)(!%: !? *&%#^$*%^
Orange Heart slowly opened her eyes to the sound of knocking on a door. She slowly sat straight up as she looked around. The room she sat in was metallic, but painted orange. She looked down to see that she was lying her head on a black table with papers and pencils scattered on it. She looked to her right to see a large metal door and heard the knocking coming from it.
Orange Heart walked over and opened the door. On the other side of the door was a woman about the same height as her. She wore a large long red cloak that covered her entire body like a curtain and had wide plated shoulder pads. She wore a red peaked hat on her head, glasses, and a stern serious expression.
"Lady Orange Heart, if you're ready, join us. The giant approaches us quickly." The woman said.
Orange Heart nodded and rushed outside with the woman. She looked back to see that she was inside of a bunker-like structure. She looked forward at the street to see multiple large trucks, cars, tanks, and men aiming their guns down the road. People were typing on small computers attached to large cannons that were mounted on the vehicles. A soldier poking his head out from inside the tank was looking down Orange Heart's right with binoculars, then he gave a signal towards a tall apartment building next to them. From a high floor, Orange Heart saw a window shatter and a sniper barrel poke out of it.
Orange Heart looked down the right to see a large field of mines and traps scattered across the road. Much farther down the road was Dark Purple blasting buildings as it advanced. Orange Heart could faintly see monsters roaming at Dark Purple's feet, however it didn't take long for them to fade into experience after a few sniper shots were heard.
Orange Heart looked down her left to see the Basilicom in the distance. Soldiers running down the streets, some were giving signals to each other while others rushed into buildings.
"Captain!" A voice called out.
Orange Heart turned to see the woman wearing red standing in front of a soldier. The soldier quickly caught their breath and looked up at her.
"Captain, the giant is heading this way as predicted. Everything is set, all cannons are loaded." The soldier said.
"Excellent, everyone take aim and fire on my command!"
All the soldiers and scientists around them ran around making adjustments and talking to each other. Orange Heart followed the red captain towards the road barrier and stared at Dark Purple in the distance walking towards them. She saw monsters falling into holes and traps as they ran forward. Orange Heart turned her head to see the captain lower her binoculars and turn to a soldier standing in a tank.
"Fire!" The captain ordered.
"FIRE!" The soldier yelled.
The captain placed ear plugs into her ears and Orange Heart covered her own. She heard all the cannons blasting as she saw a rain of projectiles fly towards Dark Purple. As the projectiles landed, an invisible barrier that covered dark purple quickly shined as the projectiles were deflected off of it. Dark Purple stopped in its tracks as it balanced itself while taking the blows, then it aimed one of it's arm cannons and fired at them.
Orange Heart, the captain, and all the other soldiers ducked their heads as they heard an explosion behind them. They stood up straight again and looked to see medics rush towards fallen soldiers around a few blown up tanks.
"Ineffective ma'am!" A scientist yelled while looking at an HP Bar on a screen.
"Fill those cannons with share shots now! Break open the vault if you have to, we need them as fast as possible!" The captain ordered.
"Ma'am, giant broke through both section alpha and bravo. The hunting squads are offline." A soldier reported.
"Get some scouts over there, I want reports on them and their well being! Lady Orange Heart, if you could give us enough time to load the cannons, we can end this battle right here. Do you need a crystal for your sharing field?"
Orange Heart nodded.
"Your lady needs a crystal, she's going to work!" The captain ordered.
"Ma'am, craters were found in the place of the hunters, no survivors. Over." A soldier reported through her shoulder radio.
"Damn it, how are our jets? Over." The captain asked.
"Still at a distress signal overseas at the land without a goddess. Over."
"Alright, what's the progress on those cannons?!"
"Share crystals have been received and are being loaded in ma'am!" A scientist yelled.
"Ma'am, a crystal for the lady." A soldier said carrying a share crystal.
The captain took it, looked at it in her hand, then gave it to Orange Heart who took it with two hands.
"We need you out there now, another blast in our direction and we won't have enough power to one shot it." The captain said.
Orange Heart nodded, then turned to face Dark Purple and flew towards it. Dark Purple noticed Orange Heart and aimed it's cannon at it. Orange Heart quickly placed the crystal inside her shield and raised it up. A bright orange light covered the area they were in and Orange Heart was facing Dark Purple on a platform that raised her to Dark Purple's head.
Orange Heart flew through the dark blue area and screamed through her mic. Dark Purple reached for Orange Heart, but she dodged and kicked Dark Purple's arm. Orange Heart landed on a platform, then quickly flew off towards another one just as Dark Purple smashed it. She aimed her mic again, but Dark Purple's cannon blew up the platform she was on before she could use her mic.
Orange Heart flew to another platform, then another until one remained. Orange Heart flew towards Dark Purple's face, then dodged to the left as a cannon blast was about to hit her from below. She ducked under to Dark Purple's chin and uppercutted her using her mic like a tool. Dark Purple stumbled backwards as Orange Heart flew back to the platform. She took a deep breath, then flew straight at Dark Purple.
Dark Purple desperately shot twice at Orange Heart, but missed both times. Orange Heart flew towards Dark Purple and punched her in the visor. A hole was smashed in the helmet visor and Orange Heart saw a giant bright blue eye with a yellow power button in the center.
Orange Heart flew to the middle of the face, but Dark Purple tilted her head back a bit, then slammed her head into Orange Heart. Orange Heart flew backwards and the sharing field shattered.
Orange Heart fell onto the road and landed on a mine which exploded and caused her to fly farther towards the section behind the road barrier. She smashed into the front of a tank causing a huge dent.
"Orange Heart! Don't give up, help is on the way." Umio's voice said.
"The visor is damaged! Aim for the head, everything! Even the snipers!" The captain ordered.
Orange Heart barely opened her eyes as pain shot through her body. She saw a blurry image of the tall man from a few dreams earlier and she rested her head on the tank. She felt hands place ear plugs in her ears and a potion was poured into her mouth.
"Ready?! Aim! Fire!" The captain ordered.
Orange Heart felt the tank rumble as projectiles were fired towards Dark Purple. The invisible barrier became fainter and fainter with every shine from every projectile when finally a large metal ball flew towards the giant and broke through her invisible barrier. It shattered like glass as the ball smashed into Dark Purple's face forcing the giant onto the ground.
