HyperDimension Neptunia Ascension

(Midnight – Lastation Capital Central Power Station Outskirts – May 6th, XX18)

Gohan slowly rose to his feet, his mouth almost gaping in shock at the large monstrous machine looming over the plain from afar. He blinked, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

"What..." Garland's eyes were wide and shaking, his fists clenching hard as he stared towards the flying capital-class ship. "What is that thing?"

Neputunu swallowed the gathering saliva in her mouth. "It looks like a… like a ship of some kind. I've never seen a monster like that… Where did it come from?"

On the lower ground, Hondo took a nervous step backwards, his brows twitching down in fear and hate. "Great… another large machine… Just like back in Pristine Colaysia..." His hands balled into tight fists and he stretched his head towards his partner. "Taberu!"

The mentioned girl only narrowed her eyes, clenching the hilt of her arc hard. "I see it. What do you want me to do about it, it isn't my problem."

"Come on though, look at that thing!" Hondo shouted, turning towards her and pointing at it. "Think about the destruction a monster like that could cause!"

A hmph came as she crossed her arms over one another. She closed her eyes in refute and turned away from him, her own brows twitching up and down slightly.

"Come on." Hondo let his hands down and stepped her direction, "you can't tell me that thing doesn't bother you, right? Aren't we going to deal with it like we did in Pristine or not?"

She growled and turned to him now, lifting an angry fist and baring her teeth with wide eyes. "Don't tell me what to do! I'm the one in control here and I say we ignore it!"

"Ignore it..." Hondo's own eyes furrowed seriously, making Taberu's own look away, avoiding his sharp gaze. "You're saying you will just ignore it."

"We..." she almost shuddered. "We have a job to do, let's just do what we came here to do and leave it at that."

"Taberu..." Hondo said. "We don't know where the CPU is..."

Upon the plateau, Gohan watched the exchange between the two, listening to every word. His emerald eyes shined as they darted from one to the other, before finally rising to the machine monster high in the sky, loud hums resonating from its large being.

"We have to take that thing down-"

"I don't care about the people here..." Taberu said, once again crossing her arms over her chest and turning to the ground in arrogance. "I have Fuuin Yokoshima, the rest are expendable. We should just escape."

Hondo sighed and turned towards the highest rise of land, seeing the lone blond fighter standing there, staring at the monster. His glare tightened in concern towards the kid before turning to the monster.

Neputunu lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes shook at the sight of it. Its presence was overwhelming, a fear dominated her, the unknown of what this new beast was capable of.

Down below, Taberu took steps to turn around and face towards Gohan. She squinted her eyes. "Damn, it was stupid of me to leave the boy up there, now I have to go retrieve him."

Feeling the girl's gaze, Gohan instantly looked down towards the devourer, seeing her prepare her blade and getting ready to take a leap at him. The blond's eyes took a serious gaze as he brought up his hands, a flat hand held vertically in front of his face and chest while the other was like a clawing paw up at his side.

Taberu took to a leap, flying quickly towards the boy and she reared her sword back.

Suddenly, a large blood red laser flew across the ruined plain, cutting in the closing space between the flying Taberu and Gohan. Shock was upon both of their faces as Gohan felt his footing be lost.

"GOHAN!" Neputunu screamed loudly, coming forward as tears flew from her eyes. Marvelous' was speechless at the sudden attack, shaking as strong wind blew past her and her two friends.

The ground Gohan once stood on was now tumbling, breaking apart in large boulders before a series of large and loud explosions followed along in a straight line, large clouds of smoke and rock flying into the air. Gohan closed his eyes and reached towards the unconscious form of his friend desperately, finding he was out of reach. He growled to himself before feeling a slender arm wrap harshly and strongly across his chest and feeling all of the air in his body fly out of him in a cough.

In a second, he found himself flying out of the smoke. He turned to see the brunet boy clad in navy blue, Lee Hondo, grasping a tight hold of him in one arm and in the other, Fuuin, being dragged by the back of his coat. The three boys took to a harsh land on a larger mass of ground and grass. Hondo took a single step and turned towards the large monster in the sky before growling as Gohan quickly grabbed a hold of Fuuin's shoulders, checking for any injuries.

"Fuuin?" another voice called. Hondo turned his head and Gohan raised his, seeing the orange-haired ninja girl, MarvelousAQL, quickly come to his side and kneel down, full of concern and worry. "Fuuin?!"

Gohan smiled at her. "He'll be fine, he just fainted."

Neputunu and Garland soon came, stopping shortways from the group as the blond got to his feet and took to staring at the brown-to-blond haired boy now glaring at the machine. "What did you do that for?"

Hondo's eyes blinked, turning to him. Gohan's own gaze lowered seriously in concern. Hondo merely turned back to the machine.

"What about your partner?" Gohan tilted his head.

"She's fine. Look."

Gohan turned towards her, seeing the devourer on her feet, glaring angrily towards the mechanical beast in the sky.

"You..." Taberu's clenching fist slowly rose to her chest, shaking in sheer anger. "You stupid machine… DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM!"

Gohan blinked and lifted his head, as did the others, seeing the ominous shadow seemingly staring at them, the large sapphire flares shining brilliantly at them, dimming out almost as if it was narrowing its eyes at them. Gohan sunk his head down, baring his own fists and bringing them up as Hondo slowly took a stance of his own.

"I..." she shook, arms now down at her sides, "am the Devourer… I'll eat you… you idiotic machine."

With a loud and chilling scream, the girl immediately set off into a mad dash, running so fast it was as if she was flying across the terrain, quickly closing the distance between the machine and herself. Her blade at her side, red and black energy began to swallow and roar around it and she took a high leap, raising it high above her head. A murderous glint shown in her wide and angry eyes.

"Take this..." her voice was low, "you insufferable beast."

Gohan winced as Taberu brought her sword down, unleashing a large and powerful wave of chaotic energy racing towards the capital-class ship. The strike slammed hard against the machine's side, an audible groan of pain emanated across the field.

Neputunu's eyes were wide with shock, as was Garland's and Marvelous' own, seeing the large ship tilting to its side and sinking towards the ground. The eight blue floodlights moved around chaotically, more moans and groans leaving the beast as it seemed to shake and tremble at the might of her strike.

"Holy shit!" Garland shouted, taking a step forward.

Taberu landed on the ground in a triumph, lifting her head high to smirk at the machine audibly. She brought her blade up once again, charging it up for another swipe. With a loud yell, she unleashed yet another powerful wave of energy, seeing it slam hard against the hull of the monstrous carrier.

"Wow!" Hondo shouted. He smiled and brought up a fist. "Nice work, Taberu. Maybe that thing attacking you like that wasn't the best call."

Gohan's own eyes furrowed. "No, something's wrong."

"Huh?" Hondo gave him his eyes, seeing the boy's body tense up in dread.

Taberu smirked up. "Not so smart, are you, you stupid pile of scrap metal." She spat to the side and her eyes narrowed in a death glare. "Next time, never attack your superior."

A loud horn suddenly sounded from the beast, shaking the entire plain by storm. Neputunu winced and looked towards the large monster, seeing all eight of its blue floodlights cast down below it.

Taberu screamed and lifted an arm over her eyes, blinding sapphire light drowning her. "Damn it!" She closed her eyes tight, shaking, feeling the heat from the intense light. "What is this?"

A charge sounded up, fear suddenly took hold of her body, freezing her in place. Her eyes widened and she shook as a sudden overwhelming beam of red shot against the ground not far before her, ripping rock and dirt asunder, the ground quaked at its awesome power. The loud drilling like noise became louder and louder as the large red beam of heat quickly approached her, scorching and devastating all it came upon.

"Taberu!" a voice shouted.

The girl in black turned to see a blond quickly fly into her with outstretched arms. With a loud oof, the two crashed together and Taberu was sent off of her feet, both her and the boy in white and blue falling to a lower piece of cracked land, falling hard on the boy's back as he shielded her. With a loud cough, Taberu sat up and held her chest, shaking her head and turning her gaze down to see Gohan panting loudly. "You… What was that for, are you an idiot or something!?"

Gohan pushed himself to sit up and chuckled nervously, giving her a teethy a grin and closing his eyes. "Sorry, I just don't like to see people die."

Taberu growled at him and took to her feet, glaring up at the monster. "What the hell is that."

"The Carrier of God." Gohan said lowly, drawing her attention. Gohan's eyes furrowed fiercely towards the monster, his fists clenched hard, shaking almost. "My true enemy..."

Taberu's eyes widened almost, then Gohan suddenly screamed out loudly. With a loud growl, his eyes widened and he spread his legs, lunging an open palm up towards the sky with a furious stare. He began to shout louder and louder, his body tensing up every second. The ground began to quake, moving pebbles from their resting places and wind began to swirl around him. Taberu slowly took a step away from the blond, seeing a small bright teal spark shining soundly over his palm.

"What… are you?" she found herself asking.

The boy's green eyes pulsed, shining brilliantly as the diamond-like pupil rotated by ninety degrees, now being horizontal. His body shuddered constantly, like he was under a great burden, and suddenly, a roaring ball of emerald and white roaring energy, like that of a star, was hovering over his hand. With a loud growl, he let forth a terrifying scream and the air around him exploded, blowing Taberu clean off of her feet and flying away with a cry.

A sudden torrent of thunderous green and white roared, shooting up in a storm towards the beast and slamming harshly against the Carrier of God. The air was showered in a deafening roar, the sky and plain was covered in a glowing teal light.

A loud eerie and mechanical moan cried out from the machine, similar to that of a whale. The large monster swayed to the side in a vast amount, moving slowly across the roaring winds, shards of the energy wave flowing harshly across its metallic skin and flowing to the other side, vanishing in the air.

Gohan closed his eyes tight, growling loudly before suddenly ceasing his fire. With loud pants, he fell upon his knees and then his hands, sweat dripping from his forehead and down the tip of his nose.

"Huuuu… uuuuugh..."

Straining, the blond lifted his head up in dismay, looking up to the black sky.

"Damn… That's insane..."

Taberu's eyes were wide and shaking, she began to blink and shook her head side to side quickly, now taking a look to the sky before they shrunk.

Flying high above, the mechanical menace seemed to have shrugged off the attack, dark blue and black flames scouring forth in a thick and bright smog, almost like erupting lava constantly spewing out of a boiling crevice. Blue floodlights shined down upon the two teens and a series of loud ruptures sounded from high above. Taberu quickly turned tail and took to a fast sprint as bright blue bombs began to rain down towards them, leaving bright sapphire white trails behind them.

Gohan coughed before he was surrounded and covered in rapid explosions. Taberu ran as fast as her feet could take her until a mortar landed behind her, exploding the ground and throwing her high off into the air.

Hondo's eyes widened as panic came upon him, he watched as his partner's body flailed helplessly in the air before slamming harshly on her side, bouncing down a hill. "Taberu!"

As the machine's chitter-like noises filled the air, the spectators all rushed to the scene. Neputunu quickly came upon the smoke and leveled plateau her blond friend was once upon, and looking around, he seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Gohan!" she cried out, looking around desperately as wind began to blow. She lifted a hand in front of her eyes, closing one and taking another look around. "Gohan!?" her call was filled with desperation. Garland quickly caught up, jumping from one plateau to the other and he quickly took to searching.

Meanwhile, Hondo reached the now intact landmass the large carrier now loomed over, coming under its intense and enormous shadow. "Taberu!" he looked to his left, then to his right. "Taberu!?"

A groan graced his ears. With a low breath, he quickly ran and came to the girl's side, kneeling down.

"Ah, thank the goddesses you're alright."

He lifted a hand behind her back, lifting her from the ground. She winced, now holding her right shoulder and looking up at him with slightly furrowed eyes. "Damn..."

"I know, it's stronger than the other… Much stronger."

Taberu shook her head. "No… it isn't the same."

Hondo blinked as Taberu shook from his hold, getting to her feet and glaring towards the machine monstrosity floating in the dark above. Hondo too got to his feet and let his hands fall by his side. "What do you mean?"

"This isn't just some big machine made by those Seven Sage assholes..." Her teeth shown themselves in a very displeased growl. "And it moves strange. Look at that thing."

Hondo turned to see the capital-class ship slowly moving away, its eight large floodlight scanning all across the ground, another series of mechanical chitters sounding from the giant.

"Why does it do that… Make all of those noises."

"I don't know." Hondo blinked several times before his eyes furrowed seriously. "Hey, Taberu..." She crossed her arms. "What is that direction."

"Lastation's capital."

"It's headed straight for it. If we don't stop it, thousands of people could get hurt, even worse..."

Taberu blinked before growling.

"What does it want? Where's its master?"

"Maybe… he's not here yet." she said.

"Explain."

"I don't know… I'll let you know after I've killed it."

She bent her legs, getting ready to set off after it when Hondo's hand suddenly grabbed hold of her wrist, instantly earning a sharp glare from Taberu.

"What are you doing?"

"You can't fight that thing, it'll kill you."

She growled at him. "I'll be fine, nothing can beat me."

"Stop!" he yanked her, earning a yelp from the devourer. She stood straight and turned to him. "You're hurt, you're tired. Like it or not, these guys have weared you down too much. Maybe if you were fully healed, you could take that monster down all by yourself, but not now."

"What happened to all of that "we have to destroy the monster" business you had going on earlier, huh?"

Hondo's eyes narrowed in serious concern towards her. "I didn't realize exactly how strong this thing was. It took two of your Soul-Eater attacks head on and even what ever the hell that was that boy used to attack it and it is still flying strong. Hell, I don't even know if that kid is alive right now! We have to go!"

"Not without Yokoshima. I have a mission, you have a mission, to bring that boy and his Share Crystal Shard to Dr. Farr."

Hondo turned away. "Maybe so, but the situation has changed. I can't allow you to stay here and fight that thing."

Taberu blankly looked at him, almost surprised and let her head fall partly to the side. "I'm shocked. Out of all of my partners, you're the only one who's cared enough to say something like that to me. Hell, you may be the first." Hondo only blinked at her, registering the devourer's words. "But I'm still Taberu, the Devourer… I am… the strongest person in the world. If I can't take out a mere monster, if I was to run away from a stupid monster, I'd never be able to look at myself again. I refuse to lose to a beast."

Hondo only sighed and looked to the side. Seeing him, Taberu too gave the direction he was looking a glance, seeing the other three teens getting to their feet.

Gohan coughed out loudly, he began to lightly beat his chest with the roof of his fist as Neputunu held onto his shoulders.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay, Gohan." She sniffled loudly and took the boy into a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

Gohan only chuckled and pat her back, now letting his eyes rise to meet Garland's. He could see the Lowee soldier looking down on him inquisitively.

"Why did you do that, saving that girl?"

Gohan blinked and began to shuffle himself from Neputunu's embrace. Getting the message, she rose to her feet along side him. "You mean Taberu?" he asked.

"Yeah, what was the point in that. She was going to kill all of us, and yet, you save her… Why?"

Gohan only looked to the side, almost as if he was ashamed. "I… refuse to let anyone die. Even her."

"She raped Fuuin."

"So she deserves death?" Gohan turned to him.

"She may have killed Noire. There's no sign of Neptune anywhere."

"I'm sure they're alive."

Garland's eyes furrowed fiercely. "She almost killed you."

"I don't care."

He growled. "You idiot!" He brought up a fist and waved it in front of him and to the side. "What kind of person can you be. You're carefree, you're a fighter, you're almost clueless about the world and even simple things, you have no respect for the goddesses, and now you're telling me you're a guy who'll even save his enemies!?"

"I seek for no such thing as revenge." Gohan lowly said. His tone was nothing but austere, Garland's eyes looked deeply into his own. With a scowl, the brunet soldier turned away.

"Tsk."

"Besides… I only aim to better myself, never to kill or be the victor. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a person die and I could have prevented that… not even a person like her. No one deserves to die… Only those past the point of no return deserve that punishment."

"And what is the "point of no return" to you? Huh?! Obviously it doesn't start with the torment of your friends, does it?"

"No!" Gohan almost yelled. Neputunu was spooked by the sudden raise in voice, wincing and turning to the blond. Gohan's eyes were wide, but no anger or malice could be seen in his emerald eyes. Garland's own shook, seeing an unwavering flame of resolve deep inside his green orbs. "I don't have to justify myself to any of you, let me do as I feel I need to and I'll let you do the same. Never once have I questioned your decisions, Garland, and I won't, but I would appreciate it if you would repay me that service as well."

Garland recovered, taking a serious step towards his comrade and steeling a glare onto him with brows arched down. "I can't afford to because I don't trust you to make the best decisions."

Neputunu blinked in apprehension, glancing back from one to the other and back to the first. The tension in the air between the two boys was very high, the moans of the mechanical monster still heavy in the air. Garland's gaze never left the other boy's, the look in his eyes was intense, but it didn't seem Gohan was going to back down. Lifting sad eyebrows, Neputunu wrapped her arms around the white sleeve of Gohan's own.

"Come on, you two..." she said in a sad voice, "stop fighting… You're friends..."

Her mouth quivered, a frown now coming against her face.

"We can't do this to ourselves, we have to work together if we're going to win this battle. Please..."

Gohan closed his eyes, Garland only gave a huff and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down to the blond as Gohan turned to Neputunu and smiled at her.

"Okay..."

The lavender girl smiled at him warmly, and then a scream filled the air. Immediately, the three teens turned to see Taberu falling from the sky, dark blue smoke rising off of her body as she landed hard against the ground, a small explosion sending dust and rocks into the air.

Gohan furrowed his brows and separated himself from the girl, now rushing towards the incident. Garland only closed his eyes and let his head face to the ground. Neputunu turned to him.

"Are you okay?"

"No..." Garland opened his eyes and lifted a hand, looking into his palm. "Why is this happening? Even if we do take this beast down, we still have to face Taberu."

"Y-yeah..." She looked away, "but unlike that monster, she's not an immediate threat to innocent people, now is she?"

"She's working with Cultrizer, that makes her an enemy of Gamindustri itself. To me, she may as well be scum." He glared darkly towards the ground, clenching an audible fist. "She even raped my friend, I can't just let that slide by."

"Then get her back..." Neputunu urged, leaning to him with a heavy tone. "But after we've taken down this machine."

He slowly turned to her. "Fine."

A cough left from Taberu as she pushed herself to sit up, bringing an arm to smear away more blood that was now falling from her mouth and chin. "Crap. How can a monster be that strong?"

"Taberu!" a familiar voice shouted. She turned her head to see the blond boy from before rushing to her. A loud horn shouted from the machine, filling the sky with a loud and dominating noise. "Are you okay?"

"Oh shut up!" she shouted, getting to her feet at a rather steady pace. Gohan came to a short stop mere feet from her. He looked her up and down, seeing her red stockings and black sleeves in complete tatter and ruin, a thick trail of blood ran down her stomach and into her clothes. "I'm fine."

"Listen, we're going to need to work together to take this thing down. I don't think either of us can fight it on our own, not with how much we've already beat each other up."

"Heh." she chuckled, now wearing a wide and amused grin. She lifted a hand up, "work together, like partners? What happened to all of that stuff you were saying earlier,-"

"We'll worry about that later. I am asking you with all of my heart… please." Gohan lowered his head to her with a heavy stare. Taberu blinked at him, hearing the ship cast another roar across the plain. "Help me destroy the Carrier of God."

She narrowed her eyes and turned to the flying beast. "If we meet again after this… I swear, I'm going to kill you."

Gohan smirked to himself and turned to glare at the machine. "You can try all you want, I'll be ready anytime, anywhere."

Taberu couldn't help but give a laugh. "Alright then. Let's go!"

At once, both teens set off in a fast sprint, quickly coming under the machine. They then jumped up, flying high and fast into the air. Taberu raised her sword, now charging another shot of volatile and violent energy as Gohan stretched his hand up towards the beast, taking his Share Crystal Shard in hand. He took a hold of Taberu's free hand, earning a stare from her before she returned it to the machine. The crystal began to glow an intense white, now shrouding the two teens in a stark white aura.

Taberu moaned at the feeling swimming across her body, shuddering in pleasure. "Oh my… This feels… amazing. My body, I feel… power coursing through me." The grip on her Arc tightened strongly, the energy flowing across the mighty blade began to intensify and roar, almost spiraling out into the air. "Yes… yes, keep it coming. I feel so… warm…" Her eyes slowly opened up. "This feels incredible!" a wide teethy smirk came.

Suddenly, the blue lights across the mechanical ship flared brilliantly, and the eight search lights quickly came upon the two.

"Huh!?" Taberu shouted, her eyes shrank. "Wait, why would that thing suddenly turn its sights on us? That hasn't happened before!"

"The Machines of God resonate with the Sharite Shards!" Gohan shouted against the wind. "If you use one, you may as well be shouting "Here I am!" to them! If you're going to attack, you best do it now!"

Taberu growled loudly and held her blade, pointing it to the sky. "Fine then!"

The two teens came to a stop in the air, now at the same altitude as the mechanical being, intense light being cast upon them. Plates of armor and slivers of steel began to move in waves across the body of the monster, chitters sounding forth as a resonating hum sounded off. An eerie red light shown itself from under the rounded peak of the ship, a black devouring flame of red began to fly and swarm around the red light now flaring intensely at them. Gohan furrowed his eyes as wind began to blow intensely around the two, blowing their hair and Gohan's clothes fluttering loudly.

"Take this as my gift to you, you stupid machine!"

A loud horn sounded at the two and against all odds, Taberu swung her sword in a mighty heave, now sending an intense rupturing wave of chaotic red and white flying forward and harshly into the monster, just as it was preparing to fire upon them. A loud cry sounded far across the entire plain as a large explosion shook the beast, taking the monster by storm and sending it in a slow and deadly spin, veering it on a crash course! A strong gust of wind blew harshly through the air, rushing past the two teens and blowing them backwards from the sheer force of the attack.

A series of desperate mechanical whirs left the machine monster as Gohan and Taberu fell fast through the air and straight to the ground. Gohan took Taberu into his hold, wrapping his arms around her body and bringing her close to his chest, aiming his back to the ground.

A loud horn pierced the windy air, Gohan turned his head against the wind, glaring into the enormous pillowing smoke now parting across the sky, seeing a large red flare shoot through the fog. A loud gasp came and he held Taberu closer to his being. The sky seemed to crack as a sudden flash of red blinded his sight and an intense beam of crimson came fast at him.

Glaring, Gohan yelled out, bringing an intense strain across his body. With the speed of the wind and the descent, the two barely avoided being disintegrated by the powerful laser shot from the Carrier of God. Spinning, Gohan extended an arm forward, hearing loud whistles in the air. He stared intensely towards the flaring cobalt blue lights of the machine, seeing sapphire missiles racing towards them from afar. He grinned widely as he flushed forth his Share Crystal Shard, holding it confidently to the projectiles. They exploded a fair distance from the falling pair, and Gohan gave the machine a smirk as it seemed to disappear in the hot red fire and dark blue smog now consuming. With a spin, Gohan gave the ground his back, pulling his arms more over the girl and closing his eyes tight.

