Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)

Sorry I have not updated this story as quickly as I normally do, the whole two updates in one night thing I did for Christmas really drained my brains, and it was also Christmas so I wanted to unwind, and on top of THAT I got my copy of SD Gundam G Generation Overworld that same day (It's a really great and addictive game, you should try it if you don't have it and if you do I would like to hear your opinions on it.) Now, without further ado I give you the next chapter of my story, enjoy.

Pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroXGust, HeeroXHistoire (still debating on HeeroXRed, if you would like to see this pairing let me know), IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed.

Ch. 5 The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt. 1

It was early the next morning and the party was standing outside of a factory with the word 'Passe' in neon lights above the entrance. Chian had gathered the party to her factory to discuss an important matter.

As the group stepped into the factory. Neptune looked around will slight intrigue, "This is Chian's company…?" The factory looked like the inside of a weapons storage house, there were crates of ammo, conveyer belts and assembly lines and other necessities for the construction of weapons.

As the party examined the factory Chian came out from behind a large fuel tank, "There you guys are. It's nothing lavish, I know. It's just a small factory. Oh, we make everything from kitchenware to missiles. Come in. Let's get cozy before we talk."

As the party followed Chian, Heero found himself thinking that he had just found his connection to the supplies he might need. Chian led the party to what looked like the inside of a public bar with wooden tables and chairs and on the other side of the room were barstools lined up in a row, "Sit anywhere you like. This is my home."

Neptune was making her way straight to the other side of the room, "Cool! Dibs on the barstool! It's so neat having a restaurant next to your office. You can drink whatever you want!"

"Yeah, since it's my house. Having one business isn't enough for living expenses, so my mother helps me around here. I really did have to get two jobs at Lastation. There's just not enough work since Avenir was established."

Neptune looked to be a little peeved, "So, Avenir IS bad! Everyone in town, including you, is suffering because of them, right?"

"They're not just 'bad!' They took all of our clients… They're monsters! Even the goddess and the Basilicom just turn a blind eye and let them do whatever they want. They'll eventually take over this entire landmass if we don't do anything about it."

The purple haired preteen pumped her arms, "As I suspected! Lastation won't find peace with Avenir around. We gotta defeat them!"

Compa looked over at Neptune with a concerned expression on her face, "What should we do? It's not gonna be as easy as it sounds. How do we 'defeat' an entire company, anyway?"

Chian folded her arms, "…We won't go down easily. Plus, we've got the Technology Expo this year." Compa looked at Chian quizzically, "What's that? Is it like a festival?"

IF crossed her arms as she looked at the nurse-in-training, "Oh, you three have never been to Lastation before, right? I'm sorry, but can you explain?"

"Explaining a worldview or culture can't really be avoided in RPGs. It might be a boring narrative, but bear with me. The Expo takes place in Lastation every four years. Various companies showcase new technologies under a common theme. It's for people to network, or exchange information and skills. The best item gets a trophy from Lastation's CPU!"

Compa tilted her head, "A trophy? What an achievement! So, can we take down Avenir with a trophy?" Heero made his presence known after remaining silent for the time they had been there, "It is not the trophy that is significant in this case, rather it is the person who is presenting it."

Chian nodded her head, "That's right. We'll aim for the goddess. We'll showcase at the Expo, win, and meet with her for a negotiation!"

Compa's face was a mixture of seriousness and bewilderment, "I see. Then, you've got your work cut out for you. It'll be really tough."

"Sure. I need to begin making arrangements. I actually asked you here to discuss just that." Of course, Neptune was quick to jump to conclusions, "Nope, we won't cosign any of your loans."

"Hah! It's not about money. We need to transfer tools and materials, but the monsters are still… We'd risk our lives for a single screw! I'm just warnin' you, but we'll probably be asking for your help more often."

"Ah, I getcha. You want us to make sure you don't get distracted while prepping for the Expo." Heero was honestly impressed that Neptune was able to come up with the answer on her own, "That's right! I'm glad you're such a quick little thinker. I'm counting on you."

Heero pushed himself off the wall, "I shall prepare for the mission." As Heero left, the others in the room noticed the cold beads of sweat running down the sides of his face and his irregular breathing. Chian turned her attention to the three girls, "Is your friend all right? He doesn't look too good."

An expression of concern made its way on to IF's face, "He's been like that since yesterday afternoon when we finished the job you gave us. I wonder if Heero's gotten sick."

Compa watched as Heero left the room, "If he's sick then he should be in bed." IF turned to look at Neptune, who didn't seem to have a care in the world, "Neptune, Heero is supposed to help you, right? Think you can get him to sit this job out?""

Neptune scratched her cheek, "I'll try, but no promises."

Xxx

While Chian had informed them of Lastation's questionable corporation Avenir, it seemed that said corporation was suffering from monster attacks like everyone else.

The party was walking through a forest with light foliage, on their way to the job they had accepted from Avenir… and as one could guess, Neptune wasn't exactly happy with the idea, "So why're we working for Avenir if we know they're totally evil?"

IF spoke to the preteen in a matter-of-fact tone, "Idealism won't feed us. You'll never be an adult if you're always picky about food or work. There's our client."

Ahead of the party was an elderly man, once they were close enough he began to eye them with a dark, albeit questioning gaze. Not uttering a single word, it didn't even look as though he was breathing. Compa addressed the elderly man with her usual bright smile, "Hello, Mr. Singe of Avenir. We're Compa, Nep-Nep, Iffy, and Heero. We've come to fight monsters."

