Disclaimer: I don't own Hyperdimension Neptunia, it belongs to Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Sega and whomever else works on it.
Just so everyone knows, I posted a new One Shot on my profile. It's just something I did for fun, go read and review that one after you're done here if you haven't already.
It was the next morning in Leanbox and Jupiter found herself eating breakfast with Compa, IF, Vert, Uni, Rom and Ram. "So what is this called?"
"Oven baked pancakes." Compa answered as she took a bite. "It's more cake than a pan, but it's really good."
"Indeed," Vert smiled at Compa, "why, I have to be careful otherwise this will not only go to my boobs, but also my butt. And as glorious as they are, I doubt that I could handle them getting any larger."
IF, Uni and even Jupiter all had dour expressions on their faces as they listened to Vert comment on her large bust.
"Lady Vert never seems to put on weight no matter what she does." Compa commented with a slightly annoyed expression on her face. "Being a Goddess is quite handy."
"To an extent." Vert nodded at her. "I do admit that it has its perks. Compa, you do seem irritable today, are you okay?"
Compa nodded and took a deep breath. "I apologize, Lady Vert, I am just a bit over-tired."
IF looked away, her face flush with embarrassment. The fact that she had to wake up several times last night to go to the bathroom was bad enough, but the fact that Compa had to help her get to the bathroom each time was even worse.
"I see, well perhaps..." Vert trailed off as there was a knocking at the door. "Come in." She said and stood up as the door opened.
"Forgive me, Lady Vert." One of her Basilicom members said and held up a rather thick manila envelope. "This arrived this morning for miss IF."
"For me?" IF looked at the envelope curiously. "I don't recall ordering anything."
The Basilicom member shrugged and brought the envelope over to IF. "Could you sign this?" The member gave IF a pen and IF looked at the sheet curiously. "The delivery ninja won't leave unless you sign this."
"Delivery ninja?" Jupiter asked in confusion. 'That sounds familiar... Wait, doesn't sis have a bunch of...'
"A blue robotic ninja showed up just a few minutes ago with this and stated that we needed miss IF's signature or he can't leave."
"Robotic ninja?" Uni asked, her eyes actually started to sparkle as she heard that. "Does he have a jet pack or something?"
"Or something." Jupiter muttered softly. 'The only way one of them would show up is if sis authorized this, but Histoire said she'd do it behind sis's back, what's going on?'
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Jupiter answered Uni. "So, did the ninja say where he's from?"
The Basilicom member shrugged. "He showed up, said he had a package for IF. We scanned it, it's just a bunch of papers, so I don't think there's anything that can harm anyone. Unless it's the Hentainomicron or something."
Vert and Uni both blushed, knowing what the Basilicom member was talking about while Jupiter, Rom, Ram and Compa just looked on in confusion.
IF finished signing the paper and gave it to the Basilicom member. "Thanks."
"Not a problem, miss IF." The member quickly bowed and left the room.
Sighing, IF opened the envelope and tilted it so the contents would dump onto the table next to her plate. Some small booklets and papers that were bound by a thick thread fell onto the table with an open sheet with writing on top facing IF. "What's this?" IF carefully undid the thread and pulled the sheet close to read it.
Everyone watched as IF suddenly started to tremble as she read it.
"What's wrong, IF?" Vert asked softly. "Is it bad news?"
IF lowered the paper, tears falling out of her eyes and she shook her head. "I, hic..." She handed it to Compa as she started to cry softly.
Compa took the paper and her eyes widened. "This is..." She gasped. "To Miss IF, this is the CPU of Planeptune, Lilac Heart," there were gasps from everyone at the table as Compa continued to read from the paper, "it recently came to my attention that you were gravely injured helping a nurse while on an adventure. While I would normally offer my condolences, that is not what this letter is about. The injuries that you have suffered can be treated in Planeptune. Our doctors have developed medical technology that can repair injuries to a person's body from healing broken bones in childhood, to myopia and even grievous injuries that would normally prevent someone from living their lives normally. Please realize that this is a very rare exception. There are passports and travel papers for you and your nurse, Compa I believe her name is, to come to Planeptune for treatment."