"No way!" a voice called out.

A sudden series of air pulses slammed against the blond's back, breaking through them one after another. The two came to a slow descent and hit the ground at a very tame speed, making Gohan grunt as his back buried itself into grass and dirt. Rushing towards them with an extended hand was Hondo.

"Hey." Gohan exclaimed with a wide smile, "nice timing!"

"Don't thank me, I did it for her." The bi-color eyed boy motioned his head to the girl in his hold.

Taberu was left panting in the boy's arms. Gohan released her and got to his feet, smiling at the pair as Hondo rested a hand on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed in concern towards her before he too got to his feet.

"Take it from me, I apologize for what she did to your friend. I… really have no say in what she does."

Gohan closed an eye and tilted his head, placing his crystal back into his white robes. "And what about you, you don't necessarily seem like "the bad guy" here..." Gohan opened his eyes and looked at him. "Are you really working with Cultrizer?"

Hondo closed his eyes. "We're only hired to keep you guys away from Mr. Leon, but he's long gone now."

Gohan almost chuckled. "Yeah, sure..."

Hondo narrowed his eyes to him before huffing his breath and smiling to the ground. "Yeah… sure." He then lifted his head and smiled to the blond warrior. The two stared into each others eyes with smirks on their faces before a groan came. Looking down, Taberu was now pushing herself up.

"Damn… I never would have figured it'd take that kind of attack to whip that thing to ship-shape." She stumbled up to her feet and closed an eye, using her hand to rub one of her butt cheeks.

"Well, we got it."

Taberu opened both of her eyes, shadows casting over her as she stared towards the blond boy. She glared intensely at him before turning away.

"I guess… I'll thank you."

Gohan's brows shot up. "Huh?"

"I'll thank you… for saving my life. Come on, Hondo, let's go."

"Whoa, you're really going to leave?"

"Yeah, with how I am now, I could kill all of you… But… there's no fun in that."

Gohan blinked, confused by her words before he tilted his head and gave her a hearty smile. "You're no murderer, are you?"

She growled, gripping tight and shaking fists. "Don't take it the wrong way, alright!" She span around on her feet and pointed at him, "the next time we see each other, I'm going to finish all of you off! Besides, I only do what I do for fun, nothing else." She crossed her arms and looked away. "Let's go, Hondo."

"Sure, sure, partner." he waved at her to signal he was coming with a nervous smile before turning back to Gohan. "I think you have everything handled, don't you?"

"Well, things aren't going to be easy for us, especially after what she did to Fuuin. It feels awkward letting her go like this, but I'm a warrior. I won't attack someone who chooses not to further engage in combat with me."

"Yeah, I get it. Like I said… I'm sorry, can't say the same for her… Taberu can be… a terrible person."

"I'm sure, but I think she can change."

"Hmph." Hondo closed his eyes and turned around. "You're too optimistic. She's this way because she's lived too long, and she's been through a lot."

"So you're saying she's lost value to morals, huh?"

Hondo lowered his head and began to walk away. "I've said too much. I guess the next time I see you, it'll be at the base."

"You know, huh?"

"So what if I do? Good luck."

Gohan smiled as two shadows ran down the hill and up to his side, revealing themselves to be Neputunu and Garland, who of which was holding a shaking fist and growling. Gohan innocently lifted his eyes to Garland's direction.

"You okay?"

"I hate to admit it, but I'm glad she's going. I want to kill her, I hate her, but… she's way to strong to fight against, even after all of that."

"Yeah, she's a tough cookie." Gohan brought a finger to his nose. "But it all worked itself out."

Neputunu smiled to Gohan. "I think you made the right choices though, Gohan. You're amazing, you know that."