"…I don't have a choice. I need you to eliminate all the surrounding monsters while I inspect a plant by the city outskirts. Don't let any run loose and cause damage to the facility. Get moving."

Singe began to walk away and Compa watched him with a frown, "What's his problem? He must be underestimating us because of our looks. How rude!"

IF snickered at the pink haired nurse, "It's inevitable when you or Nep are around. At least Heero and I don't have to worry about that." As IF began to walk away, Compa's cheeks began to puff up, "Iffy, you're not one to talk when you're that short… and without boobies."

After five minutes the group had finished their job to exterminate the monsters, per Singe's request. Neptune wore a big smile on her face, "There, all done! I don't see any more monsters."

Compa wore an equally big smile, "Nope. I'm certain the rest ran away. That's all for today." Singe walked into the clearing the party had settled down in, obviously he was done with his inspection of the plant, "The inspection is complete. Are you kids done, too? You sure you didn't miss any?"

Neptune put her hands on her hips, brimming with confidence, "It's all good when I'm on the prowl! We even took out the boss-like one, so I betcha they'll stay away for a while."

"Good. However, if even one remains and it damages the facility, we will never conduct business with you again." Compa grew slightly nervous at Singe's words, "Th-That's a bit harsh. Why can't you just repair the damage if that happens?"

"You have no idea, do you? Mere humans should never degrade machinery! Have you ever seen a human as detail-oriented or precise as a machine?" Tears began to well up in Compa's eyes, "I-I don't know… I'm not a machine."

"Right. You're just an incompetent human. Who knows when you'll make a mistake? Being human is no excuse for errors! If humans are expected to make a mistake, I'd rather machines do the job from the start. Keep that in mind the next time you take a job from this company."

Heero could not understand why, but for some reason he felt very irritable… no, rather he was actually angry. Sitting there listening to Singe verbally abuse Compa was bad enough, but seeing the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes… that was like pushing one of Heero's 'Don't push if you want to live' buttons, "…I wonder if your machines are really as great as you make them out to be."

Neptune, Compa, IF, and Singe had their attention focused on the Gundam pilot, "Let me ask you this: what is it that makes machines in the first place? ...No, I suppose a better question would be: who do you think it was that created machines in the first place?"

"A human like you lecturing me on the greatness of machines?" Heero narrowed his eyes into a deathly glare, "When humans make a mistake, we learn from it so we don't repeat our mistake. When a machine makes a mistake, how is it supposed to learn from it? It cannot think on its own, it is incapable of determining whether or not it made a mistake. It has to be programmed by humans."

Neptune, Compa, and IF were surprised that Heero was talking down to this elderly man who believed that machines were better than humans, "No matter how precise, detail-oriented, or great these machines of yours are, you seem to forget one thing… it is humans who make your precious machines. No matter how perfect a machine may be, it will never replace a human. You seem to forget your place."

Singe turned to leave, "…I have no time to sit around a listen to a human lecture me on machines."

Heero looked over at Compa, who was wiping a tear from her eye, "Wh-Wh-What did I do to get yelled at? Did I really say something bad?"

IF gave Compa a sympathetic smile, "Don't cry. You didn't do anything. That was pretty immature of him, yelling at three pretty girls like that." The brunette turned to face Heero, "I'm a little more surprised with Heero. I've never seen him look so… angry."

Compa wiped a few more tears that began to cascade down her cheeks, "Maybe he thought… I was making fun of machines…" IF's tone suggested she was more than a little irked, "But he's mocking humanity!"

"Let it go, IF." The brunette looked over at Heero, who was leaning on a tree for support, "Every person is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. If you allow his words to get to you, you will be just as immature as he is."

IF was about to make a witty retort, but stopped when she noticed that Heero was beginning to look more and more sick with each passing minute. Heero walked over to Compa and wiped a stray tear of her cheek with his thumb, "It is alright to cry, Compa. Considering what you just had to endure, it may help."

Compa immediately stopped whimpering and her cheeks turned a bright red, "I-I think I'm fine now. Th-Thank you, Heero." Neptune shot a dirty look at Compa, "I bet you did that on purpose just so you could score points with Heero."

Heero began to head towards the nearest exit that lead out of the foliage they were in, "If our business here is done, we should head back. We'll just be wasting time otherwise."

Xxx

Once they were back in town, they resumed their information gathering in case new information they had not obtained came to light. While they were walking down one of the city streets, IF was getting frustrated with her cell's bad reception, "Huh? Ugh… Useless!"

Compa turned to look at the brunette, "Iffy, why're you screaming at your cell phone?" IF put away the pink cell phone, "Oh. I was watching a TV show on it, but the connection got cut. Probably because I'm behind this ridiculously tall building."

"Maybe. That happens to me every now and then, too." IF crossed her arms and looked up at the building, "Huh. Doesn't this building belong to that major game company?"

Neptune suddenly popped up between IF and Compa, "I just started playin' games, but I'm already a fan of these guys!" The nurse-in-training looked at the preteen with moderate surprise, "Oh, you started playing? What kind of games are you enjoying the most?"

"Well, I mean, I haven't played a lot, but I like those first-person action games. It's so hectic and boom and crazy! I end up under a big rock all the time, though…"

Compa tapped on her chin with her index finger, as if in contemplation, "If it's this company, I like the golfing game made for everybody. It's so fun!"

