DISCLAIMER: Hyperdimension Neptunia belongs to Compile Heart and Idea Factory.

Here it is, the climax of this arc.

I hope everyone stay safe in this epidemic. Remember to wash your hands properly, do physical distancing, pray, and eat nutritious foods

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 21

Haven't we, uh, been here before?" Neptune asked as she looking around her surroundings.

The party was currently inside the forest where they first met with Avenir's president, Singe, several weeks ago. Since there was an Avenir facility deep inside the forest, IF thought that maybe it was the perfect place to look for the hardware they're looking for.

"It's near the facility Avenir asked us to work at before." IF answered. "I thought they'd release a robot if we walked around suspiciously, especialy with you, Nep." she explained.

"I can see why." Neptune replied as she looked at the large numbers of monsters in the area. "There are more bad guys than before. Hopefully we won't get bonked before we can get what we're looking for." she muttered softly in concern.

"I didn't think about that, really." IF replied while shrugging. "Well, whatever. I'm sure we'll be fine." she said.

"This will take too long if we stick together. Looks like we need to split up again." Compa said as she looking around the forest filled with monsters.

"I guess so. Let's meet up again in this place once you found something."

Neptune and Compa nodded, and each of them headed towards their own different directions.

After a few hours of battling and searching, the party didn't find what they're looking for, and so decide to regroup at the place before.

"We didn't find it..." Neptune said breathing havily from exhaustion. "Do we have to, like, backtrack to all the previous dungeons on this fetch quest?" she asked, before looking at IF with a pleading look. "Say it ain't so, Iffy!"

"Uh, it ain't so." IF said, sighing heavily. "Let's go back for today. I'm... tired."

They was about to leave, when a rustling sound came from behind. Looking back, the party saw a shadowy figure emerge from behind a tree.

"Wait! I see someone over there!" Compa said while pointing at the figure who approach them.

"Greetings, little ladies. Fancy meeting you here." when the figure came out of the shadow, it was revealed to be a familiar looking man with long brown hair and a pair of thick glasses on his face.

"You!" as she saw that man's face, Neptune suddenly got behind him, with her sword just mere inches away from his throat and her handgun right on his back.

"Well... this is a warm welcome." Ganache muttered with no sign of fear in his voice, despite the fact that his life was about to end at this point.

"...This is no coincidence. Avenir's solicitor and a robotic sidekick." IF said as she approached the two. "You know, it's probably difficult to have completely automated robots throughout Lastation."

"You're keen, as usual." he said with a chuckle. "All of our larger-scale machines are controlled completely." he explained.

"Then, you've been controlling the robots? All this time and forever and ever?" Neptune asked, closing the distance between her sword's blade with Ganache's throat. "Let me guess, are you controlling them to kill me?" she asked in a cold manner.

"Yes. Also, yes, all this time." he answered with a nod. "But from now on? Hmm. That's up to you." he said softly.

"Remembering what you did to us last time is pissing me off." IF said before pointed at the man. "We're taking you to the Basilicom to confess your wrongdoings."

"Can't we just finish him off right here and now?" Neptune complained in disagreement.

IF sighed at the question and shook her head. "Did you forgot about what I told you yesterday about controling your anger?" IF asked, glaring sharply at Neptune.

"But-"

"No buts!"

Neptune's eyes darting between IF and Ganache for several times, feeling unsure of what to do between falling into her anger or obey her friends.

"Tch!" Clicking her tongue, she eventually released Ganache from her death grip, putting both her sword and her gun away.

"We haven't found that hardware yet! We should interrogate him about it too." Compa whispered to IF's ear, and she nodded.

"Talk." IF commanded, and Ganache nodded.

"I'll chat more this time around. It's why I'm here. I've started to question the motives of this company." he explained, adjusting his glasses. "I've come to help you take Avenir down." he answered.

"This is too good to be true." IF replied with both Compa and Neptune nodded in agreement. "If you're trying to help, why did you attack us with your robots?" she asked.

"To see you without seeming suspicious." he answered. "I'm still an Avenir employee. Great benefits. I had to look like I was following orders." he explained, with a tone that makes it harder to accuse that he's lying.

"Well whatever, said the blind man to his deaf dog. If you're gonna bring Avenir down, what's the proof?" Neptune asked in suspicion.

"After that day, Avenir machines always come for us, every time we entered a dungeon." IF said, crossing her arms. "How did you hear about Neptune? Why did you try to get rid of her?" she asked.

"That was the company's order." He answered. "I was told to keep you girls busy while they raided the Passe factory."

IF narrowed her eyes, glaring at the man. "Your story make sense, but that doesn't mean I'm convinced."

"I'll give you the hardware you're looking for as proof. You want it, right?" He asked, and the party eventually nodded. "I'll even testify against Avenir."

"That's great! That'll give us a fighting chance against Avenir." Compa said, smiling before looking at IF. "Still not convince, Iffy?"

