's Heart. It's a pleasure to meet you, but before you start swinging swords, I must tell you something. I've been collecting some juicy pictures of the patron goddess. Should I fall, all of them will be posted to the internet."
"Surely you jest. A petty threat like that won't shake anyone." Vert said, unamused by Anonydeath's claims. He gave a low giggle, holding his hand up.
"I'm not lying sister. I got plenty of good pics to share with the world." he said, snapping his fingers. In a flash, several holographic pictures appeared around them, each one showing an image of Noire. Akira's eyes widened a bit when he saw them.
There was one of Noire sowing a dress, another of her looking at cloth. There were two of her sitting at a table, feverishly drawing and sketching things. There was even one of Noire taking measurements of Akira, who was standing on a small raised bench, a tired and annoyed look on his face, as the woman held a yellow tape measure to him.
"Whoa look at that, Noire is making dresses. She looks like someone's grandma." Neptune said.
"How peculiar, so does that mean she really made the dress she's wearing now?" Blanc asked.
"Y-yup! That's right, nothing wrong with that right? You found me out, I love to sew. There's nothing here, nothing at all." Noire said, trying to get her friends to stop looking at the pictures. Vert hummed, pointing to one of the pictures near her.
"That one looks rather familiar."
"No it doesn't Vert, you're just seeing things." Akira said, trying to dissaude the situation.
"Aha! I see...Akira and Noire are sowing buddies, he wears whatever she makes. Hey does that mean she makes your outfits? And your undies?" Neptune asked, holding back her chuckles. Akira growled, eyes flashing red.
"You know, I've always wondered what happens when you hit a goddess over the head with a keyblade. I think you'll make a perfect target."
"Eeep, I'm sorry. Don't hit me please."
"Y-you...you think you can threaten me? These pictures prove nothing, go ahead and post them if you like. Sowing is nothing to be ashamed of." Noire said, trying not to sound bothered.
"Oh I see...so that means you wouldn't mind if I posted these?" Anonydeath asked, snapping his fingers.
Several more pictures appeared, this time showing Noire in various outfits. There was one of her wearing an idol outfit, another of her in a school girl outfit, holding her guitar in her hands. Akira also recognized the Kurumi cosplay she had made, along with the Megumi cosplay from Shiki as well as the Rory Mercury one from the night before. He growled in anger, slowly raising his keyblade, about to strike when Noire let out a scream.
"Kyaah! Don't look at these!"
"Pfft...oh boy, my theory was right. Lonely Heart is actually Cosplay Heart." Neptune said, holding back her giggles.
"I knew that outfit looked familiar. It's one from 4 Goddesses Online. That one there is from the Goddess of the Heart Update." Vert added.
"There's one from Super Maryo Brothers, I didn't know you cosplayed as Princess Bowsette." Blanc said.
"Shut up! How dare you take these pictures of me? These are supposed to be secret outfits for Akira's eyes only! I'm going to destroy you!" Noire shouted angrily. She jumped into the air, simultaneously transforming into Black Heart. Akira jumped forward, covering the exit.
"I think I'll join you."
"Oh dear me, I wish you hadn't transformed. Black Heart is just do drab, sadly I don't like fighting. So this is where I bid you, adieu." Anonydeath said, snapping his fingers. The pictures started moving, flying forward toward Akira and the Goddesses.
"Look out! They're coming from above!" Neptune cried out. She summoned her Katana, quickly slicing through one of the enemies, causing it to burst into pixels.
"Shit, there are too many of them. He's gonna get away!" Akira cried, blocking an incoming attack. He parried the attack, cutting the enemy down with ease.
"Follow my lead Akira, I got just the thing to finish this quickly." Vert said, a smirk on her face. He watched her closely, seeing the spiral of wind appearing on the end of her spear.
"A joint attack, just like the one I did with Rom and Ram. Heh...this should be cakewalk." he thought, pulling his keyblade back.
"Aeroga!" the green clad goddess chanted, swinging her spear forward. A towering funnel of wind magic sparked to life before them, sucking in all of the enemies. Akira's keyblade glowed brightly, sparkling with light magic.
"Strike Raid!" he chanted, throwing his keyblade into the funnel. As it picked up speed, it started unleashing small blades of light, which struck each of the enemies, killing them instantly. The funnel slowly started to die down, causing the keyblade to lose speed.
"Go Akira, finish this off." Vert said, holding her lance out. The boy nodded, jumping onto the end of it. She hurled him into the air with all of her strength. He easily caught the blade, spinning around. He used the ceiling as a springboard, channeling some earth magic into his weapon.