IF stood and watched as the two girls began to talk back and forth about gaming, "Gaming's popular these days, I see." Neptune turned on her heel to face IF, "Well, it's a road everyone's gotta take at some point. Oh, that reminds me. What the heck?! You can watch TV on your phone?!"

The brunette stared at the preteen in front of her, "…What era are you from, again?" As Neptune and Compa began to converse amongst, IF looked at Heero out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a nearby bench and looked exhausted, "(Great to know those two can act so merry while we've got a member who looks like he's seen better days.)"

Xxx

Neptune came busting through the door of Chian's restaurant with the rest of the party in tow, "Hiya! Aw, I feel so at home… This dirty counter, the small, confined rooms… the smell of food baked into the walls!"

Chian seemed slightly annoyed by Neptune's definition of her restaurant, "…Shut up! Did you meet Singe? What did you think? Isn't he horrible?" Neptune looked angry at the mentioning of Singe, "Yeah! He made Compa cry with his machinery lecture. He's a total creepazoid!"

"Oh, yeah, I expected as much. He's entirely against manual labor." Neptune seemed surprised that Chian knew this, "You've met him before?"

"Naturally. He represents that whole company. He's also one of my old school's alumnus. I saw him when he came to lecture a class. I bet he just prattled on about how precise machines are and what not."

The preteen seemed to enjoy making fun of the elderly man, "Heh, yeah he did! With that ominous, gruff voice!"

"He doesn't approve of any technician's skills or pride. I despise him, but that's not the only reason. But enough about that. Let's talk about getting you girls and your friend another job. Speaking of which…"

The factory owner looked over at Heero, who was actually sitting in a chair, "Is it just me, or does he look worse than when you guys first came in today?"

Compa's concern was plain as day on her face, "We don't know what's wrong with Heero. He was fine yesterday."

"Anyway, I need you to go to the next town and get some materials from Chevre. Here. It's the map to his shop." As the girls received the map from Chian, a news report came on over the radio, "…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom. After discussion amongst the Basilicom representatives, the Tech Expo has been cancelled this year."

Chian snapped her neck to look at the radio so quickly it was a surprise that she didn't break it, "What?! Wait a sec!"

"The Sanctuary announced that this is due to a decreased number of exhibitors. However, the civil committee speculates that… the Parliament may have pressured the Sanctuary into the cancelation of this traditional event…"

Chian was in an uproar, "Are you kidding me? We can't afford to wait four more years! By then, all the factories will be long gone!" Neptune attempted to calm the fuming Chian, "Whoa, Chian, calm down!"

"This was probably the last chance my factory had…" Heero and the others excused themselves while Chian contemplated what she could do to save her factory… if there WAS anything she could do.

Xxx

The party had been informed of a child that had gotten lost in a dungeon and the crew headed out to save the child, meanwhile something seemed to be bothering IF. Compa seemed to be in a slight state of panic, "Oh no, what should we do about the job we accepted from Ms. Chian? We already have the map…"

IF glanced over at Compa, "Just give her some time alone. We'll come back later. Anyway…" IF began to look at Compa with an angry expression on her face, "We don't have a single clue regarding the Key Fragment. Why would you take a job about a lost child on top of this?!"

"We'll never save the world if we don't save its people. My grandpa said, 'you must learn to walk before you can run!' The mom looked worried. There are so many nasty creatures outside of town. Her child will be eaten if we don't hurry!"

IF crossed her arms and turned her back to the nurse-in-training, "So what? Babies get eaten all the time. It's survival of the fittest. I'll leave you behind if you keep dilly-dallying."

Neptune responded to the brunette with her normal cheerful attitude, "Aw, don't be a pooper-scooper. I'll buy you some lollipops later! What's this kid look like?"

"The mom said her/his body is just an NPC silhouette, so she/he should be pretty easy to spot." Neptune smiled as a nervous drop of sweat ran down her cheek, "Ah. I see."

Neptune directed her attention at Heero, "Hey Heero, you doing okay?" The teen did not udder a word, and suddenly fell on top of Neptune. When they landed on the ground, Heero's face was in-between Neptune's legs, causing her cheeks to turn red, "Wh-Whoa, what're you doing, Heero? Is this supposed to be our M rated scene? Then I'm totally ready for you."

Heero did not respond. IF had looked angry when he landed on Neptune, but her anger turned to concern when Heero did not move, "Hey, you okay, Heero?"

Still, Heero did not respond. IF turned Heero onto his back to see that he was struggling to even so much as breath, "Dammit, Compa! I need some help here!"

Compa hurried over to the brunette as she examined Heero, her face a mixture of panic and worry, "…His condition is getting worse. Compa, do you happen to thermometer on you?"

Compa dug into her purse to find a thermometer while IF checked Heero's temperature with her hand, the moment IF's hand came in contact with Heero's forehead she almost immediately withdrew it and flailed her hand, "Yeowch! He's hot! REALLY hot!"

Neptune's cheeks puffed up as IF said Heero was hot, "Hey. What's that supposed to mean? You tryin' to score points or something?"

"Not that kind of 'hot'! (…But he is kinda hot in that way.)" Compa found a thermometer and stuck it into Heero's mouth. As soon as the girls heard a beeping noise from the small device, Compa took it out of Heero's mouth and looked at it. IF checked the reading the small device gave and frowned, "Try it again!"