"Sis..." Jupiter whispered in awe. A grin came to her face while everyone else was staring at Compa in shock while IF trembled. "That's great!" Jupiter's voice shook everyone out of their sudden stupor. "Didn't you say that you'd jump at the chance to get healed?"
"But what if they can't?" IF asked as she looked at her bad leg. "I don't want to find out that this is another dead end and that I'm just getting my hopes up for nothing."
"IF," Vert spoke up, causing the brown haired girl to look at her. "Even during the war, Planeptune was far more advanced than any of the other nations. If they say that they've developed medical technology that can heal your injury, you should take it." IF nodded and Vert narrowed her eyes. "I am honestly surprised, however. This is the first time that I've heard of Planeptune's CPU doing this."
"How do you think she found out?" Ram asked, wondering if maybe her original assessment of Lilac Heart being a big meanie was wrong.
"I don't..." Vert trailed off and thought about it for a moment. "I don't remember if I did or not, but I may have mentioned this to Histoire. As she is rather close to Nepgear, it wouldn't surprise me if she convinced Nepgear to do this."
"So..." IF said softly.
Vert smiled at her. "IF, Compa, take the rest of the week off and get ready to go traveling." She stood up. "I'll arrange transport to Lastation. From there I'll get you to the Planeptune border."
"You know, I don't think there was a single day that I was here that we got to actually finish breakfast." Jupiter mentioned as everyone but her and Uni got up excitedly.
"I'll finish breakfast with you." Uni said, getting a smile from Jupiter.
"Thanks."
It didn't take them long to finish, both felt a bit anxious with everyone else having left the table so fast. "So, um..." Jupiter looked at Uni, who looked back at her curiously. "This is probably the last time we'll see each other, huh?"
Uni gave her a confused frown. "What are you talking about? Aren't we friends?"
Jupiter laughed and rubbed the back of her head while grinning like a fool. "Well, yeah! We are, but I don't know if or when I'll have time to get out and go on a trip like this again." She lowered her arm and smiled at Uni softly. "So, I wanted to say... Thanks, for being my friend. I'm glad to have met you."
Uni blushed and nodded. "I'm glad we're friends too."
'I should tell her...' Jupiter thought and nodded to herself. "Hey, Uni, there's something..."
"Juppy!" Compa stuck her head in. "Uni! Are you two done eating? Lady Vert wants to get to Lastation this morning."
"Ah! Sure!" Uni nodded and smiled at Compa before turning back to Jupiter. "What were you going to say?"
Jupiter shook her head. "Nothing. Let's go." Mentally she was kicking herself for being a little coward. 'What would she do if she found out I was Planeptune's CPU Candidate though?'
Jupiter didn't know and that bothered her.
(-)
"So you'll be coming to Lastation today then?" Noire asked Vert over the video screen, getting a nod from the buxom blonde.
"Indeed." Vert smiled at Noire. "I'm surprised Blanc isn't on the line as well."
"Because I'm already here." Blanc said as she popped up behind Noire. She gave Vert a deadpan stare. "Noire said she had a report ready for me with what happened at the amusement park when the automatons went out of control, so I came early today. It makes things easy for me if my sisters will show up today as well."
Vert clapped her hands and smiled. "Excellent. I will be showing up a bit later, I'll send your sisters and Jupiter to the Basilicom ahead of time."
"Speaking of which..." Noire looked at Vert curiously. "How did it go?" Blanc perked up as she realized what Noire was referring to.
Vert tapped her chin and looked lost in thought for a moment. "I can't say one way or the other. I would like to say that she's not absolutely terrified of CPUs anymore, she might still be nervous, but less than a week surely isn't enough time to undo whatever she was fed. However, I feel as though she won't be as scared, provided you two keep your tempers in check." She giggled as they both rolled their eyes at her. "Anyway, I'll have to see IF and Compa off at the Planeptune border."
"Huh?" Both Blanc and Noire gave Vert a confused look.
