("I don't care. I'm naming this chapter 'Nice' and you can't change my mind! Mwahahaha!" - an extremely immature author)

Leanbox's main prison. A relic of an ancient time, before the CPUs. The prison had been in chaos, with prisoners rioting and people breaking out, with the robot invaders struggling to hold order. In the midst of this chaos, the recently captured Thomas slipped out of his cell, searching for his stolen belongings and a way out.

He had found his belongings in a storage room just as main power returned, and Thomas held against a wave of basic robots. Before he was overwhelmed, rescue came from someone he did not expect.

The figure, a taller, older-looking version of the human form of CPU Neptune, waited a moment to see if the man would return her greeting. When it looked like was not working, the woman took it in stride, amused, "You looked like you were in quite a jam, so I stopped by for a little assistance. No need to rush in with your praise, I can understand being swept away by my battling skills and excellent form. I don't mind!" She fidgeted a little, as it became clear she wanted the praise. She then tilted her head at the man, "You doing alright? Okay? Alive? Say something?"

Thomas rebooted, and his eyes widened in complete shock, "Nep-" He turned his volume down after catching himself, but still remained in shock, "Neptune!"

The person blinked at Thomas, surprised by the initial reaction, "Uh, yeah, that's my name. Do we-"

Thomas immediately cut her off, shaking back and forth and speaking in a panicked tone, "What the hell happened to you, Neptune? You, you grew all over! How is that even possible? Do CPUs really age after all? What happened? Did you lose your powers? Did the robots do something? Are you really alright? Where are the others? How long was I really out for? Did I mess several years? Is this a time skip? Am I in a dystopian future? Disaster really did fall? This is very bad. I'm sorry I got myself captured, Neptune. I must have failed you all. Please don't be mad at me."

"Woah, slow down, Speedy," a confused Neptune said with her arms out, sweatdropping, "That's a lot to digest in a short amount of time. First, you gotta chill a bit, okay? I'm gonna check on a few things here while we got a little window to breathe. Can you stay close?"

"Aaah?" Thomas was surprised by the response as the older-looking Neptune quickly moved beside him and into the storage room.

"Like to stay and chat some more, but can't stay too long," the woman stated matter-of-factly, swiftly skimming through each of the boxes stashed in the room with a purpose, "Those things will be back, and in greater numbers, etcetera and whatever."

Thomas was still trying to make sense out of everything. Regardless, he tagged along, curiously following, "Uhh, what are you doing?"

"Looking for something," Neptune bluntly said, before asking something of her own, "Say, Speedy, when you were rummaging through here, did you come across an ol' book? Looks like a diary or notebook, has my color scheme, that sort of thing?"

"Uh, not really," Thomas just watched Neptune skimmed through each box's contents, "You're going through this to find a diary of yours?"

"It's a bit more than that," Neptune said, before muttering, "Doesn't matter. Say, I know a better place we can go to speak more. It's nice, cozy, and doesn't have robots buzzing around. Shall we be off?"

Thomas blinked, "Uh, yeah, probably a good idea. Hey, you didn't take anything from the other boxes, did you?"

"Of course not!" Neptune smiled, amused by this, "Besides, there aren't treasure chests. A real treasure hunter wouldn't be stuffing her deep pockets with all this loot! I should ask the same of you."

"What?" Thomas flustered, "I would never-"

"I'm only kidding, Speedy," Neptune said cheekily, "You don't strike me as that kind of guy, even in a prison like this. Anyway, I'm done here, let's get out while we're still good."

Thomas nodded, and followed along. He was still utterly confused, but he wasn't going to say no to getting away from here.

In fairness, he wasn't really expecting all of this.

The good news was that Neptune, the one currently leading him out, went through a different route that didn't involve going through gunfire or get too close to the riots breaking throughout the prison. This wasn't to say they had to be careful, as both had to sneak around some of the ongoing fighting before getting into the corridor.

"So, whaddya think?" this Neptune said cheerily once they arrived at their destination, "It's nice and out of the way, and there's a way out here now. It's awesome, I know."

Well, she wasn't wrong. Whatever she used to blast a hole in the wall was pretty effective. It would take some bit of repair work to cover the tunnel leading out and presumably to the surface.

"Uhhhhh," Thomas wasn't sure how to answer this, but tried anyway, "I'm familiar with the locale. This was my cell, after all." Sure enough, this was Thomas' old cell. He could even see his old 'meal' tray left untouched near the new hole-in-the-wall. Even with the main power back on, the cell door remained open, as Neptune broke whatever mechanism was responsible for closing and locking it.