Compa did as she was asked and repeated the process of putting the thermometer in Heero's mouth and taking it out when she heard the beeping noise. IF looked at the thermometer once more, upon seeing the reading she grit her teeth, reared her arm back and threw the thermometer towards the nearby lake, "Useless piece of crap!"

"I-Iffy, why did you do that?"

"That thing was obviously broken. Have you checked his forehead?! There's no way he could be 98.7 degrees!" IF looked back over at Heero and saw Neptune roasting marshmallows over Heero's forehead, "See?! Nep is even able to roast marshmallows with his head!"

Neptune grinned at IF, "Roast marshmallows and make smores!" At this point Heero did not even seem to be breathing, which only caused more panic amongst the girls, Neptune lightly slapped Heero along the sides of his face, "C'mon Heero, wake up! *Gasp* I betcha he needs a kiss from his true love!"

IF gave the preteen a questioning look, "Just what makes you think that will help?!"

"Well, we got nothing else, right? Not like it would hurt to try." Neptune was on top of Heero and slowly lowered her face towards the unconscious teen's. Just as Neptune's lips were barely a hairs width, she was startled by the voice of the person underneath her, "I would appreciate it if you would get off me."

A nervous drop of sweat ran down Neptune's cheek, "Hey, you're up!" Neptune got off of Heero as he began to stand up, IF breathed a sigh of relief, "You gave us quite the scare, you know. You really need to take it easy."

"Regardless of my condition or state of health, I will complete my mission. You do not need to concern yourself with me." As Heero began to walk away, Neptune let out the sigh of a love struck girl, "Even when he's sick, he only thinks about protecting cute little me. That's a lover for ya!"

IF's eye began to twitch, "That's the bad part, Heero is too focused on protecting you to worry about himself."

Xxx

The party arrived at the dungeon where the child had supposedly gotten lost in… which just happened to be a cave. As the party advanced into the cave, Heero was already on the lookout for any monsters despite his weakened state. Three minutes into the dungeon, Heero did not see any monsters… and that was beginning to sound off a few mental warning flags for the Perfect Soldier, "(Normally those goofy looking monster pop out of nowhere and start to attack… something's wrong.)"

Even when the party reached the end of the dungeon there had not been a single monster, which only sounded off more warning flags in Heero's mind. IF spotted a monster lying on the ground, she walked over to the creature to inspect it, "A monster… It's already dead. What're you two doing? Hurry up and get over here."

IF shouted back at Neptune and Compa, who were lying around doing absolutely nothing, "Nope, no thanks! It's all you Iffy! Go ahead and take care of it. Compa, Heero and I are gonna wait here patiently."

"Just tell us if you don't want to find the lost child!" IF was quite irked at the response she was receiving from Neptune and Compa, "We've beaten a ton of monsters already. Aren't you used to seeing them dead yet?"

The brunette returned her attention to the monster lying in front of her, "…A clean cut and a huge welt. Doesn't look like any weapon from Lastation. Planeptune's advanced weapons? No… but what…?"

Heero walked over to examine the monster, garnering a small smile from IF, "At least someone is trying to be helpful, have any ideas?"

"No, but this does confirm my suspicions. There is someone else here."

"Someone else is here? What do yo-" IF stopped when she heard a noise drawing closer to the party, "Huh? Someone's coming!"

A girl came out from the confined entrance to the room the party had entered through no more than thirty seconds ago. The girl looked to be a teenager, and a very good looking one at that. She had long pure, snow white hair that was slightly messy, but added to her appeal, blue-green eyes with irises that looked like power button symbols, and a skin suit that almost looked like Neptune's when she transformed except that the arms of the suit were unattached and her shoulders were exposed, making it look like a swimsuit, and the skin suit was mostly black with white and silver.

The girl looked to be slightly surprised when she saw Heero and IF, "Civilians? What are you two doing out here?" IF gave the mystery girl a questioning gaze, "R-Right back at ya! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"The kid. I came to save a child. It's taken care of. But I don't need to be thanked. Anyway, there was supposed to be a girl who accepted the same job. Her name's Neptune. You know her?"

IF narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at the aforementioned purple haired preteen, who looked at the mystery girl with great fascination, "Whoa, what's happening? She's so coolios! Do you know her, Iffy?"

"No, She's your friend or something, right? She knows your name, at least. She… looks like you after you transform." Neptune focused her attention on the white haired girl, and she looked as though she was trying to remember something… but by the look on her face she was having great difficulty doing so, "Huh? I don't think I've met her before. I'm sorry, have we?"

A small smirk made its way onto the mystery girl's face, "Sure, I get it. You want to avoid fighting me in front of these outsiders. Pretty rational. B-But I'm not praising you. You think I'm just here to say 'hi?'" A serious, determined look replaced her smirk, "Let's settle this, Neptune!"

Heero grabbed Neptune by the arm and pulled her until she was behind him, ""If you want to get to Neptune, you must first go through me."

The white haired girl narrowed her eyes, "This is between me and Neptune, it's none of your business!" Heero narrowed his eyes into a glare that sent a chill down the mystery girl's spine, his GN Sword appeared on his right arm, "Part of my mission is to protect Neptune, so I'm making it my business."

Heero suddenly felt two pairs of arms around both of his, and they belonged to Compa and IF, "What are you doing, Heero?! You're too sick to fight."

"Iffy is right, Heero. You need to rest." Heero jerked his arms away from both girls, forcing them back in the process, "I told you once before. Regardless of my condition or state of health, I will complete my mission."