"Oh, that's right, you don't know." Vert nodded at them. "Apparently Nepgear heard about IF's condition and sent travel papers to Leanbox." Both Noire and Blanc gave her an absolutely shocked look and Vert giggled softly. "I imagine that's how I looked when Compa read the letter Nepgear sent. Do you understand why I haven't given up on her yet, Blanc?"
"Tch..." Blanc had a bit of a disgruntled look on her face, but she didn't argue anything. 'Seems she's not completely consumed by hatred then, huh?' Blanc was actually relieved at that. The thought of a Goddess consumed by nothing but hate could only lead to another great calamity.
"Anyway, we'll be in Lastation in a few minutes." Vert smiled and turned off the communications.
"...So Blanc..." Noire looked at the other CPU. "Are you going to say it?"
"Feh," Blanc sneered at Noire, "just because that brat does something nice once in her life doesn't mean that anything's different than it was before."
Noire gave her a sad look and nodded. "Whatever you say." Noire was disappointed, but she understood. No matter how it seemed, Nepgear wasn't neither an ally nor a friend of theirs. 'Purple Heart, I really am sorry, I don't know how to fulfill your final request.'
Noire wondered, when she finally met her end, whether in battle or because her followers stopped believing in her, what she would say to Purple Heart. Or if they would even meet at all.
(-)
After seeing off Jupiter, Uni, Rom and Ram, Vert transformed into Green Heart and carried IF and Compa in her arms before flying towards the checkpoint of the Planeptune-Lastation border.
"Lady Green Heart, are you sure this is safe?" Compa asked.
"It will be fine." Green Heart answered as they flew towards the border. It only took a minute of flight for her to get to the border of Planeptune and Lastation. Walking forward, she mentally sighed at the guards who suddenly tensed up. "At ease, everyone, were I to come with ill intent, do you think I would be carrying two civilians?"
"Please wait one moment, CPU Green Heart." One of the guards said and rushed inside.
Green Heart nodded and hovered just off the ground, five feet away while putting Compa down. Compa pulled out IF's wheelchair and Green Heart gently lowered IF onto it.
Just as IF got settled in, an older looking woman walked out of the checkpoint. "CPU Green Heart, it's been a long time." Her hair was thin and grey and her face incredibly wrinkled and she wore an old military uniform while walking with a cane. "I suppose it's been fifty years since the battle near the Green Hill Islands when I took out an entire Battalion of yours with just two other people."
"Major MASA, is that you?" Green Heart raised an eyebrow as the old woman nodded. "My, you've gotten much older."
"Perils of being human, I'm afraid." The old woman coughed softly. "I thought that the CPUs didn't desire conflict anymore, what brings you here?"
"Of course," Green Heart nodded as she pulled out a manila envelope. "CPU Lilac Heart had this delivered to my Basilicom this morning, inside you'll find travel papers and a passport for entry for these two young ladies, IF and Compa."
"Ah, I had been told that two people by those names would be showing up sometime in the future." The old woman smiled as a guard went to Green Heart and took the envelope from her. "I didn't expect it to be so soon." She nodded at the guards and they relaxed. "I hope you understand that we can't let you through the checkpoint, CPU Green Heart."
"Of course I do." Green Heart nodded. "IF, Compa, do not worry, no harm will come to you."
"Of course not." Major MASA smirked at the goddess. "I've got my pride. Anyway, ladies, there's a transport inside to take you to Planeptune hospital." After the two girls entered the checkpoint and were loaded onto the transport, Major MASA looked at Green Heart, a gentle look on her face. "I remember being so terrified of you when you and Purple Heart fought while our armies clashed in the ocean. I think three islands disappeared in your fight with her."
"That battle feels like it happened ages ago." Green Heart answered. "To me it feels like it happened almost five hundred years ago."
"We humans might be able to push to over a century," Major MASA coughed and hacked for several moments before taking a deep breath, "but five hundred is too much for any of us. I'm only as healthy as I am because how Lady Lilac Heart optimized everything in Planeptune."
"...How is she?" Green Heart asked, causing Major MASA to smile softly.