Orange Heart saw Dark Purple's corpse fade into experience as the giant metal ball cracked open revealing a large share crystal.
"The giant has fallen! We've won the battle!" A soldier cheered.
"Victory is ours!" A scientist exclaimed.
Orange Heart heard loud cheering from all directions. She smiled and relaxed more as she looked at the tall man again.
"I'm here Uzume." Umio's voice told her. "And I'm not leaving you."
Orange Heart smiled again as her vision blurred more. She slowly closed her eyes and allowed her consciousness to go.
Uzume slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the large tent again. She quickly rose up, placed her tie on, and walked outside.
Uzume looked around the campsite. She saw Nepgear sitting at the desk tapping her chin with a pen as papers and Histoire's book was open in front of her. She looked at the bonfire to see Neptune singing happily with Iffy who grumbled as Neptune rocked back and forth. Comp was cooking various vegetables over the fire with Umio's help.
"Good morning everyone. Geez, why am I always the one that wakes up late? I thought I always woke up early." Uzume said.
"Oh, good morning Uzume!" Nepgear greeted. "Uhm, well, the sky is all clouded up so we can't exactly see the sun. Maybe that has something to do with it."
Uzume smiled as she walked over to Nepgear and peeked over her shoulder at the papers.
"Whatcha workin on Gearsy? That portal machine you and Histy were talking about?" Uzume asked.
"Aye, but I have a few problems. Obviously this is super high tech and we don't exactly have any places to find high tech equipment. Thankfully the lab has all the tools and your old base has all the power we need but… Hmm, well let's take things slowly. First, if we can fix the generator in the lab, that would be superb."
"Right yeah, so we don't have to lug around tons of equipment everywhere huh?"
"Not only that, but the main lab room is much more spacious than the old base. You know, the room with all the uh… corpses."
"Eugh, it must stink like hell in there. Man, I really don't want to clean that out, can we just use another room?"
"Unfortunately uh, small portal machines are kind of dangerous. Actually they do exist, but we can't make any right now so we'll have to go with the traditional way."
"How can there be a traditional way of making a freaking world travelling portal machine?"
"Hehehe, uhm… building it like you'd build a really old fashion computer."
"Ugh, well you're the techy girl. I guess Nepsy and I'll just follow your orders, as long as it gets things done faster."
"Heh, thanks Uzume."
Uzume nodded and walked over to the bonfire. She sat down on a log and Umio smiled at her.
"Good morning Uzume. Did you sleep well?" Umio asked.
"Actually, the dream I had this time wasn't bad. It was like a different situation where we won the battle against Dark Purple." Uzume replied.
"Really? Interesting, I wonder if this means anything."
"Uh oh, constant bad dreams only means bad things." Comp mentioned.
"I'm having a constant bad dream right next to me." Iffy complained.
"Let's spread our wings now, do anything now!" Neptune sang. "Somehow we came this faaar!"
"Whoa, what song is this?" Uzume asked with a smile.
"She can't hear ya." Iffy grumbled.
Fog rose into the air and at their feet as Uzume placed her hands together. Her eyes began to sparkle as she rocked back and forth in sync with Neptune.
"I've got a choice now, I hear your voice now!" Uzume sang. "Singing inside my heart!"
Neptune and Uzume continued to sing in unison. Iffy grumbled a bit as she crossed her arms while Comp rocked back and forth along with them. Once the song finished, the fog subsided and Uzume's eyes shot open in shock.
"I- uh- that- see that's proof that it's a ghost because I've never ever heard that song in my life. I- I promise." Uzume said.
"You have a wonderful singing voice Uzume." Umio complimented.
"Augh, it's not me! I don't sing! At- at least not anymore…"
Nepgear perked up and smiled at Uzume, but stopped herself. She looked at Uzume's red hair, then looked down at Ambience's journal on the table. She sighed and went back to her papers.
"Alright, next song!" Neptune announced.
"Compa, I need a pillow." Iffy said.
"Alright, alright, no fighting." Uzume said. "Hey Nepsy- oh right she's deaf."
Nepgear sat down next to Uzume and smiled.
"Let's relax for a little bit." Nepgear said. "I checked the radar, no monsters are coming by anytime soon. The giant isn't going towards the lab at the moment either so we should be okay for now."
"Yo, Junior! Glad you could make it! How goes the goings?" Neptune asked.
Nepgear drew on her watch, then tapped on it so it ejected a holographic screen up. On the screen were the words. "I'm fine Neptune, thank you."
"Yeah yeah we can communicate with Nepsy that way can't we? Hey, mind getting me some paper?" Uzume asked.
"I uhm… sorry Uzume, I kind of need everything." Nepgear said.
"Aw man. Whatever, I guess you can just talk to her."
"Soooo, what's happening now? Anything I should be aware of?" Neptune asked.
"Did you have a question for her Uzume?" Nepgear asked.
"Uh, yeah, that song she sang. I never heard it before but it sounds familiar. Like, I got the feeling of deja vu when I heard her singing it." Uzume said.
Nepgear wrote on her watch and showed the words "Who wrote that song Neptune?"
"Oh, it's a song Histy sang a while ago. She never told me who wrote it, but I liked it so she taught me the lyrics." Neptune said. "It's pretty old I think, Blanc was surprised to hear me humming it once."
"Hmm. Interesting." Nepgear said. "Maybe you'll write that song Uzume."
"Wha- me? No no no no, my singing days are over. Even after I- we save the world, I ain't singing again." Uzume responded.
"Is… is it trauma?" Nepgear asked with a worried expression. "Did your crew members die in an accident? Did you embarrass yourself in your last concert? Oh sorry, I shouldn't be asking this should I? I'm so sorry I-"
"What?! No! Gearsy where did you get that from? I just don't like singing anymore. You know, like how people grow up from hobbies and stuff?"
"Oh, I see. Sorry for assuming Uzume." Nepgear said.
"It's fine."
"Wow, you girls really like talking without me huh?" Neptune asked. "Well that's fine, I'll just force my way in and change the subject into something I can talk about just like always! So, how were ya'll dreams last night? I had a really weird dream where Noire retired and failed at being an idol so she cried and I comforted her on a couch in some university dorm. It was weird and oddly specific."
"Neptune's dreaming about Noire hmm." Nepgear whispered.