"Aw shucks, really!?" The country boy laughed as he brought a hand up behind his blond locks and scratched his head with a wide smile.

A flash of red suddenly filled the sky, and the teen's eyes widened. "Get down!" Garland suddenly yelled, tackling all three of them down into the dirt.

Taberu growled as she and Hondo stretched their necks to the sky. "What the hell!?"

A large shadow quickly came across the vast field, the ground shook in an intense wake as sapphire blue lights flared across, shining against the lines of the rims of a rising ship covered in blue flames. One after one, cobalt blue flood lights showered down upon the vast plains of Lastation, and an intense horn roared, signaling the return of the large ship. Gohan's eyes were stricken wide with avid shock and disbelief.

"The… Carrier of God?!"

Garland's mouth was agape in horror. "It's… still alive?"

Neputunu shook her head desperately from side to side. "That's impossible! That's just impossible, right!?"

"Come on!" Gohan quickly latched a hold of Garland and Neputunu's hands as another loud groan bellowed from the beast, shaking the air around them as the flood lights centered on them. Gohan sprinted as fast as he could, practically dragging Garland and Neputunu behind him as he looked back towards the ship with wide eyes.

"YES!" cried out a loud feminine voice. "YES! LIVE, LIVE!"

Gohan blinked, looking around. "Whose voice is that?"

"I…" Neputunu stuttered, catching her feet and continuing to try and hold herself, "I think that came from the ship!?"

"But..." Garland shouted, "that thing can speak?"

"No..." Gohan's eyes shrunk. "Not the Carrier of God, there's somebody on top of it!"

"No way!" the two teens shouted in unison.

Atop the carrier, with arms extended out to both sides was a brown-skinned woman with long silver hair with red highlights, two shining halos floating over both sides of her hair. She was clad in revealing tights of black and red neon lines, exposing most of her thighs, stomach, legs, shoulders, arms, neckline and bosom, with sharp decorations and few extension flailing like short ribbons at her hips. With long black and red boots, long slender gloves fitted over the majority of her arms, and sharp red eyes, she smirked towards the black sky with a mouthful of shark-like teeth, a large black witch hat strung around her neck and hanging over her bare back. She stared high into the sky before casting it down to the ruined earth below her and opening her mouth with a smack.

"I send you greetings, children..."

Gohan glared up at her with wide eyes. "Who is that?"

"I don't know..." Garland narrowed his own at her. "But she's bad news, I can feel it."

"Wow, how much more is there that we have to put up with!?" Neputunu shouted loudly. "I can't take it anymore!"

The brown-skinned witch smiled down to the group of teens far below her and pointed at them. "Fire!" her voice beckoned, full of authority and power. Several loud hisses sounded high from the roof of the machine body, now releasing several sapphire white missiles, closing in fast at the three teens!

"Gohan!" Neputunu shouted, clinging onto him.

"My shard!" he began to reach into his pocket as blinding light began to drown them. Gohan winced, raising his arm up as Garland prepared to jump to the ground for cover.

Suddenly, a dual-colored wave of purple and teal slashed through the explosive projectiles racing for them, sounding off a series of blasts in the sky.

Gohan and Neputunu smiled widely as they turned. Garland lifted his gaze and too smiled, grateful at the sight he saw.

Floating far off on a hill with kind smiles on their faces and eyes shining brightly, the goddess of Planeptune, Purple Heart, and the goddess of Lastation, Black Heart, let their swords fall fashionably to their sides as their hips were cocked towards one another as if they were already victorious.

"So..." Purple Heart raised her head, "mind if we take over from here."

Author's Note: Another chapter done. Sorry if I seem to be rushing, I'm trying to push through writer's block as of right now, but it isn't easy. Honestly, I think I may have pushed myself into a corner regarding Taberu's character considering the whole rape scene and all and I am regretting it. I may (it is strong possibility) go back and rewrite Chapter 42. I just don't like the way it came out and now it hinders me from further progress regarding some events in the near future.