Chapter 36

*Bang!* *ssssss~* *Fwm!* *SKRREEE!* *CRASH!*

The CPU charged at the cloaked man and shot out a ball of fire from his blade. The cloaked man used his energy to block it, but the CPU slashed through the flames and down towards the man. The man quickly formed a blade made of dark matter and used it to defend himself against the boy. Their blades grinded against each other as the flames and sparks flew everywhere. The boy pushed closer and, while the cloaked man was defending against the blade, kneed him in his stomach.

"Agh!" the cloaked man gasped for air as he crumpled to the ground, dropping his blade. The CPU, however, had other plans. He kicked the man up into the air and threw a punch at him that sent him crashing into a tree trunk, sending a shockwave that destroyed the many trees around.

*BANG!* *SLASH!* *SLASH!* *SK!* *SHWING!* *FFWMP!* *BANG!* *SKREEEEN!* *SHHHHK!* FUWMPHFF!*

Before the cloaked man, what was left of his cloak, could pull himself out of the rubble, the boy was already rushing him. He set fire to his blade and dashed towards the man with incredible speed. It was so fast, that the cloaked man only dodged by a hair, causing his cloak to receive a tear. I honestly couldn't even see him because of how fast he was, so I had to slow down time to see him. The boy, however, kept dashing around and slashing over and over until the man was out of breath. The CPU rose above him as the area around him was set to flames.

" ..." the cloaked man tisked. "You...clever bitch."

If you didn't realize what had just happened, the boy had basically just kept slashing around the man while he slowly set the area around him on fire. Making the cloaked man worn out though, was just a bonus.

The CPU raised his blade up towards the sky and the surrounding flames came up and engulfed his blade. Once all the flames had gathered in his blade, the flames were shaped like a Phoenix. We all watched in awe as the CPU looked back down at the cloaked man. "… Go die in HELL!" He dashed towards the cloaked man and slammed the Phoenix-shaped blade down towards him.

"DAMN YOU!"

*FUUUMPH!* *BOOM!*

I shut my eyes as the bright flames blew up, but I passed out instead.

"…"

"…"

I peeked my eyes open. I was looking up at a ceiling and at the female CPUs and the one male CPU surrounding me.

"Am... Am I alive?"

"Tolise!"

I felt somebody throw themselves at me and wrap their arms around me. I winced in pain. "Ow..."

My vision cleared up and the long-lilac-haired girl quietly sobbed into my bandaged-wrapped chest. "Nepgear..." I ran my fingers through her hair and kissed her on her forehead.

"I... I don't want you to...leave me alone..*hic*... It's...*sniff*... It's so scary...*sniff* ...and lonely...without you!"

Her body was trembling. I whispered into her ear, "I told you I'd never you and I won't. But I also said I'd died protecting you. Because I love you more than anything in the world."

I pulled her in close and our lips met. "Mmn...*smack*...mm."

"Um, hey. Can you please do this later? Cause we're kinda just awkwardly standing here," Neptune asked.

Nepgear pulled away quickly, stood back up and bowed to the rest. "I'm sorry!"

Noire sighed. "Geez! We didn't come to see you two make out. We came here to check in on you, Tolise."

I let out a dry laugh. "Sorry..."

The boy came up to me. I forced myself to sit up on the couch. "And you are?"

He stretched out his hand. "I'm Hikan. Nice to meet you."

"…" I took his hand and shook it. "Tolise. Pleasure."

Hikan looked at me with a curious expression. "So, you're that person Histy was telling me about, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but who are you?"

"I'm Red Heart. I'm a CPU."

"Then, how come you don't have a nation and why haven't I heard about you from Histoire?"

He sighed. "That's a long story. Just ask Histoire about it."

I nodded. "Then, if you know Histoire, do you live here?"

"I used to," he sighed. "I just got back so..."

"Got back?"

He waved his hand. "No, it's nothing... Anyway, I've heard you're from a different dimension, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's how I got here."

"Well, that's good to know."

"Um, hey, can somebody go make some grub? My tummy's growling," Neptune rubbed her stomach.

Hikan nodded. "Sure," he walked away towards the kitchen.