"Quake!" he cried, his keyblade connected with the ground, causing the entire room to shake. Small pillars of stone erupted from the ground, piercing through all of the remaining enemies. Akira finished the attack with two rapid slashes, ending the sole remaining enemy. He panted a bit, giving Vert a thumbs up.
"That was awesome."
"Hehe...thanks. We raised our Lily Rank recently, figured we could try something new."
"Huh? Never mind, Anonydeath is gonna get away! We gotta go after him." he said, dashing forward.
"Way ahead of you. I'm going to destroy that creep!" Noire said, matching Akira's running speed.
"I can't believe I ran into him again. I wasn't expecting him to show up, especially with Noire of all people." Anonydeath thought, as he slowly floated toward the nearby door. He waited for a few moments, gripping his suitcase tightly.
As soon as he passed through the door, he was greeted with an empty room. That however lasted for a few short seconds, before a small brown creature jumped onto him. He stood still for a moment, as it looked directly into his visor.
"Huh...what are you?"
"Cratchie wait up!"
Anonydeath turned in time to see a blonde little girl running toward him. Before he could react, she barreled into him. He screamed in pain, the air in his lungs being forced out. He fell to the ground, dropping the suitcase he was holding. It burst open, littering the ground with many papers and pictures.
"Peashy, don't run off like that!"
"Jeez, I didn't think she'd actually take off like that."
"Huh?" Anonydeath mumbled as he forced himself to sit up. He noticed the little girl that was sitting on the ground before him, holding a brown bandicoot in her hands.
"Are you okay sir? Peashy didn't hurt you did she?" Nepgear asked, causing the man to shake his head. He glanced at the little girl, who was still hugging Cratchie.
"Peashy? You're name is Peashy?" he asked curiously. The little girl gave him a nod.
"Yep, call me Pea!" she replied cheerfully. Vista glanced around the area for a moment, her eyes falling onto the papers on the ground. She poked Uni's side, pointing to the pictures that were facing up. Her eyes widened a bit as she picked them up, seeing they were all of her sister.
"What...this is Noire...wait, you're the creep who put the camera in her office, aren't you?" the Lastation Candidate snapped angrily.
"Oh poo...I just had to print out my favorites didn't I?" Anonydeath said.
"Wow...I wasn't expecting a robot. This is so cool, what kind of software do you use? What programs are you running? It must have been easy for you to hack through my firewalls. I need to know everything you know!"
"Vista! Now is not the time for this conversation." Uni snapped.
"Ram, why is Noire playing dress up in these pictures?" Rom asked quietly. Ram shrugged, flipping to another picture, one that had what looked like Noire coming out of the bathroom completely naked.
"I dunno, but this robot is a pervert." she said, holding the picture out to Uni. The ravenette growled angrily, her body glowing brightly.
"I'm going to destroy you! Access!"
The sharicite appeared before her, and she grabbed it, shattering it with ease. The energy swirled around her body, as she slowly transformed into her HDD form, Black Sister. She planted her feet firmly on the ground, taking aim at Anonydeath with her rifle. Before she could pull the trigger, a swirling ball of fire magic struck the robot's side, a small explosion rocking the room. Everyone backed away slightly, footsteps filling the room.
"So, this is where you fucking went eh? Did you think I would let you get away without me kicking your ass?" Akira said, resting his keyblade on his shoulder.
"Tch...I guess this is the end of the line for me." Anonydeath said dejectedly. Before Akira could say anything, Noire and the others arrived in the room, with Noire floating next to the pink robot.
"It's best that you give up, I have a nice cell with your name on it." she said, resting the edge of her sword at his neck. He rose his arms up in mock surrender.
"You win, I refuse to fight. I'll go quietly." he said, having finally thrown in the towel. Noire was going to say something, her gaze having fallen to her little sister, who had remained silent the entire time.
"Huh...Uni you're here? Gah...tell me you didn't look at those!" she exclaimed, pointing to the pictures on the ground.
"Um...I uh.."
"Let me just get rid of these." Akira said, aiming his keyblade at the ground, using a fire spell to burn everything. A quick water spell put the flames, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes behind.
"Aw man, I was looking forward to a battle of the ages. Akira you were supposed to kick his pink flaming tooshy!" Neptune said.
"I don't like kicking people when they're down Nep. However, if he does do this shit again, I will grind his balls with my heel. There won't be a single thing to salvage after I'm done." the boy said firmly, allowing his Keyblade to disappear. All of the girls grimaced a bit when he said that.
"I'm so glad I'm not a man." Nepgear said softly.