"She's a hard worker and everyone loves her, but we all worry about her." Major MASA sighed softly. "You know, I remember hearing of stories of the CPU before Purple Heart, what was her name? U-something or other, bah!" Major MASA waved her hand in annoyance. "I'm getting old, I can't remember anymore."
"I'll be going now." Green Heart nodded to Major MASA and turned away to fly back to Lastation.
"Just a piece of advice, Green Heart." The Goddess looked at at her in confusion. "Take it from an old lady, regrets are something we all live with and opportunities to make those regrets go away become few and far between as we get older."
Green Heart gave her a small smile. "Thank you." Materializing her wings on her back, Green Heart took off towards Lastation.
(-)
"So how did it go?" Noire asked as Green Heart landed on the balcony of the Basilicom and turned back into Vert.
"About as well as one could expect." Vert answered her and cupped her chin with a whimsical look on her face. "Saw an old soldier that I recall took out an entire battalion by herself and two others." Vert enjoyed people who were beautiful, it was true, but she could easily respect strength and fortitude. "Where are your sisters?"
"Showing Jupiter around the Basilicom." Noire answered her. "Before you ask, no, we haven't seen them yet, I called Uni and told her to show Jupiter around here first. I figure letting her see that this place doesn't have kinky torture chambers every other room that it might put her at ease." Noire blushed at the looks she got. "I read online that someone thought that's what goes on in here."
"Feh, that hasn't happened since the exploding penguin incident anyway."
"Yeah that's..." Noire blinked a few times as she realized what Blanc had said. "HEY! That never happened even back then!"
Vert giggled at the memory of that incident.
(-)
Uni, Jupiter, Rom and Ram were in the living area of the Basilicom, not far from Noire's office, playing a game together.
"HA!" Ram cheered as she won. "Oh yeah! I'm the best!"
"I blame the fact that you play Bash Brothers all the time." Uni grumbled, having lost first. "Still, what do you think? Noire's hoping that Lastation All Stars sells well enough and gets some sequels."
"It's pretty fun." Rom nodded. "Not as good as Bash Brothers, but it's kind of neat to play something similar that plays differently."
"Well it's not like the first Bash Brothers game was the best either." Uni scoffed at the twins. "What do you think, Jupiter?"
"...Can we play again? But no using the Gravity Queen this time, Ram."
Uni and Rom nodded with Uni giving Ram an annoyed smirk. "Yeah, miss "I'm the best", that character's known for being overwhelmingly good."
"Hmph! Fine! I'll just use this scary looking clown then!"
"Clowns are scary." Rom trembled as she chose her character. "I like this kitty."
Uni and Jupiter chose their characters, this time Uni chose a cyborg ninja while Jupiter chose a screaming maniac with incredible reach in his attacks.
In the end, Uni managed to win when she let loose a level three super.
(-)
"That was pretty fun." Jupiter was laughing with Uni after they had finished the game after several more matches and had to deal with the twins impromptu pillow fight surprise attack. Sadly the twins had won that one as they had all the pillows, including the throw pillows and neither Uni nor Jupiter had any and all they could do was hide behind the couch before surrendering.
"So what do you want to do now?" Rom asked as the group walked down the hallway of the Basilicom.
"Rom, Ram..." Blanc spoke up as she, Vert and Noire walked up to the group. "Did you have fun?"
"Uh huh." Ram nodded. "Lastation's Bash Brothers knock off wasn't as good as ours."
Blanc smirked while Noire flushed. "Can't come up with something original, Noire?"
"It's using some classic and beloved Lastation mascots." Noire scoffed. "At least all of ours were major characters. How many Flame Sigil characters were in your latest Bash Brothers game again? And how many of your characters haven't had a game in forever?"
Blanc narrowed her eyes and gave Noire a grin. "Major characters? Compared to what? Some Indy developer using retro graphics to sell a poorly made game that preaches at you rather than tells a good story or has good characters?"
"And how many fighting or RPG games from major publishers have been on your systems lately?" Noire asked as sparks started to fly between the two of them while they glared at each other.