I rested my head back onto the couch and fell asleep. No point in wondering about Hikan right now.

Histoire and I were now on the balcony at the top of Planeptune's tower.

"So, Histoire," I gave her a serious look. "Who's that Hikan guy?"

She scratched her head. "That's a long story..."

I slouched over. "That's what he said."

"Well, to understand that, you have to understand what had happened in the past."

"Okay. What happened?"

"Well, there was originally a land that the Goddesses used to live on. It was called Celestia. But, they fought for the title known as True Goddess, the title that named that Goddess the strongest. However, a being named Arfoire helped to push the other Goddesses to drive Neptune off of Celestia, making her lose her memory and I was locked away. After Neptune made some friends and learned about her past, they met a boy named Hikan Masato who was close to your age. At the time, he wasn't a CPU, but he did know how to fight. So, Neptune dragged him along with them. After Neptune had won the respect of the other Goddesses, and I was saved, all their shares increased and Hikan somehow managed to absorb the shares and become the CPU known as Red Heart. They eventually fought Arfoire to decide the fate of Gamindustri and ,after they had defeated her, every nations' shares skyrocketed and those shares were used to create the CPU Candidates. However, Celestia was destroyed in the process and the Goddesses eventually forgot about True Goddess."

Hikan grew to feel a connection with the CPUs and he decided to make it his sworn duty to protect them. But, a new group called ASIC rose up, whose goals were to revive Arfoire. When the Goddesses and Nepgear went to stop them, they were overpowered and the shares of Gamindustri plummeted, causing their nations to fall to the sea and the lost shares were absorbed by ASIC. So, with the help of Hikan, Nepgear united the other CPU Candidates and they rescued their sisters. But, they were unable to stop Arfoire's revival. After a long hard battle, all the CPUs were about to be killed, but, instead, Hikan had sacrificed himself to save them and all of Gamindustri. After that, we assumed he had died. But after you guys went to fight the cloaked man, he came back through a portal from your dimension."

Histoire let out a long sigh. "That sure was a lot to explain. Do you understand now, Tolise?"

"I get it," I looked up towards the night sky. "If he went to my dimension and came back, does that mean it's possible to go between dimensions?"

She scratched her head. "It could be possible."

I nodded. "Do you know if Hikan ever defeated the cloaked man earlier today?"

She shook her head. "They told me that he was severely injured but still alive. They also said that underneath his hood was a black and red mask."

I sighed. "Man, he really doesn't want anyone to know who he is, does he?" Then again, I don't want people to know my real name.

"Probably not."

I headed for the door. "Well, I'm calling it quits tonight. G'night."

She waved me goodbye. "Good night."

I popped my head back through the doorway. "By the way, do you know where Hikan sleeps?"

"He sleeps on the floor above your's."

I nodded. "Thanks."

I walked back down to my room and sat quietly onto my bed. Hikan was a boy who had become a CPU and, because of his love for his friends, decided to live his life protecting them. Like me. But the only difference was that he hadn't lived the life I had. Was his reason for fighting really different from mine or were we really fighting for the same reason? I rested my head onto the pillow. I knew what I was going to do tomorrow.

"You don't want us to hold back tomorrow?!"

"Are you crazy!? So many could die from that!"

"I want to know something. So I need you guys to not hold back when you fight tomorrow."

"Whatever kid. Just know that you're digging your own grave."

"…"

The rays of the sun beamed down on me and I quickly rolled off the bed, changed clothes, grabbed my blade and rushed down to the floor above mine. I found Hikan walking out of his room, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey! Hikan!" I dashed up to him.

"Hm?" Hikan turned to face me. "Oh, hey Tolise. What's up?"

I looked directly into his eyes. "Fight me."

His face was blank. "Huh?"

A/N:

The next chapter will be a fight between Hikan and Tolise and after their fight, I'll start the HikanxBlanc relationship. Also, Leo, it's good to see you have an OC idea, but(This applies to everybody) you can either PM me the idea or just leave it in the reviews. Either one is alright. Also, I WILL be making another Neptunia fanfic after I finish this one. I will have a poll after this fanfic ends to see where and what you guys want the next fanfic to be about. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter!