Me: "Hello, good readers! The 4th of July is upon us, and we have a new bonus chapter to commemorate the occasion."
Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Enter IC) "Another bonus chapter? Awesome sauce!"
Compa: "Our readers really seem to like the bonus chapters. Maybe because it's extra content?"
Neptune: "Does the reason really matter? The bonus stuff we get in this story sets us apart from all of the other boring cross-over stories… they're total snooze fests."
Heero: "Regardless, it would be best to maintain a steady work pace so as to insure that this story retains its originality, and so that other writers cannot copy this writing style."
Black Heart: (Enters IC from Break Room) "The author asked me to make an appearance in this chapter, so here I am. I imagine you called me here so that I can defeat Neptune, well why wait until the actual story when I can do that right now?!
White Heart: (Enters IC from left entrance) "…I'll be the one to defeat Neptune. Then Heero will be mine."
Green Heart: (Enters IC from right entrance) "What's this? Whoever defeats Neptune gets to have Heero? In that case, I'll do what I can to defeat her myself."
Neptune: (Grabs onto Heero's arm) "None of you stalker ladies can have Heero 'cuz he's mine! He's MY Destined Lover!"
Me: "Alright people, break it up! I didn't bring anyone here to defeat anybody, and I don't write these bonus chapters so you can bad mouth the authors of other cross-over stories. I write these bonus chapters purely because I want to. And right now, you all are here to help out with the 4th of July special."
IF: "So quit fighting over Heero and let's focus on getting the story underway. (Because Heero is mine!)"
Me: "Right, so let's get Zero and 5–chan in here. Zero! 5! Could you come in here?"
5pb and Zero: (Enters IC from entrance in middle of room) "Here! What a fine day to see all of our readers!"
IF: (Looks around IC) "Where is everyone else? There should be more people here."
Me: (Looks down at watch) "Give it a sec."
Nisa: (Crashes through ceiling window and lands in middle of IC) "The Keeper of Justice, Nisa, is here to participate in another of our heroic Bonus chapters!"
Me: (Punches Nisa in the back of the head): "What did I tell you about breaking the window?!"
Gust: (Enters IC from Lounge) "Gust was putting away important ingredients."
Neptune: "Looks like everybody's here. This is gonna be another totally awesome bonus chapter, I just know it!"
Me: (Points to cast) "Hit it!"
Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero, 5pb, Gust, Nisa, Black Heart, White Heart and Green 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: "We all hope you enjoy the bonus chapter, and that you enjoy your 4th of July!"
Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Zero, 5pb, Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart: (Leave IC)
Bonus Chapter: 4th of July Special! Operation: Save the 4th of July Bash! (Cuz a big mean monster is ruining our awesome party!)
IF and Compa were returning to the safe house the party was using on Planeptune after finishing a relatively easy job they had been given. The party had returned to Planeptune once again at Neptune's request, though her reason for coming back was unknown, "What do you think Nep-Nep is doing right now, Iffy?"
The brunette next to Compa blew a stray strand of hair out of her face, "I don't know Compa, and frankly, I don't care. She's probably goofing off as usual anyway."
The two girls arrived at the front of their safe house, IF put her hand on the doorknob of the front door and when she opened it, was greeted with streamers, confetti and a loud, obnoxious noise that caused her to fall onto her back. Compa was momentarily startled by the loud noise before she saw its source, "Nep-Nep? What are you doing?"
Neptune was standing in the doorway with balled up streamers in one hand, confetti in the other, and a noisemaker was sticking out of her mouth. The purple haired preteen let the obnoxious object fall out of her mouth so she could speak, "Isn't it obvious Compa? It's the 4th of July!"
IF picked a streamer off of her face before giving Neptune a look that suggested that she was very annoyed, "That doesn't mean blast us with paper and loud noise in broad daylight. And what does today have to do with anything?"
Lyrica poked her head out the doorway to see what was going on, "What's going on? I was working on the lyrics for a new song when I heard a loud noise."
Neptune began to flail her arms all of a sudden, "No time for that! We got more uber important stuff to think about!"
IF stood up and dusted off her backside while Compa tilted her head in confusion, "Like what?"
Before the three girls knew it, Neptune had grabbed all three of them and began to run towards the city, "I'll tell you when we get there."
"When we get whereeeeee….?!"
Xxx
Minutes after leaving the safe house, a cloud of dust could be seen approaching the center of Planeptune's capital city… which was Neptune carrying Compa, IF and Lyrica. Neptune released her hold on the trio of girls when she came to a complete stop in the middle of a nearby park, causing the three girls to fly through the air and land in a pile a short distance away. Neptune looked at the three girls who were groaning from being dragged around, "This is no time to be sleeping guys! We gotta get goin'!"
IF could only lift her head to look at Neptune since Compa and Lyrica were lying on top of her, and she gave the preteen an irritated look, "…I swear I'm gonna wring that flimsy little neck of hers."
Neptune began to look around at the various shops surrounding the park while Compa, IF and Lyrica picked themselves up off the ground, "What are we looking for, Nep-Nep?"
The purplenette turned to face her fellow party members, "We gotta find a fireworks shop, a bakery and the grocery store so we can get burgers and hot dogs and other goodies we can put on the grill!"
Lyrica watched the party's leader for a moment, expecting her to explain why they were going to the trouble of looking for the three stores, "Why? Are we having a party?"
"Well, duh! I was taking pictures on Heero's computer and was gonna change the wallpaper so that my cute face would be the first thing he sees in the morning, when I saw that the calender thingy was blinking. When I clicked on it, I found out that where Heero comes from, they celebrate with a big ol' barbeque, tasty treats, and fireworks and all kinds of other good stuff! And I said to myself, we gotta do that!"
IF rolled her eyes as she listened to Neptune, "Here we go again. You say we gotta do something because you're listening to your stomach again."
Neptune flailed her arms in a comical fashion as she tried to persuade the brunette to help, "C'mon, Iffy. Today might be really important to Heero! Are you still gonna say no?"
The Guild Moderatist averted her eyes as she thought about it. If Neptune was telling the truth, then there was the possibility that this day might have some meaning to the party's lone male member. And when she thought about, IF realized that this wasn't one of Neptune's crazy ideas to get closer to Heero, but something for the entire group. They were still taking a break from looking for the Key Fragments after all.
IF heaved a sigh as she gave in, "When you put it like that, I guess I don't have much of a choice."
"Nope, which is why you're gonna help us. Lyrics and Iffy are gonna go look for a grocery store and get lots of soda and everything we need for the barbeque grill. Compa and I are gonna look for a bakery a bring back some cakes, then we'll look for a fireworks store."
Compa took the time to notice that out of the overall number of members in their party, they were the only four there, "Where are Heero, Gust and Ms. Heroine?"
Lyrica shifted her gaze toward the sky as she thought about where the other three members of the party were, "Gust left to go get some ingredients. Nisa jumped out her bedroom window saying she could 'hear the cries of the innocent'. And Heero-"
"Is there some reason you're looking for me?"
Lyrica let out a surprised yelp before turning around to see Heero looking at her with a questioning look on his face. The cerulean haired singer breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that, Heero."
Heero shifted his attention to the other three girls, "Did you need something?"
A grin spread across Neptune's face as she looked at her bodyguard, "You better believe it. I was on your computer and saw that today is a really important day for you. So we're gonna have a party, and I need you to help us get ready!"
The Perfect Soldier narrowed his eyes at the girl before him, "What exactly were you doing with my laptop?"
Neptune waved off the Gundam pilot. "All tell you once we get everything for our big party. Now, since we're lovers, you get to come with me and Compa to look for a bakery."
IF shot a disgruntled look at the party's leader as she linked arms with Heero, "That's a poor excuse for taking Heero with you. If anything, Heero should be helping us with getting the groceries."
Compa grabbed onto Heero's other arm and began to walk away with the Perfect Soldier, "Make sure you get all of the food Iffy. We want to make sure we have everything for our 4th of July party!"
Lyrica started pouting as Neptune and Compa walked away with Heero, "That's not fair. Neptune always plays that Destined Lover card and get Heero all to herself. What about us?"
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with. We can get onto her later."
IF and Lyrica went off in search of the grocery store to get the food they would need for the party.
Xxx
In one of the parks within Planeptune's capital city Gust was sitting on a park bench with Nisa, the former heaving a disappointed sigh. Nisa pat the young alchemist on the back, a sympathetic smile on her face, "Cheer up, Gust. I'm sure you'll find it eventually."
"Gust does not understand. How does shop not have ingredient?"
While the heroine was consoling Gust, Green Heart walked into the park with a box in her hands. The blonde haired CPU looked to her left and right as she searched for Neptune and her group, "I'm sure they're here. I brought these cakes hoping Heero and Iffy could play today."
As Green Heart surveyed the area for any sign of Neptune and her party, White Heart walked into the park through the opposite entrance, her nose stuck in her book, "It is important to take a break now and then, or your creativity will suffer."
The CPU of Lowee pulled herself out of her book for a moment to look around at the scenery. "...Normally I wouldn't come here, but the staff is cleaning out the Basilicom, and the book says to go somewhere outside my comfort zone. I don't have much choice."
Just when White Heart was about to go back to her book, she suddenly collided with something and fell onto her back. "Hey, watch it!"
"Oh my… I hadn't planned on running into YOU here."
A frown made its way onto the ivory haired girl's face as she looked up, recognizing the voice she was hearing, "...You know, just hearing your voice pisses me off."
The look on Green Heart's face suggested that she was equally displeased to see the young girl, "And hearing you spew out that obscene language really tries my patience."
White heart stood up, dusted off her back side, then picked her book up off of the ground, "Just what are you doing here, anyway? I was hoping to get away from everything that got on my nerves, and you're not helping."
Green Heart let out a huff as she looked away from the ivory haired girl, "Now that it's any of your business, I came here to see Neptune and her little group. Heero in particular, but you already knew that, didn't you?"
Before the smaller girl could throw out a witty retort, the two were interrupted by a certain purple haired girl, "Lady Green Heart? What'cha doing here?"
Both CPU's stopped their bickering and turned their attention to the energetic girl. A smile graces Lady Green Heart's face, "Ah, Neptune." The CPU of Leanbox looked past Neptune to see Heero and Compa. "And I see that you brought Heero as well. Perfect. There is something I wanted to ask you."
Neptune scanned the buildings around the park, looking for a bakery , but was not having any luck, "Sorry, but we're kinda looking for a bakery. You can ask me whatever you want after we have our cakes. Well, you can't ask me for Heero. He's my lover, and not on the table for things to ask me for."
White Heart suddenly began coughing when Neptune said that Heero was her lover, "(There she goes, spouting that load of shit again. Like hell she could ever be Heero's lover.)"
Meanwhile, Lady Green Heart had a bewildered look on her face, "Where in the world would you get such an idea? I'm not asking you to give Heero to me or anything. (Not when I know he will come to me once I have gotten rid of you.)"
The purplenette turned to Heero and Compa, "Do you guys see anything?"
Compa shook her at the party's leader, "I don't think we're going to find a bakery here, Nep-Nep. Do we really even need cakes?"
Heero had his attention elsewhere as he looked for the girl's destination, "I doubt we are going to find one around here. We will most likely have to search on the other side of the city to find one."
Neptune then shouted at Gust and Nisa, who were still seated on the park bench further behind them, "Hey, did you two happen to see a bakery around here?! Y'know, the place that sell pastries and stuff?!"
The two girls exchanged glances, "Gust is surprised Neptune noticed us."
Nisa shouted back at the leader of the group, "Sorry to say, but no. I have been too busy protecting the denizens of this fair city!"
"Pardon me for asking, but why are you looking for a bakery?"
Neptune turned back around to see a quizzical look on Green Heart's face, "Cuz we need to get some cakes for our awesome party we're having! I think today is a really important day for Heero, so we're gonna have a cookout."
Lady Green Heart lifted the box in her hands "I Just happen to have a box of cakes. I would be willing to give them to you, if you allow me to join you."
The preteen licked her lips as she imagined the sugary delights hidden in the box. "You sure can, I mean, as long as I get to have those cakes you got there." Neptune then walked over and began to poke White Heart's cheek. "What about you? You wanna come with us? Do ya?"
White Heart swat away Neptune's cheek out of irritation, "...I'll go if you'll stop poking me."
Neptune began to pull the two CPUs toward the others, "D'ja hear that you guys? They're comin' with us!"
The group along with Green Heart and White Heart began to make their way back to the party's safe house. Elsewhere, Lastation's CPU, Lady Black Heart, was walking down the street with her attention shifting from one thing to the another, "I'm certain they came here. I just need to find out where they're staying. If I can find just one of them..."
As if on cue, IF and Lyrica came out of the grocery store right next to the raven haired girl. Lyrica was carrying a large number of bags, whereas IF was only holding two, "How come I have to carry more than you, IF? You're stronger than me, you should carry more!"
"It's you two."
The two girls stopped their bickering when they noticed the CPU of Lastation in front of them, "Lady Black Heart? Why are you here?"
Lady Black Heart was not about to tell them that she was there to get rid of Neptune, so she looked away while trying to think of a plausible reason for being on Planeptune. "No special reason. I just happened to have some free time and decided to visit, that's all?" It was then that the CPU noticed the large amount of groceries that the two were carrying. "Why do you have so many groceries? Did Neptune eat everything you have?"
IF checked the time on her cell phone before replying to the CPU, "No, we're just getting some things for a barbeque. According to Neptune, today is supposed to be a special day for Heero, so we're getting having a party back at our place."
At the mentioning of Heero's name, Lady Black Heart's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "H-Heero? So today is really important to him? (I guess I can put off getting rid of Neptune for today. Heero is more important than her anyway.)"
"I guess. I don't have any of the specifics, and for all I know, Neptune might be letting her stomach think for her again. I'm just doing it in case today does have some meaning to Heero."
The CPU's gaze wondered again, "In that case, I guess I'll go along with you. I have other things I could do, but this sounds interesting, so I'll help."
Lyrica immediately dropped some of the bags of groceries in the raven haired girl's hands, "Then you can start by helping me carry some of this stuff."
Lady Black Heart almost fell over from the bags of food being put in her hands, "H-How much food did you two get? These are heavy!"
IF scratched the bag of her head as a cold bead of sweat ran down the side of her head, "Experience has taught us to stock up on a lot of food. Neptune has a bad habit of cleaning us out when we're not looking."
The trio of girls began to head toward the safe house with the excessive amount of food. Along the way, Lyrica leaned toward IF and began to whisper at her, "(So what exactly are we gonna do about… you know.)"
"(We'll figure out something. Seriously though, how could they just run out like that? It doesn't make sense.)"
Xxx
Upon arriving at the safe house, Neptune stashed the box of cakes she had received from Lady Green Heart in the fridge, "Okay, we got our cakes. All we gotta do now is wait for Iffy and Lyrics to come back with our food, then we can get our fireworks and have our barbeque!"
Lady Green Heart pulled a video game out from behind her back, a playful smile on her face, "In the mean time, why don't we play a game? It's a multiplayer, so we can all have fun with it."
Just then the front door opened, and IF, Lyrica and Lady Black Heart walked in, "We're back. We also ran into Lady Black Heart, and she said she wanted to join us for our party."
Heero walked over to the three girls and took the excessive load of groceries from them when it was apparent that Lady Black Heart was going to pass out from carrying the majority of it, "I take it you took Neptune's eating habits into consideration when you bought all of this?"
Lyrica had a weathered look on her face as she handed over the bags of food, "Why does Neptune have to eat so much? These trips to the store are exhausting."
As the Gundam took the bags from Lady Black Heart, his hand gently brushed against her own, eliciting a small gasp from the CPU. Heero looked at the girl for a moment before she waved him off, "N-Nothing! Pay me no mind."
Neptune was getting excited now that they had the food for their barbeque, "Okay, let's get the grill ready so that when we get back with the fireworks we can just light it up and get cookin'!"
IF and Lyrica looked away for a moment, garnering Compa's attention, "Iffy? Lyrica? Is something wrong?"
Both girls flinched before exchanging glances, "Well, you see… We couldn't find any charcoal at the store."
As one might expect, Neptune was not happy with the duo, "What? Sounds like you two just weren't looking hard enough."
IF shot a glare at the purple haired girl, "The hell's that supposed to mean? We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any!"
Nisa had a confused look on her face as she watched the two girls, "You mean you guys don't know?"
The others looked at the blue haired heroine, who clearly knew something about what was going on. "According to the civilians, a monster has been going around eating up all of the charcoal. I don't think anyone here on Planeptune has any left."
Neptune had a blank look on her face and had become silent upon hearing the news, which the party knew wasn't a good thing. After a few seconds of silence, the party's leader was in an uproar, "What?! Y-You're joking, right? Tell me this a joke!" The purplenette grabbed Heero's hand and made for the door, "I'm sure you guys didn't look everywhere. Heero and I will be back with the goods!"
Fifteen minutes past from when Neptune and Heero had left to find the missing item, and when they returned, Neptune looked very disheartened. "I don't believe… nobody's got any charcoal."
Compa began to console the distraught leader, "Don't feel bad, Nep-Nep. We can think of something else to do for the party."
Neptune stomped her foot as a fire burned in her eyes, "No! There's no way I'm letting some mean 'ol monster get between mean and my awesome plans for our party! We gotta find the baddy and him pay! To the Meeting Room!"
The group's 'Meeting Room' was really just the kitchen, since it had the most room in the safe house. The party and the three CPUs sat down around the table as they waited for Neptune to come back from wherever it was she went. White Heart had cracked open her book once again as she tried to make herself comfortable, "...What exactly is she planning?"
Lady Green Heart was just as curious as to what the purplenette was going to do about the monster problem, "I suppose all we can do is wait for Neptune."
Just then, Neptune entered the room with a blackboard and a few other items in hand. The preteen set the blackboard at the front of the table and pinned up a number of pictures onto it consisting of charcoal, a monster's silhouette, and the party on it.
Once she was finished, Neptune pulled out a pointer and turned to the group, "All right people, we know some dumb monster has taken our charcoal and is probably holding it for ransom. Well, we're not gonna let him get away with this, are we?"
IF raised a questioning eyebrow as the purplenette began her spiel on what they were going to do about the monster and their charcoal shortage, "The monster has been EATING the charcoal, not taking it for ransom."
Neptune took a piece of chalk that had been sitting on the blackboard and threw it at the brunette, hitting her right on the forehead. "Quiet down front!"
Compa raised the group's obvious question while IF rubbed her forehead, "We know that the monster has taken the charcoal, but what exactly are we going to do about it?"
"If ya'll would just shut up for a minute, I'll get to that!"
The group was silent as they waited for Neptune to get on with her explanation, "Now, Heero and I went and checked and, unfortunately, like our meat shield and assassin type members said, nobody's got any charcoal. The monster took it all, and has only shown his mug when somebody DOES have some."
Nisa raised her hand into the air, obviously wanting to comment on the plan, "What'cha got for me, Nisa?"
"Well, if the monster really does only show up when someone has some charcoal, how are we going to find the monster when no one on Planeptune has any?"
Neptune had her hands on her hips as she gathered her thoughts, "Well, my first idea was to dress Lyrics up and make her look like a big piece of charcoal to lure the monster out."
The cerulean haired singer looked at Neptune with wide, fearful eyes, "What?! Why me?!"
"Cuz you're the party's meat shield! Anyway, that WAS my first idea, but I don't wanna have to chase Lyrics around the house just dress her up. Which brings me to the second idea." Neptune pulled a plastic baggy out of her hoodie pocket that contained a few lumps of charcoal. "I checked in our garage and found just enough charcoal to fill up this baggy. We'll use this lure out the monster, beat him up, and get the charcoal we need to fire up the grill!"
Black Heart gave the preteen an incredulous stare, "I thought it was just a one time thing with Thanksgiving, but it's amazing how productive she can be when it comes to food."
Neptune began to rapidly flail her arms as she tried to assure the others that she wasn't doing all of this simply for food, "But this day is supposed to be really important for Heero! I gotta do this for my lover!"
And that was all the reason the three Hearts needed to help the party with their monster hunt. Green Heart stood up from her seat while looking at the purplenette, "I was unsure of this at first, but if this really is for Heero, then I shall assist you. Besides, I'm rather intrigue by this little holiday you all have planned."
White Heart slipped a bookmark onto the page she was on a closed her book, "I guess I'll help. I have nothing else to do anyway."
Black Heart, while unwilling to admit it, did not want to be left out of the festivities, "W-wait, I'll go too. I mean, you need all the help you can get, right?"
Neptune didn't even try to hide her excitement at having two CPUs (technically three) helping the party with their little quest to find the monster responsible, "We've got two goddesses helping us! I knew we were already gonna win with Heero, but this pretty much seals the deal! We're totally gonna beat up that monster and save our 4th of July!" The leader of the group pointed toward the front door. "Alright everybody, commence Operation: Save the 4th of July Bash!"
Xxx
While the party had a plan for luring out the monster, they had no idea where to even start looking for it, which resulted in a detour into the city to find information on the whereabouts of the monster responsible for the charcoal shortage.
Eventually, the party had gathered enough information to piece together the location of the monster and headed out for the dungeon in which they would find it. Once they had arrived, the party observed the entrance for any sign of monsters or, more importantly, the creature responsible for the coal thefts.
White Heart was the first to comment on the lack of noise and movement from within the cave, "It's too quiet… I don't like it."
Compa looked down at the piece of paper she had used to take note of all the clues the group had gathered to find their coal stealing monster, "Maybe we're in the wrong dungeon? These clues are kinda vague."
Heero looked down at the ground to see monster tracks heading out of the cave, "No, we are at the correct location. The target has most likely gone out in search of more coal for sustenance. In which case, we may be able to use this to our advantage."
Black Heart caught onto Heero's idea before the rest of the group did, "You mean finding a place to set the bait and waiting for the monster to come back?"
The Perfect Soldier gave a brief nod. "We should survey the area first. The best location to set bait should be in a large open area with plenty of obstructions for us to hide behind."
With nothing else to do other than wait for the monster to return, the group explored the inside of the cave to find the best place to set their trap. The lack of other monsters made the process of exploring the dungeon easier, though in Neptune's case, made it more boring.
After a few minutes of exploration, the group finally settled on a location. Neptune empty the baggy of charcoal onto the ground in the middle of the room, then scampered to her hiding spot with the others, "This has gotta work. If it doesn't, our party is ruined!"
Lady Green Heart poked her head out from behind the rocks that the group was using to hide, "Do we know exactly what kind of monster we're looking for?"
IF had her cell phone opened to check for the description, "It's supposed to be some kind of dragon. Not exactly much to go on, but it's something."
The group waited behind the rocks for five minutes, and just when it seemed like all their waiting had been for nothing, a loud growl resounded throughout the cave. Heero briefly peered out from behind cover to see where the monster was coming from, "The target is here."
Everyone held their breath as the waited for the monster to appear. Eventually, the charcoal thief showed up, and like IF said, it was a dragon. The monster looked exactly like the Light Dragon monsters that the party had faced before, only it was pitch black in color.
As soon as it caught sight of the charcoal on the ground, the dragon increased it's speed. Just as the creature lowered it's head to gobble up the small pile of coal, the sound of gunshots filled the air as three bullets struck the dragon on the side of it's head.
Lady Green Heart was holding a revolver in her right, the barrel of which was smoking. IF was quite surprised by how accurate the CPU's aim was, "Whoa… I had no idea Lady Green Heart was so good with a gun."
The blonde haired CPU waved off the brunette's praise, "Come now, there is no need for praise, Iffy. I have to be able to fight in order to deal with the monsters on Leanbox, after all."
Lady Black Heart pulled out the rapier she had strapped to her waist, "If we couldn't defeat a monster as weak as this, we couldn't call ourselves CPUs. This will be child's play."
Neptune started shouting at the monster, despite the fact that it couldn't understand human speech for the most part, "We're gonna beat you up and get our charcoal back! You big meanie!"
White Heart picked up the large hammer that easily dwarfed her in size, shooting a questioning look at the purple haired girl, "...You realize that thing can't understand you, right?"
While the dragon didn't understand what they were saying, it was still angry at having been shot at. With a loud roar, the dragon charged at the group. As it drew closer, fire began to spew out of the monster's mouth.
Skidding to a halt, the dragon opened it's maw and expelled a wave of fire at the party. While everyone had dispersed in time, the creature arched it's neck so as to try and burn Green Heart and Nisa, who were stuck having to act as the diversion, "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I would help with this matter. Being the diversion just doesn't suit me."
"Alas, we don't have a choice, Lady Green Heart. This foul monster has decided to make us it's prey, and we must keep its attention on us while our comrades work to slay the beast!"
As the two girls did their best to keep from being roasted alive, the rest of the group tried to figure out a plan to deal with the monster, "...So, anybody got any ideas? And we should be quick about. Lady Green Heart and our flat chested heroine over there can't run from that thing forever."
Heero observed the manner in which the monster chose to attack, noting that it seemed to prefer spewing out fire over getting up close and personal, "Long-ranged combat is ill-advised. The target's long reach and excessive amount of fire it can expel makes it too dangerous to attempt."
Lady Black Heart's lips curved into a smirk, "So, close and personal it is. Fine by me, I always did prefer handling things personally anyway."
Neptune pulled out the broadsword she had sheathed on her back, stumbling for a moment before getting a proper foothold, "So we just walk on up and beat on the baddy? I can do that!"
White Heart rolled her eyes, "Any idiot could do that.".
The trio of Neptune, Black Heart and White Heart ran at the monster, only to have the creature turn it's attention toward them… as well as it fire breath. All three girls dodged the attack aimed at them, garnering a response from Lastation's CPU, "Watch it! This is the only outfit I have right now! All the rest are being washed, and I'll get really mad if you burn this one!"
Neptune shook her fist at the dragon, "Yeah! What she said!"
While the trio had ran right at the monster, Heero had circled around to its blind spot and struck the dragon in it's side, eliciting a cry of pain from the creature. In response to the teenaged soldier's attack, the black dragon spun around and tried to take a bite out of Heero, who rammed his GN Sword in-between the monster's teeth.
With the monster's attention focused on Heero, White Heart took the opportunity to strike the dragon's neck with her hammer, "Dumbass, you're open!"
A loud crack filled the air as the blunt weapon made contact with monster. Clearly something had broken in the process, as the monster showed signs of weakening. Not wanting to give the creature a moment of reprieve, Lady Green Heart thrust her lance into the side of it's neck, "How the mighty have fallen. Now that you are on the receiving end, you have nowhere to run."
Lady Black Heart struck the other side of the monster's neck with numerous strikes from her sword, which pierced through very easily due to the rapier's fine point, "This will teach you to attack a lady!"
Once the three hearts had finished, Neptune cleaved the monster's head off of its body with her large sword. The attacks from the others had served to weaken it's otherwise tough skin enough to ensure a one hit kill from the purplenette. A grin spread across Neptune's face as the dragon ceased all movement, "The good guys always win! Now we just need some charcoal and we can get our big 4th of July bash underway!"
Heero examined the dragon's body and swiped his finger along it's skin, noting the black smear on, "I can see why it subsisted on coal. It's body is made of it. With a technologically advanced landmass like Planeptune that has a surplus of such a resource, this place must have made for a perfect habitat."
Gust walked up to the Gundam pilot and pulled on his pant leg to get his attention, "Gust requires charcoal as well. Important ingredient for synthesis item."
As Heero began the process of cutting of the dragon's tail to use for both Gust's project and the party's food, Compa and the others commented on how they hadn't really contributed to their victory this time around, "We didn't get to help much this time."
IF scratched the back of her head, having a similar feeling of inadequacy, "Well, we did have two CPUs helping us. It was to be expected."
The brunette was suddenly hit on the head from behind. When she turned around, Nisa had a disgruntled look on her face, "I heard what you said about my chest! Don't think I'll be so quick to forgive you just because we are on the same team!"
As IF ran away from the angry heroine, Lyrica breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, all's well that ends well. Right? At least we didn't have to break our backs like we do with some many other monsters."
Neptune threw her fist in the air once Heero had gotten what they needed, "Mission successful! We're done here, peeps! Now, let's go home and get this party started!"
Xxx
After gathering up the charcoal that they needed, the group went straight back to the safe house to finish preparations for the party. Heero volunteered to take care of the grill, leaving the girls to take care of everything else.
As the girls went about preparing the table, Lyrica couldn't help but wonder how the food would turn out, "So… am I the only one that's surprised that Heero can cook?"
IF was setting down disposable plates when the songstress had asked her question, "Well, we usually take care of the cooking, but that's because we get to the kitchen before Heero does. I'm actually interested in seeing how it turns out."
Neptune came out with a cooler full of soda and dropped it onto the ground next to the table, "I betcha it's gonna be full of Heero's love, so it's gotta taste good!"
Compa placed napkins next to each paper plate while conversing with her fellow party members, "As long as Heero does his best, I'm sure it will turn out good."
Nisa and Gust came out with bowls of salad and chips that would serve as the sides for their meal, "This may be holiday we should have every year."
The blue haired heroine next to Gust nodded her approval, "Indeed. Even a heroine must take a break from the pressures of everyday heroism to enjoy the little things that make life worth living."
Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart were sitting off to the side while the group handled the preparations for the party. Since they guests, they were told to relax while the party handled everything. White Heart had been reading her book when she suddenly addressed the other two CPUs, "Just so you two know, after today, we're enemies again."
Lastation's CPU narrowed her eyes at the smaller girl, "Fine by me. I'll just get rid of you two and Neptune later."
Green Heart had a nervous smile on her face as the two girls started glaring at one another, "That's all well and good, but could you two save it for later? You're ruining the mood."
Suddenly, a mouthwatering smell filled the air and was coming from the grill. Neptune followed the smell of food until she was right next to Heero, drool seeping out of the corner of her mouth, "The food smells REALLY good."
Heero cast a brief glance at the purplenette before returning his attention to what was in front of him, "It has been a while since I've done this. I'll try to make as few mistakes as possible."
The rest of the girls could hear their stomachs growling as Heero went about preparing the main course of their meal. Only once the Gundam pilot had finished grilling all of the meat were everyone seated at the table.
Neptune swallowed hard as she looked at the grilled food, "I hope it tastes as good as it smells, cuz it smells awesome!"
Everyone took from the three plates that were at the center of the table, grabbing burgers, hot dogs, chicken and the various sides that had been prepared. Neptune was the first to take a bite out of the grilled meat, and her eyes lit up once it graced her taste buds. "Does Heero have the magic touch with food or what? This is the best food I've ever had!"
