Me: "Hello again, my good readers. Well, for those who have played Hyperdimension Neptunia know that the quest for the Lastation Key Fragment is almost over."

Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC from Lounge) "Did you hear that? We're close to findin' another Key Fragment! That also means we're even closer to our M Rated scene."

Black Heart: (Enters IC from Break Room) "Would you leave Heero alone already?! He's told you dozens of times that he doesn't want an M Rated scene of any kind with you!"

Neptune: "What's the plug suit lady doing here? Whatever, you're just mad cuz I'm the one asking. You probably wanna ask Heero to have an M Rated scene with you, but you can't because I asked first! Not that I'd let you have one with him."

Black Heart: (Looks away blushing) "Y-You keep saying that, but you couldn't be more wrong! I'm simply looking out for Heero's well-being."

Compa and IF: (Enter IC from Break Room) "We've already got that covered. Seriously, how many times does this make it that you and Nep have gotten into an argument over this?"

Compa: "I've lost count of how many times this has happened. Can't we all just get along? I mean, we can't give you Heero, but surely we can still get along."

IF: "The way she keeps coming after Heero, I don't think we can get along."

Heero: "I fail to see why you three believe she is after me. If anything, it's obvious that she keeps coming here with the intent to defeat Neptune."

Zero: (Appears behind Heero and Neptune) "I wouldn't be so sure. You do have a way of making girls swoon over you."

Black Heart: "Is Heero the only person taking my side on this matter?!"

Me: "I'd rather remain neutral on the subject and allow it to resolve itself." (Looks at watch) "We should probably wrap up this segment of the IC before we do anything." (Points at cast) "Let's hear it."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero and Black Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of the franchises. However, he does own the idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and Hyperdimension Neptunia."

Me: "I think I'm gonna cry… Let's leave before that happens."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero and Black Heart: (Leave IC)

Ch. 27 Best Demo Ever

It was the day of Lastation's Technology Expo and instead of going directly to the site of the event, the party was on their way to the center of the city to help with a planned raid on Avenir's main building. The plan would required the party to get inside the main building and deal with what was expected to be very minor resistance.

While the people of Lastation went about their business as they normally did, the air seemed palpable to the group as they drew closer to the designated meeting place where they would meet with the members of The Sanctified to carry out the raid.

It wasn't long before the party arrived at their destination, and the member of The Sanctified that they had frequent contact with was already there waiting for them, "Thanks for coming. Look. That's Avenir's main headquarters."

The man gestured to a tall building that stood out from the others. Compa swallowed hard as she gazed at the building Avenir used as their headquarters, "Whoa… I can tell from here it's brimming with enemies. They're really giving off a villainous vibe."

"Looks like they've already abandoned their 'wholesome corporation' front."

IF was suspicious about what was going on with the company, "They must've sensed the Sanctuary was coming. Isn't it odd? Why wouldn't they try to cover up evidence this time?"

Neptune went into her thinking pose and only thought about TV shows that were similar to the current situation, "Ooh, I've seen it on TV shows before. They shred and burn paperwork and rub big magnets on their computers, right?"

"I understand the words you speak, but they make no sense. Let's press on and deal with what they have in store for us. Please. Our primary goal is to capture Avenir's Representative, Singe."

There was no doubt that while this raid was supposed to be a joint effort, the party would be the ones doing the heavy lifting. With their assignment given to them, the group walked down the street toward the large building that served as Avenir's main HQ.

As they approached, Lyrica suddenly began to feel uneasy, "Is it just me, or does this place seem… off?"

Gust had an unreadable expression on her face as she focused on the building… rather, it was difficult to tell whether she was nervous or stern, "Gust feels something amiss. Like something waiting inside."

Heero was beginning to suspect that there really was something amiss with the raid, "As I said before, not every raid goes according to plan. For all we know, the target might not even be here."

Neptune didn't like the negative talk coming from Heero, Lyrica and Gust, so she did her best to raise the party's morale, "C'mon you guys, we gotta be positive! I betcha that creepy machine loving guy Singe is waitin' in his fancy room as we speak. We just gotta drag him out, and head on over to the Expo."

The task was easier said than done, but at least Neptune was able to lift the spirits of the other girls on the team. Heero on the other hand, couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with their job to capture the Avenir representative.

Inside of Avenir's main building, it look like any of the storage facilities scattered around Lastation; boilers, wooden boxes, metal fences and pipes were strewn all over the place. The party had expected no defenses, but the eerie silence that greeted them was unnerving. Even Neptune was a little disturbed by the lack of enemies, "So, uh… Was anybody else expecting some monsters to be waitin' here for us?"

IF slowly scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement, "The lack of security is a little disturbing. Maybe there really is nothing to worry about."

Of course, no sooner had the brunette said that, a pair of monsters stumbled out from beyond the corner ahead. Neptune gave IF an annoyed look, "Nice goin', Iffy. You just had to bring the monsters out."

IF punched Neptune in the arm, "Don't pin this on me. You're the one who brought them out when you asked if we were expecting any monsters."

One of the monsters was an Automated Turret, though that didn't really qualify as a monster so much as it was a man-made security weapon… that had gone haywire. The other monster was a 'Giant', but suffice it to say there was nothing giant about it. Like most of the other monsters that inhabited Gamindustri, the Giant was nothing more than a variation of a monster the party had previously fought; a Guardian, and it simply had a different colored hide… and was possibly stronger.

The Automatic Turret opened fire on the party as soon as it caught sight of them, and forcing the party to hide behind anything they could find that would protect them from the hail of bullets. An irritated look made its way onto IF's face as the group was forced to hide from the automated weapon, "…I feel like we've had to do this more than once."

Heero didn't like having to be forced behind cover when the mission target was close by, "It would be best to resolve this matter as soon as possible. We can't waste any time here if we are to get to the Expo in time to help Chian."

Neptune's cheeks had swelled up as the purple haired girl began to pout, "Dude, this is soooo not cool! We gotta beat up these guys so we can help Chian beat the baddies from Avenir and meet the goddess!" The purplenette's eyes then began to burn with fiery determination. "But most import, I've got pudding waiting for me back at the house! I can hear my cups of pudding calling me, begging me to eat 'em!"

A bullet streaked past Lyrica's face as she shouted at Neptune, "Now is not the time to be thinking with your stomach!"

The party's leader initiated her HDD and jumped over the stack of boxes she was hiding behind, "We won't get anywhere just by sitting here. I'll take care of this."

Neptune quickly closed in on the Automatic turret, only moving her body slightly to avoid the oncoming stream of bullets as she drew closer to her target. The swordstress deflected a few bullets with her sword before bring the futuristic katana down on the automated weapon, cutting it in half.

Just as Neptune finished off the first enemy, the Giant swung one of its sharp pointed arms at her in a horizontal swipe. Neptune had no trouble dodging the attack aimed at her, or the two attacks that followed shortly after. The purple haired woman waited until the spikey monster threw its arm out for a forth attack before cutting off the limb and then using the momentum from her first swing to spin around in a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn and cut the monster in half by its waist.

Once she was sure the two monsters wouldn't get back up, Neptune looked over her shoulder at the party, "We should hurry up and finish our job here. Chian is counting on us to be at the Expo to help showcase her weapon. We can't afford to be late."

Heero definitely preferred Neptune's transformed state over her normal self. The efficiency and professionalism she had made it much easier to work with her. Even so, Heero couldn't deny that there was a certain charm to Neptune's normal bubbly, happy-go-lucky self that drew others to her.

Compa jumped out from behind the stack of wooden crates she and Lyrica had been hiding behind, a positive energy emanating from her being, "Nep-Nep is right. If we all work together, we can find that grumpy Mr. Representative and get to the Expo in time to help Chian win!"

IF dusted off the back of her shorts as she stood up, "I guess she can be motivational when she transforms. Personally, I don't like the idea of being a booth babe, but we don't have much choice if we want to meet with the goddess."

The party began their trek into the building with the intent of finding and apprehending the Representative Singe. It didn't take long for the party to arrive at the corner that the monsters had come out from behind since it was practically right in front of them. After turning the second corner, the path split off in two directions; one going right, the other left.

Compa and IF looked in opposite directions as they tried to determine which path would most likely lead them to Singe. Both girls pointed toward the paths they were looking at, "Heero and I will go this way."

"I'll go this way with Heero."

The air was filled with silence for five seconds before both girls looked at each other, irritation clearly visible on their faces, "That's not happening. Heero and I can search this way, while you guys go the other way."

Compa began to pout, which oddly enough looked rather cute despite the fact that she was upset, "Why should Heero go with you Iffy? If anything, Heero should go this way with me. If Heero gets hurt, I can actually heal him."

"So what you're saying is that you're going to make Heero do all the fighting while you sit in the back."

"That's not what I'm saying!"

Lyrica was watching the two girls argue over who would go which way with Heero before making the situation worse… by nominating to be the one to go with Heero, "I think I should go with Heero, since you two can't stop arguing!"

Compa and IF exchanged glances before looking back at the teenaged idol, "No!"

Heero, Neptune and Gust watched as the trio bickered with one another. Heero couldn't understand why they were fighting over who would go searching which path with him, "I'm trying to figure what exactly caused this to happen."

Neptune stood with her arms folded over her chest as she looked at the girls with a questioning gaze, "I'm trying to figure out what happened with Compa's little spiel about all of us working together."

Gust watched the girls for a moment before reaching into her pouch and pulled out a long, thin vial filled with a blue liquid and held it out to Heero, "Hold, please."

The Gundam pilot looked at the vial before firmly grasping the thin glass vial. Gust pulled out a second vial similar in size and shape as the one she had handed Heero, only it had a red liquid contained within. The young alchemist held the glass container out to Neptune, who took it after looking at it for a moment. After handing the two the vials of unknown liquid Gust pulled out a glass flask, and began to fill the glass object with a few herbs, some finely ground powder, and a few other alchemic ingredients.

After putting the various items into the flask, the bunny cap wearing girl held her hands back out to the two older party members, her way of asking for the vials back. As soon as she received her vials of strange liquid back Gust poured their contents into the glass flask, stuck a cork into the flask's open mouth, and violently shook the small bottle.

Two seconds after she started shaking the flask, the various ingredients Gust had put inside mixed together and the flask began to shake on its own. Gust reared her arm back and threw the glass bottle at the three girls, though the bottle never actually touched any of them, rather it broke on the ground between them.

The trio of girls stood where they were, eyes wide open. If one were to take a guess as to why they had such shocked and somewhat hilarious looks on their faces, it would probably be that the three girls had not expected to be encased in a large block of ice that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Heero was going to try and get the trio out of the ice prison they found themselves in when Gust grabbed him by his pant leg, "Give moment."

A few seconds passed, then cracks began to form in the large ice block that had trapped the three bickering girls. After five seconds the ice block shattered, freeing the girls trapped within… though immediately after they were free the girls wrapped their arms around themselves as their teeth rapidly clicked together. IF was the first to voice her discontent at having been trapped in the ice block, "Wh-Wh-What the h-h-hell was th-that for?!"

Compa looked as though she was about to burst into tears, "G-G-Gust, how c-c-can y-you be s-s-so c-c-cruel?"

Lyrica was hugging a nearby boiler in the hopes that it would warm her frigid body, "I-I-It's n-n-not warm e-e-enough…!"

Gust watched looked at the three girls with a stern expression on her face, "Now is not time to be fighting one another over who gets to be with Gust's assistant. Current job too important for that." The small girl reached into her pouch once more and pulled out three vials that were already full of some sort liquid. "This potion will cure ailment. Gust will give to you… for a price."

The girls would have argued that they shouldn't have to pay for the remedy, were it not for the fact that they felt as though they were going to freeze to death. With no other recourse available to them, Compa, IF and Lyrica gave the young alchemist her asking price of 500 credits and consumed the potions just as quickly as they had received them.

Neptune watched as the three females sat on the ground, feeling the effects of Gust's potion instantly. The swordstress looked down at Gust, impressed with her handiwork, "I'm surprised she was able to rein those three in so quickly."

Heero nodded in agreement, not expecting Gust to actually be able to the bickering girls, "Gust's ability to restrain them is quite impressive. It saved us the time and trouble of doing it ourselves."

Gust flashed a thumbs up at the two, a grin spreading across her face, "Let Gust know if party gives trouble, or you hear talk of union. Gust will fix problem!"

Neptune returned her attention to Compa, IF and Lyrica, "Now, before the three of you decide to start fighting amongst yourselves again, I propose a different idea. Instead of one of us going off with Heero to search one way, why don't we use Heero's new power?"

The trio was silent as they listened to Neptune's suggestion, a slight feeling of inadequacy sinking in, "Huh?"

"Heero can summon his transformation and have it search one way, while we go the other. It would save us the time that you three would waste trying to figure out who would get to be with Heero. Not to mention the idea cuts down on the risk of us getting separated and getting lost."

Compa, IF and Lyrica looked away as they processed Neptune's idea, the exact same thought running through their minds, "(…When she says it like that, it makes it seem like I'm not thinking at all.)"

Heero was going to suggest that he go off on his own, but Neptune's idea was much sounder than his was, "A good plan. If we should come across a dead-end we can simply turn back around, whereas if the Gundam should meet with such a result, I can simply discontinue usage of the ability and the suit will return."

The girls were noticeably confused, what with Heero using the term Gundam when they had no idea what it was. Before anyone could raise the question about what the Gundam was, the Wing Gundam materialized in a flash of light behind Heero.

After a few seconds the Gundam's green optics flashed indicating that the suit was operational. The mobile suit began to maneuver toward the path on the left, leaving the party to go in the other direction. As the party followed the path on the right, Compa could not help but look back toward the Wing Gundam as it disappeared behind the corner leading further down the path it was following, "Are you sure it's alright to let it go off on its own?"

Heero glanced over at Compa before returning his attention forward, "There is no need to worry. It is unlikely that it will be incapacitated. Even if Wing should be disable, I shouldn't experience any adverse effect."

Taking one last look at the now empty passage, Compa went back to following the rest of the party in their search for Singe. It went without saying that like every other dungeon in Gamindustri, there were many pointless turns within the building. WHY Avenir's main headquarters was designed in such a way was anyone's guess, but clearly it was very unnecessary.

It took a minute or two of navigating the winding corridor, and even after that the party came to yet another intersection that was nothing more than a nuisance. Compa looked down the path on the left and then straightforward, "Why do dungeons always have to be so confusing… Which way do we go this time?"

Before anyone could give any kind of answer, the disk that Heero used to access the Wing Gundam materialized in front of him and began to flash a soft light on and off, "…It looks like the path Wing followed was a dead-end."

Heero put his hand against the glowing disk, which caused the Wing Gundam to appear behind the Gundam pilot like it had earlier. A few seconds after using the disk to summon, or rather transport the Wing Gundam to the party's location, Heero felt his vision blur slightly and wobbled to his right slightly. Heero hadn't moved far before Neptune grabbed the Perfect Soldier by his shoulders to steady him, "Are you alright, Heero? It's not like you to just suddenly lose your balance, especially in an environment like this."

Normally Heero wouldn't have lost his balance, but his sudden lack of coordination was due to the fact that his new ability was requiring him to constantly expend energy in order to utilize his Gundam without having to operate it himself. In addition, his new ability allowed Heero to seemingly teleport the Gundam to where he was, though it required that he expend more of his stamina in order to do so. The farther away he was from the Gundam, the more energy he had to use to recall it.

Heero corrected himself and stood up straight, "It seems I've had to exert more energy than I originally thought. I won't be able to maintain the use of this ability for much longer, or I will be unable to utilize it or HDD for the remainder of the mission, which could be a problem."

IF had opened her cellphone to check the time before stuffing the device back into her pocket, "I know we can't waste any time here if we want to get to the Tech Expo, but we won't gain anything by forcing Heero to overwork himself."

Just as the brunette had said that, a trio of Automated Turrets closed in on the party; two on the left and one directly ahead. While they looked like Automate Turrets, these 'Wave Cannon' automatons had a larger gun barrel, which obviously meant that the guns they were outfitted with would deal more damage than what an Automated Turret could manage.

As soon as they were in range, the Wave Cannons opened fire on the party and forced them behind cover… Which of course earned a sarcastic remark from IF, "Well this is just great, isn't it? Not like we have anything important going on right now, just trying to finish a job request and get to the Tech Expo."

Compa looked up at the fuming Guild Moderatist, "Not just that, Iffy. We're trying to find out where the Key Fragment is so we can save Gamindustri!"

Neptune didn't like having to hide behind cover when there were monsters to be slain, and her desire to fight while transformed left her quite upset with the party's current predicament, "I don't want to waste any more time dealing with enemies that enjoy forcing us to hide. I'd like get rid of them. Now."

Heero was in complete agreement with the swordstress for more than one reason, but didn't see any way for the team to get closer to the trio of gun totting robots… That is, until he noticed the Wing Gundam. The Mobile Suit was standing in exactly the same place as it had been when Heero and brought to the party's location, yet it was not moving an inch, nor was it taking any damage from the barrage of ranged attacks, "We may just be able to deal with our attackers. If we line up behind Wing, we can begin a systematic advance and close in on the enemy without exposing ourselves to needless risk."

Lyrica had to shout in order for her voice to be heard over the gunfire that bellowed down the corridor, "Whatever we're gonna do it, can we do it already?! I don't like getting shot at!"

Not a single member of the party was a fan of being shot at or attacked in general, which is why they wasted no time in implementing the plan. Taking care not to leave themselves out in the open for too long, the team lined up behind the Wing Gundam, which was still not moving even the slightest as its chassis was struck by the seemingly endless stream of bullets.

After they were lined up behind the mobile suit in the middle of the corridor, Gust poked her head out to the side to look at the Gundam, "Should party really hide behind robot? Gust is worried it will be destroyed."

Neptune kept her attention forward, clearly wanting to finish this battle as quickly as possible, "I sincerely doubt that it will fall so easily. Even if that were the case, as long as Heero's transformation lasts long enough for us to get close that's all we need to end this."

As soon as they were ready, the Wing Gundam raised its shield and began to charge at the trio of automatons with the party following close behind. Each and every single bullet aimed toward the party bounced harmlessly off of the Wing Gundam, leaving the party untouched as they drew closer to the trio of Wave Cannons.

It took a total of seven seconds for them to get close enough, but once they had closed the gap the party quickly stepped out from behind the Wing Gundam as it drove its shield into the Wave Cannon in front of it. While the shield was made out of the same substance as the suit itself and was durable enough to withstand just about any attack, its particular design made it an effective makeshift pile driver and could very easily punch through both soft flesh and tough metal alike.

The sound of grating metal filled the air as the Wing Gundam's shield penetrated the Wave Cannon's thin armor before the automaton was tossed into the air, and cut in two by Heero's GN Sword shortly after leaving the ground.

Before the other two automated weapons could lock onto the Gundam pilot, Neptune and the other had moved out from behind the mobile suit; Neptune and Compa on one side, IF, Lyrica and Gust on the other.

Neptune brandished her sword as she closed in on the second Wave Cannon and with support from Compa in the form of syringe fired bullets, the automaton was unable to move and was quickly cut into four pieces by the swordstress.

IF, Lyrica and Gust disposed of the third, though not as quickly as Neptune and Compa and finished the second. IF was supported by both Lyrica and Gust, the latter of whom was using a rather unorthodox weapon; a broom. The cleaning utensil fired live bullets like Compa's syringe, which made Heero question just who exactly conceived such a weapon. Of course, when he took the time to consider just what kind of world Gamindustri was, a broom that fired live bullets didn't seem to be a completely outlandish weapon.

The combination of bullets and guitar created lightning bolts, along with a few well-placed attack from IF's blades made short work of the Wave Cannon. Neptune looked over each of the now destroyed machines before turning her attention forward, "I'd rather not have to deal with anymore monsters like these. They're a nuisance that serve to waste valuable time… Something we don't have at the moment."

Heero gestured for the Wing Gundam to follow the left path of the intersection before looking back at the team, "I will not be able to sustain usage of this ability for much longer. We will have to finish looking for the Avenir Representative on our own from here."

IF flicked a strand of hair out of her face, "I just hope we don't have to look too much further to find the grouch. Just thinking about trying to restrain him is giving me a headache."

Once again the party went about their search of the dungeon to find Singe, though shortly after resuming their search Heero was forced to recall the Wing Gundam due to lacking sufficient stamina to maintain its usage without sacrificing what energy he had left to use HDD. And as luck would have it, the party arrived at yet another point in the building where the path split in two direction.

While Neptune had become more mature overall when she transformed, she fast becoming irritated with the layout of the building and how the paths seemed to branch out needlessly, "I know that we're supposed to deliver the Representative to the members of the Sanctuary… But would they hold it against me if I decided to vent my pent up frustration on him?"

Heero could sympathize with the party's leader, as he didn't have much tolerance for anything that was pointless and time consuming… Like this building. That said, Heero felt that the team was in fact closer to their target than they thought. The Perfect Soldier pulled out his pistol and leveled out his arm so that he was aiming at the wall at the other end of the corridor. Lyrica had a perplexed look on her face as she tried to figure just what exactly the non-female member of the party was doing, "Umm, Heero? What are you doing?"

"Confirming whether or not our objective is at the end of this passage."

With that Heero pulled the trigger of his gun, resulting in a loud bang that echoed down the corridor and a single bullet shot out of the pistol. The projectile ricocheted off the wall and disappeared behind the corner, the only indication that it had stopped being that a noise resounded back down the corridor. Heero holstered his pistol having no need to use it any further. "It would appear that a door is at the end of this corridor by the sound generated by the bullet. Our target is up ahead."

The path was clear of any security measures and the fact that no monsters had suddenly popped out from behind the corner ahead meant that the party had a free run to the Representative's office without any more interference from monsters.

Without wasting another second, the party took off down the corridor as fast as they could so as to apprehend Singe and turn him over to the Sanctified. It took little over thirty seconds for the party to reach the door that lead to their target, and already there seemed to be another problem… the double doors appeared to be locked from the inside and a passcode was needed in order to gain entrance to the room on the other side. IF examined the keypad that connected to the sealed door before looking back at the party, "Unless someone wants to try plugging in some random code, we're stuck."

Compa stared at the small pad intently, her cheeks beginning to swell, "Chian must be worried sick by now! We can't go looking for a password!"

"As Neptune said earlier, time is not a luxury we have at the moment. As such…" Heero reached into his jacket pockets and pulled out two demolition charges that looked exactly like the ones he had used to destroy the Black Market merchandise during his side job of helping Lyrica. "I recommend we force our way in. We were only told to find and apprehend Singe. We were never told HOW we were to do it, so I imagine we are to resolve the matter at our discretion."

Neptune continued to stare at the door, "You won't hear any objections from me. Between winning the Tech Expo and continuing our quest for the Key Fragment, we already have too much to do to waste any time looking for a code to get into the Representatives office. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can help Chian and meet with the goddess."

Heero stepped in front of the door and planted the two explosives, one on each door. The Gundam pilot armed the detonator for the demolition charges and took cover behind a nearby boiler, prompting the girls to take refuge behind anything that would provide cover from the explosions. Heero pushed down on the detonation switch with his thumb and after three audible beeps, one per second, a loud explosion ensued that blew the metal doors off the hinges and tossed debris in every direction.

Once the smoke began to die down, Neptune stepped out from behind the boiler she had hidden behind and quickly made her way through the opening into the Representative's office with the group following close behind.

Inside the room, it was mostly clear with no smoke or debris obstructing the view of its interior. The only thing hampering the party's vision was that fact that the room was rather dark. Neptune carefully watched for any sign of movement until she caught sight of a figure on the other end of the room, believing it to be Singe, "Singe, give it up already. As a man of many vectors would say, resistance is futile!"

The man turned to face the party, only it was not the Representative, it was Ganache, "Hello! We've been running into each other a lot lately." The Avenir employee paused for a moment to look at Neptune, noting that she wasn't in her usual form. "Oh, you've transformed. Unfortunately, Singe is not in his office."

IF was rather surprised to see the man here instead of the team's target, "Solicitor? The hell're you doing here? This is the least favorable outcome!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Neptune had not expected to run into the solicitor either, as the information they had received prior to entering the building was that Avenir's Representative was there, "We expected Singe. I can't believe we were tricked. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"The president went to attend the Expo. I'm here because I figured you'd come. Do you know how much trouble it took for me to sneak all this way?"

Compa was perplexed as to why Ganache was here at Avenir's main headquarters, "…What do you want from us? Why were you waiting here?"

"Because… you would come. I wanted you to leave the rest to the Sanctuary and go to the Tech Expo. I stayed here to tell you everything… so you would do that."

The party's leader narrowed her eyes as she tried to decipher the man's angle, "What? …What's your game?"

"Game? I've made my point. All I can do now is sit back and observe the results. I've manipulated everything from the start up to this point. Ever since I heard about the Console War three years ago. I chose a small company on the verge of bankruptcy and created a bond between them and the Parliament."

Heero watched Ganache, his suspicions of the man clearly well founded, "A clever ruse. Were it not for the fact that you're such a manipulative bastard that has gone behind our backs more than once, even I would have a hard time believing you were in fact the founder of Avenir."

IF folded her arms over her chest as she processed what had been said, "So, you're the founder of Avenir? For what? Just… who are you?!"

"I'm the head of an Extremist Guild from Lowee. We're believers of Lastation's Lady Black Heart. She only does everything."

The Gundam pilot next to Neptune began to glare at Ganache, having deciphered the man's true objective, "I was suspicious as to what your actual goal was. Building Avenir into a mega corporation that would take over the arms development industry on Lastation was nothing but a cover… No, rather a threat that was sure to cause Neptune to take action. You're goal as an extremist is to eliminate Lady Black Heart's biggest threats. Starting with Neptune."

Ganache let out a whistle, "You're sharp. Nothing gets passed you, does it? Yes, you got it in one. Our objective is simple…" The founder of Avenir extend his arm and pointed at Neptune. "Neptune! We are to defeat her warring rival from the ancient Console War!"

Neptune raised a questioning eyebrow. She had no idea what exactly the man was talking about, "Console War? I'm sorry, that rings no bells. So, Avenir was just a means to get to me, right?"

"Yes! I created Avenir to develop weaponry that gathers all the advanced technology of Lastation. That weapon awaits you at the Tech Expo. You should hurry. It will not obey Singe. I also added some features to the weapon. Something regrettable will happen to the Expo attendees if you don't make haste."

Lyrica had been hiding behind IF since they entered the room, and upon hearing what may have been happening at the Tech Expo, her eyes widened in horror, "H-How… How can you do something so horrible?"

IF let her arms fall to her sides, her hands balling into fists as she repressed the wave of anger that welled up in her, "I hate the notion of listening to this prick, but… we better hurry to the Expo, or else!"

Compa nodded in agreement, "Let's leave Mr. Solicitor to the Sanctuary people. He won't escape, anyway."

Compa, IF and Lyrica took off out of the room. Gust took one look at Ganache, "Bad men deserve to be punished, but justice must for later." With that, the young Alchemist followed after her fellow party members that had left.

Neptune focused her powerful gaze on the Guild Extremist, "Your efforts will be for naught. I'll end all of this drama!"

Heero was about to follow after Neptune when he was suddenly stopped by Ganache, "I'm rather curious as to why you serve as Neptune's bodyguard. You don't exactly strike me as the kind of person that would lower themselves to this sort of grunt work."

Neptune had just made it to the hole that Heero had made in the wall when she heard Ganache talking to Heero. The Gundam pilot stood where he was, facing the way the rest of the team had gone. "I guess what I really want to know is what it is you hope to gain from protecting Neptune?"

That was quite a question. Heero had accepted the job from Histoire who he had never met or heard about, and really didn't see why he HAD to keep going along with this mission. Moreover, he really wasn't going to gain anything from helping Neptune once he had helped her find the two remaining Key Fragments. Knowing that, most anyone else in Heero's position would probably just leave.

That said, Heero had taken the request because his own world had no more need of him, and the Gundam pilot was not one to sit idly by when there was work needed to be done to achieve peace. At least… that's what he had thought before. Was that the reason he still traveled with the amnesiac in her bid to find the Key Fragments and free Histoire? Was it possible that there was another reason? "…My purpose."

Heero looked over his shoulder at the Extremist. "I hope to find my reason for being here."

With that, the Perfect Soldier headed back the way he came where Neptune was standing. Both remaining members took off after their party, who had most likely already made it outside of the building. Halfway down the path they took to reach the main office Neptune glanced over at Heero, her curiosity over what had gone on between her bodyguard and the backstabbing solicitor, "Okay, I'll bite. What exactly were you talking about? I can hardly imagine you wasting time on someone like him Heero. Not when he have more important matters to deal with."

The Gundam pilot briefly glanced over at the swordstress before returning his attention forward as the two made their way toward the exit. "It is of little relevance. Right now, we need to focus on getting to the site of the Tech Expo and evacuate the attendees is they have not already done so. Then we will have to deal with Avenir's new weapon."

Neptune wondered why Heero was not answering her question, but decided not to pry any further. Heero on the other hand, allowed his mind to dwell on the question he had been asked by Avenir's founder. "(…Why do I continue to carry out this mission? What is it that I expect to gain from doing so? I have found myself asking these questions lately. I had originally accepted this mission as my own world had no further need for a soldier such as myself, but now I begin to question if that's really why I chose to accept this assignment.)"

Heero glanced at the purple haired beauty next to him as they drew closer to the exit. "(It is my belief that the answers to these questions lie with Neptune. Only by helping her complete her mission will I know the real reason as to why I am here… Why I must continue to live.)"

Just as they made it to the exit, Neptune was surrounded in the same bright light that normally enveloped her being when she was undergoing her transformation, only rather than transforming she had reverted to her usual bubbly self. The preteen looked down at herself for a moment before scratching the back of her head as she let out a nervous laugh, "Heh heh… Looks like I'm runnin' low on power."

They weren't even at the Expo, and already Neptune was going to be fighting with a handicap. "And unfortunately, we cannot afford to wait until you have regained sufficient power. We will have to make do with what we have."

Neptune scratched her cheek as she looked at Heero. "So, what exactly do you think these baddies have at the Expo anyway?"

Heero didn't have an answer for the preteen. He himself had no idea what Avenir had been building for the Tech Expo, so it was anyone's guess as to what the weapon looked like or what it was capable of, "I wouldn't know. However, considering that Avenir was built solely to get to you, I would assume that the weapon was built with the intention of eliminating you, Neptune."

A deadpanned expression made its way onto the purplenette's face, "You're saying they made a mean old robot just to beat me up? Talk about evil."

"It is only conjecture at this point. We will have to go to the Tech Expo to find out for ourselves."

Xxx

By the time the party arrived at the location of the Tech Expo, the sight that greeted them wasn't very promising. IF slowly scanned the area before the party, "This is a pretty grim scene." The brunette looked over at Neptune, irritation seeping into her voice. "Can't you stay in your magical boob girl mode?! You're making things more difficult."

The purplenette let out a tired sigh as she listened to the Moderatist complain about her not being in her transformed state, "Bawwww, it's so exhausting!" Neptune assumed her thinking pose as she looked around at the ground floor of the Tech Expo. "Where is everyone? Is this what the Tech Expo is usually like?"

Lining the walls of the Expo showroom were various weapons on display that had been developed by the various companies in the weapons development industry on Lastation. Not a single one of the Expo attendees could be seen around the room. That, along with the fact that the showroom was well lit made the scene rather unsettling.

Compa carefully watched for any sign of movement, but there was nothing to be seen or heard other than the inanimate weapons around the showroom and the eerie silence in the air, "Looks like everyone's already made their escape. It's empty and creepy here, even though it's all lit up."

Lyrica swallowed hard as she looked around the room nervously, "Do you think everyone really made it out alright? I hope no one's been hurt."

A chill ran down Neptune's spine, prompting her to rub her arms, "I'm more goosebumpalicious thinking about what's waiting for us up ahead."

The party advanced into further into the Expo showroom to see whether or not there was still anyone there. After two minutes of searching, the group came upon there major reason for even being at the Expo; Chian. Neptune raced over to the owner of Passe, "Chian! Whatcha doin'?!"

Chian was standing with her arms folded and an irritated look on her face, "Just listening to Singe's stupid lecture."

The aforementioned man was standing at the front of the room that all of the other attendees were in, giving what sound like a longwinded speech about what else? His precious machines. "Man-made products sometimes provoke unexpected, unfortunate incidents. I've gone through it personally!"

Many of the other Expo goers were looking bored out of their wits, indicating that Singe had been going on for some time now. As the false president's speech continued, Gust found her attention being drawn to what looked to be the weapon that Avenir had developed for the Tech Expo, "Um… Friends?"

Gust pointed at the weapon that was behind Singe, which was a very large robot. Compa looked at the robot with wide eyes, "Whoa, look at that robot! Is that what Avenir prepared for the Expo…?"

IF folded her arms over her chest as she began to size up the mechanical terror that looked as big as the Killachine the party had dealt with before. Two abnormally shaped wings protruded from the monstrosities' back, though they clearly had no propulsion system and did not to increase mobility in anyway. The robot's arms were mounted with blades, which left its hands free for other use. Avenir's final product was quite intimidating, "Its sole purpose is to take down Neptune. It looks like its only function is to destroy."

"I do not wish to make the same mistake. That's why I'm replacing all of humanity with machinery! These precise machines, made from the imprecise hands of humans!" Singe looked around at the other weapons developers and attendees who looked very disinterested. "Hey, you are listening, right?"

Neptune flailed her hand in the air to get Singe's attention and assumed her thinking pose, possibly to spout off some manner of randomness that she was notorious for, "I don't get it. You hate humans and totally dig machines, so… you'd prefer dating a buncha tools?"

Chian was quite surprised with the Avenir Representative's statement, clearly able to see something that most people wouldn't, "He… He can't trust any products he makes himself. He's deathly afraid of hurting someone with a product he created and he's shouldering everyone else with that fear."

The female weapons developer grabbed the weapon sitting on her display table and handed it held it out to Neptune. "Use my weapon to show him how trustworthy a man-made, future-proof product can be!"

Neptune had received the Mech Sword Armas, the weapon she had been testing for the hard working shop owner. Neptune pumped her arms as she took the beam saber, the excitement on her face plain as day, "Heck yeah! I'll strike Avenir's robot in its weak point for some crazy damage!"

"It's not quite our original plan, but this should be the most impressive demonstration ever!"

Avenir's weapon began to move and immediately set its sights on Neptune. All of the people in the path of the robot quickly scattered as it advanced toward its target. Once close enough the large robot swung its right arm at the purplenette, though Neptune moved out of the way before the blade could even get close to her. Neptune, having just dodged the robot's attack, bent over and slapped her left butt cheek with one hand while sticking her tongue out at the somewhat clumsy robot, "Hah! You suck! You couldn't hit me even if you tried."

As Neptune was provoking the large mech, it raised its arm which it had just used to attack the preteen and the tip of blade attached to the arm slid back, revealing what appeared to be a cannon. A dark red ball shot out of the hidden weapon and began to hover over Neptune's head.

Neptune stopped her antics to look at the mass of energy hanging over head, "Huh?"

The large red orb split into eight smaller orbs, which disappeared shortly after each fired a laser at the party's leader, "Uh oh…"

An explosion ensued that launched Neptune into the air, prompting the girl to scream as she flew across the room, "Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Neptune had flailed her arms in a sad attempt at trying to fly so as not to land on her face, but it was to no avail, as she crashed into the ground… face first. Neptune picked herself up off the ground and rubbed her bottom. "Ouch… I think one of those things hit my butt."

The preteen looked up in time to see another mass of red energy hanging overhead, obviously launched from the Avenir created robot. Just like the first orb, the mass of energy split into eight smaller orbs and fired at the preteen, "Aaaaahhhhhh!"

Neptune got up and ran away before the volley of lasers could send her flying. The purplenette was running around the Expo showroom with remarkable speed and she escaped the numerous attacks launched by the robot. IF shook her head as she watched the purplenette run around the room like a chicken with its head cut off, "This is just too painful to watch…"

Heero couldn't bear to watch this humiliating display either, "IF, you and the other need to focus on getting the civilians to a safe place."

The brunette motioned over to Neptune, who was still running. "And what about our 'oh so great' leader?"

"I will take care of that."

IF shrugged her shoulder taking off toward the crowd of civilians, knowing not to question Heero. Compa gave a quick bow to the Gundam pilot, "Please don't do anything reckless."

Compa took off after the party's Guild Moderatist, leaving Lyrica and Gust, that former of which was frozen in place. Lyrica still hadn't gotten over her shy and reserved personality, and in order to get the pedestrians to safety, she would have to talk to complete strangers. Gust grabbed the songstress by the hand and dragged her in the direction of the crowd, "Come. Civilians need saving."

"D-D-Do I have to…?"

As the quartet of girls went off to handle the safety of the Expo attendees, Heero returned his attention to the more pressing situation, "Of course, handling this matter will be difficult. Its moments like this that I wish I hadn't left Zero on Planeptune."

"We have to work with what we have. Though, Neptune does seem to have gotten herself into quite the predicament, so having the Gundam would make for a quick victory."

Heero wasn't surprised that Zero had made her voice heard. In fact, the Perfect Soldier had actually expected Zero to offer some kind of aid to the party. As Zero had said, the Wing Zero would have made this battle very short, as it was clearly bigger than Avenir's abomination. However, without the giant humanoid robot here, Heero would have to deal with the matter in another way. "I assume you have a battle strategy in mind to deal with the target?"

"Well, you will have to rescue Neptune before we can put it into place. Without HDD, she can't fight the enemy at her full strength, which is a problem. You yourself have used up quite a bit of your stamina using your new ability and will only be able to use HDD one more time for the rest of the day… though you cannot use it for long. For the sake of time, we will designate the target as 'CPU Breaker', considering what it was built for. First, get to Neptune while protecting her from the CPU Breaker, then I will go over the battle plan with both of you."

Heero knew that time was of the essence in this battle. The CPU Breaker was designed to beat Neptune, but he didn't know whether or not the weapon would stop when it defeated her. For all anyone knew, the CPU Breaker could end up going on a rampage like many of Avenir's other robots. If that were the case, the damage would not be limited solely to the Expo and the civilians attending it.

Neptune was still running from the attacks thrown at her by the CPU Breaker, only now she running right at the robot, "Guess I gotta beat you up to make you stop attacking me, jerk!"

The CPU Breaker stopped its laser based attacks, as was evident by the cannon disappearing behind the compartment within the blade on the robot's arm. As it disengaged the range weapon, the CPU Breaker raised its left leg with the intent to crush Neptune with it.

Neptune's eyes snapped shut as she raised the Mech Sword Armas over her head in an awkward defensive posture in anticipation of the large robots attack. When she didn't feel any wait against her weapon, Neptune peeled one eye open and then the other to find the Wing Gundam holding back the large mech's appendage with its shield.

It took a moment for the small Gundam to force back the CPU Breaker before looking back at Neptune, "If you learned not to throw yourself immediately into battle before coming up with a plan my job would be much easier."

"Neptune's idea isn't completely bad. It does allow us to gauge the enemy's capabilities after all."

Neptune immediately looked up with a broad smile on her face, despite the fact that there was nothing there safe for the roof of the building, "Heya, Z! You gonna help us take down the big bad robot?"

"In a way, yes. I have already thoroughly analyzed the target and believe that despite its combat abilities, it should be quite easy to overcome. The target does have quite the offensive armament, and the limbs have been outfitted to use it without much problem. However, all that offensive power comes at a cost… the armor around the torso is very thin, which is a glaring weakness when you consider that the enemy's power source is also located there."

Heero narrowed his eyes as he focused his attention on the CPU Breaker, though no one could tell because his face was hidden behind the Gundam's armor, "So we need to focus on attacking the torso."

"Unfortunately, there is no WE is this battle. While that abomination does present a clear and present threat to the landmass, this is still a demonstration for the Expo… meaning, Heero, that you cannot help Neptune in any way with your ordinance."

A disheartened look made its way onto Neptune's face, "Dude, you're joking, right? Heero can't help me at all? This sucks."

Zero knew Neptune wasn't going to like the idea of having to fight the Avenir made robot all on her own. "Not entirely so. Just because Heero cannot use any lethal weaponry does not mean he can't help you. While you will be using the only weapon we can fight with, Heero will be your shield. Just focus on attacking the enemy, and let Heero focus on defense. Based on the power of the weapon provided by Chian, you will need three strikes in order to win. Two to break through the armor, and one to destroy the target's power source. While you need to exercise caution, you must also move quickly. Heero does not have much stamina left and cannot maintain his transformed state for much longer. I wish you both the best of luck."

Neptune threw out her free hand, balling it into a fist as she did, "Hey you big ugly robot! Heero and I are totally gonna beat you with the power of our love and stuff!"

Heero grimaced underneath his armor, "Again with this variable that doesn't physically exist…"

The Gundam pilot waited for Neptune to move. Seconds passed and the purplenette did nothing, until finally she looked at her bodyguard, "So… how exactly am I supposed to get up there?"

Neptune's question did give some cause for concern. While the CPU Breaker's torso was lightly armored and would be easy to break into, getting up to it was another story. Neptune couldn't exactly jump up to it, and without HDD she couldn't make use of her hover and flight capabilities, "I guess I will have to take care of that as well. You will have to hold onto me so I can carry you close enough to the target."

Almost immediately, Neptune jumped onto Heero's back and wrapped her arms around his armored neck. "That's a plan I can totally get behind."

"Once we are close enough, you will have to let go in order to engage the target."

The party's purple haired leader pointed the end of the Mech Sword Armas at the CPU Breaker, "We're gonna show you that Chian's weapon is way better than you!"

Dust began to and debris began to shot away from the Wing Gundam as its thrusters began to lift it and it's passenger into the air. The CPU Breaker raised its arm to use its concealed weapon again and promptly fired at the Gundam.

Within a fraction of a second, the Wing Gundam shot toward the cumbersome robot that had just fired at it. As the mass of energy drew closer, Heero maneuvered out of the way of the projectile, which continued on until it reached the spot the Wing Gundam had been last, split into eight smaller orbs, then pelted the ground with lasers.

The fact that the attack had not homed in on the Gundam meant that the concealed weapon was not a tracking weapon, and could be avoided with ease, "At this point, getting within range to use the weapon that Chian developed should be the only thing that gives us any difficulty."

Heero dodged the projectiles as they came, though the firing rate of the CPU Breaker's weapon made evasion very simple. Once the mobile suit was right in front of Avenir's weapon, it immediately shot up toward the roof of the building.

Neptune released her grip on the Gundam as soon as the passed by the CPU Breaker's head, holding the Mech Sword Armas over her head with both hands, "Hiiiiiiiiyaaaaah!"

The preteen swung the sword down as hard as she could, cutting into the robot from its head down to its chest. The CPU Breaker's head took marginal damage from the beam saber, while the torso received considerable damage due to the thin armor around it.

Neptune stumble upon hitting the ground and flailed her arms in order to balance herself before looking at the damaged robot, "How's that? Ready to give up?"

As if in response to Neptune's taunting, the robot swung its left arm at her. The purplenette landed on her stomach as she narrowly evaded the large blade, though the robot towering over her took the opportunity to try and flatten her with its foot. The robot would have succeeded, had Heero not intercepted the limb at the last second.

A loud groaning noise filled the air as the Wing Gundam held back the larger robot. Heero took a moment to look down at Neptune as he used his shield to hold off the CPU Breaker, "Move out of the way!"

The purple haired preteen grabbed the saber she had dropped in her bid to get away from the robot's first attack and quickly put some distance between herself and the robot that was built with the sole purpose of defeating her.

Heero wasn't as lucky as Neptune, as shortly after forcing the larger robot back, he was struck across the chest with its blade. The Wing Gundam was sent sliding across the showroom on its back and landed a few feet away from Neptune. Heero propped himself back up, casting a glare at the CPU Breaker as he did, "Any other time I would have easily disarmed it…"

Like any other right minded person, Heero didn't like getting hit. He wanted to retaliate against the robot, but because this was a 'demonstration' he was stuck using only his shield. Were it not for the fact that the success of the party's quest hinged on it, Heero would have started using his lethal ordinance.

While the attack was enough to send him back a considerable distance, the Gundam had not sustained any serious damage. Neptune started shaking her fist at the CPU Breaker as Heero stood back up, "Hey, nobody gets away with hitting my Destined Lover, meanie!"

"I'm fine. The sooner we destroy the enemy, the better off we'll be."

Neptune got back onto the Wing Gundam's back as they prepared to make a second pass at the CPU Breaker. "Two more attacks should end this battle. Make sure you don't miss."

The preteen waved off Heero's comment, "There's nothing to worry about. I'll kick his butt no problem."

Of course, it wasn't going to be as easy as Neptune thought. Just as the duo got in front of the CPU Breaker and ascend for their second attack, the robot held its arms up and made an X with its blades before charging. Because it was so slow the Wing Gundam was able to move out of the way before the CPU Breaker could get close enough to attack, but the blades were preventing any attack from getting through to the torso.

Neptune had to strengthen her grip on Heero since the Gundam suddenly jerked back to evade the oncoming mech, "Hey, you're supposed to wait your turn! The nerve of some people."

The Avenir made robot only took one step toward the Wing Gundam and its passenger before it was struck in the head by numerous bullets, though they left no damage at all. Turning its head to the left, the CPU Breaker's sensors identified Compa, IF and Gust with Lyrica standing behind them on the Expo showrooms second floor catwalk. Compa looked slightly scared as she turned to looked at IF, "Iffy, that didn't seem to deal any damage."

"It doesn't matter if it didn't do anything. The point of that was to distract the robot."

Lyrica's face grew pale as the CPU Breaker turned to face the girls, "Ummm… It's looking right at us. What do we do now?"

Gust immediately put her broom away started running down the catwalk, "Now we run!"

The quartet of girls ran down the catwalk as the robot attack, firing its concealed weapon since the girls were clearly out of range of its blades. It didn't take long for the long metal walkways of the second floor to be covered in debris as the CPU Breaker damaged portions of the wall in its attempt to get rid of the girls.

Lyrica came close to getting blasted off the second floor, but a timely intervention from Neptune averted the potential catastrophe, "Hey, you're supposed to be fighting me!"

Heero and Neptune had taken advantage of the distraction created by the girls to move in for their second attack. The party's loveable purple haired leader was already free falling toward the metal giant with the Mech Sword Armas already over her head.

A loud grating noise filled the air as the saber cut into the CPU Breaker a second time, leaving a jagged cut in the armor as it was pulled down by the weight of its user. Neptune fell on her butt when the saber had finished cutting into the abomination and promptly rubbed her bottom, "Oww! My super delicate butt isn't meant to get hurt like this!"

After rubbing her damaged bottom, the preteen grabbed the weapon she had dropped and turned to look at the CPU Breaker. The two jagged cuts she had left on the torso of the giant formed a rather awkward looking X shape, but intersected and made a visible hole on the armor. A light could be seen emanating from the hole, which could only come from the CPU Breaker's power source. Neptune stared at the mech as it went into a spasm of sorts. "So… we got the bad guy twice now. We just gotta hit it one more time, right?"

The CPU Breaker ceased it erratic movements and a ball of energy began to form over the metal behemoth. Heero landed a few feet behind Neptune and waited to see what the Avenir made robot would do until the Wing Gundam's sensors detected an energy buildup coming from the CPU Breaker. The Gundam pilot drove his shield into the ground in front of himself, "Neptune, get behind me now!"

Sensing the urgency in Heero's voice, Neptune quickly ran behind the armored teen as the CPU Breaker continued to build energy. Up on what was left of the second floor, Compa and the others were watching what was going on, "What do you think is happening with Mr. Robot?"

A nervous drop of sweat ran down the side of IF's face, "I've got a bad feeling about this. We probably shouldn't stay up here… For more than one reason."

After ten seconds of building up energy, the CPU Breaker fired numerous beams of energy down at the duo. The beams fired in various directions, striking the floor, walls and ceiling of the expo showroom, as well as a few of the weapons that had been put up on display.

Lyrica was screaming at the top of her lungs as she and the rest of the girls quickly ran down the flight of stairs leading down into the lobby, "Why is this happening to us?!"

Gust shouted back at the songstress as they ran from the hail of attacks from the metal giant, "Less talk! More run!"

Down on the showroom floor the Wing Gundam was being pelted by the numerous beams of energy, using its shield to block some of the oncoming attacks. Neptune was behind the Wing Gundam, so unless Heero took too much damage she had nothing to worry about.

The numerous blasts of energy lasted for roughly twenty seconds, and just when it seemed like the CPU Breaker was finished, the metal giant fired a final blast of energy that erupted into a large explosion upon contact with the ground in front of the Gundam.

A violent quake followed the explosion, causing the lights hanging from the ceiling to rattle and shake, a few of them even fell to the ground and shattered. The explosion had generated a cloud of dust that obscured the vision of all those in and outside of it, which Compa, IF, Lyrica and Gust found out for themselves upon reentering the showroom floor. The party's nurse frantically scanned the area before them, but the dust kept Compa from seeing much of anything, "I hope they're alright…"

IF was having just as much luck seeing anything as Compa, "Well, Heero is pretty tough, so I doubt anything happened to him. And Nep, well she's pretty thickheaded, it would take a lot to kill her off."

It took a moment, but the dust cloud finally escaped through the now broken windows around the building and the Wing Gundam was still standing where it had been before the bombardment started. Despite numerous nicks and scratches across its chassis, the Gundam looked like it was fine, while Neptune was unharmed having taken refuge behind Heero.

The preteen coughed a few times since some of the dust had gotten into her mouth, "If you wanna smoke, take it outside buster!"

Heero was watching the CPU Breaker, waiting for any more sign of movement from the behemoth before noticing that the light that had been emanating from its torso had died down a bit, "Neptune, now would be our best chance to deliver the killing blow. That attack clearly depleted the target of a great deal of energy and will need to recharge."

Neptune's excitement was plain as day on her face. "Then let's go bust him good! You just gotta fly me up there, and I'll take him down with one hit."

"That will not suffice this time. In order to hit the generator, you will need clear visual contact of it and simply flying you to the target would require guess work. The enemy is almost down, we cannot afford to leave anything to chance, which is why I am going to force the target onto the ground."

Neptune looked at her bodyguard with wide eyes, "Heero, I know you're strong and all, but do ya really think you can knock that big thing over?"

Heero analyzed the large machine once more. "With most of its systems down, I believe it is possible. You will have to work quickly though."

With the plan for the third and final attack laid out, Neptune climbed onto the Wing Gundam's back, "Hang on as tight as you can."

A grin made its way onto the purplenette's face, "Just for you I'll hold on super tight, my Destined Lover."

Heero heaved a mental sigh as he fired up the Gundam's thrusters one more time. The Mobile Suit didn't ascend into the air like it had the first two times, instead flying straight at the CPU Breaker.

The metal giant was still recovering from expending so much power at once that it had no way of defending itself from the Wing Gundam, which rammed right into its head with its shield. The towering mech was lifted a few feet off of the ground before landing flat on its back. Heero maneuvered his head to look back at Neptune, "Now! While its still immobile!"

Neptune released her hold on the Gundam and made her way down to the torso of the weapon designed to defeat her. The core was dimly lit, but visible, and presented the only real target inside of the machine, "Take this!"

The purple haired girl raised her saber over her head and swiftly brought it down, driving it right into the core of the machine and piercing through the CPU Breaker's power source. Electricity shot out in different directions as the energy contained within the generator escaped.

Heero grabbed the preteen and put as much distance between themselves and the robot that was clearly about to blow. Explosions rocked the CPU Breaker's body, ending with one final explosion that sent pieces of metal flying everywhere around the showroom. Neptune watched the fire that was burning in the spot where the robot had once been, "Wow, he blew up good."

Singe looked at the ruined remains of Avenir's weapon in utter disbelief, "…How? How could an imprecise ape girl's machine take down Lastation's most advanced technology?!"

Neptune dusted off the front of her hoodie before looking at the Avenir Representative, "I dunno how you two became rivals, but I betcha I know why we won. Chian's weapons are warm. Yours are cold." The purplenette hugged her bodyguard who was still clad in armor, a grin spreading across her face. "Of course, the love between Heero and I totally guaranteed our victory."

Heero maintained a stoic façade as Zero began to poke fun at the Gundam pilot and side with his charge, "Before you go saying that love can't affect a battle, you should know that love is a very powerful thing."

"I still fail to see how an intangible variable could sway the course of battle."

Chian nodded her head, "That's right. I used everything you tossed away to make my weapons, including the human heart!"

The rest of the party was standing off to the side observing the conversation. IF folded her arms as she watched Chian and Singe, "Hmm. This is touching, but I wish we could've had a good closing comment, too."

Compa didn't seemed bothered herself, "Chian and Nep-Nep did a good job for us, though."

Singe looked back down at the destroyed robot, "I don't understand… What… was wrong with this?"

"…Well, that's the end of Avenir, huh?" The party directed their attention to a familiar voice nearby. The newcomer was the white haired swordstress of Lastation that they had encountered more than a few times during their travels. "All their plans ended in failure. You little girls stopped everything."

Neptune pointed at the snow haired girl, sensing an ensuing brawl with the sword maiden, "Hey you, Newtype! We got a fancy weapon now. C'mon, let's go!"

The swordstress put one hand on her hip as she raised a questioning eyebrow at the preteen who was quick to start a fight, "We can do this if you insist, but wouldn't you need a nap first? Two bosses in a row is a bit… Well, I won't go easy, y'know."

IF quickly ran over to Neptune and slapped a hand over her mouth, "Shut it, Nep. She's not here to fight."

Heero had his suspicions the whole time, but could tell that the girl really had no intention of fighting the party, "Even if she were here to fight us, it would be ill advised on our part to do so. We have already exhausted most of our energy between the Sanctuary's job request and dealing with Avenir's weapon. We wouldn't be able to put up much resistance in a second battle, and could very well lose."

Compa eyed the girl with suspicion, "What are you doing here? We already beat the bad robot. You're not needed!"

The girl began to fidget as she looked off in another direction, "It's not like I came here to thank you or anything. I could've beaten that robot easily. S-So… well… Thanks, I guess."

Neptune inclined her head as she looked at the girl, "…Huh? What's this…?"

Turning around so that her back was to the party, the white haired beauty continued in a tone that suggested that she was ashamed of what had happened. "If I were more careful, this wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. That's it."

A few seconds passed and the mystery girl turned back around to face the group, "Normally I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of you, Neptune, but I owe Heero for helping me. Don't think I'll be so forgiving next time."

With that, the swordstress quickly left the Expo. Heero questioned how exactly the mystery girl owed him anything until he thought back to the mishap on Leanbox, "(All I did was tell a slightly altered report as to what had happened. It was to save myself a headache I would have received from listening to Neptune.)"

Compa watched as the girl left, unsure of what to make of what had happened, "Umm, so what do we do now?"

Chian was busy cleaning up the debris around her booth, "Come on, help me clean this up." As the party begrudgingly helped clean up the mess, Chian finished cleaning off the top of her booth before looking at the group. "Let's call the Basilicom. I'm sure the Sanctuary is back and operating normally already."

Just as the party finished cleaning up the mess around Chian's booth, a large crowd of people, both Expo attendees and participants congregated around them. Chian turned her attention to the crowd that grew larger with each passing second, "Did you all come to see the weapon I developed? Here, perhaps another demo-"

"Yes, we came to see the weapon, but not that one." The expo attendee that was talking pointed at the Wing Gundam. "THAT one."

The crowd quickly congregated around Heero, who was still encased in the Wing Gundam's armor. Each and every person around the mobile suit looked on in awe at the humanoid robot, "What a sophisticated machine. Clearly more advanced than Avenir's weapon."

"It aesthetically pleasing. Clearly the work of a great designer."

"It appeared to me that the weapon was holding back during that entire demonstration. I would love to see what it is actually capable of."

This was a no-brainer. Heero had only planned on using his Gundam transformation to aid Neptune in defeating the CPU Breaker, he hadn't planned on being the Expo's weapon of show. It would be extremely difficult for the party if he were to discontinue the use of his transformation now, but that meant jeopardizing the party's main objective.

IF had a sympathetic look on her face as she look at the Gundam, only able to guess at how Heero was feeling at that moment, "This doesn't look to good for Heero. Do we have a Plan B for this kind of situation?"

Neptune flashed the party a thumbs-up, "There's only one thing to do in this kinda situation. Time for some improv!"

The party's leader quickly ran around to the back of the Gundam and jumped onto its back. "Look here, ladies and gents! This here is a top-of-the-line super battle robot made by Chian! This one is mine, so ya'll can't have this one, and Chian would love to make more of 'em, but her factory was kinda trashed so she can't." Neptune then held out the Mech Sword Armas. "But if you guys buy a lot of her weapon, she can fix up her factory a make some more of these bad boys. Order now while supplies and I last!"

After Neptune's little sales pitch, the crowd moved back over to Chian with money held out to the weapons developer. Lyrica looked on with an incredulous stare, "That was rather crude… I can't believe it actually worked."

Compa had a bright smile plastered onto her face, "At least everything worked out in the end. I think we all deserve a good rest from all of this."

It wasn't often, but it was moments like this that Heero was actually glad that Neptune was around, "(We were able to avert a potential disaster to our mission. Fortunately we won't be meeting with the goddess until tomorrow. I don't believe I have the stamina left to endure a meeting with this landmasses highest figure.)"

Heero had to wait until the party made it out of the Tech Expo before he could revert from his transformation, and the party made plans to go to bed early, having exhausted themselves from the day's events. Perhaps the only thing that helped them to sleep easy was the fact that since they had won the Expo, they would be granted an audience with Lastation's CPU Black Heart. That alone was enough to reassure the party that they would find the Lastation Key Fragment soon.

Xxx

Me: "Finally! First off, I'd like to apologize to our readers for the long wait on this chapter. I've had a lot going on, and I've been trying to find some new material for the story, but everything I've found won't apply until the sequels. So I'm putting off my material research until we get into mk. 2, save ourselves the trouble."

Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC) "The sooner we get our M Rated scene the better I say."

Heero: "It did take some time to put out this chapter."

Me: "Something that I hope won't happen too often now that I'm holding off on my research until after this story."

Zero: (Appears behind Heero and Neptune) "At the very least, the readers will appreciate the update."

Me: "That they will. Now, since I don't feel like waiting for the others to get here, I figure I would just have you three wrap up the chapter and will be on our way."

Heero, Neptune and Zero: "Read and review this chapter, and look forward to the next update."

Me: "Back to work. Let's go."

Me, Heero, Neptune and Zero: (Exit ACCC from Left Entrance)

Compa, IF, Lyrica and Gust: (Enter ACCC from Right Entrance) "Sorry we're late! We got caught up wi-"

Compa: (Looks around ACCC) "Where is everyone?"

IF: (Finds note on the floor) "What's this?" (Reads note) "What?! They took off without us?!"

Lyrica: (Points toward Left Entrance) "We can still catch up if we hurry!"

Gust: "Gust doesn't like excessive running."

Compa, IF, Lyrica and Gust: (Exit ACCC from Left Entrance)