"It was, huh?" the woman didn't seem surprised by this, "Makes sense. I heard some people who were recently captured from outside Leanbox were brought here. Judging by what you were saying earlier, you're one of these people, right?"

Thomas blinked, still looking puzzled, but then grew surprised as Neptune lifted her hands into fists, determined look on her face.

"Was Neptune with you?" She pleaded, "Was she alright? Have you heard anything else from the other goddesses? I need to know how they're holding up from out there!"

Thomas once more looked confused, "Excuse me?" Wasn't Neptune with him, er, now?

"Oh! Of course! Silly me," Neptune winced, tapping her forehead, "I forgot I'm dealing with people from little me's dimension. Um, hey!" She waved politely, trying to reintroduce herself, "I'm Neptune, though not the CPU you know. I'm actually Neptune, a human traveler and bug collector from another dimension!"

Thomas tilted his head a moment, processing this information while this Neptune did a small bow. I think it's time for me to clue the readers in, in case they are unfamiliar. Although I will be calling her Neptune for now, she is more colloquially known to the fans as Adult Neptune. She hails from Ultradimension, where she never really became a CPU like Noire, Blanc, or Vert. Instead, she lived as a 'normal', as normal as a Neptune could be, human being until she was involved in the last crisis. That's more than I can say for now, but just a little heads-up.

My exposition was for you all, but this was also enough time for Thomas' brain to come to its conclusion. "Another Neptune? Wait, are you from Plutia's dimension?" Thomas asked in genuine curiosity, "Ultradimension, I mean?"

Neptune pondered for a second, "Plu... ultra... it all sounds very familiar, so I think so? It's the one where there's an active portal from here, right?"

"Yeah, that one!" Thomas exclaimed, "That's amazing! I thought there wasn't an Ultradimensional counterpart to Neptune other than Plutia, but here you are!"

"Yyyyep," Neptune smiled, "Seems you know quite a bit!"

"Ah, well," Thomas said in a bit of hesitation, "I guess you can say that."

"Don't leave me hanging!" Neptune pressed on, "What's your name? I want to know what happened! Is little me alright? Tell me!" She shook in place, closing her eyes, "Please? I'm getting antsy just thinking of it! Tell me tell me tell me..."

Despite her growth, it seemed this Neptune shared some of the other's impatience, or eagerness. "Okay, okay!" Thomas replied before Neptune kept going, "I'll tell you! Just a moment ago you were telling me to calm down."

"So I did, hehe," Neptune tittered, even as she waited impatiently.

"R-right!" Thomas straightened up a bit, before trying to calm back down. He was tempted to be formal with his greeting, but dialed it back, going with a simple bow of his head, "M-my name, er, name's Thomas. Uh, I'm a servant to the goddesses, really, some bureaucrat. I came with a group of people set to liberate Leanbox from the firewall. That group included Neptune and the CPUs and Candidates of the other nations."

He was a little hesitant saying all of this, his eyes glancing away briefly. Part of him was wondering why he would be so open about this so quickly. While he felt he could trust this person, this Neptune, he wasn't certain that it was wise to say all of this. Maybe it was everything that shook him for the past day or however long it took, but Thomas felt odd about it all. It was rather surreal.

Despite Thomas' trepidation, what he said seemed to have had a positive effect on Adult Neptune. Her eyes lit up, a look of hope upon her bright face, "Oho? Little me's turning the tide over there? Wait, they're planning to liberate us?"

Thomas nodded briefly, to which Neptune bounced happily, "Way to go, me!" She stopped again, "Wait, everyone?"

Thomas again nodded, "Blanc and Noire are helping out, as are the other CPU Candidates. Even the CPU from your dimension, Plutia, is helping out."

Adult Neptune grew more hopeful, as she got closer, so much that she even went in and held Thomas' shoulders, "All of them? Wait! Please tell me, and be honest! Was there another girl with them too? Has red hair, talks about being cool, and is also a CPU. Did you see anyone like that?"

Thomas blinked repeatedly as Neptune really got into this. Hearing the description, Thomas widened his eyes, "Uzume?" Although he was surprised that she knew, he had to remind himself that others knew of her rebirth long before he did. He continued after Neptune nodded, "Y-yes. She's also with the group."

Neptune hopped back, throwing her hands up and back to cheer this development, "Yes! This is so awesome! I was feeling a little down of late, but this news is more than welcome!" She clapped her hands together, "Thank you so much, Tommy! You don't mind me calling you that, right?"

"Uh, no, it's fine," Thomas felt a bit awkward, glancing away, "Neptune, er, the one I know called me that, too." Trying not to look directly at the excited Neptune, Thomas checked through his reclaimed inventory, finding his phone and checking the date on it. Much to his relief, he did not travel far to a dystopian future, as the date listed on the barely-charged phone was not too far away from when he was captured.

Neptune beamed, before once again being reminded of something else, "Oh! I should ask about how they were doing. Are they alright?"

"Last time I saw them was the night before," Thomas murmured, "Except for Uzume. She and I were trying to save a farm from a robot attack. There were so many. I was knocked out and brought here. I'm sorry, but I don't know if Uzume or the others are alright."

"Oh," Neptune was brought down a bit by this news, "I sure hope they're doing okay."

"As do I," Thomas muttered, before he heard some sort of vibration sound coming from Adult Neptune's pockets, "Hmm?"

Neptune grimaced a little, rolling her eyes as she brought a small device, similar to Uzume's visual radio, only much more compact. "Y'llo," Neptune said to the device after pressing a small button on it.

"I totally appreciate this informative conversation, but do you mind speeding things up a few levels?" The voice that came from the device was fairly clear with little distortion. Regardless, Thomas didn't recognize this voice before. It sounded male, but Thomas being tone-deaf meant it was difficult for him to surmise for certain.

"Been listening in, huh?" Neptune said to the voice, "I wanted to know what was happening outside. Can you blame me?"

The voice sighed, "Yeah yeah, I get it. You did go out of your way to find the new prisoner. We don't have all the time in the world, you know. There's a very important mission. The others are doing fine with their distraction. It's the extraction that I am waiting for."

Thomas pointed casually at the communicator, "So, who's the one in rush here?"

"Oh, just a poor innocent young maiden who's been helping out," the voice said with a little dramatic tone, "The little power outage earlier was my doing. You're welcome, by the way. Still, we're running the clock here. You can take the tunnel Neptune just made out. I'm sure one of the people from the underground resistance will help you from there."

Thomas raised his eyebrows, looking over at the hole in the wall, "You made this?" Adult Neptune smiled sheepishly in a quick response.

"This hasn't been the first prison break," the voice explained, "These robots are pretty bad with the security here, honestly. What rock have they crawled out from under, I wonder? Anyway, get going now. Go. Neptune, get on track already!"

Neptune looked a bit irritated by the voice ordering her around. Thomas nodded slowly, "A-alright. I'll get out of your way. Best of luck, miss Neptune."

Thomas was a little concerned about what was going on, but he had his priorities. His inventory and tome were reclaimed, and leaving the prison would be best. He could find out more about this underground resistance and how they're holding up in Leanbox. At the very least, he would search for a safe spot to hide for a bit while formulating his next plan.

Thomas looked inside the tunnel that was recently created. He took a step inside, and was just about ready to head out.

"Hey, why not come with?" Adult Neptune asked in the spur of the moment.

"Ghh? S-seriously?" Thomas stammered, stunned by the question.

"Neptune, what are you doing?" The voice said with a small sigh. He didn't sound annoyed so much as reconciled to Neptune's apparent randomness. "This is not a time to accept more party members."

"This is totally the time," Neptune countered, "Besides, you said as part of the dealy-bob that I do things my way. Well, how about it, Tommy?"

Even as the voice from the communicator was mulling over Neptune's decision-making, Thomas was rather perplexed, "Uh, I probably would get in the way."

"Nonsense," Adult Neptune stated, "Anyone who's managed to sneak out from here to that storage area so quickly must be pretty good. You also seem pretty capable holding off those robots for a while."

"Capable?" Thomas raised his eyebrows at this, "I don't know. I was barely able to hold."

Neptune held up a hand, initially holding up one finger, "Ah, see, that's why I think having two people will help." She switched her fingers into a 'V' sign, "We can cover each other's back. I'm sure you wanna get back at those baddies for putting you in here and making you eat what they label food."

Thomas flinched. Revenge may have been on his mind, sure, but being reminded of that meal, especially since it was still there nearby, made him a bit nauseous.

Neptune giggled, "Hehe. I am also sure you'd be on board helping out? Together, we can totally raise a little hell. Besides, I have a feeling you'll come in handy."

"What kind of feeling?" The voice from the communicator asked quizzically, "A hunch, really?"

"Hey, I'm a protagonist!" Neptune proclaimed, "I can't describe such feelings so easily! I just know! So, Tommy, whaddya say? Wanna join in?"

It was weird hearing all this to Thomas. A sense of deja vu came back, thinking back to just after Planeptune was saved. It took some goading from Neptune - the CPU - to keep him from leaving, and to continue this quest. Since then, he remained restless, worried about possible disaster befalling him. That dream with the figure pretending to be Uzume only brought that worry to the forefront. Now, again, Neptune - this one he hardly even knew existed - was asking him to join in, thinking he would be an asset. Him? Really? That was hard for Thomas to believe. As narrator, I concur with this opinion.

Yet, Thomas turned over towards Adult Neptune. There was another part of him, one that wanted to openly defy that recurring dream, and what that figure warned. Defiance against that fear.

Thomas nodded, taking a step back out of the tunnel, and readjusting his scabbard, "Sounds dangerous. I'm in."

Neptune's smile widened, "O-kay! Welcome to the party, Tommy!"

"Oh, whatever, hurry up and get me out of here already," the voice complained, "This place is so cramped and unbecoming."

Thomas blinked, hearing that last bit, "Does this mission of yours deal with getting him out?" He asked Neptune, pointing at the communicator.

The voice answered, "That's the idea. I was but a fair tourist, admiring the nation that was Leanbox. I sat back, relaxed, even took up a little sculpting, being quite the cultured artiste. Then this firewall came down and I was jumped by those tin cans before I could finish my daiquiri. That was as rude as this contraption they've put me in. Apparently these things want to research me and my wonderful tech, er, techniques."

"Research you?" Thomas was puzzled.

"Yes," the voice left it at that, "But they left themselves open, and I've managed to tweak a few things here and there. I've been keeping them away from me, and helping the underground resistance. Now, though? I want out."

"Can't you do that on your own?" Thomas asked, "Sounds like you're fine."

"I can do plenty, but I'm stuck here physically, surrounded by robots," the voice explained, "soooo yeah, gonna need a way out. Can we get to saving me already?"

"Not yet," Neptune said to the communicator, "I gotta make a stop first."

The voice grew a little irritated, "Finnnne. I'll be waiting! Tootles." With that, the communication ended with a click.

Thomas quirked an eyebrow, mouthing quietly, "Tootles?"

Adult Neptune shrugged at Thomas, "I don't really get it, either. I only recently joined this group after they rescued me from capture."

"You were captured?" Thomas asked, as Neptune motioned him to follow her out of the cell and into the still-empty hallway.

"Yeah, pretty much got jumped while I was chillaxing," Neptune grumbled, "They even went and nabbed my Nep-Note! Oh, that's the book I mentioned earlier. FYI, keep an eye out for a purple notebook and a fairy girl who's easily bored. Did you get that?"

"Uhhh, purple notebook, bored fairy girl?" Thomas was already a bit lost.

"I'll tell you more, later," Neptune promised, "Besides, our mission first needs to get some aid. Our 'friend' here told me where they've been keeping a few of the VIPs, and we're gonna go bust a move, beat some baddies, yaddi yaddi yadda."

"We're just gonna go marching in there?" Thomas winced.

"Of course not, silly!" Neptune mused, "We'll sneak as much as we can, then do a symbol attack! We have to use every advantage to get that sweet EXP. You've done adventuring, right?"

"Only recently," Thomas said dully, "Kind of a long story."

Neptune smirked, "Just stay on your toes and follow me. I may not be a CPU, but can you put your faith in me?"

Thomas' face reddened a bit at the phrasing of that question. He was still relying on his faith, apparently, even for a non-CPU, "Y-y-yeah. I'll trust you."

"Awesome! Come on, Tommy. Let's dance!" Neptune said with a teasing wink. Thomas knew the other Neptune was a little tease, and Adult Neptune was doing the same. He sighed in a bit of frustration, to which the older-looking Neptune drew great enjoyment out of.

He was unsure whether to like or regret this.

It was rather strange, but Thomas felt some of that confidence returning. Adult Neptune was no goddess, but she was very strong. Although she sometimes used her pistol, she was more confident wielding dual blades. The fact that she would effortlessly switch between the weapons was frightening enough, but dual wielding katanas on top of that with relative ease? This ambidextrous adventurer was less a goddess and more like a demon whenever she fought.

She also had some bit of sense not to engage in battle all the time, despite her offensive prowess. "Slash and dash" wasn't just some term Neptune said, it was how she approached fighting.