"...Does this happen often?" Jupiter asked in a whisper to Uni.
"Yes." Rom, Ram and Uni all said at the same time in a deadpan voice.
"Oh." Jupiter nodded and spoke up louder. "Well, for what it's worth," the two CPUs stopped glaring at each other and turned to her, "I thought it was a lot of fun. Maybe you should try a Musou Mascot game or something?"
"Musou?" Vert asked, the term seemed familiar but she couldn't place it.
"Mass crowd control beat 'em ups..." Noire clarified and Vert nodded in understanding. "Hmm... That could be a lot of fun, actually."
Blanc narrowed her eyes in mild annoyance. "Hmph! Considering how many mascot games Lowee puts out, a Musou game or two not on our systems won't be a big loss."
Jupiter fought the urge to laugh nervously, but she could see that the CPUs weren't too bad, though she really didn't feel like she belonged here for several reasons. Pulling out her phone, she pursed her lips softly. The day wasn't too far gone, but she was starting to get homesick. "Um, if it's okay, I'd like to get going."
"Huh?!" More than one person yelled at the same time as everyone looked at Jupiter, who scratched the back of her head.
"You're leaving?" Uni asked, frowning softly.
"Yeah," Jupiter nodded at her. "It's been awhile since I was at home, I want to see sis again."
"That's fair." Uni sighed softly. "I'll miss you."
"Yeah! Come visit us sometime in Lowee!" Ram grinned at Jupiter while Rom walked up and hugged the other girl. "Hey!" Ram ran over and hugged her too. "You're cool."
"Uh huh! Very cool." Rom nodded.
"D'aww!" Jupiter giggled as she hugged them back and looked at Uni, who was fidgeting in place, at least until Vert got behind her and bumped Uni from behind with her hip, sending the girl stumbling forward and into Jupiter, causing the two to crash onto the ground. "OOOF! You okay?"
Uni laid on top of her, nodding and hugging her. "Don't be a stranger, okay? I'll give you my number so you can call me."
Noire just watched, smiling softly. 'Still, there's something about this girl, what is it? The more I look at her the more I'm reminded of something, but what?' She couldn't understand why either.
After the two girls got up and exchanged numbers, the group saw Jupiter out of the Basilicom and watched as she ran off.
"Odd how she's heading West." Noire muttered softly. "Didn't you say that she got lost a few times in your Basilicom, Vert?" Vert nodded and Noire bit her lower lip. "...Alright then... Marvy, could you come here?"
"Yes, Lady Noire?" An extremely busty girl with shoulder-length red hair, red eyes with a musical note for pupils who was wearing a red ribbon around her neck, a white button up shirt that only had one button clasped as the shirt stretched over her bust seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She wore a gray jacket around her waist over a pleated skirt and two swords at her side.
When one looked at her and then looked at Vert, it was a toss-up as to which one had more volume in their chest.
"You know that girl that was just here? Could you follow her?"
"NOIRE!" Uni yelled, a shocked and disappointed look on her face. "You're not going to..."
"Relax, Uni," Noire sighed at Uni's over-protectiveness. "I'm actually worried that Jupiter will get lost on the way home. I just want Marvy to follow her and make sure she gets home safely is all." Noire looked at Marvy. "Please take care not to get seen if you don't need to and report back when she gets home."
"Of course." Marvy nodded and jumped into the air, seemingly disappearing.
Uni frowned at Noire. "You could have gone yourself or had me go. Why use Marvelous for this?!" She knew her sister had to have a good reason, asking someone of Marvy's skill level for a simple mission was a waste of the ninja's talents.
"I have my reasons." Noire flicked a hand through her long hair and looked at the other CPUs. "Would you two mind sticking around for a bit longer?"
"Do you think something bad will happen?" Vert asked as Noire gave her a look that was both stern and confused at the same time.
"Honestly... I don't know what to expect." Noire knew that if she was wrong about her hunch that Uni would probably never forgive her for what she was doing.
Uni glared at her sister before turning to look in the direction Jupiter had left. "...Be safe, Jupiter."