IF narrowed her eyes at Neptune, "(The moron there is too love struck to tell Heero to rest, he'll only last so long in his condition.)"

The mystery girl readied her weapon, which was a two sided broadsword, "Fine by me. You can beg for mercy if you want, but I won't listen!"

Heero charged at the woman, both of their bladed weapons collided and caused sparks to fly through the air. Both combatants were locked in a stalemate, until Heero knocked the woman's sword away and kicked her in the left torso, knocking her to the ground. The GN Sword's blade folded back to reveal the barrel behind it, "All obstacles must be removed."

The mystery girl recovered in time to grab her sword and evade the bursts of thermal energy fired at her from the GN Sword. As Heero continued to track her with his beam weapon, he had to squint his eyes as his vision was beginning to become blurred, "(My eye sight is suffering from my condition. Ranged combat is no longer an option.)"

The blade of the GN Sword snapped back into place over the rifle barrel, and Heero readied himself as the mystery girl charged straight for him. Heero ran straight at her when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, before he had any time to react he blacked out.

Rather than falling straight towards the ground, Heero fell face first into the mystery girl's chest, both surprising and embarrassing her. The woman fell on her back with Heero on top of her, her face was a deep shade of red, "Wh-What are you doing?! This is no time to be trying cop a feel or fall asleep! We're supposed to be fighting right now!"

"Get the hell away from him!" The white haired girl looked up to see IF overhead, she quickly freed herself from underneath Heero and moved away in time to see IF drop her foot down, leaving a small crater where her head had been.

Neptune and Compa rolled Heero onto his back and his eyes looked completely devoid of life, "H-Hey, C'mon Heero, wake up."

"Please get up Heero!" IF walked backwards until she was standing in front of the other three party members, "You two need to help me here." Compa looked up at the brunette, "What are we going to do?"

"What do you think? We need to kick her ass first, otherwise we won't be able to get Heero out of here!" Neptune stormed over to the mystery girl, the preteen's cheek were puff up as she looked at her, "I saw what you did! You pretended to fight Heero when really you were just tryin' to get him to touch those boobs of yours!"

The white haired girl's face grew an even darker shade of red then before, "N-No I didn't! He fell on me! Or were you just not paying attention like usual?!"

"Heh, a likely story. I'm not buying it!" Neptune grabbed onto the mystery girl's skin suit and pulled her down to her face until they were only a few millimeters apart, "Listen here, missy! Heero's my destined lover, not yours! Get your own!"

Neptune shoved the girl back, causing her to stumble and fall on her backside. When she looked back at Neptune she was completely dumbstruck, "Destined… lover?"

"And don't wear it out!" The white haired girl stood back up and readied her sword, "Whatever, it doesn't change anything. I'm still going to beat you, Neptune!"

Neptune pulled out her wooden sword, as Heero had yet to return the sword he said he would give back to her, "Compa, Iffy, c'mon! Let's kick her butt!"

IF pulled out her sharp Katars and Compa readied her large syringe, the mystery girl smirked, "It doesn't matter to me how you want to fight. I'll still beat you in the end!"

The white haired girl seemed to be confident in her own abilities, however it did leave one thing painfully clear… she had obviously never heard the phrase 'Hell hath no fury like a couple of Harem girls scorned.' IF had already begun to close the distance between herself and the strange woman, while Compa fired several bullets at her.

The mystery girl had blocked all of the bullets fired at her with her own flame shots, not realizing that Compa had fired at her as a diversion until IF was right in front of her. IF launched a flurry of attacks that were beginning to knock the white haired girl off balance, then Neptune swung her wooden sword right at the girl's abdomen. The attack had been strong enough to put her into a daze long enough for Compa to shoot the sword out of her hands.

Once the mystery girl had been disarmed, IF quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and kneed her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her lungs and forcing her back into a wall. When the white haired girl looked up, she saw Neptune with her right arm cocked back and poised to strike, "Chest Buster!"

Neptune threw her fist into the girl's chest and she fell to her knees, too weak to continue fighting. The mystery girl stood up, holding her stomach, "How could I lose…? Have you powered up since leaving Celestia? D-Don't think this is all I've got! I'll crush you next time, Neptune."

The mysterious woman grabbed her sword and took off, leaving the girls to contemplate what just happened. IF crossed her arms as she focused her attention on Neptune, "She was totally coming after you. What did you do to her? I'm sure you knew her before you lost your memory."

Once more, Neptune tried to remember if she had met the girl who had just attacked them, but was not having much luck, "I-I didn't do nothin'! I hope! I can't remember… but… I'm sure we weren't really that close."

IF shook her head, "No, no, no… I mean, did you see her outfit? Her flame shots?! You must've done something really awful!" A feeling of dread came over the brunette, "How many crimes has this little girl committed in her past? Did I pick the wrong person to side with…?"

Neptune waved off IF's comment, "I betcha she was just uber jealous cause Heero is MY lover." IF looked over at the individual who had just been mentioned, Compa was sitting next to him and tending to him as best she could, "Speaking of which, we need to get Heero back to town. Maybe someone might know what's wrong with him."

Xxx

Heero was lying on his stomach… again. He stood up and found himself surrounded by vast nothingness, which could only mean that he was unconscious… AGAIN, "(Normally when I lose consciousness, Histoire has something she wants to tell me in regards to my mission.)"