At first, Neptune and Thomas were sneaking past the prison rioting and fighting, avoiding direct confrontation. Once they got deeper into the prison, Neptune kept looking around her while the two moved. The two tried to keep quiet in the shadows while the robots were patrolling, sometimes even so much as scaling the walls to avoid getting spotted by the flashlights.

However, Neptune would begin a fight when she saw a clear advantage. Two robots on their lonesome in a relatively-empty corridor were easy pickings, for instance. Neptune would clue Thomas in with a wave of her hand before launching her attack, mostly to get their attention while Thomas would come in afterwards. After the two finished the robots off, they would quickly dash off to a spot where they could hide from reinforcements, and wait for them to pass or leave before continuing on.

This was a little risky, and Thomas still wasn't too sure about doing this, or why he was even invited to begin with. Neptune was more than enough for what she was doing, he most likely thought. He understood at the time CPU Neptune invited him, it was because of some of the history they had, and she wanted more of her friends tagging along, not to mention Thomas having that 'resonance' provide his CPU allies with a boost.

Adult Neptune, on the other hand, wasn't getting any boost, nor did she really struggle much during the fighting. In fact, he felt like this Neptune was showing off a little. Was that really the only reason?

The corridors became a little darker as they headed into more open corridors, at this part of the prison was connected to a myriad of pipes and other things that run under the main city. There were fewer cells and more rooms where, supposedly, people who ran the prison would be resting in. The robots really weren't so frequent here, so Neptune and Thomas had more space to move in.

Thomas sat in a corner in one of the corridors, and Adult Neptune came over to kneel beside him, keeping her eyes focused on her surroundings. Thomas was in his thoughts when they were interrupted by Neptune quietly speaking, "How you holding up so far, Tommy?"

Glancing at the surveying Neptune, Thomas smiled wryly, commenting, "Managing, so far. Though, I don't feel like you needed my help there."

Neptune's smile grew a little, as though she was expecting that response. "Au contrarian," Neptune said, "You're doing fine. In fact, all that fighting from before? I was just doing that to see how you fight."

"What?" Thomas held back from saying it out loud, but was caught off-guard by her comments.

"Relax, I picked some pretty easy fights," Neptune stated, "The basic robots are pretty useless on their own. Easy experience, and I wasn't going to let those baddies do anything to hurt you if it somehow got bad."

"So I am pretty weak," Thomas muttered, feeling a little down.

"Strength-wise, sure, you're no offensive powerhouse," Neptune admitted, "But I can see you've had a bit of training. I can even see some of the inspiration for the fighting. Nepgear?"

Thomas flustered, "Uh, well, she taught me a few things, not much..."

"I can see it by the way you're holding the sword sometimes," Neptune stated as Thomas held his sabre up, recalling the small bit of training Nepgear offered.

Neptune nodded, "I knew it. I also notice when you attack, it's very precise. You know where their weak points are?"

"I've fought enough of those things to know where to hit by now," Thomas said. He had to make every slice count, after all.

Neptune took out one of her katanas, holding it just by Thomas' sabre, "My blades are pretty good stuff, but sometimes it's a little tricky getting through that armor. But, when you attack, you cut just enough of that armor for me to slash right through it."

"I-is that so?" Thomas said at this observation.

"Yep!" Neptune replied, "There's no need to feel so down, Tommy. Even a little bit of help is better than none, and I am very happy to have some. Besides, there's more to it than just that."

Thomas raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, exactly?"

Adult Neptune gestured her free hand for Thomas to follow her, "We're getting close. I'll show you." She got back to standing, as did Thomas, and the two moved further down the open corridor. Eventually, they stopped and moved to one side, taking cover while they spotted something ahead.

Ahead, there was a larger room that was locked behind a locked door, similar to the storage room Thomas raided earlier. However, unlike that door, this had robots actually guarding the door. Thomas saw a few of the usual basic robots standing around, but also noticed a few others mixed in.

"Do you recognize those robots over there?" Neptune pointed them out for Thomas.

"Elementals," Thomas winced, "Yeah, unfortunately."

Neptune hummed softly, "That's what you call 'em, huh? I've had some difficulty with those and getting through that thick armor."

"You have some elemental attacks, right?" Thomas asked in an aside. It was true that elemental attacks were enough to negate some of that armor, but they were still sturdy robots.

Neptune laughed meekly, "Haha, well, about that... not really, no."

Thomas sweatdropped, "You serious?"

"Point is," Neptune went on, purposely avoiding having to respond, "We have someone who does have some elemental magic. That water spell was yours, right?"

"Well, yes," Thomas said, "It's the only elemental magic I got, though."