"So am I." Vista replied.
xxx
Akira frowned as he leaned back against the railing. Anonydeath had turned himself in, and had been taken to Lastation's Maximum Security Prison. It was a safe bet that he wasn't going to be getting out soon. Not long after, they all returned to the Basilicom, only for another person to fall out of the sky. Apparently, he and Ann weren't the only interdimensional travelers in the Hyperdimension. Her name was Plutia and she was the CPU of Planeptune. He had been taken aback by her sudden appearance, and just as fast as she had arrived, Neptune and Nepgear had carted her off to speak with Histoire. Everyone else slowly left until it was just Noire, Uni, Akira and Ann. His sister had gone to the guild to give her memory chips to her client, so it was just him.
It was a cool night, the dark skies bearing a few twinkling stars. Lastation's light polluted the skies, so if you wanted to see the stars in their full splendor, you'd have to leave the city. This was where he wanted to be however. He loved being out on the deck during clear nights. The breeze always helped him relax, especially when he had a lot of things to think about.
What Anonydeath said had really affected him. He had tried not thinking about it, but it had come rearing it's ugly head. The fact that he was mortal was really something that bothered him. He wouldn't be there for Noire when she needed him the most. He would grow up, he would get old and he would pass on. Noire would remain behind, and she would be sad and lonely. Sure, she had her sister Uni with her, and the other goddesses. But losing a lover hurt, and he didn't want to put her through that. He didn't want to make her suffer due to his death, it made him feel selfish. The breeze picked up a bit, making him shiver a bit from the cold. He sighed, the frown on his face deeping.
"Hey, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"
Akira stiffened a bit, being taken by surprise. He glanced over his shoulders, his eyes falling on the goddess of Lastation. She was still wearing her silky white dress, and looked absolutely stunning in it. The wind was blowing it lightly, accenting her figure perfectly. She brushed some strands of hair behind her ears, a small smile on her face. He sighed, glancing away from her.
"I'm just...enjoying the night."
"Hmm...why so melancholic? Usually you'd be cracking a joke, congratulating me for a job well done. You haven't called me tsundere all day, something is definitely wrong." Noire replied, shortening the distance.
"I have a lot on my mind."
"Would you mind sharing it then? You aren't...thinking about what that robot said right?" she asked. Akira remained silent, not turning to face her. She slowly reached her hand up, placing it under his chin slowly turning his head until he faced her. She looked into his eyes, normally filled with joy, and sparkling with life. They seemed sad and dead.
"Akira...listen, I think we need to talk."
"Okay."
"I know what you are probably thinking. That you don't deserve me, because you are a human and I'm a goddess. But that doesn't matter to me. I've been getting used to all of this, it's still weird but...I think you are the best thing that's happened to me. Lastation is doing great, our shares are up, we're at peace and I'm happy." Noire said, causing the boy to look away from her.
"For how long? Look at me, I'm 16 right now. Eventually, I'll start aging, and soon I'll get old. I won't ever return to my world, and I'll end up dying on you. I don't want you to be lonely again."
"But I'm not...I won't. I told you already, if it comes to it, I'll give up my immortality. I'll live the rest of my days with you, we'll grow old together." she said. He shook his head, pushing himself away from the railing.
"I won't let you do that Noire. Lastation is more important than I am, Uni is more important than I am. I feel like I'm intruding here, like I don't belong. Because of me, you are going to leave your position as goddess, Lastation could die." he cried out. Noire growled angrily, spinning the boy around, she slapped him across the face, her hand twitching a bit in pain.
"Akira you asshole! How dare you say that? You are not intruding in Lastation, and you aren't intruding in my life!"
"Ow." he mumbled.
"Yeah, it better have hurt, because what you just said hurt me. How do you think I feel? You literally fell on me. You fell into my life, you changed it for the better. You made me see so many things differently, made Uni stronger. You appreciate us, you love us. The mere notion that you are intruding here is bullshit!"
"I just don't get it! I never thought about this before, but I don't know what I am doing here. Why did the keyblade choose me? Why was I brought to this world? Was it because this world needed a Champion? Because I think that's bullshit. Even without me, I'm sure Uni and the CPU Candidates could have handled Arfoire."
"That isn't the point."
"Then what is the point Noire? What Anonydeath is true! I just don't want to break your heart. I don't want you to abandon your nation, all because of me. Think about your people, how would they feel if you left them for me? Don't you think they would be hurt?" Akira cried back.
"Uni can handle it, that's what she's here for."