Heero waited for the disembodied voice that usually came with his state of unconsciousness, but he heard nothing. He looked around for a moment, even though it was pointless and saw two small orbs of light. The two green lights slowly began to get bigger, once they were close enough Heero could tell that they were not getting bigger, rather they had looked small from a distance and were now growing to their actual size.

A few more seconds passed, and Heero could make out the actual shape of the 'lights', they looked like a pair of eyes. As the eyes drew closer, Heero could hear the sound of metal against the ground, then a yellow light below the eyes in the shape of a mouth was visible with yellow mist escaping from it.

Heero's eyes widened for a moment, not from fear or anything remotely related to that feeling, but as if he had remembered something, "(Where have I seen this before? I recall it being fairly recent, but where?)"

As Heero was lost in his reverie of thought, a bright light slowly began to engulf him from behind. Heero looked back at the light, then quickly looked back at the eyes and mouth. Before the light completely engulfed Heero's vision, he tried to see what he had been looking at the entire time.

The rate at which the bright light that usually meant he was waking up was enveloping him was so fast, Heero only had enough time to make out one more feature of the object that had been advancing towards him. The last thing Heero saw was a skull and crossbones relief emblazoned on the object.

Xxx

Heero's eyes snapped open and he observed his surroundings. He did not seem to be in a rocky cave, but a hotel room. Heero tried to get up but found that he couldn't, he looked down and saw Neptune had draped herself on top of him, a weird smile plastered on her face, "Hehe… Heero, you're such a… naughty boy…"

"Heero cocked an eyebrow, "(What the hell is she dreaming about? …On second thought, I don't think I really want to know.)" Heero noticed that Compa was in a very suggestive sleeping position with his left arm in between her breasts, and IF had a tight hold on his right arm.

Heero tried to move his left arm, but Compa tightened her grip on the limb and let out a moan. Heero noticed where his hand was, his eyes widened and he began to experience the same strange sensation he felt when he found himself in moments like this one, "(How is it that I always find myself in these kinds of… close physical encounters?)"

Neptune began to slowly began to wake up, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, then noticed that Heero was awake and gave the Perfect Soldier a big smile, "Hey, you're up! We were super worried about you, Heero."

IF and Compa began to wake up from the conversation, IF noticed she had her hands around Heero's arm, quickly let go and got off the bed, her cheeks were tinged a light pink, "I-It's good to see that you're awake, Heero."

Compa rubbed her eyes for a moment before sitting on her knees, "Good morning, Heero. Are you feeling better?" Heero stared up at the ceiling, "Compa… please release my hand."

Compa tilted her head to the side in a cute manner, "What are you talking about? I'm not holding your hand."

"Your legs are." Compa blinked a few times, "My… legs?" Compa looked down at her legs and when she did, her entire face became bright red and she let out a scream, "EEEEEKKKKK! Heero! Wh-What are you doing?! W-We're too young!"

Heero shot a glare at Compa, "I fail to see why it is you're getting onto me when clearly you were the one who put my hand there in the first place."

Compa began to mutter something incoherent to the other three, "(Heero touched my breast, and now he's touched me… there. This must be a sigh that we're meant to be a couple!)"

Neptune and IF shot dirty looks at Compa, "(I suppose being a ditz has its advantages… especially in the romance department. I gotta think of something big if I'm gonna catch up.)"

"(Compa is scoring more points than me! That's not cool! Well, you know what they say, drastic times call for uber drastic measure.)"

Neptune had a serious expression on her face as she looked at Heero, "Heero, let me see your hand." Heero was questioning what Neptune had planned for him, but considered that since she was giving him such a serious look she wasn't planning anything too outrageous.

The teen held his hand out to the preteen, who took a hold of it with both of hers and a big grin on her face, "Thanks!" Immediately after grasping Heero's hand, she placed in between her legs, causing Heero's eyes to widen once more.

IF slapped Neptune upside her head, "Ow. What was that for, Iffy?!"

"For being so indecent with Heero!" The teen removed his hand from where the preteen placed it and sat up, "Now that the… interesting events of this morning have come to pass, what has happened while I was unconscious?"

Neptune stopped rubbing the spot on her head from where IF had slapped her, "Well, we totally kicked that weird girl's butt… and we brought you back here."

IF rolled her eyes at Neptune's very short summary of the previous day, "I'll tell you what happened. After we defeated the 'weird girl' as Neptune calls her, we brought you back here to the city a called for a doctor. After she was finished… well… she told us she couldn't figure out what's wrong with you."

Heero could feel his condition growing worse, "Listen, Heero. We want you to take it easy from now on. You're gradually getting weaker and you're falling unconscious for longer periods of time."

"…Very well." Heero didn't exactly have much of a choice. If he pushed himself too far in his weakened state, he would more than likely jeopardize the mission.

Neptune clapped her hands together, "…And, cut! Okay people, let's go to the city and get something to eat!" IF cocked an eyebrow at the preteen, "You mean gather information, right?"

"That too! Now let's get moving people."

Xxx

While making another attempt to gather information around the city, IF speaks to Heero on the idea of getting important info form a heretic. The party was sitting on a bench in a park to discuss the issues, "Heretics are those who don't believe in the Basilicom's teachings, right? Where can we find one?"

IF gave Compa a slightly surprised look before crossing her arms, "Oh, I didn't expect you to know about that. I guess you did attend a Planeptune school. They've got good teachers. More specifically, they were kicked out of the Basilicom for worshipping another goddess."