(-)
An hour later...
"I got lost? HOW IN GAMINDUSTRI DO I GET LOST HEADING WEST?!" Jupiter screamed as she grabbed her head with both hands and rubbed her scalp up and down rapidly. "I blame that darn red balloon that distracted me!" She slumped and pouted as she sighed heavily. Pulling up her HUD, she grimaced at how there was no data on Lastation. "I really should have asked Uni or Black Heart for a map."
Not far away, behind a rock formation, Marvy giggled softly. She had seen Jupiter look up at a red balloon and had, for some reason, ran after it. 'Cute kid, easily distracted though.' If she went any further North, Jupiter would end up in Lowee and Marvy wasn't sure that the kid wanted to head into that winter wonderland dressed like that.
"Let's see..." Jupiter stood up and looked around. "Okay, those mountains look KIND of familiar..." She pulled up her HUD and brought up the map of Planeptune before her eyes went white and blank. "Crap!" She knew where she was now. "Those mountains are where the really strong enemies are at!"
Not far away, Marvy sighed as she heard that. 'Yeah, I better help her, she might go running into that area and get caught by a level three hundred dogoo or something.'
Jupiter hung her head and started to whine. "Dang it! I just want to go home! I miss sis! I miss Histoire! I miss my HOME! That's it! I don't care!"
Marvy's eyes widened in shock and she fell on her butt as Jupiter was engulfed in light. "No... Way... Jupiter is... A CPU?"
When the light faded, Jupiter looked at herself and nodded before spreading her wings and taking off into the air. "I just hope that no one sees me before I can turn back to normal."
After Jupiter flew above the clouds and disappeared, Marvy stood up, her face pale. "Lady Noire needs to know about this." She spun around and quickly rushed back to Lastation's Basilicom.
(-)
Several minutes later...
"Would you two calm down?" Blanc asked as she saw the Lastation sisters pacing around the floor in Noire's office. Vert was keeping Rom and Ram occupied with coloring books, at least Blanc HOPED they were coloring books and not her novels...
Or worse, R-18 doujins. The last thing she needed was to explain just why there were naked people doing things to each other in those books when she got home. 'Especially if C-Sha's around, she'll never stop teasing me about it.'
Noire stopped and sighed. "You're right, I just can't help it though."
"And why are you so suspicious of my friend?" Uni glared at Noire. "Huh? What? Do you think she works for some sort of Anti-CPU militia or something?!"
Noire shook her head. "No, that's not it. Whenever I look at her, I feel like there's something I'm forgetting, but I can't remember what it is." Seeing Uni's glare intensify, she nodded. "When Marvy comes back if she tells us that Jupiter got home safely and there was nothing out of the ordinary, I'll personally give her an apology, okay?" She smiled softly as Uni's glare lessened and she nodded. "Anyway, I hope that I'm wrong and I'm just being..."
"LADY NOIRE!" Marvy screamed as she burst through the doors of the balcony and into the office, her eyes were wide and her face was pale as she panted heavily, her large breasts heaving with each breath and threatening to break her shirt into pieces. "EMERGENCY!"
"What?!" Noire was about to turn into Black Heart at that moment. "What's going on?"
"Jupiter..." Marvy panted as she tried to catch her breath. "Jupiter is..." Running at top speed while bounding over everything and keeping her breasts from bursting out of her outfit hadn't been too easy and left the redhead slightly winded. "She..."
"What!?" Uni was in front of Marvy and grabbed her by her vest and lifted her up, worry on her face. "Did something happen?! Is she okay?! She's not hurt is she?!"
Marvy shook her head. "She... Fine... Just..." Marvy took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Lady Noire! Jupiter is a CPU!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone in the room but Uni screamed in shock while Uni felt her fingers go numb from the shock as she let Marvy go, the ninja's large breasts bouncing heavily with the motion, Uni's eyes were wide and her face pale.
"Are you sure?" Vert asked, the ramifications of this information was intense.
"Yes." Marvy nodded. "She was engulfed in light and numbers before her outfit and hair color both changed, she had wings and flew off into the air, high above the clouds."
"...Nep...tune..." Noire said, her eyes wide as she trembled. "That... That's why she looked so familiar to me! She looks like Purple Heart when she was in her human form!"
Both Vert and Blanc stiffened in realization. For Blanc, she couldn't believe she didn't realize it sooner, even if she had known Planeptune's previous CPU as Purple Heart mostly, she had seen Purple Heart's human form plenty of times in the past that she could recall exactly what Neptune looked like with ease. 'Why couldn't I remember?!'
Vert, on the other hand, had an expression that was of pure disbelief. "...Everything suddenly makes sense." Everyone but Uni, who was still stunned, looked at her. "Her fear of Noire, Blanc and myself, her questions about the Console Wars, the fact that she was so defensive of us CPUs when Abnes was talking poorly about us... She's Nepgear's younger sister..."
"I don't recall hearing anything about Planeptune having a CPU Candidate!" Blanc snarled, though her mind was racing. 'Even if information coming from Planeptune is minimal, you'd think rumors of a CPU Candidate out of Planeptune would have surfaced at the very least!'
"N...No wonder..." Uni muttered softly, though for some reason everyone was able to hear her. "No wonder she asked me what I would do if I found out that Lilac Heart had a little sister..." She fell to her hands and knees as she started to sniffle while tears came to her eyes. "She's Planeptune's CPU Candidate... And..." She sniffled more as tears started falling faster out of her eyes. "I told her that I didn't think that Lilac Heart's little sister would be worth being friends with! UWAAAAH!" Uni screamed, sobbing loudly while Vert ran over and knelt down next to her, hugging the crying girl to her breasts, rocking back and forth softly while Uni gripped her tightly and cried.
"...That big meanie!" Ram suddenly yelled, anger all over her face.
"Huh?!" Everyone looked at Ram in shock, save for Uni, who was still crying.
"That meanie CPU gets mad at us for accidentally going into her nation and she sends her little sister into our nations!"
As she heard that, Uni stiffened in shock and started to tremble. "An... And Jupiter asked about our military strength..." Vert's arms went slack around Uni, who stepped away from her, nodding her thanks, not that Vert noticed, as she was looking rather shocked at that moment.
"...THAT BRAT!" Blanc snarled as anger surged through her. "She sent her sister to spy on us?!" She looked at Rom and Ram and a cold burst of fear gripped her heart as she remembered what Nepgear had told them at that conference.
"I could have killed your sisters when they trespassed in my country. But I didn't. Because unlike you three I know the pain of losing someone important to me."
Blanc's face was pale as she shivered horribly. "Sh...She wouldn't... Would she? With our military's as weak as they are and the share situation right now..."
"This is... Not comforting." Vert bit her thumb as she tried to think of something to say. Looking at Uni and Rom, she saw that both were looking shocked and miserable at that moment.
There was a flash of light in the room and everyone looked at Noire, or rather Black Heart as she stood there cutting an imposing figure. "Enough! All of you! Calm down and think! Let's not assume the worst about anyone! For all we know, Nepgear has no idea that her sister was out in our nations."
Blanc sneered, but knew Noire was probably right. "So what do you propose?"
Black Heart took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I'll contact her and request a face to face meeting on official CPU business." Vert and Blanc both looked at her in surprise. "You both know that she won't refuse such a meeting if it's official business."
"Yeah, and maybe she'll agree and you'll walk into a trap and she'll use that damn sword on you!" Blanc snarled in anger. Her eye went red when Black Heart took a deep breath and nodded. "DO YOU NOT EVEN CARE?!"
"Uni." Black Heart ignored Blanc and looked at her sister before walking up to her and hugging her tightly.
"N...Noire? What..."
Black Heart had her eyes closed. "When I go off to Planeptune... If... If something happens to me. If I end up being killed by Lilac Heart out of retribution for what I did to her all those years ago, I want you to promise me... I want you to promise me that you will not hate Nepgear."
"But..." Uni started to protest.