"First of all, how are you kids doing?" Uzume asked.
"I haven't been having any nightmares lately." Iffy said.
"I'm having good good dreams!" Comp said happily. "I met a very pretty and nice lady who thanked me for giving her another chance at life."
Nepgear wrote it all down and walked over beside Neptune. She sat down and showed Neptune what she wrote on her watch.
"Ooo I see! Thanks for being my ears Junior." Neptune said while hugging Nepgear.
"Oh! You're- you're welcome Neptune." Nepgear said with a smile.
Comp raised the frying pan with all the vegetables. She smiled as she handed it to Uzume. Uzume quickly got up, grabbed a fork from the table, and scrapped some pieces off to eat.
"Hey, uh, Iffy was it? Why not share what your dream was?" Uzume asked. "We're all gonna share ours."
"Fine." Iffy responded. "I had a dream where I was fishing with two other kids. It was a lot more peaceful than I expected, very calm waters and hardly a sound other than birds."
"Fishing?" Nepgear whispered. "Does IF like fishing?"
Nepgear shrugged and showed Neptune her writing. Uzume scrapped some food off and fed Umio, then she handed the pan and fork to Comp who blew on her food and ate.
"We need to find more food fast." Uzume said.
Nepgear nodded as Iffy took the pan next.
"Oh, Umio, uhm… you don't… like the idea of fishing, do you?" Nepgear asked.
"No worries Nepgear, I understand that it's a common hobby and sport among humans. Of course, as I am half fish, I do hope that I don't get caught on a hook one day. It's… complicated, but the ethics on fishing and the idea of fish people can be discussed another time." Umio responded.
"How was your dream Umio?" Uzume asked.
"Hmm. Well, how do I say this? I had a dream where Gamindustri was under my control." Umio said. "Of course, out of context that sounds very egotistical and downright strange, but it was… basically if dictatorship was done in the absolute most impossibly perfect way. Like being the queen of a beehive I suppose. Everything went my way so everything went well. The country thrived, the rules were fair, people were happy, it's an interesting idea to think about."
"Sounds dangerous, and political. Which means we're not gonna talk about it anymore." Uzume said.
Nepgear showed Neptune what she wrote as she held the pan in her other hand.
"Hahaha, Umio as Gamindustri's king? Man, imagine Umio becomes some sort of twist villain or something and ends up as the cause of all this mess. No offense Umio, but I would not be able to take you seriously no matter what you say." Neptune said.
"None taken, I understand." Umio said with a smile.
"These dreams are weird." Iffy commented.
"Uzume, if you don't want to go next I will." Nepgear offered.
"Yeah, I wanna save mine for last. You'll see when we get there." Uzume said.
"Aw yuck! I knew this would taste bad but I didn't think it would taste this bad!" Neptune exclaimed. "Aw, but it's all the food we have isn't it? Fine then, you better be watching Histy, this is counting for my monthly vegetable count!"
"I- well my dream was a lot simpler." Nepgear said. "I had a dream where I lived in a huge mansion and everything was… well, expensive. Maids, wine, all that typical rich stuff. Kind of like if Blanc didn't hold back and just spent money on whatever she wanted to make herself look as rich as possible."
"I'm guessing that this Blanc is super rich or something?" Uzume asked.
"Oh yeah, definitely. She owns two castles and runs some business she doesn't ever talk about. Some rumors say that she owns more of Lastation than Noire does but honestly that sounds kind of silly."
Nepgear showed Neptune what she wrote and Neptune nodded.
"Kind of wish she'd give us a hand ya know? We'd totally make much better use of her money, it ain't doin anything just collecting dust in some huge bank." Neptune said.
"It's finally your turn Uzume. What was your dream about?" Umio asked.
"Well, again it wasn't a bad dream. Actually my dreams have been getting a lot tamer since you girls got here. I… think I said this before? But basically it was a dream where I beat Dark Purple during Planeptune's defense phase against it." Uzume said.
"Defense phase? You had an offense phase or something?" Nepgear asked.
"Yeah, we spotted the giant coming in from space so we launched rockets at it as it was coming down. Didn't do jack, so obviously we had to defend."
"So how'd you beat it?" Iffy asked.
"Well uh, I punched it in the face, got knocked out, then the military fired missiles at it until it died." Uzume said. "There was a giant ball that smashed into it too, I dunno where we got that thing but hey it worked."
Iffy physically shook after Uzume finished speaking and stared at her with wide eyes and a pale face.
"It wasn't just a normal punch or anything was it?" Nepgear asked. "Did you use your sharing field?"
"Oh yeah, yeah yeah for sure. Cracked it's visor, I think that exposed its weak spot. It's weird though, cause it's eyes were the same color as Nepsy's eyes when she transforms." Uzume said.
"You've been looking into Neptune's eyes?" Nepgear asked.
"Uh…"
Nepgear quickly typed onto her watch and showed Neptune.
"Hey! Gearsy please I didn't-"
"Woooooow! You were attracted to me because of my eyes?" Neptune asked while glimmers could be seen around her face. "Nobody has ever fell for that part of my body before, it's always the rare loli figure or the busty alt form but my eyes? Never. Here, you can have a closer look if you want."
"Gearsy look what you've done-"
Neptune rushed over to Uzume and stared into her eyes closely at her face. Uzume backed her head away as she looked at Neptune's eyes. She heard Nepgear giggle a little bit and Iffy sigh in the background.
"Er- yeah, that's- they're great Nepsy." Uzume said.
"What? What's wrong with my eyes? Is it cause I'm not transformed? I can't lip read very well, but I can see your expression and you ain't blushing or calling me a baka." Neptune said.
"Well you're just way too close for comfort." Uzume said.
Nepgear pulled Neptune back and showed her what Uzume said.
"Wait, don't tell me you're straight!" Neptune exclaimed.
"Uh, yeah? What's wrong with liking boys?" Uzume asked.
"Wow… honestly most of my friends are gay or bi so I just kind of assumed." Nepgear said.
"You are straight! Hah! A straight girl? This is still Neptunia right? You're like an endangered species! But how do you raise your lily rank?" Neptune asked.
"Lily rank? You mean the flower?" Uzume asked.
"Lily rank basically shows how close two people are." Nepgear explained. "Like Neptune and I have really high lily rank so our combo attacks are very effective."
"Alright, that makes sense but why is it named after a flower?"
"Uhm…"
"Let us get back on track." Umio suggested. "It's very interesting you speak of such a dream Uzume. Tell me, do you think you saw a vision of what happened in Neptune and Nepgear's world? Clearly their world takes place farther into the future than ours does."
"You think we were attacked by the same monsters in our world?" Nepgear asked while showing Neptune.
"I dunno, ask Histy." Neptune said. "Although in that case Uzume would have to be Planeptune's first goddess and that wouldn't fit very well with our planet name theme. Unless she's actually the sun or something."
"I don't fit in with the theme either, although it's probably because I was artificially made." Nepgear said while typing.
"No, what? You have a planet too! Come on, Nepgear? E-A-R? Earth? You're Earth! See, it makes sense because Mars is closest to Earth and you were made during Mars' time."
"Oh, you're right! Wow, you're so smart Neptune!"
"Hehehe, I can tell from your expression that you think what I said was genius! I got to show off my wrinkled brain a lot ever since we got here. Well, it worked it's overtime so now I need some pudding."
"So the next one after you is gonna be Pluto right?" Uzume asked.
"That's what a lot of people theorize. Hmm, wonder what kind of girl Pluto would be." Nepgear wondered while showing Neptune her watch again.
"Hmm, hey we can ask Histy right now can't we? Let's do it!"
"It- it takes a lot of mana to connect with Histoire, it doesn't help that we're still level 1." Nepgear said. "But I guess we could ask her a few questions. Alright, here we go."
Nepgear grabbed Histoire's book and opened it up. A hologram of Histoire appeared and the group looked at Histoire who placed her phone down and bowed her head at them.
"I'm glad to hear from you again Action Girls. I believe Nepgear holds the instructions to the portal machine, are there any concerns or questions?" Histoire asked.
"Yeah, hi, your world seems more futuristic than mine, did you ever have to defeat some giants in your world? Maybe one that went by the name Dark Purple?" Uzume asked.
"Dark Purple? Why yes, I discussed this with Nepgear when she wrote in the book. Dark Purple was defeated by Lady Orange Heart who bravely fought and defeated the four giants."
"Wait, I have to defeat all four of them?" Uzume asked. "Aw man, things just got a lot tougher huh."
"Actually, Lady White Heart defeated the giant that came to Lowee, But considering how no contact was made with Lowee yet, we can assume that she may have failed in your dimension."
"Aw, I kind of wanted to meet young Blanc. It would be really interesting considering how old she is." Nepgear said.
"So how'd I beat Dark Purple in your dimension?" Uzume asked.
"Well, I wasn't there to see it in person, but the reports state that someone launched a massive metal ball at the head of the giant which had a very large share crystal inside of it."
"Hey, just like my dream! Huh, weird."
"Did you say dream Uzume?!" Histoire quickly asked. "Tell me, have you been having nightmares recently?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. I had a few of them, especially of this weird girl that looks like me but dark blue themed."
"Oh… oh that explains a lot. Oh joy, what an excellent time for this to be happening. No, now's not the time for sarcasm. What's important is that you all finish that portal machine as quickly as possible, it must be your top priority. Nothing is more important at the moment, Do you understand?"
"Aye, what's wrong Histoire? Has something like this happened before?" Nepgear asked.
"Yes, last time Orange Heart had nightmares, it caused the Dark CPUs to be summoned. Rifts were opened between dimensions, it was awful. It explains everything that's happened recently."
"Wait, what's going on?! Is everyone okay?" Nepgear asked.
"No Nepgear, that's why we need you and Neptune here. But we must not stress ourselves further, we have to move forward and make it out alive together. Uzume, if everyone is truly dead then we have all the time in the world to defeat the giants in your dimension, correct?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess so. Gee, I guess I never thought about how I would rebuild everything after I kicked Dark Purple's butt. Not to mention, I haven't seen any other human survivors." Uzume said. "Actually we do have some friendly monsters with us that have a hard time defending themselves."
"Bring them with you, you all must come back to our dimension. Quickly now, we will talk again at the lab. The details will be explained by then."
"We'll be home soon Histoire." Nepgear confirmed.
Nepgear closed the book and tossed it to Iffy who caught it and placed it in her jacket.
"All done? Ya'll looked so serious, what's goin on?" Neptune asked.
As Nepgear wrote on her watch, Iffy got up and walked into the forest.
"Iffy?!" Comp asked.
"You heard her, we have to go now." Iffy said. "We don't have infinite time anymore, let's go already."
"Wait! Wait IF!" Nepgear called out.
Iffy ran into the forest and Comp quickly followed her.
"I'll get em!" Neptune announced as she ran after them.
"Oh shi- shoot we're sending Neptune after them?! She's still deaf, Umio, you got this place covered?" Uzume asked.
"This job just got a lot more serious. Go, I will alert you of any emergencies." Umio said.
Uzume nodded and ran after Neptune while Nepgear scrambled to stuff all the papers into her hands. She looked at Ambience's journal, then left it on the table and ran after Uzume. The group ran through the forest and onto the dirt path when suddenly a large shadow flew over all of them.
"Whoa what the-"
"PHOENIX!" Neptune yelled out.
"Phoenix! Uzume get down!" Nepgear called out.
"Huh?! Okay!"
Iffy grabbed Comp and dropped to the floor with their faces down. Neptune, Uzume, and Nepgear did the same while Nepgear covered her papers with her body. An intense heat wave blew over them causing the edges of their clothes and hair to catch on fire.
"Roll!" Nepgear commanded.
The group rolled on the group to put out the fire and quickly scrambled to their feet. They looked around to see all the nearby trees and the trees down the dirt path in flames and burning to the ground.
"What the hell… since when did phoenixes fly so close to human cities?!" Uzume asked.
"I- I don't know!" Nepgear said.
A less intense wave of heat was blown towards them and as they covered their faces, a large red bird smashed into the ground. It was taller than all of the surrounding burning trees and what were supposed to be it's feathers on the edge of its wings were instead waves of fire. It flailed it's head around as tears came from it's eyes. Large tumors were all over the bird's head as it smashed it's head on the ground and trees.
"Oh god, does it want us to help?!" Uzume asked.
"Don't go near it!" Nepgear called out.
"Guess not even the meta builds of the monster world is immune to cancer huh?" Neptune asked.
The Phoenix screeched into the air one last time before it's head exploded and faded into ashes. Out of its neck came a long pale worm with a red mouth. The worm looked like it was made up of roots swirled together and it shrieked at the group.
"Oh gosh… I'm gonna puke…" Uzume said.
"Uhm, uh, uhm, IF! Do you know any magic besides fire?" Nepgear asked.
"No." Iffy replied.
"You know I would love to have an endless supply of fried chicken right now but NOW'S THE TIME TO TURN THE TAIL AND RUN! GO GO GO! TO THE LAB LADIES AND GIRLS!" Neptune yelled.
"Shouldn't we head to the river?!" Uzume asked while running after Neptune.
"We can't, we can't risk it burning our camp! We'll have to hide underground!" Nepgear said.
The worm shrieked again as it chased after the group. They ran through the burning trees and stomped over the burnt up grass until they came across the trap door. Neptune flinged it open and jumped inside as Iffy quickly followed. Nepgear picked up Comp who tripped a bit earlier and jumped in right behind Uzume.
Neptune ran into the main lab room and quickly lifted up half the giant metal door that laid on the floor. Uzume ran into the room with everyone else and pulled the other half up to the door frame.
"Junior! A little help!" Neptune called out.
"Right! Right! Hang on!"
Nepgear helped lift up the door but as she did, she peeked down into the room to see the worm exit the Phoenix's body and into the lab. It lunged towards the large metal door and Nepgear quickly pushed both pieces forward to stop it.
The worm smashed into the door and let out a loud shriek. It slammed into the door again and Nepgear felt the pieces shake and slide a little.
"Uzume, hold this door piece up please!" Nepgear said.
"Right, gotcha!"
Uzume helped up one half and once Neptune saw what Uzume was doing, she held up the other. Nepgear pulled out her beam sword and pried it's battery slot open. She flicked a small lever up and activated it to show a small fire come out of the handle.
"Alright, be careful!" Nepgear said.
Nepgear carefully pressed the fire onto the crack between the two halves and all around the edges of the door. Neptune and Uzume occasionally jolted forward a bit due to the impact felt from the worm, however they quickly stood up in the right position again. Eventually, the door was welded in place and Nepgear let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay… okay, you two can let go now." Nepgear said.
Uzume slowly walked away from the door and Neptune followed by example. They looked at the door and heard loud thuds from outside, but the door didn't move.
"Ah finally, geez what the hell?!" Uzume said. "I swear these monsters are getting tougher and tougher every time we fight one."
"The- the world is… is increasing in difficulty… as it should but we're not… leveling up." Nepgear said.
"Ho boy that was quite the sprint!" Neptune said. "Great job on that door by the way Junior! Now then, how are ya kids doing?"
Neptune turned around to see Iffy hugging Comp tightly. Comp's eyes were watery as she huddled against the wall.
"Uh oh."
"Are- are we safe? Are we okay Nep-Nep?" Comp asked quietly.
"We're- we're okay Compa!" Nepgear quickly said. "We'll be okay see? The monster won't hurt us anymore. We'll be- ow…"
Nepgear checked the burns on her body and then turned to face everyone else. Everyone's clothes, hair, and parts of their skin were scorched with dark patches on them. Nepgear sighed as she took out her broom and gripped it tightly.
"Okay… let's uh, rest and heal for a bit." Nepgear said.
"Oh is it healing time? Phew, I thought I had to work with these burns on me. Is Compa okay?" Neptune asked.
Nepgear nodded. Uzume sighed and sat down with her back against the wall close to Comp and Iffy.
"Geez, what was up with that phoenix? I didn't know they could get infected, aren't they like immortal anyway?" Uzume asked.
"Whatever the case is, we'll have to stay here for a while. Maybe we can fix the generator with what's in here." Nepgear replied.
Nepgear healed Iffy, then Comp, then Uzume and Neptune before getting to herself. Uzume turned her head and saw Comp crying while holding onto Iffy's hands tightly.
"Why- why does this have to happen?" Comp asked. "What did we do? Who's angry at us? Why can't we be safe?"
"I'm… I'm sorry Compa." Iffy replied.
"We'll- we'll be home soon!" Nepgear said. "We'll build this machine as quickly as possible, then everyone will go home. It'll be okay! It'll be okay… come on."
"Geez, this is why I didn't want to bring the kids along when we went out." Uzume said.
"As Neptune said Uzume, they would have came with us anyway even if we told them to stay."
"Was it really unavoidable? I trust you two cause you know them better than I do but… I dunno, ugh I hate hard decisions."
Uzume flicked up her watch and turned it on.
"Hey Umio, can ya hear me?" Uzume asked.
"I hear you Uzume." Umio replied.
"You saw the fires and the phoenix right? Everything okay over there?"
"The flames have not reached our camp, nor have they reached the other monsters. I'm sorry Uzume, but I didn't call you fast enough to warn you about it."
"It's fine, I'm just glad everyone's safe. We're kinda stuck in the lab so we won't be coming back to camp any time soon. Just keep an eye on any more monsters that might come close, we'll figure something out."
"As you say Uzume. Be careful."
"Don't worry we will."
Uzume turned off her watch and stood up.
"Alright Gearsy, let's get started already. We should get this done fast, we have to." Uzume said.
"Right. To the generator then."
Nepgear tapped on Neptune's shoulder and walked through the door leading deeper into the lab.
"Alright! Let's go! Kids?"
Iffy looked up at Neptune with Comp still crying against the wall. Neptune gave her a sad smile and sat down next to them.
"Yo, Uzume, I'm gonna chill with the kids for now alright? I'll catch up soon."
"Huh? Oh uh, sure I guess. I'll pick you up- right you can't hear me." Uzume said. "Hey Gearsy, can ya toss me a flashlight?"
"Hmm? Oh, okay."
Uzume caught a flashlight that was thrown at her and she handed it to Neptune.
"Thanks girl." Neptune said with a smile.
Uzume nodded, then ran into the lab and walked next to Nepgear. They took a right, and walked down a hallway with the same window that showed the same large room of broken containers and piles of bodies.
"Alright Gearsy, what's first?" Uzume asked.
"We need power." Nepgear replied. "I haven't checked the generator myself, but I really want to see if I can fix it. Oh, we should get the tool box first. Probably a good idea to keep that on us."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go."