Neptune tilted her head to the side for a moment before returning it to an upright position, "So the Basilicom gave 'em the boot for lavishing another goddess with attention instead of the one on their landmass?"

Compa gave Neptune a moderately surprised look, "You make it sound like a love affair… Nep-Nep, it's inappropriate to refer to the goddesses in such a way."

"Uh, sorry… But whatcha gonna do after we find one of these heretic folks?" Heero addressed Neptune while looking out towards the center of the city, not looking at anything in particular, "Naturally we would seek to acquire any information we could obtain."

IF let her arms fall to her sides, "(At least Heero catches on fast.) That's pretty much it. We ask them for internal information about the Basilicoms. I'm sure they'd know a lot, having been former members."

Compa nodded her head, "Yes. What we lack is information. Reasons! The Basilicom kicked us out and cancelled the Tech Expo." Neptune assumed her thinking position, "What if they don't wanna talk to us either?"

IF rolled her eyes, "Then we'll threaten them with your gun, of course. Or we can always sick Heero on them. I'm sure he could make them talk."

Heero merely nodded in response, Neptune and Compa got up from their seats, while IF looked back at Heero and noticed that he seemed to be concentrating, "What's wrong? Have you thought of something?"

"…I'm beginning to suspect that Avenir have people on the inside of the Basilicom." Neptune wore a serious expression on her face, "So your saying that Avenir is bumpin' elbows with the guys in the Basilicom?"

"I have not ruled out the possibility, in fact it is my number one probable reason for why the Technology Expo was cancelled and why we could not get into the Basilicom. It is not uncommon for a large business firm to have insiders in the political world, if anything it is a must if they are to be as successful as they are now."

IF raised a questioning eyebrow, "While it may be true, that's a pretty tall accusation. You're going to need irrefutable evidence."

Heero pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on, "Acquiring the evidence will be the easy part. The hard part will be obtaining said evidence without garnering too much attention."

"I can see where you're coming from. Avenir probably won't take too kindly to anyone trying to dig up dirt on them and their possible connections in the Basilicom. The moment they find out someone is looking into them, things are bound to get ugly."

"Though there is also the possibility that they are bribing the Parliament. For now, we should focus on the mission at hand. It may provide us with information that may help us find the connection." The group departed for the dungeon where the Heretic was said to be.

Xxx

The group arrived at another cave that was illuminated by fluorescent crystals, much like the one from the day before but with a different layout.

As the party set foot into the dungeon, a small group of monsters was already waiting behind the curve a few yards ahead, "…It hasn't even been five seconds and we already have welcoming committee."

The monsters consisted of two 'Vampire Bats' and a creature that was supposedly a Chimera, but really it only had one head, half of its body was part of a chariot and it had skeletal like wings for arms.

Since the 'Chimera' was the biggest of the three monsters, Heero wasted no time in labeling it as the number one threat and wasted no time in eliminating it, delivering two swift slash in the shape of an X with the GN Sword, and then firing into the center of the X with the GN Sword's Rifle mode.

At the same time as the Chimera fell, Neptune, Compa and IF had finished the goofy looking 'Vampire Bats', when considering that they were relatively small and could be cut in half with ease, it was no surprise that they fell so quickly.

Heero scanned the area for anymore monsters, "This is strangely becoming repetitive…" With no more monsters in sight, the party proceeded further into the dungeon, encountering a few more monsters and getting into minor skirmishes along the way.

Halfway through the cave like dungeon, Neptune looked from side to side before looking at Compa, "Didja notice the number of monsters here? It's a kinda tight spot… I wonder if they're all comfy."

"Yes, there were more than usual. I'm a bit worried about the heretics. Let's hurry!" The party increased their pace, so they could find the heretic before any of the monsters in the cave did.

Once they reached the back of the dungeon, Neptune saw an elderly man near a wall and immediately ran over to him, with Heero, Compa and IF not far behind, "So… you're Mr. Heretic? Whatcha doin' hiding in such a dark place?"

Compa extended her hand to the old man, "It's unhealthy to be away from the sun's rays entirely. Give me your hand and I'll lead you to Vitamin D!"

"Who're…? Get away. I'm not going anywhere. This's the only place to receive it. The messenger only knows this place."

IF looked at the heretic with a blank stare, "…This heretic must be trippin'…" Neptune got right in front of the heretic, "Mr. Heretic! We're here to ask you all about Basilicoms."

The heretic stopped his ranting when Neptune stated that they wanted to know about the Basilicoms, "…Basilicoms? Oh, okay. What's on your mind?"

"They didn't let us in and they cancelled the Tech Expo. What's up with that, man?"

"…Lastation Basilicoms are practically controlled by the Parliament side. The Sanctuary end is largely ignored. The current Parliament listens only to the sound of coin. Well, the Sanctuary reps don't listen much either…"

A nervous drop of sweat ran down Neptune's cheek, "Sanctuary? P-Parliament? Iffy, help is needed!" IF rolled her eyes at Neptune, "The Sanctuary serves the CPU and evangelizes. Parliament serves the CPU and governs. Is it really that complicated?"

Neptune redirected her attention to the heretic, "Okay, whatever. So your Basilicom is a rotten egg because of the Parliament stuff?"

"The Sanctuary is no different. Those fanatics have no ears to heed our warnings with. Humanity is DOOMED!" Compa tilted her head to one side, "Huh? What do you mean all humanity is doomed? Are you proffesizing the apocalypse?"