"You know what happened before. This is just an odd turn of events. Can we really trust him." she asked, and her companions fell silent.

"There's no reason to assume otherwise for now." Compa was the first one to talk. "Why not leave it up to the Sanctuary?" she asked.

"Santuary... Those people are at the old Basilicom, right? Please take me there. I'll tell you everything then."

After a few minutes of deciding. The party finally decide to do what Ganache told them. They brought him to the old Basilicom, letting the Sanctuary people to deal with him, while the girls goes to Chian's second restaurant, and wait for further news.

~o~0~o~

It was nighttime, the party was still in Chian's place, eating diner, while Chian herself left a few hours ago to get some materials for her project.

The restaurant door came open, and a familiar man entered the room.

"Excuse me. Am I at the right place?" the man, who turns out to be the leader of the Sanctuary group the party met yesterday, asked.

"You betcha! It's a small place, but please, scootch yourself on in." Neptune said cheerfuly. The man nodded and walked to their table and sit on the empty wodden chair.

"I wish Chian could hear you say that." IF said with a sigh, before looking at thr man. "Anyway, what did you do with the Solicitor? Kick him out?" she asked.

"No, he told us everything." he answered while shaking his head. "We also got the hardware." he said, showing the said item to the party. "We're still wary, but we've gained something we've been searching for. We'll require your help on the day of the raid." he then put the item back to his pocket.

"For real? I mean, it's the enemy base and the most important day, y'know? I guess, like, why wouldn't the heroines be there?!" Neptune said with excitement in her voice.

"I doubt they're heavily armed, since the main building is in the city's center. Still, we should take precautions." The party nodded. "We'll start on the day of the Tech Expo. Most of the employee will be there, but the rep, Singe, won't." he said with a smile.

"The day of the Expo?! We can't do it then! We've already promised Chian we would help her." Compa complained.

"Don't worry. We should have it all wrapped up by the time the Expo starts." he said, standing up. "So you'll help us, won't you?" he asked and the party nodded. "Good then. We're counting on you girls." and with that, the man leave.

Unknown to them however, someone has eavesdropping their conversation from the outside.

"On the day of the Expo, huh?" the person smiled sinisterly. "I better get things ready then." he said with a chuckle before leaved the place.

~o~0~o~

Several days had passed...

Today was the day of the Expo, people of Lastation slowly filled the stadium the show was held, even though it's still early in the morning, and a few hours from getting started.

The street was empty, and the street lights was still on. The party walked throughout the empty streets towards a ginormous building that could be seen in the distance.

In front of the building, they spotted a group of people waving at them, they are the Sanctuary people, the ones whos gonna help them raiding the building.

"Good morning, ladies. Thanks for coming." their leader said, bowing a little. "Did you see the building behind us? That's Avenir's main headquarters." he said while pointing at the building.

"Whoa... I can tell from here it's brimming with enemies. They're really giving off a villainous vibe." Compa muttered in amazement.

"I don't know why, but it looks like they're already abandoned their 'wholesome corporation' front." he said as she looked at the front door of the building that was empty without any security whatsoever.

"They must've sensed the Sanctuary was coming." IF muttered softly. Isn't it odd? Why wouldn't they try to cover up evidence this time?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Ooh, I've seen it on TV shows before. They shred and burn paperwork and rub big magnets on their computers, right?" Neptune asked, getting weird looks from everyone.

"I understand the words you speak, but they make no sense." the leader sweatdropped. "Let's press on and deal with what they have in store for us." the party nodded and they approached the front gate. "Once we get inside, we slit up to make things easier. Remember, our primary goal is to capture Avenir's Representative, Singe."

And with that, everyone entered the building, and imediately split up into several groups.

~o~0~o~

"No one's here, are they all went to the Expo?" Compa asked to no one in particular as she walked through some empty hallways.

"I guess so, this is beyond weird at this point." IF replied. "Why would they leave their headquarters empty like this? They must've up to something, something bad." she muttered softly.

"Let's just find Mr. Singe and go to the Expo as fast as possible, this place creeping me out."

A few minutes had passed, and they still can't found the company's president, no matter how many rooms they have to check.

"This is tiring me out, my legs feels like noodle." Compa complained, she fell into the ground due to exhaustion.

"Come on, we can't stop right now." IF said offering Compa a hand to stand up.

"But I can't walk anymore." Compa complained again.

"Wait, I see something!" Neptune exclaimed getting her friend's attention.

"What did you see, Nep?" IF asked.

"Looked at that!" Neptune pointed a room that has bright light coming out of it on the second floor. "So far that's the only room that has it's lamp turned on, isn't that kinda weird?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah, it kinda does." IF said with a nod.

"Let's get in there, maybe that's where Singe was."

After some times, they found an elevator, and used it to go to the second floor, where the room is located.

They approached the room, and read a sign on the room's door.

"The Solicitor? So this is Ganache's office, I wonder why he left his room's lamp on." IF muttered softly

They opened the door and entered the room to find no one is there. They spend some time to investigate the room, but they didn't find anything useful.

