Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)
Hello again, my readers on . I can't believe how fast the New Year has, personally it came a little too quickly because it did not give me any time to make my New Year's present for all you guys (and unfortunately, that includes the New Year's Special I was making.) I can always finish it and post it up, but it won't feel the same since it is not New Year's day anymore. Anyway, here is 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. 6 The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt. 2
It was another… dark morning in Lastation due to the dark clouds overhead. Compa was waiting near a junkyard for Neptune, Heero and IF, as the three had said they needed to take care of.
Compa was sitting on a bench as she waited for her party members, "This is the first time I've been alone in a long time… I don't know when Nep-Nep, Heero and Iffy will be back…"
Compa suddenly heard what sounded like a boy crying, she looked to her left and saw a little boy sitting on the ground, "Huh? Is he crying all by himself? Is he lost?" Compa walked over to the crying child, "Hello there Mr. Boy, are you alone? Where's your mommy?"
"Wah! I hate my mom! She won't gimme what I want!"
Compa tilted her head, "So you aren't lost? What did you ask your mommy for?"
"I wanted the newest model of a game console for my birthday present. But she said I should just get an older one." Compa scratched her cheek, "Hmm. Even though you asked for the newest?"
"Yeah. The old one was really popular and made the console makers famous… But it can't even play movies…"
"I see. But I'm sure you'd still enjoy playing with the old model. You should listen to your mother. She knows best!" The boy stomped his foot, "No! I want the newest one! Why don't you buy it for me? C'mon!"
Compa took a step back and gave the boy a surprised look, "Wh-Why would I do that?"
"Why wouldn't you?! C'mon! Why not?" The nurse-in-training began to shuffle nervously, "B-Because, um… P-Please don't confuse me with this logic!"
"…Fine. You sure you should act like that to a kid? I could make you cry and beg for forgiveness right now if I wanted. Heh."
"How…? Th-That's impossible! But… I think I should escape just in case he tries…" Compa looked for anything she could use to aid in her escape of the manipulative child in front of her before opting to use one of the oldest tricks in the book. Compa pointed in the direction behind the boy, "Oh, looky, isn't that your mom over there?"
"Huh?!" As the boy turned in the direction that Compa was pointing, the pink haired nurse turned in the opposite direction ,"Now's my chance!"
Compa ran as fast as her legs would allow her, and she could hear the boy shouting at her, "Liar! Come back! Come back right noooooow!"
Compa had been running for a good two minutes before she slowed down to a walk, "Phew. What was that all about? I think I should steer clear of this area for a little bit…"
Compa suddenly bumped into something and fell on her bottom, "Ow. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." When Compa looked up she saw a hand outstretched to her, then saw that it was Heero's hand, "Neptune, IF and I have been looking for you."
Compa was relieved to see a familiar face, "Sorry to worry you, Heero." Heero pulled the pink haired nurse to her feet, "We are planning to meet with Chian. It would be wise to grab your equipment."
Compa nodded at the Gundam Pilot before walking with him towards the safe house they were using.
Xxx
The party returned to Passe when Chian had gotten over the debilitating news about the cancelled Expo, the group entered the small restaurant and found Chian seated at one of the wooden tabled. The factory owner looked up to see the Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF enter the room, "I appreciate you all checking up on me. I'm all right now."
Compa looked at Chian with a look of concern, "Are you sure, Chian? The Tech Expo may be gone, but I'm sure there's another way to help!"
"I know. I'm not given up yet. The shop called and told me to gather up the materials I ordered a while ago. Could you get them real quick? You've still got the map, right? It should be pretty simple to find."
Neptune pumped her arms, "We've totally got this, let's move out people!"
Xxx
In order to get to the shop that was holding onto the parts that Chian had requested, the party would have to venture through another cave like dungeon. IF scanned the area in front of the entrance for moment, "Hey Heero, I think you're right. This is getting strangely repetitive."
The brunette looked over at the teen, who was beginning to breathe heavily, "Are you gonna be alright? You haven't exactly been feeling one hundred percent lately."
Heero nodded in response, "My condition is not so severe as to completely impair my ability to think or fight." Neptune suddenly snapped her fingers as if she came up with an idea, "Hey, maybe Heero's status ailment will go away if he gets a level up!"
IF crossed her arms and let out a sigh, "I would say it's a good idea, but we all leveled up yesterday from fighting all of those monsters remember? And Heero still doesn't look any better than he was yesterday."
The purple haired preteen lowered her head in defeat, "Oh… right."
The party advanced into the cave like dungeon that looked no different from the ones they had been in recently. As the group began to round the first corner they were met with a Chimera and two Vampire Bats. Because Heero's vision was slightly blurry from his weakened state, he was limited to close range fighting… though it did not change the way he fought.