"How do you think she feels about this? Do you think she'd appreciate her older sister shoving her into power just to leave with her boyfriend? Because that's kind of shitty." the boy asked. Noire sighed, looking away from the boy.
"I don't know what to say...my heart is telling me to be with you. It's weird, but the moment you appeared in my life, I've felt this way. I didn't want to admit it, because I thought I was just confused. But you fought for me, you fought for Uni, for Lastation. You were ready to give up your life for us, how am I not going to fall for you? You tripped all the right flags." she said. She sighed, glancing out into the sprawling city before her.
"Do you remember what I told you last night? When we were alone."
"Of course...you said you loved me."
"That's right, and I still do...we haven't been friends long, and we haven't been together long either. But I'm starting to feel this warmth in my chest. Whenever I see you, hear your voice, your laugh, I feel so happy. Like my heart is swelling with joy, I feel stronger with you besides me. It's why I trust you, not only with my nation, but with my life as well. No matter what happens, where you go, what you do, I will always love you." she said, giving the boy a smile. He didn't say anything, his cheeks flushing crimson.
"Um...Noire, could I kiss you?" he asked, after a moment of silence. She rolled her eyes.
"You don't need to ask." she replied. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her closer. He pulled away after a second, hugging the goddess tightly.
"I love you Noire. I'm sorry for being a bitch."
"Hehehehe...you aren't a bitch. It's okay to have doubts, besides Neptune said something useful. We can just find a CPU Memory and turn you into a proper CPU." she said.
"Uh, that sounds like it would hurt. I mean, people most likely think I'm a Gary-Stu or some shit. We don't need to add more fuel to the fire."
"Let them think what they want, I think you are perfect. But you did ask a good question. I've been wondering myself why you were chosen by the Keyblade, and why this world gave you that Armor."
"I've been wondering that as well. Ann told me something interesting, when I disappeared, she forgot me. She didn't realize I was gone until she sort of snapped out of it. Her heart lead her to me, to the Hyperdimension. It's almost as if she was desensitized to it all. Now that I've had time to think about it, I never felt...at home, back in my world." Akira said, leaning back against the railing.
"Maybe you didn't belong there. The keyblade picked you, because you needed to go where you belonged. Your heart brought you to me." Noire said, giving him a smile. He chuckled, giving her a nod.
"Yeah...I think that's right. Or maybe your heart called to me." he replied. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind for a moment. Noire remained silent, just enjoying the atmosphere. She suddenly perked up, a random thought flashing through her mind.
"May your heart be your guiding key."
"Eh? What was that?" he asked, a look of confusion on his face.
"I'm not sure...it just flashed in my mind you know?" she replied. Akira remained silent, glancing up at the sky.
"May your heart be your guiding key...you know...it sounds familiar...as if I've heard it somewhere before."
"Oo...sounds ominous." Noire said jokingly. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. She giggled as he kissed her cheek.
"It isn't as ominous, not when it was you who said it."
"It's because I'm the best. Anything I say exudes awesomeness!"
"And you ruined it." Akira deadpanned, walking toward the office.
"What? Hey! I made a stupid saying that much trendier."
"You aren't gonna add it to your Twitter are you? That's the last thing we need." the keyblade wielder said.
"What? Pfft...no. I'm not gonna use it on my Twitter, why would I?" she asked, trying not to make it obvious. He quirked a brow, earning a growl from the ravenette.
"Okay fine...I am gonna use it, but only once."
"Whatever you say dear. Say...what did you do with that robot?"
"Oh him? He's in prison...it's weird though. Why would he go through all that trouble to hack my systems? Just so that he could get some pictures of me?"
"That's a good question. The guy is dangerous though, Vista said she was going to strengthen the security. However if he was able to crack something that a goddess made, it raises a question. How secure are our systems? And I don't mean Lastation's, I mean every nation." Akira said, sounding a bit worried.
"You think he'd do something?" Noire asked curiously. He shook his head.
"Not from jail...though now the biggest question remains, why is Plutia here? She claims to be from Planeptune, but I've never seen her before." he said.
"I'm sure Neptune will handle it, don't worry about it. Planeptune matters aren't our matters."
"Yeah I guess...whatever, I'll think about it later. I'm tired, wanna take a shower and head to bed?" he asked, holding back a yawn.
"Sure, I go first."
"Aw...I kinda wanted to shower together."
"Nice try Akira, but we're not at that stage yet." she said, flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder. He sighed, watching her go. He glanced over his shoulder, at the darkened skies.
"May your heart be your guiding key...wonder what the even means? Why does it sound so familiar? Whatever, I doubt it's that important."