The two of them turned around and walked back down the hallway. They took a right from their perspective when they returned to the computer room and walked down the other hallway. They entered the second computer room and retrieved the redbox of tools.
"Iffy and Compa were childhood friends, right?" Uzume asked.
"Aye, well my childhood friends. Neptune kinda found them after being knocked off Celestia."
"Right, and later she found you and thought you were a CPU Candidate somehow?"
"Well, Uni, Lastation's CPU Candidate was found just walking around like a normal citizen. When Histoire figured that out, she assumed that it would be the same for me. Obviously I ended up being different, but you can't really blame her especially when I looked a lot like Neptune."
"Yeah… how did you get her appearance anyway? No way the old goddesses knew this would all happen right?"
"That I don't know."
Uzume sighed as they entered the fourth computer room, then the generator room. Nepgear looked at the large generator and opened a panel beside it. She placed her hand inside carefully moving some wires, then turned back to Uzume.
"Uhm, can you carry this flashlight for me? I- I need a bit of help." Nepgear said.
"Sure, one second."
Uzume walked over and carried the flashlight for Nepgear to use both her hands. Uzume looked around the room while tapping her foot waiting, then looked at a lever on the wall.
"Alright, now let's-"
"Hey… if this place has no power why are the rooms lit up?" Uzume asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah it is very slightly. I was thinking about that too, the big main room has a few small lights turned on. Hmm, that's odd."
Nepgear took out some tools from her toolbox and opened the panel again. She continued to work as Uzume carried the flashlight. As she took out different tools and spare parts from the tool box, she worked with her hands in the panel. Eventually Nepgear flipped a switch and all the main bright lights came on.
Uzume squinted her eyes as they slowly adjusted, then she looked around the dark blue room they were in. She turned off her flashlight and scratched her chin.
"So… the small lights weren't damaged but the main lights were damaged right?" Uzume asked.
"Actually… there was only one light switch. While it did have a "sleep mode", it wasn't turned on so… I- I don't know what's going on hold on."
Nepgear stuck her hands in the panel again. Uzume sighed and walked over to the lever on the wall. She pulled the lever and opened up the wall again revealing the assault rifles with bayonet knives.
"Whoa! Wow, this was all here in this room?" Nepgear asked.
"Yup, these were the rifles I told you about. I took a knife from one of these guns so I thought might as well just take another one and-"
Uzume blinked at the rifles. She stared at an empty hook and looked around the room.
"Hey uh, you weren't ever in this room before right?" Uzume asked.
"No, this is my first time here." Nepgear replied. "Is everything okay Uzume?"
"I- hang on hang on."
Uzume pulled the knife out from a little storage slot on her mic. She looked at it, compared it with one attached to a rifle on the wall and blinked again.
"Who- what? No, no Gearsy I took a knife from a rifle and left it here, but now the rifle's gone." Uzume said.
"Uhm… maybe a monster took it?"
"No that's just… hmm… I guess any normal person would have just taken one of the untouched guns. Still, a monster? That doesn't sound right. I- I'm just so confused."
"If the gun is really gone, then something or someone else can access this place like we can." Nepgear said. "We- we have to be careful. If we find an enemy, then-"
"Wait hold on! Stay right here Gearsy, don't leave this room!"
"Huh?"
Uzume ran out of the generator room and into the now brightly lit fourth computer room. She ran to her right down the hallway and looked at the brightly lit main room again. She entered the third computer room and saw that the full body mirror was cracked.
"What the- oi! Hey, you tryna scare me or something? Why don't you come on and fight me normally? I'll give you a fair one on one, there's no need to try to scare us. Even better, why not just work together? Why are you even in my nightmares?"
Uzume looked around and gripped onto her mic. She opened the bone room but didn't see anybody inside. She looked down both hallway and on all the computer screens but found nothing. She opened any unlocked file cabinets and still found nothing.
"Augh, damn it man."
Uzume walked back down the hallway towards the fourth computer room. She saw the computer screens turn on as she did and she entered the generator room.
"You got the computers up and running?" Uzume asked. "Hey… do you think the elevator works now? Maybe we can use that as an escape route."
"Hmm, maybe. You should check that with Neptune later. But for now, let's go back to the group. We have a lot of planning to do, and we have to clean up the main room."
"Sure. Geez, whatever has the rest of the gun right now, I really hope it's another human we can reason with."
"It- it could be just one of Neptune's pranks… oh who am I kidding she was with me all of today and yesterday. I would have noticed a rifle this size."
Uzume and Nepgear looked at each other for a moment, then walked back down the hallway and towards the first computer room. Neptune ran over to them holding hands with Iffy and Comp and smiled at them.
"Wow who turned on the lights? Did you do that Junior? Great job! I dunno about you but having two of my five senses gone would have been a real pain in the butt." Neptune said.
Nepgear wrote on her watch and projected a message to Neptune.
"We need a lot of material huh? Welp, let's get started then. I'll go grab the rest of those bones in that spooky room." Neptune announced.
"I'll- I'll get the computers working." Nepgear said. "Maybe- maybe we'll find something."
"Guess I'll help Nepsy tear down the factory for parts. Unless we need it?"
"No I think we'll be okay."
"Alright. Come on Nepsy, let's get going."
"I will assume from your expressions that you approve of what I said! Well then, back to the bone zone!" Neptune announced.
Uzume and Neptune walked down the hallways and towards the skeleton factory room. Meanwhile inside a large throne room, Anonydeath looked at Rei watching the TV with Neptune and Uzume on the screen.
"Little Rei, you seem down." Anonydeath said. "And usually when you feel down during a successful moment like this, well… it's not a good sign. Do you need a hug?"
"Huh? Me? Uhm, uh, yeah- yes I- I would like a hug if- if it's okay with you." Rei said nervously.
"Perfect! Oh Copy! Little Rei needs a hug!" Anonydeath shouted.
"Wait! Wait- you- I- I change my mind! I'm okay I-"
Copypaste bursted into the throne room from another room and rolled towards Rei causing the ground to crack behind him.
"My friend?! Is feeling sad?! Not on my watch!" Copypaste announced.
"In the name of the father, the son, and the holy-"
Copypaste charged right past Anonydeath and grabbed onto Rei with his arms lifting both her and her throne up with his eyes expressing joy.