"Even a little bit of help is better than none, Tommy," Neptune repeated her earlier phrase, "I'll go draw their fire."

"Are you sure that will-" Thomas was about to finish asking his question before Neptune already took off. "And I thought I was more impulsive," Thomas frowned before following, staying in the shadows.

Neptune started with her gun, running in and firing wildly at the robots to get their attention. She wasn't terribly accurate, running while firing, but it didn't matter to her. Taking out at least one of the basic bots, she quickly dashed around, avoiding the incoming fire and steering their attention away from Thomas. Meanwhile, the elemental robots began charging up their armor, before flaring up with each separate aura. Fire. Ice. Lightning. There was even a robot that had dark energy flowing around it.

"Using dark and light as elements in your armor?" Neptune complained during her sidestepping, "I take issue with your manufacturing!"

It wasn't long before Neptune switched to her blades to cut up the basic bots coming at her first. The elementals got together and were ready to charge right at her when they were rudely interrupted by water sprouting up, as Thomas' Flood spell shot up, slightly damaging them.

The fire and lightning elementals struggled to retain their strong armor, and Neptune saw the opportunity. Raising both katanas, she charged in, slicing and cutting down through the armor with multiple slices. The katanas exploited each 'wound' and tore through the two elementals with ease.

It was down to a few stragglers. With Thomas dealing with the last few basic robots, Neptune focused her attacks on the other two elementals, using both her blades to keep on the offensive. Neptune grimaced, struggling a little to keep both robots focused on her. The two coordinated their attacks on her, the ice elemental sliding to her side while the dark elemental punched at her. Neptune crossed her blades to barely hold back the punch, but left herself open against the ice elemental.

Neptune braced herself but visibly felt the punch, taking some HP damage and feeling a good amount of pain, "Ahh! I thought ice was supposed to help with pain, owie!"

The ice elemental was readying for another punch, aiming right for Neptune's face. Just then, however, Neptune heard Thomas' voice calling out, "Raster Interrupt!" Thomas' sudden intervention was a surprise, as she didn't see this move before. The interrupting move knocked back the ice elemental, and Thomas continued to push the stunned robot back with more attacks, letting Neptune pushing against the dark elemental in front of her.

Thomas continued attacking the ice elemental, slashing repeatedly at its arms to keep it off-balance. During his first battle against an elemental bot, his attacks were not damaging at all. Now, he was able to deal some damage, a clear indication of his stats going up. It was still fairly weak, but Thomas had some positive change.

Thomas was starting to get tired from repeatedly slashing, losing his momentum. This was enough for the robot to push back, punching him and knocking him back a couple of feet, stumbling close to the locked door.

The robot had a couple of exposed areas, but was functioning fairly well, and began walking over when Neptune returned to finish it off with a flurry. "Useless, useless, useless!" Adult Neptune exclaimed with each attack, putting far more strength into each slice. Thomas could only watch in awe of Neptune's near-demonic ferocity. It also seemed that Thomas' earlier intervention allowed Neptune to finish off the other elemental, meaning the battle was over by the time Neptune was done here.

Neptune took the moment to catch a few breaths, before looking to Thomas, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," Thomas blinked at Neptune asking first about him, "What about you?"

"Tis but a minor flesh wound," Neptune mused, "Nothing I can't heal with items, though. By the way, that move you just did? Nice."

"Y-y-you were very good, yourself," Thomas reddened at the compliment, "I just did what I could."

Adult Neptune smiled, going over to help Thomas back up, "That's what I want to see. Keep it up, and we'll be heroes yet." She went over to the door immediately after making sure Thomas was up on his feet, looking at over.

"Heroes?" Thomas shook his head, "I just want to help here... uh, Neptune, that door is locked, how are we going to-"

There was a click, and Neptune giggled softly as she opened the door. "We're good to go!" Neptune said lightly, not telling of whatever secret technique she used to unlock this door.

Thomas once again was surprised by this, "You're already full of surprises."

"Keep your eyes on me, then, because I'm just warming up," Neptune once more teased, before walking into the room further ahead. Like the storage room, it too had a small door leading to another locked door. A little click later, Neptune carefully walked into the room, eyes darting around.

It looked very much the same as the storage room, with boxes stacked in rows across. However, what caught the eyes of Adult Neptune and Thomas were two individuals, sitting against the far wall in a couple of restraints. These two were easily recognized by the humans, with Thomas looking even more surprised by what he saw. They were robots, and yet, not the ones that have been terrorizing this dimension recently.

The last time Thomas saw either of them, he was on an airship.