After a quick fifteen seconds of combat, the three monsters were left lying on the ground with multiple slash wounds over their bodies. The rest of the trek through the cave was quite short, the exit was much closer than the party had thought and they even ran into fewer monsters than the day before.
Once they passed through the exit, the store was practically right in front of the party. Neptune burst into the shop without knocking or giving any form of warning, "Hi-hi! We're here to get Chian's stuff. Anyone here?"
Heero mentally sighed at Neptune, "She's a bull in a china shop." IF was snickering behind the teen, "You can say that again."
A man who the party believed to be the shop owner Chevre entered the room through a door behind the counter, "Oh, you're the performing quartet Chian mentioned? The bag's in the back. It's got a big label on it and it's fairly heavy."
IF walked out from behind Heero, "No sweat. I'm in command of these two girls with decent strength stats. They can carry anything." The brunette looked back at Heero, "Or we could get Heero to carry it. He's way stronger than they are, anything these two can carry together Heero can carry by himself."
"Great. Seems Chian found some lovely friends to help her out. She's been too high-strung ever since she took over after her father. I'm glad she's found people she can depend on. And it's about time she found a guy."
Neptune's eyes were in a half opened glare when the store owner said 'she found a guy' when the 'guy' he was talking about was Heero, "Yeah, sorry, but Heero's mine. We're destined lovers."
Chevre blinked a few times, "Destined lovers?" Heero crossed his arms, "We are not lovers, nor am I in any relationship with Chian."
Neptune rubbed the back of her head, "Y'know… we haven't met her pop yet. Could he be…? 1) Working on another planet. 2) A binge drinking gambling addict. 3) Impaled by a hedgehog. Answer away."
Compa gave Neptune an incredulous stare, "W-Wait, that third one is a little… oh, Nep-Nep, you're being rude." Chevre let out a sigh, "Unfortunately, the third is the closest. It's cliché, but he died in a tragic accident."
Compa tilted her head to the side, "How do you know Chian?"
"I've known her since she was born. I worked with her old man at the factory in Passe. But like the other factories, Avenir's claws dug deep and we had no choice but to abandon that place. Her mother asked me to come back after her father's death, but I'd already committed to this shop by then."
Compa had a slightly surprised look on her face, "So Chian became the president? Sounds really dramatic for some minor story characters…"
Neptune pointed her finger up at the ceiling in a dramatic pose, "Never fear! We'll right all the wrongs Avenir's committed and stuff!"
"That would be nice, but I doubt you can. Avenir is under direct protection of the Parliament." Neptune's shoulders sank, "Whaaaat? The Parliament is part of the Basilicom, right? Why'd they want to protect Avenir?"
Chevre scratched the top of his head, "I guess you wouldn't know. Avenir is still on the loose, even after putting so many people through misery… Because our Parliament simply refuses to do anything to stop them."
Heero began to lean on the one of the walls for support, "Avenir is a fairly large business firm and they garner more clients with time. With such a large amount of income, they could easily bribe any corrupt members of the Parliament… or it may be due to the fact that Avenir holds such a large part of the business market."
"Your friend is quite right, Parliament requires the votes of the people to execute an order. Avenir holds the biggest market on this landmass. Meaning they stand for the majority of Lastation's residents."
While Neptune and Compa were having difficulty comprehending what was being said, IF could easily see the logic in it, "I see. With Avenir on their side, they practically have enough support to do anything they want, as well."
"It's a small price to pay for them to ignore what Avenir is really doing. Avenir will continue to grow and Parliament will continue to collect favorable votes. It'll only get worse."
IF crossed her arms and looked down in contemplation, "I never knew this. Sounds like we really should focus some effort on this Avenir business."
After Heero walked into the back room and retrieved the bag of materials the party was sent to get, the group departed the store and returned to the city to plan their next move.
Xxx
After delivering the materials, the party returned to the hotel room they were staying at. Neptune was lounging around doing nothing, Heero was on his laptop and IF was watching a TV show on her cell phone. The door to the room swung open and Compa walked into the room, "Today's job is to rescue an Avenir employee!"
Compa cleared her throat to recite the job request, "Ahem. 'The train was attacked by monsters. Please save the survivor!'"
Neptune looked at the nurse-in-training in disbelief, "Whatwhatwhat? Helping Avenir again? I dunno about helping out our sworn nemesis! Besides, don't their employees carry giant boomsticks they make at their factories?"
IF looked up from her cell phone, "Chian said Avenir doesn't make weaponry for human use, due to their president's motto." The tone of Compa's voice suggested that she was ashamed of Neptune, "Plus, the employees themselves aren't bad people. You shouldn't be picky about which lives deserve saving, Nep-Nep! There is no line to draw when saving lives. Now, let's hurry over to the site where the train was attacked."
Xxx
The job the party had accepted required them to enter a cave type dungeon, Heero found it strangely disturbing that every dungeon they had been to that was not one of Neptune's 'optional quests' had been the same rocky cave with stalagmites and stalactites growing along the walls, and blue fluorescent crystal scattered all over the walls.
The party advanced into the cave, they noticed that they were not attacked after being there for more than five seconds. After traversing the fairly straight forward cave for a minute they ran into their first group of monsters, though all three of the monsters were identical to one another.
The monsters were 'Zephyranthes', plant like creatures with long vines for arms and very skinny legs. Heero pinched the bridge of his nose before taking a hold of his HDD disk, "…Like I said, the monster keep getting more and more weird."
Heero was now encased in his multi-colored armor and he raised his buster rifle to the three plant like creatures before pulling the trigger and a large blast of thermal energy escaped from the rifle barrel and vaporized the group of monsters. IF stared at the black marks on the ground where the monsters had been, "Was that really necessary?"
Any expression or look on Heero's face was hidden behind the metal mask over his face, "It was the most efficient course of action. We cannot afford to waste any time."
The party continued on into the cave after their very short confrontation, half of the way in the party was attacked by another group of monsters. One was a Zephyranthes, while the other two looked like the Killer Rabbits they had once encountered; only they were bigger and were classified as 'Giant Rabbit'.
Neptune's HDD disk appeared, surrounded in binary code and the preteen puled the disk towards herself, "Transform!" When her transformation was complete, the stronger, more serious and mature Neptune brandished her sword at the monsters in front of her, "I can't let Heero have all the fun, now can I?"
Neptune swiftly cut down the Zephyranthes in front of her with the least possible movements, leaving three deep slash wounds on the plant before it ceased any and all movement. Compa fired a shot from her syringe right in-between the first Giant Rabbit's eyes, then a second shot that forced her onto her butt from the recoil and caused a small explosion that left the large mammal a charred mess.
IF dropped kicked the second Giant Rabbit, delivered two quick slashes to its torso with her Katars, and fired three bullets at the rabbit with a gun or some other kind of projectile weapon hidden in her jacket sleeve, all the while complaining that her sleeves were too long.
Neptune glanced at the defeated monsters before directing her attention down the rocky path, "These monsters are no challenge at all. We should be finished in no time."
As the party rounded the curve in the dungeon, Compa caught sight of a monster symbol on the ground. The dark circle thrummed with the evil of the monster sealed within, Compa pulled out her gold bell while looking at the party, "Does everyone want to fight the monster?"
IF let out an irritated sigh, "We don't have time to waste fighting every single monster. Let's just find the Avenir employee, and get out."
Neptune was looking at the symbol on the ground with an intense stare, "I think we should. By defeating this monster, we should all level up, but more importantly it may help Heero overcome whatever it is that ails him. If it does then that's good for us, if not then we can check it off the list of possible ways for us to cure Heero."
The logical side of IF's mind told her that they should not waste time with the monster and continue with the mission, however her feelings were telling her screw the mission and help Heero. Ultimately, her feelings won out against her logic. The brunette crossed her arms and averted her gaze from Heero, "Oh, whatever, I guess we have some time."
Heero's gaze fell to the ground, as if he was ashamed of himself, "Had I not contracted this strange illness, we would not have to waste our time with this."
Even with his thick armored body, Heero still felt Neptune's hand on his back, "Don't worry about it so much, Heero. We know you would do the same for us… or at least for me." The purple haired swordstress clench her fist and returned her attention to the monster symbol, a bright gleam in her eyes, "Besides, I'm always in the mood for a good fight against a strong monster."
Compa and IF weren't sure whether Neptune really wanted to help Heero, or if she just wanted to fight. Compa stood in the middle of the symbol and began to ring the gold bell, "Here Mr. Monster! Don't be shy!"
A small, pale monster poked its head out from behind a row of stalagmites before coming out from behind cover. Heero glanced over at Neptune and judging by the look on her, she was disappointed, "I wanted to fight against a strong monster, not a weakling."
The monster now known as a Clione seemed to understand human speech, as it looked very upset when Neptune called it weak. The party was surprised when the small monster ripped a stalagmite more than six times its size, and threw it at them.
The group more or less scrambled to get out of the way, so they would not be flattened or impaled. IF stared at the now broken stalagmite, "It may be small, but it's pretty strong… This is bad, right?"
As the Clione began to hoist up another stalagmite, Heero aimed his Buster Rifle at the monster, "Target… Locked on." The rifle fired a familiar beam of yellowish-gold thermal energy that sped towards the pale looking monster. The powerful beam vaporized the hunk of rock the Clione had pulled and effortlessly forced the small monster into a wall.
When the beam dissipated, the Clione was slowly sliding down the wall and looked slightly charred, though it was alive. It quickly shook itself out of its daze, grabbed another stalagmite and hurled it straight at IF. As the brunette was about to move, she stumbled over a piece of the stalagmite that had broken against the floor, "(Crap! Why is it that I have to trip over something now?!)"
Just as the hunk of rock was about to crush IF, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Yet it did not come, and she felt completely weightless, when she opened her eyes she was looking at Heero's armored face. Then she looked down when she felt something rough against her chest and her face reddened, "H-Heero! Why are you touching me like this?!"
Heero quickly let go of the brunette, "I apologize, I had not intended to grab you in such an indecent manner." IF looked away from Heero, her hands over her chest, "The next time you decide to grope them like that, at least be more gentle! There's no need to be so rough."
In IF's mind she was singing quite a different tune, "(Heero touched my breasts… Heero touched my breasts… Heero touched MY breasts…)"
Neptune glanced at Heero and IF, and there was hint of jealousy in her eyes. Heero had touched Compa's breasts, IF's breasts, he had even touched the breasts of the mystery girl who had attacked them… Neptune was the only member of the party whose breasts had not been touched by Heero, and considering that she was his destined lover… that left her feeling more than just a little upset.
Neptune glared at the Clione, "I need to vent." The monster froze under her ice cold glare. When the Heero, Compa and IF returned their attention to the monster, Neptune had already begun to viciously beat it, slash it, shoot it… anything that inflicted pain on the monster.
When it seemed that Neptune was finished, the swordstress grabbed the Clione by its head and threw it right at the wall. Neptune had used so much force that the monster stuck to the cave wall. Neptune exhaled a breath of air she had been holding in and turned back to the rest of her party, who were staring at her, "…What? I got caught up in the moment."
The twin braided swordstress walked over to Heero until she was in front of him, "More importantly, do you feel any better, Heero?"
"…Quite unchanged." Neptune frowned, "I was hoping that you would feel well, but if you can't feel the benefits of leveling up then whatever this status ailment is, it's quite serious."
IF crossed her arms as her eyes roamed over Heero's armored body, "Serious? I think screwed up is more appropriate. What kind of status ailment keeps your stats from going up when you level up?"
The green see-through eyes of Heero's armor flashed for a brief moment, "Rather than wasting time worrying about that, we should finish the mission." The party continued into the dungeon, once they rounded the second corner they were in front of a room with a large fluorescent crystal growing in the center of it.
Neptune was the first to enter the room, followed by Heero, and then Compa and IF. Almost immediately after entering the room, the party caught sight of a man sitting against the cave wall, then made their way over to him with Neptune still in front, "…Good, your safe. You're the Avenir employee, I presume?"
Heero looked at the front of the young man's suit below the left shoulder and saw his employee ID with his name next to his photo, the young employee's name was Ganache. The young man stood up and dusted himself off, "I'm honored to be rescued by such a beautiful lady, but… who are you?" Compa poked out from behind Heero, "Are you the employee we were asked to save? Your company requested we come here and get you."
"Oh, Ms. Compa and IF. Where's Ms. Neptune? I'd expect her to be running around in here causing havoc before you."
Neptune had a quizzical look on her face as she looked at the Avenir employee, "…Have we met before? I apologize, but I don't recall your face. How… could I forget someone I've met?"
The look the young man had on his face suggested that he was quite surprised, "Oh… Oh?! A-Are you Ms. Neptune? My, my. You've gone through… quite the transformation. You were a spunky little girl when I saw you at the… well, nevermind. Please ignore my ramblings."
The Ganache scanned over the party for a brief moment, "I had also heard that you had another companion with you. I believe he was Mr. Heero, is he not with you?"
IF pointed at Heero, who stood silently behind the three girls, "He's right here, though I can understand you not knowing that." The Avenir employee eyed Heero with great fascination, "I was told that Mr. Heero was a teenager… Has Planeptune been working on the creation of combat robots?"
Heero glared at the young employee, though no one could tell because the see through glass could not move, "I was not created by anyone."
"It's capable of speech and independent thought as well? I've never seen such an advanced weapon before… If you were to enter it in the Expo, it would win hands down."
Neptune looked irked from how the Ganache referred to Heero as an 'it', "I would appreciate it if you would stop referring to Heero as a thing. He is human when he hasn't transformed."
"I'm sorry, I was told that Mr. Heero was also serving as your bodyguard… is he part-time or something?"
Neptune glanced at Heero from the corner of her eye, and Heero knew all too well what she was going to say, "(Not again…)"
"Heero is my full time bodyguard… and destined lover." Ganache blinked a few times in surprise, "…Destined lover?" Heero glared at Neptune, but once again it was useless to do so while in his Gundam transformation, "We are not lovers."
The twin braided swordstress turned to face Heero, "Why do you keep denying it, Heero? Does it make you embarrassed?"
"How can I deny something when it is not even true to begin with?" Ganache watched the exchange between Neptune and Heero, "You two bicker like lovers, so it must be true."
A triumphant smirk made its way onto Neptune's face, "See? Another unbiased opinion about our relationship. It's clear to me that we belong together, Heero."
Heero was restraining his sudden urge to kill the person that the party had been sent to rescue, "Anyway, sorry for all the trouble. I was running around, prepping for the Tech Expo, but I was attacked by monsters on the way."
Compa eyes widened slightly, "Tech Expo? I thought it was cancelled!"
"Well, no. It'll go on as it usually does. Perhaps the news hasn't made it to the public yet. Please, forget what I said!" IF cocked an eyebrow, "How could we? Chian was so disappointed… If you're telling the truth, this'll be great news for her."
Neptune had her hand under her chin as she gathered her thoughts, "…That's true. You said you're preparing for the Expo. What does Avenir plan to showcase?"
The Avenir employee eyed the party for a moment, "Oh, come now. Do I look like I've got loose lips? A big mouth? Do I seem like a stool pidgeon? I can't just tell you! ...But between you and me, we've been preparing for this Expo since the company started. Which means this is something that's been in the preparation stages for three years! I'm sure you'll eventually learn more about the Expo if you tune into the radio."
Neptune and Heero listened to Ganache silently, with each passing second they began to find him both suspicious and untrustworthy.
Xxx
After escorting the Avenir employee back to his place of work, the party went out on a whim and searched a random cave like dungeon to see if they could find a Key Fragment or any clues that would help them find it.
The group searched the cave top to bottom, but their efforts turned up nothing. As Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF made their way back to the entrance of the cave, a familiar face was waiting for them, the girl who had attacked them the previous day, "You know, you really stand out when you're in that form. You ought to stay like that all the time."
Compa seemed slightly surprised that the mystery girl from before had decided to confront them, "Whoa, you again? You're persistent. Nep-Nep, you should hurry and… Oh yeah, you already transformed."
Neptune directed her attention at the white haired girl, "…You wish to fight again? You've lost once already. Care to make it twice?" The mystery girl clenched her fist as her anger grew, "Tch! I like that you know just how to tick me off. Makes me want to hit you for massive damage!"
"Before that, I'd like to know why you're coming after me. I apologize for any wrongdoings I committed in the past, but Heero, Compa and Iffy need more clarification."
The white haired girl narrowed her eyes, "We're destined rivals, but I don't need to explain myself to you. If you want to know, defeat me first!"
Neptune contemplated what she meant by 'destined rivals', "Destined… rivals…?" Neptune tried to decipher what the two words could have possibly meant for her, but then thought back to the day before and came to a single conclusion which caused Neptune to narrow her eyes, "So that's what you mean... You're here to steal Heero from me."
The white haired girl's eyes widened considerably, "Wh-What makes you think I'm here for him?!"
"You pretended to fight Heero yesterday just so you could seduce him." The mystery girl's cheeks grew more and more red with each passing second, "H-He fell on me, remember?!"
The beautiful purple haired swordstress clenched her fists, "I don't buy any of your lies. But even if that was true, it was rather convenient that you happened to be right there when Heero fell."
"Uh… w-well…" The white haired girl was having difficulty arguing with Neptune's logic. Neptune brandished her sword at the girl, "I thought I told you that Heero was my lover, not yours."
"W-Well good for you! I'm not here for him anyway!" Neptune turned to face Heero, "Heero, I want you to stay out of this fight. I don't want her trying to seduce you like last time."
The white haired girl stomped her foot, "Are you even listening to me?!" Any normal guy would say that Heero was one lucky bastard to have these women fighting over him (though the white haired girl was not interested in him), but Heero had hoped that by now he had established the fact that he was not a 'normal guy'. He did not know what to think about his current situation, but did as he was told and stayed on the sidelines.
Neptune returned her attention to the mystery girl, "If you want Heero, you will have to defeat me first." The white haired swordstress brandished her sword at Neptune, "Don't worry, I plan on beating you."
"So you admit to wanting Heero for yourself." By this point the mystery girl's cheeks were rosy red, "You haven't been listening to a word I've said-"
Neptune was already upon the swordstress and both girls locked swords, and Neptune was right in the white haired girls face, "I won't give him up to you without a fight."
As Compa and IF joined in on the battle against the mystery girl, Heero found a smooth rock to sit on, "(This could be a while...)"
The fight had gone on for a good five minutes and both sides were at a stalemate. Compa and IF attempted to rush the mystery girl only to have their attacks blocked or dodged, unfortunately for the white haired swordstress she was too preoccupied with Compa and IF that she did not see Neptune closing on her from behind.
Neptune swung her large katana at the white haired girl and struck her right arm, the force of the attack was enough to disarm the girl long enough for IF deliver a kick to her lower back and for Compa to fire a shot at her left leg.
Though she was taking a beating, the white haired swordstress quickly retrieved her sword and went straight for Neptune. The purple haired swordstress quickly ducked under the mystery girl's sword, and swiftly struck her in her abdomen. The attack knocked her opponent back and she doubled over.
When the white haired girl looked up, Neptune was already standing in front of her, "…I won again. Spill it."
The mystery girl clenched her fists, "You look the same, but you've changed so much. How can you look so proud while involving humans?"
"You initiated the battle. Tell me about who I am." The white haired girl was silent for a moment, "No way! I'll admit this was a draw, but there's no way Lastation has lost!"
Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, while Compa tilted her head, "What are you bringing up Lastation for? What are you talking about?! I know! What if Lastation is actually a huge transforming robot…?"
IF stared at Compa for a few seconds, "That's fresh. It's possible on Planeptune, but here? I don't think so." The white haired girl sniped at IF, "Don't talk down about my homeland! You'll definitely regret it one day!"
The mystery girl quickly stood up and began to run away from the party, "She's running away! Nep-Nep, get her! …Whoa, y-you're already…?"
When Compa turned around, Neptune had reverted to her normal, energetic self, "Aww, candy wrappers. I'm outta juice today. Until next time, lady. Well, let's go back and get some yummy food."
Heero was left to wonder how Neptune was so quick to forget about her mysterious assailant for food.
Xxx
Upon returning to the city the party immediately went straight to Passe and delivered the news they had heard from the Avenir employee to Chian. The factory owner's face was a mixture of relief and worry, "Are you sure the Expo is still on? I can't let myself get my hopes up if it's not true."
IF rolled her eyes at Chian, "Oh, please. You owe us for coming here to tell you." Everyone in the room turned their attention to the radio, "…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom. The Tech Expo, said to be cancelled a few days ago, is now re-opened under the sponsorship of the Parliament."
Neptune had her hands on her hips, "See, told ya! The Expo's on like monkey kong! You heard it too, right everyone?" Chian furrowed her brow, "Yeah, but… Parliament sponsorship? What do you think that means?"
Compa carried a worried expression on her face, "I have a bad feeling… actually, I think I have only bad feelings about this." IF crossed her arms, "We heard what that employee said. They've been preparing three years for this."
"The Expo's theme is 'weaponry,' but that was only decided on this year. How could they have prepared without knowing…? But if they knew in advance… No, what if they're the ones who forced the decision?!"
Heero looked up from his laptop, which was situated in front of him, "It is the most likely conclusion. Avenir controls a large part of the market and represents the majority of this landmass's population, the Parliament needs a number of votes in order to get anything done. Both parties stand to gain by supporting one another, however the one who truly benefit from this relationship is Avenir. As it stands Avenir has the Parliament under its thumb, and unless they give in to their demands the Parliament will lose Avenir's support and they would be stripped of their power, hence the reason why the Expo was first cancelled, and then re-opened under the sponsorship of the Parliament."
Compa's eyes widened, "Th-That's cheating! Do you really think Avenir had this planned out since their company's foundation?" IF had her hand balled into a loose fist and placed under her chin, "True. It's a lot of effort just to get attention. They must be draping a cloak over their real objective."
"They're probably planning to absorb the entire industry. The Expo is perfect for them to flex their mechanical muscles." Neptune tilted her head, "For reals?"
"Who knows. All I'm certain of is Singe, the representative, wishes to replace everything on Lastation with machines!" Neptune looked at Chian with wide eyes, "Wh-Wh-What? He wants a world of robots? Does he have a machine fetish? *Gasp* Is he a cyborg looking for love?"
"He just hates humans. He doesn't know how to trust them. Avenir has a ton of employees, but all the manufacturing is done by machines. There's little for humans to do there. Most are in marketing or run errands like buying materials… They just support the machines."
Compa looked out the window towards the center of the city, "I see. Then, there must be very few humans working at their headquarters."
"Right. Anyway, I hope nothing bad happens at the Expo…" Heero suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, "(Damn… not now…!)" Heero stood up from his seat and quickly made his way out of the restaurant, though he garnered some attention in his rush to get out, "Has your friend not gotten better?"
Neptune had a worried look on her face, "He's still feeling super weak. We tried all kinds of stuff to make Heero feel better, but it all did a whole lot of nothin'."
Xxx
Heero was behind the factory, he was clutching his chest as he was assaulted by another wave of pain. A sword suddenly appeared in his free hand, though it was not the GN Sword he had been using. The sword had a skull and crossbones relief on it, two handles, one of which a trigger on it, and the 'sword blade' had fourteen openings along the sides where the blade's sharp edges should have been, seven on each side.
In one quick movement faster than the eye could perceive, Heero slashed the side of the factory. Heero left to return to the others, but what seemed like a simple slash was really Heero carving something onto the wall, and the design looked like a skull and crossbones.
Xxx
The party decided to take a break in a park in Lastation. Neptune was complaining about the long walk, "Hey, can we rest our tootsies here? We've been trucking along all day!"
Compa began to shuffle around nervously, "R-Right here? Can we, maybe, wait until we find somewhere else…?" Neptune stopped to look at the nurse-in-training, "What's up? You're even more timid than usual."
"I had a… a really bad encounter with a boy here while waiting for you three all alone." Neptune put her hands on her hips, "Huh? You mean a man, right? Not a little boy?"
IF looked up from her cell phone, "Oh. Was he picking on you or something? You're an easy target since you're too nice and quiet to stand up for yourself."
Compa rapidly shook her head, "N-No! The boy was really… I don't know how to say it, but…"
"Oh, it's you again!" Compa froze when she heard the voice of boy behind her, she turned around and saw the boy who had picked on her from before, "Ack! You're…!"
Neptune looked at the boy who couldn't have been older than seven years of age, "Are you the ragamuffin who made fun of Compa?"
"I didn't make fun. I just tried to teach her a lesson for not giving me what I wanted." The preteen tilted her head, "Teach her a lesson? He's a little bit of a cornballer…"
"My birthday's coming up, so why don't you all chip in and buy me a new console?" Compa hid behind Heero, "You said your birthday was coming up last time!"
"My mom said she'd buy me the second-gen console off an internet auction. Sure, it plays movies and technically monopolized the gaming industry, but that's why I want the third one! C'mon! Buy me the newest one! Please!"
IF alternated between looking at the boy and Compa, "Wh-What the hell's wrong with this brat? Compa, what's going on here?" The pink haired nurse was gripping onto Heero's denim jacket, "Th-That's why I wanted us to rest somewhere else. I didn't want to get involved with him again!"
"You're so mean to me… I'm going to join your party and keep bugging you until you buy me one! Okay?" Neptune looked somewhat surprised, "Whoa, that's some devotion and commitment or something. I'm kinda touched by your passion… The lady with the leafy ribbon says she'll buy you one!"
IF shot an irritated look at Neptune, "What?! No, I did not!" Neptune assumed her thinking position, "Then how's about this dealie? One grope of Compa's left boob and we'll call it even."
Compa, who was still hiding behind Heero, threw her arms over her chest, "Leave my boobies alone! (B-But… I wouldn't mind if… Heero wanted to squeeze them…)" Neptune began to poke Compa's arm, "Oh, c'mon. Just cuz yours are bigger than ours. Right, Iffy?"
IF's eye began to twitch, "Don't turn this lecherous crap on me! Huh? The boy's acting weird…" The boy was indeed acting weird, as he was starting to drool a little, "B-…Boobs. Boobies. Boobilicious, sexy-jiggly booby bubbies. Boob times two equals twin boobage…"
IF shook her head, "Great! Nep's boob talk was a bit too stimulating for this little boy!" Neptune turned to Compa, "Compa, now's our chance. Run!"
Compa looked as though she was about to cry, "This really… sucks!" As Compa was about to run, Heero quickly swept her off her feet, which prompted Neptune and IF to shoot dirty looks at her, "Hey! You scoring more points on me, Compa?!"
Heero maintained an emotionless façade, "As Compa is the target of that child, I will take it upon myself to remove her from this area. Unfortunately, you two will have to make your own means of escape." Heero ran straight towards a stack of crates, leapt up to the top of the stack, and jumped onto the roof of a nearby building. Neptune was shouting 'Compa you traitor!' the entire time.
While Heero was running along the rooftops looking for a suitable place to stop, Compa was swooning in the teen's arms, "My hero…" Heero eventually stopped at a café nearby, he put Compa down so she could climb down the ladder and he leapt off the side of the building.
Compa's cheeks were slightly red at this point, "Th-Thank you, Heero." The Perfect Soldier nodded his head, "It would be best to stay away from that area for a while."
Compa had a rare moment alone with Heero and wanted to make the most of it, until Neptune and IF arrived, "How about we get something to eat? We can wait here for Nep-Nep and Iffy."
"If that is what you want, I will not object." Compa and Heero entered the small eating establishment and were seated at a table outside. Heero had pulled Compa's chair out for her so she would not have to do it herself, "You're a real gentlemen, Heero."
Once Compa was seated, Heero sat next to her and pulled his laptop out from his backpack. He set the PC on the table, waited for it to boot up, then went to the Lastation homepage and clicked on the tab labeled 'Goddess Blog', Compa looked over at the laptop screen as Heero pulled up the blog, "I didn't know you were interested in this kind of thing, Heero."
"I have been checking any and all sources of information that I can find that could tell us about the Tech Expo, Avenir, the state of the landmass, or the Key Fragment that is supposed to be on this landmass. I have not found anything yet."
As Heero was waiting for the blog to pull up, Compa looked up and saw Neptune and IF giving her dirty looks. The duo let themselves in and sat down at the table Heero and Compa were seated, "I'm soooo not letting you score points with Heero on me like that again!"
Neptune soon forgot about Compa when a waiter came by to take their orders.
Xxx
Elsewhere on the landmass, specifically in one of the Basilicoms, Ganache was meeting with Lady Black Heart and the CPU had locked everyone else from the Basilicom out of her room.
The Avenir employee directed his attention to the only other person in the room, "Hello. I never expected to be able to meet with Lady Black Heart alone."
Lady Black Heart, as she was referred to, looked to be a teenager with fair-pale skin, she had long black hair that was about waist length and worn in two long pigtails with two black and blue ribbons, her bangs that framed her face were neatly combed and she had lovely blood red eyes.
She wore a fancy dress that was black, blue, white and red with gold lining and buttons, the CPU also had a blue ribbon with a small piece of gold on the center and it was tied to a black and white collar around her neck.
Lady Black Heart had a hand on her hip, "I'm glad you feel that way about me, despite being from a different land. Still, I've no time to waste chatting. Let's get right to it. Neptune is stronger than I anticipated and, of course, she'll continue to grow in strength."
"So we should deal with her immediately? If it's for you, I'd collect every weapon possible and face her tomorrow. But realistically, I doubt I can do that so quickly. We shouldn't rush into this."
The CPU waited for Ganache to finish, "I'm not telling you to or anything, but… Whaddaya think? Will your plan truly succeed?"
"I've been observing the little Neptune for a while. I'm sure it'll go as expected. Just sit back and wait for us to take her down. I'll stake the Guild's pride on it."
Lady Black Heart raised a questioning eyebrow, "…What of the representative? I can't understand what he's thinking. Is he fine with this or not?"
"I don't think he likes me all that much, but it's irrelevant. He's got his own way of dealing with things." The Avenir employee looked out one of the large windows in the room, "Now that I think about it…. There is one X-factor that could change the outcome of the plan."
The CPU was irked, however she kept it hidden from the Avenir employee, "You thought of this now? What is this X-factor you're talking about?"
"Neptune's bodyguard, a guy named Heero." Lady Black Heart's eyes widened for a moment, "Does he by any chance have brown hair, a lean body and blue eyes?"
"Yes… how did you know?" Lady Black Heart turned her back to Ganache, "I… have my sources… anyway, you said this guy is Neptune's bodyguard?"
"He is certainly a mystery. According to Neptune, Heero is her bodyguard twenty-four seven. Some of the reports I've dug up suggest that he may be stronger than Neptune. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but I do know that he's sharper, smarter, and more observant and aware of danger than Neptune. He may see my plan a mile away..."
The CPU turned back around, "You can leave now, I have a lot of work to do." Once Ganache had left, Lady Black Heart looked out one of the windows in her room, "…I need to find out more about this Heero." The CPU's eye began to twitch, "…And figure out why Neptune keeps thinking I'm trying to seduce him."
Xxx
Chapter 7… done! I'm SO sorry that my updates haven't been coming out faster, I blame my lack of sleep and now with school starting back up it may take a little longer for me to update. Half of me wanted to make this chapter longer, but the other half wanted to make a part 3, so I would need something for that chapter. The plot thickens and Heero will get his second transformation in part three… and he will start to develop his relationship with his future harem girl and everyone's favorite tsundere Noire. I also left another clue as to what the new transformation will be. Read and review, thanks!