"Uni! The animosity between our nations needs to end." Black Heart let go of the hug and stepped back as she looked her sister in the eyes. "If my death will satisfy that, then so be it, but I want you to promise me that you won't seek revenge on her if it comes down to it."
"Noire..." Uni sniffled, trembling. "No... Please... Don't talk like that. You sound like you're going off to die."
"I don't want to, but there's a possibility that I could be dead soon." Black Heart gave Uni a gentle smile while cupping her younger sister's face and gently rubbing her cheek. "...I finally understand now..."
"Huh?" Uni had a confused look on her face.
"Why Purple Heart made that recording for us, why she wanted us to be friends with Lilac Heart and why she spoke like she was knew she was going to die. Vert, Blanc, please, could you two stay here while I go and call Nepgear?" They nodded and got Uni, Rom and Ram out of the office while Black Heart went to her desk to make the call.
As they walked off, Black Heart knew why she finally understood why Purple Heart had made that recording. Taking one last look at Uni, who looked back at her with trembling eyes, Black Heart smiled softly. 'Neptune, I might be joining you soon, when I do, will you let me apologize? And Uni, I'm sorry.'
"The reason you made that recording for us..." Black Heart whispered as tears leaked out of her eyes after the others left the room. "Was because you wanted your sister to have a better world than the one you helped rule over, even if it meant that you wouldn't be here to see it, isn't that right, Neptune?"
After getting her emotions under control, Black Heart turned on the video call screen and waited for someone to pick up. When the screen lit up with the person on the other end looking surprised, Black Heart nodded. "Hello, Histoire, it's been awhile."
"Yes, yes it has. Is there something you need, Black Heart?"
"I wish to speak with Lilac Heart on official CPU business."
Histoire's eyes widened as she heard that. "Very well, I shall contact her and let her know of your request. Please wait for me to call you back."
Black Heart nodded as the screen turned off. 'All I can do now is wait.' She thought to herself as she turned back into Noire. "I wonder how this will go down." She said to herself softly.
Noire certainly didn't want to die and leave Uni alone, but she knew that it was a strong possibility. She leaned back in her chair and looked out the window, noticing how the sky, despite the fact that it was early in the morning, was looking dark as thick, dark clouds started to gather in the sky.
Before you ask, everyone's freaking out, even Noire, that's why they aren't thinking clearly.
And hey, Steamax gets a cameo reference!
Okay, time to clear some stuff up.
1: Major MASA might be an OC, but she's basically another Maker character. There was a game on the Dreamcast called "Conflict Zone" by MASA Group. While it got ported to other systems later, it was originally a Sega exclusive and was a RTS Military-based game. So why not have a Major named MASA after the group?
2: The red balloon is a reference to the RPG Wild Arms (original on PS1 with the remake on the PS2). Calling it evil is a reference to X-Play's review of the remake.
3: What? You thought that the CPUs would be as strong as they were during the Console Wars?
"Welcome to Nepstation. I'm Plutia and with me is..."
"Waaaaaaaaaaah! Oh man! Nep Jr.'s going to find out, she's going to get mad and then go full Conquest on everyone! Waah aaah aaaah aaaah!"
"Neppy, calm down, I'm sure..."
"She needs an injection of Vitamin Nep!"
"Well, if you must know..."
"But there's no way to get her that! Now she's going to go all Dark CPU and..."
"Peashy, can you calm Neppy down?"
"PEA HEADBUTT!"
"GOOG!"
"...Peashy, why are you in HDD?"
"Because I want to show off my bikini, Ploot!"
"...Yarn is thicker."
"Uh huh! But it covers all my naughty spots!"
"...Peashy, it barely covers your crotch, in fact, I can see parts of it from here."
"Huh? I have parts down there? But I'm not a boy!"
"Well, that's all the time we have. This is Plutia..."
"...And Yellow Heart in nothing but..."
*RIIIP*
"Pea is now naked!"
"Nep Jr. needs... Vitamin... Nep..."
"Bye bye, everyone! I have to sew up more clothes for Peashy, teach her some stuff and get Neppy to lay down."