IF was salivating as she looked down at the burger in her hands, "Are we sure this isn't the reason why Heero doesn't cook often?"
Nisa was also drooling as she looked at her grilled meat, "Truly a gift from the heavens! I have never eaten such fine food before!"
Black Heart stared at her food for a moment before looking away, "I-It's not bad. I mean, I've had better."
White Heart wiped her mouth before looking at the raven haired CPU, "If you don't like it, stop eating then. It's wasted on you."
"I never said I didn't like it!"
Green Heart cleared her throat to get the attention of the two girls, "You both really should stop this. Heero slaved over an open flame to make this for us. So like it or not, we must force ourselves to eat every last morsel."
While the girls marveled at the food, Heero was left to wonder just how it was that they thought he was so good at it? It's not like he did anything special to it or anything, he just cooked it the way anyone else would have.
Everyone enjoyed their meal and for dessert, enjoyed the cakes that Lady Green Heart had brought from Leanbox. It was dark out by the time they had finished eating, and the girls were quite content. Neptune stepped out of her seat to address the group, "We still got one more thing to do before we can call this party a success. We gotta light some fireworks!"
At that, Compa suddenly froze, "Nep-Nep, we were so busy trying to get the charcoal that we forgot to get some from the fireworks store."
The purplenette looked at the nurse in training, looking for any sign that would suggest that she were joking. When she no sign that would suggest as such, Neptune's shoulders sank, "B-But if we don't have any fireworks, then this party is a bust!"
"Not to worry."
Heero got up from his seat and picked up cardboard box from under the table, "I thought this might happen, so I procured some in advance."
A smile curved Neptune's lips as she looked at the box of fireworks, "Way to come through for us, Heero."
Everyone grabbed some of the numerous fireworks from within the box, which quickly lit up the night sky. The girls were laughing and having fun, seemingly forgetting about fighting monsters or saving the world for the moment to enjoy the here and now.
Heero saved the best of the fireworks for last, and once lit, quickly shot up into the air, lighting up the night sky in a variety of colors. The group watched in wonder as the light show went on, and even the three Hearts had forgotten about the fact that they were enemies… at least until the next morning anyway.
As they continued to watch the fireworks, Heero shifted his attention to the purple haired girl next to him, "Why exactly did you want to celebrate this holiday?"
Neptune pried her eyes away from the light show to look at the teenaged soldier, "Cuz I thought you would be happy if we did."
"This is just something that the people of my world celebrate. It's not as if it holds any special meaning to me. But as long as you and the others are happy, that's all that matters."
Neptune latched onto Heero's arm while returning her attention to the fireworks, a broad smile on her face, "Well, I know I'm happy. And so are the others. It'd be nice if we could do this next year too, don'tcha think?"
Heero watched the purplenette for a moment. There was something about that smile of hers that made him feel warm inside. The Gundam pilot turned his attention the fireworks as well, a small smile on his face, "...Yeah. That would be nice."
Xxx
Me: "Well, here is our 4th of July bonus chapter, though it came later than I had intended. In fact, it wasn't supposed to be late at all."
Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC from Break Room) "It wasn't? Then why was it late?"
Me: "I dunno. I submitted the chapter on the 4th, but for whatever reason the story didn't update. I only just now found out about it when I checked and found that the story didn't have thirty-six total chapters."
Heero: "It would be in our best interest to look into this matter. It could cause another chapter to not update."
Me: "I'm sure we're fine. Let's not get to worked up about it. Anyway, I would like to apologize to our readers for the lack of updates. I kinda had a surgery to have my wisdom teeth removed, so I was out for a while. When I was good enough to get back to work on our story it was already July, so I put off working on the next main story chapter in favor of putting together this short little extra to commemorate the 4th of July."
Compa and IF: (Enter ACCC from Lounge) "This was really fun! I hope we'll be able to do it next year, too!"
IF: "I guess it was pretty fun. I mean, besides having to spend more of our time off fighting monsters."
Green Heart: (Enters ACCC from Game Room) "What a wonderful little holiday. We simply must get together for this 4th of July party again."
Black Heart: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "I guess it's okay. I mean, I'm really busy taking care of Lastation, but I guess I could make room in my schedule for this."
White Heart: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "...I suppose I could come out of my room for this. As long as it's a once a year thing."
Me: "It is a once year thing. With that, I would ask our readers to read and review this chapter. And I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July as much as we did. Now, if you'll excuse us, we gotta get back to work."
Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)