They were about to leave when Compa complained again.

"Iffy... can we rest for a bit?" Compa complained.

"But we don't have much time left, there's only one hour left before the Expo started." IF retorted.

"But I can't walk anymore..."

"Ugh, fine, one minute." IF said with a sigh.

"Yay!" And with that, Compa flopped herself into a nearby chair that was actually Ganache's chair.

The moment, Compa's body touched the chair, there was a click sound, and everybody turned their heads towards a bookshelf that move by it's own.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! A secret entrance!" Neptune exclaimed in amazement as the bookshelf move to the side, revealing a secret passageway that leads into something unknown.

"It's so dark in there, I can't see anything." Neptune said as she looked at the dark passage.

"We can use the flashlight in my phone. Shall we go there?" IF asked, Neptune and Compa nodded.

IF give Neptune one of her phone, and together, the three of them explored the dark passageway.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived in a room at the end of the tunnel. The room was completely dark, and the girls' flashlight wasn't enough for them to see their surroundings.

"There must be a switch somewhere around here, but where is it?"

Just as IF stepped into the room, hundreds of lights on the ceiling turned on by itself, blinding the party for a couple of seconds.

After they adjusted to the brightness, the party looked around the room. The secret room they was in turned out to be gigantic, it's wide and long is more than hundreds of meters.

"What the hell is this room?" IF asked in confusion, she noticed that the room has two story, and they were currently at the second story.

There was a railing nearby, the party approached it, and looked down at the ground floor, their eyes imediately widened in shcock.

"What... the Nep... is this?" Neptune said in absolute shock.

What they saw on the ground floor was hundreds or even thousands of Avenir machines. All of the machines was pretty advanced, each of them has weapons in their bodies, no doubt that this was an army, an army of machines.

"Th-They create an army! An army of machines! Chian was right, they are planning to replace everything in Lastation with machines!" Compa said in panic.

"We gotta contact everyone." IF said before pulling out her phone, calling the Sanctuary people to come into the room.

Neptune was about to say something, but something else caught her attention.

At the end of the room, there was a door leading to a smaller room, and Neptune could see a dim light coming out from it.

"Hey, Iffy, Compa, did you guys see that room?" Neptune asked while pointing at the said room.

"That must be Singe's office. Let's go." the party nodded, and they headed towards the room.

When the girls entered the room, they saw a figure covered in shadows standing in front of them.

"Singe, is that you? Show yourself this very instant!" Neptune demanded, pulling out her sword in case if something get dangerous.

"Hello! We've been running into each other a lot lately." the party all jerked in surprise when they hear that voice. The figure step out of the shadows, revealing itself to be Avenir's solicitor, Ganache. "Unfortunately, Singe is not in his office."

"Solicitor? The hell're you doing here? This is the least favorable outcome!" IF muttered aloud, taking out her katars.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ganache asked, tilting his head a little bit.

"We expected Singe. I can't believe we were tricked again. Let me guess, are you the mastermind behind that army of machines we saw?" Neptune asked, her voice is full serious.

"The president went to attend the Expo. And yes, you're right. I am the one who made those magnificent army of machines that you just saw." Ganache said with a smile.

"...What do you want from us? Why were you waiting here?" Compa asked.

"Because... you would come." Ganache answered. "The army that you saw is what I've made behind Avenir, it was complete, and it's only a matter of time before I released them to do their job." he explained.

"Behind Avenir? Does that mean you are..."

"That's right." Ganache answered with a nod. "I've manipulated everything from the start up to this point. Ever since I heard about the Console War many years ago." he explained. "I chose a small company on the verge of bankruptcy and created a bond between them and the Parliament."

"So, you're the founder of Avenir? For what? Just... who are you?!"

Ganache smiled, adjusting his glasses. "I'm the head of an Extremist Guild from Lowee. We're the believers of Lastation's Lady Black Heart. She only does everything." he then pulled out a trigger from his pocket. "Our objective is simple... Neptune! Our job is to kill her and take over her landmass!"

"Kill me? Taking over my landmass? That's your objective? So, Avenir was just a means to get to me?" Neptune asked.

"Yes! I created Avenir to develop weaponry that gathers all the advanced technology of Lastation." He explained. "But that's not all, once I've done with you, with the help of the army that I created, your homeland will be ours!"

"My homeland... does that mean... Planeptune?! You're going to take over Planeptune?" Neptune asked in shock.

"Yes, and eventually all of Gamindustri." Ganache nodded. "And it all will happens, once I push this trigger, right here." Ganache raise his thumb, prepared to push the trigger, and activate the entire army.

"Wait! Don't push it!" Neptune yelled, running towards him, trying to stop him from pushing the trigger.

"Too... late..."

Click

To be Continued...

Well, there goes the cliffhanger.

Let's just hope for the best to happen.

Also, I'm sorry if there's things that you don't understand.