"Hahaha! My friend, why are you so upset?! Only two goddesses left and we win!" Copypaste yelled. "Then the very nice lady in the mirror will take care of the other goddess and it will all be over! Isn't this great?"
"The- the throne! Please don't break the throne, it's- it takes so long to fix!" Rei said.
"Bah, holding onto materialistic values is bad for you. You have to make sure what really matters stays fixed! Like the trust between you and your friends, no amount of money can fix that!"
"My- you're- I- help! I'm gonna die!" Rei exclaimed.
"Oh don't be so dramatic, I can control myself! I'm Copypaste! I-"
"I'm glad you're having fun, Copy, and as much as I'd want to see Little Rei's bones broken, I think we have actual problems on our hands. Something we have to take more… seriously." Anonydeath said.
"Huh? Oh alright. But only because I trust you friend."
Copypaste placed Rei and the parts of her throne down. Rei gasped for air and held the parts of her torso that were squeezed. Rei held onto the edge of the table and pushed herself up.
"Ah… thank you so- so much Anny…" Rei said, still gasping for air. "I- but… uhm… what was that last part?"
"Hmm?"
"About the uhm… after- after you said "I'm glad you're having fun, Copy"? You said something about… me?"
"Hmm, I don't recall. Perhaps you were hearing things again."
"Oh joy… well uhm… actually Arfoire called for this meeting. When will she be here?"
"She will be here right about… now!" Anonydeath announced while looking at a screen.
A blue halo hovered over and light came from it. Arfoire stomped over to them while clenching her fists and grinding her teeth.
"Ah my friend! It is so good to see-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Arfoire snapped.
"Eep!" Rei squeaked before ducking her head under the table.
"My my Arfy, what's the matter? Don't you like him?" Anonydeath asked.
"I couldn't care less about what you did with your stupid bots." Arfoire said. "What I want to know is why the hell was some random girl thrown into the portal along with the goddess?!"
"Oh you saw that huh… Well, you can't save everyone Arfy."
"I- uhm, I'm sorry!" Rei said. "I- I couldn't see any other way and- and we were running out of time."
"Excuses, excuses, keeping running your mouth smurf. Not only were those rats endangered but you threw that damn broad into the Zero Dimension along with that stupid goddess! I thought we were supposed to target the goddesses and only the goddesses."
"Was- was she- a- a friend of- of yours or- or something?" Rei asked. "Uhm… if I may asked, why- why do you care so much?"
"Tch, call it pity, call me soft. I don't care what you think, but citizens have no place in a battle for goddesses. If you want ASIC to provide resources, information, internet rumors, I don't care. But you will not endanger any lives that is below that of a goddess's, or I'll leave. And maybe even go against your cause."
"Arfy, a change of heart? From you? That's quite unexpected. The Deity of Sin wasn't as sympathetic or heroic… or is it empathy I smell?" Anonydeath asked.
"Do I need a reason to not murder people? I am not the Deity of Sin, I am Arfoire. I hate the goddesses with all my body and soul but I'm a human. And I almost forgot that before, but I learn from my mistakes and I expect you to do the same. Unless you're saying you're no better than bottom feeding 5 int scum."
Rei looked down at her hands she held together and Anonydeath stared at Arfoire.
"While I do appreciate your bravo, and I must say it makes you much more appealing as a lady, we still have to be willing to do whatever we can to win. After all, we're not goddesses. It was never going to be a fair battle." Anonydeath said.
"Hmph. That went so well for me last time. I don't have time for this, I'm going to go into that other dimension and I will bring her back to ours. Alter her memories or keep her locked up, but I want to see her alive."
"Actually Arfy, this fits so perfectly. I need you to take Copypaste with you and go… have a little fun with our lonely goddesses. I'll tell you the specifics when you're done fetching your damsel."
Arfoire raised her eyebrow at Anonydeath, then looked at Copypaste and sighed.
"A job from our "business partner", is that right?" Arfoire asked.
"Indeed it is Arfy. Let's make a good first impression shall we?"
Arfoire sighed again and gestured to Copypaste to follow her.
"Let's go. The sooner we finish the sooner I get to snap Neptune's neck."
"Yes! Time to hang out with my fighting buddy! Ah man, hey, did you know that my strength stat increased by 20 whole points since my last upgrade? 20 points!"
Arfoire ignored Copypaste and re-entered the blue halo. A bigger blue halo hovered over Copypaste and they teleported both of them. Anonydeath looked at Rei who stared down at the screen on the table watching Nepgear pull a lever and cause all the bodies in the main room to fall into a large pit.
Neptune and Uzume ran out of an elevator along with a large horde of dogoos and baby bugs behind them. They ran down the long hallway and out of an open hatch. Neptune and Uzume stood around the hatch as the dogoos and baby bugs filled the large main room, which was now empty aside from the large broken containers that remained on the walls and a large machine in the middle. Two tall metal arm-like structures were raised on both sides of the machine, so Uzume guessed that the portal would form in the middle between them.
"Guess who's back?!" Neptune asked.
"Oh boy oh boy I can't wait!" Goobs said while bouncing excitedly. "Come on everyone, we'll finally be safe!"
"Yaaaayyy! Thank you Uzume!" A baby bug squeaked.
"Hey it was nothing. If anything, you guys should be thanking Gearsy. She's the real MVP here." Uzume said.
Neptune and Uzume watched as the small monsters scattered all over the room floor. The two of them looked down the hallway they came from and saw more monsters run out of the elevator along with Iffy and Comp holding hands.
"Hey kids, about time huh?" Uzume asked.
"Even after we go to Neptwo's world, we're still helping you kill the giant." Iffy said.
"Uh yeah… sure." Uzume replied.
Comp kept looking down and Iffy held her hand tightly.
"*Ahem* Hi!" Nepgear's voice said from loud speakers inside of the room. "Welcome everyone! We're uhm, going to transport all of you to our world so that you all will be safe while us goddesses fight for your land back. But first, to test it out, we'll have Neptune jump in."
Lights came from the machine in the middle and in between the two arms, a large portal formed. Through the portal, Neptune and Uzume saw a cleaned up, brightly lit Basilicom with Histoire looking back at them.
"Good, Neptune come through the portal now." Histoire said.