"Of course. We're all going to die at the hands of Overlord Momus. Momus is powerful enough to seal away one of the goddesses. Even our current CPU had to retreat to this world to avoid his power."

Neptune nodded her head a few time, "I see. Uh-huh. I betcha that guy's the cause of every monster in the whole world! What an absolute jerkwad!"

Compa returned her attention to the elderly heretic, "It's hard to believe, though. Is there really an Overlord more powerful than one of our goddesses?"

The heretic flailed his arms in the air, "See? You're the same as everyone else. They don't believe me. You must, or you'll be punished by the divine messenger!"

Heero grabbed the heretic by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him into the air, "I've heard more than I care to hear from this old man. This Overlord of yours is nothing more than something you conjured up with baseless speculation and crackpot theories."

Compa placed her hands over Heero's, "Please put him down, Heero!" Heero looked at Compa for a moment before letting go of the heretic and letting him fall to the ground.

The heretic slowly got back up, "You! You defeated several monsters to get here, right? You shall not escape your punishment! Leave, you foolishly, generally underdeveloped adolescents!"

Compa hid behind Heero's left arm, shaking slightly, "H-He's scaring me… What's gotten into him…?" Neptune was hiding behind Heero's right arm, "L-Let's just get outta here without him. He wants to stay and I don't want to force him to leave. Plus, he's very rude."

Xxx

The party was standing in an open field near a lake outside of the dungeon they had just been in. Heero, Compa and IF could tell by the expression on Neptune's face that she was brimming with excitement, "Didja hear that? An Overlord! That sounds so intense!"

IF looked back at the mouth of the dungeon, "Like Heero said, it's just more nonsense conjured up by that heretic. I hope he gets his comeuppance."

"Well, who knows? Monsters are taking over the world and Histy's totally in captivity." IF gave Neptune a questioning look, "Oh, yeah. What if that Histy person's playing us all like kazoos? She creates the monsters, lures out naïve little girl wanna-be heroes like you, then SNAP! Lures another one… and SNAP!"

It was then that Neptune and Heero could hear the voice of the person that the current topic was centered around, "(That simply is not true. Please Neptune, explain on my behalf."

Neptune looked up into the sky, as if that was where Histoire was, "Histy, you're here! I didn't think I'd hear from ya until we saved ya. Are you relaxing? You're all tied down, right?"

"(I am neither relaxing nor tied down. Please, explain to them that I am Histoire, the noble tome wh-)"

"All that aside, what's new?" Histoire was silent for a moment before responding, "(…I am reaching out to you and Heero to convey important plot-driving information. I cannot be certain how much longer I can continue communication like this. She will come for you any day now."

Neptune tilted her head to the side, "Who? Is this the 'she' who sealed you away?"

"(…Yes, but I was unable to muster the courage to utter her name. I still cannot treat her like a villain.)"

"But she is the villain, right? Or are you trying to say… you're the villain?"

Histoire responded in a slightly astonished tone of voice, "(No, no! Fine. I can hesitate no longer. Neptune, please be wary of Arfoire. She had become aware of your existence. She is also the reason I have asked Heero to assist you.)"

Neptune and Heero exchange glances, "Arfoire? She's the one who locked you up? And she's coming to fight us, huh?"

"(Please be careful. She is… Arfoire is…)" Neptune and Heero waited for Histoire to finish, however they heard nothing more from her and Neptune was growing slightly impatient, "…What about her? Did we get disconnected? Ugh, she should switch telepathy carriers."

Compa looked between Heero and Neptune, "I couldn't hear Histy's voice, but I think I understand what's happening on Nep-Nep and Heero's side. Maybe Arfoire intercepted the communication and cut her off."

Heero crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "The likelihood of that being the case is quite high. Unfortunately, if that is the case, Histoire has put herself in danger to get this information to us." IF had been gathering her thoughts for a moment before entering into the party's pow-wow, "…What if this Arfoire is the same as that Overlord Momus? They'd both be connected to creating the monsters."

Heero looked between Neptune and the capital city of Lastation, "In any event, it would in our best interest to return to our safe house. I will compile all of the information we have on hand into a file on my laptop, after that we should return to Passe and see if Chian has any work for us."

As Heero turned to walk in the direction of the city, he was struck by a sharp, intense pain in his chest. IF saw something on Heero's chest that made her eyes widen for a moment, then Heero started walking towards the town. IF glanced over at Neptune and Compa for a brief moment before returning her gaze to Heero, "Did either of you two see that?"

Neptune had a worried expression on her face, "You mean did I see my destined lover clutching his chest in pain? It was as plain as day!"

IF punched Neptune across her head, "I meant aside from what was blatantly obvious! For a second, I thought I saw… a relief of a skull and crossbones on Heero's chest."

Neptune tilted her head to the side, "Uh, a skull and crossbones? Are you saying Heero's a pirate or something, Iffy?" IF threw her hands into the air, "You're hopeless!"

Xxx

Once again, I apologize that my updates have not been as fast as they normally have been. On top of all the other reasons I had listed above, I got writer's block while I was trying to figure how I was going to get everyone's favorite tsundere Noire to fall for Heero (though from going back over my reviews, reading a few stories and manga, and playing a few video games I think I have a good idea how to make it play out.) Also, Heero will be getting his second transformation in the next chapter… try and figure out what it is before reading chapter 7 (technically chapter 6). Read and review, thanks!