"Hiya Histoire! I'm gonna be coming through the portal now cause Junior wants me to be the test dummy or something. Here I go!" Neptune announced.
Neptune jumped through the portal and stood next to Histoire. She looked around and noticed that she was standing next to the two thrones that were in the Basilicom. She looked around and saw the familiar pillars, tables, and Compa.
"Nep-Nep you're home!" Compa said happily.
"Aw yeah, hiya Compa! Listen, I can't hear anything right now so you're gonna have to fix that up. But first, hey it's all good girls! Come on over!" Neptune shouted into the portal.
"All good Gearsy." Uzume confirmed.
"Great! Everyone can jump through now, but please make sure you don't hurt each other." Nepgear said.
All the dogoos and baby bugs excitedly jumped into the portal and into the Basilicom. As they did, Uzume smiled beside Iffy and Comp.
"Hey Gearsy, how'd you build the machine so fast? I thought you said you needed at least a few days." Uzume mentioned.
"Uhm well… there was already an unfinished one sitting in a storage room. It was… odd, because there's no way anybody could have gotten these instructions."
"Really? How's that possible then? Huh, did I… did my ghost possess me earlier?"
"Not that I remember Uzume-"
The loud noise of metal bending and breaking was heard throughout the lab. Uzume, Iffy, and Comp quickly looked up at the window to see Nepgear backing off and dodging a fireball.
"Gearsy! Quick, get down here!" Uzume called out while gesturing to her.
Nepgear looked down at Uzume and quickly jumped through the window, smashing it and landing on the floor of the main room. Uzume, Iffy, and Comp covered their heads as glass bounced off their sleeves.
"Alright, hurry into the portal now!" Uzume commanded.
The dogoos and baby bugs rushed into the portal as Uzume and Nepgear turned to face Arfoire. She glared at them as she stood in the main room with Copypaste still in the hallway behind her.
"Don't bother coming down here bot, I'll-"
Copypaste broke through the barriers that used to hold the window and landed on the floor in the main room.
"Here I am, friend! Don't worry, I'll always be here to protect you!" Copypaste announced.
"Ugh, stupid bot. Whatever, you two aren't leaving this place, you'll die right here! Aha ha ha ha ha!" Arfoire shouted.
Uzume stared at the fireball Arfoire was charging and quickly looked back at the portal and the monsters. She looked at Iffy and Comp and quickly grabbed their collars. Just as she threw the both of them into the portal, the last baby bug ran in as well. At that moment, Arfoire launched her fireball, hitting Uzume right in the chest.
"AUGH!"
Uzume landed on the wall and quickly got up onto her feet. Nepgear drew her beam sword, but was forced to dodge Copypaste's charge. She saw Arfoire launch another fireball into the portal before stomping on the off button with her heel. Nepgear saw Uzume and the open hatch and they carefully stepped closer to each other while keeping an eye on Arfoire and Copypaste.
"Planning on running? Not this time, Copypaste, block off that exit!"
"Right, anything for my best bud!"
Copypaste rolled forward and blocked off the hatch entirely.
"Perfect! Now, how about we all sit down and have a chat?" Copypaste asked. "There's never a need for violence when talking can do the trick. I keep telling that to my friend over here, but she's just way too ambitious."
Uzume grinded her teeth and gripped onto her mic, but she saw Nepgear and loosened her grip on it. She looked at Copypaste and Arfoire, then she looked up at the large hole Copypaste had made earlier.
"We have to get out of here." Uzume muttered to herself. "Outside I can use my mic, and maybe that phoenix can come back and attack them… Or maybe I should use my share crystal, but how tough is she? She seemed to have beat Gearsy one on one-"
Arfoire summoned her spear from purple lightning and a shadow around her arm. She lunged at Nepgear and stopped right in front of her. Nepgear dodged to the side instinctively, but saw Arfoire prepare a wide horizontal swing. Nepgear jumped over the spear, then Arfoire threw a fireball at her. Nepgear blocked it with her arms as Uzume tackled Arfoire.
"Rah, off me!" Arfoire commanded.
Uzume pinned Arfoire's spear arm to the ground and punched her in the face. Arfoire then grabbed Uzume by the wrist and attempted to break free, but Uzume bashed her head onto Arfoire's.
"Agh." Arfoire said quietly while shaking her head.
"Uzume, we have to run! Ow… we can't fight her, not here." Nepgear said.
"Wha- I don't- whatever okay I'm-"
Uzume was about to run, but Arfoire rose along with her and tightened her grip on her wrist. Uzume looked back and Arfoire slammed Uzume against the wall, smashing her into an empty container. Nepgear activated her beam sword and swung at Arfoire who quickly ducked under it and stabbed at Nepgear. Nepgear evaded the stab and slashed at her spear cutting it in two.
Arfoire created an icy wind in her palm and thrusted it into Nepgear who flew right by the portal machine and crashed into a different empty container. The broken containers that hung on the walls shook with every impact as Arfoire knocked Uzume out with a punch and froze Nepgear in a block of ice.
"Finally, FINALLY! HA HA HA HA HA!"
Arfoire gripped onto Uzume's neck and raised her up to her level. She summoned a knife out of purple lightning and raised it above Uzume's head, but stopped and turned her head to Copypaste.
Copypaste's body lay relaxed and unanimated, almost as if he was dead. His mouth opened up and a voice recording played.
"You can have your revenge now, but remember what the death of Magic did to you." Kurome's voice said through Copypaste.
Arfoire stared at Copypaste and her breath began to slow down. She turned her head and looked at Nepgear, then looked at Uzume's unconscious body. She took a deep breath and sighed as she unsummoned her knife and relaxed her grip. Electricity sparked all over Copypaste's body and he spun his arms and head.
"Whoa! Sorry about that friend, I think I fell asleep there! I didn't think robots could sleep without purposefully going into sleep mode." Copypaste said.
"Start copying the design of this machine." Arfoire commanded. "I'll take care of the bodies."
"Oh you spared them! Hah, I knew you had it in you. For a second I thought you were going to kill them, but it must have been a nightmare!"
"Hmph, believe what you want."
As Copypaste moved away from the hatch and scanned the machine, Arfoire freed Nepgear and carried her and Uzume's body on her shoulders. She then walked down the long hallway and towards the elevator leaving Copypaste behind.